Carja

A Genre Weekend!

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May 072012
 

This past weekend was a true nerd’s weekend.

Friday was Star Wars Day. May the Fourth by with you was too obvious a slogan to let pass. I didn’t do anything “Star Warsy” but that doesn’t change that it’s a day for folks like me.

Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. My local comic book store put on an event to celebrate the day. There were comic bagging contests (I won a round), raffles (I won a Cheetah bust), folks in costumes, and of course comic books (free and otherwise). I wore an Age of Animus t-shirt to promote the site, but sadly nobody asked me about it. With a little planning, I might be able to produce something to give away at next year’s FCBD.

Of course, these “freebies” aren’t really free. The comic publishers put them out at a net loss, but the retailers still have to pay a minimal amount for them. The idea being that the folks that take the freebies will like what they see and come back for the real (read: full price) comics. Without the weight of a publishing house behind me, I’ll be absorbing the entire cost and the scope will be limited (my local comic book shop and that’s about it), but it’s a start.

I met a good number of folk at the event and we talked about all kinds of nerdy subjects. It’s nice to meet new people with the same interests to bring a fresh voice or  new perspective to the conversations you’ve been having for years with your friends.

Sunday, we went to see The Avengers. I thought it was okay…better than okay, it was good. It’s well worth seeing on the big screen (in 2D), I just didn’t think it was GREAT. There were parts I felt dragged on or didn’t add enough to the movie to be included (like the Pepper Potts scene with Tony Stark in the beginning). What’s funny though is that if they hadn’t been included in the movie and only released as deleted scenes on the DVD, I’d probably have felt they should have been included in the movie. I’m crazy that way.

Joss Whedon did an excellent job of balancing the screen time so that each hero had his or her time to shine. Iron Man/Tony Stark was understandably given top billing, but I felt like the best scenes were the ones involving the Hulk/Bruce Banner. After two disappointing movie efforts, it was nice to see Hulk done right. Mark Ruffalo was great as Banner.

I think it’s inevitable that when The Dark Knight Rises comes out people will compare it negatively to the Avengers because it won’t (I think) be as successful at the box office. I don’t think it will be a fair comparison because the two movies have two different approaches. Nolan’s Batman trilogy is dark, gritty and trying to ground itself a little more in reality. The Avengers, and the movies leading up to it, are colourful, explosive and fun. I think DC needs to get their act together and start handing their properties to people who know what they’re doing to create a cohesive movie universe like Marvel. I want a Justice League movie darnit!

Sadly, my next big nerd weekend isn’t scheduled until September. I’m already looking forward to it.

Zoë of the Mouse Wing – Part 8

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May 042012
 

“Do we have everything?”

The kittens answered in the affirmative. It had been a tough decision to make, but Zoë had seen little other choice. They had to move. They had foraged all there was to eat in the immediate area and still there was no sign of Popkin or any other Mouse Wingers.

She wasn’t able to walk. Trip would have to carry her on his back. She was small enough that even Biki could carry her, but as the oldest, Trip had insisted that he be the one to carry her. It was a pride thing that she wasn’t inclined to argue with.

Despite everything she couldn’t imagine that they were that deep into the forest, about half a day’s travel at most. The problem was making sure that they were headed in the right direction. She didn’t have a compass and the canopy of trees made it difficult to get her bearings with her ‘scope.

Fortunately she had some basic survival training. “Moss grows thicker on the north side of a tree.” She explained to the kittens. “We just keep going left of the moss.”

It had been enough for the kittens. They were happy to be moving.

“Remember, keep in sight at all times. No wandering off on your own.”

“We won’t wander off,” the kittens promised. As with Popkin, it never hurt to repeat instructions to children. They had a tendency to forget things.

“Alright. Let’s get moving then!” She slipped into the makeshift harness she’d helped the kittens build to carry her. Normally she’d have just hung on to Trip, but in her condition she wasn’t sure she could manage even that.

“Biki, Greggy, go a little ways ahead and look for trees with moss. The rest of you, stay with Trip and me.”

The trek was on!

Animus Trek I – The Motionless Picture

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May 022012
 

Welcome back to the Wednesday Mash-up. As promised in Monday’s blog, this week’s theme is Star Trek.

Chronologically, Star Trek: Enterprise comes first, so here’s Nektara wearing the uniform made famous by Scott Bakula (I admit, I’ve never watched an episode of Enterprise. I totally had to look it up). Because the Funnies characters don’t have arms wide enough to put the crest on, I had to cheat and put it above the red piping on the shoulder pads. The red by the way, designates security and engineering, just like in Classic Trek.

Next up is Classic Trek. Todrick is rocking the science officer blues while talking into a communicator. I’m ashamed to admit that I drew a Star Wars comlink in his paw at first. It didn’t look right, so I looked for a reference picture online. As soon as I saw it, I was like, duh! They look like cell phones! How could I forget that?

 

After the original series comes Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Cyran is sporting a Starfleet uniform circa 1979. I didn’t notice until I finished that I actually had him looking to the left, which has given me plenty of trouble in the past. I guess it’s the goggles that make it hard, because I think he looks good here.

Finally, I’ll finish up with an alien uniform. Here is Barnaby as a post-Classic Trek Klingon. This is twice Barnaby gets to rock the mustache look!

Next week we’ll conclude our look at Animus Trek. See you then!

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