Dessloktoberfest \\\ F A Q

Dessloktoberfest FAQ list

I. What is it?

Dessloktoberfest is a party we throw for our friends at Anime Weekend Atlanta who let us in for free. The first one we threw was in 1998. It was a public party where folks stole our drinks for other parties. Bottom feeders in the fanboy gene pool harassed our guests. I'd love to name names, but that would be undiplomatic of me.

II. Can Anybody Go?

Dessloktoberfest is a private party. Even if you somehow get an invitation (beg, borrow, steal, find on the floor), alcoholic drinks will be served, so you have to be of legal drinking age in order to attend. The legal drinking age for Atlanta is 21 years old.

III. Why is it called Dessloktoberfest?

Dessloktoberfest is named after Desslok, a character from an old anime show from the late 1970s-early 1980s. It's called Star Blazers in English and Uchu Senkan Yamato in Japanese. Star Blazers is a favorite show we have in common with several friends we've met at AWA. Star Blazers and Desslok are the themes of the party.

IV. Who came up with the name?

One of the people in charge of AWA, Dave "Cap'n Dave" Merrill, suggested the name to us. It was originally going to be called "Garuman Oktoberfest." There was another Star Blazers party thrown by Rob Fenelon many years ago called "The Gamilon Embassy." We didn't want to steal his idea or give our partygoers false expectations. The con takes place in October at around the same time the German festival of Oktoberfest does. Since we had planned to serve alcohol at the first D-fest, and the aliens from Star Blazers are sometimes seen as "Space Germans," Dessloktoberfest was the perfect name.

V. Who is Desslok?

Desslok is the supreme ruler of the Gamilon Empire, a race of blue-skinned humans who wage a war with Earth in the Star Blazers universe. His age is uncertain and appears to be from newly adult to early middle aged. He has yellow-blond hair and black eyes. He wears his cape in the style of the Byzantines or how a Roman senator wears his toga. His uniform resembles that of (take your pick) Yukio Mishima, or a chauffeur. Throughout the entire storyline of Star Blazers, Desslok changes from arch-nemesis to anti-hero. For several old anime fans, Desslok is the first bad guy on American television to show remorse for his actions or learns from his mistakes. After the war with Earth, he eventually rebuilds his Empire and becomes an ally to the heroes of Star Blazers. He is one of our favorite characters in our favorite show. A lot of people who know Star Blazers only see him as a villain. We thought it would be good to throw the party in his name to improve his reputation.

VI. When is Dessloktoberfest usually thrown?

Dessloktoberfest is only thrown between the dates of Anime Weekend Atlanta. The dates for this year's AWA are October 6th - October 8th. We usually run it towards the end of the Cosplay on Saturday night. With the changing face of Cosplay (being tougher and tougher to get seats for), we may start the party early for AWA '00. Usually, it's between 10:00 and midnight on Saturday. It ends when we throw you out.

VII. Is there a designated area for Dessloktoberfest?

Well... AWA gets bigger every year, and every year, AWA goes to a bigger hotel. This year, much like Lando Calrissian, we've made a deal. If we run a few shifts in the consuite, we can use the consuite to hold Dessloktoberfest when the time arises. Ehh, that didn't turn out so well. Please keep an eye on the Journalissimo page for reports on Dessloktoberfests past.

VIII. Who is that fat guy on your web page?

For two years or so there was a happy chubby bald blue guy hefting steins on the main index of the webpage. That's General Gaidel, a character from the barely-seen third season of Star Blazers. Ruthlessly competent but still appealing in a Sergeant Shultz/Hogan's Heroes kind of way, we've adopted him (albeit Chibi style) as our Goodwill Ambassador for the Dessloktoberfest homepage. Just in case you were wondering, he's career military and doesn't normally dress that way. :)

IX. What's up with that spiky symbol? Is that a backward four, or something else? Are you guys a hate group?

The symbol that looks like a spiky backwards four is the symbol of the Gamilon Empire. Little is known about the show's Japanese roots, even after all this time. It could be a letter from their alphabet or a family crest. They're definitely fascist and a dictatorship, and most likely a police state, but they're not Nazis. We who work the party PR for His Royal Highness aren't hate-mongers or skinheads or rightwing conservative fundamentalists. We're nice people and your party fun is important to us. The backward 4 is our logo, like McDonald's has the arches, like Izod has the little alligator. If you hear us making fascist police state noises, go along with it for fun or just ignore it. It's just a gag and part of the entertainment. If you hear us making fascist police state noises and we escort you out of the party, we're really throwing you out.

X. What's the big deal? What do I have to do to get thrown out of Dessloktoberfest?

By being an asshole, of course. Harassing our guests. Stealing beer/booze for another party or for you to drink by yourself when you're alone. The booze at Dessloktoberfest is free, but it's only for you to enjoy at Dessloktoberfest. Think of it as taking out reference materials at the library. Use them all you want, but they stay in the library. Got it?

XI. Who the hell do you think you are?

We are the Gamilon Party Corps. We consist of three people:

	Empress Karoru Recently released from the Otaku Closet. Has a Desslok costume, which is inaccurate to the show. Shh! She's in character! Likes Desslok a little too much for her own good. Owns only three pairs of shoes on purpose. Do sneakers count? Wrote the Dessloktoberfest FAQ and the list of social/fashion conduct.

	General Katei Hand-picked (not nose-picked) by Desslok himself to guard the Empress. Katei wears the uniform of a Gamilon general. She is skilled in Donderfaust and the Drunken Corn Pone Style of martial arts. She loves General Talan and being mean to Earth people, except for the one she recently married on December 1st 2001. Now she's just waitin' to die, and since I've written this, I guess I am too. Not married. Just waitin' to die. She'll kill me.

	Michael Horne "(Hammer Studios 1960) Based on Guy Endore's classic story gave director Terry Fisher an even better chance to explore his predominant preoccupation: the dualistic nature of mankind and his universe. Oliver Reed headlines for the first time, playing the hapless Leon born on Christmas day and thus doomed to become a werewolf."
Supporting Characters
	R. Mara Karapetian Web mistress and all-around good egg. Without her, none of this would be possible because we are lazy asses who don't know HTML. First con was AWA 5 and first con-party was Dessloktoberfest. She owns a lot of big shoes, but hopes that no one holds this against her. Beware the bike cult and to plugplugplug visit her website...

	Dan Baker Arteest and designer behind the Dessloktoberfest t-shirts which might not see the light of day until AWA '01. Not a reflection on Dan, AWA season always sneaks up on the GPC all silent and deadly, like a big ol' smelly fart. Hoooo! Somebody light a match!!! What died in here?

	Glenn Brensinger Our webmaster. Hosts me for free. All around swell guy who addresses me by my pretend title. Has a very sweet website for his dog. He gave me his hotel reservation for Project Akon when he couldn't go. He is a metric buttload of cool all wrapped up in one guy. I can't go on about how cool he is or I'd be here all day. Oh yeah, he hosts other losers at his site http://www.comet-empire.com/. They're probably a little more hard core Star Blazers/Yamato than my site, but let's not hold that against them, shall we?

	Undisclosed Yamato fans from the super secret mailing list!! You know who you are because you've had to shell out clams for the last two Dessloktoberfests. You'll be so relieved to know you don't have to do that anymore, and you can squander all your cash in the dealers' room buying toys and videos from shows you've never seen. Honestly, we hated shaking you down for cash, and we're really happy we've got the consuite thing now. If you want your money back, we ain't got it...... [nonchalant whistling]

Are you still reading this, are you still awake?
Would you like to know more?
Do you have a question that's not on the Dessloktoberfest FAQ? Abour the party, about us or about Star Blazers/Yamato?
If it's a good question, we'll be happy to add it to the FAQ and give you credit!
Feel free to drop us a line at gamilonpartycorps@dessloktoberfest.com

Links

The AWA Webpage

Star Blazers stuff:
Uncle Steve's Resource Page
Comedy, some material not suitable for the homophobic!

Blatant plugs for friends:
Girl Germs
Cheap Disposable Entertainment
Psychommu Gaijin


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