Look out for IGN Convention on Oct 18 & 19

During my time abroad, I came across maybe two posts of these conventions held in Bahrain, and I was always sad that I couldn't attend, well because .. I was abroad. And now it's here again. I thought these types of events were not very popular in the Middle East but here it is. I'm not a die hard fan of anime or video games but I've always wanted to attend these types of events. I'm pretty sure I'll like them though I won't share many interests with the visitors. I hear anime like Naruto and Bleach are too main stream and that's pretty much what I watch, along with FMA, One Piece, Death Note and others.

The event will be held on October 18th and 19th (just a few weeks away) at the Bahrain Exhibition Centre from 10 AM to 10 PM. Pretty convenient for those leading the working life as it falls in the weekends. There will be cosplay competitions (excited to see that), video game tournaments and discussions. The IGN website mentioned the appearance of four special guests: Kevin Nash, Keiji Inafune, Omar Hussain, and Baraa Abdallah.

So if you're into this, tickets are already out at 5 dinars (my kinda ticket) and VIP tickets at 50 dinars. The IGN Convention Bahrain has a Facebook event page and a main website.

Will break my piggy bank this weekend and hope I find what I need. *sigh*

Mad Men writers converse at Riwaq gallery!

Maria and André Jacquemetton who are screenwriters and executive producers of Mad Men showed up at the Riwaq gallery in Adliya on September 25. It was around two hours in the evening and we were *ashamed face* an hour late. However! When we did get there, the audience were watching an episode from a previous season (the episode where Betty starts riding horses at some club and a newly or soon to be married guy tries to hit on her), which we've already watched so we didn't miss anything yet. By the time the episode finished, the Jacquemettons were ready for questions. Most people asked about their relationship with existing ad firms that were mentioned in the series, and about the writing process in general. They gave us an interesting peek into the writing process behind "series" as well as how writers, producers, casts and the filmmakers go about or interact (as in, who does what in brief, do the actors improv or strictly follow a script etc).

I was easily distracted by one of the audiences because of her body language, but what I could gather from the talk were a few of the following:

• Writing scripts for TV series and movies differ
• In movies, the director is in control whereas in TV series, the writers are in control
• One of the ad firms mentioned in the series have a mutual relationship where each helps one another (the firm advertises the fact that they are in a popular TV show and that in turns helps the TV show with more publicity)
• No improv on Mad Men, as most TV series
• It's a long process to write the script, have it approved, filmed etc.
• The writers basically just gather around and talk about what they should do when writing a story, they usually have an idea of how the complete season with go when they're still at the first episodes

Receiving a rating of 8.6, IMDB describes it as, "A drama about one of New York's most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s, focusing on one of the firm's most mysterious but extremely talented ad executives, Donald Draper."

The seventh and final season is split into into 2014 and 2015, and the writers promise an ending that will make us want for more.

I found out about this event just a day before and wasn't sure if it was real because I was a huge Mad Men fan, and just couldn't believe they were coming to .. Bahrain?! Anyway, Mad Men - great series, great filming, great acting and scandalous stories! Check it out if you still haven't!

André and Maria Jacquemetton converse at Al Riwaq Gallery in Adliya, Bahrain. Courtesy of a friend NN.