Galavant.. I haven’t laughed so hard in MINUTES.

February 4, 2015February 12, 2015 / Amanda / 3 Comments

♫ Nerd-Base will review
a little show for you
and that show is called Galavant! ♫

Ever since the previews first ran for ABC’s 8 episode mini-series Galavant (which was sort of a spot holder for Once Upon A Time), I had been anxiously waiting for the premiere. Not only did it look hilarious, but the cast included Timothy Omundson, Ricky Gervais, John Stamos, Weird Al, and Anthony Head! With a stellar cast like that, this obviously wasn’t something I could just pass up even though I currently watch about 10 shows at the moment.

As the first episode premiered, I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew it was a musical, and I knew it was a comedy. Right away, it started out with Continue reading →

GISHWHES 2014

August 18, 2014 / Amanda / Leave a comment

Two weeks ago I (as well as Nerd-Base member Chris) participated in the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen, also known as GISHWHES. Although I’ve been a fan of Misha Collins for some time now, this was my first year participating in this worldwide record breaking scavenger hunt.

I was actually put in a group without my knowledge. Not to say I didn’t want to participate, but every year I seemed to have made up excuses to get out of joining in the fun. Perhaps I was a bit nervous about breaking out of my shell and doing weird things in public? Last year I was on a road trip with Chris. We probably could have participated but it would likely be a lot harder to tackle most of the items. This year I’m unemployed and broke, but I’m glad I was pushed into doing it.

A couple of our friends that live in North Carolina started the group and invited us to join their team, Mischief Mismanaged. We were short four people, so the folks who help run GISHWHES placed another small team with our group – some lovely young ladies from Canada. Any time teams are combined, the team names are combined with the word ‘loves’. So, our official team name ended up being Mischief-MismanagedlovesWinging-it.

The list went up on Saturday, August 2nd. Which also happened to be the last day I was Continue reading →

Doctor Who World Tour

August 15, 2014August 15, 2014 / Amanda / Leave a comment

Last night was one of the best nights of my life. Getting tickets to the Doctor Who World Tour was like trying to get tickets to see The Beatles in their prime. Of course, the venue is a lot smaller (being that it is a theater and not a concert hall), so there wasn’t an overabundance of tickets. However, Doctor Who has grown in fandom size significantly over the past few years.

Doctor Who screening with my friend Erin back in April 2011.

I remember before they sold tickets to fan screenings in NYC, you had to wait all day on the sidewalk hoping you were able to get into the screening. The first one that I went to was in April 2011 (with Matt Smith, Alex Kingston, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, and Steven Moffat). I arrived around 9am with a few friends, and the screening didn’t start until 7pm. Well, when we arrived at 9am, the line was already wrapped around the block and my friends & I had just made it into the 3rd theater. Not the theater with the cast & writer. It was a simultaneous broadcast in the theater I was in, and they did show the Q&A, but of course we weren’t in the same room. I would say, “we may as well have been watching them online or on TV”, but the experience was fun, and sharing a theater with die hard fans made it all worth it. I would have done it again in a heart beat (although, maybe arrived a few hours earlier).

Several hours into waiting in line for the Doctor Who screening in April 2011.

Three years later, the fandom has grown probably three times the size, if not more. I remember not even two years ago, you had to buy Doctor Who memorabilia online through BBC websites over in the UK, or perhaps at a comic book shop. It wasn’t easy getting your hands on figurines, sonic screwdrivers, a miniature Tardis or Dalek replicas. I made many friends through my love of Doctor Who. I even turned many on to the show, as I was turned onto it by friends of mine. It wasn’t easy coming across a fan randomly, but when you did it was generally an instant friendship. Now, you can’t walk into Hot Topic, Barnes & Noble, or any other nerdy store without seeing a plethora of Doctor Who merchandise. It’s both amazing and annoying. It’s very much a catch 22 for me because Continue reading →

Guardians of the Galaxy tumblr Q&A

July 23, 2014July 23, 2014 / Amanda / Leave a comment

I’ve said this for the past couple of months, ever since Guardians of the Galaxy started making its presence known with the media, this has been some of the best promotions and marketing I’ve seen with a movie for a very long time. When I attended Philly Comic Con (Wizard World) in June, Marvel had a large green screen and table set up by the entrance. Fans would stand in front of the green screen, have their picture taken, and when they got their print, they would be added in the famous Guardians line-up along with the other characters. Anyone who did this would receive a large, double-sided (light box) Guardians of the Galaxy poster (like the ones that you see in movie theaters). This was all free. Then again a few weeks ago, Marvel released a 17 minute preview of Guardians in many theaters across the nation, giving fans a taste of what’s to come (aside from just showing a few movie trailers on TV). Fans that attended that would also receive a (smaller) poster, but it was an exclusive, something that you couldn’t just buy online. I’ve worked in promotions for several years and whenever I see great marketing, I appreciate what they’re promoting even more. I was already very excited to see Guardians of the Galaxy to begin with and this just whet my appetite for more.

Last night was another great promotion for Guardians. Marvel teamed up with Yahoo!Live to give fans, both in the audience and online, a chance to do a Q&A with the cast, director James Gunn, and even President of Marvel. What made me appreciate this even more was that they did this all through Continue reading →

Bill Nye The Science Guy

July 21, 2014July 21, 2014 / Amanda / Leave a comment

A few months ago, one of my childhood heroes and one of the most brilliant people ever, Bill Nye (the Science Guy) made an announcement that he would be coming to NYC to do a show at Irving Plaza. I had no idea what he was going to do or say, but I didn’t hesitate to buy tickets (only about $45 a piece, which isn’t at all a bad price)! To me, Bill Nye was the exciting part of science classes at a young age (well, along with the experiments). Whenever a teacher would put on Bill Nye, it wasn’t just watching a boring documentary or educational video that would put us to sleep. The theme song would play, and myself, along with my other classmates would immediately perk up and genuinely be excited to learn. Although I’m no where near a scientist, I still love learning about science, and still get genuinely excited seeing a new experiment, or hearing about a new discovery. In a way, Bill Nye was that fun, quirky teacher that everyone loved attending his class. I’m not alone when I say he’s a major part of my childhood.

Last night was the highly anticipated show! Fellow Nerd-Base member Chris and I showed up closer to 7pm (doors opened at 6:30) and the line literally wrapped around the block. Chris had even made a comment that as many times as he’s been to Irving plaza for concerts and other events, he’s never seen a line that long to get in. It was no surprise all 3 of Bill Nye’s shows this weekend were sold out. I also have to add in here that the staff at Irving Plaza were very friendly and welcoming! Not that I expected jerks to work there, but the staff made jokes while we were waiting in line and were always smiling. It was really nice to have that kind of experience before we even walked in the doors.

When we finally made our way in the building, the staff inside (which I’m not sure if they worked for Bill Nye, Live Nation, or Irving Plaza) were all wearing lab coats! They were very friendly as well, and handed out yellow cards to anyone interested in asking Mr. Nye a question. The halls and stairs were appropriately decorated with Continue reading →