We stepped into the Oregon Convention Center and saw this gigantic ginkgo seed. Further research revealed that it was by a NYC artist who said he was inspired by the Ginkgo forests of prehistoric Oregon.

What?!

I was psyched because not only did Portland, Oregon's Living Dead Con pick my flick DRIFTER to kick off their film screenings, but it was going to be followed by the cult classic comedy HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS, presented by the film's director, Fred Olen Ray!

On the big screen! The screening was fun and it was great to see the great-looking blu-ray presentation of HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS afterwards.

We headed over to My Father's Place for some dinner.

Time for beer.

I love this lamp.

Good friends. Good times.

Saturday morning we checked out Fred Olen Ray's directing workshop. Sorry for the blurry photo. It was a fun run through Fred's annoyances with amateur productions, lots of tips on what to pay attention to, how to handle things and some equipment suggestions. Straight, no BS.

This, of course, was the best panel of the day. Just kidding.

Crypticon Seattle mascot Alfred was there!

Lisa Petrucci of SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO had some wild DVDs and some cool banners!

The making monsters panel was fun. Cleve Hall is always entertaining and has great stories!

She left too early for the Friday night dinner photo, so I grabbed a selfie with Bonnie on Saturday.

Horror fashion show time!

A knife, a bear and some blood.

Everyone was enjoying the fashion show.

After living vicariously through our convention trip diaries for years, Fred is finally IN one!

This is Fred's martini. He is pointing at it. Inside joke.

Had some great food at Russell Street BBQ. Great conversation, great company.

Yes I am.

Keep Portland Weird. I call this the "doorfence."

On Sunday, VegFest was going on at the same time at the convention center. Good thing I ate all that BBQ brisket the night before!

I ran into Jackey Raye Neyman from MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE, and of course, BEYOND THE WALL OF FEAR!

They squished the Universal Monster panel together with a women in horror panel. It was a bit crowded and they didn't really talk about Universal Monsters much, and Lisa Marie didn't show up, but it was interesting just the same.

Jackey reminded Julie that they appeared together in a theater production of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brody" in Texas back in 1970! Adams was a guest celebrity actress who played Jean Brody, Jackey's dad, who played The Master in MANOS played Jim Lowther and Jackey played one of the eleven year old schoolgirls. Jackey still had the playbill from forty five years ago, and had Julie sign it!

A collector showed off a harpoon gun prop that he pulled from the trash when he worked in the effects department at Universal Studios - a harpoon gun from CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON!!! He also said the creature head was pulled from the original mold. So much movie history right there! photo courtesy of Chris McMillan

Jackey and Julie back at Julie's table - what a cool creature-ish prop behind them! Photo courtesy of Jackie

Cool!

Well, hey there!

Nice!

Huh?

And with that, the con closed up and we headed out.

Selling out! Closing out! Getting out! Quitting business! Fuck you!

And, back to My Father's Place to close out the weekend.

Mmmmmmmm...fries....

Looking forward to the next LIVING DEAD CON!