Wizard World Chicago 2013 Photos, Part 1 of 3: Costumes Not from Marvel, DC, or Star Wars

This past Saturday my wife and I spent quality time together once again at this year’s Wizard World Chicago. Due to multiple complications we had to settle for one-day admission, but we did our best to cover the territory and explore our entertainment options as much as we could within our limitations. We appreciated that the show floor was expanded across two levels to allow for much wider aisles and consequently a lot less congestion and personal-space invasions than we endured in years past.

We kick off our mandatory photo collection with, of course, a selection of costumes. It’s one of my favorite parts of any given convention. I’m frequently impressed by the effort and creativity that fellow fans pour into these lavish recreations, whether they select characters that everyone else is also trying on, or they go obscure and bring to life the characters known only to a few hardcore lucky ones.

The average movie geek knows of King Arthur and his knights, wielding requisite coconuts for accurate horsey clip-clopping sound effects, possibly retrieved from the beak of some nearby swallow.

King Arthur, Monty Python, Wizard World Chicago 2013

Continue reading

What to Do with My Free Yellow Cape?

free yellow cape

Behold the freebie I received for running the Norton Symantec promo gauntlet at Wizard World Chicago 2013. Five minutes of minimal effort toward a game meant to sell a product I’ll never buy, and this was my reward. My wife and I normally avoid any booths huckstering software or any other merchandise we’re unlikely to buy on impulse, but when the doors opened at 10 a.m., not all the guests or exhibitors were in the house yet. We had to find something to do until they did.

Continue reading

“Elysium”: Heavy are the Burdens of the Exosuit Gladiator

Matt Damon, Sharlto Copley, Elysium

Answering the most important question first: no, Elysium is nowhere near as revelatory as writer/director Neill Blomkamp’s previous film, the Oscar-nominated District 9. Constructed with four times the budget and ten times the star power, Blomkamp’s latest Important-Message sci-fi actioner is just as visually accomplished, but delivers a fraction of the impact.

Continue reading

Indiana State Fair 2013 Photos, Part 2 of 3: the Animation Exhibition

Continuing the trilogy of this year’s captured moments from the event mentioned up there in the title:

One of this year’s feature presentations is “Get Animated”, a traveling exhibit about the animation medium that’s appeared in other states over the last three years before gracing our fair land with its colorful presence.

Longtime fans of the field will appreciate the looks back at the Looney Tunes era, including art samples and souvenirs from notable directors such as Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones.

animation model sheets

Continue reading

In Honor of the Final Guy Night

July 9, 2013: dinner at the Gourmet Dumpling House in Boston’s Chinatown. Most likely my son’s final vacation with us.

[Tonight’s centerpiece is a previous MCC entry dated October 18, 2012. The photo, intro, and epilogue are new additions for follow-up purposes in light of upcoming major events.]

* * * * *

Continue reading

2013 Road Trip Photos #5: Mark Twain’s Words in the Walls

My wife and I share a goal of hopefully setting foot in each of the forty-eight contiguous United States before we die. We usually aim to visit one or two states each year, but we’ll sometimes digress briefly into other states along the way simply so we can cross them off our to-do list, even if it’s a few hours at a single attraction. It was in that spirit of completism that we broke up the Day Two marathon drive from Dubois, PA, to Boston with our first-ever foray into the state of Connecticut.

After much research and little debate, we nominated this guy as our excuse for a Connecticut stop.

Lego Mark Twain, Connecticut

Continue reading

My Son: Day One

babyI remember when this tiny baby wasn’t ready for college.

Continue reading

America Lines Up to Preorder Sharknado Quality Merchandise

SharknadoNovel

When my wife and I threw caution to the wind and watched Sharknado on Syfy (as previously reported), we were curious to know why the internet wouldn’t shut up about it. By the time the end credits sped by and Ian Ziering was transformed from a 90210 also-ran into a chainsaw-wielding hero soaked in shark fluids, we had learned an important lesson and vowed never to be curious about anything ever again. We also didn’t speak to the internet for three days.

Outside our household, Sharknado-mania is allegedly sweeping the nation. Consider the following recent headline stories:

Continue reading

Indiana State Fair 2013 Photos, Part 1 of 3: Food, Folks, and Farms

The Indiana State Fair is a fun annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides and big-ticket concerts by Top-40 or country artists. My wife and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context.

This year’s food theme was the Year of Popcorn. Unlike the food themes in years past (e.g., tomato, soybeans), very few vendors tried to incorporate this ingredient into new dishes. Local artists did their best to work within the inherent limitations.

popcorn guy, Indiana State Fair

Continue reading

If I Were in Charge of “Star Wars: Episode 7″…

Star Wars villains

In my version, only one of these characters survives the first five minutes. Possibly the bearded guy in the white hat. He’s already guaranteed his own action figure. (Photo from our personal Star Wars Celebration III archives, April 2005.)

Every Star Wars fan has their own ideas about what Star Wars: Episode 7 should accomplish. Director J.J. Abrams and screenwriter Michael Arndt should make it all about the Holy Trinity of Luke, Leia, and Han, pretending they’re all still under 35. Or they should make their kids the main characters. Or they should invent all-new, barely related Jedi. Or they should bring back all the dead characters because movie magic. Or it should be a mixture of demographic demands scientifically calculated to please everyone, if everyone loved formulaic sequels. Or it should be a two-hour Jar-Jar roast.

Continue reading