Pilgrimage to Mecca

One day, Gentle Reader – one day I too will make the journey to the holy of holies of all geekdom the Mecca of pop culture the San Diego Comic Con International.

http://www.comic-con.org/

It’s happening right now out in California and one day I’m gonna be there. This is the 900 lb. Gorilla of ALL. If you have any interest in comics, writing, drawing, filmmaking or appreciating any of the aforementioned then this is where the buck stops. Someday I too will make the pilgrimage. That day however, was not today and the weekend is looking iffy. I’ll just have to comfort myself with reports that are coming in from all over the internet. As it turns out Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford, Karen Allen had a teleconference with a roomful of rabid fanboys and media types, part of the cast (including two Spocks – yes one is Leonard Nimoy) were on hand to field questions, the cast of LOST & 4400, voice actors, writing & filmmaking workshops and the revelation of the cast of the WATCHMEN.

Let’s let that sink in a moment… the WATCHMEN. For those of you who understand the magnitude of that statement know that the work is in good hands – Zack Snyder is at the helm. For those of you who do not, please forgive a little fanboy raving… the WATCHMEN is going to be on the big screen and handled by the same man responsible for 300. For those of you who may think that a comic book undeserves of such veneration please note that Time magazine named WATCHMEN one of the top 100 modern novels since 1923. Amazing stuff that changed an industry and the way people viewed comic books.

Yeah so all this stuff happened on Friday – the weekend is just getting started. It’s a good time to be a geek.

Two out of the three chicks are very interested in sequential storytelling and video game design. Such a venue would be invaluable to them as well. My goal is to be able to legitimately write off the trip to the next San Diego Comic Con International on my taxes due to normal business expenditures.

One just never knows.

Harry Potter – SPOILER FREE

When was the last time you saw people children and adults alike salivate for a book to be released? Yes, that’s right – a BOOK; in this day and age. And what an age it is… DVD’s, the mindless onslaught of television & media, video games, cell phones, MP3 players and the vast expanse of the internet while indispensable to our world in this day and age have pandered to our short attention span lifestyles. I find it awesome that a book - just words on a page can still command and captivate the world’s attention.

The story is alive no matter what format it takes; in the case of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter – the story is served in the form of a seven volume series of novels. Book seven “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” was released on July 21, 2007, and we (the Evil Chicken 5 [-1] and another member of our family who lives in New York – Bat Monkey) were there at 12:01 AM, to watch the event unfold. The local Boarders had a Harry Potter Party. They had sold 1,200 advanced copies of the book all of them with color coated wrist straps (ours was silver) showed up at once. This is why we were there to be caught up in the magic of the evening to share the release of the LAST EVER excursion to Hogwarts to witness the great debate of just where Professor Snape’s allegiances lie, the costume contest and to see who would win the autographed poster of the newest and last ever Harry Potter cover. Sure I could buy it at Wal-Mart tomorrow but why? We were surrounded on all sides by people who have been seduced and captivated by the literature of the day and literature is the right word. Gentle Reader we may pass through time but Harry Potter is now timeless taking his rightful place next to Gandalf the Grey, Gandalf the White and Merlin – still speaking in a literary frame mind you. There will never be another and we were there to participate in the festivities and to watch it unfold. Possession of a silver wrist band ensured that you were part of the second major wave of individuals to purchase their copy of the book.

We were out of the store at about 12:40 in the morning, books in hand and eager to read. Mother Hen and Bat Monkey stayed up to about 5:00 AM reading their copies; both of them finished the text within about 12 hours. Such was not the case with yours truly. I’m a slower reader than they are and I finished it yesterday.

Wow.

I’m not going to say if Harry lives or dies or comment on the body count but I can say that print is not dead and because of that the world is a much more magical place. If you are so inclined to do so read the entire series – you will not be disappointed. J.K. Rowling has proven herself to be so much more than meets the eye. Now she too has gained literary immortality and it is justly deserved.

Mischief Managed.

The Live Earth Concert

I remember watching the first “Live Aid” famine relief concert for Ethiopia on MTV way back in nineteen hundred and eighty five. The main broadcast was split between two main venues; Wembley Stadium in London and the late, JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. As Wikipedia tells me, “it was the largest-scale satellite link-ups and television broadcasts of all time: an estimated 1.5 billion viewers, across 100 countries, watched the live broadcast. As previously stated, I was one of them.

I couldn’t get tickets to be there personally – what can I say, lack of funds.

Fast forward to 2007, NOW (just as I’m typing this) the “Live Earth – Concerts for a Climate in Crisis” is in progress. The Dave Mathews Band just went on stage at Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey (although the world only knows it as “New York”). This is big. It promises to beat out “Live Aid” as the new 900-pound gorilla of mega concerts. Live Earth is being broadcast via live video streaming on MSN (http://www.liveearth.org/) from Australia, Japan, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, Washington DC, South Africa, “New York” and Brazil. The amazing thing about the MSN coverage is that you can switch to whatever live feed you desire with the click of a button. I saw Linkin Park in Japan, UB40 in South Africa and now, The Dave Mathews Band in “New York”. Check it out if you can – pretty neat. The Police are going on sometime tonight in “New York” – it should be great.

I couldn’t get tickets to be there personally – what can I say, lack of funds.

But Evil Chicken… what about the cause – how do you feel about that? Ah, gentle reader, once again you know just the right question to ask. Since that is the case I recommend that you check this out: http://evilchickenscratch.blogspot.com/2006/04/price-of-complacency.html.

Enjoy the show and switch off the light on your way out of the room.

And Now for Something Completely Different

http://www.thesurrealist.co.uk/slogan.cgi

Mother Hen found this & I thought I'd pass it along... It’s a slogan generator. The lovely young lady displays your slogan once it’s generated.

Have fun!