Show #26 Porco Rosso & Otakon Packing List
Show #026 Direct Download:

Music: "Langsam Blut" from the Paradise Kiss soundtrack, Japanese version, CD 1, track 24. Geneon has a way of importing soundtracks, so I'm sure you'll be able to buy this next yearish. CD2 has some great tracks by the fictional punk band in the show, "The Babys".

Paradise Kiss just got liscensed in the U.S. recently, although I (Erin) saw the fansubs last year and really like it - so much so that I went out and bought all the manga. Even Noah thought ParaKiss was OK.

What is Otakon?


New segment (next time): THAT'S JAPAN!

What should you bring?

My List:

 My only personal tips are the following:



 1.  Take Friday off from work/school so you can leave Thursday night or

 Friday morning.  Sunday is not as good as Friday or Saturday, so don't 

 expect to suck a lot of fun out of Sunday.



 2.  Otakon is so fun that I would not even entertain my mother if she

was visiting NYC that weekend (I'd take her to Baltimore).  Don't plan on

 getting anything else done that weekend.  Don't let your friend(s) 

 schedule their wedding(s) that weekend, etc.



 3.  Bring more money than you think you need and save enough of it to

eat on the way home.  (Yes, eat the money, obviously.  It's got fiber.)



 4.  Bring a highlighter and highlight your schedule (you get a schedule 

in the registation line).  You can't expect to see everything you want to

see and do everything you want to do, but your highlighted schedule is 

basically your new friend for the weekend.  (A pen also works, but not 

as well.)



 5.  Bring food.  Food that keeps without refrigeration and needs no

 cooking.  Nutritious food.  You can't just eat pocky.  Waiting in line

at Burger King during the con can take more than an hour.  There are plenty 

 of places to eat in Baltimore but it's really hard to drag yourself away

 from the con long enough to eat at a sit-down resturaunt (and you might

be broke by then anyway).



 6.  If you've got a tight budget don't be an idiot in the dealer's room. 

 Go to the con with some idea of what you'd like to buy and how much it

 costs outside of the con.  That way if you spot a sale you can tell if

 it's really a good deal or not.  Also if you're short on cash and tell 

 yourself, "I'm going to buy one keychain" and you walk away with two

 keychains and a CD, you're really not so bad off because you planned

 ahead.

7.  (Derek's suggestion) A sweatshirt or long-sleeved shirt, because 

some of the video rooms can get very, very cold!

Finally, here's some useful websites:

All Roads Lead to Otakon:
http://home.mchsi.com/%7Eblaidd/anime/mta.html

Otakon Chow:
http://www.otakuchow.net/

The Otakon FAQ:
http://www.otakon.com/faq.asp

On the show:

• Dried food
• MREs (seriously, don't buy these)
• Water bottle

Ralph's (from Metro Anime Society's) List:

Here are some tidbits of wisdom from a decade of convention-going

experience:

1.  Fear the huggles!  Though "glomping" seems mercifully to be dying out.


2. While cramming 12+ people in a hotel room registered for four, do not 

yell "EVERYBODY HIDE!!!" at the top of your lungs when maid service comes to

your door.


3. Yes to hygiene.  No to hogging shared bathroom space.



4. If someone else is driving you there, never give a massage to your driver 

unless the driver is extremely well rested.  No, not even then.



5.  Conversely, never scream "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!" when someone else

is driving, either.



6.  If people you know invite you to share their food with them in their 

hotel room, never invite anybody else to come along UNLESS you specifically

clear them with the hosts first.



7.  Never, ever bitch about the quality or nature of food you are not

actually paying for.



8.  Never mock someone for bringing multi-outlet electrical power strips.

Chances are you will want to plug something into it later.  (If you bring one yourself,

expect to be mocked anyway).



9.  Do not bunk with insane Russian shougi masters, even if it seems like a 

good idea at the time.



10. Its generally a good idea to have some food on hand in your hotel room

BEFORE midnight on the first night of the con.  And if you end up calling a

friend who wasn't planning to come until the next day in the dead of night 

with instructions to come right away and to bring enough food to feed more

than ten people, be very, very grateful to that person if he comes through

for you.



11.  Make sure all hotel roomates understand that the cost of long-distance 

calls from hotel room phones are added to the room bill and that each person

will damned well be obliged to pay for their own calls.



12. If you feel like chartering a bus but don't want to pay for it all by

yourself, shoot yourself in the head immediately.  If you are still alive

and having such thoughts afterwards, repeat.



13.  If you owe money to Peggy Tanusukma for anything, pay it promptly and

courteously, unless you really, really want to die. 



14.  If you must puke in someone else's hotel room, don't stomp on his foot

afterwards.  Its just tacky.



15.  Its generally a bad idea to share a hotel room with other people when

you watched your father die two weeks before and someone you've fallen in 

love with has recently told you that she can't stand you.  Its a

particularly bad idea if the unrequitedly loved one is, in fact, one of your roomates.

Our additional rules:

If you break up with your boyfriend two weeks before the con but already planned on sharing a hotel room with him you might still have to share a bed and it's going to be really awkward. You know who I'm talking about...

Be specific about the pizza toppings you want. If you aren't careful, this is the pizza you will end up with.

New York Times? NEW YORK TIMES?!

Yes, we've linked to it before and we link to it again, here it is the Daicon IV Animation, now on Youtube it's just a click away. How times have changed.

Noah discusses "The Shonen Lie":

Anime mentioned:

• Hikaru No Go


• Battle Athletes


• Bleach


• Naruto


• Planetes

Noah compares the end result of the Shonen Myth to the way "peak experience" is defined in Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Noah's thesis here is, essentially, that contrary to what Shonen series seem to claim, there are other ways to attain peak experiences than by being the 'best'.

Erin mentions mythologist Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" in the context of a series

protagonist acting as the viewer by proxy. We identify with the different aspects of the character, and often see in him what we wish we were ourselves.

Ultimately, though, we're glad it's the character suffers through hardships and not us.

I (Noah) couldn't find a link to Kazuo Koike's Golf Manga; I don't even know the name. If anyone else does, please post it in the comments!

Mario Golf. I don't really understand why putting Mario characters in a game makes it sell better. I mean, it's still just golf.

Crying Freeman

Shonen series are teleological which is something else Noah highlights as a fallacy.

Every fighter approaches the the Platonic ideal of a fighter. This is ridiculous!

Planet Japan Podcast

Stuff that features an engraved pocketwatch:

• Full Metal Alchemist


• Planetes


• Sexy Voice and Robo
(which Erin just read and really likes).</li>

You should all read Neuromancer and Snow Crash. Case closed.

"Chimpanzee that! Monkey News, you fffffffff..."

"Oooh! Cheeky! Freak of the Week!" Is another feature of the The Ricky Gervais Show

OMG Why Haven't You Seen-

Porco Rosso?

Our top 5 Ghibli film lists:

Erin:

1. Totoro
2. Laputa: Castle in the Sky
3. Castle of Count Cagliostro
4. Nausicaa
5. Porco Rosso


Noah:

1. Totoro
2. Castle of Count Cagliostro
3. Nausicaa
4. Laputa: Castle in the Sky
5. Porco Rosso

Erin has not yet seen Pom Poko!

The air pirates in Tale Spin do not come close to the ones in Porco Rosso.

Noah now realizes that the interview he talked about is not from the New York Times, but rather the New Yorker magazine. In any case, the text isn't on line.

Once again, Noah is totally wrong: Future Boy Conan is from 1978, not the 1960s. Whatever.

Yes, we all remember Ferngully. It sucked.

New York's fire department is now moderately less corrupt than it was in Gangs of New York

Goro Miyazaki and Gedo Seki - Earthsea, which, incidentally, just opened in Japan.

Incidentally, every time someone mentions Goro Miyazaki, I can't help thinking of this guy.

SEE YOU AT OTAKON!