San Diego Comic Con 2009 - Friday

Friday my friends and I decided to roam the convention floor, starting our day in the Sails Pavilion at around 10:00 AM. We immediately noticed everyone was in a mad scramble, trying to find out where raffles were being held to either meet celebrities or purchase exclusive figures. It was a mess! The Elite security crew handled it in their usual manner… with question marked faces proceeded by yelling at crowds. The Green Lantern figures were, hands down, the hottest ticket in town (considering they had a different figure daily to complete a set). So much so, that hordes of people were running towards random, ill-advised Elite security guards yelling, “GREEN LANTERN FOLLOW ME!” It was quite a spectacle seeing people run aimlessly for raffle tickets… especially for action figures.

The only raffle ticket I had my heart set on was for Adam West, which friends and I waited patiently for. Waiting patiently paid off, as I found out where the my raffle station was. I ended up winning a ticket to meet Adam West! From there, I made my way onto the main exhibit hall. Not even an hour of looking around, I got a call from my friend, “Hey, Olivia Munn… by the docks!” Like a mad man, I rushed from the main exhibit hall to where the OMFG (Olivia Munn Fan Group) crowd was.

If you don’t know by now, I love Olivia Munn! I met her last year at Comic Con, so seeing her again was a real treat. In this case, she wasn’t surrounded by hoards of fans the way I met her last year. It was a pretty intimate gathering, as her location was only announced to fans of her site. Luckily, my friend managed to find this secret meeting spot. I have to say, this was one of the highlights of my trip, as I got a hug, a kiss and even a threesome photo with Munn, my fiancé and I! I also signed my first non-disclosure-agreement, just in case we made it on television.

After about an hour of hanging out with Olivia, we went back to the main exhibit hall. Again, no direction, I just walked aimlessly on the main floor. I ended up making my way to the WB booth where a scheduled signing for WB’s upcoming film Jonah Hex was going to take place. At that point, I just wanted to rest, so I met with my friend who was already there. There wasn’t much of a line, as people weren’t aware of who was going to show up. After about thirty minutes, guess who was on screen getting ready to sign autographs? Megan Fox and Josh Brolin. I was a bit taken back, as we just came from meeting Olivia Munn. It occurred to me that we were meeting the top-and-bottom of the Maxim Hot 100 list (Olivia is still on top if you ask me). Meeting Megan Fox was great. She was very sweet, smiling and answering all questions. My photo with here was unexpected as she planted her head right on mine! Just as the day couldn’t get any better, it was time to meet Adam West.

Redeeming the raffle ticket I won earlier that day, I got to the signing area early enough to be first in line which was about an hour away from his appearance. When he finally arrived, he was dressed in a surgical mask which was a bit odd (assuming he wanted to hide his identity). They immediately announced that anything he was signing would require approval from his “people” and a mandatory $40 charge. At first, I cringed at the idea of paying for this, but my friend made a good point. Adam West is 80 years old, this could very well be the last time I ever see him in person. So I gladly paid the price for this once-in-a-lifetime chance. By the way, Jim Caviezel was actually signing at the same booth before Adam West’s appearance, he was kind enough to wave for a few pictures.

We decided to take time away from the convention and have lunch at Tin Fish. Walking by we immediately noticed the paparazzi frenzy that was going on near the entrance of the Hard Rock Hotel. We ended up seeing the following celebrities: Milo Ventimiglia, John Cho, Kenan Thompson, and
Dominic Monaghan (sporting a Godzilla mask to conceal his obvious identity). Milo was down to take pictures, unfortunately we were walking in the wrong direction, unable to take quick snap shots with him. I definitely appreciated his offer though, rather than completely ignoring us. I simply got away with a handshake. My fiancé and friend were able to take a picture with John Cho.

Friday evening, we took a stab at hanging out with the Hollywood crowd. Rather than waiting near the front entrance and the bar downstairs like the night before, we made our way into Float, the club upstairs in the Hard Rock Hotel. We ended up seeing Seth Green, Zachary Levi, Brandon Routh, Alison Haislip. In addition, we saw a TNA wrestling match of all things and a good number of scantily clad waitresses and promo girls.

As the evening came to a close, we decided to walk to the convention center, to see if people were camping out. Sure enough, a sea of sleeping bags, tents and camping supplies were laid out near the entrance of Hall H. It was already 2:00 AM, so we thought, why not make the most of this experience and camp out too! Of all my years of coming to Comic Con, this was my first time camping out for Hall H.