Big Names Already Announced for Lexington Comic and Toy Convention 2013

Lexington Comic & Toy Convention turned out to be one of the most successful one day conventions that many of those involved had ever seen. With over 4,000 in attendance and 200 exhibitors and guests, LCTC wildly exceeded expectations. Preparations have begun for the 2013 convention, which has been expanded to two days and will coincide with Lexington's city St. Patrick's Day celebration. LCTC will be back at the Lexington Convention Center in Heritage Hall and will take place on March 16-17, 2013. There will also be space for 400 guests, exhibitors, and vendors, so the convention is both doubling in time and in size.

Yesterday, Jarrod, the convention's promoter, began announcing guests for Lexington Comic & Toy Convention 2013. An attempt is being made to get as many of the inaugural guests back as possible, but there have been some great announcements for new guests as well.

New guests:

Billy Dee Williams - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Marina Sirtis - Star Trek: The Next Generation

Margo Kidder - Superman

Power Rangers Cerina Vincent and Walter Jones

Cindy Morgan - Tron

Doug Jones - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Hellboy

and more!

Returning guests:

Mike Grell

Mark Ryan

Mark Kidwell

Drew Curtis

and more!

A complete list of all guests can be found at the Lexington Comic & Toy Convention website. Also, be sure to like the convention's page on Facebook. Jarrod will reveal more guests at 1500, 1850, 2000, and 2500 likes. So, like the page and share it with your friends, pets, and even the pages that people make for their babies.

Also returning are many of the artists, writers, podcasters, and all around awesome people who were exhibiting and vending at the 2012 con. The "Who's Coming" page of the LCTC website is continually updated with the names of those folks.

I must say, I am already excited about the lineup for 2013. As a lifelong fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation (yes, the show premiered the same year I did: 1987!) I cannot wait to meet Marina Sirtis. Counselor Deanna Troi is one of my favorite characters on the show (though her mom got on my ever-loving nerves!) I would be thrilled if more of the cast could come to LCTC 2013!

Who are you excited to see at the convention? If you could have anyone be a guest, who would it be?! Leave a message in the comments below!

Movie Review: The Raven

The Raven puts me in a bit of a predicament. I want to be cynical and say that it was a terrible movie and not worth your ticket cost, but I will confess my ticket was free so I am not out any money. That being said, there are interesting things going on with The Raven; it is not a horrible movie nor by any means is it a terrific film. While not coming close to James McTeigue's V for Vendetta, the movie does present an interesting hypothetical situation regarding the last days of Edgar Allen Poe. Be prepared for somewhat of a dissection of this film.

If Good Omens Got A Movie Deal...

A few years ago, I read the book Good Omens. I was in middle school and had little idea of how important Neil Gaiman would be in my later geek years, all I knew was that I absolutely loved the book. I have been looking for a reason to re-read it, and I think I may have found it. I saw this on Tumblr just the other day with credits to user prufrocking as the source for this poster. Good on you, whomever made this!

The poster features War Horse costars Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston as Aziraphale and Crowley, respectively. These two characters attempt to thwart the plans for the coming of the Anti-Christ. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch is actually a collaboration between Neil Gaiman and another master of fantasy, Terry Pratchett. It is a fantastic read and if you are looking for a book recommendation, then consider this a top one from me. And what of this casting?! I just adore Benedict Cumberbatch and I think that Tom Hiddleston is quite a fine actor in his own right.

Your thoughts?

Good Omens

Amazon | Good Reads

Bryan Fuller and Bryan Singer May Team for Star Trek Television Series

It has been seven years since a series within the Star Trek franchise has aired new episodes. J. J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek reboot film brought discussion of a show back into the collective consciousness and many are clamoring to see the new timeline established by that film displayed on the small screen. Abrams’ Star Trek sequel, for which no title has been announced, is set to premiere in 2013 and there has been recent buzz that a former Star Trek: Voyager producer wishes to bring the science-fiction show back to television. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bryan Fuller discussed the likelihood of achieving that, with the help of producer Bryan Singer, whose big project currently is the X-Men reboot franchise.

Francis Lawrence to Helm Catching Fire

In late breaking news, director Francis Lawrence has become Lionsgate's choice to head up Catching Fire, the highly anticipated sequel to The Hunger Games. This comes less than two weeks after Gary Ross, THG's director, made his decision not to be involved with the rest of the franchise. His decision was due to the filming schedule for Catching Fire and the high demand for the film's star Jennifer Lawrence, who will be splitting her time between filming the movie adaptation of the next installment of the Hunger Games series and the sequel to 2011's X-Men: First Class, in which she played a young Mystique. The wildly successful Hunger Games adaptation has grossed $336,666,363 as of April 15,  $152,535,747 of which is the total for the opening weekend.

Q & A with Jasmine Hruschak

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll see that I retweet a lot of posts from Gamebreaker TV, an awesome network of shows related to video gaming. Check out their site for news updates related to your MMOs and other games, including World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Guild Wars 2. It was through GBTV that I was introduced to the wonderful Jasmine Hruschak, who at the time was a regular on a show about the game Rift. Though I never played the game in depth, I admired her commentary greatly.

Jasmine, known to many as IRLJasmine, streams games on her Twitch.tv channel, and hosts Q & A sessions with fans, including TMI Tuesday in the magical land of Tumblr. She was born and raised in Humboldt County, California and now travels back and forth between there and Southern California. She attends events like Blizzcon and PAX East, where she reports on gaming news. Jasbro was awesome enough to sit down and answer a few questions for me about what it's like to be a professional gamer.

Legendary 'Zelda' Musical

So, musicals are pretty awesome. The Buffy musical episode: awesome, Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog: fantastic, random musical episodes of other television shows: fantastic. And then, there are these gems that we find on the interwebs. Video after the break!

Kickstarter Spotlight: Witch Girls: Book of Shadows

Witch Girls Adventures is an independent role-playing game based on the award-winning Witch Girls comic books. Players create magic using characters who have adventures both in the real and magic worlds and learn how to harness their power. The game, which is for ages 11 and up, is the creation of Channel M productions. It was designed for female players, and looks specifically aimed at young girls who may be getting into roleplaying.

I recently found out about a Kickstarter project for Witch Girls: Book of Shadows, which will be a follow-up to Witch Girls Adventures. The goal for the project on Kickstarter was $2,000 and with 17 days to go 82 backers have pledged $3,517. However, the game's publishers have laid out the plans if they continue to exceed their goal. More pledges mean a much more polished product, so consider a donation!

Here is an example of the character sheet for Witch Girls: Book of Shadows.

Learn more about Witch Girls Adventures on the game's website, Twitter, and Facebook.

Two Great 'Hunger Games' Musical Tributes

You see what I did there? ;-) I know that these have made their way around the internet over the past few months, but I wanted to share them again. I love "The Hunger Games" and I love video parodies so this is pretty much a quadruple win. Both songs contain basic spoilers for the books and movie. Little details here and there, but they can probably be construed as spoilers.

TERA and Diablo III Open Beta Testing This Weekend Only

Soon to be released MMO TERA is having an open beta weekend. I've downloaded the client and will be checking it out tomorrow. A wild Diablo III open beta appears! Yes, folks, it's true. From 1200 EST on Friday until 1000 EST on Monday everyone will have a chance to play in the Diablo III beta. Conicidence? Absolutely not.

The TERA testing is open to everyone who uses the code TERABETA on the En Masse website. Access the Diablo III beta through your Battle.net account, if you're already a World of Warcraft or Star Craft II player. Don't have a Battle.net account? No problem! You can set one up here. 

There will be a Guild Wars 2 open beta next weekend, so I hope to check that out as well. Meanwhile, I still haven't received my invite for the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta. EPIC SAD FACE.

Let me know what you think of the games! I'll be sharing my thoughts next week following the conclusion of the open beta testing.

PS Star Wars: The Old Republic is holding free to play weekends in April and through the end of today you can receive $20 off the game in the Origin store.

FUNimation Teases 'Mass Effect' Prequel Anime

Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is a feature-length animated film which will serve as a prequel for the newly released video game Mass Effect 3. The film is in development from ProductionIG, the internationally renowned animation company behind Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. FUNimation will distribute the film and a video of concept art was recently posted on the company's YouTube channel.

From FUNimation:

Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is the prequel to the highly-anticipated Mass Effect 3 and follows the early career of Alliance Marine, James Vega. Vega leads an elite Special Forces squad into battle against a mysterious alien threat known as The Collectors. Stationed at a colony in a remote star system, Vega and his soldiers must protect the civilians from a ruthless invasion determined to capture the population for unknown purposes. Learn more about the Mass Effect universe with an unprecedented glimpse into the haunted past of Mass Effect's newest hero!

Be sure to check out the latest news on the BioWare blog and the new Mass Effect: Paragon Lost website.

Do you think that someone (like myself) who hasn't played any of the Mass Effect franchise would enjoy this?

Listen to the Sweet Sound of Darth Vader's Asthma

Oh, the things I find during finals week. Last semester, I brought you the soundtrack to writing my paper on Star Trek and Anthropology. Today, I present "10 Hours of Darth Vader Breathing." YouTube user Murdock129 has uploaded a ten hour video featuring our favorite Star Wars baby daddy doing what he does best, breathing through his big ol' mask. Rather than one continuous picture of Vader, he mixes it up with different images. Can someone get him a refill on his Albuterol?

Viral Videos for 'Prometheus' Hit the Web: Weyland Ted Talk 2023 (Guy Pearce) and Happy Birthday David (Michael Fassbender)

Capitalizing on the success of viral videos, the marketing department at Twentieth Century Fox who arebehind the new Ridley Scott film Prometheus have released two videos that they expect will make their way around the internet. The two videos set up the film quite nicely and definitely make me want to see it even more than an awesome IMAX trailer that was attached to The Hunger Games.

In Weyland TED Talk 2023, Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) follows a timeline of technological advancements. Beginning with Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods, and following the trajectory that takes civilization to the year 2023, Weyland outlines the way technology has evolved over the course of human history. By 2023, technology has advanced to the creation of cybernetic individuals. To Weyland, only one conclusion can be drawn from this. Humans are now the gods.

Happy Birthday David features the cybernetic individuals that Weyland referenced in his TED Talk. The beginning of the video asks "What is it about robots that make them so robotic?" Effectively a commercial for Weyland Industries, Happy Birthday David introduces the world to David, portrayed by Michael Fassbender. In the video, David explains his capabilities to understand human emotion and says that "war, poverty, cruelty, and unnecessary violence" make him sad. He is unable to feel emotion, but is capable of understanding it. David explains that he can do almost anything that can possibly be asked of him. Because he is incapable of feeling human emotion, he is able to perform tasks that human workers may feel are unethical. Take a look at the video, if nothing more than it is an amazing example of Fassbender's acting chops.

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What do you think of these new videos?

Book Trailer Released for Julie Kagawa's The Immortal Rules

The Immortal Rules

Release date: April 24, 2012

Amazon | Goodreads 

Julie Kagawa, author of the Iron Fey series, has a new series that will debut on April 24! The Immortal Rules is the first book in the Blood of Eden series and this time she is taking on vampires. Book trailer and description after the break!

From the Harlequin Teen:

In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die…or become one of the monsters. 

 Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad. 

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike. 

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

I love a good vampire story and I am excited to add this to my ever growing "to-read" list. I still need to read Kagawa's Iron Fey series, but I hear great things! I'll have to talk to her about The Immortal Rules at Fandom Fest, where she will be a guest again this year.

There is information in the video that will help unlock content on the new Blood of Eden website. The video's description says that you need to count the "Blood of Eden symbols."

What's your favorite vampire story? Leave a comment below!

Guest Post: BookTastings by Jackie Gamber

I'm so pleased to have Jackie Gamber making a stop on her blog tour for her new young adult novel Sela. Sela is the second in the Leland Dragon Series and is available now from Seventh Star Press. She is an award-winning author and writes stories in various lengths that have appeared in anthologies, periodical publications. Jackie is winner of the 2009 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award for Imaginative Fiction, was named honorable mention in L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Award, and received a 2008 Darrell Award for best short story by a Mid-South author. She is also a member of the professional organizations Science Fiction Writers of America and Horror Writers Association.

I met Jackie last year at Fandom Fest in Louisville and she was an absolute delight to talk to. She was on a panel of young adult authors and it was really neat to hear her speak. She also held a BookTasting at the convention and I really look forward to that this year. 

Again, thank you so much Jackie for stopping here at KGG for the Sela blog tour and I wish you all the best! Guest post after the break!

ConGlomeration in Louisville This Weekend

Louisville's multimedia science fiction and fantasy convention, ConGlomeration, will be held this weekend at the Louisville Ramada and Conference Center April 13 - April 15 (Friday through Sunday). The convention,which is organized completely for fans by fans, will celebrate its twelfth year in 2012. Following the retirement of RiverCon in 2000, fans of fantasy and science fiction began a convention which has been a staple in the Louisville science fiction scene. The entire staff is volunteer and the convention is truly a labor of love. More after the break!

Five Plot Points That Should Have Stayed in the 'Hunger Games' Movie

This is actually a response to a comment that I received on my review for The Hunger Games, which you can find here at KGG and at Word of the Nerd Online.
 It contains spoilers for both the book and the film.