Stuff I Find Exciting

1. An Adventure in Space and Time: Jason and I watched this docudrama about the creation of Doctor Who back in 1963. It's very well-written and acted, with lots of good information for old fans and new fans alike. It might even be a good way to introduce people to the show!

2. Chi-Fi: Chicago's getting a brand-new sci-fi convention! And you'll never guess who they got as special guests. Well, unless you click the link. Or I can tell you now: Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy, AKA Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo from MST3K. I am SO excited! I have been a fan of MST since high school and I would love to meet anyone connected with the show. Jason and I have been watching a lot of Mystery Science Theater lately, because their 25th anniversary was just one day after the Doctor Who 50th. 

Now, the question with Chi-Fi is, how do I pronounce it? Is it pronounced "shy-fi"? Or "chai-fi" like the tea?

3. Turkey Day marathon: Speaking of Mystery Science Theater, their annual Thanksgiving marathon is back! I never got to see the annual twelve hours of bad movies when it was on television, because by the time I started watching the VHS collections it had already been off the air for several years. Jason grew up with it, though, and he assures me they're great fun. I expect nothing less. This year it will be streaming online at MST3KTurkeyDay.com.

4. Leverage is back on Netflix! Now is a great time to check the show out if you haven't already. Think Robin Hood meets Mission: Impossible.

5. Christmas is coming! I love everything about Christmas: buying gifts, making cookies, singing Christmas songs, decorating, watching the snow fall...December is probably my favorite month of the year. Jason and I are starting a new tradition this year. I made an advent calendar garland, which I will be writing about soon. Check back on Friday! Speaking of, if you are going to brave the crowds on Friday, please be careful. Personally, I will be doing most of my Christmas shopping online.

C2E2 2013!

Convention season has begun! The Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo, more commonly known as C2E2, was this weekend at McCormick Place. Jason went all three days; I was unable to get Friday off, so I went on Saturday and Sunday.

There was a lot more room devoted to the convention this year than in previous years, which made everything seem less crowded. I noticed a huge difference on Saturday--even with all of the crowds, I was still able to navigate pretty easily.

My brother and I went to a panel on Saturday. One of our favorite YouTubers debuted two new videos. If you are a fan of comic book movies, you should definitely check out ItsJustSomeRandomGuy. He makes videos with action figures, and they are HILARIOUS. He started out doing parodies of the Mac/PC ads, but he also does movie trailer parodies, song parodies, and a series of original stories with its own continuity (boom). The main event at the panel was the final episode in his "Zero Hour" series, which ended up being a rough cut without special effects. It's not online yet. RandomGuy opened the panel with this song parody, and he sang Superman's part live.

The "panel" was actually on a stage near the concessions, rather than in a room with rows of chairs. Johnny and I sat at a table with a bunch of strangers and started talking about our various interests as we were waiting. One of the things I love about conventions is how easy it is to find things in common with people.

I did all of my shopping on Saturday. I bought two t-shirts (Pinky and the Brain and Care Bears), some buttons for my convention backpack, and a "Live Long and Prosper" necklace. My favorite find was a booth selling vintage Care Bears (yes, I'm kind of Care Bear crazy). They were 20 bucks each, so I only bought one.

Sunday's highlight was meeting Felicia Day! She signed my "Doctor Horrible" DVD, and she was super nice.

I saw some great costumes both days. 

Jason spotted this female Third Doctor on Friday, and then we ran into her again on Sunday right as we were leaving.

Doctor Horrible was popular this year:

I saw a lot of families with kids on Sunday. It seemed to be the best day to bring them, because the crowds were smaller. I had never been to a convention on Sunday before. It was interesting to compare the crowd levels. 

Anyway, this girl had a great costume:

Whatever you do, DON'T BLINK.

And finally, someone at the convention on Saturday had the best car EVER.

It's a Volkswagen Ladybug! How cool is that?

That's it for my convention wrap-up. Hat-a-week should be returning shortly. I am close to finishing my sweater, and I already have my next hat commission. Jason has requested a Metroid hat, which my brother heartily seconded. For those of you unfamiliar with the monsters, this is a Metroid: 

I'm not entirely sure how well this will translate to hat form, but we shall see!

Wizard World Update!

Jason and I were looking up the updated guest list for Wizard World yesterday. I was thrilled to see Charisma Carpenter on the list. There are going to be a ton of Buffy/Angel alumni there, but she definitely takes the top spot on my list (sorry, James Marsters!). I remember the first episode of Angel I ever watched was their 100th episode special. I had no idea who this "Cordy" girl was, but I liked her, and I was completely baffled when she died--off-screen, no less--at the end of the episode.

Like I said, this was my first experience with a Joss Whedon show. Seriously, if I ever meet him I will not know whether to shake his hand or punch him in the face.

Since then I have seen every episode of Angel at least once. It is still the only show where I own the entire run on DVD. Cordelia is still probably my favorite character. I love how much her character develops, especially considering her start on Buffy. I think I will have her sign one of my DVD sets...I will have to see if she is on the cover of any of them.

Morena Baccarin is going to be there as well. I would love to meet her, but I have a feeling that would involve waiting in line with an uncomfortable number of creepy middle-aged men. I went to a panel last year (at Cyphan) with Jewel Staite, and unfortunately sat next to someone who must have been the inspiration for Fanboy. I felt so bad for Jewel having to answer his questions, which showed that he knew more about the show than she did. He was also leaning forward in his seat and preventing me from getting a decent picture. So yeah, my goal is to avoid guys like him as much as possible.

I am also still completely psyched about meeting Patrick Stewart and Christopher Lloyd. I already know what I want C.L. to sign. Last week, I found this on clearance at Toys "R" Us.

I want him to sign the hood of the DeLorean. I thought about having him sign the back of the package, but that would mean I could never open it. Personally, I have never understood the appeal of leaving toys inside the box. I want to take it out and play with it! And Jason still wants his (Sega) Genesis Device signed. I still think that is a brilliantly hilarious idea.

Now I just need to figure out what I want Patrick Stewart to sign...Man, Wizard World is going to be awesome this year. So excited!

Great Scott!

I cannot WAIT for Wizard World. Yes, I know that I just went to a convention last weekend. But WW is going to be EPIC. There is no other word for it. I was already excited when Jason told me Patrick Stewart was going to be there. I thought there was no way to top Captain Picard. But just the other day, they announced that none other than Christopher Lloyd was going to be there! I started geeking out. He is quite possibly my favorite actor of all time. He is fantastic in all of his roles, from Doc Brown to Reverend Jim to the Klingon commander from Star Trek 3. Jason wants to have him sign his Genesis device:


But yeah, I will watch anything with Christopher Lloyd in it. Including several movies I rented specifically because his name showed up on the cast list. I remember him as Al the angel from Angels in the Outfield...Uncle Martin from the movie remake of My Favorite Martian...the "counselor" from Camp Nowhere...The Hacker in Cyberchase.


I used to tell people I watched this show because my little brother liked it. Which he did, but I liked it too. Because I am, unapologetically, a huge dork. Oh, and if the voice of the robot bird sounds familiar, that is because he is voiced by Gilbert Gottfried.

As if Christopher Lloyd and Patrick Stewart weren't enough, there are a ton of other people I am excited about. From Buffy/Angel, we have James Marsters (Spike. HELL yes!), Julie Benz (Darla), Nicholas Brendon (Xander!), and Mercedes McNab (Harmony). Incidentally, I found out that one of her early roles was as Amanda from the Addams Family movies.


And Christopher Lloyd was in that movie too! Ooh, maybe I can get both of them to sign it.

We also have LeVar Burton (Geordi from Star Trek Next Gen), Morena Baccarin (Inara from Firefly), and Felicia Day (Penny from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog). And you can find the complete list (and not just the people who worked with Joss Whedon) here. Well, based on my experience at C2E2, I will need to prioritize who I want to meet. It is a very good thing I will be going to Wizard more than one day. And if everyone is charging $30 or $40 for an autograph, I should probably start saving up now. I do love conventions. Next on my schedule is Cyphan at the end of July.

C2E2 Wrap-Up

Well, C2E2 was pretty awesome. My costume was a huge success. I got a ton of people asking to take my picture. A few were pretty surprised when I held up the BFNG (Big Frickin' Nerf Gun). One guy asked for my picture because he runs a Nerf blog. Here's the photo from his Twitter.


I met him while we were in line for Eliza Dushku. She was in a panel from 1:15-3:30. We got in line at 2:30, and by the time she showed up (15 minutes late, unfortunately) the line stretched from the middle of the convention floor to the bathrooms in the back. I asked someone if the autograph ticket was also good for a photo, and the woman told me, "She's not doing photos." There must have been a misunderstanding, because I meant that I wanted to take a photo with her. That was fine. But there were no photos of her at the autograph table. So, $40 and an hour and a half later, proof that I met Eliza Dushku. She thought my costume was cool, by the way.


She was the only celebrity I ended up meeting. The whole cast of Middleman was there, but they were charging for autographs too. If I had known that before we got there, I might have decided to spring for another autograph. Oh, well. I did get some great costume photos.

Fourth Doctor, Amy, and Eleventh Doctor! All very cool. Fezes are cool.


TARDIS fez. Cool squared!

We stopped at the 501st table, where I got a photo of a lady Stormtrooper. Jason was in his Trooper gear on Friday, and hopes to have his Palpatine costume ready in time for Wizard World in August.

Hooray for girl geeks! Side note: conventions are one of the few places where the line for the men's restroom is longer than the women's. I found that highly amusing.


The lovely female Mario cast. They wanted a photo with me, too.

I actually got very few photos of myself with my camera. This one was too good to pass up, though.


Jason spotted this lady and her robot buddy.


Speaking of Jason, he and two of his friends went as the nWo. They were also very popular with photographers.

Left to right, we have Macho Man Randy Savage (Jason), Hollywood Hogan, and The Undertaker.

One more. Johnny wanted to snag a picture with this Mario walkabout just as we were leaving.


The only bad part about yesterday was that, even though Jason and I were there together, we were unable to spend much time together. We came with a big group, which kept on getting broken up. Somebody wanted to buy t-shirts. Then someone else wandered off. Johnny needed lunch, I was in the autograph line, people wanted a photo of the nWo, etc, etc, etc. Incidentally, there are no photos from yesterday of Jason and me together. Also, stopping for photos can really wear you out after a while. When we got back from the con, Johnny had more energy than either Jason or me.

Will Action Princess Peach make an appearance at any more cons? Probably. I think I will don the dress and bazooka again for Wizard World. But I also need a day to walk around and relax a bit.

Want more costumey goodness? You can find all of my C2E2 photos here on Flickr.

C2E2: Convention Countdown and Extreme Excitement

Clever, no? (No? Oh well.)

Ordered my autograph ticket for Saturday. It cost more than admission to the convention, but I think it is worth every penny. Plus, it must be pretty expensive to book the big-name people like Eliza Dushku.

Submitted for your approval, the following videos in anticipation of this weekend.

A montage of some of Faith's best scenes from BtVS (and its spinoff, Angel).


No less than three of the main actors from this show at the con!


A clip from Leverage. Sterling (the guy getting the snot kicked out of him by Christian Kane) will be there.

As to why he is getting the snot kicked out of him...well, you will just have to watch the show.

And...this guy will be there too.

Rick Bayless is a world-renowned chef. Still have no idea what he has to do with comics.

One more for the road. Just because it is extremely nerdy and fun.

Ear worm! You're welcome.

C2E2 Update!

I found myself with some extra time on my hands this morning, so I have been doing some poking around online. I now have an expanded list of celebs to meet at C2E2.

-Eliza Dushku: Faith from Buffy; Echo from Dollhouse. NEED a photo with her.
-Mark Sheppard: Sterling on Leverage, one of the best shows currently on TV. For more on Leverage, see the end of this post.
-Natalie Morales: Wendy Watson from The Middleman, which is exactly the kind of show I love and networks hate. Lasted one season on ABC Family before they decided what the world needs is more dramas about teens having sex.
-Matt Keeslar: Starred in The Middleman and Dollhouse, appeared in an episode of Leverage.
-Rick Bayless: Chicago chef who hosts a cooking show on PBS. No, I have no idea what he is doing at the nerd convention. I will probably get his autograph for my mom.
-ItsJustSomeRandomGuy: probably my favorite YouTuber ever. He may not actually be at the convention, but he was there last year and yesterday he posted a promo for the convention. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

My costume is complete! Went to Toys 'R' Us on Tuesday and got an oversized Nerf gun and matching bandolier. It looks ridiculous, but in a good way. Johnny was impressed. I just hope that Nerf weapons are allowed...their FAQ's had a "Weapons Policy" that did not mention anything about Nerf one way or the other. I hope Nerf guns are not counted as "functional firearms" (cap guns and pellet guns are not allowed). Jason said that people walk around with Airsoft guns, so I should be fine. I will probably leave the clip home just to be on the safe side.

Now, as to why Leverage is one of my favorite shows of all time. The premise is that the members of the Leverage team cheat and steal from the bad guys to bring them down as punishment for crimes they got away with. Robin Hood meets Ocean's Eleven, with a heavy dose of Mission: Impossible? Sold! When watching the previews on TNT I recognized Christian Kane (Lindsey from Angel) as one of the main characters. That, paired with the premise of the show, was enough to make me tune in to the first episode. I was immediately hooked. The writing and acting are simply fantastic. All of the team members have a great dynamic, and the writers do a great job of exploring the various relationships, while still focusing on a tight, exciting story every week. I was certain that this show was too good to last for more than one season, but TNT really surprised me. Coming this year is Season Four. Happy dance!

For more on Leverage, visit their TV Tropes page or their website, where you can watch the a few of the latest full episodes.

C2E2: Coming Soon!

Wow, almost March. I can hardly believe two months of the new year have passed already. Which means that sci-fi convention season is just around the corner! Yes folks, we are less than three weeks away from the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (also known as C2E2). I am quite excited about this; last year's C2E2 was the first convention I ever wanted to go to. I was not able to go, partly because I was in the middle of my student teaching and partly because I had nobody to go with. This year Johnny and I are going with Jason and his friends. It should be a crazy fun time, because almost all of us are going in costume. The sole exception is my brother, who will probably spend most of his time pretending he has no idea who we are.

Jason and his buddies are dressing up as wrestlers from the nWo. I know next to nothing about wrestling, so my costume is completely different from theirs: Warrior Princess Peach. I got the idea from this t-shirt:


I could have just gotten the shirt and left it at that. But I decided it would be much better to go as Peach with some sort of badass weapon. I bought this costume about a month ago...

It took a bit of searching to find a costume with a skirt that came down past my knees. I will never understand the tendency to create revealing costumes for EVERYTHING.

Anyway, my mom washed and ironed the costume for me today, which must have taken quite a bit of work. It came shipped in this tiny package and was VERY wrinkled. Now, however, it looks great. Tomorrow Jason and I are going to Toys 'R' Us to buy some sort of weapon; I will probably end up with one of those semi-automatic Nerf guns. A sword would be pretty cool too. Once the costume is all assembled: pictures! And of course, I plan on taking a TON of pictures at the con. Eliza Dushku will be there, which is awesome. I definitely want a photo with her. Plus, Patrick Stewart will be at Wizard World in August! Hopefully he will ACTUALLY be there this time...last year he was scheduled and had to cancel.

Convention Wrap-Up: Chicago TARDIS 2010

I spent my Sunday afternoon at the Chicago TARDIS. For those not in the know, it is a fan convention for Doctor Who, which is the longest-running sci-fi show ever. If you have never heard of it (which I actually had not until earlier this year) that is because it is from Britain. New episodes run on BBC America, and reruns play on PBS (WTTW in Chicago; Sunday nights at 10). Do yourself a favor and check it out! If you need info on Doctor Who, check out the TV Tropes page (WARNING: TV Tropes is highly addictive. Proceed with caution) or read the AV Club primer.

I was hoping to get some good costume pictures, but there actually were not very many people in costume. This was probably because we came at the tail end; I expect there were some good costumes on Saturday. Jason and I wore our matching Doctor Who shirts, featuring David Tennant and most of the Tennant-era villains. Our first stop was the dealer room, where we found some great stuff. I got a Cyberman figure for my brother (who claims to not be a Who fan, but I think he's coming around), a Dalek pen for Jason, and a keychain for myself that plays some sound bytes from the show (two catchphrases each for the Daleks and Cybermen, one from K-9, and the TARDIS sound). Jason got me a Matt Smith figure; Tennant will always be my favorite Doctor, but Matt Smith is very good. I like him almost as much as Ten.

We skipped over the panel discussions and went to the screening room, where they were running episodes on a giant screen. I had planned to watch all of season 5 before we went to the con. I almost succeeded; all I had left was the two-part season finale. Jason and I got to the screening room just as they started Part 2, so we decided to sit in.

SPOILER ALERT: A discussion of the ending of "The Big Bang" follows.

At first, I just thought the scene where the Doctor was describing the TARDIS to Amelia was kind of cute. It was nothing I hadn't heard before: the paradox of it being both old and new; how he stole (or "borrowed") it; how it was "the bluest blue you'd ever seen." Then, when Amy puts the pieces together at the wedding, I was kicking myself for not figuring it out myself. The TARDIS fits all four conditions for the old wedding good-luck charms: Something old, something new, something borrowed, AND something blue. Brilliant! And thus, she saves him from being trapped on the other side of the cracks in reality. Then she and Rory fly off in the TARDIS for their honeymoon. Okay, I want like season 6. Right now. Especially because Neil Gaiman wrote one of the episodes!

Steven Moffat has officially stolen the title of "Evil Genius" from Joss Whedon in my mind. Evil because he scares the shit out of the audience, and genius because it somehow works out in the end. And he is a brilliant writer. I suppose there is room for more than one Evil Genius television writer, but I think "Magnificent Bastard" fits Joss Whedon better anyway.

After "The Big Bang" finished, we went back to the dealer room and met up with our friend Liz. Liz is awesome. She was there because she works for the prop-building company that had provided a life-size model of the TARDIS. Like I said, awesome. I got one picture of that, but it came out blurry.

There is one picture really I wish I had gotten. There was a girl waiting in line for an autograph with her mom, and she had a knitted Dalek plushie! I also saw someone with a knitted K-9; I think it might have been a purse. As soon as I finish some of my other knitting projects, I shall have to raid Ravelry for that Dalek pattern. The world needs a Dalek plushie. Also on my list of stuff to knit from Doctor Who: a 10-foot Tom Baker scarf. Anyway, I had a great time. This is the third con I went to this year, and Jason and I already have plans for another. Coming in March: C2E2!