SO while doodling today I came up with the design I’m going to put on the geocaching puzzle piece and decided to do it as a product design for the various My Geek Odyssey virtual store fronts. Since CafePress & Zazzle both carry different items I went ahead and created the first round at the place that had what Sue wanted (a thermos) which was Cafepress. If you see that you would like a design on something else please feel free to let me know. If I can make it happen I will. This also may end up a pathtag, but I need to consider what will happen when it is shrunk down to the size of a quarter.
The latest design for the various virtual store fronts... the gear makes it more steampunk- or something.
A colleague sent me a link to a TED talk about the power of doodling-
something I have been aware of for years (see any notebook from any class, workshop, or lecture I have attended). but today I decided to settle back and do some refining of my characters. I’ve also considered adding a few to the cast as I expand stories.
While fiddling around with pencil and paper I did this little doodle that I felt was good enough to finish and post. I originally had Cecil holding a Newton (I still have one- it still works) but decided that would be a bit obscure. I then thought about a different caption- “with great power, comes great responsibility, and a black mock turtleneck.”
letting my mind wander with a pencil can be a dangerous thing.
Just playing- oh I pre ordered my iPhone 4S this morning… since my iPhone 3, while it still works, has seen better days.
Actually as I stated when DC Comics first announced gutting their entire universe and starting over with every issue being #1 I was kind of lost. How do you really do that logically? So far my initial thoughts have not changed. Superman in Justice League is different than Superman in Superman and completely different than Superman in Action Comics. I’ve figure out how they could have a Teen Titans comic when there is no history of these characters as sidekicks, or Nightwing, or the Red Hood… It’s like jumping into the TARDIS when you move from issue to issue. Each one is in it’s own time frame. It used to be (as a naive) comic book reader you could kind of think that everything in one universe was happening around the same time (give or take a month or two) but for DC its like they have decided that every time occupies a different part of space/time. Which can be confusing. I think I’ve figured some of it out using the character of Superman as an example-
In Action Comics we are covering the back story of Superman (think of is as Year One). In Justice League we are getting the founding of the League (so again Year One for the Justice League) which didn’t happen during Superman’s first year as a hero, so the costume is different. In Superman we are dealing with a later version of the Man of Steel as we also are in Supergirl. This does save me from one of the things I despise about having one character in multiple books which is the poorly executed crossover. Still it does make reading these titles a little on the timey-wimey side.
One thing this has done is caused some artists to do their take on the “NEW 52” and one in particular I like is Aaron Diaz of Dresden Codek. Who has a fantastic blog on design: Indistinguishable From Magic recently he’s taken on the DC Universe by not just redesigning the look of the characters, but also their origins and back stories… which has been neat since it looks like DC has done some things just to shock people into the understanding that “You’re not in Smallville, Kansas anymore” Catwoman, & Starfire seem to be the ones getting press right now, but as long as DC is getting press, I have to believe that they will continue “pushing the limits.”
Heres a list of links on what Aaron has done to the DCU- one of these days I’d love to try this out (who knows maybe that will my creativity project for 2012.
Aaron’s discussions on character design are great for anyone looking at the science behind good design, you don’t have to agree with everything he has to say, but you will end up learning something.
As for the where “My Geek Odyssey” fits into this- I have been inspired to look at some more tweaks to my character design that should show up in this next arc or in some sketches.
As has been posted more times tonight than I care to repeat Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, has passed away. For me I started with an Apple II in middle school. My first computer that I could claim as mine was a Mac… purchased months after the release in 1984. “On January 24th Apple will Introduce ‘Macintosh’ and you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984.’”
While it seems cheesy, it was an amazing turn of events in 1984, no computer did anything like what a Mac did. It cost $2,495 when released… my choice as a high schooler was- European vacation, car, or Mac… I chose Mac (I’m a geek).
I still have the original commercial from the Super Bowl (heck, I still have my original Mac) I’ve joked about it, but I am an Apple zombie… I have never understood those who think Windows is a superior system. To me, it has never worked well. I recall my first training as a teacher on an IBM machine. It seemed archaic, and when it froze I was befuddled. The trainer looked at me said “just push ctrl+alt+del” like it was something you always did… I lost everything I had worked on and commented “In five years of using a Mac I have never lost anything or had the computer freeze- why did we but these things?” Here is Steve Jobs’ Philosophy something to think about and words to live by.
Today’s comic will be posted tomorrow… sorry long day.
I know I’ve already blogged a bit about GenCon, but as I sit and reflect over some of the experiences I thought I would share some of the moments for those. Today I started out arriving a bit early because I had a few things I wanted to accomplish…the first was more rings for Cecil’s chainmail. Once that was accomplished (I have the tools, and know how to make simple monkey chainmail) I headed out to the exhibit hall which was not going to open for about 30 minutes.
At Comic-Con this would have been a crowd of thousands all pushing and shoving, here it was an orderly crowd waiting around. When the door opened we calmly walked in showing our badges. No yelling, no cursing… That has been one thing I have noticed about GenCon, how the attendees definitely have some idea of personal space. At Comic-Con it seemed like everyone was focused on themselves, pushing & shoving & crowding every available foot of space. If you were in the way, tough luck. Stop to get a photo of something? Expect someone to walk through your shot. At GenCon people maybe in their own little world, but they understand that there are other people around. Maybe it’s the whole Midwest attitude vs. West coast attitude. Maybe it has something to do with space, there are around a quarter of the people for GenCon and most of those are sitting in rooms playing games, but I have to say I liked it. It was nice to be able to find a place to sit down (not the floor) and relax. People who could find a gaming space in a room took a table in a public space. There were also people zonked out on benches (not the homeless) when I entered the convention center, warriors sound asleep after a night of fighting dragons.
So what did I do today? Once I entered the exhibit hall? I decided to see about learning something about one the juggernauts of non-roleplaying games- Catan. It’s a simple gain so many points game with the mechanism for gaining points being settling a land by gaining resources and trading. Actually pretty simple with a lot of options for strategy and expansion. Which to me is what makes for a good game. After watching an abbreviated game I understand why it has such a following. I will be purchasing a set for my classroom in the near future.
Cecil in his chainmail learns to play Catan at GenCon 2011
After that I headed over to WizKids games (again) this time I wanted to demo the Star Trek: Expeditions game which sadly (since I own it) was a mistake. I was able to play as Dr. McCoy which was kind of cool, but the game mechanic was a little clunky for a group of first timers, this was compounded by the fact the expert from WizKids deserted us after a quick cursory explanation so he could demo Star Trek: Fleet Captains, a more expensive game. We ended up lost after a few turns either making up the rules or scrambling to ask anyone who looked official for help. While our questions were answered, the person usually ran off so within 3 minutes we would be asking for help from someone else. It was during one of these searches that I noticed there was only one table with Expeditions running and the majority of tables either had Quarriors or Fleet Captains. Oh, and a quick note for those HeroClix fans- here was no demo of HeroClix or the fancy 3-D playing fields that once graced the booth in Cons past. Once one of the other players fumbled for an excuse to leave, the demo was over.
I entered my last session (Education & Games) and was very pleased with the content and discussion. I have decided that I really need to look at starting a gaming club at school this year if time permits (then again I also want to do a comic club). I’m sure I will comment on both once I get them started.
So comparing both Cons would seem easy, they both deal with the geek community, but that is only the surface and frankly, they are as different as apples & zombies. San Diego is massive and because of that size makes it completely chaotic. It seems like most people who attend are focused on getting stuff or being seen. While it still deals with comics the sessions that get the most play are those dealing with movies & television. As Wil Wheaton (name dropping) commented “I started going to Comic-Con when it was about comics.”
GenCon is a gaming convention… So it caters to a different kind of geek. While there is overlap, these folks are into taking a more active role in their imaginary world. They seemed to be a kinder lot. I’m not going to stereotype them as the kind that tended to get picked on in school, but I wouldn’t bet against it. For most they buy their tickets and plan for 4 days of gaming, not partying, not hanging out with this “star” or that. Yes, you need a ticket to get into various sessions some cost more than others. Teddybear Chainmailing $18, Games & Education $0. This seems to be their way to keep from having the Hall H, or Ballroom 20 issues of Comic-Con. Tickets go fast for some things… This year I finally got up the courage to get some tickets- next year, who knows? I might actually play a game. Gamers do have their cliques, just as comic book people divide themselves into groups, gamers do too- it seems like human nature.
So which is better? I’d love to see more comics at GenCon, for me that could do it. As a teacher, I really wish there were more sessions at both on using games & comics in education. Then again I tend to not make it to Sunday at either con which is set aside as “Family/Kid’s Day”. The trade day at GenCon is a great way to focus on teachers and give us a track of programs to gather like minds together. C2E2 did this the first year, but it was kind of weak this past year. Comic-Con was difficult to find and what they had seemed to be squished into Sunday.
There are many different kinds of geeks out there… Here seem to to be many different Cons out there too.
After getting back home from Comic-Con (besides getting ready to teach for the year) the next convention is GenCon, it is held in Indianapolis, so I can commute. In the past GenCon’s dates change around like the school calendar so sometimes I can attend and other times I can’t this year I was able to attend & I decided to branch out a bit cause, you see, I’m a comic book geek, not a gaming geek (& yes, there is a difference).
GenCon started out in Wisconsin, birthplace of Dungeons & Dragons, and is a conventions almost entirely devoted to games. Last year I attended educator day which was a way to help the teachers out there see how games could enrich their classrooms. It was really cool, I got some good ideas that I failed at implementing with “fidelity” (new educationese word that has nothing to do with 33 1/3 RPM vinyl). Since I had learned something I decided to go back and see if the second time around something might stick. I won’t bore you with all the sessions even though only one of them I would consider boring (Why is it that most folks who work at colleges or universities think they need to talk down to everyone, even though they have no idea how to actually teach? When did “academia” become only Higher Ed? Why can’t university types realize that powerpoint presentations are boring, especially when they are read to the audience?), but that was only one. What can I pass on to you- Out of the Box games are great and should be required for any classroom; having kids learn about game design & mechanics leads to actual thinking, and foam darts add joy, excitement and a little element of danger to any classroom situation.
The last activity of the evening was a demo time in which retailers & teachers met with game companies to try out some games. I did not try everything, but there were a few games I was interested in and few I got dragged into that weren’t that bad. The problem with a demo is that you really don’t feel like you can walk out no matter how bad the game is- you need to persevere through to the end.
I started out with a game I have really been looking forward to WizKids Star Trek- Fleet Captains. Being a Star Trek nut (you say Trekkie & I say Trekker) this looked neat. My favorite game from when I did do a lot of gaming was FASA’s Star Trek III: Space Combat Simulator. It was awesome, fairly easy to play and for a Star Trek Geek it made sense. This game captured a lot of what I missed and added some great features including missions and crew. Overly complex? this isn’t a game you are going to teach someone or even master the rules in 30 minutes, but I could see it being a great game except (and there always is an except) the price point vs. what you get. You get the entire game and some lovely plastic figures with clickable bases (if you haven’t played heroclix or mageknights I really can’t explain) the downside they are just that lovely detailed plastic figures. White ones for the Federation, army man green for the Klingons. Let me back up a bit… the first Star Trek game that WizKids released was Star Trek: Expeditions it deals with a basic old fashioned episode. I will hopefully go through a demo of that one sometime this weekend. For $50 you get the entire game (I know that sounds like a lot, but it isn’t in the world of games) and all the figures (and the ships) are painted. Heroclix (or Mageknights) all the figures are painted. They look cool, they don’t look unfinished. For $100 I would expect the same treatment. If I wanted to paint Star Trek ships I would go and buy the pewter miniatures and play Star Fleet Battles. Will I buy this game? I’m not so sure… the price and not having painted ships really puts me off. When asked I said it played well and then asked if the ships going to be finished in the final set and was told no. So I quickly reached my stop & think point, especially since I don’t have opportunities to play that often.
Other games I played were interesting not really worth mentioning since (as a teacher) I had a hard time justifying using games that were clearly not designed for the an all ages audience. Today I went and bought the classic “The Awful Green Things from Outer Space” for my classroom since my copy is in pieces I’m also looking at picking up another classic “RoboRally” to help my kids understand how programming works. The other one that I was introduced to during a session was the Professor Noggin’s series of trivia games, they look like a great addition to my classroom game library.
Cecil shows off his armor and his wizard hat @ GenCon's city of cards.
On the other hand (not really considering myself a gamer) I did actually attend a session this time around. You see in the past I had hung out at the exhibit hall and spent money. Most attendees of GenCon purchase tickets so they can participate in games for entire four days of the convention. The Will Call line today looked like the line for Hall H or Ballroom 20 at Comic-Con, meaning it stretched out as far as the eye could see. But I digress, I took a class on chainmailing. This would be the ancient art of turning little rings into armor that could stop, or at least slow down a sword when it was being swung in your direction. The class was on making chainmail for a Teddybear so I brought along everyone’s favorite stuffed monkey to get fitted for some armor. I’m still working on some finishing touches but I don’t think it looks that bad for a beginner with a a monkey. Wes & Josh from amazingly enough (it was fate, some might call it kismet!) Medieval Monkey Creations did a great job with the class even though I started off a bit concerned after the comment “Chainmailing is a lot like knitting.” I’ve tried knitting and we all know how that turned out!
As you may have heard, a certain person (who runs this website) received their ‘professional’ credentials for Comic-Con this year. Unfortunately, as a new ‘professional’ there was no way for him to get extra badges so I ended up in San Diego without a badge. Knowing this going in, I had made alternate plans to keep myself occupied. Trust me, I needn’t have worried – there was plenty to keep a ‘Comic-Con Muggle’ busy without venturing anywhere near the exhibit hall!
When we got in to town on Wednesday, we headed directly to check-in at the convention center. Since Bruce had his paperwork in order I just tagged along through the process. After Bruce received his badge we continued through the line and we were both handed the awesomely huge Warner Brothers Comic-Con bags that (almost) everyone carried through the week. Even without a badge, I sure looked official!
There was plenty of time before ‘Preview Night’ so we wandered through the Gaslamp District to people watch and grab some food. We stopped at the Chuck Jones Gallery, got some swag, and ultimately ended up at Nicky Rotten’s for food before Bruce headed back into the mayhem. Because it had been a long day, I sat and read while he did his thing – it was a lovely, cool evening so all was good.
Thursday was to be Bruce’s big day at the Con so I dropped him off and went geocaching – that way he didn’t need to worry about me. But, a friend had told us about a Cirque du Soleil event to be held at Comic-Con that evening so we decided to meet up and attend.
When I got back into town, I took some time to explore an area for upcoming movies located in a parking lot adjacent to where I parked. The movie Cowboys & Aliens (to premiere in San Diego Saturday night) partnered with 7-11 and they were giving away Slurpees and promotional items. Then there was the giant inflatable Smurf, the shark movie area, and the dog on the remote control motorcycle (don’t ask). Eventually Bruce and I hooked up and he was stopped to receive some quite interesting swag – deodorant (trust me, he wasn’t the only one)!
We went for pizza at a place Cartoon Network rented out and redid to look like the cartoon Adventure Time (there were also restaurants taken over by SyFy- the Cafe Diem, NBC- The Playboy Club, not to mention various video games).
Cirque Du Soleil was probably the low point of the Con. Billed as ‘Battle at Comic-Con’ it was to be a 3-D Battle from the show Ka. We’d heard so much about Cirque from friends that we thought it would be amazing. The lawn near Petco Park was packed and people were really excited about the show. First it started a half-hour after it was billed then there were technical difficulties. But, probably the most disappointing was shortly after it started I thought, “I wonder what they’re going to do for the battle” and then it was the end! Complete showtime less than 5-minutes. After this show, I just don’t see the allure of Cirque.
Friday I did take a break and Bruce and I explored Balboa Park in the late afternoon.
Saturday we spent some time wandering downtown. We ran into the Zombie Walk (remember, Zombies=bad), the Top Gear America theater (no, we didn’t go in since it wasn’t the BBC version), and saw NerdHQ. This was all before the geocaching Comic-Con Meet-n-Greet. This was held in a park near the SouthPark theme area that we never even had time to visit.
After the meet-n-greet we headed up to the 4th & B theater for the Nerdist Podcast Live with Dr. Who – excellent! It was a terrific event with Matt Smith and Karen Gillam as well as special guest star Wil Wheaton (and free burritos at the end)! I also don’t think I mentioned that the theater was right across the street from the San Diego Civic Center where they were concurrently premiering Cowboys & Aliens!
In all, there were plenty of free things I didn’t see and some ticketed things we didn’t get tickets for. So, even if I can’t get a badge in 2012, I have a plan to make the most of my Comic-Con time!
Total swag without really trying: Looney Tunes and Pan Am bags, obnoxiously green Psych sunglasses, blowup sword, Slurpee, Butterfinger bar, bag of PopChips, many, many fliers, coupons, etc.
So, I’m at the San Diego Comic-Con, it’s Saturday… What should I do? I decided to avoid the con almost completely. The started out with breakfast with some geocaching friends and then we headed to Mexico to color in the map. Sue seems to be rather competitive when it comes to caching, so a chance to get another country could not be turned down. So after getting warnings from my overly concerned family we walked across the boarder. About an hour later we were in line to come back, mission accomplished. Actually the three caches we went for are multi-caches since maintaining a cache in Mexico can be a headache. What you do is go to certain coordinates in Tijuana, record some information, then plug it into an equation to get the final coordinates. The final coordinates are in the U.S. But since part of the cache is in Mexico it counts as a find in Mexico. It was a great day of walking, but both of us are sunburned.
So after that adventure we headed back to San Diego for a geocaching meet & greet for attendees. On the way we happened across the Zombie walk which was a hoot. At the Meet & Greet I had a great time chatting with Sonny (of Podcacher) and while there were just a few of us, I could see it growing each year.
Sue & I were rushing a bit to get to the final event of the evening… Just down the street from the world premiere of “Cowboys & Aliens.” The Nerdist podcast was doing a live show with Matt Smith & Karen Gillan of Dr. Who. It was great. I’ll check for when it gets posted although it was definitely NOT all ages. A special surprise guest showed up Wil Wheaton from Star Trek: TNG, Big Bang Theory, Eureka… etc. Again, I can’t say how great it was and the burritos were yummy.
Since GeoWoodstock I had decided to drop my digital SLR and only use either my iPhone or iPad for basic photographs. If I was going someplace to take pictures I would bring along the SLR, but normally I felt I should be able to make it with just my iDevices. I have learned a few limitations… The biggest (and worst) was low light like the Nerdist show. Normally, with the iPad you can set where the lit meter takes a reading… This did not work from a distance in the dark looking at a well lighted stage… I have been happy with my other pictures throughout the trip except for low light situations. Live and learn, & yes, I just posted a negative comment about an Apple product, time to mark your calendar.
Can you say “epic failure?” the stage shot of the Nerdist podcast the white glowing blob with ginger hair is Karen Gillan, to her right is Matt Smith, to his right is Wil Wheaton.
Have you ever been on a Disney vacation? You know how after a while you just need a break from the “Happiest Place on Earth”? Today was not that day, but close, I did leave early- don’t fret or feel sorry for me I got everything done that I wanted to today & wore my fez and comic Hawaiian shirt for good measure. Today, I had just a few things on my list most of them required the presence of Jeff Smith. If you do not know or have ever heard of Jeff Smith… I am sorry. I am not talking about the Frugal Gourmet- I speak of the Eisner award winning creator of Bone.
This actually demonstrates the difference between Comic-Con and other comic book conventions. Two years ago I went to C2E2 and after a wonderful breakfast with Sue stopped in to get some things signed by Jeff Smith for my classroom. I was confronted with a sign being held by the person in front of me that read “Last in line for Jeff” I decided to wait… What was one more person? I held onto that sign until today. See at Comic-Con there are lines… Lines to get an autograph of some actor who played in some show that was cancelled after three episodes but has a cult following, that or t-shirts. At Comic-Con comics aren’t that important, so unlike C2E2 I walked up to a rather short line and then had a nice conversation with Jeff Smith who took a picture with Cecil and drew a wonderful piece of artwork below “Last in line for Jeff” and now I am happy. The only other things on my list was a photo with the TARDIS and a copy of Dave Kellett’s wonderful Eisner nominated book. Done & done. The only session I wanted to attend was Jeff Smith’s which I did and that got me thinking. Finally before calling Sue to see about a late lunch I headed up to the Art show and saw some cool things, and some amateurish things, but sadly while taking pictures of some Klingons, Cecil lost his Jayne hat… He no longer has the same control over Firefly fans. Tomorrow will actually be a day away from the Con- but fear not, we will be attending an event (the Nerdist podcast) with the Doctor & Pond in the evening so geekiness will not be avoided.
After advertising that this would be the “Year of No” here I am still stunned that I was given professional status at the San Diego Comic-Con. As I write this Preview Night is but a memory and I am going over my notes from today’s sessions while trying to figure out where all my money went. A brief recap for those interested- I applied for pro status, got it but it was too late to get any guest badges. While I immersed myself in geekdom, Sue was going to go geocaching.
Preview night worked out OK… I gave myself some time to get the lay of the land, while Sue read a bit. After an hour the crowds were getting to be a bit much and I called it a day. What SWAG did I get? Nothing that I can recall- except three SWAG bags from Warner Bros. One Justice League, one Big Bang Theory, and one Looney Tunes. I did go and scan the BBC America QR codes that were part of the Dr. Who scavenger hunt. I am only missing one but can’t find Titan entertainment anywhere. The BBC lists them in the same booth spot as “Unshelved” a great web comic and the Comic-Con app put them in aisle 5500 of the exhibit hall (5400 is the last aisle). So that was about it for preview night. Two years ago Marv Wolfman I believe said that preview night was the new Saturday… With the number of comp passes I saw I can believe it. I can also understand why people with 4 day passes without preview night were not happy.
So, I got up Thursday morning with a plan… All geeked out with my QR code t-shirt and geek vest I set out to do a few things first go to Comic Book Law 101 & next go to David Petersen’s CBDLF master session. Both were fantastic and have gotten me to rethink a few things. One on copyright and the other on the process & tools I ink with. After that it was a day in the exhibit hall which is a very scary place. I think I was able to cover the entire floor, but I could be mistaken. I purchased a few things: Katie Cook’s cat & Gronk books along with a Doozer drawing for Sue. A David Petersen sketchbook. Almost the entire “DC Super Pets” series (the last 4 books will be available tomorrow). Two convention special books from Archaia (Rust & Fraggle Rock) which let me get three books for free (& then lug all of them around for hours & hours). Finally, a complete sketchbooks of Dave Stevens compendium (Dave created “the Rocketeer” one of my favorite comics & movies ever). Now you might look at that list and wonder why I bought sketchbooks and kids books… First I am a teacher so finding new comic material for my classroom is important. The sketchbooks are great because I learn so much seeing how other artists draw, even roughy sketches teach me something. By 4:30 I was exhausted. Sue arrived and we dumped my stuff in the car and wandered having a pizza dinner at a Cartoon Network NY style pizza place. Afterwards we walked around people watching and ended up on the grass waiting for a rather sad Cirque du Soleil performance on the the side of Petco Park.
Since I had mentioned the Rocketeer here is the infamous monkey with him… Or at least a very good imitation. For those wondering about other pictures I would ask that you visit my Flickr site and as for Cecil, I had a wonderful chat with some steampunk outfitters about getting him a pair of goggles. I (and he) will be overjoyed if we hear back from them after the con.
There was plenty of time before ‘Preview Night’ so we wandered through the Gaslamp District to people watch and grab some food. We stopped at the Chuck Jones Gallery, got some swag, and ultimately ended up at Nicky Rotten’s for food before Bruce headed back into the mayhem. Because it had been a long day, I sat and read while he did his thing – it was a lovely, cool evening so all was good.
Thursday was to be Bruce’s big day at the Con so I dropped him off and went geocaching – that way he didn’t need to worry about me. But, a friend had told us about a Cirque du Soleil event to be held at Comic-Con that evening so we decided to meet up and attend.
When I got back into town, I took some time to explore an area for upcoming movies located in a parking lot adjacent to where I parked. The movie Cowboys & Aliens (to premiere in San Diego Saturday night) partnered with 7-11 and they were giving away Slurpees and promotional items. Then there was the giant inflatable Smurf, the shark movie area, and the dog on the remote control motorcycle (don’t ask). Eventually Bruce and I hooked up and he was stopped to receive some quite interesting swag – deodorant (trust me, he wasn’t the only one)!
We went for pizza at a place Cartoon Network rented out and redid to look like the cartoon Adventure Time (there were also restaurants taken over by SyFy- the Cafe Diem, NBC- The Playboy Club, not to mention various video games).
Cirque Du Soleil was probably the low point of the Con. Billed as ‘Battle at Comic-Con’ it was to be a 3-D Battle from the show Ka. We’d heard so much about Cirque from friends that we thought it would be amazing. The lawn near Petco Park was packed and people were really excited about the show. First it started a half-hour after it was billed then there were technical difficulties. But, probably the most disappointing was shortly after it started I thought, “I wonder what they’re going to do for the battle” and then it was the end! Complete showtime less than 5-minutes. After this show, I just don’t see the allure of Cirque.
Friday I did take a break and Bruce and I explored Balboa Park in the late afternoon.
Saturday we spent some time wandering downtown. We ran into the Zombie Walk (remember, Zombies=bad), the Top Gear America theater (no, we didn’t go in since it wasn’t the BBC version), and saw NerdHQ. This was all before the geocaching Comic-Con Meet-n-Greet. This was held in a park near the SouthPark theme area that we never even had time to visit.
After the meet-n-greet we headed up to the 4th & B theater for the Nerdist Podcast Live with Dr. Who – excellent! It was a terrific event with Matt Smith and Karen Gillam as well as special guest star Wil Wheaton (and free burritos at the end)! I also don’t think I mentioned that the theater was right across the street from the San Diego Civic Center where they were concurrently premiering Cowboys & Aliens!
In all, there were plenty of free things I didn’t see and some ticketed things we didn’t get tickets for. So, even if I can’t get a badge in 2012, I have a plan to make the most of my Comic-Con time!
Total swag without really trying: Looney Tunes and Pan Am bags, obnoxiously green Psych sunglasses, blowup sword, Slurpee, Butterfinger bar, bag of PopChips, many, many fliers, coupons, etc.
There was plenty of time before ‘Preview Night’ so we wandered through the Gaslamp District to people watch and grab some food. We stopped at the Chuck Jones Gallery, got some swag, and ultimately ended up at Nicky Rotten’s for food before Bruce headed back into the mayhem. Because it had been a long day, I sat and read while he did his thing – it was a lovely, cool evening so all was good.
Thursday was to be Bruce’s big day at the Con so I dropped him off and went geocaching – that way he didn’t need to worry about me. But, a friend had told us about a Cirque du Soleil event to be held at Comic-Con that evening so we decided to meet up and attend.
When I got back into town, I took some time to explore an area for upcoming movies located in a parking lot adjacent to where I parked. The movie Cowboys & Aliens (to premiere in San Diego Saturday night) partnered with 7-11 and they were giving away Slurpees and promotional items. Then there was the giant inflatable Smurf, the shark movie area, and the dog on the remote control motorcycle (don’t ask). Eventually Bruce and I hooked up and he was stopped to receive some quite interesting swag – deodorant (trust me, he wasn’t the only one)!
We went for pizza at a place Cartoon Network rented out and redid to look like the cartoon Adventure Time (there were also restaurants taken over by SyFy- the Cafe Diem, NBC- The Playboy Club, not to mention various video games).
Cirque Du Soleil was probably the low point of the Con. Billed as ‘Battle at Comic-Con’ it was to be a 3-D Battle from the show Ka. We’d heard so much about Cirque from friends that we thought it would be amazing. The lawn near Petco Park was packed and people were really excited about the show. First it started a half-hour after it was billed then there were technical difficulties. But, probably the most disappointing was shortly after it started I thought, “I wonder what they’re going to do for the battle” and then it was the end! Complete showtime less than 5-minutes. After this show, I just don’t see the allure of Cirque.
Friday I did take a break and Bruce and I explored Balboa Park in the late afternoon.
Saturday we spent some time wandering downtown. We ran into the Zombie Walk (remember, Zombies=bad), the Top Gear America theater (no, we didn’t go in since it wasn’t the BBC version), and saw NerdHQ. This was all before the geocaching Comic-Con Meet-n-Greet. This was held in a park near the SouthPark theme area that we never even had time to visit.
After the meet-n-greet we headed up to the 4th & B theater for the Nerdist Podcast Live with Dr. Who – excellent! It was a terrific event with Matt Smith and Karen Gillam as well as special guest star Wil Wheaton (and free burritos at the end)! I also don’t think I mentioned that the theater was right across the street from the San Diego Civic Center where they were concurrently premiering Cowboys & Aliens!
In all, there were plenty of free things I didn’t see and some ticketed things we didn’t get tickets for. So, even if I can’t get a badge in 2012, I have a plan to make the most of my Comic-Con time!
Total swag without really trying: Looney Tunes and Pan Am bags, obnoxiously green Psych sunglasses, blowup sword, Slurpee, Butterfinger bar, bag of PopChips, many, many fliers, coupons, etc.
Can you say “epic failure?” the stage shot of the Nerdist podcast the white glowing blob with ginger hair is Karen Gillan, to her right is Matt Smith, to his right is Wil Wheaton. 
