MAGfest X: Day 4

Apparently the last day of a con is practically non-existent.  There are very few panels to speak of, and most of the people there seemed to have checked out that morning and were wandering about with their luggage in tow.

I took advantage of the slow morning to go to the hotel gift shop and buy some souvenirs for my parents.  I had seen advertisements all around the hotel that mentioned the hotel had Dreamworks licensing, including giving you the option to have lunch with Shrek.  For the season, they also had a gingerbread designing workshop with Gingy.  As much as I love doing that kind of stuff in Disney World, I thought that was a really cute idea for people who might bring their kids to the hotel.





I decided against buying my parents anything that said "Gaylord" on it and instead went with a Washington DC mug for my dad and a "Behind every successful woman is a lot of chocolate" magnet for my stepmom.  Once done there I headed upstairs where I was hoping to catch a panel about overcoming writer's block.  However for whatever reason one of the presenters was running late and I started to doze off in my chair waiting, so I decided to head back to the room for caffeine.  On the way I walked past the Channel Awesome Rock Band panel and noticed they were allowing people to line up and play.

Inspiration struck.  After meeting my idol and doing awesome and making friends with strangers, I was going to make it a triple header and perform in front of a large crowd of people - something the me that existed before this trip would never have dreamed of doing.

I rushed back to the room and announced to everyone there my plan.  Because they are all awesome, they immediately got up to join me.  We got there and got in line, but unfortunately, it was not particularly well organized.  They put us in seats in a zig zag pattern, but some idiot decided he wasn't giving up his seat that was in the middle of  the line.  That created confusion and some people didn't know where to go.  We suggested to the MAGfest crew that they create separate lines for people who wanted to sing, play guitar or do drums.  They ignored us at first, but after a couple rounds realized that was actually necessary, and when people got up they ignored the order of the line again.  Add to that some people's insistence on doing really long songs like "Space Oddity" and "White Wedding" and I didn't get to go up before time ran out.  Needless to say I was pretty disappointed.  But despite my grumbling, it was actually really fun listening to and singing along with everyone else.

Before the trip, I pretty much knew that if karaoke or Rock Band was available, Dayna was going to ask me to do "Sabotage."  Not without good reason, mind you. But I remember thinking that part of me wanted to sing if given the chance, to help conquer a fear I have of singing in front of people.  But in that moment, when given the opportunity, I wanted to do "Sabotage" because I wanted to perform. As much as I love writing, I suddenly understood the draw to being on a stage like I never had before.  With any luck, I'll get that actual chance sometime soon.

By the time we went back to the room and got food, the con was basically over.  They had all been wanting to play D&D since the start, and their old DM Sean agreed to lead them.  They invited me to play but I elected not to.  I didn't want to slow them down when they were all pretty used to playing together.  It turns out what he had planned for them was basically a no win situation, so I'm kind of glad I didn't take part.  But it was really fun to listen to.  By the time that was finished it was super late, and Lewis (Linkara) finally got in touch with Dayna so they could interview him for Made of Fail.  He stopped by and they recorded and took a picture and then it was time to go to sleep as we had to leave early in the morning.  Except for the part where we didn't really go to sleep at all.

You know when you were a kid at a slumber party, and someone would say it was time to go to bed, but then someone makes a joke and you all start giggling all over again?  That's pretty much what we did for a few hours.  That close to the end of our trip, I don't think any one of us wanted it to end.  It made us pretty exhausted the next morning, but it was totally worth it.

So when I said that I changed as a person through this trip, what I basically mean is that  I gained a ton of self confidence.  There's nothing like being around a bunch of fellow geeks/nerds to make you realize that you're not alone with all those things going on through your head.  We're all a little insecure sometimes, we all feel like outsiders, we all want to be liked.  When you're surrounded by hundreds of other people, many of  them wearing shirts with geeky sayings or full out dressing up as their favorite characters, it makes it hard to feel like a loser.  So if you have any reservations about going to cons at all, I highly recommend dropping them and checking one out.  Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can.

MAGfest X: Day 3

While there were a couple panels I could have gotten up early for, the drinking and staying up late the night before meant that  I decided the only panel I needed to attend was the James Rolfe Q&A at 6.  I wandered around a little bit before hand while nearly everyone else headed to TGWTG panel.  Apparently the lines for that one were so long they wrapped around 6 times.  Somehow they still all managed to get in though.  I was too antsy to play any games, so I called Jak and talked to him until 4:15.  Chris joined me soon after as he hadn't gone to TGWTG either.  There was a panel starting at 4:30 that preceded James' panel.  Once everyone was loaded in for that one we lined up right outside and ended up about 5th in line.

During the wait, a man covered in black from head to toe and carrying a puppet walked up to the front of the line and asked if this was the line for the AVGN panel.  He spoke only through the puppet.  I was allowed to take a picture of them only because I was "a hot girl."


The nametage says Aaron, but the puppet's name is actually Marcus. 

He continued to be snarky and mess with people and tell really bad puns, therefore making the wait highly enjoyable.  At one point a guy in a similar green outfit walked up, and he started to ask him questions: "Is it hot in that suit?  How do you go to the bathroom?  What about when you need to eat?" He ended up sitting next to us once we were inside and that was fun.  He's apparently featured in Mega64s videos.  Well I know what I need to go check out now...


Notice him slyly putting his hand on Breda's.



Our view from the second row. 

There were some decent questions and also some rude ones, as I pretty much expected.  Some of the ones you won't hear in the edited version on Cinemassacre were someone basically accusing his wife of mellowing him out (James specifically mentioned two different episodes and asked if those were angry enough.  When the guy said yes, he told him he was married long before he made those.) and Pageant Mom making another appearance asking when he would be doing a Casting Call in Connecticut so her son could get in the film. (She had apparently also been asking questions at TGWTG panel.  Big surprise.)  Someone also inevitably brought up The Irate Gamer and other video game reviewers, to which James stressed that he had no problems with anyone. Classy guy, right there. 

For the signing we had to go downstairs to the dealer area.  On one hand it made sense, because I guess that way you could immediately buy a DVD or t-shirt and have him sign it.  On the other hand it meant we had to rush down there and we ended up further back in the line then if we had just gone in order from where we were sitting in the panel.  I probably shouldn't complain though, as it gave me time to prepare.

I had decided going in that I didn't want an autograph.  I technically am already getting one because I gave him money through Indiegogo to get the movie made.  I knew I wanted a picture, but what was I going to say?  After a bit of thought I had decided I would make him something.  Last year I had bought some blank Munnys from kidrobot and attempted to make an AVGN one just for my own collection.  It came out okay, but not perfect.  I went back to the drawing board and designed a different one this time around to give to James.  When I heard Mike was also going to be there, I decided to make one of his character too.  While Mike hasn't been as big an inspiration to me as James, his characters in the AVGN and Board James episodes make me laugh hysterically on a consistent basis, so as far as  I was concerned I owed him something as well.

Everyone I had shown them to ahead of time thought they were adorable, but I was still pretty nervous leading up to it all.  I'll admit, I came really close at one point to chickening out and not doing it.  But given how much I had been fretting about it the entire weekend, there was no way my roommates were going to let me get away with that.  We were about ten feet back in line when I had another momentary crisis: I started to worry about how I looked.  Back in November 2010 a dog bit me on the nose, requiring major surgery.  I've been incredibly self conscious about the scar ever since.  I had a momentary irrational panic about it, but then Dayna whispered in my ear and made me laugh.  I took a deep breath and decided that I wasn't going to let that ruin this moment - no one else seemed to give a damn about the thing, so why I was I so worried about it all the time?  Fortunately it worked and before I knew it I was standing in front of James.

Forgive the blurriness in these pics, Dayna was taking them as quickly as she could while I was talking to them.


Look at how incredibly excited he looks!!

The first thing he said when he saw him was "He's not wearing any pants!"  I sighed and said "He's wearing khakis, I swear to God!!"  A couple of friends had said the same thing to me via Twitter earlier, so the comment wasn't entirely out of left field.  But dammit, I swear I used two separate color paints!


Not sure exactly what I was saying here, but I'm putting this one so that even though it's really blurry you can see that Mike was happy to get his as well.







Yes you do need to see three pictures of that moment.  And also video!  It was a very important moment for me!

James was seriously really giddy about the whole thing.  "Oh, look, his arms move too!!"  "He has a tail!!"  Mike seemed a little more reserved but I don't think he was unhappy with them.  He was mostly working camera duty for the signing so perhaps he was distracted.  But I was so happy with myself because I didn't cry and I didn't stutter or stammer at all.  I gave them my card so they could know to credit me (and maybe also check out my website some time? pretty please?) and I made them smile and laugh and it was incredibly awesome.

After that I was basically feeling invincible.   Just about anything could have happened and I would not have been phased.  Though that theory did get tested later on...

From there we ended up back in Chris and Jason's room for more drinking.  I realized very quickly that drinking without food was very bad, so I had to take a break to go back to the room and eat a sandwich, and George was a super-nice guy and came with me.  But then George is always super-awesome like that, so it's really no surprise.

When we returned both Breda and Chris were super-drunk and left on a mission to get Chris a girlfriend.  Since everyone else was watching football at that point (*snore*), I decided to go find them.  Ended up listening to a bit of the Earthbound Papas in the process.  I believe it was the boss theme from Final Fantasy 7.  When  I eventually found Breda and Chris they had met Derrick, who was happy to tell me that he knew a lot of arcade record breakers and also people who worked for video game companies.  Let's just say I was having flashbacks to listening to local New Orleans musicians who like to tell you all about how they know Dax Riggs or Phil Anselmo (Little known fact:  Everyone in New Orleans has some kind of connection to Phil Anselmo, whether you give a crap or not.)

Our attempts to find a girl proved unsuccessful, mostly because both of my cohorts were really too drunk to make that mission successful.  I will save the gory details to protect the innocent, but suffice to say I was basically taking care of both of them after a while there.  I managed to get Breda back into bed with some water and we eventually succeeded with Chris as well and I went back to the LordKat party room in order to see it shut down by security due to noise around 2 am.

I do have to say I feel bad for anyone who was at that hotel for any reason other than MAGfest.  While most of us were mature and the "elevator party" crowd was kicked out Friday night and never seen again, it had to be a bit loud and obnoxious at night for anyone who wasn't there for the con.

We eventually crashed back in the hotel room, and this time I couldn't sleep because I was too damn happy rather than nervous.

MAGfest X: Day 2

We all woke up at what felt like ridiculously early in order to get to the Atop the 4th Wall panel at 10 am.  Dayna and Chris left a little earlier than us and managed to get in the front row.  The rest of us ended up in the third row on the right side, so still not too bad.



In general I'm actually more a fan of Lewis than I am of Linkara.  I've enjoyed listening to him on his appearances on Made of Fail, but I find a lot of the At4W humor to be based on nitpicking when I'd rather hear a valid critique.  Regardless,  I really enjoyed the panel.  His review of the ridiculous Turbo Duo comic was funny because it's a horrible comic to begin with, and I also enjoyed the Robocop vs Terminator #1 review that he showed us.  When the panel was done they sent us downstairs for the meet and greet and we ended up being the first ones there.  However  I didn't actually get to meet him because we were talking while waiting for him and in the midst of conversation it sounded like I was going to have to meet James alone the next night and I started freaking out right there in public.  Bad me.

Pageant Mom made another appearance, basically pushing Dayna out of the way as she was talking to Lewis in order to get her son an autograph.

We headed back to the room to nap some more after the panel.  I was surprised to find out that by this point I had collected 100 Miis with my 3DS.  I had only found 2 people when I was back home, so it that was a fun surprise.  There were a decent number of TGWTG people on there too which was amusing.  I had one more panel I wanted to see that day, but it didn't start until 4:30 so I decided to go down to the merchandise and game room to see what I could find.  I wanted to maybe get some Atari games for Jak, but they didn't seem to sell anything earlier than NES there.  Has the market for earlier consoles really gone down that much at this point?

With nothing I wanted to buy I walked through the arcade and then over to where the consoles were.  This was a huge area opposite the arcade where you could play Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Wii, Xbox, or Playstation games.  A lot of people seemed to be using it for FPS multiplayer or fighting games, but I spotted Super Mario Kart abandoned and welcomed the chance to play an old classic.  I was two races in when someone walked up and started chatting with me about the game.  I asked if he wanted to join me, and he said yes.  We played the Mushroom, Flower, and Special Cup at 100cc.  He got first place on the first two, with me coming in third, but the computer was just too good for us to get past the ghost road in the special cup.  Neither one of us had played the original game in years, so that didn't help.  Anyway, his name was Eric and you can find him on Youtube doing Let's Plays as Thinker2112.  Check him out!

I was feeling pretty good after that exchange. I had talked to a complete stranger for a good thirty minutes!  It certainly says to me that what you hear about cons is true.  You do have something in common with nearly everyone there, and even if you're usually one who stammers your way through a conversation, you're going to do tons better in this environment.  I would continue to have something to talk about with every random person I ran into.  The easiest thing to ask a person is where they are from, and the second easiest is to ask them what they came to see.  Those awkward feelings I tend to have around the average person, the "I don't know what to say" issues, were really just gone.


We parted ways as he went to go check out Brentalfloss and I headed to Zen and the Art of Video Game Reviewing.  This was a panel hosted by Justin Carmichael (Jew Wario), Pat Contri (Pat the NES Punk), James Rolfe (Angry Video Game Nerd) and Joey DeSena (of 16 Bit Gems).  It was a silly title, but essentially it was the same kind of thing as what Derek Alexander had hosted the day before, but the extra people meant you got to learn a few different ways to approach it.

I was, of course, mostly there for James.  I don't know why but I was partially expecting him to look different in person, but no - he's the same shy adorable guy you see in his videos.  I sat in the front row on the right side, and tried to take notes and not get nervous every time I thought he might be looking in my direction.


Fairly decent view from where I was.

A few key points they mentioned that Derek hadn't:

• Research thoroughly and admit when you're not sure.
• Review the final product many times to catch mistakes.
• Have a goal when you begin writing.
• Vary your shots to make things interesting.
• Lighting is very important.
• Be animated.
• Time code footage to aid in editing.

If you'd like to see the panel in it's entirety, check it out here.  The guys really made it fun even if you're not interested in doing video game reviews.


Awesome Shinya Arino (from Game Center CX) cosplayer who I saw while leaving the panel.

I headed back to the room to catch up with everyone and found out we were going to the pub right across the street from the hotel.  Chris (RolloT) and Jason (LordKat) also came with us.  About halfway through an Irishman got up and started playing a mix of covers and traditional Irish songs, which was a lot of fun to listen to.  Despite the fact that a lot of us purposefully didn't order food, our bill ended up being $400.    I had two Blue Moons and apparently that was all I needed to be severely drunk.


Actually not drunk yet here.  It was just a really bright flash on his camera.  That's Jason and Dayna with me.


This is me and Dayna drunk.

We went back to the room briefly to sample some chocolate wine that Breda had bought (It was pretty good!) before I headed to the gameroom with Chris and Breda. I saw James Rolfe going in ahead of us with his wife, his best friend Mike Matei and another guy who I'm pretty sure is their web designer/app programmer Ryan.  I immediately started freaking out.

I should probably explain.  I'm not really one to give a damn about celebrities.  I know that people are people regardless of what they do for a living and I don't think anyone is more important in the grand scheme of things than anyone else.  But I am socially awkward, and I do frequently worry about what people think of me.  I really admire James.  Not only because I think he's a really talented filmmaker, but because he's also pretty shy.  If you watch some of the videos he puts up from when he was young, it's really obvious.  Even now, he's still fairly withdrawn and not a largely animated person unless he's performing.  I watch those videos and I see someone I can relate to, and yet someone who is also conquering that and getting up in front of people and talking and answering questions.  While maybe that should make me think I have nothing to be scared of in meeting him, all I could think was "I can't make a fool of myself in front of him, I want him to think I'm cool like I think he is cool."  So basically any time I saw him anywhere, whether at the panel, walking through the lobby when we left for the pub, or again down in the arcade room, my initial reaction was to freeze, make an unintelligible noise, and then once he was at a safe distance to turn to my friends and go "Did you see?!  It was him!!!"

So we lost track of them as a group but eventually spotted Mike talking to a bald guy.  I point them out to Breda and daring superhero that she is, she put her arm around me and walked up to them.  I could pretty much only stare as she told the bald guy that his head looked awesome and then told Mike that he was an attractive man.  He looked slightly scared but otherwise polite.  We moved on and ended up playing some Mortal Kombat III together.  We're both button mashers so it was fairly evenly matched, but I came out the victor in the end.  After a little bit I spotted James.  This time when she tried to drag me over I froze in place, so she left me standing with Chris and walked over to him herself.  I found out later that she basically told him "Hi, I'm really drunk and my friend over there is a big fan of yours but is too shy to talk to you.  Would you mind coming over and saying hello?"

He did just that.  I believe Chris told  him he was a big fan of his then shook his hand.  Then James turned to me, smiling, and said hi.  I managed to get a slow "Hiiii" out and then he reached over and hugged me!!!  I  continued to brag about this for most of the con.  Mostly because he didn't have to do that.  When he's at a con like that he runs into so many people, some of which are probably down right inappropriate or weird, yet he was willing to hug me in a gesture of "Hey, I'm not scary, see?"  So incredibly sweet.  I managed to stammer out that he was a huge inspiration to me, and I think he said thanks (I was nervous and excited and drunk, I don't remember!).  Then I told him I had a gift for him tomorrow.  Chris started to tell him what it was but I shushed him loudly and said "It's a surprise!!"  James laughed and said "Okay" before leaving to catch up with his wife.

I was ridiculously giddy at that point and we headed up back to the room to tell everyone.  We saw George walking in the lobby and I practically ran to him to tell him and hug him, and then we went back to the room and I excitedly told Dayna.  I'll be honest, I can't remember much else of what happened that night because I was way too happy.  I still had to get through the Meet & Greet with him tomorrow, but he had hugged me!  He was a nice guy!  What did I have to worry about?

MAGfest X: Prologue and Day 1

I've been wanting to attend MAGfest since I first heard of its existence back in 2010.  This past weekend, I did just that.  I knew from the beginning that I wanted to write some blog posts giving a recap of my experiences there, but what I didn't know was that it was going to be the story of a huge change in my life as a person.

In the days leading up to the trip I started to get really, really nervous.  I was going because I wanted the chance to meet Derek Alexander and James Rolfe, to play a ton of video games and hopefully make some friends.  About the only part of that that wasn't scary to me was playing video games.  What if I made an ass of myself in front of these people I admire?  What if I didn't get along with anyone?  I had seen someone claim that MAGfest was a con for extraverts and I was anything but.  I was sharing a room with six people and only knew two of them, had only known those people for about a year.  I had heard stories of socially awkward nerds saying they felt at home at cons, but what if that didn't apply to me?  What if I was the weirdo even amongst weirdos?

So after much agonizing and nail biting and lack of sleep, I arrived in the Washington DC area around 2:30 on the day before the con began.  First thing we did after check in was what we would continue to struggle with for most of the trip:  Try to find affordable food.  The convention was inside a very nice hotel, which unfortunately meant no freebies to speak of and only really expensive restaurants inside.  Fortunately we ended up finding a Takeout Taxi type of delivery service which made this more bearable for most of the trip.  We also eventually got some food from the grocery and CVS, meaning there were a lot of PB&J sandwiches eaten that weekend.

There wasn't really a whole lot to do on Wednesday beyond getting our badges and wristbands.  You could tell a few other people had checked in early like us, but it was still largely deserted.  I actually spotted Derek Alexander in the hallways when we were walking about, but he looked to be headed somewhere with a purpose and I did not have the guts to bother him at that point anyway.

Four out of my five roommates all knew each other from playing D&D together online, and the other roommate had a decent amount of experience with the game before.  I played all of one game in the past, and was generally frustrated with the lack of actual role playing I did in it.  My point being, this early on I felt like everyone else had something in common and I didn't, and that I didn't really belong.  They were talking about going to a party being held in another room, and at that point I just couldn't do it.  In fact I couldn't seem to do anything but cry.  And then I got mad at myself for crying.  It was a vicious circle. I eventually forced myself to go to the other room and join the party, but found myself with nothing to say to anyone because they were all talking D&D.  I left early and went to bed, promising myself that failing this one night didn't mean my entire weekend was ruined.

Day 1

When I woke up the next morning (at 8 am for some insane reason) I put on my Phoenix shirt, determined to take the "rebirth" theme to heart and start fresh.  I left the room without the two friends I knew and wandered with the others.  The con had not officially begun but most of the rooms were open, so we familiarized ourselves with the layout before heading outside the hotel.  One of our roommies, Gav, is from the UK and he needed to activate his phone for American use temporarily.  It was particularly cold that morning and my Southern self did not enjoy the incredibly chilly air coming off the harbor, that's for sure!

When we got back we ordered pizza and watched an episode of Dr. Who before things finally started to open.  In the arcade room, only about half of the machines were actually turned on and working.  The fighting games were probably the most popular, so we didn't wait around for those.  Instead I tried my hand at Defender (thanks to AdRock's line in "Body Movin'") and found out I had no idea how to play that game at all.  An attempt to play an arcade version of Super Mario Bros went a little better, and I even surprised myself at how good I was at Pac-Man.  I also got to play the Star Trek: The Next Generation version of pinball, which is good because it looked to be broken later on in the con.  This is another complaint about the con in general - far too many of the machines seemed to not work or would break easily.  However it's hard to complain when you're being allowed to play for free.


A ninja playing Mortal Kombat II.  As they do.



I separated from everyone in order to catch my first panel - Derek Alexander's Video Production Workshop.  On my way there I had taken the stairs up from floor 1 to floor 2 and was slightly out of breath.  I elected to take the escalator to floor 3.  I must have looked a little worn out because the guy in front of me says, "You're not upset this early on, are you?"  I laughed and told him I was just tired.  He asked me what my shirt was, and I moved the strap of my messenger bag to give him a better look.  "Oh!  I didn't recognize it at first.  I really preferred Rachel more myself anyway."  "Me too!  But sadly they don't sell Rachel shirts, so I take what I can get."  He introduced himself and we shook hands.  Sadly I lost track of him and didn't see him for the rest of  the con.  But it was my first "random encounter" with a like minded person and I was excited about it.  When I got to the panel room, DJ Cutman was still guiding people through how to make a remix, so I got to hear the tail end of that.  I could see Derek standing on the side of the room waiting, talking to his friends Calvin and Pat (better known to the internet as Pat the NES Punk).  Since I was still in complete shy mode, all I could do was text Jak excitedly and take a very blurry picture of Derek from afar.

I apologize for how bad a pic this truly is.

Derek is best known on the internet for being the Happy Video Game Nerd.  The series started out as a fun parody of the Angry Video Game Nerd series before Derek really made it is his own.  His enthusiasm for the games he talks about can be infectious.  He's branched out into some new series lately, all of which try to bring a more positive focus to reviewing in general.  I get pretty sick of all the negativity out there myself, so Derek's videos tend to be like a breath of fresh air.  The panel had been described on the schedule as Derek taking us through the whole process from recording to editing a video right there in the panel.  Unfortunately he wasn't able to bring all his equipment with him.  Cut him some slack though - the guy came all the way from Alaska to be there!

So instead he gave us some general tips on how to do good video game reviews, and really a lot of the advice also applied to any kind of review.  Here's some of the major things he said:

• Write the script while you play so it's fresh in your mind.
• Try to go through the entire game if you can, admit it when you don't.
•  You may speak differently than you write, so it's best to try to write in your natural speaking cadence instead.
•  Talk to your audience as if they are intelligent but uninformed.
•  Record only a paragraph at a time and don't be afraid to re-record when you screw up.
•  Be interesting, not thorough.
•  No one is immune to hate.  Don't whine and don't respond to it.  Ever. 

I think that last one is particularly important to all of us who post anything on the internet.  At some point and time, you're going to run into negative feedback.  It's best to simply try to figure out if there's anything valid the people are telling you, take what you can from it, and ignore the rest.

This panel was my first encounter with Pageant Mom.  Being the first day, the panel was not heavily attended and Derek was taking a lot of questions as he went, trying to be as informative as possible.  This lady raised her hand multiple times.  How much did software cost?  What kind of video camera do you need?  Do you really need a Mac or is a PC fine?  How did you get famous?  Is this all you do?  How does someone get noticed?  Basically, her kid has grown up watching these various internet reviewers on Youtube, and he no doubt told her that he wants to be one when he grows up.  Her, being a clueless adult that knows nothing about how these things work and that most of us will never see any real money from doing reviews, thought she'd bring her kid to the con and pester every reviewer out there in an effort to "make this happen" for her kid.  He looked to be about 14 at the oldest, so how that kid was able to stand next to his mom like that and not die of embarrassment is beyond me. 

After the panel I caught up with everyone else to eat and then wander around again.  This time we went to the tabletop section of the ground floor, where there were tons of board games and card games available for you to play at any time.  We ended up picking up Munchkin, and since Breda was the only one of us who had played before, she guided us through it.  Munchkin is a card game that has a bit of role playing quality to it,  but the rules are fairly loose.  Basically you fight monsters and take treasure, and your goal is to reach level 10 first.  It's highly encouraged to cheat or at least screw over the other players to make sure you win.  At first I wasn't really liking it, but once the competition started to heat up it became really fun.  Breda won, probably because with her helping us learn to play so much we didn't start stopping her leveling until it was too late.



 
This is technically from before we played, but so what.  Our group from left to right: Chris, me, Gav, Dayna, George, and Breda.

Yes, I'm really short.

That was pretty much it for the night.  We all went to bed semi-early because we had a panel to get to in the morning.

Hellraiser

I present to you my fairy shelf.  (If you're wondering what this has to do with Hellraiser, be patient!)  It's a slight misnomer, as those of you with keen eyes can see there's a couple exceptions up there.  I'm going to focus on just one of them right now.

Back in high school and college, I spent a lot of time wandering around the mall, spending a lot of time in the movie, CD, and wacky gift stores.  One in particular frequently had a column that was nothing but action figures, and I used to spend a lot of time gazing at it.  I'm still upset I didn't pick up the Mad Hatter from American McGee's Alice when I had the chance.  One I did pick up, however, was this gorgeous lady:

I knew she was a Clive Barker design, so after a bit of research I discovered she's part of the Tortured Souls II series.  Her name is Camille Noire, though I've long since called her my Twisted Fairy, even though that buzzsaw through the head (which spins!) is clearly supposed to be a halo.  I saw her back then, and I couldn't look away, and after a few times I finally bought her and brought her home.  She's been superglued to her stand as those wobbly legs don't allow her to stand up properly on her own.

So I've been fascinated by Clive Barker's work for a long time now, but up until this point never watched any of his films.  Hellraiser is now available for instant viewing on Netflix, so it was time to give it a shot.

Wow.  I really liked this film.  It's certainly not for everyone, as the gore is extreme and the monsters are incredibly freaky.  I'm not bothered by the fact that I stayed away from this film for a long time, because I don't think I was ready for it until now.  Hatchet is a gore fest but it's also clearly a comedy (at least in my mind) where as this is largely there to frighten you.  Of course, it's also a fairy tale. 

That probably sounds strange to anyone who doesn't know much about the film, as I think popular culture has mostly absorbed Pinhead (who is the least scary cenobite, in my opinion) and the fact that this movie is full of gore.  But the fact is that this movie is as much a natural follow up to Labyrinth and Legend as it is to Evil Dead and Nightmare on Elm Street in terms of the progression of 80s films.   Kirsty feels like a meld between Sarah and Nancy to me: two strong characters who did what they had to do to escape a frightening world and save the day.  The fact that Kirsty literally has a wicked stepmother makes it all the more obvious.  I really liked her as a character.  We don't get to learn too much about her, but she balances the proper amount of being scared but also doing what she has to do to survive.

I don't think I could possibly gush enough on how incredible the special effects are in this film.  As Frank reforms, you find yourself simultaneously disgusted and amazed as you see every part of him slowly knit itself back together.  Even if you don't like gore, you really owe it to yourself to at least check out this scene.  It's an amazing accomplishment in film.  Frank is really quite scary in his first resurrected form, the way he moves and the sunken rotted nature of his skin.  He becomes a little less scary the more he heals, however around that time is when the cenobites start to show up.  The chattering cenobite was perhaps the scariest to me, though the creature with the piranha like mouth and pointed tail came a close second.

Many people told me that they felt like the gore in this movie is justified, and I'm inclined to agree.  This doesn't mean everyone can sit through it and be okay with it, it just means that it never feels like glorification.  It's brutal and it lingers,  but always to horrify you and make you uncomfortable.

While I may check out some of the other sequels, I think more than anything this has made me far more interested in seeing and reading more of Clive Barker's work.  That kind of dark fantasy really appeals to me.

In Defense of: the Alvin and the Chipmunk films

Today, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked is being released in theaters.  I will not be going to see it, but it's fairly safe to assume that a lot of families will be going to check it out this weekend.  There will probably also be a lot of critics bashing the film, and even more snarky people on the internet saying things like "Why, God, why does this movie exist?!" and the like.  I've certainly seen people bashing on the previous two films often enough.  So here's where I tell you the truth and you either give me a fair chance or you don't:  I enjoyed both of the previous Alvin and the Chipmunk films.

My first experience with Alvin and the Chipmunks was on vinyl.  It was an album called Chipmunk Punk.  Despite it's title, it's actually more new wave than punk in genre.  As a young child, this was my first exposure to the songs of bands like The Cars, Blondie, Queen, and The Knack, as well as the solo artists Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel, and Tom Petty.  I can't possibly tell you how often I played this record, but it was quite a bit.  It also provided me with an extra bit of excitement as I got older and heard the original recordings and recognized them.

Of course my second and largest experience with the Chipmunks was the 80s animated cartoon series.  This was the show that introduced the Chipettes for the very first time.  I'll admit that I have not watched this show since I was small, and I figure there's a pretty good chance that it simply doesn't hold up that well.  But I do have a lot of fond memories of the show and really enjoyed all the characters, enough that I have a fondness for them even to this day.

Those of you who have seen my videos know that my cat Logan is a bit of a pain.  Recently, we have decided his middle name is Alvin, because it's a lot more fun to yell "Aaaaaaaallllllviiiiiiiin!" then it is to yell Logan all the time.

Anyways, let's talk about the movies. Jason Lee plays Dave, and maybe I am biased since I've loved him ever since I first saw him in Chasing Amy, but I think he does a good job.  I'll admit there are moments in the first film where he's having a little trouble talking to these CGI characters that aren't there, but he gets the "Alvin!" yell down perfectly and presents a good down on his luck guy.  David Cross plays the other main human lead, and he's a perfect smarmy jerk.  I'll admit choosing semi-well known actors for the Chipmunks when you're just going to manipulate their voices anyway can seem like a strange choice, but it also may help to give their lines a little more believability than just picking random actors off the street.

The storyline here is incredibly predictable, but it is an exceedingly rare children's film that isn't.  I don't think every children's film needs to be held up to the Disney/Pixar standard.  I've watched a lot of children's movies in my day, and I'm not just talking about the ones I watched in my childhood.   My love of animation has never left me, and I tend to keep up with most of the major releases via rental regardless of the studio involved.  I see the vast majority of these films as fluff. Much like an action movie with a lot of explosions and fight scenes meant to get your adrenaline pumping while you turn your brain off, these kids films give you a sweet heartwarming story with some silly humor and then you move on with your day.  This is exactly what the Alvin and the Chipmunks films are.

I think the first film, while not without its flaws, works as a good tribute to the history of the series.  The Chipmunks attain their fame and fortune singing "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" which is how they were originally introduced to American audiences.   They follow it up with "Witch Doctor" which was originally not a Chipmunk song, but done by the same performer, Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.  I'll admit that I hate the "rap" flavoring given this song and most of the rest of the soundtrack, but given the target audience for this film I'm not surprised.  I hate it in the same way that I hate most music from the 2000s, and therefore can't hold it responsible. 

The remainder is all about Dave and the Chipmunks becoming a family and both sides gaining a true appreciation for each other.  Once again, not exactly a groundbreaking concept, but I think it's done well.  I'm also kind of in love with Simon.  It's been too long for me to remember if he's similar to his 80s counterpart, but there's something about his smarts and his sarcasm that make him my favorite of the three.  Alvin is appropriately conceited and daring, and Theodore is absolutely adorable.  I'm not sure what else you could ask for.

I'll admit the sequel is not as strong as the original, but that's about the norm.  Why put the chipmunks in high school when they've never been to school at all?  It's pretty obvious the answer is so they can use those standard high school stress situations.  Jocks being bullies, Alvin playing football, and a talent show competition.  More than anything I just don't care for Zachary Levi's character.  He's too bungling and beyond that one scene where he completely screws up comforting Theodore, he offers nothing to the movie.  But I enjoyed seeing the Chipettes added in to the mix, and found the songs to be overall more enjoyable.


While I won't be rushing out to see Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked this weekend, I will eventually end up renting it whenever it comes to DVD, and I'll be amused for an hour and a half.  I'm not going to defend the concept, which is basically some kind of ultra silly Gilligan's Island set up.  But once again, children's movie.  These overused concepts and silly humor and pop culture references are a dime a dozen these days. 

So why do people pick on this particular series so hard?

Initial Thoughts: Nintendo 3DS

It's a little hard to do a review of something you just bought a few days ago, so this is just my initial impressions after playing around with it a little bit.

It's a very popular thing of late to bash Nintendo.  Their choice to go for the family friendly crowd rather than the latest and greatest technology really rubbed a lot of gamers the wrong way, I guess.  As someone who has never cared that much about graphics, it all leaves me shaking my head.  The Wii was an excellent business move on their part, even if it means that the vast majority of the games on the system aren't for me.  Sure, I'd like to see more titles on there for me to enjoy, but the ones I do have tend to be awesome so I have a hard time complaining about it.

My point in all this being that I feel like people have been dogging the 3DS from the very beginning without even really seeing it.  Was its launch price too expensive?  Of course, but most launch prices are.  Was there a severe lack of titles in the beginning?  Yes, of course, but once again that's typical.  Is 3D an overused gimmick?  For movies, yes, but I don't think it's really been explored all that much in gaming yet.

I guarantee you the 3D on this handheld will amaze you the first time you see it, assuming you are not among the few who simply can't see 3D at all.  It requires no glasses and it's just incredible.  I honestly don't want to know how they do it because I prefer to think of it as magic.  It's not perfect by any means - you do have to find the right angle at which to hold the system to get it to line up, and looking over someone's shoulder while they play is pretty much pointless.  However, the good news is that you can simply turn this feature off.  I have found that long term sessions can cause a bit of dizziness, but in general when it comes to handheld gaming I'm mostly looking for quick sessions anyway, so I don't see this being much of a problem.

The whole reason I got it was because they are now offering bundles.  A red 3DS with Super Mario Land 3D, a black 3DS with gold Zelda themed details with Ocarina of Time 3D, and there's also a pink one that comes with Nintendogs + Cats.  I had a slight dilemma at first because of the game I wanted vs the system I wanted.  I really wanted Super Mario Land 3D, but I absolutely loved that Zelda anniversary edition look.  Also, call me silly, but I bought my original DS when it was bundled with Mario Kart DS so I already have a red DS and wanted to change colors for my upgrade.  So I decided that even though I didn't really need yet another version of Ocarina of Time (I have it for N64 and Gamecube) I'd go with the Zelda version.  I can always get the game later.

I lined up my old and new ones side by side so you could get a feel for the size difference.  Granted, they've come out with smaller versions of the DS since my original model.

Much like the Wii, Nintendo has loaded the 3DS with some simple software and games for you to play with.  Miis are still around, and this time, because the 3DS has a camera, you can take a picture of yourself to aid in the creation.  Mine wasn't very accurate, but it did provide me a starting point design that I then edited to make me look a little less freakish.  You have to create one for yourself when you first open the program, and after that you can make as many silly Miis as you'd like.  There is also a Mii Plaza, which uses the StreetPass feature.  Instead of turning your 3DS off, you simply fold it shut and it will enter Sleep Mode.  In Sleep Mode it will look for other 3DSes in the area, and if someone is around you will each get a copy of the other person's Mii in your Plaza. This idea was used on the DS for Dragon Quest IX, and it's a fun feature for them to carry over.

I happened to go to the mall on Saturday so I purposefully brought the 3DS along.  I picked up someone named Kory.  He had a welcome message for me to read, and he also gave me a puzzle piece and I was able to use his Mii in a simple RPG type game all within the Plaza.  It's really simple but a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to trying this out at MAGfest where I'm sure to pick up quite a few more people.  The 3DS also has a built in pedometer, and that helps you earn coins that you can use in these minigames as well.  These features are a little more useful in Japan where far more people actually own 3DSes, but I'm hoping the coin system will make up for the possible lack of users.

The other free game you may have heard about is Face Raiders.  The camera takes a picture of your face and uses it in a game.  This takes some time to set up, as you have to line up the eyes and mouth in just the right spot to get it to work properly.  The reward is worth it though, as you see your expression change from amusement to sadness to anger thanks to the game's animation.  The game itself is pretty simple: You move around the screen which is showing the room in front of you, but with the floating heads in it.  Shoot them to win the game.  The game encourages you to take pictures of other people and collect their heads.  I imagine this won't stay fun forever, but it's highly amusing the first couple times.

You can also take 3D pictures and video.  I haven't tried out the video yet, but the pictures once again feel like magic being performed.  The only problem I see with this is that I don't think there is any way to export them, and of course even if you did the 3D effect would be lost.  There is also a voice recorder which is far more fun than it should be.  You record a ten second message, then you can do all kinds of effects to it, from changing the speed and pitch to adding vocal harmonies or changing the sound.  Naturally, Jak and I kept saying inappropriate things and then giggling like mad when it was repeated back to us in a parakeet style voice.

You also get one AR card in the box with which you can play AR games.  The 3DS's camera scans the card and that unlocks more games for you to play, similar to Face Raiders in that you'll see the actual room you are in on the screen and it also requires you to move around a bit.  I placed the card on my sofa to play, and it made it a little hard to get around.  I think a coffee table might work better, as you could actually circle it.  It's really picky about the distance you have to be from the card, the lighting in the room (standing between the light and the card made the 3DS lose it), and the angle at which you approach it.  It was cool when it worked properly, but this was probably the feature I was the most disappointed in.

There is also an eShop where you can download both original games and virtual console games like you could on the Wii.  For some reason, I was able to get The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords for free.  The virtual console ranges from original Gameboy games to Gameboy Advance, and most of the original games seem as cheaply made as most of the ones on the Wii.  I'm not sure how many of these I'll end up getting, but I like that they are there.  I never had an original Gameboy, so it'll be nice to check out some of those games for the first time.  My main complaint is that Nintendo is still refusing to provide people with demos to sample these games first.  This has to be losing them sales, as I just won't buy a game if I know nothing about it.  The system also comes with a 2GB SD card that you can hold these games as well as your pictures, videos, and sounds on.

You're also allowed to plug in your regular DS cartridges and play them.  Obviously, there's no 3D effects on these games.  I had heard some people complain about the way DS games looked on the screen, but I put in Final Fantasy III and everything looked just as good as it did on the original DS.  I like the idea of being able to take the games of both systems with me when I travel, though I did wish the 3DS cartridges didn't have that little extra nub so I could put them in the same carrying case.

As far as Ocarina of Time goes, its the same game it was on N64 so far, but I do have to admit that the 3D graphics are very pretty and cool looking.  I could, however, see myself turning them off if I wanted to play the game for a long time.  It's a complex game with a lot of aiming involved, and it felt like it might be easier to  do without the 3D.

I just ordered Bust a Move Universe because it was $10 and I can't get enough of any variation of that game.  Mario can wait until I get stuck in Ocarina of Time again.  Trust me, it'll happen, it always does.

News bites: Akira, Neil Gaiman, Method Man, and The Muppets

I'm suffering from a short attention span this week so I don't have any full reviews to give, but I thought I'd still share my thoughts on some things that are too long for tweets.

Akira Movie Update: casting and synopsis revealed - I understand why people are upset about the whitewashing, but I think it makes sense for an American adaptation of a Japanese work to be changed around to an American setting.  I'm also not bothered by the changes noted in this article.  Making Kaneda and Tetsuo into adults is better, in my opinion, than trying to pass off adults as teenagers as they normally do in these films.  If they tried to cast true teens we'd end up with the Disney Channel crew, so I'd rather go with adults and deal with the more adult subject matter.  Honestly, reading it I didn't see any huge differences to the core plot as I understand it from watching the anime, so I'm not upset at this point.  Character receives powers from government, escapes, friend goes after him, government tries to stop him before he causes another disaster.  More than anything, all this talk is just reminding me that I really need to get around to reading the manga, so that alone makes it all worth it to me.

The Neil Gaiman episode of The Simpsons - "The Book Job" - I watched this earlier this week and absolutely loved it.  Between Lisa's procrastination before beginning to write, the story Homer and his crew come up with, and pretty much everything Neil does, this was a great episode.  I haven't watched the Simpsons in years, but this one made me at least want to try them out again.

World Gone Sour - I used to own a copy of the Batman Forever soundtrack.  There's a track by Method Man on there that he wrote specifically for Jim Carrey's version of the Riddler.  He clearly has a sense of humor and likes to make money, and this video just proves it all the more.  I won't be buying the game, but I had to share  the madness.  Though if they ever come to their senses and offer it for free I will probably get it just to hear Creed's voice.

Deleted scene in The Muppets that explains the villain a little better - The actual title of that article is misleading, so I thought I'd clarify.  Spoilers for the film if you haven't seen it yet, obviously.  It does seem like a silly detail to leave out, though I don't know if it really matters all that much.

I've been playing through the Silent Hill video games but I'm saving those reviews to post back to back so I can give a more thorough analysis of the series as a whole.  I'm also still trying to finish Volume 3 of The Hinges of Destiny so I can get that out soon, so I'm not sure how many blog posts you'll be seeing from me for a little while.

The Muppets

After 11 years, the new Muppet film has arrived!  After some really great promotional parody trailers, I finally got to see the new film on Wednesday.

The short, non-spoiler version is that this is a film for anyone who has ever loved the Muppets.  I'm not sure if it will bring in new fans, but there's definitely a lot there for those of us who have grown up with them and truly love them.  Go watch this movie!

Now to get spoilery:  I went to the first showing of the day, and as soon as I arrived at the theater I was wishing I had gone to the midnight showing the night before instead.  And I do mean as soon as I arrived - I walked up to the ticket machine and had to dodge bouncing screaming children who were with the woman at the other machine beside me.  Fortunately this particular rambunctious group ended up sitting on the opposite side of the theater from me, but the audience was easily 75% kids.  It's because of this that I can easily say this is not a movie made for children.  While it is certainly suitable for all ages subject matter, it tackles a lot of bittersweet topics that were flying over their heads.  I know this because I could hear them all talking while I was trying to pay attention.

This movie is the story of Walter, the ultimate Muppet fan.   From the moment he first saw The Muppet Show, he really connected with them and wanted to be a part of it.  It's pretty natural for that to happen, seeing as how Walter is in fact a puppet.  But it's also clear that Walter is sitting in for all of us who have grown up with these characters and miss seeing them on a regular basis.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the movie for me was this general idea that the Muppets were has-beens that no one cared about anymore.  All the television studios deny them their chance to host a telethon because "they're not celebrities."  They only end up getting a spot because a reality show is cancelled at the last minute.  There's a joke where Rico Rodriguez asks Kermit "Are you one of the TMNT?" and Selena Gomez admits she doesn't know who he is, she's just there because her agent suggested it.  I really don't think all the kids that were in that theater with me were only there because their parents dragged them.  Muppets From Space didn't come out that long ago.

Beyond that premise, there's a lot of fun to be had here.  All the Muppets feel right and there's a ton of great jokes.  I'm also impressed by the number of obscure Muppets they managed to feature.  Though its pretty clear they were mostly focusing on The Muppet Show days and not on some of the more recent Muppets.  Clifford and Bean Bunny have disappeared, Rizzo doesn't have a single line in the film, and Pepe's time is very short.  But Uncle Deadly gets to play a major role so I guess you just have to take the good and the bad.  They are very much a huge cast of characters at this point, so it's natural some of them are going to get left out.  Also, don't expect to see any Sesame Street cameos like we used to, as the two properties are now owned by separate companies.

The celebrity cameos are great.  For some strange reason I was expecting a Lady Gaga cameo, I guess because of her Kermit dress I thought it was an eventuality, but they didn't go there.  However we do get to see Neil Patrick Harris, Jack Black, John Krasinki, Sarah Silverman, and Zach Galifiankis among others.  Perhaps the best cameo came during the song "Man or Muppet" where we see a human version of Walter.  I had no idea that was coming and I was really excited to see who they chose (though apparently I was the only one in my theater to think so.  Boo!) and I won't spoil it for you. 

Speaking of which, I thought most of the songs were really good.  They use both popular songs and original show tunes, and I think they have some future classics among them.  "Life's a Happy Song," "Me Party," and "Man or Muppet" probably stand out the most to me.  The only one I thought was really bad was the villain's rap number, and I think that was awful on purpose.  At least I really hope so.  I found myself unable to stop myself from singing along when The Muppet Show theme song started.  And yes, when it came time for everyone to sing "Rainbow Connection" I had tears spilling down my cheeks.  It really is a beautiful tribute to what the Muppets are all about within the movie.

I can't stress enough that you need to go out and see this movie now.  The current climate being what it is, if this movie doesn't have a great opening weekend, Disney is going to think no one cares about the Muppets anymore and we won't get a sequel.  And I need more Muppets in my life!

Muppets From Space

Since Gonzo is my favorite Muppet, it should be absolutely no surprise that I love this movie. It is actually a large part of the reason why I decided to go against my original "no more marathons" rule, because I wanted a chance to defend the film. I've heard people say this is the lowest regarded of all the Muppet films but personally I just don't see what the problem is.

The goal of the movie is to explain exactly what kind of "whatever" Gonzo is, and of course the logical answer is that he is in fact an alien. While Jim Henson may not have been involved with this project, it's clear to me that his team knew how to carry on in his absence. There are celebrity guest stars, pop culture references, appearances by all the major Muppet characters, and tons of great humor. This is also where we meet Pepe the King Prawn for the first time, and he's a welcome addition to the group and perfect partner in crime for the sneaky Rizzo. I also really enjoyed seeing Clifford and Bean Bunny from Muppets Tonight appear even though that show had been cancelled at this point.

One of the things that sets the movie apart from a lot of the others is that it doesn't use original songs, but instead a lot of soul and funk tracks. I suppose if you somehow don't enjoy that style of music it might bother you, but frankly I'm a little worried about anyone who doesn't enjoy the sounds of James Brown or Earth, Wind, and Fire.

Beyond Pepe and our always lovable Gonzo, the best character in the movie is Bobo the Bear, playing lackey for Jeffrey Tambor. Nearly everything he says in the movie is quotable. Whether he's trying to calm Tambor down from one of his many fits or trying to comfort Gonzo before the government plans to remove his brain, he's just great. Tambor himself is also a lot of fun as the rather sensitive, angry man who has been misunderstood his whole life.

I love the scenes of Rizzo in with the other lab rats being tormented by David Arquette, and the Shawshank Redemption send up as they make their escape. The rest of the Muppets breaking in to rescue Gonzo and Rizzo are also great, from Animal chasing Kathy Griffin (who later falls for him), to Fozzie insisting on washing his hands after using the bathroom even though it removes the invisibility spray, and the "Doctor" "Doctor" exchange as they try to remain in disguise. Really, there aren't any bad scenes in the movie for me.

While it doesn't really match the tone of the earlier movies, I think that's expected given the time period.  Expecting this film or the upcoming The Muppets to be exactly the same in tone as the early films would be an unrealistic expectation.

Perhaps my only complaint is how generic Kermit is. Like Mickey Mouse before him, he's lost much of his personality to become the "oh golly" good guy leader. I suppose part of this comes from a desire to not muddy the memory of Henson himself. Or it could just be that this is supposed to be mostly Gonzo's film and therefore Kermit doesn't get much to do. 

I think the real test will be how they portray him in the new film.  I'll tell you what I think about it tomorrow!