[Groop] WonderCon 2006 Report

[Chris Schechner]

Another example of the swell people in this groop.
It's the "trickle-down" theory, ie., Mark and Sergio.

Glorko

--- Shawn <sloptamom at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Greetings everyone,
>    
>   I was able to make it to the WonderCon for the
> first time, and I have to say it was a great
> experience.  Having it in San Francisco was ideal
> for me personally, since I live somewhat close-by. 
> I took some reasonable pictures, and would love to
> share them with anyone who is interested.  I wish I
> was more computer-suave in order to just set up a
> site where any and all could view them, but, until
> that magic day happens, anyone interested in seeing
> them will just have to email me personally so that I
> can forward them along to your email addresses. 
> Sorry about that.
>    
>   Here is a humble report from a "newbie" ----
>    
>    
>   * Mark, of course, was missed throughout the whole
> con.  However, he did make a small appearance via
> Sergio's cell phone during the "Quick Draw" - Mark
> was strong enough to call in and say "hi" to
> everyone.  (Sergio placed the earpiece of the phone
> close to his mic, so that the audience could hear
> Mark's voice)  Mark sounded in good spirits - must
> have been the nurses <wink> and the "...old movies"
> he was watching.  Also during Sergio’s solo
> performance at the “Quick Draw”, he had me in tears,
> from laughing so hard, when he drew his panoramic
> view of how “he” saw us, the audience.  Great stuff.
>    
>   * Sergio announced that he was working on Solo,
> published by DC, which should be out in print before
> the San Diego Convention.  I cannot wait - and am
> wondering, can we pre-order this from DC directly? 
> Does anyone know?
>    
>   * I was able to purchase, from Sergio, the 100th
> issue of "The Simpson's" - Sergio makes an
> appearance talking to Bart who is attending the
> "Springfield Comic-Con".  (I wonder how much the
> hotels went for at that convention?)  Moreover,
> Sergio has a two page drawing of what Sergio really
> sees when he is at a convention.  Funny stuff!   
>    
>   * Scott Shaw! was also there along with his wife
> and son.  He and Sergio both were not too happy that
> their "booths" were very far apart from one another.
>  Scott was selling his boxes of Oddball Comics
> cards.  These are pictures, set to cards, of a few
> oddball comics from Scott's personal collection. 
> They are hilarious!
>    
>   * Kevin Smith gave a stellar performance.  I
> laughed so hard at his antics I was actually in
> tears.  One of the funniest things that happened was
> while he was on stage, he told a 7-year old boy, who
> was boasting about seeing ALL of Kevin’s movies,
> that the boy had “
a terrible father”.  Kevin’s
> movies are known to be full of expletives as well as
> crude humor, so Kevin was more than a little shocked
> that the boy’s father let him see Kevin’s movies,
> let alone even know about "Jay and Silent Bob".
>    
>   * Mission: Impossibly III was previewed and talked
> about by writer/director J.J. Abrams.  This looks to
> be a fantastic movie.  J.J. Abrams, himself, is a
> very charismatic, dynamic, and funny man.  He
> obviously had a good time at the WonderCon.  The
> studio was nice enough to hand out black caps, with
> "MI III" on the front, and 05/05/06 on the back.
>    
>   * Before the preview of MI III, we saw a large
> clip of the Squirrel who has the never-ending quest
> of chasing a nut up and down ice glaciers.  It was
> promised that "Scratch" will have a bigger role in
> the upcoming movie "Ice Age II, The Meltdown" with
> Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen
> Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, and Jay
> Leno- Release date March 31, 2006.  Scratch will
> actually interact with the main characters.  So,
> that is something to look forward to seeing.
>    
>   * The Fire Marshall closed the exhibit hall for a
> while on Saturday.  There were just too many people!
>  The line just to get into the WonderCon was HUGE
> both Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday, the
> WonderCon people even stopped selling tickets to get
> inside the con!  I don't know for sure, but I
> believe that most of the people were there to see
> Kevin Smith, and once he was over, things got back
> to normal - yet, the line of people never really
> seemed to die down outside.  I purchased my ticket
> to the con over the internet and arrived early on
> Friday (first day of the con) and had no problems
> with any lines what so ever.
>    
>   * San Francisco was definitely crowded, however
> the weather was awe-inspiring, and everyone I met
> was friendly and happy.  There was a parade on
> Saturday night to celebrate Chinese New Year.  It
> was hard to take many pictures because of the dark
> (and my camera is not one of those fancy million
> dollar types), however, I was able to get a few
> shots.  China Town was packed full of celebrants,
> not to mention the color red!  Happy year of the Dog
> to everyone!
>    
>   BTW:  I have a couple of extra Programs that I
> found discarded around the Con (can you imagine!!),
> and an extra MI III hat, if there is anyone
> interested in them (not for eBay!) please let me
> know - no charge, of course.  I guess it will be
> first come, first served, kind of deal.  Sorry I
> couldn't scrounge up more.  I did try.  :)
>    
>   Thank you for letting me be a part of this great
> Groop!  I am having a so much fun.  If anyone has
> any questions, feedback, suggestions, etc. please
> feel free to email me.
>    
>   Keep Smiling - hoping to see you all in San Diego
> come July!
>    
>   Shawn Nicholson
>   San Luis Obispo, California
>   (the girl :)
> 
> 		
> ---------------------------------
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