New York Comic Con 2011 (With Slideshow)
(Writing by Fly and Photography by LaFemmeLuna)
October 13-16 marked another year for New York Comic Con at Jacob Javits center, and as always, I was there. This is the first year that it was open for four days, Thursday being open to press, professionals and people who bought special four day passes. I was unable to make it on Thursday due to job commitments, but the extra day is a good idea. This convention seems to get bigger every year, and three days doesn’t feel like it’s enough time to see everything. As always, I really have no idea how to summarize 3 days of nerd sensory overload, so I’ll point out the highlights as best I can.
I’m always impressed with the work people put into these costumes. All pictures are unrelated to the text unless otherwise noted, and thanks to Frenchie for doing what I always forget to do.
NYC Comic Con 2010 – Live Vicariously NOW
October 8-10 marked New York City’s fifth annual Comic Con, a celebration of all things nerdy. I was in attendance all three days, taking in the sights and getting as much free swag as I could. It hasn’t reached the size of the San Diego Con, but judging on the reports of three hour line waits from this year’s San Diego Comic Con, that’s probably a good thing.
Even the folks from Asgard dropped by!
Living the good life for a good cause: The 88forAIDS benefit cocktail party
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- Generosity knows no currency
I’ve never been to a cocktail party. I’m not even sure I’ve ever felt the urge to attend one, despite living in New York City which must surely be one of the cocktail party capitals of the world. I do, however, enjoy contributing to charity. I enjoy it more, as many would also confess, when there is added incentive because, hey, we’re all human! Cue my finding out about the 88forAIDS.com benefit being thrown by GMHC on May 6th, 2010. The purpose of the event was to help GMHC support the annual NYC AIDS Walk (occurring 10 days later) and was featuring special guests: two time Olympian/TV personality, Johnny Weir as well as the Senior Vice President of Bravo TV, Andy Cohen.
As I wouldn’t be able to participate in this year’s Walk, I enjoyed the thought of helping in another way, with the added bonus of meeting Johnny Weir. He happens to be an extremely talented figure skater who many may only recall, sadly, due to that whole Olympics “underscoring” snafu that happened in Vancouver. With two great reasons to attend, I gave my donation and made sure to acquire a pair of very comfortable heels. A born and bred Bronx girl was officially going to her first cocktail party… in a penthouse in Tribeca… all for a good cause. Read more »
Photograph: The Other Side of the Lens
NY is a place where anything is possible. A city where there are surprises around every corner and where an event, that may be a little too out there for most places, is just another way for us New Yorkers to have fun. Newmindspace, created by Kevin Bracken in order to create bonding experiences among city dwellers, recognizes this. Thus “Photograph” was born.
I guess the most important thing about “Photograph” isn’t the where (South Street Seaport), the when (Sept. 19th), or the why (simply because). What’s most important is the “who”. Kevin noted the oft commented fact that Newmindspace events have such a large amount of photographers present that they almost outnumber the average participants! Why not, he thought, stage an event solely for them? Why not have a free for all where the main goal is to have photographers photograph photographers photographing photographers?! If this sounds somewhat confusing, allow the pictures to speak for themselves as they’re meant to. Read more »
Wacken 2009 Info
I’ve got the golden tickeeeeet! And I hope you do too, because Wacken 2009 is SOLD OUT and if you still want to go you will have to deal with E-bay. This year is Wacken‘s 20th in the metal business, and also my third partaking of said metal. I wrote up some sort of an update or list every year, so I think I’ll stick to that. You can check out previous articles (links are at the bottom), but the most updated links and info will be here. Read more »
NYC Comic-Con ’09
All photography is by ETL and is in no way related to the content of this article. Like this Storm Trooper, conquering stairs.
This year was the fourth year for the NYC Comic-Con, and the third that I’ve been to. It always amazed me it took so long for New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, to get a convention of this size, while the one in San Diego has been going on for almost thirty years. I have no idea why we’ve been overlooked for so long and I hope people are seeing the audience they have here, and we can get more attention on this coast when it comes to events like this.
Joker from Batman the Dark Knight (one of several seen that day) with his gf, Harley Quinn, who didn't get to be in the movie but ain't mad atcha.
Anyway, this year had a number of interesting panels and an active show floor, which managed to keep me busy for two days and make my feet still hurt a week later. My only regret is due to my need to still have a regularly paying job; I could not go on Friday, where there were panels I wanted to attend that were actually about comics. Saturday and Sunday seemed to be all about movies and TV shows (not that I’m complaining…ok, well maybe a little). However, these panels did not disappoint. Read more »
The Polar Bears of Coney Island: An Honorable Mention (‘Cuz we screwed up and missed the show)
It was perfectly freezing out and we were watching people, soaked, in bathing suits, their skin glowing red with capillaries near-to-bursting, walking along the boardwalk at Coney Island. The wind blew around our earmuffs, but there was merriment going on with these folks. Probably shock-to-the-system endorphin explosion. Read more »
Wacken Open Air 2008
Festival Dates: July 31-August 2, 2008Venue: Wacken Open Air, Village of Wacken, Germany
Bands Mentioned, in Order of Appearance: Girlschool, Mustash, Avenged Sevenfold, Nashville Pussy, Leaves Eyes, Iron Maiden, Synic, Unearth, Job for a Cowboy, Soilwork, Opeth, Gorgoroth, Avantasia, Hatebreed, At the Gates, Lordi
Browser Warning.. a million pictures follow
Wacken Open Air 2008
or
How I made a lot of friends, got a black eye, and lost my passport.
Wacken Open Air is recognized in many nations as the best heavy metal festival in the world. There are some contenders, like maybe Metal Camp in Slovenia, but seriously, there is nothing else out there like W:O:A. The amazing line-up that each year tops the preceding one is only half the story. What W:O:A is truly about is the seventy thousand people who make their way from across the world to this small village in Northern Germany to unite over their love of metal. W:O:A is about the metalheads, headbangers, rockers, punks, fetishists, and of course Vikings. The story of Wacken is the story of these people.
Naked, just because
We offer you a miniscule portion of all the many stories and tales that weave their way around the magical time of July 31-August 2, 2008. We give you the account of two girls from New York City who decided that it was a good idea to go for an international camping trip with thousands of drunk and high strangers who are there to worship music by hammering each other with fists, wallowing in mud and vomit, running around naked, and refusing to shower. This is our story. Read more »
Friday Night Tattoos
As an avid reader (gazer?) of ModBlog, I was pretty psyched to see my first suspension cage. I was promised an actual suspension in another hour or so, but there were no takers, and hence, a disappointing lack of pictures here (though at ModBlog you can get your fill of suspensions in much more scenic locations).
This year we were only able to spend a few Friday night hours at the 11th Annual Tattoo Convention at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC. The convention took place from May 16th to 17th, Friday-Sunday, Friday being by far the tamer night. The hall was not particularly crowded and the Best Tattoo of the Day competition had only six competitors. A whole series of competitions was held over the weekend, with the more interesting (such as the Best Overall Tattooed Person contest) held on Sunday.
A Wacken Update
I may as well start this thing again! This is a comprehensive outline of Wacken preparations. For last year’s list of things I did as well as a short explanation of Wacken Open Air and why I have to go, click here.
Well, first off, you have to sacrifice something big enough for He-With-No-Name to take note and allow your credit card to be accepted at Metaltix. My Amex credit card kept getting rejected (something about a transfer not going through), and Metaltix did not deign to reply to any of my pleas or queries. Finally, I just used my Visa debit card and within days I got an e-mail informing me that my ticket was shipped. An agonizing month later I got my Wacken ticket (as well a set of bewildering coupons to a German McDonald’s), in the mail. Good thing too, since Wacken has been officially sold out since 3/8/08.
This year is going to be astonishingly good X 2, because I’m not going by my lonesome — fathful d42 got her ticket too. Good things have been happening for W:A:O also. They got the Live Entertainment of the Year Award this year which only confirmed their awesomeness. Now I’m just sorry I didn’t get an extra ticket since selling it on E-bay would probably pay for the plane ride there.
Transportation to Hamburg: So, I have my ticket, great. But that’s only half the battle. Now I have to afford plane tickets from NYC to Hamburg, and finally get from the airport to the festival grounds. The sites that have been more helpful with(cheaper) plane tickets so far are sidestep.com and studentuniverse.com. Read more »
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