Tag Archives: DragonCon

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DragonCon or The Geekiest Thing I Ever Did

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I’m looking through my Twitter and Facebook feeds and all I’m seeing right now is non stop talk about DragonCon which starts today in Atlanta. I know most of you have heard about the San Diego Comic Con, even if you just have some vague interest in entertainment. DragonCon is not as industry prominent like SDCC( which is like the Holy Grail of all cons and is on my bucket list to attend one day.) but it’s still huge and TONS of fun and I’m super jealous of everyone that is going this year. And it made me nostalgic of my trip two years ago.

In August 2012, after much persuasion from a close friend, I made the decision to travel down to Atlanta and go to Dragon Con. This was a big thing for me. Prior to 2011, I had never heard of Dragon Con before. I learned about it that year from a coworker who went down there and after hearing about her excitement over it, I researched it myself. At the time I thought, well that sounds like fun, but I’ll never get to do that myself. And then I met someone who became one of my best friends and who also had gone to Dragon Con and had such a blast and somehow persuaded me to go. Best decision I made. It was also my birthday weekend.

A lot of planning went into making the trip. First off, Atlanta is about a ten hour drive from the DC area. And that’s what we did. Let me tell you, it’s a good thing we’re close and get along extremely well because that is a VERY LONG ROAD TRIP. There’s also a lot of planning of trying to figure out what hotels to get and where. We ended up staying outside of Atlanta in Decatur because we figured we’d just use the hotel for sleep and it was SO much more cheaper than staying IN the city. Yes, it was a bit of a drive but we spent about $70 a night split between 3 people vs at least $400+ per night.

As I’ve talked about before, I decided to cosplay as Katniss. This was before The Hunger Games movie had come out and while there were pictures of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss from the trailer, it was really more based on what I thought she was in my imagination. I had been nervous about whether people would recognize me and was thrilled that a lot of people did! I met an Effie (who was a guy) that was extremely well done and talked to me in character. And lots of girls wanted their pics with me. Someone even recognized me from the back, based on my braid and quiver. It was fabulous! I ended up wearing my costume two days because it was so much fun. Plus while it’s recognizable, it’s totally wearable and comfortable and doesn’t feel like it’s an actual costume, aside from the box and arrows, which loved carrying around.

I went down there not just to hang out with my friend or even to see celebrities. I wanted to go to as many panels as possible to make the most of my trip. There’s so many different tracks you can go to. Pretty much anything sci fi, fantasy, comics, movies, books, etc. I knew I wanted to go to things that were Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, young adult fiction, British, etc. even though it would mean going on my own and not with my friends. Which was fine because I think it showed that I actually wanted to be there and wasn’t just tagging along. I made up a spreadsheet before I left though I didn’t end up using it because there was SO much to see and do.

Highlights of my trip:

  • Went to panel to hear John Rhys Davies, Billy Boyd and Craig Parker talk about Lord of the Rings.
  • Got to meet and get autograph of Billy Boyd as my birthday present.
  • Went to panel to hear Dean Cain speak
  • Went to panel to hear Adam West and Burt Ward speak
  • Met Adam West and Burt Ward
  • Met Steven Yuen from The Walking Dead (best conversation ever!). We talked about him being Asian but not having been cast in a stereotypical Asian role. Nicest guy ever!
  • Went to panel on young adult fiction covers.
  • Went to panel on the first Hobbit movie
  • Went to panel to hear LeVar Burton speak (BARELY got into that one)
  • Saw a burlesque show
  • Went to a panel on American Ninja Warrior
  • Went to a panel to hear Joss Whedon fans discuss The Avengers
  • Watched the parade and saw Stan Lee ride by
  • Standing in line for Billy Boyd and saw John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness from Doctor Who and Torchwood, though we didn’t know who he was at the time) stand up on a table and drop his pants.

I know there’s a ton of stuff I’m missing because I can’t remember it all. Just people watching was also a ton of fun. So many awesome costumes that you can tell people put in lots of time (and money) to create. Basically anything you could ever imagine was there.

I’m really sad that I lost a lot of my pictures when I transferred phones. I don’t even remember everything I had on there because there was so much stuff I had taken pics and I was like, oh I’ll just transfer them later! Nope, never making that mistake again.

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(Our costumes, Katniss vs Sub-Zero. Fire vs Ice)

I can’t believe this is seriously all the pictures I personally have from our trip. Though now that I think about it, my friend took a lot of pics that he still has on his camera. Hmm.  All I have is my memories, many of them really good ones.

Anyways if you’ve been wanting to go to a con and you can’t make it out to SDCC quite yet, I HIGHLY recommend going to DragonCon. I hope to make it there again one day. Now that I know even more geek stuff since then, it’ll be even better.

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The Girl on Fire

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Unless you live under a rock or just frankly don’t care, there’s a movie that comes out today that is insanely popular. The second movie in The Hunger Games series, Catching Fire has arrived. I, personally, will be seeing it very soon. And yes, I HAVE read the books.

I actually didn’t become a fan of the books until after Catching Fire came out. I wasn’t into dystopian stories at the time and I will admit that the book probably flew under my radar because of the cover. Yes, I totally did judge a book by its cover but in my defense, again I wasn’t reading the genre nor does the cover of the book tell you anything about the story. But thanks to book bloggers who had been talking the book up a storm, I finally gave in and loved it. The first person narrative totally had me wrapped in the storyline.

Why do I like these stories so much? Maybe there have been other strong young female heroines before her, but I really loved Katniss. The way Suzanne Collins wrote her made me connect with her right from the start. She’s strong and independent but not so much that she rejects help all together. It was very easy in the beginning to compare these books to the Twilight series, especially with the love triangle thing going. I personally find these books to be so on the complete opposite side of spectrum. Katniss > Bella like whoa. Also after this series came out, there were so many copycats, some good, some bad, but this one is still tops.

Are the books violent? Sure, I guess. *shrugs* I personally don’t find them extremely violent. Same goes with the movies. I don’t know what that says about me. But I don’t find them disturbing. And had I read these when I was a teenager, I doubt I would have been horrified by what I read.

Jennifer Lawrence has done a wonderful job at bringing Katniss to life in the movies. I really love her performance (well I love her in general) and even though she wasn’t originally my first pick, she’s been magnificent. In case anyone is wondering my original choices for the trio was Hailee Steinfeld as Katniss, Hunter Parrish as Peeta and Josh Hutcherson as Gale (is it bad that I had thought he was taller than what he really is?). I can’t say yet if Catching Fire will be as good as the book, but the first movie was one of the more faithful movie adaptations that I’ve seen though I wasn’t a big fan of the changes in the muttation scene. So I’m looking forward to seeing it and the goal is to see it in IMAX because a lot of scenes were shot with IMAX cameras. And we all SHOULD know that seeing a movie shot with IMAX characters in an actual IMAX theater is the best way to see a movie.

And in case you’re wondering about the picture in this post? Yes that’s me cosplaying as Katniss. Last year I went to Dragon Con and I wanted to cosplay. As it was my first con and I didn’t want to go all out, I was having trouble coming up with a character until it was finally suggested that I go as Katniss. And I did. It’s not entirely authentic (there are some excellent and authentic Katniss’s out there) but I felt I did a pretty good job. I ordered a bow (which I later spray painted black to give it a more camouflage feel), arrows, quiver, shooting gloves (which I wore incorrectly in this pic so you can’t see it), and a Mockingjay pin. I bought boots that looked somewhat like Katniss’s, borrowed the jacket from a friend, dressed somewhat similar to the opening woods scene, and then did my hair in a braid as best as I could. Obviously as I am Asian, wore glasses, and had braces at the time, I’m not entirely authentic but you know what? I had a ton of fun. Many people knew who I was, called me Katniss, and wanted to take my picture. And there were a lot of young girls who were big fans of my costume. To this day, I loved that costume and among my friends, I may refer to myself as Katniss in third person (you’re judging, I know it).

Oh and for the record, I don’t actually know how to use the bow and arrows. One day, hopefully. As promised.

If you haven’t already seen it by the time you read this post, to get you in the mood for Catching Fire is a wonderful parody:

May the odds be ever in your favor.

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“Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise….”

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ff732157-2927-4c5e-84e2-365925b74d84 I never really got into the vampire craze. I just found it silly. I didn’t really intend on getting into the zombie fad either. And to be quite honest, I didn’t really think I wanted to watch this show. But just like the only reason why I started watching Lost was because of Dominic Monaghan, we can thank the at the time odd casting of Andrew Lincoln as Sheriff Rick Grimes as the initial reason as to how I became a huge fan of The Walking Dead.

See, Andrew Lincoln will forever be Mark, the guy from Love Actually who is secretly in love with Keira Knightley’s character.

And I’ve never seen him in anything else before I started watching The Walking Dead. So it was absolutely fabulous to hear him speak with a Southern accent (because we all know that British actors do American accent way better than Americans doing British ones). And then he started doing things like this….

Warning: the following clip contains spoilers, graphic violence and a little cursing. You were WARNED.

Lest you think this show is merely just people killing zombies, then you’re dead wrong. (har har) The writing in this show is awesome. The story is pretty much the reason why I still am watching it. Yes there are ups and downs in the way the show goes, but overall I find myself hooked because I get so sucked into the characters and their plots. So many of the characters have gone through a 180 since the show started. Weak characters have become strong, strong characters become crazy, minor characters have become game changers. I mean take a look at what they’ve done with Daryl. He wasn’t in the comics, he wasn’t a main character during the first show, and now he’s become the most popular character on the show to the point that whenever he appears onscreen, women’s ovaries explode (other people’s words, not mine).

There is also the whole idea of how lives change in a tragic situation like this. Most of us don’t want to think about what we would do in order to survive. We yell at the characters on the screen for making stupid decisions but really, if you were faced in that situation you may find yourself doing the exact same thing out of desperation. I would like to think I’d be extremely handy with a bow and arrow (oh wait, I need to learn how to do that first…) or be able to protect myself and be strong right off the bat, but I don’t know. I don’t know how long I’d last to be honest. But the social ramifications of decisions made make excellent case studies in this show.

This is one of the most suspenseful shows that I have ever seen. What I love the most about this show is how sucked up into the show I get. It is literally one of the very few shows that I will not pick up my phone, get on the computer, or basically distract myself in any shape or form while watching. You can be sitting right next to me on the couch and I will pretty much forget you exist until commercial breaks. While I’m watching, I’m clutching onto a pillow for dear life and am basically on the edge of my seat except for the times when I take even more pillows and use them as a barricade. I have been known to yelp loudly several times while watching. It’s incredibly intense, but it’s so fantastic.

Sure, you can argue there’s a lot of violence on the show.  And that there’s a lot of killing going on. Yes some humans do end up dying because of other humans. But it’s mostly zombie blood and guts. I don’t consider it to be real violence. Plus, it’s a zombie apocalypse. It’s about survival. Speaking of that, there are also some spiritual questions that are asked on the show that I find quite interesting and it makes you think.

I also had the awesome opportunity to meet Steven Yeun, who plays Glenn, while I was at DragonCon last year. He reminded me so much of a friend I have and was incredibly easygoing to talk to. I wasn’t expecting to actually talk to him myself but he drew me into the conversation. We asked him what was his favorite aspect of the show and his response was that he was glad that he wasn’t being casted as a stereotypical Asian. I will say that he was one of the most down to earth celebrities I have ever met. Please don’t let Glenn kick it on the show!  I also got to meet Chris Hardwick who does the Talking Dead show that comes on right after The Walking Dead. While he’s incredibly funny, he apparently wears a lot of makeup on the show because he looks way older in person.

Any other Dead fans out there? How are you enjoying the current season?