My good friend Diana invited me to go up to Phoenix this weekend to the comic con. I’m not the hugest fan of dead tree comic books (although I do read my share of online ones), but I’m not one to say no to a unique opportunity like that. So I went, and it was a lot of fun.
Even though I don’t read tons of comics, I’m still a colossal nerd. Or at least, I thought I was… but really I’ve got nothin’ on these folks. It nearly brought a tear to my eye to see my fellow geeks dressed as various comic book characters, mostly Japanese. *sniff* It definitely brought tears to my eyes to walk behind one or two rather pungent individuals who NEED SHOWERS BADLY. But it was all fun, mostly because I enjoy people watching in all its forms. These folks weren’t just dressed up, they were literally clad in glee. You couldn’t help but get the vibe that these people were coming together for an almost spiritual communion of sorts, a temporary graphic-novel Mecca.
I tagged along with Diana and her cast of characters to various panels and exhibits. Some of them were artists or writers talking about their work, which was interesting to listen to even if you hadn’t seen or heard their work (and yeah I was probably the only one… but I did buy the first book in a series that came highly recommended by everyone in the party and got it signed). Others were a little bit more interesting, like the body art seminar labeled ominously “18 and older”, which involved watching an artist apply paint to two very attractive women each wearing nothing but a thong. I’ll never think of the phrase “airbrushed models” the same way again.
Of course there was cool swag, like the Star Trek posters they were giving out, and the free DVD of “Death Race” I somehow acquired. And it was cool to go say hello to Wil Wheaton and thank him for his promotion of Child’s Play (he’s well-known for his role as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but of course moved on to other things like books and voice acting by now). He’s become this sort of cornerstone geek icon recently, mainly by just being a normal guy with geekish interests like games and comics, who amazingly hasn’t tried to overplay his celebrity or let it go to his head. That’s pretty commendable I think.
I should post about my new RA position, but I’ll let it wait until I actually go in to see the lab on Wednesday.
Did you get to see Brett Spiner?
You got to go to a comic con? Awesome! I’ve been to several anime conventions in the past, but I think my interests are changing and this should be reflected in my con attendance. Glad you had a good time.
So you got an RA position? That’s great, too. Important both the small food-to-mouth scale and the long term develop-a-career scale. Nice work :P I hope I can do half as well when it comes to funding (read: TAship).