 |
| Smoke looms over NW Vegas |
San Diego is a total reversal from Vegas, climate or otherwise. I always look forward to making it down there and in the last 8 years I've only missed out a couple times. In the past we'd always stay in La Mesa which is a ways out from the downtown where the convention takes place. For the last couple years we've been staying with our friend Geoff on Coronado Island (not really an island, more of a peninsula) and his family. Silver Strand is a dope place and more precisely its where base camp was. I've enjoyed kicking it there each year cause of the fact that we have the ocean all around us and rabbits seem to infest the place (although I hardly saw any this time) theres also the added bonus of seeing and hanging out with an age-old friend and his clan. The weather down in San Diego is always nice and this trips forecast was no exception, overcast for much of the time and hardly what I'd call "hot" -least ways not when compared to Vegas temperatures.
As for the convention itself.. bananas. Just a teeming mass of humanity rolling around in itself own regurgitated pop-culture non-sense ..when viewed one way, if seen through a cape and cowl then one might appreciate it on a different level. I guess I fall somewhere in the middle; while I'm aghast at the sheer size of the convention I'm also keenly aware that it was bound to happen, and while I'm not the rabid fanboy I used to be I still appreciate the culture and the fandom thats intrinsic to it all. I did my part to fuel the consumerism on the convention floor, my big purchase this year was the MM25 Ltd. Ed. Hardcover from UDON Entertainment. Supposedly limited to only 100 copies, this book is the ultimate collection of Mega Man art (thus far) spanning the classic series all the way thru the X-series. Outside of that purchase my convention going experience was pretty sedate. Walking the floor is fun till the sheer volume of people starts to become tedious at which point you can always go upstairs for air and take in a couple of panels or workshops. Last couple years I've taken in quite a few fun and informative panels but this year it was very hit or miss. It was only a few years ago when I attended a couple panels that really set me off in the direction of working digitally with my art -huge for me cause its been a change that has been both challenging and rewarding. This year the only thing I took away from the panels I hit was a bunch of regret. We attempted and ultimately failed to obtain some of the SDCC Lego exclusives. I did however manage to snag the Petco Yoda ears which I thought would be a neat thing to take home -though nether of my cats thought so. 
One nice thing about Comicon is that its draws people in from all over the country and that means getting to see friends from all over. We got to see our friends Matt and Shauna as well as Chris Hamawi. They were all down there absorbing as much as they could and reporting back through the interweb for Matt's podcast/site. Also got to see our good friends Angel and Kayla who hosted us when we were in Anaheim for Wondercon. Comicon offers everyone a little something different, be it the latest offerings from your favorite comic publishers to the next wave of television programming. I'm amazed at the level some peoples passions drive them and how their devotion to a certain thing can create spectacular results such as all the great costumes people put together, maybe they work on them all year in some cases - SyFy has caught onto that with their "Heros of Cosplay" program set to roll out. Out there as well are those who hunt after a particular item or memento - you're sure to find it in San Diego as anywhere, yeh? My level of obsession led me to spend hard earned $$$ on a hardbound book in this the age of nooks and Kindle Fires. Its always nice coming back with souvenirs and thats pretty much my one and only. Sadly, I ate all the Alien Fresh Jerky I bought while in SanDiego so I didn't even have that to bring back. |
| "K.now t.he S.tyle" |
