San Diego Fever! - Comic Con 2015 Part.1

Its that time of year again... San Diego Comic Con. If you dont know what this is, let me give you the short of it. San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC or Comic con) is exactly what it sounds like. A comic book convention in San Diego. Yup.... it is that dorky. You will hear "comic con" for short and that can refer to any comic book convention around the world. However, San Diego is THE comic con. It is the biggest one every year and the one that everyone looks forward to.

SDCC is an annual convention and started sometime in the early 70's. It was a big dork fest. Comic book fans would come and gather for several days and trade and buy their favorite periodicals. The stereotype of the nerdy, basement dweller, who smelled and was woman adverse was largely true. These fans loved their comics and loved congregating with like minded fans. This was especially important in the pre-internet days because how else would you meet people who were fans of the same stuff you liked? The important take away here is that this used to be about the "love" of the medium and sharing in that fandom with one another.

My first SDCC comic con was in 1994. I remember it to this day. I went with my friend's family and they graciously took me along. I was 12 years old and maybe had $50 with me. We show up and my head literally wanted to explode. There was STUFF EVERYWHERE. Tons of free swag. Tons of people dressed up. Most importantly, everyone there was a fan of something and you were going to either find someone who liked what you did or someone that was going to introduce you to something new.

My fondest memory of that first time going was that while i only had so much cash, I had fun. I bought a couple of souvenirs and just had a blast walking around. Free posters, comics, etc, was amazing to someone on a limited budget. You could meet your favorite artist and get your comic signed. He might even draw you a sketch if time permitted. You could see all sort of fun knick knacks from around the world. All of those "rare" items you read about in magazines, you could see in person. Again... before the internet, conventions were a place where myths became true. Today, it is so easy to "google" an image or an article. But in the 90's, things did not exist unless you read it in a magazine or saw it person. This was the true beauty of SDCC and any convention... discovery of those things that you never knew existed. It started a love affair with San Diego that would continue on for years to come. I didn't know when I would be back, I just knew that I had to come back....

This is what the old logo used to look like:

I would not be back until 1999 and have not missed a year since... 

Until next time... 

Cheerio! - Random Musings on Business Travel

London... where things that are right are actually left. In a former life, I used to travel a ton. Growing up in Southern California, I pretty much stayed on the west coast. I had some opportunities to travel in college to China to visit my dad, but that was all vacation stuff. Well traveling for work is a whole other animal.

I have been to cool places like London, Tokyo, Germany, France, Spain, and China. I have also been banished to places like Wisconsin and Tennessee... basically those US States that I cant spell without spell check. The good is that I got to experience the world, but some places are obviously better than others. I am always up to experience something at least once. Some places you will fall in love with (e.g. Tokyo - because of robots, toys, sushi, noodles, more robots, more sushi, and beers) and others I will NEVER ever have to visit again (e.g, Memphis - because people are surprised I speak English and tell me I am not from around there).

Anyways, after several years, I am back in London for the 2nd time in the past 6 months for my current job. It is so interesting to be here. It is like being in a Twilight Zone episode (for the young-ins, google that shit!). I understand everyone, but I don't (because Brits have a funny accent and different words) and everyone drives on the other side of the road. I guess the point of it all is that I have taken it for granted that I have been here so many times. I came with my team and they wanted to sight see... and I was going to pass because I have seen it all before... I ended up going just to be a good sport and I appreciated the hell out of what London has to offer. I don't know why I assumed it was all the same. Maybe it is because I am older now? I have no clue, but I just wanted to say that I was foolish to not appreciate this opportunity for what it is. I mean working always sucks, but getting to travel the world is a really nice perk.

So in the spirit of having fun and not giving a fuck what people think, I took a Baymax Tsum Tsum and went around London and some other nearby landmarks and took a series of photos to document my trip. If I make it back here, I will continue to do this and keep this tradition going. Stay tuned for more adventures around the world. As the Brits would say "Cheers!"

 Windsor Castle!

 Stonehenge!

 Cathedral in the City of Bath