Comic Con Recap

We've been going to various cons for the past few years, but this year was especially eventful. James entered almost every contest, and while we didn't win the $50 in gift certificates, he DID win a two-night stay at a downtown hotel. The room was nicer than I expected, and the bed was really comfy. The hotel wasn't super close to the convention center, but it made us feel like we were on vacation. And they gave us a bunch of Japanese candy for some reason. Yum!

James also won a photo op with Manu Bennett, who played Slade/Deadshot on the TV show Arrow as well as Azog the Defiler in the Hobbit movies (voice and motion capture).

I'm never one for dressing up, but I love watching James and Atticus have fun. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

Atticus got to meet the original red Ranger and the second yellow Ranger (not pictured--they didn't come in costume)

When they opened the Ranger panel to audience questions, I looked at James and said, "These are the nerdiest nerds I've EVER seen." But then when one of them thanked the Red Ranger (Austin St. John) for his work with the Autism Foundation, it clicked that all of these people were likely on that spectrum. It made perfect sense, and we felt bad for mocking them. We later stopped by Austin's booth so Atticus could ask him how it felt to be a Power Ranger ("It was totally amazing") and get a high five. He was kind to talk to us and give Atticus full attention.

Group costumes are the most fun.

A meet-up of amateur Star Wars cosplayers. Atticus is in the front row, and James is the only Wookiee. We left before the Star Trek cosplayers came for a stand-off photo shoot. That Wookiee mask gets hot...

The big-ticket event this year was the panel with the actors who play Captain America and Falcon. There was rumor that Agent Carter would also show up. To avoid a stampede for seats, the organizers gave out tickets on a lottery system. It made a lot of people mad that they didn't give preference to people who bought VIP tickets, but it worked out well for us. We scored three tickets and got a good seat toward the front. James took this pic off of the jumbo screen (we didn't get this close).

This was my favorite event this year. Chris Evans (Captain America) wasn't as comfortable on stage as Anthony Mackie (Falcon), but they both seemed really genuine and happy to be there. Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter) didn't get to say anything, but she got a big cheer when she appeared on stage. She wasn't scheduled to do a panel for some reason.

Another favorite part was my friend Cindy's art booth. She does amazing papercuts. We'd already bought a print of the Utah-shaped one (quote from the end of Raising Arizona, which ends, "I don't know, maybe it was Utah"). I also bought a print of the Yoda to the left of Utah, which reads, "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." I loved the quote but didn't recognize it--

it's from The Empire Strikes Back. I would have loved to buy everything she had, but we have only so much wall space.

Other things I don't have pictures for:

• Falcon and the commentator had an impromptu push-up contest on stage, so when Atticus saw the commentator on the convention floor, he dropped to the ground and started doing one-armed push-ups to challenge him. The guy was gracious enough to take the challenge and do a few himself.
• We took a break on Saturday and had lunch at a nicer place down the block. It was fun to sit in a restaurant patio with Luke Skywalker and a half-wookiee (James took off the top half of the costume).
• I stayed late to see John Barrowman, who played Captain Jack Harkness on Doctor Who/Torchwood. He's an amazing performer, but I was disappointed by how crude he was. I felt even worse when I realized I'd missed the general women's meeting to be there. It was kind of a bummer to end the weekend that way.

Overall, the experience was a lot of fun. The great thing about Comic Con is how nice people are. Even at the most crowded times and places, I never saw anyone rude or mean. You can talk to strangers and ask to take pictures with them, and it's all good. You stand in a long line and make friends with the people around you. I wasn't all that excited about going again this year, but I'm really glad we did. 

My Faves for Today

• Dinner I could make/eat every week: Sauteed boneless chicken thighs in mustard cream sauce (click on photo for recipe). I actually leave out the cream, though last time I added a tablespoon or so whole milk. I have tried this with grainy Dijon and smooth; I think my favorite is a combination of the two. Most delicious leftovers EVER.
• Homemade ice cream. I tried a fancy custard variety yesterday but got scared when the custard seemed a little curdled, especially since we were making it for a party. I mixed up a second no-cook batch, which was tasty. I just froze the curdled version, and DANG it tastes like creme brulee minus the brulee. Maybe I need to get out the silpat and torch to burn some sugar...
• "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark" by Fall Out Boy. It's a perfect workout song. When I listen to it I imagine myself sprinting over the finish line with my fists in the air. I'M ON FIIIAH!!
• The other song I listen to at high volume over headphones is "Don't Let Go Yet" by David Roch. I can't find a sample online, but here's another great one from him: "Skin and Bones." I have his album in pretty heavy rotation in my work playlist. Haunting and beautiful and heavy on harmony. And I swear it's Neko Case doing backup vocals on Skin and Bones. Love her.

That's all I can think of right now. My big accomplishment for today was finally hanging pictures in our bedroom. James hung curtains yesterday, so after two years our room is starting to feel complete. And with blackout curtains in both bedrooms, I got to sleep in until 7:30. Woo hoo! 

In case you missed it...

Here's a better link to Atticus and the Avengers. James got the Hawkeye doll from a crane machine. He has a knack for those things...

More nerdiness

Star Wars is another Atticus obsession this week. He's read the picture books and knows all the characters, but this week we finally watched the movie (Episode IV).

Atticus this morning: Mama, what does "hoo-pah" mean?
Me: Hoo-pah?
Atticus: It's what Darth Vader says when he's breathing.

Yesterday, while looking at the picture book of Annikin from Episode III:
Atticus: Does Annikin take a shower?
Me: Um, probably. I hadn't thought about it.
Atticus: What does he do with his robot hand? Does it get wet?

Such imponderables. I love my little nerdling. :)

My son is a nerd genius.

I don't know how to embed video, and James only uploaded it to Facebook, so see if you can get it from my wall.

Heidi is currently...

• Listening to the fabulous Neko Case, who is coming to Salt Lake on June 16th. We already have tickets. If you don't know her, check out one of my favorite songs on Letterman or download a few from her website. Do it. Do it now.

• Crushing on Blaine Anderson from Glee. What is it about sweetly romantic boys who can sing and dance? Oh yeah. They're irresistible. And usually gay, like this character is. (Also probably the only man able to make high-water pants and sweater vests sexy.) Darn. But so much fun to watch. Don't believe me? Check out this duet with the equally beautiful Matt Bomer, who plays his brother.  Or maybe this one. 

• Excited about going to see a sneak preview of The Avengers this Thursday. 'Splosions, eye candy, witty banter, and Scarlett Johanssen kicking butt. What more could you want in a movie, really? Except for it to be free. And oh yeah, it is! James won passes. Yea!

• Looking forward to a trip to Illinois sometime this summer. (July or August maybe? How would that work for you, Suz?) I recently discovered that I have 59,000 SkyMiles just waiting to be used. Woo hoo! We're also talking about going back to Arizona to visit the Bennett clan at some point, maybe spending a night or two in Vegas on the way. Trips are always fun to think about.

• Trying to avoid cleaning and grocery shopping and planning a lesson for tomorrow. Maybe I should get back to that... Bye! :) 

I guess we're trendy after all

I just discovered something distressing. Check out this list of "Hipster Names":
James doesn't know where the idea for Atticus came from, so maybe there's something in the air, some kind of hipster zeitgeist we can blame. Plus, since before we were married we've talked about naming a daughter Rosemary, which isn't on the list, but our nickname of choice is: Romy. How depressing is that? Who knew that Atticus and Romy were this generation's Ashley?

I've never been hip, and I have no desire to start now. I totally blame James for this.

Stuff White People Like

Check out this blog for a good laugh at yourself. It's frighteningly on-target.

I'm No Guitar Hero

Our good friends the Biddulphs invited us over last night for dinner and Wii, and I have to say I really suck at Guitar Hero. I got booed off the stage both times I tried. I just couldn't get my left hand to coordinate with my right or remember which order the buttons were in, even though it shows you right on the screen. James of course did really well, rocking Iron Maiden and the whammy bar like he was born to it. And Linwood was a lot of fun to watch--he could play on the "hard" level, and I just marvel at people who can keep up with those complicated moves.

I didn't leave feeling like a total loser, though. I scored some serious points on the Wii trivia game Smarty Pants. I was a little disappointed that the game made my cartoon persona wear ankle-strap heels, though. Brook got to wear Keds, and there I was with my swollen pregnant ankles in strappy heels. They looked pretty good on screen, even though I know they'd look horrible on my body. Oh well. No use getting vain over a cartoon persona...

Cloverfield

James and I saw this movie a couple weeks ago, and I'm still thinking about it. I can't say why, exactly, since it's not like it has any deep meaning or anything. But something about it is compelling.

It's your basic monster-attacks-New York movie, with lots of destruction and mass hysteria. (And why do monsters only seem to attack New York? Why not Baltimore or DC or Boston? Or heck, LA or Seattle? Maybe it's because those cities don't have iconic structures for the monster to destroy--only in NY can it rip off the head of the Statue of Liberty and throw it at people. That must be it.) The difference with this movie is that it's all told from the first-person perspective of a small group of friends.

It's very much the "Blair Monster Project," a hand-held camcorder being the only camera. The premise is that a group of friends is having a farewell party for a friend moving to Japan (small nod to Godzilla there), and someone is going around with the camera recording farewell messages when the monster attacks. Another layer is added because the party is being taped over the recording of the Japan guy's weekend with the girl he's loved forever, so every once in a while some of that recording will pop up in the middle of all the monster chaos.

This format makes it so we don't have any real context for the events. The introduction says only that this camera and tape were found in the destruction zone, so we know that Manhattan has been destroyed. We don't get any back-story on the monster or any neat wrap-up at the end. We don't get the standard monster-movie intro where some unlucky extra stumbles upon the monster in its natural habitat and somehow unwittingly brings it back to New York. We don't see the top-secret military project that created/discovered the monster or the asteroid carrying the monster hit the earth. We don't see the president and his advisers arguing over what to do. There's no previously misunderstood expert who comes in and saves the day. So maybe what makes this so interesting is that it's a movie very much embedded in the monster-movie cliche, but it doesn't use most of the cliches within that genre.

Anyway, that's probably way too much analysis for a movie that really isn't that deep. The characters are flat, the plot simple. But maybe that's what keeps me thinking about it--if it's really that shallow, why did I like it so much? That J. J. Abrams is a genius.

Oh, and in case anyone's wondering, there is a little sound byte at the end of the credits that, when you play it backwards, sounds like "It's still alive" or "We're still alive." Apparently it's on YouTube. I can't imagine they'd make a sequel, though.

Something to Think About (and a little self-justification)

I ran across this sentence in a book I'm reading (see left), and it really struck me: "[O]ur lives are not stories, at least in the present tense--we don't passively consume a narrative thread. (We turn our lives into stories after the fact, after the decisions have been made, and the events have unfolded.)" (page 56)

In context the author is using this to justify video games, but it struck me as much more profound. I've been thinking a lot about history lately, and I think this is why there is so much debate and confusion over historical events and narratives. Yes, we may be able to prove that a certain person was at a certain place and did a certain thing. But when it comes to why that person did a certain thing at that time and how it ties into everything else going on at the same time, that's where we get into trouble. Because the person in question doesn't know the bigger picture at the time--that's usually for us to determine and interpret.

Joseph Smith didn't know about the Book of Mormon or Nauvoo or temples or anything when he walked out of the Sacred Grove. Everything came piece by piece until we get to today, when we can look back and see a narrative that didn't exist at the time. It's the same thing with any historical figure or event. Sometimes the people involved write memoirs and create that narrative for us, but even then it's their interpretation of the events after the fact--another participant will have a different point of view. As one friend pointed out, when it comes to history, there are very few "facts."

And it made me think about my own life, what my narrative will be. Right now I can see how certain events led to decisions and my current life path, but I certainly didn't know it at the time. I have imagined the rest of my story, but I have no idea what lies before me. And I have to say, if anyone were writing/reading a minute-by-minute account of my life these days, it would be incredibly boring. Should I try to make it more interesting? Is there more I want to do with my time before it passes?

Ok, enough pondering. On to self-justification. Later in the same book (page 119), the author is talking about blogging and online diaries: "[T]he screen is not just something you manipulate, but something you project your identity onto, a place to work through the story of your life as it unfolds." I like that.

The Oceanic Six??

Any "Lost" fans out there as curious as I am to find out who the rest of the "Oceanic Six" are? We know three of them: Jack, Kate, and Hurley. Is the person in the coffin at the end of last season one of the six? If so, why didn't anyone else show up? The rumor going around is that the other three are Sayid, Sun, and Jin. But I can't think of a reason no one would go to the funeral if any of those three (or Hurley) died.

And why are there only six? There are rumors that more than six got off the island but only six are known publicly. Did any "others" get rescued? They weren't on the Oceanic flight, so how would they explain who they were and why they were on the island?

So how many people are left on the island? The implication is clearly that more survivors are still there and want to be rescued/need help, but who and how many?

Two more boggling questions from last night's episode: why could Hurley see Jacob, and why could he make the cabin disappear?

*sigh* This writers' strike better end soon so they can film the rest of the episodes slated for this season. I don't know if I can handle a year-long hiatus.