No matter how many times I’ve been fortunate
enough to see Dougie, my stomach is always full of
butterflies! It was especially fluttery fun to return
to Monsterpalooza, the venue where I’d
first met Dougie a couple of years ago. It had been
a blast helping him celebrate his 49th birthday, and
he treated me to such an endearing, premiere "Doug
Jones Experience," he hooked this Fishie for
life, LOL!
On this
return visit, I’d be meeting up with fellow
Fan Sapiens Sianna (Ofelia aka Siofelia) and Johnny
(Wolf Johnny aka Wolf Dog). I also had my boys in
tow because I knew they’d get a kick out of
seeing Dougie again, plus finding out how their favorite
TV and movie creatures are made. This was the third
year for Monsterpalooza and the crowds were definitely
bigger. It's a trade show, so not really a con, and
it was chock full of black t-shirted artsy looking
people everywhere. For those creature builders out
there (and you know who you are, Kusanivy!) who want
to see lots of visuals, here's one lengthy, eyeball
satisfying , YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXDPQZXhh38
The plan
was to meet up at Dougie’s table, but I had
no clue where it was. My sons and I wound through
the maze of booths where artists sculpted yet more
creepy crawlies to add to the already massive population.
In one corner, an actor gazed serenely out at a crowd
of rapt observers while he was transformed into the
spitting image of Beetlejuice, moldy face,
purple suit and all! He even had the raspy voice and
con man patter down to a tee. There weren't many cosplayers,
but I did see a cute, fuzzy blue dragon, and someone
walking around with a grotesque vise screwed onto
his head.
It wasn’t
too long before we found Dougie, esconsed in a high
traffic zone near a giant gorilla. It was such a delight
to see his beautiful blue-green eyes widen, and a
smile light up his face as he enveloped me, then my
boys, in a heartwarming hug. I passed along BOSIES
and greetings from everyone in The
Tank, of course, and he most happily reciprocated!
He talked about how wonderful it had been to see sweet
Mixie (Michele) in Fargo, then meet precious SillyKris
(Kristen) and Tigermind (Lauren) at Mega Con in Florida.
Dougie LOVES his Fan Sapiens and totally appreciates
all the affection and treats they bestow upon him,
that's for sure. As we talked, I realized he was wearing
the sleek black shirt I’d admired in a Facebook
post. He said he’d worn it especially for me
-- my heart did a triple flip flop on the spot He’s
always doing such sweet things like this to let us
know how much he cares!
He told
me Sianna had been by earlier and would be back soon,
but he hadn’t seen Johnny yet. It was very hectic
and busy around his table, so impossible to talk for
long segments at a time. In between all his eager
visitors, we chit chatted a bit about various things.
At some point, he mentioned he’d been busy recently
doing a photo shoot for another book for Medallion
Press, this one called FALLEN
SUPERHEROES. It’s about heroes who
never made it because there’s something not
quite right about their superpowers. It sounds hilarious
and it’s being put together by the same quirky,
creative team for MIME
VERY OWN BOOK: Adam Mock (writer), Eric Curtis
(photographer) and creative director Scott Allen Perry.
When they asked Dougie what kind of fallen hero he
wanted to be for the book, he told them he wanted
to have healing powers. So Scott Perry came up with
the idea of “Healing Feet,” a superhero
who comes from a long line of superhealers ... only
his powers reside in his ginormous feet, not his hands!
Dougie said they dressed him up with angel wings adorning
a “totally nasty white leotard." His thighs
were left completely naked, then a pair of tight legwarmers
ended in completely icky, oversized bare feet. Dougie
laughed and said nobody would want to be
touched by these awful tootsies, LOL. The first photo
shoot was at his house (oh, yes, how his neighbors
enjoyed all the hubbub) and another shoot was set
for a city street scene. I giggled at the thought
of Dougie exposed to the public dressed in his outrageous
"Healing Feet" attire! It all sounds delightfully
absurd and I really wonder what some of the other
wacky fallen heroes will be?
Sianna
returned to his table around that time and we all
exchanged big hugs. It was lovely to see her - she
looked fantastic and full of energy. Since people
were constantly vying for Dougie’s attention,
we headed off to see the museum exhibits for a bit.
We planned to return before Dougie headed over for
the MEN IN SUITS
panel. As we browsed the myriad of gruesome sights,
Sianna was so thoughtful, holding my bag so I could
take a couple of pictures of the boys with E.T. and
some other famous critters. I must apologize to her
and confess I came to this event completely bleary
from a grueling week at work plagued with very early
wake up hours. Between my exhaustion and keeping tabs
on my kids, I was neither alert nor aware (nor very
considerate, I fear!). For example, I meant to ask
Sianna if she wanted me to take any photos for her,
but then I totally forgot to do so PLUS I forgot to
take my bag back. She kindly carried it the whole
time we were in the museum. She’d also previously
figured out where the panel would take place, which
was a huge help. It was hard to talk much over the
crowds and my curious boys, but it was great fun to
walk around together and recognize all the famous
creepy faces. We found a life size “Gentleman”
statue of Dougie (from the HUSH espisode
of BUFFY) and I later saw a sculpture of
"Cesare" from THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI.
Of course, we encountered images of the "Pale
Man" and other Dougie incarnations like "El
Fauno"!
When
we returned to Dougie’s table, Johnny arrived
a few moments later. He, too, looked great and had
grown out his mane of hair quite a bit. Again, rib
cracking hugs were shared between us (Dougie was in
the middle of another fan moment so couldn’t
join us right then). This time, I actually remembered
my manners long enough to formally introduce my sons
to Sianna and Johnny (duh!!!) Not long after, we all
headed for the other part of the hotel for the panel.
Sianna and Johnny held us a spot while I took the
boys to the restroom. Again, big thanks to them both
for their patience and graciousness. There was a CAT
PEOPLE panel still going on (I had no idea there
were so many fans of this movie!), but it finally
ended and we were able to sit down. It was a large
room and very full, so we couldn't get as close to
the stage as we wanted.
Frank
Woodward, the director of the MEN IN SUITS
documentary, moderated the panel. On stage were Bob
Burns, Dougie, Don McLeod, Haruo Nakajima, Brian Steele,
Douglas Tait, Tom Woodruff Jr., Shinchi Wakasa, and
translator Jason Varney. I won't go into too much
detail about the panel, but I can say that Dougie
was definitely a crowd favorite. During the Q&A,
Dougie emphasized how he wished the job title "suit
performer" would go away and be replaced by the
appropriate job title of "actor." All the
panel members stated how important it was to have
professional acting training in addition to the full
use of body language needed to portray all sorts of
creatures effectively. Another big favorite was Haruo
Nakajima (of "Godzilla" fame), who was very
funny. He gave great advice to aspiring creature actors
in the audience and said he’d still be doing
it himself ... but he’s 82 years old now and
just can’t, so please don't come up and ask
him to be in your movie! He was adorable. Brian Steele
and others echoed his advice that you need to be very
fit, very dedicated and passionate about the work.
Bob Burns was wonderfully droll and made lots of jokes
about NOT taking care of his body. He praised Dougie
highly, saying he could tell Dougie had the gift of
performing right from the start of their work together
on the McDonald's commercials. Bob said Dougie was
set way up on the wires where all the hot air would
rise, but he still managed to play the piano and emote
through that huge Moonhead without complaint. Dougie
was obviously touched - and completely surprised -
by all of Bob's wonderful words. I'm sorry to say
I didn’t have a chance to meet any of the other
panel participants up close. Rigel fell asleep on
my lap (I found out later he was getting daddy’s
cold), and I wound up having to leave the panel about
10 minutes early before either of them had a major
meltdown.
The boys
returned to much better spirits after making models
of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I
think we saw every square inch of monster-y badness
there was (including a way too lifelike sculpture
of a hanging man that truly belonged in Vincent Price's
Wax Museum). Somehow, we found Sianna and Johnny in
the chaos and then made it back to Dougie’s
table. This time around, I was happy to get a hug
from the always handsome and charming Derek Maki,
and congratulated him on his recent DVD release of
his film, INSTANT DADS. He said he had another
project coming up, but we didn't get to discuss it
further because a fan came up to transact what I call
"Dougie Business" Alas, I never had a chance
to see Derek's friend, Alberto, or their cute Maltese,
London, either. Sigh. I never did find Kusanivy's
friend to pass along a hello.
I could
see the boys were reaching their patience limit, so
we enjoyed one more round of Dougie love and hugs.
Thanks to my brain dead state, I almost forgot to
get any photos of us with him! After the picture taking,
Dougie noticed something on the next table and ushered
us away a bit. Apparently, there were some images
of "boobs" visible over there, and he was
worried the boys had seen that. It was so sweet of
him to be concerned ... but I don't think they saw
anything. Actually, as I told Dougie, the boys had
already seen a bit of zombified female anatomy here
and there around the event. Eeek, great mom, aren't
I? But we had to laugh and I teased him about how
there had also been a single, medical type boob on
display when I did my SUDDEN DEATH set visit,
not to mention how Dougie was surrounded by ample
female-ness while filming GAINSBOURG. I was
so happy when Dougie said he actually doesn't like
it when the actresses are unclothed for scenes on
the set because of the way their demeanor changes.
Awwww ... now, there's a true Gentleman!!! (one who's
good for your heart and doesn't slice it out with
a scalpel)
Sadly,
it was now time to say real goodbyes. One last big
squeezie hug from Dougie, then the boys and I headed
for the parking lot. I was going to give Sianna a
ride home, but Johnny had gallantly stepped to do
that so Sianna could stay longer at the event and
enjoy Dougie’s company more. Sweet!
Needless
to say, it was a totally different visit than my first
Monsterpalooza ... and special in its own unique way.
I 'm so glad I was able to cherish the experience
this time with my sons, and witness the enjoyment
on my friends' faces. As for seeing Dougie, I think
I've finally come to realize my butterflies are no
longer caused by feelings of awkwardness/nervousness,
but by the anticipation of spending time with such
a loving, compassionate person who makes me feel cherished.
I feel blessed by all the goofy fun and genuine affection
we've shared since our first meeting. I'll definitely
look forward to the next time we can get together,
and the warm glow his presence ignites in my heart.
