#someday this will become a standee

[imavikingo]

[ducktracy]

190. porky at the crocadero (1938)

release date: february 5th, 1938

series: looney tunes

director: frank tashlin

starring: mel blanc (porky)

at long last, frank tashlin has succumbed to putting porky on a diet. this is the first tashlin short to have a slimmed down porky, officially putting an end to “fat porky”’s reign.

the story credit goes to lew landsman—a bit of an anomaly, considering this is his only credit. much of the scoop on him has been lost to the sands of time, but evidently he was a gag artist, selling comic drawings to magazines and even touting showings of his art throughout the ‘40s and ‘50s. you can read more about him here.

porky aspires to be a bandleader at the prestigious crocadero (a parody of the cafe trocadero, a bumping nightclub on the sunset strip from 1934-1947), but quickly realizes he’s too poor to afford its flashy admittance fee. he works as a dishwasher, hoping to catch a whiff of the festivities, but is quickly let go after he proves too incompetent for the job. nevertheless, an impromptu change in plans finds porky at the bandstand conducting a number of acts, including a high-energy cab calloway finale.

the typography of the title card melts away, the camera panning out as we get a full view of the crocadero, illuminated by the moonlight and its flashy neon sign. pan back in to the sign and fade to a standee:

all of the selections are references to pieces of music, with said music serving as accompaniment. the score begins with “little man, you’ve had a busy day”, switches to “in the shade of the old apple tree”, and closes with a carl stalling favorite, “the lady in red”. 

pan over to porky, eagerly ogling the sign. volney white’s animation and mel blanc’s vocals combine to make an energetic performance that will only grow in fervor. “hot duh-dee-duh-dee-duh-diggity dog! all thuh-the-thee-the big shots in person!” the detail of porky’s little hat flipping around, staggering in time to his stutter, is not only funny, but elevates the energy of the sequence. “someday, i’m uh-guh-geh-uh-gonna lead a band, too! s-see?”

porky unfurls a diploma, to which we get a close-up of his not-so-trustworthy credentials (fingernails and all):

volney’s animation continues to be full of character as porky blabs on about how he’s gonna become a famous bandleader. “and meh-muh-mee-mm-maybe i’ll be eh-feh-eh-famous, like eh-leh-lee-le-leopold eh-seh-stokowski!”

a nice change in camera angles as we turn to an upshot of porky, furiously conducting his imaginary band to a rousing rendition of “poet and peasant overture”. 

the mood changes from fervent conductor to crooner as he chooses to mimic rudy vallee, conducting along to vallee’s 1937 “vieni, vieni”, complete with a hilariously amiable facial expression--a stark contrast to the fit he was throwing mimicking stokowski just seconds prior.

another seamless transition in tone to an impression of eh-buh-bee-beh-benny goodman, the song this time being “sweet georgia brown” in the stylings of the king of swing himself. the changes in mood and tone, in both the animation and the music, are as smooth as butter, especially for such drastic shifts in expression. frank tashlin doesn’t skip a beat with his pacing. this is especially true as the camera pans over to another nearby sign, a hilarious sight gag quickly putting an end to porky’s festivities:

dejected, porky rifles in his pocket and pulls out a lone coin emblazoned with a skunk—“one scent”. he trudges along solemnly, away from the crocadero, when all of the sudden a sign catches his eye: BOY WANTED. though porky has been slowly growing more consistent in his characterization, his age still fluctuated from picture to picture. frank tashlin would also portray him as a young boy in wholly smoke just a few months later.

tashlin flaunts his need for speed as porky wastes no time doing the signature volney white eye take and darting into the crocadero, a cloud of dust and the swinging of the doors serving as the only indication of his presence just milliseconds prior.

although the sign doesn’t elaborate on what job it is that porky is doing, the tower of dishes blocking the screen as we fade in to the new scene answers any lingering questions. pan out to porky, happily scrubbing away, while his boss, a pretentious walrus whose vocal stylings are hilarious and borderline incomprehensible orders him around. the bargain—if porky does his job, then he can “watch the orrrrrrchestrey, maybe, hmmm?”

a throwback to the days of working with disney, carl stalling “mickey mouse”’s a little penguin waiter—that is, his quick little steps are fervently timed to the jaunty tinker of an xylophone. the walrus blocks the diminutive penguin, peddling a platter of soup. after they inadvertently do a tango of side-stepping, the penguin wordlessly slides down the walrus’ back, zigzagging around a sea of tables, and right over to a lone giraffe, elevating the table like a car jack to fit the gjraffe’s height. the giraffe laps up his soup with ease. though not the funniest gag ever, tashlin’s quirks—the quick timing, hiding the penguin behind the plethora of tables, etc, make it more endearing.

back to porky, carrying a dangerously tall tower of plates with him. a fly causes him to nearly spill his goods, but ducking in place renders the pig safe. that is, until he throws all of the dishes in the air, swatting the fly spastically. the music cue of porky ducking, looking around to make sure the fly is gone, sounds eerily similar to the stylings of norman spencer, who scored the cartoons up until mid-late 1936. 

without a break in pace, porky catches all of the dishes he threw into the air in one fell swoop. more buttery pacing from tashlin, who is able to switch tones and moods at lightning speeds without missing a beat. this is INCREDIBLY difficult to pull off, and he makes it look too easy.

as to be expected, the fly lands right on porky’s snout. instead of attacking it without hesitation, porky slowly reaches for a spoon on the kitchen counter... and THEN disregards his duties as dishwasher, carelessly tossing his pile of dishes aside to swat furiously at his foe.

the pompous walrus from before spots porky’s silhouette from outside the kitchen doors, flailing and waving around like a madman. “der loafer!” his boss interprets porky’s frantic waving of the spoon as a frantic imitation of a bandleader, promptly tossing him out. porky recovers in the back alley, left with his diploma and metaphorical birds of cartoon pain as the boss scolds “today, you are a ham!”--a take on the bar mitzvah declaration “today, you are a man”, which has been spoofed previously in cartoons such as egghead rides again.

it doesn’t take long for the boss to eat his own words. frank tashlin does a great job of creating a genuinely anxiety inducing mood as a crowd of people, now filling the crocadero, chant “we want mu-sic! we want mu-sic! we want mu-sic!” the musical accompaniment is more akin to the stylings of scott bradley, in the sense that it’s purely atmospheric and contextual, rather than an actual melody. the chanting and disconcerting music get louder as we cut to dramatic up shots of hands clapping to the beat, down shots of foots stamping, etc. it’s genuinely unnerving--and the manager agrees, pacing circles around his office, muttering incoherently to himself about the absence of “the musicmaker”.

knocking on the door serves as a symbol of hope as the manager whips around. “who’s dere?” 

“telegram, i bet’cha!” inside bursts a total loon of an old man, his long, white beard whipping in the wind as he does donuts on his bicycle inside the manager’s office. if it weren’t for his looks and speech patterns, which already tell a story, carl stalling’s score of “the woods are full of cuckoos” certifies that this old coot definitely has some screws loose. 

the old coot reaches into the depths of his beard and pulls out said telegram. “y’ owe me sixty cents, i bet’cha.” the manager unceremoniously dumps a handful of coins into the coot’s possession, who does a few more donuts in the office, indicating his exit. that is, until he suddenly halts, tipping his hat to bid “g’bye, i bet’cha.” such a scene is nonsense--and it’s hilarious nonsense rather than perplexing nonsense. it makes no sense, and yet it’s speedy enough to get its point across AND not overstay its welcome. had the same gag been executed by someone such as ben hardaway, who probably would have LOVED this gag, it would have been milked to death and bloated to ensure the audience “got it”. here, frank knows when to start and when to stop, an incredibly valuable skill not all directors possess.

contents of the telegram include a rather morbid nod to the hit ‘20s song “i faw down an' go boom”:

to add insult to injury, the old coot sticks his head in the door and adds “yeah, and they won’t come ‘t all, i betcha!” before slamming the door. though i can’t place the animator, the style of the animation looks eerily similar to that of izzy ellis’, from the spiral motion lines to the thin, squished look of his face. izzy ellis would animate in the clampett unit after leaving ub iwerks’ studio, later animating under norm mccabe, frank tashlin himself, bob clampett again, and then bob mckimson. an example of some of his work under frank tashlin here. 

back to the crowd, still demanding their music in the same unnerving drone. the manager continues to pace in his office, until a bright idea hits. “that sving dishvasher! i must get him back schnell!” 

a moment of frank tashlin greatness: the entire cartoon screeches to a halt as a narrator explains “ladies and gentlmen, ‘schnell’ means ‘quick’!” and, just like that, cartoon hijinks resume. this joke is hilarious 83 years later--imagine the reaction it evoked from theatergoers in 1938. once more, the matter-of-fact execution of the gag is what sells it. no build up, no cool down, no bloating of anything. short, sweet, and to the point. it’s so hilariously and purposefully redundant that you can’t NOT laugh at it.

speaking of quick, that would be an understatement to describe the rapid cutting after the fact. the manager rushes outside, whipping around street corner after street corner to find the dejected dishwasher he berated just minutes prior. he finds his target, grabbing porky and rushing backwards--the same way he came at the same exact lightning speed--all while monologuing about how porky can be a bandleader and break all of the dishes he wants.

again, no breaks in momentum whatsoever as the bandleader tosses a nonplussed porky into a bandleader’s outfit, stuffing a pillow under his shirt (had this cartoon been made a few months prior, there’d be no need for a pillow!) and giving him a fake mustache/curl of hair via makeup. “pull de vool over dere eyes!”

thus cues the music portion of the cartoon. a spotlight shines on a sign introducing porky as “the jazz king”, much to the pleasure of the audience. a giraffe in the orchestra introduces the song with a clarinet solo of “rhapsody in blue” before getting down to business.

porky, dressed as paul whiteman, conducts whiteman’s “avalon”, as indicated by the music stand. volney white does some great animation here--porky struggles to keep his own weight afloat, his giant pillow-stomach sinking to the ground. he readjusts himself a few times, enjoying the spare seconds of peace where his outfit stays intact, only for the same charade to repeat. fun eye takes and volumetric animation from volney. it’s no coincidence that he was one of tashlin’s best animators.

the crowd shots in this cartoon are not to be overlooked--kudos and apologies for the poor people who had to ink and paint all of that! the crowd dances along to the stylings of porky’s music, including a pair of kangaroos and their joeys slow dancing together.

back to the little penguin waiter from before, tinkering along to deliver a drink. a spare trombone sucks up all of the goods in the glass, prompting a hilarious grimace from the penguin who just stands still, silently glowering before traipsing backwards (mickey mouse timing and all) to refill. 

cut to porky, who appears much more jovial. a clever pan out reveals that he’s enlisted in the help of a car jack to keep his extra weight afloat. and, with that, curtains (animation reused from the introduction to tashlin’s porky’s romance) close out on the pig. applause from the audience.

next up, “guy lumbago and his boiled kanadians”, a not-so-flattering nod to guy lombardo and his royal canadians. porky, dressed as a canadian mountee, directs “cryman lumbago”. carmen lombardo, brother to guy, was often poked fun at for the excessive vibrato in his voice--people would liken him to sounding like an old man on his last legs. not only that, but even by the ‘30s, guy lombardo’s music was often dismissed as slow, sappy “old person’s music”. the 1954 woody woodpecker cartoon, real gone woody, also makes fun of lombardo, also dubbing him as “lumbago” and calling him a square.

indeed, cryman lumbago is a decrepit old man with--you guessed it--lumbago, singing in a hilariously obnoxious vibrato. even the dancers in the crocadero stagger along to his vibrato, their dancing stuttering. the benign facial expressions of the crowd, despite all of this, is the perfect cherry on top. one wonders if guy/carmen lombardo ever saw this cartoon, and how they reacted to it...

just as the gag threatens to overstay its welcome (and, admittedly, it has), a screwball assistant who looks like a relative to another random screwball in porky’s duck hunt scoops lumbago into a wheelchair and wheels him off stage. the audience applauds, and there’s a feeling that they aren’t just applauding the music.

cue the most controversial, uncomfortable, yet also complex part of the cartoon: a tribute to cab calloway, or, as he’s dubbed here, cab halloway.

for today i’ll spare you the imagery, but we’re greeted by a (thankfully) rare anomaly in the porky pig-verse: porky and his orchestra are dressed in blackface, conducting a rousing rendition of “chinatown, my chinatown”.

obviously, any and all blackface is abhorrent, but this is an interesting case. it’s clear that this was meant to be an homage and celebration of cab calloway’s music. a certain level of care seems to have been put into this sequence—it’s not a cheap throwaway “haha blackface” gag purely just for laughs. the animation is FILLED with a surprising amount of energy and vitality, and the vocals of the calloway impression are eerily spot on. analyzing the animation from a technical standpoint, it’s VERY skillful. it is NOT easy to convey such high energy and such elasticity. the animation is vivid, rapid, and invigorating. for 1938 especially, such energy is jarring. this feels more like the climax of a 1945 bob clampett cartoon, not a run of the mill 1938 porky pig cartoon.

BUT, with that said, it’s still extremely uncomfortable--blackface is blackface, and just because the techniques behind it are good doesn’t mean the material being animated is good. as i mentioned, the intentions don’t entirely feel as nasty as other examples we have/will seen, but that doesn’t negate the harm it does. you can have affectionate homages to cab calloway and his music without blackface--look at betty boop’s snow white. plus, because the song is “chinatown, my chinatown”, any nuance this scene had is discredited when porky switches from blackface to dressing up as a stereotypical chinese man. uncomfortable and unnecessary--THAT is a cheap throwaway gag. 

nevertheless, it’s not in my place to preach about what is racist and what isn’t. speaking purely from a technical standpoint--the techniques and processes that went into the animation itself--this is a very impressive performance. high energy in both music and animation. the elasticity, speed, all of it is very impressive. the content BEING animated, however, has aged like rotten milk. though this isn’t as meanspirited as other instances that we’ll explore, it still absolutely has its problems and definitely encourages mindful thinking.

regardless, the number ends to uproarious applause, and porky successfully lives his dreams of being a bandleader. the cartoon closes on the penguin waiter, once more peddling a drink. just as the offscreen trombone threatens to steal his drink, the penguin swallows it all in one go and blows a raspberry to the trombone as we iris out.

an interesting entry for sure. frank tashlin’s talents cannot and should not be understated--his speed and timing of the cartoon are certifiably one of the most impressive aspects of the cartoon. indeed, a lot of fun music in this one, whether that be underscores or otherwise. the design of the cartoon holds up very well--tashlin’s streamlined backgrounds and layouts are always a treat to look at. porky is very endearing, especially in the beginning with his imitation of all of the bandleaders, and the incomprehensibility of the walrus is too funny not to laugh at.

of course, the elephant in the room is the ending tribute, which we already discussed. from a technical standpoint, the vivacity of the animation should absolutely be commended and appreciated, especially this early on. the music is VERY fun. but blackface is blackface, and it just hasn’t aged well and comes off as uncomfortable--at least--regardless.

with that, whether you choose to watch this cartoon is up to you. i think this is definitely one of tashlin’s best porky cartoons, and despite its gags and references that have now become dated, it still serves as an enjoyable watch. the whole blackface thing, however, is why this isn’t a cartoon i frequent often. i would trepidatiously recommend this, either skip the calloway sequence or watch it with an open mind. in all, a fun cartoon that i unfortunately can’t quite appreciate to its fullest extent.

with all that said, here’s a link!

[psshaw]

The Train/Murder Story

Uuuughhhh, fine I can’t stop thinking about it. FINE. Here it is, the absolute worst, dumbest, evilest Tucker story.

Here’s how someone like this eases you into his “criminal history”.

In addition to a bizarre (I’m now told nonsensical) cocktail of serious illnesses and psychiatric conditions and extremely disturbing abuse stories, he’s a petty criminal who’s never been caught doing anything. Here’s one from early on, testing my boundaries:

Admittedly, I tend to think lowly of shoplifters. But he’d removed any selfish elements, and I’m never ever going to stop someone from telling a cool story. Which will come in handy later.

It’s very “Jesus of Suburbia”. Stealing for charity, returning just for the thrill of it, never getting caught. Apparently in someone else’s RP, he once proposed that his self-insert would do good deeds that were somehow so good that someone would map them out and notice they made a pattern on the map. Gran. Di. OSITY. It’s interesting noticing how little I ask of him in our convos. If he ever truly liked anything about me, it was probably that I let him talk about himself for hours. Other people with, like, needs? Weren’t so lucky around him.

Plus he makes all these references to being super manipulative (but toward people who deserve it!!! For being bigoted or annoying or something!!!! You’re different and smart and pretty and you’re changing me for the better!!!!!!!!!!), and stuff like the lock-picking incident from the last post. Pretty classic delinquency. My life was nothing like that, but sure, some people just have issues.

But then he starts hinting at something darker. I think I texted something joking like “what, didja kill someone?” and he acted really ‘nervous’ and admitted it involved “taking a piece of someone” (paraphrasing, obvs). A physical piece? An emotional piece? My prevailing theory was someone’s prosthetic limb. Surely it wasn’t really murder, hahahaha. Ha ha. But eventually he told me... teeth. 

The only proof of that I have of that is me teasing more later:

(He wrote posts about how great I was and would dramatically narrate the PAIN of writing them. I didn’t follow his blog at the time, so this was... very obviously a way to make sure I read them. I have shots of a few, but this post has enough digressions already.) 

“Murder” has 162 CTRL+F matches in these logs, which actually seems low to me. Most of them come before this story. We talked about my serial killer characters, Tucker’s fantasies about being killed by them (I know, but I was used to people doing this already), and lots of horror movies and shows like Bates Motel and Dexter. We were so comfy with the subject that seconds before the story came up, we were talking about his hypothetical modus operandi.

VERY, VERY COMFY WITH THE SUBJECT.

And then of course, he has that classic Tucker Lightbulb Moment, like, “funny thing!-- This conversation reminds me of my dark, twisted past.”

Intrusive thoughts. Watch what he’s about to say he did because of intrusive thoughts. I don’t think he fully understands what that term means.

I don’t know if I’m more like a wide-eyed kid with a juice box, a mom telling him I’ll wuv him no matter what, or an overzealous drooly journalist. Back then, I had absolutely no fear. The internet was a beautiful place where I could read great or horrible things, enrich myself with other people’s articles and blog posts, and just... click away, and not have to engage with anyone on an emotional level. THIS... was like winning the Omegle lottery and chatting with Jeffrey Dahmer for a while. Even as I was reading this story come in line-by-line, my brain was screaming “holy crap fuck stay cool, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, good thing I’m ready to ghost this messed-up dude when he runs out of stories.”

Which he has to do eventually, right? Nope. There was always a new one to string you along with.

So while we bonded over the fact that he trusted me with this confession he’d never made before (HUGE lie, check footnotes), this story actually backfired on him.

Because WHY WOULD YOU TELL SOMEONE YOU JUST WIG OUT AND HURT PEOPLE AT RANDOM? THAT YOU THOUGHT OF SOMEONE AS “PREY”? WORST CASE, IT’S TRUE. BEST CASE, IT’S WHAT YOU WRITE WHEN YOUR ONLY EXPERIENCE WITH MURDER IS... GOD, I EVEN THOUGHT PARTWAY THROUGH “THIS SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING I READ ON DEVIANTART IN 2004”. But I decided this story was “not self-aggrandizing enough to be fake”. He adds this “pathetic” element to every story. It’s like a humblebrag, but for dark pasts one normally gives to their most goth Neopets.

Note that the guy getting his head bashed in is even more stereotypical than the guy from the bar fight, and the motive is just bare. He’s a prop, a cardboard standee Tucker flipped over. This story isn’t about a guy dying, it’s about Tucker, who conveniently wrestled with no horror or guilt at what he’d done, doesn’t feel haunted by taking a life or by being chased by the police or by the fact that he uncontrollably killed someone and could do it again, OR THAT I would tell someone with authority what he did. But no, the only emotion he apparently knows is “sweaty”. 

It really felt like I was talking to a film character. A freshman film student-level one, at that. I had to convince myself these things were true, only because I couldn’t prove they weren’t, and I didn’t understand how he thought he was benefitting from these lies.

In retrospect, we think this version of the story was him trying to appeal on some level to my thing for evil characters. But he totally misunderstood that my focus is on charming, funny cartoon villains that like to break out in song, not “basically Johnny the Homicidal Maniac”.

So this story is scary as hell. People ask sometimes, “Why would you keep talking to a murderer?” Which is a fair question, but it implies that I would normally overlook a murder and become codependent on an obvious psychopath. Which, ew.

The thing was, he immediately went back to being a cutesy, relentlessly flirty guy worrying about nothing more serious than his day job and drawing furry commissions. Because... well, that’s what he really is. And the fact that I’d listened without saying “shut the hell up, freak” definitely endeared him to me further, so I got even MORE praise for being special and different and able to save his messy ass. And so the cycle of codependency continued, and we dug ourselves into a deeper hole.

He never really talked about being haunted by hurting another person, or worried that the police were onto him. He never wrestled with the fact that he could someday do this to someone he cared about. He didn’t even seem to feel guilty. He was about as nervous about this as I would be about stealing 20 dollars. The story was only made to give him faux pathos. That’s all.

I don’t think he’s hurt anyone without the help of a keyboard, honestly. Which, thank god.

To support that theory: there are OTHER versions of this story. 

Memories are imperfect and tainted by emotion, but I saw enough crap like this that I believe the core of these testimonies are true. Individuals are designated by color.

These are from the convo where I realized my experience wasn’t unique:

And from talking to a friend, one he’d devalued while getting obsessed with me, but not the one mentioned in the "Fake Ask” post:

The theme of trains is apparently common.

“Anika Harlson” is a fake name from when he would be high school age. Not being able to use your legs-- CLASSIC teen fib.

Ending this on a silly note: He still tells people he’s a murderer. Last I heard, he was still not denying it when asked, from the safety of private chats to all of 4chan. He would rather tell the whole internet he’s a murderer than admit he lies sometimes. That’s, haha… that’s the complete opposite of what a murderer would do.

God, this is the most fantastic mess. It’s just really freaking interesting, too.

And I really want to thoroughly illustrate how this stuff happens, cos I wish someone had told me! If I do another post, I’d love to touch on how someone like this serially creates codependent relationships, and the idealization > devaluation process.

[floridageekscene]

Being a geek has its payoffs. For example, I’ve had to become a pretty dedicated person to hang onto my geek cred—scoring 100% completion runs, exploring every installment in my favorite series, and making four-hour roundtrips to Florida’s biggest anime Con, Metrocon, each year.

Since its inception, this Floridian Con giant has certainly spread its wings into other wares—including superheroes and the indie gaming scene. Unlike Megacon, however, which has always been a jack-of-all-trades in geekery, Metrocon’s Dragon Ball-shaped heart is firmly fixed on all things otaku—meaning that you’re never quite out-of-sight of a Karasuno jersey or Tokyo-dwelling ghoul.

This year marked my third time at Metrocon, alongside the event’s 15th anniversary. And despite a few significant bumps along the way, I had a “plus ultra” time.

The Scoop:

What – A for fans, by fans anime convention featuring celebrity guests, exhibitors, and the most unique and exciting convention entertainment in the multiverse!

When:

Thursday, August 3rd (12:00PM – 12:00AM) Friday, August 4th (10:00AM –1:00AM) Saturday, August 5th (10:00AM – 12:00AM) Sunday, August 6th (9:00AM – 6:00PM)

Where – Tampa Convention Center

Who – Steve Blum, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Scott McNeil, Christina Vee, Vic Mignogna, Max Mittleman, Ray Chase, Robbie Daymond, Paul St. Peter, Kyle Rowling, NoFlutter, Caleb Hyles, Jonathan Young, Pikabellechu, Oliroux, TeppyBAKA, Mew21, Erin Hurst, TJ Omega, Dei Cosart, Duy Truong, and Papanotzzi

Price – $30-$40 (single-day), $85 (weekend)

Perks – Costume Content, Picture This! Contest, AMV Contest, Anime Idol, Lip Sync Battle, Illustration Content, Metrocade Video Gaming, Tabletop Gaming, Panels and Workshops, 600,000 square feet of convention space

With Metrocon crammed into one of my busiest weeks in August, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make the drive this year and knew I’d only be able to attend on Sunday. But I was absolutely determined to go to the ends of Eos to obtain an autograph from Ray Chase and Robbie Daymond, voices of two of the lead characters in Final Fantasy XV (the number of hours I’ve clocked into that game is almost as uncomfortable as the length of time I waited for its release). Sweetening the deal were appearances by Steve Blum (voice of my favorite, phoneless, vampire-gunner-monster hybrid), Paul St. Peter, and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.

The ride couldn’t have been smoother (with the total lack of traffic near the heart of Tampa nearly leading me into the uncanny valley). The parking fee: fair and affordable at a mere $10.

I woke up extra early and arrived about an hour before the autograph session with Chase, Daymond, and St. Peter—which, from past Con experience, has always been more than enough time. Unfortunately, the press pass reserved under my name had been given to someone else on accident, meaning I got held up in the ticketing line a bit too long, missing the only scheduled slot to meet with the voices of the FFXV bros. The autograph line had apparently been cut off about an hour early. On a Sunday.

It was disheartening, given all that I’d done to prepare for the moment. I spent my first few hours at Metrocon standing in the next autograph line as early as possible in order to ensure a meeting with Blum and McGlynn. The line cut off after being open a mere 15 minutes, about two hours prior to the scheduled meet-and-greet period. Because I had not been given a “free autograph” card when I checked in, I nearly missed obtaining autographs altogether—if not for a kindly attendee standing in front of me who offered me hers.

That’s not to dismiss Metrocon as a whole. Events this size require almost inhuman amounts of synchronization, and people were likely growing tired and short on supplies by the final day. Special guests had flights to catch, and that unfortunately meant not everyone would be able to meet them within an allotted time. Even so, I’d like to see reconsideration given to the autograph lines, perhaps allowing simple walk-ups like Megacon or spreading the guests’ appearances throughout the day rather than concentrating them into a single timeslot (as was the case on Sunday).

To their credit, the staff were very sympathetic of my plight. I was given a free pass for the day, handed more “free autograph” cards than I could ever use, and graciously allowed the chance to meet Ray Chase before he left. Many of my friends had an unabashedly smashing time at the event this year, so I can only call my experience an outlier. Even so, it was mine.

Rather than be pessimistic about these mishaps, I chose to enjoy the rest of Metrocon’s offerings—and, boy, am I glad I did. Being in line for three hours meant that I missed the Anime Chess Match and most of the panels that evening, but the vendor’s hall—which, might I add, was monstrous this year—completely turned the rocky start upside down.

I can’t remember the last time I purchased so much in so little time at a Con. I could hardly pass an artist or vendor without holding out a fistful of dollars in my best Futurama meme impression.

Many of Metrocon’s merchandise vendors were manned by familiar faces, focusing on clothing, figurines, keychains, and wall scrolls, primarily. The scarcity of imported snacks and savories from Japan seemed a bit out-of-place with Metrocon’s focus, but whatever diversity or unpredictability the merchandise lacked was more than made up for with the total joyride that was Artist’s Alley.

Simply put: there were a lot of prints and other homemade wares that grabbed my interest—and when I say “grabbed,” I mean like a shinigami grabs a stray apple. Fan-made acrylic keychains and standees—novelties I’ve seen little of elsewhere—were such a common sight that they almost seemed collaborated (I snatched a chibi Kotomine Kirei before the day was done). There were hologramic prints that transitioned between archenemy’s faces, pixelized bead statues, and some incredible close-out deals. (Vash the Stampede print by SamDelaTorre for a single double-dollar? You bet your doughnuts!)

My Hero Academia was a “super” common sight, both among the cosplayers that day and the art prints for sale. I purchased one print of All Might in particular (drawn by the gifted MuddyMelly) that I hope to bestow with Christopher Sebat’s signature someday. Overwatch and Final Fantasy XV unsurprisingly held significant representation in-between all the quirky superheroes.

And that’s saying nothing of the live-action medieval duels, the wristband-checking Master Roshi, and the literal hordes of cosplayers—who, despite it being Sunday, came out in such force and with such fantastic style that I couldn’t help but feel pride as an otaku.

My spirits lifted with each new booth I explored and costume I photographed, until, by day’s end, I left with a trunk full of loot and a Sora-like smile plastered to my face—not least of which can be credited to a Gladio cosplayer wielding a sword made of cup noodles. (You, sir, are the hero Eos deserves.)

Metrocon is a for fans, by fans, four-day anime convention featuring celebrity guests, exhibitors, and the most unique and exciting convention entertainment in the multiverse, located annually at the Tampa Convention Center.

Visit the Metrocon Official Website

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Photography by Amy Covel

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Metrocon 2017 – Sunday Being a geek has its payoffs. For example, I’ve had to become a pretty dedicated person to hang onto my geek cred—scoring 100% completion runs, exploring every installment in my favorite series, and making four-hour roundtrips to Florida’s biggest anime Con, Metrocon, each year.

[thes-is-it-for-jasmine-blog]

For consultation

1. No longer going to attempt to partner up with MIWD +++, maybe someday, pero not during now that I am accomplishing my thesis, because they are  holding me back.

2. Since I am no longer partnering up, means I just lost the chance of having financial support and I would have to spend out of my own pocket, I will alter/reduce the number of materials included in my proposed solution.

3. From (1) vinyl stickers that will be mounted on the buckets to prompt our stakeholders on how much water to use for every part of their bathing routine, (2) an illustrated manual on how to use the stickers, (3) location specific waterproof/laminated infographics on water saving tips that will be mounted near each faucet in the household (one each for the bathroom, kitchen, laundry area), (4) large tarpaulins with water saving tips will be mounted on each barangay hall of the barangays affected by drought, (5) One- B Fight standees that will be mounted in schools which informs about the campaign, also where you could get brochures and pamphlets on water saving tips, and (6) a Facebook like page of the One-B Fight which informs about the campaign, also where you could get the digital version of the pamphlets/brochures on water saving tips,

I am planning to reduce the proposed solution to a kit:

(1) Bucket. Yup I will distribute actual buckets this time.          Reason:                * uniform                * quantitative                      * easier to measure, ratio, pail : dipper                      * easier to estimate                      * easier to assign activity for every dipper of water (2) Instructions/Manual                * includes care for the bucket                * instructions how you can make the most out of the bucket                * some info about climate change > el nino > water shortage + some   more water conservation tips (from MIWD) for the magis water conserver (3) Notepad                * where the user can assign activity for every dipper of water                * the user can also specify in the notepad for what the bucket of water will be used (bath, kitchen, gardening)                * dipper 1: for wetting the body dipper 2: for rinsing shampoo

4. How the buckets will be distributed:    * one barangay at a time    * short intro about climate change > el nino > water shortage + water conservation tips    * introduce the bucket    * give demo/sample how to use the bucket    * distribute 1 bucket per family

I want to start with Brgy. Cubay, and in the future if this project becomes blessed with funds, we’ll bring it to another barangay, and then to another.

(( prays ))

5. Might also need to change key performance indicators.