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Dragons At Large: ReedPOP's Favorite Dragons

2012-01-29T10:02:00.001-05:00

The Year of The Dragon officially began on Monday. To celebrate the end of the first week of this most ferocious year (or is it the start of the second week), we're proud to present a survey of some of ReedPOP's favorite dragons. Roar! Growl! Chomp! The dragon a symbol of power and fortune in China, the Year of the Dragon is probably the coolest year in the Chinese Zodiac, and those born in the Year of the Dragon are considered to be domination, ambitious, and successful. They're lucky, too, unlike those poor fools born in lamer years like the Year of the Pig or the Year of the Rat.

None of this really matters, though, as this is just an excuse to talk about dragons. Compiled by @MKatLovesYou, @h_e_e_l_s, @henchling, and @PeterTatara, here we go...

Megellan. Nickelodeon's answer to Sesame Street was the puppetastic Eureeka's Castle. It centered on a sorceress in training, the titular Eureeka, and the other inhabitants of her home. Chief among these was Magellan. A baby dragon, he had a propensity for Hawaiian shirts and giant sneezes. The Magellan puppet was operated by Noel MacNeal, a gent who was also Raphael in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Bear in Bear in The Big Blue House, and Mommy Snuffleupagus in Sesame Street.

Shenron. Dragon Ball Z introduced a generation to anime and got me out of bed at 5 AM on Saturday mornings. Shenron's the Dragon in Dragon Ball. He's a big, green genie. If you gather his seven balls, Shenron is summoned and grants you one wish. Now, this doesn't make that much sense, it didn't stop the Dragon Ball saga from spanning 500 episodes. There are actually a number of dragons in Dragon Ball, with Shenron just the dragon looking over the Earth. There are alien dragons, evil dragons, and cosmic dragons, too.

Savage Dragon. I first met the Savage Dragon through the pages of Shadow Hawk. A brutal cop keeping the streets of Chicago free of super criminals, he's the creation of Image co-founder Erik Larsen. Savage Dragon debuted in 1992, both written and illustrated by Larsen. He continues to write and draw the comic today. The Savage Dragon was surprisingly the subject of a kid friendly cartoon on USA Network in 1995. Even more surprisingly, an episode featured a crossover with the Wing Commander Academy animated series.

Smaug. Smaug's a rich old dragon in Tolkien's The Hobbit. He's spent hundreds of years collecting gold and jewels and gets royally pissed when Bilbo Baggins steals a cup from him. Smaug's a tough beastie to kill, too, as in addition to his generally-scaly hide, his centuries atop his treasure hoard have embedding a number of his riches into his flesh, creating a layer of gold armor over his scales. He's being voiced by Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch in the upcoming Hobbit flicks, hence the image to the left.

Space Godzilla. Now, Godzilla may not technically be a dragon (which begs me to ask myself what, technically, is a dragon), but he's close enough. A living fossil irradiated and risen from the bottom of the sea, he's big, mean, green, and deserving a spot on this list. But we're not shining a spotlight on plain old Godzilla. Oh, no. Our favorite incarnation of Godzilla is Space Godzilla from 1994's Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla. After some of Godzilla's DNA was gobbled up into a black hole, cosmic forces created a new Godzilla with the magic space crystals on its back. He's like Godzilla but -- umm -- sparkly.

Draco. Remember Dragonheart? Is it socially-acceptable to like this movie? I can't recall if nerd culture is currently pro or con Dragonheart. I also can't recall much about the film. All I really remember is that ILM did the effects and there was an interview a few years back about how they had some digital artists who kept updating the Draco model long after the movie came out with new advances in CG just in case there would be a big screen Dragonheart II.

Paildramon. The DNA Digivolution of ExVeemon and Stingmon, Paildramon is an Ultimate-Level Digimon from the Digimon cartoon. According to the card game, Paildramon combines the power of a dragon-type digital monster and the defense of an inspect-type one. In the show, Paildramon was a formidable warrior, fending off baddies including Arukenimon and Black WarGreymon single-handedly. I've not seen Digimon in a while, but one of Paildramon's attacks was "Desperado Blaster", and I seem to recall he talked like a cowboy.

Paarthurnax. Paarthurnax is the leader of the Greybeards and brother of Alduin. He helps the Dragonborn and is called the Old One by other dragons. Paarthurnax was Alduin's general during the First Dragon War. During this war, he ultimately betrayed Alduin and sided with the humans. He taught mankind to use the Thu'um. Now, he dwells in the Throat of The World. Did any that make sense? If not, you've not played Skyrim, and there's not really much I can say to offer up an explanation.

Dragonzord. There's no toy I wanted more growing up than the Dragonzord. We'll drop any pretense about Power Rangers not being cool or not being the thing every kid ran home to watch in the '90s. The Dragonzord, a robot with a drill for a tail and rocket hands (and controlled by a magic flute) was piloted by Tommy, the evil Green Ranger, in the original Power Rangers. In the US version, Tommy became a good guy. In Japan, the Green Ranger died. Also, in Japan, the Dragonzord went by the fantastic name of Dragon Caesar.

Toothless. One a quiet day in the office, you may start to hear the How To Train Your Dragon soundtrack. In honor of the Year of The Dragon, my laptop's go-to MP3s are now this movie's score. Toothless is the lead dragon in the HTTYD books and film. Hiccup's pet, he's a Garden Dragon in the books -- the most common dragon species -- while he's a rare Night Fury in the movie. Despite being a legendary terror, Toothless is pretty much a salamander puppy. He's adorable, goofy, and loyal. And, missing part of his tail, he's reliant on Hiccup to help him fly, assuring a co-dependent relationship for life.

And there you have it, ReedPOP's favorite dragons. They're not in any order, nor is this a comprehensive list. I'm sure if I involved @lsett or @armstrongmike in this, they'd have thrown out more names. Or, more likely, told me I was an idiot.

Guests At Large: Walking Dead's Tony Moore At C2E2

2012-01-28T10:53:00.004-05:00

We're very excited to announce artist Tony Moore will be attending C2E2! Most known for Walking Dead, Moore provided the interior art for the first six issues and cover art for the first score. Moore's also been involved with projects including The Exterminators, Ghost Rider, Punisher, and Venom. He should, though, be most known for his Battle Pope, which he illustrated for Walking Dead's Robert Kirkman. Battle Pope, of course, is the second-best-named-comic in comic book history. The best-named-comic, as you might have guessed, is Mike Norton's Battle Pug.

Caturday

2012-01-28T08:31:00.000-05:00

From Mark, spotted on Chicagoist.

Guests At Large: Anthony Daniels At C2E2

2012-01-27T16:36:00.003-05:00

What’s the one constant between all six Star Wars movies? Is there one face or voice who's been there from Episode I all the way through VI? There is. And, in fact, the is only one. Anthony Daniels -- the voice and the body of C-3PO -- is the only cast member to have appeared in all six of the Star Wars films, and -- come April -- he'll be appearing at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. Coming to C2E2 with the help of our friends at Official Pix, Daniels will be signing autographs and recounting his adventures inside a tight, gold suit. Coming all the way from London to Chicago, we're excited and just a bit giddy to meet him. And, a fun fact, while he's most known for Star Wars, Daniels was also the creative designer of something called Volcanoland in Singapore.

Super Important Urgent Update!

2012-01-27T07:15:00.002-05:00

Just a friendly reminder to anyone reading the blog at ReedPOP, get your shit out of the refrigerator today or else Vic's throwing it out. Also, Ron's still selling candy.

Interview At Large: Steve Gadlin and Mighty Mike Negin

2012-01-26T14:59:00.002-05:00

ReedPOP covers a wide spectrum of pop culture at our shows. Comics, video games, movies, toys, television, anime, books. And cats. Yes, cats. Now, we have to say we love all the strains of popular entertainment equally, but -- in truth -- our affection for just about everything pales next to kitties. @MightyMikeNegin will be presenting a series of interviews in the lead up to this year's C2E2, and he starts us off with something of the feline persuasion. Before we talk to creators and Marvel and DC, Mike's picking the brain of Steve Gadlin from IWantToDrawACatForYou.com.

Cats adorn many a cubicle at the office, can be seen hiding about the corners of Larry's office, and can even grace the covers of important files. Oh, and Caturday is a staple right here on Medium At Large. Let's continue this inappropriate use of felines as Mike gets to the bottom of IWantToDrawACatForYou.com.

Mighty Mike Negin: Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I am not a big fan of cats. I'm more of a dog person, but I'm in the very small, silent minority around ReedPOP, and I'm sure they talk about me when I'm not here. With C2E2 not too far away, we took a look at our guest list, thinking about who'd be the most appropriate name to launch our interview series. We then disregarded this to have a chat about cats. I'll like to introduce you to Artist Alley Guest Steve Gadlin, the man behind IWantToDrawACatForYou.com.

Mighty Mike Negin: So, I think the first question is... How did you come up with the idea of "I Want To Draw a Cat For You"?

Steve Gadlin: To be honest, I'm not really sure when the idea popped into my head. I come up with all sorts of ridiculous projects. Every once in a while the timing is just right, and I actually follow through on it. I wanted to learn the ABC's of running my own business, soup to nuts. So, I started with something simple... stick figure cats.

MN: Maybe it's an obvious question, but are you a cat person? Why cats? Why not dogs? Or monkeys? Everyone loves monkeys.

SG: I'm allergic to cats, and I'm definitely not an animal person. Cats are super easy to draw; their heads consist of a circle and two triangles. Those other animals are way too hard.

MN: For those who haven't been to the site, the basic premise is that you'll draw a stick figure cat for $10 all dressed up however someone would like. How many cats have you drawn since you started?

SG: As of right now, I've drawn 1,426 cats for people.

MN: That’s a lot of cats. About how many cats do you draw a day?

SG: There's no real pattern. Some weeks I'll be drawing as many as 20 or 30 a night. On average, I'll draw about 10 a week. It depends on what publicity I've been drumming up. I'm expecting this to be a full time job for a while when my Shark Tank episode airs.

MN: That's airing tomorrow night. I want to talk about that more in a bit, but I've got to ask some more hard-hitting questions first. What are some of your favorite cats you've drawn so far?

SG: My favorite requests are the simple ones, because they give me the most room to play around. My least favorite are the super specific ones that feature entire families of cats. People aren't very realistic about how many details can be crammed into a stick figure cat drawing. When someone gives me a little more freedom to draw what I want, I like to get a little goofy and throw in random things. That's more fun.

MN: Can you give me an example of some of the random things you've thrown into your cat pictures?

SG: This is a hard question! I draw so many of these things, it's hard to recall specific drawings. If there's a lot of empty space on a drawing, I'll throw in a bonus pig.

MN: Were there any that actually made you laugh as you drew them?

SG: One time someone had me draw a cat version of George Washington and his crew crossing the Potomac. That one made me laugh!

MN: What are some of the strangest requests you've received?

SG: The strangest probably included a T-Rex and a Space Squid, battling it out with a cat on the moon. Also, three completely different people have requested a Wilford Brimley cat. I thought that was a little odd.

MN: I know most are requests, but do you try to do anything to make each one unique?

SG: I do! The drawings definitely reflect my mood at any given time. I like to throw in a bonus pig from time to time. Pigs are easy, too! And if a request is vague, I like to interpret it in the strangest way possible.

MN: Sounds like a genie interpreting a wish differently than a person had intended. Have you ever had someone who wasn't happy with the way you "interpreted" their request?

SG: Rarely. I've had a couple of people take issue with their cat drawings, but I point them to my terms of service, which say, "You get what you get, and you don't get upset!"

MN: Tough love! I like it! So what's your day job? What do you do when you're not drawing cats?

SG: I'm a web programmer. I run the web team for Weigel Broadcasting -- Me-TV, WCIU -- in Chicago. I also run Blewt!, which is a comedy production team here in Chicago. We produce a handful of stage shows in the city and develop comedy for web and TV as well.

MN: What's Blewt! all about?

SG: Blewt! produces a handful of stage shows in Chicago. In September, we had a TV pilot for our game show “Don't Spit the Water!” air on WCIU. We'll be running the seventh season of our absurd talent competition, “Impress These Apes”, this summer. We also have a series of plays that are written by a Kenyan email spammer called “The Nairobi Project”. We'll be premiering the third play of this project, a musical, later this year. In addition to the stage shows, we create silly products. IWantToDrawACatForYou.com has been joined by TwoFilmTShirts.com and IWantToWriteASongForYou.com. We do weird, crazy stuff.

MN: Weird and crazy, but also very funny, Do you plan on eventually expanding you cat drawings into a print or web comic?

SG: I have a long history of drawing stick figure cats. This all started in 1990 with my comic strip, Silly Cat Comix. It was drawn on notebook paper during study halls all through high school. In college, when the web was just beginning to grow, I started creating them on a computer and posting them to a website. That comic strip has been gone for ten years, but it's still the root, comically, of everything I've done since. I've been toying with bringing it back.

MN: I think you should! The cat fan base is huge! Are you also a comics fan?

SG: I used to read Groo comics, and I'm a fan of comics culture, but I haven't picked up a comic book in many, many years.

MN: This week you're making an appearance on the ABC reality series, Shark Tank. For those who don't know, the show features a panel of wealthy entrepreneurs called "sharks" who evaluate and negotiate investment proposals from starting entrepreneurs presenting their products or business concepts. Was “I Want To Draw a Cat For You" the idea that you brought on the show?

SG: It was! I'll be pitching my cat drawing business to their panel of millionaires and billionaires, hoping for more than confused looks.

MN: How did you get involved in Shark Tank?

SG: On a whim. I shot them an email one day as a joke, thinking it might give them a laugh. Of course, in the back of my mind, I thought it would be awesome to walk down that hall and pitch my silliness to the sharks. A week later, their producers called me, and the rest is television history.

MN: How was it meeting some of the wealthiest and smartest business people on the planet, which includes Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks? Was it a little daunting?

SG: Incredibly daunting! But I was determined to make the most of my appearance and have a lot of fun with it. There's singing! There's dancing! There's public humiliation before a national audience!

MN: I'm sure the competition was stiff. Was it hard competing against the other contestants? How did you try to effectively sell your idea and set yourself apart?

SG: Fortunately each pitch is solo, and there's no real competition. In any given show, they could invest in everything or nothing... So I wasn't thinking too hard about the other entrepreneurs who were there to pitch. I just wanted to march in there and have some fun and hopefully show these guys that there's some real substance there, too.

MN: I'm sure that you can't tell us how you did since the show hasn't aired yet, but can you tell us how the experience was overall?

SG: I don't think it will spoil the ending to say that I had the time of my life. They flew me out to LA for five days and kept me fed... What's not to like? I got to re-connect with friends out there and meet some great people as well.

MN: I'm not sure if you're aware, but many folks in the ReedPOP office are big cat folks! I'm not one of them I'm a dog person... Pugs to be specific. But many a cat or kitten can be seen adorning our hallowed halls!

SG: Sadly, I was unaware!

MN: What do you think accounts for many folks' obsession with cats?

SG: I have never understood it. In my old comic strip, Silly Cat Comix, the cat would explode at the end of every strip. I appreciate them more for their artistic simplicity than their cuddly hi-jinx.

MN: Speaking of people obsessed with cats....Kim is NYCC and C2E2's Lead Programming Manager and has the unhealthiest fixation with cats. Her cube's decked out with cat photos, cat calendars, and cat doodles. At times, the team worries about her. Can you draw a cat for her?

SG: Most definitely!

MN: You're coming out to Chicago to attend C2E2 in Artist Alley. Is this your first time at a convention?

SG: It'll be my second time at a convention. I attended my first convention last year... I wish I had been attending these all along!

MN: What are you going to be doing at the convention? Are you excited about meeting the many cat fans out there?

SG: I'll be doing what I do best, drawing stick figure cats! I'll also be hawking wares from my other ridiculous project, twofilmtshirts.com. And, of course, I'll furnish my table with a bevy of ladies to draw in customers. I'm very excited about this! It'll be fun to watch the action from behind a table, and hopefully I'll sell a cat drawing or two.

MN: If Kim has a chance to stop by your table, you’ll definitely sell more than a few. You might even cover your car payment for the month. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us, Steve! We look forward to seeing you in Chicago!

Check out Steve’s primetime television debut Friday, January 27th at 8 PM on ABC’s Shark Tank, and if you want a cat drawing of your own visit Steve at IWantToDrawACatForYou.com. Tell him @MightyMikeNegin sent you. It won’t get you anything, but maybe Steve will give me a cut once all the dough starts rolling in.

Guests At Large: Silvestri, Petersen, and More At C2E2

2012-01-26T12:24:00.004-05:00

Kim was giggling and squealing this morning. So was Brian. So am I. Why? We got some amazing news around C2E2 we'll be sharing with you as soon as we can. Of course, we've got some news today that ain't too shabby, either. Marc Silvestri, David Peterson, and five more comics creators have been announced as guests at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. Silvestri got his big break with Uncanny X-Men, and after a stint at both Marvel and DC, he emerged to lead Top Cow Productions, where he produced his most famous series: Witchblade, The Darkness, and Cyberforce.

David Petersen, meanwhile, is most known for his work as the creator of Mouse Guard, a comic series about pint-sized (and furry) knights and explorers in Medieval Europe.

Both Marc and David will be appearing at C2E2, and they'll be joined by this week's additional announcements -- Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Dan Parent, and Angel Medina, and -- representing a nice range of the comics world. Jimmy, Amanda, and Angel all come from a more mainstream comics background, while Dan's most known for his Archie work.
We're excited and honored to have them all with us in Chicago, and can't wait to make more announcements soon.

Garden In The Sky! High Line Phase Three Is Go!

2012-01-26T10:33:00.000-05:00

Years ago, Manhattan had raised subway lines. Lifted above the streets, they carried trains that clattered atop cavemen and horse-drawn buggies down below. Now, one of the last relics of this bygone era sleeps on the West side of Manhattan around Chelsea and Union Square. And for decades, it was just that, a relic. It was the bones of a long-gone, faded, rusted memory. Then, after community support, fervent volunteers, and successful fundraising, the hulk of this abandoned train line was transformed into an above-ground park. It's called the High Line.

To get just a wee bit nerdy, it's kinda like the Shire.

The High Line opened to the public on 2009, its entrance at Gansevoort Street at 10th Avenue. It stretched from Gansevoort to 20th St, creating a carpet of grasses and wildflowers in the sky. Last year, the park expanded ten more blocks, bringing its North terminus to 20th Street. The old rail line it's built on runs all the way to 34th Street, and approval has now been given to convert this last stretch of train tracks into an extension of the park.

There are still a number of steps before it's built, but this'll mean one can walk from up Manhattan's Western side surrounded by flowers and grass all the way up to the Javits. Really. This last length of tracks ends across the street from the Jacob Javits Center, and once it's complete, it's going to offer New Yorkers a new way to get to the building. It's gorgeous and fantastic and, at a macro level, is part of Manhattan expanding to meet the Javits. No longer in the Wild West of NYC, there are condos being built right up to meet the Javits Center, and while neither you or I'll live in these condos, on their ground floors will be restaurants, bars, and community. It'll take some more time, but we'll eventually get to what you see in Boston, San Diego, or so many other cities. Before the end of the decade, if you take a foot outside the Javits, you'll be in the thick of cosmopolitan Manhattan.

Oh, yeah, and the Seven Train will get there eventually, too.

In summation, the High Line is an awesome thing. Check it out, and I look forward to walking it to NYCC 2016.

Twitter: The Zeitgeist Of The Planet

2012-01-25T11:10:00.002-05:00

These were the top three stories atop my Twitter dashboard this morning. I feel they roundly capture the consciousness of the planet. I'm never so proud and so terrified as when I scan through my morning tweets.

Talk People Pretend Make Sound Funny Guffaw

2012-01-25T11:06:00.000-05:00

Chinglish is closing at week's end on Broadway. I took it in last night. If you've got a night free in NYC before January 29, you should grab a ticket, too. Originally performed in Chicago last year, the play's a disaster-filled comedy about the gaffs, struggles, and mis-interpretations when the West does business with the East. The play's been called "the best American play of the year" by Time Magazine and "sexy, fun, and hilarious" by New York Magazine, but if you've not put your butt into a seat at the Longacre Theatre to see it, you've only got a handful of days left.

What's it about? Specifically around an American sign salesman who goes to China on business, it catalogs his missteps with consultants, failures with interpreters, infatuation with the exoticism of the local culture, and hyperbolic efforts to win over local industry leaders. While I've not done any business in China, I've done plenty in Japan and Singapore, and it's roundly on target.

Outside the plot itself, Chinglish really shines in its staging. The majority of the play is in Chinese, delivered with real time subtitles, projected onto parts of the set in a way similar to shows like Heroes or games like Splinter Cell Conviction have done, so that the words aren't just words laid over an image, but are a stylistic component of the overall aesthetic. The set's very much part of this as well, a series of a half dozen rooms that occupy the very same space. While the play starts out in a governmental office which looks largely real, what appears to be concrete unfolds like a Chinese puzzle box into completely new and elaborate shapes as we move from scene to scene. This otherness and mystery, things not being exactly as they appear and rearranging themselves with such unexpected and entire precision, like the subtitles, add a new dimension to the work, all elements of the production working toward the same atmosphere.

Overall fantastic, why I'm writing this was a moment at the end that personally got me, when the protagonist asks his consultant - a British expat who spent the last eight years in China - why he doesn't just go home. His response was that when he goes back to England and he tries to describe the wonders he's seen, he's met with hollow stares. Talking about my own experiences after a month in Singapore last year, I get that, and I spent the rest of the night with the sights, smells, and flavors of Singapore in my mind.

Chinglish is a bold play. Told largely in a foreign language, with a cast almost exclusively Asian, and around the intricacies of working with foreign cultures and bureaucracies, there's nothing else like Chinglish on Broadway, and after Jan 29, there'll be nothing at all. Tickets start at around $30, so go and get a crash course in international diplomacy with a side of romance, intrigue, and funny dances.

Eleven Oscar Nominations For Hugo! And Muppet Oscar Talk!

2012-01-24T11:36:00.001-05:00

This year's Oscar nominations were announced today. You'll find the full list on just about every site, so I'm not going to waste the 1s and 0s to post it fully here on Medium at Large. Rather, we've got some balloon-dog sharp commentary after scanning over the list ourselves. Firstly, Hugo's come back with an astonishing number of nominations -- eleven total. Giving the list a quick skim, that's more than any other picture this year. We doubt it'll take eleven Oscars home, but with eleven chances, it's going to walk away with at least one little, naked, gold man.

Beyond Hugo, we're ever so pleased that "Man or Muppet" is in the running for Best Original Song, and we're happily stupefied that Bridesmaids got a nod of Best Original Screenplay.

Things then get a bit odd, though, as Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy has three nominations, including Best Actor (Gary Oldman) and Best Adapted Screenplay, yet it's not in the Best Foreign Film category. Its weight feels missing from Best Foreign Film, and, if nominated, it had a solid shot at winning the Oscar. The Best Animated Film category, as always, is a funny lot. While Best Picture's never a collection of the biggest, loudest films of the year, Best Animated Picture's commonly a stew of the biggest commercial animated flicks. Tintin should have been on this list, and I know there was a campaign for Summer Wars. Wait, no, Summer Wars was last year. Either way, there's sadly no way it would have made it into the final list. Point being, there's some amazing work being put out there, often from Japan, that's neglected here. Redline, for example, should have been a contender.

Let's, though, get back to the real important thing here. The Muppets.

While we're excited it got a nomination for Best Original Song, that's it. The Muppets should be represented in the rankings for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and pretty much everything else. Hell, Kermit should be on the list for Best Supporting Actor. Was there any other film that more successfully brought back such a cherished, nostalgic icon? Nope. Was there any other film that so intelligently commented on the entertainment industry? Nah. Was there any other film that so joyously played with formula and delivered a riotous downbeat ending? Not at all. Was there any other film with as rich as cast -- including Willie Nelson, Alan Arkin, Emily Blunt, James Carville, Bill Cobbs, Zach Galifianakis, Donald Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Selena Gomez, Sterling Knight, Dave Grohl, Neil Patrick Harris, Judd Hirsch, Ken Jeong, John Krasinski, Jim Parsons, Rico Rodriguez, Mickey Rooney, Kristen Schaal, and Sarah Silverman? No way.

Eh, fingers crossed Jason Segel gets to perform "Man or Muppet" live at the Academy Awards.

Looking For A Star-Crossed Lover? Speed Dating At C2E2!

2012-01-23T16:29:00.000-05:00

We'll be making a bigger announcement around this in a bit, but I wanted to break the news Ryan Glitch and the team at Sci-Fi Speed Dating will be returning to C2E2. We've worked with Ryan since Star Wars Celebration in 2010, him coming to us as a fresh-faced kid who wanted to help perhaps the not-the-most-socially-acclimated fall in love. Since then, we've brought Ryan to both NYCC and C2E2, and -- most recently -- he was at the center of TLC's Geek Love specials. Be on the look-out for details soon, but we're excited to say Ryan will be coming back to C2E2 in April!

The Art Of The Out Of Office

2012-01-22T09:06:00.002-05:00

Hello, thank you for visiting Medium At Large. It's Sunday, January 22rd, and I'm out of the office. I'll be back tomorrow with legitimate updates, but I've left the following post if you need a ReedPOP fix right now. In place of any actual, real, genuine content, here's a gallery of some of the best (and worst) Out of Office messages sent by ReedPOP in 2011. Really? Yes. Sit back, relax, and be thrilled by these virtual, textual postcards from events and vacations since passed. Is this pointless? Yup. Silly? Probably. Can I think of anything better on a Sunday morning? Nope.

In no particular order...

Thank you for your email! I am embarking on a journey to the wild reaches of Chicago for C2E2 on November 14-16. I will have access to email throughout my adventures and will get back to you as soon as I can.

I am out of the office scouting Chicago for C2E2! I'll have some access to email, so I'll do my best to respond. If this is urgent you can reach me on my cell at XXX-XXX-XXXX.

I am currently out of the office attending meetings. I will have access to e-mail and will respond as soon as possible.

Hello. I am currently out of the office drinking egg nog and getting my holiday groove on. I will be checking email when I am not in a food coma or watching any holiday specials. I will be back in the office on Monday January 2nd and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Thank you for your email. I’m currently out of the office leveling up in Modern Warfare 3, watching the Doctor Who Christmas special on a loop, and finishing up a trashy novel manuscript. I’ll be back at my desk on January 2nd, but I’ve probably got my BlackBerry gripped between my fingers right now and will be responding to anything urgent.

Talley Ho, I'm currently away from ReedPOP Global Command Center traveling on the West Coast for a while. However, there is no reason to worry, not even the Sierra Madre mountain range can stand between me and your email. In fact I'm probably reading your note right now and I'll reply to you just as soon as I can. I'm back in the office in human form on Friday the 20th of January. Stay nerdy.

Thank you for your email. I am currently out of the office in downtown Chicago [+ meetings, discussions, focus, some fun +].

I'm out of the office until 1/3. I'll be checking email in between opening presents, during layovers in Atlanta and in the middle of enthralling conversations with my parents. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Ahoy, allons-y, and thank you for your email! While this is an Out of Office message, I'm not really out of the office. Nah, I'm in the office, working early and late -- and on weekends -- as New York Comic Con is just days away. You're getting this message, though, to let you know that I've received your email and I'll follow up as soon as I can. I and the team here are getting just a wee bit of mail from fans, pros, guests, exhibitors, speakers, and the occasional jazz band wanting to perform, so it may take some time for me to respond. But I will respond. As soon as I can. Just be aware I've got 100,000 close friends sending me emails as well. Again, you'll be hearing back from me, but if you just want to know the show hours or what day we're showing Tekken: Blood Vengeance in 3D, all this info is online.

I am currently out of the office in Chicago on C2E2 business through Wednesday. Are you in Chicago too? We are doing a meet up on Monday and Tuesday nights; let me know if you want details. Not in Chicago but still trying to get a hold of me? No worries, I've got your email and as long as it's not during the Vikings game Monday night, I'll get back to you as soon as my schedule allows.

I am out of the office today with spotty access to email. I will get back to you though at some point I promise.

...Something Borrowed, Something Blue

2012-01-21T14:22:00.006-05:00

ReedPOP's @petertatara is getting married this year. It's going to be a classy affair. No vows in Klingon. No flowergirls dressed as Mario princesses. No Macross-shaped cake. This said, the bridesmaids and groomsmen will be getting lightsabers. And then there's this picture. It's wedding invites waiting to be sent. They're blue. A very specific shade of blue. One could say they're TARDIS blue. One could also say Peter spent two months and received sixteen envelope samples from four different vendors to find the proper color. It's going to be a classy affair.

Caturday

2012-01-21T08:33:00.001-05:00

BRONY: (n) A Name Given To A Male Fan Of My Little Pony

2012-01-20T10:34:00.001-05:00

I'm going to go on record saying I want more My Little Pony and Brony content at New York Comic Con and the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. We've done a little of it thus far, but it's a community I'd very much like to engage more in our shows. I'll also go on record saying I'm not a Brony myself, but I've got a number of Brony friends, and I adore the quirky, silly, off kilter humor of the show (to the left is My Little Pony's Doctor Whooves) and its surprising level of world building. What's brought all this up? A few weekends ago, NYC's My Little Pony community held BroNYCon.

Taking place January 7th in the Hotel Pennsylvania, it featured My Little Pony fan artists as well as guests from the series itself: Daniel Ingram (composer of Friendship Is Magic's score), Andrea Libman (voice of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy), Nicole Oliver (Voice of Princess Celestia and Cheerilee), and Ashleigh Ball (Voice of Rainbow Dash and Applejack). Oh, and My Little Pony metal band Neighslayer.

I'm upset as I didn't find out about the event until it was going on, seeing tweets from attendees. Shame on me. The next BroNYCon is this summer. It's June 30-July 1, will span two floors of Hotel Pennsylvania, feature ten times the floor space of the January event, and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic creator Lauren Faust's already announced as a guest. Tickets are on sale now. $60 for both days.

If you'd like to pick up a T-Shirt from January's BroNYCon, WeLoveFine.com has a limited stock. Whether you're a Brony or not, they're pretty awesome.

Red Tails Premieres Today

2012-01-20T08:34:00.002-05:00

What are you doing tonight? Nah, not good enough. Change your plans as tonight's the night that George Lucas's Red Tails comes out. A movie decades in the making, it's Lucas's love letter to the Tuskegee Airmen, the brave pilots who fought the Germans in the air and the racism of their fellow Americans on the ground. The movie's dog fights are by Lucas's own ILM, and the funding for the film, almost $100 million, is from Lucas as well. We worked with Lucasfilm to present a Red Tails flight sim at NYCC in 2011, and it was one of the showstoppers of the show.

You can get a glimpse of Red Tails's story and dog fights in the film's trailer...

Beyond the flight simulator at NYCC, Lucasfilm presented one of the most genuine and intriguing panels at the convention, too, a panel featuring Red Tails cast, ILM animators, and a veteran Tuskegee Airman, together discussing the project. Lucas has done a lot to involve the real-life Airmen, and you can view a series of interviews with them on YouTube...

Lastly, here's Lucas himself on why the story compelled him and the importance of the film...

Red Tails premieres today in theaters.

Meet Robin. He's On The Phone Right Now.

2012-01-19T13:21:00.000-05:00

Meet @robbinrobin. He works in Singapore for the Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Con. He's on the phone right now, talking about guests for this year's show. The whole team's on the line, actually. We're doing a lovely little conference call. It's morning in the US, and 10 PM Singapore time. They're troopers.

C2E2 VIP Tickets Launch Today

2012-01-19T08:30:00.002-05:00

Today at 12 PM Chicago time, VIP Tickets for C2E2 go on sale. For fans who want to be the first on the Show Floor, want to grab all the exclusives they can carry, and want to keep them safe and sound in a special lounge, you'll want to look no further. The package includes a VIP Badge with exclusive artwork, First access onto the Show Floor, a C2E2 poster signed by the artist, a Private VIP Lounge, Guaranteed Premium Seating in the IGN Theater, Private Autograph Signings with two Special Guests, and More. To learn more and grab your ticket come noon, click on over to C2E2.com.

Adam Hughes Comes To C2E2

2012-01-18T20:04:00.002-05:00

C2E2 today announced artist Adam Hughes will be returning to Chicago for this year's Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo! Working over 20 years in the comics industry, Adams is most known for turning mutants and super heroes into pinup girls, crafting covers with characters including Batgirl, Zatanna, Catwoman, Wonder Woman, and Power Girl, and he's now working on the covers for Vertigo's Fables spin-off, Fairest. Hughes joins guests including Joe Kubert, Ben Templesmith, Gary Gianni, and Art Baltazar. For more on Hughes and his art, visit his brilliantly named website, justsayah.com.

I'm Sick But At Least The Blog Looks (A Little) Better

2012-01-18T13:13:00.000-05:00

I'm at home today. I cleaned out the fridge last night, getting rid of a lot of old, odd, and expired food that I'd come into possession of during the holidays. By "getting rid of", I mean eating. I didn't want this stuff to go to waste, but as my stomach's filled with needles now, I clearly didn't make the right choice. If there is a silver lining, working remotely today's given me some time to work on the blog. There'll be a few wobbly phases, but the who, what, where, when, and why of Medium At Large has started down the road of upgrading from cutting edge 1996 technology.

Stop Everything, There's A Doctor Who Video Game Picture!

2012-01-18T12:09:00.001-05:00

Hey, look, it's an image of Matt Smith plucking away at his TARDIS's strings. Wait, what's that, The Doctor looks a little different. Is he CG? He is. From Facebook by way of Kotaku, behold the first image of the upcoming PS3 game Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock. The game, which'll hit the PS3, Vita, and PC later this year, features The Doctor and River Song investigating the Eternity Clock, a device recording every event in the history of the universe. I presume the Daleks, Cybermen, or Clock King are scheming something untoward around the clock, and it's not just The Doctor sightseeing.

We're excited. Doctor Who's come a long way since returning to television screens in 2005, but while the show's evolved from a nerdy secret kept from even other nerds into the most prolific sci-fi saga of this generation, its games have been, to use a British expression, "woolly". We picked up a handful when we visited the UK last year (a trip pretty organized pretty much exclusively to see the Doctor Who Experience), and while we don't regret the purchases, if the games didn't feature The Doctor slathered all over them, we'd call them another British expression, "rubbish".

Still, we're excited for what 2012 will bring. Right now, Doctor Who: Worlds In Time, an adorable, kid-themed MMO, is in open beta, and everything we've seen of it thus far is delightful. And, with The Eternity Clock, we could be looking forward to The Doctor's first big, proper, polished game on a console.

Here's that first image from The Eternity Clock nice and big...

And here's the trailer...

Fingers crossed it makes it to the US.

Josh Gates Searches For The Truth At C2E2!

2012-01-18T10:59:00.004-05:00

C2E2 is the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. From the get go, our eyes are on bringing the worlds of both comic books as well as broader entertainment to McCormick Place. It'll take C2E2 a few years to grow into a big boy like New York Comic Con, but that doesn't mean we won't have movie and television guests in 2012. Last week, we announced our first entertainment name: Destination Truth's Josh Gates! We've brought out the Ghost Hunters and other paranormal guests previously, always devoured by fans, so we're excited to continue this tradition with our favorite cryptid hunter.

Josh Gates has visited over 100 countries, investigating myths, searching for monsters, and looking for the truth behind the paranormal. His travels have taken him to King Tut's tomb, Chernobyl, the Himalayas, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and Antarctica. And, most of the time, he's had a camera crew in tow, Gates hosting Destination Truth, Ghost Hunters Halloween Live, and various other events on Syfy.

Josh will be signing and speaking on panels at C2E2. For more on Josh Gates, take a look at his official site, joshgates.tv, and follow him on Twitter at @joshuagates.

We conclude with a clip of Gates encountering a (fake) bear...

Henchling Made This

2012-01-17T17:23:00.003-05:00

The blog's been quiet lately. I've got big plans for it this year, but 2012's started off to a whimpering start. And that's a good thing. I guess. ReedPOP ain't the biggest organization, with pretty much everyone wearing multiple hats and dabbling in each other's business. The blog's an outlet that sadly isn't first or second on anyone's to-do list (yet), and when we get busy, the blog gets quiet. While Caturday is fun and all, there's actual content we should be posting up, too. Expect to see this change gradually and then explosively. Right now, though, meet the de facto ReedPOP mascot.

A @henchling and @h_e_e_l_s collaboration, he sits just beyond my office, staring into my soul. When we get busy at ReedPOP, we also get punchy. This friendly fellow, a giant plush homunculus built out of scraps lying around the office made his debut last week, and each day, features a new quote or phrase. Today's quote -- "Run" -- isn't a warning, but instead arose out of @h_e_e_l_s and my talking Doctor Who this morning. The Doctor doesn't run that much any more.

And now that we've reached a Doctor Who mention, it's time to put this post to bed, hoping, praying, and dreaming that more and better posts are on their way.

Caturday

2012-01-14T10:25:00.002-05:00

7 million people have watched this video. 7 million people haven't attended ReedPOP's shows. Clearly, we need more kittens.

C2E2 Panel Deadline Is Tomorrow

2012-01-10T10:49:00.019-05:00

C2E2's panel deadline is 11:59 PM Central Time on January 11th. That's tomorrow. Want to hold a panel or screening at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo? Talk to us now. Really. If you apply today, there's a lot we can do. If you wait until Wednesday, there's not so much. Whether you're a publisher, a professional, or a fan, if you want a soapbox at C2E2, send us your information today.

Get C2E2's panel details and apply here...

http://c2e2.com/Whats-Happening/Panels-And-Screenings/Panel-Submission-Form/

Really. If you email Kim or I later in this week, no amount of begging, pleading, and mini-muffins will change the fact that the deadline's passed. Well, mini-muffins might. The point is...

Apply for your C2E2 panel now.

C2E2 VIP Tickets Announced

2012-01-07T09:25:00.000-05:00

Alright, 2012 is here, and with it comes a flurry of C2E2 announcements and activity. This week's guest and panel news is just the start. What's next? VIP Tickets. C2E2 2012 VIP Tickets will be going on sale at 12:00 PM CST on Thursday, January 19. As always, there is a limited number of tickets available.

For fans who want to be the first on the Show Floor, want to grab all the exclusives they can carry, and want to keep them safe and sound in a special lounge, look no further than the VIP Package. It includes a VIP Badge with exclusive artwork that acts as a Weekend Ticket into the Show, First access onto the Show Floor, a C2E2 poster signed by the artist, a Private VIP Lounge, Guaranteed Premium Seating in the IGN Theater, Private Autograph Signing with two Special Guests, and More!

The Package is $165 and goes on sale January 19. For all the information, click over to...

http://c2e2.com/Buy-Tickets/VIP-Tickets/

Caturday

2012-01-07T08:32:00.000-05:00

2012 Begins... As Does C2E2's Guest Announcments

2012-01-06T14:15:00.001-05:00

In late December, we announced our first guest for C2E2, comics legend Joe Kubert. This week, we announced our first official round of names, and -- as Chicago's a magical city filled with friends, awesome people, and the most diabolical food on the planet -- we wanted to kick the year off with some Chicago locals... all names who were born in Chicago, live in Chicago, or have spent a good portion of the time working in Chicago.

Who's on deck?

Art Baltazar, Ben Templesmith, Chris Burnham, Gary Gianni, Geof Darrow, Jenny Frison, Jill Thompson, Mike Norton, and Tim Seeley!

I knew most of these ladies and gents were Chicagoland alum, but I had no clue Templesmith is kicking about the Windy City. Australia... Los Angeles... New York City... And now Chicago... Templesmith spreads over the world like an imperial will, stripping the cities he calls his home of all their tea, making the ladies swoon with his dapper jackets, and confusing the locals with his random shouts about squid-related things.

C2E2 2012, here we go!

C2E2 Panel Submission Deadline Coming Up

2012-01-06T13:02:00.000-05:00

Do you fancy yourself the Midwest's foremost expert on 1930's crime comics? Do you know more about My Little Pony than any other 20-something man should? Do you have a passionate opinion on Benedict Cumberbatch vs. Robert Downey Jr's take on Sherlock Holmes? If you want to present your panel/screening/presentation/diatribe at the 2012 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, you've only got a few more days to propose it to us.

C2E2's panel deadline is 11:59 PM Central Time on January 11th.

Get all the details and apply here...

http://c2e2.com/Whats-Happening/Panels-And-Screenings/Panel-Submission-Form/

Treat Yo Self to an NYCC 4-Day Pass - With A Proper Picture

2012-01-03T13:58:00.000-05:00

Here's the picture I wanted to post earlier today along with our NYCC ticket post. Not some nonsense about cheesey Japanese noodles. Nope. Instead, I wanted to share this darling chalk Treat Yo Self art spotted by Aziz Ansari himself at a Whole Foods.

4-Day tickets to New York Comic Con 2012 are available now!

Treat Yo Self to an NYCC 4-Day Pass

2012-01-03T07:10:00.003-05:00

Behold Cheddar Cheese Yakisoba. Yup. Really. I show you this picture not to scare you but to let you imagine the possibilities. Despite the initial raised eyebrows, Cheddar Cheese Yakisoba is a brilliant blending of cultures - American mac and cheese and Japanese noodles.

It's a lot like New York Comic Con, a delicious stew of comics, movies, television, toys, anime, and games. Yum. And, just like the initial skepticism around the Cheddar Yakisoba, NYCC can be off-putting, too, upon first glance - sprawling lines and wonky wifi and all - but you soon fall in love.

Yeah, this is a tenuous comparison as best, but I just deleted picture I really wanted to use to illustrate the post. Curse you, cold weather and shivering fingers!

Anywho, NYCC 2012 tickets go on sale today at noon.

We will only be selling 4-Day tickets this far out, with 3-Day and then 1-Day Passes going live closer to the con, allowing us to offer tickets to all you faithful but still have some available for casual fans.

4-Day Passes will get you into all of NYCC -- including Thursday, which is only open to Pros, Press, VIPs and fans who purchase a 4-Day Ticket. After the launch of our Thursday programming last year, too, we'll be expanding it with more panels and screenings and extended show floor hours -- open from 3 PM to 9 PM.

You can snap up your ticket today at noon at newyorkcomiccon.com. Go on and treat yo self to the Christmas gift you really wanted.

Misappropriated Year-End Musings

2011-12-31T10:36:00.002-05:00

In the waning episodes of Babylon 5, disgraced Minbari attaché Lennier and an a innocent Centauri ambassador now with blood on his hands named Vir Cotto stare across from each other, alien liquor in hand. They say, and I paraphrase... "It's been a hell of a day." "It's been a hell of a month." "It's been a hell of a year." Now while these two extraterrestrial diplomats were talking about discovering an ancient evil, a subsequent galaxy-wide war, and the even greater horrors which stalked their halls of government after said evil was vanquished, I want to misappropriate these words and put a positive spin on them.

It's been a hell of a year. A hell of an awesome year. The transformation of C2E2. Jenny and MK joining the team. The launch of PAX Dev and White Space. Negin and Travis kinda joining the team. The creation of the Secret Snack Stash. Mike and I coming back from Singapore without new wives and kids in tow. New York Comic Con crossing the 100,000 attendee landmark Lance and Larry coming back from the Holiday Party without new wives and kids in tow.

BRAVO!

Each year, we ratchet our sights up higher, and each year -- hand in hand -- we pull each other into and out of some amazing, astonishing, unbelievable things. I look at all ReedPOP did in 2011, and I then look ahead at the things ReedPOP will do in the next twelve months. I look at C2E2 and NYC 2011 as the ground floor. That's where we're starting. Scared? Not in the slightest. Excited? Absolutely. We're going to do even greater, even grander things come 2012, and I can tell you why with three simple facts...

We've never had a better sales team. We've never had a better marketing team. We've never had a better conference team.

It's been a hell of a year, and I can't wait for ReedPOP to together build 2012. Above, you'll see a photo of the ReedPOP team -- sales, marketing, and conference -- together stuffing bags for New York Comic Con in the middle of a warehouse in New Jersey. It didn't matter if we were Coordinators, Managers, Directors, or VPs. We were there in the thick of it together. Now, while I think we've revised our approach to bag stuffing come 2012, I've never worked with a finer team of people, and I look forward to the excitement, achievements, and challenges ahead!

PS: If you go to Z'Ha'Dum, you will die.

Happy Wholidays

2011-12-25T09:07:00.002-05:00

Alright, let's get this out of the way first. The Doctor Who Christmas Special airs tonight at 9 PM on BBC America. I'll be watching it and tweeting about it either at @petertatara or -- more likely -- @nerdyorkcity. While Lance puts up with a lot of my Doctor Who loving antics on the blog, an hour-long liveblog about The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe may be a touch too much.

Moving on, feast your eyes on one of Greg's holiday cookies. He's making some delightful Star Wars cookies whose awesomeness better not be lost on his kids. Greg's making a few dozen but not enough for all our readers and attendees, which is a shame, as we had a fantastic year -- and it's all because of you. Thank
You.

We've all retreated to spend the close of the year with our families, and we hope you're able to do the same, and once Baby New Year arrives on our doorstep, swaddled in an ill-fitting T-Shirt adorned with Doctor Doom Riding a Unicorn, we can't wait to together build an unstoppable, unmissable, unbeatable 2012!

PS: There's an all-day Doctor Who marathon going on right now.

Caturday

2011-12-24T11:55:00.004-05:00

NYCC 4-Day Tickets Go On Sale Jan 3

2011-12-21T13:31:00.001-05:00

Attention! Attention! 4-Day Tickets to the 2012 New York Comic Con go on sale at 12 Noon NYC Time on January 3rd. We've had sell out crowds at NYCC for the past few years, and we've been releasing our tickets earlier and earlier to meet the demand. This time, though, we're trying something different. To better control ticket counts and spread out the availability of tickets, we'll be taking a staggered approach in 2012, releasing different ticket types at different times in the lead-up to the event.

Our first ticket -- the 4-Day -- will go live at noon on January 3.

This ticket will get you in Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, as well as on our Preview Day on Thursday. We won't be selling Thursday day passes. If you want to be the first in the show, 4-Day is the way to go. After the success, too, of our Thursday Preview Hours this year, we'll be expanding our offering. Details will be coming as we put the tickets out, but we'll be expanding our show floor hours and programming on Thursday, building it into a bigger, better kick-off.

So, take the next two weeks and celebrate with family and friends, but make a note before you've had too much eggnog click over to newyorkcomiccon.com at noon on January 3 to be one of the first to score your ticket to NYCC!

Meet Steve

2011-12-21T11:22:00.000-05:00

Meet Steve. Steve's an artist. He's coming to C2E2. He doesn't draw Batman or Wolverine, though. Nope. He draws cats. You can see one of Steve's pieces to the right. For just $9.95, Steve will draw a cat for you. You tell him what you want and how your want it, and he'll create a masterpiece smelling faintly like Sharpie. Steve runs the aptly named iwanttodrawacatforyou.com, where you can see an archive of Steve's work as well as an order form for your own, personalized picture.

Kim spent her last paycheck covering her walls, ceiling, and floor with kitties.

Some Cliff Chiang Batman Sexiness

2011-12-19T16:40:00.000-05:00

This isn't necessarily new news, but it is awesome news. Check out these images for an uttlerly gorgeous Batman: Black & White statue designed by Cliff Chiang and sculpted by Paul Harding. Based on a much older, vintage depiction of Batman -- hense the pair of pistols -- it's a glorious rendition of a young, green Bruce Wayne in a costume that's both homemade and sexy and sleek. The statue debuted just prior to NYCC which is why I missed it until now.

I used to be a big statue collector. My adolescent room is fat with statues of Misa Hayase, Cloud Strife, and the like, but it's an expensive hobby and one that requires a lot of space -- not something one's really able to dabble in living in a tiny (yet pricey) NYC apartment.

Still, this statue is sweet, and I'm sure I could find a space for Bruce on my desk.

Are These Your Shoes?

2011-12-19T15:58:00.001-05:00

See these shoes? Are they yours? After all the men at the ReedPOP Holiday Party (except Larry) went to push cars out of the mud, I returned dripping from head to toe. I ended up being given these shoes. I presumed Lance tossed them my way, but he says they aren’t his. Are they yours? They’re big, clean, black and white Converse All-Stars, and they’re in Lance’s office now.

Claim them before Heise bedazzles em.

Joe Kubert / George Lucas Fever Dream

2011-12-19T11:58:00.001-05:00

When George Lucas wanted to create a promotional poster for his upcoming WWII fighter pilot film Red Tails, he went the route of making a faux comics cover. And not just doing something in the vein of old WWII comics books, George went and got the king of war stories to draw it. Comics legend and C2E2 Spotlight Guest Joe Kubert. Joe spent a good portion of his career drawing WWII comics. Pulpy yarns like Sgt. Rock, GI Combat, Tales of the Green Beret, and Ghost Tank were Joe's meat and potatoes, and books like these are some of the things he's still best known for.

If you swung by the Red Tails flight simulator at NYCC, odds are you walked away with one of these beauties.

If not, check out this Joe Kubert / George Lucas fever dream right here.

Geek Love Premieres Tonight

2011-12-18T06:43:00.001-05:00

Geek Love -- shot at NYCC -- premieres tonight at 9 PM on TLC!

A Week of Loss and Rejoicing

2011-12-17T11:01:00.003-05:00

It's been a tremdous week in the comics world. I'm not talking about AVX (which is what the cool kids are calling "Avengers vs. X-Men"), Marvel's return to the Age of Apocalypse, or any other announcements. No, I'm talking about the passings of Jerry Robinson and Joe Simon. While all the major blogs have been quick to post up memorials and photos, it's taken NYCC and C2E2 some time. We've had both Jerry and Joe at our shows, and when a guest passes, we feel it personally. Last year, when Speed Racer's Peter Fernandez passed, a man I spent a lot of time with, it was like losing a part of the family. We the same way now with Jerry and Joe.

Both men invented legends. Both men were legends. Both men helped to create the comics industry. They were among the greats who made the bricks and built the walls of the businesses that are today Marvel and DC. And, to see them, to meet them, to watch them as -- decades later -- they still have fans young and old clamoring to meet them? It's a brilliant, powerful thing. It's a great gift to give to fans today, and it's an important duty to give back to these makers of legends.

We don't bring out enough talent like Jerry and Joe. There aren't that many left, not all the old legends want to be (or can be) around crowds, and -- frankly -- it costs a lot to properly take care of a 70, 80, or 90-year-old Guest of Honor.

It's poignant that C2E2 Friday announced our first guest. Joe Kubert. 85-years-young, Joe Kubert is a titan in the industry. He's left his mark of numerous books -- a plethora of war comics and DC characters including Hawkman and Sgt. Rock. He's the father of Adam and Andy Kubert. He's the founder of the Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. We're honored, he'll be speaking and signing at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo.

We welcome Joe to C2E2, and we hope you do, too. We hope, too, you support the Hero Initiative and similar causes, taking care of the constellation of Golden and Silver Age stars fading away.

Caturday

2011-12-17T08:01:00.000-05:00

Geek Loves Premieres Sunday On TLC!

2011-12-16T09:20:00.001-05:00

Ryan Glitch wants to make people happy. Coming out to Star Wars Celebration, New York Comic Con, and C2E2, he runs Sci-Fi Speed Dating, and spends his weekends at our shows trying to make love connections between attendees who may be shy, awkward, or otherwise needing a little push to get them out of their shells. We've had at least one couple get married after meeting at one of Ryan's sessions, and we're excited to be working with him more next year.

Before then, though, he's getting his big break on television on Sunday night.

Ryan and his Sci-Fi Speed Dating will be at the center of Geek Love, a two hour special premiering at 9 PM on December 18th. Check it out. This is Ryan, larger than life, filling homes across America. We do a lot of marketing for our shows, typically to the kinds of people who are predisposed to comics, toys, anime, and games. Geek Love, though, will put Sci-Fi Speed Dating and New York Comic Con in front of the eyes of women and men who've never heard been to either event before -- and very likely -- have never even heard of em.

It'll change lives. I mean that. Growing up in a small town in Upstate New York, I couldn't fathom the kinds of things I work on now on a daily basis. I remember, still, the first time I visited Kinokuniya Bookstore in NYC. Here I was, a kid from a quiet little town who didn't know anyone else who liked anime or manga, and I stepped into a wonderland devoted to Japanese books and animation. It changed the world for me.

Geek Love is going to do the same. It's going to make a lot of people realize they're not alone. It's going to give a lot of people a glimpse at something they've never seen before. It's going to open a lot of people to something wholly new, wonderful, and different. We're proud of Ryan, and we hope you tune in.

Turn on TLC on Sunday night to see some of your fellow fans broadcast coast-to-coast.

Fantasy Football for Nerds

2011-12-15T10:46:00.002-05:00

Negin, MK, Kim, and I are locked in a room, fueled by coffee, tea, and Coke, pouring over spreadsheets. We've got stacks of paper, pencil shavings, overheating laptops, and highlighter fumes wafting about the air.

Today's the day we finalize Artist Alley for C2E2. We're sowing up the rankings from a team. We're getting paper cuts. We're telling stories that cannot be shared. We're getting into fights.

Today's a day of important decisions and free pizza. Today's also the day of the ReedPOP Holiday Party. I pray we finish the Artist Alley business before the booze breaks out.

Ghibli Film Series Kicks Off Tomorrow In NYC

2011-12-15T09:17:00.002-05:00

NYC's IFC Center and GKIDS (the fantastic people responsible for the New York International Children's Film Festival) tomorrow kick of an unheard of film series -- a magnificent, multi-week retrospective on the work of Studio Ghibli. It runs from December 16th through to January 12th, featuring Castle in The Sky, The Cat Returns, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor The Yamadas, My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaa of The Valley of The Wind, Ocean Waves, Only Yesterday, Pom Poko, Ponyo, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Whisper of The Heart all on new 35mm prints.

There are two really awesome things of note -- beyond the general awesomeness of this entire festival. First up, most festivals will only show a film once or twice, but not this series. Nope, pretty much everything on the list is being screening at least a half dozen times. It's the most accessible film series I've ever seen, and it removes any issues or excuses around your schedule. Can't make it to Mononoke (my personal favorite) tomorrow? No worries, it's being shown almost every single day until January 10th.

Next up is the the sheer fact that this series is happening. It's all the work of GKIDS, an organization you may not have heard about, but who is doing very signifiant, brilliant things. Beyond just running a children's film festival every spring, they're a distributor. They're the women and men getting The Scret of Kells, Summer Wars, Azur & Asmar, Sita Sings The Blues, and more into theaters. If there's an important, underground, award-winning children's film, they're likely behind it.

They're awesome.

Huh, I've used "awesome" a lot in this post. But it is awesome. All of it. Join me these last weeks of the year in camping out at IFC Center to take in the past 25 Years of Studio Ghibli!

A Max Android Custom

2011-12-14T10:34:00.002-05:00

Check this out. An adorable Andrew Bell Android figure. And one that's a one-of-a-kind custom by Max -- one of Fitchie's kids. Max is just eight-years-old (maybe?), and this is clearly the start of a promising artistic career.

He'll be in Artist Alley at C2E2 customizing Beyblades and Happy Meal Toys and selling contraband Pixy Stix.

Muppetational Christmas: GeekChic Pick of The Week

2011-12-14T10:30:00.000-05:00

Each week, we're proud to showcase one NYC happening-- as selected by our friends at GeekChicNYC. This week? The most sensational, inspirational, celebrational Muppetational Christmas ever...

It's time to sleigh and amuse Nick... It's time to light the string of red and green lights... It's time to meet the Muppets at Union Hall alright... That's because toughpigs.com is bringing The Muppet Vault: Christmas there on Sunday. No scrooges like Statler and Waldorf allowed! Not really, they'll definitely be there. The afternoon kicks off with an exclusive screening of A Muppet Family Christmas from 1987. In it, Fozzie (our favorite Muppet) brings the crew to his mom's farm where they hang with the gang from Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock. It's like Madea's Family Reunion if you replaced Madea with Ma Bear and the movie with something we'd want to watch. You'll also get to see other obscure Henson-made Christmas clips and sing some merry Muppety melodies. Last time they hosted a Muppet Vault, puppeteers Erick Jacobson (Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Animal) and Matt Vogel (Sgt. Floyd Pepper, Camilla, Sweetums) showed up for a surprise Q&A. The eight dollar cover is less than buying a ticket to see the new movie again and that wouldn't even come with Muppet-themed drink specials and the chance to win prizes. Things get started on the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational Muppetational Muppet show at 2PM. Get your tickets now because it's sure to sell out.

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Indy Restoration in NYC

2011-12-13T10:21:00.000-05:00

New York City isn't lacking for awesome movies. We get preview screenings, limited engagements, and repertory showings of classics all the time. (El Topo, Jurassic Park, Midnight in Paris, Blues Brothers, Nightmare Before Christmas, Princess Mononoke, and Totoro are all showing before December is through.) Of course, there's still the creme de la creme, and that's what IFC Center's just announced.

In honor of Raiders of the Lost Ark's 30th Anniversary, they'll be presenting a special 4K restoration of the film on December 16, 17, 30, 31, and January 1. Oh so sexy, I know. For all the details and to snag tickets, hit up IFCCenter.com.

Caturday

2011-12-10T09:39:00.000-05:00

What Are You Doing This Holiday Season?

2011-12-09T12:11:00.000-05:00

We got an email from one of our partners this week, alerting us of their holiday travel. As you can plainly see, they're the coolest person in the world...

Wanted to remind the REDACTED team that I will be working from Hong Kong starting this Friday, though December 18th. I will be working and available, but on the other side of the date line. For once I will be ahead! Please allow enough time for any turnarounds and approvals. From December 21st through January 8th I will be in the jungle in Guatemala, with a 4x4 and hopefully some monkeys and jaguars for company. I do not anticipate any reception on any devices, even a GPS. No REDACTED approvals will be going forward during this time, so please plan accordingly.

I'm going to Albany.

NEW-GEN NYCC Trailer

2011-12-09T11:21:00.000-05:00

Actually, I don't know if "trailer" is the right word. It's more a video recap. Either way, it's from our friends at NEW-GEN, and it highlights their events at New York Comic Con with year. We worked closely with NEW-GEN to bring Mark Hamill to the show, and they rounded out the convention with a phalanx of cosplayers and a perpetual mob of hungry fans. Take a look...

The Question Isn't "Where" C2E2's Artist Alley Is... But "When"...

2011-12-07T14:35:00.000-05:00

The deadline for C2E2's Artist Alley application's is tomorrow!

Want a table beside industry greats and up-and-comers? It all starts by signing up online. If you'd like a table amid fellow artists and writers, send us your stuff before December 8 is through.
View the application and get all the information at...

http://c2e2.com/Exhibitor-Info/Artist-Alley-Table-Request/

Kim Likes Wine

2011-12-07T10:59:00.002-05:00

We're all different kinds of nerds. I like Doctor Who. Lance likes Legos. Mike likes angry music. Kim, though... Kim likes wine. As such, when she and I made a bet over who'd land a C2E2 Spotlight Guest first, if she won, I owed her a bottle of wine.

This bottle of wine.

This is a 2008 bottle of Trapiche Broquel Malbec. Google tells me it's jammy. Congrats, Kim. Just don't drink it all in one place. Seriously, don't. We worry about you.

Tick Tock! Time's Running Out To Register For C2E2's Artist Alley!

2011-12-05T15:25:00.000-05:00

I was going to post a Harry Potter Puppet Pals / Ke$ha Tik Tok mash up because it's vaguely time related. I've decided against that. You're welcome. Instead, just remember to register for Artist Alley at C2E2 by December 8th.

It's easy. It's simply. It's at C2E2.com.

Tea Is For Losers (Like Me)

2011-12-04T16:47:00.002-05:00

I collect mugs. Odd, eccentric, bizarre, (nerdy) mugs. It's not something I've ever thought of until right now, but I've got a lot of em. See, I drink a rather large volume of tea and tend to be less then regimented when it comes to doing dishes, so a plethora of mugs is a necessity.

The fact that my mugs are branded with Merlotte's Bar and Grill, the Pawnee Harvest Festival, and Troy and Abed in The Morning, though, is all about making me smile.

I just picked up a fantastic teacup from NYC alternative dish and glassware shop Fishs Eddy adorned with a charming Victorian couple above "Tea Is For Losers" written in elaborate script. What? Yeah, NYC has an indie kitchenware store. New York's awesome.

Anywho, all this is an excuse to post the attached grainy picture, taken while I was in Chicago a few weeks back. It's a mug with the Intelligentsia Coffee name and logo plastered on the side. Intelligentsia's a Chicagoland coffee purveyor from what I gather.

I wanted to steal this mug.

For the record, I didn't.

STGCC Gloomy Bear In NYC!?

2011-12-04T15:38:00.001-05:00

This is awesome. It's a Devil Robots Tofu x Gloomy Bear collaboration. It was originally produced for the Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Con. And it's here in NYC. Forbidden Planet in Union Square has a few of these little darlings up on the wall.

They've also got the complete Eleven Doctor Micro-Figure set. They don't, though, have the TARDIS kinda-sorta-almost Lego set. Come on, Forbidden Planet, where are my Doctor Who micro-figures supposed to live?

Xenoblade Comes To America April 2012!

2011-12-03T08:07:00.005-05:00

So, I'm up early this Saturday morning to get some work done. Naturally, though, I start the morning with a shot of Kotaku to see what's up. Skyrim... Mario Kart... Xenoblade. Wait. What? Xenoblade? Xenoblade's getting a US release? The following hour was spent reading up on this and watching trailers and gameplay video.

If all this sounds like a bunch of gobbledegook, Xenoblade is an RPG for the Wii from Monolithsoft and Tetsuya Takahashi, the gentleman behind Xenogears and Xenosaga. I spent a good portion of my high school career in front of Xenogears, and if you ask my what my favorite game is, my response -- to this day -- will instantly be "Xenogears". All of Takahashi's Xeno games are distinct but all pull from similar threads ranging from giant robots to religious allegory. The synopsis for Xenogears is, pretty much, Giant Robots Fighting God. And, hey, look at that, giantrobotsfightinggod.com is my personal blog. Total fanboy.

While Xenoblade was released more than a year ago in Japan and has been praised as one of the best RPGs of this generation, Nintendo's been silent on any US release until now. Just announced, it's hitting the States in 2012. I couldn't be happier. Wait. What? Xenoblade is coming out domestically in April 2012? Hey, PAX and C2E2 are in April 2012.

I'd love to show some Xenoblade love at ReedPOP's events next April.

Reggie, call me.

Caturday: ReedPOP's New Marketing Agency

2011-12-03T07:15:00.000-05:00

C2E2 Artist Alley Deadline Is December 8!

2011-12-01T16:22:00.001-05:00

Just a friendly reminder that the Artist Alley Deadline for the 2012 C2E2 is December 8th. Submit your info at C2E2.com by then to be in the running for a table in McCormick next April. Wait untl December 9th? Well, then, you'll need to email Kim or me, and we'll have to write you a note about being so, so sorry but the deadline's passed. Let's skip all this and have you apply now...

http://c2e2.com/Exhibitor-Info/Artist-Alley-Table-Request/

PS: I feel Ke$ha's an appropriate, illustrative graphic for pretty much any topic.

Who Wants Weird Japanese Cookies?

2011-12-01T09:05:00.001-05:00

Cuz I got em at my desk!

Yesterday, MK said she didn't like green tea much. I asked her what she typically drinks. She confessed she's only tried the little plastic cups by the instant coffee machine.

No.

So, I picked her up some real, authentic stuff from Sunrise Mart by Bryant Park last night. And, since I was there, I also picked up some $3 giant cans of Asahi and red bean and green tea dorayaki. The Super Dry's at home, but I've got the red bean cakes in my office.

Pop in if you'd like one. No one? Really?

Geek Love - Shot At NYCC - Premieres Dec 18 on TLC

2011-11-30T13:23:00.002-05:00

Got a minute? Geek Love - a science fiction speed dating special filmed at New York Comic Con -- is premiering on TLC at 9 PM on December 18th.

Got a few minutes? Early in 2010, as we began planning Star Wars Celebration V with Lucasfilm, "Speed Dating" was one of the notes I had taken down in a meeting. LFL was keen on both making speed dating and a wedding chapel part of the event. I'm none too sure how serious these concepts were at first, but we set about making them real. Here's where things get interesting. Nearly to the day of this meeting, through sheer serendipity, I got an email from a fan and 501st member named Ryan Glitch. He'd attended a number of local speed dating events and ran a few in his hometown in Upstate New York. He wanted to help organize "Star Wars Speed Dating" at Celebration.

As with all proposals like this, my first step was calling Ryan up and ascertaining where he fell on the Stab-Someone-In-The-Eye Crazy Scale. To my shock and delight, despite having a passion for dressing up like Anakin Skywalker and hosting speed dating sessions, the guy was quite sincere and sane. We worked together to present Star Wars Speed Dating at Celebration V.

We gave him an average-sized room and scheduled out a few time slots. Both Ryan and I had high hopes, but we had no clue how it'd actually do. Turns out, it'd do fantastic. All of Ryan's sessions were jam-packed, and we needed to add more on-site. People found genuine love connections, with at least one couple now married who met through Speed Dating at Celebration.

ReedPOP has since worked with Ryan Glitch and the crew of the -- now labeled -- Sci-Fi Speed Dating additionally at both C2E2 2011 and NYCC 2010 and 2011, and we're in talks around what we can do together in 2012. At every event, Ryan's mobbed. We've yet to get Ryan in a room big enough for the demand, and there's always a line out the door. Ryan runs the show with a clear head and clever eye and still dressed as Anakin Skywalker. And people fall in love.

Since our first outing together at Celebration in 2010, Ryan's also gotten some big play in the media. Major names like CNN cover him. It's an interesting beast. On one hand, I know Sci-Fi Speed Dating gets this coverage because it's an easy, zany story to write. On the other, Ryan is genuine about everything he does, so even if news outlets come to him initially because there are nerds in costume trying to find love, Ryan's serious with them. This isn't a joke. It's not done for a laugh. He's trying to make people happy.

Which takes us right up to this year's New York Comic Con. At the same time that Ryan's been getting written up in the mainstream press, the Reality TV world's been knocking on his door. They did a test at C2E2 earlier in the year, and he had a full camera crew with him through the entirety of New York Comic Con. Geek Love is premiering on TLC at 9 PM on December 18th. And if the specials shot at New York Comic Con do well, there'll be more.

It's pretty awesome. Starting with Jeff Kinney, creator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, getting discovered all the way back at the inaugural NYCC, we've had a long history of creators, artists, writers, and makers getting their big break one way or another at ReedPOP shows, and we couldn't now be happier for Ryan getting this shot on TLC. Yet, while I and the team at ReedPOP are excited, from reading through forums and blogs, I know some fans have concerns with the upcoming specials. Just as press can approach Sci-Fi Speed Dating for a bit of comedy, nerds in costume trying to find love can very easily translate to a joke of a television program. I know, as much as I want Ryan to make it big, I had doubts as the Reality TV deal was coming together. The last thing I wanted to see from all this was something hurtful, something exploitative, or something cruel.

In speaking with Ryan yesterday about the specials, he put it succinctly...

"It's funny, it's sad, it's sweet, and it's real."

Here's the thing to remember, just as Ryan's serious about speed dating and serious with the press, he's damn serious about the TV show. Through it all, all the media, all the filming, and all the buzz, he's still just a kid from Upstate New York who wants people to fall in love, and I love him for that. I wish him the best of luck and hope Geek Love does gangbusters.

Make some time on December 18th for Geek Love on TLC. Ryan will be watching. I'll be watching. And I'd love for you to watch along, too. If you'd like to learn more, head over to Sci-Fi Speed Dating's official Facebook page and read the original announcement about Geek Love at Entertainment Weekly.

My only regret is that they're not using the title for the program I had originally suggested -- Geek Pimp.

Star Wars Christmas Special: GeekChic Pick of The Week

2011-11-30T11:36:00.002-05:00

Each week, we're proud to showcase one NYC happening-- as selected by our friends at GeekChicNYC. This week? A different kind of Star Wars Christmas Special...

In A New Hope, C-3PO tells Luke Skywalker he's not very good at telling stories. Then in Return of the Jedi, his storytelling ability convinces the Ewoks to induct his crew into their tribe! (Now you know where M. Night Shyamalan got his idea for plot twists.) We don't speak Ewokese, but judging by the fuzzy natives' reactions, recapping the rebels' adventures with thrilling sound effects is a rewarding skill. Charlie Ross, who does speak the Ewoks' primitive dialect, is taking a cue from the golden protocol droid and recapping the original Star Wars trilogy all by himself in the inventively titled One-Man Star Wars Trilogy. After viewing the movies hundreds of times, Ross can now quote them word-for-word, including the indigenous lexicons of Hutts, Wookiees and Rodians. Along with playing all the characters, Ross incorporates factoids, plenty of sound effects and even bits of John Williams' score. The performances run from December 2nd to December 23rd at the Midtown Theatre.

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Dedication

2011-11-30T11:21:00.001-05:00

This is the PAX logo. Tattooed into a fan's arm. That is all.

Parks and Rec's Aubrey Plaza Pitches WarCraft

2011-11-29T09:11:00.000-05:00

Why, hello there Aubrey Plaza. I'll buy whatever you're selling.

PS: Did you know Aubrey Plaza's Twitter name is @evilhag? Now you do.

Toys, T-Shirts, and TARDISes Up For Grabs in Geek Chic Holiday Giveaway

2011-11-28T13:22:00.002-05:00

How was your Thanksgiving? Now, I don't really care about the turkey and trimmings, but I am interested in any deals you snagged. We had some ReedPOP members brave the cold for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, and I may just be risking carpal tunnel syndrome right now for some Cyber Monday scores. One of the team landed Arkham City for $15 on Friday. Another took home a two foot tower of Blu-rays for cheap. And a third now needs to find a home for a 48 inch LG 3D TV procured at the ridiculous price of only $400.

Of course, the best price of all is free, and our friends at Geek Chic Daily are giving away the ultimate nerdy holiday prize pack. Culled from throughout the interwebs, they've assembled an assortment of geekery coming in at over $1,000, and -- tis is season -- are sharing it with their readers instead of hording it beneath their desks. Geek Chic's holiday prize pack consists of...

Smallville: The Complete Series DVD Box Set
Mattel DC Infinite Heroes Starro Set - 2010 Comic-Con Exclusive
Kotobukiya Fine Art Gambit Statue
Sideshow Holiday Yoda
Doctor Who Series Six DVD
Doctor Who TARDIS Mini Set
Doctor Who Suit Shirt
Doctor Who Talking Pen
Darth Vader Ultimate FX Lightsaber
Masters of the Universe Classics Wind Raider
Kotobukiya Han Solo in Carbonite and R2 Ice Trays
Angry Birds: Knock On Wood Game
Super 7 Mascot-Size Mummy Boy in Blue Glow Vinyl
Gremlins Gizmo Action Figure, Dancing Gizmo and Santa Gizmo plush by NECA

You can enter to win online at Geek Chic's site and twice more via Facebook and Twitter. For more info and to put your name into the running, hit up geekchicdaily.com by December 20th.

Now, I should mention that this entire post is written against my better judgment, and my original draft began with "Screw the Season and Don't Enter the Geek Chic Daily Holiday Contest!" Part of the Geek Chic giveaway, see, is the Doctor Who TARDIS Mini Set. For the uninformed, it's a little kinda-sorta-almost Lego TARDIS complete with Doctor and Amy mini-figures. In other words, it's the best holiday gift of all, and I want it all for myself. You entering will only diminish my own chances of eliminating any of my own productivity in 2012. I suppose, though, I can just buy one myself if Forbidden Planet NYC ever gets them back in stock.

Vworp! Vworp!

Worst. Clan. Ever.

2011-11-28T09:37:00.000-05:00

Playing Modern Warfare 3? The game's broken virtually every metric of success for not just videogames -- but across entertainment overall -- so, it's pretty safe to assume you are. The game's a gorgeous thing, its narrative making me well up a few times, and the multi-player is incredibly self-aware and nuanced. But I'm not going to write a love letter to MW3. No. Instead, I'm going to formally announce the start of the worst clan in Modern Warfare history.

Fanboys and fangirls, the good folks at ReedPOP and Reed Exhibitions have banded together to start [RXUS]. This clan, composed of Reed employees who fancy themselves warlords and nation builders in their off hours, is now online and getting its ass swiftly handed to it by twelve-year-olds.

If you spot a member of RXUS online, please be gentle.

Seriously, it's long been a pet project of the team to start up some regular playdate with fans, whether sanctioned by Xbox LIVE or not, and we're hoping RXUS is the first step toward something bigger. The PAX guys regularly privately play online, but the larger team only had one internal playdate I can think of. It was pretty fun, despite Settembrini spending the entire night camping. Well, fingers crossed something becomes of RXUS and we can build some legit online gatherings out of it.

Until then, I'll be the guy you just destroyed with an ACR.

Caturday: Chow Chow Edition

2011-11-26T13:42:00.002-05:00

I'm on the slow bus between Boston and NYC without any cat pictures on my phone, so we'll all have to work with this. Snapped last week, it's of a Chow Chow at Meet The Breeds.

The Chow Chow, a giant, fuzzy lion of a dog, is one of the oldest breeds of doggies, and the original ancestor of more modern breeds including the Pomeranian.

The Chow Chow is originally from ancient China, where I've been told they were raised for their meat.

Happy Caturday!

Thanksgiving At Large

2011-11-24T11:33:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! The ReedPOP team has scattered across the country for today's annual celebration of family and fowl. Kim's feasting on a Thanksgiving brunch right now. MK's on hour 30 of her turkey prep. Heels is in Long Island somewhere making this day of traditional Americana nerdy. Lance is at Greg's, both on their second six pack of pumpkin ale. Fitch's kids, I assume, are hunting possum in the backyard.

I'm on the Fung Wah bus to Boston for a traditional Chinese Thanksgiving followed by a late night screening of The Muppets.

I'd wanted to stay in NYC for the first time this year, doing a whimsical little holiday with the fiancée at home. We'd make construction Pilgrim and Indian hats and a horrible mess of the kitchen: stuffing from scratch, hand-pounded mashed potatoes, candied yams, gingered green beans, corn spiked with hot pepper, tofurkey dressed with guava chutney, pretzel bread biscuits, and apple, pumpkin, and sweet potato pies. The soon-to-be Mrs. said no. Something about how I'd instead spend the day playing Modern Warfare 3 while she stared on furiously.

So, Boston.

I've digressed.

Back to Thanksgiving, we meet a lot of people in this business, and everyone becomes a little bit of our family. We thank you for that, and we hope you have a safe, happy, warm, and wonderful Turkey Day. We'd love to all invite you to our home one day, but I don't think we'd be able to find a table long enough, and MK would probably go walkabout midway through the three week prep.

We wish you all the best today, and we'd like to remind you that it's okay to take that third slice of pie. We won't judge.

Chicago On A Plate

2011-11-22T13:18:00.003-05:00

If you even casually glanced at the blog last week, you know we ate a lot in Chicago. We didn't go looking for breakfast pie or chocolate chip skillets, they found us, and while we had a fantastic time in the Windy City, the team spent the weekend shopping for new pants. Now, as a perfect coda to our exploits in Chicago, @1nerdycupcake, sends us the McRushmore 2, a gustatory Frankenstein concocted by the evil geniuses at Red Eye Chicago.

The McRushmore 2 is the unholy union between the Mastodon Burger from Kuma's Corner, the Taco de Panza out of Big Star, the Antelope Sausage Dog by way of Hot Doug's, and a slice of Lou Malnati's Sausage Deep Dish Pizza. Terrifying, no? You can see the finished masterpiece above, and -- if you're brave enough -- you can check out Red Eye for 26 gratuitous shots of the burger's construction and demolition.

I'm afraid.

3 Things I Think Are Awesome

2011-11-21T17:42:00.003-05:00

This story about adult Lego freaks from the WSJ. I long so much to be one of them, or rather one of them that gets paid to be a freak, read it here.

This story from the Star Tribune about where Paul Westerberg is these days. Apparently working on a Replacements box set, but more importantly coaching his kids baseball team and randomly riding his bike around the street he lives on. Nice. Read it here.

- Lance

Caturday

2011-11-19T17:28:00.002-05:00

MK sent me this picture yesterday. The email was titled "Kim's Ideal World". Unprompted by not soon after, my girlfriend asked me if MK and Kim were weird.

I showed her this picture.

This Is What Genius Looks Like

2011-11-17T16:27:00.001-05:00

Last weekend, I attended an Archer panel in NYC's Paley Center. It's the kind of stuff I aspire to see at NYCC. In a number of ways. First up, the panel had a fantastic line-up -- Adam Reed along with H. Jon Benjamin, Chris Parnell, Amber Nash, and David Cross. Second up, let me repeat David Cross. The panel wasn't a panel but performance art. Cross moderated/hijacked the hour-long talk, spending very little of it actually on Archer, instead discussing more important things like BBQ, Worcester, and Amber Nash's house. At some point, star H. Jon Benajmin just walked out, wandering about the Paley Center with his mic still on.

I had tears in my eyes the entire time, while I can only imagine Paley Center curator David Bushman had sweat dripping from his brow. Bravo, though, dude. It was unexpected, devious, and surreal. It was brilliant. You can -- and should -- read Bushman's full recap of the event.

Capturing the atmosphere perfectly, here's a shot from Bushman's blog of the panel's cast posing in front of the Paley Center's step and repeat...

Chicago At Large: One More For The Road

2011-11-17T16:07:00.002-05:00

Chitown Spidey is a lot like NYC's Spider-Man. While I've always known and appreciated him for his heroism darting about the Mag Mile in his red and blue long undies, I realized during our meet-ups that he's got even more in common with his New York counterpart. Just as NYC's Spider-Man's secret identity, Peter Parker, has a day job taking photos for the Daily Bugle, Chitown Spidey's secret identy, [REDACTED], loves to snap pictures as well.

Here's his group shot from the end of our second night...

It's dark and grim and all of our eyes are red, but that's pretty representative of how we are in real life.

Chicago At Large: The Last Word

2011-11-16T20:25:00.001-05:00

Well, that was fun. After three days of non-stop meetings and eating, we need to wave goodbye to the Windy City. We had a lot of fantastic conversations, and the wheels are spinning around C2E2 2012. Pretty soon, you'll begin to see the fruits of these past few days at C2E2.com as well as right here on the blog. But, until then, we'd like DJ Kitty to have the last word...

Chicago At Large: I Spy A Guy With A Hogwarts Scarf

2011-11-16T18:53:00.002-05:00

Those are Heise's hands, banging on some work as we roar along the track to O'Hare. We're on the subway now. I spy a guy with a Hogwarts scarf, a kid in a Spider-Man hat, and a woman reading George R.R. Martin. While I'm excited and have a bit of an obsession with trains, Jenny may be freaking out.

It's OK. Just 53 more minutes.

Chicago At Large: I Will Eat No More Forever

2011-11-16T18:47:00.002-05:00

So, Day Three of our Chicago trip is coming to a surreal, satisfying end. A number of the team have already departed, with Fitch, MK, Jenny, Heise, Heels, and I still on the ground. Lots of meetings today. Awesome meetings. Don't know how we managed to plow through after the late night at Blue Frog, but we laid the groundwork for some excited, exciting things.

Yeah, vague promises are the best promises, aren't they?

In between meetings, we hit up the Lego Store, a tea shop called Tea, some gallery with a Power Ranger and elephant eating donuts, and did some walking. After three days of eating to the point of madness, we walked twenty blocks along the Magnificent Mile. It felt awesome.

I should mention we were walking to a little place called the Grand Lux Cafe - a place MK wanted to go to solely to score some fried pickles. We also attempted a pulled pork grilled cheese and something called a Manhattan Salad - which, I presume, was named based on its size being rather not smaller than Manhattan. You can see some of this in the picture.

We gave up pretty soon in. After three days here, I think we're all exhausted. Thanksgiving is cancelled. I'm throwing out everything in my refrigerator. We're donating the ReedPOP Secret Snack Stash to ISC.

All of this, though, didn't stop Heise from endeavoring to stomach a chocolate chip cookie sundae skillet.

Chicago At Large: Deep Dish Pancake

2011-11-16T09:54:00.002-05:00

Day Three begins at the Original Pancake House. This darling is their apple pancake. Heise's hand should give you a frame of reference. Now, if you look closely, you may start to think the thing bears very little resemblance to a pancake, having more akin to pie. You'd be correct.

The Original Pancake House serves up entire apple pies for breakfast. It's twisted. It's delicious. Chicago's catching up to us, though, as Heels and I could barely do a third of this pie masquerading as a pancake.

Actually, meditating on it, the apple pancake shares a lot with another Chicago staple - the deep dish pizza. This monster is a deep dish pastry packed with layers of apple, cinnamon, sugar, and an unexpected buttery custard.

Fitch and I are heading out to our first meeting of the day while Heels, Heise, and MK wait it out at the Pancake House for anther dish to rise from its diabolical oven. The three are awaiting the arrival of some twisted breakfast sweet called the Dutch Baby.

I'm afraid.

GeekChic Picks Of The Week!

2011-11-16T08:08:00.004-05:00

While the ReedPOP team is out in Chicago, New York's not left alone. Looking for something to do in Manhattan, Brookyn, Bronx, Staten Island, or Queens? Here are some recommendedations -- as selected by our friends at GeekChicNYC...

Akuma Matata - It's time for Galactus practice. Midtown Comics' November 19th Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tourney has a $50 gift card prize, no entry fee, free play and free comics. That's the best Combo yet. (Stone Creek Lounge, noon)

Tommy, Can I See You? - It's not easy to choose the worst New York movie (Freejack? Spider-Man 3?) But anyone who's glanced at the leering, grave visage of Tommy Wiseau on a Highland Blvd. billboard knows the worst LA one. His self-produced, written and directed movie The Room epitomizes so-terrible-it's-awesome. The People's Improv Theater is offering a rare East Coast viewing at midnight November 19th. (Free)

Mocking Dead - Zombies rip us apart, so it's time we rip on them too. The play Brew of the Dead II: Oktoberflesh spoofs classic zombie flicks to answer a question ignored by George A. Romero, Sam Raimi and Robert Kirkman. Can the dead get high? (Under St. Marks, Through November 19, 8PM, $12)

Shell Meet Again - On Friday, a screening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be introduced by the clan's blue masked leader (or at least his puppeteer). Take April O'Neil's reporting gig by asking Leo why he gets to use two swords while Donatello is stuck with a stick. (BAMcinématek, 9:15PM, $12)

Want to get more news about nerdy events in NYC? Sign up to get them delivered daily into your inbox by GeekChicNYC.

Chicago At Large: Be Who You Are

2011-11-16T02:27:00.002-05:00

So, at 2 AM on a typical night, I'd be snuggling with and stealing covers from my fiancée after passing out to Glee on Hulu. Tonight, I'm the awkward guy in the corner of Blue Frog as Chicago's best karaoke floods the air.

That blob in the middle with the vintage Lego T-Shirt is Captain Lance, bringing down the house with a tearful tribute to none other than our own Michael Carmela Armstrong.

Mike's in the back, blushing, confused, and feeling just a wee bit excited.

Chicago At Large: Nacho Drunk

2011-11-15T21:37:00.002-05:00

Night Two here in Chicago, and we're doing our second formal focus group. Last night, we met up with Chicagoland fans who haven't been to C2E2 before, and tonight we're talking to prior attendees. The event's gone on a bit now, and everyone's a little drunk on nachos and beer - which is pretty much the ReedPOP business model.

Here's some of the random notes from the evening. Don't try to draw a web between em all...

Food Tucks
Nathan Fillion
Classical Ballet
Nostalgia Critic
Webcomics
Froggy
Trivia Nights
Roosevelt Stop
Doctor Who
Animation Industry
Drum Line
Howard
SMBC

Another round of nachos!

Chicago At Large: This Isn't Healthy

2011-11-15T16:45:00.001-05:00

I'm sorry. I apologize. Golly, I didn't know what I was thinking. Looking back at Chicago At Large, I don't know how I made two posts in a row not about food. It won't happen again.

Making right, here's a picture from breakfast at the Original Pancake House. The place is obscene. Six egg omelets. Apple pie pancakes. Bacon infused waffles.

We're at an Asian place for lunch now, ideally mitigating some of breakfast's damage, but we've somehow ended the meal with chocolate peanut butter pie.

This isn't healthy.

Chicago At Large: Killer Robots

2011-11-15T15:00:00.001-05:00

Behold the Gakushu Robot Cell. This is one of the smaller robots here at FabTech. We saw a very patriotic robot, too, waving about an American flag. But I don't trust him. As soon as Judgment Day hits, he'll clearly be the first robot to slaughter his human masters.

In non robot news, I think we've got an initial plan around rooms, space, queuing, press, talent, volunteers, and other wonky business. Ideally, all this stuff will be invisible to attendees, but it's something that'll be the result of long hours of talk, debate, and name calling within the team.

Now, excuse me, as I have to ask if the Komatsu Rapid Manufacturing System can be used to make grilled cheese.

Chicago At Large: The New Home Of C2E2

2011-11-15T13:56:00.003-05:00

We're here in McCormick Place North and South, and you're looking at the Grand Concourse. FabTech - the most fabulous trade show ever - is in McCormick now. It's got bending robots, welding robots, cutting robots, drilling robots, and dancing robots. It's awesome. There's even an Orbital Welding company.

Welding In Space!

Heels and I should make sure Skeleton Bandito has a sub-division called Orbital Welding Solutions. If the preceding sentence didn't make sense, you're not following @h_e_e_l_s and @petertatara on Twitter. Shame.

Getting serious for a moment, McCormick's North and South Buildings are amazing. Unlike New York, where we don't have enough space, C2E2's 2012 halls provide us more than enough. We've got the fortune, too, to sit, think, plot, and plan, which is what we're doing today. We're skulking around secret passages, taking freight elevators into kitchens, and avoiding FabTech's killer robots.

There's a lot of potential for C2E2 2012, and we've got to now put all the puzzle pieces into place.

Chicago At Large: Local Nightlife

2011-11-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

Check out this spooky shot of some disturbing Chicagoland vampires. Wait, no. Sorry. It's a picture of the Team Leaders from the C2E2 Volunteer Meet-Up and Bake-Off. We met at a charming family place called Ethanol and Sustenance. As you can see, it was quite dim. (Which, if you note the quality of my Kuma's photo, I'm sensing is a trend.) The picture comes by way of Chi-Town Spidey, who was also recording a good bit of the evening, so expect video of a half-down Heise with a face full of canola soon.

Yeah, we're serious about the Bake-Off bit. There were cookies, eclairs, cupcakes, magic cheesecake, and various other sweets. The winner? Let's say it was Bravo, as the boy needs something to build up his confidence.

Chicago At Large: Kuma's Corner

2011-11-14T23:30:00.001-05:00

We're at Kuma's Corner. The legendary Kuma's Corner. The infamous Kuma's Corner. Chicago's death metal answer to NYC's Shake Shack. We've heard the tales and we were denied Kuma's last time we were out in Chitown -- a three hour wait to grab a burger on a Saturday.

But now, we four -- Fitch, Heise, Heels, and I -- sit inside Kuma's! After a fantastic meeting with Chicagoland volunteers, we dashed out to Kuma's, prepared for a multi-hour line, but... Gasp! Shock! Horror! We were seated without any wait.

Fitch is getting the Pantera, Heise has the Iron Maiden, Heels is going for the Arkansas Something Magical, and I'll be tucking into a Neurosis. Our beers range from Christmas Ale to British Banana Beer.

It's been a long day, and we've had some significant dropout from the original 16 planning on hitting up Kuma's, but we've survived, and now we're about to dig in.

It's loud. It's hot. It's cramped. It's dark. It's delicious.

Chicago At Large: When In Rome

2011-11-14T19:34:00.002-05:00

Here we are, deep into Day One of our whirlwind C2E2 November tour. Lots of good meetings. Khahil got a job offer. Kim's flight was cancelled. Pretty par for the course. Here's a little picture of lunch at Lou Malnati's.

We're splitting up again now for focus groups and a volunteer meet up. Then, the first official meeting of the ReedPOP Save Inspector Spacetime (And Community) Emergency Taskforce.

Chicago At Large: Must Love Dogs

2011-11-14T14:09:00.002-05:00

We're here and set up in Chicago. The team's split up among retailers, volunteers, partners, and various other friends of the show. Meanwhile, I'm doing some Star Wars work from my hotel room.

Behold one of the wifi networks in the hotel. MustLoveDogs.

Chicago At Large: Devil With A Blue Dress On

2011-11-14T08:21:00.002-05:00

We're en route to Chicago. Kinda. Almost. We're on the plane on the tarmac. That's the view from my window. That's not our actual plane. Our's is probably called Blue Harvest. Or something. Doesn't really matter.

We'll be taking off shortly and then be doing a day of meetings that we probably can't talk about. Then, though, Kuma's Corner. It's going to happen. Tonight. Past your bedtime. Doesn't really matter.

We're still going and will be blogging blurry, blurry pictures of Kristin Heise elbow deep into a piece of gouda and carmelized onion covered chuck.

There's a work connection here somewhere, and it's not as tenuous as you may suspect. Really. I've got a cunning plan to do a special burger at Kuma's in honor of C2E2.

The C2B2.

Behold The Burberry Baby Snowsuit

2011-11-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

We stopped by Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Ave yesterday to check out the werewolves and fishmen in the luxury store's windows and then headed over to the Bergdorf website afterwards to get some additional information on the beasties. Couldn't find anything, but we did discover the 2011 Bergdorf Goodman Holiday Gift List. It's an amazing, baffling, stupefying list and well worth a read, whether you're in the market for some super swanky Christmas presents or if you just want to see how the 1% shops.

Our favorites...

White Gold Shark Head Cufflinks with Diamond Eyes ($7,000)
Alexander McQueen Purple Mink Skull Purse ($3,000)
Stingray, Alligator, Ostrich, and Goatskin iPhone Cases ($400)
Burberry Gold Metallic Baby Snowsuit ($350)

That's the Burberry Baby Snowsuit pictured with this little post. You owe it to yourself to click on over to the Bergdorf Goodman Gift List to see the rest.

Cheshire Caturday

2011-11-12T19:11:00.002-05:00

It's been a busy day. Went to the Paley Center Archer panel hosted by David Cross, an event that was a surreal piece of awesome and awkward performance art. After that, hit up the Central Park Zoo and saw a baby red panda, making anything you did today irrelevant. After that, dinner at Alice's Tea Cup, which is totally where I'm doing my wedding rehearsal dinner. Really. Then, I stopped by FAO Schwarz, where they're selling both American and Japanese Power Rangers toys. Next, picked up a top secret surprise for Marykate. Finally, walked by Bergdorf Goodman, and I saw this.

It's a super spooky Cheshire Cat walking some doggies. It's part of a ridiculous window display also featuring a werewolf and Hath-like fishman. Hath? They were the baddies in the Doctor Who episode "The Doctor's Daughter". Didn't care for it when it first came out, but it's grown on me. Also, it introduced David Tennant to Miss Georgia Moffett, the actress who played the titular daughter. They're married now.

I'm digressing. We posted up pictures of the werewolf and fishman and red panda at @nerdyorkcity. I'm off to eat scones.

Townhall At Large: McRib

2011-11-10T18:00:00.002-05:00

Wrapping up today's Townhall posts, we'll leave you with a look at some of the raw, untempered creativity of the ladies and gents at ReedPOP. Today's meeting had various team-building exercises, and what's a team-building exercise but an excuse to make up team names? Below are some of the names generated. They're not the best, but they're the ones I'm not ashamed to post on the internet. My mom reads this blog...

Dingleberries
Fire Breathing Kittens
The Penn State Nittany Lions
Heavy D's Final McRib
Team Chewbacca
Platinum Prestige
Trumbull Youth Basketball Xplosion
Taskforce Silent Panther
Alex Skarsgard Is Lame
Fireable Offense
Snake Juice
Creeps In Vans
Here for Beer
Victorious Secret
The Abusement Park
Designated Drinkers
Better With Beer
Fire Breathing Kittens
Anti Armed Flying Mortal Penguins
Steaming Medium

The image - referenced in an earlier post - is a shot of our super spooky storage room in the basement. Can you see the asbestos?

Townhall At Large: We Are The Champions

2011-11-10T16:55:00.002-05:00

The ReedPOP Townhall is wrapping up. We just finished our own little version of the Newly Wed Game. Armstrong and I were a team and kicked ass. Now, while those at the meeting may not say we actually won, I'm saying we did. On this blog. On the internet.

So, who you gonna believe?

This was my answer to "What Job Would You Leave ReedPOP For?" I'm gunning for you, Moffat!

Townhall At Large: Blurry Jackie

2011-11-10T14:56:00.001-05:00

That is all.

Townhall At Large: Sad Mike

2011-11-10T14:36:00.002-05:00

Here's blurry, sad Mike. He's just learned we're sending him to Siberia for four months to help with a new launch. The Sverdlovsk Ska, Jazz & Funk Fan Fest.

Townhall At Large: Fitch Castle

2011-11-10T13:23:00.002-05:00

Behold Fitchie. At least, behold his shirt. I first encountered Punisher Fitchie this morning while in the building's spooky P1 level on my way to Reed's super spooky storage space. There's always something supernatural or sketchy on P1, and an early morning encounter with Fitch Castle fits this.

Townhall At Large: New York, NY

2011-11-10T12:33:00.002-05:00

Behold the New York Bakery. In Norwalk, CT. It's outside our townhall.

Townhall At Large: Blurry Greg

2011-11-10T12:22:00.001-05:00

Blurry Greg takes the floor. He's in a seersucker shirt and talking about his Tecmo Super Bowl League.

Townhall At Large: Blurry Kim

2011-11-10T12:04:00.002-05:00

And here's Kim. She's the blob most to the right. I think Jenny's the little blob next to her. Butler's the plaid bit of pixels on the left. Kim's talking about energy colors and crystal skulls.

Townhall At Large: Blurry Lance

2011-11-10T11:56:00.002-05:00

Promised blurry pictures. Here's super blurry Lance beside a screen too bright and blurry to make out any of the details. Likely pictures of Lance's Maine vacation.