The cultural divide: Let me get this straight. In Taiwan and Japan, folks who dress up as comic-book characters are cool, but in the United States, they're barely a step above furries in the geek food chain? It would seem so. The Taipei Times gives us the scoop on "cosplay":

"Cosplay, a contraction of the words 'costume' and 'play' attracts mainly students, who choose a character they admire from popular culture, then dress in that person's clothes and pose at cosplay and comic-book conventions, or more recently at computer gaming shows. The cosplayers, in turn, attract photographers. There is no competition, no prizes, just the pleasures of showing off, watching and preserving a certain look for posterity.

"... Some of the cosplayers become minor stars and you can tell who the popular ones are because they attract the most photographers, with the heaviest equipment. When a cosplayer's photo is published it often offers a small amount of information along the lines of: 'Character: Pia, sweet carrot type,' followed by something about the cosplayer, how long she's been doing it, why she likes it and what other hobbies she has."