LTUE Day Two
Saturday February 18, 2006 • Howard Tayler
I spent most of the day cranking out commissions, which was really nice. I mean, it's hard work, but I like the part where people give me money for doing it. My meals and mileage for this event are now paid for. (I'll post pictures of the stuff I drew later. Some of the pieces were very, very cool.) I had a 9:00 panel on "Gadgets and Gizmos," and the first part of it was a movie and discussion on unmanned aircraft, led by a BYU professor whose team has created the world's smallest computer "pilot" -- small enough to fit on an off-the-shelf RC airframe. The discussion that followed was fascinating. Consider, for instance, that you could buy between four and eight of these planes for the cost of one Ford Crown Victoria police interceptor... After the panel I sat down and started drawing commissions. I took a break for lunch with Brook West and his family (Brook is the one who created the deck plans for the Serial Peacemaker and the Touch-And-Go which you haven't seen yet), and Brook offered to pop over to my house and grab marker refills for me, because I ran out of Schlock-colored ink. The 6:00 panel, "The Schlock Mercenary Showcase," was a discussion of the real-life anecdotes behind the favorite moments in the strip that the audience supplied. We had a good time, and I came clean on where some of the characters and stories originated. (No, I'm not going to retell that HERE. Maybe I'll put that stuff in my memoirs.) After the panel I went out to dinner with Bob Defendi and Dan Willis. We had a good time, but I'm now swearing never to eat at Village Inn again. My last three meals at that place (over the last two years) have ALL resulted in powerful indigestion. I'll stick with a nice, safe McDonald's double cheeseburger.
