Saturday, September 27, 2014

Episode 83: Phoenix Fanfest with Stephanie Munoz

Welcome dear listeners to this special edition of your week in geek.  The Social Media 
Manager for Phoenix Comic Con, Stephanie Munoz, is our special guest for this show and 
she is dishing out the goods on Phoenix's newest convention called Fanfest.  This lovely con newborn con comes from the creators of the fan-tastic(see what I did there?) Phoenix Comic-Con and is coming this December to a stadium near you.  More Specifically it's coming to the University of Phoenix Glendale Stadium December 12-14, 2014.  

We get to ask Stephanie where Fanfest came from, what it is and speculate and where it could go.  There's also some fun talk about some Phoenix Comic Con 2015 news.  So sit back and enjoy this behind the scenes look at the beginning of a convention.


Click here to listen to this weeks podcast in iTunes or Sticher.
We've also included the most recent episode via the embedded link below




We want to send an extra special thank you to Stephanie for coming on the show and just being a wonderful guest and great sport.  Also a thank you to the Webmistress(minion) for enduring our endless ridicule (its with all with love)

Now if you want to know more make sure to visit the Phoenix Comic Con Webpage for all of the details.  Full Event Tickets will be on sale for $30 up until October 11th so act fast and get a sweet deal.  Also be sure to follow Phoenix Comic Con on Facebook, Twitter or any of your favorite Social Media networks.



That is all for this week's Blogcast. Be sure to tune in next week Same Hammer Time , same Bat Channel. 


-Hammer


Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Bat travels to Salt Lake Comic Con 2014

     This past weekend I made the long road trip from Phoenix to Salt Lake City to attend Salt Lake Comic Con 2014 (referred to as SLCC going forward). I took my wife Sarah @geeksterswhimsy and our friend Terry, whom we call the Juggernaut. The drive there is anywhere between 10-12 hours. So that was fun. There were many issues with SLCC, but most are fixable and easy to fix. I'm going to detail below the pros and cons of the....well con, but I am excited to see where this convention goes and we will be back next year.

Cons

1. That drive man. Now I know this isn't SLCC's fault, it's more the fault of the TSA, but this was still a massive con. Having three costumers in a car for 10-12 hours is not fun. I'd much rather fly with my costumes, but we can't take that risk of having our costumes ruined, especially since we were entering the masquerade.

2. Thursday. So we left Phoenix at 430 am with the goal of being in Salt Lake City by 4pm. Well we missed our turn and had an hour detour so we didn't get to SL until 5pm. No big though, the vendor hall is open until 8 and we didn't have a ton of money to spend. We get downstairs and there is a line. Now anyone that has been anywhere knows to expect a line, so of course we did. However this line went completely around the building. After standing in line outside for an hour and half (thank goodness there were some food trucks outside because we hadn't eaten yet), we get inside, to find ANOTHER line. There were probably at least a thousand people inside. Some of them only had Thursday passes. We finally got inside the vendor hall at 7:40 pm and were only able to see maybe 20 booths before they turned the lights out. And when I say turned the lights out that's exactly what they did. Gave a quick announcement to get out then shut the lights out.

3. The nightlife. Now maybe being new to the convention, and not really knowing downtown Salt Lake, we found the nightlife to be lackluster. We went back to our hotel room to change out of costumes and by the time we got back downstairs, the streets were empty. Again maybe there was amazing stuff going on, but we didn't see that happening.

4. Beer in the vendor hall. Now, don't get me wrong, I love beer. Access to beer while in costume on the vendor hall?!?!?!? Yes please! Well except it sounds great in concept, but upon further review it's not so great. Beer leads to drunks, which leads to aggressive behavior, and bad coordination. With 100,000 plus people, many of them in costume, taking the risk of ruining someones cosplay, or even worse, someone's booth just isn't worth it in my opinion.

5. The program. Seriously, this was one of my main problems. In the program it has the information for the panels and the guests for said panels, but no information on time or day. There is an app (which I'll get to), but don't make me use my data for something that you can put into the program. They were passing out panel info each day at information booths, but why not include that into the program?
This is a sample of the program description

6. The app. Most cons have an app. It's a great pocket tool to take with you so you don't have to carry around a program the entire day. You already have your phone on you, why not have the program with you?
The app I felt was a huge let down. All times for guests were TBA. Kinda defeats the purpose of the app.
This was the app the Saturday of Con. All times TBA
7. Wrestling in the middle of the vendor hall.........Not like people just fighting, but an actual wrestling ring set up in the middle of the hall. This lead to an insane amount of traffic in one area with a tiny walkway to get past it. I'm all for entertaining your guests but I feel that's what panels are for.

8. No Sunday con. As someone who is used to the Thursday - Sunday con schedule, not having that fourth day for shopping or panels was off. It felt like a day was missing at the con, and it was. Since Thursday was a wash we only got 2 days at the con. >.<

9. Two entrances only one peace bonding area. This was a total bummer. There's an east and a south entrance, but peace bonding was only done at the south entrance. I feel if there are multiple entrances, there should be multiple peace bonding tables.

I know it seems all negative and it wasn't, so lets get to the positives!

Pros

1. Salt Lake. This was easy for us. Being from Phoenix we are used to 110+ weather all summer and our con is typically during Memorial Day weekend. While not 110+ at that time, we routinely see temperatures over 100, so for us to be in our costumes, which are HEAVY, in mid 70's lower 80's weather, that was fantastic!!!!

2.The Masquerade. This is one area without a shadow of a doubt that SLCC destroys PCC with. We entered the PCC Masq one year and spent 6 hours in line or in a room. 6 hours! On the busiest day of the con. Completely unacceptable. SLCC made the prejudging simple and not too long of a wait.

3. Artist alley. This by far was my favorite thing aboot SLCC. As a con goer, I spend a great deal of my time and my money at artist alley. Most cons tend to either hide their artists, or have them split up, but SLCC had the artists right in front as soon as you enter the vendor hall. These are the people that really drive your con so to have them front and center was brilliant. PHXCC take note.

4. The Vendor Hall. Seriously there was so much stuff in the vendor hall I don't think I actually saw it all. The kids area was awesome and fun. Bravo on that. Save for a few huh booths (a local insurance company) they really used their space well and had a ton of variety.

5. Vendor Hall part 2. Weta and their wonderful toys. Weta was there guys. WETA!!!!! And they brought some trolls and Gollum and Smaug. Good enough for me.

All in all this is a very enjoyable con and I will be attending again in the future. I look forward to watching this con grow. I know there is a little competition with SDCC to be the biggest and best con, but unless SLCC improves their nightlife and decides to open on Sunday the title is safe with SDCC. However if you want to attend a big con (110,000) people and can't get into SDCC, I recommend SLCC. You can actually buy tickets and the hotels are reasonably priced!

 - Bat

Monday, September 22, 2014

Episode 82: #Tusk?

Welcome back again for this weeks edition of SzG!  We are joined this week by TK as we three dared ourselves to venture into the theater and review Kevin Smith's new movie, Tusk. Normally we give you a spoiler free and spoiler-ific review of theatrical releases but this week we kinda dive right on in so you have been warned. Here is the episode of SModcast that the movie Tusk originated from incase you are curious.


This weeks Streaming Review is American Psycho.  I have heard so many people love this movie but I personally found it rather enjoyable.  It's basically watching a person who live the high life slowly devolve into a mass murder.  




Not necessarily my type of movie but I will say that I'm happy to have seen it just so I get the references I seem to see everywhere.  Otherwise I would suggest skipping this one.








Next weeks streaming review is the infamous Wolf of Wall Street.  Much has been said about this movie and I'm really hoping it lives up to the hype, but saying that I imagine it won't.  One way or another I'm hoping it will be a fun ride.



It this is your kind of movie why don't you join us? this movie can be found on Epix.  You can send us your reviews or your suggestions for our next streaming review via Facebook, Twitter or email us at Batandhammer@gmail.com


This weeks Nerd News includes: Discussions on Kevin Smith movies, Deadpool movie coming 2016 and CBS getting a Supergirl TV show.



Click here to listen to this weeks podcast in iTunes or Sticher.
We've also included the most recent episode via the embedded link below





Here are the answers to last weeks Podquestion of what was your worst Convention experience.

Charles      Anime Las Vegas- due to car accident, almost getting impaled and anime kids
Tristan       C4 (celebration)- due to lack of content despite it being so close to Skywalker                         Ranch
Bat            Phoenix Comic Con 2010- personal fights
Hammer     Anime Expo in LA-  due to LA and a horrible hotel room

Our next Podquestion is what is the scariest movie(s) you have seen?  
We want to hear your answers so let us know via Facebook, Twitter or email us at Batandhammer@gmail.com



That is all for this week's Blogcast. Be sure to tune in next week Same Hammer Time , same Bat Channel. 




-Hammer


Monday, September 15, 2014

Episode 81: Bat's amazing SLCC adventure


Hello friends and listeners! With Bat back from his Comic-Con travels and Hammer back from wrecking Bat's house we sit down and podcast like the good 'oll days (two weeks counts right?).  Bat gives us a play by play of his experiences with one of the country's newest AND largest (100k+) comic conventions as well as bringing you the wondrous nerd news that we have gathered from the 2 corners of the internet!


This weeks(2 weeks ago that is) Streaming Review is Solomon Kane. As I had said previously I only knew of this movie from a poster 2-3 years ago.  The first 30 mins of the movie had me pretty entertained with decent acting and an okay story but that quickly fell apart as soon as the action started up with the killing of Kane's foster family.  While Bat said he enjoyed the action scenes I found it hard to enjoy them because of the lack luster story backing it all.  There really isn't much here to brag about and I gave it a measly 2 stars while Bat gave it 3.  Really if you want action go see The Raid or Dredd.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Episode 80: Live Panel at Saboten 2014

This week we come back with our Live Panel at Saboten 2014 where we bring you some nerd news stuffs including: Sony/Battle.net/Xbox Live DDOS attacks, Hello Kitty isn't a cat, New 3DS Model and a new Saints Row game.  But most importantly it is our second annual Summer Movie Season wrap up!  did you see the conffetti flying out of your (insert device used for listening)?  Well it was there, just use your imagination.  For the comprehensive list of hits vs. misses take a look below.

Click here to listen to this weeks podcast in iTunes or Sticher.
We've also included the most recent episode via the embedded link below




Free Shit, Good Shit
This months FS/GS is all about PS Plus and XB Games with Gold for September.  I really feel like Xbox GwG won this round, but not enough to resubscribe to Gold.


PS Plus Via Playstation Blog

PS4:
Velocity 2X
Sportsfriends

PS3:
Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale
Hoard

PS Vita:
Joe Danger
TxK

Xbox Games with Gold via Major Nelson

Xbox One:
Super Time force
Monoco: What's Your's is Mine

Xbox 360:
Crimson Dragon
Halo Reach


Last but not least here's the list of Summer Movies from Episode 59:Dicks Come Here
We saw 50% of our list at 13 out of 26 movies.  How did you fare this summer?


@April 4th
Captain America 2
@April 11
Rio 2
@April 18
Transcendence
@May 2
Amazing Spiderman 2
@May 9th
Chef (new John Favro)
@May 16
@May 23
Xmen DoFP
@May 30
A Million Ways to die in the west
@June 6
Edge of tomorrow
@June 13
22 Jump Street
How to train dragon 2
@June 27
Transformers: Age of Extinction
@July 2
@July 11
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
@July 18
Jupiter Ascending
Planes: Fire and Rescue
The Purge: Anarchy
@July 25
Hercules                                                                                                                                                 Lucy
@August 1
Guardians of the Galaxy
@Aug 8
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
@August 15
The Expendables 3
@August 22
Sin City: a Dame to Kill for

That's all for this week's Blogcast. Be sure to tune in 2 weeks as Bat is out of town for Salt Late City Comic con.  


-Hammer