In Response To: Halo Everything at San Diego Comic Con 2007 - LONG (Tex)
: This past weekend was the San Diego Comic Con and it was probably the most
: fun I’ve had all summer. Almost everywhere I went I wished I had brought a
: video camera instead of just my still-capture one.
: The first day, Thursday the 26th, was pretty hectic. It felt like a Saturday
: at the con with the pre-registered badge pick up line going out the doors
: and around the back of the center, out to the boats/marina. It was a
: smoldering 94 degrees outside, and I was thankful I was NOT in costume
: that day.
: After about an hour wait we (my group and I) finally got our badges and
: headed out to wreck havoc in the Exhibit hall. I met up with a bunch of my
: Red vs Blue buddies (Laird, Abyss) and met some new ones as well, which is
: always a treat. After making obligatory stops at the Penny Arcade and
: Roosterteeth booths, we made our way around to get a glimpse at the Halo
: Clix Scarab, which was the most beautiful, plastic, purple spider I have
: ever set eyes on. Held inside a plastic case, surrounded by various Clix
: figurines it was about as tall as my torso (granted, I’m 5’3”) and shined
: in the convention lights. After making sure there were no ‘DO NOT TAKE
: PICTURES’ signs around, I snapped away on my crummy Hello Kitty camera,
: managing at least one decent shot.
: After the Scarab we headed over to another display booth where they were
: holding up some scaled replicas of the Carbine and Battle Rifle (which
: could have easily been snatched away as they were only held together with
: plastic ties…). More crummy pictures were taken.
: I also got a picture of me with the Mach 5.
: http://s85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/territorycontrolled/dayone07/
: Day two, Friday the 27th, was definitely one of the bigger days. As most of
: IRC knows I had been working on a cardboard MJLONIR armor suit (Tex
: edition) specifically for the con. I had my doubts about it as I neared
: Friday morning with mobility and visibility through the visor (I had not
: heard back from tasty bread, the original cardboard Spartan, whom I had
: tried to contact about the helmet), but once I got down town and walked
: the streets to the center, getting random “YEAH, MASTER CHIEFS!” my
: spirits picked up. The armor itself was all cardboard (duh) held together
: with hot glue, some shin guards, and the world’s most intoxicating spray
: paints. The visor was made out of an Operating Room mask/shield spray
: painted with colored glass paint. Although it was still see through, I
: could barely make out any distinct figures as I walked around, anything
: past a foot in front of me was a giant blur (so I had my 10 year old, Halo
: playing sister be my guide), but at least I didn’t step on any of the kids
: I took pictures with. I met up with Cortana (MsValentine from Red vs Blue)
: whom you all have seen and fawned over on the front page (don’t get me
: wrong, I did too
: http://s85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/territorycontrolled/daythree07/Halo
: %20Panel%20slide%20show/
: (link limit maxed?)
: After all the power point presentations, we got to the fun stuff: The Q&A.
: I’m sure someone’s got a video tape of this session online by now. I was
: thinking of getting up and asking a question about how much of the
: community response/discussion they take into consideration when they’re
: doing what they do best, but by the time I coughed up the cojones to get
: up and ask, they had cut the line for the Q&A. What impressed me was the
: amount of tolerance the audience had for the little kids that went up and
: asked the obvious questions (like the sword, or what the MC’s job is) and
: how well the panelists replied to them without putting them down like some
: of the posts we get the joy of seeing daily on any Halo speculation.
: Although what did kill me was the last question asked, by some woman
: pleading for them to put Halo 3 on the Xbox…one guy got up and asked a
: question to Nylund, regarding the 13 petals on the contraption in Ghost of
: Onyx with the Dyson Sphere, and how if it is in any way similar/identical
: to the same one we saw in the H3 Announcement Trailer. Not only was I
: floored by the amount of evidence/back up he presented with his question
: (which is more than what I just gave you guys), but nothing was more
: satisfying than hearing Nylund say he can’t answer that because there were
: probably MS snipers tagging him in his very seat (paraphrased, but the
: reference to MS snipers was real). The same kid made a Carbine and I got
: to take a picture with it (he also bought a red SPARTAN helmet on e-bay
: that I tried on).
: Shortly after I invited him to lunch with our group and we were out the door
: to get our copies of Ghosts of Onyx signed. I nearly shat myself when
: WizKids brought out some guy in an MC suit (beautiful, minus the fact the
: back part of the calves were non-existent and he had a belly). I thanked
: Nylund for signing my book and told him how much I cried when Kurt died.
: He told me he got all choked up writing that part and wrote ‘Spartans
: NEVER die!” on my copy. My heart melted. So with a new member in our party
: we walked out and headed to lunch. While walking down the street in
: costume I got a passer-by to tell his friend “Now THAT is one Chief I’d
: like to teabag,” I lol’d for a bit. Creepy but funny. I ended the day by
: having all my RvB buddies guide me over the Roosterteeth booth, where I
: de-cloaked myself so I could give a present (seven cookies) to Kathleen,
: aka Tex. She seemed awfully excited to see someone dressed up and
: compliment my outfit, as well as the cookies, Gus captured my flag and I
: got to take a couple pics with Kathleen, she is such a sweetheart. Her son
: must get the ‘your mom is SO cool’ line all the time.
: As the day winded down, we started to get up the idea to go see the Simpsons
: movie, but unfortunately I couldn’t go…So I went home and prepped for the
: next day.
: http://s85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/territorycontrolled/daytwo07/
: Day Three, Saturday the 28th, was a calm, clean day for my brain. No fumes
: inside the helmet, no inhaling paint chips. But on the outside I was
: decked out head to toe in Lara Croft gear (movie one): Pistols, belt,
: braid and all. But this was *the* day for Halo everything.
: I wandered around the con for the majority of my morning and afternoon,
: having photo after photo taken, but also taking photos of the crap-loads
: of Halo figurines (mostly prototypes, but the hot kind), even the ones I
: wasn’t supposed to get a picture of. At 3:00 I stopped the presses and
: made damn sure to be in line for the 3:15 signing from Joe Staten and Eric
: Nylund. The line had to be moved to prevent traffic problems, and once we
: were moved to the other side of the booth (which seemed to be just fine
: for everyone) I overheard (well, not really overheard, seeing as the
: conversation was going on at top volume) a girl behind me who wasn’t very
: pleased with the fact the line had moved and mentioned her great distaste
: for some people from HBO. I love this community, and my inner
: high-schooler kicked in once she started dropping names, desperate to make
: it my business. I jumped in on the convo to HBO’s defense (I love all of
: you, even the oldies like Wu ;), asking if anyone else was a frequent to
: the forums/irc. A few people replied (like Laird and relativiox) and she
: promptly asked me who I was. So with a smile I replied “DON’T YOU KNOW WHO
: I AM?!”. Just kidding. I went: “I’m Tex,” and got the “Oh…OH, you..”
: response. Her face melted and attitude promptly changed once I told her
: that no matter what happens, it’s just the internet.
: Back to what matters. I got up to the table for my dust cover signing of
: Contact Harvest, thanking Nylund again for signing my Ghosts of Onyx book.
: Before he did anything I handed them seven cookies in a bag (one of which
: Nylund popped right into his mouth without a second thought) and gave me a
: thumbs up. I asked Staten if he wanted to talk to KP, and he stopped what
: he was doing and looked up at me.
: “KP?”
: “Yep!”
: “…is this the same KP I’m thinking of?”
: “Yes sir, Kevin Paul.”
: “..large?”
: “And pink.”
: “Could very well destroy me?”
: “and hangs out with The Don Wan.”
: “*Laughs* no, I don’t want to talk to KP,” jokingly.
: So he signed my cover and a few other goods and I was the happiest girl in
: the convention hall that afternoon. Red Spartan (the guy with the helmet
: from earlier) got him to sign his helmet and gave him the carbine he had
: made as a sign of his devotion. I was shocked he gave it away, personally,
: because anything I draw/create I get sick just thinking about parting
: with. After we said our farewells and thanks to the dynamic duo, we made
: our way around the WizKids booth, taking more pictures with the beer belly
: Master Chief.
: After that we hustled our way over to the display case (hidden in the book
: aisle) and feasted upon the sight of the laser tag Plasma Pistol and
: Rifle, huge and shiny in all its glory. They mentioned there being a sword
: in 2008 (but how the hell is that going to work with laser tag?!).
: http://s85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/territorycontrolled/daythree07/
: Day 4, Sunday the 29th, was Angel of Darkness day for me, but pain day for
: the wallet. I met more RvB people, some of whom were very generous and
: pitched in to help me buy the “Prisoner” piece of artwork (sales tax will
: get you every time).
: http://s85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/territorycontrolled/daythree07/swag/
: I played HaloClix against my friend, Ryan. Who was dead set about batting for
: the Covenant, but I stayed true and proudly adjusted my UNSCDF badge and
: lined up with a marine, an ODST troop and a SPARTAN. It took a few minutes
: to get used to the new game, but after a while (and without killing any of
: my troops) I successfully destroyed my friend’s Covenant army, making me
: more anxious than ever to get this game for my home collection. The
: details on these small little pieces is amazing, I would zone out and look
: at the pieces instead of watching what moves my friend made. But like I
: said, I won. After the game I tried desperately to get a Scarab, but the
: $250 price tag was more than what I was willing to spend (there were a
: bunch left over, guys, so keep your eyes out for them to pop up online).
: Unfortunately, Laird had to leave early so we said our good-byes and wandered
: to the Roosterteeth booth, where I purchased the Trocadero CD (FINALLY!)
: and met up with everyone who would be coming home with me for some burgers
: and LAN-ing. We were walking out of the con and Red Spartan put on his
: helmet and got my attention, promptly dragging two fingers across the
: bottom part of his visor. My inner (and very obvious) fan-girl reaction
: was a giant squeal, as it was probably the best Halo related thing I had
: seen all weekend. He actually asked Nylund how the hand signal for that
: went, and Nylund explained it: Separate your index and middle finger like
: a peace sign, and drag your fingers parallel to your jaw, across your
: face…Like a disco/john Travolta dance move, but over the mouth and no
: polyester suit needed. He gave it a shot, and Nylund said “Not so arched”.
: So make sure it’s a straight line when you’re trying to smile at someone
: behind a mask. It may save your life. We took Red Spartan back to the
: laser gun display where the booth manager gave him and my buddy free
: copies of Ghosts of Onyx, which I paid for the day it came out (jealous),
: but at least I got my copy signed.
: Once we got back to my place, we set up three extra TVs and corresponding
: 360s for some massive team games. Over dinner we spent the majority of the
: time discussing the ifs/ands/whats of Halo 3, reminiscing over the Beta
: and triumphant moments in Halo 2 and favorite parts of Halo 1. We winded
: down with some Iron Chef and Co-Op, Legendary, Gravemind: Tough as nails.
:
: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/territorycontrolled/dayfour07/P1010085.jpg
: This year at Comic-Con was one of the bests I’ve had, I had the opportunity
: to meet plenty of new people, as well as have a whole handful of Halo
: related goodies to occupy myself with. I was very sad to see everyone
: leave, as well as come to the realization that this year’s summer
: festivities were over. But at least we have next year to look forward to.
:
: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k79/territorycontrolled/dayfour07/smile.jpg
: “Psh, whatever bitch! Spartans never die.”
Sounds like you had an awesome time. I did as well. Too bad you didnt get a picture with our MC, but maybe next year.
Where are you from?
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