You know by now that BFF go to the annual Nerdfest that is Phoenix Comicon to get our geek on and one of our favorite things to do is to get our pictures taken with our favorite celebrities from the world of sci-fi and geekery. We plan this out quite carefully actually. It is a fine balance between going to panels to hear the stars speak and ties to grab photos with them. Of course we did it again this year but this year things had changed. What we didn’t expect was to be herded like cattle into pens to our biggest photo opportunity, Alan Tudyk.
For those that are unaware, Alan Tudyk is HUGE in the geek world. He has starred and voiced in things like Frozen, Moana, Wreck It Ralph, Dodgeball, A Knight’s Tale, Dollhouse and our favorite Firefly. We were super excited to get a photo with him and there was no way we were missing it. We showed up 45 minutes early to be put in a LONG line that had already formed. In fact, it went into the exhibition hall and it was super hard to find the end. We just kept asking people if they were there to see Alan Tudyk till we found the end. No employees told us where to go except with a wave of a hand in the general vicinity of the line. It was very frustrating. BUt in line we got and stood because we were not missing this opportunity. Not even if it meant standing in line all day. We are that dedicated.
While standing in line, we ran into our favorite Comicon photo worker. This guy comes in all the way from Chicago to work at Phoenix Comicon and we had the pleasure of meeting him the first year we went to do photos and John Barrowman felt him up in front of the whole crowd. He is amazing and always makes the photo process smooth and fun. I am unsure if I should be afraid or flattered that he recognized us and came over to chat and do his own photo-op with us, but it really did help make the time go by faster. We make our own fun while waiting in line.
Once the line started moving, we all of a sudden realized that we were being shuttled like cattle into pens created with barriers to wait for our photo-op, which was now an hour late. Why? Because they oversold the photo op. I heard several people wondering if they would make the next panel or photo op they had going on due to the delay. We didn’t have anything at Comicon scheduled but we did have other plans we jammed into that weekend (more about that in another blog) At least our wait was not as bad as the day before when Dick Van Dyke was there and people waited ALL day. No really, ALL day and some didn’t even get their photo due to the delay. It was a complete mess from what we heard. Not only did we have to stand in line, but then we are herded into pens. I felt like I needed to have a giant bell around my neck or have my name changed to Bessie. I don’t normally produce milk products but if we were going to be herded into pens, then maybe I should try. It could be another way to earn income. Start my own human dairy. It could be a thing, right? I mean this could be a new career opportunity. We could call it Fat Girl Dairy. It would be a cash cow. Get it? Cash cow? So there we were, shuttled like cattle into the first pen, and then the second pen and finally the third pen. Oh yeah…all before we actually hit the line for the photo-op. I have to tell you though, no one shoved, no one cut in line and people were polite, Nerds may get angry and mad but they did not try to take advantage of the situation. All in all, even though we were shuttled like cattle, we had a good time. We even made cow noises. Yup. That happened. As did this
Even despite the cattle pens and cowbells, we had a great time and managed some amazing photos with our favorite celebrities and our favorite Comicon photo op volunteer. Also, we heard the phase “you two are so adorable” over and over from the celebs. Take a gander….
Oh yeah. I didn’t die today. I was herded like cattle into pens for a huge photo-op, but I didn’t die. I am Fat Girl who needs a cowbell and is contemplating a new career choice with a Human Dairy Running. The experiment continues…