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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Olaf — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:26:57 +0000

We’re doing the Harry Potter book release event for book 7 at “Bound to Read” in East Atlanta Village. It’s an exciting venue – it’s the last one as far as we know. We should have hit this market sooner – it’s a blast! The first one for us was in Gainesville at Chapter 13 Books. I think they actually filed chapter 13. “Bound to Read” is a cool little place right on the main drag in EAV. We’re getting quite the crowd of locals here, mostly in costume. The wife has put together a nice display including such props as the Sorting Hat, arcane books, and a large cow’s skull. There’s an interesting story around that last item, but it’s for another time.

Of all the dorks we’ve been associated or formed numbers with, Wizard dorks are some of the more tame. They’re about having fun, dressing up in wizardry garb, and reading books. Nothing too serious. I think a lot of them aren’t even really Harry Potter fans, they’re just interested in going to book parties and having a good time.

The only real problem with the deal was that they sold out of books from pre-orders and we didn’t get a chance to get a copy. That, and it’s like a million miles from Gainesville to East Atlanta Village. But this is good business for Celestial Studios.

*UPDATE Whoa! Just as I wrote that last piece, they wound up with three copies to spare. Sweet!

Advent for Dorks

Olaf — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 14:21:50 +0000

24ways.org is an Advent Calendar for web developers. Each day, you receive a technique or tip from the world of WebDev. Related posts: webdev|Live! Verizon Contracts BlackBerry Cobbler Related posts:

DragonCon Wrap-Up

Olaf — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 17:02:00 +0000

As you travel life’s highways, stop and smell the roses…and get a piercing. That’s the advice Con’rs heard, anyway. DragonCon is, as of recent years, a five day event including labor day. The event takes place in Atlanta within the Marriott Marquis and Hyatt hotels (registration was actually taken care of in the Hilton this year). For the last two or three years, the Masquerade competition took place at the Atlanta Civic Center. This year, they put it back in its original Centennial Ballroom in a hotel. I enjoyed it more when it was at the Civic Center. Sure, you had to walk or ride a bus to get there, but I didn’t mind that at all.

The cultural aggregate in DragonCon is phenomenal. You see a lot of different people; all freakish in their own way. This is one of those places that the minority is a majority and it’s all good. The gamut goes from D&D dorks to Goth geeks. There are costumers, techies, thespians, ravers, and the insane. If you’re not in costume, you’re probably thinking of one for next year. If you are in costume, you’re in the ranks of a celebrity. I dressed up as Chewbacca this year, courtesy Jeff McClure’s costume. I already have big plans for how I want to dress next year, but I always do. I couldn’t help but notice that many of the costumes (or maybe they’re just outfits) required quite a bit of commitment. With Chewbacca, I need only blacken my eyes and slip into a skin. I can go further by practicing my growl and get the gestures down. But some of the costumes involved lots of shiny trinkets pushed through envelopes of skin. If there wasn’t a loose piece left, then skin was pinched up to make one. There were also excellent displays of tattoos, dye-jobs, and hair weaves. This kind of preparation has some permanence to it. You can’t just comb out those dreadlocks. You can’t use a rough soap to wash off a facial tattoo. And yet they persisted. I have to believe that DragonCon just may be one of the largest meetings for people with part-time jobs. All ages are expressed, but I just can’t believe that they’re all holding down bankers’ jobs in a teller booth somewhere. I present my work environment with pierced ears everyday, but I don’t know that they would be so nonchalant if I dawned a silver tooth through my lip. Maybe they would and I’m just short-changing myself. I seriously considered dying my hair this time around, but my wife (who’s hair was partly dyed purple) passively convinced me not to. I decided I didn’t want to go through the headache of bleaching and rebleaching my hair. I like the effect, but I don’t like what it looks like when you let it just wash out. I also wonder about the financial stability of these folks. DragonCon is not an inexpensive event. I assume that most of those people treated it as a vacation and went all out for it. There is the hotel cost, admission, and material goods and foods while you’re there. I doubt anyone with a hotel gets out for much less than $1,000.00. Plus, the costumes, piercings, tattoos, salon time adds up significantly. Maybe they’re just better money managers than we are. That’s too depressing though. I’d rather think they’re all deadbeats like me.

Along those lines, I’ll convey an interesting conversation I overheard in the lobby:
The Setup: Crowded hotel lobby filled with Sci-Fi convention goers. A guy approaches the mess wearing a nice button-up shirt and kahki shorts. Despite his appearance, he’s just another part of the crowd. He moves down the stairs into the lobby commanding “high fives” as he passes fellow fans. It’s not even noon yet, but he seems pretty drunk. He approaches a guy decked in Goth and starts up a loud conversation.

Frat Boy: Hey man! What’s UP!!! This is really great, isn’t it?
Goth: yeah. It’s cool.

Frat Boy: Why aren’t you drunk yet?!? (now with arm around the Goth)
Goth: Sorry. I don’t drink. (walks away)

This is one of those oddities you can’t imagine if you don’t know the type. Here’s someone, the Goth, that the average person assumes is into all sorts of evil; alcohol and drugs. In fact, it’s the otherwise normal-looking guy that probably does hold down a banker’s job somewhere. He’s the one that is drunk at 11:00 in the morning. I know it’s not always the case, but it’s a good example for the whole appearances thing. Give a Goth a chance, that’s all.

Minimum Wage Help

Olaf — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 05:06:40 +0000

At Starbucks in Gainesville, the staff can be a bit dim at times. I routinely go through the drive-through only to try and convey to them that I have a mug and would like it filled with coffee. I realize that I’ll just have to drive up to the window anyway, but if I don’t talk to them on the mic and drive up automatically, they pretend I’m not there. So we get to the window this evening and order a strawberry something-or-the-other and I add that I have a mug I’d like to fill up as well. We arrive at the window and I give them my mug. She hands us both a sample of the strawberry drink that we ordered (odd, I think). She then hands me back my mug with whipped cream visible from it’s open top. I think, “strange, she put whipped cream on my coffee.” But no, she put the strawberry thingy entirely in my coffee mug. I then get handed a regular cup of hot coffee. Now that’s really bazarr. Now Amy has to drink her cold strawberry drink out of my coffee-stained mug and I get the paper cup with boiling coffee in it. Dorks!

X + Y = Bar Brawl

Olaf — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 16:47:12 +0000

I’ve spent that last two nights (Friday and Saturday night) playing Fable and Halo2 into the wee hours of the morning. I play on XBOX’s Live service, so there’s a collection of friends I can call upon to game with. It’s addictive sport, if not for the game itself, then the peculiar human interaction within the Live service. It’s mostly adolescent teenagers, around 13, and us; the X Generation trying to school the Y’s. For the most part, the Y Generation can kick our collective butts, but we do have a few redeeming members.

Because of my position within the house, and the meager size of it in general, I can’t be too boistrous in my retaliative communique with fellow team and opposing team members. I only play late at night, and I’d be sorry if I woke Amy or Balthazar. As it is, my insults and emissions of bravado are reserved for just the right moments when all others are silent. Which, by the way, is rare. I regularly play with a group – most of which are in eastern Canada – that consists of several people my age and a couple younger kids about half our age. The younger kids often talk in stream of consciousness. It should be annoying, but I find it pretty funny. When you finish a game, you’re dumped off in a stat screen where everyone can review their skillz and issue forth the smack-talk. It’s hilarious when everyone attacks eachother all at once. X Gen’s using their big words and old school insults against the deaf ears of Y Genner’s. We’re really just old dorks, no matter how good the insults are. Good times.