WEEE!!!!
We went to Washington! I got to see the Cascades, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Olympic National park, and some of Canada. Probably one of the coolest places though, was Seattle.

Not only is the city HUGE, for me, it was kinda like heaven. Everyone there seems to think alike, and everyone seems to support art greatly! (Not like HERE in stupid Florida....). Police pay graffitists to do murals on walls, you can bring your pet into the many internet cafes they have there, and everyone hates George Bush! (No offence Republicans) ^_^

We went up the Seattle Space Needle (which I found out, was also used as Dr. Evil's lair in the second Austin Powers film).
Next to the tower was a fair we got to visit, and next to THE FAIR, was a science museum, with a VIDEO GAME exhibit!!! (We went, and I got some rare photographs of some original Sonic, and Pokemon production art!!!).

...and as if THAT weren't enofe, they have a SIFI Museum, the BIGGEST movie depot on the Western coast of the United States (they had the Unico films for rent, but not for buy -_-;; ), AND about 5 GIGANTIC ANIME STORES ALL 5 TIMES BIGGER THEN MY HOUSE!!!!

O_O
WHOOOOO!!!

One particular bookstore sold nothing but English, and Japanese manga. The store was SOOOOOOOO big, that it had to be two stories tall, and each shelf had to be equipped with a rolling bookshelf ladder just to be able to reach all the manga!!!!
NOW THAT'S A MANGA STORE!!!!

^o^

...anyway, after our trip I had a few days to prepare for ANOTHER anime convention!!! This time, one of my most inspired idols was there signing stuff!

Veronica Taylor.

She's played many parts in many animes, but probably her most famous part is...A-HIM!......
....THE VOICE OF ASH KETCHUM FROM POKEMON!!!!!

I've been wanting to meet her for about 8 years now, (along with some other inspiring voice over artists, such as Nancy Cartwright (who does the voice of Bart on the Simpsons, and Angelica from the Rugrats). When I heard that Ms. Taylor was going to be at this year's con, I nearly fainted. I had been dreaming of meeting her for years.

She was very kind, but unlike Billy West (the voice of Fry from Futurama, who I had met at my last con), her natural voice sounded NOTHING like Ash's. However, she DID entertain us with the voice during her questioning session. It's AMAZING how different a voice over can sound when they do the part of the character they play. Once again, another experience where she sounded EXACTLY LIKE HIM!!!!

^_^

Then I found out some bad news, THEY'RE REPLACEING THE ORIGIONAL CAST OF POKEMON WITH A NEW ONE!!!
Meaning there FIRING one of my greatest inspirers of ALL TIME!

-._-.

She was in shambles when one of her fans asked her about it. It reminded me of all I people I've known from the Florida Disney Studio who got laid off just three years ago.
So much good talent gone to waste, and ALL BECAUSE the animation companies just want to save money.

...

...

Anyway, I told her how I knew how she felt, because of my many close friends at the Disney Studio, and proceeded to tell her how she had inspired me to go into the animation business, because she was living proof that females could also become successful in the industry.

She was very touched by my shpeel, and proceeded to sign both a Ash card, and my DVD copy of the first Pokemon film.
(Which she added, was her favorite Pokemon feature length film, to star in )

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
What a grand day!
In addition, I also got:

A Cat bus plushy
2 Keroro figurines
A UNICO FIGURINE!!!! (No plushy though.... -_-;; )
3 rare Totoro pins
the ENTIRE series of FLCL
...and the film "Junkers Come Here" a touching story. I would highly recommend it, but I warn you, it's a tear jerker!!

O_^


The Toonfreak