This last weekend I went off to visit Baltimore and see what their Comic-Con had in store. I wasn’t dressed up as anything as I was mostly there to promote the comic and take lots of pictures. Both of these things were done!
You can see the photos here:
This coming weekend I will be at Shore-leave, a fan run convention up in Hunt Valley Maryland! If you are in the area, come by and say HI! I’ll have a number of pieces from the Nerd Prints up in the art gallery, and I will be all over the floor (not literally, I know where that floor has been.)
Also, keep an eye out for our Lost Trooper! It’s been 10 years since I joined the 501st with this scout trooper armor, so it’s making a special appearance at Shore-Leave.
Click the links to find out more information about the con!
I have attended a lot of conventions. One of the things I love to check out is the Artist Alley. This is where the various comic/fantasy/painter artists hang out and have tables and do sketches. You can walk by and visit with them, browse their artwork and even have them do a sketch for you.
From an photography artist, this made me a little jealous. I love the idea of sitting in a booth or table and doing on the spot artwork for people, or having elaborate mat-boards for people to browse through. But as we all have learned, I am still in the early stages of drawing, and I don’t really have some printed artwork that I can display…….
or do I?
I went through some of my older photos and noticed a theme. I have a lot of nerdy prints that I have taken over the years. Some of these would look cool hung up in a study or in your geeky nerd cave. So I have decided to compile them all into one place, and then offer them up “Project Nerd Prints”.
If I am at a convention I will try and have some of these printed out and available, as well as having the ability to do on the spot portraits. This is coupled with my working on sketching.
If you think of something that would be a good Nerd Print, please pass the suggestion on and I will see what I can do. Please feel free to browse the full gallery over at Flickr and some of the selected works below.
I am going to say some things about DragonCon that a lot of my friends may disagree with, but they are things that I think and feel.
You remember the first time you went to DragonCon? The size of the convention outweighed anything you had ever seen. The costumes were amazing, the friends you made there lasted forever. The wonder and awe of it all was so much to take in that you ended up talking about it for months on end after it was done. You came home and told all your friends about this magical place where you had so much fun.
The next time you went, it was still a blast, but you started to see a bit more of the tarnish. The room rates were a bit more than the year before. You got to hang out with friends, but a few of them were stuck in a line for a panel. You really wanted to pick up something at this booth in the dealers room, but it was a bit crowded each time you tried, and by the time you got in, it was sold out. But you still had a blast, and maybe the next few weeks after the con, you talked about it and went over your pictures.
Then, a few years of going down the road, more and more tarnish appears. Rooms sell out instantly. errors plague the system. Hotels handle the convention badly because it doesn’t matter, they still get their money. DudeBros invade the system because it’s an endless fountain of cheap rooms and entertainment for them.
I love DragonCon, but only as a memory. That first, second, even the third versions in my head are what I love.
Now. I have been to other big events. PAXEast and JoCoCruiseCrazy. Both are amazing events. I met amazing people at them, and I had experiences that rank up there with what I felt at that first DragonCon. When I got back from them, I wanted to do the same thing that I (and many others) had done after DragonCon which was spread the word. What I was met with was statements like “It’s not DragonCon” or “We are already spending our vacation at DragonCon”
No, they aren’t DragonCon. I won’t say they are better or worse than DragonCon. They are just something else. It’s something new. A chance to feel that magic and wonder again. To try something different.
I am not going to say that I won’t go back to DragonCon again. I would like to again. I had fun, despite the issues that surround it. But I am also going to try out other things. I would love to visit San Diego Comic Con, even though I have heard bad stories about them as well. There is Baltimore comic Con, NY comic con, Megacon, PAX Prime, etc.
Please don’t take this as a rant to get everyone to stop going to DragonCon, or even as an advertisement for any other convention. I realize that the cruise may be to expensive, or Video games aren’t your thing, or you don’t like comics. What I am saying is that there are LOTS of great events that offer up much the same experience that DragonCon does.
I know that we all have lots of friends that we like to meet up with at DragonCon, but remember how you met those friends. Think of the new friends that are waiting at a new event. All your DragonCon friends won’t desert you just for trying something new.
I would encourage everyone to try something new. You never know, you may like it!
OK, I am not on the boat yet, but I will be shortly. Sarah and I are attending JoCoCruiseCrazy 3 this year and it’s going to be awesome! This will pose some interesting #FirstWorldProblems. The internet on the boat, while available, is very expensive. Many folks are going without as a challenge. I may or may not be up for this challenge. Of course that means that uploading my P365 pictures is going to be difficult (or non-existent). Take heart people, I will be taking and processing my photo every day, when I get back to the Internets (or possibly at a hotspot in one of the ports of call) I will upload and label them for the days they were taken.
In the meantime, enjoy this slideshow of my P365 shots to today.
Also, check out the Trooper Adventures, who will also be going with us on the cruise.
Jewel Got Photobombed!
One of my favorite hobbies takes place while at conventions, but doesn’t involve costumes, friends, or drinking. (because, what else is there at conventions?) I love seeing the guest list for conventions because it means I may have the chance to meet someone who is responsible for creating some of my favorite shows/books/movies. To much extent, this is one of the main reasons for attending for me, and one of the first things I do at a convention! There is just something about going up to a guest, shaking their hand (or giving the Iron Guard), and thanking them for what they do. On that rare occasion, you even have enough time to sit and talk with them about their craft, or hobbies, or even just what they think about the conventions.
To remember the visit I will usually grab one of the 8×10’s they have and have them sign it. Not to monetize it, but to have that memory. It’s always personalized (if they can, some of them have their reasons), and I consider it as my contribution to them for the time they spent with me. Sometimes the memory and time is great, and sometimes it’s not, but it is always a memory I will have.
Me dressed at Matty Roth from DMZ with Felicia.
I recently decided to grab shots of all of my current autographs. Most of them are down in the “Man-Cave” but some are still yet to be framed and mounted. Some interesting ones are the set of four autographs from Felicia Day, and the four from Jewel Staite. We learned that four is the magic number, when it comes to that line between fandom and stalking. I love both Jewel and Felicia for what they do and who they are, but I don’t want to be that guy who is always in their line every convention. That’s just creepy. So we go for four autographs and call it at that. It’s enough that, by the end of it, they tend to recognize you enough to smile and wave, but not overly enough to be weird-ed out by your presence.
Below are just a few of my favorites, you can find the rest in a gallery here on my site.
Meeting Wil was indeed…Awesome
EJO was inspiring to meet in person
Jewel played the 501st’s game of “Droid Hunt” and had a blast.
Two of my favorite actors from Warehouse 13!!
I am back from PAXEast 2012 and I have a few days of recoup before I have to head out on another business trip! (oh the life of a jetsetter #notreally). I wanted to throw out some thoughts on PAXEast before I had to run off again, and I am finally awake enough to do so!
First of all, PAXEast has gotten HUGE!!!!!!! (Seriously, it could use some more exclamation marks, it’s that huge.) They expanded this year to include more of the convention center. So much so that I didn’t even find some of the show floor until Sunday, because it was hidden behind some of the crazy big displays. I followed my basic rule of “No standing in a line for 2 hours to see a demo/trailer that I can just watch on Monday”. Which means, or course, I hardly got to see any of the good demos on the show floor. Seriously, if I can’t see the demo from outside your booth, I am not going to waste 2 hours of my con to watch 5 min of footage!
Aside from all of that, there were some great things to see there! Borderlands 2 looks amazing as usual. Assassin’s Creed 3 was there, but the only thing they had on the outside of the booth was the same trailers we have already seen. Those were my two big finds. Lots of small booths and little games to see, but I think it was a bit overwhelming due to the glut of booths and the overpowering of some of the big names. Farcry actually has a bus! A FULL BUS!
I attended the show with a friend and Podcast Co-Host, RetroNick, so there was lots of visits to the Retro Gaming rooms. After all these years I learned that if you have a second controller hooked up while playing Duck Hunt, you can control the duck! Also, I apparently can identify the sound of the atari 2600 game Surround from across the room. You guys remember how hard Space Ace was?
The Table Top area was also kind of screwed up. Last year there were tables everywhere and you could pop down and play whatever you liked. This year the Magic folks and the D&D folks had ½ the room reserved for their games. So you would go in and see tons of tables open, but couldn’t sit unless you were playing an “Authorized” game. The open gaming area was very small and always packed.
The main theme of the con, at least from our point of view would have to be Mass Effect. Tons of great Cosplayers from ME there. The panel was great with awesome information, and the chance to sit and talk with some of the writers was outstanding. I swung by one of the rooms and just asked about the time of their signing and the person I asked was the lead writer for Mordin. We talked about the script and choices. Big highlight to my trip.
Overall, great trip. Looking forward to next year!
If you want to see some of the various media I took at PAX, check out these links!
Walkthrough of the PAX East floor
Why is this an Un-official post? Because I am still processing the whole con. Literally. I am working through all the photos I took processing them to improve the shots, doing laundry from the con, cleaning up the house and also taking care of the new Kitties we adopted the day after!
So why post? Well, there are a few things I want to touch on because they were So Awesome! (well, one not so awesome)
I MET WIL WHEATON!
No really, this was the highlight of the Con for me! Anyone who knows me knows that I kind of have a man-crush (Platonic) for Mr. Wheaton. I made the attempt to meet him at PAX east but apparently, his meemaw died/He was washing his hair/he was dead at the time, and he couldn’t attend. So when I heard he was going to be at DragonCon I was super excited! I was dressed in one of the two costumes I brought, Matty Roth from the comic DMZ. I figured that maybe only 2 people would get the costume but I was not prepared for what happened next. As I stepped up in line and greeted Wil with the Iron Guard Salute, this happened:
Wil:
Me:
Wil:
Me: That’s AWESOME!
I then handed him two 6-sided dice that I made telling him that I “Got exited and made something” which spawned another round of “That’s Awesome!” I also got the chance to tell him that during his Father Son bonding over brewing beer, I was doing the same while building a Tardis. (That’s Awesome, round 4) He signed a picture of himself collating paper and we went on our way. I was giggling for the rest of the day.
Now, the worst experience of the con, sadly, was my one with William Shatner. On my way through the Walk of Fame area, I stopped at the booth for WS and they had mentioned that he would be back in 30 min. There was no line so I figured “I can wait 30 min!” I Happily bought my photo ticket ($75!!!!), picked out my photo (Only Kirk photos, no S My dad says or Denny Crane), and got in line. 30 min turned into 45, then an hour, then longer and longer. The folks at the booth were trying to assure us that he was on his way down. It was nearing 5pm and we knew he had a panel at 5:30pm. (I got in line at 3:30pm). When he finally showed up, the line herders asked if I would let a woman in a wheelchair in front of me, which I had no problem with. (navigating the con in a wheel chair is tough, trust me on this.) She got her autograph and was working on backing out of the area, the handler reached out for my photo and handed it to WS as I got out of the way. When I got back up to the counter, the Photo was signed and I was being shuttled away without barely a glance from WS. I did manage to eek out a “It was very…er..honor” and got a half hearted fist bump before they moved on to the next guy.
Never in all of my conventions and Autograph collecting have I ever been treated like a sheep. It has always been my experience that I am paying the $20+ not for the autograph or the photo, but for the experience of getting 1-2 minutes of time with an actor/author/artist that I genuinely admire enough that I want to Pay for that moment. I don’t do this to collect signatures. I do this because I LIKE these people and want to express how much I appreciate and support their work. If I wanted just a photo with a signature on it, I could have bought one in the dealers room! (and probably paid less.) I have heard that WS is kind of a dick when it comes to conventions, but I really want to believe that maybe he was just being rushed by con handlers, or was having a bad day and doesn’t normally treat fans this way. I can hope right?
The rest of the con was outstanding. Pictures will be coming along soon as well as maybe a real after action report. I <3 everyone I hung out with there!!
So I never realized that getting a new job would end up meaning I had so much less time. The new job is a better position and as we all know, with great power… yeah yeah. So needless to say I have been keeping busy and it hasn’t given me the time to write much. So lets run through some quick updates.
So to close out here are some photos I have taken since the last post:
The ThinkGeek runner Up:
IBM PC 5150 Classic:
National Cathedral:
Geln Echo Park:
ChinaTown Gate:
Well, I am back from DragonCon and getting back into the swing of things. The Con was great but I didn’t do some of the more Blog type stuff that I had wanted to. That’s not to say that I didn’t do more than enough to cover the whole con but I had planned on getting an interview about games with a few of the the folks there, and there just wasn’t time. The biggest takeaway is of course that there were a bazillion people there! Ok, not really, but there were certainly more people than I had ever seen before at a Con. One thing that kind of bugged me a bit was the in-accessibility of some of the stars. Now, don’t read that the wrong way, I am certainly not expecting some big name stars to be at our beck and call, but when I read that certain names are on the guest list, only to find out that they are only doing limited appearances, ala, 1 panel, maybe a private autograph session, it’s a little sad. I had really wanted to meet Paul Dini, but when I went to the Artist’s area he was nowhere to be found. Apparently the Info desk there was well versed in the answer to “Where’s Paul Dini?” From what we learned, Paul was only doing a few panels and had no table.
Such was also the case with one of my Favorite Mythbusters! Adam Savage was at the con but only did limited Autograph sessions (and with so many people there, the lines were impossible) and even my favorite part of any Savage sighting is the #adamincognito game he plays. Adam is an avid costumer so DragonCon is a great place for him. He will sometimes dress up in Costume and encourage people to find him. Unfortunately, the con was 5 hotels large with between 30-50,000 people there. With no location tweeted it was nigh on impossible to change encounter him. For this one though I blame the lack of Signal that happens when you get that many people in a small area all with smart phones.
(Deep Breath) Ok, now that all my bitching and moaning is over. What I did get to do at the con was great. Sarah and I took about 6 costumes each and got to wear most all of them. I got to meet a lot of the stars I planned on seeing, and of course the visiting with friends and drinking. All in all, a great con. Pictures can be found in my gallery.
Now, to get back into my rigorous gaming habit! Reach comes out next week so I have only a few more days to finish up with Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions. All I can say so far is that it’s apparent that there will never be a Spider-Man game where the camera isn’t completely hosed while wall crawling.
