Category Archives: Events

Comic-Con 2009: Richard Alpert Isn’t Ageless, LOST Is!

NOTE: If you’re not caught up with LOST (end of Season 5), this post WILL contain spoilers. Why haven’t you caught up yet??!

Those that know me know that I’m a HUGE LOST fan. It should not be a surprise that I went to Comic-con this year primarily for LOST’s final panel at Comic-con, in preparation for their last season. [Insert uber sad face here!!!] It should also not be surprising that I also woke up at 5AM on Saturday morning to get in line for the 11:00 LOST panel.

Of course, I duly bow-down to those hardcore fans that really go the distance: some folks began camping out at 7PM on Friday night with sleeping bags and tent. For their true dedication and love for the show, the campers definitely deserved the closest seats at the front that they diligently earned. At that, I know that I can only self-identify as a “medium-core” LOSTie fan. Much props and respect to the TRUE hardcore fans! <3

Here is my summary of the LOST panel at Comic-con 2009 with the help of various videos that I’ve been able to find and compile from the net. Hope you enjoy it!

Standing In Line

LOST panel line at 6AM (More line on the right not captured)

Brent and I got to the line by 5:45AM, where there were at most 300 folks already lined up for the Hall H panel. Hall H has a 6700 person capacity, but with factors like front seats and spot-holding, I was more than willing to try to get a decent seat!

Around 6:45AM, JOpinionated started giving away some LOST paraphernalia by asking some TOUGH LOST trivia questions:

  1. Who broke their leg while skiing?
  2. Who is Maggie Ryan?
  3. Who are the 3 Flight 815 passengers (that are on the island) that know that Locke was in a wheelchair before?

Do you remember the other trivia questions asked while in line, or who asked the questions? Please let me know!!

LOST Trivia while in line LOST Trivia while in line

We sat, napped, and waited with some pretty chill people, a lot of whom were single fans without friends to accompany them–TRUE dedication, see? Friends or not, the LOST panel MUST be experienced! Someone from Nashville, someone from Ontario (Canada), we sat and chatted to pass the time.

Damian and Norvelle, listening intently to Brent's story The first half of the LOST line @ 8:45AM. The other half is on the other side of the street :O

Going Into Hall H

Heading into Hall H!!!

Around 9:30AM, they started letting folks into Hall H–w00t! We got in around 9:45AM and got pretty good seats near the front, center (relatively speaking since Hall H is HUGE?).

While coming into the Hall, we got some sweet LOST freebies, advertising the new ARG (alternate reality game, aka official game for LOSTies to pass the time to research more between seasons). The new ARG is LOST University!

LOST Panel Comic-con 2009 goodies! LOST University Flyer - with note on the back

The LOST Panel

Shortly after 11AM, the Hall’s lights dimmed and this ad for LOST University was shown:

How cute! Polar bear as the school mascot! Be sure to go to http://lostuniversity.org/ to find out more info! Enrollment begins on September 22, 2009–the day of Flight 815′s crash!

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Embark Love

I know in the past I didn’t intimately mention my time at Embark much, mostly because I know things on the internet are easy searchable and didn’t want to risk mentioning things that other folks would care about. But after our reunion last Thursday night, I really needed to share. I can wholeheartedly say that these folks are like second family.

It’s amazing that we even all worked together. I mean, seriously? Who would ever believe that we got all our work done when they see us all go out together, singing, chanting, and playing the way we do? My favorite thing of all is that we’re like a huge group of kids.

Last Thursday, Janelle and Christine organized a reunion at Koh Samui & The Monkey. Our table for 20 stretched the whole width of the restaurant. It was also Patson’s last day after 10 years at Embark, which is kindofa really big deal! To hype the event up even more, there was a public warning sent out: “Oh god! Warning to Embarkers: Adam Park will be there tonight! WARNING!”

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Bay Area Salmonella Warning

Thanks, Brent (@brentium), for the heads up about this!

A bunch of Union International food spices have been recalled. A lot of Asian restaurants use these spices. This has apparently been happening since mid-March but I haven’t even heard about it until today.

From SeriousEats.com:

The state health department has issued a consumer alert warning about spices used by Asian restaurants manufactured by a Bay Area plant that have been linked to a Salmonella outbreak in Central and Northern California. So far, 42 people in the nation have gotten sick, including 33 in California, according to the California Department of Public Health. Illnesses have occurred in 15 counties in Central and Northern California, the most recent being March 13.

“Consumers should avoid eating spices manufactured by Union International Food Company,” the agency’s director Dr. Mark Horton said on the department’s Web site.

According to the health department, health specialists have linked the Salmonella cases to the plant’s white and black pepper products used in Asian restaurants.

Here’s the rest of the SeriousEats.com article, and some other helpful links:

Salmonella Restaurant Black List (PDF) — Here is a list of local Bay Area restaurants that receive shipments from Union International.

A lot of these are popular Asian restaurants that many of my peers go to. And… well… knowing the standards of some asian restaurants, they might ignore the illness warnings. Better not risk it, imo!

Spread the word!

LaidOffCamp SF

Last month, I attended a nationally publicized LaidOffCamp, where I learned a lot of great information and met a lot of inspirational people.

LaidOffCamp was an “unconference” or a “BarCamp“, where the conference sessions are put on and discussed by the event’s participants. This allows a lot of openness, community-building, and networking at all of these events. If you haven’t been to a BarCamp, I highly recommend it! You’ll be sure to take something from the event, feeling positive and productive, and you’ll get to meet folks that have the same interest as you!

I learned a lot of great information at LaidOffCamp and thought it would be beneficial for everyone to know! Below are the notes I took so I could share with YOU. Hope it helps! :)

(If you’re looking for information and resources about to do after being laid off, you can also read my Layoff Survival Guide.)

Interesting Sessions I Attended:

Unfortunately, each session was only about 30-45 minutes, which I felt wasn’t ample time to fully wrap up topics and discussions. Nevertheless, each session provided much shared information and great ideas!

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So Much To Do! Goals, Plans, & To-Dos For the Up-Coming Future

Updating the site has been a big task of mine since January and it’s a huge relief to me that it’s launched. But I’ve put off a lot of work since then!

What have I been up to since being laid off?

The week I came back from Hong Kong, I was laid off. When I got to my art classes, I was 2 weeks behind. It took me about a month to catch up on my assignments.

The classes I’m taking are Color Dynamics, where we learn about the technical aspects of color and their interactions with each other. I LOVE this class, though it requires a lot of work and time to complete all the experiments!

The other class I’m taking is called Figure Sculpting. This class is from 6PM-10PM on Wednesdays, which is a little draining for me. But, I learn an incredible amount every week! It’s great to form, shape, and work with my hands again. This was a great follow-up to the figure drawing classes I’ve taken the last few semesters.

Then, after catching up, I needed to get my web design portfolio and up. So I worked every extra minute on this site’s revamp!

Additionally, I’ve been helping out with a few projects:

  • Volunteering for Youth Build Immigrant Power (YBIP)
    YBIP is a local group of Chinese immigrant youth that have been empowering themselves with knowledge of the Oakland Public School System. They have recently been trying to ensure that the A-G Requirements (the requirements for admission to UCs and most colleges) become the high school graduation requirements. (Believe it or not, a lot of students aren’t told that these requirements are different!)

    I’ve been volunteering with a portion of their group called “Art Circle,” where I guided them in forming a WordPress blog and keeping it up to date. You can check out YBIP’s blog here: http://ybip.wordpress.com/

  • Laney College
    The school has been working on a large website revamp–moving into an OpenSource environment (WordPress MU). I’ve been helping with some of their documentation and tutorials for staff and faculty on how to use WordPress.

So in short, I’ve been keeping myself rather busy!

What I want to do from here

I’m really excited about the future and how I’m in total control of what I want to do. It’s a very relieving and very empowering feeling! A burst of “I’m in charge of my own destiny!!” feeling!

I’m excited to meet new people. I’m excited to reconnect with old friends. I’m excited to build and develop my own designing and art skill sets!!

Here’s some things I have on my list of to-dos!

In the web-world…

  • Look for web design jobs!
    That’s right, I’m here to help for any web designing needs that you might have. Just contact me and let me know the scope of your project, and what you’d like me to do. :)
  • Create business cards.
    I’ve been collecting and researching business card designs. When meeting folks, I felt so empty handed without something to give them. I need this as part of my personal branding! :)
    Btw, this is an AWESOME collection of business card designs for graphic designers: The Design Cubicle – 50 Creative Business Cards of 50 Graphic Designers
  • I will network more on the social web.
    If you’re reading this, I’d love to meet you! Meet me on Twitter! Send me an @craisin reply or a quick message to say hello! :)
  • I will begin reviewing on Yelp!
    I currently have 0 reviews, but you can check out my blank site here if you’d like! http://craisin.yelp.com/ Reviewing restaurants has been an important to-do for me. I eat a LOT, and I looovvvee trying new restaurants, so I think I really need to get more into this community.
  • Learn more about SEO
  • A couple of Craisin.com tasks:
    • Catch up on some posts
      I’ve put off for the sake of getting the redesign out! Including: recap of LaidOff Camp SF, recap of the Super Secret Nintendo Event I attended a few weeks ago!
    • Blog regularly again!
      Goal: post at least once a week!
    • Make my site iphone/mobile phone compatible
      I’ve heard it’s currently all kinds of slow right now! I think this will be a fun design/development project, too.
    • Keep Picasa pics Updated
      Update Picasa photos with some more recent photos, and get back into the habit of doing this often!

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