CoolB*log

Wave goodbye to what you know,
Off to the grind is where you go.
Running the race with no end in sight,
Kan’t think straight from the plight.

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Went to the A.Y.U. reunion concert last night at EMU last night. And before you start wondering, no I hadn’t heard of them before either. They are an A Capella group. One of the members was on the Invisible Man tv show and so I know him through the fan club, and that’s how I heard about the concert. Defintately glad I went. Not only was the music great, but the banter between them was cool as well. They defintately put on a wonderful show.

They said they’ll be putting video from the concert on YouTube so when they do I’ll try and remember to post links.

Update: First videos are now on YouTube, yay!

Your Personality Profile

You are elegant, withdrawn, and brilliant. Your mind is a weapon, able to solve any puzzle. You are also great at poking holes in arguments and common beliefs.For you, comfort and calm are very important. You tend to thrive on your own and shrug off most affection. You prefer to protect your emotions and stay strong.

The World’s Shortest Personality Test

A haiku’s a poem,
That follows a strict pattern.
Straying not off course.

Unbelievable!
My day could not get any worse.
But yet somehow it has,
Rain has started coming down in bursts.
Even my socks are soaked,
Looking for a dry place to dock.
Lucky me, there’s a shop,
Ah drat, it’s locked!

Well, I’m back from California, and I probably should have done posts while I was there instead of waiting because I’ve probably forgotten stuff now, but I’ll do my best to remember what I can.

First day in California I met up with some of the people who were attending the I-Manicon and had dinner at the Sizzler. Or tried to at least, food never came, not a good time. Then we started getting the goody bags ready for the con the next day.

The day of the actual I-Manicon was good. We played games, watched some fan made music videos based on the show as well as an episode of The Invisible Man. Sadly, none of the cast made it in person that day but Mike McCafferty did talk to us from Michigan via speaker phone.

On Sunday mom and I braved Los Angeles public transportation to go to Burbank to attend the live show of The Radio Adventures of Doctor Floyd. Had a great time at the show, the cast was awesome. And I got “volunteered” form the audience to be in the show, which if you’re interested you can download here.

When we got back to the hotel Sunday night the group ordered pizza and then later in the evening Mike McCafferty stopped by to visit with us for a bit on his way home from the airport.

Monday the group did some sightseeing and then went to an Italian restaurant called Buca de Beppo’s. we ate in the Pope room which not only had pictures of Pope’s all over but also had a bust of the Pope on a lazy susan that was on the table. The lazy susan was to pass the food since everything was served family style, which meant when you passed stuff the Pope would be looking at different people. Paul Ben Victor also met us there along with a couple of his friends to hang out with us for a bit.

Tuesday we drove from Los Angeles to San Diego, trip wasn’t too bad. We didn’t really run into any major traffic and we got to use the carpool lane.

Wednesday we took a ferry to Coronado island to do some “sight seeing” although that actually translated more to shopping.

Wednesday night we headed to preview night for the Comic Con. Saw some interesting stuff and got quite a few pictures of some of the more interesting booths and displays.

Thursday was the actual official first day of the con. There weren’t any panels I was really interested in until the afternoon so I spent some time wandering the dealer room, including picking up a raffle ticket for Fin Fang Foom from the WizKids booth, which ended up being a winner, yay!

The first panel I went to that day was a DC panel focusing on the Countdown event that’s currently going on. They revealed some interesting things, but for the most part they were cryptic, as were a lot of other panels. The coolest thing about this panel was afterwards I was able to get Paul Dini’s autograph as well as a picture with him.

Later I went to the Spotlight on Scott Kurtz panel, who is the creator of the web comic PVP. Most of the stuff they talked about was about the new web based animated series based on the comic strip. It was interesting, but I personally prefer the comic strip.

The last panel I went to on Thursday was a retrospective on Star Trek, looking back over the past 40 years and somewhat to the future. No one from the actual show was there, but was some interesting stuff.

Friday the first panel I wanted to see was earlier, it was on adapting comics to the screen. Nothing too earth-shattering, although did get to see Stan Lee. Also found out that there’s plans for a live action Teen Titans movie.

After that went to a spotlight on Paul Dini, who is currently working at DC, but before that he worked on the Bruce Timm DC animated cartoons, notably Batman: The Animated Series.

After that panel I met up with a friend I know from City of Heroes and walked around the dealer floor with them for a while and chatted for a few hours. Also met and chatted to Roger Chang for a bit, very nice guy.

The next thing I did was go to the Jim Henson panel, they were promoting a couple new projects, the first one didn’t interest me much but their other project The Skrumps looked like it could be interesting.

The last panel of the day was the DC Nation, which had a few cool reveals, but nothing offhand that I can really recall.

Saturday was really eventful. First thing was a panel on the Marvel Ultimate Universe. Some interesting things coming from there, and I have to say Marvel reveals slightly more in their panels then DC does.

Next panel that day was one of my faves, Cartoon Voices 1 (other fave was Cartoon Voices 2). Panel had various voice actors, including Joe Alaskey who voices the Looney Tunes now, Will Ryan who does voices for Disney as well as Adventures in Odyssey, Kathy Garver who voices Angelica Jones/Firestar on Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, Rob Paulsen who was the voice of Pinky on Pinky and the Brain among other voices as well as a few others. There were some questions and answers but the best part was when the moderator had them perform an extremely edited down version of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds. Each of them played multiple parts, and in one scene three characters were arguing, and were all played by the same actor. Also during the performance when the moderator said ‘Switch’ whoever had the last line had to redo it in a different voice. And afterwards Rob Paulsen sang “Yakko’s World” from memory (Video is from 2006, didn’t find one from this con). I was also able to get a photograph with Will Ryan and Joe Alaskey.

Next was another DC panel and then a Marvel panel on stuff happening with Spider-Man. The one thing I remember from the DC panel was they had two people on stage dressed up, one as Mary Marvel in her new black outfit and the other as Knockout. At one point someone dressed as Spider-Man got to the microphone to ask a question and Knockout ran over and “beat him up”. And speaking of Spidey… there’s some interesting stuff happening with the line up of the Spider-Man creative team. I’m definitely interested to see what they do to/with the webhead.

Nice thing about Saturday was all those panels were in the same room so I was able to get there find a great seat and just park there all day. I was also going to go to the Smallville panel but a few things changed my mind, one was the extremely loooong line to get into the room, it stretched down and around 3 or 4 hallways. Also I thought about it and decided I didn’t want to be spoiled on what was coming up next season. And lastly, I was busy running back to hotel room and then back to convention to get to the FedEx inside the con to mail something back home before they closed. That in itself was a harrowing adventure, one I hope never to have to repeat.

Sunday was the last day of the con, and while I had fun I was kind of glad too since I was getting conned out. First panel was another DC panel. Honestly I wish I had written this up sooner so I could remember more, but now most of their panels kind of blend together.

I then went to the other Cartoon Voices 2 panel, which was pretty much the same as Cartoon Voices 1 (including the War of the World’s performance), but with different actors. This one had among others, Michael Bell who did voices on the original Transformers, Gregg Berger who also did voices on Transformers, including Grimlock, and Maurice La Marche who was the Brain in Pinky and the Brain.

I then wandered around the dealer room one last time as well as said hello to Roger Chang one last time. I thought about going to a couple other panels, but since none of them were things I absolutely had to see, and I was getting uncomfortable with the sheer number of people, as well as being conned out, I left the con early and headed back to the hotel.

I definitely had a great time and I’m glad I went, but not sure yet if I want to plan on going next year. Something to think about.

Everything you may or may not do,
Under any circumstance at all.
Whether or not it’s on purpose,
Or just hitting the proverbial brick wall.
We take no responsibility,
It’s your fault to the end.
So think twice about buying this item,
Is this money you can afford to spend?
It makes no difference to us,
What you decide to do.
But just remember if you don’t like it,
There’s no one to blame but you.

They say they’ll part until the time,
When the cows come back home.
And I have to wonder that if they could talk,
What they’d say of the places they’ve roamed.
And I can only imagine what would be said,
Of the passerby who see them out and about.
As the parade of bovines walks on by,
Sniffing the people with their snouts.
Oh and I hope they’re careful,
Of the bulls and the steers.
Especially the china shops,
I hope of them they stay clear.

Floating down the river,
Lounging on a tube.
Over the rapids I float,
As calm and cool as an ice cube.
The people wave as I pass by,
In that friendly country way.
No cares do I have,
Going to float down the river all day.

Noises softly heard,
Oh so quietly.
Can you hear them?
The crickets chirping and the owls in the tree.
Under foot things scurry,
Running this way and that.
Natures graveyard shift,
Always something happening, don’t get hit by that bat.
Let the darkness surround you,
As you journey farther in.
Don’t let the dark scare you,
Very true it may seem grim.
Even though you may not see,
Nothing will do you harm.
The denizens of this not quite quiet place,
Unto you share their special charm.
Really it is truly safe for you,
Especially with me beside you.

Keep your head up,
Don’t get pulled down.
Keep on fighting to stay afloat,
Don’t give in and drown.
When the waves come crashing around you,
And you think all hope is lost.
Just remember I’ll be there for you,
No matter the cost.
Because I know,
Beyond the shadow of a doubt.
That if I were the one in trouble
And would help fish me out.

I look out at them,
Trying not to stare.
Wondering what their stories are,
How they came to be there.
Some look gruff and mean,
While others timid and nice.
All are mostly civil,
Ignoring each others stench and lice.
They are all ages,
Many sizes and skin colors too.
Each one waiting their turn,
To step up in the queue.
And as I serve them their food,
I come to realize as I hand them a bowl.
While they may have dirty faces,
Many of them have a golden soul.

Keeping to myself,
Not joining the rest.
Only I know why,
Truly it’s for the best.
Someday, maybe, my stomach won’t be in knots.

Wanting to dance with you,
To hold you close to me.
Moving to the beat,
You being the only thing I see.

But I know it won’t be,
No matter how much I wish it were.
Cause I’ve asked before,
And got the cold shoulder, brrrr.

Wondering how come,
How could this happen to me?
Yet still I don’t know.

To walk beside you,
In the soft moonlight.
That’d be grand,
All through the night.

To talk with you for hours,
Getting to know you better.
That’d be great,
Listening to your every word and letter.

To spend time with you,
Seeing your smile beam.
That’d be wonderful,
But alas, it’s only a dream.

Went to the Motor City Comic Con yesterday. I had a great time, although I am now broke. Got a lot of autographs from Star Trek actors including Jonathan Frakes, Grace Lee Whitney, BarBara Luna, Dominic Keating, Connor Trinneer, Robin Curtis, Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo.

Everyone was friendly, especially Robin Curtis, Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo. I also bought Robert Picardo’s two cds that I didn’t already have. I could have bought them earlier off of his website but I was wanting to wait until he came to a convention so I could get them autographed as well.

Later in the afternoon went to a question and answer panel with Robert Picardo and Ethan Phillips. They’re quite hilarious and were joking with each other through pretty much the entire panel, oh and they answered questions too.

After the convention we stayed and watched an original play called Housecall that was written and performed by Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo which reprised their roles from Star Trek: Voyager. Quite humorous, especially the ad libbed parts, if you ever get a chance to see these two at the same con and they’re doing the performance I highly recommend seeing it, well worth the $15

Stacking them up high,
Thinking they can reach the sky.
Putting blocks seemingly on a whim,
But they fit into a plan to him.
Stack a red one there next to the green,
Making an amazing scene.
But when it’s all built,
And made not to tilt.
That’s when the real fun starts,
Because that’s when you knock it apart.