In the throes of Fanboyism / Boxy but benevolent
typed for your pleasure on 25 April 2009, at 12.15 pmSdtrk: ‘Night night’ by Blank dogs
Flipping through the latest MetroTimes whilst at work, I’d spotted a full-page advert for the 2009 Motor City Comic con. Under normal circumstances, information about that event would evaporate quickly from my brain as I made my way towards the page containing Dan Savage’s column, but three of the special guests slated to appear caught my eye, and held it to such a degree, that I’m considering attending for the first time since the mid-Nineties.
You’ve got Priscilla Barnes, who portrayed Terri Alden for three years on one of my all-time favourite sitcoms, ‘Three’s Company’. Then there’s Joyce DeWitt, who for eight years played Janet Wood, my favourite roommate, on the same show; which is even more astounding, due to the fact that she’s pretty much kept out of the public eye since ‘Three’s Company’ ended. That’s ace enough in and of itself, but! The other guest? JULIE ‘AF-709 / CATWOMAN’ NEWMAR. YES. Only thing is, if I decided to bite the bullet and spend the $20 entrance fee (now you know why they call them ‘cons’), what would I have them sign? Priscilla and Joyce’s choice would be simple; I could have them autograph my copy of ‘Come and knock on our door‘, the rather-inclusive book about ‘Three’s Company’, but what of Julie? I don’t have any paraphernalia from Batman, and I’d really love for her to sign something related to ‘My living Doll‘, the short-lived Sixties sitcom starring Ms Newmar as a Gynoid, but theoretically, they’re still in the process of remastering the episodes. Hrrm.
I’m seriously thinking I should go, though. I mean, how often does the opportunity to meet Terri Alden, Janet Wood and AF-709 under the same roof come up in one’s life?
Speaking of robots (pronounced ‘ro-bits’), I ran across this on 4chan‘s /m/echa board: Tweenbots. They’re awfully cute!
‘Excuse me, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? And DON’T ANSWER PRACTISE’
Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate [New York City] with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal.
Given their extreme vulnerability, the vastness of city space, the dangers posed by traffic, suspicion of terrorism, and the possibility that no one would be interested in helping a lost little robot, I initially conceived the Tweenbots as disposable creatures which were more likely to struggle and die in the city than to reach their destination. […] The results were unexpected. Over the course of the following months, throughout numerous missions, the Tweenbots were successful in rolling from their start point to their far-away destination assisted only by strangers. Every time the robot got caught under a park bench, ground futilely against a curb, or became trapped in a pothole, some passerby would always rescue it and send it toward its goal. Never once was a Tweenbot lost or damaged.
As Kacie Kinzer is an art school student, the whole exercise is partially a sociological experiment as to how humans interact with non-human beings, so naturally the idea piqued my interest. Besides, the method with which she’s going about it is just plain adorable. Throw in a talking dog, a cat, and a ferret, send the four of them across the country, and you have a family-friendly film just waiting to happen!
So if you reside in NYC and you happen across a Tweenbot that needs assistance, do the right thing, eh? A robot might just help you one day
Random similar posts, for more timewasting:
Meow Mix coated in 10w-40: supplemental on December 2nd, 2008
Unusual! / Embarrassing! on January 11th, 2008
April 25th, 2009 at 12.53 pm
I may be a booth bunny at the MCCC. Well, I’ll be working a booth there, probably, for the GLAHW, but I dunno if I’ll be doing bunnyish things.
I, unfortunately, will have nothing for you to sign as I’m not in the latest anthology.
April 25th, 2009 at 12.57 pm
If you want to get an autograph, you either need to camp out or shell out for a VIP pass (normally 70 bucks or so). Otherwise your chances are slim. My brother and I were going to check out DragonCon in Atlanta this year (decked out in full Sakura costume) but things didn’t work out. You should go, they’re a blast.
April 25th, 2009 at 11.15 pm
Who cares about the other people, The Ghoul is going to be there! Movie hosting at it’s cheesiest!
If you find yourself having a bit of trouble rustling up a posse for this, give me a call. I’m always up for a con, o-rama or spectacular!
April 26th, 2009 at 6.50 am
Are you seriously saying you do not own a copy of To Wong Foo? I mean that movie is so fetch! I would want her to sign it the cover with the title of the movie, too (prob. already done 1,000 times, but so what).
Just sayin.
April 26th, 2009 at 6.00 pm
Monti –
If you’re manning (womanning) a booth there, I’ll have to stop round; that just goes without saying.
And you’ll just have to get something published in the next, say… three and a half weeks. Piece of piss!
Laura –
Unless the procedure’s changed, autographs aren’t extra at the Motor city con. But like I’d said, I’ve not been since the mid-Nineties or so, so I’ll take that into consideration.
Except for that time at Motor city, and once at Wizards world in Chicago, I don’t attend comic cons by and large; I’m more of an anime convention bloke; meaning I’ve gone to like three or four of those in my life. And that really all depends on the conflux of Time and Money. Frankly, I’m lacking in the second department, but OMG JULIE NEWMAR!!1!1 But, as I’ve been saying a lot lately, we’ll see how finances go…
Mahtek –
You may accuse me of heresy — or at the very least, not really being a Michiganian — but I’ve never seen The Ghoul in action! Not cos I didn’t want to, but I just wasn’t exposed to it. I mean, I only learned about The Ghoul back when I worked at Thomas video for a couple of months in the Nineties! I understand he has a goatee.
And ‘we’ll see how finances go’, but I do have a proposition that you might be innarested in *coughdocumentary-relatedcough* that I’ll Email you the details about this eve…
Veach –
I am seriously saying that! I thought it was funny, but I don’t have a copy of ‘To Wong Foo…’. Oddly enough, I’d mentioned me wanting to see Ms Newmar to a friend, and said friend was under the impression that Ms Newmar was actually a man, undoubtedly due to that film. I quickly set her straight.
See how Hollywood can warp peoples’ perceptions? I might well mention that to Rhoda AF-709 if I see her!
Err, I mean, Ms Newmar.
May 13th, 2009 at 8.58 pm
oh yeah..just being a random idiot and saying…..moo…..as i drop by ;p
May 14th, 2009 at 12.44 am
Do you mean moo?… or do you really mean µ?
*raises eyebrow*