I live about half a block from the main Thai area in Hollywood, so I can get delicious Thai food at 2am in the morning. Which is awesome for someone like me who keeps vampire hours most of the time. This also means I was able to walk to the Curry Festival a couple of weeks ago. Today marks the beginning of Thai New Year, known as Songkran.

I wish I had realized earlier that Songkran was coming up as the Thai holiday is celebrated with socializing, spring cleaning, and throwing water at other people. Originally, the water was apparently intended to be spiritually cleansing as it was what was used for spring cleaning the Buddha statues. The young could observe the holiday by sprinkling water which was thus blessed and perhaps lightly scented on the hands of respected elders. Today, the fun aspect of dowsing others with water is emphasized and people of all ages head outdoors to fire water guns at one another. This means one should be conscious, while dripping wet, of a sense of personal renewal.

Songkran actually runs through April 15, so there might still be time to get or make the perfect water gun. A gentleman named John Young has designed The Ultimate Water Gun (pictured) using a fire extinguisher and a motorcycle helmet.

When I was in college, I was Treasurer of the Strategic Games Club which used to play a sort of free-for-all Assassin in the tunnels underneath the school. Motorized water guns were popular, but the homemade monstrosities usually were most effective. The pesticide sprayer backpack was a particularly devastating model, although I personally lacked the upper body strength to run around with one on my back. I totally needed The Ultimate Water Gun made out of a fire extinguisher and a motorcycle helmet.

I am at least going to treat myself to a new water gun, even if I don’t start crafting or mad science work on one today. I think Thai New Year sounds way better than American New Year. I would far prefer strangers fire water cannons at me all day than expect to be entitled to tongue me at a specific time of night. It is really hot in Thailand this time of year too, so getting soaking wet is extra-refreshing. Really, I just love the idea of a traditional holiday reason to have a goofy water fight.

Interview with Deathrace director Paul W. S. Anderson

Interview with Jason Statham

The Friday of the 2006 Comic Con, I only busted out my camera when really motivated because we’d gone on the Superhero and Supervillian-themed party bus the night before and, after a couple of days in the oppressive San Diego heat, I was slowing down. Still managed to shoot a nice little photo gallery for your viewing pleasure.

I was super-excited to get to see the very entertaining horror screenwriter and producer Sean Abley. Oddly enough, although he and I live literally across the street from one another, I met my neighbor online first and neither of us remembers precisely how. At any rate, he is a great wit and his Dark Blue Productions darkly humorous science fiction feature Socket is showing at the Los Angeles Outfest this Friday, so I highly recommend Angelenos stop by and check it out. (More on this later.)

Those of you who have been with us and Blue Blood since before the beginning will of course remember Black Leather Times, my punk humor zine, more affectionately (or hostilely) known as BLT. Drew “Vladimir Drakovich, King of Mars” Boyd wrote and, with Max Glick, co-wrote a number of humorous articles for BLT back in the crew’s DC days. I had the pleasure of running into Andrew Boyd in our booth at Comic Con and he hooked me and Forrest Black up with some kindly personalized Scurvy Dogs. Andrew Boyd’s publisher AiT/Planet Lar classifies Scurvy Dogs as a cult classic on their web site. This tale of pirates gone astray, co-written with Ryan Yount, absolutely deserves the status.

Sometimes I find conventions difficult because my mental Rolodex is kind of full and I always feel awful when I forget people, but I’ve met a heck of a lot of people over the years. Weirdly enough, when Andrew Boyd stopped by the megabooth, I was just like, “yay, hi Drew!” and it didn’t even occur to me until later that it was vaguely odd that I knew him immediately, without having to give placing him any thought at all, when he has, for hell’s sake, grown facial hair since I saw him last. (More on this later too.)

BlueBlood.com hottie Diana Knight was also in the house. I took photos while riding the giant escalator to show how cool some of the architecture of the San Diego Conventions Center actually is. A hot Asian artist stopped by the megabooth and I took a few snapshots of him. When I say hot, in this instance, I mean as in sexy, as opposed to as in warm or popular. He might be super popular, but I was pretty wilted from how hot it was (in temperature in both San Diego in general and the building in specific) so I had more trouble with the language barrier than I generally would. He had a professional illustrator badge, but his name was in (I think) Japanese. Cool costume anyway and getting to know people is harder at West Coast cons than East Coast ones, even under ideal circumstances. Maybe this is why I still have instant recognition for my pals from East Coast punk and fandom misbehavior.