REMINDER: AnimeCon Chanukah 2014 next week!

Next Tuesday is the Hotaru Group's AnimeCon, so get ready! I will be coming, and cannot wait to meet you all!

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

PSA: Numerous events taking place next week!

Get ready for an awesome week of Chanukah events!

Sunday

The Havanah Club is once again hosting a game  night!

The Romach Club is hosting an evening of role-playing games! (sign ups for remaining places here)

A role-playing convention convention, Hippogriff, is taking place in Jerusalem!

Day one of KarmiCon!

Monday

Day two of KarmiCon!

The gaming convention GameOn!

Thursday-Friday

The LARP(Live Action Role Playing) 'The Great Spring Hunt'

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

REMINDER: Fandominum Ball next week!

The long-awaited  Fandominum Ball takes place next week! I will coming, so I can't wait to see you all there!

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

REMINDER: AMAI's Chanukah Con next week!

Next week is AMAI's anime con! Unfortunately, I will not be going, as I need the time for schoolwork.

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

REPORT: AnimeCon Chanukah 2014 (כנס אנימה ומנגה אנימהקון חנוכה)

Website: http://www.animecon.co/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/378798202276555/
Date: December 23rd
Location: Eshkol Pais, Hadera
Convention type: Anime
Hours: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Entrance fee: 40 NIS (See below)
Registration for events: No, though certain events DO require registration beforehand
Pre-registration for events: No

Get ready for another awesome anime convention from the organizers of Yume-Con! Originally, 
another group was set to organize the convention; however, they canceled it at the last minute
and asked the Hotaru Group to organize it instead. Within the six weeks that they had left until 
the date, they have managed to bring you an anime convention that knock your socks off! The
theme is gaming - specifically, gaming in the world of anime. And as such, the convention has 
activities are geared towards this, along with many other interesting things to do and see. The 
cosplay competition, Japanese language workshops, RD&D and more await you!

Regarding tickets:
Soldiers, members of Hotaru, and those who live in the South can purchase their tickets for 35
NIS. There are also bus tickets being sold for 45 NIS; the Hotaru Group has organized buses 
that leave from and return to the major cities (Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv, Be'er Sheva) at two 
different times, so as to lower costs for the convention goers (If you wish to travel from a city 
not on this list, send an email to animecon@mail.com with the subject line הסעה לכנס containing
the list of people coming, a representative to contact, and the city).

Jerusalem (Central Bus Station)
Bus #1 - Leaves: 8:30 AM ; Arrives (approximate): 10:00 AM
Bus #2 - Leaves: 11:00 AM ; Arrives (approximate): 12:30 PM

Haifa (Central Bus Station Hof HaCarmel)
Bus #1 - Leaves: 9:30 AM ; Arrives (approximate): 10:15 AM
Bus #2 - Leaves: 11:45 AM ; Arrives (approximate): 12:30 PM

Tel Aviv (2000 Terminal, next to the Savidor Hamercaz train station)
Bus #1 - Leaves: 9:00 AM ; Arrives (approximate): 10:00 AM
Bus #2 - Leaves: 11:30 AM ; Arrives (approximate): 12:30 PM

Be'er Sheva (Central Bus Station)
Bus #1 - Leaves: 8:00 AM ; Arrives (approximate): 10:00 AM
Bus #2 - Leaves: 11:00 AM ; Arrives (approximate): 12:40 PM

All of the buses leave from the convention at 7:00 PM, and are expected to return to their
respective cities between 7:45 PM - 8:40 PM. All of the tickets can be bought online until 
the 16th of December, so make sure that you've bought one before time runs out!

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

REPORT: Fandominum Ball (נשף הפאנדומים)

Website: http://fandomball.tk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1551675458384604/
Date: December 21st
Location: Ulam Rimonim, Sara u-Shmu'el Gut'holf St 1, Rehovot (near the train station)
Convention type: Other
Hours: 5:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Entrance fee: 45 NIS (Best to pre-order, as tickets will likely be sold out by then. See below)
Registration for events: No (Unknown. Unlikely)
Pre-registration for events: No (Unknown. Unlikely)

Ever wanted to dance the night away in a Renaissance themed ball wearing the costume of your favorite fictional character? Well then, look no further! I'm pretty sure that most of you, if not all, have never been to a ball in your lives! You've read the stories, you've seen the movies; now it's time to experience it for yourselves! Of course, since one does not simply go to a ball and dance for six hours straight, there will be  plenty of other activities to keep you on your toes. LARPS, live shows, computer games, and more should be enough to keep you busy. Aside from the dancing.

As this is also a BALL, there is a dress code that must be followed. One must come either in a formal wear or in cosplay.

- Boys may wear dresses, and girls may wear suits. Everyone is permitted to cosplay
- The suits can be modern; one can even come in jeans (not ripped) with a button-down shirt and a blazer, with a tuxedo, with a regular suit, a three piece suit, etc.
- Whomever does not have any of the above may come wearing jeans (not ripped) and a button-down shirt with long sleeves
- Regarding dresses: the vast majority is acceptable, with long dresses preferred (if you aren't sure if  a particular dress is acceptable, send a picture to Libi Soen and she will let you know).

Regarding cosplay:
One may come in cosplay (no metchakem) For example, if one comes in a white shirt and jeans and claims he/she is cosplaying as L from Death Note, but he/she is wearing shoes and has no makeup on, he/she will be denied entrance. Of course, not every cosplay is perfect, but the fact of the matter is that just because you can come cosplaying doesn't mean you can come in regular clothes and say, 'I'm cosplaying, let me in'. Send a picture to Libi Soen and she will let you know if the cosplay is acceptable.

There will be a place to store your belongings free of charge from the beginning of the ball until the end. Food will be served, though it will not be free. The food is from the hall itself, with the hechsher of Mehadrin of Rav Kook, and the meats of Rav Rubin and Landau. And finally, the ball is for ages 13 and up.

There will be an after party when the ball ends, from 11:30 PM until 03:00 AM, at which point it will move to the Tricksrael hall. There will be a place to sleep for those planning to come, which is included in the price of the after party.

Regarding the tickets:
Ball: 45 NIS
After Party: 30 NIS
Ball + After Party: 70 NIS
Ball + Ticket to AnimeCon Chanukah 2014 (does not include the after party): 80 NIS

IMPORTANT: The price of the after party is still being decided on, so the above price may change. Be aware of this.

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

REPORT: AMAI's Chanuka Con 2014

Website: http://www.amai.org.il/hanukkah-2014/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/350365098463359/
Date: December 18th
Location: 'Pais' Eshkol, Ramat Gan
Convention type: Anime
Hours: 2:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Entrance fee: Free (Some events require money)
Registration for events: No
Pre-registration for events: No

AMAI (Association of Manga and Anime in Israel) has a mini anime convention (I believe) every Chanukah. There will a number of attractions, as well as the usual merchandise/cosplay contest.

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

PSA: Another evening of games at the Havana Club!

The Havana Club will once again be hosting an evening of games, on December 7th!

From the Facebook page:
An evening of games by BEIT MARZEAH at Havana Music Club

Featuring a big area for boardgames and a room for role-playing games waiting for you.

The venue is spacious and air conditioned
Clean and well lit
A huge library of games
Bar & kitchen available at reasonable prices

The event is suited for all ages

Address: Yigal Alon 126, Tel Aviv, Havana Music Club
Open doors: 18:00 until late at night
Admission: 30 NIS

For details:
0507444031, Siel

There are some conventions and other events coming up next month; I shall be posting about them during the next few days.

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

REVIEW: Icon 2014 (Day Two)

Before I start the review, I wish to apologize to my readers for taking this long to write the review. A combination of schoolwork, school preparations, and procrastination all contributed to this being two weeks late. I'm sorry, and will endeavor to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

UPDATE: The videos were for some reason not working on mobile phones, so I changed the way they are viewed; it should be better now.

So I wake up in the morning, a little tired, and a little sore, since I was sleeping on the floor. And then I see this:

I was a little surprised to see the amount of people sleeping in the room, since last year I awoke to less people. Huh.

Anyways, I got dressed, prayed, got my things together, and then once again, left my stuff by the Hotaru booth and wandered for a bit.

What? Did you expect me to have a witty comment for every picture?

After some wandering, I headed over to the the games section. where people were playing Magic: The Gathering and other games. I found someone to play with (someone I had met at a convention on Pesach), and finally got to make use of my cards. 

The first game was a bust. I had no land cards of the appropriate color, so a majority of my hand was useless, and thus I lost. During the second game, I was doing okay, until I said something, in which he thought I meant I was leaving. He had put away all his cards, and we had to start over. In game 2.5, I was winning. No, I was crushing him when someone asked the entire room if anyone wanted to play a game called Pandemic. So he left.

I win!

I had another game of MTG with a bunch of pros, who proceeded to blow me out of the water. I ended up losing last, but only because the other guy was mad at his friend, and so had decided to take him out first. Lucky me.

After that, I went out for a bit, and met some friends of mine, who were going to put on a lightsaber duel later. For some reason, one of them was not impressed. Then I found Yael Geller of Hot-Cocoa Cosplay again, and took another picture of and with her! This time, she was dressed as Mystique, with a friend dressed as Nightcrawler.

After that, I went to a lecture about living forever, which was 16 minutes late (of course), and I didn't realize was on that topic beacuse I didn't pay too much attention to the title. Once again, my four hours of sleep (plus sleeping on an uncomfortable floor the night before) helped me to doze half my way through the lecture. It also kept switching back and forth between a philosophical debate and scientific possibilities, which helped to lose my interest. 

In the end, I ended up leaving a little early, since I needed a break. I got more books, met more people I know, got my picture taken, and had someone else recognize me! All in the space of 40 minutes, at which point my next lecture started. This one was all about ways to improve the way a Dungeon Master gets players hooked in the world they have created. Or something like that. I was in and out of this one too, to my dismay; the bits that I was awake for were quite interesting. The lecturer was cracking jokes the entire time, and making liberal use of gestures. He also had these great poses:

Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him.

Afterwards, I bought some coffee, then bought more books, And then did the smart thing this time and got a chair for the costume competition. A friend of mine kept me company, and helped me realize that the crowd was much bigger than last year's competition - both the current and previous day. Go figure. 

The competition started at 16:32 (4:32 PM for you Americans), and it was great! I almost ran out of batteries; luckily, my friend got them from my bag and handed them to me, so I didn't miss taking anything. Behold the costume competition of Day Two!

Afterwards, I left to go see if I could finally get a picture with Chen Moyal, getting recognized as Dresden again along the way.

And some Deadpool pictures!

Didn't we see this one already?

There can only be one!

The day was fading, but things were still happening. Like the time warp:

And after that, we had a nice treat: Japanese floating laterns!

After that, I had to prep my bag to get ready to leave; while I still had some time left, I wanted to be able to leave right away, since I would have just made it to the bust stop. Unfortunately for me, the lightsaber duel got pushed off until 8, so I stayed longer than planned. I got another request for a picture, which I obliged. I took a few more pictures and a video of Philippines weapons fighting in the interim:

The cake...isn't a lie?

The most awesome picture you will ever see

I barely took anything during this time, since I had no spare batteries left, and I wanted to save everything for the lightsaber duel to come. I just sat and watched things happening, and chatted with a few people. I even got another request for a picture! Things were feeling good.

Sadly, the duel was not to be. Due to a miscommunication between coordinators, a band had been scheduled to play instead. There was a rush to try to set things straight, but in the end...it didn't happen. Three months of preparation, days taken off, other things...sigh.

To blow off some steam, the guys fought for a bit. Here's a teaser of what might have been:

And after that, I had to leave to catch my bus. Two days of fun, and yet I was already missing it. I had had an amazing time, and there really wasn't anything to complain about (except maybe the prices of the events and the duel thing). I can't wait for next year!

(The full album for day one and two can be found here)

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

PSA: An evening of games at the Havana Club!

On Sunday, the Havana Club in Tel Aviv is hosting an evening of games!

From the Facebook page:
"An evening of games by BEIT MARZEAH at Havana Music Club

Featuring a big area for boardgames and a private room for role-playing games waiting for you.

The venue is spacious and air conditioned
Clean and well lit
A huge library of games
Bar & kitchen available at reasonable prices

The event is suited for all ages

Address: Yigal Alon 126, Tel Aviv, Havana Music Club
Open doors: 17:00 until late at night
Admission: 30 NIS

For details:
0507444031, Siel"

If you are aware of any conventions taking place in Israel, or some other interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Igor 11 possibly canceled

For reasons unknown to me, Igor 11 may have been canceled. I noticed in my notifications on Facebook that the event was canceled, although the website is still up. I have not received a reply yet from the creator of the event, so it may be prudent to assume that it is canceled. As for the Icon Day Two review; I just started university this week, and I'm swamped with difficult material. I'll try my best to put it up Friday.

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

REMINDER: Igor 11: The Great War

Reminding you that Igor is taking place next week! Be there, or be square!

(I will be posting the Icon day two review tomorrow or so)

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!

REVIEW: Icon 2014 (Day One)

I will be dressing up as Harry Dresden until the end of time, or until I've gotten my money's worth. Whichever comes last.

Harry Dresden giving Deadpool bunny ears. Your argument is invalid.

Anyways, a month or so before the convention, I had gotten as a point and shoot digital camera as birthday present. I made great use of it during my time at Icon, sparing my phone a great deal. Unfortunately, it eats AAs.

I started the con by getting four hours of sleep (gee, didn't I say that one should avoid that in the last review?) I got on a bus that took me somewhat close to the con (near the Azrieli mall), suited up as Dresden, then proceeded to sweat my way there, arriving around 9 AM.

First thing I did was head straight for the bag storage, but of course they had yet to open. So I went straight to the Hotaru booth, talked to my friend Chen Moyal of said group, who let me keep my stuff near theirs (he's an awesome guy. The group has an 18+ anime con planned by the way, so stay tuned). About this time, I started taking pictures. I present you....Icon 2014!

.

After wandering a bit, I went straight to the line for receiving pre-ordered tickets (that's always the smart thing to do, by the way), and...waited until 10 AM, at which point I got all six of them. Then I waited a half-hour in line to get a ticket for her, as she was volunteering, and for some reason hadn't received her free ticket. And then I went and got books. And then more books (I got more the next day). The past two Icons, I spent my money mostly on books, bringing in 25-30 each time. This year, I was on a budget, AND I wanted to participate in the events. So I didn't get nearly as much this time. Ah, responsibilities.

Then I went in search of Yael Geller of Hot-Cocoa Cosplay. She was cosplaying with three different costumes, one for each day. I took a picture of her, then one with her. Day one was a Steampunk Pirate.

I wandered around a bit, taking pictures of people in costume (I myself got my picture taken, with someone and by myself).  Behold!

Bronies. Bronies everywhere

I found the booth of Shir Brayer, an artist who draws just about anything and drew me something back at Yume-Con. So I asked her to draw...ME!

I'm so handsome...

From there, I made my way to my first event: a lecture on utopian and dystopian cities. It was rather interesting learning about the origins and what it meant in different centuries. Also, the 20th century apparently heralded the appearance of dystopian cities and societies in writing, a neat little thing that known before. The lecturer wrapped things up with a small section about apocalyptic writing.

Afterwards, I met up with a tall friend of mine.

Then I took some more pictures.

I hung out by the Hotaru table for a bit after that, talking with Chen and sometimes helping the people interested in buying their merchandise. I left after some time, wandered a bit (I've been doing that a lot, haven't I?), and met some people who recognized me! WHOOO!!!

And now for a humorous story. Some guy came over, and asked if I was Batman. I responded with, 'You must have mistaken me for someone else. I'm Harry Dresden,' and we shook hands. Then he said, 'Yeah, sure, Harry Potter or something,' then walked away. Incensed at the idea that I was being compared to a lesser wizard, I immediately took out my gun and shot him in the back. Being a cap gun, all it did was produce a loud bang, but I did get a thumbs up from a nearby person.

Not long after that, I headed to my second event: a live roleplaying game. Unfortunately, I have no pictures, as I was specifically asked not to take pictures at this event. 

Except for the handsome DM here

It was hilarious, with three roleplayers playing:

-an orc priest who threw fruit

-a hobbit

-a kender clockmaker

As you can imagine, much fun was had by all. The audience was invited to participate at certain moments. Some particularly memorable moments:

-the roleplayers introducing their characters. At the sound of a bell, a roleplayer would go to the back of a line, and the next roleplayer in line would speak, starting from the previous character had left off.
-the orc priest attempting to gain a set of semi-cursed magic boots from a goblin king by offering him various citrus fruits
-the orc priest killing an elephant with a piece of gold.
-the audience deciding that the three roleplayers were looking for a...yellow submarine
-a little girl being called up to be the main body of an enemy creature...a beholder..
-the DM himself breaking the 4th wall to complain along with the roleplayers

One of the roleplayers participating in the live game was one I had played a game with at Gryphon 11 (which sadly, I didn't write up on), and it was nice to see him roleplay, especially since I knew a little of his style.

Slightly, before the event had started, I saw some people who had recognized me as Dresden at Cami. And afterwards, I met another person who recognized me! The feeling was great! Here I was, getting someone recognizing my costume or just telling me how awesome it was left and right, Someone thought I was the Hebrew Hammer though.

Hmmm...this handsome guy does resemble me somewhat,,,

I walked around some more, taking pictures here and there.

El. Psy. Congroo

Around this point, I got myself a place at a huge arena set up near the etnrance, and set up a tripod with my camera. I wanted to take good pictures of the costume competition (by the way, starting the competition late is now officially a thing), so I got here twenty minutes early. I did not think to bring a chair, and when someone asked if I could crouch down so they could see (as I'm six feet tall) - only then did it dawn on me that I should have been smarter than that. My knees ended up hurting a lot throughout the course of the competition.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...the Icon 2014  Day One Costume Competition!

This cutie was supposed to go on, but for some reason, didn't

The competition took a break around five, saying that in twenty minutes they would announce the winners. It certainly didn't happen before my Pathfinder game at 6.

Here's a random Skywalker picture. You're welcome.

(Not taken by me)

The session was fun. There weren't any...particularly memorable moments, but I still had a good time. This game in particular was a continuation of a series, which was originally scheduled for Myth, but ended up taking place now. Because this was game number three, I got to level my character up to level two!

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!

After the game, I took a small walk around the place (again), looking on with interest at a pillow fight in the arena. I had a Star Trek lecture to go to right then, so I couldn't participate.

The lecture was on the Prime Directive, and what could be learned from it. My 4 hours of sleep had finally caught up with me though, resulting in me missing half of what was going on. It seemed to me throughout the course of the lecture (when I was awake) that the audience consisted mainly of Trekkies. They were quoting things left and right from Star Trek episodes, so I imagine that they were.

*yawn* I think I'll try for five hours next convention...

It was time for bed! Earlier, before the Pathfinder game, I had dumped my stuff in the bag storage.. Now, I waited in a long line to get my stuff, then I signed up for a males-only room. I was the first to do so, and thus had the room all to myself...

You'll notice in the corner by my stuff, were some poster boards. I used this a a bedding of sorts, to make sleeping on the floor in my sleeping bag a bit easier on me. They helped - I think.

And thus did end my first day at Icon. I had had a blast, and couldn't wait for what the next day would bring! Stay tuned for my review of day two!

(The full album for day one and two can be found here)

If you are aware of any convention taking place here in Israel, or some interesting event taking place, please notify me, and I will do my best to report on it!