SDCC Debrief, Part 2: The Long Con

I forgot to mention that on Saturday we skipped out of the Death Race panel to go view a screening of Death Race. It did a reasonable amount of justice to its predecessor, Death Race 2000, and was equally entertaining with a similarly flimsy plot. I'm glad to have seen it, but am wondering whether or not I would have paid money to see it in a theater versus Netflix-ing.

Comic-Con is a long 4 days. My experience this year began with a 4 hour delay on the 5 because a semi had hit an SUV and started a brushfire. But ignoring that inconvenience, we spent the weekend as previously mentioned crammed 10 into 1 hotel room. 10 people using 1 bathroom is an organizational nightmare at best, and how do we have room for all our bags, especially when the amount of swag given out at booths or on the street and various toy/comic purchases make us look like packrats on speed? It's fun, don't get me wrong, but it becomes a navigational hazard to walk around in the room, not a fun thing to do when drunk and looking for your glasses as everyone else sleeps on the floor.

Walking around the convention hall requires a sort of thick skin that I thank Japan for helping me develop. On Saturday, the biggest day of the convention, one must be willing to push and bump and fight one's way through the crowd lest one gets carried off in the current. I used to feel bad for the handicapped or people with strollers trying to fight the crowd, but being almost run over several years in a row coupled with witnessing the extreme righteousness of way these people feel, I no longer bear any sympathy. The convention takes a toll on the feet, too, as various booths and hotels and restaurants all are within walking distance but not a trivial one.

I love the fact that this weekend has become an annual mini-reunion of sorts for my friends, but every year we split off into 4 or 5 groups. Some of us are there for comics, some for panels, some to get toys, some to find sketches, and some simply to hang out. It becomes an organizational nightmare to gather everyone for dinner and plan nightly activities. It becomes necessity to split up into groups after convention hours as well. In a way, I feel that the convention isn't as worth it as it used to be. A Vegas trip could be equally as fun, and I could start buying comics online as opposed to buying 19 trade paperbacks during one weekend each year. But perhaps next year will have a big headliner, and we will get 2 or more hotel rooms, and it'll be a blast.

SDCC Debrief, Part 1: Panels, Tiles, and Panes

Gotta love Comic-Con. And yet, despite the fact that this year was the most crowded one yet--tickets for all 4 days were sold out in pre-registration--I felt that there was the least to look forward to. There were no big announcements from Marvel or DC, and at first glance not a single panel looked interesting enough to go to besides Watchmen and Venture Bros. A slow start on Friday morning (not entirely due to non-alcoholic factors) and my sense of apathy towards the Watchmen story itself led to our passing on that panel, and the Venture Bros. one had a line far too long for the little room the powers-that-be scheduled it in. It makes me happy that such a great show has this well deserved of a following, but my Friday ended up only being a day of buying trades and happy hour.

Saturday was a different story. We woke up early enough to sneak into the unimaginably long line for the Heroes panel, where we were rewarded with a screening of the season 3 premiere episode. I am excited for season 3, although one friend believes it has jumped the shark. The new season throws several surprises and dangles some exciting tidbits of foreshadowing even while rehashing familiar X-Men themes, but hasn't that been the show so far anyway? The last season plus change were weak story-wise, but season 3 shows promise. The problem with the panel, hands-down, was the fangirls, one facet of nerd culture I cannot understand. I can think of a million better questions to ask anyone on the panel, which included basically the entire cast, than "I'm almost blind, can I get a hug from Milo?" or "I camped outside to get into this panel, what's Heroes about?" Way to make the Q&A one of the dullest I've ever seen.

Lost was exciting, but as is the show's way, the audience wasn't given much in the way of answers. One viral Dharma Initiative video was shown that was really well done and did pique my interest and seed a couple of questions. I'm quite excited for season 5 of this show and was quite surprised that the audience was noticeably fewer than for Heroes. It was a shame that Matthew Fox surprised us with his presence but no one had any questions for him.

Hands down, Terminator: Salvation was the best panel. I didn't expect much, but was treated to a "trailer" comprised of people shots (no visual effects done yet). The cast and producer were really charismatic and got some of the cosplayers and question askers to come on stage, making us feel that they were having a really fun time making this movie and imparting the fun we will feel watching it. The Snakes On A Plane panel a couple years back did the same thing, and it really was a delight later to see how the movie turned out. Sadly, Christian Bale was in Japan for The Dark Night promotion.

Finally, I went and saw the Bolt and UP! panel. Bolt, about a canine actor who thinks his superhero show is reality, looks fantastic in trailers and even better in the clips shown. UP! looks... interesting, to say the least, but I'm not feeling like this will be a movie I see in theaters. I guess I'm just not a big Pixar fan in general.

Long update, and there's a lot more I've been thinking about, so I am breaking this weekend up into several posts.

Back In The USSR

My muscles ache; my brain is fried; my wallet is empty; I am drained of all bodily fluids despite having had significantly more liquids than to which I am accustomed. Yes, Comic-Con was good.

Hate In An Elevator

If the elevator arrives and people are already in the car, wait for them to get out before jumping in! It's common courtesy! You are going to have to wait for them to leave before the elevator takes off anyway, and it's simply rude to make them sidle past you as you squeeze your dumbass way in. While you're at it, take a step to the side or just back from the door so that you're not blocking the whole door when it opens.

In a related rant, if I'm walking towards the right side of a double door, and you're coming towards it from the other way on my left, and it's a pull door for me, when I open the right door I AM NOT DOING IT FOR YOU TO WALK THROUGH. You have a push door on your own goddamn side; I am not that nice. I'll hold a door for people coming up behind me, but not those who have their own door through which to go.

I am off to Comic-Con today! Hello fellow nerds and goodbye $$$!

Just My Luck

Curses! Whenever I meet a girl that is attractive, and I gather up the courage to initiate conversation, and we seem to hit it off, it's only a few minutes before the "my boyfriend" bombshell is dropped. In rare occasions I've gotten "my fiance" too, which is why I need to be more vigilant with looking for rings. And this past weekend I met someone who didn't say those dreaded words. I was planning to ask her out when I found out later that she does have a serious boyfriend. Oh well. I'd say at least it's good practice, but I'm sure every 12th man itches to play more than the final minute of a game where the team is up by 30. And I'm not even getting paid $750k to sit on the bench.

Perhaps it's just a cosmic balancing of my life. My social life was doing rather well when things in lab weren't working very well; but now that we finally got some good looking devices, I'm back to social status quo. Mayhap there's a cute little (legal) cosplayer in my future at Comic-Con. Mothers, lock up your Kitty Prydes!

Having a beer pong table in my apartment is a bad idea. It leads to Tuesday night drinking which leads to strange dreams and Wednesday morning emo blogging. At least I kick ass.

Just Like Driving A Car

I rode a (non-exercise) bike today for the first time in a long time. At first it felt weird, but I did remember how it works quickly enough. But soon, I felt dirty. Cyclists really piss me off, for whether I'm driving in the road or walking along the boardwalk, they exude this "righteousness" that they are better than anyone on the road and deserve to own it. Is it so hard not to stop at stop signs or lights, wear a helmet, or not to ride out in front of my car from the sidewalk? I'm trying hard not to hit you, please try just as hard not to get hit. I really don't give a fuck if you're "greener". And I feel bad for having to be sort of an ass myself today to keep up with the people who knew where we were headed.

Lawn bowling has a lot of rules. Also, along with its costing $75 a year, perhaps this is one activity that I don't feel I'll have the time to pursue truly.

Fine Killing Liberty

A new Hyori music video is out. I'm not digging the song all that much, but she's got a good cutesy look going on. Actually, looking through some of her older vids, it's really the eye candy that's keeping me following her career. This MV is still my favorite one, from her Fin.K.L. days.

Also the True Forced Loneliness videos are amusing to watch; damn these guys are so bitter that they make horseradish taste like candy.

Who Watches The Trailers?

Here's the Watchmen trailer, which you probably saw in front of TDK.

At last year's Comic-Con panel, when the existence of this movie was first revealed, I can't say I was terribly excited about it. Of course, I'm not a big fan of the comic either. It is to be appreciated historically, as it is one of the first deconstructions of the modern superhero, contemporary with The Dark Knight Returns. As much as I don't care for Alan Moore's writing (damn, V For Vendetta is booooooring), the ending to Watchmen totally ruined the story. The big reveal, while not a deus ex machina, came from so far out in left field that even baseball metaphors couldn't save it.

Nevertheless, the trailer is fucking exciting. I am now looking forward to see the results of the Hollywood treatment.

No Whammy, Stop!

Here are some more thoughts I had yesterday but did not want to mix with the Batman post.

I have to be arrogant for a bit; I need to be on a game show and earn some $$$. Maybe I couldn't cut it on Shear Genius or Top Chef, but I would definitely be rolling in some dough if I could get on certain game/reality shows.

-Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?: Yes. And quite frankly, smarter than all of the contestants I've seen on this show.
-Don't Forget The Lyrics: Ok, so I'd probably be tripped up by some Fleetwood Mac song, but I'm sick of seeing fat bitches not know Eddie Money and losing $300,000.
-Last Comic Standing: Actually I don't have confidence I could win this one, but I consider myself relatively funny and have given a great roast or two in my time. Add in the fact that I'm Jewish, and I probably stand as much a chance as one or two of the schmucks there.
-I Survived A Japanese Game Show: This one would probably come down to luck, but at least I could teach the hicks on the show what sake and mochi are.
-Beauty And The Geek: I did try out for this show. I believe they didn't pick me because the geeks on this show are certifiable retards. The casting company later gave me a callback for The Pickup Artist but that went about the same.

On a completely unrelated note, I freak out a bit when I see women in real life that really resemble porn actresses I've seen but are definitely not. I've encountered such a circumstance about 3 times in the past few years (most recently in line for The Dark Knight last night), and each time I'm a little perturbed, a little intrigued, and oddly turned on.

Namtab Pots!

Damn, it's almost 3:30 AM but I want to get these thoughts down.

The Dark Knight is a great movie. In fact, it's a great 2 movies, because that's how long it feels, even though it only clocks in around 2.5 hours. Unlike Spider-Man 3, which suffered from too many villains used poorly syndrome, Dark Knight suffers from too many villains used really well but there's a lot going on syndrome. I could sit here and nitpick, but when at the end of the day, I really enjoyed it, length and one or two poorly written speeches aside. I think I still like Iron Man more.

I think there remain 3 more headlining Batman villains--Riddler (whom Johnny told me the next movie is supposed to feature), Penguin, and Mr. Freeze--but the latter 2 would take a bit of work to be done well. All the others, from Catwoman to Poison Ivy to Clayface, can't hold a movie on their own.

Thar She Blows

I'm sitting in the nanolab waiting for the e-beam lithography machine to recover. It amazes me how a machine that can pattern details as small as 1.6 nm on a chip still runs Windows 3.1 (or earlier, I can't really tell) and fails this often.

I found out that my family's trip to Hawaii might be canceled. We were planning to go for my cousin's birthday, but she fractured her leg and we might call it off. If I do not end up in Hawaii, then the only vacation I'll have had this summer is Comic-Con and weddings. My trip to Japan also fell through. At least I'm hoping to go to South Africa in the near future, but that wouldn't be before winter.

This week has not been a good one for sleep, but I take that as a good sign. Monday I went with a couple friends to see Steel Panther play in Hollywood. They're a 80's tribute heavy/hair metal band, and while the show is laden with Poison and Journey and other classics, they also have some pretty amusing original songs (warning: probably not quite safe for work). Tuesday night we tested out our new beer pong table, which worked pretty well (read: I kick ass) until the beer ran out and the screwdrivers took over occupying the cups. Last night we hit up a bar in Santa Monica, which was a lot of fun until Rich yelled "I hate Jews" to Mara and I at a burrito place
while standing next to a group of obvious Arabs. They seemed like nice people, but, dammit Rich, making us look slightly more bigoted than we actually are, haha.

But tonight's reason for staying up late will trump them all: midnight showing of The Dark Night. There are only 13 hours to go! I'm quite goddamn excited, and I only hope I can stay awake. I'm sure I can absorb the energy of the 1000 other batfans and hit my 6th wind.
Until then, I can only hope I don't pass out in my bunny suit while processing this chip.

Ye Birthdaye Poste

Well, I'm 25 today. Damn. I feel like I should've done more with my life by now, but I guess I'm getting along alright.

I dislike birthdays. There's such an obligation to remember everyone's birthday and call them that I feel bad when I inevitably forget. Facebook helps with remembering but it opens that information up to a lot of people to whom I've not talked for over 8 years but will wish me a happy birthday. I don't need to hear them say happy birthday, because they really don't care. And I understand that some friends may forget (heck, I do it all the time); really my family's the only ones from whom I expect to hear anything.

Also, what's the deal with the Christian tradition of everyone getting everyone presents? This pisses me off during Christmas time too. I'm a firm believer in gag gifts and chipping in for a meal only. Maybe I sound insensitive or ungrateful, but I feel the best way to celebrate birthdays is just to spend time with friends and family. And I'll buy you a drink.

I think I'm really just mad at the facebook whores.

By the way, Halfby is pretty badass.

Ring Worm

I've intended this blog to be a place for me mostly to rant about stuff, but now that I've taken up boxing I find I leave a non-trivial amount of my anger and aggression on the heavy bag. Either that or I'm just too tired from workouts to be irate.

The boxing gym to which I belong has 4 different instructors, and tonight I finally met the 4th one. I find it very amusing that within the first 15 minutes of knowing this guy, he'd already nicknamed me "Scotty Too Hottie". I've been sometimes going by that moniker since my senior year of high school, when my co-worker at Best Buy christened me that name after the old WWF wrestler. I guess I just meet a lot of WWF (now WWE) fans.

Also, note to self: keep a better look out for engagement rings.

The Oneders

Does anyone else wonder if Ace of Base was originally spelled Ass of Bass but people kept mispronouncing it?

It's Like They Know

A couple of cops itching to give out an MIP or an open container violation stopped me tonight in Westwood. It's like they know that I finished GTA IV and thus have a vacancy in my life for being chased by cops. To be fair I was walking around with a bottle of tequila. It's also a little uplifting being carded so close to my quarter century.

At my friend's party I met the half-cousin of someone with whom I graduated high school. Small world, huh?

Friday

Nothing puts a bad day in lab into perspective better than talking to someone who's lost someone close recently. Even though I still need a vacation from lab and also to find my path through grad school quickly, I should be thankful that I have my health (on days not following nights of drinking) and good family and friends. I face my own mortality far too often in lab. Yesterday I spent the whole morning playing with BOE and HF, which does this to you (warning: heinous). It goes through the skin and eats the calcium out of your bones. Although I never deal with more than 2.5 mL at a time, which is very easy not to touch, my hands always tingle and I even had a dream where I got it all over my left hand. Come on, my operating dangerous high speed machinery that almost took off my finger wasn't enough?

I played with my cousin's kids, one 2 years old the other only 7 months, at Shabbos dinner, and they are simply adorable. It got me thinking that while I'm far from ready to have kids, I could go for some practice making kids. Oh, I'm not fooling anyone, I'm always thinking that.

What, Never? No, Never.

Every now and then a movie trailer comes along that screams for parody. Actually, many of them do, but that's why the internet has a surplus of very poorly made "THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAAAAA" videos. But once in a blue moon we get a truly quality parody such as Brokeback To The Future.

There's a blue moon out tonight, so I present Journey At The Center Of The Earth.

Times Square Slime, Slime Square

I just got back from a screening of Tropic Thunder. Hands down it will be the best comedy of the summer. Robert Downey Jr. stole the show, but everyone else played their characters perfectly. It had a perfect blend of visual humor and witty dialogue that's smart at the same time it's stupid. And thankfully it lacked what most movies these days feel a need to cram in: a love story. (Well, one character does have a bit of a love story, no spoilers, but it doesn't count. You'll see.) To paraphrase someone I heard once, there's only two stories in the world--the love story and the war story--and they're really the same thing. But this movie is a great war story without sappy love. Not every hero needs to be saving the world or what have you just to impress some girl.

It occured to me (not for the first time) that I'm a bit of an internet snob. If you send me a worthwhile or funny link, chances are I've seen it, especially if found on digg or some other such site. The reason for this is that I help moderate mfisn. By keeping my ear close to the proverbial internet ground I learn of, judge, and get over memes (I still hate this word) far quicker than the average computer user. Lolcats were already unfunny over a year ago, and I'd argue that they weren't all that amusing from the get go. I read an interesting satire article a while back that made the interesting point that when humorous things were spread via word-of-mouth, they stayed funny much longer than the internet, which tends to beat its jokes so far into the ground that they reach China in a matter of weeks.

But I'm trying not to be an ass about it. I will use my powers, which you might confuse with having no life outside of finding bleeding-edge links, for good instead of evil. That's right, I will find those worthy links and post them in this here blog, furthering the decay of amusement these tubes and wires cause.

And so I present, the new New Kids On The Block music video.

Yah, Bitch, Get Out Da Way

Contrary to my post a few days ago, GTA IV has really sunk its claws into me. The long weekend has given me a lot of time to play it, which eats into my Netflix watching time. But, oh man, this game is great. The last GTA game I played to completion was GTA III, even though I own all incarnations; I want to complete IV as well. The story is great, the missions are fun and varied, and, as I truly noticed while flying a night helicopter mission earlier, the city is just beautiful.

Sadly, playing GTA messes with my head. It doesn't make me violent, and I don't think videogames influence gamers' morality or actions or inhibitions one bit. But concentrating on any task for 7 or 8 hours in a day (like this Sunday) will disorient anyone. Driving around town tonight was surreal. And when I was driving home with Rich, talking about GTA IV, specifically how one can call the cops in game, an actual policeman on the intersecting street turned on his sirens. My heart jumped to new altitudes. It did not help when the cop decided I hadn't gotten out of his way enough (the street was wide open!) and waited for me to pull 100% to the right into the parallel parking lane before continuing to the street next to my apartment. I need to take a break from the game to cool off a bit; 8 hours sleep should prove sufficient.

Also, Hancock is an amazing movie.

Chibi Update

I decided to make this the other day when I was bored and fucking around with Mike's old PassFailStudios artwork. My shitty photoshop skills are quite apparent here.

辛すぎる

I have a problem. When I go to a restaurant that offers entrees of varying spice, I must go for the spiciest. This creates all sorts of problems for my stomach. Tonight I ate dinner at Orochan Ramen, which offers ramen in 3 different soup bases and 9 levels of spicy (the top two you special order). I went for the #1, the spiciest non-special soup, which I've only been able to finish once before, and tonight I made it about halfway before I decided not to risk anymore. Once I did try their spiciest, which resulted in my refilling the bowl when I was almost done.

Eating spicy food is not the only time I feel a need to prove my manliness in spite of my gastrointestinal shortcomings. If I am told I shouldn't drink a certain alcohol, I will most likely down it faster than is advisable. Again, this reaction usually ends in attending morning mass at the Temple of the Porcelain Goddess.

Why do I torment myself so? I figure it's 1/2 my being a little kid and 1/2 making up for having a tiny penis, but little kids have tiny penises, therefore it's because I still act like a little kid. And now my blog is flagged by the FBI.

Because downtown was host to Anime Expo this year, we also ran into cosplayers. White people have ruined anime. Still, I'm incredibly turned on by Misamisa outfits.

IWBTBF

While eating lunch today, I was pondering video games, as I am wont to do. Some very fun games have come out recently, from Super Smash Bros. Brawl to whatever the Mario Kart on Wii is called to GTA IV. These games, while all incredibly fun and able to get my blood boiling, have failed to sink their teeth into my competitive soul and hold on until rigormortis sets in or I have that part of my soul amputated.

I'm a very competitive person when it comes to video games, and I happen to be especially competitive with the game itself. Hence why I refuse to lose to any crane machines; I need to beat it, even if my room has too many stuffed animals already and I have no females or pets to give them to. This competitive streak is the reason the video game which I have enjoyed the most in recent times is not one with flashy graphics nor did it cost $50+ (although as a Jew this point also holds a lot of appeal); no, it is I Wanna Be The Guy.

IWBTG is a true bitch of a game, and some of my particular exploits can be found here. (Warning: cursing and rage, also there are more videos but I forgot to where I saved them.) Anyway, I got to thinking that maybe that's the kind of woman I need in my life. A bitch of a woman who might throw anything my way, like spikes and giant cherries, or perhaps Blankas. One with whom I must do everything perfect with perfect timing or risk being skewered by any number of traps. One that drives me to curse and drink and break my microphone by throwing it against the wall. A woman that makes me feel so good when I finally beat her.

Wait, that doesn't sound like an ideal girlfriend at all. I hate IWBTG but we had a great fling, and luckily I let it have its way with me and finish before I ended up in jail.

High RPMs Are My Enemy

I took off a fair bit of skin from my left pointer finger just now while using the drill press. How much longer will it take to stop oozing blood? And typing with one hand is ever so much fun. There go my plans to go boxing today or tomorrow. Guess I shouldn't lift weights. Dammit, I had better be able to play volleyball on Friday or else I will be quite unpleasant. But maybe I'll get sympathy for girls, who knows?

Taco Tuesday

I've got a few things to be angry about today, and I will list them:

- Why do I always forget I had hot sauce on my hands when I take my contacts out?
- Campus tour groups are back in full swing.
- I missed the grad student mixer because I had to evaporate palladium.
- I missed Japanese culture club because I had to evaporate palladium.
- Get Smart was disappointing; it was a generic spy movie with slapstick that failed at being funny (outside of what was seen in trailers).
- There was a goddamn truck carrying a house coming at me on a 2-lane street. Who the fuck is moving a whole house on such a tiny street?

But the one thing that really has me flustered today is that I can't seem to invite a friend in a relationship to do something without also inviting the significant other. Sure, sometimes a friend's boy/girlfriend is pretty cool and I want to spend time with him/her, even becoming good friends ourselves, but dammit I'm inviting you to hang out, not you plus that person that you're going to spend all night doing annoying couple things with in front of me. I don't buy that soulmate bullshit either, you're two people, not two halves of the whole. It's as if you're not allowed even to eat without the other's permission. How does the codependency not drive you crazy? It does me just watching it, and it's even worse having to stop myself from jumping in and mediate. Guys night out doesn't only have to occur when the women are already out of town. And it makes it that much more frustrating to be single. I need to remember to hold on some independence when I find someone. (Disclaimer: this rant was not directed at anyone in particular, but is derived from an amalgam of my recent interactions.)

As The Cock Crows

The universe conspires to keep me awake. It's now 8:30 am, and I have set no alarm, nor do I have any obligation to be anywhere before 11. This situation is all too familiar recently; I cannot remember the last time I've slept well and continuously for more than 6 hours.

It's not as if it weren't entirely my fault; it happens many a night that I remain awake until 2 am chatting online when I know I have to get up at 8 to go to the gym or to class or to the nanolab. But those days on which I get to sleep in? It never fails. Whether the apartment is uncomfortably warm, construction is too loud, allergies attack, the Wizard of Booze's spell backfires, or someone calls my cell phone, I'm always awakened before 9, usually even at a more ungodly hour than then. Come on! I've had my cell number since I turned 15; that's 10 years that I have not been a bail bonds company!

Because I'm too lazy to run my errands in the morning when I have free time like this, I'm stuck watching the only show I have to watch right now during the summer TV drought: Macross Frontier. I haven't seen most of the Macross series, but I was at least expecting some robots fighting. The current storyline is that the main character doesn't crossdress enough for his father. That sentences makes this show sound more incestuous than it actually is, but it deserves it for tricking me.

I forgot the link last night, but if you think my Ashley Tisdale comment was a joke, it's not.