(Okay, I've spent an hour trying to get this poor dumb post up, but most of my pictures don't seem to be linking. A couple did. I'm going to paste urls and leave it for now. *headdesk*)
So! Here's a little bit about San Diego Comic Con (otherwise known as Comic Con International).
My pal Astrid met me there two days early, and we did touristy things before the Con got rolling and the town filled up with... well, more of our kind. I, uh, include pics that Astrid took, because she never forgot her camera and it was a much better machine than my old clunker anyway.
Mission San Juan Capistrano -- we took the train up the coast a ways (a gorgeous ride) and ate righteous roadside tacos. Then we wandered the romantic ruins, and went swimming (kinda) at Dana Point.
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Then the Con started and I had to do some work. My publisher was there to recruit, so I sat at the booth and reviewed portfolios when my bosses needed a break to do their own walking about. It was only a few hours at a stretch, but it was
really draining. I saw about four amazing portfolios a day, which was awesome, but when I got one that wasn't quite to the professional mark I did basically a whole class. I'd kinda rather break a toe than deliberately hurt another artist's feelings, and I'm neurotic, so I thought I couldn't repeat myself, ever -- which was absurd because, what? People were going to compare notes? I knew I was being dumb but I couldn't shake it.
When I was off my tether, I walked around a bit (walking at all was a genuine achievement in that astounding throng) and geeked out on cosplayers. Especially
Star Wars cosplayers. Yes, I'm a nerd that way. I could never do it myself, but I get a real kick out of cosplay. The good ones are pretty talented actors, and SDCon has a lot of good ones.
This guy was nifty: check out those evil contact lenses. That's dedication, man. As I took his leave I thanked him and said, "Be good, Anakin!" And he roared, "NEVER!" Hee.
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You've got to understand, there were eight billion Obi-Wans and Anakins in the exhibition room. I only took pics of the best. These guys didn't just resemble the actors, their
relative heights were perfect.
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I don't understand why this Twilek girl didn't suffocate from her body paint, like that poor chick in <i>Goldfinger.</i> But she didn't, yay. Don't ask me to explain that lime green Jedi tunic, though.
And then I met Scott Larson, a swell guy who recently did some neat work for my publisher, and we slagged off the second Star Wars trilogy for half an hour. It's important to use one's time effectively at San Diego Con.
As for
Pirates of the Carribean it was a very flock of sparrows, as aeshna so pithily observed. All Jack Sparrow all the time. I came up craps in my hunt for Norrington or anything even remotely Norrington related, but I took this pic when about six Jack Sparrows and one Orli Bloom collided in the hall and achieved critical mass. I didn't get all the Sparrows in the frame because, erm, I felt the Orli guy deserved to be seen at close range. *g*
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Saw
Serenity again at a free screening at the Hyatt, which was even more lavish than the Marriot, in an Italianate kind of way. We opted out of the Browncoats documentary, though, because we had a dinner invite with my boss and dude? I don't think a non-Browncoat could have got
in. It was a mob scene.
Oh, and dear lady who plopped down in front of me after the movie started, wearing sparkly bobbing
antennae? You are made of rude. Argh.
Let's see, what else? I met my (freelance project) editor, which was cool. I didn't even see the Marvel table, so I guess they're still on a Con-expenditure diet. Strange, that. The big swag item of the con was a cloth tote from Viz Media -- people
fought for it.
Oh! Almost forgot! The line for the
Adult Swim panel went down the hall, out onto the gallery, stretched the length of that, went back into the hall and met its own beginning. Amazing. I went to the Gays in Comics panel instead, which for some bizarre reason turned into a Marvel-bashing fest by the panelists, all of whom were associated with DC in one form or other. It was hilarious in a strange, are-you-twelve sort of way.
I bugged out early Sunday morning, because the last day of any Con makes me sad. It's melancholy to see the crowd thinning out and peaople starting to pack up the booths, so I skip it.
I got home Sunday afternoon to find the animals well and plump thanks to the lavish care of D and her daughter. I did some laundry and got up early to drive 300 miles to my publisher's company picnic and annual meeting, which was also fun. I rented a PT Cruiser and fell deeply in love with that car. If they have an ethanol version when my old junker finally passes to its reward, that's the vehicle for me.
Oh, and When I got home I found a truly gigantimous mushroom on my lawn. Here it is, with foot for scale.
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ETA: It got even bigger after that. IT WAS AS BIG AS A PIE OMG.
*waves* Nice to be back catching up on posts. Missed you!
Wah.
And did I mention that I missed Samuel L Jackson? *weeps*
)