Nov 2011 - GAMES Newspaper

WHAT’S INSIDE Female Stormtroopers?

Page 5

November 2011 ~ Vol. 5, Issue 3

Tolkien opens world of “nerd” to young girl Page 4

CONtraflow: the birth of a Sci-Fi convention

By Contstance Lightwood

New Orleans saw the return of something wonderful to her murky shores the weekend of Nov. 4. Since Hurricane Katrina devastated the region, the Crescent City has been severely lacking a convention scene.

In the years following, we have seen the creation of a comic convention, an anime convention has migrated from another part of the state and we have had our first Wizard World visit. However, despite a long history of science fiction conventions in the area - even hosting WorldCon in 1951 and 1988 - the city had yet to see the return of the science fiction convention.

That all changed over the first weekend in November with the inaugural CONtraflow.

I was fortunate enough to volunteer at this fledgling convention as part of a local steampunk group, Ironclad Cairo. While my free exploration time was limited because of volunteering, I think I can safely

Photo by Contstance Lightwood CONtraflow’s contest winner was a Zombie Lego Man say that this convention is going to have a long and prosperous future. The organizers took their time to plan a wonderful show for the attendees.

I wasn’t surprised by the small size of the convention, but I was thrilled by the variety of events, dealers and panels available.

The convention had four panel rooms, a huge game

room and a fair sized dealer’s room for the size of the convention, in addition to an amazing hospitality suite and art show. They also had panels scheduled for several hours after the dealer’s room closed. The game room was open the entire weekend, had games on loan from a local shop, and people were available to demo the games at near-

ly every hour.

The dealer’s room contained various book and game sellers, a couple of people selling t-shirts and CDs, a sword dealer, a dice dealer, a couple of people selling jewelry (of all fennish varieties) and a massage therapist (Best. Idea.

See CONtraflow Page 11

Designer toy scavenger hunt to go worldwide GoldRun, a leader in augmented reality marketing programs, announced today it has partnered with Clutter Magazine, the world’s premier media source for Designer Toys, to create the first-ever augmented reality scavenger hunt of a curated collection of coveted Designer Toys, representing the work of more than 30 acclaimed artists.

Launching on Nov. 10, fans can participate by downloading the free GoldRun app and following the “GoldRun X Clutter Magazine Designer Toy Run” to participate.

Through GoldRun, users will see virtual representations of real Designer Toys, which they can capture to gain points and compete against each other to win the real toys. This groundbreaking campaign will bring together the sculptural world of designer toys and their tightknit, international fanbase to a global audience through cutting-edge mobile technology. “AR technology is cre-

ating a paradigm shift from a world of search to a world of discovery. Now, an international artist and collector community can engage on a level never before possible, changing the landscape for how art is consumed as collectibles, both in the virtual and real worlds,” says Vivian Rosenthal, CEO and Founder of GoldRun. The GoldRun X Clutter Magazine Designer Toy Run will consist of three different types of runs all varying in geographic scope to maximize community gameplay: first, a globally available hunt; second, a city-specific hunt available in New York, London, San Francisco, and Chicago; and third, a location-specific hunt that will be deployed within three hightraffic locations throughout the four available cities.

Running over the course of six weeks, the toys will be rotated twice a week in the GoldRun app to optimize exposure for all 30 artists in participation and provide a diverse selection of collect-

ibles for those playing.

All players are encouraged to share photos over Facebook and Twitter for a chance to win the toy of their choice. Competing against each other across the leaderboard, the players with the most points win actual designer toys. With a selection of over 250 toys, there is a wealth of prizes to be had for the seasoned Designer Toy collector or the budding fan.

“GoldRun is a great opportunity to increase fans’ knowledge about designer toys using the latest in app technology,” says Josh Kimberg, Clutter’s Managing Partner.

Recognized alongside a specific movement of illustrative and modern pop art, designer toys are not played with but enjoyed for their aesthetic appeal. With the innovative idea of using industrial manufacturing methods to create miniature works of art, the Designer Toy Movement gained momentum in the early 2000s when designers, comic book art-

Elizabeth Turner Tait Torkelson Abi Selvidge L Laura Latterman Contstance Lightwood

ists, illustrators, and graffiti artists, inspired by popular culture, had a new outlet for their creative energies and soon collectors were lining up to buy their releases.

The latest product designs represent a convergence of numerous subcultures, including underground comics, rock poster, street art, subversive culture and skateboard graphics. Clutter, which has been at the forefront of the movement since 2004, has harnessed this new energy with the launch of the inaugural Designer Toy Awards in 2011.

“It's cool to see the physical sculptural world merge with the augmented reality world for this cool toy hunt.

Fans and followers will get a chance to get their hands on some amazing limited edition pieces, all though this cool new technology,” says Jonathan Cathey, Owner The Loyal Subjects, who provided limited edition toys designed by CA artists Alex Pardee and Buff Monster.

4

Zombie horde invades Seattle

Weekend brings stars from shows like “Walking Dead”

By Tait Torkelson & Abi “AbiSue” Selvidge Washington D20 Girls

SEATTLE, WA - The Zombie Horde took Seattle by storm in October with Zombie Walk followed by a Con dedicated completely to zombies and zombie culture, ZomBCon. The Seattle D20 Girls were lucky enough to be provided with a Vendors booth and several passes for this event.

We had a great showing of girls in some fantastic costumes both Zombie and Zombie hunter. I was rather impressed not just with the turn out for the event, but the big names our humble Con in its second year managed to attract. There were a fair number of vendors offering everything from Zombie Combat manuals to candied zombie body parts (which where oddly popular).

The attendees that I interacted with all seemed rather excited and impressed by the whole event and one of the biggest complaints I heard was that not enough people dressed up. I too can agree with that sentiment as I saw a great lack of cosplay and costumes then one would have expected, but the Convention staff cannot be held accountable for that.

We also managed to have one of our local girls attend several panels and she has kindly offered up feedback on how those turned out in her opinion.

Far left: Tail Torkelson; Far right: Abi “AbiSue” Selvidge - both with the Washington D20 Girls - posing with a group of ZomBCon attendees.

We were able to attend a few of the panels hosted by Boondock Saints Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flannery. Panel: The Walking Dead: Stories of Survival SEASON 2 in which Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon in the show) talked about how it’s been being a part of the show. He was very friendly and responsive to any and all questions from the audience.

Sadly he couldn’t let out anything about season 2, he didn’t want to get in trouble because he loves being a part of the show. Also there was actress Melissa Cowan who played the zombie Bicycle Girl, as well as many other zombies from the Walking Dead. She told us that the

zombie makeup takes about 6 hours or so before every shoot! Wow and I think it takes me forever to get into some of my cosplays, that’s dedication to her craft!

We also attended the Panel: Raging Fists & Rotting Flesh: Hand to Hand Combat With the Undead hosted

by Sean Patrick Flannery.

The panel as a whole was kind of funny because it was mostly about how to win in a fight against a zombie.

Roger Ma, Thom Carnell and Jonathan Mayberry authors of some serious books about zombie combat were trying to discuss all tactics that go into defeating a zombie. Sean Patrick Flannery would have none of that! He continued to interject with

statements about how zombies are fictional characters so the best defense against them is a pair of running shoes. Also, which every question he would come in with, if the director said the zombie could do that, then they can! He would also periodically check his phone and state the opinion of Norman Reedus, who, little known to us, was hanging out in the back of the panel.

At the end, it pretty much degenerated to a hilarious yelling match between Sean and the authors, all in all a very funny panel.

We had a great time at ZomBcon, and we highly recommend it to anyone thinking about attending next year!

5

Women In White:

The Introduction of Canon Female Stormtroopers

By Elizabeth Turner

I’ve always been a costumer. I dressed up all the time as a kid just for fun or for Halloween, but my junior year of college, I discovered that I could wear my costumes for a greater purpose. By pure accident and just a little luck, I stumbled across the 501st Legion while studying abroad in Singapore.

The sheer awesomeness of getting to take my photo with Stormtroopers led me to look up more about the organization.

Doing so, I found out that the 501st Legion, and their sister organization the Rebel Legion, were more than just Star Wars costuming groups.

I learned that they were charity organizations and that there were many other similar groups out there. I helped out a few troops with the Singapore Garrison and started researching my own costumes.

I had to decide what I wanted to be. All the 501st approved costumes are canon costumes of the bad guys from the movies, TV series, or comic books of the Star Wars Universe.

I wanted something recognizable, and let’s face it: the first costumes that anyone notices at a 501st/ Rebel Legion troop are the

Stormtroopers.

They’re usually the most numerous and by far the most recognizable costume with that nice shiny, white armor.

Even the average viewer knows that Stormtroopers mean Star Wars.

You’d think they’d know Darth Vader, but every troop, someone mistakes a TIE Pilot (also in black) for Vader.

For the 501st Legion, the vast majority of the approved costumes are armored ones, even if they branch out from the basic Stormtrooper.

These include Clone Troopers and the different specialty Troopers from both Trilogies, but the same basic concept of armor and a helmet still exists. Troopers are the backbone of every Garrison.

Put on the “bucket,” and you become a faceless pawn of the Empire:

awesome, intimidating, masculine.

There was my problem.

The options for dressing as a Star Wars baddie are very limited for female costumers.

The only female characters are face characters and frequently scantily clad ones at that (take Darth Talon for example). What if you don’t have the body for it? What if you can’t do full-body makeup?

Take it from someone who has a still incomplete Asajj Ventress costume,

the female face character options for 501st membership are very difficult for most women. In order to become a member of the 501st, we would have to either sacrifice our femininity by wearing a masculine costume or put our femininity on an uncomfortable level of display.

Neither option was ideal for me or many other women. That’s not to say that there aren’t female See STORMTROOPER Page 10

6

“Nerdy” woman finds strength in her differences

By Laura “Cryshayn” Latterman

I, Laura Latterman, am a nerd.

It is something I am proud of. It is reflected in almost everything I do, but most importantly through my reading writing. My love of writing grew from my fascination with reading. In seventh grade, Mr. Vanderkamp’s English class was required to read “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I had never been exposed to that type of a story before. I was always a reader, but this was not “The Babysitter’s Club” that I was brought up on. Instead this was plot and imagery, love and revenge, dialogue and vocabulary that I occasionally had to look up, and I couldn’t get enough of it.

Our class partook in “popcorn” reading, where a student would read a section, then randomly select a peer to read the next section, subjecting the “popcorn” recipient to embarrassment if their place was lost. This was a difficult class for me. Not because I couldn’t keep up; I just couldn’t slow down. I would sit there with two books on my desk, and, as I continued plowing ahead

into “The Two Towers,” I would have to ask my neighbor what page they were on in “The Fellowship of the Rings.” I was hooked and thankfully Mr. Vanderkamp appreciated my rapacious reading.

After Tolkien, I couldn’t return to the children's or young adult sections of my local bookstore. Instead, I perused the Science-Fiction and Fantasy isle. My newly discovered appetite for fantastical fiction was mirrored in the media: the original Star Wars trilogy was re-released. I was always a fan of Star Wars – growing up, my father made sure my brother and I were privy to the television reruns and films that he considered classics, including the likes of John Wayne, Jean Luke Picard, Han Solo and Dick Tracy.

Now, I had the opportunity to see the Star Wars films on the big screen, but better yet, there was an entire book series. Tolkien led the way to Star Wars, and, although the writing was of a different quality, it still carried with it that infectious element of fantasy.

Mr. Vanderkamp was kind enough to help sign me into Honors level English, which carried over into high school. My freshman year, I met Juli-

anna. We hit it off immediately. She was smart, funny, outgoing, loud and had interests right in line with my own. It was with Julianna that I first attempted actual writing. I’d written some poetry typical of teenage angst, but what high-schooler didn’t? No. This was dialogue; it was plot; it was fan fiction (the genre of want-to-bewriters’ literary contributions based on their favorite novels or films). Our attempt at Star Wars fan fiction was…well, it was not good. Dialogue was kept to inside jokes, narrative was a novelty and action was just awkward.

We didn’t have the experience we needed in either life or writing to truly get what we wanted on paper, regardless of our fandom.

This was, however, a start.

I was writing, instead of just reading.

Somewhere between the Star Wars books and writing, my avid participation in choir and drama, and my promising GPA, it dawned on me: I am a nerd. It was a very important realization. By labeling myself as a geek or nerd, I was admitting to the world that I was a little “off” and not quite normal.

Apparently, most people don’t know that Harrison Ford never actually auditioned for the role of Han

Solo, or that a diamond actually sparkles because the combination of the angles and density of the carbon-based diamond literally traps particles or that the ‘and’ symbol is called an ampersand. Who knew? Well, I guess I did. And, that, ladies and gentleman, constituted my nerdom.

Thankfully, as I got older, my nerdiness became an asset. My mature vocabulary, desire to learn and outgoing nature meant that I would never have to flip a burger for minimum wage. Instead, I worked for a tutoring and homeschool facility, where I was given free range to write newsletters and create marketing materials. It was a novel experience for an 18-year-old, but it was one I took to instantly.

From then on, I worked in offices of all sorts: educational, real-estate, medical, religious, etc. And, while working, I always took classes. Over the next ten years, thirty plus hours of work a week and three classes a semester got me a solid resume, a ton of experience, my Associate’s degree and most of the way through my Bachelor’s. Then I moved to Denver.

See NERD Page 8

7

Wizard Wolrd and MidOhioCon merge:

Guest lineup among the many benefits of bigger better October Con By: L COLUMBUS, OH MidOhioCon made its way into 2011 as its first time being run by Wizard World in the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

It has always been a great show, but this years guest list had the stingiest of nerds really to squeel in delight. Adam West, James Masrters and Billy Dee Williams were just a few, with other guests from classics like Star Trek OST and Babylon 5 were in attendence. Lines were long to see these guests, but the wait was worth it to have your own one-onone for autographs and photos with some of these epic convention guests.

There were a few panels for the special guests to go over shows and review projects during this two day event. Unfortunately just about everything cost extra money. Autograph? $20 bucks. Photo? Hand shake? Panel? Be ready to shell out cash for each one of these. Sure, it's worth it to meet your idol, but some people just can't afford to pay that along with all the other con fees, which is a major bummer and something to plan ahead for when attending a convention with guests such as these.

However, the dealer's room entry came with the entrance to the convention and it had much to offer convention goers with a

wide variety of booths, vendors and artists to offer MidOhioCon attendees a fantastic time whether or not they could afford to shell out the extra cash for authographs and one-on-one time with stars in the ranks with Billy Dee Williams and Adam Photo by L D20 Girl “Badger� dressed as an West.

Ewok

Featuring

Saturday, Dec. 17 11 p.m. at the Late Night Rave & Dance Co-sponsored

by The D20 Girls

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NERD Moving was difficult.

Finding thirty-ish female friends with similar nerdy interests is even more difficult when brand knew to a state. I dated a little and I was able to find men with common interests, but women were more difficult to relate geeky interests too without scaring them off. I was disheartened to see the lack of nerds in Denver, until I noticed a posting on a networking website about D20 Girls. It caught my eye because of the Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) name reference and the picture of a woman my own age dressed up in a costume and with the smile of an experienced model. DnD, costumes, women, and smiles? I needed to know more instantly.

It didn’t take much footwork for me to discover that the D20 Girls Project was a fusion of social networking, event spokes-modeling and magazine writing all specifically geared towards empowering and encouraging nerdy women. I found what I never knew I needed to find. It was as if everything I was looking for was wrapped up with a bow on it: social and geeky females focused on friendships and careers in writing and costumed modeling. In May of 2011, I applied to be a D20 Girl,

and at the age of 28 I began a second career as a model and magazine contributor.

My nerdiness paid off. I started marketing and networking with local businesses and women. I made new friends and attended conventions.

I dressed up in comic book based outfits for photo shoots and I felt cool and comfortable doing it. I Photo by Britton Sherman became actively Latterman gets down and nerdy with her geeky favs. nerdy. I began cation!

I have yet to feel a sense building a circle of friends In the Fall 2011 issue of accomplishment and that appreciated and supof the magazine seven pride that compared to the ported the same interests. out of forty pages bared moment I saw my name My mother and boyfriend my name between two in print as a contributor, were proud and happy to articles and a recipe sub- and I’m fairly certain that see me so engaged. I was mission. My pride and joy my family’s Christmas completely inspired by the is a cover story with its gifts this year will be aurecent developments in own four page spread: a tographed copies of the my life, and, so inspired, I combination press release magazine, courtesy of sat down and wrote about and review on a Steam- yours truly. everything and anything I punk (a popular genre of Because of Tolkien and could think of. fantasy fiction combin- Mr. Vanderkamp, I found I took advantage of the ing the Victorian era with Star Wars. Because of Star opportunity that “D20 Jules Vern-esque steam Wars and Julianna, I found Girls Magazine” presentpowered science) themed my voice and my inner ed me with and began to fashion show at the Den- nerd. Because I embraced brainstorm ideas for arver TACtile Arts Center. all that is nerdy and beticles. Up to this point, Also in the issue was be came involved with D20 most of the recent writing my meatball recipe, and Girls, I am a writer. I end I had done was graded for a societal commentary on where the other version of class and then forgotten convention attendees and me begins: me, nerdy me, on my laptop’s hard drive; the cultural microcosm and the writer in me are this was a chance to have they present. inseparable. The Force is something appreciated on I am beyond excited. strong with this writer. a whole new level: publi-

9

Monsters of ceremonies? Oh my!

Indiana town hosts premier Indie Horror film festival

By Jondi Soper BLOOMINGTON, IN More than five years ago, a horror film festival was born. The Dark Carnival Film Festival, according to their website at www. darkcarnivalfilmfest. com, strives to be the “ premier event in the Midwest for screening the best independent horror, scifi, and dark fantasy films from all over the world.”

Since 2007 they have shown over 150 films from two dozen countries all over the world.

The 2011 Dark Carnival Film Festival was Oct. 2123 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in downtown Bloomington. This old theatre was transformed into a house of horror with scary clowns, giant spiders and other monsters one could only dream up in the wilds of their imagination.

But none of the decor cold hold a light to the phenomenal quality of the films shown at the festival.

Some were, while in the horror genre, hilariously fully; such as “VelociPastor,” directed by Brendan Steere. This four-minute film chronicles the story of a priest who, after being scratched by amber, begins turning into a dinosaur.

ABOVE: Doc Tor Calamari, Basement Boy and Woody (three of the monsters that make up “Atomic Age Cinema” pose with Cole Nicolson, who has them airbrushed on his leather vest.

Other films at this year’s even included an animated short called “A Cock Tale,” directed by Greg Bro about two roosters on a farm and what happens after one tires of living in the shadow of the other.

This year’s award winning Best Feature Film, and don’t let the name fool you, was a film called “Some Guy Who Kills People.” This 97-minute film had everyone talking. about its quality. The film is about a lonely man, fresh out of the loony bin, returns to his hometown and seeks revenge on those

he deems responsible for his miserable life.

My personal favorite film was “Tha Familiar,” a directed by Kody Zimmerman. This vampire film was a nice refreshing take on the vampire fad that has taken the horror genre by storm, as it chronicles not the life of a vampire, but instead the dismal life of his servant.

The whole festival was pulled together by the comedic entertainment of “Atomic Age Cinema,” which consists of Baron Mardi, Dr. Calamari, Woody and Basement

Boy, as the resident Monsters of Ceremonies. More information on this fine monster crew and their friends, visit their website at www.atomicagecinema. org.

The festival attracted a couple of talented comic book artists who came to sell their wares, a record vender, an Indiana homegrown horror author named Jace Epple, whose books can be found at www.jaceepple.com, and the Indiana chapter of the D20 Girls - a recipe for a fun, horror-filled weekend.

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STORMTROOPER Stormtroopers in the 501st Legion. There actually are a handful of women who wear the white armor with pride and many more who wear the Imperial Officer uniform, a non-armored costume. However many women, myself included, choose to branch out to the Rebel Legion instead, where there are literally dozens of options for women because of main characters such as Leia and Padme. I earned my membership to the Rebel Legion earlier this year after recreating the costume of Jedi Master Depa Billaba.

While I loved trooping in my Jedi costume, I still wanted to be a bad guy. I wanted to find something that would magically fit everything I wanted from a costume, and then I came across the promotional images of the new Gentle Giant figurine of Jes Gistang, the first named female Stormtrooper.

At first I was skeptical. I thought it might be a publicity stunt or Lucas Film, Ltd.’s response to the non-canon “femtrooper” costumes floating around. You know, the one with the infamous “boob plate.” Sexy, yes, but not what I was looking for. I searched for Jes Gistang’s name on the internet and was surprised

to find that her character came from the Star Wars: Legacy comic series. I was further surprised to see that the feminine take on Stormtrooper armor featured on the figurine was actually canon and that the new, form-fitting armor was both for men and women.

The series takes place 100 years post-movie series, and the armor is a mix of original and prequel movie styles. This armor, nicknamed Legacy Trooper armor, is supposed to represent the evolution of Stormtrooper armor, so that it can fit any size or shape trooper, be they female or nonhumanoid. The result was a set of armor far closer to the male equivalent without sacrificing femininity.

You can clearly tell that Jes’s character is a girl, even with her helmet on.

My female friends that wear helmeted costumes frequently get “thanks, mister!” after taking a picture with a fan, but I doubt anyone would mistake a female Legacy Trooper for a guy. At the same time, the costume doesn’t hyper-sexualize female Stormtroopers the way the “femtrooper” costume does.

Jes is a woman in armor, not a sex kitten in armor. There is a huge dif-

ference. I totally get sexy nerd costumes, don’t get me wrong. I even have a Slave Leia costume, but there’s a time and a place for it. Sometimes you want to be convention eye candy, but sometimes you don’t want your extremities ogled at.

Sometimes you just want a practical costume that doesn’t get you mistaken for a guy while wearing it.

I’ve been working with the guys (and girls) over at the First Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment to get the Legacy Trooper costume resource library (CRL) written and to get the costume eventually approved for membership.

Writing the CRL for Jes Gistang’s armor has been a challenge. The Gentle Giant statue is still in production, and we only have a few pictures to go by (most of which only show details from the front).

The comic has a myriad of images, but as with all comics, individual details

change from shot to shot, or from artist to artist.

The overall style is a mix of original and prequel trilogy armor, which has made the project very enticing to both Stormtrooper and Clone Trooper costumers. Slowly as our research team works out all the little details, a unified design for the Legacy Trooper armor is emerging.

It’s a huge step for the 501st to include more options for women. The Legacy Trooper is the perfect balance of femininity and Imperial power, exactly what I was looking for, and I believe, what many other women are as well. As the Legacy Trooper costume gets approved for membership, I hope to see many more women join the 501st and its philanthropic efforts.

What’s more intimidating than an army of Stormtroopers?

An army of female Stormtroopers, that’s what.

11

CONtraflow Ever.). Despite the small size of the dealer’s room, the variety was incredible!

The New Orleans Public Library system was given a booth to sell used book because the convention profits were going to help the public library system rebuild after the hurricane, the local friends of the library organization was given a dealer’s booth to sell used books. My husband got some wonderful used books at a great price.

Most of my time on Friday was spent networking with friends and some of the other conventions in the area. I didn’t get a chance to go to any panels on Friday or to visit the art show, but I had a great time nonetheless, just hanging out with my fellow fen. One very cool thing at the convention was the British Ferret (a small street legal tank/ armored vehicle) that was parked in the hotel parking lot.

CONtraflow’s second day was packed with panels and events. In addition to the charity and “slave” auctions, the con also held a costume contest, miniconcert and saw the commissioning of the USS New Orleans chapter of STARFLEET, a Star Trek fan group.

I spent most of the day wandering between panels, chasing after my son, literally, talking with my fellow 501st troopers, and spreading the love of steampunk.

One thing that I loved about Saturday, was the availability of activities for kids.

Called the Cadet Academy, the children's activities incorporated space and science fiction into fun and educational activities for children too young to fully enjoy the rest of the convention.

As a parent, I thought this was awesome! So did my son, who I literally had to drag away when the ladies running the kid's events needed to break for lunch. While he was occupied, I managed to sneak over to the art show.

The art show was rather small, with only three or four different artists donating to the event, but the work was beautiful. I wanted to buy it all. Also in the art show room, there was an exhibit of the memorabilia from New Orleans’ sci-fi convention past. The convention was also collecting fan histories throughout the convention in the art show.

After the art show, I wandered to various panels and just soaked up the

con atmosphere. During my wanderings, I ran into a couple of fellow D20 Girls (www.d20girls.com), a K-9 (from Dr. Who), and a game of B.A.D. Zombie Dice (That’s Big A** Dice). I also managed to pick up three new books over the course of Saturday and got an old one signed by the guest of honor, David Brin.

While there was not much in the way of costuming this year, but I’m sure that will change in coming years.

The winner of the costume contest was a guy who made a zombie LEGO man, and Best in Show was taken by a werewolf who incorporated running stilts into his costume. During the costume contest’s intermission, there was a mini-concert by The Great Luke Ski, who was quite awesome. My steampunk group won Hall Costume awards for our steampunk gear.

Saturday night at CONtraflow was pretty amazing. There were several

room parties, which were a great way to relax and get to know the rest of the congoers. We didn’t make it to some of the parties, but the ones we did get to were amazing. They also had an All-Ages dance for those who could not attend the room parties.

Sunday was a very relaxing day at the CONtraflow.

After packing and checking out, I spent most of my time at the con/fan group row visiting with friends and occasionally strolled through the dealer’s room. I did get a massage, which was an amazing, yet surreal experience. I am now convinced that every con should offer a dealer’s booth to a massage therapist.

The hubby spent some time in a steampunk literature panel while I wrangled our son. He was given a mini-D20 by the dealer at the GAMESSCIENCE dice booth, Col. Louis Zocchi, creator the D-100 and cocreator of the D-Any. We also spent some time in the game room playing Ticket to Ride.

While CONtraflow was small, it was a great place to get to meet and know people because of the intimate setting. I also found it refreshing to attend a convention where the focus was science fiction rather than anime because I have more in common with the sci-fi crowd. It was nice to be at a low-key convention for a change.