Tag Archives: comic-con

drive-by comic-con update

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Quick update to say that I survived Comic-Con. Sure, it was super tiring, my feet hurt after walking all day, the lines and crowds were RIDICULOUS but it was fun to be with friends and other fans that share the same fandom obsessions. There’s a great vibe in the air — an overwhelming feeling of appreciation to have the chance to interact with artists, writers, actors, and directors you admire. I came home with lots of great memories and can’t wait to share them with all of you.

My only complaint was that my TV boyfriend, Joshua Jackson, made a surprise appearance and I didn’t get to see him. GRRR.

🙂

But before I dive into the details, I’m leaving on a jet plane again and heading to San Francisco for work and the wedding of my good friends’ R & J this weekend. Back next week!

happy things, (almost) july edition

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Rob’s out of town this weekend so I decided to take advantage and start watching True Blood. I saw the first couple of episodes at a friend’s place back when the series first started but I didn’t have HBO at the time so I never bothered to finish the season. It didn’t help that I wasn’t particularly enamored with the episodes I did see. I’ve since heard that the show definitely picks up after that point. And now that I’ve read the first 6 books of the Sookie Stackhouse series (which I enjoy), I thought I’d give it another chance. Hopefully I’ll like it much better this time around. 🙂

So it’s about that time for another Happy Things entry — this time it’s the (almost) July edition!

1. House-iversary! Rob and I have been living in our house for the past year. CRAZY. It really doesn’t seem that long. Particularly since we’re not even done furnishing or organizing the boxes in our garage. Not to mention that…

2. We JUST now (mostly) finished the work in our (tiny) yard. Yes, after a year! We had sod and pavers installed last September but since then, we’ve let weeds grow in the surrounding soil. Oops. Finally, two weeks ago, with my dad’s help, we got rid of the weeds, prepared the soil, and added plants. YAY.

3. The upcoming Fourth of July holiday. One of my favorites. Love how laid back it is. Not sure what our plans are for the long weekend but it’ll probably involve some work around the house. Maybe Rob will fire up the grill. 😀 And we can catch up on summer movies (still want to see Bridesmaids, X-Men: First Class, and Super 8).

4. Speaking of movies… HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2. !!! I can’t believe it’s almost over. *sob* I’ve already convinced Rob we NEED to see it opening weekend.

5. Two weddings and a baby shower. 🙂 I’m going to be an aunt! My cousin’s wife is pregnant — since I have no siblings, I’m claiming their (future) daughter as my niece.

Bonus happy thing!

6. Comic-Con. We’re going the full 4 days again. I CAN’T WAIT. This time we’ll have other friends with us — it’s going to be great.

Random. I’ve had Bruno Mars’s “The Lazy Song” on repeat. This is like my summer anthem…

Today I don’t feel like doing anything
I just want to lay in my bed
Don’t feel like picking up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
Cause today I swear I’m not doing anything

comic-con 2010: days 3 & 4

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Oh man, it pains me that I’ve only been blogging about once a week lately. My poor abandoned blog. Work, house maintenance, and TV take up so much time leaving nothing for the blog. Obviously my time management sucks.

Anyway, apparently I have commitment issues when it comes to topics on my blog. So even though it’s been 3 weeks since Comic-Con, I’m finishing up my recap, damn it! Beware blurry pics.

Saturday, July 24

Today was our INSANE panel day. Rob and I basically went to Ballroom 20 and stayed there from morning until late afternoon. No joke.



The first panel of the day was Chuck. It started at 10am and at 8am the scene already looked like this. CRAZINESS.

I was so excited for this panel (hence the reason for the 2 hour wait in line) and it ended up being a little disappointing. First, the panel started late (I later found out it was due to technical difficulties) so by the time they showed the opening highlight reel and hilarious Jeffster music video (singing Lady Gaga!), the cast was only able to come on stage to answer questions for a short time. 🙁



They did reveal a few tidbits for next season —

— Linda Hamilton has been cast as Chuck & Ellie’s mom.
— The Buy More has been taken over by the CIA and Olivia Munn and the Old Spice guy (Isaiah Mustafa) will guest star as CIA directors (or agents? I can’t remember).

The moderators also pointed out that besides Chuck & Sarah, there was another break-out couple last season — Casey (Adam Baldwin) & Morgan (Joshua Gomez). When asked what they like about working with each other, Joshua said he liked Adam’s soft hands (what?!) and Adam joked back that when the crew is setting up scenes for the two of them, they have to get an apple box for Joshua to stand on since he’s so much shorter. BWAHAHAHA. Poor Joshua looked so embarrassed.

After Chuck was a series of panels for animated shows I don’t watch — Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, Futurama, The Simpsons (Rob does, though). I didn’t know what the heck they were talking about but I have to admit that they were HILARIOUS. Especially Seth MacFarlane and the entire cast and crew of Family Guy. During the audience Q&A, a fan went up to the mic and was so nervous, he was stammering and couldn’t get his question out. Seth MacFarlane laughed and said he thought the fan was going to pull one of these and he pretends to whip out a gun and start shooting. OMG. So inappropriate. But I laughed anyway. I couldn’t help it!


Family Guy

The Cleveland Show

Futurama

The Simpsons



Next up was the V panel, which was a complete and utter snoozefest. Rob left mid-way through because he was so bored (he went to the Eureka and Warehouse 13 panels). And he’s the one that watches this show! I only watch it because he does. All I remember is that the actor who plays Tyler is just as weird and awkward as his character. Really. Oh, and Elizabeth Mitchell is an incredibly humble and gorgeous actress.

FINALLY. FINALLY. It was time for Fringe. OK. SO. I didn’t watch any of season 2. I was pretty much there to see my celebrity crush Joshua Jackson.



SQUEEEEEE.

The cast and creators talked a lot about duality and duplicity with regards to the show’s alternate universe and how choices play a role in the differences between the two worlds. Anna Torv described it best when she said that both Olivias have similar goals but our Olivia wants to be the best while alt-Olivia just wants to win.

Everything else they discussed pretty much went over my head but really intrigued me. Maybe I need to do a season 2 marathon?

But for me anyway, Josh Jackson was the highlight. He infused humor into the panel. For instance…

— At the very beginning, the moderator asked him “Is Peter about to embark on the most exhilarating threesome he’s ever had?” WTF. IDEK. Anyway, JJ answered by asking in return “Is there such a thing as a non-exhilarating threesome?”
— During the audience Q&A, the panel decided to ask the fans questions in return. One of the questions was why Gene (the cow) had polka dots. When the fan didn’t know, JJ grabbed his water, took a huge sip, and made gurgling noises. The fan correctly guessed a bong hit. BEST moment of the panel by far.
— The last question asked by the panel was about the pot strains that Walter crossed. It’s completely quiet for awhile when someone in the audience yells out the exact ingredients. The creators are surprised, tell him that he wins a t-shirt while JJ says “And a five-to-fifteen year jail sentence!”

OHGAWD. IPUFFYHEARTYOU JOSHUAJACKSON.

Aaaannnnd the last panel for the day was The Vampire Diaries. I was REALLY surprised at how much the ballroom emptied out after Fringe. It went from full capacity to half. Those people don’t know what they’re missing.
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comic-con 2010: day 2

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Friday, July 23

We only went to 1 panel in the morning (for CBS’s “reboot” of Hawaii 5-0) and spent the rest of the day in the exhibition hall. Expect lots of pics in this entry!

So Hawaii 5-0. I only wanted to attend this panel because I love Daniel Dae Kim. Does this make me a bad person?



Grace Park was the only other cast member there along with a few producers and writers and OMG, it was SO BORING for the first half hour. I almost fell asleep. Everyone on the panel was so serious. BLAH. Then Grace Park started responding to a question by rambling on and on — when all of a sudden she stopped, laughed, and said, “I don’t remember the question.” She apologized and explained that they had all taken the red eye from Hawaii and were really tired. This seemed to put everyone at ease and the panel got 100% better. Some memorable moments…

— Daniel Dae Kim said he’s “happy to be on a show that has a theme song.”
— At first the producers decided to do a rock version of the theme song but after hearing the finished product, they realized it was terrible. They scrapped it, found the original musicians, and re-recorded the song. We were treated to footage of that recording session, which was pretty cool. I may not remember the original show at all (it was before my time) but the theme is iconic.
— Grace Park was asked about her transition from Battlestar Galactica to other shows. She said, “When Boomer died…” to which Daniel Dae Kim promptly frowned and shook his head. Producer Peter Lenkov had to remind her that Daniel just started watching BSG. OOPS.
— The first audience question was a DIRTY DIRTY MAN who asked Grace if she was going to appear in more bikinis on the show. WAY TO STAY CLASSY THERE GUY. She played it off well by saying it wasn’t up to her and that she hoped the guys would be in bikinis too.
— A 12-year old boy asked Daniel Dae Kim a question (can’t remember what it was now) and started off by saying “I’ve been watching Lost for half my life…” Ahhhh, so cute.
— Another Lost fan asked Daniel Dae Kim about a rumor she read online regarding Matthew Fox and John Terry being the only actors to know the ending of the show. He confirmed it was true. He said that when they received their scripts, a few acts were missing, and they later learned they were the scenes explaining the flash-sideways. On the day they shot the final scene, Lindelof & Cuse revealed the ending. It happened to be the last day the entire cast was all together so that gave the acting extra weight.

Still not sure if I’m going to watch this show next season… maybe I’ll check out the pilot.



And now the exhibition hall. It gets INSANE. But lots of stuff to see!



Like these life size Lego figures of Buzz and Woody.



New Harry Potter Lego set.



AWESOME Lego Star Wars cube dudes. I REALLY REALLY wanted this set. But they’re limited edition and you have to enter a raffle just to be eligible to purchase them. I didn’t bother. I still want them, though. ARGH.



The Lucasfilm/Star Wars booth.



We saw Aaron Douglas (Chief from BSG) signing autographs.



THE BEST COSTUME OF THE WEEKEND. Zangief from Street Fighter. Hehe.



The Ugly Doll posed for me! I think it’s actually kind of cute.

We decided to venture outside around noon for lunch (food options in the convention center are virtually nonexistent). SyFy took over one of the restaurants in the Hard Rock Hotel and converted it to Cafe Diem, which is a cafe in their show Eureka. We decided to try it and while the food was your average diner food, the branding was awesome.



There was a white picket fence outside, SyFy signage covering the walls, the seatbacks read “Cafe Diem,” and all the menu items were named after various shows.



There was even a photobooth in the back where you could take a picture, get a copy right away, and later download it on their website for free. SO COOL.



On the way back to the convention center, we spotted the SyFy street team giving out these HUGE ASS bags. One side says GIANT BACKPACK and the other says MEGA TOTE. Hehe.

Back inside the exhibition hall, we saw…
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comic-con 2010: day 1

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Before I start my Comic-Con recap, I HAVE to post Joshua Jackson’s Funny or Die/Pacey-Con video. WHY DIDN’T I KNOW ABOUT THIS?!? Love him.


Anyway. Comic-Con recap. Click pics for bigger. Some of them are blurry and/or shaky. I am an amateur.

Thursday, July 22



Comic-Con has invaded downtown San Diego!



You can totally tell when you’re nearing the convention center.



FACT. Lines are everywhere. Luckily, we skipped this one because we picked up our badges the previous day.

We spent about an hour in the exhibit hall that morning but promptly at 11am, we headed upstairs to Ballroom 20 (the biggest room used for TV shows – seats about 4000) to get in line for the USA panels — the first being Burn Notice at 1pm.



Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous to get in line 2 hours ahead of time but SERIOUSLY, if it’s something you want to do/see, it’s necessary. And actually still doesn’t guarantee entrance depending on how popular it is.



We got into Ballroom 20!



OH MAN. Burn Notice was the BEST panel that we attended. Absolutely hilarious. Chris Vance moderated (he also played the evil Gilroy in the last season) and Bruce Campbell (Sam), Tim Matheson (Larry), and series creator Matt Nix were panelists. Some highlights:

— Matt Nix on the writers’ inspiration – “There comes a point where you start reading warning labels as instructions.”
— The bomb squad asked them to cut a voiceover because it wasn’t a good idea to tell the general public how they detect bombs.
— Bruce Campbell talked about how he used to projectile sweat when they filmed car scenes because there was no AC. But of course, the one time that Jeffrey Donovan starts to sweat even a little bit, they install AC.
— Bruce Campbell accidentally revealed that Fiona gets kidnapped in an upcoming episode and said “Never kidnap Fiona. She’s such a little sh*t.”
— During the audience Q&A, a fan asked about Fiona’s terrible Irish accent in the pilot and why it was dropped. Matt Nix simply said it was a narrative choice — it made it hard for the characters to put on different personas if they already had an accent. (I think Gabrielle Anwar’s accent was terrible and he was just too nice to say so).
— Another fan asked how the show ended up being set in Miami. Matt Nix revealed that it was originally set in Newark (I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or sarcastic) and that the network basically told him they wanted a sunny locale and they chose Miami. After being pissed for awhile, he realized they were right.
— Throughout the panel, Bruce Campbell stood up and gave money to people when they paid him flattering compliments.
— Towards the end of the hour, USA network executive Jeff Wachtel interrupted the panel to announce that they greenlit a Sam prequel. !!! It will follow Sam on his last military mission and show how he ended up in Miami. WOOHOO. Bruce Campbell promptly handed Wachtel some money. When asked how he felt about the prequel, he said “USA finally got their sh*t together.” HEISSOAWESOME.



White Collar was up next. The entire cast was there. First thing I noticed is that Matt Bomer is even MORE handsome in person than he appears on TV. How is that even possible?!? The panel started off with an awesome Con exclusive video where the gang discusses their costumes for Comic-Con (for the record, Neal would go as Freddie, Peter would be Darth Vader, Diana as Chewbacca, and Jones as Blade – AWESOME!). Sadly, the rest of the panel was pretty underwhelming. Mostly because Willie Garson moderated and while he was funny, I felt like he didn’t really do a good job with asking the cast questions that got them talking. The best moments were:

— Sharif Atkins doing a cartwheel on stage as he’s introduced
— Creator Jeff Eastin complimenting Matt Bomer for infusing the charm into the character of Neal Caffrey — to which Matt put his head down and looked super embarrassed. WHATACUTIE.
— Marsha Thomason mentioned that she wanted to see Tim DeKay dressed in drag as Beyonce (I can’t remember why she said that) and Tim promptly did the “Single Ladies” hand movements.
— At the end, Matt & Tim sang a censored version of the “Folgers in your cup” song. I think they sing this on set when they’re tired, need to diffuse tension, etc. I took a crappy video…



Our last panel of the day was Psych. Just like White Collar, they started off with a fun video of James Roday and Dule Hill on set. Nestor Carbonell (he’s guest starring later this season) walks by looking for Jack. Dule asks “Why? Are you… lost?” and they proceed to laugh hysterically. OH GAWD. So funny.



After the video, James and Dule walked on stage singing “Shout” with Tears for Fears’s Curt Smith. AWESOME. The awesomeness didn’t stop there though:

— When asked what they dislike about each other, Dule said James’s hair and James said he admires Dule’s ability to stay tan without any products.
— James and Dule were asked to give the first few sentences of their characters best man speeches. James said “he can’t marry you because he’s already married to me” but Dule took the cake by saying “I guess today is the day we all realize what a cold day in hell feels like. In the words of the great Arsenio Hall, there’s a god somewhere!” BWAH.
— There was confirmation that Maggie Lawson and James are in a relationship. AWWW.
— Dule and choreographer Jason Samuels Smith showed off their tap dancing skills at the end.

… And that was pretty much our first day. I actually had a ticket to the Entertainment Weekly/CBS party that night but didn’t want to go by myself (I won it via Twitter and wasn’t able to get another one for Rob) so I skipped it. Maybe next year! I don’t feel so bad for missing the celebrities at the party because we ran into Tim DeKay on the way back to our hotel. YAY.



GREAT DAY.

back from the con

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Back from Comic-Con.

UNBELIEVABLY TIRED.

Sure, the exhibition hall got crowded, the lines for panels were too long, cell/internet service SUCKED balls (which makes no sense, right? you’d think this would be a priority) — but like any other experience, it’s what you make of it. And I had a GREAT time. Even though I definitely feel every bit the 30 year old that I am.

I managed to attend the panels for some of my favorite shows (Burn Notice, White Collar, Psych, The Vampire Diaries – among others), I geeked out over being in the same room as my actor crushes (Joshua Jackson!!! Jensen Ackles!!!), and I did some completely unnecessary shopping (bought t-shirts and toys — which I certainly don’t NEED). But as full as the days were, there was NO CHANCE to see everything. I spent so much time checking out the TV panels that I missed all the big movie announcements (Joss Whedon directing The Avengers, appearances by Harrison Ford, Robert Downey Jr, Tom Felton, etc) as well as other awesome moments taking place in or around the convention floor — particularly these two…



Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay from White Collar at the Ubisoft booth playing Just Dance 2. THIS IS AWESOME. Doesn’t Matt Bomer look like he knows all the moves by heart?!



Joshua Jackson held Pacey Con 2010 outside the convention center. He was giving out Dawson’s Creek fanfiction that he had written while the theme song played on a portable radio. He’s even wearing a very Pacey-like bowling shirt. OMGILOVEHIMSOMUCH. I totally wish I got the chance to see this in person.

So yeah. Lots of crazy stuff! Hopefully I’ll get to my Con recaps in the next few days… 🙂

friday at comic-con

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I ended up having to work last Friday but I did so from San Diego so I could still go to Comic-Con. Sneaky but I don’t care because it was my first Comic-Con ever and I had SO MUCH FUN.

Since I had to work most of the day and only had a 1 day pass, I decided to skip all the panels and just check out the booths and exhibits in the main hall. Sadly I don’t have a lot of pictures, especially of costumed attendees (so many Wonder Women!) — there was just so much to see that I forgot. 🙁 But I’ll share what I do have!

Click for bigger.



WE MADE IT. !!! Taking the escalator to pick up our badges upstairs.



Rob and Sebastian. Do you feel our excitement?!?



After picking up our badges, I found a bench and outlet on the 2nd floor, which became my makeshift workstation for the day. Thank goodness for Google and their free wi-fi. Do you see the crazy line to the right of the picture? That’s the line for Ballroom 20, which is one of the rooms used for the really popular panels.



There are SO MANY people walking around and handing out various little tchotckes. Rob got this “tie” from someone promoting the upcoming movie Fantastic Mr. Fox. The “tie” is pretty darn awesome.



When I finally made my way to the main hall later in the day, I saw Iron-Man…



… and Star Wars figures at the Hasbro booth.



Rob loved this superhero squad display.



Aaahhhhh!!! It’s Adam Baldwin (aka Casey from Chuck and Jayne from Firefly)! Lurve him.



Edward James Olmos was also there…



… as was Michael Hogan (aka Colonel Tigh from Battlestar Galactica).



And probably the highlight of my day was seeing KIEFER SUTHERLAND. He was heading to the FOX booth and I happened to be near it. Look how close he was to me!!! *swoon* Katee Sackhoff (aka Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica) was walking right behind him (she’s going to be on 24 next season) but I totally missed getting a picture of her because I kept staring at Kiefer. She is so gorgeous in person.



Back to walking around. The Warner Bros booth — I managed to score one of their oversized tote bags! I think I accidentally cut in line, though. :/ Sorry! I swear I didn’t mean it. The one I got has Chuck on one side and The Big Bang Theory on the other. I really wanted the Harry Potter bag but they ran out. 🙁



One of the toy booths was selling this Comic-Con exclusive stuffed wicket. SO CUTE! Only $10! No, I didn’t get it.



Found my favorite Star Wars character R2D2 at the Sideshow Collectibles booth. If I remember correctly, this figurine was $5,450. WHAT.



And finally, here we are after a very looooong day. My back and feet were KILLING me after all the walking. You can see the oversized Warner Bros. tote bags we got in this pic.

Can’t wait for Comic-Con 2010! And I’ll be sure to request vacation on time to avoid the mess I had this year. 😛

i FAIL at life

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I am SO PISSED at myself.

I mentioned a few months back that Rob and I bought tickets to go to Comic-Con on Friday, July 24th. I have been looking forward to this FOREVER. I don’t know why I didn’t ask for the day off back in April but I didn’t. I procrastinated. So OF COURSE, when I finally submitted my request this week, I find out that I might have to work that day because we have a project due the following Monday.

%$#@!&%!

I guess I better get my work completed before the 24th, right? Maybe if that happens, there’ll be a chance I can go. I mean, just look at the scheduled programming that day. It’s Star Wars day! And the casts of 24 and Bones are going to be there along with soooo many other awesome TV/movie/comic panels. *sigh*

I realize I’m being totally dramatic about the whole situation but I work because it’s something I have to do to enjoy the rest of my life. I don’t love it. And I would much rather be at Comic-Con.