I Have Returned

Like MacArthur, I have returned.

More will follow in the days to come about my trip to the 15th Annual International UFO Congress Convention and Film Festival. For the moment, however, I'm still wading through phone messages, mail and e-mail that accumulated here at the office while I was gone. I should be done by the end of tonight, which means I'll be back in the bloggin' saddle tomorrow. Lots of good stuff to come, including a general review of the Con, specific reviews of speakers and films, notes and inside stories, and an account of the detente (sort of) that developed between Exopolitics guru Stephen Bassett and myself - all from the perspective of a "stranger in a strange land".

A couple of super-quick notes, however:

Tim Crawford is my new best friend (well, one of them).

Don Ledger is an absolute hoot to party with. Ditto his wife, Gail.

Greg Bishop is a great guy.

Crop Circles make for a super documentary subject, when done well.

Cynthia Siegel throws the best after-parties (I haven't had that many triple rum and cokes in years).

Rob Simone knows a good jacket when he sees it (and is a cool guy to boot).

Maurizio Baiata has a lot of guts (and an accent that makes women swoon).

The Flamingo Hotel and Casino really needs to put irons and ironing boards in every room.

Mac Tonnies should be invited to speak sometime.

There is no need to panic when the pilot declares an emergency landing.

And so on...

In the meantime, here is a picture of me at the UFO TV display in the vendor's room at the Conference. With me you can see the intrepid Rear Admiral Zorgrot, who was along for the trip and who will no doubt have pictures to post, and commentary to add, at his own blog, Zorgrot Speaks, over the next little while. Behind me to the right can be seen the two EBE's I won at the Conference last year for Aztec 1948. The statues are off to Aztec, New Mexico, for display during the Aztec Symposium later this month, at which time they'll be shipped to me, for permanent display in the Redstar office lobby (or so Scott Ramsey promised). It's always nice to have one's work recognized. While I might disagree with Scott's conclusions in the film, and elsewhere (i.e. at his Laughlin lecture) about Aztec, it is a good film, worth seeing for both sides of the debate (Karl Pflock provided the alternate point of view, with which I agree).

Anyway, back to work. Good to be home, and back in the blogosphere.

Paul Kimball