This past weekend I took a drive up to Dallas Texas to attend the Fan Expo Dallas 2018 convention at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Last year I attended the Saturday and Sunday show, and this year, I decided only to attend the Saturday show, but now I’m regretting it since I was not able to see very thing I wanted to, in one day. The drive from San Antonio to Dallas was very smooth. It only took me less than 4 hours to get there (without stopping), and the same when I returned later that evening. The more I think about it, it would have been better to get a hotel in Dallas, and attend the Sunday show for a few hours in the morning and then driving back home in the afternoon, but I guess this is lessons learned.
Now, my first reason for going to this year’s convention was so that I could get an autograph from Michael J. Fox, but unfortunately, he had to cancel a few days before the event, but they did get a suitable replacement with Ben Affleck. When I saw his name added to the list, I was no longer upset about the cancelation and was excited to get a chance to meet him.
Ok, he was not the best Batman out there (Adam West will always be the real Batman), but he did a decent job with the character. I’m more of a fan of his work on Mall Rats, Chasing Amy, Dogma and you can’t forget Phantoms. I was able to get an autograph and photo with him this year, and if that was the only celebrity I got a chance to meet, I was happy with that. He was very laid back and kind. The one thing I was not prepared for, was his height. I did not realize how tall he was. I’m 5’11,” and he towered me by at least 4 or 5 feet. I was like “Dang”; he’s tall. Even though it was only a short time to meet him, it was still a once in a lifetime moment for me.
Ben Affleck was not the only celebrity I was able to meet at the event. The second celebrity I met was Paul Reuben (aka, Pee Wee Herman). Now, this was a guy that made me laugh so much with his first movie Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. That movie had so many funny one-liners that many people still use today. Yes, it was a big goofy, but I like that kind of stuff. His line at the convention was a long one, and unfortunately, it took forever to get the chance to meet him, because he was having conversations with each fan for at least 15 mins a person. It took a couple of hours of standing in line to finally get a chance to meet him, and for me, it was worth it to get his autograph.
The third celebrity I met was Jeff Goldblum. Yes, the guy from Jurassic Park, The Fly, Independence Day and the recent Thor: Ragnarok movie. His line was super-fast. That was mainly because he was doing very short greeting with the fans and I was happy about that. After that long wait in Paul Rubens line, I did not want to spend another couple of hours in front. He was also really kind too. He took the time to acknowledge me and gave me a warm and since hello and goodbye. He is just like we see him on the big screen and television, a class action type of guy.
My fourth celebrity was not a big-time actress, but a possible up and comer from the Netflix series Stranger Things. It was child actress Sadie Sink, who played the new character Max in season two. I was not sure if she was going to be a young diva type child actress or just a kid, but she was just a kind kid that was excited to meet all the people that were wanting her autograph. I did meet some of the other child actors from the show a few years ago, and they were nice too, and she was just like them. Down to earth and did not act like spoiled kids. I congratulated her on the role she played in the movie and wished her a successful career in acting. She was so lovely in response and just thanked me for liking her work on the show. It will be interesting to see if she does become a prominent actress in the future. Time will tell.
The fifth and final celebrity I met at the convention was the one and only Chuck Norris. What to say about this man. He’s a humble guy. When I saw him walking up to his autograph booth, he was being escorted by two Dallas police officers. The guy standing next to me in line said, “Woah, man Chuck has some serious escorts protecting him,” then sarcastically I replied, “nobody needs to protect Chuck, Chuck was there to protect them.” I got a good laugh from the people standing around us. Knowing that he was an Air Force veteran, I told him that I was glad to follow a veteran like him in the Air Force. He then got a big grin on his face and thanked me. I know he was pressed for time since the convention was already closed and we were the last people in line, and it looked like he wanted to talk some more, but he knew that we needed to keep it short. So basically we exchanged a few words and the shook hands, and the rest will be a memory that I will never forget. Getting his autograph is about as good as getting Adam West’s autograph last year.
I did get a chance to walk around the convention floor a little bit but did not have the opportunity to see everything I wanted to see. I know that if I did stay overnight, and caught the Sunday show, that I would have been able to see everything I wanted to see, but since it was only a one day trip, I did not get that chance. This year’s Fan Expo was pretty good.
Many different guests attended this year, but I didn’t have the time to visit each of them. I was able to get some random photos of some of the other celebrities and here are a few.
I’m glad to have the opportunity to go to these type of events and talk to fellow fans that are doing the same. Now, I need to start planning for the next one. I’m not sure what will come up next, but all I know is that the Alamo City Comic Con 2018 is scheduled from 26 -28 October. More convention blogs to come, so that’s all for now.
Again, thanks for stopping by and look for another post soon. Also, I’m doing this blog on my phone, so I might do some editing when I get home later.
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