Halloween + Sony = Phenomenal Time

Hey all, Happy Halloween. Just wanted to drop by to post a short (you're probably thinking I'm not capable of that given my lengthy blog rants) recap of the great time I had last night.

This year Sony Entertainment decided that their presentation of the programming for next year would be done with a Halloween party. Granted, the actual presentations consisted of videos on a screen and nothing more. The best part of the whole thing however is that Sony was yet again having a party!! Now for those of you who haven't had the pleasure can I just say that most of the hands down best times I've had at events have been Sony ones.

These guys know how to put together a presentation. From the centerpieces with creepy apothecary bottles to the dancers that performed Thriller. And let me not forget that hired actors that portrayed the Universal Monsters, Wolfman was the creepiest, and he probably had nards (if you don't get that reference please go rent Monster Squad post haste!).Oh and the food...mini everything is just a good way to go, granted this is from a guy who has an odd appreciation for midgets, but I don't think that really matters in the big overall.

As I gear up for another party tonight (what can I say, we're a popular couple) I just want to give a huge shout out thanks to everyone who made the Sony party happen. Edith, Joe, Irving and the countless others at Sony who make sure that not only everything comes out just right but that we all enjoy ourselves. Here's to next year topping this one!

The Revelation of Geek Christmas

This past Saturday was what could probably be considered officially Geek Christmas here in Sough Florida as the largest local comic shop, Tate's Comics, had it's annual mega sale. When I got there I expected to see a large crowd but I really didn't expect to see as many people as I did, the tent was completely packed with people looking through boxes and back issues in search of the perfect way to spend money on those uberly geeky things we love from toys to comics to statues.

Most surprisingly though was that when you think of the crowd such a sale attracts your mind automatically goes to this image:

And given the odors emanating from some of the guys there, the above pic really isn't that far from being on the nose. Listen guys, we live in South Florida so while shorts and a cap are more than acceptable for an outdoor sale, can I suggest adding deodorant to that list? At the very lease just hang a pine tree around your neck for the sake of those around you. It's bad enough you're wearing clothes that are ill-fitting as you hunch over due to your overly weighted backpack, must we add foul stench to that list of reasons why you will most likely never date anyone who is sighted?

Surprisingly though, the most interesting part of the sale was just how many girls were in attendance. Now in recent months I've read many a report on several sites talking about how the average person at comic shops is now just as likely to be female as male. It's something I myself experienced at Midtown Comics in NY as I overhead 2 girls talk about how they preferred one artist's style over another when drawing a particular character. Of course these 2 girls proceeded to lose their credibility upon declaring that The Clash's "Friday I'm In Love" was "that song from Rock Band." They're lucky I didn't dangle them from their toes in Times Square, but I digress.

The focus of these fangirls does seem to be the manga stuff, as I heard one girl recommend just about every manga title to her friend as the best thing she's read. Note to girl, they all can't be the best, eventually one of them has to be disappointing by comparison. It's the law of averages, nothing else. Either way, I for one applaud the emergence of girls into the often overwhelming world of the under-sexed pocket protector.

As I mentioned in my previous post on Disney's acquisition of Marvel, the industry is in a state where they need to expand their audience in any way possible. And with more and more female-centric titles popping up at the big 2 publishers, they're obviously taking notice.

Now if only more of the fanboys would take notice. After all with more girls heading into comic shops your chances of a date increase exponentially guys. Just, not if you continue to ignore the lure of the deodorant siren.

How Many Mushrooms Would Mario Eat For This To Happen?

Walking through Wal-Mart yesterday I came across the perfect costume for me & my other half. With 3 Halloween parties this year, we needed costumes & had no ideas. Should we go individual or do the couple thing? Then I saw it hanging in seasonal next to a scary clown & a slutty cat.

Mario & Luigi!

Just couple enough without being sickeningly sweet. Plus it's got just enough geek cred to be unique but not too much that people will go "who?" when you tell them who you are. So with joy & eagerness I bought the costumes. Waiting for my better half to get home I couldn't wait to try on our ideal Halloween costumes that would be creative & yet so obvious all at once.

Then we tried them on.

Listen, I bought the XL size costumes & not the XXL because I thought XL, that's like large but bigger. Clearly, these costumes were either made for the Japanese or the measurements are in pixels based on height from the games. Never in my life have I worn such tight stretchy material. At first one could say, "well you're just fat," but see that's only a part of the problem. The legs on these things were now essentially pedal pushers held together by barely clasping velcro. And then the worst part, the crotch.

Look, I'm not what you'd call ashamed of my crotch, on occassion I've been known to wear overly snug jeans on purpose. But these things give new definition to moose knuckles. If we only had to go to parties thrown by friends it wouldn't be so bad, some of these people have seen me in my undies when we travel. However, I will NOT be that inappropriate person who shows up to a work function only to become the topic of conversation for what endlessly seems like forever. Again, not minding being the topic of conversation, just don't want it to be due to the fact that my testicles look like they might smother a small rodent.

Hopefully the XXL will fit less snugly. And if not then I guess it's on to another possibile costume. Oh and for future reference Nintendo just cuz we want to dress like your characters doesn't mean you should make them the same size as on-screen. Although if you are going to make things like your games, sign me up for that star thing....how fun would it be to just knock people on their ass all day? Oh to dream.

Australian Pop Rocket Lands in NYC...Sequins Found Near Surrounding Areas

To say I love the effervescent Kylie Minogue is an understatement. I have just about all her albums & tours on DVD. No, not only her tours I also have her video collection, which by the way Darien I want back cuz I'm going through SERIOUS withdrawals. Seriously kids, if you're ever in a funk just hop onto youtube and look for early Kylie videos, they're so horrible & cheesy that you can't help but be in a better mood by the end of it all. And she really needs to stop with the whole Showgirl theme for her concerts, cuz at this point it just seems like she oddly enjoys wearing feathers.

But I digress.

Aside from finding my 3 hellacious contest guest judges, this past weekend saw me finally being able to cross Ms. Minogue off my list of artists I love that I'll most likely never see live. At this point though the list is pretty much comprised of Robbie Williams and Michael Jackson and guess which one won't be crossed off anytime soon? That's right Robbie cuz I expect to see Michael in concert when they put his last one on DVD whereas Mr. Williams can't bother to get his stuff on a North American compatible format.

Back to my once in a lifetime (at this point anyway) experience. Truly the concert gods smiled upon me & my friends on Sunday as we got there about 15 minutes before the doors opened, were at basically the back of the line that wrapped around the block & STILL managed to get in before a majority of people who got there earlier and were essentially in front of us. Look, I'm not saying I'm proud of it or that I don't feel bad for people who got there at like 10am & then had to stand at the back. With that said I'm just chalking it all up to the karma of being a nice guy who helped a woman pick up her avocados at Bryant Park on Saturday while others gawked. See, fruit can bring good things other than digestion.

But on with the show!

That's not her actual opening but doesn't the head of the guy in front of me look like it could have opened up and shot her out with smoke? This is just the first decent pic I took of the diminutive diva. For the next 2 hours she gave us a cross section of all her albums, which would have been ok with me if she'd focused a little less of 'X,' but I get it's the "new-ish" one & all. This woman managed to cram her huge arena sized shows into the space of ballroom. Let me stress that again. She took a production that would fill Wembley Stadium & managed to fit it into a ballroom. Granted, it wasn't an airport Hilton ballroom but still that's some skill at work.

Never let it be said she doesn't know how to appeal to her audience & the boys were out in droves. It was like wall to wall lisp in there, but you know, not in a bad way, although if the place had been bombed there'd be at least 80% less fashion designers and hairstylists today. To that end of course there was outfit after outfit for her & well, less & less material for her male dancers. Again, the woman knows how to play to her audience. And did I mention that she did it all in heels? Not exactly Ginger Rogers style but I was just standing in the audience & my feet were about ready to cecede from the union that is my body. Although I'm pretty sure that's also cuz they're really opposed to freeing my ankles from slavery.

And while all that performing alone would be enough to make anyone realize this woman was clearly giving her US fans everything they'd been expecting, she took it a step further. One of my biggest pet peeves is going to a show where the performer essentially says "Hello (city I'm playing)" and "Good Night (city I'm playing)," with nary a deviation from the script. To say this woman reveled in audience interaction is like saying that Charles Manson is just a bit off. She spent the entire show talking to the audience, cracking jokes, I can't be entirely sure but I even think at one point she offered to make us vegamite sandwiches. Again, her natural adorableness didn't come off as phony or rehearsed, but like a genuine good time being had between her & a few 100 of her closest friends.

Hmmm, maybe that's why she tends to favor the theme of Showgirl. Although unlike Liz Berkely's Nomi, this is one showgirl who I can guarantee doesn't paint her nipples, especially not 2 different colors.

And The Winner Is....

So I know it's been just about over a week or so since I announced the deadline for my caption contest and I've been getting lots of inquiries as to who is the winner. First off I want to apologize to those who tried posting but for whatever reason couldn't post. However, the truth is that after viewing all the entries it was very difficult to declare a winner. There was creativity and humor all over the place and I want to thank everyone. But alas I have to declare someone the winner right?

Some of you know that I'm currently in NYC for the Kylie Minogue concert on Sunday. But what you don't know is that I'm also here because choosing a winner was so hard that I needed to enlist the help of some special judges who just so happen to be in NY for the concert as well. Without further ado I present the judges for our first ever TheIsh79 blog contest.

You know him from Project Runway, top American designer Michael Kors.

MK: Hi guys.

Currently unemployed former American Idol judge, Paula Abdul.

PA: Hi, I just want to say that all your captions have beautiful souls that could light up a room and generate the power for terminally ill wings at hospitals.

And extra special judge, leader of that evil organization bent on world domination, Cobra Commander.

CC: Helloooooo guyssssssssssssss.......

Thank you 3 for joining me on my blog to get this contest judged. So let's begin. Now there were several of your entries that just made me laugh out loud and some of you even appealed to my ego, which totally works. But in the end we had to whittle it down to 3 finalists. Based on the level of creativity and random pop culture type references, they are Julisa, Omar & Yvette and Inneabelle. So judges, let's start in the order they posted, first with Julisa.

MK: Her comment was just so trashy. I mean the costumes she referenced were cheap, the material non-existent. It's like a drag queen or something.

Umm, Michael, there are drag queens in the video and you haven't even mentioned the quote. Paula?

PA: Videos on youtube are great for comments, because they have a section for comments so we should leave comments because they let people know how we feel.

Oooook....Cobra Commander?

CC: Where issssssss the blue in the comment? It's just not evil enough. Perhaps that's because Julisa is plotting against me! RETREAT!!!!!

Well, in my opinion she totally gets points for referencing an obscure movie down to the exact minute where the similarity shows. Frankly, for that alone she has more than earned her place in the Top 3. Now on to Omar & Yvette's comment.

MK: Was this a team challenge? It's almost like they can't work without each other. Dependency on pre-made things is never going to get you far in this industry.

You are aware they're not being judged on designs right?

MK: Huh, what?

Paula?

PA: The power of a team is better than that of being alone. Nobody should ever be alone. It's like Ricky Martin sang with Christina Aguilera. And now, she knows how to work with people with all her duos and co-writing with Linda Perry. I mean, really what is going on?

Clearly, nothing in your head. Although every fiber in my being says I'll regret it, Cobra Commander your take?

CC: It'sssssss that blassssssted GI Joe, alwaysssssss ruining my plansssss. Baronessssssss! Desssssstro!!!!

I'm beginning to think I could have saved on some airfare. Regarding the entry, you need to go see the pic she posted. Aside from finding the Pair of Nuts comedy duo to be hilarious the pic is just dead-on. Unfortunately, as my sister and brother-in-law, they're ineligible for the prize. That leaves me with only one entry left and God help me I'm going to ask for more insight from the judges.

MK: Would an alien really mate with Gollum? I mean it's always the same thing, creatures with creatures, mix it up honey. Take us somewhere else than Middle Earth or St. Tropez for a change.

....sigh, Paula.

PA: The absolute best thing to put on bread is jam but only straberry jam. It's like if Michael Jackson's song JAM was a jam, I don't think it'd be strawberry. It seems more like a spring blend of honey and mint. Delicious, just delicious.

Just, just go for it.

CC: Perhapssssss I'll recruit thissssss Gollum for our evil forcesssss....yesss, yessss...COBRAAAAA!!!!!

For the love of...ok, the hell with you crazies. Seriously, 2 of you are like walking catch phrases and I'm not entirely sure the other one isn't a cardboard cut-out with a voicebox. By sheer length and managing to mix Alf, Lord of the Rings and the Estefans I just have to award the prize of my first ever blog contest to Inneabelle. The creativity and out of left field story that she submitted is just the pinnacle of the bizarre ass-ness of the minds of those reading my blogs. As out there as I may post things, I can always count on you guys to provide commentary that matches it word for word.

Thank you for all your comments, views, and signing up as followers. I write because I feel the need but to know it's being read just makes it all better. Now, if you'll excuse me I have to make sure 3 judges accidentally fall on the 3rd rail.