Showing posts with label hcn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hcn. Show all posts
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Hardcore Nerdity
A quick little post to let folks know that... Hardcore Nerdity is finally back! Woo hoo! I'm a member, and you should be, too. If you're a nerd. And, if you're reading my blog, you probably are. So go on, already.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
A whirlwind trip to Toronto: Part 2
The following day saw me getting up in time to quickly visit actor and internationally renowned children's author Adrienne Kress for a photo op with her cat, Atticus. The first results were mixed, with Atticus and me seemingly unable to both look at the camera at the same time. Eventually, though...
Ta-da! Unfortunately, poor Adrienne was under the weather, so, rather than impose on her, I went on my way.
I stopped by the Silver Snail and Bakka-Phoenix Books for a browse. Lots of "Oooo, cool... but I don't really want it myself" at the Snail and "Oooo, cool... but I can borrow it from work" at Bakka-Phoenix. Awesome stores nonetheless.
Then, that evening... the main event! The Tempestuous launch at the Dom.
Wow. One hell of a party. I have never spent such a long, continuous time in a bar or pub. I was there from a little after 6PM and didn't leave until 3AM. Yes, that's right, 3 of the morning clock. Fortunately, my internal clock, still on Pacific time, felt it was only about midnight. (On the other hand, getting up for breakfast at the hotel meant my internal clock also felt like I'd been up since 5 in the morning.) I'll have to confess that for the first couple of hours, I went into my default "wallflower mode". This tends to happen at parties where I only know about 2% of those present. However, by the end of the night I was having an absolute blast!
The launch officially started a 7:30. Folks mingled, ale was consumed (okay, I had Sprite) and, in a back room, the full trailer for Tempestuous was screen on a continuous loop. Largely thanks to director and effects fella Joe O'Brien, it felt more like a trailer for a Lord of the Rings film! Check it out:
After a while, it was time for Lesley to do a reading from the book, which I took a video of:
After the reading, Lesley was then put behind a table to meet fans and sign books. This went on for damn near four solid hours. And somehow Lesley managed to keep her energy high, as well as her enthusiasm for meeting her fans.
A bit of weirdness: There I was, visiting from Victoria, BC, to attend the launch for a Lesley Livingston book. The two important facts there are A) Victoria, BC, and B) a Lesley Livingston book. So, the very day I'm there, the front page of the Victoria, BC, newspaper has an article on the murder of an elderly couple. And the photo of the woman used in the paper is this:
Yup. She's reading one of Lesley books. OooooEEEEEoooo.... Jon Llyr brought the article up on his iPhone and the universal reaction to this from party attendees was, "Oh my God!" Okay, end of eerie tangent.
A few of us who are regular posters at Hardcore Nerdity managed to find each other for some chat. We were eventually joined by Lesley, once she finished signing 823,000 books. And then...
A rock concert broke out. Really. The music for the evening was supplied by one John Stuart Campbell on guitar and eventually people went up on stage to sing some tunes. Most notably Jon and Lesley. Lesley pretty much blew my mind by completely substituting her own voice for a another as she did the Doors' "Roadhouse Blues":
I found myself wanting the whole shindig to never end but, alas, the time came when I had to leave. I had a plane to catch the next day for what would be a 12-hour trip back home.
It was awesome seeing these ridiculously talented and cool friends again and I look forward to visiting them again. Lynn and I hope to head out their way again for next Halloween. Now, we just need to figure out what costumes to wear...
Ta-da! Unfortunately, poor Adrienne was under the weather, so, rather than impose on her, I went on my way.I stopped by the Silver Snail and Bakka-Phoenix Books for a browse. Lots of "Oooo, cool... but I don't really want it myself" at the Snail and "Oooo, cool... but I can borrow it from work" at Bakka-Phoenix. Awesome stores nonetheless.
Then, that evening... the main event! The Tempestuous launch at the Dom.
Wow. One hell of a party. I have never spent such a long, continuous time in a bar or pub. I was there from a little after 6PM and didn't leave until 3AM. Yes, that's right, 3 of the morning clock. Fortunately, my internal clock, still on Pacific time, felt it was only about midnight. (On the other hand, getting up for breakfast at the hotel meant my internal clock also felt like I'd been up since 5 in the morning.) I'll have to confess that for the first couple of hours, I went into my default "wallflower mode". This tends to happen at parties where I only know about 2% of those present. However, by the end of the night I was having an absolute blast!
The launch officially started a 7:30. Folks mingled, ale was consumed (okay, I had Sprite) and, in a back room, the full trailer for Tempestuous was screen on a continuous loop. Largely thanks to director and effects fella Joe O'Brien, it felt more like a trailer for a Lord of the Rings film! Check it out:
After a while, it was time for Lesley to do a reading from the book, which I took a video of:
After the reading, Lesley was then put behind a table to meet fans and sign books. This went on for damn near four solid hours. And somehow Lesley managed to keep her energy high, as well as her enthusiasm for meeting her fans.
A bit of weirdness: There I was, visiting from Victoria, BC, to attend the launch for a Lesley Livingston book. The two important facts there are A) Victoria, BC, and B) a Lesley Livingston book. So, the very day I'm there, the front page of the Victoria, BC, newspaper has an article on the murder of an elderly couple. And the photo of the woman used in the paper is this:
Yup. She's reading one of Lesley books. OooooEEEEEoooo.... Jon Llyr brought the article up on his iPhone and the universal reaction to this from party attendees was, "Oh my God!" Okay, end of eerie tangent.
A few of us who are regular posters at Hardcore Nerdity managed to find each other for some chat. We were eventually joined by Lesley, once she finished signing 823,000 books. And then...
A rock concert broke out. Really. The music for the evening was supplied by one John Stuart Campbell on guitar and eventually people went up on stage to sing some tunes. Most notably Jon and Lesley. Lesley pretty much blew my mind by completely substituting her own voice for a another as she did the Doors' "Roadhouse Blues":
I found myself wanting the whole shindig to never end but, alas, the time came when I had to leave. I had a plane to catch the next day for what would be a 12-hour trip back home.
It was awesome seeing these ridiculously talented and cool friends again and I look forward to visiting them again. Lynn and I hope to head out their way again for next Halloween. Now, we just need to figure out what costumes to wear...
Here's a couple more images from the evening:
Fairies attended the launch. Here's photographic evidence.
Lesley on stage about to rock out with John Campbell.
Jon Llyr in the process of rocking out with John Campbell.
Lesley drinking something blue from the Wondrous Strange-themed martini bar.
Lesley and me with fellow HcNers James Marshall and T. Gregory Argall.
Fairies attended the launch. Here's photographic evidence.
Lesley on stage about to rock out with John Campbell.
Jon Llyr in the process of rocking out with John Campbell.
Lesley drinking something blue from the Wondrous Strange-themed martini bar.
Lesley and me with fellow HcNers James Marshall and T. Gregory Argall.Friday, October 3, 2008
Nerdity of the Hardcore variety
I've neglected the blog for a bit (big shock there) but I've come back long enough to do a little promoting of another site where I spend a good chunk of my time these days. Hardcore Nerdity:
Visit HardcoreNerdity
Hardcore Nerdity (or HCN) is sort of a cross between Facebook and a 24/7 SF convention, plus its own weekly podcast. It's a social network for genre lovers. It is, as they say in one of their tag-lines, "where the elite meet to geek". They haven't been around that long, but they're already over 1000 members. If you like science fiction[1], fantasy or horror, check it out. I think you'll be glad you did.
View my page on HardcoreNerdity
[1]And I'm assuming that a few of you are here because you googled the Doctor Who line "Those would have been terrible last words" and, therefore, like science fiction. So go sign up already!
Visit HardcoreNerdity
Hardcore Nerdity (or HCN) is sort of a cross between Facebook and a 24/7 SF convention, plus its own weekly podcast. It's a social network for genre lovers. It is, as they say in one of their tag-lines, "where the elite meet to geek". They haven't been around that long, but they're already over 1000 members. If you like science fiction[1], fantasy or horror, check it out. I think you'll be glad you did.
View my page on HardcoreNerdity
[1]And I'm assuming that a few of you are here because you googled the Doctor Who line "Those would have been terrible last words" and, therefore, like science fiction. So go sign up already!
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