Weekly Dose of Mark
Sunday, March 29th 2026
It was a quiet day at Freelance Fandango with just me and Greg Spence Wolf. I got some work done on a movie poster. I also gave Greg a tutorial on how to outline text or a graphic. The rest of the afternoon was busy with errands, picking up prescriptions, putting gas in the car, taking a misdirected package from China to UPS, and unboxing my latest set of enamel pins. The pins arrived just in time for my next convention: Rewind Washington.
I subscribe to Ted Leonhardt’s Substack. Ted and I met decades ago at a professional association luncheon. I just can’t remember if it was the SPGA, Ad Federation, ASMP, or one of the other highly informative venues freelancers relied on back before the internet became prevalent. Ted has a long history of excellence and knowledge within the industry and in human nature. Having him as a speaker was a big draw for these groups. I confess I felt flattered when I learned he read the Weekly Dose. He recently asked Stowe and me about Freelance Fandango and wrote about it on his Substack. You can find the article here:
Rewind Washington is a nostalgia show, and this year is its first show. I’ve been wanting a nostalgia show in the NW for some years. I was very happy to sign up for this one. I thought it might be as large as both Summer Con and Horror Con, since both are run by the same guy. So I was very surprised to find that Rewind would be in just one building, and even more surprised to learn that there were fewer than 20 artists in Artists Alley.
The other artists and I determined that the lower number of artists was because those who were there had more work in touch with the audience. A lot of the artists in your typical convention feature fan art that leans heavily on the Marvel and DC universes. The artists at this convention create artwork inspired by pop culture, television, and movies. And most of us like creating art-inspired stuff that’s been around for decades. So several of my artist friends were there. I was placed between Eli Wolfe and Travis Bundy. Further down the aisle were Chad Scheres and Mark Brill. Oddly enough, Mark Brill was only there half the time of each day as he double-booked himself at another event. Thankfully, our friend Chris, who often works as his booth buddy, helped him out.
I got to see several of my friends at the show. I met Christy Shaefer several years ago at Crypticon, but I haven’t seen her since before the pandemic. We have, however, remained Pokémon Go buddies and send each other in-app gifts all the time. She gave me a quick summary of her life: Divorced, bought a house, ex died, got laid off from her job of 17 years, became a realtor. I think I got that in the right order. She heard about the convention the day before and decided to come and find me. She wasn’t the only one who said they came to the show just to see me. I swear, all the love practically went to my head.
Nori Kimura also came to the show, but I wasn’t his goal. Back when he was sixteen, he was a huge Debbie Gibson fan. Photos of his room show every bit of wall space wallpapered with photographs, albums, and magazine covers, a true fan boy. He also has a photograph of the two of them together when she was on tour in Japan. When he learned that she was coming to Rewind, he reserved a spot to get a photograph with her and Brittony. As he had her autograph the photo, he showed her a photo of them together from 37 years ago. She was so pleased that she took a video and put it out on social media. You can see the video here.
My friend Kevin, who usually gets a VIP pass at these things, helped Nori get to the front of the line. Kevin also escorted me over so I could get an autograph from Bobcat Goldthwait. While we were in line, I heard him tell a story. His friend’s daughter was obsessed with tattoos. So, for her tenth birthday, he bought her a tattoo gun. He grinned and chuckled, “My friend was really happy about that.” He commented that we didn’t have to worry. He did buy her faux sheets of skin to practice on. He signed my photo while answering a couple of questions about the production of his movie “Willow Creek,” a found-footage film about missing women and Bigfoot. Specifically, figuring out the correct way to leave bigfoot footprints in the dirt. He was a very charming guy, and most of my friends gave him art they created and obtained their own autographs.
Allen Gladfelter joined me on Sunday. We went out to breakfast at the Meridian Café in Puyallup after finding that Little Jerry’s was closed on Sundays. The Meridian Café used to be Aunt B’s. I preferred it when it was Aunt B’s, as I’m not a fan of their remodel or their home fries. I’ll have to remember to get the hash browns instead next time we dine there. We rushed through breakfast because I forgot to bring a dowel. My plan was to tie it to my display and hang Allen’s artwork from it. We decided to hit the home store, and there we found the perfect dowl to do the job. Allen sold enough prints to cover the expense of his meals. I should mention that after packing up the car, we stopped at Paldo World Market to get the Taiyaki we were craving. Krista had me get some groceries there, and Allen got takeout at the food court.
So much happened at the event that I feel bad stopping my report here. But I’m already a day late getting this missive out, so you will have to forgive me.
I had some dreams this week:
March 23 #IDreamt my neighbors lived in a large mobile home, and I was renting a room from them. I was trying to quietly depart when the chain supporting the porch swing snapped.
March 24 #idreamt xenomorphs adapted to look like their human hosts. But their mimicked behavior was very flawed, like three kids in an overcoat. Also, the double mouth thing.
March 25 #IDreamt because I was watching a Chinese drama when I died, I was sent to a line in Chinese purgatory where I was to be judged by King Yama. My silence confused many while I waited.
March 26 #Idreamt two friends were outside, walking together, and arguing. “Kunuiyet is a word!” “Yeah? Can you spell it?” And this is when my alarm wakes me.
March 27 #idreamt I was in bed pretending to be a zombie strapped down with bungee cords. But one of the bungees worked loose, and I was worried I’d have to get out of bed. Then the alarm went off.
March 29 #idreamt one of the characters in my dreams had a wish granted that everything would go their way, regardless of their low self-esteem and self-sabotage.
Krista and I finished off several anime series this week:
Tamon-kun Ima Docchi!?, aka: Tamon’s B-Side (2025) Rating: 6
My wife liked this more than I did. I’m not a huge fan of the Idol genre. The premise is that a schoolgirl fan ends up doing housework for her favorite idol and finds that off-camera, he is tormented by low self-esteem.
Okiraku Ryoushu no Tanoshii Ryouchi Bouei: Seisankei Majutsu de Na mo Naki Mura wo Saikyou no Jousai Toshi ni, aka: Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord: Production Magic Turns a Nameless Village into the Strongest Fortified City (2025) Rating: 6
I liked the premise; there’s some blood, but the story was a bit too far into Pollyanna and trope-filled to get a higher rating.
Majutsushi Kunon wa Mieteiru, aka: Kunon the Sorcerer Can See (2025) Season One. Rating: 6
A blind kid from a mid-level noble family discovers hope through magic and has a talent for water magic. I expected much from the premise, but the characters remained too cutesy and larkish to get anything more than a 6/10.
Isekai no Sata wa Shachiku Shidai, aka: Isekai Office Worker: The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter (2025) Season One. Rating: 7
This Isekai follows the trope of an extra person being accidentally dragged into another world. But this workaholic has to throw himself into paperwork and soon become embroiled in bureaucracy. There are BL elements that skate the edge of innocent decency but don’t go over. It added a layer of interest to the various plots.
This week’s movies:
38. March 23. Sisu: Road to Revenge (2025) Rating: 7
I watched this sequel on Netflix. I was eager for its release onto one of the streaming platforms to which I had a subscription. I saw the first one on Hulu. Perhaps, knowing the franchise had found its audience with the first film, they leaned hard into the over-the-top, stoic violence that filled it. This sequel has much of the same magic as the first, but I wanted all the same ingredients. Perhaps that’s too high a bar. I’m still tempted to give this film an eight, like the first one.
39. March 25. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2025) Rating: 8
I watched the latest installment of the franchise on HBO Max. I’ve been a fan of the franchise since I watched the first Mad Max film upon its release. I think this is the first one I watched streaming rather than in the theater. And while I do think this would have been a better watch on a big screen with a slightly sticky floor, I enjoyed it nonetheless. It’s a bit odd to see a prequel to this movie before it. Weirdly out of sequence, making you wonder how tie-ins to the previous movies would work. Lots of galloping fun action. I definitely recommend watching the entire series in its release order.
40. March 27. Primative War (2025) Rating: Seven
I watched this cross between Apocalypse Now and Jurassic Park on Kanopy. The premise is silly enough to be a Sci-Fi Channel movie, but thankfully, the quality is a step up from that. I give it a point for having the budget to license seven songs from the correct era. I’m also giving it a point for having the setting in something akin to a jungle rather than a dry backlot or an inappropriate locale, such as some woods in central Europe. Kudos on the end title sequence. The negatives of some overused tropes I’ll overlook because the movie kept me thoroughly distracted while putting miles on my treadmill.
More next week,
Mark