Year: 2005

We’re here at Crescent Con, where the hotel initially advertised cable access in the room. Technically, yes: As it turns out, about fifteen percent of the rooms. However, believe it or not, we can also get internet access if we sit with Kathleen’s computer in the hallway outside the room. For some reason the atrium serves as some sort of bizarre conduit for net access or something. So I’m sitting on the floor outside the room with the computer balanced on a chair.

Convention is going well so far. At their evening cabaret I took a whirl at their Karaoke, going with ‘Purple People Eater.” Unfortunately for some reason the words didn’t come up on the screen, and it’s been ages since I’ve done the song. So I did the best I could from memory, but totally went up on the last stanza (although, naturally, I remembered as soon as I got back to the hotel room.)

Haven’t seen a thing of New Orleans itself. Hoping to have a chance on Sunday, since Saturday’s booked. Wendy Pini had an adventure getting out here, missing her Thursday flight and then getting delayed today in Houston before finally staggering in. Poor Richard kept worrying about her, so it’s a relief she finally got here. Marv Wolfman’s here, so that’s cool. And Caroline, I’ve discovered, has increased in her running speed. She runs so fast that her hair literally blows back behind her. Her goal is to make it to an elevator and ditch us. I was charging after her at one point, sprinting across the hotel lobby, and I was carrying her pink security blanket. Remembering my “Peanuts,” I swing the thing like a whip and it snagged around her waist, stopping her cold, much to her surprise.

Attendance doesn’t seem to be huge, but we’ll see what happens Saturday.

PAD

Well, this is cool. According to the following source, this is one of the quirkiest blogs on the internet…

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/article303488.ece

Bow down. Bow down before Captain Quirk, I say.

And hey, check out the folks I’m in company with.

PAD

Will be heading tomorrow to Crescent City Convention in New Orleans. That’s one of the reasons I won’t be coming to the Wizard Chicago Convention (the other being that, well, they never asked me to.) The nice thing about CCC is that it’s pretty much an SF con. I’m starting to get invited to more of those. That’s pretty cool.

Next convention after that will be Dragon*Con in Atlanta. Should be an exciting endeavor.

PAD

I’ve come to this conclusion having taken Ariel to see “Sky High.” There’s a character in there named Penny who basically has the same power as Madrox…to split into replicas of herself. It’s used to hilarious effect in the film since she serves as the entire cheerleading squad of the high school.

It’s a fun film, by the way, including the brilliant casting of Lynda Carter as the school principal. That’s actually what I would have liked to see: The entire faculty cast with actors who played superheroes. Adam West, Van Williams, Lou Ferrigno, Dean Cain. But if it could be only one, I’ll settle for Wonder Woman. The end of the film was fairly foreseeable, but overall it was a pleasant enough addition to the growing body of films that are superhero-related but not comic book related.

PAD

Just finished the manuscript for the next “New Frontier” novel, “M.I.A.” The book around about 10,000 words longer than the previous one.

Moving on: I’m working on two more books: One on how to write comics, and the third in the “King Arthur” series, entitled, “Fall of Knight.” And hey, kids…check this pull quote for the book on writing comics:

“I can’t think of anyone better qualified to give advice on comicbook writing than the multi-talented Peter David. I’ve been a fan of his for years and will be first on line to buy his book. “–Stan Lee

Cool, huh. Some days I love my job.

PAD

The IRA, after a hundred years of strife, has announced it’s laying down arms and wants to work toward its goals using non-violent means (as Kathleen has noted over on her website.)

So let’s say we flash forward ten years, and Al Qeada is still strong, in business, and a major terrorist force. Iraq is still a fragmented mess. And suddenly Al Qeada announces that it wants to lay down arms and work toward a peaceful unification of Iraq and the Muslim world.

Do we accept that? Do we start working with them?

PAD

A Kenyan City Councilman has offered forty goats and twenty cows to Bill Clinton in exchange for Chelsea’s hand in marriage.

Hey…don’t laugh. I have four daughters, and I very much doubt I’m going to get an offer anywhere NEAR as good for them. “Mr. David, I’d like to ask you for the hand of your daughter (Shana/Gwen/Ariel/Caroline) in marriage.” And if I say, “Yeah? How many goats we talking about? How many cows?” the guy’ll probably just give me a weird look while the daughter in question rolls her eyes and tells her intended, “Just ignore him. I told you he’d be like this.”

I bet I don’t get any livestock at all. The guy’ll just say “Don’t have a cow, man,” and think it’s all a joke, and I’ll be lucky if I wind up with a coupon for a free Big Mac. Plus I have to pay for the wedding to boot.

Anyone have that Kenyan guy’s phone number? I wonder if he’s the one who’s been writing to me about trying to get $5 million into the country if I just give him my bank account info.

PAD