Hairless at Hal Con

Last November I had the pleasure of attending Hal-Con, the Halifax comic and science fiction convention! Although I was hoping to be invited as a guest speaker, I had to buy a ticket like all the other nerd...er...fans.Although it is difficult to stand out at Hal-Con, I did manage to attract some attention! I was bombarded by new fans who wished to pose with me. Here I am with a Klingon Green Lantern. "Qapala!"

That means "success" in Klingonese.True "Dr.Who" nuts should be familiar with the infamous toilet plungered Dalek. Exterminate!!!

All serious attendees to these conferences come in costume of course. For the first half of the day I wore my Batman outfit. Here I am checking out a robotic rat!

While doing some shopping I found this lovely painting! I think I wear it better, but the art by "Figurative Abstract Oils" certainly is nice.

Oooh! This Poe ornament must come home with me. Do you take debit?Hmm. Mind if I try this model out? A magic wand would come in handier than the can opener I use at home. "Wands of the Academy" hand turns these fancy instruments, beautiful!

Here I am with Sonic the hedgehog! How about a race around the block later?

After lunch I metamorphosed into my Bella Lugosi costume Mom made. (My fans who read last months blog know of the matching widows peaked skull cap my staff lost!) Daddy even wore contacts in a matching shade of red! That sensor is not on is it? I was concerned that Ray the Ghostbuster would discover my undead status.

Here I am in the arcade playing some pinball.

I met up with Mario, Luigi and Link!

OOoh! Can I play?? Put me down Daddy!

This lady had the BEST costume I have ever seen! If you have not watched Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" you have not witnessed true horror.I do not know who this is, but she had a stupendous chin scratching technique. I almost needed a candy cigarette afterward!

The primary rationale for my visit to Hal Con was to Schmooze with one of my favorite authors, Kelley Armstrong!

I came well prepared with books for her to sign.

"Yes, that is n...o...f...U....r.........Say, have you considered a naked vampire cat as a future character? I would be delighted to clear my schedule to assist you."Here is my signed book! I was so grateful, I presented Kelley my autograph in return.

Next, I headed to the conference rooms for a lecture on Vampires by John Hillman, aka J.A Slade.

He read from his book "Muse", about a sexy and humorous Halifax based vampire. I devoured this book and am eager for the next! You can download this 5 Meow work HERE. or HERE . And, when you can not get enough of "Mistress Maeve", tune into her
music blog.

I was a little jealous of this fanciful stroller!This "Bender" costume is pretty amazing!We also met a Spartan from Halo and "Boba Fett", who had a realistic built in voice changer/ microphone system. Then we chatted with some zombies.

We finished up Hal Con with a "sit down" interview for Background Noise! Unfortunately we do not have the footage, but here is a photo of me answering questions.

What an exciting, celebrity filled day! (and I am not just referring to myself). I have all ready started planning next years costume, which will be based on Star Trek's "Tribble" episode. We give Hal Con 5 meows out of 5!

Do not forget to check out ALL my other blog reviews! Just choose a date under the "More of my Adventures" heading in the upper right column.

© 2011 Aislynne

Halloween Cat Show in Halifax! 5 Meows

After watching an exceptionally long television marathon of "Toddlers in Tiaras", Vladimir decided he wanted to take a whack at being a show cat!Since I am a retired from the pageant circuit, and an expert in this field, I agreed to coach Vlad on being a beauty queen.
So this past Halloween, Vladimir and I travelled to Halifax for their two day, 10 ring competition! I am on the right, atop the "managers" pillow.
I loaned Vlad my luxurious coffin cage. Since I am also a professional designer, we had the perfect setup.
This is a close up of the background Mom painted.
And here is Vladimir posing with our "Best decorated Cage" ribbon!
Since Vladimir is not a registered purebred like myself, we entered him in the "Household Pet" category. Any cat can enter, as long as they are neutered, and not declawed.Household pets are judged on their grooming, health and demeanor. To prepare for the event I put Vlad on a strict diet and excercise regime. After months of jogging, now he is wondering why we are just "sitting around" at the cat show, and when is the weigh in? Perhaps Vladimir was expecting a more athletic event, like a boxing match, because in EVERY ring he swore profusely and wrestled with the judges.
In his defense, the combativeness may have been due to my overzealous coaching. Since I am a bit Type A myself, I may have gone overboard on his "Diva" training. Also, all those "Toddlers in Tiaras" episodes might have clouded his conception of pageantry.This is how a happy show cat should appear in the ring.And this is Vladimir, after taking a swing at two other contestants and spewing profanities at the judge.
In spite of his behavior, Vladimir did win a first place title! That judge loved his soft, immaculately groomed skin. Out of the other 9 rings he won a 6th, two 8th, a 9th and two 10th place positions. Since he was only competing against 11 other cats, you can see how his poor anger management may have skewed the results. Here he is, gnawing on his ribbon.


This is a video of Vlad receiving one of his winners plaques!
A great aspect of this cat show was finally getting to meet "Roxy" our online pen pal!Additionally, we got to dress up for the "Best Feline Halloween Costume" contest. Vlad decided to be a big hairy spider! I am very proud of him, since I taught him about "irony".
I wore my home made "Dracula" ensemble. I was especially delighted with the fit of my widows peak skull cap, which took mom 5 hours to make.
Here I am in costume at the cat show. Notice anything missing? Yes! My idiot staff LOST my widows peaked skull cap. I do not want to talk about it further in case I lose my temper. Besides, Mom was quite upset too.
The feline costume competition was formidable! There was a Luke Skywalker....
...and a tipsy Mickey Mouse....
My favorites were the "Pirate with a Parrot",
and the "Cat eating Shark".
This witch was adorable!
and my friend "Roxy" went with a sexy fairy getup.
Although I did not use those exact words around Roxy's brother, our other pen pal, a gun toting cow cat.This gorgeous guitar player won "Best Feline Costume"!
Cat shows can be a bit platitudinous in between rings.
So I brought a good book...
...and listened to some tunes on my ipod.
Vladimir spent most of his time napping,
or repeatedly asking if he could open his candy blood syrup I.V bag yet.


Here is a video of me resting at our booth. I look a little alarmed because I did not recognise the videographer, and wondered if they had a filming permit!Daddy won Best Costume for humans, with his "Sponge Pocket" suit! I wonder what kind of spills he was asked to mop up?
Here are the cool prizes we won for Daddy's costume and our cage decorations!
Of course Vladimir was only interested in his Winners Ribbon!
He insists on taking it to bed with him every night, and gazes at it for hours.
All in all, It was the most fun I have had at a cat show yet! Both Vlad and I gave it 5 meows out of 5! We will not be at another show for a while though, unless we find another kitty to coach.Vladimir decided he has reached the peak of his pageant career and is retired from the ring. Now he wants to become a manager, like me. Perhaps we will open a talent agency?

Do not forget to check out ALL my other blog reviews! Just choose a date under the "More of my Adventures" heading in the upper right column.

© 2011 Aislynne