Vericon

[grinninfoole]

This past weekend I felt quite depressed and unwilling to deal with the problems in my life, so I took up with B and we drove to Harvard to attend Vericon. (I say 'we drove' because she got a permit just so she could share the driving for this event.) It was very important to her, because Terry Moore (the creator of Strangers In Paradise) was there, and she really wanted to meet him.

I had an excellent time. We attended two panels. The first was a general talk on current studies of comics as a medium by Henry Jenkins, Director of MIT's program in comparative media studies. Much of what he said was familiar to me in a general way, but he presented it well and there was much interesting discussion. (My vanity compels me to add that I made some helpful contributions.)

The following panel had a similar flavor, and featured Professor Jenkins moderating while he, Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics & Reinventing Comics) and Terry Moore (SIP) took questions. Talk ranged from comics as a synthetic medium that was nevertheless more than the sum of its parts, the power of static visual narrative to do things that print or film cannot, comics as industry and how that shapes comics as art, and the possible future of comics on the web. (I teased Mr. McCloud about this slightly, but what he had to say about the relation of comics design to website and game design was very cogent, and his observation that comics is the R&D wing of many other entertainment industries was very apt.)

After the panels, B and I were approached by a young woman in the audience who wanted to talk with us more about comics and exchange contact info. It turned out that she was one of Professor Jenkins's grad students, and was delightful company for the next few hours, as we went to the Million Picnic for Moore and McCloud's signings, and then out for coffee and snacks. Both B and I found her charming and rather sexy. I must drop her a message this evening.

Afterwards, B and I went to Pandemonium, and I bought C.J. Cherryh's Morgaine books, which I read years ago, because the owner reminded me how cool they are. [Note to readers: they are well worth a look for anyone interested in good SF with a fantasy feel.]

I had overheard B telling several people that she had had a perfect day, and that karmically something bad would have to balance things out. She predicted a breakdown on the Mass Pike. We did, in fact, have a flat tire. Perhaps I should stop scoffing at her claimed precognitve powers, and start looking for an effective means of harnessing them. The RUC and SADF should have lots of surplus specialized equipment these days....

Comments

Re:

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

Something like that, only the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the South African Defense Force got a lot of their results from high pressure water and electricity. I think Bonnie might prefer your idea.

Re: gnomic utterings

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

That sort of reminds me: I have long suspected that much of Kosh's dialog on B5 was recycled Zen Koans and such, but it now occurs to me that much of it could have created through the use of magic 8 ball on set. They could even have stuck it in or on the encounter suit costume....