Vampire Origin Video: Angela's TwiCon Presentation Featured

Hooray! I figured out how to embed the video! Here's a clip from last weeks' spotlight on the ReelzChannel:

New Moon Twilight Weekly: Spotlight | Movie Trailers

Angela on ReelzChannel Weekly Feature!!

The Reelz Channel has posted this short blurp from my TwiCon presentation on vampire mythology. I know my part is only, like, 10 seconds long, but to be included in a video with Michelle Belanger (whose books helped me to write my paper) is incredible!

http://www.reelzchannel.com/trailer-clips/43153/twilight-weekly-spotlight-vampires

I apologize for not being able to embed the video, but Blogger seems to be taking issue with my posting of videos lately. If I figure out another way to post it, I'll get it up ASAP!

Slacking Off

I apologize for not keeping up with my blogging like I should be. Life has been hectic, to say the least, for the past month.

Brandon has started college again. This time he's enrolled in the nursing program at NWC. Thankfully he's got an easy course load (though he'd be the first one to argue with me) with Anatomy/Physiology, Cultural Anthropology, and General Psychology. He's also pulling in 37 hours at work each week, so I have to commend him for both working and going to school full time! He's such a hard worker and I appreciate everything that he does for our family!

Kerrigan also started school this month. She's going to the Children's Resource Center preschool here in Powell. She's not too keen on not getting to stay home with Mommy all day, but she's getting used to the idea. She goes to school Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:30-10:30 in the morning. Her favorite part of school would be the pet bunny, Smudge. She also loves the pretend room because it has a huge kitchen set and she can play house 'til her little heart's content. She's also been going to daycare for a few hours every day, which has been a wonderful thing for her! Her language skills have improved exponentially and she's even made a new friend!

And why does Kerrigan go to daycare, you may ask (or not). I took a job as a paraeducator at Parkside Elementary here in Powell. I work mainly with at-risk students in kindergarten and first grade, with a little help in third and fifth grade sprinkled in for a change of scenery. I love it so far, although it's an adjustment working at the school that I attended for so long. An even harder habit to break is calling the other teachers by their first name instead of "Mrs. Something-or-other." I find myself in trouble several times a day because I just can't help it.

Not much else has been happening in our lives. School, school, work, and more school! We're busy and it seems like our time together gets shorter and shorter with each day, but we're enjoying trying out new things!

Here's some pictures from the past few months as well.

Kerrigan's first day of preschool

New wall color in the dining room

The world's most dangerous creature

Brandon's "GQ" pose at the Dinosaur Park in Ogeden

Me and Dimetrodon

Darien, Brandon & Krista about to do the suicide drop ride thing at Lagoon

TwiCon Write-up--Part 2

Alrighty...where did I leave off?

So, Friday night was our "concert night." We were treated with the Mitch Hansen Band (Never heard of them? They write Twilight-inspired songs. I highly recommend "Number 3," "Jacob Black," and "She Is Brighter.") After the MHB, we heard 100 Monkeys' warm-up band, National Rifle. They were incredible, and for the first time in my life, I felt the ground shaking and almost thumping. Rebecca and I kept joking about the headlines the next morning detailing the collapse of the 2nd floor of the convention center. After National Rifle, we finally got to see 100 Monkeys perform. Now, I've listened to their music before, but it was nothing compared to seeing them live. They're so creative, so full of life, and so talented. With each song, every member of the band played a different instrument (drum, bass, lead guitar, bongos, trumpet, banjo, egg-shaker). They didn't do any improve for us, but what they did play was unbelievable. I did manage to get a few pictures of Jackson Rathbone! However, the concert was cut short by an immature fan throwing a rolled-up shirt onto stage, which almost hit Jackson in the head. We sacrificed an incredible concert because one person couldn't control themselves and behave!

Day 3: Saturday

What a relief to not have to rush through the morning! Rebecca and I were able to take our time getting ready Saturday morning, and good thing too, as it was our morning to take pictures with a couple of the actors: Peter Facinelli (Carlisle) and Jackson Rathbone (Jasper). Thankfully there really weren't any lines for pictures, as only 65 pictures were allowed per actor. We were, however, threatened within an inch of our lives if we basically so much as breathed around the actors. A little nerve-wracking, I believe! But they were so sweet and so cute! Peter kept trying to get Rebecca and I to come closer to him, but with the Nazi-like volunteer and security watching your every move, we didn't dare come within a few inches of him. Jackson was all smiles and was such a sweetheart. He tried to strike up a conversation with us and ask how everything was going, but we were shut down by the volunteer handlers. Anyway, what little interaction we did have with these two wonderful men was above and beyond anything I could have expected.

After pictures, we went to the Q&A, which was the BIGGEST debacle of the entire weekend. We ended up waiting in line for an hour after the event was supposed to start. Once everyone got in, we were an hour and a half past starting time. So, imagine our surprise when the Q&A was cut down to only half an hour (27 minutes to be exact) from the original hour it was supposed to be. I think Peter's face says it all:

I'm going to see how many highlights I can remember, then post a couple of videos from YouTube. When asked how he took the character of Jasper to a darker level for "New Moon," Jackson told us about Peter's "Birthday Technique" of acting. Apparently, Peter's brainchild of the best acting method is to approach every scene like it's your birthday. If it's a happy scene, you've just had the best birthday party of your life. If it's a sad scene, it's your birthday, but nobody remembered. If you've got to be all emo and depressed, it's your birthday, people remember it, but they throw a party with all of your best friends, and don't invite you. Of course, they're joking through the whole answer, but it was pretty amusing. The scariest part of the Q&A was when Peter made a paper airplane, then "flew" it out into the audience by running down the aisle. When he returned to the stage a few moments later, he claimed that it was the scariest moment of his life, it sounded like a good idead at the time, and he didn't think he would make it back. Anyway, here's a couple of videos to show things better than I can explain them:

Peter's Airplane

After the Q&A came autographs. I don't really have anything to report here...just my autographed picture of Jackson to show.

After autographs and dinner, I hurried to get ready for the Meet & Greet, which was basically speed-dating with the cast of the movie. While on my way there, I ran across Peter buzzing around the hallway on a Segway. If you watch, I make an appearance at the end of the video (pink top, black skirt):

I don't have any pictures of my own from this event, since it was a stricly no-camera zone. However, since we had an empty spot at our table right next to me, I got to sit next to all but one of the guests (We missed Jackson at our table). Peter Facinelli, who is big on Twitter, told us he was initially unsure of the site because he thought "twitter" sounded like a dirty word. He also told us about his daughters (he has three, aged 10, 6, and 2). Kellan Lutz (Emmett) arm-wrestled a girl at my table and let her win. Billy Burke (Charlie) told us about the first time he met Kristen Stewart (Bella), Alex Meraz (Paul of the Wolf Pack) told us about his eighteen-month-old son and getting into acting. He's so energetic about his part and being a member of the fandom. Christian Serratos (Angela) told us about some jewelry that she and her mother are designing. We also got to chat briefly with the hand model from the cover of "Twilight." Here's a few pictures that I've snagged from other people:

Alex Meraz, Christian Serratos, Jackson Rathbone, Peter Facinelli, Billy Burke (Kellan Lutz was late as he stayed @ his autograph table until everbody's autograph had been signed)

If you look carefully, you can see me almost in the exact center of the picture wearing a light pink silk top and looking down at the table (3rd table back).

Peter arriving at the Meet & Greet

Jackson arriving at the Meet & Greet

After the Meet & Greet, we got ready for the ball. We didn't go all out, like many other people did, as we were only staying for a short while. We had tickets to a concert that night at a local pub.

Mine & Allison's masks @ the ball

Before the ball got started, we got to hear Sam Bradley, Marcus Foster, and Bobby Long sing. My pictures didn't turn out too well, but here's a few:

Also, here's a video of Sam Bradley singing my favorite song, "Too Far Gone" (it's not my video, so therefore not my singing. I was on the other side of the stage)

After their set, we made our way out to their meet & greet. I got pictures with Sam & Bobby, but, like an idiot, completely spaced getting my picture with Marcus.
Bobby Long & Me

Sam Bradley & Me

More to come tomorrow (My night out at Poor David's Pub). If you haven't already, check out my TwiCon write-up part 1.

TwiCon Write-up--Part 1

I returned late Sunday night after a long, hectic, stressful, exciting, and fun-filled weekend in Dallas. There was so much to remember and not enough space left in my brain to recall it all, so I'm going to give the best run-down that I possibly can. Because of the amount of pictures and videos, I'm going to do this in two separate posts.

Day 1: Thursday



Thursday marked the beginning of our TwiCon experience. Well, technically, Wedesday did, since that's when I arrived in Dallas and met up with my roommate, Rebecca. We did dinner at a Macaroni Grill (or something to that effect), then spent the night getting rested and ready for the next day.


This is just a small taste of the registration lines that we faced. Think of cramming approximately 2500 people into a room the size of your average church gym. We waited in line for approximately two hours before getting our registrations finalized. We then made our way into the Vendor Hall, where there were tables set up with TwiCon merchandise, jewelry, Twilight Sweetheart candies, and some scrapbooking items.



Thursday culminated in a welcoming ceremony, which wasn't really anything note-worthy. If anyone is familiar with Evil Iguana Productions from YouTube, they debuted their new parody, which was pretty amusing.

It was at this time that we realized how terrifying it can be to try to find food in Dallas. Unlike anywhere I've ever been, downtown Dallas basically shuts down at 6:00. We went to try to find food at about 8:30, 9:00-ish, which was an endeavor in and of itself. Rebecca met a wonderful girl named Allison while in line at registration, and Allison offered to go with us to find food. While on our expedition, we ended up in a part of Dallas that nobody should go into. We made sure doors were locked on the car and that we didn't make eye contact. Our search for a KFC lead us to an empty, abandoned lot right in the middle of the Dallas ghetto, I guess you could call it. Needless to say, we eventually found a Wendy's ten minutes later. After that, there were no more expeditions for food outside the hotel, save for a Subway two blocks away.

Friday--Day Two

Friday was my freak-out day! I was supposed to donate blood that morning, but not wanting to be dizzy and light-headed for my presentation, on top of being stuck in a line all morning, my donation never was made. Rebecca and I waited in line to get autographs for 100 Monkeys, an eclectic-type band that is famous for their on-the-spot improvisation, and is also headed by Jackson Rathbone (Twilight's Jasper Hale). It was this first "big" thing that made us realize that things were not going anywhere near as smoothly as they should be. Jackson announced that he wanted to come sign autographs with his band, but when the head honchos of the convention wanted to charge $20 for his autograph, he refused to come out and sign. We did eventually get autographs from the other three members: Ben Graupner, Ben Johnson, and Jared Anderson.

*The line for 100 Monkeys autographs

*75% of the 100 Monkeys band (Ben, Ben, Jerad)

Immediately after getting out of the 100 Monkeys line, I retreated to my room to run through my presentation a few times. I got to the room where the panel was to be held and was shocked to see how many chairs had been set up. Now, of course, they were also set up for the 100 Monkeys concert that night, but still...it gave my heart a jolt. Thankfully, we were able to sit down for our presentations, or else I would have more than likely passed out on the spot. I was amazed to find how comfortable I was giving my presentation while sitting down. It went great, even though I was boo'ed at the beginning (Ok, so I said that "real vampires don't sparkle," which was the topic of my presentation...apparently it didn't sit so well with people. Thankfully it was easy to tell they were joking). The other two papers that were presented along with mine focused on shape-shifter myths around the world and also in the Native American cultures, and a paper proposing a theory about Jacob's imprinting on Renesmee (Her paper was entitled "There Is No Team Jacob" and talked about how the only reason Jacob and Bella ever had any chemistry or attraction between them is because Bella carried 1/2 of Renesmee's DNA. It was a really interesting paper, and I can't wait until she gets it online so that I can read it in its entirety). We also had a native Quileute story teller come and relate some of the stories passed down through her grandfather. I wish I were able to re-tell them with 1-1/10th the charisma and talent that she did, but I won't even attempt it. It was definately something you had to see and hear in person in order to appreciate it.

Me & Anita Wheeler, our Quileute storyteller

After my presentation, I high-tailed it up a few floors to the Sam Bradley, Marcus Foster, and Bobby Long meet-up room. For those who don't know who these young men are, Sam Bradley co-wrote, with Robert Pattinson, the song "Never Think" from the "Twilight" soundtrack. Marcus Foster and Bobby Long co-wrote the song "Let Me Sign," also from the soundtrack, and both performed by Robert Pattinson. They are all British singer/songwriters, and are incredibly talented. It was in this room that I had my one and only "fangirl" moment when meeting Sam Bradley, my favorite out of the three and my musical obsession at the moment. I had printed off 8x10's at home for them to sign, which seemed to take all three by surprise. Sam was surprised by the quality of the picture and kept turning it over in his hands and examining it. He took a bit to decide the perfect place in which to put his signature. Next, I met Marcus Foster. TwiCon marked his first tour in America, and it was obvious to see that he was nervous and flustered, especially with all the crazy girls around. He autographed my picture twice, once in black, then again in silver once he realized the black wouldn't show up. Bobby Long asked, very nicely I might add, if he could grafitti my picture as well as sign it.

Sam Bradley

My autographed picture of Sam Bradley.

Marcus Foster

My autographed picture of Marcus Foster.

Bobby Long

My autographed and graffitied picture of Bobby Long