Archon: Dawn Of The Nerds

OMG that was hysterical!

I am speechless - the guy who doesn't have a time to be back at his parent's basement!

Freaking awesome...and a little sad at the same time...

Having just gotten back from Archon - I gotta say, yeah there are dorks, dweebs, nerds and geeks a'plenty. But they're all fun to hang out with, there's free beer for the price of admission, a LOT more girls than you'd imagine there - many dressed in corsets, something skin tight, or next-to-nothing; and the evening parties when the hard liquor comes out it turns into a giant hotel frat party. The only difference is that instead of sports and cars, there's talk of which new series of sci-fi/fantasy is coming out, and still plenty of talk of cars... Plus I like smart girls who can cut loose, and there's a higher percentage there than some random bar or chance meeting. You meet new people who have similar interests, dress in the weirdest way and nobody bats an eye, and there's no pressure to have to fit into somebody else's definition of "normal." Then there's discussion panels, games of cards and board, celeb guests, artists, writers, music and FREE BEER! What more could one ask for?

Absolutely gut busting! I would have loved to have been there. The costumes looked really cool.

Laughed my ace off! We love occasions to dress up & party, but tend to prefer Renaissance Fairs. That way we can combine our love of coif & corset with... communication skills. Plus, you get a lot of respect when you don a 40" sword.

Spiffy outfits. Funny!!

I've got to say that you caught a lot of my friends in this video. My only regret is that I didn't get to be there and prove that there are good-looking women there who are just as nerdy as the rest of them.

Anyway, the "gold ninja" is my buddy Luther. His parents are our friends, and they were also at the convention.

If you want another fun convention to cover, check out Kawa Kon athttp://kawakon.com.

I love conventions!

Geez! Was the interviewer deliberately playing the village idiot for laughs, or is he really that stupid?

When Triumph the insult comic Dog did this, it was funny. This guy, not so much.

Too bad this guy didn't attend any of the panels, talked with the Fan GOH's, the Pro GOH's etc. Or the committee folks who have been running this con longer than he's been born. Then there's the art show, blood drive, charity auction, panel readings, masquerade, yes its costumes but it's so more.
Past Archon proliasion and con-chair.

Ok, so some Star Trek/Star Wars/Ninja Squad lovers are a wee bit offended becuase this video hit close to home, eh? But to the other 99.9% of us non-convention goers, and some good sports at the nerd convention, this is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

HERE'S SOMETHING TO CHEW ON:

Every single person on this Earth is a NERD in some way shape or form.

It doesn't matter if you're a Trekkie, Computer, Graphics, Sports, or Fashion Nerd. The list is infinite...Plain an simple it just means you are involved in something that you love.

I still put on my fairy wings in the office, and listen to techno music despite how retarded people think I am. They are things I love and people know it...they recognize it by poking fun and I appreciate the acknowledgment rather than be hurt by it.

I was the wolf in red armor. I love the reaction I gave! It was a howl!!!

The reason I don't get offended by this anymore is that I understand that we're... different.

I'm sure that all of the people in the video knew how this would come out. If it were me, I'd enjoy doing the interview just because I enjoy entertaining people.

The only thing I want to say seriously is that our subculture is just as valid a lifestyle as any other. Chris, I do hope you understand that we really do ENJOY what we do at conventions. It's just as much fun for us as going to a football game and having a tailgate is fun for a big football fan. There's also another layer to it, and that's the fact that a large portion (perhaps 99% of us), dealt with the very serious issue of peer abuse for a prolonged period of time at some point in our lives.

While some of us could care less about the stereotypes we know have been projected onto us, another segment of our subculture is still dealing with the rejection and loneliness we've gone through for being different or not quite socially adept.

There's a lot more to being a "nerd" than liking something a whole lot, and most of us still carry the weight of being outcasts. Broad generalizations and snap judgments can hurt. Please be sensitive when talking to or about us.

I ask that you take a little more care with Kawa Kon because the attendees are younger, and many of them are going through the already difficult middle school and high school years while dealing with being "bookish" or obsessive. There are ways to make something like this funny without making it insulting. If you want an example, I have a documentary I made about grown men who play with action figures that will show you what I mean.

Otherwise, I should hope that most people have gotten used to our subculture enough to know that this is just the surface of it. Videos like this amuse me because I know the subculture and the people in it.

Because I can't figure out how to send you a personal message, I have to post this here. I apologize profusely. You may delete it when you're done reading.

Chris, your insult to RichZ (who I will assume is the person I think he is) was quite nasty.

If you want to be taken seriously and not called a "village idiot", you shouldn't reply to negative comments by saying how high and mighty you are because you're not like the people in the video. That's bad journalistic practice and makes you look weak.

By posting something that generalizes and makes fun of a group of people, you are asking for debate. Just because you are the "journalist" here, it doesn't mean you are the ultimate voice. Even your popularity doesn't mean you're right in what you do.

I was not offended by your video because it's the sort of thing I expect people to make after seeing a convention for the first time. Conventions are different, even from what people who have heard about them expect. If you had stayed to attend a panel or talk seriously to someone, you would have seen that it goes even farther beyond what you expected.

Still, I don't blame you for that. What I blame you for is using your popularity as a blogger or journalist or whatever you would call yourself to continue to insult people. It's not enough that you post a video that will perpetuate a long out-dated idea of sf&f fandom, but you state that you are so "proud" not to be a part of it. Well, go on and be "proud", but don't expect us to have any respect for that. People go to conventions so that they aren't judged as harshly as in normal life, and you took advantage of that for a scoop. Then you continue it by insulting every poster who thinks anything is wrong with your video.

This is the reason you look like a village idiot: you walked into a place among a group of people that you knew absolutely NOTHING about and presumed to pretend you knew everything. As someone who knew what was ACTUALLY going on at the convention, I laugh because I know you're standing in the front hallway (right by the entrance, mind you), picking out people you think look "weird". You're basically insulting something because it's different without knowing a thing about it.

This is like someone going to Japan and thinking they all wear kimono and eat dog for breakfast, then proceeding to tell the Japanese people about themselves in a video meant to be shown in America as a documentary.

I'm sorry. I know this is harsh, but it's just to warn you that not everyone will think you're funny. If you ever want to do this seriously (journalism or documentary), you'll need to learn a bit about the culture you're going into first.

Phew, it's getting a little warm in here, eh?

A REBUTTAL:

We mock and make fun of ourselves all over this website. We play ignorant to make light of ourselves and is evident in our content and videos. Please, take a look around.

We know not everyone thinks we are funny but we have fun with what we do and most people enjoy it. We are never going to do this seriously, not in journalism, and not in documentaries because that is the opposite of what we are. Serious does not equal entertainment. Serious does not equal ToastedRav or its staff.

If anyone is taking us too seriously, please learn a bit about ToastedRav's culture and personality before presenting essays.

I wanna be that wolf for Halloween! How cool!

Quasi-Wolf is from my imagination. I was looking for something a little Mad Max-Road Warrior-Bob Fett looking. As I kept going back to the shop where I bought the leather parts, the shop-owner asked me what I was making. "You making some kind of quasi-wolf-cop outfit?!" So, that's where I got the name and profession. Quasi-Wolf! Of Lupine Security, Anthro-Division! Wanna see more? I'm in the Fursuit Database!

As for Halloween? The suit is a custom build. Mask is from Nightmare Factory. Tail was commissioned from a local lady from a template at Lone Wolf's Den. The template was enlarged for this size of tail. The leather goods come from a sex shop, actually. And the armor comes from a sports shop and Wal-Mart. I got the parts from; Nightmare Factory, Lone Wolf's Den, Metro East Sewing Center, Cheap Trx, Wal-Mart, Hancock Fabrics, Johnny Mac's Sports, Dollar General, Petsmart, Native Nevadan Sporting Goods, Don's Hardware and JJ's Clubhouse.

I was not at all amused. These people are my friends, and my peers. Most of them responded the way they did because they expected someone with a camera, a michrophone, and a webby t-shirt to perhaps ask some sort of intelligent questions. And here you show up asking amazingly ignorant questions, showing no respect for the people themselves. I see you had to edit after the first few seconds of most your interviews. I'm sure most the people quickly figured out what a fool you were and had no interest in continuing the interviews...

You did a fine job of displaying a pathetic lack of knowlege of an entire subculture, and a lack of respect for people in general.

Well done, sir.

What's really disappointing for me is that I like the music played on WIL and the Arch, and now I find out this is what their employees think of me. And this is what the stations obviously consider journalism. sigh.

Margo--

As to your "Rebuttal". Out of the recent entries under Quirky, this is one of the few that presents its subject in a negative light.

So, yes, I took a look around, and noticed this isn't representative of your usual fare. Your usual focus is on quirky but fun things happening in St. Louis.

Plowsharing Crafts, American Mustache Institute, Six Flags, and Dancing events all got positive plugs.

The SciFi community (and for some reason marching bands) were singled out by the staff of WIL and The Arch for ridicule. Thanks.

Quasi! I'm glad to see your such a good sport here unlike the OTHERS.
Your costume is really cool and I like how you added how to make it in the comments. You should look at a future in costume design for films. Thanks for the interview that day.
For the rest of you. Take a step back and look at the situation.... You’re wearing costumes and bearing alternate personalities... Escapists Fantasy...
To me the whole event seems to be made for fun and Novelty. So why not have fun with it. We didn't have any intent to offend people.
It's just entertainment. And I’ve seen much worse on TV.
Everyone there was great and really nice. Some purposely gave odd answers and no one there was offended in anyway. Even those three in the star wars gear. .
If someone wants to straighten things up here and add an informative article of the event or similar ones. Use our shout section and write your own add some pics and post it..
AND DA i cant beleive that you would do that with stallone pics in your grandparents basement.

sorry. Typo 4th line
Not . your'e wearing costumes
but
People weariing costumes

Mike M
You are right. We do have fun. We have great fun. We all know it's just fantasy, and we all accept each other. Lots of people step away from their stressful lives and come out, and put on some silly costume, and cut loose and have fun for a weekend. It's great fun for all.

And then some Michael Moore wannabe like you comes along and starts tossing out insults about living in parents basements and borrowing mom's minivan like you are some comedic genius, somehow superior to us. We all have seen the William Shatner meltdown on SNL from years ago. We know the joke. It's an old one, and pretty worn out. Is that the best you could come up with? And here, you have the audacity to to claim you didn't have any intent to offend people. No, I doubt you did. I'm pretty confident you just intended to make fun of us. I've seen a lot worse on TV as well. And those shows usually don't last.

I've had an interview in Memphis Tennesee that hit several stations including CNN. The people who seen me afterwards did not poke fun. Every time the story aired, the journalists had their own point of view as to what to bring out. I was just excited about having my opportunity to be on TV. As I sat back and thought about the broadcasts, one presented the story, another picked something entirely out of context to the convention I attended and the last openly poked fun at the end. A witty saying is fine here and there. That's to be expected. But I felt this interview at Archon took me into a direction to make fun of costumers. I had no idea this was going to happen at the time. Others have said this also. The one's in charge for the Memphis convention would talk directly with the TV crew and ask about their intent and explain bad publicity was not wanted. And yet, when the story would air, the wrong impression was given.
In the upside, thanks MikeM for the compliment. I've been asked to be a panelist on a convention before. Unfortunately people from all over the country travel to this convention, and my ability to show up at a con in a different state just to be a panelist isn't in my budget. I've been asked to attend Costumer's Guild meetings, too.

Well, the ARCH, and WIL should realize if they treat ToastedRav as their official website, absent disclaimers (which I haven't seen) readers will consider whatever is posted here as the viewpoints of their staff.

I was just wondering what exactly was the intent of the piece? Did it come as any surprise to the staff that some of the people interviewed did not take kindly to being made fun of? Are you that naive or just backpedaling after your 'good-natured' ribbing didn't play so well?

You wanna talk about something to poke fun at? The painfully self-conscious "sarcasm" from the interviewer was sad in and of itself. Yeah, some of these people come across as nerds, but at least they aren't blogging mean-spirited amateur interviews with no journalistic or comedic merit. I saw zero creativity in the concept and no charm or talent in the execution. It was a cheap shot at an easy target and you deserve the criticism you got.

Calling foul and telling people to chill out is a sorry dodge for taking responsibility for your actions. Taunting the not-so-cool kids on the playground and sulking because they don't like it just shows what a cookie-cutter suburban mindset you have.

That being said, yeah, there is some comedy and humor to be had from poking fun at the subculture. But the done-to-death cliches and spiteful, snarky commentary is not very funny or insightful.

Do you people actually get paid for this?

As an admitted Star Wars geek myself, I have to say I loved the video, as did everyone in my circle of friends. I've been attending sci-fi conventions for 17 years and I've never taken myself too seriously and it disappoints me to see that a few my fellow enthusiasts do. He who follows our path must not expect others not to notice. well done toastedrav, from a Star Wars uberfan/Archon attendee!

Meh... if you wanted some really funny footage of the con, you should've waited until Sunday at around 1:00pm to watch the hung-over, tapped-out geeks/nerds/whatever departing from the hotel lobby. Now THAT's catching them at their very best...

Nerds of World...please do not despair.

Never in the history of the world have nerds held so much power. We keep the packets routing, email flowing, Mars Rovers digging and generally fix the stuff that most of society breaks or are too dumb to figure out.

Even if the video pokes fun at the event (please, do not take this so seriously), at the end of the day, everybody loves a good geek.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments and wanted to add my own pov.

We at ToastedRav pick on ourselves first and foremost. And sure, everyone else is fair game as well. This video, like all others, was in good fun and no-ill will was meant. It was simply created to entertain.

Obviously, we came off ill-informed and ignorant at the convention - on purpose.

I fell in love with and married a geek. I even spawned my own mini geek-in-training, and personally I am partial to geeks - especially the ones with a good sense of humor that don't take themselves too seriously.

I saw one dorky guy who can't [Naughty language removed.] in that whole video. He was holding the mic.

Nice try jen...

Take a look at your tags at the top of the page. 'Nerd', 'geek', 'dweeb', 'dork', 'loser', 'never gets any', and 'lives with their mother' are all well known terms of respect. Obviously there is no ill-will meant and all kinds of gee-golly good fun intended. Pooty-pooh on us for not getting the joke.

[Naughty language removed.]? Do you really believe your crew was as well-meaning as you say? Do you go to airshows and make fun of the aircraft buffs? "Oh, look at the pretty airplanes! Vroom-vroom!" NASCAR fans? "Cars going 'round in a circle? Yawn..." Rodeos? I'd like to see you making smart-[Naughty language removed.] commentary to a bull rider or calling him a dork.

These 'fans' are as silly in their own way as sci-fi fans, but why not single them out as geeks and weirdos? If your piece was done with some sort of 'laughing with' and not so much 'laughing at', then you might have a point. But there's plenty of evidence that your slant wasn't as innocent as you'd like to claim.

Not to stretch a point too far, but Columbine was an outgrowth of a very similar 'good clean fun-poking' attitude.

Now do your knee-jerk reaction and tell me to chill out.

BTW, I have a damn fine sense of humor and can poke fun at myself and others quite well. Been pretty acidic with the wit most of the time too. But I choose my targets and don't try to make a living out of dissing other people's passions, no matter how goofy it seems to me.

Contrary to what you may think, I'm not that upset by your piece. The larger problem is the pecking-order mentality enforced by the 'pretty people' as to what's cool and what's fodder for humor. I'm just a little saddened and disappointed that you're just another cog in the conformity machine.

Breathlessly awaiting your replies...

This is surreal to me.

Your editing program will not allow me to say Whiskey Tango Foxtrot as an acronym or make reference to a mammal related to a donkey, but your editor will allow you to label live humans as dorks and geeks.

Guess I should just Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform...

OK, you win.

I'm glad I amused you Audrey.

And Margo, I DO need a hug. I'm off in some foreign country I can't name protecting your freedom of speech. I haven't had a hug in over nine months. Or a White Castle. Or an Imo's pizza. Friends? Family? Movies? I hear The Dark Knight was good... Oops, there goes my geekiness.

This isn't about me though. Just try and not reinforce negative attitudes about people who don't travel the accepted path in life. Your piece just came across as mean-spirited.

But you win. No more whining from me. ; )

I like my icon.

An olive drab question mark.

That's ME!

Drama, Drama, Drama! Thanks everyone for giving me entertainment at work I can't wait for the next exciting article... see what you guys did.....

So, are we all in agreement that Chris is a f'ing A-hole?

I just think he have have made his intent more clear. He told me nothing. I suspected something from his questions. But, like the nerd I am, I wanted a chance to be in the limelight.

You naysayers are insane...LOVED the clip as did several friends. "packing heat" haha

And for your next trick, I suppose you're going to go the VA Hospital and kick the crutches out from under the wounded veterans, right?

That's about the same level of humor as you showed here.

You creeps are beyond contempt: you can't understand the attraction other people have for a genre of literature you haven't the education to understand, so you assume an air of undeserved superiority to people with twice your I.Q. Every bit of human progress which has ever been made, from the invention of the wheel to vaccination against disease to men on the moon, has been despite the jeers and lead weight of unimaginative, ignorant buffoons such as you. The very computers you use to mock were invented by those you abuse, despite you, and their names will be remembered long after yours are forgotten with the dust and dirt in which you wallow.