Recollections: Perfect Spin Off Cosplay

AniMagic
Location: Best Western Hotel, Lancaster, California

Break in trends this time around, it's hard to be ninja when you're a guest. Well you shouldn't be ninja when you're a guest. So I almost wore enough costumes at Ani-Magic than I have done all year (ok not quite) .

Friday:
This was a fun fun trip to extremely arid Lancaster, leaving at 5:30 PM. I didn't arrive until 8 PM, whereby I missed Opening Ceremonies, but I did see the fires and Alseides was dusted in a light coat of ash. Luckily Liddos had gotten our rooms 149 and 150 and I was able to park right outside our room. I decided after that, I would not move the car until I had to go home. Heck, gas is expensive anyway. I met up with Eve and she was all, can you change into something nicer for the Revue (at 9), and suggested BanBan. Since that's an easy costume to get into, I changed into that and hosted the large 8 act Revue. Liddos and company had run off to dinner, so I was scrambling to finish Kon. Unfortunately she came in as I was finishing up so the surprise was blown. So I finished the first Kon and gave it to her for her upcoming birthday (it was a special request by her cos she's lazy and doesn't want to make a plushy herself). Then I proceeded to work on MY Kon that I planned to use as a co-emcee. Wrapped that up, fixed the eyes, and then went to make rounds. Liddos, Maiyu and I stayed in room 150 while Angela and Kix stayed in 149. RNR arrived at the crack of midnight in room 394. Amikins in 389 with Owen. Since Maiyu was gone on a hot date, Liddos and I stuck her with the cot and we slept at about 3 AM.

Saturday: Today's the big day. Masquerade this evening with my first time as emcee. I woke up at 7 AM but didn't take care of business with the Sound staff until 8 AM when they showed up. The projected 10 AM Pokemon photoshoot was impossible because everyone was still tired from yesterday so we pushed it back to 11. Lance, Mich, Liddos, Angela and I geared up in our retro costumes and it was quite fun. Lance has always wanted a shoot with Gary since Arcanine's one of his Pokemon. After Pokemon was done, I changed out and went to sort out issues with the Sound crew. Their CD player refused to read my burned CD's (as well as several other peoples) because it was a relic. I went up to Ami's room to bum off Owen's computer and downloaded our evening's soundtrack list. We were just missing Koi wo and I was having a hard time getting the panel videos since Owen's computer was not reading my CD either. So several visits to Hai with Ami's phone and jack, then with Owen's 2 GB flash drive and Owen's computer was all pimped out. I managed to squeeze in a duel with Hai before I was summoned to do sound check at 5:30 PM at the stage. Initially, our mics were too big to fit on their stands and our mic holders were of improper size, until I shoved each of our mic holders into their mic holders and that seemed to work. The CD again refused to work so we hauled the laptop down and hooked it up. After several snafus, we ran thru KWS, BBSnY then A4. Several times the computer decided to go idle and Ami had to re-input the password. Afterwards the girls felt a distinct need to practice and change. One hour away from showtime now at 6. I should be changing too. I get into Don and was ready about 6:40. The masquerade would have 21 entrants. At 7 PM I forgot that I didn't have the cape so I ran back into the room and got it on and now it's showtime! The audience was very good. We started off with KWS and the mics were a little too far from the girls. Then they were excused and the entries began. Its still really hard to read in the dark with those sunglasses Don has so I kept on having to adjust them. Kon provided side commentary as cohost. Soon it was halftime and the computer was starting to complain about having low battery. A4 wasn't ready to go up so BBSnY went up first. Halfway thru the song, the computer died out. So stall time while Ami got the cables. The computer was still live when we rebooted so the Windows theme was played. BBSnY was ready to go again, now with power. Another snafu happened when Maiyu hit Liddos blue microphone out her hand (and it got scratched in four places -_-) but it still worked and they managed to finish. A4 finally was ready and performed, then RNR. The judges returned by this time. They finished judging quickly. The acoustic mics didn't pick up RNR so it was only for the close up audience. Then total chaos of HHJ, but the girls had alot of fun with it. Awards presented and everyone dismissed. My responsibilities for the evening are done! Well except for some clean up business which I took care of right away, then ninja transformation into A4 Tsunku for a photoshoot. Then "dinner" with Lance Liddos and Angela at Dennys. I just had alot of lemonade since I already had some spicy chicken sandwiches prior to the masq. That was my lunch and dinner (2 rations). Back to the hotel and we went out and ran into Twinkle and chatted. She came back to our room (in a drunken stupor) and had some water. We went to bed roughly 1 AM. Maiyu of course had another hot date so she got stuck with the cot again. Not that she slept much anyway with all her boozing. :D

Sunday: Mad photoshoot day! I woke up at about 9 AM, ran over to 7-11 to get some Hot Pockets breakfast. I took care of some unfinished business with a happy ending but about 3-4 trips. Also saw Juno who hooked me up with a Roy/Riza keychain. So hot! First costume of the day, Ichimaru Gin. Darn Maiyu was gorked out from the night before she didn't get into Rangiku. It's been a while since I've worn my white wig, and I forgot to put on the wigcap. Luckily I still had some spray that I could whiten out my sideburns. We had an awesome photoshoot with Lionel, Sho, Kim, Mich & Liddos and afterwards I took delightful pictures killing Sho and caressing Mich. My favorite. Then rapid ninja change to BanBan and packed Gin into the car. I had the USA Musume panel moved to the pool since there was no such thing as a Sierra D panel room, nor was it close to being panel ready at 12:30 PM. The pool location was a good choice despite not being able to do the Karaoke go round or drawing contest. We had a straight forward discussion, Q+A, trivia, then raffle type panel. Wayne #2 donated a whole bunch of swag which we ended up giving to all the people that attended. Even then we still had some stuff to return to Wayne #2. But we got rid of 99% of his stuff that he put in boxes behind us. Mich and Kim had to leave during the panel T_T. After the panel concluded, Hikkles, Ami, Lance, Chris and Lionel went to the Japanese gardens for the SPD photoshoot. That was totally awesome. Then pack up and it's time to go! Liddos and I did some rounds to say goodbye to everyone. Revell indicated I could emcee next year! We got everything into the car and I almost took Liddos to Curry House but then we decided it'd be better she go with Lance, so I made a U-turn and dropped her off with Lance. Then off to home for me and I made it back at 5 PM. (with an expensive gas fill up).

Monday:
This was quite the bonus day. Since Ziggy decided to stay an extra day, he made arrangements with the artists responsible for Teen Titans at the WB studio in Sherman Oaks Galleria. I totally over estimated the time needed to get there and so I was there at 10, a whole 2.5 hours early. Luckily the WB validates my otherwise $1 for every 15 minutes parking fee in the structure. I placed some phonecalls and chilled at the galleria until Ziggy showed up. He called Irineo Maramba and we waited a bit, but didn't get a call back. So just waltzed into the building when someone opened the door and stopped by security. They sent us to the reception area and she was able to get him immediately. We met Glen Murakami, the producer of Teen Titans, various storyboarders, BG artists and production crew while we were there. There were reference pictures everywhere as well as top secret preview stuff for the upcoming season. There were pictures of my Prom Robin and AJ's Starfire up on their walls. Nothing from 2003, they said they rotated pictures. We broke for lunch and ate at Simon's, which was a fine Moroccan restaurant. I had cauliflower soup with pasta/smoked salmon in cream sauce with mint iced tea. It was quite good. We returned to the WB building and got the tour. We saw the AVR booth and Bruce Timm was recording for Justice League. We reviewed the original storyboard for Employee of the Month which Ziggy absolutely loved. All the staff there were really cordial and happy to see us. We also spent an hour on a conference call with AJ who couldn't be there in person but was there in spirit! They showed us the adventures of Newfu playing around with all the staff in the building. We also saw episode 5-4. Sorry no spoilers, but it will be out soon anyway. We wrapped up our tour at about 5:30 PM, that was a fantastic experience.