Science and Science Fiction

"Allons-y!" - The Doctor
"Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved." -Donna Noble

Yesterday and today were busy, busy days, with very little time for rest.  We did sleep somewhat late on Saturday, and then headed out to the California Science Center to see the space shuttle Endeavour.  The shuttle itself, and its associated exhibit, were great.  The rest of the center was not too very exciting, though I enjoyed the aquariums in the Ecosystems exhibit and the roses in the garden outside.  We also got to see an iMax film about the Artic which had lovely photography, but a rather heavy handed message about global warming.  However, the generally rude behavior of the other museum guests and the drivers on I-5 left us all with a negative impression of the L.A. area.  We did some laundry, ate dinner, and headed to bed fairly early in anticipation of a very early start the next morning.

At 3AM, we got up, took quick showers, packed the car, and headed to San Diego.  We arrived around 5AM to discover the line for Hall H stretching all the way around the convention center and along the marina in two directions.  We got in line, without much hope of making it in.  I sent the kids and Scott off to the registration table to grab their passes, and held their spot in line.  Unfortunately, while they were gone, Misha Collins from Supernatural jogged by, and I couldn't even get a picture for Kairi - just this blurry shot of the back of his head.

The line moved quite a bit while they were gone, but we were still far away from the convention center when I ran to get my badge.  And then we waited.  And waited. And waited.  The time for the Supernatural panel came and went just as we got into the chute that was next for Hall H.  Then ten people got in, then ten more.  We moved slowly, slowly along the several tents in the chute.  Then Supernatural was over.  Then the Breaking Bad panel was closed.  People were abandoning their places in line.  Seven long hours after we got in line, twenty minutes into the Doctor Who panel we were a mere 15 people from the door.  The line started moving again.  The security person counted heads and closed the chain right behind Kai and Nick and right ahead of Scott and I.  I told them to go, just go, we'd find them later.  The guard noticed my distress and realized the kids were alone.  She said, "One. I can let one of you in."  So I gave Scott a shove and told him to go.  Someone in one of the nearby chutes said "That's motherly love," causing a laugh among everyone in earshot.  I waited another five interminable minutes, and then I got into the panel myself (I missed the trailer premiere, but no harm done).   What annoyed us all a bit after all that anxiety was the fact that there were hundreds of empty seats in the room, and hundreds of fans still stuck outside.

The actual panel was great.  The actors, writers, and directors were funny and entertaining, and the whole panel was hosted by Craig Ferguson, which made it even cooler. 

After the panel, we headed to the exhibit hall.  The kids were a bit disappointed in the remaining items for purchase, but Nick found a few souvenirs.  It was packed elbow to elbow, hard to navigate, and frankly not a lot of fun.  Kai was very disappointed not to find anything to buy, but she didn't want to pay premium prices for things she could find at home or on the internet.

Still, we went to Comic-Con!  And we saw Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman and Steven Moffat and David Bradley and Mark Gatiss, and Misha Collins (sort of).  We met a few really creative cosplayers, and it was definitely an experience.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go to the USS Midway and the beach, but we're making up for the sun in Seattle with rain in San Diego (and Los Angeles yesterday) so we will play it by ear.