lazypadawan's Holocron

What a weird Comic Con year it has been. For the first time since attending the con, I missed Friday AND Saturday. Sunday is kind of a surreal experience. There aren’t a lot of people when you first get there, but while it’s a short day—the whole thing shuts down at five—the later it got, the more crowded it got.

And because I had only two days total at the con, one a short day, it felt like the Reader’s Digest Con. It was a constant marathon of running from points A to B and taking a much faster pace than I usually do. I had no time to meet up with anyone and I didn’t even bother with saying hi to people at club tables this year. No time to linger watching the SCA guys beat the tar out of each other. Little time to do any people-watching, except watching out for people coming right toward you.

For the first time since attending Comic Con, I missed just about every Star Wars panel since they were all on Friday and Saturday. A part of me is still not very pleased with Dave Filoni and I’m kind of 50/50 on seeing anything besides the season premiere of S5 at Celebration. But given that I planned my first ever SDCC attendance around seeing the Star Wars presentation in Hall H in 2004, it was weird missing all of that.

Before I get to the festivities, I’ll talk a little bit about good celebrity behavior. Even though I wasn’t there, I’d heard about Robert Downey Jr.’s appearance to promote Iron Man 3. So many of these Hollywood dopes’ appearances at Comic Con are so perfunctory, like they’d rather be somewhere else instead of stuck in a freezing cold auditorium filled with the peasants who waited for hours just for the privilege of breathing the same air. They hop out of their limos, take a few publicity photos, go out on stage and sit there like a bored totem pole, avoiding saying very much and answering questions with gritted teeth until their hour’s up, then they speed off in the limos, leaving a puff of dust behind them. But not RDJ! Nope, he was going to make it worth everyone’s while. Downey danced down the aisles in Hall H, high fived fans while wearing his Iron Man glove, and when a girl asking a question mentioned it was her 15th birthday, he got the whole crowd to sing “Happy Birthday” to her. And that is why America loves this guy.

First up on Sunday morning was the Merlin panel. Surprisingly, it was really easy to get in. I just got in line as soon as I got to the convention center and a few minutes later they started letting everybody into the room. I found a pretty decent seat. Eventually the room got close to capacity and the woman sitting in front of me said of the three years they’ve had Merlin panels, this was the biggest crowd yet. Maybe a Knights of the Old Republic panel slated right afterwards helped boost attendance but I could still tell many of the folks were there for the show. On the way in, we got envelopes with postcards, pins, and a code for beta access to a new online game based on the show. British publicists for the show were filming the crowd and getting everybody to cheer and stuff.

(If you don’t care about Merlin, skip below to the bathroom story.)

The panelists were showrunners Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy, Angel Coulby (Guinevere), Katie McGrath (Morgana), and Colin Morgan (Merlin). Unfortunately Bradley James, the guy who plays Arthur, couldn’t be there since he was needed for filming. Murphy explained later on that he couldn’t have Morgan and James appear at the same time without stopping production on the show. In years past the con coincided with a production break.

Prior to the beginning of the panel, they kept switching around the name cards, with people cheering if Morgan’s name card got moved closer to their end. Eventually he ended up sitting on my end, which made my neighbors very happy.

I live Tweeted the panel (you can also get a more detailed rundown on @MerlinOfficial) and boy did I get a lot of traffic from Merlin fans! Katie McGrath even favorited one of my Tweets later on. *Blush.* Three years will have passed between the end of Season Four and the beginning of Season Five. Guinevere’s character changes now that she’s queen and Morgana had been imprisoned all of this time, so she’s out for revenge. Mordred’s coming back as is Uther Pendragon, though it’s not clear if it’s a one-off appearance or not. We got to see some clips from the upcoming season—lots o’ fighting and magic of course—and got some further hints, like the appearance of another dragon. We also saw blooper reels and a funny segment with the guy playing Leon trying to make the show about him.

Colin Morgan’s even better looking in person I have to say. The fangirls love him. I’ve mentioned before the bromance-y vibe between Merlin and Arthur on the show and there were laughs when Murphy mentioned “these two love each other,” and there was even a jokey slashy reference to the knights. (Either that or I’ve been in fandom way too long.) This was Coulby’s first Comic Con. Both of the ladies look just as lovely in person as they do on t.v.. McGrath mentioned she likes the less elaborate gowns she wears now because they’re a lot more comfortable, while Coulby likes being the show’s new fashion plate with the many costume changes.

One interesting thing I learned from the panel is that the show’s production schedule is ridiculously tight. They often finish an episode just right before it airs and they’re still writing and filming shows from the same season that’s on the air. It wouldn’t be unusual if this was a show that aired September through May, but British shows have much shorter seasons than our shows do (cable excepted).

Once the panel was over, it was about lunch time. But first a trip to the restroom. We had to wait a few minutes because Merlin’s stars had to cross the hallway from the auditorium to a nearby press room. They walked less than 10 feet away and I didn’t even think of taking a picture. Go figure!

I made my way to the restroom and had to wait for a stall to open up. Finally, one door opens and I move to take the spot. Out steps none other than Catherine Taber, Padme on Clone Wars! Now, not even showbiz people like being recognized in the john, so I didn’t say anything but I wonder if my t-shirt and Artoo pendant gave it away, heh heh. Taber was appearing at the KOTOR panel, which is I guess why she was in the neighborhood. It was truly an “only at Comic Con” moment. Thanks for keeping the throne warm!

After having some bbq pork from one of the lunch trucks, I went back to the convention center and realized time was very short and I had stuff to buy for other people, including birthday gifts. Fortunately, some vendors had even more stuff they did on Thursday and more than a few were already putting their goods on sale. I got some books 30% at one place, a book for ten bucks elsewhere, and a Tokidoki t-shirt for 50% off. But some vendors sold out of stuff already and the We Love Fine booth’s brony line didn’t budge an inch. I was told they’ll be at Celebration with two booths and a lot more Star Wars. I took a couple of pics here and there of the floor displays. The James Bond booth had a boat from “The World Is Not Enough” on Thursday and a car from “The Living Daylights” on Sunday. A different vehicle every day?

Before I knew it, the clock struck 3:30 and I was out of there. Even as I was leaving, traffic was building up around the convention center, as though everyone decided to drive by the place now that the con was almost over.

The first agenda of the morning was picking up the exclusive Artoo charm from Her Universe. Only 150 were available for this con and I figured it would be easier to get it here than at Celebration. I know the "Star Wars Zip Code" was in Hall D, where it has been ever since I started going to Comic Con, so I tried to position myself outside of Hall D. It wasn't easy because people and media were crowded all over the place prior to the con's opening. Lucky exhibitors were already inside, pillaging the exclusives before any one of the great unwashed can get to them.

Unfortunately Hall D was blocked off to everyone but press. Bah! So I ambled over to the Hall C entrance and waited. At 9:30 I went in and made my way to Hall D. Once I got to the Star Wars section, I staggered around in utter confusion because I couldn't find the Her Universe booth. The aisles were quickly filling up with people and it was difficult to get around. After going around twice and consulting the worthless guide book, I finally asked a guy taking orders for the Indiana Jones Blu-Ray where the Her Universe booth was. It was on the other side, facing out toward the toy booths, kitty corner from the Hallmark area. Duh! Can't believe I missed it.

Over at Her Universe, I picked up the Artoo charm. It's definitely better as a potential necklace pendant than on a charm bracelet since it's heavier than the other charms and it's the only "3D" one to date. And it's 25 bucks. While there, I also saw that they have a new Her Universe logo tee. It needs to be layered over something else or go up a size, but it was cool enough so I bought one. After that, I checked out the other booths in Lucas-land. I bought one of those lightsaber poster tubes from eFX and for the rest of the day, I was stopped several times by people who wanted to know where they could get one. I saw the Indiana Jones setup with the live snakes. I saw the new line of Star Wars lawn chairs. I saw the book booths and the new costumes from Museum Replicas. You can put together your own Jedi costume for only $800! For the first time Stylin' had a small stand separate from its three other booths, where they sold only Star Wars stuff. They had a bunch of new t-shirts I hadn't seen before. What caught my eye were a new sports jersey ($50) and a t-shirt with a picture of Theed and the caption "Greetings From Naboo" like an old-fashioned postcard. My eyes bugged out. Someone did a prequel-themed tee? (Also saw a new TPM shirt, but it focused on Maul.) Had to think about that one. At the Rock Rebel booth, I considered a Star Wars print hobo bag ($50). But right around the corner from Rock Rebel was Comic Images, known mostly for its soft goods collectibles. However, debuting at the con was a new purse that looks like Chewbacca's crossbody bag. His Wookiee man purse. It's really cute. My only disappointment with it is that is faux leather. I've become kind of a snob about that sort of thing. Plastic just has that Made In China chemical smell. It's bizarre to me that faux leather has become so expensive; this bag was $75. But as the guy at the booth pointed out, a real leather bag would be $300 and well, that is true. The Rock Rebel bag didn't feel as nice as this one did, so I bought the Wookiee bag. I can at least use it at cons and stuff.

By this time it was after 10 and I wanted to start seeing booths before going over to Random House for my fan fiction recording at 11. So I headed for the far end of the exhibit hall and started looking around. I didn't get very far. I stopped at the Shrine booth, purveyors of whatever you need to wear at Ye Olde Goth Clubbe, except I don't go to clubs anymore. I never bought anything from them before but this time, they had a cute vintage style dress that caught my eye. I'd have to try it on but I decided to come back later. After all, it was about time to get ready for my shot at fame and fortune.

I walked over to the Random House booth and it was then I saw they were giving out "Laters, Baby" buttons to promote E.L. James's book signing later on that day. A-ha! As publishers of "Fifty Shades of Grey," they know there's more gold to be mined out there though you can't audition any smutty fics. (By the way, does this book seriously have the line "laters, baby?" Really? *Headdesk.*) The nice gals at the booth gave me the legal docs to sign--if I "win" I no longer own my story--and I stepped in a very small booth with one of the gals to read my fic.

Ugh, I totally flubbed it. Maybe I'm just being tough on myself, but as soon as I started recording I was kicking myself for not rehearsing it. They're not going to see text, so the performance has to sell the product and my performance sucked. I was too nervous, I didn't put enough dramatic interpretation into the reading, and at a couple of spots I stuttered. Oh well, it looks like I won't be unleashing anyone's inner goddess any time soon. The girl who went after me was in an Alice In Wonderland costume.

My dreams shattered, I went back to the Shrine booth and tried on the dress, then bought it. Shopping makes everything better. I found the We Love Fine booth and discovered the stupidest line ever at Comic Con. We Love Fine had a very small booth and while it does sell Star Wars tees--I was hoping to find this cool art nouveau Leia tee--it's the #1 purveyor of My Little Pony merchandise outside of Mattel and that brought out the Bronies. Bronies were everywhere this year and half of them were in line for their tees and hoodies. What sucked was that you couldn't just ask, "Hey, do you have this tee available?" at the booth. You had to stand in this loooong line first. Forget that! So I found my way to my favorite jewelry booth and dropped another bundle on earrings and charms.

Then it was time to eat. After a long walk to the Petco Park lot I found the food trucks. Originally I was going to get some BBQ but I was really hungry and the Swiener's line was shorter. And it was offering a better deal, with free drinks along with your Swiss-style hot dog. Swiener's sells bratwursts, franks, pork sausage, or vegetarian faux-sage stuffed in a Bread et Cie baguette--best commercial bakery in town--along with melted raclette cheese. I had mine also dusted with paprika. The cheese put it over the top. Mmm. Every table was taken, but some nice folks had a chair to spare, so I sat down there. It amazed me because people at Comic Con generally aren't all that nice.

After lunch I had my customary Pinkberry yogurt. On the way there I got a free water bottle to promote the t.v. show Revolution and a free box of Butterfingers candy. Gotta love the freebies! Then it was back in the exhibit hall.

Here it was halfway through the day and I'd covered very little territory. I had to hustle. I rushed past the indies, small publishers, and golden/silver age comic book dealers because that stuff never interested me in the past. I stopped off at the Profiles in History booth, the company that stars in SyFy's "Hollywood Treasure" show. They had some Star Wars props up for auction but "affordable" was something like a TPM podracer maquette for $3500-$5000. Liam Neeson's lightsaber was about a third of what I earn in a year and if I wanted a snowtrooper's helmet from TESB, I'd need to scrounge up $85,000 if it sold at the maximum opening bid.

Sideshow Collectibles had some impressive goodies on display, few of which were affordable, heh heh. They are making a padawan Obi-Wan 1/6 scale figure that looks great but for his glossy lips. Who's painting these things, Adam Lambert? I'd get one though. It's due out next year. I was pleased to see Gentle Giant is making a Jar Jar mini bust. Hateboys' bitter tears sweeten my tea! Another one due to drive them nuts is a maquette of a scout trooper getting his @$$ kicked by angry-looking Ewoks. At Hasbro, I got a Fighter Pod giveaway, but didn't see any posters. I did get a mini poster from the Del Rey Star Wars booth, the only poster I got all day after I spent $25 for a poster tube! At least it'll have some use at Celebration. At Kotobukiya, I checked out the Jaina Solo bishoujo figurine, due out in November. It's a nice piece, though I don't know why Koto is doing expanded universe stuff first for that line. The next bishoujo is Mara Jade.

While checking out the offerings at Koto, my cell phone rang. I thought it was a wrong number but when I answered it was my bank! WTF? As it turned out they'd frozen my debit card for questionable charges after a dealer had tried to run my card a few times (the reader wasn't picking up the strip). I cleared everything up with the bank and they lifted the stay on my card. I told the gal on the line, "Um, I'm in the exhibit hall at Comic Con right now." And she says, "Really? That's so cool!"

Earlier, I went upstairs to get my badge holder for Sunday so I don't have to stand in a hellacious line to get it. That took a few seconds. I remembered Nalini Krishnan, Barriss Offee from AOTC, was supposed to be signing and I went to the autograph section to see if she was there. She wasn't signing until 2:30, so I decided to finish the exhibit hall and come back later.

The exhibit hall got insanely crowded around all of the studio booths. At times security closed off some aisles where you could only get out, not go in. Then I got to some of the illustrators' booths. I bought some items that went missing after I changed offices, *sigh.* Next time take all of my fannish stuff with me!

I was pleasantly surprised to find Manic Panic, purveyors of punkish hair dye and cosmetics, having a booth for the first time at the con. I picked up some lipstick and vowed to return after I was told they'd have more stuff over the weekend.

Fast forward to the controversial part of the day. Once again, Artists' Alley was the least-crowded area of the hall. While walking around I saw Steve Sansweet and his posse. That's not what this controversy's about though. At Justin Chiang's booth, I started looking through some very nice sketches. I'm a Star Wars art junkie but I often wait before buying, especially since it's rare you'll find anything less than $25. Chiang wasn't at the booth; some guy obviously not Asian was running the booth for him. Some other guy was next to Chiang's booth (can't remember the name) and Cat Skaggs was next to him. The three of them were talking and Skaggs said that "he's retiring." Someone, I don't remember who, said, "probably because the fans can't stand him." When they started talking about the Special Editions, I knew then they were talking about Lucas. Let's just say I didn't like the tone of the convo and I split before they could start trashing the prequels and they'd have to call security. Really people? THIS is what cheeses me off about Star Wars Fandom, Inc.. It's full of hypocrisy and backstabbers who are happy to leech off of Lucas while having no respect for the guy. And doesn't it occur to anyone that if a potential customer is hanging around looking at Star Wars sketches she might not be one of those fans who hates on everything Lucas does?!

On that note I went back up to the autograph hall; it was almost 4 by this point. Nalini Krishnan was there, chatting with a fan. Right next to her at another booth was none other than Eric Roberts, character actor extraordinaire, Celebrity Rehab graduate, brother of Julia and father of Emma. That's one of the surreal things about this con. Random t.v. and movie stars just hanging out at booths, signing autographs and meeting fans. Anyway, Ms. Krishnan couldn't be nicer. We talked about her appearance at Celebration II. "Can you believe it's been 10 years already?" I said. "I can't!" We're both awaiting word on when we'll see AOTC in 3D.

Looky there...it's E.L. James signing her magnum opus for an adoring crowd of chicks! More than one goes up to give her a big hug. I did notice that not a single one of the fans was wearing a Twilight tee even though it was the day of the Last Twilight Panel Ever. Heh heh.

After a quick break to sit down, I went back downstairs, bought the Greetings From Naboo tee, and then decided to check on how my mom was doing since I knew she wasn't feeling well and was going to urgent care. Since I hadn't heard from her, I thought things were at least under control. My mom said the urgent care prescription wasn't working and she wanted to go to the hospital. So I left immediately and my fun day ended with a five-hour stint in the ER. The end! At least my mom's doing better now.

Random House is letting the great unwashed read (up to?) five minutes of their fan fics at Comic Con for possible later use in a podcast, including Star Wars fan fiction!! *Hits a gong.*

http://www.randomhouse.com/audio/blog//2012/07/02/comic-con-recording/

Should I do this? For those of you familiar with the lazypadawan library, which story should I pick?

Here it is:

http://starwarsprequelappreciationsociety.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/clone-wars-season-4-panel-comic-con/

The full preview night-Sunday Comic Con schedules have been uncorked and there is nothing on the Blu-Rays or TPM's 3D re-release. That's right. Nada. Zilch. Bupkis. NOTHING.

All of the Star Wars panels revolve around books, comics, video games, licensing, crafts, and Clone Wars. (If you want to see Mark Hamill, he's on the Batman Arkham Asylum and "Sushi Girl" panels. Sam Witwer is on the "Being Human" panel. Ashley Eckstein is doing her second annual Her Universe panel on Thursday.) Clone Wars is of course way important. But I find it shocking, unbelievable, and outrageous Lucasfilm is just blowing off the two biggest SW events of the next several months!

I wouldn't be so nonplussed if there was a Celebration in four weeks where they could promote the hell out of those things but there isn't. If there's nothing at Comic Con, there won't be anything at Wizard World Chicago, DragonCon, or New York Comic Con either. Heck, there probably won't even be a mention at Star Wars Fan Days. I guess they just expect to sell the Blu-Rays only to the diehards and they plan to just poop out TPM 3D and hope somebody notices. Or maybe not.

Someone noted on my Facebook that most of Lucasfilm's Comic Con presentations are full of sound and fury and signify nothing anyway. It's true the last couple of Hall H presentations were kind of lackluster. But I also remember the amazing presentation they did in 2004 to promote primarily the first three flicks on DVD and ROTS. People were on their cell phones as soon as they left the room.

I'm not saying we needed another unspectacular Spectacular in Hall H. I'm actually kind of relieved I don't have to spend 3 hours in line to sit inside for another 3 hours in the vain hopes they start on time. I'm convinced that the journey to Hell for the damned begins trying to get into Hall H. But I also remember Steve Sansweet touring the nation's conventions during the summer of 1996 to promote the Star Wars Special Editions, showing us first-time ever-seen footage of the spruced-up scenes (stuff not even seen during trailers shown with "Independence Day"). That sort of thing generates buzz. It generates excitement. It makes people who were on the fence or uninterested as rarin' to go as a hardcore fan like me. It worked in 1996. It worked in 2004. It worked when Charles Lippincott dropped in at a much smaller Comic Con in 1976 to pitch ANH. Why wouldn't it work now, unless they've given up and they just don't care?

For once I can say that Comic Con finally came up with a useful innovation and that is allowing people to pick up their passes in Fashion Valley on Wednesday. A lot of hotels and motels are in the Fashion Valley/Mission Valley area, so many con attendees stay there. Instead of schlepping all of the way downtown for Preview Night or worse yet, having to schlep downtown on Thursday and stand in line for three hours like I did last year, this allowed people to be ready to go on Thursday at 10 a.m.. The line at the Fashion Valley location was long but it moved really fast and I got my pass in an hour. Getting out of the busy parking lot took about an additional half hour but I didn't miss any con time at all. Awesome.

This morning, I made a bee line for Hall D, where the Star Wars Pavilion is always located. I suppose that because Celebration V is a few weeks away, there weren't as many licensees here as in the past. But all of the usual suspects were there or close by: Hasbro, Hallmark, DK Publishing, Museum Replicas, eFX, LucasArts, Official Pix, etc.. How many of you knew beforehand that Official Pix was going to host anyone SW this year? Me neither. As it turned out, Steve Sansweet, Catherine Taber from Clone Wars, and Dee Bradley Baker were on the schedule. Hey, thanks for letting us know, Official Pix! Baker is supposed to sign tomorrow, so I went up to Anne Neumann (I don't know her married name) and asked her what time Baker was signing. "When he gets here." Okay, um, how much is it going to cost? "Don't know yet." It would be nice to get his autograph since it will be one less to worry about at Celebration but can we be a little bit more specific??

Prior to hitting Official Pix, I went to the Her Universe booth. Ashley Eckstein wasn't there yet but all of the new goodies as well as the ones that have been online were there for sale. The Star Wars logo hat with the sparkly Swarovski crystals--glue-gunned on there by Ashley herself--was $60. It sounds pricey but I was honestly expecting it cost $80-$100. They were limited in availability and autographed on the inside brim. The guy at the booth told me if I buy the hat and bring it back later, Ashley can personalize it for me. Cool! So I bought that, one of the Alliance logo necklaces (the black one...there was also a blingy red crystal Alliance logo necklace), and the new Han 'n Leia t-shirt. They also had a new zip up hoodie jacket with an OT manga SW logo on the back and MTFBWYA on the bottom. It's a nice piece and I might come back for it. I was wearing my Padmé t-shirt and a girl and her mom show up to look at the stuff. The teenage girl really liked my shirt and the booth guy told her it was their top-seller online (take that, you naysayers who think nobody is interested in PT stuff). She ended up buying one. Where's my commission ;)?

I went wandering around the Star Wars Pavilion for a bit and took pictures. I ended up buying the Hallmark exclusive ornaments (Threepio and some other droid from TESB) since there was no line or anything to buy one. Apparently, Hallmark is rolling out a line of Avatar (the Smurfs, not the Airbenders) cards. In fact, I got a good laugh out of the Avatar merch I saw...for such an anti-capitalist movie, it sure has no problem with capitalism. Anyway, I saw that Hallmark will come out with other SW-themed gifts, i.e. glasses, desk accessories, picture frames, etc. next year. But I was very disappointed that all of it was Eps IV-VI stuff. I hate this business of pretending the prequels don't exist or trying to hide them behind the more kid-themed Clone Wars. Grrr. I went by a busy soft goods booth selling all kinds of SW plushy dolls and backpacks, which seemed to be really popular. They even had Stinky/Rotta from the Clone Wars flick. Another booth had belt buckles; they sell the same ones at Hot Topic. The LucasArts folks were handing out free stickers and sticking them on people. Mine fell off twice.

Around this time, the strap on the big free bag I got at registration yesterday broke. Dismayed, I went upstairs to the registration area to get another one. They told me, "No." So I was stuck with a huge bag I had to carry around in my hand. Wonderful.

Anyway, about a half hour or so later, I came back by Her Universe and Ashley Eckstein was there. I took out my hat and the booth guy looked at me like, "What do you want me to do with this?" Uh, I wanted to get it personalized? Like you told me about half hour ago? Am I that forgettable??? Once I explained it, recognition dawns and Ashley cheerfully personalized my hat. She was also wearing the Padmé shirt and laughed, "We match!" She was still her chatty, friendly self. I joked on Her Universe's Facebook page they were keeping labor costs down by having Ashley put on the crystals on the hats herself, but as it turned out, I was right! She told me it would have cost a lot more money to have paid somebody to make those hats, and since this was still a small operation, they didn't have the wherewithal yet to have everything mass-produced. Interesting. She hoped eventually that would change and they could bring prices down. She also told me that they were going to have a TESB exclusive necklace--a triangular shape--available only at Celebration V and there are going to only be 150 available! Eeek, I guess I better go by Her Universe first on 8/12!

Mission accomplished there, I headed toward the far end of the hall where Artists' Alley was located. I walked up and down the aisles, pushing through the crowds. Thursday is the least worst day though so at least the aisles were navigable! I managed to chat a little bit with some of the Star Wars artists at Artists' Alley, like Denise Velasquez and Randy Martinez. I told them that I saw video of their musical interlude at Germany's Star Wars Rocks con earlier this year. Denise does have her music available and we talked a bit about the technical problems of DIY recording.

Marching onward through aisles of videogames, steampunk merchandise, zombie stuff, Japanese stuff, weird crap whose appeal completely baffles me, and movie/t.v. promo booths, I considered the fact that the place really smells. Honestly fan people, can't you bathe every now and then and invest in deodorant? I have no idea why it gets stinky where fen gather. Perhaps that's why I saw more than one booth pimping Star Trek's line of fragrances. Men can chose from Red Shirt, Tiberius, Shirtless Kirk, and the brand new Sulu ("Oh my!"). The ladies can invest in Pon Farr ("drive him crazy"). Also, I find the practice of farting in large crowds because nobody would know who did it appalling. I know one can slip out every now and then without warning, but to cut one loose on purpose? Nast-y. That's what the bathroom's for. Or get some Beano. Yuck.

I paused at Jerry Vanderstelt's table because of a gorgeous new Padmé print on display. Wow, this one was awesome. And for the low, low price of $163 for the paper print and $350 or somesuch for the canvas. Well, the canvas was out of contention but hey, payday's tomorrow...should I splurge? I had to think about it. Vanderstelt also had on display his Celebration V art. That was a beauty as well. It's my #2 priority now, after Erik Maell's piece. I walked by Russell Walks' booth and he had a cool new poster I hadn't seen before either. Sigh.

I stopped by my friend Matt Busch's booth but we didn't get to talk for very long before two ladies came by to talk business. Matt is doing a line of classic film posters with zombie themes that seems to be successful. He said that a couple of guys who worked on the Harry Potter movies came by and bought a zombified Harry Potter poster. Apparently some properties don't like to see their characters get the undead treatment, but the Harry Potter guys thought it was hilarious. One of the women informed him that one of the gentlemen produced the films. Lucasfilm doesn't have a problem with zombies either because there were zombified posters for all of the SW and Indiana Jones movies.

On the way to heading outside to eat my lunch, Things From Another World was giving out tote bags. I snagged one and transferred all of my stuff into it. It turned out to be much sturdier than my Comic Con freebie bag.

I didn't see too many celebrities today, but I did catch "Thelma" from "Good Times" at one table. I doubt very many of the teens and 20-somethings at the con remember the show but I used to watch it on prime time! Eeek, I'm old. But "Thelma" looks great. I also saw Marina Sirtis signing at a table; she looks pretty good as well. I saw Peter Mayhew signing later on.

Eventually I got around to Gentle Giant's booth and checked out their wares. Among their collection of Star Wars Babes mini busts was a Snowbunny Padmé I'd never seen before. Her hair was loose and she had a flirtatious look on her face, and she was holding out mistletoe. If Rachel Zoe were a fangirl, she would say, "I. Die." I knew GG gives a freebie mini bust every Christmas to its premiere members, so I asked the GG guy if Padmé was going to be this year's giveaway. He said yes. This thing was so made of awesome because it was something an A/P fan fic writer would come up with...or perhaps a fanboy who dreams of snogging Padmé under some mistletoe. I'm definitely upgrading my GG membership to get that mini bust. Whatever it takes!

Hasbro had an awesome set up featuring the Battle of Hoth, starring its toys. Lots of cool stuff is on the way, just in time for Celebration. What a coincidence.

On I trundled past more aisles and more booths, pausing to look at some art nouveau items that turned out to be really expensive antiques. I saw what was supposed to be a huge set piece from the upcoming "Thor" movie. I saw some great stuff at Sideshow Collectibles, even though I can't afford a lot of them! Geez, guys, didn't you know there's a recession on? At the Kotobukiya booth, they had the Darth Maul and Mace Windu lightsaber chopsticks available, so I had to buy those.

I also saw a young woman in a very skimpy leotard pose for pictures with various attendees. How skimpy was it? Her butt cheeks were hanging out and she didn't wear any hose. Yikes. Worse yet, somebody even had her pose with A BABY. WTF???

That glittery hat I bought at Her Universe got a lot of compliments as I walked around, including from a booth full of burlesque dancers, heh heh. Where's my commission, again ;)?

At the Chronicles Books booth they had copies of "The Sounds of Star Wars" for sale, which won't hit bookstores for another month or two. Better yet, they were on sale for $20 off cover price. Sold, but boy was it heavy. I tried to check in my bags only to find out the coat check place was full. Darn it.

By about 4 or so, I was exhausted. I sat for a bit and rested, then went back to Vanderstelt's booth and shelled out for the Padmé print. I have no idea where I'll put it. Oh well, once I get my Barbie Dreamhouse, I'll have room.

So that was day one. Tomorrow is Star Wars Day and the highlight will be the Clone Wars panel in the p.m.. Hope I'll see something good!

It's going to be crazy town around the lp lair as I'm on and offline the next few weeks.

Comic Con is going to have an abbrievated Star Wars presence this year. No Star Wars Spectacular in Hall H, no Official Pix bringing stars to autograph stuff, and no annual fan club breakfast. I assume it's due to Celebration V being right around the corner. However, Gentle Giant is bringing Billy Dee Williams to sign autographs and a few other booths might bring in guys as well. Drew Struzan is going to be there to promote a new documentary about his life and artwork and Mark Hamill is going to appear to promote a new Batman MMO. I guess he's playing the Joker again! Ashley Eckstein is going to be at the Her Universe booth and will host a panel on Saturday. I probably won't go because it's late, like at 6:30 p.m. and I'm jumping town early-ish the next day.

It kind of sucks I'll be 35,000 feet over the Pacific on Sunday because that's when the cast of "Merlin" is appearing :/. So much for my big chance to meet the hot guy who plays Arthur. However, the guys from Ghost Adventures will be signing autographs, so I'm definitely going to meet Zak and company. I'm also psyched to see there's a panel on techie crime solving with both Pauly Perrette from "NCIS" and Kirsten Vangness from "Criminal Minds." Abby Scuito and Penelope Garcia in the same room...it's like crossover fic come true!

I'm very "meh" on the whole exclusives thing. I so no longer care. I'm not killing myself to get the exclusive Hallmark ornaments or the Hasbro action figure or whatever. Blah. I'll probably spend a bundle at Her Universe if they have new stuff out and pick up any books available.

Celebration's official website has a skeletal schedule up full of TBAs. So far, I want to see the fashion shows and maybe check out the make-your-own frame thing. There's supposed to be a prequel appreciation panel on Friday, but the location hasn't been announced yet. I definitely want to see Mark Hamill. Still undecided if I want to sit through "The Daily Show Live" and risk blowing a gasket. I hope the Celebration Store is run as well as it was run at Celebration IV instead of the day-long lines at Celebrations II and III.

With the stress of making it to this and that in time behind me, Saturday was more or less Casual Day. I said hi to jawajames, who was working at the Star Wars pavilion. I finished wandering around the exhibition floor and chatted with Matt Busch and Paul Michael Kane, who both worked on my zines in the past. Saturday has a reputation for being The Worst Day at Comic Con and I think that reputation kept a lot of people away this year. While it was crowded enough in some spots, it wasn't nearly as crowded as it was the past few years. Why, I was even able to walk up to Summit's booth and pick up some Twilight stuff and I'm not even a Twilight fan. Anybody want a New Moon mini poster and some trading cards? There was a crowd around the Stargate booth and around the video game displays but otherwise, it was the most sane Saturday I'd seen.

Around 11, I headed back to Official Pix and got Matt Lanter to sign my CW Anakin 'n Padmé photo. Again, it was no problem walking up and getting the autograph. I guess Matthew Wood couldn't make it, because Jaime King was sitting there instead. Anyway, Lanter is really cute in person but a little young for lazypadawan. I think he's even younger than Hayden. He was genuinely appreciative when I said l loved the show.

By high noon, I ate my PB & J and chips I brought from home, then went off to Pinkberry for some pomegranate yogurt with chocolate shavings. Yum. This is when I noticed how many people were doing giveaways on the street instead of inside the convention center and how a lot of companies are doing off-campus stuff this time around. It was really easy getting the big Mythbusters bag from the Discovery folks. No mobs or bum-rushing (hear that, Dark Horse?). SyFy (God I HATE that spelling!! HATE IT!!) set up a cafe at the Hard Rock Hotel instead of putting a big booth inside the the convention hall. NBC set up a mini carnival across from the convention center to promote Heroes and the annual panel was at a hotel instead of in Hall H. The carnival was actually worth checking out. Free popcorn, free snowcones, free cotton candy, free bungee jumping, and free games where you get tickets, and then someone draws tickets to win prizes like t-shirts and signed scripts. EA set up shop at a hotel with some guy shouting on a bullhorn to come in and try games. Strange. Then I went over to World Market because I ran out of tea at home and it was like stepping into another world. No other con attendees hanging around. It just seemed to me the normally jammed restaurants and stuff weren't as busy and this was lunch time!

I went back inside the convention hall and got into line for the Mark Hamill signing set to begin at 2 p.m.. It's easy to pass the time with a bunch of SW fans. People kept asking us what the line was for. We wanted to put up a sign that said:

1. This line is for Mark Hamill

2. You need a ticket

We saw many costumed folks go by, including some zombie Stormtroopers to promote "Deathtroopers." I also saw a guy do a quick oil painting of the Clone Wars figurines by the Hasbro booth.

I'd heard that Hamill got in an hour late on Friday, so to make up for it, he showed up almost 45 minutes early on Saturday. Woo hoo!

Sadly, the special Official Pix photo made for the occasion got really dinged in my bag. I really wish I'd waited to just buy it there but with my luck, it would have sold out or something. Groan. The line whipped along really fast even when Mark cheerfully let passerby take photos in between signing stuff. I'm sure Official Pix was thrilled, heh heh. Mark was there with his daughter, a very pretty girl. As for Mark, he looks better in person than he has in a lot of photos. Clearly he's aged but still not too bad for a guy who's almost 58. I took out the special Official Pix photo and the assistant next to him looked at it and went, "Oh no." I said that once I got it framed, it's all good. Like I'll sell my autographs anyway. Mark signed my photo (always get 'em personalized if possible) and even drew a little heart on it. I never think of anything to say, really. I just thanked him and shook his hand and he said, "You're welcome, sweetheart." Interesting tidbit; the guy in front of me was from Austin, TX and Mark told him his family is originally from there and still visits from time to time.

So, with that done, I went upstairs to collect on a ticket I got from Hall H on Friday. I never used those tickets until now. Would I get something cool, like a t-shirt or something? Nah, all I got was a button for some show or other. Prior to that, I pre-registered for next year. You know how much it will cost for '10? A hundred freakin' bucks for four days. A one day pass is fifty bucks. Moreover, they are capping preview night at 13,500, so when you buy your four day pass, you have to check the box that will include preview night at no extra cost. Otherwise, it's the Comic Con 5K on Thursday morning.

I went back downstairs to the floor and made one final purchase at the Chronicle Books booth, a collection of postcards featuring different SW comic book covers over the years. Then I was done.

Some observations...the rotten economy clearly affected both exhibitors and attendees. Everybody was counting pennies. At the Official Pix booth, Hamill got big lines but you could've had a chess game with the other signees. Why? People decided they'd get more value out of an autograph from THE star of Eps IV-VI who hasn't signed at Comic Con in five years than say, the CW cast. If Hamill wasn't there and there weren't any other top tier stars from the movies, I'm sure everyone else would have been busier. Since I wasn't buying any exclusives this year, I stuck with getting autographs instead. Who knows if they'll have the whole CW crew next year? My only splurge was the deluxe edition of The Art of Clone Wars. There were still a healthy number of freebies and guys handing out stuff on the street, but I noticed the "theater" they put on with either street teams or actors at the booths was not all that common this year.

There were more costumes this year overall, with mostly anime/manga-themed costumes. You'd think you were really at a Harajuku girls convention if you spent most of your time on the upper floors. And WTF is up with those stupid Free Hugs signs? One guy had an Expensive Hugs sign. I'm going to make a sign for next year that says, "Free Kicks In The Rear." Lots of superhero and steampunk outfits too.

On the SW front, still some stormies, X-Wing pilots, Impie officers, and Fett costume variations around. Saw a really good Darth Vader. Saw one chick in Padmé's nightgown from ROTS. Saw an Aayla Secura. But lots and lots of SW t-shirts! Are we getting lazy again or are we saving the cosplay for Celebration V? Have noticed an uptick in Trek costumes, mostly classic style Starfleet wear.

While putting stuff away, I reflected on how these things are in many ways more of a vacation than actually going on a plane somewhere. It is for thousands of people their happy place. And now, Darth Real Life is back upon us. Just 361 days before it stars up again!