Stay gold!

Speaking of gold, here's some comedy gold courtesy of Just For Laughs Gags:

It's been a while since my last entry so I thought I'd do up a quick blog. I'm too busy for a proper update at the moment, and by busy I mean lazy, so here's a short list of stuff I've been into lately.

DEATH VALLEY


Has anyone else been watching this show? It's basically a cops and zombies mockumentary created by Rob Zombie's brother, Spider One. The first episode didn't blow me away or anything but I kept watching and Death Valley has turned out to be a really cool little show. Imagine Shaun of the Dead combined with Reno 911 and you'll have some idea of what to expect. All the episodes so far are up on MuchMusic.com and Siries.me.



http://siries.me/deathvalley
http://www.muchmusic.com/tv/deathvalley/episodes/

ORSI KOCSIS (aka Klaudia, Claudio O)


Quite possibly the finest of all fine ladies but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves

THE DAMNED THINGS


The Damned Things are something of a southern rock supergroup containing members of Anthrax, Fall Out Boy and Every Time I Die. On paper the band doesn't really make sense but their music is actually pretty badass. The video for "We've Got A Situation Here" is good for a laugh too.

Next blog I'll hopefully have my TIFF recap from this year ready. Until then I've added some older pics to my Celebrity Encounters album. Check 'em out!

Fan Expo is this weekend and I gotta say it really snuck up on me this year. The show actually started today but I haven't had a chance to prepare much at all. I haven't even uploaded my photos from last year yet! I do have tomorrow off from work though so that's something.

I plan on hitting the show Saturday with radiofrank and perhaps we'll run into a few other members there as well. The SG booth is returning this year so I'm pretty excited about that. It'll be great to see the local girls again. I'm looking forward to meeting Eliza Dushku and Hayden Panettiere too.

I'm not so much looking forward to all the line-ups but here's hoping the overcrowding issues from past years have been solved. We shall see if things run smoother this time around. Here are my photos from Fan Expo 2010 before I forget:


Stan "The Man" Lee (Marvel Comics)


Summer Glau (Firefly, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)


The Impala from Supernatural


Black Widow


The Batmobile


Slave Leia

I also realized I've never uploaded my photos from Wizard World either. I wrote a blog and everything but I never got around to posting it I guess. Wizard World is relatively small compared to Fan Expo but it's a decent convention all the same. Here's my recap for anyone interested.......

I only made it to Wizard World for one day this year and I was surprised by how busy the show was when I rolled in at noon on the Saturday. The crowd seemed a lot larger than last time but it definitely thinned out over the course of the afternoon. I didn't really do much shopping at all but I did manage to catch everyone I was hoping to meet. Julie Benz and Nick Brendon were my main reasons for going but I also chatted with Kim Porier, Steven Kerzner (aka Ed the Sock) and Carol Zara. Carol, of Digitally Blonde fame, was pretty cool in person. I thought I saw her at work a while back and I was right!

Scott Thompson was also there and had a Q&A at the end of the day but I spaced out and missed it. I'd hoped somebody would have posted some videos online but no such luck (not that I can find anyway). Nicholas Brendon, Xander from Buffy, had a Q&A earlier on which I did make it to. His responses were super hilarious but I don't think everyone appreciated his humour - a couple with kids actually walked out. I guess rape and bestiality jokes will do that . I found a clip of the infamous Snoopy dance from the show by the way:



The layout could've been a bit better but overall I think the convention was a step up from last year's show. An SG booth would have been nice but I did run into Lyth anyway who was super awesome. All in all Wizard World was a good time and I'll be back again next year. Hopefully SG will be back as well.


Julie Benz (Dexter, Buffy TVS/Angel)


Nicholas Brendon (Buffy TVS, Criminal Minds)



DeLorean replica


Twiggy and Lyth!

Earlier this month Deftones came to town and I not only saw their show at the Sound Academy but I also got to meet the guys. For their current tour the band offered different VIP ticket options including Diamond tickets which came with a sound check performance, a meet and greet and a bunch of signed merch. The prices weren't exactly cheap but I figured what the hell - it's not every day you get the chance to meet Chino and the guys.

The VIP check in time was super early so I took the day off work and headed down to Polson Pier for 4:30. The Sound Academy is not my favourite venue by any means but I was just glad the Deftones weren't playing Arrow Hall for once. The sound check was first up. It was pretty quick (only two songs) but seeing the band play to a crowd of less than 100 people was still a cool experience.

Next was the meet and greet. I was surprised by how little security there was - none whatsoever. They basically had one guy running the whole thing including taking the photos. He kind of rushed everyone through but the guys themselves were really friendly and cool. Stef busted out a different ridiculous smile or pose for practically every picture. After my snapshot I asked Chino about working with the Japanese band Wagdug Futuristic Unity. They're basically unknown in this part of the world but I really dig them. Their song featuring Chino is pretty badass.



The show itself was amazing. The guys played for almost two hours and covered all the albums. The set list actually included eight tracks off of White Pony which was sweet. They only performed one song from Saturday Night Wrist but it was great to hear Cherry Waves anyway. That night was their first time playing the tune in years Chino said.


Here are a few clips I found on Youtube from the show:

I think I'm in love......

Hey horse-teeth girl, I want to make you make horsey noises.

Anyone else remember when MuchMusic was an actual music station? Those were the days. I'm not sure what brought on my current case of nostalgia, but I've been listening to Canadian rock from the 90's non-stop lately. Ah, the memories....

Age of Electric - Remote Control

I've also been digging The Walking Dead on AMC. The first episode debuted Halloween night and completely blew me away. I shouldn't have expected anything less from Frank Darabont (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption). So far it is my favourite new show of the season. Definitely worth a look if you enjoy the zombie genre.

Another Fan Expo is in the books and I have lived to tell the tale. The crowds were a bit much, especially on the Saturday, but considering I didn't get locked out of the building I will call it a success. Hopefully I can get a proper blog with pics and all that together sometime soon. Between the film festival and a bunch of concerts the next few weeks are going to be good and busy.


Plus Hatebreed last night and Die Mannequin on the 24th!

With this year's Fan Expo fast approaching I've decided it's time for a new blog - not just any blog but an all nerd edition!

First up is my long overdue Wizard World recap. The convention made its Toronto debut back in March and other than a fire alarm going off on the Saturday everything ran pretty smoothly for their first time in the city. The show wasn't as big as Fan Expo but there weren't any ridiculous line ups or crowds so that was a nice change. I was looking forward to meeting Eliza Dushku but unfortunately she cancelled at the last minute. There were still some cool guests in attendance though and I've included a few photos below.


Jewel Staite (Firefly, Serenity)


Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters, Oz)


Malice, Friskey, Smythe, Nymph, Agy


Vesta, Megan

Personally I would've preferred it if they'd booked more genre guests and less reality stars and wrestlers, but I did get to see Kamala the Ugandan Giant texting on his cell phone which was kind of hilarious. There weren't many members from the site at the show, not that I saw anyway, but the ladies working the SG booth were super cool as always. Overall it was a pretty good time.

Getting back to Fan Expo, the convention is coming up the end of August and the guest list announced so far is pretty huge. The full rundown can be found on their website but I thought I'd mention some of the headliners here (along with when they've last appeared).

There are a fair number of returning guests this year but with Summer Glau added to the lineup I'm not going to complain . As long as the organizers continue to book at least one or two guests from the Whedonverse I will be a happy camper. Felicia Day of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog fame is also set to appear.

Speaking of Joss, any fans of his work should check out this link for the newest addition to the Toronto convention circuit. I know there is an SGCE meet up in the works for Fan Expo so hopefully there'll be one at Whedon Fest as well.

One last thing, I also watched Rubber Johnny for the first time this week. It's been around for a few years now but if you've never seen this video I can't recommend it enough. I would try to come up with a description for you but I don't want to give anything away. You've just gotta see it for yourself.

Dear diary.... It's been awhile since my last update so I thought I'd do a quick rundown of what I've been up to lately. This past weekend I went home to visit my parents and had the worst bus ride I've ever experienced. No one was beheaded or anything like that obviously but it was still plenty unpleasant. See the spoiler for my rant.

The May 2-4 was a much better weekend all around. I had four days off and saw Rob Zombie live in concert, saw Conan O'Brien live in person and caught Iron Man 2. Rob put on an amazing show as always and went all out with the pyrotechnics this time around. He even added a few new monsters and robots to the mix. Saturday night I happened to see Conan leaving Massey Hall after his show. There were too many fans around to snag a picture though. I would've liked to have seen his tour when it was in town but the seats where too expensive for me.

I managed to roll out of bed in time to catch Iron Man 2 for cheap at the AMC as well. The film didn't break any new ground but it was still pretty entertaining. I also enjoyed the finale of Lost which aired that weekend. Some of my co-workers had mixed feelings about the ending (namely the flash-sideways world) but I have to give the show's creators credit for killing off all their characters and still giving them happy endings. Not many programs can manage that.

24, another favourite of mine, wrapped up the next night but I didn't find its finale as satisfying. I certainly wasn't expecting Jack Bauer to walk off into the sunset a free man, but I think I would've preferred to have seen him killed than end up in the exact same predicament as every other season finale of the show. The 24 movie is still to come though so perhaps Jack will find a way out yet (one way or another).

Other than that I've been working like a sucker mostly. I've been meaning to do a recap of the first Wizard World here in Toronto for a while now, but this blog is running a little long so I'll save that until next time. Instead I'll leave off with a video from my New York trip I forgot to upload last time.



Oh yeah, Gala is this weekend so hopefully I'll see all of you SGCanada East kids there!

Edit: I've added some more recent photos to my Celebrity Encounters album as well. Check it out.