Alamo @ MindSay 
Note: Heavily Loaded entry full of pictures. 56k users, you have been warned!
On Saturday, August 9th, 2008, Cynthia, her brother and I took a trip to San Antonio, TX to attend the San Japan 1.5 Anime Convention. We left Sugar Land, TX / Katy, TX at around 8:45am and arrived at San Antonio at 11:40am. The drive was pretty peaceful. Considering that I was driving my new 2008 Honda Civic Si, it was a piece of cake. The navigation system of my car helped us get around town. We also brought along MP3 CDs of Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop for our listening pleasure, but eventually tuned in to my XM Radio's comedy channels.
It was pretty easy finding the Auditorium. Once we saw a bunch of otakus in costume, we knew that we finally made it. We went in, we registered and we roamed around for a bit. Now when I saw the dealers area, I came, I saw, I ^_^!!!
The Auditorium, San Antonio, TX
About 90% of the people there were in costume. It was a totally different world for me, but I knew I was going to enjoy this! Once we got to the dealers area, I started taking pictures. Here's a few pictures I took while I was down there (Dealers / Artist area):
Great Manga artists, but forgot their names.
I bought a "badge" from them with a Mooninite saying
"I hope you can see this, Boston because I'm doing it as hard as I can."
The Dealers Area, lots and lots of merchandise I can't afford!
More merchandise
How to draw Manga books
My girlfriend, looking at the "How to draw Manga" books
Misty from Pokemon?
Pikachu!!! (Pokemon)
A figurine I wouldn't mind having
More figurines I wouldn't mind having (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Master Chief (Halo) and Counter Strike dude...?
A Jedi or a Sith? I learned that it is typical for Star Wars / Star Trek people to visit anime conventions in costume.
Sakura (Naruto) and Kite (.hack)
(Thanks beccaface)
Rikku (Kingdom Hearts)
OMG, it's Jenova (Final Fantasy VII)
Just a 1upper... ;) Toad
Dunno, but that costume is pretty awesome!
I want this T-Shirt!!!!
Ok, so I purchased a few things: [adult swim] t-shirt, a Shinobi Bladerunner ninja sword, and a sterling silver cross (from Hell Girl). After this, we went to the other side of the Anime Convention, which was held at the Holiday Inn Tropicano Riverwalk. On our way there, I took some more pics:
...?
Otaku invasion!!! ;)
Once we got into the Holiday Inn El Tropicano Riverwalk, here are some of the pics I took:
Jet and Julia (Cowboy Bebop), BEST Cosplay!!!
Mugen (Samurai Champloo), not the best, but I give this guy lots of credit
(I was wearing a Samurai Champloo shirt)
Rikku (Final Fantasy X2)
After that, we went back to the Auditorium to find my girlfriend's brother. We ran into a few interesting peoples:
Gendo Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Then we found her brother. We went back into the Auditorium to watch the Chibi Project, no comment... Then we ran into these people:
Chun Li (Street Fighter)
My girlfriend with some girl dressed like Edward Elrich (Full Metal Alchemist)
Reno and Elena (The Turks, Final Fantasy VII)
We decided to take a break from the convention and decided to walk to the Alamo and to the San Antonio River Center:
A random picture of me (yes, I shortened my hair, stop laughing)
The Alamo (me on the left)
Me and my lovely girlfriend
The River Center
After that, we returned to the Holiday Inn to get a glimpse of what's left of the anime convention.
American Tail?
Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop). BEST Cosplay!!!
A character from .hack (left) and someone dressed in a halloween costume (right)
The longer we stayed, the more it felt like home was closer... but it wasn't. We drove for about three hours to get back to Sugar Land, but the drive wasn't all that bad.
Here's a list of the Anime Conventions that I plan to visit:
- Oni-Con: November 21-23, 2008 @ George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX
- Ikkicon: February 6-8, 2009 @ Hilton Austin, Austin, TX
- Anime Matsuri: April 10-12, 2009 @ The Woodlands Waterway Marriot Hotel @ Convention Center, The Woodlands, TX
(this is going to present a bit of a problem because...) - KamiKazeCon: April 10-12, 2009 @ JW Marriot Hotel Houston, Houston, TX
(...I planned to attend this one.)
Yesterday, Cynthia and I went to San Antonio, TX for the San Japan 1.5 Anime Convention. I'd like to tell you guys more about it, but I have to leave for work in 15 minutes. So I'm just going to post a few pics real quick and I'll post some more later with more pics.
The Alamo (I'm on the left)
Spike and Faye (Cowboy Bebop cosplay)
Jet and Julia (Cowboy Bebop cosplay)
Who ever can guess who these two are, wins a prize!
(clue: Naruto and .hack cosplay)
That's all I have for now. I took lots of pics. It's a four hour drive from Houston to San Antonio but we were able to manage doing all this within 24 hours. I'll be back to post more pics tomorrow.
Note: The new few entries regarding the anime convention might be friends-only entries.
The title of this post is the opening lyrics to the Texas State Song, "Texas Our Texas". Believe it or not many Texans know this song by heart -- including me. I posted a video on Tess's blog of me singing the song. (Poor Tess). Anyway, today is a special day in Texas history:
On March 2, 1836, Texas declared it's independence from Mexico.
The necessity of self-preservation, therefore, now decrees our eternal political separation.
We, therefore, the delegates with plenary powers of the people of Texas, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do hereby resolve and declare, that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended, and that the people of Texas do now constitute a free, Sovereign, and independent republic, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent nations; and, conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations. [click here to read the entire document]
Because of his victory in the Battle of San Jacinto, which marked the end of the Texas Revolution, General Sam Houston became the first president of the Republic of Texas. Texas remained an independent republic until 1845 when it was annexed into the United States by President James K. Polk.
Booo...we lost this battle, but we vowed to "Remember the Alamo!"
The San Jacinto monument was erected (hehe) to honor Sam Houston's victory in the Battle of San Jacinto. It is the second tallest monument in the United States. (The first is the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri). There's nothing like the building of a giant phallic symbol to proclaim a nation's strength and glory. Like they say, "EVERYTHING'S bigger in Texas."!
