Java House #11: The Year in Review

245 Days Until Dragon*Con!!!

Well, since this is the last blog of 2010, I thought I'd cover the year, a year of ups and downs, joy and sadness, dark clouds and sunny skies... well, you get the idea. Good and bad.

Kicked off the year, or rather closed out 2009 and began 2010 with an epic New Year's Eve party with friends. I love my local friends. Craziest and most awesome group of people ever! Can't wait for Friday's party!

However, there were a lot of people on the convention scene that caused some drama with me this year, one person in particular who I am still civil enough not to mention a real name, so we will just call this person "Sith Lord". Sith Lord was once a good friend, but for some reason just became cold to a few people. I admit to have been a good bit overbearing to this person, but the fact was that I hated the change in Sith Lord and was trying, yes a bit too hard, to be a friend. This back-fired and not only did Sith Lord talk to me like I was dirt, but said that "everyone" (which I assumed at the time were significant mutual friends) was making fun of me and talking crap behind my back. This lie turned me against a lot of good people for a while, and it took time to repair those relationships after I realized I was wrong to act that way to them without discussing matters first. By the way, I'm not writing this because I am still hurt, but because it was a significant event of late 2009 and early 2010.

Really got my LJImagination site going this year, though I did run into a few problems with web engines and haters. All in all though, I've had a lot of fun with it and found new ways to promote my costuming friends.

Had some fun times with my friends' band 52 Ways this year, helping them set up for shows in Georgia and Tennessee. Also did a great photoshoot with them over the summer. Awesome band, and if they are ever playing near you, check them out!

Went to Orlando with the family this year, my niece's first trip to Disney. Had fun at the Magic Kingdom, as well as with my friends who live down there; an epic day with my friends Jamie and Julie which included a costume photoshoot, my friend Holly's birthday, and lunch with Hector and Lymari and family. I am 31 years old and that place is still magical to me.

Got to go to two conventions this year as opposed to one. The first was the BIG ONE, Dragon*Con 2010!!! Got a lot of great photos, got to costume every major day, and got to once again organize my own photoshoot! I am so humbled by EVERYONE who came to help out with that. Most importantly, I got to hang out with both local and long distance friends at Dragon*Con, which is always the best part.
Wizard World Atlanta was a much smaller con, but not too small. Had fun hanging around with one of my best friends, Leach, and it was great seeing some Dragon*Con friends again. Got some great pics, though they didn't turn out as well as I hope they would. I think my camera's crapping out on me. Also was in the costume contest. Didn't win but it was fun.

Now I am about to end the year with a great New Year's Eve Party, where we will ring in 2011 and hope for the best, lol.

Java House #10: Geek Christmas Carols

250 Days Until Dragon*Con 2011

Merry Christmas Everyone! Here are two Geek Christmas Carols I came up with recently.

JOKER THE WHITE-FACED PSYCHO

You know Penguin and Riddler and Scarecrow and Ivy,

Bane, Freeze, Mad Hatter, and ole Two-Faced Harvey,

But do you recall

The funniest villain of all?

Joker the White-Faced Psycho,

Had a very evil grin,

And if you ever crossed him,

He’d commit a nasty sin, Hoo-Hoo!

All of Gotham’s Finest,

Tried to take the Joker down,

But he never let them catch him,

Though he did let quite a few drown, Hahahahahahaha!

Then one dark and gloomy night,

Batman came to say,

“Joker with your cold, black heart

Blah-Blah-Blah-Blah-Blah…” and then he arrested me.

Now all the little children,

Are safe with Joker locked away,

But Harley’ll cook up an escape plan,

Then Batman, you’ll be history! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

12 DAYS OF GEEK CHRISTMAS

On the 12 Days of Christmas, my Jedi Master gave to me

12 Greek Olympians...

11 Million Tribbles...

10 Thousand Orcs...

9 Sailor Scouts...

8 Master Robots

7 Potter Novels...

6 Star Wars Movies...

5 Planeteer Rings!!!

4 Ninja Turtles...

3 Musketeers...

2 Dueling Pirates...

And a Batmobile in a Batcave!!!

Hope you liked them! Merry Geek Christmas!

Java House#9: A Christmas Carol

255 Days until Dragon*Con 2011!

For this blog, I thought I would write about my all-time favorite Christmas tale, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. For the tiny few of you who have never heard this story, it is about a bitter old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge, who learns the true meaning of Christmas with the aid of three spirits who show him his past, present, and future. This story has been told and retold on TV and in Film multiple times, and I love some more than others. So here are my three favorite traditional versions and my two favorite offbeat versions.

Traditional:

1) The first is the 1980's made-for-TV film with George C. Scott. In my opinion, George C. Scott is the best Scrooge ever. He is downright heartless in the beginning and portrays an incredible warmth in the end. This film has an excellent supporting cast, including David Warner as Bob Crachit.

2) The musical with Albert Finney. Albert Finney is a marvelous actor, as evident in his role as Daddy Warbucks in ANNIE and Tim Burton's BIG FISH. The songs in this film are really cute and catchy. And I love how they expand on The Future sequence, actually sending Scrooge to Hell for a bit before he wakes up, truly showing him the extreme consequences of his actions.

3) A recent version with Kelsy Grammar. It was a musical as well. I love Christmas Present's song especially. Grammar, ever the master thespian, is of course brilliant as Scrooge.

Offbeat:

1) SCROOGED. This movie is hilarious. Bill Murray and the supporting cast really do an epic job of bringing a fresh twist to the tale while staying true to it's lessons. The one-liners are great in this film too, most of them coming from Murray and the Ghosts. But let's face it: Murray's the man in all of his films.

2) A MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL. How can anyone hate the Muppets? This movie truly kept Henson's legacy alive after he passed on. The songs are beautful, and I loved how they used original characters for the Ghosts and of course added in human characters such as the great Michael Caine as Scrooge. That's not to take away from Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, and the other Muppets we life-long fans grew up with.

Java House #8: What Makes A Trilogy

260 Days Until Dragon*Con 2011! This edition's countdown pic is a classic from 2007 with the lovely Allison as Powergirl!

Okay, one of my weirdest pet peeves is when people do not know the definition of a trilogy. People seems to think that the first three movies in any film series is a trilogy, and so they automatically slap them with that label. And some even do it with a fourth movie coming out! Argh!
Anyway, here are three ways you can tell a trilogy from a random set of three movies.

1) Definition
The basic definition for a trilogy is one story divided into three films (or books, but we're using films as examples here). The first movie is the beginning/introduction, the second the middle/climax, the third the end/resolution. A trilogy is not three movies about three separate adventures with a significantly different set of cast members. A prime example of a trilogy is of course the original Star Wars Trilogy (yes, the Prequels are too, but I avoid talking about them). The first film introduced the main characters and the story, the second ended in a climactic cliffhanger, and in the third the Empire was finally defeated and all was right with the galaxy. A prime example of three films that are not a trilogy are the first three Indiana Jones Films. In each film, Indy went on a separate adventure that had nothing to do with the ones before or after it. Though some cast members from Raiders of the Lost Ark returned in The Last Crusade, for the most part the cast of characters are different. The villains are definitely always different. Thankfully with the release of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, people will finally stop calling it a trilogy.

2) The Dependence Factor.
If the first two films can exist without the third, than it is not a trilogy. Superman 1 and 2 would have been fine without Superman 3. Batman and Batman Returns would have been fine without Batman Forever. And as much as I love The Last Crusade, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom would have been okay existence-wise without it.
But imagine if Star Wars ended with the Empire getting the upper-hand and Han still encased in carbonite and on his way to Jabba. Imagine if Back to the Future ended with Marty stuck in 1955 ranting happily about Doc being "safely" back in 1885. Imagine if Lord of the Rings ended with Frodo and Sam yet to reach Mordor. You get the idea. Three movies are a trilogy when they are co-dependent on each other. You can't have one without the other two.

3) One Trilogy Ends, Another Begins
Okay, I actually do have to talk about the Star Wars Prequels here. Almost two decades after Lucas finished the Original Trilogy, did he just make a Fourth Film.? No, he made another trilogy. To make a trilogy and then make a fourth film and stop is a huge no-no. Exceptions can be made now and then, like Peter Jackson making the Hobbit, a prequel to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. That's how Tolkien wrote the books. You can't really help that and damn it I want to see it, lol! But I think it would be unsettling to just see a fourth Back to the Future movie, and I hope that they are planning to make a new Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy and not just the upcoming movie.. Bottom line is that usually a Trilogy is not followed up by a single film. A simple set of three films can be and it's not a big issue, though Batman and Robin did royally suck.

So that's my rant! Hope you learned a little and had a good laugh.

Java House #7: Grilled Cheese Sammiches!!!

265 Days Until Dragon*Con 2011! This edition's Countdown Pic is of one of favorite Wonder Woman costumers, Margie.

Okay, I'm trying to write one these blogs every five days or so, but honestly I'm too tired today to ramble on about any particular thing in length, so here are short thoughts on a few things:

I'm 31 years old and I still love the stop-motion Holiday awesomeness of Rankin Bass, especially Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It was even cooler to get to watch it with my niece. ABC Family spoils me with several lesser-known Rankin Bass specials leading up to the big day.

Speaking of the big day, got my niece Legos and Hook on DVD, but not sure what to give the other folks. I'm thinking gift cards. Yeah, that's the easy way out I know, but hey they can use them to buy what they want, and that's actually what I want for Christmas too.

It really hit me yesterday that another semester is almost over at the Middle School. That means one more semester with the last of the students who were there when I started subbing. They're awesome students and I'm going to miss them when they go on to High School.

I finally saw Prince Caspian in full, so now I am ready for Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I loved the Chronicles of Narnia books and I hope they make all of the films. The next book in the series, The Silver Chair, is one of my favorites, so I definitely hope they make film.

I think it's really cool when I see different people costume a popular character, but why do other people in the costuming/convention community have to put a damper on that for some reason or another? Just something else that ruins the fun for us that don't like to start frakkin' drama! Okay, I'll stop ranting.

So that's it. Next blog will be on or around the 15th. Maybe I'll have something more specific to write about then.

Java House #6: Atlanta Comic Com Wrap-Up

270 Days Until Dragon*Con 2011. This edition's Countdown Pic is from the convention I am about to discuss. It's me with my pal Gary as Dr. Strange.

I only went one day of the two-day Atlanta Comic Con, but it was a darn fun day! So here's a rough order of events.

-My friend Leach and I got there, got the snazzy wristbands, and roamed the convention floor for a while. I was of course photo crazy. Throughout the day I met up with good friends and met new ones too.

-Panel with wrestling legend Kevin Nash and TNA's Tara (formerly WWE's Victoria). For those who don't know, I am a big pro-wrestling fan, and I love learning about all aspects of the business. These two answered a lot of my questions and shared a wealth of knowledge. Both were just really cool too.

-More roaming, friends, and photo fun!

- Adam West and Burt Ward 1966 Batman Panel. A lot more people at this panel, so I only got one question in, but it was cool to find out which celebrity guests the two loved to work with the most. Burt loved to share the stories, and Adam was just a comical smart-ass as always.

-More roaming, friends, and photo fun!

-Costume Contest. I decided to enter my Henchman just for the fun of it. I didn't care that I didn't win anything. I just wanted to go up and show off. The reaction from the crowd and the compliments were my prize!

So to sum up again, really fun day. I hope I can make another Con before September.

Thank yous got out to Leach, Allison John, Gary, Danny, Heather, Margie, Ned, Sherita, Dwight, Jonathan, Jessica, Katie, Grace, Shelley, Jimmy, Brandi, Bruce, Julie, JP, Chace, Mitchell, Joe, Gena, and Derek for helping to make the Con a blast!

Java House #5: My Thoughts on The Lantern Corps.

275 Days Left Until Dragon*Con 2011! This edition's pic features the lovely and talented Kelldar as Poison Ivy!

Okay, for a while there I was one of the many who thought there was only one Lantern Corps, the Green Lanterns (so don't feel bad, Jedi-J). I knew about Hal Jordan, Kyle Raynor, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and a few others, and I knew that Sinestro had the yellow ring (thank you Challenge of the Superfriends), but that was about it. But in the past few months, I have learned a lot more about the Green Lanterns, as well as the other colors of the emotion spectrum, thanks to the comics I've been reading and the Lantern Shoot at Dragon*Con 2010. So here's a brief look at each of them.

1) THE GREEN LANTERNS. EMOTION: WILL
I was a fan of the Hal Jordan Green Lantern at a very early age. He was one of my favorite action figures. In fact, he was such a hero that I HATED when he was possessed by Parallax. I hated seeing one of my favorites become a villain. I like Kyle and John too, as well as Soranik Natu and Arisia (hey, I'm a guy), but Hal will always be my favorite. The Green Lantern Corps in general is an awesome concept, an entire multitude of powerful heroes as opposed to one or a few.

2) THE RED LANTERN CORPS. EMOTION: RAGE
These guys remind me a lot of the Sith, as they become Red Lanterns because they allow their anger to consume them. So being a Star Wars fans, I love these guys. I do have an issue with the whole "spitting up plasma all the time" thing. I do think Hal looked pretty sweet as a Red Lantern, despite the brief alliance.

3) AGENT ORANGE. EMOTION: AVARICE
I think of all the Lanterns, Agent Orange is the best concept. The whole fact that there is really just one guy who commands a bunch of duplicates of those he has killed is pretty cool. I think the back story of the Orange Light adds some mystery as well.

4) SINESTRO CORPS. EMOTION: FEAR
I've always been a fan of Sinestro, and I love the story of how he turned from the Green Lanterns. The relationship between him and Hal is a great story as well. I really want to read the Sinestro Corps War to learn more about him and his minions. Also, I think it rocks that Scarecrow joined!

5) BLUE LANTERN CORPS. EMOTION: HOPE
I love the spirituality behind the Blue Lanterns. As one who studies and respects the teachings of Buddhism, the Blue Lanterns' outlook and optimism are very inspirational. Even in the darkest of hours, they see the light at the end of the tunnel. I tend to think of Brother Warth first when I think of the Blue Lanterns, as the elephant is strongly connected with Buddhism.

6) INDIGO TRIBE. EMOTION: COMPASSION
I don't know much about them, but I think the mysterious connection to Abin Sur is cool.

7) STAR SAPPHIRES. EMOTION: LOVE
I like how on the surface, these group seems to be benevolent, but they have a dark side as well as love can also mean lust or obsession, which has gotten them on a Green Lantern's bad side as well from time to time. I love the costumes too. My friends Margie and Heather did them great justice at Dragon*Con

8) BLACK LANTERN CORPS. EMOTION: DEATH
Being a horror fan, I love the whole Black Lantern concept! I think the coolest aspect is seeing a lot of the classic heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman as Black Lanterns, much like what they did with the Marvel Zombies. I think all my friends who did their costumes at Dragon*Con did a phenomenal job!

9) WHITE LANTERN CORPS.
Since I am backtracking on the Lantern Corps stories, I haven't really learned much about them yet. Can't wait to find out though!

So that's it for this edition!

The Java House #4: Being Thankful

With a little over 280 Days Left until Dragon*Con, here's this edition's Countdown Pic: Myself and the lovely Jessica Nova as Harley Quinn.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!
I know there are those out there who are quick to put down Thanksgiving because of their personal beliefs or because of their view on Thanksgiving's history. But honestly, should it be all about that stuff? I think people should look at the very name of the holiday in order to see what it is really about- The Giving of Thanks. No matter who we are or how we see the world, we have a heck of a lot to be thankful for. So here's a few things I'm thankful for:

1) I am thankful for the part of my family who has always been there for me no matter what, and have supported me in dark times.

2) I am thankful for the people who have been true friends to me, who have not judged me, who have tolerated my shortcomings and have accepted me for who I am.

3) Despite this country's problems, I am still thankful for being born in America, where I have the freedom to praise or rant about who and what I want to without worrying about being thrown in jail.

4) I am thankful for having food and a roof over my head.

5) I am thankful for the creative minds of the world who creates other worlds that I can get lost in once and a while.

I hope all of you are thankful too for what you have, and my best to you all. Again, Happy Thanksgiving!

Java House #3: The Dos and Do Nots of Online Role-Playing

A little over 285 Days Left until Dragon*Con 2010. This edition's Countdown pic is of the lovely Jennifer as Slave Leia!

Okay, so anyone who has or had a Myspace or Facebook account has seen this before; Online Role-Players. Now by Role-Playing, I'm not talking about the kinky stuff couples do to keep the romance alive, nor am I talking about RPGs. What I am talking about is a person pretending to be a fictional character online, and creating a social networking account for said character. Now on the surface, there's nothing wrong with that. Heck, how many of us went out and portrayed our favorite cartoon characters in the backyard when we were kids? However, there does come a point when it gets out of hand, and can even negatively affect others. So now I give you the Dos and Do Nots of Online Role-Playing.

DOs:

PLAYING A CHARACTER YOU COSTUME: I notice some of my costuming friends have at one time or another created a special account for a character they really enjoy costuming. I think that's really cool. They bring the character to life at conventions, so why not bring the character to life online? Plus, it's fun to see a person posing in that costume in various pics. A good example is my friend Maygin who costumes an amazing Anastasia DeCobray (aka COBRA's Baroness from the classic GI Joe cartoon). She is one of my favorites as that character, and even though she no longer uses the account, I happened to catch it and it was cool seeing her giving a favorite cartoon character of mine flesh and blood in the pics.

NON-COSTUMERS USING ART AND MOVIE STILLS: Now not all people who want to role-play are great costumers, so they use art and movie stills. As long as they are not blatantly stealing someone's personal art and claiming it as their own, that's cool. Like me playing Batman in the backyard as a kid, they are just having fun and escaping from the real world for a while.

DO NOTs:

PHOTO/IDENTITY THEFT: This is a BIG No-No that could get someone in BIG trouble. This is when a non-costumer who role-plays a particular character begins to steal pics of costumers who do costume that character. People may argue with me, but to me that's a form of identity theft. This is even more evident when they post a caption under a costumer's photo saying something like "This is me at San Diego Comic Con". I recently became the victim of one of these people as they used a photo I took of a good female friend of mine in costume. Not only that, they allowed "friends" to leave obscene comments about her. That in itself is a big No-No. You don't talk crap about my friends!

DISRESPECTING THE CHARACTER: If you are going to role-play a beloved fictional character, don't degrade or disrespect the character. Don't make an honorable character out to be sleazy, slutty, or comical. Well, unless the character is sleazy, slutty or comical to being with, but we are talking about honorable characters here. A good example here is a non-costumer Slave Leia role-player who was on my friends list for a brief period of time. She would IM and flirt with me "in character" and talk about how dedicated she was to her master. Okay, as I recall Princess Leia was 1) not a slut and 2) was not really all that loyal to Jabba since, um I don't know, she choked his fat-ass out shortly after her enslavement!

BEING OBSESSED: Okay, this goes to costumers or non-costumers. Play a character, be a character for a short while at a time, but don't "become a character". Don't take on the persona so much that you think you own that character. That's just mentally messed-up right there!

So bottom line here, role-playing can be fun not just for the role-player, but their friends as well. But it only works if it is indeed all in good fun. Don't take it too far, don't harm reputations or violate the online privacy of someone you probably don't even know. Don't turn something fun into a sick, sad, pathetic obsession that not only hurts others, but harms the REAL you.

So that's the rant this time. Thanks for visiting the Java House!

The Java House #2

290 Days Until Dragon*Con! Here's the Dragon*Con Pic for this edition: Myself with the lovely Megan as a cool, vintage version of Harley Quinn!

Okay, so I've only posted one blog on here, and that was back in April, so I thought what the heck and that I would get back on this thing.

This is basically a 2010 catch-up blog of sorts, so here we go:

- Still doing the Substitute Teacher thing, mostly at the Middle School. I was sad to see the 8th Graders leave last Spring. They were a terrific group the first two years I subbed. I don't sub at the High School much, so I really miss them.

-Went to Orlando last Spring as well. That was a blast. I got to meet my friend Jamie and Julie for the first time and do a costume photoshoot with them. I also got to spend time with my friends Holly, Lymari, and Hector. Of course, another big thrill was that it was my niece's first trip to Disney. She had a blast.

-The next highlight of the year was of course Dragon*Con 2011. It was a crazy one this year. I organized one shoot, did crowd control for another, and participated in another. Then there was the shoot-hopping I did. But damn was it fun! Big thanks to all the awesome people that made it possible!

-Halloween was pretty blah. Rather not talk about it.

-Now just subbing and looking forward to a few things: Niece's Birthday, Thanksgiving, Atlanta Comic Con and Christmas.

The Java House #1

Well, welcome to my debut edition of The Java House. This is just my weekly ramblings about stuff going on, plus a few other surprises here and there. So enjoy!

My Life:
Well, the big news for the next few weeks will be my Orlando trip. I am so psyched about this! I get to see some great friends, some for the first time in person, and my beautiful niece Melia gets to experience Disney for the first time. I love Disney myself, especially Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. Should be a blast!

Then there is Dragon*Con 2010! Though 21 Weeks Away from today, I am already getting plans together for my Lethal Ladies of Gotham Shoot. If you are a female Batman character costumer (no fem versions of male characters!), and are planning to attend the event, come be a part of it!

For those of you following my creative writing, I'm trying to finish up Cold Town, Part Two and am on Chapter Three of Les Calleet. I am a terrible procrastinator I know, but I'm working on it. I have an idea for a superhero story in mind. More on that later.

Media Stuff:
You know, I find it odd that the media claims to promote tolerance and equality, yet still makes a big deal about a celebrity confessing that he or she is a homosexual.

Wrestlemania will be in my hometown of Atlanta in 2011. Though 2010 had a lot of disappointing moments, I am hoping for an epic card. Without Shawn Michaels there, things look grim.

I still need to see Clash of the Titans. I am a big fan of the Ray Harryhausen classic, and of Greek Myth in general. I've heard both good and bad things, but I definitely want to judge for myself. I did see Alice in Wonderland, and was surprisingly delighted.

Pic of the Week: This week's pic is of myself with my friends Jason and Ginger, who are celebrating their wedding anniversary. Congrats you two!