Have visited Benma 1/2's Spring Splash II since April 21, 2000.
SDCC 1998
SDCC 1999
AX 2000
SDCC 2000
AX 2001
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BENMA'S CHRONICLES: AX 2002 PROLOGUE: MAZINGER Z: SUNDAY, JUNE 30th--WEDNESDAY, JULY 3RD I didn't even know if I was going to be going to this year's AX. I told Ucchan that unless her and P. Kuno could get me in for free, I wasn't going. Boy, would that have been a mistake. Pirating Ames calls me up on Sunday and tells me that Brian is no longer going to AX, so he not only has no one to ride up with, he has no one to share a hotel with. So between his computer and my credit card, we hammer out a tentative plan to stay at two different hotels, which SUCKED. I get into Long Beach at about 11:00 on Wednesday morning (after taking the same train/trolley route as last year, since DDR and my car are like Pig and Elephant DNA: They just don't splice. I decide to go to the Convention Center first so I can judge the walking distance to the Comfort Inn that is "1.5 miles from the Convention Center." It turns out to be more than 2 miles, that is, if you're able to FLY or walk diagonally and PASS THROUGH BUILDINGS!!! Otherwise, as we found out driving, it is, in actuality, 4.2 miles to the hotel. I should sue for false advertising. So my badge is under "Anaheim" for location, because it's a comp badge, and most of the day is spent hanging out. Ucchan, P. Kuno, Ames and I go over to Burger King for dinner, and we hang as they're getting the arcade games set up. Of course, we DDR. It's on free play until they connect the two pads together (after which became $1.50!! Which is tolerable, since it's the first MAX 2 I've seen in the States.) Eventually it's time to get to the hotel room, so not knowing the bus schedules yet, U&PK are kind enough to give us a ride back to the hotel, where it's the usual Nick at Nite until we go to bed sometime around Family Ties (which used to be from 2-3 AM). THURSDAY, JULY 5TH, ANIME EXPO: DAY ONE: RANMA 1/2 You see, THIS is why I should type these things AFTER they happen, as opposed to a year later. Photographic memory, don't fail me now... We wake up around 10-ish, get ready to go and grab some grub at the Del Taco across the street before we bus over to the convention center. He points out that it means "Of the taco" if it were real Spanish (as opposed to Spanglish), and unbelievably that was the first time I'd heard that.(!) So we go over, hit the dealer's hall, watch the first episode of I My Me! Strawberry Eggs (LMAO!!!), and stuff. I catch up with P. Kuno, and he's mostly doing running back and forth (and back and forth) between live programming rooms, and probably con ops also. That's when Kyubi Spite asks me if I want to be staff, and I'm like "I'll think about it..." because I like freedom, but I feel bad for her and the rest of my overworked friends. But really, how long do you have to think about JOINING ANIME EXPO STAFF??? So I tell her I'll do it. The last event of the day is ANIME SINGLED OUT, which ended up RETARDED because of the way it was done. I KNOW HOW to do it right, I WATCHED that my entire sophomore and junior years at USC! And, I think I still have some on tape, but we won't go into that here...^^;;; First of all, they don't have a board. There's supposed to be a board with categories that the contestant picks from to eliminate people. SECOND, the people that are being chosen from aren't even registered, meaning any idiot can go up there. The OTHER problem this creates is that you don't know who's eliminated or not. The MC kept forgetting what side was what category (he made people who picked one answer stand on one side, and the other answer on the other side). AND FINALLY, when the guys were in the chair selecting the women, they didn't get enough contestants, and went down to the age of FOURTEEN before they did. *shakes finger* So I'm eliminated both times I go up (how the hell am I supposed to choose a character from an anime I haven't even seen and know nothing about???). I think it was this night that we met up in Live Programming 3 (hereafter referred to as LP and a #), where Makie shows us downloaded Chobits and Hoshi no Koe (suge--!). Eventually, Ames is convinced we do NOT want to miss our bus, nor sleep on the DDR machine, especially since we need to get to the hotel, if only to get our stuff and check out.So we bus back to the hotel, and decide "we're hungry." Luckily for us, there's a pizza place right out in front of the hotel. Even luckier, that we got there in time to get some! So after a good 3-4 pieces each (just what we need, fat DDRers), and during Family Ties, it's bedtime once more. FRIDAY, JULY 6TH, ANIME EXPO: DAY TWO: COWBOY BEBOP We need to get going EARLY, so about 8 AM I'm up and doing stuff and checking out. We get over to hotel #2, and unfortunately they're not checking in until later. Perfect. So a little after 10:00 we get there, so I can check in with Kyubi Spite and Con Ops and get situated on staff. Because I'm getting a staff shirt, I can now sell Ames my normal AX shirt, or at least trade it for the PSX external mod chip (heh heh heh more DDR!!!). So that's squared away, and the plan is to go in at 5, so I can be the relief man, so other people can enjoy AX and go to the dealer's hall, spend time with their significant other, etc. This also allowed P. Kuno to move over to LP 3 and be with Ucchan. So out and about, watching anime, scoping the dealers' hall...and someone has a soft-pad 5th Mix taped to the concrete floor! Hmmm...agenda check..."beat B4U Glorious Style (single)"...ok everybody, here we gooooo! I assume that I attracted a crowd, not that I could look behind me, but I heard someone exclaim, "He's doing the LONG one!," so I knew at least two people and the exhibitor were watching. Is...this...marathon...EVER going to end? *Huff* *Pant* And, 744 steps later, another agenda item is complete and cata #25 is beaten. About 3/3:30 we decide it's high time we check into our second and final hotel, and we retrieve our stuff and do so. After a little bit of rest (emphasis: little) we're now running a little behind; or at least I am, in getting over for my shift. But I made it on-time, and what do we have scheduled tonight? Da-da-DA...Karaoke semifinals and finals in LP 2. I'm like...ok, whatever...but these people are SERIOUSLY into it. And then I see Trunks as a manager of one of the karaoke groups! And what sorta looks like a GIRLFRIEND to me...*mental note, must look into this* That group performed really well, as did most of the participants, even though one of them broke down in tears, to regain composure and perform later (and win the contest). So our duties behind the table are to play DJ. We're adjusting individual microphone levels as well as overall volume on practically a per-song basis, in order to ensure that everyone is heard, and heard over the music. That was quite a learning experience, but fun as well, and we even had a Guest of Honor (GoH) on the judging panel! After the contest (which ran a LOT longer than it was supposed to), we of the LP 2 crew sit down and discuss a few things, namely the Anime Singled Out debacle from the night before. And something went wrong with the AMVs...something about screening (interlacing, maybe?) AND a hole appearing in the screen. Lovely. That is probably the only event that can rival Masquerade, and it's angered a lot of people in its postponement. That, and I'm sure SPJA does NOT want to have to pay serious money to repair or replace a screen of that size. In comes Ames, and it's late enough we need to start looking for the bus to the now much closer hotel. Ames decides to watch some movies, and I decide to relax with a nice, hot bath (ahhhh) while reading Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars. A little trouble getting it to work (that plug was NOT effective), but after about 30-40 minutes I'm good to go. SATURDAY, JULY 7TH, ANIME EXPO: DAY THREE: HELLSING Ah, another perfect day. ^_^ I remember NOTHING of what went on during the day. I do remember Ames not wanting to wake up early to go see the AMVs, at least not by himself. If I remember anything else, I'll post it; if not, fast forward to night time. I catch the tail end of some panels working LP2, and some panel left behind a Yu Yu Hakusho DVD. Kyubi says, "Would you like it?," and I'm not one to turn down free anime, so of course I said yes. We actually watched an episode while waiting, and preparing the room for our major event: Masquerade simulcast. So it happened, and I noticed something: That a lot of the costumes and/or skits sucked. At least compared to Comic Con or what I'm used to. In fact, I thought only 10 costumes and/or skits were actually worthy of being onstage, but as the consumate performer turned cosplayer, that's not overly surprising. A special treat, however, happened during the judging, when we got to see the winners from the AMV contest. And I'm floored by SHAMELESS ROCK VIDEO and A COMPLETE WASTE OF 6:35. The best AMVs I'd ever seen (at least to that point), but they'd rank with the best any year. So that being over, Ames and I decide to go back to the hotel. But first, we're hungry. Luckily for us, King Taco is on the corner, almost on top of the hotel. So we get some good stuff, and complete the day with some more movies on HBO or something like that. Cable=good. SUNDAY, JULY 8TH, FINAL DAY OF ANIME EXPO: DAY FOUR: SPIRITED AWAY Well, this is it. The last time to go to the dealers' hall, the last time to watch anime, the last time to play DDR at AX (because it's SO different from playing any other time of the year LOL) until next year...*sniff* Heck, I don't remember doing any of that though. We checked out of the hotel, and loaded all of our crap into Neverending Camry for the trip back home. After brunch, we spent a few minutes at the SPJA meeting in LP3, but after deciding that that was NOT a fun place to be (for reasons I will NOT contribute to the proliferation of), one last trip through the dealer's hall was in order. After which, Ames goes to watch more anime, or play more DDR, while I assist in breaking down LP2. Which didn't take too long, actually. Kyubi introduced me to an AX Staff tradition though, Tapeball. And ours was the official one, since no other room made one (or else they all forgot). Complete with tail and a face. ^_^ It might have actually taken longer waiting for someone to show up to handle the big screen TV than breaking down the room did...but that means that fun stuff can be crated! And when Makie showed up with a 200 foot coax cable slung over his shoulder, he became...CABLE COMMANDO! And, since every good hero needs a sidekick, I quickly grabbed one of the tripods for the speakers and became TRIPOD MAN! Defenders of truth, justice, and the AX way! But alas, P.Kuno and Ucchan came in, their work finished and LP3 broken down, and decreed it was time to head back to San Diego (and I was getting a ride with them, since I did not drive.) So I said my goodbyes, and bid AX 2002 adieu, a much better person for having helped my friends in their time of need, and much happier getting that 5-letter word under my AX shirt: STAFF. ^_^ CODA: Thus, the great Anime Expo of 2002 came to a close. Guess it's time for Benma's AX 2002 agenda check: 1. Watch ANIME at an ANIME convention for once: ya ta ze! 2. Beat B4U Glorious Style: *giggle* ya ta! 3. Play DDR all night long at least once: Not with travel... 4. Obtain FFX soundtrack: Damn straight! 5. Unexpected desire to create a costume (Tidus): Yes (damn it!) 6. Hidden Agenda #5: Quasi-success. Certain things prevented me from making it a full success, but better than nothing. Try not to do things last minute as a team...not applicable?!? *Rummages through mental files* That...can't...be...AMAZING!!! So, 4.5/6; not bad. We'll try and do better next year! owari Benma 1/2's Spring Splash II (BSSII) (c). Anything Goes School of Masquerade Arts (AGSMA) (c). 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