So comic con is over. I managed to still get two Half Life 2 episodes out this weekend, which is two more than I thought I would produce. Horray for productivity.
My adventures from the con are (obviously) posted on this blog. I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I would this year, but I figured there was enough photos of the amazing cosplay floating around this year that you'll be able to find a ton of them online.
Expect another chapter of HL2 out this week. I believe the next chapter will be out in four parts. The first two are produced and I have two I may go through this evening. Also expect the last of the Bioshock Infinite videos I have recorded (Shauna is getting her computer looked at this week) and the introduction of Penumbra Black Plague (if I am not lazy/busy).
Dishonored should begin showing up in mid-May. It'll give me time to finish up HL2 and Black Plague.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Sunday at the Calgary Entertainment Expo 2014
Last day at the comic con. Now I need to wait another year for the next...
Oh well, that's time to prepare costumes for next year and earn back all that money I spent. Totally worth it.
So we ended up having a slower morning, not arriving on the grounds until about 11:30, which also meant I missed the voice acting panel. Again. One year I will attend it. I swear. It's like saying that one year I won't miss free comic book day. WHICH IS THIS WEEK HOLY CRAP (someone please remind me).
The exhibition halls were packed with people. I was wise to get my shopping done on earlier days, because this was when everyone was scrambling to get the items they wanted before the con ended. All the last minute shoppers meant that it was super crowded and a lot of the vendors were picked dry. Oliver really wanted to stop by the Cyanide and Happiness booth, so we made our way through the hall, running into these fine gentlemen on our way. The Deadmau5 fellow made the mistake of posing on a knee. He was there for a good couple of minutes while people did drive-by shootings...er walk-by picture shootings.
We navigated the busy aisles full of grumpy vendors and frantic customers before we arrived at...
A huge ass line. That fellow in the black hat there marked the end of it. A volunteer was standing guard at the end of the line to stop more people from lining up as the line itself already doubled back, outlined on the floor with masking tape. We were turned away multiple times, told to come back in five minutes. We did that about four times before we formed a secondary line with some other disgruntled people, trying to wait for the line to move and poach a spot. We were then told (in a polite Canadian fashion) to piss off. At that point we decided to go line-up for the Felicia Day panel instead.
The line for Felicia Day was, naturally, quite long. At least it wasn't snowing on the Sunday. It was really quite pleasant. As we waited, I farmed StreetPasses and watched some poor souls try to correct Elmo's posture.
Elmo is Falling Pt 1
Elmo is Falling Pt 2
Eventually they got him standing again.
The Spotlight on Felicia Day was well worth going to. I personally enjoy her performance in Supernatural, but was happy to hear about a lot of the other productions she's been a part of. I really admire her as a person and as an actor/creator. Much like the other panel, she handled a lot of the questions and comments very well, especially as some were a little on the awkward side.
She talked about a few of her favourite characters to play in her various productions, as well as a few of her favourite locations and gifts from fans. Her favourite this year was a little dragon that she named Lloyd. It was an adorable dragon.
I was also really happy to hear more about Supernatural and working with Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins. Her stories about her "appropriate" hugs and the teasing on set were funny to listen to.
Also, pro tip guys: never ask a person to sing on the spot. It even makes regular singers uncomfortable. SO STAHP.
On the way back into the building we stopped by to take a look at the Quidditch matches happening outside. I did not find the elusive Maxine, however.
Back inside, our main mission was to get Oliver's book signed at Cyanide and Happiness. The line was still ridiculous, the volunteer there as strict as ever. I spotted a Cloud and Dark Link, the two personas of Kathryn I encountered last year (didn't see her but I know she was there! I saw here in the parade pictures). Also, you must ALWAYS, press the red button.
Finally we managed to sneak into the back of the Cyanide and Happiness line and proceeded to wait there for 45+ minutes to get Oliver his signatures and drawing. Thankfully I had my trusty 3DS at my side, and I spent the time getting mad at Chrom for dying over and over in Fire Emblem. Stupid Classic Lunatic. I'm stuck on level 5. LEVEL 5. I was not prepared for this. I wasn't sure whether to feel sorry for the booth next to them or not. An entire side of their booth was constantly occupied by people in the line...but at the same time, they had a captive audience for promoting their web comic.
Almost everything was sold out by the time we got to the booth. Oliver got some posters and had a medium drawing done for him. There were two options: you could request something or pick topics out of a topic box. Oliver got a little of both as he requested angry programmer and got "hate sex" drawn out of the box. I'll let you imagine what the result was.
After standing in line for so long we decided we needed to say goodbye to the Calgary Entertainment Expo 2014. The weekend had tired us out (in a good way), so we left and got Viet. Best weekend of the year. I look forward to next year's craziness!
Oh well, that's time to prepare costumes for next year and earn back all that money I spent. Totally worth it.
So we ended up having a slower morning, not arriving on the grounds until about 11:30, which also meant I missed the voice acting panel. Again. One year I will attend it. I swear. It's like saying that one year I won't miss free comic book day. WHICH IS THIS WEEK HOLY CRAP (someone please remind me).
The exhibition halls were packed with people. I was wise to get my shopping done on earlier days, because this was when everyone was scrambling to get the items they wanted before the con ended. All the last minute shoppers meant that it was super crowded and a lot of the vendors were picked dry. Oliver really wanted to stop by the Cyanide and Happiness booth, so we made our way through the hall, running into these fine gentlemen on our way. The Deadmau5 fellow made the mistake of posing on a knee. He was there for a good couple of minutes while people did drive-by shootings...er walk-by picture shootings.
We navigated the busy aisles full of grumpy vendors and frantic customers before we arrived at...
A huge ass line. That fellow in the black hat there marked the end of it. A volunteer was standing guard at the end of the line to stop more people from lining up as the line itself already doubled back, outlined on the floor with masking tape. We were turned away multiple times, told to come back in five minutes. We did that about four times before we formed a secondary line with some other disgruntled people, trying to wait for the line to move and poach a spot. We were then told (in a polite Canadian fashion) to piss off. At that point we decided to go line-up for the Felicia Day panel instead.
The line for Felicia Day was, naturally, quite long. At least it wasn't snowing on the Sunday. It was really quite pleasant. As we waited, I farmed StreetPasses and watched some poor souls try to correct Elmo's posture.
Elmo is Falling Pt 1
Elmo is Falling Pt 2
Eventually they got him standing again.
The Spotlight on Felicia Day was well worth going to. I personally enjoy her performance in Supernatural, but was happy to hear about a lot of the other productions she's been a part of. I really admire her as a person and as an actor/creator. Much like the other panel, she handled a lot of the questions and comments very well, especially as some were a little on the awkward side.
She talked about a few of her favourite characters to play in her various productions, as well as a few of her favourite locations and gifts from fans. Her favourite this year was a little dragon that she named Lloyd. It was an adorable dragon.
I was also really happy to hear more about Supernatural and working with Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins. Her stories about her "appropriate" hugs and the teasing on set were funny to listen to.
Also, pro tip guys: never ask a person to sing on the spot. It even makes regular singers uncomfortable. SO STAHP.
On the way back into the building we stopped by to take a look at the Quidditch matches happening outside. I did not find the elusive Maxine, however.
Back inside, our main mission was to get Oliver's book signed at Cyanide and Happiness. The line was still ridiculous, the volunteer there as strict as ever. I spotted a Cloud and Dark Link, the two personas of Kathryn I encountered last year (didn't see her but I know she was there! I saw here in the parade pictures). Also, you must ALWAYS, press the red button.
Finally we managed to sneak into the back of the Cyanide and Happiness line and proceeded to wait there for 45+ minutes to get Oliver his signatures and drawing. Thankfully I had my trusty 3DS at my side, and I spent the time getting mad at Chrom for dying over and over in Fire Emblem. Stupid Classic Lunatic. I'm stuck on level 5. LEVEL 5. I was not prepared for this. I wasn't sure whether to feel sorry for the booth next to them or not. An entire side of their booth was constantly occupied by people in the line...but at the same time, they had a captive audience for promoting their web comic.
Almost everything was sold out by the time we got to the booth. Oliver got some posters and had a medium drawing done for him. There were two options: you could request something or pick topics out of a topic box. Oliver got a little of both as he requested angry programmer and got "hate sex" drawn out of the box. I'll let you imagine what the result was.
After standing in line for so long we decided we needed to say goodbye to the Calgary Entertainment Expo 2014. The weekend had tired us out (in a good way), so we left and got Viet. Best weekend of the year. I look forward to next year's craziness!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Saturday at the Calgary Entertainment Expo 2014
Saturday at Comic Con meant we had to be up early and ready to go for opening at the grounds. Sadly, this Saturday did not include the adventures of Tank Girl (as she is currently in Asia...quite obviously kicking ass somewhere). I was slightly paranoid after previous years that we would not get into the building after the death line-ups we encountered in the past. The staff and volunteers at the Expo were on top of their game this year.
Line ups outside were handled like the photo ops where there were a series of rows set up in a parking lot and each group of people was loaded into a row, alternating between sides. We were on the left-hand side facing the building and these fine people were being loaded into the right. The middle actually never fully filled up, which surprised me. Crowd management this year was top notch. Good job Expo.
After accidentally taking a video and being told my exposure level was off (thanks Oliver), I discovered I really am terrible at photography. Guess any skill I may possess with video creation does not extend to cameras with a more than a few simple buttons. At least I remember the memory card today.
We waited out in the snow (yes, snow) for the doors to open and the staff to let us inside. I snapped a close-up picture of the opposite side to showcase the crowd's eager anticipation. Also I saw Captain America over there. Some volunteers climbed up to the roof and tried to get everyone's attention for a mass photo. The woman really could have benefited from a megaphone. Then, we were allowed in side and...
It was really not that bad. The people all filed in so gradually that there were no swarms of people. In fact, the majority of the day was quite good for crowds unless you happened to pass by the tower of t-shirts (that's...always an uncomfortable adventure). This photo was actually taken moments before I approached the booth with the books there and purchased a subscription to a science fiction/fantasy journal. Comic con really gets me with the impulse buys...
Regardless, we met up with Rachel here and browsed while we waited for a panel.
Ended up passing by the medieval weapons and armour booth. Some of the items there are so tempting. Sooooo tempting....
Actually got a decent photo of an Ezio this year. He seemed a little surprised that I wanted a photo of him though. This was probably because there were about 500 assassins walking around the con that year. Okay...that's not quite right...it was clearly 1000. I saw Connors, Ezios and Edwards all over the place. I only spotted one Altair though. Why does Altair never get any love?
Rachel, Oliver and I made our way over to the pavilion for another panel with Billy Boyd, this time joined by Sean Astin. Unfortunately while we waited, we were subjected to god awful Metallica covers. Because apparently we all needed a little more blue grass Metallia in our lives.
Most of the questions were pretty good aside from the cringe worthy lead-in of "this may be a bit personal but..." covering topics about favourite sets to memories of filming. There were some fantastic stories about Elijah Wood and his metal music, Tree Beard being the most uncomfortable thin Billy Boyd has ever sat on (and he has "sat on a lot of things") and some of the most memorable fan gifts they had been given. Then we got to watch Sean Astin run around to a bunch of the cameras near the stage so he could show us a picture of their fellowship tattoos on his phone (which was what that "personal" question ended up being about).A slip from one of the question askers led to Billy Boyd endorsing the name "Tree Love" as a name for a child and we ended the panel by singing Happy Birthday to Billy's son, Jack.
Shortly after the panel, Rachel and I lined up for our photo op with Billy Boyd and Sean Astin. We waited in line for a good 45 mins despite being there fifteen minutes early for the session. Across from us was the Dr. Who photo op, which I spotted at least three Daleks in. I did not get pictures of them all, so perhaps that does not count towards the overall Dalek count. There is one in this photo, however, so we will let it slide.
This weekend I should have been counting line-ups rather than Daleks as I remember experiencing much more of those (line-up to get inside (2) + line-up for Billy Boyd (1) + line up for Hobbits of middle Earth (1) + photo op (1) + line-up for pizza (1) + line-up for washrooms (3) + line-up for Cyanide and Happiness (1) + line-up for Felicia Day (1) = 11 (some spoilers included as I'm writing this on Sunday)).
Once we got there we got the usual production line style of "no hugging, no conversations" from the volunteers and we had our photo taken with the two (who seemed nice for the 5 seconds we were standing there). We picked up our pictures and well...
I never really realized how small my head was until now. Regardless, I don't look like a complete goof, so I consider this a decent picture!
After the photo we returned to the upper floor for some delicious pizza. We then spent a good few minutes as table vultures as we waited for a few free seats to open up. When we finally snagged a couple chairs, we ate our lunch and said hit to a few friends we spotted. After lunch we got a few photos of the cosplayers in the area (the first two may actually have been from before the photo op...), my favourite being the last one with the Ring Wrath. We watched that fellow put on the helmet. It appeared to be an arduous affair. What really impressed me was that the armour on his arms and hands were actually metal. I was super impressed.
As for the previous two photos, they were quick snaps, but I'm not sure what was going on with Optimus there. I remember when cosplaying with Sarah a lot of people asked her to hold signs or other materials to promote products or services. I think this was one of those instances.
PS - Loki in the side of that last picture had an amazing costume.
We eventually left the Big Four and headed back to the main exhibition hall where we met up with Jay, Hayley and Bev once more. We did more shopping and I finally caved and got a leather cuff/bracer. I have been ogling them for a few years now so I stopped torturing myself and made my wallet suffer instead.
While we waited for Bev to purchase a new jacket, this fellow walked by. We decided that it was a beholder, but were wondering if he had caused any accidents in the aisles yet. Jay mentioned that costumes over 4 feet in width had to have a dedicated guide (not a volunteer or staff...but a friend willing to steer the costume through the crowd). Seems like a lot of effort to me. I'm lazy though.
Before we headed out for the day, I snapped another two pictures of cosplayers, which might be a couple of my favourite from the con. The first was the Captain America I spotted earlier on in the line-up to get inside who I swear could have been Chris Evan's younger brother. The second here was just a chance passing when Tuxedo Mask and the White Knight encountered the Sailor Scouts. Best timing ever.
All in all, a very different Saturday from what I've been used to dressing up over the past two years. I missed it a little bit, but it was also fun to spend the Saturday "incognito."
Line ups outside were handled like the photo ops where there were a series of rows set up in a parking lot and each group of people was loaded into a row, alternating between sides. We were on the left-hand side facing the building and these fine people were being loaded into the right. The middle actually never fully filled up, which surprised me. Crowd management this year was top notch. Good job Expo.
After accidentally taking a video and being told my exposure level was off (thanks Oliver), I discovered I really am terrible at photography. Guess any skill I may possess with video creation does not extend to cameras with a more than a few simple buttons. At least I remember the memory card today.
We waited out in the snow (yes, snow) for the doors to open and the staff to let us inside. I snapped a close-up picture of the opposite side to showcase the crowd's eager anticipation. Also I saw Captain America over there. Some volunteers climbed up to the roof and tried to get everyone's attention for a mass photo. The woman really could have benefited from a megaphone. Then, we were allowed in side and...
It was really not that bad. The people all filed in so gradually that there were no swarms of people. In fact, the majority of the day was quite good for crowds unless you happened to pass by the tower of t-shirts (that's...always an uncomfortable adventure). This photo was actually taken moments before I approached the booth with the books there and purchased a subscription to a science fiction/fantasy journal. Comic con really gets me with the impulse buys...
Regardless, we met up with Rachel here and browsed while we waited for a panel.
Actually got a decent photo of an Ezio this year. He seemed a little surprised that I wanted a photo of him though. This was probably because there were about 500 assassins walking around the con that year. Okay...that's not quite right...it was clearly 1000. I saw Connors, Ezios and Edwards all over the place. I only spotted one Altair though. Why does Altair never get any love?
Rachel, Oliver and I made our way over to the pavilion for another panel with Billy Boyd, this time joined by Sean Astin. Unfortunately while we waited, we were subjected to god awful Metallica covers. Because apparently we all needed a little more blue grass Metallia in our lives.
Most of the questions were pretty good aside from the cringe worthy lead-in of "this may be a bit personal but..." covering topics about favourite sets to memories of filming. There were some fantastic stories about Elijah Wood and his metal music, Tree Beard being the most uncomfortable thin Billy Boyd has ever sat on (and he has "sat on a lot of things") and some of the most memorable fan gifts they had been given. Then we got to watch Sean Astin run around to a bunch of the cameras near the stage so he could show us a picture of their fellowship tattoos on his phone (which was what that "personal" question ended up being about).A slip from one of the question askers led to Billy Boyd endorsing the name "Tree Love" as a name for a child and we ended the panel by singing Happy Birthday to Billy's son, Jack.
Shortly after the panel, Rachel and I lined up for our photo op with Billy Boyd and Sean Astin. We waited in line for a good 45 mins despite being there fifteen minutes early for the session. Across from us was the Dr. Who photo op, which I spotted at least three Daleks in. I did not get pictures of them all, so perhaps that does not count towards the overall Dalek count. There is one in this photo, however, so we will let it slide.
This weekend I should have been counting line-ups rather than Daleks as I remember experiencing much more of those (line-up to get inside (2) + line-up for Billy Boyd (1) + line up for Hobbits of middle Earth (1) + photo op (1) + line-up for pizza (1) + line-up for washrooms (3) + line-up for Cyanide and Happiness (1) + line-up for Felicia Day (1) = 11 (some spoilers included as I'm writing this on Sunday)).
Once we got there we got the usual production line style of "no hugging, no conversations" from the volunteers and we had our photo taken with the two (who seemed nice for the 5 seconds we were standing there). We picked up our pictures and well...
I never really realized how small my head was until now. Regardless, I don't look like a complete goof, so I consider this a decent picture!
After the photo we returned to the upper floor for some delicious pizza. We then spent a good few minutes as table vultures as we waited for a few free seats to open up. When we finally snagged a couple chairs, we ate our lunch and said hit to a few friends we spotted. After lunch we got a few photos of the cosplayers in the area (the first two may actually have been from before the photo op...), my favourite being the last one with the Ring Wrath. We watched that fellow put on the helmet. It appeared to be an arduous affair. What really impressed me was that the armour on his arms and hands were actually metal. I was super impressed.
As for the previous two photos, they were quick snaps, but I'm not sure what was going on with Optimus there. I remember when cosplaying with Sarah a lot of people asked her to hold signs or other materials to promote products or services. I think this was one of those instances.
PS - Loki in the side of that last picture had an amazing costume.
While we waited for Bev to purchase a new jacket, this fellow walked by. We decided that it was a beholder, but were wondering if he had caused any accidents in the aisles yet. Jay mentioned that costumes over 4 feet in width had to have a dedicated guide (not a volunteer or staff...but a friend willing to steer the costume through the crowd). Seems like a lot of effort to me. I'm lazy though.
Before we headed out for the day, I snapped another two pictures of cosplayers, which might be a couple of my favourite from the con. The first was the Captain America I spotted earlier on in the line-up to get inside who I swear could have been Chris Evan's younger brother. The second here was just a chance passing when Tuxedo Mask and the White Knight encountered the Sailor Scouts. Best timing ever.
All in all, a very different Saturday from what I've been used to dressing up over the past two years. I missed it a little bit, but it was also fun to spend the Saturday "incognito."
Friday at the Calgary Entertainment Expo 2014
I ended up making my way down to the con on Friday for about an hour and a half after all. I started snapping pictures with the camera and wondered why none of them were working...until I realized I left the memory card in my laptop...in the car...
So I took crappy photos on my blackberry to document my short-lived adventures from Friday.
Arrived back at the con and saw an new inflated terror had graced us with its presence. I was particularly amused by Elmo's white "support shaft" in the back. In the foreground you can see some of many comic book and movie themed vehicles. In the picture is the Dr. Who, Batman and Iron Man themed vehicles.
Oliver and I entered the exhibition halls and immediately encountered Cat Woman and Captain Canuck (?). I suppose he's Canada's answer to Captain America? I am not too informed about this? Why am I making all my statements questions?
We wandered around for some time looking at MOAR MERCH as I snapped terribly blurry pictures of the crowd level at the con. The amount of people in the building had increased from Thursday, but ultimately I was pleased to know that I still had a lot of breathing room. My personal bubble was mostly preserved.
I giggled when I saw these fellows and their booth. I found the heart of darkness Mesk. He told me that I needed to ask them about mall ninjas and dynamic bathroom stall entry the next time I see them. I'm not sure if I want to know what that all means...
Wanting to show Oliver the Lego displays and the overly threatening orc (which can still be seen in the background of that picture), we found Booker and Elizabeth. I was delighted as I had missed these two last year, but saw some amazing pictures of their cosplay. Too bad I had to get that picture with my blackberry.
Nearby was a duo giving out lanyards/tags for a game that would run on Saturday. The idea was that you'd leave it in an easy to see place on your person and other people would approach you asking about droids. By answering with the right phrases, you had a chance to win prizes (at least that was what I understood of it). I did not participate as my brain on comic con is a distracted mess. So pretty much how it always is.
Returning back to the main hall we found a Hayley, Jay and Lara Croft (aka Bev). They had arrived that day from BC/Southern Alberta (Medicine Hat) for the Expo and were already enjoying it immensely. Bev's energy alone was amazing as she would often dash off to get a picture with various cosplayers.
And this is why I need a new phone.
As we chatted, I snapped a few pictures of my own, including a monk from Monty Python (who I was amused to see actually chanted and hit his face with a board) and these lovely cosplayers who we were talking next to for a good 10 minutes.
I still can't get over the Hello Kitty Devil worship controversy (I WAS JOKING ABOUT THAT...why is that even a thing?)
Wat.
On the way out, we happened across this group of cosplayers (I don't know if they all knew each other or if it was just a crazy random happen-stance), so I took the opportunity to take a photo of them all. I think they were all still there getting their photos taken by the time we had browsed the booth behind them and moved on. Almost makes me glad I didn't dress up this year as I remember this happening A LOT the last two years.
We meandered out shortly after this with intentions of returning the next day for longer. There were tons of fantastic costumes that I didn't get pictures of because I was displeased with the blurry messes of photos that were being produced. Many people who had participated in the parade were there, so it really is unfortunate that my brain is made of mush.
I shall continue my adventures in the Calgary Entertainment Expo when it's not 2am and I'm ready to pass out.
So I took crappy photos on my blackberry to document my short-lived adventures from Friday.
Arrived back at the con and saw an new inflated terror had graced us with its presence. I was particularly amused by Elmo's white "support shaft" in the back. In the foreground you can see some of many comic book and movie themed vehicles. In the picture is the Dr. Who, Batman and Iron Man themed vehicles.
Oliver and I entered the exhibition halls and immediately encountered Cat Woman and Captain Canuck (?). I suppose he's Canada's answer to Captain America? I am not too informed about this? Why am I making all my statements questions?
We wandered around for some time looking at MOAR MERCH as I snapped terribly blurry pictures of the crowd level at the con. The amount of people in the building had increased from Thursday, but ultimately I was pleased to know that I still had a lot of breathing room. My personal bubble was mostly preserved.
I giggled when I saw these fellows and their booth. I found the heart of darkness Mesk. He told me that I needed to ask them about mall ninjas and dynamic bathroom stall entry the next time I see them. I'm not sure if I want to know what that all means...
Wanting to show Oliver the Lego displays and the overly threatening orc (which can still be seen in the background of that picture), we found Booker and Elizabeth. I was delighted as I had missed these two last year, but saw some amazing pictures of their cosplay. Too bad I had to get that picture with my blackberry.
Nearby was a duo giving out lanyards/tags for a game that would run on Saturday. The idea was that you'd leave it in an easy to see place on your person and other people would approach you asking about droids. By answering with the right phrases, you had a chance to win prizes (at least that was what I understood of it). I did not participate as my brain on comic con is a distracted mess. So pretty much how it always is.
Returning back to the main hall we found a Hayley, Jay and Lara Croft (aka Bev). They had arrived that day from BC/Southern Alberta (Medicine Hat) for the Expo and were already enjoying it immensely. Bev's energy alone was amazing as she would often dash off to get a picture with various cosplayers.
And this is why I need a new phone.
As we chatted, I snapped a few pictures of my own, including a monk from Monty Python (who I was amused to see actually chanted and hit his face with a board) and these lovely cosplayers who we were talking next to for a good 10 minutes.
I still can't get over the Hello Kitty Devil worship controversy (I WAS JOKING ABOUT THAT...why is that even a thing?)
Wat.
On the way out, we happened across this group of cosplayers (I don't know if they all knew each other or if it was just a crazy random happen-stance), so I took the opportunity to take a photo of them all. I think they were all still there getting their photos taken by the time we had browsed the booth behind them and moved on. Almost makes me glad I didn't dress up this year as I remember this happening A LOT the last two years.
We meandered out shortly after this with intentions of returning the next day for longer. There were tons of fantastic costumes that I didn't get pictures of because I was displeased with the blurry messes of photos that were being produced. Many people who had participated in the parade were there, so it really is unfortunate that my brain is made of mush.
I shall continue my adventures in the Calgary Entertainment Expo when it's not 2am and I'm ready to pass out.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Calgary Entertainment Expo 2014 Parade of Wonders
I wasn't there, but here are some photos provided by the Expo of it. Apparently my coworker saw cars and carriages on her lunch break.
Parade of Wonders
I'll most more material here from it if I come across it.
Parade of Wonders
I'll most more material here from it if I come across it.
Thursday at Calgary Entertainment Expo 2014
I headed over from work around 3pm. Worked out really well as I just ate lunch while I worked so I could get out of there quickly. Luckily I work about 2 mins away by car and I arrived in good time on the grounds. They're getting smarter each year, taking over more of the grounds. I can imagine Saturday is going to be nuts. The fire marshals will be watching. Volunteers were really anal about people stopping for too long last year, so I suspect a lot of that again this year (seriously, don't be too hard on them if you're going and they ask you to move...the fire department got super pissed off the one year because of overcrowding and if it happens again, no more con).
I got my wristband at the grandstand, which was really a good idea because it diverts the crowds of people that need to exchange their tickets away from the rest of the con. After picking up a "grab bag," nearly murdering an ATM machine and purchasing my photo op, I headed out to the line-up...to get inside.
It may be hard to see, but that entire +15 is full of people. There were two sections of the line, and I ended up in the secondary one. I was still 30-40 minutes early. And no, I do not know those people in the picture. I was alone at this point.
Sign above the line really says it all (even if it's actually referring to hockey). I met two other con attendees in line, Sarah, who had come from Vancouver with the poster she got JUST in time for the con that she was going to get autographed, and Thomas, who was excited for...well pretty much everything. Not too sure about Thomas though...he IS an Xbox fan after all (cue angry rants from xbox owners).
After a long wait in line and a lot of random discussions later, we were allowed into the building. On the way in I spotted (and was perplexed by) the terrifying inflatable characters outside the expo pavilion.
Inside I felt like a kid in a candy store. The cliché is the only real way I could describe it in the moment. I was extremely happy as well, because the con only had about 1/3 of the people that would be there on Saturday...AND I HAD ROOM TO BREATHE. It was wonderful and all the vendors had fully stocked merch. Sarah went off in search of the Expo store while Thomas stuck around for awhile to look at through artist's alley. I found some delightful prints, jewellery and leather work on my travels, but only ended up purchasing prints for the time being.
Yessssss merchhhhh. Thomas decide to wait in this area for his friends (who apparently decided to show up after all, which is good because he said he had been ditched by them) and I continued on alone (which was probably for the best as I was distracted by everything and I'm sure my drooling over ALL THE MERCH is a little frightening if you're not used to it).
I then found one of the many Daleks of the hundreds I am bound to encounter over the weekend. I should count the number of Daleks encountered, and document that progress. Sadly, I will have to wait until I return to see how many I truly find.
I continued my wanderings as the room slowly filled with more people. I spent a good 10 minutes at one of the medieval weapons vendors thinking "yes, I could use a Bodkin point for practical purposes" and then tore myself away from the dagger with much difficulty (they also had a mace man...a freaking mace...I could totally use a mace). I collected business cards of the places I wished to return to (I think I can make a full deck out of them at this point). In line Sarah gave me the brilliant idea of writing down the booth numbers on the cards to remember where they were. I, however, am not that brilliant, so I just pocketed the cards after I received them.
I dunno wtf this is.
As I travelled, I took a couple pictures of cosplayers who were kind enough to stop for me. I always find it difficult to approach people to ask for their picture as I feel like a complete creep. I know that's not the case, but it's still a whole level of awkward I'm really not used to. regardless, I got a few good pictures. I was super excited about the Alice costume as I recently finished an LP of that game. I am disappointed by the lack of blood on the dress though.
I met up with Rachel and we shopped for a short time, mostly looking through artist's alley once more. Thirty minutes before Billy Boyd's spotlight, we decided to head outside towards the pavilion to line up. Out there we got a closer look at the curious giant inflatable----
HOLY SHIT. RUN CHILD! THE WOMAN IN GREEN WILL ACT AS A DISTRACTION. WHY ARE YOU SMILING? IT'S GOING TO CONSUME YOUR SOUL.
We had excellent timing as when we reached the line, they had just started allowing people to enter. We found a seat somewhere in the middle and waited for Billy Boyd to arrive.
Not a Dalek, but I know some people that would appreciate this.
And then I got menaced by the Pale Orc. I look so puny.
And of course, here is the other giant Dalek I found. That brings our total count up to 2 Daleks.
As we left I spotted the giant Gordon Freeman figure. I was tempted by this until I saw the price tag. If it had been Corvo Attano...maybe I would have considered it. At any rate, it's a good tie-in to the HL2 LP right now.
As we left the con, I was amused to see how many of the vendors still wanted to sell stuff despite the volunteers and announcers telling us to GTFO. Most of the vendors were still selling items long after the 8pm announcement. It's refreshing because by Sunday, all their merch will be gone and they'll be too tired to care anymore.
Thursday Comic Con was amazing. Definitely doing that again next year. I may not get out to the con today (Friday), because some stuff came up. I might make it out for an hour/hour and a half, but otherwise, I'll be there most of the day Saturday and Sunday, and there will be MANY more pictures as I won't be so focused on MERCH.
PS - WTF
Snapped that while Rachel was looking at goggles.
I got my wristband at the grandstand, which was really a good idea because it diverts the crowds of people that need to exchange their tickets away from the rest of the con. After picking up a "grab bag," nearly murdering an ATM machine and purchasing my photo op, I headed out to the line-up...to get inside.
It may be hard to see, but that entire +15 is full of people. There were two sections of the line, and I ended up in the secondary one. I was still 30-40 minutes early. And no, I do not know those people in the picture. I was alone at this point.
Sign above the line really says it all (even if it's actually referring to hockey). I met two other con attendees in line, Sarah, who had come from Vancouver with the poster she got JUST in time for the con that she was going to get autographed, and Thomas, who was excited for...well pretty much everything. Not too sure about Thomas though...he IS an Xbox fan after all (cue angry rants from xbox owners).
After a long wait in line and a lot of random discussions later, we were allowed into the building. On the way in I spotted (and was perplexed by) the terrifying inflatable characters outside the expo pavilion.
Inside I felt like a kid in a candy store. The cliché is the only real way I could describe it in the moment. I was extremely happy as well, because the con only had about 1/3 of the people that would be there on Saturday...AND I HAD ROOM TO BREATHE. It was wonderful and all the vendors had fully stocked merch. Sarah went off in search of the Expo store while Thomas stuck around for awhile to look at through artist's alley. I found some delightful prints, jewellery and leather work on my travels, but only ended up purchasing prints for the time being.
Yessssss merchhhhh. Thomas decide to wait in this area for his friends (who apparently decided to show up after all, which is good because he said he had been ditched by them) and I continued on alone (which was probably for the best as I was distracted by everything and I'm sure my drooling over ALL THE MERCH is a little frightening if you're not used to it).
I then found one of the many Daleks of the hundreds I am bound to encounter over the weekend. I should count the number of Daleks encountered, and document that progress. Sadly, I will have to wait until I return to see how many I truly find.
I continued my wanderings as the room slowly filled with more people. I spent a good 10 minutes at one of the medieval weapons vendors thinking "yes, I could use a Bodkin point for practical purposes" and then tore myself away from the dagger with much difficulty (they also had a mace man...a freaking mace...I could totally use a mace). I collected business cards of the places I wished to return to (I think I can make a full deck out of them at this point). In line Sarah gave me the brilliant idea of writing down the booth numbers on the cards to remember where they were. I, however, am not that brilliant, so I just pocketed the cards after I received them.
I dunno wtf this is.
As I travelled, I took a couple pictures of cosplayers who were kind enough to stop for me. I always find it difficult to approach people to ask for their picture as I feel like a complete creep. I know that's not the case, but it's still a whole level of awkward I'm really not used to. regardless, I got a few good pictures. I was super excited about the Alice costume as I recently finished an LP of that game. I am disappointed by the lack of blood on the dress though.
I met up with Rachel and we shopped for a short time, mostly looking through artist's alley once more. Thirty minutes before Billy Boyd's spotlight, we decided to head outside towards the pavilion to line up. Out there we got a closer look at the curious giant inflatable----
HOLY SHIT. RUN CHILD! THE WOMAN IN GREEN WILL ACT AS A DISTRACTION. WHY ARE YOU SMILING? IT'S GOING TO CONSUME YOUR SOUL.
We had excellent timing as when we reached the line, they had just started allowing people to enter. We found a seat somewhere in the middle and waited for Billy Boyd to arrive.
When they said "spotlight on Billy Boyd," I didn't actually think there'd be a spotlight. Hence, poor Billy was drowned out in a sea of blinding white light in all my pictures. The screen helped a little bit with that aspect. He did a wonderful job answering the questions, especially some of the more awkward ones. Some highlights and quotes from the spotlight:
"I missed the one while I was doing the other one." - Billy
"Sounds like bad relationship advice." - hostess from The One Ring.net (apparently it's their 15th anniversary this year...go check it out!)
"I stood up to sit back down again." - Billy in the middle of answering a question
Billy's favourite practical effect to work with was from Space Milkshake.
There are hundreds of cats, dogs and toads named after Merry and Pippin. Billy encouraged more to be named (he figured a 90% rate for cats and a 10% rate for dogs in terms of naming...he had not heard about the toads at that point).
My favourite story was about when he was filming Master and Commander and they were doing a storm scene. They were using a large water tank to film it, with pipes showering water on them for the rain and a jet engine for the wind. Apparently a bunch of the supporting actors were peeing in the water tank. Little did they know that the water from the pipes showering them during the scene...was being drawn from the tank. So they were being showered with piss for a good week until someone found out and shut it down to drain and refill the tank. When they asked what was going on, they were told "sorry, but you're all covered in piss."
If Billy could have played any other Lord of the Rings character, Legolas was his first choice, Arwen was his second choice, and Gollum was his third.
When asked if he'd rather sing or act, he said he would like to sing act. He didn't care what production it was, even Shakespeare. And when he said "Shakespeare," Rachel and I gave each other knowing looks as we were about 3 feet away from him last summer as when he played Banquo at the globe theatre in MacBeth. Yeah...I lost a bet after that play. I will never mistake Billy Boyd for Dominic Monaghan ever again.
There were other good moments, but those are the ones that came to mind.
After the spotlight, we headed back into the exhibition halls to shop more and get Rachel her expo t-shirt. We encountered Disgruntled Gandalf (okay, the person wasn't really disgruntled...I think they were just annoyed that they had just been in about four other photos). That hat is awesome. I would love a hat like that.
We encountered the movie prop display and shop again, nearly the same one that was here last year. I at least got a nicer picture of it. The Gandalf Hat that was there was being sold for 36000 360 dollars (EDIT: My brain added extra 0s for some reason). I decided that I did not want a hat like that. I can't afford to.
And then I got menaced by the Pale Orc. I look so puny.
On the way out we encountered the Southern Alberta Lego Users Group display. Everything was awesome.
And of course, here is the other giant Dalek I found. That brings our total count up to 2 Daleks.
As we left I spotted the giant Gordon Freeman figure. I was tempted by this until I saw the price tag. If it had been Corvo Attano...maybe I would have considered it. At any rate, it's a good tie-in to the HL2 LP right now.
As we left the con, I was amused to see how many of the vendors still wanted to sell stuff despite the volunteers and announcers telling us to GTFO. Most of the vendors were still selling items long after the 8pm announcement. It's refreshing because by Sunday, all their merch will be gone and they'll be too tired to care anymore.
Thursday Comic Con was amazing. Definitely doing that again next year. I may not get out to the con today (Friday), because some stuff came up. I might make it out for an hour/hour and a half, but otherwise, I'll be there most of the day Saturday and Sunday, and there will be MANY more pictures as I won't be so focused on MERCH.
PS - WTF
Snapped that while Rachel was looking at goggles.
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