Category: Uncategorized

Long Beach Comic Expo 2019

Long Beach Comic Expo 2019 was so much fun! While considered to be the younger brother or sister or whatever pronoun you prefer, Long beach comic expo is a very inclusive event. It is hosted in Long Beach Convention Center located near the sunny shoreline of Long Beach, California. You are sure to run into some amazing Cosplayers, photographers, and aspiring videographers while on the scene so make sure to drop in for the next one! Thank you to all the cosplayers who let me film them. thumbnailAccording to Rachel Grate: ‘Gaming, anime, and pop-culture cons don’t just draw lots of people. They attract heavily invested fans who are highly knowledgeable about the subject matter, passionate about the experience and totally devoted to the success of your event.

Knowing those fans — and what’s important to them — is key for fandom convention organizers to improve their event experience. Based on data Eventbrite has unearthed over the past five years, as well as third-party research, here’s what we know about the cons’ biggest fans.

1. Fans can’t get enough of live events

The massive growth in fandom events makes sense when you consider that 85% of people identify as fans of something. That number climbs to 97% for those in the 18-24 range, according to data by “fanthropologist” and fandom expert Susan Kresnicka.

Most fandom attendees have more than one passion.  On average these fans identified as “super fans” of 3.2 different pop culture categories, like Sci-Fi, fantasy, genre movies, and gaming.

With so many passions, it’s no surprise that fan conventions draw devoted repeat customers. 80% of respondents routinely attend two or more fandom events a year, and 17% attend at least five. Over half have been attending cons for three years or more. Once you attract fans to one of your events, it will be easy to get them to show up for other fandom activities.

2. Fans aren’t split along gender lines

Historically men have dominated fandom events, but attendance is now squarely split between men and women. In 2015, Forbes reported data showing that the new ratio was squarely even. And under age 40, females actually dominated at 51%.

This shift is likely partly due to efforts to make comic cons welcoming to women, and partly an expansion of pop culture categories represented at cons. According to Eventbrite’s survey, men prefer comic, podcast, and gaming conventions, while women tend to gravitate toward fantasy, sci-fi, and anime events.

3. Fans come to cons to shop

One of the main reasons fans attend cons is to buy swag related to their passion. In fact, nearly 70% of surveyed fans named shopping as their top motivation for attending, and that priority was shared across genres, genders and fan demographics.

Most fans spend between $100 to $500 at conventions  — not including tickets, lodging, food, and parking. Super fans who attend at least three fandom events per year spend even more: 63% of them spend over $500. They don’t always stick to their budgets; 35% admitted to routinely blowing it. But they typically walk away with memories and memorabilia.

And we’re not talking about cheap trinkets. New or collectible comic items, toys, and figurines are some of the most popular items to buy at cons. They also spend money on clothing, t-shirts, toys and collectible items like books and comics. One less popular purchase? Cosplay gear. Even for attendees of anime and manga events, less than a quarter buy cosplay gear at the event, since it’s more common to arrive already done up in a DIY costume.

4. Fans go to cons for the community

Aside from the opportunity to buy cool stuff, fans flock to cons for another reason: the social component. In our 2013 survey, 65% of the respondents cited “meet new friends” as a major motivator. More than half said they like to bring their families, and 43% were curious to meet online friends IRL.

Then there are the 15% who say they look for love at cons. Manga, anime, and specialty (for example, brony or steampunk) fans were most interested in this aspect of cons, with 24% looking for romance. Some cons have even incorporated this desire into their planning, and are now hosting speed-dating sessions at cons.

5. For fans, bigger cons aren’t always better

Just a few years ago, San Diego Comic Con was the only con that attracted more than 100,00 attendees. Now, New York Comic Con rivals it with a record 180,000 tickets sold last year. The 11 largest anime conventions in North America hosted a combined 374,936 people in 2016.

Cons are getting bigger, but are they getting better? Fans have a love/hate relationship with big shows. Half of surveyed attendees say big cons can be fun — but are also stressful. And 11% of respondents say they’re done with big shows and stick to smaller festivals and meet-ups.

One of the reasons fans shy away from bigger events? Disorganization. Of fans who spend the most at cons (over $1000), 55% complained about disorganized events. Organizers: if you want these folks coming back and spending more, make sure you make organization a top priority.’

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TrackSpotting – An Unhealthy Addiction to Motocross. Read this Scheiße

Take an engine, a frame, handlebars, tires, breaks, gasoline, air, combustion, pistons, carberators, oil, rocketfuel and put them all together. You have mans greatest achievment, fucking motorcycles, Fucking love them, its like an addiction, better than anything, better than sex… Every day, I want to have this few hundred pounds of metal and roaring fire rocketing out my arse and propelling me forward into the air while I ride a wheelie over anything that gets in my way with adrenaline pumping through my veins. I have ridden motorcycles since I was 12 years old. My first bike was a Honda CRF100 I believe and I just wanted to go fast as hell.

(Insert picture or mental image of 12 year old Jakey with dirtbike here)

Washing and waxing cars, mowing lawns, giving handeys in the alleyway, whatever the fuck it took, I hustled for my first dirt bike.  I earned it, it was not gifted to me, it was all mine. My CRF100 was perfect for a beginner, forgiving on the clutch. A great bike to learn the basics of what the concept of riding actually is… Turning, clutching, braking, gripping, working your whole body mercilessley and getting your bloody balls up on the gas tank in a tight turn. Getting that ass off the seat when you hit a jump.
A few many years later at 17 I got a YZ125 (Yamaha 2 stroke) A damn rocket, requiring clutch mastery, superior skill, and careful precision which i did not have in the slightest. I am talking about riding a fucking 2 STROKE, not a HORSE. This is like 60 HORSES injected with Cocaine and rocket fuel packed with testosterone and pure adrenaline. I had no idea how to handle this power, I crashed 20 times a lap on the track.

Every turn, I crashed. Every jump, I biffed it, every hill i had to climb, I fell. The fucking bike was just too fast, unstable and I hadn’t mastered its true hidden power. The powerband…all i knew is I just wanted to go as fast as I fucking could around every turn and on every jump and just going fast doesnt work in motocross…maybe it does in nascar but not on a dirt bike track folks. Inexpierience and a shit ton of power are a recipe for sweet disaster. Let’s just say I learned how to crash with style. It wasn’t until I slowed down and settled down on the track and kept the bike at a steady pace that I made it through the track with only about 12 crashes a lap. Which was a damn improvment! Then one day I got down to only a few crashes per lap and my speed was becoming ridiculous. I learned something from a wise motocross Sage, motocross god if you will, Sheldon: Sheldon used to race, sheldon taught airplane how to fly with one simple lesson: “When you take it slow, you decrease the time it takes to take a lap on the track, because you are not crashing like a dumb idiot. Also you keep breaking your bike and I am not fixing it, you are.” When i learned that simple lesson after years of riding, I started to actually win on the track, fuckin finally….

Breaking the habit…

For fucks sake… I broke my wrist. how do you ride with a broken wrist, how do you work with a broken wrist when your job requires you to lift things and hit things with hammers and all that. It was time to stop, I had to stop riding for a while because well… adulting….see my job required my wrist to actually work…Don’t worry, it was just my left wrist in the arm cast, I could still flog the dolphin…ha.  Adulthood, was happening fast and I was poor as shite, I needed to do something about this… I needed to join an outfit that will take me places. An outfit that doesn’t take people with broken bones or medical issues, an outfit with lots of uniforms and badges and paperwork and a whole force full of chairs. To join this outfit I had to stop riding, because riding would risk me being injured and ruin my chances of getting in with these fine bloakes. Once I was in, I could start riding again, I could get back on the horse, the wagon, get my good ol’ fix of pure adrenaline. To one day get back to the track to ride again. So I joined up with them, made it through the most basic of job training. And after I returned home from my training, I bought a new bike. A street bike…
A ninja, but its not the same. It is not ‘The Track,” Try to understand, the street has rules… the track only has respect for other riders and one fucking direction to go. There won’t be a damn semi truck running you over with a guy sexting his mate while eating a fuckin weinersnitzel chili dog. When you are on the track, you are free of the rules of the road. You are ONE with the BIKE; You dont even think anymore, after many years of track riding, it literally becomes like running a mile or jogging. You are cool, calm, collected, and super fucking high on adrenaline coursing through your veins as you FLY over table tops at break neck speeds and SWEEP through turns and burms, all while a rooster tail of dirt is shooting out the ass end of your bike into the face of the rider behind you.
You don’t know what logic or safe is, you only know: SPEED. Speed is your only friend on the track, speed is your holy savior, your lover, your bread, butter, your heroine your wine, your god and the holy trinity. Speed is all that and more, and the Well the track is your church mate, your fuckin’ church on Sunday. I really need to go back to church.

JakeymuthafreakinAirplane – cash me on the track, how bout dat.

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Anime Expo 2017 – Cosplay Deviants Party

Near the last leg of our trip to Anime Expo 2017 we were invited to go to a free 21+ party. This party was being hosted by cosplay deviants, a risque group of cosplayers who are not afraid to show a little more skin. My fiance and I left the hotel and rode in our Lyft down to the entrance of the convention. “Are they really throwing the party here at the convention center?”, I asked. A con goer approached asking for pictures with my fiance. Of course she had to dress up as a japanese school girl for our night out. I can’t blame her though, being that it is a cosplay convention. After snapping the picture we found the area where we figured the party would be and made our way inside past security. Happy-hardcore played on the speakers and we started to wonder if we were at the right party, noticing that everyone around us appeared to be under age. We walked out and asked the guard, he pointed down the hall to a giant line. That was our party, an enormous line awaiting us to get into this free night of delicious debauchery. After sitting down in line with some very cool people for what seemed like 2 hours, the line started to move. After about 25 minutes we were at the front of the line and we could see the guard checking ids. We got our ids out and we were ready, just then we hear the fire marshal tell our side of the line that we aren’t a real line anymore and that we need to get to the back of the line on the other side. Just so you understand, there were two lines and both of them were just as long as each other and ours was legitimate with tape and guards checking ids and everything. And then it wasn’t… We got into the other line, and waited. Apparently the party was at max capacity, it only had another 3 hours before it would be over. Many people left fearing that they couldn’t get in. The line started to move at a steady pace and we were inside.
KristenStewart.jpg

Is that Kristen Stewart? The theme of the night was Final Fantasy, a guest walked up to us and since he was leaving he gave us his drink ticket. The drink I was sipping on was cactar juice and it was delicious. The girls of cosplay deviants were scantily clad and some had some great skills on the pole. Many of them kept asking my fiance if she wanted to get up and dance thinking that she was part of the event. She was sitting on my lap on a couch and a con goer walked up to my fiance and told her he wanted a lap dance after she was done with me. She explained that she was not part of the cosplay deviants party, that’s what you get for dressing up as a Japanese school girl…

JakeyAirplane Youtube Channel

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Baby Driver Movie Review

An excellent review by my buddy Blizzag

blizzagg's avatarBlizzagg's Blog

This is my first blog post on this site. I’m a huge fan of video games and movies. I make reviews, reactions, and video game related content on Youtube. Expect all my videos to be posted here. I upload something new every week! Stay tuned!

I recently watched Baby Driver and I thought it was phenomenal. It’s Edgar Wright’s best film to date and I completely recommend everyone to go see it. Here is the link to my video. If you enjoy what you see, please give it a like and subscribe for more videos!

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Anime Expo 2017 – Filming and Photographing Cosplay

sub-zero

Saturday morning 8:45am, just enough time to grab a few muffins, coffee, and apple juice before the free continental breakfast closed at the hotel. Coffee was empty, but the excitement for the convention insured we were awake and ready for the day. My fiance was working hard to get her Sub-Zero(Mortal Kombat)&Elsa(Frozen) cosplay ready for the day ahead. A few small parts of the costume needed some repair. I rushed over to 7Eleven to grab super glue sticks and energy drinks. The glue did the job for the time being and we were off to the con. I grabbed my camera, our badges and our energy drinks. The Lyft driver pulled up with a smile from ear to ear, the driver knew exactly where we were headed. As we were arriving to the convention I started filming, sure not to miss a moment because you never know what you might see. As the day passed we saw some very amazing cosplays and met some very nice people. Before going to the con I was feeling a bit negative about it, I bought a camera to photograph what I saw there, but wanted to do something more. I have always had a passion for film, aspirations to become a director someday still stick in my mind. Fear that I would not be able to support myself financially kept me in the world of information Technology, with a decent job as a system engineer. With the advent of YouTube and other video upload sites my hobby can be realized. In the future I plan on filming much more conventions and possibly starting a vlog series. I am also starting this blog, I will get into why I am starting it at another time. For now though, I would like you to see what I saw at the convention: very hard working people who are extremely passionate about their hobbies/careers and they show their passion and creativity by making amazing costumes out of foam, paint, and plastidip. It is quite inspiring to meet people who take their passion this seriously, some even have made careers from it. When you see these costumes, you can see why cosplay isn’t your average fashion show and that the work these people put into it truly shows something unique and special.

JakeyAirplane Youtube Channel

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