I Bailed on Celebration IV

I'd been mildly interested in attending "Star Wars" Celebration IV this weekend. My overenthusiasm for the series had reached its peak in college and has been dying a slow death with each passing year. But, I love conventions, and this one looked like a more than decent way to kill a Saturday afternoon.

Yeah, the line to buy tickets was two hours long. The line. To buy a $45 one-day, general admission ticket. Just to walk through the door. Forty-five dollars. American.

So I bailed. There isn't a damn thing being sold there that I won't be able to find on eBay this afternoon, and eBay won't charge me 45 clams to log in and take 2 hours to load -- even with my crappy Internet connection.

It was just incredible. I've been to Wizard World L.A. the last two years they've held it at the L.A. Convention Center, and the longest I had to wait in line for tickets was probably 15 minutes. Did that many more people turn out for Celebration IV? Why? Are "Star Wars" apologists simply intoxicated by long lines and endless waiting?

At any rate, did any Chewers actually get into this thing? I am curious what could possibly be worth the wait. Were they giving away pies with nude pictures of Betty Childs at the bottom of the pie pan or something?

What rubbed me the wrong way was not only how poorly organized the event was (they didn't think to have a zillion tables set up where you can buy tickets?), but how rude and useless the security/event staff were. I was nearly tackled to the ground when I walked into the convention center, trying to find where the ticket line was. But because I wasn't wearing a lanyard, a surly bitch rent-a-cop gave me a lot of attitude while hustling me back out of the building.

Back outside, I crossed the street to where I assumed the tickets were being sold, and tried asking some dickhead volunteer where I was supposed to go. He didn't even say anything; he just gestured and grunted. By then i'd about had it, and once I saw the ticket line, I realized there were about 400 other ways I could spend my afternoon.

I wish the Comic Book and Sci-Fi Conventions that are held at the Shrine Auditorium would go back to being monthly. I can get into those for about half of what I paid for parking at the L.A. Convention Center. And they usually have the dude who played Dr. Zaius selling autographs.