tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31334719352098662392024-03-21T07:08:33.715-07:00Nerds in BabelandShinyswootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17515947540985859545noreply@blogger.comBlogger168125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-5638928421408079882010-10-20T11:25:00.000-07:002010-10-20T11:25:07.133-07:00We've Moved!Hey guys and gals,<br />
<br />
We've moved to a cleaner, more organized website so come and join us!<br />
<br />
http://nerdsinbabeland.com/<br />
<br />
We're super excited about this move b/c it makes it easier for people to navigate/find previous articles and...it just looks cleaner!<br />
<br />
Everything else is the same (contributors, twitter, facebook, etc) So, come find our new blog there!Shinyswootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17515947540985859545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-32077526835680417022010-10-18T10:50:00.000-07:002010-10-18T11:01:32.011-07:00Happy Birthday Action Flick Chick!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQm2Z8auLOAGe5XOLIWQF13Q3j5kkx9dPjFUkTEV4ule7_Q5WcVTqJwUEtsiitLOYvrsR4x_AC33Yu8FzBVBmC2A11gNmlAlKRDGcDeg2g1pe2F4NQv-g58vN1qNsqIDWb8NBocmLWgg/s320/-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the Next Woman of the<br />
Web photo shoot by the Bui Brothers</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQm2Z8auLOAGe5XOLIWQF13Q3j5kkx9dPjFUkTEV4ule7_Q5WcVTqJwUEtsiitLOYvrsR4x_AC33Yu8FzBVBmC2A11gNmlAlKRDGcDeg2g1pe2F4NQv-g58vN1qNsqIDWb8NBocmLWgg/s1600/-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />
This is a special blog post in honor of Action Flick Chick Katrina Hill's birthday (today!). Action Flick Chick Katrina Hill has been kicking ass online as a female nerd online for years now and won G4TV's Next Woman of the Web award in 2009. At this point, her website will serve as a better bio than anything I write and plus you should be going there regularly anyway (<a href="http://actionflickchick.com/superaction/">http://actionflickchick.com/superaction/</a>). <br />
<br />
Katrina was nice enough to agree to a Q&A session with me when we first started Nerds in Babeland and I think there is no better time to celebrate her awesomeness with fellow nerdy/geek girls than on her birthday. <b> </b>Since starting this blog, I know that I personally have been truly amazed at the strong network of nerd/geek girls online that are working together to bring attention to the fact that, yes, we do exist. There are quite a lot of us out there that have been nerds and/or geeks for a long time (long before it became more popular to be a nerd). Action Flick Chick and her success (in addition to the success of many other geek/nerd girl sites like <a href="http://geekgirlsnetwork.com/blog/">Geek Girl Network</a>, <a href="http://www.geekgirldiva.com/">Geek Girl Diva</a> and <a href="http://www.geekgirlcon.com/">Geek Girl Con</a> to name a few) show that nerdy/geeky women have tons of stuff to say about topics such as action, sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, and comics and we plan to share those thoughts! :)<br />
<br />
Also, make sure to wish her a happy birthday today! (@actionchick on Twitter)<br />
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>For the uninitiated, how did you first get into the blog/comic world?</b><br />
<br />
It's all about Rambo, baby! After watching the amazing action in Rambo IV and getting quite a few bewildered looks from guys when I rented it from the store, I decided I wanted to share the action with the world from a female perspective. So I wrote a review on my friends website, rocketllama.com. I received great feedback about the article series, and after awhile I branched off into my own website.<br />
<br />
<b>What was the first action flick you ever saw? Did you immediately fall in love with them or was that something that took time?</b><br />
The first action film I can remember watching all the way through was Die Hard 3. I think I was around 11 or 12 and I loved it. Even before then, I was always trying to watch whatever my brothers and dad were watching which was action/war films, but they always made me leave the room like responsible parents should. I guess my persistence of coming back several times during the film made them give up when it came to Die Hard. From there my love of action films grew over time.<br />
<br />
<b>After movies, what is your next biggest pop culture obsession?</b><br />
Video games!!!<br />
<br />
<b>Obligatory question: Favorite action heroine from the cinema?</b><br />
<br />
Milla Jovovich is my favorite, but I have to say Angelina Jolie is quickly rising on my list.<br />
<br />
<b>Who is your favorite action hero on tv (male or female)?</b><br />
<br />
Buffy the Vampire Slayer! She is super badass, always steps up to a challenge, and throws in witty banter to top it all off.<br />
<br />
<b>Books or Comic books? If you were given $1000 to spend only on items that you can read, what would you spend the majority on?</b><br />
<br />
I would spend that money on graphic novels. I do read some comic books but I prefer to have a longer story all in one novel. I would get inpatient waiting for the next issue of a comic book so graphic novels it is.<br />
<br />
<b>To steal a question from your recent interview with the Geek and Gamer Girls, what is the nerdiest thing someone would find upon first entering your house/apartment?</b><br />
<br />
That would be my Bayonetta action figure which is standing right next to my Optimus Prime action figure. I proudly have them on display near the entrance of the house so that everyone can know they are entering a geek's house.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1C1GAri7YDf6TmtQRQuJP5zG8TNI5sTL5wAqxmwHPkza-LB8ROz-Bn9uExwHhzlz7l26BWuCetHGP7ljFTwG56FFhKUENc7DQXBwUgydPCUcehrgQD_i0zuE5f3sdimmaBOK0Qo42xig/s1600/-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><b>In 2009 you were named G4's Next Woman of the Web. How did that come about and how did that change things in your life both online and off? What do you think of the fact that there is a special label for the next woman of the web but they don't have a label for the next "Man of the Web?" (ie, lets delve into a lil gender stuff :))</b><br />
<br />
The G4's Next Woman of the Web contest was mentioned to me through twitter. I had looked into it before but didn't really get interested in entering the contest until there was a lot positive feedback through twitter. So I slapped together a video in about 3 days and sent it in.<br />
The biggest thing I learned from the contest was how many great online friends I have! Everyone on twitter and facebook all joined together and were promoting me, writing articles campaigning for me, and then voting for me. It was amazing the amount of support there was. Now, I definitely have received more online recognition from the contest which has lead to other kinds of writing offers, photoshoots, etc.<br />
As far as the "Man of the Web" goes, I think there should be one! However, it all boils down to this: There are mostly men in the top positions of companies and fans of G4, and dudes don't want to look at other dudes (for the most part) in sexy outfits. Women are sexy beings and probably get more ratings than a "Man of the Web."<br />
<br />
<b>Describe your first Comic Con experience. Did you feel you were treated any differently because you were a woman? Did it effect your enjoyment of the weekend? Did you dress up?</b><br />
<br />
My first comic con I went to was Wonder Con in San Francisco. I was very overwhelmed at how many people were there and by how much stuff was there. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. Now I feel like I'm a pro. During my first con, I was too overwhelmed by everything to even think about putting together a costume for myself. I was shocked by seeing how many people were dressed up, but after having been to so many cons it all seems normal. I'm glad I started with Wonder Con instead of going straight to San Diego Comic Con. My head might have really exploded!<br />
<br />
I don't feel like I was treated any differently at Wonder Con because I was a woman. My guy friends did tell me that people were looking at me funny, and for all I know I could have had toilet paper hanging from my shoe.<br />
However, at this year's New York Comic Con I was trying to play Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and I was with a guy friend of mine. We stood behind two guys playing and after a match they looked at us and one guy moved and motioned for my friend to play. The other guy just looked at me and kept playing. That's okay, I was playing nice and thought I could wait another turn. When my friend got done, he stepped back to let me play but then another dude stepped in. We were both so agitated I just decided to leave rather than get banned from the con for kicking someone's ass. It seemed like they assumed I didn't want to play because I was a girl, and I was just there as arm candy. Well, this is 2010 people, girls play video games too!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1C1GAri7YDf6TmtQRQuJP5zG8TNI5sTL5wAqxmwHPkza-LB8ROz-Bn9uExwHhzlz7l26BWuCetHGP7ljFTwG56FFhKUENc7DQXBwUgydPCUcehrgQD_i0zuE5f3sdimmaBOK0Qo42xig/s1600/-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1C1GAri7YDf6TmtQRQuJP5zG8TNI5sTL5wAqxmwHPkza-LB8ROz-Bn9uExwHhzlz7l26BWuCetHGP7ljFTwG56FFhKUENc7DQXBwUgydPCUcehrgQD_i0zuE5f3sdimmaBOK0Qo42xig/s320/-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<b>Now onto the random, fun birthday questions!</b><br />
<br />
<b>Best birthday present ever?</b><br />
Seriously, I'm going to say the Elmo Snuggie I got this year! One of my friends was jokingly saying he was going to get me a snuggie for my birthday. I said if I was going to wear a snuggie, then I wanted the most ridiculous looking snuggie they could<br />
find. The big Elmo face is perfect.<br />
<br />
<b>Best birthday present of the future?</b><br />
A role in the next Expendable film!<br />
<br />
<b>If you could have any action hero jump out of a cake for you, who<br />
would it be? What would they say when they jump out?</b><br />
Arnold Schwarzenegger and he would say, "It's not a tumah!"<br />
<br />
<b>What is the most ridiculous action hero stunt that you have seen in a movie and/or TV show that you tried to replicate?</b><br />
A man sliding under an 18 wheeler truck bed on a horse. That stunt is from<br />
a real movie people and boy does it look ridiculous. By the way, that<br />
totally doesn't work in real life. The horse will just get super pissed and<br />
storm off.<br />
<br />
<b>How many evildoers' asses have you kicked?</b><br />
Over 9,000!<br />
<br />
<b>Serious question, what are some future/new things you are looking forward to doing with your website?</b><br />
I look forward to putting out new youtube videos and expanding my Zombie<br />
101 collection of videos. I hope to start adding reviews for a few other<br />
mediums like video games, TV action series, and graphic novels.<br />
<br />
<b>What is the one career that you could never see yourself enjoying?</b><br />
Being a nanny. KIDS! YUCK!<br />
<br />
<b>Running a website takes up a lot of time, obviously. If you weren't doing that (or if you could hire tons of minions to run it for you) what would you do with your spare time?</b><br />
Play video games like a maniac, read a butt ton of comics, and travel to<br />
every comic con/nerdy convention there is.<br />
<br />
<b>Guilty pleasure TV show?</b><br />
The Girls Next Door (sigh) I'm ashamed of myself.<br />
<br />
<b>If/when you run your own action hero team (ala A-Team or Expendables),<br />
who would you absolutely need on the team if you were fighting to rid<br />
the earth of vampires? Zombies?</b><br />
Vampires: Buffy the vampire slayer and the Scooby gang, Van Helsing<br />
Zombies: Still Buffy the vampire slayer and the Scooby gang, Alice from<br />
Resident Evil, and Bruce Campbell<br />
<br />
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ACTION FLICK CHICK!Shinyswootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17515947540985859545noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-46783297913621834772010-10-18T06:31:00.000-07:002010-10-18T06:43:48.125-07:00Random Thought of the Day...!<span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Hey Hey--I'm back! Miss me much?!? So, how was your weekend? That's good to hear--mine was good too.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Anywhooo.....</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><br /><br />I HATE MONDAYS</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);"><br /></span><h6 class="uiStreamMessage"><span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">╔══╗╗╗╔╗╔╦╗╔╝</span>░░░░░░░░░<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">╚╗╔╝╠╣╠╣░║░╠╣</span>░░░░░░░░░<br />░<span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">║║░╝╝╝╝░╩░╚╗</span>░<span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">╦╗╔╗╗╔╔╗</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">╔╝╚╗</span>░░<span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">╦╦╗╔╗╦╗╗║║╠╣╚╣╚╗</span><br /><span class="text_exposed_hide"></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">╚══╝</span>░░<span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">╝╝╝╚╝╩╚╝╩╝╝╩╚╝╚╝</span></span></h6><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">That is all.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span class="status-body" style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">ø¤º°</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">Sparkles</span><span class="status-body" style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">°º¤ø</span></span></span></span>Sparkles Fantastichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18184970831513013559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-43830564322319511982010-10-15T05:55:00.000-07:002010-10-15T06:01:19.439-07:00Artery Cloggers...terrible for u but sooooo good.<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwWewJBzrYHvSU065MPk9_DL_UoZbHkgx1whCzWX7r85tiqYjHHQx1NsDFZ0PW9fmIBcqUIyVuExCoLRouorA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Mr Doc and I went out to a couple of really awesome haunted houses last night(I will post a review of those later). On the way home we stopped at the only Denny's within 100 miles of where we live, and I discovered something amazing. A Fried Cheese Melt. Basically it's a Grilled Cheese sandwich with Cheese Sticks in the middle. They give you marinara to dip it in. It was delicious but I <span style="font-weight: bold;">swear</span> I <span style="font-weight: bold;">FELT</span> my arteries clogging as I ate it.videogamedoc87http://www.blogger.com/profile/17384337081431465757noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-60472162972478596622010-10-14T21:58:00.000-07:002010-10-15T07:55:18.314-07:00Fringe 3.4: Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?<a href="http://fringepedia.net/w/images/d/d0/FringeTitle.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://fringepedia.net/w/images/d/d0/FringeTitle.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 247px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 370px;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://seat42f.com/images/stories/tvshows/Fringe/Season3/S0304/Fringe-Do-Shapeshifters-Dream-Of-Electric-Sheep.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br />
</a><br />
Oki dok kiddos, you know the drill by now! Silver titles mean we are back in 'our' world with Faulivia doing the legwork. Which also means we have Peter, our lovable quirky Walter and the non beret version of Astrid at the helm.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://seat42f.com/images/stories/tvshows/Fringe/Season3/S0304/Fringe-Do-Shapeshifters-Dream-Of-Electric-Sheep.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://seat42f.com/images/stories/tvshows/Fringe/Season3/S0304/Fringe-Do-Shapeshifters-Dream-Of-Electric-Sheep.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 270px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 376px;" /></a><br />
<br />
This week sees us dealing with the ever elusive shapeshifters and Faulivia's growing anxiety about her ability to actually pull off this alternate identity thing. And oh the cross references and past influences of sci-fi tales of yore really come full circle in this one.<br />
<br />
Lest we forget at any time that we are in fact dealing with alternate universes. Ones WITH Leonard Nimoy even! You know where I am heading here.. hiya Star Trek!<br />
<br />
We kick off with the sitting Senator who is really a shapeshifter meeting an untimely semi demise after an accident. Shades of Mystique from Xmen anyone? Anywho, seems the SSS (Shape Shifting Senator) was only 'mostly dead'. Dude, they should have totally named him Wesley! But a heavily tripping Walter finds ways to initiate neural activity via exploitation of the half human's emotional connections. The hope is to be able to ask the SSS a few things about who and what he is and is doing. Hello Ash! But where Ian Holm was rather coherent in his 'brains and weird cyborg blood go spodey' state, our SSS on a slab merely spouts off random mutterings pertaining to his upcoming anniversary trip. Oddly his brain shows little activity, but parts of his lower spine light up light an LED art project.<br />
<br />
But what does it mean?! Well, time for a food break, seeing as how a newly awakened sleeper shapeshifter is on the way to make the mostly dead dude an all the way dead dude. Newton awakens the guy who has the house and family in the burbs and doesnt wanna give it all up just because his original programming tells him he should. And here we enter the Matrix. Newton is Smith and the shapeshifters possess varying characteristics of the agents and the benevolent rogue programs like the Oracle. So far none of them seem to have our best interests at heart as a collective humanity, but they do seem to get attached to the humans in their lives. I do love candy.. or my wife in this case.<br />
<br />
You gotta love Walter's ongoing fascination with food, rather like Rusty from 'Oceans 11' but with less swagger and more childlike awe and loony bin crazy. It's over a box of animal crackers that Walter has his House like epiphany.. of course! The brain is in the ass just like a stegosaurus! Thats why the lower spine was all shiny! You know its a big deal when Walter abandons his pudding.<br />
<br />
So while Walter is off autopsying a shapeshifter's ass and letting his pudding get warm, Peter ponders how the senator's wife could have mind fucked herself into believing this thing was her husband despite noticing the small but important changes. Not unlike his nagging questions about 'Olivia's' behavior. But rather than dance around it, he tells her straight out the things he has noticed. A dude who actually vocalizes his concerns? My god this IS science fiction! I kid, I kid. But it is a refreshing change from the normal 'how can we drag this out for weeks and weeks?' usually seen on serial shows.<br />
<br />
But before 'liv can answer its off to the lab, Batman! Something's amiss, namely Walter as evidenced by his pudding being at the table without him. The sleeper shifter is there and gives Walter a nasty cut on his noggin. These guys totally remind me of the dudes with the ice pick thingy from X Files. With our adorable mad scientist incapacitated he then removes the bizarre metal vertebrae ass brain mechanism and takes off back to his family. Since he refuses to move on and take another identity, Newton takes him out. Only to be thanked for his troubles by being chased and caught by 'liv and Peter.<br />
<br />
Faulivia has a busy night. She slips Newton the digitial equivalent of a cyanide pill (which looks like a wafer thin SD card) while in custody, but not before he hits her where it hurts when it comes to naming her fears about being able to actually pull off this increasingly challenging assignment. Later she summons Peter to her place under the guise of talking, only to seduce him.. most likely in the hopes of making him forget his concerns over her current quirks. I mean she IS from an alternate universe, who knows what they teach kids in sex ed over there?<br />
<br />
So we still dont know what on either earth the main big plot is, but we have an idea as to how they are going about it. And now Walter has the whole of Massive Dynamic at his whim, if only he can stay off the LSD long enough to not freak out its best scientists by talking of greater consciousness while taking off his pants. And do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep? I dont know, but seems they have a weakness for actually forming emotional attachments to their families, so maybe Scottish shapeshifters do?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://seat42f.com/images/stories/tvshows/Fringe/Season3/S0304/Fringe-Do-Shapeshifters-Dream-Of-Electric-Sheep-2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://seat42f.com/images/stories/tvshows/Fringe/Season3/S0304/Fringe-Do-Shapeshifters-Dream-Of-Electric-Sheep-2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 254px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 381px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
So there we have it, Season 3 Episode 4. But before we take our leave, its glyph time!<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NDvDZKscMAI/TLfs0tFKu0I/AAAAAAAAABM/LiL0x9vD_0g/s1600/shift.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528147457819196226" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NDvDZKscMAI/TLfs0tFKu0I/AAAAAAAAABM/LiL0x9vD_0g/s320/shift.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 80px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 445px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Stay tuned for next week: Amber<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
~kim<br />
Kink In Motionkimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02770375133475085303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-80371486548942011722010-10-14T19:19:00.000-07:002010-10-14T19:19:03.722-07:00Stage Combat EdutainmentI thought I'd share with you one of the MSCD Stage Combat Club's more instructional videos on stage combat. Don't try this at home. But do enjoy!<br />
<br />
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cyry1tlKkTU?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cyry1tlKkTU?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-19195350131033861562010-10-14T13:03:00.000-07:002010-10-14T14:05:52.423-07:00Motivation<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; color: rgb(102, 51, 255); ">Hello all,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I wanted to talk today about something that I suffer from and I believe most of us out there do as well. It is joked about quite a bit but maybe most of us don't even want to own up to</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://www.aerionmiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/procrastination2.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 399px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> it. I am talking about </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF0000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Procrastination</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">. It is a serious problem in our lives and really keeps us from fully enjoying anything we do. You may recognize this within yourself if you show symptoms of putting things off, waiting until the last minute, or even anxiety over a due date. Maybe the solution can be getting rid of due dates, but lets face it that won't happen unless you are the one making the dates.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">This condition can lead to some other serious conditions like perfectionism and workaholism. If we can get to the root of these issues though maybe we can save others from falling into the same trap most of us have fallen into for so many years. It doesn't have to be your downfall in life anymore.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">There is a key ingredient to help most of us restructure our lives and try to alleviate some of the anxiety and stress that comes along with these conditions and that is </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Motivation</span></span></i></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">. We may be procrastinators but when it comes down to the wire we can put together a presentation for work or school in under 12 hours, that would take most days or weeks to complete. We are efficient in those wee hours of the morning and I am here to tell you that we are powerful. If we could only exude that power in a more organized manner most of us could take over the world. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Here is an example of what I am talking about. First, what is motivation? It is when you get up the will power to go for a goal. The steps I have put together for eliminating procrastination..</span></span></div><div><ul><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">1st step</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">: Setting attainable goals within a reasonable time frame. </span></span></li><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">2nd step</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">: Find a moderate pace to stick to that won't be overwhelming. </span></span></li><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#009900;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">3rd step</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">: Stick to that pace until a goal is attained.</span></span></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The best way to do this is get organized. Create a calendar or a journal for your school work and when you will study, for how long and when things are due. Or if you want to use it for working out do the same thing. It has to be reasonable so you will stick to it though.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-family: Georgia, serif; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://blog.volunteerspot.com/.a/6a010535724f84970b013485852163970c-800wi" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 334px; height: 282px; " /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-family: Georgia, serif; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The most important thing to remember is that this is always a learning curve for people who suffer from procrastination. Don't get down on yourself if the pace you set has to change or even the goal changes over time. The worst outcome I have seen in my personal experience with dealing with procrastinators is it results in a low self-esteem and putting oneself down. Remember that this is all about you and your growth. Anxiety may ensue as a symptom of dealing with procrastination, but setting up schedules and time frames for attainable goals can alleviate most of the stress set up for the "when" you need to get things done. There may only be 24 hours in a day but that doesn't mean we need to spend the last few of them exerting our energy to get things done.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">So here is a question for all of you... </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">What gets you motivated?</span></span></i></span></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></i></span></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#6633FF;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC33CC;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></i></span></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#00CCCC;">Jess Del Pino</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#00CCCC;">(1/2 of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#CC9933;"><a href="http://bit.ly/fbhov"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#993399;">Hooked On Ve</span></a><a href="http://www.bit.ly.com/hovfb">g</a></span>, Come on a Veg-tastic voyage with us!!)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#00CCCC;"><a href="http://www.bit.ly/hovtwit"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#993399;">Twitter</span></a>/<a href="http://www.bit.ly/hoviTunes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#993399;">iTunes</span></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';color:#00CCCC;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;">.. honestly though people, procrastination can be your downfall, let's get motivated and talk about it!!</span></span></span></div>Hooked On Veghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10370125445525770430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-89231518758217882392010-10-14T11:52:00.000-07:002010-10-14T11:52:33.587-07:00Reminder - Geek Girl Con Auction!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFpcfjblPf5vivxDqPcIfE3SeYADuOt-FeD6Cj1owzOLthvaVg2hhCDZ0CDTptAekUup3p13OyY0WrelOIoUW-LOT9O3tRT6ghAMIa89hN6KU1b-B0snv3RiQxqVleqZL-BBGr-YiR6g/s1600/177350541.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFpcfjblPf5vivxDqPcIfE3SeYADuOt-FeD6Cj1owzOLthvaVg2hhCDZ0CDTptAekUup3p13OyY0WrelOIoUW-LOT9O3tRT6ghAMIa89hN6KU1b-B0snv3RiQxqVleqZL-BBGr-YiR6g/s320/177350541.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Just a little reminder that today and tomorrow is the Geek Girl Con Auction!<br />
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2 11x17 prints of "Cupcakes?" (as shown here) done by <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/shibuyababy">@shibuyababy</a>!!! Email bids to sponsor@geekgirlcon.com by 5pm tomorrow!<br />
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Also, don't forget that all of the proceeds from <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/tishalulle1">@tishalule1</a>'s <a href="http://bit.ly/aGqepb">etsy site</a> go directly to Geek Girl Con. <br />
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<a href="http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23GGCAuctions" target="_blank">Search #GGCAuctions</a> for more detailsShinyswootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17515947540985859545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-61646107932270969742010-10-14T11:09:00.001-07:002010-10-14T11:12:14.778-07:00Childhood: It follows you to Adulthood<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtw_5zKslk6YiGH6AMPSqIOPkskZb15VCzwv5xNYgNgqh_KnQNPplQ5dyT7zFFX28mmIVluSaFk3dgE7pnQ5ig9u4tFqnq2mnjFYUpoAvl5eptqP4UNlgVasBKibRQwdj41eUUTxqaQoDF/s1600/halloween.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtw_5zKslk6YiGH6AMPSqIOPkskZb15VCzwv5xNYgNgqh_KnQNPplQ5dyT7zFFX28mmIVluSaFk3dgE7pnQ5ig9u4tFqnq2mnjFYUpoAvl5eptqP4UNlgVasBKibRQwdj41eUUTxqaQoDF/s320/halloween.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527965686424477410" border="0" /></a><br />As a child I was scared of lots of things, I didn't like the dark, I was terrified by spiders, vampires gave me the willies. Normal stuff for kids.<br /><br />But one night, when I was about 7, my mom rented the cartoon version of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. All I remember is having weeks upon weeks of nightmares about the Headless Horseman.<br /><br />I didn't think about it again until I was 11. In 6th grade I was in an advanced Literature class and we traveled to a nearby town to see several short stories get the theater treatment. I really enjoyed <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Monkey's Paw</span>, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Tell-Tale Heart. </span>But then, they started telling the story of that ghoul of a German Mercenary, the Headless Horseman. I was so scared I had to leave. The HH scared me so bad, I couldn't even finish the Wishbone version of the story.<br /><br />My freshman year of college, my parents and I took a trip to Walt Disney World and we attended <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party</span>. I was really excited about seeing the parade until my Mom informed me that it was led by the Headless Horseman...on a real horse...whose hooves sometimes sparked on the cobblestones. *shudders* So instead we rode Splash Mountain three times in a row. It was tons more fun than having a week or more worth of nightmares.<br /><br />Even now, 5 years later, at 23, I still am uneasy about anything to do with Sleepy Hollow. I won't even watch the Johnny Depp movie, and he is one of my favorite actors of all time.<br /><br />Childish it may be, we all have fears, some we admit to, others we don't. But we aren't the only ones with those fears. And it's so much better to share them than keep them bottled up inside.<br /><br />So to start a sort-of Halloween discussion...what is something that has terrified you since you were a child? Or something that is a newly discovered fear?videogamedoc87http://www.blogger.com/profile/17384337081431465757noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-60078232304799933962010-10-14T09:45:00.000-07:002010-10-14T09:45:56.309-07:00NYCC - Day 3 in PhotosDay 3 for me was mostly wandering the center and checking out the cool costumes people were wearing. I did go to one panel though, for AMC's "The Walking Dead".<br />
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Autograph Alley. This was the line to get James Marsters' autograph. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59kb9iaiunEF0LfdZXOUV2ieDUZn_RDm6YiwsRmrtb21mAp8BC9CE3gSSpON1YcmgJMLURNdOTo61erhOP0jgw6Kef8tA7wVlyjlOztvWAsrgASSf27VvF1fu-FgiMdHEoQcKuG4vyVo/s1600/IMG_5136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59kb9iaiunEF0LfdZXOUV2ieDUZn_RDm6YiwsRmrtb21mAp8BC9CE3gSSpON1YcmgJMLURNdOTo61erhOP0jgw6Kef8tA7wVlyjlOztvWAsrgASSf27VvF1fu-FgiMdHEoQcKuG4vyVo/s320/IMG_5136.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Dungeons & Dragons. There were several campaigns being played throughout the weekend, plus a few tables dedicated to teaching beginners the basics of the game. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTlW9mXe0BDXA8EN5rVeIJtz1_dr5ILgwqUadfcTtx7Zwl0JeSewcKWSQcIapnLX_NM89XUxpcQOU12GJH3GpWJccpz8K6j3jTD6aCnM4lC-B6p5gNxmClYNOT8jbA7_H_qA2G8gWjvG8/s1600/IMG_5138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTlW9mXe0BDXA8EN5rVeIJtz1_dr5ILgwqUadfcTtx7Zwl0JeSewcKWSQcIapnLX_NM89XUxpcQOU12GJH3GpWJccpz8K6j3jTD6aCnM4lC-B6p5gNxmClYNOT8jbA7_H_qA2G8gWjvG8/s320/IMG_5138.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_MtWDbLfC6u6lYOoScgQbboRE8Rn44Iu_5F_QNRCnxP0PixM2AX_8qPDjV9keGL95REbYQOTJ7D49ELQvBGFe_hKrHSOnTkvaUKM6AWEXHbt60OLnix7JbLuNE47c9WLaK8tWh45XNM/s1600/IMG_5139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc_MtWDbLfC6u6lYOoScgQbboRE8Rn44Iu_5F_QNRCnxP0PixM2AX_8qPDjV9keGL95REbYQOTJ7D49ELQvBGFe_hKrHSOnTkvaUKM6AWEXHbt60OLnix7JbLuNE47c9WLaK8tWh45XNM/s320/IMG_5139.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Team Rocket<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkS9MP9oq9vez3TUyCTDfdoIBmwQwFzP6Wi7zFJUbq87ULo9l5wud1iEAUOQjCi0u7sxsw-HfAgOewpNr8Bygq7EAVo318naBzfSL55muihydnVrBOlhU6GYuMJhNcEIMLXnKUTiCMH8w/s1600/IMG_5142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkS9MP9oq9vez3TUyCTDfdoIBmwQwFzP6Wi7zFJUbq87ULo9l5wud1iEAUOQjCi0u7sxsw-HfAgOewpNr8Bygq7EAVo318naBzfSL55muihydnVrBOlhU6GYuMJhNcEIMLXnKUTiCMH8w/s320/IMG_5142.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The X-Men. Nice Gambit.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzd9hNZWar8Tz3V4ziaFRkYIkiqgoFQOUWszwJ7Bhra824qAjk6uDCiSXgaIYNPX6Yz_Wb5iimjLcjR4KDRLEMHUsdht6tWlBb6cJwXJf8WkyoDQ5o_b8tcaJMIosPG5OJ_8Uo0Kic9sI/s1600/IMG_5145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzd9hNZWar8Tz3V4ziaFRkYIkiqgoFQOUWszwJ7Bhra824qAjk6uDCiSXgaIYNPX6Yz_Wb5iimjLcjR4KDRLEMHUsdht6tWlBb6cJwXJf8WkyoDQ5o_b8tcaJMIosPG5OJ_8Uo0Kic9sI/s320/IMG_5145.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Tomb Raider<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhct1uYU20u5Yok31gTJM2F8FK9mpVgANIN2iYcAmkD1gWmMLrb7Pjo0Y2tpPol1Hf2xYCRsaUghZk0406E2ALYf3v4jUXUb4C_G_cXzt_Y8Jb8BVcJ0l1Mr04vrTJiqxirLbJv8JcdTT8/s1600/IMG_5153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhct1uYU20u5Yok31gTJM2F8FK9mpVgANIN2iYcAmkD1gWmMLrb7Pjo0Y2tpPol1Hf2xYCRsaUghZk0406E2ALYf3v4jUXUb4C_G_cXzt_Y8Jb8BVcJ0l1Mr04vrTJiqxirLbJv8JcdTT8/s320/IMG_5153.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Phoenix was what first caught my attention here, but I liked all of their costumes. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9q_K5QyptQlsxBMMzdIUJ211QLDfL83p2o0JN8WPYrF0zg4tcBVxV0T1KCYp2vpuJrFy1rN0yy4VcahRpwNJvg8l0hLZEiAfmPYqG6CCP9RUZKwtk_LTP-018sEDdkJ-6n7ruC2RjySM/s1600/IMG_5156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9q_K5QyptQlsxBMMzdIUJ211QLDfL83p2o0JN8WPYrF0zg4tcBVxV0T1KCYp2vpuJrFy1rN0yy4VcahRpwNJvg8l0hLZEiAfmPYqG6CCP9RUZKwtk_LTP-018sEDdkJ-6n7ruC2RjySM/s320/IMG_5156.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Batman & Robin. I thought it was cute that the kid was Batman, even though Robin was the kid in the comics. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaKjyoQ8QIn_ORTYPMzf2JlCe_KmC8uiloZSVdC7S2mM7nI-0QrMibpwjttL_iCDxMIs-ZbNHIuLEkFRy-rjw0Tp_XwBHV5ZC5x4Ykap-wTcXOgNShzpZVMZ0QFu3rGKGXJANNN3AiZWY/s1600/IMG_5157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaKjyoQ8QIn_ORTYPMzf2JlCe_KmC8uiloZSVdC7S2mM7nI-0QrMibpwjttL_iCDxMIs-ZbNHIuLEkFRy-rjw0Tp_XwBHV5ZC5x4Ykap-wTcXOgNShzpZVMZ0QFu3rGKGXJANNN3AiZWY/s320/IMG_5157.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Walking Dead panel<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSKAakBSUFEIEl62FYxs6j_aK109ahdDv4KqEs-jTMJvvo8Ck0_m_NzgYexTQBoWom4yvg1QJ_4qJQQ0NUVnlnFXhulaQeufQ-E2Mdv2fsOzIMWzx3YlGDw5YLyt1eVq1PHsmnTVxJBo/s1600/IMG_5164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdSKAakBSUFEIEl62FYxs6j_aK109ahdDv4KqEs-jTMJvvo8Ck0_m_NzgYexTQBoWom4yvg1QJ_4qJQQ0NUVnlnFXhulaQeufQ-E2Mdv2fsOzIMWzx3YlGDw5YLyt1eVq1PHsmnTVxJBo/s320/IMG_5164.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>First we got some background information from the producer, director, and writer.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUrLsCDzeI5sXK5-Be9gDvidyRqoi8gIcwljf4H7MpF3LF-uTa9E-xjIk9xtKiVNpUW5cDD0dZKLFajM8fevxXcpidBmWRiIEE9VLYnZV975PBTj9__enqN6BlBijvzhgcTqHLUFI1MQ/s1600/IMG_5168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUrLsCDzeI5sXK5-Be9gDvidyRqoi8gIcwljf4H7MpF3LF-uTa9E-xjIk9xtKiVNpUW5cDD0dZKLFajM8fevxXcpidBmWRiIEE9VLYnZV975PBTj9__enqN6BlBijvzhgcTqHLUFI1MQ/s320/IMG_5168.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Then the cast joined us for insight on their characters. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1nxQDin5WS0iIyy1F3sZN-SCxOp5pt_7vuJpkjE0OcKXf1FfDrNmL7JUkCVMK4Mgtm1jCb-QwOkmBq6mtE-6fQ7Jxbq5NqLsHM_XaCETXT12HIqH_lyoZxP5yC8OL8WBnmW45OzFITeI/s1600/IMG_5171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1nxQDin5WS0iIyy1F3sZN-SCxOp5pt_7vuJpkjE0OcKXf1FfDrNmL7JUkCVMK4Mgtm1jCb-QwOkmBq6mtE-6fQ7Jxbq5NqLsHM_XaCETXT12HIqH_lyoZxP5yC8OL8WBnmW45OzFITeI/s320/IMG_5171.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>News on Shufflehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00965467568174715359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-78613943346918277072010-10-13T15:39:00.000-07:002010-10-13T15:50:15.959-07:00Project For a New Mythology<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI58jwBklpvgPJ0lYFbG8V6qben_cg-ymqhbgWChwFNzyd9JcBh2TpTHXyfzp6G9nTHjVUVzx4e7nDJxZwcqxBeDcUVaVqTNbKoQhfcX_YI_32wODXamWtzmdjWFoSGA_jE043Udzej5pW/s1600/scan0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI58jwBklpvgPJ0lYFbG8V6qben_cg-ymqhbgWChwFNzyd9JcBh2TpTHXyfzp6G9nTHjVUVzx4e7nDJxZwcqxBeDcUVaVqTNbKoQhfcX_YI_32wODXamWtzmdjWFoSGA_jE043Udzej5pW/s320/scan0003.jpg" width="161" /></a><br />
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Any of you who are writers (or readers!) should stop my my friend Jason's online 'zine, <i><b>The Project For a New Mythology</b></i>. This issue, it's all about the REMIX! That is, take any of the work you like and riff on it! Make sure you let me know if you riff on mine, so I can get all psyched. ~Jenn <br />
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<a href="http://pfanm.com/PFANM/Volume_4_Remix.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">http://pfanm.com/PFANM/Volume_4_Remix.html</span></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-83620921622028805242010-10-13T15:15:00.000-07:002010-10-13T15:15:37.272-07:00Why I Dig Paul and Storm<a href="http://cranialspasm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/paulandstormlogo.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1289" height="225" src="http://cranialspasm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/paulandstormlogo.jpg" title="paulandstormlogo" width="225" /></span></span></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://cranialspasm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/paulandstormlogo.jpg"></a>During a completely tedious and infuriating day at work, my entertainment comes from checking on my Twitter account during breaks.</span></span><br />
<div id="_mcePaste"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">How stoked was I to see that Storm of the comedy music duo </span></span><a href="http://www.paulandstorm.com/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Paul and Storm</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> was engaging their Twitter followers in a short interactive that was reminiscent of Zork. It kept me laughing the entire day and I figured I would share the game with you before it's lost in the annals of Twitter.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<div id="_mcePaste"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[S] You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door and a sign that says "Retweet".</span></span><br />
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<div id="_mcePaste" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.@just_mike >take sign / The sign is affixed to the house by very large bolts, and can not be moved.</span></span></div><div id="_mcePaste" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.@zxo >inv / You have: one portable computer device, a sequined glove, and a parrot.</span></span></div><div id="_mcePaste" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.@jawboneradio >use portable computer device / You take the device in hand. Its display reads: http://bit.ly/czZzn1</span></span></div><div id="_mcePaste" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.@tanuki_green > Put on glove / You are now wearing the sequined glove. You hear music.</span></span></div><div id="_mcePaste" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.@Spam286 >Moonwalk west. / You moonwalk west. You are standing in a field. There is a sequined computer terminal and a cannon</span></span></div><div id="_mcePaste" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.@smokehalo >say “hello parrot” / The parrot says “hello parrot”</span></span></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">To read the rest of the post (and it's a long one), <a href="http://cranialspasm.com/2010/10/13/why-i-dig-paul-and-storm/">visit my site</a></span></span></div>CranialSpasmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738559105933914142noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-75411787973842138312010-10-13T06:37:00.000-07:002010-10-13T08:31:37.497-07:00NYCC - Day 2 in PhotosI meant to post this yesterday, but I was too busy being a student. Sorry. Here is Day 2 of NYCC in photos.<br />
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The line getting in before doors opened on Saturday was insane. It gave me a chance to check out some of the costumes for the day though, like... <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVD29NVwnbX1RqXtMdUSIQP6tntnWsOlbBHPzSSkaWs122lHAr-3PhkntF0x7Hd2hvFg4KIHhtSWMBFoyMEh-sMu4g-v4IRrbTh-O9Fol5KSE01f9kNSe6edMZtoJvIms8w-7qz3vwGA/s1600/IMG_5065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEVD29NVwnbX1RqXtMdUSIQP6tntnWsOlbBHPzSSkaWs122lHAr-3PhkntF0x7Hd2hvFg4KIHhtSWMBFoyMEh-sMu4g-v4IRrbTh-O9Fol5KSE01f9kNSe6edMZtoJvIms8w-7qz3vwGA/s320/IMG_5065.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>...this guy, who was my first Doctor Who sighting. He was standing behind me, and I couldn't <i>not</i> take a picture. The fez was <i>too</i> cool. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDapcCJxNwNFKnEdqvXl6jfMZgU-zBkhKR0-NLTzOoOvyrKqqkCmM3dVRgPqQW2bD9jtDa4ZVQeF2Q7KAHiFraQwV6k_sv6uLYptGcizT4vwgd31b6p6B6-Np7sRPWByB8FNINlxwVcHQ/s1600/IMG_5066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDapcCJxNwNFKnEdqvXl6jfMZgU-zBkhKR0-NLTzOoOvyrKqqkCmM3dVRgPqQW2bD9jtDa4ZVQeF2Q7KAHiFraQwV6k_sv6uLYptGcizT4vwgd31b6p6B6-Np7sRPWByB8FNINlxwVcHQ/s320/IMG_5066.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>OM Nom Nom, I wants cookies now.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuTImaHIFVYidj8jGrdDE_dm6PhXvWtI2bZ2BIijwP6m_HyOI7VXGk-DoAev1plTy3ZpE4IEJjabOvQs52q9n0dUBxBLr9BUM2FZbENdGHht6sp7R4zwEa8j7Nzt5N2zMvEunlDkUBtFc/s1600/IMG_5068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuTImaHIFVYidj8jGrdDE_dm6PhXvWtI2bZ2BIijwP6m_HyOI7VXGk-DoAev1plTy3ZpE4IEJjabOvQs52q9n0dUBxBLr9BUM2FZbENdGHht6sp7R4zwEa8j7Nzt5N2zMvEunlDkUBtFc/s320/IMG_5068.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This was the MTV Geek panel. Third from the left is Stan Lee, who announced his new project with them.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyCdE3VdkBhgkjyV5shJeZZqRuQQzpz_WAhATQT8sQ0HzIvcOV7gk6jVYhPglr8AccYz2NAtbFW0DzzWAPF3-p_OK4GgRJE8s8bVmErlud8ZHK6B7arm477dSPJmc-RPmMyIEhreKj_TU/s1600/IMG_5074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyCdE3VdkBhgkjyV5shJeZZqRuQQzpz_WAhATQT8sQ0HzIvcOV7gk6jVYhPglr8AccYz2NAtbFW0DzzWAPF3-p_OK4GgRJE8s8bVmErlud8ZHK6B7arm477dSPJmc-RPmMyIEhreKj_TU/s320/IMG_5074.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The DC Universe panel was in the same room as MTV Geek, so I stuck around to get the latest news on that front.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OPkBAuxxEG-PHI1kHsplFd5xDYBk6N47k4cuacc7BkoYTGGcqqOHXpG4Q2QPWOtJm-KAEfYU2c3M_YiOTD-0WJV6eDrUFXjpmGEEIdpqTlusQicD6jP-09tuA9caEhGAAduzkqYbqKg/s1600/IMG_5079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OPkBAuxxEG-PHI1kHsplFd5xDYBk6N47k4cuacc7BkoYTGGcqqOHXpG4Q2QPWOtJm-KAEfYU2c3M_YiOTD-0WJV6eDrUFXjpmGEEIdpqTlusQicD6jP-09tuA9caEhGAAduzkqYbqKg/s320/IMG_5079.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I saw this person when I was leaving the cafeteria. I didn't expect to see such an epically awesome Codex costume, so of course I had to compliment her on it.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZOATAh7GIyfqyz64Hghwc8wg2Zgjq1zpKX_3nT_bI0aqIDpIn3k52gM2wBaFEzS4CGLjQMLztQMCWJHIj-gZFOF2Tsf6TR_jKR-qYbeFZ8Mz9FpUVIKtsIrJdfEpPCbDTjQzUnQGfJg/s1600/IMG_5087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZOATAh7GIyfqyz64Hghwc8wg2Zgjq1zpKX_3nT_bI0aqIDpIn3k52gM2wBaFEzS4CGLjQMLztQMCWJHIj-gZFOF2Tsf6TR_jKR-qYbeFZ8Mz9FpUVIKtsIrJdfEpPCbDTjQzUnQGfJg/s320/IMG_5087.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>The LGBT panel was in the same room as the zombie panel I was going to, and we were able to sneak in about midway through. I was pleasantly surprised to see the room was packed with people actually interested in the topic, and not just people who were waiting to talk about zombies.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVZ7JIwf4zkBBFMXskksiePqnGxpanijdokIFPjPPXY_0hrwqr4qVo64kj4UmUXmENSuKHwzoMmGu7IzSvcVe_yiJSk5WQAyregDd-7HvjzqDGuYk7jqm2CBkmcTHdD9aetle8vlDAFc/s1600/IMG_5107.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVZ7JIwf4zkBBFMXskksiePqnGxpanijdokIFPjPPXY_0hrwqr4qVo64kj4UmUXmENSuKHwzoMmGu7IzSvcVe_yiJSk5WQAyregDd-7HvjzqDGuYk7jqm2CBkmcTHdD9aetle8vlDAFc/s320/IMG_5107.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Next was the "Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep" panel. It was quite entertaining.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPmXQzcLHeKCdDOXmoYywXXlFnX_wgR8YCvs3nBe-t9dEdyvdounsaBAVnI128zuD06c9qLExf6uqW6uYveUlgK8HyPirJmNajq6hxZr0EukDKQDhfUNBQjlikq4xO4DmjUSV05byYtYM/s1600/IMG_5110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPmXQzcLHeKCdDOXmoYywXXlFnX_wgR8YCvs3nBe-t9dEdyvdounsaBAVnI128zuD06c9qLExf6uqW6uYveUlgK8HyPirJmNajq6hxZr0EukDKQDhfUNBQjlikq4xO4DmjUSV05byYtYM/s320/IMG_5110.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Pizza time! The guys from the Roddenberry panel decided we deserved some pizza for sticking with them at the late hour. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqboS3prSarD_W57yTsD9_eQD25R_6QA8SRpU9ubPkaEhwhzWooRttx6pHXLdKpMarx_tI6q2Ocicii2IvLxVE20Xpv48D3zUbPrYuc0Nk0Rsmyxuc5cLo9sZdBefUHyflEssoI0nmHKY/s1600/IMG_5125.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqboS3prSarD_W57yTsD9_eQD25R_6QA8SRpU9ubPkaEhwhzWooRttx6pHXLdKpMarx_tI6q2Ocicii2IvLxVE20Xpv48D3zUbPrYuc0Nk0Rsmyxuc5cLo9sZdBefUHyflEssoI0nmHKY/s320/IMG_5125.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Roddenberry panel. By the time we were finished, I was convinced I needed to add "Days Missing" to my graphic novel collection. I got to talk to the creator of the series the next day at his signing. He was super nice and a great start to my morning.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH16IhhQkMU2iUGktNAaBDX8usT6jYovlMlPz1A3iZohbc-lNXXTFMUrZ3PzLJLSXkXSUdo5TS0LauFSmCBNKOAYOUpt6X1Pig-BLQadvE-xCTopw06UHs2T02shdqaQaKd4l1LU8hChU/s1600/IMG_5127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH16IhhQkMU2iUGktNAaBDX8usT6jYovlMlPz1A3iZohbc-lNXXTFMUrZ3PzLJLSXkXSUdo5TS0LauFSmCBNKOAYOUpt6X1Pig-BLQadvE-xCTopw06UHs2T02shdqaQaKd4l1LU8hChU/s320/IMG_5127.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrjz6jV5hEwEudzCvYBselbXZOYwbZfY1wOYJlpGUYNlGs_P3gVjQO-ETSuFT4g7rO5p5ONjV4HSKDMu_U88RUcjNshed1jD9x-2iATGRIvidw4Hp6nLh4Vh76XeQX0cWnYnBOmx-WSs/s1600/IMG_5128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCrjz6jV5hEwEudzCvYBselbXZOYwbZfY1wOYJlpGUYNlGs_P3gVjQO-ETSuFT4g7rO5p5ONjV4HSKDMu_U88RUcjNshed1jD9x-2iATGRIvidw4Hp6nLh4Vh76XeQX0cWnYnBOmx-WSs/s320/IMG_5128.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Day 2 was full of lots of fun things that won't soon be forgotten. Although that can be said of the whole weekend. Up next, the third and final day. Stay tuned.News on Shufflehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00965467568174715359noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-24043114492438402082010-10-13T05:47:00.000-07:002010-10-13T08:31:03.390-07:00Random Thoughts for the Next Few Days...!<span style="color: #cc33cc;">Many have asked, "Sparkles--how do you come up with this stuff?" .....and I reply with a blank stare. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc33cc;">Honestly though...I carry a small notebook with me and write things down when inspiration hits. Sometimes I like to look at people when writing to make them feel like whatever I'm writing is about them OR make them paranoid that I'm some kind of investigator and they are under suspicion. <span style="color: #00cccc;">=^)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc33cc;">Most of the time, the funniest bits happen when I am sleep deprived/fighting insomnia.<span style="color: #00cccc;"> (</span>You're welcome.<span style="color: #00cccc;">)</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc33cc;">I will be super busy<span style="color: #00cccc;">/</span>doing a lot of traveling over the next few days, and won't have time to even touch a computer let alone be close to free WiFi, so here are four little gems that I've been saving......enjoy.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #cc33cc;"><span style="color: #00cccc;">*</span> If you have even one problem and you're not bitching I know you can't be one of my relatives...</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc33cc;"><span style="color: #00cccc;">*</span>....which brings me to another point... Smother is only an "S" away from Mother.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc33cc;"><span style="color: #00cccc;">*</span> Morning, smorning. Have a glass of wine!</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc33cc;"><span style="color: #00cccc;">*</span> Bacon makes everything better.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span class="status-body" style="color: #cc33cc;"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">ø¤º°</span></span></span><span style="color: #00cccc;">Sparkles</span><span class="status-body" style="color: #cc33cc;"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">°º¤ø</span></span></span></span>Sparkles Fantastichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18184970831513013559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-57647411692390073372010-10-12T14:54:00.000-07:002010-10-12T15:40:43.021-07:00Geek Girl Con Silent Auctions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4QHQNiEE5D5DZoZ9A_ljMdDfm1AQAsmW7OBRaIZ415fn6kEFqrdEFng6PiDw3-xA_YEAz_TmFecFB3r-yCQAj8GZbL-N_bzozzG8QK3qsjMa1q9j0qv-hfTgwbuxkjnqLyaZ4HmembNE/s1600/GGCAvatar2_reasonably_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4QHQNiEE5D5DZoZ9A_ljMdDfm1AQAsmW7OBRaIZ415fn6kEFqrdEFng6PiDw3-xA_YEAz_TmFecFB3r-yCQAj8GZbL-N_bzozzG8QK3qsjMa1q9j0qv-hfTgwbuxkjnqLyaZ4HmembNE/s1600/GGCAvatar2_reasonably_small.jpg" /></a></div>Just a reminder that the lovely ladies of <a href="http://geekgirlcon.com/">Geek Girl Con</a> are still holding silent auctions via Twitter. All items being auctioned off are donated by vendors/merchants, geeky crafters, GeekGirlCon organizers and anyone else who wants to make sure this event happens. All winning bids will go straight to GeekGirlCon. No bids are ever too small!<br />
<br />
Currently this super awesome <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/58487547/leopard-purse">leopard purse/tote</a> is on sale through <span class="tweet-user-name"> <a class="tweet-screen-name user-profile-link" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/tishalulle1" title="Marissa">tishalulle1</a>'s </span>etsy store. I know I know we spend a lot of money and suggest a lot of stuff on this site but this is for another great Nerdy/Geek girl cause :) Also, everything in <span class="tweet-user-name"> <a class="tweet-screen-name user-profile-link" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/tishalulle1" title="Marissa">tishalulle1</a>'s </span>etsy store goes 100% to Geek Girl Con.<br />
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New auction items go up around Thursday or Friday. I will continue to post them as they come out!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23GGCAuctions" target="_blank">Search #GGCAuctions</a> for more detailsShinyswootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17515947540985859545noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-4149731753889463252010-10-12T14:39:00.000-07:002010-10-13T03:43:10.808-07:00The Nerdist meets Mr. Sulu - Photoshop Contest<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqPye93auEXA5gr8mXob5mxxHGlroxwKgZBZah845gO6aApMvRoLgNSzJ6y5IfgjOcTKocFA60Tj6NR38pTuGmvqUIIh-UaAByMAU4fZEJa6KQHVOO1odDIK4pp_Jll2JGVB7pNp72r0Lf/s1600/Photoshop+Challenge+1.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527277774238416082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqPye93auEXA5gr8mXob5mxxHGlroxwKgZBZah845gO6aApMvRoLgNSzJ6y5IfgjOcTKocFA60Tj6NR38pTuGmvqUIIh-UaAByMAU4fZEJa6KQHVOO1odDIK4pp_Jll2JGVB7pNp72r0Lf/s320/Photoshop+Challenge+1.png" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 240px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a>*points to the picture*<br />
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Mr. Hardwick and Mr. Takei...they would make awesome companions.<br />
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That is all.videogamedoc87http://www.blogger.com/profile/17384337081431465757noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-86329236975721783402010-10-12T08:42:00.002-07:002010-10-12T13:54:40.963-07:00The Birth of a Hashtag, a Nickname and a Movement<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527254640316662450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij8BjNy4l46WUqYUrAjMomaiiDGYMATFeGMPVoRz7L-y4vPqRADua4eCYXit8epzsbKFvhY2qwqZ5-1AmdE_MhN20_aEl8A-156bTZA5KTVH9145i5LvQQJVYLPYjV_n0iN804ae6i4aQ/s400/absolutedtfglogopurple.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">So it all began rather innocently as many great things in history do. ;D</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span">It was the early morning hours of Thursday, October 7th, 2010, and I was getting ready to settle in for a marathon overnighter listening to David Tennant on </span><a href="http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk/onair/breakfast/"><span class="Apple-style-span">The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"> on </span><a href="http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk/"><span class="Apple-style-span">Absolute Radio</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"> (UK). I casually began to ask my tweeps on Twitter who was present (I wanted to know who I was going to spend the morning with) and people began to tweet me replies. Slowly, we grew to a dozen (myself included) and at that point I decided to stop counting people. A dozen David Tennant fangirls sounded like a good round number. =)</span><br />
<a _mce_href="http://www.twitter.com/seduff_" href="http://www.twitter.com/seduff_" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span">@seduff_</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">asked for suggestions as to what we should call ourselves in trying to get ourselves a shout-out and I made two suggestions. I honestly can't recall the first one but the second one was </span><a href="http://twitter.com/home#search?q=%23absolutedtfangirls"><span class="Apple-style-span">#absolutedtfangirls</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">. It had a double meaning which I really liked - devout David Tennant fangirls and David Tennant fangirls staying up/getting up early to listen to Absolute Radio. I didn't think seduff or anyone else would really like it that much. Soon several people agreed and the hashtag for our David Tennant Twitter party (the 'party' term coming from </span><a _mce_href="http://www.twitter.com/tardis_tara" href="http://www.twitter.com/tardis_tara" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span">@tardis_tara</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">) officially became #absolutedtfangirls. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">I reluctantly decided to listen to </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/seduff_"><span class="Apple-style-span">@seduff_</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"> and sent an e-mail into the station. I didn't want to take the time to write up something intelligent (LOL) only to have it overlooked like every other time I've written in to ANY show/site but what the hell! I even went so far as to make my e-mail fangirlie & cheeky and provided them with my actual city location because it wasn't like anyone would ever read that information on air. Boy, was I wrong!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">Around the same time, the Heart Fm show which would include an interview with David, had begun and although I was </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">supposed</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> to be recording it I ended up going back and forth between both radio shows. BIG mistake!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">As I was listening to Heart Fm, I decided to save my e-mail for posterity since it was a site-based submission and once I had sent it there was no way of retrieving it. I posted it through twit longer and at about the same time I did that I began to see tweets pop up on my timeline that read "He mentioned us!" "He read my e-mail!" and then I came across a 'Congratulations!' tweet sent my way. Congratulations? I was truly confused and thought maybe someone was congratulating me for having had the nerve to send in the e-mail I'd </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">just</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> sent.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">By this time, I had switched back over to Absolute Radio just in time to hear the end of </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/tardis_tara"><span class="Apple-style-span">@tardis_tara</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"> ON THE SHOW! She was telling her story about meeting David in New Mexico while she was an extra in the upcoming remake of Fright Night and described her brand spankin' new Doctor Who tattoo only to have an awkward silence linger from Christian's end. I was laughing so hard that I tweeted I was pmsl at Christian. <---- Remember this tweet; it will up again later. =D</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">During Tara's on air appearance, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">more </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span">congratulations came my way and by now it was clear I had missed something big on Absolute Radio! I felt really dumb but had to ask if </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">my</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> e-mail had been read on air and in came the "Yes, they did! Right before Tara!" tweets. I was crushed. It had been my one shot at on air radio fame (LOL) and I had actually MISSED it! I felt like a loser! The loser feelings didn't last long though as I quickly began to recall exactly what I had typed in the e-mail! =O I was now completely embarrassed!</span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span">"</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">The #AbsoluteDTfangirls </span></i></b><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">around the globe have joined up for a twitter party to await the coming of the Time God on Christian's kick ass breakfast show!</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Sunday can't come soon enough and we look forward to Decoy Bride as well as the epic Fright Night where, basically, Peter Vincent is the hero! OHH YESS!</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">Love, McFangirl =D</span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span">P.S. When the hell is Tennant gonna do a shirtless photoshoot?! We're begging you, David!"</span></i></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">I was feeling really awkward & disappointed that I had missed out on my own 2 seconds of fame and would have to wait hours to listen to it when </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/seduff_"><span class="Apple-style-span">@seduff_</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"> tweeted a link to a partial audio recording of Christian reading several of our party's e-mails including mine and tardis_tara's interview. I tried not to listen for as long as I could and finally gave in. I was horrified & thrilled all at the same time and learned that I had forced Christian to get his sidekick, Richie, to google '</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1657299/"><span class="Apple-style-span">Decoy Bride</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">' because they didn't even know what it was. That was too funny!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">As I was finishing up the audio clip, I was shocked to see Christian's Twitter av sitting in my @ replies feed. It was indeed a tweet from Christian, alright and it read:</span><br />
<img _mce_src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_la5yi1eo2R1qc819l.jpg" src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_la5yi1eo2R1qc819l.jpg" /><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">I was surprised but will admit it felt really great to know Christian had taken the time to click 'reply' on one of my goodness-knows-how-many dorky tweets that morning to send a tweet-out (??? is that what Twitter shout-outs are called? LOL!) to all of us AND me! ...But MCFANDANGO girl? WTF? That was both hilarious and troubling all at the same time.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">As you can see, the tweet got several retweets and then everyone started calling me mcfandango girl. *palm face* While it was amazing a radio celebrity had made up a nickname for me it got really old really quickly and within five minutes, I tweeted that whomever chose to call me that again would get bitten. Several people decided to disregard the 'warning' but no, I didn't actually get a chance to bite anyone. Darn. ;P</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">The seemingly never-ending waiting went on and then FINALLY David showed up. The interview was awesome and near the end Christian asked David to give the #absolutedtfangirls a shout-out prompted by a tweet (and several retweets) from </span><a _mce_href="http://www.twitter.com/tiddytennant" href="http://www.twitter.com/tiddytennant" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span">@tiddytennant</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"> which he did, sort of... in his David kinda way. He didn't get the name quite right and no thanks to Christian, erroneously sent it out only to those of us in the U. S., bless his little heart!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">The entire experience was awesome and I'll never forget it. I think it really brought a lot of us closer together in our Tennant fandom. =) I'm looking forward to the Tennant/O'Connell "Dream Team" getting back together sometime before the end of the year to bring us all together once again for another 'David Tennant Twitter Party'.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">Thanks to the tweets, retweets and the on air 'advertising' the #absolutedtfangirls hashtag got out there and now all Tennant fangirls refer to themselves as such making Twitter lists, using the term on their blogs & websites, and aiding in spreading it even further. I'm very proud & happy that the hashtag got out there and that so many fans the world over have embraced it. It really means a lot to me but I have seduff to thank for asking the initial question that prompted my hashtag answer.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">While girls may forever call themselves #absolutedtfangirls this post is dedicated to our DT dozen who will always, in </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">my </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span">mind, be THE original #absolutedtfangirls (in random order): </span><br />
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/hypocritter"><span class="Apple-style-span">@hypocritter</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/vincents_biatch"><span class="Apple-style-span">@vincents_biatch</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/motds6690"><span class="Apple-style-span">@MOTDS6690</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jenleigh82"><span class="Apple-style-span">@JenLeigh82</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/tensuitconverse"><span class="Apple-style-span">@TenSuitConverse</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/gojyochan"><span class="Apple-style-span">@GojyoChan</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/beth_evers"><span class="Apple-style-span">@beth_evers</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/gallifreynative"><span class="Apple-style-span">@GallifreyNative</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/tardis_tara"><span class="Apple-style-span">@TARDIS_Tara</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/seduff_"><span class="Apple-style-span">@seduff_</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/beatleswhomuser"><span class="Apple-style-span">@BeatlesWhoMuser</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">, and me, </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/mcfangirl"><span class="Apple-style-span">@mcfangirl</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">Addendum: </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">Now for the tweet about me pmsl at Christian: </span><span class="Apple-style-span">About 3 days after the radio show aired, I pulled up Christian's tweet to snag and save for all of time (heheh) when, for the first time, it occurred to me to click on the 'in reply to mcfangirl' link on the bottom of the tweet and to my surprise and one finaly time - embarrassment - Christian hadn't just grabbed one of the tweets I'd sent him and clicked reply, he had </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">actually</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> gone to my profile page and </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span">then</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span"> clicked the link to reply to this tweet:</span><br />
<img _mce_src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_la65ejAPO31qc819l.jpg" src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_la65ejAPO31qc819l.jpg" /><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">AWKward! LOL!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">I leave you with one last pretty cool story:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">On Saturday, October 9th, 2010, David was on Graham Norton's radio show and Graham read an e-mail from a fangirl who wrote that the #absolutedtfangirls said, "Hello!". Graham asked David, "Do you know them?" to which David replied, "Not personally but I've heard it [the term] before.".</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span">Clearly, he remembered us!</span><br />
<span id="_mce_start"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span">I can now die happily as the #absolutedtfangirl! ;D</span><br />
<i><b>**An extra special thank you to </b></i><i><b><a href="http://www.twitter.com/seduff_">@seduff_</a></b></i><i><b> for her amazing work on the logo featured at the top. You can see more of her work <a href="http://seduff-stuff.deviantart.com/">here</a>.**</b></i><br />
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<i><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Complete-Specials-Planet/dp/B002ZHKZEM?ie=UTF8&tag=nerdsin-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Doctor Who: The Complete Specials (The Next Doctor / Planet of the Dead / The Waters of Mars / The End of Time Parts 1 and 2)</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=nerdsin-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002ZHKZEM" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> </b></i>mcfangirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16122930699093747022noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-31174884203085394972010-10-11T23:34:00.000-07:002010-10-11T23:34:15.268-07:00Market Day - James Sturm<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiywQ5qx5ccYCYJg52P31hkQ7A2Ju22-2legoEF9GBTRfeUzx-FlUukw-BOUao7kKxboJkPtaepqB3jI7tAJKKDSz2G_TRXqIn5GJiadkfuZpTb3k_vy1XH4ferg79pxMPJDGE9aGskJOA/s1600/market_day_cover_really_big.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiywQ5qx5ccYCYJg52P31hkQ7A2Ju22-2legoEF9GBTRfeUzx-FlUukw-BOUao7kKxboJkPtaepqB3jI7tAJKKDSz2G_TRXqIn5GJiadkfuZpTb3k_vy1XH4ferg79pxMPJDGE9aGskJOA/s320/market_day_cover_really_big.jpeg" width="219" /></a></div>Last Thursday, October 7, I went back to <a href="http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/">Meltdown Comics</a> in order to get my next recommendation. This time I was assisted by Jim Higgins, an independent comic book writer, publisher, and editor. He teaches classes for <a href="http://www.meltcomics.com/blog/meltdown-university/">Meltdown University</a>, a weekly workshop that teaches the basics on being a comic book writer and/or artist. I fully intend to return and sit in on a couple of classes at the very least so that I can write up a review for you lovely people. In the meantime, I get to share my review on the book that Jim recommended, <i>Market Day</i>, by James Sturm.<br />
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<i>Market Day</i> is a short, simple-and-yet-beautiful comic/graphic novel that takes place in early-1900s Eastern Europe (right before the Industrial Revolution). It tells the story of a day in the life of Mendleman, an artisan with a growing family (first child on the way) that has made his living selling handmade rugs to the market in town for most of his life. This day, however, Mendleman finds that the market is not what it was and, instead of paying money for finely crafted home-made items, it now sells mass-produced, cheaply made merchandise. <br />
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Yes, this story is a metaphor. I don't think I need to elaborate too much in order to demonstrate the similarities between the times. Nevertheless, the beauty of the book is not just that it we can recognize the metaphor. <i>Market Day</i> reminds us that the current moment of economic and social upheaval in the early 21st century has happened before and will happen again, and that we will continue to survive. (That's right, a graphic novel about the early 1900s has the same message as a TV series from the Syfy network about cylons). <br />
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When I started reading the book I was afraid that the symbolism would be heavy-handed. Instead, it was quite the opposite. It is really a basic story of a man who finds that his craft is no longer desired and must find a new way to support his family. That is it. One day, one major life-altering realization. Instead of being a heavy-handed "lesson" about the evils of modern society, it is a tragically beautiful story about Mendleman and his coming to grips with a reality where he must do what is best for his family, not necessarily what is the most pleasing to him. <br />
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Since the entire book is told from Mendleman's perspective it stays relatively focused on his immediate thoughts and concerns. We watch as he enters the market and he describes the things he loves about the market, the children playing, the smell of the food. Then, as he finds out his handiwork is no longer desired, we see how his perspective on the exact same market has altered to now focus on the starving dogs and cruel merchants. This change in perspective does not feel forced, but rather goes naturally with the progression of the story. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicfy30vqVftpYFuS8BEKKqZu0GNEWdJ1qP5FQT-x_9p4-z2p8h-FQtZdCPQqx8q24BV2OVcP79s8bJjZJEV1Zsc0fHrMkFp_FLLRdkgRoVITLMxXMPYhghYquobQWv2JtWacuzX66k25A/s1600/1269633085Market_2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicfy30vqVftpYFuS8BEKKqZu0GNEWdJ1qP5FQT-x_9p4-z2p8h-FQtZdCPQqx8q24BV2OVcP79s8bJjZJEV1Zsc0fHrMkFp_FLLRdkgRoVITLMxXMPYhghYquobQWv2JtWacuzX66k25A/s320/1269633085Market_2.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div>The art is gorgeous. The pictures tell more of a story than the actual words most of the time. In fact, it is not until page six of the book that we get the first bit of "dialogue." Throughout the book there are moments where we will go through multiple pages without any words. I can't really think of a complaint against this even though I am typically a big fan of dialogue/prose. I think the reason it works so well with these types of graphic novels is that it forces you to slow down. When there are no words on a page I find myself spending more time looking at the entire image multiple times. Take in the whole scene. We aren't being told what is important in the image and therefore we have to figure that out ourselves. <br />
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Even when there is prose on the page, Sturm oftentimes provides simple, bare frames throughout the book. Once again, this allowed me to sit back and take in the whole page and determine its significance on my own, whether it was the shear distance of the market from Mendleman's home or the process by which Mendleman creates a work of art in his mind from his everyday surroundings. <br />
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I'm excited that Jim Higgins introduced me to James Sturm's work. I was already familiar with Art Spiegelman, Marjane Satrapi, and Alison Bechdel, but I don't know a lot of the more recent independent comic book writers/artists. I am and always will be a superhero/noir/action comic book girl, but I also really love independent novels. They force me to slow down and really appreciate the comic book medium for what it is, a unique interplay between prose/dialogue and images that can be experimented with in an infinite amount of ways.Shinyswootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17515947540985859545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-86133424268788992742010-10-11T20:42:00.000-07:002010-10-11T21:15:01.891-07:00The Nerdy Casual Gamer<a href="http://images.trustedreviews.com/images/article/inline/9291-all3consoles.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://images.trustedreviews.com/images/article/inline/9291-all3consoles.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 325px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 500px;" /></a><br />
<div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.2950303910765797" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.2950303910765797" style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Ok, let me preface by saying that I am in no way a “gamer”, but I do like to play video games. I have two of the three major systems in my house. Well, I have 3, but I only have a Playstation 2. We have both the Wii and the Xbox 360. And handheld-wise, we have Sony’s Playstation Portable and Nintendo’s DS. When I say we, I mean - my husband and I. The amount of money which has been spent on video games in our household could probably cure the national debt. Well, maybe not so much - but you get what I’m saying. We have a lot of games for all the systems. Our fearless leader, Miss Woots, had this idea about reviewing all the systems and asked for me to take a stab at it. So here we go. Again, this is from a standpoint of a casual gamer. Not a </span><a href="http://www.fragdolls.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span">Fragg Doll</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
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</span><a href="http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Games/images-2/playstation-logo.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Games/images-2/playstation-logo.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 296px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 350px;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
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</span><a href="http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Games/images-2/playstation-logo.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Let’s begin our tale with the Playstation 2. Now, this system is a juggernaut. Sony has yet to stop releasing games for this system. Why? Because it had sold more units than any of the new generation systems (</span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playstation_2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">source</span></span></a></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">). I still use my PS2. However, the only reason I use it is to play my favorite video game series (Kingdom Hearts). We have a few games for the console and we’ve owned it since March of 2003. We have yet had to replace it (*knock on wood*). Why on earth would Sony stop making the PS2 when they’re still selling consoles? </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
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</span></span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">However, should the Kingdom Hearts series make its way to PS3, then this will be the title that will be a system buyer in our household. It’s unfortunate but true. There are many fun games on the PS3, but to me - it’s more about the Blu-Ray player than it is about the graphics. If you want a good Blu-Ray player, and wouldn’t mind playing some video games, then the PS3 is your ticket. The Playstation Network (comparable to Xbox Live’s network) is ok. You can download games, as well as stream movies from Netflix. However, when it comes to networks, I actually prefer Xbox to Sony. I know that I don’t own a PS3, but you can use the Playstation Network with the Playstation Portable (PSP). I would say that the Xbox interface is more user friendly. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
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</span><a href="http://blog.marcliron.com/images/xbox360logo.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.marcliron.com/images/xbox360logo.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 200px;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Which brings us to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 is a great console. I love having one. I don’t play a lot of games, but the games that I do play, I have a ton of fun. Being able to talk with your friends via “party”, or just sending voice and/or text messages via the console is great. There are many games on that system that are meant for a casual gamer - such as, Castle Crashers and Peggle. I have spent many a night playing those two games with my friends. What’s great about Castle Crashers is that it is 4 person co-op game - you can play with up to 4 friends at the same time. This is one of the main reasons I love our Xbox. Xbox also has made it extremely easy to intergrate your “social network” through the console. When you have a Gold account (an Xbox Live account, essentially), you can access both Twitter and Facebook. You can tweet from you console, as well as update your FB status. For someone as directly connected to the social media network, I loved this integration. M$ gets points from me for this feature. Plus, with the Gold account, you can download trials for games that you may or may not want to play. It’s like a test drive for a car, but for video games. I’m sure we’ve all bought some pretty terrible games in our past. How great is that option? I mean, ‘Family Feud’ sounds fun and all, but is it really? Let’s download it and find out!</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">I’d like to take a minute and direct our attention to the handheld devices before I move on to the third and final console. I really don’t know what I would do when I go to the doctor’s office if I didn’t have my handheld devices. My DS saved my sanity when my mother was in the CCU a few years ago - but that’s neither here nor there. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
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</span><a href="http://findmebuyme.com.au/product_images/uploaded_images/nintendo-ds-logo-300x225.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://findmebuyme.com.au/product_images/uploaded_images/nintendo-ds-logo-300x225.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 225px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 300px;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">As stated previously, I have both a DS (actually, I have a DS, a DS Lite and a DS XL) and a Sony PSP. Both are two very different machines. We purchased the DS a few months after launch (we have both the Gameboy SP and Gameboy Micro). I had gone to e3 in 2003 and played Mario Kart and then realized what a fun system it really was. Eventually, we bought two DS’. And that was a blessing in disguise because a game called “Animal Crossing” came out. I wish I was joking when I tell you that I played that game every single day for 3 years. That’s devotion. Or insanity. Or a little bit of both. There are a TON of games for the DS - my personal favorites are Super Mario 64 DS and then Kingdom Hearts 358/2 (surprised? i didn’t think so). Another great game for the DS - if you like role playing games - is ‘The World Ends With You’. There are Zelda titles, as well as fun games like ‘Scribblenauts’ - where you write a word and then a picture is drawn of that word. So, you write ‘elephant’ and an elephant appears. It’s fantastic! The DS also has the capability of going online - being able to play with players, as long as you have a friend code, for certain games. My love for the DS is never ending. The battery life is about 9-10 hours, give or take. I love the DS so much that when they release the new 3DS, we will be purchasing it for our household. I’d like to say we’ll be able to buy 2 at launch, but at a $300 (as of right now), that’s a little steep. But for sure our household will have one. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
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</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmo0zPRkg82CE2-LYp-Ys-4L9u5Zxlw8_PVp7f1UbJKixRIWFfgfGdChp8wy23JBcz-JDc2Bap-i_iZvvYNcySoxVX8n7mYYuO3cdS-6acG2UP4p_TbB4DR_g3nwTchBSTDpdUUBSOs-k/s400/dgn_psp_logo.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmo0zPRkg82CE2-LYp-Ys-4L9u5Zxlw8_PVp7f1UbJKixRIWFfgfGdChp8wy23JBcz-JDc2Bap-i_iZvvYNcySoxVX8n7mYYuO3cdS-6acG2UP4p_TbB4DR_g3nwTchBSTDpdUUBSOs-k/s400/dgn_psp_logo.png" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 142px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 400px;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Now on to Sony’s Playstation Portable. I really like this system a lot. The graphics are far superior to that of Nintendo’s, however - it is a UMD system. A UMD is like a very small DVD (non technical term). Because it is a disc-driven system, the noise that it produces while trying to load is beyond ridiculous. There was one game I was playing and all I could think was “I think I can, I think I can” as I heard the UMD spinning. One game that I played ‘Final Fantasy VII:Crisis Core’ had cinematic cut-scenes that looked as if I was watching a DVD. Amazing. However, the noise of the UMD spinning is a bit distracting and makes it rather difficult to play the console in bed when your spouse is trying to sleep. Graphics - A+. Functionality - C. But, you can access the web with the PSP. So, there is that. And, you can use the PS Network, downloading games to your memory card (the DS has an internal memory, the PSP requires a memory card). The battery life for the PSP is about 5-7 hours, depending on if the game you’re playing requires a lot of juice (cue The Little Engine That Could). </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
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</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEG4g0hWf_2SQWyS_PfOjjNFjBHh_JZ0t6vNEFp5CzfZB8alv0Zc1mKIteqNqN2UJkkh1KaNb87Alrmr8tna_KRpdADxa7Fvglbm92e6BKinONRiqfbvmSk_iM_Z09DTwtBj05TkBSkw4/s400/Wii-logo.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEG4g0hWf_2SQWyS_PfOjjNFjBHh_JZ0t6vNEFp5CzfZB8alv0Zc1mKIteqNqN2UJkkh1KaNb87Alrmr8tna_KRpdADxa7Fvglbm92e6BKinONRiqfbvmSk_iM_Z09DTwtBj05TkBSkw4/s400/Wii-logo.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 300px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 300px;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Now, this casual gamer’s favorite console - the Nintendo Wii. I love my Wii. We’ve had it since launch, and we only just had to replace the hard drive this past summer (that was heartbreaking - losing all of my saved games? I held a funeral for them). The Wii is a perfect machine if you like to entertain. There are plenty of games that you can pick up while having friends over, and anyone can play. We’ve had quite a few parties where we end up playing ‘WarioWare’, basically throwing the Wiimote around like ‘hot potato’. And of course there’s Wii Sports. Who doesn’t love playing 4 person Mii Bowling? I think Nintendo finally found a niche - market to the casual gamers, or people who really had never played video games before. That’s not to say that there aren’t games on the Wii that are meant specifically for gamers (i.e. Red Steel, Goldeneye, etc). However, Nintendo is known for their heavy hitters - ‘Legend of Zelda’, ‘Mario’ and ‘Metroid’. ‘Mario Galaxy’ - both 1 and 2 - are fantastic games. They are easy enough for anyone to pick them up, but as the stages progress, you then find yourself feeling more like a gamer due to the difficulty level raising up quite a bit. If Nintendo were to only make those three games, I’d still be a fangirl. I love those characters that much.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span">This concludes our casual gamers’ look at the “console wars”. If you have a lot of friends that play the Xbox, buy an Xbox. If you are a person who loves technology and loves to have everything be crystal-clear images, buy a PS3. If you just like to entertain and have friends over, buy the Wii. And hand-held wise, prettier graphics - PSP. Hours and hours of entertainment without worrying if the battery is going to die - DS. I hope that what I’ve told you about may help sway you to purchase that particular console you’ve been eyeing.</span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-37305108624860728472010-10-11T18:23:00.000-07:002010-10-11T19:58:17.513-07:00NYCC - Day 1 in PhotosHey, fellow nerds! I promised you all a huge photo post on NYCC. Since I have over 200 photos that I had to dwindle down to the best of the best, I decided to break it up into 3 parts. This is Day 1.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdEcDRtOwvf0OVUGHrIZ8_H6ScmmHIJLWIxkCZ2g3jqUewB4GoYmGXeRdHCAE-sYzqzTEyuPmwfpJd4gDl_Ofn7Vl87zipDpd5hkIBe3QOcQDBT3fTp1xtaHaCSc95LqmooUDrAkzLn4/s1600/IMG_4993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMdEcDRtOwvf0OVUGHrIZ8_H6ScmmHIJLWIxkCZ2g3jqUewB4GoYmGXeRdHCAE-sYzqzTEyuPmwfpJd4gDl_Ofn7Vl87zipDpd5hkIBe3QOcQDBT3fTp1xtaHaCSc95LqmooUDrAkzLn4/s320/IMG_4993.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxrBngXb0VmiiuIUJIk2HAelJj0qsjgbRgsg21e6jPSeqRz2L5J-rLHWSqTyJYtl2uZ4p5JeFyK8hd_Km5fdlpgeTlMpeSPUpELx0OZ5wHDQGVNuoN8LaHgOhyxbHyhXcTd9RnGD75KU/s1600/IMG_4995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxrBngXb0VmiiuIUJIk2HAelJj0qsjgbRgsg21e6jPSeqRz2L5J-rLHWSqTyJYtl2uZ4p5JeFyK8hd_Km5fdlpgeTlMpeSPUpELx0OZ5wHDQGVNuoN8LaHgOhyxbHyhXcTd9RnGD75KU/s320/IMG_4995.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM5W9ddfUWBCJ_VbzxCoDThIeySPydRR5gdq-_xphSp__YmWgNxbRzoYLG5aNtP4cY2i8r5yXefqBfn3f4gg8K6G5snbI2gDrxLP3oKJ6cBrJUIHCELktK8Fh7PCmpEAb4-NBFy-XW59Y/s1600/IMG_5010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM5W9ddfUWBCJ_VbzxCoDThIeySPydRR5gdq-_xphSp__YmWgNxbRzoYLG5aNtP4cY2i8r5yXefqBfn3f4gg8K6G5snbI2gDrxLP3oKJ6cBrJUIHCELktK8Fh7PCmpEAb4-NBFy-XW59Y/s320/IMG_5010.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5xsJz2rDfeOSlq32pY7aMu2bh6yOmdYe1tHiEQylh5p0pgSIjy7MMZzIz8OpDBMUEWYjNZaaM-TG8tJ-ahesLIl6WLwyKBrg_rd_t-wLLdvLNlx8RPSSU95A7jcXeGB7jcru6yWPfaDk/s1600/IMG_5016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5xsJz2rDfeOSlq32pY7aMu2bh6yOmdYe1tHiEQylh5p0pgSIjy7MMZzIz8OpDBMUEWYjNZaaM-TG8tJ-ahesLIl6WLwyKBrg_rd_t-wLLdvLNlx8RPSSU95A7jcXeGB7jcru6yWPfaDk/s320/IMG_5016.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>This was actually a closet with the exterior design of the TARDIS. Not quite the real thing but a close second.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfuw6cLXb2DUImSavwIRaMHsm9Wi_c7Hn0yjEt5tKWpWvCE0Fn_0gKC4h_s0fw6vezCihI5n6Dyz359xjx68j74hA5hRaGC6-V8BmTKPAlJkgsOKeNmwsBPo4qsRc2xtvtTphgEsmVaY/s1600/IMG_5024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPfuw6cLXb2DUImSavwIRaMHsm9Wi_c7Hn0yjEt5tKWpWvCE0Fn_0gKC4h_s0fw6vezCihI5n6Dyz359xjx68j74hA5hRaGC6-V8BmTKPAlJkgsOKeNmwsBPo4qsRc2xtvtTphgEsmVaY/s320/IMG_5024.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>I ran into this girl at the Midtown Comics table. She saw me looking at the Serenity graphic novel and figured it was safe to assume I would recognize her costume. Good guess.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_mO7P80mP21PZVsnPhZt92bptWBSZR9S6piv6plkMzMNNKy7l2js-4lapHxpjRyOu4ja4-VBtC9s_s2386Zrim40l8sKdeSF6NEUihEVnI3ZP7uwVuaUjyegtY33TCnGALhiCWk765g/s1600/IMG_5030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk_mO7P80mP21PZVsnPhZt92bptWBSZR9S6piv6plkMzMNNKy7l2js-4lapHxpjRyOu4ja4-VBtC9s_s2386Zrim40l8sKdeSF6NEUihEVnI3ZP7uwVuaUjyegtY33TCnGALhiCWk765g/s320/IMG_5030.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>The Onion panel gave us the fake news of the future. It was a lot like the current news, but with more tech and giant bugs.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqQb1lc0-7Vqt8TJ2kHkkUqs9118LLS9ECsEQv4ffL-95kNaFgQypis-Qj2IOQevmskgoNLwIoVjeDGepj2x2TkPx2mFpbp5TMiyJr6KExtzPzR9xdmB8pNTiA2YThdKrc8BVTodk6RA/s1600/IMG_5032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqQb1lc0-7Vqt8TJ2kHkkUqs9118LLS9ECsEQv4ffL-95kNaFgQypis-Qj2IOQevmskgoNLwIoVjeDGepj2x2TkPx2mFpbp5TMiyJr6KExtzPzR9xdmB8pNTiA2YThdKrc8BVTodk6RA/s320/IMG_5032.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The James Martsters panel was the highlight of Day 1, for me. He did a Q&A and answered a lot of really good questions. He was super nice to everyone and totally fit in with the rest of us nerds. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWsIzR8PgIBRcfw0H4Jwg3xlMy5YJkIAQPZS2ILvhhyN88v2sAXbW42WK5fL6qIhVZK2mr2ql8R8zx_CnNM5NthxFPwvfDHAMIXswk5jJEkqA2TI9oo8_LTxDupIdCLsLLn2wEO4xreU/s1600/IMG_5055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwWsIzR8PgIBRcfw0H4Jwg3xlMy5YJkIAQPZS2ILvhhyN88v2sAXbW42WK5fL6qIhVZK2mr2ql8R8zx_CnNM5NthxFPwvfDHAMIXswk5jJEkqA2TI9oo8_LTxDupIdCLsLLn2wEO4xreU/s320/IMG_5055.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qckJz87pkiJUFnAWYGoR5S8QepbgcbuGQg96nDVGjMRmtbDiCLqaQ1yBgziaQoFk3tRhyphenhyphenGWkVCymhvRjF4bW2bPe6d6k7D4QjlvlJ3sKQXWt0z57e4l3qGjchrAayzQCHx2FXpzgN68/s1600/IMG_5062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qckJz87pkiJUFnAWYGoR5S8QepbgcbuGQg96nDVGjMRmtbDiCLqaQ1yBgziaQoFk3tRhyphenhyphenGWkVCymhvRjF4bW2bPe6d6k7D4QjlvlJ3sKQXWt0z57e4l3qGjchrAayzQCHx2FXpzgN68/s320/IMG_5062.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Day 1 was a great start to what proved to be a fantastical weekend. Stay tuned for Day 2 in photos, coming soon to a computer near you.News on Shufflehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00965467568174715359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-4698625728690183982010-10-11T16:48:00.000-07:002010-10-11T17:43:42.720-07:00Games of Nonchalance - Real Life ARGThis weekend was <a href="http://www.indiecade.com/">Indiecade</a> weekend in Culver City, CA. In case you are relatively new to the independent games world (like myself), IndieCade is the International Festival of Independent Games. It is basically an entire weekend dedicated to showcasing independent producers and developers of interactive gaming. Unfortunately I was not able to spend much time at the festival as I found out about it late and already had a full weekend, but I fully intend to learn more about it for next year. I did get some super cool pictures and will post them on our <a href="http://nerdsinbabeland.tumblr.com/">tumblr site</a> later on this evening.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2aHbVcp89FWkBYY5jpRz3uKQjVW5v3-oGjsLWF18jsZ5WDDMfk4XnBuGrLgQNTsOq7SJDhkeHNT4t6jJiM0I4RCEO4c0HINxlDO7gBzIs_kylp_ZXUBt4sUxa_WRmU5tMWZE3QVKG0I4/s320/IMAG0151.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, you can see me taking the picture in the TV screen. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2aHbVcp89FWkBYY5jpRz3uKQjVW5v3-oGjsLWF18jsZ5WDDMfk4XnBuGrLgQNTsOq7SJDhkeHNT4t6jJiM0I4RCEO4c0HINxlDO7gBzIs_kylp_ZXUBt4sUxa_WRmU5tMWZE3QVKG0I4/s1600/IMAG0151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br />
In the short amount of time that I was there, I did get the opportunity to meet Sara Thacher, the lead producer and manager of Nonchalance. I intend to have a longer discussion/interview with her in the future and will post that information here once I have it. <br />
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In the meantime, I want to introduce you to the basic mission of <a href="http://about.nonchalance.com/">Nonchalance</a>, which is "to provoke discovery through visceral experiences and pervasive play." My mind immediately went to my experience from the Dexter ARG but this is actually a different ballgame altogether. Nonchalance is located solidly in San Francisco and their most well-known game (Games of Nonchalance) creates an alternate reality in the physical reality of the city of San Francisco. <br />
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That sounds weird, doesn't it? Real Life Alternate Reality Game. However, that is pretty much they have created. I don't want to say too much about the game because 1) I haven't had the opportunity to go complete it yet since it is in SanFran and 2) I wouldn't want to spoil the fun. Instead I will direct you to the trailer below and their <a href="http://nonchalance.com/howtoplay.html">website</a>. <br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/11705554">Games of Nonchalance</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3767978">Nonchalance</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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Why am I so excited by this new discover? Because I think ARGs and games like the one described above have the potential to be one of the next great forms of storytelling. We talk about interactive media and transmedia storytelling but the game that Nonchalance created engages participants in a manner that most video games cannot do (yet). As Sara stated, their focus is on creating a game that rewards on different levels of engagement. Similar to a video game but located in physically accessible space, these games are re-playable and can be stopped at any level without taking away the fun of what you have done already. You don't have to finish the game, even though it sounds like it is pretty badass if you do. And if you do finish the game, you can come back and do it again and explore different elements than you did in the first go around. Again, I can't say too much because I just got a brief overview of the game at IndieCade (where Games of Nonchalance won World and Story Award) but I have a fellow nerd friend that went and finished Day 1 (<a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/mjandersen">Michael Andersen</a> from <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/argn">@argn</a>) and he shared his <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/notgordian/tags/jejuneinstitute/">flickr page</a>. (He would have done more but his time in the city was short). <br />
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What are your thoughts on the future of games like this? Even if you haven't played it, would you be interested in playing a real life ARG? One that has you walking around physical space, regardless of how familiar you think you already are with that area?Shinyswootshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17515947540985859545noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-49876719517640959662010-10-11T12:00:00.000-07:002010-10-11T11:03:09.530-07:00Random Thought of the Day!<span style="color: #cc33cc; font-size: 100%;">There are many things that can be said about Monday, and none of them is going to be heard on Reading Rainbow anytime soon.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 180%;"><span class="status-body" style="color: #cc33cc;"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">ø¤º°</span></span></span><span style="color: #00cccc;">Sparkles</span><span class="status-body" style="color: #cc33cc;"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">°º¤ø</span></span></span></span>Sparkles Fantastichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18184970831513013559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-90763818713583694052010-10-11T06:00:00.000-07:002010-10-11T21:46:05.952-07:00Answer This! Preview<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQSyBzAOASqJ67YAy2Nf38lH1lcmEkAs8X13VYL9om4k71LDR2bLuCkzkoPA0TgbqgSWdMS4Z3rcJ-vulEJTTyGHKpMZVciyx0a_Gt0ubHp4sDVpWwyUth_XsYZ-hc60PBkunpWA-w4ve/s1600/answerThis.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526471465185695154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQSyBzAOASqJ67YAy2Nf38lH1lcmEkAs8X13VYL9om4k71LDR2bLuCkzkoPA0TgbqgSWdMS4Z3rcJ-vulEJTTyGHKpMZVciyx0a_Gt0ubHp4sDVpWwyUth_XsYZ-hc60PBkunpWA-w4ve/s320/answerThis.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 380px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 288px;" border="0" /></a> <span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">I was fortunate enough to get tickets to a screening of Christopher Gorham's new film "Answer This" last Friday at the </span><a href="http://michtheater.org/" style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">Michigan Theater</a><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);"> </span>in beautiful downtown Ann Arbor, and thought I would give you guys a sneak peak!</span> <span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><br /><br />Written/Directed/Produced by Ann Arbor natives the Farrah Brothers--Mike, John, and Chris--"Answer This!" tells a story about a stalled Michigan University academic named Paul (Gorham). After many years of pursing a Phd. in English Lit, Paul is faced with the impending doom that is graduation. Paul's father, Dr. Elliot Tarson--played by real-life beloved U-M retired English Lit Prof. Ralph Williams--is retiring, which means no more "free ride" for Paul. This sends Paul into a downward spiral, where he discovers the competitive world of Pub Trivia and freshman Naomi--played by Arielle Kebbel.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Like any father, Dr. Tarson has always wanted the best for his son, and using the power that he has garnered over the years working at U-M--he has created a sort of "academic paradise" for Paul. His creation of the easiest path possible for Paul to follow in his footsteps and eventually become his successor at the University means that Paul has never really faced any kind of academic hardship. He's always succeeded in all things at U-M because of who his father is--like becoming a TA for Dr. Tarson despite not meeting the GPA requirement, and also being excepted into U-M's Graduate Program.</span> <span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><br /><br />But the ride is about to end when Paul learns that his father is going to retire after the school year ends--which means it's time for Paul to finish his doctorate thesis, grow up a little, and use the tools and advantages that his father has given him to make a life of his own....just so long as that life is one of Dr. Tarson II, renowned English Lit Prof. at U-M.</span> <span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><br /><br />You can kind of guess where the plot goes from there. Paul has loved the game of Trivial Pursuit since he was very young. He and his friend, James (Nelson Franklin) gather regularly and play against one another with Paul's edition of the game that he has had since he was six. After learning of his father's retirement, Paul meets James at their local pub, they get drunk, enter into a trivia contest, hilarity ensues. He uses training for the championship and the cute co-ed Naomi (Kebbel)--who is one of his students, and who he meets for the first time when she asks him for directions to Dr. Tarson's class--as distractions for what Paul feels is his inevitable failure at living up to his father's standards, and filling Dr. Tarson's gigantic shoes.</span><br /><br /><div style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204); text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFSUGWbRY2qS5EgKsTYiahZ2ZbxsbeJS6Zzk4TPy2nyu30RArh9Fs8gmkm-shqjMEgQw08om9NVkr7X_opnoNctrctMeGGlj_w2NsvSlM02U8AgyDKjc0hdOVeDQlMTB8ffpDUwFdsGn8/s1600/JAmes+PAul.jpg"><img alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526472117453744562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhFSUGWbRY2qS5EgKsTYiahZ2ZbxsbeJS6Zzk4TPy2nyu30RArh9Fs8gmkm-shqjMEgQw08om9NVkr7X_opnoNctrctMeGGlj_w2NsvSlM02U8AgyDKjc0hdOVeDQlMTB8ffpDUwFdsGn8/s320/JAmes+PAul.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; height: 198px; width: 300px;" border="0" /></a></div><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><br />What struck me first about this movie was not the sometimes predictable, but heartwarming, hilarious plot--rather, this is a movie about Ann Arbor, that was filmed in Ann Arbor, that uses many locals from Ann Arbor, that MAY not be appealing if you don't live/know anything about Ann Arbor.</span> <span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">For instance, most of the cheering from the audience happened NOT when Chris & Arielle stood up and said "Go BLUE!" before the film (There was a game the following Saturday against bitter rivals Michigan State--<span style="font-weight: bold;">FYI, MSU WON</span>--<span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">GO GREEN!</span>) but instead when Ralph Williams came on stage and gave a<span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);"> </span></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv729skwxvI" style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">few words</a><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"> before the film began or when some of the well-known locales were shown through out the movie--the cube, </span><a href="http://www.leeandkristin.net/AnnArbor/Downtown/Arcade1.html" style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">Nickels Arcade</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">, </span><a href="http://motorcitytrivia.com/Ashleys.html" style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">Ashley’s</a><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">,</span> the Rackham Building, U-M’s graduate library, the </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eridony/2752478475/" style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">Ingalls Mall fountain</a><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">,</span> etc.<br /><br />I like this movie--after a hard couple of years, Michigan needs this. We need to get the message out that we're a great place to shoot films, etc., but I'm afraid it won't be as welcomed when it hits the festival circuit as it was in Ann Arbor.</span> <span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><br /><br />My favorite character--and the person who saved this movie for me--is ICE, played by Evan Jones. Without giving too much away, Ice enters the story after Paul and James realize that they know NOTHING about sports. So Paul suggests they contact his Friend Izzy "Ice" Dasselway because he was the best kickball player in the forth grade, and was the biggest jock in Paul's class. So--he should know a lot about all things sports related........right?</span> <span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><br /><br />Overall--I give this movie 3 out of 5 stars. Some of the dialog is cheesy, and the plot is nothing new, but I think/hope if you grew up in a "University" town--or any small town for that matter--you'll get this movie. You can substitute your favorite teacher in High School for Ralph Williams, and Ann Arbor for your favorite town--and I think that's part of the charm of "Answer This!".</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><span class="status-body" style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">ø¤º°</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">Sparkles</span><span class="status-body" style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"><span class="status-content"><span class="entry-content">°º¤ø</span></span></span></span>Sparkles Fantastichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18184970831513013559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-88156902584428614152010-10-10T20:33:00.000-07:002010-10-11T19:58:40.176-07:00New York Comic Con - Day 3Well, here we are folks - the end of the road. My last day at Comic Con was relatively low-key, but there were enough exciting moments to make it just as good as the rest of the weekend.<br />
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8:00am - Wake up for Day 3 of Comic Con! I am excited about the adventures that await, but also somewhat glad it is the last day. To be perfectly honest, I have worn myself out with all this fun I've been having. I might be getting too old for this...<br />
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Nah! That's crazy talk!<br />
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9:01 - The journey begins with a train platform full of people dressed to the nines for NYCC. We all sit in the same part of the train. It occurs to me that all 3 days this weekend I have met cool people because of this convention.<br />
10:21 - Back inside NYC, but have to get the monies before making my way. This convention is cleaning me out.<br />
10:45 After meeting a friend en route to con, I arrive at Javits Center. We are made to go downstairs just to go back up again. I think this is silly but whatever.<br />
11:09 - Haven't been here that long and already spent a ton of money. Got my copy of "Days Missing" signed and talked to the guys about the panel last night. They threw in a free poster, also signed. Dudes were super nice and gave me a great start to my morning. I also got my screwdriver for the Doctor Who costume I'm working on and discussed the series for a bit with the people running that table. I vow to not spend any more money this weekend, as I am close to being The Broke.<br />
12:40pm - Found some cool prints and decided to break my "no spending" rule. Talked to the artist (Tim Smith) for a bit as well. He was really cool and nice. You could tell he loves his craft and doesn't really care about the money.<br />
1:36 - I feel like half my time here has been spent on lines. Standing in one now, this time for the Walking Dead panel. While waiting, a friend and I come up with new nicknames for each other - basic and expansion. This because her holding onto my shoulder so we wouldn't get separated made me think of an expansion game. We are such nerds! But I love everything about it.<br />
2:34 - After much craziness, and a near riot, we finally get seats for the Walking Dead panel. First we got a 6&1/2 minute clip of footage from the 2nd episode. I'm not gonna lie, Gracie, the series looks pretty bad-ass. I'm looking forward to the premiere on Halloween.<br />
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Next, we got introduced to the people behind the show (writer, director, producer). The moderator went through a series of questions about some of the decisions involved (making it a TV show instead of a movie, the choice of doing it on AMC & how the network responded to it, and how it feels to see the thing finally come to fruition. Apparently AMC has been very supportive of this project. They also said they plan on taking this "on every spastic direction we can". It sounds like there will be plenty of surprises while still keeping fans of the book happy. I think it will help that it's on a cable network, because it means they can push the boundary on how far they take it and what they can do without getting hounded by the network.<br />
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After we got through a round of questions, we got another clip from the show. More questions followed, this time focusing on casting as opposed to story and production. We then got introduced to the cast, as the actors were added to the panel. Each actor got a chance to talk about their character for a bit and their familiarity with the comic the series is based off of. The panel gave us a good look at the series and its characters without giving away too many details. They eventually opened it up to questions from the audience, then concluded by playing the trailer and telling everyone one final time to watch the show. Their success depends greatly on us, so don't let them down! (That last part is all me, but I'm sure the panel would have agreed).<br />
4:12 - Panel concludes. We wander a bit before another friend sends out the bat signal and I meet them for dinner. Overall I would call this weekend a huge success. I will do a wrap-up and photo blog ASAP (hopefully tomorrow). Until next time, fellow nerds!News on Shufflehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00965467568174715359noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3133471935209866239.post-6810278317867343472010-10-10T15:34:00.000-07:002010-10-10T15:34:54.914-07:00It's a Special Day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">101010 =</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmv8ZEvowNGN-UU0aEXmXag3uZgv6B35SznnjLSdRMu1YhghOFWZuVQEERke2qvovU3gAns3b9Ony-OFF3NO98yYentO6-_-X4ypfsGU8Zbo1Ri_KNrcc0n5eKb6-R1aD7B-bj6C61bX5s/s1600/42.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmv8ZEvowNGN-UU0aEXmXag3uZgv6B35SznnjLSdRMu1YhghOFWZuVQEERke2qvovU3gAns3b9Ony-OFF3NO98yYentO6-_-X4ypfsGU8Zbo1Ri_KNrcc0n5eKb6-R1aD7B-bj6C61bX5s/s320/42.png" width="296" /></a></div><a href="http://aegean.gs.washington.edu/~calkan/">(picture credit)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1