I feel like this is the most badass candid photo of me I will ever see. I just got this emailed to me and it’s from ALA 2012 (yeah its been a while..) This pic is almost a pantyshot of me ^^;;

I love how my eyes reflect like a cat instead of a human lmao (yellow instead of red)

P.S. Gaddamn my hair looks good in this (even tho its actually red not brown). FUCKYOU I CAN BE SOUND CONCEITED its the one photo of me that actually looks good. :’D 

If you go to conventions add me on facebook or ask to join my SoCal Anime Club (we have meetups).

www.facebook.com/candicemarisanoir

http://www.facebook.com/groups/134166020019661/

LONG POST. I took a lot of photos of people/with people this weekend at Anime Los Angeles. That’s me on the left. If you find any of me let me know.

Here’s the photo gallery from Saturday DAY 2

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.286900554692651.64425.260232800692760&type=3

Oh and this is me having a fangirl spasm because Edward Scissorhands wanted a pic with ME. SQUEEEEEE.

Yeah i was trying not to laugh but right before this pic i said “i feel like a creeper” because of something weird i was doing with my arm at him before the peace sign. OH WOW another bad photo with someone that is now deemed useless, what a surprise.

I wish I had the photo with some fox dude…. unfortunately my memory card failed on me. If you’re from ALA and find this add my facebook! x

PS that YAOI flag in the background makes this pic that much better for me. [no i’m not a boy] And yeah thats a I <3 YAOI Pin on my arm.

MERCHANDISE HAUL:
posters

Met some Voice Actors and got the Voice of Kamina (among other awesome things), Kyle Hebert, to sign these.

ATTENTION SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA [specifically orange county right now]

ANIME/MANGA/COSPLAY fans

http://www.facebook.com/groups/134166020019661/

add our group/club on facebook.

that is all.

I was asked for sample writing for a convention reporter position so i came up with this for last weekends convention. btw add me on fb if u were there

www.facebook.com/candicemarisa

This Veterans Day weekend the Pacific Media Expo took over the LAX Hilton in Los Angeles. Day Zero held some small events on November 10th, while the convention officially opened on November 11th and ended on the 13th.  This expo is so intriguing because it features such a wide variety of panels and workshops. Attracting the attention of anyone interested in anime, manga, video games, asian cinema, asian rock music, oriental foods, ball-jointed dolls, martial arts, lolita fashion, visual kei, and of course a ton of cosplayers, Pacific Media Expo really has a bit of something for everyone.

I bought a Full weekend pass in advance but was only able to attend Day 2 (Saturday) and Day 3 (Sunday) because Day 1 fell on my birthday plans. After hearing that Day 1 was the “anime day” I was disappointed to have missed it but I had tons of fun there nonetheless. Upon arriving at the Hilton on Saturday morning I quickly realized that their parking lot was going to be very annoying. Driving around for nearly 30 minutes to wait for a free space to open up was not what I expected since the hotel had still sold me the parking permit without mentioning anything. This was my first year attending PMX but I think that the LAX Hilton was a good choice for a convention of that size even with the flawed parking. The convention staff was very friendly and actually seemed to know what they were doing compared to Comikaze Expo I had attended the weekend before. They had cold water and cups available in nearly every hallway and lots of easy to read maps to guide you. Ani.Me held a panel that kicked off the day with freebies and interesting info. The Ani.Me photo studio offered free professional photo digital copies for cosplayers and was open for most of day. Other rooms open most of the day included Karaoke and a Console Gaming room. While karaoke was close to dead every time I visited, the console gaming room held small tournaments for prizes and always sustained a good amount of gamers when I passed through. While the few merchandise exhibitors were limited there were more rooms to get your hands on things than just Exhibit Hall and the Fashion Boutique. The usual Artist Market had one of a kind artwork and handmade plushies. There was also a Fashion Swapmeet and Anime Swapmeet where anyone who purchased a table could sell their used goods. I did notice, however, at the Anime Swapmeet vendors were selling their used goods at surprisingly high prices while Exhibit Hall was selling similar brand new items for much cheaper. I kept checking into all the merchandise rooms to see what kind of deals I would snag throughout the day. On a side note I noticed some sort of llama plush was the most popular item at the convention because every time I was in Exhibit Hall people kept asking if there were any more llama plushies. I don’t know if there’s a back-story to that llama or if it’s just a normal plush but I thought that was a pretty random and funny object to be in such high demand. Besides all the llamas, Kapibarasan seemed to have the most exciting merch booth, holding a face-making contest every hour and giving out freebies. I got a cute keychain plush myself just for participating.

Getting back to the programming, Day 2 held the Anime Music Video Contest. People worked hard on their submitted videos and the winners names are now featured on the PMX website. Day 2 also featured panels and autograph sessions from director Yasuhiro Imagawa, Power Rangers Walter Jones and Steve Cardenas, clothing designer DollDelight, manga artist Suzumi Atsushi,  and voice actor Matthew Mercer. Visual kei band, D, performed an exciting second concert for those who purchased tickets and was opened by rock band Lemon Drop Kick. Cosfest was also on Day 2 for people to show off their costumes and skits for a chance at winning a prize. After Costfest the last panel I attended was Vocalekt Visions, an exciting live performance of original MMD animations and Vocaloid music. This panel definitely got a lot of peoples attention, Vocaloid fans or not. Even my boyfriend who was primarily there for the martial arts tournament wanted one of the free CDs they were handing out at the panels end. After that panel we did a lot of wandering around for cosplayer photo opportunities, visited the console game room again, and then headed to our rooms to get ready for the dance. I did some partying with fellow cosplayers, and that was it for Day 2.

After waking up to the loud conversations of the Hilton’s housekeeping at 8am, Day 3 had finally arrived.  Guest panels and autographs for Day 3 included “The Ladies of Tenchi Muyo”, voice actress Christina Vee, some of the acting cast of Innocence Blood, and Mecha designer Tsuyoshi Nonaka. With more than three workshops dedicated to ball-jointed dolls customization techniques and basic info, an industry panel by Dollfie Dreams/Obitsue Doll, and then a BJD costume contest, Sunday was a great day for Ball-Jointed Doll fans. Later in the afternoon was the Fashion Show with fashion Guest of Honor Atelier-Pierrot. While it was short it displayed many beautiful gothic lolita pieces. The entire theme seemed really eerie but elegant and was a highlight of the convention for me. But if dolls and fashion shows aren’t your thing, Day 2 held “Way of Stick and Blade: Tournament of Filipino Martial Arts”. Here you could witness some really intense stick fighting matches. We did not stay around for the entire thing but it was very entertaining and you could see how focused the participants were. After Closing Ceremonies there was the sad reality that PMX had come and gone so quickly and it left me wanting more.

Overall for a smaller sized convention I think Pacific Media Expo 2011 was a huge success. With panels and programs starting only a little late it wasn’t anything too bad from the usual convention delays. Compared to larger conventions this one felt very personal and stress free where I didn’t feel the need to rush to line up for the next panel every half hour. However, the rooms were either too crowded or awkwardly empty to where the panel host was only talking to three people. I still enjoyed every panel I went to and got to meet a lot of cosplayers in between. My only complaints would be small inconveniences about the hotel itself. I still really enjoyed my two nights at the Hilton and was left feeling really positive about the con. I am definitely planning on going to PMX 2012 and I think anyone who isn’t expecting too much out of a convention this size would really enjoy it.

Candice Marisa Noir