Tag Archives: photos

Dragon Con 2023 Photos #3: Friday Cosplay (The Other Half)

September 5, 2023 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Power Rangers cosplay, refer to caption

From the world of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Rita Repulsa, Lord Zed, and Alpha 5.

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 the cosplay photos continue! Here’s all the other costumes we had a chance to photograph on Friday alone. All the sites involved in this blocks-wide soiree teem with crowds and are frequently not conducive to braking and capturing every single player in the game. We humbly did our best to contribute to the fandom at large in our own little way. Enjoy some more!

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

Indiana State Fair 2023 Photos, Part 6 of 9: The Year in Art, 2-D Division

August 29, 2023 By in Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
A pink-haired manga-style girl in a black robe. Behind her is a collage of black-and-white panels from her manga "Spy x Family".

Anya Forger from the manga Spy x Family.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides, cooking demos, concerts by musicians either nearly or formerly popular, and farm animals competing for cash prizes without their knowledge. My wife Anne and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context…

…and wow, did a lot of art stop me in my tracks this year. We’ve shown some pieces done in Lego and in other sculpture media. Here’s more art but of the imagery-on-flat-papers-and-canvases variety, from artists of many ages!

Continue reading →

Indiana State Fair 2023 Photos, Part 5 of 9: The Year in Art, 3-D Division

August 29, 2023 By in Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
A quasi-stained glass sculpture of Deadpool's upper half. He has his swords on his back. His hands are cupped in a heart shape.

Glass Deadpool loves you!

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides, cooking demos, concerts by musicians either nearly or formerly popular, and farm animals competing for cash prizes without their knowledge. My wife Anne and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context…

…and as we discussed last chapter, we are now “enjoy the exhibit halls more than the carnival rides” years old. Beyond all those Lego kits and original creations, sculpture and dioramas came in other media and forms throughout the fairground art competitions.

Continue reading →

Indiana State Fair 2023 Photos, Part 4 of 9: The Year in Lego

August 27, 2023 By in Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
a massive Lego black Star Desroyer, which had to have taken a few thousand bricks.

Lego Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer, which first appeared in the Star Wars Expanded Universe graphic novel Dark Empire.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides, cooking demos, concerts by musicians either nearly or formerly popular, and farm animals competing for cash prizes without their knowledge. My wife Anne and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context…

When we were kids, the Midway’s amusement-park rides and rigged carnival games were the most important part of the fair. The adults who brought us to the fair wanted to see the exhibits a lot more than we did. We’re now older than they were at the time, and have come to enjoy the opportunities for art appreciation across the fairground exhibit halls. It’s fun seeing the latest round of multimedia works from artists of all ages, skill levels, and facilitating organizations, be they 4-H or local collectives. One of the commonest media among the younger demos is Lego, that blessed sculptor’s tool that’s rigid and flexible, comes with instructions and lends itself to freewheeling flights of fancy.

Continue reading →

Indiana State Fair 2023 Photos, Part 3 of 9: The Year of Basketball

August 27, 2023 By in Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
One side of the Midway's gateway arch surrounded by basketballs, greenery, and one creepy clown head.

A veritable garden of basketballs growing at the Midway entrance, guarded by a creepy clown head.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides, cooking demos, concerts by musicians either nearly or formerly popular, and farm animals competing for cash prizes without their knowledge. My wife Anne and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context…

As we mentioned last time, this year’s fair theme was The Year of Basketball. We aren’t sports fans, but we realize we’re vastly outnumbered in this state. I’ve seen a few basketball films, we attended a Pacers game exactly once, and a high school buddy once took me to an early-’90s Butler/Purdue game where the players spent more time beating on each other than shooting the ball. Otherwise, this chapter was assembled for You, The Viewers At Home, or at least those among you who can better appreciate the exhibits and nods than we did. At least we got to see some authentic props from one film we’ve seen, so there’s that.

Continue reading →

Indiana State Fair 2023 Photos, Part 2 of 9: The Year in Food Art

August 26, 2023 By in Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Cheese sculpture! Refer to caption.

Apropos of Indiana, a cheese sculpture of a cow dunking a basketball, much as one might dunk a donut in her milk.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides, cooking demos, concerts by musicians either nearly or formerly popular, and farm animals competing for cash prizes without their knowledge. My wife Anne and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context…

Our favorite part is the new food, but some of their most ingenious uses of food are available neither for purchase nor consumption. Exhibit A: the annual cheese sculpture at the Agricultural & Horticultural Building. Each year sculptor Sarah Kaufmann spends days carving hundreds of pounds of cheese into recognizable, cartoony shapes. This year Kaufmann couldn’t make it; in her place the State Fair welcomed food artist Nancy Baker, whose works have appeared in such TV competitions as Food Network’s Halloween Wars and Disney+’s Foodtastic (hosted by Nope‘s Keke Palmer), and who in an episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show graciously made a pie with her celebrity interviewer’s face on it.

Continue reading →

The Food After the Fan Expo Chicago 2023 End Credits

August 24, 2023 By in Mundane, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Closeup of a fish sandwich over half the size of Anne's head.

Incredibly, Anne ate this entire head-sized sandwich herself and did not win a free T-shirt.

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…

Much as other convention-goers have their traditions, so do we here at MCC. One such tradition is waiting till our site traffic dies down — and other aspects of our lives are caught up — before we share some of the bonus ephemera that can bore wider audiences. Sometimes that includes food photos, in cases where we’ve found sustenance that left an impression on us within reasonable distance of a given show. We don’t indulge in all the classic blogging tropes here, but on occasion we still brake for food photos. They’re a fun memory, a quick excuse for posting something during busy or preoccupied times, and an even quicker scroll-through for You, The Viewers at Home. If you read all 6300+ words of our Fan Expo Chicago actor-meetup recap, this is the opposite of that.

Continue reading →

Indiana State Fair 2023 Photos, Part 1: Our Year in Food

August 20, 2023 By in Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Me holding a Nutellephant Ear.

It’s a Nutellaphant Ear! You’ll understand why I had to text a photo to coworkers live from the scene.

It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides, cooking demos, concerts by musicians either nearly or formerly popular, and farm animals competing for cash prizes without their knowledge. My wife Anne and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context.

Most years, we’re all about the food. On Thursdays vendors are encouraged to offer $3 specials, typically a bite-sized portion of an existing menu item or a chintzy, non-special drink. Our favorite part is the “Taste of the Fair” competition, in which vendors showcase ostensibly new dishes in hopes of enticing foodies and/or impressing attendees who seek more to fair-life than eating the same corn dog again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) The TotF lineup is announced weeks in advance so everyone can plan their meals and experiments accordingly. If you didn’t feel like wandering the fairgrounds in search of the new items, fans could pick up a handy Taste of the Fair participants’ map at the Indiana State Police information booth. (This map was nowhere on their website, nor did State Fair officials bother to wake up their app, which hasn’t been updated since 2021. The map was an exclusively in-person freebie.)

Of the 30 Taste of the Fair contestants, we tried 11 of them across an 8-hour time span divided into two trips (long story) and walked off several of those cumulative calories doing laps around the fairgrounds. In time-honored internet listicle tradition, we’ve gone to the trouble of ranking them against each other. Enjoy!

Continue reading →

Fan Expo Chicago 2023 Photos, Part 4 of 4: Comics, Shopping, and Other Hobbies

August 20, 2023 By in Comics/Lit, Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
A bunch of books, drawings, buttons and pins.

My Fan Expo Chicago 2023 loot pile, plus Anne’s lanyard with new pins and buttons.

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 it all comes down to this: everything else about our convention weekend that I didn’t already share. Mostly that means the comics, but not just the comics.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

Fan Expo Chicago 2023 Photos, Part 2 of 4: More Cosplay!

August 14, 2023 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Mantis, Drax, Star-Lord and Kraglin

The stars of one of 2023’s best films so far, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3! (Full disclosure: Mantis and Drax — in Holiday Special gear! — are official Friends of MCC.)

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.

Before we attempt any real storytime, let’s do mandatory cosplay photos!

And now, the other half of all the cosplay pics taken by us two aging geeks whenever we weren’t trapped in lines or off resting our weary bones somewhere. Enjoy! Again!

Continue reading →

Fan Expo Chicago 2023 Photos, Part 1 of 4: Cosplay!

August 14, 2023 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
cosplayers: Weird Barbie and a pair of Kens, one with a cowboy hat and one with an "I Am Kenough" hoodie.

Barbie Mania in full effect! Until I can finally finish the long-delayed entry on Barbie: The Motion Picture, please enjoy Kate McKinnon’s Weird Barbie and a pair of Kens.

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.

Before we attempt any real storytime, let’s do mandatory cosplay photos! The humble duo here at MCC enjoys the panoply of costumes, and appreciates the makers and wearers who enliven every comic-con with their talents and their exaltation of various fandoms. We regret we can only represent a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the total cosplay wonderment that was on display this weekend. We’re just an aging couple doing what we can for happy sharing fun.

The following entry represents exactly one-half our total cosplay pics. The rest shall follow in our next chapter. Enjoy! Corrections welcome if we misidentified anyone!

Continue reading →

Doughnuts & Dragons Sails Into the West

July 29, 2023 By in Indiana Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Six donuts in a white box. See caption.

Our last breakfast, as it were: chocolate long john, cinnamon braid, key lime pie, white chocolate raspberry, strawberry shortcake, and Butterbeer (vanilla and cream soda cake donut with butterscotch icing).

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: this isn’t officially a foodie blog, but restaurants are among the many and varied subjects we touch upon, as we refuse to focus on a singular topic and don’t care one bit about the damage done to our SEO standings. Whether they’ve enlivened our annual road trips, featured in our wedding anniversary celebrations, given us something to do on Super Bowl Sunday, or simply welcomed us in for one-time tryouts, restaurants are a treasured aspect of our travel experiences, in other states as well as around our own hometown of Indianapolis. This weekend we bade farewell to another creative establishment from a past entry.

Continue reading →

Not Put Asunder, 19 Years and Counting

July 17, 2023 By in Mundane Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments
me and Anne standing inside a concrete tower overlooking misty mountains.

Teaser image from our 2023 road trip miniseries. Photo by a slightly younger traveler/stranger.

It’s that time again! Another year of blessed bliss married to the amazing Anne, another “Happy Anniversary to Us!” entry, another dinner to celebrate, and another completely unrelated lead image.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: two geeks met in 1987 in high school German class, somewhat out of sync with the ordinary folks around us. Divine timing would keep our unplanned parallel paths intertwining over the years. Everything led up to our determinedly simple wedding in 2004, by which time we best friends had already started traveling together after growing up in families and lifestyles that didn’t lend themselves to much of it. All these years later, our story continues together through ups and downs, highs and lows, chuckles and tears, aches and pains, and mountains and valleys both figurative and literal.

We’re the Goldens. It’s who we are and what we do.

Continue reading →

Our 2022 Road Trip #32: The Final Four Photos and the Outtakes

June 3, 2023 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
The deeply forested Green Mountains from afar on a brightly cloudy day. Someone's house is in the lower right corner; a waterway runs diagonally along the mountain bases.

DAY FIVE: One last shot of those lush Green Mountains, along the road north from Quechee Gorge to Montpelier.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

Since 1999 Anne and I have taken one road trip each year to a different part of the United States and seen attractions, wonders, and events we didn’t have back home. We’re geeks more accustomed to vicarious life through the windows of pop culture than through in-person adventures. After years of contenting ourselves with everyday life in Indianapolis and any surrounding areas that also had comics and toy shops, we chucked some of our self-imposed limitations and resolved as a team to leave the comforts of home for annual chances to see creative, exciting, breathtaking, outlandish, and/or bewildering new sights in states beyond our own, from the horizons of nature to the limits of imagination, from history’s greatest hits to humanity’s deepest regrets and the sometimes quotidian, sometimes quirky stopovers in between. We’re the Goldens. This is who we are and what we do.

For 2022 we wanted the opposite of Yellowstone. Last year’s vacation was an unforgettable experience, but those nine days and 3500 miles were daunting and grueling. Vermont was closer, smaller, greener, cozier, and slightly cooler. Thus we set aside eight days to venture through the four states that separate us from the Green Mountain State, dawdle there for a bit, and backtrack home…

…and it’s long past time for us to get there in this, the season finale. Before we get to the last mini-gallery for the last day of our trip, we take a look back at where we started with a selection of outtakes from the first six days. Why only six out of eight? Because by the time I got around to recounting Day Seven, I was pretty much posting everything there was, far as you might care. Anyway: enjoy!

Continue reading →

Our 2022 Road Trip #31: Cuyahoga, Gone

June 1, 2023 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Anne smiling and standing on a rocky cliff, but it's surrounded by the tops of tall trees so it looks safer than it is.

All those tall trees behind Anne disguise the fact that beyond this ledge it’s a long, long way down.

Eight days and one Cleveland later, we were exhausted and ready to go home, but stopped for one last tourist attraction anyway. Given all our choices along the way through Ohio, what better place for one last collection of outdoor greenery than The Only National Park in Ohio? It was no Green Mountains in Vermont, but then again, what is?

Continue reading →

Our 2022 Road Trip #30: The Cleveland Wahlbergs

May 28, 2023 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Anne with a huge smile hoisting a mug of orange Creamsicle. On the table is a Wahlburgers menu.

After a long week Anne enjoys the refreshing taste of an orange Creamsicle float. (Nonalcoholic, natch.)

Once we again we’re winding down another travelogue with chapters nowhere near as exciting as the ones in the middle. The very design of our vacations and my insistence on chronological storytelling together mean pretty much every MCC miniseries ends anticlimactically. Not once have we driven 4-to-20 hours out of town and scheduled the biggest and best attraction as the very last thing we do on our way home. If you’ve remained a longtime reader, I trust you understand the nature of the pastime.

Cleveland first appeared in our lives in 2004, when my car broke down on our way home from Niagara Falls. C-Town had a stronger costarring role in our 2013 adventures, replete with stops at a rockin’ museum, a Christmas movie house, an iconic comic-book legend’s house, the second-tallest Presidential burial site we’ve seen to date, and a memorial statue I helped fund. That was a good set of experiences.

This year, Cleveland was an anticlimax again. In some ways it wasn’t their fault. Some ways.

Continue reading →

Indiana Comic Convention 2023 Photos, Part 2 of 2: Actors and Activities!

May 7, 2023 By in Conventions & Events Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Me doing jazz hands with Grant Gustin.

It’s Grant Gustin! With The Flash soon coming to a close on The CW, TV’s Barry Allen is finally hitting the Midwest convention circuit.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! This weekend my wife Anne and I attended the ninth edition of the Indiana Comic Convention at the Indiana Convention Center in scenic downtown Indianapolis. They refrain from calling themselves “Indiana Comic Con” on paper for tiresome legal reasons that aren’t their fault, but to us they’ll always be Indiana Comic Con.

ICC 2023 was another opportunity to look at walls covered with old comics, meet people who create reading matter, boggle at toy displays, respect the anime fandom whose population dwarfs us older generations, and find space to breathe among or away from those cheerfully ever-growing crowds. Although the showrunners reserved less space than they did for last year’s edition — in fact, they moved the show back to the halls where the inaugural edition was held back in 2014 — geek life nevertheless thrived in abundance…

…relatively speaking. The smaller square footage meant noticeably fewer vendors than last year. In hindsight we probably didn’t need weekend passes, but we’d taken advantage of an early February sale that got us in Friday and Saturday (we almost never go on Sundays) for a mere five bucks less than what folks were paying for Saturday-only passes day-of at the door. So we did some stuff, but not as much as usual.

Continue reading →