I was to meet a friend here around 11:00 am Thursday morning. The plan, trolley down to the Comicon and enturbulate, hand out cards, and have fun.
Foiled plan was foiled when a tractor trailer jacknifed across all four lanes of I-5 south, the main artery from LA to San Diego, causing a huge traffic jam stretching from Dana Point
to Oceanside. She left Orange County at 10:00 and didn't roll in here until around 4:30 pm!
After kicking back a while to consume vitamin water and let her unwind, we walked to the
trolley and headed downtown with a wheeled cart loaded with water, cards, and a big sign that said:
GALAXY PRESS=
SCIENTOLOGY=
HURTS FAMILIES
I'd heard that the scilons had bawwwed to the Convention Center, getting our usual spot on city property "closed for traffic control." Oh, please. Like that's gonna stop anonymous? People were swarming the streets, Batmen, space hookers, some Indiana Jones, weaboos, and the most excellent Superman and Jean Luc Picard you ever saw off-screen. Those guys had amazing resemblances to the actors! And there were thousands of other visitors, literally thousands. We set up at the foot of 5th Ave. which is the main thoroughfare between the Gaslamp Quarter and the convention center on the other side of the trolley tracks. Every time the light changed at Harbor Drive, hundreds of people would pass us and our sign.
I was dressed as Pirate Anonymous, while my friend opted for the classic black suit and red tie.
A few impressions of our day:
We handed out a lot of cards warning that Galaxy Press was Scientology. I bet they get sick of being asked about Xenu.
We were right near a Channel 10 ABC news vehicle. Watch for anonymous to pop up in the
background behind some interviews...
A black woman strolled by and gave us the Fresh Prince rap as she passed, getting a cheer and thumbs up from anon.
A couple of guys asked us "What is the game?" immediately making me lose it. I pointed out that he lost the game too.
Some people mistook us for V For Vendetta fans. I'm a fan, but we weren't V. However, this time, those people were in the minority.
Many, many people wanted pix of us, with us, or us and our sign. Now I know how it feels to be a celebrity. A few times, so many people stopped to photograph us, they caused a logjam in the flow of foot traffic. "You're going on my blog," is something I didn't get tired of hearing.
Think about it...dozens of blogs with pix of anonymous and our sign! You have to appreciate the exposure. It's huge!
A few people stopped to tell us how much they appreciated us being out there. Some were
downright effusive in their praise, shook our hands, and said anonymous is their hero.
Aww, shucks. We're just havin lulz, amirite?
Quite a few foreign visitors stopped for pictures and a card. Wherever they were from; Europe, Asia, whatever, they know about Scientology! Amazing! (well, not really. Global raids and all that.)
People would sidle up and ask if we were from /b/. Kids, mostly. One asked why the chans
were down. I said it was Evil Anonymous, like in Bizarro World. I don't know if that's true, but I thought it was funny.
Many, many people gave us thumbs up as they walked past, saying, "Yeah!" or "right on!"
(those were mostly old hippies for the latter.) Some people yelled out, "YEAH!
ANONYMOUS!" I will point out that those people outnumbered the "V For Vendetta" people.
Gratifying.
We stayed out there for probably four hours, until the foot traffic was thinned out, probably
close to 8:30. We then decided to grab a bite and a refreshing beverage on the street, stealth picket style.
As we passed this cafe/wine bar, I heard, "YOU LOST THE GAME!" There were our friends
from earlier. There was an open table next to them on the patio, so we slithered on in.
Turns out they were part of an independent media group doing random interviews on the streets during Comicon. So....Anonymous granted an interview. They didn't want the history, didn't want a rant about Scientology. They were collecting personal stories, so I gave them this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZMEEqa6kkQIt was a total win, two of us, and thousands of people streaming past. We talked to a lot of
people, bandied memes around, and finished up with a media connection and delicious caek in muffin form.
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