I think I got lost on the way to C2E2. A week where I would normally be prepping my swag and getting gear ready for the annual geek fest in downtown Chicago, I find myself writing this in an airport lounge in San Diego.
Weirder so, it seems like just a few days ago we were waiting for snow in Lake Geneva as I hung with Tom Gross and Dan Reem of Teachers in the Dungeon as they were giving a talk on running D&D summer camps for kids to a small, but engaged audience before they disbanded and continued their scheduled set of games that are the core of what Gary Con is all about. Lake Geneva is the birthplace of Dungeons and Dragons and Gary Con is an apt tribute to the father of D&D by setting a table of honor to him in the center of the Grand Geneva resort, the con's home, and setting all manner of RPG, Tabletop and Miniature games all around him.
A worthy set up indeed for the original Dungeon Master.
I was a late registry to the event, so my gaming options were slim, but having attended as a spectator (yup there’s a spectator badge), I was pretty content to wander the hallways and watch others throw some dice in anger. Plus, Tom had had some time before and after the event to talk on mic, so I actually had enough to put together a full show.
It’s super hard for me to come to an event and NOT start interviewing people. I admit I have a problem. Such is the case with walking with Tom as he was canvasing the vendor floor. One could seriously drop some coin on all manner of role playing themed goodies, custom dice and dice bags and rug material of all shapes and sizes.
One thing that caught my eye was Jim and Dave from Smuggler’s Coffee. I had heard that we were going to make a stop and it’s not hard to get me to show up when someone mentions coffee. I loved their array of well named flavors with artwork that would appeal to fantasy and science fiction fans. One item that another member of the group, Marcus had mentioned, is that there was this coffee flavored root beer that they were selling. Sure enough this can was on display with a picture that harkened back to my days playing Warcraft 2. The soda was called ‘For the Hoard’ and even had the words ‘Zug zug in the description. I had to have it. They even had these rad can toppers that were themed off of disc golf, which I have just started learning how to play.
Smuggler’s coffee may just be my new favorite brewers.
So at the end of the day, episode 134 turned out to be a pretty good episode with a wrap around discussion with Tom and Dan and a small interview with the Smugger’s coffee folks in between.
This week will be a doozy with the Bad Batch final two episodes dropping with a fresh Mando while I am literally in flight back from a small trip to San Diego. The next day after my trip up north to Lake Geneva some of my family and I were lucky to sneak out here for a few days while my little one is on Spring Break. I’ve never been to San Diego and I would have to say it did not disappoint. I can see why people flock here in the summer for San Diego Comic Con. Its weather is really amazing and the food here is fantastic. We stayed just southeast of the airport in the Little Italy neighborhood. If you are planning to come out and you’ve never been, it’s carpeted in this section of town with tons of great food options. And between Uber and the trolley, the convention center to the south is not really a long way away. And if you are looking for other stuff to do in between trips to the convention center, this place is like many others with plenty to do and see. We hit the U.S.S. Midway Museum, which is an older aircraft carrier that’s been converted to a museum. You could also take any number of land and sea tours, check out the famous San Diego Zoo, or check out many other museums all within Balboa Park just north of downtown. Very easy to get to.
So later this week, the premier midwest pop culture fest kicks off, which is C2E2. This con has been a cornerstone for me ever since I started the Instagram page and podcast. It harbors a huge artist alley, which is a favorite stop, plus C2 also has autograph tables, vendors, gaming and something for just about everyone.
The Midwest Garrison of the 501st always has a nice setup for families to come and check out the cosplay from them, the Rebel Legion and the Mandalorian Mercs. Plus the Droid builders always have cool things running around and interacting with fans of all ages.
Plus, no stop is complete until I check out the 501st cards to see what I am missing. These setups always have such great cards with numerous wicket cool designs.
You can check out the YouTube page for a nice walkthrough that, yes, contains my picture in picture video from last year. I was testing out an app that utilizes both front and back video called DoubleTake which I had also played with a little at Celebration. I chuckle every time I see the comment that the video would have been better without me in it. Can’t say I blame them lol.
I am looking forward to seeing my friend and artist Camron Johnson, who should have some new books to talk about and display. He was on last year with his Bonecheck and Freezer Burn comics in hand. I can’t wait to see what he has in store for this year. You can check out his web page here.
The swag packs are ready to pack and I do have a small stack ready, with more to be made to hand out.
This week is already half over and somehow between today and next week, I will have talked with my friend and Breakfast Pack co-host Gregory Cass about the end of Bad Batch Season 2 and Mando, and somehow have some audio from C2E2. I have no idea how I will pull this off, but as the lounge is getting ready to close and my flight is hopefully coming here shortly, I can’t wait to find out.