The second half of the day brought more in the way of Expanded Universe fun with panels and readings by noted authors Timothy Zahn and Aaron Allston.
Don’t forget to see what happened earlier this morning here. To the jump!
Category Archives: Geek Culture
Origins Day Two: Morning Update
Welcome to day two of the Origins Game Fair. We’ve got more Expanded Universe coverage on tap for later today, but let’s get things kicked off with a quick morning recap of the goings on at the convention.
To the jump!
Origins Day One Recap: Writing Advice, Mara’s Death, and a Whole Bunch of EU Goodness
The second half of the day brought all sorts of star Wars Expanded Universe goodness. Authors Timothy Zahn, Mike Stackpole, and Aaron Allston were on hand to discuss everything from the writing process to Star Wars. Highlights below the jump!
Origins Day One – Morning Update
After getting through the adventure that was Origins Event Registration, I managed to actually get into the convention to do a bit of exploring. Some morning highlights from day one!
- If you’re looking to relive your high school years (I know, hang with me here), you should look at a game called Rise of the Cliques. Select your personal clique, earn popularity points, and stab your friends in the back. What’s not to like? It’s actually a fairly amusing, quick to pick up game for 3-5 individuals. Very much a social game that allows you to form alliances or just resort to blatant deception. Fun game, quick rating of 3.5/5.
- The exhibitor showroom is truly a sight to behold. Collectibles, all sorts of games being demonstrated. One of the coolest things I saw was a huge 32 inch touchscreen slate for dungeon masters that allows a lucky DM to quickly cycle through game notes, documents, and other useful features. If I had an extra chunk of change sitting around, I’d be sorely tempted to get one and start DMing again.
- The most amusing find so far: The Vampire Diaries trading card game. There’s something here for everyone, folks.
Panels with authors begins at 1PM Eastern today, so stay tuned to our Twitter account for details from them. At 4PM will be a Star Wars EU panel with Timothy Zahn, Mike Stackpole, and Aaron Allston.
Origins Game Fair Coverage This Week
The Origins Game Fair in Columbus is this weekend and as it so happens, I’m going to be there. Keep an eye here on the blog and on our Twitter account for news, tidbits, and fun from the convention.
Notable guests in attendance include actors Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day. There’s also a host of great authors in the lineup such as Bryan Young, Timothy Zahn, Michael Stackpole and Origins Guest of Honor Aaron Allston. All of them will be holding reading sessions to show up new and upcoming books and will also be part of several panels throughout the event.
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
In other words, where have Emily and Shane been the last week? We took the week off to visit family in Iowa, but fear not, intrepid readers, because we got our geeky quota in by boldly going…to Riverside, Iowa.
Oh, the name doesn’t ring a bell? How about this: it’s the future birthplace of one James Tiberius Kirk.
Some day, either Chris Pine or William Shatner will be born here. I'm hoping for Chris Pine.
We also managed to have a geeky event where we drove straight west during last weekend’s solar eclipse–as we came out of a thunderstorm, and experienced a confluence of cosmic events, watching lightning pale in comparison to the eclipse, and the eclipse itself resulting in the most massive, colorful rainbow I’ve ever seen. I wish we’d gotten a good picture of them! In any case, now back to your original programming.
Official Celebration VI Shirt Available For Pre-Order
Are you heading to Celebration VI, the Star Wars convention to end all Star Wars conventions? Do you want some wardrobe to commemorate the event? Well you’re in luck, for $30, you can pre-order the official CVI shirt.
Keep in mind, you must have a ticket to the convention to order. To get yours, head on over to the Celebration VI show store.
Carol Danvers Is Getting A Promotion
As you may have heard on the latest podcast, we’re happy to endorse a new comic this July: the all-new Captain Marvel.
This July, Carol Danvers, once known as Ms. Marvel, will take on the legacy of a legendary hero in CAPTAIN MARVEL, a new ongoing series by writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Dexter Soy.
“My pitch was called ‘Pilot’ and the take can pretty much be summed up with ‘Carol Danvers as Chuck Yeager,’” says DeConnick. “Carol’s the virtual definition of a Type A personality. She’s a competitor and a control freak. At the start of our series, we see Carol pre-Captain Marvel, pre-NASA even, back when she was a fiercely competitive pilot. We’ll see her meeting one of her aviation heroes and we’ll see her youthful bravado, her swagger. Then over the course of the first arc we’re going to watch her find her way back to that hungry place. She’ll have to figure out how to be both Captain Marvel and Chuck Yeager—to marry the responsibility of that legacy with the sheer joy being nearly invulnerable and flying really [expletive] fast. Sporting a revamped costume to compliment the codename, Danvers not only faces unfamiliar dangers and challenges, but also delves into her own history as well as that of the late Kree soldier Mar-Vell, the first person to operate as Captain Marvel.”
I know I’m excited for this. I’m still a relative newcomer to the world of comics, but one character that has quickly become a favorite of mine is Carol Danvers. Great backstory, compelling, lots of depth. Just the kind of female character that fandom needs. And now she’s getting one heck of a (very deserved) promotion to Captain Marvel.
If you’re looking to support a great female character written by a great female author, pick up the new Captain Marvel this July.
Tosche Station Radio #16: Genre Subversion
The hosts kick off by highlighting what’s new on the blog since our last audio check-in. Emily wrote a column looking into why Star Wars needs women more than ever. Nanci discussed why we love Star Wars, and as hard as it is to believe, it’s more than just the lightsabers and explosions. Shane started up his retro review of Kevin J. Anderson’s Daarksaber. We asked you for your Star Wars Avengers. Finally, Brian checked in with his latest column that investigates how The Legend of Korra is taking down gender stereotypes and the lessons Star Wars can draw from it.
Over in Fixer’s Flash, both Nanci and Brian have seen the Avengers (Brian several times now). Both the hosts now want some shawarma as a result. Nani has been reading through the Mageworld series, and from the sounds of it, she recommends it highly. She also has been working on her original novel and is posting excerpts over at her blog. Brian has finally gotten around to reading Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. Of course, he’s still reading Marvel comics and trying to catch up with his friends, but he took some time out to see Dark Shadows. It’s exactly what you should expect from a Tim Burton movie that’s remaking a 70s soap opera about a vampire.
Star Wars Needs To Learn From Korra
Meet Korra. She’s awesome.
I honestly hadn’t planned to chime in on this.
By now I imagine most of you are aware of the Great Gender Kerfluffle of 2012 that cropped up in the Star Wars fandom over the last few weeks with much being said about the need for more well-developed female characters in this franchise. Emily chimed in last week and eloquently put things into perspective. Frankly, people far more knowledgeable and better with wordy-like-thingamawhatsits than I am said what needed to be said. Still, as I was reading through things on the sidelines, I ran into one comment in the Club Jade post that got my gears turning. I can’t even remember what exactly it was or who posted it, but it set off a bit of something in my head that needed to be addressed. Well. Three things, specifically. A trio of arguments that I’ve seen recycled numerous times during the recent dustup and over the years.
While I was turning these arguments over in my head, another thought hit me. There’s a television show, a current one, that has addressed these points that were troubling me. Then it all clicked.
Star Wars has a lot to learn from The Legend of Korra.