The day I met Norman Reedus

     Yes..It's true..I MET NORMAN REEDUS. For all of you unfortunate souls who do not know who that is, he plays Daryl Dixon on the AMC hit show The Walking Dead. For those of you living under rocks recently, The Walking Dead takes place in a post-apocolytic world run over by zombies where a group of people fend together to survive. Daryl Dixon is the kick-butt cross-bow carrying "redneck" who gets things done around the place.

     Back to my little "meet and greet". So I went to Wizard World Nashville Comic Con on October 19th with the expectation of meeting Stan Lee (which I did) because I had already bought those tickets. I knew Norman Reedus would be there but on the schedule, it said he would only be there on Friday and Sunday...I, of course, was there on a Saturday. When we got there, I saw his booth and freaked out..I had to get tickets! So I made a B-line to about 3 different ticket counters before finally being told "you can just go get in line and pay there". By this time, about 20 MORE people had joined the long train to meet Daryl himself. So I got in line, dragging my poor parents to wait with me for an hour and a half to meet him. I soon found that the source of the hour and a half wait was Norman Reedus himself. He spent a minute or two genuinely talking to each fan, showing interest in gifts they gave him, in the things they were saying, and making conversation with them. When I finally reached the part of the line where I could see him..I was so excited..to say the absolute LEAST. Although we were not allowed to take pictures WITH him, he did not care at all if we took pictures OF him. I saw him sneak a couple pictures with fans and I think if he would of had it his way, we could have all taken "selfies" all day long.

     When we got up to the counter and place to pay, they gave us a choice of pictures to get signed if we didn't bring anything, which i didn't, so I was very thankful for this. When I met him, I immediately knew he was going to be one of the nicest people ever.

EW I hate my "profile"

The conversation started with a "Hey!! What's your name??" and a handshake. I was so nervous, I barely even remembered my own name, but stumbled out "Kaitlyn". He responded with "I'm Norman! You have a beautiful name!!". Now that my friends, is something I will never forget. HE SAID MY NAME WAS BEAUTIFUL. He then signed my picture and correctly guessed how to spell my name. Now anyone who has a common name like mine with 8 million different spellings will understand the rare and wonderful moment when someone guesses how to spell your name right. That has probably happened to me maybe twice and once was by Norman Reedus...ahhh.

     I then proceeded to ask him if I could have a hug, In which he proceeded to say "of course" and that was the moment I hugged the zombie-killing Daryl Dixon aka Norman Reedus. It was awesome. I did not come away with any pictures of this moment because my photographer (aka dad) was apparently caught in a hurricane while taking the pictures. Every single one was blurry and had a thumb in front of it..oh well! I did come away with this little beauty though. ( Note the heart by my name <3 )

     The best part of the whole experience was the fact that he was such a nice guy. I expected him to be cool and all but he was nothing like a typical "celebrity" who just shows a little interest because they want to keep fans. He was actually interested in what each fan had to say to him and why they were there. If he wasn't interested, he sure did a dang good job of fooling me!! He was completely awesome and it made me love his character even more than I already did. When I watched the show that next Sunday night, I was very excited. "I MET him! I HUGGED him". All those typical "fangirl" dreams.

The King of Comics turns 91

You can pick your jaw up off the ground now. Yes, I did just say that Stan Lee turned 91 yesterday, December 28. If you are in disbelief that this seemingly youthful outgoing man is in his 90's, then you are probably not alone. If you have ever seen a Marvel film, then you have seen Stan Lee. He makes his famous cameo appearance in all of his Marvel films. Whether you saw him in Iron Man (2008) as Hugh Hefner,

in Amazing Spider-Man (2012) as a librarian,

Or any other of Stan Lee's cameo's, it is a fact that this comic king has still got it.

     While Stan Lee is best known for writing comics such as Iron Man, Captain America, and Marvel's most successful superhero Spider-Man; Lee did more for Marvel than just create story lines for comic books. Stan Lee changed the way that the comic book industry was viewed. He gave credit to all people behind the making of a comic book instead of just the writer. He revolutionized the connection between the comic book creators and the comic book readers. Lee addressed social issues such as racism and drug use through his comic books, educating children on the right and wrong through a platform they could relate to; their favorite superhero.  Through these acts and many more, Stan Lee revolutionized Marvel into the success it is today.

     I had the privilege of meeting this wonderful man when I attended Wizard World Nashville Comic Con on October 19th. Although the conversation was just a short "Hello, nice to meet you" I could tell that he was a very nice man. I was also greeted with his signature smile and of course his signature glasses. Although we were not allowed to take pictures anywhere near the booth, I happened to snag his signature on my absolute favorite character of all time's comic book..written by him of course.

Can you say LUCKY? It is now on my wall so I can see it every day.

     I would like to end by saying, thank you Stan Lee for creating..my life pretty much. Without your work, my life would be a lot more boring and my imagination would be a lot less interesting. So HAPPY 91ST BIRTHDAY STAN LEE. Hopefully you have many more to come.

Information retrieved from here. 

He's back..Sherlock's return to television

     Well..the time that the whole Sherlock fandom has been waiting for is finally here. After years of waiting, our beloved Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson will be returning to our televisions once again. On January 1st, 2014 (for UK fans) and January 19th, 2014 (For US fans), the hit show 'Sherlock' will begin once again on BBC One (UK) and PBS (US) with episode one, "The Empty Hearse".

     The season 2 finale was the ultimate cliffhanger for Sherlock fans. Unsure about the exact status of Mr. Holmes, fans eagerly awaited season 3 for answers..they waited, and waited...and waited. Two years of waiting to be exact. Just enough time to drive fans absolutely mad and the evidence is all over the Internet.

     With all this extra time on their hands, the fans of the show have come up with some very interesting, well thought out theories on how the mastermind survived the fall. Buzzfeed has put together a list of 9 of the best theories here. My favorite theory would be number 3, the "rubber ball theory" because I have read a lot about this one and realized how possible and probable it actually COULD be. By far the weirdest theory I have heard would be number 6, the "face swap" theory. It just seems a bit extreme and very weird. Nonetheless possible, but in my opinion, highly unlikely.

          The waiting game came to an end on December 24th when the Sherlock 'mini- episode' or prequel to Sherlock season 3 "Many Happy Returns" was released by the BBC. You can watch it here and I must say..I am PUMPED. Moffat and Gatiss did yet another fantastic job and in only 7 minutes! The prequel gives no answers to how Sherlock survived the fall but gives us a little information on what he has been doing for the past 2 years and where he has been. It also shows us how the characters have moved on with their lives. A particularly shocking change was shown in Anderson, a former member of the police forensics team. We find that Anderson has changed his entire outlook on Sherlock and ends up losing his job with the police trying to convince Lestrade, detective inspector, that Sherlock IS alive. The prequel ends when Lestrade gives John Watson an "uncut" version of a Happy Birthday video that Sherlock made John before the fall. Sherlock states that he is sorry he is away but that he will be back soon. Sherlock ends the video with his signature wink and smile. Although this video was made before the fall, we all know it is in reference to where Holmes is now. Sorry for John and promising his return.

     If you weren't excited about season 3 before, then you are now! In fact, I think I might just re-watch season 1 and 2 in celebration. Now back to the waiting game..5 days for you UK fans and 24 for you US fans. 

But what's a couple of days when you've been waiting 2 years?

Review of The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

CAUTION: SPOILERS

     Now that that is out of the way, let me get on to my review. First I would like to start out by saying how much I love The Hobbit the book. It was absolutely spectacular, easy to read, and immensely entertaining. I will admit, I did not read the book until I heard the movie was coming out, yes I know, shame on me. But nonetheless, I READ IT! Being a big HUGE Sherlock fan I was absolutely beside myself to find that Martin Freeman was going to be playing Bilbo. But when i found out that Benedict Cumberbatch would be voicing Smaug, I was ready to kiss Peter Jackson's feet.

My thoughts exactly Mr. Holmes.

     Anyway, onto the review. I am not quite sure how they are going to take The Hobbit and make it into 3 movies, especially with how they treated the second movie. Now don't get me wrong, I loved the first movie and the newest movie but being a book nerd, I had some issues. In The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug, Peter Jackson had a lot to cover. The previous Hobbit movie ended when the Hobbits finally made it though the Misty Mountains. Now, if the movie goes according to the book, the Hobbits have to endure the Mirkwood Forest, meet Beorn, be captured by the elves and deal with the ever so sassy Thranduil, receive help from Bard, travel to the mountain, retrieve the treasure & kill Smaug. You would think, oh yeah Jackson can definitely make that into two more movies!! Wrong. Six of these seven tasks were covered in the newest movie...SIX.

     The Mirkwood Forest is a huge part in the book. It explains the fear and the darkness that the Hobbits feel while they travel through the Forrest without Gandalf who has seemingly just ran away after introducing the Hobbits to Beorn. Beorn's part in the book was probably one of my favorite parts of the whole book. A man who can change into a bear?! Sounds awesome! In the book, Beorn's "talking animals" serve and take care of the Hobbits and when the Hobbits decide it is finally time to continue on their journey, Beorn generously offers to look after them on their journey through the forrest, as a bear of course.  Was that in the movie? NO. In fact I believe if I would have counted, Beorn had one scene and said maybe ten words..MAYBE. I honestly think we only saw him once. Would Tolkien be happy with you Peter Jackson?

Here is your answer.

     After that, the movie slightly followed the book. I understand that movies have to add and take away things to make it appeal to all people not just nerds like you an I. I was iffy about the fact that they took out how sneaky Bilbo was when retrieving the keys after the elves had captured the Hobbits. It would have definitely added to the movie, but i suppose it was okay without it. I was okay DEFINITELY okay with the addition of Legolas. He definitely could have been alive in the book and just never mentioned. Plus, Orlando Bloom I mean..come on now. So thank you Peter Jackson. I also liked the addition of Tauriel, the female kick butt elf. I thought the love interest of Kili and Tauriel was very interesting. It seemed to me as though she never returned the interest, but somewhat entertained it. I guess we will see what happens there in the next movie.

     And well, to wrap the movie DESOLATION of Smaug, one would assume that the death of so called Smaug would be the obvious end of the movie..but no. After the Hobbits reach the mountain, without Kili, Fili, and Bofur because Kili had previously been shot in the leg with an arrow (not in the book), Bilbo proceeds to try and retrieve the Arkenstone from Smaug and also proceeds to make him angry. Way to go "burglar". Although his friends were not much help as Thorin became greedy and impatient and went in after the Arkenstone himself. Anyway, after the Hobbits try to kill Smaug with no avail, he flies away towards the lake town where Bard (their helpful and quite attractive friend) lives to destroy the city. That is how the movie ends. No desolation of dragons. 

So in the end, we end up with:

• No clue who Beorn really is (unless you read the book)
• No realization of just how sneaky and crafty Bilbo is and how big of a part this really plays in the whole book
• No idea of just how bad the Mirkwood Forrest really is
• A very hurt Kili (not in the book)
• And no desolation of Smaug

BUT there were some positive additions including:

• The beautiful Legolas
• The kick-butt girl elf Tauriel (girls rule)
• A very interesting love interest between Kili and Tauriel
• GREAT musical score
• Benedict Cumberbatch's very swooning voice

Overall I would give this movie 3 1/2 stars out of 5. I really did enjoy the movie. The graphics were great, the acting and casting was superb, the music was fantastic, and the effects were nice. If you have not seen it yet, then GO. But if you read the book, I warned you! 

Very First Post

     Well, since this is my very first post, I am going to tell you a little about myself through bullet points.

• I love bullet points
• I have been a self proclaimed "geek" for my entire life
• I really like to write, especially reviews on things such as books and movies
• I love to read
• I am also a self proclaimed anglophile
• Last but not least, I am extremely outgoing and love to talk to anyone and everyone, including new people!

     Now that that is out of the way, i assume you would like to know the contents of this newly formed blog. First off, I started a blog because I love to talk about the things I love. Also, as previously mentioned, I love writing reviews on things..so a blog seemed PERFECT. This blog will mainly focus on the things I find interesting and hopefully you do too. Just to name a few..Sherlock, Doctor Who, Marvel Comics, Supernatural, The Hobbit, LOTR, vinyls, music, Star Trek, Benedict Cumberbatch, Loki, Thor, Tom Hiddleston, and many many more ( those are just my favorites).

     I am hoping to review new episodes/movies/books, share with you new information, discuss topics on common interests, and any other interesting thing that might come to mind that particular day. I am very easy to talk to and am open to any and everyone who wants to talk or has suggestions! My email is in my profile, feel free to email me anytime!

I hope you enjoy my blog, have a marvelous day : )