Photos: Comic-Con Preview Night 2024

 

Wednesday night was preview night of Comic-Con 2024. Admittedly, I've skipped out the past couple years because of COVID and whatnot, but I was ready to jump back into the action this year, at least to check things out. I haven't done a big photo post like this in ages and forgot that they reload newest to oldest, so give me a little grace because it took three attempts to get photos up at all without crashing my apps. 

I arrived right around 6, which was the perfect time to cruise up to the Sails Pavilion and grab my pass before doors were open and lines were moving into the main floor area. From everything I read, strollers were not allowed, but that proved not to be the case, and navigating the floor is complicated as there's no natural flow to how the crowds move, where lines occur for giveaways or booths with limited edition items. Being a little removed from all things pop-culture, it's interesting to see what creates a buzz and what doesn't, how much people will pay and how long they'll wait for beanie babies Collectibles. I kinda like to see the elaborate displays and the huge building wraps, as well as walking along Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade along the trolley line to see all the pop-ups and activations. I will note my friend Ted Washington is again at a Small Press table for his art and publishing, Puna Press, so make sure to say hi. It was also a treat to see and hear SpongeBob SquarePants voice actors Tom Kenny (Spongebob, Gary) and Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick Star) as they gave interviews, while their costumed character counterparts danced around in the background. I don't know how much time I'll spend downtown the rest of the week, but I'll try to get my shit together when posting. I will be working at the Mosh Eisley event on Friday at Music Box, so if you're there, say hello at the merch booth. 

Stay safe out there, my little nerds!! 

COVID-19 Masks Are REQUIRED Statewide | California Surpasses NY In Total Cases | Burger Records Folds | Disney Closes "Eating and Drinking" Loophole

Sea Lion at Boomer Beach/La Jolla Cove (Taken 7.20.2020)

I was feeling productive today. I finished reading The Down Days. I (mostly) stayed on top of my email, an almost always impossible task. I handled some Casbah stuff in announcing the Twitch Livestream with Scary Pierre happening on Saturday night at 8:30. I happened to look on Facebook at the right time and this awesome woman listed a picnic table and chairs on my local Buy Nothing group, so she kindly chose me and we went to her house, loaded it up in the van and brought it home and unpacked it. (It often helps to say you're available for immediate pickup.) I watched the full Governor's and San Diego County media briefings. And then I took a peaceful, quiet, restful long nap. Feeling dreamy. 

After watching everything, one thing I will say though is that I don't know how I missed that facial coverings are now MANDATORY in the State. I knew it was a "guideline" and "recommended" and required indoors in certain settings, but I watch every Governor Newsom briefing and somehow I missed entirely that it became required. Anyway, I'm putting the link below because if I missed it, maybe you did, too. Or it's just irrelevant because it was already required in the County. Either way, lots of sharing after the jump. 

CoViD-19 News | Comic-Con@Home | Evidence Mounts On Aerosolized COVID-19 Transmission | Mask Or Stay Home

Sea Lion Pups wrestle at Boomer Beach La Jolla (7.20.2020)

I guess my laptop is on the fritz again but Davey Tiltwheel is an amazing human and has ordered me a new charging port and hopefully that will solve my issues. If I disappear for a couple days, it will mean my laptop finally refuses to charge entirely until I get the new part. Anyway, tomorrow Comic-Con@Home kicks off and is free for everyone. I didn't reapply to press credentials for the online part because I spend most of my days watching media briefings and reading news. Though it's part of my world to help promote livestreams and online things to do, I'm not really into it. I don't really mind being in my bubble if I'm being totally honest. I stay up late, watch plenty of movies and shows, read a ton, track email, get out every couple days for shopping or Nova's soccer or a Zoo or Safari Park trip here and there and I'm good. Nova's soccer team wants to go to the beach as a group after her practice on Friday and just the request alone has me all tied in knots with anxiety that maybe she shouldn't even be on the team if they can't follow such simple rules as no gatherings. Am I to believe they're really following the right protocols for practice (which we're not allowed to watch)?? So frustrating. Wake me when it's all over. More after the jump. 

Notes from Comic-Con Preview Night

I was just reading a listicle from Pacific-- Top 10 cheap eats at Comic-Con this week-- and not only did it make me hungry, but it made me realize I forgot a couple things on my Comic-Con page this year, namely, my little map of downtown with some of my personal favorite spots (which I just quickly updated so I can get back downtown.)



Preview wrap up after the jump.

Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, July 20-Sunday, July 23, 2017

I promised I would try to update the listings daily, so here ya go. Preview night was awesome. Pyles and I arrived a little after 3pm and had no trouble parking. We went into Mission Brewery for "a beer or two" but then found out the beer we were drinking "hoppy pilsner" was only $2. So we ordered more, but then the keg blew, so we switched it up, then we ran into Gabriel from Digital Lizards of Doom, he ordered us another round and then settled our whole tab! Super nice. And then the Jet Pack Man did a demo outside (blowing spent beer grain into everyone's eyes). By the time we finally made our way to the Convention Center, I had a nice little buzz, we quickly procured our badges, and then wandered the floor. Pyles always goes off on his own, so I had fun slowly perusing the aisles, buying some things for the girls, taking the time to read books or look at art. It's always good to see local artists, like my friend and Casbah co-worker Ted Washington at his Puna Press booth. Swing by and say hi and check out his amazing art. Archived listings are after the jump.

Things To Do In San Diego: July 10-11, 2012

Sometimes it is easy to forget how good people can be. Yesterday I watched all 7 hours of the San Diego City Council hearing about the proposed Centennial Bridge/Plaza De Panama Bypass/Jacobs Project. While I still wasn't swayed that this is the best possible plan for Balboa Park, I appreciate that so many citizens and groups voiced opinions and that the council seemed to really thoughtfully weigh all concerns. Ultimately they couldn't reject a $35 million "gift", but I believe that with all of the involvement, they will be stewards for the city. After the meeting, I went to see Marius at Tin Can and the four-piece from the Faroe Islands were fantastic, with a couple songs that could easily put them in the same room with Bon Iver. From there, we went to Dirty Mondays at the Saloon in Encinitas where I completely lost my mind when my phone fell out of the car as I exited and it launched straight into a stormdrain like a hockey puck into a goalieless net. This morning I called the City of Encinitas and after a short transfer, reached Ben Taylor with the Wastewater Division. I told him the location of my phone and within 45 minutes of my call, he had personally gone to the stormdrain and retrieved my phone, which was still on and working. Last night I kinda got over the lost phone, realizing most of my important information is in the Cloud anyway, but the fact that I don't have to buy another phone or wait for an insurance replacement, especially during this busy week at Comic-Con is absolutely amazing to me. I feel really good about the goodness of people today. Archives for Tuesday and Wednesday are after the jump and just so you know, I added my Comic-Con essential links as their own page in the tabs section, so they're easily accessible without having to scroll through all the posts from this week.

Comic-Con 2012 General Guides & Links

It's my 7th year attending Comic-Con so I guess I'd say I'm a veteran now. If you're from San Diego, there are plenty of things going on to get into the fun and if you're a visitor, welcome to our beautiful city. I will be updating as frequently as possible to keep you up to date. (Note that this site will automatically load to a mobile version on your smart phone, but all of the information is there, including the pull down tabs that will take you to the Music Venue information and other pages.)

Here's a roundup of links for 2012:


Official Comic-Con Site


Tracking Board Event & Party Grid


The Hollywood Reporter Full Guide To Parties


Unofficial Comic-Con Blog


My Comic-Con Survival Guide (from 2010)


Gaslamp.org Comic-con Events & Specials


Gaslamp.org General Comic-Con Maps, Guides, Restaurants & Bars


Speed-Force Con Tips


FirstShowing.net 2012 Programming Guide - Movie Listings 


Examiner: IGN Events


Entertainment Weekly PopWatch Blog/Comic-Con Posts


Crazy For Comic-Con Fan Blog (I love their PACK THIS list)


The Agency's 3rd Annual Comic-Con Bingo


Here's a Twitter List I made a couple years ago. I haven't updated it much, so tweet at me if there are accounts that should be added to it.


Recommended eats/drinks in Downtown:


The Lincoln Room (901 4th Avenue/$5 Happy Hour food menu 3-7pm Daily)
Hodad's Burgers (945 Broadway)
Chee-Chee Club (929 Broadway)
The Propagandist (835 Fifth Avenue)
El Dorado (1030 Broadway)
Analog (801 Fifth Avenue)
Ciro's Pizza (536 Market)
City Pizzeria (675 B Street)
Vin De Syrah (901 5th Avenue)


Did I miss a link? A party guide? Let me know!!  I can be reached on Twitter, through my Facebook profile, my Facebook page, or you can leave a comment on this site.

Things To Do In San Diego: July 9, 2012

It's Comic-Con week! Let the hours count down until this city explodes with excitement. I've been getting my fill of press releases and such, but I assume today I'll get a deluge of email. Someone asked about public events and I haven't seen a whole lot, but you know I'll keep my big ears perked up for any information. If you have an event that isn't listed, leave a comment or shoot me an email, text, tweet, or comment on my fb wall and I'll update. Today is the final City Council hearing on the Balboa Park project so I'm hoping to make it down there (2pm if you're interested), but seeing as my neighbors raged until well after 4am, I suspect I'll be a little out of it today. Should be quite the drama of the year. Monday archives are after the jump.

Things To Do In San Diego: July 6-8, 2012

There are some days when I work from home where I can literally spend the entire day without talking to a single soul. No phone calls, no texts, just filtering and maybe a few short responses to emails. Yesterday I felt like being a hermit...I'm still overcoming a bit of this cold, my sleep hours have totally been out of whack this week, and I just wanted to finish watching Game of Thrones On Demand in between cough medicine induced sleep, so if you called or texted me, I'll get back to you all today. Believe me, it's nice to know people care, but I just needed a day to hide before I really sunk my teeth into everything that is coming up with Comic-Con just around the corner.

This week, I enlisted the help of Jordan Krimston to get the weekend listings done. He did an amazing job for his first time (and for being just 14), so hopefully he'll be willing to have a go at them again in the future. His band Lua is playing their last-ever show tonight at the Che Cafe, so go check them out if you can.

As I mentioned, my sleep has been out of whack, so I've been up since midnight putting these together and I realized that I will have much more fun this weekend and during the Con if I just got these all out of the way. So here are you San Diego listings through Sunday, July 15. All Comic-Con related events are noted with #SDCC and I will be constantly updating and adding shows and event as I hear of them and I'll try to provide links when they're available. Naturally, I'll have separate posts about certain events and roundups and I'll see how many of last year's links are still valid and update. If you have events, please contact me (email, Twitter, Facebook) and I'll incorporate them into the listings. 7/6/12-7/8/12 archives are after the jump.