February 2024 Mad Monster Party Graphing Recap

On Saturday, my wife, son, mom and I all went to the 2024 Mad Monster Party in Charlotte to do a little graphing.  The main attractions this year were actors from Lost Boys, Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland, as well as Kevin Spacey, who was making his first ever Con appearance.

I had set my expectations pretty low; I didn't want to go to the event and expect to get Sutherland, only to see his line wrapped around the building like the time Chris and I went when Robert Englund was there.  I had seen that Tim Capello, the shirtless saxophone guy from the beginning of Lost Boys was going to be there.  That scene in the movie is so random, my brother Andy and I laugh about it a lot.  I thought it would be cool to meet Capello and get an autograph, so that was the goal I set.

Capello was the first person we got.  I paid $40 and got a photo signed and a photo op.  He was such a great guy.  You could tell that he has embraced that small role in a great film.  I didn't realize at the time, but his auto had smeared. So, I went back later and Capello was nice enough to sign another photo for me and apologized.

The next table we went to, after Capello's, and after Mal and Chris split up from Mom and I, was Lou Diamobd Phillips.  He was super nice and polite, asking Mom and I how we were doing.  Mom told him, then asked him how he was doing.  He said he was doing 'fantastic, thanks".  Mom talked to him for a bit while he signed for me.

I told Phillips that I grew up with LA Bamba and Young Guns.  He thanked me for being a fan.

After Phillips, we parked Mom in line for Kiefer Sutherland.  It looked like we might be able to get him quickly, but then they stopped the autograph lines in order to handle all of the paid photo ops.  They had it laid out as such: Jason Patric, Patric and Sutherland dual photo ops, Sutherland only, Sutherland and Phillips and then Phillips only. There were a ton of people in line for all of these photo ops. Mom was fine people watching while Mal, Chris and I took turns hanging with her.  Once Mal finished with Kevin Spacey, I broke away and went for CJ Graham.  Kane Hodder was also there, but I had met him before.

Graham's line was short when I got there, but he was talking with a family of four people (two were teenagers) and he was having a lot of fun with them.  He even got the teem boy to FaceTime his ex girlfriend and filmed himself with the buy telling the ex that she blew her chance to meet him. It was hilarious. I didn't mind waiting to see how all that would play out.  By the time I got to Graham, he thanked me for my patience and signed two photos for me.  He was so nice.

Because Graham took Paypal, I had conserved some cash and went ahead and got John Glover.  I loved this 8 x 10 from Gremlins 2, so that's what I chose to get signed.  Glover was really nice and spoke to me for a few minutes. 

I went back and checked on Mom, who I had left with Chris.  She was doing well; still sitting there people watching. Mal met up with us after Kevin Spacey, and dropped some of out signed photos at the car so we wouldn't have to hang onto them.  She noticed that the Capello photo had smeared, so Chris and I set off to replace that one.  After we got that done, we spotted WWE referee Charles Robinson talking with someone near Arn Anderson's booth.  Chris wanted to meet him, so we waited for him to finish his conversation.

Chris asked Robinson if he could get a photo with him, and got one.  Robinson wasn't a scheduled signer, he was there visiting, but was impressed Chris recognized him and said hello, so he posed for the photo.  He told Chris that since he was nice enough to come say hello, he would give him something in return.  He reached in his bag and brought out an 8 x 10, that he signed in white paint pen.  He asked me if I wanted one as well, which I gladly accepted.  He was really awesome and genuinely glad to be recognized.

We got back to Mal and Mom to see that the Kiefer Sutherland line was actually moving.  I had decided that if it wasn't moving, I was happy with what I had gotten and would be ok leaving.  However, since the line was moving, we hung out some more and finally got into the room to meet Sutherland.  We got up to the photo table while I was pushing Mom along the line.  I stopped and noted a photo for Mal and got a bit distracted.  It was our turn so Mom yelled to me "move me!" to which Sutherland laughed.  So we got up there, and he couldn't have been nicer.  Mom asked him "what did they have to do to get you to come here to podunk North Carolina?" Sutherland stopped what he was doing and looked her in the eye and told her: "You know, I've only done a few of these but these things are maybe the only chances I get to interact with the people who have made it possible to do what I do for the past 40 years. This has been my life and I really appreciate the fans..." It was so cool that he stopped what he was doing to answer her truthfully.  I asked hik how his dad was doing, and he thanked me for asking about him.  He shook my and Mom's hands, asked our names and was just reappky pleasant and persobable.  Then he said "ok, now move her!" Which was pretty funny.  I really enjoyed it.

We had an amazing time.  Mom has been sick lately, which is why we had to push her around the event in a wheelchair.  She's doing pretty well, at the moment.  She's big on "making memories", and this was a big memory made.  I'm glad Mom felt well enough to go with us and that everyone we met was amazing.  We all had an amazing time and I'd definitely do it again. 

In all, I got the following autographs: Kiefer Sutherland x 1, Tim Capello x 1, CJ Graham x 2, Lou Diamond Phillips x 1, John Glover x 1 and Charles Robinson x 1 (7)

National Pickup - Ari Lehman Signed Card

A while back, I bought one of those Rubbermaid drawer/organizers.  The first thing I did with it was designate a drawer for the autographs I got at the National this past summer that still had yet to be scanned.  While I was looking for my snap case of Hickory cards for graphing next week, I searched this drawer and realized that I still had several autographs that I picked up at the National that needed to be scanned and blogged.  Again, I am way behind on posting stuff.  So, here is one of those autographs, that of Ari Lehman.

I met Lehman at the show and had him sign a couple 8 x 10s, a poster for Chris and this card.  It was strange he was at the National and not across the street at the Horror-Con that I went to that Friday.  I had told him that an actress from Friday the 13th (Part V) would be over there, so he wrote her a note for me to give to her.  It made her day!

Lehman (b. 1965) is the first actor to play Jason Voorhees on screen.  He was the child actor used to portray Jason as he (spoiler alert) jumped out of the lake at the end of the movie and pulled Alice under the water.  According to his IMDB page, he mainly stuck to horror thereafter, taking parts in what looks like several B or C movies and some exploitation films.

Lehman was really cool when I met him.  He was very eager to chat with me and we talked about how I grew up with the Friday films and also how my son loves them.  He was happy to sign a poster for Chris, which Chris really enjoyed when I got home.

Thoughts on Walker Stalker - Charlotte - Dec 2016

I went to my first Walker Stalker convention yesterday in Charlotte.  I found out about it through my close friend, and huge Walking Dead fan, Josh.  He told me about the show, and also told me that Kane Hodder would be one of the autograph signers in attendance.

I grew up on the Friday the 13th movies.  My older brother was born on a Friday the 13th and always enjoyed the movies when we were kids, and they just kind of stuck with us.  Me being the "cool" (terrible) parent that I am, allow my son to watch the movies as well.  Chris is a huge fan of the series; his birthday cake this year was Jason's hockey mask.  When I found out that Hodder was going to be at the show, I made sure to get tickets for Chris and I.  Also, since my niece's birthday was this past week, and she is a huge Walking Dead fan, I told my mom that it would be a cool birthday present for her, so Mom got my niece tickets.

Chris and I were first in line for Hodder on Sunday morning.  When he finally got into his booth, he made small talk with the staff there, then motioned for Chris to come and talk with him,  The line wasn't very long at all, so he made a decent amount of time to chat with Chris.  Chris was wearing the mask at the time, so Hodder could tell that Chris was a huge fan.  He also complimented Chris and I on our shirts (I was wearing a matching shirt to Chris's, which you will see in a later photo).

I bought the mask off of some promotion I saw on my Facebook.  It only cost $10 shipped, which was pretty cool.  He has actually sat in the front yard chopping roots with a hatchet while wearing it.  I imagine there will be a few wrecks in front of the house from people slowing down to watch him.

Hodder was really nice.  He made a lot of time to talk with Chris.  He was very friendly and engaging.  I could tell that Chris was nervous.  He started to talk to Hodder while wearing his mask, but he was speaking so softly, Hodder had to ask him to take the mask off so he could hear him.  Chris answered his questions, then looked at me and asked "What am I supposed to do?" so I told him "Talk to him!  He's talking to you!  Ask him questions."  So, Chris asked him "So, if I were in a Jason movie, how would you kill me?"  Hodder leaned back in his chair and laughed saying "Wow, that's a really good question!" (I honestly wonder if anyone has ever asked him that before) He said "I guess I would go with the standard machete.  Cut your head off, chop you up, haha."  Chris giggled, then asked if Jason would eat the pieces, now comfortable with him and making jokes.  Chris then asked Hodder what his favorite kill in a Jason movie was.  His response was the sleeping bag death in Friday the 13th part 7.  That is one of my favorites, too.

Skipping ahead to the end of the day, there was a cosplayer in the game room dressed as Jason.  Hodder himself noted that he saw the guy the day before and thought he did a great job.  This dude was huge.  I went up to him after he posed for pictures with Chris and let him know what Hodder had said.  Look, I know the movies aren't real, but while I was talking to the guy, there was a little piece of me in the back of my mind thinking "WTF are you doing, you need to be RUNNING in the other direction."  I'm 36 years old and I still have nightmares that Jason is coming to get me.  If I had to make a tally of all of the bad dreams I have had, Jason stalking me would have the lead by far.  Still, it was a really cool moment, regardless if it was real or fake.

The cosplayer (person dressed in costume if you were wondering what that means) was really cool with Chris.  The photos look so cool as well.  He fist bumped Chris and gave him a thumbs up.  He also stood in one place for so long, some girls walked by thinking he was a statue or figure.  Until he lunged at them and they screamed.  That was worth the price of admission in itself.

I didn't trust Chris to take my picture without cutting my head off (see what I did there?), and my niece was in line for a photo op, so I had to resort to taking a selfie with the Jason cosplayer.  This might be one of the better selfies I have taken.  I am not doing duck lips and I have a shirt on, so this is a definite positive.  Seriously, though, this picture turned out amazingly.  I do believe that this guy being there in costume was icing on the cake of an amazing day.

What really topped the day, however, happened before we took our photo ops with the Jason cosplayer.  The only other actor I had any desire to meet was Scott Wilson, the actor who player Hershel Greene on Walking Dead.  I have only seen three episodes of the show, but I know quite a bit about it through my good friend, Josh.  Actually, good friend doesn't do him justice.  I can't say best friend, because some folks feel that you can have only one, and I feel like I have several.  Anyway, Josh is a huge Walking Dead fan.  So much so, he has met Wilson on so many occasions, they know each other by name.

One Christmas (I think it was Christmas, or maybe it was near Wilson's birthday), Josh gave Wilson custom "Hershel" Converse Hi Tops.  It was this that gave me an "in" when I went through Wilson's line for a meet and greet.

Josh was unable to go to this convention because he couldn't make the drive from West Virginia to Charlotte, but he knew I would be going.  Josh asked me on several occasions if I was planning on meeting Wilson.  I wasn't quite sure how the convention would work, so I kept saying that I would try to met him, but wasn't going to make any promises.  Finally, Josh told me that instead of getting him something for Christmas, he would be happier if I just got a photo with Wilson.  He enjoyed the man so much, he wanted me to share in that experience.  Then, Josh decided that it might be cool to have Wilson sign a photo that said Merry Christmas... then he though it might be cool to get Wilson to record a Christmas message.....  Josh was getting far more excited than I was about the show, and he wasn't even going!!!

I messaged Josh on Friday night after having a thought that maybe it would be cool if JOSH recorded a message for Wilson and I play it for him at the show.  This sealed the deal with Josh that I was going to meet Wilson, and he spent the next day and a half fretting over what exactly to say to his idol.

I got through Wilson's line and walked up to him; he immediately shook my hand and asked me how I was.  I told him I was great and was there to deliver a message to him from "the kid who gave him the shoes..."  He knew right away who I meant when he said "Josh? Oh, he's such a great kid!  His dad is too!  You tell them I said hello and Merry Christmas."  I told him that I could do better with the video, which he watched several times since it was really loud in there.  I asked him if he would do a video for Josh that I could send to him.  He said he would, so I recorded one with my phone and sent it to Josh.  I thanked Wilson and stepped out of line.

Josh was blowing up my phone with how amazed he was at the video.  He asked me if I got a photo with Wilson or got his autograph.  I told him that I didn't have time and there were a bunch of people behind me.  I also told him I wasn't able to get an auto, since there were so many people, he couldn't sign for me since I didn't pay.

What I didn't tell Josh was that I had gotten back in line and was texting him while I was heading back to Wilson TO get something signed.  When I got back up to him, Wilson recognized me and said, oh its you again!  I had a Pop figure that I wanted to get signed for Josh, and I asked him what his rate would be to sign it for Josh.  "Oh, for Josh?  Here, I'll just sign it."  I told him "This kid is such a huge fan of yours."  He said "Oh, I KNOW!!" I had my wallet out and told him I would pay for the auto, but he kept refusing.  I then said, "well, let me pay you for a photo op..." and he refused that as well, which is what led to the above photo with him.

Josh already knows he is getting the signed Pop figure, because I suck at surprises and went ahead and sent him a photo of it.  He told me that this was the single most amazing Christmas gift he has ever gotten.  I didn't set out to be amazing yesterday, but I guess I came through for someone.  Josh is a really awesome person, and someone who messages me every day, even if it is just for a minute to see if I'm doing ok.  He is on my short list of really close friends, and I was happy to be able to make all of this possible for him.

I was also told my my niece that this was her best birthday ever.  She talked on the way home about how much she loved Walker Stalker and how great it was that I took her.  She and I had never taken a trip together, so this was a nice little bonding trip for the both of us as well.  Grace is a good girl who really has a passion for Walking Dead.  I am really happy that I was able to make a memory with her.

I also can't forget that Chris had a blast as well.  He and I spent some time walking around the show while Grace was waiting for photo ops.  I definitely would take Chris to another one of these.

Sorry for the wordy post, but I felt amazing when I went to bed last night.  I was able to provide an awesome memory to three people who are close to me, and all in time for Christmas.  This was a great way to get in the Christmas spirit, and I hope that Chris, Grace and Josh don't forget this cool event.

Some Halloween Pickups

On Halloween, my wife and I took our son to the local comic shop since they were having some Halloween festivities.  We didn't have time to get into our costumes, but they were having a costume party, a bouncy house, free comic giveaways and a comic book artist was there to draw stuff for people.  He was also giving away free sketch cards to people, and also had some for sale.  I picked up a couple that I thought were really cool.  The above Alien (Xenomorph) card was pretty cool.  Since Aliens is my all-time favorite movie, I had to pick this up.  I got this one for free.

Since I used my free card on the Xenomorph, I went ahead and pain the guy for this Ghost Rider sketch card.  Ghost Rider was my favorite comic book when I was a kid, so I made sure to take one of these home.  Any cards after the freebie were a dollar, so I was fine with that.  The card just looks cool, so I'm glad I grabbed it.  I'll tell you why Ghost Rider was my favorite comic hero when I was little:

As you can see, the flaming skull really stands out.  When I was very little, we would play a card game in my grandparents' basement on Sunday afternoons.  It was an old Marvel game, kind of like Old Maid, but featured Dr. Doom.  My brothers and I would beg our grandfather to play the game, and would have a lot of fun.  If it was the winter time, Grandpa would build a fire in the fireplace in that basement, and we would all stay down there until Grandma called us up for dinner, or until we would have to go to Youth Group.  We played that Marvel game a lot, until Grandpa taught us how to play Michigan Poker.  Anyway, Ghost Rider always stood out to me, so when I became old enough to read and enjoy comics, he was the hero I went after.  It's funny, he was my favorite hero, and Dr. Doom was my favorite villain.  I'm certain that ties back to the card game as well.

Finally, Chris picked this Jason sketch as his freebie.  Chris loves the Friday the 13th movies, so when he saw this Jason sketch, he had to get it.  I'm holding onto it for him, since he tends to lose things.  I rather enjoy the Friday the 13th films as well, so this would have been something I would have probably picked up for myself as well.

The artist gave me a business card, but I misplaced it.  I believe his name is Chris McJunkin.  I'm sure a google search will bring up his information.  He signed the backs of each sketch card for us, and I also bought a larger print, but that will be put to use later.

I really enjoyed the trip to the comic shop.  I hope they continue to have these promotions.  It seems like Chris really enjoyed it.  He still has a hard time getting interested in reading, but I'm hoping the comics will help.