what's on my mind

It all started when I read about how some webcomic artists decided to throw a little get-together for other folks of their ilk. The New England Webcomics Weekend, as it had come to be known, started off small and became a monster of an event, attracting many creators of popular webcomics and hundreds of their fans. Other people were commenting on how they wished they could have made it over there, and were envious of those who did. I certainly wished I could have made it... but this was put together on very short notice - about a month or two from concept to completion - so that didn't leave me much time to plan for a trip to Massachusetts. I was out of a job at that moment in time, anyway (not to mention I had another local convention I was getting ready for).

But a webcomic-specific meetup was a good idea... and one of the New England thing's organizers did make a statement saying they hoped that this would spawn similar events across the country. So I figured, why not do a Dallas Webcomics Weekend? I brought this up with a webcomicking friend of mine, Michael Moreno. He was all gung-ho about the idea, so we decided to seriously go through with it.

It's not often that I get to organize a large-scale event such as this. I had always wanted to do some kind of entertainment-related event... ever since I was a kid, even. Not many people know this, but back when I was 10 or 11, I put together a little event for the kids on my street on the 4th of July, and called it the Independence Day Festival. It wasn't much of a festival, just some makeshift games, a couple of puppet shows, some play areas and a wagon ride. But I liked entertaining people and giving them a good time in whatever form I could conjure up. And this was a good opportunity to start organizing stuff like that again.

First off: what to call our webcomic convention type thing. At first we were gonna call it just that: Dallas Webcomics Weekend. We were already publicizing it as that, and were busy putting together the website, when I got a message from Meredith Gran, one of the New England organizers... she had secured the rights to "Webcomics Weekend" as a brand name, and she would prefer we didn't use that in our event name. And I wouldn't blame her... the "Webcomics Weekend" was a hot commodity, and that was a smart move on her part to trademark it. So after a little brainstorming, I came up with: Dallas Webcomics Expo, or "DWEX" for short.

Next came where to hold this expo. This is where I got sticker shock... the hotels, convention centers and civic centers we started with were averaging $3,000-$4,000 per day. I was just about to settle on a site by DFW Airport that seemed reasonable... when in stepped my good friend Jonathan Caustrita, Tiki Coladas author AND sales manager for the Southfork Hotel in Plano. He said he could offer his hotel's largest event space for half the cost of where I was gonna go. I jumped at that offer... and made him part of the management for DWEX as well.

Then there was the matter of getting the word out to artists, comic book dealers and other exhibitors. I fired off dozens of e-mails to the creators of all the webcomics I read on a daily basis, as well as some of the most popular webcomics on the internet. If I knew of any comic creators that lived in or near the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I sent them e-mails as well. I knew I wouldn’t get many takers, given the fact that I was looking for table dwellers only a few months in advance of the event, but I was still motivated by how fast the New England event was put together. Eventually we sold out of all our artist tables; there were only a couple of takers for merchant spaces, though.

I knew one thing we wanted to have for the expo was panel discussions. I put the word out about coming up with ideas for panels, and we had a few good ideas come in. I didn't know how we would manage these panels... but I soon got a message from a guy named Phil Vecchio, saying he was interested in organizing or helping out with the panels. I told him if he wanted to take over panel management, we would give his website Webcomics Advocates full sponsorship of the panels, including a mention of it in the program and on the website.

I knew some folks would bring their kids, so I decided to give them something to do while at DWEX. I put together a kids' area complete with markers, pencils and specially designed flyers for them to draw their own comics on and take home with them. There were other things I wanted to do for the expo - such as an "art jam", a costume contest, an art auction or other giveaways - but we honestly didn't have the time or money to put them together. But we had the kids' area and the panels, and that was a good start.

Finally the day arrived for DWEX. Once the doors opened, there were a couple of people eager to get in, but it would be maybe half an hour before others showed up. I had a panic attack... what if it was like this all day? How would we pay back the hotel if we didn't make enough? What would I tell Kristi? What would everyone think of us? But as more people entered the ballroom, I gradually calmed down. And eventually I enjoyed myself the rest of the day, talking with the other webcomickers, managing the door money, sitting in on a couple of panels and tending to other urgent business.

When all was said and done, we were able to pay the hotel in full and even have a good chunk of change left over (just over $100 in fact). About 140 people paid for admission... while that would seem like light attendance, most everyone there said that this was a pretty good turnout for an inaugural event. So that was quite reassuring to me. Also, some well-known cartoonists - syndicated cartoonists no less - happened to drop by: Hector Cantu and Carlos Castellanos, makers of "Baldo", said they were in town for the day, so I gave them a table to sell and sign stuff at. And Bill Hinds, maker of "Tank McNamara" and "Cleats", showed up as well, just to walk around and talk with some of the other artists.

Overall, I'm pleased with how DWEX turned out. And everyone (well, ALMOST everyone) had a good time while they were there. One thing's for sure... we're gonna be better organized (not to mention better publicized) for the next DWEX in 2010. In fact, we'll start planning for it in a couple of weeks. I hope everyone who took part in the first DWEX returns for the next one. And I hope we can add new faces to the roster too.

For the second year in a row, extenuating circumstances have forced me to cancel my annual trip to Mardi Gras in Galveston. At least this year, however, Mardi Gras came to me.

This past Saturday in Dallas's Victory Park, Popeye's Chicken hosted a Mardi Gras celebration called Mystiqal. The event consisted of a parade and a street festival with live bands. The parade was a decent one, short on route but a sizable collection of floats, bands and other performers. And there wasn't much to the festival - a handful of arts & crafts booths, a few food vendors and a VIP section - but the turnout was impressive... several thousand people showed up to party. Not bad for a rookie year.

Hopefully the crowds will encourage the folks behind the Mystiqal festival to make it a regular yearly event. That or have the City of Dallas or some other civic organization take the ball and run with it next year. I would suggest centering the celebration more in the West End, though... Victory Park seems too modernistic and sterile for something like Mardi Gras, and the older buildings in the West End provide a better atmosphere, one that's a bit closer to the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Way too much time has passed since I've spent a meaningful amount of time in Deep Ellum. For those who don't live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Deep Ellum, a roughly 20-block area between the streets of Elm and Canton located just east of downtown Dallas, has been a popular nightlife spot for about 20 years now, peaking in the mid-to-late nineties. It was a lively mix of clubs, bars, restaurants, shops and a handful of street vendors. All the hottest alternative rock acts played there, in places like Trees, Club Dada, On The Rocks, Deep Ellum Live, Gypsy Tea Room, Copper Tank, Galaxy Club, Curtain Club, Blind Lemon/Clearview and so on.... it was where Generation X went to party, basically.

Ten years ago, I was there almost every weekend, staying from about 9 at night to 3 in the morning on average. Trying to avoid the $5 parking lots, I would cruise around looking for an open parking-meter spot, which would only cost me 50-75 cents to keep my car legit until the hour that enforcement of the meters stopped. I would then dash into a few of the clubs - preferably those that had free cover until 10 or so (usually that was Lazerz and the Lizard Lounge) - and get my wristband or hand stamp so I would re-enter free for the rest of the night. After that, I would just go wandering from block to block, stopping in a few bars for a drink, grabbing a bite to eat, trying to dance on a crowded dance floor, or just chilling out and chatting with strangers in a lounge or coffee bar.

While there was always that small hope of hooking up with someone, I was there mostly to people-watch... and the people I watched there came in many varieties, from the grunge kids to the goth kids to the clubbers and hip-hoppers. I had a small group of friends that would hang out regularly at one of the coffee shops, called Donut Lady & KJ's Coffee. It was one of three Deep Ellum establishments that stayed open all night, the others being Cafe Brazil and Insomnia Coffee Bar. We would just pay for a bottomless cup of coffee, get some food on occasion, and sit around chatting and playing board games or what have you. Donut Lady/KJ's was where I most often ended up at the end of the night, when I would say my goodbyes, get back in my car, and hit the onramp to 75 North on the way back to my North Dallas apartment. Though I never managed to meet and spawn any loving relationships with any ladies who frequented Deep Ellum, I still fondly look back on those fun-filled nights on those streets.

Larry & Dawn first brought me to Deep Ellum in September of 1993, when I still lived in Houston and was just visiting. Then I was a regular from late 1994, when I first moved up here, to about 1997, when I met the girl who would become my first wife (she preferred movies and honky-tonks to the Deep Ellum scene). After that the nighttime Deep Ellum visits were very sporadic. And after divorcing and moving to Austin and back - into the Fort Worth side this time - I turned my interests elsewhere in my pursuit of weekend nightlife.

Around the turn of the century traffic was getting so bad that the Dallas Police Department had to institute a special traffic flow program around the area, blocking off Main Street and limiting traffic on Elm and Commerce. After that, things slowly went downhill. Downtown Dallas itself was the new place to be, as well as newer entertainment districts like Addison Circle and Mockingbird Station. Reports of increased crime in the Deep Ellum area certainly didn't help matters.

Well, last weekend I was curious as to how Deep Ellum was doing these days... last time I cruised through was maybe three years ago. Kristi was in Mineral Wells for the weekend and I had nothing better to do. So I decided to drive by and see what was going on. And what I found was quite saddening, to say the least.

Deep Ellum's not as crowded as it used to be, for starters. Back in its mid-90s heyday, I was constantly dodging groups of people taking up the whole sidewalk... now, at 11:00 on a Saturday night, on a rain-free night, on Labor Day Weekend no less, I hardly saw anyone walking around. Main Street was still blocked off, but traffic wasn't thick at all. What used to be a pile-up of cars on Elm waiting for the light at Good-Latimer is now a cakewalk. Not as many businesses are open anymore. The legendary Trees club shut down a few years ago. Club Dada, where I first caught the comedy troupe that would eventually evolve into Section 8, closed down for a while last year before reopening back in the spring. Sambuca, a long-standing jazz club that lent a touch of exotic class to the area, was long gone, as well as the Deep Ellum Cafe, Crescent City Cafe, Sweet Endings Bakery and Insomnia. And now I've heard the Green Room just closed down.

At least there's still some places that I recognize. July Alley hasn't changed a bit since the 90s. The Blind Lemon/Clearview complex and the Bone still do respectable business. It's good to see Lazerz thriving... I remember when it was still barely open and struggling to get people inside. The Dancing Marlin, Angry Dog, Aca Y Alla and Cafe Brazil continue to serve critically-acclaimed food. A handful of new clubs and restaurants now try to earn a name for themselves alongside the seasoned veterans.While I'm not as nostalgic for Donut Lady/KJ's, which shut down back in 1997, at least there's a diner in its place that's doing fairly well.

But clearly - and not surprisingly - things are not the same. I know the shelf life of your average nightclub/bar is fairly brief. The youth of today (shit, I'm already sounding like an old fart) for the most part have found better, flashier nightspots elsewhere in the Metroplex. Here's hoping Deep Ellum will return to its former glory... maybe once the imminent 90's/grunge revival gets underway.