Flashback Weekend (Chicago Horror Convention, Aug 9-11)

[ProfessorChaos]

well, my last attempt to attend a convention was a bust (horrorhound weekend in cincy, ruined by piss-poor planning on the part of the organizers, and droves of people there due to the huge number of TWD cast appearing), but since there are no TWD cast members to attract the hordes of fanboys and daryl-loving tween girls and gays, i'm thinking of making a trip to chicago next month for this one: http://www.flashbackweekend.com/ i've never met anyone from the cast of the original dawn of the dead, but i've met several cast members from the night '68 and a handful of the cast members from day '85. with all four mall survivors attending, plus mr. romero himself, i'm really thinking of hopping on a northbound train and making the weekend of it. at his age, who knows how many more conventions ol' uncle george has left in him... like most of the major decisions in my life lately, finances are one of the primary deciding factors. but i'm not really fond of the idea of missing out on an opportunity like this. i sincerely hope this one is not like cincy, though, that shit was ridiculous. people were lined up around the building and waiting in line for up to five hours to take a photo with daryl for 40 freaking bucks...on top of the admission prices themselves. total sham trip and waste of a weekend. fingers crossed that this one is mainly hardcore horror fans and not a bunch of bandwagon dipshits. right now, i'd say that it's like a 60/40 split in favor of me going. anybody in the midwest region thinking of going?

[ProfessorChaos]

well, pulled the trigger and got two tickets. the gf and i will be attending this next month, and will be sitting in this theater: to watch the original NotLD, introduced by mr. romero himself. plus, i get to meet the cast of dawn, which i'm pretty stoked for. guess nobody else is going?

[BillyRay]

Not I, said the de-lurking puppet guy. But tell me how it goes!

[ProfessorChaos]

i was kinda hoping you'd be there, since it's fairly local to your neck of the woods. leaving on a train for chi-town in the am, fairly stoked at the moment. kinda bumming because i ordered a dawn of the dead poster that i was planning to have autographed by the cast, but the son of a bitch didn't arrive on time, so now i'm gonna have to pay dealer prices at a convention for a poster that will probably not look nearly as nice. oh well, still very pumped about night on the big screen and a chance to meet mr. romero himself....i just hope he doesn't ask my opinion of survival, don't think i'd have the heart to tell him i got sick of it and shut it off.

[ProfessorChaos]

well, it was a great weekend, solely for the fact that i met romero and saw night on the big screen, details of which are in the thread mz started about romero's comments and q&a before night. sadly, i didn't get my dawn poster i ordered delivered in time to take it up there with me, and dorked out and forgot to take my ultimate edition dawn dvd (forgot that most convention guests carry silver pens for signing black or dark items) and was kinda hemorrhaging money (and am switching jobs, need a couple car repairs and my laptop just went tits up, so money is extra tight right now) and didn't feel like forking over more $$$ for swag to have the dawn cast sign. the gf and i did have a rather pleasant and lengthy conversation with scott reiniger, who was awesome and very friendly. didn't have a lot of time on either day to meet with the rest of the dawn cast, as we spent almost 2 hours in line to meet george on friday afternoon/evening and she drug me to a nearby shopping mall and dinner on saturday, so by the time we got there, the dawn cast was doing their panel and had a special photo-op deal lined up that i didn't feel like paying extra for. but, rest assured, it was a good time regardless, and i do plan to take my ultimate edition dawn dvd with me next time and get that mofo signed by the mall survivors, i'm just hopeful i can catch them all at once sometime soon.

[facestabber]

Well Professor glad you had a good time. I, opposite of you, dared the Daryl Dixon crowd........WOW has that mans stock rose. I have met Norman Reedus before but I still sprung for the VIP pass for my daughters. Even with the VIP pass there was still waiting in line. About 45 mins so not bad. But the general admission folks waiting for Reedus was beyond insane. You are absolutely correct about the chaos. Was it worth it? Yes. Hands down my girls were and are still smiling ear to ear. Jon Bernthal was a really cool guy as well. Very humble and took harassment from my daughters about shooting Otis well. But I really hope to meet Romero and Carpenter some day to thank them for the endless nightmares they have provided me over the years. Watching Night on the big screen with an intro from the man himself is beyond cool.

[ProfessorChaos]

we talked about going down the street to the chicago comic-con, but TWD groupies ruined horrorhound for us in cincy this year, so we said eff that. in fact, i'm planning to avoid most conventions with TWD cast, primarily for all the daryl-obsessed groupies out there....kinda hoping they off the character this season so the internet will melt down, to be honest. and was anyone aware that they are opening a "living dead museum" in evans city? the folks that ran the monroeville zombies store are relocating. when we make the pilgrimage to PA to view the mall and the original cemetery, it's a definite must-stop for us. anyway, the store is opening at its new location at the end of this month, during this year's "living dead festival".