Gibson & The Goon & The Ramones

[FGJ]

I came back from the San Diego Comic Con, which is still going on as I write this. I saw this Les Paul while I was there. It was hand-painted by Eric Powell, creator of The Goon comic. Gibson apparently asked him to paint it, and they showed it at some shows and then gave it to him to keep.

I also ran into Marky Ramone (of The Ramones, of course). He was there peddling 8x10 glossies (for $30 each) of a shot from The Simpsons in which he guest-starred. I guess that was his pop-culture tie-in to the Con. I suppose this is where old rockers come to die... You actually see a lot of older celebrities selling autographed pictures of themselves here and there, trying to cash in on their past celebrity status. Honestly, I kind of feel sorry for them.

The Con was crowded as usual, and making one's way up an aisle gives one an idea what it's like trying to swim upstream to spawn. While it's still a geek-fest, the Con has left its comic roots and has become a pop-culture convention, with film companies, toy companies, gaming companies, publishers, and others filling more floor space than comic dealers. I'm fortunate to get free pro-passes every year, but I don't think I would go if I were required to fight for tickets.

Anyway, here are a few pics for you guitar-slingers who like this stuff. My buddy shot the pic of the bearded lady (or is it a breasted man?).

Enjoy!

[kizanski]

Well, there's something you don't see every day...

Was this clown actually dressed as "Sharknado"? A movie title?

[FGJ]

Yeah, Sharknado seems to be on its way to becoming a cult classic. They had giveaways to promote the sequel, "Sharknado 2 - The Second One" Yeah, that's the real title.

[kizanski]

..."Sharnado 2 - The Second One" Yeah, that's the real title.

Yes. Every Howard Stern fan knows about SN2...unfortunately.

[Willie G. Moseley]

1. I thunk i'd gotten a press release that said Peavey was supposed to have had some official Star Wars custom painted guitars there.

2. Assemblages/conventions that former astronauts attend are somewhat unique; any raised eyebrows about paying for, say, Buzz Aldrin's signature might be assuaged by the fact that those guys weren't entertainers; they'd put their lives on the line (in some cases, a quarter of a million miles from the planet). But I'm not agreeing or disagreeing w/ their appearances; it's thier righ tto do such.

That being said, guys like Richard Hatch and Levar Burton were also in attendance at their own booths at one of these events I attended. A particularly cool appearance (Baby Boomer-oriented) was Kier Dullea and Gary Lockwood from 2001 in the same booth.

3. RE the Rick Grimes impersonator w/ the zombie: Andrew Lincolin is Ian Anderson's son-in-law, and portrayed Michael Collins in a British-made movie about Apollo 11.

[ARM OF HAMER]

Quick Robin! I'm on the "BATPHONE" pick up please! Oh Crap! Dropped call! ..............knew I shouldn't have ordered this phone in black.