Tasunke here. We had an “interesting” and meme-filled trip to Boise. Discussion ranged from gay Vulcans (bi Vulcans are more likely, due to the necessity of Pon Farr), to WoW (of course, since two of the 3 in the car play it), to cows (long story). In the car were myself, Razorfang (who was driving) and Ajii. We managed to blow a tire a little a little east of Twin Falls, so had to make a stop there to replace it.

About 20 minutes outside of Boise (according to Ajii’s recollection) Razorfang realized he had forgotten his AO ticket on his desk back home, which lead to much swearing. He was not looking forward to having to go all the way back (a 4 hour drive each way, 8 more hours total) to get his ticket.

An explanation is probably in order for those unfamiliar with Anime Oasis and their ticket system. Due to the limited size of hotel where the con is held, only a certain number of people can be accommodated at the convention. And that number is very small in comparision to many cons, between about 600-700. As such, transferrable tickets are sold. You can re-sell your ticket if you are unable to make it to the con, thus allowing someone else to take your spot, and ensuring that the max number of people are able to attend.

Back on the subject of Razorfang forgetting his ticket. Because he forgot his ticket, he was worried about not being able to attend the con without it. Discussions of how he was going to get back home ensued (flying and driving back were both discussed as options, but flying likely was going to be too expensive, driving was going to take 8 hours, though). It was decided he was going to check with the con and see if anything could be done. Thankfully, he was able to work something out once we arrived, and able to attend the con without having to drive all the way back home to grab his ticket.

The first day of the con was spent looking through the dealer’s room and playing games in the video gaming room. I spent most of my time playing on the Para Para Paradise 2nd Mix arcade machine. Razorfang and Ajii spent most of their video game room time playing Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, whereas Doktaru (who arrived separately and we met up with at the con) spent most of his time playing IIDX.

The dealer’s room was back in the smaller room it had been located in during years prior to last year. Last year it was in the larger room that has the video games this year. Pickings in the dealer’s room are relatively slim compared to last year, and very slim compared to most conventions. Most of what Razorfang was looking for in terms of anime to pickup was not to be found in the dealer’s room. I myself had trouble finding much of what I had on my list of to-buys.

When we went out for dinner last night, we ended up stopping at a Best Buy to get a charger for Razorfang’s cell phone (he’d forgotten that at home, too) and to try and get a DVI-to-S-Video cable for Dokutaru’s laptop. We were able to find the former, but not the latter. However, in addition to those, we found an Anime section of the store that had much better selection of what Razorfang was looking for than at the con. The Anime section of our Best Buy back home is anemic in comparison.

Razorfang ended up purchasing half his con budget in Anime at that Best Buy. His exact quote is “What the hell is going on here? We spent more at Best Buy that at the convention!” Indeed, all of us purchased some anime there, and did spend more there than we have spent in the dealer’s room at the con.

After returning from dinner and Best Buy, we went back to the video game room. The IIDX setup had been replaced by Arcana Heart, and there was an tournament scheduled for it. I entered and took 2nd place. ^_^ V

Well, that’s all I have to report for the first day of the convention. See you again tomorrow!

(Sound off on this report at this forum thread.)