Comic-Con

So, yesterday Tom and I went to the Salt Lake Comic-Con. This was my belated birthday present to myself and it was awesome. We only had tickets to Saturday because I wasn't really sure what to expect. It was totally crazy getting in, I hear that the fire marshall had to request they turn people away around noon. Sure glad we got there before then.

Tom and I did dress up, but it was really low key. Part of this is was a lack of time to put anything really awesome together and part of it was how embarrassed Tom was at the idea of cosplay. So, I picked something that would be made up of parts that wouldn't embarrass him and would be things we'd be able to wear again. So we went as Amy Pond and Rory Williams from the episode of Dr. Who called The Wedding of River Song.

Here is me as Amy with 10.

This is Tom as Rory, waiting for the train to head downtown.

We were able to catch up with an old college roommate of mine, Ashley Aedo. This was great. We haven't seen her and her husband since we bought the house a couple of years ago. 

This is Ashley dressed up as a Hogwarts Student.

This is the two of us.

Do to the previously mentioned long lines, we weren't able to go out for lunch with the Aedo's as planned, but we did grab something at the "food court". Luckily for my tummy Sage's Cafe had a booth. They are a local vegetarian/vegan restaurant and they make some tasty food.

Tom and I spent some time on the floor walking around and see the various booths. They had all sorts of things including the WETA, Utah Browncoats, Star Wars, Stan Lee, Ghostbusters of Utah, and a Wheel of Time thing. Apparently there is a group of people putting together shorts for Wheel of Time. This was the first I'd heard of it, but the costumes are great. I can't speak to production quality because they are still editing the first batch and hope to have them up on YouTube next week sometime. So, that might be interesting.

Gollum at the WETA booth.

The booth was obviously focused on the Hobbit.

Stay Puft man.

The final, cake-topper event of the day was the William Shatner Panel. This was fun! He had some funny stories and it had me laughing pretty much the whole time. I'm glad that we went and it was nice to attend a panel because by this time of the day my feet were killing me and the time off of them was much needed. I had wanted to stay for the Stan Lee Panel, but Tom has been feeling sick (sore throat and all) and had some homework's to do, so we bailed after the Shatner Panel and headed home. 

Not the best photos, but close-enough to know it was him.

Here are some more.

Waiting for the crowd to calm down and start talking.

This was the youngest person to ask him a question. 

Of course we saw plenty of awesome costumes on many of the convention attendees. Some of my favorite included Steam-Punk Belle, the best 10 I've ever seen (I had to do a double take), a surprisingly convincing Tony Stark/Iron Man, and a male Cat Women and male Super Women. I didn't get a chance to picture any of these guys. Bummer, because that male Cat Women and Super Women were just about the funniest thing I have ever seen.

I genuinely enjoyed the day and I think I'm hooked on this comic-con thing. They are fun. But I have learned a few things that will make them even better in the future:

1. Don't be afraid to dress-up. There are plenty of folks that will and it is a fun inner community within the larger convention community to belong to.
2. Get a multi-day pass. There is a lot to see, a lot of people to run into, and a one day pass isn't sufficient. Yeah, I walked the entire floor and I saw my number one panel, but I didn't even make it through the day and I crashed back at home by 9:30. More days, means I can pace myself better.
3. Take photos of the cosplayers. I didn't get a picture of the two guys because Tom and Ashley walk talked me past them. Next time stop and ask, because some of those costumes are amazing and some of those people have some serious gumption, either way, I'll want that photo.
4. Pay more attention to panels. These are the only real opportunity to sit, so I need to better aware of who, where, and when and take those chances to rest my feet and back.
5. Pick a few people and budget for photos with the legends. I couldn't afford it this year but next time, if there is someone I want to meet, then I plan on budgeting for the photo op to do so.
6. Get there early in the morning so that I can register and get into the convention center before it gets hot outside.
7. Bring my own water bottle. So thirsty.

Oh man, I loved it and it totally made up for any disappointment attached to my actual birthday last week. I had a rough weekend then but yesterday totally made up for it. It was so fun. Tom and I did, of course find some stuff to buy. Here it is:

This shirt is Mom's birthday present (it will be in the mail soon). They didn't have a Bazinga shirt, so this was the next best thing. Tom and I have been eyeing these belts on Amazon for ourselves for a year+ now and they were comparable in price here.

Okay, here is the rest. We have a Don't Blink bumper sticker, a Keep Calm and Exterminate button with some pretty sweet Daleks, and a nice ode to Firefly shirt. Love Wash, one of the only times I've actually verbally responded to an event in a movie while in the theatre watching it for the first time.

Anyways, that was our weekend. It was fun and I'm glad we went.