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Published: November 13th 2011
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October was probably the biggest month so far on my trip through this great nation. After making it back into the States via Canada I spent a few days in Upstate New York at Oswego with the lovely Amy Tuzz, a damn good time had by all.
From there it was on to New York city again for a little date with a man named Stephen. Their is an inevitable comparison between The Colbert Report and the Daily Show. The answer on TV for me is the Daily show is more enjoyable. But from a live experience stand point Colbert is a goddamn genius. The Q&A at the top of the show, which i got to ask a question during (Who would win out of a cage match between Stewart, Colbert and Carrell? The answer is of course the ever more manly Carrell) is super cool and from their the show just got better. With a whole bunch of hilarious screw-ups and re-shoots coupled with an amazing performance by Talib Kweli and the artist formerly know as Mos Def made the four hour wait in line well worth the amazing time I had.
Two days later I got on
a plane to Dallas for a celebration known as Star Wars Fan Days IV. This is a Star Wars convention, not a pop-culture or a comicbook convention, a STAR WARS convention. From seeing such luminaries as Lando Calrissian to attending panels on such diverse subjects as Star Wars Collecting, the nature of Star Wars fiction and how to built screen accurate Boba Fett Costumes to a sheer torrent of Bad-ass Swag in the form of toys and art the entire experience was just freaking amazing. There was, of course, the realisation somewhere in there that Star Wars fans are all just a little bit insane but I had a damn good time and I would get amongst it again in an instant.
After those two days, instead of heading straight back to New York I took a slight surprise detour to New Mexico to freak the hell out of Erin. Suffice it is to say that I did in fact freak the hell out of her and spent a few days just chillin out which was super awesome. From there it was back to New York if Fan Days was a big deal the New York Comic-Con which sees
upwards of 100,000 people pass through its gates over fours days was bigger then, well, i guess its fucking bigger than everything. with gargantuan floorspace that runs from 34th and 38th street on the West Side of Manhattan Island with a diverse blend of toys, art, gaming, anime and other such randomness the experience goes beyond simple definitions. Artist and Writer signings were common but the truth is the time required to get a signal signature was in the hour-plus area and i just wasn't willing to do that. Seeing my favorite writers talk about their passions at stuff like the Green Lantern Panel which was packed with a few hundred people was awesome, as was seeing the smaller panels on star wars art and a fascinating discussion on the mixing of science fiction and science fact. The whole thing, however, was at times, a little much. Make no mistake i loved it, but the real big ticket stuff like The Avengers Movie, Jason Momoa and Kevin Smith et al. were such massive events that simply getting in the room with them was nigh impossible unless i was willing to spent 3-4 hours waiting in line. A mention must also
be made of the costuming crowd, that shit is awesome! I will most definitely be back.
After a few more days just chilling out in New York and then having an appointment with another Boba Fett Fan at a little place in Brooklyn called Three Kings tattoo Parlor and i had a permanent mark on my shoulder. What more can i say? I love the Fett man. The following day it was back on the road for a whirlwind tour through Boston and Philadelphia and on to Washington DC. Special note needs to be made of Boston, that place is freaking awesome, a beautiful city with real character and an irish pub on every downtown corner, i'd recommend it to everybody! Philly on the other hand is a little more obvious in its awesomeness, as the home of the Cheese Steak and boasting the liberty Bell and a mother freaking Rocky Statue nobody really needs to recommend the place, you just known it's going to be amazing.
From Philly it was on to DC and meeting up with Erin once again for five days of site seeing in the Nations capital. Nothing really need be said of the
White house and the national mall but everybody needs to know that various Smithsonian museums are not only free but they are awesome, seriously freaking awesome. At the National archive you can see the Declaration of independence, constitution and Bill of Rights in all of their 'Merican glory. The Natural History Museum is a perfect example of just putting all the worlds cool shit in one building, from a good dinasour collection to giant squid specimen to a rather extensive geological gallery it is a damn good place to spend an afternoon. Also, the Air and Space museum is all sorts of winning, like all sorts of space shuttle and missiles and shit, it rocks. There's also a museum which is you go there you can't talk about it, just deny everything, know, however that you will have a damn good time.
The only real downer was my complete dropping of the Halloween costume ball, which resulted in me without a costume, good times, however,, were had by all.
After DC it was time to head to the home of the Hawkeyes and onwards to land of the GRIZZ!!! Once again,
Montana Beckons
And as always, more Photos are available
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