FRIDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER 1999 ==========
Packing the trunk: "Okay, that's the case with the electronics,
uh... where's *your* stuff, 'Natsu-chan?"
"It's in with the electronics."
I *know* we packed the VCR and the laptop in that suitcase,
so there can't be that much room in there for other stuff. "Wow,
you do travel light, don'tcha, sugar?
"Hey... did you leave your car window open on that last delivery?
Waste time to lock the doors if we're gonna leave the windows open."
"Ukyou-sama, you made the last delivery light night... remember?"
"..."
We're nowhere near as organized this year getting to AnimeIowa
as we were last year. No taking off on Thursday and crashing at a
friend's place partway along (more on that at the end of the report,
BTW) and getting a jump on the traffic. Heck, we're not even sure
AI has record of our pre-registration, as we paid cash, and any
receipt we might have gotten last year seems to have been lost.
But there reasons beyond laziness and disorganization why we're not
taking off so early. We have to make sure Dan-chan gets to school
today (yeah, I can close down the Ucchan, but the law is the law).
Fortunately, Granma Kuonji is more than happy to keep an eye on
him over the weekend - and I understand he'll be bouncing back and
forth between my parents and my sister. And I'm pretty sure
'bouncing' is the word for it, knowing him.
En route, we encounter a couple of rainstorms... good thing we've
got the windows rolled up by now...
It's a little tricky getting into the hotel, as they're doing a bit of
remodelling. Hopefully, this won't pose *too* much of a problem.
But the room is ready as soon as we check in, which is a plus.
Granted, it's on the third floor, but it's right by the elevator,
and plenty spacious for the two of us. Besides, 'Natsu-chan's
long since been off the crutches.
Not that my kunoichi won't pass up the chance to soak that foot
in the hotel whirlpool. I can tell this isn't gonna be the hotspot
the pool atrium was last year, though. This one's off to the side,
as opposed to being right in the middle of the hotel where all the
rooms opened up into it, so it's not gonna get all the drop-ins
(and I mean that literally) the pool did last year. Doesn't help
that Mandy Winn-Lee isn't here - which is a first for any con
I've attended. So it looks like Hiroshi Aro is safe from being
tossed in... or is someone else gonna fill that firecracker's shoes
on this one?
Turns out our lack of organization didn't make a whole lot of
difference. Sure, when we walked in, the hotel activities sheet
seemed to suggest that AI events were going on starting at 8 a.m.(!),
but I'm gonna haveta assume that was just set-up. For plain old
attendees like us, we still ended up waiting in line. Still, they do
have our pre-paid badges... Yatta!
Speaking of disorganization... we run into a couple of old friends
from college at the registration desk (and later, the con suite).
James had reserved a room at another hotel (he was late, these
things happen), but when he called them, they had no record of
his reservation. Well, our room's big enough - even got a pull-out
queen-size bed - so we offer to let 'em share the room. Konatsu,
ever the scrupulous one, insists we let the concierge know about
our change in plans. Amazingly, they provide us with two more
keys at no additional charge - sometimes, honesty is the best policy,
I suppose.
Haven't seen too many fellow fic writers yet, so we head off to the
con suite. There's nothing you could make a meal out of, but it's
certainly well-stocked with chips, dip, fruit and bread - in other
words, the typical AnimeIowa con suite setup. And as if to respond
to ACen's closed-circuit raw anime setup, AI's con suite includes
a jukebox, complete with two staff members' collections of anime
CDs. You'd think I'd find writers where there's food, but no dice.
Ah, well, it's early yet.
But it's getting late enough that the con is just about to open
officially, so we hurry downstairs. There's a sizable crowd in
the area outside the program rooms, waiting to get in... to the
dealers' room? Yup. The dealers' room opens up, and the lobby
empties. What... isn't anyone going to the opening ceremonies?
Evidently not. Only two tables fill with folks waiting for the
opening. And we wait... for forty minutes. We're starting to
think of this as a chicken-egg issue: Is the opening delayed because
everyone's shopping, or is everyone shopping because the offical
opening isn't happening?
Finally, our hosts and guests of honor arrive, to considerably less
applause than they might have garnered under other circumstances.
Steve Bennett announces that, as promised at AI98, anime is poised
to take over the world! Waitaminnit... that's a WB series...
Which reminds me... I mentioned that Amanda isn't here. As it so
happens, Steve sends her greetings, but she claims to be up to her
lips in work for WB. Kami alone knows what she's doing for 'em...
Steve's not elaborating - he's worried about saying too much.
Noel Burns, the man behind the con, won't comment on her absence,
but he does point out that AI is 'on probation'. The hotel's never
hosted a convention before, and if they aren't happy with our
behaviour, well...
Robert DeJesus manages to chew shoe leather: "It's good to see
some new faces, and old faces... uh..." We're not *that* old, Bob...
AnimeIowa's scored a coup with Hiroshi Aro's presence. Hey, for
a con this size, it's a big deal to get an artist in from Japan - in fact,
it's a first. Turns out, he didn't finish all his assigned work when
he left Japan, so he's gotta complete it sometime during the con.
I wish him luck, but I dunno how he intends to do it... a con's
distracting enough for a mere attendee; how much more so for the
guest of honor? But if he manages, it'd be interesting to watch...
it's not often one gets to watch a manga artist in action.
The truncated ceremony out of the way, I decide to check out the
fansub demonstration, dragging Konatsu with me... and find myself
out of my depth in short order. All these technical details! The
guys in here are bantering back and forth about hardware, and the
differences between this and that model number - it's all alphbet
soup to us. Between all the technical talk, and the fact that the
A/C is going nuts in the room, it's getting a bit cold in here.
We head out.
Time to find out what was worth ditching the opening ceremonies
for. The dealers' room seems more full than last year, but maybe
it's just a smaller room. It's definately promising... especially
when one of the first vendors is a T-shirt artist willing to (among
other things) make roadkill out of any Pokemon you choose.
On the subject of Pokemon, I'm coming up with another good
reason to not bring Dan-chan along. I don't think I could stand
all the "want this" "want that" that I just *know* I'd be hearing
all the time we'd be in there. Good grief, the Pokemon *have*
taken over.
The Studio Ironcat guys have set up shop, and when I mention I'm
subscribed to Futaba-kun, Steve Bennett shakes my hand vigourously.
He botches my name introducing me to one of his fellow Ironcats,
though. Maybe it's because someone else has caught his attention...
specifically, two women done up as Cutey Honey and some bunny
girl from Bust a Move 2. He takes enough cheesecake shots of
these two to fill an Eli's catalogue. Not that I'm jealous or
anything... I know for a fact *I* couldn't wear anything like these
costumes. And I�m not sure *anyone* should try to dress up like
Cutey in particular... you have to have a *perfect* body for that.
For our part, we didn't get a chance to put together any costumes
at all [sigh]. But it's kind of intimidating, seeing these two, a
woman done up as Ayeka with her companion in a magnificent
Ryo-oh-ki costume, and a near-perfect Belldandy complete with
diamond markings... it makes our (unfulfilled) plans seem kinda
small by comparison.
(For what it's worth, we were planning to go as Tamari and Key,
the Metal Stand-Up Comic. Tamari would give Key as big an intro
as possible, whereupon Key would begin a knock-knock joke. Upon
the audience's reply: "Who's there?" Key's face would fall, and she
would dejectedly say, "oh. you have heard this one before. Key is
sorry." and walk offstage. End of skit.)
We don't purchase much this time around, and we're getting hungry.
But just *try* finding our new roommates to go out to eat. For some
time, we have two of us in the lobby, and a third looking for the
fourth. Then the fourth gets back without having seen the third,
and someone else would have to look for them. I swear, it was a
miracle we got out at all. But get out we did, to some low-rent
Chinese-Mexican place (you try and figure out that combination.
I can't), and once full, we head back to recoup and recount the
day's activities thus far.
Now that we're rested, 'Natsu-chan and I wander through the second
floor. Unfortunately, the art room is locked for the night already.
On the other hand, the video game room in going full blast.
"Hey, 'Natsu-chan... you're a Tetris whiz... think you can handle
*this* game?" Something called Puzzle Fighter... and for whatever
reason, I suspect we're among the last to know anything about it.
Yeah, I said 'we': "I don't think so, Ukyou-sama. This isn't that
much like Tetris... and dumping stuff on the other person like that?
I couldn't do that."
"Suit yerself..." so we kill the rest of the hour in the con suite,
tasting some home brewed stuff and reading 'Girl Days' aloud.
A guy comes in to announce a pool party under consideration,
and Konatsu is keen to go. But first...
...I finally get a crack at Magical Knights Rayearth. So *this* is
what Libby and Lurker have been talking about, hm? I'd best get
to reading about it, now...
Konatsu slips out when it's over, but I sit through an episode of
Silent Moebius. It's okay, but not my taste, and I decide to follow
my kunoichi. Turns out, there hadn't been enough buzz to get a
party together; by the time 'Natsu-chan showed up at the pool,
the two guys trying to put it together had had enough and were
drying off. And by the time *I* showed up, 'Natsu-chan was trying
to convince a nine year old not to be afraid of the bubbles in the
whirlpool. Since I wasn't dressed for the occasion, I figured I'd
check around for anything else worth watching
The Idol Project is kinda cute and silly, but after a couple of
episodes, my head was hurting. I think it's already turned to
swiss cheese...
Now that I think of it, I could murder a portobello mushroom
with goat cheese just about now...
Hey, it's past midnight, and I'm tired... you expect me to make
*sense*?
SATURDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER, 1999 ==========
Maybe I should feel guilty for crashing just before midnight, and
getting in a full eight hours of sleep for the first time in two weeks.
After all, you're not suposed to *do* that at an anime convention,
now, are you?
Maybe I should, but I'm not. An informal poll of the foursome finds
that everyone else turned in well before one. Okay, so maybe we
*are* getting too old for this... especially James, who was *planning*
on checking out Magical Stage Fancy Lala - but it started at six, and
here we haven't gotten started 'til eight-thirty.
Still, why let our slow start stop us? After grabbing a couple of
donuts and whatnot from the nearly vacant con suite, we decide to
drop in on Fancy Lala... okay, we just wandered by the video rooms
and that's the one that looked interesting. Cute and silly enough,
but what really got my attention was the last episode that showed,
involving a magic pen that brought whatever it drew into reality
(although living things would not come to life until they were
bathed in moonlight). I wasn't the only one finding the premise
familiar, and I wound up leaving the room with several folks that
I had to assure that yes, Pencils was still in progress...
It's still early, so the dealers' room isn't open yet. Not that it's
boring outside; we run into a girl done up in a "Shadow Skills"
costume (yes, that's the anime that the TCAMS showed last year
at their MSTing party - the three of us agreed that the dubbing on
that show was completely ridiculous), and a U of I student from
Japan who was rather startled at our custom-made "Okonomi-yaki
Ucchan" delivery uniforms.
A few card games later, we're back in the dealers' room, still
debating about that T-shirt artist's stuff. Now he's got one with
Little Caesar uttering 'Pika! Pika!' instead of 'Pizza! Pizza!' like
he usually does... and yes, that's a Pikachu instead of a pizza on
his spear. Not the sort of thing to take home to the kiddies.
Someone else mentions the roadkill shirt again, and it occurs
to me that Dan-chan would probably get a kick out of seeing
Team Rocket and Meowth run over... but do we *really* want
to encourage his dark side like that?
Konatsu's still playing cards, so I mention I'm going to check out
the video rooms, or if nothing's interesting there, to the con suite
with the laptop. If any of you are wondering "Something interesting?
How could there not be something interesting? You're an OTAKU,
for gosh sakes!" I should mention I'm not nearly the otaku that most
people here. And I don't have time or money to get obsessed with
every single series out here. I call 'em 'prospector's tangerines,'
after a story about an old miner who refused to try the fruit,
stating that "I've got enough tastes I can't satisfy to add one
more." But 'Natsu-chan reminds me that it's interesting to at
least see some of the pilot episodes for some of these series...
you just have to take into account that obsession is the risk you run.
I do wind up sitting through a very silly episode (are there other
kinds?) of Sailormoon S. So when I come up to the room to get
my laptop, Konatsu's already there waiting for me. My kunoichi
evidently forgot that I mentioned the video rooms, and checked
everywhere else for me. Thankfully, there wasn't time to get
*too* worried, but still...
We never actually get to the con suite, as we find out Urusei
Yatsura is playing downstairs, and we get in just as the first
episode's starting. I don't need to tell you all how funny UY is,
so... that'll save some time. After two hours, though, 'Natsu-chan's
getting a bit cramped - the chairs aren't comfortable for one to sit
in for hours at a time - so we get up, go outside and stretch. I'm
planning to go right back in after this - 'His & Her Circumstance'
is s'posed to be the next big thing from Gainax after Evangelion -
but Konatsu has had enough, and would prefer to head elsewhere.
That's fine, except that as we step outside, we run into Richard
Lawson and Lara Bartram, just exiting another of the video rooms.
Jeannie Hedge also joins us, and, not wanting to miss getting in on
a congregation of fellow writers, I follow.
Richard is hard-selling this series: "In my modest opinion, this is
the best-ever... not just best-ever anime, but the story..." (sorry
if I miss of bit of what you were saying, Rich) Even my kunoichi
is sold on it. So are a ton of others... the room is absolutely
packed by the time the video starts up. Lucky that we'd been
here already, so we got good seats. I almost feel sorry for
Aro-sensei, as he had a panel sceduled for this same time, but
if everyone's in *here* watching *this*, well... once again, he's
not gonna get the crowd he probably deserves.
There will be some who will argue Rich's assessment. There are
those, for instance, who prefer anime with space opera and serious
mecha. There are those who favor magical worlds and fantasy.
This has none of that. What it does have, is painful, and painfully
funny, reality. It would be too simple to speak of two model
students who go from rivals to friends to... possibly more. This is
getting inside the kids' heads, and (sometimes) recognizing yourself
and others in the two apparantly perfect (but we all know better
by now, don't we?) protagonists. It was discomfiting to consider
my own resemblances to Yukino Miyazawa and her quest for success
and praise in the name of 'image, image, image.' Konatsu added that
"I'm *so* glad I'm not in high school anymore."
Of course, what brought down the house was when Yukino's younger
sister began to give her some advice on love and relationships - and
it actually made enough sense, to the point where Yukino asked how
she'd gotten so smart. Ah, the wisdom of novels and manga...
One problem with H&HC, though, that I had to point out: as good as
it is, it's almost *too* good. What kind of fanfiction can you make
out of a series with writing like this? Richard agreed wholeheartedly.
Still, one doesn't have to make fanfiction out of every series one
knows and enjoys, ne? (Am I one to talk, what with all the obscure
series I've worked with?)
I need to get to the dealers' room - I seem to have missed a volume
of Futaba-kun in the mail - but en route, we come across a girl
wearing a T-shirt from a local establishment - and I mean local
as in less than a mile from the Ucchan back home. Small world,
ain't it? We exchange phone numbers and addresses, and the Ucchan
may have picked up another customer. Or maybe we'll drop by her
(or her friends') place to watch anime some day.
The delay serves us well, or we might have missed Aro-sensei
completely. As it was, we left the dealers' room and were headed
to wash up for dinner at the same time he was off to work the Ironcat
booth. Do I need to mention I turned around? Well, actually, I
darted up to the room, grabbed my entire Futaba-kun collection,
and *then* followed him back to the dealers' room. Yes, I got his
autograph, and a cute li'l sketch of Futaba-chan in the bargain.
We wash up and prepare to head off for dinner. Konatsu wants to
see if we can hook up with some others, and as it so happens, we
run into Richard and Lara again. They're not going to the banquet
with the guests of honor, so they're game to head out to eat. Among
other topics, Richard mentions that the crowd is smaller this year,
and not some illusion caused by the larger hotel. Congrats, Krista...
looks like AnimeFest drew more writers this year than AI. There's
some discussion about writing longhand versus typing straight to
the computer, and a bit about writing drunk... and you know, it
might explain certain things...
Dinner over (and Lara just a wee bit sleepy), we head back to the
con and the con suite... well, we gotta dump the leftovers somehow
^_^;; It's livelier here than usual - the crowd here is, among other
things, making a totem pole with stuffed anime characters: since
Mokona is God, does he go on top or on the bottom, holding it all up?
Whatever... it doesn't stay up for very long.
Nor do we... we missed the cosplay last year, and despite Richard's
assurances that it wasn't much (sometimes he's too modest for his
own good - and ours), we intend to get there early to make sure we
get decent seats.
But even the best of intentions go awry. I can't remember why, but
I barely got out of the room by the time the cosplay was scheduled
to start. Fortunately (or not, depending on if you'd already be
waiting there long), the show is running fashionably late.
Someone in the crowd is doing a full-bore Mokona worship
ceremony. But once the MC comes out, the service is over.
The MC may be reluctant, but he's well-rehearsed.
The costumes, too, are quite extraordinary - or did I mention that
already? On the other hand, the sketches leave a bit to be desired
for the most part. There are exceptions: a scene with FY's Chichiri
and some tiger girl from Escaflowne is done in Japanese, complete
with confederates holding large banners to serve as subtitles (pity
they can't raise 'em high enough for everyone to see 'em). Another
crossover involving that Bust a Move bunny girl and the Inspector
from Lupin III is very witty, and when Bunny Girl tries a high-kick,
the Inspector *backflips* out of danger! Quite a feat... but of
course, the Inspector spends too long congratulating himself,
and Bunny Girl gets away. Very cute.
But the grand prize goes to a costume without a sketch: Anna
Johnson's elaborate winged creation (sorry, Anna, the character�s
name has slipped my mind) with "more sequins than I've seen since
the 70s," according to Steve Bennett, takes the cake. And a garage
kit or two, if I'm not mistaken.
Eighteen entries out of some 420 people... you know, if that
proportion were reached at ACen, the cosplay would *never* end.
But this one does, and swings promptly into an auction to benefit
next year�s AI. The Ryo-oh-ki costume is offered up, and Steve
Bennett volunteers to wear it if $100 is bid on it. The bid is
promptly made upon his announcement, and after a few teases
(you know, the MC gets just past �Going twice...� when someone
else make another bid), it finally sells for $120, at which point it
is spirited offstage, along with Steve. After some difficulty
(although it�s not entirely clear, as the MC is simply looking
offstage and commenting upon the unseen activity), he emerges,
as promised, in the costume... Steve, couldn�t you have taken that
Confederate cap off your head just for this? Oh, well...
This year�s pinata, a giant Pikachu, is also offered up for auction.
Richard doesn�t bid on it this year, but the bidding once again runs
up to $60 even without his assistance. This year, also, a bokken is
provided for the winning bidder, rather than having to provide one�s
own. The doomed Pokemon is strung up just outside the program
rooms by the hotel staff. I manage to ask the lucky winner if she
knows and can recite the Team Rocket slogan before attacking
Pikachu; all I get in reply is a shrug.
She steps up to the unfortunate rodent and takes aim. There is a
thunderous smack as the bokken connects with Pikachu�s nose and
splits the poor Pokemon apart.
Somewhere in another dimension, Ash Ketchum weeps.
Back in this dimension, one of the AI staffers pops the crown of
Pikachu�s severed head on his own like a hat and does a little jig.
Definately not a scene for the kiddies to be watching.
Oh, the Pokemonity! ...or would that be �oh! the Pokemonstrosity!�?
Leave it to the grammarians... we�ve got room parties to attend.
Specifically, the TCAMS. Where these guys find all this parody
stuff, I dunno, but I gotta find out before ACen. The show kicks
off with a parody dubbing of Otaku no Video, if you can wrap your
head around that concept: a parody of a parody.
During a showing of Ranma 1/3 (seen it before, but hey... it�s still
funny), Steve Bennett (geez, this guy is everywhere!) makes his
presence known: �Hey, is this a Viz dubbing?�
The rest of the evening is a series of CDS Productions parody
fandubs (yes, the same group that did Koko wa Otaku we saw
at ACen - in fact KwO2 is slated for an October release according
to one of their trailers), which are great fun... but I *still*
couldn�t get their webpage copied down fast enough. It was
also kind of disappointing that there were no bad commercial
dubs for us to MST... when I ran into one of the TCAMS leaders
later on, he mentioned how last year had gotten a little *too*
rowdy, and so we needed to keep things toned down. Besides,
not all their neighbors were con-goers this year: in fact, one room
nearby had a couple on their honeymoon (honeymooning in Cedar
Rapids? You�re kidding...). Granted, we wouldn�t be keeping them
awake, but I suppose it�s gotta be disconcerting to be hearing all
that laughter next door when you�re trying to be romantic.
SUNDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER 1999 ==========
There's a reason they don't hold the cosplay on Sunday... how boring,
when everybody would show up as Gosunkugi! At eight a.m., there
are enough bags under my eyes to carry $20 worth of groceries.
Why get up so early? Good question, and not one that can be
answered. But as long as we�re up...
I�d heard so much about it when the Lion King was released, so I
had to check out Kimba. Someone had mentioned earlier, with some
admiration, that the video rooms had been set up to run on autopilot,
and this was proof. We were the only ones there when the show
started, but it had fired up and was underway as we settled in.
It�s a decent show, and while I don�t think Disney could have been
accused of plagarism, there are a number of similarities.
As ten o�clock draws closer, I�m checking my watch. Why on earth
they�ve scheduled the fanfic panel this early on Sunday morning,
I�ve no idea. But they�ve set aside two whole hours for us, so
that�s nice.
But where the heck are the regulars? I *know* I saw Jeanne in
the foyer outside the program rooms, but she�s not here. Nor, for
that matter, are Richard and Lara... is there something else going
on that I don�t know about that�s preferable to this?
As it turns out, it�s not a panel, after all, just a group of writers
and would-be writers gathered around one of the round tables.
At rather a distance, actually - there�s no *way* we would have
gotten all these people right around a single table. No moderators,
no set topics, no nothing... gaw, how�s this supposed to work?
But work it does, with the topics flitting about from tentacles to
trolls, from Sailor Moon (most of these guys are SM fans, it seems!)
to self-insertions (I still cling to my unique �acting-on-paper�
theory of writing). It�s pointed out that a character�s opinions
in a fic do not necessarily represent the author�s opinions, even
if it *is* written in first person. At the same time, just because
an author�s biases do show through, and they agree with those
of a reader, it�s no guarantee that the reader will like it. Basic
stuff, but necessary to remember.
We talk about humanizing characters, and the sliding scale between
cartoony and dramatic. Ranmaversal physics serves as a great example
of the potential for silliness and sadness from the same series;
depending on what an author decides for a fic�s purpose, a blow from
a hammer could have tragic (lethal) or comic (L.E.O.) impact - pun
intended. Speaking of hammers, kudos are sent to Kenko in abstentia
for setting aside the canon debate once and for all regarding Hammerspace.
Whether it is or isn�t canon is irrelevant - what�s important is that
it *works* and it�s *funny*. After all, we should be quite aware
that no fanfiction can technically be considered �canon� unless it�s
actually written by the series� creator (although, come to think of
it, that might actually rule out portions of the original manga/anime
in some cases - we just don�t know, do we?)
Anna Johnson asks about self-promotion, and the approaches each of
the rest of us take. It�s not a concept I�m prepared to field - if
my stuff gets out there by word-of-mouth, that�s fine, if not, I�m
not losing sleep over it - but then, I have no intentions of making
a living at this like she does. There are a fair number of responses
to her query, but I didn�t manage to write them down.
Two hours is pretty long for a fanfic discussion, I guess, and late
in the second hour, it does sort of diminish into a discussion of
our personal favorite fanfictions. No, I�m not gonna name names,
as I�ll miss most of �em and wind up offending someone. Sorry.
Not much happens after this. We drop in on the Ranma 1/2 movie,
which is being shown in its dubbed form, but with the subtitles as
well. It�s interesting to look at the difference; however, after
recently meeting up with the guys behind RadioPlay Productions,
I�ve become quite familiar with the differences that emerge between
the spoken and the written word.
Two-plus hours to go until closing ceremonies (maybe more if the
opening was any indication), and a four-plus hour drive back to the
Ucchan. The choice is clear: we�re off. So the convention ends on
rather a whimper for us. I confess, while the hotel was a lot nicer
and spacious, the con itself was not quite what it had been last year.
Perhaps they were a little too aware that they were �on probation,�
and tried too hard to play nice. Maybe they were low on guests of
honor; Steve Bennett did what he could to add color, but he�s no
Amanda Winn-Lee. Maybe the con itself had raised the bar too
high for itself last year, and so we expected so much more - for
instance, it turned out that the number of attendees had actually
increased from last year, but as it was expected to double, the
increase was viewed as a failure by some - than it should have
been expected to deliver. Just observations, people. I�m not
rendering judgements here; we had fun, we�re going back.
But before we go, we mention our little plan for ACen to a TCAMS
fellow manning the makeshift bar at the con suite. Yes, this is the
announcement you�ve been waiting for: we�re opening the Ucchan
for pre- and post-con parties. Since ACen is being held at the Hilton
right by the Arlington Racetrack, barely a mile and a half from the
Ucchan (and closer to us than any *other* hotel nearby), we�re
offering to host folks who�d like to arrive early or stay late but
would just rather not deal with more than two nights of hotel bills.
In addition, the place is roomy (it�s not the Kuno manor or the
Tendo dojo, but it�s serviceable), and we�re not likely to wake
up the neighbors if we play anime all night long (and we�re working
on putting together a decent lineup of stuff even as I type - although
folks are welcome to bring stuff of their own if they like). Anyone
who�s interested, please contact �Natsu-chan and me at this e-mail
address, and we can hammer out the details together. Sleeping
space may fill up rather quickly, though, but if you fall asleep in
the video rooms, you won�t be kicked out (unless you snore too
loudly).
Anyway, that�s all for now. Until my next fic, or next installment
(yes, yes, I promise to get back to Greenwood before ACen rolls
around), ja mata!
Itsu mo,
Ucchan ^_^