toujourspret

I find it rather shocking that this hotel still seems to have alot of rooms left. I would have thought that it would sell out fairly quickly since it is connected to the con center and I think that some Otakon things are going to be held in it. From what pictures I've seen--I'm not local, so I can't actually confirm this--the new Hilton's pretty tiny and has way less rooms than the other hotels in the Inner Harbor. Google says there are 183 guest rooms in the building, compared to the Sheraton's 337, the former Wyndam's 707, the Holiday Inn's 375, or the Day's Inn's 263. Color me co

I find it rather shocking that this hotel still seems to have alot of rooms left. I would have thought that it would sell out fairly quickly since it is connected to the con center and I think that some Otakon things are going to be held in it. From what pictures I've seen--I'm not local, so I can't actually confirm this--the new Hilton's pretty tiny and has way less rooms than the other hotels in the Inner Harbor. Google says there are 183 guest rooms in the building, compared to the Sheraton's 337, the former Wyndam's 707, the Holiday Inn's 375, or the Day's Inn's 263. Color me con

Er, I hope this isn't necroing a dead post, but I'm the lolita gofer who played Mafia with you! It was lots of fun!

My favorite summer road trip music is almost anything by Orange Range or The Pillows. Their music just sounds like summer to me.

I think the DR line is a leftover from the days when you couldn't just find the neat merchandise you wanted readily. Part of the fun of the DR was to find things that you'd never seen before--usually at a 200% markup!--and getting there early could be the difference between scoring a sweet rare plush or just getting the common other half of the set.

Funny is when you work your butt off for 11 months, then work like a madman for a solid week, to bring other people 3 days of fun, and you don't get to see it yourself. I will--and have before--get myself into trouble by adamantly praising you guys for that! Your awesomeness knows no bounds.

Haha, that's awesome! I've had Otakon-related dreams, too, but they're not so pleasant; most of them were about having an extra hotel room that I forgot to cancel until the day of the convention. After a week of that, I've double-triple checked my plans quite thoroughly!

I'm still trying to flesh out my group, but I always meet up with other groups once we get there, and I know lots of random people who go, so I know I'll have someone to hang out with at any given moment. It's just a matter of whom, at least until I get there! I'm also bringing my brother for his first con since 2001, which'll be interesting, too!

...or the Charles Street arts district and restaurant corridor. Some good eats up there, as well as in Fells Point. Mmm, Fells Point. I've got an annual event up there, and this'll make getting there loads easier on my frilly ladies! You wouldn't happen to mean the tea room that was down (in fells point) there, would you? When I was there last weekend it was gone. Yeah, they've moved their head of operations, IIRC. The one in Fells Point is--or at least was last year--only open for special events/reservations. Though I haven't yet started negotiating this year'

...or the Charles Street arts district and restaurant corridor. Some good eats up there, as well as in Fells Point. Mmm, Fells Point. I've got an annual event up there, and this'll make getting there loads easier on my frilly ladies!

My budget this year is $1000 for the weekend, including hotel/food/transportation/whatnot, plus $400 for the plane ticket. I've already got $700 set aside, so I think I'm going at a good pace. Half down, half to go, and half a year left!

ORSOME. No competition for rooms/parking/food! Also, less people in the city (maybe not, haha)!

Have you not seen the "Tainted Donuts" AMV with Spike and his crew trying to collect the bounty on Vash? Sheer genius. As for the argument on hand, I have to agree that "Yuri the Only One for Me" wasn't really an AMV. I don't have a problem with original music in an AMV, as long as it's good, or with original animation (though not in the AMV contest), but the video in question didn't have anything to do with anime aside from sly references in the song. If neither the song nor the animation come from an anime, how is it an Anime Music Video? It was very cute, and could have done well a

While I didn't utilize that particular discount, I think it's pretty awesome of them to offer it, period. I think maybe they're too close to offer that kind of thing, though, maybe? It's not like they'd have to worry about drawing people a whole two blocks away from the convention center, you know?

There was only one pin, super girl hiroko. Found this : http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/22083...101615026jWYFkj Ah, drat. I know I didn't buy that one! Thank you!

I know that, like, half of my car on the light rail leaned back and waved goodbye as we were headed to the airport. It was a very sentimental and sad feeling. Even remembering it, I feel like saying "NATSUKASHII!" (the way my friend Kimi always did when talking about living in Japan).

Okay, weird question: anyone have pics of the 2007 pins (can badges and enamel pins, please!)? I collect them, and I couldn't find that year's pins when I reorganized my collection tonight. When I think about it, I don't know if I remember unpacking them last year, or if I got them at all! There wouldn't happen to be extras out there somewhere, would there? I know I got extras of this year's pins in my grab bag, so I doubt there are any from 2007 still in stock. Frownyface.

I mentioned this in the Vid Ops room once, but couldn't remember the name and thus came across as a total doof, but X-Cross would be a fun, campy hit, I think. Think Suicide Circle, only with more lolita! I'd actually like to see more anime, to be honest. This year's lineup made me think of MTV a little, in that, as MTV plays almost no videos and certainly none I'm interested, there were barely any anime that appealed to me, and I don't think I'm alone in that. I understand playing things the industry wants to promote, but can't you screen those things a little more to aim them at the

10 months? Only 10 months?! Man, that's pretty soon, I think. Last time, we had 13 months between conventions! I somehow feel panicky and unprepared :$

Awesome! Great job, and very true.

From an experienced loli's point of view, the only one your friend should be upset about missing is the MaruiOne.jp/h.Naoto/Angelic Pretty booth. Rakuen and The White Peacock were also there, but they're generally not a good source of quality lolita clothing, and the quality only deteriorated from there. Cute-Plush.com was there, though, and it's owned by lolitas, though. Their merchandise is generally pretty good for the price and very cute.

Well, if it's any comfort, the hotels themselves aren't full yet, so you could always get a room at the regular rate...for about another month or so.

Voice of dissension here: I actually know in advance which hotel I'd like, and I choose it every year despite its price, which is usually about $100 more than some of the others. I don't want to be all "money is no object" because it very much is, but at the same time, I'd rather pay more to know that my hotel isn't going to be sold out when I try to reserve a room, you know? Especially since, with this new guessing system in place, it's very likely that while I had to book outside the Otakon block (at an outrageous markup, since only the "luxury" rooms were left), a lot of the people who re

Mine were the Lolita Fashion show, which is going to be even better next year (PanelOps willing, of course)! and finding out that Kappei-san loved us as much as we loved him <3 I always love finding out that the guests are as fond of us as we are of them; for some reason, I get a huge kick out of hearing how our reputation as a good convention--on both sides of the stage--just keeps getting better.