Diva's Geektastic Highlights of 2010

Everyone seems to be doing "lists" when time is relentlessly hurtling towards a New Year.

Since she is part of the blogosphere at large, Red Dot Diva feels that it is also her civic duty to do a list. Namely - "Red Dot Diva's Geektastic Highlights of 2010".

The "geek" part did not include any gadgets acquired in 2010, however. :(

Red Dot Diva wishes she was able to include an iPhone 4, a snazzy iPad, fancy SLR camera, 3D TV or ultra-portable teleporter in her list. However, since she sold half her blood and part of her liver in order to attend SDCC this year, she was not able to afford these "I ALSO WANTZ!" digital babies. (Any manwich-y generous sponsors out there?? Applications are open.)

One should also note that Red Dot Diva is not a gamer (why not?? ask her when you meet her) and hence, has not X-boxed, Wii-ed and Playstation-ed in any way.

So.. what the frell did Red Dot Diva geek-out over in 2010??

Cosplayers at STGCC.. Meow.

Stormtroopers, Pic by Lim Gillian

Lolitas. Kitty cats. Streetfighters. Masks, lace, feathers... Aaaahh!

Mesh them altogether and one is probably in the midst of a flock of cosplayers.

Cosplay has gained a booming popularity in Red Dot Island in recent years. There has also been a growing number of cosplay competitions held in various local conventions and fairs. Previously, it was rare to see anyone unconscious enough to parade themselves in costumes, in very public places.

Red Dot Diva noted that cosplaying in this region is still the domain of those who are into anime and manga, or games. There is a smattering of comic/ scific cosplayers these days, but it is still the anime/ Lolita crowd that makes up the majority.

In her many years attending conventions overseas, Red Dot Diva has mostly seen cosplaying of other types of genres - from the mostly vampire-themed Buffy conventions to the fantasy-realm of the Lord of the Rings to the frenzied SDCC cosplayers - where almost anything from comic or pop-culture goes. There was even an Elvis Stormtrooper - so go figure!

Matt Fraction + STGCC = Prime

Let it be known that Red Dot Diva trumps at mathematics and, naturally with it - fractions. She is very good with the proper fractions, and *especially* fabulous with the improper ones.

However, on the 2nd day of STGCC, she was feeling a little intimidated with a particular problem - Eisner Award-winning comic book writer, Matt Fraction.

While slinking around the STGCC exhibit hall, Red Dot Diva noted the long line of of fans whenever Matt was scheduled for autograph signings. As she passed by the throng of excited fans, she would hear them utter his name in hushed tones of wonderment. Once, she was even stopped by an anonymous fan who, probably noting her media pass, excitedly shoved his hardcover copy of "Invincible Ironman" in her face and asked, "Have you read *this*?!? It's really GOOD!"

From The Simpsons To Pachuko Boy!

There are not many people who have not heard of "The Simpsons".

And for those who do watch the award-winning and longest-running American animated series, almost everyone has an opinion who their favourite Simpsons character is. At the least, one would have uttered "D'oh!" at one point or other.

But has anyone heard of "Pachuko Boy"??
Nope?

Ahh... here's where the nosy Red Dot Diva gives you the scoop about "Pachuko Boy", gleaned from an interview with Emmy Award-winning, comic creator veteran Phil Ortiz during STGCC.

Testing, Testing!

After the two failed ticketing registrations with Epic, SDCC decided to have a so-called "test-run" on December 15th, 8 AM PST.

1,000 4-Day Comic Con tickets were offered up for sale online that day.

It seemed that Ticketleap - a social ticketing platform company - has also been pulled into the registration procedures together with Epic. And when you buy the SDCC tickets, funds will be paid to both companies for different types of charges. For the test-run, each registrant can only order for two tickets!

Ingrid's Linkin Park Experience in Brisbane

Words… they fail me. Well, almost.

So where to start?

My memories and thoughts are jumbled so it is hard to figure out where everything really started and ended.

The first thing I remember was arriving at the venue, The Brisbane Entertainment Center on 3rd December, and checking into the cloak room. I was organizing everything I needed, including the Christmas presents (Australian Animal shot glasses for the band) and cards I had picked out earlier that day for the band. I also had a beautiful and masculine Sagittarius Necklace for Linkin Park member, Brad’s birthday.

Jess (one of my best friends - you will hear about her in this account) and I packed away and clocked in our things, passed security proceeding to bolt up the stairs to the volunteering area where we met up with Lyndon. Lyndon, who is not much older than me, is head volunteer for the Music For Relief (MFR) booth. He did a head count, only about 9 of us - Jess and I being the only girls.

Gail Simone, A Starfish and Lots of Laughs

Without a doubt, one should consider an afternoon quite normal Absolutely Bizarre when one finds herself conducting an interview while sitting next to a purple supervillain starfish.

A mind-boggling scene that can hardly happen anywhere else on the Red Dot Island other than at the STGCC.

DC comics creator Gail Simone, who happened to be the interview subject, was a riot of colours that day with her cheery demeanor, colourful blouse and trademark red hair. It was fortunate that she had not been brain-sucked by that pesky starfish (whose name is Starro, BTW). For while Gail sat on the couch fielding questions, Starro's nasty eye stared at her hungrily the entire time.

Meanwhile, Red Dot Diva had her invisible but very powerful Echinodermic-Deflector Shield up. So she was quite, quite safe during the interview. In any case, no way will an alien starfish be allowed to disrupt a crucial interview with Red Dot Diva's SQUEE #1.

Gail began by sharing how her website "Women in Refrigerators", and later, a fun parody column called "You'll All Be Sorry", were both started out as amusement. These proved popular with readers and were then circulated around the internet. And that was how she got noticed and asked to write for comics companies, including Bongo Comics, Marvel and DC.

Cammo - Diva's First (Interview) At STGCC

Italian? Check
Handsome? Check
Smells good? Check
Geeky glasses? Check. CHECK.

Do ignore first four sentences if one is not interested in Red Dot Diva's auto-mental checklist when she met comic artist Giuseppe Camuncoli for the very first time.

- whiff of his flowery male fragrance -
(For a moment, Red Dot Diva feared that this was going to get terribly distracting. Focus!)

Beneath those dark, enigmatic John Lennon-istic good looks, is a talented rather soft-spoken artist who was very ready to share about his experiences in the comic industry.

STGCC Squee (Rating) Board

This is Red Dot Diva's current STGCC Squee Board.

One may consider this absolutely inane but as a pop-culture fangirl, Squees are of Utmost Importance.

One simply cannot be a fangirl without knowing the Art of Squeeing. Some do not even realize that one can squee in a rather classy fashion -- not unlike what Red Dot Diva is doing right now.

Pop-Culture Kick-off at STGCC!

No, it's not as frantic nor glamourous as San Diego Comic Convention.

Nor is it a fantasy-scifi-centric fangasm like Dracon*Con.

But the Singapore Toy Games and Comic Convention (STGCC) showed its unique style of pop-culture kickoff when it opened doors yesterday on our Red Dot Island.

True to the mixpot "rojak"-style-culture of our island, STGCC was a heady mix of girlish J-pop, macho superheroes and weird, quirky toys.

They Came, They Saw, They Ate ;)

Signage at Suntec (pic taken on 8th Dec)

*waves Singapore flag*

Red Dot Diva chirps (well actually not quite, she has a pretty low voice.. lol): "WELCOME TO OUR STGCC GUESTS!"

It's only a few hours more, peeps. LESS THAN A DAY to STGCC this weekend! W0000t!

Excited yet???!

The anticipated guests arrived on our Red Dot Island in mini groups since yesterday. It was raining cats and dogs earlier that afternoon but it sure didn't mar the general cheerful spirit of things.

Get Your Lightsabres and Suits READY!

This.Must.Be.A.Rebellion.Takedown.

Red Dot Diva reckons that the Singapore Toy Games and Comic Convention (STGCC) organizers are trying to maim the pop-culture fans with major geek-overload.

'Coz get those lightsabres ready! The list of already interesting STGCC panels now include two hosted by Lucasfilm! 

One of the panels - "The Clone Wars: Pushing the Envelope for TV" will discuss about the challenges Lucasfilm faced with delivering quality episodes of the animated series, "The Clone Wars" and meeting the expectations of hard-core Star Wars fans. Rob Ladermeier (lead animator) and Josh Robinson (lead asset artist) are panelists for this event.

Not only does one have to get ready to duel with lightsabres, one has better be able to strut it as good as suave tycoon, Tony Stark!

The second Lucasfilm panel is by the folks from Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). ILM is reknown for providing astounding special effects for countless films - including the recent "Iron Man 2". The digital craft from ILM would be seen in over 530 visual effects shots for the movie, including the brassy Stark Expo opener and the thrilling battle scenes. Red Dot Diva is proud to know that 190 of those shots were done in the Singapore studio.

So, don't miss the chance to catch ILM's Digital Artists, Phil Pham and Abishek Nair, who will both share about their experience working for the "Iron Man 2" movie. Phil and Abishek will show how the shots shown in the theatres were created and put together.

On a side note, Red Dot Diva wonders if any folks dare cosplay themselves as Tony Stark and the Ironettes during STGCC? Red Dot Diva saw a pretty impressive bevy at this year's SDCC, despite "Tony" being just a *little* hefty. Heh.

That's not all!! It seems that Lucasfilm will also be recruiting at STGCC from 1-5 pm on 10th December (Friday) and 10 am – 2 pm on 11th December (Saturday) at booth J24. For more details, do follow STGCC's Facebook acccount!

The Lucasfilm panels are held at Level 4, Halls 401 and 402:
10th December, Friday, 2.30pm - "The Clone Wars: Pushing the Envelope for TV"
11th December, Saturday, 11 am - "Iron Man 2: An Insider's Treat on the Movie's Visual Effects"

Dark side or not, Red Dot Diva thinks that these two Lucasfilms panels are far too epic to be missed!

Cinderel-LAH! She's Not Just A Sengkang Maid

The theatre scene has been heating up on our Red Dot Island the last few years. Before that, affordable and entertaining plays worth attending were few and the target audience tended to be very high-brow.

Local theatre companies have bloomed once they realized that they could be arty and yet reach the hearts of the masses. By crafting a theatre schedule that consisted of a good mix of localized, easy-to-digest themes coupled with less generic and darker ones, they managed to find their footing with a growingly more sophisticated Red Dot Island audience.

One of these companies, W!ld Rice, has pulled in some successes recently with "Animal Farm" and "Boeing Boeing". For the year-end festive season, W!ld Rice has decided to go all colourful and cheery with their 10th anniversary celebratory pantomime, "Cinderel-LAH!"

The classic rags-to-princess fairy tale has been updated and given a very local Red Dot Islandic twist.

More Concept Art Talk With Robbie!

Isn't previz work cool?

It is not merely an artistic field, Red Dot Diva appreciates that it's also rather brainy work. The ability to conceptualize and create from an almost blank slate is something she is in awe of.

If one is still unfamiliar with what previz is, click here for the part 1 interview with one of the top concept artist in Hollywood, Robbie Consing.

Warm, humourous Robbie has more to share about his many years of experience working in several blockbuster films. Read on for what he has to say!

Linkin Park Resonates With Ingrid

“Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.” – Anonymous

It has always been said that music has the incredible ability to change lives. It has the ability to give strength, hope, courage, wisdom, inspiration and the will to persevere. It can soothe and heal the wounds that would be otherwise left untreated, wounds of the heart and wounds of the soul.

Music is the one language that everyone in this world can understand, for there is no translation and no comparison. Music is universal and the positive feelings one can get from it coupled with its ability to heal, can be enough to not just save lives, but change them for the better. Music gives life new meaning and purpose that would otherwise go undiscovered.

Music helped me with all these things in a very personal way.

But not just any music…
The music of Linkin Park.