DRAGON CON ATTENDEES ARE INVITED TO COMPETE IN JIM HENSON’S CREATURE SHOP CHALLENGE LIVE!

Brian Henson, Kirk Thatcher, and Gigi Edgley Return for Unique Fan Contest Exclusively at Dragon Con 2018


ATLANTA, GA (July 16, 2018) – Dragon Con and The Jim Henson Company are proud to announce the first ever Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge Live! This unique panel event, exclusive to Dragon Con 2018, will reunite the series’ original judges Brian Henson (Labyrinth, Farscape) and Kirk Thatcher (Dinosaurs, Muppets Tonight). Gigi Edgley (Farscape) will return as host of the contest and Halle Stanford (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance), President of Television for The Jim Henson Company, will also join the judging panel.

Participants will be required to meet the guidelines of a creative brief that will be announced on August 6. Be sure to follow Dragon Con and The Jim Henson Company social media channels for details. Follow #CSCLIVE for all announcements! Contestants will have their creations pre-judged on Friday, August 31 at 2:30pm at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. At 4:00pm, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge Live will begin in the Marriott’s Atrium Ballroom.

“We hear from fans again and again how inspired they were by our series Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge,” said Brian Henson, Chairman of The Jim Henson Company. “The incredible level of artistry and talent in the costumes and creatures at Dragon Con got us excited to do this contest. It will be amazing to see participants bring out their best work in the spirit of a real challenge of creativity and skill.”

One winner will be invited to tour The Jim Henson Company in New York City or Los Angeles and will receive a travel stipend, courtesy of Dragon Con and The Jim Henson Company. If you can't make it to the live judging, you can watch the contest in your hotel room on DCTV or after the show at home at https://dragoncon.tv/.


More About Dragon Con

 
Dragon Con is the internationally known pop culture convention held each Labor Day in Atlanta (Aug. 30 – Sept. 3, 2018). Organized for fans, Dragon Con features more than 3,000 hours of comics, film, television, costuming, art, music, and gaming over four days. For more information, please visit www.dragoncon.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

More About The Jim Henson Company

The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 60 years and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and digital animation. Best known as creators of the world-famous Muppets, Henson has received over 50 Emmy Awards and nine Grammy Awards. Recent credits include Julie’s Greenroom (Netflix), Dot. (Sprout/Hulu), Splash and Bubbles (PBS), Word Party (Netflix), Doozers (Hulu/Sprout), and the Emmy®-nominated Sid the Science Kid (PBS), Dinosaur Train (PBS), and Pajanimals (Sprout). Television productions include Fraggle Rock, The Storyteller and the sci-fi cult series Farscape. Features include Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, as well as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, MirrorMask, and Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow. The Company is currently in production on the upcoming Netflix original series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Projects in development include the highly anticipated film Fraggle Rock.

With additional locations in New York and London, The Jim Henson Company is headquartered in Los Angeles on the historic Charlie Chaplin lot, complete with soundstage and postproduction facilities. The Company is home to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™, a pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group with international film, television, theme park and advertising clients, as well as Henson Recording Studios, one of the music industry’s top recording facilities known for its world-class blend of state-of-the-art and vintage equipment. The Company’s Henson Alternative brand is currently touring Puppet-Up! – Uncensored, a live puppet improvisational show, and its feature The Happytime Murders, starring Melissa McCarthy, will be released in August 2018.


On The Web:
www.henson.com
www.facebook.com/hensoncompany
www.twitter.com/hensoncompany

MEGACON 2018: The Age of the Geek Comes to Central Florida

     ORLANDO, FL -- Tis the season to be geeky!  That's right, this memorial day weekend, the pop culture world is slated to land squarely on Orlando Florida.  From May 24 until May 27, 2018 at the Orange County Convention Center, it's the MegaCon Convention!

     Among the guests and attractions will be the breakaway hit Youtube show the Hangin With Web Show, as well as special appearances by social media music sensations Billy Floyd, Jay Stephens and the Kitchen Killaz.

     There are expected to be tons of special activities for kids and adults.  There is Cosplay of all kinds and many featured cosplayers such as central Florida's Bri Bri Cosplay and the Cosplay Bombshells, as well as Central Florida cosplay superstars like Amelia Poole with HarlequinArts Cosplay and Crafts, the Charles Stark Foundry and the Florida Con Artists and renowned cosplayer Mark Robards of Mark Knight Rises Cosplay.  The floor is expected to be bustling and to host more than 250,000 visitors from every corner of fandom.  

    Among special celebrity guests are The Justice League's Jason Mamoa, television's Daredevil Charlie Cox, several celebrities from AMC's the Walking Dead and actress Jewel State best known for her role in one of pop cultures most beloved science fiction shows, Firefly, as well as Allstar celebrity cosplayers like Ya Ya Han, Jessica Nigiri, Cecil Grimes Cosplay, who is one of the world's premiere Walking Dead cosplayers, as well one of the cosplay community's youngest celebrities, Central Florida's own 7-year-old Cosplay Michael.

     There is something for almost everyone at this all star event.  

     "MegaCon is a show we look forward to all year long," said Hangin With Web Show host G.W. Pomichter.  "It's a kind of extended family reunion for many of us in the pop culture world, and for so many fans."

     Guests and celebrities will start arriving as early as Wednesday to set up and help organize the show which brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to central Florida each year.  

    "We have such a full schedule and we're planning so many great events for kids and adults alike," said Charles Watson of the cosplay community group The Florida Con Artists.  "MegaCon is a great show and one that knows how to bring something for every fan."

     The show will also include after hours activities for adults like Saturday night's Oasis After Dark after party.  The Pajama Party themed event organized by Moshi-Moshi Production, led by John Moshi will feature cosplayers, celebs and live music including the Orlando based Kitchen KIllaz, whose musical stylings have been revolutionizing the way social media is used to spread music and art and build communities.

     "This is the kind of terrific event where our whole community comes together to create an exciting and memorable experience for every fan and visitor," said Kitchen Killaz singer Billy Floyd.  "It's a great time and a really great look at the fun and sense of community that is on full display as a part of convention culture."

     In a press release, Fan Expo, the organizers of the event described it thusly:

     "Everyone is a fan of something, and MEGACON is a place to celebrate all things pop culture. Get an autograph or a photo with your favorite guest and get the inside scoop about your favorite movies & TV shows at our celebrity panels! Watch professional comic artists battle it out in our popular Sketch Duels, learn from our “How To” workshops, and take photos with your favorite costumed characters! It’s also a great place to buy a unique gift (or treat yourself!) with over 400,000 square feet of shopping madness."

BUY TICKETS NOW!

Entertaining and Enjoyable Read for People of all Ages! (On A L.A.R.P. by Stefani Deoul)

Entertaining and Enjoyable Read for People of all Ages, March 31, 2017

By 

G.W. Pomichter

At 200 pages (Kindle) this is a great few of hours, spent immersed in a a youthful and fun mystery read!

Not typically one for a YA story, (well not anymore), I am so glad I decided to take a look at this one. Stefani Deoul really put all her knowledge and experience as a story-teller on both the page and the small screen to work to deliver a dynamic and immersive as well as original tale. As she describes, On a LARP introduces us to a young teen coder (That’s compu-speak for all of us middle aged folks). Sid Rubin is a typical teen smartass, well typical if your teen is a super-smart high school kid with a strong conscience and a knack for solving problems. (Happily mine were).

The secret to a great YA story to me is in the point of view. It is important to feel yourself, no matter how old you are in the shoes of the protagonist, and from word one, Deoul puts her readers there fro page one.

“Do any of you know the truly scary part about being seventeen?”

Answer: “Your brain doesn't actually know, understand or care what it can't do; and, while this sounds great in theory, in my particular case, my under-developed brain apparently didn't know I couldn't fly.

So I jumped . . .
And I plummeted . . .”

When young Sid sees the photo of a murder victim during a field trip to the police station, her keen eye soon finds her and her friends chasing a “dark web” (another techno-term I’ve always loved) killer through the middle of a live action role playing game, and hey, who doesn’t want to LARP through a murder mystery.

This story is an energetic and youthful ride that really delves into the fascinating world of interactive role-playing (or L.A.R.P.-ing), Ted Talks, teenage heartbreak, suspicious parents, oh, and some really cool “Cosplay.”

This, of course, is not the first literary run for the award winning Deoul, who is the author of the novel The Carousel, and who has produced TV series such as The Dead Zone, Brave New Girl, and Haven, as well as being the executive in charge of production for the series Dresden Files and Missing, but tackling a YA story might have seemed like the road less traveled to her at first. It is, however, a path she navigated to perfection providing an entertaining and enjoyable read for people of all ages.


https://www.amazon.com/LARP-Rubin-Silicon-Alley-Adventure-ebook/dp/B06X6L1RKY

SYFY BARTOW 2017 id Coming SOON! Hang With us at SyFy Bartow

Main Street Bartow is about to bodly go where no other town in Polk County has gone before...... SYFY BARTOW is becoming the new place to visit for a fun day with COSPLAY, MUSIC, SCIENCE FICTION VENDORS , GAMES/TRIVIA, LARGE MOVIE PROPS,COSTUME CONTEST, MOVIE ON THE SIDE OF A BUILDING.... ((( THINK RENAISSANCE FAIR MEETS A SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION )))
It seems now-a-days convention/comic-cons are everywhere every weekend. SyFy Bartow tries to break outside of the traditional convention box by being something a little different.

A lot of people do not realize that SyFy Bartow is an event put on by Main Street Bartow Inc., a nonprofit organization where the priority is to bring awareness and visitors to our town here in Central Florida. We do not charge an admission to our event, it is free to attendees!! YES.......
F R E E !! All money collected from vendor fees, sponsorships, and donations go straight to improving our downtown area with renovations and encouraging businesses to open up in our quaint town. By attending SyFy Bartow, you are actively engaged in the redevelopment of our historic downtown business district!

Another way that SyFy Bartow sets itself apart from other traditional science fiction based events is that SyFy Bartow focuses on the behind-the-scenes people: cos players that spend hundreds of dollars on elaborate costumes, the independent filmmakers, actors, and up and coming artists and authors. Our guests for the day are eager to meet and interact with the event attendees and spend the day among us.

Lastly, SyFy Bartow is a welcomed part of our community’s culture. Bartow, Florida is known for its warm hospitality, artistic flair, community tradition, and its history. SyFy Bartow has become one of those traditions and the community fully embraces the ‘characters’ into our culture. We want to make sure SyFy Bartow is about the fans having fun, without the pressure or high cost of an entry fee or wasting the day standing in a long autograph line when sometimes it’s not even guaranteed you'll get an autograph. The annual event has sparked a downtown comic book store with weekly gaming nights, two movie nights with mini costume contests, and more. SyFy Bartow is not just a once a year event that rolls into town. This is truly a part of our community where everyone is welcomed all year long.

SyFy Bartow is all about a relaxed atmosphere, being with your friends, and helping a small town grow. We have welcomed over 7500, visitors to our past 2 events, with open arms and great hospitality... Come be part of us!

Check out mainstreetbartowfl.com for other great events and traditions to be a part of.

These FREE events will feature science fiction vendors /games / panels / costume contest / food and to top off the day the showing of a different science fiction movie projected on the side of a 2 story building in historic downtown Bartow Florida ! Our downtown shops and restaurants will be open for your shopping pleasure as well... FEBRUARY 21, 2015 will be a celebration of TIME TRAVEL>>>>>>>>>>> There will be a DOCTOR WHO LOOK A LIKE CONTEST / LIFE SIZE TARDIS / LOTS OF DOCTOR WHO COLLECTIBLES along with other SCIENCE FICTION ....
Please share the word that SYFY has finally made it to central Florida ! OH AND ITS FREE TO ATTEND !

501ST LEGION ANNOUNCES COMMITMENT TO INTERNATIONAL MAKE-A-WISHTM ENDOWMENT FUND

Atlanta, Georgia, September 3, 2016 – The 501st Legion announces today their commitment to a first-of-its kind international endowment in a unique partnership with Make-A-WishTM. The 501st Legion Make-A-Wish Endowment Fund will allow Make-A-Wish America and Make-A-Wish International to grant more Star Wars-related wishes to children diagnosed with life-threatening medical conditions. This endowment fund will allow Make-A-Wish to grant wishes, alternating between the United States and international locations every other year – a first for an endowment of this kind.

The 501st Legion Make-A-Wish Endowment Fund will rely on contributions from its membership, as well as the public. The Legion does not charge for its appearances, but has always accepted donations to charities that are supported by its members. Together, raising $150,000 by September 2021 will unlock the first step into granting wishes to children for many years to come. Once the minimum gift is achieved, the Endowment fund will grant wishes from the interest accrued; as the fund continues to grow, so will the number of wishes granted by the endowment.

For over ten years, the 501st Legion has raised thousands for varied Make-A-Wish chapters, all over the globe. The 501st Legion Make-A-Wish Endowment Fund allows the organization, touting over 9500 members in over 60 countries, to band together for a greater global impact.

MORE ABOUT DRAGON CON

Dragon Con is the internationally known pop culture convention held each Labor Day in Atlanta. Organized for fans by fans, Dragon Con features more than about 3,000 hours of comics, film, television, costuming, art, music and gaming over four days. For more information, please visit www.dragoncon.org and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

MORE ABOUT THE 501ST LEGION

The 501st Legion is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to bringing beloved Star Wars characters to life. Founded in 1997, the 501st Legion seeks to promote interest in Star Wars fandom, through the building and wearing of quality costumes. The group facilitates the use of these costumes for Star Wars-related events, as well as contributions to the local community through costumed charity and volunteer work.

MORE ABOUT MAKE-A-WISH

Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. According to a 2011 U.S. study of wish impact, most health professionals surveyed believe a wish-come-true has positive impacts on the health of children. Kids say wishes give them renewed strength to fight their illness, and their parents say these experiences help strengthen the entire family. Headquartered in Phoenix, Make-A-Wish is one of the world's leading children's charities, serving children in every community in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and more than 28,000 volunteers, Make-A-Wish grants a wish somewhere in the country every 35 minutes. It has granted more than 270,000 wishes since its inception in 1980; more than 14,800 in 2015 alone. Visit Make-A-Wish at www.wish.org to learn more.

A press conference will be held at Dragon Con, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary and is known as the “birthplace of the 501st Legion.”

The Hangin' With Web Show set for DragonCon 2016 (Atlanta)!

RECORD CROWDS EXPECTED IN DOWNTOWN ATLANTA FOR DRAGON CON 2016

Cosplayers, Gamers, and Pop Culture Fans Return for Annual Fantasy, Sci Fi, & Gaming Convention: More than 400 Actors, Artists, Authors, and Creators Will Give Talks and Meet Fans.

ATLANTA – August 16, 2016 – More than 75,000 people are expected to pack downtown Atlanta over the Labor Day weekend as Dragon Con, the internationally known pop culture, sci fi, fantasy, and gaming convention, celebrates its 30th Anniversary.

Dragon Con fans will travel from every state in the nation and a few foreign countries to participate in the four-day convention, where they can meet their favorite actors, artists, authors, and creators, and talk about the stuff they love.

Guests – More than 400 guests, from the worlds of movies, television, comics, literature and other universes, will lead panel discussions and meet with fans. Some of this year’s top guests include William Shatner and Alexander Siddig, who will help mark 50 years of Star Trek plus Alex Kingston, Gillian Anderson, Jack Gleeson, Alan Tudyk, and Charlie Cox.

Brian Henson, master puppeteer and son of the late Jim Henson, will be on hand to talk about the 30th anniversary of Labyrinth. And puppeteers Brian Herring and Dave Chapman will talk about their work as the hands behind BB-8, the ball-shaped droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

“We are delighted to have so many guests from so many of today’s most popular or, in the case of classic science fiction, best loved shows and movies to join us for our 30th Anniversary celebration,” convention co-chair Rachel Reeves said. “Overall, we will have some 400 guests – actors, authors, artists and other creators and experts – from across science, science fiction, and fantasy worlds, in whatever medium.”

Parade – For the first time, the annual Dragon Con Parade will be broadcast live on television by Atlanta’s CW69 on Saturday, Sept. 5 beginning at 10 a.m., with a rebroadcast during primetime.

The parade route remains the same as last year. Beginning at the intersection of Peachtree Street and Linden Avenue, the parade will head south on Peachtree, east (left) on Andrew Young International Boulevard and north (left) on Peachtree Center Avenue. It will end on Peachtree Center Avenue between John Portman Boulevard and Baker Street, in front of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.

The route is convenient to three MARTA stations – North Avenue, Civic Center and Peachtree Center. Parking downtown is expected to be tight, and Dragon Con encourages parade spectators to consider taking MARTA.

Gaming – Already one of the largest gaming conventions in the nation, Dragon Con has expanded its gaming space by more than 60 percent for its 30th Anniversary convention. This year, Dragon Con’s gaming programming will move to the Westin Peachtree Plaza and the adjacent AmericasMart Building One, where it will take up a combined 140,000 square feet. Panels, contests, and parties will be held in the Westin while free gaming, paid tournaments, and similar events will be held in AmericasMart. As always gaming will be open to all Dragon Con members 24x7 for the convention.

“The strength of gaming has been a pillar at Dragon Con since our first convention in 1987. Just as the convention continues to grow, our ability to offer programming and gameplay does too,” convention co-chair Dave Cody said. “We are able to offer our fans more games, more gameplay, and more and better opportunities to talk with voice actors, game designers, and other guests from the worlds of table top and video gaming.”

Cosplay – Dragon Con is well known for the quality of its cosplay – or costume play – and that tradition will certainly continue. The nation’s top cosplayers will show off their best work during the show, participating in costume contests every night of the convention and promenading throughout the five host hotels and the streets of downtown Atlanta.

Cosplay competitions remain a mainstay of Dragon Con, including the queen of competitions, Dragon Con Masquerade, which is both the oldest continuously run competition in fandom as well as one of the largest in the world. The Chôsen, which premiered last year at Dragon Con Night at the Aquarium to a sold out crowd, returns again this year for a second annual appearance.

Official Charity – Earlier this year, Dragon Con selected the Atlanta Center for Self-Sufficiency as its official charity for 2016. Through auctions and other charity events, plus a dollar-for-dollar match up to $50,000 from Dragon Con, the convention will raise money to support this important community organization.

In 2015, the convention raised over $100,000 for its official charity, the Lymphoma Research Foundation – Georgia Market. Through the Superheroes community service program, Dragon Con fans contributed more than 900 hours of community service.

Dragon Con also conducts the largest convention-based blood drive in the nation. Some 3,000 fans donated more than 6,000 units of blood and blood products in the annual Robert A. Heinlein “Pay It Forward” blood drive, benefiting LifeSouth, which serves more than 40 hospital in the Atlanta area and 110 hospitals in the Southeast.

About Dragon Con

Dragon Con is the internationally known pop culture convention held each Labor Day in Atlanta. Organized for fans, Dragon Con features more than about 3,000 hours of comics, film, television, costuming, art, music, and gaming over four days. For more information, please visit www.dragoncon.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Florida Youth Takes Comic Con by Storm!

Cosplay Michael at San Diego Comic Con International

A Brief History of Cosplay:

In 1939 Forest J. Ackerman and Mertal R. Jones were the first people to dress in futuristic costumes at the world science fiction convention (World Con) in NYC. 45 years later in 1984 WorldCon Los Angeles, Japanese reporter Nobuyuki Takahashi coined the term Cosplay while covering the WorldCon costume masquerade. Since then, the art of cosplay has grown into a global phenomenon at conventions from Star Trek conventions to anime conventions to world famous comic con international where Cosplay Michael Pomichter debuted on his first comic con panel.

Today, cosplay can be a hobby, a profession, and even an obsession. (Info above courtesy of Cosplay Nation: (http://www.facebook.com/Cosplay.Nation) Documentary Film)

Michael is just 5-years-old and he began cosplaying like every child as soon as he could dress himself. He went to his first convention at 4-years-old, where he dressed as "Thor.” Michael knows how to put the play in cosplay.

In 2016, Michael was invited by fellow cosplayers and a panel moderator to participate in a celebrity panel at the World-Famous San Diego Comic Con event. The panel, "Cosplaying With Kids," was slated to discuss encouraging kids to express themselves creatively using cosplay as an example. The panel was set for Friday, July 22, 2016, at 2 p.m. and was recorded by Comic Con HQ (Lions Gate Entertainment & Comic Con International).

Michael was invited by fellow cosplayer Kim Henderson McAndrew to join her and daughter Scout as well as Shawn Richter and son Gavin, to participate in the panel. Both Kim and Shawn are veteran cosplayers and Michael and his family were truly humbled and honored to have been selected to join them on stage.

Since his first cosplay, Michael was instantly hooked on playing with other kids and adults in costume at these kinds of events. Because his mom and dad work as web-journalists, Michael has been able to attend many state events. He has his own Facebook page at @cosplaymichael and is on Instagram @cosplaymichael, and he really loves dressing and playing as his favorite characters.

Michael feels like a rockstar!

We do not typically travel so far, as our business is new and finances do not allow it. But this was a great opportunity that rarely presents itself. We said yes, and we worked to raise the funds for the trip.

To save funds, we arranged to stay with family 2 hours away in LA. We drove instead of flying because we are a family of four and it saves funds.

Michael is a very creative young man and all he wants is a chance to show his creativity and encourage others to express themselves.

We all thank you and are grateful to supporters for helping us keep this creative young man on the path to his dreams! We most especially would like to thank Michael’s two prime sponsors, Famous Faces and Funnies Comic Shop(http://www.facebook.com/FFFComics) in Melbourne, and the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society-Southeast. These sponsors donated $250 each to Cosplay Michael to help defer the expenses of the trip and we are happy to support them!

While we have provided a link to our SDCC folder in the google drive, if you have further questions or requests for photos please contact us at (321) 210-6983.



Michael on Social Media”

http://www.facebook.com/cosplaymichael

Instagram: @cosplaymichael

5-Year-Old Cosplay Michael is Bound for San Diego Comic Con International

Let's start here with the pitch:  Go to http://www.gofundme.com/CosplayMichael and donate if you can.

Nope.  There is nothing wrong with this little guy!  He doesn't have a rare disease.  He isn't from a disadvantaged family or a crumbling neighborhood.  He is not unreasonably challenged, any more than any other child of 5-years-old.

Michael is a normal, healthy, happy 5-year-old boy with big dreams, high hopes and a passion for creativity.  He is a cosplayer.  In short, he enjoys creating, enhancing and dressing up in costumes emulating his favorite comic book and film characters.  He takes it quite seriously, and he's good at it.

Michael began dressing up, like most kids, as soon as he was old enough to dress himself.  He saved Halloween costumes and played in them around the house.  He borrowed mom and dad's clothes and accessories to create original adaptations of any character or imaginary person of which he dreamt.  Michael loved everything about pretending, and then something really wonderful happened.  He went to a convention.

Michael's mom, a business major and I, a published author of 5 books, own and operate a small business producing a web talk series called the Hangin With Web Show.  We travel to conventions and conferences and interview writers, artists, filmmakers and creators of all kinds and share new artists as well as celebrity entertainers with the world wide web.  In 2015, we attended our first pop culture convention: Necronomicon in Tampa Florida.  To help occupy our 4-year-old while we worked, we let him bring some of his costumes and dress up, "like the grown-ups."  He was hooked!

He found a sense of community in the immediate acceptance of adult cosplayers and convention attendees wanting photos and stopping to encourage him.  He met an adult dressed as Marvel Comic's "Loki," and himself dressed at Thor (complete with a home-made hammer), they "played."  They two battled center floor in the hotel lobby and the cosplayer, a man easily in his late 20's or even early 30's, had no trouble channeling his own inner child to play and pose and have fun with 4-year-old Michael.  We never did learn the man's real name, but we are so grateful for the time he took to make a small child's weekend so very special.

Following that weekend, our show became more popular and we found ourselves at more conventions and conferences where Michael could play and dress and be a part of this new community that both he and we had discovered.

Michael made so many friends and fellow creative cosplayers at conventions, that we decided to set up a facebook page for his endeavors.  Of course, his mom and I monitor it and share posts with him.  While he does read some, he needs a bit of help and we like to know who is posting.

In the spring of 2016, just a few short months ago, while reading his news feed to him, we were surprised to see a message from a fellow cosplayer.  Most just posted on his wall, but this one sent him a "private" message.  The message was an invitation to Cosplay Michael (his Facebook name) to participate (with his parents) in a panel at world famous San Diego Comic-Con International.  The panel now set for Friday, July 22, 2016, at 2 p.m.  and to talk about his love of cosplay and the cosplay and convention culture in which he now finds himself making friends and feeling comradeship.

We were surprised.  We were a little jealous.  We were a lot intimidated.  But his host was pleasant and cordial and his excitement was anything but muted.

"I'm a cosplay rock star," he exclaimed.  "Alright, let's go to comic con!"

Well, that's where our journey began.  Now with just days until our trip begins, we are still hoping to be able to offset the expenses of the trip with the help of this amazing community and those artists, authors, filmmakers, and creators we have tried to help for the past year.  While we have had some success with our own show, we have yet to travel out of state or such a great distance as San Diego, CA.  We live and work in Melbourne, Florida.

We have even applied for, and been approved for press access to the highly touted Nerd HQ, where many celebrities and pop culture icons gather to raise funds for Operation Smile.  We don't mind "singing for our supper," as it were, and we intend to do just that.  We don't mind at all working for our blessings, and teaching Michael how to do the same.

We do need help, though, still.  The trip is long across America.  It will take gas.  We'll need to eat.  We'll need to sleep.  We'll need time off from "day-jobs."  But it is al worth it to us to help Michael realize a dream and to demonstrate to him that he can accomplish anything if he is willing to work hard for it.  We want him to learn from the trip.  We want him to appreciate being a part of this global and vast community, to appreciate the art and creativity that is expended in this endeavor, to appreciate the fellowship of other with like ambitions and powerful dreams.  We want Michael to continue to learn to express himself and to encourage others to do that same.

You can help, and I hope you will.  Thank you for taking the time to read this article.  It means everything to us.  Please share it with as many as you can.  We ask that if you are able you take a few more moments to click:  http://www.gofundme.com/CosplayMichael and DONATE.  Just $10 will add to the donations of family and friends and help to make this seemingly simple wish come true.  It does add up.  You can make a difference to us!  Donate TODAY


+Gofundme +Cosplay Michael Pomichter +Sage Ia +Deanna Pomichter +Hangin With Web Show

Domestic Terrorists Declare Victory over Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Rebel Fandom

It isn’t hard to see that with a 24 hour news cycle and a nearly global awareness of almost every horrific act committed safety and security have become a preoccupying factor in the lives of people everywhere.  But in the growing quest for peace of mind, have we fallen victim to very fear and anxiety that the western world has long stood defiantly against, and how far into our daily lives has this intruded.

After 9/11/2001, many Americans graciously accepted the added inconveniences they faced at Airports and other travel terminals as necessary evils to combat the threats of international terrorism.  Most even found some small solace in the added security.  But global religious and geopolitical terrorism isn’t the only threat that citizens face.  Increasingly we are barraged with images of random acts of violence perpetrated by seemingly average people.  While some may hesitate, these are in effect nothing less than domestic acts of terrorism yielding the same results — a fearful reactionary society unable to enjoy the simplest individual liberties trapped by timidity into accepting almost any action aimed at providing a sense of safety.

How pervasive is this phenomenon?   One needs look no further than the highly anticipated and almost exalted launch of the latest cinematic installment of one of the western world’s most beloved pop culture film franchises — Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

With just a little more than a month until this instant blockbuster is set to hit theaters, various theater chains including AMC theaters, which is closely linked to Lucas Films new parent company, The Walt Disney Company, have already announced plans to restrict audiences famed for Cos-Play to costumes that won’t hide their faces and do not include items that could be mistaken for or hide the presence of weapons.  This is bad news for both movie goers who enjoy dressing as their favorite Star Wars villains such as Darth Vader, Darth Maul, storm troopers or any number of supporting aliens as well as many who enjoy the visual spectacle that Star Wars has become in its 3 generations.

Many find the new rules little more than an inconvenience that helps provide a safe movie going experience, especially in the wake of public shootings at theaters, schools and even public recreational events like the recent Orlando Florida Zombie Walk.  But they also represent a significant intrusion into the fundamental liberties of individuals to express themselves creatively.

It is perhaps true that no one wants to be injured or assaulted while simply enjoying a recreational expression of pop-culture fandom, but at issue isn’t only the visual spectacle created by fun-seekers, but the increasingly limited opportunities for people to escape the ever growing toil and stress of professional, political and an increasingly socio activist world to express their humanity and their communal joy.

Is that an extreme interpretation of a benign pragmatic approach to public safety?  Perhaps. 

But, consider this:

If the rational purpose of terrorism is to promote terror (fear) to attain power, and it can be agreed upon that power can be defined as the ability of a person or group to effectively alter or facilitate the behavior of another person or group of people; then the objective assessment of the success of a terrorist — domestic, religious or geopolitical, can be made by the resulting effects of an act or acts to facilitate a specific behavior as a direct or indirect result the fear (Terror) caused by the terrorist’s actions.

Thus:  terrorists destroy, kill and injure to promote terror and alter societies behaviors through fear and intimidation.  A society alters it’s most basic behaviors to accommodate the presence of a terrorist or the threat of terrorism.  Said acts of terrorism can be objectively judged as successful.

Since it is most notably the goal of western society to render terrorism innate and inevitably extinct, and success encourages future similar behavior, the above assessment poses a specific and undesirable question.  What does a society do to promote safety and security, while denying individuals and groups using terrorist tactics success, and balancing the rights and privileges of lawful citizens?

It appears to be a catch 22.  One that individual revelers are facing every day in America and through out the western world. 

This most recent quandary created by the additional rules imposed by theaters upon paying consumers to a highly anticipated social and cultural event may help to illuminate the fundamental problem inherent in the situation.

In the original Star Wars trilogy a group of renegade rebels fought and eventually defeated an oppressive galactic empire.  In 1977, just one year after the 1976 bicentennial of the United States, there was perhaps no more American interpretation of the classic heroes journey.  In 1999 Lucas Films returned the pop culture phenomenon to tell the story of the geo political forces that led to the emergence of the evil and oppressive empire and it’s most infamous villain, and movie goers young and old, despite a sometimes distinctive distain for many of the prequel trilogy’s elements saw the democratic galactic senate under siege by an elaborately choreographed set of terrorist forces independently maneuvered to force senators and citizens to vote their own security and safety above the individual liberties prized by the old republic.  By 2002, the second installment of the prequels hit theaters, carefully sidestepping any direct allusion to the horrific events of 2001 by focusing more heavily on the much-needed spectacle of a good space yarn.

“So that is how democracy dies, to thunderous applause,” lamented the young heroin of the trilogy, Padme Amadala, the mother of the original trilogy’s most beloved brother and sister rebels. 

Now, as this epic celebration of fierce rebelliousness and individualism and the growing sense of freedom for all humanity is set to launch a new generation into the annuls of galactic universal rebellion and the ongoing struggle for freedom from oppressive forces, it is perhaps most ironic that the business interests and geopolitical strife of reality should force the hands of societies most individualistic and pervasive counter culturists, who celebrate  their passions with creative and elaborate costumes to be tied and their creativity to be limited by said same fear that befell the very heroes and scoundrels that they revere.

Young Anakin Skywalker, determined to govern away freedoms inherent strife, the elder Darth Vader bent on service to an ordered empire, the emerging Kylo Ren, determined to maintain the order of tyranny opposed upon his foes, all surely would revel in the surrender of their rebellious fans to the fear and trepidation that forced the sublimation of their expressions.

But, if we are those rebels, celebrated on celluloid for three generations, what are we to do to ensure the safety of our children and grandchildren as they become the newest generation of fans to this awesome cinematic spectacle?  How can we keep them safe without teaching them fear?

I accept that few will read this and fewer in positions to take these questions and consider seriously more defiant but equally safe balances.  For that to happen, the force must be strong with theater owners and patrons alike.  The collective energy fans create to surround us, penetrate us and binds us together in fandom would need to also awaken us to the watch out for each other.

I will end this diatribe with an observation.  The most effective governance in a free society is invisible.  It secures us without intruding on our lives.  It accepts that free people bear inherent risks and sets consequences for those who take advantage of freedom to commit evil.  The most effective governance of a free people does not punish the masses for fear of the actions of those evil forces, it must wait its turn to punish evil accepting that it may always exist within the body free.  That is the challenge that will always face free people — to risk in order to be truly free.

Isn’t that what Han, Leia and Luke taught us all? 

http://moviepilot.com/posts/3626188