Caspar Is Invited On Stage, Tokyo Game Show and Camera Failure

Konichiwa everybody!

Friday evening Caspar, Annette and I went to a pub called What The Dickens, a very nice and cozy Irish pub in the Ebizu area of the city. Here we listened to some live music and enjoyed some beers. While we were sitting at a table, a German/Japanese lady called Ami came over to us to promote her live act this evening (Sunday the 19th of September) and we fell into conversation with her.
After introducing ourselves, Caspar and her fell into conversation about music and one thing lead to the other and Caspar is going to play live on stage with her tonight! You can watch the concert live via following link: http://www.whatthedickens.jp/.
Go in there around 14:00-16:00 European time to watch it.

Yesterday we all went to the Tokyo Game Show. It is a convention for game, console and computer developers to promote and show off the newest in the world of gaming.
Caspar and I had only gotten one hour of sleep the night before, having been out all night Friday, so we were slightly damaged as we set out to find the convention. It was an hour of transport without the possibility of sitting down. The trains were filled with people going to the show. Not exactly prime conditions for a couple of hungover persons, but we made it, more or less. It helped a lot to get out of the train and getting some fresh air.
The area, where the convention hall was situated, was very nice. Green areas and water here and there. Very well kept and clean.
The convention hall was huge seen from afar, only to prove even larger when we came up close as there were two buildings of the same size.

(Caspar's awestruck face expression after seeing the convention hall)

(The convention hall)

(The convention hall again)

Also, when we came up close, we could kind of sense that the whole thing would become a queue nightmare. Already from the very outside, people were queuing up just for the security check even though it was still early.
When we finally made it through the security check, we were ready to get in and see all the different things. The only problem was just that queue hell wasn't over. There was a line going around THE WHOLE BUILDING. I may not have explained just how big the building was. If you took 5 football fields and put them together, you would have to multiply that with two to get the size of the place. This made the line very, very long. It didn't exactly help that it was about 30 degrees Celsius and that the humidity was very high too. After 30 minutes of standing in that line alone, having turned around two corners of the building, the line turned again to go through the building - or so we thought. The truth was that it was the entrance. We were finally done with the line! Outside, at least.

(Having made it through the security check)

(A picture of the line around the building)

(The line going through the building)

Inside it was a controlled mayhem of sounds and lights and an uncontrolled mayhem of people. It was a bit much after having been standing for at least 2 hours including transport, being in the state that I was, but we were finally inside!
Being inside, I quickly realized that I had expected something very different. There were queues everywhere and mostly you just got to stand in line for up to 45 minutes just to see a trailer or get a couple of minutes of playtime with a new or coming game. There was even a queue for the merchandise shop!
It was a disappointment as I had hoped for something a little less queue-ish. Caspar and I decided to go home after an hour and a half to take care of our damaged bodies and heads. All in all I was happy to have been there and seen it, as I would have been regretting not going.

(Lights! Sound! People!)

(Sonic the Hedgehog and Annette)

(I'm not sure what this is)

(Japanese people)

On our way out of the convention hall, we saw a lot of different cosplayers (people dressed up in costumes, looking like characters from anime and computer games). Wanting to take pictures of them, Caspar borrowed my camera but it ran out of batteries fast, so no pictures of them, sadly.

This morning, when l looked through the photos, I got a bad surprise. I noticed that the last couple of pictures in the camera had a large black line across it. Wondering what it might could be, I took of the lens and looked inside. One of the shutter curtains is stuck across the sensor! Noooooo! It is most likely the motor driving the shutter that has worn out. This means that I need to get it to a Canon Service Center to get it fixed. The irony of this is that the Canon Service Center is situated out near the convention hall where we were yesterday. One hour of transport each way.
The worst thing is almost that Caspar had noticed this yesterday but didn't tell me! We could have just went by the service center and had it repaired so it would work for tonight for the concert. Today it is closed, so I have to wait for tomorrow to go out there and get it repaired.

(An example of the malfunction of the camera)

Tonight, Annette and I will go hear Caspar play on stage. Maybe you will be able to see all of us in the live feed from the bar.

Until then, take care!

Esben.