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Entry tags:
- cats,
- celebrities,
- concerts,
- conventions,
- food,
- health,
- monsters,
- movies,
- music,
- pets
You Must Follow, Leave This Academic Factory
This past weekend was pretty busy for us. Beth and I went to see Franz Ferdinand at the Fillmore in Philadelphia. It's a relatively new venue, named after the one in San Francisco and in a building that used to be a factory for a metal company. There's a very industrial look to it, and a lot of open space. This was the first standing room show we'd been to in some time, but we have some others on the horizon. I'd say I'm too old for that now, but really, I was too old for it twenty years ago. I just put up with it anyway because it was the only way to see bands I liked. Seats are generally only for really big or really small venues, and I tend to like groups who draw crowds in between those two extremes. At least now I can look at stuff on my smart phone while waiting, I guess. The opener was a three-man band called Vundabar, whom I didn't find memorable. Franz Ferdinand was there as part of their Hits to the Head Tour, and I think all the songs they played were part of that collection.
I don't know their newer stuff as well, even the hits. That said, I still consider pretty much everything since 2000 as kind of new. Alex Kapranos was very energetic, jumping and bouncing a lot while performing.
During "Outsiders," drummer Audrey Tait started doing a solo, and other band members joined in.
For "This Fire," Alex had everyone crouch down at one part of the song.
On Saturday, we went to the Monster-Mania Convention. It was officially the fiftieth one, but that counts other venues. I believe we've been to all the ones in Cherry Hill except for one. Driving in Cherry Hill is kind of a pain because all the roads in the area have barriers in the middle. I've driven there from Beth's mom's house many times, yet I still have trouble figuring out one particular exit. In case anyone cares, it's where Route 130 intersects with 30, 38, and 70. There are two exits in a row, and the GPS gave instructions I didn't understand. We ended up getting there later than we wanted, but not by that much. We caught the tail end of the question-and-answer session with Greg Nicotero, who's mostly known for makeup and special effects work. After him came Zach Galligan, Billy from Gremlins, who brought along a little stuffed Gizmo.
He talked about how he was working on an animated Gremlins series, and referenced Mountain Dew a few times. Then came Debra S. Hayes, who was in the original Friday the 13th, along with her boyfriend at the time.
The evening program had two reunion panels, one for the twenty-fifth anniversary of Scream, and another for Alien and Aliens. I've seen all three of those movies, but I don't know that I remember them that well, and I still haven't seen the later Scream films or anything past the second in the Alien series. The first panel had Lee Waddell, W. Earl Brown, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, and Matthew Lillard.
Neve Campbell was going to attend but had to cancel, and from what I've heard, David agreed to be there on short notice.
Lillard, who went around the room to take questions, will generally talk about how working actors are often between jobs, and the rest of the panel discussed some of the more frustrating parts of their careers. I was kind of thinking David wouldn't have had that since he's a legacy, but that didn't seem to be the case. They also had a lot of stories about how rowdy they were during the filming. Somebody in the audience asked a question about Never Been Kissed, which I mostly just remember as having a plot that didn't really make any sense. But David and Drew Barrymore were in both films together, and they're both from famous acting families. The Alien panel had Lance Henriksen, Tom Skerritt, Jenette Goldstein, Mark Rolston, Veronica Cartwright, and Carrie Henn.
Lance had been to other ones of these in the past, but I don't remember him being quite so talkative at those. They've cut down on the number and length of the panels over the years, which kind of sucks, but I guess I can see why they would. The autograph sessions are a bigger draw and bring in more money.
We often go to Friendly's after leaving the convention, but I'm still a little miffed that they changed their mozzarella sticks due to supply chain issues. Applebee's still has good mozzarella sticks, so we went there. At least that was my reasoning. I had the Double Crunch Shrimp, with broccoli and green beans for sides, kind of weird as I've never been that big on vegetables. But the usual sides are fries and cole slaw, the latter of which I don't like at all, and the former I like all right but tend not to finish, so there's more waste. The vegetables tend to be smaller portions.
We brought the cats to the vet's last week. They're both on medicine, but while Wally will take his pills in those Pill Pocket treats, we have to force Reagan's liquid medicine into her mouth. She hates it so much that she'll often hide under the bed for hours to try to get out of taking it. It's sad, and it means we don't see her as much as we used to, and she loves attention. Wally's health is steady, but Rea is getting worse, and we'll have to bring her in for a sonogram soon. I really hope we don't have to put her on an IV, which the vet did bring up as a possibility.
I don't know their newer stuff as well, even the hits. That said, I still consider pretty much everything since 2000 as kind of new. Alex Kapranos was very energetic, jumping and bouncing a lot while performing.
During "Outsiders," drummer Audrey Tait started doing a solo, and other band members joined in.
For "This Fire," Alex had everyone crouch down at one part of the song.
On Saturday, we went to the Monster-Mania Convention. It was officially the fiftieth one, but that counts other venues. I believe we've been to all the ones in Cherry Hill except for one. Driving in Cherry Hill is kind of a pain because all the roads in the area have barriers in the middle. I've driven there from Beth's mom's house many times, yet I still have trouble figuring out one particular exit. In case anyone cares, it's where Route 130 intersects with 30, 38, and 70. There are two exits in a row, and the GPS gave instructions I didn't understand. We ended up getting there later than we wanted, but not by that much. We caught the tail end of the question-and-answer session with Greg Nicotero, who's mostly known for makeup and special effects work. After him came Zach Galligan, Billy from Gremlins, who brought along a little stuffed Gizmo.
He talked about how he was working on an animated Gremlins series, and referenced Mountain Dew a few times. Then came Debra S. Hayes, who was in the original Friday the 13th, along with her boyfriend at the time.
The evening program had two reunion panels, one for the twenty-fifth anniversary of Scream, and another for Alien and Aliens. I've seen all three of those movies, but I don't know that I remember them that well, and I still haven't seen the later Scream films or anything past the second in the Alien series. The first panel had Lee Waddell, W. Earl Brown, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, and Matthew Lillard.
Neve Campbell was going to attend but had to cancel, and from what I've heard, David agreed to be there on short notice.
Lillard, who went around the room to take questions, will generally talk about how working actors are often between jobs, and the rest of the panel discussed some of the more frustrating parts of their careers. I was kind of thinking David wouldn't have had that since he's a legacy, but that didn't seem to be the case. They also had a lot of stories about how rowdy they were during the filming. Somebody in the audience asked a question about Never Been Kissed, which I mostly just remember as having a plot that didn't really make any sense. But David and Drew Barrymore were in both films together, and they're both from famous acting families. The Alien panel had Lance Henriksen, Tom Skerritt, Jenette Goldstein, Mark Rolston, Veronica Cartwright, and Carrie Henn.
Lance had been to other ones of these in the past, but I don't remember him being quite so talkative at those. They've cut down on the number and length of the panels over the years, which kind of sucks, but I guess I can see why they would. The autograph sessions are a bigger draw and bring in more money.
We often go to Friendly's after leaving the convention, but I'm still a little miffed that they changed their mozzarella sticks due to supply chain issues. Applebee's still has good mozzarella sticks, so we went there. At least that was my reasoning. I had the Double Crunch Shrimp, with broccoli and green beans for sides, kind of weird as I've never been that big on vegetables. But the usual sides are fries and cole slaw, the latter of which I don't like at all, and the former I like all right but tend not to finish, so there's more waste. The vegetables tend to be smaller portions.
We brought the cats to the vet's last week. They're both on medicine, but while Wally will take his pills in those Pill Pocket treats, we have to force Reagan's liquid medicine into her mouth. She hates it so much that she'll often hide under the bed for hours to try to get out of taking it. It's sad, and it means we don't see her as much as we used to, and she loves attention. Wally's health is steady, but Rea is getting worse, and we'll have to bring her in for a sonogram soon. I really hope we don't have to put her on an IV, which the vet did bring up as a possibility.