MegaCon '08

MegaCon 2008
Originally uploaded by thumat2002

So, went to MegaCon 2008 with a few GFLUG friends... And all I can say is that I feel old. I've read fantasy and sci-fi books, comic books, and manga magazines. I've followed sci-fi, brit-coms and anime shows. I've play video games and D&D. I've written computer program. I'm not into doing costumes or LARPing. Overall, I feel like I have a good grasp on nerd-culture. But what is with all the otaku kids? And I'm talking otaku in the creepy, basement dwelling, furry, cuteness, obsessed sense of the term, not just Japanese culture nerdom.

It was an interesting slice into 20-something culture. I was just coming to grips with vampires and goth-culture, but I feel like there's been a major shift in nerdom that I wasn't aware of -- I think out-right BDSM cosplay was the most 'shocking'... and along those lines, 'free hugs' and 'you can spank my pet' signs people wore around.

Anyway. Fun was had by all. I picked up a few issues of Love and Capes. It's given me some ideas for a LEGO display we'll have there next year, so look for us. And please don't call me 'ojiichan'.

Today's Fortune

"Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles to watch you burn."

Email from Dead Poets

So I got a spam messages this morning from Elizabeth Browning, telling me that I need to buy a penis enlargement pill. This is so wrong on so many levels... I know Elizabeth is a romantic poet and all, but to endorse enlargement pills? *sigh*

The New Frontier

I picked this up yesterday at the comic shop as well. Finished reading it tonight. The first volume took me a few days to flip through; this one only took a few hours. I'm a long time DC fan, but even there were some character references that threw me. King Faraday for instance... just looked him up on Wikipedia. I loved the reference, but didn't know how he fit into the DC universe. Excellent book... I kept waiting for Hal Jordan to met the crashed alien and gain the ring... been waiting for it to happen with the first volume. It paid off for me. The artwork is great and the story was great. Well worth the read.

Rate: A

Champion of the Worms

Just read this at lunch. Picked it up from the comic shop I blogged about earlier. It's a nice read, the jumping point into Mignola's Zombie World project... the origin story, if you will. The artwork is good; a little too cutesy for me. I really like Mignola's Kirby-esque artwork. And the dialog was a little too cutesy, the bad-guy didn't see evil enough to make the overall story convincing for me. But overall: B+

Store sponsors Civil War mock protest

So, I go to this comic shop that put on a Civil War mock protest. The last time I went into the shop, I overheard the protest organizers talking with a co-worker about last week's staged protest -- it was hilarious -- fortunate for the comic shop it was spring break at the college, otherwise they would have been swamped with protest. :)

To quote Newsrama:

The Orlando Sentinel covers the Superhuman Registration Act “protest” organized by A Comic Shop to promote the release of Marvel’s Civil War trade paperback. More than 30 comic book fans showed up for the event, many dressed as Marvel characters and holding signs for or against registration.

You can view video from the protest on the store’s MySpace page. Photos from the event can be seen here.

Sinister Forces

Sinister Forces
Originally uploaded by
Gems from the Collection.

Very cool collection of pulp sci-fi covers and art. I'll be using it for reference material for the LEGO micro moonbase that I'm suppose to be building... :)