Damn You, Deadpool!

"Just stick me in a quiet room and let me throw up for a minute" would be the best way to describe how I felt after leaving NYCC. I can honestly say that I haven't walked around with my head tilted skyward in years. It's one of the trademarks of a tourist in NY and that is exactly how I felt during this Con.

There was more to take in there than I had ever experienced before. It was loud, there were flashing lights, people screaming from every direction, and the flow of the crowd was non-stop.  To be honest, I thought back to the stories friends had shared about their experiences of shopping in Tokyo and wondered if this was what it was like.

About an hour into it, my friend and I seemed to have enough. We turned to each other with wide eyes and we could tell something was up. I was dizzy and he wanted to throw up. The two of us wanted nothing more than to sit down, close our eyes, and shut the world out for a few minutes. Of course, this wasn't going to happen.

So, after taking a breather, we split up to cross off items from our own agendas. We decided that using our cell phones to keep in touch was the best thing to do. Boy were we wrong. God knows how many fanboys were posting pictures on their blogs, twitter, and facebook pages straight from their phones. The service was shot to hell. It wasn't until I turned off 3G (barbaric, I know) that I was able to send out a text.

There's an upside though. As much as I couldn't stand certain aspects, I can't wait for next year's NYCC. I saw things I would never see in my normal life. I took a picture with a life size Optimus Prime, witnessed Chewbacca hug Mr. T, snapped a photo of Shaun in between his slaying of zombies, and had a few Sonic Screwdrivers pointed at me. Trust me, I'm going to plan that trip a lot more than I did this one (there was no plan. We didn't know what we were in for).

It also helped me realize how much I freaking love Doctor Who. The very first thing I saw was an Ironside Dalek. As I snapped a quick photo of it, I knew it was going to be a great time. I also learned that I'm really not a nerd. Yes, I watch Doctor Who and submit a pull list to a local comic shop, but I'm not a nerd. My friend Josh said it best, "we're cultured in those areas, but we're not nerds".

Here's to knowing that I'm just a normal guy who knows what he likes. Oh, and being called a hipster by a fat girl cosplaying as Deadpool. Allons-y!

Photos from NYCC:

Creature From The Back Room-goon

By the time this post goes up, I'll be gearing up for the New York Comic Con. It'll be the first time I'm surrounded by complete comic book nerds and hopefully, many half clad women. I'm sure that the majority of them will have their guts hanging over their belts, but I stay optimistic. I'm talking about the women. Overweight comic book nerds are a given.

So, what should I expect from my first "Con"? Will I be disappointed or glad? Will I accept these nerds and furthermore, will they accept me? Either way, I'm headed in with a good friend who is like me.

We're both the type of nerds that aren't really nerds at all. Many of our friends are just cool people with nerdy attributes. Yes, he loves Planet of the Apes and I have my undying allegiance to The Doctor, but we can both successfully drink our weight in beer and hold a conversation with women. Not to mention we've both spent many years playing in bands (guitars, not marching).

The shyness of nerds has always been a laugh for me. I crack up every time I see a caricature of the nerdy group of guys who constantly push their glasses to the bridge of their nose, breath through their mouths and freak out as an attractive girl approaches them. My friend and I encountered these very nerds while we were checking out a comic shop. 

We walked in and spent some time browsing the racks, chatting up the owner, and found out there was a section in the back with more stock. So, we make our way to the back half of the store where we were greeted with the sight of five guys, one barefoot, sitting around a table and arguing about the direction a writer was taking a certain superhero comic. I couldn't believe it. The very guys I saw in comedy bits and on TV were sitting before my very eyes. One was flipping through his pages of playing cards while the others thumbed through comics, only lifting their eyes to state their opinions. 

We made our way back up front, paid for our books, and walked out. Neither one of us said a word until we both sat in my car and just started laughing. It was such a shock to the both of us that these guys existed and we couldn't be more happy that we weren't like them. Don't get upset though. We were both very appreciative of these guys and know that they have a good time being who they are. It just made us appreciate who we are and how great it was to have each other as friends.

What cracks me up is that this entire blog entry could have been written by one of those guys. In their version, we're the weirdos and they laughed at us as we walked out. Either way, I was the one able to laugh about it with a girl later that night.

Oh yeah, I remember that!

A few months ago, I had gotten myself into Doctor Who. There was a lot of outside influence that made me want to watch the show. It also helped that my close friend was getting into it at the same time. We would both watch it on our own time and discuss episodes when we saw each other, usually at a bar. Let me be the first to tell you that if you meet a girl at the bar and she doesn't know what/who Doctor Who is, she's not worth your time. She might be hot, but if you're reading this blog, you probably didn't have a shot with her anyway. I'm kidding.

Fast forward a few months and you would find me barely through season 2. Something that I was really adamant about watching had fallen to the way side. Before you jump to any conclusions, this isn't an entry about how "I can't finish anything" and "woe is me, I should accomplish something with my life." It's simply about rediscovering something that was pretty sweet.

When I started watching those episodes again, I couldn't understand why I had stopped watching it. I mean, I know how and the why. The simple answer is "life happened." Some good, some bad, but watching those episodes allowed me to somewhat forget about all that and just enjoy the show. Too bad that I couldn't see past life for a moment.

Doctor Who isn't even the beginning. Rediscovering albums, a passion for an art, playing a sport, riding a bike, anything that you haven't done in ages is always a great feeling. One of those other things was watching cartoons and riding my bike. Granted, they can seem like childish activities, but they're totally not. OK, maybe they are, but why can't we just digress into being kids sometimes? It makes life a little more fun.


Note: Prior to writing the end to this entry, I rode my bike to the library to pick up the first volume of All Star Superman. 

"Whatcha readin' there, son?"

I'm sure only a handful of you know that I love to read. It's become one of my favorite past times since I started working in the broadcasting industry. Spending 7 hours of my day watching a screen with some terrible programming, Golden Girls excluded, has everything to do with it. I'd come home and feel like an absolute zombie, but, of course, this wouldn't stop me from browsing the internet for hours.

This was all well and good until I made good friends with a co-worker. It seemed that he had a different book every week. On top of that, one of my closest friends was a big reader. I don't mean to say that he was fat (he's not), but that he spent most of his off time plowing through books. That was all the convincing I needed. That and the thought that chicks dig intellectual guys (note: They don't. They like douches.)

After reading some of the books that I had in my own library, which were never read, I began running out of material. That's when I whipped out the ole library card. It had always been in my wallet no matter how many times I got new ones, but was never used. Upon examining it, I had noticed that it expired about 3 years prior. 

The library was my new fascination. It seemed like all those stupid posters from my grade school days had actually been right. Sadly, Bill Cosby wasn't there to greet me. I wonder if they got paid to take those photos for the posters, because we all know that no celebrity would visit the library. I know I would. You make me a star today and I'd still be ordering books from my library. Maybe even donate enough money to add a new wing, but instead of using my surname I'd have them call it "the bat wing". Let's face it, my nerdiness would never disappear, no matter how much money you try to bury it under.

For a while, I ordered some of the classics and then got into some of the new fiction. From there, I made a turn and started reading collections of essays (i.e.: David Sedaris and Chuck Klosterman). It seemed like I had the "intellectual" image going. That's when I found out I could order graphic novels from all over Nassau County.

Bye, bye intellectual. Hello nerd.

The first few times I picked up some of the GNs I ordered, I tried to convince the librarian that they were for my younger brother who doesn't exist. I realized this was absolutely stupid and just owned up to my nerdom. Now, I proudly walk up to the counter, hand over my card, make small talk, and pray they don't think I'm some creep who reads cartoon books.

What can I say? I like the pictures. It could be a lot worse. 

The Day of Geekening is at Hand!

Plenty of people are saying that finally the geeks and nerds are having their day and it couldn't be any more true. Just take a look at the movies that are and have hit theaters already.

Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, Captain America, The Avengers, Transformers, and more. There is even more evidence on TV. We've got the rise of Doctor Who fans every where you turn. Also, I've just heard that the Hulk is coming back to primetime. Then, one of the biggest pieces of evidence is the inclusion of the G4 (essentially the hub for all things nerdy/awesome on TV) app I found on one of my best friend's phones. Never in a million years did I think this kid would have that on there. Heck, he never even had cable while growing up!

And let me not forget one little detail some of you might not know. Vin Diesel not only played Dungeons & Dragons for over 20 years, but has also written the foreword for the book celebrating it's 30 year anniversary. That's right. Teretto rolls 20 sided deep.

I think it's safe to say that the media is completely saturated with most things Geek and I'm completely happy with that. But, where does it go from here? I'm not going to make any speculation because I honestly don't have any. My immediate response would be the internet, but who am I kidding? If nerdy/geeky were measured in population, the internet would be the whole of Asia. That includes India, guys.

So, I guess the nerds have to go deeper. I hope to see D&D invite only parties and underground Star Wars raves. It's about time the world sees a Wookie tripping on acid.