Diary of a Collector - Part One - Autographs

I have been collecting "In-Person" autographs from Celebrities for the last 17 years or so. It all started when I lived in Austin from 1992-1994 and my friend John Hartwell took me to a Star Trek convention. It was, by today's standards, a very small show as it only had one guest, Majel Barrett Rodenberry. For those of you who don't know her she was on the Original Trek in the 60's as Nurse Chapel and then on Next Generation as Lwaxana Troi.

I wasn't a super fan of Star Trek but living in Texas did not afford someone of my career path opprtunities to meet actors. The only way to meet anyone from the Silver Screen or the Boob Tube was by attending conventions that specialized in these things and Star Trek conventions were the most available. From 1993 to 1996 I met Michael Dorn, George Takei, Leonard Nimoy, Rene Oberjunois, John DeLancie, & William Shatner.

 It really did not become a more serious hobby until 1999. This was the year the HORRIBLE movie "The Phantom Menace" came out. As a Super Star Wars freak, I was incredibly excited about the idea of more Star Wars movies and had great hopes for what would happen to the franchise. Sadly with "The Phantom Menace", Star Wars was ruined FOREVER. If you don't agree with me click this HILARIOUS AND INSIGHTFUL review here: Review of The Phantom Menace and I think it will change your mind.

Anyway, there was a Dallas Convention that was gaining momentum each year called the "Sci-Fi Expo and Comic-Con". It started out small and grew steadily over the years thanks to the owners, Ben Stevens and Mark Walters. Their desire to bring celebrities to the North Texas area at a reasonable price was awesome for me AND they were Star Wars fans! The first of their Cons that I went to in 1999 was an opportunity to meet Dave Prowse who played Darth Vader and Ray Park who played Darth Maul.

 In 2001, I took it up a notch when my good friend Kyle Hebert and I went to Burbank, California for a "Farscape" Convention. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of watching "Farscape", I highly recommend it. It's an unusual story that took classic sci-fi story arcs and comepletely reimagined them in weird and interesting ways. The convention was a full 3-day show with the entire cast including the producers, writers, and directors. It was a surreal experience where one could truly immerse onesself into the scariest and most satisfying aspects of group Fandom.

I met another dozen or so actors from the Star Wars universe in 2001 and in 2002 those numbers doubled. Ben and Mark were also bringing non-Sci/Fi related guests to the shows more and more and I got to meet other notable actors like David Carradine and John-Rhys Davies.

In 2004 I had a Super-Celeb year when I got to meet Jessica Biel, Ryan Reynolds, and Michael Keaton!!

I became a big fan of the TV show "Firefly" and subsequently it's follow-up movie, "Serenity". I have managed to meet the majority of the cast over the last few years and it has been most rewarding.

My wife was also a huge "Firefly" fan but took a less permanent approach to collecting her autographs!

The culmination of this hobby came in Orlando, Florida in January of 2008 when I turned a Autograph/Photo Meet & Greet with actor Nathan Fillion into a full-on marriage proposal. My wife is a huge fan of Nathan's and he was kind enough to play along. Suzanne was fully surprised and I got the whole thing on film!

The wife has been a huge supporter of this hobby and we have had some great times meeting actors. We went to both the "Grindhouse" and "Zombieland" red carpet Premier here in Austin and got to meet Kurt Russell, Woody Harrelson, Rose McGowen, and Emma Stone to name a few. 

Now I currently stand with close to 250 Autographs. The majority are from Star Wars, Star Trek, Buffy, Firefly, and Heroes but I have some other really fun ones like  Sean Astin, Ron Perlman, Patricia Arquette, Robert England, Karen Allen, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Helen Slater, Eric Estrada, and even the Great Bruce Campbell!!

I am going to get a few more autographs this weekend so I will post them when I get them.

Kraken Out!

Say Hello to my Little Friend!

I have another soapbox posting coming shortly but I wanted to say a little something about my NEW car!

That's right! It is the Nissan Cube KROM Edition. It has Shag Carpeting, floorboard lighting that changes colors, and a kick-ass stereo. It even Bluetooth's my Iphone and USB connects to my Ipod which is controlled all through the steering wheel. FUN!

Name suggestions so far are Picasso which I like but I could still be open to suggestions. Let me hear them!

 

 

 

 

**UPDATED**

This weekend my lovely wife came up with the name for the car. He shall be Q*Bert from now on or Cubert!!

...................Let them Eat Dirt!

So when I was kid back in the 70's, I did not get sick often. I did not get ear infections every week. I did not need tubes implanted in my ears to drain stuff. I had the occasional fever and the occasional cold that everybody gets.

Now, I hear from parents about all these issues they have with their children's health. What happened? Was it global warming? Hormones in our meat? The death of good music? What is causing children to be sick all the time?

Now I am no doctor. I am not even that highly educated. Even so I think the great problem between kids then and kids now is what I call the "Bubble-Boy" syndrome. Back in the day I would go play outside with my friends from post-breakfast time to dusk. Everyone knew to come home when the streetlights came on. That was the rules. I would usually come home in some kind of disarray. Hell, one summer there was construction down the street and my friends and I would spend all day throwing clogs of dirt at each other like grenades from our dirt bunkers. If you have never tried it you are missing out. Go try it!

This dirt would end up in my mouth every time and guess what? I did not get sick. I did not die. I did not go home and have to be scrubbed down by CDC officials HazMat gear on. There were no ANTI-BACTERIAL PRODUCTS in my house except maybe Comet and we were not allowed to eat that.

And now there is. Now our homes are infested with Anti-Bacterial everything. People started sanitizing their homes and consequently children started getting sick. The reason is because as I child immunities are created by being exposed to things. If we never expose babies to dirt then they will never become immune. How many children these days have Allergies, Asthma, and other issues? A LOT. A lot more than before too.

I was just reading how Anti-Bacterial products do not actually clean any better than soap and water. Look it up! They have done studies. It's all a marketing ploy generated by fear. Just wash your hands properly after exposing them to serious contaminants. Stop making your home a sterile hospital environment. Let your babies put things in there mouth. It is a natural urge they have that generates a process which will make them stronger in the long run.

Now Get Kraken!

Movie Theater Etiquette Part One- Who is to blame?

I BLAME VCR'S!!

Back in the day, well before my time, going to the movies was a big deal. People would get dressed up and go out to a lovely dinner and then go to a fine presentation of cinematic genius. Over the years, ticket prices went up and movie quality went down. Don't get me wrong, occasionally there is a great movie now and then, but they are far and few between and more than not WAYYY over-hyped. But the movies themselves are not to blame.

So I was a teenager in the 80's but even then we had RESPECT for the movie-going experience in the theater. Going to a big movie on Opening night was almost a religious experience where people knew how to behave. So what happened in the last 20 years to ruin it?

You probably think it was cell phones. Cell phones are freaking annoying and people who text message in the movies have a special place in Hell waiting for them. If you have to answer a call OR make a call OR text someone OR read a text OR read an email then GET THE FUCK OUT OF YOUR SEAT and go outside the double doors. I tend to sit in the back and very few things are more distracting than your phone. One thing that is more annoying?

BABIES AND CHILDREN do not belong in my theater!!! Now if I am watching Toy story 3 or even IronMan 2 I expect children, BUT if you need a CAR Seat for your kid then NO NO NO NO. Get a fucking babysitter. I actually saw some asshole walking a giant STROLLER up the stairs in a movie theater. WTF? AND if your baby/toddler/spawn starts to make noise or talk or cry then YOU MUST LEAVE the theater FOREVER and rethink your life. Most importantly, do not bring a child under the age of 10 into an R Rated movie. I don't care how mature you think your child is. Obviously the child has a moron for a parent so the child can't be that advanced. Which leads to:

NO TALKING. Be as loud and obnoxious as you want prior to the movie. Get it all out of your system because once the lights go down and the real Previews start to roll, SHUT THE FUCK UP! Funny scene in a movie? Laugh it up! Heroic moment that moves you? A Cheer is more than acceptable. Otherwise, no noise. Open your damn candy before the movie starts.

SO to get to my point, what ruined the movie experience? VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater Systems. People started watching movies at home. At home they lost the sanctity of the experience. Movies were meant to be "watched" with gusto, patience, and reverence. They were not meant to be the background to your ironing. That is what Television programs are for. And people brought those horrid home habits to the theater. They treat the movie house like they are at home. No respect, No discipline.

If you are one of these people then work on it. You are sharing something with others. The theater is a community experience. You are not at home so act appropriately. Do not tolerate bad behavior from your friends and family and especially yourself. Show some RESPECT.

In the beginning Good always overpowered the evils Of all man's sins...

So I was considering writing a book. Somewhat autobiographical, somewhat anecdotal. I am still mulling around with the idea and then my good friend, Tara Graves, started a blog a few days ago. I thought to myself, "Perhaps I should put my thoughts down in blog form for now and then see what I have in time." So that is what I am doing here.

This will not be diluted. Many of you might find what I write controversial or offensive. I have a lot of crazy thoughts in my head and I tend to say what is on my mind. I don't want to post this stuff on Facebook or Twitter. It is not the right audience. I was an only child for 10 years so I talked to myself a lot when I was a kid. It was a habit I never grew out of so talking to an audience comes naturally, even if the audience is only in my head.

I may write several blogs in one day or none for several weeks. I will probably repeat things from time to time. I cannot guarantee you will be entertained. This is really just for me. Maybe because I am about to turn 40 and I want some brief account of who I was before I kick the bucket. Renew! Renew! Renew! (I know Carousel is age 30 but I could not resist).

Any and all comments are welcome. I will probably have my friend Scott help me design this page better so expect more stuff in the future. That is all for now.