Super Megafest 2011

Super Megafun! Super Megafest 2011 happened last weekend on November 19th and 20th at the Sheraton Hotel in Framingham, MA. With Thanksgiving happening in the U.S. on November 24th, 4 days after the convention, I had a very busy week and some bad allergies so, I didn't get a chance to talk about Super Megafest 2011 until now. Super Megafest is a smaller convention compared to the ones I attended in the past year. But as a wise Jedi once said, "Size matters not." As Super Megafest had a great guest list which included Patrick Stewart who made an appearance on Saturday. I didn't get to meet Captain Picard but for the lucky people who did meet him, they assured me that he's awesome and nice. Maybe I'll get to meet him at future conventions. I did get to meet Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee of Lord of the Rings) again. I first met him at the Museum of Science of Boston a while back. He autographed his book There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale and Rudy for me all those years ago. This time, I finally got my copy of The Goonies and the insert of Return of the King signed. I also chatted with him for a bit and was able to sneak in for a photo op. He's super nice and down to earth. It might not seem like much reading my testaments here about how nice the celebrities are but, once you get to meet a snarky and jaded celebrity you'll be more appreciative with the nice ones. I also met the man who donned the Sauron armor in Lord of the Rings, Sala Baker. We got to talking about how he wanted to play professional basketball but ended up being an actor. He was excited to be in Boston and wish he had more time to explore. He especially wanted to go to the Museum of Science. Alright MoS, my former employer, I'd plugged you a few times at the convention and on this blog. Where's my commission? At least send me some free stuff. I also got to shake hands with Jeremy Bulloch, the badass bounty hunter Boba Fett from Star Wars. Moments later, I realized I forgot to bring my Boba Fett Star Wars trading card for him to sign! WTF?! Ugh! EPIC FAIL! If I never get to see him again, this will haunt me for the rest of my life. I got Mickey's and Peter's autograph so far Peter Tork of the Monkees was there as well. He still has his humor and was very nice to his fans. He also played in the Saturday night concert with his current band, the Shoe Suede Blues. I'm not going to lie, my expectations for the Saturday night concert was very low and I was very wrong to expect that. I thought I'd made a mistake while waiting in line to get into the concert. For the most part, Super Megafest was well coordinated but, there were some hiccups and waiting for the concert was one of them. As I was waiting in line, I saw my cosplayer friends pile into the hotel bar and I was wondering if I should skip the concert. I heard a lot of yelling and laughing coming from the bar and was losing my patience with the wait to get into a concert that I didn't have high expectations for. I could be in the bar sharing silly shenanigans with my cosplayer friends! I was glad I waited though. Once the concert started it was fantastic from beginning to the end. My mind was blown as to how awesome it was. Yet, I still wanted to spend time at the bar though. Only if there were two of me. If only... More about the concert and Super Megafest after the "JUMP!"

Super Megafest 2011: Videos

Hello Youtubes! In this very special edition of "Hello Youtubes" I'm doing a shameless plug for myself! Hello and welcome to grog1138's channel. I went to Super Megafest during the weekend of November 19th - 20th in Framingham, MA. It was an awesome time and the cosplayers who attended raised that awesomeness to the nth power! Here's a few videos I captured of: The Costume Contest's early line up   Captain Jack Sparrows and the revolving door   R2D2, Kid Anakin, Kid Leia and the New Hampshire Ghostbusters.   The videos after the "JUMP" are of the Super Megafest concert on Saturday night. Peter Tork of the Monkees and his band Shoe Suede Blues were there that night performing their original blues and some of the Monkees' music. Sorry about the extra shaky cam. I'm new to video recording. Super Megafest 2011 - Costume Contest grog1138 Hulk won the contest. I wanted Blaster to win because he's a working boombox! Check out Two Face's coin flip. He never dropped the coin once. Super Megafest 2011 - Jack Sparrows Needs a Doc grog1138 Super Megafest 2011 - R2D2 with Kid Anakin and Kid Leia grog1138 Super Megafest 2011 - Power of the Force Ghostbusters grog1138 Super Megafest concert videos after the "JUMP!"

Hurricane Nostalgia

Hello Youtubes! As I watch the weather reports, I noticed that Hurricane Irene has a very similar path to Hurricane Gloria's back in 1985: Hurricane Gloria's Path Hurricane Irene on weather.com Strangely, this takes me back in time. Is this what they mean by seeing my life flash before my eyes? Hurricane Irene doesn't seem too bad (yet) in my area. Then again it blew the roof off my shed and my neighbor's power lines are down because of a huge falling branch. Anyway, I thought I'd share some of my memories with you via youtube. Here are some old commercials I found that aired in the New England area: Whalom Park Robolar Click on the "JUMP!" link below for more nostalgic videos:

Zombie March New England

Hello Youtubes! This time on "Hello Youtubes!" I want to talk about a local Boston, MA event. There is an event that has been happening in the past 7 years in my city that I did not know about! The Zombie March has been happening for 7 years! 7 years! Being a huge zombie fan, I have no idea how I missed this the last 6 years. It's not like it's a small event. I'm talking about a huge horde of zombies. Miles of zombies and it disrupts (not complaining) the city of Boston for an entire day. I'm not talking about just one section of Boston. The march route starts from South Station. It goes through Downtown Crossing, Boston Commons, the Public Garden, Newbury St and to the Prudential. From there it goes through the Prudential Mall, back to Boston Commons and congregates at Government Center for a huge battle between the undead and the living. Miles of zombies! It's an amazing sight and loads of fun. There's no agenda or political subtext, it's just plain fun. The living dead were not the only ones marching. There were zombie hunters (Umbrella), survivors, Ghostbusters, super heroes and even Mr. T. Here's info on: Zombie March Boston VIII (2012) Be sure to click on "JUMP!" for more Undead goodness: