Well, having safely arrived in Phoenix shortly before lunch time, I made my way to the beautiful Sheraton Grand hotel and checked in. Frankly, that much was amazing in and of itself, since it was before noon, and we all know that particular phenomena is pretty rare, don’t we?
Anyway, went over to pickup my badge and let me just say: wow. Seriously. This convention center is huge. Multi-level, including underground (spanning across a street) and closing off the street between buildings to set up con-related trucks, booths, and food.
Salt Lake Comic Con would be in pretty good shape if they had this convention center.
While waiting for the exhibition hall floor to open, I found my way to the Phoenix Comicon Film Festival room, which was showing a selection of Science Fiction short films.
Some pretty good ones. A couple “mehs,” Even one that seemed really incomplete, and it turns out that it was more a 6-minute proof of concept for a web series than a stand-alone short film.
After that, I wandered around a bit more, when I happened across about 6 cops arresting a rather large man. I thought about snapping a picture of him, because I wondered what on Earth someone had to do to get arrested at a Comic Con (besides impersonate a federal officer in order to sneak into the VIP area).
Turns out, if it’s this guy, it could have been a complete disaster. I wonder if other cons will start rethinking their weapons policies as Phoenix has already announced? Denver Comic Con had already banned weapons to emphasize the “family friendly” aspect of their event. Will Sand Diego, New York, and Salt Lake (among others) follow suit?
I’m torn. Truly, I am. I’m tired of having all the joy sucked out of life. But..
Hopefully tomorrow will be uneventful, and I’ll have more fun stuff to report.
For now, though, let’s just say that everything else here in Phoenix is good.
My Own Little Shadow 