Calgary Comic EXPO 2013

You may or may not know that one of my favorite pastimes for the past few years has been CONing.  What I mean by this is attending comic/pop culture/entertainment expo's.  Even most non-nerdy types have heard of the San Diego Comic Con.  It is the iconic CON.  But there are CON's to be found all over the globe.  They can be big or small or anywhere in between.  My CON adventures started back in 2011, when two friends and I attended DragonCon in Atlanta.  It is huge, and is very well known for all the cosplay (costuming) that goes on.  Before this I enjoyed costuming, but afterwards I loved it! Later Cons, were a bit closer to home.  The most recent was the Calgary Comic Expo 2013, which took place April 26 - 28.  The following is an account of this wild weekend.

This year was my second year attending this particular convention.  I traveled with two friends who were veterans from last year as well.  We had a larger group of people who converged on Calgary along with us.  Our first adventure was the drive from Saskatoon to Calgary.  The trip was pretty standard until we approached Drumheller. About half an hour out we managed to hit the "stealth pothole of doom!"  It was essentially a trench on the far side of a set of train tracks, and was not visible until you were on top of it.  I managed to swerve and miss the worst of it, but one of my wheels still took a hell of a hit.  Fortunately the tire didn't blow, but it was mortally wounded, with a bulge in the sidewall.  We were able to limp my car into Drumheller, and find a tire shop (a really busy tire shop).  As soon as I mentioned where we were travelling from the clerk knew the pothole that got us.  We were not the first victims.  But we did fare better than most.  She told us about many blown tires and ruined rims.  So we spent some time there while they found us a replacement tire and got us road worthy again.  The rest of the journey was uneventful (thankfully).

The rest of our first day was spent getting registered for the convention, getting checked in at the hotel, and getting fed.  Then we all spent some time doing last minute sewing and modifications to our respective costumes. This was Thursday.

FRIDAY

The convention kicked off with a parade through downtown Calgary.  It had a good turn out of people dressed up as their favorite characters, as well as celebrity guests, and the Calgary mayor riding in a Delorean!  A handful of the celebs were presented with the White Cowboy hats that Calgary is well known for.  And then the Con began.

The three of us headed back to our hotel to suit up in our Friday costumes.  We dressed up as characters from "Sailor Moon".  Now, most of the characters from this series are girls, and the majority of our group was guys.  So our costumes were a bit of a gender reversal take on the series. My friend Megan had wanted to do a costume of Tuxedo Mask for a while, a male character.  So her idea was to do a lady version, and she asked us to do dude versions of the girl characters.  I was skeptical at first, but her and Jeff were really excited, so I went along with it; and am very glad that I did.  Megan did a fantastic job of sewing her whole costume from scratch, while Jeff and I were able to rely on some found material that we could modify and build on to. Jeff was a master here with adding patterns and gold leaf to our uniforms.  I designed our spats, and Jeff fabricated them.

The costumes were a hit.  We met lots of other "Sailors" who represented the normal series.  And one of the best parts was the delayed reactions of some people at the show.  They would stare with puzzled curiosity, until it finally kicked in; then WOAH!  It was also fun meeting people I vaguely knew, who did not recognize me until I spoke to them by name.  Most of the first day was spent just wandering around, and seeing where everything was.  The show was packed with celebrity guests, exhibitors, artists, and costumes.  A few of our friends took advantage of the photo ops and got pictures with the Lannisters (Game of Thrones).

After the excitement of the day we all went for supper at a nearby pub.  On the way one of our friends got called out on the street by one of our old university friends as she drove by.  She had party plans for us later.  After supper we located some beverages, and relaxed in the room for a while.  Then a few of us headed to a local bar where our aforementioned friend was hanging out supporting some local music, as well as One Bad Son (they are from Saskatoon).  So we hung out in the basement of this bar, drinking cheap beer, catching up with a few old friends, and listening to good tunes.  It was a great day and night in Calgary.

SATURDAY

Saturday was all about the quests for Nathan Fillion and costuming greatness.  I am glad to report that we were successful in both.  Our whole group (along with most of the convention attendees) are big fans of Nathan Fillion.  He plays many awesome characters, such as Captain Reynolds, Captian Hammer, and Castle.  His autograph line was constantly packed.  We had no chance of reaching him in the morning.  So, we attended a panel or two.  We checked out some scientists talking about the geoscience of Star Trek, and how they do all the cool stuff they do.  It was pretty good.  After that I went and suited up in my space marine armour.

This armour has been a project of mine for the last year, with research and development for it extending for many years before that.  It filled half of my car.  But it fits really well.  I became famous before I even made it inside the doors!  It looks like this:

Once I got inside we began questing for Fillion autographs again.  I was too big to be in the line, so my friends took stuff in for me, while I mulled around near the table.  Once the guys made it to the front of the line, they told Nathan Fillion that I was too big for the line, and pointed me out.  He stood up, did a double take, then gave me a "very nice" gesture as I smiled and waved like a fanboy.  It was awesome!

After this I just wandered around the show for a few hours.  Photo-ops were frequent, but always fun.  I ended up playing a card game with some kids in the gaming area.  They seemed pretty stoked to be gaming with a space marine.  As the day grew long, it was time to get ready for the costume contest.  I headed to the green room, and my friends headed to the auditorium early.

Inside the green room I got to hang out with the 50 or so awesome cosplayers.  There were soo many excellent costumes.  I was blown away.  And really great people too, very friendly and fun to talk to.  Those of us who made our own costumes, got to chat with the judges about our costumes and how we made them.  I have never been in a costume contest before, but walking (stomping) on stage in front of a few hundred cheering nerds was a very awesome experience!  Most of us just did walk-ons, showcasing our gear.  But, some people did little comedy routines, or skits, one girl sang some opera, and one guy even proposed (she said yes).  It was all very cool.

And when it all came down to the end, they announced my name as one of the Judges Choice winners!  I didn't believe it at first.  The other two winners had awesome costumes, that were all hand made:

The witch king was all metal armour.  It was phenomenal.  There were additional winners for each category, as well as best skits/performances, and overall best in show.  Unfortunately I don't have good pictures of all the others at the moment.

So, Saturday ended on many very good notes.  It was also nice to take the boots off at the end and stand in the grass (because my feet were sore, and because Calgary has grass!!!).

SUNDAY

We were all tired by the time Sunday rolled around but there was still lots to do.  I had a photo session with Nathan Fillion in the afternoon, so I dressed as Dr. Horrible.  I spent some time wondering through the exhibitors, and picking up a few things that I hadn't had time to before.  I then attended a panel for WETA workshop (the company that did the effects for Lord of the Rings, and others).  It was hosted by the founder, and one of the head modelers.  And it was fantastic.  Just listening to them speak about how they make such magic was great.  And afterwards, as people cleared out, I stuck around and got to meet them.  It was super cool to shake the hands of the guys who created some of the most memorable movie magic in the last few decades.  I was in awe.  They were very kind and encouraging.

After this I went to a panel with Nathan Fillion (notice a theme here?).  It filled a small hockey arena.  Lots of people love this guy.  He shared some great stories, and smoothly dealt with a few odd questions.  After this I headed out to line up for my photo op.  I ended up meeting one of the costume contest people in line again, and we chatted as we waited.  The system was set up really well.  They processed photo ops for several hundred people in a very short time.  The closer we all got, the more excited everyone became.  My plan was to ask him to grab me by the scruff of the neck, as it is very iconic to the Dr. Horrible/Captain Hammer characters.  But when I got to him, he welcomed me with a handshake, then grabbed me before I even got a chance to ask!  He read my mind, and this is how it turned out:

This is possibly the greatest photo I have ever been in (or will ever be in, haha).

It was getting late in the afternoon by this point, and we still had a 6+ hour drive home.  So it was time to say goodbye to the Calgary EXPO for another year.  It was fantastic, and a major highlight of my past year.  I had so much fun; met and hung out with great people; and felt the most normal I have in a long time.

Now, what to wear next year...

Meanwhile... in Canada.

One of my winter projects has been the creation of a (epic) snow cave.  I remember when I was young I would build snow caves with my Dad and brother.  And it has been years since we have made one.  Once again my Dad had the initial idea.  He figured it would be fun to start a snow cave, as something that my nephew (nephew-in-law, nephew-in-common-law, brother's girlfriend's kid???) could build and play in.

So it began with a snow-blower and an open patch of ground.  I cleared the snow from a roughly 50 ft by 50 ft area into a big ol' mound, and let it freeze.  Then a day or two later, once it was nice and solid we began to hollow it out.  It quickly became apparent that the nephew was very excited about this snow cave.  Specifically he was happy to have it, but less happy to have to actually dig it.  I think his imagination ran wild on him and he was having more fun thinking of the possibilities than making them come true.  Which I can't fault him for; I remember being a kid with big ideas.  I think that I still am; but, now I have more tools and skills to make them a reality.

I was enjoying the work of building the cave, as much as the dreams about the possibilities.  As such, I rapidly took over development of this snow cave.  All in all, most of the work was done over three days, scattered across weekends when I had time.  I had help from my brother and the nephew a few times, and input from others along the way.  We used lots of blocks carved from the inside to build a small wall (in case of spontaneous snowball fights).  Once the inside was hollowed out, I decided to fancy it up a little, with some niches for candles, and some minor sculpting for character.

All told it is about 4 ft high inside, with room for probably 10 people (snugly).  It keeps out the wind and is surprisingly warm.  I would love to have a little gathering to show it off, before it gets too warm, and begins to melt.  This is one Canadian stereotype that I think we should all take advantage of more often!

Here are a few shots of the interior.  I wasn't able to get outside pictures in the dark.

The Beginning

Hey, I am Dave and I decided to start this blog as a means to easily share updates of my creative projects with friends and family.  I generally have several projects on the go at one time, and their themes can vary significantly.  As such it can be tough to keep people up to date with my crazy hobbies.  So, to start things off I will show you one of my more traditional projects: a pepper mill.

During the Holidays I was trying to come up with a good little project to work on using a wood lathe.  My Dad has been doing a fair amount of wood turning in the past few years, and I enjoy tinkering on the machine with him.  I think I had the idea of a pepper mill, and he found a place to get the mechanical bits (Lee Valley).  This weekend we dug out a rough piece of wood (I think it is maple) and I fumbled out a design.  Most people would recognize pepper mills in restaurants, with all their curves and ridges.  I decided to go with a simpler design, with smoother lines.  And viola:

At first the wood looked fairly plain, but as we cut deeper some very nice grain started to come out.  The simple design was fairly quick and easy to carve out.  I then sanded it in several stages to get is nice and smooth.

Today I started oiling it with a Scandinavian oil.  Originally I wanted to stain it darker, but after seeing the grain, I didn't want to lose it.  So the oil was a good choice.  It adds a bit of gold flavor and helps some of the grain to jump out.  So it has gone from this:

To this:

The next steps are to buff it up to a real nice shine before moving to the mechanical stage.  I have a kit for the mechanical bits, so I just need to drill all the holes.  I need to hollow the piece out to make a reservoir for pepper grains, and holes for the drive shaft. Then I just need to put it all together. I will let you know how it turns out.

Maybe next time I will introduce you to some of my nerdier projects...