The Adventures of the Sage Lion

ANAHEIM COMIC CONVENTION--WIZARD WORLD 2010

Another fine adventure was had at the Anaheim Comicon. Me and me lovely wife Salma Gundy hit the Wizard World convention rolling.

Wizard Magazine puts out Wizard, a comics magazine, Toyfare, a toy/action figure magazine and other various pop culture magazines. Some years ago they began a comic convention as well. They hold them around the United States and we a lucky enough to have one not too far away from us in Anaheim, CA.

Now, the big draw each year for pop culture geeks is San Diego Comic-Con International. SDCC is insane. Wizard World is not nearly as big as SDCC, but for my money, it is a nice venue. It seems to hold closer to the comic conventions of the olden days. However, while it is smaller, it had plenty of great vendors, panels and guests.

Frankly, I was surprised by how many celebrities were there. Our favorite was Julie Newmar. I have had a crush on Julie Newmar since I saw her in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and,

of course, Batman. Me lovely wife Salma Gundy and I approached and happened to catch her early and not too many folks were waiting. Julie was superb. She was graceful and polite. She and I chatted about politics, education, family values and some other things. It was rather surreal. Of course, a lot of people wind of chatting with me about all sorts of things. Usually I get the mental ward escapee who hones in on my in the bank line and wants to talk about Jujube fruit. Anyhow, we got a pic of Salma Gundy and Julie and bid her farewell.

The usual suspects were there: Herbert Jefferson (Boomer from the original BattleStar Galactica), Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster), The Suicide Girls, and various wrestlers and older celebrities. Adam West and Burt Ward were there also. We didn't see them, but that would have been great. They also put on a panel discussion that we missed. Richard Hatch, Michael Dorn, Brent Spiner, LeVarr Burton and a bunch of other celebrities adorned the aisles.

Another favorite of mine was there as well. Jewel Staite from Firefly and Stargate Atlantis was there, but I usually say dumb things so I simply admired her from afar. Next time. Oh, and Jewel, if you are reading this, feel free to drop me a line. In all seriousness though, she is shiny.

 

Another great surprise to us, was running into our buddies from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Isaac Singleton, Jr., Vinnie Lozano and Treva Etienne were there. We hadn't seen them for at least a year, but it was just like carousing in New Orleans all over again. It is always great to be greeted with a warm smile and these guys are genuine.

The event was great. Not too big, not too small. A lot of celebrity artists and writers, the Red Mistmobile from Kic-Ass, the Delorean from Back to the Future, the Batmobile, vendors, and more.

Considering the show was canceled last year, I believe Wizard put on a mighty fine show.

MONSTERPALOOZA!!!

MonsterPalooza in Burbank, CA today. What a fun time. Me baby brother Rotgut and I went. Monsterpalooza is a gathering of Horror genre aficionados, make-up artists, Horror movie actors/writers and other scary movie special effects folk.

Last year me lovely wife Salma Gundy and meself went with our lovely friend Dastardly Debbie (or Double D) and had a great time. There were not too many people there, but it was interesting nonetheless. Now, while we are not big monster/horror fans, we do appreciate the genre enough to check it out. This year, wow, the place was packed. Whereas last year we just walked right in; this year the line was around the building. It was looking a lot like San Diego Comicon of horror.

There were many special effects/prosthetic makers from many films. It feels a lot like an industry sort of convention. People talking about the projects they are working on or will be. The cast from a new movie "Black Waters of Echo's Pond" was there and they all signed a poster for me. They all seemed very friendly. The movie may suck, but then again, don't all the good slasher type flicks?

A lot of actors from the golden age of monster movies were there as well as members of Bela Lugosi's and Lon Cheney's families. One of the highlights for me was meeting Jonathan Winters, the comedian. He had written a book of short stories which I had read years ago. In the introduction he had made some statements about when it is time to be an adult, be an adult, and other times, be a kid. That was the essence anyway. It always stuck with me. He was a trip. He shared stories of being diagnosed bi-polar and dyslexic and how his parents and teachers called him and idiot and a loser. I will tell ya, he is not passive about his disdain for them. We had a nice chat and he told me to share some life information with my students. Although, truly, I would probably be arrested if I actually shared what he told

me to share. Or he was just making reference to his love of felines.

The day was nice. Rotgut and I kicked around and just relaxed. Creepy as all getout as it  was, it was a lot of fun.

I am left, though, with a nagging question. Why is it that as soon as a chick gets naked in one of these movies, she has to have her head sawed in half? Or she is naked and dead? Or naked and a zombie? Or naked and gonna kill you? Where are the good old days where they could just be naked? I bet that this new movie "Black Waters of Echo's Pond" there will be a naked chick whom gets killed. Sigh. Oh well, I suppose boobs is boobs.