I awoke to the reformed glass particles being held out in offering to me, a flame utensil in the other hand. "Paranoia strikes deep" he said. Normally, this wouldn't be all that strange but the flame was the only light in the room (I live in a windowless basement, you see) so it made for a striking display. I readied myself for what lay ahead.
A MetroLink platform in an Illinois suburban heatwave glimmered in the distance of a commuter-train LRV parking lot. We exited the automobile of foreign origin for an air conditioned rain vehicle. Soon we were aboard, whisking across a plethora of fields interspersed with the public housing projects of Eastern District St. Clair County which then became East St. Louis proper. Urban decay makes the best kinds of tourism possible.
In the distance, a Midwestern storm of extra-ordinary proportions was coming in on the horizon, giving us both hesitations regarding our choice of tourist activity. Around our hitting the Eads Bridge the rain was letting up and by the time we reached Convention Center it had ceased. We briefly tried to break into the now closed St. Louis Centre shopping mall, a study in urban mall failure (
http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/st_louis_centre.html). Anyway, we continued for another block and saw this about 2 mins after it happened. (
http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=176797) it was insane! There were firetrucks and black SUVs pulling in as we walked up. We gawked for a few minutes then grabbed some pizza.
The City Museum was next on our trip. We walked right in without paying, some things never change. We climbed a 10 story slide and then left. We were across the street from the War Memorial Building when the lightning began to strike and another storm rolled in, bringing with it lots of rain and thunder. It eventually let up and we walked to One AT&T Center
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT&T_Center_(St._Louis) took some pictures and went home.
Now I know after reading that writeup of the day, you're asking yourself, "How can I attend this convention?". What you must first realize is that CKC isn't the kind of con you can just "attend". You have to be invited.
