A Legendary Rant by Kevin Smith

Something motivational for today. Considering it's New Year's Eve it seems appropriate. So here I've copied out a rant that Kevin Smith posted on Twitter a few weeks back. This rant is a rare bird and I encourage everyone to follow him on twitter (@thatkevinsmith) or check out his free smodcasts from where this tweet was copied from (http://smodcast.com/home.html).

Smith is a large man to say the least and has been loosing weight since October, which I believe began right after he finished filming his latest movie Red State. Over the summer he was dejected from a plane because the flight attendants believed him to be too large to fly, which was horse shit. He has since been on the defensive about his weight but likewise advocating a healthier lifestyle that included copious amounts of sex, pot, and cigarettes.

Now for his rant:

Dec. 30th, 2010

We’re all too fat, sir.

But weight loss, while a frustrating proposition, is the key - because when you’re thin, you’re healthy, & nobody bothers you - so life’s always a non-caloric-cupcake-&-firework party!

However, having met one or two thin people (or “normies”) in my life, I’ve been able to glean that it’s also not always a picnic being skinny. So if life blows for fat and thin people sometimes, then it’s all relative - except for your packaging.

So remove the whole “IF I CAN JUST GET THIN, EVERYTHING WILL BE BETTER!” bullshit and approach the weight loss with a realistic perspective: losing weight will solely make you thinner & heart-healthier. Other than that, it’s no different from being thin - except all the sweating & getting a hard-on for Devil Dogs.

So when the fantasy factor of weight loss is eliminated (fact: your life may stay the exact same & your problems may not suddenly evaporate), you’re left with un-hyped, non-augmented truth: when you lose weight, you’re doing just that: losing weight.

Now - if you need to attach drama to weight-loss, as a sort of motivator, there’s no better gas in the tank than the simple desire to shut motherfuckers the fuck up. S’fun to watch the endlessly opinionated suddenly choke on a reality they’d never prepared for: the mutable you.

Folks wanna cast you in a walk-on role in the movie of their lives: they wannna minimize you to one aspect/role/title that their self-esteem can handle. Don’t settle for being a last-billed extra in some other prick’s feature; be the goddamned STAR of your OWN movie. The best revenge is when folks who’ve tagged & bagged you suddenly realize their true roles: they amount to little more than a footnote in the film of YOUR life. Then? #CuttingRoomFloor

Now, I’m not spectral communicator & I don’t claim to congress with the dead. But I doubt ANY of this can be accomplished from the grave.

As far as I know, you get one life. Milk it, sir. Chocolate-milk it, if you’ve gotta, but milk it for all it’s worth (without harming others). Treat yourself like you treat the things you own: bag & board your life & put it somewhere fuckers can’t bend your pages, maybe even framed.

But whatever you do, don’t even whimsy about ending shit. It all ends soon enough, without our input or agreement.

Drop a little weight and it’ll be easier to drop a little more. For me it’s more about portion control: I’m an American, so everything I eat is like four feet tall. On Weight Watchers, I’ve been rocking the Smart Ones meals, which I’m using to train myself to remember that two boxes of cereal in one sitting is not a meal; it’s a freak show that belongs on the boardwalk at Coney Island, in the summertime.

Make the portions smaller. It’s the thing no chubby wants to hear, but it’s the only path: eat less & exercise. I’ve been doing that since November first and I’ve lost 40 pounds now. And if I can do it, ANYBODY can do it. I’m the laziest, fattest slob I know. My gut has a gut. But I’ll go Christian-Bale-In-The-Machinist before I give this wicked, wicked world one more second of my life any earlier than I’ve gotta…

Batman watched his parents get killed and rather than crumble in defeat, he opted to stay above ground to make sure the same didn’t happen to anyone else. Granted, Batman is fictional… but then, so are most of the people you look up to. They’re fictional, too: you don’t see their struggles, you only see their wins. Life is a zero-sum game: there has never been a winner.

Find a role model: someone who’s done this life in a way that inspires you and use the lessons of their life to enrich your own (hands off Gretzky, Lunchbox: he’s mine). But find a role model, not a hero. Learn from others but be your own hero.

Long story short: next meal, eat less.

Meal after that? Eat half.

Leave food behind. Start like that.

In a week or two, step it up a little: go out walking. Bring an iPod (I recommend loading with some SModcast Network shows). Walk for 10 minutes. Then 20. Then 30. Increase weekly.

A week will go by. Then a month - at the end of which, you’ll have lost some weight. It may not be a breathtaking amount, but it’ll be enough to make you wanna lose a little more, maybe. And then a little more.

But you can do this. Just know you’re going to do it ALONE - and that’s okay. This is YOUR journey. From time to time, even when nobody else understands why, we have to act against their grain - to get shit done.

Expect some taunts and teases from the swine. I suggest finding a somewhat less-traveled road (but always let someone know where you’re going); and to paraphrase Teddy, a walking stick’s good for balance and for making fucktards think twice about shooting their mouths off.

So no more of this suicide bullshit: how the fuck do you know you’re not the one who’s supposed to cure cancer? Or change shit? Or inspire the one who will change shit? The flick has three acts, sir; stay above ground - or you’ll never know what was possible; just what wasn’t…

So today, eat only HALF that Ho-Ho. All this week, eat only half the Ho-Ho. Next week, it’s Anti-Claus time: meaning NO Ho-Ho. Ho-Ho’s won’t vanish in our absence: there will always be Ho-Ho’s. Months from next week, maybe years even? You can have another Ho-Ho - after which, you may mutter to yourself “Wasn’t worth it…” because that Ho-Ho becomes an hour walk to even make a dent in the caloric burning department.

We’ll lose weight, @thedarkknight98 - that’s easy. Much harder to lose: the yapping, negative swine.

Like herpes, they’ll be with us always.

A Theater Revolution Cont.

Here are two suggestions for how to improve movie going experiences. The first is to have theaters reward and encourage respectful behavior. This can be accomplished through creating a rewards program where respectful movie goers obtain a card similar to the Sceneit card. This card is then used to purchase tickets to movie screenings that are advertised as a zero tolerance area for talking and other disruptive behavior. To purchase said tickets you must have this card, and this card can be revoked if it is found that you have abused the policies such as no talking.

The second suggestion is an option if movie theaters show no interest in improving the movie going experience. This is where we rally together to make the change ourselves. Movie theaters rent out their screens for private showings of movies for birthdays and other celebrations. Why not have a celebration of basic movie goer respect? Create on Facebook or Twitter a fan page where people can come together in your community. Every week or month, organize a movie night where a screen is booked for one of the more recent movies. Commit a number of people from your fan pages to seeing this movie where it will be filled with people of a similar mindset. By doing so, you eliminate the disrespectful from your movie watching experience.

A Theater Revolution

I love movies and I love seeing them in the theater. However, I hate the dregs of society that sit next to me in the movies. I am not alone in this feeling. I am sick of those who come to a movie, paying a fair chunk of change to: eat their popcorn like they haven't seen food in days and to eat this food while having mouths gaping: constantly checking their cell phones for that all important message that will alter their state of being (it aint coming because you are not that special -sorry): talking to their friends about their other low-life scum sucking friends: narrating the movie for the well seeing and hearing douche of a friend that sits next to them watching the same God forsaken movie: hopping up and down from their seat to either refill that enormous bucket of lard and starch to sedate their sarlac pit of an appetite: bring their 2 year old to an existential movie about the French Revolution and then wonder loudly why their child is squirming and yelling. Guess what people? I don't want you sitting next to me in a movie theater and neither do a lot of other people!

I encourage those who share these sentiments to become vocal. Call these fuckers out. Feel free to embarrass them and tell them to be quiet or stop being a fucking cancerous nuisance. Leave the theatre for a minute and have a staff member eject them from the theater; chances are you will be rewarded with a free pass to your next movie. Do something to make yourself heard and lets make a stand against the ignorance of the world. Sure I am only referring to movie goers here, but this shit is important to me. A movie theater is supposed to be an escape from the assholes of the world. I pay to experience this escape, not to be trapped for 2 hours with those I am fleeing from.

Next, I encourage movie theaters to embrace these sentiments. I plead with movie theaters to be active in ridding these detestable creatures from their houses of business. Proclaim loudly that you agree with the words above and that you promote such a haven away from the Darwin rejects of our society. If you do this I will come. The numerous masses of those with similar attitudes will also come. The alternative to doing nothing more than the inept status quo of broadcasting brief postings prior to the movie to stop talking, put down the phone, and enjoy the movie will result in those faithful to paying to watch a movie will disappear. We are numerous and we are what make movies successful. We, the many who love to escape through the medium of a movie will dwindle away. We are also a strong and valued source as we see more than one type of movie. We see them all. We go when the economy is thin and we go when the sun is up and the skies are blue. We go no matter what and we thank you for the service you provide, but with an abuse of this service comes a re-evaluation of its worth.

Comics Adapted to Film: Why Reinvent the Wheel?

Poster for Singer's
Superman Returns.

Over the past few months test images from the Superman Returns movie have been released over the internet. The movie was directed by Bryan Singer and released to lukewarm reviews in 2006. It picked up from where the second Superman (released in 1980) movie ended. Personally, I enjoyed Singer's sequel although I thought its pace was slow at times.

Superman test suit from Burton's
Superman movie. Even the face of
the mannequin resembles Cage's.

Tim Burton was to originally direct Superman Returns, and Nicholas Cage was to be Superman instead of Brandon Routh who Singer casted. Images from the costumes that Burton was to use were released over the internet last month, and this month special affects designs were released from Singer's movie.

Doomsday from
DC Comics.

Most of the recently released images deal with costume designs. They are sketches and paintings, an attempt to visualize the style the movie was to take. What irked me, however, was that there was also a design of Doomsday. This character was the one who 'killed' Superman in the comics, back in 1992. I have never been a fan of the design of Doomsday in the comics and thought the idea was weak. It was like a 'hand of God' ending to a story line, where the author could not think of a better way to bring a story line to a conclusion so the most unthinkable action sweeps in mysteriously to usher in a closing. To me, the most logical conclusion to a story that dealt with Superman's demise involves a nemesis he has always faced, such as Luthor or more interestingly Batman, or he dies by his own selfless hands whilst saving Metropolis. All very heroic and befitting the character, unlike him being pummeled to death by a previously unknown space man on steroids. Regardless of how I felt, the character of Doomsday has remained popular by fans and a fixture in the Superman universe for the past 18 years.

Ill fated Doomsday design from
Singer's Superman Returns.

Now we know that Singer had a similar view of Doomsday as the fans did, except for how the character should be depicted. This is the problem. Singer's version of Doomsday is radically different from the comic character and reminds me more of a alien space marine that mated with a locust. While I admitted above that I am not a fan of Doomsday's character design from the comics, I still believe that when a character is adapted to a movie it should not be wholly removed from its origins. Otherwise, what is the point of adapting a character at all? This is all too common in Hollywood comic adaptations (eg. Daredevil). I will agree that it is often interesting to see some alterations to a character in both appearance and personality as it shows the outlook that the director or writer or actor had, but this cannot be taken too far as is the case with Doomsday. Otherwise you might as well call the character and movie something else. Artistic taste and vision can easily go too far in adapting a material into film, and the original source must always be referenced.

Perhaps I should be glad that Singer did not make a sequel after all.

Rethinking the Mundane

Not enough people reconsider what is taken for granted. Take for instance a commuter train. How much has truly changed about a commuter train in the past 100 years? I would say not much, especially not much in the way of revolutionary changes.

I, and others, would argue that it is the mundane and matter of fact aspects of materials and life that should be questioned in order for society to evolve. All too often changes in society occur in minute aspects of our technology and culture. For instance, how we light our houses has not changed all that radically for we still use an object that looks remarkably similar to the traditional light bulb and affix it in all too common places within our dwellings that would not be unlike that of a home say 100 years ago. How we light our homes has not changed, but small aspects of the technology have.

Returning to commuter trains, I look to three aspects that could be changed. These aspects are in different orders of scale and none have answers; often I find it more productive and difficult to pose a question than an answer, for at least an answer can generate a dialogue that did not previously exist.

The first aspect is how a train travels. The triplet form of traveling consists of ground, water, and air. These are exclusive from one another and presuppose us into thinking there are not other forms. Instead of asking how we can make an engine go faster or a route be streamlined to increase a train's efficiency, why not look to another way it can travel. Is there a fourth way to travel? By looking at this issue, the feasibility and possibility of traveling greater distances and over more difficult terrain and conditions can be lessened. Further, my hope and wish for trains (speaking of commuter not commercial trains) to be used in connecting Canadian cities may become more realistic as much of the Canadian countryside can be rough and the cities are widely spread apart.

The second question is how people fit into the train. In the city in which I reside the commuter trains are often packed, leaving a few unfortunate stragglers behind to wait for (hopefully) the next less full train. In response to this perceived problem, can people fit into a train in such a way that there is more room for other people? This problem asks if people currently ride a train via the most efficient way. The two ways currently employed is to either sit or stand. Passenger trains that go long distances have cots, or so I've seen in movies. This would be a third way to 'fit into a train', but are there other ways?

Lastly, people enter trains through rectangular doors that are evenly spaced across the facade of a train. However, is this the only way people can enter a train? Do the doors have to be placed in such a way and can they take a different shape? Often I see a bottleneck form as people furiously try to get into the train before it departs. Can the doors be rearranged or reshaped to prevent such bottlenecks? The reduction of these bottlenecks would decrease the time it takes for a train to reach its destination as the time required for passengers to board is now reduced.

I must reiterate that I do not have the answers to these questions. It is not folly either to offer a question and no answer. Exercises such as these aid in people noting the issues in their world that can be improved upon; to be tinkered with. It is through such actions that realizations occur and motivations are sprung into working towards finding answers to such new found problems. I feel that these exercises of thought are not encouraged in our school systems and places of work. Instead, children and adults are bombarded by questions that demand answers and a study that produces only more questions is deemed a failure. This is not the case and such thoughts should be discouraged. Instead, challenge yourself to look at issues and items taken for granted in new ways. View the world from the perspective of an outsider and ask it basic questions. Otherwise, we will only be wishing for change and producing nothing but the same in a different color.

What Happened to New Comic Book Characters?

X-Men, from the
1960's.

What happened to new comic book characters? I'm talking about how the two major publishers of comic books (Marvel and DC) appear to rely only upon their tried and true characters. The 1960's and 70's had an explosion of characters for Marvel and DC, most notably with Stan Lee's creations of the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and others. The characters that emerged out of these pivotal decades are the same that dominate today's comics, over 40 years later.

I recognize that it is expensive to introduce a new comic character. Launching a new book with an unfamiliar character is a risky and expensive move by any publisher. Centering an already popular book around a new character is also a risky and expensive move as it can alienate an already devoted audience. However, the risk of not introducing new characters is that the older ones will become spread too thin and be overused. It takes gumption to introduce a new character and I strongly feel the major publishers are playing it far too safe. They (publishers) should hire talented individuals and trust them in their creative abilities. If not, then comic fans will never know what characters could be introduced to their beady little eyes on a monthly basis, and of course, begin to cherish as much as the old characters.

Echo, by Terry Moore, is
one of the few recent
examples of a new character
but from an independent
publisher.

While there a few exceptions (referring primarily to the Vertigo line of comics), I can only hope that the major publishers will change their ways in the near future. Please, take a chance and allow fans like myself to experience new character creations. Even if it is a flop, it will still be a step forward. It will also provide diversity to the now static comic shelves. Through those mistakes perhaps we can also gain a better appreciation of where this wonderful medium is headed.

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode XII

Cast members of Glee

On Sunday, the final day of Comic Con began with Ballroom 20. Here, we saw Smallville (which was particularly special as this was the final season), Supernatural, American Dad, and Glee! Each of the panels was great, and while I am not a huge fan of Smallville or Supernatural, it was a real treat to sit there with a couple of thousand people who were screaming and vibrating over how excited they were for these shows. It made it just that much more memorable!

Like minded individual!

Following the Sunday panel, which was the last of the convention, we moseyed over to the swag room. The place was located outside the convention center at the Marriott down the street north from the convention center. On a side note, the San Diego Comic Con was being filmed that year by Morgan Spurlock for his next documentary, tentatively entitled: Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope. I mention this because as we were walking through the Marriott we came across a room with multiple signs stating that filming and editing was in process in that area, so those walking past were to remain quiet. We were already aware that Spurlock was filming and although we remained vigilant we never did see him, but perhaps saw his film crews on a multiple occasions. Getting back to the swag room, we walked through a maze inside the Marriott and finally came to a small room where people were lined up against the wall with boxes of free swag behind them. Throughout the convention tickets were provided at random panels. These were not given to everyone either as they were limited. I had wanted to redeem the tickets earlier as the swag was a first-come-first-served basis and they did not have enough for everyone with a ticket. As the room closes at around 5, and it was located away from the convention center, we decided to wait till the last day when we would not miss too much while retrieving our swag. This is probably the best decision as you do not attend Comic Con for the swag but instead for the experience of panels and whatnot. What we got reaffirmed our initial suspicions of the swag as well. We figured the swag would probably consist of buttons and posters, and we were not disappointed. The buttons were cool but would not have been worth missing a panel for. I met some people that were obsessed with the swag, but it can be difficult to find the spots where it is given out, and sometimes the swag is given to you directly. Some of this swag is supposed to be pretty sweet. Not mentioned earlier was that previous to Guillermo del Toro taking stage, I had been given a card with ‘999’ printed on it. This card was to be redeemed for a limited edition print of the Haunted Mansion, a movie to be directed by Toro, and it would be autographed by the man himself when you arrived to pick it up. However, the rub is that they do not say what these cards or tickets are for. You do not find this out until you redeem them. I am glad I stayed in the panel as there were a lot of celebrities that I got to see, but the poster and meet with Toro would have also been nice. The point is that you have to decide what you want and realize that the ticket or card could be for something like a cheap poster or button, or an exclusive meet and greet, although if you receive a card that no one else around you was given, then it might be for something much more than a button and worthwhile going to.

Warner Bros. area on the
main hall floor.

The main floor remained open when the panels ended. This is a great time to walk around and visit the vendors you may have walked past previously. There are many deals to be had with the end of the convention as the vendors would rather sell their stuff cheap than have to transport it back to where it came from. The downside is that many of the comic creators have either already left or are incredibly tired of a busy 4-5 days. If you know of a few vendors that had wares that previously piqued your interest, go there sometime around 1-2 hours remaining in the day and make them an offer. I made off with a few good deals, but it was a mad house, so beware. The best deal was to be found at the Dark Horse Comics booth where they gave away all of their single issue comics away for free and everything else was 50% off.

On a somewhat separate note, do not try to carry too many things in the free bag Comic Con gives you when first picking up your passes. The shoulder bag may appear large, but the straps are NOT strong. As I had grabbed a metric ass-load (yes, that is a measurement) of comics and stashed them in the shoulder bag, it quickly broke when exiting the convention center. Make sure to bring a more trustworthy messenger bag or back pack. Especially one with a number of pockets that can be used for food, drinks, and keeping certain things separate like comics from pointy toys!


Finally, over the speakers came a resigned voice stating that the Comic Con 2010 was over. It was amazing to be in a giant building with thousands and thousands of like minded individuals around you that all moaned simultaneously. Despite this, everyone remained courteous, though there were a few exceptions of people frantically trying to buy up various pieces of merchandize. My wife and I slowly exited the building, and although I was sad, I was also completely content with the fact that I finally made it to the San Diego Comic Con. It is the world’s largest comic book convention, and has grown into more of a cornucopia of pop culture, catering to those who have cherished what is deemed geeky and unfashionable, but has recently become trendy with TV shows like the Big Bang Theory. My final comment and recommendation for anyone going to Comic Con is that enter those doors knowing that you will not experience everything, but be content with what you do experience. This is one of the truly magnificent features of the convention; everyone has a truly unique experience no matter what panel you go to, what event you score tickets to, who you may run into, or what you may buy. However that being said, make sure to experience as much as you can!

Comic Con was everywhere! Even a
statue got into it!

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode XI

Stan Lee at San Diego
Comic Con 2010

Saturday is the last day for most of the big panels, and the last full day of the convention. We again stood in line for Ballroom 20, and again we attended only the first half of the day’s panels so that we could explore other areas of the convention. For this morning we saw the panels, and full casts, for Chuck, Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, Futurama, and The Simpsons. Chuck was great, and the cartoon panels had script reads of upcoming episodes by the cast members. This was something wholly unexpected and a highlight of the day, especially with Seth McFarlane singing in the voice of Stewie from Family Guy. 

After leaving Ballroom 20 on Saturday, we explored the main hall, running into Danny Devito, Stan Lee, and having a photo taken with the incredibly friendly Jason Mewes –despite his abandonment by his handler and deep need to escape for a cigarette. After a failed attempt to meet Val Kilmer (who did not show up for his appointed meet and greet time), we decided to tempt fate and wait in line to enter Hall H to see Kevin Smith’s comedy panel and a few movie panels (including the Avengers). While waiting in line we discovered that someone was stabbed in the eye inside Hall H for yelling “Resident Evil sucks”; note, this is a rarity and Comic Con should not be thought of as ‘unsafe’. As it seemed that the Hall would be closed for the day we decided to walk over to the Indigo Room to see a screening of Cop Out, introduced by Kevin Smith (in person) following his comedy panel.As it later turned out, Hall H was not closed but even though we waited numerous hours to enter Cop Out, it gave us a well needed rest and guaranteed us front row seats. Additionally, when I had left the line-up I rode the escalator up with Joss Whedon who was returning from his announcement that he would direct The Avengers movie! It was a moment of awe, surpassed only by the priceless moments where we sat a few feet away from Kevin Smith, one of my favorite directors. The movie did not get out till very late and while walking back to the hotel we ran into Matthew Lillard (of the Scream movie fame) and Cassidy Freeman (from Smalliville fame). As every night on our trip to San Diego, we ended it with broad smiles!

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode IX

Barenaked Ladies performing the theme
song to The Big Bang Theory, just prior
to the cast arriving to the panel.

The other three days of Comic Con went much like the first, filled with a crazy cacophony of pop culture entertainment. On Friday we went to Ballroom 20, which is the second largest room. There, TV show panels were put on, unlike Hall H that presents panels about upcoming movies. Ballroom 20, on Friday, included the casts of Stargate Universe, Caprica, and The Big Bang Theory. There were other panels too, but we only stayed for these first three. Big Bang was, in particular, great as it began with the Barenaked Ladies performing the TV show’s theme song. In retrospect we should have stayed in the room, but we were compelled to experience what else the convention had to offer. Unfortunately, we intended to meet the cast of the Big Bang Theory at the Warner Bros. booth. This was the most unorganized and chaotic booth on the main floor. I do not recommend trying to go there as for us our experience included waiting around for an hour wondering where the line began, only to discover the line was somewhere else. Other booths, such as the other TV station booths (ABC, NBC, FOX, etc), were much more organized and had well marked lineups for meeting the celebrities and someone who stood at the back of the line with a sign denoting if the line was full or not. Despite this, we did get to see Anna Paquin from True Blood as she walked past us to enter the Warner Bros. area to sign autographs.

The rest of Friday was not a bust. We walked around the floor checking out all the vendors. The hall is huge and cannot be done quickly. We focused on the comic book creators that were there and found one of our favorite artists /writers: David Mack. After the convention had ended for the day we headed outside into the ever-exciting Gaslamp District where we headed for the Broken Yoke. This is a great little breakfast place that is open late. The prices are affordable and located close to the convention center (between J and K street on 6^th Ave.). As an added bonus, most of the restaurants are to be found on 5^th Ave, so while this place is close not many people were there because the mobs stuck to 5^th. 

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode VIII

Line for Hall H.

Day one of Comic Con began with a bang! Well, not literally. We woke up early and hustled our way out the door, debating on whether to walk or take one of the shuttle busses that the Con provides free of charge (there are multiple busses that pick guests up at a spot near or at their hotel and bring them to the convention center, and then can be picked up again at the convention center to be brought back). We opted for walking as the busses unfortunately do not run all that early, and if you want a good spot in a line you should probably find your own way there. It was a pleasant walk despite it being so early, and it gave us an opportunity to buy a coffee. This is important, as if you are a coffee drinker it is difficult to buy coffee (nonetheless good or cheap coffee) once you are at the convention center. Furthermore, the first few hours of each morning at the Con are spent in a line. You cannot buy food or drinks while in line as most things are still closed, so it is best to pick something up that morning or the night before. Thankfully there is a Starbucks located in the Gaslamp along 5^th Ave, which is the main street you want to walk towards the convention center if you are staying at a hotel in the downtown area.


The line for the Thursday morning was not all that bad. We had heard horror stories of the line ups, especially for the main hall that we were in line for on that morning –Hall H. We soon realized that this was from the previous year’s Twilight panel. As none of the actors from that movie were there in 2010, the line ups were not so bad. It was made that much more pleasant because of the people around us. We befriended a few people standing in line with us and talked to each other over the next few hours. It was great as these people were not only friendly and shared mutual interests, but they had attended Comic Con before and were able to give us advice on what to expect. That is one of the key features of Comic Con; the people standing in line with you tend to be super friendly and will always have sage advice on how to maximize your fun!

Paulie Shore at the
San Diego Comic Con!

As I’ve already said, the line ups were not too bad. As the line began to move we saw Paulie Shore doing an interview for some new talk show. He went around interviewing various people that were waiting in line and as he did so someone farther back in the line started yelling out the names of the movies he’s been in: Biodome! Stepson! Etc etc. Definitely a cool moment.

Inside Hall H.

Once inside Hall H we were struck by the enormity of the room. Hall H holds over 6,500 people. The seats are arranged into large square groupings with even larger screens hung from the ceiling at multiple locations so that no matter where you are seated you can still see the action! Not only do these screens show what is happening on the big stage at the back of the Hall, but they also show the clips and trailers for the movies that the guests are promoting. When first entering the room, a line of people giving out swag bags great you. Make sure to take what they have as many times there are special tickets inserted into random bags (these tickets get you into the events happening throughout the downtown area I had mentioned in the previous post).

We had found ourselves two seats with a decent view, but not exactly close to the stage. Roughly 1/2 way to 1/3 up to the stage was where we sat. This is something to remember: do not fool yourself into thinking you will get prime seats in Hall H. There are thousands of other people thinking the exact same thing! Many of the sections close to the front are also reserved for special attendees and press, making it that much more difficult to obtain prime seats. Despite the fact you may not get a great seat, you will still be able to enjoy the event(s) as the screens will show you everything that is going on up front, not to mention that the guests have mikes. 

Michael Cera dressed up
Captain America.

We decided to stay in Hall H all day as there were just too many great panels happening! We did not leave our seats until the panels had finished at around 5 pm. As a bonus, there are bathrooms and a food /drink vendor in the Hall. It extremely difficult to get back into Hall H once you leave the room, so you have to make that commitment that if you leave, you will probably not get back in since the line up does grow longer throughout the day and that there are many other people like my wife and I who decided to not leave at all! So why didn’t we leave? Well, the panels were amazing and included cast members from: Megamind (Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, and Jonah Hill), Tron (full cast),  Battle Los Angeles (Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez), Salt (Angelina Jolie and Liev Schreiber), RED (Bruce Willis, Helen Mirin (who, as always a class act, walked out wearing a Harvey Pekar shirt, who had just passed away), Mary-Louise Parker, and Karl Urban), J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon discussion (both were there!), The Expendables (Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture), and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (full cast including Michael Cera, Kieren Culkin, Anna Kendrick, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh (Superman!),  and Jason Schwartzman). OK, so that was an impressive list of names right? Well, as my posts about Comic Con have already been INCREDIBLY LONG, I will not go into detail about these panels, except that everyone listed above and more were there! It was amazing to here the stories of how the movies were made, what the stars thought of the movies, and other side stories they had –Stallone was the best for this. In addition, other stars just randomly showed up, like acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro, Simon Peg, Nick Frost, and more! One final note though, each panel is hosted by an individual that is often of some relation or importance in the entertainment industry or Comic Con. While I did not recognize all of the people hosting the panels, I did recognize that The Expendables panel was hosted by Harr Knowles of aintitcool.com! Aint that cool!

Another quick note about the day in Hall H was that the Tron panel became interactive! The director announced that they still needed some audio for the movie, so on the sayings were shown on the screen in which the audience was supposed to repeat. These sayings (and stomps and claps) were the sound of an audience cheering and jeering were to be used in a race scene from the Tron movie. 


As we left Hall H we were immediately introduced to the blaring sun and throngs of people moving left and right past the building. We decided to look at our maps and figure our what we wanted to do. The downside to attending a panel all day is that there is little else occurring at the convention center specifically, and the main hall floor is already closed. So as we stood there we saw a few guys rushing past us. We quickly realized that Nick Frost was whom the guys were rushing towards! We followed suit and asked for a photograph, and he politely said yes even though the gentlemen escorting him around said he did not have time. It was great, and made even better with just how friendly Nick Frost was! It was a great almost end to the day!

My wife & I with Nick Frost

We left the convention center after our run-in with Nick Frost and sought food in the Gaslamp district. We walked around looking at all the events occurring in the area, and ran into Bill Duke who played Mack in the movie Predator! It was absolutely awesome as I am huge Schwarzenegger fan and this is probably as close as I’ll ever get to meet him, not to mention that Bill Duke’s character was one of my favorites from the movie. Bill Duke, much like Frost, was incredible nice and kind enough to have a photo taken with me. I grinned from ear to ear for the rest of the day!

Me and Bill Duke!

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode VII

Day four is when Comic Con really started heating up. The anticipation was palpable! People began pouring into the city and our hotel was brimming to capacity with nerds. This was to be a lazy day as the next four would be packed with pop culture excitement! For this day, we planned to pick up our four-day passes and to take a slow walk around the convention center to figure out where everything was, including where to go for entering the convention the next morning.

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System is great. It is reasonably priced and runs frequently. You can either buy a ticket pass /booklet at one of the Transit stores (one was located next to The Sofia) or pay at the platform; we opted for paying at the platform. The ticket pick-up for four-day ticket holders was located at a hotel that was a fair distance away from downtown but conveniently next to one of the train stations. This was also a hotel listed on the Con website, which I would not recommend staying at since you would need to take the train downtown, but it does not run early enough to get a good place in the morning line-ups. Regardless, we walked over to the hotel and picked up passes. Upon arriving there we saw a few hundred people forming a line into the hotel. At first thought it appeared it would take a long time to obtain our passes, but in fact it took maybe 30 minutes! Further, Comic Con said the tickets would not be available till around 1 pm, but this was not to be the case. Instead, they opened much earlier and by the time we arrived at around 11 am, they were already handing out the passes.

Comic Con badge with
free swag buttons!

Comic Con is incredibly organized. They need to be due to the sheer volume of people they are taking care of, but nonetheless do an outstanding job. The line for picking up 4-day passes moved incredibly fast and there were three areas you went through: first area to line people up and make sure that there is not too many people in the main areas picking up their passes, a second area to give them your information and they provided you with a badge, and a third area to obtain your free Comic Con bag, books, and free swag! This was great and I highly recommend this procedure to be adopted by any large comic convention. 


Once we had our passes in hand I could not stop grinning. I truly could not believe this was actually happening! We boarded the train to head back to the downtown area, along with a handful of other equally large-grinned individuals who clutched their free Comic Con bag and badge. We rode the train to the convention center and saw thousands of people breaking like a wave against the convention center. People were lining up for events happening the next day, and some were entering the building to take advantage of the Preview Night. If I have not mentioned it yet, you MUST take advantage of this. Do not wait to purchase your tickets and instead buy them as soon as possible with the Preview Night. As we found out later, there is not that much happening on that night but it offers you a chance to walk around the convention floor when there are not as many people and you do not feel torn about missing a panel. If this is your first time attending, the Preview Night also allows you to get your bearings. You can walk around the floor and see what there is and then know where you would like to go later on during the next four days; trust me, the main hall floor is massive and many of the booths offer different events each day, sometimes each hour! We instead spent a lot of time walking around the crowded floor wondering where everything was and what we should be doing; all of which can be avoided. It is also important to spend your time wisely. Yes, four days may sound long, but as there is so much to do it goes by very quickly. If you can figure out what you want to do, when and where it is, then you will definitely have a much more enjoyable time and be able to do more things as you won’t be wasting time trying to figure out which of the awesome events you want to partake in.

Train signs in Klingon!

Moving on. From the convention center we walked into the downtown area. The city was alive and vibrant. The street signs on the train platforms were written in Klingon and there were massive banners that advertised TV shows and movies adorning the faces of the largest offices and hotels. The street was filled with people dressed up, wearing Comic Con bags, and other people handing out free swag and promoting their upcoming panels for TV shows and movies. As the movie Green Hornet was in production then, the car from the movie set was brought in and people could take their photo next to it. The place was electric!

Aaron Douglas

After taking the scene in, we decided we needed food and a drink. We decided on a fish place, called The Tin Fish, that was across the street from the convention center and in the middle of the horde of nerds. The food was excellent, cheap, and fast! We sat on the patio and ate while watching the comings and goings of those around us. Furthermore, while standing in line to order the food I realized that none other than Aaron Douglas, the Canadian actor who played Chief Galen Tyrol from Battlestar Galactica was standing right in front of me. While I did not say hi, it was a very cool moment. It reinforced the fact that YES I am at Comic Con!


With our bellies full we slowly strolled through the Gaslamp District, heading towards our hotel and quickly going to bed as we would be waking early the next day. The District is where all the ‘extra’ events occur for Comic Con. It is also where most of the celebrities and visitors go. The stores and restaurants stay open later during the convention and it is truly worthwhile to walk along the downtown streets taking in the crowds and events. While you may not have access to all the events (many are by admittance through receiving special tickets during Comic Con, handed out at various locations and times), it is nonetheless fun to walk around and see what is happening from the outside. For instance Flynn’s Arcade was a place promoting the upcoming Tron movie. While we did not have passes, it was still great to see the neon sign and what they had done to the building to promote the movie. 

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode VI

Wednesday was a day of shopping. Michelle, my wife, wanted to visit a few stores not found back at home in Calgary, Alberta. So we ventured out from the hotel, waking up early to take advantage of the day. We figured we would head to a few malls that we wouldn’t have a chance of visiting during the rest of the vacation due to Comic Con.

To be frank, the mall we visited was a bit of a bust. There were a few stores that she enjoyed looking around in, but the place was pretty quiet and didn’t have too much in the way of attention grabbing attractions. The mall was also not too interesting in the way it was laid out. It was your typical mall. However, it did have a Target (though its better days had passed it by) where it was selling comic style t-shirts; I picked up Star Wars and Ghost Busters shirts, and Michelle picked up a “I Love Nerds” shirt. Following the trip around the mall, we stopped by another mall that was on the way back to downtown and located just off the train tracks. We wondered around a bit but began thinking we should reserve our energy for the next few days. This would prove key and highly recommended to those attending Comic Con. Make sure to have at least one day of low-key adventure before the Con begins. You will find that each day at the Con requires substantial endurance! Also, getting one good night’s sleep before the Con is also essential. In all likelihood, you will be out from 6am to at least 11pm everyday of the Con. There is plenty to do, be it going to the downtown bars or attending late night film screenings, you will want to take advantage of whatever is going on, and with that being up late everyday and running on very little sleep. 

Gaslamp District

 Once we returned to the hotel we dropped off our stuff and headed back out to the Gaslamp district. We were in search of food, and in that we located a Planet Hollywood. I was cynical of the place as I had vowed to eat nothing but freshly made local food with a Mexican flair. This would not always pan out for me, and as Michelle desperately wanted to go to a Planet Hollywood, I budged. It turned out to be a good choice as it did not take long to be served and the food was exceptional. However, one thing to keep in mind about America is that they like to serve medium-rare hamburger. I had ordered a burger (which was delicious) but constantly wondered if I was going to regret eating it a few hours later! That did not turn out to be the case, and instead it was a wonderful evening to another great day in San Diego. The next would prove to be even more eventful as the San Diego Comic Con Preview Night would take place!

san Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode V

At the San Diego Zoo, we walked past many of the animals but paid special attention to those we were most interested in. As I am an archaeologist and have studied primates to some degree, I was most interested in the primate sections. Michelle sought the ‘cute’ animals, such as the pandas and koalas. We walked to the far end of the zoo and found ourselves quite depleted of energy, as much of the park is a series of hills. Fortunately, there are escalators on some of the steeper hills (image upper left). There is also a gondola ride that takes you from one end of the park to the other (image upper right). The gondola ride seems like a romantic way to oversee the park, but when you are two scaredy-cats like us, it may not be so romantic. It brings you up what seems to be 100’s of feet off the ground and gently sways side to side, along with an occasional jarring bump. The wind was picking-up speed and becoming increasingly colder. As we sat in this off-the-ground-prison I began to think of how a strong wind could easily push the cart around and perhaps off the cable it was sinuously attached to. Michelle’s face had become white the moment we entered the cart and her grip became increasingly firm on the cart’s sides -I was no  different. Upon exiting the cart we decided we would never do that again, but it did give us a nice view of the park no matter how frightening it was for us!

One of the more spectacular exhibits was that of the Panda’s. Michelle dearly wanted to see them, and upon approaching the exhibit we saw that there was a line-up. Visitors had to line-up and enter the facility in a single file. There was to be no stopping while in the area as the staff tried to make sure that everyone would get through. As this was a weekday during the summertime, the line was long but not too bad. It took about 20 minutes to enter the facility and we spent another 20 minutes inside looking at the pandas. I think Michelle took about 50 photographs while we were in there as two of the pandas were moving about. Once we exited the facility we saw that the line was much shorter, and we went in again. In total, we went through the facility three times and each time was as special as the first for Michelle. I had to admit though, the pandas were pretty cool to see.

As the day wore down and night approached, we worked our way towards the front gates. The list of animals we saw is too long to list, but trust me that it was a lot! The enclosures at the San Diego zoo are amazing and very well kept. Even though the zoo was first opened in 1915, you would instead think it was built only a few years ago. 

 At night the zoo takes on a wholly different atmosphere. Lights of various color turn on across the park. It becomes more romantic and exotic with the sounds of tigers roaming about. The attendance at the park also drops, so we began to feel a little more private about our walk through the park. Before finally leaving we stopped by the gift store and purchased a zoo mug that had an image of one of the pandas –we try to pick up coffee mugs from wherever we go even though we ran out of room for them in our cupboards a long time ago. We left the zoo complex and decided we would again take a cab ride back. To the side of the main entrance was a collection of cabs. By the time we reached our hotel it was quite late and we were hungry as our last meal had not been for hours and consisted of the re-heated, previously frozen chunks of semi-identifiable food. Perhaps not our best judgment call, we decided to walk to the Pizza Hut that was on the corner of the Grey Hound station attached to the hotel. The pizza was cheap, warm, and enjoyably tasty. We sat in our room, stretching our calves and bemoaning the condition of our sore feet while engorging ourselves with greasy pizza. That night we slept satisfied with the past two days of vacation, ending again on a high note.

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode IV

Day two in San Diego was centered around visiting the local Zoo. An average zoo, such as the one back home in Calgary would require about 5 hours to walk about, although I feel that many more hours than that are needed to fully see the zoo. Nonetheless, the San Diego zoo is massive, being 107 acres in size. Built in 1915, the zoo now has over 4000 animals comfortably living within its borders that represent 800 different species. This is also one of the very few zoos in the world that houses pandas, which were a particular draw for my wife.

We didn’t have to go to out for breakfast that morning since we purchased groceries the night before. We woke up early and Michelle showered and got ready for the day while I packed the backpack for our trip: various snacks and batteries for the camera, along with a map of San Diego. We debated about taking transit to the zoo but opted instead for a cab. The cab ride was about $15 round trip, which was cheaper than purchasing a day pass for the transit. The cab ride was much faster than the transit, plus we didn’t have to worry about catching the correct bus. As we were staying at a hotel in the downtown area, there were always cabs outside, albeit primarily there waiting for people to exit the Greyhound station next door.

The ride to the San Diego zoo was quite fast. We exited the cab at the front gates and found that even though it was still early in the morning, around 9 am, there was a large group of people waiting to enter the zoo. There were a few summer school groups there, a number of other people likely taking the day off from work to take their kids, and other people much like us who were visitors to the area. While waiting in line we again met another friendly San Diego’ite (or whatever you call the native people of San Diego). He was with his son and spoke to us about how great the zoo is and how they were to visit Lego Land the following day.

The San Diego Zoo is a massive place. It can easily take a day to walk through the complex, but this would do it no justice as you would have to walk briskly past almost every enclosure. We decided to walk a counter-clockwise route and take advantage of the daylong trip. The morning weather was nice, but not exactly summer-like. As the day wore on it became increasingly cooler, and as we were wearing shorts and no jacket, we soon began to shiver.

Panda bear at the
San Diego Zoo

We forgot that we had packed snacks for the day. We bought food from a few of the vendors, where it was found to be re-heated previously frozen chunks of what might pass for food if you were trapped on a desert island. Not exactly appetizing and I do not recommend it. Water was also not something easily obtained, and when it was found it cost about $4. We opted instead for the more hideously satisfying fountain beverages, where you could buy one large cup with a gaudy plastic animal lid. The cup held about 1 litre of pop and could be refilled at no extra charge, which sounded like the most rationale choice even though the thing cost over $10. Nonetheless, I would recommend buying one of these if you forget to bring a water bottle, which we had. Also, even though the food was marginal at best, it did satisfy our hunger and didn’t empty our pocket books too much. 

San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode III

Comic Con banners in
 downtown San Diego.

With the bags unpacked we ventured out from our hotel. We took a stroll down to the Gaslamp district for some shopping, supper, and to pick up some groceries. While leaving the hotel we could see Comic Con 2010 banners hung from the streetlights. These were set up throughout the city, increasing my excitement a hundred fold; the banners promoted the upcoming Tron movie. Not only were there banners, but there were also signs in almost every storefront window. These signs said that the merchants were supporting the convention. It really brought the entire city together. Previously when we had picked up our room keys, the person at the front desk asked us if we were going to dress up. We said no, but it turned out that the staff dressed up every year for the event! In addition, during the morning hours when I waited for Michelle to get ready I would watch the local news. Everyday the news would discuss what to expect for Comic Con. They would talk about how many people were flowing into the city for the event and gloss over various events happening throughout the city in support of it. It was amazing and reminded me of the influence that the Stampede has in our home city of Calgary, Alberta.

J.K. Simmons,
in a scene from Spider-Man.

An outdoor mall called Horton Plaza was just a block from our hotel and screamed sophistication. There were about four floors of various shops. Many of these were high-end specialty stores and department stores. We surveyed the shops and at our final stop we walked through an upscale Nordstrom’s store, where I saw J.K. Simmons who to me is famous for his role as J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man movies and in Thank You For Smoking. I did not ask him for an autograph or photograph as he was with his wife and two daughters, but the fact that I saw him was astounding enough. I felt it was the perfect start to the vacation!

After walking through the out-door mall we tried to find a restaurant in the Gaslamp district. We made a large loop in the district and finally decided on a pub that we had seen at the very beginning of the loop; we can be fairly indecisive. The pub was cozy and made their own beer. TV’s hung from the ceiling but was not too loud. Michelle ordered southern fried chicken and I ordered enchiladas. Both our plates had enormous portions, which turned out to be the norm in San Diego. Our food was great and Michelle had leftovers. We also ordered drinks and they too were great. My beer was one of their in-house brews, and Michelle ordered a strawberry margarita that had a healthy dose of tequila. Following supper was a trip to a grocery store and then it was off to the hotel. Coming from Canada it was a nice to see liquor sold at the grocery store. This was expected, but what was not were the prices and selection. They had everything including hard alcohol, wine, and beer. Tequila was very cheap, but we opted for a six pack of a local brew and a bottle of wine that Michelle just had to have since it was called Château de Michelle. We also picked up snacks (both healthy and not so healthy) and in particular breakfast food items. One of the keys to making any trip affordable is to immediately visit a nearby grocery store and pick up food. This cuts down on how much you will spend at restaurants (limiting it to only suppers), and allows one to try more of the local foods.

Once back at the hotel we relaxed and put the food away. Eventually we left again to visit the 7-11 across the street. While walking over there we noticed how busy the Greyhound station was that buttressed one side of the hotel. This was one of the drawbacks to The Sofia hotel as this station attracted a number of sketchy individuals and had us walking a little faster than normal. Nonetheless, we entered the 7-11 on a mission to buy some of the Farmville products as Michelle was trying to get the codes for her Facebook game. This was the end of the day for us where we flew to San Diego and managed to explore a small portion of the downtown area near the hotel and get some food for the week. I always enjoy the first day in a new city for it holds so much promise, and it is wonderful when the city lives up to this, which San Diego does in spades. The Gaslamp district is amazing at night, but the areas outside of here (past The Sofia) are not so enticing. Our day was done and we then planned our second, full day in the city where we would travel to the Zoo.