Missy's Corner

So Youtube allows someone to set a link for a start point, but not and end point. All of the time links here are for the start of the segment and the video will keep playing through!

The Highlights:

Part 1:
00:27-00:47 Actual start of the parade
00:55-01:23 Aliens
01:26-01:45 Predators
01:52-03:47 Superheros
03:48-04:25 Seed & Feed Marching Abomniable
05:12 Six Flags Guy
05:15-05:42 Lord of the Rings
05:56-06:14 Battlestar Galactica
06:15-06:19 Speed Racer in the Mach 5
06:35-06:41 Lady Gagas
06:42-06:52 The STIG
06:53-08:20 Dr. Who
08:21-09:04 Pirates (Arrrrgh!)
09:05-09:08 Double Rainbow Guy
09:19-10:20 Random Video/Computer game characters
11:33-11:43 Flying Spaghetti Monster
11:46-12:40 Endless Ghostbusters
12:41-14:07 Steampunk
14:09-14:40 Mad Max Wolf Pack

Part 2:
00:05-00:45 Browncoats (Firefly, and that isn't a chicken, its Jayne's Hat)
00:45-01:03 The Periodic Table
01:04-01:11 Kevin Sorbo (Hercules)
01:12-01:33 300 DC
01:37-02:50 Television and Movie characters
02:51-04:09 Star Trek
04:10-04:39 Halo
04:40-05:42 Characters from Young Adult Literature/Film/Television
05:42-06:11 Back to the Future
06:11-06:13 Captain Planet
06:14-End Star Wars

Ever wonder what it would be like to walk around the Death Star from "Star Wars" or the Enterprise from "Star Trek"? Maybe it was your childhood dream to become a superhero and join the likes of Batman, Superman, and the rest of the Justice League in their "Halls of Justice"? This past Labor day weekend, Mister and I got to experience all the wonders of Sci-Fi in the heart of Downtown Atlanta! We got our chance to hobnob with Stormtroopers, superheros, and Trekkers from all over the globe at Dragon*Con!

I'm sure you've heard of Comic-Con in San Diego or Mega-Con in Orlando, but every labor day weekend, the city of Atlanta is inundated with science fiction geeks/fans/nerds for Dragon*Con. They invade the Hyatt, the Marriott Marquis, the Hilton, the Sheraton, and the Westin hotels as well as Peachtree Street and Marta. The past four years Mister and I have said to each other "Let's go!" and something deterred us; but, this year we made the commitment and we were glad we did! Usually, one can pre-register for badges through the year for varying prices, depending on how much time there is left before the blessed event. However, with all the craziness that was wedding planning (don't worry, once I get pictures there will be a post!) and making sure the shebang went off with out a hitch, both of us completely forgot life continued after! So, taking a look at the panels scheduled and panelists billed to show up, we decided to go buy our 4-day passes at the hotel (i.e. Missy goes early Friday morning for tickets and panels and Mister will meet her after work). Here's where the wacky weekend story begins!

On Friday, tickets went on sale at 8am at the Atlanta Sheraton, and after an early morning MARTA ride, I pulled a "Missy and got lost," twice. First, I missed my exit station and went one farther north then necessary, then what I thought was a straight shot to the hotel was blocked by courtyards and locked buildings (yay!). After being put on the right path, I still wasn't sure if I was heading in the right direction; there was barely anyone walking around, everyone was business casually dressed, and heading in the opposite direction of where I was told to go. Finally, like a beacon on the horizon, the Sheraton came into view, and slowly the business casual became nerdy tee-shirts with witty sayings! I knew I was heading in the right direction when I saw Inuyasha and Miroku (two anime characters) walking towards the hotel.



I turned the corner and WHAM! I saw a line that was about 5 people wide and went on, literally forever, outside the building. Tickets had only been on sale for 30 minutes when I got there! I asked someone who was a volunteer where the line ended, "Oh, the line starts here outside then goes around the building, into the parking garage, around a level in the parking garage and back out. Good Luck!" (*o*) That's the look I had on my face! As I'm searching for the end of the line another lady informed me that if you didn't pre-register go right on in! PHEW, was I glad we forgot to register! I heard stories from people who waited 5 hours in that line; not that the line inside was any better, I waited almost two hours for these:



Now I had our all access passes to go and do whatever we wanted! We did all types of panels over the four day fiesta. We went to lectures, Q&A's, discussions, and even a beauty pageant! The first lecture I went to and then Mister joined me for a second, was all about Steampunk. For those of you who don't know what Steampunk is, think of it as the modern world stuck in the Victorian/steam age but with the technological advances of today. Didn't help any? How about this, in the early 1800's steam as a source of energy was lending a hand to the industrial revolution. Consumer goods like clothes and other textiles were being massed produced for the first time. The Victorian Age was a time of wonder and advancement and everyone had this Utopian idea of what steam could do. Once the first World War came about and people realized that mass production was capable of creating horrific weaponry of mass destruction, the world kind of took a step back. In the 1960's a group of science fiction writers started looking back on the Victorian Age and said "What if?" The best example of the beginnings of Steampunk can be found in the 1960's television show "The Wild Wild West," and a more modern sense of the concept in the recent movie remake. Another good example is Hayao Miyazaki's "Castle in the Sky" Here are just a couple of pictures of what Steampunk looks like:



While the concept of Steampunk is really cool, Mister and I agreed sitting through lectures wasn't something we wanted to do all weekend; we made our way to the various Q&A sessions, where stars from Sci-Fi shows, movies, and other media answered some great questions and had an overall blast, usually at the audiences' or fellow panelists' expense! On Friday, by myself I saw three Q&A's: Battlestar Galactica with Mark Sheppard, Richard Hatch, Aaron Douglas, and James Edward Olmos; Babylon 5 with Claudia Christian and Jason Carter; and Firefly with Jewel Staite and Sean Maher, and a prank call by Nathan Fillion.

On Saturday Mister and I started our day bright and early to try and get downtown in time for the Dragon*Con Parade at 10am. We crammed ourselves like sardines into the MARTA train and came up at the Peachtree center station around 9:30 to see throngs of people lining both sides of the street. Up and down, through crosswalks, sitting on building stoops, watching from hotel balconies were an estimated 30,000 people! I managed to get the parade footage down from 35 minutes to 25 in two parts; for specific highlights click here for the list.

Part 1:



Part 2:




Mister and I also saw the best group of panels all weekend, in my opinion, on Saturday. After quietly sneaking out of the morning Steampunk lecture, we grabbed lunch at a very swamped Quizno's, where we ate next to Mr. Green, from CLUE with the lead pipe! Then it was time to head off to the first panel of the day, TNG: Adventures in the 24th Century, featuring Armin Shimerman, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Johnathan Frakes, and Denise Crosby, with about an hour to spare. Now, for this story, its important to know how the panels work for Dragon*Con. There are one hour panels from 10am to 2:30am with 30 minutes in between to get from one hotel to another; attendees were not allowed to start a line for a panel until 90 minutes before the start time. Well, when Mister and I got to the Sheraton Hotel for this panel, the line was all ready wrapped all the way around the level, down a set of stairs that lead out a service door and around the corner! By the time they started letting us in, the line went almost all the way around the building! The panel was in one of the largest rooms at the Sheraton and they still had to turn away people who waited in that line.



Oh man was that an amazing panel, despite the fact that Denise walked off when she couldn't take the jokes anymore. I grew up watching these people on television "boldly [going] where no one has gone before!" The most wonderful part of the panel were the kids that had really good questions; it made my heart warm knowing, despite all the new, cool, CGI, sci-fi shows, the classics still live on through the younger generations. When asked "Did you know that this show was going to affect the lives of so many people?" the panelists had the most honest answer, "No, I was just an actor who took a job. We are only sitting here today because of you, the audience!"

From one amazing panel to the next two, first up the father of comics himself, Stan Lee. Another wonderful person I attribute my love for anything sci-fi. As a kid, my dad and I used to sit and read all the old Fantastic Four comics which introduced me to the world of graphic art. Now, I'll admit, I am not really a Marvel fan, but this man was the reason comic books and action heroes became popular! For a man who is almost 90, he sure is keeping busy! Mr. Lee's got a whole bunch of cameo roles in upcoming television shows and movies (be on the look out in The Avengers, Thor, and possibly Ant Man!).


Luckily for Mister and I, the next panel Battlestar Galactica, was in the same hotel and ballroom. I got to see all the guys from Friday's panel again with two added bonuses: 1. I was much closer to the front of the room, and 2. Rekha Sharma was there. The best Q&A of the night was asked by some guy dressed as the silver age Namor but I only remember Rekha's answer, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear a word of your question because this guy is in his underwear!"



On Sunday, Mister and I were smarter! On the agenda was the First Annual Miss Star Trek Universe Pageant in the same room as the TNG panel. We didn't want to wait around the corner again, so we blew off whatever we had planned for the hour before and got in line a whole 90 minutes early. It paid off, we sat about four rows back and to the right of the stage. The MC for the hour was the very hilarious Garrett Wang from Voyager and the judges were Rene Auberjonois, James Cawley, Robert Beltran, Robert O'Reilly, and J. G. Hertzler. There were Klingon contestants and crew members, from the classic Trek, TNG, and Voyager, as well as a sexy slave girl!



While we did go into the city on Monday, the weekend was obviously wrapping up. Gone were the costumed crusaders gallivanting around; gone were the lines for panels, and in some cases even panelists! Mister and I took this opportunity to walk around the exhibit halls a little bit. There were booths for everything, tee-shirts with witty statements, utiliti-kilts, corsets, toys that have never been played with; you name it, they had it! Mister got a tee-shirt and some DVDs while I got some cute buttons, a tee-shirt, and a Kon!

So, 10 things I have learned from my first Dragon*Con:

1. Spandex can only be pulled off by a special man
2. That awesome, witty shirt you bought will be all over the place
3. Utility Kilts are "in" with the nerd crowd
4. As the day goes on, the amount of fabric that constitutes a "costume" shrinks
5. Despite there being 30,000 people in a small area you will see:
a. The same group of people following you around to every panel
b. The one-of-a-kind, handmade costumed person every day (i.e. a woman dressed as R2-D2)
c. Your gym neighbor that you never talk to
6. I could make a fortune selling Jayne's freaking hat!
7. Sometimes it is worth waiting in a line that goes around the hotel floor, down the stairs, out the doors, around two corners, for an hour.
8. If the panel has something to do with Star Trek, get there almost 2 hours early and hang tight.
9. The Green Slave girls will always win pageants
10. Sometimes, men make great heroine costumes and women make great hero costumes (examples: Male Chun-Li and Female Iron Men)

I hope you were able to live Dragon*Con vicariously through this post and will join Mister, Me, and the 30,000 people for next year's Con. I'm all ready working on costumes! Enjoy the rest of the costumes in the last slide show!

I'm sorry its been so long since my last post,
especially now, when you need it most.
happenings in the day,
drain your spirit away.
But I can assure you everything will get better,
once you read this little letter.

Dear Mister,

The cats and I would like to say,
and there is no other way,
to express our love for you
hopefully, you'll feel better once we're through.

Whether its three in the morning whining,
or four in the morning dinning,
Kitty and Monkey treasure
their sick pleasure
of your dutifully getting out of bed
to make sure all are fed.
And though we both may moan,
we know its better then sleeping alone.

As for Her Royal Highness,
Savannah, Queen of Slyness
She'll never out right show,
She loves you head to toe,
Instead she will snuggle with your shirt
and use her cat yoga to flirt. 

These babies and their mama running about
is the greatest thing without a doubt.
"But what about Missy?" you may inquire,
as this poem proves, you inspire.

You inspire me to paint
without restraint;
The cats, scenes, and flowers
there is no better way to pass the hours.

You inspire me to be me,
afterall, I forced you to watch "Glee"!
And though you'll never publicly admit,
you liked it quite a bit!

You inspire me to grow
learn to go with the flow,
"There is no reason to worry"
"We are in no hurry."

Selfish this poem may seem
but its goal is to raise your self-esteem.
Its to remind you what you'll come home to,
despite your day being askew.

I can guarantee,
that me and cats three
cannot wait till you are home
*psst* I think Savannah wants a comb!

<3 Always
Missy and the Three

While writing down this little note
I'm amazed with what I wrote.
Hearing back, it made you smile,
makes this post all worthwhile.

There is only thirty minutes left of work
here's to hoping you don't go beserk.
I'll pray to the traffic gods
but what are the odds?


Can't wait to see you soon!  *KISSIES!*
(and I took everyone off the e-mail list but you... so this one is publicly posted, but privately announced.)

When someone says, "I'm thinking of getting a pet to keep me company," people suggest dogs for companionship; after all, they are man's best friend and they learn to depend on you for everything.  Even now you can design a dog to fit your needs!  For instance, my brother has been jonesing for a puppy since August of last year.  While he was on vacation here, his free time was eaten up by researching for the perfect dog and the candidates at the time were the Australian Cattle dog, a Yorkie, and a Golden-doodle.  Those of you who don't know what a Golden-doodle is, imagine a dog that is part Golden Retriever and part Poodle.  Interesting mix, no?  In the end, that's the dog breed my brother went for and he found a breeder that has been creating these puppies for so long, he was able to choose certain attributes he wanted the dog to have; curly hair versus straight hair, tall or short, some what active or hyper-active and just this past February, his puppy was born!  (Congratulations to him by the way!  Cutie puppy pictures here!)

I've learned something over the past year about companionship from pets, and that is don't count cats out.  Before I was a cat owner, I always assumed cats were these aloof creatures that preferred the top of the refrigerator then a nice warm lap.   They sleep 14 hours a day, purr when they are happy with you, and you can't train them to do anything they don't want to do (i.e. nothing).  But, Monkey and Savannah are slowly proving me wrong.  I have learned that the aloofness of cats is all an act; they are always listening to you and watching you, they just choose not to respond.  For instance, when Kitty or Savannah would lay down with their backs to us and we'd call their names, eyes would open or ears would turn.  They knew we were talking to them, but they didn't want to recognize us.  This got me thinking, can these three cats learn their names and respond?  So, I embarked on the laughable task of training a cat.  I picked up some tips from dog training shows like "It's Me or the Dog" and put them into action.

With my hand and pockets full of treats and a clicker at the ready, I started pairing the clicker sound with a treat; every time I clicked I gave the cats a yummy treat.  Then I upped the ante and now, the cats only got a treat and click when they looked at me.  The final step was to start inserting a name when they looked at me.  Lo and behold, it worked!  I can now get Monkey to look at Mister or me about 90% of the time we call his name and Savannah looks about 60% of the time, while Kitty still responds if she wants to.

The next item on my list was to try and get the kittens to learn the "leave it command."  That was also an adventure!  Since I do a lot of crocheting, I have pieces in all different states of completeness all over the house.  I used to keep the items I was working on under the living room coffee table, till we woke up one morning with all my pieces in different states of chaos.  Some were pulled apart, some were obviously chewed, and most were drowned or drowning in the water bowl.  I started by holding a treat in my hand so they can sniff it but not get to it, and rewarded them every time they pulled their noses away.  Then, I added the words "Leave It!" and eventually got Monkey to the point where he would leave the treat unattended on the floor till I gave him the OK (unfortunately, he has now regressed).  I didn't think Savannah was getting the idea, until I was able to put it to the test.  I was working on some crocheted flowers and I saw her jump onto the table to sniff them.  Before I realized what the mischief-maker was up to, she swooped one up and ran under our bed.  I quickly grabbed the treats and every time she lifted her face away from the flower I said "leave it" and rewarded her; eventually, she was more interested in the treats then the flower and I lured her out and got it back.  Still, there will be mornings when I wake to discover she's climbed the bookshelf to get to some hidden craft, but its a start.

But what does this all have to do with companionship you ask?  Well, there were a few nights that I couldn't get to sleep or mornings I had trouble getting up and Monkey would get visibly worried.  One night in particular, I was not falling asleep.  I had watched hours of television and even tried reading to get my eyes droopy.  While watching the rerun of the 11pm news (just to show how late I was up) Monkey comes crying in and hops up on the bed.  He takes his little head and starts to nudge my hand.  I figure he's just being a pets-hog, but instead of wanting the rub, he just laid down and snuggled with me.  With out any provocation, he turned his purr-box on full and he stayed there, in my arms till the morning.  Another wonderful morning, I decided I was going to sleep in.  At normal wake-up time, Monkey came in to check on me and when I didn't get up, he snuggled with me again.   He stayed with me right up until I rolled out of bed.  It's nice to know that he cares, and it was amazing for me to see a cat outwardly show emotion.  Even Savannah does it now!  As I'm writing this post, it is raining and thundering something fierce outside, and she keeps coming to snuggle! 

Mister swears up and down that these kittens are not "cats" in the normal sense of the word.  They are too snuggley and, for the most part, respect our rules.  As far as we know, all three cats know the counters and dining room table are off limits and know being up there is wrong.  Whenever Monkey is caught on the table, all it takes is a little "UH-UH!" and he's off in a flash; and on the rare occasions that doesn't work, once we stand up he jumps off and saunters into the bathroom for kitten time-out. I'm hoping the training will get better as we go and hope to soon report more successes.

I'm sorry I missed my post last month and I'll try to keep on top of it better.  Especially, since next month is a pretty important month!  Just a few business type things, I am still painting and crafting my little heart out, so please feel free to view my pieces at Missy's Creative Corner.  There is a menu link at the top that will always announce when I've updated the site with new artwork.  Feedback is always appreciated!  Also, all lolcat pictures were found at icanhascheezburger.com.  Enjoy!

Recently, I got an e-mail from Belly's adoptive mother saying "this is random but I was curious as to if any of your cats had any Maine coon cat gene in them? I am the owner of Pippin (Belly) and  he is quite massive for only being about a couple months old!"  Since Kitty and her mates were strays, we can only guess about the kittens' genetic makeup, but that question definitely got Mister and I thinking, "What could be in our babies genes?!"  On their vet records, Monkey, Savannah, and Kitty are all listed as "DSH"or Domestic Short Hair tabbies.  This "breed" along with the Domestic Medium Hair and the Domestic Long Hair are the nice umbrella terms for all cats that do not fit into a recognized Cat Fanciers Breed.  Luckily, Mister and I just started Tivo-ing a show on Animal Planet called "Cats 101," which goes through four or five different cat breeds an episode; so we decided to do some educated guessing on our cats lineage.  Little did I know just how many cat breeds there are, and most have come into existence within the last 50 years. *Just a little note, all the links in this post are to "Cats 101" videos about the breeds.*


There are some breeds that in my opinion, are absolutely ugly looking - the Exotic, the Scottish Fold, and the Sphynx are just a few- and some that are elegant looking.  There are even breeds of cats that have "curly" hair called Selkirk and Cornish Rexes, one being long haired and the other short haired, respectively. But instead of focusing on what Savvy and Monkey are not, lets get to what they possibly could be!

Let's start with Kitty because she is an easy one, an American Short Hair.  The American Short Hair cat is a long, lean, and powerfully built cat that was used as rodent exterminators on the early voyages to America.  It can be recognized by its round head, rounded ears, and short coat that comes in eighty different colors and patterns.

Next up in the game of "What's in a cat?" is Monkey;  I have "narrowed" down the possibilities to two breeds, the Somali and Maine Coon cats.  Maine Coons are known for their sheer size.  Males can weigh anywhere between 15 and 25 pounds and can reach a length of 40 inches including the tail!  The looks on people's faces when Mister or I tell someone that we have a 8 month old cat that weighs over 10 pounds is astounding.  They are also know for having tufts of fur between their toes used to keep their feet warm while walking on snow.  The Maine Coon breed is known to have above-average intelligence which makes them relatively easy to train, which I have found to be true!  I have taken up the task of training Monkey and Savannah to recognize their names and while Monkey took to it instantly, Savannah is still having trouble.  Meanwhile, the Somali cat is also known as the Fox cat, and has a really bushy tail.  The breed also features a black stripe that runs down the cat's back, large tufted ears, and a full ruff.  Their coats are ticked, which mean one strand of hair usually has up to four color variations from light to dark, and are also know to have dark rims around their eyes that make the cat look like its wearing eye-liner, as well as white patches on their chins and muzzles. Below are side by side pictures of a Somali on the left and a sleeping Monkey on the right.  See the similarity?  Also below are pictures of his Maine Coon traits, the tufted feet and length (that is an 18 inch ruler he is delightfully chewing on!).



Miss Savvy on the other hand was almost as easy as her mother to figure out, but like Monkey shows traits from more than one breed, Abyssinian, Bombay, and a hint of Havana Brown.   The Abyssinian breed is supposedly one of the oldest cat breeds known to man.  While the origins of the breed are hazy, representations of the cat can be found all over ancient Egypt.  They have broad, wedge-shaped heads and almond-shaped eyes that come in gold, green, hazel, or copper.   The Abyssinian coat is medium-length with three or four-colored ticked bands.  While the breed doesn't come in an all black color, there is a Silver Abyssinian that is considered a separate group; the undercoat is always a white color and the markings can come other colors, one being black! The breed is also known to be formidable hunters and can play with toys for hours (or in Savannah's case, until she "kills" them!)  The Bombay has a very unique voice and has almost 200 vocal tones, unlike a dog who has 90.  They are heat-seekers and are often called "Velcro cats" because they love to sleep on top of, next to, or under the covers with their people.  As for the Havana Brown in Savannah, every now and then, in the right light, I can see that her coat also reflects brown.


And there you have it folks! Those are the breeds that Mister and I believe make up our mutts! The Abyssinian, American Short Hair, Bombay, Havana Brown, Maine Coon, and Somali are all mixed up to make beautiful babies. Who knows, I found a website that does DNA testing on cats for $39 a test; maybe it would be interesting to find out if I'm really correct with my guessing!  Till next time ya'll!