Summer Of Son-eeeek!!! 2011

Once again my girlish squeals of joy will break office windows, burst eardrums and now will crack skulls within a one mile radius. Summer of Sonic is back, baby and as always I cannot frakking wait!

I have been lucky enough to have attended all the Summer of Sonic events. Myself and Ready Up’s Susan went to the very first event back in 2008 which was held in a teeny tiny venue. It had a few Sonic rarities to drool over and wish you could own (or at least plot a way to steal). Also Sega music guru Richard Jacques and Sonic R singer TJ Davies were there to entertain our ears but still nothing really to buy and not enough entertainment to make you stay at the event for very long.

Then the event got bigger. More people attended, the venues got bigger, the celebrities got bigger and last year’s highlight (other than me in Space Channel 5 garb, of course) was the uber amazing Crush 40 who performed live. There was much more to do and the cosplay competition was huge. So many Sonic fans in various costumes from various games, but there was no air conditioning at the venue so my Ulala costume actually welded itself to my skin, (that was amusing for my friend Laura Dagless, the lucky girl who had to pull the PVC outfit off my mostly naked body).

This year is Sonic’s 20^th anniversary (damn that makes me feel old now)! So I am pretty sure the fantastic organisers of this year’s Summer of Sonic event have something amazing planned to celebrate everyone’s favourite hedgehog… (no, not that little bastard Shadow).

SoS 2011 is taking place in the Camden Centre in London on June 25th. For those (like me) who don’t eat, live and breathe London, Camden Centre is opposite the main exit/entrance to Kings Cross and St. Pancras train stations. Now, that is bloody convenient! Also like the previous SoS’s the event is still free! Yes free, that means no money for tickets. Zero, kaputski! Though this year I am told there will be food stuff to buy. Hopefully that means Chili Dogs and ‘ring’ doughnuts. Well that’s what I’d like to see, (take note, SEGA).

This year doors will open at 9am and close at 8pm, the earliest it has ever started at. This means I will need to get up bloody early to get the coach from Oxford to get into London for 9am… but I will do it for my dear chum Sonic and for blasted cosplay. Yes I am going… that really shouldn’t surprise anyone. I am also going with my secret weapon when it comes to the cosplay competition… it’s long, blue and can be used as a two-handed mace to wield if needed.

I am keeping details of my costume to a minimum so I can (attempt to) wow and astound everyone once I get there… because last year I was robbed! Shamefully robbed! It seems nobody really likes tight PVC hoop skirts and a hip wiggle that should have stunned and weakened the masses. It turns out that if you are an exceedingly round and bold man with a thirst for global domination, power can get you anywhere. Or just being a bit evil with a plastic gun held to the back of the cosplay host’s head might also do it… I shall remember that. Muhahaha…

My friends at Summer of Sonic aren’t giving anything away, but I was able to score a small amount of information in exchange for a small amount of Ulala upskirt shot (the things I do for you guys!!). Okay that’s a lie – though I may use that plan to get votes for the cosplay competition…

There are some confirmed special guests so far; flying all the way over from America and who works on the Archie Sonic the Hedgehog comic books, head writer Ian Flynn and lead artist Tracy Yardley! (that’s not the end of the sentence, the exclamation point is part of his name, apparently. I want an exclamation point as part of my name, henceforth I shall be called Fr!an). There are still loads to be announced  but you can keep track of things on the Summer of Sonic website.

Registration for tickets is now open but to be honest because of the popularity of this event the registration will probably close before I bloody well post up this blog. At time of writing over 500 people had registered. So if it is still open by the time you read this, PLEASE REGISTER! And witness the glory that is me winning the cosplay competition by any means necessary! Hopefully. Unless Dr Robotnik starts offering upskirts too…