Comic Con 2012: Sunday
This Sunday was spent in two ways: 1) the Adventure Time Children's Museum Installation, and 2) wandering through the Exhibit Hall for one final hurrah.
First, the AT installation: I'd tried to get into this thing twice previously with no success (mostly due to my unwillingness to wait in lines that were outside in full sunlight, after the unfortunate Sunburn Incident.) So I declared that I was doing this first up, and Yebisu was kind enough to come with me. We arrived downtown around 9:20 and got into line about what became a quarter of the way from the front (at first, we were halfway back, and then more and more people got in line, and I started to feel very smug about getting there early). (At the beginning, I texted
figgy_newton: "Guess where we are? A line!" and she wrote back, succinctly, "Heh.") Once the line started moving, though, at 10:00, it moved very quickly and was fairly well organized.
The set-up at the Children's Museum was a testament to the challenges that Cartoon Network organizers must have faced. There were basically two basic parts to the mini-adventure: 1) choose a plastic ball (like the ones that supermarkets have that cost a quarter and come with jewelry or stickers inside) with a key and clue inside it, and 2) using the clue, find the locker that the key works with, and open it up to find a prize inside. Even though this was a really simple set-up, the execution was top notch. First of all, the organizers instantly understood that this had to feel a like a challenge, so we went downstairs and through several dark spaces, which gave the whole experience more weight, like we were really on a quest, as opposed to just going down some stairs and picking up a prize. Secondly, the clues were pretty easy to solve for adults, but for kids, there was counting involved, and many lockers to go wrong with. My clue read:
"Righteous young hero
with your Keyper [character from the show] in sight
Go three up and one to the right
From locker number one-ninety-nine"
And Yebisu's:
"If it is you, friend
You are welcome to try
Go six to the left
of door thirty-five"
So, for the cost of a few spare locker banks, keys, plastic balls, and the prizes themselves, the Cartoon Network people created a fun experience that captured some of the fun and silliness of the show without being too challenging for smaller kids. And the prizes, what swag! I got a Lumpy Space Princess/Finn action figure set, and Yebisu got a stretchy Jake action figure. I saw other people with keychains and hats, too. This definitely made up for the fact that I couldn't seem to ever get the map inside the Exhibit Hall for the AT-themed scavenger hunt at various booths.
Even better was that after this, we were granted free access to the Children's Museum (which looks like a lovely space staffed by kind and friendly people) and a AT fan art gallery on the top floor. The artwork in the gallery was very, very good, and ranged from the very cute to rather disturbing; again, it was a perfect match for the show, and put together with great care not to scare smaller fans, but not to bore the older ones.
All in all, I'm thinking about writing a very nice letter to the Cartoon Network execs because I hope whoever is responsible for this whole thing should get promoted and allowed to organize something else amazing and fun next year! The wait in line was well worth the time we spent, and the nice prizes were an unexpected bonus.
And then there was wandering on the Exhibit Hall floor: We braved the walk back to the Convention Center, past the fundies, who'd gotten wiser and were distributing "Get out of Hell free!" cards with relevant bible verses printed on the back. Once inside, Yebisu and I split up because we each had plans we were trying to execute that benefitted the other (I do a lot of Xmas/birthday shopping for him at the Con.) I took care of that quickly, and then headed back to a booth where we owed the proprietor $5 from the day before when her debit card machine was failing and we only had $40 out of the $45 total. After that, I went back to see a few old friends and procure a few more presents... and then I drifted. This was when I heard my quote of the Con: while passing one of the bigger booths, I overheard a guy trying to get more people to line up for a signing. "Getcher autographs here! Step right up and meet our renowned artists! One draws Cthulu, the other draws butterflies!"
I was still giggling over this as I moved on. I ended up finding a comic on Sufism and Islam, which I was pleasantly surprised to come across. The booth proprietor seemed lonely and a bit depressed. There were no long lines for his comic, and he had a bemused reaction when I told him I wanted to use it in my Humanities class to augment the chapter on Islam. But I was ecstatic--it's exactly the text I'd been hoping to find, since it addresses both the religious and philosophical meanings of the Quor'an and its commentaries. He said the comic was very popular in India and they were testing out the North American waters. I could tell he didn't think it was a fruitful test.
From there, I walked by Lou Ferrigno posing with people for pictures; past Batton Lash, Ben Edlund, Terry Moore and Jeff Smith; past the real collector's comic book tables where I overheard a guy expressing his doubts to another guy that anyone would bring $5,000 with them to the Con to spend on a comic; around innumerable costumes worn by tired-looking people and children looking either amazed or shellshocked. I got sidetracked at a booth selling Doctor Who merchandise and bought my one Utterly Frivolous Fun Thing from the con (a DW lego TARDIS). Then Yebisu and I met up, ate lunch, walked around another few minutes, and realized it was time to go home. It's hard to say at what moment we both came to this conclusion, but we both looked at each other, and even though he proposed it, I was thinking the same thing. We said goodbye to the Con and wrestled our way through the crowds and the fundies, onto the trolley.
Then we came home and looked after R. and life was suddenly unbearably mundane. But it's always that way after the Con.
Due to camera malfunction, there are no pictures from today. But if you missed the others, they're all here!
I'll try to do a write-up on the whole experience in the next few days, but I do have to say that it really was quite fun and I do not regret any of our time there. :D
First, the AT installation: I'd tried to get into this thing twice previously with no success (mostly due to my unwillingness to wait in lines that were outside in full sunlight, after the unfortunate Sunburn Incident.) So I declared that I was doing this first up, and Yebisu was kind enough to come with me. We arrived downtown around 9:20 and got into line about what became a quarter of the way from the front (at first, we were halfway back, and then more and more people got in line, and I started to feel very smug about getting there early). (At the beginning, I texted
figgy_newton: "Guess where we are? A line!" and she wrote back, succinctly, "Heh.") Once the line started moving, though, at 10:00, it moved very quickly and was fairly well organized.
The set-up at the Children's Museum was a testament to the challenges that Cartoon Network organizers must have faced. There were basically two basic parts to the mini-adventure: 1) choose a plastic ball (like the ones that supermarkets have that cost a quarter and come with jewelry or stickers inside) with a key and clue inside it, and 2) using the clue, find the locker that the key works with, and open it up to find a prize inside. Even though this was a really simple set-up, the execution was top notch. First of all, the organizers instantly understood that this had to feel a like a challenge, so we went downstairs and through several dark spaces, which gave the whole experience more weight, like we were really on a quest, as opposed to just going down some stairs and picking up a prize. Secondly, the clues were pretty easy to solve for adults, but for kids, there was counting involved, and many lockers to go wrong with. My clue read:
"Righteous young hero
with your Keyper [character from the show] in sight
Go three up and one to the right
From locker number one-ninety-nine"
And Yebisu's:
"If it is you, friend
You are welcome to try
Go six to the left
of door thirty-five"
So, for the cost of a few spare locker banks, keys, plastic balls, and the prizes themselves, the Cartoon Network people created a fun experience that captured some of the fun and silliness of the show without being too challenging for smaller kids. And the prizes, what swag! I got a Lumpy Space Princess/Finn action figure set, and Yebisu got a stretchy Jake action figure. I saw other people with keychains and hats, too. This definitely made up for the fact that I couldn't seem to ever get the map inside the Exhibit Hall for the AT-themed scavenger hunt at various booths.
Even better was that after this, we were granted free access to the Children's Museum (which looks like a lovely space staffed by kind and friendly people) and a AT fan art gallery on the top floor. The artwork in the gallery was very, very good, and ranged from the very cute to rather disturbing; again, it was a perfect match for the show, and put together with great care not to scare smaller fans, but not to bore the older ones.
All in all, I'm thinking about writing a very nice letter to the Cartoon Network execs because I hope whoever is responsible for this whole thing should get promoted and allowed to organize something else amazing and fun next year! The wait in line was well worth the time we spent, and the nice prizes were an unexpected bonus.
And then there was wandering on the Exhibit Hall floor: We braved the walk back to the Convention Center, past the fundies, who'd gotten wiser and were distributing "Get out of Hell free!" cards with relevant bible verses printed on the back. Once inside, Yebisu and I split up because we each had plans we were trying to execute that benefitted the other (I do a lot of Xmas/birthday shopping for him at the Con.) I took care of that quickly, and then headed back to a booth where we owed the proprietor $5 from the day before when her debit card machine was failing and we only had $40 out of the $45 total. After that, I went back to see a few old friends and procure a few more presents... and then I drifted. This was when I heard my quote of the Con: while passing one of the bigger booths, I overheard a guy trying to get more people to line up for a signing. "Getcher autographs here! Step right up and meet our renowned artists! One draws Cthulu, the other draws butterflies!"
I was still giggling over this as I moved on. I ended up finding a comic on Sufism and Islam, which I was pleasantly surprised to come across. The booth proprietor seemed lonely and a bit depressed. There were no long lines for his comic, and he had a bemused reaction when I told him I wanted to use it in my Humanities class to augment the chapter on Islam. But I was ecstatic--it's exactly the text I'd been hoping to find, since it addresses both the religious and philosophical meanings of the Quor'an and its commentaries. He said the comic was very popular in India and they were testing out the North American waters. I could tell he didn't think it was a fruitful test.
From there, I walked by Lou Ferrigno posing with people for pictures; past Batton Lash, Ben Edlund, Terry Moore and Jeff Smith; past the real collector's comic book tables where I overheard a guy expressing his doubts to another guy that anyone would bring $5,000 with them to the Con to spend on a comic; around innumerable costumes worn by tired-looking people and children looking either amazed or shellshocked. I got sidetracked at a booth selling Doctor Who merchandise and bought my one Utterly Frivolous Fun Thing from the con (a DW lego TARDIS). Then Yebisu and I met up, ate lunch, walked around another few minutes, and realized it was time to go home. It's hard to say at what moment we both came to this conclusion, but we both looked at each other, and even though he proposed it, I was thinking the same thing. We said goodbye to the Con and wrestled our way through the crowds and the fundies, onto the trolley.
Then we came home and looked after R. and life was suddenly unbearably mundane. But it's always that way after the Con.
Due to camera malfunction, there are no pictures from today. But if you missed the others, they're all here!
I'll try to do a write-up on the whole experience in the next few days, but I do have to say that it really was quite fun and I do not regret any of our time there. :D