Like Tesla, Marconi and Da Vinci

I had a chance this weekend to reconnect with some of my old Star Wars/501st/Chicago Force friends that I have not seen or spoken to in a very long time. And by "long time", I mean over a decade. Life got in the way for me, and I just dropped out of contact. And that is odd, as one lives just 15 minutes away from me. Fortunately, my cell number is the same and he was able to invite me to a party.

It was a bit of a surprise for all involved when I popped in.

Happy.....Birthday.....Mister President.....

We are all a little older, but still as stupid as we have always been. It was nice to be missed, as that seemed to be the most common thing I heard from my friends as we spoke. Plus, reminiscing about the old times was good laughs. And it was from these stories that I learned I can now be placed into the annals of the great inventors of the world. But not that Edison guy. He didn't invent crap, stealing the work of others and trying to ruin the true great minds in the world. Here's the story:

So back in 2001, I took a trip down with my new friend to a little thing called Dragon Con, the 2nd largest con in the US, but WAY more fun (I hear) than the San Diego Comic Con. This was my first real con experience, and experience it was. Wow - nerds are f*cking crazy. If you have never been to a con, think the National, with people wearing the most incredible custom cards you have ever seen. But I am digressing from the story.

I think it was the Saturday night at DC. A large group of us (25 or so) were walking around, mostly sober, and found one of the rooms they hold the panels within. It was unlocked, and better yet, the mics were hot. Someone forgot to turn them off. Well, about 8 of us hit the dais while the rest sat in the seats and asked the stupidest, silliest questions of us at the mics. We answered with heavy snark and large amount of humor. The mics were pretty loud, and more and more people started filing in, taking seats and taking part in this mock panel by throwing us more questions. In no time, we had the room full, and even if this happened yesterday, I could not tell you a single thing we talked about. It was nerdy for sure, but nothing of any substance or retained knowledge. This went on for a couple hours until we finally just called an end to the panel and went to bed.

Back to the present day. When I brought up this memory to Josh, he replies "Oh, that still goes on at every Dragon Con." I guess a couple of the original guys that walked in on our mock panel continue it to this very day, having a midnight panel that is random and just dumb. And that is the joy of it. I was surprised our spontaneous act to just make ourselves happy has grown to this recurring event with no purpose at all but fun. I should have applied for a patent. Oh well. Since we are talking nerd, here's the obligatory one card image.

I bought a box of Star Wars Topps Tek last year, and I did it again this year. It's nice the autographs are on card. Not a big pull in any way, but Mike Edmonds has carved out a long career in the entertainment industry. Far more movies and TV shows then I have appeared in.

So honor me for inventing some good in this world. Maybe, in the future, there will be a 5th Ninja Turtle with my name.