Comic Con - Saturday

Bliss stayed over at my (filthy) house on Thursday and Friday night, so she would be conveniently located for me to talk her ear off for 20 hours a day. It was great! On Saturday morning, we took the Amtrak down to San Diego which was convenient but CRAZY. Because of the races, the train was standing room only, although there wasn't even standing room. Bliss ended up huddled at the top of a staircase and I was on the first level, crammed between some people's luggage. Until the racetrack stop, where nearly every single person on board exited.


Ryan had decided to take the earlier train, so he traveled alone but said it was the same situation. Except he had the added bonus of stepping into a mob of people and he sees a head peek out around the half wall, and it was Dave! Yay! So he had a buddy to chat with all the way to SD.


So Bliss and I get to SD and meet up with Kate and Adam who also took an early train that they shared with the cast of The Office and Heroes and even saved a Hero's life. Those two hard-core conventioneers were holding places in line for some panel discussions for us. Yay! And the line? Went around the building and down to the bay. It was like 50 bajillion people long. No joke! But we did get in (YAY!) and we got to see the writers from The Office, moderated by Rainn Wilson and immediately following was "Comics: Across Every Medium" which was actually very interesting. Something that I am really glad to have seen! And then, there was a panel featuring the actors from Pushing Daisies.

These are the panel descriptions (again, for my old-lady brain's reference):

12:45-1:45 Exclusive Q&A with the writers of The Office— Meet the writers of the EmmyAward–winning comedy The Office and hear them talk about their favorite episodes, characters, and fun behind-the-scenes stories. Moderated by cast member Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute), panelists include executive producer/showrunner Greg Daniels (The Simpsons) and writers Jennifer
Celotta (Andy Richter Controls the Universe), Michael Schur (Saturday Night Live), B.J. Novak, Lester Lewis (The Larry Sanders Show), Gene Stupnitsky (Year One), Lee Eisenberg (Year One), Mindy Kaling (Matt and Ben), Justin Spitzer (Scrubs), Ryan Koh (various commercials), and Anthony Ferrell (The Audacity).

2:00-3:00 Comics: Across Every Medium— Paul Feig (creator of Freaks & Geeks), David Goyer (Batman Begins), Chip Kidd (The Learners), Whitney Matheson (USA Today’s Pop Candy blog), and Brad Meltzer (The Book of Lies) are five superstars who make headlines in television, film, the graphic arts, journalism, and novels. But they all have comics in common. This isn’t just a trend. Join them for a discussion on the influence comics play in their work. It’ll be like a 21st century Breakfast Club—but with better references. Moderated by audiobook master Scott Brick (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant).

3:15-4:15 Pushing Daisies Screening and Q&A— The cast and producers of the Golden Globe Award-nominated Pushing Daisies return to Comic-Con for a special screening of exclusive clips from the acclaimed show’s upcoming season, highlights from the first season and a Q&A
with fans. Stars Lee Pace (The Fall), Anna Friel (Land of the Lost), Chi McBride (Boston Public), Ellen Greene (Little Shop of Horrors), Swoosie Kurtz (Superman Doomsday), and Kristin Chenoweth (The West Wing) join executive producer/creator Bryan Fuller (Heroes) and executive producers Dan Jinks (American Beauty) and Peter Ocko (Dead Like Me) for the session, to be moderated by special guest and executive producer Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black). From Living Dead Guy Productions, The Jinks/Cohen Company in association with Warner Bros. Television, Pushing Daisies airs Wednesdays at 8:00 PM on the ABC Television Network.

The panels were really interesting, and I am super glad that I got to hear Chip Kidd pan the upcoming Green Arrow movie, featuring Seth Rogen, as another opportunity to see a "stoned, bloated out pig." Yikes. No love for Seth. And an inside-joke funny for us, because someone we know had to be a stand-in for Seth Rogen's feet recently and now he's wondering if that means his feet are stoned and piggish. I had a really, um... interesting... uh... yeah... situation with the guy sitting next to me during the Pushing Daisies panel (which was a full house) that I don't even know how to adequately describe. Thing halitosis. Bulgy fat guy. Mumbling to himself. Leaning on my shoulder. Eating slim jims. I think... I think I have to draw this one out. It was so horrifyingly funny.

Also during the Pushing Daisies panel, we spotted Kate's friend Tina who just happens to be young Ned's mother on the show. She was without a seat, because the crazed (!!) fans had disregarded all the 'reserved' signs and sat in the chairs that were intended for the studio folks, cast, and writers. But we had an extra that we were holding near us, so she came and sat down. And THEN when the show started, they showed the wrong clip - they showed the pilot, which prominently features Tina! So we were whooping and clapping like maniacs (Tina too) and everyone in the audience just stared because in the scene Tina dies. So we just seemed like some morbid weirdoes cheering for dead moms.


After a whole bunch more convention floor excitement, we needed to go check in to the hotel. It directly conflicted with an evening panel that we wanted to see (Sarah Silverman) but I was toasted and needed to get off my feet and maybe take a nap. Bliss and Ryan felt the same, so we 3 headed off to check in to the hotel. We took the trolley to Old Town and then grabbed a cab to the hotel - very easy! I highly recommend this to any conventioneers! We checked in and scoped out our room and emptied out all of our treasures to peruse... and we get a call from Kate and Adam that they are languishing without us and must come see us NOW! So they joined up at the hotel, where we all relaxed for a bit before heading out to a fancy French dinner with 2 of Adam's friends.

When dinner was done, Ryan was eager to get over to the Hyatt which is the hub of the Saturday night hang-out scene. The entire lobby is jam-packed with people, all mixing and mingling, and he kind of had to be there to rub elbows. Adam and his crew was interested in checking it out and Miss Bliss valiantly agreed to go along. Kate and I were too tired to hang, so we slunk back to the hotel and lazed around talking about zoos (what? You don't discuss zoo stories on Saturday night?!) and propping our feet up. Adam, Bliss, and Ryan didn't get back until pretty late - and even then, they were all so giggly that I thought they'd never sleep. Of course, as soon as they held still, they fell deeply asleep within seconds. I felt so bad for leaving Bliss alone with The Boys -- I have been there/done that for, um, a decade now. And so I know how it's sometimes really fun and then a lot of times really boring. Poor lady was flying solo, while I was laying on the couch talking about monkey poop. Not that she would have wanted to do that either, but at least she wouldn't have to be alone with boys. And nerd boys at that!

Ryan was all excited though and he was glad they went. He had lots of good conversations (and free drinks, apparently) with his team and some other artists so he was buzzed (free drinks!) about the opportunities and super glad that he was there to network. In fact, he was so giddy that I had to finally pull him out of the shower (singing!) at 3:45am and insist he go to sleep right this instant!! Like a child, as soon as he held still, he zonked out like a light.