Category Archives: Art

Birthdays, plays, farmers markets, yoga, and more: a very full weekend

What a super full weekend. Friday was Halloween, also known as Jonathan’s birthday! After work, I rushed through some last minute Hallow’s End activities in World of Warcraft and Mad King Thorn in Guild Wars leaving for the long journey to Jonathan’s party. It was downstairs. I might have had about 3900 calories worth chips, wings, pizza, alcohol, and other food that day. Maybe. And that might have been way too many carbs yet still under my protein goal. Whoops. Anyways, it was fun hanging out and watching Jonathan play scary games. I got to give some candy to trick-or-treaters too!

On Saturday morning I headed to the farmer’s market and picked up some usual treats – hummus, feta, and dolmas. When I was about to leave, I saw this donut and had to get it too. I can happily report that it was tasty.

Saturday was also my mom’s birthday, and my brother had the idea that we could take her to a show. The Man from Earth was playing at Stages, so I picked up some flowers and met them at their house before we went to the play. It was really good! It’s basically the story of a man at his going-away party who explains to his friends that he’s a caveman who has survived for more than 14,000 years. It was very interesting even if the quick summary there sounded kind of dumb. After the show, we ate at Angelo’s & Vinci’s Ristorante, where I had eaten once previously. The service was kind of iffy, but I liked our waitress anyways, and the food was delicious.

gem found out about a free yoga class on Sunday at the Anaheim Packing District. I went with her and definitely enjoyed it. The instructor owns a nearby studio, and a woman in the class just got back from China because she works for Disney and was there for the new park. After the class, we went to that farmer’s market, because you can never go to enough farmer’s markets in a weekend. Oh man. So many good foods. I bought spicy feta, olives, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, pluots, persimmons, strawberry Greek yogurt, and cheese crisps.

Next we went in the Anaheim Packing House for lunch. I had an amazing grilled cheese with salami from the Black Sheep Grilled Cheese Bar. The salty flavor of the meat went so well with the grilled cheese. I’d definitely eat there again.

I keep hearing so much about Popbar’s gelato, sorbet, and yogurt bars, so I had to stop there. Somehow I thought gem was raving about, but she’d never been there. I think all the great things I’ve heard have actually just been from Anela. But she was right, because it was pretty fantastic. I had a pumpkin gelato bar dipped in white chocolate, drizzled in dark chocolate, and covered in waffle cone crumbles. Man. I want another one right now.

Sunday was later filled with chores around the house, video games, Netflix, and of course, more eating. This time it was just eating a bunch of the foods I purchased at the farmer’s markets. And then I needed to sleep it off!

Wakeboarding and visiting the OC Night Market

I went wakeboarding with my friends gem and Anela this weekend! We went to Silverwood Lake with my parents on their new boat. I’d been wakeboarding once a few weeks ago, but it was gem and Anela’s first time.

It’s hard to make us out in the photos, but that’s gem.

And here’s Anela on the board.

Here’s a great action shot of Anela eating lunch with a bonus bunny ears from Pete.

This was cooler in person with the wind.

Wakeboarding is fun, but lying in the sun with your eyes closed is also fun.

I’m going to guess someone said something funny right before this photo, because my mom looks really happy.

Here I am wakeboarding!

Wakeboarding in action! Woohoo!

After some delicious shrimp, potato, and corn soup at my parents’ house, we met Anela’s friend Daniel at the OC Night Market.

We ate, as gem would say, all the things!

Multi-colored dumplings with multiple dips! Mmm!

Delicious baco – soft!

Delicious baco – crunchy!

We saw this super cute sign with a rad dino on it.

Fried macaroni and cheese with garlic aioli and sausage is tasty.

We also tried what was being marketed as “eggporn.” The egg is cooked inside the jar in boiling water along with cornmeal, bacon, and green onion. I think. Anyways, it was pretty good.

See these cookies? They’re amazing! There’s actually two kinds in that photo – habanero peanut butter and jelly and salted caramel apple oatmeal. They’re from the Velvet Rope Bake Shop. Check them out and get some cookies!

I also had some other things that I didn’t photograph (or the photos came out badly) including a fried squid, ice cream in a plant pot, fresh potato chips with Thai coconut curry toppings, some sort of corn dog, Brussels sprouts, spam musubi, and probably more about which I’m forgetting. Tasty! There was also a lot of cool art to see, a costume contest, some kids dancing, and live music. I heard a girl with a guitar do a great rendition of the Pokemon theme song, and I also some cosplayers throwing a pokeball at each other.

Oh, and then there was this wookie.

More photos here.

The Scott Pilgrim Picture Show

Friday night was the 2nd Scott Pilgrim Picture Show, an amazing interactive film screening by CinemAttack at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana. The idea is similar to screenings of the Rocky Horror – a movie with lots of audience participation. I bought this poster along with a poster representing the original Scott Pilgrim Picture Show from last year too. I didn’t even notice until later that the one for last year was signed by Tyler Jacobs, the creator, and numbered.

Audience participation, a costume contest, garlic bread, a light show, and more. What’s not to love?

gem and I got there about 45 minutes before the doors opened so we could hang out. I had to get a picture of the marquee!

Even though bread makes you fat, they handed out garlic bread to the people waiting in line. Sweet!

The walls were plastered with flyers for the Toronto International Battle of the Bands, the Katayanagi Twins, Sex Bob-omb, the Clash at Demonhead, and more. It was a pretty nice touch.

There was a photo op with Scott Pilgrim and a photographer. They said they would post all the photos on Facebook and then you could go find and tag yourself and save the photo. However, I’ve yet to see them posted. In addition, only a handful of people got to take pictures with this before everyone filed into the theater. After the screening, it was already gone. They said people could take the flyers, so I suspect someone might have grabbed this early. Oh well.

Edit: They posted them! Here I am chilling with Scott! The photo was taken at the CinemAttack photo booth, so credit goes to their photographer whose name wasn’t mentioned. They encouraged sharing the photos, so I think it’s cool that I’m posting it here.

Overhead, a CinemAttack! banner was hanging. CinemAttack is the events company hosting the Scott Pilgrim Picture Show. It was created by a man named Tyler Jacobs. While I’d been looking forward to the event for some time, I hadn’t realized until the night before the show that Tyler Jacobs is Christian Jacobs’ (the MC Bat Commander, lead singer of the Aquabats) and Parker Jacobs’ (lead singer of GOGO13) brother. The a pretty rad family. I’m also glad I found Tyler Jacobs’ independently of his brothers. I had a moment to stop and say hello to Tyler as well, and he was quite friendly. I’m glad I did.

You’ll also notice the movie was being shown in the Chaos Theater!

With the posters I purchased, I received two bags of “coins for throwing!” When an evil ex is defeated, you’re supposed to toss coins in the air. It was fun and definitely added to the experience.

Yes, yes, this photo is horrible. Anyways, there was a costume contest as well. There were a number of Scotts and Ramonas as expected but also a Gideon and even a Vegan Police! The guy who came as the Vegan Police even had a green laser.

The movie was a lot more fun to watch in this setting. Words on the screen would direct you to yell lines aloud, and during songs, they would progress karaoke-style. There were also instructions sometimes, including high-fiving a neighbor or jumping up to pretend to play DDR along with Scott and Knives. When an evil ex was defeated, they’d remind you to throw your coins in the air. There were also light shows during the scenes with the bands playing, which really added to the awesomeness. When the Vegan Police came to depower Todd, green lasers shot out everywhere. It wasn’t enough for the fans as they began to cry out for our Vegan Police. Luckily our cosplayer saved the day; when we saw his green laser hit the screen and track Todd, everyone cheered!

After the movie, gem stopped to pose with her ukulele like Scott does with his guitar. I wasn’t sure it was going to come out, because the lighting wasn’t great, but I’m pretty happy with the photo. gem actually hasn’t seen it yet. Hopefully she likes it too.

There are some more photos in this album.

And now I get to look forward to their next presentation: The Teenage Mutant Pizza Party!

Legendary Star-Lord is Super Rad!

I’m not familiar with Legendary Star-Lord at all. I think he might have something to do with Guardians of the Galaxy, but I’m not sure. Nevertheless, I had to pick up this one issue. Check it out.

What’s that? Does the ship’s AI want to listen to the Aquabats?

Of course it does! When I saw this online, I rushed out to pick up the issue.

Thanks to @Johnny2Tone on Twitter for making me aware!

#StarLord is now my 2nd favorite #Marvel superhero, & @samhumphries is my hero for the @TheAquabats inclusion in this pic.twitter.com/UIUyfen0PQ

— JohnCraig (@Johnny2Tone) September 4, 2014

@BakersfieldRPG Legendary Star-Lord #3 It hit stands yesterday.

— JohnCraig (@Johnny2Tone) September 4, 2014

Of course, thanks to the writer, Sam Humphries, as well!

The Great Gatsby Party

Last night was Black Scarlett Shows’ The Great Gatsby party at Original Mike’s, which was a ton of fun. I guess I started this blog post with a picture from the end, but it seemed appropriate because it had all the performers in it.

Dressing in costume wasn’t mandatory, but I still wanted to do so. I bought the suspenders and bow tie but borrowed the hat. It was fun to dress up!

Anela told me about the event. Her friend coordinated the event. In this photo she’s doing a dance with a large fan. I had a couple pictures that featured the fan, but then you couldn’t really see her.

I got there about a half hour or so before the show actually started, so I ordered a martini and found a seat with two others. By the time the show started, a fourth joined us. They all knew someone in the show, and one was actually there because he knew Anela too! It was a lot of fun chatting with them.

There was singing, cabaret, burlesque, and a lot more. Belly dancing was happening too of course as is evident by the photo.

We also got a photo together. Look at her hair!

After the performances were all done, I hung out for a while chatting with people, getting to know the people who sat near me and some of Anela’s friends. I met a lot of really interesting people and had a great time. Hopefully the events become a regular thing!

The OC Fair and other weekend fun

On Sunday I went to the OC Fair and saw lots of cool stuff. Of course, first thing’s first. I had to eat. I had some tasty bacon-wrapped mushrooms with Gouda to start my day and then wandered into the butterfly enclosure.

I had a butterfly mustache!

After putting some nectar on my nose, I got the butterfly to land there. Honestly, something about it freaked me out and I just wanted it get off.

I didn’t mind one being on my head though.

I also checked out the farming area. The Brussels sprouts looked and smelled to tasty! I love them.

This sign taught me how to wash my hands. Good thing it was there. I always thought I was supposed to rinse with soap, not water.

gem’s family called me White Leghorn (not to me though). I had to get a picture with the sign.

Then I rode my trusty steed away!

I checked out the visual arts next, which is usually one of my favorite parts. It must be pretty cool to have something shown there I’d think. I looked at the photographs, paintings, crafts, woodworking, and place settings. I’m not surprised that I like most of those, but it does seem a little strange that the place settings are interesting to me.

In the middle of looking at these competitions, I stopped for more food! I had fried zucchini topped with nacho cheese, jalapeños, and bacon! It was okay, but I wish the portions were much smaller. I also tried fried avocado dipped in ranch. That was pretty tasty actually!

The rabbits were adorable of course. This little guy was munching with his paws in his bowl, so I mimicked him.

After the animals, it was time to look at the collections. I looked at everything and read the descriptions as well. On my way out, the man who worked there stopped me to comment on how I looked at everything and suggested that I enter next year. We talked about collections for a few minutes. He collects martini glasses!

On my way out of the fair, I saw more animals. Lots of animals. I couldn’t leave without going in the petting zoo. One pig looked pregnant – but no, just fat.

Unrelated to the fair, my odometer hit 33,333. That was kind of interesting.

And then I had pizza for dinner! (Don’t say it, Anela.)

San Diego Comic-Con Day 2: Aquabats, cosplay, Adult Swim, and more!

If you missed it, check out my post on Day 0 and Day 1 too, San Diego Comic-Con Day 0 and Day 1: John DiMaggio, Martian Girl, the Aquabats, Geek & Sundry, and more!

Day 2 – Friday

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!

More adventures coming tomorrow!

Check out the last days:

San Diego Comic-Con Day 0 and Day 1: John DiMaggio, Martian Girl, the Aquabats, Geek & Sundry, and more!

Day 0 – Wednesday

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?)

Check out my other adventures!

Gotham Vixens

Last night I saw Yadi Presents Gotham Vixens at the Yost Theater. It was hilarious and quite entertaining.

Batman (Mr. Snapper) and Alfred (Mr. Buddy) hosted. Poor Batman realized that the birthday card he got in the mail from the Joker poisoned him. The audience joined Batman in asking Alfred to help him find an antidote.

There were many great performers as a variety of Batman characters. One of my favorite Batman characters, Harley Quinn, (played by Dolly Danger, I think) was included in the fun. The effectively had three costumes; she started as a nurse, had a formal red dress underneath, and wore something a bit more fun under that.

I took the photo from a Snapchat. Thanks, friend!

The Joker, played by Martini Bombshell, threw signed playing cards into the audience. I got this Jack of Hearts. A Jack is almost a Joker, right?

Frankie Sin as the Penguin and Lyra La Belle as Catwoman were both great. Mercury Troy’s played an acurately cold and distant (while still entertaining) Mr. Freeze. The Scarecrow’s (Iza La Vamp) act was interesting because I mostly found myself anxiously awaiting the removal of the sack-like mask!

There was one person Batman knew couldn’t have been the one who did it. He remarked that this person had been in love with him for years.

He was talking about Robin (Tito Bonito), of course! This was easily the most hilarious act of the show, which included Robin seductively running his hands over Batman’s chest.

Once Batman realized he wasn’t poisoned and that it was just from his seven Doritos Locos Tacos he had for lunch from Taco Bell, heroes and villains put aside their differences to say good bye. It was a great evening!

The cast, as best I can determine:

Mr. Snapper	Batman
Mr. Buddy	Alfred
Frankie Sin	Penguin
Drea Dillinger	The Riddler
Fever Blister	Batgirl
Red Snapper	Poison Ivy
Iza La Vamp	Scarecrow
Mercury Troy	Mr. Freeze
Dolly Danger	Harley Quinn
Scarlett DeVille	Batwoman?
Lyra La Belle	Catwoman
Core D’luxe	Scarface
Valentina Azul	Twoface?
Martini Bombshell	The Joker
Tito Bonito	Robin
Vivienne Von Deadly	Mad Hatter

I’m not positive about who played Batwoman, and Twoface ended up not being in the show.

Who ya gonna call?

Today’s the 30th anniversary of the release of Ghostbusters, so I put on my uniform and set about watching my friends defeat Gozer.

They needed my help defeating Slimer, too.

Growing up, I always really loved the Ghostbusters. I had a plastic proton pack with particle thrower, a trap that opened when I stepped on the pedal, and a PKE meter. Sometimes my grandparents would ask me to come to their house to bust some ghosts. My uncle would also mail me “ghost turds.” (Lint from his laundry.) Of course, I had lots of other toys too – action figures, the Ecto-1, the Highway Haunter (a car inhabited by a ghost in the form of a giant praying mantis), the firehouse, the containment unit, and more.

Harold Ramis played Egon, directed Groundhog Day, and wrote Ghostbusters (among many other credits). His death in February was probably the first time I felt true sorrow at a celebrity’s passing. In the first movie, I noted that Janine tells Egon she has a bad feeling and believes he’s going to die. About thirty years later, Egon’s actor is the first of the Ghostbusters’ actors to pass.

A lot of fan art flew around Reddit after his passing, and these two were my favorite. I try not to look at them at them too long because I don’t like being depressed. It’s also interesting that Venkman was originally written with John Belushi in mind, but he died before the screenplay was completed. Slimer was a nod to John Belushi. I guess in this picture, Belushi and Ramis finally get to see each other again.

The recent game has a good story that can be considered a sequel to the movies. As a game, it does contain parts that I’m sure wouldn’t have been part of a movie if the game had been a film (such as fighting the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man again), but it’s still very entertaining. I don’t know if the planned third movie’s going to be good or not, but hopefully it’s great even while taking the series in a new direction!