Catching up, Part 2

(Sorry, meant to have this up a lot earlier than today.)

Metrocon 2005

So from June 24 - 26, X and I decided to go to Metrocon, an anime convention held annually here in Tampa. This was their third year of existence, but their first year holding the festivities at the Tampa Convention Center. I haven't gone to many conventions, but I've always had a lot of fun at the few I have attended. I usually treat it like a vacation, and it's always nice to surround yourself with people that share your interests. I probably won't go describing the convention too much, as I'm not really sure many of you are interested (but if you are, just post a comment; I can always write about the con in a later post). I will say that for being at an anime convention for two days, I didn't actually watch much anime while there. It's funny, but we mainly spent our time in the dealer's room, watching Lake Texarkana Gamera, and walking the Path of the Samurai.

The dealer's room was pretty cool. Besides there being plenty of vendors selling anime and anime-related merchandise, there was also a vendor selling replica weapons, a couple of costume shops (cosplayers ... mmm ... ), and various other stalls.

Lake Texarkana Gamera ... how to explain this? Well, best thing to say is that it was maybe one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. Mr. John Swasey, voice actor/director for ADV Films, was the director for the dub of Gamera: Attack of Legion. I don't honestly remember the whole story, but after dubbing the movie some of the people involved with the English dub got it in their heads that they should make another dub of the movie. But this time, they should dub almost all the parts (they left the main female lead alone) as if the characters are from rural East Texas. I do not know if words can do this justice. This may quite possibly be the funniest thing I've ever seen. If you ever get the chance, rent or check out the Gamera Limited Edition Boxed Set. You have to get the boxed set, as the stand-alone version of Gamera: Attack of Legion does not have the full dub of Lake Texarkana Gamera. But the you'll find it is well worth it to find this edition.

Path of the Samurai ... this was an awesome experience. Basically, a local dojo came to the convention to show people the ways of Japanese swordsmanship. Sensei Mike Femal came to explain the basic tenets of the samurai, and to demonstrate the style of swordmanship that he teaches here in the bay area, Toyama Ryu Batto Jutsu. I found this interesting for two reasons. First, because I have always been interested in the sword arts. Secondly, I studied Edo Yagyu Shinkage-ryu Heiho for some time last year (before multiple hurricanes, laziness, and some personal issues caused me to stop), and I was very interested in seeing where the two styles differed. The classes that were taught went extremely well. They had something like 70-80 people sign up to participate, and X and I lent a hand in their preparations and instructions. We spent a lot of time speaking to the instructors from the dojo. I think we ended up spending 4 hours in this one activity. I want to express my deepest thanks to Sensei Femal and his students for putting on such great demonstrations and classes. That helped to get me energized for my next outing ...