I went to a barbecue and pool party at Edward and Carries’ yesterday. The food was excellent, although I only actually took a picture of the one item above. We had chips, mango salsa, guacamole, chicken, shrimp, strawberries, pineapple, rice, mojito bars, and mojitos. The mojito bars are shown above and are similar to lemon bars but made with a mojito cocktail. Pretty tasty!
Everything tasted amazing with one caveat: the pineapple was too strong. See, a lot of the food was cooked with rum, and the pineapple was soaking in rum for a few days apparently. I could smell the alcohol just bringing the pineapple near my face. It was liking taking shots. Pineapple will never be the same!
After dinner we went swimming and in the hot tub! It was a lot of fun to see my friends and meet some new people!
After work last night, I went to dinner with my brother. He’s leaving for Recruit Training soon, so this will be the last time I see him for a little bit. We went to Olive Garden, and the two of us ordered what we always order. At the end of the meal, a waiter who wasn’t serving our table, Brad, came over to tell me that he liked my shirt and the band it represented and was happy to see it, and he shook my hand. I was wearing my “one fish, two, red fish, reel big fish” shirt. Cool!
Anyways, it was nice seeing my brother again before he leaves. I’m proud and hope he does well.
After dinner, I met with my friends Michael and Bonnie to go to the Wet Hot Skamerican Summer concert at the House of Blues Anaheim. I wasn’t familiar with any of the bands, but they were all quite entertaining, and I had a very nice night.
The show opened with Sugar Stems, an indie rock band from Milwaukee. They had a pleasant sound with a great vocalist. I really loved her voice. Now that I’m thinking of it, they remind me of Plumtree a bit. I’m not going to make specific comparisons because I’m tired, but they were excellent. The band consists of two married couples too!
Okay, I’m listening to them on Spotify right now. Wow, I really love them.
Next up was Papafish, who might have had the biggest following of all the bands if the audience was any indication. They were a fun ska/reggae band that played mostly original music. One song opened with synthesizers that reminded me of the Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams. Makes sense because it really was a cover.
The middle act was the Angel City Records Soul Revue. The act kept the core band constant but rotated members between songs. It was a record label from LA that specializes in soul, R&B, ska, rocksteady, and reggae (according to their site), and that’s pretty much what I could infer from listening. It was nice to get some related genres that are little different than what I normally hear at a ska concert. Of course, it also helps that they were good. Their site indicates that they featured Jackie Mendez, Xavier Lynch, and The Soul Vibers.
The fourth act was Stupid Flanders, and they had great energy. They’re a ska band from Fullerton. Their music was great, sure, but those orange ties… oh boy!
The last band of the night was Half Past Two. They were excellent with a strong horn section and a lively, animated lead singer. She really knew how to work the crowd.
I’d be happy to see any of these bands again. I took a gamble going to a show consisting only of bands with which I wasn’t familiar, but it definitely paid off! Plus it was a lot of fun hanging out with my friends!
Last night I saw GOGO13 with The Hawkline Monster at Irvine Regional Park as part of the OC Parks Summer Concert series. I had a very fun time. I got there at the same time as my brother; I was right behind him as we parked. The bands hadn’t started yet, so I said hello to Tazy and headed toward the food trucks.
I had to get the Piggy Dog from the Stuff NIt Burgers + More food truck. It was a hot dog with savory pulled pork on it.
And then I made the mistake of going back for “Mexican Fries,” which are basically carne asada fries. They were good, but I really didn’t need more food.
I also got some free tickets to another ska show. Yay!
GOGO13 was a lot of fun and played basically every song I love by them. Here’s Parker Jacobs playing the ukulele. After the song ended, he realized his ukulele wasn’t connected.
He sure got the kids excited! Of course, he had to show them what to do with their hands.
At the end of the night, I had to get Parker Jacobs to pose with that ukulele!
On my way out, I succumbed to the call of another band t-shirt. In my defense, it was cool.
On Sunday, we spent our time wandering the Exhibit Hall.
gem and I stopped at this great Adventure Time photo-op.
We also saw someone cosplaying as a Sackboy Link.
We met Dino Andrade, a voice actor. He’s done a bunch of different voices, including some from World of Warcraft like Mimiron and, my favorite, Professor Putricide. He even said some of their lines, which was hilarious.
I’ve never seen Falling Skies, but I had to stop for this photo op too! It seemed fun.
I know this isn’t super exciting, but check out these Bebop and Rocksteady vinyl toys. I also got a free Hot in Cleveland comic book. It was actually amusing and was about the women from the show surviving a zombie outbreak.
This Dr. Horrible cosplayer told us to stay horrible. However, he was actually quite pleasant.
At the Behemoth booth, we met a couple cosplaying Pixar‘s Paperman. Amazing! It was such a good idea, and they did a terrific job.
I also saw someone cosplaying Ramona Flowers and knew I had to get a picture with her. She was with someone cosplaying as Jake from Adventure Time, so gem played and sang the Adventure Time theme song for him.
Before leaving, I bought three DIY vinyl toys. They look like little NES cartridges. I’m looking forward to customizing them.
After leaving the convention, we tried to eat at Hash House A Go Go, but the wait was so long that we passed. We ended up eating at El Zarape Mexican Restaurant, at which we’ve eaten in previous years. It was super delicious! Rolled tacos, carne asada fries, burritos, yum yum!
And that was pretty much it! I’m sad it’s over, but I’m also tired. However, I’m already looking forward to next year!
For bonus photos I didn’t include in the blog, check out my Flickr album.
We wanted to go to the Adult Swim Fun House again, which meant another line for tickets. The couple in front of me were super awesome, and I had a great time getting to know them.
They cosplayed as Leia and Han Solo. Apparently they had cosplayed as Indiana Jones and the boulder earlier (with the woman cosplaying Indiana Jones). It sounded awesome. She showed us a photo on he iPhone, but it was hard to see. Her cousin is a Master Builder at Legoland! What a cool job, eh?
Tazy Phyllipz shared photos he took at SDCC on Facebook, and I found one of them as Indiana Jones and the boulder! Awesome!
There was also a Pizza Hut sponsored TMNT Pizza Thrower. I had this toy as a kid and wanted to launch pizzas with it at Comic-Con, but I was second in line when they closed it for lunch. Oh well. I did get some free pizza courtesy of Pizza Hut though.
There was a booth promoting their 3D printers, and they had a 3D printed ukulele. gem was, as you’d expect, pretty thrilled. We asked a lot of questions, and they talked to us both about 3D printers and the ukulele. I think they got a kick out of gem having her ukulele and being so excited too.
At the Nintendo Lounge, gem and I played Phoenix Wright vs. Professor Layton. I’m looking forward to the game because I love both of those series. It’s pretty amazing that it happened at all!
I saw a beautiful Rosalina cosplay from Super Mario Galaxy, and the woman agreed to take a photo with me. She looked great!
We were craving pizza, so we ate at Pinzimini in the hotel and got some superhero-themed pizzas.
After dinner, it was back to the Adult Swim Fun House and the Meatwad Full Dome Experience. The staff remembered us again, and we chatted a bit. There was one exit to the fun house we had never used – the karaoke cage. They only let you out if you sing. We aimed for it and managed to get that exit this time. Antonio avoided it and went out the cat butt again. gem and I sang Spice Girls‘ Wannabe to get out. It was fun! We got our free t-shirts again, and the staff member with whom we became friends asked us for a favor: he wanted a t-shirt for his friend. They were out of the exact size he needed, but we still managed to get a t-shirt for him to give to her!
On our way out, we saw a mooninite! gem asked for a hug, and when she hugged it, she mentioned that she smelled good, causing the actress inside to giggle.
On the way back to the hotel, I noticed a Ska Parade t-shirt, and then I noticed that it was actually Tazy Phyllipz! Ska Parade is an Orange County-based ska radio show, and Tazy is the host. He also holds Ska Parade Lounge events once per month at the Slidebar in Fullerton. It was pretty cool to run into him, and I think he was excited to get recognized as well. We talked for a few minutes. I told him about the Aquabats show and even showed him the Martian Girl cosplay, which he enjoyed. It also turned out that he booked the bands for the OC Park Summer Concert Series, and he suggested I come on Thursday. I was already planning on it because I like GOGO 13. He dropped some hints about some other things happening that I’d enjoy too.
We ended the night with duck rolls and a bacon chicken ranch pizza from The New Yorker. Delicious! While we ate, we watched Adult Swim. I guess their marketing worked. I’m not sure I’d ever seen a full episode of the Boondocks before, and it was hilarious!
We started Friday by rushing to get tickets for the Aquabats autograph session.
I was wearing my Aquabats costume (which I had to wash because of how sweaty I got at the concert). I was stopped by a couple that wanted a photo with me. It was a bit shocking to me. I ask people to take photos with me; they don’t usually ask me. Of course, I don’t usually wear a cosplay. It was pretty cool! He was cosplaying the X-men, and she was cosplaying the Fifth Element!
We got out tickets and then headed to a Star Wars Origami panel in which we learned to make lightsabers and Boba Fett’s head.
The Headless Horseman
Next we headed to Petco Park to get tickets for the Adult Swim Fun House. There was also some promotion for Sleepy Hollow, so I had to battle the Headless Horseman. While in line for tickets, we got to know some of the staff. They were very cool, and they definitely liked gem and her ukulele. That ukulele makes her friends everywhere.
Little Aquabats!
While getting in line for the Aquabats autographs, I saw these two little Aquacadets and had to get a photo with them. Adorable!
gem met a guy in line with a small guitar, so they played guitar and ukulele together and even taught each other some songs.
The Aquabats!
The MC Bat Commander complimented me on my outfit, and I told him it was of my own design. (I think he bought it!) They autographed by Anti-Negativity Helmet and Power Belt. It’s hard to see, but in this photo, they’re already signed! Super rad!
@destinedsaint (Instagram) as Little Mac
After the autograph session, we got in line to get an autograph by Bryan Lee O’Malley (Scott Pilgrim, Seconds). We ended up talking to the guy in front of us in line for a while. He was from Las Vegas, and I enjoyed talking to him quite a bit. He cosplayed as Little Mac from Punch-Out, so we had to get a photo together. I friended him on Instagram!
Here I am with Bryan Lee O’Malley and Jason Fischer!
At the Tokidoki booth, I bought a Tokidoki puzzle. I’ve had my eye on it for a while and finally caved. They also had tote bags that seemed cool. I wanted one to use for yoga. As it turned out, they were free if you spent $50, but I was spending that much. I asked if they sold the bag, and the guy said “no,” but then he said I could just have it. Yay!
Speaking of goodies, I also got a small pack of free comics – Tesla, The First Daughter, Pandora’s Blogs, and Darchon. I haven’t looked at them yet, but I will.
We had lunch at Hot Papa’s. The food was delicious, and the staff were incredibly friendly, but there were a couple mistakes. Everything was corrected eventually though.
Then it was time to go back to Petco Park. In addition to the Adult Swim Fun House, there was also the Adult Swim Meatwad Full Dome Experience. We had some scheduling problems, but luckily the staff were helpful and allowed us to change times a bit. They totally remembered gem from earlier in the day, which was cool. We started with the Meatwad Full Dome Experience. You can see a close-up of the outside above.
Inside, you sit in low seats leaning back because the whole roof of the dome is a screen.
It’s hard to explain the show, because it’s random and weird.
It was definitely cool though!
Then we entered the Fun House! For the most part, it was the same as last year. While we in line, we got to know the three guys behind us. They were from San Diego, and they were really funny. It’s great how fun it is to get to know the people near you in lines.
However, last year we exited through the… well… through the giant vagina as if we were being born. This year we crawled through a washing machine that was being humped by a robot. This was a new exit replacing the one we used last year.
We came out of a cat’s butt into a litter box.
Afterward you’re allowed to choose a t-shirt, a print, and a location for the print, and they make you a free t-shirt. While I was waiting for mine, I saw a woman who was cosplaying as the Serenity, the ship itself from Firefly/Serenity. It was pretty cool!
On our way back to the hotel, a guy asked for a song, and when gem started playing and singing, he started dancing!
We met with Mike since we were in San Diego, and we had sushi and drinks at Full Moon Sushi and Kitchen Bar. Then he took us to Neighborhood, a fun bar. When they closed we headed to The Commons Bar before returning to the hotel to play Cards Against Humanity. It was great to see Mike again!
We headed to San Diego on Wednesday after work. After checking in at the Westin Gaslamp Quarter, we took the shuttle to the Town & Country to pick up our badges. By the time we got back downtown, we were feeling hungry and at the Meze Greek Fusion. It was amazing! So many tasty things to eat. We ordered a ton, and everything was great.
Day 1 – Thursday
We started the day with the Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature panel that included Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files) and Marie Lu (Legend). It was pretty interesting.
We also headed to the I Know That Voice: Insights from the Cutting Room Floor panel. I hadn’t heard of I Know That Voice, but it’s a documentary produced by John DiMaggio (voice of Bender, Finn, and a bunch of other cool characters). It was really awesome to hear them talk about voice acting. gem even got a high five from John DiMaggio!
We tried lining up for a panel about NASA, but we didn’t get into it. Buzz Aldrin was there! Too bad I didn’t get to see him. However, there were people dressed as knights battling outside, and gem met one.
Martian Girl
When we were done with SDCC for the day, we headed to the House of Blues for the Aquabats concert! The Aquabats have a song called Martian Girl about a green-skinned, blue-haired Martian. This woman was cosplaying as the Martian Girl, and she was nice enough to take a photo with me. She looked amazing!
I also posed with the Battle Tram of course! The Aquabats played with Koo Koo Kangaroo as part of their twentieth anniversary tour. It was a great show! I bought a 20th anniversary tour t-shirt too. Antonio escaped to the back when the Aquabats took to the stage and the shoving started. I stayed with gem for a while but then let the crowd push me around. I also joined the circle in the back to do some moshing.
There was a battle on stage too as usual.
I had to record it.
After the concert, we showered and then headed to the Geek & Sundry Lounge for drinks and dancing. Now I’m best friends with Wil Wheaton. (Or it might have been a cardboard cut-out. Who knows?)
Recently, gem gave me a starter kit for Amish Friendship Bread. It’s a bag filled with some goop along with instructions that basically boil down to “mash the bag most days, add some stuff on day 6, and add more and bake on day 10.” On day 10, however, you add some ingredients, mix, create four new starter kits, and then finish preparing your bread. In this way, you keep passing it forward.
She also included a slice of her bread – blueberry bread! It was delicious.
Here I had everything I needed sitting on the table while I prepared the bread.
I decided to make apple cinnamon raisin bread. You can see the raisins pretty clearly, and the light colored chunks were diced apple.
I almost forgot to take a picture before it went in the oven.
An hour later, I had what certainly looked like bread.
I was anxious to try some because it was getting late, I was very hungry, and I had more things to do that night.
Because I was going out of town the next day, I needed to deliver the starter kits to my friends even though it was almost midnight.
I brought a starter to kit and slice of my bread to Anela first. She was nice enough to not mind me disturbing her so late. Next I drove to my mom’s. They were sleeping, so I left it hanging on their door. One kit went back to gem. My last kit I dropped off the next day at lunch at Purple Yoga for Sean, an instructor there!
This weekend I managed to get a decent amount of activities done. First, on Friday I got around to cleaning and shining my shoes. They look a lot better. Later that evening I went to gem’s to make dinner and watch a movie with her and Anela. We had some tasty curry and watched Don Jon. I’d seen it previously and really liked it, but gem and Anela hadn’t seen it.
On Saturday after yoga I went with Joe, Max, and Lenny to watch the final home game of LA KISS for the season. It was a really good game, and the last minute had a lot of action, but LA KISS lost.
I also had brunch with gem and Antonio after yoga on Sunday. I don’t see Antonio very often, so it’s nice to hang out with him (even if I’ll see him quite a bit over SDCC). We went to Haute Cakes, and I had too many hotcakes. It was a pretty good weekend.
On Sunday I went stand-up paddleboarding with Kaylin, gem, and Anela. I’d been wanting to do so for a while, and I’m glad I had the chance. It was a lot of fun and not very difficult at all really. However, my toes really wanted to grip the board! I managed to avoid falling in the water not that there’s anything wrong with that… I didn’t even hit the water when attempting L-sit practice on the board.
One house near the beach kept a bowl and dog treats outside near their gate! It was a pretty cool idea. They must be dog lovers!
After we finished stand-up paddleboarding, Kaylin had to leave, but gem, Anela, and I had lunch at Bear Flag Fish Co. Delicious as usual! Afterwards we headed down to the beach. It was a great day.
These two got scared by a ghost (or possibly thought it was bright). Who can know for sure?
Afterwards we did hot yoga at Purple Yoga because gem’s been raving about that instructor. She was right; he’s pretty great.
When I got home, I wanted to collapse, but I also wanted to eat, so I ate/collapsed.
And then gem showed up to drop off some blueberry bread she baked. It was thick, so she told me that it was basically two slices. I had already brushed, flossed, etc., but it was warm so I had to try some. And then I ate the whole thing. It’s a good thing bread doesn’t make you fat (otherwise Scott Pilgrim would be fat).
BONUS!
I did a couple other things over the weekend too. On Friday I went to ImprovCity with Jessica, and we saw Alex host. Woo! He’s a great host. On Saturday I went to the Dub with Collin and Niki and met Mimi there to watch the World Cup. Jamie tried to get by with just shaking my hand, but I wouldn’t allow it. He’s a good hugger, too!
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