Starbase Indy

Once again, Thanksgiving weekend has brought a fabulous Star Trek convention to Indy.

And while I've been to SBI before, this one blew it out of the water.

As they were charging $25 for a weekend pass, I could afford to go on both Friday and Saturday (normally I attend just one day of a con).

Not only did my lovely wife go with me on both days, but my children came ALL DAY on Saturday.

Dalyn and Ireland were even in costume.

I, of course, went as a Klingon.

It was actually my first convention in full Klingon gear.

It was also Ireland and Scotland first cons ever.

Friday:

The con kicked off with a free screening of Star Trek.

My brother-in-law, Harrison, and his female companion, Steph, went with us for the free flick.

They abandoned us after the film as they hadn't registered.

We showed up a bit late, so I missed the beginning, but it was still a great film.

Before we actually entered the hotel, we ran into qurgh and his female companion.

After the movie, Dalyn and I managed to score some uniform accessories. Pretty sweet.

Prop Making:

We atteneded a really lame prop making panel. While the guys seem to know what they're doing, and they seem to have been doing it for a while, they don't seem to know how to be interesting.

It happens.

I took mental notes as I was co-hosting a Klingon Language Panel in the morning.

More Klingons showed up throughout the day, and by the time the Klingon Language Pit opened up, there was a fair amount.

Klingon Language Pit:

I got to meet several people in real life that I only knew thought the internet before. Even played a bit of Klingon scrabble (turns out it doesn't work too well on a Klin Zha board...)

Very nice.

As we had left the children at home all day, we left before the Klingon party really got started.

Saturday:

As we had gone to bed late on Friday, it was a chore to wake up early on Saturday.

But as I mentioned, I was co-hosting a panel.

Once again, I became a Klingon. So did Ireland. Dalyn once again had a last minute costume idea.

Scotland wore clothes.

Klingon Language Panel:

I arrived a bit late, but not too late.

The Klingon Language Panel was tons of fun.

An entire crowd of people were there to listen to us talk about Klingon.

People that were actually interested. Wow.

As qurgh and I didn't actually plan anything together, I just followed his lead.

I have no idea how much of his plan was actually followed.

I even got to see a hardbound copy of ghIlgameS.

The day moved on with no formal structure.

I'm sure things were happening, just nothing I cared about.

I played some Klingon scrabble with qurgh and Twisty, lots of fun.

Ireland and Scotland took turns wanting to be held, walk, and ride in the stroller.

I spent most of the day with a child in my arms, when I woke up on Sunday I was sore. Very sore. It had been a long day.

Masquerade:

That evening, they had masquerade. Some people did skits, some people just showed off their costumes. They were all impressive.

But even more impressive were the Klingons who showed up right before it started.

As I was standing outside of the main room, an entire family of Klingons came in.

It was a grand entrance indeed.

I didn't know it at the time, but it was Chancellor Krahl and his family.

I think he had five or six children around him--all Klingon. (Okay, the youngest didn't wear a prosthetic, but that's understandable.)

The younger ones were passing out flyers for The Empire (TE).

I think Ireland was overwhelmed. I remember her saying that we had "enough Klingons".

Things moved slowly after that, and I eventually took my family home.

But I returned in search of my fellow warriors.

I eventually caught on that Krahl was the Chancellor, and was even promoted to Lieutenant in TE.

Once again, this was my first time to actually hang out with other Klingons. A very nice experience indeed.

Both days:

I posed for a lot of pictures.

Like I mentioned, this was my first time as a full Klingon. I'm not used to random people requesting pictures.

And more pictures. Really.

Dealer's Room:

Smaller than previous years, the dealer room is always a fun place to check out.

Sadly, we didn't really have any money.

Luckily, I had won a contest before the con and won several $10 coupons.

There wasn't a whole lot that I was interested, but there were a few things.

I obviously had to leave the $90 Bird-of-Prey on the shelf.

The two "big items" I found were a knife, and a Klingon communicator pin.

I think I probably spent an hour and a half over the two days talking to the knife dealer. Interesting fellow.

I approached most merchants with the question, "What do you have for a Klingon?"

Sometimes they had stuff, sometimes they didn't.

The knife dealer approached me.

(I'll let my wife brag about her deals if she wishes.)

Other "characters":

As I walked the con wearing a uniform that my wife and mother-in-law spent lots of time on, and a latex forehead that my father-in-law and wife had worked on, and makeup that lots of people had worked on, I took a look at other people's costumes.

You could tell who spent some time. And you could tell who had gotten their shirt out of a cereal box.

While I realize that a lot of people enjoy being Humans, and being Starfleet officers, it seemed rather easy. (An exception goes out to Gary "Spock", his uniforms obviously took some time and money. Keep up the good work.)

I was very impressed with the Klingon uniforms that I saw. Some of them were very nice.

And then there was this Cardassian.

She had even more latex pieces than the Klingons did. And she painted all visible skin grey. A very even, natural shade of grey. Very nice indeed. Rumor has it that it took two hours to put on. (For what it's worth, I saw plenty of uneven and unmatched makeup. Makes the good jobs stand out.)

And then there was this Borg.

I don't even know what to say. He even sounded like a Borg. Impressive.

I know I'm leaving something important out. There was just too much to keep track of.

Excellent weekend. Can't wait for next year.

My Loot:

Wonder World Tour

On Monday, November 16, 2009, Miley Cyrus' Wonder World Tour made a stop at Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse.

As Miley's #3 fan, I bought tickets the moment they went on sale this past summer.
The tickets were listed in three price ranges, and we bought the mid-grade ones.
Sadly, they were more towards the low end of that range...

This was a paperless ticket concert.
In order to gain entry, one had to provide photo ID along with the card used to make the purchase.
It apparently worked as a scalper deterent, as there were still tickets availiable the day of the show.

Doors opened at 5, amd the show started at 7.
Not sure when we left for the show, but traffic was crazy once we hit downtown Indy.
And in my opinion, $10 for parking is insane.

It was a crisp night, and we made our way to the venue.
You could feel the excitment in the air.

There were several side enterances, which I'm sure helped with crowd control and lines.
We may have received an odd look upon admission due to our lack of children. Whatever.

Amazingly, we were given directions to our seats from the door.
I'm not sure how complicated of floor plan a fieldhouse has, but giving everyone directions seems like a tough job.

First thing I noticed was an arrow pointing towards Hardee's.
Yes, there was a Hardee's inside the building. Sweet!

But we wanted to find our seats first, so the Happy Star would have to wait.

Normally, I would buy a T-shirt, but at $35 I would have to do without.


In the halls:

While I went to find a certain Happy Star, Dalyn stood in line to try and win better seats.
Not sure who planned this, but they had had big screens that everyone could see while you typed in your personal information: Name, address, etc...
And a very bored photographer waiting for a winner.
They also had a few manaquins modeling Miley's latest fashions.
Since little kids kept tugging on the clothes, one of the manaquins was showing off a breast. (No, I don't have a picture for you.)

Between there and the Hardees was a photo shoot.
You could get your picture taken and have a digital image of Miley added into the shot.
And then of course printed out for you to keep. Oddly free. (No picture here, either.)

Our seats:

We sat stage right up in the balcony.
Despite the height of our seets, they were pretty good since we were right next to the stage.
I started off taking pictures and soon gave up. I don't have a zoom.

The opening act:

Metro Station. I'd actually heard of them before the concert. I'd even heard one of their songs.
Normally that would be saying a lot for the random band that you're forced to sit through to get to the real act, but the lead singer of Metro Station is Trace Cyrus, Miley's older brother.
So everyone already knew who he was.

Now I'm not quite sure what type of audience Metro Station is used to, but Trace is covered with tatooes.
Covered.
And while I'm pretty sure the band itself is all male, they had these two female dancers that went a little overboard.
Towards the end of their show, Trace had managed to become topless. The girls were going wild.
I think he shaves his pits.


Miley time!:


The roadies eventually got everything torn down and set up.

There were big screens set up around the stage.
I knew that Miley had a habit of rising up out of the stage, and so I was watching the various trapdoors.

***

The crowd:

I'm going to take a break and talk about the crowd.

Over all, the crowd was great.
They sang, they screamed, they provided camera flashes.
But the people next to us, and behind us, were kinda lame.

When I saw Green Day, we stood the entire time. We jumped, we swayed, we didn't sit.

Despite attempts from Trace and Mily to get people out of their seats, our section remained seated.
Oh, I tried to stand. But standing while the people behind you are sitting is rude. Standing while the people next to are sitting is akward.

So I sat through most of the show.
(Oh, and the people on our row got up and down way too many times.)
***

Back to Miss Miley:

The openin song was "Breakout", the title track from her first non-Hannah Montana album.
The big screens featured Earth's temperature dropping and an ice age coming about.

A big glacier rose out of the floor and Miley appeared.
On the word "breakout", she heated up the room and melted the ice.

The roller coaster had begun.


Songs:

As this was a Miley show, and not a Hannah show, there weren't many songs to choose from compared to a more established performer.
She only has two albumbs out, and this last one wasn't a full album, just an EP.
So she sang almost every one of her songs.
The big displays did a good job of showing relevant images.
And of course, I sang along to them all.

Theatrics:

I've been to a number of concerts: Green Day, Transsiberian Orchestra, Ozzfest, The Monkeys, The Go-Go's, Belinda Carlisle, and Savvy & Mandy to name a few.

I've never seen a show like this.

There were lights, and flames, confetti, the afore mentioned screens.

Miley flew over the audience not once, but twice. The second time was in a motorcycle!
She flew over the crowd on a motorcycle!


She asended through trap doors more times than I could count.
She even drove a car.


There was a lot going on.
Plus the dancing and the backup dancers.

She even brought some local cheerleaders up at one point to say thank you for whatever charitable things they had been doing.

It was non-stop.

Until it ended.
9:00 and the show was over.

Or not.

Encore.

The show went on for another 45 minutes or so.
And it somehow managed to get bigger.

Wow.

Wardrobe:

Miley apparently enjoys wardrobe changes.

I tried to watch as much of the stage as I could, which meant I wasn't really watching those big screens.
Plus we weren't right up on the stage.
While the choice in clothes seemed slightly off for such a young audience, I wasn't too bothered.

...until I saw some pics.

O_O

I had no idea what she had been wearing. Or not wearing.
Not cool, Miley. Not cool.
I've been defending Miley for a while now.
I'm not sure what type of audience she's aiming for, but the audience she has started with Hannah Montana.
The little girls that watch Disney Channel were probably expecting a wholesome Hannah concert.
Hannah's clothes are modest.
She wears pants.
I don't think that Miley wore many outfits that went past her knee (and when they did, they were split way up the side).

No wonder my wife was so offended.

The shock comes mostly from the fact that she's a role model to so many girls.
I hope the parents that were there had a talk with their daughters.

Miley seems to be rebelling against her Disney image. Her first album was "Breakout" afterall.
But she's dragging her fans with her.


While I'm still a fan, still love the music, I'm going to have to keep an eye on who she's turning into, what I'm supporting.

Can someone support two different fan bases? Can Miley the actress appeal to little kids while Miley the singer appeals to older generations?

I guess we'll see.

Images courtesty of here, here, here, and here (and of course, my Prē)

Typed on my Palm Prē

Interviews

I just got out of a very akward interview.
During the process, I realized that I don't remember the last time I had such a formal interview.

I had an interview about a month ago.
"So you work at Now?
Here's what we do...
When do you want to start?"

Basically the fact that I worked for Now Courier was all they needed to know.

Hired on the spot.


Interview for Now?
Basically I was informed of what the job was.
It's like the HR lady was trying to scare me, and the fact that I didn't run off meant that I was qualified.

FedEx?
There was no interview.
I just subbited an application and showed up for orientation.
And proved I could lift 70lbs.

Sallie Mae?
I said I worked for Citi Cards.
Manager did too.
We chatted for a bit.

Kroger?
Summer of 2007. That was the last formal interview I had. And I don't remember much about it.


Boy was I unprepared.
Not only that, but I didn't actually know what company I was going to be talking to.
I never applied.
They found my resumé on-line and contacted me.

Turns out they want insurance salesman and managers.

I am not a salseman.
It's just not my style.
I have been a manager--back in 2004/5. I managed 2-3 people.



If I'm going to get a better job, I need to learn what stupid questions are being asked.

"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"
5 years? I'm just trying to make it to Christmas.

"What's your dream career?"
Not selling insurance.
Do you need a translator?

"How competitive are you?"
I'm more of a laid back kinda guy.

(No, those weren't my answers.)



While I'm rambling, let's toss in some interesting interview stories.

First job ever. Cathy's Wok & Grill.
"So you friend Marc?"
"Yes."
"You Mormon?"
"Yes."
"You like Chinese food?"
"No."
"You're hired. Show up tomorrow after 6."

Yes. That's actually how it went.


Years later at Royalty Auto Care:
"So, you're a friend of Tims."
"Yes."
"And you're LDS?"
"Yes."
"Do you know anything about cars?"
"Not really."
And I got the job.


And then this one time I applied to be a banker.

"So what do you think about the phrase 'The customer is always right.'?"
*chuckle* "Well, they're not."
*shocked look*
"Let me explain.
See, in collections, we just assume that the customer is lying to us.
Like the other day, this lady called and I told her that she was 2 months past due.
She told me that she had just gotten back from outer space..."
"Outer space?" *laugh*
"Yes. And while it's possible that she works for NASA, she probably didn't leave the planet.
So I assume that she's lying, but I work with what she gave me.
'So, you've beem out of town. Now that you're back, let's get this account taken care if.'"

For the rest of the interview, the interviewer couldn't stop laughing about outer space.

I need more stories like that one.

Are you hiring?

Too old to Trick-or-Treat?

All Hallows Eve is a magical night.
You get to play dress-up with the rest of the world.
You get to go up to complete strangers and ask them for candy.

But some people think this is only for the young; and not the young of heart.

Despite the fact that I'm almost 28, I still haven't reached "too old".


I'm the oldest child in my house.
My youngest brother is 15 years younger than I am.

That means when I was 15, I was Trick or Treating with a 10yo, 5yo, and a baby.

As long as you have those younger siblings with you, people don't complain.
"Oh what a cute baby! Have some candy."

Of course the baby can't eat the candy, but that's not the point.

And when I wasn't walking around with a baby?
My youth group used to go Trick or Treating for cans.
We'd dress up and go door-to-door asking for canned goods. We'd explain that we're collecting them for the local food bank.
It works out great. People are already planning on being home, answeing their door, and giving stuff away--migt as well do it for a good cause.
And then they insist that we take some candy as well.

And latley?

My siblings have grown up, I'm not in a youth group. What now?

I have two children of my own.
I'll be taking a 1yo and an almost 3yo around the neighborhood.

Yup. I'm still going strong.

What Google Voice means to Sprint users (verses everyone else)

A while back, Google realsed Google Voice. In fact, they're still releasing it.

While I admit that it looks cool, the biggest "wow" factor was having all of your phones ring at once.

For someone like my mother-in-law, who is a realestate broker, that would be fantastic.
You give out ONE number, and no matter if you're home, at the office, or at a showing, you're able to be reached.

For someone like me who has ONE phone, there's not much of a point.

Yes, yes, I know all about the e-mail voicemail. I don't get that many messages.



Even more recently, Sprint rolled out a new program: Unlimited calling to ANY mobile number (US only).

Sweet. No "top 10" or "fav 5", you can call any of the hundreds of cell phones in this country for free.

So with my 1500 minute plan, I've got to actually hunt for landlines to call.

Unless I use Google Voice.

While I haven't looked at my phone bill yet, Sprint Customer Service claims that a GV number is considered a landline.

Now let me back up.

GV works like this.
Google gives you a new phone number. When someone calls that number, you actually get a incoming call from *your GV number*.
When you make a call, you dial *your GV number*.

Your call history will to to and from the same number (as far as the phone company is concerned).


So yes, *every* call I make/receive will be to a landline, and will cost me minutes.
Suddenly that whole unlimited mobile calling seems rather lame.


What if I don't use Sprint?

Check this out.
If your wireless provider lets you select a landline in your "fav 5" or "top 10", all you have to do is include your GV number, and all of a sudden, ALL of your calls are free.
It doesn't matter who you call, as long as you call them through GV.


Pretty nifty if you ask me.

-----------------
As of this morning, I am able to make my Prē send all TXTs and calls through GV by default.
As far as the user (that's me) is concerned, I'm using my phone like normal. All of the work is in the background.
As neat as that is, I'll have to pass for now. 

I need your help!

I need y'all's help winning a contest.

If you have a MySpace account, I need you to request to be friends with the band Savvy & Mandy.

If you don't have a MySpace account, you should sign-up for one.

When (not if) you make the request, I need you to put "referred by naHQun http://www.myspace.com/naHQun" in the 'send message' section.

This will help them keep track of the referrals.

Once I refer the most people between now and the 31st, I'll WIN!

Official Contest Rules.

Kellogs Star Trek Promotion Part 2

As I mentioned in Part 1 (http://nahqun.blogspot.com/2009/08/kellogs-star-trek-promotion-part-1.html), I ordered (well, Dalyn ordered) every promotional item available from the Kellog's/Star Trek catalog.
Sadly, not much more has shown up since the last post.

A few weeks ago, or maybe it's been a month now, I got a postcard from Kellog's. Basically is says that they sold out of T-shirts, but they're ordering more and I should expect my shirt in November.
And while I hate to wait, I'm surprised that they're doing this.
Accorsing to the rules (which are standard), they have the right to substitute a different item.
They could pretty much send me anything in their wharehouse that has the same value. Anything.
But instead, they're actually having a second run of shirts made.

Amazing.

A week later, Dalyn got a similar notice.
But her's offered her a chance at a refund.

A refund? Really? Also against insustry standards.

I'm quite proud of Kellog's for handing this so well.
Not only are they spending money to keep us all informed, but they're making sure we have the chance to get the right item, or a refund.

And then not too long after that, Dalyn got two letters from Kellog's.
It ended up being the one free item we ordered--the movie tickets.

Not only do we get to see a movie for free (well, for the price of a stamp), but it claims to work on "no pass" shows too.

DATE NIGHT!!!

We'll see how late into November we have to wait.

And then there's the USB drive and waffle plate..

----
Lack of pictures due to blogging on the go, and the fact that they'd be boring anyway.