Comic Con Post Mortem
Remember the cantina scene in Star Wars? All those multi-colored, armed and eye'd aliens mixing it up and getting down in outer space. Well, I was there this weekend and by George (Lucas I guess) it's a beautiful place to be. Geek Heaven, here on earth, is a short flight from Vancouver, where we're shooting season four of "Stargate Atlantis" - San Diego Comicon 2007. It's the closest thing in the galaxy to being in that Tatooine bar and I've never felt more at home!
For a kid who grew up reading "Fangoria" & "Starburst" magazine, sneaking into "Alien" movies and hiding televisions (reclaimed and repaired from the garbage) under his bed in order to catch (forbidden) mid-week episodes of "Max Headroom" (even if it was in black and white) it just doesn't get better than this. For the past few years I've been attending Comicon with the "Atlantis" cast and while some find it a grueling publicity chore, I'm like a sugar-crazed kid in a candy store. It's hard for me to act cool knowing that I'm spending the weekend with every hit science fiction comic, movie and television series ever - and some that haven't even aired yet! It was difficult for me to fully enjoy the glorious "Frexican" food (Mexican cooked a la Francais I'm told) served at SciFi channel's exclusive cast dinner, knowing that Stan Lee was sitting at the table just behind me - but I managed. Every year I venture out on the convention floor to bask in that gharish, freaky and highly caffeinated fandom electricity. I stand shoulder to shoulder with the costumed conventioneers dressed in their storm-trooper, Tomb Raiders and the Anime wear. I too strain skyward to the blaring monitors above us for sneak peeks at the upcoming releases, like the downtrodden earth-bound citizens of "Blade Runner", looking for salvation in the off-world colonies. I too giggle at the "Galaxy Quest"-esque antics of the celebrity guests and grovel for branded swag like some sand-dwelling Jawa scavenger. This is a world where my pretending to save the universe matters, a wonderful world where "geek" is a compliment and "nerd" a badge of honor.
The highlights for me this year (because as we all know, it's all about me) include being the first geek to get to manhandle my (Rodney McKay) action-figure...a smaller, much fitter and less follicley challenged version of myself with hands cupped for heroism. As a film nerd, how do you top that?! Well, I'll tell you - you get to do a packed signing of posters for your writing/directing debut "A Dog's Breakfast" sponsored by one of the biggest retailers in the the U.S as promotion for DVD release in September (I'm a nerd, not an idiot)! From that Best Buy booth I had the prime vantage point for surveying the full inter-galactic chaos. The sexy, white-molded SciFi booth where the geeks awkwardly lounged surrounded by a sea of overflowing bags of nerdly goodies. The giant Jabba, polar bears and the watery-blue "Atlantis" Stargate of the MGM booth. I also managed to score one of SciFi's "Frakking Cylons" t-shirts, no easy feat, even for this seasoned nerd! The Stargate Atlantis panel was very inspiring. Of course I had to watch it on SciFi Pulse when I got home as I couldn't hear a damn thing while I was up there on the stage. There's something about over 4000 fans in one room that messes with the acoustics. Who'd have thought?! I've seen things you people wouldn't believe...I've met "Flash Gordon" and the truly entertaining "Eureka" lads, I've seen the Battlestar beauties glittering in the light of a press crew. I walked the red carpet of the "Entertainment Weekly SciFi Channel party" and witnessed this glittering mega-wattage star-filled highlight of the whole convention. And then, like the true nerd-king, I snuck back to the hotel room early, to watch HD zombie films with my nerd-friendly better half.
"Man's Best Friend Makes The Worst Accomplice"
