I wear glasses. Tiger Sixon *doesn't* wear glasses. Big difference.

A self-portrait of sorts for my Lost Highway B-movie Reviews alter-ego, Tiger Sixon. Yes, I am now a member of the popular satirical B-movie review website. My first review was Food of the Good, and my second, Zone Troopers, went up on Monday. Look for at least one a month from me.

Why the “character”? The rest of the Lost Highway gang has a character, so I decided to join the fun–plus it gives me some extra material for jokes (read the bio below). For the record, I’m not really a fan of anonymous blogging, but–this is “in character,” which is different, and I’m obviously not hiding anything.

Tiger’s “bio” (I wrote the first two paragraphs):

Tiger Sixon has friends in high places–Outer Space. As a secret operative for the government, Tiger met a trio of aliens after they had a rough landing outside an abandoned mini-golf course. Ignoring orders to bring the aliens back to headquarters for “tests”, Tiger went on a joy ride with his new friends in their UFO–and ran up a hefty bar tab on his government issued credit card in the process.

After returning to headquarters empty handed, but full livered, Tiger was arrested and locked up in a government base somewhere in Death Valley. The government wants Tiger’s knowledge of the aliens and their UFO, but he won’t talk. The government forces Tiger to watch weapons grade b-movies in hopes he will go mad, crack, and share his secrets. So far, all the government has been able to get out Tiger is plenty of snark with a side of sarcasm.

Lost Highway has secured government funding normally reserved for public orphanages to allow Tiger’s b-movie immersion studies to be revealed to the public. Feel free to follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/tigersixon or his top secret facebook page that he’s updating with a Somalian iphone hidden somewhere in the base. Also, never mention his name in public. Big brother is watching and will swoop down on you like a spider monkey.

All in good fun. A big thanks to Steve Jencks at Lost Highway for asking me to join the team.

Re: the photo, nothing fancy here, just held the camera in front of me and, groan, used the on-camera flash along with a second light source. I ran the final shot through some filters in Photoshop to make it look more comic book like.

Here’s a tentative run down of the panels I’ll be on, as like any convention, my schedule is subject to change. Penguicon is Apr. 30th thru May 2nd.

We Made It to the Oscars!
2009 had an unprecedented number of sci-fi films nominated for Academy Awards. Does this mean sci-fi is going mainstream?

Saturday 11AM
Daniel J. Hogan (m), Doselle Young, Catherine Shaffer

I’m looking forward to this one and it looks like I’m the moderator. It should be a fun chat and hopefully all in good fun. I like that they are listing moderators ahead of time. Since I’m modding this one, I had better come up with some questions or notes ahead of time.

Humor in Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Science Fiction is about Serious Things. Fantasy is about Causes and Quests. Wait, you mean they can be funny too? Puns, jokes, and running gags abound on this panel that pokes fun at works that take themselves a tad too seriously.

Saturday 2PM
Daniel J. Hogan, Jim C. Hines, Brian Briggs (m)

Jim, Brian and I were on this same panel last year and it was a hoot. I’m very much looking forward to this one as well. I think this would be the third time Jim and I have been on a panel focusing on humor in sci-fi and fantasy.

Publicity 101
You have a book coming out and a shoestring to promote it on. What’s an author to do?
Saturday 5PM
Daniel J. Hogan, Cherie Priest, Patrick Rothfuss (m), Brian Briggs

I certainly know a lot about this. The Internet and social media has made it easy and affordable to market yourself and your work.

Adapting a Novel to a Podcast
With our constantly-on-the-go culture, why not make your work even more available (and safe!) for our commuter-based society! Two veterans of aural performance help you get started.
Sunday 9AM
Mary Robinette Kowal, Daniel J. Hogan

I like that I’m described as a veteran of aural performance. That made my day right there. But, I guess with over 20 podcast episodes under my belt, that is an honest description. Heck, how many dozens of character voices have I done? Too many. But I love it. I was on a few panels with Mary last year and I’m looking forward to chatting with her again.

I’m only on four panels this time around (unless something changes) but that’s fine by me. I tend to over do it at some conventions and it’ll be nice to have time to relax (and I don’t have to worry about rushing down there on Friday either). Plus, I’ll have a girlfriend in tow and it wouldn’t be much fun for her if I was on panels all day and night.

I’ve scaled way back on how I do conventions vs. one and especially two years ago. I’m not even bringing any books this time. It is just isn’t cost effective any more and I feel I’m better off burning a bunch of podcast CDs and giving those out. I typically get a few online sales after any convention I’m a guest at, so I’m hoping that trend continues. I’ll confess that I’m always a bit nervous about being on panels with well-known writers and I kind of feel out of place at times, but typically everyone is very friendly and my worries are for not.

I really enjoy conventions. They are a great recharge to the creative batteries and I get to meet folks who have bought my book and/or listen to the podcast in person. Nothing in the world tops a stranger stopping you in a hotel lobby and saying how much they loved your book. Nothing.

Read at own risk, this could get stupid.

This was fun, I enjoyed coming up with a way to spoof some of Dune‘s characters and such. And yes, I know it isn’t Paul who eventually becomes God Emperor. Hooray for stupid comics.  When doing these, I try not to edit (too much) and to just go with my first idea. If anything, these are a good ‘think on my feet’ exercise. Man, I can’t even begin to tell you how many I hours of my youth I wasted spent playing Dune II on our old PC.

Days Until Halloween: 19

Part One :: Part Two

I won a pair of cowboy boots on eBay last week, which I’m happy about.  They have not arrived yet–and part of me is worried they did while at ConClave this weekend and that the postal person left the box outside my door and they were whisked away by some troubled youth.  We’ll see.  However, I did pick up a pair of spurs and I can’t wait to wear them with the boots.

Jingle jangle? You BET.

I tried them out with a pair of work boots I have and I had a hard time taking them off–I was having too much fun walking around (stately Hogan Manor) with them on.

Additionally, I solved the orange-tip issue with my non-firing Colt SAA replica.  I found a dart for a toy gun that fit inside the barrel.  Easy.  I tried to glue the flared sides of the suction cup down, but alas that did not work.  I may pick up some orange tape or something and tape up the tip a bit, up until the aiming blade.

"Thanks for the tip."

Lastly, Mom is hard at work making me a vest and scarf.  I saw what she had thus far over the weekend, and she really hit it out of the park.  I just asked for a simple brown vest, but she also got material to do the lining.

Clint's vest in Fistful. Image © United Artists

And what Mom has so far:

Not made of real gorilla chest.

The scarf is tied around the neck at the back and I’m glad it is a thin material, as I’m sure this is going to be a hot costume to wear between the shirt, poncho, vest, scarf and something referencing Eastwood’s improvised bulletproof vest.

Oh, Clint! He's so crafty.Image © United Artists

I don’t plan on wearing a piece of sheet metal under the poncho, but I’ll rig something up.  Maybe a cookie sheet from Goodwill that I’ll beat the heck out of or something else.  My concern is weight and comfort.  I had a thought of just using duct tape to make it, you know sticking it to itself. It’d have the look and be light weight, as well as flexible.

As a bit of a joke, I’m thinking of including the Heart Breaker logo Scud the Disposable Assassin wears somewhere on whatever I come up with.

I’m pretty much set except for the dang hat.

I can't find anything close to this around town. Image © United Artists

I came close to something last week, but it was over $30 and didn’t look that good on me.  I gotta find something, but this is proving to be a bit of a challenge. I may say the heck with it and get the $30 hat, although it is a bit of a stretch in appearance.  If it was dead on, I wouldn’t hesitate but is is only slightly similar.

]]> http://danieljhogan.com/home/2009/10/13/fistful-of-costumes-three/feed/ 1 http://danieljhogan.com/home/2009/10/11/freelance-conclave-and-werewolves-oh-my/ http://danieljhogan.com/home/2009/10/11/freelance-conclave-and-werewolves-oh-my/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:54:00 +0000 Daniel http://danieljhogan.com/home/?p=388 My latest feature article for Capital Gains is now online, I interview someone who moved to the Lansing area from China.  I have two more stories in the hopper, I’ll post when those get put online.  I also have two new assignments–one of which deals with being single in Lansing.  Should be interesting.

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I had the pleasure of being a guest at the science fiction and fantasy fan convention, ConClave once again this weekend.  I had a great time like always,  running into  Jim C. Hines, who was there promoting his latest release, Mermaid’s Madness, and the always entertaining M. Keaton.

It is fun to reconnect with writer friends and to make new ones at these conventions.  I was a part of nine events, including the Writer’s Workshop (I read and critiqued stories), panel discussions (ranging from zombies to werewolves to comic books) and I was even a contestant in a Last Man Standing Sci-Fi/Fantasy Trivia Contest–and I came in 2nd place.

My prize for coming in second is that my name will be used for the name of the president of the CDC in an upcoming zombie novel (The Ravening) by Stewart Sternberg. Stewart said that there will be a quote at the start of a chapter, which will be attributed to said CDC president, so something along these lines perhaps, to give you an idea:

“I see no reason to panic. As long as none of them bite you, you’ll be just fine.  Oh, and wash your hands.  Seriously, people.”

- Daniel Hogan, President of the CDC.

I’m excited to see what Stewart comes up with–he’s threatening to make it something that will cause an angry mob to show up at my door. Hey, I can use the publicity.  The novel will be available in stores and obviously I’ll do a post once that happens.  The grand prize winner will be made into a character that gets ripped apart by zombies.  Lucky.  Amusingly, I lost my shot at first place by not knowing the name of Barbara’s brother in the original Night of the Living Dead (Johnny).

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Speaking of Mr. Sternberg, we were on a panel about werewolves at ConClave, which I recorded for this week’s podcast.  Check it out. I’m glad I recorded it, because between late nights at work this week and getting ready for the con, I didn’t have the next episode of the Magic of Eyri finished. Hooray for filler. Give the panel a listen, it is a fun time. Jon David, Rick Moore, Charles Zaglanis and William Jones join us as well.

yeah I could pull this off, I think.

Most of the required gear is easy, as I found a poncho at a nearby costume shop but the biggest part of the costume is going to be the gun I get.

To me, much like my proton pack for last year’s Ghostbuster costume, the gun I end up getting will either make or break the costume. I can go one of two ways with this: cheap with a metal cap gun, or expensive with a non-firing Colt Single Action Army replica.

I didn’t want a plastic cap gun, as they are all pretty much lame. I found a metal one, the Big Tex–and it comes with a holster, another important component of the costume. I’m not worried about either the gun nor the holster matching exactly what Eastwood had in Dollars, I just want something that looks good. The Big Tex would be an inexpensive way to go, but, at the same time I’m more or less just buying a toy. And the holster is only plastic (or pleather).

The expensive option is the non-firing Colt SAA replica made by a company called Denix. This baby is the exact look, feel and (nearly) weight of an original Colt SAA, the handgun of western films (and Revolver Ocelot). Being a bit of a western junkie, I’ve always wanted a SAA of my own, and if I ever considered buying a real handgun, that would be one I’d consider.

The replica isn’t cheap, running about $60–but compared to some air soft guns, that isn’t too bad. Everything works with this model: the hammer, the action, the cylinder rotates, the loading gate and cartridge ejector. You can “fire” the gun, only in the sense you can squeeze the trigger and the hammer activates (and like the original SAA, the hammer has two click positions–one is for loading, the other firing I believe). It is not possible to actually fire this gun or to make it fire–the barrel is solid (and after finally seeing a different angle on eBay, I was relieved to see there is the required orange cap recessed into the barrel).

However, if I get the replica, I still need a holster. The company makes a very nice looking leather holster (complete with a leg tie) for about $44 (although I found it for $50-something on eBay, but with free shipping). The other neat bit is that it has leather loops for “dummy rounds“–fake bullets that are just solid brass. These rounds can also be “loaded” in the replica gun (obviously, nothing happens when you pull the trigger). I found a site that sells ‘em for 59 cents a piece (I’d probably order at least 12–six for the gun, six for the belt).

But here is my problem: do I just say “who cares?” and drop $20 on a mediocre cap gun, or do I spend over $100 on a high quality replica, holster and dummy bullets?

The only advantage of going the cheap route is that, it is cheap. However, going the expensive route has more advantages.

First, the expensive stuff isn’t going to break after the first time I wear it. My main complaint of my (self-built) proton pack was that it is very breakable, so much that I can’t even wear it any more. And I’ve bought cheap prop weapons in the past, and they never lasted that long.

Secondly, the replica, holster and dummy rounds just look AWESOME.

Thirdly, this is a prop I can easily use for other costumes (Rooster Cogburn from True Grit comes to mind)–or just wear it around the office. It think it’d go pretty good with at least one of my suits. There is the safety issue here too: I can legally wear this thing to parties, conventions, in public, etc because it is not technically a ‘gun.’ (this doesn’t mean I’ll wear it around town or something, I’m not stupid). But because it is a prop, there is no danger of using it for a costume–that’s the whole point–whereas with a real SAA, there are all kinds of legal issues if I tried using it for a costume. Heck, I was nervous about getting the replica until I saw that it had the required orange tip in a different photo (the stock images didn’t show the angle where you could see it, probably on purpose).

Lastly, it will fulfill my fantasy of owning a real SAA to some extent. Yes, I won’t be able to fire it, but honestly after researching .22 target shooting rifles (I’m considering buying one, but just for target shooting at a range), I’ve discovered how expensive firearms–especially ammo–can be. Also: SAA style handguns run in the neighborhood of $400+ on the low end (based on what I’ve seen locally). Yikes. If I get the SAA replica et al, I’m not buying a .22 until the Spring (I still need a new iPod as well. PRIORITIES.).

Another thing is that the novel I’m currently working on has a character that uses a revolver based on a SAA, so if I had one to mess around with (even without being able to fire), I could get a better idea as to how it feels, the weight, etc.

If I get the replica, I will probably go the cheaper route for the remainder of the costume, namely the hat and boots. Finding a hat just like his has been a bit difficult. The cowboy hats I’ve seen around so far don’t have the flat top like Eastwood’s does. I would like to get something pretty close to that, as the hat is rather distinct. We’ll see though.

The vest he wears under the poncho could be a challenge (it is some kind of hide deal), but I will do the thing with him wearing the metal on his chest as a sort of proto-bullet proof vest. I will also have to grow some of my beard back and at least pretend to smoke those cigars.

If I go all the way for this (the expensive route), this could be a really awesome costume. And honestly, I probably spent at least $100 building my Ghostbuster costume anyway (easily) and all of that stuff broke apart (even my goggles!).

From Wikipedia:

“…the opening football scene for the new film; which did not appear in the original film, was shot at the former Detroit Notre Dame High School in Harper Woods, Michigan.”

I know the original film doesn’t exactly have broad appeal, however, I enjoy it for its over-the-top-Cold-War-paranoia aspect. It is an excellent Cold War media time capsule and as such, I don’t think it should have been remake (but I am thankful that the filming of it brought money not only to Michigan but my home town).  I don’t see the new version having the impact the original did when released in the early 1980s.

Anyway, my li’l sis shot a few set photos and I put them online if you are interested in checking them out.

To set things straight, I disliked the first film.  A lot. Why would I go see the sequel even though I didn’t like the first? Because, I enjoy seeing action films such as this (crappy or not) on the big screen. Even though I can’t stand Michael Bay films, I’ll confess they are usually worth checking out (at least once) on the big screen.

I won’t waste time with fan-boy nitpicking about how this movie and the first were nothing like the show–because that isn’t the point with these films. When you’re taking a 25+ year old children’s cartoon show designed to sell toys and trying to adapt it to a mass audience film, some stuff just ain’t gonna work. Even more so when you take it from a cartoon to live action.

However, I died a little on the inside when Optimus Prime said “My bad” in the first film.

Thankfully, this film actually featured the Transformers for more than what felt like twenty minutes in the first.  My feelings about the first film are brilliantly summed up in this comic.

But, I’m still not a fan of the character design for the Transformers. Not that ILM didn’t do a great job with the animation, I just don’t like the busy/cluttered design of the robots.  I had heard that ILM’s idea was to make it look as if all the parts from the vehicles fit into their robot bodies, but I don’t like it.  I also have a hard time telling who is who–especially with the Decepticons (Megatron and Starscream are nearly identical).

I also don’t like the ‘human focus’ of the films. But, I did like the idea of humans and Autobots teaming up to hunt Decepticons, that was pretty neat (and made for a pseudo G.I. Joe/Transformers cross-over element).

I could have done with WAY less of the human stuff, it just dragged things out.  But some of the new characters were fun (Jetfire), and some where down right horrible (the Twins). I don’t need to go into details about how bad the Twins were, just read this write up on the whole thing on /Film.

One of the saving graces of this film was John Turturro, who is one of my fav actors—which was the case for the first film.  He’s so great. The other saving points were the inclusion of Soundwave and Ravage–two of my favorites from the show and voiced once again by Frank Welker. Lastly, Starscream (another favorite) finally became interesting and had some great back and forth moments with Megatron, which was a fixture of the original show.

This film defines brainless action–which, hey I have nothing against in general (Commando is one of my favorite movies), but I’m just not a fan of Michael Bay’s directing style, or the focus on the very boring human characters.

And the character of the Fallen, while cool in concept (I enjoy Transformer history as much as the next geek) didn’t really come across as that interesting.

So if you enjoy brainless action, and for some reason enjoyed the first Transformers, check this out…but maybe for a matinee.

Pixar has done it again.  I am amazed by the consistent quality of animated films that Pixar cranks out. Even Cars, perhaps their weakest film, was considerably better than I thought it was going to be and not unwatchable (they won extra bonus points for having the guys from Car Talk do voice-over work).

Up is the next installment of that fine tradition.  I didn’t think it was possible to top last summer’s WALL-E, but they did. And I loved WALL-E.

Up goes beyond being just a wacky adventure film.  It touches on life, death and what we make of each.  And it shows what happens when one forgets to follow their dreams (the case of Ellie) and when one becomes so obsessed with their dreams, that they lose their mind (the case of film’s villain).

I paid extra to see the film in 3D and honestly, I don’t think is worth it.  Sure, it looked great, but there weren’t that many times where I realized I was watching something in 3D. Coraline still holds the title of best 3D film that I’ve seen thus far.

This is easily Pixar’s most serious–and in some parts, darkest–film to date.  We see characters bleed, which unless I’m forgetting something (maybe Incredibles?), is a first.  The montage that covers Ellie and Carl’s life together towards the beginning of the film is equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking.  Watching the characters age before your eyes is great.

As serious as Up is, it is also very funny.  The mismatched characters of elderly Carl and the young, energetic Russell make it an endearing buddy film. Add to that mix a few goof ball animal characters (namely, Dug the dog) and you have another classic film from Pixar.

I don’t throw the term “instant classic” around to often, at least not since that epic sailing film, but I think it applies to Drag Me to Hell.

The film is Sam Raimi’s return to the horror genre after spending the better part of a decade making the first three Spider-Man films. Raimi cut his directing teeth on this genre twenty-plus years ago with his classic horror films, Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn. Drag Me to Hell is worthy of their company.

What I liked most about the film is just how creepy and scary it was.  I’m not usually a fan of the more common place ‘gore’ horror films, like the Saw series, so when a film like DMTH comes along that focuses more on suspense and thrills, I really excited (NOTE: yes, I realize the Evil Dead films have their fair share of gore…but they don’t compare to stuff like the Saw series…and the Evil Dead films–especially the second one–use it in a more comedic manner).

The plot is simple, but works great: a young woman (Alison Lohman) angers an old gypsy woman (Lorna Raver, who is amazing in her role) and has a curse put upon her. After a few days of torment, a demon will appear to–you guessed it–drag her to hell. Lohman spends the rest of the film being tormented by her choice to no help the old woman (and the demon) and does everything she can to be rid of the curse–including some things that even surprised me.

The tension and suspense in the film are top notch–and makes me wonder what a full Venom-based Spider-Man film would have been like if Raimi had the chance to do it that way (I hated that Venom was a last minute thing thrown into the last act of Spider-Man 3, but I had heard Raimi was under pressure to do so).  The way Raimi uses music, sound and editing are great. He follows the less-is-more-rule, and teases you the whole way or lures you into a spot of quiet and then BAM! Loud shriek and a flash frame of a scary face.

Sure, there are some gross parts but nothing involving graphic violence and it just adds to the layers of creepiness. Raimi’s usual sense of odd-ball humor runs rampant throughout the film as well, especially the way he abuses Lohman on a regular basis (she and Bruce Campbell will have plenty of war stories to swap).

You can kind of see the ending coming, but that really isn’t the point–and Raimi keeps throwing so many curve balls that while you may know what is going to happen, you don’t know exactly how it’ll happen and you’ll second guess yourself right until the end.

Drag Me to Hell is a great example of a classic horror film. It is worth seeing in the theater to get the whole scary effect. And it has (at least for me) a lasting effect. As my friend who I saw this with put it “it is a great cautionary tale about how we all have to stick together in this Recession Economy.” (Lohman gets cursed after refusing the gypsy an extension on her mortgage payment, thus taking her house away and throwing her out on the street).