Category: Society

Living by Joe WilcoxJul 15, 201511:11 am

Comic-Con House of Worship

I lied, but didn’t mean to. Turns out that my “Final SDCC 2015 Reflection” isn’t. I have another. Whether or not you believe in the existence of God, or some kind of deliberate creator, ponder this observation: Comic-Con, more than any other gathering, reveals how much human beings need to worship. Some evolutionist might argue that such innate genetic trait leads us to manufacture deities and religion. God believers could point to the fallen human condition and idolatry replacing pure faith.

Whether you accept either, neither, or something else, nevertheless ponder what San Diego Comic-Con and events like it represents: People gather to worship what or whom they see as being greater than themselves—fictional superheroes, artists who create them, writers who tell their stories, actors who portray them, and directors, producers, showrunners and others who bring them to film and to video.

Society by Joe WilcoxJul 12, 20158:27 am

Attack of the Cosplayers

I spent most of Comic-Con Day 3 shooting photos with the Fuji X-T1. With the Masquerade Ball in the evening, cosplayers descended on San Diego Convention Center in large numbers. As expected, July 11th was by far the busiest—bustling crowds were everywhere, Even at my trolley stop, there were more Conners waiting than the two previous days.

Riding in, I chatted with a Twentysomething, wearing an Apple Watch. I commented how much nicer is his wristband than mine. He asked how I like the timepiece, as he only had his for four days. Turns out, the former Marine who served for 5 years after joining at seventeen works at one of the local Apple Stores. I love go-to people. He had submitted a résumé online, but didn’t get a fast-enough response. So he hauled down to the mall and waited a half-hour to see the manager. Now that is how you get hired.

Society by Joe WilcoxJul 10, 201511:35 pm

The Illustrated Man

Sometimes your body is your costume. This guy sat in front of me while waiting for the Comic-Con Day 2 panel for CW show “The 100” to begin. You can’t tell from this photo just […]

Society by Joe WilcoxJul 9, 201511:51 pm

Comic-Con Rapture

Street preachers greeting—and in many cases offending—Thursday Comic-Conners manifested metaphor as Day 1 advanced. It’s as if the Rapture came, taking away a significant minority. Because the crowds felt less to me. I asked several vendors about their perception. One of them agreeing said that earlier he’d had a conversation with other exhibitors about the feeling of fewer.

My experience has been that first full-day crowds are smallest of the four. The big draws in Hall H typically start on Friday, along with other panels with punch. Perhaps I am too accustomed to the crowds, or maybe they were smaller as a whole throughout the Convention Center; fewer gathering places but drawing still significant numbers.

Society by Joe WilcoxJul 9, 201512:27 am

Uh-oh! Red Shirts!

What an Uglydoll way to go. I wonder how long these will last? Star Trek Uglies are this year’s San Diego Comic-Con exclusives. Just beam me up some, would you? But Preview Night wasn’t their time for big sales. Long lines queued elsewhere.

Each day of SDCC has its own distinct character. Preview Night is the big geekfest. It is not the pretty people gathering. The group fulfills a wide range of stereotypes that says nerd. The fewest cosplayers are seen of any day, also. You would think Star Trek would appeal to these types, and perhaps it does. I observed more of a Dr. Who, Orphan Black, and The Walking Dead crowd.

Society by Joe WilcoxJul 8, 201512:12 am

Comic-Con Heroes Enters the Public Domain

Timing is deliberate. As the big pop-culture convention starts here in San Diego, I release my ebook Comic-Con Heroes: The Fans Who Make the Greatest Show on Earth into the public domain. You can grab the PDF here, or click on to Smashwords for more formats, including epub. I relinquish rights, believing the content remains evergreen valuable even if dated. The book published in September 2013.

During SDCC two years ago, I interviewed attendees, choosing one-dozen to profile. My contention about the convention: The fans are the stars, not hollywood, which gets the glory. The concept started from a recollection posted during Comic-Con 2010: “The Roles We Play“. Yesterday, I published a followup that I planned to title “The Roles They Play” but last-minute changed to “The Heroes Are Us“.

Society by Joe WilcoxJul 7, 201512:05 pm

The Heroes Are Us

Tomorrow night begins my seventh sojourn to the greatest geekfest and pop-culture event on the planet. Imitator shows are everywhere this Century, but none commands character and class like the original. San Diego Comic-Con is an amazing amalgamation of hopes and aspirations—and the grandest storytelling—where, for four days and a Preview Night, tens of thousands of people can be themselves—fit in, rather than feel oddball—or be whom they would want to be by dressing up as beloved superheroes or villains and by adoring the storytellers and actors behind them.

The first, full three-day event took place from Aug. 1-3, 1970, at the U.S. Grand Hotel, with about 300 attendees and sci-fi luminaries, including Ray Bradbury and A.E. van Vogt. This week, 130,000 attendees will storm San Diego Convention Center to enter an alternate reality, where the social rules binding them everyday no longer apply.

Responsibility by Joe WilcoxJul 1, 20158:45 pm

I Should Thank the President

We are solid citizens again, with health insurance in place for the first time since May 1, 2009. Last November, I shared about “My Uninsured Life“. Now that circumstances changed, update is warranted, even if brief. Our coverage started as of Midnight today. We are among those Americans subsidized through Obamacare.

Our monthly family premium is a paltry $101 and some change per month for HMO plan with $500 annual individual deductible. The subsidy rewards the insurer with another $1,100 during the same time period. Someone please explain to me how such a gap doesn’t somehow reflect increased healthcare costs. What the frak?

Society by Joe WilcoxJun 29, 20153:15 pm

Why iPhone Matters

Happy Birthday! iPhone is 8 years-old today. Oh my, it seems so much longer because so much has changed. Think back. Eight years ago, there was no Android. YouTube was but 18 months available to the public, and Facebook or Twitter only about a year. There was no market for tablets, or smartwatches.

The iPhone marks everything right about the Steve Jobs era of risk-taking design. More changes: He is gone from this world and some of that other-worldly innovation with him. In 2007, the smartphone was a decade-old slow seller that few people owned. Now it’s everywhere! Apple deserves credit for the transformation, whether or not anyone wants to give it.

News Media by Joe WilcoxJun 28, 20159:14 am

Responsible Reporting Section 2 ‘The New Journalisms’: Chapter V

Last Sunday, we interrupted our weekly serialization of my ebook Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers, because of Father’s Day. Another interruption comes July 12, during San Diego Comic-Con. This week’s return completes the last of five journalisms, and the one that more than any other can lead to irresponsible news reporting.

Timing is interesting in context of the landmark Supreme Court ruling just two days ago that opens way for marriage between people of the same gender in all 50 states. There is a force of collective will washing across the Internet that could cause some journalists to bow before social pressure rather thcan offer probing analyses in second-day stories. For example, I see lots of quick criticism of the dissenting judges that doesn’t delve into the Constitutional concerns they raise, nor negative implications for rights-gainers with respect to taxes or other legal constructs. How much does the mob’s mood influence followups? My concern is process, and I express here no opinion about the ruling—just timing and context with respect to today’s mob journalism excerpt.

Living by Joe WilcoxJun 24, 201511:03 pm

Don’t Go There

While sitting with my 93 year-old father-in-law outside the Starbucks in San Diego’s Hillcrest district, I observed a directional sign for two shops, today. Then I read them as a sentence and laughed. Okay, you—think like an imaginative kid and not a stuck-up-the-butt literal adult: Ignore the K. It’s funny, yes?

Strangely, I came to live the sign not long later. As we walked into Trader Joe’s, a neighbor said hello on her way inside. I politely introduced my father-n-law, then she started on about the Neighborhood Watch group that she recently organized. The first meeting went well, but she wasn’t sure how to contact me. That’s when I blew her holy smoke up her arse.

Apple by Joe WilcoxJun 22, 201511:30 am

Apple Music backs off ‘play for no-pay’ plan that would withhold artist royalties

Now that Apple plans to compensate artists for the first three months of music streaming, it’s time to ask: Were the whiners grandstanding or sincere? The question mainly is meant for Taylor Swift, whose Father’s Day Tumblr post seems to have brought, eh, swift response to the—what I call—”play for no-pay” plan.

The company unveiled Apple Music during the World Wide Developer Conference on June 8. The streaming service will be free to subscribers for the first three months, with Apple initially choosing not to make royalty payments to artists. I condemned the ridiculous strategy last week. The company sits on a nearly $200 billion cash horde, and content creators are among its most loyal customers. Stiffing them makes no sense from several different perspectives, with good public relations being one and expressing thanks to artist customers being another.