June Gloom

I'm listening to a suitably sad piece of music right now. I can't help it; I'm still feeling a bit down. I'll have to get back to the real world soon (this Saturday, specifically) and I am dreading it. But for now, I'll try and finish what I've started.

05/30/2009

We got up relatively early that Saturday; Prime wanted to hit the IDW panel while I had to head to one of the autograph lines. Thank heavens the buses in California actually run at a decent hour on the weekends. (Well... the Pasadena ARTS 10, not so much. It's not hard to figure out why their fares are fifty cents a pop when the Metro's a buck-twenty-five--they run less time and they're all shorties.)

By the time we got to the convention center, two very long lines had already formed. One was for Peter Cullen, the other (which was located at a different building entirely) was for Weird Al. I headed for the second line, since I absolutely had to have Weird Al's autograph on my Animated Wreck-Gar. To my surprise, it wasn't that long of a wait; we had some pretty good conversations to help keep things lively. And best of all, I got an autograph and shook Weird Al's hand. Total nerdgasm!

After all was said and done, I headed back to the convention center proper. Prime and I took in the Activision panel, along with the Animated panel which featured Weird Al and David Kaye. Interesting stuff, save for the occasional stupid question.

Then came the big one: The Hasbro review panel.

This one is always packed, since this is where Hasbro does their huge unveiling.... and I get to see firsthand how Primus-awful broke I'll be. And trust me, I will be one quite broke yet very happy nerd. Lots of movie stuff and a good amount of Animated coming down the pike. Like I said, I'll be broke, but very happy. But after the preview, I had to jump ship early; I had business to take of in the dealer room. At 2PM, Mark Ryan would be there, signing autographs. I had two movie Bumblebees that needed to have his signature on them.

After getting them signed, I ran into my friend Shawn, who asked if I could possibly get Mark to sign a greeting card which would be sent to our friend Stogey, who is currently stationed in Iraq (and is Prime's younger brother's C.O. or whatever it's called). So back through the line I went. Mark actually teased me a little bit when he saw me again. :blush: But I got that card signed. (It was no prob, Shawn. I'm glad to help.) By con's end, that card had scrawl from almost every person of note to attend--you have to admit, that's cool as hell.

Afterwards, I hit the club panel with Prime and stayed behind for Peter Cullen's panel; Prime decided to hit the dealer room once again. I'm actually pretty glad he did. He probably would not have been able to deal with some of the stupid that occurred at Mr. Cullen's panel. Especially one of the last questions.

The very last person to ask Mr. Cullen a question had to be the world's biggest flaming idiot. I do not exaggerate when I say this. Why? Because he asked Peter Cullen if he had ever read any Optimus Prime/Megatron slash fics. The entire panel room burst into a pained howl as Idiot Boy chirped, "I win." Thank Primus Rik Alvarez yanked the mic out of that moron's hand. I swear, I have never been more embarassed in my life. Way to go, dipshit. If panel attendees have to submit questions in writing beforehand beginning next year, we ALL know who to blame. Blame and commit grievous bodily harm upon. Yeah--hope you're not particularly fond of any of your limbs.... we's takun dem.

Not long after, the show closed for the day. Since Prime, DA and I were signed up for the Paramount party, we headed up to Shawn's hotel room and yapped a bit. At quarter til 7, we headed back downstairs to wait for the buses that would whisk us away for a night of revelry. Shawn nearly forgot his ticket, so he dashed back upstairs to get it. Prime, DA and I waited for him. I am ever glad we did.

Not two minutes later, we saw Peter Cullen walking through the hallway. You could have knocked me over with a feather, I was so surprised.

DA and I managed to say hello. Now here's where it gets really cool: as he walked by, Mr. Cullen gave me a friendly squeeze on the arm. I could have fainted. Optimus Prime touched me! :insane fangirl squealing: We both thanked him profusely for coming. Me, I also blushed profusely. Prime thought it was quite hilarious. XD

Once we got outside and waited for a bit, we hopped on board the buses and were on our way. It took us a bit to get there, but it was worth it. Caught sight of a large ROTF billboard on the way.... yes, it was 'Bee.

There was a concert, food and much awesomeness. Weird Al was there, having his picture taken with adoring fans. Tyrese Gibson (Epps) and Ratchet came by for a visit and Ironhide was parked near the front. He didn't seem to mind me posing for a picture with him. But the best was yet to come.

Every one of the partygoers were given a wristband--some were blue, others were yellow. Prime, DA and I got yellow. Everyone who had a blue wristband were called first, while those of who had yellow waited. About twenty minutes later, the yellows were called. So off we went to the front of the studio.

We were led to the Paramount theatre, where we had surrender our cameras and cell phones before we were allowed to take any seats. The three of us managed to grab front row seats. How freaking cool is that? So we settled in and got ready for a show.

One of the Hasbro head honchos, Greg Lombardo, hopped up on the stage in front of the screen and announced what we would be viewing. We'd be seeing the trailer, which wasn't anything we hadn't seen before, but we'd see it in a much better theatre. Then a voice behind-and-right piped up, "I don't want to see that." We all turned and looked, confused.

It was Michael Bay. I actually yelled, "Oh my GOD!" Yeah, I was that surprised.

He hopped up on stage and said we were going to watch two scenes: One involving Devastator and the other was a Bumblebee fight scene. When I heard "Bumblebee", I cheered.

Without giving away too much, all I can say is this--Devastator is scary as hell and Bumblebee is now a badass. (Hey, it only took 25 years...) Spine-ripping badass. Once we had seen the sheer awesomeness, we picked up our confiscated items and rejoined the party.

At around midnight, we went back to the convention center. Prime, DA and I caught a cab and went back to our home away from home, the Travelodge. It didn't take me long to collapse and go to sleep.

05/31/2009

Prime and I got to the 'Con just in time for the Hasbro Design panel. Interesting stuff, I tell you (but can't show you). Afterwards, I was going to hit the dealer room, until I noticed something.

There was literally a ton of general admission people (hereby referred to as "shlubs") crowded around that huge Bumblebee statue. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but a mess of these dipsticks forgot or didn't care that barricades are erected for a fucking reason. There were shlubs going up under the damned cords, touching the statue and letting their kids try and climb on the blasted thing. Why, yes! That is dangerous as hell! Thanks for noticing.

I spent some time acting as Bumblebee's bodyguard. If I pissed any of those damned shlubs off, tough. If they don't have the common sense to fucking follow rules, too damn bad. They don't fucking need to be there. Grow a brain or GTFO.

I'm not sure for how long I did that. After ten minutes of watching it happen with me, though, Prime went to the club store to get a Fun Pub employee to make an address over the PA, which she did. But, you know, stupid people... ears don't work so well.

The stupidity did die down a bit, eventually, so I hit the dealer room. Took the Hasbro challenge and got a chance to spin the big prize wheel. I won a Robot Hero; I picked Bumblebee. Prime continued to pine after his personal TF Holy Grail, the G2 Megatron ATB (which you can sort of see here, it's pretty much dead-center), then took one last load to Shawn and his friend's vehicle while I took one last look around the dealer room. I bought two Stan Bush CDs and shipped them along with a small load that just wouldn't fit in the back of our friend's truck. UPS Store sure overcharges...

Things were winding down. You could feel it. The huge crowd in the dealer room began to thin down and it got thinner still after the 3PM drawing for a free trip to next year's 'Con. Although Fun Publications decided to keep the dealer room open an extra half hour due to the overwhelming walk-in response (a television commercial was probably the main culprit... promises of a free toy to the first one hundred kids under whatever age helped, I'm sure), it still didn't help assuage the mental ache I could feel coming on. Though chatting with my friends did ease it just slightly. What can I say--the whole experience makes for a very nice high.... from which I have no choice but to come down.

Soon enough, we were ushered out of the dealer room. As I stood in the hallway, a small group of dealers began to take down the barricade surrounding the Bumblebee statue. They were taking him down. That was a hard sight to see. I took video of it. I also got a couple of pictures with him, and with permission I was able to touch him. A few times, I caught myself pretty close to tears. It wasn't just the fact that the statue was being taken down; it was also the realization that it was over. It was truly over. I may, sometime in the future, post the video. And yes, my voice breaks at least once. It was pretty hard on me, all things considered.

I took a couple of pictures of the other statues and the convention center itself, said good-bye to Bumblebee, and we left. Spent a good portion of time talking at the hotel room. Talking and packing. I never really mean to do so, but I always wind up packing slowly. Not hard to guess why, is it?

The next day, DA left for home. Prime and I flew back home not long after. The ride via Prime Time Shuttle... um, after we were picked up, the driver stopped at the Hilton to pick up an indeterminate number of people (they were no-shows), then same at the Sheraton. Two guys, one girl, all obvious fellow attendees. They got on and maintained a 'Con-versation... which we might've joined, but for, well, one of them stank like death mixed with ass sausage. At least, that's how I thought of it until Prime described it as ONIONSKUNK. His description is better. Or worse, however one looks at it. It was... it was memorable. How I wish it weren't. People like that (and we don't know which one it was) give convention geeks a bad name. Or bad reek.

At least the flight was uneventful. And not full like the plane was, previously.

Was this one of the best conventions I had ever attended? I think so. But it wasn't just the fact I got to sit in panels and buy cool swag. It was seeing my friends again. It was making new friends and having fun with a group of people that share my interest. That's what keeps bringing me back to BotCon. And that's what keeps me happy.

I can hardly wait until next year, whenever and wherever it may be.