Events at FearCon

http://phoenixfearcon.com/event-details/event-schedule/

Movie screenings

Celebrities

Workshops

Book signings

Merchandise

Food and beverages

Paranormal Investigations with COPS

Zombie fashion runway show

Circus of the Dead

Various panels with various subjects

and many more...

Walking Dead at FearCon

There will be celebrities signing autographs, taking pictures, and meeting their fans.  This years celebrity guests are from the hit AMC show, "The Walking Dead".

1.  Theodus Crane (Big Tiny), a prisoner in residence.  Theodus began his professional acting career in Georgia.  He has acted on stage, even vaudeville/sideshow acts, and started his TV career in 2010.  This amateur fighter currently lives in New Orleans, LA.

2.  Kyla Kenedy (Mika), was a part of the most talked about and surprise ending of Season 4.  Her character was killed by her disturbed sister, Lizzie.  This young actress has been keeping busy since her character's demise, guest starring on several shows and having other projects in the works.

Along with them, other characters and zombies will be there as well:
http://phoenixfearcon.com/guests/the-walking-dead/

Greg Crews
Michael Koske (Walker)
Larry Mainland (stuntman, zombie)
Markice Moore (Andrew)
Mike Mundy (Grandpa Walker)
Sonya Thompson (zombie)

Join Me at FearCon

http://phoenixfearcon.com/

Sharon and I will be at Phoenix FearCon, signing books, and meeting the public.  Please join us and enjoy all the festivities.  Our table will be decorated like an abandoned location and we will have freebies for those who come visit us.  We will also have copies of our books for sale.

What Am I Doing...

...for the rest of the year?  Starting with November 1 &2, I will be at FearCon with my coauthor, friend and travel buddy, Sharon Day of  Ghost Hunting Theories.  We will be meeting people and signing our many books.  (Posts on the event to follow.)

Also in November, I will be hitting the road with my two sister-in-laws.  We are spending a couple days and one night in Bisbee.  These ladies have lived in Arizona many years and have never been to Bisbee.  I know, shocking!!  Of course I am always looking for the opportunity to hit the road, so having them finally visiting Bisbee was a good excuse on my part.

Not much more for November except for Thanksgiving.  We have no plans as of yet.

In December, I will take a road trip with Sharon back to the abandoned trailer park for more junk to pillage.  Last time we were there, a couple of stray dogs made the place their home.  We are hoping that they moved out and found better accommodations.  After hunting for junk, we will travel to Gila Bend and the UFO Cafe for a bacon cheeseburger....yummy!

Around Christmas time, we are heading out for a couple of days to enjoy the holiday in Payson.  We are hoping for snow to make it feel more like Christmas.

Sharon and I have trips planned in 2015.  January will start with a trip back to Tombstone.  A friend is coming here to visit and he wants to see the historic town.  Other places we plan to see in 2015 are; Four Corners, Nevada, New Mexico, California, and Texas.  My family and I are also planning trips as well.  We will be hitting the beaches, amusement parks, and historic sites of San Diego.

Especially 4-U Tours

(From their website) “Especially 4-U Tours of Mesa, Arizona is a premier & full service tour company. We offer tours throughout the United States and abroad, specializing in the South-Western United States.

Especially 4-U Tours started in September of 1980 by doing 24 hours tours to Las Vegas. Since then we have expanded our tour opinion widely. We still do Vegas, but now we have tours all over the United States and internationally. Our tours focus on the Southwest, Gambling, Mexico and the California coast…”

For more information about this company and what they provide, check out their website:
http://www.especially4utours.com/

I am definitely planning on trying out their services for future trips. I will report on it afterwards.

Pop Rocks

What the heck are pop rocks?  Basically, it is small, rock looking effervescent candy that you pour into your mouth from a bag.  These various colored treats are made of sugar, lactose (milk sugar), corn syrup, and various flavoring to give you that yummy taste.  Once inside your mouth, the candy dissolves, has a bubbly effect, and creates a popping sound.  It is crazy fun to eat.

Where did this unusual candy come from?  In 1957, General Foods chemist, William A. Mitchell, came up with the idea, but it wasn’t accessible to the public until 1975.  They lasted about 8 years before General Foods pulled them from the shelf.  There have been various types of imitation Pop Rocks, but just not the same as the original.  Today, Pop Rocks are just as popular as they were in the 1970’s.

There are several urban legends swirling around Pop Rocks.  The most prevalent one is that consuming the flavored candy, along with soda, will trigger an explosion of ones stomach.  There was false information on the ingredients of the candy when mixed with saliva and the carbonation of the pop will result in a deadly eruption.  Rumors were spread around that Mikey (real name John Gilchrist) from the Life cereal commercial died when he drank a six pack of Coca-Cola and ate six packs of Pop Rocks.  After all, Mikey will eat anything as the commercial stated.  In this case, the rumors were false and I am happy to say the John is alive and well.  I am sure that consuming that much in one sitting will give you a tummy ache, but to put the rumors to rest, an experiment was conducted using a pig’s stomach.  They placed six packs of the candy and a six pack of pop in the stomach and allotted time for digestion.  The stomach grew to three times its size but never exploded.  So basically, enjoy your Pop Rocks and a coke.

Enjoying my Pop Rocks!

Schnepf Farms 2014

For the past four years, Sharon and I have made it a tradition to make the trek to Queen Creek, AZ for the Pumpkin and Chili Fest at Schnepf Farms.  We have gone there in the evening to enjoy the sunset over the pumpkin patch and inside the corn maze.  This year, we ended up going in the morning and with our friend Damian.  The weather was nice at first, but started to get a bit warm towards noon.  The entire experience was different in the daytime but we still had fun.  Enjoy my photos...

How to Make An Alien Brain Hemorrhage

What is an Alien Brain Hemorrhage you ask?  It is a crazy mixture of four different liquors to make one freaky looking drink.  You will need Peach Schnapps, Bailey's Irish Cream, Blue Curacao, and Grenadine.  

Your ingredients and shot glasses.

First is Peach Schnapps.

Next is Bailey's Irish Cream

Then you pour slowly the Blue Curacao.

Lastly, using a cap, you spot pour the Grenadine.

And before you slam it down, check out the interesting design it makes.
Be warn, it is a very sweet drink.

The following video is one that Sharon and I made:

What's At the Nightmare Event?

Just recently I went to the Rob Zombie's Great American Nightmare event. (http://www.greatamericannightmare.com/)  The setup is based on his movie "The Devil's Rejects".

You are sent through three spooky haunted houses.  The first house was called, "The Lords of Salem" and was a total blackout house.  You basically had to feel your way around the maze of rooms not knowing who or what was hiding in the darkness.

The second house was called, "Captain Spaulding's Clown School" and was a total 3D experience.  You were given 3D glasses at the beginning and entered into a very colorful maze of rooms.  I really like the 3D effect and how it messed with my eyes and mind.  There were things popping out at you and some blended into the background.  This one was very cool.

The third house was the recreation of the house and scenes from Rob Zombie's movie, "The Devil's Rejects".  The final house was named after the movie.  You are first treated to the opening gunfight and feel like you are right in the middle of it.  Then, you are taken inside the crazy world of the Firefly family and are greeted by each member.  Be aware of the insane people at the motel!!

When you final get out, they have entertainment on a stage and wandering monsters throughout the mall area.  I was hoping for more booths and attractions inside the mall area, but all and all, the attraction was a scary, fun event.

Here is Sharon's review of the event:
http://www.ghosthuntingtheories.com/2014/10/rob-zombies-great-american-nightmare.html

Here is the video my friend Damian put together from some of the pictures we took:

Gorgeous Arizona Sunsets

Another Travel Book

When I wrote my "Arizona's Back Roads" travel book, it started out to just be an information book.  My publisher, Dinah, asked me if I could change the concept and content of the book and make it a travel book.  I loved the idea and was up for the challenge.  I never wrote a travel book before, so I check others to get an idea of where to begin.

First of all, I changed the original title "Dead and Buried in the Southwest Desert", to what it is now.  I kept the chapters the same, but provided information and websites about each place.  All the pictures in the book were taken by me with an exception of a couple and was noted.  I am proud of how this book has turned out and can't wait to get feedback.  You can pre-order the book now and it will be available on October 28, 2014.  (All information is provided on my sidebar.)

After I noted all the places in this book, I realized that many other locations, cities and towns were left out.  My biggest surprise was Flagstaff, a city I spent lots of time in.  So, now I am working on another travel book.  This one will not only focus on those places I left out, but I will also add places in other southwest states.

Next year, Sharon and I are keeping our feet on the ground and driving to most of the places we have plans to visit.  We will be traveling to the Four Corners which will take us into New Mexico.  We have plans of visiting places in California and Nevada as well.  Our biggest trip is a train ride to Texas and maybe parts of Oklahoma.  That trip is slated to be in May or June of 2015.  As usual, I will be taking tons of pictures of all the places we travel to as well as documenting our adventures for that future book.  I am excited for the next book which is tentatively titled, "Southwest's Back Roads".

Rob Zombie's Great American Nightmare

Sharon and I will be at this event on October 4th and will report on it.  I will have lots of photos and will probably make a spooky video of them.  You can check out this event and information about it on their website:  http://www.greatamericannightmare.com/