April 7, 2012: Akemi and I attend the Annual Waiting Festival! Dark Matter #4 Preview! Mailbag!

Ever see that South Park episode where Cartman and the gang visit an amusement park?  We discover them in an incredibly long queue where Kyle complains about the fact that they've been standing in line for almost an hour.  Thankfully, as Cartman points out, they're almost there.  Seconds later they finally reach the end of the line where a park attendant asks them if they enjoyed "The Line Ride – a real live simulator of a long line."  And then: "That'll be five tickets, please."

Today, Akemi and I felt a lot like Cartman and co. when we attended the Van Dusen Garden Annual Waiting Festival.  Okay, it wasn't advertised as the Waiting Festival but I suspect that was only because they were afraid of scaring off potential visitors.

Anyway, after driving around for some twenty minutes looking for parking, we eventually gave up and parked some six blocks away.  By the time we finally arrived, we were hungry and looking forward to sampling foods from the various Japanese vendors.  Unfortunately, lunch would have to wait.  We were greeted by an impossibly long line-up that snaked beyond the parking lot.

Line-up #1

Rather than walk the six blocks back to the car, we elected to stick it out.  And, thirty minutes later, we were rewarded with entry tickets. Finally, it was lunch time!

That's what I thought anyway.  We stepped through the entrance and into another line-up, this one for food.

Line-up #2

After waiting for some fifteen minutes, a volunteer informed everyone that we were waiting in the line-up to pick up food.  If we wanted to order food, we had to line up in a completely different queue.  Half the line dispersed, including Akemi and I, electing to take our chances with another, hopefully less busy food stand.

Fat chance.

Line-up #3

Pictured above, the line-up for takoyaki – those half-cooked octopus balls, served searingly hot, that are de rigueur at most any Japanese-themed outdoor event.  While I waited in line, Akemi scoped out the area and came back with some pre-lunch appetizers = cute macarons:

Alas, they were a disappointment.  As was the gyudon (beef bowl) she also picked up during my interminable wait for these:

Inferior takoyaki

Sadly, another disappointment.  They lacked the cabbage filling and other ingredients that usually accompany the octopus – in this case, a tiny piece or two per ball.

We moved on and, since I was still hungry, braved yet another line.  In this case, I had about a half dozen to choose from and passed on the longer lines for Japanese hot dogs and yakitori in favor of the much shorter line for ramen.  Alas, while the line may have been shorter (a mere ten minute wait) the actual wait for the food was about three times longer than any of the others – a ridiculous thirty minutes!  I will say, howeer, that the ramen was actually quite good – really the only good thing we ate on the day.

In addition to endless lines, the Van Dusen Garden Annual Waiting Festival also offered the following:

Origami dinosaurs

Cherry blossoms (Akemi: "That's it?")

Sakura fashion

Akemi, dressed for the weather.

The garden maze - which we attempted, this despite my tale of the two Japanese tourists who wandered in last year never to exit. I informed Akemi that their skeletal remains were recovered during the spring thaw.

Akemi salutes the topiary bull.

Speaking of waiting, if you want to check out the fourth and final issue of the Dark Matter opening arc, you'll have to wait until Wednesday to pick it up at your local comic book store.  In the meantime, allow me to tide you over with a preview of issue #4′s first three pages:

Mailbag:

astrumporta writes: "…resisted the reading glasses as long as possible, because the doc said once you start using them, your eyes get weaker."

Answer: Aha!  I figured as much.  Back in the drawer they go!

Marsha_R writes: "Yes, I do owe you corn tamales, because we failed to find them in San Diego!"

Answer: Marsha, aka Texas Lady?  Yes, I do reall – no corn tamales.  But plenty of bail bond offices!

dasndanger writes: "…he said it was okay, and he flashed a badge and said he was a fireman (like that makes a difference), and I flashed my bigass digging knife and said I'm armed (like that makes a difference)."

Answer: Damn.  Wouldn't want to run into you in a dark alley.  Stay safe!

Blake Linton writes: "…the Constellation Awards nominations for 2011 have recently been announced, and Stargate Universe received a whopping eight nominations, including at least one nomination in every category for which it qualified."

Answer: Great to hear.  Thanks to both you and Kelley Hirst for securing the nominations.  Now it's up to Stargate fans to get the vote out!

Ponytail writes: "I am already sad Dark Matter 4 is the final copy written. Don't just stop there. Are you going to continue the paper comic?"

Answer: Would love to – but that'll be up to Dark Horse.

Migzy writes: "Have you ever thought of becoming a food critic?"

Answer: Nah, I'm not serious enough.  I just like what I like.

sparrow_hawk writes: "Hey, have you read Ready Player One yet? I think you'll like it."

Answer: Funny you should mention it.  Only yesterday, I was reading the book's blurb on amazon and thinking I should pick it up – along with The Freedom Maze.

Orderofolde writes: "That people are still writing because they want more seasons more than a year after cancellation should tell people something. Maybe do a mini-series as a feeler, then commit to more seasons when you see your "Ratings" go up to 3.5 million which really is more like 5-7 million actually watching and following the series!"

Answer: Among the stops I'll be making on my whirlwind tour of L.A. will be a visit to our friends at MGM.  I fully intend to ask them what the plan is re: future Stargate.  Will let you know.

poundpuppy29 (Erika) writes: "Hey Joe I searched your blog and I can't find what you said about Vala was she even mentioned in the third movie script?"

Answer: I don't recall the specifics for her absence (I read Stargate Revolution a long time ago) but Vala was not in the movie.  As I mentioned in a response to a similar question, in my mind, she was off-world dealing with "family issues" during the events of Revolution and rejoined the team soon after the events of Revolution.

Tagged: Sakura Fair, Van Dusen Gardens