BOTCON 2007 ~Art Blog 1 Year Anniversary Post!

WELCOME! My art blog has been open for 1 year now & I thank you for visting, I have made some great friends along the way as well as some future prospects, & I am proud to say I hope we have many more years together as I will be consistant with updating this at LEAST once a month with more art & the stories behind the creations that I bring you! It's been wonderful having you here & I look forward to our future adventures together... To celebrate the anniversary of year 1, here is a portrait of the Classics Version of OPTIMUS PRIME!!!

Not since 1997 have me and my Peeps been to BOTCON, & I am proud to say that 2007 marked our 10 Year Anniversary & return to the greatest Transformer Con in history! Based in Hasbro's home town of Providence RI made it an easy 1 hour trip for us to go, & for a wonderful time at the local covention center & mall. I did this portrait of "Classics Version Optimus Prime" to celebrate one of my childhood heroes & a toyline that has been with me since it's conception in 1984 as well as the 1 year anniversary of this blog. My brothers (one known as the infamous PoweredConvoy) & I have been fans & collectors all these years but have only been able to venture out to one BotCon (in NY) before this summer (Con was held June 28-July 1) & it was nice to be at a smaller convention & close to home as opposed to the trek we are used to for Anime Cons & the like. We were there to meet the guests & pick up the wonderful exclusive collectables for the superb TF Classics line (& more) which offered some of the best figures to date in TF history. We had a chance to see the "Real Optimus Prime Truck" from the 2007 TF Movie in PERSON, this thing was unbelievably gorgeous, if you haven't seen the new TF Movie, ya should, it's great fun & a fresh take on the franchise & made the "Robots in Disguise" larger than life with action packed excitement!To say we met some truly wonderful people is an understatement. We had a chance to get an autograph from TF Legend voice actor Peter Cullen, who voiced both Optimus Prime in the original animated series as well as in the new TF 2007 Movie. The line was long with dedicated fans & even being there early we were lucky enough to be some of the last of that session to get Peter's graces. He was kind enough to sign 2 items. I had him sign my original CS Optimus Prime & the USA release of the 80's Dungeons & Dragons TV Series DVD Box... Much to my surprise Peter did a "Venger Voice-Over" for me and said "THERE IS NO ESCAPE mwahaha ha ha ha!!!" it was amazing...as I thanked him & walked away, he gave me an additional thrill & introduced me to the audience as I was leaving... "Christopher Para Ladies & Gentlemen..." so yeah, having one of the leading movie trailer voice-overs "sign you off" makes you feel like a celeb, what a moment!

Stan Bush was the other reason we had a very special time at BOTCON. Known best for his work on TFTM OST singing the songs "The Touch" & "Dare" is just some of the highlights of this amazing AOR rockers legendary discography.

He put on an amazing concert on the night of the Awards Party for Botcon's premium members, with Hasbro's stellar 80's cover band "The Cusaks." The show included brand new songs like the hot 2007 TF reworked anthem "Til All Are One", ripping melodic new songs "I'll Never Fall" & "I Got A Thing For You" from Stan's incredible 2007 release "In This Life" & the classic TF movie song "Dare", & closed with the new recording of "The Touch"(2007) also from his new release...much to the crowd's suprise, Stan later covered "The Summer of 69" & "Everybody's Working For The Weekend"... Stan was available for autographs all weekend & was very gracious to his guests, being a long time fan I had plenty for him to sign. ^_- We also got to sit & chat with Stan about his career on Sunday on his final panel, he answered all of our questions & was a real class act to his fandom.

REVIEW: STAN BUSH - In This Life
http://www.stanbush.com/
Want to listen to one of the best CD's of 2007, then checkout Stan Bush's official website & order a copy of "In This Life"... as a long-time fan with radio experience I can tell you it is his most electrifying release to date! All of the songs are well-crafted melodic hard rock with hooks that will have you playing the CD again & again. Songs like "I'll Never Fall" & "In This Life" are some of his best anthems to date & should be the new standard for arena rock. Original ventures like the Spanish-flavored ballad "Southern Rain" & the more commercial neo-classically inspired melody of "Waiting For You" are some of Stan's most inspired works yet. Each song sounds like it belongs with the rest of the album & flows from hard rock to power ballads effortlessly with a lyrical focus on the positive aspects of life & getting through those tough times. This album has some of the best moments in his discography like the exciting guitar riffs & solos, keyboard accents, & soaring vocals on songs like "This Moment" or 1 of Stan's new USA exclusive tracks, the sensational TF anthem "Til All Are One", which is a absolute crunching theme & one of my all-time favorite songs in his career. The CD also includes a brand new 2007 recording of Stan's biggest hit "The Touch" which sounds like a fresh take on a true classic. This new CD has a crisp look with some amazing art sure to grab Metal fans & AOR fans alike. I think this is Stan's best release to date & listening will give you a unique experience in your CD library as the 2007 album your friends need to hear.
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Good times with good friends...
I also had a chance to meet & get an autograph from David Kaye who was very comical, & personable ("where you from?") & voiced Megatron since Beast Wars till the present & will be voicing Optimus Prime in the new CN "TF Animated" series. Other fun moments included the Hasbro Panel, where it was revealed that we will be getting more "Classics" figures! And of course the Awards Party, where we got an incredible concert, a bag of very cool free swag including a TF 80's t-shirt, 2007 Movie Poster, & Movie Bumblebee "BEE-OTCH" air freshner. What was also funny was that one of Hasbro's Lead Girl Rep's, the now infamous red-headed siren Vickie, was all over our table & wouldn't give us a break, she wanted us 4 boys out on that dance floor & she wouldn't give up, too funny from a good-looking Hasbro girl with some mean moves...in the end she won. ^_-
http://www.botcon.com/
might post some pics of my mighty swag later in the week...stay tuned...