Nerd Bucket List
Originally had planned to write a recap of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena but that will have to be put on hold. Instead, I bring you something that immediately inspired me as soon as I saw it.The Nerd Bucket List.
It was actually brought to my attention by another female comic book enthusiast who goes by the name of Jill The Nerdy Bird and guest writes for Newsarama.com. She penned up an article there with her own very specialized Nerd Bucket List as opposed to one that must be adhered to by all nerds.
So, you probably guessed by now that the remainder of this entry is going to be about my own personal Nerd Bucket List. The very exciting thing is that I’ve managed to cross off quite a few things on the list already! These are in no particular order or sequence, as all things are equally important to a nerd like me. š
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MINDY’S NERD BUCKET LIST
Meet Katee Sackhoff and Edward James Olmos. Obviously – she is my female heroine idol and it would be the shining moment of my days to shake her hand and tell her that she totally changed my perception of what a female heroine could be with her performance. I would also HAVE to ask her, “What do you hear Starbuck?” Because no one
Starbuck and Adama. My two favorites!
has ever asked her that before. š And Edward James Olmos isĀ like the Grandpa I never had. His gravelly voice and reading glasses and general demeanor are as comforting as a glass of warm milk. I’m especially excited to learn that he might return to the BSG Exhibit in Seattle this year for another script reading. I’m so there.
Visit NYC and lurk outside the Marvel Office. They don’t do regular tours, but I can still be a creeper and maybe snap a few pictures with an editor or something out on the street. Or maybe contact them ahead of time and see if Ā a tour is possible. OrĀ rewind time back to 1998 and be this kid.
Cosplay as a sexy superhero. This is probably something that should be done before I turn 30 (so like, next year) because after 30 I’ve decided is the cut-off for any kind of sexy cosplay. Please time, do not make a liar of me. I don’t know though – Steampunk has made dressing up in costume at any age a work of art, so that might be the loophole in the future. Not sure what superheroine I would like to attempt. I’ve done Rogue before for a superhero party and all that hair dyeing was such a hassle. Any suggestions?
Participate inĀ Thrill The World in full zombie regalia. At least once. Complete with zombie eye contacts and a clever costume.
Obtain a comic book artist portrait. That sounds so ridiculous, but I’ve always fantasized about becoming a comic book character. Not sure what the process would entail either – probably scouting out a decent picture and passing it off to the artist at a convention. ThinkingĀ Pablo Raimondi, Pia Guerra orĀ Joelle Jones. Unless someone has an alternate suggestion?
Join or lead a geeky volunteer group. Like theĀ PDX Browncoats. As mentioned before, this would unite my passion for contributing to the community AND displaying geekery in all it’s glory. Plus meeting and hanging out with a group of like-minded folks. Hopefully that can be checked off in the near future!
Alex Maleev sketch, Scarlet Witch
Sketch fromĀ Alex Maleev. Dude, he lives here in Portland but I haven’t seen him attending one convention in the last year. He was even noticeably absent at SDCC. What gives? He is elusive as fuck, which makes a sketch from him about as prized as a Unicorn horn.
Sit inside the cockpit of a Colonial Viper. It wasn’t just enough to SEE them. Seriously. It’s the equivalent to some fans of LOOKING at the Millenium Falcon. Want to touch! Want to see what it would look like if I was flying through space, blasting some frakin’ toasters. So say we all!
Create a comic book. I’m no artist, but I’ve dabbled in all forms of writing save one (or two) and it seems especially strange given my passion for comics. How hard would it be to work up a script? Probably not that difficult. The scary part would be in finding an artist who would be willing to put in the blood, sweat and tears to see those words brought to life.
Meet Joss Whedon AND Brian K. Vaughn. The last of the comic book scribes whose work has inspired and thrilled me over the years. They are both hugely talented and the opportunity to shake their hands or stare at them obsessively while my mind goes helplessly blank and my knees give way would be truly special.
Complete all Assassin’s Creed games with 100% achievements. Just cause.
Finish up the Phoenix Tattoo in the next two years. Provided both the DH and I can find stable employment situations. Have had to reschedule twice now, so London no doubt thinks I’m a flake. But I don’t intend to have a half-finished tattoo on my body forever.
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BUCKET LIST ITEMS ALREADY COMPLETED
Attend San Diego Comic Con At Least Once. This was listed as one of the top items on the collaborative nerd bucket list, so I believe I can safely assume the mantle of nerd for the rest of my days – having traveled to the geek mecca and survived the eye-gouging dangers of Hall H and witnessed the glory that was the Avengers Panel (even if we were in the back row and it was on the jumbo-tron). Check out the recap of SDCC 2010 starting here.
Emerald City Comic Con 2011: Day Two
DAY TWO RECAP: L4D COSPLAY, THE GUILD PANEL, MASQUERADE
The morning got off to a rocky start with a late breakfast at the hotel restaurant and getting my parents settled in to the room. We’d all (except for Erin) decided to do a little Cosplay for Saturday – my parents dressed in Star Trek uniforms for their picture with William Shatner, my dad once again sporting some stylized facial hair.
My parents are just too damn cute for words.
LEFT4DEAD COSPLAY
Dan and I were sporting our Left 4 Dead costumes – Dan dressed as Bill and I went as Zoey. It took us about two months to put the costumes together. Most of the pieces were purchased outright or items we already owned, but some were customized.
Clothing items we already owned: Dan’s pants, white undershirt. My jeans and white undershirt.
Clothing items we purchased: Green beret, pink track jacket, black hi-top cons, black army boots
Bill’s green beret was customized with a yellow patch which Dan ACTUALLY sewed on. Very proud of him for that. Zoey’s jacket we purchased online at Wal-Mart. It was the closest match I could find and also the cheapest. They’re on clearance right now, if you want to pick one up before they’re gone. I had to do a bit of alteration – cutting, gluing and sewing white fabric on – Thank God this jacket comes equipped with black fabric as an outline for all the places you need to add material. Also had to cut the black fabric off the collar, as well as remove the tacky glued on bits underneath. THAT took awhile. Way too damn long but aided with the help of one of those de-fuzz-baller-things.
Dan spray-painted two guns black to cover the orange tips – one a machine and another a shot-gun – both appear in the video game series. We printed up some hilarious “Pain Reliever” labels for generic aspirin bottlesĀ here, attached it to the side of our pants with velcro and safety pins.
We also purchased two red expandable duffle bags from Wal-Mart which we customized with white fabric. We attached them to our backs with safety pins so they would seem to inexplicably hang there.
Finally – we made up “Boomer Bile” bottles which took searching at three or four different stores to find the right container. We went with water bottles purchased at our local Target (not finding them online), augmented with flat toothpicks and spray painted to match the white color of the lids. We added a bit of red tape to the lid, and then printed up a label found here on sticker paper. The boomer bile we modified based on a recipe we foundĀ on this Cosplay forum. Highly suggest the forum – it has a ton of great ideas for manufacturing props and putting together accurate costumes.
Boomer Bile Recipe Used: Lime Green Gatorade, Green Food Coloring and a dab of Cornstarch. Just gotta shake it up every once in awhile if the starch settles. It gives off a delicious green glowing color…and you can drink it for full effect.
The results of all this time and effort looked something like this:
Not exactly screen accurate - but you get the idea.
Comic Con 2010: Day Three
Day 3 was another early rise – and it was COSTUME DAY! We donned our BSG gear and headed out around 8am fully prepared to snag the Trolley. We lucked into a shuttle ride over and plopped ourselves down in the Hall H line for the Green Lantern, Harry Potter and Sucker Punch panel.
BSG in line for Hall H
The line was pretty comparableĀ at that point (at least, we thought) to where we were at on Thursday, but we ended up in the last five rows of the auditorium despite our early rising and pre-planning. The WB swag for this panel was incredible – a reasonably sized tote bag, a “Wanted” HP shirt, a limited edition Green Lantern comic book and a Sucker Punch bracelet.
The Green Lantern panel itself was pretty exciting. Ryan Reynolds is a bright and terribly funny dude, and the clips they showed had some pretty wicked cool CGI. They will feature a lot of the Lantern Corps characters (none of which I know, but the audience seemed pretty excited) and even had the scribe Geoff Johns on the panel confirming that the movie will be bad-ass. They skirted the issue of a Justice League film in the future…but clearly this film is a jumping off point for that.
Ryan Reynolds had a delightful exchange with a youngĀ questioner who asked him how it felt to recite the Green Lantern oath (which he promptly did to the delight of the audience) and signed a free comic book for the boy, who was wearing a green lantern ring. Then Reynolds handed off his own ring to one lucky con-goer.
Look closely at his hands - you can see the ring!
The Harry Potter panel was next – and Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy arrived to show us the clip, which was an extended trailer rather than a chunk of the film itself (which many of us were hoping for). It all looks very stunning, but honestly the 3D didn’t add much to my experience, so I don’t think I’ll be plunking down an extra $3 in November. It was a little under-whelming and half of the Hall bolted out the door (including Smalls, on her way to a Vampire Diaries signing) immediately after.
Tom Felton looking dashing, tan and decidedly un-angsty
Which leaves us with Sucker Punch. I’d seen a single image from it – featuring four scantily clad dangerous looking womens and some leering male ringleader, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this one. Clearly there is fighting and action as the title would seem to indicate, and the presence of Jenna Malone brings an element of respectability to the affair…though I am on the fence about Zack Snyder as a director. The premise is intriguing – a woman confined to an insane asylum creates a fantasy world along with three other ladies who can share in these adventures which centered around killing Nazi zombies, slaying dragons and fighting robots. So – count me in. Even if it lacks substance, the visuals alone were quite stunning.
A great shot of the panel for Sucker Punch
I was annoyed though by our proximity to the entrance doors, the constant stream of chatting and rustling during the panel made it hard to hear and concentrate on the women. Snyder kept referring to them as “the girls” as if they were one unit, and the majority of the audience questions were “did you know you’re a woman?” Ugh. It was frustrating.
We sacrificed ourĀ long wait for Hall H seats after that and dashed over to the Hilton for The Guild panel. We happened to arrive there just at the same time as Ryan Reynolds, so Dan was able to shake his hand and compliment hisĀ work as an actor. It was definitely a very cool moment.
Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively entering the Hilton
Just a little over-shadowed by our complete inability to make it into the panel we wanted. We waited for an hour and then gave up once the announcement was made. But we got to hang out by the Bay, stare at a Dole boat and catch a glimpse of some crabs…so it wasn’t entirely wasted time.
This hand touched Ryan Reynolds.
Since we didn’t have anything else on the docket aside from potentially seeing Scott Pilgrim vs. The World in the evening, we wandered back towards the Convention Center and noticed that the Hall H line was nearly empty, so we decided to camp out and try to make it back in for the Marvel Panel.
Comic Con 2010: Day One + Preview Night
PREVIEW NIGHT
We boarded our flight around 8:45am Wednesday and arrived in San Diego around 11:45am. Then had to wait for the free hotel shuttle for an hour, which was fine because it gave us an opportunity to eat what would be our only substantial meal until nearly 10pm that night.
We dropped off our luggage, printed up our tickets and hopped a trolley around 2pm to the convention center to pick up our badges.
San Diego Trolley < Portland MAX
The registration process itself was fairly quick and easy. Then we were herded like cattle into a line to moo over the master schedule and play a few hands of rummy.
The massively insane lines for Preview Night
Three hours (and some confusion, expensive water and frozen yogurt later), and we entered the Preview Night exhibit hall. Not first…but not exactly last.
There was a mad rush to hit up certain booths (Marvel! WB!) and I stopped off at Boom! Studios to pick up a limited edition Dark Wing Duck comic for a friend of a friend. Erin scooped up a ton of free items, but I was quite overwhelmed by the lines and people and mostly tried to steer clear of death by crushing.
Death by crushing might look something like this
We ended up finding The Guild booth and got autographs from the entire cast. They were all so absolutely gorgeous! Sandeep Parikh complimented my tattoo and Felicia Day also ogled and touched my arm. It was definitely my joy moment for the day, year and life!
About half of the Guild Cast. Sexy Felicia Day!
Next we stopped off at the Webcomics area. Addie chatted and snagged a picture with the guy who creates Dinosaur comics. That was her joy moment.
Finally, we hit up the Browncoats booth and along the way Erin discovered a dude with a Vampire Diaries swag bag, which he nonchalantly traded off and ended up making her day.
After that we were exhausted and took the trolley back to the hotel, then hopped a cab to an In-n-Out Burger down the street. Totally worth it.
Her swag bag is bigger than yours.
Bechdel Test Post #3
TRUE BLOOD: Season 3, Episode 26: Bad Blood
Bechdel Test for Women
1. It has two or more women in it (with names)
2. At least two women talk to each-other: Sookie and Kenya. Sookie and Pam. Sookie and Tara. Sookie and Jessica. Tara and Arlene.
3. There were no conversations between two women that didn’t revolve around Bill or Eric. Tara and Arlene were fighting about race – but that conversation was spurred by the death of Eggs. There was a brief exchange between Tara and Lettie Mae – but it was being coaxed by a male reverend. The only line not uttered through or about a male was when Tara told her mother she was going to take a shower.
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Bechdel Test for Men
1. It has two or more men in it (with names)
2. At least two men talk to each-other: Jason and Andy Bellefleur. Jason and Hoyt. Eric and the magistrate.
3. Jason and Andy discuss the death of Eggs. Jason and Hoyt talk about their life situation – Hoyt asks to move in. Eric and the magistrate discuss the sale of “V” in Louisiana.
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Bechdel Test for Race
1. It has two or more people of color in it (with names) – Tara, Lafayette, Lettie Mae
2. Tara and Lafayette. Lafayette and Lettie Mae.
3. Tara and Lafayette talk to one another about the death of Eggs. Lafayette and Lettie Mae talk to one another about Tara and their own relationship.
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This True Blood episode DOES NOT PASS the female test, PASSES the male test and PASSES the Bechdel Test for Race.
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THE GUILD Comic Book: Issues 1-3
Since these were all read in one grouping…I decided against doing a Bechdel test on each, so they will be measured as a unit.
Bechdel Test for Women
1. It has two or more women in it (with names)
2. At least two women talk to each-other: Cyd and Clara in issue 2. Cyd and Tink in issue 3.
3. Cyd and Clara talk about theĀ rules of The Game and how to earn points. Cyd and Tink talk about arranging a raid, and later about joining The Guild.
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Bechdel Test for Men
1. It has two or more men in it (with names)
2. At least two men talk to each-other: No men talk to each-other in issue 1. Zaboo and Bladezz in issue 2. Zaboo and Vork in issue 2. Zaboo and Bladezz in issue 3.
3. Zaboo and Bladezz discuss the game and homework. Zaboo and Vork discuss the game.
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Bechdel Test for Race
1. It has two or more people of color in it (with names): Tink. Zaboo.
2. Two minorities talk to one another: Neither of the two characters interact with one another.
3. N/A
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Two issues PASS the female test (2/3), two issues PASS the male test (2/3) and none of the issues PASS the Bechdel Test for Race (0/3).
Free Comic Book Day 2010: Recap
We arrived at the Portland Hollywood District Things From Another World store around noon, and were greeted by a herd of pirates. They had muskets, maces and one was even sporting a whip (pretty sure it was real). A father with his daughter dressed as a princess and son as a storm trooper wandered out of the store clutching their Free Comic Books.
We entered and picked up a couple of the free books for our nephews – they didn’t have any of the adult books (sounds so naughty) I’d scoped out. Ah well, this was more about getting out to the stores to show support, and nab some freebies for the nephews.
We picked up Iron Man/Thor, DC Kids and Toy Story for them, btw.
Then lots of browsing occurred – they were selling a whole folding table full of trade paperbacks for 60% off, along with some Alex Ross posters and a couple Darth Vader backpacks. Not sure if Dan and I will ever be nerdy enough to sport that kind of look. We purchased Whiteout: Melt to score a Steve Lieber autograph on that copy. Later on, we can get Greg Rucka to sign it and have the complete set.
Around 2pm Mr. Lieber showed up, and we descended on him with the Greg Rucka signed Whiteout book. He ASKED US if he could do a sketch in it. Are you freaking kidding me? Yes please!
Of course, he was another cool and laid back dude who was totally willing to chat while he drew. He spent a little time pimping Underground (though I asked him to) and dropped a hint about a Vertigo project he’s attached to, but couldn’t release any information just yet.
He’s part of the 22 person Periscope artist studio here in Portland, and really enjoys the supportive arts community that the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
After he finished up the awesome sketch of Carrie Stetko:
he politely posed for a picture:
Steve Lieber!
Then we stopped over at Cosmic Monkey Comics (it was just up the street) and picked up six issues of Madame Xanadu. We ran into the stunning Carolyn Main, and a few other comic book friends we’d met at Stumptown Comics Fest. It was great to see so many folks out supporting the art form and the event – and all the kids!
Spreading the Link Love: 4/13/2010
I promise, more cohesive posts in the future – but I’m gonna be on the road all day tomorrow, and don’t have enough brain energy to post anything of great significance at the moment.
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1. Communal Goal Setting: 43 Things Website
The premise of this website is that everyone has a bucket list – and that someone’s bucket list might have a few commonalities with that of someone else. People are encouraged to make their list (more or less than 43 – it’s only a suggestion), cross of items they’ve completed and then share their stories. Additional information includes – how long it took the person to complete the goal, and how the final outcome made them feel. You can even track their progress by year – and see what they added when, or what wasn’t completed and for what reason.
Some people are vague in their descriptive stories, but many folks can get quite personal. One profile in particular detailed an affair with a married man, her sexual exploitations and donating an organ. This website is intensely fascinating for me. It’s not intended to replace the social networking of sites like Facebook or Twitter, but it certainly serves a purpose. Finding a community of like-minded people who embrace and are plotting the same goals as you is hugely compelling. There is also the responsibility that comes with formally announcing them. Once your intangible goals are written down somewhere on the interwebs – you feel more accountable for them. There is a realness generated by knowing other people have seen them. It’s an awesome site – anyone heard of this before (probably, it’s been around since 2005)?
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2. The Walking Dead TV Series on AMC Casts Rick and Shane
A shriek of glory passed my lips when I learned that AMC had green-lighted six episodes of The Walking Dead TV Series directed by Frank Darabont. AMC has helmed similar adult-themed programs to great success. While I always held out hope for an HBO or Showtime nod – AMC is even better, cause it’s not a subscription network, which means it will *hopefully* cull a wider audience.
The reason for posting? It looks like they’ve already cast two characters – Jon Bernthal has been cast as Rick’s partner, Shane and Andrew Lincoln, from Love Actually, has been cast as Rick Grimes – a police officer who wakes up from a coma to discover the Zombie Apocalypse has descended upon earth. He immediately sets off to locate his wife and son – and presumably the first six episodes (I say FIRST) will follow the plot-line of the first several issues. These were some of the best of the series for me – though I do have a fondness for some of the later plot-lines as well – Michonne in particular.
This news has actually caused me to pick up the books where I left off (around issue 50). Looking forward to giving a summary of how the latest developments sit with me.
OTHER TANTALIZING UPDATES: Brandon Routh has potentially joined the cast. Feeling pretty ambivalent about this news. Routh was great in Superman, but the role didn’t require much of the hard-boiled intensity or action or fear required of any good Zombie material. The only other role I’ve seen him in was a comedic turn in Zack and Miri Make a Porno. It’s great they are pulling rather big names to the series, but not sure where this guy is going to be placed in the pantheon of Walking Dead characters. Any thoughts?
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Gonna come right out and say it – I don’t watch a ton of WebTV. The Guild, Legend of Neil and Chad Vader are the only shows I’ve managed to devote my non-TV, movie or reading time to. But honestly, I’m not a hater.
This is an exciting medium, because it’s home to the super popular Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog, which is the result of a successful TV Producer, Director and Writer spending his time and hard-earned money to create products that are entirely within his creative control. That is what excites me about how much recognition they’re getting.
The Streamys are the biggest recognition/awards event for web content that happens IRL. But as I mentioned before, it apparently sucked awfully this year – embarrassing the nominees, winners and many of those regular folk in attendance. WebTV haters are calling this “THE END OF THE MEDIUM” while everyone else is only pissed at the producers of the award show.
Now that I know this award show has the potential to be a glorious (or insulting) train wreck, much like the Oscars, I’m totally down for watching it next year. And I’d like to support the underdog medium. On that note – would love to hear of some other web series, if any – that folks are watching or interested in.
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That’s all the link love for today. I’ll probably try to throw at least one of these up a week – but will return with a review ofĀ the first Madame Xanadu trade paperback on Wednesday. Get excited!
Dan
tinyheroes
Tiny Heroes 
