This past weekend, I took some time off to attend several
events being held in the New York Capitol District.
Fantacon -This
is the 36th year of this event which celebrates comic books, anime,
horror, fantasy and most anything else that fits somewhere into those categories.
Here are some of the people I spoke with.Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame- My friend Jon Soto, his fiancée and his family manned a table at the event. They sold tee shirts and other souvenirs dealing with the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Jimmy Hart- A great wrestling manager most noted in the
1980’s. He managed some of the greats in the sport including-Hulk Hogan, Bret
Hart (no relation) and Jim Neidhart (The Hart Foundation), Greg "The
Hammer" Valentine, Jerry "The King" Lawler, "The Million
Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, King Kong Bundy, Earthquake, Dino Bravo, the
Nasty Boys, The Giant, and probably the
most famous;The Honky Tonk Man.
Besides wrestling, Jimmy Hart was a member of the rock band
“The Gentrys” whose best known for the 1965 version “Keep on Dancing”.
James Tolkan-A notable actor you would remember form
numerous movies, but most known as the principle in Back to the Future. I was able to speak to him for several
minutes. He had made a comment about signing autographs recently in London,
England where the line went for miles. I
had to remind him he was in Albany, NY. He was a very nice man, and I have to
say I hope I look as good as him at his age.
Sam Costello- Split Lip Comics. He is a comic book writer.
I am in the process of reading his “The Harvestman, and other Unnatural Creatures”. It was nice to meet another author at this
event.
Very Scary Productions- An independent film maker whose interests’
center on horror and gore. I bought a copy of their movie “Project D:
Classified” I will probably check that out this weekend. They seemed like a
nice group, so I recommend you check them out.
Kevin Van Hentenryck- An actor which starred in the classic
horror comedy movie; Basket Case. This is a classic cult movie that wrote the
book on the b-movie horror genre. It was great to meet him. He is a great self-taught
sculptor.
Geek Culture Podcast- The person at this table simple called
himself Tom. This is a podcast over the internet which dedicates itself to talk
about TV, Movies, Toys, Comics, & pop-culture and all things nerdy.