Meeting the Titans

If you are reading this, you are mostly likely a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, RiffTrax, and Cinematic Titanic. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would meet Joel Hodgson, perhaps my biggest crush of all time. That happened on April 16th, 2010.


Most of you know who the fabulous Erica Vanaver is. :) (and don't worry: she assured me she'll be back on Facebook and Twitter eventually!) I drove over to her apartment that day. I arrive about 4:15. The show was in Princeton, NJ and although I live in New Jersey and E lives in Pennsylvania, we left from her place. She was driving since she's better at directions and not familiar with NJ. Plus, I was on vacation and visiting my mother who lives in PA, too, so it worked out fine. We had to take some major highways to get there, like the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the New Jersey Turnpike. Map Quest estimated the drive to be a bit more than 1 hour. We were doing okay except there was a lot of traffic at that time of day and once we arrived in Princeton, there was a horrifying moment when I thought I was going to get sick in Erica's car and she was trying to find a place to stop. Thank god I didn't. I had the window open all the way and stuck my head out like a dog with my eyes closed, just breathing the fresh air. It seemed to work. :)

You may have heard (or experienced) that MapQuest isn't always reliable. Well in this case....it wasn't. Once we were in Princeton our directions were totally off. We drove around in circles before we finally stopped and asked where the McCarter Theatre was. Not even close to what was listed on the directions. By the time we found a place to park it was 7:15. We had been planning to eat at a restaurant before the show but there was no time. Luckily there was a WaWa within walking distance. E was the one that was really hungry. I didn't have much of an appetite (probably because I was so nervous!) but we got a quick meal and planned to eat a decent one after the show. I let Erica walk a bit ahead of me to get her seat because I was smoking a cigarette and I wish I hadn't. When I caught up with her she told me she had seen Trace Beaulieu on the side of the theater! She said he saw her and ran off, LOL. Before I caught up with her, I ran into a few MSTie friends from Facebook and Twitter: Cheryl Bird, Chris Scheetz (whom I had met on New Year's Eve) Marcus Vermilion, Matthew Spence, and one or two others I didn't really know. We chatted for a few minutes and then I went to find Erica and our seats, which were only 4 rows back from the stage. I ordered them January 2nd so it gave me a chance to get some kick ass ones. :D

The movie we saw was "War of the Insects" one that I saw on New Year's Eve and hated. The theater website had a poll to vote for which movie we wanted to see and that was the one that was picked. When Joel announced the name of the movie I unintentionally groaned loudly and muttered "Oh no!" to Erica. I think he might have heard me, lol. He offered his sympathies to the audience. Surprisingly, the movie wasn't that bad the second time around and the Titans did a fantastic job with it, throwing in new riffs. After the show Erica and I were among the last in line (which I didn't mind; it gave me time to work up courage!) Chris and Marcus passed us and snapped this pic (it was so fast I didn't even realize he took it at first)

And then it was our turn. Erica told Trace about her encounter with him and he claimed he was looking for a place to tie his shoe! LOL. Anyway, he was sweet and friendly. I got to shake hands with all of them. When Josh tried to sign my poster his pen ran out of ink. But he used another one. :P Frank was rather quiet but friendly. Mary Jo and Erica knew each other from a writing class that Erica took and she remembered Erica! And last, but not least, JOEL. I don't even remember if I made eye contact with him but I was smiling widely, muttered "I'm so happy to meet" you and then asked," Do you mind if I get a picture with you?" "Certainly not, " said he. At first, Erica couldn't get my camera to work so I had to walk over to show her. Later Erica told me she wondered if Joel thought she was a complete dork because of that. :p Second time was the charm. I only wished he had put his arm around me but I didn't have the courage to ask. At least there's a hint of a smile and Joel doesn't smile for many pics. And I think our shoulders are touching. :P

I could have died happily after that. :)





When we left the building, I was surprised to find Chris and Marcus waiting for us. We all decided to look for a place to eat but would you believe it? Most places weren't open. It was midnight on a Friday night in a college town. The other guys eventually went home but we followed Chris to a diner near our turn off and had a nice midnight breakfast. :)