Hi everyone,
Well it’s been a while since I did a personal post, so here we go. As usual I’ll start off with my annual Florida vacation. This year we were there from March 5-28 and had a great time. The start of the trip was very busy as we were there with my parents, my brother, his wife and my niece and nephew. 8 people in one house was a little out of my comfort zone but it was only for a few days. I love my niece and nephew but this pushed me to my limit. Anyway on with the best part, the pics!
Obviously those were the house and me with my nephew Gregory, I do love the pool and like most things it life, it goes well with beer.
My parent’s place is in Grant, FL but the pictures above are from Sarasota. We drove over there (about 3 hours away) to visit my father-in-law who was also in Florida the same time as us. The beach there was excellent! It was groomed and the sand was so soft, like flour.
The picture of the TV screen is from a restaurant we went to over there, it had this free poker game you could play while you waited. I only wish it had been for money as I did quite well (I did win money while on vacation, about $400 which was really nice).
Me and ScarJo (I wish, God she’s hot!) It’s me at a comic book store (red hulk behind me was in last year’s post I believe)
The above two are from Hard Rock Hotel Universal Studios. The below ones are of course from Universal (I love that place!)
Cool costume but I thought the Transformers ride (which is fairly new) sucked, it just seemed like a cheap copy of the Spiderman one. The 3D was also blurry, which is always a bad sign.
Time for another critical comment, I love the Simpsons and I was really looking forward to Moe’s. While it looks great inside and has some clever ideas (like the phone rings and it’s characters from the show), the actual products were WAY over-priced and tasted like crap.On a positive note the 3D ride is a lot of fun and all the statues are great.
Not a great costume but the above is Cyclops. So in my opinion Rock-it is by far the best ride there, Dr. Doom’s Free fall next and then the Hulk (I was wearing the shirt after all!).
No that’s not a mistake, on this tiny island called Green Turtle Kay a can of asparagus cost $8.30! Obviously we didn’t buy it (and mostly ate out).
If you look hard enough I think there’s a crazy cat person in every small town, okay I’m being mean. It was a good thing she fed so many cat’s, I never got to see the insider of the house. She claimed that their used to be more cats but someone stole a few! She is quite a character for sure.
Can’t rent cars on Green Turtle, so golf cart it is! They were actually fun to drive once you got used to it (though noisy as hell!)
The next few are from MegaCon in Orlando, Florida (there were a LOT of people there, I’d say 30,000 at least). What should have taken 1.15 to get there took 3 hours! Next year if we go I’ll stay in the hotel next to it.
There were six people from the Walking Dead there but we were just too late getting there and didn’t get to meet any of them, hopefully next year.
Meeting Stan Lee. I had thought about it for months off and on and when the moment finally came I was excited. Like a lot of things in life it’s the anticipation that is the best feeling. He was nice but I barely had any time to talk to him. I thanked him for all the great comics he co-created and gave him a copy of my book (The Newfoundland Vampire, if you’re new to my blog). He said thank you and smiled, it was a good moment in my life. I hope he goes back next year so I can attend a Q&A with him and actually ask some questions.
Wil Wheaton, what is there to say? He’s a great guy, friendly, very knowledgeable about many geeky things. I chatted with him for a little about board games and card games and also gave him a copy of my book (he is a writer too after all).
Karl Urban, good actor, nice guy. I asked him if there will be a Judge Dredd sequel and he said “I hope so”, me too.
The above is me with a lizard (they are everywhere in Florida!) and below is an abandoned house next to my parent’s, pretty cool.
The sad news, while we were on vacation one of our cat’s died. Her name was Esther and below is the last picture we have of her. It was upsetting (obviously) and sudden. I had her to the vet just a few days before we left and everything was fine. The vet said afterwards it was sudden and she didn’t suffer. Luckily our neighbour and my sister-in-law looked after her body while we were gone. I’ll miss her and I’m dedicating my third novel to her.
I wish the pictures below were an April’s fools day joke, they’re not. These are pictures taken April 1st 2014 right outside my house. Did I ever mention I hate winter?
I won’t end on a downer. The snow is melting today and we’ve been out looking for a new cat. Hopefully tomorrow there will be a new addition to our household (I like Maxwell for a boy and maybe Lucy for a girl). I’ll post a few pictures when the kitty gets here. For now have a great weekend everyone, oh I finished the rough draft of my third novel, so expect that in your hands sometime in the near future!
The Cro's Nest 