Ken's Alternate Universe!

Outpost: Silver Dollar City

Branson, MO

Okay, so you’re probably wondering why I’m blogging about a visit to Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO on a blog that centers primarily on nerdy things. Well, here’s why: Just because there’s no science fiction or comics involved doesn’t mean something can’t be nerdy! In fact, there’s quite a bit of good nerdiness to be had at Silver Dollar City and in the Branson area if you know where to look. I was actually quite surprised at just how much fun I had at SDC and in Branson, so I decided it was definitely blogworthy.

The actual tour started very early on a Saturday morning in Lake Charles, LA. Myself and the family hit the road at around 4:45 AM. We stopped in Leesville, LA for a quick bite of breakfast and our next stop was in Fouke, Arkansas at Peavy’s Monster Mart, which is home to all things Boggy Creek. What’s Boggy Creek, you say? Well, Fouke is supposedly the stomping grounds for the Fouke Swamp Monster, who was written about by a gentleman that went by the name of Smokey. Smokey’s tale made it to the big screen in the form of the film The Legend of Boggy Creek. The film is a cult hit, and I’m proud to say that I own a copy of it. When I was a kid, finding Sasquatch or Bigfoot or the Yeti was one of my biggest dreams. I still want to find one, but much like Wile E. Coyote and his pursuit of the Road Runner, I don’t know what I would do if I ever did manage to catch one. Our stop was brief, and I managed to get a few photos (and a mug), but we were soon back on the road.

We stopped at the Arkansas Welcome Center on I-30. I-30 is quite possibly the most boring stretch of interstate highway in the universe, so I highly recommend going “off-road” and taking Scenic 7 through Hot Springs, AR and the Ouachita National Forest. Hot Springs is a pretty cool place. It’s an old city with a very trippy vibe to it. The Ouachita National Forest is beautiful, and there are plenty of great places to stop, hike, explore, or just have a picnic. Eventually we entered the Ozark Mountains and then Missouri. It was a long ride, but well worth the long hours on the road.

Iron Springs in the Ouachita National Forest.

We went to Silver Dollar City on Sunday. For those of you who aren’t aware, Silver Dollar City is an amusement park that is based around life in the Ozarks during the late 1800’s. It spins local history with the spirit of the American pioneer, and gives visitors a glimpse into the lives of these hardy and proud people. There’s also plenty of roller coasters, water-based rides, musical acts, magic shows, and demonstrations centered around the area circa 1880. There’s blacksmithing, glassblowing, gospel singing, country music, and food, lots and lots of food!

Dancin' girls at the Silver Dollar City Saloon. — Dancin’ girls at the Silver Dollar City Saloon.

Words of wisdom like this are scattered throughout SDC.

A look from the observation deck of Wildfire.

I’m a huge fan of roller coasters, and SDC had no shortage of exciting one on hand. My personal favorite was Wildfire, but if you ever make it out to SDC, be sure to ride Thunderation, The Powder Keg, Fire In The Hole, and Outlaw Run (a wooden coaster). All of them are excellent rides.

I also highly recommend going on a tour of Marvel Cave which is located on the property. It’s actually the primary reason that SDC even exists today, as the park was built directly above the cave. The daytime tour is free, but there’s also a “Lantern Tour” that can be taken for a small fee ($10.75 as of this writing). The “Lantern Tour” is the last tour of the day. Marvel Cave is well lit throughout the day, but for this final tour, all of the lights go out, your tour guide wears period specific attire, and takes a small group down into Marvel Cave for a tour that runs roughly an hour and a half and includes a lot more stories (including ghost stories) and even a few looks into places that are off-limits during the standard daytime tour. I HIGHLY recommend the “Lantern Tour.” Not only is it a much more intimate tour due to the limited group size, it’s also a great way to learn a whole lot more about this wonderful cave.

Our tour guide on the daytime tour, Madison. She rocked!

Now, we didn’t spend our entire trip at Silver Dollar City. We did take a couple of days to explore the city of Branson as well. We visited Branson’s Wild World, an aquarium/mini-golf/arcade complex that featured bull sharks (that we got to feed), wolves, dingos, and a cool 3-D mini golf course. We also saw Optimus Prime in front of the Ripley’s Believe It….Or Not museum. All in all, it was a great trip. We also visited the Cliff House Inn in Jasper, AR, which had a breathtaking view of the Arkansas Grand Canyon.

Arkansas Grand Canyon at the Cliff House Inn in Jasper, Arkansas.

Branson's Wild World. — Branson’s Wild World.

As always, thanks for reading, and if you have any questions about anything I’ve posted here, drop me a note or leave a comment!

Bayoucon 2014

Lake Charles, LA

Bayoucon 2014 is a fan-run convention in Lake Charles, LA that takes place every June. I have attended this event (and was even the vice president of the convention’s board at one point) every year since its inception with the exception of 2012. Originally this convention was primarily a science fiction based event, but it took a shot at anime last year. This year, it seems as if the convention went back to sci-fi, featuring guests from Stargate SG-1, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek Continues, The Walking Dead, and one anime guest. I’ll speak about some of these later on.

I attended the event as a guest panelist and as a member of the crew of the USS Lafitte, a Lake Charles based Star Trek fan club that is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year. I arrived on Friday and met up with the Lafitte crew for the evening. Neither of my two panels took place on Friday night, so I had a lot of time to walk around and check out the event. I also got to visit with a lot of friends, some that I had not seen in a very long time. Attendance was okay, but there was still plenty of room to roam around without being crunched shoulder to shoulder with other guests and fans.

Saturday was a bit more active than Friday night. All of the celebrity guests were available for autographs, photos, small talk, etc. on this day, and I took a little bit of my free time to speak with the lovely Noelle Hannibal, who many of you might recognize from Star Trek: First Contact. A few more of you eagle-eyed fans might remember her from the TV series, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and I commend you if you recognize her from that, because she was in full makeup for that show. We talked for a bit and I got a photograph and an autograph from her. She was very cordial and a pleasure to speak with.

bcseven — Photo credit: Kendall Fontenot

Saturday was also the day that the lovely ladies of Orion’s Envy made their appearance in all of their green glory. These ladies are excellent dancers and capture the allure of the Orion Slave Girls with perfection. It’s hard to say anything bad about these ladies because A) they are as friendly and lovely as can be and B) they are real Star Trek fans. I consider them friends and look forward to seeing them at any convention that I attend. They performed on Saturday evening for the crowd in between sets by the Consortium of Genius, who jammed out to a ton of original tunes culled from multiple genres. COG (as many people refer to them) also cranked out an epic version of the theme from Doctor Who, which is my favorite series of all time.

I hosted a panel about the Fifth and Tenth Doctors from Doctor Who on Saturday. I called it Five and Dime and briefly highlighted the multiple similarities and differences between the men (Peter Davison and David Tennant) that portrayed these two incarnations of the Doctor and how the two relate to one another in real life. I was shocked at how many people attended the panel. Apparantly the Lake area is hungry for Who.

Sunday was much, much more laid back, and attendance lightened as the day went on. Despite the small numbers, though, I had a nearly packed house for my second panel, Upgrades: From Mondas to Cybus Industries, which covered the ever-changing Cybermen from Doctor Who. This panel was much looser than my previous one, drawing a lot of interplay from the crowd, and we even went off on a few tangents like Superman and Harry Potter, but it was still a lot of fun and well-attended.

The event closed with what was supposed to be a panel focusing strictly on Cliff Simon, but he suggested that all of the celebrity guests take the stage with him and it basically became a free-for-all where photos were snapped, autographs signed, and plenty of fun was had by all.

After the convention called it a day, I managed to grab an autograph from Michael Koske, a featured Walker from The Walking Dead. I asked him how many times he died on screen as a Walker and he told me that of the forty-three Walkers that he portrayed, forty of them bit the dust on the screen. He was a genuinely nice guy and I wouldn’t mind seeing him at another convention down the road.

bcfour — Photo credit: Some random dude who offered to take the photo for me. I returned the favor. Thanks, random dude!

I also got to hang out for a bit with Larry Nemecek, who is bascially a Trek library full of knowledge about not just the many series and films, but of many other Trek related things. He also portrayed Bones in the first two episodes of Star Trek Continues, a fan created series headed up by Vic Mignogna, who is best known as an anime voice actor. If you ever get the chance to check out the show, do it!

The best thing about small cons like Bayoucon is the fact that you spend almost no time in lines to meet celebrities, shop vendors, or interact with artists. Even better than that is the fact that you get to hang out with friends in a very loose environment.

Bayoucon has had many ups and downs over the years and still seems to be trying to find its footing, but two very important staff members, the husband and wife duo of Michael and Jenni Moreau, have managed to make this an enjoyable event. They go out of their way to make this event special, and they should be recognized for their work on this event.

If you’re ever in the Lake area during the early days of summer, be sure to check out Bayoucon. I plan to attend this event again next year, and hopefully with new panels to present.

Header photo taken by Garrett Manuel.

Busy Weekend Ahead!

Lake Charles, LA

Bayoucon takes place this weekend in Lake Charles, LA. It’s a science fiction/pop culture convention that has morphed from sci-fi to anime and then back to sci-fi over the years, but has never really experienced a lot of growth. It’s a small convention that is in its sixth year (called Con du Lac for its first two years). In fact, I was involved with this convention during its third and partially during its fourth incarnation.

I am now going to be a panelist at this weekend’s event.

I’ll have a full report and photos next week.

Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

Wannabeeeees!

Lake Charles, LA

Calm down, calm down. This post has absolutely nothing to do with the lovely Spice Girls (although they are a guilty pleasure of mine). Nope, I just used their photo to draw attention to the topic at hand: Wannabes. Yes, there are a lot of “wannabes” out there. From wannabe athletes to wannabe authors (like myself) to wannabe zookeepers (I’m guessing those really exist), this great land of ours is flush with wannabes.

This post in particular is about a specific type of wannabe: the wannabe fanboy. Now I’m not trying to start an argument over who is “more of a true fan” than any other person or what criteria must be met to be considered a true fan at all. I’m focusing on certain people who become instant fans of a new franchise or genre because they’ve effectively been forced out of another circle of fandom or they become a “fan” of a franchise for their own personal gain.

I have dealt directly with this type of person. They latch onto whatever fandom happens to be hot or popular at the time, and uses it to gain pseudo-friends because they irritated, lied to, and basically ticked off the last group they were a part of before getting the boot. I have witnessed this type of person openly blast anime and anime fans, calling them and their genre “stupid, silly, and just dumb.” However, when that person saw another group put on an anime-focused event and saw how much attention and money it brought, the individual immediately started to use and abuse anime for profit.

Fortunately, the anime fans of the world caught on to this person’s motives and left him/her high and dry.

After this failure, the individual went to another established (yet aged at the time) franchise, Star Trek, to make another attempt at a cash grab. While it was only a slightly better event, this person yet again ostracized fans of Trek, making him/her two for two on ticking people off.

The next event this person put on was even worse. The individual doubled up in desperation, attempting to draw both anime and Star Wars fans to the next event, but the event bombed. While the anime fans had learned from experience, the Star Wars fans had already researched this person and avoided the event like the plague.

Now this person is trying to abuse Doctor Who. This individual has told me to my face how dumb the good Doctor is in his/her opinion, and just can’t understand why anybody would want to watch the show. This person didn’t care two bits about the Doctor, the Master, the Rani, Turlough, Tegan, or Peri. But now, all of a sudden, and with no real fan groups left in the area to milk for profit, this person has become a huge fan of the Doctor, going so far as to join up with a fan group and use it to promote his/her event.

It’s a really sad turn of events in my opinion, that a person would be so desperate for attention and profit that they would sell themselves out to the highest paying fandom. In short, this person is a fanwhore (Is there such a term yet? If not, I call dibs!).

This person leeches any and all they can for their own personal gain. It’s sickening. I do not like these types of people. It’s one thing to not like a series or comic and then gradually become a fan, but to instantly become a fan of a franchise that you have a long history of hating and/or disliking is a bit odd in my opinion. It’s as if the Holy Spirit came down from Heaven and tapped your anime-hating brain and made you an instant fan.

Please, readers. Do not become one of these posers, one of these parasites. It doesn’t look good on anybody!

That’s it. I’m off my soapbox. I just had to get that off of my chest.

Thanks for reading and tolerating me for a bit.

Convention Panels And Weight Update

Lake Charles, LA

On the weekend of June 20-22, I’ll be at a local convention in the Lake Charles area called Bayoucon. I’ll be hosting two Doctor Who panels (one on Saturday at 3PM and the other at noon on Sunday). The Saturday panel will be focused on the Doctor while the Sunday panel will be about the Cybermen. If any of you happen to be in the area, feel free to come to the Lake Charles Civic Center and check out the panels. I’ll post photos after the event (and also a review of the convention itself).

It will be nice to attend a convention again. The last one I attended was the excellent CyPhaCon, also in Lake Charles. It’s a growing convention, and has done so each year. Bayoucon is a very small convention, but it brings in a lot of my good friends who I don’t get to see very often. Sometimes these smaller events are some of the best ones, because you can actually move around the convention center and talk at length with friends.

As far as my weight goes, I’ve lost fifty-one pounds! I have three pounds to go in order to reach my next goal of 190 lbs, and from there I’ll be shooting for 180 lbs. After achieving that goal, I’ll slow down a bit on losing weight, and focus more on maintaining and increasing muscle mass.

As always, thanks for reading. Next time I hope to have a brief review of the latest X-men flick and possibly a look at the recent Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir comic releases.

New Additions To The Ol’ Star Wars Collection (And A Collector Rant)

Lake Charles, LA

Now, it’s time for my collector’s rant. Normally I don’t mind when other collectors gripe about the quality of a figure if they are purchasing high end figures (i.e. Sideshow Collectibles), but reading about all of the whiners griping about the quality of the Saga Legends and Black Series figures is really getting on my nerves.

First and foremost these lines are TOYS. Do I need to put that in bold lettering? Fine. They are TOYS. They are meant to be played with by children (and adults who aren’t afraid to let the figure loose from its plastic casing). I understand that the paint quality and, in some cases, the figure quality is bad, but ultimately these figures are meant to be played with and enjoyed.

The Black Series (at least the six inch line) is geared more towards adult collectors, but children still want to play with them. My son looks at my Darth Maul, Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo figures and you can literally see the restraint in his cute little face. He wants to play with them soooooo badly but knows that daddy got them strictly to display. I buy him Black Series figures as well, and let him do whatever he wants with them. He loves to play with his figures, as any normal kid wants to do.

The Saga Legends line has problems of its own, but not once have I heard my son or any other child gripe about the lack of articulation. He just goes along playing with them as if nothing is “wrong” with the figures.

That’s what is so irritating about being a collector. I go to the store and see other guys my age or older (and a few younger ones as well) digging through figures and when they find one they want, they grab it and study it closely. If there’s just the slightest blemish on the figure, they get all bent out of shape and toss the figure back on the peg. I’ve seen people pass up Boba Fett figures because there’s a slight chip in his paint job. Guess what? I bought that figure and gave it to my son. He loves it, and so do I. All that these “adult” collectors do is demand better figures from Hasbro as if Hasbro only makes figures for adults. Then when Hasbro does crank out something that is high end, these same collectors gripe about the price. It’s a vicious and never-ending circle.

All that I have to say to these types of collectors is, “Grow up!” I don’t know about all of them, but I collect figures because I love Star Wars. It brings me joy and happiness. I watch the films with my kids and it makes them happy as well. Star Wars is supposed to be FUN! Don’t ruin for everyone else. Try to think back to the time when you were a kid wanting to buy and play with figures from the movies. Put yourself in those old shoes and remember the fun that was had by you and your friends.

Smile, Star Wars fanboys! Be happy that your franchise is back on top and, most importantly, HAVE FUN!!!!!!

Sorry about the rant, gang, but I had to get this off of my chest.

As always, thanks for reading, and may the Force be with you!

To The Comic Book Store!!!

Lake Charles, LA

Last weekend I did something that I had not done in almost twenty years. I went to a comic book store and actually bought a comic book. Now, I’ve been to comic book stores off and on in that twenty or so year period, but it was usually to try to find an action figure I wanted, supplies for my sports card collection, or, and thank God I don’t do this anymore, to sell my soul hoping that the comic book store would sponsor or be a vendor at a convention I used to be associated with a few years ago.

This past weekend, though, I was a man on a mission. I visited Paper Heroes on Ryan Street in Lake Charles to chat up my friend who runs the joint, Kevin. I asked him if he had Star Wars: Son of Dathomir in stock. He pointed behind me to the new comic stand (obviously) and there she was, the newest Dark Horse comic that was the beginning of a short series that promises to give me and every other Star Wars fanboy some closure on one of my favorite Sith Lord, Darth Maul.

Oh, and I also picked up a case for some of my sports cards, too.

When I left the shop, I had a few errands to run in town before heading home. Once I got home, though, I gorged myself on the comic. It had been so long since I had simply plopped down and read a comic book. It felt pretty darn good. No, it felt great, and I can’t wait for the next issue to hit the shelf.

I’ll probably be visiting Paper Heroes again in the very near future to look at the other titles that Kevin had to offer. I need to brush up on my Batman and Captain America. I also want to explore more of the Dark Horse titles.

If you’re ever in the Lake Charles area, I highly recommend visiting Paper Heroes. Check them out on the web at http://www.paper-heroes.net as well. You’ll get top notch service from Kevin and there’s always something new coming to the shop.

As always, thanks for reading. Let me know some of your favorite comic shops in the comments section. I’d love to hear about them?

Clone-fusion! A Quick Question About the Clones From Star Wars

Lake Charles, LA

So, I have a really quick question to ask everyone out there. Who is your favorite clone trooper from the Star Wars universe? I don’t care if they are from the films, the Clone Wars television series, the EU books, comics, or games, etc. I’m just curious to see who your favorite clone is. Mine? Well, Captain Rex is the man in my book, but I’ve also grown fond of other clones like Appo, Cody, Fives, Fox, Neyo, and Gree.

If you don’t have a favorite clone (or just don’t care for the clones in general), leave a comment explaining why you dislike them or can’t choose a favorite.

Also, have a great Memorial Day weekend!

A Little Bit Bummed, But There’s Good News As Well!

Lake Charles, LA

I have been wanting to meet Peter Davison, the fifth incarnation of the Doctor from Doctor Who ever since I was a kid watching him on television over thirty years ago. Davison, while not my first Doctor, is MY Doctor. He’s the one that I identified with the most and who is my favorite Doctor of all time (and space).

He was announced as a guest for the 2013 Comicpalooza event in Houston, TX last year, but had to cancel. I was bummed out, but sort of glad that he couldn’t make it because I couldn’t make it either. Then I found out that he would be there for 2014, and I got extremely excited because, as the gods allowed, I would also be able to make it Houston for Comicpalooza.

Then I found out that events were coming up the very same weekend I hoped to attend Comicpalooza this year and now I’ll miss #5 yet again. There’s still an extremely slim chance that I might get to go, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Sooner or later I hope to meet Mr. Davison. He’s the reason I’m such a huge Who fan to this day. If any of you have ever met him, please leave a comment and let me know what he’s like.

Now, I did say that there’s some good news too, so here it is: I have lost forty-seven pounds of fat since starting my Insanity/Wellness Coaching/Dieting program way back in January. I started out at a whopping 244 lbs and have whittled my frame down to a more manageable 197 lbs. As I continue to lose weight I have decided to do something a little bit crazy. I’m hoping to find a few cosplayers and friends from conventions that I’ve taken photos with in the past and retake new pictures with as many of them as I can. I want to create a folder on my Facebook page that has all of these photos in it and I’ll probably call it something like Before And After My Fat Fandomness. A few of the cosplayers and most of the friends will be easy to get photos with, but it will be a challenge to get some of them again, as I haven’t seen a few in quite a long time.

Other good news includes the fact that I’m going to take my daughter to go see The Amazing Spider-Man 2 this weekend. I’ve already seen the film with my son, but my daughter wants to see it now as well. That will most likely take place on Sunday afternoon.

Another bit of news is that a convention that I was formerly involved with, Bayoucon, is coming up next month. It’s a small convention in Lake Charles, LA that will feature an actor from Stargate SG-1 named Cliff Simon (I don’t know much about SG-1, so forgive my ignorance of the gentleman and/or his character) as well as a couple of other actors and behind-the-scenes people. I’m going as a member of two fan groups, the USS Lafitte and The Doctor Whooligans, and have submitted a panel for the convention as well. I haven’t heard back from the convention yet, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to present my panel or not. I am really only going to see a few of my friends who are still involved with the convention and to see the wonderful ladies of Orion’s Envy, a bellydancing troupe from the Lafayette, LA area. Not only are they talented dancers, they are really friendly people that I always look forward to seeing at conventions.

I’ll give a full report of the convention next month, and I’ll be sure to include photos of the event as well. Thanks for reading!

Not So Long Ago, In A Library In Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge, LA

I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with fellow lovers of Star Wars this weekend in Baton Rouge, LA. The Red Stick Rebellion, a Star Wars collectors group, invited me to talk about and display some of the ARC (advance reader copy) editions of recent Star Wars books. I brought six books along with me (my entire collection as of this post) and explained to the group how I got my hands on these editions (they are sent to me for review by Amazon Vine) and let everyone take a look at them and see the differences between them and books bought off of the shelf.

After my brief talk, we had a very casual chat about everything from the upcoming films to the fate of the Expanded Universe pre-Disney buy out. It was a really fun time for myself and, I believe, for those who attended as well. I hope to make more meetings in the near future, as these people are my people. Living in Lake Charles, it’s hard to find enthusiasts that share my love for George Lucas’ work. While there are plenty of Star Wars fans in the Lake area, not very many of them are vocal about their love of the franchise.

I’ve fallen in with a Star Trek fan group, as well as a Doctor Who group, but finding fellow Star Wars fans is a bit difficult.

I also managed to get my hands on a Black Series 6″ Han Solo figure. I really love it. Hopefully I’ll be getting Chewbacca soon as well.

That’s all I really have for now. I am hoping to attend Comicpalooza in Houston, Texas in a couple of weeks, but that particular event is still up in the air for me. Peter Davison, my favorite Doctor from Doctor Who, will be there, as well as Sylvester McCoy (already met him), Colin Baker, and Paul McGann, not to mention John Barrowman and the lovely lady that plays Madame Vastra. There are going to be a ton of other guests as well, including the bulk of the main cast from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and actors like Billy Dee Williams and others.

As always, thanks for reading, and in case anyone is wondering, no, my books are not for sale!

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