Just standing in line making memories.

              It’s funny how photos can help you remember details of events just by looking at them. Especially photos from sci fi/comic conventions. For everyone else, this photo is of myself meeting Brent Spiner, fellow Texan that is mostly known for portraying Lt. Comm. Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation. But for me, this photo gives me a few more details. One being the shirt that I was wearing. It was just a shirt that I had picked up from Old Navy that had some random BBQ restaurant in Texas on it. Could have been a real place, could not have been. I honestly don’t know. Well, when it was finally my turn, Brent Spiner started asking question after question about my shirt and the restaurant on it. If it was good and where was it located in Texas so he can go there. The second memory I have about this photo was just the random guy and his wife that was standing behind me. At most conventions, I usually go by myself and I usually keep to myself. Especially back then. But we all started talking about this and that. Afterwards they went on their way, I went on mine. 

             At that time Facebook hadn’t really taken off yet. I don’t even think it was around. But the convention had message boards (I miss those days) and you can post comments and photos etc about the shows and you could actually keep up with the conversations without them getting lost in the algorithm. Well I had commented on the board about the show and this person said he took a photo if I wanted it. Sure enough, it was from the couple behind me. So who’d thunk it? On Oct. 23, 2004 at Dallas Comic Con when a random photo was taken of a random person a friendship would start. And even though we don’t hang out as much, I still consider the both of them really good friends. Here’s to another almost 20 years my friends.

Dallas Comic Show: Holiday Special 2018 review

My Dallas Comic Show 2018 Holiday special review.

                As some may know, I don’t get to that many Comic/Celebrity conventions that much anymore. One reason is the money factor. They have just skyrocketed in cost nowadays, I just can’t afford it. The other is time. Time, especially free time, is almost nonexistent these days. But one I do try to go to is the Dallas Comic Show. This is actually only my second time being able to attend the DCS. Once again as I said before, there are two main factors. D.C.S. is put on by a friend of mine, Mark Walters. I’ve known Mark since the first Dallas Comic Con way back when. He puts on a great show that is affordable and has a variety of guests. Plus the venues are remnant of “back in the day”. To be honest it’s what I preferred back then. The cost of admission is great and most of the celebrities that are brought in are affordable.

                Now to the actual experience at the show. I purchased my ticket months ago around the time when they went on sale with the anticipation that some really cool guests would be added. It wasn’t long after actor Ray Wise was added. Being a fan of his from so many roles including Robocop and Swamp Thing and now Fresh off the Boat, I had to meet him. I noticed a theme lately is actors from the show Twin Peaks, to which Ray was on as well. I personally never really got into the show. I had seen a few episodes back in the day. But that’s about it. I know people who just absolutely love it. Another addition was Twin Peaks alumni Harry Goaz. He’s mainly known for Twin Peaks but I remember him from the short lived Eerie, Indiana. Then there was Michael Biehn (Kyle Reese from Terminator), Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Jason Douglas (The Walking Dead), and a handful of voice over artists including Monica Rial and Cynthia Cranz. Plus many many awesome artists (including my friend Terry Parr from Shonuff Studios).  

                Since I had purchased a VIP ticket, I was able to get “perks”. Usually this means you can get into the show early as well as priority placement for certain autograph lines and Q&A’s. You also get a special lanyard and “goodie” bag. The bag is usually some comics and a couple other things. When I had walked in I instantly saw all the familiar faces. First face I had seen was Paul. I’ve known Paul for years through the convention scene. He provides Mark with security for the show now. We usually don’t get to chat much, but it’s always good to see him. So I decided to take the opportunity of my “extra” early time to walk around without bumping into people and checking things out. Firstly, I go visit my buddy Terry with Shonuff Studios. It’s always good seeing him at the shows. His wife didn’t make the show this time. But it’s good seeing her too.

                I then decide to walk back to the media guest area and check it out. I walk straight up to Ray Wise’s table and look at his photos. He had a wide variety of Twin Peaks photos and a couple really good shots of him from a show called “Reaper”. Didn’t know the show. He had a couple photos from Swamp Thing as well as Robocop. Two out of the three from Robocop were fuzzy. I get it, it’s hard to get high res scans of older shows and movies. So I picked the third option of the Robocop photos. I was chatting with him for a few minutes and was talking to him about my son and that I was bringing him back the next day. He told me to make sure I brought him by to meet him. Will do I said. Shook his hand and was on my way.

                I then walked over to Michael Biehn’s table. He had some pretty cool photos to choose from his most iconic roles (Kyle Reese, Johnny Ringo, Planet Terror to name a few) and some lesser known ones as well. He also had some shots with his wife Jennifer Blanc-Biehn. I then saw his price list. Some may think it was a decent price to pay. But I wasn’t willing. I heard that he raised his price again from the last time someone had recently seen him. So I reluctantly passed. The same with Alan Ruck. Like Michael Biehn, I’ve loved just about everything I’ve seen him in. Ever since I had first seen Ferris Beuller at the drive in when I was a kid. He wasn’t as much as Biehn, but I just couldn’t do it. So I passed on him as well.

So I just I just wondered around the dealer’s room like some kind of on foot nomadic nascar driver. Just around and around. I had brought a handful of my Funko Pops that I didn’t want anymore and sold them to a dealer. Made a little money. Went over to Mark’s table and checked out what he was selling. Because as well as being the promoter of the show he also sells autographs he picks up at various shows he is part of and attends. I knew he had some Doctor Who autographs, so I pick up a classic shot of Michael Jayston as The Valeyard. As well as a cool signed shot of the first live action Spider-Man, Nicholas Hammond. After that I just walked around a little while longer then I headed out. I had seen a couple guys I know, but everyone was kind of doing their own thing. So the day got boring fast. The next day is going to be better I thought to myself.

I had designed a shirt for my son who is 20 months old today. I put the design together and bought some comic book heat transfer vinyl. I gave my design and vinyl to my sister in law and she printed it out on her cricut (sp?) machine and ironed it on his shirt. I also wanted “Sign here” with a line across the back. It turned out awesome. My plan was to take him to his first Comic Book convention and maybe some of the artists could sign it for him. So we wake up and get ready to go to the show. The night before, I find out that my daughter wishes she could get Cynthia Cranz’ autograph on her Yu Yu Hakusho book. Cynthia voiced the character Botan on the anime. My daughter has been a fan since it first came out. I wasn’t planning on getting anything signed that day, but I took my daughters book as well as a comic I wasn’t able to get signed the day before.

Of course the little guy falls asleep in the car on the way. But we make it to the convention in about half an hour. We get there and he wakes up. He’s happy but wanted me to hold him. Of course that’s no problem at all. Once we get into the venue I take his sweater off and I hand him “his” sharpie then we start to walk around. As soon as we walk in, we see some friends of mine I haven’t seen in a long time. I introduced my son to Scott and David and Joseph gave them his trademarked high five and fist bump. It was good seeing them, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Afterwards we go over in the direction of Ray Wise’s table. Ray remembers our conversation from the previous day and he sees my son. His face as well as the face of the young lady assisting him lights up as we walk over. I’m introducing him to them and Joseph quietly responds back. Again he does the high five and fist bump. They do it back and Joseph smiled. Ray had read Joseph’s shirt and loved it and he also noticed the “sign here” on the back. So he asked Joseph “Do you want me to sign your shirt Joseph?” Joseph shook his head yes. Even though he had no idea what he was talking about. He then asked, “Can I use your marker?” Joseph hands his the marker and he signed it for him. His handler was taking photos of the entire thing for me and then Ray posed with the two of us for a photo. I was already a huge fan of Mr. Wise before this, but even more so now.

We then head down toward the dealer’s room. Most people reading this know what that is. If by chance you do not, it’s a huge room consisting of various people peddling comics and other comic/sci fi collectibles. Every now and then you can find a bargain, but a lot of times the prices are quite inflated. But you can find some hard to find collectible there. So on the way to the dealer’s room we stop and talk to my friend Terry Parr with Shonuff Studios. Terry is an amazing local artist that I have known for many years. I walk over and introduce my son to him. After a couple minutes I ask Terry to sign his shirt and he was more than happy too. We were then on our way. We didn’t want to take up too much of his time as he was there to make money.  We also stopped by and said hello to Mark. Mark absolutely loved his shirt. So much so that he had to take a photo of it.

Well, little man wanted to walk now. So we walked into the dealer’s room. His face looked like mine when I first when to Toys R Us as a kid or when I first went to Kennedy Space Center as an adult. Lol. He grabbed my hand and we were off. He had his sharpie is the left hand and my hand in the right. It was his show, we went where he wanted to go. So we walked around checking everything out. Then he wanted to go out of the dealer’s room and walk around the autograph room again. So we walked out there. As we were walking Jason Douglas from The Walking Dead and Preacher said hello to him. So we walked over and said hello. Fist bumps and high fives. Then Jason asked him if he wanted to sign his shirt, Joseph said yes and so he did. I took a pic of Joseph, and Jason was pointing at Joseph in the background, just a cool guy.

We then made our way to Cynthia Cranz’ table to get my daughter’s book signed for her. We chatted for a minute about voice over and acting as well as Joseph and Sydnie. She absolutely loved that my daughter Sydnie was such a hardcore Yu Yu Hakusho fan and she just absolutely loved Joseph’s shirt. Even more so when she found out that it was a custom made shirt. She signed my daughter’s book as well as my son’s t-shirt. As we were walking away there was a small bantha next to the table of the 501^st. Well they weren’t there but Joseph wanted to see the bantha. So we walked over. Not sure what he thought at first. He was looking at and then started to pet it. Lol I took some great photos of him with it.

As we were leaving the bantha, Joseph walked right over to Harry Goaz’ table. Harry waved at him and said hello. Joseph waved back. I picked him up and walked him over and introduced him. Harry was talking to him and Joseph was being shy. Answering a little but in a very low voice. Without missing a beat my son hands Harry his sharpie. When Harry grabbed it, my son started to reach for Harry’s cup of sharpies. They chatted for a few minutes and Harry asked him if he wanted him to sign his shirt as well. Joseph said yes and immediately laid down on my chest so Harry could sign it. Lol. He picked up on that fast. I shook Harry’s hand and told him thank you so much. Joseph reached out and gave Harry as well as the young lady helping him high fives and fist bumps.

I decided to get one more thing completed that I wasn’t able to get done the previous day. I needed Frank Cho to sign my one comic. It was a Wizard World Texas Jungle Girl sketch variant that I’ve had for ten years. Every time I went by Frank’s table he wasn’t there. Multiple times I would ask if he was charging to sign and if he would charge to sign my one book. Every time I asked, same answer. No he will not charge. So my son and I walk over to his table and he is there. There is a huge line around the corner. I ask the lady running the line if I could use my VIP skip to get my one book signed. The answer I got was a little shocking. “This is a small show, you really don’t need the skips”. WOW! Ok. I really wanted my book signed so we got in line. You ever try to stand in a line juggling a 1.5 yr old. Then I noticed a guy taking money from people in line. So I asked him what the money is for. He said its five dollars per signed item. I told him every one has told me there would be no charge. “Don’t know what to tell you”. That and the lady’s response just rubbed me the wrong way. So we immediately got out of line and said our goodbyes to everyone and left.  

As a whole, I had a great time. Especially the time I spent with my son. Everyone we met was absolutely fantastic. Some people only think there is only one choice for quality comic conventions in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Let me tell you that is not the case. A certain big box convention not saying any names (But it rhymes with Dan Fexpo Allas) only cares about your money. I would recommend the Dallas Comic Show convention to anyone.  You should definitely check them out. Follow them on social media on most of the platforms. (FYI: I am no way connected to the show and am not being endorsed for my review.)

Interview with Doctor Who actor Jamie Hill

Riley: I’m here with actor Jamie Hill. Whovians would know Jamie from Doctor Who. Jamie played some very memorable characters on the show. Just a few would be The Mummy/The Foretold in the episode “The Mummy on the Orient Express”, he was also the monk in Extremis, The Pyramid at the End of the World and The Lie of the Land. Not to mention one of the three actors to play the Silence in series 6, an Ice Warrior, and a Mondasian Cyberman. Though Jamie has played some pretty iconic villains in recent Doctor Who history, he was also a manager at the unfortunately now closed Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff, Wales. My daughter and I were able to fly in from Texas to be able to attend the closing of the Doctor Who Experience and I met and was able to briefly chat with Jamie. 

Riley: Hello Jamie, how are you today? I was wondering if I might be able to ask you just a few questions that will give Doctor Who fans a brief look into the mind of Jamie Hill. 

Jamie: Hi Riley! Great to hear from you again, hope everything is well, I’m great thank you! 

Riley: I’m sure you have many, so I will just narrow it down a little. You have done quite a few episodes of Doctor Who as well as played some pretty cool characters. If you had to choose two of your best memories from your time on set, what would they be?

Jamie: oooo this is a tricky one!

My favourite monster and episode would have to be the Foretold in the Mummy on the Orient Express.

Everybody found the costume extremely creepy and realistic, which is always great when playing any monster/creature character. Then I had a conversation with Daisy Beaumont who played Maisie in the episode about the fish and chips lunch, in full costume - which was quiet funny looking back.

My other favourite time would have to be the filming of the Monk episodes in Series 10, I had the fantastic opportunity to go out to Tenerife to film some of the scenes at an abandoned estate, the scenery was amazing and the whole trip was great fun with all the crew and other actors.

Riley: As I mentioned in the introduction, some Doctor Who fans might not have known that you were also a manager at the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff. As you know, I was able to visit the Experience that last day it was open. I personally felt a multitude of emotions that day while visiting. I was just enamored at being able to see all there is to see about Doctor Who. From the props to the costumes to meeting Nicholas Briggs, Russell T. Davies, and yourself. We have nothing like that in Texas. Which is why it will always be an “Experience” that I will never forget. But when my visit was over I was saddened. Saddened that unless they open back up, no one will get to see this collection all together again.

Riley: When you found out the news that the Experience was closing its doors for good in Cardiff Bay, what was your thoughts on it? 

Jamie:

The Doctor Who Experience was a massive part of my life after leaving university. 

I started on a zero hour contract there in the shop, I really enjoyed the job and worked hard throughout my time there and eventually became Duty Manager, a massive reward and great feeling to be recognised.

All staff and visitors there were part of my overall experience throughout the 5 years, and I will always have very fond memories.

When I heard it was closing, it was sad. But, it was always planned to be a 5 year project so I felt like I knew the time would come. 

I learnt many skills from general retail and attraction skills to how to build a TARDIS, a great skill to have that I’m sure many would love!

I have moved on from the experience into a new career, and aim to continue my monster/creature acting when I can (keep an eye on Good Omens next year!) but always have great memories when I walk past the old Doctor Who Experience building.

Riley: Well thank you so much for your time, your hospitality, and your all around generosity. You helped make a great trip even greater. 

Jamie:  No problem at all Riley! It was great to have met you and added to the already great experience that you had. The closing of the Doctor Who Experience was a very busy and sad time, but I think we had a great celebration to see it off. 

Hopefully it wasn’t the last of the Doctor Who Experience, and it comes back again somewhere in the future.

Thank you again Jamie,

Riley

What's Missing?

With Rassilon and Pandak staring, I stood facing this unruly council of Lords, I could not grasp that I actually had to show physical proof that this council was wrong. So, I stood strong, with truth as my support, and vigor in my mind. I took a long inhalation of air, stood and said “You would also candidly allow that humans cross unsaid paths? Knowing what you know? With that in mind, I would say that humans that high up on a chain would automatically block any thought of this. That most would actually fight off such thoughts with such constraint that an act of dying is an only way out. You must put this thought away from your minds and away from your bosom. It will do nothing but harm virtuous minds. Stop now or it will kill all of humanity. I say to all of you, this is not a way to our salvation.” At that instant I sat back down in my chair with my hands over my brow and I start to pray that my words will start a firm plan of action, that this will all go away, that our cultural way of living will hold strong.

As I pray, my thoughts start to run. I first think of why this was all occurring and how painful it is to both factions. It all starts so long ago. It was a common sight, for us and humans standing in tranquility and living in harmony. At that point in our history, all was blissful. As I said, it was so long ago though. Sadly, I found out that unsaid truths quickly wilt away. It was always thought that humans struck first. That is how it would all start. With all information pointing towards that as truth, I still couldn’t stop inquiring for factual validity of this. Fact, in my mind, that could possibly modify our history by fifty fold. Did this occur? Or was it just partial truths passing through familial offspring. That’s what I must find out.  

               As I launch my virtually unavailing mission, I start in a most unusual location; my Granny’s attic. I always call to mind an old photo that I had found long ago. It was of my Granny and my Papa with a couple of humans. Just by quickly looking at it, joy was what you would first spot in this photo. I would ask about it. Shut your mouth, I was told. Do not talk of this again. My mom would quickly snatch it from my hand, rip it in half and throw it away. OUT!, My Mom would howl. Confusion would launch into my mind. Obviously that did not stop my curiosity. So that night, I go back into my Granny’s attic to find that torn photo. I find it, patch it up, and stow it away in my room. Unknowingly, this is now my starting point. This is how I will find the truth.

             Though months and months would pass; I would look at that photo daily. I still could not crack this conundrum. Just as I look up from my invocations I catch sight of Rani looking my way, communicating subliminally. "Why? Why, do you submit aid? Do humans look at you as sort of a savior from subjugation?"  "It's my calling." I would say. "If I didn't, who will?" "Although most don't know Who I am, I still must assist." As Rani turns away in disavow, Rassilon turns my way, grins, and says "Watch your thoughts “Doctor”, your support isn't a commonality among this administration."    

Thank you for being my neighbor.

Most who know me, know of my fondness of the public television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. As a child it was one of my favorite programs. Who am I kidding? It still is. Of course back in the day I liked Sesame Street as well. But it didn’t hold a candle to Mister Rogers. Mister Rogers would take you on a journey that you wouldn’t usually get to travel on. He would take you along to see how a saxophone was made, or crayons, or even to visit the penguins at Sea World (long before there was a Sea World here in Texas). They were all done through the wonderful Picture Picture. Most of the time you knew Picture Picture was going to be viewed when the ever so quick Mr. McFeely would stop by (SPEEDY DELIVERY) and drop off the daily mail. He usually delivered the rolls of film (which would eventually evolve into a vhs tape) that Mr. Rogers would put into Picture Picture and it would instantly start playing. I found out years later it was really a stage hand (often a young Michael Keaton) that was working behind the scenes that would take the film and start the video playing. But as a kid, it was just an amazing magical television screen.

The journeys didn’t just stop there. They also took you to the Neighborhood of Make Believe as well via Trolley (Ding Ding). There you would meet characters like X The Owl, Daniel Striped Tiger, King Friday (Royal Greetings) and his family, and the lovely Lady Aberlin and all the rest of the cast. They would play out scenarios that most kids would go through at some point in their lives and help them figure out how to cope with life’s problems. Most of all, Mister Rogers, Lady Aberlin, Handy Man Negri, Bob Dog and every single person that had anything to do with MRN, tried to instill one belief onto all of their viewers. Just be yourself. We’re all different and those differences makes every one of us special. So just be you.

                So as I have said before, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood will always have a special place in my heart. Which eventually will also have a special place in my children’s hearts as well. Though I believe it will have slightly more of a place in my daughter’s than my son’s. That’s because sadly MRN was cancelled when my son was really young. So he didn’t get as invested in it as she did. But they were both so excited when Mister Rogers sent them both a personalized signed photo that they still have to this day. They are both in their early 20’s now.

                Life is such a roller coaster of a ride sometimes. I think it’s funny how things happen that sometimes tie back to other things un-expectantly. My wife and I have this awesome little guy in our lives now. Well…not just now. When he was just a few months old we were searching for something to watch on television. To maybe see if there is something that he might like on tv that wasn’t violent and had a positive message and in the meantime could be educational to a growing mind. Lo and behold, what did we find? An animated program called “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood”. By the title I instantly thought they were ripping off MRN. Open minded I gave it a watch and discovered what it was. Boy was I wrong. I usually don’t like remakes or reboots. But with this I have to make an exception. In my opinion they made a really good homage to a great show.

                As we watched, it seemed like Joseph took an instant like to it. Surprisingly, I have to say, I did too. There are a couple things I don’t particularly care for. One being that the Daniel Tiger character can be a little whiny at times. The other was the lack of the other human characters from MRN. It seems that only one human character transferred over from the original. That was Mr. McFeely. I guess I understand that they can’t have all of them back. But why not one here and there. A visit from Lady Aberlin or even Francois Clemmons would be really cool to see. Maybe that’s just me though.

                I recently wrote to David Newell and sent a long a couple things for him to autograph and send back. For those who don’t know, David Newell is Mr. McFeely. About a month after I sent it to him I come home to a package on my doorstep. The package was just torn up beyond belief. But the “to” and “from” address was still there and it didn’t affect the contents. So after reading the “from” address I knew instantly who it was from. It was from David Newell. I thought what could this be. I had only sent a couple 4x6 sized items to him. So I took it in the house and carefully opened it up. WOW.

                Upon opening it I find three books inside. Two of them were books that Fred Rogers had wrote that pertained to our current situation and the third was a children book about Mr. McFeely that I can read to Joseph. Also inside was a four page letter apologizing for the delay and answering some questions I had and also a 6x8 photo of Mr. McFeely signed to me. He also said that if I send him my kids’ names he will send them an autographed photo too. So I did, and a week or so later they receive their autographed photos in the mail. I didn’t get my items back, but with the great and unexpected response from him, I am totally ok with it. My mind was truly blown away. I am in my forties now and Mister Rogers Neighborhood is still putting a smile on my face as well as my kids’ faces. They loved their photos. Well two of them did. Joseph didn’t know what it was. Lol It’s such a good feeling a very good feeling.

Riley

Won't you be my Neighbor?

First of all, I am not a film critic or reviewer. I do not have any kind of degrees in writing of any sort (as most who do, can probably tell from my writing style). But I do love to write. Especially about things I am really passionate about. I’m not quite sure what I could say about this film that true fans haven’t already said or thought. Mister Rogers will always have a special place in my heart. I grew up watching him on my local PBS channel. Here in Dallas it’s KERA.  I remember I preferred Mister Rogers over Sesame Street. Mister Rogers made you feel like everything was going to be ok, especially when everyone else made you feel like an outcast. The movie in my, as well as my daughter’s opinion, was just fantastic. I’m not going to go into that much detail. Probably not a lot at all. For the simple fact, you should see it for yourself. They touched base on all facets of his life. From the time before the neighborhood to his passing. They even showed you how Daniel Striped Tiger was created. They also showed clips from the early days (even though they didn’t talk about it in this film) that you could see a young Michael Keaton when he worked with Fred. Though there is a ton of problems today with society in my opinion. I honestly believe that the list of problems would be shorter if we had more people like Fred Rogers in the world. So would I recommend this documentary for you to see? A million times yes. Just take some Zyrtec or something beforehand. For some reason when I was watching it, something had to be in the air because my eyes kept watering.

Always in my right mind

            A longtime friend of mine recently asked the question on his social media page, of all his left handed friends and family, “When you shake hands, do you prefer to use your dominant hand or do you automatically go righty because it's considered the norm?”. I have a handful of things that I am really passionate about. One of those things is left-handedness.  In my opinion (and that’s all it is) most of the things that lefties do with their right hand isn’t out of comfort or “etiquette”, but out of adapting to a right handed dominated society. His question “left” me wanting to offer my two cents on the subject.

             When I was young, I didn’t have any left handed friends. I had two uncles that were left handed in my family that I knew of. Growing up I had several people, teachers, family members, etc. that would give me grief about being left handed. I remember in school, if my paper was smudged, points were taken off my grade. If I used my left hand to try to complete various tasks, and was having a difficult time completing said task because it was geared more toward a right handed person, I would be yelled at or told “Why don’t you use your right hand? Why don’t you use the "correct" hand?”. I remember in grade school when it was time for arts and crafts, everyone would get out their scissors, construction paper and glue etc. and start to cut the construction paper. What did this guy pull out? Yep, you know it, those pair of scissors with the green rubber grips and the word LEFTY in bold letters going down the sides of the blades. They just screamed “LOOK AT ME”. If you tried to use the right handed scissors the paper would end up looking like a cat used it as a scratching post.

              Some of the teachers would try to make me bend my hand all goofy looking when I write to not smudge my writing. But I could not do that. It ended up hurting my wrist. So I would just write how it felt comfortable to me. It all worked out. But as I was growing up I just put all that aside and didn’t worry about it. Can’t you tell it doesn’t bother me? Here I am 43 and I’m still talking about it. Lol As I grew older I started noticing more and more left handed people. I started noticing more left handed sports stars, movie and television stars, etc. So I would think, wow more and more lefties are around now, maybe it will be more accepted. Boy was I wrong.

              It wasn’t until years later that what I call the “lefty hate” really started to bother me more and more. Though left handedness was seemingly becoming more common, (I’ve read anywhere from 6-10% of the world is left handed) society is still dominated by the right handed mentality. Most of everything you do is geared toward the right handed person. A few examples are using a screw driver, tightening a bolt, using a hand can opener, and even most doors on your house are made for the right handed person. I didn’t realize it until the other night, but even the lawn mower. The rope you pull to start it is on the right side of the mower. But most people don’t think about these types of things because either A) You’re a righty and if it doesn’t affect you then why would you think about it or B) you’ve adapted to using your right hand for various right handed things and it’s become second nature to you now.

                But there are people out there, like me, that are very passionate on the subject as well. Some have even made websites, Facebook pages, and newsletters. One that I read all the time is called Anything Left Handed. If you sign up for their newsletter they send out left handed facts, history, and information. They also sell left handed merchandise. But they are in the UK, so shipping may be a little costly if you are not. So I found this place in Florida called Lefty’s: The Left Hand Store. I believe they also have a location in San Francisco too. I had to make a trip to their store in Florida when I visited a couple years ago. I wish they had some of those things when I was younger.

                One of the points I like to make is, if you have a child who is left handed, do not attempt to make him/her right handed. Do not try to change them or make them feel like they are wrong for being left handed. Even if you say you’re “joking”. You’re not joking, you’re being a jerk. Oh to answer my friend Mike’s original question, I mainly use my right hand. Like I said earlier I believe it’s because of adaptation. But I do use my left on occasion. It does feel more comfortable and it also creates an awkward moment from the recipient because it throws them off a little. Ha! Remember fellow lefties, August 13th is International Lefthanders Day. 

Prison Break: A look back (Sona)

This is my last time on set for season 2. This is the last episode of the season and it was a short scene for me. My time on season two has come full circle. I was approached by casting to play a Prison Guard in the Panamanian Prison, Sona. Which coincidently is the name of the episode, Sona. At first I was a little concerned about performing in that role. Simply because of how the episode in Mexico was. But of course I said yes. I mean, who would really say no here?

The scene took place in the worst of the worst prisons in the world The Federal Penitentiary of Sona, which was loosely based on the Brazilian prison Carandiru Penitentiary. “Sona Prison” was actually three locations. The old meat packing plant behind the Ft. Worth Stockyards (for the exterior shots), A child detention center off of Harry Hines Blvd. in Dallas (for the courtyard shots), & The Studios of Las Colinas (for the cells and interior shots). I arrived at base camp in the evening around six pm. Base camp this time was located in the Fort Worth Stockyards in the parking lot not far from one of my favorite BBQ restaurants Risky’s BBQ. After I parked I made my way to the casting assistant and checked in. I then made my way to wardrobe and props. I got dressed in my uniform and propped up with an AK-47 machine gun. The cool thing about this production is that the guns were real guns. Just made so that they can’t be fired.

While waiting for them to set up the cameras and everything. I was walking around and had seen Bill Fichtner walking around the parking lot. I had been a fan of his since Grace Under Fire. I had only worked with him on two other episodes of PB and he was usually so busy I didn’t want to bother him. So I didn’t want to miss an opportunity since this could be my last episode on the show. So I asked him if he would sign an autograph for me. He said “Sure do you have a photo or something”? I said it was in my car. He said “go get it and I’ll sign it before we start”. So I went to my truck and got the pic and he signed it. Luckily he signed it when he did, because right when I took it back to my truck we had to go to set.

The set wasn’t that far away and we could have easily just walked over. But we all got in the van and they shuttled us over there. It didn’t take that long to get there and we got out of the van and Kevin Hooks came over and went over the scene with us. The scene was that Scofield and Mahone (Wentworth and Bill) have been taken into custody and are being placed in Sona Prison. Right as Kevin finished talking to us in came two huge tanker trucks full of water. They parked them out of the way of the cameras and nighttime had completely fallen so it was totally dark. They hooked up the rain rig to the trucks. The scene was two different “Sona” vans pulled up. One carrying Scofield and the other Mahone. They get out and see each other. Mahone went one way and Scofield was escorted to the door. Where yours truly was waiting, machine gun in hand, to open the door and slam it behind him.

It was a very quick scene, only lasting a few hours. But let me tell you, with the “rain” pouring down, it made it feel a lot longer than it was. That water was freezing. But I did get paid more for getting wet. To help pass the time in between shots, Wentworth and I were looking inside the building. We actually only used the outside of it, so we didn’t need to go in. But while waiting to set up another angle, we went in a little to check it out. Since we weren’t filming inside, there were no lights. So you could only see as far as the outside lights would shine in. Man it was creepy. All concrete and graffiti all over the place. You get that chill coming over like someone was watching you. They set up to get the shot of Scofield going in and me slamming the steel door (wasn’t really steel. Sound effects added later lol) and then they panned up to the name of the prison above the door. Kevin did about four takes of that then we hear “Cut! Check the gate”. Shot was good. “Cut the water” he said then starts clapping. “Great job everyone”. Then they bring us all towels and we dry off as much as we can then head back to wardrobe. Another successful day.

I’ll probably only do one more of these. The next day I’m on set is for the first episode of season three and there is a pretty cool tie up of the last episode of season 2 and the first of season 3.

Prison Break: A Look Back ( Bad Blood)

                         

This is the same episode, but a week apart. Well, when they called me they told me the scene was going to be in they said it’s going to be in “Mexico”. I'm like ok, cool. Then they asked me if I wanted to be a Mexican Police officer. I kind of laughed to myself and said sure. Why not? This scene was supposed to be the airport in Ixtapa, Mexico, in reality it was Meacham International Airport in Ft. Worth. When I get there I go to wardrobe and get dressed in my uniform. Then to props and get my side arm, badge, etc. Then I realize, I'm the only white guy that's not a tourist. So I and a couple other guys are waiting to be in our scenes; I go over and watch the others scenes being filmed from behind the director. I was watching Bill Fitchner do his scene. The scene he was shooting was down one of the corridors and it was supposed to be in Chicago I believe. He was talking on the phone to his on camera son. But really it was to the P.A. off camera. What was funny was that when he wasn’t filming talking on the phone, he was on his personal phone have a conversation. Scene would come up, he would put his real phone in his pocket and say his lines. Cut, then back on his phone. Color me impressed.

Then later it came to my scenes. I was going to be at the airport in Mexico chasing Sucre and MariCruz down the hallway. Myself and the other guys were all in our position ready to go and at the very last second the director decided they didn't want to use us. Damn!!! Again, that’s how it goes. I wasn’t that bothered because in between scenes I got to hang out with Amaury Nolasco (Sucre) and Camille Guaty (MariCruz). When Amaury first got there he came up to me shook my hand and gave me a hug. He said "Hey, what's up man how was your new year". So we got to talking for a little while. I hadn't worked with Amaury since episode 1. And even then we didn’t have any scenes together. We just had breakfast and lunch. That morning I asked Amaury if when he gets a minute if he could sign an autograph for me. He said "Sure, would it be ok if I get it later". Of course I said no problem, whenever you're not busy. So fast forward to the end of the day they said that's a wrap. I was walking around telling everyone by and I walked over to Amaury and Camille and proceeded to tell them goodbye, Amaury then said “Hey let me sign that autograph for you. Do you have a photo or something”. I said no all I have is an index card. So he signed that. Then he said "I'll see you again, talk to you later bro". Then I hand one to Camille and she signed it. Then she gave me a hug. I made my way out to wardrobe and props, then on my way home. Though I didn’t do anything acting wise, it was really cool to see everyone again to see the episode being shot from the directors prospective.

     About a week later I get the call to come back. It’s the same episode, just a different scene. And since my face didn’t get seen in “Mexico” they could use me again. This time was really cool. My call time was at 11:00 am. I went to base camp and immediately go to wardrobe. This time I am a chef in a member’s only cigar club (it was really The Old Warsaw restaurant). What was really cool about it was when I arrived at base camp, everyone was waiting on me and making sure I was good and what not. After I got dressed and propped up, they drove me over to the set. I sat around for a little while and then Stacey Keach walked in. Stacey played Warden Pope in the first season then he got fired at the beginning of the second season. I waited a few minutes and then approached him. I started a conversation with him. I told him I have been a fan of his since I first seen him perform in Cheech and Chong’s Nice Dreams as Sergeant Stedenko. He expressed his gratitude to me for being a fan. I then asked him if he could sign an index card for me. Like all the others he said “It would be an honor”. So he signed it and then shook my hand. About an hour later we broke for lunch.

     After lunch, we came back to shoot the scene. I was working with Wentworth Miller and Sarah Wayne Callies. The scene went good, but somehow they always seem to shorten my part. lol I did make on screen, but if you would have blinked you would have missed me. Still, it was a fun, albeit short day. That was it for me. I was the last one on set and the first to leave. Still had a great time. Until next time.                                   

Prison Break: A look back ( Orientación)

Alright, now this is first day on set of season three. Even though I did plenty of episodes after this one. This will be my last post about Prison Break (maybe?). Honestly, I think people are tired of hearing about them. lol This day picked up right after the finale of season two. At the end of season two, I slammed the door behind Scofield locking him in Sona Prison. Season three picks up right on the other side of that door. It shows Scofield walking down the corridor. The corridor is filled with all kinds of people. Huge brutes, druggies, transvestites, etc. Scofield sees a bloody and half naked Bellick on the floor as he walks by. Then into the courtyard where a lot of prisoners are watching a fight about to ensue. And it is raining like crazy. This episode is called Orientacion. We did multiple scenes in this episode that day. So we didn’t film in chronological order. Which most of the time it’s not done that way anyway. But let’s not jump too far ahead just yet.

This season is a totally different dynamic than season two was. I play the same character in every episode in season three. This season I am playing a prisoner in Sona. I arrive at base camp around 8am. Base camp this time is actually the parking lot of the location of the set. It’s the courtyard of the prison. It’s really an old child detention center almost the corner of Harry Hines Blvd. & Market Center Blvd in Dallas, TX. As soon as the production was over it was leveled. When I arrived I found the casting assistant and she takes me to wardrobe. I go get my clothes. Which were shorts, a shirt, and some low top vans. Then one of make-up people open up this jar of movie dirt (“Dirt” that is specifically made for the movies. To my knowledge it’s really make up that looks like dirt) and apply it to my hands, arms, and face. I remember it being real soft feeling. They would also spritz me with water on my back, pits, neck, & underarms. To make it seem like it is just scorching hot. Which anyone from Texas knows, that it really was. Some of the actors had their own little spritz bottle to spray their face with water to make it look like they were sweating. I didn’t have one but Laurence (Mason) gave me one of his. You may remember Laurence as Tin Tin on the movie The Crow.

Our scenes were all in the courtyard at this location. The courtyard as I said before was at the Child Detention center. Actually it was the basketball court at the center. They brought in a bunch of sand and added a second floor. They even had a “professional” tagger come and paint graffiti on the walls. It looked just awesome. I worked with some awesome people that day. I worked with Wentworth Miller, Wade Williams, Robert Knepper, Robert Wisdom, Bill Fichtner, Laurence Mason, & Sala Baker (Yes, Sauron from Lord of the Rings and many other things. Who is one of the nicest guys you will meet. I wish I could have got his autograph. Probably will never have the opportunity again.). There was so much that was going on that day. It would be so long to break everything down. So I’ll just give the part that ties the season two cliffhanger with the season three premier.

If you remember at the end of season two I slammed the door to Sona prison behind Scofield locking him inside. On the other side of the door we follow Scofield down the hallway. After walking the above mentioned crowd of people he comes to a door that leads outside to the courtyard. If you remember at the end of season two, it was raining outside of Sona. So naturally it is raining when he goes into the courtyard. As soon as he opens the door, he just sees a massive amount of prisoners running around in a circle and yelling. Inside that circle was Laurence Mason (Sammy. Aka Tin Tin from The Crow) and another guy about to throw down. Sammy then throws down a chicken foot. When the chicken foot is thrown down, it’s time to rumble. So the rain, the fight, the camera man in your face. It was an awesome night. And all that was before the credits.

Prior to all that we filmed what happened after the fight. The guy was dead on the ground, and everyone was either walking around him or over him. Until finally they threw him out the back door. So long story very short. To tie the episodes together with me. If you were to watch the season two finale and the season three premier back to back in one continuous loop, you would see me as a guard putting Scofield in Sona then following him in and see me as a prisoner in the courtyard. I also made it on the DVD menu of disc one. Lol thank you for your time and have an awesome day everyone. I hope you enjoyed reading about a small blip in my life.  

Prison Break: A Look Back (Rendezvous)

This was my fourth day on set. This day was a little crazy and little funny. There were two different sets, (well usually there are) but this time I got to work on both. I arrived at base camp at 6:30 am. Usually this is where I would go and get my wardrobe and props. But this day, I wasn’t a C.O. or anything specific. I was just a regular person. So I had brought my own clothes. I did get a suitcase from them to use though. So I went directly to catering and had breakfast and a ton of coffee. I just sat around and shot the bull until it time to head out. I had my coffee and breakfast next to Paul Adelstein aka Special Agent Paul Kellerman. Paul was a really cool guy and a pleasure to talk to.

About an hour later I was walking to my car and noticed Paul sitting in his car. I walked by and he started talking to me. We chatted a few minutes and then I asked him if I could get a picture of him and get an autograph. He said “Sure man, do you have a photo or something?” I said “It’s in my car, let me go get it”. So I brought it back and he signed it as well as signing my index card (which he put the wrong date on lol) and let me take a picture of him. I said thank you so much. He said “No problem at all man” and then one of the P.A’s came and got him to take him to set. So I went back over to base camp and waited to be taken to the set myself.

We loaded up in the van and they drove us over to Union Station in downtown Dallas. Union Station in Dallas, Texas was temporarily filling in for a bus depot in Tribune, Kansas. This is where the first set was at. If you look carefully in the episode, you can see newspaper machine inside the station where they just put a black piece of tape through the word “Quick”. The Quick at the time was a small free newspaper the Dallas Morning News gave out. I did half a day here. We did a lot of exterior shots. Most of which did not make it on the show. The main shots were in the inside of the station though. At the station I worked with Wade Williams and Matt DeCaro aka Captain Brad Bellick and C.O. Roy Geary from Fox River. Wade remembered me from past shootings and we shook hands and talked for a couple minutes between takes. I complimented him on his blog that he was writing for the TV Guide website. He seemed really proud of it and was happy that I was reading it. After that we filmed some additional exterior shots in the back of the station with just me, another guy, Brad, & Matt. They ended up cutting those scenes out of the final show. That was most of the day.

Then around four o'clock in the afternoon we headed to the D/FW Airport. D/FW was supposed to be O’Hare Airport in Chicago. There we worked with Paul Adelstein aka Special Agent Kellerman. That was the funny part I had mentioned at the beginning. We had most of one of the terminals shut down for filming. But there was still a little section that was still operating. All the workers would stop dead in their tracks to watch us film. This one guy came in the door and one of the assistants told him we were filming and to go another way. He got real mad and stormed off. He went past me dropping f-bomb after f-bomb. Then he went and got in line to be checked in. what happens next would really set him off. He really got pissed when he found out the line he was in was all actors. That was karma biting him in the butt for being such a jerk.

So we shot for a couple more hours including a scene with the character MariCruz. In the show MariCruz was Sucre’s girlfriend. The normal woman who played MariCruz could not reprise her role at the time. So they replaced her with another person. We filmed a couple scenes with her then called it a day. A little over thirteen tiring hours, and I can't wait to do it again. A lot was filmed and even more was cut out (the entire MariCruz scene was cut). But that’s ok. Even if I do get cut out again. 

Prison Break: A look back (Buried)

 

This was my third day on set. It actually wasn’t as eventful as others. But it was probably my most disappointing. But I wouldn’t know that until much later when the show aired. My call time was for this episode was a little later than usual it was at 11:00 am, so I arrived at 10:00 am. This time base camp was set up in a parking lot downtown at the corner of Ross and Field. After I parked, I found the casting assistant and checked in. Afterwards I went directly to wardrobe and got my uniform. Then off to props. I got my gun belt, service revolver, and everything I needed to be another correctional officer. But this time I wasn’t a Fox River Correctional Officer, I was a C.O. for the Arizona Department of Corrections. This particular episode was called “Buried”.

            Not long after I got suited up, they went ahead a called lunch. So they shuttled us to The Adolphus Hotel in downtown Dallas and we had lunch there. I know it seems like I’m a broken record always talking about how good catering was on this production, what can I say though. It was awesome. After I got my food I took a seat and was sitting down next to Marshall Allman. If you don’t know who Marshall is on the show, he plays LJ Burrows. LJ is Linc’s (Dominic Purcell) son. Marshall is a pretty cool guy. He and I and a couple others talked the entire lunch hour. After lunch it was time to head back to set. I had asked Marshall if I could get a quick picture with him. He said “sure no problem”. I then asked if I could
get his autograph. He again said “No Problem” But he said “They’re calling me so
catch me when we get on set.”

Once I arrived on set they were getting ready to shoot my scene. In this scene L.J. Burrows (Marshall’s character) was arrested by the police and then transferred to the Arizona Department of Corrections. I had a great scene with Marshall. I was the C.O. who brought him in to be checked in. Marshall and I had been talking before the scene and decided that it would look good if I would give him a little push through the door. After we get through the door, I was to tell him very sternly to “MOVE IT”. It was great, a lot of close ups and everything. After we did that scene about ten times, we finally heard “Cut. Check the Gate”. Which means that’s the scene they liked and are going with. Then on to the next scene. But that was the only one I was there for that day. So it was time for me to go. Marshall caught me on my way out and asked if I still wanted that autograph. Of course. So he signed my index card.

So I hopped back on the shuttle to base camp. I made my way back to wardrobe and props and turned everything in. Casting signed off on my pay slip and was on my way home. When I left I felt so good. A good day, good people, and I had a line (albeit a small one) that was going to be on the show finally. So when the time came for the show to be aired, I’m watching and something is a bit different. The entire Arizona prison scene had been scrapped. Every single thing I did that day gone. Most likely on the cutting room floor. Oh well, it happens. It was very disappointing but there is really nothing you can do about it. I did my job. Just move along to the next one.