Fingers and DrDave

Hello Everyone,

Fingers and DrDave will be here this year to present some of their panels!

Hooked by a giant alien fighting monsters in rubber suits, Fingers has then progressed to British Cult TV, SF, Anime, International Animation and assorted fandoms culminating in running the panels tracks at two anime conventions and being a GOH for the third time. Was seen pushing anime at SF conventions, SF at Anime Conventions, Anime and SF at medieval gatherings and bashing Voyager absolutely everywhere. Warning, Filks, puns and gives backrubs, approach at your own risk.

David Stephenson is a space physicist who came to Canada from the U.K. in 1970 and studied the aurora and winds in the high atmosphere at the University of Saskatchewan. In 1979 he moved to Germany to build systems for a deep space probe. When the project was cancelled he became the Schmitt Fellow at the University of Newcastle in Australia. He spent a year as a consultant for space insurance in London before returning to Canada to join the Geological Survey of Canada. When the government sent his file to the ‘downsized drawer’ in 1996 he moved to the village of Merrickville near Ottawa. He worked occasionally for a start up hi-tech company in Ottawa until 2009

His publications include reviewed papers, commentaries in the Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, various articles and reports and the ‘Ulysses Speaks’ satirical column in “Canadian Research.” He has been a guest panellist and lecturer at science fiction and anime conventions for over 25 years.

FingersDrDave 1

Association de Chado Urasenke Tankokai

Hello Everyone,

The Association de Chado Urasenke Tankokai de Québec will be there to show you a Tea Ceremony.

Our association has been a member of Tankokai, a non-profit organization from Kyoto in Japan, since June 2011, and our mission is to show and share the Way of Tea (chado).
The Way of Tea
Worldwide, tea is very popular, but there’s no country with as much cultural richness as Japan when it comes to it. In Japan, the way a cup of tea is prepared as been especially refined through cultural and aesthetic development. Many masters contributed to Japan’s cultural development thanks to the Chado (the Way of Tea). Among them, Sen Rikyu (1522-1591) accomplished a synthesis of the different ways to drink tea, with a brilliant aesthetic and a remarkable devotion to the achievement of the Chado. The Chado is designed as a lifestyle, resulting in a real work of art, contributing to the artisanal development of Japan, but also developing the day-to-day life. Now that modern progress and mechanization save men from doing the toughest tasks, the time and the energy required for the preparation of a cup of tea might seem useless. But a cup of tea prepared following the Chado principles is a ritual destined to restore its inner tranquility, a basic need of the human being. This is a ritual of simplicity and sobriety in which everyone can find “inner peace in a cup of tea”.

Thé

Yukio Kobayashi

Hello everyone,

Mister Yukio Kobayashi, Aimee Blackschleger’s manager, will also do some panels arthe festival!

Yukio Kobayashi – Tokyo Japan

MUSIC and ART agent KOBAYASHI YUKIO, started his music career as a Shinko Music Entertainmen staff member. After learning the business there, and managinig artists such as: 本田恭章(HONDA YASUAKI),レベッカ(REBECCA),NOKKO,ICE,藤井フミヤ(FUJII FUMIYA, he formed his own artist management company called “3rd Stone From the Sun.” Some of the best names in Japanese rock have been managed through his agency: SUPER JUNKY MONKEY,PIZZICATO FIVE,THEATRE BROOK, 小島(KOJIMA), 髭(HiGE), tobaccojuice, 阿部芙蓉美(ABE FUYUMI), MAMADRIVE, PRAGUE, and BO-PEEP. He also managed several artists: 切り絵作家望月めぐみ(paper cutting artist MOCHIME), 写真家美島菊名 (art photographer MISHIMA KIKUNA), Little Woody(designer). Now serving as a music and art business consultant, he has begun a new company called “9 to the Universe,” which coordinates events, showcases, and also coordinates partnerships between artists, performers and the venues and distributors. He also has a digital distribution label: FLIGHTPATH.

Flightpath: http://www.flightpathrecords.com/

9 to the Universe: https://www.facebook.com/9totheUniverse

YukioKobayashi

Victor Albisharat

Hello Everyone,

Here’s a new guest, Victor Albisharat!

Nuclear Operator by day, Convention Runner by night – and weekends of course! Victor Albisharat is a Canadian convention runner with over a decade (that’s 70 in con years) of convention running experience at conventions in both Canada and the US, east coast to west coast at various levels from regular staff, to department head, and even the Board of Directors at one of the largest and most well-known conventions. Not only does he help in running events, he also assists with one of the largest international con runner organizations – WRAC (We Run Anime Conventions) as well as its sister group WRC (We Run Conventions) – organizations dedicated to bringing together convention runners from around the world to support each other. While not running conventions, Victor helped run nuclear reactors, working at the world’s largest operating nuclear facility, Bruce Nuclear Generating Station*. His current role is the analysis and investigation of events that occur in the industry, both internally and externally. Through his experience in analyzing relevant information from the Fukushima Daiichi incident in 2011, he has been a part of panels about the accident at various conventions including Otakon and Anime North where he explores what happened, how it happened, and the various issues surrounding the response to the event.

Credits to Naoyuki Asano for the sketch.

* – not an official representative of Bruce Power while conducting panels, just a statement of work and experience.

Victor

Droo

Hello Everyone,

Droo will be at the festival this year again!

Since 2008 Droo has been capturing the art of cosplayers at his mobile studio at conventions. If you’ve ever visited his “funtograpy suite” you will be pleasantly greeted with his passion, enthusiasm and energetic appreciation for cosplay. Wanting to give back to the thousands of cosplayers that he’s befriended since his humble beginnings, Droo has created the facebook groups “Cosplay~It Unites Us” and “Cosplayers of Canada” which are sources of sharing, positivity and social interaction for the cosplay community.

Droo