Fan Expo 2009 - Day 1

And so it has happened, at long last...my first sci fi convention.

But not just sci fi. Oh no, that would be too easy and too...generic for Fan Expo, the largest convention of it's kind in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. Not only sci fi, but also (hold onto your hats) horror, comics, manga and even gaming. In other words; total sensory overload.

I'd been looking forward to this for weeks. I'd never even heard about it before, and for the life of me I can't imagine why, until a colleague mentioned it one unassuming day at work. And I realized quickly that this is one of those things that I just couldn't put off to next year; I had to see it, be a part of it, asap. So tonight I and my roommate Andrea, who I wouldn't describe as a sci fi, horror, comic, manga or gaming geek but who was curious about the experience, hopped the subway to the Toronto Convention Center.

Once we found the right building, got our tickets in order and I got my deluxe pass badge, we found the main hall...and as soon as I set foot inside I couldn't stop myself from saying "Wow" out loud. There was just so much to see, far too much to describe here, but if you can envision vendors everywhere selling everything from comics to collectibles to t-shirts to DVDs to trading cards, as well as promotional booths for game demos, movie studios, and even a big display area for Tron: Legacy of all things, you'll start to get the idea.

I gotta admit when I first got to the main hall I wondered if I was in a little over my head. All I could see at first was manga and gaming, neither of which I'm too familiar with. But after a quick look at the show program we realized we were just in the wrong spot. The other genres were further on down. Once I found horror, comics and sci fi I was like "Oh yeah, all is right with the world", and the rest of the night was smooth sailing. Andrea got a Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital t-shirt (all House fans should get that reference, and if not then shame on you). I got my picture taken with True Blood vampires (I think I look pretty bad ass), scored a Supernatural tattoo, saw so many people walking around in costume I lost track of all the different characters and I got to see celebrities like Lou Ferrigno, Emma Caulfield, Beau Bridges, Linda Hamilton and Mary McDonnell in person! We were even able to take a break and watch Big Bang Theory, which they were screening in the Warner Brothers section on several television screens. Not bad for one evening.

I'll be going back on Sunday, and I'm hoping to look around some more, participate in a panel discussion and/or demonstration and generally get my geek on. My main goal however will be to get Bruce Campbell's autograph! I've already picked up the ticket tonight, and apparently they've been selling like hot cakes. (Though when I told the guy behind the counter that I already had something for Mr. Campbell to sign he asked point blank, trying to be funny, "It's not your boob is it?" A class act all the way. Andrea informed him that I had to leave something to the imagination.)

People, a giant leap has been made in my pop culture identity. Now I can officially say that I've been to a convention. Check that off the list.

Keep your eyes open for my post on Day 2. In the mean time take a look at the pictures I've included here; more to follow.

"That's weird. It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone."

You know, I almost don't even need to write this post.

'Cause really, what could I possibly say about this that hasn't been said already?

But I'll say it anyway, just because it makes me happy and it's my blog. The Twilight Zone rocks! (And I'm talking about the original 1959-1964 series, not the two revivals that I'd never even heard of until just tonight when I did some research.)

Even if you've never seen an episode, Rod Serling's pivotal sci fi masterpiece has been referenced and imitated ceaselessly ever since it first aired fifty years ago. You've very likely seen something from The Simpsons (as in many of their Treehouse of Horror stories), Family Guy, Saturday Night Live, etc. that's been lifted from Twilight. Shows like The Outer Limits are direct decedents of Mr. Serling's new-strange-tale-per-week formula. Books, film, radio, etc. have all entered the twilight zone. There's even an amusement park ride at Disney World, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (which I got to revisit last February, and it still left me a quivering mess after I got off it).

When this show is good, it is really good. Thanks to DVDs at my library I've been watching so many episodes I haven't seen yet, many of which have rattled me to the point that I don't watch the show after dark anymore. I recently read that Mr. Serling wanted to use more social commentary in his work with television, to have his own shows to express his political views, but the censors back then were not keen on the idea. So he ended up disguising those view points as sci fi tall tales; pretty sneaky, but boy did it work. Many episodes leave you feeling jarred and unsettled, not only initially but also if you really stop and think about them. While Mr. Serling and company's stories reflect the issues of the early 1960s like nuclear war, many of their themes can be relevant to today's concerns, like terrorism, paranoia and global disasters. And not only did the stories of The Twilight Zone usually mean something, but they also dealt with so many facets of the sci fi genre.

Episodes like "Time enough at last" and "Two" took a look at different scenarios when the worst has happened (in those cases nuclear apocalypse). "Third from the sun" and "The Invaders" used new twists on outer space alien stories. "The Fever" dealt with the subject of addiction. "The Shelter" and "The Monsters are due on Maple Street" illustrated that humankind can destroy itself far better than any outside force ever could. Other episodes covered death, time travel, space travel, the future, robots and a plethora of sci fi subjects. Episodes like "Eye of the Beholder" had awesome twist endings, while episodes like "Nightmare at 20 000 feet", "To Serve Man" and "It's a Good Life" just scared the crap out of you.

And let's not forget the guest stars, actors and actresses who ended up on Twilight before going on to greater fame. Cloris Leachman, William Shatner, Carol Burnett, Robert Redford, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds and many others all had early career performances on Twilight episodes. Other actors had late career performances on the show, like Mickey Rooney and Buster Keaton. That's a lot of star power.

Truly, this is TV at it's very best; entertaining and thought provoking. Emmy winning and critically acclaimed, Twilight Zone still packs a wallop after all these years, and the name has become synonymous with the idea of stepping into an alternate reality, or just having weird things happen to you. It's opening music and Serling's beginning and ending narration are instantly recognizable. It's earned it's place in pop culture time and again.

There, for what it's worth, I have sung it's praises yet again. Now go watch it and see what I mean. (Oh, and bonus points to whoever guesses where the quote that is the title of this post comes from.)

Book Review: The Graveyard Book

Recently (after having to return it to the library part way through and because it takes me so long to read a novel) I finally finished Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. I am a huge Neil Gaiman fan. Huge! I have read the entire Sandman chronicles, Coraline, Marvel 1602, A Study in Emerald (a great short story with a twist, which you can find here), as well as various picture books and short stories. And Graveyard does not disappoint, though admittedly the premise sounds a little macabre.

The story centers around a boy called Nobody Owens, who, believe it or not, is raised in a graveyard by the ghosts and other creatures of the night who inhabit it. The reader follows Bod on several instances throughout his unusual life leading up to a very dramatic climax.

Now for someone like me, who doesn't mind stepping into the slightly darker side of fantasy (see my recent posts on vampires), I found this premise very intriguing and I felt that Gaiman pulled it off well, keeping everything in that fantasy world but still believable. For those who may balk, I think that you'll find the characters endearing enough and the plot interesting enough to look past the setting. Plus, as Mr. Gaiman said in a recent interview, the whole point of the book is that life is worth living, and I got that sense as I was reading through it. And I had to keep myself from crying at the end.

My verdict: An excellent read, but it'll depend on what your tastes are

Quick Update: EW corrects it's Vampire list (sort of)

A few days ago I posted a complaint about Entertainment Weekly's list of the 20 Greatest Vampires and the unforgivable absence of my favorite, Spike. Well, apparently other EW readers agreed with me and wrote in (which is what I should really do if I'm going to complain like this). The August 21/28 issue just came out and includes a short list of the vampires that didn't make the cut but readers thought should have, and Spike is on there. Yay! Other vamps that readers felt got the short end of the stick included Blacula, Frank Langella's Dracula, Barnabas Collins, Count Vladimir Dracula from Love at First Bite, and Mick St. John. It's a small gesture of contrition on EW's part, but I'll take it.

By the way, still haven't seen True Blood, but I now have a poster of Eric set as my laptop's wallpaper. He's doing the finger pyramid of evil contemplation. I really need help.

Glee is coming! Can it live up to the hype?

With September just around the corner and my summer programs wrapping up at the library (finally!) my thoughts have turned to what's coming up in the fall as far as movies and television are concerned. Like the autumn harvest, the fall season also brings with it a new crop of TV shows vying for Nielsen ratings and your viewing pleasure. One show that has already caught my attention, thanks to a special sneak peak at the pilot episode back in May, is Fox's Glee, and chances are you've heard of it too, thanks to an aggressive ad campaign and early positive buzz. Created by Ryan Murphy, who brought us such gems as Nip/Tuck and Popular, Glee brings us into the world of a high school glee club in Ohio, and the teachers and students who make up the club, as well as the teachers and students who look down on it (I don't ever recall hearing about a glee club when I was in high school, so I'm guessing this is an American thing, but correct me if I'm wrong).

When I saw the preview in May there was a lot of stuff going on in my living room with my room mates plus sound problems on that particular station, so I missed a lot of what was happening on screen. Regardless though, I took notice right away. My eyes even welled up during the final scene. This episode was funny, poignant and above all else musical! Not many shows out there pull off that kind of combination. Plus, how could I hate something that stars one of my favorite actresses Jane Lynch as the evil cheerleading coach Sue? Can't do it.

So I was pretty bummed when the trailer for the rest of the season aired after the pilot and declared the return of Glee in September. September? I and my room mate realized we'd have to wait over three months to see more! Not cool. But I have waited patiently, and bought the single for their version of "Don't Stop Believing" from iTunes. But lately I've realized that all I've heard this summer is how Glee is going to be the hit show of the fall. Commercials have been running consistently, it's been announced that two, count 'em, two soundtrack albums will be released in time for Christmas, the cast has been doing press tours; I mean, only one episode has aired. It's pretty brassy to make such bold declarations of an entire series after just one episode. Some shows have been cancelled after one episode (Osbournes:Reloaded and Emily's Reasons Why Not to name just a couple). Take it from someone who has fallen in love with so many TV shows only to have them cancelled on me after too short a run (RIP Pushing Daisies, Keen Eddie, Brimstone, Life on Mars, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Firefly, etc.), the television industry can be a fickle you-know-what, as well as television audiences.

So just tonight I re-watched the pilot episode of Glee, which is available on globaltv.com. Honestly, to me, it was even better that second time, now that I could watch it without distraction, and I still welled up at the last scene. What hits me the hardest about this show is the message that you need to do what makes you happy and you need to be involved in what you're passionate about, no matter what other people expect of you or what other people think of you. That's a message that often gets lost in the shuffle of economic troubles and the general sense that you're not good enough if your life doesn't meet a certain standard. If this show can continue with this message while still delivering great story lines, lots of laughs and kick-ass musical numbers, then we'll have something really special on the fall schedule this year. And hopefully audiences will embrace it as well.

Besides, I've already decided that Will should leave his wife Terri and get together with Emma the guidance counsellor. Take a look at the pilot episode and see if you agree. Glee returns to Fox and Global September 9th.

Plenty of love for the Undead, but what about Spike?

Imagine my excitement when my August 7th issue of Entertainment Weekly was waiting for me in my mailbox after a tough day at the library. Right on the cover, up top, in big bold white type was the word "Vampires". Eeeeh! (I shrieked excitedly, hoping the neighbours didn't hear) Not only did this issue discuss the most current vampire craze with interviews from popular vampire writers, there was also a list of their choices of the the 20 Greatest Vampires of All Time! Happiness...overload...

I've been a fan of bloodsuckers for...well, forever. They've always been my favorite movie/book/TV show monster with their effortless sexuality, rich mythology and bad-boy-hiding-tortured-soul archetype. And boy howdy are they hot at the moment. With the Twilight series still discussed ad nauseum (I still take requests for it at the reference desk), the show True Blood heating up HBO and more vampire projects coming out of the woodwork the undead have staked a firm claim in pop culture right now.

So as happy as I was to see this issue, there was one colossal error that I must address. Their list of the 20 greatest vamps was really good, with mentions going out to some obvious picks like Edward Cullen and Dracula (four different film versions of him actually), newer selections like Bill and Eric from True Blood (which I haven't seen yet, but there's much debate over which of the two is hotter, and I gotta go with Eric right now) and others both famous and more obscure. Their pick of Lestat from The Vampire Chronicles as number one surprised me, but I decided their reasoning was sound.

But there was, to me, one gaping absence from the list. No Spike. No Spike? Spike, one of my favorite reasons to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then the last season of Angel did not make the list at all? Angel was number 7, but no Spike? Come on! Not only was he gorgeous with his bleach blond hair, cocky sneer, British accent and trademark black duster he was one of the most complex and fully rounded characters on the show. Who else can you name, vampire or otherwise, who could go from timid poet to punk bad ass, from big bad to comic relief, from villain to hero, soulless killer to soulful lover, all within the run of the series and still stay believable and remain a fan favorite? Not many, that's for sure.

Ah well, you can't win them all. Maybe he was number 21. But I've said my peace, and we can all move on. That's one big reason to have a blog in the first place. Any favorite vampires you hoped made the list? And does anyone agree with me that Spike deserved more love?

My ipod Top 10

There is no way I can properly emphasize how much I love my ipod Nano. Seriously, it cannot be done. Over 1400 songs, music videos, TV shows, audio books, podcasts, it's green color, the special Harry Potter engraving on the back my mom and dad put on it when they gave it to me for Christmas last year. Love it. It's completely me.

A while back I read an article by Stephen King about the most played songs on his ipod. Out of sheer curiosity I decided to check my listings last night and see which songs got the most play, and I was surprised by the results. So in case anyone is looking for new music suggestions, here are the top 10 most played songs on my ipod.

1. "Let it Rock" by Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil Wayne: At a whopping 58 plays and counting this is the clear winner. To me, it provides a jolt that just makes you want to march out onto a stage in front of thousands of people. (See the video on YouTube here.)

2. "Fruit Machine" by the Ting Tings: A fun, quirky number with a thumping base line, funky keyboards and a great guitar solo. What more could you want?

3. "Jingle Jangle" by the Archies: The kind of song you play on a sunny day when you're just feeling happy with the world (though I recently found out that the 'female' parts on the chorus were actually sung by the male lead singer. Wouldn't have ever known.) You can find the original 1969 cartoon music video here.

4. "Girlfriend" by the Darkness: A joyful burst of a song. I dare you to put it on and not start running and dancing all over the place like a crazy person. Speaking of crazy, how about Justin Hawkins' vocals? He hits high notes I can't and I'm a girl! (Click here for the video)

5. "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" by the Pet Shop Boys: A very catchy, moody, effortlessly cool number. British New Wave at it's finest.

6. "We Are Happy Landfill" by Gorillaz: Not many people know this track, as it was not featured on this virtual band's two studio albums but on their D-Sides. This song is what happens when you mix hard driving rock with circus sound effects (trust me, it's so much cooler than it sounds. Listen to it here and see)

7. "Weeping" by Josh Groban featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo: One of the main reasons I play this one so often is because I try to sing along to it while I'm practicing, which is very hard to do. Heartbreaking and powerful, beautifully sung by Groban et al.

8. "Ramalama (Bang Bang)" by Roisin Murphy: I saw a choreographed zombie dance to this song on a recent episode of So You Think You Can Dance? and I've been playing it almost nonstop ever since. One of the best drum beats I've ever heard. See the original SYTYCD performance from season 2 here.

9. "I Don't Feel Like Dancing" by Scissor Sisters: This has been a favorite of mine since grad school. You can check it out here. For a song about not dancing it is just so danceable. Plus Elton John provides the piano! Awesome.

10. "From the Stars" by White Lies: The White Lies music has been heavily influenced by big- sounding 80s bands like ABC (one of my all time favorites). This particular track lays a sad story over sweeping violins and hard driving guitars. Very haunting. Give it a listen here.

So a fairly eclectic mix here, but still all me.

If you have an ipod or an MP3 player I'd suggest taking a look at your most played songs. You may be surprised by the results. Feel free to post your findings here in the comment section. I'd love to see what makes your lists.