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Guest Lecturer
2009-04-03 - HEROES, HEADLOCKS AND HAMBURGERS by Mike Kingston: NYCC Part III
Heroes, Headlocks and Hamburgers
NYCC PART III: Powering Down the Animal Fat with Midajah!
While my expectations for Saturday weren't very high, you'd need Captain Nemo to retrieve my expectations for Sunday. You see, Sunday was kid's day and HEADLOCKED is anything but a kid's book. Perfectly logical fears I'd say. But surprisingly Sunday proved to be our most successful day, even more successful than Friday! What brought about this surprising turn of events? Two major factors contributed to this success.
Firstly, our working of the lines on Saturday proved to pay even bigger dividends on Sunday as a ton of people came by that we had talked to and were eager to learn more about our little wrestling comic! Double bonus!
The second factor is something of a little secret weapon that I've used quite successfully over the past year. It's no secret that Comic conventions can be one of the most over stimulating experiences that one's eyes can be subjected to. In the late hours of the con, fans can be seen shuffling through the aisles, their eyes glazed over like they've just stared into the heart of a solar eclipse. So I have a little trick that I use to grab their attention.
Before every convention, I go to a drug store and I purchase a single white poster board. With little to no artistic flair (I am a writer after all) I take a black sharpie and write, "Hey Wrestling Fans, Check out Headlocked- The First Real Wrestling Comic." And for whatever reason, this simple hand-written poster board actually stands out in the sea of dynamic figures and bright colors that adorn everyone's banners and stand-ups.
If I had a nickel for every person that came up to my table and said "I'm a wrestling fan" in response to my poster, I could probably afford two or three more expensive banners just like the one I have that convention-goers never fail to blow past before catching my hand-written masterpiece. It sounds ridiculous and it's definitely not pretty but when you're the little guy, you need to pull out all the stops to get noticed.
And judging by Sunday's sales receipts, we definitely got noticed! Thanks to "The King" and the hard work of my studio mates, the NYCC was easily our most successful convention yet!
The Honky Tonk Man takes a look at the new issue of HEADLOCKED.
But even though the convention was over, the best was yet to come!
I had the pleasure of having dinner that night with Jason Blaustein of Turnbuckle Promotions and former WCW valet Midajah in what ended up being one of the more pleasurable eating experiences of my life.
We chose to dine at a family owned Italian restaurant in Cedarhurst, NY named Mother Kelly's. Every night following the convention, Jason had taken all of the wrestlers that had appeared for Turnbuckle Promotions that day to this little unassuming Italian eatery. And for three solid days, I had heard nothing but the highest of praise from all who had eaten there. Seriously, no one would shut up about how fantastic the food was there! So as you can imagine, I was very eager to give this place a try.
On the surface, Mother Kelly's didn't look all that different from the dozens of Italian restaurants/pizzeria that you might find in a local strip mall. The front is set up like a pizzeria while the back is the sit down section. It had a very warm and inviting family atmosphere which was nice. Like I said, typical family Italian restaurant. However when it comes to the food, Mother Kelly's really showed why it's, in my mind, the top of the class of this type of restaurant.
First and foremost, the menu is staggering. Each section of the menu has 12- 25 menu items (there are twelve different sections) along with a few specials. Selection is definitely not an issue at Mother Kelly's. But what really amazed me is just how good everything was. With a menu of that size, you'd almost have to assume that a mediocre dish might slip through here and there. After sampling a good portion of their menu, I'm inclined to believe that just isn't the case. And you can trust me, when I say that I tried a lot of it.
Our dinner began with a bean salad, a fantastic Cobb salad, rice balls, some of the best garlic knots you'll ever try (no joke!), and an incredible shrimp and crab appetizer. This was followed up by a creamed spinach pizza that was very close to the best thing I ate all weekend. I couldn't believe how delicious everything was and we weren't even to the main course!
The dinner entrees consisted of two of Mother Kelly's signature dishes: Balsamic chicken and stuffed rigatoni. The Balsamic chicken was done up in a special glaze that featured balsamic vinegar and teriyaki sauce among other components. The dish was served with sautéed peppers, onions, and mushrooms; which is pretty much a list of my favorite things, so this dish was a big hit with me. The rigatoni was everything you'd want out of a pasta dish...including cheesy! I can't say enough about it. If you ordered either of these dishes, you'd definitely be doing right by your taste buds.
Now this might seem like a lot of food and well....it was. At this point in the story I have to give props to Midajah. Fans of WCW in the late '90s might remember her as Scott Steiner's valet. Back in the day, she could rock a chain-mail bikini like no one's business. Well, I'm happy to report that Midajah is doing great. She's a fitness model and a make-up artist in LA and still looks phenomenal.
You may call me crazy, but in my admittedly stilted world view, there are very few things sexier than a woman who can really enjoy their food. And if that's the case, Midajah's performance at dinner probably needed to be censored. Folks, I am here to tell you that woman can power down some animal fat. She approached every course with the same gusto as a certain food-obsessed comic book creator did. It was clear that beneath her lean fitness model frame was the heart of a genuine food lover! We both bemoaned the hours on the treadmill it was going to take to undo what we'd done to ourselves in the last hour and a half but we agreed that it was well worth it!
After finishing off the meal with some fried cheesecake and brownie bits, (complete with hot fudge and whipped cream) I was ready to crown Mother Kelly's as one of the finest establishments that I've ever had the pleasure of strapping on the feedbag at. If you are ever near JFK airport, it's only like 10 minutes away....don't miss a chance to check this place out! I know I'll definitely be back!
So all in all, the New York Comic Con was a huge success for Headlocked. We sold a lot of books, made a lot of fans, and met some really fantastic people, and most importantly, ate some really amazing food! A very big win for Headlocked and the folks at Visionary Comics Studio!
See you next time!
NEXT: Megacon!
To find out more about HEADLOCKED, check out www.myspace.com/mike_kingston or e-mail headlockedcomic@yahoo.com.
