At the Motor City Comic Con

This is a special series about my friends meeting celebs at the Motor City Comic Con.

This is a real friendly encounter at the Motor City Comic Con.  There is no celebrity involved, just a couple of friends meeting for the first time.
I connected with Jamin Hillwig while researching the MCCC for a blog at Global Traveler.  Jamin was very helpful and provided several pictures, some good stories and a lot of excellent information.
Last year, we had a loose plan (more of a hope) to meet at the MCCC.  I knew Jamin would be wearing his trademark shirt and we knew what each other looked like, but without a phone connection, the chance of running into each other was minimal.
Luck was on my side when my friends and I went outside for a break.  While walking back into the convention center, I walked right by Jamin, then realized who he was.  Jamin and his wife Susan couldn't have been nicer.  It was great meeting them finally.
I love meeting my favorite celebrities, but meeting people like Jamin is especially rewarding.  Gaining new friends through all of this is wonderful.  Hopefully, I'll see Jamin again this year.

Jamin and Susan Hilwig and me in Novi, MI-May 2010.

Friendly Encounters

This is a weekly feature highlighting my friends meeting celebs.

Jamin Hillwig has been a huge help to me in my work covering the Motor City Comic Con. He has met a lot of celebrities and I am happy he is willing to share the pictures and stories here.
His most recent contribution is a favorite of mine, although for a different reason than Singer being a favorite of Jamin. My fandom started with Singer's portrayal of John Cappelletti in Something for Joey. As usual, I'll let Jamin tell his story though.
In 2004 my wife and I had the unique pleasure of meeting Marc Singer at the MCCC. We were both fans of tv's V back in the 80's. For me it was a little different because my brother and I used to play V. My little brother would always play Mike Donovan (Singer) and I would play his Visitor friend Martin (Frank Ashmore). My brother insisted on playing Donovan because he was a brat and I played Martin, because at the time, I kinda resembled him. So meeting Singer was literally meeting a childhood hero.
I brought along my dvd copy of V:The Final Battle and I was really excited, because in the press you were starting to hear about V making a comeback. After a very short wait in line, I was in front of the man himself. He immediately shook my hand and said, "Hello, Sweetheart" to my wife. He was one of the nicest guys you could meet.
We immediately started to discuss V...what it was like to be part of the show and what was ahead. He told me he signed on, along with Robert Englund (Willie), Faye Grant (Juliet Parris) and the word was that Jane Badler (Diane) was very interested. My wife was going to ask about Podo and Kodo from his Beastmaster movies, but she forgot, probably because she was just as 'geeked' as I was.
I did remember to ask about an appearance he made on tv's Highlander, where he played a villain from down South. His accent was spot on. I, being a native Southerner, noticed this. I asked him how he did this since most actors doing a Southern accent tend to go over the top. To Southerners, this sounds terrible and hackneyed.
Just as we were about to leave, he told us we forgot to pay for the autograph. We were a tad embarrassed, but we explained to him that we just got to meet a childhood hero. He said he completely understood. That's how cool, down-to-Earth and personable a guy Marc Singer really is. He is definitely one of my favorite celebrities I have ever met.
Singer is one of my favorites, too. I'll have to live vicariously through Jamin, at least until I get the opportunity to meet Singer.

Susan and Jamin Hillwig and Marc Singer in Novi, MI-March 2004.

Friendly Encounters at the Motor City Comic Con

This is a special series about my friends meeting celebs at the Motor City Comic Con.

Jamin Hillwig is one of my newest buds. Jamin has been a great help in getting material for pieces on the Motor City Comic Con. His enthusiasm about meeting celebrities is awesome. He's a regular attendee of the MCCC and this special Friendly Encounters MCCC series wouldn't be complete without a story from him.
The Spring 2003 MCCC was the first show I'd ever been to. I originally had the idea to go because one of my wife's favorite comic book artists was going to be there, but as soon as I saw the media guest list, I knew that we had to go. It was a MORAL IMPERATIVE. On the list was Russ Streiner from "The Night of the Living Dead", my all-time favorite movie.
But it wasn't always.
When I was younger, I loved all the slasher films of the 80's. They were the best horror movies ever. Blood and gore all over the place. There was NO WAY an old b/w movie from the 60's could be any good. Then one night, there was nothing on tv, so I watched it and was captivated.
Sure, it wasn't the most gruesome thing I'd ever seen (the special effects were rather tame), but it was the story, the human drama and struggle that drew me in. Here was my chance to meet the man who spoke THE LINE of the movie, the man known as "Johnny".
We made our way to Autograph Alley and there he was.He still looked like him. A few pounds heavier and with gray hair, but it's gray in the movie, so who can tell?! I believe the first words out of my mouth were "Holy crap! It's Johnny!" I shook his hand and told him how huge of a fan I was and how I thought it was one of the best films of the 20th century, even though most people think it's a "horror flick".
I was too much of a coward to ask him to say THE LINE, even though he was one of the nicest most down-to-Earth people you could want to meet. I just couldn't bring myself to do it, because I knew EVERYBODY probably asks him to do it and I didn;t want to look like a geek.
I couldn't stop thinking about it, so we circled back and I asked him to say THE LINE. He said, "Oh, the line...they're coming to get you Barbara." I had an immediate geek-gasm. Then my wife Susan said the next line, "Stop it, Johnny. You're being ignorant." Streiner just got this weird look on his face and said, "Wow, you guys really are big fans."
That made my year!
Like I wrote earlier, Jamin is enthusiastic! I love his stories and I appreciate his time in sharing them.

Jamin Hilwig and Russ Streiner in Novi, MI-May 2003.

Friendly Encounters

This is another in a series about my friends meeting celebs.

Again this year, I will be covering the Motor City Comic Con for Global Traveler magazine. I started to do my research and I came across Jamin Hillwig, a Michigan resident and MCCC attendee. I asked Jamin to share some of his stories and pictures and he agreed.
I'll let Jamin tell his own story.
When I saw Kane Hodder's name on the guest list for the Motor City Comic Con in 2003, I made him my primary target. Kane Hodder is the actor who played Jason in the Friday the 13th films (specifically 7-10). This was back when the MCCC was held at the old Novi Expo Center, where they had "Autograph Alley" in the back and to the right. Hodder wasn't hard to spot. He is about 6'4" and built like a brick outhouse. After waiting in a short line, I introduced myself and my wife and shook his hand. The man has a grip like a vise. We talked briefly about Freddy versus Jason, which was coming out in a few months and how he wasn't going to be in it. He told me his good friend Robert (Freddy) Englund had lobbied hard to get him the part, but the director Ang Lee, wanted his Jason to have "sad eyes", because he was the victim in this movie. We both had a good laugh about Jason being a "victim". Jason Vorhees is not a victim. He is a KILLER. I got his autograph and asked for a picture. He said "sure" and I asked if he could do me a favor and choke me in the picture. "Okay, whatever you want," he said with a chuckle. So my wife got the camera and said she was ready. Then Kane grabbed me by the throat and lifted me so I was on my tip-toes (I'm only 5'4") and cranked down with just a little more than what you'd call "gentle pressure". I believe I made a sound like "awwk!!" and then my wife snapped the pic. He put me down, I thanked him and we shook hands again and he crushed my hand again. I read in an interview later, that when Kane is Jason, this is what he does. He tends to use a bit more force with his "victims" because he likes for their reactions to be authentic...like Jason is really trying to kill them, which is about what you see on my face in the picture because I really didn't expect that and I was wondering "Just what have I got myself into this time?" I got a great picture and I actually felt honored that he'd treat me as somebody Jason was trying to kill. But the true moral of the story is:Be careful what you ask for, you might get it.
Thanks to Jamin for sharing his story and picture. Hopefully, it is just the first of several he will share here in the future.

Jamin Hillwig and Kane Hodder in Novi, MI-May 2003.