Monday, September 20, 2010

Anime Weekend Atlanta

So this weekend, on Saturday, I took my eldest daughter Kylie down to the Cobb Galleria Center just outside Atlanta for the convention called Anime Weekend Atlanta. My daughter is obsessed with all things Japanese, but especially Anime (animated films from Japan) and Manga (graphic novels from Japan).

Personally I love Japanese culture, and even incorporate some of it into my current WIP (like Aikido, a martial art, Kenjutsu, another martial art, Calligraphy, the ancient form of writing known as Kanji, and Zen Buddhism). However, this kind of nerd fest would not normally be my thing (I rock my nerd card proudly, I'm just shy and afraid dork overload), but I went anyway, because I love my daughter, she had been planning on attending for weeks, and her friend and friend's mother had bailed on her.

So we gathered our cash, printed our registration forms, loaded the Honda and hit the road. We drove 30 minutes or so to Atlanta, found the convention, parked at the top of a huge garage and headed in. Things got weird pretty quickly.

I'll share some photos we took at the event with you all. It won't be quite as awesome as Shannon Shame, but it will have to do.

This was taken soon after we arrived. That's Kylie standing next to a young man dressed up as Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Hopefully he's the kid from the show, because she hated the film.

Sorry for the blurriness but our camera is not the best. This is a young lady and another person of unknown gender dressed up as Naruto and Kakashi from the Anime TV show: Naruto: Shippuden. Naruto is Kylie's favorite show and she loved these characters, even though neither one is her absolute favorite.

This was just really creepy. Apparently these costumes have something to do with the video game Silent Hill. To me they're just gross.

This one has a great story behind it. The guy in white is from the video game Assasin's Creed. I'm not positive but I believe he is Altair from the first game, rather than Ezio from the second. The story is that we noticed him in the hall, and I pointed him out to Kylie (this was when she was still being really nervous and shy, and wouldn't let me take any photos). So he apparently heard me point him out, because he snuck up behind us and followed us like an assassin for a while. He freaked Kylie out a little, but then she laughed and let me take the picture.

The kid is another one of hundreds of Naruto.

This one really creeps me out. That's Kylie. She's wearing the color contacts that she bought at the convention which make her eyes look like cat's eyes. It is really freaky.

Kylie writes a lot of fan fiction. Her favorite stories are based on the Naruto universe but include an original character she made up: Mononoke Tsumami. She is a female ninja who turns into a demon when she grows angry. I wish she would write more completely original stories, but I must say I'm happy that she writes at all. Kylie spent her own money to get these things, and she scared the crap out of mom at home later.

Here she is with a woman dressed up as Gaara from Naruto. I bought Kylie a cheap knock off Kimono with a fake Obi, but she loved it and it was a great leverage device to get her to pose for more photos.

This one is my all time favorite. I'm not sure what these two dudes were doing at the Anime convention but I loved their costumes so much I HAD to share. For those who don't know that's Hunter S. Thompson and his psychotic attorney from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the film which stars two of my favorite actors: Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro. Great novel, great film, great writer. Hunter S. Thompson was probably not a very good person, but he was a great writer and you can't deny his impact on popular culture.

We left the convention as the sun began to slip toward the horizon, and guess what? We (I) had left the headlights on (the poor Honda no longer has a headlight alarm) and the battery was dead. Luckily we were saved shortly after by a young man who had his own original character. He was some kind of Wizard with an awesome staff, but we loved him mostly for his kind heart, and his car battery.

So that's all the photos and stories I have to share. I didn't get much writing done this weekend. I need to get on that. How did you all spend your time away from the daily grind?

32 comments:

Jeff Beesler said...

It's great that Kylie loves to write. I'm sure she'll find her way to her own original work sooner or later.

I'm still on the second half of my weekend, seeing as how I work Tues-Sat. I spent yesterday focusing on a blog post, a synopsis, and chatting about writing on Twitter.

Stina said...

So did it spark any ideas for a new novel? ;)

That was sweet of you to go when everyone else bailed. It definitely wouldn't have been my thing either.

Renae said...

What a great dad! The things we do for our kiddos! Love the pics and the cat eyes were really cool.

My weekend was spent watching football and writing. I was actually good. No procrastinating or anything.

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Interesting photos, man. I love that you took time to take her. Time away from writing, for the right reasons like 'life' will always bring you returned rewards. ";-)

Candyland said...

Fun! I spent my time driving an hour to IKEA, wasting three hours at IKEA, then leaving IKEA empty-handed and angry.

Matthew MacNish said...

How do I always forget when I sign up for a blogfest? I forgot about Alex's top ten TV shows blog fest that was supposed to be today, so I'll be posting that one tomorrow. Sorry Alex!

Bish Denham said...

Oh you have touched my heart Matt! What a wonderful Father/Daughter experience. I bet when she's older she'll remember it with a great deal of fondness, just like I remember the times my father took just me out to do things with him.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Be proud of your dorky nerdness!

Looking forward to your Top 10 TV Shows today!

Melissa Gill said...

What a great thing to do for your daughter. It's wonderful that you two can spend such quality time together.

I know quite a few young people who have started out writing fan fiction and then gone on to write their own stories. They seem to gain confidence by building off of a world that's already been created. And if she's creating her own characters, that's an important step.

Colene Murphy said...

HA! I love the Fear and Loathing guys. And yes, Silent Hill is creepy gross. So was the movie. Just...creepy gross. But those characters are amazingly accurate anyway so kudos to them! Glad you had an interesting fun weekend with your gal!

Slamdunk said...

Sounds like quality time with dad. It is great you all do those things together--time for writing and stuff will be there.

Old Kitty said...

Conventions so rock!!! Looking at these pics makes me want to book the next ST/Sci-fi one!LOL!!!

I'm so happy your daughter got to go and had a whale of a time!! Good luck with her writing - fan fic is a whole art form in themselves!!

Take care
x

vic caswell said...

the little aang was so cute... other than that, i don't know any anime characters! :)
i'm glad you and kylie got to have such a fun time together!
and those contacts would freak me out so much!!!

Sarah Ahiers said...

O.M.G. Your daughter is now my new best friend evah!

We're huge naruto fans in our house. And also, i started with fan fiction as well, so don't worry about the original stories, that will come later for her if she decides to be a writer. The very fact that she made up her own character (mary-sue not-withstnading) is a good sign.

And yes, i agree that it is Altair and not Ezio. We are SO SUPER EXCITED about assasin's creed: botherhood which comes out in November!

Also, those silent hill costumes are EPIC - they hit the nail on the head, which is creepy as all eff! (just like the games...)

Karen Baldwin said...

Guess it takes all kinds in this world.

Tere Kirkland said...

Sounds like y'all had a great time. You're going to treasure these pics later... like when Kylie brings home her first boyfriend! ;)

Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I must digg your article therefore more people can see it, really helpful, I had a hard time finding the results searching on the web, thanks.

- Norman

Karen Baldwin said...

And it takes a good dad to take time to be with his daughter.

Matthew MacNish said...

Thanks Norman, I think. Digg away!

Joanne Brothwell said...

This looks like so much fun! I love your daughter's freaky contacts!

Arlee Bird said...

Fun photos. Sunday afternoon I went a paranormal show called "Ghost Fest 4" which was held on the old Queen Mary ship in Long Beach, CA. I'll be posting about this next Wednesday. I forgot my camera so I won't have many pictures.

Lee
Tossing It Out

Angie said...

You're a good dad. It looks like fun to me. And hooray for the wizard who could jump your car for you!

Elana Johnson said...

Wow, looks like such a great time! I went to a writer's conference this weekend. So. Fun.

Elana Johnson said...

Wow, looks like such a great time! I went to a writer's conference this weekend. So. Fun.

DEZMOND said...

I love that you drive Honda :))

RaShelle Workman said...

Well you just made my day!! What a totally cool dad. My kids are younger and into Pokemon, but we all love, love the animated show, Avatar!!! - I can't believe I forgot to put that in my top 10. That should have been number 2!! *smacks head* Japanese culture is very intriguing to me too, but more from a romantic angle (learning the language), words like aijin and aishiteru. The poetry and customs. Anyway, very cool and tell your daughter her contact are awesome and my daughter was totally jealous! =D

Angela McCallister said...

My daughter's an anime/manga uber-fan as well. I try to learn about it for her sake, and it's often pretty cool, but I get a lot of characters mixed up.

I loved Silent Hill (any game with puzzles can hook me), but yeah, to see those things in costume is creepy (can't even play the game by myself in a dark room!)

Last Airbender (the cartoon) is such a great one! The movie didn't do it justice. Also loved Assassin's Creed, but I've only played Pt 2.

Such a wonderful dad you are to get out of your comfort zone for something to make your daughter happy. I want contacts like those, btw. So much fun.

Lindsay said...

Yay. Glad you had a great weekend. Kylie is so lucky to have such an awesome dad.

My weekend was spent writing on Saturday, babysitting the goddaughter saturday night and then a lazy day Sunday. ;)

Unknown said...

Our Kylies' would probably get along very well. My daughter loves all things made by Hiayo Miyazaki: My neighbor Totoro, Howl's moving castle, Kiki's delivery service, etc. I love them because they are all meticulously hand painted and it's hard to tell which ones came out in the late 80's or today.

BTW Pyramid Head is just as freaky in the Silent Hill games as he is in your picture. Also Enzio ends up wearing the same outfit as Altair so it could probably be either :)

LTM said...

Awesomeness--and more Avatar!!! woo!

I went to the Star Wars convention in Indy when we went there. I was big and preggo w/a bunch of adult little boys... it was pretty funny.

Our weekend was spent cleaning house (g'rents coming) and b'day partyin w/a friend--yay! ;p

Hannah said...

awww that's adorable! I wish my dad was as cool as you. And I agree with Sarah, Silent Hill is so freaky!! Also Alone in the Dark.

Anonymous said...

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