L.A. Day One

To think, I had all of the time in the world today to write out an article (or two . . . or three) about my overall Comic-Con experience--but I didn't. Now, I'm half-awake and about to fall asleep. So here was my day: As seen in my Tweets today, I visited 710 AM ESPN radio today and sat in on the Mason and Ireland show. I got a chance to hang out with Steve and John along with Mike (the producer) and Mario (the technical director). I also got to shake hands with John King from CNN (from "State of the Union" show). After the show ended, Lindsey and Sara picked me up from LA Live (the block where ESPN Radio and Staples Center reside) and we went to get dinner at Subway, followed by a run to Michael's to acquire materials to make shirts for The Price is Right tomorrow. We then came back to the apartment, met up with Sara & Lindsey's friend, Ben, went swimming/hottubbing, and then got to work on our t-shirts. My shirt (a yellow shirt with pieces of black duct-tape used to form the lettering) is finished now and reads "OHIO" on the front, and "CLE ROX! Mistake By The Lake" on the back (in case you need clarification, CLE ROX stands for Cleveland Rocks).
Well, got to get up early tomorrow. Time for bed. Looking forward to the TV show tapings!
-Andrew

Comic-Con Day 3! (Quick Recap)

-Some of my photos have been picked up and featured on Fandango.com's Comic-Con website

-Sat in on Chuck, Family Guy. The Cleveland Show and Futurama panels

-Celeb photos: Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, Kel Mitchell

-Interviewed Kel Mitchell, Ralph Farquhar, Ron Myrick, and Tyree Dillihay

-Saw Batman: Arkham Asylum panel with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill

-Saw Watchmen panel; followed by showing of the Director's Cut version of Watchmen that featured live Q&A commentary with director Zack Snyder

All I have for now. Watchmen exhausted me between waiting in line and the fact that it's a three hour movie.

-Andrew

Comic-Con Day 2! (Quick Recap)

I find myself again limited on time due to a little necessary thing called sleep :/ My impressions will be up here eventually, but for now these daily recaps will have to suffice:

-Caught bus on time today; arrived at Convention Center around 8:40

-Went to press room first thing to search IMDB and web for possible discussion points in Trey's interviews (I've been shadowing the press line team for Fandango)

-Met Trey and John out on the terrace for Warner Bros. press line

-Saw Josh Brolin, Jimmy Hayward, Megan Fox, Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, The Hughes Brothers, Danny Trejo, Robert Rodriguez, Rebecca Romijn, Robert Downey Jr., Rachel McAdams, Jackie Earle Haley, Patton Oswalt, Cameron Diaz, Richard Kelly, James Marsden, Neill Blomkamp, Sharlto Copley, Leslie Nielsen, Keenan Thompson, Steve Howey, Diora Baird, Desi Lydic and Peter Jackson all today!!! :)

-made some new acquaintances at the Convention and on the bus ride

-walked exhibit hall with John to get some footage for Fandango's Comic-Con montage

-Sat in on presentation panel for upcoming movie "Stan Helsing" brought forth by Scary Movie producer (now at the director's helm for this one) Bo Zenga; wasn't impressed with footage shown--panel was pretty entertaining though (I have video footage to post--might be a few days till it's uploaded)

-Came home relatively early compared to past two nights

Again, my apologies for not posting full impressions yet on Human Target, V, Avatar, Kick-Ass, Mystery Team, or Stan Helsing . . . scratch that, I'm not sorry about Stan Helsing :) 

-Andrew

PS. Check out my new Flickr page with new Comic-Con photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/40485733@N04/sets/72157621693225335/

Comic-Con Day One! (Quick Recap)

Kind of crunched for time. I'm going to list highlights of the day for a quick recap and will expound upon them later. I've got an advanced movie screening in less than an hour (Mystery Team--check it out here http://mysteryteam-movie.com/) so, here was my day:
-Missed first bus, got on at 8:30, made it in convention center a little after 9
-Sat in on Comic-Con Film School panel
-Wandered exhibit hall again; got more free stuff
-Met up with Trey from Fandango; discussed possible interview questions for celebrities attending
-Went with Trey and met up with John, one of Fandango's cameramen; went out on terrace to wait for celebs to arrive and get interviews--celebs on the terrace included Audrina Partridge, Rumer Willis, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Chris Weitz, Joe Dante, Tim Burton, Kristen Stewart, Kristen Bell, Freddie Highmore, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Foster, James Cameron, Jeff Bridges and more!
-Saw exclusive premiere footage (25 minutes all in new 3D!) of James Cameron's Avatar
-Sat in on Kick-Ass panel and saw a new trailer and clips of the movie
Going to post photos on Facebook first. More details later after I'm back from Mystery Team
-Andrew

Comic-Con Preview Night!

I left the house around 2:30 and caught the bus into downtown San Diego. By 3 o'clock, I was off the bus and making my way toward the Convention Center. I got in line for Badge pick-up and got to chat with an artist named Ryan Archer. He creates web-comics and he's been going to Comic-Con for a few years now, so it was interesting to hear about his career and how Comic-Con has played an integral part in it. After getting my badge, bag and handouts, I stepped off to the side and sat on the floor next to some other attendees to organize my things, read through the guide book and use my laptop. Not a minute after I sat down, an "ELITE" red-shirt (Star Trek fans, you'll understand the irony there) security officer walked by and made an announcement that everyone had to clear the floor because we were a fire safety hazard. So, I repacked my bag and started looking for a place I could sit down. I asked another red-shirt where I could go and use my laptop--told him I was press and he told me I could go upstairs and use the press room. So I walk toward the escalator and, what do you know, a red-shirt stops me. "You have to go outside and use the other set of doors." Really? I was only 20ft from the escalator and I have to turn around to go in the "right way?" Whatever. I followed the directions, went upstairs, asked a volunteer where press could go. "Press? You mean the press room? 28A or C I think." I went to another volunteer and asked the same question, just to verify "I think that room's in the other building." Okay, I was told 28A or C. "Actually, it may be downstairs. Wait, I'll check. It's in 33A" Thank you, mame. Guess this means I can't rely on the staff for directions. I head over to 33A and . . .voila! It's the right room. A few guys were already sitting inside so I chatted with them for a little bit. One of the guys writes for ComicBookResources.com, another for a film-blog, and the other was working on an official Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles documentary (he told us a little news about a new Ninja Turtles movie. Besides saying it was Live-action, produced by the founder of Legendary Pictures, and due in 2011, he couldn't give anything else away. He was very excited though. I am too!) 

After checking e-mail and some Twitter updates, I went to get in line for the Preview Night Pilot screenings of The Human Target, V, and Vampire Diaries (I ended up leaving after Human Target and V. As one of the people next to me said "I'm over vampires." Thanks Stephenie Meyer.) While in line I met a nice guy named Richard. This is his fifth Comic-Con, so we talked for a good while about his plans for the rest of the convention along with some other geek stuff. His friends, Jeff and Lindsey, then met up with us and in the end, I got audio interviews with all three. We were then admitted into Ballroom 20 (it's gigantic, has to seat at least 2500) and got to enjoy The Human Target and V (more on those later--I plan on writing reviews.) After I ditched on Vampire Diaries and said bye to Richard, Jeff and Lindsey , I went down to the exhibit hall and wandered for the final hour of Preview Night. I got plenty of free swag. A few movie posters (District-9, Mystery Team) and some comic book poster handouts. 

I did see some celebrities on the floor--Tyrese Gibson, Lou Ferrigno, and Dominic and Dan from Derrick comedy. I talked to Dominic and Dan, but in order to talk to Tyrese or Lou, you had to pay for merchandise (I had a picture taken with Dominic and snapped a photo of Lou, but Tyrese's security blocked me from a distance and yelled "No, you gotta pay!" when I pointed my camera at him. Hehe. So much for that attempt.) Nine o'clock came around fast and it was time to book out of there. I walked a few blocks to my bus stop and that was basically the end of my night. Now, time for sleep--especially considering I want to be at the Convention by 8am :/ Looking forward to tomorrow!

-Andrew

P.S. Loaded some photos on Facebook. I plan on uploading them to Flickr, if not here, eventually

So much to talk about...

I had a very busy day today, so I'm going to have multiple posts tonight in order to avoid confusion (more so I don't get confused :p) and to keep things a bit more organized. This morning I drove to Ocean Beach right after breakfast. The weather was great and the beach wasn't too crowded yet, so I found a parking space with no problem. Took a while for me to figure out where the designated swimming area was (there's a huge surfer crowd there so they get their own section of the water) but I got there. I spent a few hours swimming, riding through waves, basking in the sun, and getting overtaken by waves and inhaling saltwater (not the best thing to do while swimming). 

Now time to attach a few photos and update last night's post. Then on to my story about Preview Night at Comic-Con!

From San Diego

*UPDATE* Photos added July 22nd

Pretty warm in San Diego tonight. Finished playing a game of chess with my nonagenarian host and got destroyed. While in San Diego, I'm staying with my distant cousins John and Betty and I'm enjoying my time with them. 

Started out by joining in on a game of pool with a group of retired men that John has over each week (I wasn't great at that either :/ But pool is fun nonetheless). After that, I got a short tour of part of the San Diego coast and then ate some delicious Mexican food at a place called Nati's. Afterwards we headed out to the pier at Ocean Beach. 

Very beautiful (pictures yet to be posted). Also saw a lot of surfers catching waves tonight. Next time I'm out here on the coast, I'm definitely taking surf-lessons.

-Andrew 

Layover in Vegas

Pretty uneventful flight from Detroit. Just relaxed, started a book ("Say Everything") and snacked on Red Vines. Only thing that really happened at all was the little girl sitting next to me accidentally spilled her cup of water on me.
I felt kind of bad for the girl because she curled up and was about to cry after her mom scolded her. Fortunately, my jeans dried up before we landed, so I didn't have to walk around the terminal looking like I peed myself :).
My flight came in just a little bit before 11am Eastern (crazy to think that it was only 8am on Pacific time--I just added three hours to my day) and then I explored around for places to eat until I found a Chili's, and get this--they serve breakfast. The food was pretty good as far as airport dining goes.
Just sitting in the A terminal now. It's a shame you have to be 21 to gamble in the States because otherwise I'd be hitting the slots right now.
-Andrew