Need a Moment to Think? Learn The Lorem Lip

Posted by Hannah Hart, Ghost Dame of the Hotel del Coronado | Posted on 13-06-2013

Category : Entertain Me, Featured, Geek Out, Literature

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit … Memorize it, kids. It could come in handy. If Lorem ipsum can work as a centuries-old, standard placeholder for text, why not for speech? Consider the awesome applications: political conversations over the holidays; awkward, totally unexpected, sexual advances by a friend; foot-tapping queries about your Internet-browsing history; traffic stops by your local boys in blue. (On second thought, don’t give coppers the Lorem Lip. They don’t seem to have much of a sense of humor these days.) In fact, the mysterious, quietly-omnipresent Lorem ipsum we all know and love has been used as a text placeholder, almost as long as there has been text … almost.

Artwork by Pkwahme

Artwork by Pkwahme

Bored with telling the same stories at every Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Super Bowl party, ancient Chinese Buddhists living circa 650 C.E. decided it a far better idea to share their holy texts with loved ones via print: enter stage-left, the first movable type, Chinese woodblock. Using rag paper methods learned from the far reaches of the Islamic Empire (Mesopotamia 3,000 B.C.E. being the birthplace of cuneiform handwriting and, eventually, putting all that to paper), these scholarly Buddhists, notably Wong Jei in 886 C.E. who printed a scroll for his parents, believing it to bring them good luck, set about printing many a scroll filled with kindly, Buddhist tenets. These kind ideas were met with mass silencing and murder of the printers by their own government, not to mention the burning of those very nice scrolls.

Fast forward to 1450-55 C.E.. Johann Gutenberg replaced the wood and clay, blocked type (whole pages set vs. individual characters) with metal type and printed the first substantial, commercial book with individual, movable type: The Gutenberg Bible. Some sixty years after that, Martin Luther would use movable type to tell the Catholic Church a thing or two about a thing or two.

On Hallowe’en Night 1517, Luther tacked his Ninety-Five Theses on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany, arguing against the Church’s “sale of indulgences”: basically buying one’s way out of purgatory. Before the Church could say “Hail, Mary!”, scores of Luther-fans, using Gutenberg’s printing press method, helped spread The Ninety-Five Theses all over Europe, much to Catholicism’s dismay.

By the by, there are forty-six surviving copies of original Gutenberg Bibles, most of them resting peacefully in Germany. There are, however, eleven in the United States. If you know how to have fun the right way, including throwing around words like incunabula, and are fortunate enough to live near The Huntington Library, Yale, Harvard, the Library of Congress, Indiana University or any of the other American venues, I suggest you treat yourself to one of mankind’s wonders of ingenuity, before the growing masses of half-wits and jelly beans make the printed book completely obsolete.

loremipsum_nilshammerlinck

Photo: Nils Hamerlinck

Anyhoo, to the point of all this: Lorem ipsum is merely dummy text used until permanent text is put in place. It’s been used for everything from church manuscripts to Civil War-era broadsheets, from Victorian merchant adverts to Vaudevillian playbills, from wedding invitations to websites under construction. Designers and printers have long realized that potential clients and customers will be distracted by actual content when perusing spec media: pamphlets, books, theater bills, advertisements, websites, etc. Lorem ipsum looks just enough like a natural distribution of letters and phrases to fool the brain, without taking focus off the layout. First recorded usage of Lorem ipsum is c. 1500 C.E. when an anonymous printer used it to create a type specimen book. The interesting thing is that whilst it looks like Latin, it also looks like random twaddle. It is, in fact, a combination thereof.

Lorem ipsum actually comes from two sections of Cicero’s De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, or The Extremes of Good and Evil, written in 45 C.E., in Latin. If you’re just geeky enough, and I know you are, you’ll scroll down to see the full, standard Lorem ipsum passage used by printers and designers. You’ll then note one of Cicero’s sections, from whence the passage comes. The letters marked in bold make up the now-standard, fill-in text of Lorem ipsum. It’s like taking bits of text from a Simpsons comic book and creating your own language: Eat my shorts, man! becomes Atmy ort sma! Finally, if you’re still interested, Cicero was translated for us, lovingly, by one H. Rackham of Cambridge, Mass. in 1914. Note his work below, as well.

Looks like a fine wine to me. Sold! Photo: Brett Jordan

Looks like a fine wine to me. Sold! Photo: Brett Jordan

Like so much political discourse, Lorem ipsum is simply a Straw Man, or an Aunt Sally, as the Brits call it: superficial, space-filler taken from original ideas and used to create the illusion of words and meaning, until something better comes along. Try the Lorem Lip next time your boss wants to know why you’ve logged so many hours at hamstergrrls.com or your prof asks if this is your own work.

“Well, sir. You see, lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Right? Oh, and also, atmy ort sma!”

If you say it with confidence and add proper gestures and facial expressions, it will take them a few minutes to figure out what’s going on. If that doesn’t work, there’s always Ctrl+Z, kittens!

 

Abyssinia!

Hannah’s fave places to haunt online? JennyPop.net and amazon.com/author/jenniferdevore

Follow @JennyPopNet #loremipsum #printing #history

 

 

For the truly geeky … read on!

  • Standard Lorem Ipsum passage, used since the 1500s

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

  • Section 1.10.32 of “de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum”, written by Cicero in 45 B.C.E.

Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?

  • 1914 translation by H. Rackham

But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?

 

Velma Dinkley: Scooby-Doo’s Original Geek Girl Goes High-Tech Ghosting

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Posted by Hannah Hart, Ghost Dame of the Hotel del Coronado | Posted on 22-05-2013

Category : Entertain Me, Featured, Geek Out, Television

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Freddy Jones: With these cameras set up around the house, we’ll be able to watch and record anything that comes after my dad. There’s only one problem; I’m a trap guy. I have absolutely no idea how this stuff works.

Velma Dinkley: Don’t worry. I’ve been stripping dielectric insulation off my coax since before I could walk. Get ready to worship The Velma!

Velma takes one for the team at DragonCon. Photo: Rob Speed

Velma takes one for the gang at DragonCon. Photo: Rob Speed

Just as 21st C. CGI and fantasy SFX finally caught up with Tim Burton’s imagination, 21st C. ghost-hunting gizmos and paranormal paraphernalia finally caught up with the original Geek Girl, Velma Dinkley and her tech needs. Allow Moi, your own Miss Hannah Hart, ghostdame of the Hotel del Coronado to elucidate.

The Mystery Machine keeps on truckin'.

The Mystery Machine keeps on truckin’.

See, kids, before there were tacky, black ops wannabe, caravans of windowless, black Suburbans cruising the countryside at night, there was the Mystery Machine: the epitome of groovy, a rockin’, hippie, aqua-and-orange surfer van carrying four hip, sleuthing friends and their ever-hungry, always scaredy-cat, Great Dane named Scooby-Doo.

Scooby, Shaggy, Freddy, Daphne and Velma have been hitting the road in style, in the Mystery Machine for nearly thirty-five years, meddling in the nefarious affairs of grouchy, greedy locals: these wayward townfolk oft disguised as the supernatural in a variety of form and function. Although Velma Dinkley, short, curvy,  turtlenecked, know-it-all, bobbed-brunette, appears the wallflower of the gang, she is the bespectacled brains behind this adventure crew, forever playing second fiddle to the beauteous ginger, Daphne Blake. To boot, like any geek girl in love from afar, her passion for Shaggy goes mostly unrequited, sitting backseat to the shared loves between a boy and his dog: mad sandwich skillz and Vincent van Ghoul flicks.

Interpersonal issues aside, the Hanna-Barbera creation (1969) of Joe Ruby and Ken Spears just finished its eleventh iteration of the family-friendly, spooky, sleuthing series: Scooby-Doo!: Mystery Incorporated (2010-2013). The first incarnation not run first as a Saturday morning kids’ show, this latest series contains a running, arcing mystery involving an antique locket and a Tod Browningesque parrot named Mr. E. The overarching tale knits in and out of fifty-two episodes which originally aired on Cartoon Network in a 2:00p.m., afterschool time slot, over a spotty three-year period. If you missed its original run, S1 is now available via Netflix.

A Warner Bros. Animation, Mystery Inc., shares the same quality as many another WBA production: Pinky & The Brain, Animaniacs and just about any Looney Tunes short. The writers understand adults are watching, too. The genius and longevity of such entities as The Muppets, Disney and Warner Bros. comprehend that vital, full-spectrum hook.

“Grab this! It’s a fairway wood, it’s safe!” Freddy Jones puns as he extends a golf club toward the ceiling to save his dad, Mayor of Crystal Cove, who’s being tossed around the room by a violent poltergeist. A fine example of WBA humour, indeed.

Now, some three decades of understated humour and Witching Hour investigations later, Velma Dinkley has access to an arsenal of high-tech ghost-hunting tools she’s been waiting for and, paired with Freddy’s Traps Illustrated obsession, mystery solving in 2013 could not be easier. An excellent example of this? Scooby-Doo!: Mystery Incorporated, “A Haunting in Crystal Cove” (S1e23).

Although the supernatural inevitably end up just being rubber-masked, servo-driven, CGI-enhanced townfolk, the front-end of any Scooby-Doo endeavor has the best of spirit-hunting intentions, entrenched in the hunt for the unexplained. Whilst Daphne’s smokin’ hot-pink getaway sticks get more screen time than Velma’s digital, detecting devices, you know she has them stashed somewhere and puts them through more tests and trials than a Wired product reviewer.

  • Full-spectrum cameras: Velma’s got the hammer-and-nails of any pro ghost-hunting outfit. No consumer-grade for this kitten; she’s gone pro-grade with a modified 16GB card-compatible, 18x zoom, 12.2 MP resolution, dual image stabilization Fuji PRO series. (I think our Dr. Lucy might be jealous and/or nervous. Time for a new camera and/or better hiding places, Lucia!) Set up a string of these babies in any room and along any stairwell, hallway or doorway and they’ll catch the invisible light waves, and the clandestine action therein, at either end of the light spectrum, a.k.a. infrared and UV, where we spookies reside.
  • EVP monitor: Similar to a baby monitor, it picks up cooing and gurgling throughout the netherworld via telepathic electromagnetic impulses, all while weeding out external, earthly noises. Babies, too, I guess.
  • EMF detector: With Southron gatorpeople and evil, Renaissance Faire gnomes lurking about the night, Velma will need a gauge identifying varying electromagnetic fields. It seems high EMF readings could not only signify a cluster of electrical wires bundled in attic walls and giving you monster headaches and hallucinations, but it could also signify the very real energy of Demon Frightnight. It would be good to know with which one you’re dealing. Trust me.
  • After the biscuits, come the gravy: tricolor flashlights (full colour spectrum for night vision and clarity), laser grids (for detecting disembodied movement), thermal imaging cams, temperature change sensors, wireless phone pods and headphones (for on-the-go listening to iPods, mp3s and EVPs), FM frequency sweep radios and shadow detection devices (for, well, detecting shadows).
  • Best of all is the creepiest of all: the Rag Doll K-II, sold by TheGhostHunterStore.com. An EMF detector hidden within Dolly’s dress, it’s meant to be a kinder, gentler object for child-spirits to approach than boring old, shiny, sharp, tech gear. If Spookedy Ann’s face or hands light up … you might have a ghost child. ~shiver~ Run, kittens, run!

Clearly, Velma doesn’t schlep all this gear to each and every mystery. We rarely see more than a Smartphone and Coke-bottle glasses on her person. If she did, the Mystery Machine would be packed to the gills, with cables, power sources and monitors alone, rather than housing just Shaggy, Scooby and their various to-go feasts in the back. Still, the instruments and implements appear when necessary. Maybe Velma stores them at the back of her mom’s coffeehouse/bookstore/town museum.

Long before the stars of reality TV’s paranormal invasion were just filthy thoughts in their fathers’ eyes, Scooby-Doo and his groovy gang were criss-crossing the Southern swamps, abandoned theaters, run-down plantation homes, dilapidated boardwalks and rusted-out amusement parks across our great, haunted country. Long before nice guys Grant & Jason of SyFy’s Ghost Hunters, before those thug half-portions Nik, Aaron & Zak of Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures and before the moody Ryan and Eilfie of A&E’s Paranormal State, there was the affable, hip, fashionable, cheerful Scooby-Doo and the Gang. You won’t find Freddy schlubbing around in jeans and a black t-shirt to meet the Lord of the Manor. (Okay, Shaggy is, well, a bit shaggy; but at least he sports corduroys and is almost always flashing a smile.)

Get ready to worship The Velma! Photo: Rob Speed

Get ready to worship The Velma! DragonCon Photo: Rob Speed

Even before we were blessed with The X-Files‘ Scully and Mulder, our grunge-era, supernatural sleuths extraordinaire, there was another skeptical but open-minded, saucy, brainy, bespectacled, over-achieving, single, geek girl with a short do and sensible shoes who was so fierce, so confident and so rockin’ she needed only one name: Velma. Rock on, Velma. (BTW, kids, if you see any new episodes with the Mystery Machine crossing the bridge onto Coronado, give me a heads-up! Lucy and I might need to hit the road!)

Abyssinia, kids!

 

Hannah’s fave places to haunt online? JennyPop.net and amazon.com/author/jenniferdevore

Follow @JennyPopNet #scoobydoo #velma #ghosthunting #geekgirls

Monster Man, Martinis and Mulder: WonderCon Anaheim 2013 is a Wrap

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Posted by Hannah Hart, Ghost Dame of the Hotel del Coronado | Posted on 16-04-2013

Category : Candid Conversations, Conventions, E-vents, Entertain Me, Featured, Geek Out, Movies, Television, Travel, WonderCon

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Wild West of 1850s southern California never saw WonderCon coming. Originally an agricultural collective of pious, German farmers and vintners, Victorian Anaheim would have plotzed at the site of The Joker, Jawas, Hobbacca and G-stringed Supergirls crossing Katella and Harbor, headed into their Anaheim Convention Center. Although, he might have appreciated some of the more inventive steampunk costuming, 1857 co-founder George Hansen must have just come to grips with Disneyland when WonderCon steamed into town last year. This year, it descended upon the O.C. once again and, if Hansen’s ghost gets his wish, it should be headed back up north, to San Francisco’s Moscone Center for 2014. If the rest of us get our wish, parent company Comic-Con International will permanently add this southern substitute, WonderCon Anaheim, to its regular menu des plaisirs.

Abby, meet Agents Scully and Mulder Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

Abby, meet Agents Scully and Mulder Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

WonderCon Anaheim (March 29-31, 2013) is best-known now to the O.C. public as the week of visiting geeks. The baby sister of San Diego Comic-Con, WonderCon mixed with the usual, inland-Orange County population of Disney geeks and overran Hansen’s “Home by the Santa Ana River: Ana-heim“. The Anaheim Convention Center was a safe place to contain all the geekage, like a well-lit, glass-and-steel roach motel, keeping the community-at-large safe from countless iterations of Batman and, simultaneously keeping said-geekage safe from countless wedgies. ‘Twas a few, relaxing days where being a pale, obsessive, Simpsons fan actually brought about accolades and wearing a rhinestone dog collar, mini-kilt and Manson boots brought compliments, rather than propositions.

Like most comic book conventions, behind the cosplay, superiority complexes and aisles of overpriced crap sitting alongside collector-worthy art, there are serious discussions happening: academic panels, legal seminars, artistic advisory groups and the like. True, a lot of them are more Family Guy table-read than Algonquin Round Table. Still, these all-inclusive chats in the upstairs meeting rooms are worth the convention entrance fee, even if the downstairs floor full of steampunk dorks, Star Wars tees and vintage action figures is not your cup of Darjeeling. (Captain Picard’s space beverage of choice, duh.) I had the opportunity to cover a couple of these panels and interview some of the panelists for GoodToBeAGeek.com: All Shapes & Sizes Welcome and Geeks Get Published – and Paid! Industry insight is always good gossip!

Without a doubt though, the best part of any convention -and I’ve been to more than a few, including NAB, NATPE and the MIPCOM/MIPTV conferences in Cannes- is the après-mingling in the hotel lounges and nearby restaurants and bars. True, ’tis no Cannes or Nice, but Anaheim, my pretties, much to the chagrin of dear old George Hansen, has more than it’s fair share of suitable martini outlets. The Anaheim Gardenwalk is replete with moderately-priced, chain dining establishments, but the king is P.F. Chang’s. There is not enough space here to go on about their Chinese 88 martini (topped off with champagne) and their tofu lettuce wraps. ~insert Homer Simpson-style drool here~ Roy’s Hawaiian serves a tangy, yummy, signature pineapple martini and offers a warm, sugary, tropical atmosphere, bringing the diner into the island spirit, not totally unlike being on Kauai, which is surprising, considering one’s in inland SoCal. Of course, the best mixing by far is the hotel where the con sits. This one was Hilton Anaheim and its Mix Lounge.

Mix was crowded, dark and lively and the staff worked off their patooties to keep the Stella Artois, Sapphire gin and dried wasabi pea snackies flowing. Nice fellows and patient as saints, especially when a drunken, impolite, cabbage-waving, Flava Flav doppelgänger insisted on buying a round for nearly half the bar, rudely yelling the orders to the bartender. (Yours truly declined. Far too obnoxious, even for a gratis G&T.) Oddly though, the con cosplay at Mix was sparse. There were some costumed folk hither and thither; my companions even forced me into a picture with a sad-looking, all too fay, nervous He-Man. Why so few costumes, I wondered each night? I would later learn the Hilton was mostly where the journalists stayed; the Marriott was the place for the cosplay crowd. So, book your hotels accordingly next year, con-goers.

The whole event was nicely wrapped up with an unexpected dinner, especially for a vegetarian. My Viking, a deathly-tightly-corseted Dr. Lucy and I ended up at Morton’s Steakhouse when my brother-in-law and professional pirate, a.k.a. Cap’t. Maurice Bloodstone, -who some of you may know from my novel, Savannah of Williamsburg: The Trials of Blackbeard and His Pirates- happened upon an SFX idol of his in the Hilton parking lot, twice. The second, chance meeting with Mr. Cleve Hall proved too much serendipity for our excitable Bloodstone and a dinner invitation was proffered.

Cleve Hall, gentleman Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

Cleve Hall, gentleman Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

Best-known, currently, for SyFy’s Monster Man, Cleve Hall is hardly a newbie in the Hollywood special effects game. Like Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, Cleve and his immediate family have been lurking around the Deep South and the West Coast for eons; his family in the prop and SFX business, the Mayfairs in banking and real estate. For Cleve himself, above-the-line credits (incl. actor, producer and director) as well as hair & makeup and costume & wardrobe fall solidly within his ken. Cleve himself has a wide umbrella. How to Train Your Dragon, Ghoulies, Ed Wood and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure are just a few titles under his Victorian, silver-handled umbrella.

Now, my brother-in-law is as taken with the master’s oeuvres as he is generous. Ergo, it had to be, Bloodstone invited Mr. Hall to join us for dinner. Morton’s Steakhouse was the closest option and, after three days in five-inch platform boots and too-tight ponytails, I was ready to sit and drink anywhere.

Mr. Cleve is, in a word, gentlemanly. He is, in my experience, quiet, pensive and, similar to an attorney I once interviewed in Philadelphia for a tech-boom documentary, careful about choosing just the correct word when telling a tale. He does not name-drop, although he certainly could, does not dominate the table, although this raconteur could. Instead, he answers queries succinctly and adds just the right embellishments to the conversation, like the perfect, silver, poison ring or red, contact lenses. He did not overpower our dinner; he did make it memorable. He was spot-on, to boot, when at dinner he talked of the popularity of Monster Man and Face Off. Quoting his daughter, I believe, he said “Family gets meaner and strangers get nicer.” Thank you for your southern hospitality, but the pleasure was all these strangers’, Good Sir.

So, like Christmas décor or Hallowe’en costumes, WonderCon Anaheim 2013 is wrapped up nicely and packed away gingerly in the rafters. What’s next for this geek girl? Coverage of the upcoming X-Files Season 10 “premiere”, in comic book form that is: Season 10 in comic book form, not my coverage. Meeting the IDW publishing team at WonderCon, those creating and distributing the new comics, makes interviews for this June post easy-peasy. Then, comes July … San Diego Comic-Con!

I’ve submitted yet another article for consideration in the annual Souvenir Book. History says I should make it in; after all, the last two (Peanuts and Tarzan) made it and one of those was even cited by TIME magazine. (Hey, look at me! I’m a Peanuts expert!) Still, my goal this year is to garner the lead article for the “20th Anniversary of Bongo Comics” theme … that’s The Simpsons to the uninitiated.

So, look to me as your unofficial Bongo historian and for X-Files revival coverage and your insider to San Diego’s summer antidote to the cool kids on the beach. Also look to our Dr. Lucy and her amazing Twisted Pair Photography. See you in the Sunday funnies, kids!

BTW, I ordered the chopped salad, sans the bacon and red onions, and a blue cheese-stuffed olive martini. Cheers!

All slideshow photography by Twisted Pair Photography … loads more here at their Flickr page!

Hannah’s fave places to haunt on-line? Jennypop.net  @JennyPopNet & Jennifer Devore’s Amazon Author Page

If a Geek Writes a Book, Does It Make a Sale? The WonderCon Interviews, Part II

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Posted by Hannah Hart, Ghost Dame of the Hotel del Coronado | Posted on 15-04-2013

Category : Candid Conversations, Conventions, E-vents, Featured, Geek Out, WonderCon

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Geeks Get Published: it sounds obvious. At first blush, with the exception of folks like Snooki, the Fifty Shades of Grey author and Penthouse letters, who else do you imagine is getting published? Mostly geeks, that’s who! Bookworms, academicians, poetry goths, art nerds, amateur scholars, film dorks, scientists, comic book enthusiasts, pop culture obsessives, military buffs and historical rëenactors are busily scribbling, publishing and selling the most important theses and musings of all: their own.

Office of a geek writer, or a geek reader? Photo: Yellow Dog Photography

Geek writer, or geek reader? Photo: Yellow Dog Photography

With a plethora of visual outlets today, it takes a geek to stick with the romance of the written word, I know. It takes a geek to write anything today, even a Thank You note. The real trick is not getting a geek published … it’s getting a geek read. All those non-geeks roaming the planet, unaware as they are of being thiiiis close to mankind’s discovery of the God particle, have a Black Hole’s worth of activity to keep them occupied without cracking a book. Authors’ efforts are being slaughtered like Britons at the hands of marauding Vikings, slaying and slicing with a force of diversions no other generation of writers has ever suffered. Sure, it was probably easy for Chaucer to be a best-seller. What else was there to do in the Medieval era? Everybody just waiting around to die from a splinter, plus everything was dark by four o’clock. Today? It’s never dark.

21stC. authors compete with a clip-mentality, 140-character world. The Internet is a shiny keyring and the babies aren’t pulling themselves up by the bookshelf; they’re doing it with the entertainment center. You can get a human to focus and read, but it’s like getting a swordfish to hold still once you’ve brought him onto the boat. It’s not impossible, but you will get the crap beat out of you trying.

Anaheim Convention Center , view from Hilton Anaheim Photo: JSDevore

Anaheim Convention Center , view from Hilton Anaheim Photo: JSDevore

So, where can a bunch of bookworms safely go to lick their wounds and share the odd tales of literary victory? WonderCon Anaheim 2013 is a good start. Never been to a con? It goes like this. Go to the beach, open a bag of Doritos, fling them sky-high and watch flocks of frantic sea gulls descend upon the treats. This is basically a con, but with costumes and boobs: squawking, feathers and crumbs everywhere.

Rather late one Saturday night, upstairs at the Anaheim Convention Center, there sat an impressive, educated and loquacious panel called Geeks Get Published – and Paid!, moderated by vivacious and prolific writer Jenna Busch (Womanthology, Fanhattan, Cocktails with Stan). When not moderating or taking part on con panels, this Tinkerbell look-alike flits about the Internet with her wand-cum-quill scribing for over twenty sites, including Huffington Post, USA Today, AOL and Moviefone. Geek basement cred includes screen time with Stan Lee, Wil Wheaton, Grant Imahara and Bonnie Burton. A bi-coastal actress, writer and producer, she’s as easy-peasy at home writing in her jim-jams as she is doing cheesecake pin-up for Cupcake Quarterly. She is also inclined to redo your up-do, should she spy you across a crowded party floor and give you the squinty-eye. If she does approach you, stand still, let her re-pin your locks and do not make eye contact.

This effervescent power girl’s panel featured S. G. Browne (Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament), Katrina Hill (Action Movie Freak), Alan Kistler (Doctor Who: A History), Alex Langley (The Geek Handbook), and Dr. Travis Langley (Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight). Their task? To enlighten fellow writers and hem-hawing wannabes on the rituals, protocol and even plain ol’ luck of finding a literary agent and publisher. Does one need all this, in today’s world of epub? It turns out, it certainly doesn’t hurt and advances can be awfully nice. Dr. Travis Langley pontificated, “Lots of people want to have written a book. Problem is, you have to want to write the book.”

Author S. G. Browne (Lucky Bastard) spoke of his innate need to write. “If I go to bed without having written something, I feel like I forgot to do something.” Easily the quietest of the panel, Mr. Browne reminds one of a less volatile version of Morrissey. Aesthetically, he suits a vision of what a Central Casting wordsmith might be: glasses, soft-spoken, rumpled sportcoat, probably drinks Earl Grey or Guinness and has, at least once, considered being James Joyce for Hallowe’en. He is so understated and unpretentious, his Twitter handle has underscores (S_G_Browne) because he felt “SGBrowne”, no underscores, would be a little “full of himself”.

All grown-up Dennis the Menace, a.k.a. Alex Langley, excitedly urged the audience to  Write, write, write! Write when you don’t feel like it, write when you do! His identification with Calvin, of Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes is clear. A precocious, intelligent and affable demeanor tells me The Geek Handbook: Practical Skills and Advice for the Likeable Modern Geek is sure to be a pleasant read. After all, when asked about Calvin’s imaginary tiger, Hobbes, Alex replied, “Well, imaginary? That all depends on how you view the world.” Clap your hands if you believe!

Abby and Calvin, a.k.a. Alex Langley. Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

Abby and Calvin, a.k.a. Alex Langley. Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

The force is strong with this family, the Langleys. Besides Alex, the panel featured his father, vater, Vader, Travis Langley, Ph.D.. Dr. Langley is the author of Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight. (Little known factoid: an original title considered was Batman and Psychology: Batman’s in his Belfry. Not a favourite of Mrs. Langley, apparently.) Dr. Langley, a clinical psychologist and, as far as we know the world’s only superherologist, approaches Batman academically, focusing on his human behaviour traits and habits. He also has that geek devotion, to be sure. “Interesting how many have thanked me for writing my book … I suspect it’s about my looking seriously at something we all love.” Be warned, his work is more grad school thesis than comic book devotion. You’ll need your thinking caps for this book, kids. No pictures.

Of interesting note, there was a lengthy discourse, initiated by Dr. Langley, on “writing in the character’s universe” vs. “writing about the character’s universe”. Ex.: writing a new Peanuts adventure using Schulz’ characters is copyright infringement; writing about the 60th anniversary of Peanuts is free and clear. The main point being there exist grave, legal differences betwixt the two. Ergo, mark one in the column for traditional-publishing vs. self-publishing: big publishing houses have attorneys, you do not.

Firebrand Alan Kistler (MTV.com, Crazy Sexy Geeks) weighed in authoritatively on the topic. Author of Doctor Who: A History, as well as The Unofficial Game of Thrones Cookbook, The Unofficial Spider-Man Trivia Challenge and The Unofficial Batman Trivia Challenge, he knows a thing or two about approaching legends. Non-fiction, it seems, leaves a pretty wide berth for usage; fiction is a tad more nebulous. This is when things got ugly and turned to “Homage or Blatant Rip-off?”. Enter, stage-left: BBC’s Sherlock and CBS’ Elementary.

The very mention of the CBS title brought a collective snort of derision from the room. The loudest, most derisive snort of all, however, came from Mr. Kistler. “Fuck you, Elementary! Fuck. You.” A succinct directive, surely. Flipping a double-bird aloft, northward toward Hollywood, he seemed pleased, having excised and settled a score, personal, artistic or otherwise. (Dr. Langley? Your thoughts?) See, geeks are not only bookish, when they get chuffed they can be downright hardcore.

One bookish geek who doesn’t seem to have a mean bone in her lithe frame is Katrina Hill (Action Movie Freak, Fanhattan, MTVGeek). Her official moniker of “Action Flick Chick”, plus having been designated as one of “The Most Dangerous Women of Comic-Con” (along with fellow dangerous broads Leah Cevoli and Adrianne Curry), left me mildly prepared for a sharp roundhouse kick to the ponytails when we met after the panel. Approaching carefully, I found Katrina, ironically, to be almost regal in her carriage – more Jane Austen than Guy Ritchie. Of soft voice and an uncommon politeness, her lovely quintessence is as ceramic as her pretty complexion. Still … she’s like the Thomas Jefferson of action film assessors. One might have to lean in to hear her speak, but once she puts pen to paper, step aside, folks … and by folks, I mean men. I leaned in a bit after Geeks Get Published – and Paid!. Here’s what she quietly shared about publishing, writing, the double-edged sword of social media and, well, Elementary and Twilight.

Katrina Hill Photo: Action Flick Chick archives

Comic-Con Int’l Presents WonderCon Anaheim, Geeks Get Published Interview with Katrina Hill, March 30, 2013

Good to be a Geek: Thank you for chatting with us tonight. Looks like we’re the last ones in the hall.

Katrina Hill: Yeah. I think everyone’s already at the Hilton.

GTBAG: “The Most Dangerous Women in Comic-Con” meet-up, right?

KH: (laughs) Exactly!

GTBAG: We’ll make this painless so we can all get to the Hilton.

KH: (laughs) Sounds good!

GTBAG: You started by reviewing films and blogging. This lead to publishing. Did you seek publishing? As you mentioned in the panel, you were approached to write a book, yet, was this a shock, or something in the back of your mind, that this could happen?

KH: It actually was. I think even a few months before they asked me to write this, I was trying to figure out how to put all my reviews together somehow, but hadn’t formulated it in my head, yet. Then, they were like, “We have this series of books … and we want you to do Action Movie Freak. I was like, “Ahhh! Yes! That’s so perfect!”

GTBAG: I notice there’s a horror flick book …  

KH: Yes. Horror Movie Freak and Sci-fi Movie Freak and I think they might be coming out with some new ones. I’m not quite sure.

GTBAG: Did you contribute to those titles?

KH: I did not.

GTBAG: So, yours is your sole project? All you, to boot.

KH: Yes. I wrote every word. You know, I did a panel yesterday, Most Dangerous Women at Comic-Con, and we talked a lot about… people still think women don’t like action movies, and we do! I still get a few men, and people in general, who say, “You wrote this?” and I say, “Yes. I wrote this.” I actually had one person ask, “So, did you have an editor or a main writer and then they just put your name on it?” I was like, “No!” This guy came up to my table and asked me that. You fucki …

GTBAG: It’s like [Bernard] Lacombe, the former, French footballer who responded to a female caller, on a French, sports radio program I believe, “I don’t talk about football with women … They should look after their pots and pans, that would be better.” As a girl, you couldn’t possibly talk about action films or gaming, right?

KH: I don’t know. (laughs) It’s 2013. Women like everything.

GTBAG: In that vein, in the way people think women don’t read comic books in the numbers men do, do you have one statement for those men whom ask, “Did you really write that yourself?”

KH: Uh, words that I can actually say? (laughs)

GTBAG: Care to quote Alan Kistler?

KH: (laughs) Uh …

GTBAG: You use social media extensively. You Tweet an awful lot and post on Facebook. It might have been easier … to have been Jules Verne and just write, let someone else do the marketing. Yet, that’s not the case today. It is 2013.

KH: That would be nice.

GTBAG: Do you find it’s easier to be in charge of your own marketing, mostly. Or, is it a double-edged sword? Is it bittersweet … being such an obligation?

KH: Yes, it is a double-edged sword. Like, I like that I’m in control. Typically, if I make a mistake, if I get a quote wrong or a fact wrong … blame me. I did it. I take responsibility. But then, it is incredibly time-consuming. I’ve actually gotten to where my Tweets are not as often. I used to Tweet all day, but now I’m writing for so many more sites now, I can’t keep up!

GTBAG: Do you set limits for yourself? Obviously one can Tweet twenty-four-seven. Do you find yourself setting parameters? This is my weekend, this is my evening. I don’t have to Tweet the coffee I’m having, I don’t have to tell everyone my instant thoughts on this episode of (pause) “Elementary”.

KH: (whispers) You mean rip on it? (laughs) (inaudible) Alan Kistler?

GTBAG: No mincing Alan’s words in the panel, right?

KH: Yeah! Well, setting limits. Absolutely! If I don’t, I find I will spend two to three hours reading people’s Tweets. I follow a lot of people.

GTBAG: You follow a bonkers-amount of people, like close to 100K.

KH: Like, 89K, but, yeah.

GTBAG: Plus, you have over 150K followers.

KH: Yeah. I like to give people a chance. I like to make friends. Why not? (laughs)

GTBAG: How do you keep everybody organized.

KH: I have lists, but sometimes they fall through the cracks. I have a timeline, but I get about 200 updates a second. I follow my lists though. You know, “Geek Girls” and “Movie Buffs” and …

GTBAG: “Going to Comic-Con”?

KH: Yeah! “Going to Comic-Con”. Yeah, if I don’t set limits, I’m a mess. Three hours later I’m like, “What did I do with my day? It’s 9:00 at night, I missed dinner, I didn’t work out and I have three articles to write by tomorrow. So, yes. Limits are a must!

GTBAG: Do you worry that, with so many people following you, whatever you Tweet … be it political or an unofficial review, just a comment about this actress or that director, do you think about offending or, conversely, thrilling 50% of your readership?

KH: I do think about that. For that reason, I try to stay out of politics; it’s not something I want to go into over Twitter. I also try to stay positive. Because, I know if I Tweet, “Blah blah sucks in this movie.”, it’s really not very constructive.

GTBAG: Miracle Laurie [Dollhouse]said this also in her panel earlier today, “All Shapes and Sizes Welcome”. She said, and I’m paraphrasing here, there is so much negativity online and some of it is done with great humor. Still, to promote so much negative energy online helps nobody.

KH: Exactly.

GTBAG: Like Thumper. “If you can’t say nuthin’ nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”

KH: Right. Or, I’ll say, “This movie wasn’t for me. I’m obviously not the demographic for Twilight – well, there are other issues with that (laughs) -but, if you like this and this and this, you’ll probably like this movie. I’ll try to spin a bad review that way.

GTBAG: Very diplomatic.

KH: Speaking of diplomacy, you know, going back to my “fucki … ” (laughs) Let me elaborate on that. (laughs) You shouldn’t just immediately write off people. It’s all about education and being a representative and being out there. Yes. I wrote this book. Why don’t you look at it and see before you judge me?

GTBAG: That’s much nicer. Thank you for your time.

KH: Thank you, too. See you at the Hilton!

Hannah’s fave places to haunt on-line? Jennypop.net  @JennyPopNet & Jennifer Devore’s Amazon Author Page

Shauncastic – Episode 128: A Cunning Conversation

Posted by Jessa Phillips aka "SultryMinxZoe" | Posted on 13-04-2013

Category : Featured, Geek Out, Geek Rants, Guest Appearances

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I’m back on Shauncastic!

Courtesy of Shauncastic.com

This episode takes on Fan Creations and Copyright Infringement. The “Jayne” hat took over social media this week as independent crafters received cease and desist letters due to alleged infringement upon the copyright held by FOX. The hoopla comes on the tails of Think Geek’s announcement that they will be selling the officially licensed hats. Fans took to social media to speak out for the crafters, blame FOX and Think Geek got caught in the crossfire.

Shaun Rosado (@pneumaz), Laura Rosado (@drmrstheawesome), Josh Gilliland (@bowtielaw & @TheLegalGeeks), Juliette (@rumielf) and myself discuss some of the intricacies of the issue, the social media outrage and the what happens now.

Where our cast discusses the controversy behind Fox shutting down handmade “Jayne” hats.

The “Cast” this week is DrMrsTheAwesome, “Just” Jessa (from Good to be a Geek), Juliette (The RumiElf) and Josh* (from The Legal Geeks)!

*Nothing in this podcast should be considered legal advice or constitute an attorney-client relationship with anyone listening to the recording. All statements are purely personal opinion.

-Shauncastic.com

Click the link below to listen to the podcast on Shauncastic:
http://shauncastic.com/2013/04/11/shauncastic-128-a-cunning-conversation/

Once Upon a Time, Leah Cevoli Schooled H-town: The WonderCon Interviews, Part I

4

Posted by Hannah Hart, Ghost Dame of the Hotel del Coronado | Posted on 12-04-2013

Category : Candid Conversations, Conventions, E-vents, Entertain Me, Featured, Movies, Television, WonderCon

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Once upon a time there was a talented, sparkling, beauteous rocker named Leah Cevoli from the City of Brotherly Love. One day, in the historical land of Ben Franklin, The Barrymores, Will Smith and Liz Lemon, the fair Leah heard the Siren’s Song knell through Philadelphia’s brick corridors and colorful tulip gardens. Taking the form of The Black Crowes so she alone would hear it, the song trilled, lilted and riffed amidst the city streets, beckoning her independent and creative soul to the land of plenty: plenty of sunshine, plenty of sea, plenty of opportunity, plenty of cabbage, plenty of thee.

Leah Cevoli, “Deadwood” set, Santa Clarita, CA

With blazing streaks of platinum and magical tips of royalist purple in her locks, our heroine fled her City of Brothers and set forth for the City of Angels, Los Angeles, a.k.a. “Hopeless Hole”, dubbed so by the dark and exotic, erotic Mistress of the Dorks, Ms. Adrianne Curry.

Upon arrival, the fair Leah was tapped by the magic wand of mediocrity. Shady agents and producers across the land chided the funky fair damsel. “Nay!,” screeched they, “You are too unique! Too different! Away, to Cookie Cutters Salon in the Valley we shall fly!” With a sprinkling of fairy smog, she did just this. The shady agents and producers then screeched further, like pterodactyls on new, weak prey, “Nay! You are too similar! You look too much like her! Average, Caucasian, brunette girl, take thee a number!”

Along her journey, she met like-minded, talented friends. A kindly lad named Collin would aid in her unConventional quest, a girl named Helenna would become a dear lass for life and in the land of nothing’s-too-odd, a robot chicken would scratch and peck and spin her gold. Yet, not only kindly elves, silky minks and futuristic poultry did she meet upon her trail. She also crossed paths with snakes, serpents and the insidious vendors of their oil. There would be dragons disguised as friends and weasels dressed as lawyers and vermin of every kind lurking on studio lots, in agencies and under the back tables of Starbucks along the rocky Wanderwegs of Lankershim and Magnolia.

One fine, California day, when feeling rather pleased with herself, the fair Leah posted upon her page of Faces, a happy, casual image of her likeness. Then, without warning and in one sharp strike, an evil serpent with whom she had once been acquainted in the tales of Deadwood, hissed and punctured her soul with the greatest of ignorance and insensitivity: I’ve seen you look better, Leah.

“Fie on thee!”, the Philly Beauty cried and away to Ana’s House she did go! “A panel at WonderCon I should like to plan!” she declared! “Where actresses, models, entrepreneurs and writers of all shapes and sizes may talk of slings and arrows besieging the women of entertainment! A panel I should like to form where bright damsels may speak intimately on body image, eating disorders, self-love, recovery and the curses of H-town’s poison apples! A panel where ladies such as these shall inspire and influence those younger damsels, those pretty rabbits and field mice speeding on Greyhounds, fresh from the pastures, meadows and mountaintops of Iowa, Georgia and Colorado, all ingressing to the land of the seedy and the greedy!”

L to R: Adrianne Curry, Lynn Chen, Helenna Santos Levy, Amber Krzys, Miracle Laurie and Leah Cevoli, WonderCon 2013 Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

With that, kids, All Shapes and Sizes Welcome: Body Image & Women’s Issues in the Entertainment Industry was birthed: a primal and proactive response to an insensitive Facebook comment about Leah’s weight gain. This may have been an epiphany for Leah. For, it was at this moment she truly realized what a duplicitous and presumptuous double-standard of beauty there existed in Hollywood and society en masse, no less. Why was it socially acceptable for a relative stranger to comment on her weight? Why was she told, “You’re too thin!” with the same pity as, “You’re too fat!”. Why did a period production like Deadwood specifically cast “curvy women”, then make certain all the lead girls were Santa Monica-svelte? This all got her head spinning. Of course, she’d also been on a forty-day Master Cleanse during her Deadwood days and that got her head spinning, too, considering she went from a 31-inch waist to a 22-incher. Oh, my, Scarlett!

Leah knew there had to be other women with Aha! moments like hers. What had they heard, endured and learned on their paths in and out of Hollywood, The Most Venomous Place on Earth? She wanted to know and to share. Was there truth in TV’s First Kiss? Were there antidotes to the poison apples that hang so lusciously and temptingly along the palm treed parkways to Burbank? Could the dragons, weasels and serpents be slayed?

A host of fierce and lovely ladies, inside and out, came to her side and in a meeting room filled to capacity at the Anaheim Convention Center, Leah and her glossy posse set about to tell Hollywood, Broadway and Burbank a thing or two about a thing or two.

Watch your step, Hollywood! These ladies will get Medieval on your ass! The March 30th, 2013 WonderCon panel featured Miracle Laurie (Dollhouse), Adrianne Curry (Adrianne Curry’s SuperFans), Helenna Santos Levy (founder, MsInTheBiz.com), Amber Krzys (founder, BodyHeart.com) and Lynn Chen (founder, www.theActorsDiet.com). It was my pleasure to attend this panel and, afterwards, chat with Ms. Cevoli, her pals and fellow panelists, Ms. Helenna Santos Levy and Ms. Amber Krzyss. Please enjoy my interviews and read what these energetic and powerful chicas had to say.

L to R, Leah Cevoli, Helenna Santos Levy and Lynn Chen Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

Comic-Con Int’l Presents WonderCon Anaheim, All Shapes and Sizes Welcome Interview with Leah Cevoli and Helenna Santos Levy, March 30, 2013

GTBAG: So, thank you both for taking time today to chat with us. Your panel was very intimate! (laughs)

Leah Cevoli: I’ll say! (laughs)

Helenna Santos Levy: (laughs)

GTBAG: You really covered everything so thoroughly in the panel, I just want to ask you to expound a few things, if that’s okay?

LC: Absolutely. Let’s do it!

GTBAG: Great! Being in entertainment, what do you both find to be the most pressing issue against women, besides the body image?

HLS: Okay, one of the things we just skimmed the surface of, that Miss Representation [.org] deals with a lot and which I’m really passionate about, is the whole sexualization of women. This is really interesting to me, what we’re kind of doing right now. It seems to be since the Spice Girls, or what I call the Christina Aguillera Dirty version of feminism, where we think that by putting on the heels and making ourselves look sexy … see, I’m caught in the middle of it. I don’t pretend to be outside of this issue, I’m caught right in the middle of this issue and I’m trying to search my way through it. So, we’ve taken that on as the version of female empowerment: “I’m going to use my sexuality. I’m going to be in charge of that.”

GTBAG: So, what is modern feminism to you?

HLS: It’s funny, my husband and I had this discussion and it actually feels like the new version of feminism looks like the old Penthouse

GTBAG: Unshaved?

LC: (laughs)

Helenna Santos Levy and Lynn Chen Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

HLS: (laughs) No, it feels like we’ve gone so far past it all that we’ve come all the way back around and we’ve developed our own new version of feminism that’s actually just the old form of sexism, but we’re re-branded.

GTBAG: It’s like the political spectrum. You can go so far in one direction, you merely end up back where you started, the point from where you thought you were progressing.

HLS: Right. So, the question is, for me, if I know all this exists and I’m in an industry where, at the moment, it is what it is and, in order to work you have to accept the system, how do you work in that system while keeping your own voice and be strong enough that you can then change the system? I think that’s the ongoing struggle.

GTBAG: What’s your answer to that?

HLS: Do I have the answer to that? Absolutely not! Trying to figure it out every day, but I think by having panels like this and creating more of a dialogue that women who are strong and sexy and powerful, that we can then figure out how to do this and feel good about ourselves, and it’s not just because we live in a male-constructed society.

GTBAG: Is there an element of becoming successful enough where you don’t have to take that role, you don’t have to take that gig?

LC: That’s interesting, because it goes down even to just things like your hair and makeup. When I first moved to Hollywood, I had a tongue ring and blonde streaks in my hair with purple at the ends, but I was going into the acting industry and I heard, time and time again, “No. You need to look like everybody else. You need to look like that Girl Next Door.” Which is interesting, because now I’m that “Girl Next Door”. I’m in my thirties and all I hear is, “There’s so many Caucasian, 30 year-old brunettes. Pick a number.” Okay. But, when I was more unique with my piercings and my colors, they were like, “Oh, no. You have to look more cookie-cutter.” So, there’s always mixed messages.

GTBAG: How do you affect these messages, change them?

LC: One of the things we didn’t touch on in the panel, and that’s been kind of rolling around in my head is … so, if we’re saying, “Accept everybody, all shapes and sizes”, no matter what industry and if you want to be an actress or a model, all shapes and sizes, then, yay! Let’s get more women of all shapes and sizes on mainstream television. Then, the flip side of that is, what are we teaching our youngsters? Is there a point when it’s actually unhealthy when we’re saying, “You’re very heavy, you’re obese, you’re this, you’re that and it’s acceptable.” We’re putting this in our commercials and ads, as well. So, what are we saying? Are we promoting unhealthy things? Are we promoting it’s okay to sit around and eat McDonald’s all day long as long as you love yourself? Because, now we’re promoting heart disease and diabetes and high cholesterol and everything else.

HLS: Right. We’re not promoting a healthy image, one way or the other, and everyone is confused right now. We had this discussion earlier, why Girls and Lena Dunham are so polarizing to people. She’s not going with the typical, Hollywood norm. She’s doing something completely opposite of it. So, if it’s not appealing to men, they’re like, “Ugh! I could never handle watching this!” Whereas, women are like grabbing onto it. But then, people are like, “Is she healthy? Is she promoting a healthy body image?”

LC: In her case, I think she is.

HLS: I think she is, too.

LC: I think she’s like, “Hey, a got a little bit of meat on me and I’m okay with it because I’m having sex as well and here’s my butt!” What’s wrong with that?

Continue interview with Leah and Helenna

GTBAG: So what is sexy, what is feminine to you?

HLS: Your own inner quality. It really shouldn’t matter what we look like, what we’re wearing, what we’re doing, because it’s our own inner quality that shines through.

GTBAG: Still, it does matter what you look like, in entertainment.

HLS: Well, the irony of this all isn’t lost on us because we’re in a pin-up magazine! (laughs)

LC: (laughs) Yeah! We just came from an autograph signing! We were both featured in Cupcake Quarterly magazine, which is a pin-up shoot, right? So, now we’re about to go speak about body image and here’s this magazine. I had lingerie on! I posed in lingerie and garters! Helena’s got garters and a bra on! (laughs)

GTBAG: Isn’t that a healthy body image though? Because it really is all shapes and sizes.

LC: It is. But, at the same time, could it be sexploitation?

Helena: Of course it is, because that’s inherently what pin-up is. But then, we as women are taking back that title.

GTBAG: Yes, but do they have to be mutually exclusive?

LC: For me, this was actually a cathartic experience, because I did it a couple of months ago, at the heaviest I’ve ever been and I’m invited to do this and I said, “Yes!”. The night before I was like, “Oh, my God!” I mean, I’m okay taking photos, I’ve been taking photos since I was a little girl, but in my underwear?! I’ve never taken photos in my underwear and I’m the biggest I’ve ever been and am I really doing this?!

GTBAG: How did you get through it?

LC: I had to trust that Elisa [Jaeger], who is the editor-in-chief and creator of Cupcake, I had to trust in her and her vision and I’d seen her work and I know she’s very body-positive. (She wanted to be on this panel with us.) I had to trust in that and, you know what? I like the way I looked! I put them on my Facebook page!

GTBAG: Did you send them specifically to the gentleman whom was the impetus for this panel?

LC: (laughs) No. I think he’d already been deleted from my Facebook page by that point. Isn’t that interesting, though? What gives anybody a right to comment on anybody’s Facebook photo like that?

GTBAG: Well, there is a prevalent mechanism for comments on Facebook.

Miracle Laurie Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

LC: Well, yes. And that got me spinning on, what if I got more mainstream, if I was on a show like Dollhouse, like Miracle [Laurie] was?

HLS: If you were Melissa McCarthy?

LC: Lord knows, right?! Lord knows what would come up if you Googled my name?!

GTBAG: I imagine there’s a level of personal dissatisfaction. Like the fellow with the broken-down Porsche on the side of the road. Everybody laughs because there’s dissatisfaction they don’t have a Porsche and never will.

LC: Exactly! It makes people feel good to tear us down and we accept that to some degree, being in this industry.

GTBAG: There is constant critiquing. You’re not wearing enough, you’re wearing too much. You don’t have enough flesh, you’re too fleshy.

LC: They like to build people up to tear them down.

GTBAG: I’ve seen horrible Tweets to your other panelist, Ms. Curry.

LC: Oh, Adrianne! Yeah. I love that she takes care of herself. She’s doing it in a healthy way and she doesn’t care. She just doesn’t care what people say. I have to say, sometimes, I just can’t look. I can’t look at her Twitter feed because she gets it on a daily basis.

GTBAG: She gets ripped to shreds, by men and women alike, no matter what she says or posts. She’s a Porsche.

LC: Yeah! And why? Because she’s a sexy, confident woman who overcame a drug addiction and now works her ass off like crazy to keep her sane, keep her off drugs, does it in a healthy way and they rip her apart, why? Because she’s got a better ass than you!

Adrianne Curry Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

HLS: Exactly. They hate her because she’s doing it.

GTBAG: Plus, they’ll never have her.

LC: They wish, right?!

GTBAG: I know you ladies have a busy afternoon ahead of you. Is there anything you’d like to add before we finish?

HLS: I just think it’s important we’re having this discussion, that we have options in this industry. It’s changing.

LC:  Yeah, options! It’s not just a bunch of old, white men calling the shots anymore.

GTBAG: On that note, thank you very much, ladies.

HLS & LC: Thank you!

Comic-Con Int’l Presents WonderCon Anaheim, All Shapes and Sizes Welcome Interview with Amber Krzys

March 30, 2013

GoodToBeAGeek: Thank you for taking a moment to chat. I just have a few questions not covered in the panel, if you don’t mind.

Amber Krzys Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

Amber Krzys: Not at all! I love to talk about this stuff! I think humans want to help each other and that’s what we’re doing here today!

GTBAG: Okay then! So, what drives you to speak publicly, to be actively passionate about body image and women’s issues, specifically in the entertainment industry?

AK: I love women! So, who’s determining the rules, is what I want to know? The rules in this industry. I think women are incredible! Our innate gifts – our nurturing, our sensitivity, our feelings, our caring. I think, at this point, women actually outweigh men.

GTBAG: No pun intended?

AK: No! (laughs) I think, in actuality, women are 51% and men are 49% in our country. But we don’t know that yet. We don’t have our voices out there yet. So, that’s for me, the big reason I’m doing it.

GTBAG: So women need to back each other? Do you tend to seek and support women in the Arts, in business, even in politics, strictly because they’re a woman and overlook a qualified male for the part?

AK: Not necessarily. No. No. Not necessarily. I’m a believer in doing your research and I think there are a lot of men pulling for us. There are women out there who aren’t, too. Women who believed that in order to succeed they needed to become a man and they forced through these things. So, no, I’m not advocating that at all. Do your research, whatever is most important to you. You go with that.

GTBAG: Most important issue facing women in entertainment, specifically?

AK: (pauses) That’s a really good question! I have two things. First is the body image and feeling this pressure to look a certain way because the media is dictating this. But, the second thing, I think, is the roles. You know, how often are you watching a movie and the woman’s taking her clothes off? She’s a mistress or the sex queen? It’s rare to have a really meaty, nice role that’s basically not focusing on the woman’s body.

GTBAG: The roles are defined by their sexuality, then? Defined by the men they’re with in the film?

AK: Exactly! If you think about it, the media is a reflection of where our society is. How does the world see a woman? How does the world see a man? It goes back to what Helena [Santos Levy] was talking about in Miss Representation [.org] during the panel. The fear and insecurity for a man comes from power and providing. It’s the money thing, right? It’s the status.  ”I drive this car.” It’s the status. For women, it’s, the way they get to us, it’s the body style. “Be thinner, no acne, wrinkles are bad, growing old sucks.” So then, what does the media do? Even the entertainment industry? They realize these are real fears and concerns and they heighten that, you know?

GTBAG: So, what role would you write for yourself? How would you take back that power?

AK: I’m no longer pursuing acting.

GTBAG: If you were, if you could create that “meaty role” on stage or screen?

AK: I don’t know. I think, to me, a role that represents a real woman today. So, her real struggles. Yes, facing her body … but also like having to choose between work and family. For me, I’m thrity-six. I’m single. My family’s like, “Are you ever going to get married? Are you ever going to have kids?” The clock is ticking. I only have a certain amount of time if I want to have kids.

GTBAG: Like Liz Lemon and Murphy Brown lied to you?

AK:  Totally. Raising a child, working alone, those things make a good role.

GTBAG: There are a lot of women talking openly via Facebook about single-motherhood. How do you approach a role like that then, to speak to those women?

AK: Right. Rather than buying into the fairy tale of, “I’m going to get married and he will save me because I need saving, I can’t do it on my own”, I’d do something that’s completely opposite of that. You know, “I may not know what the ‘F’ I’m doing, but I’m going to figure it out ’cause I’m smart enough and I’m good enough where I am today.”

GTBAG: I think that’s a good way to end this. 

AK: You’re so welcome! I love having this discussion! I’ll be sure to share this with my community.

GTBAG: Thank you, Amber. We’ll be sure to share it with ours as well.

L to R, Adrianne Curry, Lynn Chen, Helenna Santos Levy, Amber Krzys, Miracle Laurie, Leah Cevoli Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

Have any questions or comments for our interviewer? Contact Jennifer Susannah Devore @JennyPopNet or jennypop.net Want more fab panel pics? Check out Dr. Lucy’s Twisted Pair Photography!

GoodGeekGirls w The Fierce Ones! L to R, Collin Pelton, Yours Truly, Leah, Helenna and Dr. Lucy Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

Hannah’s fave places to haunt on-line? Jennypop.net  @JennyPopNet & Jennifer Devore’s Amazon Author Page

 

Happy Birthday, Mr. Pulitzer! Just like our American Press, Savannah of Williamsburg is Free!

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Posted by Hannah Hart, Ghost Dame of the Hotel del Coronado | Posted on 10-04-2013

Category : Entertain Me, Featured, Geek Out, Literature

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery.

-Joseph Pulitzer

Joseph Pulitzer statue, NYC Photo: Joseph Lee Novak

Whilst May 5th, Freedom of the Press Day, is still a few weeks away, this week in April is notable for a formidable individual whom strove throughout his life to keep that freedom strong, well-trained and powering forward like a Wild West steam engine thrusting across our vast nation.

Publisher Joseph Pulitzer was born April 10, 1847 in Budapest, Hungary. Emigrating to America toward the end of the Civil War, he fought with Union forces for a short period; yet, thankfully for us, battlefield horrors soon took a backseat to what would become a lifetime of inky fingers. His career would be somewhat similar, at least in part, to that of John Peter Zenger, the German immigrant from New York whom fought to keep journalism honest and fair. Just as Zenger would compete arduously with fellow New York newspaperman William Bradford in the mid-18thC., Pulitzer would compete fiercely with fellow New York newspaperman William Randolph Hearst in the mid-19thC. Like Macy’s v. Gimbel’s at Christmastime, Pulitzer and Hearst would duke it out at the printing press, outdoing each other, bringing about early forms of “new journalism”: unconventional, non-traditional reporting styles, oft printed in magazines as opposed to newspapers, and similar to Hunter S. Thompson, Truman Capote and Matt Taibbi.

 Pulitzer published the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and New York World, served as a NY State Representative and is best known for the Pulitzer Prize. Awarded for excellence in journalism, reporting (including online reporting today), photography, poetry, literature and history amongst other categories, the Pulitzer is administered by Columbia University, funded originally by an initial $2million legacy he left the school upon his death in 1911. In 1912, he posthumously founded the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. In 1917, the first Pulitzers were awarded for Editorial Writing (New York Tribune for the first anniversary of the Lusitania sinking), Reporting (Herbert Bayard Swope of New York World), History (With Americans of Past and Present Days by His Excellency J.J. Jusserand) and Biography (Julia Ward Howe by Laura E. Richards and Maude Howe Elliott, assisted by Florence Howe Hall: Houghton Publishing).

April 10-13, in honour of Mr. Pulitzer, my pally Jennifer Susannah Devore gives you, free via Amazon: Savannah of Williamsburg: Ben Franklin, Freedom & Freedom of the Press, Book III in my Savannah of Williamsburg historical-fiction series. (Read the official Colonial Williamsburg press release here.)

Set in Philadelphia, New York and Colonial Williamsburg, the third in the series finds a young, Swedish printer’s apprentice named Linus amidst one of the greatest trials in human history: the John Peter Zenger Trial. Add one great Scot of an attorney named Andrew Hamilton, a nasty and arrogant New York/New Jersey Royal Governor William Cosby, a secret weapon, a new twist on onus probandi and one stunning, shocking verdict of “Not Guilty” and you’ve got the trial that changed the course of American journalism and conferred upon us the all too important Freedom of the Press.

The thousands of readers and scholars who helped Savannah of Williamsburg: Ben Franklin, Freedom & Freedom of the Press peak at #1 this winter in Amazon’s Law Fiction/Legal Perspectives genre can’t be wrong. Let Linus, Benjamin Franklin, my Squirrel Girl and John Peter Zenger share with you one of the cornerstones of our great democracy, a free press Joseph Pulitzer cherished. If I may be so bold, I think he would would have liked this book very much.

Savannah of Williamsburg by Jennifer Susannah Devore Free April 10-13!

On a related note, Lilly Pulitzer, fashion designer and notable barefoot, zeitgeist, vogue icon of the 1960s and ’70s passed away on April 7, 2013. She was the wife of Pete Pulitzer, grandson to Joseph Pulitzer. I think she would have liked Miss Savannah Squirrel’s style.

 

Read on, keep up, write oft and speak out, people!

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At The Con – PAX East 2013 with Nicole Wakelin

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Posted by Jessa Phillips aka "SultryMinxZoe" | Posted on 06-04-2013

Category : Conventions, E-vents, Featured, Game On, Geek Out, Good To Be A Gamer, PAX East

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PAX East is the second largest consumer gaming convention in the United States. We are blessed that this event takes place nearby GTBAG HQ. Jessa Phillips and Dave Lucier were on hand to play games, attend panels and rock out at the concerts. As we like to do, we are reporting back with all of the convention goodness for those of you who couldn’t join us or those who want to relive the good times.

In this bonus episode, Jessa Phillips sits down with our friend, Total Fan Girl, Nicole Wakelin to discuss their experiences at PAX East. They discuss the games demonstrated on the show floor, panels they participated in or attended, rage quit Facebook games and embrace video games used for education.

Find more of Nicole Wakelin’s work at Total Fan Girl, Geek Mom & Nerd Approved! Also, follow her on Twitter @NicoleWakelin!

 

If you have trouble with the player, click the link below for the direct download:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/goodtobeagamer/AtTheCon_PAXEast2013_TFG.mp3

 

CONTACT
Questions? Comments? We want to hear from you! Feel free to post a comment on the podcast entry at http://www.goodtobeageek.com, or email us at gamer@goodtobeageek.com. You can also email David at dlucier[at]goodtobeageek.com, email Jessa at jphillips[at]goodtobeageek.com.

Special thanks to Sterling for the use of his music in the podcast. Be sure to check out his Magnatune profile page to learn more about him and discover more of his music.

Good To Be A Gamer is sponsored by Good To Be A Geek – let your geek run wild! Opinions expressed on Good To Be A Gamer are those of the hosts and/or guests and do not necessarily represent those of Good To Be A Geek.

Good To Be A Geek is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

 


Shauncastic – Episode 127: Turtle Power!

Posted by Jessa Phillips aka "SultryMinxZoe" | Posted on 05-04-2013

Category : Comics, Entertain Me, Featured, Geek Out, Guest Appearances, Movies, Television

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I am a lucky woman with fantastic friends who share my geeky loves. One such friend is Shaun Rosado of Shauncastic. When he put out the call for people to talk about 4 turtles and a rat with ninja skills, you know I had to be there to reminisce about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What transpired was a wonderful conversation that allowed myself, Shaun, Jay Scardina and Samantha Cross (Word of the Nerd) to wax nostalgic about these “Heroes in the Half Shell.” We discuss the comics, classic cartoons, live action films, current animated series and even rumors about the new movie.

Also, Christina and Shaun review Oz: The Great and Powerful in her segment, “Intro to Geek” and later, Shaun is joined by Bree Brouwer to talk video games in her segment “Behind Schedule.”

Click the link below to listen on Shauncastic!
Episode 127: Turtle Power!

WonderCon 2013: Dr. Batman, Monster Man, Fierce Women and Missing Seth Green, Again

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Posted by Hannah Hart, Ghost Dame of the Hotel del Coronado | Posted on 03-04-2013

Category : Comics, Conventions, Entertain Me, Featured, Travel, WonderCon

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Steampunk Lucy & Abby Sciuto Photo: JSDevore

WonderCon Anaheim is a fait accompli. These California comic book conventions are like a Tequila Sunrise: equal parts fun, tequila, sunshine and just the right amount of tart. The bar in the Anaheim Hilton, Mix Lounge, was a bit too much fun. Of course, like any trade show or con, those après-show mixers also serve as yummy networking juice. Having an affable, excitable, confident pirate in your corner also helps the networking process.

This con was chock full of crucial contacts, old friends, new Geek Meets and enough pop culture goodness to make the wait for summer’s San Diego Comic-Con nearly unbearable. I met a Batman Ph.D., dined with a Monster Man, met a smarmy yet kindly fellow from Bongo Comics and missed meeting Seth Green, again, by thiiiiiis much. As I covered the event for GoodToBeAGeek, there shall be a full wrap-up and slideshow coming soon. There shall also be interviews. Whilst there, I attended a few panels, including All Shapes and Sizes Welcome and Geeks Get Published – and Paid!.

 All Shapes and Sizes Welcome, moderated by power chica Leah Cevoli (Deadwood, Robot Chicken) featured Miracle Laurie (Dollhouse), Adrianne Curry (Adrianne Curry’s SuperFans), Helenna Santos Levy (founder, MsInTheBiz.com), Amber Krzys (founder, BodyHeart.com) and Lynn Chen (founder, www.theActorsDiet.com). Without giving up too much booty here, the panel was an intimate, inspiring and touching look at the effects of body culture on women in Hollywood and media. Moreover, these strong femmes shared their histories and personal tales of how they came to be the ladies they are and what pivotal, Aha! moments got them there.

L to R: Adrianne Curry, Lynn Chen, Helena Santos Levy, Amber Krzys, Miracle Laurie and Leah Cevoli Photo: Twisted Pair Photography

Geeks Get Published – and Paid! was moderated by the sparkling Jenna Busch (Cocktails with Stan), with whom I shared a lovely chat on our mutual fondness for James Michener over Stella Artois and gin martinis at Mix Lounge. Jenna’s panel featured S. G. Browne (Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament), Katrina Hill (Action Movie Freak), Alan Kistler (Doctor Who: A History), Alex Langley (The Geek Handbook), and Dr. Travis Langley(Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight). This panel was partially selfish on my part. Learning how to grow cabbage out of words? Yes, please! Perchance next year, or even at SDCC, she might like this published geek to sit on her panel.

This particular panel was also a lovely chance to meet the quietly sweet Katrina Hill (her kind demeanor being totally anathema to her Action Flick Chick persona),the boyish Alex Langley (His love of Calvin and Hobbes and, I’d bet, Dennis the Menace happily shines through.) and his brother Dr. Travis Langley. Having gifted the good doctor’s Batman and Psychology to my own psychologist-father, it was my pleasure to meet Dr. Langley, discuss secure attachment theory with him and have said-book signed for Dear Old Dad. To boot, Katrina and the brothers Langley are affiliate-partners with GoodToBeAGeek and its editor, Jessa Phillips. My articles there are syndicated via RocketLlama and soon Nerdspan. It was very nice to finally shake their hands.

I also took part in one of the oddest, strangest, most memorable fine dining experiences of my life. Suffice it here to state merely the following: Morton’s Steakhouse, Monster Man Cleve Hall, homemade rum, an à la carte-meat travesty, a renegade pirate and Night of the Evil Dead Corset that nearly killed Lucy.

After I my Con Haze lifts, I shall regale you with full coverage of WonderCon 2013, Morton’s Horrorhouse and my interviews with Katrina Hill, Leah Cevoli, Amber Krzys and Helena Santos Levy. In addition, there will be a powerhouse slideshow by our very own Eslilay Evoreday of Twisted Pair Photography, a slideshow of such proportions that it will take longer to import and load these snaps than it will to write up all the articles. You’re welcome.

Lucy, Hannah and the trademark pineapple martini at Roy's Hawaiian Photo: JSDevore

Abyssinia, cats!

@JennyPopNet

Hannah’s other fave places to haunt online? jennypop.net  jenniferdevore.blogspot.com and amazon.com/author/jenniferdevore

 

Earth Station One – Episode 156, Winter is coming to ESO

Posted by Jessa Phillips aka "SultryMinxZoe" | Posted on 01-04-2013

Category : Entertain Me, Featured, Geek Out, Guest Appearances, Literature, Reviews, Television

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Loyal readers and listeners know I am a fan of the novels penned by George R.R. Martin, as well as the HBO television series Game of Thrones. When the Earth Station One crew put out a call for people looking to discuss this master work of fantasy, I prayed to the Old Gods and The Seven and even put in a word at the House of the Undying that they would pick yours truly. And they did!

On this episode, the ESO crew sing of ice and fire! Bobby thought this was another musical episode, so he steps away while Mike and Mike are joined by Jessa Phillips (GoodtoBeaGeek.com), Rita De La Torre (Transmissions from Atlantis), Tara (Ice and Fire Con), and listener Jon Kenoyer for a review of the novels by George R. R. Martin as well as the HBO series, Game of Thrones. We also review the penultimate episode of The Walking Dead’s third season. Plus, we strap the visionary filmmaker GB Hajim in The Geek Seat! All this and the usual Rants, Raves, Shout Outs and Khan Report!

 

Click the link below to visit Earth Station One and listen to the show!
Episode 156 – Winter is coming to ESO

Portlandia Spies on Hannah and Lucy: WonderCon 2K13

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Posted by Hannah Hart, Ghost Dame of the Hotel del Coronado | Posted on 25-03-2013

Category : Conventions, Entertain Me, Featured, Geek Out, Television, Watching the Web, WonderCon

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I think we are being spied upon, as of late. As Dr. Lucy and I prepare for WonderCon (Anaheim Convention Center March 29-31, 2013), it appears the bonkers-brilliant minds behind Portlandia have clearly been engaged in careful examination of our cosplay methods. We mistakenly thought our crossed fingers to be our little secret. (Uninitiated to the wonky randomness of Portlandia? Read a wee review by my pally, Jennifer Susannah Devore.) Yes, I imagine our short sojourn at the Anaheim Hilton and WonderCon shall prove raw-ther similar to Portlandia’s spot-on effort: Steampunk Convention.

Perhaps our own Ellen from Earth shall prove more useful. Nevertheless … huzzah, Captain D.D. Cumulus and Lady Nightstream! Rose City Steampunks, do hold the ascending-room doors for Dr. Lucia Devereaux and yours truly, Miss Hannah Hart, ghostdame of the Hotel del Coronado! Check back here après-WonderCon for a wrap of the show, à la my SDCC 2K12 coverage, and another one of Lucy’s fab slideshows: cosplay goodies, booths, artwork, celebrity sightings and even the Saturday Night Masquerade. (Unfamiliar with her work? Peruse Lucy’s SDCC 2K12 snaps.)

To boot, we shall be attending, and covering for you, the Geeks Get Published – and Paid! panel, moderated by Jenna Busch (Fanhattan): featuring S. G. Browne (Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament), Katrina Hill (Action Movie Freak), Alan Kistler (Doctor Who: A History), Alex Langley (The Geek Handbook), and Dr. Travis Langley (Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight). You know, Jennifer Susannah Devore, is a geek who got published (Savannah of Williamsburg) and I do believe she shall be attending WC this year, dressed as Bellatrix Lestrange. Maybe she and her wand can work their Dark Arts and find her an elusive literary agent. Wish her luck! Better yet, if you know an agent, send them along to JennyPop.Net!

WonderCon Steampunk 2K13

BTW, Lucy and I shall be interviewing, one-on-one, Katrina Hill (MTVGeek, Action Flick Chick) and Leah Cevoli (Deadwood, Robot Chicken) whilst at the Con. We’ll also be covering Ms. Cevoli’s own panel All Shapes and Sizes Welcome: featuring Miracle Laurie (Dollhouse), Adrianne Curry (Adrianne Curry’s SuperFans), Helenna Santos Levy (founder, MsInTheBiz.com), Amber Krzys (founder, BodyHeart.com) and Lynn Chen (founder, www.theActorsDiet.com) Have anything you’d like us to ask these geek girls extraordinaire?  Leave us a comment below or simply Tweet us on the con floor @JennyPopNet!

Abyssinia, cats!

 

Hannah’s other fave places to haunt online? jennypop.net  jenniferdevore.blogspot.com and amazon.com/author/jenniferdevore

R2D2, Slave Leias and WonderCon: Happy Valentines Day!

Posted by Hannah Hart, Ghost Dame of the Hotel del Coronado | Posted on 12-02-2013

Category : Conventions, Entertain Me, Featured, Geek Out, Travel

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cheers, kittens! I imagine scads of you are reading on your devices whilst trapped amongst the winter remnants of Nor’easter Nemo. Ergo, I shall spare you the complaints of how chilly it is here in San Diego, in February: 56 with a low of 43! Of course, being a ghost, I’m always cold: sunny beach weather or no. (New to this ghostdame concept? My bio will get you up to speed.)

Well, if you’re a geek in love and whether snowbound in Beantown or surfside in Solana Beach, chances are kippy you’re focused on one of two things right now: Valentines Day and/or WonderCon. Should you be fortunate enough to live in Southern California, my Hotel Del, in this year of their 125th anniversary, is hosting the Sweetheart Ball for a mere $125.00/person for dance floor-flanked dining: $100.00/person for the rest of the Crown Room. Get out the red lipstick, your swishiest beaded skirt and those dancing heels, all you hot tomatoes! The Fox Trot is where it’s at this year!

As for WonderCon (Anaheim Convention Center, March 29-31, 2013), if you’re uninitiated, it’s a comic book and pop culture convention similar to Comic-Con International, but smaller, earlier and sans the Gigantor schwag bags. Numbers? According to Publisher’s Weekly, approximately 40K 2012 WonderCon attendees vs. some 130K for SDCC. Historically a San Francisco-based event that prides itself on being more musty comic books than shiny vinyl girls, it has been moved down to Anaheim  for a couple of years to wait out refurbishing of it’s true home, Moscone Center. Planning to head NorCal way once again for 2014, we SoCal geeks are lucky enough to get it one more time this year! It’s a gentle, warming ease into our wackadoo SDCC, like walking gingerly into a mellow surf, as opposed to trouncing into a rough shore break and getting splashed right in your bits and pieces in one go. To boot, it’s walking-distance to Disneyland!

The R2D2 Builders Club at WonderCon Photo: InSapphoWeTrust/flickr

Are you a Northerner missing your WonderCon? Been dying to go, but never get around to it? Curious about why anybody would want to go? No worries, cats! Our very own Dr. Lucy and I will be onsite and covering it covering it for GoodToBeAGeek.com, live from the floor, just for you: Tweets, snaps, gossip and bonkers costumes, all for your enjoyment! If you wonder how well two Cali ghost girls can narrate just such an event, have a peek at our recounting of 2012 San Diego Comic-Con.

Should you kids have anything or anyone specific you’d love us to seek an’ snap, query, interview or just plain stalk at Wondercon, let us know! Tweet us @GoodToBeAGeek, @JennyPopNet or @Eslilay. Lucy shall be at the ready with her EOS Canon Digital Rebel XT and I with my trusty Waterman, analog journal and Android devices. Whilst the guest list isn’t quite as lengthy as SDCC, there is quality in this condensed version: Jane Espenson (Firefly, Buffy, Once Upon a Time), Dean Koontz (legendary horror novelist) Boris Vallejo & Julie Bell (fantasy artist team extraordinaire) just to name a few. In addition, if you’re whacky for Superman, WonderCon is proud to announce the exclusive, world-premiere of DC Universe’s animated flick, Superman: Unbound!

Though it may be on a smaller scale than SDCC, it seems costuming and cosplay are as necessary as ever at WonderCon and Lucy and I shall be joining in the fun. Lucy’s going steampunk again, this time with a wild and cheeky rum-powered top hat. (Yes, you read that correctly!) Moi? No clue, kittens. Check back in March. Hot pink bunny ears might be playing a role, though. Slave Leia is always an option; yet, that might be better suited for the warmer and sunnier climes of Comic-Con in July. Of course, for all you brassy broads with gorgeous getaway sticks, Leia in chains can go a long way in taking the traditional ennui out of St. Valentine’s Day. Zowie!

My Valentines gift to keep you warm, Fair Reader! Photo: Digital_Rampage

Right-o, off to brainstorm some Valentine haunts with Lucy. Nothing’s more romantic than some friendly, midnight, ghostly frights for the guests amidst the hallowed hotel halls of my historic Hotel del Coronado!

Abyssinia, kids!

 

Hannah’s fave places to haunt online? JennyPop.net and amazon.com/author/jenniferdevore

Follow @JennyPopNet

Freedom IS Free! Happy Birthday, Mr. Franklin!

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Posted by Hannah Hart, Ghost Dame of the Hotel del Coronado | Posted on 17-01-2013

Category : E-vents, Entertain Me, Featured, Geek Out, Literature, Travel

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The authoress confers w/Mr. Franklin in Boston. Photo: JSDevore

Update: Apparently, Savannah of Williamsburg: Ben Franklin, Freedom & Freedom of the Press, Amazon/Kindle ranking is #1 in Non-Fiction (although it is historical-fiction) and Perspectives on Law/Legal History!! Yea, Miss Savannah Squirrel!!

 

Calling all history geeks! It’s Ben Franklin’s birthday and my pally Jennifer Susannah Devore is giving you a little freedom, for free! Savannah of Williamsburg: BenFranklin, Freedom & Freedom of the Press is free for Kindle, today only: Thursday, January 17th!

Kittens, that Benjamin Franklin was one prolific cat! Inventor, printer, entrepreneur, politician, writer, community leader, social organizer, coffee lover, lady lover, possible-privateer, all-around Good Time Charlie and … maybe even a secret element behind the Freedom of the Press we so take for granted? Maybe so!

For all you history geeks, Miss Jenny is giving you the tale for free: Savannah of Williamsburg: Ben Franklin, Freedom & Freedom of the Press is Book III in her Savannah of Williamsburg Series. (Read the original, official, Colonial Williamsburg press release here.)

Set in Philadelphia, New York and Colonial Williamsburg, the third in the series of historical-fiction finds a young, Swedish printer’s apprentice named Linus amidst one of the greatest trials in human history: the John Peter Zenger Trial. Add one great Scot of an attorney, Andrew Hamilton, the nasty and arrogant New York & New Jersey Royal Governor William Cosby, a secret weapon, a new twist on onus probandi and one stunning, shocking verdict of “Not Guilty” and you’ve got the trial that changed the course of American journalism and conferred upon us the all too important Freedom of the Press.

Don’t let the poncy squirrel in a frock scare you, nor the tavern cat, French court Pom or Venetian fox-turned-thespian. The thousands of readers and scholars who have made Savannah of Williamsburg: Ben Franklin, Freedom & Freedom of the Press #88 in Amazon’s Law Fiction/Legal Perspectives genre can’t be wrong. Let Jenny’s Squirrel Girl and John Peter Zenger share with you one of the cornerstones of our great democracy.

Read on, keep up, write oft and speak out, people!

"Savannah of Williamsburg: Ben Franklin, Freedom & Freedom of the Press" by Jennifer Susannah Devore

Hannah’s fave places to haunt online? JennyPop.net and amazon.com/author/jenniferdevore

Follow @JennyPopNet

 

 

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