Lured in by the promise of something new, something different, something a little outside of the box (my box at least) I took the kids to the Calgary Sci Fi, Fantasy & Comic expo this weekend at the BMO Center on the Stampede Grounds.
I've never been.
$12.00 parking. I should have taken them on the bus.
And my line "These are not the droids you're looking for" went right over the parking attendants head. So much for that NLP course....
The Expo, $25.00 per person, the daughter gets in free. Already down now $62.00. And inside, hundreds of booths selling Comics, people dressed up as their favorite comic characters, some attractive girls as ensigns in Star Trek Uniforms, others, less attractive and less modestly attired, the full range of comic book & Sci Fi characters that I've never become acquainted with. And there are comic artists there autographing books, drawing their comics, there are the celebrities (a 4 hour wait to meet Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, and others...), it is definitely a different world.
Not my world. I can definitely appreciate the art of the Manga, the graphic novels, the comics, there's a lot of work and talent goes into it. But I'm not familiar enough with the scene to have a favorite artist, 99% of the characters and zombies roaming the convention are simply interesting costumes to me, I have no appreciation for the hidden plots and jokes.
The others, the crowds of people in "the Scene", they're having a field day. You see them taking pictures with costumes they recognize, chatting with other conventioneers, making outlandish bulk purchases of $180.00 lightsabers, the girl, she recognizes a few of the Star Wars characters, there's Boba Fett and a Storm Trooper and Princess Leia, but she's too shy to wear her Darth Vader Costume.
Occasionally I catch the eye of other parents there, children in tow, there's the exchange of glances and the mutual recognition that we're both strangers in a strange land, the reciprocal sympathy ....
The boy, he enjoys it, finds some books to buy, I take his picture with an attractive girl I thought was from the Twilight franchise, but was apprised later by the boy that she wasn't, god knows what she was famous for, we wait around in a 6 deep press to see Leonard Nimoy return from lunch to greet his fans, while waiting a cute blonde comes up on roller skates, she's promoting roller derbies, there's one on May 8th, I ask if they'll be wearing the same costume she's wearing, (tightly knit corset and hotpants...) she says their opponents will, and I promise to consider it.
Afterwords, a late lunch, the boy sums it up, he had a good time but he noticed there was definitely the...
"...distinct smell of Mom's basement...:"
He's hit the nail on the head. I appreciate his insight, but I'm busy planning our next adventure outing. A roller derby. There's something different.
I've never been.