My experience at Day 1 of 2019 New York Comic Con October 5, 2019
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Art, Blu-ray, Broadway, Comedy, DVD, Internet, Media, Personal, Photography, Technology, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.add a comment
Previous New York Comic Con recaps: 2012 Day 2, 2014 Day 1, 2017 Day 1, 2018 Day 1
Thursday marked my fifth time at New York Comic Con, and third year in a row. It’s become tradition to attend, meet actors, and tour the show floor. NYCC is held annually inside the Javits Center in Midtown West.
I waited by my computer for about two hours back on May 5 to buy my Thursday badge. I didn’t know what guests would attend, but I found out a month later. The ones I was interested in meeting were Paul Reubens, James Arnold Taylor, Laraine Newman, Jennifer Hale, and Tom Kenny. Once again, this was my sole reason for attending because there weren’t any panels worth seeing.
One day removed from record heat, the weather that greeted me when I left my Wantagh home at 8:30 was cool and cloudy. As I stood on the LIRR station platform waiting for the 8:47 train, I briefly wished I brought gloves. Keeping with my train travel routine, I chose to sit in the first car. There were a few people seated ahead of me that were also on their way to New York Comic Con, but I didn’t want to bother them. I just listened to David Benoit and Friends and ate my protein bar with a can of orange seltzer.
The ride to Penn Station took about 45 minutes. When I exited at 8th Avenue and West 33rd Street, I greeted by persistent drizzle. It followed me all the way to the Javits Center. It took a while for the massive throng of attendees to get through security, but my search was quick and scold-less. After I was checked, I walked toward the entrance and then zipped my backpack compartments back up.
Once inside, I made my way to the autographing area:
It turns out there were two autographing areas: 1C and 1E. I was looking for Paul Reubens’ table in 1C, but he was actually in 1E. So, I walked toward there and waited in line at his table. Thank you to the staff members who aided me.
Like most 1980s children, I grew up watching Pee-wee’s Playhouse. I didn’t realize Pee-wee Herman was a character created and portrayed by Paul Reubens until the mid ’90s. That was the first time I saw Paul out of that character, on Murphy Brown.
I rediscovered Pee-wee’s Playhouse on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim in 2006, then rediscovered it again ten years later on Netflix. Watching it there wasn’t enough. I had to buy the series on Blu-ray, especially for the bonus features. I sometimes find myself quoting not just Pee-wee, but other series characters like Globey, Mr. Window (particularly when I see Lynne Marie Stewart [Miss Yvonne] on TV), Jambi, Pterri, Conky, Randy, and occasionally Clocky.
So, it was a thrill to meet Paul, albeit briefly, on Thursday morning. I told him I met Phil LaMarr last year. Phil played Cowboy Curtis in the Broadway run of The Pee-wee Herman Show. I had noticed Paul was making a surprised face while posing with attendees ahead of me, so I tried to do the same:
I look more shocked than surprised, but I still like it.
I returned to 1C to meet four voice actors:
First up was James Arnold Taylor:
I discovered James through Johnny Test, but learned more about his illustrious career through his website, JAT Vlogs on his YouTube channel, and appearance on the podcast Talkin’ Toons with Rob Paulsen. I told him I liked how for his Fred Flintstone voice, he combined Alan Reed’s original portrayal with Henry Corden’s subsequent version. I also expressed my love as the voice of Fox’s Sunday primetime promos, to which he said he recorded the latest set of promos in his hotel room the night before. There was one thing I neglected to discuss. I’ve never played a Final Fantasy game, but I am aware of an infamous cutscene he voiced as Tidus in Final Fantasy X. In the cutscene, Tidus let out a loud, wooden, staccato laugh: “haaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha!” James explained that scene in a March 2016 JAT Vlog:
I chose a character collage at his table to sign, and he wrote:
Mike – You’re awesome!!
James Arnold Taylor
5:05 PM UPDATE: James recorded another promo from his hotel room yesterday, as he shared on Instagram:
After James, I moved one table to the right (his left) and spoke to Laraine Newman:
You may know Laraine from her days on Saturday Night Live, and I’ve seen a handful of sketches from that time, but I’m more familiar with her voice over work. She was Queen Jipjorulac, Mark Chang’s mother on The Fairly OddParents. Mark Chang was voiced by Rob Paulsen as an energetic surfer dude with awkward syntax (pronouncing assistance “ah-sis-TAHN-say,” for example). When Rob interviewed Laraine for Talkin’ Toons, she mentioned Histeria!, the Warner Bros. edutainment animated series they co-starred in. I was not aware of the series when it originally aired, but my curiosity was piqued after that interview. Unfortunately, unlike the other ’90s WB series, Histeria! was not yet on DVD. When it was finally released years later, I bought it, watching for the first time over the 2017 Christmas vacation. I loved it! So, it was that DVD that I brought to NYCC for Laraine to sign. She was thrilled. I told her how much I loved the show and loved her characters: Miss Information, a bubbly Southern tour guide with a penchant for getting things wrong, and Charity Bazaar, a sad girl who frequently lamented, “I’m not happy.” I said I sometimes find myself saying that in certain situations.
Laraine signed the following on my DVD:
To Mike (Heart)
Laraine Newman
Laraine and the aforementioned Paul Reubens, Lynne Stewart, and Phil LaMarr are all alumni of The Groundlings improv and sketch comedy troupe. It’s where Paul created Pee-wee Herman.
Jennifer Hale was next:
Jennifer has a wealth of video game credits, but I know her mostly for her work as Ms. Keane on The Powerpuff Girls, various characters on Johnny Bravo, and T.U.F.F. Puppy. Someday, I will play some of the games she appeared in.
As with James, I chose a collage for her to sign:
To Mike!
Jennifer Hale
And finally, Tom Kenny:
Of course, Tom is the titular character on SpongeBob SquarePants. I love that show, but also love Futurama, where Tom’s credits include the all-purpose commissioner Abner Doubledeal and Leela’s bland eye doctor boyfriend Adlai Atkins, and the aforementioned Johnny Bravo, where he played Johnny’s (Jeff Bennett) nerdy friend Carl Chryniszzswics (“cruh-SIN-uh-wits”). He was glad to hear Carl get some love at the convention, as one attendee ahead of me had a drawing of Carl. We talked about his co-star, the late Larry Drake, who voiced Pops. I even imitated Pops (“Hey, Johnny!”). Tom told me about Larry’s horror film background, which I wasn’t aware of but glad to learn. Prior to Johnny Bravo, I only knew him from L.A. Law.
I thanked Tom for taking the time to meet with everyone in line, as the line extended down to one of the panel “chutes,” requiring security to let people know which side was the panel chute and which was the line for Tom (or “SpongeBob,” as the guard said). I brought my copy of the eighth season of SpongeBob SquarePants for him to sign:
10-3-19
Mike Ahoy!
Best fishes from “SpongeBob”
Tom Kenny
Thank you to Paul, James, Laraine, Jennifer, and Tom. It was a pleasure to meet all of you. Thanks, as well, to Anissa and her eldest son James, who I met in Tom’s line. It was nice to meet you, too, and I hope we can stay in touch.
After nearly four hours in autograph land, I was ready to head for home, but not before touring parts of the show floor:
Within 20 minutes of walking the show floor, I exited the Javits Center:
25 minutes after that, I was back in Penn Station where I boarded the 3:03 Babylon-bound train, which was packed with commuters. The crowd thinned a little at Jamaica, then further at Rockville Centre, but a handful of passengers exited with me at Wantagh one hour later. I was once again in the first car, which meant that I was on the east end and exited above Beech Street. (The first car westbound is just west of Wantagh Avenue.) After walking 20 minutes in the mist, I was home.
Once inside, I unpacked and photographed my autographed merchandise and my badge (with the codes blurred out):
I hope to be back at New York Comic Con next year. In the meantime, thank you for viewing this post.
My trip up Super Bowl Boulevard February 14, 2014
Posted by Mike C. in Broadway, Football, Media, News, Personal, Photography, Sports, Travel, TV, Video, Video Games, Weather.add a comment
Last Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the Seattle Seahawks resoundingly defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII by the score of 43-8. It was the Seahawks’ first Super Bowl championship in franchise history.
Two days before the Big Game, I headed to nearby Manhattan to walk the NFL’s Super Bowl Boulevard Engineered by GMC. The “Boulevard” spanned Broadway between West 34th and West 47th Streets. It was open to the public between Wednesday, January 29, and Saturday, February 1, the day after I was there. I had my Nikon D5100 (and two lenses) along for the walk to take pictures with.
The pictures in this post were taken outside the remote studios of ESPN, NFL Network, and FOX Sports; inside the Xbox One tent; by the Super Bowl Toboggan Run; by Extra Points, where fans could kick footballs through a goalpost; and a few other landmarks along the way.
We begin at ESPN’s studio:
The Xbox One tent:
The CNN/Bleacher Report studio:
The autograph stage:
Super Bowl Toboggan Run:
NFL Network’s studio at West 41st Street:
One block north of Super Bowl Boulevard was M&Ms World:
On the second floor, there was a massive array of tubes that contained milk chocolate, peanut, peanut butter, and pretzel M&Ms in a variety of colors. Two of the tubes had milk chocolate M&Ms in the team colors of the Seahawks and Broncos. I filled a bag of all kinds of M&Ms in all colors; 2.87 pounds worth. It took me three days to eat it all.
The FOX Sports studio at West 46th Street:
Megyn Kelly hosted her Fox News Channel show, The Kelly File, from this south-facing desk hours after I took this picture:
The north side of the studio:
A later shot of the south side:
Extra Points:
This kick was good:
When I passed by NFL Network’s studio again, Joe Montana was on set with hosts Andrew Siciliano, Willie McGinest, and Heath Evans:
Here’s how that looked on NFL Network:
And when I passed by ESPN’s studio, NFL Insiders was on:
From left to right: Bill Polian, Chris Mortensen, Adam Schefter, and Suzy Kolber:
Macy’s Broadway entrance:
Macy’s West 34th Street entrance near 7th Avenue:
Once inside, I bought a Super Bowl XLVIII polo shirt, cap (second from the left above), full size football with the Seahawks and Broncos logos on it, and program.
Despite the massive crowds and back stiffness that set in after an hour and a half, I had a great time walking Super Bowl Boulevard.
Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks on winning Super Bowl XLVIII two nights later.
Jessy J at Iridium recap February 11, 2012
Posted by Mike C. in Broadway, Hockey, Jazz, Media, Music, Personal, Photography, Travel, TV.2 comments
(2/25 UPDATE: Jessy has posted video of six songs from the 8:00 set to her YouTube channel, including two in one video. They are embedded in the set list below the corresponding titles.)
I was at The Iridium jazz club Thursday night to see saxophonist/vocalist Jessy J perform. There were two shows: 8:00 and 10:00. I went to the earlier one. It was the first time I’d seen her solo since I first saw her with Guitars and Saxes in 2008.
I had originally planned on seeing Jessy at the Daniel Street club in Milford, Connecticut back in late July, but I was unable to make it. I was unaware she’d be at The Iridium until the previous Monday, January 30, when the date was listed in her latest newsletter. Not about to let this opportunity pass me by, I immediately bought a ticket. (6/22/12 UPDATE: Daniel Street closed one month before The Iridium show.)
Before we get the show recap started, I’d like to share a funny thing that happened after I bought that ticket. The site I bought it through, TicketWeb, listed my hometown, with the 11793 zip code, as Briar Park rather than Wantagh. I had never heard of that alternate name and a Google search was inconclusive. I reached out to my Facebook friends from Wantagh or North Wantagh through a status update, but none of them commented. A comment in this old message board thread helped slightly, but not much:
… While my neighborhood is served by the Levittown School district, I am 110% positive that my development is considered (for intents and purposes) North Wantagh. Just north of me is the “R” section of Levittown, and the Briar Park section of Wantagh; and south of the parkway is the “T” section …
I walked through that “T” section of North Wantagh earlier today, so called because most of the street names begin with the letter “T” (i.e. Twin, Tally, Toll Gate, Tumble, etc.). So, apparently, Briar Park is a section of Wantagh, but I still don’t know where. If anyone happens to read this and knows the answer, please leave a comment.
On to the recap:
I was dropped off at the Wantagh LIRR station at 5:30, 29 minutes before my Penn Station-bound train arrived. I killed some of the time in the adjacent McDonald’s, buying a small meal, before returning to the platform. The train I was on was an older model, an M1, the predecessor to the M7, which features an automated voice recording – which I do a good impression of – and synthesized bell. When I arrived at Penn Station, I immediately walked to the 34th Street subway station to take the uptown 1 train to 50th and Broadway. I barely missed one, but another arrived four minutes later. Finally, I arrived at The Iridium, 45 minutes before showtime. Since I was early, I got a great seat: a table on the left side of the stage. After a spaghetti and meatballs dinner, it was finally time for Jessy J and the band.
Jessy was on the tenor sax:
Her pants look pink, but they’re red.
She was backed up by Jay Rowe on keyboards:
Mike Nunno (“NEW-no”) on bass:
Jon Roundtree on drums:
And Rohn (“Ron”) Lawrence on guitar:
8:00 SET LIST
1. Fiesta Velada
2. Sin Ti
3. Mas Que Nada (Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 cover) – Jessy, vocals; Rohn, background vocals
4. Tequila Moon
5. Tropical Rain
6. Remember the Night
7. Hot Sauce
8. Conga (Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine cover) – Jessy, vocals; Rohn, vocal solo
9. Oye Como Va (Tito Puente cover, arrangement similar to Santana version) – Jessy, vocals; Rohn, vocal solo
10. Baila! – Jessy, vocals
1-4 are from Tequila Moon (2008).
5 and 10 are from True Love (2009).
6 and 7 are from Hot Sauce (2011).
A few songs featured a call and response, wild at times, with Jessy and Rohn Lawrence. Here’s a sample:
The view from the HD monitor behind me:
Jessy wore two musical hats for “Mas Que Nada,” “Conga,” “Oye Como Va,” and “Baila!”: saxophone and vocals. Here she is during “Mas Que Nada”:
Rohn backed her up:
Mike Nunno’s “Mas Que Nada” bass solo:
Rohn’s “Remember the Night” guitar solo:
Clapping in the middle of “Hot Sauce”:
Jessy switched to alto sax for “Conga” and “Oye Como Va”:
“Conga” vocals:
Rohn’s “Conga” solo:
Miami-style clapping:
Vocal solo…
…with audience participation:
Jay Rowe’s “Oye Como Va” keyboard solo, first seen from a monitor:
The end-of-solo glide:
Jessy switched back to tenor sax for the last song of the set – “Baila!”:
Jay’s “Baila!” solo:
Then, it was Rohn’s turn:
And finally, a drum solo by Jon Roundtree:
The last note:
The end!
Afterward, Jessy and I briefly caught up with each other and shot this picture:
She asked if I still had my blog and I told her I do. I also met Rohn in person for the first time and caught up with Jay and Mike, who I’d previously seen on bass for drummer John Favicchia’s Dharma All Stars. Outside of the band, I saw my friends Katherine Gilraine, who came for the 10:00 show, and Kat Sarracco who was at the 8:00 show, but I didn’t even notice during it because I was focused on the stage the entire time.
Going back to Penn Station, I was unable to find the entrance to the 50th-Broadway subway station’s downtown platform. So, I gave up and planned on walking all the way down to Penn. I didn’t realize it, but I would be walking through Times Square. The tourists were out in full force and I was one of them, shooting these pictures:
My last picture of the night was the exterior of the Times Square station:
I was finally able to board the downtown 1 train, but had to walk a bit above ground before finding the LIRR entrance. I ran to catch the 10:05 Babylon-bound train. The New York Rangers hockey team had a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden that ended moments earlier. (The Rangers won 4-3 in overtime.) So, the train I barely made was packed. I stood by the car door until Jamaica when one of the fold-out seats next to me was vacated. I got back to Wantagh just after 11:00, ending a great night of music and travel.
Thanks to Jessy, Jay, Mike, Jon, and Rohn for a wonderful, exhilarating show. It was a blast!
Audiobooking December 2, 2014
Posted by Mike C. in Audio, Audiobooks, Baseball, Basketball, Broadway, Comedy, Commentary, Film, Health, Media, News, Personal, Politics, Radio, Sports, Theatre, TV.add a comment
While I may have indefinitely suspended photo album picture scanning, one constant since June has been audiobooks. What I’ve usually done is listen to a whole chapter while working out in the morning or on my portable elliptical machine in the afternoon. I only buy nonfiction and prefer that they are read by the author. I want to hear their words in their voice, not someone else’s, even if the author’s delivery is subpar.
This isn’t the first time I’ve listened to audiobooks. That goes back to a road trip with my parents and sister in January 1997, as we drove back from Florida. To show you how long ago that was, the audiobook was on cassettes. That book, The Hobbit, was the only time I’ve listened to fiction. It’s been all nonfiction since.
Between December 1997 – when I listened to The Big Show: A Tribute to ESPN’s SportsCenter – and June 2014, I would get an audiobook here and there, but I wasn’t a regular buyer. I didn’t exercise in the morning, either. That began in late March. It’s always best to get tough tasks out of the way early because your willpower drops as the day progresses. It helps to have something interesting to listen to while you’re working out, not something aggravating like politics and sports debate and discussion.
With all that in mind, I’ve listened to the following audiobooks, on CD or through Audible, since June:
There will be more audiobooks to come in the weeks ahead as I continue to try to keep myself in shape.