"What's your name, man?" Robert Rodriguez asked.
"Mike." For some reason, at least half of them were named Mike. This one was a little huskier.
"Mike, man. Cool," said the director. "Beef or chicken?"
It was Thursday evening at Comic-Con, and Rodriguez was holed up in a tiny food truck, slinging tacos to fans who had waited at least an hour in line for the privilege. After he finished, his Machete stars Michelle Rodriguez and Danny Trejo would have their turns.
"Robert, Robert," said another fan, pushing him a card. "Can you sign this for me?" He added, because it felt mandatory: "When is the Grindhouse DVD coming out?"
They were mostly Mikes and mostly men, but when they weren't, the usually stoic Rodriguez perked up. "Get a card for the party," Rodriguez said to two girls who had just appeared. He gestured past a sign that said, "Sexual harassment in this area will not be tolerated. However, it will be graded" to a smiling brunette in a Knockout Taco Truck tube top, who produced a flyer.
"Robert, you have no idea how exciting this is for me!" gushed his newest fan, a hyperactive, glasses-wearing white kid. "Sin City! Every frame of it -- especially on Blu-ray -- is brilliant!"
"Thank you, man," Rodriguez said. "Beef or chicken?"
Robert Rodriguez could get to that essential taco question in three words. For the chatty Michelle Rodriguez, it inevitably took longer.
"Hi!" she'd say as someone came up to the truck. "Want a taco?"
"Sure."
"What kind?"
"Uh...what kind are there?"
"We have beef!" she'd say cheerfully. "Or chicken ones."
Weirdly, the good majority of hungry fans were unable to choose sides in front of Michelle. "Either!" "I'll have whatever you pick!"
"Hey," she asked a heavyset man as she handed him his mystery taco, "What's your favorite thing you've seen so far at Comic-Con?"
"Uh, you!"
"Oh, word? But what else."
"Scott Pilgrim is pretty cool."
"That's the one with the guitar? The big poster I saw?"
"Yeah."
"Is it sick?"
"Yeah!"
A young fan appeared before her in a weird hat built like a steeple. "I'm Galactus," he explained. "The Devourer of Worlds."
"Right on! That's like a Marvel god, right?"
"Yeah. I'm a bit of a nerd."
"Awesome," she said, handing him a taco. "I recognize that. I am, too."