Monday, May 19, 2014

Final Feature Sidebar

This vendor from a toy show at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds has a variety of items including Monster High dolls which are what many doll collectors are currently looking for. After all, not everyone likes Barbie. Who said women don't go to toy shows or comic conventions?

If you thought you were a big fan of Ghostbusters, think again. These four are best friends who love to dress up at every collector event they go to as characters from their favorite movie; Ghostbusters. If that's not dedication then I don't know what is. But they're not at a toy show just so they can show off their homemade costumes. They're at a toy show to look for some items at add to their collections. Luckily for them they did find some things they needed and will be going home feeling very accomplished as many collectors do at these events.
At many events especially such as toy shows, the corner tables are usually more expensive than aisle tables. Here is a vendor taking advantage of his space by putting his largest and brightest object front and center. Although he does have a reason for displaying it there. It just so happens to be logo of his company. It's a good thing he doesn't work for Apple because I don't think having a small silver apple with a bite taken out of it would attract as much business as a large red robot. 
Here is a panel at a convention called Babscon in Burlingame. The voice actors have already spoken, answering general questions and giving a background of their time in show business but now it's time that many fans have been waiting for, fan questions. As it is, there are people sitting on the floor because all the seats were taken so one can only imagine how long this line would take had hey answered every fan's questions. Unfortunately there was only time to answer about half of everyone in line's questions but knowing Bay Area fans, they'll be back in that line next year.
At Big Wow! Comic Fest at the San Jose Convention Center, the fans aren't shy when it comes to dressing up as their favorite heroes from comic books, nor are they shy when everyone wants to take their picture. They each have a sense of pride as they created their costumes from scratch. That is no easy task but worth it at times like this. 
Many of the attendees at Big Wow! Comic Fest got to meet Neal Adams who is one of the most popular and accomplished artists in the comic book industry. What is just as noteworthy as meeting him is getting some of your comics signed by the legend himself which he did at his booth. He is definitely in the upper echelon of artists in the comic book industry and he was humbled by all the fans who came by to see him. 
Here is a replica of the Batmobile from the 1966 Batman series starring Adam West as the titular character. It got more attention than some of the guests at Big Wow! Comic Fest as it's engine's roar could be heard across the convention center. 
There are a lot of Ghostbusters fans in the Bay Area who attend many events. Those fans got a big treat when they arrived only to see the Ecto-1 from the films. Making its way to a convention is rare enough but the Bay Area prides itself as to having one of the largest Ghostbusters fan bases around so there was no better event to bring this vehicle to than Big Wow! Comic Fest.  







My Collection:
I started collecting in 2006. That's when I bought the first figure that's currently in my collection. It was a Ben 10 alien from my local Target that I planned on opening but convinced myself to wait until I got the whole set. Once I got the set it popped in my head that I should keep each figure in its packaging so they can retain their value with the hopes that eventually they would increase in value. From then on I followed that same principle for everything I bought for my collection. The manufacturers know that a lot of consumers don't open their figures so they're getting pretty good when it comes to making their packaging appealing to keep the figures in. As for my collection, I don't just collect from one company or character. I collect comics, figures and even items as obscure as soda cans from various comic, video game and movie franchises such as Harry Potter, Star Trek and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

Here are some of my comics stacked meticulously in an organized system based on publisher, event, etc. so if I needed a specific one I could just pull it out right away without wasting time sorting through each and every one of them. Unfortunately, there isn't enough room to store all of my comics here so the rest are in the closet. 
This is one of the walls of my room. Although room sounds a little generic so I'm thinking about giving it a cooler name. Another collector I know calls the room where he has his collection the dork room and everyone knows it by that name. I'd like my collection to have the same recognition once it gets more exposure.
This wall is my favorite because it's the only one without any obstacle when it comes to displaying my collection items. One wall has my television mounted on it as seen above, another has a large window taking up most of it, and the last wall contains the closet as well as the doorway. Overall my collection is big and always expanding. It's fueled by my passion for these rich characters and stories that resonate with each and every fan whether they collect or not. I'm just one of the many devoted fans in the Bay Area who go to every event they can attend and have their collections at home celebrating what they're a fan of.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Copy Edit the World

This is from an article on Time's website. The writer uses resume three times. The first two times are without accent marks while the third time has accent marks. Also, a comma is missing after instead in the second sentence.
This is also from Time's website. In the bottom paragraph, the writer uses "raises" when the correct form should be "raise."

I saw this on 'Good Morning America.' The word "says" is used when "say" should be used because the subject is plural. 
Here is a link of resources from another one of my classes where the professor misspelled Madame Blavatsky's last name. She spells it Blavasky. 

Monday, April 28, 2014

Japanese Internment Memorial Essay

The Japanese American Internment Memorial is dedicated to those Japanese Americans who were placed in internment camps after Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
Sculpted by artist Ruth Asawa, the memorial was unveiled in 1996. Each panel has incredible details of the depicted events on both sides of the wall. Asawa is a Japanese American artist who was among those interned during WWII.
Both sides have similar details but unique in meaning, such as barbed wire.
On one side, the barbed wire is curled, symbolizing the farm wire as seen in farms owned by Japanese American citizens in California prior to the removal. The other side depicts straight barbed wire that was used as part of the barriers for Japanese American internment camps.
San Jose itself played a role in the internment process. A San Jose State University building was used as a processing center for Japanese Americans who reported for relocation. The building was later named after SJSU judo trainer by the name of Yoshihiro Uchida, who served in the US Army during WWII.

Can something like this happen again? Most likely not since the current state of the world is a lot different than what it was back then. It shouldn’t be seen as impossible to happen again but realistically I don’t see it happening in the near or distant future. The countries of the world today are surely not at peace with every other country as there will always be turmoil among nations for whatever reasons.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Fish Out of Water

I went to a hockey game that saw the San Jose Sharks face off against the Los Angeles Kings. I'm not a fan of hockey nor have I ever been to a hockey game. I can't say that I'd ever go back because I have nothing invested in the league or any teams as local as the Sharks are. It's also a sport I've never played before in any way, shape or form.
The only reason I went was because my friend had an extra ticket he didn't know what to do with. He knew I never talked about hockey but didn't want it to go to waste so he asked me and the rest is history.
I figured at least I'd get to experience something I've never seen in person before. Maybe I'd go home wanting to see more of it and become a Sharks fan like some of my friends and family are. Boy was I wrong.
It was the most boring sporting event I've ever been to. Granted, I didn't know the rules, players or anything about the league really. But my experience did everything but convince me to want to become a fan of the sport and at the very least, return to see another game in person or even on television.
What did it for me was the environment of the arena. It was loud which I assumed it would be but I didn't think it was going to be that loud. My ears are still ringing. I also couldn't see the puck at all. I just waited until the other attendees jumped off their seats and clapped to know when a goal was scored. I guess they're all used to moving their eyes back and forth constantly for around three hours. I give them credit for staving of dizziness which I felt almost instantly.
I also noticed there were more Caucasians than any other ethnicity at the game. They all wore teal to represent the Sharks while I looked out of place with a red jacket on. I guess I didn't get the memo. That's what the whole night felt like; me not getting the memo. It was like the game was an elaborate inside joke that everyone was in on except me. Never before have I felt more like a fish out of water.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

IMHO (In My Humble Opinion)

In my humble opinion, the MTV Movie Awards are a joke. My opinion on this event got fueled when the 2014 rendition aired this past weekend. There are so many things wrong with this "awards" show that ironically they are the same reasons it will probably be on for years to come.
For one, the show doesn't take itself seriously. To be fair it doesn't claim to be an Oscars competitor but they just seem not to care about the quality of their presentation. They film parodies based on the biggest movies of the previous year, and by biggest I mean the ones that had the most explosions and/or crude humor.
 Secondly, the categories are the silliest ones I've ever seen on an awards show. I saw the Kid's Choice Awards last month and the categories on that show weren't even as childish as those on this show.
 Lastly, there's the logistics of the show's existence altogether. The channel it airs on is MTV which stands for Music Television not Movie Television. The channel is mostly known for reality shows nowadays.
There is no other channel as misnamed as MTV. If this show were aired on Comedy Central, which is its sister network, then that would make more sense being as this awards show relies on its humor and foolishness to keep its audience from changing the channel. I myself could never sit down and watch a whole telecast, being an age within the targeted demographic.
The MTV Movie Awards isn't the most ceremonious or kid-friendly awards show on TV, but given the channel it's on and the targeted audience I can see why it's lasted this long.


Here's what USA Today took from this event. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2014/04/13/ten-moments-you-missed-mtv-movie-awards/7689289/

Here's Time's explanation of the event. http://time.com/12615/conan-obrien-to-host-mtv-movie-awards/

Word #10

1. serendipitous
2. The three conditions many sociologists believe to be the keys to developing lasting friendships: proximity, repeated serendipitous interactions, and a safe setting.
Article: Facebook’s Friend Problem // Site: TheVerge.com
3. (adjective) occurring or discovered by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
4. After a series of serendipitous events, the Sharks managed to win the game.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Word #9

1. bloatware
2. In addition, Samsung's efforts to streamline its own custom interface and reduce pre-installed bloatware pay off.
Article: Samsung’s Best Phone Gets Better // Site: Cnet.com
3. (noun) software whose usefulness is reduced because of the excessive disk space and memory it requires.
4. My phone didn’t perform as well as I thought because of all its bloatware.