Emerald City Comic Con 2012: The Costumes
My apologies for the Mindy overload here, had to jump in a few pictures with these awesome folks.
Slideshow of the great costumes at Emerald City Comic Con 2012:
Emerald City Comic Con 2012: Top 5 Highlights
We booked our hotel and registered our tickets for Emerald City Comic Con 2012 months ago. I was especially excited about the prospect of meeting Katee Sackhoff AND Edward James Olmos, so I didn’t spend much time prior to the convention planning or even reviewing the comic book guests. Decided to use this as my pop culture/media frenzy event for the year. A few weeks ago when Sackhoff cancelled her appearance due to acting engagements, I was more than a little bummed. Still excited to meet Edward James Olmos, but was *this* close to having both those items crossed off my nerd bucket list.
With considerably less enthusiasm, I downloaded the Guidebook App and went through their schedule of events, plotting out a handful of interesting looking panels. I think we averaged about one panel a day, but again – they were mostly for media guests so you won’t find any breaking news items here.
Top 5 Highlights from Emerald City Comic Con 2012:
5. Ready Player One Panel. For me was the most interesting panel we attended because the author of the book series, Ernest Cline, not only discussed his enduring love for Star Wars but the Hollywood process behind the making of his original screenplay Fanboys and the years long journey to publish “Ready Player One” which has now been optioned for the big screen. We didn’t stay for the Q&A session, but he delivered an inspiring few sentences on the writing process which have given me a long, hard look at my novel.
Ernest Cline, Author of Ready Player One
4. Meeting Wil Wheaton and Witnessing his Awesome Hour. In which he plugged his table-top gaming series on Felicia Day‘s recently released Geek and Sundry YouTube Channel. I’m certain Dan and I will check it out. He also wrote a book Memories From The Future, Volume 1 about his experience with the first season of Star Trek The Next Generation we will hunt down as well. He was very gracious when we snapped pictures and was super complimentary about my tattoo.
Mindy, Wil Wheaton, and Dan
Oscars 2011: Movie Score and Soundtrack Playlist
Every year since the inception of our hosting an Oscar party, I’ve crafted a mix CD for our guests based on the films released in that year. Not all of the scores and soundtracks I poach from are on the Oscar docket. Indeed, with such paltry pickings this year, very few of the tracks align with the Academy Award nominees.
Here is the tracklist for this years winners:
- Earth to Asgard – Patrick Doyle (Thor)
- The Wolf – Fever Ray (Red Riding Hood)
- They’re Calling My Flight – Cliff Martinez (Contagion)
- Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) – Emily Browning (Sucker Punch)
- container park – The Chemical Brothers (Hanna)
- Immigrant Song – Karen O, Trent Reznor (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)
- How To Kill a Vampire – Ramin Djawadi (Fright Night)
- Nightcall – Kavinsky (Drive)
- Moses vs The Monsters – Steven Price, Felix Buxton, and Simon Ratcliffe (Attack The Block)
- Magneto – Henry Jackman (X-Men: First Class)
- The Circus Sets Up – James Newton Howard (Water for Elephants)
- The Show – Kerris Dorsey (Moneyball)
- Man or Muppet – Jason Segel & Walter (The Muppets)
- Star Spangled Man – The Star Spangled Singers (Captain America)
- Hold On – Wilson Phillips (Bridesmaids)
- Love Will Take You – Angus and Julia Stone (Breaking Dawn)
- Can You See Jane? – Patrick Doyle (Thor)
- Mah Na Mah Na – Mahna Mahna and the Two Snowths (The Muppets)
BONUS TRACKS:
99 Problems – Hugo (Fright Night)
Iron – Woodkid (Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Trailer)
YouTube Playlist HERE.
Some of the tracks are disabled because YouTube and record labels are stingy, ridiculous jerks who don’t understand new media, but whatevs. You can get a sense of the entire compilation together through the playlist feature, even if you have to listen to some tracks as stand alones. Pretty good stuff. Handing this mix CD out as a party favor on Sunday!
As always, if you ask me nicely I can mail you a burned copy of the CD via the good old US postal service. Possibly with a special, nerdy treat included. Email me at Mindy@tinyheroes.net if you’re interested!
Five Favorite Nerd Moments of 2011
It’s the last week of 2011, and therefore a time to look back at the year and make lists. And who doesn’t love a Top 5 Countdown? This particular list is going to focus on those amazing nerdy moments which transpired in my 2011 world.
NERD MOMENT #5:
Although technically my introduction to this series took place in 2010 at around 6am in a Portland airport, I didn’t really fall in love until the television series came out. And then again when my spouse got hooked into it. And then again when I discovered the bromance of sorts between Brienne of Tarth and Jaime Lannister. And while I’m currently stuck at the mid-point in Book 3, I know I’ll get through all the rest of the material probably before the next book comes out.
Yes – the series is problematic in terms of race and gender. The violence against women in the book and the ridiculous sexploits on the show are a bit off-putting. But I’m hopelessly in love with A Song of Ice and Fire. Hopeless.
Read Game of Thrones related content here. And here.
NERD MOMENT #4:
The movie and the costume it took me a year to put together. I was very skeptical about the film and remember having arguments with several people because of all the CGI and how much it tried to cram into two hours (don’t they all?) but by the time I finished the costume and re-watched the film, I was pretty much in love. It’s sappy and romantic and hits just the right tone.
Read Captain America related content here. And here.
Re-Thinking Captain America: The First Avenger
Tumblr GIFs from the Captain America flick inspired me to some excitement about purchasing the Blu-Ray, DVD + Digital combo yesterday morning (only $20 at Target this week). Proof that fan-girl is infectious. 🙂
But after re-watching, my first impressions have been changed quite a bit. Here’s how…
My first and only viewing of this flick up until last night was on a somewhat frazzled Friday evening before a week-long vacation at the beach. I’d been in charge of packing, grocery shopping and about a dozen other things…so mentally I was a bit fried. I will admit to this coloring my perception of the film at the time.
My original opinions were that it relied very extensively on CGI, rushed through so much material (don’t they all?) and borrowed heavily from other genre films in its concepts.
Who didn’t think that motorcycle chase through the woods smacked of the Endor forest scene?
HOWEVER.
Chris Evans turns in a fine performance. He is sympathetic as a skinny Steve, heroic as Captain America in WWII, then tragic as a sacrificing, suspended-animation-for-70-years dude.
The comedic timing is spot on. Especially Tommy Lee Jones – who in my opinion – has all the best one-liners.
The romance between Steve and Peggy isn’t overly weepy. In fact, Peggy Carter (played by the gorgeous and shapely Hayley Atwell from The Pillars of the Earth), while being one of two or three women featured in the film doing something other than dancing or flirting has a hugely prominent role and holds her own with all the dudes pretty well. Despite the Betty Sue nature of her character.
BRIEF RANDOM TANGENT: The whole scene with her punching the soldier WAS a bit far-fetched for me. She’s an intelligent, capable person…she doesn’t have to use her physical capabilities to intimidate dudes. And who really believed she could punch that jerk-wad out? Classic example of male writers confusing strong female characters with being physically STRONG rather than just well written. 
We shall have to spend some time and effort revising that term…
Hugo Weaving as Red Skull was spot-on, even loved his accent…though it seemed to fluctuate at times between German and Austrian. He was menacing, but not too scary. Perfect for PG-13 but I found myself wishing that it had a bit darker, more Hell Boy-esque vibe. Like the vision of Nazis and the occult favored by Guillermo del Toro.
Not too sure about Hydra though. Where did all those people come from? Why were they so committed to Red Skull’s crazy-ass cause? That logical leap wasn’t very smooth and I remarked both times on it – why is it so easy for him to recruit more people? Hmph.
LOVED the use of the cosmic cube. Loved how everything is tying so neatly together for The Avengers movie in 2012.
I sense a Marvel movie rock-block coming on:
Captain America Costume For the Ladies: Phase Two
Remember the feminized version of the Captain America costume I mentioned all those months ago? It has been stalled out for sometime as I pondered and pondered what sort of jacket to purchase and couldn’t make a decision. BUT, there has been progress. The fall weather and proximity to Halloween allowed for several purchases to be made in the last few months which have added greatly to the costume.
First – the bomber jacket.
Second – the helmet.
And here’s what it looks like with all the accessories.
Free Comic Book Day 2011: Portland Preview
Some of youse out there might know already, but Saturday is the national and annual Free Comic Book Day 2011. The DH and I have charge of two nephews (their dad is off in Tennessee processing insurance claims from the Southern Tornado devastation last week). Therefore, our activities might be much more muted than last year, but I’m pretty excited about the prospect of introducing one of my nephews to his first comic book shop (ESPECIALLY on FCBD).
They are extra lucky, because we’re also taking them to Thor on Friday night. I don’t doubt there will be a free comic there (as there was for Iron Man 2 last year).
So what’s going down in Stumptown that is kid friendly at our comic shops? I’ll divulge all right here.
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-From 10am to 6pm FREE COMICS while supplies last
– No in-store artists or signings or other special events are advertised. You should stop by anyway if you’re in the neighborhood!
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– I’ll assume 10am or 11am-6pm FREE COMICS while supplies last (as most stores are doing) no times are indicated.
– Didn’t have much posted on their webpage and only a small blurb on their Facebook profile mentioning two artists will be available for signings, with no time frames included.
- Zachary Baldus (New Mutants, American Splendor)
- Shannon Wheeler (artist/writer, Too Much Coffee Man)
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– From 10am to 7pm FREE COMICS while supplies last, $2 Doorbuster graphic novels, 60% off hundred of sale items, TFAW bucks, signings, stormtroopers and pirates.
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Captain America Costume for the Ladies: Phase One
Yep – that’s my big surprise. I’m working on a kick-ass cosplay costume for a female version of Captain America. But not just any old costume, a World War II/Steampunk-esque version of Cap. It’s coming together bit by bit at the moment.
Here’s a REALLY TERRIBLE pencil sketch of the outfit. I am obviously not an artist, but am highly visual and in order for my brain to approve any purchases for this outfit, I needed to see it in one picture, rather than all the separate pieces. Here’s what the final costume should resemble when everything comes together:
You get the idea
The inspiration comes from production stills of the currently filming Captain America movie and the Bryan Hitch Ultimate Avengers comic book version:
Early WWII movie version costume
Ultimate Avengers WWII Costume
There were at least three different pre-made versions of Captain America costumes for women and two of them were sleeveless. Since I don’t sew clothing well enough to make my own, the base of the costume is going to be pre-purchased and I’ll have to craft together all the accessories.
Anyways – a lady with a 3/4 sleeve tattoo doesn’t fit with the classic 1950s theme, so the one I ended up selecting is not as conventionally sexy. But it fits the look better. Already purchased this from buycostumes.com – this website is awesome because they allow users to post reviews and photos of themselves wearing the items. You can always judge a costume better when an average sized person is wearing it in crappy lighting and using a cellphone camera to take a picture. That’s REAL advertising.
The classic female costume
Already know I’m going to do away with that shitty silver winged mask. Yegh.
Halloween Hinjinks: The Walking Dead and Music Playlist
Halloween weekend was chock full of hijinks – and the topper of the weekend was The Walking Dead television premier at the Baghdad Theatre in Portland, Oregon. 600+ Zombie fans crammed into the ornate location for a costume contest, raffle and unveiling of the episode. This is the first time I’ve watched television with hundreds of people, so it was actually quite thrilling to listen to the roar of chatter during the commercials. We were warned about talking during the episode, so when the show started – the theater became quiet enough that you could hear the rustling of people in the first few bottom rows from the upper levels of the balcony.
The costumes were pretty fantastic. We missed getting pictures of Chairface (The Tick) but there were dozens of other people who really dressed for the occasion.
Check out the pictures we snapped here, as well as some from our Halloween party:
Another highlight of the weekend was getting to air out the massive playlist of Halloween-y songs I’d been preparing all throughout October. It ended up being about six hours long (three hours of ambient, three hours of dance).
The Top 20 Tracks from each are listed here.
Dan
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