Since there were just soooooooooo many people at this year's comic con, I was not able to get into any of the panels I desperately tried to get into. So now that I am home, and venting my frustration with the lack of planning and organization on the show's part, I am also google-ing and youtube-ing as many videos as I can find since I was unable to see anything for myself. So as I am experiencing these for the first time myself, I though I would share with you.
Big Bang Panel Part 1
Big Bang Panel Part 2
Big Bang Panel Part 3
I waited in line for over over 3 hours trying to get into this panel and they almost shut it down.
Kevin Smith @ Comic Con
more is to come... and pictures will be posted next
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
2010 San Diego Comic Con
Dear San Diego Comic Con --
It is with great sadness that I write this letter to you. Your event this year was one of the most disorganized and unpleasant events I have attended. There is truly something wrong when press and professionals in the industry are required to stand in line for over 3-hours in hopes of gaining access to a panel discussion and then not be allowed in. I have never attended an event in which the panels were not cleared after each event to allow those in line for the next event entrance, which some had been standing in line for over 3-hours, not to mention a line that is in excess of 2-miles in length which never seems to move no matter how long one is standing in line. Ballroom 20 and Hall H was by far the most frustrating for a working professional. How is one to do their job when press is not even allowed into given events because there is either no line for press or seats set aside for us to cover the events in which we attended the show for?
I feel for the fans who stood in line with me that never gained access to the panels they waited for when they paid to attend your show. How do you expect to keep the fans of your show when they spend the majority of each day in lines, only to find out that the hall is over capacity or closed for various reasons? What will you do to compensate those who arrived 4+ hours early, knowing that there will be a line for the panel they wished to get into, only to have moved a handful of spaces during their entire wait? Do you seriously expect everyone to be desperate enough to camp out in hopes of being one of the lucky ones allowed into each ballroom? How do you plan to fix this problem for next year, or is that not in your thinking at all? And what about press and their attempts to get in to cover their assigned panels? How many of us were not allowed in or did not gain access due to your lack of planning?
I honestly feel that my experience at the San Diego Comic Con is a once in a life time experience that I wish to never experience again. Why would I waist my time when I know how unlikely it is for me to be able to get anything or any work out of the show? Why would I put myself through the stress your show put on me again if I can get a better experience at other shows who at least put in the effort to try and assist and compensate those that tried effortlessly to get into a panel. So you have lost me as a future attendee in any capacity. Better luck next time and for the sack of the fans I hope you get your shit together.
Sincerely --
Disgruntled Attendee of 2010 Comic Con
It is with great sadness that I write this letter to you. Your event this year was one of the most disorganized and unpleasant events I have attended. There is truly something wrong when press and professionals in the industry are required to stand in line for over 3-hours in hopes of gaining access to a panel discussion and then not be allowed in. I have never attended an event in which the panels were not cleared after each event to allow those in line for the next event entrance, which some had been standing in line for over 3-hours, not to mention a line that is in excess of 2-miles in length which never seems to move no matter how long one is standing in line. Ballroom 20 and Hall H was by far the most frustrating for a working professional. How is one to do their job when press is not even allowed into given events because there is either no line for press or seats set aside for us to cover the events in which we attended the show for?
I feel for the fans who stood in line with me that never gained access to the panels they waited for when they paid to attend your show. How do you expect to keep the fans of your show when they spend the majority of each day in lines, only to find out that the hall is over capacity or closed for various reasons? What will you do to compensate those who arrived 4+ hours early, knowing that there will be a line for the panel they wished to get into, only to have moved a handful of spaces during their entire wait? Do you seriously expect everyone to be desperate enough to camp out in hopes of being one of the lucky ones allowed into each ballroom? How do you plan to fix this problem for next year, or is that not in your thinking at all? And what about press and their attempts to get in to cover their assigned panels? How many of us were not allowed in or did not gain access due to your lack of planning?
I honestly feel that my experience at the San Diego Comic Con is a once in a life time experience that I wish to never experience again. Why would I waist my time when I know how unlikely it is for me to be able to get anything or any work out of the show? Why would I put myself through the stress your show put on me again if I can get a better experience at other shows who at least put in the effort to try and assist and compensate those that tried effortlessly to get into a panel. So you have lost me as a future attendee in any capacity. Better luck next time and for the sack of the fans I hope you get your shit together.
Sincerely --
Disgruntled Attendee of 2010 Comic Con
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Sorry for the delay
My apologies for the delay in updates lately. From the long hours of driving and finding myself in a few locations with no internet I have fallen a bit behind. I will update with a the latest info in the next few days. Thank you for coming back and reading, hope to see you here again soon.
Friday, July 9, 2010
South Dakota
Due to technical difficulties with internet at currently location in South Dakota I will not be able to post a full blog. I have been without cell services for the last 12 hours and the free wifi is so spotty I'll be lucky if I can even get this posted. I'm hoping to find better service at some point today so I can post a full update as yesterday was pretty full of some very cool things.
Yesterday I drove through most of South Dakota. The first cool scenic viewpoint was just before crossing the Missouri River. After entering SD and driving for several hours I stopped at 1880 Town to do a quick walk-thru of the props and set piece they have on display from Dances with Wolves. With that being my second Costner set I've stopped at I'm starting to feel like I'm stalking just his films. The next stop was a drive through the Badlands loop. I've gotta say, that place is very cool. It took about an hour but the view was unlike anything I've ever seen. I was pretty excited about it. Last stop for the day was Mt Rushmore. When I was finally driving up to see the monument, and when I first saw the full thing, it literally took my breath away. It is definitely "one of those" places. I spent a few hours just hanging around up there and watched the lighting ceremony.
Unfortunately that is all I have time to say for right now. I will try to get some more stuff up later if I can find some better service.
Yesterday I drove through most of South Dakota. The first cool scenic viewpoint was just before crossing the Missouri River. After entering SD and driving for several hours I stopped at 1880 Town to do a quick walk-thru of the props and set piece they have on display from Dances with Wolves. With that being my second Costner set I've stopped at I'm starting to feel like I'm stalking just his films. The next stop was a drive through the Badlands loop. I've gotta say, that place is very cool. It took about an hour but the view was unlike anything I've ever seen. I was pretty excited about it. Last stop for the day was Mt Rushmore. When I was finally driving up to see the monument, and when I first saw the full thing, it literally took my breath away. It is definitely "one of those" places. I spent a few hours just hanging around up there and watched the lighting ceremony.
Unfortunately that is all I have time to say for right now. I will try to get some more stuff up later if I can find some better service.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
From Chicago to Minnesota
Yesterday I left Chicago with no real plans and decided to take a detour off my original route. Instead of going directly from Illinois through Wisconsin to Minnesota I turned off onto 20 and drove through part of Iowa. The road was so narrow at times and with all of the construction going on I considered many times trying to find a way to get back up to 90. I was about 100 miles south of where I had originally planned to drive and I'm sure the landscape would have been much different than the flat farmlands I spend 8 hours driving through. But had I stayed on the original path I would have missed a few sights that I'm very glad I got to see.
When driving 20 through Galena, Il you drive right past Pres. Grant's home. Even though I'm not much of a history buff, it was pretty cool to see one of the president's homes and be able to walk around for a bit. I actually almost lost my car keys I got so distracted taking pictures. Granted I may actually point the finger at a friend who had called me while I was there since I was not able to talk, take pictures and hold everything at the same time. But no matter I safely found the keys sitting exactly where I left them sitting next to the presidential china (thankfully they had not fallen along the grass since the keychain they are on is green).
Many hours later... when I was really starting to feel I may have made a bad decision on the road I chose to take this little side trip, I started noticing a few things. First of all Iowa is almost nothing but farms. I guess I should have known that but for some reason it didn't really hit me until I was driving through what felt like a live version of Farmville. It was just farm after farm after farm with no end in sight. And I mean that literally. The landscape was so flat where I was that I could see straight out all around me for more miles than I knew what to do with. It wasn't until I started to see a change in the clouds as they started turning grey and the temperature dropped to around 74 when I actually realized that I was driving into a severe weather area with warnings of flash flooding. Thankfully it was nothing more than that, and I was also lucky to have gotten ahead of the storm before it hit. It was odd though seeing the dark clouds miles off and then just over head, and being able to feel the change was wild. Of course it wasn't until after I pass the dark menesing clouds when the rain hit and I was driving at about 30 as all of the other Iowa drivers were keeping up with the speed limit of 70mph. Man when that rain hit I don't know how they were able to see while driving at that speed. It was crazy.
I will say that the quick 10 minute rain was more than enough for me. Once it stopped I noticed a sign just ahead that somehow looked oddly familiar. I had gotten to an area that was the site of the Field of Dreams movie. I don't think I had taken an exit so quickly in my life, only to drive another 4 miles past more farms just to park on a farm. Granted it wasn't just any farm, but a farm with a baseball field that so many of us have grown up with since the classic 1989 film was first released. It was unreal driving onto the property and seeing the field and all I could think of was a quote from the movie.
When driving 20 through Galena, Il you drive right past Pres. Grant's home. Even though I'm not much of a history buff, it was pretty cool to see one of the president's homes and be able to walk around for a bit. I actually almost lost my car keys I got so distracted taking pictures. Granted I may actually point the finger at a friend who had called me while I was there since I was not able to talk, take pictures and hold everything at the same time. But no matter I safely found the keys sitting exactly where I left them sitting next to the presidential china (thankfully they had not fallen along the grass since the keychain they are on is green).Many hours later... when I was really starting to feel I may have made a bad decision on the road I chose to take this little side trip, I started noticing a few things. First of all Iowa is almost nothing but farms. I guess I should have known that but for some reason it didn't really hit me until I was driving through what felt like a live version of Farmville. It was just farm after farm after farm with no end in sight. And I mean that literally. The landscape was so flat where I was that I could see straight out all around me for more miles than I knew what to do with. It wasn't until I started to see a change in the clouds as they started turning grey and the temperature dropped to around 74 when I actually realized that I was driving into a severe weather area with warnings of flash flooding. Thankfully it was nothing more than that, and I was also lucky to have gotten ahead of the storm before it hit. It was odd though seeing the dark clouds miles off and then just over head, and being able to feel the change was wild. Of course it wasn't until after I pass the dark menesing clouds when the rain hit and I was driving at about 30 as all of the other Iowa drivers were keeping up with the speed limit of 70mph. Man when that rain hit I don't know how they were able to see while driving at that speed. It was crazy.
I will say that the quick 10 minute rain was more than enough for me. Once it stopped I noticed a sign just ahead that somehow looked oddly familiar. I had gotten to an area that was the site of the Field of Dreams movie. I don't think I had taken an exit so quickly in my life, only to drive another 4 miles past more farms just to park on a farm. Granted it wasn't just any farm, but a farm with a baseball field that so many of us have grown up with since the classic 1989 film was first released. It was unreal driving onto the property and seeing the field and all I could think of was a quote from the movie.
"This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that was good, and that could be good again. Oh people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."
And I went, as well as so many others. It was fun to see families throwing around a ball or actually playing baseball out on the field. So far the Field of Dreams is my favorite stop.
But for now I must hit the road again. Off to some National Parks today. I will try and post again soon.
Total Miles Traveled To Date: 1522
States Driven: Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa
Current State: Minnesota
States Coming Up: South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California
States Driven: Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa
Current State: Minnesota
States Coming Up: South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California
Next Stop: Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Deadwood
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Cleveland... Oh my!
Yesterday's drive was a bit of a mess I have to say. Not the trip itself, but of the things I wanted to see did not exactly go as planned. I drove from a small town called Dunkirk, NY to the first stop of the day Cleveland and pit stopped for a few hours at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I have to say it was pretty cool to go through each of the exhibits. I wish I had tried to sneak a few pictures with my phone of some of the items on display. I will confess seeing some of the old guitars used by some of my fave rock groups was pretty cool. I think the Elvis and Hendrix exhibits were my favorite of the day, and even though I'm not really much of a Michael Jackson fan it was definitely something seeing his old sequined glove and various outfits on display.
Once I finished my rounds I had one last stop to make before I could drive on. I was looking forward to hitting the next museum, but come to find out it's not open on Monday-Tuesday during the summer. SAY WHAT? Yeah I was totally bummed. But I was at least able to get pictures. Oh yes, that is exactly that you think it is.
More to come soon. Next city to blog will be Chicago.
Total Miles Traveled To Date: 941 miles
States Driven: Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana
Current State: Illinois
States Coming Up: Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California
Monday, July 5, 2010
Niagara and beyond
So I got off to a bit of a late start this morning but once I was finally out on the road I was rocking n' rolling. I got a little too into my music and got a few looks from several other drivers as I blared Aerosmith and Journey with the windows down long before 9am this morning. On top of the music I took advantage of a few opportunities to get some roadside footage via a flipcam since it was a little easier to have running and quickly turn off with no real distractions to the driving and I'm excited to put together a little something to share with you all but it will have to wait a few nights as I'm beginning to run low on energy tonight.
For the time being I'm still in NY state. I had no idea it was such a large state. I thought i would have at least been able to reach the PA state line before needing to find a place to crash for the night, but I was not so lucky. I still have at least 1.5 hours before I cross that line tomorrow morning, but I will get there. Other than my surprise for the size of NY, I have managed to get a lot done today.
I reached Niagara Falls round 1:30pm and went on a 5 hour guided tour of the falls. With the insane heat today I was very happy to have been able to catch a ride on the Maid of the Mist and get drenched by the historic falls. It was quite refreshing, but for the lakes that feed into the falls being fresh water I will say that the water felt a little salty. I struggled to see everything through my water covered glasses, and gave up before the boat reached the horseshoe fall. I actually relied on my new favorite toy to get as many images saved and will say that my new toy was well worth the investment. If anyone is interested in a new digital camera I HIGHLY recommend taking a look at the Sony Cyber-Shot. It gives some amazing pictures and the panoramic feature and options within the feature give you the freedom to create and capture some unusual pictures (if you take the time to be a bit patient of course). Here are a few of my favorite pictures from today's trip.
I will post more pictures and some of the videos I took in the next few days when I have a little more down time. For now it is off to sleep before another early morning of driving.
Day 1 Mileage: 441 miles
Sights Seen: Niagara Falls
Cities for Day 2: Cleveland and Chicago
For the time being I'm still in NY state. I had no idea it was such a large state. I thought i would have at least been able to reach the PA state line before needing to find a place to crash for the night, but I was not so lucky. I still have at least 1.5 hours before I cross that line tomorrow morning, but I will get there. Other than my surprise for the size of NY, I have managed to get a lot done today.
I reached Niagara Falls round 1:30pm and went on a 5 hour guided tour of the falls. With the insane heat today I was very happy to have been able to catch a ride on the Maid of the Mist and get drenched by the historic falls. It was quite refreshing, but for the lakes that feed into the falls being fresh water I will say that the water felt a little salty. I struggled to see everything through my water covered glasses, and gave up before the boat reached the horseshoe fall. I actually relied on my new favorite toy to get as many images saved and will say that my new toy was well worth the investment. If anyone is interested in a new digital camera I HIGHLY recommend taking a look at the Sony Cyber-Shot. It gives some amazing pictures and the panoramic feature and options within the feature give you the freedom to create and capture some unusual pictures (if you take the time to be a bit patient of course). Here are a few of my favorite pictures from today's trip.
I will post more pictures and some of the videos I took in the next few days when I have a little more down time. For now it is off to sleep before another early morning of driving.
Day 1 Mileage: 441 miles
Sights Seen: Niagara Falls
Cities for Day 2: Cleveland and Chicago
Out on the Open Road
At 4:30am I am still trying to pull everything together for my 5am departure time. Even though I'm not awake yet by any means I'm excited to get out on the road. I'm not taking much on the cross country adventure, but still feel like I just might be taking more than I need which always seems to be the case with me. I think the only thing I feel like I'm really missing is being able to somehow bring my friends and family on the trip with me, so I'm going to do my best and make up for it right here by blogging as often as possible. This will be the true test of AT&T and its service through the northern states as I'm sure there will be times I will be adding posts via an iPhone app. But for now I must be getting my butt in gear and finish loading everything into my car including a few essentials I set aside to keep my entertained on the journey.
MUSIC ESSENTIALS:- Green Day's American Idiot soundtrack
- American Idiot
- 21st Century Breakdown
- Addam's Family on broadway soundtrack
- Journey
- Cyndi Lauper
- The Runaways soundtrack
- sounds of Bollywood
- Silverstein
- Aerosmith
- The Police
- Will Smith
- misc. soundtracks
- Shiver (in prep for Linger)
- Ballard
- Beautiful Creatures
- Fallen
- hush, hush
- Hearts at Stake
- Tantalize
- Braced to Bite
- Tanya Huff's Blood Book vol. 1
- Family Secrets (to finally complete revision)
GEAR ESSENTIALS:
- MacBook
- iPhone
- Sony Cyber-shot (which I can't wait to use)
- Canon HDV cam
- FlipCam
- Final Cut
Now that I have all the essentials ready to go I must go load the car and find the nearest open coffee shop. Until I write again...
Tenative itiniary for the day:
Starting point: Central Mass
First Sightseeing Stop: 361 miles
Possible Final Stop for the Day: 224 miles
Total Possible Miles Traveled for the Day: 585 miles
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