The San Diego meetup: Full of that lovin' feelin'

Saturday's Pop Candy meetup was a blast -- thanks to everyone who showed up to Kansas City Barbeque and skipped the very popular Sarah Silverman panel that was going on at the same time. (I actually saw her afterward and heard that she got some strange questions from the audience. I suppose that's to be expected.)

In any case, here's a recap of what you missed. The next meetup will be Friday in Chicago, so I hope to see you there!

The shindig started at 6:30, and pretty soon we realized it was going to be larger than expected. The kind staff reserved a large room for us and I made a shabby sign that told everyone to skip the line for the restaurant:

Look at that crowd! We estimated about 75 people showed up.

Here are the first guests to arrive, Kerry and Jason. They may have been the only San Diego natives at the event; check out Jason's awesome Battlestar Galactica T-shirt.

David S. asked me to call his girlfriend during the meetup, though she didn't pick up the phone, so I left a voicemail. Rebecca is a big Pop Candy fan, though she didn't want to travel to San Diego for Comic-Con, which I can understand. They live in Los Angeles.

Nathan totally wins the award for Best Facial Hair. He brought me a mix CD with a Transformers theme, which I can't wait to listen to. (Dig the "Mustache Rides" T-shirt, too.)

Look, it's Renee! You may remember her from my Los Angeles party -- she works for Sanrio and gave me some Hello Kitty merchandise. It was great seeing her again, and I was especially impressed she came, since she and Braden got married just two weeks ago. Their wedding reception had pop-culture theme tables (David Bowie, Scrabble) and a churros truck.

My friend Howard Paar also showed up. Howard is a music supervisor in L.A. and is currently working on the music for the new season of The L Word. He also did the music for the new Germs biopic, What We Do Is Secret. (I once featured him in a podcast.)

Here's Paul Friedrich, the Eisner-nominated author of Onion Head Monster Attacks!. I hope to see him the next time I'm down in Raleigh.

Speaking of the Eisners, here I am with fellow judges and pals James Sime (left) and Chris Reilly. The awards may be over, but our friendship will continue ... and I'm sure I'll see them at conventions for years to come!

Chris represented Pop Candy's Navy fanbase. At one point he stood up and jokingly asked if he was the only person in the room who hadn't been to Comic-Con. "YES!" everyone screamed.

Here I am with Melanie and John, talking about how much we love Morrissey. The man does bring people together.

The 'Craft' of MMJ

If you've ever seen My Morning Jacket perform, you probably haven't forgotten the experience. The band returns to Lollapalooza Sunday in a timeslot up against Modest Mouse, and it's one of many festival choices thats causing me stress.

Anyway, MMJ's Jim James is the subject of this very cool feature on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's website called The Craft. It contains video interviews with musicians about what they do best; in the latest installment, James discusses his lyrics, influences, song construction and more.

A previous installment of The Craft spotlighted Elvis Costello, so you may want to watch that as well.

With strings attached

Need a cool gift for a music fan? These bracelets are made from the strings of your favorite guitarists, including Carlos Santana, John Mayer, Pete Townshend and others. The proceeds go to charity, and the bracelets come in men's and women's sizes.

Prices vary, depending on the musician. A Ben Lee bracelet, for example will set you back $75, while a Tenacious D one goes for a whopping $450. (That's more than Santana and Townshend!)

The site offers a wide varity of artists, so check it out. Thanks to Karen E. for the tip.

A few more pics from Comic-Con ...

As I empty my camera and prepare for Lollapalooza, I thought you might like to see a few more pics from last weekend:

The Batmobile was out for all to see at Comic-Con, though most people who attend comic-book/pop-culture conventions have witnessed it at least once. (I feel like I see the Batmobile and the General Lee more than my grandmother.) Anyway, what made this appearance special was that Batmobile creator George Barris was on hand to sign autographs.

Here's talented artist Lark Pien with her almost-empty table on Sunday. I picked up several books and can't wait to read them! Lark did the colors for Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese, which won the Eisner Award for best graphic album. (That's the equivalent to the best-picture Oscar.)

You know what they say: It's not Comic-Con until they bring out the Lego Chewy.

Here's Tim Leong, editor of Comic Foundry, a comics magazine which will make its print debut in September. Think of it as a sort of Blender for comics -- lots of hip features about manga, Y: The Last Man, Adrian Tomine and the like.

Nice Harvey Birdman costume ... too bad the show is no more.

Kids and Legos go together like capes and tights.

And finally, remember the guy I told you about who planned on buying two Subway sandwiches in the morning so they could sustain him an entire day of convention-going? On Saturday, I saw him again! Sure enough, he had the sandwiches -- both turkey, and both purchased the night before. We chatted for a bit while he ate the first one. He traveled from Dayton, Ohio, to attend the Con, and we were both stuck in the same room for the Heroes and Battlestar Galactica panels.

Before leaving him with his lunch, I asked for his name. "The funny thing is, my name is Jared, and I'm eating Subway," he said. "I didn't get a discount, and I'm pissed."

'Knight' continues to tease

Last weekend I Twittered about WhySoSerious.com, a new viral site for The Dark Knight. You may not want to look at it if you suffer from courlrophobia, as the site features pages of photos of clowns.

Here's the latest still photo of Heath Ledger and Maggie Gyllenhaal and the teaser trailer, which doesn't reveal much except Ledger's laugh. People were definitely talking about this movie at Comic-Con, though, in terms of blockbusters, I have to say Iron Man stole the show.

Why wait for 'Weeds'?

Showtime's website just posted this promotion where you can sign up to be a "Showtime VIP Insider" and watch the season premiere of Weeds online.

Now, I'm sure the program offers all sorts of cool stuff, so I'm not discounting it at all, but I'm feeling a little mischievous today, so ... go here to bypass registration to watch Weeds and the premiere of David Duchovny's new show, Californication. The code word is MONDAYS. (That's what day the shows air, starting Aug. 13.)

Thanks to Devon N. for the heads-up. Both shows may contain spicy language and content, so grab your headphones or wait until after-office hours to watch.

Podcast: Hotline calls, UNKLE, Architecture, more

This week's Pop Candy podcast features some voices who regularly contribute to the comments section, including Big Business and BrodieManthe1st. Topics of conversation include "If you had a scent, what would it be?" and the increasing awesomeness of HBO's Big Love. (Isn't Margene the best?)

I also play my favorite track from the new UNKLE record, War Stories. It's called Restless and features Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age. More new music this week includes songs from Architecture in Helsinki and Japanese pop/ska stars Oreskaband, so check them out as well.

Here's how to listen:

- Download the free podcast from iTunes

- Stream it as a Windows Media file

Want to hear more? See the archive at candypodcast.usatoday.com. Check out my RSS feed for more options. Thanks so much for listening!

Early buzz: 'Reaper,' The Dude, Stripes and more

I'm back! It's great to be home, though I have soooo much catching up to do -- I hope you enjoyed my Comic-Con dispatches, and stay tuned for more tidbits from my time in San Diego.

Today's buzz could've been 10 pages long, but I have to move on to other things. A few headlines:

- Oh, this is so sad -- filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni has died on the same day as Ingmar Bergman. I don't know what to say. Here's the trailer for Blow-Up.

- We have a story about the one and only Neil Gaiman (and the movie Stardust) today.

- Could Jimmy Fallon replace Conan O'Brien?

- Want to watch the Reaper pilot? The code is 082507. (Thanks to Zack S.)

- Here's an interview with the Gossip's Beth Ditto.

- Here's some spoiler-filled info from J.K. Rowling about the final book and beyond. (Thanks to apronk.)

- Here's a piece where Jeff Bridges talks about The Big Lebowski.

- Hey, Veronica Mars fans: This podcast features an interview with creator Rob Thomas.

- A new Led Zeppelin best-of disc is on the way, as is a Song Remains the Same reissue.

- Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary is coming to the big screen with Johnny Depp.

- Check out the six trippiest scenes from The Simpsons.

- Have you seen the new White Stripes video?

- A DVD release date has been announced for the final episodes of The Sopranos.

- AOL is streaming new albums from Korn, Shivaree, G-Love and more this week.

- For what it's worth, here are the online film community's top 100 movies.

- Here's a look at Keep Your Eyes Open, a new book about Fugazi.

- Who are the "20 Hottest New Faces of Comedy"?

- MySpace is holding a live webcast with Velvet Revolver tonight.

- ComingSoon has a clip from The Ten.

- Did you know Phantom of the Opera's Emmy Rossum has an album coming out?

- The British aren't really into Studio 60, either.

- And from McSweeney's: "E-mails Sent Between Members of New Edition Regarding Their Reunion Tour."

Pop Candy meetup: Let's hang out in Chicago

Good morning! Before I board my plane, I wanted to announce the next Pop Candy reader event, which will take place in Chicago this Friday! (Hmm, guess I need to get some sleep between now and then ...) I hope you can make it -- I used to live in the Windy City, so I'm especially excited about this one.

The details:

When: Friday, Aug. 3, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Where: The Hard Rock Hotel's BASE Bar, 230 N. Michigan Ave. An area will be sectioned off for Pop Candy readers, so you should be able to find us. If not, ask for me.

Why: Because we love you. But you still have to pay for your own drinks.

You may be wondering why, out of all the awesome neighborhood watering holes in Chicago, this event is being held at the downtown Hard Rock Hotel. Answer: I'll be sprinting to the meetup from Lollapalooza, as will several other readers, and we needed a spot that was thisclose to Grant Park. We also needed a fairly big venue since these gatherings are growing -- San Diego attracted about 75 people!

It's not required, but I'd love to hear from you if you plan on attending. We'll share some laughs, snap some photos, make some memories. (And hey, if anyone can pass along this invite John Cusack and/or Jeff Tweedy, I'd be eternally grateful.)

Comic-Con ends, sleep begins

Once again, it's obscenely late and my hotel bed is empty. I don't care as much as I should, though, because I heard some fantastic conversations tonight.

It's a shame Hollywood dominates the post-Comic-Con headlines, because there are so many more things going on than blockbusters and new TV shows. For one thing, this annual event is a gathering of some of the world's greatest storytellers, and, if you know where to go, some of them will be willing to entertain you late into the evening.

Of course, that said, I know you've been wanting to see some photos of famous faces in San Diego. Here are a few, though they're a little different than the famous faces you see at, say, Cannes:

Here's Clark Duke, star of ABC Family's Greek and Clark and Michael, which just finished its 10-episode run. He was in town filming some stuff for ABC, though he's a big comic-book fan, too. I hope I run into him at another event, because he's a a great guy to hang out with ... even though we're looking a little sinister here.

Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's acted as the "Vanna" at the Eisner Awards, aka "the Oscars of comics." She looked fantastic and was so friendly, though I really felt for her, since she had to stand onstage for the entire four-hour ceremony. She told me she enjoyed the obituary segment, because that was the only time she got to take a seat. She's a comic-book enthusiast as well.

Katee Sackhoff looked amazing at the Battlestar Galactica panel. Would you expect anything less?

Here's me with Brian Posehn, who presented one category at the Eisner Awards in Klingon. He also appeared at the Sarah Silverman Program panel, and he's the author of the Last Christmas comics.

Reno 911! stars Ben Garant and Tom Lennon were in town to promote Balls of Fury. We talked a little about The State, and they told me the long-awaited DVD set will arrive Oct. 20. Some of the sketches won't have the original music -- "Pants" won't have the Breeders' Cannonball, for example -- but, other than that, everything will be intact. There's so much extra footage on the discs that Lennon is a little  worried it might tarnish the State myth a little bit. (I doubt that.)

Here's the lovely Ellen Forney, author of I Love Led Zeppelin. She kissed fellow nominee Alison Bechdel onstage while presenting ... and I hear Ellen's brother is a big Pop Candy fan, so hello, Ellen's brother!

I ran into Fables author Bill Willingham minutes before I left the convention center Sunday. He won two Eisners and told me a wonderful anecdote about Russian mobsters that I probably shouldn't repeat on this blog.

Here's Battlestar's Mary McDonnell, looking amazing ...

And here's Ed Brubaker, winner of two Eisner Awards. He told me after the show that he had been nominated 40 times (!) and never won. Check out his book Criminal if you haven't already.

OK! I'm going to get a couple hours of sleep before I start packing. It was a great convention, and now I have a bag full of books to read and new artists to discover. I've pasted my Sunday Twitters below, and thanks to everyone who followed me throughout the weekend. I have more to share soon.