It's The End

So once again, it is season finale... season. I could probably have worded that differently. Anyway. It's that time of year when all of our favourite shows come to an end, some forever, and some just until the fall. It's a bittersweet time of year. Most shows seem to leave you on a cliffhanger begging for September. BUT. It's summer. And who really wants to spend the summer indoors watching TV?

I've managed to fall pretty behind on a lot of shows, so I don't even know what's going on, or how they've been left for the season. The few I've kept up with have been pretty interesting. Oh. SPOILERS AHEAD! You've been warned.

Let's start with Castle, since it's the first one I caught up on. I had about 4 episodes to watch this week so they've all pretty much just jumbled together, but the season finale left things very much on the verge of change. Not like when Kate got shot and the season ended with her dying on the ground, but still pretty crazy. Beckett gets a job offer that she really wants to take, but it means she has to leave New York. And of course that comes into conflict with her and Castle's romance. Neither is happy about it. So Castle proposes. End. I guess it's not THAT crazy, but if you're as invested in their relationship as I am, it's pretty intense.

Next: Grey's Anatomy. I know, I know. This one isn't even remotely nerdy. At least Castle has Nathan Fillion. This one is just all full of drama. I'm sorry, but I got caught up in this one and I just can't stop watching. Just let me have this one. Anyway. This one has been all full of drama all season. (Big surprise, right?) after the plane crash last year there's been so many changes, that by the time we get to the finale, which is another two parter disaster story, you start wondering who's gonna die this time. And they keep teasing it all the way through. Two of them nearly get staked by a tree flying through their living room. Another doctor is in critical condition after getting beaten nearly to death by another doctor, making you worry someone might end up in jail. Another doctor nearly gets blown up saving a little girl from a burning bus. Birth-related complications nearly kill another doctor. And none of them die. Until the very very end of the episode, Richard Webber is lying on the ground in the basement of the hospital, dead or dying of major electrical burns after getting the emergency generators running (after having saved the maintenance guy who had a heart attack while trying to get them fixed). So yeah. Never work at a hospital. If I've learned anything from this show, it's that hospitals are dangerous, and you're far more likely to die working there than being sent there in critical condition.

Didn't realize I had so much to say about that one. I hardly have time for Once Upon A Time. Oh how I love this show. This one I've actually kept up on all season, except I only JUST watched the finale last night. And boy howdy was it good. It's funny, at one point, Adria and I were both all, "Well that was anticlimactic." But then it just keeps going and you're back to being all enthralled. The end of the season has been leading up to this point where the town is in danger of destruction, but suddenly it's not, but then you learn new facts, and suddenly everyone is off on a rescue mission through a portal and the show takes another twist for the next season. PLUS someone thought dead is not, and he's found by two other characters we haven't seen in a while with someone ELSE thought dead. I dunno. I'm being a little vague, but if you've seen it you know what I mean. My Adria friend can attest, I was very very excited about this episode.

We also watched the season finale of How I Met Your Mother. And I am not gonna say anything else but... we FINALY meet the mother! I mean, the characters don't. But WE do! Yay! Other than that, I'm still behind. I've got a lot to catch up on. And tonight! Season finale of Doctor Who! Can't miss it! I'm excited. And sad, 'cause I don't wanna wait until November for more Doctor Who.

Well, I'm off to work. I hope everyone has a wonderful day. And a great long weekend!

OMGWTFBBQ FCBD!!!

Hey guys! Guess what! It's one of my favourite days of the year today! It's a nerdy holiday of sorts. Free Comic Book Day! What is FCBD, you ask? Let me tell you.

One day a year, always the first Saturday in May, comic book stores across Canada, the United States, and around the world, give away free comic books to anyone who comes in! Comic book companies go to the effort of creating a selection of comics specifically for this special day. It's all very exciting.

This year I'm most interested in Marvel's Infinity free comic, which is supposed to lead into this summer's big Avengers event. There's also a special Walking Dead comic I'm interested in, and probably a bunch more cool stuff. I'd say I'm being vague about the selection to get you interested enough to go, but really I just haven't done a lot of research. Big fails. But still! Be interested! Go! Comics are fun!

In other news, it's a special day for another reason. I've got three birthday shout-outs for today. It's my little cousin True's bday. And also the not-so-little-anymore Acacia's bday. And last, but definitely not least, it is the birthday of the woman who brought me into this world. Happy birthday to my amazing Mom! (Who probably won't read this so I need to remember to talk to her after work today...)

Today is also Doctor Who day, so don't forget to tune into Space (or BBC/BBC America) tonight for a new episode, The Crimson Horror. There's only two more episodes after this for this season! Then we've gotta wait all the way to November for the 50th anniversary special. At least it should be amazing and worth the wait.

In no way related to the previous topic, I'm feeling excessively tired and sore from a run yesterday. I definitely pushed myself a little harder than I realized. Ran the university hill with my canine roommate. I thought I might just die when I got up this morning. But it'll be worth it if I manage to get myself back into shape. Anyway, I'm off to work. I hope everyone has a fantastic Saturday!

Can't Think of a Good Title

Hey! So, apparently I took a weekend off from blogging. Sorry. I wish I could say it won't happen again, but if you look at my track record, it is almost guaranteed to happen again. And soon. But I was in Vancouver last weekend! This is my excuse. I never seem to blog when I'm away. I started one in the airport on my way back but I got bored... But now it's my usual before-work-on-a-Saturday coffee and blogging time, so here goes!

Since my last blog post, much has happened. And by that, I mean not much has happened, but I can still make something out of it. The super-awesome weekend of TV came and went. I could tell you how awesome Doctor Who and Game of Thrones were, but you watched them so you already know. DON'T YOU.

While I was away in Van I went with my good buddy Andrea to her meet-up group, Nerd HQ! It's this great group of nerds that get together every Friday evening (as well as various other times) to enjoy some form of nerdy culture. The focus starting last week has shifted to Doctor Who and GoT, so it was a great night. It's always held at La Fontana Caffe, a great little place at Boundary and Hastings, and the owner makes some really great food. Plus he's awesome. So it was pretty great to hang out with some fun nerdy people, eat some delicious food, and watch some great TV. Plus there was karaoke. OH! And this one guy sang a song while doing a perfect Gollum voice. SO GREAT.

What else is new? Jurassic Park 3D is in theatres right now. I saw that with Rob, Andrea, and some of the nerds. That movie will never stop being awesome. I could take or leave the 3D, but I was a kid when it came out originally so this was my first time seeing it on the big screen. The movie STILL makes me jump, even though I know what's coming.

Also on the subject of movies, I saw the Host last night with my Mom, and we both really enjoyed it. I've never read the book, but she has, and apparently they did a pretty decent job of sticking to the story. There's plenty cut for time, but it was done well. I might have to go read the book now, 'cause it was a really good story.

I FINALLY finished reading the Mark of Athena this week. It only took me several months. I still don't know why it took me so long 'cause I liked the book! I love the story, the characters, the writing. I'm just a bad reader I guess. Except that I started the Rise of Nine (third book of the Lorien Legacies series, think I Am Number Four) right after that, and I'm already just about halfway through. This is another series I've really been enjoying. The books themselves are really good, but they've also got mini-e-books that they release alongside the main story, usually delving into the past of characters just introduced or mentioned in the main series. It's a good way to keep interest in the story even when there's not a new full book in the series to read.

Anyway, it's time to head to work now, so this is it for this week. Maybe one day I'll actually find a real focus to this blog so it's not so all-over-the-place. But that's kind of how my mind works. Oh well. Happy Saturday! And happy new episode of Doctor Who day!

Great Week to be a Geek

It's a great week to be a geek. I mean, most weeks are good weeks to be geeks, you know, unless it's sports week in high school, but this one is particularly great.

Reason #1: New Doctor Who! TODAY! Seriously, guys. It does not get much better than that. It could be a terrible week otherwise, and it would STILL be a great time. It's been a few months since we've had our last dose of the Doctor, and I couldn't be more excited to have it back! After everything that's been happening in the show, I need to know what's next! And the 50th anniversary is coming up and THAT is looking like it's gonna be pretty fantastic.

Reason #2: New Game of Thrones! Season 3 starts TOMORROW! I managed to get myself all caught up for the new season, so bring it on! Now I can feel out with the best of 'em as the episodes air. I'm very interested in seeing what's gonna happen next. The season finale was pretty crazy.

Reason #3: The season finale of The Walking Dead! Also tomorrow! This one I'm not actually caught up on though, so I'll just have to assume it's super exciting. At least now I can watch the whole of season 3 all at once and not have to wait a week for a new one. But still, I need to make sure I'm caught up on this one for next season.

Sundays have been a pretty great TV night... Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Once Upon A Time. Plus Revenge, and while it lasted, 666 Park Avenue. Anyway...

Reason #4: Actually not TV-related, but this week was pretty awesome for comics too. Age of Ultron #3 was out this week, and I've been pretty unsure about that one so far, but the last page was somewhat shocking and has definitely got me hooked now. Uncanny Avengers has really brought up its game this week and I definitely recommend giving it a read, however it would help if you've read Remender's run on Uncanny X-Force prior to reading this. New characters and the beginnings of some really interesting plot points.

Astonishing X-Men brought the next chapter of the X-Termination crossover which I'll admit has me wanting to pick up the last few issues of X-Treme X-Men and Age of Apocalypse so I don't miss any of the story. Young Avengers is really kicking it up, and I'm enjoying it a lot. Uncanny X-Force seems interesting but also pretty jumbled. The different points really need to come together and make some sense or I might get bored. Wolverine and the X-Men is trying hard, but I'm struggling to stay interested. The current arc just isn't doing it for me. And Ultimate Comics: Wolverine is turning out to be a pretty interesting mini-series. I'm enjoying the story, and the artist is great. Even had a fun little cameo by some familiar scientists.

Anyway, those are the main points of geeky interest from my week. What made your week great and/or geeky? Have a great Saturday! And Happy Easter!

Oswin?

I FINALLY watched the new Doctor Who Christmas episode last night! The Snowmen. Sounds menacing doesn't it? ...No? Oh, well you should watch it then. 'Cause those snowmen are scary.

There were so many exciting things about the episode! Right here is your spoiler warning. Read no further or be spoiled. Once again... warning...

It was interesting to see this version of the Doctor go into his angry depressed companionless state. We haven't really seen the Doctor without a companion since the David Tennant days, but Matt Smith does the part well, even if it does seem totally strange to see him like that. But watching his progression back to happy Doctor was pretty cool.

Also, anyone else have a nerdgasm at the new TARDIS? I loved the old version, but it seems fitting that the TARDIS should go through a major change post-Ponds. (Also, I just have to say, I'm impressed that my phone autocorrects TARDIS to caps for me, my phone is as nerdy as I am apparently.) Also, I loved Clara's comments, "It's smaller on the outside!" and "Is there a kitchen?" and the Doctor's reaction.

And I REALLY can't wait to see what's going to happen next. Clara Oswin Oswald. Soufflé Girl. What the heck?? We've met her twice now. And she died both times. And then she shows up at her grave again at the end. I NEED to know what the heck is happening there. If she hadn't died BOTH times, there could be some way she's a time traveller, but that doesn't explain it this time. Huh.

So when is the next episode? Not soon enough, for sure. I can't wait to see where this is going.

The Last Day

Soooo day 6 of the trip, and the fourth and final day of Comic-Con was quite the day indeed! For whatever dumb reason, I had been up until midnight the night before, and as it was the final day of SDCC, we were up at 4am. Yes, you read that right. FOUR. A. M.

We had a good excuse though. Doctor Who. Sunday is the day that always brings the Doctor Who panel to the fans, and being fans, we needed to be there. As we were walking up, the line didn't look so bad. Buuut it was just 'cause it was dark. The line was huge. At that hour of the morning, all I could think to say was "so much hate!"

It actually wasn't all that bad, there were so many people spread out with sleeping bags and stuff that they took up way more room than usual. So we found our way to the end of the line, and hung out for a little while.

At 6:30, Andrea and I decided we needed coffee, so we left our bags with Neil in the line, took an order from one of our line friends we'd just met, and headed to the closest Starbucks. Which had another gigantic line. This line was the slowest moving Starbucks line I have ever seen. At one point, I ducked out of that line to go use the nearby washroom, which prior to me getting there had had a line. So I left one line to get in another line after already having left another line. Weird.

Anyway, AN HOUR AND A HALF later we got our coffees, and while we'd been waiting the Hall H line had begun compressing, so we went and found Neil and our line friends, gave out coffees, and continued on through the line tent setup. Once compressed, the line was actually not bad at all, and we could tell that we'd have no problem getting into the hall.

We whiled away another hour and a half chatting with our new line friends about the convention, reading our various books, and Neil and I played with our Nintendo 3DSs. Seriously, street pass is a lot of fun at conventions like these. You pretty much take ten steps and you've found another 10 street pass tags.

At 9:30am, they finally started letting people into the hall. And by 10, we were walking in and getting our awesome Fringe hats (like the observers wear in the show). We found our seats, and the show began! The cast were awesome. There was crying and lots of laughing. And of course plenty of inadvertant innuendo. The show looks like it'll be going into a great final season.

Once that one came to an end, the Supernatural panel began. I don't watch Supernatural, but I think I might need to start. It looks like it would be right up my alley. The cast and writers were fantastic, and there was much girly screaming in the crowd. They tried to figure out what the plural of the word apocalypse would be. Apocali? I don't think so. And of course, plenty of dirty mindedness.

And then, the main event: DOCTOR WHO!! Such an amazing panel. Moderating was Chris Hardwick (who we were apparently stalking with the six times we saw him over five days) and on the panel were Stephen Moffatt, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill. The panel was so great. They showed two preview clips (Dinosaurs on a Spaceship? Oh hellz yeah), and did the whole Q&A thing with the crowd, plus watching Chris nerd out up there was great. I'm SO excited for the next season!

After that, we headed through the totally insane crowd back to the exhibit hall where we found some really cool prints. I ended up picking up a Jean Grey one, while Andrea got one with Beast. So great. We headed through the hall and we were getting really frustrated with the crowd, so we headed out.

We found a restaurant that we'd been to the first day (I still don't remember what it was called) and had a late lunch. I had a great big burger which was fantastic, along with a nice big fruity drink. I think the alcohol was much needed so I didn't totally lose my cool.

After lunch, we made one last pass through the exhibition hall, grabbed a protective sleeve for our new prints, and ducked back out and over to the Nintendo Gaming Lounge at the Marriott next door. We checked out a few demos, and then headed back to the shuttle back to our hotel, and that was the end of San Diego Comic-Con 2012.

I won't lie, I'm a little bit happy that it's over. It was so busy, and so hectic, and it'll be nice to not have to fight through the crowds anymore. I had such an amazing time though! I definitely would love to do it again next year, and I'd definitely like to visit San Diego again regardless.

King of the Nerds

Day 5 of the trip, day 3 of Comic Con. Saturday? What day is it today? Right, Sunday. So yeah, yesterday, Saturday. Can you tell I'm having trouble keeping up with my blogging?

Saturday had a pretty great start. We were able to sleep in a little bit, and made it to the convention centre about 9:30ish? I don't remember precisely. But we made it in time for what we were going for.

At 10am at the Legendary booth, the king of the nerds himself, Chris Hardwick, was signing autographs and meeting the fans. And we made it! He was dressed as the tenth Doctor, and he seemed pretty excited when I handed him my ticket from the previous night's podcast to get signed. I was pretty excited to get my picture taken with him.

Andrea of course was very happy to meet him, she's been a fan forever. And he was great! He even took a picture with Anne! I don't think I mentioned previously, but our friend Anne couldn't make it to Comic Con with us, so Andrea crocheted a doll of her to bring along so she was with us in spirit. So yeah, Chris Hardwick now thinks we are crazy.

After that, we went to the Indigo Ballroom at the Hilton beside the convention centre to catch the Geek & Sundry panel. I had no idea what it was, but Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton? I'm there! So we listened to them talk about all the cool stuff happening with their Geek & Sundry YouTube channel. I think I'm going to have to subscribe to that! The cast of the Guild was also there, with a couple other special guests. It was pretty fun!

After that, it was the Nerdist panel! We were totally getting our Nerdist on. Chris Hardwick and a bunch of other people talked about all the exciting stuff coming up. Most exciting to me: Celebrity Bowling with... wait for it... the Doctor Who cast! So awesome. Looks like I'll be watching a lot more YouTube in the future!

Outside between the Hilton and the Convention Centre there was a thing selling burgers and hotdogs, and a cool Batman setup. Burgers and Batmobiles! We grabbed burgers and then went to look at the different ones. There were 5 of them. Two versions of the Bat-tank (or Tumbler as its ACTUALLY called) plus three older batmobiles. It was kinda cool.

Once we got back to the convention centre, we walked right past Felicia Day, just walking along in the front lobby area of the building. I was all, " Is that Felicia Day? Did we just walk RIGHT PAST Felicia Day?!" You probably don't realize this, but I love Felicia Day.

Anyway, next: coffee! And then the Avengers vs. X-Men panel! I love Marvel panels. Again, there wasn't all that much info that I hadn't already heard about, but it definitely got Andrea excited for comics again. Sadly, I was foiled in asking my question in the panel due to the question line being cut off directly in front of me. And the guy was an idiot. He asked a question that EVERYONE already knew the answer to. And I had a much more interesting question. But oh well.

After that, we decided to check out the line for Hall H. There was a panel for Iron Man 3 that looked interesting, and the line didn't seem so bad, so Andrea and Neil got into line, and I took off. We had 2 hours to wait, so I went to explore the floor again.

Went and said hi to Steve and Shane in the Artist Alley again, but they were both pretty busy so I took off to hunt down some elusive swag. No luck though. Sorry Paul. Everything is getting sold out so fast too! I guess it's not that surprising. I wasted a good half hour or longer playing Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance at the Square Enix booth. On my way back across the room I walked by a Doctor cosplayer that I thought was actually Matt Smith for a minute, and then I saw the guy that played Gunn on Angel at a booth. Someone told me to tweet it, but I had no wifi, so I couldn't do it. Oh darn.

After that, it was about 5:30, so I headed back to the Hall H line, and by a stroke of luck, Andrea and Neil spotted me and I jumped back into line with them. However, we didn't make it into Hall H, so about 6:15, we took off back to our hotel and had dinner.

At that point, it should have been the end of the night, but with so much sitting in panels, I didn't reach my fitness goal for the day, so I went and walked laps around the hotel grounds for half an hour. Thanks Nike+ FuelBand. Thanks a lot.

SDCC Preview Night

Day 2! Except, it's more like day -1. Or Day 0. I dunno. Anyway! Comic-Con continued! (this is now two days behind... oops. I wrote this yesterday, so keep that in mind reading this)

So yesterday was the Preview Night for SDCC, where a select few (or many as the case may be) are allowed inside early. But not until 6pm... So we had pretty much the entire day to waste!

We had a bit of a slow start, and as a consequence, we missed the free breakfast the hotel provides. Instead, we bought breakfast, and it was fantastic. I had this omelet, and I only mention it at all because it was an EPIC omelette. It was soooo full of stuff. Almost like an egg pocket.

Anyway, that's enough of that. We bused it downtown and explored a little bit. Saw a few restaurants and building we recognized from last year. Well, Andrea and I did, Neil was a little left out of the recognition.

Anyway! We decided to make our way to the convention centre early, just because. Turns out, rather than having to wait until noon, we were able to grab our badges 3 hours early! And there was no line! It was amazing! So we grabbed those, got our free CCI bags and schedule books and such, and ventured back out to the streets.

Most of the really cool stuff was still being set up outside, but as we were walking along, some guy gave us free tickets to the Course of the Force slash The Dan Band concert thing. That was pretty fun. Chris Hardwick was hosting, which was pretty awesome for Andrea. The Dan Band, if you don't know who they are, is so hilarious. I really enjoyed that. So random concert in the middle of the day? Heck yeah!

After that was over, we explored some more, mostly in search of food. We managed to find a pretty nice place to eat, but I have no idea what it was called. Oops. The bathroom had awesome stuff written on the walls. And I had an awesome pulled pork sandwich.

After THAT, we went back to the Con and got in line to be let in for Preview Night. It was a bit of a long wait, but it wasn't too bad! Finally made it in for 6pm and spent way too much time in lines waiting to get stuff. It's nuts how busy it gets here!

I got my Doctor Who lunchbox and water bottle, and then went and bought a whole bunch of Questionable Content stuff at the TopatoCo booth. I was really excited to meet Jeph Jacques again.

After that, and many attempts to get in lines for other things (resulting in failure) we finally escaped from the convention centre, and tried to get in line for the bus. But our bus was elsewhere, apparently, but without direction to go there, so we eventually made it back to our hotel, unloaded all of our stuff, had a quick bite to eat, aaand went to sleep.