Katsucon 19: Live(ish) Updates

Here be the semi-live chronicle, of a convention. Or stuff. Things. Yep.

Friday
3:45AM – Home Set forth!
4:45AM – Connecticut Fog. Fog everywhere.
5:15AM – New York City Waze is confirmed for the worst navigation app ever. Constantly crashing. Either it cannot handle 2K+ wazers, or it cannot draw the map far ahead with a million streets.
7:00AM – NJTP BK breakfast is surprisingly good. Watched a guy try to wash his own windshield instead of letting the Sunoco worker do it. Either he wasn’t familiar with NJ state laws on gas, or he likes washing windows. He didn’t do a very good job.
8:??AM – I-95 S Spending only a half-hour or less in our state? No problem. That’ll be eight bucks. –Delaware
10:00AM – Hotel I can’t check in until 3? What the fuck?
12:30PM – Katsucon Art Show Battlestations are up. Some good art already out there. This should be an interesting weekend.
2:30PM – Katsucon Art Show Lots of artwork. Lots of artists. Already placed bids on a few things, a Portal piece, a Plants Vs. Zombies handicrafts, and a 27.25 glass that has the “Challenge Accepted” guy etched on it. I intend to drink everything out of that if I win it, and I will win it. I’ll tell you what.
4:00PM – Katsucon Art Show FUCK YOU WRITE NEATER I CAN’T READ THIS SHIT. But cool artwork, bro.
7:30PM – Katsucon Art Show Finally finished entering a shit ton of artists and artwork information into the database. Now to relax a little, see if my netbook will play FTL, and if not, a little Ace Attorney on the DS until we split for the room and get dinner. Edit: Turns out FTL runs fairly well, though I have to kill explorer and wait a bit on the initial load.
10:00PM – Hotel BED TIME.

Saturday
7:30AM – Hotel You have no idea what nine hours of sleep and a hot shower can do for you. Well, actually you probably do.
8:45AM – Hotel Eggs, sausage, bagels, and blueberry muffins? Best free breakfast ever.
9:15AM – Safeway 13 gas points? Fuck yeah! By Katsucon 28 I’ll have enough to save ten cents off of gas– oh.. it expires at the end of the month. CURSE YOU FINE PRINT!
9:45AM – Parking Garage I parked next to a Blazer that looks homemade-painted purple, has zebra-rainbow leopard print seat covers, and has HERE WE COME KATSUCON on the back window. You win the award for most awkward vehicle on a state highway system.
11:15AM – Katsucon Art Show This happened. It was mildly humorous. httpss://twitter.com/deltax20a/status/302812777272201221
11:45AM – Katsucon Art Show Internet is being weird. ENGAGE THE SSH PROXY. Nope.
12:45PM – Katsucon Art Show A very good Dr. Light and Mega Man.. oh, Mega Man has tits… eh, I’m okay with this.
1:30PM – Con Center Cafe Wow, this pizza is pretty good. It’s like some kinda folded up pizza-calzone thing. Nom.
2:45PM – Dealer’s Room Several figures I have eyes on, a Sanya figure, and a Lynette figure from Strike Witches, also on the look out for Madoka Figma figures besides Homura (have) and whatever else is interesting. Fiancee bought five of these “Furry Bones” things, interesting looking. Will make another sweep either later today or tomorrow.
3:30PM – Katsucon Art Show The urge to shout CHRISTINA to a Kurisu cosplayer is high, but requires someone with more stones than myself. I don’t make many efforts to conceal my power level, but I am also not a 16 year old girl.
4:30PM – Katsucon Art Show Spotted a Dekomori out in the hall. I’m always amused to see someone cosplay something that aired within the last six months. Used to take waaaay longer to see new stuff on people in the past. Edit: Dekomori came by Art Show and brought a Nibutani in tow. Hue hue.

5:45PM – Katsucon Art Show Outbid me? On my watch? I’ll take it to auction and run you up. I’m like that dude on Storage Wars, only with weeaboo art.
6:45PM – Katsucon Art Show Fifteen minutes until bidding ends, a lot of last-minute bids flying, probably a dozen or two pieces going to auction tonight (PS: Be there, fuckers) or more. Not bad considering earlier today we barely had five pieces marked and I was losing faith in humanity and their wallets.
8:00PM – Katsucon Art Show Show closed for the day, auction tonight at 10:30. Wondering what the Cafe has for dinner tonight.
8:30PM – Con Center Cafe Chicken nuggets and fries? Aww yeah! This place seriously has been the best food venue in the nine years I’ve staffed this con. Super serious.
9:00PM – Con Center Front Lobby Bathroom Why are there disposal units for feminine products in the men’s bathroom?
10:45PM – Live Auction The auction begins, many pieces sold, many jokes had. Defended my honor for the mug, and won. Good times.
12:00AM – Katsucon Art Show Auction over, sitting in the very quiet Artists Alley. About to pack up and go back to the room and get some sleep. Long day.

Sunday
9:30AM – McDonalds I wonder how many people walked all the way out here for this during the con? It’s pretty bitter out here.
10:00AM – Katsucon Art Show Let the checkout and monies commence.
1:30PM – Dealer’s Room I went in expecting to buy the Lynette Bishop figure I noticed yesterday. I walked out with that, a Figma Sanya V. Litvyak, and Tenchi Universe on DVD. Fuck me. Seriously.
2:15PM – Katsucon Art Show Scumbag Steve: Deadbeat Bidder Edition
3:00PM – Con Center Cafe Not as good of a lunch selection as yesterday, but chicken (steak)?, Mac and Cheese, and Mushroom Soup. I’m okay with this.
4:00PM – Katsucon Art Show Broken down, grid wall taken apart and stowed, and the show is over. Just need to pack our stuff away and attend the staff reception tonight before heading back to the room to relax and sleep before the drive home tomorrow.
6:30PM – Potbellys Sandwhiches Had dinner with fellow Art Show staff at Potbellys, very delicious Italian sandwich. Not sure how those who went to the con cafe fared. It wasn’t a good option in previous years and we did Potbellys last year which succeeded far beyond Baja Fresh the year before.
8:00PM – Staff Reception First ones to get a table. Sat and talked. Listened to some people speak, new con chair for next year, and the total amount raised for ACS through charity auction, maid cafe, and pachinko events. No confirmed attendance total, but a pretty good year overall.
10:00PM – Hotel Done. Relax. Sleep. Drive home tomorrow. Do it again next year.

Monday
7:15AM – Hotel I’ll give this hotel credit, it makes a good breakfast for something beyond most place’s idea of “continental”. Can’t go wrong with scrambled eggs, sausage, bagel, and blueberry muffin.
8:30AM – I-95 N of Baltimore Maryland House closed for renovations? That was a stopping point for my old group of friends when we went to Otakon 2003 and 2004, and several Katsucons. We’d always run into other attendees that stopped as well.
11:45AM – I-95 N at the G.W Bridge Traffic came to a standstill a 1/2 mile from the toll booth and continued until right after the exit for I-87. Over an hour and a half of waiting and $16 for a goddamn bridge, but the cake was that the cause of the delay was because they squeezed every lane into one for 100 feet for four or five workers working on a patch of road, most of which were standing there gazing at traffic. Fuck you.
3:00PM – Home Thank god I am out of this car.

Stay tuned for a final post on Katsucon 19 and the adventures of my ninth staff year, and tenth Katsucon overall. I may even try to go back and pull out archived posts of the last ten years of Katsucon to include.

In the meantime, check out a short gallery of images I’ve snapped throughout the convention.