Nikki's Comicon 2017 Top Ten

Every year, I tell you that I'm going to write you a Comicon post and then some how it's magically December and it's closer to next year's Comicon and it's just not going to happen. The problem is I think too big. You know I'm wordy and with an event like Comicon there's just too much to write about.

Well, I'll show you Comicon!!!!

This time I'm just doing a Top 10 list. Disclaimer - some of these will kind of blend and repeat. While there are 10 distinct experiences, the pictures overlap occasionally.

Nikki's Ultimate Comicon 2017 Top 10 Best Things Ever

10. Star Wars Booth

I'd be amiss to not mention the whole reason we go to Comicon. Dan and I are lucky to be friends with the guy who coordinated the Star Wars presence at conferences and we get to work the Star Wars booth which gets us our passes. Being Star Wars and all, their booth is generally a large attraction in the convention and this year was no different. Our booth featured a large scene from The Last Jedi as well as some X-Wing Pilot costumes that were used in the film. It was really cool.

The highlight of working the booth though, is interacting with the fans. For the most part, people were friendly and gratious. My job most of my shifts was to take pictures for the fans who came to the booth. I got a great angle and became really efficient with my role. I also really liked it. My favorite were the people with fancy DSLR cameras. I hadn't really used one before but by the end of the weekend, I wanted one.

I also got to see so many cool costumes come through and a few times I asked if I could take their photo for myself as well. I loved seeing the cosplayers have fun mixing their characters with our scene.

9. Cosplay

I didn't really get a lot of pictures of Cosplayers this year but that didn't make their outfits any less amazing. Dan and I normally put together some amateur cosplay as well, but weren't able to this year. Knowing how much work it is to make our mediocre outfits, I always applaud the people who have really good ones. While I don't have any stand alone pictures of them, you can look above for some of my favorites from our booth.

Oh wait, here's an awesome K2S0!

8. SyFy's Everything

SyFy had a huge presences at Comicon this year. They often marched through the streets with a band giving out prizes. They had a pedal cart where you could do trivia. If your team won, you would each get $20. They had a puzzle room for the Expanse (which we did not try out). Lastly, they had a huge party where they rented out the Children's museum, gave out free beers and shirts, had a 90s cover band, and was hosted by Zachary Levi. The last one was what I had the most experience with and it was amazing. I'm not a big party person but every now and then I'm into it and I had a great time at this one. It was a perfect mix of things I love - friends, costumes, beer, bands, and Zachary Levi. Very fun time.

7. Recoil

Sometimes at Comicon, you get to test out a new product. For us, this was Recoil. We thought we were just waiting in line for a silly laser tag game, but we actually really loved the product. Basically, you have some laser tag type of guns and your cell phone is your screen for your game. It plays more like a real life first person shooter where you have to reload, collect ammo, regenerate, and can command air strikes. You play on teams and you have headsets so you can coordinate. We played on a small parking lot course but you can create your own boundaries and play up to a football field sized area. Could you imagine playing in a big park or through a quiet neighborhood? With so much distance and many natural obstacles, you could really have an awesome game. Anyways, needless to say, we destroyed the other team like 40-6 or something.

Dan and I are definitely interested in buying a set. The starter pack with 2 guns and the home base is $130 with additional guns ranging from $50-70 (depending on size/quality). Our feeling was that we'd totally buy the starter set if our friends get their own add on guns. Our group plays in so many leagues that cost $50-70 every few weeks and I like the idea of starting our own Recoil league and playing weekly with our own things instead. Friends - if you're reading this, buy a Recoil gun. Thanks!!!!

6. The Kingsman Happy Hour

Comicon has a lot of opportunities for free food and drinks. This year, it seemed like there was more than ever. One of those opportunities, was a daily happy hour put on by Kingsman 2. My friends and I went two of the days and we loved it. For a short wait, you got 2 whiskey drinks, a burger, a chance to win prizes, and lots of challenge coins. What's a challenge coin? Well, it stems from a military tradition where everyone would have a special coin. While they were out drinking, soldiers would slam their coins on the table. The last one to slam their coin has to buy the next round. We had a fun time playing the whole weekend, and even more fun knowing that many of our drinks were free so no one had to pay up. 

All in all, the happy hour was a fun and silly event. The movie is kind of a spoof on spy movies and it seems like the sequel is going to be even more silly so it was cool that they took the idea and just had a lot of fun throwing some great parties.

Even Halle Berry took part in the Kingsman festivities! .... just not with us

5. New Trailers

Here's something everyone benefited from - even if they didn't make it to the convention. So many movies dropped new trailers from Thor Ragnarok to Ready Player One. I could list them all but I'm sure you've probably already watched them all. I love that people know to look to Comicon for info on new movies and it helps make the event such a major part of the film industry.

4. Photo Ops

The last 5 could probably be inter-changable. They are ALL my favorite things about Comicon but I was able to barely place them into an order.

The Photo Ops are something Dan and I have loved every year. It's probably the reason I had so much fun at our booth - it was a giant photo op. We've always loved finding places to take fun pictures around Comicon and this year was no different. With how many things have long lines, being able to just take a quick photo is such a nice instant gratification and leaves you with a lasting memory.

3. Bladerunner

Like the Kingsman happy hour, this was an outside event (meaning no pass was needed to go) and it also featured free whiskey and food (literally the theme of Comicon this year). That's where the similarities end. While Kingsman truly was a happy hour, Bladerunner was an experience. For a scant 5 hour wait in line (we must have gone at a peak time), you got to watch a VR video that landed you in Los Angeles 2049. You arrive at the scene of a crash with futuristic police officers grilling you about what you saw.

If you survive that room, you move onto the downtown scene. There's an Asian restaurant, transvestites, fog, and a lot of lights. Frankly, it felt a lot like the Castro in SF to me. I loved it. In the downtown area you could get scanned to test if you were a replicant, get a free shirt from a vending machine, eat some free noodles, and try Johnnie Walker scotch (not really related to the movie, but they were the event sponsor). It was a long wait but it was such a fun experience that it was worth it. I heard the line for the experience without VR was shorter and in the future, I would have done that. The best part was the interactive portion and everyone got to do that.

2. Sharing it with My Friends

You're probably thinking, "Damn Nikki, your friends are #2? That's cold!" NUMBER 1 IS REALLY GOOD, OK? Ok great!

Every year a few of my friends come into town for Comicon and it makes the whole thing so much more fun. There are also a lot of San Diego friends who reach out and try to meet up. Imagine how fun all of the past numbers were... now imagine it with either friends you don't see often but love or with friends you see all the time but have never seen the wonders of Comicon. It all adds up to a super amazing fun time.

While I didn't get to meet up with everyone I tried to connect with, I appreciated the time I spent with the people who met up with us. Every year I put together a really organized calendar so I can maximize my time at the con. I was happy to share it with anyone who asked and I'm glad it helped them find cool events and also find me.

Having so many friends meet up at some point took it from a very fun event to a super duper amazing fun time with some of my favorite people.

1. Panels

In my opinion, getting inside the Con has two major perks. You get to buy exclusive merchandise and you can go to panels. Dan and I try not to buy a lot of stuff so we try to maximize our panels. The holy grail of panels are in Hall H. That's about a 24 hour line though and we've never been up for the sacrifice. Luckily, many of our favorite shows are in Ballroom 20 and the line is just a few hours.

Those same shows all ended in crazy cliffhangers so getting a first look at the show's new footage was amazing. Hearing the actors' thoughts on the crazy things that happened over their seasons was also really cool. I mostly just love seeing all the banter and friendships amongst the cast.

Sometimes - you get a really amazing moment at the panels you attend. Last year, the amazing moment was the cast of Flash singing and tap dancing. That moment led to a musical episode. This year, the moment hit much closer to home. A young girl asked Stephen Amell (the star of Arrow) if he will sell anymore shirts to raise money for cancer... as she was a cancer survivor. The room went still. He proceeded to ask her some questions and the end result was him giving her a personal necklace, a hug, and a kiss. I cried then and I cry now thinking about it. Recently losing a parent to cancer as well as both god parents, I know it's a tough experience. I can't even imagine a kid going through it. That's just absolutely terrible. I'm happy she's a survivor and I hope she doesn't come across it again in her future.

That clip is here if you want to see it for yourself:

So that's it! It was hard to limit myself to 10 and I had to move things around a bit, but I did it! I wrote about Comicon! I had an absolutely fantastic time. It's impossible to do it all and I know I missed some experiences - from the friends I didn't meet up with to the Westworld experience (seriously, Google it) to my endless pursuit to meet Nikki Bella. Lucky for me, there's next year and you better believe I will keep coming back for more as long as San Diego has this fantastic event.

Fall TV in Review

My new job has me watching a lot of TV and movie trailers and for the first time in years, I had a long list of new shows to watch this fall (and a few old favorites) and I figured I'd let you know how they fared. Last year, I did something similar for Arrow vs. Beauty and the Beast and ended loving one show and never watching the other again. This season I had more to check out... so what'd I think?

The Blacklist
This was my favorite promo of the whole bunch of new shows and has delivered so fully that it just makes me shiver in excitement when I think about this show. It delivers in every regard. I am biased to strong female lead and James Spader's Red challenges her in every way. The set up is ideal in my opinion - a series of self contained stories that tie overlay a broader story full of potential character development. Anyone can tune in to a new episode, see another person from "the list" and not need a lot of back story but continuous watchers benefit from seeing Elizabeth Keen grow stronger, smarter, and more suspicious. This show continues to get better with each episode and I'm so excited to see where it goes.

Hostages
My thoughts after this preview was that it would make a great movie or mini-series but it's going to be too drawn out as a TV show. The premise of Hostages is that a surgeon's family is held hostage the night before she is to operate on the President and they will be killed if the POTUS survives the operation. It's an interesting concept and a strong cast but three episodes in and I'm definitely still wondering how this will make a full series much less a season. I hope they figure it out soon though because the back story of the kidnapper in particular is really great and the show, in general, is interesting to watch.

The Crazy Ones
I added very few new comedies this Fall. The dramas just seemed so much better but now that I work in advertising research, watching a comedy about an ad agency seemed to be a good pick. The show overall is very funny but is definitely dominated by Robin Williams. It's clear that he improvises a lot of the jokes which makes for an interesting dynamic. I would say that your interest in this show will be completely dictated by how much you like Robin's style of humor.

Once Upon a Time
This one is having a high and low start for me. With most of the extra cast cut out, I would have hoped that they would have allowed the rest to shine in the way we've seen in the past. Specifically, I'm having problem with Regina focusing solely on magic and her villainous side when we've seen some much more out of that character. One of my favorite parts of the show was how the line between good and evil was so blurry with Regina frequently showing that she genuinely has love in her heart. I would have thought that in trying to save Henry, she would have softened a bit, especially after just saving Storybrooke. Charming is also leaning too far too his self-righteous side. On the positive side though, I'm happy that they're finally addressing Emma's history and the trouble with spending 28+ years as an orphan and in what better place than Neverland, home of the lost "boys"? I think Snow's reaction to this is appropriate as well - finding the balance between realizing you weren't there and finding a way to make up for it without being overbearing. This would have a been a good time for Charming to show a better side of his personality as well. I have always loved Hook and his interactions with Emma and I think he continues to be a fascinating character. He made a very unbelievable "bad guy" last season and I like that they've taken that and used it to make Peter Pan a villain. The shows strength has always been the characters' complex and often gray back stories and hopefully this season continues to run with that.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
In ever constant belief that I'm an excellent multi-tasker, I'm actually writing this while watching the premiere and folding laundry and it's losing the attention battle (I mean, after laundry of course). I like the glimpse of Storybrooke at the begining and the introduction of new characters, but I think it will need to have a more compelling story if it is going to survive. It's lucky also that the source material has both the Queen of Hearts (the late Cora) and a Red Queen so there is an easy source for a new main antagonist. A refresh of the OUAT tie ins would have also been appreciated as I can't quite remember all of the Knave of Hearts story. OUATIW should also try not to force special effects so much. I know it's Wonderland but many of the effects come off looking shoddy and aren't all necessary. Focus on the ones that are needed (like our CGI White Rabbit played nicely by John Lithgow) and let the story do the rest.

How I Met Your Mother
The first couple of episodes really hit it out of the park for me. I love how (spoiler alert) they came out of the gates with the mother. When she was revealed last season, I was excited to see how they would incorporate her. The idea of going with a little known actress kept me from having any pre-conceived notions of her which I'm sure helped with how much I ended up loving the character. She has Ted's same oddities but the strength of character to put up with Lily (and likely the rest of the group too). You can easily see her fitting in on the front porch and her chemistry with Ted is believable as well. What's bothering me about this season is that we haven't continued to see more of her. While it's nice to see some more of the Lily/Ted dynamic, the season is starting to suffer from the same repetitive antics that the last couple of seasons have suffered from. It would be nice if they stopped treading water and showed us more flash forwards and scenes with the Mother. I'm also starting to miss Marshall. It's amazing how Jason Segal can act through an iPad and still be stronger than two other characters on scene but I hope we don't get too far into this wedding weekend without him.

Parenthood
This show continues to tug on my heartstrings. Christina's cancer battle last season had me spending many nights curled up in a tear filled ball on my couch and it's nice to see that turned on it's head and used as a motivation to have her take risks now that she has "a second chance." I've always loved how this show uses the large extended family of a cast to show a variety of family dynamics in a realistic way and it continues to be solid.

Modern Family
I love this show and it continues to be consistently funny. I really love that the season opener touched on the legalization of gay marraige in California, giving us some tender moments between all of the adult couples. The show often just shoots for laughs so to be reminded of why all of these couples love each other was so sweet. My personal favorite was Phil and Claire since his goofiness often seems like an odd match to her sternness and I like how the show realized that and let you see why they work. I'm not thinking of any other stand out moment but the show is always great for a 30 minute laugh and I'm going to keep watching.

Sleepy Hollow
This show has surprised me. I originally thought the concept was silly, but I was intrigued enough to watch the first episode and it really exceeded expectations. The show is pleasantly humorous and handles the person-from-past-suddenly-in-modern-times very well. It looks as though each episode will handle a unique paranormal occurrence. The highlight for me was definitely when they wrote in that it was prophesized that the team would be working together for 7 years. Nice try, this is Fox... The Blacklist handled this better by saying that the list was long and Red wouldn't disclose exactly how many were on it. All in all, it's a fun watch. I haven't seen the last few episodes and I'm starting to think that my biggest problem with the show is just finding the time to catch up with all of my other series going on.

Arrow
The season premiere of Arrow really blew me away. Aside from the Dark Knight Returns esque two second return trip from the island, the season really addressed all of the repurcussions of the undertaking and the characters have developed accordingly. Ollie's decision to "find another way" in order to honor Tommy is a great next step to take the character in and it will be interesting to see the challenges associated with not just killing his enemies. I also just want to say that I'm all kinds of excited about Summer Glau. I'm really looking forward to this one unfolding.

The Simpsons
I'm not going to get into a discussion about this show treading water and being around too long. It's the Simpsons, it's like a third brother to me and I think I'm going to love it no matter what. Since that's out, I might as well compliment my brother and say that Guillermo del Toro's into to Treehouse of Terror (which I'm happy actually aired, you know, before Halloween) was amazing and it was so fun to look for all of the horror movie references (many of them just being able to use other Treehouse of Terror episodes). I actually watched it twice. I might be watching it a third time right now.

Agents of SHEILD
Last but definitely not least is SHEILD, the Marvel spinoff. I'm loving this show so far. It's always great to get more Agent Coulson and the longer the show is on, you see more of him as an actual person and not the stiff face of SHEILD. The show does a great job of setting itself up as something independent of the movies (because it would tough to get all of those actors popping in) while clearly existing in that universe. It makes an interesting point about the nature of the powers of the Avengers as well. Many of them have their abilities because of technology or scientific developments which, in theory, could be copied, stolen, etc. This has already popped up in past episodes and I think it will be a big theme throughout. SHEILD gets to exist in an interesting universe where it feels realistic but you are constantly reminded that in the Avengers these people saw gods and aliens battling over New York City - basically meaning that anything is possible. It's a really fun show to watch and each episode nicely wraps up their cases while all tying into a bigger themes and character arches.

Having so many new shows, I've seen that this seems to be the most successful set up for a TV show. It doesn't depend so much on you remembering every nuance of the past episodes but you build empathy around your characters and want to see how they progress. SHEILD, Blacklist, and Sleepy Hollow all do this and I think that's why they've been doing so well this far. Other shows like Hostages and the Once Upon a Time shows follow wider stories that build on each episode and demand the viewers remember every little thing that goes on. I still find these shows to be entertaining, but I wonder if these overly complicated story arcs are contributing to the diminishing viewership of the shows.