10/21/04
Back in September, some friends of mine (hi, Pete) and I attended the Baltimore Comicon. Not bad at all, if you like that sort of thing. It's definitely still dedicated to JUST COMICS, unlike a lot of conventions that claim to be one thing and turn out to be quite broad in their application of that theme. Such as having, oh, say... Laverne & Shirley at a Horror Convention?
I have to admit, that above observation is courtesy of my friend Jim, but he doesn't have a blog, and I do.
If you've never attended a comic convention, it's pretty hard to describe. Imagine going to a airplane-hanger that's been converted into a mall. A mall that only sells shoes, and they're only used shoes, at that. Plus, shoemakers set up tables and sign shoes for you, for which you're willing to wait over an hour in line. Because, you know, you're a DIE-HARD shoe fan. (Some might almost say "fetishist").
And then some of the shoemakers and shoe-salesmen will hold a panel to discuss the current state of the shoe industry, the future of shoes, share funny anecdotes about legendary cobblers they have known, and why kids today only seem to be wearing Japanese shoes.
Somewhere in all that clamor, somebody may attempt to raise the point that, hey, shoes are a classic American art form, but you're too busy waiting in line to get your Adidas signed by that kid who makes the shoes with the really big breasts, so you don't pay much attention.
Okay, I think I've killed that analogy.
Baltimore itself is a pretty interesting town. Half slum, half kitschy harborfront bars. And somewhere in there, they have one of the World's leading medical organizations. Good place to go if you're looking to have a cancerous polyp lazed, and then head out to the "ESPN Zone" for a microbrew, after.
Also, it's a city where the truckers have an unparalleled amount of creative freedom:
That picture was taken as we were waiting in line, outside the convention center, at 8 AM. Once we got inside, this came to my attention:
Maybe it's just me, but they probably could have come up with a better image to direct you to the water fountain. Just maybe.
Byrds soon. I promise. I threaten.
-Dave
Link: Mark Martin. Not the NASCAR driver, but the genius cartoonist who in the long-ago, created Gnatrat, and more recently, sold me my Wacom Tablet, for $10. Dig around, lots of fun stuff.