And that, friends, was done entirely without Google Translate! Yup, I am taking a course in German this year (FINALLY!) and I have to say, it is definitely one of the more entaining classes I have ever undertaken. Having spent 5 years singing songs in German and finally being able to understand what they mean is definitely funtimes. Especially since I get to laugh along with everyone when we hear atrociously bad accents! It's the best.
So, German aside,it has been one rather fantastic weekend...aside from the fact that I am sick. Yup, it's official. It's not from a lack of sleep: I am certifiably ill. The perils of playing Ticket to Ride, Munchkin, Chrononauts and Fluxx until 2 in the morning with an ill host...and then not getting enough sleep and eating too much pizza.
I will bet you that you haven't heard of a single one of these games (unless of course you're a friend of mine reading this and I've blabbed about them to you).
But now that I am better, I am pleased to announce that I fully enjoyed myself at comic con this year! In fact, here's an article that I wrote about it!
Montreal Comic Con 2012
"Priori-Incanfandom"
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I stood in line with hundreds of other geeks on a Friday
afternoon after four hours of non-stop classes earlier in the day. My bag was
heavy, my feet hurt, my head was sweating from the hand-knit hat I was wearing
as part of my costume and I was so excited I could barely contain myself. It
didn’t matter that the line wasn’t moving, didn’t matter that I had homework
piling up at home. This was the 6th annual Montreal Comic Con and I wasn’t
going to miss it for anything. My experience last year had been one of supreme
fandom joy, while my inner geek sang and danced with glee. And this year was no
different. Not only were there twice as many people (32 000 from last year’s 15
000) but the exhibition hall itself was a sight to behold. Because of the
unexpected turnout at last year’s convention at Place Bonaventure (with a
turnout of over 15,000 people) the venue had changed to the main exhibition
hall at Palais des Congres with almost every single conference room occupied
during the convention’s busy schedule. This was also the first time that the
convention ran a whole three days.
When the line finally started moving, we made our way
surprisingly quickly to the first set of escalators that would bring us to the
main hall. We mounted the stairs, suspense building (unfortunately no Star Wars
music this year) but the wait was worth every second.
Not only was the main exhibition hall at Palais des Congres
enormous, but it contained everything to appease geeks of all shapes and sizes.
You’re a Whovian? Say hello to the dozens of artisans selling prints and
jewelry, and exhibitors with models of every single Sonic Screwdriver ever
made. Portal fan? They had their own table. With plushie Companion Cubes. You
spend all your time on ThinkGeek or Jinx? Everything sold on the Internet could
be found at Comic Con, including ALL of the t-shirts. Booths selling posters, every
single comic book imaginable and hundreds of accessories bedecked with
superhero insignias.
And maybe, just maybe, you happen to be a Trekkie? This
year’s guests of honor were Captains James Tiberius Kirk and Jean-Luc Piacard,
in the flesh. Present at this year’s Comic Con were William Shatner and Sir
Patrick Stewart. It was truly a historic moment in Montreal Geekdom, when “Star
Trek: Generations” came to life onstage with Shatner, Stewart and a guest
appearance by Malcolm McDowell. While I was unable to attend (the panel
required an extra ticket), I managed to catch 20 minutes of William Shatner’s
panel…before falling asleep listening to him drone about how difficult it is to
navigate the Montreal highways.
Other speakers included about half the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation,
including Brent Spiner, John De Lancie and Wesley Crusher-turned-internet-sensation
Will Wheaton, Eddie McClinktock of Bones
and Warehouse 13, Laura Vandervoort,
Aaron Ashmore and, the reasons I shlepped all my stuff from school on a Friday
afternoon, Adam Baldwin and James Marsters.
Adam Baldwin had established his cult following as the gruff
and unwashed Jayne Cobb from Joss Whedon’s one-season wonder Firefly and then more recently starred
as Colonel John Casey on Chuck, iconicized
by his grunt and arsenal of weaponry. However, despite revealing some of the
more ridiculous shenanigans on the set of Firefly
and Chuck, he refused to sing “The
Ballad of Jayne” (The Hero of Canton) for us.
But
as hilarious as Adam Baldwin was, the cherry on the proverbial cake was the
concert given by James Marsters at the end of the night. He crooned into the
microphone, strumming songs about nothing but love, the weather and sex,
finishing up with a piece about Michelle Trachtenberg, one of his co-stars in
season 5 of Buffy. “One baby, two, maybe three more years, You’ll be a full hot
baby, have all your curves, And here’s a little taste of irony, You’ll be a
too-hot baby, too good for me” It was a terrible concert and I loved every
minute of it.
Comic Con was more than just a science fiction/fantasy
convention. It brought people together in a high energy, yet friendly
atmosphere. Nowhere else would you feel comfortable stopping a couple dressed
as Link and Zelda and begging for a picture; nowhere else would it be
permissible for dozens of men to take photos of a girl dressed as a USO girl
circa 1940 Captain America style; and nowhere else would you find such a
gathering of geeks, gamers, Trekkies, gleeks, gamers, Steampunkers, artists and
artisans.
Except at Comic Con.
And I found the rest of my crew:
 |
| Crew of Serenity, from left to right: Kaylee, Simon, Jayne, Jayne, Captain Mal Reynolds and Inara Firefly cosplay FTW at Montreal Comic Con 2012 |
So there you have it! Comic Con was a wonderful experience full of all things nerd!
And did I tell you about the GIANT version of Settlers of Catan?
Oh yeah ;)
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