ECCC Day One Preview

Ok, I didn't actually GO to the first day of the convention this year, that was yesterday... but MY day one, Friday (today), was filled with lots of fun. And if I had any energy left I'd edit all the photos I took and post them all along with pithy commentary on how awesome cosplayers are. However, you are only going to get a small sampler, because I'm just too freakin' exhausted to do more.

Cosplayers are awesome part ....?

Evening Thoughts

I fell yesterday afternoon. It was after 4 p.m. and Eric was just getting home. I was headed toward the staircase, for what reason I do not remember clearly. I tripped, possibly on my own feet, and hit the ground before my brain had registered that I was falling. My left knee and right arm hit first, I think, followed quickly by my face (the right side) and the rest of me. Based on the pattern of pain, the left knee and right shoulder took the brunt of the fall. My right arm was wrenched, and my elbow is sore. My left knee has an impressive bruise starting to develop. The knee itself feels like I twisted it a bit... not too much, but enough to cause pain. I was sure I would get a fat lip or black eye out of it, but my face hasn't swollen at all.

For almost a minute after I fell, I couldn't think or move. Eric came in the house, and I tried to call him. He heard something, because a moment later he was trying to help me. I don't believe I lost consciousness, but I really hurt myself. Inkwell was even worried about me. It took several minutes before I was able to get up, and then I downed some painkiller, which seemed to work to keep me from moaning the remainder of the night.

Today I've been hobbling around, trying not to go back to bed and sleep it off. I wanted to get things done, but somehow got caught up in watching a stream of the Eurovision contest (that is one bizarre thing). I suppose resting and Eurovision were just the thing...

So, Eurovision. The winning song was "1944" from the Ukraine. It's about the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in by the Soviets in the 1940s, and might have been a little too political for the contest. But it was allowed anyway, and beat Australia in a nail-biter of a final. Personally, I really liked the guys from Cyprus. The Russian song was just okay, but the graphics and performance were fairly mind-bending, and in my case stomach-churning.

However, the absolute best thing in the contest was "Love Love Peace Peace" by the hosts:

Ok, how about some other links?

I've been thinking about my tendency to drop the opening pronoun of sentences, and thought it might be a side-effect from learning Spanish. This article argues it's just the natural progression of language.

I need to reread this article about identity, because my first reading couldn't have possibly gotten all the nuance out of it. The article calls on Miss Marple to explain some of the ways identity has changed.

How many of these seven books that will probably never be printed again have you read?

Boing Boing has a 360 degree video of a tornado. You can actually drag the video around with your mouse to see all around the car and see what's happening in front or behind them as they storm-chase. Amazingly, at one point the chasers jump out of their vehicles to take photos. It's a testament to the insanity of the human race.

Ever heard of a mail-order home? Altas Obscura shares a tale from Reddit of one. Really cool... and some of the Reddit comments are impressive too.

If any man tries to, ever, make me wear high heeled shoes, I will beat him over the head with said shoes. I do NOT wear them, and will not wear them. Ever. Period. End of story. That said, a woman was dismissed from a job because she refused to go out and buy high heeled shoes to wear. That's prompted a bit of a backlash, including a petition to parliament. More at MeFi.

I suddenly have even less desire to fly the unfriendly skies. Apparently the TSA is even worse than it had been, which is impressive, honestly.

If anyone bothered to read my fiction piece on Friday, do you want more, or should I stick with non-fiction?

* * *
A comic con has shot itself in the foot, rather dramatically. Thanks to the magic of screencapping, the whole thing can be read even though the convention took down the post. In short, the official convention Facebook page complained about cosplayers wanting a free ride to the con with a goofy little post showing off a pretend conversation between a cosplayer and the convention. While I absolutely agree with the convention that no one at all should expect a free ride to a con, the message is a teeny-tiny bit unprofessional. Still, not the end of the world, right?

Wrong.

When people complained, the convention doubled-down: instead of apologizing for a post that offended some of their audience, they made things worse, calling some cosplayers "hot chicks in almost no clothes", "over sexual models" and "boob models". The organizer who is posting, who identifies himself as "Jim", also makes the claim that professional cosplayers aren't even fans of the people they are dressed as... in other words, he played the fake-geek-girl card.

Throughout it all, he's completely oblivious why his statements about some portion of cosplayers might possibly be offensive to the cosplayer community at large. Then he even claims he never called anyone names - forgetting his earlier "hot chicks" and "models" comments, apparently.

Jim also decides he's the one who gets to determine which cosplay is "real", saying the people he's deriding aren't real cosplayers, so no one should be offended. *facepalm* Seriously dude? You are going to man-splain cosplay to people? Really?

This naturally made a few people look closer at the convention, and guess what they found? A guest was announced before she had a contract with them... if they'd asked at all. This is a serious no-no in con circles. Conventions who do it cannot be trusted. It's one thing to have a contract then have a guest cancel. It's quite another to promote your con with a guest who hasn't yet been signed.

I hate to see any convention go up in smoke, particularly over something as stupid as a social media blunder. Hopefully the guest announcement was just miscommunication as well. But not matter the cause, this con has some work to do before their actual event to earn back goodwill... and if they don't try, then it's pretty clear they deserve whatever negativity they get.

And to all the con-runners out there: Social Media is a minefield. Do NOT post jokes that insult anyone on them. Someone will always be offended. Always. Just don't. You are a business, play it safe. If you have to rant, get a personal page. And, should you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Apologize for causing offense and learn from the experience; don't defend your actions because you will continue to insult people.

Whew... I'm going to watch Peace Peace Love Love again to cheer up after that rant...

NYCC Cosplay

Visit Bleeding Cool for some great photos of NYCC Cosplay this weekend. I'm particularly amused by this perfect couple:

Randoms

There are some amazing costumes on this San Diego Cosplay photo set. I particularly like the Frozen/Mad Max crossover. The body art Green Lantern and Batman were also... interesting. And there's even a Mayor McCheese - wow. Anyway, lots of cosplay: IGN's 17 best, massive gallery, Bleeding cool outside the convention center, more from Friday, day two, Blastr Day 1, Blastr Day 2 and Blastr Day 3.

Just in case you ever wanted to, The Guardian has a post on how to draw a horse.

Dr. Science explains How to vote in the Hugo Awards, with a focus on this year. I did not read this until I finished my own voting, but there's some interesting stuff in there.

Just as a reminder, you can go to Renay's Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom or the Hugo Nominees 2016 Wikia to look for works that will eligible for a Hugo in 2016 so you can read them for possible nomination. Both the spreadsheet and wiki allow submissions, as well, so add your own favorites to get them a little more widespread attention.

Linkdump

Adam Savage talks about cosplaying. I love this little story.

Check out this comment on Reddit that explains how people find it easier to eat out and why it's often a surprise to folks to find they can eat at home cheaper.

You heard about that woman that got $2 million for spilling McDonalds coffee on herself? Well, here's the real story, which is far more nuanced and reasonable than people who constantly repeat the lie about her getting $2 million. Don't have time to read it? She didn't get $2 million, only enough to cover her very real medical bills caused by third degree burns from coffee that McDonalds knew was too hot, due to hundreds of complaints. And she didn't spill because she was driving, the car was parked and she was a passenger. Read the first comment on the post, as well. I do wonder how often the lie will be repeated before more people say, "um, she didn't get that much money" than say "that's outrageous!"

My feelings on this project are so very mixed I have no idea how to respond to it. I am linking to it for your edification.

Listen to Wikipedia. Nice background sounds, actually, driven by something happening out there in cyberspace.

There's something very, very frightening to me about having calls for boycotts treated as hate speech. Incitement to not buy? How is that "political terror"?

Easy to read parking signs are easy to read. I like 'em.

This is the last ECCC 2015 Cosplay Photo post!

And so this concludes our trip into the wonderful world of Emerald City Comicon Cosplay, as seen and photographed by me. I saw a LOT more than this that I didn't get a chance to snap, and there are a bunch of cool pages of cosplay photos. I'll have a tiny bit more to write about the convention and, yes, even a couple more photos... but this is it for the cosplayers. I hope you enjoyed them.

Check out the rest of my Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos.

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment.

Nearly Done With Cosplay Photos...

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment.

Check out the rest of my Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos.

Even More Cosplay

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment.

Check out the rest of my Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos.

Continuing Cosplay

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment.

Check out the rest of my Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos.

Yet Further Cosplay

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment. If you click on the photo, you should get the full-size picture.

Check out the rest of my Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos.

Back to Cosplay

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment. If you click on the photo, you should get the full-size picture.

Check out the rest of my Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos.

Neverending Cosplay

I have 119 more photos after this post. I really did take an awful lot of photos, not all of them all that good. But this year... costumes were just awesome. Every year something new and interesting attracts my attention and every year I enjoy the convention in a different way.

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment. If you click on the photo, you should get the full-size picture.

Check out the rest of my Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos.

Let's Continue the Cosplay

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment. If you click on the photo, you should get the full-size picture.

Check out the rest of my Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos.

Even Still More Cosplay

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment. If you click on the photo, you should get the full-size picture.

Check out the rest of my Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos.

Yet More Cosplay

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment. If you click on the photo, you should get the full-size picture.

Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V and Part VI.

Further Cosplay

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment. If you click on the photo, you should get the full-size picture.

Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV and Part V.

Still More Cosplay

I have a LOT more photos to post, but I'm going to take my time, since that means I have more time to get my computer set up. Keep checking back. I'll make sure to indicate when I'm finally done posting.

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment. If you click on the photo, you should get the full-size picture.

Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos: Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV.

More great Cosplayers

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment. If you click on the photo, you should get the full-size picture.

Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos: Part I, Part II and Part III.

Cosplay continued...

If you are the cosplayer in the photo and want to leave more information, just add a comment on the post and tell me which photo is yours. I have comment moderation on, so I'll definitely see the comment. If you click on the photo, you should get the full-size picture.

Emerald City Comicon Cosplayer Photos: Part I and Part II.