bewareofgeek | Arisia 2008 Field Report

Well, I've finally caught up with my sleep enough that I can give my impressions of the con without babbling _too_ much. :)
However, rather than my standard chronological report (which requires a sharper memory than I possess these days), I'm going to do this by topic:
Swag: Two books, only one of which I'd read before:

Snake Agent, by Liz Williams, a book I'd had recommended as an urban fantasy that does not involve elves or vampires. ;) The basic premise taps Chinese mythology in a tale about a mortal detective paired with an immortal demon. Lethal Weapon meets Master Li. *grin*
State of the Art, by Iain M. Banks, an anthology cntaining some shorter Culture works. I eventually plan on tracking down some of the other books, probably starting with Matter (when it comes out).

Anime: I didn't watch as much as I usually do, but two titles did catch my fantasy

Karas, volumes I & II: Guver meets the Crow, with battles that must be seen to be believed. In fact, here's one of my favorite bits:
Elf Princess Rane (courtesy of my old friend Mister Mutant). Gooood crack,

Panels: The meat of the con, for me. I was on 5 panels, two as moderator:

Studio Ghibli: In all honesty, I probably should have backed out of this one, as I'm really not as knowledgeable about their product as some. But it was fun to talk about their pet themes (including, for some reason, pigs ;) )
Steampunk vs Cyberpunk: My first moderating job of the con, which apparently entertained enough people that they were walking up to me afterwards to tell me how much they liked it. One young lady even invited me to a "League of Extraordinary Skanks" party... I should have gone. *wistful*
Retro-futurism: A bit of a rough start, as the moderator never actually showed up. But another panelist stepped in, and we did our best.
Iron Hack: I wasn't actually on this panel, though I did supply a critical piece of the improv: "Semi-professional Bulgarian throat-yodelers". I'm a baaaad boy >:)
Steampunk in Comics: This panel surprised me a bit, since the panel was much more slanted to the darker side of Steampunk than last years. But things kept hopping, and I ended up getting a free statuette out of it, so it was all good.
The Mad Scientist Laugh Contest: And I thought _I_ was weird... Good chance it'll be posted online at some point, as a video blogger was taping it.

All in all, a positive experience, and some necessary decompression. Big yay.