Emerald City Comic Con - 2010

Another year, another comic convention here in the great metropolis of Seattle.

This show was the biggest ever, in terms of not only the guest list but also the sheer number of people who attended it.

There is just w-a-y to much to cover in this post, so I will simply touch on a few of the high-points of my weekend.

Friday morning started early... like 3:50 a.m. early!.... as I woke up 'cause I couldn't sleep anymore. I had to be up to catch a ride to Seattle so I could check into the hotel, then it was off to the airport to greet guests as they arrived.

I was at the airport with the Maimed Man from around 9:00 a.m. until 6:45 p.m.

We worked in tandem: he kept an eye on the flights and which baggage claim to meet them at, while I coordinated with the drivers outside and gave the guests their show packets. It was a great system and went very smoothly with both of us there.

We met a lot of the guests, including (but certainly not limited to) Erin Gray, Lou Ferrigno, and Leonard "Spock" Nimoy!

I also got to meet Terry Moore & his wife Robyn as they arrived. They remembered me and gave me hugs to say "hello".

It was a long day and very tiring, but after leaving to come back to the hotel we then went out to dinner with a bunch of the other ECCC volunteers.

Saturday morning, I got up early again and started taking my stuff over to the convention center so I didn't have to lug it there at the last minute.

It was about 6:30 a.m. when I walked up to registration and there was already a line of people waiting to get in. (The show didn't open until 10:00 and they still had 3-1/2 hours to go)

Then I got some breakfast at the Dragonfish with C. Burnham before going back to the convention center for the day.

People were still setting up their booths right until the time the doors were opened for the attendees.

I made my way around the show floor getting reacquainted with old friends and meeting a few new ones.

Then 10:00 rolled around and the people started pouring in.... literally!

Here's a pic of the crowd right before the doors opened:

And here's what it looked like on the inside just a few seconds after they opened:

There were three main places that people were making a beeline towards.

One was to get in line to meet Stan Lee.

Another to meet Leonard Nimoy.

And the third was at the opposite end of the building to meet Geoff Johns.

Those three areas quickly became a mass of bodies and chaos.

It took some wrangling, but eventually we got volunteers to manage those areas as best as possible.

As for the show floor, it was PACKED!

So much so that I had a difficult time getting around from place to place.

Still, I managed to weave through the crowd and make my way to the guests and bring them stuff they were asking for.

I ended up at the end of the day with blisters on two of my left toes and I was sore all over just maneuvering through the crowd and being on my feet all day.

Originally there was to be a "meet-and-greet" with Stan Lee right before the show opened for a few of us volunteers, but Stan got the the show floor too late for it to happen and then his line was overwhelming. I asked a couple of the promoters if there was even a chance of getting to see him, but it looked doubtful. So I gave up on my dream of getting to have my picture taken with him.*

I was busy the entire 8 hours of the show (not to mention being there a few hours early), but finally it was 6:00 and everybody was shooshed out for the evening.

A bunch of volunteers met up for dinner, but I went out with a friend and we met up with some of the comic writers from the show.

Along the way, I ran into Filip Sablik (the publisher at Top Cow) and Steve Rolston among others.

I was having a good time, but the evening began to catch up to me and I began to fade. So I bid them all a good night and headed back to my hotel room to try and sleep.

Sunday morning came and I got up later than I expected.

In fact, I had just enough time to take a quick shower before getting to the convention center and had to skip breakfast.

On my way, I was carrying an ice cooler on one shoulder and talking to my mom (who came for the show) with my other hand. The guy in front of me was nice enough to open the door and hold it for me so I could get in. It turned out to be none other than Joe Quesada! The Editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics!

I showed my mom and her husband around for a bit, and then I had to get busy as the doors were about to open again for the second day of the show.

Day two is always (THANKFULLY!!!) a bit slower, and I managed to meet a few new people and find out more about the books or art they were selling. I also was able to get a couple of sketches I'd been hoping to get this year and I picked up some new books to read.

The day went a lot easier with fewer attendees on the show floor, but my blisters from the day before began giving me trouble. I wrapped up each toe with a band-aid and continued to power on for the day.

As it drew closer to the end of the day, the crowds started to die down and people started to get their stuff ready to pack up.

Over the intercom speakers, they announced that this year's show was the biggest ever with over 14,000 people having attended it! (Although, I heard a little later that the number might have even been larger... so once I get the final total I'll let you all know)

The post-show dinner party took place across the street about an hour and a half later.

Hotness & I showed up a few minutes apart but mingled for a bit and then ended up sitting at different tables.

Since she works with the media guests, she tends to hang out with a lot of the volunteers from that group.

I am usually working with the comic book professionals, so I always end-up sitting with them at dinner and catching up.

After a couple of hours, they kicked us out of the resteraunt and sent us downstairs to hang out in the bar. Aaron Douglas (who was a guest at this and last year's shows) showed up and goofed off for a bit with all of us.

Then we headed out to another resteraunt for a few drinks and nibbles before settling down for the night.

We stayed at the hotel an extra night, so it was nice not having to rush home after staying out late the night before.

I got up Monday morning and had breakfast, then after Hotness woke up I took her to get something to eat.

There were a few guests in the hotel lobby when we got back and I got to speak with them and introduce them to Hotness.

Among them: Tim Bradstreet and Mark Texeira, both of whom Hotness has always enjoyed art they have done.

We finally headed back up to the room and packed up our stuff and made the drive back home.

It was a long, but very fun and eventful, weekend.

Much more so than last year's. (I was fighting off a cold last year, and by the end of the show I had no voice left and could barely walk anymore)

I'm resting up and looking forward to my trip to Calgary in a little over a month.

Lots of cool stuff happening then and I can't wait to tell you all about it.

* Oh yeah.

I had given up on ever meeting Stan Lee, when at about 3:30 in the afternoon on Saturday I got a text message that said: "Hustle your butt down to the photo booth right away!"

I got there and found out that I was going to get the chance to have my picture taken with Stan after all!

Unfortunately I didn't get to talk to him for very long, but I did get to shake his hand and tell him what an honor it was to meet a legend like himself. Then 3 seconds later, our picture was taken and I was out of there and back on the floor helping guests.

The photo printer broke down during the show and I was not able to get my picture before the convention ended. Luckily I know the photographer and will be getting it in the mail soon, though.

And Here Are Those Pictures I Promised

Well, I may not be speedy, but I do deliver.... eventually.

I meant to get some pictures up about a week ago but I let it slide and look where we are now.

Anyway, here a few pictures from things I've been doing lately. Enjoy.

In between job searches I been filling my time up with babysitting for my niece and nephew.

A few nights back I had the chance to watch them for the evening while their parents went out looking for a new vehicle (read: bigger kid-transport).

My niece put these fangs on and tried to scare me:

It worked 'really well' as I was certainly terrified and couldn't sleep at all after being frightened by that cute face. (*wink wink*)

On a different day, I watched her brother in the morning.

He hadn't yet had breakfast, so I thought I'd make cinnamon toast for him and see if he liked it.

Trying it out

Seems to be a success!

Other than babysitting, I've also been doing some organizing at a friend's place.

He's been behind in getting his comic books filed and asked if I could come lend a hand while I'm available.

In trade for some of the work, he gave me his older 5.1 surround sound DVD player, since he'd recently upgraded to a newer system. (More on this later)

Also, I get to hang out with his kitties all day while I'm there.

See what rough working conditions I have to deal with?

Wednesday last week, I was running some errands and ended up in Lynnwood.

I stopped by the Comic Stop and later treated myself to some sushi at Sushi Misoya next door to the shop.

This place is tiny, but what they lack in size, they more than make up for in excellent food.

On this trip I had the 'paradise roll' and the 'tarantula roll'.

Absolutely wonderful and the people who run the place are fantastic!

If you like sushi and find yourself in Lynnwood one day, I highly recommend going there to eat.

Their prices are reasonable and their food if well worth it. (They also have non-sushi items on the menu as well, if that's not your "thing")

On Sunday, Hotness and I went to our first opera of the season.

Well, technically it wasn't the "first of the season" but it as OUR first one this season.

We went and saw "La Traviata". (Click the link to find out the synopsis)

It was wonderful. A very tragic opera with a suitably sad ending.

I'm not ashamed to say that I was bit sniffly at the end, but Hotness was definitely teary-eyed.

It was a good thing we'd brought tissues with us!

Here's a shot of the traffic afterwards as everybody was leaving the parking garage.

I took it from the Skybridge.

After that we went to Pomodoro for a bit to eat.

The two of us haven't been there together since I'd proposed to Hotness... 7 months ago!

Oh, it was so good and we'd missed coming there. The food was splendid (as usual) and we got to see our favorite waitress (who missed seeing us as well!).

We had our usual: calamari, halibut ceviche, as well as the Penne alla Vodka which we shared.

(Mmmm... calamari!)

I am so looking forward to our next opera, "Il Trovatore". It has treachery, deceit, political intrigue, attempted murder, kidnapping... and gypsies!

It also happens to be right around my birthday, so it's a double treat. (Guess we'll have to celebrate at Pomodoro again!)

That's most of what's been happening lately.

I probably forgot a few things, but I can't give away EVERYTHING.

I'll try to get back to this again soon, so stay tuned.

Deep-Fried Anything

I'd like to tell you that I've been really busy and just haven't had time to post anything cool until, but I'd be lying.
In reality, nothing exciting going on and therefore a lack of any blog posts with substance.

Hotness and I went to the fair this past Sunday where I took this picture:

 

I can only imagine what "red neck sushi" could be. It's obviously not something natural.

No, I didn't get anything here. I had my deep-fried Twinkie last year and it was enough for me for the rest of my life.

Other than that, nothing else unusual to report.

Just the 'same old, same old'.

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In other news:

 The whole "Disney buys Marvel" has been talked about a lot lately.

I don't really have anything good or bad to say about it.

Whether I like it or not, it's going to happen without my say-so.

I will say this, though...

If it means that we'll finally get a "Peter Porker: The Spectacular Spider-Ham" comic book again.... I all for it!

Also, it might open doors for Marvel to expand on some interesting stories if the characters are allowed to enter each other's universes.

For instance, I wouldn't mind seeing a team-up of Howard the Duck & Donald Duck. (A couple of high-strung, cantankerous waterfowl and their exploits.)

Could be funny if Jeff Parker gets to tackle it. Or very dark if Mark Millar does.

It'll certainly be wordy if Bendis gets to do something like that.

Investments For Suckers

Remember these?

Some of my favorite lines from this clip:
Girl: "... and if the fad ever dies out..."
Boy: "Which we all know will NEVER happen!"

Woman: "... and I found him. And he's uncut...."


Here's a funny article about them as well.



Ha ha ha!!!
Good thing I'm investing in comic books. I'll never have to worry about losing money on them. They're a sure bet to my financial future!

The Trip Up

Okay......

I'll have to break this up, but I'll start with the first few days before the convention.

I worked a full day on Monday. Tidied up everything on my desk and tried to tie-off any loose ends before I left. Got home that evening and packed my bags and then waited until it was time to leave the next day.

My flight wasn't until mid-afternoon on Tuesday, but I'd taken the whole day off so I wouldn't be rushed.

On Tuesday, I loaded my car and headed out to the Comic Stop to meet up with Technogreek, who was also flying up with me that day. I grabbed some lunch and hung out with him while he packed.

Then we took off for the airport.

The flight went well.

I don't "hate" to fly, but taking off and landing always make me a bit uneasy.

Taking off from Sea-Tac wasn't a problem though and the hour-plus flight was pretty smooth.

That is, until we got closer to Calgary.

About 20 minutes before we were to land, the plane hit a lot of turbulence and really made me uncomfortable.

I thought I was just really hot, as I started feeling very warm and was sweating quite a bit, but I was getting motion-sickness.

As it turns out, I had forgotten to take the Dramamine I brought with me before my flight.

So by the time we landed it was all I could to to get through customs without barfing.

I made it okay and our ride picked us up and went out for dinner.

I was feeling quite queasy, so I didn't eat anything. I took the Dramamine (I figured, "What the heck. It couldn't hurt now") and hoped for the best.

Things started to settle in my stomach and I actually ate an ice cream bar later that evening before calling it a night and going to bed.

The next day was pretty calm. I was feeling much better and there wasn't a lot to do for the Expo quite yet.

We sort of lounged around the house and then went for a late breakfast nearby.

I had chocolate sourdough French toast with blueberry syrup.

Oh. My. Goodness. It was sooo yummy!

We then walked over to Redd Skull Comics and met up with Kelly. (a friend and part-promoter for the Calgary Expo)

After that, we went back to the house until it was time to pick up a couple of people from the airport.

It was starting to snow about this time and didn't stop the rest of the day. It didn't accumulate much, but considering it was close to May I thought it very unusual.

That evening we went out for some chicken wings with Froggy and then back to the house to watch the end of a Calgary Flames game on TV.

Like I said not very eventful, but a fun day nevertheless.

Thursday was when the rest of the Seattle crew was to arrive and we actually spent the better part of this day doing prep work for the Calgary Expo.

I was trimming black cardboard for framing the art prints, helped stuff some badges and things like that.

That evening, we went to dinner at a fancy-shmancy restaurant called "Saltlik".

Honestly, for the price I thought it was just okay. My food was good, but my steak was a bit more "rare" than I normally like.

The drinks however were wonderful. I had a tequila, pomegranate and lime concoction and would've been just fine drinking them all by themselves for dinner!

Other than that, not too much else to really talk about. Just lots of little things to do before the show took place that Saturday & Sunday, so we did some more prep work before calling it a night.

Friday was when the shenanigans began in earnest, so I'll return with tales about that in my next post.

Emerald City Comic Con - 2009 (Pt. 2)

So where did I leave off?
Oh yeah....

After making the rounds at Dragonfish and then going to our hotel room, I was pretty wiped out.
I figured sleep was only moments away and a good night's rest was about to happen.
That is, until I crawled into bed and started coughing. And coughing. And coughing.

I got up to go to the bathroom and blow my nose and cough, but I just couldn't stop.
I didn't actually get to sleep until after 1:00 a.m. Then I woke up coughing again around 4:30 a.m.
By the time Hotness and Ren woke up, I had been awake (and coughing) for a while.
They told me I didn't have to whisper anymore but my voice was gone. I couldn't talk above a whisper. Oh wonderful.

I didn't go for breakfast that morning, so I just grabbed a banana (potassium!) and headed over to the convention center. My mom was coming to the show early that day and I wanted to greet her and get her in as soon as she arrived.
Also we'd had some 'snags' with lunch delivery to the guests and I wanted to find out what the plan for the day was going to be. Turned out there wasn't one yet when I showed up.

I handed out a few miscellaneous comics to the people waiting in line to get in and then went and met my mom down in the lobby.
I showed her around until it was about 10:00 a.m. then left her to wander the floor while I attended to my duties.

I'm not going to go into great detail about Sunday, but it was not as pleasant a day as the second day usually is.
There were quite a few SNAFUs that prevented me from doing what I do properly, and it made me feel like I wasn't doing a good job.
Overall though, all the guests, attendees and exhibitors I spoke with had a great time and really love coming to Seattle for this show. So ultimately, things worked out well.

I didn't get around to see as many people as I had planned on doing, so I got only a couple of signatures. But I was able to add to my self-portrait sketchbook a little and I got a sweet piece of original art (which I haven't scanned yet, but will shortly). I also picked up a few new books and I got all three of the limited prints I had my heart set on getting. So I guess I can't complain.

Having been on my feet ALL DAY and talking (which further strained my cough-strained vocal chords), I was absolutely wiped out when the show ended.
I met up with Hotness and she was pretty much spent as well. Since she had to work the next day (which entails getting up early), we decided to skip the after-show festivities and go straight home.
From some of the pictures I've seen of the party, it figures that the one time we miss out on the dinner is the one time that the media guests actually went. *sigh!* Oh well.

I'm feeling much better and my feet don't ache as much, but my voice is still gone. It doesn't help that I talk on the phone all day at work, so it's not getting a chance to rest and heal.
I may not be singing any Ozzy tunes at the next Rock Band party any time soon at this rate.

Hotness, on the other hand is teetering on the verge of coming down with Con SARS. So she's taking it easy and hoping that rest will help to ward it off.
I'm still dosing up on echinacea, zinc and vitamin C just to give my system enough boost to get rid of this lingering cold.
I still have 2 weeks until I leave for Calgary and I don't want to sound like Rod Stewart.

So the show is over now and is just a memory.
I've got Calgary coming up, so I'll regale you with another con report soon.
In the meantime, I hope you are all well and if you made it to the show let me know.

Emerald City Comic Con - 2009

The show is over, I've rested up a bit, and I'm now ready to share.

It's a long post, folks. Better be prepared to read for a while.

Friday I got up early with Hotness and packed the car for the weekend.

She had to work a half-day, so I went into work with her until it was time to head into Seattle.

We got to Seattle and checked into the hotel.

Whoa! It was a sweet room and the service was great. Looking forward to staying here again.

I took surprisingly few pictures this year, but I wish I'd gotten some of the room.

The bathroom was H-U-G-E!

After unpacking, we met up with Steph before going to the convention center. While we were in the lobby I saw Filip Sablik (from Top Cow). He had just gotten in as well, so we decided to grab some lunch together.

We ate at the Daily Grill and had some really yummy food.

Then it was time to meet up with everyone at the convention center.

Quite a few of the volunteers had already gotten there and were busy stuffing a few give-away bags and organizing the registration area.

Hotness and went our separate ways about that point. She stayed to talk and catch up with some of the volunteers while I went in to check out the floor layout and get familiar with where everything was. I also wanted to see who was here and possibly give some of the gifts I had for guests if they were around.

As luck would have it, Brian Pulido was there setting up his booth. When he was here a couple years back, we'd talked about bands we were into and I told him about my collection of concert bootlegs.

So this year I made him copies of Black Sabbath w/ Ozzy from 1978, and w/ Ronnie James Dio from 1980. I also made a copy of a concert right before Van Halen's debut album and one of Aerosmith in 1990. (All of which our some of my favorites). I even found a few mp3s of a band called Beatallica and made up a CD of them for him to check out.

Lastly, I remembered that he and his wife really liked sushi so I printed up a list of restaurants near the convention center for him.

He was pleased as punch to receive all of the gifts and really surprised that I had even remembered talking about it.

That night a group of us wanted to get some drinks and then food (in that order).

We went to Von's for martinis. we were sitting at the table when I noticed Stephen Silver come in. He recognized me from Calgary last year, so I went up to say "hi" before he got a table.

When the waitress arrived it was a round of alcohol for everybody. Not having anything to eat really put the alcohol into my system quickly. When she came back and asked if we wanted anything else I ordered another drink, but I wasn't able to finish it as I was REALLY starting to feel it now. It was an absinthe, and man that stuff is strong!

I could only finish half of it before I knew I'd better quit or else face dire consequences.

We walked up the block and had dinner at the Daily Grill, where more people joined up in our group.

There was about 12 of us just sitting around eating and drinking and having a great time.

By the way, look at the size of this pot pie somebody ordered! It's freaking GINORMOUS!

It was getting late, so we all went back to our hotel rooms and sleep (as best as we could) for the convention the next day.

On our way to the room, four of us popped into Ruth's Chris Steakhouse to see who might be hanging around and we ran into Ted Naifeh and a friend.

He was hilarious and since Hotness was really hoping to meet him at the show, this was a geek moment for her.

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On Saturday morning I met up and had breakfast with Chris B. at the Dragonfish.

Then went back to the hotel to gather up my stuff.

The show opened at 10:00 a.m. I got the the convention center around 8:30 and there was already a very large line waiting to get in.

We had a brief meeting (the guest service volunteers) and then went about waiting until the show began.

Guests started trickling in and I introduced myself to the new ones and reacquainted myself with the ones who'd been here before.

Some of them I had brought gifts for, so I wanted to make sure and give them to them before I got too busy and forgot.

I saw Colleen Coover and Paul Tobin who were very nice. I gave Paul a copy of an out of print Tom Jones CD, since we're both big fans, and told him how much I was enjoying his books. I hadn't read any of his stuff the prior year, so he was glad to hear that I since we last met.

Rob Liefeld was just getting settled in at his both, when I stopped by to say hello and leave a bag

of mini Snickers for him. I remembered that he was a big candy junky last time he was here, so he was really glad I had brought them for him.

Mike & Miriam were back and I brought them a copy of a U2 concert from Israel in 1997.

Next to them was Jim Mahfood. When I saw him in Calgary last year, I told him I'd get copies of some of the mashups I've collected to him. Taking a cue from this, I made my own version with over 100 different mashups and remixes. He was suitably impressed and I'm looking forward to hearing how he liked the music when he gets the chance.

I also met back up with Gene Ha and Stuart Immonen, who both remembered me from Calgary last year. Dan Brereton and his wife. Steve Rolston (who I remembered to bring Red Bull drinks for). Stephen Sadowski and partner. Jeff Parker. And quite a few others.

When 10:00 a.m. came around, the doors opened and the attendees poured in.

After that it was a blur of activity.

I'd like to tell you a lot of interesting stories while I was on the floor, but to be honest it went by really fast and I was extremely busy.

We had some trouble getting drinks in for the guests, so that was a hurdle that had to be jumped. Not to mention trying to get the lunch orders handed out and picked back up in time to get the guests their lunches. It was a busy, busy day.

When 6:00 p.m. came and the Saturday show was over, the guests headed out to do their own thing while the volunteers and staff went to do theirs.

Hotness was working with the media guests, so I really didn't get to see her much during the day.

She made some loose plans for us to have dinner with friends, and then possibly followed up with having drinks with the BSG guys if they made it out of their rooms for the night.

We had dinner at Daily Grill which was fantastic and followed it up with sushi and drinks at Dragonfish. The BSG guys never showed up, but many of the other volunteers made their way over to Dragonfish later in the evening so there were a few "pockets" of us scattered throughout the restaurant. I made my way among each of them seeing how their day went and so on.

A long day followed by a long evening, so we thought we'd go back to our room and sleep before Sunday rolled around.

And right about now, I realize this is getting extremely long-winded. So I'm going to cut it off here and I'll follow up with the second day of the show in another day or two.

The Breakfast Club II: Mandate For A "Man Date"

Hello there!
Yesterday morning I got up super early (WHY?!? Every weekend it happens. I wake up around 5:30 - 6:00 a.m. and can't go back to sleep!) and putzed around the house until heading into town to meet up with friends.

A group of my non-comic peers was getting together to have breakfast and spend some "guy time" (read: sausage-fest) before going to see "The Watchmen" that afternoon.

The five of us met up at the Grill to catch up and give crap to one another, as we ate a H-U-G-E breakfast and drank a lot of coffee before going to watch a 2-1/2 hour movie. (We're smart like that)
It was fun, as some of us hadn't gotten together since camping this past summer.

After we had finished eating, but while we were still sitting around, Hotness dropped by to say "hi" before going to visit her favorite coffee shop and see her friends there.
We were there for quite a while and noticed that it was getting close to time for us to leave and get to the theater, so we paid our bill and headed off.

Getting to the theater, I was surprised to see that the parking lot wasn't that full and there wasn't a line for tickets.
I had purchased all our tickets the previous Tuesday so that we could slide right in without waiting.
We got in, found our seats and.... were only joined by maybe 15 other people.
It was weird. I really expected a lot more people to be there, since this movie was hyped-up so much. But it turned out to be rather low-key, which was also nice as there wasn't a lot of distraction.

I really enjoyed the movie, although having read the book I found myself anticipating what was going to happen next which was kind of annoying (for myself).
I knew going in who the characters were, what they would do and why they would do it so nothing was surprising to me. But the fact that the director stayed as close to the original source material was amazing. It was like watching the book come to life.
My non-comic friends who went really enjoyed it as they had never read the graphic novel, so it was a brand new story experience for them.

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing this again, and especially when the DVD comes out and they can weave in the extra story components that wouldn't fit into the theatrical release.

After the movie, we all head back to Imperfect's house for a bit until it started snowing and then headed home.

The remainder of the day was pretty uneventful.
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This morning, woke up early AGAIN. Arrgh!

I did some dishes, finished up a project I was doing for an ECCC guest (yay! finished!) and starting making breakfast for Hotness.

Since she was out of town for Valentine's, I picked today to make up for not having her here.
I made heart-shaped pancakes, a heart-shaped piece of cinnamon toast, scrambled egg and bacon. All served on a big, red, heart-shaped plate along with coffee.
After she'd eaten, I gave her the card I'd gotten and she opened her present. (Which is a sexy little thing and I'm not going to tell you about it. Let your imagine wander....)

Then we just kind of did our own thing until around noon, when we drove into the "big city" for our first volunteer meeting for this year's convention.
It was mostly just laying some groundwork out and getting to know who's going to be working at the show this time around.
We'll have another meeting in a couple of weeks to assign jobs, get our T-shirts and do some pre-show bag stuffing.

After the meeting, we came back to our hometown where we met up and had dinner with one of our neighbors.
Then it was home to watch an episode of "Buffy" before falling asleep on the couch.

We are such party animals.

Tres Wonder Senoritas

On Wednesday night, Hotness accompanied me to the Comic Stop to pick up new comics and meet up with friends.

Our friends from Canada were in town this week, but unfortunately we missed them that evening and will have to see them in about a month at ECCC. (Only a month! WOOOO!)

But all was not a total loss, as we still caught up and had dinner with the regular gang from the store.

When we got there, Qtilla, Palindrome, and Elwood were already hanging out.

We all went for some Asian food down at the H-mart.

When we got done and back at the shop, we were joined by Geeked and The Maimed Man.

We all feasted on some home-made chocolate chip cookies that I got from a friend as a payback for sending some bootleg concert CDs. (Ssshhhh! Don't tell anyone!)

And just had a good time hanging around giving George a bad time.

While we were there, I got this picture:

l-r: Qtilla, Geeked & Hotness (oh, yeah.. and George!)

They were showing off their brand new Wonder Woman tiaras.

Don't they just look sweet?

Well, that's all for now.

Coming up.... "Man date" breakfast and "The Watchmen"

Stay tuned.

Weekend Update

Nothing amazing to report from the weekend. Just thought I'd catch ya'll up on things.

On Friday I got some DVD's that I ordered on Amazon.
Tokyo Gore Police
Meatball Machine
Irreversable

I haven't watched the first two yet, but a review will be forthcoming once I get a chance for them.

The third movie, though, I did watch that evening.
It's hard to say whether it was a really good movie or not-so-great. It was a foreign film, so those are usually a bit 'artsy' and kind of subjective to each person's tastes.
I will tell you this;
It's a French film, and it's presented in reverse order. Meaning, that you see the ending (credits and all) and then watch as the movie moves backwards to see how it ended the way it did.
One of the downsides (for me) is that it is filmed in that jerky, constant movement type of camera-style. So especially at the beginning of the movie (or actually the "end") the camera moves around. A LOT.
Not very easy to watch and read subtitles and keep track of what's happening onscreen. Especially when you're as prone to motion-sickness as I am.
It does taper off and become more steady as the film moves backwards towards the beginning.

There is one scene in particular that is very difficult to watch right near the middle.
It's a rape scene and it is fucking brutal. I was uncomfortable watching it, even though I know they are actors and it wasn't real. In fact part of it was digital effects. Still, it's not pretty and it'll make you squirm, hoping that it ends quickly... which it doesn't.

Would I recommend this movie?
Only if you're into foreign films that are sort of avant-garde, and you don't mind a bunch of unsteady camera movement.
The sound track is pretty good. One of the members of Daft Punk did the music for a club scene, so it's got that going for it.
Plus.. it has Monica Bellucci. And her ta-ta's. That's a bonus.
But the ending (which you start at) is messed up for sure, and that rape scene is really hard to get over even when you're done watching the movie.
------------------------
Saturday, I went into Lynnwood and met up with Elwood for lunch.
We went to Red Robin and grabbed burgers and just caught up with each other.
Then we went back to the Comic Stop for a bit and while we were hanging out there a couple of people came in to pimp their locally produced comic book based on a post-apocolyptic zombie attack.
Yes. I said zombies. Way cool.

I don't know much about the book other that it's a photo-comic, much like "Crater on the Moon" or "Dorothy" and it's written and produced right here in Washington.
It's called "Night Zero".
You can check out more about it on their website. Or, if you're coming to ECCC this year you can check it at out their booth.

That evening, I went over to the neighbor's and we ate pizza and watched the first couple of episodes of "The Dollhouse".
I liked it, but only a couple of shows into it I'm not overwhelmed yet. I think I'd like to see how it develops more before making a real opinion of it. It was brainless fun to watch though.
-----------------------------
Sunday I spent doing laundry and dishes before Hotness came back home.
Really exciting. Oh yeah.
I did manage to go through my T-shirts and bagged up a bunch of ones I no longer wear or have been hanging onto for years (but just couldn't get rid of).
I managed to clear out at least a drawer and a half which is pretty impressive.

Then I made a calzone for dinner and watched "Secretary" before calling it a night and going to bed.
--------------------------
Today Hotness came back home.
Her mom's health is continuing to deteriorate, but she wasn't able to stay any longer.
Her brother is taking over the duties of being there and will fill us in as the days continue to go by. Unfortunately and thankfully it won't be much longer.

My niece and nephew got back from their little mid-winter vacation... and they brought their parents back with them.
I'm looking forward to seeing them all soon and hearing all about their trip.

And that brings us up-to-date.
I hope you all had a good weekend and were able to make the best of it.

"David's Story"

Everybody knows I loves me the Terry Moore stuff!
So today on his blog he posted up a link for a video based on a storyline he did in "Strangers in Paradise".
The acting is a bit 'wooden', but it's an independent amateur film so you get what you get.
But overall, I think they did a good job filming it.


In case you aren't familiar with the book; David is one of the main characters of the story and this chapter (titled "David's Story") talks about how he killed somebody but was cleared of the crime due to his family's ties to the Yakuza.
He realizes how he has ended a life which had dreams and plans but is now going nowhere because of his actions, and the guilt gets to him.

"Strangers in Paradise" is one of those comics that I can't recommend enough to anybody who hasn't yet read it. And "David's Story" is the tale of one person's wasted years and their trying to atone for earlier mistakes.
Really good stuff.

Dr. Manhattan

Sorry if you check these posts via a newsfeed. The video source I had used for this last night didn't want to cooperate so I ended up deleting the post altogether.
Here 's the same thing, only from Youtube this time.
_____________________________________

Tidbits & Oddbits

Well what do you know?
Blog post entry # 500.
That's a lot of posts. Some with something important to say (to me, anyway), most with nothing to say really.
But that's a lot of posts.

So I wanted to have something really spectacular to talk about for this milestone, but to be honest I don't think there's anything that really qualifies as being "milestone-worthy".
So instead you get lots of little micro-posts to make up one nice big post.
Grab a mug or glass of your favorite beverage and celebrate #500 with me, won't you?

-------------------------

Hotness and I have been re-watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series again.
(Mmmm.... Alyson Hannigan. Oh! Sorry. Got distracted for a moment)

We never really caught them on TV or in chronological order when it used to be on, so with the magic of the DVD's we are catching them in order and remembering how campy and fun they were.

While watching an episode from season two I got to flex some NERD KNOWLEDGE and my geek prowess for Hotness when they made a reference to Locutus of Borg.
Hotness heard it and gave one of those laughs like "I'll laugh, but I don't know why". You know what I'm talking about.
So I got to educate her on who and what Locutus was.
She didn't run away laughing, but instead put her head on my shoulder.
I'm so lucky she loves me for being a dork.

-----------------------------------------------------

My birthday was just over a week ago.
I didn't make a big thing out of it on here 'cause it really wasn't. We didn't go out to celebrate or anything.
I did get myself a nice present, though.
I bought some new T-shirts on Thinkgeek.com that I can wear to impress my fellow geek friends.
Including a kick-ass "personal soundtrack" T-shirt. When I saw this, it screamed out P-O-T-E-N-T-I-A-L and I'm so looking forward to wearing it to one of our ECCC volunteer meetings. Up in Calgary. Out to dinner. Just about anywhere.
This thing is just frickin' awesome. I love it.

For future reference though.... next year is the big 4-0.
I've told Hotness I want to have a "pirate-themed" birthday party at the Comic Stop to celebrate. I was listening to Jimmy Buffet and thought that seemed like a good way to ring in my 40th year.

------------------------------------------------------

Speaking of birthdays, last night we went out with friends for dinner and live comedy in Seattle.
Dinner was great, but then what isn't when it's accompanied by a margarita?

The comedy was okay, though. The emcee was a nervous guy with a thick European accent who made the typical "the difference in America compared to (insert country of origin here)" jokes. Followed by a couple of mediocre comedians before the headliner came on.
One of whom did his routine about dating and being a guy. The other did a bunch of Wal-mart joke references and even had to quote another comedian's joke to get his punchline across. Lame.

The headliner, however was very good. Or at least, he started off good.
His name was Daz Reed and he was actually very funny. That is until some stupid fat bitch in the front row started talking and would NOT. SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP.
His rehearsed routine quickly turned into an improv session and totally threw off his timing.
His jokes were still funny, but the scene became nothing more than partial jokes interjected with comments and insults to the heckler.
More than once he commented about it to the staff during his act, but nobody stepped in to put an end to her and ask her to leave.
He still managed to get some laughs and everybody in our group had a good time, but next time we go I will leave and ask for my money back if I have to have my show detracted by some idiot who wants to share in the limelight after more than a few drinks.

----------------------------------------------------

Last night I dreamed about the comic book convention. Again.
Not a very involved dream, but memorable nonetheless.

In it, I was at the convention center before the attendees were allowed in.
Jewel Staite is one of the media guests this year. (what a second. Mmmm.... Jewel Staite. Sorry. Got distracted again.)

Anyway, she and a couple other people working at the show were at her table getting ready before the crowds came in.
I made my way over to let her know I was a fan and that I'd like to get her autograph at some point, but that I was working elsewhere on the floor and might not make it to see her during the day.
But when I opened my mouth, I just kind of stammered and totally forgot everything I wanted to say. I also dropped a book I wanted to get signed. So basically I just looked like a total doofus.
She smiled and then went to her table to get ready.

Hopefully I'll do better in real life and I actually get to meet her.

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Here's something from the "Things to Ponder" file:


That's pretty impressive and sobering.

You can buy this as a poster from here.


I found out about it via the Presurfer.

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Well, it snowed again last night.
Nothing compared to what we had during Christmas, though.
At least.... not yet.

I have to admit that is very pretty to wake up and see a big blanket of white over everything.
It's just when I actually have to go out in it and try and drive that I wish it was happening somewhere else.

-------------------------------------------------------

There's a case of eHerpes going around.
Normally I steer clear of such things, as to me they are more or less a blog version of chain letters.
But this one has actually been mulling around in what substitutes for my cranium and I think I'll succumb to it for the sake of anybody who's interested.

I'm supposed to link to the person who gave it to me, but technically I didn't have direct contact with anybody to "catch" it. So I'll just blame the first reported case I heard about it from.

1) I enjoy feeding birds. A lot.
That may seem like an "old person" thing to do, but I really look forward to filling up my feeders and watching the birds come and visit them. That is, when the damn squirrels and raccoons aren't tearing them down and breaking the feeders.

2) I wanted to become an artist who made record covers for rock bands after watching Xanadu way back in the day, just like Sonny Malone.
(I make personalized covers on CD's that I've burned, so I guess in a way I sort of got to live that dream)

3) I get teary-eyed watching sappy movies.
I'm not ashamed to say that I've leaked eye moisture at Pete's Dragon, E.T., Steel Magnolias (yes, I admit I liked it), Nell, and Big Fish among others
I even used to get a little misty over a particular commercial quite a few years ago.
And if you make fun of me, I'll punch you in the neck.

4) When I was very young, I used to think that even inanimate objects had feelings.
I used to feel bad for my left shoe if I put my right shoe on and tied it first. So I would try to alternate in order to not hurt it's "feelings".

5) I hate lists. Absolutely hate them.
"The top 10 sandwiches of all time"
"100 of the best rock songs"
"The 50 most popular movies"
"25 of the most beautiful photos ever taken"
....... blah blah blah
They are all matters of opinion with no basis in actual fact and it pisses me off when magazines or news sites post them as 'articles'.

6) Although I haven't done it in quite a few years, I like to tie fishing flies.
I've never actually gone fly-fishing, but I taught myself how to tie them when I was young and to this day can still name a few of them and what's used in making them.

7) I've never broken a bone in my body.
When I was younger I wanted to break something so I could wear a cast and have it signed by friends, but never did.
Now, I'm hoping that I can continue my "no-broken-bones" streak as I get older.

Bonus!
8) On road trips, I like to play a personal game by matching a mile-marker with a significant comic book issue number.
i.e. Mile-marker 181 = Incredible Hulk #181 (first appearance of Wolverine), mile-marker 4 = Avengers # 4 (first appearance of Captain America in the Silver-age), etc....

Yes, I am a geek.

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Well, that's it for post 500.
Please return your seats to the upright position.
I hope you enjoyed your stay and will continue to be back for at least another 500 or more.

I'm A Kid At Heart

I really am, if you didn't already know that.

I've been thinking about the comic book conventions that are coming up and I'm getting excited to not only go to them but to be a part of them.
They're still about 3 months away, but that time goes by pretty quickly.

I'm close to 40 (I'll be 39 in a few days), but for those days at the convention I'm a 12 year-old.
Every year my enthusiam gets stronger even though I'm getting older.
Running around, hanging out with friends and peers, and the comic books. Oh! The comic books!

I guess what makes it really exciting is that I get to be with the guests on a more personal level, rather than stuck in a line waiting to see/talk to them.
Yeah so, I'm making sure they have water to drink so they don't get parched. And I'm taking them lunch when it's ready. Or making sure they have a chance to use the restroom.
It's not glamorous stuff, but it's more than some fans ever get to do.

And I've made a lot of friends doing it. Not just the friends through the comic store (who are all very cool and fun to hang around with), but the repeat guests that have gotten to know me and remember me every year.

It may seem funny to you if comics aren't your thing, but when the show is getting set-up and I'm there helping put up banners or move tables and a guest walks in and says "Hey Tom! Good to see you again this year." That makes me feel awesome.

I watch the guest list grow as the shows get closer, and I remember certain things about some of them.
Stuff that helps make it a fun show for them as well and make them comfortable being there.
* "Oh! Steve's going to be back. I'll make sure to have some energy drinks on ice for him so he won't have to go get them."
* "Hey, great! Greg's coming back. And he's bringing his kids. I'll be sure have some kid-friendly snacks handy for them in case they forget."
* "Right on! Brian and his wife will be returning. I totally have to bring him those concert CD's I promised him last time."
That kind of stuff.

And then there's also the fans I've met in line.
I met one who came all the way over from Europe just to be at Seattle for the show, and it was his first comic convention he'd ever been to.
Then there was the TMNT fan who had the four Turtles tattooed on his leg.
And there are a few fans who've been coming year after year that catch me outside before the show opens to show me their sketches and who they are planning to get more from this year.
Not to mention that I've now got my mom coming to the show and she has a blast meeting all the people that know me.

Also, I have the coolest girlfriend.
She not only lets me indulge in my adolescent endeavors, but is an active participant in the show as well.
It's fun to take the weekend off and spend it at the show and see her there having fun as well.

So can you tell I'm excited?
Less than 12 weeks to go for ECCC and I'm already freaking out (in a good way).

I'll most likely be talking about this more as they get closer, but I was thinking about it lately and just wanted to say how cool it is to still be a kid.

Real Life Heroes

".... We were also doing something because we believed in it.We were attempting, through our personal efforts, to make our country a safer and better place to live in. Individually, working on our separate patches of turf, we did too much good in our respective communities to be written off as a mere aberration, whether social or sexual or psychological."
~ from WATCHMEN, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

======================================================

I've recently begun re-reading "Watchmen" again in preparation for the movie release in just a few short months. It's a lengthy read and I want to be sure to have plenty of time to soak it all in before I see it on the big screen and hopefully not get disappointed.

But shortly before I pulled it off of the bookshelf, I had just finished reading an article in Rolling Stone magazine about real life superheroes that are popping up all over the planet fighting crime in their own individual way.

When I started reading the article, all I could think of was shades of "Mystery Men", where kooks and freaks of all sorts were purporting to have powers and be superheroes.


But although that appears to be the case on the surface, when you scratch a little deeper you find out that these guys (and gals) are committed to their duties and really are trying to make a difference and improve their communities. They aren't just attention whores looking for an endorsement (although some might actually seem like that).

A friend at work emailed me a video that was broadcast just today regarding an interview with "Razorhawk" who fights crime in Minneapolis.

Part of me wants to laugh out loud that people are dressing up in costume and running around "fighting crime"... but then what exactly am I doing when I get off work to make my neighborhood and town a safer place? Sitting on my fat ass blogging?
And besides, this is coming from somebody who still gets giddy when the comic book convention comes to town so who am I to judge?

These folks are organized (sort of) and they are taking matters into their own hands to effect the change they want to see in the world.
Whether it's stopping a robbery, handing out clean socks and clothes to the homeless, or guiding wayward drunken lasses from the clutches of nefarious men... they are helping people.
As "Razorhawk" says in the interview, "The costume helps to inspire people", but we can all try to do better with or without a costume.
(and maybe in the process we can let these ass-monkeys fade away into obscurity)

The term "hero" gets used way too often nowadays. Practically anybody who breathes air can get labeled a 'hero' just for standing at the right place at the right time... whether they actually did anything or not.
I don't know any of these costumed crime-fighters personally, and I'm a bit reluctant to call somebody a hero just for doing a good deed (like collecting food for a local foodbank) or their civic duty (like filling out an accident report). But they are inspiring and setting an example of what we can accomplish if we try.


2009 is almost here.
Maybe being a "Real Life Superhero" isn't my cup of tea, but I'm certainly looking forward to trying to do and be better.

Bettie Page: 1923 - 2008

Sad news tonight as I was surfing around online.

Iconic pin-up model Bettie Page died this evening after suffering a heart attack earlier this week that put her into a coma.
She was 85 years old.

Not only was she famous for her "racy" photos that included everything from skimpy (at the time) lingerie to bondage and fetish, but was also the inspiration for Dave Stevens' character "Bettie" in the Rocketeer as well as the subject of countless websites, comic books, documentaries, etc...

Rest in peace Bettie.
You will be missed but never forgotten.

*Cough! Honk! Wheeze!*

Ugh!

Feeling terribly under the weather since the Thanksgiving weekend finished. So no blog posts to put up (not that there's anything to talk about right now anyway).

Hopefully I'll be feeling better soon and have something to report.

There is something coming up that I'd like to mention, though.

Miriam Libicki will be in Seattle on Thursday to promote the release of her comic book, "Jobnik!". (I've talked about her book before)

She's been putting this out in single-issue form for a few years and just recently had it published in a graphic novel format.

Despite being sick, I'm planning on attending her book reading in Seattle that evening. If you're free and would like to drop by, please do.

Find out more about it here.

That Was Over Too Soon!

Last night was the big night! The "Crater on the Moon" comic book release party!
Hotness and I headed down from the mountains to brave the big city and make an appearance at the Comics Dungeon for Keith's self-published labor of love.
We were also joined by Elwood who came out to show his support.
(He has a great review of the event over on his blog if you want to check it out)
Here's him and Hotness before the festivities took place:

I acted out a couple of scenes from the story along with other CotM alumni:

(We had some technical difficulties with the first scene, but let it load for a bit and you can skip to the ACTION!)

Special thanks to Elwood for taking the video for both of these. I appreciate it!

And I also got a brief interview with the comic creator himself:

(Sorry about the music, I didn't know the microphone picked it up as much as it did)

There were some nifty door prizes being given out. One of the prizes was a hand-knitted afghan by Keith's mom! (Somebody won some cool swag, but I won't mention any names. *cough!*)

There was music, and although I did bring my Jew's harp I didn't get a chance to join in with the band. (My instrument isn't really "jazz worthy")

Since it's a long drive back home from Seattle, Hotness and I cut out after a couple of hours along with Elwood.
The three of us walked down to Dick's for a quick burger

'cause after all..... Dick's IS the place where the cool hang out!

Overall, it was a fun time and I was glad to help support a local comic.

---------

Coming up soon.... Thanksgiving and my brush with 'fame'!

... In Which I Didn't Accomplish What I Set Out To Do

I went over to see my mom this weekend (well, Friday night / Saturday at least).

Last time I was there I was to help her get her toes wet with 21st-century technology by setting up a Paypal, eBay, and Amazon account.

We started with getting her a Paypal account and I soon discovered that she didn't have any antivirus software on her computer.

NONE!

So I immediately ceased any further account set-up information and told her we'd have to get that fixed before anything else.

That's why I was over this weekend, to get antivirus installed.

So I'm there, booting up the computer, getting things going, etc....

And one thing leads to another.

'You have updates to install. Please click to begin the download'

So I do. And it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r.

'You must restart you system for updates to take effect'

I do that. And the system starts back up.

'You have updates to install Please click here to begin the download'

What? More?!? "Hey, mom! Do you ever get the updates when it tells you to?", I ask.

"No, I click the X on the box and close it. I never do that. I don't know what they are for", she replies.

".......", I'm thinking. So I click to get the new update and it not only takes 2 hrs but stalls in the process. So I try to start over and that makes things worse. It took another 2 hours to undo what it was trying to update.

Finally it's done and I put in the antivirus software. Then it can't download the current signatures to update itself. WHAT?!?

Try it again. No luck.

I'm working with a recycled laptop with XP installed, but it's like it's running at MS DOS speed with a 28K modem.

To cut to the chase, NOTHING worked like it was supposed to. After 6+ hours of putzing with the machine all I succeeded in doing was cursing at it.

I'm not a tech expert, so I had to leave it in other (hopefully) capable hands to solve.

All was not wasted though.

I managed to make a stop at a nearby coffee shop where they diplayed some art from a local artist. She has an anime-flair and I gave her link to Technogreek to maybe contact her for the upcoming ECCC in 2009. Hopefully she'll be there and if you're reading this blog and make it to the show, stop by and tell her you found out about her here.

Today should be a blast.

I've got the comic book release party to go to.

I'm not exactly what's all in store for when I get there, but I'll try to get pictures and post them soon afterwards.

I hope to see some of you there today. (I know some of you will be there at least!)

Comic Book Release Party

Some of you may not know this already, but I am actually a character in a comic book.
I play XT Space Marine, Mike Valera in Gus F. Martin's "Crater on the Moon".

It's an updated version of the Greek myth, "Jason and the Argonauts" done in fumetti style.
Here are a few of my "scenes" in issue #7:

(that's me on the bottom right shedding a tear for a fallen comrade

Gus F. Martin is the pen-name for Keith Curtis who singularly puts together each and every issue.

He's a member of the Cartoonists Northwest Assoc. as well as the current president of the organization (at least, I believe he still is anyway).

I met the author a few years back while working at the Emerald City Comic Con.
I was intrigued by his booth set-up. Aside from the comics he was selling, he was also dressed in Space Marine fatigues, and was offering aluminum foil 'anti-alien-brainwave' hats.
He was really going all-out in promoting his book and was very friendly.

We talked during the show and he asked if I'd be interested in being a character in his book as one of the XT Space Marines in search of the golden F.L.E.E.C.E.

"Sure, why not? That sounds like fun," I told him. And the rest is history.

So it is with great pleasure that I'd like to tell you about his upcoming comic book release party in Seattle later this month at the Comics Dungeon.

Some of the cast members from the story will be there, including myself.

If there's time (and he can get it arranged technically*) we might re-enact some of the scenes from the comic for your enjoyment.

Also, some of the Space Marines are accomplished musicians and will hopefully be performing that afternoon as part of the celebration.

(I'm not an accomplished musician, by the way, but I told Keith I'd bring my Jew's harp and play along with the band if the opportunity presented itself.)

You don't need to R.S.V.P. to attend the release, but if you do, you'll receive a 20% off discount on store items during the event.

In addition to the "Crater on the Moon" volumes 1 & 2, there will be CotM T-shirts for sale, as well as posters, tattoos, and other related merchandise.

Immediately following the release, there will be a post-party celebration at Kate's Pub right across the street.

*********
Comic books!

Music!

Door prizes!

And an after-party get-together for more shenanigans!

Come out and help support a local comic publisher (and watch me probably make a fool out of myself... again.)

(* Anybody with technical expertise and/or a projector is encouraged to contact Keith at the email in the release ad above. Tell him I sent you)