Waks Log 3/15: Caffine Junkies
August 1-3rd, 2008. I was 17 and going to my second convention, DefCon 7. Due to the conventions game room being open 24 hours a day, we had decided that we were going to cut cost by not getting a hotel room, and staying up 72 straight hours. We were young and this wouldn't be a problem at all, or so we thought. Walking into the con was a huge step up from the first mini-convention I was at. It was easily 5 times bigger and 3 times longer. It's needless to say my excitement was through the roof. There was a smaller con happening literally across the street that we skipped, called Tokyo in Tulsa, for a few reasons. The first reason was that we'd have to find the money for a hotel if we went to TNT, and Johnny Yong Bosch was going to be at DefCon. So for the sake of our funds and our excitement to meet the guy who voiced Vash the Stampede, we went to DefCon instead.
Day one was awesome! We got to listen to Johnny talk about his days with the Power Rangers, and how he was always given the short stick when it came to the cool things. Between Being the Crotch of the Megazord, being given the Mini Van when everyone else got cooler vehicles, and being the frog when they were all given spirit animals, it was funny listening to him rant about always wanting to be mad in character. That night we were given the opportunity to see a straight to DVD movie directed and stared by Bosch that I can't seem to remember the name of. It was a great time listening to him give his commentary on the flick as we watched. That night my friends and I went into the game room and began to play through Guitar Hero 3 because we were bored. That's when Johnny comes into the room drunk and starts playing on the Multiplayer Set up of Halo 3 by himself. We immediately stopped playing to goof off with him in Halo.
The second day was cool too. Sleep deprived; I don't remember all that happened but we walked around the convention talking and having a great time. I got Johnny to sign my DeathNote I bought there. He signed it after writing “Dies by falling off a tightrope juggling apples” It was really cool of him to play along, that night the rave was going on. We danced around like idiots until midnight, where they were showing Rocky Horror. I had no idea what I was walking into. The movie was hysterical with all the jokes from the commentary of the crowd. After that we all walked into the video room and fell asleep as they played Gundam.
9 am that Sunday, I had literally only gotten 6 hours of sleep, so I was very tired still. I was hanging around some con goers when one of them mentioned that they had energy drinks in their car. YES! I thought to myself. FINALLY, something to help me stay awake, but that's when they came back with the drinks. They had been in his car for the whole weekend so they were hot to the touch. I don't know if you've ever had a hot energy drink, but it's close to drinking acid. Hot. Stingy. Acid... At this point in time, I was dedicated to get that caffeine in my body, and so was everyone around me. We formed a circle similar to those you'd see from pot heads, taking the biggest sip we could stomach and then passing it to the next guy. It was the best/worst experience ever. At the very least, it did it's job. I was charged enough to make it home. All in all DefCon 7 will always be a fond experience in my head that I won't soon forget, I mean it's been 7 years already.
What about you guys? Have a funny con story like mine? I'd love to hear it! Post it in the box below and I'll be sure to read through them. It's been a blast and as always, I'll see ya next time!
