The Black Bunny

* REVISED* Dragon*Con 2011 Mobile App's for iPhone, Android & Blackberry Available!

2011-08-26T11:13:00.001-04:00

They just added links for the Blackberry & Android D*C 2011 Mobile App's. Look for the links at the bottom of the page.

D*C 2011 Mobile App's Link

August 26, 2011

Dragon*Con 2011 Mobile App for iPhone Available!

2011-08-26T09:25:00.000-04:00

Posted just for those that have an iPhone. I'm waiting patiently to see if an Android version appears...

D*C 2011 iPhone Mobile App

August 26, 2011

D*C 2011 Insanity at Jesse's!

2011-08-25T21:45:00.001-04:00

Most pre-Dragon Con production has been at Jesse's house. Here is a pictorial sample of the carnage, work and costumes....

Tenative D*C 2011 Schedule Grid

2011-08-17T15:42:00.001-04:00

Enjoy!!

Tenative D*C 2011 Schedule Grid

Dragon Con and the dreaded Con Crud

2011-08-15T08:21:00.002-04:00

Con Crud - a slang term for that illness that either hit you at a con or that hits you right after you come home from a con. It is usually caused by non-life-threatening viruses such as a cold, influenza or swine-flu. On more rare occasions, it can also show up as stomach flu.

Con Crud is all about the germs. These germs can be transferred to you via air (sneezing and coughing), direct contact (shaking hands and hugging), indirect contact (touching door handles or stair railings) and the exchange of bodily fluids (sex and kissing).

People have many different ways of trying to minimize their risk of getting and spreading Con Crud.

1)    Increase your vitamin intake. Extra everything from one-two weeks before
        D*C until the day after you get home.

2)   Wash your hands frequently throughout the day. Soap and water are better than
        hand sanitizer.

3)    Hand sanitizer. It is better than nothing.

4)    A daily shower. You will have been exposed to tons of germs. Get them off!

5)    Eat well. Take time at the con to eat real meals. Consuming nothing but junk
        food will lower your resistance to getting sick.

6)     Sleep. Yes you can power through the con on energy drinks but it will weaken
        your body and make it easier for you to get sick.

7)    Sneeze into your elbow. The chance of someone touching your elbow is
        miniscule compared to your hand. At the very least, shield your nose and mouth
        with your hands (and then wash them, see rule # 2)

8)    Don't share your drinks. This is for safety as well as sanitary reasons.

9)    Don't lick the elevator buttons. I know it's tempting, but just say no.

If you are a little more paranoid than most then you might also want to consider…

1)    Limit Physical Contact by minimizing hand shaking and giving hugs.

2)    Purify the Hotel Room by getting some disinfecting wipes (preferably ones that
        claim they can kill the flu virus) and use them to wipe down the common surfaces,
        like the door handles, TV remotes and toilet flusher.

I will personally start my Airborne regiment today. While some people believe Airborne is a waste, it has worked for me in the past so I will continue to use it. I will also be diligent about my daily vitamins and I am considering picking up some vitamin C. I have already packed my personal hand sanitizer to carry around with me and the large one that sits on my dresser in the hotel room. Lastly, I will be following the 3-2-1 rule but mine is more like 6-2-1. Six (6) hours of sleep, two (2) decent meals and one (1) daily shower.

If all else fails and you still get Con Crud, I recommend seeing a doctor if it involves a fever, or doesn't clear after 24 hours or so. It is probably more than just the common cold. You could have caught something serious. If you did contract something more serious (i.e. influenza or stomach flu, etc,) at the con, it may be worth alerting your closest con buddies so they have a heads up and can take extra precautions.

D*C 2011 Poor Man's Pub Crawl Schedule

2011-08-12T08:24:00.001-04:00

Looks like an interesting evening....

D*C 2011 Pub Crawl Protocol

2011-08-10T08:29:00.002-04:00

The Pub Crawl is growing each year. With that in mind, I have compiled and list of suggestions, guidelines and general rules for the Poor Man's Pub Crawl.

Suggestions….
> Make sure you have eaten a decent dinner and given it time to settle before the Crawl begins.
> Limit yourself to one drink per room.

Conduct…
> If you become too drunk or obnoxious, you will be asked to leave the Crawl and you will not be invited back the next year.
> Please remember you are in someone else’s hotel room. Respect them, their property and the hotel property.

Protocol…
> If you drop out of the Crawl before completing all the stops, you will drop to the bottom of next years Crawl room list.
> Each stop will be approximately 30 minutes. We will have an official timer. Time will start when the official timer arrives (not the first person) and end when the official timer calls ‘TIME’. At that time everyone must head to the next stop.

Judges…
> If you do not complete the entire Crawl, your votes will be disqualified and you will not be asked to judge the next year.
> If a room has multiple drinks being served for their theme, I suggest you sample each drink instead of having a full glass.

Geek Night at Kyle's

2011-08-09T13:19:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday night, Kyle hosted his first Geek Night in his new house and it was a smashing success. It was attended by Jesse, Josh, Me, Darrell, Donna, Harris, Liz, DTag, Melissa, Zach and assorted others.

There were games, TV, food and PINBALL! Kyle has a fantastic pinball machine in his den. It really was the hit of the gathering!

I'm not quite sure how or why it happened but at sometime, it became all about the feet..

But that is great lead in to the shoes. Late last week, I received the Mermaid shoes. I ordered them back in June and was beginning to get a little worried about them. I knew Donna was going to Geek Night so I brought hers with me. I could not wait to see someone wearing them. They are 5 1/2 inch clear heels with what looks like water and goldfish in the 2 inch clear toe platform. What do ya think???

I LOVE them!

The rest of the evening was spent watching Dr. Horrible, socializing and playing games - Catch Phrase, Cranium and Apples to Apples. Unfortunately, Zach ended up on our team. I say unfortunately because Zach is good at these games and really enjoys playing them. On the other hand, his team mates were either tipsy or missing. At the least the one that bailed got a date out of it.

And a good time was had by all!

D*C 2011 Map

2011-08-05T08:27:00.001-04:00

View D*C 2011 in a larger map

Helpful D*C Links

2011-08-03T08:23:00.013-04:00

If there are any links that should be added to these lists, please let me know. Also, if there are any links that are incorrect, not working or just need to be removed, please let me know.

Official D*C Websites
     The Official D*C Site
     D*C Newletter
     D*C TV
     Dragon*Pod
     Daily Dragon
     D*C Parade

Live Journal Accounts
     D*C LiveJournal
     D*C Rooms Live Journal
     DragonCon's Cheap Hotel Klingon
     Potential Photo Shoot Locations

Wiki's
     The BEST D*C Wiki
     D*C Wikipedia

D*C Track Links
     Alternate History
     American Sci-Fi Media
     Animation
     Anime/Manga
     Anne McCaffrey’s Worlds
     Apocalypse Rising
     The Armory
     Art Show Forums and Workshops
     Brit Track
     Costuming
     Dark Fantasy
     Electronic Frontiers Forums
     Filk Singing
     Independent Film Track
     Kaleidoscope
     Paranormal
     Podcasting: Now & Beyond
     Robotics
     Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time
     Science
     Sci-Fi and Fantasy Literature
     Skeptics
     Space
     Star Gate: Multiverse
     Star Wars
     Tolkien’s Middle-Earth
     Trek Track
     Whedonverse
     Writer’s Track
     XTrack
     Young Adult Literature

Facebook Accounts
     DragonCon
     American Sci-Fi Classics Track
     Anime/Manga

Reddit
     Dragon*Con

Twitter Accounts
     DragonCon
     DragonCon TV
     American Sci-Fi Media
     Filk Singing
     Podcasting: Now & Beyond

Blogs
     Zach’s Blog – Hockey Cop
     The Black Bunny Blog

Our Favorite Sci Fi Janitors

2011-08-02T09:12:00.000-04:00

Who cleans the mess once Dragon*Con is over? That's Bob and Carl, the Sci-Fi Janitors.

Our favorite Sci Fi Janitors have their schedule posted for D*C 2011. All the info can be found here.

And if you need your fix before D*C, you can check out their YouTube Channel.

Sci-Fi Janitors - Making the Best, Of All Your Mess

D*C 2011 Progress Report

2011-07-29T08:32:00.000-04:00

The Progress Report is a 60-page booklet detailing the latest information on guests, fan tracks, contests, dealers/exhibitors, and other Convention related information.

Currently in the mail and showing up at Comic Book stores all around Atlanta, for those of you that can’t wait, you can get your copy right now by clicking on the link below!

Announcement about D*C 2011 Badge Transfers Deadline

2011-07-28T08:25:00.003-04:00

The last day the D*C office will process membership transfers will be Wednesday, August 3rd. Anyone wanting to transfer membership must do so through the Dragon*Con Office. They WILL NOT be processing membership transfers at the show. Click here for more information.

D*C 2011 – 36 Days away and counting!

2011-07-27T08:18:00.001-04:00

As always there is lots going on this year. There will be the traditional Thursday Night Dinner, the Friday Night Poor Man’s Pub Crawl, the Black Bunny Crew will march in the parade on Saturday morning and the Masquerade viewing on Sunday night - plus the thousands of other convention events going on during the weekend.

I have heard from some people about Thursday night dinner. Right now there is a three-way tie between Meehan’s, Max Lager’s and Benihana all close to the three main host hotels. I will need to know a pseudo-concrete number by August 22 to make sure the restaurant has room for us. If you haven’t let know you are going, please do as soon as possible.

The Poor Man’s Pub Crawl is currently FULL. We have seven rooms participating and expect approximately 35 people to walk the crawl. Due to the large numbers this year, ONLY people associated with a Pub Crawl room and judges will be walking the Crawl. I will be tapping a few people (very few) as impartial judges. If you are interested, let me know.

The Black Bunny will be walking in the D*C parade on Saturday morning. I am hoping for a big turnout. If you plan on walking with us, let me know and I will add you to the list. I just want to make sure I have enough parade ribbons for everyone.

The Masquerade viewing on Sunday night will probably be planned…… sometime that Sunday morning. It will be word of mouth, or email, or text, or Facebook, or Twitter, or Google+ but it will not be on MySpace. I really don’t know yet.

To Life, Love & Loot!

2011-06-02T23:18:00.002-04:00

Love the new commercial!!!

Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides

2011-05-22T17:42:00.010-04:00

It has been a long time. Sorry about such a long absence but life just got busy. I have made it a goal to not let that happen again.

While I will eventually go back and catch-up on some past events, I want to start with Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides. I was lucky enough to attend a midnight showing at Great Escape in McDonough with Bo’ sun, Powder Monkey and Stowaway. Unfortunately, Capt. Riggs was still recovering from surgery and was unable to attend.

**** SPOILER ALERT ****

Verdict: Over all, a definite thumbs up!

There were things I did not like such as the 'flame thrower' weapon on the Queen Anne's Revenge - that was just weird.

Also the Zombie crew did nothing for me; I thought they were a moot point. They really could have used non-Zombie characters to play those parts.

I understand the 'love' story between Philip (the missionary - "I support the missionary's position" - J. Sparrow) and Syrena (the mermaid) but it seemed haphazard. It seemed like, OK we have to have a relationship to get the 'tears of joy' scenario but we really don't want to focus on a relationship so we won't do much of anything with it.

Also, I really wished they had not involved The Queen Anne's Revenge. The fact is Queen Anne's Revenge was run aground in 1718 near Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina. On Nov 21, 1996, a private research firm discovered the site believed to be Queen Anne’s Revenge. That made it very difficult for me to buy Barbossa now having control of the Queen Anne's Revenge. Now, don't get me wrong - I LOVED the scene at the end where we got to see Barbossa go full pirate - I just wish it had been a different ship.

Now using Blackbeard, I don't mind as much. Blackbeard has so much mythology built around him, it makes the story believable. Such as he was beheaded and still swam around his boat six times. In truth, Blackbeard fell with five shot in him and 20 dismal cuts in several parts of his body. Now please correct me if I am wrong, I have only seen the movie once, but did they not reference Blackbeard's death? If so, I can believe him either not truly dying or coming back - it goes a long way in explaining his supernatural powers (who knows maybe the ship 'came back' with him). I am still confused though, if he 'came back from death', why would be so concerned about dying again and why would Angelica be concerned for his soul - seems a little late too me.

So, what did I like?

The designs. Jack has changed just enough to be interesting - including sun bleached hair and longer dreads. I loved the look of Blackbeard and was pleasantly surprised with their take on Angelica.

The Queen Anne's Revenge. No, I didn't like the use of the name but I WANT that ship. The skeleton masthead. Flying his flag off the bowsprit instead of the main mast. I loved all of it!

The mermaids. Beautiful and deadly.

Richard Griffiths as King George and his thumbs up!

Judi Dench as the high society lady Capt'n Sparrow nibbles on (and acquires her earring) in the carriage.

Getting to see Capt'n Teague and Gibbs again.

Finally, seeing Barbossa go back to full-on pirate at the end of the movie. That was awesome!!

So, while it had its shortcomings, overall it is a fantastic movie!

Now, I say this with a bias but I want Pirates 5.

Pretty please....

Dragon*Con 2010 - Monday

2010-09-25T21:47:00.000-04:00

Dead Dog Day. We were up and had the room completely packed by 9:30a. I went ahead and called for luggage assistance expecting a 1 ½ hr wait – that would get us checked out by 11a. Much to my surprise, there was no wait and they would be up in 10 minutes. I left Darrell with the luggage and ran over to get the car. By the time, I made it back to the Marriott, Darrell and the luggage were waiting for me. We packed up the car and went back to the parking deck. It was nice to meander around the Monday morning dregs and not have to stress about moving the luggage down. Darrell and I took one more walk through the Exhibitors Hall’s and the Dealer’s Room. I got to say good bye to my Kindra, Conner and Paul and then we were outta there. I never make it past noon at D*C on Monday. I am ready to go home. I’m tired.

The rest of my afternoon consisted of unpacking intermingled with long naps.

The next adventure, Disney!!!!!

I leave you with some random D*C pictures taken throughout the weekend…

Dragon*Con 2010 - Sunday

2010-09-25T09:44:00.000-04:00

Sunday is normally my sleep in morning but NO not this year. I had pictures with Stan Lee at 10a. Normally, I don’t do the photos but I couldn’t pass up a picture with Lafayette from True Blood and I really don’t think I will ever see Stan Lee again.

After the photo, I wanted to hit the Walk of Fame as early as possible. I have discovered that early Sunday morning visits to the Walk of Fame means shorter lines. One of my vices is getting my DVD’s signed. This morning I was after Marty Klebba and Lee Arenberg from the Pirates movies, Nelsan Ellis and Sam Trammell from True Blood and Patricia Quinn from the Rocky Horror Picture show.

As I arrived, there was no one at Lee or Marty’s tables. I walked up and pulled out my DVD. As they were signing, I told them I had brought them a little gift and asked about their t-shirt sizes. Luckily, I had done some research for Marty’s t-shirt. I was prepared. I think they liked the Black Bunny Crew shirts. Marty was a sweetheart. He ran around the table for me to take a picture and then Lee followed suit. They were great guys.

There was a short line for Sam and Lafayette. I will admit, I was impressed by Nelsan. He took my DVD opened it up and then looked at me and said, ‘Good morning Captain’. I think he is the first celebrity to actually take time to read my D*C badge. It made me smile. Sam was just Sam. He comes across just like his True Blood character – down to earth and just a nice guy. We was even wearing a plaid shirt and blue jeans.

I was about to walk out of the room when Jesse and Josh walked in. We decided to take one more stroll around to see all the celebrities before heading across the hall. On our way out, Tia Carrere bumped into Josh. He didn’t notice who it was until Jesse pointed it out.

We walked to the other side of the Hilton and walked into the smaller Walk of Fame room, I just wanted to lay eyes on the ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ cast. Larry Hagman (Major Nelson) and Bill Daily (Major Healy) definitely looked their age but Barbara Eden has aged gracefully. She is still beautiful.

Then we wandered through one of the Exhibit all’s and back through the Dealer’s Room. None of the vendor’s really stood out to me this year.

Darrell and I walked back over to Artist’s Alley in the Hyatt. That was one thing he wanted to see before the weekend was gone. I stayed awhile but was exhausted. Finally, I told him I would meet him back in the room.

I took a little nap and then started the daunting task of packing up the room. I didn’t get it all done but I made good head way.

At 3p, we had a Disney meeting. It seemed to be the only time we could all get together. We discussed meeting times, travel arrangements and all that good stuff. Dtag had some fantastic t-shirts made for us all to wear to MNSSHP and Zach brought us personalized drinks!

The main Sunday event is the viewing of the Masquerade in someones room. It is usually in my room but since Jesse had the bigger room, we all met there. I’m trying to remember how many people we had… Josh, Kyle, Jesse, Zach, me, Darrell, Kris, Jane, Chris, Julian, Patricia, Liz, Steve, Kindra, Paul and Conner. I think that was most of everybody.

The only exceptional thing about the Masquerade this year was Logan. Logan is Diana and Patrick’s son. He had been costuming as Ang, the last Airbender at D*C. Denise Crosby happen to see him, get a picture with him and told him to enter the Masquerade – she was a judge. I believe it was his first contest. He won a PS3 for Best in Show in the Children’s category. It was nothing but a room full of screams when they announced it.

The rest of the Masquerade was spent questioning costumes, wondering why there was a bored child on stage for the duration of the Masquerade and brainstorming what we could do better – in other words, a typical Masquerade viewing. At least they did play our beloved Duck Dodger’s in the 24 ½ Century. I personally think someone should go as Duck Dodgers (Daffy Duck) and ‘Eager Young Space Cadet ‘(Porky Pig) at the next D*C.

Dragon*Con 2010 - Saturday

2010-09-24T21:14:00.000-04:00

I was up at 8a on Saturday morning. The Crew was meeting down stairs in front of the Marriott at 9:15. The parade lineup was at 9:30a. In all the years the Black Bunny has walked the D*C parade, I don’t think we have ever made it before 10a. It’s a good thing the pirates don’t walk first. We had most of the Crew for the parade. A few succumbed to the Pub Crawl hangover or babysitting and some of the Crew walked with caution trying not to succumb to the Pub Crawl ill effects. Overall, it was a great representation from the Black Bunny Crew! Let me say a huge ‘THANK YOU!!’ to everyone who walked the parade with the Bunny.

The parade was a little different this year. We couldn’t give out beads. I did get to see more but I really missed the beads. I’m want to talk to the parade coordinator and see if we can work in some beads next year. To me, it makes all the difference in the world.

After the parade, we gathered in the Pulse Loft for one last group shot. When the waves of people started pouring into the Marriott, we knew the parade was over. Darrell was a sweetheart and went to food court to grab us lunch while I headed back to the room.

After lunch, Darrell took a nap while I headed over to the Artist Alley. This was the first time Shag had attended D*C and I had lots o’stuff for him to sign. Steve V. told me the day before that Shag was only signing between 2p and 3p and I did NOT want to miss him. I got there about 1:45p and was 5th in line. I saw Steve was first. I’m glad Steve and I were both there. It allowed us get pictures of each other with him.

I have to tell you, Shag was wonderful! I had a large print, book, coaster tin and about 16 postcards. He signed them all.

I went back to the room for a little rest. After a short nap,I walked down to Jesse's room. I got to see Steve, Liz and Zach suited up for Ghostbusters and the lovely Donna visited in her Wonder Woman costume.

It wasn't long before Erik arrived for the evening. He and Darrell were getting ready in our room for the IBK Convention downstairs. It took a little time to get ready but they looked amazing!

They headed out and met up with the other IBK members and tons of pictures taken while they gave out handfuls of IBK beads.

I spent the rest of the evening looking at costumes, wandering the floor, drinking rum with Kris and hanging out with Kindra, Paul and Conner in the back corner of the Marriott.

I wasn’t there when it happened but I was told Conner experienced his first photo frenzy. Kindra has specifically dressed him in case the perfect photo opportunity presented itself and it did….

The evening lobby shot…

Dragon*Con 2010 - Friday

2010-09-24T10:00:00.002-04:00

I was up and out early Friday morning. I went with Jesse and Kyle to the True Blood panel at 10a. The panel was fun and entertaining. The best part, I got to see my beloved Lafayette in person.

After that panel, I ran down to Froggy’s to find out when my True Blood pictures were scheduled for today. I was to be back around 1:30p. That gave me just enough time to grab lunch and get ready. I texted Kindra the time. I wanted her in the picture with me.

After the picture, I walked back up with ‘Pam’ (Kristin Bauer) from True Blood. She was very sweet and didn’t seem to want to run away from her fans like some celebrities.

I had time for a quick run through the Dealer’s Room with Jesse before I went back to the room to prepare for the Poor Man’s Pub Crawl. Darrell was a sweetheart and ran to the food court and brought dinner back to the room for me. After dinner, I began staging the Pub Crawl ribbons and mixing the Tiki Tea. I even managed to handwrite a couple of Pub Crawl schedules for those who wanted them.

At 6:15p, folks started arriving. After taking care of all the ribbons and making sure everyone had a drink, it was time for the ‘Group Photo’. There were so many participants at Tiki Tea; I had to take the photo in two parts.

Thus the Pub Crawl began. Next room was the ‘Borg’ stop. We hit a minor snafu in that there were no cups. A quick elevator ride back down to my room and a fight to get back to the ‘Borg’ room – including 4 flights of stairs – and we were back in business.

From the ‘Borg’ room, we journeyed over to the Hyatt for ‘Mardi Gras’ in the International Tower.

Next was the deadly Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle room in the Radius Tower at the Hyatt. I did make a public announcement that if you had never consumed Absinthe before to BE CAREFUL, it WILL kick your butt. Some listened, some didn’t.

The TMNT won a special award for causing the most memory loss among participants – Cricket; your Fez is on the way!

Next, we journeyed, well some staggered, back to the Marriott. It was time for HELL! The Hell room was amazing. The red lighting, the dry ice and awesome drinks and lots o’spicy snacks.

Jed did some AMAZING radio clips as part of their theme but the noise level made it impossible to hear them. I did have them posted here but Gabcast blew up on me. I'll try and find a new host!

Our last stop was the Stark Industries Mixer. They went all out. Josh, Kyle, Jesse and Zach were dressed to the nines. Zach was security; your name was taken and checked at the door. The room was illuminated by the glowing ‘ice cube’ in each drink. Once all participants were present, a quick welcome was made by Jesse and Zach queued the music by asking Kyle to ‘lay down a fat beat’. That is when the AC/DC started. It was the last room full of Pub Crawl drunks. There was much socializing, friendship and things I’m sure I don’t want to know about going on in the dark.

I have to brag on Kyle and Zach as this point. Going into the room, Zach would not break character. I was trying to breeze in before everyone else and he would not let me by without giving my name and checking his list. Annoying yes but I was highly impressed. Way to go Zach!

Kyle was also incredible. If you wanted a drink, he got you a drink. If you ask him a question, you were given a quick response followed by ‘Ma’am’ or ‘Sir’. At one time I was harassing him about being so straight laced and formal and the only answer I received was ‘Yes ma’am. Thank you ma’am.’ Kudos to Kyle for staying in character for the entire Stark Industries Mixer – especially after partaking at five previous pub crawl stops.

At 10:15p, I made a grand announcement that if you were present – we had lost a few on the way – you had successfully completed the 2010 D*C Poor Man’s Pub Crawl. I told everyone I loved them but to get the hell out.

After some Pub Crawl after-party fun, it was off to bed. It was going to be an early morning for the Black Bunny Crew!

Dragon*Con 2010 - Thursday

2010-09-22T22:35:00.005-04:00

The morning started with a text message. All week, I wasn’t sure if Kindra was going to make D*C. Her grandmother had been in the hospital and had been released just the day before, on Wednesday. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when I read my text message from Kindra that not only was she going to make it but she was currently checking in to the Hyatt!!!

We met Jesse, Kyle, Donna and Harris in the lobby and walked over to the food court for breakfast. Everyone grabbed what they wanted and we reconvened at a table in the middle of the food court. As I was about to take my first bite, I noticed someone standing by the corner. AS I glanced up, I saw that it was Kindra, Conner and Paul. I jumped up, ran off, gave them a hug and then stole Conner from his stroller. It was the first time I had seen him since the day he was born.

After all the excitement, we finished breakfast and all made our way to the Pre-Reg Line. In years past, registration had not started until 2p or 3p. This year it was scheduled to begin at 10a. We wanted to be there early and hoped for a short wait. When we arrived at 9:30am, the line was down the sidewalk of the Sheraton and about to round the corner to the back.

I was a little disappointed. I thought the line would be shorter. What I failed to realize is that the line was completely formed outside on the sidewalk. There was no one in the Sheraton. When they opened the doors, the line moved swiftly into the cattle chutes known as the pre-reg line. Before then, I never realized just how many turns there was in the line. When you move slowly, it doesn’t really compute. When you are almost running, it seems like a million turns. We finally came to a halt about three rows from the letter break-out lines. Darrell and I were lucky; we were in and out in about 30 minutes. Some of the others took longer.

While I was waiting for the rest of the crew to finish, I went around to pick-up the Black Bunny parade ribbons. I asked a cute little blonde if they were ready and she replied ‘yes’. Since I can never remember what name I put the ribbons under, I started with my real name. All of a sudden the cute little blonde said, “I know you.” I had no response. I thought, I flipped through all the mental index cards and I could not place her anywhere. Finally she said, “I used to be married to Chip.” Then it hit me. This was the girl Chip had dated and then married after we broke up back in college. As I was taking all of this in, she was checking the list for my name. After she didn’t find it under my real name, I asked her to look under Annabella Griffin. As she was looking, another older lady walked over and said you are the Black Bunny right? I confirmed and then the cute blonde, whose name is Kris, introduced me to her mother – the D*C parade coordinator. What a small world! That was my surreal moment of the weekend.

Once we all had our badges in hand, it was back to the Marriott. It was late Thursday morning and everyone was arriving for D*C. There were luggage carts piled as high as allowed for as far as the eye could see in the lobby. Several of us grabbed seats in the Pulse Loft and watched the insanity ensue. After visiting, socializing and helping dye Donna’s hair, I headed back up to the room. I had to confirm the Thursday night dinner reservation at Max Lager’s. At the time, I had about 15 confirmed for a 7:30p reservation.

Around 6:30p, we headed to Jesse, Kyle and Josh’s room and then down to the meeting place in the Marriott lobby. Everyone was prompt. By 7p, we started making our way over to Max Lager’s. We arrived about 7:15p and were seated by 7:25p. They put us in the back – a good decision on their part. We have a tendency to walk around and mingle.

As we were leaving the restaurant, someone mentioned that Luke Perry, a D*C guest, was sitting at the bar. Sure enough, a quick run and peek inside confirmed it. That was our first star sitting outside the Walk of Fame.

After dinner, there was more socializing around the Marriott. We determined by the sheer number of people and number of costumes that Thursday was the new Friday, which meant Wednesday was the new Thursday – it made us feel better about checking in so early. Jesse couldn’t stand it any longer and had to go put on his Ghostbuster’s costume. While he was changing, Darrell and I were on a mission to find Timmy. Timmy is the stuffed monkey mascot from ThinkGeek.com. I knew this would be my only opportunity, so I was monitoring the Twitter feed. It paid off, I found Timmy on the main Marriott lobby level wearing his Slave Leia costume.

The rest of the evening was spent admiring all the costumers in the lobby.

As always, I end the night with a Marriott Lobby shot from the 9th floor.

Dragon*Con 2010 - Wednesday

2010-09-22T22:18:00.004-04:00

Dragon*Con 2010 was exhausting; fun, but exhausting. Even getting there one day earlier than normal didn’t seem to lessen any of the insanity of the weekend.

We headed up to Atlanta on Wednesday this year. Usually, we head up on Thursday morning. Over the past few years, it seemed the Thursday load-in at the hotel was so crazy and crowded we decided to try it a day early.

Before heading out, we had to make one stop. Jesse had to get a haircut. He was prepping to do his Les Grossman at Dragon*Con and he was going all the way. All he had left was the haircut and he only trusted his regular barber.

After the shock of seeing Jesse with only half-a-head of hair, we ran by Chick-fil-a for breakfast. By the way, the ‘we’ consisted of me, Darrell, Jesse and Kyle.

We arrived at the Marriott by 10:30a; about the same time as Donna & Harris – good timing! We were all checked-in and to our rooms by 11a. Darrell and I, along with Donna and Harris were given rooms on the 9th floor. Jesse, Kyle and Josh had to settle for the 8th floor. Donna and Harris had been given the last double on the 9th.

Once the luggage, two carts worth, made it to the room, it was time to start unpacking. I am very particular when setting up my room at D*C. First, all unnecessary hotel items are stowed in the top of the closet. This includes but is not limited to coffee makers and accessories, glasses, bibles, room menu’s, tourist books, and the not-complimentary $5 dollar bottle of water. Once that is done, it is time to rearrange. We need a bar, a place for ice and drinks, a snack area and the important laptop space. This is usually trial and error. This was our second year in the Marriott so it moved quicker this year than last year.

Once the room was settled, it was time to do a little visiting and determine what we were going to do for dinner. We decided on Meehan’s for dinner. Meehan's is a newish Irish Pub one block up and two blocks over on Peachtree Street. At dinner I found a kindred spirit in Harris – we both love salt and vinegar chips so, of course, we had to order the homemade ones on the menu! They were good but I could have stood a little more vinegar on mine. Over all dinner was good. Darrell loved the salmon and my salad was delicious (I felt guilty about the chips).

After dinner, we wandered back to the Marriott and adjourned to the empty Pulse Loft. This is one of my favorite places during the convention. It gives one a unique view of one of the busiest floors in the Marriott during D*C. It was actually kind of creepy to see how empty it was on Wednesday night.

We all decided to turn in early. We made plans for an early breakfast and to arrive early for the Pre-Reg line on Thursday.

D*C 2010 Schedule – The Devil is in the Details!

2010-08-13T12:53:00.010-04:00

On the slate for this year....

Thursday Night Dinner
Poor Man's Pub Crawl (with room themes!)
Black Bunny Pirates - D*C Parade
PRDS Photo Scavenger Hunt (with prizes!)

The Thursday Night Dinner
The vote is in and it looks like Max Lager’s is the winner! If you are not familiar with them, here is a link to the website menu Max Lager American Grill Brewery. You will notice there are no prices listed. While I have not been able to get a 2010 menu with prices, I do have one from 2009. At least this will give you an idea.

On the list for Thursday night dinner is Regina & Darrell, Steve & Liz ,Jesse, Kyle, Jay, Kindra & Connor, Jed & Erin, Josh and Thi.

I have a soft reservation with Max Lagers for 10-15 people at 7:30pm. They want me to call and give them a final count the day before (Wed., Sept 1st). If you want to go and are not on the list above, let me know ASAP.

Poor Man's Pub Crawl
The Poor Man’s Pub Crawl has shaped up nicely. As it currently stands, there are 6 rooms and around 17 people. I expect the number of people to go as high as 20-24 with six rooms (that’s about 4 people per room). There are a couple of people that have expressed interest that either have not committed a room and theme or are in need of a room to host.

Below is a list of participants, room themes and a draft schedule. If you want to switch your time, let me know. If someone wants to add a room, let me know. Right now, the schedule goes until 10p. While this may seem early to some, I have discovered that as the night progresses, the Crawl loses people. The later the last room is scheduled, the fewer people will show up. It was a real pity last year because the last room had AMAZING drinks!

Regina & Darrell (Marriott) @ 6:15p – Tiki
Brandi, Jack & Thi (Marriott) @ 7p – Steam Punk or Star Trek
Kindra & Paul (Hyatt) @ 7:45p – Mardi Gras
Amanda, Will & Eric (Hyatt) @ 8:30p – TMNT
Jed & Erin (Marriott) @ 9:15p – Hell
Jesse, Josh & Kyle (Marriott) @ 10p – Stark Industries Mixer

I know that Diane & Patrick are interested and will host, they just need a room to use. Alex & Lindsey are ya’ll in???

Black Bunny Pirates - D*C Parade
Long live the Bunny! The Black Bunny Pirate Crew will be marching in the D*C 2010 parade. So far, the marching crew consists of Regina, Darrell, Jesse, Josh, Kyle, Zach, Donna, Melissa, Brandi, Thi, Amanda, Will, Eric, Kindra and Connor. We can always use more Bunny Crew. My dear, sweet Powder Monkey will be the flag bearer and I am hoping to recruit Kyle, Zach, Thi, Eric and Will to handle the bead bags. We will have lots o’beads to throw. This is always a fun event. If you want to march with the Bunny - and I strongly encourage you too - let me know.

PRDS Photo Scavenger Hunt
New this year! I have been kicking this idea around for a few years and finally decided to give it a try.

The scavenger hunt list will be available for pick-up on Thursday. I will be around the host hotels all day Thursday with the exception of badge pick-up and Thursday Night Dinner. Just call my cell. If you need my cell phone number, just message me.

There are lots of different photos on the list. They range from difficult, easy, funny, interpretive and everything in between. Plus, there are all kinds of ways to get bonus points! Basically, it really isn't about finding the most scenarios. It is more about finding the unique ones and getting creative with the photos. (Note, I said creative, not pornographic). So, if you think you won't be able to participate because you are not staying at the convention or have a full schedule while you are there, I would challenge you to at least get signed-up and get a list. You never know when you will snap that 100 point photo. After all, there will be a prize. The winner(s) will be announced at the Masquerade viewing on Sunday night, at which time we will also slideshow all the photo entries. It should get very interesting.

Atlanta Thrashers Draft Party 2010

2010-06-16T12:09:00.007-04:00

Free Admission to the Atlanta Thrashers Draft Party on June 25, 2010,
6:30p - 9:30p at the Philips Arena First Horizon Club.

Bogo and Kane will be there.
Free food provided by Maggiano's!

RSVP Here

Must RSVP by Wednesday, June 23rd.

Dragon Con 2010 - Event Planning

2010-06-15T13:27:00.006-04:00

It is mid-June and time to plan for the upcoming Dragon Con. It seems like the planning grows with each year.

On the slate for this year....
Thursday Night Dinner
Poor Man's Pub Crawl (with room themes!)
Black Bunny Pirates - D*C Parade
PRDS Photo Scavenger Hunt (with prizes!)

The Thursday Night Dinner
This is usually held at a nicer restaurant within walking distance of the host hotels. I have a couple of suggestions but be sure to throw in your own ideas. I would like to have a head count by August 1st. I will need a definite head-count by August 15th.
Here are my suggestions:

Max Lager American Grill Brewery
Meehan’s – Downtown
Trader Vic’s
Azio Downtown
Metro Cafe' Diner

I know there are many more in the area but I am not in downtown Atlanta enough to add to the list. Please make/add suggestions in the comments.

Poor Man's Pub Crawl
We will be holding the Poor man's Pub Crawl on Friday night. As currently planned, it will begin at 6'ish in my room. From there, we will journey to all other participating rooms gazing with wonderment at their chosen themes It is an event with much revelry, staggering and inebriation. Thus far, we have approximately 7 rooms and 13-15 participants. Remember to have a non-alcoholic option (water, juice, soda - most mixers will work for this) for those who can't/don't drink.

If you have a room in a host hotel and are interested in participating, let me know asap.

Black Bunny Pirates - D*C Parade
Long live the Bunny! The Black Bunny Pirate Crew will be marching in the D*C 2010 parade again this year. I am hoping to have decent group (jesse, josh, kyle, cricket, amanda, will, thi, emily, glen - don't you love the way I volunteer people). I will have the flag (and I do need a flag bearer) and lots o'beads to throw and give away. This is always a fun event. If you want to march with the Bunny - and I strongly encourage you too - let me know.

PRDS Photo Scavenger Hunt
New this year! I have been kicking this idea around for a few years and finally decided to give it a try. We are currently working on the scavenger hunt list. If you have any ideas to contribute, please send them to me.

You will be able to pick-up a copy of the list on Thursday, two hours after Badge Pick-up begins. There are lots of different photos on the list - some scary, some not - some difficult and some not. Plus, there are all kinds of ways to get bonus points! Basically, it really isn't about finding the most scenarios. It is more about finding the unique ones and getting creative with the photos. (Note, I said creative, not pornographic). So, if you think you won't be able to participate because you are not staying at the convention or have a full schedule while you are there, I would challenge you to at least get signed-up and get a list. You never know when you will snap that 100 point photo.

There will be prizes for different categories. Categories and Prizes have yet to be determined. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

Let the frenzy and insanity the is Dragon Con begin!! Well, at least a the planning part....

Last Thrashers Game 2009-2010 Season

2010-04-11T14:16:00.003-04:00

Last night was the Thrashers last game of the season. It was a great game to end the season. We played the Pittsburgh Penguins. Not only did we win, it was a shut-out. Then there were the fights. There was a so-so one with Boulton. He had a few good punches. THE fight was Kane and Cook. I think it took one good punch and Kane K.O'd Cooke. Cooke hit the ice HARD. They brought the stretcher out but he eventually skated off the ice himself. Here is an awesome picture from a Thrasher's fan of the Kane punch...

We had a good crew at the game. There was Darrell, Jesse, Josh, Kyle, Zach, Steve, Liz, Joel, de-Tag, Valorie and me. I also got to see Steve P., Joe P, Alex and Jay at the game.

This was Valorie's first hockey game and I think we have a fan.

We started out the night at Taco Mac. It was Steve's (Darrell's brother) birthday. Taco Mac has a sweet set-up. There is an entrance from Taco Mac to Philips Arena and you can actually take a to-go drink into the arena (non-alcoholic). Dinner was quick for Valorie and me since it took a while to get seated. I wanted her to see the warm-up down near the glass.

After warm up's we headed up to the seats. There was a 50% off on jersey's so Darrell picked him up a new blue jersey and he got me a yellow practice jersey. I had been looking at them all year.

It was a great game to watch and there was much fun to be had...

Josh's Thrashers Mullet wig made the rounds...

The whole gang!

A Musical with more Hockey....

2010-03-28T22:21:00.003-04:00

The past week has been busy as usual.

Last Tuesday it was THE hockey game - Thrashers vs. Bruins. Bruins were in the last playoff spot and the Thrashers were only 3 points behind them. If we could win this game, we had a real shot of making the playoffs.

And, we lost. It was a horrible game. Not only did we loose but it was a shutout. We didn't even score. We were not a happy group.

Friday night I had a sleep study at the hospital. Have you ever had a sleep study? It is not conducive to sleep. I arrived around 9p and was taken up to the Sleep Lab at 9:30p. At 10:15p, the tech came in to get me hooked up to 'everything' and I do mean 'everything'. Six leads (read as wires) to the head (read as in the hair - with an adhesive that resembled styling gel with crazy glue), six leads on the face, two leads on the chest and two leads on each leg. You would think that would be enough but noooooooo. Then they place two respiratory belts and two, yes two, nasal cannula's. Then they tell you that sleeping on your stomach is not allowed. After all of that, the tech flips off the light and says "Sleep tight." Right......
Anywho, I slept some and it's over now. I really hope I don't have to endure that again.

Sunday, Darrell, Jesse and I headed over to Chapel Hill High School in Douglasville to see Joey in 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'. It was a fantastic production. Joey played the Pharaoh a la' Elvis.

Here is a clip. It was done with my cell phone so it's not the best quality but you get the idea...

We were lucky enough to go to the same performance as the Hanson's so we were able to have dinner with old friends after the play... Bonus!!!

501st Catch Up!

2010-03-22T22:36:00.007-04:00

Whew, it has been a busy season.

Now, between hockey games, there were 2 major 501st events that happened. First was the 2010 Atlanta St. Patrick’s Day Parade downtown. The number of 501st participants are growing each year. This year there were members from Georgia, Carolina, Alabama and Mid-South. We also had members from two divisions of the Rebel Legion.

This is a FUN event.

We meet and park at the parade route end point and get ready. Then we take Marta to the Parade staging area. I love to watch the people stare as a line of Star Wars characters go marching by them.

At the parade staging area, Jesse pointed out a convertible Cadillac with Blues Brothers signs on it.

There we met Jake and Elwood Blues. Elwood gave me some beads and told me that he and his friend had been doing the ‘Blues Brothers’ and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade since the movie came out. Elwood was our friend.

It’s didn’t take long before Elwood popped the trunk of the Caddy and started offering drinks. He asked if I wanted some Crown Royal and I said, “Are you serious?” He answered “Sweetheart, I am retired, do well for myself and have 40 bottles.” How can you say no to that! Needless to say the 501st LOVED him. By the time the parade started moving, he had given us our own bottle for the parade. I did make sure to get his email so I could say 'Thanks' and send him some of the pictures I took.

Now add in loud dance music and we were starting to have a party at the parade line up... That is all I’m gonna say about these clips…

And there are more over at on the rumbunny13 YouTube channel.

Another exciting part of the parade was General Grievous. Ed, from the Carolina Garrison, had made an amazing body puppet of Grievous. Here are some photos and videos but they really don’t do it justice.
Put Pix side-by-side

He even got into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit…

I cannot move on without mentioning Princess and my favorite spectator on the parade route. Princess is an incredibly sweet and beautiful Husky. This is the second time her owner and the 501st have parked in the same parking deck. Needless to say, there is no lacking in love…

When I saw this little guy, I had to stop and get a picture of him…

Here are a few other pictures from the parade…

The Movie Magic of John Williams

Last and definitely not least, was the 501st helping out at the Woodruff Arts Center yesterday with the ‘The Movie Magic of John Williams’ program. It was a rare opportunity to participate with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. All costume characters were on stage at least once during the performance. We had to arrive early and work with the Conductor on blocking what would be happening during the show. Luckily, this was the second performance and we had a couple of people who had done it the night before. It went pretty quick and smooth. The biggest thing was creating a ‘generic’ Jedi out of Auggie so Count Dooku would have someone to fight. Actually, he looked more like a Nun from the dark side.

I did have time for a quick group shot with the Conductor during the walkthrough:

The area they had for the 501st the change was pretty sweet (by 501st standards). It was just the ‘Chorus Dressing Room’ but we liked it…

Since the Star Wars music was not till the end of the performance, I had the opportunity to head upstairs and watch the 1st half of the concert. It was fantastic! They played music from Superman, E.T., Harry Potter and Jaws. During the Jaws segment, an inflatable shark appeared and ‘swam’ its way through the orchestra to the other side of the stage.

At intermission, I headed back downstairs only to head back upstairs and backstage with everyone else. I was surprised we were able to get another quick group shot with the 501st is full costume with the Conductor before the second part of the program began.

I stood back stage and listed to music from Jurassic Park and a piece called ‘The Mission’. ‘The Mission’ is the full piece of music that was written for the NBC Nightly News – who knew???? On TV, you only get a small sampling of the music.

Once it was over, they changed and we packed up. I think everyone was exhausted. When we were about to leave, someone mentioned that Jason was now dressed up like his favorite Garrison CO. There had to be a picture…

Thrashers Hockey Catch-Up!!

2010-03-22T20:43:00.009-04:00

Lately, it seems like I am consistently running 2-3 weeks behind in everything except the Blog. That is more like 4-6 weeks behind!

I know the last few entries have been ‘bundle’ entries with several events being covered. Well, this one will be no different. In fact, it will have a slew of events covered. Sorry, but this is going to be a long post.

Well, after the last entry, it was all about Olympic hockey, specifically men’s hockey. While there were no Thrashers on the USA team, they were represented on several other teams. Ilya Kovalchuk played for Russia, Tobias Enstrom represented on the Team Sweden and both Ondrey Pavelec and Pavel Kubina both played for the Czech Republic. Even though I am a die-hard Thrasher’s fan, I admit I did become a bit of a Ryan Miller fan too. He is an amazing Goalie!

After the Olympics, I began a whirlwind of Thrashers games. They started off O.K. but then it turned pretty bad with a loosing streak that did not want to stop.
March 2 – Panthers v. Thrashers – WE WON!

March 7 – Hurricanes v. Thrashers - Not so great...

March 12 – Rangers v. Thrashers - Really not so great...

March 14 – Coyotes v. Thrashers - Lost in the Shoot Out.

Then there was the Sabres game on March 16th. Walking around, I think there were more Sabres fans in attendance than Thrasher fans but that was OK.

Something that night changed and while I’m not sure what it was, I liked it. My theory is that Mike attended the game with us… as a Sabres fan. Mike is a great guy, he just happens to be a Sabres fan. For the past few years, he and his wife have always sat with us at the Sabres-Thrashers game. Every game he has come too, the Thrashers have won. I consider him my own little twisted good luck charm. Don’t worry Mike, we’ll make sure you and Melissa have tickets for next year’s game.

(Quick Note: A ‘bucket’ is a helmet; specifically a Star Wars costume helmet like a Stormtrooper or Darth Vader. Just so the rest all makes sense)

Also, it was a bucket night for Zach (and Steve so Zach wouldn’t be alone). The official ‘Bucket Night’ was the following Saturday, Mar 20th against the Flyers. Since Zach had to go out of town that weekend, he decided to have his own bucket night before he left Atlanta.

We arrived at the game early and decided to get some pictures of Zach down by the ice. We picked a spot near the tunnel where the players exit to the bench. I had never been able to wait there before. It was usually too crowded. Guess that’s what a losing streak will do for attendance. Anyhow, as we were waiting, the SportSouth camera man was setting up to film the team’s entrance to the ice when he spotted Zach. He asked Zach to hold one of the Thrasher’s hockey pucks and point to it. It was a quick shot. We really didn’t know if they would use it and were ecstatic when we watched the game later on Tivo to see Zach right after the 1st period. Here is the clip:

It was also some of the best player photos I have been able to take. Here is my favorite of Eric Boulton.

Of course, the most exciting thing for me was hanging my hand down and getting the fist bumps from the players as they went back to the locker room. I know it’s silly but I loved it!

Zach and Steve made the jumbotron in their buckets but it was so quick, I couldn’t get a picture of it. The best part of the night – WE WON!!!! The loosing streak was over! It was a beautiful thing.

The next game was March 20th against the Flyers – The Official Bucket Night 2010.

Earlier on game day, BenThrashers had put out a Tweet (yes, I love Twitter) that Hedberg was in Goal that night. Since I had made a special Star Wars related hockey sign just for him, I was excited. I replied to BenThrashers that “we would have 7 Thrasher lovin’ Troopers and Darth Vader at the game that night.” He retweeted the message to all of his followers. I was really getting excited about the game. At the last minute we heard from Zach. He was coming back from his trip early and was heading straight from the airport to the game on Marta. We had a ticket waiting for him.

Again, we arrived early and to a huge crowd for a nice change. The gang convened at our seats in section 309. We had me, deTag, Liz, Darrell as a Republic Commando, Steve as a Biker Scout, Josh as Vader, and Alex, Jesse, Kyle and Zach as Stormtroopers. At this point in the evening, my main focus was photos and some video.

All I can say was it was AWESOME! First and foremost, we won the game. Lots of people came down to our seats for pictures – just as many adults as kids – gotta love that! The guys made the jumbotron TWICE! I was able to catch it the first time. I turned on the video as soon as I heard the Imperial March start playing…..

The second time was so unexpected and I didn’t have the camera ready.
After we got home, I received an email from Steve stating we had made SportSouth again. I pulled up the TIVO and sure enough, there we were. They caught at an awkward moment. Not everyone had their bucket on. It was between the 2nd and 3rd period. We were watching Thrash shoot his t-shirt cannon.

Liz had brought her puppet Frash to the game. Everyone loves Frash. He is this awesome bird puppet she has made just for the Thrashers games. He got his own little blip on TV during the ‘Final Take’ that is shown after ‘Thrasher’s Live’.

So, as you can tell, Bucket night was a huge success.

Young Frankenstein at the Fox

2010-02-14T14:45:00.004-05:00

Several weeks ago, Darrell and had the opportunity to go see the musical - based on the Mel Brooks movie - Young Frankenstein.

Since I bought tickets at the last minute, I chose a weekday night to get the best possible seats available. We went on Wednesday night. It worked. Ours seats were just right of the center Lodge, fourth row. It was funny listening to everyone around us. It was easy to pick out the Fox patrons with season tickets, "What is this about? Do you know anything about it?" and the Mel Brooks fans, "Thanks for coming with me to see this. I really wanted to go." - as one guy behind us quipped to his girlfriend.

We arrived early and decided to have a drink at The Livingston across the street from the Fox, located in the Georgia Terrace. They were serving a special drink just for the 'Young Frankenstein' run - Frankie's Potion. It wasn't too bad...

Darrell thoroughly enjoyed his and most of mine :)

The play itself was a lot of fun. I will admit I think I like the movie better but seeing it as a full blown musical was a treat. By far, my favorite character was Frau Blucher. She sang the best song in the play, "He was my boyfriend'! Yes, they created an entire song from that single movie quote...

He was my BOYFRIEND! sound bite Gene Wilder sound bites

Another highlight was the classic "Puttin on the Ritz". The audience went NUTS the first time the Monster said "Puttin' on the Ritz". Some of the script caught me off guard but it was funny! At one point Dr. Frankenstein and Igor are arguing over Igor's hump. It went something like this...

Dr. Frankenstein: "Wasn't that hump on the other side?"
Igor: "What hump?"
Dr. Frankenstein: "That hump?"
Igor: "I don't know what you are talking about?"
Dr. Frankenstein: "You don't know what I'm talking about."
Igor: "No."
Dr. Frankenstein: "Are you sure?"
Igor: "I have no idea what you are talking about."
Dr. Frankenstein: "That hump?"
Igor: "What hump? I don't know what you are talking about."
Dr. Frankenstein: "You really don't know what I'm talking about?"
Igor: "No."

This goes on for a a good three minutes. It ends when Dr. Frankenstein gives ups, looks at Igor and says "Oh, f*ck it!" and walks away. I didn't expect it but it was funny!

Overall, I recommend it and remember immaturity just makes it that much funnier!

I leave you with a montage. Enjoy!

Oh, one last thing. The merchandise. It was not outstandoing or very memorable but I have to admit, I did like the backpack...

HOCKEY!

2010-02-08T22:28:00.005-05:00

It is that time of the year. The time we start attending those beloved hockey games. This is just a quick catch-up.

We went and saw the Thrashers v. Hurricanes back on Jan 21st. Thrashers lost. It was a sad night.

Then we had the opportunity to see the Thrashers play the Ducks on Jan 26th. A much better game. Thrashers won!

I also had an opportunity to get near the ice for warm ups.....

What brought on a post about hockey? Well, I was going through a bunch of old stuff today and came across this awesome cartoon. I just had to share it, along with all my other other recent hockey pix!

Thrasherman at DragonCon 2009

2010-01-30T18:05:00.003-05:00

This is AWESOME! My buddy Zach over at Hockey Cop turned me on to this video. I wish I would have run into him last year. If I'm lucky, maybe he'll be back this year!

I'm back!

2010-01-25T23:14:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile and all I can say is that I have been a busy little girl. There are several videos I would like to share with you this week.

Let's begin with a fantastic video of the First IT Help Desk that my boss sent me...

I just had to share this.....

2009-12-06T15:58:00.001-05:00

GA 501st: Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Christmas Parade 2009

2009-12-06T11:53:00.003-05:00

I was early, it was cold and it was so worth it. I had the pleasure of handling for the GA 501st this past Saturday morning for the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Christmas Parade.

This was the second year I have been able to participate as a handler in this event. This year it was in the 20's and 30's with rain and snow predicted. Luckily, the only rain we saw was on the ride in to downtown. It was overcast when we lined up but the sun was out by the time we were walking the parade. It was still cold and the wind was fierce but at least it wasn't raining. You can see how windy it was in the video below. Thanks for the footage Izzie!

GA Garrison in the CHoA Xmas Parade, 12.04.09 from I. Herman on Vimeo.

Holiday Viewing

2009-11-22T12:14:00.007-05:00

One thing I like to do during the Holiday season is watch the TV specials. I love the ones I watched as a kid and I try to catch a few new ones each year - at least new for me. I recently did a little bit of research to see when some of my favorites would be airing. Below is the result of that research. It doesn't cover all the ones I would like to see but it lists my currently published options. I know I won't be able to watch them all of them but at least I will have choices.

Thanksgiving

   Nov 26   Thu   9am     NBC      Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
   Nov 26   Thu   8pm     ABC      Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Christmas

   Nov 28   Sat   8pm     NBC      Merry Madagascar
   Nov 30   Mon   8pm     ABC      Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
   Nov 30   Mon   8:30pm  ABC      Shrek the Halls
   Dec 1    Tue   8pm     ABC      A Charlie Brown Christmas
   Dec 2    Wed   7pm     NBC      Christmas In Rockefeller Center
   Dec 2    Wed   8pm     CBS      Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
   Dec 2    Wed   8pm     TCM      A Christmas Carol (1938)
   Dec 3    Thu   8:30pm  ABCFAM   The Polar Express
   Dec 4    Fri   7pm     ABCFAM   Frosty’s Winter Wonderland
   Dec 7    Mon   8pm     ABC      Santa Clause is Comin’ to Town
   Dec 8    Tue   7pm     ABCFAM   Mickey’s Christmas Carol
   Dec 8    Tue   8pm     ABCFAM   The Year without a Santa Claus
   Dec 8    Tue   9pm     ABCFAM   A Miser Brothers’ Christmas
   Dec 9    Wed   7pm     ABCFAM   Rudolph’s Shiny New Year  
   Dec 9    Wed   8pm     ABCFAM   Santa Claus in Comin’ to Town
   Dec 9    Wed   9pm     ABCFAM   Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys
   Dec 10   Thu   10pm    ABCFAM   A Flintstone Christmas
   Dec 11   Fri   8pm     NBC      A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
   Dec 12   Sat   8pm     CBS      Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
   Dec 14   Mon   8pm     ABC      Shrek the Halls
   Dec 15   Tue   7pm     ABCFAM   Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys
   Dec 16   Wed   7pm     ABCFAM   Mickey’s Christmas Carol
   Dec 17   Thu   6pm     ABCFAM   The Story of the First Christmas Snow
   Dec 17   Thu   6:30pm  ABCFAM   Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
   Dec 18   Fri   8pm     CBS      Frosty the Snowman
   Dec 18   Fri   8:30pm  CBS      Frosty Returns
   Dec 19   Sat   8pm     NBC      A Muppets Christmas: Letters To Santa
   Dec 23   Wed   7:30pm  ABCFAM   Miracle on 34th Street
   Dec 24   Thu   11am    ABCFAM   Mickey’s Christmas Carol
   Dec 24   Thu   1pm     ABCFAM   Twas the Night Before Christmas
   Dec 24   Thu   1:30pm  ABCFAM   Rudolph & Frosty’s Christmas in July
   Dec 24   Thu   3:30pm  ABCFAM   Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys
   Dec 24   Thu   6pm     ABCFAM   Frosty’s Winter Wonderland
   Dec 24   Thu   6:30pm  ABCFAM   Twas the Night Before Christmas
   Dec 24   Thu   7pm     ABCFAM   Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
   Dec 24   Thu   8pm     ABCFAM   Santa Clause is Comin’ to Town
   Dec 24   Thu   8pm     TBS      A Christmas Story Marathon
   Dec 24   Thu   9pm     ABCFAM   The Year Without a Stanta Claus
   Dec 24   Thu   10pm    ABCFAM   A Miser Brothers’ Christmas

Star Wars in Concert 2009

2009-11-04T20:23:00.006-05:00

I had the opportunity to help the GA 501st last night doing meet and greets with some of the costume characters before the Star Wars in Concert event at Gwinnett Arena.

We arrived before 5p and were directed to a large, secure area on the backside of the area with a large window running the entire length of the area. This was our changing area.

Once everyone was dressed, we headed out to meet the crowd, little did we know. The characters were split into several smaller groups and each group was assigned a handler. I was handling Emperor Palpatine and his two Royal Guards. I knew they were popular characters but it was a constant mob scene. Here is a picture I tried to take of the crowd...

Everyone loves the Emperor....

Many showed the proper respect...

But, as always, the children were the cutest in their Star Wars costumes...

All the characters left the meet and greets around 7:10pm to much disappoint to the crowds but they had to get changed for the concert. It was twenty minutes of mass chaos but we managed to make it to our FREE seats before it all got started.

All I can say was it was an amazing experience. The music was perfect. While you were watching the crystal clear movie clips overhead, you would forget that the music was being played live.

Here is a video clip I was able to get (in black & white)...

Once the concert was over, several of the characters suited up and went out to mingle with the crowds one last time. At the end of the night, everyone was exhausted but all agreed it was something none of them would have wanted to miss.

I hoping to post a slideshow of the displays that I hurriedly photographed tommorrow. Wish me luck.

In the mean time, here is a link to the photo's Jimmy Burns (XO and photographer extrordinaire) took last night.

Fantastic Halloween / Disney Video

2009-10-31T23:38:00.001-04:00

Shamelessly stolen from Hockey Cop's Blog

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T22:43:00.004-04:00

It has been a wonderful and low-key Halloween night. We have been watching the Addams Family Marathon since 3pm, it's now 10:45pm. I do love me some Addams Family.

Darrell carved the pumpkins earlier today and the trick-or-treaters started arriving just as he was lighting the candles and turning on the green porch light, around 6:30pm.

We had around 30 children come by the house tonight. The ones I can remember are a Clone Trooper, clown, cat, flapper, butterfly, GI Joe, Spiderman, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, cowgirls and the good ole' traditional witches, skeletons and devils. Joel and Holly brought Nathan by as the cutest little Buzz Lightyear I have ever seen.

Of course I had help from my Early Warning "Here comes a trick-or-treater" Alert System. Once I saw the intense stare, the ears go up and the streak they left running from the door, I knew a trick-or-treater was heading up the steps...

I have to add one additional picture. As most of you know, my mother has been in the hospital for the last few days. Well yesterday, I was visiting and as we were talking in walked....

...it took me a minute to realize it was mom's doctor, Dr. Blanchford. Evidently, her entire office had dressed up Friday. It was fantastic!

Well folks, it has been a delightful evening so it is time to say Good night and Happy Halloween everyone!

Castle, no Firefly, no Castle - WHAT?!?!

2009-10-28T09:43:00.005-04:00

I absolutely LOVED this when a co-worker of mine showed it to me this morning!!!

Seems Nathan Fillion is on a new show called 'Castle'. I have not watched it but you bet I will be now!

In this episode, he donned his Halloween costume...

I could not believe they did it and the dialogue was perfect! I love it when TV shows incorporate scenes that the fans can truly appreciate.

And just for good measure...

The Ghastly Dreadfuls

2009-10-26T22:39:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, some friends and me made our annual pilgrimage to see the 'The Ghastly Dreadfuls II: Handbook of Practical Hauntings and Other Phantasmagoria' at the Atlanta Center of Puppetry Arts. It is an adult Halloween themed half puppet show and half live acts. Even though I have seen some of the skits each year, they never get boring. It is a masterful mix of creepy, spooky, costume, humor and props. It is one of my favorite Halloween traditions.

Here is an older trailer but it will give you a good taste of what it is about...

Disney 2009: The Last Day (aka Day 9)

2009-10-08T13:16:00.002-04:00

Check-out day. We were all up, packed and heading off to breakfast at the Food Court by 9:30am. On the way back to the room, Steve grabbed a luggage cart. The guys loaded the cart, got it out to the Denali and loaded up.

We made our traditional stop in Downtown Disney for souvenir shopping. We were lucky enough to meet up and visit with Stuart, Ashley and Nate while at Downtown Disney. After two hours, we were ready to go. We had one last stop at the Hess Station to gas up and we were headed home. We made one stop for lunch at Chick-fil-a and rolled into Jesse's around 9:15pm.

All the luggage was unloaded, sorted and reloaded into the other cars and we all headed home.

Another WONDERFUL Disney trip done. I can't wait for 2010's!

Disney 2009: Day 8

2009-10-08T13:02:00.003-04:00

Today was an Epcot day and deTag's birthday. The gifts started early. Zach brought him two beautiful Cast Exclusive posters depicting the Animation History of Disney. Steve and Liz had gotten him a set of Disney PVC figures that had some of deTag's Disney favorites: Figment, Big Al and Ezra.

Darrell and I went into the park around 11a. We had been out late the night before and I had to put some last minute touches on deTag's birthday card.

We arrived at Epcot and stopped by the Animation Gallery to look around. One of the Disney Artist Larry Dotson (http://larrydotson.com/Walt%20Disney%20World.htm) was appearing and signing his prints.

What was the first print we see walking in the shop?

...and the second?

After a nice conversation with Larry and his wife, Darrell and I had both of our prints personalized and sent to the front for package pick-up.

The next order of business was to finish the last piece of deTag's birthday card. I stilled needed to get 'Happy Birthday" messages from Morocco, Japan, France and Italy. I started in France, then to Morocco. It was amazing to watch the Cast member write 'Happy Birthday Brain' in Arabic - from right to left. Next was Japan and finally Italy. Darrell finished it up with a drawing of the Spaceship Earth. We called it "Happy Birthday from around the World!" In Italy, we found a corner table in the shade, sat down and wax sealed the envelope.

We called everyone else to let them know we where in the park. We walked around to Norway for a ride on the Maelstrom and then over to Mexico. After a ride on 'Grand Fiesta', we met up with Jesse and deTag. After some window shopping, we walked outside and hooked-up with Steve, Liz and Stuart. Steve and Liz decided to walk over to the UK while the rest of us walked back to over Norway for another Maelstrom ride. We explored China and Stuart showed where to stand so that when you spoke, you could hear yourself. That was kind of neat. Next, we made a stop in Japan to rest and have some pre-dinner sushi.

We took our time and walked around to Canada. Our dinner was going to be at Le Cellier. Unfortunately, it was another long wait - nearly an hour. Luckily, most of us were too tired to care. We found different ways to occupy the time.

Dinner was superb. After the meal we gave deTag his birthday card and Jesse gave him a personalized Haunted mansion print from Larry Dotson. Desert was as good as the meal. DeTag's desert had "Happy Birthday" written in chocolate on the plate and Darrell and I ordered the Chocolate Moose...

With dinner being so late, we were in a practically deserted park when we left Le Cellier. The park had been closed for 45 minutes. We took our time walking to the front and took in all the beauty of Future World without any crowds.

We slowly made our way back to the front of the park and headed back to the resort. deTag had his last birthday surprise waiting in his room. Housekeeping had left a washcloth cake with pipe cleaner candles, some Celebrate buttons and balloons.

Zach came over to the resort to pick up a few things and say good-bye. It was late and we were tired but everyone packed up as much as they could before going to sleep.

Disney 2009: Day 7

2009-10-08T10:22:00.004-04:00

Today was Animal Kingdom day. While I didn't get up early to head to the park, Jesse and I were up at the crack of dawn to make our 2010 Dragon*Con Hotel Reservations. I tried at 7a and they told they were not taking reservations until 8a. Jesse and I were dialing back at 7:59a. We were both on hold for over 30 minutes. Jesse end his call and tried calling back. I was the first to get a customer service representative. Unfortunately, she was a moron. After several attempts, she simply told me to call back later. Jesse, on the other hand, got someone who knew what they were doing. Thanks to him, we (being him, Donna, Harris, Darrell and me) all have rooms at the Marriott Marquis for Sept 2-6, 2010. We love our Jesse!

After all of that, Darrell and I headed off to Animal Kingdom. Steve and Liz had already left and deTag and Jesse would be in later.

Our first objective was to see "It's Tough to be a Bug". This is one of my favorite 4-D movies across all the parks. Darrell being my little bug...

Next, it was off to Expedition Everest. He hopped in the Stand-by line since it was only a 10 minute wait. We flew through the queue. I was able to take a good shot of the yeti painting you pass underneath as you climb that first tall hill.

We jumped off Everest and went around to the line again. The wait had increased to 20 minutes but we hopped back in line. Since the line was a little longer, we were able to look at some of the many artifacts and props in the queue.

On this go around, I tried to video the Yeti animation that you get when the ride is switching the tracks from backward to go forward down the tallest drop in the ride. I also tried to video the animatronic Yeti near the end of the ride. Below it the animation I recorded but trying to catch the aminatronic Yeti was impossible!

After doing video on the rollercoaster, I was feeling a little green and decided that I was done with Expedition Everest for the day. After a brief rest, Darrell and I walked over to Nemo: The Musical, another fantastic live show. We were there early and had great seats in the 3rd row on the aisle. It's a great show. Here is a short video clip...

We backtracked from Nemo back to Expedition Everest to meet up with everyone else. Jesse, deTag and Liz rode while the rest of us waited and watched. Liz was a little nervous at first but she loved it.

Everyone walked over to Dinoland next. I wasn't going to ride Dinosaur after my video experience on Everest but Jesse did talk me into riding Primeval Whirl. It is a kids ride. Think of it as a mixture of rollercoaster and tilt-a-whirl. There are no big drops but it is brutally jerky.

At Dinoland, we split ways again. Steve, Liz, deTag and Jesse were heading to Nemo: The Musical while Darrell and I headed to the Flametree BBQ for lunch. The Flametree has good food and some beautiful seating areas. We walked down by the water to eat. We were surrounded by birds and water with a beautiful view of Everest.

After lunch, Darrell and I headed back to the resort. We knew we would be out late for our second, and non-costumed, MNSSHP and we wanted to rest before heading back out. Besides, I was going to get my picture with Capt'n Hook and Smee tonight and I wanted to put on my Black Bunny Crew t-shirt and custom Mickey Pirate hat.

About 4:45p, Steve and Liz knocked on our door. They were their Ghostbusters costumes for the night. We picked up deTag from his room and all headed to the bus stop. We were on our way to Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The only way to get from one resort to another by bus is to take a bus to a park and then hop the bus to the other resort. We jumped on the Hollywood Studios bus at the All-Star Resort, disembarked at Hollywood Studios and walked over to the bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Jesse at stayed at the Animal Kingdom (to ride Expedition Everest 7 more times) and was going to meet us at Boma.

Liz had brought her puppet Vapor to go with the Ghostbusters theme. He kept children and adults alike entertained all night.

After an amazing meal at Boma, we were back on the bus on our way to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived on the Square just before the first parade. Darrell and I ran down to Uptown Jewelry to grab the two Limited Edition Halloween pins I wanted.

Once the pins were in hand, we joined everyone else at a great viewing spot on the Square for the "Boo to You" parade.

Earlier in the day, Shane had sent a text telling us look for a manger in a yellow shirt near the car barn where the parade ended. There were 20-30 people in the area and the manager was calling people back 8-10 at a time. After a few minutes, it was our turn. We walked through the door to the Disney 'backstage'. There was Barbosa, Sparrow, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Donald and the Caretaker with his bloodhound Jo-Jo. It was fantastic to get a photo opportunity with a character that you only get to see in the parade. Plus we all had the chance to pet the sweetest bloodhound!

We all headed down Main Street for a couple of great pictures.

Darrell, Jesse and I camped out near the Crystal Palace to watch the Hallowishes fireworks show. Darrell and Jesse were both experimenting with fireworks photography. They took some incredible shots...

Next, we met up with everyone for a ride through the Mansion. The second parade was about to start and Darrell, Jesse and I wanted to get some more pictures, so we staked out a spot to take parade pictures and enjoyed it all again.

After the parade, it was off to Pirates. Not only did I want to ride but I wanted to get my picture with Capt'n Hook and Smee.

From Pirates, we walked over to Big thunder Railroad and then on to the mansion for our last ride of the night, and trip.
While were not the last to ride through - there were 2 people behind us, we did wait around afterwards. We were invited back into the Mansion Foyer, with both Stretching Rooms open with the portraits stretched out and all the lights ON! We took more pictures with the awesome Mansion Cast members and just relished in the warm glow of Haunted Mansion goodness.

Main Street wasn't completely empty when we left but it was close and we only shred the bus with four other people. It was another wonderful MNSSHP night!

Disney 2009 - Day 6

2009-10-08T09:19:00.006-04:00

Today was spent at Hollywood Studios. Since Darrell, Jesse and I had spent part of Day Two at the Studios, I didn’t feel the need to spend another entire day there.

Darrell and I went out to a beautiful day and had a relaxing lunch at the resort. After lunch, it was off to the park. We arrived at Hollywood Studios in the middle of the Block Party parade. Normally, I would avoid all parades but this one was actually kind of fun.

Once we weaved through the crowd, we met the rest of the crew under the Mickey hat. We headed over to the Rockin’ Roller Coaster via the Tower of Terror Gift Shop. Darrell, Jesse and I jumped in the single-rider line for a quick ride.

Next, we walked over to the Lights, Motors, Action Stunt Show. Even though we have been going to Hollywood Studios (MGM Studios) each year we go down to the World, this was the one show we had not seen. It was definitely worth going too. It’s an incredible show.

,

Darrell, Jesse and Steve rode Star Tours while Liz, deTag and I waited for them. We cruised by the Animation Gallery and took a few Character pictures. This is a great spot for pictures since the lines are not long.

Steve, Liz, Jesse and deTag had gotten Toy Story Mania Fast passes earlier in the day and they were now it their time slot. Darrell and I looked at the Stand-By line but passed on a 70 minute wait. We found a bench in the Pixar area and waited. Luckily, we weren’t there too long before the Pixar Lamp came out for a little show. Here is a video of some of it…

We stopped by the Little Mermaid Show in Animation Alley and did a little shopping before heading to dinner at the 50’s Prime Time Café. The 50’s Prime Time Cafe' is always fun but this visit was exceptional. Our server Mary Anne was phenomenal. Jesse and I both ordered the Fried Chicken. Unfortunately for me, it came with greens. I do not eat greens. I do not like greens. I covered my greens up with my napkin, same as Jesse but I got caught. Everyone but me got a "Clean Plate" sticker. I got a greens sundae. When 'Mom' (Mary Anne) discovered I had not eaten my greens, she took my plate back to the kitchen only to return with a plate of greens topped with whipped cream and Mickey sprinkles. It was disgustingly funny. We tried to tell on Jesse but then Darrell and Liz were accused of being tattle-tell's. We tried to get the message across with a note on a napkin but that didn't work either!

We finished dinner about 10 minutes before the park closed. On a whim, Darrell and I ran back to Toy Story Mania to check the line wait. It said the line was 45 minutes but Darrell didn't believe it and we jumped in line. Darrell was right. We made it through the line in less than five minutes.

We took our time walking to the front of the park and headed back to the resort.

Disney 2009 - Day 5

2009-10-06T08:55:00.002-04:00

Tonight was MNSSHP Costume night. It takes forever to get ready. It is hot and it is worth every second. It is a blast to do this event. As always, we will be going as Phineas, Ezra, Gus, Pickwick, the Bride and Prudence. Zach and Nicole will be joining us tonight as well. I cannot wait.

The first order of the day is heading to Pepper Market at Coronado Springs for breakfast. Next, it was back to the room and laundry time. The rest of the afternoon was busy. Folding laundry, going back up to the food court for some late night snacks and then getting into make-up and costume.

Zach had brought a suit to wear that night. Steve, Liz and Darrell did his makeup and I had a spare set of gray gloves for him to wear.

Nicole, a cast member we met at the Mansion on our very first costume year, joined us at 6:30p dressed as Lillian O'Malley Gracey

At 7:30p, the eight of us headed out to the Magic Kingdom bus stop at the resort. The most direct route to the front took us by the main pool area. The cast members at the pool told the crowd to give a hand to the Haunted Mansion spooks that were making their way back home.

When we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, the ‘Boo to You’ parade was about to begin. We watched from Liberty Square. We had recognition from the Three hitchhiking ghosts float and the Skeleton band. That always makes us feel special.

We rode the Haunted Mansion several times that night, along with Pirates, the TTA, the Carousel and It’s a Small World. As usual, we had many picture requests from guests and cast members alike. This year was a first for a couple of things. First, it was the first time we had to decline to sign autographs. It was also the first time I heard other guests telling us that they had read about us or seen our pictures on the web. I specifically heard Disboards, Doombuggies, Blogs and Facebook mentioned.

Haunted Man Shane made sure we had an extraordinary time at the Mansion that night. We were the last people to ride through at midnight and had some special photo-op’s at the end of the ride. Here are some of the pictures that I can post….

We walked down an empty Main Street on our way out and just as if it was planned, Grim Grinning Ghosts played throughout the park on our walk out. It is one of the most magical feelings you can experience at the Magic Kingdom.

Right outside the park exit, we ran into two guests who wanted a picture with us. We could not deny the couple that had just gotten engaged. Especially when we learned that he popped the question days before in the Stretching Room of the Mansion!

Disney treated us to our very own bus back to the resort and delivered us straight to the front door. It was 1:30a by this time. I knew it would take another 1.5 hrs minimum to get all the makeup off, so Darrell and I told everyone we would join everyone in Hollywood Studios later in the afternoon on Wednesday.

It was a FANTASTIC NIGHT!!!!!!

Disney 2009 - Day 4

2009-10-06T08:52:00.003-04:00

I woke up this morning to a huge crop of painful fever blisters. Great! I’m glad we had told the rest of the crew to go on to the park without us. The blisters were painful and I didn’t feel good – they were still growing. I knew the heat and sun would only aggravate them so I decided to stay in the room as late as possible. Darrell was sweet enough to go get us both lunch at the food court and we just chilled in the room. It wasn’t long after lunch that my body decided it needed another nap. I admit it made me feel much better.

By 3pm, we were dressed and ready to slowly make our way to the Epcot. We arrived after a crowded but pleasant bus ride. We met Jesse, deTag and Zach near the Character Spot. Jesse wanted to ride Mission Space again, so he and Zach headed off while Darrell, deTag and I went to ride ‘Journey to the Imagination”. After our Figment fix, we walked around to the World Showcase. We started our journey in Mexico. I love the Mexican Pavilion. Inside it is always a nice, cool night time. We walked around the Marketplace and rode Grand Fiesta.

I started my secret project deTag in Mexico. We had a scrapbook card for deTag to present to him Friday night at dinner. Since we would be celebrating it in Epcot, I decided to try one of the birthday ideas from the DisBoards. I fixed up a blank page for the card, started in Mexico and had a cast member write ‘Happy Birthday Brian” in Spanish. I did this in Norway, China and Germany too. That is when I ran out of room on the card. I will bring another one with me on Friday and get Happy Birthday’s from Morocco, France, Italy and Japan.

From Mexico, we headed to Norway to ride the Maelstrom, the best ride in the World Showcase. We wandered through Japan and Germany before we noticed it was getting close to our dinner reservation. We headed straight over to Japan to check-in at Teppan Edo, a Japanese Hibachi grill restaurant. It was a fabulous meal and we had a wonderfully entertaining chef named Akayo. Darrell, Jesse and Liz started the meal with sushi appetizers. We all ordered combinations of beef, chicken, scallops and shrimp. For desert, the two popular items were Green Tea Pudding and Chocolate Ginger cake. I ordered one and Darrell ordered the other then we shared.

We walked out of Teppan Edo about 15 minutes before Illuminations. We sent Zach and Stuart a text that we were going to watch the fireworks from the deck around the Japanese restaurants and soon everyone was there. It was a nice viewing area. We couldn’t sit but we had a rail to lean against and were high enough to see over everyone on the ground watching.

Jesse got some beautiful night shots around Epcot

After Illuminations, Jesse, Darrell, Stuart and I continued walking around the World Showcase. The air had really cooled off and it was a beautiful walk. Once we got around to the UK, we said good-bye to Stuart until later in the week and wandered through the shops.

While Darrell and I headed back to ‘Journey to the Imagination’, Jesse decided to head back to the resort. Darrell and I strolled through Mouse Gears and decided to call it a night as well. While we were in Mouse Gears, we met a Cast Member who educated us on the Mickey Vinylmations. She was explaining what each of them represented. It was pretty interesting and figuring out what each piece represented was not the easiest thing to do.

Once I was back at the resort, it was time to get a shower and hit the sack. The plan was to get up in the morning and get breakfast at the Pepper Market over at Coronado Springs, do some laundry and get ready for costume night!

Disney 2009 - Day 3

2009-10-06T08:46:00.003-04:00

We all met up this morning and went to breakfast at the resort around 10:30a. One thing I can say about the food court is they do not skimp on the amount of food. Our breakfast consisted of a platter with scrambled eggs, potatoes, chicken sausage, French toast w/ syrup and a biscuit – oh and a juice and a fountain drink!

After our morning meal, we were off to the Magic Kingdom. The resort bus line was pretty long and that was a sign of things to come. It was pretty crowded.

It was a good ride day. We started with Pirates and Big Thunder Railroad. Then it was tie for Jesse to have his coveted Mickey ice cream bar.

Next was the Country Bear Jamboree and a stroll through the Frontierland Pin Store. Jesse was wanted to ride the steamboat, so we boarded the Liberty Bell. That move was perfect timing. Not long after we got on our way, the rain came pouring down. While it had not completely stopped by the time we were back it dock, it had slowed down to a damp drizzle. We also got some great shots of the Mansion with a stormy sky.

After disembarking the Liberty Bell, we were off to the HOP (Hall of Presidents) to see the new addition. Since it was during the parade time, there were very few people and we could get comfortable. I love the HOP. It always makes me cry.

Snack Time!!! After the HOP, we cut through to Adventureland to get an Aloha Isle Pineapple float – a small slice of heaven! From there, it was to the Jungle Cruise. This time around, I made sure to get the name of our boat.

Next, it was to the Haunted mansion and then to Fantasyland for Small World, Mickey’s Philharmagic and Snow White’s Scary Adventures.

It was nearing our dinner reservation and we decided to walk through the Castle to the front of the park.

We a boat over to Wilderness Lodge for a 7:25p reservation at Whispering Canyons. They were running about 30 minutes behind. We grabbed a buzzer, found some comfy chairs and relaxed until our table was ready. The meal (a.k.a. meatfest) was amazing as always and we had a fun server, Bree the Bandana Bandit. We experienced a couple of ketchup calls – but not to our table, two horse races and another delectable treat in the form of S’mores Cheesecake.

We didn’t head back to the Magic Kingdom until 10p. It was a beautiful boat ride back to the Magic Kingdom. Darrell, Jesse and I decided to head back to the resort while Steve, Liz and deTag headed back into the park for Extra Magic Hours.

The resort bus lines were already a nightmare but we just waited in line and took it all in. We made it back to the resort by 11pm.

We will be in Epcot tomorrow. Darrell and I are going to meet everyone there later in the day. We promised each other we would take it nice and slow this vacation and do things at our own pace.

Disney 2009 - Day 2

2009-10-06T08:34:00.007-04:00

Jesse, Darrell and I were at Hollywood Studios by 7:50am for an 8am rope-drop.

Our first stop was Toy Story Mania, us and about 1,000 other people. It really wasn’t that bad. The line was out the door but was constantly moving. I think it was about 10 minutes long. Next we wandered through our favorite Villain Store and walked down to the Tower of Terror gift shop.

Jesse and I went over and rode Rockin’ Roller Coaster, Single Rider Line while Darrell was busy elsewhere. Then Darrell, Jesse and I rode Rockin’ Roller Coaster – yes, again, Single Rider Line.

Jesse had mentioned that he wanted to see the Vader Suit in the Villains display at the end of the Back Stage Tour. Since Jesse had never ridden it before, that was the next stop. He got some great video of Disaster Canyon. Once we were in the Villain display and Jesse got a good look at the Vader suit, he was NOT impressed at all. Darth Maul looked good but Darth Vader was horrible. Regardless, there were many cool props to be seen…

Next we wandered over to the Jedi Training Academy and watched the Padawan defeat Lord Vader (like that would really happen). It’s actually a really cute show Disney does with the kids outside of Star Tours.

It was getting close to noon and we were getting peck’ish. We went back to the resort for lunch and a break. Lunch was better than expected in the food court and the deserts (at least the ice cream ones) were unbelievable. Look at the size of my ice cream sandwich – and that was just dessert!

We were back to our rooms by 1:30p. Darrell and I and took a nap. That was the best nap I have taken in years!

By 4p, we were in the MK and meeting up with Steve and Liz at the ‘Partners’ statue in front of the Castle. They had been through Adventureland, Frontierland and Liberty Square so we followed them to Tomorrowland. We rode the TTA, Buzz Lightyear (I scored 334,900), the cars, Darrell and Jesse rode the Teacups and then over to the Haunted Mansion.

We arrived at the Crystal Palace about 20 minutes before our reservation just to find out they were running about an hour behind. No problem for us, we were not in a hurry. Unfortunately, many people were very upset. I could not believe the attitudes and behavior from these adults. One gentleman stormed off while saying, “I am going to kill that guy” – referring to poor Christopher who was checking in reservations and delivering the bad news. It was unbelievable. I had just dealt with him myself and he was as pleasant and apologetic as a person could possibly be.

We sent Zach a text to let him know that dinner was running late, so he came to visit us before we went in. He just had to try on the light-up tiara Jesse had bought for Cabin Girl!

Our reservation was for 7:15p and we were seated at 8’ish. We were all thirsty and starving. Good thing the Crystal Palace is a buffet. We were inhaling our drinks and had the most fantastic server named Sue. No empty glass ever sat on the table for than 2 minutes. She was amazing!

Crystal Palace is a character dinner, so we did get a few good pix with Pooh and friends.

Before we finished, we received a text from Zach that it was raining - really raining. When we walked outside, it was pouring. I just knew my uber spastic planning for rain would pay off one day. Darrell and I pulled out our trusty ponchos and headed off to Main Street with everyone else.

We weaved through the stores and across the street to the Confectionary Shoppe. The rain came down harder. Darrell, Jesse, deTag and I decided to head out. Zach, Steve and Liz decided to stay awhile longer. DeTag and Jesse had no ponchos. They got soaked going to the bus stop.

Since I had on Cargo’s and a poncho, I carried all of the electronics. I’m glad they stayed dry b/c I was pretty soaked even with a poncho. The bus lines were a nightmare because everyone was leaving to escape the rain. We just waited and talked. We got back to the resort and the rain had stopped. I took a shower and it wasn’t long after that Steve, Liz and Zach showed up. DeTag and Zach watched the last quarter of the Notre Dam game (they won against Perdue) while Jesse and I were exchanging pictures from the last two days. It had been a long day, so it wasn’t long before I crashed.

Disney 2009 - Day 1

2009-10-05T23:36:00.002-04:00

We were up early this morning. We had to finish the last few packing chores and be at Jesse’s by 8:30a. I was surprised to see deTag already there when we pulled in. He had to come through the nasty Atlanta traffic so he left extra early just to make sure he made it in time.

Jesse had been kind enough to run by Chick-fil-a earlier that morning and pick everyone up some chicken biscuits for breakfast.

Once we were through with our breakfast, Jesse, Darrell and deTag started getting the Thule on top of the Denali and loading everything up. Not long after we started working with the luggage, Steve and Liz arrived. We packed the last few items, got everyone situated and were ready to go. We were officially hit the road at 9:30am.

The trip down was not as drawn out as I had feared. We actually arrived at Disney a little before 5pm. We checked in at the All-Star Music resort, grabbed a luggage cart and were able to get all the luggage in one go. We had requested a room half-way between the Lobby/Food Court and the back of the resort. Instead we were at the very back of the resort – Building 5 in the ‘Country Fair’ section. It made for a longer walk but there was absolutely no noise, especially pool noise. It offered its own privacy and by the end of the week, we were thankful for the location. We had three rooms in s a row. My and Darrell’s room was adjoined with Jesse and deTag’s room with Steve and Liz on the other side of us. Once the luggage was taken to each room, we began to settle in and unpack. This means different things to different people as you can see…

Around 7pm, Zach came over to the resort to visit and escort us to our California Grill reservation. He arrived the most awesome little gift bags with hand=drawn pumpkin faces! Each bag contained a bottle of water, park maps & schedules, snacks, a WDW pen and a Star Wars toy. I ended up with Chewbacca and deTag got Vader – we swapped.

After some visiting, it was time for to get ready and head to dinner at the California Grill in the Contemporary hotel. Zach accompanied us on the bus to the Magic Kingdom and on the monorail over to the Contemporary.

The California Grill was amazing! The food was superb and the view it offered for the fireworks was fantastic. The timing worked out well. We were seated, served drinks and appetizers before Hallowishes. When the fireworks began, we all stepped out on the Observation deck to watch. After the show, our waiter served our dinner and then desert. It was all amazing. I think I am forever spoiled for watching the fireworks show in the Magic Kingdom.

After dinner, we walked from the Contemporary back over to the bus stops for the resorts. We returned to our rooms and prepped for the next big day in the World.

Disney 2009 - Prep Meeting

2009-09-17T16:27:00.004-04:00

With Disney right around the corner, the FBO+1 decided to have a prep meeting and make sure we had all of costume pieces together and finalize plans.

As usual, it didn't take long before the 'dress-up' took a turn down a different path. Since Jesse had the newly created prototype of the Emperor's mask sitting on his kitchen table, deTag decided he wanted to give it a try.

I'm really looking forward to Disney this year. Since this will be our fifth trip to Disney in as many years, Darrell and I are going to try doing some things a little different. First, we want to catch the rope drop at Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom on this visit. We are also going to experiment with taking an afternoon break back at the hotel We have compiled a list of 'little' things that we want to see in each park. Things that might normally get over-looked.

I'm also looking forward to our traditional costume night in our Haunted Mansion outfits. I'm hoping we can get group pictures with several of the Disney villains this year! Here we are from two years ago...

This was taken at around 1am. We were heading out out of the park that night when one of the Disney photographers asked if he could photograph us in the Bibiddy-Bobiddy-Boutique studio. We of course said "Yes!" and the rest is history.

Dragon*Con 2009 – Day 5

2009-09-14T16:51:00.002-04:00

The final day! Luckily, I had arranged for a late check-out so I was able to get up, go grab some breakfast, eat in the room and then start slowly packing up everything. It is so much easier to get it all together without anyone under foot, so I talked Darrell and Jesse into checking out the Dealer’s Room one last time. That gave me the right amount of time to pack it all up, arrange for the bell-hop for both rooms and grab a piece of lemon pie from the Chick-fil-a. By 2pm, the bell had arrived at our room, loaded up and gone downstairs with Darrell following. I waited with Jesse. It took about 20 minutes, but the second bell showed up and I headed downstairs to find Darrell and wait for Jesse. With both bell carts down, Jesse and I went to get the cars. I always have a slight anxiety attack when arriving and leaving the hotel. I think it is the logistics. Can I get in? Will there be too many cars?, etc. Well, we had no problems getting in, loading up both vehicles and getting back on the road. We both headed to our place first, since Jesse had some of our luggage. We arrived at the house, unloaded, brought everything in and sat down on the sofa. I don’t think I moved for the next 3 hours. I was happy and content watching TV, dozing and being covered with my four-legged, fury children.

Hmmm, I wonder what costumes we’ll do next year????

Dragon*Con 2009 – Day 4

2009-09-14T16:50:00.003-04:00

I was up and waiting at the Walk of Fame by 9:30a this morning. My largest indulgence at D*C these days is autographs. The Dealer’s Room has not had anything interesting in years. I had my stack of DVD’s and was ready to wait my turn for my desired autographs. This year’s list of wants were:

Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) from the Harry Potter movies. I wanted to add his to the 1st Harry Potter DVD signed by the Phelps twins (the Weasley twins).

Malcolm McDowell, who has been in numerous movies. As a matter of fact, I recently watched him filming H2 in my hometown. I had the ‘Clockwork Orange’ DVD for his autograph.

Karen Allen, best known for playing Marion Ravenwood in the Indiana Jones movies. I wanted her signature on my Animal House DVD. She played Boon’s girlfriend Katie. I wanted to add her signature with Stephen Furst’s (Flounder) that I had signed a few years ago.

Barry Bostwick, best known as the Mayor from ‘Spin City’ but also played Brad in the The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Need I say more?

Doug Jones, the Chameleon of actors. He played the zombie Billy Bones in Hocus Pocus, the Silver Surfer, Abe Sapien, the Chamberlain, and the Angel of Death in the Hell Boy movies, Pan and the Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth. He is the one actor that you never really get to see. He is a wiry contortionist that is always encased in latex. He is also a SUPER nice guy. He takes time to talk to his fans. A very tactile fellow. He truly enjoyed petting Michael’s head. I’ll have to see if I can up load the video.

Out of all my wants, the one I was willing to give up first was Tom Felton. I am a huge Harry Potter fan. In the last movie, Draco was by far my favorite character. I also knew there were lots of people willing to wait in very long lines for his autograph. As I said, I was there by 9:30a and the Walk of Fame did not open until 10a. I was lucky enough to be in the first wave admitted into the room. As everyone filed in around me, I headed toward Tom Felton. I knew it was going to be the longest line of everyone on my list. As I approached his table, I noticed most people making a bee line to the Star Gate stars. To my utter amazement, I was the first person in the Tom Felton line. Other that the British accent , he looked like and came across as a California surfer dude. He was pleasant but not over friendly. That did not disappoint me in the least. Over the years, I have learned that is very typical for the more sought after stars.

After I had Felton’s signature, I headed over to Karen Allen. I really didn’t have a choice since Bostwick, McDowell nor had Jones arrived. Again, very friendly but not much unnecessary conversation.
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As Karen was signing my Animal House DVD, Barry Bostwick arrived. I jumped over to his table and was lucky enough to be first in line for him as well.
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Now, all I had left was McDowell and Jones and neither of them had arrived. This was about the time I ran into Michael. I didn’t surprise me a bit that he was in the Walk of Fame. He is an avid autograph collector and has the largest collection of autographs that I have ever seen. We walked up to McDowell’s table and saw that he supposed to arrive at 11a. It was already 10:30, so we decided to wait. Michael already had multiple McDowell autographs but spotted a picture of McDowell & Zombie from the Halloween movies and just had to get it. McDowell actually arrived a little early and Michael and I were the first in line. Not only were we able to get the autograph but he was one of the stars that was allowing photographs.
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A nasty photograph phenomenon has reared its ugly head in the last few years at D*C and it is very unfortunate. It used to be that if one waited in line, they could get autographs and photos with all the stars. Then if you did not want to wait in a line for a personal autograph or photo, you would could just snap a picture from the side. Most of that has ceased to exist. Just snapping random photos in the Walk of Fame is no longer allowed. It is probably one the most ridiculous rules instated by D*C. Now, you have several different photography situations in the Walk of Fame. First, there are the stars that only allow photo sessions with approved, professional photographers. Tom Felton fell into this category. Next are the ones that charge extra for a photo. This group included Karen Allen and Barry Bostwick. Lastly, there are the actors that gladly do photos when you get their autographs. Just like the good ole’ days. These are the stars that are the most enduring to my heart. They simply come across as thankful to have fans rather than the fans should be thankful for them. This year, those actors were Malcolm McDowell and Doug Jones.

Speaking of Doug Jones, after I had McDowell’s autograph, his was the last I needed. Michael and I wandered down to his table and saw that he should be arriving at 11:30a. We decided to wait. Michael already had Jones autograph but waited with me just to see him again. Jones had made quit the impression on Michael on Friday. Well, 11:30a came and went. Jones’ handler changed his arrival time to 11:45a. Then 11:45a came and went. Lastly, he changed the arrival time to 12 noon. About 11:50a, Doug came walking into the Walk of Fame and repeatedly apologized for being late. Before he could get seated, Kane Hodder (Jason from the original Friday the 13th movie) walked down and scolded him for making us wait. He told him that Michael and I had been waiting for nearly an hour for him. On that note, Doug grabbed some comic books he had tucked under the table and handed them out to the 20 or so people in line and told them he would sign it at the table. Luckily, Michael and I were first in line. Doug signed both my Hell Boy (for Darrell) and Pan’s Labyrinth (for me) DVD’s plus the comic book. He came out from around the table, gave me a big hug and took a picture. He did the same thing with Michael. The entire time, we just made conversation and thanked us for being fans. Just one Doug Jones can make up for what everybody else lacked. I’m so glad his was my last experience in the Walk of Fame.

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Once we finished there, Michael and I headed to the Dealer’s Room. I made it about half-way through before I realized I needed to head over to the 501st fan table. Darrell and Jesse had table duty from 1p – 2p and Donna was supposed to be there in her Wonder Woman costume.
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I arrived about 1:30p and finally got to see Donna. She had one of the best Wonder Woman costume’s at D*C!
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My next assignment was to head to the Hyatt lobby and re-direct any Storm troopers to the new Comcast photo shoot location in the Hilton. Michael caught up with Darrell and me in the Hyatt and hung out with us while rounding wayward Storm troopers. We ran into Circus Envy doing his Santa impression in the lobby.
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By 3:15p, we were headed back to the room. I took some time to straighten the room, prep it for the Masquerade that night and download some of my photos and Darrell’s photos to my laptop. In the mean time, Jesse put Bob in the Emperor and Kevin in Vader and took them to the lobby.
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Slowly, visitors came trickling in. Deneen and K came down. Kindra and Paul came over. Nikki, Sarah and Gig stopped by for a few minutes and the Kuipers came by to visit. Before I realized, it was 8pm and the Masquerade was starting in 30 minutes. I ran to the food court to grab Darrell and me some dinner. We actually crammed 17 people in to the room; Bob, Kevin, Darrell, Josh, Kyle, Kristin, Kris, Jane, Deneen, K, Will, Cricket, Michael, Kindra, Paul, Jesse and me. I wish I had taken a picture!

After the Masquerade, it was back in costume and to the lobby. Deneen didn’t want to wear the full Imperial Officer so we improvised a sexy number with the leather corset.

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Much fun was had for the rest of the night doing fun, obnoxious and slightly obscene photos!

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I think I was so exhausted by this time, I completely forgot the over-the-balcony shot!

Dragon*Con 2009 - Day 3

2009-09-11T23:59:00.003-04:00

I didn’t have a choice but to get up at a decent hour on Saturday morning. No matter how much my body protested. The highly anticipated D*C parade is always on Saturday morning. The crew was supposed to meet at the Marriott fountain at 9-9:15’ish. The parade lineup was at 9:30am about 4.5 blocks away at Woodruff Park. With lots of help from me dependable bo’sun, we dressed Kyle, Bob and Deneen and prepped all the Bunny Bead bags. Jesse even had time to help Darrell into his RC costume. We finally arrived downstairs around 9:30am and headed to lineup.

The Black Bunny Crew this year consisted of Kindra, Bob, Deneen, Jesse, Josh, Kristin, Kyle, Will, Cricket and Steve (not pictured).

The parade was amazing as always despite a grumpy parade director. Although we had tons of beads it seems like we gave out early this year. I was holding my last bundle of Bunny Beads before we ever reached the Hyatt. I had promised Gracie beads and I wasn’t going to be caught empty handed.

After the parade, Darrell and I headed back to the room for a nice long, cool rest and a much needed shower. After a refreshing break, Jesse and I decided to head to the food court for some lunch/dinner while Darrell took a short nap. The food court was beyond crowded so we walked down to the Metro Diner. The wait wasn’t too long. After 10 minutes, we were given a table in the bar area. The Metro has a large variety of good food but the service was slow. Between D*C and the football game in the Dome, the Metro was having a hard time keeping up with the demand. As a matter of fact, the service was so slow that after we received our drinks, we had our server deliver our order in to go boxes. Our next goal was to maneuver through Peachtree Center and back to the Marriott. This was more difficult than normal. Saturday is the single, highest attended day of D*C. Combine that with all the ‘sightseers’ from the parade wondering through the hotels just to see what they can see and it becomes a zoo very quickly. We finally made it back to the room and had our meal. Now it was time to get Deneen ready for the photo shoot. It would be the first unveiling of her Imperial Officer costume. I was nervous. It was such a fitted garment and she had not tried on the final piece until this afternoon. I held my breath…. and it fit like a glove! Relief! During the middle of all this chaos, the beautiful Julie and her husband Steph came by to visit. Julie actually took one of the first photos of Deneen.

Once Deneen was ready we headed down to the 501st Mixer bar about ½ block down from the Marriott. Frank, the owner, was kind enough to let us take photos of Deneen with some willing Stormtroopers (thanks to Mike, Hal and Jesse) while they were setting up for the Mixer. There were pictures snapped and not just by Darrell. Here are some of the raw photos…

After the photo shoot, Deneen, Bob, Jesse and I walked back up to the Marriott. Jesse wanted to get out of his armor and Bob wanted to get back into the Emperor costume. When everyone was ready, we walked back down to the bar. When we arrived the Mixer was in full swing and we had a great opportunity to show off both costumes for a few minutes.

After an hour, Bob, Deneen and I headed back to the Marriot to meet up with Mystique (Sarah), the Baroness (Nikki), a Pirate Wench (Amanda), Selene (Jamie), an Elf Warrior (Cricket), Cobra Kai (William) and several handlers. Many pictures were made as everyone walked around the Marriott.

Soon we were joined by Kristin and two Royal Guards (Josh & Kyle). Since I was starting to feel a sore throat coming on, I asked if Kristin would mind handling the Emperor and Royal Guards and headed back to the room.

I took my, now traditional, over the balcony shot, chugged some Airborne, climbed in bed and waited for Darrell to get back from the Mixer.

Dragon*Con 2009 - Day 2

2009-09-10T16:51:00.009-04:00

I actually awoke at a decent hour Friday morning. After getting ready, I walked down to Jesse’s room. He and Bob were watching DCTV and combing over the Dragon schedule. I asked if anyone wanted to walk to the Sheraton with me but had no takers. I headed out by myself. As I walked through the Marriott Lobby I noticed a line outside the Atrium Ballroom. I wondered what event had people lined up at 9am? I asked and soon discovered it was the OVERFLOW from the Shatner/Nimoy Panel that was scheduled at 10am in the Hyatt. The actual Panel room was filled to capacity by 8:30am.

I continued on to the Sheraton. I needed to pick up the Black Bunny Crew parade ribbons. We had gotten our memberships so late the night before that the parade table had already closed. On the way over, I walked by the Metro Diner. Even they know about D*C's reputation.

With Parade ribbons in hand, I walked back to Peachtree Center to pick up some breakfast for me and my still sleeping husband. I had to do a double take as I walked by one of the displays in a trendy boutique. At least they were trying to get into the spirit of things….

Back at the room, Darrell and I watched the Shatner/Nimoy Panel on DCTV. It was much funnier than I expected. I learned that Leonard Nimoy lived in Atlanta for 1 ½ years, when he was stationed at Ft. McPherson. His daughter was actually born at Ft. McPherson. Who knew?

I spent the afternoon catching up on some last minute costuming chores. Luckily the beautiful Kindra came and kept me company for awhile. In the mean time, Darrell was walking around the con taking some pictures.

It didn’t take long for Bob to get the itch to play Emperor again, so Jesse and Darrell got him ready and took him down to the Marriott Lobby.

By this time, it was late in the afternoon and I needed to prepare for Pirate Tea. Pirate Tea is when we all gather and figure out the plans for the parade on Saturday morning, like who needs costuming, meeting time, meeting place, pictures, parade ribbons, beads, flag, etc. It is short and sweet – sort of like Happy Hour. During Pirate Tea, we had a visit from Harris and the ever lovely Erin the Esurance girl (aka Donna). She and some friends were walking around as Erin Esurance, the Geico Caveman and Flo from Progressive Insurance. I wish I could have seen them all together.

This year was a bit different. This year Pirate Tea not only served as the parade planning meeting but it kicked off the 1st Annual Poor Man’s Pub Crawl. It is a simple concept, really the same as a traditional pub crawl only you go room to room instead of pub to pub. Each room has to provide one drink to each person participating in the pub crawl. There was a great response when I sent out the concept email and we ended up with seven rooms participating and about 25 people. That averages to just over 3 1/2 people per room – actually a low number for a D*C. Along the way, we lost some people and gained others. Here we are at the beginning of the crawl and no the child did not accompany us on the pub crawl. He was safely tucked away in bed in his own room with daddy.

From my room, it was off to Josh, Kristin and Kyle’s room. There we were met with plastic fedoras, plastic martini glasses full of a sweet concoction and Frank Sinatra playing. You have to love props; especially ones that you get to keep. I wore my hat all night long.

Our next stop was at Jesse’s room. He was serving Melon Balls to drink. The theme was a mix of ‘Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay’ and ‘Tropic Thunder’. Think “Rock with your cock out and Jam with your clam out” with Ludacris playing in the background. You just thought Jesse was so innocent. We tried to get him to do the Les Grossman dance but to no avail. Maybe next year.

The next room brought us all back to the 70’s. Deneen, K, Nikki and David dressed the room and themselves. You had to love this room. Strands of peace-signs hanging over the door, giant window clings, disco music and David in a flammable, white, Saturday Night Fever, disco suit – PRICELESS!

Bob was supposed to host the next stop at his room in the Hyatt. Instead, we were redirected back down to Jesse’s for Hurricanes. There will be more on this turn of events later. Much, much more….

After Hurricanes, Darrell joined the walk. He had been getting into his ‘Fleam’ costume. We journeyed to the 16th floor of the Hyatt Atrium. The Hyatt has been remodeled and the rooms look great but I absolutely hate that atrium elevator. While waiting (and waiting), Fleam posed with a couple of friends…

At this point, the group began to dissolve away. Jesse, Josh, Kristin and Kyle headed over to the ‘Dr. Horrible Sing-a-long Blog’ and for some reason Bob exited the elevator on the 9th floor and was never seen again that evening.

There was a large variety of drinks in the 16th floor room in the Hyatt Atrium. I would use the actual room number but I can’t remember those details. One of my favorite pictures from the night was taken on this stop. I don’t know why, I just love this picture of Cricket. I think it's the fairy wings.

The last room was in the International Tower of the Hyatt. That is where Beau made me ‘Chocolate Cake Batter’ shots. Now, I had never experienced these delights. He handed me a shot that was a pale yellow color and a lemon wedge covered in sugar. I was instructed to suck all the juice out of the lemon, discard the wedge and drink the shot with the lemon juice. I did and it tasted just like chocolate cake batter!!! It was incredible. I still don’t know how all those liquors and flavors produced that taste but they did and it was good. Not many people made it to the last room. It really was a shame because they had some of the best drinks.

I am proud to say that I was one of only three that made it through the entire crawl. The other two were Kindra and Paul. I think we deserve an award. Speaking of awards, we (that would be the ‘Royal We’) have decided to give an award out for Best Drink, Best Theme and Honorable Mention. It was a tough decision.

The Honorable Mention room is actually Honorable Mention because their theme AND drink was EXCELLENT (ask Bob), that would be Josh, Kyle and Krisitin’s room. I mean who could resist plastic fedora’s that you can write on AND plastic martini glasses! If I had been a good organizer, I would have gotten all the theme names and drinks but I didn’t. If ya’ll will email them to me, I’ll post it.

The Best Theme goes to Deneen, K, Nikki and David’s room. Giant window clings, wigs, costumes, props and David in the flammable ‘John Travolta’ suit from Saturday Night Fever.

The Best Drink goes to Sarah & Beau’s room. All I have to say is “Chocolate Cake Batter’ shots.

Now I will digress to pub crawl stop #5. This was the one Bob was responsible for hosting. Here is a quick story on how that all went down…

See, we didn’t have time to plan the drinking route before the pub crawl. Some people were not checking into their rooms until Friday evening. Therefore, at each stop, I would ask someone if they were ready to be next. If so, I would announce the next room number and the approximate arrival time – so they had time to prepare. Well, Deneen, Nikki, K and David’s room was the last room in the Marriott. The remaining three rooms were in the Hyatt. I asked Bob, “Do you want to be the first room in the Hyatt?” – no response. I asked again - no response. At this point I told him I would announce his room next, “What time?” – no response. “Bob tell me a time or I’ll make one up” – he said, “OK”. So, I announced the hotel, room number and arrival time. It was then that, Jesse informed me Bob’s pub crawl drink was back down in his room at the Marriott. So I ask Bob “Are you going to take the cooler to your room at the Hyatt?” – no response. I ask Bob, “Can you function alone?” He shakes his head ‘No’. I told him to get a buddy. He points to Jesse and says “He’s my buddy.” At that point, Jesse and I took over. I announced that the next room would be back at Jesse’s in the Marriott and then we would head over to the two rooms in the Hyatt. I went to my room to scavenge cups while Jesse headed to his room to straighten from the previous stop and prep Bob’s drink for the evening. Slowly everyone began to show up and I must note that the host himself was last to arrive.

And it is because of this that Mr. Ollis doesn’t receive an award but will be the namesake of the award given out each year to the most disorganized, confused, drunk, silliest, etc. whatever trait or behavior truly captures that feeling from the 1st Pub Crawl. They will receive the “Ollis” Award. Bob, you should be so proud.

The Crawl was over and I still had one more chore to do. I had about 100 Black Bunny beads that needed to be stickered. Darrell headed out to the Marriott Lobby and I headed back to the room. Again, the lovely Kindra came to my rescue. With her help, we were done in about an hour. We talked awhile and she decided to leave before I completely konked out on her. I was tired. I don’t know how she does it. She is awake when I go to bed and awake when I get up in the morning and to top it all off – she’s 13 weeks pregnant. Go figure. I think she is part Super Woman. Just before I headed off to bed, I stepped outside the room and took my over the balcony shot.

Dragon*Con 2009 – Day 1

2009-09-09T18:24:00.007-04:00

All I can say is thank goodness Darrell, Jesse and I took two vehicles to Dragon this year and that I took a load over to Jesse’s the night before. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have all fit.

It was a frantic Thursday morning packing all the ‘little things’, taking care of the babies (the 4-legged, fury kind) and packing up the vehicle. We finally made it to Jesse’s around 8:45am. Our next stop was the Chick-fil-a at Eagle’s Landing. After a good breakfast, we stopped by the QT to top off the gas tanks and then we were on our way to the Marriott.

It was an easy drive into the city and we reached the Marriott without incident. We unloaded both vehicles in the Marriott pull through. Darrell stayed with the luggage while Jesse and I went to park the cars at our favorite AmeriPark Parking Deck. At this time, I must point out that the Marriott Bell Staff really needs to practice loading luggage onto the carts. If they would just unload the vehicle and then load the cart, it would cut down on the number of times they had to unload-reload-readjust-add luggage-move this piece-unload–add luggage, etc. It also would have saved my Diet Cokes from taking a dive across the Marriott drive. Then again, maybe there is a soda vortex located the luggage drop-off of the Marriott. I personally witnessed 2 separate incidents of drinks rolling across the drive and neither of those was mine.

Anywho, we parked the cars and headed to the lobby for check-in. There were already several bell carts full of luggage waiting in the lobby but the lines for check-in were short and moving well. It was only 10 minutes before I was at the counter. Luckily, the rooms were ready and they were on the 9th floor. The 9th floor is the key here. When we made the reservations, we specifically requested the 9th or the 11th floor. The 10th floor of the Marriott is an open meeting/event space.

Let me explain. The elevators in the Marriott are divided to go to different floors. There is one bank of elevators for the 1-17 floors, one for the 18 – 41 floors and one for the 42-47 floors. The 10th floor is special. It is the only floor that ALL elevators stop on – no matter which one you are on. From the 10th floor, there is a centrally located, spiral staircase that goes up to the 11th floor and down to the 9th floor. Therefore, we could take any elevator to the 10th floor and simply walk down to the 9th floor. It doesn’t sound like that big of a deal and probably isn’t until you have been waiting for a elevator for 30 minutes and are ready to commit a felony just to get someone off the elevator so you can on. But I digress….

We were swiftly checked-in and the luggage was taken to the rooms. Did I mention that we had so much luggage that it looked like we were moving into the Marriott for a 3 month stay? You laugh, but I am not exaggerating. Once in the room, Kindra and Callie walked over from the Hyatt and joined us. They had left SC at 4am to get into Atlanta before the rush hour traffic and they nearly made it. Regardless, they arrived before we did.

We talked and caught up on everything. I organized the room. Organizing the room is a very important chore if (1) you have as much ‘stuff’ as we do in a room and (2) you expect great numbers to be gathering in your room from time-to-time.

It wasn’t long until Paul, Bob, Steve, Hal and Anita joined us in the room.

Since there were several folks who had not been to the top of the Marriott, we decided to take a ride up and check it all out. The skyline of Atlanta is awesome as always but in the Marriott, it is the interior view that is a sight to behold.

Once we were back to the room, Bob wanted to don the new Emperor mask. This is a project of Jesse and Darrell’s that I have blogged about previously. Everyone wanted to see it, so the boys went down to Jesse’s room to ready Bob for the unveiling and the girls stayed in my room. It wasn’t very long until everyone came parading back in. I will admit. The mask looked good. Real good. Many pictures were taken.

Bob wasn’t the only one to take his turn in the Emperor’s mask. Hal had his turn to play as well…

Finally, we decided to start walking over to Benihana’s for the traditional Thursday night dinner. On the way, we passed the Alabama Garrison’s trailer transport they brought to Dragon. We all agreed. We want one of these!!

We arrived a little early at the restaurant and slowly everyone came trickling in. The Thursday night dinner is the first time you get to see a lot of people – sometimes since last year. It’s a great time. Once everyone arrived, we occupied 2 over-full tables. There were 17 of us, counting me. A great turn out!

After dinner, several of us headed to Pre-Reg for badge pickup. It was a long 2 ½ hour wait but the sun was down and it was not so hot. The hardest part about it was staying awake. Darrell and I arrived back at our room around 11:30pm. I took my over-the-balcony picture for the evening and headed to bed. I was exhausted!

D*C 2009

2009-08-31T12:22:00.003-04:00

Dragon-Con is upon us and I am still trying like crazy to finalize things! I just wanted to post a few main bits of information before the insanity commences.

1) If you purchased a D*C membership through me and have any issues picking up your badge, call me on my cell phone. Send me an email if you need the number.

2) Thursday Night Dinner - Benihana's @ 7:30pm. Currently attending are: Me, Darrell, Jesse, Bob, Kris, Jane, Jay, Shane, Steve, Liz, Kindra, Hal, Anita, Mike (?). I think that is everyone. If you plan on attending and your name is not on the above list, let me know asap so I can change the reservation number.

3) Pirate Tea will be at 6:30pm on Friday night. If you are walking with the Bunny in the parade on Saturday morning you need to be there. If you cannot be there, let me know so I can get you your information and parade ribbon. This will also be the beginning of the Poor Man's Pub Crawl. If you would like to participate (and have a room at con) and have not signed up, please do so as soon as possible.

I think those are the biggies.

OK, my plan is too blog at con. I honestly do not know if that will happen or not.

We'll see :)

H2 Premier

2009-08-31T10:29:00.007-04:00

Last Thursday/Friday, I had the privledge of attending the H2 Premier at the the Plaza Theater. There was a good crowd there, including Jonathan and Michael from the H2 Bunny Crew, people who had worked behind-the-scenes for the movie and lots of extras from the Phantom Jam scenes.

We arrived early at 10:30pm for the midnight showing.

There were already lots of people in costume out front along with one of the Rabbit in Red Billboards.

We went inside and grabbed our tickets. Luckily, Darrell had ordered them earlier. I'm not sure if the theater sold-out or not but it had to be close. In the lobby areas of the theater, they had several large pieces from the Phantom Jam, family pictures of the Strode family and even fake degree's that were handing on the wall during the Margot Kidder scene. One of the center pieces was Laurie's Glass Coffin.

It seems that when Zombie left Georgia, he gave most, if not all, the props to the crew at the Plaza that had helped with the movie. One of the other cool props was Myer's knife. Nick was showing it around when Michael took him up on the offer to take a closer look at it. Of course, there had to be a picture of an H2 Bunny Crew member with THE knife and no one was more deserving than our own Michael...

There were so many people there and so many things happening that I didn't have a chance to speak with nearly eveyone that I wanted too. And while it was a busy night, I was able to get a few other pictures!

D*C 2009 Dinner

2009-08-03T09:15:00.004-04:00

Since, D*C is less than a month away, and it is time to make reservations for the Thursday night dinner.

I have already written about this earlier in the year. Here is a link to the previous post.

It lists possible restaurants and links to the menu's. Please respond as soon as possible!

Steve Vitale's Birthday and Wontkins

2009-08-01T08:48:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday, we celebrated Steve's birthday. It was a grand time. We met at the Vitale abode around 3pm. As with most geek get-togethers, there was much socializing followed by a around of 'check-out the cool, new costume stuff'. Back on Liz's birthday, Steve had surprised her with the beginnings of her Ghostbuster costume. Well, now the proton pack had arrived so Liz modeled it for us.

We watched the Dr. Horrible DVD. Not the normal DVD but the 'musical commentary'. Yeah, we really are that geeky. Next it was time for Steve to open gifts. There was the round of cards; my scrapbook card and deTag's always-so-awesomely-creative card. Liz saved hers for last. It was worth the wait. She had made him a Wontkins puppet! It looked fantastic!

For some background on this little muppet recreation, check out the Muppet Wiki and for more info on Liz and all her puppets, check out her website Puppetoons.

Wontkins was the hit of the party.

..and here is a vintage video of Wilkins and Wontkins in action.

The Vampire Diaries Start Filming in Covington

2009-07-31T15:03:00.000-04:00

Covington has yet another persona. Our little town has been known as Hazzard County (The Dukes of Hazzard); Sparta, Mississippi (In the Heat of the Night); Haddonfield, Illinois (Halloween 2); and most recently Mystic Falls, Virginia.

Covington has actually been in many films and TV series. Here is a list, according to IMDB, of films and TV shows that list Covington, Georgia as a film location. It's a lot more than most people expect.

'The Vampire Diaries' is set in Mystic Falls, VA. After looking for a suitable film location (and all the Georgia incentives didn't hurt) the 'Vampire Diaries' finally settled on Covington. I know there are already previews being aired on the CW. Those are scenes from the pilot episode that was filmed in Vancouver, Canada.

Last Thursday and Friday was the official beginning to the craziness. The actual filming began. I rode by the set on Thursday and stopped for a few minutes on Friday. With my schedule, that was about all I could manage.

Both days, the filming didn't start until 5-6pm and ran through the night finishing up around 6am. The only issue I witnessed was massive traffic congestion around the Square on Thursday and Friday. On Friday, they temporarily 'blocked' a lot of parking spots around the filming location and that caused some issues with people trying to get where they needed to go.

Basically, the filming centered around one corner of the Square. It is actually a lawyer's office but the film crew has turned it into the Mystic Grille. They have painted the brick work dark green, placed a large 'Mystic Grille' sign above the door and placed tables and chairs on the side walk.

I understand that they are shooting ONLY exteriors on the Square and that the interior shots are being done on a local sound stage.

Here is a picture of the film area before it became the Mystic Grille.

The building in question is near the center of the photo. It is the small white building next to the town clock.

Here are some of the quick photos I took on Friday. They had reset the town clock for the filming.

The Palpatine Project

2009-07-30T08:36:00.000-04:00

It has been interesting at my house for a couple of months now. Darrell stays locked away in his room with a large hunk of clay and only comes out to visit on breaks.

He and Jesse have been working on this pet project for a couple of months now. All I can say at this point, is that it involves a scuplt of Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars (done by Darrell) and creating master molds (Darrell & Jesse).

Here is an 'approved' picture of the sculpt (yes, I have to have the pictures I post 'approved').

For the last week or so, they have been working on the molds. This is being done at Jess's place. I don't have the greatest understanding of the molding process but I have tried to explain what is going on in each photo.

I will post more updates as the project moves forward.

'Vampire Diaries' crew to film on square Thursday, Friday

2009-07-22T16:44:00.001-04:00

The "Vampire Diaries" crew will be filming on the square from 4 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday and from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. Friday. There will be cameras, equipment and vehicles on the sidewalks, curbside and streets around the square, and the crew will be holding traffic intermittently for filming. There will also be temporary road closures on both days of filming. If you have questions or concerns about settings for shoots, call the locations office at 770-987-0666 (Please note this number is not for casting inquiries).

Click here for the full article from the Covington News.

Fox Trot Plagiarism

2009-07-21T23:39:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I got a great email from Hockey Cop. He sent me a copy of the Sunday Fox Trot comic strip. As I read the comic, I was surprised that it concerned D*C. Then I went on to read that he had altered the original strip and substituted D*C for Comic Con. Before I continue, some background...

Fox Trot is a fantastic comic strip. It frequently mentions things we geeks take great interest in like Star Wars, and Sci Fi (NOT SyFy) Conventions. Last Sunday, the topic involved Comic Con. While I have never attended Comic Con (but some day I hope too), I have attended more than my share of Dragon Con's, along with some Fantasy Faire's, Dixie Trek's, MOC's and few other choice conventions.

Well, after I saw Hockey Cop's version, I just HAD to do my own based on my D*C experiences.

Here are all the Fox Trot comic strips in order, starting with the original...

Hockey Cop's version...

My version...

If anyone else wants to give it a go, send me the resulting comic strip and I'll post it on the blog.

Have fun!

Harry Potter & SHAG!

2009-07-20T18:31:00.006-04:00

***Spoiler Alert***

This past weekend I had the opportunity to watch the new Harry Patter movie, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". Now I have heard many criticisms of the movie and many are very legit. There are many things not explained, like Dumbledore's hand and exactly why is Snape the Half-Blood Prince, and many things are left out, like that amazing battle at Hogwartz before Dumbledore bites the big one.

Despite its shortcomings and the fact I had an annoying child slapping their feet together while one of the parents snored through the movie, I enjoyed it. I liked the fact the Dumbledore (even though I hate that costume) had more screen time. I liked Tom Felton. Normally, I am not a Draco fan but I thought he was superb in this movie.

Just for kicks and grins, here are some of the movie trailers...

The artist known as SHAG.

If you haven't heard of the Artist SHAG (pictured above), you are really missing something. For a quick tutorial head here.

An event that I only wish I could attend will be happening next month at Disneyland. A lucky few will attend SHAG's Spirited Cocktail Reception on August 8, 2009 taht will show case his "Haunted Mansion" inspired artwork created in commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland park. Represented in the artwork are some of the attraction's most beloved scenes, including the Stretching Portraits, the Ballroom, the Seance Room, the Attic, Graveyard, among others. Then on August 9th, SHAG will be on hand for a special meet & greet and signing opportunity at the Main Street Cinema.

Here are some of his prints that I would just die to get a hold of...

I am not a jewelry person but I would jump at the opportunity to nab these bracelets...

And these are a cool set of Mickey Ear's...

For a look at most of the merchandise being offered at this special event, head here.

Darrell / Alex Birthday 2009

2009-07-15T15:55:00.008-04:00

Darrell turned 40 this year! The day of his actual birthday was July 11th. Since we had an event at the Kennesaw Southern Museum, we decided to celebrate on Sunday, July 12th. Well, that is actually Alex's birthday so we combined parties! I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I wanted - that was one crazy weekend - and I feel TERRIBLE because I don't have any pictures of my birthday boy! Oh well, I still love 'em.

Here were some questionable people hanging out in Jesse's kitchen. I'm still not sure exactly what they were doin' but it looks like they were having fun doing it!

The Kuipers clan was there but Julian had his Play Station, so he was preoccupied for the afternoon.

My Powder Monkey made it!

The other birthday boy Alex doing those things that Alex does...

Alex and Lindsey did dress for the event. He looked fantastic in his suit and she was beautiful in her red dress!

Liz having a momentary 501st butch moment...

That's better. Liz and her man.

It was a wonderful afternoon full of friends (many not pictured), food and fun!

Night at the Southern Museum: Kennesaw Southern Museum

2009-07-15T15:52:00.004-04:00

On Saturday, July 11th, the Kennesaw Southern Museum hosted an event "Night at the Southern Museum". It was based on the movie "Night at the Museum." In preparing for the event, the museum contacted the Ga 501st in hopes of getting Vader and some Stormtroopers. Little did they know just how many volunteers they would have for that event. Not only did they have Vader, Stormtroopers, a Clone, a Biker Scout and some Tie Fighter Pilots, they had pirates, WWII soldiers, WWII Officers, Rosie the Riveter, R2D2 and the Batmobile - and those are just the ones I can think of! While there was a large contingency of characters associated with the Ga 501st, there were many other character volunteers as well; Queen Elizabeth, Jack the Ripper, Ben Franklin, Sherman, Joan of Arc, Attila the Hun and more!

The premise was basically the same as the movie; the displays at the museum have come to life. It was fun to interact and pick on the museum guests. It was even more fun to interact with each other's characters!

The doors opened to museum guests at 5pm and they closed at 8pm. During that 3 hours, they had 1100 guests file through museum. I was impressed with the number of attendees. I have spoken to Cindy, Harper and a couple of other museum personnel this week and they have told me repeatedly about the high praises from the museum guests that night. I'm just glad the event went well and raised some much needed funds for the museum.

Since I was pirating and we had to stay in character for the entire evening, I was not able to take any pictures. Thank goodness for Trooper Danny! Almost every picture below are ones that he took Saturday night.

Enjoy!

Here is a taste of the different characters roaming that night...

Here are some of the 501st adventures...

Darrell, Jesse, Noel and I played pirate that night and we met some new piratical friends; Braze, Stynky and Cascabel.

Of course, there is a behind-the-scenes at all events. Here are a few random shots...

Catch Up: Part 2

2009-07-15T12:07:00.003-04:00

I have been crazy busy. There has has been sewing (and a lot more of that to come), pirating, partying (ok, birthday party) and not much trivia - trying to catch up with everything else.

I'm going to try and get some posts up on the Darrell/Alex Birthday party and pirating at the Museum later today...

Catch-Up - Part 1

2009-07-15T12:02:00.000-04:00

So much has been going on, I have been VERY neglectful about posting.

A quick (and I do mean quick) overview.

One Armor Party that I have NO pictures from!

Three Tuesday Trivia Nights. Three loses but we have it on good authority there is rampant cheating happening!

June 9th

Alex and his orgasmic cheesecake...

The Gang.

June 16th

June 23rd

Josh's BDay Party that I have NO pictures from. How the hell did that happen????

Sunday Nights at Jesse's for True Blood!

Just in case you are interested.... Vampire Diaries

2009-07-15T11:35:00.001-04:00

New vampire TV series seeks extras

Open casting call Sunday

By Crystal Tatum
Staff Reporter
Covington News

COVINGTON - An open casting call for extras for the new television series "Vampire Diaries" will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Holiday Inn Express, located at 9159 Access Road N.W. in Covington.

"We are looking for all types of people, all age ranges, to work as paid extras in the series," which will begin filming in Covington on July 21, Extras Casting Director Marty Keener Cherrix said.

Those who attend the casting call will be asked to fill out an application and bring a recent photo, no larger than 4x6. Photos will not be returned. No experience is necessary.

"For someone who's never done this before and wants a real life behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make a TV series, this would be a great learning opportunity, and you will never watch television the same way again," Cherrix said.

Extras are paid $7.25 per hour and will get overtime if the workday runs more than eight hours. They'll also be served "a wonderful, fabulously catered meal," Cherrix said.

The show, based on a young adult book series by L.J. Smith, will air this fall on The CW network.

Set in Mystic Falls, Va., "Vampire Diaries" chronicles the love triangle between popular high school student Elena Gilbert and two brothers - both vampires, one good, one evil.

The cast will include Ian Somerholder, best known as ill-fated Boone Carlyle on the TV series "Lost;" Paul Wesley, who has appeared in numerous TV shows, including "24" and "Everwood;" and Nina Dobrev.

Location Manager Jonathan Jansen recently told the City Council that producers hope the show will have a long-term home base in Covington.

The main filming location will be on the Square in downtown Covington, he said. Downtown locations under consideration are the law office of Jim Alexander, which may be used as the exterior of a restaurant; Scott and Sue Cole's house on Floyd Street, which may be used as the home of the main character; and the former Teacher's Toolbox on the corner of Washington and Church streets.

Twelve episodes of the series have been ordered, Jansen said, with filming to run at least through early December.

The series premiere of "Vampire Diaries" is scheduled to air at 8 p.m. Sept. 10 on The CW.

The Vampire Diaries

2009-07-08T14:46:00.003-04:00

Seems like Covington is about to get its next dose of filmiing. Not a theater-release film but a TV show. It will be the 3rd that has been filmed here in the last couple of decades. The other two were "In the Heat of the Night" and the good 'ol boys in "The Dukes of Hazzard". According the the article in the Covington News, filming will begin July 21st.

Pirate Talk 101: The Last Part - Respectful Address, Toasts and Declamations

2009-07-03T14:51:00.003-04:00

Modifiers and Nouns to express respect, praise or appreciation of your pirate brethren.

Pirate	Translation
*Questions*
Am I explicit?	Do I make myself clear?
As how?	How so?
Be that plain enough?	Is that understood?
Do I speak in reason?	Do I make sense?
Do you fancy ____?	Do you think / want?
How be ____?	How is it that ____?
How comes it ___?	How is that ___?
How say you (of/to ___)	What do you think of ___?
How’s she lie?	What’s the heading?
Is not this the truth of it?	Isn’t that truth?
See the course I lay?	Catch my drift?
What(ever) ails you?	What’s wrong?
What course should we steer next?	What’s next? / Now what?
What do you think you’ re about	What do you think you are doing?
What mean you by ___?	What are you ___?
What o’clock is it?	What time is it?
What say you to this?	What do you think?
What’s your trouble?	What’s wrong?
Where lays your course?	Where are you?
Who comes/goes?	Who’s there?
Who hailed you?	Who asked you?
Will you be pleased to ___?	Would you ___?
Positive Replies
And with a will	I’m all for it.
As you say	Affirmation
VERB it is	“Drink, it is.”
Now there was a true word as ever was heard spoke	You speak the truth
That be about the measure of it	That’s about right.
There’s reason/sense in that	That stands to reason / Makes sense
True as death	Absolutely true
Negative Replies
Never think it	Don’t even think it
That bite won’t take	That won’t work
Some might say one thing and some another	Diffuse a disagreement
That’s trifle	Unimportant
‘tis no matter	It doesn’t matter

“Boldness and drink are cornerstones of pirate life; the two merge neatly when strong words are spoken over raised cups.”

Here’s to ourselves, the hold your luff, plenty of prizes and plenty of duff

To our next merry meeting

Curse all rovers who should ever give quarter to an Englishman

To the luck of the Brotherhood

A merry life and a short one

Of all liquor commend me to rum

A pirate’s life is the only life for a man of any spirit.

Pirate’s have no God but their money, nor savior but their arms

There’s nought like liquor for putting the devil into a man

This primer was summarized from the book "The Pirate Primer: Mastering the Language of Swashbucklers and Rogues" by George Choundas and available here.

Pirate Talk 101: Next to the Last Part - Questions & Replies

2009-07-03T14:49:00.001-04:00

Pirate	Translation
*Questions*
Am I explicit?	Do I make myself clear?
As how?	How so?
Be that plain enough?	Is that understood?
Do I speak in reason?	Do I make sense?
Do you fancy ____?	Do you think / want?
How be ____?	How is it that ____?
How comes it ___?	How is that ___?
How say you (of/to ___)	What do you think of ___?
How’s she lie?	What’s the heading?
Is not this the truth of it?	Isn’t that truth?
See the course I lay?	Catch my drift?
What(ever) ails you?	What’s wrong?
What course should we steer next?	What’s next? / Now what?
What do you think you’ re about	What do you think you are doing?
What mean you by ___?	What are you ___?
What o’clock is it?	What time is it?
What say you to this?	What do you think?
What’s your trouble?	What’s wrong?
Where lays your course?	Where are you?
Who comes/goes?	Who’s there?
Who hailed you?	Who asked you?
Will you be pleased to ___?	Would you ___?
Positive Replies
And with a will	I’m all for it.
As you say	Affirmation
VERB it is	“Drink, it is.”
Now there was a true word as ever was heard spoke	You speak the truth
That be about the measure of it	That’s about right.
There’s reason/sense in that	That stands to reason / Makes sense
True as death	Absolutely true
Negative Replies
Never think it	Don’t even think it
That bite won’t take	That won’t work
Some might say one thing and some another	Diffuse a disagreement
That’s trifle	Unimportant
‘tis no matter	It doesn’t matter