Fun Mountain and the history of the Peg

July 20, 2016 - 332 days to Keycon

I, of course, woke up late on my parents couch to the screams of Death Metal Rooster, my chosen alarm tone, issuing from my iPod.  It was nine o'clock and I had been up late watching music videos and drinking wine, Pepsi and whisky.  It was a regular Sunday evening visit at my parents and par for the course after the toddler had been put down for the night.

Groggily I pulled myself up and immediately had a two year old jumping on me with the delighted screams of "Daddy!".  I knew I had to pull it together because Jenn, Tracy and the kids were waiting for me at home for our planned outing to Fun Mountain.

I managed to get the kid packed and ready to go and down to the van in record time and was only twenty minutes late arriving home.

But to be perfectly honest I'm getting too old for these late nights.

The morning and afternoon went off without a hitch and I marveled at how much my little boy has grown. He was a true master of the slide. Everyone was exhausted by the end but a good time was had by all.

Fun Mountain is a Winnipeg staple for families and has been around for over 30 years. The 48 acre park includes water slides, bumper boats, zip lines and a miniature golf course. When I contacted the park they told me that "it opened in June 1983 and at that time there were many families together that contributed to it's development. There were 4 slides originally."


I remember going to slides with my school and friends many times in my youth but I never really thought about the history of the slides.


It's brought to mind that there's a lot of Winnipeg institutions that I've visited but don't know the history of. Like Keycon.


So I've decided I'm going to become a tourist in my own city. I'm going to learn the histories wherever I can and I'm going to report on them as much as I am able right here in this blog.


In the meantime I'm also going to be trying to learn the basics of travel writing and start some research. I'm also going to be looking for suggestions for places to visit.


Keep tuned true believers!


~Brother K'Bob

I am Brother K'Bob

June 16, 2016 - 337 days to Keycon

It occurs to me that I have'n't really explained how I came to have the name Brother K'Bob.

Are you interested dear reader?

Can you handle the truth?  Strange and terrifying as it may be?

I hope you can.   Here we go.

It all started in November 1996.  It was the opening weekend for Star Trek: First Contact and I had been invited by a friend (at the time) to go meet up with the KAG group that was on hand for the premier. It was at this time that I met the Captain of that ship, Kull of House Jev, later known as Doug, who little did I know would become my nearest and dearest friend and would stand as my best man at my wedding 19 years later. But that is a dark tale for another time.

It was the last of the truly interactive premiers that I would attend where the audience was totally immersed in the film.  It was probably also the last of the truly great Star Trek movies (sorry J.J.).

After a few meetings and my eventual acceptance into the group I was asked what I would like for a Klingon name.  Not being of terribly original mind at that time I stated simply:

"Bob.  Bob the Klingon."

"K'Bob?"

"Sure."

I had no idea what I would be releasing with that utterance.  Like a curse, once spoken, it could not be taken back.  Once opened it ran forth to cause havoc on the world.  Like Victor Frankenstein I had created my own monster, my own nemesis, my doom.

Ok. Perhaps a bit melodramatic. But it would continue to shape my world for the next two decades.

The ever present original Jammies.  I don't like competition.

Eventually the group would implode but I would continue to be known as a Klingon among Winnipeg fandom for years.  A pair of red pajamas emblazoned with Klingon Tre-foils would be my armor, ever present on Saturday evenings at Keycon until they started to fray (like my sanity) and turn pink.  They were eventually retired and have yet to be replaced.

I would later join a online Klingon forum, which shall remain un-named, where I met a fellow Klingon who seemed to be cut from the same cloth.  Kahn of House Klag.  Immediately we knew we had found someone who would understand and I was quickly invited to join his house, becoming K'Bob of House Klag.

For whatever reason I've always been interested in religion while roundly denouncing it.  However it was John (Kahn) constantly calling me brother (I called him Cap'n) that helped shape something of K'Bob's background.

Photo credit: memory-alpha.wikia.com

I decided that K'Bob was a disillusioned cleric from Boreth who, following the events of ST - TNG "Rightful Heir" and from the novel Kahless by Michael Jan Friedman, decides to forge out on his own, preaching his own views on Kahless, removed from the corruption of the High Clerics, and seeks out adventure.  One day he stumbles into the house of Klag, drunk on bloodwine, and loudly announces "I live here now!" before passing out in the wine cellar.  Kahn, and other members of the house just shrugged their shoulders and accepted this new arrival.

The story really isn't that far from the truth.

In my mind K'Bob is part Hunter S. Thompson, part Kane from Kung Fu.

So here I sit now, writing out this strange tale, one that is'n't yet over, and look forward to my future with my alter-ego.  It's been a ride so far and shall continue to be.

Join me friends.

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”

― Hunter S. Thompson, The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967

Journalism and the Convention

June 14, 2016 - 339 days to Keycon

It's the second day of my first real vacation of 2016, a glorious 9 days off and what am I doing instead of working on my plans for Keycon 34? I'm sitting in a pair of rapidly deteriorating pajama pants and watching Enquiring Minds a documentary on Generoso Pope Junior, the owner and creator of the National Inquirer.

I've had an interest in journalism for a while now but I've never been able to figure out how to get into it without heading back to school.  At 41 years, going on 42, I'm worried it might be too late.

I've also been developing an interest in documentaries. It had occurred to me that a documentary on Keycon, while only of appeal to a small number of people, might be a good starting point.  After all it's one of the few places where I have almost complete access to many of the originators of the convention itself as well as many long time attendees.

It's something that I've looked forward to for most of the last twenty odd years and have met many friends and acquaintances through the con.  It's been a source of joy and fun for many years and, unfortunately, the source of some shameful behavior on my part.

But life has changed and in many ways so have I. There's history and a true love of the con and the city that hosts it. It has a storied history, one that I think needs to be told.

~Brother K'Bob