caddyalan

Average Town: there's nothing remarkable about it. It's neither exciting nor boring. I think you can use an average town if part of your story discusses *why* the town is so plain, or if your story reveals a surprising aspect of the setting.

When I was a young man... I never thought I'd be over thirty. But now I am. Awesome.

1. Leave Chicago OHare airport early afternoon on April 16 2014, using United. 2. Arrive in San Francisco SFO airport. Find out where I can catch a shuttle to my hotel. 3. ?? 4. Profit! That's an impressive level of commitment.

Thanks for the replies. My main goals with this thread are 1) to find convenient and decent food near the con, and 2) to understand how much I should look for a cab if I'm leaving the con late at night. Hopefully I made that clear... As far as I can tell, there should be some restaurants within a few minutes' walk which are neither terrible nor horribly overpriced. For instance, I know from attending Anime Central that it's counterproductive to walk three blocks' north just to go to an average McDonalds, since there's better food right next to the con site that's only slightly pricy. And yes, I have walked in some cities and unfamiliar neighborhoods after dark. This will be the first time I'll be in San Francisco as an adult. I will have some time before/after Babscon to tour the city. Will be using trains, and either focus on sightseeing with Citypass, or take it easy and use a Muni passport to get to destinations.

It's just over two weeks before the con starts. Unfortunately, I don't know much about the neighborhood around the hotel. Some things I'd like to know about the area before arriving at San Francisco Airport... * Local food: I found a few nearby restaurants by checking maps of the area. I'm hoping to find food in the area that's easy to get to, and neither overpriced nor low-quality junk food. * Relative safety: I know from attending other cons that it's unwise to show off expensive things when walking outside, especially after dark. But will I need to call a cab if it's late at night, and I need to get back to my hotel? * Likewise, how easy is it to find a cab? * Is there anything else notable about the hotel area?

Board/card games. Anything from simple (Sequence, Apples to Apples, Tsuro) to relatively long and complex (Catan, Vegas Showdown, Flash Point). Still trying to learn deck-building games, and haven't committed to many lengthy games. I've spent many years being active in other fandoms: alternative comics, anime-manga, and video games. MLP:FIM is one of only three or four cartoons that I've watched in the last decade.

After hearing about JBA back in the late '90s thanks to Animerica Extra magazine, I kept hoping the day would arrive when I'd be able to read it in English. However, even after the Viz trade paperbacks covering Stardust Crusaders started getting released in the mid-2000s, I didn't get around to reading them. I know this is a classic series, and that I should make time for reading it. How do you set aside time for reading / watching videos, rather than browsing and posting in forums (which I'm doing now...)?

Thank you for replying. I haven't attended room parties at other local fan conventions. I've thought about it, though... Maybe this time I won't be too tired or busy.

The Babscon panel schedule is on its official site and a Google doc. I assume there will be more information available about events as the days go by. But until then, I have a few questions. 1. Will there be a Guidebook app? I've used it with my iPod at fan conventions such as Otakon and Anime Central. It can be more useful than a physical book, since it sometimes provides a better view of when/where events will occur. And it's not just limited to iOS and Android -- I know that Guidebook pages can be viewed with other devices. 2. I'd like to know more about the following panels / events: * The Goldie Awards (for fan-made creations?) * Read It and Weep (for bad fanfiction?) * Party floor (mentioned during recent Bronyville podcasts) * You and Whose Army? * PVL Panel * Chelis Live * A Brony Tale * Captain Catie's Ships Thank you in advance for providing useful details.

There's a topic about this problem, called Can We Ban the Bots, in the general discussion section.

I've watched maybe fifteen episodes of FIM. (Only a couple online, the rest on the first three DVDs.) Since I finally ordered a DVD box set of season one, I'll soon get around to seeing the episodes I missed so far. I've been a video game fan for almost twenty five years. My interest has wavered in recent years... but just today, I was playing Grand Prix Story (iOS version) while exercising, and I've been enjoying Persona 4 Golden during long train rides and while waiting for appointments. Board/card/strategy games is my new hobby. I enjoy some slow and thoughtful games, but most days, I prefer ones which are simple and relaxing. Current favorites include Eleminis, Sequence, Bang, and Ticket to Ride. I learned about alternative (as in "not G-rated superhero or newspaper") comics about seventeen years ago, and I'm an active fan of several series and creators. I can talk about Jeff Smith and Scott McCloud one moment, and then quickly transition into talking about why I like Natsume Ono and Naoki Urasawa. It's been nearly fifteen years since I became an anime fanboy as well. I've had increasing amounts of trouble trying to be optimistic about my hobby. But not too long ago, I saw the first few episodes of The World God Only Knows, which has been encouraging.

I typically avoid collecting individual issues of comics. Unfortunately, they're rather fragile (easy to tear and crease), and trying to track down issues is a chore. While I realize that the FIM comics are available on comiXology, I'm not sure if I want to pay for content there, because it could all be gone someday. Anyway... FIM #1 and #2 are the first comic issues that I've bought since Jeff Smith's Bone ended in 2004. It seems to respect the cartoon without being too similar or too different.

It's about six months until EFNW, and I'm strongly considering attending the con for the first time. So unless something goes seriously wrong, I'll be going from Chicago to Seattle in early July 2013. I'm active in several fandoms. Didn't know about Friendship is Magic until March 2011, when the Otaku in Review audio program raved about it for several minutes. After that, I slowly got into the show (seen about a dozen episodes so far), as well as the recent comics and some fan-made spinoffs.