Early scenes from Comic-Con
As some of the earliest attendees arrived and checked into their hotels, the areas surrounding the San Diego Convention Center were full of workers, tirelessly finishing displays, exhibits, banners and other preparations needed to kick off San Diego Comic-Con.
The annual event, which draws hundreds of thousands to downtown San Diego, has overtaken the area. Local businesses, movie studios, TV networks and video game companies are competing to take their piece of the Comic-Con pie.
CNN Geek Out's cameras were there to capture the scene and the finishing touches, as denizens of the business community did anything they could to welcome many new potential customers.
Are you at San Diego Comic-Con? Share your photos and video of the sights and sounds.
What we geeked out about in 2011
2011 was a big year for geeking out (for one thing, this blog launched in 2011).
The staff of CNN Geek Out had quite a few geek out moments but we picked just a few of the biggest ones to share with you as we say goodbye to this year.
Doug Gross:
We’d waited six long years to hear those seven magical words.
“The dragons are coming. Prepare to dance.”
That’s what fantasy writer George R.R. Martin wrote on his website in March, signaling that “A Dance With Dragons,” the fifth book in his “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, had gotten a July publication date.
By this point, “SOIAF” had already leapt to the top of my list. I’d even committed the geek-sacrilege of suggesting it’s better than “Lord of the Rings.” The fact that Martin had taken so long to get this one just right only made the moment I learned that 2011 would mark a return to Westeros more of a rush.
There would be more fantasy-geeking on my part when the book was actually released and was just as masterful as any of us could have expected. And, of course, there was the rush of seeing “Game of Thrones” adapted for HBO. But those seven words … yeah. That was big.
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Our geekiest gifts this holiday season
'Tis the season for geeky gifts, and there are certainly plenty of them out there. It's been a happy holiday for your friendly neighborhood CNN Geek Out staff, and we'd like to share with you some of our favorite things received this year.
Nikki Rau-Baker:
This Christmas was another good one for me as I received some fairly geeky gifts.
A must for anyone gearing up for the upcoming big-screen version of The Hobbit: "The History of The Hobbit" by John D. Rateliff, covers the beginnings of The Hobbit with such tidbits of information as the original names of the dwarves and the shocking revelation that the leader was initially called Gandalf.
The Chillbots ice cube tray makes me happy as I listen to the tinkling of the robots in my glass.They’re a party hit!
As I prepare my glass of blue milk to go with dinner nothing says “I might kill you over dessert” like lighting candles in my lightsaber candlestick holders. The weight of these really could knock someone out if you decide to get into a dual after your meal, but I won’t endorse that sort of vicious behavior.
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So you wanna be a zombie
Suzanne Johnson, an IT consultant from Atlanta, decided she wanted to be a zombie. Not an actual zombie, of course. She showed no signs of wanting to consume the living, or that she considered brains a delicacy. No, the fan of AMC's "Walking Dead," simply wanted to dress up as a zombie, and she wanted her costume to look good.
The idea sprouted while talking with coworkers and fellow fans of the show about what to wear while going to Dragon*Con. One of her coworkers then suggested going to the Zombie Prom, an undead themed party held Friday night of the convention.
She purchased a wedding gown as the base of her costume stating, "It's okay to be a zombie prom queen, but a zombie bride trumps a zombie prom queen." FULL POST
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