Supanova Convention: This is, what, the fourth convention in a row? I don’t remember what it’s like to have a free weekend anymore, even though it’s only been a month. But then Supanova is the big one, a popular culture convention that seems to have been taken over by anime a great deal in the past few years.
That said, I’m on yet ANOTHER panel for Supanova. And why not? It’s another great opportunity to talk about my work. For the details of my panel, it’s:
Supanova: Wharf 8, 53-59 Hickson Rd, Sydney
Area: Shin Tokyo Anime Area
Time: Saturday 15th October, 4:30 pm
About: The Dreaming!! This time, I think I ought to talk some more about the OEL phenomenon and what TOKYOPOP is aiming to do with the concept.
Animania: I had a good time at Animania, and I can say that I’m officially the Iron Artist of Animania 2005!!! Yes, I won the Iron Artist contest… almost by default. Truth is, the competition was spread over 2 days. Day 1 was the prelims, while Day 2 was the finals. Unfortunately, the winners of Day 1 (Iron Artist Sid and Challenger Naomi) were both busy on Day 2 – so it ended up being that the only people available to duke it out on Day 2 was Challenger Chuck and… me. I got a bottle of correction fluid out of it, and it was fun enough. I thought I’d be really nervous, but it turned out I had no trouble doodling on a stage infront of a big crowd with a guy poking a camera in my face. I have to put a word in for Chuck though – he was 16, and he handled the situation remarkably well. If I were 16, I would have been running off the stage instead of sitting there drawing confidently.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take many pictures of Animania, because I was involved in so many events. I had a chain of events running one right another, and frankly I was flat out tired by the time I got to the drawing panel. Iron Artist, immediately followed by the self-publishing panel, and then immediately followed by the Drawing Panel, which I hosted. God knows why I didn’t use the drawing panel to plug my book more – because there was a fair amount of interest in it. I guess I was so tired it didn’t occur to me to do so. I liked how I handled it too – I field questions from the crowd on what they wanted to draw, and demonstrated how to do it and told them what to look out for. However, at the same time, I was so tired I couldn’t even HEAR properly. I mean, I mistook “bishes” for “bitches”. Like, can you teach me how to draw bitches? If I was thinking straight, I might have realised something was wrong. In either case, I realised that I liked teaching people, and that I did it well. The panel was completely improvised, and if I can do it while half-asleep, I can probably do a better job while fully awake. Perhaps they’ll be an opportunity in the future to run a manga class of sorts.
There was also a bunch of art contests, including a doodling one filled by people doing sketches. I didn’t participate in any of the art contests, but ended up having to judge them. I think it’s safe by now to admit that I was the judge of the art contests – and that to shirk full responsibility for such a difficult and dangerous task, I dragged several innocent bystanders into it. Namely Iron Artist Dan and “My Neighbour Totoro” Kenny; last seen at Manifest as Saint Seiya. Together we chose something technically proficient but simple, and I was glad at the end of the day that the judging was anonymous. I’d hate to brave going on stage and explaining why I made the choices I did. For a moment, I pictured myself going on stage with a paper bag over my head, but then everyone would probably recognise me from Iron Artists that morning.
Nintendo DS: I finally bought a Nintendo DS, with Nintendogs, for $200. It’s a great deal, and I even bought a PINK one, to ward off potential thieves. I’m getting a labrador named “Major”, after my mum’s current dog. My mother will probably wrestle the DS from me to play it herself.