Happy May 4th! Or "Star Wars Day" "May the 4th be with you?" Get it?
The day is really an excuse to celebrate all things Star Wars and comes on the heels of the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo which wrapped up last weekend.
As always, I spent four days there doing the convention "shuffle step" with about 100,000 of my closest friends!
As always it was a ton of fun, I met lots of people, some I'd never met, others I'd known for years, but it's always a great time to be with my fellow nerds, or as my wife calls them "my people."
Let me just say this, it's a long four days walking around the Stampede grounds, those who've done all 10 days of the Stampede my hats off to you, I'm wiped after four!
But, I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Unlike some of my friends, I kept my spending under control this year putting out a little over $200 on merchande, photo-ops and autographs, so not too bad.
Got to see some great panels though, with stars like Jeff Golblum, Elijah Wood, Lou Ferrigno and Wil Wheaton on hand.
There were plenty of locals there as well.
My friend Grant Shaw from Vulcan Tourism was there letting everyone know about "Vul-Con" coming up in July.
I talked with Alaine Kowal who was talking up the upcoming "Foothills Comic Con" in October at the Crescent Point Field House in Aldersyde.
And of course it wouldn't be the Expo without running into my buddy from Okotoks, Patrick Nicol, who's a Canadian Navy Veteran and a big part of the U.S.S. King Edward, Star Trek Fan Club.
Oh, and did I mention... I got to chat with the man, the myth, the legend... The one and only and TRUE Incredible Hulk... Lou Ferrigno!
Of course a highlight for me is getting to moderate panels at the Expo, like I do at "Vul-Con" and The "Foothills Comic Con" every year.
This year the highlight was hosting the Vanessa Marshall panel.
She may not be a household name, but if you're kids watch Star Wars Rebels, or a host of other Disney cartoons, they've probably heard of her, as she's a very talented voice actor, who's made a pretty good living doing animated TV shows, radio spots and other voice over work.
She's also the daughter of iconic 80's actor Joan Van Ark and just one of the nicest people you could ever meet.
The best part, she knows the stories and really cares about them as she's just as big a fan as the rest of us.
She even broke down and cried twice during the panel, when talking about some of the work she'd done on Star Wars Rebels which wrapped up it's run this year.
So in honour of her and the rest of the Star Wars universe, the plan is to sit down for a couple of hours Friday night, pop in the Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Blu Ray and head off to a galaxy, far, far away...