Larry Correia Half Price Books Feb 2019

Before I traveled to LA for Gallifrey One, I went to a book signing for Larry Correia. The signing was at Half Price Books.

Larry is a goofy sci fi writing guy. He knows he’s goofy and doesn’t shy away from that. He is charming in his goofiness and had me smiling and laughing as he spoke. He gave an update on his projects. It seems he is writing 20 books at once. Then he took questions from the audience.  While the questions seemed dull, the answers were goofy enough to make up that.

AH

Paul Freeman Madness Games and Comics Feb 2019

The day I came back from LA, I landed and dropped off the bags at home. Then I drove into Plano to visit Madness Games and Comics. Why? Because Paul Freeman was there doing a signing.

If you thought The Wife wanted to put me into rehab after getting Josh Gates’ autograph, she now thought it was too late for detox to do any good.

Paul was friendly. People had a lot of different ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ items for him to sign. I think the golden skull from the opening scene of the movie was the best. I was boring and just did a photo. Once we were done, I had to rush home and spend some quality time with The Wife.

AH

Josh Gates and LA Travel and Adventure Show 2019

This is a cautionary tale of a man greying at the temples (okay more than just the temples), growing at the waistline, and feeding his addiction.  A man, whose Wife you need to pity, that somehow allowed the evil empire of Facebook to track him to LA, California.  And worse, they placed an ad on this feed.   Yes, you are correct, he did the worst thing imaginable: he read that ad.

Okay, enough of the melodrama.

While I don’t check-in with Facebook, I’m sure the cell towers in LA told Facebook everything they needed.  While I was slightly irked that I saw a local ads while I was in LA for Gallifrey One, this ad was opportune. The ad was for the LA Travel and Adventure show. It just happened to be occurring downtown at the LA Convention Center the same weekend as Gallifrey One. It also just happened to have Josh Gates in attendance.  

I like Josh. I find him funny. I watched him on the SyFy channel’s ‘Destination Truth’ and I now watch him on ‘Expedition Unknown’.  I have wanted his autograph for years.  This was my chance. Facebook was feeding my addiction.

I stressed over about getting a photo printed for him to sign. But I figured there would be a generic stock head available. I also worried about missing Gallifrey One to attend a different convention. While the Fates like to toy with people, this time they were kind. Josh was at the show for Sunday only. I had gotten all of the autographs I need from Gallifrey One by Saturday. I would only be missing out on the Sunday panels if I changed plans.

I decided it was meant to be. I ubered to the LA Convention Center which was about 30 minutes away.  I wandered around and actually found a booth selling Josh's book and some photos.  I was happy. Then I relaxed and sat in on some travel panels instead of Whovian panels.

As I waited, I sat through Samantha Brown’s panel. The Wife and I have enjoyed her shows over the years. It was great to hear Samantha had a new show on PBS. She gave a great tip abut using the ironing board in the hotel room as a desk or as a storage shelf. After her, there was a short panel about visiting Korea and Japan. Both locations I want to see.  Then Josh took the stage. He was amusing as always. One of his themes for the panel was ‘taking a chance’ when traveling. his point was to give yourself some time to change plans and add something unplanned to the agenda after you ‘hit the ground’.

After the panel, I got in line for his signing. He had a long line. When I finally got to the front, I mentioned, I took a chance and came to this show. I told him I came from to Dallas for the Dr Who Convention. He paused and asked how I liked the new Doctor.  We exchanged a few words about Dr Who. Turns out he is also a Tom Baker fan.

After we were done, I headed back to the hotel. I called The Wife and explained how one convention full of autographs wasn’t enough and I HAD to go to another show. Yes, my name is AH and I collect autographs…

AH

Barbara Hambly Gallifrey One

The last autograph I picked up at Gallifrey one was the author Barbara Hambly.  

I read a lot of Star Trek books as a kid. Then Star Trek got some fresh legs and they started printing a new book every few months. It was impossible to keep up with them as I was now an adult and working. A few of those new books were from Barbara. I tracked one down and got her to sign it. 

AH

Carole Ann Ford and William Russell Gallifrey One

I was very excited to see that both Carole Ann Ford and William Russell were attending this year’s Gallifrey One. They worked with the first Doctor and that was over 50 years ago.

Luckily, I got to see the panel with them together and they charmed the crowd with their anecdotes.  The panel’s MC did a good job of asking questions, follow up questions, and then getting out of the actors’ way as they answered. For the most part, the stories were well polished as they have told them time and again over the decades. While some tales may be apocryphal, they held the audience in their hands as they talked.

When it was time for their signing, there was a long line; which I loved seeing. I worry that the current crop of Whovians have no idea about the history of the show.  I see this with Star Trek. The Next Gen crowd dismisses anything prior to Picard.

I must admit to being my own enemy.  When Carole and William were signing, I goofed. I got a photo signed by Carole for myself.  Then I got her and William to sign a duel photo for a friend. I forgot to get a photo of William signed for myself.  When I realized my gaff, it was too late to get back in line. I had to wait for the next day to start again. It all worked out and I was a happy camper.

AH