Essays

PAX, WSU, H1N1

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CNN is reporting that 2500 students at Washington State University have come down with the H1N1 virus. From the article:

…officials were surprised that the long Labor Day weekend, when most students left campus, did not do more to interrupt the virus’ spread.

Long Labor Day weekend, eh?

Maybe some of these students who left campus went across (EDIT: different towns!) the state to PAX. The Penny-Arcade Expo was also hit with H1N1. I mean, (EDIT!) Washington’s a big place, but it’s no stretch to imagine a few thousand local college students hitting a convention geared towards their demographic, right?

I’m not pointing fingers at anybody here. I’m just drawing connections that the CNN folks really should have already drawn — there was a big event (EDIT!) across the state, and both the University and a crowded convention center make for a fantastic confluence of vectors.

You know what? H1N1 notwithstanding, I still wish I could have made it to PAX this year. But I’m glad I’m not in college anymore.

Journal

Musing upon Walt Marvel Disney Comics…

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Forget the humor inherent in Wolverine showing up in Kingdom Hearts, or a Howard the Darkwing Duck consolidation (let alone Mickey doing cameos in Deadpool,) I want to address the absolute perfection of this merger:

Both companies have iconic characters as their stock-in-trade. And the characters are so iconic they stop being characters. In fact, they stop being interesting. Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man are both franchises, like Tony the Tiger or the Pillsbury Dough-boy. When was the last time any of them got lasting character development? And by lasting I mean “didn’t get stripped away with the last reset.”

Answer: DECADES.

So… Marvel and Disney have always shared a certain measure of business philosophy in this regard. Now they can share business practices, HR departments, and script doctors, too. What will change? Marvel will get more efficient, Disney will get bigger, and super-hero comics will remain utterly staid and boring.

It really is the perfect merger. Unless you were hoping that comics would get more interesting.

Journal

My favorite part about GenCon

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I think my favorite part about GenCon was when my good friend ssanfratello showed up on Saturday evening following a 5-hour drive from Michigan, and he, Jonathan “Skippy” Schwarz and I went out for dinner. Skippy had a game demo to run aftewards, so Sal and I hit the convention center (which had just been emptied, and then re-filled thanks to a fire alarm) and walked through the game areas.

Upshot: For me it’s never about places or events. It’s always about people. The thrill of a convention center full of cool displays and awesome programming pales quickly when I bump into a friend and we get to geek out together.

Sandra was suggesting family trips for next summer and I realized that I don’t care where we go as long as we go someplace where there are people I like. Sure, sure, I’ll be going WITH people I like, but I want to catch up with old friends and make new ones. I don’t need to see the sights, ride the rides, or even eat the authentic eats. Not unless I’m doing it with friends.

Journal

Leaving Indy, the magic is gone

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I am always saddened when I stay in a convention hotel beyond the end of the con. The cool, nerdy, familiar things are gone and the place is just a hotel again. Here in downtown Indy the GenCon layer has been stripped away from countless locations and it’s just another city center. My tribe has left. The magic is gone.

Maybe this is a good thing, because it leaves me all the more anxious to be home again. My plane leaves at 11am. Not soon enough.

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Writer, Illustrator, Consumer