PAX Prime 2011

I've been a bit quiet lately partially because I was getting ready for a solo show this last week and partially because I just came back from the giant nerd-fest known as PAX Prime in Seattle. It was a grand time...meeting people that were previously just internet buddies and lusting after new games soon to be out. Here are highlights of our adventures from the trip (Warning...my rendition involves mostly food and random comments. If you want a more comprehensive day to day telling of our PAX adventure head on over to Matts blog.)

Our first day we left Nebraska here at 5:00am for the airport which was way too early, but that left us a whole day to explore Seattle and get our bearings before PAX actually begain. After getting a little breakfast (Matt went with the Japanese breakfast (above) and a much needed nap at our hotel...we journeyed over to Pikes Place Public Market and got lost in an endless maze of shops and goodies.

 I had been to the market years ago, but I had no idea how big the place was or how the levels would randomly end or twist to a different section. It is someplace that I would like to explore more on a really quiet day...it was pretty busy when we were there.

 Whoever decided to add greenery to the buildings that hangs off the side is a genius....a plant loving mossy green genius...

Got up early the first day to get in line for the opening keynote speaker and question and answer time with Jerry and Mike. We were greeted by lines of nerds.....

After waiting in line for all morning we were super hungry so we stopped at 820 Pike Street Pan Asian Cuisine. I got the Bibimbap is one of my favorite dishes. Basically various yummy things with an egg on top. (Yeah...I'm thinking that most things with a fried egg on top is a good sign it will be delisious. )

Matt went with the Chicken Pho which came in a giant bowl.

Here is the Bioshock booth which was super sweet because it had a photoshoot with Elizabeth from the new game. Then after you get your photo taken you stand in line and look at concept art from the game and then answer trivia questions to win a t-shirt. Matt won one but I commandeered it :)

Banner for the new Legend of Zelda game coming out. It looks really fun and want it to be out...NOW!

Matt got to meet Scott and Kris and gave them some of my postcards, and also picked up a copy of The Best of PVP.

Yum Pizza! These are from Mod Pizza downtown Seattle. Really I think we could have shared one but went ahead and ordered two and ate it all.

While waiting for a panel to start we walked in on a cosplay competition. If I could hand out prizes this lovely lady as Vanille from Final Fantasy 13 would win hands down. It's crazy how good some of these costumes are....these people have some serious sewing skills.

Some of my favorite stuffs we got the first day. I LOVE all things Totoro so I freaked out when I saw this bag. Also super sweet was some older print Magic cards...and guess who pulled a mythic card...I did.

For day 2 of PAX we headed once again to this great little bakery Belle Epicurean which was a block from our hotel. This bakery is one of the things we miss most about leaving Seattle. We ate there everyday but this was the only day that we got photos of both our dishes before devouring them.

One of the panels that was a MUST SEE for us was Acquisitions, Inc, where Mike, Jerry, Scott Kurtz and Wil Wheaton play Dungeons and Dragons. Above is Mike as his character Jim Darkmagic.

The whole crew playing away. It finally occurred to me that PAX would be the perfect place to wear my handwoven green cape my Mom-in-law made me.... maybe I'll bring it next year permitting it will fit in my suitcase. Check out the amazing table and set that they are playing on. Someday I will have a table like that....someday.

Another favorite food place we found was Blue C Sushi, with the yummy moving belt of food.

All the plates are color coded according to cost. Was also nice that if you didn't see something on the belt that you wanted you just push a button and can request it. So of course I wanted green tea ice cream!


The Magic the Gathering booth had a great statue of Jace, but if there could be a giant figure of any character from the game I would totally pick Empress Galina. Really I'm working on how I could go as her for Halloween sometime....she's so badass....and has seal companions...awesome!

I admit I don't play the Pokemon series but these papercraft Pokemon figures were really fun.

Another really great cosplay figure from the game Journey. I'm still trying to figure out how some of these costumes are so good. The glowing eyes on this one were flawless, and I love how they will pose for you across a room full of people!

 For dinner we ate at our hotel and it was really very good. Matt got the salmon above and I ordered a big hunk of prime rib and got a bit of heckling from both my date and our waiter because we've got enough beef back home in good ole Nebraska!

We had a great time at PAX and this entry doesn't even begin to cover all the events and panels we went to. Again go check out Matt's blog for a more comprehensive documentation of our PAX adventure. I also had a super fangirl moment and tracked down Mike some of my postcards featuring some paintings. He momentary confused that I ambushed him to give him something but took it anyways. Looking forward to our next PAX trip in the somewhere near future.