San Japan, San Antonio’s major Japanese Culture and Anime Convention, has announced the first round of guests for its July 2010 convention. The convention is proud to announce that voice actors Carrie Savage, Chris Ayres and Josh Grelle will be making return appearances to San Antonio. San [Read it all...]]]>

From San Japan 2009. Photo ©2009 SkyPirate.

San Japan, San Antonio’s major Japanese Culture and Anime Convention, has announced the first round of guests for its July 2010 convention. The convention is proud to announce that voice actors Carrie Savage, Chris Ayres and Josh Grelle will be making return appearances to San Antonio. San Japan is also proud to announce the return of new school hip-hop act Maja and local cover band LoliHolix, along with popular artist Amelie Belcher.

Christopher Ayres has been working professionally in theatre, television and film since the age of 6. He currently works as a voice actor for ADV and FUNimation. Chris is also an A.D. R. Director for ADV and Amusement Park Media.

Carrie Savage has voiced many anime characters: from California, she has voiced such characters as ‘Fuko’ in I, My, Me! Strawberry Eggs, ‘Rakka’ in Haibane Renmei, ‘Hakufu’ in Ikki Tousen, ‘Nancy Makuhari’ in R.O.D. the TV series and ‘Maromi’ in Paranoia Agent.

A native Texan, Josh Grelle was raised on stage and in the art studios of Central Texas. He performed on stage for over 15 years prior to starting work for A.D.V. Films at the start of 2004. Since then he has worked for ADV and Funimation on numerous projects.

Amelie Belcher travels the country selling her award-winning art, doing one-of-a-kind commissions for con goers, and being paid tribute by her army of fans known as the “Ami Army” in the form of Pocky and manga. Known as “the angriest chick on the net”, she is the creator of the popular web comic “The Real Life Adventures of Amelie” at Cordeval.com.

Maja is an American lyricist who loves Japanese animation, video games, and the Japanese language. In fall 2009, Maja released a brand new album called “Bleach’d Out”, a brand new hip-hop twist in tribute to the anime series Bleach which can be downloaded for free.

LoliHolix bring a line up of songs influenced by video game music, Japanese styles, and all types of assorted musical diversities.

San Japan will be bringing many popular events to the convention including the Ouran Host Club, Hetalia Olympics (formally Otaku-lympics), an enduring otaku competitive event along with Ani-Idol, a karaoke and singing competition. San Japan is currently taking entries for its upcoming AMV Competition along with art submissions for its art contest with prizes given out for winning entries.

San Japan will be happening on the weekend of July 9th – 11th, 2010 at its new convention location to happen at the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter Hotel, adjacent to the Rivercenter Mall in the middle of the famous Riverwalk. Pre-registration is currently happening for $30 for a discount 3-day weekend pass. Hotel rooms will be available at the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel for a special convention rate of $117 per night (normal nightly rate is $219). Pre-registration is open until June 10th and the discount hotel rates are available until June 17th.

Show founder and organizer Dave Henkin says, “San Japan is very excited to be returning for its third year. We plan to invade the center of the Riverwalk. We will moving to a brand new location which will be able to hold our growing convention
in one large spot (the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel). We plan to build on the continued success of our previous conventions in
bringing the best fandom experience we can offer for our attendees and patrons.”

More information on registration, additional details about the convention, guest announcements, along with streaming music tracks of the performing music guests, can all be found at the official revamped San Japan website. San Japan is also on Twitter and on Facebook, which will include the latest up-to-date news about the convention.

For photo galleries of the past two years of San Japan fun, please visit SkyPirate.

For twenty years now, there’s been one address for Halloween horror in San Antonio — 201 East Grayson Street. Not that you need to be told, if you live in this town, but that’s the home of Nightmare on Grayson, San Antonio’s longest-running, and still the best, haunted house. Director of Operations [Read it all...]]]>

Nightmare on Grayson's Gordon Wise...and friends

For twenty years now, there’s been one address for Halloween horror in San Antonio — 201 East Grayson Street. Not that you need to be told, if you live in this town, but that’s the home of Nightmare on Grayson, San Antonio’s longest-running, and still the best, haunted house. Director of Operations Gordon Wise gave us the inside dope on what’s inside your favorite Nightmare.

Missions Unknown: What has made Nightmare on Grayson the best for so long?

Gordon Wise: The employees make it the best. Unlike some haunted houses across the country, Nightmare on Grayson is an actor- and theatrical-driven experience. You won’t find any animatronics or high-tech scares here, we rely on an actor’s skill and timing to terrify you. Nothing beats the timing of a real, live actor.

MU: When did Nightmare on Grayson start?

GW: We’ve been in San Antonio under this name for around 20 years. Not a lot of people know, but it actually started out in 1989 as Nightmare on 6th Street, in Austin. The partners who ran that went their separate ways, and one came to San Antonio and Grayson Street. I’ve been a part of it for fifteen years. I was driving from Savannah to San Diego and happened to stop in San Antonio in October. They needed a security guard and now I’m a partner.

MU: How do you keep people coming back year after year?

GW: Nightmare on Grayson has become a staple. Ask a San Antonio twelve-year-old what Halloween means to them, and Nightmare on Grayson will be one of the top three things listed. We do this by marketing every year like it’s the first year. We are always working to get the word out and remind people of the event. It is all due to the hard work of the dedicated staff and employees.

We have children on our staff whose parents worked at Nightmare. And there are people who bring in their kids, whose parents had brought them in years before. We’re on our third generation of customers, and a second generation of staff.

Each year we change about thirty percent of the attraction, usually a little at the beginning and little at the end, changes designed to give maximum impact. The interior of the facility is about a third size of a football field, and we work year-round to maintain it and improve it. We all have to take second jobs to support ourselves off-season, but we’re still working here all the time.

MU: Who designs the creatures and costumes?

GW: Me and Oscar Martinez, full-time. Others come in for short stints to help out. Off-season there’s never more than three or five, but come showtime, we have close to 100 employees, fifty or sixty of them actors. The rest handle tickets, support the staff and crew, sew costumes, handle money…we’ve got runners and people handing out water (it gets hot in there). Virtually any position you can imagine in a movie theater, we have that position in the haunted house. We’ve gotten more and more elaborate over the years, due to the exceptional artists coming through. I learn a lot from every year’s staff, very talented people.

MU: What can people expect to see while waiting in the line to get in?

GW: We don’t have lines anymore. Used to be we’d have a line four city-blocks long, but we’ve got online ticketing now, people get in fast. Very streamlined, when it’s your turn, you just show your ticket and you get in. But we do have some character monsters outside who will give you a scare if you get there early. And there’s card readers and vendors and face painters, we still have that carnival atmosphere.

MU: Is there an age limit? Do you turn anyone away? How do you deal with the faint-hearted?

GW: The show really is not recommended for children under 10, but I’ve seen all ages inside. Some kids can handle it, some can’t, just depends on your willful suspension of disbelief. We even get senior citizens in there. There’s always some who just can’t handle it. Someone will cry, wet their pants or throw up every night, but only a small percentage, probably about the same as for any scary movie. We escort them out and try to make it as dignified as possible, but it’s obvious they’re upset.

MU: What are everyone’s favorites?

GW: For some reason, everyone freaks out on puppets and dolls. Oh, and clowns. Not sure why. I think it might be because of the painted face, and parents force them to get close when they’re young. And anyone’s creepy when they’re always happy.

The Spurs Coyote and Freddy Krueger

MU: Spurs Coyote vs Freddy Krueger: who wins?

GW: Funny you should mention the Coyote. He came out this year and put on the Freddy outfit, still dressed as the Coyote. It’ll show on the screen at the Spurs game Halloween night. If you see it there, come out and visit the haunted house afterward, we’re open until at least midnight.

MU: How have people in the area reacted to Nightmare on Grayson becoming such a fixture?

GW: When we first got here, the neighborhood was derelict, really a disaster area. We’ve been cleaning and fixing the area for twenty years, cutting grass and removing graffiti. Now our new neighbor, the Pearl Brewery, has moved in, and they’ve really done a lot to upgrade the area. We’re trying to update our façade to match. People are really surprised to see the place now, it looks very nice.

MU: What are your favorite sci-fi and horror movies?

GW: I’m kind of embarrassed to admit them, because they’re mostly so silly. One was a drive-in movie I saw as a little kid, The Gruesome Twosome, about a woman who takes in girls to board in her house and gives them to her afflicted son in the basement to scalp with an electric carving knife. That really stuck with me. Another is Trilogy of Terror, with Karen Black being chased around the house by a voodoo doll, that scared the crap out of me! I didn’t see The Texas Chain Saw Massacre until I was an adult, and anyone who pooh-poohs that movie doesn’t know what they’re talking about, it’s great. Can’t stand the remake, though, I love Gunnar Hansen. I far prefer the happy-go-lucky fat guy with a chainsaw to the angry guy with the chainsaw.

Alien is great, hit me at just the right time. And I’ll probably catch some heat from my friends, but The Blair Witch Project really disturbed me. I think it might’ve been the camera-work, though, I was nauseous walking out of the theater.

No one will believe me, but it’s the gods-honest truth — I love big musicals and Bollywood — Grease, Rocky Horror, Hair, anything where people break into dance numbers.

From the Worlds Collide website:

“Come join [Read it all...]]]> Shoutout to all San Antonio fans of the paranormal and ghost chasing at-large: the SA fan groups Doctor Who Fans Unite and Worlds Collide will be ghost hunting in downtown SA, Saturday night, October 24th. All SA science fiction, fantasy and horror fans are invited to join them.

From the Worlds Collide website:

“Come join (Worlds Collide) and the Doctor Who Meetup Group for the most popular ghost tour in San Antonio. You will get to use some of the latest equipment currently used by paranormal investigators to possibly see and photograph a ghost during your ghost hunt. EMF Detectors, Temperature Guns and UltraView Goggles are provided for the whole group to have a ghost hunting experience!

Ghost Hunts will start at 8:30pm at the Alamo Cenotaph. That’s the big monument right in front of the Alamo. Once you get to the Alamo, the Cenotaph is shaped like a big “L”. It’s about as big as a bus — hard to miss when you are in front of the Alamo.

Go there and look for the group along with our ghost guide. The guide will be wearing a blue backpack, and a baseball hat that says “Alamo City Paranormal” on it. Crystal and Marcella (the presidents of Doctor Who Fans Unite and Worlds Collide, respectively) will be wearing “Nightmare Before Christmas” shirts.

This 90-minute walking tour covers about five blocks of downtown San Antonio. Then they break out the equipment and let us ghost hunt for about 30 minutes–if you dare!!

Date: Saturday, October 24
Time: 8:30pm
Place: The Alamo / 300 Alamo Plaza / San Antonio, TX / 78205
Price: $8.00 per person

Here’s more information about the San Antonio-based Alamo City Ghost Tours.

San Japan [Read it all...]]]> Japanese culture and media have been very influential to mainstream American media in varied ways, some as obvious as Godzilla, others as subtle as an American remake of a Japanese horror flick. If you are a fan of Japanese culture, movies, anime or manga, SAN JAPAN is the place for you this weekend.

San Japan is San Antonio’s annual Japanese Culture and Anime Convention. This is the second year of the con and it is shaping up to be a big one. The 2008 show was a huge success with over 3,500 people attending! This year con organizer Dave Henken anticipates crowds in the 4,000+ range.

The list of events is lengthy. You can see and partake in Cosplay (costumed roleplay), Otaku-lympics (mock-olympic showdown), Ani-Idol (sing your favorite anime or video game song), concerts, a charity auction, panels, workshops, dance, art, interactive anime screenings and so much more.

There will be plenty of guest stars at the convention including voice actor Travis Willingham (Fullmetal Alchemist, Dragonball Z), Laura Bailey (Fruits Basket, Fullmetal Alchemist), Chris Patton (Bubblegum Crisis 2040, Nerima Daikon Brothers), Christopher Ayres, Jonathan Joss (King of the Hill, Jonah Hex) and hoards more. Antarctic Press, San Antonio-based purveyors of excellent comic titles like Gold Digger and Ninja High School will be in full effect with lots of creators on hand.

Expect concerts with musical guests the LeetStreet Boys, Tadahisa Yoshida, Random (a.k.a Mega Ran), ZeaLouS1, Katsuhiko Jinnai and Loliholix. Through in a healthy mix of dancing until 4AM and 24-hour video gaming and you have a powerful concoction of fun.

This event is definitely worth a visit.

San Japan 2.x is going on all weekend, August 14-16, at the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium (100 Auditorium Circle) and the Holiday Inn El Tropicano Riverwalk hotel (110 Lexington Ave). 3-Day Weekend Passes and Single-Day Passes are available at the convention. Get a taste of San Japan on their YouTube channel and follow the happenings on Twitter.

John Picacio reports from WorldCon 2009 news of the announcement last night that San Antonio is now the official Texas contender for the 2013 World Science Fiction Convention! No official word on what other cities will be contending but SA now has all of Texas fandom’s support behind it and [Read it all...]]]>

WorldCon - Texas 2013

John Picacio reports from WorldCon 2009 news of the announcement last night that San Antonio is now the official Texas contender for the 2013 World Science Fiction Convention! No official word on what other cities will be contending but SA now has all of Texas fandom’s support behind it and that’s huge.

You can see details on the official (although nascent) Texas 2013 web site. You may notice some quotes pulled from a certain San Antonio-based SF/F/H site. We’re glad to see that we aren’t the only ones enamored of the Alamo City.

San Antonio hosted the very popular WorldCon (AKA LoneStarCon II) back in 1997. The convention would be held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in downtown San Antonio which was also the location for LoneStarCon II. Since that time, the center has undergone a complete refurbishment and we think everyone will be impressed with the new look. You can follow the Texas 2013 happenings on Twitter or email Chairman Bill Parker to get on the email list.

If you are interested in financially supporting the con bid, you can make a contribution online.

DAVE HENKIN is not one of us. He’s not a San Antonio guy. So why is he being profiled for “Made In SA”? Quite frankly, because in two short years, Dave has become one of the key shapers of San Antonio’s genre scene. He’s [Read it all...]]]>

SAN JAPAN'S MAN WITH A PLAN: Dave Henkin means business.

DAVE HENKIN is not one of us. He’s not a San Antonio guy. So why is he being profiled for “Made In SA”? Quite frankly, because in two short years, Dave has become one of the key shapers of San Antonio’s genre scene. He’s making such a meteoric impact that we just had to interview him and find out the skinny for ourselves. He’s the chairman of the emerging Japanese culture and anime convention, SAN JAPAN, based right here in San Antonio. He’s been attending fandom conventions for over six years and has been running San Japan for over two years. Read on and find out why this Austinite is one of the rising stars of fandom and why his San Japan show is already one of San Antonio’s annual must-see events.

Favorite authors, books, films, and anime include: Dave Barry, Douglas Adams, Chuck Palahniuk, Douglas Coupland, Neil Strauss, BATTLE ROYALE, FIGHT CLUB, CHOKE, HITCHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, MICROSERFS, THE MATRIX, AIRPLANE!, MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, DONNIE DARKO, AZUMANGA DAIOH, INITIAL D, THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA, and LUCKY STAR.

You live in Austin and yet you’re the chairman of a booming convention that’s shaping San Antonio’s genre scene. How did this happen?

There is a long story behind how San Japan came to be what it is today, but in essence, the abbreviated version is that a collective group of anime fans that were regular attendees at multiple conventions across Texas assembled to organize an anime convention in San Antonio since it hadn’t been done before. A young woman, who lived in Schertz, thought this was possible based on a crazy conceptual dream on putting a convention together. We started work on this huge project back in Fall 2005. My arm was kind of twisted to help out this group so I ended up backing San Japan and help front the startup costs by signing the paperwork necessary to create San Japan LLC. We were able to secure a hotel to host the convention.

However, before it even happened, it nearly fell apart since our staff was admittedly ill-experienced in the convention business. Some of the original people behind San Japan decided to depart including the young woman who originally created San Japan, but I decided to keep the dream alive, which started by reorganizing the group. I spent a lot of time and energy researching on convention organization, recognized a lot of our internal flaws then overhauled the communication within San Japan so we flowed well as a group. It has been a quite a learning process.

How many people do you expect for this year’s show? How do you get the word out?

This year we are expecting around 4000-4500 attendees. In our first year we brought out over 3500 attendees total, which shattered our previous expectations. Building on very positive word-of-mouth, our group pushed forward to raise the bar which we set for our first year. We continue to advertise at every large Texas anime convention across the state, at local conventions in San Antonio and with the cooperation from several large local stores we were allowed to advertise. We do not rely solely on word-of-mouth as San Japan is setup on many major social networks to ensure that any updates made on our website are also duplicated on different social networks to help spread the word. At the same time, I created Internet advertising campaigns on popular social websites and Google to take advantage of its capability to advertise to key demographics within the state for the same cost of a couple cups of premium coffee each day leading up to the convention.

To create continual interest, we held several mini-events including sponsoring a one-day convention at Our Lady Of The Lake University in March 2009. We also participate at large events around the city to continually promote the convention. In the past, we would receive generous help from people who would participate in street teams to push the word about San Japan. It is a lot of work but as a large collective we never stop trying to turn over every stone to get the word out within our limited budget.

Are most of the con-running committee Austin-based or are they a mixture of SA and Austin-based folks?

Our main staff is spread throughout the state of Texas. We have people based in Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio who are dedicated to helping our group. It makes staff meetings a bit difficult to hold in person but since most of the people on-board are tech-savvy as we are able to communicate efficiently online.

How about the attendees? Are most of them local or are you seeing folks from much further out attending?

About 70% of the attendees are local or within an hour driving distance but we’re pulling in people from all over the state including all of the major cities and even unlikely places like Abilene, El Paso and cities in the Rio Grande Valley. Based on records from our pre-registration in 2008, we had attendees from 15 different states attend our convention. In 2009, we have attendees from 17 states and 3 countries including Australia who are attending this year’s convention.

What are one or two favorite events happening at this year’s San Japan that you’re personally excited about?

Last year when Smile.dk surprised us by accepting our invitation to be our main musical guests to perform in their first-ever North American concert, I admittedly ‘fanboy’-ed when I finally met them in person, as I had been a fan of their music for a very long time after being introduced to them through the dance simulation game Dance Dance Revolution. The musical acts we invited this year have been thanking me for the chance to perform at San Japan but at the same time I have to admit that I’m probably most excited to finally meet some of our musical guests that will be performing at our convention this year.

Are you a big reader of manga and how did you first fall in love with Japanese genre culture? Was it via anime or manga? Any specific faves that you still highly regard today?

At one point I did immerse myself deeply in manga but it has waned over the years due to the high cost of purchasing the books since a series can be an upward of 25 to 35 books which can be a hit on the wallet. While I was introduced to anime while in high school, I was a late bloomer as I was recommended to NEON GENESIS EVANGELION by a good friend while in my early 20’s and fell in love with it immediately. I was local patron of a couple anime & indie movie stores in town picking up everything that I fancied. I went beyond anime to become immense in the Asian pop culture and its different types of music and movies. I decided to check out a local anime convention back in 2003, which lead me to become caught up in the culture. I don’t hold any series in truly high regard or watch it constantly but I do have many favorite series including the five favorites that I listed above.

The influence of manga and anime on American pop culture is completely assimilated into every fiber of today’s American comics, film and fashion. Are you seeing any new Japanese genre trends, products, comics, or films that American audiences haven’t experienced yet, but may be coming down the pike soon?

The real peak seems to have happened back in 2005 when there was an explosion of anime in America and its influence became affluent here. There have been new trends within the genre after it hit its plateau in 2005 but none that will be groundbreaking or likely will be coming to America since they are quite Japanese-centric which would not have commercial success in America.

You’re a big lover of dance video games. How did this come to be?

At one point in my life I was in a big rut after I had ballooned up to 260 lbs and I didn’t have much of a motivation to lose the weight. I was a regular patron of video game arcades when they still flourished so when a local arcade in Austin got a game called Dance Dance Revolution [DDR] back in July 2000, like anime, it was almost love at first sight. It was a fun, challenging game, which you could sweat your behind to catchy songs. I would spend hours a day at it and spent a lot of money at every chance I could get. It was quite a workout and I noticed I was losing a lot of weight as I dropped 70lbs after a year in playing DDR. This would be my gateway to being introduced to other music-rhythm video games and have been a fan of it for almost a decade.

Not just anyone can organize a successful convention. It takes a special drive, passion and skillset. What would you say is your biggest strength as the organizer and chairman of San Japan? Also, what do you most love about your job?

Besides making it an obsession to make it the best convention possible, I think my biggest strength is learning to treat the convention as a business but at the same time be kind and compassionate to my staff and volunteers. I try to keep a high-level of internal communication so my main staff isn’t in the dark but I treat everyone from staff to volunteers fairly. It has a trickle-down effect. If I am able to make my staff and volunteers happy, they in turn will be glad to help out the convention, and our attendees will see it along with having an enjoyable experience. This would be the best part I love about the job. While we still have a core mission to spread the word about Japanese Culture & Anime, I love to see the smiling attendees having a fun time at our convention, due to all of our hard work.

Dust off your leathers and your spikes because perennial San Antonio favorite JUDAS PRIEST is rolling into town this weekend. This is not just your average heavy metal show, Saturday’s performance marks the 30th anniversary of Priest’s sixth album, the chart-topping British Steel. To celebrate, the band will be [Read it all...]]]>

Judas Priest - British Steel

Dust off your leathers and your spikes because perennial San Antonio favorite JUDAS PRIEST is rolling into town this weekend. This is not just your average heavy metal show, Saturday’s performance marks the 30th anniversary of Priest’s sixth album, the chart-topping British Steel. To celebrate, the band will be performing the entire album, the first time they have pulled such a stunt. Don’t worry, they will be playing other favorites as well.

Judas Priest has cranked out their fair share of SF/Fantasy/Horror-related records and the British Steel album is no exception. Checking the track listing you will see that it is primarily a collection of rocker standards (“Living After Midnight”) and odes to rebellion (“Breaking the Law”), but a couple of tracks really stand out for us here at Missions Unknown.

“Metal Gods” is a pure classic and gives priest frontman Rob Halford his nickname. This song was on the turntable or cassette player of every metalhead I knew in the early eighties. Disguised as a mindless metal anthem, it’s really the tale of humanity being enslaved by robots:

We’ve taken too much for granted
And all the time it had grown
From techno seeds we first planted
Evolved a mind of its own

Marching in the streets
Dragging iron feet
Laser beaming hearts
Ripping men apart

From off I’ve seen my perfection
Where we could do as we please
In secrecy this infection
Was spreading like a disease

Hiding underground
Knowing we’d be found
Fearing for our lives
Reaped by robots scythes

Metal gods
Metal gods

Machines are taking all over
With mankind in their command
In time they’d like to discover
How they can make their demand

Better be the slaves
To their wicked ways
But meeting with our death
Engulfed in molten breath

Several tracks have an excellent horrific bent, specifically “The Rage” and “Steeler”. In all, the entire album stands up to repeat listening and you’ll find the record is strong from beginning to end, with the possible exception of teen anthem “You Don’t Have to be Old to be Wise”.

Judas Priest hits the AT&T Center Saturday July 25th. Opening acts are the eminently missable Whitesnake and post-grunge Michigan rockers Pop Evil (personally, I could do with less pop and more evil). I’ve seen Judas Priest live several times in San Antonio and Austin, they never fail to deliver the goods. Singer Rob Halford is a consummate showman with an unmistakeable voice and still rocks as hard as anyone. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster.

The restaurant serves handcrafted lagers, ales and their own line of natural soft drinks. The menu features entrees such as fresh fish, hormone-free [Read it all...]]]> San Antonio’s DOCTOR WHO FANS UNITE is celebrating its first anniversary this Saturday at 7pm. They’re commemorating the occasion with a casual party at the Blue Star Brewing Company and you’re invited!

The restaurant serves handcrafted lagers, ales and their own line of natural soft drinks. The menu features entrees such as fresh fish, hormone-free ribeye steak and Texas Gulf Shrimp. For dessert the group plans a Doctor Who Cake contest. From their website: “If you have baking skills, make and decorate a Doctor Who themed cake and bring it to the party. We will have some great prizes, the only catch is it has to be homemade and you have to let everyone try it.”

Blue Star Brewing Co.
1414 S Alamo St
210-212-5506
The club notes that there will be a sign on the door with directions to the party area.