comics – Insider Irene

Watching Shazam’s VIP Advanced Movie Screening with Full Cast at Orange, CA

Published on April 10, 2019April 9, 2019 by Insider Irene1 Comment

Say my name so my powers may flow through you. The DC Universe, Wondercon, and AMC 30 in Orange, CA partnered together to host a special advanced screening of Shazam! for subscription holders and convention attendees – if you stopped by the DC booth. (Btw, it’s an awesome movie, so if you haven’t seen it yet, you definitely should! Perfect balance of action and humor and for context: I’m an AMC Stub Hubs member and watch a LOT of movies. I still give this one two thumbs up!)

During that special screening I was among 600 or guests eager to catch a glimpse of the all-star cast. My friends and I waited about an hour and a half before we were given a wristband, which entitled us to a large drink, popcorn, and candy! Sweet! Much of the theater had been occupied by the time we were let in, so my friends and I did have to find single seats. Thankfully our spots still had a good view to enjoy the movie.

Left to Right: Asher Angel (Billy Batson), Jacky Dylan Grazer (Freddy), David Sandberg (Director), Zachary Levi (Shazam), and Mark Strong (Dr. Sivana)

Once my friends and I were settled with our snacks, Tiffany Smith from the DC Daily began the program and introduced Zachary Levi (Shazam), Mark Strong (Dr. Sivana), Asher Angel (Billy Batson) and Jacky Dylan Grazer (Freddy Freeman) along with the Director David Sandberg. It was so cool hear from the actors who played the characters and immediately watch them in action. And yes Zachary Levi is as charming in person as he is in the movie. *wink*

Which actor would you be most excited to see?

XOXO,

Rockstar

Me, Myself and Irene – 2017 in Review

Published on December 31, 2017December 31, 2017 by Insider IreneLeave a comment

When I was first thinking about this post I thought to myself – man… I totally bombed the “will write a blog post every-week” goal, I “should” be making more money, I “should” be blah blah blah.. but as I looked through my rolo-dex of photos I realized that I had so many cool moments and while I didn’t meet all the goals I set out – I did achieve quite a bit and “should” remember those! This was definitely the year of “Me, Myself, and Irene” from my “Diary of a Beauty Queen’s Food and Travel Adventures (Instagram)” to opening up to my readers with my alias as @TheGeekyGuide (Instagram) to launching my College Consulting By Yu Youtube channel (website), I’m three people in one!

As @yurockstar I finished my term as Miss Taiwanese World Queen and passed the torch (blog entry), and visited so many cool restaurants – the Exchange Restaurant being my favorite this year! (blog entry) – and festivals as media including the LA Food and Wine Festival (blog entry 1; blog entry 2; blog entry 3) where I got to meet Tyler Florence and Brian Malarky. I also got to be a guest on Gordon Ramsay’s “The F Word” and critiqued the competitors dishes. 2017 was also the year when I got to visit San Diego Comic Con (blog entry) for the first time and hear Disney Legend Alan Menkin perform his classic hits at D23 (blog entry)! I also bought an annual pass to Six Flags Magic Mountain (blog entry) and convinced four of my friends to go on roller coasters with me. On a totally random note – I also won a mattress from an Instagram contest through yelp, woot!

To be honest, I was kind of a closet cosplayer and nervous about cosplaying one of my childhood idols. The live action Wonder Woman movie debuted earlier this year and I felt very conscientious about wearing a corset, let alone portray such an iconic character. I was selected as one of Game Spot’s Best DC Cosplay at SDCC and WonderCon, and featured on the LA Time’s “Why Cosplay as Wonder Woman” video. But more importantly, I loved when kids came up to me to ask for a photo opt – just to see them smile made me feel that that 2 hours it took to do my hair and make-up all the worthwhile.

I also debuted Chun Li this year and was invited to join a Street Fighter group! Everyone does such a great job in portraying their character, and they inspired me to revisit and brush-up on my martial arts and dance techniques. I also upgraded some of my Sailor Mars uniform and had a blast with various photoshoots with the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask! I’ve made so many awesome friends through cosplay and it’s always awesome to see familiar faces portraying different heros and villians.

@Yucollege/ College Consulting By Yu Video Thumbnails

And yes, if you can believe it this was also the year that I decided to share my counseling knowledge through youtube. It’s been on my heart for a while so I finally bit the bullet and launched the channel: College Consulting Youtube Channel (Instagram). I created 10 videos ranging from Survive a School Shooting to the Common App Tutorial, and boy you can definitely see improvements from video 1-10. There’s still much work to be done, and my goal next year is to do 40 more! Won’t you come and watch? (youtube link) 😉

I’ve learned that no matter what goal you’ve set yourself up for that if you didn’t meet it today, tomorrow is always a new day. My Resolution is to make each day count. What’s yours?

XOXO,
Rockstar

Day 2 – Wonder Woman rallies the Justice League at LA Comic Con

Published on November 13, 2017November 12, 2017 by Insider Irene2 Comments

I can’t believe that the Justice League movie is coming out this week! (!!!!) I already reserved my movie tickets to watch it on Thursday night, but to celebrate I’m going to dedicate this week’s blog posts with all things Justice League – yay!!! So today’s post will be a throwback to when I cosplayed as Wonder Woman at LA Comic Con.

Saturday, October October 28th was epic on a number of fronts! It was the day when all San Diego Comic Con returning attendees entered the lottery to purchases badges (I’ll be returning! Yay!!) and the entertainment lineup at LA Comic Con was beyond amazing! My friends and I made sure to allocate enough time to get a wristband to watch a private Black Eyed Peas Concert and see Dwayne Johnson, more commonly known as The Rock! And of course we kept our eyes opened to recruit Justice League mini shoots! There were tons of guests dressed for Saturdays event and a designated DC meet-up outside the convention center. I got to hang-out with various members of the Justice League and strike some fierce poses with gang. Everyone was so nice and it’s great to see all the characters brought to life. I especially loved all the kids cosplays! The Batmans and Flashes were adorable!

Stan Lee & Black Eyed Peas; Dwayne Johnson; DC Photoshoot; Cosplay Contest

After the DC photoshoot my friends headed towards the main stage to catch a glimpse of the A-list celebrities. Stan Lee made an appearance when the entire Black Eyed Peas came up to talk about their new Alternate Reality Comic Book vision and “The Rock” one man act was a great closer for the evening. Afterwards my friends and I migrated to the Nova theater to see a front row seat at the Black Eyed Peas concert – but that’s story for another blog entry.

I think you all know who’s my favorite Justice League member, but who’s yours?

XOXO,

Rockstar