Since my first post I've decided any additional follow up would be rather mundane, so I'm jumping to more recent happenings. 
This past Monday my mom flew in from CA to spend a little time in Phoenix, including 3 days worth of the 12th anniversary Phoenix Comicon. Jonathan, my mom and I were all non-costumed, Comicon virgins, and attending was quite the experience. Thursday evening was the official start of the event but we waited until Friday to make our initial debut. About mid day Friday my mom and I headed to the downtown convention center to pick up our passes and tour the event floor. Friday's attendees were far less in number than Saturday or Sunday but this is not to say there were no costumed characters present. As we circulated about the vendors, trekies, sexy fantasy artists, storm troopers and animme characters my mom snapped pictures of willing characters like a giddily little shutter bug.
Later that day we met Jonathan at home before heading back downtown to whiteness the Zombie walk and the Zombie pageant. Both turned out to be mildly disappointing. Despite the crowd, the Zombie walk was a bit sparse in Zombie attendees and they were far too "live" as many barely shuffled during their rapid travel down the parade route. As for the pageant, well it was a little odd, but semi entertaining. Most zombie participants were far too talkative and non-zombie, but what really made the show entertaining was how uninhibited participants were. Doing their zombie pageant thing, each contestant seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their time on the cat walk shakin their thang and putting themselves out there. And darn it, more power to them!
Saturday morning we headed back downtown to join thousands of fellow attendees, and would be making out first visit to the scheduled discussions. With such an increased crowd, the number and creativity of costumes multiplied exponentially. Captain Americas, Boba Fetts, Sailor Moons and a variety of paranormals all carefully and courteously intermingled about the massive convention center. At noon we went our different ways since my mom and I had some scheduled events we were looking forward and Jonathan preferred to roam the showroom. While my mom attended the discussion about whether Zombies move quickly or slowly I attended a particularly disappointing Star Trek vs. Star Wars debate. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the panelists and the back and forth was weak to the point where I walked out about a half hour early. The most interesting part of the situation was observing the general behaviour of the different sides, made possible by the rooms divide of Trek on the right and Wars on the left. The Trek fans were far more docile, respectful, and overall a bit more interested in the perspectives and general discussion, whereas the Star Wars fans seemed to have a little something to prove. They tended to be a bit cocky as they rudely interrupted the Trek panel speakers, and, well, just kind of obnoxious. I was hoping for more of a thoughtful discussion/debate, not a who is better finger pointing contest.
We briefly departed the convention center for a quick lunch at a nearby Carri bean festival before returning for a bit more people watching and a few more purchases before calling it a day. There were a few events later in the evening that we were interested in, however, the hustle and bustle of Comicon has a strangely exhausting affect and we did not end up returning downtown until Sunday.
Sunday's wrap up and more photos to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment