NorCal Renaissance Faire

Every year H4773r and I go, at least once, to the NorCal Rennaisance Faire. And this year is no exception. On September 17th H4773r and I attended the NorCal Ren Faire, taking advantage of the 2 for 1 admission deal. Of course we dressed up in our Ren Faire finest. I do consider Ren Faires in the similar vein of cons. Although I know they're different I still think it's a great place for getting dressed up, interacting with history and theatre geeks, and possibly even learning something new about this awesome time period.

H4773r and T1nk (photo courtesy of T1nk)

We had what's I'd call a fairly predictable Ren Faire experience. We watched some of our favorite entertainers, we browsed at all the shops and wished we had more money to buy things, ate delicious food, ran into a bunch of different people we knew, and interacted in fun and silly ways with atmosphere folk. Just because I know what to expect at this Faire doesn't take away from how much fun I had. Also, running/going with people I know just makes the experience that much better.

The NorCal Ren Faire is located at Casa deFruta off Highway 152. General admission prices are $25 and children under 12 are free. Parking is around $5 for general and around $10 for VIP, you can also pay an addition amount to be driven by a horse drawn cart to the front gate. Food and drinks run about $8-15 for food and $3-8 for drinks. If you're a vegetarian like myself, you will have an extremely limited amount of food choices. I recommend the Acropolis in which I enjoyed the Athenian. A sandwich of sorts filled with lettuce, tomato, garbanzo beans, feta cheese, and Greek yogurt sauce. Trattoria di Stromobli and The Quail Inn also have some great choices. I was able to bring in my own snacks and water in my basket. I was not stopped nor told I couldn't bring in any outside food and I don't see anything in the programming that says otherwise. I also tried maple pecan chipotle brittle from Chocolate Delights and Confections. It was delicious.

Some of my favorite entertainers to watch are the joust (although we missed it this time around). The Belles of Bedlam: I am slowly becoming  fan of this group. Unfortunately it's nothing against them I just happen to have been a fan of  The Merry Wives of Windsor first. And both groups have similar style of performance. Moonie and Broon: one of my favorite comedic acts. Right now it's just Broon and lord help him until Moonie arrives in October. I say that sincerely and with love. We were able to catch the final show of day and Broon had just decided to make it a whatever he felt like show. It's was still pretty entertaining.

Merry Wives of Windsor (photo courtesy of T1nk)

Broon (photo courtesy of T1nk)

Vendors of choice: we always stock up on Belle Star Incense and I always wish I had money for Native Earth goods. I have to say Native Earth gave me some great customer service despite the fact I wasn't actually buying anything.

Of course I think everyone should attend a Ren Faire at least once. You have to chance to learn about history in a very unique way. The actors that portray Queen Elizabeth, Shakespeare and Sir Francis Drake always do a wonderful job. Over the years I've learned about fencing and falconry and a few other things about the Renaissance era.

And if you need more incentive to go NorCal Ren Faire is doing themed weekends as well as "free" concerts. The day we went we were able to enjoy a bit of The Tempest. Go and have a great time.

Anime Expo: Day 1

Mood: Nervous

So up at an ungodly hour, for me anyhow. I wanted to impress Joe, the guy I would be working for today, so I decided to wear my Pikachu Gijinka cosplay. I also had to get some work done so I walked on over the Starbucks across the street for internet access. So far I have found four Starbucks within walking distance. Almost every building here has a Starbucks inside it (it most likely has to do with being in the heart of the financial/bank district). The Westin does offer wifi but at the cost of about $12.95 per day it’s just not in the budget. Unfortunately the Starbucks wifi wasn’t the best (also my netbook decided it was time to update EVERYTHING!) so it took forever for me to get shit done. But I managed.

I hate being late and started to worry that I would be late for my first day. When I finished at Starbucks it was only about 9:30am and I though I would take the free shuttles being offered by AX. But then after waiting for 15 minutes with no shuttle in sight and no idea when it would arrive I started to panic. Luckily H4773r was with me and offered to just drop me off at the con, which worked out perfectly. I got to the con earlier than I expected and tried calling Joe since he had my exhibitor, but he didn’t answer and I left a message. I attempted to wait up by the exhibitor hall entrance but con ops was trying to organize things and eventually I had to leave. Turns out I had the wrong number for Joe. I called the right number, but Joe still didn’t answer and I left more messages. Turns out he couldn’t hear me over all the noise but we still managed to meet up before the hall opened.

(photo courtesy of T1nk) AX Expo Hall before it opened.

Joe got me settled at one of his two booths, Anime Gift. I worked at the one nearest the front of the hall with his sweet mom. Seriously she was so nice. Since we were short once person we worked our butts off pretty hard and slammed until about 4pm-ish. The booth sells a wide collection of small plush, collector swords, character beanies and some other anime kitch. I was a bit bummed I didn’t get to wander the hall at all and examine the other exhibitors, but I came to work. I do hope I’ll get some time this weekend, but no gaurauntees. My work consists of customer service and sales. Essentially I’m being played to dress up and help sell items, you know collect the cash, make change, sales stuff. Which is fine by me since that’s where I’ve spent most my realm working in. I was thrilled when a couple of people asked for pictures of me.

(photo courtesy of T1nk) My view at the con.

Since I'm working all day and we didn't bring a lot of money I am bringing my own lunches with me to the con, for the rest of the weekend. I have some adorable bento boxes from LisaLisa and just bring them with me. The boxes are perfect for saving money at con. Today however, H4773r brought me a sandwich from the Quizno's that's located right inside the Los Angeles convention center. The L.A. con center has the standard range of con food for vegetarians: salads, pizzas, and maybe a sandwich. Aside from the Quizno's there is also a Starbucks and some food carts that sold Mexican food, Chinese food and smoothies.

As soon as my day was done we headed back to hotel to relax and get dinner. I was just so wiped out from my day I didn't have the energy to stick around and look at programming. Also, since I didn't get off work til the Exhibitor Hall had closed, most of the panel programming was already finished for the day.

H4773r and I caught a shuttle back to the hotel. The shuttles were organized fair enough, but since the Exhibitor Hall had just closed the lines for the shuttles were pretty backed up and we had a bit of wait before getting onto one.

Back at the hotel we got stuck in the elevator. Luckily we were still on the lobby level and H4773r totally handled everything like a boss. We didn’t wait too long in there so it was ok. LisaLisa was kind enough to make us some dinner; she brought this neat hot pot water boiler thingy and we had pasta and wine! We took a mini adventure to an underground food court, City National Plaza, in search of utensils, since we forgot them. We managed to find a convenience store that had bowls, but no utensils. LisaLisa ended up asking the Weiland Brewery for take out utensils which they kindly gave us. In return we’re going back tomorrow for a beer. We had a nice dinner and watched a few episodes of Hetalia and Black Butler.

I expect tomorrow to be another long day. But that’s ok because it’s what I’ve signed up for and I plan on getting to eat a bit more to keep up my energy. AND I’ll have another D20 representative with me.

Anime Expo 2011: Day 0

Mood: Unimpressed

So we woke up fairly but as I was still trying to pack and had some last minutes errands to run we didn’t get out on the road til 9am. It turns out we still left at an ok time. And I felt like we made decent time. I was quite happy I didn’t get too car sick so we didn’t really have to stop as much. We did make one stop…somewhere to use the bathroom and have a snack. And then a second stop right before the Tejon Pass for Chipotle. (I can’t help myself.) I made H4773r listen to the latest musical tracks I downloaded-Wonderland, Addams Family, and The Little Mermaid.

We arrived in Los Angeles about 3:30pm (not bad). We got lost for just a second looking for our hotel but managed to find it thanks to VG Navigator (I love that “app”). We literally drove by the hotel and went “Oh! There it is” and then kept going to the convention center. They had pre-reg open til 9pm, yay!

We had parked downtown at our favorite lot, Joe’s Auto Parks, on Figueroa and paid only $10. (Stilll cheaper than SJ.) We then got in the line to get in the line. I am still not sure how the line was organized, but I do know that we waited in a line, in the sun, that didn’t move for almost an hour. I heard something to the effect of: they were letting people inside in massive chunks at a time. And we were the last chunk. So we waited about 2 hours to get our passes. I don’t think I would’ve minded much if I had been prepared to wait in the sun. Luckily, getting the passes themselves was easy, although I did threaten to kill one girl who tried to jump the line in front of me. She smartly backed off.

We did have a bit of an experience trying to get our stuff to our room. LisaLisa had already checked into the hotel but we didn’t have our room number. So there was something of a trial trying to get the car checked in by valet. And then for some reason I didn’t think to pull into the main hotel front to unload our luggage so we ended up doing it in the valet lot, but the valets wouldn’t let us use the dolley. So it was either haul the luggage up ourselves (about 15 bags worth) or have it sent up and then tip (because you should always try to tip). We had it sent up.

We’re staying at the Westin Bonaventure. Originally we were going to stay in the Kawada, but got bumped to the Westin because the Kawada couldn’t accommodate 4 people to a room. The Westin is pretty nice. The room feels a bit cramped, but that’s because we have 4 people and a ton of cosplay stuff and food (the Westin has a fridge in the room). The layout of the Westin is a bit confusing, but I do enjoy the “food court.” It’s moderately priced, probably just slightly higher than a mall food court, but they seem to have a nice selection, especially for vegetarians.

After getting settled in I then spent some time on a conference call for my new work/project – The D20 Girls Project. I am currently the Manager for the state of California. I’ll mention more in depth about the D20 Girls Project in a separate post. Through the D20 Girls I managed to land a paying gig at AX by working for a vendor, Anime Gift. I feel quite lucky to have landed a paying gig even though I’m still a bit unsure of what exactly I’ll be doing and that I’ll be the only representative tomorrow. But I’m a trooper and this isn’t the first time I’ve had a situation/job like this.

So until the joys of tomorrow, I’m going to enjoy my nice, comfy hotel bed.

Night World,

T1nk C0n FaIrY

Fanime 2011

So this is a terribly late post, but I've been struggling to write about what I wanted to say/recount about this year's Fanime.

In previous Fanime years I would attend a few panels, catch some video programming and watch the Cosplay Spectacular. However, this year I bogged down with performing in a show, which seriously cut into any time I had at Fanime. Luckily the performance space was in walking distance of the San Jose Convention Center, so I was still able to enjoy some of the con.

Day 0

H4773r and I arrived around 2pm to the convention center. We had a check-in time of 3pm for the Marriott and hoped to do early arrival. Luckily we could. Unluckily, the Marriott charges an additional $50 per day random fee which is required up front. I did not know about this. At first it was explained that the fee would for an anemities used. When I asked specifically which anemeites I needed to avoid the clerk then explained the fee was more like an insurance policy set by the banks, not the hotel. People want to get paid, so in order to ensure they get their money they charge you a fee...I don't get it and to be honest I was really upset because I hadn't planned on having an extra $200 available. But I ended up giving them all my money anyway. I had a friend later tell he's always been able to waive the fee, but whatever. I was also a bit irked because we had put in a room for 3 people and given a single. While I knew this was a possibility I was upset they wanted to charge me extra for the rollaway. I really figured if I registered 3 people to a room and given a single I should get the rollaway for free. I'm thinking of switching to the Hilton next year.

We finally made it into the line and waited...and waited some more. I ran into a friend of mine who kept us company while waiting. I was actually surprised to see a few people already dressed up. I guess I don't see much point on 0 day because there isn't much going on. Once I finally got my badge I booked it to my performance.

(photo courtesy of T1nk, Day 0 Line)

H4773r, of course, stayed behind and milled about and met up with friends and checked out the swap meet. After my show I decided to wander down the con and see if anything was happening. A few people will hanging out chatting around the concourse area. The gaming hall was open so I went in for a few and checked it out. And finally wandered back to the hotel for some sleep.

(photo courtesy of T1nk, The Game Room at 2am on Day 0)

Day 1

I decided to wear the only real costume I brought for Fanime-Pikachu Gijinka. Also, I had promised my castmates they would get to see me in it. I spent most of my day wandering around the Exhibit Hall and Artist Alley. I made sure to say hi to some of my favorite artists: KatGirl Studio, Hell Has Found Me, Timothy Green, Scuttlebutt Inc. and Teahouse. There really wasn't any programming/panels I wanted to watch/see that day so I didn't feel too bad that I missed anything. As per usual, our group of friends wound up at O'Flaherty's for weekly drinks and back to the con for some late night video programming.

Day 2

I was up fairly early and again dressed up in the Pikachu costume. This time I wanted to join the Pokemon photo-op. Since I was by myself I wasn't able to get any pictures of myself on my camera at the photo-op, but I have seen a few pics of me floating around the net.

(photo courtesy T1nk, T1nk in Pikachu Gijinka)

My matinee for my show had been cancelled so I was able to catch one panel: An Insider's View of Webcomics with my friends Erin Milligan (Timothy Green) and Aleric (Hell Has Found Me), and Barry Smith (Ink Tank). They did a great job showing how to put together and keep a webcomic going. I also spent my time wandering the main hall and taking some photos of the other cosplayers. We also scored some "Psycho Psushi" from Psycho Donuts thanks to a friend.

Today was also the day that MusicFest was taking place with FLOW and Yuya Matsushita. I wasn't able to attend because it conflicted with my show, but I heard everyone really enjoyed it.

Day 3

I was up early again, but this time it was because my show was having a matinee. I opted to wear my gothic lolita inspired outfit, complete with parasol. Immediately after the show I headed back to the con. I couldn't attend the Momoi concert and I had already missed lining up for the cosplay spectacular and didn't have much interest in the Black and White Ball. A friend of mine who went to the Black and White Ball did express inconvenience of being unable to leave the ball for any reason, including using the restroom. He told me that if you left the ball you then had to get back into the line, which was up to a 1 hour plus wait, to get back in. Hopefully con ops will solve this problem next year.

H4773r had plans to run his normal D&D game in the open concourse, so we set up and waited for everyone to arrive. I opted out of the game since it was running late and decided to just hang out with friends and wander the late night programming. I opted to pass on the Deviant Art panel hosted by Aleric, mainly because I currently use my DA to favorite things and don't post anything. However, in the future when I actually do start posting things I'll be sure to attend as it's a great opportunity to network.

Day 4

Last day. We were up early, again, this time to check out of the hotel room. Everything went pretty smoothly. We did one last glance around the exhibitor's hall and artist alley, my dear friend bought me two new badges from Scuttlebutt Inc. And then we headed out to Iguana's for some lunch before calling it a day. I opted out of going to closing ceremonies. I went 2 years ago and was unimpressed and bored. Perhaps if things change I might go again one year.

(photo courtesy of T1nk, T1nk and her Gijinka Ladies)

Discounts and Donuts/Parking

I really enjoy that Fanime partnered with local restaraunts to offer some discounts. Since H4773r and I were trying to save money this year we didn't take advantage of the offerings, but my favorite recommendations are: Peggy Sue's (offers a decent vegetarian burger and delicious shakes), Tengu Sushi (I haven't been in awhile since I no longer eat fish, but it was decent a few years ago and affordable bento boxes), Philz Coffee (ok, so I haven't actually tried Philz coffee but all my friends rave on how it's the best), Pita Pit (my favorite place out of all the restaraunts offered), and Psycho Donuts (the best donuts of unusual offerings).

As mentioned earlier, Psycho Donuts paired up with Fanime to create a special "bento box" of donuts. The four small donuts were: Awabinut ("toasted peanuts on vanilla icing with a strip of chocolate "nori"), Sakenut (orange icing with vanilla stripes), Tobikonut (green tea icing with dark chocolate-coated rice crisps), and Toronut (strawberry icing with vanilla accents). My favorite was the Toronut and least favorite was the Tobikonut (the green tea was just too much for me).

Parking...there are several lots downtown that offer. The Marriott also offers conceirge parking, as does the Hilton and the Fairmont, but it comes at typically a steep price, at least for us. We opted to park at the lot directly across from the Hilton on Almaden Blvd. They actually offer "24 hour parking" for only $14 for the day. Much cheaper then the hotels. The only drawback is you have to remember to renew your pass everyday before the previous one expires.

As per usual~Panels I'm Bummed I Missed

Armor: Plan It-Make It

Bodycasting 101

Sewing Basics for Cosplay

Steampunk Costuming: How-To

Steampunk Props, Demo and Q&A

Cosplay Cosmetology

How to Make a Webcomic in 1 Hr.

Graphic Design for Manga

Pattern Alteration: Fit and Form

I do look forward to Fanime next year when I will hopefully not have other obligations and can actually enjoy the con fully.

And I'm home

7 hours later and we made it. And I made it with very little motion sickness. I was able to get some reading and other work done on the long ride home.

So re-cap

Con: Anaheim Comic Con hosted by Wizard World

Previous comic con experience includes SDCC and Wondercon. WWACC is fairly well organized, especially considering they put on CC's throughout the year. I was a bit disappointed in the programming schedule. I didn't put any effort into catching any of the panels. Albeit, I was working most of the con, but if I needed to I could've have left to watch a panel. Of course, I worked on the costume contest "panel" and thought we did a decent job and had a lot of fun doing it. I heard the panel with Dan Fogler was pretty good. I did NOT like the layout of this con, but I don't know if that Wizard World's fault or the convention center. I missed not getting a badge. Instead wristbands were used.

Venue: Anaheim Convention Center

WWACC was only held in Hall A of the con center. So it felt kind of small. The initial dealings with the staff put them in high regard. We arrived late and they stayed open later to let us unload. However dealing with them during the set up of the booth and breaking down the booth left much to be desired. Basically it felt like they had forgotten about us.

Wifi: there is a "free" wifi channel however it's impossible to get on. Otherwise it's $99.95 per day if you're an exhibitor or $12.95 per day as an attendee.

Food: is what you'd expect. Drinks from $2.50 (coffee) - $3.75 (large fountain drink soda). Food available hot dogs, pizza, salad, and wraps $4.50-$9 ($11 for combos). Snacks available bagels, chips, candy average price $3.

Don't count on outlets being available. I couldn't find any to just use.

Parking-we paid $12 a day for parking, no in/out privileges unless you were an exhibitor and it was a load/unload day.

Disneyland! It's within walking distance. If you need a break from the con and have extra cash or year passes it's awesome.

Hotel: Crowne Plaza Hotel-Irvine

A decent hotel with comfy beds. It's about a 20-30 minute drive away from the con. Usually traffic was in our favor. Parking is $15 a day for guests. While I checked out the gym and pool I didn't have a chance to utilize them, but they seemed nice enough. Don't ask me about rates and I didn't pay for the hotel. While a coffee maker is provided I was disappointed with not having some sort of fridge unit. Also the room was kind of small, the California King size bed pretty much took up the entire room. Finding the hotel was tricky as Google maps was wrong and the highways are a little wonky.

Food in general

By the Crowne Plaza Hotel-lots of nice restaurants in and around the hotel we didn't visit. I did however take note that there is an IHOP right across from the airport. And for fast food there was a Carl's Jr. (which we did eat at), a McDonald's, and a Starbucks pretty close by.

By Anaheim Convention Center-there is a Coco's and Tiffy's with just outside the con. There is also a food court (Baja Fresh, Submarina, Starbucks, S'Barro, and Just Grillin) inside the Hilton. The Marriott has a Pizza Hut and Starbucks inside their hotel.

Dowtown Disney and nearby: there are a ton of places to eat along the S. Harbor strip. This year we ate at La Brea Bakery Cafe and Rainforest in Downtown Disney and McDonald's and Denny's along Harbor Ave. I did see that there was a 24-hour Subway on the strip as well.

As a vegetarian I'm actually pretty easy going and could've easily lived off of bread and cheese. However I try to get in protein/veggies when I can. On that note I definitely recommend burritos from Baja Fresh. I did notice the Just Grillin offered a vegetarian burger and the Submarina offered a veggie sandwich, although I didn't try them. At La Brea I had the Rosemary Vegetable grilled panini and at Rainforest I ate the Rainforest Natural Burger. At the convention center I was able to find a portabello mushroom wrap for a meal.

As per usual I recommend packing snacks and food. This particular con didn't seem to bag check.

Misc.

We were able to get discount Disney passes at the Hilton since we were con attendees. The single day passes weren't much cheaper but I did like the "Twilight" discount.

There is a UPS store in the Hilton and a FEDEx store in the Marriott. I love the Target on S. Harbor. Downtown Disney is a nice way to experience some Disney-ness for "free." Parking is free for the first 3 hours and then if you go to a sit down restaurant or the AMC downtown you get a validation for another 2 hours. Otherwise it's $6 an hour.

The best place I was able to find "free" Wifi was the McDonald's on S. Harbor right across from Disneyland.

Anaheim Comic-Con: Day 3

Last day...we finally got to sleep in. Again, H4773r didn't have to be at the Armor-Geddon booth til 1pm. We grabbed "brunch" at the Carl's Jr. by the hotel. As a note, they don't serve "grilled cheese" when you ask for it. They will however, serve a Famous Star with cheese, sans burger. Same damn thing in my opinion, but whatevs.We made it to the con and I was...confused. All the fan tables were pretty much devoid of fans. For a moment I thought maybe everyone had packed up early and went home. Turns out since a bunch of the celebrities weren't going to be there on Sunday, the fan tables were allowed to move to the celebrity tables.

I couldn't find Kryssie anywhere. I was told by the Orange County Star Wars Society that she was out on the floor networking. So while I waiting I finally did some shopping. New microns from Blick, Creepy Susie & 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children by Angus Oblong, a copy of The Maxx vol. 4 by Sam Keith, a copy of Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman, and a copy of The Devil's Panties vol. 4 by Jennie Breeden. I really wanted Nigel Sade to sign by his strip, but I just ran out of time to find him.

When I finally found Kryssie she mentioned that she was going to spend the rest of the con networking and since we no longer had a booth I just took the day off. I hung out a

round the Armor-Geddon booth serving as back up when people kept coming by to take photos of H4773r's co-worker C.J. (she was dressed as Morrigan, sans wings). I think we've decided

that for future cons we're all going to try and co-ordinate cosplay outfits.

"Lunch" was procured from the Baja Fresh (I love burritos!).

As the con wound down I was able to help Armor-Geddon break down the booth. And here's where I get annoyed. Armor-Geddon paid to have people help us load. So we start breaking down the booth and are going through it pretty fast and we have no sign of the boxes that were supposed to have been saved. I go looking for someone to ask about what's going on. There was no one around for about 10 minutes. I finally find a guy who tells me that they're delivering the boxes right now. I go back and finish help breaking everything down. We're nearly done and still haven't seen any sign of our boxes. So N.B.L. goes to talk to someone. And, of course, our boxes were thrown away. So now what? They eventually let N.B.L. drive her van into the con hall and we loaded everything ourselves. So not complete bullshit, but definitely annoying. We really could've been done about 1-2 hours earlier.

When we finally got everything loaded out H4773r and I decided to spend one last night at Downtown Disney. We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and saw Rio at the Disney AMC theaters.

Tomorrow we get to sleep in a bit before hitting the long road home. I had quite a bit of fun at this con and wouldn't mind coming again in the future.