King Falls AM - Episode 4 of the paranormal radio podcast: 'Wolves Gone Wild.'

A couple of articles ago I was very happy to announce that 5D. The Fifth Dimension is now an affiliate of King Falls AM. 

King Falls AM is a fictional (or is it?) narrative podcast that centres on a lonely little mountain town’s late-night AM talk-radio show and it’s paranormal, peculiar and weird happenings & inhabitants. The guys behind the concept are aiming to make their show the first (possibly) fictional podcast to successfully syndicate itself, much along the same vein as your typical successful TV, radio or web series.

Anyhoo, the King Falls AM shows themselves are typically 10-15 minutes in length and so far we're still in the early days with three episodes having been aired so far. However there seems to have been more than a modicum of interest in the show which has resulted positive feedback, both to myself and to the production team themselves.

Again, as I mentioned in the previous King Falls AM article, I will be featuring the episodes as they appear fortnightly. The general release dates for the episodes will be on the 1st and 15th of each month and I will be hopefully be also getting an early chance to pass onto you good people some special inside information and details about the ongoing experiences of Sammy Stevens as he struggles to come to terms with his new life in the beautiful but very strange King Falls.

To read more about King Falls AM then check out their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/KingFallsAM?fref=ts

It is my pleasure to pass onto you the brand new fourth podcast in the series – It’s called Wolves Gone Wild.

 “ With Sammy and Ben in contention over a forced apology regarding the Bass Tournament, a full moon causes all hell to break loose on the outskirts of King Falls.” 

I have to admit that Episode 4 is another nailed on enjoyable slice of Paranormal radio broadcasting with a nicely delivered slithering of humour intermixed throughout. 

The relationship (in other words, bickering) between the host Sammy, and his erstwhile producer, Ben is beginning to flower into one of the anticipated centre-pieces of each show. Here in Wolves Gone Wild, the subject of their latest tiff is Sammy’s reluctance in playing yet again a pre-recorded apology in regard to the ‘controversial ballyhoo’ that their previous broadcast about the newly discovered body at the Bass tournament caused.

I won’t say much more about this episode – I’m a spoiler hater remember? However I will quickly mention two things. The trailer for the announcement of the retirement of fellow King Falls AM presenter, the aged Esther Rawlings is pure comedy gold. The description of her as “King Falls' most bitchin Granny” and her description of her show where she’ll be “Talking about life, talking about love, and crocheting a mean doily while we’re all at it” is once again priceless.

Then the Wolves start to go wild, but you’ll have to listen to the show to catch that part in all its paranormal and eerie glory. 

The link for this week’s episode can be found at 

http://traffic.libsyn.com/kingfallsam/KingFalls_s01_ep04_master_v04_mixdown_v04.mp3

 

Ayla, its Kickstarter and interview with the lovely Jennifer Lynn Warren

This week 5D was contacted by a couple of friends with some very interesting news of their latest film venture, AYLA and the newly launched crowdfunding campaign which has recently been released to support it. The message came from the redoubtable John Portonova, one member of the Seattle-based production company, The October people, who suggested that if I wasn't too busy I might be interested in the latest project that he and the company were co-producing. Too busy? Moi? Doing what I love (i.e forcing my self-indulgent nerdsims on the rest of the unsuspecting world) means I can always find time for even more self-indulgence. So of course I said to count me in & tell me more.

John went on to explain that he was contacting me because the crowdfunding  campaign for the a supernatural thriller Ayla, had gone live this just this week. He told me that he wanted to reach out to me to see if I'd be interested in talking with anyone involved with the film for 5D The Fifth Dimension. Of course John couldn't resist further tempting me by further mentioning that the film will boast a cast made up of established faces in the indie genre world and so he thought you might be interested in speaking with one or two of them too. The little minx, he knew I blooming would!

A little later that day I then received an email from another friend, Elias, who had directed the wonderful body-torture film GUT (2012) - my musings upon which for which can be found RIGHT HERE. Included in the email was the press release for Ayla....which can be read as follows

"Jennifer Lynn Warren. ("American Horror Story", "Creature") and Andrew Sensenig ("Powers", "Upstream Color") have joined the cast of the supernatural thriller "Ayla". Also on board are Tristan Risk ("American Mary", "The Editor"), Nicholas Wilder ("Gut"), Bill Oberst Jr. ("Resolution", "Scary or Die"), and Miles Joris-Peyrafitte ("Gut").

"Ayla" centers on Elton (Nicholas Wilder), a man haunted by the mysterious death of his 4-year-old sister, who brings her back to life thirty years later as an adult woman, with dire consequences. 

Elias ("Gut", "Dark") scripted and will direct. Matt Medisch, Jeremy Berg, and John Portanova of The October People ("Found", "The Device", "Valley of the Sasquatch") will produce in partnership with Clayface Pictures ("Dark"). 

Production is planned for this fall, with the film to be shot in Seattle and the surrounding areas"

Now I will be completely honest with you, amongst the list of familiar names to this blog, one name immediately triggered in my fevered little brain, slapped me in the face with a wet fish and downright demanded that I try and arrange an interview with them. But before I go on to that let me tell you just a little about the Kickstarter project that was launched just a few days ago.

The team are hoping to reach a target of $30,000 by the time the campaign finishes in a month or so's time. The contributions will be used to hire the cast and crew at an honest wage, secure locations, dress sets, rent production gear, cover FX costs, and enable many, many other necessities from the start of production all the way through post-production and distribution.

Like any Kickstarter movie campaign worth it's salt, there is a veritable feast of incentives & offers available for a wide range of backers. Though don't just take my word for it, at the time of writing this section (13th June) there have already been contributions of well over $2000. Check out the link just below to have a better look yourself at the Crowdfunding page.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/346065847/346280241?token=6d49e666

Now, I wrote a few moments ago that one particular cast member caught my attentions. This happened for two reasons. Firstly; on her resume was an appearance in one of my favourite horror TV franchises of recent years - American Horror story (in her case, the 2nd series 'Coven'. The second reason for wanting to chat with her was due to part of her IMDB bio......see below for yourselves regarding the very lovely Jennifer Lynn Warren.

Jennifer Lynn Warren

"Born and raised in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Jennifer attributes her youthful appearance to her beautiful grandmother, Joan Keith. She got her degree in Theater from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a minor in dance. She has also obtained her certificate from the Society of American Fight Directors and is Proficient in Unarmed, Rapier & Dagger, and Quarterstaff. Jennifer's career soon took off in Hollywood south, where she made her premier in the film business before moving out to California".

Honest to god, I want to talk to any actress who is 'Proficient in Unarmed, Rapier & Dagger, and Quarterstaff!'

So with the redoubtable Mr Portanova as initial go-between, I was able to chat with actress Jennifer Lynn Warren. However, I not fully sure if she had any rapiers, daggers or Quaterstaffs on her person during the interview. 

Q) Before I ask you about your career and current project, Ayla, tell us a little about your background before you got into the 'business '. (as we business people say).

I am a jack of many trades. I’ve worked in computer repairs, production coordinating, Grip, Waitress, and I still train and work as a belly dancer. And as you’ve found out…

Q) A little birdie tells me you are something of a qualified stunt person. How excellent! Is this true?

I’ve got a some training, it’s true. I tend to be the one they call in when they need someone who is talented as an actor but also doesn’t need to be doubled with a stunt person. I even swam with real Alligators for the film Creature. I’ve also had a lot of training with swords and would love for that to play into a film someday. 

Q) You must get fed up of people asking you about your role as Borquita LaLaurie in American Horror Story: Coven....... So I'll ask you anyway! What are your abiding memories of appearing in what has become a modern iconic series?

American Horror Story: Coven

I remember my audition and my booking very vividly. I was a huge fan of the show, and I was working as an office PA for Dermaphoria. I thought, oh I’m never going to get this, and just went in, had fun, and went back to work. A few days later I got the call when I was on set passing out paychecks. I wasn’t allowed to tell a soul, and i had the stupidest grin on my face all day. When I started shooting I told my boss I couldn’t work on certain days, cause there’s an awesome thing happening, and I can’t tell you because of my NDA. It was good enough for them

Q) You became one UGLY Zombie in that show! How did you cope with the hours it must have taken to apply the zombie make-up?

Most of my call times were at 4am, and the crew’s call time was at 8am. So by the time everyone else got there, Christopher Nelson and I had already been working what for most people is a half day. Of course, he was doing all this amazing craftsmanship while I just stayed as still as possible. Applying the makeup was easy, but keeping it intact through the day by being meticulous how we ate and drank and not really being allowed to touch anything was the challenge.

Q) Again, I'm sure you've been asked a thousand times about working with Kathy Bates, but again  I'll ask anyway! Did you feel intimidated before filming your scenes with her?

I was nervous until the director (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon) said action. After that, it was so easy. When you are surrounded by artists at the top of the game, doing your job is simple. Kathy Bates is a super sweet, wonderful and very kind woman. I simply adored working with her. 

Q) How familiar were you before being cast in Ayla with the work of director, Elias and also of The October People production team?

I wasn’t yet familiar, but after getting myself a signed copy of GUT, I am now!

Q) So what can you tell us about your role in Ayla?

My character Alex is in love with a man who has an obsession that destroys their relationship. And what’s tantalizing is that  it’s an obsession she almost understands, but it may  not be enough. Or maybe it is. Guess you’ll just have to see the film!

Q) Any idea if you'll be sharing any scenes with the wonderful (and friend of mine) Bill Oberst Jr. ?

Well, that would be amazing, but I’m not sure how much info I can give out, so for the moment, no comment!

Q) So go on, convince us..... Why should people help towards funding the Kickstarter campaign for Ayla?

Because it’s sexy. It’s a story that hasn’t been told. It’s a taboo concept. You’ll claw at your seat. You’ll be forced to face your inner demons and things you don’t want to admit to yourself. The script is pure, raw courage. You’re either here to participate in life, or sit by the sidelines. You decide if you have what it takes to back this project!

Q) Besides Ayla, what are your plans for the future?

I have another film in the works, but it’s still hush hush for now. In the meantime, I have my own horror series I am writing and will produce called Darken I am hoping to have done by 2017

I'd like to thank Jennifer from taking time away from her belly dancing, Alligator swimming, sword -swashbuckling and acting endeavours to spend a little time in answering my questions.

Jennifer's website can be found RIGHT HERE

Her IMDB page is at https://www.facebook.com/jenniferlynnwarren?fref=ts

OH.My.God.

You can like Jennifer's FACEBOOK page at https://www.facebook.com/jenniferlynnwarren?fref=ts

The Twitter handle thingy for Jennifer is @JenniferLynnWarren

You can find the Facebook page for Ayla RIGHT HERE

The website for the October People can be found at http://www.theoctoberpeople.net

Granite City Comic Con pt2: Interview with acting legend - Shane Rimmer

The Intrepid blogger sees the empty chair and with it...his chance!

So there I was, wandering around the various comic book delights of Granite City Comic Con having just returned from grabbing a quick lunch & finally getting my hands on some cash.....there were goodies a plenty to buy as well as me doing my Fifth Dimension shtick, you know. 

To be honest, I thought I’d missed my chance on interviewing the couple of guests that I dearly wanted to speak to. It was my own fault for becoming lost in the visual magnificence of the endless Cosplay and then taking time off to feed my face with food. The fact is that I had a craving for a double cheeseburger. I know, Stuart Andrerson, Renaissance man - that's me. It was now nearing 2pm and the queues of people waiting to get into GCCC still snaked around the Transition Extreme building. It seemed that the organisers had their hands as full as ever in keeping the event as well ordered as it had been so far. They were working tirelessly. This however was a problem for me.

I was kicking myself. The prospect of buying numerous comic related goodies and experiencing the Cosplay magnificence were always suitable enticements for the day’s enjoyment, the main focus for this here blogger had always been quite simple. I wanted to chat with a comic book writer who had unwittingly been one of the key influences in cementing my love of science fiction, Alan Grant. In addition to the Judge Dredd/Anderson maestro I also wanted desperately to talk to a character actor of stage, television and big screen who I have genuinely admired for many a year. I thought I had lost out on the chance to chat to these gents, but everyone was just too darned busy. To say I was slightly bereft and chastising myself for missing out would be something of an understatement.

Thankfully the day, and with it my ego, was saved at that moment as co-event organiser Morgan Black came passing by. “Did you get those interviews sorted” he asked, whilst simultaneously doing 178 other tasks that required his attention at that moment in time. “No, I havn’t” I sheepishly replied, thinking it best that I didn’t mention that I had been actually thinking of my stomach for the past three quarters of an hour. “Right, let’s get this done” he boomed as I led me upstairs to a room where fellow organiser Chris Robertson was hiding in a darkened corner talking to another press type person. This particular press type person actually seemed the genuine article (as opposed to me) as he spoke with an authority and used words like ‘my news deadline’……show off.

A few moments later the redoubtable Chris managed to get me some precious time with Alan Grant, who was taking a few moment away from his book signing responsibilities. That particular interview will follow in a future article, because in this piece I want to feature the other main target of my day. After speaking to Alan I realised I was getting the hang of this press intrusion lark and decided to badger Morgan for a few moments with Shane Rimmer. The problem was that Shane was sat at his signing desk having just spent some time with some very satisfied fans after having his picture taken with them. “Could he just to the interview here?” Morgan asked him and Shane, being the gentleman that he is, kindly agreed. So I plonked myself down next to him in Alan Grant’s empty chair and proceeded to chat with the legend himself.

"Shane Rimmer was born on May 28, 1932 in Toronto, Canada. He is an actor and writer, known for Dr. Strangelove (1964), Batman Begins (2005) and Dark Shadows (2012)

He Appeared in three different James Bond movies You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds Are Forever (1971) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) as three different characters (two of them uncredited roles).

Has acted in both the Doctor Who Franchise and Eon James Bond Franchise.

He appeared in Superman (1978*, Superman II (1980) and Superman III (1983) but played a different character in each film.

As of 2015, has appeared in six films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Dr. Strangelove (1964), Star Wars : Episode IV – A New Hope (1977), Julia (1977), Reds (1981), Ghandi (1982) and Out of Africa (1985). Of those, the two latter are winners in the category." (IMDB)

 
I would recommend that you visit for yourself his IMDB page to get a proper taste of the man's quite remarkable career. For example, the above bio doesn't include perhaps his most iconic work in terms of science fiction, as the voice of Scott Tracey from Gerry Anderson's legendary Thunderbirds series. His body of work is frankly staggering.

What I hope comes from the interview below is a sense of warmth and humour from Shane as he gave me a few minutes out of his unbelievably busy day. The thing that won’t come across here,  simply because I’ve toned them down, is my lame attempt at questioning. Many of us don’t like seeing ourselves in photo’s and many actors (such as Shane, you will see) don’t like to watch themselves on screen. 

I have discovered since starting this blog over the last couple of years is that I hate with a passion listening to my voice and manner in my interviews and have come to the conclusion that I’m a bit rubbish at asking questions. I tend to ramble a little.....thank god I never do that in my blog eh?.....er.......what? 
For once in my life I need to remember that it’s not all me, me, me……it nearly is, but not all.

  

Anyhoo, the interview....... 

FD) So events like this, do you find them overwhelming, a thrill?

SR) No, I love them....I tell you why. Because usually you're on the end of some sort of communication, an email, a letter or a photo and its just nice to get in and mix with the people who've actually taken the trouble and come in. No, No, I've never for a moment get fed up with the people who partake....and I tell you what, there's a helluva lot of people here......

FD) Yeah you've probably not seen but there are still queues all around the back to get in - it's great!

SR) Yeah I saw that, god and I mean for the organisers to keep a quite good sense of order is something.

FD) What do you think of all the uniforms, and Cosplay?

SR) (lAUGHS) Aww, it's hoot!

Warlords of Atlantis 

FD) I came across quite by accident the other night on TV 'Warlords of Atlantis' - I don't know why I was so surprised but despite the rubber monsters it's held up pretty well, hugely enjoyable. What are your memories of filming that?

SR) I remember damn near drowning on it. The wardrobe people put the wrong suit on me....we had to come out of a diving bell and swim back to the schooner and they put a canvas type thing on me. It was a fine outfit - but for only on dry land (laughs) and I started to sink! It was just too heavy and the special effects crew were down on the bottom doing some camera work of some of us going along on the surface and they rescued me!....I just could not keep myself afloat. That was the only bit of heavy stuff in that film (laughs).

FD) Do you ever watch your own work?

SR) I see them maybe once (smiles)……but I don’t like to make a habit of it

FD) Is it a case that you don’t like to see yourself on screen?

SR) I like to check the performance and see what I’m doing, if it fits the character etc

FD) So you’re the biggest critic of your own performances?

SR) Yep, well somebody has to be and I think you really need to keep tack on how you’re coping with these things. Every job is different , so making sure you’re not repeating. Unless you get yourself into some Thunderbirds stuff! (laughs).

The Real Alan Grant - looks NOTHING like me

Now at this point the interview took a slight turn for the surreal. I was just about to ask my next piercing and inciteful question when I heard someone beside me say “Excuse me, Alan…….. Alan Grant, would it be possible to have  a few minutes with you for an interview ?" At first I ignored it and tried to press on with my question for Mr Rimmer. However, the voice was polite yet insistant and this time the same request was accompanied by a gentle prod to my arm. It was the same self press type guy I had seen earlier talking about news deadlines.

To say I was a little bemused would be an undertstatement. That was until I suddenly realised that I was sat in Mr Grants chair, with Mr Grant’s table in front of me with a bloody great big advertisement poster saying ALAN GRANT on it. Now I will readily admit that for a brief moment I was tempted, almost painfully and severely tempted, to say “OK, yes you can interview me”. After all, the press type guy had obviously no real idea what Alan Grant actually looked like…..believe me, there is no resemblance. However I resisted the idea to pass myself off as the writer of Judge Dredd et al…… oh the fun I could have had!

After admitting that I wasn’t Alan Grant and had merely stolen his signing station for a few moments I managed to restart my line of piercing questioning to an equally bemused and rather amused, Shane Rimmer

FD) Thunderbirds, it weird because it must have been just another job at the time….but why has it held such a huge level of interest to this day?

SR) I don’t know….it had a mix. Ya know, it was a sort of family entertainment on the one hand it had all this Space hi-tech on the other hand and somehow they managed to meld it into one big product.

FD) And your still clearly associated with it as much as anything you’ve ever done?

A) I wouldn’t be here without it – very thankful.

FD) You had this amazingly varied career  over the years – any regrets?

SR) Nah, I’m quite happy. There’s enough variation to keep you interested and you never get the part 100% right so it all has worked out. While some of the edge has gone, I’m doing more voice work and things just all work out. Nowadays  I don’t think I could face doing something like a stage production now…….(smiles)…..’what the bloody hell is the next line??!!’ (laughs). So I think you find  your niche, so I’ve been through a lot of films, a lot of theatre and television so I think you end up doing what, you know, truly think is your best sort of work. There’s no use in trying to achieve something when you’re not the same as you were 20 years ago (laughs)

Shane with the best Bond ever....yes he was.

FD) In regard to James Bond, The Spy who loved me is actually my favourite Bond film. Why do you think generally Roger Moore has never seemed to get the same level of respect that, say Connery had?

SR) Well I think each one takes his place, Connery you can’t diminish his performances, he created the role and that’s tough! When you’re second or third in line you’ve been able to watch those performances and choose to do it very differently. Roger was very clever, he knew he couldn’t compete with Connery and his very tough exterior so he became very charming and articulate…which he was anyway, in fact I don’t think he Is acting for one bloody word (laughs).

FD) Can I ask you very quickly, you worked under Stanley Kubrick in Dr, Stranglove. What was he like as a director….everything we’ve heard about him?

SR) Yeah, a strange multi-personal personality. He loved to take chances and in Hollywood he finally went because every time they’d figure ‘Oh now what’s he gonna do?’ Because he stirred up the border but still made them a lot of money, a helluva lot of money so were loathe to say ‘Ok that’s enough’. They were happy to do a lot with that with the kind of money he was bringing in.

On the other hand he was a photographer, that’s what he started up as, with the American Look magazine or life, or  something. He was meticulous with about that, he knew exactly to the nth degree how far to go with that camera…when to call it a stop and when to continue for a few more seconds. But he was available to everybody on that floor though the only person that he had a little bit of trouble with was Peter Sellers. They got into such a violent argument on the flight deck which was open for the cameraman, and he fell and kept on going. It was 10 ft to the floor, cement and that’s why he finished the picture in a wheelchair.

FD) Thank you for your time, Shane. Its been a major thrill to meet you, it really has.

SR) Thank you. Well it’s a nice situation here with the people and most of them having fun. Its been a pleasure.

I would once again like to thanks - to Chris Robertson and Morgan Black for manfully facilitating the interview and to Shane Rimmer himself for putting up with me for 10 minutes.

Shane Rimmer's website can be found at http://www.shanerimmer.com/

King Falls AM - A (possibly) fictional paranormal radio podcast

After the wonderfully surreal excitement of last week's Comic Con here in Aberdeen it was nice to get back to what I really do best. However, due to certain restraining orders and official recommendations from the court judge I'm not allowed to talk about that. So I decided to get back to some regular review type blogging instead.

Now, I'm not one who believes in luck, serendipity or cosmically inspired chance occurrences - a coincidence is simply just a coincidence. So when earlier this week I was wondering if something new or different for 5D. The Fifth Dimension would be heading my way, and then lo and behold something different did indeed come my way the next day, well I was simply very pleased. It was just coincidence, albeit a very nice and interesting coincidence.

I received a request all the way from Los Angeles (that's in the U.S. you know) asking whether I would be interested in working with a group of creative-type individuals in regard to the promotion of their paranormal radio podcast, King Falls AM.

What is this King Falls AM thing that they speak of?

Well, apparently King Falls AM is a fictional (or is it?) narrative podcast that centres on a lonely little mountain town’s late-night AM talk-radio show and it’s paranormal, peculiar and weird happenings & inhabitants. The guys behind the concept are aiming to make their show the first (possibly) fictional podcast to successfully syndicate itself, much along the same vein as your typical successful TV, radio or web series. In other words, they want to make this show BIG!.... and why the heck not?

I must admit that the request hit a raw nerve of excitement straight away having been something of a late night radio phone-in addict over the years. Admittedly, I haven't listened to much from from the States, but I'm guessing the twilight hour shows across the pond are much like the ones we have over here. If you've never woken up at 2am and wondered what you could do to fill the Insomnia drenched early hours, I would suggest you find a local radio call-in show. It's difficult to convey the range of truly weird and wonderful human beings, with their calls and conversations, that I've heard over the air through the years. It has to be said that until you have borne witness to such an event.....well you haven't lived.

In my experience, it's as if every weird and ultra-eccentric in the vicinity comes out of their normal daytime hibernation to discuss anything from a myriad of personal conspiracy theories, their plans for easing the world of its problems (which often entails some form of racial/sexual/religious genocide) or what other weird and strange ideas they want to share with the host. Honestly people, the collection of individuals you can hear call in to radio stations at 2am in the morning I swear are often from another planet - I love it.

Anyhoo, the King Falls AM shows themselves are typically 10-15 minutes in length and so far we're still in the early days with three episodes having been aired so far. The team have only just released their third episode this past Monday, which has seemingly garnered a lot of great feedback and are now building on their early success by currently working on community building. They are looking for affiliates to syndicate the show with, people to review the show or just simple networking allies. Well that means me then!

Episode one see's new host (and newcomer to The town) Sammy Steven's first show in the 2am until six slot at King Falls AM. He's taking over from local legend talk show host, 'Diamond' Dave Alvarez,  who has left after 18 years in the broadcasting seat. For Sammy's first stint, producer Ben Arnold reluctantly helps co-host while the King Falls residents call in about the mysterious lights emanating off Route 72.

As his first show progresses, Sammy begins to realise that this quaint little town and it's inhabitants are not all that they seem to be.....

As I mentioned earlier, the first couple of episodes seem to be creating a good amount of interest out there in Internetland - and I can see (or rather hear......see what I did there?) why that might be the case. The feel of the broadcast is nicely convincing in its tone as the podcast begins with the wrapping up of the preceding radio programme 'Jet' Sebastian's Jazz corner - complete with his 'cool cats talk' before our show then starts. Each episode I've listened so far authentically includes a couple of commercials and a range of other local radio touches which may well convince some who are listening that this is actually a podcast from a 'real' radio show.....which it may well be.

In episode 1 there are immediately some nice additions of humour as the 'outsider' Sammy is immediately more than a little perplexed with his new world as the 'big city boy in a new small town'. The exchanges between him and his seemingly naive and idealist producer Ben are excellent - Sammy's reaction, to Ben's genuinely proud proclamation that Kings Fall has been voted six years running as the 'best small town in America' by the Kings Fall chamber of commerce, is priceless..."The TOWN voted the TOWN as the best small TOWN in America??!!"

Sammy's big city opinion of small town boy Ben is equally dismissive and somewhat patronising in regard to Ben's off-air wish to be a world-renowned journalist but then saying that never for a moment would he consider living anywhere else. Ben's reaction to Sammy's mocking tones seems on the surface suitably vacuous, with his reply that "If you know anything about King Falls, then you know that everything you ever needed to talk about, is right here". However, as the conversation progresses and the calls start, the country boy producer's claims may have more than a hint of paranormal accuracy about them.

I don't want to give any more of the things that take place in the episode - but if you like your mix of the chilling paranormal intertwined with reflections on small town life and all laced with a very nice sprinkling of laugh out loud humour then you'll love King Falls AM. 

If you don't trust my word (and you would be wise not to) then click on the link below to listen to the opening episode in full.

Episode 1 - May 1, 2015soundcloud.com|By king-falls-am

I'm very happy to also say that, after some intense and violent negotiations that were only successfully concluded after I won an across the pond cyber arm-wrestling match the news is that 5D. The Fifth Dimension is now an affiliate of King Falls AM. This means that I will be featuring the episodes as they appear on my soon to be revamped website and will be putting together regular articles on the podcast series. 

The general release dates for the episodes will be on the 1st and 15th of each month and I will be hopefully be also getting an early chance to pass onto you good people some special inside information and details about the ongoing experiences of Sammy Stevens as he struggles to come to terms with his new life in the beautiful but very strange King Falls.

In the meantime you can also check out the next two episodes via the King Falls AM Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/KingFallsAM?fref=ts

The 5D experience of Granite City Comic Con - 2015.

They're the law & you'd better believe it....

It was somewhere around this time last year when I first heard the whispers. A group of fellow nerd-like individuals had decided that it might be a something of a wheeze if they could put together a bit of a comic celebration here in the Aberdeen area. After all, there wasn't really anything of the sort this far north and it was a decent possibility that there might be a few individuals in the locality who might be interested in attending such an event. The reasoning of the group was simple, if Aberdeen can sustain three comic book shops there must be enough people in their circle of friends and acquaintances to warrant some sort of comic book celebratory event.

The notion that there may indeed be some demand for such a thing became pretty clear soon after the announcement of Granite City Comic Con when the newly formed Facebook page acquired over a thousand likes in the first few days alone. Within days and weeks of the announcement that Transition Extreme in Aberdeen would host the inaugural GCCC event, the momentum of interest quickly and noticeably increased.

Of course, me being me, I was eager to get in on the action as I feverishly continued my crusade of holding onto the coat-tails of those more talented and successful than myself (i.e. mostly everybody else on the planet) and thereby bask in their reflected glory. As a consequence, over the last year I managed to successfully stalk and pester the organisers into giving me a little access to them and their plans. They foolishly accepted my friend requests on Facebook and then invited me and my blog (it strangely enough goes wherever I go) to the official press launch event a couple of months ago. Not only that, I further managed to convince them that I was someone vaguely and ever so slightly important by being offered a press pass for the big day itself. I know, I can feel the wave of hate from you all even as I write this.

Queuing in between the rain showers

Now, I regard myself as a reasonably half-intelligent type of individual, not greatly intelligent, but enough to get me by to enable me to feed and dress myself with only a modicum of help.  So I could see quite clearly early on in the proceedings that the event was going to be popular, indeed the GCCC Facebook event page reflected this. I've been saying for a couple of years now that the idea of being a 'nerd' or a geek' is far more acceptable nowadays then it ever was, indeed the lifestyle of comics, Cosplay and superhero worship is now almost something of a badge of honour to be wore with ill-disguised pride. The problem is that people saying that they are interested and then subsequently acting upon that said interest are two completely different matters. For example, when I'm invited on the office work night out I always say that I'm going - but rarely do. I know, I'm an unsociable so-and-so. I also know that you are probably right now in complete disbelief about the fact that I'm ever invited anywhere.....behave yourself.

However I will honestly say that I was caught completely unawares by the level of genuine interest on the day. As I walked down towards Transition Extreme last Saturday, with about 10 minutes to spare before the doors were due to be opened, I took a gasp of air when I saw the numbers of people waiting in line EVEN BEFORE the event was due to start. In fact I think I said out loud to myself the initial words that came into my head......."we're gonna need a bigger boat"

In all honesty, I should have realised something sooner when parking my car some way away from Transition on a relatively quiet city street. As I opened my door three individuals walked by with a simple “Morning” greeting - apart from the fact that they were all Marvel characters and wandering the city streets of Aberdeen in all their Cosplay glory, it was your standard Saturday morning in the Granite City.

Mr Black smiling....pressure, what pressure?

So there was little ol’ me – stood outside Transition Extreme in sight of the front of the queue while flashing my press pass in order to dissipate any possible feelings of hatred from those beautiful and hardy souls that had patiently queued for ages before the 9am start. As look would have it, one of the main organisers, Morgan Black, was happening by at the time. He had yet to acquire the look of fevered but determined “I need to be in 575 different places right now!"  that he and the other organisers wore as the day was to move on....so one manly handshake and hug later I was inside the main reception area just minutes before the grand opening was to take place.

My initial plan had been to get in early and have a quick scoot around the cons various offerings and grab some goodies for myself, see the goodies that were on offer amongst the stalls spaced around the two floors. However it soon became clear that;

a) There were far too many goodies on show for me to buy before the patiently queueing hordes entered the building.

b) I had forgotten to bring any cash

I was in a quandary, part of me wanted to get out of there and help myself to some cash from the nearest Cash machine, the other more responsible part of me thought it might be wise to at least act like a proper press-pass holder and take some photo type pictures. For once the responsible part of me won out, a genuine rarity it has to be said, and so I decided to put aside my gluttonous nerdy greed aside for a little while and got out the very posh and sophisticated camera out that I had borrowed for the day and started clicking away……..well actually I didn’t start clicking away, because I hadn’t bothered beforehand to listen properly to the instructions I’d been given a few days before on how to use it. It was only after a few minutes of blindly fumbling around like an idiot that I figured out how to use it – well actually it was a fellow press guy type person who I’d pleaded with to help me that solved my problem. He took one look at it, flicked one switch and I was good to go. He also gave me a distinct pitying look that was probably quite deserved.

The Starks of Winterfell....I know my stuff.....

And boy am I glad that I stopped beforehand to witness those first few moments of wonderful waves of excited visitors as they entered the building. One of the original aims for GCCC was for the event to be as family friendly as possible – well that was certainly achieved…..and some! I was utterly gobsmacked by the level of preparation and time that had gone into the Cosplay outfits – some of them were inspired, even more were sheer genius. So much so that for a couple of hours I simply wandered around randomly snapping pictures from my own camera, or being asked by random Cosplayers to take pictures of them and their new best fellow Cosplaying friends.

This feeling of rampant Bon Amie (that’s French, you know) was one of the defining elements of the day – both inside Transition Extreme and outside in the queue. Yes, some have commented on the length of the queues and the 2 or 3 hours it took for them to be admitted – and believe me I feel for them. However, the level of humour and goodwill seemed (mostly) as endless as the queue. Yes there were some who eventually had enough of the wait and the frequent rain storms. However most people I encountered seemed to acknowledge that everybody – and by that I mean the organisers, the helpers, the hangers-on (me) AND the public – had been caught out by the eventual level of interest on the day. Nobody but nobody expected the numbers that turned up. Some have professed that they knew that a larger venue was going to be needed and that the organisers should have realised this and changed the site. Hmmm, I must admit I don’t recall seeing any comments like that before the event…..hindsight is a wonderfully handy thing for some people isn’t it?

The simple fact is that approximately 4000 people made it into the Con on the day - which is something of a monumental achievement on behalf of everybody.I cannot praise highly enough the work of all those involved in how they ran what became a hugely challenging day. The level of good humour and determination on display from all the people working on behalf of GCCC was astounding. I take my hat off to you all. And if you don't believe me, well a certain Mr Shane Rimmer said pretty much the same thing to me in the interview that I managed to get with him.

The legend that is Shane Rimmer

It was part-way through the afternoon when I managed to get an interview with two of the main guests – Shane Rimmer and Alan Grant (Thank you Morgan and Chris for sorting that out in the middle of the mayhem, you superstars!). I won’t say too much more about that particular portion of the day as the interviews will feature in subsequent Fifth Dimension articles (Once I’ve finished transcribing the blooming things). All I will say for now is that the 10 minutes I spent with Mr Rimmer and the seven minutes I spent with Mr Grant were more than enough to turn me back into a floundering fawning fan boy. The fact that both were complete gentlemen and put up with my “tell me why you’re so fab!” line of questions says everything about them.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in haze of picture taking, talking with friends such as the redoubtable Greg Swan from Shmu FM, and experiencing the visual splendour that was the Cosplay competition in the deliciously surreal surroundings of the skate park at Transition. Genius.

I know what you’re wondering…..”Did you manage to get your deserving hands on some goodies?” Well thank you for asking, but yes I did. Not only did I get some signed prints from the wonderful Gary Erskine, but I was able to get an original sketch from the redoubtable Monty Nero…..which shall now be framed and sold in a few years for gazillions of pounds (the sketch, that is – Not Monty). If that wasn’t enough I also parted with plenty of my hard earned cash for a very large selection of comics and memorabilia….Now that took a lot of explaining when I got home…..

The Cosplay competition -  I went as clueless press guy

I'm aware that there may be some cynics out there in Cynicland who may think that I’m only saying this because I know the guys involved – but that would be completely untrue and unfair. There are far too many people to praise for their efforts, so hopefully I won’t offend anybody who I miss out. However special mention has to go to Morgan Black, Chris Robertson, Colin Penny, Liam ‘Lemmy' Matthews and his fellow lawgivers for making not just the inaugural GCCC a huge success, but also in helping this middle-aged nerd feel like he belonged to something quite special that day.

Next year GCCC is going to be even bigger and bolder…… I can’t wait.

Mr Robertson & Mr Penny - organisers extraordinaires

Bugger, I've been rumbled.....

The legend that is Alan Grant

A Pokemon and a stormtrooper

Gary Erskine signing my prints

 

Monty Nero with my sketch