Life is Short

Today I woke up to the unfortunate news that a good friend of mine passed away last night in a car wreck. Needless to say today has been spent lost in thought. In 2008 I was in two bad wrecks, both cars were flipped and in one of the wrecks I was knocked unconcious and my best friend had to crawl over my lifeless body to get out and get us help. Thinking about this, thinking about my beloved friend Amanda has been a bit of a wake up call today. It has made me realize how lucky I am to be on this earth and that every day is a gift and I cannot take it for granted. Amanda was so young and beautiful and full of life, if this can happen to her it can happen to anyone. Do me a favor and keep her and her family in your thoughts. She left behind a husband who loved her greatly and I cannot even begin to imagine what he is going through right now. And while you are at it do me this favor, live every day like it is your last, love the people around you and never hold a grudge. Life is too short, you must seize every opportunity you have and take into your heart as many people as possible.


And now I leave you with a picture of Amanda with Mel and I when we first met during Spring Break one year. You can easily see how her smile could instantly brighten a room.

Insomniac

I'm absolutely exhausted yet I cannot seem to sleep. I recently started working as an apprentice at Capital City Tattooz so my photography has been on a slight hold as I'm revamping the shop's image. I love the shop and I love my co-workers but sometimes the hours are hell. If you are ever in the Tallahassee area please come stop by! I'd love the company :)

VIP After Party

During Screamfest Spooky Empire held a VIP after party Saturday night. Located at one of the Wyndham's luxorious pools, the VIP party offered celebrities and VIP patrons a more personal setting to get to know one eachother and swap stories from the convention. When they weren't being entertained by their fellow guests stories atendees could enjoy a live DJ, Karaoke and most importantly, an open bar. Those who bought VIP passes to the event were also given several raffle tickets to put towards winning gifts of their choice. The raffled prizes included tattoo time from Screaming Ink, VIP passes to next year's Screamfest, coffin guitar cases which were autographed by each celebrity in attendance AND an autographed electric guitar. Though the party was only two hours long and more or less the pregame to the the convention's real after party that would be held a few hours later, everyone had a blast and was able to truly show off their wild side. Some epic Karaoke performances were given throughout the night (especially towards the end of the open bar extravaganza) but the one sing along that held a special place in everyone's hearts and camera phones was Joey Belladonna of Anthrax singing Journey's Don't Stop Believing. If you google hard enoiugh I bet you can find a few videos or at least recordings of the legendary event!

And now enjoy some VIP party pictures (including Mr. Belladonna's performance!)

Celebrity Poker Tournament

Speaking of celebrities, the final day of Screamfest Spooky Empire held a Celebrity Poker tournament for The Simba's Pride Foundation (in case you already forgot, Simba's Pride is a charity that helps rescue dogs, ensure they are fed, given plenty of toys and a nice place to rest). The poker players were composed of a group of celebrity guests, local celebrities, artists, musicians, and convention attendees that donated their time and money to compete in the event. The event began with three tables and slowly dwindled down to one.As the game played on the excitement grew and the room began taking on quite a few spectators. Though only the top three received prizes (including a cruise, $500 cash, a flat screen tv and more!), everyone walked away with a smile knowing they did their good deed for the day!

And now....

Spooky Empire Celebs

Each year Spooky Empire promises some of the business' favorite celebrities and this year was no different! Screamfest offered a little bit of everything from Directors (like John Landis) to Actors (like Jason Mewes and Shannen Dorherty) to writers (like Buffy the Vampire's Alice Henderson and ZOmbie Survival Guide's Max Brooks) and even musicians like ANthrax's front man Joey Belladonna. Each paying guest was able to not only meet these celebrities, they were also able to get their autographs, take pictures with them and attend special celebrity meet and greets where each celeb would answer the fans questions on everything from upcoming movies to what kind of lipstick they wear (yes, that was an actual question asked to Terrance Zdunich in the Repo Q&A!). All the celebrities were great sports and eager to meet and greet with fans all over the convention, especially at the after parties. See guys, famous people are normal people too (just with better stories to tell!)



Now let's see if you can guess who each person is and what they were in!!














































as always don't forget to check the disaster photography photobucket for more celebrity pictures!

Zombie Luau

Tonight after seeing some friends I decided to call it an early night in order to be a diligent photographer. So here I am at 2 A.M. in front of my lap top editing, editing and more editing! Luckily I'm still going through all the Spooky Empire photos so the process is more like a walk down memory lane rather than actual work.

The photos I'm posting in this entry are the Zombie Luau photos! After a long Friday packed with horror movies, celebrity Q & A's, vendor shopping, tattoos, video gaming, celebrity meet and greets, and of course the previously mentioned Zombie Walk, guests were ready to take the pool and bar on full force! Still dressed in their Zombie best, the living dead roamed around the pool drinks in hand and relived the magical moments of the day. As if the day wasn't packed with enough activities the Zombie Luau also had a performance by Enigma and Serena Rose, live bands and an Auction going on where guests placed bids on donated items. Not only did people get to walk off with some really rad souvenirs (including autographed items and a custom monster surf board designed by Mark Longenecker) but the auction benefited the Simba's Pride foundation, a charity that rescues man's best friend! All in all the Zombie Luau was quite the fitting afterparty for such a Zombirific day!

oh yeah and did I mention Jake Busey did a mini strip tease? (ok ok maybe he had tank top under his shirt, but his dance moves were killer and the ladies loved it!)










































for more information on Simba's Pride go to http://www.myspace.com/simbaspridefl and to check out more photos from the ZOmbie Luau don't forget to check out the Disaster Photography photobucket!