The Curious Case of a Conference that wants to be a Convention - HawaiiCon 2018

How did we get here again?

It's been a while since I've dusted off the storied pages of this blog, and one of the more popular poasts here was what I felt was a scathing review of the inaugural episode of HawaiiCon, hosted annually on the Kona side of the Big Island after an adventure that left me very angry at the treatment my friends and I had been given, and after an interesting conversation about flimsy lanyards, I had told myself that this convention had to really get their shit together for me to return.

So of course 3 years later in 2017, I returned as a vendor -- selling gaming items as I with a few others had opened a gaming shop, and for the most part that particular weekend was pretty enjoyable (mostly because we had made a decent amount of money for a store which at the time had only opened in the previous month), but as I was dealing with my vending duties I was unable to really critique the "con" and look into the issues that I highlighted to see if HawaiiCon had, in fact, gotten their shit together.

Fast forward to this year: 2018. After working with the HawaiiCon Gaming department for the better part of nine months on and off, a series of unfortunate events caused me to attend this year not as a vendor, but as a volunteer. This became a great opportunity to not only re-critique what I did get to see, but also compare their first year to this... current year.

Things I Liked...

One of the more crowning moments of the con was presenting a Loco Moco to Stefan Pokorny of Dwarven Forge

I know that at the bare minimum, some of the things I suggested did get implemented at the game room. Advertising was definitely much better compared to first year. A schedule was worked out, and (mostly) posted on the website. The layout of the room was a good collaboration effort, and I was happy to have been a part of the scheduling and layout process. On the days of, I liked how gaming room staff were active and inclusive, either starting up board games, running RPGs or manning the info booth. All my positive experiences with the convention were with gaming room staff, and for that I wanted to thank them for that. I also wanted to thank the gaming room VIPs, they were an absolute joy to pick their brains, have dinner with and just let them be them without the whole "famous" person connotation.

My demos for Star Wars Armada had a good amount of interest, at least 5 or 6 people were excited about the models themselves, and the Big Island Armada community got at least 1 more person playing. That is very exciting.

I'll take personal responsibility for that boost in popularity in the greatest of social deduction games, Secret Hitler. Between my heavy ironic right-wing posting IRL, and the jokes others made that I made zero attempt to shut down (because why shut jokes down?), I have had a few people after the convention thank me for the great experience and asked me about where they can get copies of the game. That for me, is a big victory.

Another great thing was being able to sell off some of the things I had in my closet -- I made like, $270, which I was happy to donate 10% to the local college tabletop gaming club for their activities.

... and the not-so-much stuff.

Again, I feel like the event organizers sees gaming as a side note, something to be tacked onto an academic conference with sci-fi undertones. I had a few just "LITERALLY WHY" moments that weekend:

1. Due to how the layout of the venue is, a bigger panel room opposite one of the walls hosted a cosplay contest. This in itself is not a problem, the problem was when it was decided that the green room for the cosplay contestants (and the infiltration/exfiltration for these contestants) was through the gaming room. So you can understand my displeasure when a crowd of people wandering in with organizers shouting at them to get in a line and find the door in the middle of a room for quiet activities. I had to stop my scheduled Star Wars Armada demo for a good 20 minutes while I waited for the crowds to do their thing and leave. I could tell that the visitors that were with me were also pretty annoyed that they were unable to concentrate on the game and instead had to jostle about since the line/crowd ran completely through the center of the room. Paid VIP events off to the side were also disrupted by the crowd, and I'm annoyed that an event that those people paid to participate in were disrupted. They shouldn't have to deal with that. 
2. As a last minute, not on the gaming schedule thing, the gaming department gets drafted in some sort of charity casino night event? So participants pay money to play "board games" -- really just a couple of craps/blackjack tables and then some cards against humanity tables towards the center. I (in my stupidity, I guess) hosted a Secret Hitler table, which of course became the most popular game of the weekend when people actually play it. Anyway, I get looks of derision from a couple of the organizers, and I even get a few people come and harass the table, just because the board game has the bad man's name on it OH NOOO. Meanwhile, literally across the room is a game also made by the same people -- Cards Against Humanity. So we can't play well designed board games because the bad, scary dude's name is on it? That's bullshit. Anyway, after a few rounds of Secret Hitler, we played more social deduction games like Coup, which the table enjoyed. In this case, I just found the obvious closed mindedness very unfortunate, and I want to thank those people that gave the games a chance and had an excellent time of it!
3. I heard about a staffer that was arrested for property damage at the hotel, and was apparently allowed to return to the venue as a convention goer. I don't know exactly how much of the story is true (I know the arrest happened but did not confirm personally that the person in question got to return.), but I would have not only dropped them from the volunteer staff, but I would have asked them to just not come back, period. It caused some real questions to be asked among the other volunteers, that's all.
4. I heard about a different staffer doing inappropriate things with another person and while it was handled correctly in my opinion, I was disappointed that something like that happened and I hope that it doesn't happen again.

And for the more minor things I didn't like:

• The convention pamphlet lacked basic functions like a map of the venue, schedule of events, list of panels with descriptions, and hours of operation. You would think all these things were a simple affair, and would have been included immediately. Instead we get a 30 page advertisement that was for all intents and purposes useless for the congoer. I think there was talk of an app or something, but I'm almost certain nobody actually used it, so there's that.
• The "feedback" panel was more just a solicitation for people to praise the panel, and not actually put in some good critiques. A couple of people tried to  raise some issues, but were quickly swept under the rug with announcements about the resort fee being waved next year. WOO TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS WOO. That was embarrassing.
• Why are we spending so much money on C/D-rated celebrities, but we STILL have flimsy business cards for con badges. Nobody checks them, the badges are too small to notice them. Lanyards are a little better, but that's not saying much. I have considered a couple of times just literally wearing a badge from a previous year and just melding into the crowd.
• Volunteer staff may be differentiated by "tract" or department, but this differentiation still isn't made on the badges. In the case of a security issue, I still have no way to flag down a security staffer. Instead, I was given the number of the head of security, but that seems not very useful if he's swamped doing crowd control and I have to call him across the entire hotel for an immediate issue.
• The price is still way too high for normal people to attend. If you drop the prices on tickets, you will get way more people to attend, the volume of people that goes up, the higher the potential for sales. It's insane to have such a high entry cost for such a tiny convention. 

 Continued Thoughts on Stuff 

I suppose as it is, HawaiiCon is already a pretty great academic conference. So if the organizers want to continue in that direction, I suppose there's nothing I can suggest that can change that. If they want to move this towards the truly inclusive setting to everyone like the organizers keep on telling me that they want then I believe these suggestions may help:

• Have a convention booklet with a map, hours of operation, list of panels with descriptions and code of conduct within the booklet, not a haphazard printout made the night before the event.
• Improved, visible convention badges large enough for convention staff to be able to check badges easier. The staff shirts are very good, do continue with that.
• The website is in dire need of improvement. The elements are sloppy, and the sloppiness makes it hard to quickly discern needed information. It detracts from the event big time.
• Dramatically reduced prices for locals -- the kamaaina rate for entry needs to be way lower if you want more people on the inside.
• If you don't want dramatically reduced overall prices, then perhaps a reduced price for those that just want to do gaming stuff so that tournaments can fire at reasonable prices for the vendors and attendees.
• More volunteer meetings across the year for training purposes. A one-time long lecture "training" is honestly not good enough. In addition, the level of information given to staffers really needs to be increased so that we can do our jobs better.
• The volunteers need to be given some sort of actual appreciation. As much as I love reading one and literally only one thankful post on facebook, an after-party would be a great step in a better direction for the volunteers.
• For the Gaming Room: I suggest that for the gaming meetings (which are plentiful and are mostly fruitful) that they end with the people that show up actually play a board game at the end as a means of training the volunteer staff and so that they can start a board game demo on the fly if there's a lack of things going on in the gaming room. Hell, one meeting should just be hosting an RPG one shot, as an icebreaker activity and to introduce the hobby to those new to it.

Again, I think this event has the potential to really take off. I beg the organizers to find some time to actually go to a real convention and stop trying to just make this a 4 day dinner party with some C/D-list celebrities while you sprinkle some sci-fi stuff on it that seems cool because you read about on some webpage. It's embarrassing and I have no desire to give up 2 days of badly needed paid work to work a 40+ hour weekend with little to no appreciation from the higher ups. It's one of the reasons that made me leave the KawaiiKon volunteers after many years of loyal service. This event isn't even nearly that big.

A Final Word on Other Things and Stuff

Now that I've gotten my word vomit finally on paper, here's some more positive stuff that I'm looking forward to:

As of the writing of this article, I am throwing some of my support behind a new gaming lifestyle venture, known as Slow Your Roll. I'll be starting out with blagpoasts (which will be mirrored here) and YouTube videos, and I intend to eventually start hosting a regular podcast if I can find someone with a good mic and some time to just shitpost on a microphone. It's pretty exciting stuff, and I ask that you follow them on Instagram as well as on Twitter and Facebook. Bonus points if you buy some of their apparel, or perhaps some cards from their TCGPlayer account! There are a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head, and I am looking forward to working with the Slow Your Roll team to organize and execute these ideas.

Until next time, may your ventures be successful, you critique and accept good criticism, and you live life to the fullest.

Anime Movie Review: The Anthem of the Heart

Naruse has moe down pat.

This blogpost has me talking about a film that released late last year, a fun watch that left the warm fuzzies in my heart at the end.

Kokosake (The Anthem of the Heart -- 心が叫びたがってるんだ。) is a coming of age story following four high schoolers; Sakagami Takumi (VA: Uchiyama Kouki), Naruse Jun (VA: Minase Inori), Tasaki Daiki (VA: Hosoya Yoshimasa), and Nitou Natsuki (VA: Amamiya Sora). The story begins with Naruse Jun, and how she is made to believe that because of her cheerful talkativeness, she breaks apart her family and is literally the worst thing ever. This changes the poor girl, making her a mute for all intents and purposes.

We then move to the present day, where a music teacher (voiced by the amazing Fujiwara Keiji) at the local high school assigns the four to be the executive producers for their class' annual community outreach show. I won't get into the minutiae of the story -- essentially the film explores how they each come out of their collective shells as well as open up to one another and the world around them.

Crazy Egg Fairy musketeer ruins all QT grilles in anime.

Eggs are a major leitmotiv in the film. Near the beginning of the film, Sakagami hears the story of a small shrine for a local kami who loved talking. The kami fancied eggs "filled" with the thoughts and wishes of worshippers. Naruse is cursed by a magical Egg Fairy in a cavalier hat, sealing her voice away (see above).

Naruse spoke to her friends via text message for a good portion of the film. I found this way of communication rather neato.

A-1 Pictures is always known for quality in their projects, and they didn't disappoint with this film. At times one can see where the budget ran thin, but those times are few and far between. The best part of the film was the climax scene, where the class is putting on a musical. Naruse is nowhere to be found, and Sakagami has to find her. Things happen, and she triumphantly enters, saving the production.

Probably one of the best scenes in the film.

Outside of the fascination with eggs, the film is like a lighter Koe no Katachi (which I hear has a film under production, either with A-1 Pictures or Kyoto Animation heading the project) with less psychological abuse and more slice of life. I give the film a good 7.5/10 -- good, but no masterpiece.

In Closing

It's a little late coming, but I've started putting up content at Pecuniary Ruminations. I'm due to write a short State of My Securities post tomorrow, while I watch my money light on fire. Check it out! Also expect another anime film review in the coming days -- it was by request that I did this one, and I have another one to do as well.

Anime Movie Review Double Feature: Windaria and The Borrowers Arietty

Arietty's Family: Me. The Racoon: all those bills I need to pay.

Today's blogpost is a little different, in that I'm going to review a couple of anime films that I've watched recently. I've taken film classes back when I was in college, and I actually enjoyed the task of reviewing films. As such, when asked to do a short review on a couple of movies I saw just last week, I took up my pen and brushed the rust flakes off this old blog.

The two films are definitely spanning the decades, the first being the 1986 film Windaria and the more recent Ghibli film The Borrowers Arietty from 2010.

Windaria

Windaria (Windaria: Tales of Fabulous Battle - 童話めいた戦史ウインダリア) is the tale of two city states that have lived in peace for a long while. One day, an incident involving an attempted sabotage of an above-water city wall starts tensions between the city states of Itha, a matriarchal society who lives in a city similar to New Orleans, and Paro, a militaristic patriarchal society with a desire to go to war with their neighbor. The plot is a convoluted mess that surrounds the main character Izu, a guy who lives in the Village of Blossoms located somewhere between the two cities. The movie ends with the destruction of Itha, and the loss of everything Izu holds dear through his own foolishness. The characters feel like PCs from a tabletop game where the players have just learned what roleplay is, and as such are very mechanical, very unfeeling.

I found what Shirou was doing before his work on Fate/stay night.

The movie is dated, having been released in 1986, and to be honest, the techniques used in the film are among the high points I give. You definitely get an idea of 80's anime, especially if you haven't seen films like Terra e, or the great 80's epic Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu. It's a great film for studying the techniques and artistic styles of that time period.

That being said, I couldn't stand the pacing choices within the film, the most flagrant of issues being throwing an insert song in a place with zero movement. I understand your need to illustrate the "romance" between Parovian Prince Jill and Ithan Princess Ahnas, but that insert song felt forced and was very jarring. 

That wasn't the only thing that was jarring about their relationship.

While I am happy that the technology and art have not dated too badly, and are actually pretty good, the convoluted pacing within the plot and unbelievably poor choices made by the characters make it hard for me to rate it higher than a 4/10. Watch it for the techniques used, not for the story or the characters.

The Borrowers Arietty

Absolutely gorgeous scenes, masterfully done.

The Borrowers Arietty (The Borrower Arietty - 借りぐらしのアリエッティ) is a coming of age film about the realities of change, based on the Mary Norton novel "The Borrowers". The story revolves around Sho, a boy whose imminent heart surgery has him just about bedridden in his Great Aunt's old house, as well as Arietty, a pixie-like tomboy who is a "Borrower" (借りぐらし) as she calls her species. When Sho sees Arietty on her first borrowing, it causes a chain reaction that involve the kidnapping and rescue of her mother, the moving of Arietty's family, and the coming together of two unlikely beings. The ending is bittersweet, with Sho making friends with Arietty, but the two are forced to part -- it's the Borrower way, to move when seen by the "human beans", which is the term the Borrowers have called humans in general.

The scale of how large the human world is for the Borrowers is immediately apparent.

Ghibli has always been a quality movie studio, and this specimen is no different. The bright, colorful backgrounds are reminiscent of Makoto Shinkai's recent films (actually, I suppose Shinkai's recent films are more Ghibli like if I really think about it), with vibrant greens alongside muted browns and greys. The background music is light and airy, reminiscent of the Borrowers' freedom and lifestyle. The animation technique is stunning, with detail given to little things like wind moving within the plant life that grows on the house of Sho's Great Aunt.

Again, another fantastic shot that juxtaposes the gargantuan boy against the tiny Borrower girl.

All in all, it's a light film with the ability to tug at the heartstrings at the end. While it's no Place Promised or 5cm/Sec, it's still a great film to watch with friends and family. My favorite portion was when Arietty went with her father on her first Borrowing. The work involved to illustrate the amount of adventure found inside the walls and floorboards of a house is quite impressive. 8/10 -- A great film. 

In Closing

Well, that was enjoyable. I'm still getting my initial data together for the first real content post over at my new personal finance blog -- check that out closer to the end of the week.

Until next time.

Pecuniary Ruminations

I recently started a new personal finance blog called Pecuniary Ruminations. Check it out here. New Content Soon

MTG Decklists: Sen-I-Soshitsu

For Your Listening Pleasure

Artist's Rendition of the Author preparing for Game Day

I recently had the distinct pleasure experience of playing in my local FLGS Khans of Tarkir Game Day, and, as I'm wont to do, I brought a decklist that was definitely not meta for the small town of Hilo, Hawaii. Or really much of anything for that matter.

Story Time

The plan to run this deck was birthed with a passing joke when my friend Blankato threw the following decklist at me on Khans release weekend.

Source

I looked it over, took a sip of whatever magical alcohol Blankato had served that night, and jokingly said that I should run it for Game Day. At the time, I was brewing an Izzet deck that ran Ornithopter/Darksteel Citadel/Ensoul Artifact, Scuttling Doom Engine, and other shenanigans, like Shrapnel Blast. The deck wasn't really doing what I wanted it to do, and I had most of the cards that were worth something. It would have been little effort to pick up the cheap rares and commons -- I had just cracked something like 28 Khans of Tarkir packs at the time, and had plenty of commons and most of the rares from that set needed for this deck.

So, I started making my usual secret trade for bad cards thing I do prior to an event, while showing off my ideas for post-rotation Minotaurs in order to throw off potential snipers and other information gatherers. As an aside, I seriously hate that when asking/trading for cards over facebook -- almost instantly one's super sekret awesome deck plan is found out and everyone prepares for it. That's why I do most of my random rare trading offline, to give the illusion of spontaneity.

Long, terrible story short, I placed 5th at my FLGS, going 3-1-1 and scrubbing out in the quarter finals. Not bad, considering most times I play Standard Constructed, I usually go 1-3 and wonder why I even bother playing the format (and in fits of cold rage, Magic as a game) at all.

The Deck

Holy crap this thing is hilarious, due to the fact that it's so goddamn fragile, yet if an opponent isn't ready, you can dunk them by turn 6 at the latest. Let's take a peek at a few of the card choices Takahashi Naoya took when putting this list together:

One of many sleeper hits for this deck.

Tomb of the Spirit Dragon is a card I wouldn't normally bat an eyelid over, but after playing it at Game Day, I might actually throw one in my Sharuum Commander Deck. Being able to gain an impressive 6 life a turn with two of these out, all open land due to convoking Ornithopter shenanigans makes for a hilarious turn of events against aggro. Also, the look on your opponent's face when you drop this turn one makes it worth it.

What's your's is mine, what's mine is also mine.

Daring Thief is just a great card when built properly around. With Springleaf Drum and useless permanents such as Ensoul Artifacts and Singing Bell Strikes that are already enchanting stuff, you can use those $15 Courser of Kruphixs that you traded away after the Born of the Gods Prerelease! On top of that, they don't even have to be yours! Or trade that Ornithopter with their piece of absurdist bullshit Siege Rhino!

Die in a fire, activated abilities.

Chump blocking. That's cute.

When faced with the hated Sylvan Caryatid or the annoying Hornet Nest, you must be able to get around it, and shut it down. Also, locking down their creature that has Singing Bell Strike enchanted to it is great. General planeswalker neutralization is good too.

TeeHee™

Not only did I almost single-handedly demolish a dude with my Bident in a game, but being able to draw free cards off my weenies is great. Having them swing with their (bad) blockers is even better.

Observations

Upon playing the deck for a time, I did discover some interesting things about it as well as the format:

• With only 20 land, including 12 islands, the potential for mana screw is rather high. I recall one particluar game against Abzan where I had to literally run off of a Tomb of the Spirit Dragon, a Darksteel Citadel, and Ornithopters/Springleaf Drums in order to cast my colored permanents, most of them promptly removed by the Abzan player. That leaves me to my next point:
• I'm about 90% sure that this deck loses straight up against spot removal.dec. In games against Abzan, Mardu and Jeskai, the player with the removal would merely burn/remove the offending artifact creature as I attempt to cast Ensoul Artifact upon them. In Abzan and Mardu's case, having access to Utter End (and to an extent, Crackling Doom) makes things like getting rid of Doom Engines much easier. Jeskai has access to blue, which can start counter-wars or other blue shenanigans. Abzan has its charm, which, much like its Rhino, is the "I win" button against your win conditions. End Hostilities also throws huge wrenches into your plans.
• If you can't match the speed of the Rabblemaster, don't even bother. I can understand why he's so sought after in Standard nowadays. If he isn't dealt with (or summarily countered), he will rekt you, since it's likely the Rabblemaster player is clearing the way with removal galore.
• I feel like I need practice with sample hands and mulliganing. There are many times where I feel that I have a good hand that works fine only to be blown out by a single Thoughtseize. Of course, there were times where I didn't know what lands looked like, and other times where I drew 10/12 Islands in the deck.
• Dig Through Time is a great card that I almost want to throw a copy into the deck for more "send help" options. Either that, or Treasure Cruise, because that's also a pretty good card, and it's not like I have ways to return cards from my graveyard back to the field in this format.
• Wingmate Roc is a dirty totally balanced and fair card. That second ability is fantastic, by the way.

Some Final Thoughts

Artist's rendition of the Author 2-1ing people left and right.

Everything about this deck screams potential value at high risk, and that's what makes it fun. Much like my Minotrolls deck during RTR-THS standard, or even prior to that, the famed StuffyDoll™ deck from ISD-RTR standard, I go for wacky, silly things that amuse me, although in this case I did netdeck this. I hate netdecking, so I felt particularly dirty playing it. But whatever.

Unfortunately, as with most great plans, I may scrap it due to the ever changing meta. Who knows? Maybe I'll throw in some Clever Impersonators and Stubborn Denials in the board to help me out.

Dr. Strangecon or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Worked HawaiiCon

I still have no idea what just happened.

For some people, HawaiiCon 2014 was a resounding success. As the first convention ever to be based upon the soils of the Big Island of Hawaii, I can't deny the fact that this is pretty damn awesome. That being said, my penchant for needing to comment on things that bother me is flaring up again after this past weekend, and I guess I want to voice my concerns out to anyone who cares to listen. As a member of the team that was given the "opportunity" to set up the "gaming" room at the Con, and with my experience staffing at Hawaii's Premiere Anime Convention, I have a limited, but informed view on the nature of a convention.

Here be Ranting

As a person who's worked on, with, at, near, and all other adverbs describing actions involving gaming tournaments (notably Magic: The Gathering) for as long as I have, I tend to see what works and what doesn't. For example, our team works hard to run seasonal prereleases that draw in at least a hundred people, some times two hundred people over a weekend. The following:

• Having a link to an excel sheet schedule instead of integrating the schedule onto the website.
• Putting the events in a room different from the room described in the program and on the map.
• Not having a correction in your program about said room venue change.
• Having the room venue not be anywhere near the rest of the rooms of the Con.
• Provide basic power (yeah, half the power outlets were dead) and internet to the given room without needing to ask the custodial staff. (I didn't realize this was a thing at a supposed 4+ star hotel. I've seen better from 3 star hotels.)
• Doing all of the above one week before the Con weekend. (to my understanding)

all led me to the number one statement given to me and my companions at HawaiiCon:

"Oh, you guys run the gaming room! Great, I was looking forward to playing some games. So, where is that, by the way?"

Cue righteous fury. We expect some sort of proper advertising (or if you guys won't do it in a timely manner; let us know. We'll do it.)

So, we spent our weekend in a mostly empty room on Friday until the Hotel staff finally got around to putting up some sort of signage, as we weren't able to. I'm sure if the vendor's were dicked over in a similar manner, they'd probably pack up and leave at this point. We even considered it multiple times over the course of the con. You must understand our irritation -- we throw in a ton of money in order to prepare product for tournaments and other things regularly seen at conventions. We take time out of our schedules to share our love for our respective games with the greater public, and provide a service to those gamers coming in from other areas. When the potential gamers/customers have no idea where they can go to play games/buy gaming supplies, we get stuck with a ton of useless product and a nice fat pile of expenses that we now have to eat, and the players were unable to have the fun they could have had if they had just known where to go. I'm sure the vendors would be furious if they were relegated to some deserted corridor of the hotel with zero signage and incorrect directions to their room instead of the primo spot next to the Main Events hall and the Registration table. Oh yeah, and we had to leave the room by 8PM in order to accommodate a dance party.

Why wasn't the dance party over at the main ballroom? A big event like that should be in the big room, or over in the central Con area.

Whatever. Mindless rant over.

Saturday and Sunday were a little better, a group of my usual players from the local FLGS dropped by and I was able to run a Conspiracy Draft queue. We were even able to get a constructed event off the ground, and was happy to meet and make new friends (once they were able to find the bloody room) all throughout the weekend. I'd like to think my actions got a few groups of friends to go out and purchase copies of Coup, so as to lie, cheat, and steal even after HawaiiCon got out.

 Just kidding, I have some more stuff to rant about. 

Some other things that mildly annoyed really pissed me off:

• Con Security was all but nonexistent. I'm almost certain that with a minimal application of charisma, I could have gone to Hapuna Prince, parked, and participated in all of the desired convention events without so much as a single person checking for a badge. I prefer KawaiiKon's method of having a member of security checking badges at each door of each of the rooms used at the convention.
• In relation to the above, I feel like the volunteers should be relegated to a department with respective jobs and those jobs be noted on their staff badge. This makes sure I won't waste a tech's time when I'm looking for this room or that room. This also allows me to file a complaint with whoever's in charge of the idiot who couldn't answer any questions yet was able to sit at the main registration desk blithely. There were multiple people who did that over the course of the weekend (rumored), and had they been at my events, they'd have been chewed out/shamed into not working under me again.
• You have to be kidding me that you're going to charge $25+ for a single autograph. I only want to get my staff badge signed, not fund your next god damn trip. :getout:
• Much like Beats by Dre, the badge lanyards were very nice to look at (big old HawaiiCon logos and other fancy stuff on it), but were so flimsy that the slightest accidental hang up and SNAP -- your badge is on the ground and the lanyard is now worthless. The response from a passerby? "Well, if you had bought a ticket..." >implying implications As if buying a 3day pass was going to magically improve the state of these flimsy lanyards. Perhaps if the money didn't go into a metric ton of high costing guests, you'd have some money on some decent lanyards.
• For the amount of money people are shelling out for this Con, you'd think the Hapuna Prince would throw in complimentary internet service. Hint, hint. (somethingsomethingfourplusstarhotelsomethingsomething)
• Randomly turning off the AC and re-purposing rooms during scheduled events is a surefire way to give me a headache and lower my impression of the hotel. I'm looking at you, Hapuna Prince. (rumored, I can't say I personally experienced it)

Further Thoughts on Stuff

I feel like the organizers thought that "Con" meant "Conference" rather than "Convention", and here's some reasons mixed in with other stuff that came to mind as I'm writing this stuff all down:

• The few panels I went to (when they weren't being reprogrammed, moved, or otherwise fucked with) were fantastic, the content matter was interesting and interactive.
• The guests were top notch (and I think most of their budget went there, honestly). Special thanks go out to Esme Bianco, she found a new fan in me due to her bro-like nature.
• The venue is gorgeous. Seriously, just go out there and see the sights. Just don't deal with the hotel, the upper management is probably braindead.
• In relation to the previous point, the service personnel were great people and I have to thank them for doing everything in their power to allow us to salvage the weekend. From getting power to the room to adjusting the lights and air conditioning, I have them to thank in our attempt to create a positive gaming ambiance within the Con.

All these things gave the event the feeling of an academic conference, rather than an enthusiast's convention.

Granted, these points weigh very highly against the multiple pages of drivel I just vomited on things that irritate me this past weekend. That's why I can't say I hated my personal experience there. Professionally, I won't be doing any sort of work for HawaiiCon until they shape up and actually cater to the people they want to have hosting events for them. Believe me, I have no confidence in the alternative.

Personally, the con was about as enjoyable as any other weekend getaway, and I had more fun in the off time away from the con. I think my friend R1nzler put it best in his own review, poasted on faecbook, and repoasted here in picture form. Context -- he was a Kickstarter backer and got to do way more stuff that lowly me did not get to:

Go view it using your browser, I'm saving space.

As always, I'm welcome to clearing up misunderstandings or addressing issues that are wrong, or need clarification. I think myself reasonable, a simple explanation or actions moving in the right direction for next year go a long way with me. Oh, did you hear? They're doing 4 days next year. Four days. And apparently they're going to try to get the cast of Dr. Who in for next year, if the giant Tardis with "2015" painted on it is any indication of what's going on. Talk about ambitious...

Until next time, may your fury be righteous, your rants relevant, and your organization top-notch.

The Great Hurricane Iselle Adventure

While life has become much better since the events of the recent Hurricane Iselle some two weeks ago, last week I wanted to put up a blogpoast talking about my experiences regarding the matter. As I am as of this writing still internetless since the Great Hurricane of August 8th, it is only now that I have been able to find a computer terminal with internet that can put together a poast of this magnitude. So, with minimal edits and commentary (all in red), I can finally present to you the Great Hurricane Iselle Adventure. ~teh_chris, Aug 22

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So, it's been a while here at Traditionally Virtual, and I bet you're all just chomping at the bit to read more dreck quality poastings. With this knowledge firmly in hand, I have decided to descend from upon my mountain of silence to give to you, my readers, what you've all been waiting for. A poast.

As those who have been following the past week of US news already know, the Big Island of Hawaii had been hit with a category 1 hurricane, known by its name "Iselle". Being that I actually live in the affected region, and because I'm waiting for Hawaiian Telcom to grant me the privilege of using it's fabled fantastic telecommunications service #alwayson, I've decided on writing about my limited experiences here in the Puna district within Hawaii County, State of Hawaii during the Great Hurricane 2014. For those who are looking for a personal record of the power of nature alongside the coming together of a community in need, you may want to just look on Facebook or walk over to the Pahoa Fire Station. For those looking for a humorous yet mostly true account of a real event, full of snark, irritation, and other First World Problems, read look no further.

Thanks, HawaiianTel!~

Without further ado: a short, day by day account.

Wednesday

The Wednesday before the hurricane, I go out and help with the gathering of supplies -- water, paper towels, paper plates. I even took the opportunity to renew my IDs at the public safety building, since they were on the verge of expiration. All of the things purchased were at normal amounts, and not like those crazy people I see on facebook with a veritable truckloads of bottled water being assholes and hoarding that shit. Just restocking our normal supply, since we were expecting some wind, but nothing too bad. I go about my day, downplaying the hurricane with friends and family, as I know the past couple either missed us, or did so little by the time it hit that I couldn't be bothered about it.

Thursday

The day was festive. Downplaying the seriousness with clanmates and other friends on teamspeak, I even went so far as to change my name to "teh_chris [>implying hurricane]" on Steam. I played games as usual and I got to taste the last bit of internet before the storm came on time at around 6p. Heralded with a couple of power losses over the next couple of hours, the power struggled to stay on until it finally went out and stayed out at 8:30p. We stayed up for a short while, listening to the howling of the wind as it smacked down tons of brittle albezia trees, which would continue well into the night. With the reasonable knowledge that the power should be up by morning (so we thought), I decide on calling it a night, and my family and I all hit the bed by around 9pm or slightly thereafter.

Friday statuses after the storm.

Friday

Friday was the worst. Before the batteries on all my electrical devices died, I was able to get this short faecbook status out. We also got a phone call from my grandmother, which I found amazing, due to all the damage the storm caused. We haven't had a call since. Dozens of destroyed power poles, and ruined telephone wires meant that it felt like repairs would be weeks away. By the time nightfall came, we were wondering about the state of the food in the refrigerator. This "oh shit" sentiment would continue until the power returned the next day. The cool thing about it was I got to see my family do stuff I never thought we'd ever do again. Play board games, for instance. I haven't played a board game with my family for probably 5 years or so. It was weird. But we came together, and had a blast.

Saturday's statuses.

Saturday

The day of the Primary Election was one of general sadness. Due to the massage damage all around the area, I was still unable to leave my house and therefore unable to exercise my right to vote at that time. My family went to survey the neighborhood, leaving me to watch the property. At around 3, the power returned, which brought general feelings of gratitude and calm to the house.

Yes, that is Dynasty Warriors 4 on the PC. You jealous?

Thank god for cell phone towers, right?

Sunday and Beyond

With having power but no internet, I was forced to return to a pre-internet world, in which I regress to my adolescent days of not having internet. What better way of doing this than to play my number one three favorite PS2 game of all time, Dynasty Warriors 4? Thankfully, a port for the PC was developed, and I put my copy to good use, since I can't go on the internet and hang out with people. I have since also been able to watch anime again, and have but a considerable dent in my backlog, knocking out entire shows in one day. I also found my old Command and Conquer Zero Hour CDs and have moved to the church of GLA Stealth, a faction whose feel is much like piloting a tier 1 deck in Modern -- stupid and almost un-fun. For a couple of days I lost cell phone service, and I almost went crazy when I couldn't even check my faecbook. It taught me a lot about how connected we are and just how much we rely on technology.

Reflection

I've thought about it for some time (like, fifteen minutes), and I put together a tentative pros/cons of my experience:

Pros:
-Family came together for like two days. Seriously. That's huge for a family like mine.
-It pays to have friends, who knows where they'd be years down the road.
-Made me much more aware of how much we rely on electricity.
-I got to sleep at much earlier times than I normally do. And I'm going to try to keep it that way, because it's Healthier™.
-I didn't have to eat nasty-ass cold cuts. (No really, I'm sick of Cotto Salami and Velveeta. It's all my family eats nowadays.)
-In the grand scheme of things, this wasn't nearly as bad as the experience of living in really bad areas (looking at you, Middle East, and you too, West Africa).
-I was able to knock out a few anime on my backlog that I've been dragging my feet over. More on that in a later blogpost.
-I got to write something because I felt like venting.


Cons:
-My dad's arowana died. I sort of liked that fish, and I'm very sad it's dead.
-Good bye, DickerMax.
-I have been proven yet again just how bad HawaiianTel's service really is. HELCO got their shit together in like a day, and explained themselves. What's your excuse?
-Thanks to the hurricane, I got screwed out of not just voting in the primary election, but also working at the polls - an activity I enjoy. No Scott Nago, your first plan to send everyone an absentee ballot was smarter -- this new plan basically screws me out of voting, never mind working. Thanks. Luckily, everything should be back to normal for the General Election. Actually, I was able to vote in the makeup election that happened a week later. Due to me being unable to contact the Election's Office, I still wasn't able to work at the polls. Whatever. It's the small victories, right? I'll be back for the General.

-I realize just how badly I utilize my time. For example, here's what I've done in the past week:

Taiga is like the best anime tracking program ever.

Yuan Zheng undertakes the Great Chinese Crusade of 203.

Funny thing is, I was playing as USA Lazer.

I'm mean, god damn. I can't wait for the fall semester to start up again, because I feel like I'm wasting everyone's time - including my own.

Looking Ahead

Don't get me wrong, there are still communities to this day that are still without power, internet, even basic running water due to their inaccessibility to the main power grid. I applaud the efforts of HELCO to return everyone back to the grid. I also want to throw a shout-out to the folks from the other islands that sent repair crews to help our guys. Big mahalos there. Also shout-out to County Councilman Greg Ilagan, a guy I've known for about as long as our families have been friends here -- his hosted free breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week after the storm hit, all out of his humble home within Paradise Park for anyone who could make it there.

My own experience was very light compared to some of the other people living in Paradise Park and the greater Puna area. I know of friends who have literally received power yesterday. I also know of friends who weren't affected at all (lucky bastards). There are still some who need ice for their food and medicines, and others who need water. This is only one story in the Iselle experience, and I wanted to share it for those interested.