Does ANYONE actually fucking care about this? Are there people out there whose lives are so utterly pathetic, so mind-bogglingly empty, that they have no choice but to get some puny, useless measure of joy from watching coaches squirm around in the mud picking from the pool of over-paid basketball types? What an enormous, utterly and completely ridiculous, waste of everyone's time! I expect this kind of crap from 'ESPN 2', not from a "real" channel like TNT. Is there no content? Must we be reamed out by this wastage, this crap, this filler?
Mutter, mutter.
Speaking of filler, today's subject is 'The Return To Katsucon'.
The '99 KatsuCon was held in Virginia, just across the river from Washington DC. And it was not at all like the last KatsuCon I'd been to. It was a thing of might, indeed. The previous KatsuCon took place in a glorified hotel lobby. This KatsuCon required a much more spacious arrangement. And for good reason, as a flood of otaku washed over the land, inundating everything with their anime goodness.
It also, of course, meant that all the events which typically draw a crowd (the CosPlay, the Music Video Contest, etc) were well and truly stuffed to the bursting point. The line for the Dealer's Room wound around in on itself several times over, and was long than a Muscovite bread-line after the implementation of a Five Year Plan. CosPlay, in fact, over-ran the normal venue, and booted out some of us in the movie-watching rooms, which led to greatly increased surl.
Not that there weren't interesting costumes, mind you. There was a guy dressed as Frieza (you know, the Dragonball Z villain who I've been mentioning when I did my daily summaries) - and anyone who's manly enough to be comfortable wearing purple spandex is manly indeed. There was someone in a man-sized Gundam costume (those spiked shoulder pads must have been... ah... interesting on the elevators). There were several people dressed as Dragonball Z heroes, which required them to wear giant foam hair-pieces as large as their entire torsos. There was even someone in a mouse costume, but he was clearly a bit deranged.
There were also other people who I'd seen before (I ran into some fellow who recognized my JACT headband) including Phil and Amy who had been at my last KatsuCon, and Eric "Lord Sabre" Burns and Jon of the North and Gina of the Dark Land of New Jersey, who hadn't.
There was also the trip to a McDonald's which was more cool than some real restaurants. And the Animaniacs theme in Latin. And getting the hotel shuttle to take me to the ATM (now that's service). And drunken, happy otaku wandering the halls.
And the Artist's Alley, which seems to be something which has materialized at Cons recently. Most likely it's always been there, to some degree, but as a Con gets larger, I suppose they finally have a real room they can set aside just for the artsy types to hang out and draw. No doubt the artists have been doing this at every Con, but there's something to be said for being Official(tm).
There was also an actual size Giant Butterfly Sword From Hell modelled off a weapon from Battle Angel Alita on display in the art room. Yowza. Someone has entirely too much time on their hands. Picture a folding butterfly knife the size and general bladiness of an axe, and you'll have a good general idea. Hup.
There was also (eventually) the End of Evangelion movie, which was about as comprehensible as your average Canadian crack rabbit, but nonetheless was cool. I could describe it, but it would probably cause cranial detonation.
Hup.
Next episode: Animazement '99, the Quest for (the REAL) Fire Water.
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