w00tstock 2.4 San Diego, aka Overdue Post is Overdue.
I'd been hearing about w00tstock since it began, and when they announced one was going to happen in San Diego, I decided to go for it, even though I'd just be getting back from Infinitus 2010 and would probably be exhausted. That much was true - but it was SO worth it.
I headed down to San Diego, hoping to arrive by 5 pm... but amazingly, the traffic wasn't bad at all and I got there barely after 4. Parked right next to the venue and went round the corner to find... a whopping 3 people in line. After all the queuing I've done for rock concerts, it was almost funny to be at a venue just over 2 hours before doors and have there be next to no one there. Of course, many people were likely still at Comic-con - if it had been at another time, the line would probably have been very different. So I sat down and talked to the few people who were there and texted and tweeted. About 20 minutes or so later, Ice Cream Man and ThinkGeek showed up with free ice cream and other freebies. ThinkGeek had posted a special code phrase on their blog and I was one of the first 10 to say it, so I got a $30 gift certificate! EEEEE! Sometime this week, I need to go on a geeky shopping spree. :D
More people got in line or walked by, and it was really funny how many people simply did NOT believe ICM was giving away ice cream for FREE, no strings attached. I can understand it, but we started trying to help by telling people as they walked by - FREE ICE CREAM! LOL The line kept growing and at one point, Wil Wheaton came out to take a picture of the line. A little bit later, he came back out to get his free ice cream and literally skipped back into the venue! I adore him more every time I see him - or he tweets about his family or his pets or... But I digress. As we waited for doors, Jonathan Ross and Grant Imahara walked by, and I have to admit I was more excited about seeing Grant. I started watching Mythbusters when it began on Discovery and I absolutely loved it from day one, so... yeah. Geek!crushes ahoy!
We finally get let in and somehow, I get in and am FRONT ROW CENTER. Kids, this was not at all the plan, but who looks a gift horse in the mouth? Not I! I started chatting with the guy who was sitting next to me (he was the first in line) and then I got up to go and buy a t-shirt and get a free poster.(I am hereby cut off from buying more t-shirts for a looooong time - between the Orlando trip and then w00tstock, I bought FOUR in less than 2 weeks!!!) After I got back to my seat, a very nice waitress came around for drink orders. I freely admit I had a couple of drinks, and they were quite lovely. :)
And it finally began! Wil started it off with a great introduction, and then Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters came out briefly to introduce Paul and Storm, who were talented and hilarious.
Next up was Molly Lewis, who did a truly geeky song about wanting to have Stephen Fry's baby since he's gay and too awesome not to procreate. Another note about Molly - #freemolly was another hashtag for this w00tstock because the venue was 21+ - and Molly was not. So apparently the only way she was able to perform was by being escorted by security on and off stage - in and out of the building. :| She couldn't even stay inside to watch the rest of the show! Despite this less-than-awesome treatment, she was really amazing and even wrote a song in about an hour and performed it while Wil held the lyrics she'd written. I'm telling you - only a geek could make a ukulele that cool.
Next up was Rifftrax and they did Lunchroom Manners live, and I was laughing so hard I nearly fell over. Literally! If you've never seen any of their stuff, you really need to check them out. SO funny!!
Then we had comic book hottie Matt Fraction (oh yeah, I said it), who went over an older comic and made us all laugh, and then Chris Hardwick aka the Nerdist came out. He told us it was reverse Pi day and began to recite Pi - as in all the numbers AFTER 3.14, which goes to infinity. As he did so, he came to the edge of the stage and reached for my hand. I put it up and he took it, lacing his fingers with mine, and as he continued to recite the numbers, he climbed off the stage and put his arms around me! He continued to chant the numbers, pausing only to whisper in my ear Just go with it, so I put my arms around him and hugged him back. He eventually let me go, still counting, and walked down the aisle of people, then got back onstage and was absolutely hilarious. Perhaps the funniest part was telling my younger brother about this afterwards - and he is also very much a geek! - and him going, "OMG CHRIS HARDWICK FONDLED MY SISTER?!" Umm, not quite, but almost? LOL
Then Wil came back and read one of his chapters - this one was about losing his Rocky Horror virginity. SO funny! And at one point, Aaron Douglas from Battlestar Galactica came out in his full flight suit and everyone in the audience lost it! It was great.
There was a brief intermission and I was highly amused to discover that, FOR ONCE, the line for the women's bathroom was shorter than the one for the men's. XD
We started back up with Phil Plait aka the Bad Astronomer, who talked a bit and showed us a preview for his new show, Bad Universe, which will be on the Discovery Channel, hopefully in the fall. I seriously can't wait!!!
After Phil it was lovely, redheaded, geeky singer-songwriter Marian Call. She's seriously awesome and has a great voice, so check her stuff out and if you get a chance to see her live (check her tour page), do it!!! I'll still be a geek after nobody thinks it's chic. TRUER WORDS. <3
Then, once again, the perils of being in the front row were discovered. Jamy Ian Swiss, magician extraordinaire, took the stage and headed to the edge, leaning out to hand me a pack of cards. I took it, opened it, and tried to shuffle the cards. Now, I am NOT a card person. I don't know ANY card games, not even solitaire! So you can imagine this wasn't working well. I was trying to hold out single cards to him, and he finally said, "Just stand the fuck up, baby!" and while dying inside, I stood up, dumping my purse, Blackberry, t-shirt and poster on the floor! I handed him the separate cards and he made them disappear with sleight of hand. o_O I was seriously mere FEET from the man and I have no clue how he did it! And then he did the old science trick of milk in a bottle held up by a card - but then he removed the card and let just some of the milk out into a bucket. o_O Seriously amazing stuff!
Next up was the one and only Adam Savage!!! Again with the Mythbusters geeky love, but Adam was SO funny. He talked about his first kiss, and it was so geeky and awesome - all due to Dungeons and Dragons. HEE.
After that, my Blackberry died so I don't have photos, but there was more Paul and Storm and then it was Paul, Storm, Wil and Adam doing "The Captain's Wife's Lament," which apparently goes for different amounts of time at each w00tstock - ours was 25 minutes. LOL Then, the show was over.
There was an autograph line, so of course I had to get my poster signed by everyone. I'd worn my "I'm not unemployed. I'm NSFW." t-shirt and yes - in a venue full of geeks, people got it, which was nice. I had a LOT of people tell me they loved my t-shirt, and more when I went down the signing line. Everyone was so nice and gracious, even though it was late for all of us. When I talked to Jamy, I told him I might get "Stand the fuck up baby" on my epitaph. LOL I told Phil that I couldn't WAIT for his show (which is true, ohhh I am so geeky). I told Wil I'd met him at a signing before and that he was awesome. When I got to Aaron, he looked at my t-shirt and said, "Not safe for work? I can tell by looking at you that you're not safe for other things..." and gave me a look. What a flirt! LOL
I finally drove home, getting home after 3 am sometime. It was a completely awesome night, and if you're a geek, you really should go to a #w00tstock in the future if you can. You will NOT regret it.
If you want to see any of the crappy Blackberry photos I took, feel free to look here.
Thanks again to ALL the #w00tstock performers for an amazing time! I loved every minute of it. :D
Oh and PS - I suspect that if you look over on the YouTubes, as Craig Ferguson calls it, you'll be able to find plenty of videos of w00tstock and that you'll see me. I, however, will not be looking, because OMGNO. LOL
I headed down to San Diego, hoping to arrive by 5 pm... but amazingly, the traffic wasn't bad at all and I got there barely after 4. Parked right next to the venue and went round the corner to find... a whopping 3 people in line. After all the queuing I've done for rock concerts, it was almost funny to be at a venue just over 2 hours before doors and have there be next to no one there. Of course, many people were likely still at Comic-con - if it had been at another time, the line would probably have been very different. So I sat down and talked to the few people who were there and texted and tweeted. About 20 minutes or so later, Ice Cream Man and ThinkGeek showed up with free ice cream and other freebies. ThinkGeek had posted a special code phrase on their blog and I was one of the first 10 to say it, so I got a $30 gift certificate! EEEEE! Sometime this week, I need to go on a geeky shopping spree. :D
More people got in line or walked by, and it was really funny how many people simply did NOT believe ICM was giving away ice cream for FREE, no strings attached. I can understand it, but we started trying to help by telling people as they walked by - FREE ICE CREAM! LOL The line kept growing and at one point, Wil Wheaton came out to take a picture of the line. A little bit later, he came back out to get his free ice cream and literally skipped back into the venue! I adore him more every time I see him - or he tweets about his family or his pets or... But I digress. As we waited for doors, Jonathan Ross and Grant Imahara walked by, and I have to admit I was more excited about seeing Grant. I started watching Mythbusters when it began on Discovery and I absolutely loved it from day one, so... yeah. Geek!crushes ahoy!
We finally get let in and somehow, I get in and am FRONT ROW CENTER. Kids, this was not at all the plan, but who looks a gift horse in the mouth? Not I! I started chatting with the guy who was sitting next to me (he was the first in line) and then I got up to go and buy a t-shirt and get a free poster.(I am hereby cut off from buying more t-shirts for a looooong time - between the Orlando trip and then w00tstock, I bought FOUR in less than 2 weeks!!!) After I got back to my seat, a very nice waitress came around for drink orders. I freely admit I had a couple of drinks, and they were quite lovely. :)
And it finally began! Wil started it off with a great introduction, and then Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters came out briefly to introduce Paul and Storm, who were talented and hilarious.
Next up was Molly Lewis, who did a truly geeky song about wanting to have Stephen Fry's baby since he's gay and too awesome not to procreate. Another note about Molly - #freemolly was another hashtag for this w00tstock because the venue was 21+ - and Molly was not. So apparently the only way she was able to perform was by being escorted by security on and off stage - in and out of the building. :| She couldn't even stay inside to watch the rest of the show! Despite this less-than-awesome treatment, she was really amazing and even wrote a song in about an hour and performed it while Wil held the lyrics she'd written. I'm telling you - only a geek could make a ukulele that cool.
Next up was Rifftrax and they did Lunchroom Manners live, and I was laughing so hard I nearly fell over. Literally! If you've never seen any of their stuff, you really need to check them out. SO funny!!
Then we had comic book hottie Matt Fraction (oh yeah, I said it), who went over an older comic and made us all laugh, and then Chris Hardwick aka the Nerdist came out. He told us it was reverse Pi day and began to recite Pi - as in all the numbers AFTER 3.14, which goes to infinity. As he did so, he came to the edge of the stage and reached for my hand. I put it up and he took it, lacing his fingers with mine, and as he continued to recite the numbers, he climbed off the stage and put his arms around me! He continued to chant the numbers, pausing only to whisper in my ear Just go with it, so I put my arms around him and hugged him back. He eventually let me go, still counting, and walked down the aisle of people, then got back onstage and was absolutely hilarious. Perhaps the funniest part was telling my younger brother about this afterwards - and he is also very much a geek! - and him going, "OMG CHRIS HARDWICK FONDLED MY SISTER?!" Umm, not quite, but almost? LOL
Then Wil came back and read one of his chapters - this one was about losing his Rocky Horror virginity. SO funny! And at one point, Aaron Douglas from Battlestar Galactica came out in his full flight suit and everyone in the audience lost it! It was great.
There was a brief intermission and I was highly amused to discover that, FOR ONCE, the line for the women's bathroom was shorter than the one for the men's. XD
We started back up with Phil Plait aka the Bad Astronomer, who talked a bit and showed us a preview for his new show, Bad Universe, which will be on the Discovery Channel, hopefully in the fall. I seriously can't wait!!!
After Phil it was lovely, redheaded, geeky singer-songwriter Marian Call. She's seriously awesome and has a great voice, so check her stuff out and if you get a chance to see her live (check her tour page), do it!!! I'll still be a geek after nobody thinks it's chic. TRUER WORDS. <3
Then, once again, the perils of being in the front row were discovered. Jamy Ian Swiss, magician extraordinaire, took the stage and headed to the edge, leaning out to hand me a pack of cards. I took it, opened it, and tried to shuffle the cards. Now, I am NOT a card person. I don't know ANY card games, not even solitaire! So you can imagine this wasn't working well. I was trying to hold out single cards to him, and he finally said, "Just stand the fuck up, baby!" and while dying inside, I stood up, dumping my purse, Blackberry, t-shirt and poster on the floor! I handed him the separate cards and he made them disappear with sleight of hand. o_O I was seriously mere FEET from the man and I have no clue how he did it! And then he did the old science trick of milk in a bottle held up by a card - but then he removed the card and let just some of the milk out into a bucket. o_O Seriously amazing stuff!
Next up was the one and only Adam Savage!!! Again with the Mythbusters geeky love, but Adam was SO funny. He talked about his first kiss, and it was so geeky and awesome - all due to Dungeons and Dragons. HEE.
After that, my Blackberry died so I don't have photos, but there was more Paul and Storm and then it was Paul, Storm, Wil and Adam doing "The Captain's Wife's Lament," which apparently goes for different amounts of time at each w00tstock - ours was 25 minutes. LOL Then, the show was over.
There was an autograph line, so of course I had to get my poster signed by everyone. I'd worn my "I'm not unemployed. I'm NSFW." t-shirt and yes - in a venue full of geeks, people got it, which was nice. I had a LOT of people tell me they loved my t-shirt, and more when I went down the signing line. Everyone was so nice and gracious, even though it was late for all of us. When I talked to Jamy, I told him I might get "Stand the fuck up baby" on my epitaph. LOL I told Phil that I couldn't WAIT for his show (which is true, ohhh I am so geeky). I told Wil I'd met him at a signing before and that he was awesome. When I got to Aaron, he looked at my t-shirt and said, "Not safe for work? I can tell by looking at you that you're not safe for other things..." and gave me a look. What a flirt! LOL
I finally drove home, getting home after 3 am sometime. It was a completely awesome night, and if you're a geek, you really should go to a #w00tstock in the future if you can. You will NOT regret it.
If you want to see any of the crappy Blackberry photos I took, feel free to look here.
Thanks again to ALL the #w00tstock performers for an amazing time! I loved every minute of it. :D
Oh and PS - I suspect that if you look over on the YouTubes, as Craig Ferguson calls it, you'll be able to find plenty of videos of w00tstock and that you'll see me. I, however, will not be looking, because OMGNO. LOL