I'm cautiously optimistic about Spring. It seems like it may be here, but I've been fooled before. After the blizzard two weeks ago, one Calgarian remarked that Punxsutawney Phil is clearly defective (actually, that person was much more profane; I'm paraphrasing). I've obsessively monitored neighborhood trees for incipient budding. Our community center recently and optimistically presented a talk on "preparing your garden for planting." I've inspected our bikes to make sure they're roadworthy, and Collin and I purchased new running shoes, ready for Going Outside.
On the upside, surviving a Canadian winter has served to deepen my understanding of why Calgarians lose their minds with festivals over the summer months. I've spent two Julys in Calgary, and I feel confident that there was at least three major festivals going on each week. Coming up first, though, is an event which seems to kick-off the season of sunshine: The Calgary Expo.
I cannot overstate how excited I am to be going. I've never been to a comic convention before, but have heard enthusiastic accounts of the unique spectacles to be found therein. In addition to sci-fi/fantasy television and movie actors appearing at panels to talk about their work, there are artists and writers, special effects masters (I'm hoping I get to hear Richard Taylor of Weta [the special effects company used in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies] speak at a panel), and really cool vendors. And...okay, I'm not going to lie. I would kindareallytotally like MacGuyver's autograph, too.
It's a unique opportunity to witness a huge rainbow of creativity - and I'm not talking about the professional talent that will be visiting. I'm talking about the attendees. Some people work all year on costumes, and they range from easily-identifiable Supermen and Wonder Women, to incredible esoteric geek "in-jokes". This picture [credit: Lyle Aspinall/Calgary Sun/ QMI Agency] shows a gender-swapped Mario and Luigi, a guy from Tron, Catwoman, one of the Incredibles and, I think, a guy with a home-made Adventure Time t-shirt.
Collin and I were recently at dinner with some friends, and brought up our idea for couples-costumes. I spend probably more time than I should thinking up ridiculous costumes (reason #24 why being an elementary school teacher is the only job for me). While I still think my idea of being Hans Gruber and Dead Elevator Guy from Die Hard is, like, the best ever - wheeling a rolling desk chair around a crowded convention center would be difficult. Alternatively, we'd been thinking of our mutual aggravated fondness for the grindy-goodness of World of Warcraft. Personally, I found herbalism soothing. Wandering around in simulated outdoors, darting off the path after shiny flowers is exactly how I behave in the non-simulated outdoors. It's comfortably familiar.
Anyway, we thought "Quest giver" and "adventurer" would be great - Collin could have a great, big yellow exclamation mark over his head, and I could look harassed and have an overflowing backpack of junk. Now, this idea has been done many times before, and pretty impressively. But, we wondered at dinner, what if we actually had quests for people to do? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could encourage strangers to come up and talk to us, go out and find things on a scavenger-type hunt, and give them a t-shirt that said '+4 armor' (or something) when they returned?
The more we talked, the more fun it sounded. We're looking into easy-to-make t-shirts, and I'm making some "quest scrolls" to hand out to strangers who play along. Our friends are talking to a couple of the vendors to see if they're willing to be part of the scavenger hunt. The biggest challenge may be figuring out how to make the floating exclamation marks stay upright, visible over the crowds, and comfortable to wear.
Collin's decided to cop out and go as a human quest-giver. Ha! Go green or go home, I say, which is why I'll be dressed in a close approximation of my orcish hunter, Hattie. Complete with purple spiky hair and fangs. Bwahahahahahaha!!
The Calgary Expo is April 26-28th. I will, of course, post pictures and report whether our scheme was successful.
On the upside, surviving a Canadian winter has served to deepen my understanding of why Calgarians lose their minds with festivals over the summer months. I've spent two Julys in Calgary, and I feel confident that there was at least three major festivals going on each week. Coming up first, though, is an event which seems to kick-off the season of sunshine: The Calgary Expo.
I cannot overstate how excited I am to be going. I've never been to a comic convention before, but have heard enthusiastic accounts of the unique spectacles to be found therein. In addition to sci-fi/fantasy television and movie actors appearing at panels to talk about their work, there are artists and writers, special effects masters (I'm hoping I get to hear Richard Taylor of Weta [the special effects company used in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies] speak at a panel), and really cool vendors. And...okay, I'm not going to lie. I would kindareallytotally like MacGuyver's autograph, too.
It's a unique opportunity to witness a huge rainbow of creativity - and I'm not talking about the professional talent that will be visiting. I'm talking about the attendees. Some people work all year on costumes, and they range from easily-identifiable Supermen and Wonder Women, to incredible esoteric geek "in-jokes". This picture [credit: Lyle Aspinall/Calgary Sun/ QMI Agency] shows a gender-swapped Mario and Luigi, a guy from Tron, Catwoman, one of the Incredibles and, I think, a guy with a home-made Adventure Time t-shirt.
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| It would be funny to sit in the Expo elevator, but that would probably get old after an hour or so. |
Anyway, we thought "Quest giver" and "adventurer" would be great - Collin could have a great, big yellow exclamation mark over his head, and I could look harassed and have an overflowing backpack of junk. Now, this idea has been done many times before, and pretty impressively. But, we wondered at dinner, what if we actually had quests for people to do? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could encourage strangers to come up and talk to us, go out and find things on a scavenger-type hunt, and give them a t-shirt that said '+4 armor' (or something) when they returned?
The more we talked, the more fun it sounded. We're looking into easy-to-make t-shirts, and I'm making some "quest scrolls" to hand out to strangers who play along. Our friends are talking to a couple of the vendors to see if they're willing to be part of the scavenger hunt. The biggest challenge may be figuring out how to make the floating exclamation marks stay upright, visible over the crowds, and comfortable to wear.
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| [source: de.wow.wikia.com] |
Collin's decided to cop out and go as a human quest-giver. Ha! Go green or go home, I say, which is why I'll be dressed in a close approximation of my orcish hunter, Hattie. Complete with purple spiky hair and fangs. Bwahahahahahaha!!
The Calgary Expo is April 26-28th. I will, of course, post pictures and report whether our scheme was successful.
