The next flight leaves tomorrow morning.

Well, another year, another Con I dream about going to. Eh. Let's get on with it. (A lot of conflicts this year. The panels I would be going to are in bold.)

Thursday

Meet Michael Hirsh | Room 9 | 10:00a - A conversation with the co-founder of Canada's Nelvana animation. Who wouldn't want to hear his story?

The History of Peanuts in Animation | Room 5AB | 10:00a | From prime time specials to theatrical movies to a Saturday morning series, the gang has been all over. Be nice to take a look back.

So You Want to Start a Podcast | Neil Morgan Auditorium, San Diego Central Library | 11:00a | I do! I totally do! I just hope it’s not too expensive.

10th Annual Musical Anatomy of a Superhero Along with Heroes | Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront | 11:15a - Another panel of film composers, only a small percentage of whom I'm interested in. Still, who else caters to film music at these things?

Marketing Movies and Writing Cartoons | Room 29CD | 11:30a - Apparently, Craig Miller made the jump from marketing big genre movies to writing for animation. Surely, someone like that has tales to tell.

Science of Futurama | Grand 10 & 11, Marriott Marquis, San Diego Marina | 12:00p | How possible is it to see the 31st century innovations before that time? Who knows? Just get me a brain switcher and I'll be fine.

Weird Al-Gorithm Podcast Celebrate Al's TV Album | Neil Morgan Auditorium, San Diego Central Library | 12:00p | So, this is how I find out there's a Weird Al podcast. They'll be looking at the best songs he wrote about television.

Malcolm and Friends | Room 6A | 12:30p | Malcolm Barrett…of “Timeless” hangs out with some famous friends discussing nerd culture. Man, it’d be cool to have my own panel…or famous friends…or friends.

Spotlight on Patrick McDonnell: The 30th Anniversary of Mutts, Freeing Guard Dog, Marvel Superheroes and the Dalai Lama | Room 5AB | 1:00p - You had me at '30th Anniversary of Mutts', though I'm sure those other aspects are interesting, too.

Worst Mistake I Ever Made | Grand 12 & 13, Marriott Marquis, San Diego Marina | 1:00p | God willing, the errors we make in the course of seeking success can end up leading to our greatest moments. I’m still waiting.

Unveiling the VFX Magic: 20th Century Studios' Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes | Room 6A | 1:45p | A Visual Effects Oscar is pretty much assured, at this point. I would love to see how the magic was made.

1984: Greatest Geek Year Too: Big Brother Was Watching You! | Room 5AB | 3:00p - I will never not be fascinated by this panel, even if the hosts did slag off Arthur B. Rubinstein's scores for Blue Thunder and WarGames on an episode of their podcast. Seriously, fuck them for that.

The Groundlings Celebrate 50 Years of Laughs | Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront | 3:00p | Somehow, I think that I’ll be surprised by some of the people who were a part of this.

What We Do in the Shadows' Farewell Kick-Off Tour | Hall H | 3:30p - The forthcoming sixth season will be the show's last, sadly. Much as I can't fathom sitting through a bunch of crap just to get to this, I would love to see this panel.

What to Know When Selling an Animated Show | Room 10 | 3:30p | I had an idea for an original show, but then, one of the people I wanted for a lead role passed away. Some years after that, I came up with a reboot for a 2000s series that could’ve been done better. Maybe, I can find a way through this.

Fleischer Cartoons: Restoring Betty Boop! | Room 28DE | 7:00p | Just what it says on the tin: the restoration of the Betty Boop cartoons, even (I presume) those weird early ones where she was a dog, for some reason.

The Art of Movie Posters | Room 26AB | 7:30p | I feel like what used to be a constant in film is now done as a cute throwback and that needs to change.

The GCATs: Aptitude Test! | Room 23ABC | 8:00p - The first of the night’s three quiz games, this one is structured like an old exam from school, which I suppose could be fun?

Trivia for Chocolate | Room 32AB | 8:00p - The second of the night’s quiz games, where each right answer is rewarded with a piece of chocolate and whoever has the most at the end can trade it for a big piece of chocolate.

The 27th Annual San Diego Comic-Con Superhero Kung Fu Extravaganza | Room 6A | 8:00p - As with trailers, put a montage of fight scenes in front of me and I’m happy…well I guess I would be. I’ve never really seen one of these.

Ranking Time Travel Movies According to Their Scientific Accuracy | Room 29CD | 8:30p - As someone who fixates endlessly on their mistakes and wishes they could go back and do them over, of course I’m fascinated by time travel stories. Maybe, they’re not all accurate, but isn’t that what makes them more fun?

Ghostface's Killer Trivia | Room 25ABC | 9:00p - The third of the night’s quiz games (seriously, space these out better next year, yeah?) sees the voice of Ghostface asking horror questions, presumably with less slashing in the event of wrong answers.

Friday

That 70s Panel | Room 10 | 10:30a | Comic books were changing in the 1970s, and thankfully, a lot of the people that experienced this first hand are still around.

The Pitching Hour | Room 32AB | 12:00p | Maybe, just maybe, a panel like this can give me the courage to succeed at pitching.

MeTV Toons: The New Destination for Your Favorite Classic Cartoons | Room 6A | 1:00p | An awesome TV network that brings together cartoons from my childhood and even earlier than that, so, of course it’s not in any local cable package. Even so, there are streaming services apparently, and it would be nice to hear about this channel.

The Blerd Panel | Grand 12 & 13, Marriott Marquis, San Diego Marina | 3:00p | I’ll probably be on this panel some day, so I may as well get a feel for it.

Defiant: The Robert Smalls Story | Room 6A | 3:30p | As a movie or as a graphic novel, this is a story that absolutely needs to be released to the public.

Bob's Burgers | Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront | 4:00p | I just hope that the show isn’t running out of gas.

Collider's Directors on Directing | Hall H | 4:00p | A lot of crap I’d have to sit through to get to this panel, but somehow, I think it’d be worth it to have the directors of 2013’s ‘Die Hard in the White House’ action movies facing off.

You're Wrong, Leonard Maltin | Room 23ABC | 4:00p | To engage him on a movie I loved that he and his writers hated…I would enjoy at least one opportunity for that.

Mobile Filmmaking: How to Make a Movie Using a Smartphone | Grand 6, Marriott Marquis, San Diego Marina | 4:15p | Seriously, how the fuck do I do this?

Trailer Park | Ballroom 20 | 4:30p | Weird how people complain about trailers giving away the whole movie, yet nobody wants to step forward to demand that trailers be edited in a less spoilery manner. I just don’t get people.

Pitching Film and Television | Grand 6, Marriott Marquis, San Diego Marina | 6:45p | Apparently, pitching is a vital skill for a writer to have, thereby decreasing my chances of making it in the business…

J. Michael Straczynski Workshop | Room 11 | 7:00p | …but maybe, with this guy’s tips in my back pocket, things won’t be so hopeless.

From Candyman to The Blackening | Room 10 | 7:30p | The focus here is on Black horror; not so much horror with Black people in it, but horror themed around the Black experience. Not sure if I could do it, but it’s worth a shot.

Black Heroes Matter | Room 29AB | 8:00p | Black heroes in pop culture, past, present and future. I’d sure like to do my part.

Villains: Shedding Light on the Darkness | Room 9 | 8:00p | Adding depth to your villain or just depicting them as monsters. That is the question.

Saturday

Inside the Writers' Room All-Stars: The Channels They Are A-Changin' | Room 24ABC | 10:00a | Writers and showrunners get together and talk about the television industry in the post-strike era. A lot of venom in store, no doubt.

Becoming Betty Boop: The Evolution of an Animation Icon | Room 29CD | 10:30a | A look at her history, popularity and impact on pop culture. Neat.

Futurama | Ballroom 20 | 11:00a | The cockroach of animated programs; you think you kill it and it just pops up someplace else. I haven’t even watched the first Hulu season yet. Maybe, I should get up on that.

American Splendor: Celebrating Harvey Pekar at 85 | Room 29AB | 11:00a | I enjoyed the movie and read some of the comics though given how deeply I related to the former you’d think I’d have read more of the latter.

Everybody Still Hates Chris | Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront | 11:15a | Apparently, there’s an animated reboot in the works. One can only imagine how much further they can push things in this new medium.

What is the Best Superpower? | Room 25ABC | 12:00p | How many times do I have to tell you people? Shapeshifting! Nobody listens to me.

Spotlight on J. Michael Straczynski | Room 7AB | 1:00p | Once more into the breach in the career of the film and television veteran.

Cartoon Voices I | Room 6BCF | 1:00p | It’s always a fun time hearing voice artists good their way through some kind of script.

Bear McCreary: Musical World Building | Room 6DE | 3:00p | I’m not gonna lie: my fascination with his work is waning, mainly due to ‘his’ score for We Have a Ghost that - with its disparate thematic elements - made no attempt to disguise the fact that he’d farmed it out to eight different people. Still, accounting for a vacation in the immediate future, he may regain the eye of the tiger, yet.

DreamWorks Animation's The Wild Robot | Room 6BCF | 4:00p | It’s gonna take a lot for another robot-themed animated feature to impress me following the marvelous Robot Dreams, but I’m sure I’ll appreciate the effort.

Hanna-Barbera: The Recorded History | Room 7AB | 4:30p | Not every one of their shows hit the mark, but the longevity of the company cannot be denied.

Black Superheroes, Black Power Fantasies, Double Consciousness, Oh My! | Room 29AB | 6:00p | Given the description at the website, the panel isn’t as sensational as the title: “This panel looks at the origins and development of Black superheroes and Black power fantasies in contrast to their White counterparts while asking: Who is telling these tales, to what end, and for whom?”

A Panel With Kevin Smith | Hall H | 7:30p | Despite the potentially winning The 4:30 Movie (no relation to the podcast, I presume), it seems that Smith is at his best when he just chatting, so this could be fun.

Sunday

Cartoon Voices II | Room 6A | 11:45a | Like I said about yesterday…

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Dwayne McDuffie But Were Afraid to Ask | Room 28DE | 12:00p | One can only wonder if “Ben 10: Omniverse” would’ve turned out good had he lived, but perhaps it matters more to focus on what he produced in his lifetime.

Jellystone Screening and Panel | Room 6DE | 1:45p | I found this show odd but enjoyable. Nice to know there’s more of it coming.

The Character of Music: The Art of Scoring for Animation | Room 6BCF | 2:15p | More composers I’ve never heard of. (Yeah. Real ‘some nobodies!’ energy, here.) Hell, they might have interesting stories.

The Business of Cartoon Voices | Room 7AB | 3:00p | I have always wanted to voice a cartoon character, not as a career, but for fun, though it would be nice to have knowledge of the ins and outs of the business.

Well...here's hoping I get my chance, one day.