Comic-Con 2010: Day 1
INTRO/PREVIEW | PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4
Thursday, July 22nd - Summary
→ Lining up for Hall H panels, getting free “V” stuff
→ Meeting a certain [H]ouse star ♥
→ SALT & Angelina Jolie
→ The Big Bang Theory cast signing !! ♥
→ J.J. Abrams signing
→ Accompanying my brother to the Halo Reach panel
Well, the morning started off nightmarishly - we woke up 2 HOURS late! 9am instead of 7am >_<
We were all so exhausted & slept through the alarm… Dad had woken up, turned it off, and wanted to nap for “15 more minutes”. Yeah, very bad idea. We were hoping to get in the Hall H line-up early for the Tron panel AND draw lottery tickets for a Stan Lee signing, but those plans were now seriously skewed.
We ate & dressed in a whirlwind and were out the door ASAP. We jumped out of the taxi and immediately headed to the Hall H line. It was already across the street & going around this giant field, but it was moving at a semi-steady pace. The problem was that Comic-Con did not clear out the Halls - I think a few years back they use to, but with the size of the crowd nowadays it’s just an impossible feat. Which is really unfortunate because so many people just sit there all day and wait for ONE panel while others get shut out. But the early bird catches the worm, I guess.
We kept ourselves preoccupied, taking pictures & talking with other awesome people in line. Some reps came by with awesome Dexter pins and tattoos too :) But just as they came by, I saw another guy in a V t-shirt walk by, carrying some sticks with the logo on them. He walked to the center of the field, and so I asked my Dad if I could go over & see what he was up to. :D
Now, understand that NOBODY in my family watches V or LOST, though prior to the trip I got my siblings started on the first season of LOST. They had watched the final recap prior to the series finale, and since then I haven’t shut up about it. xD In particular, I’ve made sure to mention Elizabeth Mitchell & Juliet, since she was so non-existent in that recap (how dare they!) So my Dad said, “Sure!”and him, my brother, and myself went over to the V guy.
Me: Hey there! Are you setting up something to promote the show?
“V” Guy: Yeah! Well, I’m a professional kite flyer and this year I’m with the WB Booth. We were flying these “V” kites over on the other side, but I saw this open field and thought I would try it over here instead.
Me: Awesome :D Are they giving away any “V” freebies over on the other side?
“V” Guy: Well, I’ve got some freebies right here!
Me: OH YAY!! THANK YOU. ♥ ♥
Turns out that the “sticks” I saw him holding were actually kites saying “V: We Are of Peace. Always.”! David and I each got one, thanked him, then ran back to my mom and sis. As we approached them, Steff came running towards us yelling, “WE SAW JEFF BRIDGES.” She thrust her camera into my face to show me and we all got really excited. :D
Apparently, we were standing on the sidewalk across the street from the celebrity Hall H BACKSTAGE entrance/exit - limos were going in and out to pick or drop the stars off. Because so many people were standing in line, not that many were at the entrance/exit because they didn’t want to lose their spot - only autograph hunters and maybe a few young teens who had their parents holding their place for them. My Mom had seen Jeff Bridges as he was entering the Hall and run across the street along with my sister (the lady behind us was so kind and held our place in line). My Mom had been RIGHT IN FRONT of Jeff Bridges, with her autograph book, but JUST as he was about to sign her’s, he was called away to enter the Hall. MY MOM WAS THISCLOSE. >_< But she was so excited to see him - I totes think that was the highlight of her day :D
We waited in line for another hour and ended up missing the Tron panel due to the Hall’s full capacity >_< After much discussion, we decided to stay in line for the SALT panel, with Angelina Jolie.
I’ve LOVED Angelina ever since she starred in Tomb Raider - she was honestly my first fangirl experience. ♥ At the age of 10, I basically wanted to be her/Lara Croft - I had a wardrobe of nothing but tanktops, shorts, and would refuse to do anything with my hair but braid it :P To me, she was the epitome of a kickass, adventurous, intelligent, and beautiful woman. So although my Mom was tired of standing in line, I semi-begged her to wait a little longer just so I could Angelina Jolie in person.
Dad and my siblings went off into the Exhibit Halls to get some of his comics signed while Mom and I continued to wait in line. But as the end of the Tron panel neared, I thought I would try and catch Angelina in person & get an autograph, back where Mom saw Jeff Bridges. So I set off by myself, armed with my Disneyland autograph book (hey, there’s good autograph paper inside there, k?), my camera, and a sharpie.
There was some security along the road, but I just kept walking confidently and the ladies didn’t stop or question me (thank goodness). When I got to the backstage entrance, there was a mob of about 15 people on the corner of the sidewalk, mostly autograph hunters & photographers, and I saw camera flashes going off. I quickened my pace and realized that it was Garrett Hedlund from Tron ! WHAT?! THE TRON PANEL HAD ENDED?!?! I tried to edge my hand/autograph book through the crowd, but didn’t have much luck. So I sort of backed off and just waited patiently for things to calm down.
But as I was semi-waiting and looking at the limos, I was momentarily stunned by the next person who walked out: OLIVIA WILDE !!!! ♥ ♥ OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD.
I had been hoping to see her all day in the panel, but NEVER did I expect to see her in person. She was walking towards her limo, but another young girl behind me yelled, “MS. WILDE! WOULD YOU COME OVER AND SIGN SOME AUTOGRAPHS, PLEASE?” Bless this girl for having her wits about her, because I was useless and rendered mute at that moment… Olivia smiled and said, “Sure!!”.
Then I basically DIED because she walked straight towards ME first - since I was standing in the front off to the side & Garrett was still signing. ♥ Now, out of all the celebrity encounters throughout the Comic-Con, this was the only one where I was truly tongue-tied - LIKE, I HAD AN ABSOLUTE BRAIN & BODY FREEZE. I keep looking back and wondering why, and I guess it was due to the sheer unpredictability of the moment - my entire being had been preparing to see Angelina, and instead Olivia Wilde was standing right in front of me! And it was all happening so damn fast. With other signings, I’ve had time to mentally prepare seeing the celebrities and what I would love to say to them. Not in this case- I was in a complete and utter daze T.T
Me: Hi Ms. Wilde… may I have an autograph?
Olivia: Sure!
Me: *wracking my brain* I’m a hugefan..H-Housefan..FanofHouse. *struggling to breathe*
Olivia: Really? That’s great - thank you. *hands back book*
Me:Thank you so much. Um, do you mind if I take a picture with you?
Olivia: Sure.
*I take picture*
Me: Thank you so much ♥
Olivia: You’re welcome :)
LMAO - I was such a mess xD For the absolute life of me, I could not say “House fan” correctly. And I couldn’t steady my voice either. Not to mention that I usually FAIL at taking photos of myself, and while my Mom had said people were quite nice and had offered to take a picture of her & Jeff Bridges (if she had the chance…), nobody around me was offering to take a pic of me and Olivia. So what the heck, it was now or never.
And gosh, it was a MEGAFAIL T.T I forgot that I had zoomed-in to take a picture of Olivia as she was approaching, so um… enjoy this intense close-up of Ms. Olivia Wilde. :P (The edge of my cheek is to the extreme right, lol)
But the fail didn’t matter because I was simply high & ecstatic from the moment. She was so gorgeous & gracious in person ♥ ♥
I stuck around, still hoping to catch Angelina. I waited for about 5 more minutes, but knowing that the Tron panel had ended early, I was worried that my family would be going in soon. So I made my way back to the line & seeing that my siblings were back from the Exhibit Halls, I basically RAN shouting, “GUESS WHO I MET!!”. It was the absolute best - we were all so excited. I showed them her autograph - and ohmygosh, it’s probably the most beautiful signature I’ve ever seen. Even more amazing is that it’s all done in one stroke - with the exception of the heart, not once did the pen leave the page…
The line started moving and finally we made it into Hall H! :D The hall seats 6500 people, so we found some seats near the back-left & grabbed those first, just in case. Then my Dad and bro went up ahead to find better seats. I went with them down the opposite aisle to find something too.
The “Reserved” section, which was centered and about 15 rows back from the stage, was pretty much empty. My Dad talked to the usher and convinced her to let us sit there, saying we would leave if press or photographers came around. So the 3 of us sat down quickly, and they showed a new trailer for Salt. We called my Mom and sis over - and then Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, and the director and producer came on stage ♥ ♥
Angelina was absolutely stunning - I just loved listening to her talk, watching her gesture, just everything… She really took the time to answer the questions thoroughly and thoughtfully. I started fangirling her towards the tail-end of her wilder days (as she became a UN ambassador following her trip to Cambodia for Tomb Raider) and she’s just come so far since then.
After Salt, there was a panel to promote Battle: Los Angeles starring Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez. The trailer was intense, though vague, but definitely something I might go check out - still no clear picture as to what the aliens look like :P Michelle was absolutely adorable - she was so at home with the Comic-Con crowd, throwing around her geek and gaming terms/fandoms. She was fangirling hard, lol.
We then headed out of the Hall and back to the Exhibits. We stopped by the CBS booth to check on the 3:30pm signing for The Big Bang Theory - our collective ULTIMATE highlight of the day. The producers from Dexter were still signing, so the booth staff told us to come back @ 3pm which is when they would start the line.
We grabbed a quick lunch, let my Dad shop around a bit. At 2:45pm, we sent my sister ahead to get in line for The Big Bang Theory signing. NOT 3 MINUTES LATER, SHE’S ABSOLUTELY DISTRAUGHT ON THE WALKIE-TALKIE SAYING THE LINE IS MILES LONG AND TO GET THERE QUICK. Of course, we’re all “What the bloody hell?!” and grab our 12389138 bags and try to locate her. She was incredibly far away - the line was all the way outside of the Exhibit halls and about 600 m down. My god.
We get at the end of the line & to say we were disheartened is a major understatement. We were HEARTBROKEN… How could this have happened? It wasn’t even 3pm yet and the line could not have grown this fast this quickly - no way.
I didn’t feel good doing nothing. I told my Dad we should try and talk to the CBS guy who told us to come back @ 3pm and see what he could do for us & my Dad agreed whole-heartedly. Because we specifically asked him if there was a line already @ 2:30pm and he had said, “No, come back later.”
So my Dad and I went back into the Exhibit Halls and managed to catch the CBS guy just as he was leaving for lunch. My Dad told him the situation - asking him why he had misinformed us and if there was anything he could do. Lucky for us, another young couple had appeared out of nowhere and had the exact same situation. They had been there since 9am and were told no official line would start until a banner was put up. And man, this fan was HARDCORE - we sort of let him take over and convince the guy to help us. Talk about CBS communication breakdown…
The CBS staffer led us to his supervisor and he explained the circumstances. She was hesitant at first, saying CBS did not guarantee anything, but we argued that we didn’t necessarily need a guarantee, we just needed them to do their best to rectify the giving of false information.
So the CBS guy led us back to the line, sort of just picked a spot that was semi-close to the front and asked a group of girls if he could place us there in line. Of course, they were hesitant at first, but he promised that we would all get through the signing. So I stayed there while Dad went to get the others.
In the end, Mom & Dad left and gave up the opportunity to see the cast, just so they could take video and pictures for my siblings and I. I really wish they didn’t have to… but my parents are the absolute best. When the cast came in, we were still outside the exhibit hall and couldn’t see, so they were radioing to us everything they saw, lol. Mom had a fun time just staring at them and watching them interact with fans. After about 40 mins, it was finally our turn to enter the hall and get in line.
Johnny was so sweet - he picked up a poster, looked at me, and said “HI!!” and of course, I was all, “HI!! THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE” right back :P I always thought he’d be a little stand-offish/quiet, but he was so excited, which was great. Then it was Jim, who is an ABSOLUTE sweetheart. Like seriously - the kindest guy ever. He’s one of those people who makes you feel like you’re the only person in the room right then and there - he’ll stop, look at you, say hello with the biggest smile, and strike up a conversation even when they’re all moving at a lightning pace. I congratulated him on his Emmy nomination (and YAY, HE FREAKIN’ WON ♥ ♥ ) and he said a very heartfelt thank you. Kaley was sweet as well, Simon was nice too, but looked a little stressed, haha. Then Kunal was fun - I joked with him and asked if he would talk to me, and he said, “Oh, it doesn’t matter - I’m drunk anyways!” :D
I forgot I could video on my camera, so I only started videoing after I talked to Jim Parsons. But my sister had my Dad’s camcorder, and she got Jim to say, “BAZINGA” right into the camera - he did it SO. WELL. I want to put that on a permanent loop ♥ I was the last to go through out of my siblings - LOL, my sister, being the adorable klutz that she is, was flailing in front of Kaley and KNOCKED THE CUP OF SHARPIES OVER. HAHAHA. And I had been wondering why there was a bit of a mess when I was talking to Kaley - flailing doesn’t get better than that ;)
All in all, well worth the wait and the absolute highlight of our day ♥ ♥
Now, I had initially been hesitant to attend the signing because that meant missing the JJ Abrams and Joss Whedon panel, which I had been looking forward to. But I decided to give that up because JJ Abrams was suppose to be signing 15 minutes after that panel ended, @ 4:45pm.
SEE HOW THEY SCHEDULE THIS STUFF? You must choose… If you go to a panel and the signing is 15 minutes after the panel ends, there’s NO WAY you can line up in time for the signing. And if you want a signing, no way you can stay for the entire panel. So I decided to not necessarily go for the signing, but at least get to see JJ Abrams up-close. And of course, he was signing for Fringe. He was really nice and animated - I saw him taking the time to REALLY talk with fans, which was great.
Then we hung out at the Behemoth game company booth - our family adores their video game, “Alien Hominid” and they were promoting a new game called “Castle Crashers”. They’re character artist was there, so if you bought stuff, he’d sign it and draw something for you ♥ We had a blast there, I just love watching people draw on the spot - it’s so inspiring.
Afterwards, I knew my brother REALLY wanted to attend the Halo: Reach panel - this is the closest he ever gets to gaming exclusives and I knew it’d mean a lot to him. Dad asked if I was willing to go with him, and being his gaming buddy, I definitely said yes. I’ll remember the look on brother’s face - like Christmas had come early :D So my little bro and I headed off to line up for that panel, which started 6pm.
I’m so glad we went - this is one industry I wouldn’t mind a part of as a computer scientist. It’s always either animation, SFX, or game design for me and Halo is one of the absolute best - the user interface was beautiful, the effects and add-ons were intuitive, and the music and storyline exceptional. I think what really separates Bungie from a lot of game developers is their ability and willingness to listen to their fans and incorporate so many of their suggestions into the gameplay. It’s made a huge difference. I can’t wait to go home and get a chance to play it with my bro.
And that was our 2nd day at Comic-Con 2010 ♥
Thursday, July 22nd - Summary
→ Lining up for Hall H panels, getting free “V” stuff
→ Meeting a certain [H]ouse star ♥
→ SALT & Angelina Jolie
→ The Big Bang Theory cast signing !! ♥
→ J.J. Abrams signing
→ Accompanying my brother to the Halo Reach panel
Well, the morning started off nightmarishly - we woke up 2 HOURS late! 9am instead of 7am >_<
We were all so exhausted & slept through the alarm… Dad had woken up, turned it off, and wanted to nap for “15 more minutes”. Yeah, very bad idea. We were hoping to get in the Hall H line-up early for the Tron panel AND draw lottery tickets for a Stan Lee signing, but those plans were now seriously skewed.
We ate & dressed in a whirlwind and were out the door ASAP. We jumped out of the taxi and immediately headed to the Hall H line. It was already across the street & going around this giant field, but it was moving at a semi-steady pace. The problem was that Comic-Con did not clear out the Halls - I think a few years back they use to, but with the size of the crowd nowadays it’s just an impossible feat. Which is really unfortunate because so many people just sit there all day and wait for ONE panel while others get shut out. But the early bird catches the worm, I guess.
We kept ourselves preoccupied, taking pictures & talking with other awesome people in line. Some reps came by with awesome Dexter pins and tattoos too :) But just as they came by, I saw another guy in a V t-shirt walk by, carrying some sticks with the logo on them. He walked to the center of the field, and so I asked my Dad if I could go over & see what he was up to. :D
Now, understand that NOBODY in my family watches V or LOST, though prior to the trip I got my siblings started on the first season of LOST. They had watched the final recap prior to the series finale, and since then I haven’t shut up about it. xD In particular, I’ve made sure to mention Elizabeth Mitchell & Juliet, since she was so non-existent in that recap (how dare they!) So my Dad said, “Sure!”and him, my brother, and myself went over to the V guy.
Me: Hey there! Are you setting up something to promote the show?
“V” Guy: Yeah! Well, I’m a professional kite flyer and this year I’m with the WB Booth. We were flying these “V” kites over on the other side, but I saw this open field and thought I would try it over here instead.
Me: Awesome :D Are they giving away any “V” freebies over on the other side?
“V” Guy: Well, I’ve got some freebies right here!
Me: OH YAY!! THANK YOU. ♥ ♥
Turns out that the “sticks” I saw him holding were actually kites saying “V: We Are of Peace. Always.”! David and I each got one, thanked him, then ran back to my mom and sis. As we approached them, Steff came running towards us yelling, “WE SAW JEFF BRIDGES.” She thrust her camera into my face to show me and we all got really excited. :D
Apparently, we were standing on the sidewalk across the street from the celebrity Hall H BACKSTAGE entrance/exit - limos were going in and out to pick or drop the stars off. Because so many people were standing in line, not that many were at the entrance/exit because they didn’t want to lose their spot - only autograph hunters and maybe a few young teens who had their parents holding their place for them. My Mom had seen Jeff Bridges as he was entering the Hall and run across the street along with my sister (the lady behind us was so kind and held our place in line). My Mom had been RIGHT IN FRONT of Jeff Bridges, with her autograph book, but JUST as he was about to sign her’s, he was called away to enter the Hall. MY MOM WAS THISCLOSE. >_< But she was so excited to see him - I totes think that was the highlight of her day :D
We waited in line for another hour and ended up missing the Tron panel due to the Hall’s full capacity >_< After much discussion, we decided to stay in line for the SALT panel, with Angelina Jolie.
I’ve LOVED Angelina ever since she starred in Tomb Raider - she was honestly my first fangirl experience. ♥ At the age of 10, I basically wanted to be her/Lara Croft - I had a wardrobe of nothing but tanktops, shorts, and would refuse to do anything with my hair but braid it :P To me, she was the epitome of a kickass, adventurous, intelligent, and beautiful woman. So although my Mom was tired of standing in line, I semi-begged her to wait a little longer just so I could Angelina Jolie in person.
Dad and my siblings went off into the Exhibit Halls to get some of his comics signed while Mom and I continued to wait in line. But as the end of the Tron panel neared, I thought I would try and catch Angelina in person & get an autograph, back where Mom saw Jeff Bridges. So I set off by myself, armed with my Disneyland autograph book (hey, there’s good autograph paper inside there, k?), my camera, and a sharpie.
There was some security along the road, but I just kept walking confidently and the ladies didn’t stop or question me (thank goodness). When I got to the backstage entrance, there was a mob of about 15 people on the corner of the sidewalk, mostly autograph hunters & photographers, and I saw camera flashes going off. I quickened my pace and realized that it was Garrett Hedlund from Tron ! WHAT?! THE TRON PANEL HAD ENDED?!?! I tried to edge my hand/autograph book through the crowd, but didn’t have much luck. So I sort of backed off and just waited patiently for things to calm down.
But as I was semi-waiting and looking at the limos, I was momentarily stunned by the next person who walked out: OLIVIA WILDE !!!! ♥ ♥ OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD.
I had been hoping to see her all day in the panel, but NEVER did I expect to see her in person. She was walking towards her limo, but another young girl behind me yelled, “MS. WILDE! WOULD YOU COME OVER AND SIGN SOME AUTOGRAPHS, PLEASE?” Bless this girl for having her wits about her, because I was useless and rendered mute at that moment… Olivia smiled and said, “Sure!!”.
Then I basically DIED because she walked straight towards ME first - since I was standing in the front off to the side & Garrett was still signing. ♥ Now, out of all the celebrity encounters throughout the Comic-Con, this was the only one where I was truly tongue-tied - LIKE, I HAD AN ABSOLUTE BRAIN & BODY FREEZE. I keep looking back and wondering why, and I guess it was due to the sheer unpredictability of the moment - my entire being had been preparing to see Angelina, and instead Olivia Wilde was standing right in front of me! And it was all happening so damn fast. With other signings, I’ve had time to mentally prepare seeing the celebrities and what I would love to say to them. Not in this case- I was in a complete and utter daze T.T
Me: Hi Ms. Wilde… may I have an autograph?
Olivia: Sure!
Me: *wracking my brain* I’m a hugefan..H-Housefan..FanofHouse. *struggling to breathe*
Olivia: Really? That’s great - thank you. *hands back book*
Me:Thank you so much. Um, do you mind if I take a picture with you?
Olivia: Sure.
*I take picture*
Me: Thank you so much ♥
Olivia: You’re welcome :)
LMAO - I was such a mess xD For the absolute life of me, I could not say “House fan” correctly. And I couldn’t steady my voice either. Not to mention that I usually FAIL at taking photos of myself, and while my Mom had said people were quite nice and had offered to take a picture of her & Jeff Bridges (if she had the chance…), nobody around me was offering to take a pic of me and Olivia. So what the heck, it was now or never.
And gosh, it was a MEGAFAIL T.T I forgot that I had zoomed-in to take a picture of Olivia as she was approaching, so um… enjoy this intense close-up of Ms. Olivia Wilde. :P (The edge of my cheek is to the extreme right, lol)
But the fail didn’t matter because I was simply high & ecstatic from the moment. She was so gorgeous & gracious in person ♥ ♥
I stuck around, still hoping to catch Angelina. I waited for about 5 more minutes, but knowing that the Tron panel had ended early, I was worried that my family would be going in soon. So I made my way back to the line & seeing that my siblings were back from the Exhibit Halls, I basically RAN shouting, “GUESS WHO I MET!!”. It was the absolute best - we were all so excited. I showed them her autograph - and ohmygosh, it’s probably the most beautiful signature I’ve ever seen. Even more amazing is that it’s all done in one stroke - with the exception of the heart, not once did the pen leave the page…
The line started moving and finally we made it into Hall H! :D The hall seats 6500 people, so we found some seats near the back-left & grabbed those first, just in case. Then my Dad and bro went up ahead to find better seats. I went with them down the opposite aisle to find something too.
The “Reserved” section, which was centered and about 15 rows back from the stage, was pretty much empty. My Dad talked to the usher and convinced her to let us sit there, saying we would leave if press or photographers came around. So the 3 of us sat down quickly, and they showed a new trailer for Salt. We called my Mom and sis over - and then Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, and the director and producer came on stage ♥ ♥
Angelina was absolutely stunning - I just loved listening to her talk, watching her gesture, just everything… She really took the time to answer the questions thoroughly and thoughtfully. I started fangirling her towards the tail-end of her wilder days (as she became a UN ambassador following her trip to Cambodia for Tomb Raider) and she’s just come so far since then.
Click to view After Salt, there was a panel to promote Battle: Los Angeles starring Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez. The trailer was intense, though vague, but definitely something I might go check out - still no clear picture as to what the aliens look like :P Michelle was absolutely adorable - she was so at home with the Comic-Con crowd, throwing around her geek and gaming terms/fandoms. She was fangirling hard, lol.
We then headed out of the Hall and back to the Exhibits. We stopped by the CBS booth to check on the 3:30pm signing for The Big Bang Theory - our collective ULTIMATE highlight of the day. The producers from Dexter were still signing, so the booth staff told us to come back @ 3pm which is when they would start the line.
We grabbed a quick lunch, let my Dad shop around a bit. At 2:45pm, we sent my sister ahead to get in line for The Big Bang Theory signing. NOT 3 MINUTES LATER, SHE’S ABSOLUTELY DISTRAUGHT ON THE WALKIE-TALKIE SAYING THE LINE IS MILES LONG AND TO GET THERE QUICK. Of course, we’re all “What the bloody hell?!” and grab our 12389138 bags and try to locate her. She was incredibly far away - the line was all the way outside of the Exhibit halls and about 600 m down. My god.
We get at the end of the line & to say we were disheartened is a major understatement. We were HEARTBROKEN… How could this have happened? It wasn’t even 3pm yet and the line could not have grown this fast this quickly - no way.
I didn’t feel good doing nothing. I told my Dad we should try and talk to the CBS guy who told us to come back @ 3pm and see what he could do for us & my Dad agreed whole-heartedly. Because we specifically asked him if there was a line already @ 2:30pm and he had said, “No, come back later.”
So my Dad and I went back into the Exhibit Halls and managed to catch the CBS guy just as he was leaving for lunch. My Dad told him the situation - asking him why he had misinformed us and if there was anything he could do. Lucky for us, another young couple had appeared out of nowhere and had the exact same situation. They had been there since 9am and were told no official line would start until a banner was put up. And man, this fan was HARDCORE - we sort of let him take over and convince the guy to help us. Talk about CBS communication breakdown…
The CBS staffer led us to his supervisor and he explained the circumstances. She was hesitant at first, saying CBS did not guarantee anything, but we argued that we didn’t necessarily need a guarantee, we just needed them to do their best to rectify the giving of false information.
So the CBS guy led us back to the line, sort of just picked a spot that was semi-close to the front and asked a group of girls if he could place us there in line. Of course, they were hesitant at first, but he promised that we would all get through the signing. So I stayed there while Dad went to get the others.
In the end, Mom & Dad left and gave up the opportunity to see the cast, just so they could take video and pictures for my siblings and I. I really wish they didn’t have to… but my parents are the absolute best. When the cast came in, we were still outside the exhibit hall and couldn’t see, so they were radioing to us everything they saw, lol. Mom had a fun time just staring at them and watching them interact with fans. After about 40 mins, it was finally our turn to enter the hall and get in line.
Johnny was so sweet - he picked up a poster, looked at me, and said “HI!!” and of course, I was all, “HI!! THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE” right back :P I always thought he’d be a little stand-offish/quiet, but he was so excited, which was great. Then it was Jim, who is an ABSOLUTE sweetheart. Like seriously - the kindest guy ever. He’s one of those people who makes you feel like you’re the only person in the room right then and there - he’ll stop, look at you, say hello with the biggest smile, and strike up a conversation even when they’re all moving at a lightning pace. I congratulated him on his Emmy nomination (and YAY, HE FREAKIN’ WON ♥ ♥ ) and he said a very heartfelt thank you. Kaley was sweet as well, Simon was nice too, but looked a little stressed, haha. Then Kunal was fun - I joked with him and asked if he would talk to me, and he said, “Oh, it doesn’t matter - I’m drunk anyways!” :D
I forgot I could video on my camera, so I only started videoing after I talked to Jim Parsons. But my sister had my Dad’s camcorder, and she got Jim to say, “BAZINGA” right into the camera - he did it SO. WELL. I want to put that on a permanent loop ♥ I was the last to go through out of my siblings - LOL, my sister, being the adorable klutz that she is, was flailing in front of Kaley and KNOCKED THE CUP OF SHARPIES OVER. HAHAHA. And I had been wondering why there was a bit of a mess when I was talking to Kaley - flailing doesn’t get better than that ;)
All in all, well worth the wait and the absolute highlight of our day ♥ ♥
Now, I had initially been hesitant to attend the signing because that meant missing the JJ Abrams and Joss Whedon panel, which I had been looking forward to. But I decided to give that up because JJ Abrams was suppose to be signing 15 minutes after that panel ended, @ 4:45pm.
SEE HOW THEY SCHEDULE THIS STUFF? You must choose… If you go to a panel and the signing is 15 minutes after the panel ends, there’s NO WAY you can line up in time for the signing. And if you want a signing, no way you can stay for the entire panel. So I decided to not necessarily go for the signing, but at least get to see JJ Abrams up-close. And of course, he was signing for Fringe. He was really nice and animated - I saw him taking the time to REALLY talk with fans, which was great.
Then we hung out at the Behemoth game company booth - our family adores their video game, “Alien Hominid” and they were promoting a new game called “Castle Crashers”. They’re character artist was there, so if you bought stuff, he’d sign it and draw something for you ♥ We had a blast there, I just love watching people draw on the spot - it’s so inspiring.
Afterwards, I knew my brother REALLY wanted to attend the Halo: Reach panel - this is the closest he ever gets to gaming exclusives and I knew it’d mean a lot to him. Dad asked if I was willing to go with him, and being his gaming buddy, I definitely said yes. I’ll remember the look on brother’s face - like Christmas had come early :D So my little bro and I headed off to line up for that panel, which started 6pm.
I’m so glad we went - this is one industry I wouldn’t mind a part of as a computer scientist. It’s always either animation, SFX, or game design for me and Halo is one of the absolute best - the user interface was beautiful, the effects and add-ons were intuitive, and the music and storyline exceptional. I think what really separates Bungie from a lot of game developers is their ability and willingness to listen to their fans and incorporate so many of their suggestions into the gameplay. It’s made a huge difference. I can’t wait to go home and get a chance to play it with my bro.
And that was our 2nd day at Comic-Con 2010 ♥