Hey, everyone.
Not sure where to begin. The weekend was kinda fuzzy, and Monday's
events didn't help matters any.
After an eventful trip, one which included a nice tour of the majority
of Chicago's suburbs, I made it to the Sheraton Arlington Park for the
con. Registration was a line; I spent a good amount of time there, ran
into Richard and Lara and Sean and Travis, and said my hellos while
waiting.
Friday afternoon was largely spent in pursuit of the question, "What the
@#$% do we do now?" As Richard no doubt told you in his rant, he and
his crew were out of a room; I was in a roughly similar state until my
roommate (Zen) appeared from wherever he was hiding himself. So, after
the cursory dealer's room tours, we ended up sitting in the hallway and
chatting.
After several hours (by which time I FINALLY found Zen), it came time
for Ryan's Friday night get-together for the writers. Essentially, we
met outside the art show, carpooled over to the nearest Denny's, and
filled up the restaurant. Somehow, I ended up at a table with Alan
Harnum, Gary Kleppe, and Andy Kent (Avatar). No, a fight did not break
out; no, the world didn't end. Believe it or not, Gary and I are quite
agreeable when we meet in person; we just make sure not to press
characterization issues. After all, we both know that Ranma is
destined to end up with Ukyou, Shampoo, or Kunou. ^_-
The con goes on; I'm not sure what I ended up doing for the night. I
think I went to bed early, as I'd been going with a full head of steam
since about three in the morning. Like everyone else in the room, I got
woken up by the goings-on in the con suite; eventually it died down and
we went back to sleep.
Saturday came; not sure where it went. Woke up fairly early, much to my
surprise. Showered, got dressed, went out for breakfast, and made it
back well in time for the panel.
Overall, the panel was good. Not the best I'd ever seen, nor the worst,
but it was good. Ryan's probably the best there is out there at running
a fanfic panel; however, the lack of time available (one hour) kept him,
I think, from fully pursuing some good avenues of discussion. Panelist
quality was average; there were no stragglers in the bunch, but nobody
with both the presence and experience to really grab the audience (A
shame, really, as there were several in the audience who could do
precisely that). In the end, the panel was well-run, but it wasn't
electric like I'd seen a couple of panels become.
After the panel, a group of us went out to Ucchan's place to have some
okonomiyaki and watch some fan parodies. The okonomiyaki was good; the
parodies were painful. Saw stuff like Ranma 1/3 and Roadbusted and Koko
wa Otaku... evil stuff, man. Evil stuff.
>From food to more food. After a comfortable time at Ucchan's, I go back
- and find Zen, Travis Butler, and Richard Lawson pondering the age-old
con question: what are we going to do now? Ended up going to this one
restaurant. In thirty minutes of waiting for a seat, not one customer
left their table. Eerie. Finally, a table freed, and we sat down to
eat.
I had the sukiyaki; blame Saber Marionette J for that choice. Was good,
but no way could I eat it all. We talked about manga and the ethics of
dating 19-year-olds and about life in general. It was a peaceful time,
a calm in a wild weekend.
The evening was spent jumping between three rooms: Zen's room, where
Zen, Travis, and Jerry (Zen's friend) watched stuff from the DVD player
in Travis' notebook; Matt Lewis' room, where a number of writers hung
out; and the sports bar, where my favorite hockey team was being shown
playing (and, unfortunately, losing). I dunno; I just couldn't sit in
one place for too long. I didn't feel totally comfortable in Matt's
room, as the behavior of several people in there were really getting to
me; I didn't feel comfortable in the sports bar, as the Stars were
losing; and I didn't feel totally comfortable in Zen's room because it
was too quiet. I guess what I wanted was for all the people in Matt's
room to come downstairs to Zen's room, watch the hockey game, then sit
as Perfect Blue is played. ^_^ I went to bed fairly early again.
Sunday had that numb end-of-con feel, that hushed quality that says that
the party's about over. A good portion of it was spent in the hallways,
talking some more and reviewing what had gone on that weekend.
Eventually, it was decided that food was in order, so a last lunch to
this Chinese place was planned.
The Chinese buffet had some rather exotic foods available; to be honest,
I'd preferred the more standard fare. As I arrived late (@#$% horse
race...), I ended up sitting with this group of improfic writers.
Pretty cool guys, overall; was nice to meet them. I miss being that
innocent... ^_^ Once the meal was done, I said my goodbyes and left.
Final verdict on ACen: I wasn't all that impressed; however, I have to
wonder if it's because I changed, rather than the con being what it is.
The Dealer's rooms were average; it had a few good items in there, but
nothing major. I ended up buying this Ghibli CD (which disappointed me
later because they were remakes of songs, rather than the original),
this Two-Mix CD single (named "Naked Dance", thank you very much,
Richard!), some Cowboy Bebop manga, a Gundam Wing DVD, and some items
for friends. There was distance between myself and some of the other
writers; I found the actions of a few of them to be disgusting, and what
made it worse was that the rest of us were about expected to play along.
I'd seen a good portion of what the anime rooms were showing already,
the art room was a joke compared to other cons, and the hotel's setup,
while better than last year's, reminded me vaguely of a Quake room.
Finally, and this is for all the fanfic writers there: Please cut the
politics and backbiting in the future. By Saturday night, it seemed
that
the entire bloody con was an insult fest against writers out of earshot.
I know I probably contributed to the negativity that went on at the con,
just like the others; however, it went too far this time. Please take
care in what you say in the future; please make people feel at home. We
were a group of contrasts at this con; some, like Ucchan and Konatsu,
worked hard to make this a nice, friendly place to be, while others were
far less forgiving. Hospitality is not one person acting, but an entire
group of people working together; overall, holes were glaring in our
hospitality, and as a group, we need to do better.
I remain...
Nicholas Leifker
nightelf@thekeep.org
May 21, 2000