April 14th, 2008

Mood: Totally Rockin

Music: Queen "We Are the Champions"

A Most Sincere Thank You!

I wish my range of vocabulary was broader so that I could effectively express my gratitude to each and every one of you.

To the photographers: Your pictures are what get us "out there" online. So without you, we'd be no where. Thank you for your kindness, support, and for capturing the positive atmosphere and spirit of our gatherings in the amazing pictures you take.

To the donators: Your kindness truly knows no boundaries. Everytime I glanced over at the drink table, food table, raffle table, any table, they were consistently growing larger and larger. Your generosity is astounding. For the video games, for the electronics, for the water bottles, for the snacks, for the drinks, for everything I thank you so very much.

To the cooks: You kept people happy and from utter starvation! XD I thank each and every one of you for cooking under that hot, hot sun. Cooking Mama would be proud!

To my staff: Even with a larger scope of vocabulary, I could never find the words to describe what you all mean to me. It took each and every one of our strengths to pull something like this off. "Thank you" doesn't even begin portray my gratitude.

To the attendees: We owe EVERYTHING to you. For spreading the good word of our events, to dressing up, to donating items, to supporting us online and in the real world, and for EVEN SHOWING UP! We owe it all to you. I don't think it's quite hit me just yet how many people were in attendance yesterday. But if numbers mean anything, I think we've truly accomplished an extraordinary feat in the cosplay community.

I want to do this to every one of you!

Though I'm perfectly aware that "You can't make everyone happy..." (-as my dad would say) I am confident that we made as many people happy as we humanly could.

To answer your questions about the Summer Gathering, we have every intent in hosting another event later this year. The jury is still out on when, where, and what that will be.

Keep your eye peeled for updates!

Until then, happy cosplaying!

-Ms.Naru

April 8th, 2008

Mood: Giddy

Music: Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge"

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tournament Announced!

Our good friend Brian, you may know him on Cosplay.com as "Outrage" A.K.A. SSBB guru, will be running our Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tournament at our gathering! This will be our very first video game challenge and we could not be more excited!

The tournament will start at noon and is open to any level of player! If you're a winner, you could be walking with a set of awesome Skullcandy Headgear, your very own Companion Cube plush, and more!

Official rules and scoreboard will be posted in the video game zone during the event! Good luck!

April 7th, 2008

Mood: Anxious

Music: Feist "1234"

Cosplay is a hot hobby!

With only 5 more days left until the gathering, things have become quite busy "back-stage"! We are all so excited for Saturday, it's ridiculous.

For those of you kind enough to offer a donation, we are in need of water and/or drinks the most. It's important that on a hot day like Saturday, people stay hydrated and on their feet! XD

So if you were thinking of what to bring, but just couldn't pinpoint what item, water would be most appreciated! Thank you for your support!

March 31, 2008

Mood: Cheerful

Music: Incubus "Anna Molly"

World of Warcraft Grand Prize Giveaway!

Thanks to some amazing friends at Blizzard Entertainment, we have a brand new prize in the "Grand Tier" category for our raffle giveaway!

It's an incredible World of Warcraft package!

Items to include:

A Rare WoW Figurine
A WoW 2008 Daily Calendar
A BlizzCon Exclusive WoW Trading Card Deck
Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy Manga
A YEAR'S WORTH OF FREE WoW ONLINE!
and there's even more, if you can believe that!

This amazing prize package is worth over $250!

This will be on the "Grand Prize Tier" of our raffle prize giveaway and will only be $1 per raffle ticket!

Make sure to get your raffle tickets when you check in! They go fast!

Please note:

Grand Tier Raffle Prize Tickets:

• $1 per ticket with no limit to the amount you can purchase.
• You MUST be present at the raffle prize giveaway to win. Schedule to be announced.
• The amount of prize(s) you may or may not win in the" First Tier Raffle" has no effect on your chances of winning the "Grand Prize Tier" World of Warcraft package.
• Example: One person purchases a number of "First Tier Raffle" tickets and wins the limit of two prizes in the "First Tier Raffle". If that person has also purchased a $1 raffle ticket towards the "Grand Tier Raffle", they still have a chance at taking home the grand prize.
• The more tickets you purchase, the greater your chances of winning.

First Tier Raffle Prize Tickets:

• .25 per ticket with no limit to the amount you can purchase.
• You MUST be present at the raffle prize giveaway to win. Schedule to be announced.
• You can win a limit of two prizes if you have 2 or more raffle tickets in the collection.
• Once a ticket has been called, it will be discarded and taken out of the collection.
• The more tickets you purchase, the greater your chances of winning.

Good luck to everyone!

March 27th, 2008

Mood: Excited

Music: The Rick Roll!

"Pixel Memory Studio"=BEST Purikura in Town!

Check them out at:

Pixel Memory Studio

2130 Sawtelle Blvd. Unit 200A

Los Angeles, CA 90025

310.231.8288

March 17th, 2008

Mood: Cheerful

Music: A-ha: "Take On Me"

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Does anybody else remember this movie? I was addicted to it as a child. Oh the good old days!

Less than a month left until the SoCal Cosplay Spring Gathering! We've already hit over 200 RSVP's, our largest list to date! Simply amazing!

A big thank you to The Girls Entertainment Network for their generous donations to our raffle prizes! Our prizes this year are sure to amaze and it's thanks to great organizations like G.E.N. that it's even possible! Check out the ladies at G.E.N. and show us some love!

So Happy St.Patty's day to everyone and if you are going to drink, don't drive! Be safe everyone and we'll see you soon in our next blog!

March 6th, 2008

Mood: Elated!

Music: Mariah Carey "Touch My Body" (one of the funniest videos I've ever seen)

Video Games Live Donates 2 Tickets to Comic Con San Diego Show!

That's right folks, the critically acclaimed concert series "Video Games Live" has just donated a prize package worth over $100 to our gathering! It includes awesome Video Games Live gear and 2 free tickets to their Comic Con San Diego show in the beautiful Embarcadero Marina Park July 24th. Having personally been to numerous Video Games Live shows, you can count on these three things:

1. Beautiful music from the best video games ever created.

2. An amazing stage show themed perfectly to each musical piece.

3. A unique experience you will never forget.

Here's a sample of the games they play music from!

Mario™
Zelda®
Halo®
Final Fantasy®
Warcraft®
StarCraft® II
Sonic™
Metal Gear Solid®
Kingdom Hearts
Chrono Cross™
Myst®
Tron
Castlevania®
Metroid®
Medal of Honor™
God of War™
BioShock™
Civilization IV
Tomb Raider®
Beyond Good & Evil™
Advent Rising
EverQuest® II
Monkey Island
Earthworm Jim
Pac-Man
Conan
Guitar Hero™
Headhunter
Splinter Cell®
Ghost Recon™
Rainbow Six®
Jade Empire
Contra
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix™

And if that's not enough information, check out the official Video Games Live website for even more excitement!

March 1st, 2008

Mood: Bouncy

Music: Aoi Teshima: "Koi Suru Shippo"

Date: February 14th, 2008

"Sing Tao" is Our Friend!

Recently, an editor for Hong Kong's second largest Chinese newspaper "Sing Tao" contacted us to feature our gatherings on their online news site SingTao.com! This is really exciting news and we look forward to working with Sing Tao! Now if we could only read Chinese! XD

In other SoCal Cosplay news, our MySpace has officially hit over 100 friends! We've only been up for 5 days! We can truly feel the love. Thank you for your support! Can't wait to see your faces in April!

Mood: Elated

Music: Nintendo Big Band: Go Go Mario!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Everyone here at SoCal Cosplay wishes you the best Valentine's Day ever! Thanks for showing us your love!

Date: February 11th, 2008

Mood: Exhausted

Music: Daft Punk: "One More Time"

New Event Added!

Thanks to a very special suggestion from "QuestionableKristina" on our forums, we have officially added "Cosplay Scavenger Hunt" to our list of events! Here's some basic info for those of you interested in playing:

• You'll need a digital camera with a display screen.
• You'll receive a list of about 30 "Cosplay Categories" that you'll have to take pictures of in order to rack up points.
• You'll have about an hour to fulfill as many categories as you can.
• Examples of categories: Female cosplayer with red wig, male cosplayer with large weapon, cosplayer playing in the sand, etc.
• Easy categories=1 point, Moderate=2 points, Difficult=3 points

You'll basically be taking picture after picture of these "Cosplay Categories" in order to get enough points to win an amazing prize. For more information and to see the original suggestion post check our Forum

A very big thank you to QuestionableKristina for the idea!

Date: February 9th, 2008

Mood: Excited

Music: Foo Fighters: "The Pretender"

New Video!

I've uploaded a new video on Youtube about our events! I think it represents the energy, atmosphere, and fun you'll find at all of our gatherings!

Things "behind the scenes" are so going so amazingly well, it's scary! XD I can't wait to surprise everyone with what we have in store for the future!

Date: January 21, 2008

Mood: Accomplished

Music: Kayne West: "Stronger"

Our store is up!

Date: January 11th, 2008

Mood: Scthuper Excited

Music: Weezer: Keep Fishin'

Great news everyone!

• Admission to the gathering is $5, this covers all of the amazing food, a free raffle ticket to win some outstanding prizes, and access to all of the day's events.
  
• Additional raffle prize tickets can be purchased at the check-in table for only .25!
  
• Parking at Mason Regional Park is $5 and this small fee helps keep this amazing park clean, well groomed, and properly taken care of all year round.
  
• Site #6 is a shaded area surrounded by rolling hills, lush trees, a sand volleyball court, 2 kids playgrounds, a gorgeous lake within 2 minute walking distance, men and women's bathrooms within 30 seconds walking distance, meets a HUGE grass field with trees and picnic tables perfect for photo shoots, and MUCH more!
  
• Site #6 can hold up to 500 guests, so you can imagine how much space this place has!
  
• Gathering events include: The good ol' costume contest (anyone in costume is entered), raffle prize giveaway, photo shoots galore, Easter egg hunt, video game zone, plenty of delicious food, drinks, and more secret events to be announced later!

For more info and pictures of the park, click here!

Mason Regional Park of Epic Lens Flares

Date: December 27th, 2007

Mood: Happy

Music: Utada Hikaru: "Can You Keep A Secret?"

Welcome to the SoCal Cosplay blog!

Here you can find updates, news, funny pictures, memories, my ramblings, and random events going on with SoCal Cosplay Gatherings.

For those of you who are new to SoCal Cosplay, we are an organization of cosplayers that enjoy having a good time! We host annual gatherings for our fellow cosplayers and have been going three years strong! Our last event, held in Laguna Niguel Regional Park, boasted an attendee list of over 200!

With raffle prizes galore, a costume contest for all ages and skill levels, musical entertainment, a delicious BBQ, beautiful scenic locations, and a relaxing atmosphere, our events are truly a unique cosplay experience!

For even more information, check out the SoCalCosplay Forum.

More to come soon! Make sure to check back for updates!