TAMPA COMIC CON AND TOY SHOW May 2, 2010 Minnreg Convention Hall 6340 126th Ave N., Largo, FL
POSTED BY NOLAN B. CANOVA, THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2010
-- THE FIRST DECADE --
Crazed Fanboy's Most Memorable Moments, 2000--2009 As submitted by PCR writers, compiled by Chris WoodsFIRST MOVIE REVIEW BY BRANDON HERRING
From 2001, Brandon Herring reviews the movie The Gift. Plus in this issue The X-Files and the return of Art Bell to late night radio.
I have attended and covered so many of Tim Gordon's shows that it's increasingly hard to come at it from a fresh perspective without repeating myself, so for this installment, I'll note was was new and/or different, but say right from the start that we all had a great time (as usual).
This is the first Tampa Comic Con I've been able to attend this year. It also featured an amazing turn-out of the Crazed Fanboy/PCR group, including out-of-towners ED Tucker (Jacksonville) and Andy Callahan (Talahassee), and out-of-stater Drew Reiber (California). See photo section for more details.
The returning horror/fantasy/goth authoress Andrea Dean Von Scoyoc was a very pleasant surprise to see, since, up to now, she has skipped this show since it moved to Largo. In fact, wedged as she was between Joel D. Wynkoop (B-Movie King) and John Lewis (Creature Productions), it was like old times!
Of the professional comic artists in attendance, only Austin Janowski (Iron Man) was notably absent, as I learned later he is recovering from surgery. I wanted to see him since he paid me a visit to 7-Eleven only about a month ago. Of course, I wish Austin the very best with his recovery efforts.
The presence of Joe Leone, Jr., an independent comic artist (Blank Slate Studios) in attendance marked a rare reunion of he and high school friends Terence Nuzum and Drew Reiber!
A few members of PCR's Youth Nation and I briefly visited the Creature Film Fest, which is manned by Doug Vaters (VE Entertainment), and we took in some of Joel Wynkoops's The Bite, which the kids seemed to like. I wish I could've stayed to see some more indie films, but I was on a strict schedule since I had to be at work later that night.
The selection at Tim's shows has always been large and varied, and this show was no different. Except that Ye Olde Editor still needs to win the Florida State Lottery to afford some Golden/Silver Age memorabilia, prices for most collectibles generally were well within affordable range. The show was a most productive experience for all of us and we wound up walking away with quite a collection of vintage comics, DVDs and VHS.
A post-show gathering of our group at a local Applebee's Restaurant for lunch, and Ye Olde Editor's taking advantage of the two-for-one margaritas, finished off my participation for this day. As always the post-show fan-talk was animated and enjoyable. I look forward to doing it again.
Ashley Lewis (Creature Productions) and son Gavyn, now 2 years old, last seen as a baby in PCR #438
Granddaddy John Lewis (Creature Productions), left, talks with Retrorama celebrity ED Tucker
My traditional portrait with vivacious authoress of darkness, Andrea Dean Von Scoyoc.
Joe Leone, Jr. (Blank Slate Studios) appears just after being stunned by a first-time sighting of fellow classmate Drew Reiber in 15 years!
PCR co-editor Terence Nuzum with a prospective purchase.
L-to-R: John Miller, Lonnie Dohlen, Chris Woods and Terence Nuzum excited about their purchases.
Second-floor view of the right side of the convention hall.
Second-floor view of the left side of the convention hall.
L-to-R, Andy Callahan, Mason Troupe, and Jainie Tyler, alone at Creature Film Fest, taking in Joel D. Wynkoop's The Bite
L-to-R, Lisa Scherer, Terence Nuzum, Nolan Canova, Chris Woods, Drew Reiber and ED Tucker. Terence and Chris display their latest aquisitions.
L-to-R, Lonnie Dohlen, Jainie Tyler, Andy Callahan, Mason Troupe, and John Miller.
Our benevolent host, the amazing Tim Gordon, owner of the Tampa Comic Con, at his own booth. He's appearing most robust, I'm happy to say. Thanks again, Tim, for everything.
Another good friend has decided to create--or increase--their web presence. Former PCR writer Vinnie Blesi has returned to form with The Church of 2012, featuring news and political opinion, the "Beta" version of which has just launched. Good luck, Vinnie!
HOAXES UPDATE
POSTED BY NOLAN B. CANOVA, TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2010
Long-time readers may recall Ye Olde Editor's long fascinations with the fringe, the weird, and the paranormal. While I usually follow these topics for personal entertainment, I can't help but hope that, somehow, some day, something really elusive will finally be recorded or captured and solid proof will be irrefutable. Not surprisingly, almost all---if not ALL---such reports turn out to be hoaxes.
I could wax nostalgic on my long involvement with Ufology, cryptozoology (e.g., Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monter), and the like, but I'll save that for another time. For this installment, I'd like to conclude an episode that started here nearly a year ago, that of the Gable Film where the legendary Michigan Dog-Man, or something close to it, was purportedly caught on film. Then, I'll touch on the most recent "discovery" of Noah's Ark .
The Gable Film
Last summer, I was told about this unusual home movie from Tampa taxi driver and popular paranormal blogger Tim Fasano. A Super-8 home movie, supposedly bought at an estate sale, showed a wintery family outing for several minutes before concluding with a shot of an unusual animal---seen in silhouette against the snow---that looked like an odd combination of dog, gorilla and bear. After several seconds, the animal charges the photographer, the camera falls to the ground and the film runs out.
To read the in-depth legend of the film and the best YouTube links of it, please revisit 2009's PCR #490, The Gable Film, Part 1.
Most of us concluded that while the first part of the film was likely a genuine home movie, the ending might've been tacked on at a later date. Further, that the animal was probably a small bear, not entirely out of context with that environment, but unusual-looking due to the shooting angle.
Then Gable Film Part 2 was explored (see PCR #491), the alleged film documentation of the "police investigation" of the animal attack. I thought this part was a total hoax, but Terence thought it was more realistic than Part 1. The thing is, we all thought at least something of these films was legitimate, if somewhat doctored.
We were all wrong. It has since come to light that both films were hoaxed in their entirety. The creature seen in the film is a man in a costume. The "period" look of the film (early '70s-ish) was helped by the hoaxer's private car collection. The vintage Super-8 camera was bought at a garage sale, and the family seen in the movie is the man's own. Part 2 was similarly constructed.
To read the complete behind-the-scenes. along with the motivation to re-create a Michigan Dog-Man to film, please see this YouTube clip (which is actually a History Channel segment). To see some great behind-the-scenes photos of the costume and set-up, visit this MySpace blog Terence found.
Noah's Ark
Abou every ten years or so, somebody, or some expedition claims to have discovered the Noah's Ark of the Bible on or about Mount Ararat, which is located near the southern border of Turkey.
Baby-boomers like Ye Olde Editor frequently remember being profoundly influenced by those wonderful old Sun Classic International "documentaries" that toured movie theaters in the '70s. One such film, The Search for Noah's Ark was a favorite, and featured a climactic scene of several photos, taken from an airplane, that seemed to show a large, boat-like object near the top of the mountain.
The section of the Ararat mountain range in question is notoriously hard to get to, not only from protective governments, but at 6,000 feet in elevation, any human artifacts to be found are buried in glaciers most, if not all of the year.
Recently, a group of "evangelical archeologists" (whatever that is) from China claimed to have discovered the Ark and took pictures of parts of some compartments, where, you know, the animals lived. They further made the extraordinary claim that this was 99.9% for certain proof of Noah's Ark.
Then there was a problem. One of the group went renegade and outed the team as basically hoaxers who set the whole thing up in frustration. See his story.
I believe that many of the petrified wood samples that come down with many expeditions from Ararat are legitimately from the mountaintop, but are they from the Ark and not from an old building or monastery that may have existed.
I have a life-long pet theory that a large ship may very well have been discovered up there by the ancients, and the Noah's Ark story simply written around it, based on the earlier Epic of Gilgamesh.
Actress Lynn Redgrave has passed away at the age of 67 following a seven-year battle with breast cancer.
She first came to prominence in the 1963 film Tom Jones and even more so in 1965's Georgy Girl (catchy song, too). Her brother Corin had just died of cancer recently as well. She is survived by her sister, Vanessa Redgrave.
No doubt Mike Smith will elaborate more eloquently on Ms Redgrave's career and personal life later this week in Mike's Rant.
For those of you who may be confused as to why last week's The Audio Philes is continuing to run this week as well, permit me to explain. The lateness of its original posting is only part of it, after all, several columns have been known to come in very late over the weekend (unfortunate, but a fact of PCR life) and still move to the Archives the following Tuesday.
The more pertinent angle is that due to a significant formating glitch, much of the column was unreadable for anyone trying to access it on a Firefox browser. (Brief tech-talk: Firefox and Internet Explorer interpret margins, background styles, and text-wrapping two completely different ways. But I'm usually here when Audio Philes goes up and I can make adjustments immediately.) Since it went up so late, and since I was off the computer all weekend (work and convention schedules), I was unable to make corrections until Monday morning, just 24 hours before it normally would move to the Archives. That...and an embedded Windows Media file Terence wanted to include had to be inserted manually which ran it even later. Though it's very unusual for me to do so, a decision was made to run it an extra week so those who missed it the first go-'round (or weren't aware of the embedded audio sample) would have more time to indulge.
Please consider making a donation to help support Crazed Fanboy! Click on the "donate" link below and give whatever you can. I sincerely thank you for any and all consideration.---Nolan
Crazed Fanboy.com is a Tampa-based fan outlet for many creative endeavors, including, but not limited to, independent film, video, music, original artwork, and media commentary.
To send me anything like books, posters, VHS tapes, CDs, or DVDs for review or to simply correspond non-electronically through regular mail, please send all relevant material to:
CRAZED FANBOY
P.O. Box 13991
Tampa, FL 33681-3991
Otherwise, if you have any questions, email me at nolan@crazedfanboy.com. I appreciate your support.
Sincerely,
Nolan B. Canova