Yvette's Inner Geek Blog

Comic Con 2008 is July 24-17. I have been wanting to go since my first con experience at Wizard World Philly in 2003 (hey, I was a late con bloomer, okay?).

[Also because of Comic Book: The Movie, starring Mark Hamill. It's my favorite mockumentary. Netflix has it, but if you're any sort of comics fan, you probably should just go ahead and buy it. Make sure to watch all of the extras, which mostly consist of  documentary footage of the mockumentary.]

Now that I live in Utah, a mere 10 hour drive from San Diego, my desire to attend Comic Con has grown stronger. The hardest part is justifying the expense of the trip, because to stay anywhere in proximity of the convention center means shelling out a couple hundred bucks a night.

The second hardest part is to convince Ben that the cost is worth it and that he needs to come along. He’s not into comics or the whole geeky convention scene as much as I am, so that has been a little bit of a challenge. The San Diego Padres will be playing a home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, though… and a baseball games always a way to draw him toward my side.

But regardless of what the final outcome of my wishing and hoping and planning may be, yesterday I took a solid step forward.

I have a hotel reservation in San Diego! It’s 5 blocks away from the trolley line, which will drop us off right in front of the convention center. And it has free breakfast and free internet access. I was able to get a (relatively) good rate, even though it’s still waaaay more than I’m used to paying for a hotel room. Then again, I used to work for a hotel and got insanely cheap rates at any chain hotel in the family.

The next major decision (after Ben says yes to going) will be whether to fly or drive. With the cost of gas creeping toward $4 a gallon, it might be worth a little extra money to NOT spend 10-12 hours in the car together and opt instead for a 2 hour flight.

Anyway, I’m totally stoked and will probably be very, very crushed if it turns out that I don’t (finally) go this year. Ben, are you reading? CRUSHED.

Spoiler Alert: I definitely cover what happened at the end of the Kids in the Hall tour performance in this post.

One thing I forgot to mention in Part 1 of my recap of the KITH Salt Lake City show: though some of characters in their sketches were originally from the TV show, the tour’s material and a lot of the characters were all new.  And after watching a few clips from other live shows on YouTube, it seems that the premise of a lot of the sketches was consistent but, like any good improv, the majority of it was deliciously unique.

The last sketch of the show had all five of the Kids in it, and I guessed it was the end of the show when they came together for a company bow and the theme song started blaring again over the clapping and cheering of the audience, who stood up for an exuberant (though not rowdy) standing ovation.

They thanked the audience and said something about how excited they were for the 13 hour bus ride to Seattle that lay ahead of them. And that they loved their SLC fans so much, they were going to keep the show going for just a little longer. Encore! Hooray! Everyone sat back down.

And then Mark McKinney came out with a handheld video camera pointed toward the audience, dressed as his head-crushing character. The footage was shown on the big screen behind him, and the crowd was very, very happy with this little surprise.

He ripped on a few people in the audience, and used that criticism as justification for crushing their heads. I was too far back for him to focus on me, but I was sitting in the center and think I saw my hands waving on the big screen a couple times. Thrilling!

Mark also panned around the entire theater (which is not a really huge venue, btw). There were a smattering of people in the balcony, which was otherwise very empty. That raised a big (and hilarious) WTF reaction from Mark, as you might imagine. It made me a little embarrassed for the lame Salt Lake City crowd… why wasn’t the theater packed? Then again, I’m not actually from here, so I didn’t stay embarrassed for too long.

The final, final feature of the performance was when Mark (still as the Head Crusher) lined up the other 4 guys and individually called them out on their “crimes” before crushing their heads. Kevin got really close to the camera, a la Blair Witch Project, and Mark started patting his face. That led to Kevin sucking on Mark’s fingers… which led to Mark sticking a wet finger up Kevin’s nostril… which led to the total gross-out of Kevin sucking on that same finger again. Blarghblecch!!!!

I leave you with a YouTube clip of the 5 Kids in the Hall taking a final bow as the theme song plays. It is not from the show I saw, even though I filmed something similar, because my memory card went kaput after I opened up a couple of the photos. Sad. It would have been a tragedy if I had been able to take my picture with any of the Kids, but we didn’t stick around long enough after the show to see them come out (if they did at all).

Mostly I just want to have my picture taken underneath the 8 foot tall, 36 foot wide Krusty head that marks the entrance to the new Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios (Orlando and Hollywood).

I’m not a huge Disney fan, so this is another pull for Universal Studios vs. Disney World/Land. That and the Back to the Future ride. (Except they’re both motion-based simulator rides, which means that Ben can’t ride them with me. Vertigo is an asshole.)

Disney does, however, have The Muppets 3-D show and the "Star Tours" Star Wars thrill ride. Damn. Someday I’m going to have to pay $3,000 to gain entrance into a Disney park just to see those again (and maybe buy the exclusive toys in the gift shop). 

The Kids in the Hall performance last night was a refreshing change of scenery after living in Utah for almost three years. It was our first time on the University of Utah campus (which is not religiously affiliated) and I giggled with glee when I stepped inside of the Kinsbury Hall Theater…  there was a large screen hanging down with a static collage of images projected upon it, including a box with the phrase "What the fuck were you thinking?"

I giggled because unless I watch a movie or have some very specific friends over to my house, I rarely hear the "F word" anymore. I was definitely treated to some fantastic use of cursing during the course of the 1.5 hour KITH performance. And the crowd in the theater could take it… I don’t think that there were too many conservative, non-swearing audience members. (Interesting note: Ben and I were solidly on the younger end of the audience age spectrum. I wonder what the average demographics are of show attendees?)

Liz doesn’t want spoilers. Stop reading right now, Liz, if you really want to be surprised when you see it in Seattle tomorrow.

The show started out with the KITH theme song as the lights went down, and that was awwwwsome! Then there was a pre-filmed skit shown on the big screen to introduce the tour, including a gag where they blatantly dubbed "Salt Lake City" over some other word that Bruce McCullough mouthed in a generic Your Town reference. They pulled that gag a couple other times during the performance.

The show felt very much like a Kids in the Hall TV episode, but on stage with no censorship and several moments when the guys broke character… which was okay because some of their shit was really funny and seeing them break character made it better (which usually isn’t the case, but I have a feeling that they had to do several takes to get the footage they needed back when they taped their shows).

The set-up was low-key, with bare bones scenery consisting mostly of folding chairs and images projected onto the screen behind the actors. Costumes and familiarity with a lot of the characters (Buddy Cole, Cathy and Kathie, the Chicken Lady, etc.) set the stage for an all-around good show.

Scott Thompson had some blasphemous fun as Buddy Cole, monologuing about how Jesus was clearly gay. He prefaced that with pokes at Mormons, like… "Many of you are probably risking excommunication by coming here tonight, so the least we could do is make it worth your while!" 

Hallelujah! 

Then, in a skit that (I think) followed Buddy Cole’s monologue, Kevin McDonald and Mark McKinney walked onto stage together dressed like this: 

When these guys walked on, the Salt Lake City audience roared because it was probably assumed that Kevin McDonald and Mark McKinney were playing Mormon missionaries. They turned out to be Jehovah’s Witnesses who made the mistake of requesting entrance to the house of Bruce McCullough’s annoying, nerdy kid character (Gavin, I think?).  Still funny.

And then Mark McKinney came out wearing a mini skirt for a scene, except the mini skirt was pulled up around his underwear. Yup, tighty whities in full view! He pulled the skirt down as soon as he realized it was up… but the damage was done and I’m pretty sure that wasn’t a planned gag.

Then, after much hilarity, including a second and not-really-hilarious pre-filmed sketch on the big screen, the show ended with some head crushing. As it should have.

And that’s all I’m saying for now  because I know that Liz is still reading and I don’t want to ruin it completely for her.

Tonight, I’m going to see the Kids in the Hall “in concert” in Salt Lake City. Yes, those Kids in the Hall! Fangirl rave in motion!

Special thanks to Liz, who tipped me off to their tour in time for me to snag center seats in row N. I wonder how different the show will be in Utah vs. the show in Seattle on Thursday? Or how it will be for my Chicago friends on May 29th? Or if you’ve already seen the show in another location, what did you think of it? Are the KITH still as hilarious and relevant as they were 15-20 years ago?

At least the KITH know their way around a Whirlyball game, according to my friend Steve. That lucky son of monkey’s uncle!

Yesterday, after finally posting the list of 2008 Summer Movies for the Geek, Ben and I went to see Iron Man at the theater.

Wow. If more movies were like this one, I would go to the movies more often. Robert Downey, Jr. embodied the pretentious, self-righteous Tony Stark and made a very believable transition from an egotistical billionaire playboy to the accountability-driven billionaire superhero (with a much more loveable egotistical streak).

The Story: Strong overall, though there were some parts that took me out of "the dream" for a minute, like when Gwyneth Paltrow ran for her life in a tight skirt and 4-inch stilettos (over a grated walkway, even).

The Acting: Really good overall.

The Style: Perfect. 

The Effects: *DROOL*

The Ending: Without giving any spoilers, the end of the movie leaves itself open for a sequel. Black Sabbath was the perfect segue music into the credits, which Ben and I sat through and then were very satisfied with the short clip played after the credits… as in, I probably geeked out for the next twenty minutes talking about Teh Awesome of the newly introduced character (played by a well-known badass actor) who will undoubtedly play a large role in the clearly inevitable sequel even if they only loosely follow the comic books.

And to the sequel, I say bring it on. You have me right where you want me because I’m ready for it now. 

Here’s a run-down of this summer’s movies that geek movie-goers may be drawn to. Commentary may include some useful information, but is mostly an exploration of how a geek girl like myself feels about each of the movies after seeing the trailer, reading plot synopses and ogling photos of the stars.

I actually started this entry about a month ago, but kept getting distracted with each trailer I watched or plot synopsis I read. Damn Internet. Let me know if there are any other geek-worthy movies that should be on this list. Thanks for reading!

I think I just found another point for the Geek Test: "I have made playable musical instruments out of edible and perishable materials, like broccoli."

Seriously, I’m in awe of this guy’s enthusiasm and vegetamusicability in a mad, mad way. 

Naturally, Ben and I moved away from Cincinnati and BotCon decide to go there this year. Lucky WithaK!

All will be forgiven in light of Hasbro’s recent announcement of their 25th anniversary Optimus Prime Pack. Just in case you missed their 20th anniversary re-release of the generation one Optimus Prime (and several other Autobots and Decepticons that now reside Mint in Box in our house, even the spare ones that were purchased with the intention of taking them out to play with them). 

This one comes with the G1 Optimus Prime re-issue (what smart people at Hasbro: the molds are already made, so let’s recapture some of that secondary market money!), an "Autobot Shield" that recreates sounds and phrases, the original 3-part animated "More Than Meets the Eye" series (presumably on DVD) and a re-release of the original comic.

All for the low, low collector’s price of $69.99.

But, if you recall the G1 Transformers-induced age-regression of my husband a while back, I’m sure that this little gem will find its way into our home somehow. Knowing that if I purchase a second one for Ben to take out of the box that it will still stay in the box, at least I don’t have to worry about buying two!   

(I have no idea what that little white car thingy is in the photo, which is from the hasbro.com article.) 

Finally, Utah has changed the liquor law to allow 1.5 ounces of liquor in mixed drinks instead of just 1.00000 as it’s had for a long time. Yes, it’s that exact because they have special measuring pourers on the top of every liquor bottle in the entire state. Well, except for in private homes (like mine).

They still have a bizarro number of other stupid laws, like the one where you can’t have a mixed drink and sidecar shot with the same liquor in front of you. A different liquor? Different story. Any way you look at it, the laws are stupid and restrictive and the whole state just needs to lighten the fuck up on their liquor laws. Spend some tax dollars tightening things up so that teens have a harder time getting alchohol, or station some traffic cops around the state to encourage the idiot drivers to not be such idiots, okay? I mean, I learned that you’re not supposed to go through a red light when I started driving in Ohio, but that law doesn’t really apply here. It’s on the books, but I’ve never seen anyone get a ticket for it.

It’s the freakin’ Wild West out here about everything except the liquor laws. WTF, Utah?