There were so many amazing Kodak moments in that brief two-hour window, but this one took the cake. (From now on, no more crummy puns. Oops!) In all seriousness, though, it was a night to remember. The geekage per square inch was off the charts! I'd go so far as to say it rivaled Comic Con, since Con -- densely populated though it is -- is also diluted with Twilight teenyboppers and random normal people stalking their favorite stars. These people, on the other hand, were EXTREEEEME! (Insert heavy metal growl here.)
When Robert LeMoyne, who has now gained the title of "geek guru", told me about the event, I knew I had to go. In my scramble to reproduce more flyers, I missed some of the commencing festivities, which apparently included Buffy trivia and a Happy Birthday Buffy sing-along. But believe you me, the fun had only just begun. And BOY was I glad to have those flyers! I brought in a stack of them and left with none, and though I didn't give one to absolutely every person in the room, I have complete faith that they reached the hands of everyone who was meant to get them. But enough about me; let me tell you about all the awesome people I met.
While hovering by the cupcake table, I started a conversation with a filmmaker by the name of Tom Etlinger. We spent a long time talking about Buffy, movie-making, and fantasy musicals (you'd never guess, but the transitions between topics were pretty seamless!). He is currently planning a music video shoot for his friend Edgar Ibarraran, a flamenco guitarist who was also hanging out in close proximity to the cupcakes. Getting further into the crowd, I spotted an amazingly cute dress with comic book-printed fabric, the wearer of which turned out to be Sarah Kuhn, author of the geek romantic comedy novella One Con Glory. Andrea (a.k.a. Arkham Asylum) was totally pimping the Star Wars, decked out with baby doll T-shirt, handbag, and tattoo. (It was no accident, as she has a photo blog called Star Wars and Wine.) As I milled about, I saw Joe LeFavi, whom I had known from The Thrilling Adventure Hour, but I had not known the scope of his geeky awesomeness. As it turned out, it was also the release date of his issue of Fraggle Rock, and I was lucky enough to document his first signing. (You can see all the photos in my album on Facebook.)
I passed out a few more flyers, then took a breather back at the cupcake table. Actually, "breather" is probably the wrong word, since I quickly got pulled into so many engaging conversations that I could barely catch my breath. I had a long conversation with Marsia Powers, Web News Editor of Whedonopolis.com, a site that covers Joss Whedon-related news, as well as organizes charity screenings and events. Marsia expounded Costco-caliber quantities of Whedon wisdom (among other things). The conversation then shifted to Suzanne Eggebrecht, a.k.a. "the Button Lady"), a Comic Con veteran who had many entertaining Con war stories. And if the cupcake table weren't already supersaturated with nerd niche celebrities, Mark Harvey was also among the crowd. To the naked ear, it's a pretty innocuous name, but if you're a fan of the LA Derby Dolls, you would know him as the Sirens mascot, "Bacon". Yes, he dresses as a giant strip of bacon. (And the even funnier part of it is that he once worked for Kevin Bacon so if you want to stand any chance in a game of "6° of Kevin Bacon", do NOT play with this guy!) He was the one who actually won the Buffy trivia. Most of the questions he answered correctly had me completely stumped!
By the time Robert and I left, I was tired, wired, and totally de-flyered. On our way out, a panhandler asked me for spare change and I gave him my chocolate cupcake with the hand sticking out of it. (I hope he knew not to eat the hand!) Robert and I sat at the Whole Foods on Santa Monica where we debriefed and decompressed over soup. I also showed him my freshly finished Anya song, which will be released soon, though not until after the still-to-be-completed song about Faith. There is much more to blog about, but I've written enough for today. For all of you who made it out, thanks for your contribution to the experience. And for those of you who didn't, it isn't too late to celebrate. A very merry Buffy Un-Birthday to Buffy!
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