I had so much to say, but it's all been upended in my head by the mental image of Tucker's "future spawn."
About getting Pushwagner, though (which I bought because Tucker told me to, which is why I will love him until the DAY I DIE), yeah, that's gonna be tricky. It's in the database of Columbia's German-language vendor, Harrassowitz, but they only deal with libraries, not individuals, so I'll be able to order it but you won't. It's not listed at Amazon.de and because it's not actually printed IN Germany it's not at www.buchhandel.de, which is kind of German Books in Print with a shopping cart attached.
Does this mean I should get a couple of copies?? And does this mean I can't do a column on it? Because that thing Blew. My. Mind.
I have to agree about the lack of air conditioning. After about 45 minutes of wandering through the tables, I felt the need to exit the building. It was a good experience except for that.
Actually, Mario Van Buren's, "Girls Don't Poop," was the best book I picked up at Mocca last year. I picked up his new books, "The Marsh" and "Prune Hands" at this year's show, and both were also great. You can get 'em all at iknowjoekimpel.com.
Yeah, it was pretty good when I picked it up last year too. That's what I'm saying: I want a sequel. Marsh and Prune are fun and all, but they aren't Girls Don't Poop 2.
It was nice getting to meet you. MoCCA ended up being pretty cool for me. I met some writers and artists I like and ended up with some signed work. However, that heat was not fun. I'd wanted to talk to more people, but it just made social interaction uncomfortable. There's a chance I would have spent more time (and maybe money if I'd run out to an ATM) in there had conditions been a bit better. Seems like a lot of the folks working the tables lost a few pounds in sweat and that's not pleasant when you're trying to reach out to fans and potential fans. I take it previous years have been nicer.
The Puck Building was and IS a dump; the Armory was a far, FAR better venue for this sort of show. If you're complaining about a lack of air conditioning at the Armory, then your memories of the Puck Building MOCCAs are either short or selective. It was no better. (Although the panel room WAS oppressively hot. Since it was underground and had no windows, is anyone surprised?)
For anyone from MOCCA who's reading this: this was by far THE best Art Festival they've done yet, and the venue played a huge role in that. Please, please, PLEASE don't let the rantings of lightweights who are afraid of a little sweat convince you to change the venue next year. The fact that we didn't have to take frigging elevators or staircases to see all the vendors ALONE was worth the price of admission. Thumbs way, way up.
I know I'm super late on this story, but yeah, being one of the artists behind a table, the heat was awful. Sunday was especially grueling. There likely would have been a tragedy if a friend of mine had shown up due to her heart condition (called, POTS, I believe...), as there would've been significant risk to her life.
I enjoyed the shows I did at the Puck Building, despite the fact I would often table in the worst lit room, but the show has become far too large for the venue. Most folks I know have suggested Brooklyn as a size/cost friendly alternative (with some form of air conditioning or at least good sized, open windows...), and what with most of the local artists living there as it is, even though i would miss the Manhattan thing (being as I simply love NYC...), it sounds like a great alternative.
All in all, the event left me weary from the heat as opposed to energized to do comics (I was lucky I was able to go to Jones Beach the final night for a NIN concert to cool down...), but a table has been paid in full for 2010. Table space is almost impossible to come by even with the Armory venue, and I feel shows like this and SPX could thrive in an actual Convention Center, a Chicago Wizard world minus the dealer tables.
