- THE TRIP DOWN
TUES. JULY 22 -
Our annual trip begins to fantasy-land, otherwise known as Comic Con International in San Diego. What begins as packing, ends up a multitude of repacking, along with constant second-guessing of what we were supposed to bring, versus what we actually did pack. And how much did we really want to lug around anyway? Then it’s off to buy supplies for a week. Why eat out when you can have a bonfire right in the midst of our hotel room? OK, we didn’t go that far, but we have been pondering a portable electric or gas stove to bring along. Apparently, unbelievably so, Embassy Suites actually may allow that. So far, we’ve just done with our in-room fridge and coffee maker. Thank God for the free breakfasts that we can stock up on.
As par for the course with us, we plan to leave early morning a day ahead of schedule, only to end up leaving about 20 hours later. Suffice to say, we got on the road at a nice, cool 3 am - which would actually then make it Weds. And our story finally has an honest beginning.
By 5 am, we are heading South on Highway 5 while listening to the Styx: Greatest Hits CD. Mind you, what happens next happened exactly as described, and timing is everything. In the distance, we see the lights of emergency vehicles on the highway, and of course wonder what could have possibly happened on the road during the hours before traffic hits in the desert. The song “Babe” begins, with it’s seemingly endless piano intro. Perlito inquires, “Did someone forget the lyrics? Sing it already.”
As we approach the police and ambulances, we notice people standing around, looking down. The lyrics to “Babe” begin, and we all sing along, “... Babe, I’m leaving, I must be on my wayyyy...”
“Holy crap! Is that a dead body!?,”I suddenly exclaim, as we notice the white sheet shrouded human laying with his feet pointing skyward, with an officer peering down on him. Suddenly the lyric “must be on my way” became prophetic, as we ogled, but didn’t slow down. We were on a mission. Dead bodies be damned, we had to get to San Diego.
By 6 am, I had called my vampire-inspired friend in Texas to tell her all about the fatality on the road. She likes blood, so I figured it would be right up her alley, as we chatted while pulling into the Burger King parking lot. All of us having seen death plenty, and/or watching way too many horror films, have been a bit desensitized to what we’ve seen. I’m trying to figure out a way to jolt some emotion into anyone. It’s silent as we tiredly mull about wondering if we should sleep or continue. I suddenly blurt out, “I want to go back to the body and touch it.” Resounding silence. Perlito then calmly puts in, “Dude. It’s an hour back. Come on.” Again, desensitized, everyone agrees that time is of the essence to our journey, and we must continue. The idea of wanting to touch a dead body has totally passed everyone over. So we order a burger, and grab a room at the local Motel 6, to get some sleep to avoid becoming delirious later.
WEDS. JULY 23 -
It’s noon, and we decide to get up - as always, when the sun is warm. We get on the road southbound and continue. The heated wind of summer provided us with some new perspectives on this trip. Every year it’s an adventure. This time, we get - mini-tornados. Yes, Dust Devils, as they’re called in the Midwest. Formative funneled winds appearing at random across the barren view. We snap a few pics as we hope for a big one that might be worth videotaping. Danger never bothers us. We just look for something new to amuse us.
It’s 6:30 pm when we arrive, but a scant few hours too late to see the Preview night that went from 5 to 8 pm. We are all still a big groggy and grumpy and just don’t feel like dealing with crowds. Besides, there are free snacks to be had at the bar. We await big Keith to come back from the Con. He had smartly arrived by flight, early, to meet up with the infamously popular Rafael Navarro of Sonambulo and Nickelodeon fame. Somehow, we had tricked Rafi into staying with us in our room, as we awaited the Con warriors to return.
Here’s a good side tale - Rafael was going to stay with a married couple. They were having marital issues and decided that going to Comic Con was a good means to possibly put aside the problems and work things through. Sure. Anything’s possible. Then they offered Rafi to stay with them in their hotel room. Again, sure. When a dissolving marriage decides to take a vacation, it’s always the best idea to bring along a fifth wheel (or third wheel, in this case) to be right in the midst of battle, in close quarters... out of town. Not the most productive ideas, and Rafi felt best - and safest - about taking up our offer to empty his wallet of hotel room kick-downs.
Keith came back to tell us about the “Fringe” TV show series that was being talked about, as well as the much less crowded walkways, that would be filled to the brim for the rest of the show.
Our regular foursome end up mulling around the hotel and downtown, checking everything out before the madhouse begins. As usual, we end up still being awake in the early morning hours. As we watch the news, we are amazed that Comic Con has become the lead story. They were reporting of people in line, almost one mile long, that had formed around midnight. One mile of people, waiting to get into Comic Con. What?! This isn’t a concert where the first person in gets to stand in the front under the stage. This is an open event where you have all day to walk around. “Oh, no!” we thought, “What are we in for?” We were still up at 5 am when they showed footage of the crazy line forming. By 11 am, the line had taken over Harbor Drive, snaking along with pulsing masses. All we could think is, “Screw that! We’re sleeping in.” There was NO need to get there at some ungodly hour to stay awake for an all-day, all-night event. Yeah, we had plenty of other reasons to stay awake for a week. So it was time to hit the hay, so to speak.
Written by Philip Anderson - with extra commentary and inputs by Perlito Godoy and Keith Denison
|
- Stories / Events
-
- The Trip Down
Thurs. July 24
- Fri. July 25
- Sat. July 26
- Sun. July 27
- Comic Con 2008
- Photos
- Interviews:
- Dean Haglund
- ("X-Files")
- Candace Kita
- ("Chuck & Larry)
- Conchita Campbell ("4400")
- Megalyn Echikunwoke ("4400")
- Ira Behr / Craig Sweeney ("4400")
- Jeffrey Combs ("4400" / "Reanimator")
- Rafael Navarro (Artist "Scooby Doo" / "Sonambulo")
-
|
