And now Super-Man...

 

How do you know if you're reading an original Amazing Spider-Man #3 or a reprint?
Look on page 8.

Congolese wrestlers.

 

Out of Focus has a fantastic gallery of Congolese wrester portraits by Colin Delfosse. The gallery is HERE.
The wrestling sounds like Mexican lucha libre, with the financing of a small backyard wrestling collective, laced with the local black magic traditions and political hot topics.

Body-building, and even black magic enthusiasts fight for glory in makeshift rings. They come from the streets and their charisma commands respect and admiration. But the heros of the ring are modest in victory : « Kobeta libanga papa mundele » [we manage, white man].

I'm sorry I cannot remember who sent this link to me. It was bookmarked a while back and I just found it. Let me know if you sent it over.

Daily poster: Ilsa, The Wicked Warden.

 

Ilsa, The Wicked Warden.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Ilsa, the Wicked Warden. Not only is it the first Jess Franco film that I ever saw, but it was the first Lina Romay film. I instantly fell in love with Lina Romay. She was so cute with her pixie haircut and making the main character lick her asshole.  Her character was a perfectly acted example of the old bully cycle. She is thrashed and thrashes those below her.
The best of the Ilsa series.

Poster courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art.

R.I.P. Lina Romay.

I was away on vacation when I heard the sad news that Lina Romay passed away. Romay is primarily known for her work with director Jess Franco. However, Romay worked with many other directors and even directed a dozen films herself.
Lina Romay was Jess Franco's muse and in turn she worked in just about every capacity on a film set for Franco. A self-professed exhibitionist, she gave everything she had to her roles. Exploitation, softcore, hardcore, she did it all. In El ojete de Lulu, her anus is the protagonist of the film. It talks. It smokes. It has a fun fime with an Oscar statuette. Interesting, to say the least.
I've thought of the Romay - Franco romance as second only to the Johnny Cash - June Carter soulmate tag-team. Like Franco says in the above video, "...it was just a complete feeling from the beginning."
The first film I saw Lina Romay in was Ilsa, The Wicked Warden. The trailer is below. Naturally, it is edited, but the tone is all X-Rated. It is still extremely rough, cruel, disgusting, and mean spirited, in other words, perfect. Lina is fantastic as the warden's kept rat, Juana. And the person who dubbed her voice is horribly, perfect.

Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini.

Special effects grand master, Tom Savini's book, Grand Illusions was one of my many bibles as a child. The book is tantamount to a magician's tell-all. Tom Savini writes in detail, exactly how he created each monster, murder, and machination for each film he worked on.

He gives the recipe for the fake blood he used in each of his films.
He goes step-by-step on how to make fake fangs.
I knew how to slit a throat and drive an arrow through a neck before I was actually allowed, by my parents, to see the films.

I also got to meet Mr. Savini very briefly at my one and only Hollywood party, put on by Film Threat Magazine. Most of the party was spent listening to Frank Stallone talk about hookers, 8-balls, stuffed buffaloes, and Universal horror films.

Grand Illusions is an amazing book and it still sits on my bookshelf.

While Fangoria produced a decent documentary on Savini in the 80's, someone is finally giving him the star treatment he deserves. Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini is in post-production and needs our help.

They only need about three hundred more bucks to obtain their Kickstarter goal. There are some pretty sweet goodies for donators as well. Check it.

Below is Part One of Scream Greats #1: Tom Savini, the Fangoria produced documentary:

Dead Astronaut Comics.

 

Found this on Hey Okay. Not sure if the poster, "Curtis" is also the artist. Too funny.

Daily poster: Screamers.

 

Screamers.
Screamers was originally titled, Island of the Fishmen when it was released in Italy. On a remote island, a Dr. Moreau-ish scientist discovers a way to turn men into amphibianish creatures in an effort to curb overpopulation and allow people to live under the sea. The scientists partner has discovered Atlantis. He commands his partners creatures to plunder the lost city.
Two groups of folks crash onto the island. One a group of convicts, the other a group of dirty do-gooders.
A voodoo priestess shows up. A volcano goes off.
The film was recut for American audiences and released as Something Waits in the Dark. Even with new gore effects, the film flopped.
The film was recut again with a scene of a man being turned inside out added. The whole inside out dude became the advertising staple and the film was released a third time as Screamers.
I remember seeing the Screamers advertisement in the newspaper. My neighbor's mom read the tag line for me. It scared the guts out of me. I was so intrigued and scared of someone being turned inside out. 'And why does he still have his pants on? How does it work? Did all of his guts fall out already, I just see muscles and bone? Where are the damn guts?'
I still haven't seen the film. I will get on it.


Poster courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art.
As a bonus, here is the wonderful poster for the original Island of the Fishmen.

Barry McGee can't get outside.

I can't really describe this video without using terms that Barry McGee may find offensive.
THE DUDE IS SO DAMN HUMBLE, ENDEARING AND CUTE!
There, I said it. Please don't beat me up, Mr. McGee.

Barry McGee talks about moving inside galleries and away from his roots in street art.

The piece he's sitting in front of is in the SFMOMA, and it's one of my favorite pieces in their permanent collection. It's also one of three pieces from the 21st century, regularly on display. "Modern art" my ass. HAHAHAH. That is an argument for another post.

Great video. Watch it.

Demon in the Clouds.

Here's a short film starring my old film buddy, Thomas.

We graduated from San Jose State's Film program together. The gent who made the film, Steve Erickson, also graduated from the program. I had the pleasure to work with Steve on a couple of projects.

Cool little film.

The exploding porcelain of Martin Klimas.

Big Menace found these photographs of dropped porcelain warriors over on ufunk.
The photographer is Martin Klimas and his site is HERE.
I get lost in these photos, they are perfect. They feel like we are seeing some sort of time machine that can take all periods of time in a fight and condense them to one picture. They are just about to fight but you can see the strike and the damage as well.

Raiding the Lost Ark.

I posted this fellow's documentary on Star Wars last year.

He's just come out with his autopsy of The Raiders of the Lost Ark, Raiding the Lost Ark. Simply amazing.

It is a HUGE file. To get it to work, I had to click "HD" and turn HD off.

His Vimeo page is HERE.

Daily poster: Reverend Colt.

 

Reverend Colt.
Wild East is releasing a double feature DVD with Reverend Colt and the follow up (which actually came out four years earlier) Vengeance is a Colt .45. If you don't recognize that last title, you may know the film as Son of Django. It comes out today. Check it out HERE.
A former gunman and now man of the cloth comes to Tuscon. Unfortunately for him, the bank is robbed on the same day. The people of the town blame the preacher. The sheriff of the town cuts a deal with the ex-gunfighter priest, bring in the outlaws and I'll let you go.
A pretty decent film, a little frustrating that the Reverend refuses to kill the outlaws. He shoots their hats off and shoots their guns out of their hands.
Here is Wild East's fantastic cover.

Daily poster: My Bloody Valentine.

 

My Bloody Valentine.
One of the top tier slasher films. A small mining town. An escaped psycho. Secrets. Jealousies. Murder.
This will have to be the go to film poster every Valentine's Day.
I believe the new blu-ray is the uncut version, which really is the way to go for this film.
Here's an old TV commercial for the film. I cannot seem to find an original trailer. The remake has polluted the internet.


Poster courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art.

UPDATE: It's been a year or so, but I found a proper trailer, thanks to the uploader:
 

Cat can't contain compelling cake cachinatory clamor.

 

My cubicle neighbor, Captain Di Bari, found this on the "free" table downstairs. I am green with envy.
My dear, sweet, friend, Nik had a poster of this image when we were lads and it created guffaw.

Comic Book Men stunk.

 

I like Kevin Smith.
I like his films. I love Mallrats.
I like his stand up/speaking tour talks.
I think he's funny.
I collect and read comic books. After weeks of everyone who knows this about me, asking if I would be watching Kevin Smith's new television series, Comic Book Men, the show finally premiered last night.
It was terrible.
Kevin Smith owns a comic book shop, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash. The shop has become a sort of nerd mecca. The show follows the shop's three employees and one constant loiterer. It plays as if the shop, and all the zany things that happen there, are recorded for a period of time. Then the gang meets up with Kevin Smith and they talk about the events of the week in a sound booth. They also crack some tired nerd jokes.
I am a nerd. As I said earlier, I read comics. I play table top role playing games. I could be called a dork. I noticed when Kevin Smith called Kirby Krackle, "Kirby Dots."
One thing I hate in my community is smug nerds. The nerds so picked on by the world that they turn around and crush the smallest thing they can find around them, other nerds. These are the gentlemen (usually they carry a penis) who do not laugh AT Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons, they laugh WITH him. This show is filled to the brim with them.
No one is likeable in Comic Book Men. They are horrible to each other and shitty to their "customers." (I'll get to the "customers" in a second.) There is one decent fellow in the show, Ming, and his likeability slips away when you realize he's only decent because he can't keep up with the silver tongued devils that surround him. He's at the bottom of the totem pole. It should be interesting when someone slower and further down the nerd chain comes into the store.
As for customers. There were none. One employee even comments on this. There were NO customers in the shop, the entire episode. A handful of people did come by to sell items and be belittled. Only two of them actually had comic books.
One customer had a Dawn of the Dead poster and set of lobby cards. They asked him what he wanted for them and he asked for $1,000 for the set. Taking ideas from Pawn Stars and other "reality" shows, the Comic Book Men call in an expert to evaluate the items. I can't remember the expert's name but not only is he presented as a completely horrible person, the crew brags about how horrible he treats their customer. Later, when Ming is trying to sell an entire table of merchandise (sans some plates one of his co-workers smashed. This was such and embarrassing act that the only hero of the show is the old man who takes the asshole to task.) the expert shows up at the flea market and actually haggles and bullies Ming to cut the price for the entire table of merchandise from $25 to $22. Whether it's the truth, filming the worst moments, biased editing, the guy taking on a characterization, whatever, the man is petty and vile.
The manager of the shop, Walt, almost has some sympathetic moments in the episode. When he sees some of the items people bring in for sale, his eyes light up. You can see why he runs a mecca of nerdery. Invariably he tries to flip his cool switch on, and he becomes a nerd douche. His jokes are so very tired. They are the jokes told by 99% of the interviews from the floors of comic book conventions and other gatherings of nerds. No girls in here. Still living in mom's basement. Ugh.
The greatest sin that the show commits is a crime against the basic art of television and film production. Unless you're My Dinner with Andre (and Kevin Smith could ALMOST pull this off, the dude is so engaging) DON'T JUST TALK ABOUT IT, SHOW IT. Two short conversations stand out. The cover of Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85, with Green Arrow's ward, Speedy, revealed as a heroin addict. The other is the conversation describing Kirby Krackle. In neither case do they show what they are talking about. Sure the majority of the audience have seen these things, but this is basic television production. A horrible choice.
The sad thing is that I will watch Comic Book Men again. It's hard for me to believe these guys are actually the horrible people that the first episode makes them out to be. Maybe they are finding out who their "reality" TV characters are going to be. I don't know. I'm going to hang on as long as I can stand it.
Here's the cover to Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 and some Kirby Krackle.

Daily poster: Burn Witch Burn.

 

Burn Witch Burn.
Released originally as Night of the Eagle, Burn Witch Burn is a top notch mystery, horror film. There's no blood, no real horror, but it's full of suspense and scary looking lady eyeballs.
I watched this film this weekend without having read anything about it. The title just popped up, while I was looking for something else a while back.
The film is surprisingly good. Watch it with your lady-friend or mom and it's got just the right tempo for everyone to enjoy.
It's best if you don't read anything about the film beforehand.
Fantastic film. Here's the whole film. Go to YouTube and watch it embiggened, though, don't watch it here.


Poster courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art.

Get Tetnis today.

 

Eric Wareheim just tweeted that Tim and Eric's new iPhone/iPad game, Tetnis, just came out.
Check it out HERE.
The description mostly shills their new film, Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie, but does have this wee description of the game:

Swap the icons to make matches of three or more to gain time and points and beat your best score.

The app is free.

Daily poster: Bride of the Monster.

 

Bride of the Monster.
"He tampered in God's domain."
A classic poster from a classic Ed Wood Jr. film.
Bride of the Monster is considered schlocky, cheap, and poorly executed by many, but if you enjoy wallowing in the darker side of film history, like I do, the film is pretty darn good. It is not boring. Bela Lugosi and Tor Johnson are both fun to watch.
I have read so much about Ed Wood's films and history that when I watch them, I sometimes lose reality. It's just hard to imagine that Bela Lugosi was a real man. That Ed Wood was a real person.
Seeing Tim Burton's Ed Wood biopic before watching Bride of the Monster might be a good way to get yourself revved up for Ed Wood's unique filmmaking style.
The film premiered in Hollywood on May 11, 1955. It opened to the public in February 1956. I cannot find an exact date.
I believe the film is in the public domain, there are a few different DVD versions. The entire film has been uploaded to YouTube by a couple of different folks. I do not know which version has the cleanest copy. I have an old VHS taped from a public television marathon. However you find it, it is entertaining as hell.
Here is the trailer:

Poster courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art.

Machete Kills.

 

SWEET MOTHER OF PEARL!
Fantastic news. This was posted on Ain't it Cool News last night.

Dead Wrestler of the Week: Bruiser Brody.

 

Deadspin's Dead Wrestler of the Week is Bruiser Brody.
I'm unfamiliar with this series but the writing is pretty darn good. Read it HERE.
The article covers Brody's feud with the Madman from the Sudan, Abdullah the Butcher. The two circled the globe, beating each other to pulp.
If you don't know, I wrote a biography on Bruiser Brody. HERE is my site with more information on the book.
(Thanks Estevan for sending the article my way.)

Gary Panter

 

"If you're a painter it's a troubling sport. It's a kind of thing that will drive you crazy, because it's a chess game where you can change the rules and there are ways to win and lose that only you define, and you might decide you're losing all the time."

Hammer Lectures. January 21 2010, 07:00pm

This is a fantastic talk by my most favoritest artist in the world. I love that he mentions Oyving Fahlstrom. A couple of the artists he talks about, I was not familiar with. Panter says that comic artists and cartoonists are typically wary and distrustful of fine art, his talk seeks to remedy this situation.

How did my father die?

 

This picture is making the rounds on the intergalactic network. I can't find where it started in TinEye.
Made me laugh snort out loud.

Daily poster: Knightriders.

 

Knightriders.
"I'm not trying to be a hero! I'm fighting the dragon!"
I love this trailer.


Poster courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art.

Petersen's page process.

 

Mouse Guard creator, David Petersen posted today on the process he's currently using to create his comics. From writing to layouts and lettering, to inking and coloring. The post is HERE.
Petersen is an auteur, doing it all himself, so his process is specific to his needs.
I really dig this kind of sharing. Specific and detailed notes on his "magic." Artists and writers can be very evasive about their process. Many seem to view the specifics as not interesting. Some do not have a pattern. Some are embarrassed that they embrace certain technologies that they feel are cheating or lessens their artistry in some way. Some simply prefer to hold their cards close to their chest.
Oftentimes, people doing truly original work, simply do not know. To paraphrase and twist McLuhan to my own needs, artists are typically looking in the rear view mirrror. Looking at what came before and building on that. People out in the stratosphere, doing original stuff have usually stumbled there without knowing it. Their specific process may look completely mundane to them.
Artists and writers and musicians should feel no pressure to talk about their process, it's no one else's business. However, it is extremely interesting to me when folks that I admire do open up and talk specifically about their process.
I'm sure I've sung the praises of Mouse Guard here before. Let me do it again. The Mouse Guard comic is amazing. My kids (girls, ages 4 and 6) love it. It's a little violent, but not scary violent. The stories are just a touch twisty, but not too confusing. I strongly recommend it to kids and adults. There is a role playing game which is awesome fun as well.

RIP, the original flesheater, Bill Hinzman.

 

Bill Hinzman, who played the first zombie in George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, died yesterday. He was 75 and succumbed to cancer.Rest in Peace.
Hinzman directed and starred in his own little zombie opus, Flesheater, in 1988. Hinzman basically plays the same zombie from Night of the Living Dead. The film is pretty good, exceptionally good if you are cursed with the zombie fandom gene.
I first rented Flesheater under the title of Revenge of the Living Zombies, you may know it under this title.

Faces of Death.

 

That box cover scared the hell out of me for many years.
The Faces of Death concept is still horrifying to many. Reputation alone keeps this series alive. It would take thirty seconds of online searching to yield videos a hundred times worse than anything in the Faces of Death series. The films cannot stand on their own, their reputation holds them up.
Deadspin.com has an interesting article with the man responsible for the series, John Alan Schwartz. The article is HERE. As anyone who has the intestinal fortitude to sit down and watch these films, most of the deaths are staged. Some more effective than others.
For me, the films were fantastic lessons in stage makeup and effective filmmaking. I saw them in 1987 and they hit me much the way The Blair Witch hit audiences twelve years later.  None of this is real. Wait. Wow. Hold on. This isn't real... is it? That cop's hair is kind of long, this can't be real? When he was falling, he moved, that's no dummy! Wait, maybe it is? Now, I know that IS real. Wait. HOW DID THEY DO THAT?
Four Faces of Death films were made. A best of collection was released between number three and four. Part Five and Part Six use footage from the first four, there is no new footage. The first three films are hosted by the ever-calm but not deadpan, Dr. Gröss (actor, Michael Carr.)

With a narrator in the guise of a doctor, the film brought the audience a string of vignettes of death, both real and fake ones. The device allowed the film to easily introduce footage too shocking for a normal movie. It wasn't every day that a movie went into an operating room to show heart surgery in which the heart started beating. Or captured a motorcyclist getting broken down to limb pieces by a tractor trailer.

Some of the footage—napalm in Vietnam, seals being clubbed—was real. The media had shown death, after all. Schwartz says about half of the material was his own fabrication, though: faked images of death to haunt the living.

It's hard to appreciate the impact now, at a time when death porn, like porn-porn, has become so easily made and even more easily procured. Mobile phones give everyone a device to capture humanity in its last stages; surveillance cameras watch store clerks being gunned down. You can pull up beheading videos on a laptop.

That Schwartz anticipated this was remarkable. Even more remarkable, in retrospect, is the outrage he drew from a world that hadn't seen it coming.

"There was an innocence about this back then," he says.

The article is rather interesting. Probably more interesting for folks who have not been interested in the films.
Justifying the basest of human interests is usually uncomfortable and disingenuous. I'm not sure why teenage boys are attracted to seeing these kinds of things. I was, and I'm really not sure why.
When I tried to go back and watch the Faces fo Death films again in my early twenties, with my buddy Nik, we had to turn the VHS off. We had no interest. We were over it.
I still love slasher films from the 70's and 80's, but real and perceived real death footage is completely off my search engine.
The whole teenage immortality angle is tired, but it may be correct. Perhaps you need to know someone one minute and lose them the next to realize how sad, pointless, and horrible death is. Anyway, the article is interesting. Go read it.
(I got the pic of the box cover from Amazon.com, not sure who posted it there.)

Darth Vader and Son.

Jeffrey Brown's Darth Vader and Son just went on pre-sale at Amazon. The book is scheduled for release in May.
Jeffrey also posted some sketches from the project on his blog.

A few months ago I interviewed Jeffrey and this is what he said about Darth Vader and Son:

It's called Darth Vader and son, and basically it's a collection of gags and vignettes about Darth Vader trying to raise a four year old Luke Skywalker - trying to get him to pick up his toys and teaching him how to ride a bike and stuff.

Daily Poster: Death Wish III.

 

Death Wish III.
Paul Kersey is back to murder some criminals in that most enjoyably, .357 magnum, 80's way.
The film is a text book example of everything that was right with the 80's, over the top, remorseless violence. The bad guys are taken out.
This was the first Death Wish film that I saw and after hearing about how bad ass Charles Bronson was from the adults in my life, I couldn't argue. The guy was 64 years old in this film and he didn't act like a stereotypical senior citizen, bitching about teenagers and young punks, he murdered them.
The film takes place in the danger zone of 1980's New York. However, much of the film was shot in London. This was always cited as having to do with lowering production costs. I like to believe it was because New York, at that time, was too damn dangerous! HA.
Also, an Atari video game was produced by Gremlin in 1987. CPC Game Reviews has listed the confusing screen grab below and this description of the game:

New York's streets are overrun with gangs, and the police can't handle it, so the chief has done a deal with vigilante Paul Kersey and allowed him to go and kill as many gang members as he can. You play Paul in this rather violent game, based on the equally violent film of the same name. You wander the streets with a variety of guns, scoring points for killing gang members, but losing points for killing policemen and little old ladies. You also need to raid apartments to find more weapons and locate the gang leaders and kill them. As already mentioned, this is a violent game, with bodies being graphically torn apart and blood flowing everywhere when you shoot anyone with the rocket launcher. However, the game doesn't have much depth, and I often became disoriented when using the map and compass.

I've seen this pic posted around and I believe it is from the opening screen of the game. I want a t-shirt.'

 Just seeing the Cannon logo at the beginning of the trailer gets me all giddy. The Django-style massacre and Kersey pulling out his .357 after a kid accidentaly bumps into him are just priceless.



Poster courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art.

Extremism and Militancy.

Ghost at The Bottom of the Hill.

Ghost played at The Bottom of the HIll last night.
The show was amazing.
The Bottom of the Hill is a 250+ person venue. Rolling Stone called it "The best place to hear live music in San Francisco." Nearly a dozen guys skulked outside looking for tickets to the sold out show. Tom Hunting, the drummer from Exodus was there. James Hetfield from Metallica was there as well.
Anciet VVisdom opened the show with a pretty damn good set. Some of their songs were memorable and their presence was strong. The singer/drummer was honestly, but not cartoonishly, intense.
I bought a Ghost patch and small t-shirt for my daughter.

Blood Ceremony was next. Excellent guitar work. The singer played a keyboard and a flute. I was told their album was not so hot. However, they were pretty damn good in person. They project an energy and build a rapport with the crowd. The singer has super intense eyes and a conviction that comes across in her lyrics. Even my buddy said, "I'll have to listen to that record again."

I only discovered Ghost a couple of months ago, thanks to Matt and Sean. I fell head over heels for their album Opus Eponymous. The cover is simply beautiful and every song on the album is good.
San Francisco is the second to the last stop in their 13 Dates of Doom tour. They will be in Los Angeles tonight. Ghost is from Sweden and sounds sort of like a satanic Blue Oyster Cult. HA.

Ghost hit the stage and the crowd went apeshit. The singer's appearance is original and epic. His voice was perfect and the between song banter was creepy as hell. What I thought was war paint on his face seems to be some sort of appliance or mask. Effectively horrific.

Ghost played all the songs on their album, Opus Eponymous, as well as Here Comes the Sun. Their set was a bit short and knowing they have a new album coming out, I was bummed that they did not play any of those new songs. They are coming back to the bay area in April or May, opening for Opeth and Mastadon, perhaps they will play those songs, then.

The whole crowd sang along to the songs. There were many females in the audience which was good to see. Many seemed to be there alone (rather than dragged there by a boyfriend.) A few of them were tearing up the mosh pit, which was more of a random, occasional, shoving match. People were what I would call intensely contained. A lot of fist pumping and hand waving but no real violence. I am pretty new to seeing metal shows live. I'm no expert but I've always heard that metal shows are usually "sausuge fests" (all guys) but perhaps this is changing and the ladies are getting into it.
Ghost's renditions of Elizabeth and Stand By Him were incredible.
Ghost is going to blow up.

Be on the look out for more videos. About a quarter of the audience was taking pics and shooting video of the show. Turn you volume down for this one. The audio is worthless. The song is Prime Mover.

Merzbow's samidara 1

 

Merzbow has been on a tear of sorts the last few days. He normally posts once every couple of months to his blog. He's posted FOUR times in the last week. HA.
He put up this image along with the description:
"ohrenhoch - the Noise Shop | Weichselstr. 49 | 12045 Berlin-Neukölln To hear on Sunday 5 and 12 February 2012, 2pm - 9pm: 'samidara1' (Premiere) by Merzbow ohrenhoch"
The Ohrenhoch website says:
"'samidara1' is a un-released work for using the method of several granular synthesis programs and random process of the composition."
Ohrenhoch (literally: The Noise Shop) is a sound gallery in Berlin, which offers performances every Sunday. Their site is HERE.
If you enjoy the noises and are in the bay area, get on the GODWAFFLENOISEPANCAKE email list or keep going to their MySpace page HERE. They have shows all the time. If you want pancakes, get there early. My wife and I have been to a couple of shows. They are small, the attendees are really into the project, and the pancakes are good.