SDCC part 2

SATURDAY

Got up about 4.30 a.m. [yes, really] to get in line for the 'Chuck' panel at 10 a.m. I was in full 'Wienerlicious' mode, so got some comments. I was even recognised by a handful of folk in the line!! When we finally got to it, the panel included; Mark Christopher Lawrence, Scott Krinsky, Vik Sahay, Ryan McPartlin, Sarah Lancaster, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez and Zac Levi with writers  Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz. The panel was moderated by Alan Sepinwall and Daniel Fienberg.

The clips and fun stuff before the panel were really good and as for the big reveal about Linda Hamilton...!! I think it's safe to say that was well received :-). I absolutely love JEFFSTER doing Lady Ga Ga [GG]. When Scott Krinsky and Vik Sahsy stumbled on stage in exactly the same gear that they'd been using in the video, it was a sweet moment.

As always, it is a personal thrill and pleasure to see Adam Baldwin. Don't ask me why, but seeing him causes my heart to smile. Of course, he's one of the Big Damn Heroes, but it's more than that. He walks his talk and has a big heart for the fans. He helped a friend of mine a couple of years ago - went out of his way - to be there for her when she was having a hard time. Can't thank him enough for that.

Straight after the panel was the Jayne hat flash mob. We sang about half of the song and got ourselves filmed! I was right near the front, so keep your eyes on You-tube. I snuck downstairs to the Warner Brothers' signing for the 'Chuck' stars. Turns out, only the first 100 people would get in and the line had long since closed. So, one would have had to make a choice; panel or signing. When everyone but Yvonne turned up, around the booth turned into something of a rugby scrum!

I saw where Adam was going to be standing and positioned myself with hope. Sure enough, Adam spotted me, greeted me and we exchanged a few words until the harassed Security Guard exerted his necessary authority. The huge crowd around the booth was being something of a health and safety hazard, to be fair. I eventually managed to stand back and took the rest of my pictures off the WB video screens. Adam last seen, exiting the panel with a wonderful copy of Casey's cop car held on one upraised hand rather like a waitress carrying a tray of drinks, lol.

After this, I got Jane Espensen's autograph on my Firefly items, then made my way to the room where Ray Bradbury would be speaking. Not only did I see the panel, I got to ask him a question and have it answered. 40 years of being a fan and in awe of his ability with words and here he was, right in front of me. ::wibble::

Later that day, I got autographs from Jose Molina, Brett Matthews and Ben Edlund. After that, KJ and a whole bunch of us went out for supper at a local Italian restaurant.

SUNDAY

An easier day today. I made the Browncoat meeting and we saw all sorts of shiny new things [the Fruity Oaty ladies, the Mule, Mals' pistol, hero River, Mal's browncoat]. Browncoats:Redemption special casting cameos [Yan & Rafael Feldman, Michael Fairmasn, Sunny Rhodes, P J Haarmsa, the Bedlam Bards and ADAM BALDWIN!]. Naturally the characters for which they are better known are copyright to Joss, so we won't have familiar names. Premiere Sept 3rd, 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. It's due to be available streaming on line!

Dark Horse news: 8 page Serenity comic in USA today in the Autumn [viewable on line, hopefully]; 25th anniversary next year, expect good things; Shepherd's Tale; ships in 'Float Out' quite unwittingly stolen from Bellflower [apologies]; Dollhouse one-shot with season 2 DVD; Dr Horrible graphic novel; Jamie Chambers has an Origins award for the Serenity RPG.

Finally I went to the Buffy 'Once more with feeling' sing along and the convention was done for another year.

San Diego Comic Con

First off for any Brits reading this... Think BOTH London Expos. Add 'London Film and Comic Con'. Imagine the WHOLE of the building housing London Expo as one enormous Dealers' room. Then ramp that up to 11. That's how big SDCC is, with added ballrooms, meeting rooms and the now infamous Hall H.

THURSDAY 22

Arrived at the new age space port....San Diego Convention Center [sic] at about 9 a.m. Got through registration quite quickly. Gold star, SDCC peeps. My big swag bag had the SDCC logo on one side and the main cast in suits from 'The Big Bang Theory' on the other. Located the California Browncoat booth in one corner of the humongous Dealers Room and handed over my Jayne hats. Mooched about quite a bit, finding out where everything is.  Got into Stan Freberg's panel [with his lovely wife Hunter].  They share an identical sense of humour. They have a new CD out; 'Songs in the key of life'.  They talked about Stan's impressive and extensive back catalogue and showed two of his vintage adverts. These two :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiC9IBNlrGw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE-NdrzfFOo

I found Mr Freberg's desk later and he kindly autographed his CD for me. I also got my Buffy and Angel books signed  by Camden Toy [one of the creepy 'Gentlemen' in 'Buffy']. In the late afternoon, I went back to my hostel changed and rested before setting out for the CSTS screening of 'Serenity' down town. Sadly none of the BDHs turned up :-(, but we had fun and raised a lot of $$$ for charity.

FRIDAY

Got to the EE desk for a FREE signing with Seth Green. After that, made a flying visit to the rest room and the long, LONG line to see Joss Whedon on stage. Writing process = fun, hunger, porn, depression, fun [GG]. Other people have better and more fulsome reports, I'm sure, but the panel was enlivened by a certain Mr Fillion [in fairly heavy disguise] crashing it at the end [GGG]. I went downstairs for the signing, just to see Joss up close and personal. Helen [Cappy #2!] was there with a couple of others from Browncoats: Redemption. They spotted ME and we went for a juice and a natter after they'd got their autos. Michael Docherty had his 'Joss gives his blessing' letter autographed by Joss [GG].  Joss said he was looking forward to seeing it.

Friday evening was the 'Chuck' Tweetup. I met a whole bunch pf people I'd only 'spoken to' on line :::waves::: At 10 p.m., a number of the cast arrived: Zac, Joshua, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Ryan McPartlin and Sarah Lancaster. The bar went crazy!!! My personal thanks to them for turning out for us.

Second part soon....