Category: Storytelling

Photo by Joe Wilcox
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Flickr a Day 62: ‘To Breathe as One’

When making today’s selection, I chose culture over photography. The image isn’t representative of Mait Jüriado and his skills shooting portraits. The pic is one of 107 in his album “Estonian Song Celebration 2009“. He is from Suure-Jaani, Estonia, but lives in Tallinn, which is 149 kilometers north off the Gulf of Finland.

The amateur song festival takes place every five years, and the 2009 event marked the 25th celebration. Typically 25,000-30,000 singers perform, and there is an accompanying dance festival. 

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Aspiration by Joe Wilcox
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Comic-Con Heroes: The Heroine

It’s Saturday, and that means another excerpt from my ebook Comic-Con Heroes: The Fans Who Make The Greatest Show On Earth, which profiles one-dozen attendees from SDCC 2013. One week ago, the Con held Open Registration, where participating for the first time I was fortunate enough to obtain passes for all four days and the Preview Night. From 2009-2014, accredited press status assured access.

Without press accreditation, I expect San Diego Comic-Con 2015 to be my last, as obtaining passes one year is no guarantee of getting them the next. Judging from social network responses to last week’s 59-minute ticket sales, many people who attended last year couldn’t purchase passes for the next one. Attendance is capped at 130,000. 

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Photo by Joe Wilcox
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Flickr a Day 59: ‘Men of Patience’

The second month in this series wraps up with an intimate photo from the 1st International Hong Kong China Tattoo Convention, where See-ming Lee shot self-titled “Men of Patience” on Oct. 6, 2013. “Most of the photographs I have taken from this day was made possible mostly because of the excellent low-light high ISO performance of the [Canon EOS] 6D”, he explains, “combined with the super 100-400mm [lens] which allows me to photograph people from afar without alerting their attention”. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 4000, 1/320 sec, 260mm.

There are different philosophies of photography. Some shooters like to get in close to their subjects, interacting with them. Others like to keep the distance, which is a good approach for an event like this one. 

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Society by Joe Wilcox
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Sometimes Reddit Comments are the Best Storytelling

What could be better Sunday reading than cats jumping into cars? I stumbled onto this Reddit post roundabout way from something that appeared in my social network. Stated simply: A “cat climbed into” Jonny_Bloodbeard‘s “work van in downtown Detroit to keep warm. They choose you right?” Nearly 500 comments later, I’m impressed by the civil discourse and some of the cat tails—er, tales.

Take a look at the screenshot and the story about the cat riding to church for attention and a couple other Redditers’ ribbing responses. I love it. This is what interaction should be among commenters, and their personal stories add so much to the original post. 

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Storytelling by Joe Wilcox
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Road to Jericho

Spring 1985 in Washington, D.C., the cherry blossoms adorned the streets. I was 25, feeling virile and wanting to write something different. My lyrics typically tell tales of women, which interest me as a heterosexual man. By contrast, “Road to Jericho” is the hero’s story—man fighting against other men and weakness within himself.

I am no scholar of Old Testament stories but admit with some certainty that the tale this song tells isn’t in the Biblical record. Being unfamiliar with the historical period when writing 30 years ago, armaments aren’t right either. So I take poetic license, for which I ask your pardon if someone of Faith. 

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Living by Joe Wilcox
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Comic-Con Heroes: The Bicyclists

I am quite reflective about San Diego Comic-Con on this fine Saturday. An hour from now, thousands of people will begin the registration process that, from 9 a.m. PST, will let them into the online waiting room where they might be chosen to purchase tickets. I will be among them, for the first time since moving to San Diego in October 2007. My attendance was always guaranteed, for being a news reporter.

But SDCC has yet to re-certify my press status, and as time drags on the likelihood diminishes. Earlier this week, I received email indicating eligibility to participate in Open Registration, for which I am hugely appreciative. I worried about my uncertain status locking me out from purchasing tickets. Press get free admission, which is a benefit I can take or leave; paying is no problem. It is the assured admission that matters to me. 

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