Last weekend Shawn P and I went to Otakon XV to get our anime on and spread some robotty goodness

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<p>Gavin and MechaShiva made us kickass robot heads for the event.  An anime convention is no place to wear your regular head.</p>
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<p>There were lots of peoplez</p>
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<p>Shawn wuvs teddy bears</p>
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<p>Making a Robot Martini robot head...ur doin it wrong.</p>
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<p>While Otakon is always a mecca (or mecha, in this case) of geeky heaven, this year was particularly good.  It seems that the scheduling disasters of the past years had been resolved and we got into almost every panel/event we could drag our sleep-deprived bodies to.  We got to bask in the glory of our favorite shows, elaborate cosplay, and hilariously bad Japanese music videos.</p>
<p>In a word it was...</p>
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And on a related note, since Gavin and MechaShiva will be unable to host game night this week, Shawn has volunteered to host and anime night.  It's just like game night but with less games...and more anime.  Okay, and maybe some games.  Post or contact me or Shawn for details. 

Just a few minutes ago I had the distinct honor of conversing with Mrs. Mecha's after-school art club about the Maggagz (on display in the comics section.)

I started them when I was their age, and some of the stranger ones were made by her husband, so it seems like a good project for grade-school kids.

All you need is a magazine, tape, scissors, and the ol' imagination. Basically, anyone of any age can maggag, and no two maggags are the same.

It was interesting to get questions from the youngins about something I began at their age. It felt like a radio show there.

Here's a few that I fielded:

How long have you made maggagz? Since I was eight or nine.
How many magazines did you use to make one? About a half-dozen Family Circles, Womans Days, and Good Housekeeping. That's the classic maggag trio.
How long did it take you? Typically an hour to make a good one.
Is it hard to make decisions about what to do? Sometimes it's tough, but part of being an artist is making decisions and sticking to them. The scotch tape doesn't peel off magazine paper easily, and it usually takes the ink with it.
Do you travel the world telling people about Maggagz? Not literally, but they are on the internet now, unlike before, so anyone in the world can see it (unless they're communist and their government internet filters won't allow it.)
Do you LOVE maggagz? Ha ha ha...I like maggagz. They alleviate boredom and they're a simple creative outlet. But they can be a mess...

In fact, I was going to leave it at the series of five homage that are online now, but the interview inspired me, and seeing as how I'm sitting on a stack of Vogues, Vanity Fairs, Ws, Maxims, and Blenders (my roommate's a fashion designer), I think I'll make a few more.

Sorry there's no podcast.

Life's better with smooth, cheesy, consistent flea protection.

Working with Jerry to overcome some layout challenges in the game store. I think these are a dramatic improvement over the essentially unformatted 'call to action' material we have up now. They are also a little simpler, code wise, than the previous draft i posted last week.

At 1:45am I'm not sure how I feel about them now...