DisneyLand Left

It seems that every time I go to the Magic Kingdom for Theatreg33k's birthday we end up with some kind of crazy story.
Did you ever hear the one about the two blondes who wanted to go to DisneyLand on a whim? Yeah, two smokin' hot babes in a bright red convertible, sunglasses, top down, hair blowing in the wind cruising up I-5. They get into Anaheim and see the road signs "DisneyLand. Left."
So they turned around and went home.

I tell you that bad joke to tell you this story, plus a little more.
We went down the day AFTER the 24 hour day and missed a whole lot of our friends who were down there just for that event. (Un)fortunately Theatreg33k had a rehearsal that night and even if we had driven down that night, we MIGHT have gotten in if the park wasn't full and we MIGHT have gotten there before it closed at 6 A.M.
Apparently the park had to stop admitting people 3 different times as DisneyLand was at capacity. But people got cool pins, buttons, shirts, sweaters, even mickey ears that said things like "One more day of Disney." And that was nice, but we were actually a little glad we missed it as it was a madhouse.
So, we took a pleasant cruise down 101 as I detest I-5 with a fiery passion, leaving reasonably early, and finally managed to hit the park around noon. They closed at 8?10? Sometime "early."

Funny story, THREE separate times, park guests confused Theatreg33k for a Cast Member in two different places. Two asked for fitting rooms and another asked . . . I don't remember, I think it was how World of Color worked or something? We concluded it was her awesome sweater we bought her a few years back thats all "50th anniversary" and has a very clean design, not one of those hoodies with a graphic on it. Plus Lanyards, and I say, we look very comfortable while we're there, not the usual touristy types.

Yeah, we at D-Land all the time. Iz Koo.

 We were also accosted by two different younglings who were ravenous amateur pin traders, but they were polite and respected our designated pins-for-trade. (I like to show off, so one side of  my lanyard is not for trade. Although I have considered the hip lanyards, thanks to my buddy Jewnathan, but my pins are so heavy they dangle like a yo-yo, so maybe a two lanyard system, or even now they have these crazy Uber-Lanyards that are double think and feel like seatbelt material.) Both of them sort of just stepped up dead in our tracks, thrusting their lanyards out, eyeballing our lanyards in turn, parents slightly aghast and apprehensive as to how we would react. No fear from these kids, it was great. Crazy sentimental crap like that helped make the trip. As well as a couple young ladies who had just gotten into trading that trip chased me down to ask about a couple pins I had, so we traded some knowledge as well as overpriced tin. And apparently I look like a serious trader as I had two separate cast members plus a guy who runs a pin trading site say as much to me. Oh yes, my ego was adequately stroked.
One of the inquiries was on a particularly obscure pin that no one could figure out. We saw it three separate times that day, and the final time, Theatreg33k snagged it just so we could look it up more adequately when we got home to full PC's and some free time. The first couple times we saw it there were guesses that he might be from Star Wars which I confided in T1nk that that was not possible as I can usually recognize 99.9% of that universe even if I don't know who it is immediately, I suggested Captain Eo or some alternative sci-fi as he seemed to be green, wearing a sash, and had small curly horns. T1nk did not recall him from Cpt.Eo. T1nk then investigated the back of the pin. It said something like "2005 Happy Hauns LE 25" on the back so t1nk began to use her crazy new smart phone to try and track it down. She came to the conclusion from others who were discussing it on other forums that he was originally part of a full set but was scraped from a display set and released on his own. We traded for him and asked a few "pro" traders who were set up in the park that day but didn't manage to ask any hard core sharks, just re-affirmed what we already knew, that it was an older pin and that it was crazy limited, only 25 around, and that it was originally from Disney World. Cool. We get home, start looking it up in earnest, and I don't know why, but as soon as I saw the Pin on a computer screen, my brain clicked and I almost shouted as T1nk read out loud what my brain had just told me. Cesar's Ghost, from the Haunted Mansion. Bam, mystery solved, rare pin acquired.
So, if you know anyone who works in the Pin Trader shop in FrontierLand, or a couple people who had to stand outside Midway on March 2nd, OR a young lady who was prepping for the Pixar parade/show in DCA right outside the theatre where they show Alladin, also on the 2nd, let them know we figured it out. We don't know anyone on the inside anymore, but we know people who do, so, pass it along, they were just as stumped as us.

Also, we had a CRAZY, MOMENTOUS, SLAP YO MOMMA GOOD, dinner at the Mountain Winery. My soup was good, and the deserts were stupid delicious, just on the edges of being too sweet or tart or whatever, but never crossing that line, they were phenomenal. But the entree . . . Filet Mingon, Med. Rare, WOOOHHOOOOOoooooH! You want to talk about some Disney magic. PLUS!, so, Theatreg33k/T1nk is a full vegan now with light on the carbs, so, a lot of the time its like "what do you eat?" but we barely mentioned these potential restrictions, because T1nk wanted to know what was in certain things so she could plan accordingly(she was semi-vegetarian this trip as its hard to avoid a lot of things at the resort, kudo's to them, not as hard as you might think) And our server, Alex, was like "I got this, HEY YO SEAN! Sean's da chef, like a boss." (I'm paraphrasing of course, it was all very smooth and professional) and Sean comes out in his whites with the cool round coffee filter hat and is like "Whadup!? Check it, dont eat the bread, it hangs out with cheese, instead of butter, we got olive oil, and instead of deserts full of dairy, we got the banginest fruit cup you eaver put your tongue into. BOO-YA!" I was all like "yeah baby, I helped set this up, right?" I'm sure T1nk will have something to say about it on one of her blogs, if not, you can ask her yourself how awesome it was, lemme know.

Then, we got Fast-Passed for reserved sections of World of Color. Apparently, if your all up close, your gonna be wet as many of the spouts shoot in every direction, including towards the audience, in order to get the correct angle. And this is mostly true, assume it will happen, as we saw one section that was DRENCHED, I think it's worth it to do it once, but after that, take some higher ground. plus, its like sitting on the sidelines of a sporting event. It's cool, it's right there, but it's hard to get the whole picture cause you have to keep turning your head and being hyper-aware. Magically enough, we found the magic sweet spot where no water splashes. Maybe a light mist once or twice, but honestly, when the fire kicked in, it all evaporated off. Real funny though, as I mentioned, less than 10 yards from us, Soaked people. So, keep that in mind. Gallagher style up close and personal, or mezzanine status. Not sure how cool other sections are.

Yes, you gonna get wet. We were so close I could have probably pissed into the jets, made the distance, and no one would have noticed.

So, every time we go to Disneyland we forget they have a bag hold service for anything you buy at the resort, so T1nk & I were working under the assumption that we didn't want to be trying to juggle everything we had bought on and off rides all day. So, T1nk was like "we show up last day before we drive home, buy all the stuff and take off." Sounded like a plan. Oh boy, always expect the unexpected.
The biggest casualty of the days events I believe was the fact that theatreg33k wanted a particular fascinator that was a Nightmare Before Christmas Mini Top Hat. They had every other version; Tink cameo, cheshire cat, new Johnny Depp Mad Hatter, but ALL SOLD OUT. WE literally went through every shop in both parks plus downtown trying to find this thing. So, next time you go down there, see if they have one for us and give me or T1nk a call please? we'll pay you back.
Now that wasn't the unexpected though, that just sucked. The unexpected was when we got out into the parking lot and more people than one might expect were heading back to their cars. I even remember hearing someone say "it's closed" but I don't listen to random people until I hear something from someone official. Then the Trams weren't running. The Cast Members were simply directing people to the footpath that takes you up into downtown Disney. "Curious" we thought, but we strode on, to see what adventure was in store.
In hindsight, I think this could have been handled a little more efficiently from the initial contact perspective, since I feel charging people for parking, then letting them get all the way up into downtown Disney with little-to-no information was not a great idea, but overall, Mad props to everyone I met and interacted with, Guest and Cast Member alike for staying calm, patient and understanding through the ordeal.

THERE WAS A LINE RIDE JUST TO GET INTO DOWNTOWN DISNEY!?!?!

To get to the point, there was a bomb scare. An "item" was discovered in a tree near a ticket booth, so at 7:10 everything was put on lock. Apparently, someone wanted to leave a good will message to the park goers and the dude even called the police to let them know it was him and just some paper when he saw the commotion at the park was going on. Apparently some people were even stuck inside the park when it happened. Sucked to be them. *eyeroll*
Yeah, Disneyland was closed Willy Wanka Chocolate Factory Style for almost four hours, while the bomb squad was called in and that guy tried to explain to the police his message of good will. Although, now that I think about it, T1nk & I did not particularly seek out an official explanation. We asked a couple random Cast Members what they had heard, but ended up giving them more information as we were checking net feeds for info. We did feel sort of bad for some of the Cast Members though as we saw A LOT of managers out and about figuring that some cast members had gone home after that much down time.
BUT we finally rolled into the park proper around 11:30 (The park re-opened about 10:50 but I did NOT want to be part of the barbarous multitudes rushing the gate, so we hung out in Downtown just a little longer) and scoured for above mentioned hat, could not find, and left with what spoils we could. had some late Chipotle in S.L.O. (HATE I-5, love 101) and came home to an indifferent cat, as always.
So, if you want a crazy Disneyland story, try and come with us next year, evidence shows it wont be boring.

Where U at, h47?

And what's with all the "urban" style post titles? Well, they're quick and I feel they accurately portray the hectic lifestyle I have come across the last three weeks. Worry not H47ites, I am working on a fore-log of my usual droll and drivel to keep this site chok full of the usual vitriol and fan-fawning we've come accustomed to.
Now, why have my post suddenly gone more erratic than usual and not even weekly as has been in the past? well, I will tell you.

After working retail during holidays, which is a pain, anyone who's done it can tell you, I spent a week in So-Cal getting schooled in the myriad of ways of simulated violence for stage & screen, as my previous post informed.
Then, when I got home, I was greeted by a disgruntled cat who had apparently grown rather fond of me and acted out in protest to my absence by peeing everywhere. In between returning to work and a trip to the vet, several cleaning bouts were needed immediately.
With no rest for the wicked, last night, AFTER Theatreg33k/t1nk's callback for Sylvia,

we drove over the hill to a Lords of Ancient Sin meet up hosted by my "brother from another mother" Moose, which included a lovely dinner and blatant sexual advances from and to anyone and everyone who wished to utter "your mom."

I am currently suffereing from D&D withdrawals but I should be able to remedy that tonight as my regularly scheduled table top gaming should resume this week. As should our normal schedule of posts beginning next Tues, as well as a 3rd 4 t3h Nrrd for Jan. and I will do my best to include something else Nerdy & musical to make up for a lack of Nerdcore from last month. I have plenty stewing in my drafts, I merely need to distill them for presentation. I hope you can contain yourselves until then. Thank you all again for your patience and understanding . . . and if not, well, go away then.

For t3h Lose

As in the opposite of FTW, as in, a metaphor for my life.

After a few years of wishful thinking and hopeful musing, Theatreg33k & I have finally started our own web-comic. Read it HERE. Hosting thanks to our good techy Epyon Avenger, Story is written dominantly by myself, inspired by true events and further embellished by myself, with constant input from Theatreg33k, AND I finally talked her into drawing it, and so her career as an artist begins . . . . from square one.

So go read it, and please be kind as this is sort of like a garage band thing, were ametures praying for the big leagues, but we do welcome all REAL criticism, "you suck" will be met with "and you need a life" or something equally snarky.

URL is:
http://ftl.chaos-axiom.com/

Enjoy!

The h47 at Wondercon

WONDERCON! From the same people who bring you ComicCon & APE, one San Francisco's well known nerdfests.

Your humble h4773r will be working the Armor-Geddon booth in the exhibitor hall. We've contracted a good Friend of mine to be a booth babe/blade vendor. Also, t1nk will try to do some con-going on Friday & I hope to try and wander the Halls as well. Drop by, say hi, & some steel you should buy!

2 pigs, 2 families, 1 rock, 1 boat, 7 days, 1 question, & 1 BIG ANSWER!

And that's not even the half of it.

At some point during summer '08 a conversation consisting of T1nk/theatreg33k saying "You know, we don't have to get married very soon, but an extended engagement might be nice."

I let these words ferment, stew, roll around, and otherwise haunt me for about a month until in September of the same year I resolved to ask the big question.

Now, not many people may realize, that there are certain institutions and traditions that I think should be approached with utmost sincerity. In short, I aint fuckin around at this point.

Early October we went to Blizzcon and it was there that I threw down the idea to some trusted confederates and began researching ideas for where and how I would Take A Knee.
In case you missed it, Blizzcon '08 was held in Anaheim, which is conspicuously close to Disneyland and we spent quite a bit of time there that weekend. I had heard about the "free B-day pass" promo that year and a plan began to formulate, grow, nay, INFEST my brain.

So, as of mid-October, Thee Plan, was to propose as we got off the jungle cruise ride with all friends and family I could finagle into coming as witnesses. This all under the guise of a "Big B-day week" because she was turning *incoherent mumbling of an age between 15 and 200 years old* and I usually have a big weekend party for my own birthday. It was only fair. This was the story I kept telling close friends so that on the off chance I had to call it off they would be understanding. Yet, telling people made me feel it was doable, and it gave me some time to hear it out loud and really consider if it was the step I wanted to take.
Fast forward to late November, I started saving up a chunk of cash, and committed to calling The Mouse and seeing if he could "huho" hook me up.

First, I had to do it up all proper, I asked her folks if I could take them out to dinner for a "Christmas Present" and ask for their blessing. They said yes. I then called my folks to see if they approved, they did. Parents averted!
I then started telling MORE people because it was kind of awesome. Finally in February '09 I called Disneyland. IT WAS GREAT! The people at the park were totally cool and ready to help however I needed. Next thing I knew, I had a private boat on the jungle cruise set up, a section reserved for our family for lunch at one of the restaurants and Dinner at the Blue Bayou for later.
"Dude H47? how much did you throw down for all the special services?" Not a cent! We even got one of our old college friends who works there part time, to be the skipper of our boat. (Did I mention our Friend is a big time Hollywood Voice Actress? If you need an awesome voice let her know . . )

So, as of February, the plan was get our crew on the boat, get to the backside of water, drop to the knee, Bob's your uncle, we're engaged! I drag T1nk to the Blue Bayou, I'm awesome, Disney Land IS the happiest place on earth (unless you're a small child between the hours of 3 &5 pm, cause that shit is nap time.)

I get the ring from Shane Co., I get it "future Maid of Honor" approved, I'm showing it off to everybody, telling everybody the scheme, this thing is getting big. I keep the ring hidden in my Special Edition Burning Crusade box, the big ass one? fit perfect. it was creepy.

At some point T1nk's Manager decided to be cheeky and say "hey, wanna know what hes getting you for your birthday? . . . Pot Belied Pig." Even more horrifying was T1nk's reply, "Awesome! They're so CUTE!"
What else could I do? I verified. "Yeah, the trouble is gonna be sneaking it in to the park as a "seeing eye pig."
She wanted to name the fictitious pig Wilbur, I suggested AndEggs. Later that same week, we were out at a bar with a bunch of other friends, I was recounting the story so far and somehow it became TWO pigs.
Now I've got my friends harboring pork at various locations so as to keep T1nk off the trail. I know, we're so clever.

At some point I asked T1nk what she thought it really was, and she guessed it BUT she was like "but I don't want to think that's what it is in case it's not." So, this wont be a huge surprise apparently, but it still was, just watch.

The week of her B-day rolls around and it's time to get to Anaheim. I have the stinkin thing hidden in a compartment in the Shenani-Van, praying she doesn't decide to look for the roadside kit. (what?! I'm paranoid.) We get to the hotel and a week of vacation starts off without a hitch.

(I love to stand in front of the train station and look out upon the park. Very nostalgia/inspiring/romantic[not in the sexy sense, as in the movement])

The day came for it all to be set up. The jungle crew knew what time we we're supposed to be there, private boat and all. we had a section of one of the restaurants all reserved for our group for lunch before hand. We got a birthday gift card for T1nk (you had an option of three items for b-day, it was cool) and I was like, Until noon, its all you! We rode some rides, ate, and we hit the jungle cruise at 3pm! The total group was my mom, my g-ma, my sister, my cousin, her mom, her dad, our friends Epyon Avenger, The Blave and two of his female friends, PievuhG, L1 and L2, with Voice Actress as our skipper. Apparently there was a boat mishap and Voice Actress had to hijack a boat that wasn't hers (we're so pirates) and off we steamed/motored/rolled. Voice Actress laid down a great string of horrible jokes that the ride is famous for, we get to the back of the waterfall, and she says "and now, the moment "H4773r" has been waiting for (all his life? i dont remember exactly, cut me some slack, I was stressing soooo hard right then.)" I dropped to my knee, pulled the box, T1nk was like "WTF" then I asked . . . .

(Video border in "obnoxious-puke green" in T1nks honor)

The boat took off again, cheering and incoherent congratulations accompanied us to the dock, Voice Actress valiantly tried to lay her best jokes on us for the end of the voyage and we disembarked.

Pics were taken in a very convenient alcove I had not noticed till then, and PievuhG had a special gift for us . . .

T1nk and I split off from the group to giver her some time to recover form
the shock, text/tweet everyone we knew what had happened. We wandered
over to the Blue Bayou in time for our dinner, and did whatever she
wanted the rest of the trip.

Once more, I'd like to thank all our family and friends for helping me make
this happen and for all of your support. We will be setting the date
for the big day on T1nk's NEXT birthday, and it will most likely be a
year-2 years from then.

L2 Con, Blizz!

(this post is brought to you by This Lovely Lady's opinion on what my next post should be. Biased? Do I care?)

"Gee h47, that's a lot of people milling about, where's that?"
THAT IS A LINE OF PAIN AND ANGUISH THAT COILS TO AND FRO LIKE A NEFARIOUS FIEND'S FECES ONLY TO END IN A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY AND AN EXCHANGE OF TOO LITTLE GOODS TO TOO MUCH MONEY!!

In a less irate tone, that was the line for the Blizzcon Store at the 08 Con. I don't know what the con was like at the first 2 Blizzcons or so, nor the latest blizzcon, but if 08 was ANY indication, Blizzard needs to seriously rework their con staff and allocation of resources.

Hint one, was when we had to partake of the ticket buying debacle. We had heard the year before that tickets sold out within days of going on sale. So, we were poised ("we" being myself and T1nk) with a couple days off and mouses on "buy" option. Then, the amazing happened, the site went down.These two images are the avatars of pain and suffering to Blizzard addicts everywhere and were stared at for nearly three days straight while Blizzards store servers went down from the ruthless pummeling it had taken from the droves of rabid fans.

This did not need to happen. The previous years traffic should have indicated that the interest was large enough to warrant a third party ticket seller or that servers needed to be fortified for the onslaught. These are things that are inferred or speculated upon through various circles I move in. No? Not enough of an authority?

Very well. Servers went down, QQ, people started buying out tickets left and right. Just like the year before and the year after, tickets sold out in less than triple digit hours, approximately 3 days. The reason the tickets sell out so quickly is the drastically limited space at Anaheim convention center to the massive volume of fans who are willing and have adequate funding to attend. One of my favorite phrases I heard at least twice at Blizzcon 08, paraphrased was "10 million people play WoW alone (at the time), not to mention the hardcore Diablo and Starcraft players. The convention center holds 9100. round up or down very graciously either way and that's still less than ONE PERCENT!"

Aright, maybe Blizzard has done this on purpose so that only the most dedicated and serious people will make it to Blizzcon and they prefer to keep it as intimate as possible with such a large fan base. Fine.

T1nk and I got to the con, waited a while after it opened in order to not need to stand in line to get badges and swag, then entered the con a few hours after it had started.
As soon as we walked in we saw the above mentioned line for the Blizzcon Store and T1nk decided to get in it just in case, because T1nk has a healthy concern for practical things like that. We then spent the rest of the day exploring the con, seeing the booths, watching events . . while T1nk stood in line. Then we explored more, stalked The Guild, and perused the itinerary for the next day.

Admittedly, the line died down considerably the next day, but I still stood in line for a good hour to make my shirt purchases and they did not sell out of anything that year. Line rush from day one uncalled for? Due to sellouts in previous year? I honestly don't know.

After less than 9 hours total at the con, we left EARLY to go to "The Magic Kingdom (don't actually click that link, just MOUSE over it. oooh, I know.)"
The next day, we hit Blizzcon 08 hard with a clear plan of what we wanted to do and see.
I played the Wrath of the Lich King preview (not yet released in beta at the time) as well as the Starcraft II preview, for my thoughts, see Hitler!

We tried to get seats as close as possible for the ending concert and Patton Oswalt, but succeeded in getting about 3 screens back, approximately 50 yards back from the stage.

All told, it took us less than 15 hours to see and do everything we wanted at Blizzcon 08, including line time, with one small exception, while I was standing in the store line, I believe the WoW Q&A panel started and I did not know until that moment I wanted to see it. So, Oh well.

All told, I gave Blizzcon 08 a solid "C" grade. From all the fail that we encountered and all the win to make up for it, the ultimate experience was totally whelming(yes, I used the correct word for my thought). Personally, I need a Con to be B grade in order to justify attending and was only slightly heartbroken to not attend Blizzcon 09. Only because I have gained a very rich experience of Blizz's products in the last year (finally beat the Starcraft campaigns and most of the way through Warcraft 3. I know, I know, blasphemer, I only ever played the LAN games with friends every day for a whole academic year in our Cisco Networking class. I finally bought the battlechests last year.) am I much more aware now of what Blizzard's products are and what to be interested in.

Gruh'nug, Who's favorite phrase is "build more TREES!" shares my feelings . .

Dance of Dizzdillie Pixies

(written for T1nk a few years back, shameless filler! We assure you, real posts are under construction!)

Tony Elfson

12-10-04

A Dance of Dizdillie Pixies

a dark wood, a cautious tread, enter a green, cool glady

before you stands a welcome sight. a most lovely lady

she turns to depart, a quick smirk and wings of sparkling light

your feet move of their own accord as an eerie tune fills the night

you move quite fast as the two of you reach the clearing’s center

you stare into each other’s eyes and you notice a stag move by at a canter

lightning bugs buzz about. or so they appear to be

other creatures of the wood begin to congregate, from the bear to the flea.

she wraps her arms about you, moves to touch your lips with hers

a sharp intake of breath as the night air gently, tree boughs, stirs.

the kiss is sweet, heady and dripping with delight

your eyes open and where the beasts once were, there are woodland spirits all about yoursight.

the tune grows louder, it comes from the wood itself

the tempo winds itself into a jig and all begin to dance. faerie, sprite and elf

the gnome taps with a couple imps while two fae flight about

elves raise their voices in chant but you shall dance with this pixie, there be no doubt.

the reveling, the singing, the dance goes ever on

no time is there, you prance through air, there’s magic in the song

no mortal could replicate this eve, it happens once every nevertime

you were the one, it was told , you’re the son.

this dance will ne’er be done

so you will move and sway with your pixie queen underneath the bright moonshine

Dangling From the Wagon

Well, devoted readers (all 3 of you), I managed to keep a steady stream of deliciousness up for about 3 months before I flagged. This is a blog about the status of the blog.

Lament or rejoice (however you feel) this is not defeat, only an update, the blog will march on. I am theatre person and the "show" must go on! (Shakespeare In Love, "It will work! How? I don't know. It's a mystery." On a total shameless tangent, in my Science, Religion, Magic, class, one theorist proposes that humans first result to science, then religion, than lastly, magic. Theatre is a great example of this. How do we put up a show? First, we set up and follow the instructions by the book. Something goes wrong? We pray and hope it will get fixed. Still no? Finally, we resort to superstition and strange rituals to explain and resolve. *looks around* Say hey, look where we ended up. Okay, back to the "not being able to write" portion of this essay . . .)

I currently have about 3 to 5 blogs sitting in the edit file, all of them succulent and juicy, ready to be devoured by you (all 3 of you) the hungering reader.
Subjects include the story of my Proposal to T1nk, an in-character narrative, an observation on RP geek superstitions, as well as reviews on "Melody of Oblivion" & "9." (heh, looky that. Five ideas. Cool.)

Anyway, nerdlings, thank you for hangin' in here with me, and if you havnt already availed yourself of some of the back log posts, I highly reccomend that you partake of them . . . all except for T3h R4n7s. stay away from those. Bad tings mon, bad tings.

-H47

San Diego Comic Con 2009 Part 2

Next morning, got off to a late start. rolled down the hill, took a left at Albuquerque when we should have turned down at Timbucktoo. (If you dont know that joke, grow older by five years or more, watch some loony toons, or GTFO mah bliggity blawg!) but still rolled right into downtwon San Diago(yes, Anchorman jokes were in full swing from celeb tweets and beyond)

By this time T1nk was in full "im-late-and-i-will-kill-if-i'm-not-on-time" freak out mode, so I dropped Pievuhg and the better half at the first good looking stop, and moved my way up to $15 parking lot that was a good mile away. hopped a bicycle taxi, tipped the poor guy with a roll of quarters (do not underestimate my brokeness) and schlepped up to get mah badge.

As I was herded like an animal of the field among a multitude of other geeks attempting to get into the convention center, I began to feel that familiar sensation of elation. These were my people, and I immediately began to judge them. But elitism aside, I never feel more at ease than at a con. this is where my kind, the geek, the nerd, the outcast, the goth, the Trekkie(wow, spellchecker corrected that for me, yikes), the weird guy, the gamer, the hacker, the candlestick maker, this is where we congregate and only our own judge us, not the entire locale. And if they're our own judging us, we at least feel the comfort that, they have an understanding, and don't come of their opinion blindly but from a mutual understanding that most of us know, we're still not considered "normal." And I don't know if I'm getting soft or just have gained more wisdom, but now I often think before I pass judgment, assessing the previous thought as well as playing devils advocate for a second. A good example of this is actually from a panel I missed entirely.
(for the extended version seek out Kevin Smith Q&A from Hall H Comic Con 09, there should be a link here somewhere . . . there's a good one, for shorter, try this, But I suggest starting at the top and writing off your next 2 hours.)
Kevin Smith effectively said GTF-OFF Twihards, they are the geeks of the future, they are girls w/Vamp hard on's, WTF is wrong with you dude?"

Oh look, a tangent, never had one of those, or sarcasm for that matter *false belly chuckle* Oh ho ho ho . . moving on . . . .

Grabbed my badge for Fri, was told I could grab my badge for sat after 4 pm, was tossed a swag bag (very literature heavy, less on the swag) and really started taking in the sights (see pic, the 2 Astromech droids in the general Lobby. Fear the SW fans!) , the sounds (general cacophony with strange snippets, and of course, the smells [if you are, know, or have interacted with any sort of social deviate for longer than two days, we don't smell the prettiest, no, not even some of the girls. It's unfortunate, but we are making strides towards change[its here that I wanted to link to a flyer/handout/thing by Something Positive about using a shower at conventions specifically targeted at geeks. i.e. undress, we know it's embarrassing, get under the water, we know, its cold, turn it towards hot. use the soap, no those aren't demon creatures eating your flesh, they are bubbles, and normal, then rinse, dry, and dress again.] Unfortunately I cant find said pamphlet, if anyone else can, please notify me). I then hustled to get to some hall where T1nk was already in line even though the panel was about to get out in less than 10 minutes. To be fair, it was a Coraline panel with Niel Gaiman. while waiting for Pievuhg to recover me, (I was a bit lost, but she had explored the con the day before) I am very confident, I saw Stan Lee. I heard the voice, looked back, there was a white suit upon an older gentleman wearing glasses, all attached to a mustache, and surrounded by an entourage. Liz found me, and took me to T1nk. ( ComicCon Nazi's/Elite's are, well, doing there jobs, to them; "please stop being dicks," if you encounter one; "they are doing their job's, don't bug them more than twice, don't be dicks to them, they're trying to keep the Con form being lame. If you have a problem, join staff and fix it." gee? sounds like cops.)

T1nk was still in line and concerned we wouldn't make it into the "9" panel at hall H because, well, it's Hall H. So, I told her, as her Man-Pack for the weekend I was gonna head over there and get in line. ( I had attempted to establish a couple times, that since I would be attending Aftercon, and dragging her along, AND since she paid for my tickets for ComicCon, I was there at her whim to carry swag [ill-gotten or otherwise], supplies, and hold spots in lines)
Pievuhg led me down to the bottom level and we popped into the dealer hall. What a ridiculousness. To say this hall is large, crowded, or noisy, is to call an ocean wet. Picture a pulga(that's flea market for you non-ethnic's) and put it under a large concrete ceiling and sink it about 5 feet under street level, and you've got an idea of how this place looked.
Pievuhg stopped at the ComicCon booth (not as awesome or impressive as you might think, very simple, one booth) to buy a sexy ComicCon shirt. I took the opportunity to find, as Scott Kurtz put it, The "Penny Arcade Elbow" which he was in, and it seemed, so was most of the rest of the WebComic Industry. MC Frontalot was holdin down a Corner of the PA booth as their official . . um, something fancy sounding, as Tycho likes to do, that effectively means Front is their official Rapper. I stopped, saw MC Frontalot in the flesh. Got my copy of Nerdcore Rising signed, Front regaled me with the fact that my copy was early run copy and superior to the merchandise in front of him. I was pleased. I then rolled around to the other side of the booth and had Gabe of Tycho and Gabe sign my "I roll twenty's" Shirt with the phrase "I thought you were supposed to get better at this" If I could get Wil Wheaton to sign that same shirt, I may end my life as a geek in peace.With geek/fanboy Nirvana almost attained I unerringly head to find THE LINE TO H! Found it, stood in it, T1nk showed up, stood in it. Met two groups of people, one groovy, one annoying, none worth more note than that.

Then, finally made it into the SUB-FUCKING-LINES INSIDE HALL H!!! which are there to further torment those who have endured the outside for 3+ hours. Apparently other situations have been explored and I pray and keep myself ignorant of the truth in the hopes that Comic Con higher ups have assessed other options and find that this is the most effective.

Once inside Hall H we find that the end of the Disney Panel is underway and find seats.
Disney panel: Tons of Fun. Beauty and the Beast in 3D this coming Valentines day ( I know what T1nk and I are going too).
But the one I am really excited for is The Princess and the Frog. Oh yeah, all hand drawn, full blown musical numbers performed by the characters. Good jokes, a nod to more mature audiences than just kiddy fare, a gator named Louis who solves problems with sharp sticks and plays jazz trumpet(after my own heart, I assure you) and a Cajun firefly named Ray who thinks as disjointed and quickly as he talks. I laughed my ass off at the 3 min clip they showed. I'm seein that one. Only down sides I can think of, the first black Disney princess isn't actually a real princess from the start, and as if New Orleans square in Disneyland wasn't crowded enough already, with Fantasmic, Haunted Mansion, three or so restaurants, one of the easiest to find bathrooms, the train station, and of course The Cpt. Jack sparrow ride, sorry, Pirates.
Also, Miyazaki, or, J-colonel Sanders, was there to promote Ponyo's release in the U.S with full Dub, and was awarded the g">Comic Con Inkpot award, those things are metal, I want one. Paton Oswald came out, made the Disney panel a little PG13 with the Q&A, awkward geeks were awkward cause it was friggin Miyazaki-san, and the panel ended.

There was than a lull in between panels and t1nk and I moved up for a better seat and settled in for an awesome panel. Some dude I didn't recognized was moderating but introduced the director, Shane Acker, as well as Acker's two "mentors" on the project, Tim Burton, and Timur Bekmambetov (the director from Wanted). Hrmm . . Tim Squared helped shane, lol. And two huge names working on the movie, Elijah Wood, and Jennifer Connelly. In Short, "9" looks awesome, and even if it's not the deepest movie, it will have a crazy nifty hook and be very pretty to watch. After this panel, T1nk and I left to locate Pievuhg and wander the Con Some more.

We wandered the dealer room, apparently Amanda Palmer(lead singer of Dresden Dolls) was doing a book signing that afternoon/evening and T1nk had to stalk her, we ate Con food, and were charged too much for it.

Around 5 PM was a lil in booth concert by MC Frontalot and the Categorical Imperative (his drummer) at the PA Elbow! (see Pic above, I know, its a shitty pic from my cell phone. I will get a better phone and try to take better pictures, never guarantees.)

Finally, due to the fact my parking pass was only good till 8:30 pm, we all decided to call it a day and headed back up the hill.

San Diego Comic Con 2009 part 1

(There is a room above the fire station on Main Street Disneyland which Walt Disney would stay in all the time. He would keep a light on to let the people in the park know he was there and after his passing they keep the light on all the time now. Thats right)

TEN FUCKING HOURS!!!Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself by about six hours. So, for the fun adventures of how we finally decided to go to SDCC see Theatreg33k . . damn. one of these days I will link the shit outta these posts.

SO! Pievuhg had a weekend pass (she's sleeping with the owner of a local comic shop, regardless of the fact that the owner is currently carrying her husbands child SHUSH!) but T1nk(theatreg33k, yes i know, "holy shit h47!? nicknames for your nicknames?!" shuddup, T1nk is shorter and its another of her personas, AND it's my blog, keep up!) and I only had passes for Fri & Sat, we were gonna drive down Wednesday, and while pievuhg was at the con thurs, T1nk & I would hit the magic kingdom (yes, we're Disney whores and have no shame about it. yes, i know they're an evil ubercorp, but I'll be damned if its not one of the most fun places in the world, get a childhood) *looks around* crap, got ahead of myself again.

Tuesday night (after D&D) I discovered my H47b0x(my computer) decided I could log in but would then log me back out of windows, so, had to get Epyon_Avenger on the case, my digital savior. I packed up for the weekend and attempted to sleep from 1 Am to 5 Am so we could leave at 6 Am. great plan, meanwhile, T1nk stayed up all night packing and such, just gonna sleep the whole way down, which she did. Left bright and early at about 7 am (of course), watched the sun come up as we drove down I-5, the varicose vein of the crack that is the central valley of California. Constantly paranoid and fighting my fatigue-to-hunger-to-"whatwasthatnoise?!wasitthecar?!" syndrome we made a few stops along the way. tried to talk pievuhg into letting us try and sneak her into the MouseLand around Anaheim, but she wouldn't have it. At that point I thought, "oh good, almost there, not much farther" my spacial recollection of the location of Anaheim to San Diego is still skewed. the last 2-3 hours of the drive were painful for me, I had no idea where i was going again, and of course, instead of -continue on I-5, then left on suchandsuch lane- it was, okay merge onto this highway, now this highway, now left, right, right, up, down, select, start, WTF!? apparently our sweet hookup to stay over is atop the only mountain in the basin (t1nk is NOT cool with windy roads, especially if they're atop a fucking cliff) and so TEN FUCKING HOURS after leaving, we had arrived. Got lost shortly thereafter attempting to locate civilization at the bottom of the hill, had chipotle (so fuckin tasty) and found THE EASY WAY back up the hill to our HQ for the weekend. slept like the dead.

T1nk and I woke up at . . . ? 7:30 am? 8? because we were gonna drop Pievuhg off at the con and head north back to Anaheim. Apparently Pievuhg was welcomed with booze the night before and was nursing a hangover and finally at about 9am T1nk and I realized she wasn't leaving with us. BAM, off to Walt's World. Rode rides and all that, forgot my lanyard (yes, t1nk got me hooked on pin trading the trip I proposed to her [blog about that later, I'm sure] but its actually very fun and I have a sixth sense for hidden mickey's, I'm like a boar to truffles. I just think a pin is cool, but when we look closer, there's ears. anyway) but still snagged a slick lanyard weight, AND, we caught the Electrical Parade. that shit was awesome, the intro music is really the best part. It broke down, sat there for 3 mins, and a deisel pull cart rolled up and pulled it along. it was awesome. I want to be an electrical bug, that looks like so much fun.
made it back to HQ without incident, ready to attack Comic Con '09 fast and hard, just like me, OH!