DRAGONCON Part Three:
I wake up, pleasantly surprised to feel no ill-effects from last evening's ribaldry, and realize that...Yes, It's "The Day Of The James." So, after we all awake, and have a quick breakfast again at the Hilton's Cafe Express, we head to the Con, Artist's Alley in the bottom of the Marriotte. I see that Brian is sketching for someone already, but he stops and we quickly talk "terms," and both of us agree that Ra's Al' Ghul will be the subject of The Year Of The James piece, but then Brian says, "One problem though...will it be Ra's dressed in the suit...or Ra's emerging from the Lazarus Pit? That's my problem...I can't, no, I won't decide...You must decide." I was put in a state of confusion, hysteria...an internal quandary of epic proportions. I had to decide which Ra's Al' Ghul would be the new additon to The James' Stelfreeze Batman Gallery, and I wasn't prepared. I had always relied on Brian to make these decisions, and HA
L, master of choices like these was nowhere to be found. Seconds passed by that seemed like hours of torture at unattractive female's hands. Brian must have sensed my perplexed state, because then he spoke again, much like the burning bush must have answered questions for Moses: "I can't decided either...but it's Year Of The James, and that means..." (reaches behind the table) ..."You must have both." Brian then pulls out a finished b/w piece of Ra's standing in a suit, with a brandy snifter in hand. "This is part one of Year Of The James," he says, "Take it, it's yours. Now...now I will begin the color piece of Ra's emerging from the pit." Folks...FOTJ (Friends of 
The James)...I was overcome with unexpressed emotion that could only have been interpreted as shock at the generosity...the camaraderie...the "Stelfreeze" of the man towards me. I must have seemed like an alcoholic at Beerfest, because I can't truly recall anything after that for awhile. I know that I left Brian to begin the piece, checking with Andrew Robinson to pick up my Batman piece (Awesome), and checking with Eric Powell about my Catwoman piece (To be picked up around 5 or so), and attending to some other signing details, and going to Paul Dini's panel, and later getting my picture taken with him, one of my favorite writers, and talking him into signing my writer's book, with a quote about writing or fiction. The next huge event of DOTJ, was when I returned to Brian's table to witness a nice little crowd enjoying my pi
ece's creation, and was told that Eric and Mimi Layton had arrived. For those who don't know, they are two of my best friends in and outside this little art-fanatic community we belong to, and we had eaten dinner with them the night before. What I did not know was that this was an "AMBUSH," but quickly discovered that the two Layton schemers had made a few T-SHIRTS that commemorated Day Of The James, since they both had them, gave me one, Brian one, Jason Walker, and Higashi had one. It had my picture (cruelly stolen from MySpace after I ran last year's river run) on the front with DOTJ, and on the back had my two other Stelfreeze Watercolors, with 
accompanying text as well. While I believed that I could not feel any more shocked, I was wrong. This display of affection truly caught me off guard, and made the day even more unbelievable. People kept asking about the t-shirt all day, and The James began to become an icon, itself. (Incidentally, this all grew out of Mimi ribbing me about my WayoftheJames website, and her insistence that it not stop there.) People who didn't get shirts received the bracelets with WWTJD on them, which I suppose makes the wayofthejames a sort of religion now, as well. (Can't do worse than the ones at work in the world today, in my opinion.) Anyway, Brian 
finished the YOTJ piece, and it was beautiful, also following the themes he had done on the previous two creations, and I was amazed. I picked up my Eric Powell piece, also always outstanding, and my crew and I finished the day watching the Dragoncon Costume Contest in the room on the tv, joined by HAL and his wife Rhonda, Sumbitch, Iron Matt, and eventually Higashi...who had, unsurprisingly, bailed on us to have dinner with other artists. The past two days and nights were beginning to take their toll on me, but next year, I will be up and about all three nights viewing films, etc... While the evening winded to a close, the DOTJ still lived on 
in my mind, as I relived all of its wonderful moments into sleep. Stine, Brian's wife, emailed me after the con and said that I truly had some "wonderful friends." I can only concur with that statement, and express my never-ending astonishment at that fact, given my natural surly, and unfriendly state. I don't know how I got to be so lucky...but I do have some awesome friends that make simple stories and events feel like sagas and adventures. I hope you all find some friends that give to you a fraction of what I get from mine. Coming up: Day 4 of Dragoncon and final thougts on this adventure.
I wake up, pleasantly surprised to feel no ill-effects from last evening's ribaldry, and realize that...Yes, It's "The Day Of The James." So, after we all awake, and have a quick breakfast again at the Hilton's Cafe Express, we head to the Con, Artist's Alley in the bottom of the Marriotte. I see that Brian is sketching for someone already, but he stops and we quickly talk "terms," and both of us agree that Ra's Al' Ghul will be the subject of The Year Of The James piece, but then Brian says, "One problem though...will it be Ra's dressed in the suit...or Ra's emerging from the Lazarus Pit? That's my problem...I can't, no, I won't decide...You must decide." I was put in a state of confusion, hysteria...an internal quandary of epic proportions. I had to decide which Ra's Al' Ghul would be the new additon to The James' Stelfreeze Batman Gallery, and I wasn't prepared. I had always relied on Brian to make these decisions, and HA
L, master of choices like these was nowhere to be found. Seconds passed by that seemed like hours of torture at unattractive female's hands. Brian must have sensed my perplexed state, because then he spoke again, much like the burning bush must have answered questions for Moses: "I can't decided either...but it's Year Of The James, and that means..." (reaches behind the table) ..."You must have both." Brian then pulls out a finished b/w piece of Ra's standing in a suit, with a brandy snifter in hand. "This is part one of Year Of The James," he says, "Take it, it's yours. Now...now I will begin the color piece of Ra's emerging from the pit." Folks...FOTJ (Friends of 
The James)...I was overcome with unexpressed emotion that could only have been interpreted as shock at the generosity...the camaraderie...the "Stelfreeze" of the man towards me. I must have seemed like an alcoholic at Beerfest, because I can't truly recall anything after that for awhile. I know that I left Brian to begin the piece, checking with Andrew Robinson to pick up my Batman piece (Awesome), and checking with Eric Powell about my Catwoman piece (To be picked up around 5 or so), and attending to some other signing details, and going to Paul Dini's panel, and later getting my picture taken with him, one of my favorite writers, and talking him into signing my writer's book, with a quote about writing or fiction. The next huge event of DOTJ, was when I returned to Brian's table to witness a nice little crowd enjoying my pi
ece's creation, and was told that Eric and Mimi Layton had arrived. For those who don't know, they are two of my best friends in and outside this little art-fanatic community we belong to, and we had eaten dinner with them the night before. What I did not know was that this was an "AMBUSH," but quickly discovered that the two Layton schemers had made a few T-SHIRTS that commemorated Day Of The James, since they both had them, gave me one, Brian one, Jason Walker, and Higashi had one. It had my picture (cruelly stolen from MySpace after I ran last year's river run) on the front with DOTJ, and on the back had my two other Stelfreeze Watercolors, with 
accompanying text as well. While I believed that I could not feel any more shocked, I was wrong. This display of affection truly caught me off guard, and made the day even more unbelievable. People kept asking about the t-shirt all day, and The James began to become an icon, itself. (Incidentally, this all grew out of Mimi ribbing me about my WayoftheJames website, and her insistence that it not stop there.) People who didn't get shirts received the bracelets with WWTJD on them, which I suppose makes the wayofthejames a sort of religion now, as well. (Can't do worse than the ones at work in the world today, in my opinion.) Anyway, Brian 
finished the YOTJ piece, and it was beautiful, also following the themes he had done on the previous two creations, and I was amazed. I picked up my Eric Powell piece, also always outstanding, and my crew and I finished the day watching the Dragoncon Costume Contest in the room on the tv, joined by HAL and his wife Rhonda, Sumbitch, Iron Matt, and eventually Higashi...who had, unsurprisingly, bailed on us to have dinner with other artists. The past two days and nights were beginning to take their toll on me, but next year, I will be up and about all three nights viewing films, etc... While the evening winded to a close, the DOTJ still lived on 
in my mind, as I relived all of its wonderful moments into sleep. Stine, Brian's wife, emailed me after the con and said that I truly had some "wonderful friends." I can only concur with that statement, and express my never-ending astonishment at that fact, given my natural surly, and unfriendly state. I don't know how I got to be so lucky...but I do have some awesome friends that make simple stories and events feel like sagas and adventures. I hope you all find some friends that give to you a fraction of what I get from mine. Coming up: Day 4 of Dragoncon and final thougts on this adventure.
posted by The James at 6:50 AM
3 Comments:
WWTJD is priceless.
I love the way Brian handled the decision.
The stars and planets must have been in perfect alignment for you, bro.
And to think that there is another day coming...
Whew!
Wow...sweet James!
I just hope there is never a "day of the Zablo!"
More Sly??? :)
Enjoy it, friend!
-JB
Mr. Beatty,
For you to wish that there will never be a "Day of the Zablo" when I have been hoping that there would be a "10 Days of the Beatty -- INTERNATIONAL"... why, sir, it is an outrage.
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