Kirstie Alley Alamo City ComicCon 2017

Being a Star Trek geek, I wanted a Saavik signed photo from Kirstie Alley instead of a Cheers photo.

She was warm and engaging. The mom in front of me had a couple of young ones with her. Kirstie made an effort to chat with the kids. The kids, after talking nonstop for 5 minutes while in line, clammed up and were mute. Kirstie took that in stride and laughed.

When I asked if she would add the character name, I admitted I didn’t remember how it was spelled. She told me she had that ‘under control’ and quickly added the name. I think we both laughed.

AH

Dave Bautista Alamo City ComicCon 2017

Dave Bautista had the longest line at Alamo City Comic Con.  

He spent time with each fan and took photos and graciously accepted gifts. He laughed at some of the photos (when he had hair or when he was ‘still in shape’) and he constantly chatted with the people. He was very fan friendly.

Most people were getting Guardians of the Galaxy paraphernalia signed but maybe a fourth of the crowd was getting wrestling items signed. I saw a lot of wrestling championship belts being handed over for a signature.

AH

George Wendt Alamo City ComicCon 2017

Sometimes, you walk right up to the celeb and there is no spark between us.  George Wendt was like that.

He had no line. He was chatting with his handler about where they went to dinner the night before. I walked up, I paid my money, and I picked a photo. He signed it. I said ‘Hi, the wife and I really liked Cheers.’ He looked up and nodded. He handed the photo back to me and  went back to talking about dinner.

Oh well.

AH

Chuck Norris ComicPalooza 2017

When Chuck Norris was announced for ComicPalooza, I knew I had to go.  I have always liked Chucked Norris. He doesn’t sign very often in public so this was going to be my best chance.

When I was first learning karate, his films were starting to come out.  While some of the early movies had over the top and unrealistic fights scenes, many of the movies had a grain of truth in the punishment received.   

As his career progressed, often the fight scene was started by the bad guy. It was not a fight just to prove whose kung fu was stronger. The fight wasn’t meaningless nor was it at a drop of a hat. The good guy had no choice but to fight.  Don’t get me wrong, not every Chuck Norris fight scene was like that but enough to make an impression on this teenager.

Chuck learned Korean karate. While everyone has heard of Tae Kwon Do, he (and I) learned Tang Soo Do (I won’t go into the differences…believe it or not, it’s political). In fact, he trained with Master Shin who I have met.

The signing for Chuck Norris was at the end of the day. I was tired. I got in line 2 hours early to be close to the front of the line. The signing went quick but I still had to wait for most of the VIP attendees to go first. The line stalled a few times as other celebs stopped by his table to get a selfie. Everyone was excited about his presence.

When I finally got some face time, I told him my favorite movie was Sidekicks.  He paused, almost as if he couldn’t believe what he heard, and then said that was his favorite also. While I wanted to tell him thank you in Korean, I refrained. I was thrilled to have my photo signed and exchange a few words.

AH

 

Steven Ogg ComicPalooza 2017

It was toward the end of the day. I needed to wait for one last ‘big name’ guest.  It had been a long day and much of it was driving or walking on concrete.  I was tired.

Over the course of the day, I passed by Steven Ogg’s table a few times. While his line was never long, it usually had people in it. He stood in front of his table and hung out with his fans. He was friendly and he chatted and took photos.  Most of the people in line were big Walking Dead fans and they still had energy.

He probably saw that I was tired. Our exchange was brief and low energy which I needed at this point of the day.

AH

Bill Fagerbakke ComicPalooza 2017

Bill Fagerbakke is ‘Patrick Star’ in SpongeBob Squarepants. This show is very popular with kids. Bill seems to work well in that environment. He had endless patience and gave each one his attention.  As the kids come up he would chat and ask them their favorite parts about the show. He would draw ‘Patrick’ on each item and add a quote. He would pose for photos. For one young fan, they reenacted a skit that dealt with a wrong number on a phone. The kid was howling with laughter.  He seemed to really enjoy meeting his fans and talking about SpongeBob and making the children laugh.

With me, we talked Coach. I loved the TV series, Coach. It was a show The Wife and I watched each week together.  He mentioned how great it was to be on that show. The cast received several invites from NFL teams to see games or visit the locker rooms. He was thankful for the opportunity. 

I choose a photo from The Stand. The Stand is one of my favorite books. If I was stranded on a desert island, this is one of the handful of books I would want. He played Tom Cullens. While the movie pales compared to the book, it was enjoyable and the character was played well.  We both thought the quote was apropos.

AH

Parlez-vous Français Pom? ComicPalooza 2017

I took 2 years of High School French.  I needed 4 semesters of a foreign language in college. I choose French. I thought  it would be easier than starting on a new language. I’m not sure that was the correct decision. In college, we blew through my 2 years of high school French in 2 weeks.  After that I was lost and I struggled. Now, I retain enough skill to get my face slapped.  I might be able to ask for a lawyer if the police take me away. On the rare occasions that I speak French, it’s more of a Parlor Trick. Just like when I sing part of the Korean National Anthem or recite the value of Pi to the 14^th digit.

So it was not in my comfort zone when I stood in front of Pom Klementief and said ‘Bon Jour!’ with the energy and infliction of Ms Wells my High School teacher. She smiled. The handler was confused. I heard  ‘Bon Jour’ back from her and then the words I love to hear: Ça va?

Why did I like that? Because it’s on script. She could have asked a million questions and I would have been lost. She simply asked ‘how’s it going’. I can answer that. I did. We exchanged a few more pleasantries en français. I’ll admit I got stuck but she translated to English for me.

The funny part was when I said I came from Dallas. I tried to put a French accent onto ‘Dallas’. It sounded like: Dalloss. I laughed as I heard it.  I repeated ‘Dallas’ like I normally do with my Texas/New Jersey accent. I bid my adieu and I left without too much flop sweat.

AH

Mike Colter ComicPalooza 2017

What I should remember about Mike Colter is his laugh and smile. I should remember the couple in front of me that brought a 6 foot long banner to get signed.  It was white and plastic and had a very large red Marvel logo in the center. It gave a good surface to get signed and something that would not rip or crimp. The large white border had lots and lots room for hundreds of autographs. It will look awesome as more and more signatures are added in the coming years.

What I remember most are the 3 women behind me. They had a running commentary about his looks and what he would be like in bed and how they wanted to use and abuse him. What made it worse was their comments were said so that Mike had to hear it.  This meant that lots of people were hearing some graphic dialogue. As a professional, Mike ignored most of the comments

I didn’t say much to Mike when I handed over my photo. I figured the sooner I was done, the sooner those females would be out of the line.

AH

Anthony Mackie ComicPalooza 2017

I left Dallas very very early to get to Houston early enough to make sure I had enough time to wait in some long lines for the autographs I wanted.  The first line I choose was Anthony Mackie.

There was a mom and son in front of me. The kid was 18 yrs old or so.  Mom started bragging on the kid (as moms will do) and Anthony just said quietly, I want to hear him tell me.  Mom shut up.   Then the kid told Anthony about going to college and studying engineering.  After a few more sentences, mom just said she was so proud of her son. He had brain surgery and overcame so much to be where he was.  That got everyone one’s attention.  Anthony again spoke to the kid and it was more personal, which I won’t share but it was very nice.

AH

Angus MacInnes – Gold Leader

Not even a week after free comic book day, Madness Game and Comics had me back in their store. They had Gold Leader himself, Angus MacInnes. If 'Gold Leader' doesn't mean anything to you, then you aren't a Star Wars fan.

Yes, I went and got his autograph.

Of course he signed with ‘gold’ ink. Was there any doubt?

AH

Julie Dolan and Matthew Wood Madness Games and Comics - Free Comicbook day 2017

Madness Games and Comics had actors 10 people signing at their store on Free Comicbook Day. It was a mix of Power Rangers, Star Trek, and Star Wars.  I was interested in Julie Dolan and Matthew Wood from the Star Wars universe.

I got to the event a few hours after it started and people were still in line getting their free comics and in line to meet the celebs. I was not the oldest person in the room. However, I was skewing the average toward the end of the curve.

I picked up Matthew first. We talked about lunch (we were both hungry) and what the store was going to feed them.

Julie was friendly. Since she was a ‘princess’, there was a slight line for her. I was definitely the oldest person in her line. As she signed, she switched pens.  An odd thing to do. I’m assuming it was to make the character name stand out.

AH

PS I don’t read comic. I never thought to go through the line to pick out free comics to read.  These comics are specifically printed for this day and are handed out free to the public.  As I was updating The Wife on my success, she asked if I got any of the comics.  Of course I said ‘no’.  Then she reminded me that our friends visiting us from out of town do read comics and they are busy at another event. The Wife made me go back in and pick out some comic books for my friends. She is a good person.

AH

Mark Strickson WhoFest 2017

It was a busy weekend with Texas Frightmare Weekend, Free Comicbook Day, and WhoFest. I have attended WhoFest in the past. It’s a nice con but there is not much there for me except for a few autographs.  This year, it seemed even smaller. I do wonder what it will be like next year.

Mark Strickson is old school Dr Who. Not my favorite companion and he didn’t travel with my favorite Doctor but he is part of the Whoverse I grew up with. 

He was a nice guy.  Since he didn’t have a line, he chatted with the two guys in front of me about the hidden British politics of an episode he was in.  This is background that is lost on most Americans. Besides not knowing the context, there is a delay when the episode is aired in the US. This makes it hard to see the importance in a speech or specific scene. It was interesting insight.

AH

Michael Pare and the CIA

In 1984, I was still in college. It was before the internet as you know it. It was the dawn of personal computers. The 3.5 floppy was born.  Dell and Cisco was founded. MS-DOS 3.0 was released.

The point of this walk through the cobwebs? The buzz around movies coming out was very limited and sometimes misleading. My friends and I thought Streets of Fire was a sequel to The Warriors. While disappointed it wasn’t a sequel, we thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

Michael Pare, the star of 'Streets' was at Frightmare. He was very engaging and took over the whole process. At the last minute, another of my autograph buddies gave me a sound track cover from the movie.  How could I pass on that?

Once I handed over the album cover to sign, he stood and told we were taking a photo. Another friend took the photo of us.  As we posed, he never stopped talking. I mentioned the enjoying Streets and went to see it because of Walter Hill and Warriors. Then he took the conversation from Hill to Warriors to Michael Beck and said the two of them did a TV series called Houston Knights.

It was a great experience.

Later that night, I was hanging out with other friends. I waited with them as they went through Michael’s line.  That friend brought up cooking. Michael Pare had attended the CIA (Culinary Institute of America - did you think I meant that other CIA?). They talked restaurants, cooking, and how any ways to prepare an egg. 

Again a great experience.

AH

Stephen Geoffreys Texas Frightmare Weekend 2017

I liked the movie Fright Night. How can you go wrong with a Roddy McDowall movie?  Texas Frightmare Weekend had a lot of actors in attendance from that movie.  At this time I added Stephen Geoffreys to my collection.

AH

Thomas G Waites Texas Frightmare Weekend 2017

Thomas G Waites has been in 2 of my all-time favorite movies: The Thing and The Warriors. It was very hard to choose a photo to get signed as I liked both characters in each movie.  I choose Fox from Warriors as he had a better quote to add to the autograph.

Thomas was friendly. He knew the movie quote I wanted and had started writing it before I even finished asking.  

I had already heard him talk about The Thing while I was waiting. He said it was colder than he expected and it was COLD. I wanted to ask a few questions about The Warriors. I limited myself to only: Did you expect to run so much?  I knew the answer but I still wanted to hear him say: no.

I thanked him and let the next fan meet him.

AH

Sean Whalen That Thing You Do!

I have very fond memories of That Thing You Do! I saw it on HBO when I was sick and feverish. I was just flipping channels and the movie was 2/3 over. I finished watching it. I like it enough that I caught it from the beginning on the west coast feed. Then I watched it a third, fourth, and fifth time that day.  When the wife came home I made her watch it with me as she nursed me back to health.

I actually bought the soundtrack and I own the DVD. This was the first time I saw Liv Tyler, Charlize Theron, Steve Zahn, Tom Everett Scott, and Rita Wilson. I just loved the cast.

While most people at Texas Frightmare were getting Sean Whalen for People Under the Stairs or Halloween II, I was there for That Thing You Do!  He even add the quote I would have asked him to add.

AH

EG Daily Texas Frightmare Weekend 2017

I would have totally missed this opportunity except for one of my autograph buddies. He and I were chatting and he mentioned that he was excited about EG Daily attending Texas Frightmare. Since the name did not ring a bell he gave more detail about her. Even then I had to look her up. I'm glad I did. I fondly remembered her from Pee Wee Herman’s movie.

You know, I don’t do table photos or selfies. Quite honestly, who wants to look at a photo of me? I certainly don’t.  As I was with the friends that ALWAYS try to embarrass me in front of beautiful woman (Ivy Doom Kitty or Sarah Underwood), they got me to pose. Yes, I have a BIG smile on my face.

EG was beautiful and friendly.  We chatted a little before and after the photo. It was not rushed. While I was embarrassed, I’m glad my arm was twisted and I did the photo.

AH