Yeah dudes, it's the detailed account of your's truly (a.k.a Bimma The Fish) experiences at BotCon 2005, complete with picture links! It is quite long though (for I can get quite verbal in type) so brace yourselves....

Botcon 2005: a fish tale.

Monday Sept. 19th: The journey begins...

I have a haircut at 10, a manicure at 12, and a flight at 16:10. First off, I thought it was at 16:40, so in my head I had pleeeenty of time…
At 13:30 I go down to the Canon dealership to see if my new camera was in. Which it was, just arrived that morning. Score! So, by the time I finally get home to finish packing, it’s almost three o’clock, and I am long overdue at the usual ‘check in 2 hrs before departure’ thing at the airport. My mother is having an coronary worrying about me catching said flight but I wasn’t the least bit worried myself. Seeing as I arrived at the airport 50 mins before takeoff, I did not have to wait in line at the check-in, nor the security gate, and as I browsed through the duty-free, they had already started boarding. When I got to the plane, everybody else had already taken their seats so I didn’t have to wait for slow-moving passangers getting their luggage in order and plomping their behinds in their appointed seating facilities. Pretty sweet deal, I am so not going to stress over the ‘2 hour check-in’ schtik any more….
After hauling my luggage through the London tube system for an hour or so, I finally meet up with Brad (Twin Twist) who leads me and my luggage to Al’s (Boardwise) place, where I’ll be staying for the night (well, at least a few hours, we have a 6 am wake up call.)

 

Tuesday Sept. 20th. The looongest day!
I ring Brad at 6, just to make sure he’s ready. We say our farewells to our good host Al and make our merry way through the London transit system, which normally isn’t the most amusing of tasks, but even less so when you’re loaded with baggage at 6 am in the morning.. Discovering I forgot to pack a deodorant my first stop is Boots, where they have a ’buy 2 get 1 free’ deal, so I end up buying three deodorant sticks, amongst other things (I love shopping in pharmacies and electronics stores, *especially* duty-free ones!)
We sit down for a while to rest our tired feet and I use the spare time to phone home, where my mother informs me it’s *snowing* back home…WTF? As we pass Harrods, we are attacked by the evil Gatwick robots, so we decide to go off and find our plane before they can find us and probably eat us!
Flight was uneventful, laptops are great for long-haul flights (would be even better with a power source and internet connection) but the in-flight entertainment wasn’t lacking either. Mr and Mrs Smith is actually quite good, and Cartoon Network is of course sweet!   Brad had his PSP playing TF: The movie and I had my laptop playing either eps of Foster’s or just music. We flew over Canada, which has some of the freakiest landscapes I've ever seen! Illinois looked a lot more hospitable. In all it didn’t feel like a 10 hr flight, only got about 20 mins of sleep the entire trip.
Landing at DFW was slightly odd, some very psychedelic art on the walls and the floor staff consisted of elderly people dressed in cowboy gear, complete with lots of badges and stuff. They were very friendly though in helping people make sure they’d filled their forms out properly. As soon as we got outside the very nicely air conditioned airport, we hit a wall of hot air. Got a cab to the hotel and spotted some very amusing vanity plates on the way…
The hotel in one word: AMAZING. The concierge was very friendly and helpful, the place looked excellent, the muzak was beyond bizarre playing either disco or old 80’s hits, the elevator <I>spoke</I> to us and the rooms? Holy…. The rooms were divided in two: a lounge area with a tv, sofa (a pull out sofa bed at night) table with chairs and a lamp with an internet connection, kitchen area with sink, fridge, coffe maker and microwave, a sweet bathroom including a hairdryer and plenty of towels, and then you entered the bedroom: Two huge beds with three big pillows each, another tv, mp3 player thingumy/alarm clock, a huge window with the *best* view, and closet with iron and ironing board. VERY nice indeed!
After familiarizing ourselves with the hotel, the Concierge shuttled us to Cruisers, where we could get something to eat. Brad ordered an appetizer, which could have been a main course in itself, and contained some very sneaky jalapeno peppers! (It burnsss usss!) I started off with a Margarita (just the first of many on this trip, trust me…) and ordered some chicken, which was a HUGE portion, I didn’t even finish half of it. We took it with us in a “doggy bag” tho, and then went for some shopping….
I wanted to get a swimsuit, since I’d forgot to bring my own, so we went to some sports store. Carrying that bag of food with us, which stank of chicken and fry-up…as soon as I exited that store, I got rid of that stinker of a bag. >_<
Next stop was Toys ’R’ us… the promised land! All shelves full of Transformers, where I picked up Alt. Shockblast and Cyberton Thundercracker (the one that cost almost 25 pounds in London) and Brad picked up a couple of things, as well as getting a ride in the Spider-man mobile! We also found a toy dispenser full of INSEMINOIDS!! but all it did was steal our money. Poo. We then phoned the hotel to have them come and pick us up in the shuttle, which went a little awry, for we had to wait an hour for the shuttle to find us….
Of course we couldn’t have a first night in the swanky hotel without a drink at the lounge, and decided to sit outside just for the fun of it (also, so Brad could have a smoke.) Despite him being attacked by the evil crickets, we of course had to go and check out the small park/fountain area, and even contemplated running through the fountains as a way to beat the heat but weren’t quite inebriated enough. Our waitress was glad to see us return though, she’d thought we’d ran out on the bill…..
It was only about nine ’clock at that point, and we were both beat, so we decided to turn in. Watched some Family Guy on CN and found to my amusement that Brad had gone out like a light the minute his head hit the pillow and was now snoring like a grizzly.

 

Wednesday Sept. 21st: SHOPPING!

We were up bright and early to sample the free hotel breakfast, which is actually quite good! We then wanted to stake out the local mall, but seeing as it didn’t open until 10 am, we just sat around outside again for a bit to chill, take in the scenery (Well, Brad just played on his PSP mostly) and annoy the local crows.
We were shuttled to the mall -which we then discovered is a whole five minutes walk away- where we again tried to find some kind of toy retailer, but no luck. We did find a Pac Sun store where we bought various articles of clothing, and then I discovered my credit card was continuously declined. Ugh..only my second day here, and no credit card??? Oh well, I have money in my account, so I can still go on shopping..
Were very rudely approached by some saleslady for one of the photo studios, and since then made an effort to avoid that particular area of the mall. Did lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen, where the pizza is just the right size for a meal, and their Raspberry Mojito’s are Mmm good! The ice rink in the mall seemed like a good place to bring the 2005 crew later….now wouldn’t that have been a riot!
Again, we call the shuttle to come and pick us up, and after we got tired of waiting, we just decided to brave it and walk to the hotel. Of course, when we get there, we find the shuttle about to leave to pick us up. “No need, we’re already here…Durr!” Checked out the convention area, which consist of about 12 rooms of various sizes, not to mention some very funky artwork! Most of the day was spent just hanging around and keeping up with the gang online. We meant to go swimming, but opted for a trip to SUPER Target first for some shopping! The concierge was happy to shuttle us and pick us up an hour later. I found my Cyberton King Starscream (Yay!) and proceeded to shop for various grocery stuffs and such, and of course I just HAD to pick the loudest and most wobbly cart in the entire store! Crossed my fingers once we got to the register, to no use. Card would not work, so Brad had to bail me out. For once, the shuttle was on time to pick us up, and then we went downstairs for HAPPY HOUR! Oh yes, every afternoon between 5:30 and 7:30, free drinks and snacks for the guests! Of course we made sure to take full advantage of that during our stay….
While sitting down in the dining area with our drinks,I spot Rik (Alvarez) whom I met (and got profusely drunk with) at the 2003 con. He’s now part of the Hasbro/Botcon staff (not just a regular fan boy like the rest of us  ) and he came over to our table to say hi. When Brad introduced imself as Twin Twist, Rik guffawed “You’re Twin Twist? Man you suck!” and much hilarity ensued, especially when Rik phoned up Joe Moore to tell him who he’d just bumped into….
And again, the evening was spent outside the lounge bar with drinks. This is starting to become a trend…

 

Thursday sept. 22nd: Let the mayhem begin!


First things first. CALL THE BANK. They verified I was apparently out of credit, and just upped my limit a bit to help me out (seeing as I was thousands of miles away in the path of an incoming hurricane and all.)
So, I check with the hotel to see if they’ve already credited my card for my stay, and if that could be the source of the credit boom. Well, not only have they gotten verification for the amount for my stay, but also for just about every add-on I could possibly imagine buying, soooo yes, my credit limit was pretty much spent. Brad suggested I just move in with them, since he’ll be moving to one of Bill’s rooms as soon as Bill arrives. That way I can just check out of the hotel and crash with them, and wouldn’t have to pay an arm and two legs for being all alone in am hotel room for four nights…
After that was all sorted, we headed down to the mall again (this time we walked!) to do some more shopping and stuffs. Got two pairs of jeans in Pac Sun and a very funky cowboy hat ^_^ Brad even went all out and got himself a watch, to keep up with the times! Then we walked just a little further to find the local Wendy’s for lunch, but just a little further was actually way longer than we thought! On our way we came across this very VERY pink/ghey Hummer, and had to cross the Highway of death! We finally make it to Wendy's which is Mmm good! Considered calling the shuttle to come and get us, but hell, we could probably brave the walk back, even though that meant crossing that damned dangerous freeway again! Saw a few interesting things on the way back, including one of many bull statues and some historical landmarks…
Things were all sorted out with Bill when he arrived, so we moved out of room 702 and down to 517, which unfortunately was on the opposite side of the hotel, so we lost our scenic park view.
Trough the afternoon, more and more people arrived and one could easily spot TF fans throughout the hotel. Brad and I decided to wait for Pete, who was just arriving, while the guys headed off to Target for some raiding of the toy aisles. When they returned we were still waiting for Pete, who apparently was stuck on the airport shuttle of doom! After some meeting and greeting of various peoples, we headed down to happy hour once again, where some of the tables had been laid out with the names of various TF sites. I then stormed off to get my registration badge and stuff, and then we all went to look for Shaun C. who was supposed to supervise the 2005 dinner at the embassy grille, but was now nowhere to be found.
We eventually gathered for dinner, which was a bit of a dissapointment IMO. The food was cold and didn’t really taste of anything, the waiter didn’t have a clue what he was doing, and spilled a glass of red wine right next to my seat, so I had to sit in a stench of red wine for the duration. The only bright spots were the good company of friends and the margarita. The place itself certainly lacked the friendly warm atmospehere of past 2005 dinners…
Lastly it was time to get a group shot and get wasted at the lounge bar once again. Bill and the guys did a round of poker up in their room (I’ve never played in my life, so I passed!) while a bunch of us just sat around, chatted and watched TV. The sleeping arrangements were quickly sorted out: Me on the sofa bed, and Colin, Hugh and Brad in the bedroom. They kept the door closed, so I didn’t have to wake up to their snoring (or they to mine…)

 

More to come, stay tuned....

 

Love readin' this thread! Great pics too!

 

Oh noes! It's Bimma The Fish!

 

Friday, Sept. 23rd: There are four lights

5 am. My phone rings. It’s my friend Caroline, frantic with worry about the impending hurricane Rita. I managed to calm her down, (even though I am not the most tolerable of people at 5 am in the morning) no need to worry about the hurricane, for even if it does reach our area, it probably wont be more than a storm by satuday night. Still, nice to know that someone out there worries about you   About six-ish, Bill drops by to get the guys to help them unload the van and set up the tables. I am allowed to sleep in a bit longer ;-)

So, after breakfast Pete and I meet up and scope out the dealer room, which is in the process of being set up, so only dealers and VIP’s are allowed in. Pete and I also check out the exclusives, and as he is busy peering at the sales display, Chris (Vangelus) sneaks up on him from behind, making weird gestures and pokes, much to he amusement of everyone around us, except for an oblivious Pete. Unfortunately my camera was out of memory at that exact moment, it would have made for a very amusing photo series! And of course I just had to get myself the Ratchet/Flareup combo, since this Ratchet figure actually as a head! (and of course somewhere over the weekend someone had the bright idea of renaming Flareup to NPS and the pair was suggestively posed…) We also meet up with Kristen and her husband and various board members hard at work wheeling stuff into the dealer room. Since none of us are dealers, we decide to go out for lunch instead, after first checking out Chris’ hotel, just a block away. On our way we pass a huge park with lots of strange poetry written in stones, several statues of bulls and various flora and fauna. Chris’ hotel is quite cosy in an old fashioned style, the rooms even have four-poster beds! On our way back, we decide (or rather *I* decide) to try a shortcut through the field so we could get directly to our hotel. A small ditch was in our way, but we managed to find our way through without sustaining any major injuries….

Then it was off in Kristen’s very hot car to Wendy’s where we enjoyed another fine lunch, and Pete a very square burger! We returned in time for Chris’ voice audition, while the rest of us scoped out the dealer room, now open to pre-registrants. I didn’t buy too much, and was also helping the guys out in the booth (as much as I could, with my limited knowledge of the toys and even worse of the american coin system!) It was fun though, and we had a very busy first day.

Now, off to happy hour we go again, and then a bunch of us head out to the mall to find some decent eats. We stopped by several stores on the way just browsing and fooling around, and eventually opted for Chili’s for dinner. We had to wait a while to get a table, so Bill and I sat down and ended up in a heated discussion about US politics, amongst other things. At Chili’s, the beer, cola and margarita’s were flowing, and the table was just bulging from all kinds of appetizers and great dishes (and the occasional Doom burger!) I sadly didn’t manage to finish my dinner, so again I took the rest home in a doggy box (only this time I actually brought it back with me!) I have to say that dinner was much better than the previous nights 2005 dissapointment. It felt a lot more like the 2005 dinners of past years, a lot better atmosphere and service (not to mention food!) On our way back to the Embassy, we met Colin and the guys that had remained behind at happy hour and were now veeeery well inebriated! The rest of the evening is a bit of a blur, but at some point Colin introduced us to ’The Picard Song’ and had us all howling with laughter!

 

Saturday Sept. 24th: The weekend is here!


I get up bright and early with the guys for breakfast and then down to the dealer room. I go off to check out Chris’ performance at the voice actor finals, where he is reading along with one of the girl contestants. The finalsists were 5 girls and 5 guys, but two of the girls didn’t show up, so Alvarez suggested I read for them, so the guys would have someone to sound off with. The guys at Bill’s table were peeking through the curtains dividing the confrence room from the dealer room and looked quite puzzled to see me sitting up there on stage reading a TF script for an audience. Meanwhile Colin was on a mission to get as many panelists and guest speakers as he could find to sign his TF comic with a “Twin Twist sucks” signature, much to the amusement of all involved…

After the reading was done it was time for the costume contest which, as far as I could see, consisted of two costumes: Shockwave and Perceptor. They were very well done, I especially liked the Shockwave one (I think that won, but I’m not sure…) Caught the Hasbro panel, which was very nice (apart from the fact that no pictures were allowed) and the rest of the day we mostly just hanging around the dealer room or working at Bill’s table, I was feeling pretty sleepy though (Jetlag and all that) so I went up to the room to kip for about 20mins. Didn’t wake up until a good 2 hours later! Of course after the dealer room closed, it was time for happy hour once again, but seeing as they’d removed all the outside chairs and tables due to the impending hurricane, we had to stay inside to drink. Then Brad, Bill,Colin and I headed off to the mall (once again) for dinner and this time the California Pizza Kitchen was our choice. We had to wait a bit before a table was available, so we just lounged outside and took pictures of the pretty skies, which were unusually cloudy and colourful due to Rita. Pizza was even better than it was last time, of course in my case washed down with a margarita, what else! I don’t like too much sausage on my pizza, so I picked some of it off, and then Colin stuffed his pizza with my sausage (as dirty as that may sound, hehe) And of course we planted ourselves down at the lounge bar once again, where we watched the poor weathermen gets absolutely trolloped by the rain and winds following the hurricane while trying to deliver the most dramatic reports. We just laughed ourselves silly of course, and then went upstairs to the room to take it in in full audio glory as well. Poor weathermen…

 

Sunday and Monday's reports will be up soon  

 

Good times.

 

Good times. Good times.

 

Sunday Sept. 25th: We’re off to see the Hooters…


I could not be bothered to wake up for breakfast this morning. Instead I slept in as long as I could, and then went down to the dealer room to help out the guys at Bill’s table. Traffic was pretty slow, so we had ’My Little Transformer’ running on the computer, which went down well with the crowd!   I missed the latter Hasbro panel, which was apparently awesome. (I think I was asleep somewhere again).

At closing at 3:30, we started packing down the stuff and stacked our boxes on the middle of the floor, which became a *mountain* of boxes. Most guys packed up their tables pretty quickly, except for the crew that were dismantling and packing up the huge Optimus Prime statue….strange seeing Prime’s arms and legs either just lying strewn about on the floor or being packed down in huge boxes. We were finished packing up and putting everything in the truck about six-ish, and then it was time for…yes you guessed it…Happy Hour! A couple of us stopped by our rooms first, and when Bill wanted to see Pete about something, we thought it would be a splendid idea to just shout down to him from the 5th floor, where he was sitting with the rest of the guys. Pete of course didn’t hear a thing, but a couple of the guys noticed us screaming our lungs out up on the 5th floor balconies and pointed this out to him….

Well, we had a good sit-n-drink session downstairs, and also another group pic shot by the indoor fountain, which was captured on at least three different cameras. Then most of us decided to take off for dinner. Destination: Hooters! The hotel shuttle was booked, but that only has a 11 person capacity, so some of the guys went by car. We of course had to stop by a 7-11 for the ATM, where I also helped Katrina victims by giving all my loose change to the donations box, and in return got a pair of Mardi Gras necklaces. The guys didn’t know what the hell I’d gotten up to in there to return with a pair of necklaces usually given to girls at Mardi Gras if they flash their melons..ehemm…

Hooters was a blast, our party was seated at the largest table which was in the shape of the state of Texas. Cool! The food and atmosphere was great, and everybody had a blast, especially when Brad ordered a piece of chocolate cake for dessert, and then went outside for a smoke. I of course couldn’t resist and just had to steal myself a piece of the pie! The guys then took it a step further and left just a tiny slice of cake on Brad’s plate, while they hid the rest and then we just waited for the cake lover to return. Needless to say he was quite surprised, and much laughter and pointing of fingers ensued. He eventually got to enjoy his piece of cake. Of course we couldn’t visit the infamous Hooters without having a picture of us taken with the Hooter’s waitresses! Someone got a hold of a few ‘Got Naked?’ stickers which are usually put in the menus and we had a blast just sticking them everywhere, including a couple on and inside the shuttle, our tags, shirts, pants….

Some of the guys retired to their rooms to watch Justice League Unlimited, while the rest of us took over the lounge bar once again, and just had the waitress set the plasma tv to Cartoon Network so we could just watch it there while enjoying our drinks comfortably in the lounge armchairs. Of course when the Patrick Stewart ep of Family Guy came on, we just had to turn up the volume so not to miss the ‘I like little girls’ song. Patrick Stewart was definitely the celebrity of the weekend! ;-) Of course the mayhem continued after we went back up to our room, with silly picture poses, pillow fighting, the inflatable squeaking hammer of DOOM-bashing and last but not least, the now-infamous Twin Twist SUCKS video. We said goodbye to some of the guys who were heading home early morning, and eventually retired to sleep at about 2 a.m….

 

Monday Sept. 26th: The last day…

I woke up when some of the guys went downstairs for breakfast, but no way I get up unless I absolutely have to. A short while later I hear Colin sneaking back in..

“That’s Bimma from Iceland that’s asleep there…”

to which I mumbled back without even moving “No I’m not, I’m wide awake!”

“Aww pumpkin!” The voice sounded familiar, and now I was curious as to who that was that Colin had brought with him, turns out it was Alvarez coming to check out the infamous Twin Twist figure which trespassed onto his rarities panel earlier that weekend.

Then of course came the dreaded moment: PACKING! Fortunately I had brought an extra empty bag with me, but still every piece of luggage I had was stuffed to burst. *eek!* After checking out, Brad, Colin, Dave and I just hung around the hotel for a bit while waiting for a taxi to take us to the airport. Despite it being a big van, it could hardly fit all of our luggage…

Dave and Colin were dropped off at Terminal A, while Brad and I were flying from Terminal D. The guys weren’t optimistic that we’d have a chance to hang out before our flights took off (DFW is a pretty big place after all) so we said our goodbyes. Once we’d checked in, gone through security and had our passports scanned, we went looking for somewhere to eat. According to some construction workers, there wasn’t much of that around here, since most of terminal D was being renovated, but if we just take the skylink to one of the other terminals, we’d find a wide selection of eateries. Of course we headed for Terminal A to try and find Dave and Colin! Once we got to Terminal A, we find that their flight leaves fromTerminal B, so off we go again…

We have just gotten off at Terminal B when I spot Dave going through security, and both him and Colin were quite surprised to see us (or just trying to hide their dissapointment in not being rid of us just yet…)

We opt for the local TGI Fridays, where we are served by none other than Katrina…not the hurricane though. As we are looking through the menus, I see an ad for their new margarita, served in what looks like a regular martini glass. Sure, I’ll try that, it’s only a small drink anyway if it’s being served in a martini glass…

A few minutes later Brad is visibly shocked and disturbed by something he sees going on behind me. “Hell no, I’m moving, no way I’m sitting next to you on the plane“ etc, etc. I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, until the waitress comes up behind me and places my margarita glass on the table in front of me. THIS THING IS FRICKIN’ HUGE!! And here I thought I was just getting myself an innocent little margarita… Oh well, it went down nicely with our food, and Brad *finally* got his Texas steak! The guys then accompany us to Terminal D for our flight, and after some psychedelic experiences in the blue glass circle thingy, we say our goodbyes (again!) and then find that the flight is slightly delayed so we just sorta stand around awkwardly for a few minutes until we are finally allowed to board, and then say goodbye…again!

Flight was uneventful, I slept through most of it and made full use of my new iPod! Great gadget that is indeed, a must have on long-haul flights. When Brad and I went through the security check at Gatwick, I couldn’t find my passport anywhere   After searching through all my luggage several times, I get a call from Brad, who is now far away in front of the line. “I got your passport!” How on earth that happened we have no idea, and then his own went missing afterwards. We got through customs without any hassle (phew!) and now all I had to look forward was a 12 hour wait at Heathrow for my flight home. Brad and I say our goodbyes and I grab the shuttle to Heathrow, where I again promptly fall asleep while listening to my iPod. Once I arrive at Heathrow, I track down the Icelandair ticket agent, for I know they do flights twice a day and I wanted to see if I could possibly get on an earlier flight, since I wasn’t looking forward to a 9 hour layover in a boring airport. And what do I see, people checking in for the 1pm flight! There was no problem in changing my ticket and the ticket agent was really friendly and glad to hear I’d survived hurricane Rita. When I tried to check in however, the bitch at the check-in refused to let me get on with over 20 kgs of luggage unless I paid for the overweight, which was 70 pounds! No bloody way…

I return to the ticket agent, who voids the claim immediately and I can finally get onboard. Now, I knew my brother was also flying home from the UK that day, and after checking in with him, it turns out we land at the exact same time in Iceland! So now I have a lift home and everything as well. Sweet!

The plane wasn’t even half full, so I got an entire row to myself, where I promptly lay down under a blanket and slept for the entire flight. I land ten minutes after my brother and his friends, so I just piled all my luggage (and liquor I’d bought at the duty-free at Gatwick) on them, and then went for some more shopping at this Duty-free. Now this is where things get very strange: There are no Transforners in Iceland. Zilch. Nada. I’ve been through every store and toy retailer I can find and nothing. Which is why I was very very surpised to find this guy lying abandoned in one of the shelves as I was doing my shopping….What a bizarre ending to this trip!

And I have to say, if you’ve read this far, you are either very patient or very very bored.   Hope you liked it, and be sure to join us next year for even more fun, games and mayhem!

 

Did you take the Megatron?!

 

You should of as a momento!

See you at next years con  

 

Thanks to "the fish" for allowing us to relive those memories.

 

I wish I had  

Damn conscience..it would have made such a great memoir of the trip, not to mention how freakin' weird it was to see him there?

 

Thanks for sharing, many good memories to be had in there.