Nathan's Comic-con '09

Many people have asked me how Comic Con went so I'll give a quick rundown.

Monday - Prepwork
Chris (WoW) and I went to rent our trip car (my car has no AC and 1k miles over a week would make it sad) and were going to get a 2010 Mazda 3, but the guy ran over a tire and tied on the damaged parts with zip ties. So we got a free upgrade to a Toyota Prius, which, while tight, got good mileage.

Met up with Traci (WoW)'s mom for dinner, hit the timeshare and unpacked. Met up with Eva Chan (The Guild) who needed a bed for one night and crashed.

Tuesday - Free Time
Wandered San Diego with Eva, had sushi like we promised, it was nice to have a day to just relax.

Picked up Daniela Figueiredo (The Guild) from the airport with Jenni Powell (The Guild) and met Sam Proof (Jenni Powell). Had a delicious dinner at The Field and then drinks across the street at the Marble Room.

There we met up with the webmaster Edgar Garcia (The Guild). It was an international meeting of Guildies as Lydia (Germany), Dani (Brazil), Eva (Canada), Naseeb (also Canada), and Matt (Illinois is like another country, right?) Edgar (also IL) mingled with the Californians.

Wednesday - Preview Night!
Went shopping in the exhibition room, got my The Guild autographs and called it early since it got out at 9.

Thursday - Comic-Con Day 1
Bit more shopping and collected tickets for various signings the following day.

I wasn't going to originally but I got talked into doing The Guild's scavenger hunt and I am glad I did (Thanks all. :) )Doing so got me into The Guild's VIP and X-Box party where I got to hang out with The Guild's cast and got to meet Maurissa Tancharoen. (She was with Jed Whedon but he was busy talking to other people.) Ray Park made an appearance but I was too dumbfounded and boozed (OPEN BAR) at that point to even say 'hi.' (Star Wars' 'Darth Maul', X-Men's 'Toad', as well as the upcoming G.I. Joe's 'Snake Eyes')

Friday - Comic-Con Day 2
Woke up early to fight for Coraline signing tickets, which became a fiasco. Convention Center staff had to yell at the giant crowd for half an hour to keep moving, so we walked in circles. When the random drawing happened the event planner ruined the randomness by giving tickets out to people for different reasons. While random reasons, it was still an unfair way to speed up something that was supposedly plain luck. Instead he gave them out to people who were in costume, etc.

This really upset Chris, Traci, and I (all of us in line for myself) so Chris had some strong words with the event runner afterward, and after some time and uncomfortable raised voices, eventually Chris got him to give out an extra bracelet, which he gave to me. (Thanks again Chris!) After getting the beyond-last bracelet for the signing I went to pick up the last Coraline Blu-Ray (which Traci hunted down by calling a bazillion stores) and the last copy of Coraline at Borders. My luck was amazing that morning, I must say.

12:30 rolled around to get my autographs from the scheduled talent: Neil Gaiman (Book Author), Keith David (Voice of The Cat), Henry Selick (Production Designer).  When who shows up to sign as well? The beautiful Teri Hatcher (Various voices, most notably both mother's). I was so nervous when I got to Neil Gaiman I said, "I love everything." What I meant to say was I loved all his work, but I was too flabbergasted. He politely responded with, "I love everything, too."

I had lunch with Chris and Traci, our only restaraunt meal the entire trip, and it was nice to just sit and talk. Afterwards we returned to the center so I could get in line for the Dollhouse signing.

To make a long story short the gigantic 3 hour line was so poorly organized by Fox that convention center employees had to help and block off two aisles for us. Then the talent arrived: Joss Whedon (Executive Producer, Writer), Eliza Dushku (Executive Producer, Lead Actress 'Echo'), Fran Kranz (Actor ' 'Topher'), Dichen Lachman (Actress 'Sierra'). The line collapsed into a huge pushing match for the one entrance as time began to run short. I thought I'd never get in as the clock hit 6:55. As a consolation for those who were rushed towards the end Enver Gjokaj (Actor, 'Victor') showed up and we were able to get his autograph as well.

So I was rushed by most of the talent but when I got to Joss I asked him to sign my Ship's Papers (http://tinyurl.com/nmzkda). Eliza stopped and asked, "Your what?" and they both kind of stared at them. I think Eliza was interested and Joss wanted to make sure he wasn't signing some kind of contract.

Afterwards I met up with Preston Stelford (Comic-Con 2007) someone I had met and bought dinner for two years ago. He remembered (I had forgotten) and bought me dinner. It was nice to hook up and catch up on a few things. :)

Saturday - Comic-Con Day 3
Hunted down Jason Palmer to buy shirts, lost the raffle for Dr. Horrible signing. Pretty relaxed day.

Dinner with Chris, Traci, Mathew Kelley (WoW), it was nice to have a rooftop grill and deck to relax on. :)

Sunday - Comic-Con Day 4
Grabbed some more autos from The Guild and wandered the halls a little bit, nothing special planned, I helped the CA Browncoats and attended their panel and I'm glad I did.

Nathan Fillion showed up and stole the show, he spoke for about half an hour (All on YouTube if you like) and then took some group photos. Then he went downstairs and did a signing, I got his name added to my Serenity 'Ship's Papers' (Her pink slips and other 'Official Papers')

After that it was a nice relaxed evening and packing to head home. :)

Overall
It was probably the most enjoyable con I have been to thus far (3 'San Diego Comic Con's, 2 'WonderCon's, and 'Serenity Salute'). I was able to meet up with a lot of people I never thought I would, hang out at The Guild VIP party, and collect auto's (including the beloved Joss Whedon one).

What also really helped was having a good time outside of the convention, the dinners and drives were all very enjoyable and I look forward to going again next year.