shindotvwelcome to shindo's world

I have not been hiding. I have been really busy for the most part and I haven’t had much energy to do a post. Occasionally, I’ve Twittered or commented on a blog post, but that’s it. Also, I blog and do all those wonderful things on my time.*

The one thing of note I’ll mention is that I ordered an iPhone last Friday and I’ve been in iLimbo for a week. Hopefully, I can muster the enthusiasm to take a picture of it like I did with the store models last year. OMG, for some of us, our blogs looked so different last summer!

*Current/Prospective Employers, etc: I do not blog, Twitter, Flickr, or do any other online activities on the clock. If you’re reading this, you need to get your asses back to work. Also, don’t think you know me after reading any post.

One of the highlights of this year’s Comic-Con was meeting Kids in the Hall‘s Scott Thompson! He was walking around with some friends when my friend Brian (Sharon’s boyfriend) spotted him. He was definitely gracious about taking a few pictures and I had my starstruck moment in my brief chat with him. I almost said, “Write on me,” but it didn’t get that far.

Buddy Cole may not have been your poster boy role model (you know, the “normal” professional type with a husband, a house, and a couple of adopted brats), but he certainly showed me a way of being out and living one’s life when I was a 16 year old kid watching Kids in the Hall.

Scott Thompson, love ya for being your fabulous self then and now!

No way to treat this poster. Bloody shame.

This was one of the interesting promos I saw at Comic-Con. This sign was at almost every rest room at the Convention Center, plus  few gigantic signs in the lobby. With an X over an icon of an alien and clear, simple language stating “Humans Only,” it definitely smacked of segregation. In smaller characters, a website URL is given: D-9.com.

This website presents a scenario in which an alien species lives among us. There is an entry page with two links, one for humans and another for aliens. Regulations and suggestions for interactions with non-humans are presented. However the aliens arrived on Earth, they are treated as sub-human, subjected to discriminatory regulations and undesirable jobs. Since the location is presented as Johannesburg, this definitely strikes me as symbolic of South Africa’s apartheid past. The user has the option of registering for updates as a human or a non-human. I wonder where this website will go next.

Speaking of discrimination in fiction, Trueblood, the upcoming vampire show on HBO, was promoted through petition drives for and against vampire rights near the Convention Center. Then, there were also fake ads in the promotional material for Trublood, the synthetic but nourishing beverage that enables vampires to live among humans without harming them.

Dexter‘s promo was more simple, but clever. The popular slogan gets subverted and there’s something strangely Che-like about his image. On Thursday, there were also free credits given away to download episodes of Dexter or Californication from iTunes. I got a couple of those cards. Some dandy schwag indeed.

The Joker was a very common costume at Comic-Con this year, but here was one of the better ones, a hybrid of Heath Ledger’s Joker and the cartoon.

Here is some very creative costuming: Elvis as a Storm Trooper. Viva la Death Star!

Speaking of Elvis, check out this city security guy’s hair.

I’m at Comic-Con this Saturday afternoon and I set up mobile blogging shop near the Masquerade booth on the upper level. The free WIFI is great, and it’s a great opportunity for me to put up my photos on Flickr, but they’re taking forever and a day. Then again, I am one of those Flickr overload types whenever I upload pics.

Comic-Con each year confirms for me one thing: geekiness ain’t cheap. From the cost of admission (I paid a modest $75 for a 4 day pass) to the various vendors who set up shop to take people’s money, it can add up. Not to mention what costs go into making costumes, staying in hotels, meals, and other things that cost money.

Speaking of vendors, a corporate vendor has a list of how much their Star Wars merchandise costs:

People do pay more or less for many things (such as other corporate products or collectibles). It’s a money making opportunity to say the least.

If you’re coming to Con tomorrow or plan to next year, remember some of the best things are free. That is, take advantage of promos and other forms of schwag. This year’s ultimate freebee: The Star Trek chevron composite posters. You gotta get them all.