He's # 1 because he takes his job seriously.

Here's a bit of Dark Knight inspired vandalism outside my town. Mr. Perkins is a young, local real estate professional versed in the school of putting your picture on EVERYTHING that bears your name. I've never met him, so I don't know if he was amused or angered at this unauthorized modification. I passed by the billboard last week and the original is back. I wonder what will happen to it next. Watchmen?

He's # 1 because he takes his job seriously. Originally uploaded by samstrongarmlabs

San Diego Comic Con 2008 Recap

San Diego. Holy Cow. Gee Willikers. Neat-o-bean-o. Good show.

The flight out of Albany was early, but departed without a hitch. Our in-flight movie was Nim’s Island. Thank God for iPod Monopoly is all I will say to that. The flight landed, we changed our watches to Pacific Time (which is like, but not, time travel), and immediately found our Con companions and good friends of twenty years Clare and Theda. Hugging broke out and gregarious feelings flooded the airport and surrounding area. Strangers embraced and wildcat productions of Fame snarled traffic for miles around. We stayed at the Bristol on 1^st Ave. The room was clean. The air conditioning worked beautifully. Life was good. On the topic of creature comfort, Clare and Theda’s presence, meaning to or not, made sure we ate better than any previous Con. For example, we ate breakfast and put more in our mouths than a BLT every night. Mmm…BLT… er, anyway.

The Con was fantastic. Each year the large companies, e.g. Hasbro, Gentle Giant Studios, Warner Bros, raise the watermark. The full detail, life-size replica of Nite Owl’s ship looked incredible. The fan costumes were also better this year. We saw a number of quality Star Trek TOS characters, Planet of the Apes, Steampunk, and Grendel costumes we had not seen before. On a side note, one big bonus to wearing an Exhibitor badge is the freedom of travel in and out of the Con, so we were able to walk the floors and examine the goods hours before the crowds flooded in. Nice. For LOST fans, I partook of the Dharma recruitment testing at the Con. It was a small booth, but a cool, very digital experience. Check out the website. Dahrmawantsyou. I went to a small bit of the LOST panel, which was also very cool, but left so as not to leave Mark alone for an extended period. Our table bordered Pirate Cove, My Nerd Girl, Sherri Smith, and Tyler Hutchison among others. Good stuff and nice people.

2008 marked our forth trip to San Diego and performance wise it was our best yet. Many thanks go out to everyone who stopped by the table. There are so many quality items to spend money on; we’re very appreciative when the public chooses us. A special nod goes to the Chang sisters. Their confectionery gifts are always appreciated and always yummy! I wonder how I can one up a piggyback ride.

San Diego is a huge pocket universe created by and for fans. Take the time and effort and GO. You will not be sorry.

Notice I didn’t say our return flight went smoothly. This is TWO years in row, US Airways…TWO...