So I was a guest journalist for Oni Hartstein's blog
recently while she's out on medical leave. She asked me to cover this
fun event of "Santastical: A Very, Merry Twistmas" for her in NYC. I was
happy to oblige!
I have a guest writer this time around. Please welcome Brad Trechak to the blog! He writes a review of Intervention Con. ================== InterventionCon: Where the Not-So-Strong Have a Place As Well By Brad Trechak
In
an age of mega-conventions with top tier stars charging top dollar for
either a photograph or autograph, it’s nice to know that conventions
like InterventionCon exist. That is, conventions that exist for love and not for money.
I attended Intervention 6 in Rockville, Maryland August 14th and 15th
and was amazed at the levels of creativity on display for the attendees.
Want to create a web presence and build a following for it? There’s a
class for that. Want to create a film and put it online for the world
to see? There’s a discussion group for that. Want to develop crafts to
sell online? Well, you get the picture.
InterventionCon is a strange mix of fan and professional conventions
where members are there to learn and get new ideas. You will not find
any big-name media companies at this convention. This is to break in to
that world, and then maybe break out to an audience.
You still get the occasional celebrity. I attended one of Terry
Molloy’s presentations on the audio drama and got to listen to clips of
audio plays of the last seven decades. Terry Molloy is best known as
the villainous Davros in the Doctor Who television series, but in this
case he was there as an instructor, not a celebrity.
InterventionCon is not about taking money from you. It’s not about
giving you the opportunity to meet your favorite celebrity. It’s about
sharing the knowledge and tools that could potentially make you a
celebrity. What you next do with this information is up to you.
Over the summer I had the pleasure of directing this very cool web series from Captain Kyle's brain.
The series starts Wednesday, Aug. 19th at 7pm ET on the YouTube channel SciFi Geek Productions. Take a look at the trailer and subscribe to the page so you don't miss an episode. It airs every week on Wednesdays at 7pm ET.
Watch our trailer now!
Each episode Kyle interviews a cosplayer in costume, as their character and then interviews the person behind the mask. It's one of the few cosplay shows out there that puts a positive spin on cosplayers and depicts them in a favorable light. Cosplay is supposed to be fun and celebrated rather than all the negative publicity its gotten in recent months.
Within the series, there are helpful con tips with Constance Chesney, Kyle's "Man on the Street" interviewer. She talks to young cosplayers at various conventions to see how much they love to dress up and go out to the cons with their families. Constance also plays some trivia with various cosplayers and some short comedy pieces, along with characters reciting Shakespeare. You might even recognize a few familiar famous faces along the way...
Taped in front of a live studio audience, season one has wrapped in-studio production but we will still be present at upcoming conventions like RetroCon in Oaks, PA Sept. 12-13th, Walker Stalker Con Philly Sept. 26-27th, and Walker Stalker Con Boston Aug 22-23rd. Constance will be continuing to interview cosplayers and playing more trivia with some lucky guests.
A special treat at RetroCon, we will taping an episode in front of the convention audience! The taping happens on Sunday Sept. 13th. Come out and be a part of the live audience! Maybe you'll be in cosplay and will want to be interviewed by Kyle! Stop by for some fun!
This weekend I will be at this awesome convention, Intervention Con.
What is "Intervention Con" you ask? Well, have a seat and let me dive right in!
Intervention combines "internet" and "convention" in order to get "Intervention" which is basically meant to "intervene and inspire real people to explore art, technology,
and to pursue their dreams. Artists, Writers, Podcasts, Filmmakers,
Actors, Musicians, and more will be holding interactive events all
weekend that you can participate in." -Oni Hartstein, James Harknell explain, of Onezumi Events; showrunners of Intervention.
Held in Rockville, Maryland at the Hilton Washington, DC/Rockville on Aug. 14-16th, Oni explains that she hopes the convention will "empower people to take control of their lives by going DIY with the internet and to
showcase those who have done so already. We feel that the internet is
the present and the future. This is the event for the internet
generation." And after successful runs since 2010, this year will mark Hartstein’s sixth time organizing the event.
According to the site, the con features "educational content, children’s programming,
board gaming, video gaming, an extensive art festival, live action
roleplaying, musical performances, and plenty of giveaways. The event
team will also be donating to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an
international non-profit digital advocacy group that helps to defend
civil liberties in the digital space."
I am most looking forward to a lot of the educational panels. Mostly, the filmmaking panels. There are a few this year, even with an acquaintance I met at another con, who will be teaching indie filmmaking and explaining why now is the time for indie films! (see description below). Now to check the schedule to see which ones and how many of these I can attend in one weekend! :)
The Time For Indie Film Is Now!
Do you want to make a film? Do it now! The time has never been better
for to get involved with film production. It won't be easy of course,
but our panelists will give you some info on how you can get started in a
professional (and hopefully) profitable way.
Other panels of interest to me are the following:
Filmmaking 101
Join us for an introductory discussion on the tools and methods used today to produce film.
Real Talk on Video and Movie Production
Get the real info on how to get started in video and movie production.
Equipment, techniques, and business knowledge of getting things done.
Oni Hartstein's Real Talk Marketing 1: Setting up Your Business Online
Setting up Your Business Online - This will cover the basic points that
you need to hit and how you need to hit them in order to have an
in-person and digital presence that works and grows.
Unique Geek Chic
Are you interested in learning more about how to integrate your geeky
side with your everyday style and end up with something that looks chic?
Come get tips on how to dress and dress up your life that doesn't
compromise your uniquely geeky outlook while still looking great.
Blogging For Fun and Profit
Do you have something to say? Why not start or join a blog? Is it really
that easy? Our panelists will talk about the fun parts, and the not so
fun parts, about making your blog and online writing successful and
possibly even profitable.
And even more so, I really want to go to the Terry Molloy workshop about voice acting! Yes, *that* Terry Molloy, Davros from Doctor Who fame! I always wanted to do voice acting. I know, I can't really do impressions or anything like that, but I have a child-like voice that would be good for a lot of characters I think. But I never knew how to break into it or what it involved. So I'll find out during this 3-part workshop!
Yay!! We finally get a Supergirl TV show!! hehe Watch the six-minute promo first, then read below :)
First off, I do like this trailer overall.
The nitpicky stuff, not sure about her being an assistant getting coffee and assuming a low-profile identity and acting much like her more famous cousin. Glasses, hair tied back, unassuming low self-esteem type? Although not as low self esteem as Clark. But aside from her day job, this is pretty good.
We seem to be looking at it from an mid-series-Smallville type show where she already knows she has powers but may not know how to use them to their fullest degree yet. But at least she already knows about them. So I appreciate CBS' efforts to bypass 4 seasons of nothing like Smallville did.
Costume, yeah, I'm on board. It does harken a little bit to the Superman: Man of Steel outfit for Superman with a slight pattern on the blue portion and such. But I am glad they kept the skirt design and of course eventually the S on the chest. And did not make a cheesy line about how it stands for hope. Thank you.
But I do like Melissa Benoist as Kara and Supergirl. She really seems to fit the parts well. (And not just because her name is Melissa hehe). But she hits the mark in career-minded woman, to office assistant and then ultimately to Supergirl pretty well. She definitely has the pride of her clan within her and confidence to be someone great and be a ray of hope for those who need her help. Which is what Superman and Supergirl really represent. (Let's not go back to the cheesy hope line tho, ok? thanks!) hehe
It has much brighter colors like the comics and has a much brighter and lighter feel to it with lots of action sequences mixed in. It definitely is already better and paying better homage to Supergirl and Superman then Man of Steel did, that's for sure! So, already the mood is correct.
There is the usual nerd-boy-love-interest but even that, I'm mostly ok with. Kinda like a Cisco is a techie assistant to the Flash (the TV show), he is her techie assistant to her Supergirl, which is actually ok to me.
I like Jimmy Olsen, or James Olsen, ahem, 'scuse me... Although his character seems to be much more mature, secure and stereotypically handsome than the orignal Jimmy Olsen. So it's unclear his role here other than helping Kara out eventually. He's not the old-school clumsy Olsen we know from comics or any other incarnation of Olsen in TV and movies. So it will be interesting to watch a much stronger role being played here than we are used to. Not in a bad way either, just different.
I know in previous press releases we know that Helen Slater (Supergirl from the movie version in 1984) and Dean Cain (Superman/Clark Kent in "Lois and Clark" TV show) will have cameos here. So I'm excited for that as well, though I'm avoiding any other spoilers for who or what they will be playing/doing.
Not knowing much about Supergirl other than the normal basic info and my 1984 Supergirl movie, I am excited to go into this with a mostly clean slate and open mind. I am skeptical if only because that's what we nerds do, but overall I am going in with an open mind and hope to not be spoiled by bad reviews or fanboys doing a nerd-rage in the corner... Here's hoping it really lives up to everyone's expectations!
P.S.: Eventually I want to cosplay the Helen Slater version of Supergirl... It's on the books... ;) But I do like this outfit too so it may go into my wishlist... hehe
In prep for Star Wars Celebration, I decided I wanted to do a fem Han Solo. I've been wanting to do this for a long time actually. But getting the costume or making one from scratch was daunting. I am ok at sewing squares and rectangles and mostly things with straight edges and no real patterns. I have not ventured into the clothing dept yet. So I can revamp or redo some clothing pieces for costumes if needed but never from scratch. A friend put me onto Cosplaysky.com tho and well, things have changed the game! So I bought myself the Han Solo costume there, where it will fit me and is tailored to me! I am only 5' tall and pretty small and petite overall. Small arm and leg lengths, etc. So having a custom made cosplay outfit for me, for a relatively cheap price? Sold!
All that aside though, I still wanted to be a fem Han Solo, not just a woman wearing his costume type of fem. I wanted to wear a skirt instead of pants. So after a lot of searching for the perfect A-line swing skirt that was the right length, size and color, (and small pricetag!) I finally went to work on this skirt! (FYI, I eventually found the skirt at a TJMaxx in a state thousands of miles from my home while on a family vacation. It's a CWonder designer skirt (they are now out of business) that normally is about 80 bucks. I found it there for a mere 20 bucks).
I will tell you though I ended up doing this twice, two different ways and one way that was clearly much better than the first.
Firstly, though, I also found the perfect color and width ribbon to use for the side panels at the crafts store. Cut them into the proper length I needed for the skirt. Then with permanent markers I carefully marked every inch with a line. Gently using the marker because they do bleed on the satin ribbon, so don't press the marker too hard or it will bleed and have a really thick line or uneven looking line.
Then my first attempt at attaching the ribbon was to use fusible web strips and iron-on the ribbon to the skirt.
Ironing on the sides using the fusible web.
This proved to be the wrong way to attach the panels.
The fusible web didn't really adhere to the thick knit fabric like it should have, no matter how much heat I used or how many times I ran over the damp towel over the ribbons (don't want to burn the ribbon by putting the iron right on the ribbon). So, then I used some frabic glue to help adhere the parts that didn't want to fuse with the webbing. Another bad idea as the glue bled through the ribbon and even when dry, was then much darker and sloppy and blotchy looking in those areas.
So, I decided to do it the right way in the first place. (Hey, lesson learned that's all that matters haha)
The old ribbons came off the skirt easily since none of the webbing really stuck in the end. And wherever there was glue, it came off pretty simply as well. Whatever glue did stick, I think there was a way to get it off completely if I wanted, but it would just get covered again anyway, so I just pulled off as much as I could with my nails.
Redid the ribbons as mentioned above with permanent marker at one inch intervals.
Then this time I took out the sewing machine instead. And though I still had some issues with this, because it's a thick knit skirt, the ribbon did stretch a bit with the fabric so one end on each side is a teeny bit shorter than orginally planned and therefore the ribbons on one side of each, are a little crooked. But with the natural folds of the skirt and how I will wear it, hopefully you don't notice it.
Close up of the sewn finished side. You may or may not notice the left side (top of the skirt, I can't turn the picture) that the stripes look a little diagonal which is because the ribbon stretched as I sewed around it. It's mostly noticeable at the top of each side so hopefully my Han shirt should hide some of it or the holster belt will hide it as well.
Below is the finished skirt! (view of the back of the skirt) The skirt has pockets in the front so I needed to sew the stripes onto the seam behind the pockets, which mean the stripes face the back a little more than they normally would. But I'm perfectly OK with that.
I'm so excited to use this at Star Wars Celebration next week! ^_^
In prep for Star Wars Celebration, I decided to be Han Solo. I admit I am not crafty enough to make the outfit from scratch so I did get my outfit itself, from CosplaySky. After a slight mishap with the pants, I had the outfit ready. I bought the belt from JediRobeAmerica. And I actually had my outfit all ready to go for FarPoint convention in Maryland. So I used it for that. What I didn't have ready in time were my accessories so my friend Kyle graciously lent me his Droid caller and blaster for FarPoint. In the meantime I started on my own Droid callers and painting up my blasters for both my Han Solo cosplay and my Princess Leia cosplay that I have planned as well.
Basically I saw this person's cosplay and was inspired on how to make my own Droid callers. She doesn't give directions on what she used or which pieces of plumbing she used so I just went down the plumbing aisle at my local home improvement store and matched the picture as best I could. Some parts were different then hers, just based on what was available. But I'm ok with that. I have provided some pics of which parts I used still in their packaging. Hopefully that helps others with their cosplay making too.
All the peices that made up the Droid callers. I basically made two just in case. It was cheap enough to do two.
Black spray paint was a must for everything, including the blasters. So one big can of that. It goes a long way. PVC piping, I can't recall which size they were. But they are only a few inches long but don't recall the circumference. The threaded end pieces fit perfectly in the ends. And you needed threaded pieces to have the metal parts attach to the rest of the body. I bought special PVC piping cement glue. Tho trust me when I say this stuff is a LOT stronger than cement glue so be careful using it, use is in a well vented area. I found some metal plumbing pieces for the top part. Again using some threaded pieces made it all easier to put together without more glue. The caps I did exchange last minute tho because the 3/4" caps looked like they'd pop in ok, but did not. So I exchanged to 1/2" caps instead. They fit better and I glued with hot glue just to secure it in place.
Started out with basic small PVC piping and some threaded ends that fit into them. Used the special PVC glue to attach those to each end.
The only threaded ends I could find were hexagons instead of rounded like the link above. But it's ok. It looks good anyway.
After gluing those pieces together, I went outside and spray painted this part all black. I stood them upright and sprayed the paint circular and from above. But I had to come back and do it twice by flipping it over and do the other side in the same manner. In doing so, I created drip lines from the spray paint. Oops. You can see some of them in the pics. Overall no one will see it when it's on the belt though. So I'm not too worried.
After it all dried, I screwed in the metal pieces one at a time. There is a flat sprocket like gear that I put on the bottom of the big metal piece first. That part went closest to the PVC pipe. Once that got put on as a whole piece, it really looks close! But I wanted to get some silver Sculpy and make the buttons like she did.
Almost there!
Made buttons out of Sculpy. It's mush like working with clay, only you can bake it to harden it and make it permanent.
Then I made the part that looks like its meant to be attached to the buckle as a slide in piece. But it's non-functional of course for our purposes. Layered the pieces together and folded around the PVC to get its shape before baking.
Droid callers done! One piece of the sculpy on one is much larger than the other. Oops. But it came out well overall. It gives the basic idea.
A little more up close of the better Droid caller made.
Now onto the blasters! I needed the Han Solo blaster and I needed something similar to Princess Leia's blaster that she took from the Stormtrooper in A New Hope. I managed to find Han's blaster no problem. It took some research to really figure out Leia's blaster. Eventually I settled on a newer blaster from I think Clone Wars. Both were bright white so I needed to get outside in warmer weather and paint them. First chance the warmer weather came, I went out and did it. Again, I had to do it twice in order to flip it over and do the other side. And same thing, I got drip marks on it but hopefully no one can really tell from a distance.
I covered the orange tips in order to preserve that for safety reasons. But some of the masking tape got stuck to the Leia blaster so I left it there. You can still see the orange tips enough. And the Han one, the paper I attached like a cone to the front, well, as you can see from the first pic, some paint soaked through that paper. Oops! I sanded it down a little but it's still there. Oh well. Minor mishaps happen. I can't be too OCD about it or I'll never get things done!
Once they were painted on both sides and any extra coverage I'd missed was done, I then got some acrylic silver paint from the crafts store and with a bristled paint brush, I went over the edges and parts of the gun to make it look worn, used and beat up. I did a little too much on one side of Han's blaster and some of my strokes had too much paint on the brush for Leia's but again, it gets the point across.
And fin!
I'm really happy with how these came out overall. So now I'm ready for Star Wars Celebration!
At the RegenerationWho convention, they pulled off an amazing Skype call wtih special guest Tom Baker for an hour. It was one magical hour. Tom Baker is the sweetest and kindest man with that grandpa quality we all wish we could be around all the time. And he has the most infectious laugh you'll hear and you'll just start giggling anytime he bellows it out. It's adorable! He's adorable!
I did not videotape the entire interview due to contractual agreements between the convention and Tom Baker's associates. But here is a snippet of one of the questions about how it was to wear the scarf all the time, did it get in the way, etc.
I cannot transcribe the entire Q&A either but here are many snippets and quotes from the session. We all wished it lasted longer. He was such a doll to talk to! And imagine him taking his time answering the questions and kind of rambling on, in the best possible way, but when he realizes he's rambling, he immediately, straight-faced and eagerly says, like a child, "Ask me another one!" heehee
-As a child Tom Baker saw his name in lights. "I enjoy being worshipped."
-On becoming the Doctor: he had to keep the news secret for two weeks. It was a great relief to get the job. He didn't have to reach for the part because he, like the Doctor, believes in the impossible and being kind. It was easy being the Doctor because he's been the Doctor forever.
-His thoughts on his costume:
-It was very old student look; with big trousers and the jacket
-The costumers sent all this wool yarn to Pegonia Pope to make a scarf. But no one told her when to stop and she never bothered to ask. So they visited her to see the progress or what she did make and it was 58 feet long! They cut it down of course but it was still so long that he tripped over it a lot while shooting scenes!
-Someone asked "Why Jelly Babies?" To which he simply stated that he just thought it would be funny when faced with a really evil villian, to suddenly just offer some jelly babies to them and see what happens. Haha
-When asked what he thought about the latest incarnation of the Doctor, Peter Capaldi as the twelfth Dcotor, Mr. Baker says he thinks Capaldi's bony face looks like "he comes from...someplace else..." hehe
-Speaking about getting recognized while in public:
-He said he was at a pub with friends and he kept getting interrupted to sign autographs. Here he is still sober and still on his first drink and his friends were already on their fifth pint getting drunk... So he later goes to another bar, more of a hole in the wall type place. And someone comes up to him with a paper and he is tired and still sober but thinks, "Fine.." and the guy is pointing to the paper but not saying much, so he proceeds to sign it and hands it back to the man. The man looks at him and says, "What's this?" Tom: My autograph! Man: What? no! He flips over the paper -- I need directions to here! Tom had a good laugh over that one.
-Another time he saw a whole school bus of kids and he said they all recognized him and he described it as the bus was going to tip over because they all gathered on the one side of the bus to see him! So they all pile out of the bus and surround him with hugs and adoration. And he loved it!
-He is not interested in those not interested in love.
-He mentioned that he wanted to play the Master and waited by the phone for that call. He lost a lot of weight waiting. Haha
-When he discussed what it was like to come back and do the Big Finish audio, and asking if any other companions would join him now: He said it was nostalgic to bring him back. It was like going back to childhood to when the fans were young so no other companions could come in now that two of the other actresses have passed away.
-When asked about life after Doctor Who, he commented that he may have hung up the scarf but he never stopped being Doctor Who. Nothing he did after Doctor Who was ever as successful.
-On other acting gigs after Doctor Who: he says that he just kept playing the Doctor, It was fun and it was for the fans because he knew any fans that came in, they wanted to see the Doctor, it was for them, not the other actors, which the other actors probably didn't care for. haha But he says if he stopped playing the Doctor, then no one would love and recognize him anymore.
-Discussing watching Doctor Who now:
-He never even watched his scenes when they aired because he doesn't like watching himself. He merely loved working on it and being a part of it. The job fulfilled him so much and he was unhappy when he wasn't working on it. He loved playing that crazy character!
-He discussed other acting jobs and said he will not take on anything that have violent parts. Those parts don't hold any interest him because he "lives in cloud cukoo land". He believes that heroes live and wants to do gentler things. He wants people to be happy. (I love that he made a Lego Movie reference haha)
-Tom Baker says he's full of affection and he loves meeting people and fans. And that being here, as fans at this convention, confirms his approval of him. heehee
-He currently owns five cats and a dog. Two cats are Burmese and three are Siamese. He recites Shakespeare sonnets to his dog whilst on walks in the woods.
-He once wrote a book in 1999 about a very vile boy who gets it in the end. It's still for sale and being published which he's amazed at. He says it sells very well in the Jewish section of Liverpool.
-He says he's a master of self delusion
-He says no one has failed at playing the Doctor and that anyone can play the role. He says that Johnny Depp could have played the role back in the day.
-If he could play any part in Sherlock in the current incarnation, would he and what part?
-He's played Sherlock twice already
-And he played both Holmes and Moriarty in the same play as the plot was that Moriarty had surgery to look like Holmes so Baker had to play both parts. It was written in such a way that the characters weren't on stage together but the audience would get confused as to which character he was at that moment, Holmes or Moriarty?
-He is very tender towards Watson. And during the show Watson dressed in drag and Baker pretended not to notice.
-He has read all the Sherlock stories though
-But no, he would not want to play it anymore. He wants nothing more to do with the character.
-Appearing on Skype must feel much like appearing on the Tardis view screeen. Baker wants to learn how to use Skype more so that he can Skype all his enemies! Ha!
-Have you beaten K9 at chess?
-No -- But he loved K-9. Though he loved the actor who played K-9 in rehearsals and his voice actor better than the mechanical dog. Especially because that actor would get Baker coffee and such. Ha!
-He had to be on his knees a lot during any two-shots with K-9 because they couldn't fit them both in on screen otherwise. He disliked that part of it a lot.
-He loves special effects work. It challenges him and it's fun. There was a scene where he had to blow up Daleks and when the strings were coming closer and closer together he said "I can't do this! I love the Daleks! If it was the BBC..." haha The journalists were on set that day. One had a field day with that and the headline the next day in the paper was "Tom Baker has a rat and wants to blow up the BBC!" Well then people tweeted back that they would have liked to as well! Ha!
-Any last words of wisdom for fans?
-He laughed heartily at this question and said "Beware old men doling out words of wisdom. The world is run largely by old men and look at the state of it!" Big laughs were had at that.
-He says he has no other words of wisdom though. Just thankful for this opportunity to speak with fans across the pond as he probably won't be able to come over to the states as he gets older.
No, thank you, Mr. Tom Baker! You are awesome, funny, sweet, kind and I can laugh because you have a loveable and infectious laugh! It was a pleasure to have this Skype call with you!
Tom Baker during the Skype call
View of the Skype call from my seat
Before the call started Tom Baker put his stuffed bear to the screen and made him peak out of the screen and such. Adorable.
The other weekend I went to RegenWho con in Maryland with friends. In prep for it I made Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies with Tardis sprinkles! I handed them out to people I would meet or already knew and was meeting up with at the con. I wanted, of course, to make cupcakes but time prevented that and traveling through NYC with them was not really an option. So cookies it was!
The Tardis sprinkles were part of a kickstarter I backed that also made steampunk sprinkles (little gears), lightening bolt sprinkles (which are reminiscent for Harry Potter fans) and Meeples which is from a tabletop game. I only had the funds for the Tardis ones. And I absolutely love them!
If you missed the kickstarter though, you can still purchase these geeky sprinkles here!
Before the oven...
Tardis sprinkles!
What better way to take them out of the oven but with my Tardis spatula!
Attended RegenerationWho convention a couple weekends ago and cosplay is a huge part of any convention but I always love it when the whole convention revolves around one of the many geek themes I enjoy. In this case, Doctor Who is the theme! All the people who cosplay are pretty amazing and really talented. I'm sorry I don't have everyone's names on these pics. I was a poor planner and did not ask for names this convention... So sorry! There were also so many I missed taking pics of because I was in line or rushing to a panel or in a panel and couldn't stop to take pics! eeps! But enjoy the cosplayers I did manage to get and their awesome costumes displayed here!
Waiting for the masquerade. So many amazing cosplayers! I can play an eye-spy game -- I spy an Ace, 9th Doctor, 6th Doctor, Cat Nurse, 10th Doctor, Clockwork droid, and so many more!
9th Doctor (Brad Trechak) meets a fem 9th Doctor, Dara Dandrea-Giannotti
Kristin Sirota as the amazing hula-hooping Tardis
The Master
Fem 9th Doctor, Dara Dandrea-Giannotti, and me as Bad Wolf Rose
