Farpoint convention is in the process of winding down. Overall a good, if apparently underattended convention. As usual it had a family atmosphere and everyone had a good time.
Fairly good success at the masquerade last night A technical miscue started the music too early on Kathleen’s “mugato” costume, telegraphing the end gag when Caroline comes running out dressed as “Boo” and starts chasing the giant monster. But we had another sketch going as well, and that’s the one that everyone was talking about. Called “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Kal-El Kent,” the gag was simple: Four people in costumes evocative of the “Peanuts” Halloween special, ostensibly Lois, Lana, Clark and Lex discussing their Halloween swag. Lois got a 3 Musketeers bar, Lana got a bag of chips (as in “all that and a…”), and Clark naturally got a Clark bar. They turn to that bald, round-headed kid, Lex, and ask what he got. In a sulking voice, he says, “I got a rock,” and produces a green glowing rock–and Clark promptly collapses like a bag of cement. Black out, end of sketch.
Rotsler’s rules of masquerade: Short is better than long, funny is better than not funny, short and funny is best. The Mugato gag wound up getting most humorous, and Kal-El got best presentation. So everyone was satisfied.
Didn’t really have a chance to see any of the guests, although the only one who really interested me (aside from my writer friends) was Harv Bennett. Saw a fan-made film called Star Wars Revelations. Thought they managed to capture both the visual look and the archly bad acting of a Lucasfilm (not sure if they were aiming for that second part.) Was so tired that I actually dozed through parts, so maybe I wasn’t at my best in terms of viewing it.
PAD
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I don’t know about you, Peter, but I think the hotel is now possessed by the spirit of a failed rug merchant.
You really get a lot of mileage out of that rock gag, don’t you, Peter?
But hey, I’m not complaining. It was funny in your BID column, and it was funny this time too. 🙂
OK, what joke am I missing in Lois getting a 3 Musketeers bar?
PAD- If you ever have the chance to chat with Harve Bennet do so! Back when he was producing that animated series for the WB “Invasion: USA”, I interviewed him for the local paper about the show. What started off as what was supposed to be a quick fifeteen minute phone chat stretched to nearly an hour as we talked about all sorts of stuff that would never make it into the piece (like just chatting about “Salvage 1” of all things!) Truely a nice guy. And definitely one of the five best interviews I ever had! (The others being in no particular order- sitting in a hotel room with Terry Jones ansewring questions as the Spam Waitress, sitting in a dingy Mexican restaurant in Philadelphia with Ben Folds Five when no one had heard of them, chatting with Garth Ennis around the launch of DC’s Helix imprint and chatting with PAD and Jewel Staite as “Space Cases” was getting ready to launch…)
It was good to see you and the Masquerade gags were great. Thanks for taking some time out to chat with my daughter on Sunday, or at least with her puppified hand 🙂
The prof for my science-fiction workshop showed us Revelations before class one day. Very pretty movie, but, yeah, bad.
I remember this one scene where everyone is gathering around a holographic projection as it exposits. And the scene. Wouldn’t. End. I think it’s still going on, actually.
Maybe it’s harsh to criticize a fanfilm. After all, the name implies (however wrongly) that the people who create them are not considered professionals. (My friends always tell me I should stop writing fanfics and start telling “real” stories.) But from my point of view, good storytelling is good storytelling.
Meanwhile, it’s time to work on that Spidey-fic where Ben Reilly comes back to life, has sex with Azrael, and then goes back in time to prevent Gwen Stacy from having sex with Norman Osborn. She will instead have sex with a character of my own creation, who everybody likes, and who saves the day in the nick of time when the combined forces of Spider-man, the X-men, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers couldn’t. And then he becomes an honorary member of, well, everything.
(Yeesh, I’m about to be kicked off the Internet, aren’t I?)
Hi Peter,
You can download Star Wars: Reveations from their website. I burned the DVD. It’s a great technical achievement. Especially for an independently produced film.
http://www.panicstruckpro.com/revelations/revelations.html
Daniel
Scott Iskow: (Yeesh, I’m about to be kicked off the Internet, aren’t I?)
Yes, but only for plagarism. You’ve clearly stolen the idea for my fan-fic, “Web of Time”.
My friends always tell me I should stop writing fanfics and start telling “real” stories.
Your friends are… well, things better left unsaid. 🙂
The only difference between fanfics and “real” stories is people get paid for the real stories.
I guess Lois needs to “lighten up” (i.e. the 3 Musketeers slogan “Lighten up on a chocolate cloud”)
There’s actually no hidden meaning in the Lois Candy bar comment. I just picked an innocuous candy bar. Sorry.
PAD
archly bad acting of a Lucasfilm
You take that back right now, mister! Pure 100% acting gold across all Lucasfilm productions. Howard the Duck included.
So why aren’t you working on The Hulk anymore, PAD? I thought you were hoping to be the regular writer again.
“a character of my own creation, who everybody likes, and who saves the day in the nick of time when the combined forces of Spider-man, the X-men, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers couldn’t. And then he becomes an honorary member of, well, everything.”
You created the Sentry? 😉