San Diego Comic-Con: Day 1

Day one of my San Diego Comic-Con 50th anniversary experience began early. Luckily, I was in bed pretty early the night before and I finally slept OK (meaning, I didn’t wake up more often than I normally do). I started the day with a cup of dirty dish water (aka “coffee”) from the reception at Haborview Inn & Suites and skyr that I ate with the little plastic drink stirrer.

I decided to walk to the convention center and found myself walking through the “Little Italy” neighborhood near my hotel. I’ve been to Italy exactly one time, which makes me an expert on the country. I can safely say that “Little Italy” in San Diego is nothing like actual Italy. Yes, there were a lot of pizzerias and cafes, but the pizza was all American style and the cafes had too much room. I expected maybe more Italian-style architecture or signs in Italian or something more…you know…Italian. However, I did eventually walk past a building that featured ceramic tiles like the ones I saw on the Amalfi Coast. There were only small blocks of 4 to 6 tiles in a few spots on the building, but then there was a fountain at the end that was covered in the tiles. So I guess maybe THAT was Little Italy?

Just up the street, I found a poster for the upcoming Watchmen series in the window of a restaurant. The poster featured a large QR code, but I couldn’t get my reader to interpret the code properly. I appreciate that kind of guerrilla marketing and it reminds me of when Lost used to have cryptic websites and snippets of Alvar Hanso to generate buzz for upcoming seasons. I think they did a really good job of not only advertising the series, but also adding extra content and depth (I even bought and read the book Bad Twin). It’s kind of a lost art. Today’s guerrilla marketing seems to mostly just lead to trailers or clips from films or games but never adds any depth to anything. Sure, it’s fun to take part in the puzzles and games, but the payoff can be disappointing.

When I reached the Gaslamp Quarter, I passed by a few workers hanging a wrap for Nerdist on the wall of a building. I stopped and watched the process for a while and eventually asked a few questions about the wraps. Since working at a small sign company, I’ve had a passing interest in those kind of things and was interested to see how they were applied and how they were similar and/or different from the old vinyl graphics I used to work with.

I reached the convention center about two hours before the show opened. I’ve already mentioned how I despise waiting, but I really wanted to get one of the Marvel t-shirts that were only available at the show. Still, that’s a LOT of self-torture during what should’ve been a fun trip. When the doors finally opened, I knew exactly where I needed to go and made a mad dash to get there. AGAIN, the line was capped off for the day before I arrived. It was frustrating and it really turned me off from the whole consumerist aspect of the show.

During my dejected wandering, I came across the booth for the upcoming Snowpiercer series. The booth was giving away protein bars made of crickets. I thought it was a cool freebie and all you had to do was give your email address to their marketing bot and watch a short video clip. It was amusing to hear other attendees talk about the main reason they were there was because the line was so short. I don’t think I could ever become so inundated to a culture of continually waiting.

Afterward, I made a stop at the Disney Publishing booth to pick up a copy of Peter & Ned’s Ultimate Travel Journal from the film Spider-man: Far from Home. I wanted a copy to use as a giveaway during my panel the following day and the Publicity Manager, Lyssa Hurvitz, arranged to have a copy available.

I was also drawn to the Star Wars pavilion. I wanted to see what they hat for caps & t-shirts. The line for the Heroes & Villains apparel counter was full and the stand assistant told me to come back in about fifteen minutes. So I spent the next fifteen minutes playing free Star Wars pinball, which was pretty great. When I finally got to the counter, I managed to pick up a sweet Mandalorian cap to use as my new default headgear when I’m on the go.

As I left the booth, a shock wave of nostalgia hit me when I saw a mini cabinet for the original Star Wars arcade game. There’s no way I’ll ever be able to buy that game, so obviously I played all the way through while I could. I eventually died on the last level just as the sales rep suggested I give someone else a turn. I mean, I KNOW I was hogging the game, but do you blame me?

I intended to spend the rest of my time at the convention attending panels in the late morning/early afternoon. While I was trying to orient myself to where the various panel rooms were, I came across one room with an open door and a small sign reading “Pro Lounge”. Obviously, I had to know right away if I could get in with my professional badge, and, YES, I could! It wasn’t much, basically just a kind of quiet room with free coffee and lemonade, but it was nice to have a place to catch my breath sometimes.

Time management is, admittedly, not my best skill. So I wound up at the first panel that I wanted to see well over an hour early. I guess I thought every panel had a big line to get in to? They opened the doors and those of us in the short line outside filed into the hall. I intended to see a panel on pitching ideas and creativity and found myself at a panel on bullying. It was actually a pretty good panel (and I wish I would’ve complimented drag queen Pandora Boxx on her great 13th Doctor outfit because it was fantastic). However, I realized two things while I was in that room. First, they use WAY too much air conditioning in the US. I mean, I kind of knew that already, but it was really over the top in the panel rooms. Like, I haven’t been in a room that cold since I used to work in a restaurant and would go into the walk-in refrigerator. Second, people will show up in rooms two or three panels ahead of what they really want to see. During my short wait outside the hall and also while seated inside, I kept overhearing other attendees talking about the Stargate panel that was scheduled after the CREATIVITY panel. That’s some dedication that I don’t think I’ll ever have.

Navigating the upper level of the convention center to the various panel rooms can be frustrating sometimes. The staff on hand do their best to control the crowds but sometimes it’s not really necessary. In a lot of places, foot traffic is relegated to go in one direction. While this is SUPER helpful during high traffic times, it’s frustrating when there’s absolutely no one in the hall and instead of walking two meters to where you want to be, you have to walk all the way around the building. Luckily, I never had two events stacked back to back, so it was never a pressing matter.

After I was finished with panels in the afternoon, I went back to my hotel and emptied out my backpack (I also picked up Mike Norton’s Grumble and Brendon Small’s Galaktikon from the Albatross Funnybooks stand). I wanted to get over to the Comic-Con Museum since the hotel was relatively close to Balboa Park and I wanted to scope out the venue where my panel was going to be the following day. I stopped by the food court up the block from the hotel and grabbed a shrimp taco (because you can’t be in southern California and NOT eat tacos) and headed out toward the park.

During the walk, I came to the realization that the freeway that stood between where I was and where I wanted to go was going to be difficult to get around. I kept thinking I’d find and underpass or walkway that wasn’t listed on the map, but that never happened. Eventually, I decided to give up the pursuit in order to get back to the convention center for another late afternoon/early evening panel.

One thing that I am definitely a proponent of is getting at least a little bit lost while travelling. Seeing as I kind of stopped in the middle of nowhere and was attempting to find my way back to the convention center, you could say I was a little lost. However, these are the best times to find great places you normally wouldn’t know about. In this instance, I came across The Taco Stand, a small hole-in-the-wall style diner with amazing tacos. My timing was also good since it was after the lunch crowd but before dinner. I’m going to make a bold statement and say that I could definitely eat there every day for forever. It was that good.

Back at the convention center, I took in another panel and then wandered to the Funko SDCC booth to see if they were letting overflow people into the stand. The good news is that they were. The bad news is that they were so overwhelmed and disorganized that convention security personnel shut down the line and forced everyone to disperse. Incidents like these have a really negative impact on the event for me. Of course, I want the cool exclusive things just as much as everyone else, but I’m not a fan of mob mentality and cutthroat consumerism.

Luckily, after the show closed for the day I was able to meet up with my old friend Sean so I didn’t finish the day on a negative experience. I hadn’t seen him since I moved to Germany. I initially thought the last time I saw him was at a Wizard World convention in Chicago, but actually I went out to dinner with him while he was visiting his parents in northern Wisconsin just before I left. I met him at his hotel and we went out to eat. There was a great seafood restaurant, Mariscos El Pulpo, nearby and I ordered three different kinds of tacos, obviously.

We met up with some more of his friends at the Half Door Brewing Co. later in the evening and eventually wound up at the Hyatt next to the convention center. The guys were trying to find out where all the cool kids were hanging out and I think also trying to tap into a bit of nostalgia. When the hotel bar was relatively empty, I took it as my chance to make a quick getaway.

I didn’t get far before I freight train stopped and blocked traffic and I couldn’t get across the street to where I needed to go. After about 15 minutes, the train finally moved and I was able to get back to my hotel. It was late by the time I got back…well, late for ME anyway. I cleaned up and crashed. Luckily it was before midnight so I’d be able to get a solid 7-8 hours sleep before another big day on Friday.

Geek Nation Tours: Samurai & Anime – Day 11

Day 11 of my Geek Nation Tours: Samurai & Anime romp through Japan started early. Too early, in fact, to even get breakfast at the hotel. I checked out before dawn, grabbed my breakfast box, said “さようなら” to our amazing local guide, Eriko, and joined some of the guests on the airport shuttle from downtown Osaka to Kansai International Airport. It took about an hour by bus to reach the airport built literally out of nowhere (it’s on an artificial island). We watched the sun slowly creep up over the backdrop of Osaka’s industrial and port area. For a lot of people, it’s probably not the most scenic area, but I find it interesting to see the blue-collar backbone of a society.

We arrived at the airport and check-in was a breeze for me since I was travelling with only hand luggage. The glitch came when I got to the security control. Apparently the brand new tripod I had bought explicitly to shoot promo footage for GNT during the tour was a few centimeters too long by Japanese flight safety requirements. I tried dismantling the top of the tripod and it was still over the limit. The obvious suggestion by the security agent was to take my backpack back and turn in it as checked luggage. I opted for the alternative of just leaving the tripod there. I was frustrated (and it showed) since the tripod was new, I had paid for it with company money, and I couldn’t see the security risk it posed since I had already brought it with the same airline into the country (although, it could be there are other standards for domestic and international flights).

The flight from Kansai to Tokyo Haneda Airport wasn’t long. I had hoped for a glimpse of Mt. Fuji one last time, but cloud cover kept Fuji San hidden far below. However, when we landed at Haneda and transferred by bus to the terminal, I was treated with an even better sight. All Nippon Airways has several Star Wars-themed liveries and during the transfer, I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of the ANA Boeing 787 decked out as R2-D2. Unfortunately, I was standing in the middle of a crowded bus so I wasn’t able to get a snapshot, but I was enamored all the same.

I spent my last few moments in the airport double checking that prices for Sony products really weren’t all that better than what we pay in the West and perusing the selection of capsule machines. I’m pretty sure I got one last capsule, but I don’t remember what it was.

I was fortunate to have a direct flight from Haneda direct to Frankfurt International Airport with ANA. Although this route uses a Boeing 777 instead of the newer 787, it was still a great experience and solidified ANA in my mind as the best airline I’ve ever flown with. It was a fantastic end to a pretty decent tour.

Overall, I felt like the experience was generally positive. I often felt over drawn as I tried to juggle managing the group and shoot decent promotional footage for GNT. Luckily, Eriko is amazing at her job and was always organized, professional, and mindful of the guests. It also helped that the group was so small. The itinerary was a good mix of pop culture and traditional Japanese highlights but could’ve likely been streamlined. In the end, I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit the Land of the Rising Sun again and look forward to doing it again even if I have to pay for it myself next time.

The Land of Fire & Ice: Day 4

Another day in Iceland meant another early start and a futile attempt to find coffee before 8:00am. We left Vik and headed east on route 1.

A few minutes out of town, I realized that I was searching for the Rogue One filming locations in the wrong place the day before. Most mentions of the shooting location referred to the black beach of Reynisfjara. However, the landscape just east of Vik matches the opening scene of the film much closer. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to get off the main road to find the exact spot.  But even the view from the highway felt like I was driving along the planet Lah’mu. I pulled off and snapped some photos of the black sand flats and glacial runoff streams and I kept hearing the voice of Orson Krennic saying, “…farming…really?”

We continued on after visiting a galaxy far far away. The sand flats eventually gave way to old lava fields covered in moss. The strange bulbous green fields look alien enough in their own right, but that morning a heavy fog had set in and it really felt, again, like being on a strange alien planet. I think it’s probably good that I was driving with both my girlfriend and her sister because I probably would’ve stopped every 5 minutes to take snapshots. Iceland is an incredibly photogenic place and the south shore provides arguably the most diverse looks that the country can offer.

Our first actual stop in the morning was the Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon just a few kilometers off the main road. When we arrived at the parking lot, there were already two cars there, one a couple of campers who had spent the night and the other a pair of early rising hikers like ourselves. The path to the canyon overlooks is roped off and “paved” with open pattern plastic panels similar to metal catwalks found in theaters, stadiums, and industrial areas. The panels did a good job of digging into the soft, wet ground and providing decent traction (especially on a drizzly day). Apart from the campers having breakfast at the parking lot and the hikers that had an extensive head start, the only other visitors were sheep from a nearby farm grazing in the rain.

We took a few different looks into the canyon, fueled up on breakfast back at the car, and eventually made our way back to route 1 and continued east toward Skaftafell and the Vatnajökull glacier.

By the time we arrived at Skaftafell, the parking lot was already relatively full. However, most of the visitors weren’t the day trippers from Reykjavik yet (about 4 hours drive along route 1) but campers who had stayed the night at the park’s campground. When we drove in, there was a sign explaining the prices for visiting but there wasn’t a gate we had to go through. Drivers are expected to pay inside the visitor center before leaving the park. Although I didn’t see anyone on site to strictly enforce the entry fees, we did pass a camera that likely records drivers entering and exiting so it’s probably not worth trying to scam the 750ISK fee for passenger vehicles.

Most visitors to the park stay on the ground and trek out to the glacial lagoon and try to get up close and personal to the Skaftafell arm of the Vatnajökull glacier. We opted for the path less traveled and embarked on a journey up the adjacent hillside. The narrow pathway wound its way through the small trees that one of us referred to disparagingly as an “Icelandic forest” until we rose above the tree line and hiked across the tundra overlooking the lava fields, washout, and seashore in the distance. My girlfriend’s sister commented that it felt like we were the Fellowship of the Ring. On cue, I dialed up The Uruk-Hai from The Two Towers soundtrack on my cellphone, turned up the volume, and we transcended our literal location to find ourselves in Middle Earth. Iceland is truly a magical place.

During the hike, we crossed several rivulets of glacier runoff and eventually came across one large enough to drink from. I can safely say it was the most incredible water I’ve ever had…cold, clean, refreshing, and pure. We eventually arrived at an overlook and took a break to watch the glacier slowly moving down from the highlands. Several other hikers joined us and once it became too crowded at the top, we turned around and headed back down to the car. A quick break at the visitor center and we were on or way again headed east on route 1.

In less than an hour we were at Jökulsárlón lagoon and Diamond Beach. We stopped first at Diamond Beach to see the massive icebergs and ice chunks glittering on the black beach. The ice breaks off the glacier, floats through the lagoon, and washes onto or near the beach before either drifting off with the tide into the north Atlantic or eventually melting on the beach. It was incredible to see such large boulders of clear, white, and even blue ice everywhere. We even managed to see one iceberg rush out of the lagoon and slam into another that was hung up on a sandbar, breaking into two pieces as a result. Like everything else on the “Golden Circle“, though, it was very crowded making it difficult to get any photographs without excited tourists in the background. However, with a little patience, it’s definitely possible to get some great shots that look like no one else is around.

We crossed the road and took a look at the lagoon and some of the larger icebergs floating with the glacier off in the distance. Visitors also have the opportunity to book boat tours in the lagoon and get up close and personal with the beautiful ice formations floating in the water.

From Diamond Beach, drivers on route 1 must traverse a single lane bridge in order to continue eastward (or to reach the lagoon tour parking lot). It was initially surprising to see a one lane bridge on the main route in Iceland (but I would eventually learn they’re actually the norm and it’s uncommon to see bridges with MORE than one lane). The can be tricky to new visitors, but there is a marking on the road where drivers should wait that allows oncoming traffic to see them and then everyone patiently takes turns in a perfect world. This particular bridge is a little frustrating though because it barely has enough room for vehicles yet many visitors walk across the bridge trying to snap photos of both the beach and lagoon.

A little further east, before we officially arrived in the Easfjords, traffic had thinned out (most visitors only travel as far east as Diamond Beach) and we stumbled upon another black beach similar to Reynisfjara. There was one huge difference though, this black beach was completely empty. We managed to find a suitable parking spot for our trusty Subaru Forester and walked out onto the beach. The footprints and tire tracks made it obvious we weren’t the only visitors to the beach, but we were the only ones there at that moment and it was a much more pleasant experience than Reynisfjara. It feels like the vast majority of Iceland’s sights are overcrowded, but with a little patience and extra effort there are always some peaceful alternatives to take your breath away.

The drive through the Eastfjords was gorgeous as well. The fjords in the east aren’t as long as those in the west so the driving tends to be a bit quicker. However, there are countless waterfells from all the glacier runoff streams and rivulets and make their way into the ocean on the other side of the road. The mist and fog and rain didn’t discourage me behind the wheel and I really enjoyed the scenery and the mystical mood it evoked.

We eventually reached our final destination of Fáskrúðsfjörður in the heart of the Eastfjords. The town was more or less the first populated area we had seen since leaving Vik that morning (not counted the few “villages” consisting of two or three houses). We found our campground and cleaned up before going out to eat at Cafe Sumarlina in town. Like anywhere else, it was a bit pricey but they offered typical “fast food” of pizza and burgers in addition to local fish selections. We ordered burgers and they were actually quite good. I’m not sure if it was because we were the only guests in the restaurant, but the cook even came out and asked us how the food was.

After dinner we tucked ourselves into a quiet corner of the campground and turned in for the night. We covered a lot of ground during the day and were ready to recharge for the next marathon to come.

Check out my Tumblr photo sets from the day here, here, here, and here!