Tag Archives: Star Trek

Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 2: Some Cosplay!

September 2, 2025 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments
Peacemaker and Eagly costumes in a giant hotel lobby.

Peacemaker and Eagly! They’re here to bring peace no matter how hard they have to party to do it! (Full disclosure: the gent at left is an official Friend of MCC. I’m sure the other guy’s cool, too.)

[CONTENT WARNING! The following entry contains one (1) crude gesture, in-character.]

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America. We once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it…

…and of course costumes abounded everywhere. Thousands of cosplayers surrounded us on all sides at any given moment. No single human, duo, or entire international photography company could hope to capture more than a tiny percentage of the costumes that graced the hotels, streets, and downtown hot spots with their welcome presence. Over the next several chapters we’ll be sharing batches of pics we took in between our moments of gawking and recognizing and racking our brains trying to remember some of the more obscure character names. Our meager galleries will number several, yet will represent a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the total talents on display. We’re merely amateur appreciators passing along some of those sights and wonders to You, The Viewers At Home.

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Dragon Con 2025 Photos, Part 1: The Stars in Our Galaxy

September 2, 2025 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Us doing jazz hands with four guys from Voyager.

Star Trek: Voyager jazz-hands role call: Robert Duncan McNeill! Tim Russ! Garrett Wang! Robert Picardo!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: in 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia. As one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America, Dragon Con had received rave reviews from internet friends who refused to shut up about it. It’s become a biannual tradition for us, even in the face of 2021’s rigorous pandemic precautions and 2023’s unfortunate coinciding with Hollywood’s dual SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, which meant the celebrity guests couldn’t actually talk about work, as if actor Q&As at comic-cons weren’t already awkward enough.

Newbies no more, we once again made the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis and returned for our fourth nonconsecutive Labor Day weekend at that amazing colossal southern spectacle, this time unhampered by pandemics or greedy studio-exec shenanigans. We can’t conscientiously afford to do D*C every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it.

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Indiana Comic Convention 2025 Photos, Part 2 of 3: The Stars in Our Galaxy!

March 17, 2025 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment
Us doing jazz hands with Rainn Wilson, who wears a flannel shirt, glasses, beard, and glum Dwight-like expression.

Meet the new assistants to the assistant to the regional manager!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! This weekend my wife Anne and I attended the eleventh edition of the Indiana Comic Convention at the Indiana Convention Center in scenic downtown Indianapolis. ICC 2025 was another opportunity for fans to look at walls covered with old comics, build lightsabers, buy 3D-printed knickknacks, overstock on Funko Pops, respect the anime fandom whose population dwarfs us older generations, and navigate those vast crowds. This year the showrunners occupied more square footage than ever, and last year’s edition was by no means dinky. Geek life had more space to thrive and sometimes enjoy some breathing space in between some of the narrower alleys of thriving pop-culture commerce…

…which for us worked out to a fair mix of comics and celebrities, with light shopping in between. We’d met a number of the guest list’s highest-profile names at past cons, but a few newcomers to Indy caught our attention and lured us in, such as the distinguished content provider in our lead photo — a frequent podcaster, co-founder of an erstwhile interfaith networking site, author of three books, and three-time Emmy Award Nominee who lost to guys like Jeremy Piven and Jon Cryer, thus proving the Emmys are a corrupt institution no more reliable a barometer of aesthetic transcendence than the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, who likewise nominated and denied him.

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Star Trek to Chicago 2024 Photos, Part 6: And the Rest!

October 6, 2024 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Anne doing jazz hands and wearing a pink sash in front of the neuroscience symposium gateway.

Anne showing off the cool new sash she got from the cosplayer Kai Ken, after he read her pagh and told her, “Walk with the Prophets.”

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Creation Entertainment, one of America’s longest-running convention companies, runs an annual Star Trek gala in Las Vegas that invites scores of Trek cast and crew members to mingle with fans at Vegas prices and at a considerable remove from more than a few states. As a sort of outreach to us faraway fans, in 2024 Creation has launched a “Trek Tour” comprising much smaller versions of that vaunted Vegas show on the other side of the Rockies. This past weekend it was Chicago’s turn. The location was convenient and the guest lineup included so many missing names on Anne’s Trek-actor checklist, we did something we haven’t done in ages: we attended all three days, from the opening minutes Friday morning to the very end of the final panel Sunday night.

“Star Trek to Chicago” (Creation’s official name for the show; official abbreviation “ST-CHI”) was our first hotel-based con in a good while. We understood Creation handles some con aspects rather differently than the other companies we’re used to seeing annually. For Anne’s purposes, that guest list was worth setting aside our mild concerns and giving it a shot. We’re happy and relieved to report the show far exceeded our hesitant expectations.

Some of my past convention write-ups have been unwieldy in length because I’m prone to relating all the stories, including any quotidian ephemera outside the show itself. (A couple of those epic-length narratives were linked to on pro comics-news website, which only encouraged me to keep doing that. It’s been a while, though.) My congenial verbosity works much better if you pretend this writer is a caffeinated Aaron Sorkin character, but I can’t really adjust your internal monologue’s speed settings for you. For the sake of potential new readers, I tried paring down the daily recounts to the most relevant, Trek-forward anecdotes.

Here in the finale: the parts I skipped. Also: actor photo outtakes!

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Star Trek to Chicago 2024 Photos, Part 5: Sunday!

October 6, 2024 By in Conventions & Events, TV/DVD Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Anson Mount on stage, dressed darkly, listening patiently.

Anson Mount and that famous Captain’s hair.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Creation Entertainment, one of America’s longest-running convention companies, runs an annual Star Trek gala in Las Vegas that invites scores of Trek cast and crew members to mingle with fans at Vegas prices and at a considerable remove from more than a few states. As a sort of outreach to us faraway fans, in 2024 Creation has launched a “Trek Tour” comprising much smaller versions of that vaunted Vegas show on the other side of the Rockies. This past weekend it was Chicago’s turn. The location was convenient and the guest lineup included so many missing names on Anne’s Trek-actor checklist, we did something we haven’t done in ages: we attended all three days, from the opening minutes Friday morning to the very end of the final panel Sunday night.

“Star Trek to Chicago” (Creation’s official name for the show; official abbreviation “ST-CHI”) was our first hotel-based con in a good while. We understood Creation handles some con aspects rather differently than the other companies we’re used to seeing annually. For Anne’s purposes, that guest list was worth setting aside our mild concerns and giving it a shot. We’re happy and relieved to report the show far exceeded our hesitant expectations.

And now, the conclusion — yet another long day with too much fun from end to end. We had no more autographs or photo ops to pursue, just panels and more panels. Thanks to the limited square footage, the ubiquitous carpeting, and the complete lack of hours-long lines, this was our first multi-day convention in active memory not to leave our feet, legs, or backs sore and debilitated by the time we went home. We cherished the sensation of spending our final hours relaxed and not physically destroyed.

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Star Trek to Chicago 2024 Photos, Part 4: Saturday!

October 4, 2024 By in Conventions & Events, TV/DVD Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Jeri Ryan talking onstage, but somehow the picture rings her in a perfectly circular shadow.

In a mystifying happy accident, Anne managed a pic of Jeri Ryan’s Q&A that looks ripped from a Sears Portrait Studio wall.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Creation Entertainment, one of America’s longest-running convention companies, runs an annual Star Trek gala in Las Vegas that invites scores of Trek cast and crew members to mingle with fans at Vegas prices and at a considerable remove from more than a few states. As a sort of outreach to us faraway fans, in 2024 Creation has launched a “Trek Tour” comprising much smaller versions of that vaunted Vegas show on the other side of the Rockies. This past weekend it was Chicago’s turn. The location was convenient and the guest lineup included so many missing names on Anne’s Trek-actor checklist, we did something we haven’t done in ages: we attended all three days, from the opening minutes Friday morning to the very end of the final panel Sunday night.

“Star Trek to Chicago” (Creation’s official name for the show; official abbreviation “ST-CHI”) was our first hotel-based con in a good while. We understood Creation handles some con aspects rather differently than the other companies we’re used to seeing annually. For Anne’s purposes, that guest list was worth setting aside our mild concerns and giving it a shot. We’re happy and relieved to report the show far exceeded our hesitant expectations.

Friday was a good, quiet day to take care of necessary formalities, get a feel for the show’s procedures, learn the layout, and meet fellow fans. Our next day would be much busier and just as long. Rare is the con that persuades us to stick around from dawn to dusk.

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Star Trek to Chicago 2024 Photos, Part 3: Friday!

October 2, 2024 By in Conventions & Events, TV/DVD Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Anne smiling and posing with Cirroc Lofton at his table. He's at least 18 inches taller than she is.

Alternate take of that time we met Cirroc Lofton, best known as Jake Sisko from Deep Space Nine.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Creation Entertainment, one of America’s longest-running convention companies, runs an annual Star Trek gala in Las Vegas that invites scores of Trek cast and crew members to mingle with fans at Vegas prices and at a considerable remove from more than a few states. As a sort of outreach to us faraway fans, in 2024 Creation has launched a “Trek Tour” comprising much smaller versions of that vaunted Vegas show on the other side of the Rockies. This past weekend it was Chicago’s turn. The location was convenient and the guest lineup included so many missing names on Anne’s Trek-actor checklist, we did something we haven’t done in ages: we attended all three days, from the opening minutes Friday morning to the very end of the final panel Sunday night…

…skipping a Thursday night prelude where early birds could pick up their badges and see the vendors’ room before anyone else. We figured that’d be unnecessary because we weren’t convinced they could keep us occupied for three straight days, let alone bonus hours. Rather than holding court in a convention center, they set up shop at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, next door to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center (home of Fan Expo Chicago). They weren’t even using all the hotel’s meeting spaces — one ballroom was reserved for an unrelated neuroscience seminar. I presume those old scientists resisted any takeover bids from Creation and refused to add panels about Starfleet advancements in their field.

“Star Trek to Chicago” (Creation’s official name for the show; official abbreviation “ST-CHI”) was our first hotel-based con in a good while. I had to search the archives to remember our last such show (as it happens, HorrorHound Indy 2017). We also understood Creation handles some con aspects rather differently than the other companies we’re used to seeing annually. For Anne’s purposes, that guest list was worth setting aside our mild concerns and giving it a shot. We’re happy and relieved to report the show far exceeded our hesitant expectations.

Continue reading →

Star Trek to Chicago 2024 Photos, Part 2: Cosplay!

September 30, 2024 By in Conventions & Events, TV/DVD Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Anne posing with three different Uhura cosplayers.

Uhura Squad! Maybe they can save Paramount+!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Creation Entertainment, one of America’s longest-running convention companies, runs an annual Star Trek gala in Las Vegas that invites scores of Trek cast and crew members to mingle with fans at Vegas prices and at a considerable remove from more than a few states. As a sort of outreach to us faraway fans, in 2024 Creation has launched a “Trek Tour” comprising much smaller versions of that vaunted Vegas show on the other side of the Rockies. This past weekend it was Chicago’s turn. The location was convenient and the guest lineup included so many missing names on Anne’s Trek-actor checklist, we did something we haven’t done in ages: we attended all three days, from the opening minutes Friday morning to the very end of the final panel Sunday night…

Before we get into the anecdotes and panel rundowns, fandom law requires us to post costume photos ASAP. Please enjoy this modest collection of cosplayers who brightened our weekend around the show floor. We regret we can only represent some of the total cosplay wonderment that was on display throughout the weekend. We’re just an aging couple doing what we can for happy sharing fun. Enjoy! Corrections welcome for those we misidentified!

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Star Trek to Chicago 2024 Photos, Part 1: The Stars in Our Galaxy

September 30, 2024 By in Conventions & Events, TV/DVD Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments
Us doing jazz hands with Jeri Ryan!

It’s Jeri Ryan! You might remember her from such shows as Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Picard, Boston Public, Leverage, AMC’s Dark Winds, and more!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: my wife Anne and I are big fans of geek/comic/entertainment conventions. Anne’s first con was November 30, 1991; years later she introduced me to that world. Our hometown of Indianapolis would host a modest Star Trek-themed con every Thanksgiving weekend (and still does!). We attended several of them together, back when those were the only game in town for years. As we’ve expanded our travel capabilities over time, the past decade’s Midwest comic-con boom has afforded us far more options for geeking out together and in large crowds. We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

The last Trek-themed show we attended was 2022’s Star Trek: Mission Chicago, a joint production between Paramount Pictures and ReedPOP (the producers of C2E2) that was meant to be the first in a series of large-scale gatherings celebrating the universe that Gene Roddenberry and his successors built. We attendees were impressed with the results; sadly, due apparently to insufficient attendance as measured by the unseen tricorders of The Powers That Be, plans for future installments were canceled.

Two years later, here we go again! Creation Entertainment, one of America’s longest-running convention companies, runs an annual Trek gala in Las Vegas that invites scores of Trek cast and crew members to mingle with fans at Vegas prices and at a considerable remove from more than a few states. As a sort of outreach to us faraway fans, in 2024 Creation has launched a “Trek Tour” comprising much smaller versions of that vaunted Vegas show on the other side of the Rockies. Two weeks ago they brought the fan-magic to Nashville; forthcoming stops are scheduled in New Jersey and Dallas. This past weekend it was Chicago’s turn. The location was convenient and the guest lineup included so many missing names on Anne’s Trek-actor checklist, we did something we haven’t done in ages: we attended all three days, from the opening minutes Friday morning to the very end of the final panel Sunday night.

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GalaxyCon Columbus 2023 Photos, Part 3 of 3: Who We Met and What We Did Saturday

December 8, 2023 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Us doing jazz hands with Denise Crosby, who also looks like Tasha Yar is about to pull off some martial arts.

It’s Denise Crosby! The only main cast member of Star Trek: The Next Generation who didn’t come back for Picard. This seems mean.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Anne and I enjoy attending entertainment and comic conventions together, whether in our hometown of Indianapolis or in adjacent states (or sometimes beyond). She’s been doing them since the early ’90s, and invited me to tag along as our relationship evolved from classmates to coworkers to neighbors to BFFs to husband-and-wife. We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

Last year we attended the inaugural GalaxyCon Columbus in Ohio’s very own capital, which had arisen from the ashes of the top-notch yet short-lived GalaxyCon Louisville. We were happy the show went over well enough to merit a return engagement, with another lengthy guest list for fans of all media across the pop culture spectrum…

Saturday was a much different day for us than our hectic Friday had been. We had only one more photo op to go, one actor’s autograph to acquire, quite a few intriguing panels on the short-list, and a deep desire for as much sitting as possible, which would dovetail nicely with our panel-attending goals.

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GalaxyCon Columbus 2023 Photos, Part 2 of 3: Who We Met and What We Did Friday

December 4, 2023 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Us doing jazz hands with Evangeline Lilly, who is extremely animate and into it.

It’s Marvel’s The Wasp herself, Evangeline Lilly!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Anne and I enjoy attending entertainment and comic conventions together, whether in our hometown of Indianapolis or in adjacent states (or sometimes beyond). She’s been doing them since the early ’90s, and invited me to tag along as our relationship evolved from classmates to coworkers to neighbors to BFFs to husband-and-wife. We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

Last year we attended the inaugural GalaxyCon Columbus in Ohio’s very own capital, which had arisen from the ashes of the top-notch yet short-lived GalaxyCon Louisville. We were happy the show went over well enough to merit a return engagement, with another lengthy guest list for fans of all media across the pop culture spectrum…

Our final tally across two days: six new jazz-hands photos, four panels, eleven Star Trek-related talents (including one showrunner and one novelist), three Marvel actors, one Academy Award Winner, four comics makers, one former child star, innumerable lines, and more, more, more.

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Admiral Picard’s Personal Log: Star Trek Fans Welcome Patrick Stewart’s Memoir Tour to Cincinnati

October 7, 2023 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments
Me holding a copy of Patrick Stewart's memoir "Making It So" in each hand. The front cover is a closeup of Stewart's smiling head against a black background, hands stacked under his chin.

Our copies of Making It So, now available at a bookseller or other upstanding merchant near you! Or through bookshop.org! Or Amazon, if you must!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: two weeks ago my wife Anne and I drove two hours southeast from Indianapolis to attend our fourth Cincinnati Comic Expo. Their fun lineup of guests from pop culture works past and present included two actors from the world of Star Trek whom we’d met before but had reasons to seek out for encores. Longtime MCC readers are well aware Trek is a mutual interest of ours, though Anne outdoes me in numerous ways on this front (and many others). Among her various Trek-related collections and hobbyist accomplishments, over the course of 30+ years of convention-going she’s met every major Trek captain who served prior to 2017.

For those of you doing the math: yes, that illustrious roster includes Sir Patrick Stewart, who hasn’t attended a Midwest convention in over a decade. Anne had the pleasure of seeing him twice in person at shows prior to this website’s existence. On March 21, 1993, before she and I ever shared a relationship status, she watched him onstage at a con where interpersonal interaction wasn’t an option. Her second chance came at Wizard World Chicago on August 13, 2011, which the two of us attended together but were split up for a few hours because there were so, so many stars we each wanted to meet. I was off at some other booth when she obtained his autograph and got to exchange pleasantries with him, in a little anecdote I like to call “That Time Anne Nearly Made Patrick Stewart Cry”. It’s a long story that isn’t mine to tell here, but she’ll tell you if you ever run into us at a con and if you’re nice about it.

Fast-forward to today: the beloved British actor who’s played Jean-Luc Picard, Professor Charles Xavier, countless Shakespeare characters, literally every single speaking part in A Christmas Carol, Captain Ahab, the skinhead gang leader from Green Room, the poop emoji in The Emoji Movie, and more more more has just written his first book, a memoir titled Making It So. As soon as his U.S. speaking tour was announced, Anne was on top of it within minutes and found his closest stop to our house was Cincinnati. Back to the Queen City we’d go, so I could see him live for once. And third time’d surely be the charm for her.

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MCC Q&A #9: Who We’ve Met – The Master List (so far)

September 30, 2023 By in Conventions & Events, Meta Tags: , , , , , , , , , 7 Comments
Us doing jazz hands with four cast members from "Star Trek: Picard" -- Michelle Hurd, Isa Briones, Evan Evagora, and the late Annie Wersching, who wore a paper crown.

That time at Star Trek: Mission Chicago in 2022 when we met Star Trek: Picard season-2 cast members Michelle Hurd, Isa Briones, Evan Evagora, and Annie Wersching (RIP).

The topic at hand was suggested by a Facebook discussion in the wake of our Fan Expo Chicago weekend back in August. In a private group for fans of that con, Heather S. asks: “Do you have a master list of all the people you’ve met at cons?”

Well, now we do! We do love brainstorming, listing, and cataloguing. Frankly, we couldn’t believe we hadn’t done this sooner without prompting.

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Cincinnati Comic Expo 2023 Photos, Part 2 of 2: Who We Met and What We Did

September 25, 2023 By in Comics/Lit, Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments
Us doing jazz hands with Neal McDonough!

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Neal McDonough! You’ve probably seen him in things, especially if you’re among the 600 million viewers now watching Suits on Netflix!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

This past Friday my wife Anne and I drove two hours southeast of Indianapolis to attend the thirteenth annual Cincinnati Comic Expo in the heart of their downtown that’s not so different from ours. At first it felt odd to return to a “normal” comic-con contained within a single convention center after our recent Dragon Con adventure and its downtown-sized sprawl. By the end of our weekend we’d forgotten any such reservations and were thrilled at how, in at least one respect, Cincy succeeded where Dragon Con had failed us…

And now, the rest of our weekend besides cosplay.

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Dragon Con 2023 Photos #12 of 12: Three Days of the Con-Doers

September 20, 2023 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments
Dragon Con ribbons affixed to Anne's badge, mostly Star Trek-themed.

Ribbons to affix to your badge, the quintessential Dragon Con souvenir.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia. As one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America, Dragon Con had received rave reviews from our internet friends over the past two decades, some of whom recommended it to us more than once and, according to my notes, would never shut up about it. We had so much of a blast that we returned in 2021. Third time was the charm this Labor Day weekend as we repeated the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis to that amazing colossal southern spectacle…

…and it all comes down to this: what else we did at the big show besides meet actors and see thousands of cosplayers swarming everywhere. In keeping with our personal boundaries, we only attended Friday and Saturday, but that experience was more than enough for us aging geeks.

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Dragon Con 2023 Photos #2: Friday Cosplay (The First Half)

September 4, 2023 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
cosplay: Barbie in pink jumpsuit, Barbie in pink farmer's daughter dress, and Ruth Handler as played by Rhea Perlman in the movie.

Hi, Barbie! Hi, Barbie! Hi, Ruth Handler, creator of Barbie!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

In 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia. As one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America, Dragon Con had received rave reviews from our internet friends over the past two decades, some of whom recommended it to us more than once and, according to my notes, would never shut up about it. We had so much of a blast that we returned in 2021. Third time was the charm this Labor Day weekend as we repeated the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis to that amazing colossal southern spectacle…

…and now is the part of every comic-con adventure when we share cosplay photos, starting with our Friday encounters. Thousands of cosplayers were in attendance this year, surrounding us on all sides at any given moment. No single human, duo, or entire international photography company could hope to capture more than a tiny percentage of the costumes that graced the hotels, streets, and downtown hot spots with their value-adding presence. Over the next several chapters we’ll be sharing batches of pics we took in between our moments of gawking and recognizing and racking our brains trying to remember some of the more obscure character names. When they weren’t from our fields of expertise, my son helped us identify a few, especially in the anime and video game fields. Our meager galleries will number several, yet will represent a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the total talents on display. We’re merely amateur appreciators passing along some of those sights and wonders to You, The Viewers At Home.

As you can imagine, this year’s hottest cosplay theme was Barbie. Hundreds and hundreds of fans represented for the biggest film of 2023. She and Ken were everywhere. If you loved the movie (I’ve seen it; Anne hasn’t), you might also love how Barbie cosplayers kept greeting each other with a peppy “Hi, Barbie!” as they ran into each other all weekend long.

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Dragon Con 2023 Photos, Part 1: The Stars in Our Galaxy

September 4, 2023 By in Conventions & Events, TV/DVD Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Us doing jazz hands with four actors from "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds". The two actresses have far more animated dance moves than the actors, but the guys did fine, really.

Our weekend mission: to explore Strange New Worlds and seek out new jazz hands. Fun times with Christina Chong, Ethan Peck, Anson Mount, and Celia Rose Gooding.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: in 2019 my wife Anne and I attended our very first Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia. As one of the longest-running science fiction conventions in America, Dragon Con had received rave reviews from our internet friends over the past two decades, some of whom recommended it to us more than once and, according to my notes, would never shut up about it. We had so much of a blast that we returned in 2021 even though all 42,000+ attendees were required to wear masks and the celebrity photo ops positioned Plexiglas dividers between us potentially contaminated fans and the presumably vetted stars. Geek thrills persisted nevertheless.

Third time was the charm this Labor Day weekend as we repeated the eight-hour drive from Indianapolis to that amazing colossal southern spectacle. We can’t afford to do Dragon Con every year, but we’ll see how long we can keep up an every-other year schedule before we’re too old or overwhelmed to handle it.

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Fan Expo Chicago 2023 Photos, Part 3 of 4: Stars and Strikes

August 19, 2023 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Us doing jazz hands with Andy Serkis, whose arms are hidden but whose enthusiasm is there.

It’s Andy Serkis! You might remember him from SUCH films!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! This weekend my wife Anne and I attended the second edition of Fan Expo Chicago at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in the suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. Last year they arose from the ashes of the late Wizard World Chicago, which we attended eleven times and whose already-shaky financial standings didn’t fare any better during the pandemic. Fan Expo threw such a great inauguration party, and invited such a staggering guest list this time that we agreed an encore was in order…

…and what a guest list it was! Beyond the actors we wanted to meet, FCE invited close to two dozen animation voice actors, a pair of Academy Award-winning actresses, and sizable casts from assorted classic movies and TV shows from your childhood. The most fascinating part was how most of the guests couldn’t talk about any of that.

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Our Star Trek Renaissance Year

January 8, 2023 By in Conventions & Events, TV/DVD Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
John de Lancie on a stage accompanied by hundreds of Star Trek fans.

John de Lancie and his Friday panel audience at GalaxyCon Columbus 2022, in a photo the showrunners posted on their Flickr account two weeks later. If you know us, we aren’t hard to spot.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: in 2022 our usage of the words “Star Trek” in sentences increased 10,000% over the previous nine years combined. We were happy to find excuses for that.

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My 2022 Reading Stacks #3

January 2, 2023 By in Comics/Lit Tags: , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments
Three Star Trek books, reviewed below.

Our Star Trek renaissance year, felt most deeply at conventions and our Paramount+ subscription, extended into my reading matter, as we showed in Part 2 of this series.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Welcome once again to our recurring MCC feature in which I scribble capsule reviews of everything I’ve read that was published in a physical format over a certain page count with a squarebound spine on it — novels, original graphic novels, trade paperbacks, infrequent nonfiction dalliances, and so on. Due to the way I structure my media-consumption time blocks, the list will always feature more graphic novels than works of prose and pure text, though I do try to diversify my literary diet as time and acquisitions permit.

Occasionally I’ll sneak in a contemporary review if I’ve gone out of my way to buy and read something brand new. Every so often I’ll borrow from my wife Anne or from our local library. But the majority of our spotlighted works are presented years after the rest of the world already finished and moved on from them because I’m drawing from my vast unread pile that presently occupies four oversize shelves comprising thirty-three years of uncontrolled book shopping. I’ve occasionally pruned the pile, but as you can imagine, cut out one unread book and three more take its place.

I’ve previously written why I don’t do eBooks. Perhaps someday I’ll also explain why these capsules are exclusive to MCC and not shared on Amazon, Goodreads, or other sites where their authors might prefer I’d share them. In the meantime, here’s me and my reading results…

…okay, so this is supposed to be a recurring feature throughout the year. Instead it became among the many things I’ve let linger unattended in my life. Now my annual season of capsule reviews is upon me, and the large stack of finished books next to our PC looms over and demands a year-end catch-up. Let’s see if I can shorten these so I can get the complete list posted ASAP and move on to all the other year-in-review stuff…although every time I think to myself, “This will be a short review,” I am nearly always lying to myself. Wish me luck?

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