Mini A-Kon VI At Denton Library

This is only the second year that I’ve heard of this, but it’s the sixth year in production and it’s turned into a pretty big deal in Denton. Held this Saturday, January 26, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, it does not cost anything and there is plenty to see and do. Follow this link to check out Mini A-Kon VI.

(Image from www.a-kon.com)

 

 

This is the perfect event for those anime lovers who can’t afford to go to the big show, A-Kon. It is totally free and has so much to do! In fact, there is so much scheduled that I don’t think seven hours will be enough time. Who knows? Maybe this will eventually turn into a monster all it’s own! With representatives from Funimation, local artists, showings of anime movies, and gaming, you should not have a problem with boredom.

You can also meet folks like (partial list):

• Kristen McGuire - Her newest manga is a one shot comic called “A Day in the Life of a Cat Girl” which will debut at Mini A-kon 2013.
• Whitney Rodgers - Voice Actress – Deadman Wonderland
• Anime Midstream
• Valkyrie Games
• roll2play.com
• Chad Middleton - Writer – Kobold Press/Open Design
• Don Rosencrans - Artist  – Litterati Press
• Painapple Teriyaki - Artist Micah Solusod and Writer/Colorist Ayu Sakata
• ShoNuff Studios - Artists Halo Seraphim and Terry Parr

Texas Theatre Presents THE SHINING (1980) In 35mm

 

Thursday, January 24, be sure and check out the Texas Theatre to see THE SHINING in all it’s 35mm glory. The show will run through Sunday. Just check out Texas Theatre – THE SHINING ticket times to find out when you need to be there.

 

 

 

 

THE SHINING is based on a book by Stephen King and directed by Stanley Kubrick. Starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, it tells the story of a family caretaking at an inn for the winter and meeting the supernatural residents. Never has a case of cabin fever gone so wrong.

A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

 

Of geek note, Scatman Crothers, who plays the regular season caretaker Dick Hallorann, was also the voice of Jazz in the Transformers TV series.

 

 

 

(Affiliate Links)

RiffTrax.com Presents MANOS, THE HANDS OF FATE

RiffTrax.com will be lending their brand of humor to the movie that is MANOS, THE HANDS OF FATE. The event takes place at any theatre that carries Fathom Events. Go to Rifftrax.com – Manos, The Hands of Fate to see where to buy tickets. This will be a re-broadcast of an earlier showing and will take place January 24 at 7:30 local time.

What I’ve been able to gather is that MANOS is a low-budget (<$20,000) film from 1966 that told the story of a family that got lost and run into a bunch of weirdos. Think ROCKY HORROR but not funny. That is, not until it got the RiffTrax treatment.

MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE (IMDb)

(Affiliate Link)

Previous Posts:

Rifftrax Live – PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE

Veterans of MST3K Bring You RIFFTRAX LIVE: BIRDEMIC

AN EVENING WITH JOEL HODGSON at the Texas Theatre

From the state that brought us the headwaters of the Mississippi River comes Joel Hodgson, the creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and original member of the Satellite Of Love (no affiliation with Lou Reed). Joel will be in town Saturday night, January 19th, with a signing, a screening, and a riffing! Check out the Joel Hodgson – Texas Theatre link for more information!

Recap of North Texas Comic Book Show with Lou Ferrigno

Back on January 5th and 6th, I had a table at the North Texas Comic Book Show where I had a few creative types submit themselves before the masses. Ronald Dunn, Todd Boddy, and Thomas Branch were able to come out to the Doubletree by Hilton at Dallas-Market Center and make new friends and fans.

 

If you’ve never been to one of these, it’s a smaller version of a comic book convention which means smaller cover charge, smaller venue, and smaller crowds but the same chance to find that certain something for which you’ve been searching. I was able to add my Hot Wheels Batmobile set and get turned on to a new one and would have replaced some old comics from years back if I hadn’t gone to the restroom first! Oh, well. Timing is everything.

Something that Tom and I noticed was that there are a lot more kids at these events than the bigger conventions and I think it’s because it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. We love that! We love seeing the kids come in and take an interest comics and fandom especially when they’re taking an interest in an icon like Lou Ferrigno. A mom and three or four girls ranging in age from 10 to maybe 13 were perusing comics next to us and I remarked how cool it was that they liked comics. Tom asked if they also saw Lou and the mom said yes, but admitted that she had to pull up some Youtube videos of the original Hulk TV show to show the girls. They were excited to meet him and had a blast. I hope my daughter learns to love this stuff, too!

In addition to Lou Ferrigno, Peter Mayhew was in attendance and signing autographs. It’s kind of cool that DFW can be called the home of Chewbacca the Wookie! He raises goats somewhere on the outskirts of the metroplex and I’ve tweeted with him before about them as my father raises the same type of goats. When I walked up to his table, I asked him about his goats and just like my father, his eyes lit up and he started telling me all about them. Maybe I should get my Dad on Twitter and introduce the two of them!

Everyone at the table had a great experience and we are looking forward to Scifi Expo and ConDFW next month. Though Ronald wasn’t there on Sunday, I put in a blurb about him when we got interviewed by The NERD Show on 1190 AM. I, Tom Branch, and Todd Boddy will have our Q&A’s aired in the next week or so, so be sure and listen.

Lewisville Science Fiction Book Club Discusses Arthur C. Clarke’s THE CITY AND THE STARS

Louis Barber and the crew will be getting together at the local IHOP Friday January 11th for another discussion of a great book, this one being THE CITY AND THE STARS by Arthur C. Clarke (affiliate link). They meet in the back room and usually will end up talking scifi in general once they’ve discussed the book. Everyone is welcome whether you’ve read the book or not. IHOP is located at 2345 South Stemmons Freeway, Lewisville, TX, and the group meets at 7:30 PM.

(Affiliate Link)

 

Here’s the list of books that they will be reading for the next few months. Feel free to start reading and join in the discussion.

January                 "City and the Stars"                    Arthur C. Clarke
February                "Patron Saint of Plaques"            Barth Anderson
March                    "Redshirts"                                John Scalzi
April                       "The Devil's Nebula"                   Eric Brown
May                       "The War Against the Rull"         A.E. Van Vogt
June                       "Year Zero"                               Rod Reid

THE CITY AND THE STARS by Arthur C. Clarke is a re-write of an earlier novel called AGAINST THE FALL OF NIGHT. The story tells of a young boy named Alvin who is the last child born of humanity. He is curious about the outside world but according to the histories, there is no outside world. After finding a rock with an inscription on it, he embarks on a journey to find out about the history of the city and, more importantly, it’s future.

Happy Birthday to “The Professor” and How to Toast Him

On what would be his 121st (twelvety first?), folks are invited to toast JRR Tolkien! The Tolkien Society, an educational charity that encourages and furthers interest into the life and works of JRR Tolkien. Go to their page and add your own toast and read a little about their works.

Have his works had any effect on you after reading them? If so, what have they done for you?

What’s In A Name: A Bee Named Sheldon?

Not quite. But Sheldon Cooper’s catch-phrase is so readily identifiable that there is no denying that it belongs to The Big Bang Theory’s character. As posted by Sam the Mailman over at Red Carpet Crash, a species of bee has been named Euglossa bazinga. Check out the article to read more about the discovery.

Things like this beg to question, if you could have anything unique named after you, what would it be? And would it be named specifically for you or your catch-phrase or something equally unique? Do tell!

Flash Gordon (1980) in 35mm at Texas Theatre

Starting Thursday January 3rd and running through Sunday January 6th, you can get tickets to see the campy 80’s FLASH GORDON in 35 mm at the Texas Theatre. Check the website for show times.

(Affiliate Link)

 

 

The Texas Theatre Show Times for FLASH GORDON (1980)

North Texas Comic Book Shows Present THE INCREDIBLE HULK, Lou Ferrigno!

The show is this Saturday and Sunday, January 5th and 6th. Doors open at 9:30 AM on both days and close 5:30 PM on Saturday and 4 PM on Sunday. The first 100 before 10:30 AM get in for just $5 instead of $7. Children under 12 free. A Galaxy Called Dallas will host a table at which you can meet Ronald Dunn, Todd Boddy, and Thomas Branch, all local creatives. Ronald Dunn and Todd Boddy have written Christian scifi novels, THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON and BLUE MOON CHRONICLES: THE EXIT, respectively. Thomas Branch is a local artist who will be displaying some of his creations. Be sure and look for us!


***UPDATE January 3rd, 2012***
Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca of STAR WARS, will be in attendance on Saturday.