Last week I covered Friday's festivities at All-con. But I ran out of time before I could start in to the rest of the weekend.

So I woke up around 11am, surprised I didn't have a massive hang-over. Then I realized that was because I was still kinda lit. I wasn't staggering around or anything, but I still had a light buzz. And let me tell you, if you're gonna wake up after a night of heavy... enjoyment... that's the way to do it! I didn't have any hint of a headache until around 6pm. And I was totally recovered before it was time to start partying again...

But I'm getting ahead of myself... we were supposed to be talking about 11am. I took a quick shower and headed out to my booth, where I was supposedly "selling" art. That's "selling" in the most non-selling sense of the word. But I did get to enjoy the costumes, were were out in even stronger force than Friday.

Take for example...

Resident Evil 4!

I loved that video game. And these guys were top-notch!

And then there was Supergirl to brighten up my morning.

And of course Bobby had to get in for his shot.

She was really spot-on... my photos don't come close to doing her justice. I might need to look at a new camera in time for Dragon*con, because a lot of these pics just aren't up to snuff.

Seeing Niktom and Bobby again reminds me that I completely forgot to take any photos of Jonathan Caustrita or Kit Lively! Those were the other cartoonists I hung out with over the weekend. And I didn't take photos of anybody's booth but mine! I didn't get any photos of Zack either... the talent acquisition specialist who got me a photo of... well, let's keep that surprise for later. A total lack of photographic documentation... Very unprofessional. I guess I was just distracted by all the women in costume...

Speaking of girls in costume... I don't know, some anime thing...

And Slave Leia in roller skates! She was on the roller derby team that did a demo or something... I missed it.

So it was shaping up to be a good day on the costuming front. And believe it or not, it also turned out to be a good day on the art sales front! I was selling "convention sketches" for five bucks a pop - basically drawings of the characters from The Cantina. And a handful of people actually decided to buy them! It was awesome. People complimenting my talent. I never understand people who gush over my art. But then I'm my own worst critic... I don't understand why anybody would ever pay for something I drew. I'm happy to take the money, though!

Out near where C-3PO was set up, they assembled a larger-than-life old-school Gort statue. It was worthy of a photo.

Somewhere around 2pm my drinking buddy from the previous night made it out of her room and onto the show floor. One reason it took so long was because she too was doing the costume thing. And it was a good one, too...

Presenting the lovely Drusilla as Fireplace Padme!

I really like how her costume turned out. I don't think it was particularly comfortable for her, but it looked great.

As we were chatting I had to break for more photos...

Anime costumes were all the rage yet again.

I don't know who she was, but I liked it!

While we were shooting photos, Dru was kind enough to do the Vanna White thing for my booth.

And pretty much the rest of the afternoon was shooting photos, including...

Two super hero chicks that I actually don't recognize...

My favorite costume of the entire weekend... Arcee of the (pre-Bay abomination) Transformers! The whole costume was made of like padded, cloth-covered cardboard or something. It was truly impressive. And the face mask was retractable into the helmet. Impressive engineering!

The best Chun Li I've ever seen! She came back later to chat about how she tried to get a candy bar out of the vending machine, but couldn't get it because of her wrist armor.

That anime girl I liked earlier... she came back in a different anime costume!

Veeeeery niiiiiice!

Two guys dressed up as robots I don't recognize. These were made of cardboard and paper mache... not nearly as functional (or comfortable) as the Arcee costume. But cool none-the-less.

A movie-authentic, 7-foot-tall Predator

Dudes from Kingdom Hearts! I told them I loved the video game series, to which we three wondered "When the hell is part three coming out??!!"

Old-school Iron Man. (God, I need a new camera)

A pirate chick! Now, this girl was one of two sitting across from my booth promoting their own web comic called "Absurd" (I believe this to be it). They were both really fantastic artists, showing off their stuff on a big LCD connected to their laptop. The girl in the pirate outfit was actually much cuter than the photo would suggest... she has black make-up around her eyes that made them look exceptionally cavernous. It was nice sitting across from them and chucking paper airplanes at them. They were great neighbors.

Also in attendance was a guy from BSG everybody called "Chief." I don't watch the show (figure I'll rent it some month and watch it beginning to end), so I don't know much about him. But in real life he was fantastic. He purchased front-row seats to the burlesque show in an auction at the start of the event, then gave them to a couple who was celebrating their 10-year wedding anniversary. He was also as enthusiastic as can be, and the 501st made him an honorary member. You could tell the guy loved his fans and was a genuine class act.

Finally, some guy framed up a photo of folks from "every genre" and I just happened to pass by and sneak a shot.

So, that was most of the afternoon. We went to eat at a mexican place where I could barely finish one and a half enchiladas. They were yummy, though. My stomach just wouldn't have any more of them. Then we came back, took an hour nap, and got in line for the afore-mentioned burlesque show.

The show was amazing. We got the same performers as last year... La Divina (recently inducted into the Burlesque Hall of Fame) and the Lollie Bombs. We didn't get front-row seats this year because the seats SOLD OUT before Thursday afternoon. But we did get about 4 rows back, which wasn't bad at all.

Here's me with La Divina.

And then all that was left to do was stay up all night partying again. I felt 100% recovered from the previous evening just about the time I started visiting the parties Saturday night. During the course of the night we ran across...

Birthday boy Todd Carlton and that guy that looks like young Obi-Wan

Todd really seemed to be having a fun time, and appreciated the birthday gift Dru gave him.

Here's my crew.

Here's Todd, unable to stand at this point, along with a woman who dresses as a 60's era Catwoman.

Dude from Insane Clown Posse, featuring the most fortunate self-censoring T-shirt wrinkle in the history of photography!

This girl told me who she was dressed as, but I'll be damned if I can remember...

Sunday morning I only stayed up until 3am. I know... WEAK! But just about everyone was burnt out. There wasn't near so much dancing or fooling around going on... pretty much everyone was camped on couches most of the nights. But it was still a great time, which I enjoyed thoroughly while not getting in nearly as much trouble as the previous day.

Of course not all of us turned in at 3am. The next morning I learned Bobby was up until 6:30 after hanging out in the hot tub with an assortment of friendly ladies. Maybe I should have toughed it out after all...

I was up by 9am Sunday, and headed over to the "Star Wars auction." It was basically Todd selling a bunch of modern toys to the highest bidder, often substantially lower than retail. It was a good way to kill an hour or so. Niktom moseyed in about 15 minutes after I did and sat next to me. We were given white boards to write our bids on and hold up... I guess to keep down the noise. I didn't bid on much of anything, since most were figures I already had or didn't want. But when Todd pulled out a few of those bottle cap eggs from Celebration Japan I was suddenly interested. People usually started bidding at $.20 or $1. I threw up $4 and the crown went silent. Going once! Going TWICE!! Then Niktom held up his board and bid $8. And I yelled out "You DICK!" $8 for three of these eggs was still a hell of a deal, but I didn't want to outbid a friend... even a friend who'd just outbid me. So I wrote out my counter-bid... "F@#$ SCOTT!" Uncensored, of course. That failed to gain me victory. But much to my surprise, Niktom actually gave me the eggs he won. He said he just wanted to outbid me. Dick...

The rest of the day wound down with me hanging out at my booth. I sold more art. Bobby loved my sales pitch... this kid was looking at my sketched. I told him, "You should buy one of those, they're awesome!" He replied that he thought they were cooler than some $10 action figure, and gave me some cash. Bobby decided that for All-Con '09 we need to get a giant banner to run across the tops of our booths that says "buy our drawings - they're AWESOME!"

There were still a few costumers out on Sunday.

Marvel Girl was back, this time as Black Widow

Quick story... there was a girl dressed as Emma Frost on Friday. Niktom ran up to her to get a photo, but she was going to a panel and said "I'll be back later." And she never returned...

Until she triumphantly returned Sunday at noon!

That made Niktom's weekend. "She came back!!!"

Dru made it back to the con about 15 minutes before I had to go, bearing gifts of Bar-B-Q sandwiches. I had to wolf it down because my shuttle was almost due, but it kept me full for the duration of my travels back to Pittsburgh. I broke down my booth, gave some art to the people I'd hung out with. And then I packed everything up and headed out the door... towards a long, dull couple plane flights that weren't worth even mentioning.

So that was All-Con 2008. I had a really, REALLY fantastic time. Anybody who lives anywhere near Dallas should make it over there. Thank you to Todd for all your hospitality! Nobody puts together a better con for grown-ups. Next week I'll have a few follow-up notes, and something extra special that I held back for out Anniversary Update. See you then!!