Comic-Con - Day Three

I made it through a day of really fun and interesting panels!  Any Con attendee will tell you that if you get a decent spot in Ballroom 20 or Hall H and if the programming is good, you'd better just sit back for the long haul and enjoy the entertainment.

This morning started out with a panel on Futurama.  I love seeing Matt Groening, Billy West, Katie Segal and others. They showed some hilarious footage that reminded me why Futurama is my favorite animated show ever!  After the Futurama panel, it naturally rolled into a Simpson's panel.  Interesting but none of the voice talent was there.  Not being a 2-D artist myself, I think I love these types of panels, mainly for catching a glimpse of the people who "do" the voices. 

Next was a really fascinating hour with Dean Koontz.  I can't really say I'm a fan as I've been living under a rock and NOT reading his stuff.  I'll have to pick up a few of the books though and give him more of a try.

I had no interest in the next panel for a new Joss Whedon series coming out on Fox early next year called "Dollhouse" but after seeing the trailer and hearing from the actors, I'm actually excited about watching the pilot.  The premise is that there is an agency that will provide a "doll" or (there was another name for them but I've forgotten) for anyone willing to pay enough.  They have taken actual people, erased their memories and then "load" them with the character of who they are now supposed to be.  If I'm wrong about this assessment, it's what I saw in the trailer.  Looks like it will be good.

Finally, I sat through the Battlestar Galactica panel - which was just awesome!  I love the show so getting to see the cast together onstage was really a treat.  There's a new series coming out too called "Caprica" that makes me want to watch all the early episodes of BSG that I missed.

Here are some pix from the day!

Futurama

Dean Koontz

Dollhouse

Battlestar Galactica

Comic-Con Day Two Part Two

Wow!  Another great day!  I spent much of my time today in "Hall 20" - the HUGE room I talked about earlier.  First, I saw the cast of SG-1 - they're promoting their new straight-to-DVD movie called "Continuum".  Then, I saw a preview of the upcoming video game, "Stargate Worlds" and finally, on that theme, I saw a panel for "Stargate Atlantis".  Fun, fun - really!  Each member of both casts were so funny and outgoing.  It made for an entertaining time. 

Let's see, besides the gaggle of creatively dressed people I saw today, I was smiled at by Dennis Miller (of SNL fame), who was walking around pretty much as a normal conference attendee, I spotted Erin Grey (always at the Con), Eric Estrada, Simon Pegg, Lou Ferigno, Corey Feldman, and several other "less than fresh" stars.  I also sat through the "Bones" panel - lots of funny, pretty people like David Boreanus.

On to the pix!

From Continuum -

From Stargate Atlantis

From the exhibitor hall -

And for Lori - it's a terrible pic but a friend of mine DID get in to see Keanu yesterday so here is a blurry, blurry view of him this year!

Comic-Con Photos!

First official day of Comic-Con.  What an event!  There are 125,000 people here from all over the world.  People watching is just fascinating.  Besides the fact that there are people dressed up like Wonder Woman, fairies and the ever present Storm Troopers - the tattoos, piercings, and clothing choices are certainly unique.

Today, we ate breakfast at Seaport Village and proceeded to spend some time perusing the convention/vendor hall.   It is soooo jam packed that it's hard to move but the booths are wonderful.  Publishers offer free books to get you hooked on an author, toy companes hold raffles aplenty and artists sit and wait to show you their portfolio and to hopefully sell some prints.  Often, you can commission them to draw a superhero or to simply fill a page of your book with their own brand of art. 

We did manage to see one panel - the lines to get into these things are the longest I have ever, ever seen.  We got into the "Twilight" panel.  It is always exciting to see the director, writer and most of the cast members of a movie onstage - even if the best view you get is the Jumbotron-like screens positioned throughout the massive and packed-to-the-gills hall.  I love the vampire-themed "Twilight" books and I think the movie(s) might do them justice.  The youngish-actors were probably scared to death and were more than a little scattered.  Other panels with seasoned actors usually offer a little more insight into their respective movies.  Lori, I do apologize, but we couldn't get in to see Keanu.  The picture from last time will have to keep you contented!

Here are a few pix I snapped today.  More tomorrow!

Star Wars fans must be in heaven!  Those Storm Troopers were at the Lucas Films/Arts booth but I believe they are just normal folk who delight in donning their Trooper outfits every year.  The huge Jabba the Hutt (oh my gosh - where was my brain?  I was tired last night when I originally posted this and totally misidentified the big guy) statue is really impressive.

Life-sized versions of the "Ugli Dolls".  Characters like this patrol the length of the convention floor promoting their booths.

Anime is king here and often, you get to see new dolls, toys and other products before they are officially released.   I like this series of dolls.

At the Con

Arrived in San Diego successfully!  It's just mass humanity - waaaay more people than I am comforable with at times.  Very cool stuff here though.  The typical people with (apparently) no apprehensions wearing costumes and plenty of rabid fans.  Been taking lots of pix.  I'll unload them and post more later.

Playing Hooky!

I only have another week and a half before I start my new "real" job so I'm taking advantage of the time and getting stuff done around the house, making beads and processing fiber with the new drum carder.  The drum carder is so much fun though, that beadmaking is kind of taking a bit of a backseat - not permanently - just this week.  I have made beads - just not nearly as many as I should have.

Here are some of the fibery things I've been doing -

Washed some more llama.  This is a brown fleece with TONS of guard hair.  I'll be picking that out for awhile!  I'm wondering if it's worth it.  Hmmmm....

Then I "rescued" a fleece that I accidentally felted.  This was the first fleece I bought and I thought it was kind of a lost cause but the batts out of the carder are wonderful!

Finally, I hauled out my ball winder and wound the three skeins of my gray handspun that I had dyed teal.

Whew!  Lest you think I was totally ignoring the beads, I WAS prepping stuff for the electroforming bath - here's a sneak peek -

One more day until I leave for Comic-Con - yay!

HOT Wheels!

Our group of ladies met yesterday for the first time in over a month.  We just enjoy getting together and spinning, knitting, crocheting, whatever so much.  No pix this time.  I spun up another bobbin full of llama destined for one of these.

Blanche crocheted on her beautiful chevron blanket, Sunny pulled out at least four projects while we sat there and Lori and Heidi spun some white wool.

I'm going to look at more of the llama today and get ready for my impending trip to Comic-Con.  Many people don't know what a closet geek I am.  I am truly looking forward to San Diego, visiting with my sister and brother in law and seeing the actors, writers, and artists who come to the Con.  More about Comic-Con later.

Maybe I'll get out my camera today and take pix of all the new beads I've been making for the Gathering coming up in a few weeks in Oakland, CA.