Darn it. Sorry to hear that, dude.

A explosion at a hotel construction site just down from the San Diego Convention Center rocked the area yesterday afternoon. The Center is fine, but more importantly, 12 people were hurt in the explosion.

Here's a map of a small portion of the area, it's at the corner of Harbor Drive and 8th Avenue.

I read about that. I'm guessing that's the new Hilton Bayfront hotel that was scheduled to open in December of this year. Here's a link to what happened. The event could've been a lot worse than what happened over there, but I'm hoping the critically injured workers will be able to survive.

An imaginary friend did it ZOMG!!!

I don't find that very amusing at all. >:(

Nor do I. :frankiemad:

That's terrible news.:( I hope the injured workers can pull through. Can't imagine what it must've been like.

Ladies and gentlemen, only the 1-day memberships remain. If you plan to go and haven't registered, you better get with it quickly. Again...all 4-day memberships are sold out.

During the week of the convention, if you tune in TV, you'll be seeing some how-do-you-dos on XETV/ch. 6 and KSWB/ch. 69. That's because on August 1, Fox is slated to move from ch. 6 to ch. 69 (which right now is a CW affiliate). XETV is taking Fox to court about the move because they claim they have an agreement through 2010, but Fox says the current contract expires at the end of July.

Well once again, I cannot go to the Comicon this year. I wish I still stationed in San Diego. When I was there (in the Navy), I was going every year. It was a short distance from where I lived. :'(

It's that time of year again
 

Hi everyone. Just wanted to drop by and let you in on some news...

Sadly, I am not in charge of the booth this year. It has been handed over to Cartoon Network in Atlanta. It looks like they are doing a great job, so don't worry about being dissapointed.

However, I want to let all of you know that Craig's panel and signing are going to be on Friday only. I know the one day tickets are selling out fast for that day, so if he's the reason you are coming down and you missed out on the four day passes, I would jump now if you can.

He's doing a PPG/Foster's panel from 11:15-12:15 in room 6A. Then he's signing from 1:00-2:30 at the booth for Power Puff Girls, then again from 4:30-6:00 for Fosters.

The CN booth will be in the same place it was last year. I also believe that Lauren will have her own booth again (or so I've heard).

I, personally, will only be down on Thursday, so if you are around and happen to see me, please say hello!

Have a great time this year, and please remember to take plenty of pictures!

Take care everyone!

- Lori

Good to know. Many thanks for the info! :frankiesmile:

Thanks. :terrsmile: I wasn't expecting a combo PPG/Foster's panel!

A Foster's/PPG panel, eh? That sounds really cool. A bit of a shame you won't be around much, but we'll definitely come and see you. Thank you for the update, Lori. :)

Foster's, MST3K, Worst Cartoons ever...

Man Friday July 25 is just shaping up be the best overall day of Comic-Con...EVER! :up:

I had a feeling this year would be a combo, having heard the PPG news myself. I suppose the separate signings mean appearances of both casts?

And Friday does indeed have a reputation for greatness. 2 years ago that day also had Bruce Timm and Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, TV Funhouse), and last year also had Shin-chan and the premiere panel for Chuck, among a whole mess of other things. I have a feeling that it doesn't sell out as quickly as Saturday only because it's a workday.

Friday memberships are now sold out (Saturday memberships sold out several weeks earlier). Only Thursday and Sunday memberships remain. The programming schedule is still unavailable at this time. I'm expecting it to go online this week.

Hey wait a second...if it's a combined Powerpuff Girls/Foster's panel then maybe we'll see some good natured cross over stuff from shared cast members.

Like for example I would totally go crazy if say Tom Kenny did something like his PPG narrator shtick...but with Eduardo's voice.

Can you just picture it?

"Si, Once again the day has been saved thanks to: Las muchachas de Powerpuff!"

I would honestly pay good money to hear that or any variation there of.

Or him singing the PPG theme in that voice. :smed:

Actually, the girls' name (and show's name) in Spanish is Las Chicas Superpoderosas. It airs once in awhile on Mexico's Televisa network (in San Diego it's XEWT/channel 12).

I see.

That's what I get for trusting Babel-fish for my quick and dirty translating needs. :-[

Oh, you and me both. That would be pure and utter priceless. :D

Well, the missing days' schedules have finally been posted, so if any of you possess the ability to project your aura to the San Diego Convention Center, the time and place will be Friday July 25th, 11:15 AM, in Room 6A 8D. Otherwise, I guess I'll see you there!

Already posted as of yesterday, but yep. That's the official word.

By the way, is there a floorplan for the the entirety of the Convention Center? I need to get a better idea of how much hustling between panels I'll need to do.

How's this? Not sure if this is what you wanted.

[Mario = "Mario Advance series"]Ahhhh, just what I needed![/Mario]

I had trouble getting some of those maps to load though. :P

You did? Bummer. Could it be a connection speed issue?

I dunno, some just stopped loading without coming up. It doesn't matter for me though, I have all the maps in the magazine things from previous Cons. ;)

Ahhh, that's good to hear.

For those that are expect me in action with the Bloo costume this year, I'm afraid that realistically, it's going to be extremely difficult to bring it this year. For one reason, I will be traveling to San Diego via Amtrak. Second, Rid won't be joining me this time. Finally, Sparky and Government Man won't have room (I completely understand). On the upside, I would save some cash, since I wouldn't be shipping anything.

Edit: Okay, back to "undecided". :bloocross: I'll make a decision before I go to CA.

There's a one and a half page article about the Con in the new issue of TV Guide. Not overly informative but it's there.

All righty. I'm bringing it back, baby. The costume will need to be worked on again, though. The only place I could find that would be able to ship something as large as what I have is by going to Pak Mail (it's to be shipped via FedEx). They wanted $250+ for shipment and work on the packaging (I was not willing to pay that much). The best deal they were able to get me was $175, so I went ahead and paid for it.

Guess I'll be the one to mention it...

Got word from CN today that they are planning to have a camera at the Con and someone doing interviews with fans. They want to snag us, at least ORD, who will have his Bloo costume, and me, who will have the Mac costume (with just a brown wig this time) for interviews. Assuming this doesn't fall through, when I find out where these interviews will appear I'll pass that info along.

Wow, that is so totally awesome! I hope it happens. That would be so cool, both for you guys to be a part of it, and for the rest of us to see you on TV! :D I hope we're given a time too when it will air if they do it.

Wow, just wow! I'm awe struck! :o I have nothing else to say other than I'm so excited for you guys.

Awesomeness.

(If this in fact is a happening, don't let your new found fame go to your heads.) ;)

Kind of ironic to see a Coco smiley to follow the words "go to your heads".

Anyways, this sounds interesting, if potentially embarassing if I get in the crossfire. :-[

Have fun without me, and if you see a girl dressed as Alice in Wonderland, that'd be Brianna, she of When Curiosity Met Insanity fame...

Okay, hope I don't regret posting this publicly...But if I can help someone out that'd be cool.

We have an extra room booked for the Con that I'm going to be canceling, either today or over the weekend (I think we have until Monday to do so). It's at the Comfort Inn Gaslamp, one bed but with a rollaway, from the 22nd to the morning of the 28th (you could drop some nights if you don't need them). I've never transferred a hotel room to someone else before but I know it can be done. The person who takes it will need a credit card; you may have to give me that info to make a transfer. I'll call the hotel and ask them what they need if someone takes me up on this.

If anyone wants this room either PM me or email me if you're not a forum member. Of course this won't help anyone who doesn't already have Comic-Con tickets... ;) Anyways we always book a backup room because I don't trust Travel Planners. :P

edit: The room is no longer available.

And so the adventure begins...

My flight took off from Hartford at 6:20 AM Eastern time, ten minutes later than scheduled. That was the fault of the weather. Other than that the trip was uneventful; I proceeded to Cinncinati, changed planes, and it was onward to San Diego. There was some minor turbulance on the second flight but nothing serious. They fed us rather well, too, albeit for an extra charge. I paid, and to kill time I slept as much as possible. More like dozing or napping, at best; kind of hard to sleep on a swaying and rocking plane. Eventually we landed at 10:15 Pacific time, a few minutes ahead of schedule I might add, and after recovering my luggage and taking a few minutes to unwind I got a cab and headed for the Comfort Inn Gaslamp. The driver was a talkative fellow but he had a thick accent so conversation was difficult; I think I got about one word out of every four. Ten minutes later I arrived at the CIG, which, honestly, was a letdown, at first; it's nowhere near as nice as the Marriott, where I stayed last year. But it's livable, and likable after you get used to it, which didn't take long. So I settled in, relaxed for a bit, and after that I headed out for supplies. Supplies come from Ralph's supermarket. All good non-Con things come from Ralph's. Stars, I love that store. ;D Anyway, I shopped, picked up some sandwich materials and a few toiletries I'd forgotten to pack, and then it's back to the hotel where I found ORD checking in and Taranchula standing nearby. Nice to see y'all again, guys. We parted company at that point to take care of various things (my stuff being mostly Sims-related :bloocross:). I probably should have taken a nap; aside from a little dozing on the plane I'd been awake for roughly 24 hours at that time and it was beginning to wear me down. Eh, whatever. I'm on vacation, I'll sleep later. Taranchula knocked on my door a little later; he and ORD and BlueBottleFlyer are going to the mall, do I want to come? A few minutes later we're all heading for the mall, a five-story, open-air structure packed with restaurants, specialty shops, and a Hot Topic. Yeah, we stopped there; had to see the Cheese stuff in person, y'know. Place gives me the heebie-jeebies. We hit a few other stores and after that we were off to the Marriott to join Sparky and Government Man, a ten-minute walk that took much, much longer than ten minutes, but I'll let someone else explain about that.
Spoiler Below
Eventually we found the Marriott and made our way to Sparky and GM's room and a little while later we all headed downstairs to one of the hotel's restaurants for dinner. I had the fish and chips. Then it was back to Sparky's room for a little idle conversation, a little relaxing, and a little planning. It was getting late by then so the four of us headed back to the CIG, pausing long enough in our travels for a very long train to get out of our way. We parted company and headed to our respective rooms where I checked in here briefly and finally collapsed, exhausted, having not slept for over 36 hours. It had been a very long day, but a very good long day, too. :)

That was Tuesday. Today is Wednesday, and so far I've gone out for a sandwich and typed this post. Later on the entire lot of us will converge on the Convention Center to register and get our badges. In the meantime I'll try to keep myself entertained. Shouldn't be too hard. ;)

For the record, I'll eventually be posting some pics of the trip on my profile page. Nothing there right now; when I upload them I'll mention it here. :)