Liz Ohanesian

Vintage video games at BlasterCon

Tucked into a corner of the Warner Center Marriott, a mid-sized room has been transformed into The Cantina. For three days beginning Friday, the place was open 24 hours a day as part of a new fan convention called BlasterCON.

The Cantina was lined in retro video games: Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Gauntlet and so many other coin-op classics you might remember from the heyday of arcades. There was a stage in the front of the room prepared to host a bevy of musicians. Some of the artists on the schedule played music inspired by science fiction and fantasy. One guest makes music with Game Boys. The house band was called Science Fiction Jazz.

BlasterCon chairman Todd Whitesel remembers when the BlasterCON team started working on this room. "It felt like that scene in Xanadu, where you're in the derelict warehouse and the potential of the space suddenly starts occurring to you," he says.

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Liz Ohanesian

(L to R) Kutmasta Kurt, James Reitano, Kenny Keil, Chali 2na

In Nineteen Eighty Five, the comic book series by James Reitano, a group of teens come of age as hip-hop hits Santa Cruz. Their lives are shaped by the a then-budding youth culture revolving around DJs, MCs, street artists and break dancers. Technically, the story is fiction, but it's inspired by Reitano's own high school experience.

Reitano is the founder of the design and animation firm TFU Studios. He's created lots of music videos for artists ranging from The Dickies to Cut Chemist. Reitano's roots are in street art and, back in his high school years in Santa Cruz, he befriended an up-and-coming DJ now known as frequent Kool Keith collaborator Kutmasta Kurt. The connection between the two pop culture phenomena is strong for Reitano and Kurt and they aren't alone. That was the gist of "Hip-Hop & Comics: Cultures Combining," an in-depth discussion panel featuring hip-hop and comic book artists at WonderCon last Saturday night.

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Ryan Lash

Ryan Holladay addresses the TED 2013 crowd

See also:
*David Byrne's TED Talk: How the Architecture of Venues Affects Music
*Extreme Futurist Festival: TED Conference for the Counterculture

As part of the TED Fellows program, 21 people kicked off this year's weeklong TED event in Long Beach last week before the official sessions even started. These minds come from 15 countries and focus on 14 different disciplines, making them a unique group of young pioneers.

This year, the TED Fellows program included three figures involved in the arts: filmmaker and artist Negin Farsad, musical artist Ryan Holladay and graphic designer and satirist Safwat Saleem.

Saleem works as a creative director for Arizona State University but in his spare time creates satirical art and makes movies. Stand-up comedian Farsad also works in the film arena, currently channeling her energy into The Muslims are Coming!, a film about Muslim-American comedians. Holladay co-founded BLUEBRAIN, a project with his brother that involves the two making music that can only be heard in specific sites, changing up the experience of listening to an album.

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Liz Ohanesian

Doctor Who fans at Gallifrey One

See also:
*Doctor Who Fans Refurbish TARDIS Console From 1996 Movie for Gallifrey One Convention (From Gallifrey One 2012)

Last weekend, Gallifrey One, Los Angeles' Doctor Who convention, sold out its 24th annual show. That's 3,200 convention memberships scored before the day of the event. Back in 2006, when the convention first moved to its current home, the Los Angeles Airport Marriott, attendance was under 800 Whovians.

The convention's success, according to co-founder and program director Shaun Lyon, mirrors the growing popularity of Doctor Who in the United States. "I don't think it's ever been as popular as it is now here," says Lyon of the series, which broadcasts on BBC America. "It really was kind of a niche thing for a long time."

For the uninitiated, Doctor Who, the British science-fiction program, can be broken up into two categories. There's what Lyon and many other fans refer to as the "classic" show. Those are the episodes that originally aired between the 1960s and 1980s, featuring the first seven incarnations of the Doctor. Then there is the current incarnation of the program, which launched in 2005 and features Doctors 9 through 11, respectively. It continues today with Matt Smith starring as the eleventh Doctor. In between those two eras, there was the 1996 TV movie with Paul McGann as the eighth Doctor.

This is just the core of the franchise. There's also a lot of related media, like books and audio dramas, plus spin-off television programs like The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood.

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Photo by Gendy Alimurung

Xena-philes pose at the 2009 convention.

If you're looking to relive television shows from the '70s through the '90s and profess your fandom for long-forgotten action heroes, this weekend offers a bevy of conventions to satisfy your inner geek.

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Anime Los Angeles' Harassment Policy, from the ALA 2013 program

See also:
*5 Essential Cosplay Tips for Beginners
*Anime Expo 2012: Cosplayer Yaya Han Turns Her Hobby Into a Business
*Why Do People Cosplay to Begin With?

I was flipping through the pages of Anime Los Angeles' program guide when I stumbled upon this line: "Harassment of any kind, including physical, verbal or unwelcoming attention, will not be tolerated." There were a few paragraphs after that -- more on what constitutes harassment as well as the repercussions of such actions ("permanent suspension of membership" to the convention) -- and an illustration of one chibi-styled anime character pouncing on another.

This wasn't the first time I noticed a harassment policy. Equestria L.A. -- last fall's Brony convention, which shared some staff members with Anime L.A. -- had one in its guide as well. Regardless, it was nice to see this detailed on the third page of a hefty program. The statement is obvious, but sometimes the lessons of preschool -- for example, "Keep your hands to yourself" -- are lost on adults.

Over the past year, convention-goers have become more vocal about the kinds of harassment that exist on the show floors. There was Mandy, the Black Cat cosplayer who spoke up when she was pulled aside for a video interview only to be grilled about her cup size. There were the women at Defcon armed with cards to remind men when their behavior is becoming inappropriate. There was the cosplayer who wrote an open letter to the "butt photographer" at Comikaze. Nerd Reactor writer Genevieve LeBlanc recounted her personal experiences with convention harassment. Comedian Andre Medows went off on "creeper" photographers after one approached his friend. There's even a group, Con Anti-Harassment Project, that's urging conventions to take a strong stance against harassment. Most recently, a group of Australian cosplayers put together the video "How to Avoid Being Branded a Convention Creeper."

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It's 2030. War has left its mark on the world, with newly powerful nations rising in the place of the old guard, but terrorism is still a threat and governments can still be corrupt. In the midst of this is Public Security Section 9, Japan's elite group of crime solvers now set with the task of tracking down elusive hacker The Laughing Man with cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi and police officer Batou taking the lead. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, the anime television series derived from the popular manga and film Ghost in the Shell, presents a future troubled by many of the same ethical dilemmas our world has faced in recent years.

In the decade that has passed since its initial release, GITS: SAC has become one of the touchstones of the 21st century anime fandom. Like its feature-length predecessor and the manga upon which it is based, Stand Alone Complex is a frequently referenced, heavily influential work, not simply because of its art, plot or fantastic score, but because of the ideologies that inform the story. There's even a Wikipedia entry dedicated to "Philosophy of Ghost in the Shell".

Anime Los Angeles celebrated the 10th anniversary of this landmark science fiction series with a panel Saturday afternoon featuring stars of the U.S. dub (the version that has aired on Adult Swim repeatedly over the years), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Major Kusanagi) and Richard Epcar (Batou). Moderated by Otaku USA writer Matt Schley, the panel focused not just on the behind-the-scenes antics, but on why GITS: SAC is important. It's not just the technology available in this fictional world that's important, Epcar notes, but, "the questions they pose about technology."

"They got into the morality of this stuff," he adds.

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Liz Ohanesian

See also:
*Top 5 Lessons for Adults From Friendship Is Magic
*My Little Pony Project at Toy Art Gallery
*Lauren Faust: Profile From Our People Issue
*Lauren Faust on Childhood Toys and Pitching Animated Shows

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is the animation phenomenon of this decade. A children's cartoon based on a now-retro line of toys that somehow became popular with young adults, Friendship Is Magic has become the defining television series for cable network The Hub. A much-anticipated third season begins next weekend, but, in the meantime, fans have been congregating across North America and Europe. They're celebrating Pinky Pie's love of a good party, DJ Pon-3's turntable skills and, most importantly, Twilight Sparkle's lessons about friendship at fan conventions big and small. Last weekend, Southern California's healthy MLP fan community gathered at the Anaheim Convention Center for Equestria L.A.

The fans -- called Bronies, often regardless of gender (sometimes female fans use the term Pegasisters) -- were packed into one small section of the Convention Center. They wore My Little Pony t-shirts and hoodies. Some were dressed in full costumes, mostly human versions of the shows equine heroes. There were few children here. Equestria L.A.'s organizers expected about 1000 people to show up for the two-day event last week. That's a strong number for a first year convention, particularly for one that had planned to be much smaller.

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Stephanie Carrie

Hashtags and Twitter handles were flying at this week's four-day Digital Hollywood conference. Executives and innovators in film, television, technology and new media came to speak at more than 50 panels held in the glitzy halls of the Ritz Carlton, Marina Del Rey. Attendees were split between young content creators looking for tips on what to make and how to get it seen in today's daunting digital landscape, and TV and film producers trying to grasp how their industry is changing and reinvent themselves.

To save you the $350 per-day conference price tag (OK, OK: $75 if you're a student), here are four tips from panelists on how to succeed on the Web.

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L.J. Williamson

See also:
*Wasteland Weekend: It's My Apocalypse, And I'll Party If I Want To
*9 Alternatives For Burning Man Lottery Losers

At most car shows, guys hover over their beloved vehicles, circling and swabbing them lovingly with a ShamWow. But at Wasteland Weekend, dust is an asset -- in fact, the dirtier, the better. Dirt imparts more post-apocalyptic authenticity, because after all, there are no car washes in the end times -- you're lucky just to get gasoline.

Wasteland Weekend, the four-day event in California City themed to the future-set movie Mad Max and its sequel The Road Warrior, isn't exclusively a car show, but since cars are so central to the films, a sideshow car show has quite naturally arisen within it. The key difference, of course, is that while most car shows revolve around making cars pristine, pinstriped, and polished, it's better here to bring the grit and terror and menace. In a fun way, of course.

LA Weekly met the devotied and gritty gearheads that set Wasteland Weekend in motion over the last few days.

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