Here are some highlights from the Comikaze Expo’s Boondock Saints reunion with Sean Patrick Flannery, Norman Reedus and David Della Rocco himself. Wicked Phoenix happened to walk by a private secret surprise panel and joined in the reunion fun as the Space Pirate Queen rushed over to be claimed by Norman Reedus.
Geek Girls Creating Their Own Films & Shows was the last panel I attended at Comikaze Expo and it was a great way to wrap up the convention experience. I love that that the convention had panels that centered around the ladies in our vast community.
The panelists were Kristen Nedopak (Fight Class, Think Hero TV), Leah Cevoli (Robot Chicken), Stephanie Thorpe (ElfQuest), Crix Lee (GirlGamer) and Helenna Santos Levy (American Reunion)– plus, a surprise appearance from Jessica Mills (Awkward Embraces). All of them had different background and stories on how they made a career out of their own geek passions.
The ‘Women Running Geeky Businesses’ panel was literally the last thing I did at the convention. Unfortunately, I had to book it out of the con before 3pm and catch my flight back to L.A. I wanted to check out this panel to pick up some tips from women who knew what they were doing, personal business-wise. The women on the panel were Megan Gaiser (Her Interactive), Jenn Fujikawa (JustJENNDesign), Stephanie Ogle (Cinema Books), Chrystal Doucette (Digital Soaps), Jo Jo Stiletto (Jo Jo Stiletto Events) and Erica McGillivray (Geek Girl Con’s CEO) as moderator.
I am not a business-minded woman. I’m kind of all over the place and it’s a little bit of a miracle I’ve managed to actually get Defective Geeks up and running for as long as it has (almost five years!). Of course, with the help of my close friends, things have picked up around here. Still, if you ask me if I’ll ever figure out a way to monetize Defective Geeks, I will probably slowly sink to the floor.
I admire anyone who are smart enough to be able to turn their own passion and interests into a self-sustaining career… but it’s just that much more cool to have these geek girls talk about their own success. It was also a unique panel where the audience heard different success stories from women of all ages and very different career and life choices.
On Saturday, I attended the “Feminism, Race & Geek Culture” at Geek Girl Con 2011. The Panelists were Nina V. Reyes, Christina Xu (Breadpig), Michele Hu and Regina Buenaobra (ArenaNet) as the moderator.
I am glad I went to this panel. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was rewarded with a great discussion with well-spoken women. They touched on quite a few interesting points about female and Asian culture in geek media. What I really appreciated about the way these women approached sensitive issues without having to be defensive or threatening to other people. They even gave great advice on how to deal with negative internet interactions. Despite having less than one hour to talk, I believe Reyes, Xu and Hu got a lot of great points across the table.
Sunday night Dianne and I went to a screening of Red State at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles.
After the screening of the movie, we were graced with a Question and Answer session from the man himself; Mr. Kevin Smith. The whole night was a great experience, especially since this was the second time Dianne and I got to see Kevin Smith in person together. The first time was the farewell event for Secret Stash. I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with a lovely sense of nostalgia.
Movie Review: Red State is a triumph. It is the first time Kevin Smith has done a movie so different from his usual style. According to Sir, the movie was influenced by Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers and I could certainly see it. Visually, the movie was very cinema vérité (AKA shaky cam, think Bourne Supremacy) which, as the viewer, made me feel the terror and fear the main characters were experiencing because it felt realistic. The story is about three teenage boys who answer an internet advertisement for sex, and then wind up caught in a trap set by a fanatical religious group who believe they are doing God’s work by ridding the world of sinners and gay people. They’re like the Westboro Baptist Church times a million and with arsenal.
The panel for “True Blood” at Comic Con is one that I have wanted to see for years, but each time the line to get in resembled something you would imagine seeing at Disneylworld multiplied by one thousand. Each year I would try to get in, and each year I would fail. I started to feel like I was Captain Ahab and the panel for “True Blood” was my big white whale. My sexy, ridiculously good looking Southern white whale.
Thanks to a kind samaritan with an unwanted bathroom pass, I got into this fabled panel. And you know what? It was AWESOME.
The panel started off with a fun trailer of Season 4 that teased us with lovely things to come (shirtless Eric, possible Eric x Sookie, possible Jason x Jessica, and more witches!). After that, the cast members were introduced and welcomed with loud and sincere cheers and applause, especially for Alexander Skarsgard and Stephen Moyer. Alan Ball, the creator of the show, was there along with cast.
The panel started off with a question for Anna Paquin asking her about the different sides of Sookie Stackhouse. She responded saying that a part of Sookie is still sweet and innocent, and the other part of her has “lots of dirty vampire sex.” This pretty much set the tone for the whole panel. The actors who attended were Anna Paquin (Sookie), Stephen Moyer (Bill), Ryan Kwanten (Jason), Rutina Wesley (Tara), Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette), Alexander Skarsgard (Eric), Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica), Kristin Bauer van Straten (Pam), and Kevin Alejandro (Jesus). Each actor was asked about the changes in their characters, which included a possible romance between Jessica and Jason, and stronger and happier Tara, and an amnesiac Eric who keeps forgetting to put a shirt on (God bless this show).
