We did it!

Kubu-kun texted me at 8:30 AM Friday morning. "We'll be there soon."

Then, again, at 11:58. "Hey, we're here. Did you get the badges?"

I woke up 12 minutes later.

I texted back. "Go to ____ and talk to ____, because that's our contact, but if you give me an hour, I'll be right there."

I was half-way across the river on the train when he texted back. "We have them."

No way. I was remembering last year and the four-hour adventure we'd been on to get the badges. But he had them. There had been no issue. Everything had gone fine. We actually got to have lunch in the tunnels this year. Utterly worth it.

Saturday, Danno came over via Ed and we tested the laptop and VLC and a secondary monitor to make sure we'd have no technical issues and--it wasn't perfect, but--we got everything working.

A little after 9:00 PM Saturday night, Danno and I got into the room. The A-Kon staff found a table for us (thank-you!) and the microphones and the VGA cable to hook to the projector. Another staff-member figured out the dimmer panel for controlling the lights and we were good to go!

Kris of White Lightning Productions was kind enough to sit mic with me. Kris is a long-time friend of the show who's donated prizes over the years. We were short one person, but we were also short all the problems we've ever had in the past, so the trade-off was worth it. Also, no racist or anti-Semitic jokes (from the missing person) and that's always a plus.

Started the show with a brief PSA. A-Kon will be moving to the Anatole Hotel next year and they NEED SECURITY STAFF. It's a big hotel and, considering the crowd this year was 20,000 people, next year can only get bigger. You want to be part of something? You want experience and an opportunity to network with folks who like what you do? Let the Kon know!

We had a tie on the Hard Gay pose-off. The run-off went into...unexpected places. I hope those two knew each other before tonight.

And I loved everyone clapping along to the German "Sailor Moon" opening credits. I'll bet the rave next door was wondering what was going on.

Although, maybe not as much as everyone shouting along with poor Jack Rebney (Winnebago Man).

So many sing-a-longs! This is why love doing this show! Our audience participation is why this is so much fun for us. Everyone sang with the "Camay" commercials and were wonderful enough to sing the song for our Camay Walk contest.

The "Yatta!" song and dance is always fun.

And our final contest--the Pantsu-Pantsu dance--is meaningless without you, our audience, chanting along. You made it magical.

The switch-over to ninjaHell! went without a hitch, and their riff on "Final Fantasy: Advent Children" confirmed what I've always thought about that film. You guys did a great job as well.

So, in the end, everyone was perfect. Thank-you Kris, thank-you A-Kon staff, thank-you Ninjas, and our biggest thanks go to our audience. You're why we do the show and we love you for it.

And now, I'm going to take a shower and go to bed. My feet hurt from walking, my sides hurt from laughing, and my face hurts from smiling so much. All of you are awesome.