#Epic Cons Chicago 2

[rafaelsilvasource]

RAFAEL SILVA at the Epic Cons Chicago 2 convention - September 15, 2024

[thena0315]

Norma Kuhling Instagram Update with Chicago Med stars at Epic Cons Chicago 2 [9.17.24]

" What an awesome weekend, thank you Epic cons and all the fans for coming out! 🚑 #chicagomed #chicagofire #chicagopd #onechicago #chihards "

[911lsbts]

Rafael Silva, Ronen Rubinstein, Natacha Karam, & Bart Johnson at Epic Cons Chicago 2 Lone Star Panel - September 15, 2024.

[mayasdeluca]

Epic Cons Chicago 2 - Station 19 Panel Day 2

[rachlovesactors]

These are my Daniel Sharman items from Epic Cons Chicago, March 24, 2024. This was my 4th time meeting him. Every time is wonderful! I had the private meet & greet with 20 fans, which was great. I love my autograph! I had the vinyl poster custom-made, it's 2 feet by 3 feet. When I unrolled it in front of him, he said "Wow, that's a whole lot of me in one poster!" The personalization reads "Dear Rachel, Loads of love" and has a heart, which is the most he's ever written on an autograph for me, and I've met him 4 times now, so I'm very happy with it!! He calls all the fans "love" or "darling," so throughout the day he called me love, darling, and sweetheart. It's so wonderful to hear those in his accent.

I have a Facebook photo album full of photos from the Teen Wolf panels at Epic Cons Chicago (and Twilight and Pretty Little Liars). It's public, so you can look at my photos here:

If you share any of my photos, please credit me! You can tag me on Instagram and X at rharsin

[supermanandloisverse]

Teen Wolf Panel at Epic Con Chicago : Day 2

[theamyacker]

SHOOT REUNION 2024

SHOOT FANS!!!! I need your help!! So there's this con called Epic Cons @ epiccons - on twitter and instagram - they are doing a first responders event called Epic Chicago Con 2 (ECC2) on September 14-15 of this year and I thought about how Amy Acker was on 9-1-1 Lone Star and Sarah Shahi was in Chicago Fire so it would only make sense to have a reasonable excuse to invite them so that we can have our shoot reunion. PLEASE TWEET THEM AND COMMENT ON THEIR IG POSTS

[jacebeleren]

Hello! I saw this dina cosplay and thought you might be normal about it. I dont know if this is the best way to send it to you https://www.instagram.com/p/C3-tuIqrevZ/?igsh=MWV3MXpkeW9jYzBiZw==

omg epic!!!! there were 2 dina cosplayers at magic con chicago, i was sad i didnt get a picture with either!

[trastornadosrevista]

AVRIL LAVIGNE lanzará su primer álbum GREATEST HITS

Antes de su próxima gira, Avril Lavigne, ocho veces nominada al GRAMMY® y con certificación de diamante, anuncia su primer álbum de grandes éxitos que se lanzará el 21 de junio a través de Legacy Recordings, la división de catálogo de Sony Music Entertainment. Avril Lavigne - Greatest Hits ya está disponible para pre-pedido.

Una compilación esencial de todas las fases de la carrera pionera de Avril como uno de los íconos pop del siglo XXI, Avril Lavigne - Greatest Hits presenta 20 canciones favoritas de los fanáticos de su catálogo que rompió récords, incluido "Complicated" con certificación de platino de la RIAA 3 veces y "Sk8er Boi" con certificación de platino 2 veces de su álbum debut de 2002 Let Go (Artista) hasta su séptimo álbum de estudio Love Sux (Elektra/DTA) con canciones como "Bite Me", "Bois Lie" feat. Machine Gun Kelly y "I'm A Mess" con Yungblud.

Avril Lavigne llevará sus Greatest Hits a la carretera para una serie de conciertos inolvidables en 2024. Lagira Avril Lavigne: The Greatest Hits comienza el miércoles 22 de mayo en Vancouver, BC en el Rogers Arena, con paradas en Los Ángeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Toronto, Charlotte, Nashville, Chicago y más antes de concluir el miércoles 18 de septiembre en Calgary. All Time Low y Simple Plan se unirán a Avril en fechas seleccionadas a lo largo de la gira como invitados especiales y apoyo directo, con Royal & the Serpent y Girlfriends uniéndose a fechas seleccionadas como teloneros.

Avril Lavigne - Greatest Hits Track List: 01. Sk8er Boi (Let Go/single - Arista 2002) 02. Girlfriend (The Best Damn Thing/single - RCA 2007) 03. What the Hell (Goodbye Lullaby/single - RCA 2011) 04. Complicated (Let Go/single - Arista 2002) 05. Don't Tell Me (Under My Skin/single - Arista/RCA 2004) 06. I'm A Mess (with Yungblud) (Love Sux Deluxe/single - Elektra/DTA 2022) 07. He Wasn't (Under My Skin/single - Arista/RCA 2005) 08. Losing Grip (Let Go/single - Arista 2003) 09. My Happy Ending (Under My Skin/single - Arista/RCA 2004) 10. Bite Me (Love Sux/single - Elektra/DTA/2021) 11. Nobody's Home (Under My Skin/single - Arista/RCA 2004) 12. I'm With You (Let Go/single - Arista 2002) 13. When You're Gone (The Best Damn Thing/single - RCA 2007) 14. Bois Lie (feat. Machine Gun Kelly) (Love Sux/single - Elektra/DTA 2022) 15. Smile (Goodbye Lullaby/single - RCA 2011) 16. Love It When You Hate Me (feat. blackbear) (Love Sux/single - Elektra/DTA 2022) 17. Rock n Roll (Avril Lavigne/single - Epic 2013) 18. Here's To Never Growing Up (Avril Lavigne/single - Epic 2013) 19. Keep Holding On (The Best Damn Thing/"Eragon" soundtrack/single - RCA 2006) 20. Head Above Water (Head Above Water/single - BMG 2018)

Sobre Avril Lavigne Avril Lavigne ha hecho historia, ha batido récords y ha abierto constantemente su propio camino como una fuerza intransigente en la música y la cultura. Más allá de vender 50 millones de álbumes en todo el mundo con 12.5 millones de unidades vendidas solo en los Estados Unidos, ha logrado ocho nominaciones a los premios GRAMMY® en categorías como "Mejor Artista Nuevo" y "Canción del Año" dos veces por "Complicated" y "I'm with You". Además, el ganador del Paseo de la Fama de Canadá 2023 y del Paseo de la Fama de Hollywood 2022 ha ganado diez premios JUNO, incluido el de "Artista del Año" y varios premios "JUNO Fans' Choice". Su catálogo comprende el disco certificado de diamante (Canadá) y el séptuple platino (EE. UU.) Let Go [2002], quíntuple platino (Canadá) y triple platino (EE. UU.) Under My Skin [2004], el doble platino The Best Damn Thing [2007], el disco de oro Goodbye Lullaby [2011], el disco de oro Avril Lavigne [2013] y Head Above Water [2019] destacan éxitos definitivos como "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi", "Girlfriend", "Here's To Never Growing Up" y "Head Above Water". Como tal, sigue siendo "una de las artistas más vendidas de la era Soundscan que lanza álbumes en los EE. UU." y "la tercera artista femenina canadiense más vendida de todos los tiempos". Obtuvo un lugar en el Top 10 de la lista "Lo mejor de la década de 2000" de Billboard y tiene un récord mundial Guinness como "la artista solista femenina más joven en encabezar la lista del Reino Unido", mientras que "Girlfriend" surgió como "el primer video musical en alcanzar los 100 millones de visitas en YouTube". También ha obtenido múltiples #1 en todo el mundo y sus seguidores en las redes sociales superan notablemente los 93.6 millones de fanáticos en todo el mundo. En febrero de 2022, Avril hizo su debut para DTA Records con el lanzamiento de su séptimo álbum de estudio Love Sux que debutó en el top 10 de la lista Top 200 de Billboard, acumuló más de 12 millones de reproducciones en su primera semana e incluyó éxitos como "Bite Me", "Love It When You Hate Me" feat. blackbear" y "I'm A Mess" (con YUNGBLUD). El 22 de mayo, Avril iniciará su gira norteamericana Avril Lavigne: The Greatest Hits interpretando sus canciones más importantes hasta la fecha en ciudades como Los Ángeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Charlotte, Nashville y Chicago, entre otras. Para conocer las fechas de la gira y el resto de la información, visitá  www.avrillavigne.com.

[rafaelsilvasource]

RAFAEL SILVA and RONEN RUBINSTEIN at the Epic Cons Chicago 2 convention - September 15, 2024

[thena0315]

Not once have we've seen this entire group shared a screen together on Chicago Med

First time seeing Connor & Ava in the same place with Crockett & Hannah (their replacements in season 5)

[designer-dad]

Peak Design Everyday Backpack 30L - The Review

So we’ve arrived. The culmination of years of fine-tuning and honing in what I look for in a bag. Years of tastes growing, becoming uber-specific and demanding. And 6 months of searching for a very good bag that won’t (totally) break the bank. Something that a frugal person can still say is worth every penny.

Behold, my EDC choice: The Peak Design Everyday Backpack in 30L, Charcoal.

Peak Design first caught my eye when they developed the Everyday Messenger Bag. I was thoroughly taken by how a bag could be so simple, yet powerful. It didn’t require very specific pockets for every possible item. What it had was a thoughtful and novel approach to organization that, while based on camera gear, worked exceedingly well for EDC. With thoughtful and useful pockets, the ability to expand, and those awesome gear dividers, I knew they had a winner. But I was already getting past the stage of messengers and looking at backpacks. if only they did a backpack...

... And then they did. And what a backpack. It was very hard as a designer not to fall down the rabbit hole of videos on the features and uses of this bag. There really isn’t a whole lot you’d wanna do with this (as an EDC/typical travel bag) that you can’t do. True, it’s not submersible, and I don’t think it would do well with a hydration bladder, so it won’t really work as a hiking pack. But aside from that, this thing really can do it all. Drone carry? Check. Tripod? Check. Yoga mat? Check. Lots of giant water bottles? Check. Laptop and tablet? Check. Camera gear for days? Check. Room to grow? Check. Slinging a days worth of purchases from the Mahane Yehudah Market in Jerusalem? Check.

There’s no shortage of reviews and videos breaking down this bag, so I won’t get into all the nitty gritty of what makes it awesome. It’s pretty much unanimous that it is. So I’ll go through why it checks my particular boxes, and then run through how I think it could get even better.

1) Masterful Organization Major pros here, a few cons. Overall, Peak addresses my biggest issue with backpacks, which was really the main sell for me. They employed a way for me to subdivide the giant big pocket into smaller chunks that are easy to reconfigure in both immediate ways (simply flipping a flap one way or another) or more semi-permanent ways (removing/adding a divider, or simply moving one). This is epic. This scratches my organization itch SO SATISFACTORILY. 2 side water bottle pockets (more on that below), handy soft-lined kinda hidden zipper pocket at the top of the laptop compartment, interior hidden passport pocket, and 2 side panels of smaller organization which expand to hold FREAKING ANYTHING. Seriously, I’ve never not been able to fit something in there, even things that obviously should not fit. And it’s got hidden loops and tethers all over the place for carrying literally any kind of weird thing strapped to the outside as well. It covers all the bases, some better than others, but certainly covers them all. I can store big stuff, little stuff, weird stuff, and more, and know it will all have a place, no matter the size or shape or fragility.  Other than documents. More on that later. And it’ll grow to add more. YES. 

2) DSLR/Camera Carry This is what Peak Design focuses on, and this is what they do exceedingly well. Taking cues from many other DSLR carry inserts, their origami style dividers have flaps that allow you to move a portion of these semi-rigid dividers to the side to make way for larger camera grips, or lay long lenses across. But that’s an understatement. These movable flaps give an excellent combination of structure, flexibility, protection, and modularity to allow for nearly any kind of setup you’d like. They pretty damn well near nailed this aspect of bags.

3) Travel Buddy/EDC Buddy Yeah, it’s more or less a joy to use this bag for travel and EDC. It flexes nimbly between what I use everyday and the particular items I carry for travel. It grows to carry my extra gear for travel (prayer paraphernalia, books, cable pack, snacks), yet shrinks back to a reasonable size when all I’ve got is my lunch and collection of way-too-many EDC knives. 

And no matter the kind of trip, it can tackle it. Overnight stay to get away from the kids? Done. 3 day work trip to North Carolina? No problem. 3 day winter break with the kids in Louisville? Got it. Week with the boys in Scotland? Yup. 10 days with the wife in Israel, along with day-pack use? Check. 2.5 day Design Show in Milan? Sure.

It’s a great airport companion, as the quick release strap adjusters and swing-to-the-side move make backpack carry almost as easy to access as messenger carry, and always stymies TSA just enough that they tend to give up on it quick and leave me alone. And I love being the only guy on the Metra in Chicago with this bag. Other than that one time I sat next to another dude with the same bag, and proceeded to make a new friend.

4) Backpack Carry Now almost any backpack could theoretically satisfy this requirement, but Peak does it in a pretty special way. The straps are fairly comfortable, very ergonomically sculpted, and have a giant swiveling rivet at the top that allow it to fit my 6′2″ 230 pound frame, as well as my 5″4′ 120 pound wife, all without issue. It has a somewhat ventilated back panel, to ease comfort a little (but still doesn’t quite measure up to a serious hiking pack like an Osprey), though it will still yield a pretty sweaty back with prolonged wear. But for a bag that’s rigid, holds its shape well, stand on its own when you put it down, protects your gear, and has a water-resistant coating, it’s a pretty dang comfortable bag. 

5) Water Bottle Carry YES. This bag does this better than almost any I’ve seen. The side pockets are deep, fit even GIANT bottles, and somehow tuck flat back against the bag when not in use. It looks fitted empty, with my slim travel umbrella, or a 750ml bottle in it. And it has a pocket on BOTH sides. 

6) Laptop Carry Do you carry a giant 17″ CAD Mobile Workstation? Then you’re out of luck. Anything else, and you’re covered. It fits my 15″ Mobile Workstation just fine, and that’s massive. The 20L would fit a 15″ standard laptop as well. It’s got a soft protected pocket with top access, keeping it separate from the main compartment, and it expands to the inside of the bag when occupied, so the bag does not physically grow when you add a laptop. I find it nice that the bag always maintains the same profile. I don’t have to readjust on the train to avoid hitting people if all of a sudden my bag is really full. It also has a tablet sleeve, but I find it hard to keep one in there if I’m toting my beast laptop. Admittedly, this is a problem for very few people.

7) Svelte but Spacious As I said above, I love the fact that the profile of this bag pretty much never changes. Yes, it gets slightly taller when it’s crammed, but front to back, side to side, it’s always the same, semi-rigid structure. It’ll always fit under the seat in front of me on the plane. I won’t accidentally hit people with it because I forgot I added a pair of shoes. Yet it looks sleek, and not gargantuan, even though it can hold up to a generous 30L. It’s more like 22L when not fully expanded. Granted, it looks on the larger side when my wife is carrying it, but on a, uh, fully grown male such as myself, it looks just fine. Not too large for EDC.

8) Generally Awesome Designers like toys. We love novelty. Cool features. Little pleasant surprises. This bag is full of them, and they continue to provide joy on a daily basis. This is how products should be. From the unique magnetic latch and bar system, to the hidden magnets for the water bottle and hidden pockets (everyone loves magnets), various hidden tethers, stretchy expandable pockets, lovely detailed hardware, plethora of carry handles that don’t look like luggage handles, this bag just delights over and over. Even with it’s few frustrations.

Ok, so now I want to share my wishlist for the next Everyday Backpack. Nothing is perfect, and this bag is no exception. So here are the VERY FEW issues I have with this bag, after about 2 years of use for both EDC carry and frequent travel, both domestic and international.

1) I wish there was a small, quick access pocket. Not big, not deep, but a pocket on the outside of the bag that I can stick the boarding pass, earbuds, train ticket, spare change, passport, or whatever single random small thing I need to stick somewhere that's not in my pants pocket, but can quickly take it right back out without undoing 2 zippers or a flap. Like the Timbuk2 Napoleon pocket. 

Maybe along the seam between the side and back panels. A little 6 inch zipper. I like the pocket in the laptop pocket, but can't access that with the quick sling to the side move. I would like to get at that pocket using that move.

2) I wish there was a dedicated spot to clip a carabiner onto the shoulder strap. Gotta keep my keys somewhere quick. They include a tether for keys in the water bottle pocket (that uses the same clip as their strap system, oooOOOooo), and I like the tether, but it's not the fast access of a carabiner. This is a couple ways I've been doing it, but it took a while to figure out these solutions. I could use a couple loops on the strap to do it.

3) I wish I had a good document storage solution. I have a hulking laptop, so that pocket won't work if my laptop is in there. I need another thin vertical sleeve. I’ve seen a YouTube video with a workaround for that, but it’s inelegant, and renders a divider and a lot of space much less useful.

4) I wish I had better writing implement organization. Maybe 5 dedicated pen slots. I know I'm not most people, but as a Designer, I have a handful I need with me. Sharpie, pen, pencil, Xacto, felt tip, pocket scale. They scratch against each other in a shared pocket, and the material is too thick for the clips to clip onto for most of them, so they tend to slide too far down to reach quickly. I also don’t like that it’s not quick to pull out a pen. It’s swinging the bag to the front, opening a zipper, opening a flap, opening another zipper, pulling out the pen, then reverse. Nah.

5) Sweat. So. Much. Sweat. I’ve worn this for hikes, all day shopping in markets, at trade shows, in giant airports, and the back sweat is measurable in inches. Not as bad if there’s a coat and it’s cold, but if this is on the shirt on my back, I will be wetter than I care to be in normal attire.

6) While I like the little pocket at the top of the zippered laptop compartment, it grows into the main pocket, and right at the top. This pocket is the natural place for sunglasses, keys, etc, but as it grows, it greatly interferes with access into the main compartment, and can also crush stuff in that little pocket.

7) I’d love to see other kind of dividers or organization options that can attach to that velcro-ey interior of the bag. I wanna get their tech bag that fits nicely, but would love to have some more specific options available to mix and match with.

There's a part of me that hopes they never put these into play, because I don't wanna drop another $280 on a bag. But if they do, I happily will. 

[mayasdeluca]

Epic Cons Chicago 2 Schedule for Sunday September 15th. All times are CST.

[carolinesiede]

My 2019 Writing Roundup

Not to get too New Age-y, but 2019 felt like a very ~transformative~ year for me. I turned 30, got a literary agent, and became a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. After feeling like I’d hit a plateau in my late 20s, it was nice to experience a sense of forward momentum again, even if the lack of financial stability in this career is a constant background stress. Still, on the whole my sixth year as a full-time freelancer felt like a time where I kinda, sorta figured out what I’m doing. Instead of struggling in murky waters, I’m at least actively swimming in them.

I continued to write for The A.V. Club, The Spool, and Consequence of Sound, plus took on new outlets in The Verge and Polygon. I also had an article about romantic comedies published in Southwest Airline’s in-flight magazine and was asked to talk about Hallmark Channel Christmas rom-coms on Canadian radio. Speaking of rom-coms, 2019 was the second year (and first full-year) for When Romance Met Comedy, and I feel like the column really came into its own this year. It’s by far the biggest undertaking of my career (I’ve covered 47 films in total so far!), and I’m really excited to continue shaping its voice in 2020.

Beyond finding a regular fitness routine and seeing Cats onstage for the first time, the biggest personal project I undertook in 2019 was immersing myself in the world of film and film criticism—something I started in mid-2018 and really amped up this year. My goal was to watch 300 new-to-me movies this year, and I wound up watching 355! (Including 129 new releases.) Regular access to CFCA screenings and screeners allowed me to be a bigger part of the film critic conversation than I’ve been in the past, which was exciting. I also tackled a bunch of blindspots from the past decade and put together a list of my 50 favorite films of the 2010s, which you can see right here:

Over on the TV side of things, I bid farewell to the Netflix Defenders universe with binge-review coverage of the final seasons of The Punisher and Jessica Jones. Those Marvel binge-reviews were a big part of my early career, so seeing that universe come to a close was bittersweet. It’s always nerve-wracking when a semi-regular assignment ends, but I’m hopeful that new projects will pop up to take its place.

Putting together this year-end retrospective also made me realize I was on a lot of podcasts in 2019, including jumping in as a regular guest on the Cinematic Universe podcast in the latter half of the year. Podcasting is something I really enjoy (I find talking so much easier than writing!), and I’d love to do more of it in the future.

With that, I’ll leave you with wishes for a Happy New Year and a roundup of all the major writing I did in 2019. If you enjoyed my work this year, it would mean a lot if you would support me on either Kofi or PayPal. Or just share some of your favorite pieces with your friends!

My 15 favorite TV shows of 2019

My 15 favorite films of 2019

Op-eds and Features

“Rom-Com Revival” for Southwest The Magazine

Avengers: Endgame doesn’t earn its big “girl power” moment

An MCU breakup could be a terrific step forward for Spider-Man

“What is a weekend?”: A catch-up guide to Downton Abbey’s cast and characters

Nope, seeing Cats the musical will not help you understand Cats the movie

Let’s talk about the ending of Greta Gerwig’s Little Women

TV Coverage

Doctor Who’s 2019 New Year’s Special

The Punisher S2

Jessica Jones S3

The Crown S3

This Is Us S3 and S4

Supergirl S4 and S5

Rent: Live

Jane The Virgin fill-in

The Tony Awards

The Little Mermaid Live! 

When Romance Met Comedy

27 Dresses doesn’t deserve your hate and neither does Katherine Heigl

Bride & Prejudice weaves an impressive cultural critique into a Bollywood-inspired Jane Austen update

How does the original What Women Want hold up two decades later?

In 1990, Pretty Woman changed romantic comedies forever

For one brief, wonderful moment, Eddie Murphy reinvented himself as a romantic-comedy star

20 years later, 10 Things I Hate About You remains a model for how to do the teen rom-com right

Lloyd Dobler is Cameron Crowe’s original manic pixie dream date

We're just not that into He’s Just Not That Into You

Romance is the weakest aspect of one of the most celebrated rom-coms of the ’90s

To All The Boys and Netflix reminded the world why it’s smitten with rom-coms

Imagine Me & You gives a lesbian love story the classic rom-com treatment

Queer resilience thrives in this rom-com about love in the time of the AIDS crisis

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is bubbly and smart, just like Marilyn Monroe

The Best Man capped off one decade of black rom-coms and inspired another

Nicolas Cage romanced Cher in one of the weirdest rom-coms ever made

After a decade of discourse, (500) Days Of Summer is basically the Fight Club of rom-coms

It’s No Strings Attached versus Friends With Benefits in a rom-com showdown

Adam Sandler’s sweetness makes The Wedding Singer a rom-com worth growing old with

The Philadelphia Story delivered one of the most star-studded love triangles ever

13 Going On 30 made Jennifer Garner a rom-com star—and gave tween girls a sleepover staple

Celebrate Halloween with Warm Bodies, the film that tried to make zom-rom-coms a thing

In the 2010s, rom-coms went indie and saved themselves in the process

Sandra Bullock became a rom-com star with a cozy love story about crushing loneliness

With just two storylines, The Holiday paid tribute to the entire rom-com genre

The A.V. Club

The maudlin Five Feet Apart anoints a new pair of winning young stars

After thinks it’s beautiful, that’s what makes it tiresome

Teen Spirit has plenty of it

Ramy is a Muslim millennial comedy with impressively big questions on its mind

Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson’s new comedy The Hustle pulls an inelegant con

The Sun Is Also A Star turns a compelling premise into a lackluster teen romance

The Art Of Racing In The Rain is a doggone mess

You don’t need to love Springsteen to like the thoughtful crowd-pleaser Blinded By The Light

The well-meaning Brittany Runs A Marathon can’t quite go the distance

Renée Zellweger zings in a Judy Garland biopic that clangs

The Downton Abbey movie is as pleasant as a cozy cup of tea

Tall Girl’s familiar teen love story fails to reach new heights

The new Lady And The Tramp feels like a ’90s update of a ’50s classic

The Verge/Polygon

Tigers Are Not Afraid puts a Pan’s Labyrinth spin on a poignant Mexican drug war story

The gloriously surreal space epic Ad Astra is half a great movie

An AI affair fuels a midlife crisis in the eerie science fiction drama Auggie

The painfully generic new animated Addams Family deserves no snaps

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is boldly bonkers

Netflix’s apocalyptic teen comedy Daybreak is an exhausting sugar rush

The Current War is basically Amadeus for electricity

Is Playmobil: The Movie just a reskinned Lego Movie?

The Spool

The LEGO Movie 2: Everything is About Half as Awesome

Isn’t It Romantic: An Instant Postmodern Rom-Com Classic

The Aftermath: Sumptuous but Surface-Level Melodrama

Late Night: A Sparkling Comedy With a Lot On Its Mind

Plus One: An Indie Millennial When Harry Met Sally

The Farewell is A Poignantly Funny Goodbye

Where’d You Go, Bernadette: A whimsical mid-life crisis

After the Wedding: A grown-up drama that doesn’t trust its own story

Falling Inn Love: Love, New Zealand Style

Paradise Hills: Harajuku Gossip Girls

Consequence of Sound

Brexit Takes An Engaging But Ultimately Shallow Look At the 2016 Vote

What Men Want Flips the Script and Finds Mixed Results

Dumbo Delights Without Ever Fully Taking Flight

Someone Great Continues Netflix’s Romantic Comedy Revival

Aladdin Has the Animated Classic’s Songs, But Less of Its Personality

MindMeet Interviews

Nadine Hack and Global Citizens Circle: Creating Connectedness

Podcast Appearances

Filmography: When Harry Met Sally

Filmography: Tim Burton’s mature films (Ed Wood, Sweeney Todd, Big Fish, Big Eyes)

Debating Doctor Who MCU Edition: Avengers: Endgame

Cinematic Universe: Alita: Battle Angel

Hall of Faces: Friends

Cinematic Universe: Joker

Hall of Faces: The West Wing

CBC Radio: Hallmark Christmas movies

Cinematic Universe: The Wolverine

Cinematic Universe: Awards Special—The Cuppies 2019 (Part One)

And here are similar year-end wrap-ups I did in 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.

[supermanandloisverse]

Teen Wolf Panel at Epic Con Chicago : Day 2

[oldschoolgaming]

Gary Con XI

Last year’s trip to Gary Con was supposed to be a one off, a ‘Trip of Lifetime’ but as you might have read in last year’s blog post it was an experience I was keen to repeat.  I worked hard, I saved my pennies and with the support of my ever amazing (& non gaming) wife I planned a return trip to Lake Geneva.

Sadly my good friend and travel buddy Isa couldn’t join me on this year’s trip so I traveled to Chicago on my own, this time on a direct flight from London.  

I’d planned to arrive a day early to allow my body clock time to adjust.  Asking around about sharing transport from O’Hare to Lake Geneva I got a message from a friend I’d met at last year’s convention.   Jason Hobbs was kind enough to bring his trip forward a day, picking me up from the airport and driving up to our B&B in Lake Geneva.   We made plans to head over to Madison and meet Alex Kammer, another acquaintance from last year’s event.  Alex runs Gamehole Con, another Wisconsin gaming convention held in the autumn.  He is also a big collector of old school D&D books and memorabilia  We were able to check out his amazing collection, housed in a custom gaming space he calls ‘The Gamehole’

The Gamehole

This is a 1st printing of the 1st Edition AD&D Monster Manual, signed by Gary Gygax.

As well as books Alex also has some unique artifacts.  This is the original map of the Forgotten Realms, used to define what is now the default setting for Dungeons and Dragons today.

The exceptionally rare English module ST1 ‘Up The Garden Path’

Me, with a rare first printing of Chainmail, the ruleset written by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren.  Chainmail preceded Dungeons and Dragons and was intended to be used in the original edition of D&D to resolve combat.  The system we use today for D&D combat has evolved from what was originally intended to be the ‘alternate’ rules for folk who didn’t own a copy of Chainmail!

We got back to our B&B around 10pm, but my body clock wasn’t fooled, it knew it should be 4am and I’m sure I entertained Hobbs with some pretty hard core snoring on the drive back!

Now I’m a believer that if you do something twice it becomes a tradition so on Wednesday we met up with Bruce Heard for our now traditional pre Gary Con lunch, at the ‘Next Door Pub’  Bruce is always good company and it was great to catch up with him.  I was pleased to hear his latest ‘Calidar’ product is taking shape, I’m excited to receive my copy from the Kickstarter later this year.

After lunch we headed off to the Geneva Grand Resort, home of the convention to pick up our badges and get settled in.  

We arrived a little early so I had a short wait before my room was ready.  It was while I waited in the bar watching people arrive that I started to realise that this trip really was going to be at least as magical as the previous year.  You see, the magic of Gary Con, for me at least, is the people.  Having just picked up my badge and not even rolled a single dice I was happy so see more friends arrive.  Much hugging and laughing ensued, setting the standard for the days to come.

On Wednesday evening I ticked off ‘Dawn Patrol’ from my ‘want to play’ bucket list.  Michael Bolam facilitated an awesome intro game for a bunch of newbies and despite rolling badly (winning initiative is a bad start in this game!) I survived my first game and even got my first ‘kill’

After the game I had time for a couple of beers in the bar, catching up with friends old and new before getting an early night (well, midnight?) ready to start the gaming the next day.

On Thursday morning I ran my first game of Dungeon Crawl Classics (The 13th Skull) for a great table of players, most of whom had some experience of the system.  I felt like it took me a couple of hours to hit my GMing stride but the pace accelerated pretty quickly.  The party making good progress until my dice suddenly ran hot and we finished with a TPK!

My afternoon game was the session I was most anxious about.  I was running my own adventure for ‘The Umerican Survival Guide’  and I whilst the table was full of familiar faces I was nervous running for so many creative folk!  I think it went down ok, we certainly laughed a lot and I’ve got some ideas to tweak the adventure before I run it next at the UK Games Expo.

Thursday evening was another great social night, both in the hotel bar and at the party I was invited to by my roommate. 

It was great to have a few minutes with Luke Gygax.  Luke is the driving force behind the convention and Gary Con is a fantastic tribute to his dad.  I’m sure Gary would be happy to see thousands of people gathering to play games in his memory.

“I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else.”

Gary Gygax

I also got to chat and hang out with bunch of other well know D&D faces.

Satine Phoenix 

Stefan Pokorny, aka ‘The Dwarvenaught’

with Jon Peterson (”Art & Arcana” & “Playing At The World”) and Mike Carr (”Dawn Patrol” and “In Search Of The Unknown” for D&D, amongst others!)

Whilst it’s great to see the new wave of D&D ‘Rock Stars’ promoting the hobby I think chatting with Mike Carr and him shaking my hand to congratulate me on my first ‘Dawn Patrol’ kill the previous night was a highlight of the convention!

Back in the bar I met up with more of the tribe, including Tom Tullis of Fat Dragon Games who produces the amazing 3D printable minis and scenery I use in a lot of my games at home.

Friday was my Birthday.  I started an epic day of gaming running Operation Whitebox, a World War 2 RPG by Pete Spahn.  It was really good to finally meet Pete and once again he had generously donated copies of the rulebook to all my players. He stopped by during the game to sign books and hang out.  I had a great table of friends new and old who worked well together to complete their dangerous mission behind enemy lines with only two casualties!

I ran straight from my own game to sit at Stephen Newton’s table for his DCC adventure.  Stephen’s a great judge and I was pleased to be back at his table this year. This was a completely new adventure to me and I was playing with a great bunch of players with a wide age range, kids through to adult.  I’ve had some really great experiences playing at mixed tables with kids recently and this game was no exception! 

After this game Stephen and I headed off to the next game, we were both playing in ‘Blacklisted in Lankhmar’ run by Jen Brinkman.

This was my first time playing with Jen and I was excited to grab a spot in this game at almost the last minute.  Normally coming to the end of 12 hours of gaming my mind and attention would be wandering but Jen is a captivating judge, and DCC Lankhmar is a lot of fun - a great game perfectly reworked to fit this classic setting from the works of Fritz Leiber 

I was planning a couple of quiet birthday beers before another early(ish) night - but it was not to be!  I certainly wasn’t expecting to have the a couple of hundred people in the bar singing happy birthday before I was presented with this amazing cake by friends Dave and Kathy.  I may have been a little drunk and emotional that night!

Saturday Morning’s game was my Dark Trails funnel adventure.

I squeezed a couple of extra players around the table for this and although I’ve added to it since it’s first outing at the UK Games Expo it’s clear I still have some work to do, but I think everyone had fun.

One of the extra players was a fellow twitch mini painter, Ali, it so good to meet her and take delivery of the minis she had painted for me!

Saturday afternoon I found Carl Heyl’s drop in/drop out Basic D&D game.  Carl is the current host of long time Classic D&D podcast Save Or Die and I loved sitting in on his game for a little while.

I had to keep my time in Carl’s game short because I’d signed up to play at 5pm in a ‘Super Secret Playtest’ with Michael Curtis.  

By the time I sat down the secret was ‘out’ and I was excited to find I’d be taking part in the first public play test of Goodman Games 5th Edition conversion of the classic module ‘Expedition to the Barrier Peaks’   This game was a lot of fun on so many levels.  I was out of my comfort zone playing a Bard and in 5th Edition D&D too!  However we had an absolute blast playing through some fun encounters and it ticked several things off my bucket list.  

Playing with Michael Curtis had been a long standing ambition - he didn’t disappoint, even when he teased me with “Do you want to burn any luck? Oh, sorry, wrong system!”  It was also cool to play a classic Gygax module at Gary Con!

Saturday night was another party night.  After my game I met some more friends in the bar.  Alex, Zach and Greg seemed to have been gaming non stop all weekend but we made time to hang out and enjoy a couple of ‘Old Fashioned’s before the unofficial ‘Cultural Exchange’ social night.  

With Jen and my roommate Jobe Bitmann

with Jim and Hayley Skatch

I did it!  Last year I failed to get all the Spellburn podcast folk together in a picture but here’s proof it can happen without incurring a Phlogiston disturbance!

The cultural exchange ran on and I enjoyed sampling and sharing local beer and food with friends, although the handful of Wisconsin cheese with Ghost peppers that I inadvertently almost inhaled nearly choked me!

As the unofficial event wound down in the early hours I noticed the bar filling up and managed to grab a couple more photos with the celebs.

Joe Manganiello - my wife is a big fan, clearly she’s just into guys who like D&D, right?  

Matt Mercer came across as a really nice guy, clearly really passionate about the hobby.

Sunday arrived with even less sleep than previous days but I was able to grab a quick breakfast bite and a chat with my buddy Victor as we walked down to our morning game.

I ran my Red Box D&D adventure ‘Return To Lion Castle’ which is a tribute to the first D&D adventure I ever played.  I only had three players - I’m assuming the other three who signed up were more hungover than me, which is quite an achievment!  We still had a lot of fun and I hope to run this one again soon.

In the afternoon I sat down with Jen, Bob, Nick and Marlene for lunch.  This is the second year Jen and I have had lunch on the Sunday so I’m calling this a new tradition too!

Speaking of traditions another one that I’m pleased to be part of was my last game of the convention.  Bob Brinkman’s ‘Dead Dogs’ game ran past midnight.  Bob once again did a fantastic job guiding a very full table of twenty (!) players through an amazing improv pirate themed DCC adventure!  I laughed so much I almost cried.  When I eventually had to hug everyone goodbye and walk back to my room I might actually have done so...

I checked out of the hotel on Monday and had good company for the day having been offered a ride back to Chicago with Doug, Stefan and co, the DCC art contingent.   We had a great pub lunch and checked out the Chicago Art Institute before I took the obligatory selfies at ‘The Bean’ 

I caught my late flight home and Gary Con was over for another year  

The memories live on and with a little bit of luck (and some hard work!) I hope to be back next year.