splitdecisioncomics

So, Kotaku, one of the most awesome gaming websites ever, featured my Grimlock costume today on their site under the cosplay section they use.

kotaku.com/5822115/this-cospla…

So CTCon has come and gone and it was an amazing weekend. Only one downfall happened - Grimlock broke. Yea. So I didn't get to get it judged, which really upset me. But that just means I learned from what I did so I know what not to do in the future. And I have a great idea for my next costume: Transformers Animated Soundwave with Ratbat keytar. So yea, it's going to rock. I can't wait to do it.

So now I'm back to the normal life again til October. I'm going to NYCC for all 4 days. I can't wait.

So here I am, utterly amazed at how fast this trip went and I honestly don't know where to start writing this whole thing. I mean, come on. I went to freaking California! How often do I even go and leave the state other than Boston or NYC? Not very often. So this whole trip was just plain geekgasm. But a report must be made, even if it's going to be longer than my PAX east report and probably less coherent. Or maybe it'll be more coherent. I don't remember what I wrote there. Oh well.

Ok. Back on track.

So I've been pretty much counting down for this trip for quite some time. Shit, I honestly can say that I've been counting down since I ordered my plane tickets and booked my hotel back in December. Which was way before the figures were announced. I'm sure if you look back, you could tell how excited I was. If any of you know me as well as I think you all do, then you'll know I've been a huge Transformers fan for a while. My room is decked out with figures to the point where I honestly have no more room for any new ones (which is going to make opening all these new figures a fun experience...). I always had wanted to go to a BotCon but never really had the opportunity or the funds. Work or personal life usually got in the way so I made sure that I took the opportunity to go to the next one I could.

And what an amazing BotCon it was.

My flight going to California was ok. I haven't flown since 2001 before 9/11 happened let alone ever flown by myself. So I knew going into this that I was probably going to be freaking out the entire time. When we left Hartford, we were stuck on the tarmac for almost 45 minutes because of the storms that happened up in Springfield, MA. We didn't know about the storms at all. I found out when I landed at LAX when I called home and was told by my mom. Luckily, when I landed in Cincinnati, I had 30 minutes to get from one end of the airport to the other. So that wasn't so bad. We were all worried on the plain since most of us were going to LAX to begin with. If we missed our flight, that would have made for a lot of unhappy passengers. But the pilot turned it to 11 and made sure we got there in time. Plus, that plane had to be in Cincinnati before 4pm (it got there at 340).

I had my friend Paige pick me up in LAX and she brought me to Pasadena. We did kind of get lost a little bit and hit a lot of the famous LA traffic. The roads out there are crazy. 6-lane highways! It's absurd! They even want to build more highways on top of the ones they already have. It's like LA will be the city from the Jetsons in no time. I digress. Once we got to Pasadena, I checked into my room and met up with Spoon! He got there a little before I did and just hung out in Pasadena til I arrived. We were going to go to this restaurant that apparently all over the US. However, we found a Bob's Big Boy. I have never had that before. So we went. Wow. For my first time, it was amazing. Much better than I could imagine. It's like a cross between a fast food joint and a sit down restaurant. You even get a salad, which wasn't bad at all. After that, Spoon had me stay up til midnight so I could get use to the time difference.

The next day began our adventure. We were up at 5am. Yea. I didn't get much sleep at all this vacation. I was probably too damn excited for everything to even bother sleeping. So we started our first real day in Pasadena around 7am and just took pictures. Most places in Pasadena didn't open until 10am, which was really weird. We did find some cool places we wanted to eat at (which we only eventually did one of them) and some cool little shops and what not. We even found 3 Paris Hilton dogs (not hers but similar) leashed up to a bicycle rack. Just sitting there. By the side of the road. It was...odd...to say the least.

I continued to take pictures of pretty much everything. Coming from Connecticut and going to California, you can definitely tell that it is a different environment out there. Firstly, everything is so damn clean. I don't think I saw trash laying on the sidewalks or on the grass or in any of the plants. Out here, that's commonplace. But out there, they take their landscaping very serious. Everything is neat and orderly. If one little tree is out of proportion, it's soon fixed by city workers. It's really cool seeing a city so clean in a state that has places that can possibly be dirty. But I can tell once you start getting outside of LA, it gets cleaner and nicer. LA is like NYC a lot. Things are just built on top of each other. But LA is bigger and has less parks. There are very little amounts of trees in LA. It's kind of like they are randomly placed around the entire city. It's pretty much just staring into metal and glass until you reach a certain point and it becomes less big city.

Anyway, like I said, I just continued taking pictures. We eventually got stopped by two Pasadena Sheriffs because I took a picture of the subway. It looked neat from where I was standing. It seemed like they wanted to bust us on something. If you have ever met Spoon before, then you can see why! Haha I kid. We talked our way out of being arrested and continued on our journey. We went to City Hall and found this amazing fountain. We went to Del Taco and had a mediocre experience (I like Taco Bell better). Soon, we decided it was time to make the 3 mile trek to In-N-Out Burger. You really don't know how far 3 miles is until you actually do it in a pair of shoes that aren't meant to be walked in for more than 1/4 of a mile. Oh yea. We walked the 3 miles back too. Pretty much my feet killed the entire weekend. But it was totally worth it. We got back to the hotel around 2pm or so and just lounged out by the pool. One of the guys I met there who was from CT wanted to meet up before we waited in line to pick up our BotCon pacakges. So we got there around 3pm and got in line around 4. I didn't leave that line til almost 10pm. It took from 6pm (my scheduled time) til 8pm to just get my Stunticon figures. Then it took almost another 2 hours to get my convention exclusives. By then, I was pooped. I didn't want to do anything after that. My feet hurt and the blister that was forming on my foot kept getting bigger. We just went and crashed after that. I did meet some awesome people in the exclusives line, tho.

Friday. The next day. The first day of the convention. We started out by going to Dona Rosa, an amazing Mexican restaurant that served breakfast burritos and margaritas at 6am. We actually went here a few times since the food was really good. Definitely my first true experience with local Californian cuisine and I highly enjoyed my experience. BotCon didn't start until really late in the day, which was really weird. So you had a lot of people just hanging around not doing anything until 5 or 6pm. I waited in an autograph line to meet David Kaye (since he was only going to be there Friday) and met some cool people. A few of them I actually hung out with on various occasions throughout the con. I think that's why I liked BotCon a lot. People are very friendly. Yea, you get the 5 weirdos for every 1 cool person but they definitely outweigh the weird. When I finally got to meet David Kaye, I asked him about his experiences on Beast Wars (he voiced Megatron) and what it was like doing the rubber duck scenes. He had a laugh about that and said he'll always remember them the most. I also met Abby Collins, who was the daughter of the original Starscream voice actor from the G1 cartoon. She did one of the script reading voices and she was also super nice. After that, the dealer's room and exhibition hall opened up for us. I bought a ton there as well. Pretty much everything I wanted. I didn't really buy much after that. Just food.

Friday night was the casino night. It was funny seeing people really dress up for this. I mean, it was a "casino" so I guess I can see why they did (I still don't get why people dress up to go to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun but that's just me, I guess). The catered food they had there was really good. I didn't have much against that. Plus there was a cash bar. 2 rum and cokes later, I started being the life of the party at the table. Talked a lot about cartoons and why Cartoon Network sucks and all that stuff. The casino games were alright. It was mainly to get as many chips as you could so you had stuff to bid with when it came to the auction. Spoon and I didn't bother staying for that. We instead went to the Yard House for more drinks. This place was awesome. It has over 100 different types of drafts on tap. Spoon was in shock at how many different kinds they had. Magic Hat #9 in Cali? That was a shock of it's own. So when we got there, I noticed someone I swear I knew. It turned out it was Chris Gore from G4's Attack of the Show. He was there with one of his friends (turned out to be a script writer who worked with Adrian Brody a few years back). When his friend left for a few minutes, I played it cool and told him it was really an honor to meet him and I am a big fan. That sparked an hour and a half conversation with him and his friend with Spoon and I. It was really awesome meeting someone famous at a bar in Pasadena. And the stories we heard. Spoon even showed them a picture of the snow we got this year and they were all like "We are never going to New England." Don't blame them on that one.

So on Saturday, the convention really started. I went around the dealers room and looked at stuff I didn't get a chance to the night before. I was able to get the BotCon exclusive Kre-O Optimus Prime figure. They are sort of like Lego minifigures with more pose-ability. I also got to see a lot of new figures that are coming out this year. I definitely am going to pick up a bunch of them when they come out. The rest of Saturday I pretty much got a bunch of autographs that I wanted. I got to meet Gregg Berger, who is the voice of Grimlock from the original G1 cartoon. I even showed him the progress of my costume and he was in awe at how big it was and how awesome. He even talked as Grimmy which was pretty damn awesome. Eventually the one panel I wanted to see the most started. It was for the TF Collectors Club. They were going to show next year's incentive figure as well as the 2 club exclusives. I'm definitely staying for those. We are getting Runamuck, Runabout and Shattered Glass Drift. Very awesome next year and it's going to be interesting at the direction they take the comic and possibly the convention.

Saturday night was kind of a drag. I payed $45 for the Hall of Fame event. It should have been $10. They didn't really give me $45 worth of entertainment. Yea, the videos for each of the HoF nominated characters were cool. And it was pretty neat that they made a video for a character that was a Headmaster. They did show about 15 minutes of the new movie in 3D, too. Some scenes were pretty neat (they showed the opening 5 minutes of the film) and this one awesome scene with Bumblebee and Sam where BB was a car, transforms, which throws Sam from the car. BB then grabs him, shoves him into his chest and turns into a car, putting Sam in the drivers seat. It was all in slow motion so it was pretty awesome. Other than that, it wasn't really that exciting of an event. Micheal Bay pretty much had no respect for any of the fans. Just seemed that Hasbro wanted more money out of us after we payed so much to begin with. If they charge for it again next year, I won't be paying for it.

Sunday was the last day of the convention. I pretty much just lounged around the con and got some autographs and hung out with newly made friends. It was definitely a slow day but it was pretty fun. I got to meet Michael McConnohie, who was the voice of Tracks in G1. But he was also the voice of the Director in Crackdown 1 and 2. I told him that I knew he was there for a TF con but I really liked his voice in Crackdown. He then spoke as the Director for me. "Kills for skills, agent." Hehehe that was awesome. At night, Spoon and I just hung out at the Yard House and then went to bed early.

Monday. OMG. Monday. Yea, I was really there for BotCon but the opportunity to got Disneyland had to be taken. And let me tell you this: IT WAS FREAKING AMAZING. We went on almost every ride and I took tons of pictures. Yea, I don't really have much to say about this because it's really hard to explain awesome. Pictures are better to explain. But what was cool was that at California Adventure, the one we went to, they turn the whole Backlot into elecTRONica. Everyone was dressed up as people from TRON. They even had Flynn's Arcade! The tokens even say they are from Flynn's! Yea. Disneyland was amazing. Soooooo much fun. I wanna go back cause next year they are opening up Cars Land. They are building a lifesize version of Radiator Springs. All the buildings and everything. It's going to be sweet.

The flight back was nice. I met someone going to CT who was also at BotCon and was taking the same flights as me. So it was nice to have someone to talk to at the airport both times. It is definitely nice to meet new friends.

So would I do this again? Definitely. I plan on going to next year's BotCon, too. So I'm going to start saving for it now. Where is it? No clue. But I really want to go. I really enjoy visiting new states. California was on my list of states I wanted to go to and I'm really glad I was able to go visit.

Now to actually finish my costume for CTCon...

So things are going well. I was in a rut at work the other week but things are better. I just need out of there. A new job.

BOTCON IS IN LESS THAN A MONTH! I am soooo excited. I have so much to do for it before hand but I'll get it all done. I can't wait to meet my new friends. And the exclusive sets. Mmm.....exclusive transformers. I have a feeling this won't be my last Botcon. Plus, I get to see and and !

What else has been going on....well, I registered a panel for CTCon. I want to talk about Doctor Who for an hour. I'm a dork. But it is myf avorite show and they have never had a panel for it before. I'm going to make this the best panel ever. Well, I'm going to try anyway. Should be fun.

Grimlock is nearly complete. I have a few more paint applications to do as well as make the dino arms for the wings, add rubber matting onto the feet so I don't slip on the carpet. Also gotta put some plastic on the chest piece. Then get my underarmor and I'll be good to go! I can't wait.

Other than that, not much is going on.

So Grimlock is nearly 99% built. The other 1% are details that get added after I paint. So when it starts warming up here in Connecticut and we get less rainy days and more sunny, I'll begin the painting process. I'm actually quite excited for the whole thing to finally be done. I've been pushing back the painting each week since I've been trying to get more things done around the house (ie: have more of a social life). I got back into playing Magic and have been enjoying it actually more than I did before. I actually am going to a tournament today.

Next Saturday I will be heading to PAX East up in Boston. I'm really excited. I'm going to try and take tons of pictures and get a shit ton of free stuff. This is my first time going to PAX and I want to make the best of it. I'll probably put pictures up if I do take a bunch. I have people actually wanting pictures.

I'm thinking of doing Anime Boston as long as I don't have to work overtime that week (of if I do, I work it on a Sunday). My friend in charge of the Cosplay Court Case, , and I have an idea for the CCC at AB and at CTCon. We'll be working more on that soon and it should be pretty damn awesome. If you're going to be at AB, check us out. And while you're at it, check out his site: www.ctokyo.net/

BotCon is going to be here before I know it and I don't know if I'm ready/could ever be ready. I'm just waiting for registration to occur and I'll be in that "ok, you're going" high. The set looks fantastic. I'm sure the bonus figures will be even more awesome. I'm going to have to make more room in my room for all these figures I'm planning on getting. I'm hoping that it goes to Orlando, FL or Providence, RI next year.

CTCon is going to be filled with total win. On top of CCC, Grimlock and other randomness, it'll be the first convention in quite some time that I'm going to have fun at. NYCC, GobbleCon...they were fun but not as much fun as CTCon provides each and every year.

So once CTCon is over with, I don't really have much else to do. I might hit up NYCC again and I'm going to GobbleCon as well in November. So my real question is: What do I do with myself now? Here are some ideas...

1) Start next years cosplay (thinking of doing another Transformer)
2) Go back to webcomicing....meaning I will be starting something new.
3) Design t-shirts? Don't know if this would really be any of interest to me.
4) Work on that "novel" that I have 12 pages written.
5) Make puppets again? Sell them?

Part of me is very confused as to what to do. The other part of me really wants to go back to drawing webcomics on my terms. I also really want to make an even better costume for next year's conventions. What would you all think?