Time Zones can cause problems in either direction. This morning I was bright eyed and bushy tailed at around 4:00 AM or 7:00 Eastern. Part was the time zone thingie and part was me anxious over the shape of the day. You see today was the first day of the World Science Fiction Convention and I had also (when getting my hotel room) bought a pass to Disneyland. I was torn as to if I was going to use it, but also didn’t want to just throw away the money. So I decided since the first session I wanted to attend wasn’t until noon and the exhibit hall didn’t open until two o’clock I might as well check it out.
A bit of history- the last time I had set foot at Disneyland my mother went into the hospital and soon passed away. I had actually spent that time with my niece/god daughter and the power was out in the park so there wasn’t much we could do. We tried to enjoy ourselves while protecting my brother and his kids from the news. They’d find out soon enough and l didn’t want them to worry about something they had no control over.
So I arrived at the park about an hour before it opened walked around the shuttered Downtown Disney (except for Starbucks) and figured I’d ride a ride or two, maybe find a virtual geocache and just be. I’ve realized that I am too old for Disney. I figured this out at Disneyland Paris. While it is the “Happiest Place on Earth” not having kids and not having a reason to drop a lot of money on stuff makes it an interesting bit of people watching, but that’s about it. Once they let us past Main Street I decided to head to Star Wars Land since it didn’t exist the last time I had been there. I wandered through seeing pretty much a duplicate of what was in Florida and looked at my watch. I had never had a chance to ride “Rise of the Resistance” since it seemed to be perpetually broken at Disney World so I took a chance and joined the 25 minute line. It was about 25 minutes of twisting line before we joined the story (already in progress). Being set in the latest film incarnation of the series it was OK. I could enjoy the reactions of the families around me and chuckle at the people taking selfies. One we had stopped the advance of the First Order I continued exploring the space popping into shops- yes they are now selling Ewoks into servitude right next to the Droid Workshop.
I continued my wandering and decided it was time to head back to the hotel to rest a bit and then head to the convention.
The Sessions:
In Conversation - Colleen Doran, Tim Kirk, and Stan Sakai
From the Program: “Join Tim, Colleen, and Stan as they sit down together for an engaging, free-flowing conversation, sharing stories, influences, and creative journeys.” Moderator: Joe Siclari
I always find it great to listen to artists and designers talk about their craft. This was great and as with most of these sessions I found I was listening an not taking notes. That and going to multiple sessions with the same presenters makes it challenging to determine who said what, when. After this session i need to do more research on other artists (including Carl Batks) and I need to move visiting Tokyo DisneySea up on my bucket list even after just saying how I was getting too old for Disney Parks.
“If the art doesn’t come first, nothing else follows.” -Colleen Doran
Doctor Who at the Crossroads
From the Program: “One of the most popular British imports into the U.S. for over half a century, Doctor Who enjoyed a renaissance beginning in the mid 2000’s. However, with the collapse of its American partnership with Disney, the future of the show hasn’t been as bleak as this in decades. Or has it? This panel will discuss the status of the series, its prospects, and its promise for a new generation of fans.”
Yes, I have been a Whovian. Heck, I even created a multi state geocaching series based on (at that point) the eleven incarnations of “the Doctor.” My interest waned and as we curated our subscriptions it had ended up on the chopping block. I had heard Disney had left and the BBC was taking the show on hiatus so I was curious about what was going to happen next.
The general consensus was that it will be at least a few years before the show returns. The hope is that there will be a fresh start without trying to explain anything, like they had done in 2005. Only time will tell.
Current Landscape of Speculative Fiction Comics and Graphic Novels
From the Program: “As the boundaries of speculative fiction are pushed every year in novels, similar growth is experienced in comics. This panel will discuss where we, as fans and creators of comics and graphic novels, find ourselves in the SFF landscape.”
A wide variety of comic book writers and artists talked about the state of the genre in comic books (comics are a medium, not a genre). Most participants felt that things weren’t horrible, but that Superheroes were what most comic shops focused on. The discussion on the process each person went through was fascinating.
The Ziegler Effect was brought up which gets me thinking. It’s where you leave a drawing unfinished before you go to bed so that you can look at it with fresh eyes in the morning. It also makes it so you aren’t confronted with a blank page so that you can actually hit the ground running. This session also named dropped so many artists and comics I couldn’t get all of them in my notes.
Sherlock Holmes Through Time and Space
From the Program: “It's elementary, dear Watson, that Sherlock Holmes is one of the greatest, and certainly best known, detectives of all time. Portrayals of Holmes have included gender bending, alternate timelines, and more. Our panelists will discuss the various depictions of Conan Doyle's detective through the years, and using their powers of deduction, may even decide upon which ones worked best!”
I read my first Sherlock Holmes story in high school. It was sophomore English and I then turned around and read more. This session made me feeL like the Scarlet Pimpernel session I went to at Gen Con. I thought I knew a lot, but I discovered I know a lot among the people I surround myself with, but I know nothing around Holmes fans. Like most of the sessions book TV show, and film titles were dropped in rapid fire succession.
Everything Else
The exhibit hall opened at two o’clock the same time as the Freebie Table did. The freebie table was actually a series of tables with donated books on it. Many of the titles were pre-release copies from publishers. I walked by saw a few things that that looked interesting. Having spent time a more than a few silent auctions I knew the drill. Stand by what you want and then when the time comes - pounce. Unfortunately, it seemed the way this worked was make a pole of the books you want either find an open space on the table to put your stack or even sit down with your stack in front of you. I decided to play the game, but only did that with two titles that looked interesting, I would take my chances on anything else. The clock struck two and locusts, vultures, whatever descended and the tables were pretty much picked clean.
Two o’clock also marked the opening of the exhibit hall. I popped down and did my round of shopping. The hall is an eclectic mix. There is even a silent auction of art pieces from a wide variety of talent. Some pieces in the show were just for display. I did see a few things I liked, but I also don’t need them, or have a way to transport them home.
Today ended with me watching the stream of the closing ceremony. It’s been a long day and I really should go to sleep. Tomorrow - more sessions and stuff. Maybe even some drawing.