Michigan

Hey everyone,

Over the years there has been a lot of really cool things made for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Stuff people enjoy from toys, comics, clothes, even skateboards and skis.  Though one of the biggest and most awesome things I’ve ever seen made for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the Monster Truck!

Growing up with bullies was never an easy thing.  Though there was one thing that I realized at a very young age, I never wanted to hurt any of these bullies.  Yes, they did hurt me a lot.  Though it wasn’t in my nature to think of hurting them back.  I just wanted the fights to end.

Everyone has things that they rant about, something that troubles them and they just have to vent.  I’m no different. So, from time to time, I’m going to share some of those things here.  Some of them could be big that affect a lot of people, other rants could be something personal about my life that others might relate to.

Today’s rant is about medical cost in the United States. Yes, something a lot of people discuss how to fix it and a lot of people misunderstand how it works, while others are just totally left out.  Well I’m not going to say I’m an expert on it, but I will say that I’m one of those people who got really bumped badly from the system and have not been able to pick myself up since.  Here’s my story....

I have been going to conventions since I was a little kid. So it’s not uncommon to see me wandering the halls of a convention decked head to toe in Ninja Turtles.  Some conventions have become use to me being there yearly, while others I show up at for only the names upon the guest list.  I have worked in all sorts of different areas for conventions from dealer rooms to running panels to even Convention Operations.

Detroit, Michigan has been a very hard-up town for a long time now.  Many people do not want to go there for really good reasons, with a high crime rate, police taking hours to respond, low income, and an overall hard-up feeling to the city with businesses closing down and unemployment going up. What type of business could be worth going into this city?  Well there are some big places that have managed to keep going downtown, it’s nice when you can find that diamond in the rough that is surviving these hard times.

Since Comic Con International, I’ve been waiting for a movie to hit the theaters, “Real Steel”.  At the convention, we got to see the robots that will be used in the movie.  Hugh Jackman was there to promote the movie, and not only did my sister, Miki, get to meet him where he signed a poster for her, we saw him later on the streets of San Diego.  Later, during my Los Angels trip, we met up with another crew member from “Real Steel” who also worked on “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze”.

Detroit FanFare, the new show in town, is trying to become as big as Motor City Comic Con fast.  This show did great last year with Stan Lee as their guest of honor so they figured they’d pull in the same type of crowd this year without Stan Lee and jumped into Cobo Hall in Downtown Detroit.  The plan was flawed as the guest list did not include Stan Lee and the event was not free to the public like it was last year.  Though the event was a blast for EVERY attendee that came to the convention.

The World Steam Expo.  Steam Punk?  My first thought was Punk Rock, and I never was a fan of that.  Though people tried to explain it to me, even showed me web pages and videos for Steam Punk, the full idea just seemed so different to me.  I was not grasping the idea of this event, and once I read the events at the expo I almost felt like it was a fashion show with many panels on how to put your costumes together, making the props, and being in character.

Welcome to Cowabunga Corner news. This weekend we're covering the World Steam Expo in Michigan. This video was taken Thursday, sorry it's so dark though we don't have our own lights to set up so we're going with the light from the hotel.