Big Wow ComicFest 2012

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their week! I had an absolutely enjoyable weekend. Why? Because I went to my first comic show ever. And that was Big Wow ComicFest in San Jose. It was a fun show and I'm definitely going back next year and the year after, or however long it will continue. I also want to say that I went with my best friend Samuel Lujan, it was the FIRST TIME in a whole YEAR that we finally saw each other. It was so good to see him again and it felt like everything was right with the world(at least in mine).  I'll give you a quick recap of what happened in Day 1.

On Saturday I chose not to bring anything with me. Mostly, because I wanted to take everything in and wander about looking at the various toys, and comics of years past. After me and Sam finally got in, we wandered around a little and got to James O'Barr's table. It was incredibly cool to meet the creator of the 'The Crow' and talk with the guy. What was even cooler was that he was my first comic writer/artist that I ever met.

As the day progressed, I met Dean Yeagle, what a nice gentleman, soft spoken, but really awesome to talk to. I had a lot of fun talking about Mandy Godiva with him. I also talked to Dan Brereton and got to talk about his work and his writing, pretty chill guy, even though Sam doesn't like the guy. One bad experience with someone doesn't mean he's always a jerk. I spent most of my time on Saturday talking with and watching Eric Basaldua, or EBas, draw for fans. Also, his spot was what I liked to call the 'party area', of course, when you have two hot girls promoting their upcoming book at his table, it makes it worthwhile to hang out. Though the good vibes emanating from his table made it hard not to come back.

All-in-all my first day at a comic show was a blast. Day two was going to be just as fun.

So, the next day, which was yesterday. I made sure to bring the stuff that I wanted signed. First, I got Brereton to sign my Red Sonja: Deluge book, which was my first comic signed by any artist. Next, I picked up one of Dean Yeagle's Mandy books for $15 and I got a free personalized sketch of Mandy from him. So, cool. After that I got EBas to sign my Justice League #5 variant that he did. It's one of my all-time favorite covers and I'm so glad he signed it. I also purchased a Wonder Woman drawing he did, which is an absolutely awesome print to have. Fortunately and unfortunately, I didn't have the money to buy an original drawing from him, but maybe next year.

Then, came the big wait. I stood in line for three hours to get meet Jim Lee and have him sign my three books. As much as I wanted a sketch, I realized that there would be a another day, so I just opted to get my Uncanny X-Men #275, Justice League #1 & #3 signed by him. I only got to chat with him for twenty seconds, but it was worth it. What was even cooler was that he got there at noon and stayed until the show ended at five. It's awesome that he stuck around to make sure everyone who waited to see him got something for their long wait. The best part was I got to watch him sketch for other people and it was cool watching him do it.

Finally, I met Liam Sharp, who did the Gears of War comic for about thirteen issues, I had him sign the first two issues and what was cool was getting to talk about his interiors of the books. We also talked about how happy he was that one of his characters that he created, Michael Barrick, was in Gears of War 3 and how happy he was to see it. We even talked about Jace Stratton and how originally he wasn't going to have cornrows, but in the end, he had them anyway. It was cool to hear some of the behind the scenes about his GoW involvement. Awesome guy, definitely looking forward to meeting him again someday.

I also chatted with inker Mick Gray. Really cool guy, it was fun talking about his work and how he goes about the inking process. I enjoyed discussing Batman & Robin and all the other works he's done. He had high praise for Ryan Sook and also came across as a down to earth guy. He was also pretty disappointed that DC never gave him or the other writers and artists for giving them a copy of the The New 52 Omnibus. He told me had to trade in some of his own stuff just to get a copy! Oh, and he told me to expect some really cool stuff with the Joker later this year.

Finally, I hung out with EBas one more time and got him to personalize a Psylocke Nude drawing for me. Yep, I'd say I had some fun hanging out with that guy.

In the end, I had a tremendous amount of fun. Of course, having my buddy Sam there made it worthwhile for me personally.

Well, I'll sign off for now. Enjoy your week everyone.

Mobile Post

I wanted to try this Blogger app for my iPhone. Figured it'd be worth seeing how it works. I don't plan to post with this app often, but perhaps when
I feel like being able to provide the audience with an instant reaction.

Hope you have a good Thursday or Friday wherever you are. Until next time!

2012 MLB Predictions

Since everyone is making predictions on SI.com, Yahoo! Sports and ESPN.com, I guess it's my turn to dish out my picks for the year that is 2012. I'm thinking it'll be one hell of a baseball season. Plenty of surprises, drama and amazing moments. Will it be the 'Year of the Pitcher' like it was the last two years? Let's find out.

Predictions feature records and order of finish.

y=Donates division champion
*= Donates wildcard winner.

AL East                              NL East

(y)Rays  96-66                     (y)Phillies  100-62

(*)Yankees 95-67                (*)Marlins  96-66
Red Sox 92-70                     (*)Braves  90-72
Blue Jays  87-75                  Nationals  88-74
Orioles  75-87                      Mets  63-99


AL Central                          NL Central
(y)Tigers  104-58                  (y)Reds  88-74
Royals  87-75                       Brewers  87-75
Indians  78-84                       Pirates  81-81
White Sox  72-90                  Cardinals  81-81
Twins  71-91                         Cubs  62-100
                                              Astros  57-105


AL West                             NL West
(y)Rangers  100-62              (y)Diamondbacks  105-57
(*)Angels  98-64                   Dodgers  88-74
A's  77-85                              Giants  85-77
Mariners  74-88                     Rockies  81-81
                                              Padres  77-85


Okay, I admit that some of my predictions are way off. But I like the idea of having fun with these thigns. Don't you?

Here's my postseason/playoff predictions. DS, LCS and WS predictions feature how each series will last.

Wildcard Round
Marlins over Braves
Angels over Yankees

Division Series
D-Backs over Marlins in 4
Phillies over Reds in 3
Tigers over Angels in 5
Rays over Rangers in 5

League Championship Series
Diamondbacks over Phillies in 5
Tigers over Rays in 6

World Series
Diamondbacks over Tigers in 6


There you go. Enjoy reading and comment if you like. I'm more than likely way off in my predictions, but that's the fun part of this.

Until next time.

The Writing Itch

I'm back writing again! It feels good and in some ways liberating. It all comes at the same time I'm back playing Gears of War 3 on Xbox Live and gaming again. That doesn't mean my job hunting is over. It continues and I really hope things get better soon on that front. But, back to my writing spree.

I'm primarily writing fanfiction. Justice League, Gears of War, Dead or Alive and such. I plan on doing Evangelion works as well. For some reason writing again makes me relax and think better. The gears(absolutely no pun intended) in my head are churning and the fact that I have a good, solid audience on fanfiction.net makes me feel better about continuing this. It's too bad I can't use these in a workplace, it would definitely be worthwhile.

I mostly write romantic stuff, with the occasional smut and some foul language. Not much cursing mind you, but some. I also inject humor and plenty of family and friendship moments in my stories. I guess I'm more the sappy and sentimental type. I haven't delved into the action stuff yet, but I'm planning to dabble more into that sooner rather than later. It's definitely something that makes me happy being a writer.

To this day I feel as if I should have done this years ago. But I realize I can't live in the past or try to regret too much. It only hurts in the present and in the long run.

So I guess that's it. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Until next time!

It's A Good Month

I think this will be a good month, maybe a great one. I'm not sure why, but I feel like it will be. It's worth mentioning that when you have the chance to see two of your best friends within the same 72-hour window. Then you know it'll get better. I have so much to do and am dragging my feet in many respects.

However, this month could be phenomenal. Why? Don't know, don't have an explanation.

I also want to mention that 25 out of the last 30 months were the best time(s) of my life. And I feel that after a five month lull of sorts from October-February. I think this month will be the best.

I'll try to keep everyone posted. Thanks for reading.

January 30th, 2012

I have lots of comic books that I enjoy reading. I'll just let everyone know that I do plan to list which ones I'm reading right now. Here's a list of the second tier or 'Group 2' of comics that I read. It's in no particular order of how they are read.

Aquaman
Batgirl
Teen Titans
iZombie
Vampirella
War Goddess
Lady Mechanika
Fatale

Those are my books that'll discuss on Thursday's post or maybe I'll do it tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

January 25th, 2012

I'm letting everyone know that I'm a BIG fan of 95.7 The GAME. The Bay Area's ONLY FM Sports Station!! I have not listened to KNBR, which isn't even a 'sports leader' anymore, they're a joke. 95.7 is the new leader or even a better choice for sports talk.

I've been a big supporter and fan of the station when they were Sportsradio 95.7 back in April, and then when they relaunched into what they are now, I haven't looked back. Many people I speak with now are slowly jumping aboard. I admit that I'm not a big fan of John Lund during his 'Wheelhouse' mid-day show, though it's good when he has Greg Papa or Roxy Bernstein on. When he has others, it's not that great, sometimes.

I'm not sure what it is about Lund that's bothers me so much. I think he's alright and I do listen to his show, though I think he does need to tone down the yelling part and silly stuff like that on occasion.

I don't have a chance to listen to the 'Rise Guys', however what I have heard is phenomeal and funny and informative. I also enjoy listening to Chris Townsend, though I don't catch his show all that often. I enjoy his Bay Area-centric show.

My favorite show though is 'The Drive', awesome kick ass show. It took about a week or so for Brandon Tierney to grow on me, but I really like the guy and he's good at expressing his opinions and breaking things down. Eric Davis is pretty cool and he's fun to listen to and his back and forth with BT are always fun. Their 'pressure points' segments are great and you never what the hell will be said or happen on the show.

Well, there's my two cents on the 'The GAME'. Thanks for reading.

January 24th, 2012

Before any of you ask. I'm not a 49ers fan.

I will say it's disappointing that both the Steelers and Packers, my two teams, lost earlier this month. Plus the Eagles and Seahawks and Raiders did not make it either. Though I'm a Steelers fan first and foremost, I've also grown into a Packer fan over the years. And the latter three teams all jockey for the 3, 4, and 5 spots on my favorits list.

That all aside. I'm not surprised that the 49ers lost. I will say that I think Kyle Williams doesn't deserve death threats. It's saddening and sickening. Though I'm glad he's owned up to what happened. It also helps that his father, White Sox GM Ken Williams, has the experience of knowing what and how to deal with these tough circumstances from his playing days in MLB.

And, that's all I have to say for today's blog. Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading.

January 4th, 2012

Quickly, I must let everyone know that a good movie to watch is The Adventures of Tintin. It's a really cool movie and the motion capture animation is unbelievable. I saw the movie in IMAX 3D awhile back and was amazed at how cool it looked in that format.

Definitely take the time to see this amazing film when you have the chance. In terms of the voice acting. Awesome. Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig and Simon Pegg are all pheomenal in their roles and really give a solid and memorable performance.

I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel when it comes out in a couple of years. I hear it'll come out either Christmas 2014 or Summer 2015. Regardless, the wait for the next Tintin adventure is highly anticipated on my part.

Finally, I hope everyone is doing alright in what is only the 4th day of the new year. So far, we're all alive and no disasters that threaten to wipe out mankind has happened yet.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy the week.