astridv | Cyn and Astrid's Excellent Adventure (Comic Con, plus road trip)

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Cyn and Astrid's Excellent Adventure (Comic Con, plus road trip)

(contains some spoilers for SGA s3/4)
Most of the pictures were taken by

jwaneeta, as I stoopidly forgot to bring my camera...

So, San Diego Con: Cyn and I arrived on Wednesday at our trusty hostel downtown where we actually scored a really nice room for once, and met some of last year's crowd. The next morning I picked up my pro badge, without even having to line up... it appears they really got their online application process figured out. And we also managed to each get one of the hostel volunteers a free guest pass (you have to put in your guest's name when you apply, but after Cyn performed some Jedi mind trick on the lady behind the counter, they made an exception). We took things easy that first day, figuring that there'd be plenty of time to see everything at Comic Con (harhar). After lunch we headed for the beach at point Loma. When in San Diego, you gotto go to the beach at least once. (Did I mention we had nothing but rain in Germany all summer? It's pouring right now)

Returned to CC the next day bright and early. I went to Micheal Lovitz' Comic Book Law School seminar first, which I can only recommend - he makes this dry subject matter really fun, and there's always a lot of audience participation. And you can never hear too much about IP law, whether you're a fan artist or a pro.

I skipped out a little early because I wanted to make sure I'd get into ballroom 20 in time for the two Stargate panels. I managed to meet up with

jwaneeta and also

pukajen, who I hadn't met before. (I still don't know how we managed to find each other in that huge, dark room.)

jwaneeta, me, and

pukajen

I enjoyed both panels muchly (even though at one point during those Q&A's there'll invariably be someone to ask a really embarassing and/or inappropriate question... it's like a rule or something.) But the panelists were great fun, not least because of the presenter, whose name escapes me now but apparently he played a minor character on SG1?

I'm now somewhat spoiled for SGA season three, but I already accidentally spoiled myself for the one thing regarding Carson when reading a fic (and man, does this spoiler suck... but I don't know specifics so please don't tell me what will happen).

Well, anyway, the spoiler sucks, but, I hadn't been aware that Jewel Staite will join the cast to make up for it! I loved her in Firefly, and she seems to have good chemistry with the rest of the cast. And I also liked Sam Carter in the four or five SG1 episodes I've watched. (Yeah,

littleheaven70, I've started to watch SG1. Happy? *g*) and now I really want to see her interact with Rodney. Speaking of, judging by his blog, David Hewlett seems to be a real fangeek too, bless his heart.

The following day I skipped two overlapping panels I was really interested in, because the line in front of room 20 went halfway through the building and then outside... and I really wanted to see Joss. So I guess I'll just have to read a book on 'storytelling in comic books'. Anyway, I got in and ended up in the Futurama panel first... which was actually pretty cool, and I never even watched the show. Apparently the show got back on the air not least thanks to fan support, and the creators expressed their gratitude by creating a Futurama comic book about the whole thing, and then reading it in the characters' voices. Followed by half an hour of them doing impressions.

Then, on came Joss. And first couldn't get a word in, because there was just so much applause. Then finally the applause quieted down, but just when he started to talk, it branded up again. Yo, Comic Con loves Joss. He talked about his upcoming projects, and it sounds like he's got a lot of things in the works. I don't remember all the details, but it seems like the Ripper series on BBC could get greenlighted soon. Also, he's working on a ballet piece with Summer Glau IIRC, and on the Angel S6 comic series, and half a dozen other projects. (When someone brought up 'Wonder Woman', he did a little seizure impression. ^_^)

The end was really touching... I don't remember the exact wording but he said that the reception he got from us overwhelmed him because the insecure part of him had been wondering whether he's being forgotten... well, I think we took care of that misconception. :)

I drew this while standing in line for Joss, or waiting for panels to start. Another WIP, uncolored, plus I haven't drawn the faces yet. (yup, no way I can draw the characters, esp.Mckay, without picture reference... the pencilled heads are just a placeholder.) And I was having trouble spotting the blacks in this one, but I think I now know how to color it to get a good effect.

At some point I actually made it to the gigantic dealers' room, where I bought a ton of art books (they felt like a ton when I carried them back to Germany). That one time I strolled into the adult section, which I noticed when I was asked by one of the salespeople whether I was over 18. I lol'ed. They said, "I guess that means 'Yes'." Ah, those little things that can make your day. *g*

I finally managed to get my trembling hands on season eight of Buffy and 'Masks', the book that contains the official puppet!Angel comic mine was first. :P. So far all I've read is the puppet story. I found the plot okay, though it didn't exactly knock my socks off. Very good Angel likeness in that one though.

I went to the dealers' room a few more times during the con, and still I saw only a fraction of all there was to see. Next time I'll have a strategy and figure out beforehand what I want, work my way from east to west or something like that... that thing is just too huge. Bought a second "Serenity" t-shirt... I'm not as into Firefly as I'm into Buffy and Angel by far, but I love the design so I want a spare one. (I got chatted up by a lot of browncoats. :)

Cyn pointed me to the booth for "The Golden Compass", who had this promo. And it was somewhat hidden so there wasn't even a line.

*cherishes*

Lining up for the Once More With Feeling sing-along: Me and Jahmal, a very nice guy (who was btw involved in the making of the Serenity fan film, small world)

Con impressions:

zombie parade in downtown San Diego

On Sunday morning we took off for San Francisco. That last morning at Trusty Hostel we met a few people who'd come to SD in order to audition for American Idol. They performed their songs for us, and it turned out that Cyn, on top of being a fantastic artist, is also a great performance coach. It was fascinating. Would be cool if some of those guys made it through the first round (there were 8,000 people auditioning, I think.)

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara is so quaint and pretty, even their superstores look like this:

That's the local Ralph's.

botanical garden...

Cambria, a lovely, tiny town with a just as lovely, tiny motel which we we never would've found without the Lonely Planet travel guide. When we strolled along the coast, we came upon this colony of seals:

Cyn even looks photogenic with the wind blowing in her hair. I'm not posting the pic she took of me there :P

They had a path along the coast which was perfect for running. I went for a long run later that day, the sea on one side, the wind in my face... it was wonderful, especially after spending a day in the car.

Hearst castle in San Simeon:
Two angels. In the background: Hearst's modest outdoor pool

view from one of the upper floors. The castle is built on the top of a mountain, during the first half of the last century, and the architecture is so well-built that it never got damaged in an earth quake. What looks like stone blocks is actually steal-enforced concrete.

A few miles north of the castle, there's a colony of elephant seals.

and also a colony of ground squirrels.

two seals kerfuffling

further up Highway 1:

We went wine tasting in Napa valley at this winery. Well, I tasted, Cyn drove.

Muir Woods

the colony of sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. One day a few sea lions found that those piers were much more comfy than their rock, and ever since they refused to leave. They're of course a major tourist attraction now, the fishermen were since given new places to tie their boats, everybody's happy.

pelicans

View of Alcatraz. Ever since I heard that the place is haunted, I wanted to see it. Alas, you have to book your tour a week in advance.

San Francisco was a blur of activity, so many things to do. Cyn knows a lot of people in town, which was a good thing too because that city was almost completely booked. We had to move pretty much constantly, but between crashing at Cyn's friends Trina and Steve, and on

thedeadlyhook and

toysdream's couches (thanks again, guys! ^_^), and persistently calling the hostels for cancellations, we did fine.

toysdream is a fantastic artist (seriously, Cyn and I were both having a moment of 'We're not worthy', he's just that good.) I bought this pastel painting from him.

... and I got this one on top of it. I'm a happy camper. :)

(btw, he's working on an Angel fan comic, like, right now. We've seen the thumbs, can't wait to see the final pages.)

japanese garden with teahouse

thedeadlyhook and

astridv

We met with Cyn's friends from The Fantasy Bedtime Hour and had a great time.

Well, that was California. It was indeed excellent. I tried to get

jwaneeta into SGA, and myself learned the whole back story of Dr Who. Heh. Now I'm back home and did I mention it's raining? That so doesn't help with the jet lag. I think I'll wake myself up by working on my fan art and/or watching an episode of SGA. My dad is gonna visit tomorrow at 11 (eleven!!!1!). I'm much looking forward to seeing him, I just hope he won't have to walk around with Zombie!daughter. I can't remember having such a bad case of jet lag... I mean, I slept until 4:30 in the afternoon today. Yikes.

[edited to change topic]: Holy Cow, the latest LJ debacle has made Spiegel Online (German link). I missed most of it of course, but I've been catching up. What a mess. I can see why LJ would rather see some of the content in question gone from their servers, and they're within their rights to decide what content they allow... as long as they actually make clear what that is, instead of constantly changing the rules and letting their users guess whether that thing that was acceptable last month is now reason for suspension. And deleting not the offending piece but whole accounts, paid ones at that, without prior warning or even the possibility of a refund - that's completely unacceptable. And it makes no sense to offend their user base further if they could instead remove the content in question and issue a warning. But then, that's just the heavy-handed, baby/bathwater style that we've come to expect from Barak & Co.

Until now I'd been relatively certain I'd renew my paid account come September, but now I'm torn. Who's to say that they won't suddenly, out of a whim, decide that fanfic is illegal and needs to be gone from their site. They wouldn't be the first ones arguing that case. No, I don't think there's much likelyhood for that... mostly, I really don't want to give them more money after that most recent stunt.

I don't want to have to move the dozens of pictures in my scrapbook, not to mention editing dozens of links. I certainly don't want to move from LJ but it looks more and more like fandom might break up their collective tents in the not-too-distant future. And where fandom goes there goes my nation. So anyway, I'm not moving if you're not. But just in case, here are my other journals (all dormant): http://www.journalfen.net/users/astridv, http://astridv.greatestjournal.com, http://astridv.insanejournal.com

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It looks like you had a fun trip!
Nice to see your face, too. The pictures are great.

It was great fun. And fortunately I remember to buy a flash drive so I could copy all of Cyn's pictures (those would've been way to much to email; these are just a tiny selection).

Oh my goodness, so much to see, so little space to write! Well, I'll give as an abridged version as I can.

First off, I've never seen pictures of you, you look gorgeous! I have to say you look about 15-20 years younger than the majority of the people you took pics with. I can see how they could mistake you for 18, but realistically, I would say you look about 23 haha. I wouldn't card you for an adult book section, but maybe for some alcohol haha.

Second, OMGZ JOSS! lol How could ANYone forget him??

Third, your drawings still look so amazing. I wish I had your talents. I tried art classes but they didn't go so well for me. I did alright I guess, but I would have much rather learned your style than the abstract BS they tried to teach us O_o

Fourth, Comic Con looks very exciting, I'd love to go to one. And Cali looks GORGEOUS! The scenery, the architecture, the views.. Not to mention the wildlife! Seals are apparently very common there from the looks of things. I'd be one of the tourists at those boating docks.

Fifth, Alcatraz! It's too bad that you had to book so far in advance because that would have been awesome. I loove supernatural/paranormal haunting type things. I would have had a field day.

Glad to see you had a nice trip! Thanks for the pics :)

I wouldn't card you for an adult book section, but maybe for some alcohol haha.

Heh. The last time I got carded, I was 33 and wanted to have a glass of wine on the plane. The flight attendant actually insisted on seeing my ID. Kinda weird if you're coming from a country where you can buy wine at 16.

I did alright I guess, but I would have much rather learned your style than the abstract BS they tried to teach us O_o

What, they started with teaching you abstract painting? Huh. I can see why that'd be frustrating. Can't just skip the first step. Though that's what they also do at some art schools here, I hear... but it makes no sense; you gotta learn to master realistic drawing/painting before attempting to go abstract.

Seals are apparently very common there from the looks of things.

I've never seen so many seals before, and from that close.

We also heard some otters at the Santa Barbara pier, but it was dark so we couldn't see them. And on the drive up the hill to the castle, we saw coyotes and wild turkey.

Comic Con is worth a trip. And it's so huge, so much going on, it's got something for everybody.

Oh wow these photos are amazing and California looks amazing. Now I suddenly want to go and I've never really felt the urge to visit the US before :D Thank you so much for sharing all of this!!! :)

Oh, the US has spectacular nature. The southwest is one of my favorite places... Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon... then there's Yellowstone, which just leaves you staring, trying to draw in all the beauty. And the first time I drove through the Canadian Rockies at Jasper and Banff, I had my face glued to the side window for hours, because the landscape is almost surreal it's so pretty.

Yeah, littleheaven70, I've started to watch SG1. Happy? *g*

OMG, this fills me with squeeee :o) You'll have to keep me up to date on where you are, and what you think. I wish I could watch them all again for the first time.

And yes, bless his cotton socks, David Hewlett is a big geek.

If you're watching SG1, you'll actually see the very first ep he was in... was it "48 Hours"? I think it's one where Teal'c gets stuck in the Stargate memory buffer and Rodney comes to try and help Sam work out a way to get him out, before he's erased from existence. It's interesting to see how they've built on his character since then.

I actually bought the s5 box set in SF... I wanted something to watch on the flight home (on my new laptop *pets*). S3 Atlantis wasn't out yet, and I particularly want to see the first ep McKay is in.

Since I got home, I've been even too tired to watch tv so I didn't get beyond the first two eps. I have to check where the Brits are in their airing. When I left, I think they were somewhere at the beginning of season nine, that's where I started watching. I hope when they get to the end, they'll start another rerun cycle.

Season 5 was pretty good. Although Daniel had some bizarre sideburn issues going on *g* I recommend watching the original motion picture and then starting from the beginning, because it's one of those shows where the mythology gets more and more complicated as it goes, and I know the first time I saw an ep (Season 7) I was a bit baffled by some of it.

If you're super keen, Amazon are soon to release the entire 10 seasons in one boxed set. I already have 1-9 though, so I'll just be getting the 10th season by itself. And hoping the special bonus material on the super set is released separately.

because it's one of those shows where the mythology gets more and more complicated as it goes, and I know the first time I saw an ep (Season 7) I was a bit baffled by some of it.

I actually like that - jumping into a show in a later season and trying to put the backstory together bit by bit.

LOL! Like a jigsaw puzzle :o) It's actually pretty cool to watch the later seasons, then look at the earlier ones and see how far the characters have progressed. You get a much starker contrast than watching in order.

Did I tell you I loved your pics? Probably not, came home late; damn city-hopping. But thank you so much for sharing.

*long*

But thank you so much for sharing.

Very welcome, I always have fun putting these together (though it takes ages...) Good thing that Cyn remembered to bring here camera.

Hey, do you know if there're are any plans of another writer con in the future? We'd been wondering, and I haven't heard anything.

No idea, really -- not deep in fandom right now....

Yay, it sounds like you had a great time! It's been so long that I've been to California. *sigh*

Welcome back! It was really great to have you and Cyn with us in SF. And I've got a few more pictures for you that I took on my camera; I'll email you a link.

Wow, your SGA art is looking hot. Is there also a comic in progress for that? I wanna see!

OMG ground squirrels = cute!!!

Is there also a comic in progress for that? I wanna see!

Nope, not yet anyways. The fan art I've done so far is completely random, I just start doodling and see what pops up. I really want to do sequential art now but I still have to get to know the characters a little better - get their speech patterns and mannerisms down. And I'm still sort of hazy on some aspects of the Stargate mythology.

Also, I don't know yet if I should try to team up with one of the fic writers or attempt to write my own story. So until I know what I want to do I'm drawing whatever image pops in my head. I think what really fascinates me is Atlantis itself, so I'll try to find some caps of the city, and maybe blueprints or maps, see where this takes me.

Glad you made it back safe and sound, albeit heavily jet-lagged, and it was great meeting you in person! Now to begin the next phase of the fan comics invasion, heh heh...

In the meantime, I did some cleanup on my Snake Charmer photos and ended up with this image (http://www.ultimatemark.com/arts/images/figure_snakecharmer.jpg), which is fairly sharp even if the background came out a bit dull. Those reflective pastels can be tricky! Oh, and I still owe you a receipt, so let me know if you'd like it by fax or e-mail or whichever. :-)

In the meantime, I did some cleanup on my Snake Charmer photos and ended up with this image, which is fairly sharp even if the background came out a bit dull.

Oh yes, much clearer than the one I took. I haven't got around to taking a better one, I'll snag yours if that's okay?

receipt: email should be fine. My ancient fax machine can only send, not receive.

Now to begin the next phase of the fan comics invasion, heh heh...

Excellent!

Astrid,

It was great seeing you at SDCC 2007.

Glad that you and Cyn had a good time in my fair state. I wish I could have helped more with the room and board situation in SF.

Brian Kolm
http://www.atomicbearpress.com/comics/log/

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Cyn and Astrid's Excellent Adventure (Comic Con, plus road trip)

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Great seeing you in San Diego