Fandom Fail: FandomFest Makes a Stink in the Derby City

Let me preface this by saying that I had no intention on writing about FandomFest this year. For those unaware, FandomFest is a convention in Louisville, Kentucky which grew out of Fright Night Film Fest, a horror show. I attended for the first time in 2011 and returned again in 2012. I'll talk about those experiences and then I want to share some of the general thoughts on the show which have been expressed to me by guests. I have nothing to gain by writing this, but I feel as a representative of geek culture in Kentucky, it is the right thing for me to do. I will not be upset if I lose followers over this blog post. People I know have been affected by this show, so I feel that it is my duty to get the word out.

Pandoracon Goes Gangnam - "Oppa Docta Style"

Pandoracon is a brand new multi-genre convention held in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Which sadly I did not get to attend, though my thoughts were there!) Though it is focused on science fiction, fantasy, anime, LARP, cosplay, and gaming, there is also a definite Steampunk element. And also: Doctor Who. There was a lot of Doctor Who going at Pandoracon. In fact, one of the guests was Travis Richey, who portrayed Inspector Spacetime on Community and has also started his own web series based on the Doctor Who parody character.

So what does this have to do with Gangnam Style? I thought I'd seen it all. Really. The Gangnam Style parodies have abounded in the last few weeks and I really thought that I'd seen all there was. But no. Not until I saw a video straight out of Cincinnati from this past weekend. Team Con-Doc is a Doctor Who improvisational group who put together this parody video and it's absolutely brilliant. With Ten leading the charge, Pandoracon went Gangnam Style. The coolest moment from the video in my opinion is when Richey, Inspector Spacetime himself, begins to do the Gangnam Style dance with Ten. Fantastic.

I had every plan to make it up to Cincinnati this weekend for the convention, but was unable. Seeing this video and the level of commitment that people have to the genre definitely makes me want to attend next year. Especially now that I've become a Whovian!

Huge kudos to the folks from Team Con-Doc and the organizers of Pandoracon.

Gangnam Style Goes to Dragon*Con

K-Pop is taking America by storm and artist PSY is leading the charge. The video for his infectious song "Gagnam Style" has amassed 106,340,747 views on YouTube at the time of this writing. The video is pretty much everywhere on the intarwebs. The randomosity of the video and the crazy dance moves have been appealing to everyone. And while I have mostly geeks and nerds as friends on Facebook, I can safely attest that everyone in the community is on board the PSY train.

As evidence of this, this weekend at Dragon*Con, YouTube user Minhnhat employed the use of  cosplayers and their awesome costumes to create a sort of lip dub version of "Gangnam Style". Featured in the video are Gandalf (who approves of everything), Deadpool, Captain America, and even Princess Peach with so many other amazing cosplayers that I can't even name because there are just so many. All fandoms seem to be represented; I even saw a Katniss (from The Hunger Games) in there! Kudos to all involved in this amazing video and to YouTuber Minhnhat for making these cosplayers look super badass. Also, thank you to PSY for making a song that will never ever stop being awesome.

Check out the original video for "Gangnam Style" here:

For more nerd news and general geekery, be sure to check out Kentucky Geek Girl on Facebook and head over to Word of the Nerd Online. Bex and Proffitt will be covering all of the Dragon*Con shenanigans over on Good Girls Gone Geek.

Lexington Comic & Toy Convention Debuts in One Month!

I began my adventure in convention-land last summer when I attended Derby City Comic-Con and Fandom Fest in Louisville. Last fall, I found out that Lexington was going to be getting its own signature comic-con! Lexington Comic & Toy Convention will make its debut in the Lexington Center (adjacent to Rupp Arena) here in Downtown Lexington. Featuring a mixture of pop culture celebrities, artists, writers, and vendors, the convention is sure to make Lexington a premiere destination for fans of conventions.

Derby City Comic-Con This Weekend!

Okay, I admit it. I'm really sad that I won't be attending San Diego Comic-Con this year. After getting to know so many people in the community over the last year, I really would love to meet everyone in person. Hopefully the stars will be right next year for me to attend, but I'll just be with everyone in spirit and following along on Twitter.

If you're around Louisville, KY this weekend, stop in at the Kentucky International Convention Center for Derby City Comic-Con. Both Lexington and Louisville are home to many comic shops, all of which we'll be featuring here with Your Friendly Local Comic Shop. You can also find many collectibles at these stores and DCCC will feature some of the best artists, writers, and publishers in the comic business. Did you know that there are many Kentucky natives who have made it big in the comic world? Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead is from Central Kentucky. Artist Tony Moore whose work on The Walking Dead was nominated for two Eisner awards will be a guest at DCCC this year. Louisville native Jay Leisten (Marvel Comics), Marjorie Liu (Marvel Comics), and Bill Nichols (Comics Mentor) will be featured guests as well. There are many more artists who will be in attendance this year, so be sure to check it out.

Tickets are available online for the low price of $7 or at:
Comic Book World
ear X-tacy
The Great Escape
Role of the Die
The Zone Comic Shop

I will be checking out the excitement of Derby City Comic-Con. If you head down to the convention center, be sure to say hello! For more information about Derby City Comic-Con, check out their website, Facebook, and Twitter.