Category Archives: ANIME

300 Seconds, ANIME, CONS, CREATIVE, Eduardo Soliz, Fiesta Equestria, FURRY, Furry 101, FURRY FIESTA, JUST SAYING, PANELS, Podcasting, PODCASTS, RANDOMIZER9.COM, SAN JAPAN, WORDS

300 Seconds Episode #113: “2020 The Year in Me-View”

NOTE: This is a transcript of a podcast for those with hearing difficulties, those that prefer to read, and those who would prefer to not hear the sound of my voice. 😉

Click here to listen to this episode!

You are listening to ‘300 Seconds with Eduardo Soliz,’ and this is episode number one hundred and thirteen: “Twenty-twenty, the Year in Me-view” so let the 300 Seconds begin!

A quick note before I begin: It is almost nine o’clock as I record this, so you will likely hear my neighbors getting an early jump on the festivities.  I was tempted to wait until tomorrow to record this, but it just didn’t feel right.  And now, on with the show. 

What can I say?  It’s been a crazy year, and like all y’all, I can split up the fifteen months of 2020 into before and after the coronavirus upended life as we know it…or rather, knew it, because as the last day of this year comes to a close, we are still a long way from being back to anything even approaching normal.

When 2020 began, life was pretty good; I had just started a new job two days before Christmas, and I was back to living in my own place after staying with the family for a bit while I got my job situation worked out.

And now, hours before the year is over, I have just started a new job two weeks before Christmas and I’m back to living with family after living on my own for a bit while I get my job situation worked out.           

That said, life is still pretty good.

I started off the year with a new job at a night school, and except for the weirdo night school schedule, it was a pretty nice gig.  In fact, for the first time in my career, I had an actual office with a door and everything, which was pretty doggone sweet.  The end of February bought with it Furry Fiesta which, as always, was a load of fun, and indeed, would be the last big fun thing I would do before the pandemic hit.

Of course, March bought with it the big shut down.  I did the work from home thing for a while until the Powers That Be figured out that, one: there were too many remote techs for the small amount of work to do, and two, things weren’t going back to normal anytime soon.  Thus, I was laid off from my job at the end of April and suddenly found myself with way too much time on my hands, as the old song goes.

In an effort to stave off cabin fever by giving myself something to do, I started reading one of Aesop’s fables every day from a book that I had back in May.  I have managed to do a pretty good job of keeping up with it and I’ll be finished with the book sometime in mid-February.  In June, I had another one of those doctor visits.  Those of you who are a bit on the heavier side will know what I mean when I say that.  I had made some progress with my weight loss; I was down a bit from my heaviest weight, which was good, but I still had work to do, so in July, I decided to finally get serious about losing weight. 

Thinking back, starting a weight loss plan at that point in time was perfect: I couldn’t go out to eat as often and, being out of work, I had lots of extra time to develop good habits like keeping track of my eating, measuring out portions, and of course, exercising.  When it’s all said and done, I should be down more or less about thirty pounds on the year, partially depending on how much awful eating I do at home today.  I have my next checkup in January, and I’m actually looking forward to it.

Speaking of home, I had a decision to make as the end of my apartment lease at the end of September came closer and closer.  I had been searching, but job prospects were pretty dismal.  Since being laid off in April, I had only been called for two virtual job interviews.  Thus, I decided to move back in with family, just like I had done in 2019. 

I did land a two-month contract job in September which turned into a longer contract.  Godwilling, will take me beyond the end of this coronavirus mess.  Until then, I have a job, a roof over my head, family, and faith that things will get better in the new year, and you know what?  That’s pretty good.

This has been 300 Seconds, the next episode will be posted after I burn my calendar.  I am Eduardo Soliz, if you’d like to hear more wonderfully witty words that I’ve written, subscribe via your favorite podcast app and visit Eduardo Soliz dot com for more.  Thank you for listening.  Be Good, Take Care, God Bless and here’s to a better 2021!

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300 Seconds, ANIME, CONS, CREATIVE, Eduardo Soliz, Fiesta Equestria, FURRY, Furry 101, FURRY FIESTA, JUST SAYING, PANELS, Podcasting, PODCASTS, RANDOMIZER9.COM, SAN JAPAN, WORDS

300 Seconds Episode #112: “A Furry Thing Happened on the Way to the Convention”

NOTE: This is a transcript of a podcast for those with hearing difficulties, those that prefer to read, and those who would prefer to not hear the sound of my voice. 😉

Click here to listen to this episode!

You are listening to ‘300 Seconds with Eduardo Soliz,’ and this is episode number one hundred and 112, “A Furry Thing Happened on the Way to the Convention,” so let the 300 Seconds begin!

For the last eight years and change, I have been a member of the furry community.  I have gone to furry conventions, written furry stories, published furry story collections, given furry presentations, taken lots of pictures of fursuiters, and made many new furry friends.  While my furry experience has been wonderful so far, like so many things in my life, it sometimes gets a little weird.  Okay, make that weirdER…

While not my first furry convention; Furry Fiesta 2013 was significant for me, because unlike the previous year, which was my first furcon, I now had a number of friends that were also going also to be there.  Just like everything else in life, having friends around makes conventions a lot more fun.

One evening during the convention, I went with some friends to eat at a restaurant.  The food was good, the company was pleasant, and we all enjoyed a nice meal.  While waiting to receive our checks, the manager approached our table and asked us how everything was.  We let her know that we were happy with the food and service.  She noticed that some of us were wearing our convention badges, so she asked if we were in town for a convention.  We answered that yes, we were, but nobody had an answer for the obvious follow-up question:

“What kind of convention is it?”

Everybody at the table, including myself, instantly froze up.  I have never before, in my entire life, seen seven grown adults go totally deer-in-headlights.  Everybody looked back and forth at each other, expecting somebody else to say something.  Finally, after about ten seconds of awkward silence, somebody said: “It’s an ART convention!”  That answer immediately snapped everybody out of their daze and the rest of the evening went on as expected.

For what it’s worth, I came up with a five-word explanation of furry that tends to satisfy most folk’s curiosity, and those five words are: “Nerds who like cartoon animals.”

For the last few years, I have presented educational panels at various conventions in Texas including RealmsCon, Comicpalooza, Fiesta Equestria, and San Japan.  I’ve talked about publishing e-books, recording audio, and of course, furries, in a panel called Furry 101.  The point of Furry 101 is to give outsiders the low-down on what furries are all about.  In the interest of full disclosure, I do also include some of the weird stuff, but since the panel is for an all-ages audience, I can’t go too far.

A few years ago at San Japan, I was presenting Furry 101 to an audience of about two hundred people, my largest audience ever.  As I’m doing so, I’m looking over my audience, making sure that I have their attention and looking to see that I don’t have too many people walking out.  One person that stuck out was a gentleman that looked to be a bit older.  Not super-old, mind you, but in an anime convention, if you’re over 40, you’re going to stick out a little bit.  I figured he was there with his child.  Much to my delight, he looked to be engaged in the presentation, but the expression on his face became, shall we say, less happy once I got to the weird stuff.  Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that weird, but the presentation slide that mentions adult art certainly got his attention.  I felt terrible after the fact, thinking: “Oh my God. I have totally ruined furry for his kid.  They’re going to be locked away in their home forever and never be allowed to associate with those ‘animal people weirdos’ ever again.”

Fast forward a few months. Come to my surprise, I bumped into the gentleman and his child at Furry Fiesta.  If I remember correctly, his name was Kevin.  He thanked me for the presentation, much to my relief.  I’ve spoken with a few more parents after Furry 101 since then and have even come across a few folks that have joined the fandom after attending my panel.  Granted, the panel is not supposed to be a recruiting tool, but if folks want to join the club after the fact, who am I to argue?

This has been 300 Seconds, the next episode will be posted after I insert more subliminal messages into my Furry 101 panel slides.  I am Eduardo Soliz, if you’d like to hear more 300 seconds subscribe via your favorite podcast app and check out my website at Eduardo Soliz dot com.  Thank you for listening!  Be good, take care, and God bless.

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ANIME, CONS, FURRY, Furry 101, How To Panel, Manga, PANELS, SAN JAPAN, Videogames, WORDS

51 Things I Noticed at San Japan XI

San Japan is probably my favorite convention, bar none, and this year was great! As always, I noticed a few things…

  1. BEFORE – I’m guessing “Magical Universe” means there will be a lot more Sailor Moon crossplayers.

    badge

    #17 Yay?

  2. They’re going to have to try pretty hard to top Okashicon for: “Con with the most pinks and pastels” prize.
  3. Between this and Furry Fiesta 2019’s ‘Roll Fur Initiative” theme, I’m not feeling a lot of love.
  4. As a nerd who’s old enough to have owned an Atari 2600, I’m not exactly the target audience, so yeah.
  5. I’m getting a new fursuit and this will be my first time wearing it. It’s just the thing for MID-90 DEGREE WEATHER.
  6. In addition to the usual con prep, I’m also looking for a new job and getting my house ready to be put on sale the Tuesday after. No rest for the weary! >.<
  7. I guess I can’t awkwardly refer to San Japan as a ‘Comic-Con’ anymore to normies for fear of being sued by SDCC.
  8. Staying at the nearby Tru by Hilton, which apparently is a more modern hotel, which means it annoys me somewhat.
  9. Thing I forgot (again): Aftershave.
  10. Chili’s seems to have become our San Japan Thursday dinner go-to.
  11. Looks like my fursuit won’t be ready for the show. Given the temperature outside and my lack of experience, it’s likely just as well.
  12. Had a funny moment with a friend when I had to remind him that he wasn’t working on Labor Day the following Monday.
  13. Dave: “You can have ambience or you can have a butt-load of arcade games.” I’m glad he went with Door #2.
  14. Maybe they should change the name to ‘Sign Japan.’
  15. I find the lack of security on Thursday nights to be just a little concerning.
  16. FRIDAY – Nothing like waking up early to go feed the meter; a small price to pay for cheap parking!
  17. I was happy with my badge art until I saw the volunteer badges have the same art and now I’m less happy.

    signjapan

    #14 The signage was YUUGE!

  18. Yay escalators!
  19. Yay, I forgot about the escalators and took the scenic route down to Artist Alley!
  20. Furst World Problems: I quit wearing my ears because the hairband kept digging into my head.
  21. I got a haircut the other day so there is less hair to cushion it now.
  22. The uneven lanes the Artist Alley are just a little weird.
  23. No panels to run on Friday: HOW DO I HAVE FUN?
  24. Retro Game Museum might be better off being called “Pong Museum.”
  25. Might need to put together a video game history panel, made better because I WAS THERE FOR MOST OF IT.
  26. The arcade was cool, though the sound on the music games wasn’t always loud enough.
  27. You know the competition between the three(!) Chinese joints at Rivercenter Mall is crazy when someone tries to hand you a sample WHILE YOU’RE IN LINE FOR THE PLACE NEXT DOOR.
  28. SATURDAY – I didn’t have enough change to feed the meter for the whole day, so I decided to live dangerously.
  29. Old hotness: Annoying music over Bluetooth speaker. New hotness: Watching anime subs on your phone with the volume turned up
  30. Sign of the times: Sriracha at the breakfast buffet
  31. Thanks for the retweet, Dave. Be nice if your Twitter account wasn’t protected, but such is life.
  32. I had an unfortunate situation with the light switches before Furry 101…maybe not for me, but the dance contest people next door likely hate me now.
  33. Very happy with the turnout and participation at Furry 101 this year, thanks for the help, San Antonio furries!
  34. I always have to buy a paleta from the vendor in front of the Henry B…BECAUSE REASONS
  35. It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to lose fursuiters at an anime con!
  36. There seem to be more people wearing ears and tails this year, hmm.
  37. Chili’s again for supper.  I’m okay with that.
  38. SUNDAY – Good trend: Vendors playing 80s music
  39. I’m still having difficulty finding cool stickers for my my laptop, though I did buy a chibi Bender.
  40. I’m pretty much forced to stay all day thanks to having a panel scheduled at 530 PM.
  41. Decision time: Carry my laptop around all day or return to my car to get it at 500 PM. I went with door #1
  42. Luckily, there is less me to carry around this time so it wasn’t a big problem.
  43. Dunno if anyone is going to be at “How to Panel,” but the show must go on.

  44. laptop

    #39 Bite my shiny chibi ass!

    Maybe I’ll use the setup time to take a nap.

  45. Mental note: Add a “Finish on time and clear the room” slide to the presentation because the group before me didn’t.
  46. Yay, people showed up…including one person with REALLY weird questions.  Sometimes you get ‘that guy’ at a panel, and he definitely was THAT GUY.
  47. Overall, the panel went well. I learned some stuff and made notes to add stuff to the presentation to make the next one even better!
  48. I took one of those Lime-S rental scooters back to the car, it was pretty cool!
  49. I was relieved to not find a citation on the my vehicle when I returned to it.
  50. I really can’t find anything major that went wrong this year, it’s gonna be a boring post-game Con Talk episode.
  51. San Japan XII: Sports?! Finally, a theme I can get behind!
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ANIME, Con Talk, CONS, Eduardo Soliz, FURRY, Podcasting, PODCASTS, SAN JAPAN

62 Things I Noticed at San Japan 009

San Japan (totally not Cyborg) 009 happened last weekend.  Amidst the new venue and new date, I noticed some things.  If I took your picture (I was the dude with bear ears, see below) you can find it here!

  1. It's YUUUGE!

    #16: You are…somewhere?

    THURSDAY NIGHT – Went in the old entrance of the Gonzalez Convention Center out of habit…oops

  2. New space is YUUUGE
  3. My fursuiter friends are already complaining about all the walking they’re going to be doing over the weekend.
  4. Artist alley is HUMONGOUS
  5. Dealer’s room is INSANE
  6. They ARE going to turn on the escalators in the Dealer’s room, right?
  7. Autograph area setup looks like what I see set up at comic-cons, hmm
  8. Located in the back corner, milk and eggs and all that
  9. If Labor Day does take a bite out of attendance, we’ll really see it on Friday, IMO
  10. Me gusta bigger panel room for Furry 101! About fuzzing time!
  11. The halls remind me of PAX South Year 1 but with the lights on
  12. Seriously, the HBG felt like a cavern back then with all the lights turned down
  13. Spiffy new booths for registration, ooh
  14. Badges are less nice this year, a little more papery.  Hope they hold up.  Compared them to last year’s badges after the fact and they’re the same.
  15. Press badges get the same art as volunteer ones? BOO!
  16. The YUUUGE maps were just a bit confusing.
  17. Didn’t help that they put teensy ‘You Are Here’ stickers that were near-impossible to find.  Maybe some gold stars or Pokeball stickers next time, guys?
  18. FRIDAY-This is my free day: No panels and my freaks aren’t showing up until late in the afternoon
  19. Arrived at 11 and easily found parking at the Houston street lot, wonder if that’s a sign
  20. Random person also walking to San Japan asked if the tin of Altoids rattling in my pocket were dice. OH HELL NO

    20160902_185752655_ios

    #28: Overestimate much?

  21. Walked into the Henry B. via the main entrance this time. Is niiice!
  22. Finally found someone pickier than Alvin Von Devious to try and help with their fursuit. Came close to (metaphorically) flipping the table.
  23. Customer service tip: Just answer my question without the lame jokes, please.
  24. So who gets to be the under/sideboob/cheek checker?
  25. Escalators in the dealer’s room are shut off, no bueno.
  26. One dealer’s display had ALL THE BOOBS.
  27. But that’s okay because they’re just cartoons…right?
  28. “History of Anime in the US” got the biggest panel room and about 50 people showed up. Yes, I counted.
  29. Good panel, but come on, I had that many the first time I did Furry 101 three years ago at RealmsCon.
  30. Do they even check to see how many people actually show up at panels?  Seriously.
  31. I kept waiting to hear one word at History of Anime but it never turned up: “Japanimation” That’s what we called it in the 80’s, kids!
  32. Friend and I did our good deed for the day getting a friend out of a jam.
  33. It took me a half hour but I had to claim the top spot on the Time Pilot game in the game room. EDS is on top where it belongs. *flex*
  34. Somehow I got pegged as the guy ‘running’ the furry meetup and some folks freaked when I showed up late.  THAT’S NOT HOW THIS WORKS, GUYS
  35. SATURDAY-Easy parking on Houston St again, which has me slightly worried
  36. Saw displays made out of free Priority Mail boxes in the dealer’s room.  Classy.

    Clearly there is underboob here.

    #26: Under….side…ALL THE BOOBS

  37. Only the first 100 people get an autograph? Interesting.
  38. “It is up to the artist whether 101+ get an autograph” There has to be a better way to say that without making the artist look like a complete tool.
  39. The Taito Groove Coaster video game calls the Space Invaders alien a ‘crab’ IT’S AN ALIEN GUYS
  40. I keep thinking ‘Spock ears’ whenever I see pointy ears
  41. An anime con is one of the few places where you can lose a fursuiter
  42. Need to mark the lanes in Artist Alley, which one is ‘Row 5’ again?
  43. Arrived too late to the Bitforce concert to take advantage of my press badge, pbbt
  44. Wonder if they had technical problems; we could see the lead guitarist was shredding his fingers off but could barely hear him.  Otherwise, good show!
  45. Except for the game room, the air conditioning seems to be holding up well.
  46. Good thing too, because I was soaking after the occasional three-block walk to my car.
  47. The paleta man is back, woo!

    #X: Hello, old friend!

    #47: Hello, old friend!

  48. Nearly filled up our medium-sized panel room for Furry 101, w00t.
  49. 45 minute time limit threw me off, though, may have to reorganize things for next time.
  50. I only have two cosplays (Professor Utonium and Soos). I didn’t wear either, and saw the perfect people to take pictures with (The Powerpuff Girls and Giffany)! ARGH
  51. 18+ maid cafe was fun!
  52. Tipsy elevator normies were…interesting.
  53. Tipsy normie asked: “WHY YOU WEARING MOUSE EARS?” I’m not going to debate with someone holding a drink in public, they won’t remember anyway.
  54. SUNDAY-Less parking at the lot, but still no problem finding a spot; be interesting to see the attendance this year (It was down 12%)
  55. Been seeing a lot of ‘robot guts’ shirts around, guess they’re a hit.
  56. Hey panel door guy, the door opens when I say so, capisce?
  57. Noticed a lot of Judy Hopps cosplayers, bunny ears, Nick Wildes, and even an Assistant Mayor Bellweather. YAY ZOOTOPIA!
  58. Overwatch was also popular. I don’t even play the game, but for my friends it’s always HIIIGH NOOOON.
  59. Left early because the show just isn’t as fun without my friends!
  60. Mizuumi-Con is now “Otaku Fair” That’s good.
  61. Otaku Fair decided to not make any further announcements about their new event at THE BIGGEST EVENT IN THE CITY FOR POTENTIAL ATTENDEES. That’s not good.
  62. Observation:  Labor Day weekend works great for older folks like myself. For the youngn’s, though, not so much.
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ANIME, CONS, CREATIVE, Eduardo Soliz, HavenCon, Uncategorized

Some Neat Stuff I Saw at HavenCon 2016

havenconstuff

Con loot!

Instead of my usual ‘things I noticed’ list, I’m going to take a different approach with this post-convention blog post. At every convention, I see lots of neat artwork from independent artists. Sometimes there are independent game studios showing their wares, and they will often have some pretty cool demos to check out.

This past weekend I attended HavenCon in Austin, Texas. HavenCon bills itself as “the first geek and gaming convention in Texas to focus on the LGBTQIA and Ally communities,” and indeed there was a variety of things to see and do.

So without any further ado:

I purchased some nice X Files-themed prints from Megan Kluck featuring artwork similar to this.  Her art can be found at tasteslikekeys.tumblr.com

This print from Robby Cook will be hanging in my home soon.  His wonderful artwork and mash-ups can be found at robbycook.com

I bought a zine from Bis Thornton (bisthebox.com) and E. S. Mahoney named “Singularity: Contraption” that contained some neat stories about robotics.

“Redemption,” a comic written and drawn by Veronica Kathryn, is the story of a girl who’s trying to make up for the fact that she ENDED THE WORLD.  Oops.  It can be read at redemption.smackjeeves.com and her artwork can be found at bobo-kitty.deviantart.com

There were a few indie game developers there with some neat games, such as Black Ice, a funky Tron-inspired first person shooter with RPG elements by Garrett Cooper.  Finji knocked my socks off with a turn-based survival game called Overland, which is currently in development.

I had an enjoyable weekend at HavenCon, made even more so by these folks and their wonderful work!  I hope you check them out, and thanks for reading!

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ANIME, Apple, CONS, Eduardo Soliz, FURRY, SAN JAPAN

64 Things I Noticed During San Japan 8-Bit

#8: Where am I, again?

#10: Where am I, now?

Another year, another San Japan!  I presented two panels and took lots of cosplayer pictures!

  1. BEFORE THE SHOW-Went to a bronycon to practice ‘Furry 101’ for San Japan and now I’m going to do a ‘live podcast’ there. YOU OWE ME HENKIN
  2. Bought a 30-pack of Vitamin-C fizzy-drink packets for this and future cons, be interesting to see how long they last
  3. Looking forward to using my iPad mini during my panels, no more lugging around my laptop!
  4. Thing I hope to not see but probably will: people scalping Maid Café tickets.
  5. So there’s a ‘blue moon’ Friday night when I’m doing a panel with WolfBoy. GREAAAT
  6. I spend more time worrying about what I’m going to wear to a convention than to my job
  7. 100+ plus forecast means no black shirts, thank you
  8. Decided to lend my driveway to some friends for the weekend…who didn’t park in the driveway /facepalm
  9. Sorry, 7-11, but Valero has God’s Coke Machine
  10. Nice giant maps, just missing a “You are here” sticker
  11. Did AA get smaller? (answer: no)
  12. Did the Dealers room get…taller? (answer: mmmaybe)
  13. I’m getting a little bit of that ‘where’s the anime’ vibe from some of the vendors in the Dealers room :/
  14. Looks like the Grand Hyatt has become the ‘No Fun Zone’
  15. Got my ears fixed all professional-like, yay!
  16. S. David Ramirez’s cut in half business cards = GENIUS
  17. FRIDAY -Friend: “I don’t like waking up early on my day off.” You wanted a ride, so deal with it, Frumpasarus Rex
  18. I bought him donuts so all was forgiven
  19. Stupid Windows Phone Guidebook app being derpy. Need to get an iPhone
  20. I keep wanting to go in the wrong way of the Dealers Den >.<
  21. Taco Bell at the Rivercenter Mall? REALLY?
  22. Room 002? I thought it was 202 WHARRGARBL
  23. These artist displays are getting to the point where you have to struggle to find the ARTIST now.
  24. Dave gave me a panel that no one would show up to so he could hide for an hour.
  25. That’s okay because DAVE-SENPAI NOTICED ME
  26. You know it was a long day when your electronics start to give out, iPad and phone both ran out of juice.
  27. Hit over 10,000 steps today according to my 3DS, think that’s the highest I’ve ever done in a day.
  28. Which means I need to get more exercise >.<
  29. Internets on my Cricket/AT&T phone are flaky as all heck, might need to get a new provider when I decide to pull the trigger on that iPhone.
  30. SATURDAY-Got up at oh dark thirty to get a parking spot >.<
  31. I can’t help but notice the little things that are wrong with some of the retro-styled merch
  32. Yay for wide aisles!
  33. Popular cosplay: Steven Universe
  34. Two BayMaxes got quite a bit of attention
  35. One does not simply talk to a table-top player mid game. Fist-bump and move on.
  36. Person in car at crosswalk: “What is this?” Me: “Comic Con” I FAILED YOU DAVE-SENPAI
  37. AA was blocked off for a while, Fire Marshals, maybe??
  38. Perhaps they should have ran the line INTO the convention center instead of the atrium.  Fursuiter friends were not happy
  39. Yay for Stephanie and her full panel room!
  40. Picked up an ocarina on a whim. *insert drummer joke here*
  41. If the maid café ain’t all its cracked up to be, I want a refund…from Chris
  42. ‘Perfect spot’ right in the sunlight THANKS CHRIS
  43. Going to add the Pokémon theme to my list of songs anime nerds sing on command
  44. Maid café was a nice change of pace, a pleasant way to spend an hour in what is often a overwhelmingly manic event
  45. Unlimited samples of Coke? DON’T MIND IF I DO
  46. Dear mock combat people: Please figure out how big your arena is going to be ahead of time instead of telling people to move back multiple times
  47. Between the wristband policy and lack of chill spaces, I’m thinking the Hyatt doesn’t like San Japan attendees
  48. SUNDAY-Forgot to take my C this morning, hope I don’t regret it.
  49. No selfies for me, dumb cheap no front camera-having phone XP
  50. I see San Japan charges the ‘fat tax’ for larger shirt sizes
  51. Screaming JUST DO IT has become a thing. Greaaat
  52. I’d rather yell OHHHHH with Mordecai and Rigby
  53. I’m starting to think Bluetooth speakers are one of mankind’s worst inventions. I DEMAND A BAN.
  54. Unless breakdancing is involved, then we’re cool.
  55. Full house for Furry 101, w00t

    #55 Full house!

    #55 Full house!

  56. I’ll get a Lightning->VGA adapter because ‘cons don’t have       the latest equipment’ I come in and see a projector with an HDMI cable CRAP
  57. Found a cable but iPad no likey YOU HAD ONE JOB, iPad!
  58. Ended up using the silly thing as a clock. A FUZZING CLOCK
  59. Thank God AJ showed up with his laptop
  60. Joel did a bang-up job as my co-presenter, added some humor to the proceedings
  61. Guess I’ll always be the Dean Martin to someone else’s Jerry Lewis
  62. The half-hour length of my presentation used to bother me, but it leaves time for questions and pictures!
  63. Hit the road after the panel, another great time!
  64. It’s Cyborg 009, guys! Whole world of difference!
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ANIME, CONS, SAN JAPAN

23 Things I Noticed at mini-minicon 2015

San Japan (San Antonio’s biggest anime con) and Nine-Tails (San Antonio anime store run by some cool peoples) put on a small event at Wonderland of the Americas Mall last Saturday, so here we go!

#14

#12 – Bad wolf-dog-person thing!!

  1. I was involved in mini-cons before they were cool…just sayin’
  2. Attendance at the last mini-con was just over 100, so how is this mini-mini?
  3. Compared to San Japan’s 14K+ attendance last year, I guess just over 1,000 is mini (I’ll stop talking about that now)
  4. My panel, “Furry 101,” was scheduled against the cosplay show, hopefully it won’t impact attendance too much.
  5. I often joke about how Wonderland of the Americas Mall is deader than disco except for when nerd events happen, but this one was particularly packed.
  6. I kept seeing people with ice cream cones and I WANTED ONE SO BAD
  7. Didn’t help that the mall was quite warm, I was sweating about as much asmy fursuiting friends were.
  8. Between my panel and my fursuiting friends, I had plenty of logistical things to work out.
  9. Remembered to bring my 3DS to the to harvest those sweet, sweet puzzle pieces, and left it in the car >.<
  10. Despite that, it picked up 10 passes anyway.
  11. I’m not a fursuiter, but it even irks me when people ‘break the magic.’  Come on, guys!
  12. I told Alvin Von Derpious he would end up scaring some kid and it finally happened…WAY TO GO, DUDE
  13. Nine-Tails looked like Club 54 with the line outside.
  14. Hearing the “Teen Titans Go” theme being played live by BitForce was pretty cool!
  15. Left in the car #2: my bear ears.  So much for my ‘furry cred.’
  16. Twelve people were there for the beginning of my “Furry 101” panel, so I guess being scheduled opposite the cosplay show had an effect. :I
  17. The panel was recorded this time!  Thanks, Furball!
  18. It went well, my constant swinging back and forth notwithstanding.
  19. I was also talking with my hands and doing a sing-song voice…blame it on my genes 😉
  20. A few more people walked in during the panel, had an okay crowd of about half-filled with furries. 😀
  21. Dunno If they announced the panels over the PA beforehand, but it would have been nice.
  22. Overall, it was a fun event, plenty to see, do, buy, and friends to catch up with!
  23. How is it nobody registered miniminicon.com beforehand??
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ANIME, BUSINESS, Computers, CONS, JUST SAYING, ORIGINAL-GAMER.COM, PAX South, RANDOM STOPS, RANDOMIZER9.COM, TECH, Videogames, WEATHER, WHATS GOING ON, WORDS, Wreck-It Ralph

70 Things I Noticed During PAX South

conventionsPAX South took place this past weekend in San Antonio, and I dropped in on behalf of originalgamer.com to help out with Video Game Jeopardy! and play some games.

  1. Rainy and cold on Friday. Did the weather follow the Penny-Arcade guys down here?
  2. First time I’ve ever seen people scalping tickets at a con.
  3. Weird con idea: Coat check-in
  4. Found it hilarious that OG forgot his battery pack and his phone died. Seriously, dude?
  5. Dafuq with all the Seahawks jerseys? I thought these were supposed to be nerds?
  6. Nice line for Video Game Jeopardy, hope my voice holds up
  7. Men’s room was out of soap, hopefully that means people are using it 
  8. Actually, I didn’t use any. Sorry, guys, I was in a hurry
  9. We’ve been doing Video Game Jeopardy for years and of course I goof up in front of our biggest audience by pulling up an answer when the contestant had it wrong
  10. The guy won easily, no harm done there. *whew*
  11. Despite all the Seahawks jerseys, ‘Cover Athletes’ was easily the most-hated Video Game Jeopardy! category
  12. Somebody actually knew the obscure Atari 2600-related answer (Pele’s Soccer) Impressive.
  13. The risk of picking random people for Video Game Jeopardy is that we may get folks that know little or know it all, we got two of the first and one of the second.
  14. Had a case of mistaken identity after Video Game Jeopardy, hadn’t had that happen in a while.
  15. Sorry, I have never worked at GameStop, though like many gamers, I’ve spent enough time at them for it to seem that way.
  16. Thought someone was giving away bean bags until I realized it was a chill area.  Derp.
  17. Saturday-If you don’t mind walking a few blocks there’s a $2.50 per day parking lot under the freeway at E. Houston St.
  18. Forgot to bring my 3DS on Friday, not making that mistake again!
  19. I always bring a box of Rice Krispies Treats in my backpack.  Just the thing to hold one over till the next meal.
  20. Nerds love em too, which is good for sharing
  21. Seriously.  Anime, comic, furry, video game, whatever-con. Nerds flip for Rice Krispies Treats.
  22. Left my gloves at a friend’s house a few weeks ago, sure would have come in handy today!
  23. Random guy came up and offered me a Saturday badge because he was looking for a guy ‘with a red shirt and a fist on it.’  Lucky for him I’m honest.
  24. Weird thing: He apparently didn’t notice I was already wearing a badge.  Hope he found who he was looking for.
  25. Saturday con day breakfast: Breakfast on a Bun with sausauge.  If you don’t know what that is, have breakfast at Whataburger the next time you see one.
  26. Oh, they do have a coat check here.  Cool.
  27. So one hall is to hold the line to get into the other one? I am a little disappoint.
  28. Remember when arcades weren’t just fighting games? Pepperidge Farm remembers
  29. Maybe its because I’ve been to E3 but my initial reaction to PAX was slightly underwhelmed
  30. What was there was cool, but in terms of volume, other cons have more stuff.  Quality vs. quantity, I suppose.
  31. Also, I’m also not a OMG HARDCORE GAMER so I’m not exactly the ‘target audience.’
  32. Plenty of signal, no data, thanks Cricket/AT&T!
  33. Crisis:  3DS battery light turns red OH NOES I’LL MISS ALL THE STREETPASSES
  34. Nintendo: Y U NO USE USB?
  35. Good idea: Arriving half an hour early for a panel. Bad idea: Standing in line for about a half-hour waiting to get in
  36. I own an iPad mini, a Windows 8 tablet, a smartphone and still ended up using paper and pen to take my notes.  Yay for dead trees!
  37. Weird moment: Sitting at the lower level of the Rivercenter food court eating, looking to my left, and seeing people’s feet.
  38. They had shoes on, so it wasn’t that bad
  39. Weirder moment: Seeing a Starbucks gift card next to said feet
  40. Weirdest moment: Asking the owners of the feet if they had dropped it
  41. The card wasn’t theirs and I was too honest to take it. Oh well!
  42. Thought I saw the paleta man but it just a bicycle-rickshaw thing BOO
  43. Scott Kurtz was the only celebrity I knew of, so I said hi, told him I enjoyed PvP and went on my merry way.
  44. I probably weirded the dude out. Sorry man, couldn’t think of anything clever.
  45. Booth observations:  No demo, no write up.
  46. I also don’t think my editor is interested in Kickstarter projects.
  47. Saw one booth that looked like a T-shirt company-cum-game developer…huh?
  48. I tended to ignore booths that had ‘just another’ shooter/platformer/adventure game.  Yes, I’m jaded
  49. No interest in mobile games, either. Sorry, guys /shrug
  50. Loneliest booth was probably Gamechurch.com
  51. Sitting across from an empty seat resting my feet and some gal just sits in it.  I guess being pretty means not having manners.
  52. The next gal that showed up after Ms. Thing left asked if the seat was taken.  Go fig.
  53. Not interested in swag, but Astronaut ice cream?  Yes, please!
  54. I have no idea why they had Astronaut ice cream.
  55. Rest time = Streetpass harvest time!
  56. Losing weight is good. Having to constantly pull up my jeans is annoying, made me like a bleeping teenager
  57. I referred to the jean-tugs as the ‘reverse Picard maneuver’
  58. Lots of compliments on my ‘I can wreck it!’ shirt again, woo!
  59. Realized after the fact that I overpacked and should have left my Bluetooth mouse/keyboard at home.
  60. Observation from OG: There were no volunteers barking at attendees like at other cons
  61. Wonder if it’s because the attendees seem to be a mite older here?
  62. Regardless, perhaps other cons need to jazz up their marketing and call their volunteers something else to add prestige and respect to what is a very thankless job.  “Volunteer?”  Boring.  “Enforcers?”  Oooh.
  63. Not sure what I’m going to do for Sunday.  I pretty much saw all the booths yesterday
  64. Made darn sure to charge my 3DS last night
  65. Also remembered to fill my water bottle before leaving the house this time.  Mmm, home water.
  66. The weather was so nice I almost forgot my coat when I left
  67. Now that the event is over, I can finally delete all those ‘PLEASE COME SEE OUR STUFF’ emails from devs.
  68. Great, now they’re finding me on my Twitter
  69. Obligatory work item: My legs should not be this sore after the fact, need a gig where I *don’t* sit on my tail all day
  70. PAX South is probably the best fan-run gaming convention around and I can see why folks love it so.  Its not really my thing; if I go next year it’ll just be for a day.  Plenty of my friends had a blast, though!
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35 Things I Noticed During RealmsCon 2014

Zoidberg cosplayer!

Cosplay? Why not Zoidberg?

  1. OMG the Corpus Christi humidity kills me, yet another reason I need to lose weight
  2. The line for pre-registration was zero so I got my badges quickly. Always preregister, folks!
  3. Both aisles of the Artist’s Alley hallway were being used, which made it little crowded
  4. The bigger dealer area was nice, but they really need to put AA in a better spot
  5. A few empty tables here and there in AA, sadly typical
  6. The artists I knew that weren’t coming back to Realms after poor sales in the past, didn’t.
  7. Sighted in AA: body-sized “Hug pillows?”  YEAH, STILL NOT CREEPY AT ALL
  8. Filling out paper form in the reg line always holds it up
  9. No multi-arcade game machine in the game room?  FAIL
  10. GoPro cameras seem to be everywhere now for better or for worse
  11. The Zoidberg cosplayer at right was probably my favorite one of the con
  12. Note to self: leave the laptop in the CAR if you aren’t going to use it *huff*
  13. I am sorry, Jena, but a sandwich and a hamburger are most definitely NOT the same thing. Guess it’s a “guy thing”
  14. 123456? Yeah, they’ll never guess *that* hotel WiFi password
  15. Want to turn a decent hotel room into OMG BEST ROOM EVAR? Add a fridge and a microwave!
  16. Gave my niece a ride to the con, she bought a tail while she was there…ONE OF US ONE OF US
  17. Construction on Shoreline? Dammit Corpus!
  18. I always see cases of water on the cheap at Stripes convenience stores except THE ONE TIME I ACTUALLY WANT TO BUY ONE >.<
  19. You know you’re bushed when you don’t want to go up the stairs to eat on the second floor of Whataburger by the Bay
  20. Apparently VIP passes allow one to skip lines, here, what a concept!
  21. The actor playing Kirk in “Star Trek Continues” had a celebrity table and McCoy was in Artist’s Alley…typical
  22. Holy cats, we managed to fill up a panel room and then some for the “Furry 101” panel
  23. There are even a few furries present, which might have been cheating 😉
  24. According to Wolfboy adding “-ies” to the end of an animal name makes it furry “insect-ies” “shark-ies”
  25. I can’t argue against his logic, though.
  26. MASSIVE con fail for not having projectors for either one of my panels even though I had requested them
  27. Projectors were found but I had no screen so I had to project my presentations onto the wall at an angle and figure out how to darken the lights. -_-
  28. Luckily I think I could do my e-book panel without one, but still!
  29. What the fuzz was up with that guy that wanted to take a picture of all the furries jumping up in the air?
  30. I was tickled that the schedule part of the conbook was titled ”Celebrity Schedules’ and my name was on it. Oh, you!
  31. I don’t get the point of having someone watching the door at the end of Artist’s Alley, can’t they just, I don’t know, LOCK THE DOOR?
  32. Seafood restaurant, why is your salad bar backwards?
  33. There were only 8 people at my e-book panel, but those three very interested folks made it worth it
  34. Since nothing was scheduled after e-books the panel room became an improvised fursuit lounge.
  35. I lost two pounds over the weekend, perhaps I need to attend more cons!
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