Comic Con Day 3

We were in line this morning four solid hours for Hall H, and it's already been worth it: a preview of the new Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds, followed by a preview of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

It was a full panel for Green Lantern, including Peter Saarsgard and Mark Strong. Ryan gave away a prop ring to the person who found a special piece of paper under their seat. The footage we saw didn't show GL in costume, but did show him using the ring to form a giant green fist, just like he used to in the comic. To much applause.

A big surprise! Draco Malfoy in the form of actor Tom Felton introduced footage to the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He actually seems, er, nice. And footage looks intense.

We were also shown a.clip from Zach Snyder's latest film, Sucker Punch. Most in the audience were not impressed.

Comic Con Day Two

We're sitting in line -- inside this time - for all the TV programming in Ballroom 20, which holds about half the amount of Hall H. Our ultimate goal will be seeing The Big Bang Theory panel this afternoon. But in the meantime we'll see panels for Stargate, and Caprica. After that, we will try to get into 6BCF for Lucy Lawless and the Spartacus panel. That one is less sure.

One surprise was seeing Johnny Depp on video, telling us about the new Pirates of the Caribbean. He wa dressed as Cap'n Jack Sparrow. It was a nice, witty speech about nothing and booze and it was a lot of fun.

I did enjoy seeing Angelina Jolie yesterday. She and Liev Schreiber were here promoting Salt. I really appreciate the fact that she got the same question at least 4 times but didn't make fun of them. Why did you pick this part - she tried to answer each time earnestly. And Liev Schreiber was very funny. I really admire his work.

But during that presentation, Debbie and I left, hoping to turn in our tickets for Haunted Mansion swag. When we got to the little room upstairs, we found a 30's-looking guy sitting there. As we got to the top of the queue, we found he was signing a 3-ft long poster in silver ink.

The poster is a beautiful green-on-black rendition of the HatBox Ghost, a scary apparition that was removed from the Haunted Mansion ride. The artist is Ragnar. I know 'cause I asked.

SDCC: Okay, It's Still Day One

I forgot to mention that a guy ripped off his clothes during the MegaMind panel. Stupid.

I had to leave the Angelina Jolie and Liev Schrdiber panel to pick up the free gift, which turned out to be an exquisite poster of the HatBox ghost, signed by the artist. I hate posters. Can't get 'em home. Shipping is too expensive. They wrinkle if you breathe..

SDCC, day 1 continued

Our first movie promotion today was a little late, but then they showed a 3D preview of Master Mind, an animated film starring the voices of Tina Fey, Will Ferrell, and Brad Pitt. Will Ferrell came out blue, dressed A's his character. Tina Fey came out dressed as Tina Fey. Jonah Hill came out, wise-cracking all the way. Just when we thought Brad Pitt would come out, Will Ferrell brought out a life-size, cardboard stand- up, and we were reminded that, if Angelina Jolie had to be here today, somebody's gotta take care of the kids.

Uh oh - we just got word that the 999 cards they gave out while we were in the long line to get in will get us something related to the new Guillermo del Toro film, The Haunted Mansion. Del Toro assured us that it's not going to be funny, it will be scary. "And we're not returning Eddie murphy's phone calls."

More later.

Comic Con 2010, Day 1

Actually, it's really Day 2 for us. Debbie and I visited the San Diego Zoo yesterday, and when we got back at 2:30pm, Ricky was already waiting for us in the Worldmark lobby.

We checked him in and chatted awhile, and then headed over via the trolley to the huge convention center. We went right in, upstairs, and then stood in line to register for not even5 minutes. We got our badges and our humongous Warner Bros bags. I lucked out and got a Big Bang Theory bag. The next line, however, was much longer, an hour or so, and that was to sign up for 2011. I see they raised my senior ticket $2 to $52. A steal.

We trolled the voluminous dealer's room -- about the length of 3 or more football fields -- looking for items I'd read about that would be available for free. We either didn't get to places like CBS in time, or they offer things on a random basis.

We spent about an hour in the big room, and then limped back to the timeshare. We were very tired. Ricky finally made up his mind what time we would meet early Thursday: 6:15.

What with the ache in my knee and my feet, I didn't sleep well but was eager to get started in the morning. Debbie reported that the people above us kept her up until 3am. Even with those distractions, we were ready to go at 6am.

We got to the end of Hall H after we climbed off the trolley in the drizzling rain, found our place on the grass, and sat for 2.5 hours. A long wait. I sat. I stood. And finally we moved into the big Hall H, picked up our (lame) freebies on the way end, and then scrambled quickly for 3 seats on an aisle. We guess there wee at least a thousand people in front of us in line, and thus in front of us in the hall.

Build It and They Will Sleep

European Sleep Works has been a dream during this whole bed process. Not a bad comment when you consider the process has taken about 10 weeks.

Today was the delivery day, the window 11am to 1pm. They showed at 11:30am, much to my surprise. My past "experiments" with delivery have not gone so well. When I look at the patio furniture, I see blood.

But there they were. I showed them the side entrance, after closing doors that would keep the dogs out of the area, which meant they had to bring the bed and mattress through two gates, up a flight of stairs to the deck, and through the French doors. They didn't argue. When I saw they had to put the thing together, I was astonished. 9 weeks to build the wood. 1 week to ship from the east coast. Half an hour to put it together.

But put it together they did! It's a beautiful sleigh model, king size (European king). I am now washing sheets to put on it, as the cotton sheets will shrink to fit. Supposedly. We'll see how that goes.

But I'm sleeping on a new bed tonight! I just have to figure out to get Princess up on this high bed...

Tumble Forward

I bumped up against a speed bump at the Desert Inn & Suites in Anaheim on Monday night. And fell right on my face. And, as it turns out, my left knee.

I was walking around, went back to my room, and called Dawn to help. I was bleeding profusely from the mouth, and immediately felt inside, even before lifting myself up off the concrete, to feel to see if my teeth were still there. They were, but one felt different.

This photo of the leg is three-and-a-half days later, Thursday. I would've taken a photo when it was the worst on Monday night around midnight, but (1) I couldn't reach the camera, and (2) I had other things to think of. Now that I know nothing is broken -- thanks to the doctor I saw on Tuesday -- I will just let everything heal.

I have to replace my glasses. I have to replace that tooth. But otherwise, I should be good. Walking is a little easier every day.