Monday the 21st – COUNTDOWN TO CON 1 – I got up early in the morning to meet with Corey from Awetronics to see about getting a new big screen TV installed. My Mitsubishi big screen has fried. Apparently in those types of TVs, there is a coolant leak that happens and leaks right on to the master control circuit board, which fries the TV and makes it completely useless. And they no longer make the circuit boards, so basically it’s big screen junk. After our consultation, I took my friend Christine to the train station so she could get back home to San Diego. Then I went to Carroll Casting to audition for a cartoon short. It’s always great to see Carroll. Then I headed over to Disney Character Voices to do another session for “Disney’s Th!nk Fast” game. When I got home I relaxed.
Tuesday the 22nd – COUNTDOWN TO CON 2 – I got up early to head to Eagle Rock to a studio called King Size Sound. I did a session for a new internet people search program. We finished the session, then talked about the upcoming Comic Con for a few hours. Then I headed over to Long’s Drugs to pick up some last minute supplies for my upcoming trip to the San Diego Comic Con that weekend! I also stopped to get my car washed, and then stopped to get some food for Sassie. I just had time to drop stuff off before I had to be back at Disney Character Voices for another Th!nk Fast session. That night I spent most of the evening packing all my stuff and preparing for my trip to San Diego. I did get a lot of good sleep though.
Wednesday the 23rd – OFF TO CON! – I got up early, and got the message on my voicemail from my pal Dave in South Dakota that his plane would be on time. He’d be making it to LAX right on time. At 10am! So I hit the freeway at 9:15. I popped my top, rubbed on the SPF 45 and made my way. It was all going according to plan! However, as I was turning into LAX to get Dave, Scott Sebring called (who was also on his way) and asked when we had switched our room reservations to the Hyatt. THEY HYATT? I pulled over, looked at our paperwork and sure enough, the Hyatt was listed on our reservation confirmations. Though I also had the original paperwork when I had first made the reservations, and it said Marriott. So I called Travel Planners in New York and talked to the guy I made my reservations with. Sure enough, we were still at the Marriott, and he said the Hyatt info was a mistake. Helluva mistake! It almost ruined our trip! Meanwhile, Dave was walking along the baggage claim sidewalk looking for me, trying to call in on my cell phone to let me know where he was, but I couldn’t click over because I was on the phone with Travel Planners. Anyway, we got it all worked out, I picked up Dave, played my San Diego Comic Con playlist on my i-Pod (specially selected songs that Dave and I both enjoy) and off we went, down the 405. As is my tradition, we stopped off at the Dairy Queen on Oso Parkway in Mission Viejo and had a chili dog, fries and a Diet Pepsi. (It used to be root beer, but since they changed to Pepsi from Coke, I now enjoy a Diet Pepsi). Then, which is also tradition, I stopped through the Krispy Kreme drive-though and picked up a dozen donuts…half glazed cream-filled, and half chocolate glazed (Dave’s choice). Off we went. The traffic was perfect, and the scenery was beautiful. Unlike a few years ago, the weather was so mild and cool that we left the top down the entire way to San Diego. We pulled into the Marriott Marina at 1:30. Superman’s Lois Lane Noel Neil was just pulling up as well. We said hi to her and waved. PRICELESS! All was on schedule. As we were checking into our rooms, we saw the amazing Stan Lee walking the lobby. I said, “Hey Stan! How are ya doin’?” He said in his gruff New York drawl, “Nevah bettah!” Dave and I were giddy kids. We were lucky enough to get into our rooms right away, and we both had rooms in the North Tower, which faced the marina. BEAUTIFUL! I had a patio I could go out on and over looks the marina and all the people. I unpacked as much stuff as I could, and then Dave and I met up to go get our badges. We also met up with Scott and Vickie Sebring and all headed over together. While in the lobby, I ran into my friend Amanda Shuckman, who I know from CONvergence in Minneapolis. Then we went to the convention to get our badges. They opened at 2:30, and we were there at 2:45, so the timing was perfect. I waited in line only about 5 minutes, and then I got all my badges. I also got an Exhibitor badge from a buddy of mine, which allowed Dave and I to get in early and scope out all the deals on the floor. I picked up a 1:18 scale Batmobile from Hot Wheels. Just then my friend Debbie called and said she had just arrived at the hotel. Debbie had flown in from Monterey to help out with the convention that weekend. My friend Christine was already in the room and would be surprised by Debbie’s appearance. But she had guessed the surprise already, but was still really glad to see her. Once we got settled in the room, I ordered room service for Deb, Christine, Deb’s son and mom and me. Then we got our badges and headed over to the convention. Debbie couldn’t believe her eyes, as this was her first convention. Then we met up with Emily, who really WAS surprised that Deb was there. It was great. We four were going to have a great weekend! While there I saw my pal, comic book legend Marv Wolfman (who was at CONvergence this year with me), Robert Meyer Burnett (who was also at CONvergence this year) and many other folks. Even though it was the first night, it was packed with people. But Comic Con was well underway. Afterwards, Dave, Deb, Emily, Christine and I met with Chris Jones and Melissa Kaecher from CONvergence for dinner. It was a great time! We were also joined by my pal Alex Zsolt and his wife Monica. It was really old home week! Then we all went to Scott’s room to see how their make-up process was going. Make-up? That’s because a bunch of them were going as the Enterprise crew in a few days to Comic Con.
Thursday the 24th – CON DAY 2! – The San Diego Air and Space Museum is hosting a Star Trek Exhibit, containing reproductions of the original Star Trek bridge set and other costumes and props. We were all excited to go, and I had bought eight tickets through Ticketmaster so we could all get our pictures taken on the sets. On the website, it said NO VIDEO AND NO PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY. Since we are just fans and not professionals I went ahead and bought the tickets. I had seen so many pictures on-line that looked cool, we decided to get dressed in our Trek gear and head over. We bought two additional tickets for Alex and Deb, who were late comers, and went in. But now the signs outside the exhibit said NO VIDEO AND NO PHOTOGRAPHY. It had changed since I had seen the website and ordered tickets. But we went in anyway and started shooting. While we were on the bridge set, taking photos of Scott and Vickie on the set, a guy came in yelling that there was no photography. I told him that we weren’t professionals but he said it didn’t matter. NO PHOTOGRAPHY AT ALL. I demanded to talk to the museum head and get my money back. Sandi, the head of the museum, said she was sorry but the decision came down from CBS Paramount TWO DAYS EARLIER not to allow any photography at all! I told her that it was deceptive, and dishonest, not to mention false advertising since I had bought the tickets under another pretense. I mentioned that we were there because of the San Diego Comic Con, and that the chances of other Trek fans coming to do the same thing was pretty high, so she may be under further scrutiny as the weekend wore on. I also told her that since I had bought 10 tickets, she should refund our money AND let us take the tour. It took me awhile to convince her, but she realized that they were in the wrong because of some CBS Paramount executives who don’t really understand what the Star Trek fanbase is all about. (In a few days I’ll be posting an open letter to CBS Paramount on my website detailing the entire process, so be sure to check back). She said she could refund the tickets we bought there, but could not refund the tickets we bought on-line from Ticketmaster. I will be contacting Ticketmaster about the refund, as well as my credit card company. She also said that Well, we did take the tour, but we kept our cameras holstered. Strangely enough, though we couldn’t take our own photos, we COULD however but THEIR photos for $40. Uh huuuh. Suuuure. My advice? If you’re considering taking the Star Trek Exhibit Tour and the San Diego Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park, DON’T. For our purposes, it’s a complete and utter misfire. (Not to mention the fact that many of the “original” props and costumes displayed didn’t stand up to the scrutiny of the educated eyes of our group, if you know what I mean. But since we were already dressed in our Trek costumes, we decided to finish the tour and I’d worry about the refund later. When we left I was fuming. And when I got back to the hotel, I realized that some of our stuff in our room had been thrown away by the maid. But luckily I contacted the maid and found most of what I was looking for. Then we changed back to our street clothes, and had lunch. While at lunch we saw my pal Tom Kenny, voice of Spongebob. What a great guy! Then we went to the convention and the day was starting to look up. We ran into our pals James and Larry, two perennial convention-goers we know from LA. I also got a text from Jason Marsden that he was too sick with the flu to come to the convention to do the Voice Actors Panel on Saturday. BUMMER! We stopped by the Sony booth to see my friend Jim Lee signing autographs. He was there to promote the DC Universe game. The same game that I had provided the voice of Green Lantern for! Then we went back to the room. Dave and I decided to hang out by the pool and avoid the crowds. I had four Cuban cigars I had acquired, along with an iced batch of Cokes in real glass bottles (a favorite of mine and Dave’s!). So we were hanging out by the pool, Debbie and Christine were swimming and we were just having a great, relaxing time. We were thinking of going to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 panel, but earlier I had walked by the room it was going to be held in and it looked a little small to me. So not wanting to fight the crowds, Dave and I decided to sit it out. It would have been nice to meet the gang, but I was tired of fighting crowds. Besides, I had just met Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy earlier in the day and had them sign my MST 3k book. So we kept relaxing by the pool and taking “deep pulls” on those Cubans. Neither Dave nor I are cigar experts, but it seemed like a fun thing to do while we were there. That night we went to Seaport Village, right by the Marina, and had dinner. It’s much easier going that way for dinner, than fighting our way into the Gas Lamp District to wait in line for an hour. Plus the scenery is nicer down by the water. We also got to see the fireworks go off! Later, the girls wanted to go take a dip in the jacuzzi so we went down there. But it was about 25 guys and 2 girls crammed into this little tiny jacuzzi. During conventions, when a lot of con-goers cram into a jacuzzi, it’s known as “Geek Stew.” So we didn’t stay long. I went back in and checked my e-mail on the computers downstairs in the lobby. A LONG day that didn’t start out very well, but ended up being very productive and pleasant.
Friday the 25th – CON DAY 3 – We all slept late and it felt great. When we got to the con we met up with Paul Zimmerman from Geek magazine and Deverill Weekes, my old pal. We didn’t stay long, because the girls were getting hungry. So when we went to the hotel to eat, we ran into my friend Ruben Procopio and his fiancé Jean. We also ran into Rikki Rosearik Simmons and his wife Tavisha. After lunch we went back to the con for awhile, but we hung out mostly in the upstairs area. Christine was in her Alice in Wonderland costume, and Debbie was dressed in my Catwoman costume. I saw a guy in a Gir costume, from Invader Zim and I got a picture with him. As people would come up to him, they would feed him lines from the show, and he would answer them in the Gir voice. It was hilarious. But apparently he couldn’t see very well in that costume, because he didn’t realize that a real Invader Zim voice-cast member was taking a picture with him! I also go to link up with my pal Neil Kaplan who was signing there and unveiling his new comic “I of the Wolf.” But the pool was calling to Dave and I again. So we went back and fired up some more Cubans and ice cold Cokes in a glass bottle. I ran into my friend John Fasano who sat in the pool and talked with us for a long time. What a great time! Very relaxing! Then we went back to our rooms to relax for awhile before going to Seaport Village for dinner again. I loved getting popcorn from the little popcorn cart after dinner, so I got some and on the way back, realized that there were sleeping ducks in one of the little ponds there. I started throwing popcorn into the pond for them and they came to life like magic. They LOVE popcorn. Soon I had about 20 ducks all crowding around me looking for popcorn. It was also neat seeing the fireworks just off the water in the Marina. What a magic night! When we made it back to the hotel, my friend GloZell had shown up. So we got her situated with a salad and something to eat, while we sat down in the lobby listening to the DJ play tunes for people to dance. We ran into Tom Kenny again who wasn’t feeling very well. He had some Tylenol and was heading to bed. Uh oh. He was supposed to be on the panel with me the next day. Speaking of the panel, it was time to turn in to get ready for the it.
Saturday the 26th – CON DAY 4 – Before I woke up, Christine and Debbie had run into Forrest J. Ackerman in the elevator. They told him they were with Wally, and Forry asked if it was Wally Wingert. They said yes. I had no idea Uncle Forry even knew who I was!? I know we interviewed him for Groovie Goolies, but who knew that he would remember. Then he wanted to know if I was there with them in the elevator, and Forry’s assistant said no, I wasn’t there but my Dollies were. I was doubly amazed that his assistant would know about Wally’s Dollies!! How neat! I guess people really DO use the internet! Anyway, that made my day when Christine told me the story. We got to the con and met up with the great Chuck McCann who would be on the Voice Actor’s Panel at 12:30, along with myself, Tom Kenny, Phil LaMarr, and Alicyn Packard. Jason Marsden was supposed to do it as well, but was sick. So moderator Mark Evanier was scrambling looking for a replacement. Luckily, Gregg Berger was available and pinch hit for Jason. But the word was, Tom Kenny wasn’t going to make it either because he indeed WAS too sick to attend. NOW WHAT? Luckily, Keith Ferguson showed up to simply see the panel, but we drafted him to join us at the last minute to replace Tom! We had a great panel. Much of it you can find on You Tube! Chuck McCann was off-the-charts funny, and when we read the Superman radio script, I was wiping tears out of my eyes. Everyone was ON FIRE! Chuck, Gregg, Keith, Alicyn, and especially Phil. What a great time. In fact, of the four panels I’ve done in the past four years, this was probably the best. Many people who aren’t familiar with Chuck were saying, “Man! That old guy was really funny!” After the panel, Chuck joined Debbie, Christine, Emily, GloZell, Dave, Alex, Monica and I for lunch. As we went in, Seth Green was at the restaurant just finishing his meal, so we got a shot of Chuck and BatBum with Seth. We sat there and continued to laugh and talk. THIS is what Comic Con is REALLY all about! Then we went back to the con for a little while and watched Dave in his guise as BatBum do his thing. It was great meeting people who had seen the panel and talking about voice-over and signing autographs. It’s always nice to make new friends. On the floor, I ran into my old pal Dan Povenmire, former producer of Family Guy, now a producer/creator of “Phineas and Ferb” on the Disney Channel. I also ran into my buddy Bob Belanchia who was with Richard Dreyfuss who was signing autographs there. Bobby and Richard were on the move, so I sent the Dollies along with them to escort them. I continued walking the floor to look for more bargains. As we were leaving the con, we were standing outside when Joel, Trace and Frank from MST3k turned the corner. Trace recognized me from CONvergence so we chatted a bit. Frank and I talked about working on Invader Zim together, and Joel and I talked about going to First Christian Church, as he’s a member too. What a small world. We took a great photo together and I let them go on their way. Then I ran into Susie Lum from Disney Character Voices and we took a shot together. We got to the room, totally exhausted, and ordered pizzas and Pepsis. After a quick nap, I put on my Scarecrow of Romney Marsh costume and walked over to the convention to see the Masquerade. It was fun posing for pictures and hanging out. BatBum was back again and up to his old tricks. But Dave was leaving early the next morning, and I had an early panel the next day, so we decided to make it an early night. Dave brought some more Cokes over and he and I, along with Christine and Deb, hung out around the pool talking and relaxing. It was a nice warm night and it was very pleasant and relaxing.
Sunday the 27th – CON DAY 5! – I got up early for my panel, and met Dave downstairs as he was headed for the airport. GloZell was also taking off on the train so I bid them both farewell. I got over to the convention and found the panel I’d be doing. It was a live radio show podcast featuring Dr. Floyd. Chuck McCann was involved, and most of us guys hang out on Tuesday nights at Bob’s Big Boy, so it was fun to be able to do something together. Frank, from MST 3K was on the panel as well, so I took advantage of the situation and had him sign my MST 3K book. Now I only need JOEL to sign it! We had a great time doing the panel, and Chuck took off to beat the traffic back home. I continued shopping and meeting with fans and friends. I looked for last-minute deals as Scott and his crew were back in costume as the Enterprise crew. So we got some shots of them clowning around in the Captain’s chair in the Roddenberry booth, and playing with a bunch of tribbles in one of the booths who sold all sorts of tribbles. But it was time to bid Debbie goodbye as her mom was there to give her a ride back to Ontario to fly back home. Comic Con was winding down. We got back to the room and got dressed for dinner. It was now down to Emily, Christine and I…and we met up with some of my CONvergence friends for a delicious steak dinner at Donovan’s. As we walked back to the hotel from the restaurant, we looked in on the convention center and saw them tearing everything down. It was so surreal, and something I had never seen before in the 12 years of coming to the convention. It was a little sad, and a little like “looking behind the curtain at the wizard” but it was surreal nonetheless. When we got back to the room, Christine and Emily went to the jacuzzi, while I packed up and got ready to go. After I packed up, I took a nap from 10pm to 1am Monday morning. I got up to take a 2am drive home. It would be nice weather, and there would be NO traffic! So I gassed up, got some beef jerky, a 100 grand bar, some sunflower seeds and a Pepsi, and I was ready to hit the road. I would have made it home by 3:30, had it not been for a complete closure on the I-5 near the 91. It cost me 20 extra minutes, but I still got home around 3:30 am in fine shape. It was good to see Sassie and Spook again as I unpacked all of the stuff I had crammed into my car. Aside from the seat I was sitting in, my car was completely full of souvenirs, dirty laundry, toys and other Comic Con prizes. Whew! Another Comic Con come and gone!
And how was YOUR week??!!
