Sample image from our day spent strolling around the 2014 Indiana State Fair. As you might expect from a state fair, there were unhealthy new food items and small entertainment spectacles and amateur art and general Hoosier happenings all around, such as the driver seen here, one of several participants in a midday parade around the fairgrounds’ long racetrack alongside numerous other farmers on tractors.
More photos to come in the next couple days, here on MCC…
Here’s something we never thought we’d see visiting the American Midwest: real Terracotta Warriors, straight out of the world-famous Shaanxi province collection. They seemed a fascinating thing, but we were surprised that their current caretakers would allow the collection to be split up.
Rare are the opportunities to see such unique creations up close, to examine the once-painted clay surfaces, the cracks from erosion and light restoration, the intricate textures of these sculptures carved over two millennia ago. Other artifacts exist from the same century, circa 200-odd B.C., as shown below. They’re interesting in their own way, but they’re hardly the stars of the show.
[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]
Day 5: Wednesday, July 26th
A second round at the same breakfast buffet was a precursor to our long drive down I-35 North to the northern end of Minnesota. Along the way we zoomed past the official campaign tour bus of one Rod Grams. The Internet tells me in retrospect that he’s a former anchorman turned construction company president turned US Congressman who’s up for reelection this year, but at the time we didn’t know Rod Grams from Rod Flanders. Had I known, maybe we could’ve run him off the road and asked for an autograph. For want of a monster truck, a brush with greatness was lost.
Once again thanks to Roadside America, we didn’t stop till two hours down the road, a bit out of our way in the town of Cloquet, home of the only gas station ever designed by the one and only Frank Lloyd Wright.
Suggested motto: “Get the right gas for your car at Wright Gas!”
Painted elephants in 2-D; rhinos in 3-D!
[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]
Day 4: Tuesday, July 25th (continued)
Before leaving Austin, I stopped at a gas station across the street, filled up on cheap gas, then sat for several minutes waiting for an old lady in her jalopy to sloooowly finish her business with the air pump so I could refill our leaky rear driver’s-side tire. After our interminable stakeout, we took care of the tire and retreated back in the direction of Minneapolis, stopping for supper on the way in the town of Owatonna at a chain joint called the Happy Chef. To be honest, I didn’t realize it was part of a chain until I saw others like it along the same stretch of freeway. With a name like “Happy Chef”, I’d hoped it was either a cornball buffet or an earnest Chinese restaurant. The reality was a standard diner, competent and low-priced but otherwise unremarkable.
While in town, on yet another recommendation from Roadside America (who likewise tipped us off to the Rock in the House and the Spam Museum), we stopped in Owatonna at a sporting goods store called Cabela’s. Like Happy Chef, it’s a chain we don’t have back in Indiana. Unlike Happy Chef, this franchise offers a special attraction: the largest collection of action-posed taxidermy you’re likely to see in a sporting goods store.
Spammy bids you welcome! Enter freely and of your own craving!
[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]
Day 4: Tuesday, July 25th (continued)
After several hours of gawking and photographing the animals, then a few minutes of fairly priced zoo cafeteria lunch, two more hours of driving took us southeast to the town of Austin, home of Hormel Foods and the world-famous Spam Museum.
[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]
Day 4: Tuesday, July 25th
Our hotel in Bloomington rewarded us with the largest breakfast buffet of the whole trip. The offerings weren’t all that different, with the notable exception of a positively luxurious three waffle-makers. Their buffet was much more spread out and streamlined, rather than crammed into a leftover nook like those of the previous hotels. Although they offered three times as many tables and chairs as we were used to, they were also just as crowded as the pool had been the previous night.
Once we were tanked up on too much sugar — I know I was, at least — we drove due south to Apple Valley, home of the Minnesota Zoo. This part was a concession on behalf of my son, the wildlife lover. We always schedule one vacation stop for his appeasement, though a zoo was a welcome change of pace from the ride-alike amusement parks of previous years. (Fun opinion I wish I didn’t hold: Six Flags parks are as interchangeable as McDonald’s franchises.)
Lakes and birdies, hand in hand: Minnesota’s nature scene in a nutshell.
[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]
Day 3: Monday, July 24th (continued)
Eventually, after the dashboard downshifted from Red Alert, and after one missed turnoff along the Minnesota side of the Mississippi River, we skipped back into Wisconsin and reached Highway 35, a.k.a. the Great River Byway, a stretch of road that follows along the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi through several small towns all the way to Minnesota. We were unaware until we reached it that the byway was an attraction unto itself, but it was a beautiful surprise. The river on your left is gorgeous, but the ridges and rock formations on your right are intimidating yet impressive.
Yes, this photo again. But hours away from the Dells, we eventually remembered that we like nature.
Our first intentional stop on the Byway was in Fountain City, home of a roadside attraction called the Rock in the House. From the front, it’s just another home near a cliffside. As you approach from the modest parking area, it appears ordinary, even quaint.
Just a house….or IS IT?
From the rear, it looks like this:
You’re not helping, boy.
Sometimes a lazy summer strikes when you least expect it. For a few random days at a time, you’re surrounded by quiet, relaxing doldrums. Your TV schedule loses its pulse. Theater screens are usurped by movies clearly rated NFY (Not For You). Headline news is, if not slow per se, more irrelevant to you than usual. Sometimes a muffin with too many ingredients is the most exciting thing that’s happened to you.
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
For the last few years, my wife and I have spent our respective birthdays together finding some new place or attraction to visit as a one-day road trip — partly as an excuse to spend time together on this most frabjous day, partly to explore areas of Indiana we’ve never experienced before. My 2014 birthday destination of choice: the town of Muncie, some 75 miles northeast of here.
Sure, many people celebrate their birthday on or near the original date. Some might take photos. Some might share them in a timely manner. We keep our own schedule. And by “we” I mean “I” because my wife isn’t as prone to distractions, digressions, or long, awkward pauses between chapters in her online projects. But I couldn’t very well leave this four-part MCC miniseries incomplete. I never explicitly promised anyone four parts, but that final “To Be Continued” at the end of Part Three cried out to me for closure. Also, I could use a short break from headline news and general relevance.
Part four, then: other things we saw besides nifty stores, official works of art, or Garfield statues. The most bewildering sight of all would be the “nature area” that contained a relaxing walking path, gentle plains, breezy forest, and a sacrificial altar.
Remember those old Peanuts strips where Snoopy impersonated a vulture? Based on a true story.
That’s right, kids! Friday, June 20, 2014, sees the return of Take Your Dog to Work Day, that annual festivity in which lovers of pets and pet-shaped things invite their trusty companions into the workplace and spend eight to ten more hours with them than usual. It can be a wondrous bonding experience, a welcome break in your routine, and a fun opportunity to talk about the joys of pet ownership to other lonely souls who have neither pets nor joy. I’m sure Take Your Dog to Work Day is already marked on your Garfield calendar and my gentle reminder is superfluous, but I’d hate to see anyone miss out and waking up kicking themselves on the 21st.
…
…wait, no, actually, I’ve never heard of it.
Behold one of the greatest pleasures of my work month: that very special occasion known as “breakfast for dinner”, or in some circles “breakfast for supper”. Always consult your local linguist for proper lingo before discussing cool things.
Tonight was that night for us, a bit of perfect timing for me since I’d had salad for lunch. Don’t get me wrong: fine salad, varied ingredients, fresh quality, but it only whets the appetite through part of the afternoon. Come three p.m. I’m already scrounging through my desk for emergency cheese-‘n’-crackers or stale chips left over from previous months’ birthday pitch-ins. But the premature hunger pangs are worth it if you know there’ll be a feast waiting for you when you eventually get home once you’re done working too much overtime yet again. Thankfully my wife has taken to making each breakfast-for-supper event an extra hearty meal — extra scrambled eggs, extra bacon, just extra, extra, extra. She’s stellar that way.
If you don’t get the magic of the whole “breakfast for dinner” concept, there’s not much I could do to persuade you. Either your eyes sparkle when it happens or they don’t. All I can tell you is it’s the kind of meal that puts a song in a man’s heart.
Hey, kids! It’s the world-famous General Lee from TV’s The Dukes of Hazzard! Everyone likes TV cars, right? TV cars are pop culture and therefore totally on-topic at Indy PopCon. Please enjoy this eye-popping, gas-guzzling, moonshine-runnin’, crooked-cop-defyin’, Southern-fried, toy-selling idol of millions and be sure to Like and Share the heck out of it on all the best social media so I can finally take one evening this week to go rest and relax without fear of the oncoming post-convention traffic plateau. Remember, the power of my recuperation is your hands.
At long last, the week-long marathon reaches the end of its journey here on MCC! Presenting one last round of photos from the first annual Indy PopCon at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Yes, we here at Midlife Crisis Crossover realize we’re still reliving this shindig long after the rest of the Midwest has gone back to their daily routine and stopped reminiscing about last weekend. And I can’t deny it’ll be nice to move on to other subjects and writing forms after this. We’re almost there, I promise.
Part Eight, then: the sights we saw (besides costumes) and the personalities we met.
The marathon continues! As promised in our first installment, please enjoy more photos from the first annual Indy PopCon convention. Same guidelines apply: we’re fans, not pros; corrections and comments welcome; hope they’re enjoyable.
Part Six: our last remaining costume photos from other categories that didn’t receive separate entries — characters from movies, TV, American animation, the time-honored “potpourri” division, and ensemble setups. After disqualifying several photos that were either blurry or missing key portions of anatomy, what’s here is what’s left of our costume pics. That’s not to say the Indy PopCon marathon ends here. Two more entries should be following this week, and then MCC returns to its regularly random programming of whatever and stuff.
Japanese virtual pop star Hatsune Miku bids you welcome.
Right this way for your last chance at costumes, costumes, and more costumes!
The marathon continues! As promised in our first installment, please enjoy more photos from the first annual Indy PopCon convention. Same guidelines apply: we’re fans, not pros; corrections and comments welcome; hope they’re enjoyable.
Part Five: at last, anime and gaming! This is always the section where I can use the most assistance from You, the Viewers at Home. If you recognize a character I didn’t, please feel free to speak up so that others might learn and possibly discover a new universe to explore. Better still, help this old man become fractionally less ignorant of stuff you like. If some of these are original characters, introductions are always welcome.
Longtime MCC readers are aware of my soft spot for Final Fantasy, so it’s a logical starting point. Behold: Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII plus follow-ups, and Genesis from Crisis Core.
The marathon continues! As promised in our first installment, please enjoy more photos from the first annual Indy PopCon convention. Same guidelines apply: we’re fans, not pros; corrections and comments welcome; hope they’re enjoyable.
Part Four: people and things related to the world of Doctor Who. After years of avoiding his corner of universe, my wife and I finally relented and began watching the show last winter. We’re now partway through season six and hoping that major events such as Indy PopCon stop sucking up our precious TV-watching time so that we might stand a chance of catching up with the rest of the world before season eight arrives in August. If Netflix would hurry up and add season seven to their roster, that’d be outstandingly helpful to us as well.
Anyway: what once flew over our heads and outside our camera range in previous cons is newly fascinating to us. We’re naturally obligated to commence here with the Ninth Doctor because he’s our “first Doctor”. It’s also the first time I’ve spotted anyone as him at a convention. Accompanying him in the costume contest was an adorable li’l Seventh Doctor.
Right this way for more Doctors, including a real one! Allons-y!
The marathon continues! As promised in our first installment, please enjoy more photos from the first annual Indy PopCon convention. Same guidelines apply: we’re fans, not pros; corrections and comments welcome; hope they’re enjoyable.
Part Three: characters from comic books past and present, with a few special guests here and there from other media. Exhibit A: Wolverine as Weapon-X, hanging out with Vanellope von Schweetz from Wreck-It Ralph, Tinker Bell, and…uh, the winged one at far right was introduced at the costume contest as “Space Fairy”. Maybe that’s a thing?
Right this way for more Marvel, DC, and one creator-owned character!
The marathon continues! As promised in our first installment, please enjoy more photos from the first annual Indy PopCon convention. Same guidelines apply: we’re fans, not pros; corrections and comments welcome; hope they’re enjoyable.
Part Two: characters from big, big, recognizable movies. Exhibit A: representatives from the 501st Legion — one of the Emperor’s Royal Guard, your standard-issue Stormtrooper, an Imperial Officer, and R4-M6, Mace Windu’s astromech droid. The new character in the middle is my wife, a notorious Jedi sympathizer.
This way for more world-famous heroes and other intellectual properties!
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
This weekend the inaugural Indy PopCon will paint our fair downtown red with a healthy mix of comics, gaming, actors, LARPing, and various other manifestations of pop and geek culture in general. My wife and I will be attending Saturday only, partly as a budgetary measure (by which I mean, the longer I’m there, the less money we’ll have for vacation in July, or for utilities) and partly because we’re still feeling a bit burnt after last March’s the inaugural Indiana Comic Con went, um, not according to plan.
We’re pleased to report we worried for nothing. Today was one of the smoothest convention experiences we’ve had in ages. All the high-profile guests showed up. We never waited in a line with more than ten people ahead of us. The exhibit hall aisles were spacious and never in danger of fire marshall intervention. The comics dealers had some sweet bargains. And those in charge of the costume contest came up with a brilliant new strategy that allowed the crowd to get much better looks at the contestants. Perhaps everything went well because 100,000 fans didn’t converge on the scene at the same time, but it’s clear that a lot of people put a lot of thought into this shindig.
Over the next entries, we’ll be sharing our photos and anecdotes from the experience. I don’t know how many entries yet because it’s late and I’m exhausted and the power-level indicator on my brain went from green to yellow hours ago. We’ll figure that part out later. Caveats for first-time visitors to Midlife Crisis Crossover:
1. My wife and I are not professional photographers, as is obvious if some pics are viewed through any gadget larger than an amulet. These were taken as best as possible with the intent to share with fellow fans out of a sincere appreciation for the works inspired by the heroes, hobbies, artistic expressions, and/or intellectual properties that brought us geeks together under one vaulted roof for the weekend. We all do what we can with the tools and circumstances at hand.
2. It’s impossible for any human or organization to capture every costume on hand. Although we captured all of this year’s winners to one degree or another, we didn’t catch every costumed entity on the premises.
3. Sincere apologies to anyone we’ll miss due to being absent on Friday and Sunday.
4. Corrections and comments are always welcome, especially when I beg for them with certain shots. You, the Viewers at Home, will have opportunities to step up and name some anime and/or fantasy characters we old fogies didn’t recognize. I like learning new things, especially when I’m trying to write about characters and series that are beyond my particular geek foci.
5. Enjoy!
Part One: winners of the first annual Indy PopCon 2014 Costume Contest. Three hundred submissions were winnowed down to 77 finalists, from which were chosen three amateur winners, three professional winners, and one overall Best of Show winner who’ll have the opportunity to represent as the Face of Indy PopCon 2015.
Just to show you I wasn’t kidding above: here’s my favorite of the winners — second place, amateur division. Her Japanese name landed on my ears as “Kohaku Kirin”. If you recognize the character and/or source anime, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Feel free to plug your site while you’re here, even.
— UPDATED 6/1/2013: we have identity! The correct name is Kohakuren from the game Kamidori Alchemy Meister. Check the Comments section below for explanation from the cosplayer herself, along with a link to her official page!
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
This year marked the fourth time my wife and I attended the Indy 500 Festival Parade in downtown Indianapolis. The next five entries (to be posted over the next three days as quickly as time and endurance permit) represent a fraction of the pics my wife and I snapped. In many cases, encores and additional takes of specific subjects may be available if anyone out there is interested in seeing more, or is looking for a loved one who was in one of the many marching bands that day. For first-time MCC visitors, please note my wife and I are relative amateurs, obviously not trained professional photographers, sharing these from a hobbyist standpoint because fun and joy.
What we’ve seen so far:
Part 1: The Special Guests
Part 2: Marching Bands and Other Groups
Part 3: Some of Your Qualifying Drivers
Part 4: Floats and Balloons!
Here in Part 5, the grand finale: pics of parade participants in peculiar positions. Exhibit A: the mysteriously patriotic float known as “Michael the Eagle” ran into trouble on Monument Circle when a tree caught his Uncle Sam hat and threatened to bowl him over like a tenpin. Oh, the humanity!
Right this way for the float that nearly sunk, tourists in the parade, and a fond farewell!
Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:
This year marked the fourth time my wife and I attended the Indy 500 Festival Parade in downtown Indianapolis. The next five entries (to be posted over the next three days as quickly as time and endurance permit) represent a fraction of the pics my wife and I snapped. In many cases, encores and additional takes of specific subjects may be available if anyone out there is interested in seeing more, or is looking for a loved one who was in one of the many marching bands that day. For first-time MCC visitors, please note my wife and I are relative amateurs, obviously not trained professional photographers, sharing these from a hobbyist standpoint because fun and joy.
Part One featured the singers, actors, and other celebrities who joined this year’s parade. Part Two featured glimpses of all the marching bands who rocked the streets. Part Three were the drivers we were fortunate enough to capture. Here in Part Four, we turn to a serious study of the most essential component to any viable parade: floats and balloons!
As a shout-out to our niece, we’ll let sugary-sweet Strawberry Shortcake lead the pack.
Right this way for envoys from the worlds of Jim Henson, Dr. Seuss, PBS, and more!
Midlife Crisis Crossover! 