Tag Archives: comic con 2012 or bust

Curse You, Nerds, And Your Organisational Skills

Well, there go my Comic Con dreams, spiraling the toilet bowl of destiny.

Sure, it was a longshot. We initially missed out on tickets because they were sold out in something like an hour. That was enough of a shock; it was easier to get U2 tickets frankly, and that was tricky enough a few years ago. I’d blame the Twilight fans, but we had a Twilight fan on our team and we still didn’t get tickets, so we can’t blame Stephenie Meyer for that one.

So today was our second chance – presumably a good chunk of those tickets that went a month ago were returned for reasons that I’m sure don’t include the words ‘opportunistic’ and ‘nerf-herders’. We were organised. We were prepared. We were ready.

We didn’t even get close to the website.

Sold out in twenty minutes.

And so I’m not going to San Diego. Don’t get me wrong, I can live with that, I’m not climbing up on the roof or anything. But it is disappointing. I’d make a serious point about how geek culture has finally become mainstream, but I don’t really have a problem with that either. Geek culture always used to be mainstream, back when comic books sold in their millions and Elvis based his look on a superhero.

I’d've just liked to have gone to Comic Con.

 

I’m Not At Comic Con

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San Diego Comic Con 2011 is in full swing. The biggest event in the geek calendar brings together guests from comics, film, TV and gaming, together with 9,274 people dressed as Stormtroopers.

I’m not there.

Going to SDCC is on my Bucket List, somewhere close to going into space (admittedly Comic Con is probably more achievable). The plan is to go next year, and all we have to do is negotiate the Byzantine ticket-buying process and we’ll be set. For this year, however, I remain in Dudley, assuredly not at Comic Con and dejectedly following all the news on Twitter.

I’ve been a sci-fi fan most of my life but up until earlier this year I’d never been to a convention (surprisingly, given the importance of cons in bringing fandom together). I think it’s because I can be something of a loner, or at least an introvert, and the idea of going to a convention has always made me a bit twitchy – I could never think of what I might say to the guests (beyond a lame “Canihaveyourautographpleasethankyou.”), let alone other con goers. What can I say, I find networking hard work.

Back in April I went to Kapow Comic Con in London (picture above) and I had a great time. However, I’m aware that Kapow is but a new-born compared to the Great Big Bad Daddy that is San Diego. So much so that we’ve put 18 months of planning into next year’s jaunt, although that’s barely covered initial budgeting and the knowledge that we’ve got to buy messenger bags and sharpies.

Still, tickets should be on sale very soon, and that means we’ve got to consider the really important things, namely:

What songs should be on the trip playlist?

I’ve got an initial list, all with a geeky connection but in no particular order, but I’m open to suggestions:

1. The Touch by Stan Bush
2. Ghostbusters theme (Ray Parker Junior; not the Hyde/Bridges/Shakeshaft megamix, which I may post on here one day…)
3. Kryptonite (Three Doors Down)
4. Paradise City (Guns ‘n’ Roses – it mentions Captain America)
5. Stop Talking About Comic Books Or I’ll Kill You (Ookla the Mok)
6. Hungry Like the Wolf (the Bruce Campbell version)
7. Common People (the William Shatner version)

I know some of these are obscure, but that’s the point of Comic Con – a gathering together of like-minded people who understand obscure, nerdy references. Four days later they’re back to reality and conversing with ‘normal’ people, but for four days, SDCC gives everyone the chance to get their geek on. It’s that feeling of community that makes fandom special, if a little dysfunctional.

So to everyone out there in San Diego, both attending Comic Con or serving underage Ewoks in a bar after the day’s festivities have ended, have a great time, and that you get all the swag and Stan Lee autographs you wanted.

See you next year!

Help! Geek aid required…

So, following yesterday’s post, some questions:

Los Angeles to San Diego – drive, train or rickshaw?

Trip t-shirts – awesome or tacky?

I don’t want to sell a kidney; anyone know cheap places to stay in downtown San Diego?

How best to deal with any potential crushing disappointment if all this doesn’t work out?

In the event of Christian Bale having a meltdown while promoting The Dark Knight Rises, where’s a good place to hide?

Can anyone lend me $1,000?

 

 

 

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.

A Journey Begins With A Single Step….

I feel like Christopher Columbus must have felt as he prepared to make his epic journey in search of an alternate route to Asia. For I and a few hardy friends are beginning to think about possibly considering to possibly go to San Diego Comic-Con 2012.

It’s in the very early stages at the moment ("Hey, why don’t we go to Comic-Con in 2012?" "Cool!"), but there’s nothing like planning ahead. Besides, if the conspiracy theorists misquoting the Mayans are correct it may be the last chance we get, although we won’t go down that route. Apocalyptic paranoia aside, going to Comic-Con would be something to cross off my Bucket List, and given that a bunch of major blockbusters are being released that year we figured it would be good timing. It will also give me time to save up so I can go without having to sell a kidney or something.

I’m going to set up a LiveJournal tab for this because I figure it could be a bit of an adventure (for instance, it’s probably easier to fly into LA and then either road trip or train it to San Diego), and if it doesn’t come off, well, c’est la vie as French people say when they don’t make it to Comic-Con…