It's been a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time since my last entry... I attribute that to being insanely busy, sick, stressed, lazy and many other things, but the important thing is that I'm here now.

Last weekend was Anime Evolution, in Burnaby BC at Simon Fraser University. Now, I've gone to AE every year for the past three years, and this year's was HORRIBLE! I'm not kidding! The organization was terrible! It pains me to say it, because conventions are really hard to organize, and our anime club is embarking on that fun, and daunting task right now... I hope that out of the bad experiences we had this year at AE, a phoenix will rise out of the ashes and help us to make ours run smoothly by learning from the mistakes of AE '06...

Highlighting some of the worst scenarios this year, include the lack of informed staff at both the Registration Desk and Information Booth. Though they were friendly, and did what they could, the fact remained that many were illinformed of such important information as the Cosplay contest, room locations, and so on. Plus, they were in the WEIRDEST location this year, almost at the back of the con away from the front doors! Weeeeeeiiiirrrrddddd.....

My favourite event, the Cosplay Contest, was a farce... We had to BEG to have the full 4:32 to perform our skit, and yet ONLY 27 or so groups signed up, with a good 8 not even bothering to show up at the actual event... This happens every year, and I have a feeling it's because of the harsh restrictions they place on the time limit and so on... But that's for another time... The actual judges never bothered to show either, so two girls who normally take care of the cosplay pictures were asked to take thier place... They were really nice, and asked informative questions, but in the end they broke a major rule. They handed out two prizes to one group, which is against the rules in the AE manifesto...

Though I did not see it myself, I'm told the Walk-Off was a write off... It was lewd, disgusting, and went FAR beyond the boundries that any contest such as it should have. There was an elementary school tour taking place during some of the pinnacles of indecency and they walked right past the stage where it was taking place, which isn't really the con's fault, but it was a case of bad timing... The walk off is supposed to be a fun, competitive comedy...not a strip show...

I heard Idol was run much like American Idol... Unlike Otafest Idol, which allows ALL contestants to perform for the judges, AE only allows 10 to go on to perform at the con after sending in auditions that a panel of judges chooses from... This is not fair in the least, as home made recordings are not that great depending on the quality of microphone or recording program you use... I myself was forced to use a karaoke machine and rely on a friend to mix vocals and music together... I was also told I was personally snubbed because I chose to perform a song sung by Ayumi Hamasaki, and I am a guy...so they don't seem to like that. I'll remember that next year when I enter once again with a song sung originally by a girl, and I'll knock their socks off!!

The vendors room was fantastic. Nice and big, easy to find, and everyone was friendly. I liked that there weren't too many major store names there, giving other businesses a chance to shine. The deals were good, and they had some REALLY rare stuff {I now have MUCH revered Sailor Moon Stuff!!}.

Artist alley was well done this year as well. It seems every year, more and more artists come out to the con to sell their goods, and the quality always improves too. The Art Gallery also yielded very very good wares, and I took home two Inuyasha pieces!!

Taking heed to the flaming on last year's ASSAULT AND FLATTERY forum, the con organizers made sure there was a LOT of food available! The vending machines were well stocked, and there were more restaurants this year to keep everyone happy! Bubble Tea and Mr. Sub were probably the luckiest for this! The cash machines were kept well stocked too!! A must have for any anime fan at a con!!

Security was lacking a little in different areas, but I think that's because of the lack of volunteers... One of the cons of running a convention...

I missed out on Karaoke this year, but from what I heard it was great. There wasn't a lot of attendance though, but that meant more singing for more people! That's a plus! There's always next year I guess!!

Aside from the convention, our group hung out a lot at the pool side and at eachother's rooms in the hotel. That sense of group unity was great, minus the fighting and strange things that ensued...but it's all fun right? We went shoppipng at Metrotown and Crystal Mall, specifically in Sakura Media... Got a bunch of new CD's for the radio show, which on a side note, I've applied for a two hour show slot!! We'll see what happens there!

We left from the con on Monday, and got back into Kamloops in the evening. Daniel had to leave that night, which made me sad, but we're set to do it again next year, just not with such a big group. Also, it really pumped me up to get our convention plans underway for June 2007, and also to get our Cosball Cosplay Dance underway for Halloween of this year!! Then there's Otafest in May...and the magazine and so on, so I'm pretty busy for the next little while!

~Jeremy~