Pop Culture Petri Dish

Two Petri Dish Entries in a week? Jeez, you'd think it was Horrorpalooza season. Actually, it sort of feels that way. Crypticon , Seattle's first-ever honest-to-gore horror movie convention, storms the Sea-Tac Doubletree Inn this weekend. In an earthshakingly surprising development, yours truly will be there with bells (or maybe rattling dungeon chains) on. There's a pretty terrific line-up of celebrity guests scheduled, including cast members from the original Friday the 13th , Rob Zombie's well-received Halloween remake, The Devil's Rejects , and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (super-huzzah!). And the scheduled events sound like a kick and a half: If doing an acting workshop alongside Bill Johnson (Leatherface from TCM2 ) doesn't float your boat most mightily, you've stumbled into the wrong Blog by mistake, Biff. This is the very first horror convention in this area, friends and neighbors, so you best get out and support it if'n you want more. Cryptic...

I freely admit to wearing many Geek hats--Movie Geek, Horror Geek, Music Geek. But one label I'm not as worthy of is that of Comic Book Geek. That's why I love the Emerald City ComiCon: It's a great way to get caught up with an art form I've always enjoyed but don't always keep up with. The 2008 Emerald City ComiCon hit the Convention Center in Seattle on May 10 and 11, and yours truly was on hand to drink deeply from the Nerd Well on the 10th. Technically, I was on assignment to cover the Wil Wheaton panel and do some videotaping for ComicBookResources.com . But there was more than enough time to explore, play, and have fun. Like any Gen X'er worth his salt, I spent a lot of my boyhood with my nose in comic books, so a trip through many of the dealers' booths stoked some major memory nodes. Most of my knowledge of the medium is rooted solidly in the 1970's, so seeing back issues of Jack Kirby's post-apocalyptic Tarzan mutation Kamandi and obscure ...