Skip to main content

Something to Do: Cons

Most folks got Conned out with the massive number of events last week. But if you are ready for more, they are happening. Expo Comic Cancun is taking place in Cancun, Mexico, which includes a series of events by the Cosplay Deviants (they don’t show up at too many US events). Colossalcon 9 is an Anime, Gaming, and Japanese Culture con held in Sandusky, OH. It is being held at a waterpark resort, and they are giving away a trip to Japan, but not at random; you have to win their Cosplay Masquerade competition to get the prize. A-Kon 21 in Dallas, Tx. is an Anime con with a great concert lineup, and for the competitive they are running a Kabuki Slam! In Huntsville, Al., it is HamaCon 2010, an anime con that includes the Okinawa Festival Drums, and AMV and Cosplay competitions. Finally, Anime Kaigi in Flagstaff, AZ has a complete and aggressive series of events to edutain everyone.

A general Sci-Fi con well worth a visit this weekend is Con Carolinas 2010/ Deep South Con 48, in Charlotte, NC. These two events seem to have merged, at least for this year. Jerry Pournelle and Johnny Ringo are the writer GoH’s, Ed Beard, Jr. is the Artist GoH, and Media guests include Claudia God Sent Me Christian and Richard Hatch. Another good general con, although leaning towards the WriterCon side of life is SoonerCon 2010 (2010: A Bubba Odyssey) in Oklahoma City, OK. This one is particularly well endowed with panels and workshops for artists, authors, and fans. And in Nashville, TN, it is HyperIcon 6, again with lots going on.

DieCon X is a great name for a gaming convention, and this one is held just outside of St. Louis in Collinsville, IL; come ready to play, some of the tournaments have already started and will be going through the weekend.

Something to Do: Cons

This weekend is the first ever DC Comic Con in the Washington, DC, suburbs. It takes place on Sunday, May 2nd, and has some good guests lined up. This one is a small, one day event, no doubt testing the waters to see if they should expand next year.

Tampa, FL. has the Vulcan Events media con, which interestingly enough does not seem to have a single primary Star Trek actor, but it does have a ton of stars of other programs (and a few have been in Trek episodes or movies). In Charlotte, NC, is this weekends Twighlight Con for those looking for a different flavor of media con.

Nashville Anime fans will be holding forth at the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention, which is a much more complex and well rounded event than a first glance would indicate. With a large assortment of tracks, and every one of them full of events and entertainments of all sorts, this is one I need to try to attend next year. I would pay the full price just for the music track concerts, panels, and other events, and wedge in as much other fun as I could squeak in. It looks like staying awake for the full 72 hours would be the only acceptable option for this one.

Other Anime Cons include the No Brand Con in Eau Claire, WI, Chibi Con in Virginia Beach, VA,

New Old Who This Week

Some interesting things from the realm of Doctor Who are available this week, with others coming soon. In the Classic Who category there are two audio treats that you still have a few days to get in on, as part of the ongoing 7th Dimension audio series on BBC7. Both of these are fun, starting with Tom Baker reading from the first 4th Doctor adventure, Doctor Who and the Giant Robot. And yes, they even include the bit where Baker chose his costume for his version of The Doctor in this Big Finish production. You should hit it now, as of the point I am writing this you only have 5 days before the first episode is no longer available. You only have 4 days left to catch episode two of Barry Letts Who & Me, in which The Doctor Who TV producer from 1969 to 1974 recounts his career. There are some wonderful behind the scenes bits about Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee in this one. So while I am really looking forward to the new series, it is good to know Classic Who still has some new things to offer.

Something to Watch: DVD’s

The main entry for this weeks list has to be Sherlock Holmes; with Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, Jude Law as Watson, and Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, this was the Steampunk treat of the holiday season. If you happen to pick up your copy on Blu-Ray and have a BD-Ready player online and a web browser connected to the internet (so you can ask questions), you can join the live event on April 1st and hear Downey answer your questions about the movie.

On the Anime front, Negima? Season 2 appears to be a bit different than season 1, which to my mind expands the range of the show. It still has all the magic, but not as many sneezes.

There is a new entry in the US-released Lupin the 3rd collection, Lupin the 3rd Episode 0: First Contact. It has been a while since the last new episode we have gotten, and the fact that it is Subbed rather than Dubbed indicates the new North American distributor may be an independent operation.

And then there are Strike Witches, an elite aerial combat team that blasts aliens out of the sky, wearing propeller boots and wielding weapons, but with one rather noticeable missing item.

Other releases worth noting include Neo Angelique: Abyss and Six Strange Tales of Liao Zhai 2. There are also a few Complete Collection releases that had previously released each season as a box set, like Aquarion, Kannon, and Otogi Zoshi.

Voice and Video

One of the talents it takes to produce animation is Voice Actors; I know a number of them (and used to be one), and they have a unique skill set. Crunchyroll has a nice presentation on the topic called Adventures in Voice Acting, staring a huge assortment of the best in the business. Now that I have watched the first section, I have to flip a mental coin and decide if I want to buy and download the other segments, or just get the DVD for the permanent collection.

For some eye candy gone wrong, stop by SFX’s It’s Gone a bit 2001, a humorous review of ten movies that tried to imitate the psychedelic ending of that classic film and failed miserably.