Comic-Con 2010, Day 3: The Curse of the Red Pearl
Friday morning, my plans are somewhat more fluid, except that it is the only time I can visit the Scott Pilgrim vs. Comic-Con Experience, and I must experience it!
Today, however, I can have breakfast with Seanan and Amy, and because I am not alone, the Broken Yolk is appropriate. And although it did not seem crowded yesterday, we actually have to wait in a short line to get into the damn place!
While we are waiting, Javi walks by. What the hell? How do we keep running into him, out of all the tens of thousands of people in San Diego? It is welcome, but strange! We are like Javi magnets.
The Broken Yolk has really Comic-Con-ified themselves. There are comic-themed decorations around, and our waitress is apparently named "Sailor Moon." Another is named "Wonder Woman."
I order a pomegranate juice that costs $3.70. It is okay. It is not worth four bucks, especially for the amount I get, but, hey, I am splurging. Attempting to replicate the success of yesterday's breakfast, I go for a breakfast burrito containing avocado and accompanied by rice and beans. Protein! That's the magic! (Spoiler warning: this breakfast is not magic, and I am totally hungry by dinner.)
Even international men of mystery need breakfast.
I cut out to head to the nearby Hilton.
Not this one, the other one. It is definitely Scott Pilgrim's year at Comic-Con.
The line is already pretty long before 9ish. The thing doesn't open till 10. I walk to the end of the line and stand behind three guys, one of whom is extremely jealous of the fact that Metric played last night after the movie screening. "I was there," I say, and make him more jealous by declaring it awesome.
One of the other guys says, "Were you behind us at the panel?" Holy crap. It's the dudes who gave me the 1-UP pin!! I thank them a lot. They say they saw a screening in L.A. earlier, which is odd since Edgar said we were the first persons to see it. EVERYONE IS FULL OF LIES.
The guys are filmmakers, and I listen to them discuss their ideas for a sci-fi short film, and it seriously sounds like Roman from Party Down. Not as pretentious, but the same amount of seriousness.
As we wait, we smile for a woman to give us a $10 off discount code for Scott Pilgrim shirts online. One woman comes by with the chance to win entrance to a COOL PARTY, but you have to have a smartphone. There is a Comic-Con-themed edition of The Onion that is pretty amusing. And the Scott Pilgrim truck is handing out free garlic bread! Except I just ate breakfast, so I only eat half of it since it's not very good.
As the line begins to move, Rae joins me. And she has great news for me: she got all this Dexter swag at the Warner Bros. Showtime party last night and she doesn't watch the show so it is mine! A bag! The S4 DVDs! A bobblehead! A shirt! Sweeeeet.
There is an express line if you just want to go to the Experience and not make a shirt, but, dude, we are totally making shirts.
So many choices for designs! We have some tough decisions to make. I really want a Sex Bob-omb shirt, especially because Knives wears one in the movie, and yet I feel self-conscious when I wear a shirt with "Sex" on it. But the logo seems too stealthy. I have a book on me and do confirm that the logo is from the book and not just made up for the movie. The movie logo is tempting, as it commemorates the Comic-Con experience, but then we see that there is a mini-version of that logo on the back of all the shirts. The Ramona drawing is pretty amusing, and it's nicely stealthy. Gah! So many choices! The cute girls behind us share in our decision misery. (There are lots of cute girls at Comic-Con; don't let the media tell you any different.)
As we turn the corner, I have to talk to Kamina.
"I believe in you!" he says.
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?" I cry.
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM??" he responds.
Rae has no idea what is going on.
We also have to choose the color of our shirt! Gah. We try to figure out what color combination is best. I go with a black shirt and a red Sex Bob-omb.
This is a free shirt, you guys, but I get to choose the shirt size, the color of the shirt, and what goes on it! THIS IS AMAZING. Plus, it's not a dinky iron-on, oh no.
They screenprint in a few seconds...
...and then let it dry.
AND THEN I HAVE AN AWESOME SHIRT. Rae gets silver lettering, and that may have been wiser, as it's easier to read.
There is a lot of cool stuff in the Experience too. Like the videogame! Man, I totally want to play the game, but I don't have time. There is also a thing to upload a message to Facebook, which Rae does later.
I don't have time to add to this crazy board of signatures.
I don't have time to examine the amusing flow chart of character relationships, nor can I hang around for whoever may be coming to sign stuff later on.
I don't have time to read the amusing summary of the movie.
What I do have time for, though, is making a flipbook. Yes, a flipbook. They film Rae and me for seven seconds. We don't choreograph anything, but we have a fight. An AWESOME fight. We start by punching each other, and then we're just sort of blocking with our elbows, and then I go in for an uppercut, but Rae counters with a knee to the stomach, and I go down, but then I come up with MY AWESOME AIR GUITAR ATTACK, and Rae just gives up. I WIN.
And in about a minute or two, we get flipbooks of our awesome fight! It's so cool! Man, Scott Pilgrim, you win at Comic-Con.
It's getting close to 11, so I leave Rae to experience more Scott Pilgrim awesomeness.
Hey, do you have boobs, an attractive midriff, and nice legs? Then you, too, can be Supergirl!
I get to the Fox booth, and there's already a long line. A line I am not allowed to get in. Because it was a ticketed signing. WHAT? THE INTERNET DID NOT TELL ME THAT. GODDAMN YOU FOX.
So I stand around and take pictures. They're signing posters of the Dollhouse comic cover. It's a cool poster, and I will pick one up from the Dark Horse booth later.
I choose to believe Mo is taking a picture of me. Because I am so cool.
Oh, Jed! I am missing your autograph on my Dr. Horrible DVD! I have it with me, maybe I can just toss it to you.
Mo, I wanted to tell you about seeing Get Mortified! Man, and this means I could have actually stayed at the damn Scott Pilgrim Experience for longer. But had I known it was a ticketed signing, would I have skipped that for the signing? That would have been a tough decision. I'm pretty sure I made the right one, though. Jed and Mo would not give me a shirt and a flipbook, and there will be more opportunities to see them in the future, after all.
Well, now I have some free time. So I decided to check out the Fulfillment Room to see what my special Red gift is. On the way, I see Appa.
She is one of only a few Avatar costumes I see this year. Alas.
The Fulfillment Room is deep within the Marriott, past the Fraggle exhibit or whatever. There are many people holding signs pointing the way, but there isn't much of a line to get into the room, thankfully. I present my ticket. And am handed a lame poster. Goddammit, I was hoping it would be the graphic novel. Hell, on the way out of the hotel, I see that lame poster just lying on a desk or something. Oh well, maybe kali921 will want it.
I head back to the Exhibit Hall. At least I got some exercise? This whole con is exercise, the amount of walking back and forth you have to do.
Aw, what adorable costumes.
I head for the Marvel booth. Now I can get to the Bendis signing almost an hour and a half early and get a good spot. And, indeed, once I eventually find the line, I am fifth or sixth! Sweet!
I have three line buddies, a woman named Melissa and her husband, and their friend, another woman. (There are plenty of women at Comic-Con; don't let the media tell you any different.)
See? Women! (Mystique is not the only blue person here, thanks to the other Avatar.)
Melissa, if I recall, is pregnant, and her husband takes great joy in finding wee kids in costume in anticipation for what he'll do to his own child. He shows us footage of a mini-Mal he encountered (his mom was dressed as Kaylee). And we see for ourselves the littlest Thor!
HOW CUTE IS HE? HOW CUTE.
There is some wonkiness with the line, as we keep being asked by different people to move the line in different directions. To sit on the carpet, to not sit on the carpet. We hold our coveted positions, however, and make sure we are not ousted.
Because we're at the Marvel booth, we see a lot of Marvel costumes, which is fun.
Oh, Rogue, you can suck my lifeforce any day.
There appears to be an unofficial or official gathering, as many Marvel characters converge on the booth. It's great! Even though I don't recognize some of them. Melissa is able to identify the woman in a gold mask as Madame Masque, an Iron Man villain.
We discuss the number of things one should bring to get signed. They've brought three each; I have only brought two. They think three is a good number; five is pushing it. What's really annoying is the person who brings a whole stack. Sometimes comic retailers bring inventory in to get signed so they can sell them at a mark-up.
Bendis arrives at ten to one and starts signing early. Cool! A small child was moved to the front of the line, and a woman who was disabled also appears (she is not in a wheelchair, so she assures us that she is disabled and not just cutting in line). Before I know it, it is my time!
I plop down Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl? and Daredevil: Underboss. "It's great to meet you," I say, "because you're the reason I'm into comics. In college, my friend gave me this." I point to Powers. "Powers was my gateway comic. And this"-I point to Daredevil-"is how I got hooked on Daredevil." I may even tell him that it's some of the best superhero storytelling I've ever read. He's very friendly and grateful, and he hands me a Scarlet #1 variant, his latest collaboration with Alex Maleev. I read the issue already, and I tell him I'm really interested so far. Whoa, throughout this entire conversation, I don't think I "really enjoy" anything. Whew!
Bendis was one of the people I was most excited to meet, and I have met him before his signing was even officially supposed to start!
I get a call from Rae. They have closed the Ballroom 20 line. Because it got so long there was literally nowhere to put it anymore. So there goes the Joss panel. But, oh well, that gives me more time to kill on the floor. Erin (mutinousmuse) should be arriving shortly as well, so we can meet up. Meanwhile, I walk around and take pictures of people.
Matt Groening!
Fabio Moon! Although when I take this picture, I think it's Gabriel Bá. Because he's in front of the placard that reads, "Gabriel Bá." Also, they're twin brothers.
I learn at the Dark Horse booth that they have already drawn for the Joss signing, and I have not won. Nor has Rae. (We have given each other our ticket numbers so we don't both have to go check for such things.)
I head over to David Mack's booth, because that's what I do. Plus, I have to tell him I met Bendis, since they're buddies and all. I tell him about the Scarlet variant, and he asks to see it, so I show it to him. In the back, I show him his variant cover. It looks like it's the first time he's actually seen it in print. Aw.
With him today is his girlfriend, Rupa, an attractive Indian woman with a nose piercing and a deep voice. She asks what I do.
"I work in drug safety in a pharmaceutical company," I say.
"Yay Indians!" she says. (A different reaction from that one Indian girl, who didn't think that sounded very Indian-like at all.)
Mack asks me what I worked in, again. Drug safety, I say. "Two of my favorite things," he says. Hee.
Rupa is very friendly, and we chat for a bit. I find I can't look her in the eye, which is an issue I often have when talking to people, especially attractive women. I am afraid they will see into my soul or something, I don't know. Plus, this is a cool Indian woman who works in comics! She actually used to work at DC, and she saw herself in one of the videos the DC booth is playing across from her.
I loiter as Mack looks at an artist's cool portfolio and says he'd love to work with him, and Rupa gets a teacher to buy The Shy Creatures.
I shuffle off, passing Christopher Judge on my way to the G4 booth. I put on my Intern shirt to see if anyone recognizes me. No one does. But, ooh, Olivia Munn is signing!
She is very blurry. I try to get a better shot, but the security man gets in my way.
Pictures are verboten!
Then I unexpectedly get a call from mycenae, who is in line for Ballroom 20! Looks like the Joss panel is back on! Erin will have to fend for herself.
I try to leave the Exhibit Hall, but I have to stop to let some Centurions through.
Oh, Comic-Con.
I run up to Ballroom 20. She's outside in the line somewhere, but I can't get out there and cut, so I wait by the inside portion of the line for her to come in. While I wait, I see this girl.
How cute is that dress??
I wait and wait, but I don't see mycenae come in. I am still standing there when I hear a voice behind me say, "So what are we looking at?" I turn around, and there she is. I THOUGHT SHE WAS DEAD! I THOUGHT SHE FELL OFF THE CLIFF! I THOUGHT SHE BLEW UP IN THE CAR! I...you get the idea.
She has used a clever bathroom pass gambit, her friend having discovered that they don't take your pass back from you when you re-enter the hall. So she brought mycenae in, and mycenae now has two passes to bring me back in with her as well.
Once again, I must sit through the Bones panel to see Joss, but once again, it is pretty entertaining! This year, however, David Boreanaz is there!!
I actually get to hear him say, "Birds freak me out." IT'S TRUE! Double-decker buses also freak him out. And this is how he describes Bones and Booth: "We go out and solve crimes as a sandwich." (There is context for that statement, but I don't write it down.)
Emily and Hart are just as fun as they were last year, and they make this panel about a show I don't watch a welcome diversion.
Next, Scott Allie introduces Joss Whedon, and he comes out to roaring applause. He says he's intimidated by the number of people. "I would like the following people to leave." Heh. He steps away from the podium and, because the table is further back this year, he steps out in front of the table.
"America wants to see these legs," he says. Think about it: have you ever Joss Whedon's legs? ISN'T THAT KINDA WEIRD??
There's a lot of redundancy with yesterday's panel, but it's still Joss being Joss, and that's fun. He describes the writing process as a cycle: "Hunger, porn, depression, fun."
The highlight of the panel comes at the very end of the Q&A. We hear a man with a strange voice say, "You like to use the same actors over and over. Some might even say you play favorites." Oof, this guy is bold. "So who is your favorite actor?"
Joss says that he would get in trouble if he had to choose. But...okay, it's Nathan Fillion.
Cheers and applause, for everyone loves Nathan Fillion.
"No, really, it's Nathan Fillion," says Joss. We stand and look toward the back to see if he's making some grand entrance.
"No," says Joss, "it's Nathan Fillion." The camera cuts to the questioner, who begins TAKING OFF A DISGUISE HA HA TO REVEAL...
Oh, Nathan Fillion. "Nathan Fillion, Ant-Man!" says Joss, setting off a flurry of Tweets that will have to be officially debunked by Nathan later. It's unclear whether Joss and Nathan planned the whole thing, but Joss jokes that he knew it was Nathan because of the sheer arrogance in his voice.
I bid mycenae adieu as I rush over to 24ABC to get in line for the Girls Gone Genre panel...except there is no line. I walk right in. Erin is already inside. The room is practically empty. And at the front of the room is, hey, Chris Claremont!
He is famous and stuff!
The next panel, which was supposed to be for Fable III, has been cancelled! So Erin and I secure the best seats we can, right by the microphone. A woman who is filming a documentary asks if she can take my aisle seat so she can pull people from the mike and ask them questions, but moving over would obscure Erin's view, so sorry. I tell her I'll be asking a question. Aha, she says that maybe she will talk to me. She pulls up a chair.
Because we suddenly have an hour to kill, I figure I can run down to the floor for the Legend of Neil Meet and Greet. I don't need a bathroom pass or anything; the room is practically empty.
On the way down, I see what may be the BEST COSTUME EVER.
I run down to the Atom booth, and I see Sandeep Parikh and tell him he was hilarious on Thursday. Then I notice the LoN poster, which is a Last Supper parody...because it is advertising "The Last Season." Really?? Yeah, really.
Oh, there's an actual line. So I get in the line. Oh, there's a signing fee. Um, I don't really have anything to sign. And I just got into the show a week ago, so I'm not really a superfan who will drop twenty bucks just like that. I just want to say hi and stuff.
Atom shares its booth with Spike, and I see a little poster for some Spike show called Manswers. Oh...dear. The man at the booth sees my reaction. "Not a Spike TV person?"
"I'm not manly enough," I say.
"Sure you are!" he says.
"After this, I'm going to a Girls Gone Genre panel."
A girl ahead of me in line quips, "But Felicia Day will be there, so..." She has a point.
I manage to walk past the girl taking money without being asked for twenty dollars or specifically refusing to pay, and as I go through the line, I realize I could probably just get them to sign the little mask I picked up and no one would be the wiser, but I have ethics sometimes.
As I approach Sandeep, he says, "Hey, I know you!" HE TOTALLY REMEMBERS ME FROM TWO NIGHTS AGO. Probably not last year, but at least Wednesday. I ask him why it's the last season, and he says he always saw it as a trilogy, and he wanted to end it, as it's not something open-ended like The Guild that could go on forever. Eventually, Neil has to beat the game.
I move on to Tony Janning, and I tell him he was hilarious on Thursday. (Everything that is funny to me is "hilarious.") Next to him is Eric Acosta, and I tell him Wizrobe is one of my favorite characters, and I always love his scenes. Next to him is Scott Chernoff, who plays Gannon, and he is also in those scenes I love. Angie Hill, who plays Zelda, is also there, but I can't think of anything to say to her.
I met! I greeted! That didn't take too long.
On my way out, I must take a picture of this Zangief, whom we saw while waiting in the Bendis line earlier. Later, I will see pictures of other Zangiefs whose hair is not pastede on yay, but I think this guy is pretty amazing. Mad props, sir.
When I return to 24ABC, there is a line, but I just slip into the room without a word and take my seat next to Erin. She has an uncomfortable proposition for me: would I like to join them for dinner at the Red Pearl? Because they still haven't used the gift certificate they got last year. Ha! Would I? I was going to suggest it myself! After all, the service was crap, but the food was good.
The room finally begins to fill up, but, unlike the X-Play panel, they don't allow it go standing room-only for some reason. There were a lot of people in line, I saw! Why don't they let more people in?? The documentary woman had to be moved; I don't know where she's sitting. But soon it is time for the panel!
Annalee Newitz of io9 calls it the "Girls Gone Geek" panel, and she likes that it really could be called "The Geek Panel." The panel includes Felicia Day, of course.
Kathryn Immonen, of Runaways fame! Laeta Kalogridis, of Shutter Island fame!
Marti Noxon, of Buffy fame! Melissa Rosenberg, of Dexter fame! Okay also of Twilight movie fame, but come on now. (Annalee does put more emphasis on the "awesome" Twilight movies, since it's more genre.)
Gail Simone, of Birds of Prey fame! Among others.
What a collection of awesome women, right?
Annalee asks the hard-hitting questions you don't get in Ballroom 20, like, "What decisions have you made or have been made for you in your career because you are a woman?"
Felicia has actually been asked, "Did you really write The Guild?" But only when she glams herself up. When she has bad hair and wears glasses, then OF COURSE she wrote The Guild.
Someone once told her, "You should get a nose job." But her nose is cute! It needs no job! (Also, trivia: her dad is a plastic surgeon!)
Kathryn was once on a panel where she was deemed to be the "wrong kind of lesbian."
Laeta is the one whose work I am unfamiliar with, but holy crap, she's awesome. Hilarious and outspoken and profane in front of her kids. She rightly points out that Catwoman and Elektra, held up as examples of failed female superhero movies, weren't even superhero movies! Catwoman is an antihero, and Elektra is a villain! And ALSO the movies sucked, but that's beside the point.
Also, I didn't know that she wrote a Wonder Woman script too, which was rejected before Joss's was. She thinks that Wonder Woman should not be played by a star. "Movies make stars; stars don't make movies." She didn't really know who Tobey Maguire and Christian Bale were before they played superheroes.
She also invokes Kathryn Bigelow's comment that she wishes for a world where she can just be a "director," not a "female director."
Marti and Laeta have a whole argument about superhero movies. Erin and I agree we would go to a panel with just Felicia, Marti, and Laeta.
Marti wrote the Fright Night remake, and when she was on set, some people were surprised when she introduced herself. "Marti is a girl?" No GIRL would write a horror movie! The...horror!
She says she's influenced by Joss. "He's more of a woman than I am."
Melissa has better hair this year. I think she's the one who relates a sort of bitchy anecdote about being fired off a show, not just because she was a woman but because they didn't really seem to like her for some reason. (It's a better story when she tells it.) She (or maybe it was Marti) was told she "doesn't write women well."
Gail is about to become the first female writer to write Wonder Woman (which, WHAT), but she was actually offered the chance to write Wonder Woman when she came to DC, but she didn't want to be a "chick writing chicks." So she did Birds of Prey instead, which, uh, oops. (There are some Secret Six fans in the audience, and they yell out the title when Annalee leaves it off her list of comics Gail's known for.)
She had a popular blog, but she had to "come out" as a woman when she began writing for DC, according to my notes. But her first mainstream comics work was with Marvel on Deadpool, which was very manly, so I'm not sure how she remained unisex during that era but had to out herself when she moved to DC.
She, personally, thinks that when editors are presented with two scripts, they'll take the better script, regardless of the gender of the writer.
It's a great panel, but, unfortunately, there's no time for Q&A. And I have a really good question prepared and everything! They've touched on a few aspects of it already.
We don't get to ask questions, but we do get a fabulous parting gift! Marti has copies of I Am Number Four, the first book in a new YA series by Pittacus Lore. It hasn't even come out yet, but she wrote the screenplay for the movie. Free book!
When the panel ends, I see people rush the stage to get things signed. Erin wants to see if she can get Felicia to sign her Guild comic. She also has a Buffy comic that Marti did not write, but it's still Buffy, so that's relevant. I have my Dr. Horrible DVD, and I remember that she's in it! It's totally relevant!
Erin and I go up to the stage. Marti is signing Point Pleasant DVDs. Huh, people actually watched that show. And bought the DVDs. I let a girl borrow my pen. Felicia has to leave, but she tells a girl with something in her hand when she'll be at the Guild booth signing. She does not tell her it will cost her twenty dollars!
I say hi to Annalee and tell her it was a great panel.
There is another panel coming in, so the panelists are shooed outside. Thing is, Marti keeps signing things, right there in the hallway. The girl who borrowed my pen looks around for me to return it. Later, Erin will comment that that little moment really made her smile.
Marti's adorable kids are with her, bouncing up and down. The little girl likes to be useful as a table for her mom to sign things on.
Erin has her sign the Willow one-shot, even though she didn't write. She tells her that Buffy helped shape her, so thank you.
I hand her my Dr. Horrible DVD and tell her my thought process from earlier. "Yay, I'm relevant!" she says. And then she signs. Right on top of Nathan's face.
"Oh no!" she cries. "I'm so sorry."
"If I meet him, he'll be mad," I say. But I'll tell him that she was sorry. I add on to Erin's comment, noting that last year I told Joss that Buffy changed my life, and she was a part of that, so thank you.
I also give her I Am Number Four to sign, since other people are doing it. It is also relevant, sort of. She reveals to us that Pittacus Lore is actually a pseudonym for...James Frey. Oooh, nicely played, fake-memoir guy.
"It's so nice that you're signing," I say. She's totally sweet about it all, never giving the impression that she wants to get out of there. I must get a picture, of course, but her kids must be in them, because they are kids and certainly aren't going to get out of the way of a camera.
I lend a guy my pen as Erin goes to the restroom. Marti is shooed once again, this time to the side, so she's not in the middle of the hallway, but she keeps on signing. She has every opportunity to leave, and she doesn't take it. She's been signing for at least twenty minutes.
Melissa Rosenberg is also hanging around, so I say hi and shake her hand, saying, "I'm a huge Dexter fan."
When Erin returns, Marti is still signing. Her warmth and love for this woman is in contradiction to her costume. Oh, yes, she is in costume.
La la la, la la.
Mr. Musey and Co. are in the True Blood panel, so we go wait outside Ballroom 20. As we're waiting, I spy a familiar face in the crowd. It's Stupid Tall Hot Girl, from The Guild! "Michele!" I call, like we're friends.
She turns to me as she passes. "Stupid Tall Hot Girl?" I say. Indeed. "I'm a Guild fan, as you can see." I point to my shirt.
"I can normally spot the Guild shirts," she says, "but I didn't see you."
I ask her if she's in the new season. She says she is, briefly.
Mr. Musey and Co. have tickets from True Blood, so they want to see what fabulous prizes they get. I lead the way to the Fulfillment Room. Now, there is a crazy long line, and it winds in a very inefficient manner on its way to the hotel. Once in the hotel, it becomes a very long line that moves at a decent pace.
While we are waiting in line, a guy comes up to me and says, in a British accent, "Hello, it's gossi!" What the fuck?? He is getting ready to film some interview in the room or whatever. And there is the illustrious Kirsty as well. Hi! It is good to finally meet you for like fifteen seconds!
The line becomes even longer as we approach the Fulfillment Room. It snakes down into the parking garage and back. We have a dinner reservation for 7, and they will hold it until 7:15, but this line is pretty nuts. Is it even worth it?
I go and do some recon, and there are some cute girls with a True Blood bag. I ask them what's in it, and there's a shirt and a book and other cool stuff! They say it's even better than last year's. I GOT SOME LAME POSTER. I text Erin that it's worth it, but when I try to find her, it turns out the line really did move so fast that they ended up getting in and out of the room with their prizes already. Awesome!
We navigate the crowds and take the long way to Red Pearl Kitchen. This time, Thomas Jane is not hanging around, and there are flyers and crap on the red chair!
Even though we are late, we are seated quickly. The power of making a reservation! In fact, we're given a very nice booth.
We can't remember exactly we ordered last year, but we definitely ordered the duck fried rice that turned out to be vegetarian fried rice (a.k.a., Erin's dinner). I am torn between the mee goreng, whatever it is, and the drunken noodles, both of which sound good.
When I tell the waitress my dilemma, she tells me those are her two favorite chicken dishes! Curses. She says mee goren is ramen-y with a sweet sauce, and the drunken noodles are spicy. I decide on the mee goreng since I've never seen it before; I've had drunken noodles before.
At first, I don't get an appetizer, but everyone else gets one, and I am really hungry, so I figured, whatever, this is Comic-Con, I am splurging. Chicken spring rolls!
And then I see the Szechuan sweet potato fries on the menu. Whooooa, those sound awesome. Chili peppers! Dipping sauce! That is crazy! I ask if I can switch. She says they've already started making the chicken spring rolls. Damn. But then she checks with the chef, and he can use them for another order, so I'm golden!
The fries are good, but the dipping suace is a wonderful combination of spicy and sweet and really makes the dish. The waitress even brings me more.
She also brings me water. Whenever I need it. She has some sort of water sense; as soon as I think that my water level is getting low and I need more, she appears. And she thanks me for holding the glass up to the pitcher so she doesn't have to lean over as much.
Erin orders some cauliflower thing for an appetizer, and I hesitantly try it, and even that is good.
We are so happy with our food, and the service seems to be much improved, but then we notice that the table across from us came after us but is being served dinner before we are, what the hell. The waitress tells us that we're next, and she's right.
Everyone gets their food. Except for me. My food is last.
The noodles are indeed ramen-y, and, ooh, the chicken is ground chicken! The bowl is oddly shaped, and it causes the sauce to settle at the bottom, so I have to fight to really get sauce on my noodles, but it's so good.
Our waitress even allows us separate checks, and when she leaves a comment card, Erin and I totally comment. She was good! Much better than the person we got last year.
Oh, but I have not mentioned the dinner entertainment. No Godzilla movie this year. It is some martial arts film instead. I don't recognize it, but Mr. Musey identifies it as "the greatest martial arts movie of all time, Enter the Dragon." Did Chris Gore pay this place a visit?
Outside, Erin and I take a picture with the red chair we spent so much quality time with last year.
I walk back to my hotel room and collapse on the bed around nine. I can't get up. I am so tired. Exhausted. I zonk out and miss out on whatever crazy parties Rae goes to, whatever Dahlia does when she gets into town.
I'm going to need to recuperate before Saturday, after all.
Today, however, I can have breakfast with Seanan and Amy, and because I am not alone, the Broken Yolk is appropriate. And although it did not seem crowded yesterday, we actually have to wait in a short line to get into the damn place!
While we are waiting, Javi walks by. What the hell? How do we keep running into him, out of all the tens of thousands of people in San Diego? It is welcome, but strange! We are like Javi magnets.
The Broken Yolk has really Comic-Con-ified themselves. There are comic-themed decorations around, and our waitress is apparently named "Sailor Moon." Another is named "Wonder Woman."
I order a pomegranate juice that costs $3.70. It is okay. It is not worth four bucks, especially for the amount I get, but, hey, I am splurging. Attempting to replicate the success of yesterday's breakfast, I go for a breakfast burrito containing avocado and accompanied by rice and beans. Protein! That's the magic! (Spoiler warning: this breakfast is not magic, and I am totally hungry by dinner.)
Even international men of mystery need breakfast.
I cut out to head to the nearby Hilton.
Not this one, the other one. It is definitely Scott Pilgrim's year at Comic-Con.
The line is already pretty long before 9ish. The thing doesn't open till 10. I walk to the end of the line and stand behind three guys, one of whom is extremely jealous of the fact that Metric played last night after the movie screening. "I was there," I say, and make him more jealous by declaring it awesome.
One of the other guys says, "Were you behind us at the panel?" Holy crap. It's the dudes who gave me the 1-UP pin!! I thank them a lot. They say they saw a screening in L.A. earlier, which is odd since Edgar said we were the first persons to see it. EVERYONE IS FULL OF LIES.
The guys are filmmakers, and I listen to them discuss their ideas for a sci-fi short film, and it seriously sounds like Roman from Party Down. Not as pretentious, but the same amount of seriousness.
As we wait, we smile for a woman to give us a $10 off discount code for Scott Pilgrim shirts online. One woman comes by with the chance to win entrance to a COOL PARTY, but you have to have a smartphone. There is a Comic-Con-themed edition of The Onion that is pretty amusing. And the Scott Pilgrim truck is handing out free garlic bread! Except I just ate breakfast, so I only eat half of it since it's not very good.
As the line begins to move, Rae joins me. And she has great news for me: she got all this Dexter swag at the Warner Bros. Showtime party last night and she doesn't watch the show so it is mine! A bag! The S4 DVDs! A bobblehead! A shirt! Sweeeeet.
There is an express line if you just want to go to the Experience and not make a shirt, but, dude, we are totally making shirts.
So many choices for designs! We have some tough decisions to make. I really want a Sex Bob-omb shirt, especially because Knives wears one in the movie, and yet I feel self-conscious when I wear a shirt with "Sex" on it. But the logo seems too stealthy. I have a book on me and do confirm that the logo is from the book and not just made up for the movie. The movie logo is tempting, as it commemorates the Comic-Con experience, but then we see that there is a mini-version of that logo on the back of all the shirts. The Ramona drawing is pretty amusing, and it's nicely stealthy. Gah! So many choices! The cute girls behind us share in our decision misery. (There are lots of cute girls at Comic-Con; don't let the media tell you any different.)
As we turn the corner, I have to talk to Kamina.
"I believe in you!" he says.
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?" I cry.
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM??" he responds.
Rae has no idea what is going on.
We also have to choose the color of our shirt! Gah. We try to figure out what color combination is best. I go with a black shirt and a red Sex Bob-omb.
This is a free shirt, you guys, but I get to choose the shirt size, the color of the shirt, and what goes on it! THIS IS AMAZING. Plus, it's not a dinky iron-on, oh no.
They screenprint in a few seconds...
...and then let it dry.
AND THEN I HAVE AN AWESOME SHIRT. Rae gets silver lettering, and that may have been wiser, as it's easier to read.
There is a lot of cool stuff in the Experience too. Like the videogame! Man, I totally want to play the game, but I don't have time. There is also a thing to upload a message to Facebook, which Rae does later.
I don't have time to add to this crazy board of signatures.
I don't have time to examine the amusing flow chart of character relationships, nor can I hang around for whoever may be coming to sign stuff later on.
I don't have time to read the amusing summary of the movie.
What I do have time for, though, is making a flipbook. Yes, a flipbook. They film Rae and me for seven seconds. We don't choreograph anything, but we have a fight. An AWESOME fight. We start by punching each other, and then we're just sort of blocking with our elbows, and then I go in for an uppercut, but Rae counters with a knee to the stomach, and I go down, but then I come up with MY AWESOME AIR GUITAR ATTACK, and Rae just gives up. I WIN.
And in about a minute or two, we get flipbooks of our awesome fight! It's so cool! Man, Scott Pilgrim, you win at Comic-Con.
It's getting close to 11, so I leave Rae to experience more Scott Pilgrim awesomeness.
Hey, do you have boobs, an attractive midriff, and nice legs? Then you, too, can be Supergirl!
I get to the Fox booth, and there's already a long line. A line I am not allowed to get in. Because it was a ticketed signing. WHAT? THE INTERNET DID NOT TELL ME THAT. GODDAMN YOU FOX.
So I stand around and take pictures. They're signing posters of the Dollhouse comic cover. It's a cool poster, and I will pick one up from the Dark Horse booth later.
I choose to believe Mo is taking a picture of me. Because I am so cool.
Oh, Jed! I am missing your autograph on my Dr. Horrible DVD! I have it with me, maybe I can just toss it to you.
Mo, I wanted to tell you about seeing Get Mortified! Man, and this means I could have actually stayed at the damn Scott Pilgrim Experience for longer. But had I known it was a ticketed signing, would I have skipped that for the signing? That would have been a tough decision. I'm pretty sure I made the right one, though. Jed and Mo would not give me a shirt and a flipbook, and there will be more opportunities to see them in the future, after all.
Well, now I have some free time. So I decided to check out the Fulfillment Room to see what my special Red gift is. On the way, I see Appa.
She is one of only a few Avatar costumes I see this year. Alas.
The Fulfillment Room is deep within the Marriott, past the Fraggle exhibit or whatever. There are many people holding signs pointing the way, but there isn't much of a line to get into the room, thankfully. I present my ticket. And am handed a lame poster. Goddammit, I was hoping it would be the graphic novel. Hell, on the way out of the hotel, I see that lame poster just lying on a desk or something. Oh well, maybe kali921 will want it.
I head back to the Exhibit Hall. At least I got some exercise? This whole con is exercise, the amount of walking back and forth you have to do.
Aw, what adorable costumes.
I head for the Marvel booth. Now I can get to the Bendis signing almost an hour and a half early and get a good spot. And, indeed, once I eventually find the line, I am fifth or sixth! Sweet!
I have three line buddies, a woman named Melissa and her husband, and their friend, another woman. (There are plenty of women at Comic-Con; don't let the media tell you any different.)
See? Women! (Mystique is not the only blue person here, thanks to the other Avatar.)
Melissa, if I recall, is pregnant, and her husband takes great joy in finding wee kids in costume in anticipation for what he'll do to his own child. He shows us footage of a mini-Mal he encountered (his mom was dressed as Kaylee). And we see for ourselves the littlest Thor!
HOW CUTE IS HE? HOW CUTE.
There is some wonkiness with the line, as we keep being asked by different people to move the line in different directions. To sit on the carpet, to not sit on the carpet. We hold our coveted positions, however, and make sure we are not ousted.
Because we're at the Marvel booth, we see a lot of Marvel costumes, which is fun.
Oh, Rogue, you can suck my lifeforce any day.
There appears to be an unofficial or official gathering, as many Marvel characters converge on the booth. It's great! Even though I don't recognize some of them. Melissa is able to identify the woman in a gold mask as Madame Masque, an Iron Man villain.
We discuss the number of things one should bring to get signed. They've brought three each; I have only brought two. They think three is a good number; five is pushing it. What's really annoying is the person who brings a whole stack. Sometimes comic retailers bring inventory in to get signed so they can sell them at a mark-up.
Bendis arrives at ten to one and starts signing early. Cool! A small child was moved to the front of the line, and a woman who was disabled also appears (she is not in a wheelchair, so she assures us that she is disabled and not just cutting in line). Before I know it, it is my time!
I plop down Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl? and Daredevil: Underboss. "It's great to meet you," I say, "because you're the reason I'm into comics. In college, my friend gave me this." I point to Powers. "Powers was my gateway comic. And this"-I point to Daredevil-"is how I got hooked on Daredevil." I may even tell him that it's some of the best superhero storytelling I've ever read. He's very friendly and grateful, and he hands me a Scarlet #1 variant, his latest collaboration with Alex Maleev. I read the issue already, and I tell him I'm really interested so far. Whoa, throughout this entire conversation, I don't think I "really enjoy" anything. Whew!
Bendis was one of the people I was most excited to meet, and I have met him before his signing was even officially supposed to start!
I get a call from Rae. They have closed the Ballroom 20 line. Because it got so long there was literally nowhere to put it anymore. So there goes the Joss panel. But, oh well, that gives me more time to kill on the floor. Erin (mutinousmuse) should be arriving shortly as well, so we can meet up. Meanwhile, I walk around and take pictures of people.
Matt Groening!
Fabio Moon! Although when I take this picture, I think it's Gabriel Bá. Because he's in front of the placard that reads, "Gabriel Bá." Also, they're twin brothers.
I learn at the Dark Horse booth that they have already drawn for the Joss signing, and I have not won. Nor has Rae. (We have given each other our ticket numbers so we don't both have to go check for such things.)
I head over to David Mack's booth, because that's what I do. Plus, I have to tell him I met Bendis, since they're buddies and all. I tell him about the Scarlet variant, and he asks to see it, so I show it to him. In the back, I show him his variant cover. It looks like it's the first time he's actually seen it in print. Aw.
With him today is his girlfriend, Rupa, an attractive Indian woman with a nose piercing and a deep voice. She asks what I do.
"I work in drug safety in a pharmaceutical company," I say.
"Yay Indians!" she says. (A different reaction from that one Indian girl, who didn't think that sounded very Indian-like at all.)
Mack asks me what I worked in, again. Drug safety, I say. "Two of my favorite things," he says. Hee.
Rupa is very friendly, and we chat for a bit. I find I can't look her in the eye, which is an issue I often have when talking to people, especially attractive women. I am afraid they will see into my soul or something, I don't know. Plus, this is a cool Indian woman who works in comics! She actually used to work at DC, and she saw herself in one of the videos the DC booth is playing across from her.
I loiter as Mack looks at an artist's cool portfolio and says he'd love to work with him, and Rupa gets a teacher to buy The Shy Creatures.
I shuffle off, passing Christopher Judge on my way to the G4 booth. I put on my Intern shirt to see if anyone recognizes me. No one does. But, ooh, Olivia Munn is signing!
She is very blurry. I try to get a better shot, but the security man gets in my way.
Pictures are verboten!
Then I unexpectedly get a call from mycenae, who is in line for Ballroom 20! Looks like the Joss panel is back on! Erin will have to fend for herself.
I try to leave the Exhibit Hall, but I have to stop to let some Centurions through.
Oh, Comic-Con.
I run up to Ballroom 20. She's outside in the line somewhere, but I can't get out there and cut, so I wait by the inside portion of the line for her to come in. While I wait, I see this girl.
How cute is that dress??
I wait and wait, but I don't see mycenae come in. I am still standing there when I hear a voice behind me say, "So what are we looking at?" I turn around, and there she is. I THOUGHT SHE WAS DEAD! I THOUGHT SHE FELL OFF THE CLIFF! I THOUGHT SHE BLEW UP IN THE CAR! I...you get the idea.
She has used a clever bathroom pass gambit, her friend having discovered that they don't take your pass back from you when you re-enter the hall. So she brought mycenae in, and mycenae now has two passes to bring me back in with her as well.
Once again, I must sit through the Bones panel to see Joss, but once again, it is pretty entertaining! This year, however, David Boreanaz is there!!
I actually get to hear him say, "Birds freak me out." IT'S TRUE! Double-decker buses also freak him out. And this is how he describes Bones and Booth: "We go out and solve crimes as a sandwich." (There is context for that statement, but I don't write it down.)
Emily and Hart are just as fun as they were last year, and they make this panel about a show I don't watch a welcome diversion.
Next, Scott Allie introduces Joss Whedon, and he comes out to roaring applause. He says he's intimidated by the number of people. "I would like the following people to leave." Heh. He steps away from the podium and, because the table is further back this year, he steps out in front of the table.
"America wants to see these legs," he says. Think about it: have you ever Joss Whedon's legs? ISN'T THAT KINDA WEIRD??
There's a lot of redundancy with yesterday's panel, but it's still Joss being Joss, and that's fun. He describes the writing process as a cycle: "Hunger, porn, depression, fun."
The highlight of the panel comes at the very end of the Q&A. We hear a man with a strange voice say, "You like to use the same actors over and over. Some might even say you play favorites." Oof, this guy is bold. "So who is your favorite actor?"
Joss says that he would get in trouble if he had to choose. But...okay, it's Nathan Fillion.
Cheers and applause, for everyone loves Nathan Fillion.
"No, really, it's Nathan Fillion," says Joss. We stand and look toward the back to see if he's making some grand entrance.
"No," says Joss, "it's Nathan Fillion." The camera cuts to the questioner, who begins TAKING OFF A DISGUISE HA HA TO REVEAL...
Oh, Nathan Fillion. "Nathan Fillion, Ant-Man!" says Joss, setting off a flurry of Tweets that will have to be officially debunked by Nathan later. It's unclear whether Joss and Nathan planned the whole thing, but Joss jokes that he knew it was Nathan because of the sheer arrogance in his voice.
I bid mycenae adieu as I rush over to 24ABC to get in line for the Girls Gone Genre panel...except there is no line. I walk right in. Erin is already inside. The room is practically empty. And at the front of the room is, hey, Chris Claremont!
He is famous and stuff!
The next panel, which was supposed to be for Fable III, has been cancelled! So Erin and I secure the best seats we can, right by the microphone. A woman who is filming a documentary asks if she can take my aisle seat so she can pull people from the mike and ask them questions, but moving over would obscure Erin's view, so sorry. I tell her I'll be asking a question. Aha, she says that maybe she will talk to me. She pulls up a chair.
Because we suddenly have an hour to kill, I figure I can run down to the floor for the Legend of Neil Meet and Greet. I don't need a bathroom pass or anything; the room is practically empty.
On the way down, I see what may be the BEST COSTUME EVER.
I run down to the Atom booth, and I see Sandeep Parikh and tell him he was hilarious on Thursday. Then I notice the LoN poster, which is a Last Supper parody...because it is advertising "The Last Season." Really?? Yeah, really.
Oh, there's an actual line. So I get in the line. Oh, there's a signing fee. Um, I don't really have anything to sign. And I just got into the show a week ago, so I'm not really a superfan who will drop twenty bucks just like that. I just want to say hi and stuff.
Atom shares its booth with Spike, and I see a little poster for some Spike show called Manswers. Oh...dear. The man at the booth sees my reaction. "Not a Spike TV person?"
"I'm not manly enough," I say.
"Sure you are!" he says.
"After this, I'm going to a Girls Gone Genre panel."
A girl ahead of me in line quips, "But Felicia Day will be there, so..." She has a point.
I manage to walk past the girl taking money without being asked for twenty dollars or specifically refusing to pay, and as I go through the line, I realize I could probably just get them to sign the little mask I picked up and no one would be the wiser, but I have ethics sometimes.
As I approach Sandeep, he says, "Hey, I know you!" HE TOTALLY REMEMBERS ME FROM TWO NIGHTS AGO. Probably not last year, but at least Wednesday. I ask him why it's the last season, and he says he always saw it as a trilogy, and he wanted to end it, as it's not something open-ended like The Guild that could go on forever. Eventually, Neil has to beat the game.
I move on to Tony Janning, and I tell him he was hilarious on Thursday. (Everything that is funny to me is "hilarious.") Next to him is Eric Acosta, and I tell him Wizrobe is one of my favorite characters, and I always love his scenes. Next to him is Scott Chernoff, who plays Gannon, and he is also in those scenes I love. Angie Hill, who plays Zelda, is also there, but I can't think of anything to say to her.
I met! I greeted! That didn't take too long.
On my way out, I must take a picture of this Zangief, whom we saw while waiting in the Bendis line earlier. Later, I will see pictures of other Zangiefs whose hair is not pastede on yay, but I think this guy is pretty amazing. Mad props, sir.
When I return to 24ABC, there is a line, but I just slip into the room without a word and take my seat next to Erin. She has an uncomfortable proposition for me: would I like to join them for dinner at the Red Pearl? Because they still haven't used the gift certificate they got last year. Ha! Would I? I was going to suggest it myself! After all, the service was crap, but the food was good.
The room finally begins to fill up, but, unlike the X-Play panel, they don't allow it go standing room-only for some reason. There were a lot of people in line, I saw! Why don't they let more people in?? The documentary woman had to be moved; I don't know where she's sitting. But soon it is time for the panel!
Annalee Newitz of io9 calls it the "Girls Gone Geek" panel, and she likes that it really could be called "The Geek Panel." The panel includes Felicia Day, of course.
Kathryn Immonen, of Runaways fame! Laeta Kalogridis, of Shutter Island fame!
Marti Noxon, of Buffy fame! Melissa Rosenberg, of Dexter fame! Okay also of Twilight movie fame, but come on now. (Annalee does put more emphasis on the "awesome" Twilight movies, since it's more genre.)
Gail Simone, of Birds of Prey fame! Among others.
What a collection of awesome women, right?
Annalee asks the hard-hitting questions you don't get in Ballroom 20, like, "What decisions have you made or have been made for you in your career because you are a woman?"
Felicia has actually been asked, "Did you really write The Guild?" But only when she glams herself up. When she has bad hair and wears glasses, then OF COURSE she wrote The Guild.
Someone once told her, "You should get a nose job." But her nose is cute! It needs no job! (Also, trivia: her dad is a plastic surgeon!)
Kathryn was once on a panel where she was deemed to be the "wrong kind of lesbian."
Laeta is the one whose work I am unfamiliar with, but holy crap, she's awesome. Hilarious and outspoken and profane in front of her kids. She rightly points out that Catwoman and Elektra, held up as examples of failed female superhero movies, weren't even superhero movies! Catwoman is an antihero, and Elektra is a villain! And ALSO the movies sucked, but that's beside the point.
Also, I didn't know that she wrote a Wonder Woman script too, which was rejected before Joss's was. She thinks that Wonder Woman should not be played by a star. "Movies make stars; stars don't make movies." She didn't really know who Tobey Maguire and Christian Bale were before they played superheroes.
She also invokes Kathryn Bigelow's comment that she wishes for a world where she can just be a "director," not a "female director."
Marti and Laeta have a whole argument about superhero movies. Erin and I agree we would go to a panel with just Felicia, Marti, and Laeta.
Marti wrote the Fright Night remake, and when she was on set, some people were surprised when she introduced herself. "Marti is a girl?" No GIRL would write a horror movie! The...horror!
She says she's influenced by Joss. "He's more of a woman than I am."
Melissa has better hair this year. I think she's the one who relates a sort of bitchy anecdote about being fired off a show, not just because she was a woman but because they didn't really seem to like her for some reason. (It's a better story when she tells it.) She (or maybe it was Marti) was told she "doesn't write women well."
Gail is about to become the first female writer to write Wonder Woman (which, WHAT), but she was actually offered the chance to write Wonder Woman when she came to DC, but she didn't want to be a "chick writing chicks." So she did Birds of Prey instead, which, uh, oops. (There are some Secret Six fans in the audience, and they yell out the title when Annalee leaves it off her list of comics Gail's known for.)
She had a popular blog, but she had to "come out" as a woman when she began writing for DC, according to my notes. But her first mainstream comics work was with Marvel on Deadpool, which was very manly, so I'm not sure how she remained unisex during that era but had to out herself when she moved to DC.
She, personally, thinks that when editors are presented with two scripts, they'll take the better script, regardless of the gender of the writer.
It's a great panel, but, unfortunately, there's no time for Q&A. And I have a really good question prepared and everything! They've touched on a few aspects of it already.
We don't get to ask questions, but we do get a fabulous parting gift! Marti has copies of I Am Number Four, the first book in a new YA series by Pittacus Lore. It hasn't even come out yet, but she wrote the screenplay for the movie. Free book!
When the panel ends, I see people rush the stage to get things signed. Erin wants to see if she can get Felicia to sign her Guild comic. She also has a Buffy comic that Marti did not write, but it's still Buffy, so that's relevant. I have my Dr. Horrible DVD, and I remember that she's in it! It's totally relevant!
Erin and I go up to the stage. Marti is signing Point Pleasant DVDs. Huh, people actually watched that show. And bought the DVDs. I let a girl borrow my pen. Felicia has to leave, but she tells a girl with something in her hand when she'll be at the Guild booth signing. She does not tell her it will cost her twenty dollars!
I say hi to Annalee and tell her it was a great panel.
There is another panel coming in, so the panelists are shooed outside. Thing is, Marti keeps signing things, right there in the hallway. The girl who borrowed my pen looks around for me to return it. Later, Erin will comment that that little moment really made her smile.
Marti's adorable kids are with her, bouncing up and down. The little girl likes to be useful as a table for her mom to sign things on.
Erin has her sign the Willow one-shot, even though she didn't write. She tells her that Buffy helped shape her, so thank you.
I hand her my Dr. Horrible DVD and tell her my thought process from earlier. "Yay, I'm relevant!" she says. And then she signs. Right on top of Nathan's face.
"Oh no!" she cries. "I'm so sorry."
"If I meet him, he'll be mad," I say. But I'll tell him that she was sorry. I add on to Erin's comment, noting that last year I told Joss that Buffy changed my life, and she was a part of that, so thank you.
I also give her I Am Number Four to sign, since other people are doing it. It is also relevant, sort of. She reveals to us that Pittacus Lore is actually a pseudonym for...James Frey. Oooh, nicely played, fake-memoir guy.
"It's so nice that you're signing," I say. She's totally sweet about it all, never giving the impression that she wants to get out of there. I must get a picture, of course, but her kids must be in them, because they are kids and certainly aren't going to get out of the way of a camera.
I lend a guy my pen as Erin goes to the restroom. Marti is shooed once again, this time to the side, so she's not in the middle of the hallway, but she keeps on signing. She has every opportunity to leave, and she doesn't take it. She's been signing for at least twenty minutes.
Melissa Rosenberg is also hanging around, so I say hi and shake her hand, saying, "I'm a huge Dexter fan."
When Erin returns, Marti is still signing. Her warmth and love for this woman is in contradiction to her costume. Oh, yes, she is in costume.
La la la, la la.
Mr. Musey and Co. are in the True Blood panel, so we go wait outside Ballroom 20. As we're waiting, I spy a familiar face in the crowd. It's Stupid Tall Hot Girl, from The Guild! "Michele!" I call, like we're friends.
She turns to me as she passes. "Stupid Tall Hot Girl?" I say. Indeed. "I'm a Guild fan, as you can see." I point to my shirt.
"I can normally spot the Guild shirts," she says, "but I didn't see you."
I ask her if she's in the new season. She says she is, briefly.
Mr. Musey and Co. have tickets from True Blood, so they want to see what fabulous prizes they get. I lead the way to the Fulfillment Room. Now, there is a crazy long line, and it winds in a very inefficient manner on its way to the hotel. Once in the hotel, it becomes a very long line that moves at a decent pace.
While we are waiting in line, a guy comes up to me and says, in a British accent, "Hello, it's gossi!" What the fuck?? He is getting ready to film some interview in the room or whatever. And there is the illustrious Kirsty as well. Hi! It is good to finally meet you for like fifteen seconds!
The line becomes even longer as we approach the Fulfillment Room. It snakes down into the parking garage and back. We have a dinner reservation for 7, and they will hold it until 7:15, but this line is pretty nuts. Is it even worth it?
I go and do some recon, and there are some cute girls with a True Blood bag. I ask them what's in it, and there's a shirt and a book and other cool stuff! They say it's even better than last year's. I GOT SOME LAME POSTER. I text Erin that it's worth it, but when I try to find her, it turns out the line really did move so fast that they ended up getting in and out of the room with their prizes already. Awesome!
We navigate the crowds and take the long way to Red Pearl Kitchen. This time, Thomas Jane is not hanging around, and there are flyers and crap on the red chair!
Even though we are late, we are seated quickly. The power of making a reservation! In fact, we're given a very nice booth.
We can't remember exactly we ordered last year, but we definitely ordered the duck fried rice that turned out to be vegetarian fried rice (a.k.a., Erin's dinner). I am torn between the mee goreng, whatever it is, and the drunken noodles, both of which sound good.
When I tell the waitress my dilemma, she tells me those are her two favorite chicken dishes! Curses. She says mee goren is ramen-y with a sweet sauce, and the drunken noodles are spicy. I decide on the mee goreng since I've never seen it before; I've had drunken noodles before.
At first, I don't get an appetizer, but everyone else gets one, and I am really hungry, so I figured, whatever, this is Comic-Con, I am splurging. Chicken spring rolls!
And then I see the Szechuan sweet potato fries on the menu. Whooooa, those sound awesome. Chili peppers! Dipping sauce! That is crazy! I ask if I can switch. She says they've already started making the chicken spring rolls. Damn. But then she checks with the chef, and he can use them for another order, so I'm golden!
The fries are good, but the dipping suace is a wonderful combination of spicy and sweet and really makes the dish. The waitress even brings me more.
She also brings me water. Whenever I need it. She has some sort of water sense; as soon as I think that my water level is getting low and I need more, she appears. And she thanks me for holding the glass up to the pitcher so she doesn't have to lean over as much.
Erin orders some cauliflower thing for an appetizer, and I hesitantly try it, and even that is good.
We are so happy with our food, and the service seems to be much improved, but then we notice that the table across from us came after us but is being served dinner before we are, what the hell. The waitress tells us that we're next, and she's right.
Everyone gets their food. Except for me. My food is last.
The noodles are indeed ramen-y, and, ooh, the chicken is ground chicken! The bowl is oddly shaped, and it causes the sauce to settle at the bottom, so I have to fight to really get sauce on my noodles, but it's so good.
Our waitress even allows us separate checks, and when she leaves a comment card, Erin and I totally comment. She was good! Much better than the person we got last year.
Oh, but I have not mentioned the dinner entertainment. No Godzilla movie this year. It is some martial arts film instead. I don't recognize it, but Mr. Musey identifies it as "the greatest martial arts movie of all time, Enter the Dragon." Did Chris Gore pay this place a visit?
Outside, Erin and I take a picture with the red chair we spent so much quality time with last year.
I walk back to my hotel room and collapse on the bed around nine. I can't get up. I am so tired. Exhausted. I zonk out and miss out on whatever crazy parties Rae goes to, whatever Dahlia does when she gets into town.
I'm going to need to recuperate before Saturday, after all.