We're Here! We're Finally Here at SDCC!

Brainwise and Dangrdafne at the Convention Center

We landed at the San Diego International Airport just before 10am yesterday. Shortly after that, we had checked in at our downtown hotel and hit the streets to do some shopping. We even walked over the the convention center -- I posted a few photos on Twitter yesterday with the caption "SO CLOSE GUYZ!! #SDCC." But, this morning, Dangrdafne reminded me that we had not posted over here letting folks know that the Bookended by Cats crew is in San Diego for the big convention.

Well, consider that oversight corrected.

That's right! We're here in town and ready for Preview Night of SDCC this evening! We've scoped out the area, and can confirm that this place is ready for all of Geekdom, in its various and illustrious forms, to descend upon it in a celebration of all things Nerd!

Dangrdafne Scopes Out the Map!

That means we're also here and ready for Game of Bloggers Meet-Up at the Dragon's Den this evening. In fact, we were so excited about it that we lined up last night:

"Guess we're the first to line up
for Game of Bloggers, eh?"

Bookended by Cats is a fledgling blog, and we're excited about connecting with other bloggers at any level. We're trying to take Tony's "mission" advice to heart. However, we're not sure we have a stated mission just yet. So, we want to know what yours is. Maybe it will inspire us to do something more than write about stuff we read and watch with our cats. Maybe we'll have a connection for you. Who knows! 

So, if you see us here tonight:

Be certain to stop us, say "Hi!," and ask for a wristband!

Connect with Us and get a Wristband!  

Food at SDCC

So I, Dangrdafne, have Celiac Disease, and I need to eat food without wheat or gluten in it. So how in the world do I survive at SDCC? It actually isn't too hard. Brainwise and I pack most of our own food and we do a little shopping after we arrive in San Diego. This ensures that we can eat breakfast in our hotel room and pack our own lunches for each day during the con. Here are the specifics:


What we bring from home:

• Cereal and protein bars, snack-sized veggie chips 
• Gluten free Snyder pretzel packs
• Gluten free Lance cracker packs 
• Lucy's gluten free cookie packs for easy snacks. 
• Mrs. May's Almond clusters (we like carry a bag of with us for a good boost of protein)

What we buy:

• Hard boiled eggs, cereal, and rice milk for our breakfast. 
• Ham, cheese, and gluten free bread to make our sandwiches for each day. 
• Two gallons of water so we can fill our personal bottles each day before we leave the hotel room.

Where we shop:

We head to Ralph's as soon as we get to San Diego to pick up the items mentioned above. Jimbo's…Naturally is another option for natural foods and gluten free options, but we did find them to be a bit more expensive than Ralph's last year when we first found them.

Where we get dinner:

After a long day of Comic Con activities, we like to eat a good dinner. Fortunately, there are some very good gluten free options around the convention center and in the Gaslamp District. Our usual haunts are Burger Lounge, Fox Sports Grill at the Hilton Bayfront, Marina Kitchen at the Marriott Marquis, and The Grand Lobby Bar at Manchester Hyatt. There is the Old Spaghetti Factory, too, but we have not tried it yet.

How we find gluten free options:

A great resource for searching for gluten free options is an app called Find Me Gluten Free. It is customer run/supported. That means all places listed on the app are put there by people who choose to review places and submit them to the app. It might not find all the gluten free options on the area, BUT I do like that it is run by other gluten free customers.

What are your go to foods during the con? Do you have any gluten free favorites to visit when you are in San Diego for the con? Let us know in the comments.


[Draft: Dangrdafne   |   Final Copy: Brainwise]

"What the Heck Should I Take to SDCC?"

"This will all fit in the overhead, right? Right??"

We already posted about what we do with our Comic Con items as we prep for SDCC (see SDCC Boxing), but how about some suggestions for what to actually bring on the trip? Well, we have only two suggestions. And by that, we mean we are recommending posts from two other sources.

1. We've previously referred to Crazy4ComicCon's Ultimate Packing List, and he conveniently has an updated post for 2015.
2. And, over at the Toucan Blog, you can find a perfect list of things to take to SDCC -- straight from SDCC! Check out Let's Get Ready for Comic-Con 2015!

Just remember: Even though packing for a long trip can be frustratingly hard because you don't want to forget anything, you don't want to be this guy either:

This heavy image lifted from The Traveling Professor's blog

How closely do the above lists match what you pack? What are your must-have items to bring to a convention? Please share in the comments!

SDCC Boxing

No, not hitting each other,  although that could happen over the Batman Jim Lee Exclusive, you never know. This post is about storing and retrieving your comic-con gear. We're going to share with you an the idea that we implemented 2 SDCC's ago...

Marian Call and the Space Weird Thing

You might recognize Marian Call as the main figure in the above image. She's one of our favorite people on Twitter and in our earbuds; we've even had the pleasure of hanging out with her at SDCC and ECCC. You might also recognize a younger David Bowie in the inset of the above image. And, maybe, you've correctly identified it as coming from Bowie's 1969 music video for "Space Oddity." However, unless you're on Marian's mailing list, or connected with one of her loyal fans, you might not know just what the two nearly mirror images have to do with each other.

Well, I'm going to tell you.

Several days ago, I received Marian's latest newsletter email. It contained info about upcoming appearances, a new album in the works, and a video oddity. Regarding that last item, it seems that Marian got together with Alaska Robotics, Molly Lewis, and Seth Boyer to make a video. And they didn't do just any ol' video. No, they went and sweded the aforementioned music video for "Space Oddity"! Oh, and on top of that, they redid the lyrics so as to use only the 1000 most used words in English (see Randall Munroe's Up-Goer Five on xkcd.com).

Now, in case you're not familiar with the concept of sweded films, it refers to the recreation of popular pop-culture films using limited budgets and technology -- mainly a handheld camcorder and whatever odds and ends you can scrape together as props. It has been heralded as "the end of Hollywood as we know it," and the term has its roots in the 2008 film, Be Kind Rewind. And, lo, a pop-culture phenomenon was born!

But back to Marian Call and the point of this entry...

If you see only one music video this month, or one sweded film this month, it really should be this one. I mean, c'mon, even David Bowie's website is promoting it!

See also:

• Alaska Robotics
• Molly Lewis
• Seth Boyer

The Property by Rutu Modan

So Brainwise left a book/graphic novel(?) on my pile to read - The Property by Rutu Modan. I honestly don't remember what he told me about the book that made him want me to read it. But I left it in my pile... for quite awhile. Today I decided to read it.

It turns it out it is about a Grandmother and Granddaughter who travel to Poland to supposedly reclaim some property. Now here is the weird part, I have always had an affinity for Jewish culture and history. I am not sure why but I am always drawn to Jewish things. So I assume this is why Brainwise gave me the book. I wonder though, if he recalls that my Grandmother's name was Regina, the same as the Grandmother in this book. That hit home and then as I read the book all I could think about was what my Grandmother had gone through in her life.

In this book Regina was sent away from her first true love who had gotten her pregnant. He didn't know what happened to her and she was always hoping she would get back to him. Well, she does get back to him although I am not sure he realized it at first. It turns out Regina's true plan for the trip was to meet up with this man. She wanted to tell him that their son had passed away two months before. The son is also the Granddaughter's father. The Granddaughter had no idea about this story but she does learn it through the various people she meets while trying to find the property.

They are in Warsaw for Zaduszki and it plays a major role in the story. I honestly can not recall this "holiday" but I will say I wish I could have travelled to Poland with my Grandmother for this "holiday". I wish so much my Grandmother were here now so I could ask her more questions about her life. The Granddaughter in this story was very lucky to learn all the secrets of her family and to finally meet her Grandfather.

As for the property, it turns it out it is where the Grandfather lives. He "bought" it from the Regina's parents to protect it during the war and he was to return it once he received Regina's address of wherever she was at the time. Well as we already can guess, this does not happen, as Regina turns up at the door instead. She does not want the property, only the closure of the relationship with her first true love.

This is quite the story with many intersecting parts. It is beautifully drawn and a very easy read. There are also lots of funny things that only Polish people will understand. So if you have any affinity for Jewish tales or Polish heritage you will want to check out this book.

I give The Property 4 paws: 

-Dangrdafne

Game of Bloggers Meet-Up at SDCC 2015!

For our fifth consecutive SDCC, we will be part of the Game of Bloggers Meet-Up hosted by the one and only Crazy 4 Comic Con! If you're going to SDCC this year, and you're free on Preview Night (Wednesday July 8th), come join us and more cool-and-nerdy bloggers than you can shake a sonic screwdriver at!