Comic-Con International 2008 - San Diego, CA

[Ccook50]

Originally Posted by taranchula

If I remember correctly they showed the usual WCE crowd favorites. Mighty Mister Titan, Super President, Spunky and Tadpole and Johnny Cypher, along with Sam Basset: Hound for Hire (which debuted last year.) Paddy The Pelican (Which debuted back in 06...I think.) and Sinbad. Jr the cartoon they were going to show last year but got bumped for more Rocket Robin Hood. (Sadly, RRH was not shown.) and for the first time ever they showed some vintage commercials from the 50's and 60's, including a promotional short for the Moon Mullens cartoon they showed last year.

Many thanks for the round-up. I take it Spunky & Tadpole was episode 4 of "Message To Marcia" (I remember watching this show at age 5 as a tot in Riverside...curse you KHJ/channel 9!). Paddy The Pelican did debut at the Festival in '06...I have a DVD of that year's show. I remember Sinbad Jr. as well. Sam Singer did the first series, then went belly-up, so American International Pictures got Hanna-Barbera to do a second batch. I take it Jerry screened a Singer cartoon.

Wish I could have been there, but still...many thanks again, taranchula!

[Starsky]

Living in Spain, I'll probably never be able to attend the con, but I simply had to post in this thread...

Originally Posted by Sparky

Today I skipped the Futurama panel in favor of doing my Sybil Pandemik cosplay for the Sam & Max/Strongbad panel. I got green Sharpie from my tattoo on Max.

Pictures. I need pictures. Steve Purcell and Telltale Games legally own my soul.

[Sparky]

Since no one else was with me I have no pictures. I'm hoping Telltale posts some of the ones they took. However, this photo was part of the slideshow Purcell did in his spotlight panel.

[Cassini90125]

I never did finish writing about what I did on Saturday after I got my Frankie pic. There's not too much to tell, unless one is interested in restaurant reviews. Lunch was at Boca de Beppo, the Italian place I mentioned awhile back. No line waiting to get in this time. The inside of the place is like a maze, albeit a well-lit and very nicely decorated maze. Lunch itself was Saltimbocca, chicken with prosciutto and artichokes, accompanied by fettucini in a light cream sauce. Extremely well done and very filling; along with the bread course and the caesar salad, I was stuffed, and dang happy about it. Excellent service I might add, too. I would loved to have gone back but there were so many other places to try and not much time left to try them. Maybe I'll go there again next year. Either way if you're ever in town and looking for a good meal I highly recommend them.

Dinner was another story. Boca de Beppu was something I'd planned on for lunch but for dinner I hadn't made up my mind at all. I'd been leaning towards the Galileo 101, an expensive place described as serving progressive Italian cuisine, located across the street from the convention center, but that's a bit of a walk and it was still a little too warm out for that. Besides, I'd already had Italian earlier. I also considered but ruled out Chopahn, an Afghani place, mostly due to my complete lack of familiarity with Afghani food; I don't want to inadvertently order something that makes me gag, after all. Maybe in 2009, after I do a little research. Out I went at that point, figuring I'd stumble into something, and that's how I discovered Exy. Described as a sophisticated yet informal Greek restaurant and lounge, this place was a fabulous experience all-around. The menu is not as extensive as some places but if the filet mignon I had is any indication what they do have is of exceptional quality. I even stuck around for dessert, which is something I almost never do, but the cheesecake they serve is just about the best I've ever had. It astonishes me that there weren't more people in the place, although I think there were more there than I could see; the place has two private dining rooms that may have been in use. The area I was in included the bar and was a bit on the dark side but that only added to the place's ambience; that, along with the decor and the techno-jazz background music, not to mention top-notch sevice from a pleasant server and hostess made for a very enjoyable experience, the best dining-out adventure of the entire trip. Of course, being a Foster's fan, I couldn't help but think of Futurproup; it and Exy are both upscale but look nothing alike. The thoughts I had that followed are best left for the Frankie Appreciation thread. In any case when I finally left, I left with a full stomach and a contented, happy smile on my face. If I do return to San Diego in 2009, another trip to Exy will certainly be on my mission list.

[Lynnie]

So the long awaited Con is over for another year. *sigh* I'm sure it's bitter sweet, after having such a grand time, and now able to settle back into the more familiar. I'm glad everyone had such a great time, and now here's wishes for safe travels back home for those who have yet to look forward to that trip.

There's a Boca de Beppu in my home town. In fact, my company held our annual Christmas/End-of-year party there last year. Yes, excellent food. There was a misconception over how many were to attend, and WAY too much food was prepared. So each of my colleagues and I got to bring home whole PLATTERS of leftovers, filled with fettuccine alfredo, eggplant parmigian, ravioli, spaghetti with meatballs, sausages, and salad. I ate good for a whole week afterward. Great place.

[Cassini90125]

Not quite over; I haven't told you about Sunday yet.

It started with the breakfast buffet at the Marriott. It's an all-you-can-eat affair, and I certainly got my money's worth out of it. Bacon, sausages, eggs, cheese, potatoes... my doctor is going to go ballistic when I tell her about this. Let her; I'm full. Most of our group was there for this cholesterolfest. Afterwards we hiked back up to the lobby where we split up to do our own things; in my case that meant heading back to the CIG to mess with my Sims for a bit. Whatever lunch plans I'd had were thrown out, as I was far too full to do much of anything. I ended up lying down for awhile to let everything digest in peace. A few hours later I took a quick trip to the nearby deli to restock my supply of iced tea, and when that was dealt with I headed out to the convention center one last time. My purpose was twofold. First, I wanted to thank Craig for four wonderful years of a very special cartoon. Second, I wanted some answers, answers to a few nagging questions about my favorite character. So many things I wanted to ask about her but I didn't want to hog the man's time so I limited myself to a few big questions and a few not-so-big ones. So in I went, and after weaving my way through the crowd I found the booth once again. For those of you who haven' met him yet, Craig is a good-size man with long curly brown hair, a very friendly guy with a warm smile and a firm handshake, and I'm very glad I had the opportunity to talk with him, however briefly; I don't think I was at the booth for more than five minutes or so. But that was long enough; I got my answers. I left the convention center shortly thereafter with a huge smile on my face and headed back to the CIG. Yes, I'll post what I found out in the Frankie Discussion thread later. What I can post, anyway. Did I mention the huge smile? Yeah.

Later that evening the lot of us gathered for an end-of-Con dinner at Taka, one of the local Japanese restaurants. Very nice place, and not too terribly pricey, but unfortunately I was still a bit full from the gigantic breakfast I'd devoured ten hours earlier so I didn't order or eat much. Eh, no matter, it was more about the company than the food. It will likely be a somewhat different group next year but circumstances permitting I hope to be a part of it once again. After dinner we stopped at a local ice cream place and had a few laughs. CG and her friends headed for their hotel when we were done, the rest of us escorted Sparky and Government Man back to the Marriott (the "Moderator Honor Guard", as it were ), and from there the rest of us we said our goodbyes, hitched a ride on a bicycle taxi, and made our way back to the CIG.

It's Monday evening as I type this. I'm the last to go; my plane leaves in about three hours. It's been an eventful trip, I'll say that. Comic-Con 2008 and the beautiful city of San Diego will soon be a memory, but it will be a treasured memory, filled with wondrous sights, great food, and a fine group of people that I'm glad I've gotten to know. Maybe some of us will meet here for the first time at Comic-Con 2009. I'll be easy to find; just look for the guy who hates flying.

[Sparky]

We got home about 40 minutes ago after another 10 hour drive (most of which I handled; when I found out GM was actually falling asleep at the wheel and not actually saying he was too tired to drive he was forbidden to drive anymore). We unfortunately got home too late to go pick up Kiwi a day early, and the bird shop does not open until 10 am. I no longer just want Kiwi back, I need her. Eight days is way too long to be away from her, I don't care how annoying she is. I haven't seen Duchess yet as she is in her cave but I have to assume she's fine, and all the spiders are in good shape. Oh, and the car had no problems this year. Yay.

I'll finish unpacking later.

[Cassini90125]

Glad to hear you made it. I'm leaving the hotel momentarily so this will be my last post for awhile.

See y'all in 12 hours or so.

[Lynnie]

Have a safe flight, Cass! Remember to think of the positive, it helps a long flight be more bearable. See ya tomorrow.

[taranchula]

Ahhhhhhhhhh, it's good to be back....In Canada!

The trip home was very nice, just a chance to sit back, relax and play Final Fantasy 4 on my DS while flying over the picturesque American countryside. And for anyone who wishes to know, almost all of my stuff made it back safely with me, I say almost because I think I may have lost my DS charger somewhere along the way, but that's not such a big deal seeing as how they are easily replaceable.

And despite the increased attendance I will go on the record as saying this years con was waaaaaaaay better then last years, I got to meet up with a lot of great people, I got my hands on massive amounts of merchandise (some of which I'll never be able to find anywhere else) and lastly have the opportunity to be able to be part of some memorable moments that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. And when it comes down to it those happy memories are what it's all about.