Comic Con, Day 1 - Torchwood Panel, Trolley Adventures, and Navigational Woes
I have arrived in beautiful San Diego!
Okay, technically I arrived last night, but I was too distracted/tired to post.
(Beware, rambling and major spoilers for the Torchwood season two finale, and teensy tiny spoilers for season three under the cut. Nothing major though)
Okay, technically I arrived last night, but I was too distracted/tired to post.
(Beware, rambling and major spoilers for the Torchwood season two finale, and teensy tiny spoilers for season three under the cut. Nothing major though)
This is the first time I've ever made it to California, and if most of the weather is like it was here today, I can see why people love it here so much. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, the kind we don't really get in Houston often. It was sunny, but not hot, and there was this almost constant, cool breeze. I have a thing about cool breezes, absolutely love them. Again, not something we get in Houston a lot, especially in the summertime. It was also a very nice thing to have, as I am completely on foot here.
Luckily, my hotel is awesome. It's actually a little resort/convention center, so the property is huge, which is really handy considering I was, erm, between rooms for most of the day.
I spent most of the morning sleeping in, just because I could, before not really waking up, but basically dragging my laptop to bed with me, where in between bouts of sleep, I put the finishing touches on my Big Bang fic and submitted it (which means... officially, I'm done! :D Yay!) I then proceeded to try and take some pictures of the really awesome room I had last night, only to discover, horror upon horrors, that my faithful little digital camera that I've had since college has died on me. Well, it's not dead, it just gives me a blue screen of death. I didn't realize that cameras could suffer from that particular affliction, but I was proven wrong. So I was forced to take pictures with my little Treo, whose picture quality is considerably less.
<pictures here>
Then after lazing around most of the morning, in which I sent housekeeping away no less than than five times (they were rather determined), I finally checked out and proceeded to make my way to the convention center via trolley. The trolley ride there was rather uneventful, although I did find it very amusing that the lady I sat next to was reading a book on hyperspace, and the page she was on when I happened to glance over, because I'm nosy like that, was about traveling via wormholes. It took all of my self-control to not strike up a conversation, because she was clearly into the book.
The convention center is huge, but thankfully registration/check-in was fairly straight forward. What was not straightforward was navigation. Seriously, I have like John Sheppard skills when it comes to finding my way around places, and it's not like they didn't have signs posted everywhere. They just didn't have![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
greyias brand signage, in which they took me by the hand, patted my head, and led me to where I wanted to go. So I wandered around aimlessly for a while desperately searching for Ballroom 20 until I gave up and got some lunch (which included a dinky sized bottle of water all prettied up with the Stargate Worlds logo.) Then I resumed my quest (re: aimless wandering), until I finally looked up to see the big flapping sign that was pointing to the ballroom. Um, yeah. This is the point where my notes say "looked like a total con n00b (which I am)".
So I managed to make it into the room for the last half of the Doctor Who panel. I really haven't seen much of the new DW, so several of the in-jokes went over my head. It was really interesting to listen to though. The writers are clearly in love with the universe and the characters, and I love the attitude of, I believe Steve Moffat, that everything they write must serve a purpose in the story they're telling, as well as the overarching mythology. The panel was hilarious, especially Moffat, who has the worst/funniest dating advice ever. They ended by showing an extended teaser trailer for the 2008 Christmas Special. All I can say is "Damn! I need to catch up on four seasons of Doctor Who."
Then came the main event (for me, for Thursday at least), the Torchwood panel! John Barrowman is a ham, and cracks me up. He climbed up on the table during his introduction and raised his arms in the air to greet the entire room enthusiastically. I could not help but notice his t-shirt riding up (hey, it was short!), Gareth David-Lloyd had a similar shirt riding affliction, and well, that wasn't the whole panel and I'm totally getting off topic. Anyhoo, John Barrowman proceeded to make out/try to make out with everyone on stage. First he and Gareth made out, then he swept Naoko Mori off her feet and totally outdid the previous kiss, then he attempted to do the same with Executive Producer Julie Gardner with limited success. I am practically dying in my seat for the whole panel, because John Barrowman cracks me up, especially when the guys in the AV booth keep turning his mic down (he looked about ready to murder them at one point, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for them, because hey, you do turn the mic down on someone when they're not speaking).
They showed clips from the season two finale, which teared up the panel a little bit. They went on to talk about the impact of the loss of Owen and Tosh on the team. What I liked not hearing was the sentiment that they were killed to "remind the audience of the danger". I haven't seen the Torchwood Declassified where they may have talked about it more in-depth on the subject, so I could be totally wrong about that. Naoko Mori did joke about Tosh and Owen getting their own spin-off, and I really want to say that she was talking about them in the afterlife, which cracks me up because I think there was a discussion on I want to saysholio's journal about that.
They didn't leak too much about season three, but the main things that stuck with me were:
There's going to be five episodes, very intense from what Barrowman was saying, and is all part of one major television event. Also, they're going to America! That's going to be so much fun! I think they're still filming in Wales, but the story/characters go to America at some point. For my fellow Ianto fangirls, we will apparently learn a lot more about him in season three, and they were very tight-lipped on whether or not there would be new team members in season three. From the reactions on stage, it's possible the two people from the Doctor Who season finale might be connected somehow? I don't know, that's pure speculation.
After the panel concluded, I wandered around the exhibit hall downstairs some, but since I had no camera other than the cell phone, decided to head out. After much deliberation, I decided to just head back to the hotel, but then I experienced TROLLEY FAILURE. Again, completely on my part. There's a special trolley line just for the event/attendees that I had no problem taking to the event, but when it came time to leave, I was completely and utterly lost. I wound up eventually taking the normal route back, which was very round-a-bout, and allowed me to interact with the regular denizens of downtown San Diego. In other words, I will be figuring out how to take the special Comic Con trolley back tomorrow, because yeahhh, didn't look like it hit the exact best parts of town.
Safely back to the hotel center, I made a quick walk over to the mall to get a new camera for tomorrow, because darn it, I will likely be in the same room as Joe Flanigan (er, and whoever else is there) once in my entire life, and I'm getting pictures! So after about five minutes of deliberation on whether to get a cheapy one or not, I finally caved and got a digital SLR, which I've been convincing myself not to buy for about a year now. So yes, I spent way too much money, but it's so pretty, and the pictures it will take will be pretty! And I will likely not need to buy a new camera for a long time.
I then returned to the hotel and lounged around/loitered for a while, grabbed dinner at one of the resort's restaurants, started mygateverse_remix story, read fic on my Kindle, and generally was a loitering bum until night fell and I had to figure out the hotel room thing. Thankfully, I did, and am now getting ready to turn in for the night.
Tomorrow is Stargate day! :D I'm hoping to get in early for the panel, and with my pretty new camera get some very pretty shots. Still trying to figure out the transportation issue if I decide to stick around for the "Broken Ties" showing that night.
(I have a few pictures from the cell phone, and will edit them into the post whenever LJ/hotel internet will let me upload them)
Luckily, my hotel is awesome. It's actually a little resort/convention center, so the property is huge, which is really handy considering I was, erm, between rooms for most of the day.
I spent most of the morning sleeping in, just because I could, before not really waking up, but basically dragging my laptop to bed with me, where in between bouts of sleep, I put the finishing touches on my Big Bang fic and submitted it (which means... officially, I'm done! :D Yay!) I then proceeded to try and take some pictures of the really awesome room I had last night, only to discover, horror upon horrors, that my faithful little digital camera that I've had since college has died on me. Well, it's not dead, it just gives me a blue screen of death. I didn't realize that cameras could suffer from that particular affliction, but I was proven wrong. So I was forced to take pictures with my little Treo, whose picture quality is considerably less.
<pictures here>
Then after lazing around most of the morning, in which I sent housekeeping away no less than than five times (they were rather determined), I finally checked out and proceeded to make my way to the convention center via trolley. The trolley ride there was rather uneventful, although I did find it very amusing that the lady I sat next to was reading a book on hyperspace, and the page she was on when I happened to glance over, because I'm nosy like that, was about traveling via wormholes. It took all of my self-control to not strike up a conversation, because she was clearly into the book.
The convention center is huge, but thankfully registration/check-in was fairly straight forward. What was not straightforward was navigation. Seriously, I have like John Sheppard skills when it comes to finding my way around places, and it's not like they didn't have signs posted everywhere. They just didn't have
greyias brand signage, in which they took me by the hand, patted my head, and led me to where I wanted to go. So I wandered around aimlessly for a while desperately searching for Ballroom 20 until I gave up and got some lunch (which included a dinky sized bottle of water all prettied up with the Stargate Worlds logo.) Then I resumed my quest (re: aimless wandering), until I finally looked up to see the big flapping sign that was pointing to the ballroom. Um, yeah. This is the point where my notes say "looked like a total con n00b (which I am)".So I managed to make it into the room for the last half of the Doctor Who panel. I really haven't seen much of the new DW, so several of the in-jokes went over my head. It was really interesting to listen to though. The writers are clearly in love with the universe and the characters, and I love the attitude of, I believe Steve Moffat, that everything they write must serve a purpose in the story they're telling, as well as the overarching mythology. The panel was hilarious, especially Moffat, who has the worst/funniest dating advice ever. They ended by showing an extended teaser trailer for the 2008 Christmas Special. All I can say is "Damn! I need to catch up on four seasons of Doctor Who."
Then came the main event (for me, for Thursday at least), the Torchwood panel! John Barrowman is a ham, and cracks me up. He climbed up on the table during his introduction and raised his arms in the air to greet the entire room enthusiastically. I could not help but notice his t-shirt riding up (hey, it was short!), Gareth David-Lloyd had a similar shirt riding affliction, and well, that wasn't the whole panel and I'm totally getting off topic. Anyhoo, John Barrowman proceeded to make out/try to make out with everyone on stage. First he and Gareth made out, then he swept Naoko Mori off her feet and totally outdid the previous kiss, then he attempted to do the same with Executive Producer Julie Gardner with limited success. I am practically dying in my seat for the whole panel, because John Barrowman cracks me up, especially when the guys in the AV booth keep turning his mic down (he looked about ready to murder them at one point, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for them, because hey, you do turn the mic down on someone when they're not speaking).
They showed clips from the season two finale, which teared up the panel a little bit. They went on to talk about the impact of the loss of Owen and Tosh on the team. What I liked not hearing was the sentiment that they were killed to "remind the audience of the danger". I haven't seen the Torchwood Declassified where they may have talked about it more in-depth on the subject, so I could be totally wrong about that. Naoko Mori did joke about Tosh and Owen getting their own spin-off, and I really want to say that she was talking about them in the afterlife, which cracks me up because I think there was a discussion on I want to say
sholio's journal about that.They didn't leak too much about season three, but the main things that stuck with me were:
There's going to be five episodes, very intense from what Barrowman was saying, and is all part of one major television event. Also, they're going to America! That's going to be so much fun! I think they're still filming in Wales, but the story/characters go to America at some point. For my fellow Ianto fangirls, we will apparently learn a lot more about him in season three, and they were very tight-lipped on whether or not there would be new team members in season three. From the reactions on stage, it's possible the two people from the Doctor Who season finale might be connected somehow? I don't know, that's pure speculation.
After the panel concluded, I wandered around the exhibit hall downstairs some, but since I had no camera other than the cell phone, decided to head out. After much deliberation, I decided to just head back to the hotel, but then I experienced TROLLEY FAILURE. Again, completely on my part. There's a special trolley line just for the event/attendees that I had no problem taking to the event, but when it came time to leave, I was completely and utterly lost. I wound up eventually taking the normal route back, which was very round-a-bout, and allowed me to interact with the regular denizens of downtown San Diego. In other words, I will be figuring out how to take the special Comic Con trolley back tomorrow, because yeahhh, didn't look like it hit the exact best parts of town.
Safely back to the hotel center, I made a quick walk over to the mall to get a new camera for tomorrow, because darn it, I will likely be in the same room as Joe Flanigan (er, and whoever else is there) once in my entire life, and I'm getting pictures! So after about five minutes of deliberation on whether to get a cheapy one or not, I finally caved and got a digital SLR, which I've been convincing myself not to buy for about a year now. So yes, I spent way too much money, but it's so pretty, and the pictures it will take will be pretty! And I will likely not need to buy a new camera for a long time.
I then returned to the hotel and lounged around/loitered for a while, grabbed dinner at one of the resort's restaurants, started my
gateverse_remix story, read fic on my Kindle, and generally was a loitering bum until night fell and I had to figure out the hotel room thing. Thankfully, I did, and am now getting ready to turn in for the night.Tomorrow is Stargate day! :D I'm hoping to get in early for the panel, and with my pretty new camera get some very pretty shots. Still trying to figure out the transportation issue if I decide to stick around for the "Broken Ties" showing that night.
(I have a few pictures from the cell phone, and will edit them into the post whenever LJ/hotel internet will let me upload them)
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a) We could of got lost together.
b) I would love to see Ianto in the ...... real life.
C) I want to see the SGA panels too.
Ah well, i'll just have to live life through you. Keep the reports coming.
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(Anonymous) 2008-08-01 01:56 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
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Glad to hear the Big Bang story is in...looking forward to reading the complete version!
Enjoy tomorrow!
EDIT: I made you an icon - but you don't have to use if it you don't want...
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And hee! New icon! That's so me.
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*is last person in fandom to never have watched Torchwood* *or DrWho*
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*is last person in fandom to never have watched Torchwood* *or DrWho*
Haha... fear not, my friend
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Just spread the costs out over four years, convert the monthly write-offs to White Chocolate Mochas and deduct the added value of where you got to point that thing (at the SGA panel! TEH FLAN!). It was money wisely spent. *has useless BA in Economics*
I'm still trying to find the beginning of Who
Me too. My first episode of the new Who *cough*d/l*cough* starts with Rose waving goodbye and going up in the Tardis. No explanation, no introductions, nothing. I got so confused, I stopped watching after one episode. I need to get me a DrWho for Dummies first.
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*has useless BA in Economics*
Can you help me justify the cost of one of the new Dell mini-Inspirons? :D (300 USD, whenever Michael Dell decides to stop making the world wait)
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I've been wanting to buy a scanner for months now, and I'm eyeing the Canon MP610 which is, of course, not a mere scanner, but a powerhouse (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=116&modelid=15604). Next stop is to buy a digital camera, so I can print my photos in the amazing colors this baby promises me. *g*
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I love my Kindle to death, but sadly, it didn't solve my problem of portability/longevity for my laptop on my trip. The tiny little netbooks look like they might do the trick, especially if I wind up migrating professions in the near future.
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And dang, that's not a bad price.
In Europe it costs EUR 170 = USD 265 (50% more expensive *grumbles*). And the cartridges are very pricey. But I need it. For my art. ;)
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It sounds cheaper already. *g*
That's my kind of math! I'm trying to cut down on my morning Sonic runs anyway.
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*throws helpless look* I can't think of a prompt. Can I get back to you after next week? I'm leaving for La Cote d'Azur this Thursday et j'ai sans internet toute de semaine, parce que je pense ma soeur is not going to let me use her laptop. Dindon froid. M'aidez!
Livelongnmarry raised over USD 50,000. I'm very proud of fandom.
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The fic can wait, I just didn't want you to think I had forgotten about you :) Have fun on your trip. Just think of all the Big Bang awesomeness that will await your return!
USD 50,000? Oh, fandom. How awesome are you?
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you do turn the mic down on someone when they're not speaking
Since JB wouldn't have noticed the mike being turned down--do you mean they turned it down when other people were speaking?
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Since JB wouldn't have noticed the mike being turned down--do you mean they turned it down when other people were speaking?
Yep. The rule of thumb is to only have one mic up at a time, that way there's less chance for feedback or cross-talk. And generally when they use handheld mics, you turn the mic down so there's no sound of it getting put down on the table. However, they had the mics set up on little stands (which I noticed the next day at the SGA panel), so technically they could have left JB podded up, or at least halfway up. I think they just forgot. You kind of get into a fugue state behind those controls at times.
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(Anonymous) 2008-08-01 01:58 pm (UTC)(link)Some lovely person put up the DW and TW panels on YouTube; I think they're nearly complete. So I've had a chance to see what was going on, and yeah, someone was asleep at the switch. They should never have turned down John's mike, because he did most of the talking! :-)
I'll get to the Stargate panels at some point; someone (Wraithfodder?) has put up a bunch of links.
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but that probably meant he had a real job!
I hope so! Burn's too talented a guy to not get snatched up!
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