Excursion to Moab 2007 part.2

Wall Arch. The one that fell this year.
The guys under Wall Arch.After we were done hiking we stopped into town to look at the souvenir shops. Kenta had to find some cool Kokopellli stuff. Manuel was glad to be on flat ground. And Beau had to get his coffee. Peace out brotha! It is such a sad feeling to be heading home. Everything comes to an end and everyone goes their separate ways. We had fun, made memories, and really got to know each other. I hope to keep this Moab trip a tradition to go to every year. Thanks all you guys that came on the trip. You crazy fools all make me smile.

Excursion to Moab 2007 part.1

So once again I am planning a trip to Moab with some friends from my old Animation class. Last year we went to Moab with our friends from Japan and it was awesome! All in all, it was me, Beau, Jon, Matt, Tsuyoshi, Liz, Chiaki, Kenta, Taka, and at the last minute we were able to get Manuel to go. He had no idea where we were going. We stayed at the Arches National Park Campground called "Devil's Garden." It is a really cool place and you can climb all over the rocks there. And the hiking trails are not that far from camp. We hiked all over. We saw delicate arch at sunset, and a bunch more near the campsite. What is sad is that one of the arches we went to last year has now collapsed just a few weeks ago. Well, I am glad I had the chance to see it in person. We took lots of pictures and had marshmellows and smores. I got freaked out cause I hate it when people pretend that they are falling off the side of the cliff or something tall, and Kenta was doing that! And manuel couldn't let go of the rocks and was laying on the ground. Beau tried to drag him somewhere but Manuel was like, "just leave me man." Jon was the leader, we called him "Captain Jon" cause he knew where he was going. There was this cool hole in the rock were you could get fresh cold water...mmmm...it was good. It was so much fun. I am glad that eveyone had fun too. I hope this year will be great too. Although I do miss our Japanese friends.

Comic-Con 2008

Down the escalator at Comic-Con.
I can has Comik-Con? Brant and Margaret Moon.
The Chaos!

Cool place...I will think of the name and post it.
A cool beetle we found.
Look! It is Matthew Fox from LOST! OMG! Just Kidding. This guy really does look like him.
Avatards! I want that stuffed Appa.

A cool Steampunk guy with a rocket pack contraption on his back.
Anthony shoing off his drawing skills.
The awesome authentic Scottish Pub we ate at for lunch.
IRON MAN!

IRON MAN as well.
The tin man? jk
Look! It is Jack Sparrow! Pretty good costume.
Dominic Orlando from Prison Break.
An awesome Momo costume.

"This is about to go off!" Hot Fuzz. Sergeant Nicholas Angel and Police Constable Butterman.
Voice actors from Ben 10: Alien Force.
I wouldn't mind getting picked up in this sweet ride. Nerd Herder from CHUCK.
Bleach! Tite Kubo board.

The Incredible Hulk. Alot of dudes were getting pictures holding the Hulks crotch.
Mmmm....the best ribs I have ever tasted.
The Beach at night. There were bon fires on the other side of that hill.
Mmmm....Japantown eats.
Huntington Beach at Sunset.

People at the Beach.
Oil rigs off the coast.
Surfers Dad and Daughter giving me the "hang loose" sign.
Appa in the sand.
Water Benders.

Rachel, Michelle, Alex, Me....A bad picture of me. I am not photogenic I swear.
Whoo hoo! It is the Big Piano. I played the song with help from Rachel.
Inside Ceasar's Palace.

Comic-Con 2008

We stayed in Riverside with Alex’s Cousin the first night and had some awesome omlette egg thing in the morning that I got the recipe for cause it was so good.

Then we went to San Diego. Comic Con was cool. There were so many people, wall to wall in some places. Lost of stuff set up, things to see and buy, and games to play. There was the huge Iron Man armors from the movies there. And Yes, there were lots of people dressed up. Some good, some bad. I saw a really cool Hellboy costume, some cool steampunk costumes and the Avatar cosplayers were pretty good.

There was lots of free crap, but it wasn’t that great of free stuff. I did get an Avatar: The Last Airbender Shirt, Twilight Poster, Naruto Poster, Avatar Storybook (that I traded a drawing for), a bunch of manga and other small stuff for free. I did buy tonz of art books and some of the artists were there to sign them. I saw Seth green and said ‘hi”, but he kept walking past me. …Jerk… I also saw the voice cast of Ben 10: Alien Force. They were so cool.

I went to a couple of events: Went to a Costume Design/Production Design, The Cast of 24, The Cast of Prison Break, all of which were cool. But the coolest was the Avatar event. The creators of Avatar talked about the show, there was a costume contest, a poster contest, and we all watched the last 2 episodes of the series. It was the the coolest thing at Comic Con. I felt like such a nerd with all those Avatards. By the way, the soundtrack is coming out soon, as for the art book...I have no idea if they will even make one. Oh, and M.Night Shyamalan is making the live action Avatar movie. And the cinematographer is the same guy that did Lord of the Rings...so I am hopeful.

It got my portfolio reviewed by Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, basically both of them said that they wanted to see more stuff in “their style.” I guess I will have to draw some more stuff for my portfolio. I had to wait 6 hours for the Nickelodeon guy to show up cause there was an accident on the freeway. These inteviews took up 2 days of my life. I sat there waiting around for an interview while I missed the panels for Chuck, Pushing Daisies, and Heroes.

We went to Balboa Park which was kind of cool, kind of Spanish looking buildings and decor. The San Diego Zoo is attached, but it was expensive to get in.

There were a couple places that we ate at which I really enjoyed. While walking through the Hyatt Hotel, I discovered a Seaport Village behind it. There were cool little shops and some eateries. We ate their and watched fireworks over the bay. And there were Cinderella horse drawn carriages that were lit up that you could ride. We also ate at a place called The Field, it was an Irish Pub and the Food, service, and atmosphere were awesome. There was a place called the Rhinosaurus (I think). To get there we had to go over this huge bridge. It was cool, anyway...the food was great , a huge half rack of ribs for $15!!! Killer deal. And the waitress was super awesome. After that we went to the beack at Night. There were bonfires on the beach. Michelle and Rachel practiced their waterbending and Alex was worried that they would be sucked in by the rip tide...oh, but you know we love ya.

Then we went to Japantown on the last day and ate some Japanese foodies. I got a ton of stuff at the mall there. Then we went to Huntington Beach, which was way cool. We all watched the sunset and of course, Michelle and Rachel made a sand Appa and practiced their waterbending again. We found these weird crab things that dug into the sand. And as I stood their looking out across the sea, a strange feeling came across me, and I realized that I was standing on the edge of our country. Then we headed back to Las Vegas and stayed with my friend Katie, her house is awesome!!! Thanks again.

The next day we went to Ceasars Palace and went to the cool mall there, but alas, FAO Swartz isn’t as cool as it use to be, they completely changed it. And they got rid of the Disney Store. Lame. After that we ate at a (kind of expensive...$28) buffet in the Planet Hollywood Hotel. They had crab and that was yummy. Oh, and by the way...DO NOT BRING YOUR KIDS TO VEGAS! The only real cool things about Vegas were the lights, crab legs, and the fact that Aliens came to earth only to find the “Adult Mega Store.”

Stupid Cop...Don’t ask

Fact: The day after we left Riverside, there was a huge Earthquake right in the area where we were staying. Crazy!

Things that I took away from this trip…
1. Bring a poster tube to Comic Con.
2. Sit through lame events to get good seats for the one you really want to see.
3. Know where to park. $10 a day parking if you are lucky.
4. There are other people that share your passions for nerdy things. But beware of the freaks.
5. Dressing up is fun, I may have to cosplay next year.
6. Anyone can make a comic and sell it (there was a lot of crap there and people bought it).
7. Get a radar detector.