WONDERFEST 2015

Ok, here is my tale of WF2015 from my own perspective.
For those who do not know, that is me on the right in the pic above.
This year marks our 14th consecutive year. And the first time I drove down solo.
My daughter was caught in a work commitment and wouldn't arrive until Sunday.
(real torture for her too, work paid to fly her to New Orleans, paid for her hotel and paid her to be there)

Anyway, it was a very uneventful trip down. So much so, I made record time for myself. 6.5 total, with 2 stops included.
I got there so early, I had to wait amost an hour for my room to be ready. One of the perks to going on a Thursday again.
Did kind of suck, having to unload the car all by myself. Took like 4 trips, and I didn't even have any model stuff!
No kits to enter, no supplies, nada. (just a lot of liquid refreshment)
Got settled into the room, then I went out visiting. Can't remember who all I found that night, (except the Canadian Embassy) but I had fun. Visiting, drinking, and catching up.

Friday started pretty early, because I was there to take the AFM paint class.
I've been waiting for something cool like this. A brush painting seminar, taught by some of the best paint slingers in the hobby!

As you can see, the class finished the kits. In less than 8 hours too!
We started at 9, and wrapped up around 5, with an hour for lunch thrown in there.

The class was lots of fun, and really good. They supplied everything. The kit (already cleaned up and primed) and all the supplies to finish it.
Paint, brushes, pastels, mixing tray, and dullcote.
After the class, it was up to the room to drop things off, a quick bite, then down to the main halway.
Dealer load-in had started, and there was a huge line waiting to get badges and contest entry forms.
Lots of people to hang out with, and have fun with. One of the things I was looking forward to, also, was finally meeting Parts Pit Mike.
We've been corresponding for like 15 years now, but have never met. This year he finally came down from Canada.

Also, got to check out the new PS add-on kit, that Jeff had sculpted. He brought a few castings with him and I picked one of them up during the weekend.
Spent some time showing Mike around the hotel. Showing him the upstairs theaters, the patio, the Canadian Embassy.
It was a good night of hanging in the lobby, and closing out the day at the embassy (I think. Might have closed the Embassy, and ended in the lobby. It's all a little vague)

Saturday, of course was a busy day. Hung out waiting for the dealers room to open. Made a few passes through there. Had an arm load of kits I was running up to the room, when suddenly, the fire alarm went off!
Everyone was really calm about it. Actually most were just doing what they were doing and kind of ignoring it. I kept walking up the main hall, debating on if I should try to unload in the room or not. I decided not to risk it. If there really were a fire, I didn't want hundreds of dollars worth of resin going up in smoke.
They did evacuate everyone. Luckily, it didn't take all that long. Maybe 10-15 minutes before they let us back in.
Unloaded my stuff. Had a little lunch in my room, then back down to check the contest room.
Then more dealers room. Then it was time to go catch Greg's talk.

Most everyone into genre stuff knows his name now, but I've been a fan of Greg Nicotero for years. I never missed one of his talks since I started coming in 2002.
Not only does his effects company do some really cool stuff. But the man is just filled with fun and entertaining stories. It's always a blast when he goes off on a tangent. This year was a bit different. Usually he just stands there and talks about a bunch of slides / clips he brings, then answers questions.
They showed a short video highlighting some of KNB's bigger works then he talked with the 2 moderators seated on either side of him.
At the very end he took some questions from the audience.
During the discussion Greg confirmed what I thought. He actually requested to come to the show. He had to cram 4 days of editing into 3 in order to make time to do it, but he really missed WF. So he manage to make room in his schedule. Which is why it wasn't announced until a couple weeks before the show. They let us know, when they found out themselves.
He is a geek like us after all. He loves kits, and making things. That is the problem with The Walking Dead being such a huge success. The show starts shooting in May, and WF is at the end of May. So they are shooting. And now that he also directs, he has that to deal with (and the editing to go along with it, as he has to edit the eps he directs). And being a geek, he understands how it is. He told everyone to not be bashful about coming up to him during the show.

That about wrapped up the daytime activities for the day. I made one more pass through the dealers room. Hung out with a few people, then hit the room for a bit of down time. Just kick my shoes off, and watch a bit of TV. Then I headed out for dinner at Bob Evans. Oh man, did that meatloaf hit the spot.
Though I was on the verge of miserable when I got back to the hotel.
More hanging out in the lobby and visiting. Then it was upstairs to catch some of the movie.
They were showing Comedy of Terrors. With Dr Gangrene and Sarah Karloff.

I popped into the movie several times. I know, I could have just grabbed a seat, but I know me. If I sit down for a movie at WF, I fall asleep.
Doesn't matter that the movie was a good one, and the audience was really into it. If I would have sat down for long, I would have been out.
So I just dropped in, and leaned against the wall for a while here and there.
Then I ended up back in the lobby hanging with some people I normally don't get to spend enough time with. So that was cool.
We were having a great discussion, until Shane came down the steps and signaled they were gonna be doing the group photo!
(side note - this is one of the things that really bugs me. We used to do the pic in the lobby, until the hotel changed hands, and they shoo us out of the lobby any time a largish group starts to form. So now they usually do it out the other doors. So for the last few years, we usually miss out.)
Anyway. This year I actually got into the shot again.

Probably a good thing we weren't in the lobby. The group was rather large this year. And also rather loud.
After hanging out and visiting with a few people, I followed the main party back up to their suite. Which marks another new for me. First time it took until Saturday night for me to step into an elevator. Man, that suite was packed! A bit loud, and claustrophobic too. Probably because Greg was in there having fun. Which of course meant more people hung out longer than they normally would. After a bit, I left, and went across the hall to Cult's Suite. That was pretty packed too!
Was fun though. Had some anime going on the screen. Some good conversations going. And spirits were flowing freely as well.
When I finally left there, I pit stopped at my room for a refill, then the lobby. After hanging there for a while with more friends, I wandered to the Embassy. Man, this was a partying Saturday night for sure!
From there, I got drafted into a mission with Crazy Joe. More good times!
After I made sure he found his way back to his room, I made one more sweep to see if anyone was still stirring. Then off to my own room.

Even though I only got a few hours sleep, I was up pretty early. Cleaned up, breakfast, then off to the contest room at 9 to takes more pics before the dealers room opened. Wasn't really looking for more stuff to buy, as I did a lot of shopping on Saturday. It was more like making the rounds and visiting with people who were too busy on Saturday to socialize. Also, checking to see if anyone had any new goodies on their tables.
My timing was pretty good too. While I was in my room grabbing a snack, my daughter finally showed up.
We visited a bit, while she kind of relaxed. Then we were both off. Her to try and do everything in one day. Me to just wander and socialize.
We crossed paths multiple times the remainder of the day.

We both even ended up in the room for beverages at the same time. Which is when we saw this happening across the courtyard.
Which then led us over to the Embassy so she could say hi to the guys and visit for a while.
After they closed the dealers room, we were off to the suite to relax and snack a bit. Then I played with all my resin, and she checked out a few pieces.
After she caught up a bit on social media we went to dinner. Bob Evans again.
We hung out in the lobby a bit, but no one was around. So we wandered a bit. Still couldn't find anyone. Of course we knew where most of them were. In the banquet. But usually, there are a few like us, who don't attend. We finally ran across some that we knew. But they headed to their rooms early as they had an ealy morning departure. We went back to our room to snack and get more beverages. Britny got really comfortable on the bed watching Harry Potter.
That was it for her. She had been up at 2 AM to get her 5 AM flight from New Orleans to Louisville. It was now almost 11 PM, and 21 hours without sleep were catching up. Especially since she had spent the week building houses, and having fun in the city at night.
So, here I was, solo again.

Let's just say, the rest of the night was a big blur of fun.
It wouldn't be Sunday night at WF unless security came around at least once to 'shush' us.
Things were spilled. People were propped against walls. Things got thrown from balconies.
Then I ended up in the lobby with a fairly long visit with Rick. Who I had managed to somehow miss most of the weekend.
I think I fulfilled my main goal after last year's show.
"Really have to make more of an effort next year to meet new people, and find people we already know."

Of course, the next morning wasn't as much fun. Packing. Loading the car. Checking out. Last bit of hanging out before hitting the road.
Oh, and remember that 6.5 hour drive down? Took me 9 hours to get home.
Weather was crappy and rainy when we left, and remained that way all the way until about a third of the way through Ohio. So traffic wasn't moving nearly as fast or as smoothly. Then we hit a traffic jam at like exit 12 in Cincinnati. Pretty bad 3-car accident, that tied us up for about an hour.
Then it wasn't a quick in-and-out of Columbus to drop Britny off. She doesn't live near campus anymore, so it isn't like 'just off the highway'.
Of course I had to see her new place too, since I hadn't been there yet.
Once I finally got out of Columbus, it was smooth sailing. At least I got home before dark.

Overall, I would have to say, this tied as the best WF yet. If my daughter had been along for the whole thing, it would have topped the previous best.
But, since she wasn't there most of the time to share it with, I'll call it a tie.

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