Perth - September 2011

Bogans, bad driving and an insane abundance of cranes aside, it was very good to be back in Perth.

Here's a bit of a behind the scenes look at what happens during possibly Neko Nation's biggest weekend of the year.  ^^

Thursday

A dash to the airport and it seemed like it was wasted as our plane was hit with numerous delays, thanks to an engine problem, this delay ended up going for 6 hours so we didn't get into Perth by around 9pm.  After all the delays and drama, we pretty much ended up crashing as soon as we got to our base in Perth.

Friday

We woke up, went to Ikea and got breakfast as is the tradition with every show.  We ended up sorting out last minute things which we were supposed to do yesterday but the plane flight really held us back.  We collected up the sushi, re-packed our bags for Neko Nation and the Tokyo Hardcore stand and left for The Bakery.

 

We arrived at 5pm and slowly the staff for the event trickled in, the stalls got setup, the catgirls worked on their outfits and last bits of makeup and the DJ's started practising on the decks, we got some staff sushi in, while Eugene start getting some photos before the action started happening.

The doors opened and for once, there was very little to stress about.  Tokyo Hardcore had a bit of a less than stellar showing and I spent a fair bit of time behind the store although it was good in the sense that I got to talk to see my various Perth friends on the night and barely not having to deal with too many issues or problems.

 

Once we shut down the stall, I ended up getting a chance to properly party and I had an absolute blast dancing and properly being able to run free in the venue.  I finished off with my set which I had a bit of fun with even though the event was dying and I had to come off one epic set from Susannah.

Went over to the after party, barely anyone could hack it on ITG so it was mostly fighting games although I didn't stay long due to getting tired and having to get my sexy sleepy catgirl back home to a bed more comfortable than the Game City floor.

Saturday

You know it's a good night when your body is absolutely wanting to kill you.  Mostly sleep deprivation and an aching body, we decided to go to Iku Sushi and test out this whole cheeseburger sushi thing which everyone was raving about the night before, I had a bit and it was delicious but there wasn't much left by the time I got to it.  We aimed to eat 18 pieces between the two of us and we were struggling to get through it.  Honestly, it was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten and it's quite possibly in my opinion the best sushi place I've ever been too, up there with Sushi train.

The second part of our day involved meeting up with one of our sponsors Attitude Oz who wanted to talk to us about the Miss Alternative competition.  For those who don't know what Miss Alternative is, it's a beauty pageant that is aimed at goths, punks, ravers and the alternative scene in general.  Basically we met up with the couple who run Attitude Oz who are pretty awesome and lovely people doing something absolutely huge and amazing both with the competition and the business.

 

We ended up getting the chance to work on the Melbourne heat which is virtually the alternative capital of Australia so while Adelaide would have been convenient this will be a big chance for us to do something really big and different, although it is in an area which I'm fairly familiar and experienced with.

We came back home in the evening and I got down and cracking to power through 5-6 hours of solid accounting work for Tokyo Hardcore and a bit for Neko Nation as well.  My life may involve sexy catgirls, delicious cocktails and wild parties, there's an unglarmous side to make this happen.

Sunday

While I said there's some unglamourous sides to my work, there's some pretty amazing parts of my life and I think today was the best day of the trip.  Topless catgirl photoshoot.  Enough said.  I still pretty much shake my head in disbelief that this is all happening.  XD

After that was done, we met up with the Perth Anime Committee who specifically invited us down to one of their general meetings.  We had a chat to the various committee members who gave the go ahead to create a catgirl cafe for Wai-Con plus the ability to create a Neko Nation afterparty for the con, which should be a whole heap of fun to put on and also I can't wait to actually party on the night as well.

We later met up with Eugene and Arty.  Absolutely lovely pair of people, I spent most of my time talking to Eugene, discussing Kafe Jijo in regards to our new cafe and sharing his wealth of experience in the cosplay and anime convention community which was invaluable knowledge to walk away with.  We discussed Neko Nation and just a good chat about life which was a chat I walked away from feeling mindblown and very satisfied with, it was possibly the best chat I've had to someone all year excluding some of the ones I've had with Susannah.

Had a bizarre night which saw the car I borrowed in Perth being locked in a garage, having a weird playfight with Susannah which saw most of my left arm covered in all sorts of bruises and scars.  Then having to call it an early night, although I did hear from my old friend Mark in Singapore about doing business with him, so it looks like I could be set to make it internationally soon.  XD

Monday

So the trip so far had been amazing and perfect, we got some last little bits sent to Adelaide and looked forward to a day which we thought would continue our awesome streak.  We got the exact opposite.

We had a meeting with our graphic designer for Tokyo Hardcore, basically we had a deal where I'd complete his tax in exchange for Susannah getting some graphic design work done.  Unfortunately he didn't actually hold up his end of the bargain.

We ended up being offered a free tattoo session so he was kind enough to offer us a lift, I'll give him that, however we wasted time doing circles in the city for no reason and he if I didn't yell out, he was going to take an illegal U-turn right into the path of a 4WD which would have T-boned my catgirl.

It didn't get much better after that with him swerving down the freeway at 100km/h, while trying to hold the GPS and read it with one hand, and spending most of the trip driving with one hand while rambling like a speed addict.

Thankfully I took over with the trip but things got worse when he proceeded to rant about Neko Nation staff members for 30 minutes, made even worse by claiming that he had a psychological condition which apparently meant he had every right to do so.

All this drama and fighting meant I ended up not getting a tattoo at all despite all of my promises to have one.  Things got more insane and dramatic and I was amazed that he didn't crash the car.  So yeah, had one person pretty much completely ruin that day.

Tuesday

We got packing and left for the airport early next morning.  Last minute dramu aside it was quite an amazing trip with lots of amazing adventures, people and times, plus we managed to cheat death as well, XD.

Looking forward to being back in Perth in January but for now, definitely happy to be back home in Adelaide, I'm looking forward to catching up with you all soon.  ^^

Nekos, Sushi and Lasers

I find it amazing with everything that has happened with Neko Nation, it wasn't until the last event that I finally got to realise what a special event that I created was having been stuck with all sorts of work on the night that it was the first proper opportunity to actually enjoy the night that I'm so heavily involved in.

This tour is going to be the biggest and toughest challenge I'm going to face yet, the tour is going to cost thousands of dollars to put on, there's around 100 people involved whether directly working on the night or being involved in other ways such as venues, sponsors and suppliers.  It's something which is proving to be insanely time consuming and stressful.  It wasn't too long ago that I was holding multiple jobs and full time study although there's no way I can hold all this while putting on the tour.

I've put my sanity at risk, as I'm trying to this tour with poor health both physically and mentally.  I'm working insanely hard to get it all done, even though I'm far from a condition to do so.  I'm putting this ahead of everything right now which is building up stress and keeping me away from the world.  However the show must go on and to be honest, it's likely to all go quite well as I do believe I've got a great team of people who help out at all the shows to make this an amazing tour.

I'm starting to feel the nerves kick in and the pressure of a big new undertaking, Adelaide will be changed a bit for the tour although thankfully it will be easier in comparison to the other shows.  Perth will be an interesting show as it is getting the biggest venue by far on the tour and it's a bit of a risk to change so much after the success of the past two shows but I do believe Perth should be brought to the next level.  The Melbourne and Brisbane shows, I must admit, I'm scared shitless to put on these new shows in very new locations but I do believe I'm prepared and up for the challenge.

I do have complete faith in the event, however the scale still does scare me, I've recently completed a step-by-step guide to running the Neko Nation events and it's around 100 steps, multiply that by 4 for each city on the tour and it's becoming overwhelming.  I'm contemplating what the next step is as Susannah is playing less of a role in Neko Nation due to Tokyo Hardcore so there is more and more work.  Add on top a whole bunch of other commitments as well, it's a scary time, and I'm having to sacrifice friendships, my relationship and spending time with people, looking decent and having a good place to live.

Here's hoping it all works out for the best.....

A Reflection

It didn't take too long for 2011 to be the craziest year of my life and this certainly shows no signs of letting up!  What started looking like a pretty average year, has seen it go huge in so many ways.

It's interesting to see what's happened with Neko Nation which originally started off as a small side project to fill in my university holidays has now turned out to be virtually my full time job.  It's insane to compare that first event with two catgirls and four DJ's in that small club in Perth to the hardcore extravagant Adelaide show that occured earlier the month.

In between then I've watched insanely rapid change, which has seen me travel around various cities, get involved with numerous businesses and go on some pretty awesome adventures which have really made my year.  There has been a tremendous amount of hard work, as a matter a fact, this year has been an epic juggling act of survival with workloads constantly increasing, regardless of how much work and education I've tried to shed.

I'm still mindblown at the rapid pace of the year to finally feel that I'm starting to actually go in a direction I like, I remember saying that studying accounting and getting a career would be the aim until I found something I really wanted to do and it seems to have come by way faster than I would have thought, maybe it's still far from perfect, the stress is far from outweighing the awards at the moment as things are very unstable with all the projects I am involved in at the moment.

I've enjoyed this year, Susannah has made my life absolutely complete and amazing and shown me a world that I only ever dreamed, not only that but made it look viable and believable.  Susannah has been an absolute goddess and an unbelievable perfection.  I took a gigantic gamble with Susannah but it didn't take too long for me to decide that she was perfect for me and to commit to a marriage.  While some might think it's a bit insane early on, the reality is we're handling so much responsibility and problem solving with our businesses that a marriage isn't going to be too difficult in comparison.

There has been a huge craziness that she has brought into my life which is scary to deal with at times, the rapid pace we move at times is attrocious for the heart rate but makes for some interesting adventures and stories.  It's definitely been a crazy year to look back on but the thing is there are some quiet and well rested moments and she has been the absolute best to me in regards to looking after me which is a nightmare to do for those who've seen me at my worst.

Yes I do realise that a lot of this is quite all over the place, but there's a lot to let out even if it's not all in order.....

Neko Nation Radelaide!!!

Just wow.  I remember the first Adelaide show being quite amazing but my god did this show completely blow it out of the water!

First of all thanks to everyone who helped out with the event, there's so many people to thank, from our lovely sponsors, stalls, catgirls, DJ's, venue staff and of course my partner Susannah for helping put this one, there's seriously around 20-30 people who help make this show happen in Adelaide and I'm very grateful for all the help and support I get to put on a huge event like this.  I'll thank everyone on the Neko Nation blog soon.

The reality is though it's the fans that make the night amazing, when you see a queue of around 40 people lining up in the cold rain just to be the first in, it was just phenominal to see how dressed up everyone was, I've had an event promoter come up to me in awe curious to know how he can make people dress up at his events but the reality is, this is just the Adelaide anime/cosplay scene at it's finest.

I had a lot of fun chatting to people and it's pretty awesome that I'm being awed at a bit and slowly turning into this mini celebrity.  I'm really loving all the social attention I'm getting because even though running the event I may be a bit popular the reality is I rarely get to see anyone, most of my time is spent doing business with Neko Nation and Tokyo Hardcore, so I don't get much time to see many people in a personal setting.

The Adelaide crowd never ceases to impress me with how behind the event everyone gets, you can tell that everyone in Adelaide has been craving something like this for quite a long time, I'm currently a bit overrun with people who want to help out and get involved, I even had one guy offer me a discount when I was out shopping on Saturday.  Seriously little things like that really make my life great and make me feel like I'm doing something important.

I'm very happy and blessed that I've found something that not only I like doing but many other people do enjoy a lot as well.  For so very long I sit in front of spreadsheets, emails and running around sorting out logistics, that it's nice to see that it all is worth it in the end.




Thank you everyone, it was such an amazing night and unlike other nights I managed to actually have time to get away from working on the event to actually enjoy the event with you all, I didn't speak to everyone and those I did, I barely got much of a chance to talk to people for longer than a few minutes but I did enjoy all the time I had with everyone and also behind the decks as well, it's the first time I've really had much positive feedback, so I hope to impress more of you soon and also get some more of you behind the decks, involved in the event and just there!

Really happy with everything that has been achieved, Adelaide you seriously rock.  <3

Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne

 Finally had a good chance to properly check out Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne and my personal opinion of what I've noticed, found and liked about these cities so far since I'll be spending a lot of time in all of them.

Melbourne

Melbourne has had this thing against for sometime but Susannah told me that it would eventually grow on me and to be honest now that I've gotten a chance to finally hang out there instead of working it really is becoming a magical and wonderful place.

I will admit there has been some disappointment on my end as people have seemed to have overhyped Melbourne way too much for me but now that my expectations have been brought down a bit, I'm starting to properly enjoy it for what it is.

I won't bore everyone with details but it's interesting to see how different of a city Melbourne truly, it's insanely massive, expensive and definitely not for the feint of heart.  It's taking a while for me to understand how awkward and bizarre the city but it does have it's lovely charm, I've met some great people and I'm looking forward to coming back again.

Highlight of Melbourne, there's been a few but I've enjoyed VnV Visage a lot, it's been a while since I've walked into a store where I've had a sudden compulsion to buy lots of clothes and also there was an amazing nightclub that we were given a special invite and VIP treatment too which we're definitely planning to put our next Neko Nation in 2012.


Perth
I might be all yay, Adelaide but I've generally referred to being part of Perth and it's still going to be a big part of me.  I've definitely enjoyed my time there and I'm definitely looking forward to coming back here in September, even if most of my time is spent on Neko Nation and other business meetings.

Perth has been great to me, I've enjoyed the lifestyle and how easy it is to get around and it's strangely quite modern compared to the other cities around.  It's pretty much been a home ground and testing ground for much of what I have done until I've decided to make the move to Adelaide and I have definitely missed seeing friends in Perth which sadly, I got closer to quite a few just after I left but there's not much I can do.

There are a few things I'm glad to get away from, the horrendous shopping hours, violent nature of Perth and of course all the bogans.  There has been pluses since Perth has the best arcades by far, a kick ass Ikea and the alternative nightlife and rave scene is actually quite amazing compared to what we have in the rest of the country.  I'm looking forward to making my return here soon.

Adelaide
I may have struggled with this city for sometime but it's slowly starting to feel like my new home.  Basically Adelaide beats all the other cities for me quite simply because Susannah.  Oddly enough though I do have a bit of a history back with this place which made me fall in love with Adelaide.

My first trip to Adelaide was in 2009 for DJ Sisen, GPKism and Aural Vampire, ended up going by myself and just decided to go in there and have some fun and meet some new people.  The people in the club were very friendly and actually cared about the music.  Go to a goth gig in Melbourne or Perth and I've more or less gotten to the front while most of the crowd are happy to watch from 8 metres back because it's closer to the bar.  There was a crazy feeling of actual love and passion which I hadn't seen or heard about in any other city.

What really struck me was how much this continued when I arrived here, a lot of people from Perth have been a bit blown away by the amount of work I did back at home but it's not too odd in Adelaide, I know plenty of people involved in their own businesses and it's very exciting to talk and deal with a lot of these people in the fashion, alt, events and anime scenes.

There has been a much epic first half of a year in Adelaide, if in short small doses but it's been fun and amazing exploring the place.  It's a bit insane how old the place can feel at times and there's so much in the way of abandonned buildings here, you seriously do feel like this place looks like it's from the 80's a lot of the time.

Overall everything has felt really nice and comfortable now that I have settled in, I've felt a lot more safer here and so happy to be part of this wonderful city.  While we don't have much in terms of the rave scene, the anime/geek scene here more than makes up for it, it's massive here and they know how to run conventions, having experienced a fair few now.

Adelaide is really becoming this truly amazing place for me and now that I'm starting to meet and hang out with Susannah's friends it's getting a lot better for me over here.  ^^

Saccharine and Catalystic HQ Update!

What an interesting week it has been.  Not quite sure where to start exactly but maybe a fair few shorter paragraphs about things will be good.

Found an ITG machine and a working USB.  Getting close to nailing hard 11 footers so I'm not feeling too flabby and hopefully will start to be getting fitter soon!


Neko Nation HQ has been insanely busy trying to get lots of things sorted out, while I can't say much, there's a lot going on behind the scenes preparing for a lot of events coming up, I'll be most likely doing at least two shows a month!  Considering all the shows are going to be very different, it's a lot of work but we're making some real progress in terms of growing Neko Nation.

Tokyo Hardcore is certainly quite interesting, got Angellic Pretty on board so things are going insanely well.  We've got a fair bit of work before Manifest so I'm looking forward to heading down to Manifest later in the month.

Went raving last weekend, it was actually a lot of fun despite being so unfit and maybe not getting into the music as much as I would it was great to see what Adelaide's rave scene is like.  It's quite small, must admit it's one of the things Perth probably does better but Perth doesn't have a pretty rave girl quite like Susannah,  ^___^

Also falling in love with Ikea, if the cheap furniture, maze, frustrating assembly, $1 hot dogs weren't enough, then it's becoming one of my new favourite brainstorming places, we've dreamt up a few fairly interesting new project ideas which is quite awesome in regards to not having to have a full time job in regards to doing other projects and events.

Geek culture is insanely awesome here, I can not begin to explain how interesting it is to see such a huge thriving anime, gaming and geek community here.  It exists in Perth but I'm still in major shock how open it really is, it's really such a great city for me to be in because of this.  I still can't get over the massive 8-bit Icarus graffiti which is attached to the bottom.

Been exploring a bit more of Adelaide including getting a nice view of the Hills, Hahndorf, sushi, the epic banking services.  It's becoming a nice place, I'm not going to make Perth vs Adelaide comparisons but to me I'm starting to find Adelaide a bit more of my home, it's still missing proper friends rather than relying on bumping into Susannah's friends but it's actually quite nice here.  ^__^

Having said that I'm looking forward to returning back to Perth for a short while next month.  ^^

We don't need no education

Transferring universities has been a nightmare and a half.  My application still hasn't been processed and university is already in it's first week!

Once again, looking like I'm going to be voiding over a year off my life again.  I'm likely to end up cancelling this year of uni at this rate.  It's still the 4th day and I'm still unable to enrol in my course but in the end it might appear as a blessing in disguise.

The move from Perth to Adelaide has been tricky in regards to getting lots of little things sorted out, as a matter a fact today we're still going to finally move things around so I can actually fit my stuff somewhere in this unit.  Most things have been slow but have finally been happening such as switching work and bringing all my stuff over but it's happening, uni on the other hand has not been.

While it does put my career at risk, the reality is that Neko Nation alone is putting my career at risk due to the amount of time it takes up and my plans for it, it's not really possible for me to hold a full time job while putting on Neko Nation and also helping out with Tokyo Hardcore as well.  I struggled a fair bit last year while I was with Susannah in Adelaide and while I thought it was bad, it's only going to get worse this year hitting the con circuit and the Neko Nation tour as well, it's going to be insanely intense.

It's something I'm going to have to seriously consider but as time is ticking, it's likely I will need to drop uni for the time being, pick up an extra job to get some extra cash in (me, with multiple jobs, gasp!) and possibly not end up being an accountant as a career after all.

It should hopefully all work out, if not, tentacles!