Staying Shiny

My life as a Uber-geek in a Bridal world

Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo 2012: Day One

Today has been an absolute whirlwind of awesomeness!  J, D, R and I packed up the car and hit the very rainy road around 10:30 this morning.  The rain let up by the time we rolled into Calgary and we headed straight for the hotel to check in and get settled quickly before heading to the Expo.  I had a feeling this was going to be a pretty sweet day when Ted "The Million Dollar Man" Dibiase was sitting in the lobby.  We got checked in and unpacked and headed straight for the Expo.  Just as we were about to get back into the car, J and I ran into Jake "The Snake" Roberts.  Let me tell you, that was an interesting experience.  The man is, well, kind of an ass.  A nice ass, but and ass nonetheless.  He asked us where the sketchy area of town is, basically so he could score some drugs and then told us the story of the time he bought 30 bars of soap thinking he was getting crystal meth and ended up smoking 30 bars of actual soap.  Interesting fellow.

We then headed out to the convention, got our weekend badges and ran into an old friend while waiting for the doors to open.  Once inside, I headed straight for Linsner's table.  Happy Happy, he was there.  I paid him for my commision, got my pin up book signed and J got him to sign his Conan comic that Cary Nord had also signed last year.  I can't wait to pick up my sketch tomorrow.




We then did the slow walk/shop of the entire place.  J bought me some awesome Doctor Who fridge magnets and finally found the G.I. Joe figure he was looking for as well as a new shirt for his Jayne costume.  D found an amazing "Edward" T-shirt (with Edward J. Olmos on it) and R found a sweet Princess Bride shirt.




It took us a good couple of hours to hit every booth and check out their wares.  We finally made it over to the Autograph area and J went to talk to Vance Nevada while I lined up to meet Jim Cummings.  I love that man.  He is the Voice of my childhood.  I brought a copy of Winnie the Pooh for him to sign and he was so gracious.  He signed the book with the best autograph ever and then posed with me for a picture.  Hearing the voice of Tigger and Pooh come out of his mouth was so cool.  While I was waiting in line he actually left a message on one girl's friends voice mail in his Tigger voice.




I then had one last stop I had to make.  I brought my copy of World War Z and headed to see Max Brooks and get it signed.  He was an extremely nice person as well and told me that he "will never forget my name".  We walked past his booth a little while later and he yelled my name again.  J joked that I wanted him to remember my name so he would use it in a future novel.  How cool would that be!



We did another quick loop of the floor and then headed back to our hotel, where we ran into Jim Cummings in the lobby.  I think we are staying in a good hotel.  We took a walk and found a pub for a quick dinner and then went back to the hotel.  J saw Vance Nevada and Ted Dibiase in the lobby bar and decided to stay for a pint and R decided to go for a swim.  D and I are just laying here relaxing and exhausted.  Time to get some shut eye before getting up super early and getting all costumed up before Day 2.

Here's hoping it will be as awesome as Day 1!