Comic-con and its players

I never thought I would see Batman with man boobs. I did at emerald city comic -con. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. Seeing people in passionate costumes made me wish I could let myself go and have fun.

I arrived, got myself a program and ruled out spending $35 to have a photo with Lance Reddick or as I know him as Lt. Daniels (The Wire). My first port of anger was not finding a Beavis and Butthead t-shirt in small but L and XL. I was told, “Small always sells out in the west coast”. So why don’t you get more smalls? Better still why assume chicks don’t watch the show and everyone who does is big. Luckily I found a Jurassic Park t-shirt.

My small fitting Jurassic tee

I also eyed off a simple but effective Laura Dern costume. No tits, just clever. This is not to say don’t get your tits out. Please do. It is to suggest that majority of the gawking didn’t seem to get the whole gender reclaiming thing. It wasn’t until I got to see Matt Fraction and illustrator Chip Zdarsky’s panel on comic Sex Criminals that I heard the whole challenging normative gender structures. Fraction discussed his personal experiences of how women act like men in their “secret” language.  This put a smile on my face.

The very awesome Matt Fraction

Comic -Con attracts a strange crowd. Not strange in the sense that it’s weird, but in terms of binaries.  Like tits and family’s rationality and creativity. I saw dads perform strange camera taking poses and heard questions about the feel of latex. I saw mums in high cut bodysuits. I saw a mermaid in a rush approached by a man for a photograph and apologised she didn’t have the time. He used the whole it’s for my daughter thing. But I didn’t see his daughter in sight. Was he lying? I do realise that people like to dress up and its fun. But it’s common manners to understand if someone says no.

I was confronted with comic- con. I wasn’t used to embracing geekdom. I love pop culture, comics, games and all that jazz. But I don’t call myself a nerd or act a certain way because I am. Maybe that’s why comic- con made me feel uneasy. I happy to say I’m into pop culture but the indie kind. I’m my own stereotype. I wished I dressed up or someone understood my angry face. I wished I had shaken the Laura Dern girl’s hand. Then I saw two girls dressed as Wayne and Garth, that’s when I enjoyed comic-con.

SXSW 2014

About three weeks ago I was in Austin. I was there for SXSW, a festival showcasing gaming, film and music. I was there for the last week, the music part. I had no SXSW pass but visited the free unofficial gigs. My favourite venue was Gypsy Lounge located on the east side.  I considered getting a free flash sailor jerry tattoo but hesitant when discovering I would be inked according to a chance wheel. In this venue, I saw the three piece rock surf band Guantanamo Baywatch. What a great name, I thought. I also loved the LA electronic duo Youth Code, these guys were unique and quite something.  I spent some nights walking through Downtown. Downtown was a haven when events had finished. It was bustling at 2am and a party itself. Some people looked like they had been hanging around there all day.

 SXSW uses a mix of local and mainstream.  Lady Gaga was there and had a vomit artist to, well, vomit on her. While Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Blondie and Damon Albarn performed.  I met a local who remember what SXSW stood for. It started back in 1987 known as a festival for emerging artists. He now believes it is a place for big named artists to buy into the scene. 

This poor dude got trampled on

SXSW was not without its own controversy, this put a damper on the festival. An intoxicated driver killed three and critically injured 25. Not to mention Tyler the Creator was a douche. He player at a free Thrasher party, first in best dressed. This suited me as I was happy to get their early to see Fucked Up. The problem was, once Tyler got on stage he yelled out to the rest of the plebs who hadn’t gained entry and urged them to barge in. This was not cool as about 200 people entered and overfilled the venue making it unsafe. Tyler was bratty, giving know viable reason other than wanting people to get into the venue. Tyler should have at least acknowledged it was a dangerous move. He was later arrested at the airport for “inciting violence”. Someone described it best online that Tyler is a cry-baby and attention seeker.

The chaos begins

I stayed a day after the festival. It was a little weird. I felt like I should have gone already. Locals breathed a sigh of relief and un- ironically said the words y’all. It was sad to see businesses close and food trucks drive away. I stood there hoping the owners will have enough money until next year, I suppose.