I’ve Been Spotted on Flickr

23 02 2010

‘Member when I went to San Diego Comic-Con and dressed up as Silk Spectre II? Someone else loved it too! I’ve been posted on their Flickr (is that gramatically correct? I don’t use Flickr, so I’m unfamiliar with the proper terminology).

Check me out:

**My computer is apparently being dumb and I can’t get the photo to load. Check back later!**

***UPDATE: It has come to my attention that I may not be able to post photos from Flickr on WordPress. Boourns! I can, however, link you to the original photo. You  may notice while you’re there that 14 people favourited me and my cosplay :D ***





Post Comic Con Blues

29 07 2009

Due to extreme amounts of fun and endless things to do, I really didn’t get to blog as much as I would’ve like while at Comic Con, even with the free wifi throughout the Convention Centre. Consequently, I can’t possibly review everything I wanted to, so I’ll just stick to the best of the best.

The Robot Chicken panel, as I already mentioned, was funny as hell. I’ve been walking around replaying Breckin Meyer doing his Lindsay Lohan voice ever since. I actually lol’ed just thinking about it right now. That was on Thursday, as was the amazing screening of Dr. Horrible`s Sing Along Blog, to which Felicia Day, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed and Zack Whedon showed up. If you don`t know who they are, might I suggest watching Dr. Horrible already. Great show, and great night!!

The day I spent in Ballroom 20 (Friday) was probably the best day ever of life. I went first thing in the morning to make sure I was in and well situated for the panels I wanted to see in the afternoon. As a byproduct of the wait, I got to see previews and discussions for Stargate Universe and Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, as well as the upcoming Battlestar-related Caprica tv series. I’ve never really gotten into either Stargate or Battlestar (though I loved the Stargate movie) but I was pretty intrigued by both panels, and I think I will finally get off my ass and watch Battlestar.

Following those panels was the cast from The Big Bang Theory. I adore the show, and as I have publicly admitted on many occasions, I am happily in love with Sheldon Cooper while fully understanding that he is not a real person. Obviously, the panel was amazing and I enjoyed myself immensely, but what impressed me most was how good looking they all are in person. Not that they are unattractive on the show by any means, but in real life, they’re all super hot! I don’t know how they can stand working together and remain professional, I’d be in trouble for shamelessly hitting on my coworkers for sure. The best part, though, was the actor who plays my beloved Sheldon. Jim Parsons is delightful! He’s clever and witty, and seemingly quite humble. My love for the fictional character was promptly transformed into a celebrity crush. I can even call him Jim now, instead of Sheldon!

I also sat through the panel for 24, which was cool. My fellow Canadian Kiefer Sutherland is still handsome as can be, and the girl who plays Chloe O’Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub) was there. I like her. After 24 came Bones, which was kinda boring since I don’t watch it and David Boreanaz wasn’t even there. But no bother; I was waiting for Dollhouse, and I would have sat through pretty much anything. The previously un-aired 13th episode of Dollhouse was AMAZING! My gal Felicia Day was in it; she’s super cute, plus mega talented. The episode itself was intense, and the screening was followed up with a full hour and a half q&a with Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku. Joss is so cool I can’t even stand it. Eliza is absolutely stunning and was most gracious with all the compliments she received. One adorable kid really thought she was Echo and asked how she could be in the show and in movies at the same time. Cute! Toward the end of the q&a, the actors who play Sierra (Dichen Lachman) and Topher (Fran Kranz) came out as well. He’s hot. There, I said it! I officially cannot wait for next season.

That brings me to Saturday, which I mostly spent in line for the Masquerade. I wore my super cool Silk Spectre II costume all day (photos below). Loads and loads of people took my picture. I felt like a minor celebrity and it was a lot of fun. I also took loads and loads of pictures of other people in costume, which was also fun. The Masquerade itself was pretty cool, though I’m not sure it was worth the wait and missing out on other stuff I would have liked to do – like get my Buffy comics autographed by Jane Espenson and Georges Jeanty. Ah, well, there’s always next year, right? Talents like those aren’t going anywhere any time soon, particularly since Espenson is working on Caprica, which is bound to be huge in 2010.

I did thoroughly enjoy some of the contestants in the Masquerade though, especially Bring it On: Rock the Mouse. If you missed it, check out the video on YouTube, though it doesn’t do the live show any justice at all. My honourable mention would go to Welcome to the Dollhouse, which was highly entertaining and so well done. It’s also on YouTube, but again, the video hardly gives the full effect. And finally, I fully appreciated the She-ra entry, because I loved her when I was young, and they did a wicked job on the costumes. YouTube again for the win on that video. (I truly love YouTube.)

And then, Sunday. Also known as The Day of My Biggest Disappointment, when Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles did not magically appear for the Supernatural panel. Not that they were supposed to, they were never on the schedule, I was just holding out hope that they might show up and surprise us all. No dice, however. The panel was still great though, everyone was pretty funny, it was cool to see the series creator (Eric Kripke), and we got a few good spoilers. The prophet Chuck is still around, which I love because he’s funny, and there was a lot of talk about Castiel’s changing role in season 5. The scene from Season 5, Episode 1 that they showed was pretty awesome as well. Also, Misha Collins (whom I’ve just realized I’ve been misspelling his name the past few weeks – sorry!) is super hot in person, fyi.

Whew. That takes care of that. Now for some awesome pics of me in my costume, some other cool costumes, and a hot guy dressed as Wolverine – proof hot guy nerds DO exist!!

Shameless Plug: Big, big thanks to Daniela Pizarro at Hypercube Apparel for making at kick ass costume! Everyone loved it! Daniela is a super talented designer based here in Toronto, Canada. Check out her website, and then find her clothes at The Fashion District on Queen West.

Sigh… back to reality and papers due next week. Sad face. On the bright side, only 11 months and three plus a little bit weeks until Comic-Con!!

- UberFanGirl

Dichen Lachman





Making difficult decisions the week before Comic Con

15 07 2009

One week until San Diego Comic Con 2009! It’s enough to make a fangirl squeal with delight.

Literally, actually, *squeeeeeeeee!!*

So the programming schedule is of course out, complete with the autographs and films schedules. It took a while, but I have picked out all my must-sees. This was not an easy task, I tell you! There is, if you will pardon the expression, so much to do, and so little time. Nevertheless, here are my highlights-to-be, what I expected, what I was pleasantly surprised by, what I wont have time for, and (gasp) what – or, should I say, whom – I was severely disappointed to not see on the schedule:

The Satisfyingly Expected:

Although this will actually be my first trip to the Con, (shhhh, that doesn’t make me any less of a fangirl!) there were a bunch of things I had expected to find on the program. Even not having been before, I am familiar enough with the goings on at SDCC, plus I’ve jealously drooled over media coverage in previous years (a thank you, YouTube), then I’ve also made sure to be hip to the rumours since I bought my pass in February. So things I was expecting include panels on all the current on-air sci-fi tv programs: Heroes, Fringe, True Blood, Smallville, Supernatural, etc. I also knew to expect a lot of programming content based around my idol, Mr Joss Whedon. To that end, there will be a special screening of the unaired 13th episode of Dollhouse, which I have been super psyched about since I finished watching season one. Also, I was previously aware of the very popular weekend closer, the Buffy musical epi, Once More, With Feeling. I’m looking forward to dancing in the aisles with my dry cleaning! And, of course, I suspected I might also see lots and lots of programming having to do with comics ;)

The Pleasant Surprises:

One thing I did not expect to see, however, was a special presentation of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog! I knew they had shown it at last year’s Con, but I wasn’t aware it was so loved that they’d bring it back again. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me; the California Browncoats surely do know what the fans like best! Wondering if we’ll catch a glimpse of TheRealNPH; that would so make my life! Other little surprises include a look at the upcoming film, The Hobbit – for whatever reason, I was not expecting it?! Fail on my part. Then there’s a really cool panel discussing Quantum Quest, which, if you haven’t heard, is set to be a mind blowing film featuring 3D/CGI/real imagery taken from from actual frickin space missions, and voiced over by some of the most awesomest people EVER! (I’m not excited about this at all, if you can’t tell.) Uhhh, where was I… oh yeah, more surprises like Seth Green chatting about Robot Chicken, heart heart heart! My boss thinks I should marry him, and then we will have the nerdiest kids ever. I’m cool with that. And theeennn, an academic discussion on the anthropological themes in Star Trek, where I suspect I might also be able to meet a potential future husband. And finally, the best surprise of all, the cast and crew of  The Big Bang Theory! I don’t even know how to adequately express how blown away I was to see that on the schedule. I will be in the same room as Sheldon Cooper!!! *eeeeeks!* <3

The Conflictingly Scheduled:

Sadly, Comic Con is only 4 days long. Well, actually it’s 5 days long if you’re cool like me and get to go to Wednesday’s Preview Night, but I digress… With such a limit on time, there were bound to be conflicts in the schedule, and so I will be forced to pass some things by. This time. One of the bigger hurts caused by such timing issues is missing out on Summit Entertainment’s sneak peeks at Astro Boy and New Moon. Astro Boy is such a flash back to my early, early childhood, and New Moon is, well, hot boys! Unfortunately, it cuts too close to Robot Chicken, and I heart Seth Green way more than any of those Twilight guys. Less upsetting, but nonetheless mildly sad face inducing, is having to miss out on the Archies Comics: Archie Marries Veronica panel. I haven’t really read Archie much since I was probably 13 or so, but this business of him proposing to Veronica is pretty huge. And upsetting. Poor Betty. But the panel starts too close to the ending of The Hobbit, so I’ll hafta let it go. Probably for the best, I’m pretty mad at Archie Andrews right now. I would also really have loved to attend Futurama’s Life or Death live decision making extraordinaire, if only to scowl at the dude from Fox because I am still angry about the Sarah Connor Chronicles debacle (though I haven’t given up hope yet, and neither have my friends over at savethescc.com), but it just isn’t in the cards. The Futurama event conflicts with the previously mentioned Quantum Quest, and I can’t have that!

The MAJOR Disappointment:

There was just the one, but I can’t even stress how MAJOR it is! The Supernatural Screening and Q&A seems to be lacking two names. Where are the stars of the show?! Ok, Bobby and Castiel (yum!) are there… but wtf, Sam and Dean?! I had to stare at the little blurb for a full two or three minutes, checking and rechecking. But, nope! No Jensen. No Jared. As my favourite still-running tv show, I won’t lie, of all the potentially exciting memories-to-be, I was MOST looking forward to seeing my boys. Alas, I can only hope that their names are not there because they are unconfirmed and the powers that be at Comic Con have decided it is better to leave them off than to have to severley disappoint and possibly anger fans AT the Con. This does not help the hole in my heart RIGHT NOW though. If I wasn’t so blessedly excited to see the guys from The Big Bang Theory on the programming schedule, I might actually be crying right now. *wipes a single, stray tear*

The Still Undecided:

And so I have one last conundrum… Saturday night: Watchmen or the Masquerade?! Two huge events. The first is the world premier of the director’s cut of Watchmen, which, admittedly, I will be able to see when it comes out on DVD. However, this screening will featuer Zack Snyder LIVE commentating. Dude. That’s huge. And Dave Gibbons and Jackie Earle Haley will be there too! AND, as if I could even take all that in one go, they will be starting the night with a sneak peek of Batman: Arkham Asylum along with a panel led by the voice actors – one of which is Mark Hamill. SRSLY. *Geekasm!* The Masquerade of course doesn’t have any of these overly awesome things happening, but it is THE Masquerade. It is, apparently, an amazing sight to see, with all the costumes and music and choreographed presentations… I’m not in it, because I’m shy like that, but I AM bringing a costume (which I had made for me, and will gush about in a separate blog at a later date) and it would probably be fun to wear it there and watch the show with a whole bunch of other people who love costuming too.

So what to do?! I have no idea.

UberFanGirl





Who watches the Watchmen two days before the LSAT?

6 06 2009

Actually, I’m reading Watchmen, not watching it. In fact, if we’re getting particular, I’m rereading it.

Lucky me, I am in a summer class (that’s not the lucky part)  in which I am charged with the task of writing a paper on the infamous comic series. It’s an English course on Science Fiction; one of my ‘for-funs’ that doesn’t count toward my program of study at all. And it should be the most fun I’ve ever had in university, in theory. The downer is that the paper is due this coming Wednesday, which happens to be a mere two days after I am meant to write the LSAT. So now I am here, 2 days to L-day, with a bit of a conundrum on my hands.

I really ought to be spending the day writing practice LSATs, because I need a great mark on the exam so that I can increase my chances of getting into law school. However, the Watchmen essay is worth 50% of my grade for the course, and I need a fantastic mark in the course in order to boost my GPA so that I can increase my chances of getting into law school. You see my problem.

So I weigh the opportunity cost (thank you, intro economics) of concentrating on either task.. Do I pour my efforts into last minute studying, or do I work on the paper?

I suppose ultimately a lower grade on the paper will have less-detrimental consequences than a lower mark on the LSAT will have. And I do have tomorrow and Tuesday night to work on the essay, after the LSAT is out of the way. But Watchmen is just so much more interesting and less making me want to fling myself off my 14th floor balcony than practice LSAT questions. Frankly, if I have to work out one more parallel flaw question, my brain may send out a “psychic shockwave” that will kill millions and drive still others “mad from the sudden flood of grotesque” logical reasoning (12.10.4). <— this is the preferred format for citations from the Watchmen comics, in case you ever need to know; this particular one references chapter 12, page 10, panel 4.

Upon reflection, it does seem like the morally responsible thing to do is work on my paper, lest I cause a serious amount of death and destruction.

Of course, the time I just spent blogging might have been more wisely used given my circumstances… yeah, I don’t have a good excuse for that one… except that my sanity is probably in question of late, and blogging helps me to maintain what shred I have left? Yes. Yes, that shall do.

UberFanGirl





Learning how to blog is not writing an essay..

18 03 2009

Me = Student. Now = End of Term. Blogging… (where the eff do I get a “not equal to” symbol?)…

Ok, well, blogging does not equal doing school work.

Nonetheless, I will rationalize this as not-quite-as-bad procrastination, as I recently took a career path aptitude test, scored 98th percentile for Writing (means only 2% of people like writing more than I do), and so I decided I should start doing that immediately. Ermm, well, writing in the fun sense, that is, not writing in the being forced to critically analyze and compare Tolstoy and Kurosawa sense. So, Career Path Aptitude Test, this, My First Blog, I dedicate to you.

I actually rather enjoyed said career path aptitude test. It was long, it kept me from my studies for easily 30 minutes, and it was kind of informative. I mean, I already knew I had an interest in writing – despite the past 3 years of personal hell that is writing university papers – and I was fairly certain I never wanted to sell anything to anyone (1st percentile in Sales = not so keen). But my underlying interests in teaching and social work never occurred to me. It was also enlightening to discover that there are categories for ways we think. I’m apparently creative-analytical, which means I don’t like highly structured or rule-based work. I’m a think outside the box kinda gal. I also demonstrated a distinct distaste for jobs in which I would be required to be aggressive over persuasive. Good to know: no prison guard jobs for me.

The reason I took the test at all is that I’m in the final weeks of my third year in undergrad, and this summer is go-time for making decisions about post-graduate studies. I’m fence-sitting on law school right now; writing the LSAT in June, but unsure of the Afterward. It’s kind of intimidating, not just because it is a big life decision, but perhaps more so because my two most looking-forwardest events right now are a New Kids on the Block concert in two weeks (oh, Nostalgia!), and Comic Con in July. How am I supposed to picture myself a lawyer, when my biggest concern is ensuring that I find the time to see both Joss Whedon and Seth at the convention?!

Unless. Can people become FanLawyers?? **JD-esque daydream of me in one of those gray powdered wigs and a Supernatural Logo Babydoll-Tee, in court, the Judge is for some reason Dredd, and he’s not too happy with my choice of attire..** So that is probabnly a “no”.

But the career path aptitude test actually did suggest law and law enforcement as potential career paths, so I guess i’m not way off base. Obviously my LSAT results could just render the whole thing moot, since my GPA will need a good 85th percentile result to boost me into the “possible acceptance” category. So I’m playing wait’n’see. Except I don’t want to be one of these people who end up letting their circumstances choose their path for them. That’s how you end up in Dissatisfied With Work Land. I hear it’s no fun there. And job satisfaction was way up on my list of intrinsic values on the test.

On that note, I choose to grab this education thing by the horns, which means I’m off to discuss the universal quest for meaning in one’s life, as presented in Ikiru and The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Not an unfitting topic.

Potentially yours,

UberFanGirl