You can't go to a Con without gathering a bunch of loot to take home. And loot of the Nerdy variety is the best kind.
Of course I had to get an official pin, because I collect pins. They're fun, cheap, and small.
Then I got two handcrafted leather journals. They're gorgeous! Easily my most favorite purchase. It was so hard picking two.
The paper is linen, and the overall quality is top notch.
An Evermore Park coin! The actual park isn't completed, the first phase should be completed end of 2015, but they are sure marketing this Victorian wonder of a place, and I love the marketing.
(Insert: If Evermore Park doesn't happen, I will be sorely disappointed. It's going to be amazing!)
The coin was available at the their booth/display. You had to trade for it, with the trader, as long as he didn't already have what you were willing to trade. I traded a UVU stress ball. I sure got the better end of the trade! It's a cool coin.
A Comic Con spinner coin!!
Oh this is fun. The middle spins, and helps you decide what to do next.
Dragon Gold!
There were 5 different coins available, but I only wanted the 4. The 5th had a giant boar on the back. These are authentic recreations from the Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, cast from the molds originally used for the movie. By WETA.
Seriously, it's been one of my dreams since childhood, ever since I read the Hobbit, to own Dragons Gold. I'm not joking. It was fun dreaming up Smaug surrounded by gold, and I wanted some of the goods.
I've literally waited years to experience this concert, and the wait was well worth it. This show was beyond everything I imagined, and being there live is beyond what I can explain.
Lights, video, interaction, etc.
Usually when you attend the Symphony there's decorum. Rules. Etiquette. There are only certain places you're allowed to applaud, after all. Don't be the weirdo who claps in the middle of a movement.
But with Video Games Live you're allowed to clap and cheer whenever you feel moved, and there was A LOT of clapping and cheering going on, especially during favorite games.
I cried through the whole of it!! Especially during the Kingdom Hearts.
I started crying before the concert began. (I'm not joking. A couple tears went down my face.)
And the Skyrim segment was so well done. I couldn't help but think of my Dad, who would have LOVED this concert!!!!!, but decided back in May not to get a ticket. He was addicted to Skyrim for the LONGEST time. The game that will not end . . . heh. But seriously, I'm dragging my Dad to this concert next year.
The Snow College choir sang, and at first my family laughed (sorry, we did) when we heard that they were singing, but they were Incredible. Awesome bass section. In an area surrounded by so many Universities (U of U, BYU, UVU) within 40 mile, Snow College is a 2 year college in Ephraim Utah, out in the middle of no where, about 122 miles from SLC.
The choir was Phenomenal.
And the soloist was amazing, too.
Honestly, I wish more people were aware of how amazing Game Music is.
At the Evermore section. Heh, I look more happy then scared.
Steven with Heather Theurer, the amazing Fantasy artist, who has also painted some amazing Disney portraits. They're worth checking out on her site. Apparently the Merida painting was amazing in person, unfortunately it was sold out before I had a chance to see it. I would love to own the Lilo and Stitch painting. So cute.
(I recommend Elantris and Warbreaker, though I hear Mistborn is amazing, I just haven't read it yet . . . ). He's an expert at creating unique magic systems.
I first found out about Brandon before he was even published. While working on his masters at BYU, he was rooming with a few guys a couple blocks from where I live. He didn't attend the YSA (Young Single Adult) ward I was going to, but his roommates did, and when some of his friends in the ward found out how much I love fantasy, they told me about Brandon. So when Elantris was published, I went to the BYU library and found out every copy of the book was checked out, except his master thesis copy of Elantris, so I checked that out. Didn't get all the little pictures, but it was really interesting.
And FYI, when he talks about a local church group service auction, in which cans of food were used as auction payment, during the annotations of Warbreaker, I was there. (It was super surreal reading an event in a book I was actually present for. Brandon put up as auction the opportunity to have a character in one of his books named after you. That would have been fun :0)
Disney Cosplayers right outside the Disney Store. They totally went inside after this picture was taken.
A video to remind you what 2015 is supposed to look like, in case you forgot.
The Batmobile!
Kids shooting at Storm Troopers :0)
It's a great way to pass the afternoon.
I geeked out over this recreation of Bilbo's Contract from the Hobbit.
Beware the Orcs.
More LEGO's, just for fun.
Comic Con was fun. I wish I made it to more panels. And I hope the Con works on it's efficiency next year when it comes to managing all the people and the registration line. Far from perfect, but a good time.
What do I so far think of the 2014 Salt Lake Comic Con?
Not much.
It's 4 PM.
I'm still in line.
Literally.
So I might as well write about it . . .
Last April during the SLC Comic Con Fan X, I thought it was insane walking directly into the entry room around 2 PM first day Thursday, only to be greeted by a huge wrap around line.
This year? We got here around 1:30 PM and the line was wrapping around the block, on the outside, around the Utah Symphony building.
Last April there was a second entry next to Energy Solutions, so we thought we would try to go there, but it's closed this year. Only one entry.
So then my Mom called my Dad who was having lunch at City Creek what he was planning, and he heard that the Megaplex at the Gateway was doing registration thanks to the Con film fest. A long walk later we discovered that that offer was only available on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A long walk back we joined my Dad and brother Steven, who have been in line since 1:45 PM.
And now we're in that giant room, finally, the registration room, and it's nothing but chaos. No direction. Lines everywhere splitting off every which way. Surround sound confusion and complaining.
At 4:19 I'm still not sure we're where we're supposed to be.
None of the volunteers know what is going on.
I found out, via Facebook, that the Cary Elwes forum was at 3:00. That was one of the events I would have liked to attend.
Oh well.
At least I can now see the taunting glimmer of lights passed the reception entrance, as I inch along.
When I first saw the line at 1:30 I guessed it would take 3 hours.
I might have been generous.
(4:33, far from entering, still in line.)
Terrible management and planning.
(Blogger wouldn't let me post this blog post while I was in the building. It's 8:49, and my feet are tired. Last time I didn't get to look at any booths, so I took that opportunitytoday, sincenopanels sounded particularly interesting.
BTW, the Hobbit booth is AWESOME. Can I say how excited I am to finally see the end tothe Hobbit trilogy? Ex-ci-ted.
And the Evermore booth is fun this year. FYI, if there's a unique small junk item you wouldn't mind getting rid of, you can trade it for a really cool Evermore Park coin, as long as the trader guy doesn'talreadyhaveit.
Andonelastpoint, Ifinallygot into the Con at 5:30, nearly a 4 hr. wait. It took them almost 8 minutesto giveus 7 wristbands. Whenwe leftafter 8:00, therewasstillasuperlonglineinsidethe registrationroom. Ifeelbadfor thosepeople. Alongwaitjustforawristband.)
Of course it isn't until this September, so I can't wait. I feel extremely lucky its coming to Salt Lake City at all. Steven and I have been talking about Video Games Live for years, noticing what cities were getting it, and whether we should plan a trip.
We don't have to go anywhere! Except a short trip into Salt Lake this September, the same weekend as the Salt Lake Comic Con, which was totally by design, I'm sure. I'm not complaining at all.
The Utah Symphony will be performing, and they're fabulous.
Now, until then, I'll be listening to the Kingdom Hearts medley I downloaded to my IPod years ago.
Don't want to wish my life away, but September can't come soon enough.
We've been clearing out a spot in our house to have a studio. A place, really, where back drops and green screens can easily be put up and lit correctly. It's a huge, great family project. Cerulean Jade is apart of Talea Studios, and we have a lot of plans and goals with Talea. This is just the start. I like something I read on Cinemablend.com about Joss Whedon of Serenity/The Avengers fame. The blog post was about what Joss said at San Diego Comic Con:
"One of the earliest questions in the panel came from a self-described
failed comedian who asked Whedon if he had any suggestions for
struggling artists and the writer/director had some very simple advice:
just make something. Commenting on the studio system, Whedon said that
Hollywood is slowly starting to eliminate the 'middle movie,' only
making either big blockbusters or tiny budget affairs like Paranormal Activity,
so he suggested that the only way to break in is to just do it
yourself. He added that with today’s consumer video equipment and the
internet, there is a great amount that one can just do by themselves to
get noticed. He joked that he had an easier time with it because he
happened to be friends with Nathan Fillion, but 'even without Nathan,
there’s so much you can do now and you have to because it’s so much
harder to do it for somebody else.'”
So Steven and I are doing it ourselves. We believe that if we create great works we'll get noticed and build an audience. Of course there's a lot of patience and time involved, hard work, but it's rewarding hard work. And it's fun dreaming something up and seeing it come to life.
