Comic Con!
I'm going to try to keep this entry short and quick. Quick is more important than short. Stuff to doooo!
Everyone warned that Comic Con was huge and insane. What they didn't say was that it's HUGE! And INSANE!
Most of us went yesterday, though we only stayed for a few hours. We actually workshopped in the morning, like good little Clarionites. Some people are going back today and tomorrow, though I don't think that will include me.
The convention center is huuuuuuuuge. They were very organized though. We never stood in line for registration, and I actually got registered in like 10 seconds. They had rows and rows and rows of registration computers.
I went to stand in the line for Allison Bechdel with a couple people, but five minutes after the panel was supposed to start, the line wasn't entering the room yet. I was worried about getting in to see the Muppets, which started in about 40 minutes. So I left the line to go find the Muppets, stopping by the freebie table. Freebie table was all flyers and cards. :( People, if you want me to pick up your advertising, give me pins! Magnets! Something! (Well, at least it was a promotional learning experience.)
The Muppets were in the ballroom. The ballroom. Was. Ginormous. You could take the largest ballroom I've ever seen at a con and put like 6 of them in there. Fortunately they have two screens on either side of the stage and two more screens halfway back into the room, otherwise you'd never see what was going on on stage.
Had to wait a bit, but when the previous show ended, I managed to snag a decent seat on the aisle. Not the best seat, certainly, but hopefully some of my pictures come out.
Lisa and Brian Henson were there, along with some other Henson company people and, briefly, a guy from SciFi.com. They talked about stuff coming out soon. DVDs of this, CDs of that. Notably, graphic novels of The Dark Crystal and, I think, Labyrinth, from Tokyopop. And Rygel and DRD plushies.
They showed a clip from Tinsel Town, which looks like it'll be really good. They said it'll probably be on air this Fall, but I forget the channel, if it was said. It's a gay couple -- a bull and a pig -- and they have a teenage son (a human). And it was, naturally, very funny.
They also showed a webisode clip, which was all humans, and erm... I forget the name. But think Pee-Wee's Playhouse with only the people and not the playhouse, and you'll come close to it, I think.
Then the Skrumps. Which sound cooler than they are. The technique behind it was interesting. They have one person puppeting the head and doing the voice while another puppets the body and arms, and it's real-time computer animation. I'm afraid the actual Skrumps seemed childish and silly to me.
Then they did some of Puppet Up! for us, with special guest puppeteer, Ben Browder. If you haven't heard of this, it's improv Muppets. To help them hone their humor and acting skills. They're going to start doing it monthly in Hollywood somewhere. Which was cool news for the locals, I guess, but doesn't help me any!
I ducked out when the Q&A started so I had time to do the exhibit hall.
Exhibit hall. Huge. Awesome. Lots of stuff to look at. Lots of stuff to buy. I wasn't buying though. Scored myself some free swag, though there didn't seem to be as much as I expected there to be. Maybe I was looking in the wrong spots. I asked at some publisher booths for free books. Harper Collins gave me an Octavia Butler. Penguin gave me a YA book, then told me about a panel going on upstairs shortly. Tor said he'd have more tomorrow, but had none left for today. Other Clarion people scored with Tor, because they timed it right and used their connections. ;)
I didn't think to look for magazine publishers. Doh! I found out later Locus was giving away free back issues. :( :(
I wandered around some more. I wanted to at least feel like I'd seen a good portion of the place. So I walked the whole length of it once, on one side. Which is probably how I missed the magazine publishers.
Then I ducked out about 25 minutes before it officially closed to go find the promised free books at the Penguin panel. Took me like 10 minutes to walk there. Did I mention the place was huge? They talked about upcoming books and raffled some off. Once they appeared to be done raffling, I ducked out, collecting a free book on the way out.
Then we met up and left the con to find food and stuff. Lots of walking ensued. Eventually got back after midnight.
And that was my brief Comic Con experience.
Did I mention it was huge?
Everyone warned that Comic Con was huge and insane. What they didn't say was that it's HUGE! And INSANE!
Most of us went yesterday, though we only stayed for a few hours. We actually workshopped in the morning, like good little Clarionites. Some people are going back today and tomorrow, though I don't think that will include me.
The convention center is huuuuuuuuge. They were very organized though. We never stood in line for registration, and I actually got registered in like 10 seconds. They had rows and rows and rows of registration computers.
I went to stand in the line for Allison Bechdel with a couple people, but five minutes after the panel was supposed to start, the line wasn't entering the room yet. I was worried about getting in to see the Muppets, which started in about 40 minutes. So I left the line to go find the Muppets, stopping by the freebie table. Freebie table was all flyers and cards. :( People, if you want me to pick up your advertising, give me pins! Magnets! Something! (Well, at least it was a promotional learning experience.)
The Muppets were in the ballroom. The ballroom. Was. Ginormous. You could take the largest ballroom I've ever seen at a con and put like 6 of them in there. Fortunately they have two screens on either side of the stage and two more screens halfway back into the room, otherwise you'd never see what was going on on stage.
Had to wait a bit, but when the previous show ended, I managed to snag a decent seat on the aisle. Not the best seat, certainly, but hopefully some of my pictures come out.
Lisa and Brian Henson were there, along with some other Henson company people and, briefly, a guy from SciFi.com. They talked about stuff coming out soon. DVDs of this, CDs of that. Notably, graphic novels of The Dark Crystal and, I think, Labyrinth, from Tokyopop. And Rygel and DRD plushies.
They showed a clip from Tinsel Town, which looks like it'll be really good. They said it'll probably be on air this Fall, but I forget the channel, if it was said. It's a gay couple -- a bull and a pig -- and they have a teenage son (a human). And it was, naturally, very funny.
They also showed a webisode clip, which was all humans, and erm... I forget the name. But think Pee-Wee's Playhouse with only the people and not the playhouse, and you'll come close to it, I think.
Then the Skrumps. Which sound cooler than they are. The technique behind it was interesting. They have one person puppeting the head and doing the voice while another puppets the body and arms, and it's real-time computer animation. I'm afraid the actual Skrumps seemed childish and silly to me.
Then they did some of Puppet Up! for us, with special guest puppeteer, Ben Browder. If you haven't heard of this, it's improv Muppets. To help them hone their humor and acting skills. They're going to start doing it monthly in Hollywood somewhere. Which was cool news for the locals, I guess, but doesn't help me any!
I ducked out when the Q&A started so I had time to do the exhibit hall.
Exhibit hall. Huge. Awesome. Lots of stuff to look at. Lots of stuff to buy. I wasn't buying though. Scored myself some free swag, though there didn't seem to be as much as I expected there to be. Maybe I was looking in the wrong spots. I asked at some publisher booths for free books. Harper Collins gave me an Octavia Butler. Penguin gave me a YA book, then told me about a panel going on upstairs shortly. Tor said he'd have more tomorrow, but had none left for today. Other Clarion people scored with Tor, because they timed it right and used their connections. ;)
I didn't think to look for magazine publishers. Doh! I found out later Locus was giving away free back issues. :( :(
I wandered around some more. I wanted to at least feel like I'd seen a good portion of the place. So I walked the whole length of it once, on one side. Which is probably how I missed the magazine publishers.
Then I ducked out about 25 minutes before it officially closed to go find the promised free books at the Penguin panel. Took me like 10 minutes to walk there. Did I mention the place was huge? They talked about upcoming books and raffled some off. Once they appeared to be done raffling, I ducked out, collecting a free book on the way out.
Then we met up and left the con to find food and stuff. Lots of walking ensued. Eventually got back after midnight.
And that was my brief Comic Con experience.
Did I mention it was huge?