Tag: pirates of the caribbean

  • 2014 Writers and Illustrators of the Future Awards

    IMG_9732

    Hanging out on the red carpet – is it weird to see Geek Outlaw out of uniform?

    First let’s address the giant oliphant in the room. Yes, this is called the L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future Awards. Yes, this made me very nervous when I first got the invitation to cover it. If you are unaware, L. Ron Hubbard was the founder of the Church of Scientology, a church that has seen its share of controversy. Then again, I’m half Catholic (in theory, not in practice), so who am I to talk about religious controversy? I was quick to ask if the Awards had anything to do with the Church and was given a quick, but polite response that L. Ron Hubbard was also a prolific science fiction writer and the Awards had nothing to do with Scientology. I did a little research and it seemed that they do try and keep the two quite separate. After talking it over with my NerdBFF, Geek Outlaw, our curiosity got the better of us and we decided to go and see what it was all about for ourselves. I will say that there was no indication that it was a Scientology event aside from that it was an L. Ron Hubbard love fest. A large portrait of him hung from the stage the entire time except during the music and dance performances, there was a rather lengthy video montage honoring him, and his name was mentioned every few minutes, at minimum.

    Hanging out before the awards

    Now, that being said, if there is one thing that I took away from the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Awards, it’s that it was a very positive experience and a very big deal for the winners. They were obviously well taken care of by Author Services and enormously grateful for the week of classes and activities that were organized for them, including workshops with talented and established authors and artists, trips to museums, etc. They also receive cash prizes that are much higher than other contests, are given opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have, and many of them go on to become highly successful authors and illustrators in their own right. Regardless of whether or not there is any religious affiliation, I think that there is a place for this competition.

    Some of the winners on the red carpet

    For me personally, the highlight of the evening was having the opportunity to chat with the winners and presenters on the red carpet beforehand. The winners were nervous and excited, the presenters approachable and proud of the honorees. Geek Outlaw and I had the pleasure of interviewing the evening’s keynote speaker Astronaut Leland Melvin:

    Astronaut Leland Melvin

    – June Scobee Rodgers, widow of Challenger Astronaut Dick Scobee:

    June Scobee Rodgers

    – Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Orson Scott Card, author of the Ender’s Game series of sci-fi novels:

    Orson Scott Card

    – Robert J. Sawyer, author of Flash Forward:

    Robert J. Sawyer

    – And Kevin J. Anderson, author of Dune and X-Files fiction:

    Kevin J. Anderson

    – The winners were announced alternating between the writers and the illustrators who created the original artwork for that particular story. The winners were from every conceivable walk of life. From high school teachers to high school students, computer scientists to real estate agents, Veterinarians to former military. And from every corner of the planet including South Korea, Jamaica, Canada, Finland, East Siberia, England, Portugal, Germany, Australia and, of course, all over the United States. Some of the awards were interspersed with circus performers, Indian dancers, BMX cyclists and musical performers.The grand prize is the Golden Pen Award and the Golden Brush Award. These two gentlemen received $5000 and had previously delivered two of the most emotional speeches of the night. Both were enormously grateful and humbled by the fact that they had won. Golden Pen Award: Memories Bleed Beneath the Mask by Randy HendersonGolden Brush Award: Trevor SmithThe evening wrapped up with a reception and a chance to have our copies of the Anthology signed by all of the winners. I tried to get as many signatures as I could but the crowds because ridiculous and I reluctantly gave up since I had to drive back to San Diego that night. There and back in one day was a doozy, let me tell you! We did get a chance to hang out with writer Tim Powers for a bit before we left. His 1988 novel On Stranger Tides was optioned for Disney’s fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film.All in all it was a delightful evening and anything that helps writers get their foot in the door is a good thing.

  • 7 Guys Worth Nerdgasaming Over

    Just replace the Tribble with one of these 7 delicious men and I’ll be a happy camper

    My sister-in-law and I were at WonderCon on Friday and somehow we got on the topic of “Cheat Sheets.”

    And no, I’m not talking about the school variety.

    The “Cheat Sheet” I’m referring to is a list of people you’re allowed to get it on with and your significant other can’t hold it against you.  You both get one and the list is full of people you don’t even remotely stand a chance with.  For example, Robert Downey Jr. and Christian Bale are on my SIL’s list.  Isla Fisher and Gretchen Mole are on my brother’s list.  They are only allowed 5 each.

    Now, I’ve written a number of articles about sexy women, the 2 most popular being 10 Hottest Babes of Sci-Fi and Maxim’s Hot 100 Lucky 13 but I have yet to write a post about nerd-worthy sexy men.  This kind of blows my mind. It also got me thinking about my own list and who would be on it.  I certainly know it when I see it if I’d hit it…but can I narrow it down to a list?

    It’s was a difficult challenge but one that I was willing to accept.

    Yeesh my job really sucks sometimes 😉

    After much thought, meditation and Google image searching, I’ve put together my Cheat Sheet. I couldn’t narrow it down to 5 so I get 7.  Because I’m HNG and I say so.  So there.  Naturally everyone on my list fits nicely into the nerd ‘verse….cause that’s all I ever pay attention to anyways…ahem.  Sorry if you don’t bat for this team and it’s not your kind of list.  I’m an equal opportunity sexy list maker and I can’t (nay won’t!) neglect the fans who will appreciate this.

    So without further ado, here’s my list in alphabetical order:

    Orlando Bloom

    I studied for my college finals every December for 3 years in a row while waiting in the 5+ hour line for opening day of the latest Lord of the Rings movie.  I graduated Cum Laude so I must have been doing something right.  The first time I saw Legolas on screen I was 100% convinced that I was going to marry him one day.  Then all the teeny boppers jumped on that bandwagon (especially once Pirates of the Caribbean came out) and it turned me off big time.  But still, I can’t help it.  I think he’s adorable.  Thankfully most of those teeny boppers have moved on to RPatz.  I used to see Orlando outside my work sometimes, once with Dominic Monaghan (and cue borderline creepy stalker pic) and my heart would still leap into my throat.  So he stays on the list.

    Nathan Fillion

    Does this one really need an explanation?  I didn’t think so.  But I’ll give one anyway.  Actually, I wrote a whole blog about it back when HNG was brand spankin’ new and I stand by it.  But aside from the fact that he’s Malcolm Reynolds, Captain Hammer, Richard Castle, The Holy Avenger, etc etc etc…Nathan himself has an amazing sense of humor.  I don’t pay much attention to my Twitter account (although I probably should) but every once in a while I go on and just read back through his tweets for fun.  I’m often told that I look like Stana Katic, Nathan’s source of sexual tension on Castle.  I disagree about the physical similarities but I would gladly trade places with her and experience some of that sexual tension for myself. ….please….?

    Tom Hardy

    Five of the men on this list are foreigners with deliciously sexy foreign accents.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m as proud an American as they come, but GD I love a good accent.  There’s a scene in This Means War when Reese Witherspoon meets Tom Hardy for the first time and she asks him to say something again because it sounds so awesome.  I could not have said it better myself.  Tom Hardy first came to my attention as the Captain Picard clone in Star Trek: Nemesis.  I went to see it on opening day with about ten guy friends.  About five minutes into the movie I started crying (because I’m a movie psychic and I’d already figured out what would happen to Data) much to the horror of every guy I was with.   I will never forget the moment when the friend next to me asked me if I was ok and I looked over and saw ten grown men staring at me like I had tentacles sprouting from my face.  It was HI-larious.  But I digress.  The other thing that stood out was Tom.  He’s been charming me ever since, crooked teeth and all. Seriously, he was my very favorite character in Inception. I think I’m the only person on the planet that isn’t looking forward to seeing him as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.  I know he’s going to be brilliant but the thought of him like that just makes me cringe.  But I’ll still watch it.  Over and over and over again.

    Chris Hemsworth

    If you’ve been following the blog for a while this will come as no surprise.  If you are a newbie, allow me to explain.  I’m a big Thor fan. 1. He’s my favorite comic book character and 2. I’m a ridiculously proud Scandinavian who grew up listening to stories about Odin and Asgard while we made lefse and sauerkraut.  The first time I remember seeing Thor on a movie screen was when Vincent D’Onofrio reluctantly accepted the title in Adventures in Babysitting, one of my very favorite movies of all time. So I had very high hopes for whoever Kenneth Branaugh cast in his Avengers set up.  I wasn’t sure what to think about Chris Hemsworth at first.  I remembered him being Kirk’s daddy in the latest Star Trek and I thought he was mighty cute but not big enough to be the God of Thunder.  Then he took his shirt off and I had a conniption fit.  OMFG.  Seriously Chris, you just have to say the word and it is on like Donkey Kong.

    James McAvoy

    I think my attraction to James mostly has to do with his Scottish accent.  And his eyes.  And the fact that he’s a brilliant actor.  And his eyes.  And his accent.  All of which I discussed in my review of X-Men: First Class. But aside from all that, he’s uber talented.  Mr. Tumnus is one of those literary characters that is beloved by fans of The Chronicles of Narnia and James did good by our favorite faun.  Plus, he rocks the Jane Austin-type stuff and you know us girls eat that shit right up.

    David Tennant

    Another choice that needs no explanation.  Easily the sexiest of all the Doctor incarnations, his 3 series and 8 specials are the most popular and well-loved of the long running Doctor Who BBC show.  Then he had to go and seal the deal with Harry Potter and Fright Night, forcing me to adore him forever.  His face is so malleable, he can twist and turn it in countless ways.  But when he just stop and smiles, your heart melts.  David, I am so sorry (see what I did there?), but I just can’t quit you.

    Michael Trucco

    Now, my brother’s name is Michael and normally I’m totally weirded out by the thought of banging someone with the same name as someone I’m related to but in this case I will totally make an exception.  I fell head over heels in love with Anders the second he showed up on Battlestar Galactica.  Lee who?  Seriously, I wanted to punch Starbuck in the face for the way she treated him.  Even the fact that he was a Cylon could not diminish my love.  It sucked when he went all vegetable and yet I would still probably hit that.  I’m a little grossed out by myself right now but damn, that is a fine ass man.  He also had memorable guest spots on Big Bang Theory and Castle (where my celebrity look alike got to have a nice little love triangle with TWO of the people on my list.  Bitch.)

    Runners Up:

    Richard Madden – Game of Thrones

    Kit Harington – Game of Thrones

    Chris O’Donnell – Batman Forever (but never ever ever Batman & Robin *shudder*)

    Patrick Stewart – Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Men

    Henry Cavill – The Tudors, Immortals, Man of Steel

    Jamie Dornan – Once Upon A Time

    Jason Mamoa – Conan the Barbarian, Game of Thrones, Stargate: Atlantis

    Ben Browder – Farscape, Stargate SG1, upcoming Doctor Who episode

    Alexander Skarsgard – True Blood

    Ryan Kwanten – True Blood

    Joe Manganiello – True Blood

    Tristan MacManus – Dancing with the Stars (I know, totally random, right? But I’m a theatre/dance nerd too and he’s frakking adorable)

  • My Star Wars Leap Day Night Thing at Disneyland

    The Lovely Ladies of Leap Day – Jessica, HNG, Troi

    At first I didn’t that think our little Leap Day trip to Disneyland was nerdy enough to write about. Then I thought about the fact that I stayed up all night for a history-making 24 hour Disney marathon and I realized that this is about as nerdy as it gets.

    Our little group chose a Star Wars theme for our little adventure. We were planning to ride Star Tours multiple times like I had on my birthday. Also, we all love Star Wars. We wore our t-shirts. Jessica had her Darth Vader backpack. Troi had her Darth Vader sweatshirt. I had my Darth Vader watch. Then, of course, it turned out to be über cold and we had to cover up our sweet t-shirts. Then Jessica had to head out and she took her sweet backpack with her. In the end the only proof of our Star Wars love was Troi’s sweet Vader sweatshirt. Which got a ton of compliments in the Star Tours line the ONE time we were able to ride it.

    But this guy kind of made up for it with his sweet Viking beard beanie

    We also had our mini lightsabers. I snagged them the second I saw them at Target because they, well, look like mini lightsabers. Only after I brought them home did I realize that they could also be used as location devices. At that point I didn’t think the park would be very busy in the middle of the night. I was very very wrong about that. So these bad boys came in handy on multiple occasions. Plenty of people had glow sticks and light up Mickey ears but these outshined them all. I’m never going to any nighttime event without one ever again. A stroke of genius on my part.  And did I mention that it doubles as a lightsaber?

    Mini lightsabers FTW!

    I got to introduce Troi to the awesomeness that is Captain Eo. Usually she has my 3 year old nephew with her and he’s not quite old enough to sit still or appreciate he epicness that is Michael Jackson throwing rays of light that turn the Borg into 80’s workout video dancers. And they gave us a special pin for watching it on Leap Day. Double win.

    We had to fight for this picture with Darth Vader. Seriously, people, you just don’t mess with my sister-in-law. She’s married to a marine so she has badassery via osmosis. She plays roller derby so she has badassery in her own right. She’s all tatted up (including a skull that looks like it should be Klingon, that one is my favorite) so basically she’s just badass all around. Here’s what happened…

    Don’t come between a fangirl and her Vader

    We were hanging out by the totally random rave party for about 5 minutes while Troi said hi to a friend of hers.  As we were leaving we saw Darth Vader and two stormtroopers walk by.  Game Over for Troi, the girl is borderline obsessed with Vader.  So we follow them and see a line to take a picture with them. It’s kind of long, but shit, so are all the other lines so we get in it.  They say that Vader and friends are going to be there for half an hour.  The way the line is moving we’ll totally get to the front in time.  Ten minutes later one of the girls working the line…don’t know her name so we’ll just call her Evil Whore….starts shouting that Vader is only going to be there for 5 more minutes.  The person behind us in line has a schedule of his appearances and says not to worry, he’ll be back at midnight (in about 20 minutes or so).  We have nothing better to do because, at this point, we’re still under the delusion that people will clear out of the park after the parade at 1am, so we decide to wait.  About 5 minutes later the stormtroopers come back sans Vader (so they’re obviously following this so-called schedule they’ve given out).  Troi gets a little anxious and goes up to EW and asks when Vader is coming back. EW says it won’t be for about another half an hour.  Troi very nicely says that she would like to wait for Vader and that other people can go in front of us in the line if they want a picture with just the stormtroopers.  EW flips the fuck out.  She says that we have to take pictures with just the stormtroopers or we can’t have pictures at all.  Troi comes back to the line fuming.  Everyone around us wants to know what’s going on and why Vader isn’t there.  Troi fills them in on what EW said and states that she’s not moving.  She’s waiting for Vader and EW can suck it.  Everyone else decides that they are going to do the same.  We get to the front of the line and refuse to move.  EW starts yelling at us.  We start calmly explaining our position.  EW starts threatening us.  We start not so calmly explaining our position and all the ways in which she’s failing at her job and how she’s a lying liar who lies.  A grandma behind us points to her crying grandson and totally uses him as a pawn against EW.  It was epic.  EW threatens to call over security or management.  We tell her to please do.  The Manager comes over and wants to know what’s going on.  Troi is our unofficial spokeswoman and she very nicely tells him the whole story. EW is standing next to him with her arms crossed and a smug look on her face.  The Manager….don’t know his name so I’ll just call him Awesome Manager Dude….TOTALLY AGREES WITH US.  The smug look very quickly evaporates from EW’s face, only to be replaced with a look of pure, unadulterated hatred.  AMD quickly forms a second line for those who don’t mind having a picture with only stromtroopers…mostly made up of people who happened to be walking by (I felt bad for the poor troopers, they had no idea what was going on and we wanted to tell them that it had nothing to do with them).  EW walked up and down the line saying that there was a second, faster line for the troopers and NO ONE MOVED.  Seriously, it was like some crazy, instantaneous brotherhood of nerds that was as mad as hell and they weren’t gonna take it anymore (bonus points if you know what movie I stole that line from).  Darth Vader came back out about 5 minutes later and we got our GD picture.  Justiccccce!!!  I’m not gonna lie, the experience restored my faith in humanity a little.

    After that we said screw it and got in the long ass line for Star Tours.  We quickly formed “fleeting line friendship #1” with a guy named Chris who had come to the park (han) solo.  He explained to us how they had a giant X-Wing in the room we were waiting in during the previews of the revamped ride.  He was kind enough to email me a picture of it.

    Tada! Thanks Chris, it was nice to meet you!

    The good thing was that this was the best scenario combo I’d seen yet for the ride. The bad thing was the 10 drunken idiots behind us that were shouting the whole time.  Made soooo much worse by the fact that one of them was chosen to be the rebel spy. (I might be just a little bit bitter that I’ve never been chosen as the rebel spy…ahem)

    In line for Pirates and eagerly anticipating being able to sit down in the boat

    After a quick jaunt over to Pirates of Caribbean (in which the girl we’d been talking to in the seat behind us fell asleep and had to be shoved off the ride), it was 4am and our last chance to ride Space Mountain.  We had been hopeful that the line would die down, but nope, there was a 140 minute wait.  We quickly formed “fleeting line friendship #2” with a lady about my mom’s age who had flown in from Arizona that morning on the 7am flight, taken a Super Shuttle to Disneyland, ridden rides all day/night by herself, then was going to take the shuttle to the Disneyland hotel, the hotel shuttle to the airport and catch a 8:30am flight back to Arizona.  The woman was a frakking rockstar.

    I was on my 3rd Redbull by this time

    By the time we got off Space Mountain it was 6am and the park was closing for 4 hours before they opened again at 10am.

    Yes, I took a picture of the clock saying that it was 6am

    We walked down Main Street with the rest of the crazies…surprisingly few people considering how crowded it was all night.  We found a drunk guy in a Ninja Turtle snuggie and had to stop and take a picture with him.

    I’m pretty sure he was passed out on the sidewalk just moments before

    We high-fived the Management team who were all lined up wearing Mickey hands and shouting “We did it!”

    High-fives bitches! Now get your drunk asses out of our park!

    We walked past the ticket booth where people were already lined up to buy tickets for the park that day.  I know it sounds weird, but it was sort of a spiritual experience walking through Disneyland while the sun came up.

    Dawn at Dland

    Maybe it was just the exhaustion, but that was the first and only point where I thought “dude! I was just a part of history!”

    It says: I took the leap and didn’t sleep. I pulled an all-nighter at Disneyland.

    I’m glad I did it but I will never, ever, ever do that again.

    Never.

    Probably.

    We survived! Now lets get the fuck out of here.
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: it just gets stranger and stranger

    Big wall o' pirates

    I know a lot of people who don’t really care for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as a whole. They thought the first one was fun and the 2nd and 3rd ones were convoluted pieces of crap. Therefore, I had a hard time finding someone who would see #4 with me. Luckily I have an awesome Mom who just happened to be visiting this weekend. We both like the films for the most part (although I take issue with parts of At Worlds End). I guess I’m just a sucker for action adventure.

    On Stranger Tides is based on a novel of the same name by Tim Powers. It’s appropriately named since it is, well, a bit strange. Power’s novel prominently features voodoo, something that Disney opted to keep and force (not always successfully) into the world of Pirates of the Caribbean.

    Barbossa's spiffy new duds!

    I’m sure you know the basic plot, that everyone is searching for the legendary fountain of youth. It’s not really clear why everyone (especially Captain Jack Sparrow) is trying to find it. For Blackbeard (Ian McShane), it’s because he’s heard a prophecy about his death and he’s trying to escape his fate. Everyone else wants to find it for no apparent reason. We find out later why Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and the Spanish are looking for it but for Jack, it seems to just be something to do.

    As for the fountain, for a secret supposedly taken to the grave by Ponce de Leon, a whole lot of people seem to know all about it. Not just it, but the rather complicated ritual you need to go through to drink from it. By the by, I’ve been to St. Augustine, Florida (PdL was supposedly the first European to set foot in Florida) so I know for a fact that Ponce died and is buried in Cuba and was not left to mummify in a ship perched up on a rock. But whatever, I’m willing to suspend belief a little.

    Fun fact: Ponce de Leon wasn’t looking for the fountain of youth to give him long life…nope, he was more concerned about it curing his impotence (how is one supposed to rape and brutalize the natives if he can’t get it up, right?)

    [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5AqJww06bw]

    The ritual requires a mermaid’s tear which requires capturing a mermaid which requires sacrificing a whole lot of minions since mermaids apparently cross-bred with vampires somewhere along the line. They’re hot and they sing but Ariel they most certainly are not. My mom was a little disappointed by the viciousness of the mermaids and I can see why. As the daughter of a sailor, I learned that mermaids are not unlike the sirens of Greek mythology. They hypnotize sailors with their beautiful singing and the entranced sailors would walk or dive off of the ship in order to get to them, unfortunately drowning in the process. Or the sailors are nabbed by mermaids who forget that humans can’t breathe underwater and accidentally drown them while trying to show them their sweet underwater digs. Personally, if the mermaids of my youth had been more like these gals, I would have pretended to be one more often. There was a certain degree of “girl power” to these half mermaid-half vampire ladies…at least until one actually got captured and needed to be rescued by a big strong man. Then the whole “girl power” message kind of went right out the window.

    How would you like it if your date went from this…
    …to this! yeesh…

    Ah well…at least I still had a strong woman in Penelope Cruz. She can fight! She can seduce! She can command a ship! The only thing I didn’t really care for was her borderline creepy obsession with her Dad. Speaking of which…Ian McShane was solid as Blackbeard thanks to his icy eyes. I couldn’t buy into him being a master of black magic but I got a kick out of seeing him in a non-western setting. Geoffrey Rush could read the phone book and make it interesting. His frenemy relationship with Jack was in full swing. Sadly, the person who felt most out of place was Jack and I think it’s because they tried to force the character into Jack Shandy’s role in the book. Despite Johnny Depp’s best efforts, the two characters just don’t really mesh. I missed most of the crew members from the Black Pearl, although my favorite of them, Gibbs (Kevin McNally) was there. I was uber excited to see Keith Richards again as Jack’s Daddy but was sorely disappointed by his wooden performance. This is the guy that Depp based Jack’s zaniness on after all.

    In the end, it was a fun and entertaining movie but not one that I necessarily need to see again.

    2.5 out of 5 sci-fives