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lazypadawanI have to start off with the tragic death of a Twilight fan from New York. The 53-year-old died on Tuesday morning after she tried to run across the street to the convention center, tripped, and was sideswiped by an oncoming car. The impact knocked her to the pavement and she sustained fatal head injuries as a result.
The woman was part of the lineup outside of Hall H for Thursday's Twilight panel and supposedly, she was rushing to hold her place in line after she found out Comic Con organizers were rearranging it so that those who were first would be at the end, and vice versa. Now, life is not worth being at the front of any line or getting a front row seat for a panel. In the heat of the moment, it might seem like nothing's more important than being first but fandom doesn't create a protective shield around you when you're crossing against the light. That poor woman not only lost her spot, she lost her life. Her family and friends have lost her. Had she been more cautious, she might be a few rows back but she'd been alive for that panel and the movie in November.
That said, I think con organizers bear some moral responsibility even if they likely have no legal responsibility for what happened. I've said last year that Comic Con should offer free tickets online to popular panels to discourage the insane lines and long campouts. And once there's a system in place, stick with it! Could you imagine the buffalo stampede that would have occurred had they decided to rearrange a long line while everyone's in the convention center? You have to assume fans can and will do something stupid or insane if you move the Holy Grail. I worry that with this many people, a similar situation to the Cincinnati Who concert stampede of 1982 could happen. We don't need a Comic Con with an annual body count.
Another round of condemnation goes to the cruel, insensitive douchebags who made fun of the fan's death. I don't care if you don't like Twilight; this is still a human being who had friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors who cared about her. Apparently she took care of her mother, who was afflicted with Alzheimer's and had since passed away. That is a tough, tough job and I can see this woman's desire to "live a little" by throwing herself wholesale into her fandom. What's amazing to me is how many people in Facebook are willing to post that kind of stuff with their actual names and photos. Great way to let the world know you're a gigantic a-hole.
Anyway, if you feel like helping out this fan's family defray funeral expenses, there's a fundraiser here:
http://www.giveforward.com/mad4hughmemorial
And contributions in her memory are being made to the Alzheimer's Association, 2 Jefferson Plaza, Suite 103, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603.
On to happier things.
Wednesday's festivities began with the end of the Course of the Force relay at the Balboa Theater in downtown San Diego. Supposedly the runner was supposed to cross the finish line around 11:20. Since I now work in downtown I thought I'd take my break around that time. Well, I go down to the Balboa and see a few people in Star Wars tees milling about, some big production trucks, and some security guards but no runner. I asked a guy when the race was supposed to end and he said, "Now." But since we weren't dealing with actual athletes or anything, the guy added he expected the runner to show up within the next hour. I couldn't wait that long, so I walked back to the office with plans to come back out during my lunch break. What should my little eye spy about a block away but some cops on motorcycles doing escort duty. Who could that be? Was it the President? Was it some foreign dignitary? The light changed and when the cops rolled forward, I could see the Course of the Force vehicles as well as the Jabba's barge reproduction. I stopped, took out my iPhone, and snapped away right from the side of the road. It's kind of too bad they didn't publicize this too much because I saw no media or crowds on the street. But I got great photos.
I had to hike back out at lunch time anyway and I saw incoming fans pulling their luggage along to downtown hotels or walk down to the convention center. My plan was to pick up my Thursday and Sunday passes in Fashion Valley instead of at the convention center. I figured the crowds were going to be worse downtown and I had to be out of my parking spot by six (I've since got a monthly parking spot).
I drove over to the Town and Country and I know this is inside-baseball stuff, but I cut through Old Town to avoid going east on I-8. On a good day, I-8 east is a parking lot in the afternoon/evening. Unfortunately this was a bad day, thanks to a big rig that caught on fire not too far away. Not only did it make I-8 even worse than it normally is, there was a lot overflow on the access roads, like the one I was driving on. Then I had to sit in slow, barely moving traffic around the Town and Country as people squeezed into the parking lot and big buses taking congoers downtown blocked the street. Eventually I got into the lot almost an hour after I split from the office! The really funny part was there was hardly any line, but for the fans lining up for buses. I was in and out of there in eight minutes, including a side trip to the little girls' room.
On the way out, I noticed people were swapping those free bags they give you because different t.v. and movies were on the bags. Some lucky soul out there can have my Supernatural bag when I'm done with the con!
The woman was part of the lineup outside of Hall H for Thursday's Twilight panel and supposedly, she was rushing to hold her place in line after she found out Comic Con organizers were rearranging it so that those who were first would be at the end, and vice versa. Now, life is not worth being at the front of any line or getting a front row seat for a panel. In the heat of the moment, it might seem like nothing's more important than being first but fandom doesn't create a protective shield around you when you're crossing against the light. That poor woman not only lost her spot, she lost her life. Her family and friends have lost her. Had she been more cautious, she might be a few rows back but she'd been alive for that panel and the movie in November.
That said, I think con organizers bear some moral responsibility even if they likely have no legal responsibility for what happened. I've said last year that Comic Con should offer free tickets online to popular panels to discourage the insane lines and long campouts. And once there's a system in place, stick with it! Could you imagine the buffalo stampede that would have occurred had they decided to rearrange a long line while everyone's in the convention center? You have to assume fans can and will do something stupid or insane if you move the Holy Grail. I worry that with this many people, a similar situation to the Cincinnati Who concert stampede of 1982 could happen. We don't need a Comic Con with an annual body count.
Another round of condemnation goes to the cruel, insensitive douchebags who made fun of the fan's death. I don't care if you don't like Twilight; this is still a human being who had friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors who cared about her. Apparently she took care of her mother, who was afflicted with Alzheimer's and had since passed away. That is a tough, tough job and I can see this woman's desire to "live a little" by throwing herself wholesale into her fandom. What's amazing to me is how many people in Facebook are willing to post that kind of stuff with their actual names and photos. Great way to let the world know you're a gigantic a-hole.
Anyway, if you feel like helping out this fan's family defray funeral expenses, there's a fundraiser here:
http://www.giveforward.com/mad4hughmemorial
And contributions in her memory are being made to the Alzheimer's Association, 2 Jefferson Plaza, Suite 103, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603.
On to happier things.
Wednesday's festivities began with the end of the Course of the Force relay at the Balboa Theater in downtown San Diego. Supposedly the runner was supposed to cross the finish line around 11:20. Since I now work in downtown I thought I'd take my break around that time. Well, I go down to the Balboa and see a few people in Star Wars tees milling about, some big production trucks, and some security guards but no runner. I asked a guy when the race was supposed to end and he said, "Now." But since we weren't dealing with actual athletes or anything, the guy added he expected the runner to show up within the next hour. I couldn't wait that long, so I walked back to the office with plans to come back out during my lunch break. What should my little eye spy about a block away but some cops on motorcycles doing escort duty. Who could that be? Was it the President? Was it some foreign dignitary? The light changed and when the cops rolled forward, I could see the Course of the Force vehicles as well as the Jabba's barge reproduction. I stopped, took out my iPhone, and snapped away right from the side of the road. It's kind of too bad they didn't publicize this too much because I saw no media or crowds on the street. But I got great photos.
I had to hike back out at lunch time anyway and I saw incoming fans pulling their luggage along to downtown hotels or walk down to the convention center. My plan was to pick up my Thursday and Sunday passes in Fashion Valley instead of at the convention center. I figured the crowds were going to be worse downtown and I had to be out of my parking spot by six (I've since got a monthly parking spot).
I drove over to the Town and Country and I know this is inside-baseball stuff, but I cut through Old Town to avoid going east on I-8. On a good day, I-8 east is a parking lot in the afternoon/evening. Unfortunately this was a bad day, thanks to a big rig that caught on fire not too far away. Not only did it make I-8 even worse than it normally is, there was a lot overflow on the access roads, like the one I was driving on. Then I had to sit in slow, barely moving traffic around the Town and Country as people squeezed into the parking lot and big buses taking congoers downtown blocked the street. Eventually I got into the lot almost an hour after I split from the office! The really funny part was there was hardly any line, but for the fans lining up for buses. I was in and out of there in eight minutes, including a side trip to the little girls' room.
On the way out, I noticed people were swapping those free bags they give you because different t.v. and movies were on the bags. Some lucky soul out there can have my Supernatural bag when I'm done with the con!
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no subject
Date: 2012-07-18 09:37 pm (UTC)My friends and I showed up afterwards and I am still surprised they didn't make anyone leave.
I've said last year that Comic Con should offer free tickets online to popular panels to discourage the insane lines and long campouts. And once there's a system in place, stick with it!
I may have said it before but I will again. I agree with this.
I have friends who camped out from Sunday 7/8 to Sunday 7/15 to get into panels for Hall H and Ballroom 20. It's become insane.
Another friend I ran into on Thursday or Friday said, "I'm done! I'm done with lining up for panels! I'm only going to the Exhibit Hall!"