Mutterings of a Mad Woman

As some of you know, there is more to the Fan Expo than the Festival of Fear. One turn down an aisle and you find yourself surrounded by sci-fi gadgets or happy little anime faces. In this instance, I looked into the eyes of a familiar creature whom I couldn't place right away.

His name is Ro-Man, from the 1953 movie Robot Monster (that is one of the original movie posters to the right). I'm pretty sure the first time I ever saw him was in a clip from It Came From Hollywood years ago.

Ro-Man, the star of the movie, is an alien (no, he is not a gorilla in a diving helmet) who has destroyed all but six people on the planet Earth, one of whom he develops feelings for (hence the dramatic conflict).

Mark Rehkopf, a local illustrator and sculptor, created his own homage to the great Ro-Man for the Vinyl Graffiti art show in Toronto. He explained to me he had imagined what Ro-Man would have done after his stint in the movies, and naturally (as other actors have done before him) Ro-Man would have tried his hand at a singing career.

As someone who grew up in Ontario, I've come to associate certain things with certain regions of the province: Muskoka for cottage life; Toronto for shopping; and Niagra Falls for fairground-type tourist attractions. While strolling through this year's Festival of Fear, I discovered I may need to rethink this.

Guelph (which I usually associate with the Amish) is home to The Great Orbax, a creator and curator of "real and custom freaks of nature" (and I thought you could only see this at Ripley's Museum on Niagra's famous strip). He's one part artist, one part performer, and founder of Fiendish Curiosities.

Fiendish Curiosities was founded in 2003 by the Prof. Burnaby Q. Orbax, aka the Great Orbax, in an attempt to combine the greatest passions in his life: sideshow, science, and monsters. Having studied as a professional physicist since 1996, and been a sideshow performer since 1998, Fiendish Curiosities was the unnatural evolution of his loves.

A special hello to creepy Canadian critters reading this blog. I've returned from a full day at Fan Expo Canada, and more specifically, the Festival of Fear brought to us by Rue Morgue. I'll be publishing a series of blogs on my experience and some great finds, but today's post will be a general overview. Let me get my harshest criticism out of the way.

My friend and I arrived at the convention centre at 11:15 AM. We had not purchased advanced tickets (having missed the deadline to do so) but knew we could get them at the door. Unfortunately, Hobbystar claims they haven't figured out how to make credit card payments available to visitors (though some retailers inside did, so I don't see what the problem is). If you don't have cash on hand (or in your bank account) you will be out of luck on Sunday (and that's a lot of cash for families to fork over at once).

When Zombies take over the earth (as they inevitably will), our first reaction might be to wall off cities, carpet bomb areas, or go underground. Apparently in New York, the plan is to put on a Broadway show.

David Stewart of Eurythmics fame released a graphic novel in March (2008) entitled Zombie Broadway.

That's right. You read that correctly.

The basic premise is that before the President of the United States bombs the city, the acting Mayor of New York convinces him there is another way. Apparently, Zombies have a taste for human brains, feet, livers and jazz hands.

Seems like zombies aren't so different from other New Yorkers. After all, they appreciate the theatre. In fact, music seems to be one of the few things that can tame the flesh-eating undead beings. And what better place than New York City to put on the show of a lifetime? Just keep your fingers crossed that the audience isn't eaten during the performance...