The first day of programming for the 2012 World Horror Convention wasn’t going to begin until 3:00 p.m. Thursday, so at 9:30 a.m., I threw myself out on the streets of Salt Lake City. I didn’t return to the hotel until 1:00 p.m., having spent 3-1/2 hours jumping on and off buses and street cars, getting lost as none of them took me quite where I wanted to go, walking around 4-1/2 miles, having lunch for breakfast, and hunting the elusive ukulele.

I was going through ukulele withdrawal, so I had this crazy idea that I’d visit a music store about three miles away, pick up one of their extremely cheap bottom-of-the-line ukes so I could continue to practice each day, then give it away to some kid before I flew home. But due to that getting-lost thing, I never made it there. So I abandoned my plans and instead headed to the first stop on my Man V. Food tour of the city—Bruges Waffles and Frites, where I began my day with their famed Machine Gun Sandwich, which is “a fresh baguette stuffed with: 2 merguez (lamb) sausages, fries, andalouse sauce.”

Yes, there are two spicy sausages buried somewhere under there! (Adam Richman did NOT let me down.)

From there, I headed off to Intermountain Guitar and Banjo (which was much easier to find than that other uke place) to check out their collection of vintage ukuleles, including this 1929 Gibson banjolele.

But I’d made the mistake of showing up on a day the uke specialist wasn’t there, so I didn’t get to lay my hands on any of them. I might sneak back Friday afternoon, though, when there’s a break in the horrific con festivities.

When I returned to the hotel at 1:00, I immediately left again with Jeff Strand, Lynne Hansen, Gabrielle Faust, Stephen Kling and Derek Clendening so they could experience Bruges (it’s that good), followed by much schmoozing in the halls until the 6:00 p.m. opening ceremonies … which you can watch below whether you were in Salt Lake City or not. (more…)

I’ll be in Salt Lake City next weekend attending the World Horror Convention, which was last in that city in 2008.

As you can see from this photo of Gary Braunbeck, Lee Thomas, Nicholas Kaufmann, and me, things got UGLY back then!

But I’m not up for a Stoker this year, so there’ll be no need to wrassle other nominees. My pal Gene O’Neill, though, who’s up for three Stokers, had better watch out.

Aside from the awards banquet, where I’ll be a co-presenter for one of the categories, you’ll be able to find me on a Stephen King panel at 10:00 a.m. Friday (will any of you be awake?) along with Rocky Wood, Jason Brock, Blake Casselman, and Michael R. Collings. I’m sure that the average audience member will know as much about King as I do, but I’ll do my best.

Where else will you be able to find me? Well, if you’ve been following my con-going exploits, then you surely already know! (more…)

I woke Saturday morning at World Fantasy to a city in which I’d already eaten at every Man v. Food restaurant. What to do? Luckily, the locals had all raved about a place called Hash House a Go Go, which supposedly prepared amazing breakfasts—well, amazing everything—so that’s where I headed to start the day with Bill Shunn, Laura Chavoen, and Eileen Gunn.

But everything good comes with a price—and the price was that there was a 90-minute wait before we could be seated. Since it sounded like the food would be worth it, Bill and Laura were up for it. But Eileen had to be back by 12:30. So I returned her to the hotel (which apparently had a major problem I didn’t hear about until today) and got back to the restaurant with plenty of time still remaining to chat with Bill and Laura in the warm California sun while trying not to feel too guilty that my wife was back in the West Virginia snow.

I ordered the pancake of the day—banana coconut—which surprised me by coming with a few pecans, too. It also surprised by BEING THE SIZE OF A HUBCAP!

I assure you that I did NOT eat the entire thing. I was thinking of taking it back to the con suite, but pancakes do not travel well, and besides, we wanted to have a postprandial walk around the neighborhood, and so didn’t box up any leftovers. It was a good thing we took that walk, too, because it allowed Laura to see her first Bird of Paradise in the wild. (more…)

I started off my second day at the World Fantasy Convention with my second visit to a San Diego Man v. Food restaurant. Karen and Charlie Newton joined me at the Broken Yolk Cafe, where Adam Richman attempted the Iron Man Challenge.

What’s the Iron Man Challenge? Read it off the menu and weep.

There was no way I was going to attempt this (or any other) Man v. Food challenge, though I do sometimes order the meal in question just to see what it looks like in 3-D under my nose, and return with the uneaten portion and give it away in the con suite to a hungry fan. But since I didn’t think an omelet was likely to travel well, I went with the blueberry pancakes instead.

Back at the con, I found I very rarely ended up where I intended to go. I kept bumping into friends, getting swept up in their magnetic fields, and not making it to readings or panels I’d originally planned. I had a nice chat with Pat Murphy and Eileen Gunn about Joanna Russ and other things out in the warm San Diego sun, bumped into my old Marvel boss Len Wein, and more. I chose people over programming. The only official event I ended up at was Kathleen Ann Goonan’s 4:30 p.m. reading, which you can of course catch right here.

(more…)

I know I worried in my previous post that I’d used up all the serendipity I was allowed for 2011 last Saturday, but it seems I had a little more left Thursday morning, because as I waited for my 8:20 a.m. United flight out of Dulles, who should appear at the gate but Daryl Gregory. Unlike the old days when I could hang out in the aisle and have conversations with friends in different parts of the plane other than in my own seat, we couldn’t talk our way to San Diego, but it still made it feel as if the con had started on the East Coast rather than the West.

The oddest thing about arriving in San Diego is that except for a brief visit back in 1984, every trip I’ve taken there has been during Comic-Con, when the city has been packed with con attendees, some more obvious than others. World Fantasy is small, and so doesn’t have that affect on the place. Who were all these normies I was surrounded by? Give me back my cosplayers!

I picked up my rental car and headed over to the WFC, where I grabbed lunch in the con suite, which so far has seemed both well stocked and well run. Then a quick tour of the dealers room, a blur of schmoozing, and it was off to the opening ceremonies, which if you missed, you can watch below. (more…)

It’s October, which means this year’s World Fantasy Con is just around the corner. I don’t know about you, but I’ve already figured out where I’ll be eating while in San Diego. That’s because wherever Adam Richman of Man v. Food goes, I go. Which means this year you’ll spot me at the Broken Yolk Cafe for breakfast, and at Phil’s BBQ and the Lucha Libre Gourmet Taco Shop for lunches and dinners.

And if you plan to be at WFC, too, I’ll be trying to drag you along.

Check out the San Diego episode of Man v. Food and you’ll see why.

Will you be there?

It’s Irene’s birthday tomorrow, and as part of the weekend’s celebration, we’ll be driving to Richmond for a visit to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to catch their Fabergé exhibit. While we’re there, I hope to snag her one of those eggs I keep hearing so much about.

And along the way, I hope to add two more Man v. Food restaurants to my “yeah, I’ve eaten there” list—Buz & Ned’s Real BBQ and The Black Sheep.

But as for Caliente … never. I don’t do heat, and poor Irene would probably burst into flames if we even drove past the place.

I’ll let you know what I thought of these restaurants—and how they compare to other Man v. Food picks—once we get back.

Once I made my mind up that I’d be attending last weekend’s Stoker Awards banquet, I decided to bookend the event with two unrelated lunches—one on Thursday with the Junior High School drama teacher who changed my life, the other on Sunday with Mirthful Marie Severin, with whom I worked a lifetime ago in the Marvel Comics Bullpen. But I ended up spontaneously having another lunch that had absolutely nothing to do with the Stokers, and for that I blame Jeff Strand.

Jeff had joined me in Austin at the Salt Lick as I attempted to recreate an episode of Man v. Food, and is now hooked on the show, so he joined me again—this time with his wife Lynne Hansen and friend Sally Bosco—as I worked my through a Long Island Man v. Food quest, visiting Ciao Baby and the International Delight Cafe. And during dinner Friday night, we swapped stories of our favorite restaurants, which of course led me to talking about Shopsins. That’s Shopsins of the infamous rules and the dizzying, ever-changing menu, where I’ve eaten (among other things) brisket in cherry gravy and slutty cakes (that is, pumpkin, peanut butter, and pistachio pancakes).

Surprisingly, I began to fall in love with Shopsins not by eating there, but from the documentary I Like Killing Flies, which I watched on a whim on IFC. And as soon as I saw it, I thought, this sounds like my kind of place.

Here are a couple of clips from the documentary that’ll give you an idea of the tone of the restaurant and the personality of owner Kenny Shopsin.

(more…)

If you’ll be heading to Balticon this weekend, and would like some advice on where to eat, I can think of no better guide than Adam Richman of Man v. Food. He hasn’t steered me wrong yet. So check out his Baltimore episode below, and think about whether you want to tag along to Chaps Charcoal Restaurant when I put out the call.

Haven’t decided whether I’ll make that trip before or after I carve up the durian, though …

Jeff Strand beat me to the punch yesterday by telling me he’d already watched the Long Island episode of Man v. Food in preparation for next month’s Stoker Awards weekend. The guy (who made quite a dent in the BBQ at the Salt Lick last month) put me to shame!

But I have a good excuse. It’s hard to be thinking about the Stokers when I still have to survive the Nebula Awards in D.C. this weekend and Balticon over in Baltimore next weekend.

But assuming I do survive, these clips will give you an idea of where I’ll end up. Adam Richman didn’t steer me wrong in Columbus (during World Fantasy Con) or Austin (for World Horror), so why should Long Island be any different?

I’ll be looking for victims … er … volunteers … from June 16-19th. Which meal do you want to have over at Ciao Baby, Jeff?