Too……What?

Lake Charles, LA

It’s been a week since I attended CyPhaCon.  That event was as excellent as expected, but something happened to me on my way out of the convention on Saturday evening that I feel must be addressed.  Before I continue I must say that what happened to me on that evening did not occur as a result of any actions by the convention staff or volunteers and it definitely IS NOT a reflection of the convention as a whole.  In fact, CyPhaCon is very accepting of ALL flavors of people no matter what race, religion, creed, or fandom that they happen to be a part of.

So what the heck happened?  I finished up my last panel for the day and closed up shop on the USS Lafitte fan table.  I walked around the convention for a bit, visited with a couple of friends and then decided to hit the road.  I was wearing the Star Trek tee in the featured image for this post.  As I was walking out of the Lake Charles Civic Center, I passed two young girls that I would estimate to be around sixteen years of age.  As they walked by, one of the young ladies said, “I don’t know if that shirt is too homo or too Trek.”

I stopped in my tracks.  Did she just say what I thought she said?  Too homo or too Trek?  I do not know if either of the girls noticed me stopping, but neither of them stopped walking.  I briefly looked over my shoulder and then thought to myself:  Let it go.  She’s an immature little girl.  It’s not worth it to say anything.  People that have known me for a long time know that I rarely speak up about anything, and I eventually talked myself out of addressing the young lady.

Still, her words bugged me.  No, check that.  The fact that she said her words out loud and with enough volume so that I could hear them really bugged me.  I honestly couldn’t care less about her personal feelings on me, Star Trek, homosexuals, heterosexuals, or anything else.  Those are her personal feelings.  But what about my feelings?  Why did she say what she said out loud without thinking about how I might react or be affected by her words?

I could easily say that she’s a homophobic idiot and leave it at that, but that’s not the biggest of her problems in my opinion.  Her biggest problem is that she didn’t think twice about making a comment that could be deemed derogatory or the consequences of saying those words.  If I were a homosexual man, how would I react to her words?  Would I just blow them off and get on with my life or speak up to her and give her a piece of my mind?  As a heterosexual man, should I have stopped her and given her a lesson in respecting others or just tear into her and tell her how rude she is and how her parents obviously failed her?

Well, homosexual or heterosexual, I didn’t do anything, but I am going to do something now.  I’m going to say that this young lady needs to seriously take a look at how she treats others.  I do not care if she is scared of or has a general dislike of homosexuals.  That’s a problem she needs to look into for herself.  I’m also not too concerned if she said what she said in an attempt to insult me, homosexuals, or Star Trek.  She lacks respect for humans in general.  That’s the thing that concerns me the most.

She’s not alone, either.

I see a lack of respect for humanity almost every day of my life.  Whether it is someone who insults another person for being gay, black, Catholic, or poor, or someone simply cutting in a line or using strong language in front of a child, we as a nation and a world are LOSING respect for one another.

Yeah, this girl made a simple statement that was probably meant to hurt or provoke me, but she’s definitely not the first person to do so and she definitely won’t be the last.  We need to change how we treat each other.  If you see a poor person on the street, offer to buy them a meal or give them a couple of bucks.  If it’s cold outside and you see a cop freezing his backside off directing traffic, offer him a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.  If a gay person happens to be walking down your street, don’t cross over to the other side in fear (they won’t hurt you, I promise).  Instead, give them a smile and ask them how they are doing.

Simply put, BE NICE!  There is no need to insult anybody because of their race, sexual orientation, religious or political leanings or any other reason!

Oh, and to answer the young lady’s question about whether or not the shirt is too homo or too Trek.  NOTHING is ever too homo or too Trek!  It’s perfect just the way it is!

As always, thanks for reading.  Now go respect each other.

Five Years Strong!

Lake Charles, LA

Since 2011, southwest Louisiana has been home to two fan-run pop culture conventions.  Both of these conventions can trace their history back to the now defunct ConDuLac which first appeared in 2009.  That convention lasted for two years and then became two new and wholly different conventions called Bayoucon and CyPhaCon. CyPhaCon recently celebrated its fifth anniversary and despite southwest Louisiana’s smaller market (in comparison to metro areas like Houston and Baton Rouge), the convention has grown each year and appears to have no intentions on stopping that growth any time soon.

I attended CyPhaCon’s fifth anniversary as part of the USS Lafitte’s fan group.  The Lafitte is the Lake Charles Chapter of Starfleet International, the official Star Trek Fan Group.  I set up the table on Friday night alongside the crew of the USS Neptune and the USS New Orleans.  These ships would prove to be extremely helpful over the weekend.

Friday night was packed (especially for a fan-run event), and there was a steady crowd throughout the evening.  I didn’t get to do much looking around since I was flying solo at the table, but I did manage to pass through the vendor area once and I made my plans for a few purchases over the weekend.

Saturday morning brought with it a much larger crowd and it was on this day that I got to see a whole lot more of the convention thanks to my fellow Starfleet members.  They helped man the table while I walked around a bit and snapped photos of cosplayers and met Vic Mignogna, anime voice artist supreme and, as I told him, the “Kirkest Kirk outside of William Shatner” for his portrayal of the iconic captain of the Enterprise on Star Trek Continues.  Vic was extremely nice and I have to admit that he ranks near the top of my list of coolest media guests that I’ve met.  Miltos Yerolemou (Game of Thrones), Chuck Huber (anime and Star Trek Continues), Jeffrey Combs (Star Trek: DS9, Re-Animator, etc), Larry Nemecek (Star Trek Continues, all around Trek database), and Marie Doll (cosplay guest of honor), were also on hand for fans to meet and interact with at the convention.

I also hosted two panels on Saturday that were well attended.  Roughly twenty people attended my “Southern Geek:  The Walking Dead” panel.  Other members of Southern Geek were supposed to assist with the panel, but due to issues that they had no control over, they couldn’t make it, so I had the place to myself.  The panel covered the TV series for the most part, with a couple of attendees tossing in a bit about the comic books.  We couldn’t talk a whole lot about anything beyond Season Three of the show, though, since a lot of folks were still playing catch up with the series.  On a strange note, we ended up talking a bit about Twilight during the panel.  Yikes!  It was still fun, though, and I’d do it again if necessary.

My second panel was “Deja WHO?” and was an attempt to cover the repetitive nature of Doctor Who since Steven Moffatt took over as show runner.  Of course, with quite a large mixture of new and old Whovians in the mix, the panel sort of snowballed into a big discussion about the actors that have portrayed the Doctor and everyone’s favorite villains over the course of the series.  About twenty people attended and it was a very lively panel.  Hopefully I can do something similar next year.

DDK made an appearance on Saturday as well and, as the above photos prove, he was grossly outnumbered by villains.  No matter for him, though, as he handled everything quite well.

Other conventions were well represented at CyPhaCon.  In the above photo you can see me and the lovely Jett and Zee, mascots for MechaCon which is coming up soon.  Other conventions that were represented included CoastCon, Geek-O-Nomicon, and Space City Comic Con among others.  A screen-accurate TARDIS was also on site, hosted by Tulsa TARDIS and a group that has recently started producing episodes for their own Doctor Who fan series.

The convention was well attended on Sunday as well, and it also featured the best part of almost every convention I’ve ever attended:  Orion’s Envy.  I’ve known these lovely ladies for quite some time now and even though I’ve seen their performances countless times, they still manage to surprise me.  They were only able to attend on Sunday, but I’m glad that I got to catch up with them.  I believe that their next performance will be at Bayoucon in June.

Overall, CyPhaCon was an excellent event.  There were a couple of bumps in the road, but considering that this event has consistently grown with each year of its existence, I’m sure they will find a remedy for next year.

I really enjoyed this event.  Fan groups were treated quite well and offered snacks throughout the event.  There was also a fan appreciation party, but I was unable to attend since I had a panel going on at the same time.  I look forward to next year and can’t wait to see what the CyPhaCon bunch has in store for us all!

The next convention on my radar is Bayoucon in June.  This year it takes place in Sulphur, LA.  There’s a very slim chance that I will be attending Comicpalooza, but I doubt that I’ll make it over to Houston for that show next month.

As always, thanks for reading.  If you attended CyPhaCon or any other events recently, let me know about them in the comments section.  See ya later!

It’s Getting Closer!!!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…..

Not much to say about this but “Wow!”  I actually teared up a bit at the end when two oh-so-familiar heroes appeared!

CyPhaCon In Less Than Two Weeks!!!!

Lake Charles Civic Center

The best anime, gaming and sci-fi convention in southwest Louisiana is less than two weeks away!  CyPhaCon will take place from Friday, April 17th, to Sunday, April 19th, at the Lake Charles Civic Center.  The convention has expanded in both size and attendance every year, and its fifth anniversary is no exception.  There will be events, panels, and performances held on all three floors of the Civic Center and special performances will take place in the recently renovated Rosa Hart Theater.

I’ll be there helping at the the U.S.S. Lafitte table, so if any of you happen to attend, be sure to stop by and say hello.  There will be lots of other fan groups there as well, including the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion (Star Wars), numerous ships from Starfleet, Steampunk fan groups, and other groups such as Southern Geek (which is very near and dear to my heart).

As usual, expect a lot of cosplayers with varying levels of expertise.  This year’s cosplay guest of honor is Marie Doll.

Media guests include Miltos Yerolemou (Syrio Forel on Game of Thrones), Vic Mignogna and Chuck Huber (both well known for their work in anime and currently part of the fan-produced and seriously awesome Star Trek Continues), and Mr. Trek himself, Larry Nemecek (who has also appeared on Star Trek Continues).

Fans of horror, many of the different Star Trek incarnations, Gotham, Re-Animator, and tons of B-movies will be pleased to see that Jeffrey Combs will also be in attendance.

Also, one of my favorite performance groups, Orion’s Envy, will give a special performance on Sunday at the convention.  It’s been awhile since I’ve seen those lovely ladies, so that’s definitely something I (and you) cannot miss!

This convention has become one of my favorite events in the Gulf South.  If you can attend, please do so.  Also, swing by the Lafitte table or check out my Dr. Who and/or The Walking Dead (done with members of Southern Geek) on Saturday and be sure to say hi.  Also, if you are an author, actor, performer, cosplayer, or fan group founder, be sure to come and talk to me about setting up an interview if you’d like and we’ll do just that.  I’m still looking for folks to interview in the wonderful world on nerdom, and would really appreciate a few volunteers.

I’ll have a full write up after the convention, so keep an eye out for that in the very near future.

As always, thanks for reading!