RSS - PostsToday is Sunday, the final day of the 2008 International Comic Con. And I am not there.
But!
I was there on Thursday and yesterday, and had a great time.
Thursday morning was an early one: the boyfriend and I got up at 4:30 a.m. and got ready to head down to San Diego. Smart us, we decided to use the time difference from here in Fallbrook v. Austin to our advantage. So, it felt more like getting up at 6:30, which is something I can handle since I do it every day for work. (Although, it was terribly dark.)
We headed down to San Diego, where we met up with a friend of mine from the Twilight Lexicon. Turns out that meeting people on the Internets can be a good thing: she’s a really sweet person and I’m sure we’ll be friends over more things than just Twilight for a while to come. We stood in line with thousands of other people for a couple hours and were then ushered into the Con like a herd of cattle. We hit registration and the boyf headed to stand in line for Hall H (at around 8 a.m.) while my friend and I wavered on whether or not we wanted to get in line for an autograph signing with Stephenie Meyer, author of Twilight. According to one of the Con volunteers, we wouldn’t be able to see both the Twilight panel (at 1:15 p.m.) and get an autograph, so we headed to meet up with the boyf in line.
We get downstairs to start looking for the line for Hall H and run across people who had been in line since 1:30 the previous afternoon. I got a bit worried, but the boyf wasn’t too far back … only about 1,000 people or so. Luckily, Hall H holds about 6,500.
While waiting in the line, we ran across some other Twilight fans and had a good conversation about the books and our opinions about the movie. (The boyf is really good at zoning out. Poor boy.) I’m pretty sure most of the thousands of people in line were there for Twilight; I felt bad for the people in the panels prior.
After getting into Hall H, we settled in to wait for the afternoon’s main attraction, and got to see some surprisingly interesting panels and footage in the process.
First panel up was The Day the Earth Stood Still with Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connally and the director:
Then, Max Payne with the director, Mila Kunis, Mark Wahlberg and Ludacris:
We then got an awesome surprise: Hugh Jackman showed up unannounced and unscheduled to give us a glimpse into X-Men Origins: Wolverine. He. is. gorgeous.
The Summit panel started out with the film Push; the panel featured Djimon Honsou, Chris Evans, Camilla Belle and the director. Dakota Fanning was supposed to be in attendance, but she was stuck in traffic. She actually showed up at the very end of the Summit panel and just came out to say hello. She’s adorable and is seriously growing up.
Then, Alex Proyas (a director) came out to show clips from Know1ng, a new Nicholas Cage movie. Meh.
Then. THEN! Twilight. :)
If you’ve never been to a boy band concert, you might not be able to imagine what 6,000 screaming girls sounds like, but it’s impressive. Trust me. I was both screaming and listening, and both parts of my brain were astounded at how loud we were.
Catherine Hardwicke, Stephenie, Rob Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Cam Gigandet, Rachelle Lefevre, Edi Gathegi and Taylor Lautner came to promote the film and answer fan questions (man, Twilight fans can be awkward). I don’t think any of them were quite prepared for the onslaught of screaming and intensity they got when they walked on stage. Rob and Kristen weren’t very coherant when answering questions. Surprisingly enough, Taylor was. Catherine gave us some info on the music in the movie, and we saw a bit longer and better edited ballet studio scene. Sigh. It was great.
And even though Rob wasn’t very good at answering questions and seemed either drunk or terrified (or both?), he looked so pretty up there on stage. I can’t wait to see him as Edward in December.
Other highlights of the Con:
I scared the boyf half to death when I gaspingly shouted “Holy shit!” when I saw John Barrowman sitting mere feet from where was standing. I can see even better now how everyone on Doctor Who and Torchwood think he’s delicious.
Wil Wheaton (a.k.a. Wesley Crusher) supposedly (according to the boyf) checked me out. I couldn’t stop laughing about that yesterday.
A lot of people asked the boyf where he got his Watchmen tee. (I made it.) I even got complimented by people manning a booth a couple of times. Someone even wanted a card so they could contact me for one. Neat.
Famous people seen on the exhibit hall floor:
Thursday:
Seth Green, John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto), the cast of Tru Blood including Anna Paquin, Felicia Day (Penny from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog) and Wil Wheaton.
Saturday:
Ted Raimi, Jonathan Frakes, Avery Brooks (Captain Benjamin Sisko), Wil Wheaton and the cast of Chuck.
Photos:
General photos, Hugh Jackman, famous people on the exhibit hall floor
Filed under: Misc.
When I return, it shall be post ComicCon, post So Cal and post Breaking Dawn.
I will be a changed* woman.
*Not in the sense that I will be a vampire, unfortunately. I’d like to return all sparkly, but alas, unless our plane flies through a rip in space and time, it more than likely won’t happen.
From Neil Gaiman:
1) Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab have done a limited edition of their amazing “Snow, Glass, Apples” scent. It smells like green apples and like sex and vampires, all at the same time. (Actually, it smells like sexy vampire apples.) It’s coming out with a limited edition illustrated chapbook of the story, with art by Julie Dillon. There are going to be a few signed ones, and some unsigned. The donation for the unsigned ones will be $50. As they say:
Sexy vampire apples? How can I resist?
Filed under: Friday's Bits | Tags: cooties, Dr. Horrible, Friday's Bits, Twilight
I probably should have looked ahead in my schedule and realized, before I started a regularly occurring section of this blog, that I wouldn’t be near a computer five Fridays in a row.
Oh well. I guess having Friday’s Bits on Thursday just goes with my wacky personality. You’ll have to forgive the missing posts while I’m on vacation July 23–Aug. 1.
Linkages!
Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog has begun. And is awesome!
Stephenie Meyer is driving me mad with anticipation … along with all the other (2 or 3?) Twilight fans out there. Today’s quote is NOT FAIR, STEPHENIE. Not fair.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs … in 3-D!
These do not look natural. Not that they’re supposed to, I’m guessing, but they barely even look like makeup, from the photo …
Blurbages!
Once again, words of wisdom from The Park Bench:
So yesterday, the husband and I went to see Hellboy II: The Golden Army which I’ve decided to retitle, Holy Cow, Hellboy’s Starring in ‘Pan’s Labyrinth II: New and Improved with Kittens!’ Sure, that title’s going to make the marketing a bit difficult what with squeezing so many words onto the poster and all, but I feel it’s a fairly accurate representation of the film.
I have yet to see the movie, but Pan’s Labyrinth is all I can see when I watch the trailers. So much so that I was surprised to realize that Guillermo Del Toro wrote/produced/directed/whatevered the first Hellboy. I’m hoping that he doesn’t bring too much of it over into the Hobbit movies too …
Cooties explained (via Mental Floss):
As a part of science’s never-ending quest to apply fancy-sounding names to everyday phenomena, psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania have coined the word “touch transference.” It’s what happens—in our minds, at least—when a package of toilet paper touches your fillet mignon at the grocery store, and for the briefest moment, you think: “Eww.” We’re talking about cooties here: when something gross touches something otherwise benign, and “infects” it. Turns out, according to a new article in Time, that touch transference holds powerful sway over a lot of people; it certainly drives business in the cleaning products industry, and guides supermarket owners’ decisions on how to organize goods on their shelves. “In a series of studies, the researchers found not only that some products—trash bags, diapers, kitty litter, tampons—evoke a subconscious feeling of disgust even before they’re used for their ultimate messy purposes, but they can also transfer their general ickiness to anything they come in contact with. ‘We were pretty surprised at how strong the effect was,’ says Fitzsimons. ‘This is probably the most robust result in my career.’”
Also interesting was the notion that cooties may have been a very useful thing hundreds of years ago, before humans had any knowledge of germs and the damage they could do. Hence, we’ve always been revolted by things like rotting food. But everybody’s got their own personal set of gross-outs — anybody care to share?
Picturages!
Can I go here, please? And not just because it looks like the Cullens’ driveway. ;)
Ha!
I just recently completed a Twilight craft swap over on Craftster. Since my partner, the lovely hardhat_cat, has received her goodies, I thought I’d post pictures here to further document my obsession. ;)
Meet Edward Cullen. The dreamiest of all dreamy literary men.
I crocheted him using a pattern from Geek Central Station. I added some iridescent embroidery thread around his little body so that he sparkles. I was having trouble deciding between using glitter, glitter spray or thread in the beginning. He doesn’t sparkle as much as I’d like, but he also doesn’t leave “the herpes of craft supplies” all over the place when he moves.
He’s got embroidery thread hair, which stands up surprisingly well on its own, and a leather cuff with the lion from the Cullen crest on it. I found this charm and thought it would suffice. I didn’t think I had the time or the patience to make an entire crest out of clay.
His shirt is a shiny polyester of some sort. I tried to make it a turtleneck too, based off a scene from Twilight in which Bella talks about Edward wearing a cream-colored turtleneck. I’ve come to realize, in creating this ensemble, that it’s quite hard to sew for little people. (He’s about 5″ tall.) I feel like the shirt turned out looking like a Dentist’s scrub top … but it works.
Meet Jacob Black. Cloyingly sweet, but goodhearted, best-friend-turned-werewolf-soulmate.
I used the same pattern to crochet him. He’s got a black t-shirt on, as he’s described as wearing a lot, and a red hoodie. The hoodie is “dirty” as though he’s been working in the garage, on the Rabbit or the motorcycles. His hair’s also embroidery thread, and long, because Bella likes it better that way.
He came with an accessory too:
Oh noes! We caught him right in the middle of phasing. How embarrassing for all of us.
I made the werewolf pouch out of faux fur. I sketched a basic wolf shape and then sewed around it, leaving the top part open to add velcro closures. I had to trim this little beast like nobody’s business. For a while, it looked like we had gotten a very sheddy black dog (in addition to our very sheddy white dog). His ear didn’t turn out quite like I wanted, but you live and you learn. He looks good enough for a mangy dog. ;)
A Thunderbolts tee! I wanted to make a baseball tee that related back to Twilight, because one of my most favorite parts in the entire series, albeit short, is the baseball scene. I didn’t want to put something overused (and kinda lame) on the front like Vampire Baseball, so I came up with this snazzy team name. It’s witty, get it?
I created the stencil of the type on my computer, printed it out on some freezer paper and then stenciled it onto the shirts. I love freezer-paper stenciling. The shirt turned out really clean.
The back:
I like to imagine all of the Cullens sporting tees like this on their baseball outings. Carlisle’s would have to say 300+ or something on the back, just because it would be funny (to me!).
And some fanpire pin/buttons. I hand painted all of these with designs I amalgamated from various merch I saw around the web. I like that they’re secretly promoting Twilighterism, rather than shouting it in your face. I like to be somewhat sneaky when I show my love.
Last, but not least:
The lovely Rob Pattinson-as-Edward on a corner page holder bookmark. This picture is just so Edward, I want to use it everywhere. I want to make out with this picture. But only somewhere the boyf won’t see. ;)
The bookmark itself is the corner of an envelope, which I covered with paper and then contact paper. You slip it over book pages along the hypotenuse. I found the idea online somewhere a while ago and have made a few different ones for myself. They keep my place quite securely and don’t cause a bulge in the book, since they’re so slim.
I had a lot of fun with this swap, and plan on maybe even taking on the organization reigns for Round 4. I’ll keep you updated.
I’m leaving (On a jet plane! For reals!) for sunny So Cal next Wednesday to visit Papa Murray. The boyfriend and I are shoving Mollie into a carrier, which I’m nervous about, and heading down (over?) for 10 days of fun. We’re going to ComicCon on Thursday and Saturday (damn all the Stargate stuff being on Friday!!1!). I plan to spend most of the day Thursday doing Twilighty stuff, as a huge panel is going to be held in the afternoon, and I will most likely need to spend a lot of time standing in line to ensure myself a seat. Saturday will most likely be spent dragging the menfolk through the exhibit hall, trying not to spend all day at the Summit booth in the hopes that someone from Twilight decides to stop by.
This is my first experience at a convention of this sort, so I’m not sure what to expect. I know this is a huge leap into the fray to be taking; the San Diego con is, after all, the International ComicCon. That means it’s a big deal, people. It also means … that I am nervous?
I’m not one for big crowds, and I get very anxious when I’m faced with walking through large groups of people. All of my inadequacies seem to boil to the surface and I become very self-conscious. Not that anyone is really looking at me, mind you, but I feel like they are. It makes my knees wobbly, and not in the “Oh Edward, I love you too!*” sort of way. I think they call it Social Anxiety Disorder. I call it a crap form of fear.
I’m also planning to possibly meet up with a bunch of strangers from the Lex. I’m sure they’re all quite nice, and goodness knows I can spend more than a few hours straight talking about all things Twilight-related, but I am not good around new people.
Perhaps the whole experience will be a chance for me to force myself out of the hermit bubble I surround myself with? I can be friendly and outgoing … That skill just atrophied somewhere during college.
Needless to say, even though I am a whiny-butt, ComicCon will be awesome and I will have a grand time in San Diego. Where else can I find thousands of people nerdier than myself—and join them in the revelry?
*It’s a Twilight reference. LOVE IT.
It struck me that I needed to write up a Friday’s Bits because it is, in fact Friday, but I have not been regularly near a computer for most of this week, and am not near my home or work computer as I type this, so I will need to postpone linkages and picturages until next week. I will try to make it doubly good.
Work really cuts into blogging and life some times. ;P
I might need to buy myself a pair of Superhero Boots to go with my Dragon Riders.
Holy crap, right? So awesomely shiny.
Filed under: Friday's Bits | Tags: Friday's Bits, Neil Gaiman, Stuffies, teh awesome, Twilight
So, in order to keep up writing in this blog (even though no one reads it *hic-sob*), I think I shall start a weekly feature called Friday’s Bits. It’s basically a place for me to post tidbits I’ve found throughout the week that either didn’t make it into their own post, or were deemed unworthy of an entire post devoted to them. Although, the fact that I devoted an entire post to a high-larious portrait of Will Farrell a few posts down should tell you that my worthyness meter runs pretty low. The reason I am starting on a Thursday is because tomorrow is the Fourth of July, and around these parts means no work. But, I am not going to kid myself, I’ll probably still be on the computer for most of the day. Damn you Lex!
On with the show:
This photo is amazing. Two of my very most favorite things … combined!
(Found via Little Brown Books’ Flickr.)
I heart The Park Bench:
+ Did you hear that Nelson Mandela was taken off the United States’ terrorism watch list yesterday? Happy Birthday, Nelson! At first, we were going to get you a gift certificate to Bed, Bath and Beyond but this seemed so much more personal. On a related note, King George III rose from the dead yesterday, got in his time machine and took George Washington off The Naughty Colonial List. Sigh.
I also heart Neil Gaiman, and his daughter Maddy for being teh awesome** influence:
Actually, you should never meet your heroes if you want to keep them as heroes. They may wind up as friends or as disappointments or as pleasant surprises, but once you know them they immediately stop being heroes. (I’ve turned down several opportunities to meet Stephen Sondheim socially, because he’s practically all I’ve got left. Even David Bowie, who I’ve never even met, has managed to transmute in my head most of the way from DAVID BOWIE ZOMG!!1!* to my friend Duncan’s dad.)
*correct !!1! punctuation assistance here by Maddy.
This is amazing, and I neeeeed an extra $180 so that I can purchase it and it can be in my home, on my couch, for me to snuggle and rock out with:
And finally, because I am also teh awesome** and spend too much time playing with Twilight when I should be doing other things *ahem, working?*:
