DUDE, I’m in an Obscure WebComic!
Jul 20th
To summarize my BotCon 2010 experience:
1.) It was disorganized on multiple fronts.
2.) It was catered specifically for the high price point attendees.
3.) Almost all other Florida Conventions have a deeper and richer line of programming and activities.
4.) It was a major disappointment.
Pretty simple to me. I guess I was expecting more, and was let down. I have grown used to this in my life. Movies such as Bayformers and TV shows such as Lost and Heroes, all of which I had high hopes for, and all of which failed to live up to anything I was expecting.
Tom and I have put facts up to support our opinion. These can be seen on the now truly epic BotCon Chronicles on Tom’s Blog. I guess we have struck a real sore nerve and the rabid BotCon supporters came out to tell Tom and I that our opinion was wrong! As this discussion has gone on, I am noticing something very telling of those that are carrying the flag of BotCon support. Trying to state facts to this group is like arguing with Christian Fundamentalists. When Tom shows that the ‘main panels’ room cannot physically seat all the BotCon attendees, he is accused of twisting the facts. Tom quotes one of the BotCon staffers regarding point #2 above, and Tom is accused of using quotes out of context. The ultimate capper is when we are told we can’t comment on BotCon because we didn’t go to every single event, but they are free to ‘poo-poo’ our panel, even though they have never sat through it. Hypocrisy in action!
Move the WayBack Machine to yesterday, and now Tom and I are the ‘stars’ of an obscure webcomic over at Shortpacked.com. I have read a good number of David Willis’ strips, and though sometimes more politically skewed than I prefer my ‘entertainment’ reading, not bad, though I don’t think it is any different than the other gazillion ‘geek culture’ webcomics out there, like PvP, CAD or even Penny Arcade. It may be unfair to compare him to those, however. It is still a quality product, even if his opinion of Beast Wars is seriously flawed.
Ancient City Con 4
Jul 11th
Just got back from Ancient City Con. Had fun, it was good to be back in the Sunshine State for an event. For those of you still tracking, Tom and I are still going CRAZZZZY on the “BotCon Chronicles“… and elsewhere, people are still angry about stuff Tom and I said about Beast Wars… OVER A YEAR AGO!
Thanks to the crew and attendees at Ancient City Con for having us, we did have big fun! Next on the Joey Snackpants national tour… GENCON!
BotFail 2010
Jul 7th
For those that have been under a rock for the last 14, or for the 2 people that read my Blog but don’t read Tom’s, there has been a heated debate between Tom, Myself, some realists and one rabid BotFail fan. You can read all the fun at Tom’s Blog or the full report at You Bent My Wookie. I was originally going to post a 3-4 page grammatical train wreck about how BotFail 2010 was one huge fleecing of the fan, but reading the responses I found the perfect summation of BotFail…
“I wouldn’t be remotely surprised if they got the bright idea to hold the “convention” in a vacuum chamber and charge extra for oxygen.” – Chris
I wish I was witty enough to come up with it myself, but I was not.
Harry What’s-His-Name has a theme park? Not exactly.
Jun 17th
Here is a list of 10 things I care about more than the Whatzing Recycled Theme Park Area of Harry Needs-to-get-laid:
1. My bowel movements. At least I can get some reading done as well.
2. Some idiot in the U.S. Senate thinks you can turn off parts of the Internet. Wasn’t Tipper Gore bad enough?
3. What stupidity Grant Morrison (the Michael Bay of Comics) will put Bruce Wayne through before he is Batman again.
4. Miley Cyrus hasn’t hired someone to kick Perez Hilton’s ass into next week.
5. I still don’t have an Android powered tablet!
6. No one has started an Internet campaign to get Tom Croom and I a panel at BotCon.
7. I heard there was some goofy soccer tournament going on somewhere else… not in the US.
8. I have a greater desire to see the new Smurfs movie than to go see the #wwohp.
9. Putting my shoes on the correct feet in the morning.
10. Gravity working correctly when I get out of bed in the morning.
People are having orgasms over a recycled themed area in a decaying park whose ‘heyday’ was 5 years ago and who got rid of its only originally designed area to puke up more sub-par attractions attached to yet another 3rd party property. At least when Six Flags had the goofy DC Comics themed attractions, Warner Bros OWNED IT!
You know what would have gotten me excited? A Harry Whats-his-name Theme Park. You know, a whole park dedicated to the franchise. I really don’t think Harry Potter fans realize exactly how short changed they are to have to be ‘part’ of a theme park. Oh, guess you’re not good enough to support your own, eh? Lame.
Hey, remember the Black Hole and Tron?!
Jun 7th
For those that may not know, I was born and bred as part of the Disney Collective. From 1972 till 2001, I ate, drank, walked, smoked, and thought Disney. They paid my salary, the paid my parents’ salaries, everything I had in my life was because of the Disney success story. Many of you that are reading this may not have been born when things at Disney were not so ‘secure’. If you have spare time between Final Fantasy XIII, Red Dead Redemption or the Twilight “Saga”, you may want to find a copy of Storming the Magic Kingdom in your local used bookstore, or Amazon.
In February of 1984, I was lucky enough to sit in the Ballroom of the Americas at Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort for the Annual Walt Disney Productions (what the Walt Disney Company was called back then) stock holder’s meeting. There, Ron Miller, son-in-law of company founder Walt Disney, was premiering a film, Splash, for the stock holders. Why was the then CEO (Ron Miller would not see the end of ’84 as the company’s CEO) so worried about stockholder opinion regarding their new movie? Well, after the Black Hole and Tron, two ‘adult’ oriented Disney films, completely BOMBED, the decision was made to create Touchstone Pictures. This decision would be Ron’s greatest legacy with the now Walt Disney Company (WDC). Back in the 80′s and 90′s, WDC was really worried about it’s ‘image’. With Touchstone Pictures, then later the Hollywood Pictures and the aquisition of Miramax, WDC was able to create a layer of protection between itself and its ‘edgier’ productions.
So there are 2 set-up paragraphs for what, Mr. Snackpants? Well, last night, Katie McAwesome and I sat through Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (don’t get me started on the fact that a movie based on a video game, needs a seperate video game tie-in). While seated in the theater, it finally hit me that the huge Disney castle logo was emblazened on the front of a PG-13 film. This was not the first time… all three of the previous Pirates films were PG-13, but it would have been much, much harder to mask such a well-known Disney property (“Pirates of the Caribean” was the last attraction Walt had direct control over). Prince of Persia was an Electronic Arts property, no previous Disney tie-in at all, but now the company has come full circle. When PG films were unsuccessful for the company, they needed a veil of protection to keep shareholders happy and stock prices up. Now that they have successful PG films, the Disney castle logo is emblazened at the front of the film… to keep shareholders happy and stock prices up. The question I have now… when will we have the first R rated film with the Disney logo attached to it… and will anyone really notice?
