Wes' Adventures At The San Diego Comic Con 2009

Hey all, this following report on the Comic Con was submitted to me earlier today by Geek-tastic contributor Wes Strawther.  This was his first year working at the convention in one of the panel rooms upstairs and he wanted to share his experiences working (and having fun) at the Convention.

Take it away Wes!!!

Tuesday Night

My girlfriend Amanda and I pack up. My friend Tracy gets her child out of bed to do a favor for me and I give her and her boyfriend one day passes to comic con and she literally cries.  At least I now have everything I'm going to need for the weekend.

Wednesday

We wake up, pack up the car and start heading to Temecula, Ca. to meet up with our friend's Matt and Lee. Once everything is squared away in Lee's car it's gas and to San Diego calling ou other friend Jesse the entire way to see if our hotel room had been taken care of.  It hadn't been, so we were worried beyond belief.  We park at Horton Plaza run to the Comic Con.  I pick up my Staff Badge and go inside to get the Hotel Help desk to help me.  Did they ever.  In spades.  I can't say enough good things about Hotel Help desk.  Back at Horton Plaza and off to the Holiday Inn on the Bay to settle in.  Back to the Con to get passes for Matt, Lee, and Amanda.  Amanda didn't print out her epic registration email so we end up wasting a good chunk of time trying to get her pass squared away.  Three line changes later (the final one being the line I put her in to begin with) everyone has their passes.  I was hungry but the popular vote was for a drink at the spaghetti factory so I kept quiet, not wanting to ruin anyone's time.

I had been a problem solver all day and I wasn't about to start making any more demands than the ONE I had, which was to see as much of the floor as possible.  It was imperative that I get onto the floor ASAP as it could (and would) be the only time I would get a chance to see the sales floor.  When my friends were walking at their own pace on the floor I threw a temper tantrum (I FULLY admit it was a temper tantrum, but COME ON, you gotta understand a little right?) and stormed off by myself.  I didn't have time for dilly dallying.  Matt, the greatest best friend a man could ever hope for, ditched them and Amanda, Matt and I managed to see all of the sales floor (minus the Hollywood booths which I could NOT care less about) BARELY before it was closed.  Then I had my programming department meeting where information was distributed to those poor souls who need instruction on basic Comic-Con grunt work.  Then it was back to the hotel to attempt to get a little sleep before my 8am meeting the next day.

Thursday

Up early, shower and walk the 1.5 miles to the Convention Center to get to my morning meeting.  I sit next to a really cool gal named Amy.  Amy comes up a lot in my story, which is why it's important.  I tell Dawn that my panel is in room 2 so she assigns me to it.  I show up at my room to meet Sally, the "gray shirt" of the room.  I was to shadow her all day to learn how someday I might get my own gray shirt.  Oh sexy gray shirt you will be mine.  This also makes me the first panelist to show up for Fan's Guide to Comic Con.  Amanda burst through the door bringing me several things I had forgotten just before Matt and Lee arrived, followed by Jesse and Ramona.  Now we had all we needed to start, and I'm going to sort of frame the rest panel to panel.

Fan's Guide To Comic-Con - Wow.  I would say "Could this have gone better?" but it kind of could have.  I mean we lost our projector for a good portion of the panel which caused us to panic a lot.  We frame it kind of like the Colbert Report's "The Word" so we kind of lean on our visuals to crutch us through the panel and keep people laughing.  Except they were still laughing JUST AS HARD without the pictures.  Jesse who has had snags in the past read his part so perfectly I wanted to stop the panel and kiss him.  Then when we finally got our projector back we cycled through the photos to catch up and kind of made comments about each.  Again, laughs just as hard.  Really blew me away.  Also I wouldn't know this till after watching panels in there all day . . . that was the most full that room probably got all weekend.  350 people packed in and standing against the walls, and they all cheered when we put up a bloody Vampire that proclaimed "Vampires DO NOT sparkle!".  I don't hate Twilight, but the reaction was awesome.  What can I say, I just like riling up a crowd.

Secret Origins of Comic-Con - This was the first panel I've ever "worked" (hahaha little would I know what that term really meant later in the weekend).  It was the founding fathers of comic-con getting together to discuss how it all started.  The highlight about this for me (amongst a collection of other awesome stories about trips to Mexico and the Acker-mansion), was that they were all high school nerd friends who got funded through the local comic retailer they all shopped at.  How is that for inspiring?

Comic-Con in the 70's - I've always known Jackie Estrada as that nice lady who makes all those guest subcommittee meeting suggestions for people they would like to invite to comic-con, but she's also been working for the con since it's earliest years and had some great stories about it.

Spotlight on Bill . . . I don't even care enough to spell his long last name out. I didn't enjoy myself.

Spotlight on Brian Herbert - Son of the author Frank Herbert who wrote Dune. He talked about Frank Herbert's life and answered my lifelong question about why F. Herbert never sued George Lucas for the MANY MANY MANY blatant thefts of intellectual property, and that was because he thought Star Wars was just too damn cool. He even started a club with some other authors that Lucas "borrowed" from called the "we're not going to sue Lucas club".

Spotlight on Richard Thompson - His cartoons are very funny.

Then I kinda ditched out early from a combination of boredom in my slow slow slow slow slow room and needing to get back to the hotel to eat and get back to the Convention for GeekRoundTable LIVE.

GeekRoundTable LIVE - There's a video, the sound quality blows, but I hear a rumor that a better version of the video is being edited together right now.  I hope that's true because I would hate to leave you with ONLY the video as your way of seeing what happened, but there was just too much funny for me to be able to sum it all up as a small part of a larger entry.  It needs at least it's own entry (though I wouldn't say no to a 12 part HBO miniseries).  The highlight for me is the 30 minutes Matt and I (I know Jesse had one also, if anyone else signed anything I didn't know, but I wouldn't be surprised) spent after the panel signing autographs, name placards, and taking photo's with the crowd.  If that's what celebs are bitching about constantly then I'll go ahead and switch jobs with you any day you're ready.  I could do that till I die and be perfectly content.

GeekRoundTable was scheduled for 7:30-8:30 but thanks to the overwhelming response from the audience (and the fact that no one was in the room after us) we ended up running closer to 9:30.  Matt and Lee went to the Trick-R-Treat screening, but we weren't super interested, and Lee and Matt are more into that genre than both of us together.  We split up so I could attempt to get some sleep before my 2nd 8am meeting the next day.  The kids who stopped us in the upstairs lobby to gush over us acted SHOCKED to learn Matt, Jesse, Pat and I were all from their hometown of Temecula (They couldn't fathom people like us ever coming out of their hometown).  I can't remember exactly when we got back to the hotel room, I just remember when I woke at 6am feeling like I had not gotten enough sleep.

Friday

Wake up at 6am, shower, grab Red Bulls and hoof it down the Comic Con.  As I'm walking through the front lobby carrying my morning caffeine, I hear someone quote a joke Matt had made about Red Bulls the night before at GRT LIVE.  My completely surreal night has now carried into the next day.  I get to my meeting and Amy says to Dawn, "We need Wes in 6BCF".  I get my volunteer shirt from the fulfillment room.  While I'm in there, the cast of Big Bang Theory is getting THEIR shirts.  I'm so excited to see if those guys wear them on the show.  I might jump up an cheer if they do!

Then I rush back to 6BCF to start helping out in my snazzy new Batman emblazoned volunteer shirt (oh gray shirt, you will be mine).  Amy and I are hitting it off really well as I'm following her around trying to keep my sleep deprived head straight so I can remember the ten million little things.  Amy and I quickly become besties.  Between her, Tommy, Galina, Amanda, Matt and Lee my solid Comic-Con krew is together.  Really, Amy kept me sane all weekend and together we kept Tommy sane, and it's good for Amanda, Matt and Lee to have access to the 3rd largest room at comic con via us.  I don't know if anyone disagrees, but I had so much fun.  I think it worked out well.

Farscape 10th Anniversary - I've never watched this show, but I really feel like I have to now.  Jim Henson Corp. working on special effects and from the scenes I saw a heavy influential hand on Sci-Fi shows that came after it gives it all the cred it needs to be checked out.

The Prisoner - Ned lamented the night before about this remake of a old TV series, but if what I saw is anything to go on (and I saw a TON) this remake is going to blow the original straight out of the water.  I mean Magneto is playing 2.  When a knighted actor is on the project, chances are you should probably shut-up till you actually see the footage.

Spartacus - Thanks! 300 was just a big enough bore that I felt that it should be drawn out into a terrible over violent television series inaccurate to both history and any actual legends about the man himself.  The highlight of this panel was seeing Lucy Lawless, in all her 6'6" (and wearing heels) glory. Even when she was looking at the attendee like fools for asking if a Xena cast member was going to show up in Spartacus all I could do was hum the national anthem in my head.

Marvel's Cup-O-Joe Panel - I missed this panel because I was standing in the hallway awaiting the sight of Neil Gaimen to rush him directly to the stage, but alas he never showed up for this panel.

Eureka - I don't know anything about this show, it looks funny.  If I watched more TV I'd probably give it a watch.  Evidently it's about some kind of genius commune city in Oregon?  I dunno, I was too busy running around or giggling with Amy in a quiet corner to pay attention to what they were saying.

Marvel Animation - Since they didn't seem to have more mature features coming out they wanted to talk about their Tiny Titans style show with mini marvel characters.  I think this was more hiding and giggling with Amy.

DC Universe Animated - The only thing I remember is Bruce Timm and Kevin Conroy being there, because they were the only ones I cared about. Now THAT is Batman, when Bruce Timm and Kevin Conroy get together, they really make magic.



I ran out of that and Amanda was awesome enough to get all the things I needed for my friend's mock wedding ceremony (though Amanda's tears about it were VERY real). Matt and I dressed as Jedi's we had several members of the 501st making a path for the lovely couple.  Matt and I started everyone singing the ceremonial theme from Star Wars.



I finally got to live out a dream about con I've had since high school . . . drinking beer shirtless at the convention center. LIVING THE DREAM.  My lightsaber didn't have batteries but I solved that simply by walking into a Magic the Gathering Tournament and asking/yelling for some.  This being Comic-Con people were willing to help.  After the ceremony we headed back to the restaurant at our hotel for some reception drinking.  Then as the group started to fall a part, Amanda and I fled into the city to La Puerta to meet up with Tommy, Amy and who the hell cares about anyone else!  Bah, I remember so little about that night.  I do remember that I went to bed at 3:30 am and woke up at 6am.  I also remember that I missed the Klingon Lifestyles Presentation (where people were asking for me by name) and the Star Wars Fan Film Awards, my TWO MOST FAVORITE THINGS AT COMIC CON.  FML.  I love you Jesse and Ramona.  Now if I could get Ramona to stop telling me about how much she GOT to see running around working for events my bitterness would subside a little.

Saturday

OH MY EVER LOVING JESUS, this was the point where I thought "you're not going to make it Wes".  As I was tip toeing over Charlie (who I called Chuck) I almost vomited right on his big sleeping snoring head.  Which after losing much sleep, Matt probably would have cheered about.  It's all good Charles, I got no hate for ya!  Red Bulls and a cab ride to the Comic Con and I was at my 8am meeting.  Amy and I begged and pleaded for me to make my way back to 6BCF, but it didn't take much.  As Amy was about to suggest to Dawn that I get a gray shirt (could it be true?) Dawn say's, "WES GO GRAB A POLO".  SCORE!  Not only is Dawn the sweetest best office manager ever, she's even psychic! They asked if I wanted a walkie-talkie but I was like "whoa baby steps people".  Maybe next year.



Marvel Super Hero Squad - Wait maybe this was the tiny titans Marvel cartoon.  Ugh, I can't remember.  Too early.  Too much giggling.

Quick Draw - Scott Shaw, Sergio Aragones, and a cartoonist for Disney (who's name escapes me) sit and draw all the things their moderator tells them to.  It's hilarious.  There's different challenges but I'll forever remember Sergio Aragones telling the story of the Mad magazine staff all going to Haiti where they had only ONE subscriber who had just canceled his subscription.  So the entire staff on their work vacation went to his house to beg him to re-subscribe.  Then the same moderator hosted...

Cartoon Voices - Some classic cartoon voice actors came in to do a cold reading of an old Superman Radio Serial script.  The old gentleman was the king of ad-lib.  I swear it, and blew all the youngsters off the stage.

DC Green Lantern - Geoff Johns came to not answer ANY questions about the multi colored Lantern story line going on right now in the DCU.  These comic panels always stink because it's like "can you tell us about this?". "Buy the book".  Galina and I should have had a "drink when they don't answer a question" drinking game, but this panel might have killed us.

Spotlight Ray Bradbury - OMFG I got to operate a wheelchair life for a living legend and human treasure.  They played his interview with Walter Cronkite the night of the moon landing and he spoke about how we need to spend our money more intelligently when it comes to educating children.  It was the day before his 89th birthday and he was still a genius.  I'm going to gush to my grandchildren about standing next to him someday.

Human Target- You want to know what I remember about this panel?  The guy that played the principal on Boston Public remembered me from the time I was on the show with him and Jackie Earle Haley shook my hand.  Rorschach shook my hand and said "it's good seeing you again". Like we were old friends or something. I think he was feeling a little Red Head bonding was in order because I don't think I've ever met him in my entire life!

Vampire Diaries - If Dawson's Creek and Twilight had a bouncing brouting (brooding and pouting combined) baby suckhead it would be this TV show. I wasn't interested in much about this show other than the hassle the tween girls would be to keep from the stage.

Mythbusters - I didn't actually STAY for this panel.  I just stayed long enough to help a very thinly stretched and overwhelmed staff get this room sat down and settled before I ran out to get to the Masquerade on time.  As soon as I closed the room I ran to the office to find them more help and let Dawn know I was off for the day.

Masquerade - It's the masquerade.  If you don't know, I can't describe the joy this brings me every year.  I swear I'm going to host this some year.  Bring some Geek-Tastic/GeekRoundTable humor to the crowd.

Afterwords Matt was exhausted so he and Lee (and Lee's daughter Jessi) went back to sleep and Amanda and I met with Amy, Tommy and Rollin to get our drink on at La Puerta.  I remember before that, while trying to find something to do, we ran into Mikey at the Con suite (the only time I saw this all weekend) and a very drunk Tera.  Tera was another constant visitor to 6BCF that helped me keep my sanity.  It was another late night followed by yet another EARLY morning.

Sunday

I woke up and packed everything up so it could easily be put in the car and told Amanda to take an early shower so she didn't get caught outside the bathroom again and couldn't take one before we had to check out because I wouldn't be there to make sure things got done.  I headed to my meeting wearing my gray polo (yes!) and you know I was going to get in the room with my bestie.

Smallville - A young girl got up to ask her question to Tom Welling (Kent) and finished it "and if you could take a long time answering so you could keep looking at me that would be awesome".  He did.  So much so she started bawling in front of the HUGE PACKED CLOSED ROOM CROWD.  That was awesome.  I've never been a Smallville fan, but after seeing the footage of the Legion of Superheros and (KNEEL BEFORE) Zod I think I might actually give this show a second chance.

Supernatural - . . . yeah? I didn't think this show was still on. Shows what I know about TV.

The Ghost Whisperer - Though I have NO ZERO ZILCH interest in ever seeing this show, I will give the cast credit for being the most honest genuine cast of any show I saw all weekend.  The way they all made fun of each other and teased about acting quirks they all had really endeared them to me.  Yeah, even Jaime Kennedy (though he looked like he's been partying harder than.... Well me).

Then last minute additions were:

Green Lantern First Flight - Amanda, Matt, Lee, Corey and Jessi were all camped on the mini stage at the back and we watched most of this together.  It's entertaining, like with most of these things, good enough for me to watch the whole thing at con (with an enthusiastic audience) but I'll skip buying the DVD.

Jim Lee Drawing LIVE - Amy and I ditched out on our own room (which was like 1/3rd full as this panel wasn't in the program guide, just the daily newsletter) to go to . . .

Comic Con Talkback - We sat towards the back and giggled at the complaints people have as most of them are insane and invalid. Amy got upset about the guy who hinted that Comic Con should only be for those who can afford to pay outrageous prices for it.

Then it was one last department meeting.  I collected my freebies from the room of requirement earlier in the day so all we had to do was go get the car from Horton Plaza and drive home.  I think at some point on the ride home I fell asleep in the middle of a conversation with Matt.  It might have also been in the middle of a sentence.

Really I had the most amazing San Diego Comic Con experience in the decade and a half I've been attending.  Thank you's go out to:

Amanda - For running pointless errands for me and bringing me food and being patient with me and happy most of the weekend. THANK YOU BABY!

Matt - I'm nothing on stage without Matt, we're both funny without each other, but our wonder twin powers is where we really both shine.

Amy - My right hand, or I was her right hand.  Either way he had 6BCF on lockdown.  She taught me everything I know about being a pimp gray shirt and next year we're taking over Ballroom 20!  WOW!

Jesse and Ramona - Awesome awesome awesome!  I bitch a lot about what I missed this year, but I saw something even more special.  There will be more Klingons and Fan Films but your best friends only get married at Comic Con once (hopefully!).

Tommy - For stopping by to make sure the jokes stayed fresh and for keeping me in drinks at La Puerta. For peaking 2010 jokes, action figures, and for the AWESOME CON 09 we are going take over the world.

And lastly, for all the attendees who went to the office to compliment the work Amy and I did in 6BCF.  We tried really hard to make sure it stayed organized and the people who saw the hard work actually said something. THANK YOU!

Pat’s Adventures At The San Diego Comic Con 2009 - Friday

 

Just a quick note for those of you who haven't seen all of the new Battlestar Galactica Series yet.  I mention a MAJOR SPOILER when discussing the BSG panel during the 11:55am portion of this post.  If you don't want the end of the series ruined for you, consider this your SPOILER WARNING!!!  Feel free to skip past that part of the review.  The rest of it is spoiler free.

 

Ok, let's get this thing started.

 

Friday

 

What with the Battlestar Concert that was surely going to run a little late into the evening tonight, and with the fact that I was going to have to drive back from San Diego up to Orange County afterwards so I could attend my friend's wedding the next day, I knew today was going to be a long and busy day.  As such, I slept in a little bit and didn't make it to the Convention Center until about half an hour after the exhibit hall opened.

 

10:30am:  Upon arriving at the convention, my friend Gin and I once again wander the sales floor for a while looking for cool things to look at and any boothes possibly giving away free schwag.  I'm also on the lookout for any interesting stuff to take pictures of.  Comic Con is an amazing place for taking really strange but cool photos. 

 

Case in point.

 



 

After wandering around for a bit, Gin decided she wanted to go upstairs to see if she could get in line for the big Battlestar Galactica/Caprica panel that was going on at 11:45am.  I wasn't so sure this was something I would care to do though because as much as I did want to see the big BSG panel, it was being held in Ballroom 20 (the second biggest room at the Con after Hall H) and what with the panel starting in less than an hour I figured the chances of the line to get in already being incredibly long were probably pretty good.  I told her though that I would walk up with her to see what the line looked like and that if it wasn't crazy long I would try to get into the panel with her.

 

11:10am:  So it was with much skepticism that I walked upstairs with her to see how things looked on the second floor.  I must say that I was completely shocked to see almost no line whatsoever going into Ballroom 20.  I don't know what happened, but somehow we were able to get into the line for the BSG panel and in about 10 minutes time were only eleven people away from the front of the line.  I figured with less than 30 minutes to go at this point, all we had to do was wait for the current panel in the room (Stargate Universe) to let out and we'd be in there in no time. 

 

11:30am:  As we stood there near the front of the line, waiting to be let into the room, the line slowly but surely filled in behind us to the length that I had originally expected when I came upstairs.  Before I knew it, the line wrapped all the way down the long hallway we were in and went outside and wrapped back in on itself.  It definitely achieved crazy long status.

 



 

I couldn't believe our luck.  Somehow, we had managed to walk upstairs at just the right moment to beat the mad rush to get into Ballroom 20.  There was a solidly good chance that a lot of the people behind us in line weren't going to get into the BSG/Caprica panel.  I hadn't planned on going into any of the big TV show panels this year at Comic Con because of the lines, yet here I was about to get into one after having waited in line for less than 30 minutes or so. 

 

There's only one word to describe this feeling . . . . . w00t!!!

 

Oh, also . . . cool highlight of waiting in line.  As I'm standing there I see Admiral William Adama himself (actor Edward James Olmos) walk by with his small entourage.  No one else in line had noticed him yet, and he was looking right at us.  Now, I'm not usually one to get starstruck and I hate it when people go crazy fanboy around people from popular sci-fi shows, but it's not every day that I turn my head and see the man who played the leader of the human race from one of my favorite shows.  I completely blanked on what to do, so in a completely lame move the best I could come up with was waving at him and saying "Hello!" in a voice that probably sounded overly friendly.  He waved back and said hi as he and his crew walked past.  I instantly was annoyed with myself for not being cooler and coming up with something witty or intelligent to say to him in the moment I had.  That moment faded though.  Afterall, the Admiral of the Colonial Fleet and who hunted down Replicants in Blade Runner just waved at me and said hi.

 

Ok, so I do get geeky starstruck sometimes, and this was definitely one of those moments.  At least I didn't freak out though and say something stupid like, "Oh my God!  Admiral!  I love you!"  That would have been really bad.  Just waving and saying hello, while entirely unoriginal, was at least fairly simple and wasn't in any way crazy or super fanboyish.

 

11:45am:  The panel is supposed to be beginning, but they haven't opened the doors yet.  I begin to get slightly concerned.

 

11:50am:  Still no movement.  The panel must have started by now.  I am fully worried now that we might not make it in afterall and my original worries may have been well founded.

 

11:55am:  The doors to the panel are finally opened and we are led in by security people as a trailer for Caprica plays above us.  I'm annoyed to see somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred empty seats near the back of the room.  I was suddenly left wondering why the doors couldn't have been opened five or ten minutes ago if there was this much space to be had in the Ballroom.

 

Whatever.  At this point I was just happy to be in the room.  We took some seats near the back of the room and as the trailer ended, the panel officially started up, so thankfully we didn't miss much more than the introductions of the panelists (and as I would find out later, the trailer for the upcoming BSG movie The Plan).

 



 

On the panel was Ronald D. Moore, the creater of the new version of BSG and a producer of some of my favorite sci-fi TV shows of all time such as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space nine.  You know that t-shirt that has been fairly popular for a little while know that says "Joss Whedon is my master now" in a sort of Empire Strikes Back font?  Well to me that t-shirt is crap because it should read "Ronald D. Moore is my master now".  If you disagree with me, go compare Mr. Moore's IMDB listing to Mr. Whedon's and you'll see why the former deserves our love much more than that latter.  I'm not knocking Joss Whedon here.  I love his work too.  I'm just saying that Ronald Moore's work has had such a bigger impact on the whole of Geekdom, and yet somehow he's not getting properly recognized for it and that bugs me.

 



 

Also on the panel is BSG and Caprica producer David Eick, writer Jane Espensen (who's written for Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse, BSG and Caprica), actor Esai Morales (who stars in Caprica Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama from BSG and the director of the upcoming film The Plan) and last but certainly not least, the stunningly beauful and talented actress Grace Park (Boomer/Athena/Every #8 Model Cylon). 

 



 

The panel is being moderated by someone from the SyFy network and she starts things off by asking questions to the panelists about the new upcoming Caprica series, what it's like to work on, how it's different from BSG and stuff like that.  Both Ronald Moore and David Eick stress repeatedly that Caprica is nothing like BSG, yet it will still be something both BSG fans and new fans alike will be able to enjoy.  They say that you don't need to have watched BSG first before watching Caprica, and that the new show stands on its own as a complete series.

 

The discussion then moves on to the upcoming BSG film The Plan that Edward James Olmos directed.  He makes a number of bold statements about how this film will change how you view the whole of the BSG series and how after watching it, you'll want to go back and rewatch the series again in order.  He also jokingly suggests over and over again that you buy the series again as it comes out on Blu-ray because then the people at the SyFy network will love you so much.

 

My favorite moment from the panel though came from one of the most interesting connections that Olmos made as he was discussing his thoughts on the BSG series.  He brought up the fact that in the BSG series, one of the running themes of the show was how "All of this has come before, and all will come again".  It's a mantra repeated many times throughout the series, about how the rise of technoloy and man's inevitable fight with it is a cycle that repeats itself over and over.  He then points out that after having seen the series finale, BSG's story states that the survivors of the Human and Cylon conflict become our ancient ancestors after landing on Earth 150,000 years in the past.  Then, at the very end of the last episode, we are shot to modern day where we are given a stern warning against the modern rise of technology and how we're beginning to dabble in self-aware robots that could once again make all that has come before come again.

 



 

To see that happen, he says, immediately after finishing the last episode of BSG, pop a copy of Blade Runner in and watch as "a descendent of Admiral William Adama's hunts down intelligent machines".  It's a brilliant connection that I hadn't really thought about before.  BSG ends on the planet Earth way in the past, but in the last episode we see that modern culture is descended from them.  Blade Runner takes place on Earth in the future, so technically the two properties could be said to exist in the same universe (about 150,000 years apart).  Therefore, Replicants are the result of the decendants of Humans and Cylons working to make a race of machines once again.  That idea is so cool to me that it will forever affect how I view Blade Runner. 

 

My mind was officially blown at that point.  Way to go Admiral Adama!

 

The rest of the panel was Q & A with the audience, which I've mentioned before I'm not the biggest fan of.  Overall though, the panel was a lot of fun and I'm really glad I got to see it.  Listening to Esai Morales do his Admiral Adama impression alone made the panel worth attending.  Oh, and there was this really fun moment when Esai, who plays Admiral Adama's father in the Caprica series, gave his "son" a very loving Adama family hug.  It was very cute!

 



 

1:00pm:  Immediately after the BSG panel in Ballroom 20 was the panel for the CBS sitcom the Big Bang Theory.  I'm actually a big fan of that show too, so Gin and I decided to stay in the room after BSG ended.  They brought the whole cast of the show out, including the show's creator and they basically spent the entire panel doing Q & A with the audience.  Despite this though, it still managed to be an entertaining hour with a couple of amusing highlights and insights made about the show.  It also helped that the panel was moderated by the always awesome Mike Mignolia (the creator of Hellboy).

 



 

On the highlights front, one of the questions a fan asked was whether actor Jim Parsons (Sheldon from the show) could wipe his face with a napkin he had so he could collect some of his DNA with which he could create his own mini-Sheldon.  For those of you who don't watch the show, this was a direct reference to an episode in which Sheldon is given a napkin with Leonard Nimoy's DNA on it which he plans to use to grow his own Spock clone.  When the fan asked this question, the whole room went into hysterical laughter and I was glad to see the cast play along with the joke as Mr. Parsons did indeed use the napkin and then give it back to the fan. 

 

Also of interest to me was realizing that the actor who plays Raj on the show doesn't use a fake indian accent for comedic value.  That's just how he talks.  Personally, I find that awesome.  It makes the character a little more authentic and a lot less like a racial stereotype.

 



 

At the very end of the panel, there was a bit of super cool Comic Con goodness as a representative from SDCC gave the whole cast of the show Comic Con Volunteer t-shirts as thanks for being a part of such a great nerd show that has mentioned Con a few times during its two seasons.  The cast seemed genuinely flattered by this gesture and a few of them even put their shirts on right there on stage. 

 

Maybe with any luck, we'll get to see them wear the shirts on an episode of the show.

 

2:oopm:  With the last of the panels done for the day that I had planned on seeing, I was free to spend the rest of the afternoon wandering the floor and taking some more fun photos like these. 

 



 



 

I eventually took a break for a late lunch and made it back just in time to get in line for the one thing that had eluded me thus far . . . I wanted my damn Tribble.

 

5:30pm:  The last Tribble give outs were set for 6:30pm, and since the line was rather long, Gin and I had decided to get in it early in an attempt to guarantee ourselves some small, furry goodness.  The line looked pretty long too, but unfortunately, went rather faster than expected.  Before we knew it we were near the front of the line and only 10 minutes had passed.  We were still way too early for Tribbles.  We got out of line and had to go back to the end of the line because we couldn't hold spots near the front for the Tribbles.  Deep down, I understood the need for and the logic of this rule, but it was still annoying as I repeatedly had to get back to the back of the line again and again as the like kept moving quickly.

 

6:15pm:  Currently being given out by the Paramount booth were Transformers seat cushions which I didn't really want, but I knew of a friend of mine who would love one, so I did eventually decide to take the line all the way to the end where I snagged one of the seat cushions for him.  Then for the 4th time or so, Gin and I got back in the end of the line for our Tribbles. 

 

We knew that the Tribbles were in limited supply, and being the end of the day they staff at the Paramount Booth would probably count out the number of Tribbles they had, would count out that number of people in line, and then would cap the line there.  It was the only smart thing to do really.  Our only hope was to be before that cutoff point, whatever it was.  It was still 15 minutes before the Tribbles were to be given out, and based on how the line had been moving up to that point, we felt like we were in pretty good shape to be near the front of the line again as the Tribbles started getting handed out. 

 

Unfortunately, this turned out not to be the case.  Almost immediately after getting back in line again, the line stopped moving entirely as they shut the line down for a moment to count the peole in it.  With some serious disappointment, it turned out that we ended up being about four or five people past the cutoff point for the Tribbles.  After having gotten into and out of line multiple times, it turned out our timing was off by about one minute.  If we had gotten out of line and gone back to the back one minute sooner, we would have gotten our Tribbles.

 

With the floor closing soon, and with this being the last day I could attend the Con, it was a pretty shitty way for the day to end.  I walked out of the convention center feeling rather dejected.  I was Tribble-less after multiple attempts to get one.  The only solace to be had was the fact that at least I had managed to get the cool Vulcan hand the day before as well as a cool seat cushion I know my fried would love.

 

At least there was one more major Con related activity to look forward to.  Maybe it could lift my spirits.  I speak, of course, of the Battlestar Galactica concert going on that night at the House of Blues in Downtown.  The show was set to start at 8pm.  Gin and I hurried back to my car, dropped off our bags and passes, had time for a pint of beer at an awesome bar called the Tilted Kilt, and then headed over to the show.

 

8:00pm:  The Battlestar Galactica concert starts.  It's actually so frakking amazing that I've decided to write a separate post about it (coming soon).  Let me just say this though, this concert more than made up for the lack of Tribbles from before. 

 

Oh, and just so I do end this post on an upbeat Tribble related note, I will say that even tough I couldn't attend Con on Saturday, Gin did and she was finally able to acquire one of the elusive Tribbles for herself.  I am highly jealous of this, but I am happy for her.  Maybe if I'm lucky, she'll let me hold hers once or twice. 

 

Here's to hoping.

Pat’s Adventures At The San Diego Comic Con 2009 - Thursday

 

The second day of Con, technically the first full day, started off early.  I had to get up and get my ass to the Convention because my good friends Matt, Wes and Jesse were putting on a panel called the Fan's Guide To Comic Con.  It started at 10am sharp, and I wasn't going to miss it.

 

10:00am:  The Fan's guide begins on time and the jokes start flying right off the bat.  This is the third year that the Fan's Guide as been put on by my friends, and they're getting better each and every year.  Along with their scrpits that are chock full of actual helpful Con information and advice for both newbies and veterans alike, the audience is also treated to a hilarious slide show presentation that highlights a number of the jokes and adds some great visual gags to the information being presented by the panelists.

 



 

Aside from a small hiccup with the slideshow, which was quickly fixed by Comic Con's staff, the show went off brilliantly and those who attended walked out laughing and having been highly entertained.  I'm sure they'll be seeing a lot of return audience members next year.  This really is a hidden jewel at the convention that shouldn't be missed.

 

11:00am:  After the Fan's Guide panel, my friend Gin and I headed over to get in early for a Battlestar Galactica Panel which started in about an hour and a half.  As Comic Con has gotten busier and busier, it has become wise strategy to get into a room way before the panel you want to see starts, even if that means sitting through a panel you don't know anything about or care about.  It's far better to sit through a panel you could care less for than getting stuck outside the room for the panel you wanted to see because the line for it got crazy busy right before it was set to start.  And who knows, you may just end up being suprised by the unknown panel you sit through.

 

That's what happened here.  We got into the room right as a panel for a cancelled TV show called The Middleman was about to start.  I remember sort of seeing ads for the show when it came out, but had never actually seen an episode before.  I really didn't know what the show was about, to be honest.  As I had said, the show had been cancelled after 12 episodes and the 13th episode (the season finale) never got made.  Much like many panels at Con though, the fans of the show were rabid and demanded to see more and the creator and stars of the show were more than happy to oblige them by doing a full script reading of the unaired 13th episode.

 



 

So as I sat and waited for the Battlestar Panel to start in an hour I listened to the Middle Man panel doing their script reading, and god damn if I wasn't hooked by the story in about five minutes.  Even though I had no idea who the characters were, I was able to follow the story and piece it together pretty quick.  Middle Man was a Sci-fi/action/comedy series about two secret agents who fight space aliens, monsters, robots and the occasional mad scientist as they fight to save the world every day.  The hero was your classic square jawed, milk drinking, non swear word using kind of guy.  A real Captain America type.  His partner was a more modern, hip-talking woman with an attitude and the abilities to back it up.   Together they were facing an evil genius who was determined to mold the world into his own design.  The story was funny and had interesting and likable characters.  The dialogue was downright hilarious.  It was a mix of classic sci-fi and comedy that was just perfectly my sense of humor.  And the actors?  Oh they were great!  They really got into their characters and you could actually feel how much they loved playing these people.  Plus, the main villain was played by Mark Sheppard, the same actor who played Badger from Firefly and Romo Lampkin from Battlestar, and that was just awesome.

 



 

The Panel ended up being a really good time, and I'm seriously glad I stumbled upon it.  It's now left me wanting more.  I will be checking out the newly released DVD set soon.  I think I've found a new show to love.

 

12:30:  The Battlestar Galactica Retrospective panel is now beginning.  This isn't the big BSG panel about the upcoming movie called The Plan.  That's tomorrow.  This panel is more of a fan appreciation panel and general discussion of BSG.  It's hosted by Rochard Hatch, the actor who played the original Apollo from the old BSG Series as well as the great character Tom Zarek on the new BSG Series.  Joining him on the panel is the new BSG's composer, the amazingly talented Bear McCreary.  Aside from BSG, Bear has also done the music for other shows like Eureka and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  Also on the panel is one of BSG's producers and the show's science consultant.

 

The panel begins with a video package discussing the history of Battlestar and its impact on both fans and the sci-fi genre.  It's a cool little video which features clips from interviews of the stars and production people from both the old and new show.  After the video, Richard Hatch comes out and talks for a few minutes about working on both shows.  He then brings out the rest of the panelists and then they basically take questions from the audience for the rest of the panel.  Typically, I'm not a big lover of fan Q&A's because most fan questions tend to be rather dumb in my opinion.  I know this is just a personal thing with me, but good and intelligent questions seem incredibly rare to me during these types of events. 

 



 

However, one really cool piece of information does come out during this particular Q&A.  It turns out that Bear McCreary is playing a series of Battlestar Galactica Concerts for the next three nights while at Con.  The concerts are being held over at the Hard Rock Cafe, will feature 17 musicians who worked on the show's music performing pieces live, and will be held both tonight, Friday night and Saturday.  Bear also promises special guests from the show for each night.  Tonight, Katie Sackhoff (Starbuck from BSG) is going to be showing up to perform a piano duet during the show.  Tickets for the show are $55, but they give everyone at the panel $10 off coupons. 

 

I really would love to go to tonight's show, but unfortunately the concert starts at 8pm and I'm scheduled to be on the GeekRoundTable panel at that time.  Gin really wants to go though, and she proceeds to spend the next few hours trying to talk me into going either Friday night or Saturday night.

 

1:30:  After the BSG Panel, we head back downstairs and get in line for freebies at the Paramount booth.  I'm still determined to get my tribble, or at the very least these large foam hands they're giving out which are giving the Vulcan salute.  Sadly, there are no tribbles to be had, but Gin and I are thankfully able to pick up the large Vulcan hands. 

 

I, obviously, am elated.

 



 

2:00pm:  With our large foam Vulcan hands securely in our possession, we decide it's time to head off for lunch.  There's really only one place I want to go, the Old Spaghetti Factory!  It had been a Comic Con tradition of old that I made it there at least once every con for their tasty pasta dishes, but a few years back the city of San Diego had shut down the restaurant (which was conveniently located less than a block from the convention center) and replaced it with a crappy, overpriced restaurant when they rebuilt most of downtown around the new Padres Ballpark.  I had been truly saddened at this loss and had spent the last few years at Con bemoaning the loss of one of my favorite eateries. 

 

Somehow though, the gods of tasty foodstuffs had smiled upon me and had re-opened the Old Spaghetti Factory right back in the original building it used to be in.  I can't even tell you how happy this made me.  So it was with a happy skip to my step that we left the convention center and made our way down 5th Avenue for lunch.  What with all of the Comic Con pedestrian traffic nowadays, the city shuts down 5th Avenue for a block or so from the convention and advertisers have descended upon this empty street in droves hocking their TV shows and movies.  The outdoors equivalent of booth babes are everywhere passing out flyers and cards.  Girls in cheerleader costumes are advertising the Megan Fox film Jennifer's Body, Playboy has playmate models out signing autographs and giving out free Big Stick popscicles and other women dressed in t-shirts that say "Fang Banger" on them are passing out stuff for HBO's show True Blood.

 

Hands down though, the single best bit of marketing I've ever seen at Con before goes to the SyFy Channel (yeah, I still hate the new name).  These guys went all out.  As I'm walking up the street towards my tasty spaghetti goodness, I come to a stop when I see this bit of unexpectedness.

 



 

It's a cardboard standee of the character Jo from the SyFy Channel TV show Eureka (which I love).  Standing next to her on a small cafe's patio are a series of cardboard standees featuring other characters from the show as well.  When I get to the cafe's door, I am completely floored as it finally sinks in what I'm seeing here.  They've built the full restaurant from Eureka called Cafe Diem.

 



 

Somehow, the SyFy Channel has rented out an empty restaurant less than a block from the convention center and has rebranded it as their fictional restaurant from the town of super geniuses.  It's one of the most entertaining bits of marketing I've ever seen.  It's even a fully functional restaurant too, complete with a menu of SyFy TV show themed items.

 



 

All of the chairs have Cafe Diem logos on them, and there's a big screen inside playing clips from different SyFy TV series'.  My hat goes off to the folks at SyFy.  They may have picked the most retarded station name ever, but somehow they still know how to pull off an amazing bit of unique marketing greatness.

 

However, as awesome as all that is, they're charging $15 for a hamburger, so I still elect to go to  the Old Spaghetti Factory.  I am, afterall, a cheap bastard.

 

4:00pm:  After lunch, with a happy belly full of pasta, Gin and I had finally agreed to go see the Battlestar Concert on Friday night, so we needed to walk up to the Hard Rock Cafe (about 10 blocks away) to go get tickets.  On the way up we noticed a long line winding through the streets of downtown SD.  We didn't really know what it was, and we didn't really pay it too much attention.  After having gotten the tickets though and as we were heading back down towards the convention center, we ran across the line again, this time we were coming down 6th Avenue.  That meant this one line wound up and between 5th and 6th Avenues, switched back at the top of downtown and then came all the way back down 6th Ave. almost all the way to the convention center.  This line had to be almost two miles long.

 

Walking by the people in the line, it became apparent pretty quickly what these people were waiting for.  The vast majority of the line were teenage or adult women, and a lot of them were wearing Twilight t-shirts.  We stopped and asked what the line was for and were told the movie theater downtown was having a screening of the first Twilight film with members of the cast on hand.  I couldn't believe the line was as long as it was.  In all of the years I've been going to SDCC I've never seen a line this long.  It was freaky. 

 

Now feeling frightened by the scary Twilight crowd, I quickly moved on and returned to the relative safety of the convention center.

 

5:30pm:  Having underestimated the number of people who would want to see the Physics of Hollywood Movies panel, I arrive to find the door blocked by a Comic Con volunteer who informs me the room is full.  After a few minutes of talking to the kind gentleman at the door, I am able to make it inside  and find seats at the very back of the room which some people had just vacated.  The panel itself is interesting and kind of funny.  The host is a physics professor who proceeds to show us clips from popular Sci-fi and comic book films and then explains how the physics behind them are totally wrong. 

 

As an example, in the first Spider-man film, when Peter Parker tries to swing on a web for the first time and he swings face first into a brick wall . . . the panel's host shows that clip, then takes us through the physics equations to find out how fast Peter hit that wall and how much force he hit it with.  It turns out that he hit the wall at around 50 miles per hour, and unless he somehow also managed to have some super healing factor like Wolverine has, that trip into the wall should have shattered every bone in his body. 

 

As amusing as this panel was though, there's another one starting at 6:30 that I want to see, so we head out a little early to make sure we can get seats into that one.

 

6:00pm:  I'm now seated and waiting for the Anthropology of Star Trek panel to begin.  It's being put on by an anthropology professor from Lake Tahoe Community College and a couple of his students.  He's the same guy who did the Archaeology of Indiana Jones panel at Wonder Con last year that was fairly amusing. 

 

This time around, he's discussing topics like religion, culture, racism and the effects of technology on what it means to be human in the world of Star Trek and how it all relates back to us in the real world.  Some interesting topics are brought up and there's a goodly amount of debate with the audience on what certain things mean.  Sadly though, I have to leave this panel early too.  It's almost time for the GeekRoundTable panel, and since I'm actually supposed to be on that panel, it would be sort of bad if I missed it.

 

7:00pm:  I'm the first to arrive in the room for our panel, but our fearless moderator Ned Cato Jr. quickly arrives after me.  We discuss some last minute itinerary things as the room fills in and the rest of the panel shows up, and at 7:30pm we begin.

 

We start things off by having each panelist give our Geek Cred for the last week.  For those of you who haven't listened to any of the GeekRoundTable podcasts (shame on you), the Geek Cred is where we say the geekiest thing we'd done in the last week.  For me, it was buying a big screen TV and making sure Star Wars Episode IV was the very first thing that got played on it.  As a side note, seeing the Star Destroyer roll across the top of a 47" LCD screen is something so beautiful that it brought a tear to my eye.

 

After the Geek Cred, we move onto our first topic of Geek Stereotypes in popular media.  This is a continuation of the same topic we discussed in episode XX of the Geek-tastic podcast.  This time though, we get the audience in on it and get a really good discussion going about the topic.  This goes for about 30 minutes or so, and then we move on to the second main topic for the evening.  The Era of the Reboot.  Ned asks the room and the people on the panel what they think of all of the reboots and remakes we're seeing nowadays in Hollywood.  Has Hollywood run out of ideas?  Are they just trying to capitalize on pre-established fan bases?  Another great debate is had with the audience giving us their two cents and the panelists responding and adding in their own ideas. 

 

At one point, Ned even decides to tell the audience a secret about Comic Con,but he makes everyone in the room and stand up first and pinky swear never to repeat it.

 



 

See?  Aren't you sad you missed the GeekRoundTable panel now?  Now you'll never know what that totally awesome secret was.

 

As we wrapped things up, Matt and Wes told some absolutely hilarious stories from Comic Cons past involving a friend of theirs who had unfortunately passed away recently.  It was a great tribute to a fellow geek and the tales had the whole room in stitches, especially the song their friend had sung about the Green Lantern Corps using the Gay Rights Inch Worm Beanie Babie.

 

Even though we were only scheduled for a 60 minute panel, we ran for a little over 90 minutes total and a lot of fun was had.  We were the last panel of the day for that room, so it's ok we went a little long.

 

9:30pm:  It had been a very long day, and I hadn't gotten much sleep the day before, so I decided not to partake any of the nightlife that evening.  Instead it was off to sleep because I knew tomorrow was going to be even longer.

New Geek DVD Day - 07/28/09

Sweet Zombie Jesus, this is a big week for cool geek DVD releases.  There's a bunch of stuff out this week.  So much so that I think most of you will find something to love in the available selections.  Also, yes I know I didn't post a New Geek DVD Day for last week.  I actually wrote one, but in the build up to Comic Con I forgot to post it.  Sorry about that.  If anyone shows any interest, maybe I'll post it later, but as it is I'll just move on and post this weeks plentiful offerings.

 



 

The Worth Mentioning:  Green Lantern - First Flight

 

Why It's Worth Mentioning:  The DC Animated movies can sometimese hit or miss.  Lately though, they've had a good track record with Justice League: New Frontier and the Wonder Woman movie.  Now it's the Green Lantern's turn to shine in this solo starring film for the hero.  If it's as good as the Wonder Woman film, this could be a lot of fun.

 



 

The "I Really Want To See This":  The Middleman - The Complete Series

 

Why I Really Want To See This:  One of the panels I attended at Comic Con, quite by accident (more on that soon), introduced me to this show.  It's a sci-fi/action/comedy show, and it looks like a lot of fun.  I am dying to check it out.  It may be one of those kinds of shows that was cancelled way before it's time, a la Firefly and The Tick.

 



 

The Good:  Dollhouse - Season One

 

Why It's Good:  It's Joss Whedon's show about pretty, but mentally vacant people.  Basically, it's a show about Orange County, Ca. (where I live).  I've said before I'm not too fond of this show, but it is Joss Whedon and a lot of other people love this show, so I feel it is my geek obligation to report this to you you.  Personally, I'm still pissed that this got picked up over Sarah Connor Chronicles or Virtuality.  But that's just me.  At least it has Amy Acker, who still looks gorgeous even with facial scar makeup on.

 



 

The Badass:  Dr. Who - Planet of the Dead

 

Why It's Badass:  It's David Tennant as Dr. Who.  That alone makes it Bad Ass.  On top of that, the Doctor is trapped on a desert planet with a hot thief, and they have to work together to save the earth from an evil swarm of scary carnivorous aliens.  What more from the Doctor could you want?  Ok, it's also one of David Tennant's last films starring as sci-fi's longest running character.  Is that enough yet?

 



 

The Awesome:  Torchwood - Children of Earth

 

Why It's Awesome:  One of the greatest things to come from the new Dr. Who franchise reboot has been the creation of the spinoff show Torchwood.  It's like the X-files but with a lot more sex and adult content.  Captain Jack Harkness (played by John Barrowman) is one of the greatest hero characters in recent sci-fi memory.  He's like an oversexed and omni-sexual version of Han Solo.  Plus, he's immortal and has a tendency to travel through time a lot.  This is the third season of the show, and it's been getting rave reviews.  I can't wait to see it.

 



 

The Super Awesome:  Battlestar Galactica - The Complete Series

 

Why It's Super Awesome:  The new version of BSG is nothing short of phenomenal.  It's one of the best written and produced pieces of sci-fi ever made.  It's storytelling is gripping, it's action packed, suspenseful, intelligent, controversial, thought provoking and so much more.  There was good reason it was nicknamed the greatest show on television.  And now you own it all in this incredible collector's set.  Every episode of the series, all the way from the mini-series to the season finale is here, including the two web series' and the movies hat came out.  There's none of that Season 3.5 bullshit here.  This set is totally complete (at least until The Plan comes out). 

 

If you haven't seen BSG yet, you're really frakking missing out.  This was the show that was so good the United Nations invited them to speak before them on topics such as war, torture, interracial tension and gender equality.  Yes, it's that damn good and more so.

The Geek-tastic Photos From Comic Con Are Now Online

 

Hey everyone!

 

So another Comic Con has come and gone, and tons of geeky fun was had.  As I said before, I was sadly only able to attend the con for three of its five days this year, but I did spend my time well and have tons to talk about.  I've added my pics from the Con to the Geek-tastic Flickr Account. 

 

You can find the Comic Con 2009 pics here.  I hope you enjoy them.

Pat's Adventures At The San Diego Comic Con 2009 - Wednesday

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) really is the Nerd Mecca.  It's the holiest site of geekdom, and to try to describe all of ones experiences at the Con is akin to trying to describe colors to a blind person . . . words alone just can't do it.  It's so vast and all encompassing that geeks and nerds from around the world make an annual pilgramage to the sunny city of San Diego just so they can bask in its glory.  So much happens there that it really is damn near impossible to explain everything that you see and experience at the Con, but as an incredibly amateur nerd blogger I will do my best to describe the greatness that is SDCC with the rather paltry excuse of a vocabulary I possess anyways. 

 

Here we go!

 

Wednesday

 

2:00pm:  I left my mundane day job as a low level cubicle dweller in Orange County, Ca., hopped in my car and got on the freeway headed for San Diego.  My goal was to get to the convention center by around 4pm to 4:30pm in order to pick up my badge early so I could get into what is technically called Preview Night which was to begin at 6pm.  Preview Night as a concept started a few years ago and was originally intended to be a bonus perk and reward for those Con faithful who ponied up the cash for a four day pass in advance.  It allowed them early access to the exhibit hall floor, sort of a sneak peek if you will, where one could wander the convention hall early in what was supposed to be a relatively small crowd.  This, of course, was before the days of 4 day passes selling out months in advance.  Nowadays, preview night is basically the official start of Comic Con where a crowd just as big as every other day takes to the Con floor and blocks you from seeing all of the cool stuff you want to get to.  They really should stop calling it preview night, as the name doesn't properly fit the event any more.  But more on that in a bit.

 

2:30pm:  I'm only 30 minuts out from Orange County, and the nerdiness has already begun.  As I'm driving down the 5 freeway through Camp Pendleton, I pull up behind a small black car that is covered with Spider-man stickers and advertisements for a comic book store from somewhere up near Los Angeles.  It's not the stickers or the ads that make me first notice the car though, it's the two foot tall bust of Spider-man (in his black costume) that is affixed to the top of the car.

 



 

Obviously, these people are my people.  They're heading to SD too, so naturally I had to share with them that we had mutual a goal.  I pulled up ahead of them and gave them a beautiful view of the Imperial Stormtrooper and Imperial Logo stickers that decorate the rear of my car.  I then pulled up alongside the Spider-car long enough to wave at my fellow geeky travellers.  They waved back.  I then pulled away and continued on my way south.

 

I'm still an hour outside of San Diego, and I'm already making nerdy friends.  This is why I love Comic Con.

 

4:00pm:  I arrive at the Trolley station at a shopping mall just north of downtown SD.  Years of prior Con experience has taught me that you do not attempt to park anywhere near downtown during preview night.  It's too expensive to make the couple of hours the floor is open worth it, and god help you trying to find an open spot if you are arriving as late as I am.  Yes, the con technically doesn't start for another two hours, but most people have been here since either yesterday or this morning and are already parked and in line waiting to get in.  The trolley has always faithfully served me in the past.  It is cheap, efficient and has always dropped me off at the convention center in around 30 minutes or so.

 

4:50pm:  It appears that after years of faithful service, the Trolley has finally failed me.  I am still sitting at the platform waiting for a red line train.  They are supposed to come every 15 minutes, but somehow I have been here for 45 minutes now and I haven't seen a single one.  It's ok though, I have my book (Bret "The Hitman" Hart's autobiography) to keep me entertained and I keep thinking back to the only good line from Episode One that I still quote regularly to people almost every day . . .

 

"Patience young Padawan!"

 

Thank you Qui-Gon, you make me a better person.

 

5:20pm:  I finally arrive at the San Diego Convention Center.  Due to the lateness of my arrival from the Trolley's tardiness, I am fully prepared to find a long line for registration waiting for me and have accepted the fact that I will probably not make it onto the exhibit hall floor until sometime around 8pm.

 

5:25pm:  I am utterly shocked with the ease of my registration this year.  As opposed to the previous few years where the pre-registration line for 4 day pass holders is wrapped a mile long around the building, this year there is no line at all.  In what can only be described as a stroke of brilliance, the folks at Comic Con must have started the registration process many hours earlier than they have in the past.  As a result, I walked right in through the door to Hall C, made it up the escalators and walked all the way into the convention's registration room without stopping once.  When I finally did stop, it was at the registers to get my pass, and there was only one person in front of me.

 

I would like to take this moment to personally thank whomever was in charge of pre-registration this year.  They were doing a brilliant job and my hat goes off to them.  It's not easy having to deal with the massive amount of people they have to process each day.  I was so happy by this turn of events that by the time I got my pass and met up with my friend Gin, I didn't even care that the Elite security guards were being total douchebags to the people who were waiting for the doors to open.  They gave me a hard time for standing near a door, so I moved when asked, and then immediately returned to the door once they had left the area.  The small inconvenience they presented, and the bad attitude they approached every situation with couldn't damper my spirits.  I got my badge in less than five minutes, that's something I wouldn't have believed possible not even 20 minutes earlier.  I didn't care what the security people did.  For me, Con was off to an amazing start.

 

6:00pm:  The doors open and everyone rushes them like a toy store during the Cabbage Patch Kids fiasco of the 1980's.  Everyone is pushing and shoving to be the first ones onto the floor.  As we make it through the giant doors though, we are greeted by the site of an already massive crowd that had somehow magically made it into the Con before it even opened.  Where these people came from, I have no idea but within minutes the hallways were jam packed and the big movie booths were already surrounded by unruly mobs of people trying to get whatever freebies they could.

 



 

Me?  I had one goal in mind . . . Tribbles.  The Paramount booth had advertised that they were going to be giving out free Tribbles during the Con, and I was determined to get one.  I made a bee line to their booth and was told by a scantily clad booth babe that they wouldn't be giving out Tribbles until tomorrow at 1:30pm.  I'm so amused that people still use booth babes.  It's one of the few hold overs from Con's classic days that I can't believe hasn't gone the way of the dodo yet.  Booth babes made sense back in the day when admittedly the majority of the Con's attendance was male.  Nowadays though with women making up a solid 40% to 50% of attendees, I would have figured that companies would have stopped using big boobed airheaded bimbos to hock their products.  Apparently, I am wrong.

 

Anyways, there were no Tribbles to be had.  I vowed that I would get one the next day though and proceeded on to what has become another Comic Con tradition of mine, getting a free bag from the Snoopy booth.  For the third year straight now, the people who run the Charlie Brown and Snoopy booth host a scavenger hunt where you have to collect signatures from different boothes to win a free Snoopy bag.  They only give out 50 each day though, so you have to move really fast to get one.  Gin and I headed over to their booth right away, got our cards, and literally started running through the hall (when we could) in our attempt to get the bag. 

 

A few short minutes later we returned to the Snoopy booth with the required signatures and were rewarded with our kickass free bags.  This year's bag featured Woodstock.

 



 

6:30pm:  The rest of preview night was spent meeting up with friends and wandering the sales floor.  I was just browsing at this point and taking pictures.  Walking the exhibit hall floor at SDCC is a massive undertaking if you wish to see all of it.  It can take hours to get from one end of the floor to the other.  It's best to start at one end and do a zig zag pattern through the aisles until you've reached the other wall.  Preview night is nowhere near long enough though to allow one to walk the whole floor.  In the next few hours me managed to see just under half of the sales floor.  Before we knew it, 9pm had rolled around and we were getting kicked out of the hall.

 

10:00pm:  After leaving the convention, I joined my friends Gin, Sarah and Aaron for dinner at a place called Studio Diner which is a restaurant with a movie studio theme.  They have awesome milkshakes.  Our conversation covered different topics such as what we were looking forward to most this year at Con, what panels we wanted to see, etc.  We also couldn't believe that it now costs $100 to reserve a 4 day pass for next year's SDCC.  This year's pass was $65 if purchased at the prior year's Con.  The year before that it was $50 and the year before that it was $40.  In three year's time, the price of a 4 day pass to the Con has gone up by more than 100%.  I estimate that in the next two to three years, a Con pass will run around $150.  It's a damn good thing I'm going pro.  Hopefully next year I can get a press pass.  $100 is just a little too steep for my blood.

 

Midnight:  Time for bed.  Tomorrow will be an incredibly long day, but it's going to be awesome.

Geek-tastic Guide To Comic Con - Saturday & Sunday

Saturday

 

As I mentioned before, due to the unfortunate timing of an old friend getting married on Saturday, I will not be able to attend the Con that day and will most likely not be able to make it back down the following day either.  I apologize for this lack of coverage at the con.  However, I do want to still provide you with the list of panels I find interesting and would like to go to if I wasn't already previously engaged.

 

Once again, we're going with the smaller panels.  The hidden gems of the con.  Here we go:

 

10:00am to 11:00am - Room 5AB - The Black Panel

 

The Black Panel is a panel all about african-americans in the comics industry.  The panelists include people like Ludacris, Michael Jai White, Kel Mitchell and others as they discuss black culture in comic books as well as upcoming projects that black artists and writers are working on.  This panel has a bit of a history for being sort of wild and entertaining, so it could be a lot of fun to check out.  Whatever you do though, no matter how funny you think that comic convention scene from Chasing Amy is, don't get on the mic and ask, "What's a Nubian?".  Chances are, the folks in that room aren't going to find that joke anywhere near as funny as you do.

 

10:00am to 11:00am - Room 24A - TwiFic FanGroup

 

I'm personally not the biggest fan of fan fiction stories, especially those that involve characters from Buffy having sex with Characters from The Smurfs or whatever, but this doesn't seem to be that sort of Fan Fiction panel.  This looks to be more of a writing workshop for fans, by fans whose goals are to help discuss things like how to make good stories, improve writing styles and how to include canon into your work.  I can totally respect a discussion of fans who want to write better stories.  After all, the only difference between a fan fiction writer and an actual creator is a paycheck.

 

12:00pm to 1:00pm - Room 24A - Indiana Jones Fan Group Meeting: Indyfans and The Quest for Fortune and Glory

 

To me, Indiana Jones is like James Bond squared.  He's everything Bond is, but amplified to be cooler and more badass.  A panel all about Indiana Jones and the fans who love him like I do is something I am totally behind.  There's apparently a documentary that some fans have made which will be discussed at the panel as well as a discussion of Indy Merchandise.  And I'm willing to bet at least a dozen people in the room will be wearing fedora's.  That sounds like my kind of gig.

 

1:00pm to 2:00pm - Room 2 - Comic Con in the 90's

 

Continuing on with this year's retrospective series of SDCC's 40 year history, this panel looks at the changes the Con went through in the 1990's.  Panelists include the GeekRoundTable's very own Ned Cato Jr., Mary Sturhann and Chris Sturhann.  Knowing these fine folks like I do, I can guarantee you that this is going to be a funny panel filled with all sorts of amusing anecdotes and stories from Cons past.  I'm really, really sad I won't be able to make it to this panel.  I hope someone can record it and put it up on youtube or something.

 

1:00pm to 2:00pm - Room 24A - Steampunk Meet-Up!

 

Are you a fan of steampunk?  Do you like clockwork robots and steam powered ray guns?  Then this is the panel for you to meet fellow like-minded fans of the victorian era sci-fi genre.  Fans of all things steampunk will be meeting up to discuss the steampunk genre in general and to make new friends who share their interests.  This is a great way to meet cool new people who like the same stuff you do.

 

8:45pm to 1:30am - Sails Pavilion - The Masquerade

 

This is the big annual SDCC costume contest.  It's a giant late night party that goes well into the next morning where people can show off their best COSplay outfits on stage and in front of a large audience.  You'll see things at the Masquerade that you never would imagine in a million years.  Picture the strangest thing you can possibly think of, something no person in their right mind would ever wear to a costume show.  Yeah, Masquerade probably has 4 different people wearing that. 

 

Be sure to get your tickets early though.  There's only a limited amount of space to get in for the Masquerade, and it's a very popular event.  You will not want to miss out on what is definintely THE social event of the entire convention.  Each year something unforgettable happens at the Masquerade that you'll be hearing about for years to come, so be sure you can tell people you were there to see it happen live.  It's like geek bragging rights.

 

Sunday

 

Sunday at SDCC is kids day, and as such there's a ton of panels aimed at younger geeks.  There's still a smattering of regular panels as well, but the pickings on Sunday are a little slimmer than they are during the rest of the Con.  Don't take that to mean that there's nothing good to be seen though.  Far From it.  There's still some jewels to be found as the Con winds down.  Here's a few panels I thought worthy of note.

 

12:00pm to 1:00pm - Room 24A - Browncoats Fan Group Meeting

 

Browncoats, for those of you not in the know, are the names fans of the sci-fi TV show Firefly have given themselves.  They're named after the rebel group from the show, and at this panel they're meeting en masses to celebrate their love for the sadly cancelled sci-fi western that Joss Whedon had created.  They'll be talking about the latest fan happenings and gatherings and will be surely wearing their awesome orange Jane beanies and saying the word "gorram" a lot.  It should be some pretty good times if you're a fan of Captain Mal and his crew.

 

1:00pm to 2:00pm - Room 4 - It was 30 Years Ago Today: The Kicks and Kitsch of the Year Sci-Fi Struck Back (or: It Was No 1982)

 

Take a look back all the way back to the year 1979 and see what was the latest and greatest in Sci-fi.  Star Trek: The Motion Picture had just come out, Buck Rogers was running around in the 25th Century, Disney made a film about a Black Hole and the world was introduced to face huggers and chest bursters (and we got to see Sigourney Weaver in her undies) in the film Alien.  It's the year we learned that in space, no one can hear you scream.  Also, the Voyager spacecraft is doomed to become sentient and will come back to earth in a few hundred years and threaten all life on earth.  It was a pretty crazy year.  Panelists will be discussing what made sci-fi back then so great and will probably comment on how it set standards that a lot of today's sci-fi still follows.  I always love a good, intelligent talk about science fiction.  This one should be pretty good.

 

2:00pm to 3:00pm - Room 32AB - Muggles, Wizards, Tentpoles and Fans in the World of Harry Potter

 

With the recent release of the sixth Harry Potter film in theaters and it's massive gross earnings in only a few days, it's pretty easy to say that Mr. Potter's fans are just as ravenous now as they have been for the last decade.  But what's to come for the Potter fans?  There's only two movies left to go.  Panelists will discuss the future of the Harry Potter fandom amongst other Wizardy things I'm sure.  There's sure to be plenty of wands and robes floating around in this room, so be careful who you talk to.  If you're not nice they may very well cast an Imperius Curse on you and make you their slave.  I suggest caution whenever entering a room filled with witches and wizards.

 

2:30pm to 3:30pm - Room 3 - The Cultural Shift

 

Have you noticed that TV shows and movies about comic books and geeks are everywhere lately?  Comic book films have been topping the summer box office for years now, and geeky shows like the Big Bang Theory and Lost (which is totally a sci-fi show) are topping the TV ratings charts.  And it's not just that either.  Comic books and graphic novels are popping up best seller lists everywhere and people are talking about the educational and artistic value of comics.  There's been a cultural shift in the last ten years or so and suddenly comics are all the rage.  It wasn't too long ago they were shunned as kids stuff, but now they're mainstream and have become big business.

 

How did this happen?  Now that it has, what will the cultural effects be as everyone becomes a little bit nerdier?  Can this last?  Where will it go from here?  These are the kinds of questions this panel will be asking and attempting to answer.  Right now is a golden age for comics fans, but it shouldn't be taken for granted.  A little self reflection and observation is definitely a good thing.

 

2:30pm to 5:00pm - Room 8 - Comic Con 2009 Masquerade Playback

 

Couldn't make it to the Masquerade last night?  Were you too tired to go?  Well here's your chance to see it again.  They'll be showing a screening of the previous nights festivities for the enjoyment of those who couldn't make it the night before for whatever reason.

 

3:00pm to 4:00pm - Room 5AB - Comic Con Talkback

 

Is something about the Con really bugging you?  Are the lines too long?  Is the food crappy and overpriced?  Are you upset that they have yet to ban Rob Liefeld from the convention for not being able to draw feet?  Well, here's your chance to get your voice heard.  This panel is an open forum for guests to tell SDCC's management team what they think of the Con they're putting on.  Think they're doing an amazing job?  Be sure to tell them so.  They work hard and deserve the praise.  Have some criticisms?  Here's your chance to let them know what you think.

 

A word of advice though, don't be a douchebag.  The Comic Con management team are good people, and just because you're pissed off that you couldn't get Stan Lee's autograph, don't go using this panel as an excuse to vent to them for every single slight or misdeed you feel has been committed against you.  They want to hear your opinions, both good and bad, but please do it in a respectful manner.  Don't go name calling or yelling or bitching about things no one can fix (like other guests who refuse to bathe).  Try to come up with thoughtful complaints that have a valid backing to them, and if possible, suggestions for improvements are always welcome.

 

And in regards to the Rob Liefeld thing, I'm totally with you on that.  He should have been banned years ago.

 

3:00pm to 4:00pm - Room 7AB - Starship Smackdown XIII: Ultimate Edition

 

You know those NCAA basketball brackets people make when picking their favorite teams who they think are going to win the tournament?  Well, imagine those but populate them with your favorite sci-fi starships.  Captain them with random captains, send them to battle and let the nerd debating begin.  Who would win in a fight?  The Millennium Falcon or The USS Defiant?  A borg cube or a V Mothership?  Battlestar Galactica or Spaceball One?  It's an open debate forum as both panelists and guests argue the strengths and weaknesses of the ships fighting.  Ships will be eliminated by rounds and in the end, there can be only one!  Who will fly away victoriously, leaving the wreckage of everyone else in his wake?  You can help decide.

 

4:00pm to 5:00pm - Buffy the Musical

 

The amazing Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans over at Whedonopolis.com are putting on a live screening of the hilarious Buffy musical episode . . . Once More With Feeling.  Think of it as sort of a Rocky Horror Picture Show style screening, complete with props and yelling.  You're encouraged to sing along with the show, dance in the aisles and shout out things at your favorite parts.  They'll be giving out cool stuff too to those in attendance.  At Wonder Con earlier this year they gave out these awesome Buffy and Spike pins.  I still have mine attached to my laptop bag.  This is a great and fun way to close the con out.  You won't want to miss this.

Geek-tastic Guide To Comic Con - Friday

 

Friday at Comic Con is traditionally Star Wars Day.  That means there's a ton of different Star Wars panels going on this day covering everything from video games and books to the Clone Wars TV series and more.  If you're a big Star Wars fan (like me) and are willing to wait in line for hours to get into these super popular panels (unlike me), then you already know what you're going to be doing this day.  I however will not be going to any Star Wars panels and will be leaving that to other sites (namely starwars.com or theforce.net) to cover.

 

Also, both Friday and Saturday are generally the days when the biggest panels take place, so the smaller panels are fewer and farther between.  I've done my best though to find some hidden gems.  You can see the full Friday Schedule here, but here's the panels I think are most Interesting for Friday.

 

Friday

 

10:00am to 11:00am - Room 32AB - From Fan to Creator: Goal Setting for Creative Types

 

Perhaps this is just me, being the amateur nerd-blogger with delusions of grandeur that I am, but this panel sounds pretty interesting.  It's a goal setting workshop that's being put on by someone named Douglas Neff (never heard of the guy before) who is promising to dispense with good advice on how to get started working on your creative goals like writing screenplays or comic books or shooting independent films.  I'm always up for a little helpful advice.  You never know, something said in this panel could be that epiphany you've been looking for.

 

11:00am to 12:00pm - Room 32AB - Masquerade 101

 

For those who love their COSplay and either have participated in the Masquerade before, or are planning to do so in the future, this is the panel for you.  Here's where you'll get the low down on how the Masquerade works, a little bit of it's history and some costuming and presentation tips.  Also, it's most likely everyone in the room will be fellow COSplayers as well, so you're bound to find plenty of cool and friendly people to talk to in the room that share some of your interests.

 

1:30pm to 3:00pm - Room 8 - Legends of The Batman

 

Batman turns 70 years old this year.  In honor of this amazing anniversary, this panel is being held which features past Batman artists from the golden age of comics to talk about their experiences working on the Dark Knight's books.  Guests include Sheldon "Shelly" Moldoff, Jerry Robinson and Lew Sayre Schwartz.  If you're a fan of Batman and his history, or of Golden Age comics in general, this is something you're going to want to see.

 

2:30pm to 3:30pm - Room 3 - Building Tomorrow's Technology

 

This panel is all about discussing how technology is going to develop going forward.  It will look at how the existing limited availability of resources may affect how the cool sci-fi stuff we always dream about becoming true could actually become true.  One question I highly douby they'll cover though which I'm dying to know the answer to . . . when the hell am I going to get my Back To The Future hoverboard?  I've wanted one of those since I was a little kid damnit!

 

7:45pm - 8:45pm - Room 6A - Klingon Lifestyles Presentation

 

I've never been to a Klingon based panel before, and having gone to SDCC for as long as I have, I feel that is a travesty that must be remedied immediately.  I will most definitely be in attendance for this one.  According to the schedule, this panel will involve live actors in full Klingon costume acting out a play of some sort in which the crew of a Klingon vessel are involved in a first contact mission with a new alien race.  However, there's problems with these new aliens and there's political intruige in the form of a Klingon intelligence officer who's snooping around. 

 

This is a live action play that is basically a fan made Star Trek episode.  This panel is going to be pure gold and I wouldn't miss it for the world.  I can't wait to see it.

Geek-tastic Guide To Comic Con - Wednesday & Thursday

 

This is it folks.  This is the big one.  As we speak, people from around the world are making their final preparations for the mass geek exodus to San Diego this week for the 40th Annual San Diego Comic Con.  This is the time every year where San Diego becomes Nerd Mecca for a few days as the largest comics and pop culture convention in the US takes place.  As with the trend from the last few years, this show is going to be MASSIVE in scale.  The passes sold out months ago.  Over 150,000 people will be at the convention center every day of the con.  The lines will be long, the big panels will be impossible to get into and I will be surrounded by the unwashed nerd masses for days on end.  And you know what?  I wouldn't have it any other way!

 

As with last year, I will be attending the con and will be doing my best to cover the event to the best of my amateur nerd-blogging ability.  I'll be setting up a flickr set for all the photo's I'll be taking and will try to post articles when I can throughout the day.

 

As I am only one man and will not be able to cover even 5% of what con has to offer, I am making a conscious choice this year to forego the big panels with the hollywood stars.  I figure you can find that sort of coverage from dozens of other websites that have teams of well paid staffers who can afford to spend 4 hours in line to hear what Joss Whedon has to say about season 2 of his crappy show Dollhouse.  I can't waste that kind of time, so I've resolved this year to seek out the hidden gems of Comic Con.  I'm on the hunt for those smaller panels, the ones overlooked by the average con goer nowadays who's there to see their favorite TV show panels or movie panels.  I'm looking for the quirky panels, the fan made panels, the ones made out of love for the subject matter, not those trying to sell a product or a show to the masses.

 

As such, I am putting together my list of the panels I will most likely be attending at this year's Con.  They range in size from small to medium, and they're the one's I highly suggest checking out once you realize the line to see James Cameron's panel is about 4 miles long and stretches all the way from one end of San Diego to the other.

 

Unfortunately, due to a friend's impending wedding this Saturday, I will only be able to attend the Con Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  I will try to make up for this lack of weekend coverage though in two ways.  1.) I will try to give the best coverage I can for the three days I am there for.  2.) I will still be including a list of suggested panels for those days I won't be able to make it to the con. 

 

With that said, let's get on to the list.  Here's the schedule of panels that I will be attending (assuming I can get into them).

 

Wednesday - 07/22

 

Wednesday is preview night at the Con.  It's not a full day.  The doors don't open until 6pm and there's really only one panel going on.  It's a big panel full of pilot screenings for a bunch of upcoming TV shows.  I'm going to avoid this like the plague and will instead be wandering the exhibit hall floor taking pictures and generally being giddy and acting like a little kid who's been let loose in Toys R Us on a $10,000 shopping spree.

 

Thursday - 07/23/09

 

10:00am to 11:00am - Room 2- Fan's Guide To Comic Con

 

This panel is a must-see for all con attendees, both newbies and veterans alike.  It's put on by Con experts and all around good guys Matt Jeffrey, Wes Strawther and Jesse Lopez.  In their panel they will distribute invaluable advice to people who have never been to SDCC before and will offer up some interesting perspectives for experienced Con attendees as well.  Trust me, as a 19 year veteran of the Con myself, even I found out cool new things about the Con by attending this panel in the past.  And if past years at the panel are anything to go on, the slideshow itself that goes along with the discussion will be hilarious.  That alone is worth checking the panel out for.  All of the cool bits of information are just bonus.  This panel is both entertaining and informative, and is a great way to start off the convention.

 

11:00am to 12:00pm - Room 2 - Secret Origins of Comic Con

 

Want to know how all this Comic Con nonsense got started?  Here's the panel that will tell you.  A group of the founding members of the convention will be on hand to tell stories about SDCC's early beginnings back in 1969 when a group of kids started it all.

 

12:30pm to 1:30pm - Room 6A - Battlestar Retrospective

 

Ok, so this is the one panel in which I'm breaking my own rule of avoiding the big TV show panels.  However, this isn't the big Battlestar Panel that you think it is.  This is the Retrospective that is put on by Richard Hatch (the original Apollo and Tom Zarek in the new series) and the composer of the new BSG, Bear McCreary.  They've put on this panel for the last two years, and from what I've been told it's mainly a fan centric panel that is just about gathering together and enjoying the awesomeness that is BSG.  Hatch and McCreary will show cool behind the scenes bits from the show and will show their appreciation for the fans and their love for the show because that's the kind of real professionals these guys are.

 

3:30pm to 4:30pm - J. Michael Straczynski: Professional Writing

 

Ok, I am definitely not attending this panel.  Nor do even suggest going to this panel.  I've only added this because I can't stand J. Michael Straczynski and think he's a horrible hack writer who has all but destroyed the character of Spider-man.  I am including this on this list because I'd like to offer up a free opportunity here for people to earn my undying respect, and even possibly some free schwag, to anyone who has the balls to go to this panel and ask Mr. Scraczynski the following in the Q&A session:

 

"How does it feel to be considered by many fans to be the man who has written the worst Spider-man stories ever and who has single handedly undone many of Spidey's greatest stories by making Gwen Stacey Pregnant with Norman Osbourn's children?  How do you look at yourself in the mirror sir?  And how do you dare show your face here at Comic Con where you should rightfully be banned from?"

 

Oh, and if you add "Geek-tastic.com sent me" at the end of that, I promise to make sweet love to you.  Of course, I'll need video proof that this happened first.  I have standards, afterall.

 

5:30pm - 6:30pm - Room 30CDE - The Physics of Hollywood Movies

 

I've never heard of this panel before, so it may be new, but it sounds like a lot of fun.  Per the panel's description, they're going to be taking a humorous look at the real life physics behind some of our most beloved hollywood action scenes and how hollywood has a tendency to completely ignore the laws of said physics.  They promise to look at everything from Iron Man to 2001: A Space Odyssey.  Science and comics nerdiness combined into one panel?  Hell yeah!  Count me in!

 

6:00pm - 7:00pm - Room 6D - Mad Science: The Science Behind Science Fiction

 

This takes place at the same time as the Physics of Hollywood Panel, so chances are I won't be able to hit it unless I can't get into the other panel, but I wanted to list this here too because it sounds cool.  Continuing with the Physics of Hollywood's panel of blending science and nerdiness, this panel promises a more serious discussion of the ethics of science exploration and how the improper application of it can lead to mad science.  Panelists include some amazing TV writers like Jane Espensen (Buffy, BSG, Dollhouse) and an actual neuroscientist who is the science consultant for the TV show Fringe.

 

6:30 to 7:30 - Room 30AB - The Anthropology of Star Trek

 

It's science, it's Star Trek.  How can you go wrong?  Learn all about the anthropological themes of the greatest Sci-fi TV series of all time including topics on politics, religion, technology and more. 

 

In case you couldn't tell, I'm a sucker for panels that mix science and comics or sci-fi geekyness.

 

7:30pm to 8:30pm - Room 10 - GeekRoundTable Live

 

This is another must-see panel that everyone should attend.  Here's your chance to meet the amazing cast of the GeekRoundTable podcast (and yours truly) as we record a live podcast in front you, the audience.  For those of you who may have missed last year's panel, you missed out on the funniest rant against Furries ever made as well as a story about a random run in many Con's ago with a very well known Comic Book Legend and his "lady of the evening" in a hotel in San Diego.  Who knows what kinds of things will get talked about this year.  It's going to be a ton of Fun.  Jokes will be made, stories will be told, you'll laugh, you'll cry, in the end you'll walk away knowing you've just witnessed the single funniest panel at the entire convention.  Be there or be square.