What is the worst word to apply to this convention…
Regret… And lots of it…
- I regret not arriving until 1am on Saturday morning…
- I regret having to leave by 5pm on Sunday evening…
- I regret letting something so awesome slip my mind so carelessly…
- I regret not being able to stay up beyond my 4am self-imposed bedtime on Sunday morning…
Lots of regrets because the weekend of the Fabletown and Beyond Convention was…
SO INCREDIBLY AMAZING!!!
Why yes… I have been quite busy… busy doing a lot of things, seeing shows, going to conventions, listening to audiobooks… here is what is upcoming as soon as I find time to sit down and write them out:
LITERARY REVIEWS:
- Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job
- The Blind Side and other related audiobooks to Michael Oher’s life
- Veronica Roth’s Divergent
- Kill Shakespeare Graphic Novel Vols 1 & 2
THEATRE REVIEWS:
- Kill Shakespeare: the staged graphic novel
- Priscilla Queen of the Desert: Chicago Tour Stop
- Catch Me if You Can: Chicago Tour Stop
- Big Fish: Pre-Broadway Engagement
- American Idiot: Chicago Tour Stop
- Anything Goes: Chicago Tour Stop
- Village Theatre Guild’s A Hatful of Rain
- Denver Performance Center’s Sense and Sensibility (Musical)
TRIPS:
- Fabletown and Beyond Convention in Rochester, Minnesota
- Disneyland / Disney’s California Adventure (from February)
Yeeeeeaaaaaah, I am a wee busy. Not to mention that I am also in another theatre production (on and off stage work) and have other blogging duties to catch up on….
At least you all will know why I’m a wee slow at the moment. 
Hopefully I’ll start picking at that mountain before it becomes too high.
Right.
Why is this particular panel getting its own post? Simple, because it was funny, crazy and entertaining… and I have a bad habit of heckling to the point that it is borderline flirting.
*sighs*
Story of my life.
So what happened? Well I am not sure… first there was some back and forth with a few people in the audience (myself included since I don’t really know when to keep my mouth shut sometimes). Then the creators asked if someone would be interested in joining them on the panel to which someone (Ryan Sainio) jumped up and joined them on the panel.
It came out that he has only read the first volume, and that he had already interacted with them the night before so he had trouble with coming up with a few questions…
Along the way it all came out that there is some obscure law in the Canadian Constitution that it is illegal to kill Will Shatner…
WHAT?!?!?!
And that plus a bunch of other things caused this to be one of the best panel discussions EVER!
Then the heckling continued.
*sighs*
Oh did I mention that Conor McCreery did the voice of Bane from Batman? And did an excerpt from the Bane Rap? Don’t know what the Bane Rap is? Let me rectify that for you:
Oh and I learned a new word: Thon
A few things that I was interested in:
- stage adaptation of Kill Shakespeare
- expansion of the universe to include (more) characters from some of Shakespeare’s comedies
However, I am not going to provide the questions and answers because I didn’t keep any notes… I know silly me… instead just head on over to Ryan Sainio’s podcast and get his thoughts on that part of the panel discussion…
Continue reading
In early December of 2012, I was fortunate to have a show that I was originally in rehearsals for… to be postponed until spring of 2013. Why fortunate? Because it gave me a chance to see a concert celebration for the music from Final Fantasy… and I have yet to miss a concert since the tour began five years ago and have come through Chicago how many times since then?
The Final Fantasy Concert holds a special place in my heart… it is where I met one of the first people that I knew from the online world and were friends with (well before the internet became littered with predators and crazies). So naturally it became a habit for me to want to see the concert every time it comes through Chicago… there is a bit of nostalgia that comes into play.
This year was no different and yet meant the world… for this time around it was the Distant Worlds Official Final Fantasy 25th Birthday Celebration. Since Chicago is known to be the kick off city for the first North American Tour of the Final Fantasy Concert series it made sense to have the Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Celebration to be in Chicago.
Now I would typically write my own review of the concert… but I am lazy and there are already people online that have put their own two cents of the concert. So I will just link to one such blog post by another concert go-er…
Just click on the break to see the set list that was featured at the 25th Celebration concert… and some of my quick impressions.
So I have been on a kind of corset kick lately… to the point that I have been putting together costume ideas for the next time I go to a convention or maybe even Halloween (shocker!). So why am I on this corset related kick?
Well to start, when I realized that my measurements were fairly proportional to one another (bustline and hips are within an inch of one another and my waist being around four to five inches smaller) the idea that a corset could squeeze that into an almost perfect hourglass shape (nine to ten inch difference between bust/hips to waist), it really emphasized the natural curves that most women seem to lack nowadays.
So now that I know the strength of my figure, the idea of putting together costumes that I know I could pull off well started to seep into my mind… below are just a few ideas…
LULU from FINAL FANTASY X
One of the costume ideas I have been staring at for years was the amazing costume from Final Fantasy X of Lulu. Now there are a lot of well done costumes out there already, but I am a little obsessed with the idea of having a corset as the primary piece and everything else would be rather simple to piece together from everything else.
In fact when Pendragon Costumes recently posted a picture of a new piece – via their Facebook Page – I knew I found my staple not just for Lulu but for a Steampunk costume should I desire it.
The irony of finding my base has led me to find other pieces online that I could use for my costume… most notably all the jewelry / hair pieces, the doll that Lulu uses… and even a YouTube video of someone showing how to use one’s hair to mimic that of Lulu’s without having to get a wig. Which for someone like me with long thick black hair… I prefer using it as much as possible.
I still have a few pieces to put together, namely the belted underskirt, the sleeves and the top fur trim, but I think for the most part I can get those done on my own as soon as the dress comes in. 
Earlier in the summer I was introduced to the Bristol Renaissance Faire by close friends of mine and instead of going once… I went multiple times. Why? Because I was trying to put together a costume for an upcoming convention in Rochester, Minnesota called FablesCon.
After much deliberation, timeline, feasibility, etc… I have finally figured out who I am going as… and considering most of the piece are almost done all I have left are a couple of essential accessories… W00t! Let’s hope I get this done in time for March.
However… I digress. After the plans for the aforementioned costume were put in motion, my friends and I helped another friend in deciding what to do for his costume which in time turned over to “so when you go to the Ren Faire next year what are you going to dress up as?”
Well… I don’t know, I never really thought about it. Darn them for planting seeds so that I have to think about it now… grr.
Continue reading
Over the past weekend I was privileged to be able to watch the Vertigo – Fables 10th Anniversary panel at the New York Comic Con. From the New York Comic Con website:
Speakers:
Andrew Pepoy, Bill Willingham, John Cunningham, Matt Sturges, Phil Jimenez, Sean E. Williams, Shelly BondDescription:
Come join in the party as Fables celebrates its 10th anniversary at New York Comic Con! Join Bill Willingham, creator of the multi-Eisner Award winning series Fables and Fairest, Group Editor Shelly Bond, Phil Jimenez (Fairest), Matt Sturges (Fairest) and others as they look back on 10 years of the amazing journey that is Fables, plus an in depth look into what the future holds! Don’t miss this panel that is truly legendary.
Needless to say… there was a lot of information coming our way… and true to the Bill Willingham style, there were a lot of teases, diversions, and possible red herrings being thrown for the audience to see.
So where to start?
LATEST FABLES AND FAIREST ISSUES ON STANDS NOW
Well first off the issues of Fairest and Fables that are out for the month of October. Fairest opens up to a Rapunzel story arc while Fables wraps up the Cubs in Toyland storyline. Click here for a review of Issue 121 of Fables (warning… spoilers!)
UPCOMING ISSUE OF FABLES
Coming up later in October we have a one-shot story called “The Destiny Game”. Since I didn’t take any notes about this particular issue other than Bill asking the audience if they felt that the Fables series did not do a good enough job when it comes to magic and destiny… below is the summary of the issue from the Vertigo Comics website:
How does fate work in the Fables fictional universe? Find out in this tale full of deadly chases, betrayals, sword fights and skulduggery, as superstar guest-artist Gene Ha guides us through “The Destiny Game.” Also: Bufkin and his “girlfriend” sidekick continue their Ozian adventures in the backup feature painted by Shawn McManus.
An interesting quote that was spoke to the audience later in the panel… straight from the upcoming issue of Fables:
Your sons and daughters will become gods and monsters that lay waste on the world…