Anyone want to Compare LDs?

Discuss anime, especially but not limited to 1950's~1990's series, and related sub-topics
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Moonsaber
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Re: Anyone want to Compare LDs?

Post by Moonsaber »

Dave Merrill,

Nope, I was not in Birmingham yet at the time. I did go to Deep South Con a few times when it was hosted in Chattanooga, though?
I belonged to an anime club that met in East Ridge TN for some time, though.

I have heard good things about the Rocket City cons myself, but also have not been.

I wonder if I might know your friend.
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Re: Anyone want to Compare LDs?

Post by davemerrill »

My Birmingham pal (one of them, anyways) is Jeff Roe, he lives down in Alabaster now.

I went to two Birmingham DSCs (1994, 2001) and one in Atlanta (1988). DSCs aren't huge, but the 2001 DSC was teeny-tiny; I regularly hold events at anime cons with three times the attendance, and it was kind of eye opening to see how small the literary SF conventions were, compared to how large the anime events were becoming. AWA in 2001 happened two weeks after the 9/11 terror attacks and took a big membership hit, but still wound up doing better than three thousand attendees. It's always fascinating to me how science fiction films and TV series and books can be best-selling pop culture icons, but the SF conventions can't seem to attract the crowds.
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Moonsaber
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Re: Anyone want to Compare LDs?

Post by Moonsaber »

Oh wow, I live in Pelham right next door to Alabaster, and lived in Alabaster for like 8 years prior to moving. Don't think I know him, though. Maybe I need to meet him.

Yeah, sad that SF cons have dropped so low. I used to be a Sci Fi con guy, having been into that world since I was a kid. Met a lot of greats at them, cons like BaltoCon, AmigoCon, Philcon, Chattacon, and several I just don't remember the names of... including one I went to in K-town Germany.

That said... I guess the Trek Cons are now a lot bigger. It is a parallel to how popular the media is I think. Who reads Science Fiction magazines anymore? Who pays attention to the awards, and the whole pageantry these days other than the writers themselves, and those who aspire to it. Maybe that is not a bad thing? Hopefully most of the same vendors appear at all of them, and me... I feel too old to go to AWA. =(
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cosmosamurai
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Re: Anyone want to Compare LDs?

Post by cosmosamurai »

Hi Moonsaber. Though not affiliated with the TechnoGirls, a download of their fansub was indeed my introduction to Oniisama e (an nth gen VHS rip with lots of noise). I posted awhile back about how the TechnoGirls apparently finished their fansub in fairly recent times, even after both an official sub and another fansub got there first - really diehard. Thanks for the appreciation of my hoard too!
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Re: Anyone want to Compare LDs?

Post by Drew_Sutton »

Moonsaber wrote: Tue Apr 02, 2019 10:03 am AWA, huh? I have always meant to go to that, and never have. When I lived in Chattanooga I used to go to their cons, I live in the Birmingham area now, and rarely attend our local cons. Last one I went to was OmegaCon, which while fun was a fiasco.
Moonsaber wrote: I feel too old to go to AWA.
AWA, I think, is probably one of the best shows to go to as "an old". The programming is really diverse, so you can find lots of stuff that interests you and wander the event or get some downtime away from everything.

One of the shows up in Huntsville (Hamacon), I'm good friends with one of the directors, I went for a few years as a panel/promo exchange. It's a good show with well managed space and pretty good panels/events but admittedly, I've not been in a couple of years.

Only been to one show in Birmingham (Imagicon) and "absolute shit show" is the nicest thing I can say about it.
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Moonsaber
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Re: Anyone want to Compare LDs?

Post by Moonsaber »

cosmosamurai wrote: Thu Apr 04, 2019 1:38 pm Hi Moonsaber. Though not affiliated with the TechnoGirls, a download of their fansub was indeed my introduction to Oniisama e (an nth gen VHS rip with lots of noise). I posted awhile back about how the TechnoGirls apparently finished their fansub in fairly recent times, even after both an official sub and another fansub got there first - really diehard. Thanks for the appreciation of my hoard too!

Indeed they did! There is a Region 1 release of it? When did this happen?


@Drew:

Well, darn. And I have family in Atlanta I can visit while I am there. I need to be more active in my fandom again, thank you for the replies.
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davemerrill
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Re: Anyone want to Compare LDs?

Post by davemerrill »

Moonsaber wrote: Thu Apr 04, 2019 11:58 am Oh wow, I live in Pelham right next door to Alabaster, and lived in Alabaster for like 8 years prior to moving. Don't think I know him, though. Maybe I need to meet him.

Yeah, sad that SF cons have dropped so low. I used to be a Sci Fi con guy, having been into that world since I was a kid. Met a lot of greats at them, cons like BaltoCon, AmigoCon, Philcon, Chattacon, and several I just don't remember the names of... including one I went to in K-town Germany.

That said... I guess the Trek Cons are now a lot bigger. It is a parallel to how popular the media is I think. Who reads Science Fiction magazines anymore? Who pays attention to the awards, and the whole pageantry these days other than the writers themselves, and those who aspire to it. Maybe that is not a bad thing? Hopefully most of the same vendors appear at all of them, and me... I feel too old to go to AWA. =(
AWA seems to have a decent amount of programming aimed at the older segment of fandom. A lot of the staff that started the show in 1995 are still involved. It's still full of teens and young adults posing in costumes, but there are some parents and grandparents in the mix as well.

My Alabaster pal has been busy with work and family issues for the past little while and I don't know if he's involved in fandom much at all any more. Happens to a lot of folks, I guess.

I attended quite a few Chattacons in the 80s and 90s. After a while we'd drop in to leave AWA flyers and the "you are not one of us" vibe from the crowd was a physical force impelling us to leave. I always tried to keep AWA welcoming to everyone, but that seems to be the opposite of what the literary SF conventions wanted. The literary conventions here in Toronto have a similar attitude; if you aren't already in the tribe, they want no part of you. Then they wonder why their attendance is falling, and they ask the anime con organizers, "why are the anime cons doing 30,000 people while we're doing 1200?" And the anime con organizers give them a lot of advice... that isn't listened to. Well, not my problem.
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Moonsaber
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Re: Anyone want to Compare LDs?

Post by Moonsaber »

davemerrill wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:55 am AWA seems to have a decent amount of programming aimed at the older segment of fandom. A lot of the staff that started the show in 1995 are still involved. It's still full of teens and young adults posing in costumes, but there are some parents and grandparents in the mix as well.
That is good to know, I will put it on my bucket list to go to at least one. I might even figure out a decent 'old dude' cosplay.
davemerrill wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:55 am My Alabaster pal has been busy with work and family issues for the past little while and I don't know if he's involved in fandom much at all any more. Happens to a lot of folks, I guess.
Life happens, maybe I will meet him at a local con at some point. We do have them, they are small and are either at the mall or library or something. A few thousand folks at most.
davemerrill wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 7:55 am I attended quite a few Chattacons in the 80s and 90s. After a while we'd drop in to leave AWA flyers and the "you are not one of us" vibe from the crowd was a physical force impelling us to leave. I always tried to keep AWA welcoming to everyone, but that seems to be the opposite of what the literary SF conventions wanted. The literary conventions here in Toronto have a similar attitude; if you aren't already in the tribe, they want no part of you. Then they wonder why their attendance is falling, and they ask the anime con organizers, "why are the anime cons doing 30,000 people while we're doing 1200?" And the anime con organizers give them a lot of advice... that isn't listened to. Well, not my problem.
That is very ODD. Chattacon had an anime screening room every year I went, and certainly had cosplay. I never felt unwelcome at a Chattacon. I didn't attend one until about 1993 or so, and went every year from roughly 1994 to 1999.
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Re: Anyone want to Compare LDs?

Post by davemerrill »

I don't mean to single Chatta out for particular anti-anime sentiment. We did get some stinkeye on a few occasions while dropping off AWA flyers, but that was about it. Of course, Chattacon's anime screening room was, at least in the late 1980s, run by a guy who insisted that the name of the series with Lum is "Urusei Matsuda" and that the WWWA's trouble consultants are named "Key" and "Wooly."
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Moonsaber
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Re: Anyone want to Compare LDs?

Post by Moonsaber »

davemerrill wrote: Wed Apr 10, 2019 9:09 am I don't mean to single Chatta out for particular anti-anime sentiment. We did get some stinkeye on a few occasions while dropping off AWA flyers, but that was about it. Of course, Chattacon's anime screening room was, at least in the late 1980s, run by a guy who insisted that the name of the series with Lum is "Urusei Matsuda" and that the WWWA's trouble consultants are named "Key" and "Wooly."
That's hilarious on the bad translations!

I don't know much about cons from the 80's, I only attended a few back during that time like AmigaCon and some tabletop (Think Napoleonic) wargame convention in K-Town.

I didn't branch out into anime other than Macross/Harlock/Yamamoto and such until the mid 90's... so... sorry. I always wanted to go to AWA, but I don't much care for the prospect of going alone. At Chattacon I always had friends. GenCon is on my bucket list as well.
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