MOCHI > The Scrapbook > Convention Memories > Anime Detour > 2006

Opting to go for filling breakfast (as we probably wouldn't be able to get anything to eat until late afternoon), everyone except Sugar Bomb went off to hunt down a Denny's for breakfast. Sugar Bomb would be meeting Kent at the airport and shepherding him back to the hotel. While Kent would normally be self-shepherding, the combination of an early flight and a recent root canal did not leave him with very much brain. [ Kent and the waitress at the hotel restaurant seemed to speaking the weird language. -Sugar]

While the rest of the gang did not find the particular Denny's that they had looked up in the phone book, they did manage to find an unusual combination of a Denny's and a full (alcoholic) bar. Grandis seemed awfully enamored of the idea of a few mimosas for breakfast.

Then, it was back to the convention for the early morning masquerade orientation session. In a slightly unusual move, the "flow" of the stage meant that we entered and exited from the same side. (There was a very large table full of some interesting-looking consoles on the other side of the stage.) After some discussion with one of the lighting fellows, we dispatched our tech sheet and handed in our music. With our assigned rehearsal and workmanship judging time slots in hand, we headed back to Contingent A's hotel room.

There, Grandis and company painted themselves up as the Count and Haydee, heading out for a tentative photo shoot. It's interesting to see the increase -- in about six months -- in the number of people who recognized these characters. Character recognition has never been a huge factor in deciding what kind of costumes we've chosen to do, but it never hurts when you are recognized.

During our wanderings, we ran into Elizabeth and Gerald, two long time costumers from the area. When we heard of their costuming plans for the evening's masquerade, we knew that the crowd was definitely in for a treat. Meeting back in the hotel room, there was more rehearsing, devouring of pizza, and the beginning of our proper preparations for the masquerade.

This year, we opted for a single entry: some of the AX agents from Trinity Blood. Due to various constraints (such as Grandis' serious inner ear trouble), we opted to go for the simpler anime costumes rather than the sumptuous ones shown in the novel illustrations. Grandis voiced some envy that everyone but her had a snazzy black cassock, but hoped that her plans to work on the red robes of Caterina would satisfy her desires.

The masquerade format was very similar to last years: there were roughly fifty entries, with most of them favoring short walk-ons with fewer skits. While there are folks that would like more "play" in their "cosplay", it can be very hard to do a skit that will keep the attention of everyone in the audience. [ Please, please, no one ever sing the entire Dead Puppies song, ever, EVER again. -Sugar]

They were running behind when our rehearsal time came up, so we only got one chance to do a complete run-through on stage. Things were running even later down at the workmanship judging, which was a bit of a hike from the rehearsals in the main programming area. (Thankfully, we had some amusing company while we were waiting. Grandis could indulge in her prediliction for the strong, silent types.) Running roughly forty minutes late, we barely made it back up to the artist's alley for the masquerade check in time.

Yes, the artist's alley. Apparently, there had been some fuss about shutting down the artist's alley so that it could be used as the masquerade green room. Instead, they partitioned off the central "lounge" area. (A few of us would "escape" to the alley for fresh air and pictures.) While not quite as bad as the one convention where MOCHI had been stuck for three hours in a set of steam tunnels, it was definitely hot and crowded. In many cases, there were not enough room for chairs, let alone chairs to go around. If it hadn't been for the stellar performance of our Den Dad [Hi, Joey!], things could have gotten very ugly.

There were a few other miscues as well. The chairs that were supposed to be saved for the masquerade entrants that had finished had been given over to general seating. The beleaguered masquerade staff had to use a system of cell phones when their radios failed and there was no printout to be had of prizes and winners. We were worried that poor Erin, the green room coordinator, would completely lose her voice by the end of the evening. Sugar Bomb and Kent were pressed into Team Kitty: the folks helping Hello Kitty in her Sailor Moon costume.

When we went down to the designated "costume photo area" after the masquerade was over, we saw a familiar face: Kevin Lillard of A Fan's View. The layout of the Thunderbird can make it very difficult to run into a wandering photographer like Kevin. Given some of his recent health problems, we weren't sure if he was going to make it out to Anime Detour, so we were very pleased to see him, safe and sound.

Peeling out of our clothes, we decamped to the bar for some liquid rest and relaxation before crawling off to bed.

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