Here's the weather forecast for San Diego this coming week. It basically says we're looking at partly cloudy conditions with areas of fog in the morning and at night. Highs 75 to 85 with a slight cooling trend kicking in (maybe) on Saturday. Lows 55 to 65 throughout. Here are a couple of tips…
If you're looking for a hotel at this late date, try Travelaxe. This is a piece of free software you download from their website. You tell it what city you want to visit and give it the dates and it then searches a dozen or so online travel agents and finds you all sorts of deals. The first time you use it, you'll see the advantage because it will show you wide discrepancies between what different agencies can do for you. Usually, the prices it ferrets out are cheaper than if you book through the hotel itself. This is a wonderful service to consult at any time, though it's probably most effective at times when a city isn't jammed and the travel agents are afraid of getting stuck with unsold rooms. Still, it may help you find something in San Diego. And if you fiddle with it, there's even a way to get Travelaxe to display its list of hotels in geographic distance from a given location.
Three or four blocks north of the convention (depending on how you count) there's a very large, well-stocked Ralph's Market. It's open 24 hours at the corner of G Street and 1st, and it's a great place to buy snacks, beverages, Tampax, Pringles, toothpaste, sandwiches or whatever you need. Every time I've gone into it in the evening, it seems like half the convention is wandering around in there. In fact, last year I actually found myself in a business discussion next to the frozen foods.
Parking at the convention stinks but there's an excellent shuttle bus system which is explained on this page of the con website. In fact, the whole con website is full of valuable info, including ways to get to the con that you probably didn't think of.
I have some other tips over on this page. But if you're new to conventions and in need of an introduction, I refer you to Thomas Reed, who's an old hand at these things. Over on his website, you can download an excellent, all-inclusive guide to attending a comic book or science-fiction convention, including travel tips and a lot of common sense advice.
Lastly, I'll be a nag about this and suggest you consult my list of the convention events I'm hosting. Most of them are shaping up to be great program items…and not at all because I'm moderating. (It's kind of the other way around. I claim the best events to host.) The Seduction of the Innocent panel on Thursday at 1:00 should be an amazing view of the book, Dr. Fredric Wertham and the Senate subcommittee investigation of comic books. We have rare video footage of the hearings and an interview that Dr. Wertham gave in 1966 which has never been seen anywhere since then. Al Feldstein, who was the man behind EC's horror and crime comics will be joining us to discuss the book and the footage — and even he hasn't seen some of the tape I've come across.
The Jack Kirby Tribute Panel (Friday at 11:30) will have some surprises you won't want to miss. So will the Quick Draw Panel later that day at 2:30. And the Cartoon Voice Panel (Saturday at 4:00) is going to be one of the largest gatherings ever of the top performers in the art of animation voicing.
And I should make special mention of the panel I'm hosting just before it — on Saturday at 3:00. Ray Bradbury, Forrest Ackerman and Julius Schwartz have collectively logged about 230 years participating in the world of science fiction and fantasy. Julie co-published the very first science fiction fanzine ever and its first issue featured the first index anyone had ever compiled of science fiction motion pictures. This list was compiled by Mr. Ackerman in 1932. Later, Julie became an agent and in 1941 sold Bradbury's first professional story. Last year, a packed house loved hearing just Ray and Julie reminisce. This year — with Ackerman added in — should be 50% better.
You can also consult the convention website and here you'll find a list of all the panels, including the ones I'm not moderating. But you'll only want to attend those when I'm not doing one.