Here's something you might be interested in.
Comic-Con is such a weird event. And yeah, I can make fun of the geeks that go there, even though I went. My excuse is...I get a press pass for free. And, I usually have friends that are there I like to hang with.
I was walking over to Spreckles to see about buying tickets to a comedy show. It had a weird title, something like "Comedians of Comedy"...but it had a few comedians I like (Patton Oswald being one). It had sold-out.
As I walked back to Comic Con, I saw a car full of girls roll down their window and call out to a guy that was carrying bags. They waved and then made fun of him.
I thought it was both sad, but also kind of funny. I mean, yeah...the guys walking there are geeks. You can be sitting at one of the cafes in the Gaslamp eating, and you see a trio of Stormtroopers walking by, and it's funny. But are you in 5th grade? Is it necessary to make fun of them? I'm sure most people do something that can be considered geeky; whether that's collecting stamps, baseball cards, or whatever.
On Thursday, I went upstairs to meet Jane Weidlin, the guitarist for the Go-Go's. I brought a few albums. There were three people in line. I asked her assistant how much the 8 x 10 photos were. They were $20. Most of the guests had a price list as to how much autographs were. Since she didn't have one, I assumed autographs were free. But I figured, if I was asking her to sign albums, I'd buy a photo. As she signed, I brought up their last show at 4th & B. I told her how I missed her instore performance at Border's in Mission Valley. She remembered doing that show. She drew devil horns on her face as she signed one of the albums. She then said, "It costs $20 for me to sign each of these albums." Needless to say, I didn't have her sign my Go Go's albums.
I remembered last year, a guy from Battlestar Gallactica had nobody at his booth. I wanted him to get on my cell phone, and talk to my stepbrother, a teacher in L.A. who loved the show. This guy screamed at me that he was there to sell his autograph, not talk on the phone.
Which, actually cost him a costumer. An old lady from a few Twilight Zone episodes, got on the phone with my mom and said her catch-phrase "There's room for one more, honey." A line that always freaked my mom out. When I hung up the phone the lady said, "That was fun. You know, maybe your mom would like an autographed picture. They're $25." I bought one, because the lady was so sweet. My mom probably threw the photo away.
Erik Estrada was there. He was so friendly with the crowd. He'd come from around the table and hug and take photos with people. And...he'd comment on their shirts. One was a cop and he thanked him for his service. A nice change from a friend of mine who worked at a hotel in Old Town, and said he wasn't friendly and used a different name to check in (he had a blue Rolls Royce...so much for being subtle).
It's odd to see a crowd of people around folks that I didn't think were very talented, like the cast of Mystery Science Theatre, a show with a good premise but that was never as funny as it should've been.
Katie Siegel, from Married With Children and Futurama, was someone my girlfriend wanted an autograph from a few years back. She just didn't want to spend the $25. I figured I'd buy a signed CD. Usually those sell for $25. That's only a few dollars more than CDs normally sell for. When I saw they were $40, I passed on hearing what Peg Bundy would sound like crooning.
I had an interesting conversation with Lori Petty, from Tank Girl (which I didn't see, but I got the soundtrack from, since I dug the artists on it). She also had a great role in A League of Their Own. She saw that I wrote for Autograph Magazine, and told me a few good stories. On the set of League, they had hundreds of baseballs the cast was asked to sign. She figured they'd be auctioned off for charity. Yet, she never heard what happened to them.
She also said the cast got to keep their uniforms. Since her character was traded to a different team, she got to keep an additional uniform. One of which, she donated to the baseball hall of fame.
A few fans were mad that Pee Wee Herman canceled, due to "health issues."
I was bummed when I went downstairs and found out that Shirley Manson, the singer of Garbage, was now a cast member of some TV show based on Terminator. She was at the Warner Brothers booth signing autographs. A few years back at Street Scene, a similar thing happened. I showed up with a few friends, and saw that her band had been signing autographs an hour earlier.
Nerdy guys were walking around commenting on all the sexy outfits the women had on. And, some of the women, you could tell were nerdy in their everyday life. But, this was the time they came out of their shell...wore some sexy space suit or school girl outfit. It was a very odd vibe. And speaking of odd, overrated writer Dean Koontz was there. He's written the three books on Odd Thomas. What was odd, was his hair. I couldn't figure out if it was a wig, or he's just the one person on the planet with worse hair than Donald Trump.
Method Man, the rapper from Wu Tang Clan, was at a table. I walked over to take a photo and his "people" almost jumped me. They saw I was press, and "it was all good." Someone in line called my name. It was a friend, who told me Method Man made a point of telling everyone he wouldn't sign CDs, only his graphic novel/book. I also found out, my friend had scored tickets to the comedians.
Another musician had delved into the comic book scene. Tori Amos. I wanted to meet her, so I bought a book that enabled me to meet her a few days later. They were selling a leather bound edition for $175. I bought the $30 edition. The graphics were great.
I was told she'd be there Saturday at 2:00 p.m. I left, and figured I wouldn't have to deal with these nerds until then.
Comic-Con is such a weird event. And yeah, I can make fun of the geeks that go there, even though I went. My excuse is...I get a press pass for free. And, I usually have friends that are there I like to hang with.
I was walking over to Spreckles to see about buying tickets to a comedy show. It had a weird title, something like "Comedians of Comedy"...but it had a few comedians I like (Patton Oswald being one). It had sold-out.
As I walked back to Comic Con, I saw a car full of girls roll down their window and call out to a guy that was carrying bags. They waved and then made fun of him.
I thought it was both sad, but also kind of funny. I mean, yeah...the guys walking there are geeks. You can be sitting at one of the cafes in the Gaslamp eating, and you see a trio of Stormtroopers walking by, and it's funny. But are you in 5th grade? Is it necessary to make fun of them? I'm sure most people do something that can be considered geeky; whether that's collecting stamps, baseball cards, or whatever.
On Thursday, I went upstairs to meet Jane Weidlin, the guitarist for the Go-Go's. I brought a few albums. There were three people in line. I asked her assistant how much the 8 x 10 photos were. They were $20. Most of the guests had a price list as to how much autographs were. Since she didn't have one, I assumed autographs were free. But I figured, if I was asking her to sign albums, I'd buy a photo. As she signed, I brought up their last show at 4th & B. I told her how I missed her instore performance at Border's in Mission Valley. She remembered doing that show. She drew devil horns on her face as she signed one of the albums. She then said, "It costs $20 for me to sign each of these albums." Needless to say, I didn't have her sign my Go Go's albums.
I remembered last year, a guy from Battlestar Gallactica had nobody at his booth. I wanted him to get on my cell phone, and talk to my stepbrother, a teacher in L.A. who loved the show. This guy screamed at me that he was there to sell his autograph, not talk on the phone.
Which, actually cost him a costumer. An old lady from a few Twilight Zone episodes, got on the phone with my mom and said her catch-phrase "There's room for one more, honey." A line that always freaked my mom out. When I hung up the phone the lady said, "That was fun. You know, maybe your mom would like an autographed picture. They're $25." I bought one, because the lady was so sweet. My mom probably threw the photo away.
Erik Estrada was there. He was so friendly with the crowd. He'd come from around the table and hug and take photos with people. And...he'd comment on their shirts. One was a cop and he thanked him for his service. A nice change from a friend of mine who worked at a hotel in Old Town, and said he wasn't friendly and used a different name to check in (he had a blue Rolls Royce...so much for being subtle).
It's odd to see a crowd of people around folks that I didn't think were very talented, like the cast of Mystery Science Theatre, a show with a good premise but that was never as funny as it should've been.
Katie Siegel, from Married With Children and Futurama, was someone my girlfriend wanted an autograph from a few years back. She just didn't want to spend the $25. I figured I'd buy a signed CD. Usually those sell for $25. That's only a few dollars more than CDs normally sell for. When I saw they were $40, I passed on hearing what Peg Bundy would sound like crooning.
I had an interesting conversation with Lori Petty, from Tank Girl (which I didn't see, but I got the soundtrack from, since I dug the artists on it). She also had a great role in A League of Their Own. She saw that I wrote for Autograph Magazine, and told me a few good stories. On the set of League, they had hundreds of baseballs the cast was asked to sign. She figured they'd be auctioned off for charity. Yet, she never heard what happened to them.
She also said the cast got to keep their uniforms. Since her character was traded to a different team, she got to keep an additional uniform. One of which, she donated to the baseball hall of fame.
A few fans were mad that Pee Wee Herman canceled, due to "health issues."
I was bummed when I went downstairs and found out that Shirley Manson, the singer of Garbage, was now a cast member of some TV show based on Terminator. She was at the Warner Brothers booth signing autographs. A few years back at Street Scene, a similar thing happened. I showed up with a few friends, and saw that her band had been signing autographs an hour earlier.
Nerdy guys were walking around commenting on all the sexy outfits the women had on. And, some of the women, you could tell were nerdy in their everyday life. But, this was the time they came out of their shell...wore some sexy space suit or school girl outfit. It was a very odd vibe. And speaking of odd, overrated writer Dean Koontz was there. He's written the three books on Odd Thomas. What was odd, was his hair. I couldn't figure out if it was a wig, or he's just the one person on the planet with worse hair than Donald Trump.
Method Man, the rapper from Wu Tang Clan, was at a table. I walked over to take a photo and his "people" almost jumped me. They saw I was press, and "it was all good." Someone in line called my name. It was a friend, who told me Method Man made a point of telling everyone he wouldn't sign CDs, only his graphic novel/book. I also found out, my friend had scored tickets to the comedians.
Another musician had delved into the comic book scene. Tori Amos. I wanted to meet her, so I bought a book that enabled me to meet her a few days later. They were selling a leather bound edition for $175. I bought the $30 edition. The graphics were great.
I was told she'd be there Saturday at 2:00 p.m. I left, and figured I wouldn't have to deal with these nerds until then.