seb's stuff: travel

san diego comic-con...a yearly pilgrimage by 150k fans to attend the mother of all geek-cons...it used to be that the grand slam star trek convention in pasadena was the largest thing around, but sdcc dwarfs all others now...a lot of the attention is focused on movies and tv shows, but there was still decent activity in the indie comic and artist sections...some think that it has strayed from the original purpose of the show...however, i think comics is a dying industry (at least in the US...manga is still pretty popular in japan)...expanding comics to other mediums such as movies ensures that comics can stay in business...also, the greater appeal of comic-con to mainstream fans helps the indie comic writers and artists since they are able to showcase their stuff to a wider audience...there are some things that don't really belong at comic con though...one example is shark week...shark week?...that is not con-worthy...i have to give them credit for making up for their lack of relevancy with good looking chicks handing out stuff though

i didn't have anything that i really wanted to see except maybe the walking dead, but i didn't want to camp out to get to that panel...for me, the best part of comic-con is the loot...in particular, the firefly variety...the first thing i checked out were the qmx and california browncoat booths...qmx had a prototype serenity model that should go on sale later this year for about $100...i'll be getting that when it comes out...they also had these larger scale models

this one lights up

i was thinking of getting the big damn hero figures and the dr. horrible penny figure, but i decided not to...ended up getting nothing from the qmx booth...still fun to look at...the browncoat booth didn't have much either but i got a t-shirt and book...those who were there with me know that they tried to trick me by giving me a women's size shirt...it did not fit

http://www.teefury.com/archive/1171/River_Tam___The_Fireflies_/

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1848565062/pageturners0c

i also got some original artwork by jason palmer

http://www.shop.serenityprint.com/Shiny-The-Big-Damn-Crew-Print-Shiny-print.htm

of the panels that i was able to get in, i thought the knights of badassdom was the best and not just because summer glau was part of it...i think this type of panel represents the spirit of what comic-con is about...it is a small budget movie about larpers (live action role playing)...http://knightsofbadassdom.com/...it delves into a world where few tread...even among the geeks, larping is on a another level...yet the trailer makes it seem funny without making fun of and looks like it could be popular with everyone...there has been very little marketing for this, and i'm guessing they don't have the money...however, a movie like this will probably spread better by word of mouth and the interwebs

the other panels i saw were dragon age (live action web series of the game featuring felicia day), twixt...a good article about it here (http://geeksofdoom.com/2011/07/23/sdcc-2011-wtf-is-twixt-coppola-explains/)...the movie itself didn't seem very interesting...what was interesting was listening to francis ford coppola and his genuine interest in film and the film making process...he is almost like a little kid in his excitement when talking about movies and what he is trying to do with this film but without all the pomp and pretentiousness that one might expect from a director of his renown...the other panel that i saw was immortals, which was not good

also got a pic with the guild cast and a signed poster...watch the new season here

http://www.watchtheguild.com/the-guild-season-5-episode-1-road-trip/

overall, it was a fun con, but i don't think i will go again...there are too many people for the size of convention center...i really hope that they can find a larger venue and a better system for getting into the panels

on to nyc...i spent 5 days in manhattan...my trip was mostly walking and eating...eating and walking...in 95 degree heat and 95% humidity...if i had to pick a walking theme song, it would have been "summer in the city" by lovin' spoonful

i've been to nyc before but was only there for a day and a half...this time i was able to experience more of the city...the one thing manhattan has on the other major cities (at least of the ones i've been to) are the restaurants...so many small, hole in the wall type places to try...i don't take pics of food, so i had to jack these

some german bar before going to SL club...brats and kraut

at cafe lalo where they filmed you've got mail...this is quiche, but i had a belgian waffle

this is at clinton st. bakery...blueberry pancakes with double cured bacon and sugar cured bacon

lombardi's pizza...half cheese and half white

max brenner's...i had some ice cream chocolate dip thing..this is chocolate cake/cookie and chocolate ice cream

popover from popover cafe...i also had corned beef and hash...real corned beef and not the canned stuff

shake shack burger...i liked it better than in-n-out but i never thought in-n-out was that good...will have to try five guys burger to declare a winner

also tried korean food at ktown in manhattan and was pretty good...saw lady liberty and went to the met...

the met was super crowded because it was nearing the end of the alexander mcqueen exhibit...i don't know anything about fashion, so i am not sure what the big deal was...i can see how it is a type of art form, but unlike pure art like painting, i think clothes should also be functional...these were not functional...the fashion industry seems wasteful and superficial to me

also went to simyone lounge in the meat packing district...it was a small club...music was ok, but i don't know what good clubbing music is nowadays...one thing i noticed was that there must have been lots of models, because there were so many thin women who were 6ft tall and up...quite a few were around 6'2"-6'4"

it was a good little trip to wrap up my time off before i start work again...got me a jobby job, and i'll be back to the grind in little over a week