IztaCon: Thanksgiving Weekend, 2001
Originally UncommonCon, a comic book/sci fi/fantasy/anime convention, was scheduled for this weekend, but due to circumstances still not revealed, it was cancelled. The A-Kon crew didn't want to disappoint the fan masses (or the guests, or the people that had rented rooms), so they changed ItzaCon from a convention originally intended to be the Sunday after UC to an event that took up the whole weekend.
For UncommonCon, we had originally intended to play as Vash and Wolfwood, and to enter the cosplay contest. But due to a general lack of enthusiasm now that UC was cancelled, as well as the now-current Harry Potter obsessiveness (we've seen the movie six times apiece, so far), we decided to throw together costumes of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. (We couldn't've done Vash and Wolfwood, because Vash's hair had been dyed black again, and Wolfwood couldn't find the wig)
So, we get to the hotel and are immediately greeted by "fans" of Harry Potter. A brief scuffle ensued, involving several illegal uses of magic and some wand and broom stealing.
Our first stop was the dealer's room, which was, unfortunately, dismally small. We found some friends there, though, so it wasn't a total loss. There, we discovered that one of our friends had gotten engaged a few days before, and also that a friend was cheating on a friend with another friend. I swear, we didn't mean to spill the beans! We just were confused! Ahh, well, they've mostly worked it out now, so it doesn't matter.
While Vash/Harry chatted up V2/Tetsuo, Wolfwood/Hermione suddenly spotted, across the room, a very tall Klingon wearing the elusive officially liscensed Harry Potter Gryffindor scarf!
"Harry," Hermione grunted, pointing across the room with her wand. "Look!"
"Hermione, come on, don't point that thing at people," Harry said, not looking up.
"No...scarf!"
Harry paused for a moment, staring at the Klingon as it sank in. "Scarf!"
We then scurried across the room to assault Skippy. He informed us that the scaves could be purchased at one of the vendor's stalls, just outside of the dealer's room. We immediately flew to the stall, only to find that (and, this wasn't really a surprise, but it was still incredibly annoying) they were sold out. In fact, they had been selling these things (which are rare, nay, nearly impossible to find, and which sell for around $50-80 on ebay) for $5. Five. Dollars.
Well, needless to say, we bought Skippy's from him, after much pleading and bargaining, for $15, the best spent money of the day, as you will read below.
Moving right along, our main reason for coming to this convention was Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in Star Wars. However, when we get there, we are greeted by a seven-foot tall, smoking, surly Britishman who charged us $15 and $20 for his autograph (it was $5 off for bringing in your own item for him to sign). Thanks, Peter Mayhew!
Okay, we're kidding, but we were kind of freaked out by having to shell out oodles of money for this thing. I mean, come on, the admission was $5.
Throughout the rest of the day, we spent time with supporters of our rival house, Slytherin.
Duct-tape Girl and Friend: "Slytherin rules!"
Harry and Hermione: "Gryffindor will triumph!"
D-TG and F: "Slytherin!"
H and H: "Gryffindor!"
D-TG and F: "Slytherin!"
H and H: "Gryffindor!"
Duct-Tape Girl: "Hey, let's ask Skippy. Skippy, which house is better?"
Skippy the Klingon: [pausing briefly] "Hufflepuff!"
After being assaulted in the hallway a few more times, and overhearing suspiciously nasty comments about "Harry Potter at an anime convention", we checked out the DDR room and left. Woo. Hoo.
We closed out the day by going to see the movie again. Yes, in costume. We thought it would have been really funny to go up to the ticket booth in costume and to buy tickets for a movie that was not Harry Potter, but the strange looks were plenty amusing enough.
BACK
