Ultraman and the Hugos!

[furtech]

OMG! I just found out that Ultraman (big silver guy, fights big rubber monsters) opened the Hugo ceremonies at the Japanese Worldcon! He fought monsters and gave out Hugos with a tiny facsimile of himself as part of the award! First time I've regretted not going to the S.F. Worldcon this year! Yow!

Does anyone know of any video footage of this on the net?!?

[Edit: found some!]

So Cool!!!

There was an artist known as "Kato" whose paintings apparently normally go for the tens-of-thousands of dollars that participated in the Whelan-Eggleton "paint-off"-- anyone know who this is? I'd like to find some of his work online.

Man, talking to Elayne reminded me that I want to go back to Japan again soon. My dream trip would first involve a visit the Tsubaraya Studios and grope Ultraman Kaiju see the monster warehouse again. Then, a walking tour on a stretch of the road from Kyoto to Tokyo, staying at ryokans when I feel like stopping for the day. Someday!