Letter From The Editor


Out of My Ordinary

Dear EnterTeenmentNews.com Visitors:

I used to be pretty good about stopping by every so often and updating you on what has been happening around "EnterTeenment" and the site but it has been so crazy lately, I kind of let it fall by the wayside. I will try to check back more often because we love hearing from you and having you give us your thoughts and opinions on what you think is working and not working with the publication and its internet counterpart. I also want to take every opportunity possible to encourage you to drop us a line and let us know who you are into these days and who and what we should try to feature. I guess that I am hoping by letting you get to know us a little better, you will let us get to know you a little better as well.

So I was thinking "What could I talk about that we have been covering lately?" and this is this first thing that came to mind...

Because I love all things entertainment (movies, television, music, the internet etc... ) it is rare that I feel out of my element while covering something for "EnterTeenment." However, when I found myself surrounded by 75,000 comic book fanatics at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego last month, my first thought was to try to find Scotty so he could beam me out of there.

Everywhere you tried to turn (it was a little crowded), you bumped into men or women (who could tell in some of those costumes?) dressed as storm troopers, anime characters, witches and warlocks, hobbits, and any other character from comic books and/or movies or video games that seemed like they should have been based on comic books. Luckily our team had arrived a 1/2 day early to just walk around and get "accustomed" to our surroundings. Seeing the rows and rows of memorabilia intertwined with artists who would gladly just draw you a sketch right then and there overwhelmed me so much, my colleagues had to keep reminding me to close my mouth. Apparently it was often just frozen wide open in a permanent state of "what the heck is this?" Excuse me Lara Croft... have you seen Toto?







This was a statue. But I was actually in a an elevator with someone who looked just like it. And don't get me started on the Elvis StormTrooper.
























The next day however, I was feeling a little better and even... dare I say excited... about being suspended in this land of make believe. Could it have been that first on the agenda was attending a panel discussion regarding the new Batman movie complete with a video intro by Christian Bale? The next topic of the same panel was the new movie "Constantine" and who was on that panel not 25 feet away from me? "Neo" himself, the one and only Keanu Reeves. That alone was worth braving the uneasy feeling that at some point the lovers of all things comic book were going to single me out as the one alien among them and ask me to vacate the premises for not knowing the first thing about comic books. Or worse yet, hatch an evil plan to rid the universe of an amateur like me.







Actor Billy Boyd told hilarious stories about the practical jokes pulled during the long production of the Lord of The Rings Trilogy.












This feeling was the most powerful when I was one of the privileged 6,500 people who made it into the panel discussion on the release of the "Lord of The Rings: Return of The King, The Extended Version." I am going to come clean here, and I hope this doesn't cause me to get hate mail, but I am not a big fan of any of The Lord of The Rings movies. Quite frankly, they scare me to death. And if I am being completely honest, I haven't even seen the not extended version of "Return of the King." But I can tell you this.... I whole heartedly enjoyed the panel which included (among others) a couple of producers affiliated with the trilogy and one incredibly funny hobbit (actor, Billy Boyd). The group had me laughing hysterically and the fans of this phenomenon are phenomenal themselves. Getting to sit among them and watch them to get to watch scenes that they have never witnessed before felt like a honor. I had no idea what I was watching but they way the 6,499 other people in the room reacted clued me in on just what an incredible moment I was experiencing.


Actor David Wenham stuck around after the LOTR panel and signed autographs at the convention center the next day.





















The funny thing is... as the weekend wore on... I began to notice the strangest thing of all. Watching groups of people waiting in line to see their favorite actor who brought a comic book hero character to life on the big screen or to say "hi" to an artist who's work they have enjoyed for years reminded me of Fan Fair (CMA Music Fest). Overhearing the people in front of me or behind me talking about how they all came from different places but talked to each other on-line and were meeting here for the first time made me think of countless concerts that I had been to where I've gotten to meet people who before had only been screen names. I watched groups of teenagers strategize about who should wait in line and when the others in the group should come back to relieve them and I thought about how many times my friends and I had done the same thing to get front row seats at a concert or TV taping. And that's when it hit me... I wasn't out of my element at all. I had way more in common with these people than I ever could imagine. Granted I have never dressed up like Rob Thomas and gone to a Matchbox Twenty concert or donned my best pirate attire to attend one of the seven showings of "Pirates of The Caribbean" that I happened to find myself enjoying while it was in theaters. But I could appreciate the enthusiasm even though the subject matter wasn't exactly my cup of tea.

And so some of you reading this will probably find yourself out of your ordinary in the next couple of months. Some middle and junior high school students will be heading to high school, high school grads are starting college, some of us "older" fans could be changing jobs or being forced to meet new people like your boyfriends parents or your spouse's long lost friend from college. My best advice to you is... try not to panic. Basically we all have to have something in common even if it's being new at something, or afraid of something, or change in general. And try to remember that everything familiar to us now was new to us once. In a couple of months, you will know that new school building inside and out. The lock on your locker will practically spin to the right numbers itself. That girl that glared at you your first day of P.E., just could be a closeted Good Charlotte fan who is dying to talk to someone about them every day, all day, for months on end. She just might be your new best friend.

Life is full of amazing surprises that sometime we only find when we are out of our ordinary. I hope this school year brings you the best of what you knew before and the best of the unknown. And as they say at Comic Con... May the Force Be With You!!!

Write us!

Love, Susan


Here are more pictures from the convention. A more complete write up will grace the events page soon and you can always check out the Fall issue of "EnterTeenment News" in October for even more Comic-Con madness.


Of course, how often in ordinary life are you this close to a talented and good looking actor like Ryan Reynolds? Ryan was promoting the new "Blade" movie.


And another hobbit! Though he wasn't part of the LOTR panel, Dominic Monaghan was also at the event to promote the new ABC series "Lost."

















Fans Archive - Encounters

Here's Lisa, Kari, Jessica, and Me (Kel). This was taken on October 3rd, 2002. Trying to get there wasn't easy. We had to send the radio station a reason why they should pick us to come down. I sent mine in late and wasn't picked. I talked to one of the DJs online and convinced him to let me and my dad to come down. We got to the radio station at about 7:00, i think, im not sure about the times im giving you. My dad and I were late because we were to sure of where we were going. We got there, got our badges, and went and sat in the studio. All of us were excited for Jessica to arrive. Jessica arrived at about 7:30 with her hairstylist, Ken Paves. (They were here because Ken opened up a salon here in michigan and they came to promote it). She looked very pretty!!! What i liked is that she doesn't wear a lot of make-up and she still looks beautiful. I took lots of pictures. She talked about her up-coming album, the wedding, and of course, the salon. At about 8:00 we all went into a different room where we could get photographs with Jess and autographs. I was waiting there REALLY scared!! I was way to nervous. When it was my turn, Jess signed the poster shown in the picture that said (Jess' MB Rock!). I only said 2 things to her: 1) Thanks 2) Could I take a picture of your ring? and 3) Can I have a hug? Jess was the nicest person I have ever met. This will definatley be a day I'll NEVER forget. The other two girls in the picture are from Jessicas Message Board and we thought it would be cute to get a picture with the 4 of us and my poster!:) Thanks for letting me share my expierence with you, I hope you enjoyed reading it!

-Kel-
Michigan


One of my favorite country music singers is Trisha Yearwood. I live in Los Angeles and have seen her in concert at several different arenas, big and small, including the ACM's. Being a big country music fan, I decided it was finally time to venture out to Tennessee. In November of 2002 I got the opportunity to do just that. Imagine my suprise when I arrived at the Los Angeles airport and found that Trisha Yearwood and I were on the same flight! I couldn't believe my luck! Not even in Nashville yet and my favorite singer is right in front of me! Knowing I couldn't pass on the opportunity to talk to her, I approached Trisha and told her what a big fan I am, and she was so sweet and gracious! Not wanting to cause a scene, I decided against asking for a picture.
Once we were in the Nashville airport we ran into Trisha again. This time my friend and I asked her if we could get pictures with her. She was so nice and patient with us, even when my digital camera wouldn't work! Meeting Trisha made my first Nashville trip an even more memorable one!
Thanks Trisha!