Starfest 2013

  Yeah, so Becky and I went to the great Denver Starfest 2013.  For those that don't know, it's the largest sci-fi convention in Colorado with usually several hundred thousand attendees, mostly in-costume.  Those that aren't in-costume is a bit odd and sad, probably going not because they adore sci-fi, but because it's a "happening" and view the spectacle safely from a distance.  Becky and I dive-in head-first.  Back in the '90s we were a bit timid but after two goings we were pretty much hooked.  It's nice to see like-minded individuals having a Halloween party in April, and typical nerd culture that's normally introverted year-round for just one weekend a year can become a bit extroverted and be accepted in whatever sci-fi culture they embrace.  A clarion call of, "Nerds Assemble!"  those that love the genre can purchase off-items and media as well in an easy-to-buy location away from eBay and, well, there'll always be that tangible lure where you can actually see, feel, and hold the item in-question for bona-fide-icity.  I usually go and buy smaller items like lanyard pins, promo-shot autographs, T-shirts, and a few DVDs or soundtrack CDs that are rare, out-of-print (OOP) or hard-to-find.  Some people buy full-on-costumes, official props, or complete-cast-signed autographed high-dollar framed items.  I myself might spend a hundred bucks.  Some spend tens of thousands.

 I grew-out a goatee for the occasion and went as a Mirror-Universe engineer from Star Trek the Original Series this time.

  Nicely located at the Marriott Denver Tech-Center in downtown Denver suburbia, the complex holds thousands and we rented a room to escape the infinite-nerd wave from time-to-time, get some room-service, and kick-back (at 43 years old, I'm not so into partying all night with the 20 year olds who think a "kegger" of Pabst is a novel idea).  The hotel has good scotch, however, and very good food at under $10 and the room and beds are cozy and nice.

  Guests included some rather low-rent B-list actors, such as Avery Brooks (Captain Sisko of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and his character-son Jake (Cirroc Lofton), Deep Roy (a dwarf of many movies, to include Flash Gordon, Star Trek, Star Wars, Neverending Story, etc.), and Nichole de Boer (Ezra Dax, also of Deep Space Nine).  Becky got a photo with Brooks and I got an autograph from Roy.  His comment of working with Ornella Muti's "Princess Aura" in Flash Gordon?  "Meh."  Nice.  Wrong, but nice.

  So here's what you wanted, some pics.  I have a massive amount, something like 300 or so if you want them, I can send them via CD-Rom to your address if you request for free.  Just give me your mailing address and it'll be done.  http://www.mikecronis.com/contact_us.html

BEFORE YOU START...

  So one of the nice things about Google Blogger is you can click the picture and it'll open a slideshow for you full-screen (far better resolution).  The resolution of each photo is like 3800x1900 but if you set your browser to "fit in window" you should be fine.  Much easier for browsing.

Enjoy...

We were pretty tuckered-out after the last night, and a little overwhelmed, as this is only a tiny bit of what shenanigans were going on.  People revelled through the night, and I'm sure some babies were conceived that night over some Romulan Ale (served at the bar, actually.)  Hope you enjoyed the pics!