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July 04, 2007

The Expo: or There and Back Again

This was my first time attending all four days of AX--although I didn't get a room, so I wasn't on-site four days straight and one might say as a result that I didn't get the full four-day experience.

Friday: I got to the con a little bit past 9 a.m., after having gotten slightly lost and ending up at the Queen Mary and then on some random freeway. By the time I parked, located the Bang Zoom! folks with my industry badge and got into the convention hall, there were about 15 minutes to spare until the AX Idol singing auditions started.

I'm not sure how many folks Tony Oliver, Wendee Lee and I ended up hearing before it was over, but I'm going to guess somewhere between 50 and 70. Maybe. Definitely more than, say, a dozen and less than a million. Anything more specific than that's just me guessing. I was pleasantly surprised at the level of talent among the entrants. I knew there would be very good singers in the bunch, of course--I was just amazed at how many. There were perhaps a handful of people who were unprepared, a large middle-ground filled with folks who had the musical chops but could stand to work on specific aspects of their performance, and a substantial number of singers who worked the singing, told a story, gave it their all, and had the audience hooked.

The auditions ran later than expected, and I had just enough time to cram a sandwich down my throat before I hurried back to my car and drove home to Los Angeles for a VO session in Hollywood late that afternoon.

Saturday: A long day, but very enjoyable. Josh Philips (Jan Valentine), Ralph Lister (Walter), Crispin (duh) and I had a "Hellsing" autograph session from 11 to 12:20 at the Geneon booth in the dealers' hall, which was decked out in fine gothic fashion. This was Ralph and Josh's first anime con, and it was fun to watch them realize just how damn popular their characters really are.

After the autographs were over, we headed up to one of the conference halls for the "Hellsing" panel--consisting of the four of us, plus Taliesin, Jonathan, and Yuri (who popped in later to tell the fans he's been cast as Pip). The panel was, to put it plainly, just nuts. Shrieking and screaming and sexual innuendo...and the attendees were pretty rowdy, too! I didn't say too much, as I tend to keep my mouth shut when I'm a member of these bigger panels, but I answered a few questions and squeezed in a few good zingers. I think I asked Crispin to give me a hickie on my neck, if memory serves...

Following the panel, we high-tailed it over to the Radisson for what ended up being four hours of interviews, some of which were in person but most of which were done via speaker-phone. What you probably won't be able to tell from the interviews themselves is that I probably ate close to my body weight in fruit salad and cold-cut sandwiches during that four-hour span, too, thanks to Geneon's well-stocked green room across the hall.

The interviews wrapped up around 6 p.m., at which point I played an extended game of cell-phone Marco Polo with my friend (and fellow VA) Mela Lee, who had driven down from L.A. to sample a small taste of the anime con experience. We finally found one another, had a beer with some of the Geneon folks, and ended up at Islands for dinner proper. She left for points east after we ate, and I went out a-socializing. The sun was up when I finally drove home to Hollywood early the next morning.

Sunday: I didn't have anything scheduled until the hour-long "Paradise Kiss" autograph session at 4:30, so I slept in pretty late and got down to the con around 1:30 or 2. I figured I'd spend a few hours checking out the dealers' hall, since the Geneon booth was right at the front and that was as far as I'd gotten on Saturday. I stopped at the Geneon booth to say howdy to the G-Men (and G-Women), somebody recognized me from the "Hellsing" panel and wanted an autograph, and it sort of went from there. I spent the next few hours signing things and chatting with folks, right up until it was time to step behind the table and do it officially for a while.

I wandered around the adjacent mall area for a while before deciding that what I really wanted for dinner was the same peppercorn and jalapeno burger I'd had the night before with Mela at Islands. I headed over and got a seat at the bar between a comic-book enthusiast and a special-effects artist who welcomed me into their conversation about "Star Wars" and why Lucas needs more nay-sayers on staff.

I was thinking of driving home after dinner, but some friends of mine convinced me to join them at the Masquerade judging in the arena. There were some beautiful costumes, some amusing skits--and every so often, both at once (e.g. the "Hellsing" musical number and the "Death Note" take on the Muppets' "phenomenon" bit). After that it was time for a bit o' "Robot Chicken" before I drove home to L.A. around 2 a.m.

Monday: I wanted to see "Transformers," but not enough to warrant standing in line and getting a sunburn. I rolled into the con around 11 or noon, thinking, "Okay...time to hit the dealers' hall. Better late than never. Maybe I'll find something I want on sale." Didn't happen. Met up with folks at the Geneon booth again, shot the breeze and vandalized their stuff with my Sharpies, and did a quick zoom-through of the vendors in the final half-hour before they closed, more out of principle than of any expectation I'd find something I wanted. I said my goodbyes, grabbed a quick lunch (not at Islands--shocking, I know), and drove back home.

So, yeah. I didn't really get to hardly any of the other con events over the course of the weekend, and I spent the majority of my time at the Geneon booth, but I had a great time. I got the chance to meet a lot of fun, talented, enthuastic people, and really, that's what it's all about. Feel free to drop me an e-mail or friend me if we had a chance to chat this weekend--or hey, even if our paths didn't cross. And at the risk of sounding like a media mooch, if you have any con photos you think I'd enjoy, feel free to send those along; I didn't bring my camera with me, so I'm depending on the kindness of others. Below are a few of the photos I've received thus far, and I'll add more as/if I get them.

Shhh...I'm hiding!

"'Paradise Kiss,' eh? Nope...not ringing a bell..."

Smiling: It's what we do.

Damn, I'm tall...

Dapper vampire...goofball...dapper vampire...

Posted by patrick at July 4, 2007 03:24 AM

Comments

Posted by: Kanku at July 4, 2007 12:25 PM

Posted by: Caitlin at July 5, 2007 05:25 PM

Posted by: WE PAT at July 5, 2007 07:12 PM

Posted by: Nick at July 6, 2007 10:34 AM

Posted by: Lauren(integra) at July 6, 2007 08:23 PM

Posted by: Ellen at July 7, 2007 05:09 PM

Posted by: LOVE RICK at July 7, 2007 06:50 PM

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