So this was supposed to be posted days ago, but, LJ
Allow me to hit the high points, because I really cannot remember what happened when at this point:
1. I bought a new corset! That was my very large purchase of this con. My old one is still in decent shape, but it's too small for me now (yes, I appreciate that irony). So I went to the same people, because their prices are competitive, their quality is very high, and the people are very nice. My new one is an underbust again (I look ridic in overbust ones, too many boobies), this time in black and sort of a poison green. So if you need a corset and don't mind dropping the cash for a good one, check out Brute Force Studios. They also do all kinds of steampunk accoutrements; I also bought a leather notebook from them that bears the legend "There is no way this can end badly", which is perfect for a journal, I feel.
2. We saw Max Brooks (of The Zombie Survival Guide and being Mel Brooks's son fame) twice. First there was a panel called "The History of the Modern Zombie", which was really fascinating, and exactly the kind of zombie panel I wanted to see. Rather than take the concept of the zombie seriously, they discussed its social ramifications and neuroscientific usefulness. Really great stuff. To get in, we actually sat through a panel with Greg Rucka, who's pretty badass on his own, for Stumptown, this comic he wrote that was nominated for an Eisner. He had quite a few zombie-loving converts in the audience by the end, self included, because I love me some detective novels.
And then we went to Max Brooks's signing yesterday, and I finally bought a copy of World War Z and got him to sign it. He's super nice and super smart. So that was cool.
3. Friday was my first big costume day, and just an amazingly big day. We got up at 4:45 so that we could wait in the prereg line for next year (please appreciate the fact that we were probably about five hundred or so people back). That took until almost 10, then we booked it over to the Venture Bros. panel.
I should mention that the costume I made, which I think I've posted a little of, was Doctor Orpheus. So I'm wandering around the panel before it starts looking for other cosplayers to take pictures with, including the other Orpheus, and I walk over to take a picture of Billy Quizboy, and a Triana (the only Triana I saw, which surprised the hell out of me) came up and wanted a picture, so I was like, "Hell yes, my child."
So me and her and Girl Hitler and Billy and Plug Face Guy went to take a picture together, and then things got OUT OF CONTROL. People were coming up for pictures, then more cosplayers showed up, and suddenly we had twenty people in really good costumes and what felt like a never-ending stream of people with cameras taking pictures. This went on for at least 10, probably 15 minutes, until we were all like, "Seriously though we have to go enjoy the panel now."
So the panel was epic, obvs, and they showed a preview of the Shallow Gravy special that's airing on August 28 (my birthday, as it happens), which looks hilarious, as expected. Doc and Jackson and James were being very snarky in their eighties-tastic clothes, and they actually kicked somebody out of the question line for having a crappy question (I think it was about Kim, whom they are all very tired of). They were, obviously, hilariously inappropriate, including a discussion of what side they dress to, etc.
So after the panel, they asked everybody in costume to line up, and everybody got an invitation to the private Adult Swim party that night.
I know, right?
We did some other stuff after that, mostly just walking the floor, and around 3 I completely crashed, to the point where I just gave up and went back to the hotel for a nap. Kat came back and joined me not too much longer after that, and I sat around for like an hour and a half agonizing over whether to actually go to the party or not. Yes, that's how tired I was. But eventually I was like, fuck it, I'm going to regret it if I don't, so off I went.
Having gone, let me say: I would REALLY have regretted missing it.
It was 21 and up, which they didn't tell anyone, which was a slight issue, but it was pretty swank. Everybody got three free drinks, and they were handing out Ben and Jerry's (they were running ice cream trucks all weekend). More people than just the costumed ones were there, because you could also get a password and go to the ice cream truck to get a pass, so there were maybe a hundred people there (maybe less- it was a really small club). Some Adult Swim people were there too- Rob Cordry, Seth Green, the other dude from Childrens Hospital whose name I never remember.
I hung out with some neat people, including the same Triana (whose name was actually Briana, conveniently enough) and the two girls I sat next to on the plane to San Diego, who dressed as Killinger and Rusty. A little later, I was standing over by one of the bars talking to two really good Superjail cosplayers and their friend, all of whom were really nice and interesting.
"Have you seen Jackson or Doc?" I asked their friend, as we discussed music.
"Well, Jackson is right there," he says, and I look up, and Jackson Publick is right in front of me.
He perked up at the mention of his name and came over, and dude I was with was talking to him, while I was standing there with my camera phone with big hearts in my eyes. He is so nice and fun to talk to, and he gave me a hug (it was a good hug, one armed but the nice firm squeezy kind).
Siiiiiiigh.
So right after that was the Venture Bros. costume contest, which was the excuse for this whole event. Jackson and Doc judged, along with Tommy Blancha, Matt from Robot Chicken, and James Urbaniak. There were about twenty people, and there were some really impressive costumes (sadly, the Phantom Limb whose arms lit up broke a wire and no longer lit by that night). There was also some incestuous slash from the Hanks and Deans, which seemed to amuse Doc and Jackson to no end.
Everybody who entered got a prize (including the Superjail people, who were like, fuck it and entered anyway), in increasingly more silly and/or obvious categories. So I won Best Lady Orpheus (Doc remarked that it was "Just like Orpheus, but now with a womb"), and my prize was an animation cel of Brock Samson autographed by Doc and Jackson.
Hell. Yes.
So after that it was like 11:30, and I'd been up since 4:45, so I was like "I have had all my drinks, I have met my TV boyfriend, I have won a cool prize, my work is done here" and caught a cab home.
So that happened.
4. Saturday was our steampunk costuming day. Kat got stopped about seventeen billion times, because she was wearing her super accurate green and black Victorian affair, though there were some pictures as well of myself and Amy. We also got the cheesiest most awesome 3D photo made of ourselves (on the Death Star and holding weapons, obvs). Saturday was also Quick Draw and Cartoon Voices, which were epic as usual.
I feel like more happened on Saturday, but I can't remember it now. We did to go to Old Town, where we were mistaken for historical interpreters, and drink gigantic margaritas. We spent the night in the hotel room, dressed in our scanties with our clothes in heaps. It was a very ladies of the evening vibe. Sadly, we had no red light.
5. Oh! Blast from the past for Hellsing fans: we totally accidentally saw Crispin Freeman. May I just state that he is a sexy man, both vocally and visually? I approve.
6. Also we walked past Bruce Campbell. We almost didn't recognize him, because he looked unusually smooth.
7. Yesterday we mostly just walked around the floor picking up all the things we missed (including Lizzy's birthday present). Then we had lunch, and I pretty much went right back to the hotel after that to catch the shuttle to the airport. The airport was also somewhat eventful, since I saw Rob Cordry again in the TSA line, but other than that it was a long wait for a short flight.
And last night I slept for a thousand years, to the point of missing darling Rusty's class, but now it's time to go back to the grind of the LSA. Oh, Comic-Con. I needed you so much.
1. I bought a new corset! That was my very large purchase of this con. My old one is still in decent shape, but it's too small for me now (yes, I appreciate that irony). So I went to the same people, because their prices are competitive, their quality is very high, and the people are very nice. My new one is an underbust again (I look ridic in overbust ones, too many boobies), this time in black and sort of a poison green. So if you need a corset and don't mind dropping the cash for a good one, check out Brute Force Studios. They also do all kinds of steampunk accoutrements; I also bought a leather notebook from them that bears the legend "There is no way this can end badly", which is perfect for a journal, I feel.
2. We saw Max Brooks (of The Zombie Survival Guide and being Mel Brooks's son fame) twice. First there was a panel called "The History of the Modern Zombie", which was really fascinating, and exactly the kind of zombie panel I wanted to see. Rather than take the concept of the zombie seriously, they discussed its social ramifications and neuroscientific usefulness. Really great stuff. To get in, we actually sat through a panel with Greg Rucka, who's pretty badass on his own, for Stumptown, this comic he wrote that was nominated for an Eisner. He had quite a few zombie-loving converts in the audience by the end, self included, because I love me some detective novels.
And then we went to Max Brooks's signing yesterday, and I finally bought a copy of World War Z and got him to sign it. He's super nice and super smart. So that was cool.
3. Friday was my first big costume day, and just an amazingly big day. We got up at 4:45 so that we could wait in the prereg line for next year (please appreciate the fact that we were probably about five hundred or so people back). That took until almost 10, then we booked it over to the Venture Bros. panel.
I should mention that the costume I made, which I think I've posted a little of, was Doctor Orpheus. So I'm wandering around the panel before it starts looking for other cosplayers to take pictures with, including the other Orpheus, and I walk over to take a picture of Billy Quizboy, and a Triana (the only Triana I saw, which surprised the hell out of me) came up and wanted a picture, so I was like, "Hell yes, my child."
So me and her and Girl Hitler and Billy and Plug Face Guy went to take a picture together, and then things got OUT OF CONTROL. People were coming up for pictures, then more cosplayers showed up, and suddenly we had twenty people in really good costumes and what felt like a never-ending stream of people with cameras taking pictures. This went on for at least 10, probably 15 minutes, until we were all like, "Seriously though we have to go enjoy the panel now."
So the panel was epic, obvs, and they showed a preview of the Shallow Gravy special that's airing on August 28 (my birthday, as it happens), which looks hilarious, as expected. Doc and Jackson and James were being very snarky in their eighties-tastic clothes, and they actually kicked somebody out of the question line for having a crappy question (I think it was about Kim, whom they are all very tired of). They were, obviously, hilariously inappropriate, including a discussion of what side they dress to, etc.
So after the panel, they asked everybody in costume to line up, and everybody got an invitation to the private Adult Swim party that night.
I know, right?
We did some other stuff after that, mostly just walking the floor, and around 3 I completely crashed, to the point where I just gave up and went back to the hotel for a nap. Kat came back and joined me not too much longer after that, and I sat around for like an hour and a half agonizing over whether to actually go to the party or not. Yes, that's how tired I was. But eventually I was like, fuck it, I'm going to regret it if I don't, so off I went.
Having gone, let me say: I would REALLY have regretted missing it.
It was 21 and up, which they didn't tell anyone, which was a slight issue, but it was pretty swank. Everybody got three free drinks, and they were handing out Ben and Jerry's (they were running ice cream trucks all weekend). More people than just the costumed ones were there, because you could also get a password and go to the ice cream truck to get a pass, so there were maybe a hundred people there (maybe less- it was a really small club). Some Adult Swim people were there too- Rob Cordry, Seth Green, the other dude from Childrens Hospital whose name I never remember.
I hung out with some neat people, including the same Triana (whose name was actually Briana, conveniently enough) and the two girls I sat next to on the plane to San Diego, who dressed as Killinger and Rusty. A little later, I was standing over by one of the bars talking to two really good Superjail cosplayers and their friend, all of whom were really nice and interesting.
"Have you seen Jackson or Doc?" I asked their friend, as we discussed music.
"Well, Jackson is right there," he says, and I look up, and Jackson Publick is right in front of me.
He perked up at the mention of his name and came over, and dude I was with was talking to him, while I was standing there with my camera phone with big hearts in my eyes. He is so nice and fun to talk to, and he gave me a hug (it was a good hug, one armed but the nice firm squeezy kind).
Siiiiiiigh.
So right after that was the Venture Bros. costume contest, which was the excuse for this whole event. Jackson and Doc judged, along with Tommy Blancha, Matt from Robot Chicken, and James Urbaniak. There were about twenty people, and there were some really impressive costumes (sadly, the Phantom Limb whose arms lit up broke a wire and no longer lit by that night). There was also some incestuous slash from the Hanks and Deans, which seemed to amuse Doc and Jackson to no end.
Everybody who entered got a prize (including the Superjail people, who were like, fuck it and entered anyway), in increasingly more silly and/or obvious categories. So I won Best Lady Orpheus (Doc remarked that it was "Just like Orpheus, but now with a womb"), and my prize was an animation cel of Brock Samson autographed by Doc and Jackson.
Hell. Yes.
So after that it was like 11:30, and I'd been up since 4:45, so I was like "I have had all my drinks, I have met my TV boyfriend, I have won a cool prize, my work is done here" and caught a cab home.
So that happened.
4. Saturday was our steampunk costuming day. Kat got stopped about seventeen billion times, because she was wearing her super accurate green and black Victorian affair, though there were some pictures as well of myself and Amy. We also got the cheesiest most awesome 3D photo made of ourselves (on the Death Star and holding weapons, obvs). Saturday was also Quick Draw and Cartoon Voices, which were epic as usual.
I feel like more happened on Saturday, but I can't remember it now. We did to go to Old Town, where we were mistaken for historical interpreters, and drink gigantic margaritas. We spent the night in the hotel room, dressed in our scanties with our clothes in heaps. It was a very ladies of the evening vibe. Sadly, we had no red light.
5. Oh! Blast from the past for Hellsing fans: we totally accidentally saw Crispin Freeman. May I just state that he is a sexy man, both vocally and visually? I approve.
6. Also we walked past Bruce Campbell. We almost didn't recognize him, because he looked unusually smooth.
7. Yesterday we mostly just walked around the floor picking up all the things we missed (including Lizzy's birthday present). Then we had lunch, and I pretty much went right back to the hotel after that to catch the shuttle to the airport. The airport was also somewhat eventful, since I saw Rob Cordry again in the TSA line, but other than that it was a long wait for a short flight.
And last night I slept for a thousand years, to the point of missing darling Rusty's class, but now it's time to go back to the grind of the LSA. Oh, Comic-Con. I needed you so much.