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<DIV>In a word, "WOW!" Oops, sorry, I said it backwards. Let me try
it again: "!WOW" </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The con was certainly different from any other con I have been to.
For one thing, I discovered this was NOT a great place to fill in some
missing back issues from my collection. But it was a great con to see
what's going on in the pop culture world of this country and other countries
that produce work in English and Japanese. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I met some people I've always wanted to meet including some of y'all out
there in emailland. I've noticed several people, including ME talking
about all the problems getting to the con, through the lines, getting a hotel,
and all the other con horror stories. I know ME recently said all
those problems are worth it to experience this con, but I'd like to go a
step further. I thought the con was very well organized. I thought
we got through lines just as fast as we would at any other con, we knew exactly
who was speaking and where, and we had no problems getting to and from our
hotel. Of course, to be fair, we also planned the trip in April. If
you make reservations early, preregister for the con, and plan on a reliable
mode of transportation, you'll have a very enjoyable and pleasant experience at
the con. We were told it would be really bad on the floor on Saturday, so
we planned all that day following ME around in the panels. Except for our
hotel being slightly farther away than we thought from the convention center,
there wasn't a bad experience for us to be had. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I will, however, echo everything else you've heard about hygiene. The
con is packed with lots of people and we get sweaty within a couple of
hours. There were people there that could have used a bath starting Friday
and it only got worse the preceding two days.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Our biggest conundrum was the Saturday at noon panel debate: "QuickDraw or
the Star Wars panel: which to see?" We settled on QuickDraw and it looks
like LucasFilm used that panel to reveal to the world the title of the final
Star Wars movie, "Revenge of the Sith." Someone, please tell me I made the
right decision by attending QuickDraw!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Janet and I want to make this an annual event. Hopefully, by June
2005 we'll have this year's con paid off so we can go to next year's con a month
later.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Elie</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>P.S. Oh, by the way, did I forget to mention that Janet's birthday is
next Wednesday, August 4th and when I left for the con I didn't have any idea
what to get her? So what would any Groopie in my predicament do?
That's right, you guessed it! I asked Sergio what to get Janet. I
took his advice and procured the item(s). I'll let Janet reveal Sergio's
birthday present idea to you all herself next Wednesday evening. Be sure
to stay by your email.</DIV>
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