Not to pull back the curtain on the inner-workings of Movieline HQ, but there are enough scheduled (and let's be honest, probably awesome) liveblogs from Comic-Con headed your way over the next few days to fill up a convention center. But while everyone heads to San Diego to bask in the warm glow of geek culture, what are the poor souls trapped thousands of miles away supposed to do, besides follow along with rapt attention? Read on for some picks to help round out your weekend.
1. Watch the Season Premiere of Mad Men
Add together every member of The Avengers, The Green's (Hornet and Lantern), the girls from Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch and even the piranhas from Piranha 3D and they still aren't as cool as Don Draper. Sure, visitors to Comic-Con will get a first look at what you'll be talking about ad nauseum next summer, but that doesn't mean they'll get to see the season four premiere of Mad Men -- the television event of this summer. Unless they have SlingBox or something.
2. See Inception Again
Since it's Comic-Con, you can safely assume that at least one crazy rumor about Batman 3 will bounce around the Internet. But while everyone discusses the merits of (insert Inception co-star here) playing (insert Batman villain here), you can watch Christopher Nolan's current summer mind-melter for a second time and try to figure out what exactly happened.
3. Create Your Own Viral Mel Gibson Mash-Up
The Mel Gibson case just keeps getting more disturbing, awful and stomach-churning, but that doesn't mean some inappropriate comedy can't be found in the form of a viral video. The Internet has already matched Mel with Christian Bale and even The Old Spice guy (video below) so who's next? Glenn Beck?
4. Read Bryan Lee O'Malley's Final Scott Pilgrim Graphic Novel
Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. The World comes out in a few weeks, so the OMG jealously you might feel toward the people who get an early peak at the film this weekend won't be pitched that high. Plus, you can read the just-released Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour to see how author Bryan Lee O'Malley ended the story in his graphic novel. It's like a movie, but with words and still pictures.
5. Take All Those Images from Thor and Make a Flip Book Trailer
How's this for a Saturday afternoon project: One of the biggest movies at Comic-Con is sure to be Thor, a film that seems to release a new image to the Web daily. While fans will probably get to see actual footage at Comic-Con, you can create your own by printing all those images out, stapling them together and creating a flip book. You're welcome!