(no subject)

[tvordlj]

We went to Hal-Con on Saturday and spent quite a bit of the day there until our feet gave out. I think we will go again and when we do, we decided we should get weekend passes to spread out the experience so it's not all stuffed into one day. There were things on Sunday we might have wanted to see that didn't happen on Saturday such as the costume contest. I could have spent all day  just sitting near the escalators people watching. Lots and lots were in costumes of one sort or another and quite a few were very, very good. Very creative and detailed. They spent a huge amount of time and money I would think. Even just that aspect was worth the ticket!

We got there about 10:30 I think, after the initial crowd. I've seen lineups around the block in other years and I think it would have been a long wait at the queue and the registration area if we'd gone when or before it opened. Also if we get a weekend pass, we can get the pass the day before the convention, convenient since I work right across the road from the venue. We got a quick look at the lay of the land (over the three floors) and picked up our autograph/photo tickets. We didn't realize the autograph ticket we'd bought did not come with a photo so ended up getting a second ticket. Will know for the next time, G. really only wanted the photo. There's also a lot of standing in line, for entrance into the main stage presentations, and the panel discussions and for the autograph/tickets. We waited for the photo first and came back later for the photo at a later time. We saw most of the vendors i think, many quite interesting but there were also quite a lot that were geared to Anime and manga and we aren't into that at all so it was lost on us. Some nice jewellry booths, artwork, places for tshirts, games, but, surprisingly, no booths for dvds. G. was hoping to have a root through dvds to see if he could find any older movies or rarities. He was also suprised there was no room for movies or new trailers like there is in some of the big shows.

We had a look at the section that featured authors and comic artists and spoke to a few of them. We sat in on a Q&A for an actor named Phil Lemarr who does a lot of voice work. He was also in Pulp Fiction and did the voice for Hermes in Futurama. It was interesting to hear him talk about that kind of work, finding the voices etc. That session was moderated by a Canadian presenter called AJ Frye who is one of the hosts of Innerspace, on the Space channel, which we watch fairly often.

THey also had a "flash" mob which wasn't really, it was an outdoor coordinated dance that didn't start with one person dancing in a public area, joined by more and more people. It was a large group of them that had gathered in the parade square across from the venue, circled by people taking photos, probably some media as well, and launching into the dance but it was fun to see anyway. There was one fellow in a very large dinosaur costume dancing and looked quite funny.

One thing that I noticed... there were a number of women dressed up in outfits that had some aspect of being "skimpy", showing cleavage or stomachs in short tops or short skirts and they were most definitely plus sized. It made me pleased that they had the confidence to do it and that it seemed like they were completely accepted by everyone else. Not that I saw otherwise, at least. I know that I've got to the point where I mostly don't think about my size and accept that I am what I am. I have my days of course, when my size bothers me but for the most part, i shrug and say it is what it is and get on with things. If someone were to think that it was an insult to call me fat I'd just chuckle and say "Are you new here?" or ask them if they couldn't find anything more original to insult me with. I"m self conscious enough that I couldn't bring myself to wear anything tight or exposing as a costume but all power to those who do!

It was a fun day out, punishing for my feet and i was wrung out yesterday but it was a great experience.