Comic Con

This picture isn't from the Con, but as I was searching for pictures I found this and couldn't resist

Disclaimer: Below is my account of this past weekend in San Diego for Comic Con, the biggest comic book convention in the world (that statement not justified by fact). I will only be talking about the convention as if I was a fan, as opposed to someone working in the entertainment field. All of my opinions are my own and don't reflect that of any place I may work.

The lollipop is the best part about this picture

So, Comic Con San Diego. Wow, what can I say? I've been to this convention before, the past two years in fact, and each year I'm astounded by the amount of nerds and geeks in this world. And I'm not saying that to be mean, in fact, they embrace it. Like Outfest or some other gathering of like minded people where there tends to be no judgement. That's not to say I wasn't judging anyone, I mean, how can you not judge someone who's wearing a Stormtrooper outfit in public, around 150,000 other people.

I arrived there on Thursday night, driving down from Los Angeles. Only took us about 3 hours, which, I'm told is good for Comic Con weekend. Was staying at a beautiful hotel, but just for the night, then switching to another great hotel the next day, don't ask me why. Had a great Thursday night, ate at an Australian restaurant. I can honestly say that I had never had Australian food before. I can also honestly say that there was no "wow" about it. Not like when you eat Moroccan food or something exotic. I had fish and chips, which, don't get me wrong, was great, but I had that before. I think if I had been driving beer I would have enjoyed it more, not because of my state of mind, but because Australia surely knows how to brew some beer, or so I'm told. I didn't really see any silly costumed people until I went to a bar in the Gaslamp district and two cowboys showed up. I really don't know how they were sci-fi, but I guess maybe there was a cowboy comic book. Although, I found as the weekend wore on, I found that some costumes weren't about any comic book, they were about people getting the chance to wear the weird outfit they put together last year in their basement and only showed their online friends during a break in the gaming night.

This is creepy

The next day it was finally time to walk the floor of Comic Con. That got old in about 15 minutes. I'm not really into crowds, and I'm certainly not into smelly crowds, and that's exactly what is in there after packing 150,000 people into one room. My friends met me there and we went to the Stargate Atlantis panel which, if you're a fan of the show, was great. I kinda missed Chris Judge, who was on the panel right before, but not on the Sci Fi Chanel panel, since SG-1 got cancelled. Okay, I'm sorry, geeked out there for a moment.

After the panel, decided to walk around again, hoping that the ventilation system kicked in. It hadn't, so I went with a friend of mind to Dick's Back Yard BBQ or some funny name like that. Basically the place is known for having a rude wait staff. I mean, that's their job, to be rude to the customers. It's actually quite fun and funny. My friend ordered a beer and the waitress brought some plastic cups which she threw at him, one at a time. It was entertaining and the food was pretty good. My friend had some wings, I wish I had ordered that, but my salmon was good as well, and the fries, yummy!

We made it back in time for the Eureka panel, which was in a smaller room, but ended up being quite crowded. Most of the cast was there, besides the kid who plays Fargo, who is just hilarious on the show and is also the voice of S.A.R.A.H, the smart house. I'll tell you later what happened to him. Anyway, the panel was good and good Holy God, Ed Quinn, who plays Stark, is just about the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I mean, besides Jack Bauer, although I think he's about 15 inches taller then Jack Bauer. Seriously, this man is tall, probably 6'4'', with beautiful blue eyes. And he's nice and charming, and did I mention how HOT he is? The panel was entertaining and blah blah blah. I was invited to the Disney party, but I had to bail because it was past six already and I had to go home, relax and then wash the nerd off of me before a night of eating, drinking and parties.

Wait, here is a good time to mention mini-peds. When I said this term to my roommate, I think she thought I said mani-pedis, and although that would have been awesome, no, I'm talking about the rickshaw things. But we're not in China, so they're attached to bikes. I wouldn't feel right having someone carry my ass around in a real rickshaw. Anyway, I used these things to go everywhere. The traffic was insane, and getting around by bicycle was not only quicker, but it was good to feel the beautiful southern California wind in your hair. Oh, and did I mention all the drivers were hot? I mean, for the most part, I saw one who looked like a bloated Elvis. Although, if you wanted to get somewhere fast, he may be your best bet. A weird note here though, most of the male rickshaw drivers were Turkish. Yes, strange, I know, and I'm not really sure what that was about, but they could peddle their cute little asses off. I did get a girl once, just for the heck of it, and it took forever to get back to my hotel at 3am.

Anyway, went out and had some drinks with some friends on Friday night, probably shouldn't have had so many, and ended up at this Mexican restaurant that's open until 4am, but not before hitting up an industry party. And by industry party I mean nerd party. My friend and I tried to talk to a few people, but they were douches, until we met another group and they were much nicer. They were more fans then industry and I wondered how they got into the party. But I was glad they were there because we had a good time talking to them. They told me that Aaron Douglas, "Chief Tyrol" from BSG was there somewhere, with a shaved head. I tried to search for him, but couldn't find him. Plus I was talking to some cool peeps, didn't want to ruin it by star stalking. Left there and went back to Gaslamp where we met up with some more friends and continued to drink. Everybody was drunk and having a good time and this is when I realized... I could have stayed in LA and done the exact same thing. But regardless, I still had one more full day of nerdsville, although I was excited because I was going to see Heroes and Battlestar Galactica.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, I had missed the Pushing Daisies and Bionic Woman panels, but thought, frak it, I've seen both pilots and I had to sleep off the hang over anyway. I tried to pull myself together to make it to the Who Wants to Be a Superhero panel. When I got to the tiny room it was standing room only, which truly surprised me. But, Stan Lee was on the panel and anybody who likes comics, or Spiderman, or The Hulk, or The X-Men, would want to see the man who created these heroes. And I for one, love Spiderman and The X-Men. Jury's still out on The Hulk, although Ed Norton is playing him. More on Ed Norton later. During the Q&A of the panel, probably 5 people asked to either hug or take a picture with Stan, or sometimes both. The groans of the audience didn't stop them from asking time and time again. Finally the moderator put a stop to it, but Stan, being Stan, told the people to wait on the side of the room and after the panel was over he obliged all the picture/autograph seekers. He's a star, the best quality. I mean, check out that picture again. Hahaha.

Next me and some colleagues decided to tackle the Heroes panel. When we walked to the large room it was being held in, the line wrapped around the entire second floor. The Lost line was like this last year. I would have liked to go to that this year, but it was on Thursday(?!?!?!?) so I missed it. Anyway, there was no room during the Heroes panel, but luckily I could get in since I went in through one of the green rooms. I had to still stand, but it was worth it to see Milo walk out. And boy, did he look good. Wow. I only stayed for half of it, then made my way back for Battlestar Galactica which was awesome. Tricia Helfer is just about the most beautiful woman ever. And so damn nice. The panel was the ladies of BSG, unfortunately Grace Park who plays "Sharon" wasn't there but "Starbuck", "President Laura Roslin" joined "Number Six" with a surprise guest appearance from Xena: Warrior Princess herself Lucy Lawless who plays "DeAnna" It was a fun panel.

I did stay there again after BSG was over and saw the Futurama panel. I'm not really a fan of the show. That's not to say I don't like it, I just don't watch it. Man, it was funny. Katey Segal was there, Mrs. Peg Bundy herself, and the audience of about 5000 was treated to a reading of a comic with the actors playing their respective characters, and more. The people in this panel were very interesting. I hadn't actually sat in a fan section, so it was interesting to be with people who had spent money not only on the Con, but also flying their asses out for this. There were people from all over the world, which is actually kind of cool to think about.

So that was the end of my convention experience. I did go to a great industry party that night where a bunch of A-B list stars were. Of course I got to see and talk to Mr. Stan Lee again, but also saw Robert Downey, Jr., which was a little odd. I caught a side/back glimpse of Ed Norton and good Holy Lords of Kobol was his head big. I always found him extremely attractive, but wow, I was wrong. I mean, his face, okay, but the size of his head was actually disturbing. Could have been the cosmos I was having, but still. J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias), Joss Whedon (Firefly, Serenity), the casts of Sci Fi Channel shows, BSG, Eureka, Stargate, Flash Gordon, were all there too, which was cool. Jenna Jamison and Sarah Silverman were also there, although I only saw Sarah. I know I'm forgetting some people, but all in all, this party was fun, and I didn't feel all nerdsvilled out. This is where I ran into the guy who plays Fargo on Eureka. Neil. This kid cracked me up. He missed his flight, and was routed through Denver (from Vancouver) to San Diego, and that's why he missed the panel. He was so sweet.

When I finally left on Sunday I realized that it had been a good trip. Yeah, I was tired from lack of sleep and over abundance of alcohol, but the experience is something that I look forward to every year. This time though, I'm going to book my hotel early.

REALLY?

So, I just came across this video from a recent interview given by the lovely Holly Hunter. It's not that often you watch an interview where you're so embarrassed for the reporter you almost want a light to fall on their head and stop the misery. It's hard to find words for how amazingly awful this woman is. I think my goldfish would do a better interview although I'd be worried this woman would put her head in the bowl to do it. Oh, if you watch it 'til the end not only will you hear the producer yelling at her, but you'll also hear her give the ABC website as http://www.nbcnews.com/. See a problem with that? I'd be amazed if this woman still has a job, unless it's greeting people at Target. And I don't mean to offend anyone who actually does this, since you're probably 10 times smarter and less mentally challenged then this woman.