writer [rahy-ter] : a person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc., especially as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist.
Here is an intentionally blurry picture of some of my notes from seeing a screening of Big Hero 6. I think I did pretty well on writing in straight non-tangling lines in a pitch black theater.
My review will be done soon and I will link to it when it is up.
Even though I’ve been quiet the past couple of days I did update something on the site.
Not sure?
Take a gander at the sidebar and you will find a Featured Publications tab for this year. Yup, finally back in the writing game. And you know what? It feels really good. I was born to write.
So please, keep updated with my blog as you will be seeing more and more of me.
This was written as a word vomit so please excuse the lack of structure.
Watch the trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron here.
My thoughts as I can process them right now on the Avengers Age of Ultron trailer:
– Opening crowd scene (where Ultron says ‘screaming’) looks like it’s taking place in France due to the French flag and European styled license plates in surrounding screens. Scarlet Witch and Quiksilver are in the front
– The scene where Natasha, Thor, Bruce, and Steve are sitting in what is probably a quinjet. They look shaken, notably Tony is missing. Bruce has no shoes and doesn’t have a shirt on but is wrapped in a sweater or blanket
– “You’re all puppets” we see ultron a bit damaged and staggering to walk. Off to his sides looks like workout equipment. He is probably in the Avengers Tower. The Avengers could have just finished doing a battle and thought they were successful. In the scenes where everyone is in formalwear and getting up from their seats/turning to look at probably Ultron there is alcohol everywhere. They were probably celebrating a job well done when Ultron ‘comes back to life.’
– Also in that scene who is the girl next to Thor? Maria Hill and Rhodey are there too to the right of the screen
– Natasha looks like she is escorting Bruce out in that scene as well. Perhaps Bruce is having difficulty controlling himself
– When the creepy cover of that cheery song from Pinocchio starts we see Iron Man and then also a large stone building in the mountains (probably Europe) it then looks as if Cap is inside said building searching for something. Maybe Cap was on his search for TWS and Iron Man went to go and retrieve him?
– Next scene is police (probably in Europe as well) Notice the ‘Walk Tall’ store in the background. That is a Marvel Easter egg (Skottie Young/Rocket Raccoon)
– Who is that in the yellow rolling onto what looks like a bed?
– Bruce stumbling shirtless/barefoot in the forest, perhaps right before that scene he is in, in the beginning of the trailer where he is also shirtless/barefoot and looking psyched out
– Cut to Natasha alone in an empty room and then a few scenes later ballerinas – Red Room/Nat backstory anyone?
– Hospital gurney rolling down oldish looking hospital and old looking medical tools – possibly part of Cap’s flashbacks?
– the ultron bots climbing out of water. Tired/ragged Avengers looking out in rubble. Note: Tony is missing.
– ‘This is the end’ Tony looks like he messed up something big time next to yellow robot (is this an ultron bot? is this the same thing that rolled onto the bed? is this something he made that turned against him?)
– Fury looking like a crusty old sea man haha (not my original thought)
– Witch screaming amidst rubble in probably Europe
– Hulkbuster vs. Hulk – could this be why Tony is apart from the group in many of these scenes and also why Bruce looks so freaked out? also probably taking place in England ‘apartments to let’ is a british thing, correct?
– After Nat dropping out of a quinjet on a motorcycle we see Quicksilver vs. Cap and probably an Ultron bot in what looks like a train. Trains are very bad for Cap (see Captain America the first avenger)
– Next scene is Witch and then we’re cut to warships and then a Cap flashback. We see ‘USO’ in the background and what looks like the silhouettes of Bucky and Peggy walk by
– Who is that guy with the beard turning to look up?
– Next we see Cap on motorcycle which looks like it may be somewhere in Asia
– Why is Thor naked and angry in water?
– Next wee see the Hulk and Nat pressing palms together. AWW trust! Perhaps because Tony is going against the team (and thus also starting to branch out for the Civil War storyline). This is also an important scene because of how the Hulk almost killed Nat in the first Avengers
– Ballerina scene (see Red Room) Am I also the only one who thinks that looks like Hawkeye on the piano? How can he even hear music?!
– Next we see tanks firing into the air and Hawkeye running in a snowy forest, perhaps same forest we saw Bruce stumbling through shirtless. Why are there explosions in the trees? I mean if you’re trying to kill someone running through a forest wouldn’t you shoot the bottom of the trees so it also takes the tree down and that could possibly kill who you are trying to kill?
– Thor is pissed and puts Tony in a chokehold. Very reminiscent of Loki doing the same to him. Plus shows that Tony is at odds with the rest of the Avengers
– Nat looking petrified and alone in a dark room
– cut to Hulk and Hulkbuster fighting again
– But there might be also an going fight between Cap, Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver…looks like this may be in Europe again as well (probably France with the mountains in the back)
– Cap is lying on the ground and his shield is split in TWO. Death of Cap maybe?!
– And then last peak is of Ultron fully operational and being menacing… and a puppet master.
Bring Suicide Out of the Darkness!
I am participating in the Bring Suicide Out of the Darkness Community Walk on Long Island on November 2! You can help me raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention by donating and if you’re in the area also participate in the walk!
Funds raised goes to research of mental illnesses, resources, and educating the public about mental health!
And please remember there is help!
Gerard Way is now on his first solo tour (complimented by the/his band The Hormones). He is playing medium sized venues compared to the stadiums he and his former band My Chemical Romance once sold out.
He has also been my role model, hero, and favorite musician since I was about 12 years old.
I firmly believe that there are a select bunch of people on this earth that you share a kinetic, same wavelength kind of vibe with. Gerard Way is one of those people for me, and probably at the top of that list. I’ve seen him in My Chemical Romance over half a dozen times. But nothing, nothing could have prepared me for seeing him at Irving Plaza on October 20, 2014.
I was going to this concert alone and decided to head into the city at around 9 in the morning. I got to the venue at around 10:30 a.m., due to my poor navigational skills. There were about 15 people in front of me already, and it was pretty cold. I first made friends with the girl and her father in front of me. They had trekked all the way from Quebec for this show, and it was her first time seeing Gerard Way (she had never seen MCR in concert before).
I made fast friends also with the high school aged girls behind me. We each took turns to get food and bathroom breaks throughout the day. I was lucky to have met such great people who ‘save your place.’ I brought a deck of cards and we played a couple rounds of Memory. Most of us on the line were dressed in black and we were targeted for the peculiar event of a lady walking by us showing us her phone- which had a picture of Jesus on the crucifix. It was strange.
About two hours before we would be let into the venue security split the lines between regular pass holders and fast pass. I had the fast pass. I was bumped up in the line and made some new friends while waiting. No tux, no bev guys!
Then doors opened, bags searched, and a flood of footsteps up the flight of stairs to the show room. I landed a barricade spot, off to the right. It was another hour of waiting, joking with the people around me, singing to the songs playing over the loud speaker -many of them popular when I was a middle schooler.
The opening band, The Eeries, played for about a half hour. They were good, passionate musicians. Their songs were a bit predictable in structure -wherein I caught onto the lyrics in the middle of the song and I was able to sing along. A half hour turnover of the stage and at nine Gerard Way took the stage.
Way played the whole album and three additional songs (one being an encore). He is a spectacular musician because he doesn’t just perform with his voice, he performs with his soul. It stems out to his fingertips and toes. He convulses with his music. And when he steps on to the edge of the stage, extends his shaking fingers out to you, you can swear in the brief moment your eyes lock you’re psychically linked. His eyes are psychotically electrifying. Way has a wild look. He believes in you so very, very much and he needs you to scream and sing as loud and with as much heart as you can.
I am the most alive in that moment.
There are also times when he looks away from the crowd for a second, microphone still hanging in his grasp, and he breaks out into a smile. It’s one of those beaming smiling you can’t control, it manifested itself wide and natural on his face. And in the next second he is back to his stage persona, belting out lyrics, that smiled wiped off his face a long time ago.
Way kept in his enlightened socially progressive between song banter. He talked about being a feminist, transgender rights, and just being in control of yourself and doing what you want. He is too good to me.
After the concert we briefly waited to see if he would come out and visit us at the barricade in the venue. After it became apparent this night he wouldn’t be making that stop, I exited the venue and got on line to wait for him to come out the stage door. I chatted briefly with James Dewees who is such a chill guy. The line got moved to one side and I dashed over to take my chance at a spot. At around 11:45 p.m. he came out and started signing. We weren’t allowed to take pictures due to time, just one autograph and an elevator speech. He also gave us hugs.
I got the opportunity to tell him what his presence in my life for the past 10 years has meant to me. I told him I couldn’t be me without him. He responded by saying ‘Thanks, I like to hear things like that!’ He looked so tired but generally happy to be meeting with us. Despite his grand stage persona he seemed pretty shy. He will forever have my respect for just standing out there for a long time meeting with us. How many artists can you say actually do that?
I walked down the street to the corner in a daze. I hailed a taxi, gave him my destination, and broke into tears.
Gerard Way is my hero. I want to do things in my life that would make him proud because he makes me happy to be alive.
This was an unbelievable night. Thank you. A million times.
So, last year you may remember me talking about participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). To recap, NaNoWriMo is a month where you sit down and squeeze out a minimum 50,000 words. It’s grueling but the end is so rewarding. Last year I ‘won’ NaNo. But, I haven’t touched what I wrote since then. So this time around I am rewriting what I wrote and hoping to add on to it. I’m changing the point of view on my story.
I am also going to start writing my graphic novel. I better not run out of coffee for that month.
So this year at New York Comic Con DC didn’t have much of a presence other than a few television show related panels (Arrow, Gotham, The Flash, Constantine…) and also the big homage to Batman and his 75th anniversary.
However, in 2016 it will be Wonder Woman’s 75th anniversary. Though the woman with the indestructible gauntlets, a tiara, the Lasso of Truth, and sometimes an invisible airplane is a cultural icon just as synonymous as her DC mates Batman and Superman, she hasn’t quite received the same red carpet treatment them.
Just yesterday DC announced their 10 plan film from now until 2020. And Wonder Woman is on that list with Gal Gadot set to star (she is also starring in Batman vs. Superman and Justice League). Here’s the thing, this is Wonder Woman’s first big screen movie. In all her 73 years she has elusively slipped into supporting roles, or not even a role at all.
Wonder Woman was introduced to us in December 1941 in All Star Comics #8 and a month later she snagged her own cover on Sensation Comics #1 in January 1942.
At New York Comic Con I saw girls of all ages donning her iconic red, blue, and gold attire. They were each embodying the strength of the Amazonian. But it was only Batman who got the big stage lights on him. The homage to Batman included a moving statue and cardboard cutouts of his progression through the years. And Batman even got his own postage stamps.
Will Wonder Woman get the same treatment Batman did for his big birthday? We have yet to know.
I love Batman, but as a little girl Wonder Woman and all the other female characters amazed me on my favorite cartoons. They saved the day, they did not rest on their laurels like so many female characters are depicted on. They didn’t need to be saved because they were the ones doing the saving. It confused me because I don’t know what woman who is a damsel in distress and every other woman I saw depicted except for these ladies was always getting into some mischief. Not Wonder Woman. Not The Black Widow, not Storm, not She-Ra, not Hawkgirl, or Catwoman….
Women need to stop being depicted as secondary characters because we are not secondary people. We have jobs and roles in life. Many women are mothers, arguably the greatest role. And while more and more male characters get their own television shows such as the barrage of ones DC has been launching, women are once again being maligned. Women are killed or hurt or used as bait to progress the male characters story. Women are more than antiquated tropes and plot points for male characters.
The 2017 Wonder Woman is certainly a step towards the right direction but it is not the end for what the media companies need to wake up to. We don’t need just ‘strong female characters,’ we need well-written, engaging, and realistic women that reflect the women we see in our everyday lives.
Here’s to Wonder Woman, to many more years of breaking the mold.
I highlighted my experience with the Weta Workshop booth at New York Comic Con in my previous post, but I wanted to especially elaborate on the conversation I had.
Since I did do a quick write-up on one of my other blogs, I’m pretty much going to re-write that here and just edit out the choppiness and haste of the piece.
This conversation happened on Sunday, the last day of NYCC. My friend and I were just exploring the Weta booth which had great figures and props on display. One of the Weta guys, I assume he does something in the design work for them, came over to us and started a lovely conversation. He had on what looked like dwarf ears and you can tell from his New Zealand accent he traveled a great way to be here.
This gentleman explained to us how he had been working with Weta since the early planning stages for Lord of the Rings. He’s essentially worked there since about 1996/1997. He continued on with the conversation about Tauriel’s role in the Hobbit films. As you may or may not know, she is not a written character in the book, merely an invention of Peter Jackson and his writers.
So, this Weta guy begins telling us how many people have came up and told him how they felt about Tauriel [negative comments from book purists, positive from pretty much anyone else]. In the Hobbit it is mentioned that Thranduil has guards. The guy posed this question to me: couldn’t these guards be male and female?
I agreed with him on that one.
Next he talked about the running pool the crew has on whether or not Tauriel survives in The Battle of the Five Armies. It’s apparently been kept up in secret pertaining to her fate. I inquired as to what he thinks and why and he said he believes she dies as an impetus for Legolas to become involved in the eventual forming of the Fellowship.
I don’t like this reason. The problem with it is that it is a very tired trope we see all the time. It is poor female writing, especially for a character like Tauriel who is the embodiment of tough and boundary pushing. Constantly female characters are killed to further a male characters storyline. Constantly.
Anyway, we shifted the conversation back to the reception of Tauriel. The guy told me that Evangeline Lily, who plays Tauriel, was quite upset the first few weeks after hearing the backlash her character was getting. That must be so hard to hear, especially when Tauriel is an incredibly driven and intricate character and was delicately woven into the existing story as to not disrupt any main plot points. But, he also said she was one of the best actors on set. She did almost all of her own stunt work and was a joy to be around on set. He said he was reminded of Miranda Otto who kicked so much ass while filming the LOTR.
We closed out the conversation with him reminiscing about his time working on all of these movies. He definitely had a great sadness behind his eyes. At least Weta is a design company that is seemingly doing well, not like other studios that are paid feebly and shut down after the movie is out and made its bank (which is what happened to the studio responsible for creating Life of Pi’s visual effects).
All in all it was an enlightening and entertaining conversation.
Phew! It is a damn good thing today is Columbus Day because I definitely need a day to recuperate. New York Comic Con was intense! Intense in all the good ways, of course!
My first time at NYCC was in 2011, and I only got a taste of what it was since I was there for a few hours on the final day. This time around I won a 3-day pass from the wonderful Pete’s Basement Comic Book Talk Show and came equipped with a better knowledge of events and the floor layout.
♦
Day 1
I took my cousin Sandra as my first guest (I won 2 passes) and she has never been to a Comic Con. I think she totally loved it just by the sheer volume of pictures she took. We arrived to the Javits Center before 10am in hopes of making our way to the Marvel booth. All went well until we got inside, I wasn’t sure where we were in relativity to the booth (we walked in closest to the Weta Workshop booth) and by the time we elbowed our way to Marvel the line for the raffles was looped around a couple times. We still got on line praying for a miracle. Marvel set up their panels and autographing session with Clark Gregg a bit differently then the rest of the Con, you basically get on line and pick a ballot. Some ballots give you the wristband and some don’t so it is a complete gamble. We were maybe 10 people away from getting a chance to pick a raffle before we were told they were out. I’m guessing you have to seek your first-born child to get into a Marvel panel/screening because I lucked out the rest of the weekend too.
Denied but not defeated, my cousin and I perused the showroom, gaping at the ginormous Bumblebee at the Chevrolet booth (real person in there too). I bought an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. t-shirt from the Super Hero Stuff booth and I made it my mission to also track down a Funko Pop Vinvl of The Winter Soldier. That figure has been just as elusive as the character is and I finally found him an hour before we left. I also bought an original Winter Soldier paining by Tony Santiago and a Hello Kitty style Winter Soldier from I believe Tom Kelly. It’s pretty evident that I really love this character and I am so glad there was plenty of great artwork that has interpreted him.
Comic Con also has a lot of fun photo booths scattered all over the place. My cousin and I took lots of them and had lots of goofy faces to give the camera. Artists Alley was also another highlight. We spent a lot of time just watching these artists at work and admiring their craft. I know who to keep an eye out for as I learn more about comics and what I like in reading and viewing comics. It was really something special to meet Allen Bellman who drew for Marvel in the 1940s and 1950s.
Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) was doing his signing at the Marvel booth. We were able to watch him and got some photos of him. Gregg has one of those demeanors that make him look so warm and caring. Two of the people getting autographs signed had a phenomenal cosplay of Captain America and The Black Widow and Gregg jumped up to take a special picture with them. He is a total fanboy and proud.
Our day ended around 4:30/5ish. My cousin had to leave to go to work and I left with her because I needed her 3-day pass for Saturday since I was bringing a friend.
♦
Day 2
Saturday was easily the busiest day. My friend Cat and I arrived about an hour in and it was already bustling. Unfortunately, it had been a very rainy morning and while I kept my Winter Soldier metal arm dry, putting it on my own wet arm was a bad, bad, terrible idea. I suspected the top part was beginning to crack the night before when I was trying it on one last time but I felt it crack more on this morning. There is still no visible crack but it is going to need a Franken-fix on it. The water also smudged some of the paint. I couldn’t get the arm up to my shoulder due to my arm being wet so it didn’t look right in its placement. Also, I need to make the cuts better so I can have some mobility with it. ONE MORE THING: A lot of people kept bumping into my arm. Dear people, please try to respect anyone wearing a homemade costume, it is likely that we spent a LOT of time and MONEY on it and even if it’s not that good it is still near and dear to our hearts.
Despite my cosplay snafu I enjoyed the rest of my day. I didn’t buy much except for lunch, beer, and an Agent Jemma Simmons identification card. My bank account needed a rest from how much I spent on Friday. We tried to get into a couple panel’s such as the Mary Sue one on women in comics but we were shut out. We even showed up an hour before it would start. I guess I just don’t know how to get into them!
We met up with some other friends who had taken advantage of the fact you can buy alcohol. It was fun to talk with them and hear about their Con stories. I ended up taking the same train ride home with them which was definitely nicer than traveling by myself.
♦
Day 3
I arrived on time and by myself this time. My friend Erin was caught up in an assignment and didn’t make it until the late afternoon, but I am so glad she got to enjoy herself for a few hours. I did bring my nice D-SLR camera so I roamed the floor taking shots of people cosplaying. I’m always in awe over these costumes. The time, love, and craftsmanship that goes into them is astounding. It’s interesting to see what people chose to cosplay, to see what’s important to them.
Erin and I had a lot of fun trying on silly hats and goggles. We had a really awesome conversation with one of the guys from the Weta Workshop (post will come later). I bought some cool prints made from a 95 year old press machine and also a Doctor Who tumbler so I can enjoy my pumpkin spice beverages any time I want.
There was a guy outside of the Javits Center dressed up as The Doctor and he brought his own Tardis. He was a great sport and a fantastic Ten impersonator. He definitely put a lot of smiles of peoples faces that day, including mine.
∇∇∇
New York Comic Con was a blast and I wish it was every month. I barely slept with how excited I was every night. There a few things left in my adulthood that cause that kind of reaction. It had a way of making me feel so relaxed. I was surrounded by things I love and people who love them just as passionately as I do. And like the heroes we admire, I had no fear.
Well, there’s now less than 365 days until next year, time to get planning!
Here are couple pictures I took throughout the weekend:
Today is the first day of New York Comic Con. I am attending tomorrow (Friday) through Sunday. But, in preparation for my long weekend of fun, I am checking off my lists to make sure it goes off without a hitch.
One of these steps is taking a look at the New York Comic Con Harassment Policy. It is so, super important that NYCC implemented a solid policy and it is one of the better things they’ve done this year.
There are whole blogs dedicated to exposing the assault that many cosplayers face, especially female. NYCC has made it very clear that assault of any kind will not be tolerated through their harassment policy. They teamed up with The Mary Sue, a geek culture website with a niche for female readers, to create this years policy. The one thing that stood out to me that is very, very important is:
If it’s difficult to read the main point of the above says ‘Cosplay is not consent.’
I definitely feel safer knowing I can wear what I want and if I feel someone is not treating me respectfully I can contact them through the NYCC App or a NYCC crew or security member. Just because someone has a costume on does not give you special privileges to their body. You do not get to touch someone because they are wearing a costume. Taking pictures without someone’s consent is also really weird.
I can’t wait for tomorrow and the rest of this weekend. It has been a few years since I’ve been to NYCC and I am looking to have a safe and amazing time. Remember everyone is entitled to having a great time and don’t be the one who ruins someones day. It really is as simple as that.