Back from Mechacon
Aug. 3rd, 2008 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iesikaThe con was mostly pleasant, though rather a shock to me in many ways, since Yaoicon is the only convention I'd been to previously, and it was quite different. There were children everywhere, for one thing, and teenagers and, really strangely, lots of parents of con-goers sitting around in the hotel lobby and being bewildered, intimidated, and downright hostile, by turns. One lady apparently assumed I was a parent, and told me not to let my kid out of my sight because "children get raped and murdered at these things, all the time!" (She also shouted at her husband for leaving her daughter alone with those maniacs, when he returned from somewhere alone, to which he replied "well, I can't follow her into the bathroom, honey").
So, altogether a different feel about the place. It was also much smaller, while feeling more crowded because the facilities were too small and the organization was poor. It was weird driving in Lafayette, too, because the place has boomed since Katrina and looks entirely different than it did when I moved back to Baton Rouge. My drive-thru donut place was still there, though (with a name and a sign and everything, now, though the menu is still marker on plywood). The Sonic across the street from my old apartment has somehow been converted into a tax place. It looked very strange and disreputable.
It was good to see some of the people I hadn't seen in a long time. Some of the people I ran into I could have done without ever seeing again, like the guy who practically stalked me for two years. I spent all day Saturday with M, P, and B in various combinations, which was quite fun.
The highlight of the trip, though, was meeting Steve Blum, Beau Billingslea and Mary McGlynn of Cowboy Bebop fame (Spike, Jet and Julia respectively, and Mary also directed the dub). Mary was the most interesting to talk to, probably. She had a lot of information about the business and about the process. Steve was very funny (and let me tell you, it was very, very weird to hear his voice coming out of the mouth of a real live human being after hearing him in so many anime) and big on the fanservice (lots of quotes and pandering, and shouting of "BIG OOOOO," etc, and outrageous flirting). Beau was the coolest, though, I think.
M and I were leaving for lunch at the same time that the three of them were heading off, and we got pictures with them all. I got an actual hug from Beau, and we talked some about the affection he feels for the characters of the show, and how he related Spike and Faye to his RL children, who are big risk takers. He was very warm and friendly. He seemed to see his role rather differently than the other two did - they saw it as something they'd done, and he very obviously felt it was something he was, which was very cool and profound. He said it much better than I'm managing to, here. They were all very down to earth and approachable, which was nice, and very appreciative of their fans.
So, altogether a different feel about the place. It was also much smaller, while feeling more crowded because the facilities were too small and the organization was poor. It was weird driving in Lafayette, too, because the place has boomed since Katrina and looks entirely different than it did when I moved back to Baton Rouge. My drive-thru donut place was still there, though (with a name and a sign and everything, now, though the menu is still marker on plywood). The Sonic across the street from my old apartment has somehow been converted into a tax place. It looked very strange and disreputable.
It was good to see some of the people I hadn't seen in a long time. Some of the people I ran into I could have done without ever seeing again, like the guy who practically stalked me for two years. I spent all day Saturday with M, P, and B in various combinations, which was quite fun.
The highlight of the trip, though, was meeting Steve Blum, Beau Billingslea and Mary McGlynn of Cowboy Bebop fame (Spike, Jet and Julia respectively, and Mary also directed the dub). Mary was the most interesting to talk to, probably. She had a lot of information about the business and about the process. Steve was very funny (and let me tell you, it was very, very weird to hear his voice coming out of the mouth of a real live human being after hearing him in so many anime) and big on the fanservice (lots of quotes and pandering, and shouting of "BIG OOOOO," etc, and outrageous flirting). Beau was the coolest, though, I think.
M and I were leaving for lunch at the same time that the three of them were heading off, and we got pictures with them all. I got an actual hug from Beau, and we talked some about the affection he feels for the characters of the show, and how he related Spike and Faye to his RL children, who are big risk takers. He was very warm and friendly. He seemed to see his role rather differently than the other two did - they saw it as something they'd done, and he very obviously felt it was something he was, which was very cool and profound. He said it much better than I'm managing to, here. They were all very down to earth and approachable, which was nice, and very appreciative of their fans.
