Pages Tagged “Long”
Blog Posts
- Family Trip to WonderCon 2017
For the first time ever, we attended three days of a comic-con with the whole family. Including cosplay! (Well, one of us did) WonderCon was back in Anaheim this year, and it felt like a homecoming. The Anaheim Convention Center is just a better fit for the con than LA. The fountain area is a […]
- Stumbling Through LA Comic Con 2016
We’re ready to swear off going to cons at the LA Convention Center. We tried to spend Saturday at Stan Lee’s LA Comic Con (formerly Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo, formerly Comikaze Expo), but…well… (TL;DR: Skip to the photos) Getting There is Half the Fun^H^H^HDay It took us as long to drive the two blocks past […]
- Comic-Con with a Stroller: Geek Parents with Kids Under Five
Geek families will inevitably want to bring their kids along to cons. Here’s our experience balancing our own fannish interests with a small child.
- It’s a Wonderful Con – WonderCon 2015
WonderCon is like SDCC 15 years ago, a comic con with broad pop culture appeal & media presence but without the hectic pace or crushing crowds.
- Back to the Beach: Long Beach Comic Con (2014)
Photos and writeup: Indie comics, bargains, art, cosplay, Young Justice, and a mobile exhibit for the Flash TV show at this year’s Long Beach Comic Con.
- Comic-Con 2014 – Now That’s Better! (Writeup, Photos and Cosplay)
We managed to do a lot more of what we planned at SDCC this year, from signings to swag to media events…and even got in on the cosplay scene.
- Looking Back at WonderCon 2014
This year’s WonderCon was a bit of a mixed bag – I feel like I missed a lot, but it was still quite a bit of fun.
- It Came from the Long Beach Comic & Horror Con 2013
My lack of a plan for this year’s con made the show floor less satisfying, but the panels were great: Marv Wolfman, Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid, Young Justice.
- I Survived Comic-Con 2013!
Intense stress, doing the impossible, meeting artists, keeping a toddler entertained, chaos good and bad, and a genuine medical emergency.
- A Weekend at WonderCon 2013 in Anaheim
Comic books, zombies on trial, iconic characters, Disney mash-ups, Game of Thrones toys, cosplay and more descended on Anaheim, CA for WonderCon 2013.
- Who Owns Your Online Profile? Thoughts on Instagram, Facebook, and Blogging
When you live your online life through a social network, you give up control. If Facebook is no longer around 10 years from now, what happens to all your photos?
- How The Hobbit Will (and Won’t) be Like the Star Wars Prequels
A visionary director returns to his high-profile trilogy years later with a prequel in which some of the same characters establish key elements of the original backstory. Hmm….
- Return of Long Beach Comic & Horror Con! (2012)
Lots of comics, lots of Star Wars, Avengers and zombies, a little horror, a little comedy, and a little speed force in this fourth year of Long Beach Comic Con.
- How I Actually Use My Nexus 7 Android Tablet
I prefer the tablet to the smartphone when I’m at home, or any time I want to do something for more than a few minutes. But what about the desktop/laptop?
- 2012 Allergy Walk Complete!
This year’s fundraiser moved from Santa Monica to Long Beach. Sunny weather, a shorter course, and booths for support groups, medical groups & allergy-friendly food.
- Visiting Endeavour on its Final Journey
Spotting the space shuttle from a mile away, then walking out to see it up close while it sat in a Los Angeles parking lot.
- Chicon 7: Something for Everyone at Chicago’s Worldcon
Chicon put on a great scifi/fantasy convention this year, proving that there’s still life in the genre. Plus it was fun to visit Chicago for the first time.
- Watching Endeavour’s Final Flight Through LA
Half of the people at my office turned out to watch the space shuttle’s final flight around Los Angeles.
- Nexus 7: First Impressions from a Tablet Newbie
First impressions: Good performance, size well-balanced for reading, better than using my phone to type. Sort of regretting that it’s wifi-only.
- Celebrating Curiosity at Planetfest 2012
Timed for the Mars Curiosity landing, Planetfest featured mock-ups of capsules and landers, space art, meteorites, robots, speakers and of course a party.
- Comic-Con 2012: Back With a Vengeance
Back to San Diego! Comic-Con 2012 was a lot more fun and a lot less overwhelming than usual this year as we took in three days of the four-day convention.
- Photos: Solar Eclipse from Los Angeles (May 2012)
I went up into the hills to view the eclipse and ran into dozens of other people with the same idea…and got to look through their telescopes, welding helmets and more.
- WonderCon 2012 in Anaheim – A Great Weekend Comic-Con
Even more fun than in San Francisco, this year’s con had everything I’ve come to expect at a WonderCon, with more space, so the crowds never got unbearable.
- Don’t Use Third-Party Links in Email – Object Lesson: Comic-Con Registration
A click tracker that couldn’t hold up to the strain of Comic-Con registration prevented thousands of potential attendees from getting into the system in time.
- Lunar Eclipse and Sunrise (With Photos)
I woke up early this morning to catch the lunar eclipse. I watched it move into totality from home, then drove down to the beach to watch it set, and stayed out to watch the sun rise.
- Comikaze Expo 2011
The first Comikaze Expo in Los Angeles turned out to be a surprsingly big, well-attended and varied convention. But I’m not sure I’d call it a comic con.
- Long Beach Comic and Horror Con 2011: Still Got It
A day at LBCC: costume-watching, cheesy vintage horror comics performed on stage, meeting writers and artists, discovering webcomics, and–hotel rappelling?
- Just One Day at San Diego Comic-Con 2011
With only a day at Comic-Con, it’s really about the trade-offs. Fewer panels, more floor time: Thundercats, apocalypse, Flash mobs, costumes & collectibles.
- Long Beach Comic Con 2010 — Saturday Con Report
LBCC is shaping up to be a very artist- and writer-focused convention, definitely worth a visit from Southern California comic book fans.
- Comic-Con Hotel Experience: 2010
After 8 hours I finally got my hotel confirmation. It wasn’t one of the 12 I’d requested, but it’s downtown. Here’s what happened, from what I could see.
- Comic-Con Hotels 2010: Reviewing the Reservation Form
Travel Planners finally streamlined the process to minimize the impact of the massive traffic spike that always accompanies Comic-Con reservations.
- Con Report: Long Beach Comic Con 2009
The first-ever LBCC was a fun, comics-focused show where I got to meet artists and writers without standing in crazy long lines, and break some Flash news.
- What’s Cool in Opera 10
Opera 10 adds speed, webfonts, improved email, better compatibility, better spell-check, and did I mention speed?
- Why Las Vegas is a BAD idea for Comic-Con
People keep saying Comic-Con should leave San Diego for Las Vegas to get more space, but would it really be an improvement? Here are six reasons why not.
- Comic-Con Hotel Block Opens March 19, 2009
Well, that’s cutting it close with just a few weeks’ warning. It used to be you’d know months ahead. Of course, the con block used to not sell out either.
- Tracing the Premio Dardo
I did some research on the blogging award Premio Dardo (Dart Award), seeking its origins and the ways the meme mutated as it was passed along.
- First Impressions of Google Chrome
Now that it’s live, I’ve downloaded the Google Chrome beta on my Windows box at work. Thoughts so far: Good: Site compatibility seems to be fine so far, with a couple of minor issues (see the “Bad” section). Mostly I’ve tested it with a couple of forum sites, LiveJournal, Slashdot, and WordPress. I like the […]
- Missing the Point of Organic Farming
Study finds organic food doesn’t contain more nutrients than conventional. So? That’s not what its proponents were claiming in the first place.
- Tori Amos Panel and Signing – Saturday at Comic-Con
Tori Amos appeared at SDCC to promote Comic Book Tattoo, a collection of comics based on her songs. I was lucky enough to make it to her signing.
- Wizard World LA 2008 – Con Report
Despite missing signs and a bad schedule, I got some comics bargains and met a bunch of artists, writers and actors including John Wesley Shipp, TV’s Flash.
- Con Report: WonderCon 2008
My first trip to WonderCon in San Francisco. A lot like SDCC, mostly comics with movies and TV thrown in, but I could walk, and I could get autographs!
- Powerless
After nearly 4 years of faithful service, our G4 PowerBook has crashed. This machine has been rock-solid through 2 OS upgrades, a RAM upgrade, and a battery recall. On Sunday, the hard disk finally gave out. We only lost a few recent files. I had a chance to grab them on Saturday, but unfortunately I […]
- Getting a Hotel for Comic Con (2008)
Tomorrow morning at 9:00 PST, rooms in the convention block go on sale for this year’s Comic-Con International. I was going to write up a bunch of tips last week, but CCI beat me to it by launching their own blog, Staying In San Diego. Visit it today, because it’ll probably be swamped tomorrow. (Though […]
- Driving a Prius
I’ve been driving a 2007 Toyota Prius for a little over two months now. My old car was a 1997 Nissan Sentra that I’d had for years, so just driving another car is a change. Then factor in the switch from a plain gas engine to a hybrid… Thoughts on the Car Very smooth, very […]
- Apple UI Nitpicking
I appreciate that Apple offers a single software updater for all its free Windows software. But one thing annoys me about it. It opens a window, then opens a message box showing a progress meter as it checks for updates. Only one problem: It fills out the “New software is available” caption before it actually […]
- UCI Student Center: Then and Now
I drove out to UCI on my lunch hour, and got my first view of the newly-completed Student Center. There are actually some parts of the building left over from the previous one, but the whole exterior is new. Then I remembered a photo I’d taken of the old Student Center, back when I was […]
- Stardust is Good
Went out to see Stardust with a group of friends, and we all enjoyed it. People have been comparing it to The Princess Bride, and it’s an apt comparison: both are light-hearted fantasy adventures with a love story at the heart. Stardust takes itself a bit more seriously, though there’s plenty of humor. The concept: […]
- Extinguishing a Speedster’s Smokes
Comic Coverage recently posted a humorous look at the role smoking had in the Golden-Age Flash’s origin. Jay Garrick was working late, took a cigarette break, and knocked over a beaker of “hard water.” Interestingly, later retellings of his origin downplayed and finally deleted the cigarette. First, here are the original 1940 panels from Flash […]
- Teen Titans Body Count
With current and former Teen Titans dying by the handful in DC’s big events, Infinite Crisis, World War III and Countdown, I’ve decided it’s time to take a look at the comics’ body count. Going back to the beginning of the team, which members have died? Which have come back? Here’s a list of all the […]
- Victimized Hero
I didn’t think I had anything to add to the discussion on the infamous Heroes For Hire #13 cover. (Some of those links possibly NSFW.) Something stuck in my mind, though. Typolad suggested that “you would never, ever see Marvel or DC make a cover like this with a male protagonist. Yes, a male hero […]
- Thoughts on Heroes: “How to Stop an Exploding Man”
The Heroes season finale was excellent. They did a good job of resolving the main story arc established at the beginning of the season (the bomb threatening New York City), balanced action and characterization, answered some questions while still leaving things open—and set up a really interesting situation for season 2. It’s also nice to see […]
- Super-hero Weaknesses
If your hero has to have an off-switch, that’s kind of a sign that they’ve been over-powered, isn’t it?
- Con Report: Wizard World LA 2007
With most of the panels done, Sunday was a nice, low-key chance to hunt for comics and fill in my collection. Getting to the con was a bit of a challenge.
- Nasty Ebay “About Me” Phish
Someone I know encountered a really sneaky eBay phish this weekend. It arrived through eBay’s official “Ask seller a question” system, and consisted of a simple request: Was his auction the same as the auction at the following About Me page? The URL was a normal eBay URL of the form http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/_____. Pasting the link […]
- This isn’t going to last long
Did a Google search just for the heck of it. I wonder how quickly those numbers will climb…
- Tall Ships of San Diego
I mentioned that on Saturday, we left Comic-Con for a few hours to check out the ships at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. We saw five: The Star of India, billed as “the world’s oldest active ship” The HMS Surprise, a replica of an 18th century British ship. The Berkeley, an 1898 steam ferry […]
- 50 Years of the Flash at Comic-Con 2006
Carmine Infantino, Mark Waid, Geoff Johns, Danny Bilson, Paul DeMeo & Brian Bolland talk about their parts in the history of Barry Allen, Fastest Man Alive.
- New trend in 419 scams: UK Artists
In the past two weeks, a new variant of the advance fee scam has dropped into our spam traps: supposed UK-based artists needing help selling their works overseas. The classic Nigerian scam involves someone claiming to be the relative of a deceased or deposed dictator, general, etc. is trying to smuggle money out of the […]
- Symantec Issues
Last week I received a message offering a 30% discount on Norton Internet Security 2006. It claimed to be from Symantec, but the email address was at digitalriver.com, and all the links—including the ones that claimed to be at symantec.com—went to bluehornet.com. Now 5 minutes of research turns up the facts that Symantec does work […]
- Rummy Caption Contest
The BBC has posted an interesting article on the US Military’s plans for Internet operations. But that’s not what I want to write about here. What I want to write about is this accompanying photo of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: The article mentions that messages put out for psychological operations in foreign markets are […]
- Christmas is still safe
Salon has a great piece on how there is no left-wing war on Christmas. This “OMG the blue staters want to ban Christmas” tripe was idiotic last year, and it’s back with a vengeance this year. Honestly, all this fuss over things like “Happy Holidays,” an expression designed to avoid offending people? Remember, in most […]
- Online Organleggers
Here’s the WTF?!?!?!!!! moment of the day. Actual spam received over the weekend: Sell Your Organs Online! Reply to this message if your interested in selling your organs! Seriously, what the hell? Forget the fact that selling organs is illegal in the US. And I’m sure mailing them across state lines would be a felony. […]
- South Coast and Black Sand
Flashback to April and Hawaii. On the day we drove to Kilauea we stopped at various places along the way. And since it’s a nearly-100-mile drive from Kailua, there was a lot to see. We never made it down to South Point (the southernmost tip of the island), partly because of time and partly because—believe […]
- Whale Watch Hawaii
One of the first tours we signed up for on Hawaii was a whale watching tour. We figured even if we didn’t see any whales, we’d still have spent a couple of hours on a sailboat. It was April, near the end of the season, and we booked a tour through Red Sail (via Travelocity) […]
- Kilauea, Craters, and Hot, Hot Lava
Kilauea is often called the world’s most active volcano. It’s been erupting continuously since 1983 at vents several miles away from the caldera. The eruptions are still inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, but the lava hasn’t stuck to the boundaries as it flows to the sea. So late on an April afternoon, we started driving […]
- Thurston Lava Tube (Nāhuku)
Let’s see, when we left off, we had nearly completed a circuit around the Kilauea caldera. Before driving down Chain of Craters road to the coast, we stopped at the Thurston Lava Tube. Update (2021): The park is now emphasizing the Hawaiian name for the cave, Nāhuku, but at the time we visited in 2005, […]
- Chaos in a Bag
At the market today, we discovered that you can buy a bag of Chaos. Not only that, but you can buy a bag of wheat-free Chaos. In actuality it’s a brand of chips from the makers of Pirate’s Booty, but the name reminded us both of a time we and a bunch of friends started […]
- Command and Control
Apple Matters has posted What OS X Could Learn From Windows, a short wish list of features that Windows already has. The first one is to move keys around so that Command on Macs and Control on PCs are in the same place. When I first read it, I thought “Yeah, that’s tripped me up […]
- Tabs ≠ MDI
The ridiculous Firefox/Opera rivalry (it’s software, not religion) has given rise to one annoyingly persistent meme: the belief that tabs are just MDI (Multiple Document Interface). They’re not. MDI, as implemented in many Windows applications and eventually abandoned by Microsoft, involves having a mini-desktop inside your application, with its own windows that you can minimize, […]
- Separated at Birth: Willy Wonka and…
I’ve been trying to figure out who Johnny Depp’s Willy Wonka reminds me of, and it finally hit me. OK, maybe that’s not the best choice of words…
- The Puzzle Blimp
From time to time on our morning (and sometimes evening) commute, we’ve spotted a multicolored blimp. Sometimes it’s in the air, sometimes it’s parked on a field. For obvious reasons, we’ve started calling it the “puzzle blimp.” We kept wondering just whose blimp it was. There was no logo we could see, and blimps are […]
- A Visit to Kilauea
Picking up the oft-delayed vacation photos series, here’s the first half of our trip out to Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and the volcano Kilauea. Kilauea is often referred to as the most active volcano in the world. To give you an idea why, its latest eruption started in 1983… and is still going! We got […]
- Grass Under Renovation
Oh no, there’s dry grass on the median! Oh, wait, it’s OK: There’s a sign saying it’s under renovation. *whew!* … Irvine is a strange town.
- Super-Spawn: Titans
A thought: the original Teen Titans are beating the Justice League when it comes to passing on their super-genes. Leaving out possible-future stories and backstories, it comes down to just Aquaman of the core group, and Green Arrow as the most prominent member outside the “Big 7.” As for the original 5 Teen Titans (now […]
- Star Wars: Meditations on the Sarlacc pit
A collection of comments, thoughts and images, some highly spoilerish and not all of them canon. 1. I framed through the end of the Vader vs. Obi-Wan battle in A New Hope after being a bit confused by it last night. Watch closely, and you’ll notice two things. First, Vader’s lightsaber appears to go through […]
- The Keauhou Beach Resort
When we arrived in Hawaii, I posted this photo taken from our hotel room balcony: What I didn’t mention was that that shot was carefully cropped. The view really looked like this: Well, hey, we got the cheap rooms, so you kind of expect that. Still, there was a lot to see right on the […]
- Mauna Kea
And now for something completely different: Hawaiian snow. On our second-to-last day in Hawaii, we took a tour up to the summit of Mauna Kea, the highest mountain in the state at 13,796 feet. And even in early April, they still had snow at the summit. We caught a somewhat hazy view of it from […]
- Hawaii’s East Coast
We didn’t get to see much of the Hilo side of the island. Our last day there, we checked out of the hotel and just started driving, figuring we’d just see how far we could get before turning back to make our flight. We did actually make it to Hilo itself—just in time to turn […]
- Up the coast to Kohala
It’s taking me longer than I thought to post all these Hawaii photos. North of Kona there are miles of old lava flows, the most recent of which were in 1801 (from Hualalai, the volcano above Kailua) and 1859 (from Mauna Loa, the second-higest peak on the island). Because the island is right in the […]
- Exploring Kona
We spent a lot of time exploring the Kona coast, where towns manage to be both beach towns and mountain towns at the same time. It’s simplest to think of the island as one huge mountain (though there are really four mountains on the island, with a fifth, Kilauea, working its way up). The land […]
- Speaking of Green Lantern: Untangling Hal from Parallax
At the comic store this week I actually flipped through the current issue of Green Lantern: Rebirth. And I was shocked to find that it made sense. I’ve been avoiding the miniseries because, in general, I’m of the opinion that it’s better to move on than to go back. Yeah, it took me years to […]
- Perhaps Hal?
We saw a license plate this morning that read: NOT KYLE Okaaay… a Green Lantern fan, perhaps?
- The Flash on Film
Well, it’s official. As reported all over the place, David Goyer is signed on to write, direct and produce a Flash movie. This isn’t just a rumor like the Jack Black Green Lantern, this was announced in Variety. Goyer’s got experience with superhero films. He wrote all three Blade movies, and the upcoming Batman Begins. […]
- Super-Spawn: Rogues
While working on my Flash site last night, I noticed something interesting: several of the Flash’s classic Rogues Gallery have children. The Trickster was the first: he discovered he had a 12-year-old son by an ex-girlfriend. (Neither Billy nor his mother has appeared since this story, which was part of 1998’s “New Year’s Evil” event.) […]
- Points for honesty?
This showed up in the spamtraps today: Subject: Truth of the matter Dear Sir, This letter can only define Nigeria Scam, a.k.a. 419. If this mail look like scam to you delete it, we are looking for serious minded person. As we all know, top officials do loot funds out of the country with non-residence […]
- Contrary to popular belief
For quite a while now, the always-excellent This Is True newsletter has been advertising writer Randy Cassingham’s latest (?) project: JumboJoke, a weblog-style daily joke post. I finally took a look at it, and thought I’d share the following pair of lists based on our political parties’ often contradictory platforms and rhetoric: What You Must […]
- Not even with strawberries?
There’s at least one company based in Greece that distributes authentic Greek yogurt in the U.S. The stuff can be tricky to find, but incredibly worth it. It’s very thick and creamy and doesn’t contain any gelatin or preservatives. The fat-free version could probably help a lot of people lose weight, as it tastes like […]
- Officially grossed out
In the immortal words of the Internet: WTF?!? Candy meets toilet humor:
- Philosophy of Time Travel
We went to see the director’s cut of Donnie Darko. I walked out of there wishing The Philosophy of Time Travel was a real book.
- Bad Boys
I am thoroughly sick of the phenomenon I call the Draco Malfoy Effect. This is the process by which young (and not-so-young) women become convinced that not only are evil bad-boy types desirable, but completely reformable. Liking the maverick is nothing new for the Hollywood-hypnotized masses, especially seeing as how he’s so often played by […]
- What’s in a User-Agent String?
Some people browse collections. I collect browsers. Mostly I just want to see what they’ll do to my web site, but I have a positively ridiculous number of web browsers installed on my Linux and Windows computers at work and at home, and I’ve installed a half-dozen extra browsers on our PowerBook. One project I’ve […]
- Something Myth-ing from Troy
Things that went through my head when watching the 2004 movie Troy (based loosely on Homber’s Iliad).
- Van Helsing: Complete and Total Mrifk!
The Hugh Jackman/Kate Beckinsale movie Van Helsing was terrible, but I really enjoyed it. To explain why, I’ll need to introduce you to The Eye of Argon.
- Trekking to the fridge
If the original Star Trek is Classic Trek, ST:TNG is New Trek, and Deep Space Nine is Diet Cherry Trek, what kinds of soda are Voyager and Enterprise?
- Songs Not to Play at a Wedding
Break-ups, infidelity, sadness, pain and anger are all popular topics for songs…but they might not be the best way to celebrate a wedding!
- Victoria’s Secret Service
I always knew salespeople were audacious. I didn’t know until yesterday that some of it stems from the audacity of their higher-ups. We went to South Coast yesterday in search of, well, lingerie. So we found the Victoria’s Secret. I went to look for my size in a rack of something and a cute, sparkly-faced […]
- Mozilla Coffee!
Yes, it’s real! Last week Katie remarked we were running low on coffee, and I remembered an article on MozillaZine a few weeks ago about RJ Tarpley’s Mozilla Coffee. I figured, what the heck, let’s order some. It’s a way to get coffee and support Mozilla at the same time. We went out for a […]
- Harry Potter computer viruses
Inspired by finding a list of Babylon 5 viruses earlier this week. Harry Potter virus: Looks like the last file of a virus you just wiped out, until you try to erase it–then it wipes your drive. Voldemort virus: You can’t get rid of it, only make it dormant. It can be reactivated by the […]
- Comic Con! (2003)
Photos and comments from our day at Comic Con International in San Diego
- Super-Hero Weddings
Over the past few weeks I’ve been going through the Silver Age Flash series, cataloging character appearances. I’m almost done – only 25 issues left – but it reminded me of something: Why is it that super-hero weddings are almost always interrupted by super-villains – even when the hero’s identity is secret? Is it just […]
- Another One Bites the Dust
I had a slightly jarring experience on my way back from lunch today which provides a perfect introduction to something I had already planned on writing. I absent-mindedly tuned my car radio to a station that until this week had been an English-language rock station and was briefly surprised to hear a commercial in Spanish. […]
- Geographical Knowledge (Vacuum)
I heard an NPR report that 83% of Americans 18-24 cannot find Afghanistan on a map. Following it up on their website, I found a link to the National Geographic survey they used. Of course, what the report neglected to mention is that nobody had a good rate at finding Afghanistan. The only country where […]