Once Upon a Geek

Hey gang - Over 400 of my DragonCon 2008 pictures are now online!  You can view them on my Flickr account, ”Once Upon a Geek”, in the set labeled “DragonCon 2008″.  Or simply visit the site by clicking here.  You can download these to your computer in a variety of sizes; most go as big as 1280×960.  

Additionally, you can view my pictures at THE UNIQUE GEEK photo gallery.  My pictures at THE UNIQUE GEEK max out at 640×480. In addition to my pictures, there are also about 200 other DragonCon photos from my fellow Unique Geek members. 

Enjoy and feel free to post your favorite or least favorite photos!

The good news is that I survived DragonCon.  The bad news is that I’m having trouble re-acclimatizing to regular life.  After being completely immersed in geekdom for four straight days, it’s a little hard to suddenly be transported from the wild to “civilized” society.

I had a fantastic time!  This was definitely one of the best years I’ve had at this convention!  Over the next few days I’ll try to cover my madcap adventures at DragonCon 2008.  Of the 500 pictures I took, a little over 400 were worth keeping.  I should have them uploaded to my Flickr account soon.  I also have a couple videos I plan to upload for your viewing enjoyment.  A few of my friends that typically attend DragonCon didn’t come this year.  Hopefully these blogs will help fill them in and possibly encourage them to attend next year.

With the convention over, I gotta say that if I see one more lame Joker/Joker Nurse costume I’m going to freak out.  Apparently dressing like the Joker is the new black.  Sheesh.

FRIDAY

The flight from Tallahassee to Atlanta went great.  I caught up with Serv and we immediately went to Moe’s in the airport.  I know, airport Moe’s?  Can’t possibly be as good as a regular Moe’s, right?  Well, they don’t have Moe’s where Serv lives and he was jonesing for it pretty badly. I’m confident that if he didn’t eat Moe’s within 20 minutes of touching ground in Atlanta he would have suffered some kind of seizure.  An alternative may have been to mainline some Chick-Fil-A (which they also don’t have in the great white north), but Moe’s did the trick.

After lunch, we caught up with another friend from THE UNIQUE GEEK, Jon, then we all rode the MARTA from the airport to Peachtree Center.  Next we checked into our hotel, room 2222; we referred to it as “Harvey Dent’s room”.  Turns out the Executive Lounge we were counting on for meals was closed starting Saturday for renovations.  Major suckage.  That just resulted in more Chick-Fil-A for Serv, so I guess it all worked out.  After rendezvousing with a long-misplaced friend, Race, we headed to registration to pick up our badges.  I was thrilled for my friends as I watched them zip through the line and pick up their badges within mere moments.  I, however, was lucky enough to wait 45 minutes to get mine!  Yay!  For some ridiculous reason, every person whose last name starts with “M” showed up at the same time.  The slowness of the “M” line was aided by the DragonCon staff member running the line with a broken arm.  My friends were kind enough to wait for me, laugh at me, and take pictures.

After a brief visit with Ravenface & his brother Shockwave, I made my way to a comic book related track.  This session was an examination of various “don’ts” for comic writers featuring Peter David, Mike Baron, and others.  There were some great recommendations as well as anecdotes.  Heard a great suggestion to embed Google Image links into your comic scripts to provide the artist with photo reference examples of what you are trying to explain.  Neat idea!

After the comics panel, I went hunting for photo opportunities and trolled the dealer’s rooms.  During the course of the first day, I took about 175 pictures.  Michael Bailey, Race, and I wandered the dealer’s room together looking for ways to spend obscene amounts of money.  Then from an unknown artist, I commissioned a sketch of Blue Devil battling Doctor Fate.  The sketch isn’t complete yet, but I should get it within a week or so.  The pencils he showed me looked awesome!  I’ll be sure to post an image of that drawing here when I get it.

I swung by the NeedCoffee.com panel, “They Did WHAT to My Favorite Book/Fandom?”  Fun panel with good crowd interaction.  I was lucky enough to win a Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker action figure “Father’s Day 2-pack”.  Too funny! Around this time we connected with Ron & Holly from THE UNIQUE GEEK and their other siblings.

Finally, after a late-evening run to Chick-Fil-A, we settled in for a night of Chez Geek, booze, and chatting.  We don’t get to hang out very often as a group, so we had a fantastic time ripping on each other and enjoying each others company.  Sweet, sweet slumber finally overtook us around 3:00am.

Great first day!  Wonderful to see friends again and have so much fun!  I’m sure I’m forgetting things, so there may be addendums throughout the week.  More tomorrow…

I went to the comic shop on Monday to pick up the past two weeks worth of stuff.  I was pretty shocked to find so many big books waiting for me.  I knew I had ordered them, but for all of these to come in within such a short period of time - Yikes!  When the heck am I going to find the time to read them all, on top of my normal monthly pull of single issues?!?!?!

Scud The Disposable Assassin: The Whole Shebang!
Same dimensions as a comic book - 764 pages … Dude, 764 PAGES!

Queen & Country Definitive Edition Volume 01
6″ x 9″ - 362 pages

The Flash Companion by TwoMorrows
Letter size - 219 pages

Maintenance Volume 3
6″ x 9″ - 104 pages  (this is the basic cover image, but with issue #8 dressing)

I recently read the trade paperback of Sean Wang’s “Runners”. Wow, this was a great sci-fi comic! The story chronicles the misadventures of reluctant smuggler Roka Nostaco and his ragtag alien crew as they struggle to complete hazardous runs through outlaw space and against all odds. I agree completely with James Mishler’s review from Comic Buyer’s Guide, “This is what Star Wars comic books should be like: fresh stories, living characters, non-stop banter, action and adventure.”

I stumbled across “Runners” in a recent Diamond Previews issue. Previews featured an ad for the trade paperback along with a recommendation. The art looked great, so I gave it a shot. This was one gamble that paid off. The illustrations in this book are top-notch! Sean Wang got his big break years ago drawing some of the Tick comic books. Obviously that training paid off here. Wang really has a grasp of body language and expressions. He’s also bursting with creativity. In regard to alien design, it seemed that Wang’s pencil was channeling George Lucas’ creative energy (on one of George’s good days). On top of that, he has a good grasp of pacing, panel design, background detail, and incredibly clean lines. After I read each issue in the trade paperback, I would flip back just to look over the art and make sure I didn’t miss any brilliant details.

In addition to great art, it’s a solid space romp about smugglers doing their best to complete a job. The main characters run into roadblocks along the way that make for an interesting story. The banter is great; each character has a distinct personality; and you really get caught up in the cinematographic feeling of each action scene.

This first trade paperback is called, “Runners: Bad Goods” and is available from Sean Wang’s website, or your local comic book shop can probably order it for you. The next mini-series still awaiting publication is called, “Runners: The Big Snow Job“. It’s scheduled to be published by Archaia Studios Press, but they’ve suffered some delays recently. If you want to see some preview pages of the fantastic artwork, there are several on Sean Wang’s website.

I can’t recommend this series enough. Give it a try! If you don’t want to commit the money, contact me. Maybe I’ll loan you my copy!

A few weeks back I wrote a blog post on a book I was reading, ”Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils”.  It was an older book that was published back in 1991, but I read it to tide me over until I got around to seeing “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull”.  Well, I finished this book and enjoyed it (definitely more traditional Indiana Jones than the new movie).  This adventure took place between the “Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” TV series and “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, and definitely captured the spirit of Indy.  I would recommend it to anyone who liked ”Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”.  It felt more in-tune with that film than the others.  As I mentioned before, it covered all the good bits of Indiana Jones like lost ruins, booby traps, things going wrong for Indy, a beautiful girl, and almost losing his hat.  The only negative comment I have is that the story ended somewhat abruptly, however, I understand why they had to do that.  You’d have to read the story to understand what I mean. 

Now I’m reading another older book (1993), Doctor Who The New Adventures “Deceit” by Peter Darvill-Evans.  These original novels by Virgin publishing started shortly after the first Doctor Who TV series was cancelled.  These books tackled stories too broad and deep for the small screen, and took Doctor Who into previously unexplored realms of time and space.  They explored much more mature themes and really helped push the storytelling for Doctor Who forward.  The stories were very enjoyable, featured plots that would run across multiple novels, and really kept the Doctor Who torch burning during the lean years (between the end of the first TV series and the 1996 TV movies).  I’d be willing to say that the current TV series would not have been so successful without these novels.  In fact, several of the authors for the new TV series wrote New Adventures novels first, such as: Russell T Davies, Paul Cornell, Mark Gatiss, Gareth Roberts, and Steven Moffat (he wrote a short story).  Also worth noting, the season three two-parter, “Human Nature” and “Family of Blood” was an adaptation of the New Adventures novel “Human Nature” by Paul Cornell. 

The New Adventures novels followed the adventures of the Sylvester McCoy Doctor, along with Ace, and several new companions.  The most popular of these newly-created companions is Professor Bernice Summerfield.  She totally kicks ass and eventually got her own line of books and audio dramas.  The reason I chose to read “Deceit” (book 13 out of the 61 books published) was because Abslom Daak has an appearance in this one.  I’m about 100 pages in and the book is very enjoyable.  I had forgotten that the New Adventures books take a while to get used to.  They say most books are written at a 6th grade level.  I would say these books are written at a slightly higher level, which requires some additional focus from the reader.  One of the interesting things about the New Adventures novels is that the Doctor typically doesn’t show up for the first 50 pages.  It can be a bit frustrating at first, but it gives the novelist some time to really develop the supporting characters.

After “Deceit”, I’ll be reading Star Wars Legacy of the Force “Fury” by Aaron Allston. “Legacy of the Force” has been a surprisingly good run of Star Wars novels.  “Fury” is the seventh book in a nine book cycle.  I’ll have to write a post about this series sooner or later.  I’m loving it!

After that, I’ll probably read ”Indiana Jones and the Genesis Deluge” by Rob Macgregor.  I’ve purchased the book and read the first few pages.  Even though I was only a few pages in, I found it really compelling.  I can’t wait to get around to this one.

There you go… my summer reading list. 

Other than the Doctor Who dynasty of shows, I don’t watch much television.  However, there is one new show that I have totally fallen for in the past year… “Chuck” on NBC.  The show is about a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government’s most vital secret. With the government’s most precious secrets in Chuck’s head, NSA’s John Casey and CIA’s Sarah Walker assume the responsibility of protecting him. The show is a mixture of action/adventure and sitcom, with just a dash of angsty romance.  Somehow they’ve hit upon a magical formula that just works.

If you haven’t seen the series, you can watch a few episodes (including the pilot) at the official NBC web site for Chuck.  The series features the hilarious and brilliant Zachary Levi as Chuck.  Sara Walker is played by one of the hottest women to come out of Australia, Yvonne Strahovski. John Casey is played by fantastic Adam Baldwin.  The supporting characters are also awesome (pun intended, if you watch the show)!

Recently Wildstorm comics started a six-issue mini-series based upon the show.  It’s being written by series co-executive producer Peter Johnson and series writer Zev Borow, so it’s not just some lousy throwaway spin-off.  The first issue came out last month (hopefully you can still find it in stores), while the second issue is slated to come out this week.  I felt that Issue #1 was well done.  Since its being written by people from the actual show, you get the sense that they got the characters “voices” right.  I love the homage to Gilligan’s Island in the beginning where Chuck plays Gilligan and his boss plays Skipper.  Funny stuff!  Also, some former Chuck adversaries make appearances in the comic, so that was fun.  Finally, there is a one-page back-up called “Captain Awesome’s Tips for Being Awesome!!”  That was great… or dare I say AWESOME!  All told, I think the comic mini-series is off to a good start.

There were also a few recent Hellboy II: The Golden Army commercials featuring Chuck.  Check them out below.

 Chuck hangs with Hellboy…

Better head to the Buy More…

If you can’t view the embedded videos, just head over to the official NBC web site for Chuck.

A while back, I wrote a blog post about the upcoming Indiana Jones comic digest.  Well… it came out this past Wednesday.  Now go buy it!

I finally saw “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”. I liked it. Yup, I’m one of the few geeks I know that actually enjoyed the movie.

Now, I have to admit that I was probably not impartial going in. I’d read quite a bit of spoilers, so I was much better prepared for the controversial parts as compared to most people. I think knowing about those parts in advance (and already personally working through the surprise and disappointment) allowed me to enjoy the film more. It’s sort of like having surgery. Prior to the surgery, the doctor explains in gory detail what they are going to do to you. So when its time for the actual procedure, you aren’t really surprised or upset by the painful bits.

Beware, there be SPOILERS ahead…
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Things I liked…

• I enjoyed the second Act that took place back at the University. I felt like they introduced a nice subplot about a hero getting older. Loved the line, “We seem to have reached the age where life stops giving us things and starts taking them away.” I liked that they lingered on the photo of Indy’s dad.

• Indy gaining a son was a perfect counterpoint to the earlier scene about getting older. Here Indy is given something new (a son he never knew he had). Well structured.

• I enjoyed hearing Harrison Ford’s famous Star Wars line, “I got a bad feeling about this.”

• I thought the use of the army ants was really cool! Very unexpected but fitting for Indiana Jones. I’m going to have the creepy crawlies for days.

• Throughout the movie I was waiting for the moment, and dreading the thought of, when Indy would put the hat on Mutt as sort of a passing of the torch. I was happy to see that moment was stolen from Mutt. It symbolically said that Mutt wasn’t picking up Indy’s mantle and that Indy was still around. Nice.

• I liked that the his son was called Mutt. Given that Indiana chose his name because of their dog, Mutt was a funny choice and seemed to fit with the 1950’s era. I’m sure some people thought it was a silly homage to how Indiana chose his name, but I liked it (especially because they didn’t actually come out and remind us during the film).

Things I struggled with…

• I’m all about Indiana action being over the top. However, even I had a hard time overlooking some of the ridiculous stunts, such as the atomic refrigerator & Mutt on the vines. Additionally, as it did with Ravenface, the bad stunt stand-ins during the motorcycle chase really took me out of the film.

• I could have done without the majority of the sci-fi stuff. I think they could have still done a Crystal Skull plot (but more based upon the Mitchell-Hedges skull and myth), included Area 51, but only hinted at and left the audience wondering about the alien stuff.

General missives…

• I thought I’d heard during pre-production that John Hurt was playing Abner Ravenwood. I wonder what happened there.
• Why did the aliens need to be from another dimension? Was outer space just to simple of a concept? Given the homage to the 1950’s alien invasion movies, I would have thought simply making them from outer space would have made more sense.

• In regard to the sci-fi elements, I understand where the filmmakers were coming from. I think their hearts were in the right place and they were in a Catch-22 situation. If they simply made another archeological adventure movie, fans would have griped that there was nothing new and they failed to live up to the old films. By going in a different direction, they risked alienating fans with the psychic/dimensional subplot. Either way, the fan base was going to doom the movie. So I think trying something different was probably the best approach (even though I personally didn’t like some of the elements).

Again, overall I enjoyed the movie. I may not have agreed with some elements, but overall it was a fun adventure romp with a hero from my childhood.  I probably won’t see it in the theater again, but I’m sure I’ll buy the DVD.

The Irredeemable Shag

http://onceuponageek.com

I just started reading “Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils“, a novel by Rob MacGregor.  Given my current work schedule and chasing around after my kids, I haven’t had a chance to see ”Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” yet.  I’ve heard a lot of negative things about the new movie, so I decided to tide myself over with some of the novels that I’ve heard are good.  My friend Patrick recommended the Rob MacGregor novels.

I’m only about a quarter of the way through the book, but I’m really enjoying it.  It takes place after the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, before the movies, and has a really high adventure feeling to it.  Lost ruins, booby traps, things going wrong for Indy, a beautiful girl, almost losing his hat… y’know the fun bits of Indiana Jones!  I started with this book, even though it’s MacGregor’s third Indy novel.  I couldn’t find his first two Indy novels the day I went shopping, and this one is MacGregor’s favorite.  Assuming I enjoy this book the whole way through, I’ll sure I’ll go back and get the previous novels.

And on a somewhat related note, if you haven’t read the Indiana Jones lyrics, you’ve got to check them out!  Too funny!

We decided to have a family movie night last Saturday.  After being exposed to all the hype surrounding Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, my eight-year old step-son wanted to watch some of the original Indiana Jones films.  He’d never seen them before, so we started with “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. 

Interestingly enough, I was the exact same age my step-son is now when I first saw this movie.  My dad, my brother, and I got to see a free sneak preview a few days before the regular release (so this would be early June 1981).  At this point, there was very little known about the film other than it was by the creators of Star Wars and Jaws.  In the car on the way to the theater, my eight-year old self decided that the film must be about finding Noah’s Ark.  Needless to say I wasn’t disappointed that I was wrong after seeing this awesome film.  Going to see movies with my dad growing up was a special treat, so I have fond memories of that night.

Fast forward to the present.  It was really fun watching “Raiders of the Lost Ark” through my step-son’s eyes.  He was excited in all the right places, loved the action, got scared at the end and peeked through his fingers while covering his eyes.  We even dug out my old brown fedora for him to wear during the movie.  He said it made him feel safer.  It’s nice to see that classic high adventure movies such as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” can still thrill children today.

Afterwards, we watched one of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles stories - “Treasure of the Peacock’s Eye”.  Truthfully, this was just a re-edit of a few of the weekly episodes.  Regardless, my step-son really enjoyed the story.  I think he connected with young Indy and enjoyed seeing Indy learn the skills he would go on to use later in life.

Later at the grocery store, he asked my wife to buy him a box of Corn Pops cereal.  Being a kind mother, she bought the cereal for him.  It just so happened that this box of Corn Pops contained an Indiana Jones toy.  What my wife didn’t know is that he hates Corn Pops and it was simply a ruse to get the Indy toy.  Pretty clever kid. 

You throw me the Corn Pops, I throw you the whip!