Singapore Zombie Walk: The Zombie Apocalypse Is Coming!

You've seen it happening at other places.

Broken store windows. Empty towns; strings of cars left abandoned on a highway. A bloody trail.

Is that a ...... .... O_O

Then... the low moans. And the sounds of shuffling feet coming closer.... closer....

It is drawing near, people. The Zombie Apocalypse will hit the shores of Red Dot Island in 32 days and counting.

Are you one of the Zombies? A Zombie Killer? Or are you a Zombie Sympathizer?

To ensure that there's a balanced viewpoint on all sides, Red Dot Diva dug around and found a Zombie (SG variant) Representative, who was willing to spill its guts to the general public. All behind the safety of a communication device, of course. And the help of her trusty Zombie Moan Translater.

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NYCC 2012: An Alternative to Comic-Con?

This is the 7th year of New York Comic Con (NYCC).

The event is run by the good folks at ReedPOP (whose local setup, by the way, also runs Red Dot Island's STGCC). And from all bets, attendance numbers for NYCC 2012 is set to garner another record high.

Considering the recent "mainstreaming" of what used to be the geekier side of pop-culture, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center will be jam-packed with noobs and old-timers come October 11 to 14th 2012.  Fact is, the three-day and four-day tickets have already been sold out a couple of weeks ago. And NYCC has never quite "sold out" this much, this early before.

Sigh. Signs of the times.

Braving Pangdemonium's "Swimming With Sharks"

Forget about loaded minefields at the office.

Facing hungry boss-sharks is probably what everyone should constantly look out for. For one thing, you might face a much slower, more painful demise. At best, you'll probably (d)evolve into another blood-thirsty shark.

And that was the primary premise of the movie screenplay by George Huang called "Swimming With Sharks", which is now currently brought to our local theatre scene by Pangdemonium! Productions.

Red Dot Diva has always enjoyed Pangdemonium!'s choice of plays. They are usually edgy with a dark twist, or absolutely fun productions with witty scripts like "The Full Monty", for instance.

With a title like "Swimming With Sharks" and that promotional pic of lead actor/ owner Adrian Pang looking like the aptly-named James Bond metal-mouth villain Jaws, it was inevitable that Red Dot Diva would be donning her heavy-duty neoprene suit for a dive into their preview night on Thursday.

And what a swim that was!

SDCC 2012: Chewing on Science Channel's "Dark Matters" with John Noble

To Red Dot Diva's knowledge, almost everyone who watches J.J. Abram's cult-series "Fringe" adores the character, Walter Bishop.

Off-kilter and utterly charming, Walter Bishop the brilliant scientist, is brought to life by the impressive talent of Aussie actor, John Noble.

However, this article is not about "Fringe" but about Science Channel's anthology series, "Dark Matters", which incidentally re-enacts freaky and mostly unethical scientific experiments that were actually carried out in past eras. Tales of creepy experiments like human-animal breeding, brainwashing, Frankenstein-like reanimations (Ahh! zombies!!) are all par for the course. Not unlike those featured in the "Fringe" episodes at all. And John Noble is the series' host.

Being a science freak and someone who loves morbid twisted stories, "Dark Matters" is just right up Red Dot Diva's alley. So, when Red Dot Diva got news that Science Channel was able to slot her in for the "Dark Matters" press conference at Comic-Con, she couldn't stop squeeing for days.

What is John Noble really like in person? She didn't quite know what to expect.

SDCC 2012 Recap: A First-Timer Kiwi at Comic-Con

One of the things that makes Comic-Con and other similar conventions special for Red Dot Diva, is the chance to network and make many more new friends!

At Comic-Con 2012, she got to know and roomed together with Felicia from "Middle Earth".

No, Felicia is not a Hobbit. :) She is actually a native of New Zealand and lives in Wellington. A newbie to hardcore geeky convention going, Felicia decided to pop her Comic-Con cherry this year. And Nathan Fillion is to be blamed. ;)

Here's Felicia's account of her week's adventures at Comic-Con:

STGCC Day 2 Recap - Operation Red Dot Biceps Continues

Bah. *sniffle*

Late night of Day 1 and con crud has already infected poor Red Dot Diva.

There's still Day 2 of STGCC to go.

So, she rigorously self-medicated with a stash of drugs, fell asleep for a few meagre hours... then, gamely made her way to that far away neverland of Marina Bay Sands late Sunday morning.

The crowd has yet to descend on the exhibition hall. Probably because most people do not like waking up early on Sundays, and many folks were still in their houses of worship.

ICDS 2012: Insights from Cosplayers Yaya Han and Jerry Polence

Yaya and Jerry on stage for their panel

Originating initially from the world of manga, anime and games, cosplayers are now a staple of almost any pop-culture convention.

In recent years, interest in cosplay has been gaining ground with Red Dot Islanders. Even some senior citizens are getting into the fray!

While a high percentage of cosplayers still focus on  anime or game characters, Red Dot Diva thinks that there have been more cosplayers who are getting into the "Western" characters. For example, the superheroes and supervillains from comics, or iconic characters in popular TV series and Hollywood movies.

Whatever they choose to dress up as, cosplayers sure liven up the geek culture scene in so many different ways.

STGCC 2012 Recap: Day 1 - Operation Red Dot Biceps Begins

It's with deliberate intention that Red Dot Diva decided to pace herself with more personal time at this year's STGCC.

She really wanted to hang out with her friends more, network with more interesting creative people and soak in the atmosphere. So, she only scheduled for two interviews during the weekend.

1 September, Day 1, was a terribly stuffy, fiery, hot day. The haze was bad and the acrid smell of smoke didn't help ease the commute to Marina Bay Sands. At the registration area, one could even feel the heat emanating from the large glass entrance doors. It was like an oven.

Red Dot Diva bumped into @rsilvers at the crowded registration area, and was told that the line for normal tickets was unexpectedly long. As a registered media, Red Dot Diva practically sailed through the process without no problems at all.

Pre-STGCC 2012 - A Packed and Lively Media Preview

Friday 31 August. The day before STGCC 2012, and a day that Red Dot Diva has been looking forward to - STGCC Media Preview Day!

But, oh the wet weather and the fact that school was out early (Red Dot Diva had forgotten about that!) made public transport a nightmare.

And oh, dear Marina Bay Sands -- you are so tricky to get to when someone is in a hurry!

So, Red Dot Diva was about 15 minutes late for the exclusive Media Preview. :(

When she arrived into the allocated media room, she found that it was PACKED! Standing room only by then. And there were so many photographers eager to take pictures of almost everything.

It was good to see people getting excited about STGCC again this year and creating more buzz about the show. Being able to re-connect with the many geek friends at the media preview got Red Dot Diva even more stoked for the weekend.