Something new, something old, and something beautiful

No, this is not a blog about my friend's wedding a week and a half ago. Instead it is about how I spent last weekend, which included a gaming convention, a music festival, and the final season of one of the most watched shows of my generation. That's right, PAX, Bumbershoot, and the final season of Lost all happened in one long Labor Day Weekend. That's a lot to cover, so let's get into it:

Friday was my first ever trip to PAX, which is a gaming convention (see my previous post here). As the only things I was at all familiar with (Wil Wheaton Q&A, Jonathan Coulton/Paul & Storm Concert) were happening Saturday (when I would be elsewhere), my plan was to let my far more experienced gaming friend decide what we were doing. I met up with her as she was defeating a purple blob-like monster at the Nintendo booth. When I say "booth" I should note that when I refer to the booth for a major company, such as Nintendo, the booth is massive with multiple areas for people to try out their newest games. What I quickly learned was that most of what we would be doing at PAX was playing video games. I'm not sure why more people don't go to these things. We tried out a variety of new games (although we were not hardcore enough to wait in the super long lines for the BFD games like Dragon Age II), and then went up to the free play area which was a giant room filled with TVs and various gaming consules that you could check out games to play on. It was all outstanding, and in case my various gaming adventures weren't enough (what with the roller derby and the dancing and the skull-eating), I also went home with an inflatable sword (thank you Dragon Age II). I could really get into some of this. Yes, this was definitely a nerd event, but I'm not entirely sure why. I would consider the majority of my friends to be nerds of some kind, however there are few that would fall into the gaming nerd category. That said, almost all of them enjoy playing video games on some level, and I would venture to guess that most of them would have been just as entertained as I was to try out these upcoming games. I also learned a little about RPGs, which I found to be fascinating. I love learning about things that were previously a little foreign from people who really love and appreciate it. Plus, I got to roll some sparkly purple dice while helping my friend create characters for some game about stealing babies. Yeah, that's right. Purple dice and gaming. Sparkling purple dice. And I got "infected" with a sticker from a girl who was so excited that I made a Princess Bride reference that she squeed. These are my kind of people. But the most important thing that I learned at PAX was that I need a Wii. So I'm going to have to work on that.

Saturday I switched gears and went from gamers to music and headed to Bumbershoot, as I do pretty much every year. I went with my little sister and her friend, and met up with some other friends later in the day. I did spend some time solo as well, I was the only one with a mainstage pass and was not going to miss the Decemberists and Bob Dylan for anything. The morning was spent jumping around to different shows, including the as awesome as they sound Becki Sue and her Big Rockin' Daddies (an older man in red pants played his massive bass behind his head, what else do you need to know about them?) and the indie-rock Rilo Kiley-esque Submarines, before checking out some stand-up. The stand-up was pretty solid, even the intro by Doug Benson of Super High Me fame was hilarious. Morgan Murphy cracked me up, Chris Hardwick (even though I had heard 1/2 of his act on a podcast) was definitely on and rockin' his Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien shirt, and Jamie Kilstein was a wonderful blend of funny, brilliant, and inspring. I made a mental (and, iPhone) note to find his podcast. After that it was back to find some more music including Justin Townes Earle and Wheedle's Groove. Bumbershoot can be so random and so awesome. I had been drinking beer all day, so I was happy to venture off to the main stage for the Decemberists and a little nap. Seriously, I laid down on the ground, closed my eyes, and listened to Colin Meloy. It was beautiful, and then I was ready for more beer and to meet back up with my friends. We headed to the beer garden by the Broad Street Stage to see this brilliant band whose name I cannot remember, but who were just a little too popular for this smaller stage. The security in the beer garden lost all control of the situation and people were jumping over the fence to enter. It was pretty amusing as we were viewing two shows at once, the eclectic band with the lead singer who seemed to be losing a piece of clothing with every song, and the chaotic beer garden with people running and fences falling. Revived by this concert and some quality time with a friend who was moving away the next day, it was time for Bob Dylan. I said my goodbyes and headed back to the main stage, mentally preparing along the way for this concert. Because you have to be ready. You are seeing an icon, the speaker for an entire generation, but one who is way past his prime and never was the world's greatest singer. That said, it was definitely enjoyable. I mean, it kind of sounded like a dead frog was singing, but the music was still enjoyable and the harmonica was excellent. I think some people were probably disappointed, but it was exactly what I had expected and now I can say, that I too have seen Bob Dylan. And he played my favorite song (Don't Think Twice, It's Alright), just for me, I'm sure.

The rest of my weekend needed to involve very little energy, and that was pretty much the way it went. As the final season of Lost was not on Instant Watch, I didn't think that I would be finishing it up, but 5 episodes in I went ahead and paid Megavideo my $9.95 so that I could keep going without interuption. And when it was all over, I was totally satisfied. Of course there were tons of random things left up in the air and I was completely wrong about the island. I had assumed that everyone was already dead and somehow it wasn't real and it all symbolized something, but I should have kept in mind that we were dealing with JJ Abrams. If it seems like there is some crazy supernatural something happening, then that is what is happening. Between Rembaldi's green liquid on Alias and the Star Trek time travel it should not have surprised me at all that the battle between Jacob and the Man in Black, while definitely rich with symbolism, was, for our characters, very real. But more importantly, that wasn't what mattered. I wrote a little ways into the series that what I loved more than the crazy plot twists and adventures was the brilliant character development. And that was what mattered, both within the show and for its appeal to the audience. We fell in and out of love with all of them and as they grew and changed and evolved on the island, under these extreme circumstances, we couldn't help but love them, faults and all (except Shannon, she was so annoying... come on Sayid, I know there weren't a ton of people on the island, but her?). When I try to list my favorite characters in order I sound like Sheldon Cooper naming his favorite X-Men, stopping and starting to insert various people I've forgotten. What was clear at the end when they all met back up in their afterlife, they all loved each other even more than the viewers loved them. They had been lost in their lives before the island, and this crazy world (aided by Jacob) brought them together and made them better. I found the ending to be beautiful. No matter what your beliefs are, I think it's wonderful to think that regardless of what there may or may not be after this life, the important thing is to be with the people who truly matter to you. The people who are the closest to you and who have had the biggest impact on your life will be there with you forever on that next great adventure.

So that was my weekend, pretty eventful if you ask me. And in case you were wondering, my countdown to Hawaii is at 9 days.

Just a Nerd... er, Geek

So today, after I get in a few hours at work, I am going to PAX for the first time ever. This should seriously increase my geek/nerd cred, although I am definitely a little confused as to what all I am going to see and do this afternoon. You see, I'm not really a "gamer," unless Bejewelled counts, and in that case I am an expert. Don't get me wrong, I spent my youth mastering Super Mario Brothers on my NES (and, for the record, I can still remember which tubes to go down in level 8-4, there are some things your brain just will not let go of). And I occasionally played some other games, like Tetris and The Little Mermaid. You're laughing at me, but that game was awesome and I could totally beat it, which made it even more awesome. I also spent countless nights in high school playing Super Mario Cart on my friend's Nintendo 64, even though I was pretty much terrible and it was more of a social activity for the well-behaved children that we were as opposed to some kind of serious gaming. I never got into online games, but I have dated, had crushes on, and been friends with a number of guys who were, well, very committed to their online gaming. When ALL CAPS released "I'm Losing My Boyfriend to World of Warcraft," let's just say, I could relate.

So how is it that I am attending the premiere convention for gamers this weekend? Well, I have discovered as I continue to embrace my nerd tendencies that it's all related. So I'm pretty sure I can blame J.K. Rowling and Joss Whedon. Without them, I might never have attended Wootstock, which is why my friend suggested that I come to at least one day of PAX this weekend. You see, J.K. Rowling wrote this book series, you may have heard of it, it's called Harry Potter. And I've read it, well, a few times, and with my desire to talk about it more and hear other people's theories, I discovered an online community with podcasts and music and videos all about it. One of these podcasts then had the Vlogbrothers (John & Hank Green) on an episode and I subsequently discovered the Nerdfighter community and a plethora of amazing YouTube vloggers. This resulted in the buying of Hank Green and Molly Lewis' albums (among many others from DFTBA Records) and just liking them in general. Pause. Back to Joss Whedon. He wrote a few shows, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, which are brilliant and resulted in him having a very loyal following that is willing to watch whatever he puts out. So when he created Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog, I, along with millions of others, watched it. And loved it, and downloaded it, its soundtrack, and its commentary soundtrack from iTunes and even bought the DVD. It's a little bit funny the amount of money I spent on something that was originally offered for free online. The Commentary track led me to the Guild ("I'd be killed if I schilled for the Guild on somebody else's time, but then again I was killed... catch Guild fever"), written by and starring Dr. Horrible's leading lady, Felicia Day. Now, the Guild is an internet series about a group of gamers, but you totally do not have to be a gamer to appreciate how brilliant it is (as I've previously noted). So then I'm following Felicia Day on twitter, and between that and the Guild Season 3 and The Big Bang Theory, I'm following Wil Wheaton on twitter. And he starts talking about this Wootstock thing. It's music and comedy... for nerds. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to check it out because I like music and comedy and entertainment, and I'm definitely a huge nerd. But I haven't quite decided because it's the Friday before Mother's Day and I might need to head north that evening... but wait... what's this? Molly Lewis AND Hank Green will be performing at Wootstock in Seattle as well? Well, that pretty much settles it. My brain nearly explodes from the awesomeness, but I survive and go on to experience the joy that is Wootstock.

After that, it seemed likely that I would go to PAX to at least check it out. I mean, I had heard about it and I have a friend going who is willing to let me tag along, so it's pretty much set. Unfortunately what I really want to see (Wil Wheaton's "panel" and the Johnathan Coulton/Paul & Storm concert) is happening tomorrow, but I'm not too sad as I will be at Bumbershoot watching the Decemberists and Bob Dylan. But that just means everything today will be a new adventure. A couple weeks ago I read Wil Wheaton's Just a Geek because I knew this was coming up and because I had been wanting to read it for a while. And it was fantastic. Wheaton is a wonderful storyteller and even at his most nerdy the way he writes about his life is accessible to any reader. It's a great story of growing up and moving on and figuring out that you might have more talents and interests than you previously thought. It's about how important family and a solid support structure is when you are trying to figure yourself out. And it confirmed what I had already guessed, Sir Patrick Stewart is really cool. I totally want to hang out with him.

Next week I'll report on my adventures. And I'll try and tweet while I'm there (if AT&T doesn't crumble from all the nerds in one location), www.twitter.com/jemerson15. Mostly though, I'll enjoy being just a nerd.