Botcon is just up the escalators.  What a sight to see after driving close to eight hours to get to Cincinnati, OH.  Instead of staying at the convention hotel I ended up pricelining (I’m making it a verb like googling =) a hotel in Florence, KY for $25 a night.  The hotel wasn’t bad and it was only 15 minutes away from the Duke Energy Center.  Much better commute than last year driving back and forth from Boston, MA to Providence, RI.

One of the benefits of staying in the suburbs is the easy access to a plethora of food choices.  There was absolutely nothing to eat near the convention center.  It just seemed odd that a downtown area would lack some decent food.  Granted, I was in downtown Cincinnati more than I was in Florence so I only had a few opportunities to take advantage of the food choices.  Very close to the hotel was a Big Boy’s (it was odd it wasn’t called Bobs but still) and I just had to eat breakfast there.  The food was so-so but they did have these awesome tater tot rolls.  They were soooooooooo good.  Just across the street was this other restaurant.  Would have been nice to try and eat there but I didn’t have time.  While at the convention I was able to find a Skyline Chili place.  Chili with cinnamon in it and lots of cheese.  It wasn’t bad.

Yes, there were long lines and crowds but it wasn’t as bad as last year.

Besides the crowds and normal looking fans there were plenty in cosplay outfits.  I actually met two of the ladies who were dressed as Blaster and Soundwave.  The lady in the Soundwave outfit is also the one who dresses as the Baroness.

One of my goals for the con was to get artist sketches in my sketch book.  Usually there are huge crowds of people just talking to the artist or designers so it takes forever to try and get a sketch.  Fortunately I was able to get sketches from a few of the Hasbro designers: Steve Bono who drew Animated Megatron, Bill Rawley (whom I missed last year) who drew Animated Arcee and Marcelo Matero who drew Universe Prowl.

Overall, this Botcon experience was pretty good.  I was able to meet a friend from Japan and a buddy of his.  I got little sleep and basically ate protein bars when I was eating what I mentioned above.  The dealer room seemed to be larger but there weren’t that many deals to be had.  Mostly new stuff that you can still get in the store.  I did find a few things that I was looking for and just missed out on getting a Japanese exclusive all white Bulge micron.  The last one that I needed for that all white set.    Oh well, the hunt is still on. 

Other than the buying and selling all the panels that I attended were great.  They gave a ton of insight into the future of Transformers and lets just say it’s pretty exciting.  Something that I failed to realize is that next year is the 25th Anniversary of Transformers.  Wow.  I’m that old. 

Lastly, during Saturday night they had a Casino Night Dinner and Auction where everyone was given a certain amount of “points” for you to gamble with.  If you run out you can purchase more points with the money going to one of Hasbro’s charities.  Your winnings are then used at the auction later during the night.  The food was so-so and it happened that a buddy of mine and myself had cut-in line and didn’t notice until we actually got our food.  I felt bad.  Especially since the food we had gotten wasn’t worth it.  Not that I believe in luck but I’m usually never good at playing the tables, even it’s just for fun. 

Plus there weren’t enough free tables for us to play at so we ended up at the Bingo lounge.  A place where you can relax, play bingo and win some pretty nice prizes.  You would think that it would be relaxing but there was so much DRAMA!  We had women yelling at each other, kids crying, security escorting a person out and some pretty risque slips of the tongue.  All during BINGO!  I did win once and of course I already had the prize so I ended up giving it to my two friends since they didn’t already have the Vector Sigma golf balls. 

After bingo, we pooled our casino points together, since everyone starts with some, to see what we could win.  I was beat and I didn’t really care about the auction so I told my friends to just do whatever with the points.  They ended up getting two signs with our total points.  One guy kept one, the other didn’t want it since he was going back to Japan and the other one was for me.  And now I have an official Hasbro sign for Transformers Cybertron.  Maybe it’ll go over the fireplace.

Welp until next year.  The rumor is it might be in Baltimore.

<declare>I AM BACK FROM BOTCON!</declare>

What can I say?  It started out slowly but ended with a BANG!  Alright, not really a bang but Botcon was definately fun.  Four days of hanging out with Transformers items, fans, toys and some REALLY, REALLY scary people.  Though I went solo this year I was able to meet up with a friend from Japan and met a few other “normal” folk errr fans.  For the most part my thoughts from last year still stand though the whole “standing in line” has improved from last year.  I am still getting unpacked, organized, etc but figured I should start documenting my experience.  I was hoping to actually do that while I was at Botcon but there just wasn’t any time.

I will first start off with some hilarious quotes:

• If I wasn’t collecting Transformers, I’d probably be doing drugs.
• I was a serious alcoholic in college and Transformers saved me.
• We used a hairdryer to try and boil water.
• Friend from Japan: The fans here don’t smell. Me: It’s only the first day.
• It’s henkei NOT henti.  (yeah, I’m not gonna link what henti is – you know it if you know it)
• Shortly after the last quote: I’m a horny b*****d, anyone want their room rent to go down?  I still need to find a hotel room. (everyone around him) Ummm, no thanks.
• I don’t think that’s an award I would want to win. (After seeing who won the Battle of the Boards aka Transformers Trivia)
• There are more females than I expected.
  
• My girlfriend was sleeping when a huge earthquake struck causing all my Transformers to fall off their shelves above and land on her.  She was upset that I checked on the Transformers first.

This quote probably needs some context: This years theme was called “Shattered Glass” which basically is a mirrored universe idea – imagine evil Spock with goatee.  Therefore, most of the Transformers were in opposite or weird colors namely for those that remember Hot Rod (now called Rodimus because Hasbro lost the Trademark) is in a black and grey motif.  During one of the panels the convention set designers were talking about trying to strike a balance in developing the set. 

They wanted the colors to balance out and to quote: They didn’t want all the evil guys to be black.  Only the minorities, including myself, that were in the room were cracking up.  That was just priceless. 

More to come, including a handful of pictures …

Edit: Looks like I made it into several of the Botcon pixs.  Front and Back - see if you can find me!

And off to Botcon …

Sharka’s upset since he’s staying at home with Chewy

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG!  STOLEN!  IT WAS STOLEN!

Two words: Goalie Interference – The Flyers goal should have been disallowed

Two Sides of a Coin … Side A

While the Pope was here there was an interesting article about how several American Muslims still feel that he needs to do more to apologize for some previous statements about the Muslim faith.  Wael Mousfar, president of the Arab Muslim American Federation said “Islam is the target of everyone nowadays; he just jumped on the bandwagon and joined the crowd.”  I wonder if the rest of the world feels the same way.  I honestly don’t know but somehow I just don’t think so.  Another comment I thought was interesting was

From a Christian perspective this is GREAT news and needs to be celebrated.  However, from a Islam perspective this is death not just for the converted person but potentially for their family.  You don’t typically see that in countries where Islam is a minority religion but look at all the other countries where Islam is the majority religion.  nuff said.

Side B

So most would think the above doesn’t really apply them.  Especially in our country where we have freedom of religion and the ability to worship openly.  If the Pope says something offensive to a particular group it is their right to voice their disgust with it.  That’s what makes us the United States of America.  But flip the coin and think about what the Christians in Iraq are going through.  My first thought was so depressing.  That I take freedom of religion for granted.  I can pray in the open when I want.  I can attend church if I want.  I can wear a cross on my neck showing my belief in the Lord.  These Iraqi Christians face death whenever they praise and acknowledge the Lord.  At most, I may face ridicule.

Then I thought about it some more … how powerful a message this is.  Even when they face death they are relying on God’s strength and grace to protect them on this earth.  For they know whatever happens here they will rejoice in heaven with our Lord and Savior.  Their struggles and show in faith is the reminder for us all that our prayers and support are needed for all of God’s followers not just in the US but worldwide.  To God be the glory!

Food good …

An old college friend of Chewy’s was in town this weekend so they got to hang out together at the National Arboretum during the day on Saturday.  I got a pass since the pollen would have killed me.  Ended up watching the Wizards choke in the 4th quarter and lose to Cavs while also watching the Caps beat the Flyers to force a game 6!  Sweeeeeet.  Since Chewy’s friend is the Pastry Sous Chef at the Lever House in NYC she wanted to try out Cafe Atlantico in the Penn Quarter area.  We were definitely surprised, in a good way, with the dishes.  Some were not good, some were surprising, and others were downright delectable – but it was definitely a fun experience (* means must order again some day):

Appetizers and Soups
- Olive oil encased in a sugar teardrop, ending with a salty aftertaste (how they do it, we don’t know)
- Liquid olive with citrus accompaniment (surprising liquid explosion in the mouth)
- Dominican conch fritters
with jicama-avocado raviolis and passionfruit oil (the fritter dough was like a dim sum dish and a bit too dough-y; the *raviolis were excellent!)
- *Tuna ceviche with coconut milk and avocado (if you like ceviche, these are fantastic!)
- Soup of the day – tomato with zucchini, creme fraiche, and other stuff (there was an unexpected kick to it)
- Soup – foie gras (creamy)
- *Scallops with coconut rice, crispy rice, ginger, squid, and squid ink oil (the squid and squid ink didn’t add anything to the dish, but otherwise it was one of our favorites)

Entrees
- Portobello mushroom with huitlacoche, Chihuahua cheese, roasted beets, and beet oil (OK as portobello mushrooms go, but not party in the mouth great)
- Jerk Chicken “Mofongo” with plantain purée, bacon, roasted garlic, and pearl onions (plain Jane – where was the kick?)
- *Salmon with broccoli-quinoa “cous-cous”, salmon roe, and parmesan froth (best dish by far and we’d order it again; eating the parmesan froth was fun)

Desserts
- Bizcocho templado de chocolate con banana: warm chocolate cake with Venezuelan chocolate flan, banana foam and fresh banana-lime salad (recommended by the server as the best dessert on the menu, but it turned out to be nothing special as even Sysco has this available frozen these days – quite a disappointment.  But the banana foam was nice.)
- Warm white chocolate mousse with white chocolate hazelnut ice cream, Muscovado streusel, and coffee gelee (good; we wonder how the streusel stayed crispy even after many minutes soaked in the mousse, but the texture was a bit off)
- *Coco en Dos Formas:  Eggless coconut panna cotta, vanilla-lime gelee, coconut sorbet, and fresh mango (by the far the best dessert – we would have licked the plate if possible)
- Petit fours:  Three chocolate/cocoa covered corn nuts (interesting) and a jelly candy with saffron encased in an edible wrapper (think White Rabbit for the wrapper and honey with a bad aftertaste for the jelly candy; some think “fishy water”)

1. “Tug-o-Peace”
2. Hmmmmm donuts …
3. A glimmer of hope?

I point my finger … THERE!

Blue crab is awesome.  To not have blue crab in the future would be horrible.  As much as I tend to lean towards businesses (whether corporate, large, or small) these folk need to stop pointing fingers as to whom is to blame and understand that the decline of the blue crab continues to happen they aren’t gonna have a job anyways.  The government is right to try and control this since if they don’t the natural resource would be gone.  I think there’s a reason why it’s called conservation. 

Who’s ever had that feeling?

Let’s all start defaulting on our mortgage loans!  I want a piece of that action!!  One particular political party wants to bail you out for your vote in the upcoming election (yeah, yeah, yeah – I know both parties do that)!  I know the defaulting loans is a mess but why do we keep hearing about the desire to help those who got into the mess on their own?  Even if there was predatory lending it’s still up the individual to know what they are doing and take the responsibility of doing it.  When did we give ignorance a pass and made it acceptable?  Didn’t we learn as kids that we need to take responsibilities for our actions – no matter how big or small?  Maybe my parents were just the oddball ones. 

Not to judge or anything …

Just showing an observation.  $26,270 isn’t 10% of $4.2 Million.  I know New Testament tithing is more about giving what you can and what’s in your heart.  So that’s why I’m not judging.  It was just the first thing I thought of when I read that portion.

Election years are so much fun!

Other than the great political skits from SNL or the late night comedians, people always have some funny stuff to remind us of.

Something has got to be wrong …

If you’re testing a smoke detector and it goes off about 6 inches from your ear and the sound doesn’t bother you. 

Offensive or Not?

Interesting piece in the Post about a steak and cheese place up in Philly (though I bet calling it a “steak and cheese” as opposed to a “cheesesteak” is offensive to some ).  Growing up as a minority among the majority minority I’ve had my fair share of being called various “nicknames”.  My parents always told me to ignore it.  That it wasn’t worth the effort to enlighten them since it seemed they enjoyed their own personal ignorance.  However, it always bothered me that in their own hypocritical thinking these same name-callers would hoot and hauler when the majority race would then name call them.  I guess these things don’t go both ways now does it.

At this point in my life, I don’t think I really care if I find it offensive or not.  Sometimes I find it funny to read about the various ignorance that happens.  I do think that the one quote from Post is dead on: “In public dialogue, you can’t say certain things about African
Americans, but it’s still okay to say things about Asian Americans.” (said by
Grace Kao)  Now is that fair?  Well nothing in this world is fair and so I just move on.  Snickering and not really caring about it. 

Because really, shouldn’t I be more concerned about trying to build Christian relationships with these people?  To show that God’s love and grace goes beyond whatever potential harmful human words can offer?  One would think so …

Now That’s Offensive!

OUCH!    And he’s playing in Game 3.  

This is Purely Defensive

Sean Avery is creative and funny.  It’s not like it was illegal, at least not until they quickly made a rule against it.