Cinema Wasteland Fall 2007 Show Part 1

Yes, I survived another Cinema Wasteland show. In my opinion, Cinema Wasteland is the best run, most funnest show out there. This was the 7th show I attended, and it is always a blast...So here is my weekend recap and some history...

I always try to go to conventions with my pals Bryan and Nikki. We always hook up and stay together to save costs. We get along great, and with all of the conventions we have attended together, we pretty much share the same brain. It just makes things that much simpler...it is always good to room with well prepared like-minded people...When we go to Wasteland, we usually arrive a day early. It is just much more relaxing just being able to hang out and chill the day before a big weekend. Not to mention, the party usually starts on Thursday night, with most of the celeb guests hanging out and not very many others...

Well, due to my current situation, I can only afford to do so much. I was not even sure I would be going this time. I missed last April due to lack of fundage as Cardiac was getting ready for some shows out east...I did not want to miss, because I have many friends at Wasteland that I have not seen since last October...Bryan and Nikki told me not to worry about money and just come. They convinced me...I mean, how could I turn that down??

So, I would be leaving on Friday...I had to take an aptitude test for the job I applied for that day and Ms. Gnome (Nikkole) had asked me earlier in the week if she could ride up with me, which was great, because 5 hours in the truck alone gets boring...So, I took my test and it was long...I was there for 3 hours...Got back home and finished packing...had to do some laundry and some band business, but was ready to go...Nikkole got to my place around 8pm due to stupid Chicago area traffic and Mapquest screwing up...No bother though...the Wasteland party goes well into the night...

We got beer and took off...the ride was not so bad. We talked pretty much the whole trip...music, movies, real life stuff, etc...It went by quick...The only thing that is a drag is losing an hour going into EST...But it makes the return trip better because we get that back...Anyway, we arrived at the hotel around 2:30am...As we pulled in, I pointed out the crowd standing at the front doors...Yup. No smoking rules hit Ohio too...the party was outside and looked to be in full swing...Bryan met me in the parking lot. It was awesome to see him again. Nikki had already retired for the night as she is 6 months pregnant, so she had an acceptable excuse...The first thing I did was open the cooler and sucked down two beers...As I was doing that, some dorks came up to us...ha ha!! Just kidding...It was Putrid, Jeff Zornow, and Slasher Dave...I just seen Putrid about a month ago, which is too long if you ask me...I mean, shit...we live in the same city...But at any rate, it is aways great to see him...This was my first meeting with Zornow and Slasher Dave...We had talked online a bit in the past, and it is always great meeting people for real...We all hugged like we knew each other for years...At this point, some other familiar faces started showing up (keep in mind, I was still at my truck in the middle of the parking lot)...Ed Fantom staggered up...it was nice to see him again. I don't talk to him much online these days since our (Bryan and mine)website ended...he looked like he was having a lot of fun...you know...fun with adult beverages...But that is the whole point. Anthony, from Toe Tag wandered over. He is another great guy...we kind of fell out of touch since the last Wasteland, which sucked...But life had been in a tailspin for me since our last meeting, which he totally understood...We started making our way towards the sea of people at the front doors to put my stuff in the room...as we got there, Brian (of Brian and Donna) was hanging out, partaking in the boozing. Another great guy and always a pleasure to be around...Bill Zebub was also hanging out, and of course, he is alway a blast to hang and party with...Made my way up to the room to drop off my stuff, and then it was back to the party downstairs...Nikkole and the gang were headed to their hotel, which was a few miles away...Meanwhile, I grabbed as many beers as I could carry and we headed across the parking lot to the Motel Six, where the Toe Tag crew invited us to hang out...

We were all hanging outside one of the room just drinking and bullshitting...Playing catch up for the last year, ya know?? As were were talking, I noticed that William Forsythe was standing right next to me...I shook his hand and told him that it was great to meet him. For the next two hours, we talked about a lot of his different film roles, and how much we respected his work. I mean, shit, the guy is a chameleon who can play any role, and he has been in a lot of great films. He was awesome to talk to, and he really seemed to enjoy hanging out with us...When he found out what time it was (I think it was like 5:30am at that point) he politely excused himself and told us the he would hang out again tomorrow, but it was time to retire for the night...We still hung out, and I finally came across Fred and Jerami of Toe Tag in one of the other rooms. Great to see them again...we always have a good time hanging out. We played a little catch up and thankfully, they gave me some beers, because I had already drank up what I brought over...We hung out a bit longer, then decided to call it a night...We got back to our room around 6:30am...Bryan and I talked for a bit as I did not want to stop drinking just yet...Nikki joined in the conversation a bit as well...She rules!!! Most people would be pissy about losing sleep, but not her!!! She's a trooper!! Finally, around 7:30 am, I crawled into bed to get a quick nap, as Saturday would be a busy day...