#Weather Geeks

[meteorologistaustenlonek]

#WeatherGeeks: "Science Behind Billion Dollar Disasters"

2023 set the record for the most billion dollar disasters in the United States in one calendar year. As the name suggests, a billion dollar disaster is a weather or climate disaster event with losses exceeding one billion dollars. Our next guest is the lead scientist for the National Centers for Environmental Information Billion-dollar Weather and Climate Disasters analysis. Welcome to the show Adam Smith… #WeatherGeeks

[final-girl96]

Killer Geek Masterlist

Ao3

Wattpad (23+ stories here)

Description/Trigger Warnings (please read)

Prologue

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

Twenty

TwentyOne

TwentyTwo

TwentyThree

TwentyFour

TwentyFive

TwentySix

TwentySeven

TwentyEight

TwentyNine

Thirty

[jackwhitespankbank]

Wut?!

[gumnut-logic]

From Australian Bureau of Meteorology Seasonal Summary of Summer 2024

If anyone asks why Australians tend to live on the coast instead of the interior, the answer is pretty obvious and doesn’t require a YouTube video claiming its odd.

Also the above article discusses the raw data on exactly how hot this summer has been. Poor Western Australia was roasted, while the east coast drowned ::hugs all my fellow Aussies::

As for Adelaide, which sits in the yellow bit with the Island and gulfs to the east of the Great Australian Bight, we had a mild summer. We blew out our rain record, but honestly that was two days in December and not much else, nothing like the east and north that had the fun of at least two cyclones. Adelaide has only had a few hot days and no major heat waves (I say that as the next few days are going to be 34, 33, 36, 39, 36 and 36 celcius, so technically there is a four day heatwave in that at least, yay for autumn).

Where I live is very dry - my car is desperate for rain to get all the bird shit and outback dust off it as we haven’t really seen any for two months. But this summer it felt like one side of the country was baking and the other drowning while we sat quite lucky with mild weather in the middle ::hugs all the Aussies::

Of course, it may be Autumn and the days are getting shorter (damnit), but we will still have some summery weather, so it isn’t finished yet. Not really until the first April rains.

I am counting my blessings, though.

Nutty

I love a sunburnt country

A land of sweeping plains

Of ragged mountain ranges

Of droughts and flooding rains

- Dorothea MacKellar

[greensparty]

Remembering Carl Weathers 1948-2024

Sad news today that actor, director and former NFL player Carl Weathers has died at 76. His most famous role was as Apollo Creed in the legendary underdog sports epic Rocky! The opponent of Rocky later became a close friend and he returned in Rocky II, Rocky III, and Rocky IV. He was such a great character! Weathers even appeared in the documentary John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs about the Rocky director (I included the doc in my Best Documentaries of the 2010s list).

Sly Stallone and Weathers in Rocky

In the 80s he co-starred in Predator. After co-stars Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger became governors, many asked Weathers if he'd go into politics. Unfortunately it never happened, but he did appear in an SNL sketch where he did a fake election ad!

Weathers and the future Governator in Predator

Other notable films he appeared in included Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the 80s action movie Action Jackson ("now I'm pissed off!"), as the golf mentor to Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore, and the voice of Combat Carls in Toy Story 4 (which I included on my Best Movies of 2019 list).

Weathers and Grogu on The Mandalorian

But his biggest role in recent years was a Greef Karga on the Star Wars spin-off series The Mandalorian. Earlier this week I named it my #3 TV Show of 2023. As the ally to Din Dijarin he stole many scenes and was nominated for an Emmy for his performance. He even directed two great episodes of the show in 2020 and 2023. It also needs to be said that he directed a lot of other TV shows too!

The link above is the obit from Hollywood Reporter.

[battybaddie13]

❄️🥶

[ambafaerie]

The application of Storm’s powers in universe and the scientific explanation behind them out of universe will always have me geeking out.

[clobberbox]

“Dunder Mifflin - the people person's paper people!”

Stay cozy during your annual rewatch of The Office with our cozy sweaters inspired by the show!

Great Christmas gifts for fans of The Office!

Buy online here.

[autumnal-thunder]

I’m currently watching a tornado documentary and legit thought of your blog’s description as was inspired to send you some hints of what state I’m in based on some weather facts

While my state is outside of traditional Tornado Alley, a tornado struck it during the later 1900s that was so destructive that Dr Fujita himself contemplated rating it an F6

It's funny that I got this ask while sitting in the dark waiting for the power to come back on after a near miss from a high-end EF2 tornado.

But hey, I see you from Ohio. I love how Fujita considered a rating from his own scale inconceivable lol

I love some weather trivia. Thanks for the ask!

[skyward-floored]

Oooh tornado watch

[labcampkill]

Do they check the weather forecast before leaving the house or chance it?

For Brad

Brad smiles " If your a helicopter pilot.. you gotta know the weather. . A lot of STARS just assumed that you can fly whenever.. " he chuckled

[meteorologistaustenlonek]

"As the sun set over the Magnolia state on Friday April 24th, Mississippian lives were changed forever. A charged supercell cut across the midsection of the state, spawning a tornado that caused EF4 damage in the towns of Rolling Fork and Silver City and then EF3 damage in Amory, all over the course of a few hours while many slept. While the event was well forecasted by meteorologists across the country, NOTHING could prepare a person for the severity of what the victims experienced and what we all saw at first light the next morning. We want to take this episode of Weather Geeks to break it all down and look ahead to the tornado potential of the next event."

[final-girl96]

Killer Geek Chapter Eleven

The Cabin

Randy turned off the road onto a long paved driveway that led to the cabin. When we pulled up to the house Billy, Stu, and Eric's cars were there. Randy parked the car, turned the engine off, and we got out. We rounded the car going to the trunk, where Randy opened it. “Where the fuck were you two?!” Billy came barreling out of the house, down the steps, and towards us. I simply just rolled my eyes at him. “We stopped to get groceries for the weekend, like I told you we needed to do!” I said, getting an eye roll back.

“Let's get this party started!” Stu cheered, grabbing two cases of beer from his jeep. “Of course, you of all people brought alcohol,” I said, pushing past him. Everyone came out and helped bring the groceries inside and we brought all our bags in. The cabin has four rooms, which means I would end up having to share with Randy since everyone else is a couple. That filled me with nerves.

“So what're you ladies making for dinner?” Eric asked. We all turned to look at him and the smug smile he had painted across his face. “What? It's a joke, calm down. Damn,” He said, throwing his arm over Tatum's shoulders. “Yeah such a funny joke,” I mumbled. Randy helped Sidney and I put everything away then we all sat in the living room and discussed what we were going to have for dinner.

“We could make burgers on the grill,” I suggested. “I got stuff to make salad. I have some fruit and other snacks. Sit out by the lake.”

Everyone nodded and the guys got up and went outside. When the back door closed behind them Tatum, Sidney, Casey, and I went to the kitchen. “Hey, Tate, you need to get rid of Eric after this trip,” I said, opening the fridge. “He's not that bad,” she said, leaning against the counter.

“He seems a little full of himself,” Sidney said, taking things from me and putting them on the counter. “He's an asshole. I've heard stories about him,” Casey chimed in. Tatum just gave her an eye roll. Tatum and Casey never really got along. My personal opinion is because Tatum likes Stu. “Well, like I said, he's not that bad. Besides, it was just a stupid joke.”

We made the burger's up and Sidney took them out to Billy so he could put them on the grill. Then we set up toppings for them and make a large salad and put out chips. Then we took everything out onto the back patio, where we ate and joked around. The night was good. Stu of course grabbed one of the cases of beers he brought and Billy started A fire in the fire pit.

Everything was relaxed. We told stories from the past and everyone was laughing and having a good time, even Sidney's mode was cheerful. She was leaning into Billy, laughing along with everyone else. It was definitely something we all needed. I don't think I've seen Billy this relaxed in a while. “We should go swimming!” Stu said, jumping up to his feet. “Are you crazy? That water is going to be freezing, Stu,” I said.

A goofy and mischievous smile spread across his face. He bent over, picked Casey up, and ran towards the water.“Stu, put me down!” Casey screamed. The rest of us stood up and watched as he threw her into the lake. “If you say so!” Casey screamed as she hit the water and Stu jumped in right after her.

“What an idiot,” Billy mumbled. There was a few seconds of silence before Sindey let out a surprised yelp. Billy picked her up and was running towards the lake. Eric had Tatum and followed shortly after. “Billy, don't!” Sidney screamed as he jumped into the lake, submerging them both. Eric threw Tatum in and jumped in after.

“Well, maybe we should join everyone else.” I turned my head and looked at Randy. “What? No way. You're fucking crazy if you think I'm going to get in that water.” Randy hummed, turned around and walked to the cabin. “Where are you going?” I asked. “I'll be back in a second!” I turned back around and looked out towards the lake where everyone else was splashing each other and laughing. I was so focused on our friends that I didn't hear Randy sneaking up behind me. His arms wrapped around my waist, picking me up bridal style. “No, Randy, don't you dare!” I was engulfed by cold water a second later. I surfaced gasping for air, pushing my hair out of my face. “Oh, my god, it's fucking cold!”

We played around for a few minutes before getting out and running back inside the cabin to get dry and warm. The air was cooler up here being up in the mountains. The fire outside was put out and a fire was started in the fireplace in the living room. Everyone was in comfortable clothes, popcorn was made, and a movie was put in. Everyone was cuddled up. Tatum and Eric were sucking each other's faces off. Casey and Stu got up at some point and snuck off somewhere. Billy had his was wrapped around Sidney's shoulders and she was leaning into him.

Then there was Randy and I, sitting beside each other, thighs touching, his arm resting on the back of the couch behind me. I had a blanket laying over me with one leg curled up and was leaning close to him. A shiver racked through me when his arm went from the couch to rest over my shoulders. Then his breath was tickling my skin. “Are you cold?” He whispered into my ear, lips brushing the shell of my ear. He moved a little closer and pulled me into his side. His lips trail from the shell of my ear down to my neck.

A shiver rippled down my spine, spreading goosebumps across my skin. “Let me kiss you, please.” I looked around the room. Tatum and Eric must have gotten up at some point to go to their room. Sidney and Billy were standing up from where they were sitting. “We're heading to bed. Don't touch my fucking sister, Meeks.” Billy took Sidney's hand and headed up the stairs. I looked back at Randy and slowly nodded my head. “Okay.” He looked at me, scanning my face. “Yeah? You're absolutely sure I can kiss you?” He asked. I nodded softly and he smiled, leaned in and softly pressed his lips to mine.

[codenamehazard]

InFAMOUS Theories: Tornado Trouble

Mother Nature’s fury, few things can both inspire fear and awe like when Nature bares her teeth and strikes the Earth with her wrath. Blistering heatwaves, bone-biting cold, roaring infernos or rushing floods.

However, there are few things more breathtaking than the sight of a tornado. From graceful, swirling white ropes or cones that dance across the open plains to thick, black, monster wedges that can tear up sound buildings and destroy whole towns as if they were nothing more than cardboard toys. No matter what forms they take or where you see them, these twisters will leave you in a state of awe.

There’s no denying the power of Nature, but what happens when a man gains the power to summon these twisting cyclones of air and destruction?

How powerful is Cole MacGrath’s Ionic Vortex?

—---

I’ll come out of the gate with this, I am by no means a meteorologist, I am just someone who loves science and ESPECIALLY loves weather, so take my little musing here with a grain of salt.

Tornados are things of awe and beauty, but also of fear and terror. Able to clear buildings in one go if powerful enough. This destructive power is measured with something called the Enhanced Fujita or EF scale, a rating from EF0 to EF5 is given based on the damage left behind in the tornado’s path, with EF0 doing little more than blowing out windows, knocking over stuff and ripping shingles out of the roof and EF5 with strong buildings swept away, clean off the foundation, and sending debris hundreds of miles away.

Here are some links to help with understanding the EF scale. It’s a little more complicated than what I have described, so I hope these links will help if you’re interested in seeing them for yourself.

With that being said, sometimes as I would play InFAMOUS 2 and have an absolute riot watching Cole summon the Ionic Vortex and send people, cars and debris flying and tumbling, sometimes my mind would wonder. If somebody surveyed the damage left behind after one of these twisters tore through the area, what rating would they get? How strong are they?

Is Cole capable of producing stronger vortexes?

I started to wonder and think… Probably overthink a little bit, but think I do. I know I have a few things gameplay-wise I have to take into consideration when it comes to figuring out where the Ionic Vortex falls on the EF scale. The EF scale looks at all damage done by a tornado, plants, trees, vehicles, but the main indicator of damage is buildings. From rinky-dink shacks to well built homes and everything in between. The speed of the winds matter not.

Now, obviously Sucker Punch isn’t gonna turn the player loose with something that can obliterate buildings on a whim. The software on the PS3 wouldn’t be able to handle it and it would kinda… Render a lot of the fun aspects of InFAMOUS 2 moot, can’t really enjoy a parkour romp or try and play a rousing game of “the floor is lava” while zipping across power lines when everything has been turned to rubble. With this in mind, I can’t use the buildings as indicators of damage for the Vortex, as the buildings are impervious to the shenaniganry of mutated monsters, icy madmen and a man who can shoot lightning from his hands.

What I do have… Are cars.

Cars can be a great indicator of how damaging a tornado was when it was on the ground, seeing as these are one of the few things that the Ionic Vortex can interact with.

Here is the video I’m gonna be using as it shows a great example of the Ionic Vortex in action, make note of the cars. See how they’re just… Tossed around?

Now, a tornado as low as an EF1 can push cars aside and roll them, but with how these vehicles are being lifted up and dropped, the Vortex is stronger than EF1, but seeing as the cars weren’t chucked miles away, it isn’t into the more violent sections of tornados. So most likely, the Ionic Vortex would most likely be rated an EF2 based on what it does to those cars. I know an EF2 doesn’t sound too impressive, but bear in mind that EF2 twisters are classified as both “strong” and “significant” in EF classifications. So those tornados are nothing to sneeze at and if the buildings didn’t have plot armor… There would be a pretty good chance that Zeke might find a car “parked” on his sofa or see a few buildings that have suddenly lost their roofs.

So the most likely rating for the Ionic Vortex would be EF2, but with one question answered, another comes up. Could it be stronger? Why stop at EF2? To this question, I have three possible theories.

EF2 is the strongest Cole can create at the time of InFAMOUS 2

Cole can produce stronger vortexes, but chooses not to.

The strength of the Vortex is affected by the climate of the area Cole is currently in.

With theory one, it’s simple. The strength cap of the Ionic Vortex is as EF2 rating and at the current moment, Cole is unable to produce anything stronger, even if he wanted to. Tornadoes are hard to produce even for supercell thunderstorms. The ingredients have to be just right and even then that’s no guarantee the storm will produce an EF0 tornado, the most common rating, let alone anything higher and that’s Mother Nature we’re talking about.

I can only imagine how much of a drain it would be on Cole, it’s probably why he has to use an Ionic charge to perform the feat as forcing a storm to form is a task in itself, let alone forcing that storm to produce a tornado at all. With the effort shown through Cole tossing out the Vortex like he was participating in a Hammer Throw competition, you can tell it takes a lot of power from the Conduit. So perhaps for the time being, that’s as strong as he can go with a single charge without overdoing it. Could he produce a stronger vortex if given enough time to train himself up? Maybe, but we will never know.

Theory two is also pretty simple. Cole is an intelligent and logical man as he’s shown us throughout the games, so even if he wasn’t big into the study of weather, he knows just how devastating a tornado can be, how much damage they can do and how much he’d be shooting himself in the foot if he let loose the hounds of hell in the form of a massive cyclone with the power to flatten buildings.

He’s a ranged fighter, so buildings are his best friends when it comes to getting the edge in combat. The higher up he is, the better he can get in those sweet, sweet headshocks. Zeke also likes to make the hideouts for the two of them up on the rooftops, so not only will being a one-man demolition team be destroying vantage points that are valuable in combat, he’d possibly put Zeke in great danger and lose both him and a place to hunker down. So the best course of action is to reign in the twisters and keep the collateral at… Acceptable levels. That… And it’s no fun trying to parkour in a flat city.

Theory 3 is more complicated, but still fun to think about. What if creating a Vortex was less of a hard shove, but more like a gentle nudge? Like the beating of a wing to give just enough push to form a storm. What do I mean by this? What if the strength of an Ionic Vortex is helped by the climate around Cole?

For example, let’s say Cole could create vortexes in InFAMOUS 1, but he opted not to. Why?

Well, New York’s climate isn’t known for tornados. Hurricanes yes, but not tornadoes and especially not particularly violent ones. So maybe Cole tried his hand at making a tornado in Empire City, but it took a lot of power to do so and all he could get was an EF0, maybe an EF1 if he was lucky. The output was not worth the input in Cole’s opinion, so instead, lightning storms were the way to go. It still took a lot of power, but the output was worth it.

Now, we venture into New Marais in InFAMOUS 2. New place, new climate, new powers to be had. Now Louisiana is much more of a tornado hotspot than New York is, the climate is closer to having the ingredients for creating tornadic supercells.

Compare the tornado data between New York, New York and New Orleans, Louisiana. Quite the difference isn’t there? More tornadoes and stronger ones too. Since Empire City and New Marais are analogs for the two aforementioned cities, I’d say it’s safe to assume that their climates would be no different than their real world counterparts.

Cole might be able to sense this difference, he might not, but either way, Cole will experiment. He will monkey around with his powers and soon find that the same amount of energy he had to put in to produce a dinky EF0 in Empire City now produces a significantly stronger EF2! He probably thought to himself “now we’re cooking with gas” when the Ionic Vortex tore through the street and started to do some more meaningful damage to targets. With that, tornadoes were now a more viable option in combat thanks to the more instability-prone climate of Louisiana.

Now… Let’s take this theory and kick it up one more notch. Let’s place Cole somewhere in the infamous (heh) Tornado Alley. Let’s say… Oklahoma?

Look at all those twisters! A good chunk of those being EF4-EF5s! This was even the state where the monster 2 mile wide EF3 El Reno tornado spun up! Truly this state produces some devastating meteorological progeny. Outside of a major city, this would be a playground for the Demon of Empire City. The unstable atmosphere possibly making storm generation an absolute breeze for Cole and with it, supercells and the tornadoes they can produce.

Now to create an EF2 Ionic Vortex is less taxing energy wise and depending on Karma will determine how likely Cole would be willing to dabble in the higher rankings, Good Cole would probably prefer to keep his twisters in the EF2 range while Evil Cole would be less hesitant to call forth an EF3 or even an EF4 if he’s feeling particularly malicious and destructive that day, but both aren’t likely to use the full amount of energy that was needed to produce EF2s in New Marais, as that was basically giving it all he got. Why expend all that energy when you can use less to get the results you need. Going whole hog is just a tad bit overkill.

That is… Unless you’re Kessler. Or some unlucky son of a female dog that absolutely and utterly enraged Cole to the point where they might as well be Kessler. At that point, they better pray to their pantheon for forgiveness and make peace with their life, because the Demon of Empire City sure as hell won’t.

Or maybe Cole is put in a situation where he’s in a bind and he needs to unleash hell and fast and not hold back.

And so… He doesn’t.

With that, he creates a devastating EF5 Ionic Vortex, capable of flattening cities. A truly terrifying sight.

Sadly, we may never know what may have been as the story of Cole MacGrath has ended with his sacrifice at the good end of InFAMOUS 2, so we may never know how strong he could have become. How powerful he could have grown. All we can do is speculate, wonder and dream of what could have been.

Isn’t that part of the fun of being a fan, though?

When the clouds turn dark and the thunder starts to roar, watch the skies and keep your weather radio close, you never know when Nature’s teeth will be bearing down on you.

[bookgeekgrrl]

My media this week (25-31 Dec 2022)

📚 STUFF I READ 📚

🥰👂‍Hogfather (Terry Pratchett, author; Sian Clifford/Bill Nighy/Peter Serafinowicz, narrator) - I thought this was gonna be a reread but it turned out I hadn't actually read it before! It's Pratchett so of course it was very entertaining. Excellent narration as well - really clever way to do the footnotes.

🥰do you get déjà vu? (dreamtiwasanarchitect, liadan14) - pt 3 in the AU where college bro Joe is the newest immortal - it's 7 years on, Joe & Nicky are heading back to college to search for a missing person and find someone they definitely do not expect

😍😍4 Minute Window series (Speranza) - 179K, canon-divergent stucky au - annual reread of one of the best series series/fics in the entire fandom (all but the as-yet unfinished 2022 advent story)

😊Fuckboi Hob vs The Endless Family Dinner (dancinbutterfly) - 41K, human AU - enjoyable fic prompted from that craigslist ad about a fake holiday date to piss off your family

💖💖 +496K of shorter fic so shout out to these I really loved 💖💖

The First Rule of Book Club series (Deisderium) - MCU: stucky, 28K - reread of this fave - post WS, Bucky moves to a small town in NC and joins a book club - I adore the outsider POV/OC in this so MUCH!

Can’t you see I’m ready now (Bittersweet_in_Boston) - MCU: stucky no powers AU, 3K - pretty much just PWP but seriously 🔥🔥🔥

the queen of spades (magneticwave) - James Bond: 00Q, 21K - nice little fic where Q has siblings which confounds & intrigues Bond

Synchronicity (stereobone) - James Bond: 00Q, 7K - "It goes on like that for months, and then Q realizes that James Bond is "hanging out" at his flat." - reread, this one is a fave

undersell, overcommit (silentwalrus) - MCU: stucky, 10K - reread, love this one so much - Bucky could really benefit from massage therapy, so Steve just…becomes a licensed massage therapist. The characterizations/character voices are SO FUCKING GOOD in this.

Not In The Answer But The Question (aimmyarrowshigh) - MCU: shrunkyclunks, 27K - love me some shrunkyclunks goodness like this! man-out-of-time/defrosted cap!steve finds an anchor to his past in a deli in brooklyn (and the cute jewish deli owner) - lots of flashbacks & steve healing

📺 STUFF I WATCHED 📺

Midsomer Murders - s23, e1-3

Enola Holmes 2

A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley - e1 "The New Taste for Blood"

The Last of Sheila

Hot Ones - Kevin Bacon Needs Six Degrees of Separation From Spicy Wings

Hot Ones - Tessa Thompson Feels Alive While Eating Spicy Wings

Hot Ones - Daniel Kaluuya Listens to His Ego While Eating Spicy Wings

Hot Ones - Lizzo Earns Her Hot Sauce Crown While Eating Spicy Wings

🎧 PODCASTS 🎧

Off Menu - Ep 174: Mel Giedroyc (Christmas Special)

Ologies with Alie Ward - P-22: The Life & Death of an L.A. Cougar with Miguel Ordeñana & Beth Pratt

Vibe Check - 2022 - That’s a Wrap!

Desert Island Discs - Baz Luhrmann, director

Decoder Ring Plus - The Mailbag Episode

Hot and Bothered - Live from Pemberley: Sexuality in the Regency (with Emily Nagoski)

Into It - Are We Into or Not Into 2022?

Come As You Are - Prelude: Pleasure is The Measure

Weather Geeks - Weather in Hollywood

Weather Geeks - Lights… Camera… Climate!

Ologies with Alie Ward - Bonus Episode: Secrets, Advice + Ask-Me-Anything

Hit Parade Plus - Hits of the Year Edition Part 1 & Part 2

🎶 MUSIC 🎶

Classical Calm

Timeless Classics

Feel-Good Classic Rock

RENAISSANCE [Beyoncé]

[greensparty]

2024 Fan Expo Boston - Day 3

This past weekend was the 2024 Fan Expo Boston convention at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston from Fri. June 14 to Sun. June 16. Here at Green’s Party, I’ve been covering the convention! Read my coverage here.

On Sunday I returned with my son. Can't think of a better way to spend part of Father's Day then geeking out with my son. Much like the prior days of the con, there were loads of cosplayers, gamers and fans out in full force.

Some of the fun cosplayers out at Fan Expo Boston.

Gunn as Kraglin in GOTG

Actor Sean Gunn might not be the household name his director brother James Gunn is, but he has stolen many scenes in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies as Kraglin. He had a booth at Fan Expo Boston and we briefly talked before he signed an autograph for my son. Very cool guy! With the GOTG movies, the soundtrack has been very important going back to the mixtape on the walkman to the Zune player in the last movie. I asked him if he had a favorite song on the soundtracks? He said "Of the three movies it's tough because there's a lot of songs that I like. But I think if I had to pick one [pauses], well I'm going to pick two. One I'm going to say 'Lake Shore Drive', the Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah song. I remember growing up it was the local song we'd hear on the radio in the Midwest, so that's really cool to have such an obscure song reach such a big audience. It's such a great lost 70s tune. But also I gotta give a shout out to "Come and Get Your Love" [by Redbone], the opening credits music to the first movie. I've heard it a kajillion times and I still love it and have never gotten sick of that song."

ASL translator, Weintraub, and Howard

One of the biggest stars at this year's Fan Expo Boston was easily Bryce Dallas Howard. She has proven to be more than just Ron Howard's daughter since her breakout role in The Village (a disappointment, but no denying her performance in it). She is a self-proclaimed sci-fi geek and it shows in her filmography with Spider-Man 3, Terminator Salvation, and the Jurassic World movies. I've been more of a fan of her performances in The Help, 50/50, and Rocketman more than her big event movies. But I've been particularly impressed with her directing some standout episodes of The Mandalorian! She did a conversation in the main theater moderated by Collider's Steven Weintraub. One fan asked her since she followed her father in directing Star Wars, if she might follow her uncle [Clint Howard] in directing Star Trek. She said 'I'm a Trekkie, so I would love it. I mean wasn't the last season of Picard just brilliant?! So I can only hope!" At the end, she got a little choked up as she talked about the late great Carl Weathers of The Mandalorian. She said his family is having a private memorial for him and she'd love for the audience to give him a standing ovation as she filmed it. The entire audience (myself included) got up for Mr. Weathers!

This year's Fan Expo Boston was a blast and it was especially fun to have it at Hynes Convention Center after a number of years at the Seaport.

For info on Fan Expo Boston