| Posted: 30 October 2010 at 6:11pm | IP Logged | 12
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Got back about an hour ago. Wowzers! This show was wall-to-wall with people. Stan's Q and A was fun. It was hosted by Greg Theakston. It was very surreal to see Stan in person. And, of course, he was asked many questions he's been asked countless times before, but answered them all with his usual graciousness and wit. The man's an absolute class act. As I noted when speaking with someone in line, there's no need for him to do these shows anymore--he clearly does it to give back to the fans who have idolized him for decades. And, I managed not to make a fool of myself! During the photo op, Stan said only three words to me--"You nailed it". Works for me! I'm really glad I went for the VIP ticket, because the crowds--and and the quality of crowd control--were nightmarish! Organization was lacking. I ended up standing in one line or another for about four hours, all in all. Worse, in the Stan Lee autograph line, about 50-100 people were somehow allowed to basically cut in front of myself and many others--the back end of the line looped around and cut right into the middle of it. Totally ridiculous. The photo op was even worse. The company doing the photography had a number of problems and delays, and had barely printed out 70 pictures in two hours following the shoot. They told people to check back later for their photos, and I'll wager that the last photos of the 300 or so which were taken won't be done until 10-11 pm. They also charged $10 for a JPG file of one's photo which can be retrived online--I got this as a backup. The best part (besides the obvious thrill of meeting Stan The Man) of the whole day was the people. I met and had in-depth chats with a number of great people in the various lines. One nice guy from Ohio who also offered to go to lunch with me (I stupidly declined that offer, thinking I'd be out of there in a reasonable amount of time!). Another, older fan, who brought his son. A nice young woman in film production who brought her daughter. Best of all was my meeting up with Paul Greer and Joe Hollon. Great guys! Paul's about 300 lbs of pure bodybuilder, and wore a "JBF Security" muscle-shirt. He worked me over a bit for some prior transgressions here in the Forum. I kid! Maybe. We had a nice--if all too brief--chat. And then he pulled out a JB-signed copy of the STAR TREK: ROMULANS- PAWNS OF WAR trade, which he specifically brought to rub in my face. I'll get back at him, somehow--!!!! I declined a kind offer of lunch with the boys, although that turned out to be a mistake. I waited and waited and waited for that bloody photo of myself and Stan to be printed. I waited for about three hours, wandering to and from the dealers' room to kill time. And not having eaten since 8 AM. At 4:30 PM, I gave up, got some cheap takeout to gorge myself on, and went home. At 6:30, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a phone call from Paul, who said that my photo had just been set out for pickup. He very kindly offered to grab it and mail it to me in the near future. I really, really appreciate that! Had a great time! Got blessed by the Pope. What more could anyone ask? 
Edited by Greg Kirkman on 30 October 2010 at 6:13pm
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