Family Fun at Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo

Check out our original photos from C2E2 2012 Saturday above


 
R2D2?    No....C2E2!!!

Yeah, OK... maybe both.   R2D2 @ C2E2

 



Du-Jay & Sagezilla dug C2E2 and can't wait for 2013

 



It's bigger on the inside....



This year's Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) will be their biggest by far. Tickets are selling earlier and faster than ever.  As of the final week of February, VIP tickets are sold out; 1-Day ticket sales are up 65%; and 3-Day ticket sales are up 78%. This is an overall increase of 64% compared to last year! 



**Meanwhile, their exhibit space is also growing...at this point, they are 25% larger than last year.** 



This is great news as it means that the Midwest - and Chicago, in particular - is becoming a center for pop culture enthusiasts similar in scale to New York and San Diego. 



Have you gotten your tickets yet?   Don't miss out.   Click here and order your tickets as soon as possible.   ChiIL Mama will be there...will YOU?!   We'll have photo filled recaps, individual features, hot new releases, reviews, and free downloads for you.   So check back with ChiIL Mama/ ChiIL Live Shows like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often!!

C2E2 2013, April 26-28, 2013 at the West Building at McCormick Place.

Check out their main site here for special guests and more.
  
Our ultra favorite thing about C2E2 isn't one show or genre even...it's mash ups and context!   We swung by Micky D's on the way out and it was beyond amusing to see the comic book world superimposed on reality. It's all about context.  As realtors are fond of saying...location, location, location.



"Welcome to McDonalds, may I take your order?"
 


  

We also love to see the colorful mash ups that organically happen in the crowd as everyone's story lines intermingle.   

Steampunk was a growing presence at C2E2 12, and we bought a fabulous corset & a wooden mustache monocle.

 

We also bought a unique ocarina necklace & a "teacarina" musical, pottery tea cup/instrument among other finds.  






Sagezilla and Du-Jay enjoyed the show, and it's fairly family friendly.   There were a ton of kids of all ages there, and there was plenty for kids to see and do, particularly for tweens and teens.    


Kick Ass fam friendly fun at C2E2

Sure, there's a plethora of the usual comic book boobs n gore...so skip it with the littles if they're very young and easily freaked out, or if you're uber conservative.  Otherwise, dress up and come on down!



Of course we're suckers for any excuse to play dress up, and enjoy seeing adults who are reeeeeally into what they're into, and we dig comics, anime, Dr. Who and games.   That means C2E2 is right up our alley.








First time we ever quoted Mr. T around Sagezilla, she thought we said "I'm Winnie the Pooh", and used to repeat it in a booming Mr. T impression.  To this day I still can't hear "I pity the fool" without laughing.

 

We saw many fun freaks, and even derby zombies from The Outfit!

 

 There were loads of graphic artists, actors & writers about.

Promises...promises

We're a little bummed.   These Romanian artist guys took a steam punk photo of Sagezilla & Du-Jay and said they'd anime the kids and send us the sketch via e-mail after the show, and it never happened.    Was that supposed to read get your sketch a year from today?!

We're coming back to find you for C2E2 2013, so start sketching... long haired boy and tiny but mighty grrrrrl, or they'll kick you in the kneecaps!

You can even get inked up permanently, with some new scars, if you're brave & of age.   I do have 4 tattoos, but not from C2E2.   We just stuck with the kind of ink you turn the pages on!



We also saw another of our big favorites--Threadless--and stocked up on more, cool, artist designed t's!   They give back to the community and work with kids for free, at Girls Rock Chicago camps, 826Chi Writing Workshops and more.

Sage spent her "helpful works" cash on a bunch of seriously rockin' handmade fimo necklaces another kid had made.  They were one of a kind and one of the coolest thing we saw at the whole show because they were so creative.   She also bought a Shawnimal Ninja necklace.   



Du-Jay bought Activision Skylanders, one of his Wii favorites.

 

We also ran into one of our favorite author/artist duos... Kim & Dino, of Traegonia fame.  

We gave away a set of their excellent books to one of our lucky readers in December, as part of our huge Holidaze Giveaways.  





 The Traegonia books are a middle grade, eco-friendly fantasy series our family really digs!!  Highly recommended.   Check out their main site right here.



 

 

Come on out and play.   C2E2's a must see for geeks, gamers, pop culture enthusiasts, families and YOU!

Day #10 ChiIL Mama's Holidaze 12 Days of #giveaways

Day #10  WEDNESDAY 12/12/12  WIN A BIG BOOK BONANZA!!   2 Traegonia fantasy chapter books (middle grade) & Chicken in the Car and The Car Won't Go ($47)

Enter here for your chance to win 

the Big Book Bonanza:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

12/12/12 is the last matching day/month/year until the next century.   So, to celebrate, in our 12 Days of Giveaways we're breaking out one of our passions--books...in a BIG way.   The gift of reading and a LOVE of reading is one of the best gifts ever.   

1.  *Traegonia The Sunbow Prophecy 

      *Traegonia The Ember Rune

              plus a set of Traegon postcards and a bookmark ($32.00)

Rockin' awesome, eco friendly, middle grade fantasy chapter books for boys & girls to adults:  Traegonia books one & two 


The faces behind the Traegons:



Author, Kim Krueger, with her daughter



Dino Crisanti, illustrator/ sculptor

Click here for the main World of Traegonia site.

Click here for ChiIL Mama's past photo filled Traegonia coverage.

This series is highly recommended, mid grade fantasy, chapter books.   We read them as family bedtime stories and got thoroughly engrossed in the highly imaginative, artistic, eco-friendly, creative, inventive, magical, World of Traegonia.

2.  Chicken in the Car & the car won't go Nearly 200 Ways to Enjoy Chicagoland with Tweens and Teens.” ($14.95) 

Got tweens or teens?  We've got a couple of must have books for you.   The first is our friend Melisa (with one s) Wells' rockin' guide to fun with older kids around the greater Chi-town area. 

We first covered this book back in late 2011, when it first came out, but Melisa was cool enough to kick us a couple giveaway copies and uber organized slacker that I am...one disappeared in the back of our swag cabinet (sorry Melisa).   So...readers, you're in luck!   

This handy guide has been in hot demand with long wait lists at local libraries.   It's still relevant and excellent.  And guess what....when you own your own, you can write in it!   Oh yeah.   Our copy has copious notes and has become a dog eared and delightful addition to the front seat of my car.   Highly recommended!

Melisa threw a rockin riverboat cruise party when she launched the book, and that night I had a chance to chat with Dylan, her good natured, college age son.   He gave me the low down on Camp Wells, their "Mom led" family recreation program, started when they were 10 & 13, that became the basis for the book.  Instead of going off to a month-long summer camp, they decided to see what fun they could have around Chi-Town instead.  The adventures they had that summer became the spring board for this one-stop place for planning your own fun in and around the city.

Amid a sea of blogger name tags proclaiming everyone's Twitter handle, URL and all, my favorite tag of the night was the refreshingly simple one that declared "Melisa's husband".    Gotta love a family with a sense of humor!   Melisa's writing can be seen frequently at the blog, Suburban Scrawl, and now in print with Chicken In The Car And The Car Won't Go.

You can win one here or snag a copy of this book through her site below or through Amazon. It's a rockin' resource for locals and/or tourists alike.

Check out the whole scoop about author and Blogger Melisa Wells book ‘Chicken in the Car and the Car Won’t Go: Nearly 200 Ways to Enjoy Chicagoland with Tweens and Teens.”  right here.

Disclaimer:   Thanks to all the authors and publishers who gave us books for our giveaway and review copies as well.   All opinions expressed are our own. 

All 12 of ChiIL Mama's Holidaze giveaways are open till midnight 12/15/12, so enter like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.  

Click this quick link for all our daily holidaze giveaways in one easy place. 

#1  Diary of a Wimpy Kid Hardback Book ($14)

#2  $100 Psychobaby Gift Certificate ($100)

#3  Go! Go! Sports Girls Doll ($20)

#4  XBOX 360 WIPEOUT 3 game ($50) 

#5  7 kids' CDs including punk favs for kids($90) 

#6  DAVIDsTEA winter loose tea collection & mug ($45) 

#7  Multilingual Chicago 12 weeks of kids' language classes & an adult language boot camp ($420)

#8  Lalaloopsy 3DS Carnival of Friends game by AcTiVision & a Mini Peppy Pom Poms Collectible Character Sew Sleepy #6 of Series 8 ($42)

#9  3 of our favorite video games for PC or Mac/Wii/DS 

*Plants Vs. Zombies, Guitar Hero, Moshling Zoo ($86 value)

#10   A BIG BOOK BONANZA!!   2 Traegonia fantasy chapter books (middle grade) & Chicken in the Car and The Car Won't Go ($47)

Costumed Crowd Shots & More at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con-Saturday #photo feature

Another Comic Con has come and gone.   It was a whirlwind weekend at Wizard World Comic Con 2012.
  




Saturday the people watching was prime. 

   

We dig seeing the rampant creativity. 

   

And the mash ups are hilarious.



Poor Spider Man got ganged up on by a band of armed villains in the lobby.






Some of our favs were the families who all got in on playing dress up!

Of course we dropped back to see our friends at the World of Traegonia booth.   The author was there again, with her daughter this time.  

 

And we got a chance to see their new Traegon costume.    



Check out the videos on their site to see her in action and watch their sweet animated short.  




This series is highly recommended, mid grade fantasy, chapter books.   We read them as family bedtime stories and got thoroughly engrossed in the highly imaginative, artistic, eco-friendly, creative, inventive, magical, World of Tragonia.

    
Dino, the illustrator and sculpture maker.

Check back with ChiIL Mama & ChiIL Live Shows like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.   We're still hammering out the details but it looks like we'll be able to run a give aways later this fall.    Either way, we'll have a full review of both of these awesome books up for our readers shortly.




We also dropped in on our friends at Threadless and bought 3 new designs to celebrate back to school.  

 

The all navy or white polo & navy bottom uniforms leave something to be desired in the creative clothes department, so we make the most of our after hours with fun, colorful t's.   Like we said in our prior Comic Con coverage here, Threadless is great about giving back to the community and holding free kids' workshops with local non profits like Girls Rock! Chicago and 826CHI, so we're extra happy to kick them our business.



We also saw our Pinups for Pitbulls friends and bought a bunch of buttons.   I also snapped a pic with them--I wore my Pit 7 Seconds "Walk Together" Tee and they said they'd send it on to Kevin Seconds.   Check 'em out if you haven't already.   They have a cool mission statement.   We're all about rescue dogs and have a rescue Husky mix ourselves.   We don't have a pit bull, but we do have a 110lb. Akita, another breed sometimes misused for fighting, feared and misunderstood, who is the sweetest family dog ever.   So we get it.

Finally we said hey to our Gorilla Tango Burlesque Peeps and snapped a few more shots. 

   

After the Con, I had a chance to spend the evening with a group of true Con Connoisseurs.   We hit up the bar in the Hyatt Hotel adjoining The Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, and talked about their hobby.   The guys had what I jokingly called "Star Tracker"....like train tracker which alerts you on smart phones when trains are incoming.   These guys had a small network of spies stationed around the hotel lobby, after party and bar, all texting each other whenever a celeb showed up.    And there were plenty!  





Unlike star stalkers, these guys are collectors and just want a quick photo and maybe an autograph.   They have extensive collections and like other collectors, long to finish their "sets", generally particular segments of a sci-fi show cast.    Some celebs are rare and hard to get, and these guys have traveled as far as England for some Cons, based on who was signing.     They were all nice, pretty normal guys, although one conceded his wife thinks his collection obsession is a bit nuts.   So do all of their co workers.   But it brings them a great deal of enjoyment and doesn't hurt anyone, so whose to say collecting photos and autographs is any odder than other things people have been known to amass.

  

The did say there's a subset of Comic Con diehards who cross over from collectors to crazies, going so far as to pay off the maids to bring them celebs garbage!  They also conceded that Wizard World is so massive they only loosely include it in the Con Genre.   True collectors do better abroad, where the fans are more laid back and there's a genuinely good chance you'll get to hang out and have drinks with more than a few famous folk.   




Even the smaller, themed weekends, just centered around one show ie:  Dr. Who, are more to their taste and maximize the amount of collecting, formal signings and candid star shots they can do.   It was eye opening and enlightening for me to hang with them for an evening.   It felt a bit like hangin' with the fire department--all of us hanging out, talking, then a sighting text would come in and they'd all run off ASAP, and reappear with a hit or miss tale.


 

What Wizard World Chicago Comic Con does well is put on a great party....bringing together a diverse and colorful crowd, a sweet assortments of speakers and workshops, and unprecedented numbers of stars.   All in all, it was a fun weekend for the star trackers, casual and serious collectors, gamers, families, spandex fans, and people watchers.    Till next year.