Comics Trek

For Xavier's birthday we made a trip to the east side for the Motor City Comic Con. For only $50, your family of four can buy lots more stuff! But he loved it, was overwhelmed by the amount of toys, tees, comics and trades. He found a Red Arrow (formerly the sidekick known as Speedy) but not the vintage look Green Arrow to go with him.

There was a surprising amount of Star Wars stuff, including roaming stormtroopers, clone warriors, Princess Leia and the Sith Lord. And all the gear and toys besides. In actor's row, we got to meet a few Three's Company refugees, including Richard Kline, who was quite nice. (Joyce DeWitt, still perky; Priscilla Barnes, scary) But the highlight for us was meeting Mark Metcalf, who we knew was the Master from Buffy season one, but we had no idea was also the Maestro from Seinfeld. He was ultra-nice, living in Milwaukee, and volunteering to help high school students learn film making and writing. Unresolved: was the Master named for the Maestro? Xavi was impressed to meet Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison) from the X-men movies, who was very nice to him. Also spotted: John Schneider with the General Lee, the cast of Buck Rodgers, Yancy Butler, the original Captain Pike, Kristy Swanson and the not-real not-original Ghoul, who was a riot anyway.

Saturday we were at the Detroit Science Center at opening, only to run into cousin Megan Goedge and her friend Alan. The Star Trek Exhibit was terrific - in many ways better than the Harry Potter exhibit to me. Some real effort to connect with real space exploration, and some neat participation. Sit on the original bridge, get teleported from the Next Generation set, walk across the portal of the City on the Edge of Forever... okay, geeky, but fun nonetheless.

Video is not for the musically sensitive.

Last, but not least, last week also saw Xavi's first communion. Very moving, and I was ecstatic to have the whole family receiving together for the first time. Very cool, and it sure felt like Oliver was present. His godmother Aunt Liza was in for the event, too.