Comic Con 4 (Wednesday) - Preview Night (pt 2)

So where was I? Oh yeah, we'd just entered the dealers' room, with about a million other people.


I found the figures that Tycho wanted. Shiny.


Unfortunately, a lot of the other people there for preview night were apparently ALSO there for these figures. Kirkachu bravely stood in the mob for both of us (since you could buy two per person and he didn't want me to get trampled). It was a mess, though. I think maybe these people didn't know how many folks would want these figures.


Before I could contemplate what exactly four more days of mob scenes meant, I met a bear dressed up like Spider Man!


And Wendy and I went wandering. We found a booth called Fat Rabbit Farm.


Which I had to explain to her was NOT a fat farm for rabbits, but rather an adorable t-shirt place. She thinks she's funny.


I got to meet the guys responsible for "The Night Owls" webcomic, which was pretty cool.


I also got to meet amazing comic artist/creator, Rob Espinosa. Turns out, he's followed up his series "The Courageous Princess"with a really cool, princessy board game.


I considered picking one up for Lenore, but decided I should wait to shop until at least the second day of the convention.

He was super nice, though.


I have no idea who brought the replica Star Trek Captain's chair, but sitting in it just felt totally natural for me. I'd be a great space bunny.


There were a lot of cool and strange costumes at the convention. And then there was whatever this one was.


This guy was just quitely sculpting while all the chaos went on around him. Beautiful. I don't know how you focus with that many people around you, looking over your shoulder. Amazing.


This was a close as I got to the Iron Man 2 display. They looked pretty nifty, though.


So Wendy says "Look Gage! A cursed boar pirate thing! Doesn't he look nice? Go say hi." So I go say "hi".


It did not go well.


I think she probably wouldn't talk to me because I still smelled like boar breath. *shudder*



Remote control dinosaurs. Well, whatever floats your boat, I guess. Though, Wendy was completely enchanted with them. I'll have to keep that in mind for Christmas.


And while shopping for Christmas presents...


Nah, not for me. But Kumo would have a great time with her very own Bat Pod!

So we saw a bunch of stuff, got a voucher so we could pick up Tycho's green Power Ranger Hal Jordan: Green Lantern figure in the morning, walked around in circles forever with about a million people and then it was time to go back to the hotel.


On the way, we saw the biggest freakin' cock roach I have ever seen. Thankfully this was the only one I saw for the whole trip, and it was OUTSIDE.


But, before we got to the hotel, we were all hungry again. And ended up at (of course) Denny's.


Where I washed down day one of Comic Con with a nummy rootbeer float.

Then it was off to bed because we had to be up bright and early to pick up Tycho's action figure, and there was destined to be more Comic Con adventure!

Comic Con 3 (Wednesday) - Preview Night (pt 1)

And so the Comic Con saga continues...
********

I thought I might take a quick nap after my shower, but there was no time! We had to go get our badges and check out "preview night" (which basically just means getting into the dealers' room/exhibition hall early.


The view from the hotel was... another hotel. Which is okay. And a bunch of houses on a hill.


We walked to the train station, which was near by and actually really nicely run. I'm used to Colorado transit where the RTD on the buses and trains stands for "Reason to Drive". I was impressed.


Almost there!


Up the escalators to get our badges.


With about a million of our friends... there are a LOT of people that attend Comic Con.


Once we had our badges, we sat in the line waiting to get into the dealers' room. I read some of the convention literature. It was the 25th anniversary of Usagi Yojimbo, which I think is probably Kumo's favorite comic. Well, at least she probably likes looking at the pictures (don't tell her I said that.)


Advertisement for the figures Tycho wanted. Five "Darkest Night" Green Lantern figures. One of the first things I needed to do upon getting to the dealers' room was to find the booth that had them and get the first one. They were putting one of the set up every day for the next five days! What had I signed on for? But, they were the only thing Tycho asked for from the convention. I was determined to get them for him. Poor guy.


However, the dealers' room was HUGE. There's a MAP to find everything, and I had no doubt that without it, I would be one lost bunny. (And this one was to scale and accurate, unlike that one from the last entry).


What HAD I signed on for?


I didn't have time to contemplate it, since there were other stuffies to meet in the halls.


Ocean to admire.


Card games to be played. Turns out I am particularly good at Pictureka. I think it comes from being so focused that even someone pulling my ears cannot keep me from winning.


And I guess that while I was sitting in line, waiting for everything to open, it didn't occur to me that all the people sitting in line with us would be ...


IN the dealers' room with us. It was a LOT of people. But I was on a quest! I had to find that booth with the Green Lantern for Tycho! And so off we went, wading through the crowd to find them.

Comic Con 2 (Wednesday) - We Arrive!

First, I really need to apologize for how long it took me to get this 2nd Comic Con update posted. My laptop had been hijacked by a ninja.

Kumo discovered that Netflix has Kung Fu movies available in the "watch instantly" category and immediately swiped my laptop for lots of Kung Fu watching.



When I suggested that _I_ might need to use my laptop, she suggested that SHE might need to practice all the new ninja moves she was learning from the movies. And so I did not use my laptop.

I might still be trying to figure out how to do this update had it not been for the brilliant intervention of Kirkachu.


Kirkachu brought over much of his private stash of martial arts movies, and Wendy set Kumo up to watch DVDs on her laptop (which is like a huge screen TV for Kumo). And so I have my laptop back. Which is great. Even if I'm probably not going to be able to get into my library for the next few months. Ah well.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, we arrived!


Upon landing, we figured out where we needed to go to catch the shuttle that was taking us to our hotel. I navigated, of course.


Once we got outside I noticed two things: 1) palm trees EVERYWHERE and 2) my tail frizzes in humidity.


At least the palm tree part was nice.


Apparently the whole city of San Diego was ready for Comic Con. Our shuttle was even labeled for it.


There are lots of things about San Diego that don't look like home. Like all the boats. Well, and the ocean, of course.


The houses were different too, though. All built up in layers on the hill. Cute.


But, some things look the same no matter where you are.

So, here's a travel tip. Good idea - arriving quite a bit earlier than the convention starts so you can get settled, get a shower and then go pick up your badges. Bad idea - arriving quite a bit earlier than your hotel check in time.

And so, we settled into Denny's for a few hours to have some lunch and wait.


Greetings from San Diego!


Kirkachu and I picked up a card game called Pictureka! But neither of us knew how to play it. So we went over the rules while waiting for food.


Mmmm, burger.


What? I was hungry.


The game was pretty fun, but competition got pretty heated between the Kirkachu and I.


For instance, when the card said "A noisy thing" and he picked a rocket in space, I had to call him on it. There is no sound in space. Seriously, has this guy never seen 2001?

After a few games of Pictureka we headed back to the hotel to wait in the lobby.


Taking in some of the brochures about local attractions, I found myself a little disturbed by a map labeled with "Maps are not to scale or accurate." So the point of an inaccurate map would be...?


Kirkachu caught a quick Kirknap in the lobby. I woke him up when our room was ready and we could finally check in.



I grabbed a quick shower and we were ready to head to the convention for preview night!

Comic Con 1 (Wednesday) - Away We Go!

In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, we were off to Comic Con!!


We arrived at DIA first thing in the morning.


The beautiful, upside down cow airport.


I'm not sure who they have to tel that you can't bring cans of WD-40 or lighter fluid on the plane with you, but just in case, there was a handy display case before you got to security.


Once we were through security, straight to the McDonalds for breakfast.


Iced coffee and a hash brown cakey thing. Oh yeah, I'm lovin' it.


Everything seemed to be right on time, so we had a LOT of time to kill.


Taking in the "artwork" (I have no idea what this is supposed to be.)


Taking in the other planes (our plane was the baby lynx one. Who would've thought they'd let a baby lynx fly? But then, I'm not sure how the elk gets in the cockpit of the plane he flies either. So what do I know?)


Taking in the airport.


Spent some time listening to the iPod and reading... waiting for our flight to leave.


Then we were all getting ready to board! Almost time!


And we're up and away! Taking in the scenery from the air!


And uh... airline TV. Who watches TV on an airplane when you could look out the window and see the mountains and stuff?


We ended up over a cloudbank, and I couldn't see anything. I didn't want to watch airline TV either. What I WANTED was that thing that tells you where you are. Like we had on the flight to Washington.


But there wasn't one, just clouds, which was pretty much what I was seeing outside too. I had no idea where we were. But I figure as long as the pilot knows, that's the important thing. Right?

Next - We Arrive!

Going to Comic Con!!!

So I'm packing for Comic Con.

We leave in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, so we thought it might be better to get things packed and ready to go now.


And I'm packing Tycho's comic book shirts. He loaned them to me. Poor guy. I feel bad for him. See, last night, after taking Voltaire for her walk, when I got inside, Wendy told me I was going to the con, though she didn't say why. I already kind of had my suspicions after Tycho was so upset being at the movie theater.

(*cue flashback music*)


Kumo was less than thrilled to hear that I was getting to go to a convention and she hadn't been invited. She seemed to feel better after I told her I was going to need someone to look after Voltaire, but she made me promise that there were no ninjas there. So if there are ninjas at Comic Con, please don't tell my sister.


Anyway, as I was packing up books to take with me (Kirkachu said there's a lot of sitting around waiting in lines, and he and Wendy are both bringing books too), Tycho came by.




He had an armload of t-shirts and asked if he could talk to me a minute about the convention and stuff. I told him "of course" and to make himself at home.



Tycho told me that Shirley had diagnosed him with Enochlophobia - fear of crowds. She said it probably stemmed from not enough socialization as a puppy, and that there was just no way he would be able to handle going to a place with 100,000 people. So he said he was glad that Wendy had a backup companion to go with her, since he couldn't.



He brought me his comic book t-shirts so I could wear them at the convention. It was a really nice gesture, and I guess that made it feel like some part of him was going to the convention too.


I felt really bad for the guy. And I asked him if there was anything I could bring back for him. Anything I could do.


He told me there was a set of Green Lantern figures he really, really wanted. Only available at the convention.


And I told him that it was no problem. I'd find him a set. That seemed to make him feel a whole lot better. Poor guy.


So, I'm going to Comic Con with Wendy and Kirkachu, and with a mission for my friend who can't go. I'm going to have to ask Kirkachu about where to find those figures when we get there. He knows all about that stuff.

And now I'm all packed and ready to go!


See you at the convention! I am out of here!

Tycho and the Dog Psychologist

As I was taking Voltaire for her evening walk, I saw Tycho and Shirley, the dog trainer and psychologist sitting and chatting on one of the park benches.


Shirley is a remarkable dog trainer, and if anyone can help him figure out why he got all upset last night at the movie, I'm sure it's her.

Hopefully she can get him to quit that whimpering too. It's sad, and it's obnoxious.


However, I am not a nosy bunny, so I just kept walking with Voltaire and did not disturb their conversation.


Voltaire LOVES her evening walkies.



I was just hoping that she'd be done before the rain came. It looked like some heavy weather might be moving in.


We started heading back just as the drops began to fall. Apparently Shirley and Tycho had already gone in, since the bench was empty.

I hope she helped him out. I don't want to be nosy, but I probably will politely ask him about it when I see him next.

Courteous curiosity only, mind you. Not even going to ask about if he's really up for the convention. Nope. Not asking.

Seeing the Harry Potter Movie - Almost

So off we went to see Harry Potter. Unfortunately, this meant sharing the purse with Tycho. Tycho is not a diminutive dog. I dare say he could lay off the dog biscuits a bit.


This is just not going to work, and I hope that Wendy is not even CONSIDERING taking both of us, because there is just no way.


I navigated, of course. Even though Tycho insisted on thinking he knew where we were going.


When we arrived at the theater, the parking lot was PACKED. Tycho gave a little whimper and asked how many cars I thought were there.


I told him the cars weren't the important part, and that if you figured there were probably 3 - 4 people PER car in the theater, that was a LOT of people.

He got a very strange look, and went very silent. And then he just started shuddering and whining.

Wendy unceremoniously threw me out of the purse, so she could talk to Tycho who was apparently having some kind of weird attack. So I went and looked at movie posters.


I'm looking forward to 2012. I know, his record isn't great (*cough* Day After Tomorrow *cough*) but I'm not looking for great drama. I'm looking for New York falling off the continent into the ocean.


I am also really looking forward to District 9. While I don't condone their "No Humans" policy, there are days I do understand it.


I am embarrassed to admit I've already watched an illegal copy of Ponyo on the internet. I didn't really mean to. But it was so good, even without being dubbed, I sat and watched the whole thing one afternoon. I am really glad it's finally coming out here, so I can show it to Wendy and Kirkachu and see what they think too. Great movie!


Wendy finished up talking to Tycho and found me looking at the poster for the Fame movie. She kindly suggested that we could catch a midnight screening when it came out, snickering the whole time.


She thinks she's funny.

Anyway, it turns out we weren't going to be able to see Harry Potter after all. Tycho was just a little too freaked out by something and Wendy had decided we should go home.


He really was pretty upset. I don't know what set him off. He wouldn't come out of her purse, and he wouldn't quit whining. Poor dog. I felt kind of bad for him.

Wendy said that tomorrow he'll be seeing Shirley, resident stuffie dog trainer. I guess she knows a lot about dog psychology. I hope she can fix whatever's wrong with him. I hate to see him like this.

And that whine is starting to give me a headache.