Comic Con, Nerds, and Games

So I spent last weekend at the New York Comic Con. I’m not really a big comic book fan so I was there mainly for the movie and tv panels. I started at the Disney/Pixar panel for Wall*E and Prince Caspian. They showed off a few clips from Wall*E and they were hilarious. Definitely the best part of the panel, Pixar’s magic continues. Prince Caspian looks just like The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe with more action and fight scenes. They brought out some of the actors in the movie and they seem like really nice guys. One of them gave a hug to a fan. Nothing really of note here.

Next was the Battlestar Galactica panel but I’m just not a BG fan so I left to go to the exhibit hall and to get an autograph from Sid Meier. 2K Games was showing off the console version of Civ and it definitely looks like Civ Lite. I’ll still rent it to check it out but it’s definitely for gamers who aren’t hardcore Civ fans. So I stuck around watching people play and got in line to get Sid’s autograph. I got him to sign my Collector’s Edition of Civ IV which was really cool and I got a T-Shirt. This thing is the softest free t-shirt I’ve ever received. I wish all companies would take note and use softer cotton. As for the exhibit hall, it was ok. Like I said I’m not that into comics so it was really just booths to me.

Next I wanted to go to the Ghost Hunters panel but there was already a line starting for the Avatar panel so I had to line up instead. They did a really bad job at estimating how many people would attend the Avatar panel vs the Ghost Hunters panel (they overlapped). Ghost Hunters got a larger room but it was nowhere near as full as the Avatar panel. Don’t underestimate the dedication of pre-teen/teenage girls. No seriously, they played the trailer for the last four episodes and those girls just would not stop screaming. I couldn’t hear the dialogue. I’m really excited to watch the finale based on what I saw in trailer. Avatar is definitely worth your time if you haven’t seen it yet.

The last good panel I was at was for Harold and Kumar 2. We saw an extended trailer and it’s what you would expect from a stoner movie. Kal Penn and Neil Patrick Harris are really funny guys in person. Fans would ask them really stupid things. One fan asked NPH if he really did coke during the scenes for the first movie. NPH sarcastically responded, “Yeah dude I really did twenty takes of coke for the film.” NPH also recounted a story about the first movie. When the script for the first movie was written, NPH was written in as a character but he didn’t know it. He only found out from one of his friends who was auditioning for a part. His friend called him up, “Dude, you’re in this movie and it’s not good”. NPH says he started freaking out and calling around to find out more about the movie. When he finally read the script he thought it was hilarious and signed on. He’s happy he did because it allowed him to be on How I Met Your Mother.

All in all Comic Con was alright. I would definitely skip the video game panels next time. There wasn’t any new information released and they really didn’t have much content. It’s cool that they have Q&A sessions with the fans but I would rather not attend them simply because some fans ask really, really stupid questions. I also came across two insights while I was at Comic Con.

One, why do nerds not understand the concept of DEODORANT? Seriously if you’re going to be packed into an area with other people, please have the decency to use some deodorant. Some of you sweat…..a lot….and then you stink. Just use it, please.

Two, yes stupid nerds exist. The funny thing is how stupid nerds think they’re smarter than stupid jocks just because they’re nerds. Trust me, they’re not. They’re just as stupid as everyone else, nerd or not. Hey nerds. Pot. Kettle. Black.

Keeping Myself Productive on my Commute

As a follow-up to my post on music, there are a few other reasons why I don’t listen to as much current music as I used to. For one, I don’t have a car anymore so I don’t have a FM radio. It makes it hard to follow music when the main mechanism that feeds you Top 40 or Hip Hop doesn’t exist anymore. Add to that fact that you can’t exactly get reception on the subway and it doesn’t bode well for following current trends.

Instead what I’ve found myself doing is going back to my Pimsleur language CDs. A former co-worker of mine actually introduced me to them a while back. He was kind of a social retard as most smart people are. On his commute to work instead of listening to the radio or music, he would spend his time listening to the CDs and learning a new language. I thought it was a great idea and I tried to do the same thing but I just felt really weird talking to myself in a foreign language and I got funny looks from other drivers. So I put them away and went back to the radio. Now that I’m in the city though and the radio isn’t an option I’m listening to them again. I’m currently working my way through Mandarin now. I don’t feel as self conscience now since a guy talking to himself on the New York subway isn’t exactly strange.

Along with the language tapes I’m having my PSP download some financial podcasts every morning so that I can keep track of news and developments. I’m considering getting a subscription like Audible so I can listen to business audio books on the subway. That will have to wait until I finish all the Pimsleur CDs though. No need to spend money on something I’m not going to use right away.

When Music Had Messages

I was over at Just a Lark reading his blog about his musical tastes. Funny thing is Dawn and I were just talking about my eclectic music taste as well. I used to mostly listen to Urban music (Rap, Hip Hop, R&B) with some Pop, some Alternative, and some Rock thrown in. Basically anything that was playing on MTV. Lately though I haven’t been as into the music scene as I used to be, at least the current music scene. I feel like music has lost something lately.

Now sadly enough I do get my music from video games the way Lark used to. The only difference is that he would listen to the video game music created by the composer whereas I’m getting my music in the form of soundtracks to games like Karaoke Revolution and Rock Band. The variety of songs on the soundtracks expose me to artists that I really wouldn’t listen to. After singing and playing along to the songs in the game, I’m searching through the back catalog of classics; being a Vegas lounge lizard with Sinatra, dancing with the Jackson 5 and rocking out with Queen and the Police.

I’ve also noticed that I prefer songs that have a message. Some of my favorite songs in Rock Band are “Run for the Hills” by Iron Maiden, “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones, and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by the Who. Those songs have meaning, they spoke out about issues. I miss when music had a message; when it had a purpose that was more than just selling records or making music videos. Are you listening RIAA? You want to know why people aren’t buying music? The “music” you put out now has no heart, no soul, no substance.