Update: San Diego's Measure C passed, with 100% of the vote in, 63.55% to 36.45% (127,431 to 73,082 votes), out of 1,671,555 registered voters, in a reported population of approx 3,340,000 residents. Sources: Ballotpedia, sdvote.com (County of San Diego) and U.S. Census Bureau, respectively.
On February 20th, 2020, Comic-Con Interational endorsed Measure C. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer also endorsed the tax measure.
Original post -------
Round One of the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) Early Bird hotel reservations is currently in motion. If you are fortunate enough to snag a room, at very attractive Con-rates for badge-holders, well done, you!! (Note: Round One hotels are generally Shelter Island, Mission Bay, airport-close and areas outlying the San Diego Convention Ctr. However, they're all lovely hotels at bargain rates and the SDCC-provided shuttles are free and run, mostly, around the clock. Early Bird Hotel Sale Round Two usually occurs in the spring, and offers the more coveted, downtown hotels, most within walking-distance to the Convention Ctr and the historic downtown Gaslamp District.
Yet, when summer arrives, if you weren't an Early Bird, a 5-day stretch will cost you monies more likely aligned with Spacex' new satellite-distribution budget. Mind you, those last-minute hotels won't be all fabulous 5-stars within walking distance of The Con and The Gaslamp, with soothing, harbour-views and top-notch room service; some will still be Spacex budget, but will be skanky 1- and 2-stars within walking distance of Dirty Dan's and with a dumpster-view. Well, depending on how San Diego's Measure C fares in March, you might be paying extra for that dumpster- or harbour-view, or not. Either way, you'll still pay a hefty hotel-tax ... or sunshine-tax, as the more obnoxious of us San Diegans call it.
Currently, San Diego's hotel room tax is 10.5%. On the ballot, March 3rd 2020, Measure C will ask voters to boost that 10.5%: ranging from 1.25% to 3.25%, depending on how close a hotel is to the San Diego Convention Center.
So, some quick, Muppet math: If your SDCC hotel room costs $300/night, your current tax is $31.50/night. If Measure C passes, it goes into immediate effectiveness and your room will now cost extra $3.75 - $9.75/night, added to that $31.50/night fee. Thus, a $300 room could jump to a $335.25 or $341.25 room, depending on how far you are from the Convention Ctr. Ta-dahhhhh!
Tourism wonks, local pols and union folk have trumpeted a potential goldmine of tourist coins that could translate into billions of dollars for the City of San Diego and its tourism and construction industries. All monies raised are slated for San Diego Convention Center expansion and operation, homelessness reduction and road repairs; the bulk of any monies raised as a result of this new tax, 59%, is slated specifically for Conv Ctr construction and facility operation.
“We’re telling voters upfront,” explained Carol Kim, a member of the Convention Center board and the Building and Construction Trades Council, "we’re not just going to raise this tax and let anybody do what they want with it. We’re going to raise this tax and spend it specifically on three things. Three specific buckets: The convention center expansion, homelessness, streets, and roads.”
Tabula rasa: a rare, empty San Diego Convention Center. Photo: JSDevore, pre-SDCC 2016
It's not all flowers and sausages, though. Community advocate Donna Frye warns voters the extended hotel-tax is "a huge, ongoing tax subsidy": 42 years from date of passage, to be precise.
“What they’ve done is they’ve tried to combine it, the hotel guys have tried to combine it with homelessness and roads,” Frye said. “And make it sound like it’s really for homeless people when there is no guarantee, there is absolutely nothing in the measure that says any housing will be built for the homeless.”
In fact, whilst Convention Center specs are outlined, Measure C does not outline how homelessness monies will be spent. Spending relies on the San Diego City Council to make all decisions regarding homeless services, housing or a combo thereof.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of campaigns and ballot measures,” said San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. “I have never seen a more diverse and stronger coalition that cuts across all portions of San Diego because we need this funding source. We need a permanent source of funding for homeless services. We need to expand our convention center and the dollars this will mean for road improvement. These are the issues San Diegans care about. It’s the first time it is actually going to be on the ballot. And I think that’s why you’re seeing so much enthusiasm.”
So, if you are indeed headed to SDCC 2020, like Yours Truly, you know to bring extra, Earth monies. You always need extra, because, well, action figures, cosplay wigs, vintage lunchboxes, geek tees, pewter dragons, Star Wars gear, Hello Kitty hoodies and cocktails at Lou & Mickey's. Just be aware, your hotel bill, Early Bird or not, is likely going to be out of this world.
Just the facts, ma'am:
A "yes" vote supports authorizing the city to increase the tax levied on overnight lodging guests with a tiered range from 1.25% to 3.25%, with revenue dedicated to expanding the San Diego Convention Center, improving streets and related infrastructure, and funding programs to reduce homelessness.
A "no" vote opposes authorizing the city to increase the tax levied on overnight lodging guests, thereby leaving the city's hotel tax rate at 10.5%.
Because Measure C is a dedicated tax increase, the ballot measure needs a two-thirds majority vote to pass.
Good grief! I hate politics! Photo: JSDevore, SDCC 2015
Run for your lives, local mortals! 'Tis time! 'Tis time! San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) is here, again, kittens! Whilst Summer is my least fave season (Moi, aka, authoress Jennifer Susannah Devore, needs her Autumn days and Sbux PSL!), July is a glorious month indeed! Comic-Con, the reigning monarch of all comic book/pop culture conventions takes flight July 19 - 23, 2018 at the San Diego Convention Center. Once again, Yours Truly will be there with my fave con cohort and shutterbug, Eslilay Evoreday of Twisted Pair Photography and Sea Gypsy Costume Designs. As this Summer tradition remains a constant, some aspects of the game are ever-changing. Now, the game is afoot!
It's Springtime in San Diego, kittens and that means one thing: San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) approacheth! July 19 - 22, 2018 will find Yours Truly awash in cosplay and cultur de pop, more so than usual. Sure, it's still three months off; yet playing the big Con takes prep. Every sweltering, sunny, San Diego Summer year my Con-cohort and I, Eslilay Evoreday, immerse ourselves in all the geeky goodness at the grandest of comic book conventions.
Can't make it to Comic-Con? Don't be sad! JennyPop's got you covered! All the dorky fun rages July 19 - July 23, 2017. For full posts, detailed accounts and, possibly, her Souvenir Book article, bookmark @JennyPopCom Twitter and Insta for all the in-depth, geeky, good times.
"San Diego’s booming prosperity attracts unscrupulous characters ... This includes prostitutes and gamblers."
Unscrupulous is such a subjective characterization. Effervescent? Of course. Adventurous? Certainly. Creative? Sans doute! We, specifically of the Comic-Con ilk (as this post pertains to that segment of the San Diego populace) are merely carrying on Rabbitville's long-running, luxe and intricate tapestry of the curious, the frivolous, the entrepreneurial, the artistic, the devoted and the odd. We also like a good martini, an unobstructed sunset and free parking.
One week out from San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC July 19 - July 23, 2017, incl. Preview Night, San Diego Convention Center)! If you're attending, most of your prep is likely finished: cosplay elements, travel and entertainment itineraries, recruiting a friend to watch your dog and feed your turtle. Of course, even with all your ridiculous-meticulous prep, so much of the unknown remains.
First things are first, whatever you do ... carry a travel-size deodorant in your bag. Trust me, Con days are long, active and exceedingly warm; you don't want to be part of the problem. Bring or buy a spare pair of shoes. Trust me here, again. I'm starting off with 5" OTK Lana Kane boots and will likely end up in Yoda bedroom slippers. Have Uberalready loaded on your phone so you're not tempted to drink and drive in the evenings, or don't want to wait for a trolley. Keep emergency cabbage on-hand for those impromptu Meet & Geeks; you never know when a martini or espresso can turn into a networking opp! Now, after you're set with all that, it's time to tend to your curious self and schedule all those fab SDCC panels, conferences and screenings!
The thing about Comic-Con news, is, for San Diegans, it happens to be our local news. Ergo, unlike those arriving in town for the yearly pop cultural extravaganza, convention energy heats up early for us local dorks, comme Moi,. Besides telltale banners around The Gaslamp District and the Harbor, news and radio badge-giveaways, and blocked-out hotels for miles, San Diego local news is covering tidbits and factoids almost daily. (Note: Local news generally bites. Yours Truly watches the first minute solely to see if there's a wildfire, Sharknado or Cloverfield monster headed my way. Good thing, because it appears a few threats headed here in about two weeks! Further, it appears they'll be returning every Summer, at least for a few years. (WooHoo!!)
On June 30, less than three weeks out from the 2017 Con, Mayor Kevin Faulconer spoke at the San Diego Convention Center, outside Hall H, home to the most coveted of SDCC panels each year. (2017 panels incl. Game of Thrones, Westworld and Stranger Things.) There, framed by San Diego's Tourism Authority CEO, Joe Terzi, and San Diego Convention Center's CEO, Rip Rippetoe, Mayor Faulconer ingratiated himself to Comic-Con's Dir. of Marketing and P.R., David Glanzer, under obligatory blue skies and soft breezes.
As San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) doth approach, Yours Truly is awash in all the final, frivolus tweaks and adjustments which inevitably occur three weeks out from the Granddaddy of Cons: cosplay details, SyFy-interviews schedule, social commitments (a.k.a. après-Con good times) and a plethora of so many things Geek & Fundry. Whilst I plan my best Con, to cover it all for you, dear reader, enjoy some puppies, via Warner Bros., highlighting their ~ahem~ doggone ~sorry~ inimitable slate of panels for SDCC 2017. Puppies!!!
I have always pondered what an experience it would have been to claim, casually over a tankard of Port, back at my fave, Yorkshire pub, The Gargoyle's Daughter, in my twee, riparian village of Notting-on-Scythe, “Yeah, cool. I was at this amazing party last week, in London. Yeah? Shakespeare was there. No, I didn’t get to talk to him, actually. But I saw him, yeah. Cool. Had loads of people around him. Dinna wannna bother him, yeah? He was hanging out by the wooden glove-forms, writing bits of dirty sonnet for some of the guests. Crazy, I tell you. Cool. Yeah, okay cool.”
Well, that never happened, not to Moi anyhoo. History is chock-a-block with visionaries we, today, will ne’er get to meet: Socrates, Didier, Dr. Samuel Johnson, Ben Frankin, Th. Jefferson, Mozart, Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Walt Disney, Jane Austen, Coco Chanel, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Marie Antoinette (yes), Tim Burton and, natch, Stan Lee. So, I have to ask the universe, What the heck?! More precisely, what the heck, Stan Lee’s handlers?
If you’re paying attention to comic-reference specifics on The Big Bang Theory you’ll note one franchise regularly takes a hit: Archie Comics. Jughead, Reggie, Archie and the kids at Pop’s Chocklit Shoppe might be beneath Dr. Sheldon Cooper; yet, he wouldn’t even take notice if Betty and Veronica took up permanent residence with him and Leonard … unless they sat in his spot. Clearly, Not-Dr. Wolowitz would absolutely appreciate America’s hottest sweethearts.
Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. You sit there, like an idiot, waiting in hair-tugging madness for Netflix to release your fave series' next season. Then, before you've had time to digest it properly and publicly declare it Fresh or Rotten ... blam-O! It's over!
“Comic-Con is the one time of the year when all nerds can set aside their personal opinions and focus on their petty differences … ”
-Will Arnett
Two Daphnes: post-apocalyptic and classic. Photo: JSDevore
Cheers, kittens! ‘Tis July and that means Comic-Con in these here parts! Final touches to costumes, triple-confirming hotel reservations, extra days at the gym and squirreling away all the forgotten pocket-dough you find doing laundry. Oh, wait … how rude of me. You didn’t get a badge? You’re not attending San Diego Comic-Con (San Diego Convention Center, July 21 – 24, 2016)? Oh, dear. Well, in that case …
San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC, San Diego Convention Center 21 July - 24 July, 2016) is only one month away and few are more excited than Yours Truly, (Miss Hannah Hart) and my fave con-cohort and shutterbug, Dr. Lucy. Naturally, with all those hot and geeky bodies smooshed in such a tight space, naturally the mind wanders to ... security at the San Diego Convention Center. Good news, kittens! You'd be hard-pressed to find a safer spot in San Diego County the third week of July.
Just four days to check-in at the Omni Los Angeles, kittens! Dr. Lucy and Yours Truly are headed north and changing hotels for the weekend so we can cover all the geeky, gooey goodness of WonderCon 2016 (March 25 - 27, L.A. ConvCtr) just for you, fair reader! Playing under the bright lights of Hollywood (well, H-town adjacent), especially after the Con doors close, brings a splash of glamour to this year's WC that, as much as we love The O.C. (Psst, don't call it that.), Anaheim just cannot provide.
So, kids, it's me, Miss Hannah Hart, ghostdame of The Del. By now you know my backstory very well and, clearly, I am here to stay in this dishy, dizzy burg by the sea. Why would I ever leave my glorious San Diego and my fab Hotel del Coronado?
Aside: The Hotel Del is under new ownership, BTW! Let's see if the new Patron appreciates all the kippy gratis adverts and bon mots Yours Truly, and our Dr. Lucy, proffer to The Del. Feel free to send your cheerful postcards to Miss Hannah Hart, ghostdame of The Del at 1500 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA 92118! Let the new owners know how much you love The Del, San Diego, Hannah Hart, ghostdame, Dr. Lucy and her pet, Onslow the Ghostly Octopus!
Okay, kittens. Comic-Con is now truly a fait accompli. The turquoise nail polish has finally been removed, my Lucy Van Pelt dress has been laundered and tucked away neatly in the costume trunk, and my official SDCC 2015 Souvenir Book with has been shelved in the office with all previous years' publications.
For those whom attend, the memories of San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), or any Con, never truly fade. Even as years pass, and, perhaps, specifics get cataloged into the wrong Con, the people, adventures, and costumes, never leave our mushy, grey databases. For those whom don't attend, or for those free moments you have and wish to relive it all, I present to you Dr. Lucy's Famous Con Slideshow!
Cheers, kittens! Miss Hannah Hart here. Rested and refreshed after one pip of a week at San Diego Comic-Con 2015 (SDCC) with my cohort Dr. Lucy and her trusty, steampunk-driven Canon EOS. Now, a little bluebird at SyFy told me Comic-Con "was a lot less packed and crazy this year". From my end, as a Con floor-worm, I say, "Nay! It was a lot more packed and crazy this year!" Fret not though, dear reader! Dr. Lucy and I endured it all, just for you, and this year, sharpened our focus on what matters most: the artist.
Kids, you've spent time in Vegas and you understand the polar difference between Vegas at nighttime, and Vegas in the daylight. Vegas at nighttime is a wild, weird good time full of sensory overload from which it oft takes a good week to recover. Vegas in the daylight, notably the early-morning, is unnervingly tame. Depending on the state in which the previous night left you, daytime in the desert oasis can prove almost too serene, with nothing to distract you from the headaches, blurry vision and all those pix and oh-so-deep musings you wish you hadn't posted. Except for the inner panic of Who the hell's spurs are these?!, daytime Vegas air is clear, sound levels are blessedly stilled and the culling and deletion of most photos has proved successful, mostly.
If you've been suffering through San Diego's muggy, monsoonal vestiges this past week (Gracias, Hurricane Carlos), have patience; the discomfort is nearing its end. Although, today doled out some Virginia-style, late-afternoon, wicked summer thunderstorms. Of course, it's actually been better along the water, kids: currently 79 at Lindbergh Field with 73% humidity.
Like Waldo, something was missing, or at least hiding adeptly, this year at WonderCon Anaheim (WCA, Anaheim Convention Center April 3-5, 2015). Maybe something was amiss on the con floor: no behemoth media structures; no celeb sightings; no multi-screen overload; no roaming camera crews from the big-news outlets. Maybe something was amiss outside: no hordes of the gawking, general public, curious shutterbugs or looky-loos. Then again, maybe nothing was amiss and I misread the whole situation. Whatever occurred, as satisfying as WCA2K15 eventually turned out to be, something intangible was mislaid; and its absence left an energy-void, and not just for Yours Truly.
"Normality" reigns once again: only the corset welts remain and, thankfully, those are fading fast. (Beach parties are never far off around here; always lurking in the shadows, like Homey the Clown with a sock full of nickels in a dark alley. Ka-pow! Guess what? You're going to a luau, girl! Damn it. Where's my parasol?)
San Diego's annual invasion of dapper Doctor Whos, mysterious Batmen, chubby Lolitas and steampunk Poison Ivys has ceased; the marauders having retreated to their workaday lives and quiet homes, wherever those might be. (In fact, roughly fifty per cent of those homes are right here in San Diego, based on attendee registration info.) No one throws a Con quite like America's Finest City and the financial handshake between Comic-Con International (CCI) and the City of San Diego is hearty, healthy and mutually-beneficial.
Aaaaaaand ... awaytheygo! San Diego Comic-Con 2014 (July 24-27, 2014, San Diego Convention Ctr.) is officially commenced! Preview Night, Wednesday night's unofficial kickoff for industry pros, press and others, has come and gone, and whilst crowds may not have peaked to the expected numbers for Friday and Saturday, the crush inside the San Diego Convention Center was as tightly packed and palpably amped as any Con day in recent recall. From the moment one stepped out of the steep, summer humidity and into the blessed, blasting air-conditioning of the Conv. Ctr., there was an energy one could feel through one's soul, like the floor was made of millions of excitable tribbles. It was as though everyone there, from jaded industry pros to Baby's First Comic-Con, was just happy, and amazed, to even be there.
The streets were eerily quiet last night. With the exception of oddly quiet construction setups and a formidable sense of a looming pop culture storm, San Diego's Gaslamp District was nearly devoid of any signs of the true onslaught of geekage fast bearing down on America's Finest City. Yours Truly used the time to enjoy the vast amount of personal space and the ability walk about the Gaslamp District with arms akimbo and even engaging in the occasional twirl. (I was wearing a tutuesque skirt, after all.) Still, amidst the serene dusk, one could feel a slight tremble in the Earth, like a TGV heading down tracks on the French countryside, or a tornado steadily rumbling toward a calm, Kansas burg.
Cheers, kittens! One week to go! San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) is nigh and America's Finest City is all abuzz. Not only is our lovely beach burg stuffed to its cliffs and cul-de-sacs with not just the usual Summertime crush of les touristes from all over the globe, but also with a healthy, amusing dose of geekery. Bienvenue a tous! San Diego loves geeks!
Holy moly, Hellboy!! This year was a close one! If you read my Adventures in WonderCon post, you will have noted the tint of sadness that came with realizing WonderCon Anaheim (WCA) was it for the year; the Comic-Con Badge Quest Slaughter of 2014 had left Dr. Lucy and myself emotionally exhausted and near expiration, with little hope of survival on the Con battlefield. Yet, like a Phoenix, rising from Arizona -wait, that doesn't sound right- we mustered every cell of life that remained, gathered our courage and cerebral weaponry and ... huzzah! With two weeks to spare, we parried and riposted our way into San Diego Comic-Con!
6:15 Fully awake, finally, after repeats of Star Wars Theme
6:20 Espresso
6:30 Text cohorts in NorCal, registration codes and Member IDs ready to go
6:35 Re-read official CCI email re: SDCC badge-sale
Remember, there is no need to rush to the landing page at 7:00 AM! You can enter the waiting room two hours before the sale begins [ at 9:00 AM] or 10 minutes before the sale begins, and your chances are the same. Your wait time is up to you!
As Valentine's Day looms on 30 Rock's "Anna Howard Shaw Day" (S4, e13), Liz Lemon takes herself "out of the equation" by scheduling a root canal to shun the greeting card-holiday she so loathes, and, most importantly, to avoid the clear and present abundance of "nobody" in her life. When she cannot arrange the necessary ride home after said-surgery because, as Virginia singer-songwriter Stephen Christoff once wrote, "everyone is in love, except for you", TGS writer Frank Rossitano, resident Italian, porn-addicted, Momma's boy, sums it up for Liz: "All we want on Valentine's Day is to know that someone cares, even a little, about us. Aren't you looking for the same thing? In fact, yours is worse. If you don't get that tooth fixed the infection will probably move to your brain and kill you."
If San Diego Comic-Con was a geologic feature, it would be the Grand Canyon: strata upon strata of distinct, well-defined, colourful variants comprising an arresting, alluring travel poster for destinations Geekward. Every summer, America’s Finest City hosts Hallowe’en in July wherein layers of sci-fi, fantasy, history, science, IT, comics, gaming, cosplay and countless other substrata converge on the San Diego Convention Center to make each year’s Con more popular, more profitable and more prohibitive to entry than the last.
Well, cats, as Porky Pig struggles to declare, "Th-th-th-that's all, folks!". San Diego Comic-Con 2013 is a wrap. The big burg with the filthy mayor and the small beachtown chill is back to it's groovy, mellow, peaceful ways. (Save for trying to oust said-filthy mayor. What a loony, dangerous maroon!) The air around the Convention Center smells like salt air once again; the trademark smell of The Con hovering somewhere over Santa Fe by now. What is that smell, New Mexicans might wonder? It's a simultaneously exhilarating, exciting and pathetic amalgam of anxiety, camping, body odour, latex, cheap polyester, sycophancy, Japanese perfume, cheap leather, desperation, domestic "beer" and nacho "cheese" sauce.
The Borg Queen's makeup is starting to wear, Arthur the Moth's white bodysuit has nacho cheese stains and Slave Leia's posterior-veil is flaking away from the glue that has, thus far, kept it titillatingly adhered to said-posterior. It must be the last day of Comic-Con.
Cheers, kittens! If you'll kindly check your calendars, you'll see it's summertime and if you regularly follow the scribblings and adventures of Dr. Lucy Devereaux and Moi, you'll know summer here in sunny San Diego means just one thing: San Diego Comic-Con!
Summertime lists of entertainment alternatives for the geeky and the pale put SDCC firmly on top of the pile. It's air-conditioned fun where we ghosties and our fellow friends of pasty pallor can hide from the vile sun and retain our dewy freshness. It's a venue where geeks, dorks and nerds of every shade of pale can gather in costume, greedily clutching their comic books and collectible figures whilst dork-walking at revved speeds to snag front-row seats to panels such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Action Figure Showcase and I Can't Write, I Can't Draw, But I Love Comics!, all without fear of a wedgie anytime during the day ... as long as conventioneers don't wander too far into the neighboring Gaslamp District. The Gaslamp is no place for a lone nerd in costume, especially at night when the surfy sportos, apathetic hipsters and sloshed beach thugs roam, and own, the darkness. Travel in nerd packs if you must; but be assured, like any Star Trek exploratory mission, the one in the red shirt will be sacrificed. Don't be the red shirt.
Geeks Get Published: it sounds obvious. At first blush, with the exception of folks like Snooki, the Fifty Shades of Grey author and Penthouse letters, who else do you imagine is getting published? Mostly geeks, that's who! Bookworms, academicians, poetry goths, art nerds, amateur scholars, film dorks, scientists, comic book enthusiasts, pop culture obsessives, military buffs and historical reënactors are busily scribbling, publishing and selling the most important theses and musings of all: their own.
With a plethora of visual outlets today, it takes a geek to stick with the romance of the written word, I know. It takes a geek to write anything today, even a Thank You note. The real trick is not getting a geek published ... it's getting a geek read. All those non-geeks roaming the planet, unaware as they are of being thiiiis close to mankind's discovery of the God particle, have a Black Hole's worth of activity to keep them occupied without cracking a book. Authors' efforts are being slaughtered like Britons at the hands of marauding Vikings, slaying and slicing with a force of diversions no other generation of writers has ever suffered. Sure, it was probably easy for Chaucer to be a best-seller. What else was there to do in the Medieval era? Everybody just waiting around to die from a splinter, plus everything was dark by four o'clock. Today? It's never dark.
The Wild West of 1850s southern California never saw WonderCon coming. Originally an agricultural collective of pious, German farmers and vintners, Victorian Anaheim would have plotzed at the site of The Joker, Jawas, Hobbacca and G-stringed Supergirls crossing Katella and Harbor, headed into their Anaheim Convention Center. Although, he might have appreciated some of the more inventive steampunk costuming, 1857 co-founder George Hansen must have just come to grips with Disneyland when WonderCon steamed into town last year. This year, it descended upon the O.C. once again and, if Hansen's ghost gets his wish, it should be headed back up north, to San Francisco's Moscone Center for 2014. If the rest of us get our wish, parent company Comic-Con International will permanently add this southern substitute, WonderCon Anaheim, to its regular menu des plaisirs.
Once upon a time there was a talented, sparkling, beauteous rocker named Leah Cevoli from the City of Brotherly Love. One day, in the historical land of Ben Franklin, The Barrymores, Will Smith and Liz Lemon, the fair Leah heard the Siren’s Song knell through Philadelphia’s brick corridors and colorful tulip gardens. Taking the form of The Black Crowes so she alone would hear it, the song trilled, lilted and riffed amidst the city streets, beckoning her independent and creative soul to the land of plenty: plenty of sunshine, plenty of sea, plenty of opportunity, plenty of cabbage, plenty of thee.
WonderCon Anaheim is a fait accompli. These California comic book conventions are like a Tequila Sunrise: equal parts fun, tequila, sunshine and just the right amount of tart. The bar in the Anaheim Hilton, Mix Lounge, was a bit too much fun. Of course, like any trade show or con, those après-show mixers also serve as yummy networking juice. Having an affable, excitable, confident pirate in your corner also helps the networking process.
This con was chock full of crucial contacts, old friends, new Geek Meets and enough pop culture goodness to make the wait for summer's San Diego Comic-Con nearly unbearable. I met a Batman Ph.D., dined with a Monster Man, met a smarmy yet kindly fellow from Bongo Comics and missed meeting Seth Green, again, by thiiiiiis much. As I covered the event for GoodToBeAGeek, there shall be a full wrap-up and slideshow coming soon. There shall also be interviews. Whilst there, I attended a few panels, including All Shapes and Sizes Welcome and Geeks Get Published - and Paid!.
Hannah Hart, ghostdame here, kids! I think we are being spied upon, as of late. As Dr. Lucy and I prepare for WonderCon (Anaheim Convention Center March 29-31, 2013), it appears the bonkers-brilliant minds behind Portlandia have clearly been engaged in careful examination of our cosplay methods. We mistakenly thought our crossed fingers to be our little secret. (Uninitiated to the wonky randomness of Portlandia? Read a wee TV review by my pally, Jennifer Susannah Devore.) Yes, I imagine our short sojourn at the Anaheim Hilton and WonderCon shall prove raw-ther similar to Portlandia's spot-on effort: Steampunk Convention.
Cheers, kittens! It's Moi, your Hannah Hart, ghostdame of the Hotel del Coronado! I imagine scads of you are reading on your devices whilst trapped amongst the winter remnants of Nor'easter Nemo. Ergo, I shall spare you the complaints of how chilly it is here in San Diego, in February: 56 with a low of 43! Of course, being a ghost, I'm always cold: sunny beach weather or no. (New to this ghostdame concept? My bio will get you up to speed.)
Well, if you're a geek in love and whether snowbound in Beantown or surfside in Solana Beach, chances are kippy you're focused on one of two things right now: Valentines Day and/or WonderCon. Should you be fortunate enough to live in Southern California, my Hotel Del, in this year of their 125th anniversary, is hosting the Sweetheart Ball for a mere $125.00/person for dance floor-flanked dining: $100.00/person for the rest of the Crown Room. Get out the red lipstick, your swishiest beaded skirt and those dancing heels, all you hot tomatoes! The Fox Trot is where it's at this year!
“There’s an awful lot of weird, pasty people in here, myself included.” So went my recurring, silent observance throughout this year’s Comic-Con, striking oft as I flitted hither and thither through the San Diego Convention Center, like a frantic mosquito seeking an open window on a muggy, Malibu, summer’s day. The pastiness was not truly what struck me, nor was the definitive weirdness. The real oddity was, like in so many gatherings where we geeks gather en masse -Renaissance Faire, Disneyland- the convergence of and shoulder-to-shoulder conditions pressed upon so many individuals not generally prone to mainstream socializing. Moi? I haven’t left my Hotel del Coronado much since 1934. Dr. Lucy, my ghostie cohort? 1904. Judging by the bevy of pale and malleable bodies endeavouring some severely awkward social interactivity, they’ve not left their abodes since 1904 either. Need more than just one fat Slave Leia? Dr. Lucy’s Comic-Con 2012 Gallery of Oddities!
Ain’t no place nobby like San Diego, babies! I knew it when I transplanted from Boston during Prohibition, Lucky Lindy knew it when he test flew the Spirit of St. Louis here before making tracks for Paris and a geeky teen named Richard Alf knew it when he convinced fellow geek Sheldon Dorf from Michigan, not to mention Ray Bradbury, that America’s Finest City could also be America’s Comic City.
Aaaaaaand ... awaytheygo! 
The streets were eerily quiet last night. With the exception of oddly quiet construction setups and a formidable sense of a looming pop culture storm, San Diego's Gaslamp District was nearly devoid of any signs of the true onslaught of geekage fast bearing down on America's Finest City. Yours Truly used the time to enjoy the vast amount of personal space and the ability walk about the Gaslamp District with arms akimbo and even engaging in the occasional twirl. (I was wearing a tutuesque skirt, after all.) Still, amidst the serene dusk, one could feel a slight tremble in the Earth, like a TGV heading down tracks on the French countryside, or a tornado steadily rumbling toward a calm, Kansas burg.
If 
Summertime lists of 
the form of The Black Crowes so she alone would hear it, the song trilled, lilted and riffed amidst the city streets, beckoning her independent and creative soul to the land of plenty: plenty of sunshine, plenty of sea, plenty of opportunity, plenty of cabbage, plenty of thee.
tunate enough to live in Southern California, my Hotel Del, in this year of their 125th anniversary, is hosting the 