CON-ODYSSEY: ComicCon - Friday, July 25, 2008

CON-ODYSSEY: ComicCon - Friday, July 25, 2008

12:30am - Giving up on food, I return to my room to watch some TV and read BONE by Jeff Smith. I had bought the complete one-volume edition earlier that day, breaking my "no purchases at ComicCon" rule.

4am - I turn off the lights to go to bed.

5am - Can't sleep, so I turn ON the lights and read more Bone.

6am - Turn out the lights (just as the sun's coming up).

10am - Wake up.

11am - We have a press session organized by Lindsay Colker for Spectacular Spider-Man. I give a half dozen interviews, as do Michael Vogel, Vic Cook, Sean "Cheeks" Galloway, Jamie Thomason, Josh Keaton, Vanessa Marshall and Ben Diskin.

12:30pm - Spectacular Spider-Man panel w/myself, Michael, Vic, Sean, Jamie, Josh, Vanessa, Ben and Robert Englund. We show the music video, our "Quip Reel" and the preview of our Mysterio and Kraven footage. It all seems to go over pretty well. Vic and I attempt to make shout outs to everyone on the staff that we know is attending. Not sure if we got everyone, but we tried. The Q&A -- in fact the entire panel -- seemed to go pretty well. I judge this by the number of laughs we got.

2pm - We have a Spectacular Spider-Man two-poster/one postcard signing at the Sony Booth. The coolest giveaway is this great spider-signal. Very cool.

3:30pm - Vic and I do one last interview.

4pm - Back to the SLG Booth to sign Gargoyles stuff with Karine Charlebois and Robby Bevard. Jennifer brought me a Pinkberry.

6:15pm - Back to the room.

6:30pm - I get Michael Vogel and Chris into the Jetix party at Stingaree. I make some small talk with Mike Moon, Rich Fogel, Mark Seidenberg, Eddie Gamara, Peter McHugh, Matt Wayne, Nicole Dubuc, Brian Swenlin, among others.

7:30pm - I hook up with Eric Vesbitt, John, Carrie, Karine, Kyt and Jennifer for dinner at Mahoney's. We are literally driven out of the place by the ridiculously high volume of the music - taking our food to go. We ate outside, and the food was actually pretty good (Salad, Club Soda, Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich). But I was still shaking from the volume. So we went to Ghiradelli's for dessert. I had a "Domingo", which is basically a hot fudge sundae (Domingo=Sunday, get it?) with bananas. Afterwards, Jennifer, Kyt, Laura and Julia and I went to a bar. I had another club soda and then called it a night...

MORE TO COME...

CON-ODYSSEY: ComicCon - Thursday, July 24, 2008

CON-ODYSSEY: ComicCon - Thursday, July 24, 2008

12am - Returned to my hotel room.

2:30am - Went to sleep.

9:30am - Woke up.

11am - Signing with Karine Charlebois at the SLG Booth.

1pm - A few of us headed out to get lunch, but it took us so long -- and all the restaurants were so crowded that I realized I didn't have time for lunch, so I stopped by Pinkberry and got an original with blackberries, strawberries and blueberries.

2pm - Another SLG signing, this time with David Hedgecock and Gordon Purcell. My friends brought me a burger and fries from Dick's Last Resort.

4pm - I walked the floor a little bit.

6pm - I went back to my room.

7:30pm - Jennifer Anderson, Robby Bevard, Kit Contreras and Karine Charlebois piled into my Cruiser for a trip to Baja Betty's, where we joined Michael McAdams, Sammy, Seth Jackson, Alisa, Scott Sakai, Marina Garcia, Max, Ty and Cindy Kinnard. I had a LOT of chips and salsa and coke. Also an Enchilada, taquitos, rice & beans. We then went back to the hotels. Jennifer, Karine and I decided to go looking for dessert. We ran into Vannessa ("Mary Jane Watson") Marshall and Cathy Lizzio (her agent) also on a hunt for food. But by Thursday at midnight, that seemed impossible. We were joined by Fred (voice of the Hulk) and his father Fred Sr. But still no food...

MORE TO COME...

CON-ODYSSEY: ComicCon - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

CON-ODYSSEY: ComicCon - Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Geez, I only JUST noticed that my entire previous conjournal entries for the Gathering and ConVergence all have the YEAR wrong. 2008, not 2009.

Cripes.

Anyway...

12am - I'm still prepping for ComicCon.

2am - I watch an episode of the L-Word.

4am - I web-browse, looking for info on my buddy Cary Bates' new comic for Marvel: True Believers.

5am - I go to bed.

10am - I get up, pack, etc.

12pm - I say goodbye to Erin, who is home sick, and head to Ralph's market to buy road snacks.

12:20pm - I finally hit the road. I eat a Butterfinger, Pringles and Evian. I'm listening to Steve Martin's great autobiography Born Standing Up.

3pm - I arrive at the Omni Hotel and check in. My room (non-smoking) smells like cigarette smoke but only in the entry way. I think smokers stood outside the room by the window and some of the smoke seeped through. I'm too lazy to complain or change rooms, but I later bring it to the front desk's attention as I'm paranoid I'll be blamed for the situation and charged a huge "cleaning" fee. Otherwise, the room is very nice.

4pm - I have "lunch" with Michael Vogel, Chris and Mike Ross at Sweetwater in the Hard Rock. I have a number of cokes, a bacon cheese burger and a big pickle. Jennifer Anderson catches up to us.

5:30pm - Jennifer and I go to Mary Janes (also at the Hard Rock) and I have dessert: Apple Pie ala mode.

7pm - We get to the Old Globe Theatre just before curtain. The play is "The Pleasure of His Company". It's a very fun and funny production. I lose a contact part way through the play however. So we head back to my room so that I can change into my glasses. We then head out to meet up with Seth and Sammy, who are at a restaurant. We are warned that it's a "long walk" -- but are not told that it's flat out TOO FAR TO WALK! Eventually, we call and force Seth to come pick us up.

11pm - At the deli, I have an OJ, a French Dip Sandwich and Potato Salad.

MORE TO COME...

CON-ODYSSEY: GATHERING & CONvergence - Monday, July 7, 2009

CON-ODYSSEY: GATHERING & CONvergence - Monday, July 7, 2009

12am - The Memorial Panel for those who have passed officially made the con a 5-day event. Chocolate Fish.

1am - A bunch of us hung out for hours. Chris, Ken, Lex, Tim, Windy and others.

5am - Back to the room.

5:30am - Sleep.

10:30am - Wake-up. Five hours. Not too bad for me.

11:30am - Packed up with some difficulty. All those extra t-shirts and the crochet'd Goliath made it tough to fit everything in. Lex and I headed to Axel and I had gumbo, an Onion Ring and an Axel burger.

4:20pm - My delayed flight finally took off.

6:20pm - Just barely made my connection to my L.A. flight.

9:30pm - Arrived at LAX.

10:00pm - Home.

And that's that. Finished just in time, because tomorrow I leave for Con-Odyssey II: San Diego ComicCon!! More when I return.