Leavin' on a jet plane ...

I was planning on using the picture above (snapped by Tom Bateman -- thanks!), of me standing in front of the ROBOTECH 20th anniversary banner from their booth at AX (and presumably numerous other conventions) last year on the 4th of July, as part of my convention report in the issue of Emissaries that came out back in March. But hey, it fits here, too, since that was nearly a year ago now, and I'm just about to head out on the same perilous journey.

I wonder what time I woke up that day, if this was taken around 1 p.m. and my hair's still wet (he said, noticing that it was almost 2 p.m. and his hair was, again, still wet).

There's a fantastic irreverent little rundown of the Anime Expo schedule here at Irresponsible Pictures. Direct your immediate attention to this quote:

2:00-5:00 pm CLAMP Focus Panel The only focus panel to be held in the Main Events ballroom (~4500 seats) because it will attract THAT many people. I feel sorry for anyone else hosting a panel against this time: J-rocker Mana, Broccoli Intl., Bang Zoom, the Robotech people ... well, I'm sure that they'll get their fair share of congoers who feel that battling for CLAMP isn't worth it.

Point A: Boy do I feel sorry for the fangirls who have to choose between CLAMP and Mana.

Well, no, I don't really -- they're fangirls. But still, that was mean of the AX scheduling folks. (Yes, I'm still venting leftover anime retail bitterness. I built up so much working at Asylum that I've got an awful lot left ...)

Point B: Well, now I sure as hell know I'm not going to the CLAMP panel. (See also, last year's Maaya Sakamoto concert, which was scheduled against the Robotech Retrospective panel.) Ah well.

If you're going anywhere near the convention, read the whole thing. It'll give you a good bird's eye view of what's what. I may have to slip into that TokyoPop Creators Panel on Monday, for instance, just in case one or two of the OEL manga creators I'm actually interested in are actually there. (While that information may be available somewhere, it's not anywhere at either TokyoPop or Anime Expo's sites, which are, y'know, the first places you'd think to look for them, right?)

I leave you now with something I just stumbled across while tiptoeing over the ruins of my old blog, "Anime Ja Nai." It's a post from May 11, 2005, on a dream I apparently had the night before regarding ROBOTECH and some other thoughts I had at the time ...

I had a dream this morning after I rolled over and ignored various appeals to wake up and get around in which there were, like, five or six more Robotech II: The Sentinels hardcover collections, some of which contained all-new original sidestory material. And there were some new and different Robotech guidebooks, too. All really cool looking if I'm remembering it right, though I don't get why I had such a hard time finding an entry on Rick Hunter in that big thick guidebook I was flipping through. Lisa I could find, but not Rick. And for some reason Gloval came after Hayes. Ah well, nobody said dreams had to make any sense.

The best part about it all, within the context of the dream, was that I was digging through this stuff in a store where it was all discounted to $5 each. I was grabbing it all to go to the checkout counter when I woke up. Phooie.

I suppose I was having this sort of dream because a few mornings ago as I stepped into the shower I was thinking that shortly after Shadow Chronicles comes out, or perhaps around the same time, Harmony Gold really needs to put out a nice Robotech guidebook, for the sorts who, after watching the new material really want to dig in and learn all they can about this new universe they've been introduced to. Sure, you've got Robotech.com for that sort of thing, but I dunno, a slick, well-designed book in the style of Robotech Art 1 filled with new and recent art, pointing out where the two video games fit into the grand tapestry of it all, providing better episode synopses and character profiles, briefly explaining The Sentinels and its place in the world and pointing out the contradictory timelines of the comics and novels that spun out of it before barrelling full force into Shadow Chronicles and hints at the future beyond ... yeah, that sounds like something that should be sitting on an endcap not far from the Shadow Chronicles DVD. And a figure of a new Veritech from the animation (there's got to be a new Veritech in it) should be nearby, too. This should be a launch, a dramatic thrust into a bright future for the franchise. And yet, despite the grand tour and the hoopla, I keep getting this nagging feeling that it's just not going to be strong enough.

Hey, I'm a Robotech fan -- I've been conditioned to think this way, to dream of a bright future, but to accept that surely something is going to go hideously, frustratingly ass-backwards wrong. Such is life.

Reading this, suddenly May of last year feels like a lifetime ago. Creepy.

OK, well, I guess I'll see some of you out in California, and the rest of you have to content yourselves with, I dunno, crossing your fingers and hoping I find a free wi-fi spot while I'm out there. ^_^


Or you can just visit the other guy's blog. I know he'll find a way to post from the convention. *grumble grumble, mutter mutter*