Steven Grant has a very lucid view of Anime Expo:

I noted this when I last attended, a couple of years ago. It has only amplified. If one element overwhelms you at Anime Expo, it’s the sense of community, and union. Fan and professional alike go there with the same attitude, and often the same obsessions: while companies hawk their specific wares with gusto, there’s also an underlying promotion of anime and manga across the board. The convention isn’t simply about selling, but about bonding. For all the customers on the display floor – and most booths were doing a brisk business (the one notable exception was Wizard’s ANIME INSIDER booth, which drew no apparent attention from anyone any time I passed by it) – there were easily as many in the courtyard between the convention center and the Hilton next door, taking pictures and making new friends. At least 35% of the attendees were in a costume of some sort, from the minimal to the highly elaborate, and many dressed in full costume continuously despite daytime heat mostly in the mid-90s. These were people who really wanted to be there. And they were mostly young, ranging from mid-teens to early 30s, with incredible enthusiasm and focus across the board.

San Diego used to be like that, too.

Meanwhile, a blog over at ANN gives five ideas for activities to break up the crushing tension of attending the big show. Among them:

1. Sing karaoke with a friend.
The most fun I’ve ever had at a convention was trying to bust out a Kenshin image song with a random stranger back in 2000. Once you realize you suck, you can forget about impressing people and just let loose and have fun.

Heidi Meely has a harrowing account of what it’s like to be mistaken for The Beat:

… here is an interesting and true fact. I have been mistaken for the original Heidi M. more times then I care to remember. While it is extremely flattering, we are definitely two separate people. I don’t know how many times when I was doing review for 4 Color Review (circa 1999 forward) that I would get e-mails from people going “Hey Heidi, I met you at such and such con, how are ya?” and I would have to explain to them that I was not the original model, but another woman who ironically had the same first name and last initial. Too funny

While everyone is enjoying the terse dialog in the new Superman, you can download several of the previous script treatments, such as Superman vs. Batman, here.