Whenever I need a bit of inspiration, for both style, mood and determination, I look to the Almighty Babs. More specifically, the musical comedy from 1968, Funny Girl. I'm not a devoted Barbara Streisand fan, but I did grow up listening to her music -- my mother loves her music -- and as a kid, I remember paging through the original program for the movie (yes, they actually did that back in the day), when it premiered in Los Angeles and my mother dragged my father to see it on a date night. Despite the movie's 1930s-era story, it's 1960's luxe, all the way, from the sky-high hairdos, to the gorgeously wing-tipped eyeliner. Some of the numbers are positively Barbarella, but who cares -- watching it now, it's like a postmodern mashup of all the best parts of the 1930s and 1960s, combined, with the incredible voice and humor of its star. 

Another Labor Day Weekend come and gone -- the sun was out, the weather in Seattle was impeccable, so what does this Birdy do....?  Spend it under the cover of darkness in the Seattle Convention Center for the annual super gamer convention, Penny Arcade Expo (PAX)! Not total darkness as you can see -- there's a handy sunlight-bathed glass atrium area that connects the two sides of the convention center, which gets a nice amount of light for those with particularly epic costumes. I was on hand to snap a few pictures for the Home Team, Runic Games, as they announced their big release date for Torchlight II. September 20th, if you didn't already hear about it.  

I like attending PAX, despite my not-super-gamer self. I did my time with Atari and Intellivision way back in the day, still wishing I had those consoles for no other reason than eBay. I enjoyed several iterations of Nintendo's Gameboy, with vivid memories of my thumbs losing all feeling after playing Tetris or Mario Bros nonstop. And then I just sort of stopped. I never got into XBox or Playstation -- quite frankly, too many buttons, options and combinations of button moves for my feeble brain. Even with PC games, I only recently wandered back into the game-pool with Torchlight and I was reminded why it's best for me to distance myself from the gamer lifestyle: BECAUSE I COULDN'T STOP. Torchlight is a pretty user-friendly game and a lot of fun, and that's a big danger zone for me as I literally lost days on that game. I promise to lose additional days when Torchlight II comes out, maybe even more, now that it's a multi-player game, which adds the element of peer pressure and virtual socialization. I could literally play the game with the Mister, sitting side-by-side, and somehow that may constitute Date Night. Errrhh..... no.  

But that's all an explanation over my limited background with gamers -- I like going to PAX for the good stuff, which is to see people's costumes and this feeling that it's a giant Nerd Prom. I mean that in a good way, I really do. It's a safe environment. You can be yourself and not feel hindered by social expectations (which can be a good and bad thing, I'll admit that). People in costumes are noticed and appreciated, and also respectfully left alone, not pointed out as strange. The whole city transforms -- within a block radius of the conference center you don't think twice when you see zombies sipping martinis or demonic clowns having a slice of pizza. You can show up alone to PAX but make a bunch of friends over the weekend because you know you're in a like-minded community. It's not if you like games, but which ones you like. And it's not just video games, there's role playing board games and card games. Everyone has a story about the first time they played Dungeons and Dragons in someone's basement, or the time they spent way too many quarters and finally beat Street Fighter. The video game industry is no longer just for kids. It's been around long enough to where the kids who grew up on playing with little 8-bit graphic characters accompanied by tinny cartoon music, and those kids figured out a way to pursue a career in what seemed an obscure industry. Since then, those kids have become adults, and made those little characters into heroes, gods and monsters, masters of universes, spirits driven by destiny, and pretty much anything outside of the box you can imagine. And no more wakka-wakka-wakka Pac Man sounds, video game soundtracks are sweeping and dramatic like a film score. The plots behind many games are as complex and multi-layered as a book, so the story engages the player as much as the ability to interact with it.

If you ever get a chance to attend PAX or any big video game conference, think of it like an opportunity to visit a new country, with its own unique customs and cultures -- it really is like walking into an entirely different world.


Jaunty Fine Print: photographs by Denise Sakaki

It was that time of year again when people put away their mild-mannered selves, put on costumes and makeup to transform themselves into totally different personas... Not quite Halloween yet, but it does start the creative Mood thinking of what to dress up for this year. The video game convention, Penny Arcade Expo -- or PAX -- came and went back in September. It's a weekend-long event where gamers gather to sit in ridiculously long lines to play as-yet unreleased games for maybe a handful of precious minutes, but like any genre/fan gathering, it's a place where you can dress up as your favorite video game/movie/comic book hero and no one raises an eyebrow, unless they want to show you props by asking to take a photo. You can be totally bizarre and not have to worry that someone will beat you up. Even though the convention is long-gone, I felt the photos were more fitting to be shared in October, as we near All Hallow's Eve.

Aside from the surreal experience of walking outside the city's convention center and seeing the streets mixed with plainclothes gamers, robots and cat-people, it does make you think about the notion of why we dress up. We're encouraged as children to role-play. We put on white labcoats and plastic stethoscopes and imagine ourselves as healers. We don a red helmet and wield a plastic fire axe, pretending to break through a burning building to save lives. Sometimes the pretending keeps going, and we imagine ourselves in a totally imaginary world. It's less about the future hopes and more about an escape, leaving the boxed-in world of normalcy and daring to envision a life on another planet, in a different dimension, or having powers that defy all natural laws. While I doubt all the people who showed up to PAX would want to live in an imaginary world, I'm sure there are many who prefer to exist in the costumed persona forever. It seems like a ridiculous idea for a grown adult, but if you think about it, if given the choice between reality and dream world, what would you choose?


Jaunty Fine Print:  photographs by Denise Sakaki

I know it was a while back, but seeing as how October is coming up and people start thinking of Halloween costume inspirations, this seemed appropos. This Bird spent a day taking photos at the Penny Arcade Expo, aka PAX, several weeks ago. Celebrating its tenth year giving video game fans a chance to dust off that Mario and Luigi costume set, I decided to set forth and capture some of the costumed fans who wanted to truly immerse themselves in their nerdly love of games. 

Who wants some?! Fighting in the real and virtual world.


Shhh.. Yoda is napping Sleepy Jedi master and a pair of Bros on the lookout for Princess Peach and a Koopa or two.


What, this is my normal outfit! Just another pointy eared day at work, getting a latte

Better than a Sears Portrait It's a holiday photo card waiting to happen, no?

Rock My World...or else Put me on the best-dressed list or face the consequences

Better than Prom Who needs a corsage, really?


May the Force Be With You  And don't lightsaber someone's eye out.



Jaunty Fine Print: photos by Denise Sakaki, thanks to all the nice people who posed and the ones who didn't even know I took their photo