Orpheum #7 June, 2014 Produced by Alan White and the Westside Insurgents
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Summer Comes to Vegas ........ 3 Sabakon ............................... 8 Damn Zombies ...................... 6 Retro Food .......................... 11 Las Vegas Indie Meet ............ 15 These Old Fanzines ............... 17 DeDee’s Book Den ................ 18 It’s Always Something ........... 20 Amazing Comic Con ..... 21 What the Hell is In the Mail? ....... 26 Orpheum #7 June, 2014 produced by Alan White and the Westside Insurgents. All artwork and photos by me, unless otherwise noted. Eagerly seeking color arty bits, articles of active fans, and any other cool stuff. Write: [email protected] Summer Comes to Vegas The Hocks are as High as an Elephant’s Eye Winter wanes and sun peeks from behind the clouds. There’s a frenzy of flowers and trees, once a skeletal horror- show now burst with leaves and wave hello on an easy breeze. The nights fill with jasmine and sage while lizards run riot on the back wall and geckos scamper daringly upside down on the front porch ceiling. Our front yard routinely becomes a post-apocalyptic wasteland through the winter but transforms into an ocean of colorful Lantana and those weird cactusy things at the first twitch of the thermometer into the 80s. Even DeDee’s damn Hollyhocks that refused to do anything last year suddenly transformed into stalks of blossoms. Can You Hear Me Now? This is the time of year we get calls. Those who wouldn’t consider speaking to us the rest of the year now need a midpoint crash-pad on a jaunt to somewhere else or maybe even a local convention and thus Casa Blanca becomes a hostel for fans or family on the hoof heading this way or that. It’s a pleasure seeing old friends, catch up on days gone by and ponder projects for tomorrow. Now that I’m a retired old coot I have the time to ply visitors with all manner of substances which always go better soaking the bones in the Jacuzzi. Most of my visitors hanker from Hollywood and DeDee’s from the Palm Springs area. Can You Strip Me Now? Every Vegas visitor should hit the Strip at least once. But it’s an undertaking not for the feeble, weak willed or those of diminished capacity. We generally hand visitors a map, a couple show passes say “Have a great time - take pics” and shuffle them out the door. If you’re looking for a good time, you’ll find it in abundance. If you’re an old stick, nothing can save you. It does take time, money and energy for such a jaunt and most while most fans have little of either, most locals have done the Strip to death and avoid it like the plague. I tend to refuse events that need me to cross the strip from west to east. Having said all that, I’m taking reservations or anyone wanting to join us on the annual Strip-crawl from one end of the strip to the other. Dropping into each casino along the way for a quick one, exploring every shop and catching the antics of every street performer. It’s like an EST seminar for the over-stimulated. Takes several days. For those with lesser demands, we suggest hitting the Fremont Street area for more casual perusing but plenty of visual stimulation. It’s like doing Disneyland on Mushrooms after spending the night in the trunk of a bullet-riddled 1949 Hudson Commodore following a three day bender in Tijuana. Well How About Now? Outside of Ms. Nature’s orgasmic arousal of color, you’ll find another gaudy display of active Vegas fans within these pages. It’s been said we allot too much white space on Vegas fandom, yet with each issue I plead for evidence of activity outside the wasteland. Proof of life has not been forthcoming. Can You Burn Me Now? The last few years, my sites were set on attending Burning Man. Didn’t happen; and it hadn’t happened for the third year in a row. Funny how difficult it can be just to get to the middle of nowhere; it was never this hard getting to Westercon! “All the world’s a stage” couldn’t be more true than Burning Man, but ya buys yer ticket and ya gets what ya bring to it! I had completely thrown in the flaming towel until I got a call from pyromaniac Joe Viskocil screaming we should hit this party like a Jacopo’s Pizza, a case of bubbly and lid of Grandaddy Purple. Oh, you smooth talker you, and there it was. the game was afoot! ROAD TRIP! WHY you ask, should this couch captain, dilettante, languishing artist and author of dubious merit sally forth across the dusty playa? You must think me mad, MAD I tell you, but it's ADVENTURE, conquest of the great outdoors, a social and spiritual epiphany I seek before the final bucket appears in need of a sound kicking! No middle-age crises here! I'm balls-deep in middle age already and have neither credit score nor energy for a crisis! But hey, I've had the stroke, the kidney stones, much of my hair is on permanent vacation and I barely escaped the grim reaper with prostate cancer! If that ain’t a nudge to get off the damn couch, I don’t know what is! My nest egg, not something practical like gold bullion or bag-full of Apple shares but a room full of comics, old movie posters and objet d'art went out the window to save my bacon during the Great Cancer Scare of 2010 for which I'm still a wreck, but breathing! If I learned anything from the experience, it’s “That's showbiz!” (sigh). It ain't easy being an aging nerd but there's nothing like staring Death in the eyeholes to remind you of your eventual return to the elements. So before I get too elemental on ya’, this is the year to burn baby burn! Since low self esteem forces me to go over-the-top with just about everything, I put up a website: BurningVegas.com. which will provide a flaming blog, details and excuses for whatever happens between now and when the gates open in Black Rock City. “This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco. .” but getting our act together requires stern measures as I can have a mental collapse just taking out the garbage. First up is an RV. Yep, no tents or Porta-Potties for me; those Woodstockian days of yore are long gone. Done, RV on hold; a lovely vehicle that will play a large part in our adventure. Getting to the middle of nowhere ain’t cheap and I’m a tad shy of those proverbial nickels in need of rubbing together. This calls for a plastic monetary medium called “charge card” which will be worn mighty thin by the time the dust settles and if I croak somewhere outside Gerlach, looks like Visa takes a big-ass hit. Speaking of ass, next up is a bike: a necessity when traversing the “Playa” they say. Haven’t been on a bike in twenty years, but it’s said you never forget how; turns out to be incorrect if for no other reason than bike seats no longer caress my fat ass as much as provide an impressive wedgie Wilber and Orville could never conceive. OK, exchanged Lance Armstrong seat for John Deere and I’m back in the saddle. eBay is my friend. Lot’s of necessities here; lantern, mp4 player, sand goggles, two cases of caffeine shooters, batteries, dashing shemagh and so on. Talking about it doesn’t get us there and this adventure won’t be considered a success until I’ve been there, done that and returned to tell the tale! Can You Pay Me Now? I’ve never asked anything from anyone, period. But the tables have turned and I’ve planned a crowd funding project. Yes, I’m throwing myself on the generosity of the masses on indiegogo in hopes of defraying the costs at least for part of my Burning Man adventure! You heard it here first! Now you might be asking yourself “Why the hell would anyone give me a nickel to get to Burning Man?” To which I reply “For a piece of the adventure and some primo swag!” Wishful thinking? Perhaps. My bravado here is based entirely on the fact I have absolutely nothing to lose! Whatever I garner from my plea will be a plus; $50 for a tank of gas or $1000 and greatly appreciated. Not to mention I’ll be dolling out some cool stuff! A sampling of my perks: I have produced three 16x20” Burning Man posters of limited run and available for various donations. More swag to come. This year’s theme: “Caravansary,” yes, that’s a real word. When Hell is Full, The Dead Will Need a Drink. And what better spot for a little “hair of the zombie that bit you” than our own zombie bar The End? For those who may have seen the “Bar Rescue” episode detailing the unholy resurrection of a local apocalyptic themed watering hole, you’ll relish what owners Chris and Jazz have since done with the place! The West Side Insurgents had to see for ourselves and a field trip was proclaimed for a special evening. This “special” occasion being the season finale of The Walking Dead which brought out the fans, some in undead drag, some walking, some sprinting to get a seat.