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argurotoxosThis is so highly belated by this point that I debated over simply linking to the photos without any written commentary, but decided that I didn't want to gloss over PortCon 2009. It meant a great deal to me that I was able to go and even more that I was able to spend time with friends. The most significant sentiment that came out of PortCon was that I am still connected to people. For reasons that aren't entirely clear to me, I've become even shyer over the past year and it was wonderful to be with others that I felt very comfortable around. Paradoxically, I think not being invested in any particular anime or manga series helped me to enjoy the convention more and further soak in the general atmosphere. I doubt I'll be able to do it justice, but suffice it to say that I'm very grateful for the people whose company I was able to enjoy.
PortCon photos are here, but there aren't too many; the majority of them were taken at the Masquerade.
My mom and I drove up to Maine on Thursday and had dinner with my aunt and grandparents at a restaurant in the Old Port. The weather was unseasonably cool and rainy, but it was minor compared to the near-constant downpour on Friday.
Our hotel room - shared by Shampoo, Tanya, Jo, Kun, and myself - was much nicer than last year, although it still had a few odd quirks (a bit dark, broken ironing board). It was good to be back in our old hotel; we decided the only thing we missed from last year's was the balcony. The first thing I did when I arrived at the hotel was meet Kun in the lobby, but I couldn't begin to try to capture those moments coherently, which is partly why this has been so delayed. It's one of those times I almost wish I could bottle up that memory and those emotions to be carried and preserved with perfect recollection, not just that moment, but a number of small instances that have had a strong impact on me throughout my life.
I brought one anime-based cosplay with me (Ritsuka from Loveless), but spent most of the time in two different outfits that weren't any character in particular and hadn't been tested ahead of time. The first was an excuse to use a black medieval-inspired dress originally bought during junior high for my then-Tremere character (Vampire: The Masquerade) with platform boots, two ankh jewlery pieces (a large Vampire: The Masquerade necklace and a smaller collar from Sarah), vampire fangs, and a white make-up base with eye and lip designs vaguely based on Zaya (Thief2X: Shadows of the Metal Age) and Emilie Autumn. I brought two different sets of fangs - one bought locally and one from Sarah - and rather quickly decided that the ones from Sarah were both of a better quality and much more comfortable. (Thank you.) The other outfit was an odd mix between Jeanette (Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines), Emilie Autumn, and random clothes with a black mesh top, plaid skirt, and Autumn-style mismatched thigh-high stockings. It was certainly odd to have mostly female outfits and not to have any real characters, which was slightly embarrassing when others asked me who I was or mistook me for Death (Sandman) and has convinced me to do at least one new character for next year.
Once we finished putting our bags away and Kun changed into Spain (Hetalia), we decided to go to the voice actors panel, which was actually pretty amusing and informative. Kun and I went out to dinner at Panera's for their tomato and mozzarella paninis; the owners thought it was cold enough outside to have their fireplace lit, which we huddled next to. After dinner, we caught part of Anime Unscripted and later our whole room went to Extreme Geek. They've changed Extreme Geek quite a lot since the last time I saw it (way back in 2004) and it was . . . weird. And crazy. And strange. But fun. I think. The infamous back rub scene from Star Trek The Original Series, the possibly more infamous Shark Repellent Bat-Spray scene from the 1960s Batman movie, and Major Kira all came up during the trivia section. And a song about being on a boat.
We went to bed almost right after Extreme Geek and woke up Saturday around 7:30 AM, but lounged around watching The Dark Knight, which just happened to be showing on HBO. (High definition and fullscreen actually does make a difference compared to the several times I've watched the DVD at home.) Once we were up and dressed - sometime around the interrogation scene - Kun and I wandered the halls and ended up catching the end of Kung Pow, which I'd never seen before but appeared to be a pretty funny kung-fu film parody. Kun and I later saw most of the AMV showing, not realizing that they had all the categories mixed together (Kun had wanted to see the romance and drama sections), and - to my surprise - I recognized most of the series and song artists.
One of the changes at PortCon this year was holding the main events outside in a large tent. It was nice in the sense that it gave the dealers' room more space and worked well for the Rave, but it had unfortunately leaked Thursday night and was awkward for the Masquerade, partly because the participants had to walk from the green room (inside the hotel) and line up outside the tent before appearing on-stage. However, because of this set-up - and since we just happened to be sitting near where the cosplayers lined up next to the tent - I took most of my photos through the transparent tent flap, which came out much clearer than any I could get of the stage area. As for the Masquerade itself, I enjoyed it more than I had for the past several years. My personal favourites were both ones I hadn't been expecting -- an extremely well-made Two-Face (Batman) and a Little Sister with a Big Daddy (Bioshock). (My other favourite for the convention as a whole was a Rorschach, but I only got the briefest of glances at his costume on Friday and no photos.) I was also able to talk with Jekka after the Masquerade; it was very good to see her.
Shampoo, Tanya, Jo, Kun, and I went to the mall for dinner, then came back for the Rave. Even though I hardly recognized any of the songs and they didn't play "Cotton Eye Joe" (but did play Mindless Self Indulgence's "Shut Me Up"), it was a good time. Near the end of the rave, everyone was throwing their glow sticks around (earlier, there were inflatable whales and sharks). Very fortunately, it didn't rain Saturday and was pleasantly cool. Afterward, I briefly caught up with Kelsey, our room eventually ordered pizza online from Domino's, and we watched one of the live-action NANAs.
Sunday morning was spent packing up, although it didn't take as long as I thought it might. Kun and I caught the end of the Power Rangers movie, wandered through the dealers' room a few times, and eventually ended out on the bridge and struck up a conversation with someone we'd never met before. Ahh, cons. The dealers' room had quite a lot of manga - both full-price and at discount - but nothing stood out to me that anyone I knew would like. They did have a few comics, but for some reason, 99.5% of them were Marvel.
After saying goodbye to everyone, my mom and grandparents picked me up for a Father's Day lunch at my aunt's. My mom, grandma, and I stayed a bit later than everyone else to watch and episode of Columbo.
My mom and I spent Monday at my grandparents' and departed Tuesday. Before leaving Portland itself, we ate lunch at The Floating Restaurant (a converted car ferry in the Old Port) and stopped at Bull Moose Music and Casablanca Comics, from with I obtained a few used DVDs and a Midnighter trade paperback. We ended up having to make our way through Boston traffic before arriving in Quincy, which wasn't very impressive at first glance. The hotel we stayed in Tuesday night was fine and we went on the John Adams tour Wednesday morning. It was interesting and I'm glad we were able to see it. Unfortunately, I don't remember much from the tour guides' narration even though I can still visualize most of the rooms and was feeling so sick and dizzy by the end of it that we left right after without fully perusing the visitor center.
There are a few photos of John Adams exteriors (there was no photography inside) starting here.
The week before PortCon, I went to the library to pick up a few books to read; I didn't finish all of them on the trip, but have now. Batman: Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale I didn't care much for, but I'm not a fan of Loeb's writing for Batman in general even though The Log Halloween is rather impressive. Death: The Time Of Your Life by Neil Gaiman was okay, although if I had know the characters were from A Game Of You, I would have read that first. Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which I believe I picked up based on a recommendation fromnoscans_daily, was far longer than it had to be and wasn't nearly as interesting as I had thought based on the premise. The first two volumes of 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso grew on me. I liked Neil Gaiman's Coraline and The Sandman Volume Four: Seasons of Mists, but still had a few reservations. Finally, I really liked Gaiman's The Sandman Volume Five: A Game Of You.
(The quotes for this cut were both made by my mom.)
I fell off my bike yesterday during a biking trip with my dad after going around a corner too quickly and have my first ever black eye (sort of) and swollen cheek, plus an assortment of various cuts and scrapes.
(The latter was taken approximately nine hours after the former.)
Lastly, Kun, are you missing a wig cap? I found an extra one when I cleaned out my bags; it must have fallen in when we were pulling things off the bed at one point.
PortCon photos are here, but there aren't too many; the majority of them were taken at the Masquerade.
My mom and I drove up to Maine on Thursday and had dinner with my aunt and grandparents at a restaurant in the Old Port. The weather was unseasonably cool and rainy, but it was minor compared to the near-constant downpour on Friday.
Our hotel room - shared by Shampoo, Tanya, Jo, Kun, and myself - was much nicer than last year, although it still had a few odd quirks (a bit dark, broken ironing board). It was good to be back in our old hotel; we decided the only thing we missed from last year's was the balcony. The first thing I did when I arrived at the hotel was meet Kun in the lobby, but I couldn't begin to try to capture those moments coherently, which is partly why this has been so delayed. It's one of those times I almost wish I could bottle up that memory and those emotions to be carried and preserved with perfect recollection, not just that moment, but a number of small instances that have had a strong impact on me throughout my life.
I brought one anime-based cosplay with me (Ritsuka from Loveless), but spent most of the time in two different outfits that weren't any character in particular and hadn't been tested ahead of time. The first was an excuse to use a black medieval-inspired dress originally bought during junior high for my then-Tremere character (Vampire: The Masquerade) with platform boots, two ankh jewlery pieces (a large Vampire: The Masquerade necklace and a smaller collar from Sarah), vampire fangs, and a white make-up base with eye and lip designs vaguely based on Zaya (Thief2X: Shadows of the Metal Age) and Emilie Autumn. I brought two different sets of fangs - one bought locally and one from Sarah - and rather quickly decided that the ones from Sarah were both of a better quality and much more comfortable. (Thank you.) The other outfit was an odd mix between Jeanette (Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines), Emilie Autumn, and random clothes with a black mesh top, plaid skirt, and Autumn-style mismatched thigh-high stockings. It was certainly odd to have mostly female outfits and not to have any real characters, which was slightly embarrassing when others asked me who I was or mistook me for Death (Sandman) and has convinced me to do at least one new character for next year.
Once we finished putting our bags away and Kun changed into Spain (Hetalia), we decided to go to the voice actors panel, which was actually pretty amusing and informative. Kun and I went out to dinner at Panera's for their tomato and mozzarella paninis; the owners thought it was cold enough outside to have their fireplace lit, which we huddled next to. After dinner, we caught part of Anime Unscripted and later our whole room went to Extreme Geek. They've changed Extreme Geek quite a lot since the last time I saw it (way back in 2004) and it was . . . weird. And crazy. And strange. But fun. I think. The infamous back rub scene from Star Trek The Original Series, the possibly more infamous Shark Repellent Bat-Spray scene from the 1960s Batman movie, and Major Kira all came up during the trivia section. And a song about being on a boat.
We went to bed almost right after Extreme Geek and woke up Saturday around 7:30 AM, but lounged around watching The Dark Knight, which just happened to be showing on HBO. (High definition and fullscreen actually does make a difference compared to the several times I've watched the DVD at home.) Once we were up and dressed - sometime around the interrogation scene - Kun and I wandered the halls and ended up catching the end of Kung Pow, which I'd never seen before but appeared to be a pretty funny kung-fu film parody. Kun and I later saw most of the AMV showing, not realizing that they had all the categories mixed together (Kun had wanted to see the romance and drama sections), and - to my surprise - I recognized most of the series and song artists.
One of the changes at PortCon this year was holding the main events outside in a large tent. It was nice in the sense that it gave the dealers' room more space and worked well for the Rave, but it had unfortunately leaked Thursday night and was awkward for the Masquerade, partly because the participants had to walk from the green room (inside the hotel) and line up outside the tent before appearing on-stage. However, because of this set-up - and since we just happened to be sitting near where the cosplayers lined up next to the tent - I took most of my photos through the transparent tent flap, which came out much clearer than any I could get of the stage area. As for the Masquerade itself, I enjoyed it more than I had for the past several years. My personal favourites were both ones I hadn't been expecting -- an extremely well-made Two-Face (Batman) and a Little Sister with a Big Daddy (Bioshock). (My other favourite for the convention as a whole was a Rorschach, but I only got the briefest of glances at his costume on Friday and no photos.) I was also able to talk with Jekka after the Masquerade; it was very good to see her.
Shampoo, Tanya, Jo, Kun, and I went to the mall for dinner, then came back for the Rave. Even though I hardly recognized any of the songs and they didn't play "Cotton Eye Joe" (but did play Mindless Self Indulgence's "Shut Me Up"), it was a good time. Near the end of the rave, everyone was throwing their glow sticks around (earlier, there were inflatable whales and sharks). Very fortunately, it didn't rain Saturday and was pleasantly cool. Afterward, I briefly caught up with Kelsey, our room eventually ordered pizza online from Domino's, and we watched one of the live-action NANAs.
Sunday morning was spent packing up, although it didn't take as long as I thought it might. Kun and I caught the end of the Power Rangers movie, wandered through the dealers' room a few times, and eventually ended out on the bridge and struck up a conversation with someone we'd never met before. Ahh, cons. The dealers' room had quite a lot of manga - both full-price and at discount - but nothing stood out to me that anyone I knew would like. They did have a few comics, but for some reason, 99.5% of them were Marvel.
After saying goodbye to everyone, my mom and grandparents picked me up for a Father's Day lunch at my aunt's. My mom, grandma, and I stayed a bit later than everyone else to watch and episode of Columbo.
My mom and I spent Monday at my grandparents' and departed Tuesday. Before leaving Portland itself, we ate lunch at The Floating Restaurant (a converted car ferry in the Old Port) and stopped at Bull Moose Music and Casablanca Comics, from with I obtained a few used DVDs and a Midnighter trade paperback. We ended up having to make our way through Boston traffic before arriving in Quincy, which wasn't very impressive at first glance. The hotel we stayed in Tuesday night was fine and we went on the John Adams tour Wednesday morning. It was interesting and I'm glad we were able to see it. Unfortunately, I don't remember much from the tour guides' narration even though I can still visualize most of the rooms and was feeling so sick and dizzy by the end of it that we left right after without fully perusing the visitor center.
There are a few photos of John Adams exteriors (there was no photography inside) starting here.
The week before PortCon, I went to the library to pick up a few books to read; I didn't finish all of them on the trip, but have now. Batman: Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale I didn't care much for, but I'm not a fan of Loeb's writing for Batman in general even though The Log Halloween is rather impressive. Death: The Time Of Your Life by Neil Gaiman was okay, although if I had know the characters were from A Game Of You, I would have read that first. Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which I believe I picked up based on a recommendation from
noscans_daily, was far longer than it had to be and wasn't nearly as interesting as I had thought based on the premise. The first two volumes of 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso grew on me. I liked Neil Gaiman's Coraline and The Sandman Volume Four: Seasons of Mists, but still had a few reservations. Finally, I really liked Gaiman's The Sandman Volume Five: A Game Of You.(The quotes for this cut were both made by my mom.)
I fell off my bike yesterday during a biking trip with my dad after going around a corner too quickly and have my first ever black eye (sort of) and swollen cheek, plus an assortment of various cuts and scrapes.
(The latter was taken approximately nine hours after the former.)
Lastly, Kun, are you missing a wig cap? I found an extra one when I cleaned out my bags; it must have fallen in when we were pulling things off the bed at one point.
