Five ways to really nerd it up

Two words normally spring to mind when we hear the words "sci-fi convention": dorkus and maximus. But this weekend's Necronomicon '08, Tampa Bay's 27th annual horror, fantasy and comic book meet-up at the Hilton Bayfront in St. Petersburg, features a few events that sound so fun, we kind of want to dust off our Dr. Who scarf and show up. Here are five highlights.

1. Necronomi-Prom Sure, you got slapped in high school for proposing that you and your date dress as Beverly Crusher and Jean-Luc Picard for the prom. Here, though, you can. Costumes and formal attire are equally encouraged, and you'll have a chance to be named King, Queen or Other of the Prom. (Yes, "Other." We suppose that means smizmars?) It's Saturday night following ...

2. The Masquerade Sure, it's a costume contest. But trust us — ain't no costume contest like a sci-fi nerd costume contest. Steampunk pirates, outer-space warlords and the possibility that you might see a dude dressed as Mega Man? Yes, please.

3. Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: The Sing-Along Browncoats and Doogie Howser fans alike will gather at midnight Friday for a screening of Joss Whedon's hit Internet musical, starring Neil Patrick Harris as an aspiring supervillain. Don't know the words to My Freeze Ray? Fans will receive Sing-Along songbooks so they can, um, sing along.

4. Third Annual Cthulhu Memorial Eye Scream Social This is pretty much just a free ice-cream tasting on Friday evening. But the tip of the cap to H.P. Lovecraft's massive, betentacled monster will no doubt please denizens of Boing Boing.

5. Filking It sounds like a highly inappropriate sex act, but filking actually refers to sci-fi-themed musical performances. For example: Vampire Mega-Byte, a song written by Filk Hall of Famer Steve Savitszky, dealing with a computer mainframe rendered useless by a spectre of the undead. If that sentence doesn't make you want to attend Necronomicon, sorry — guess you're just not cool enough.

— Jay Cridlin cridlin@tampabay.com