Welcome to my world.
(My business card.)
Hugh Casey is a writer, photographer, actor, filmmaker, convention promotor, financial services specialist, geek, fan, and all-around know-it-all. He tries to live by the quote by Sir Arthur C. Clarke, "Specialization is for insects."
Hugh currently lives in King of Prussia, PA. He is a professional photographer and photo illustrator. If you wish to view his photographic portfolio, or purchase prints or downloads of some of his work, then you may visit his professional photography site, Hughcaseyphoto.com. Please note that some of his work deals with mature themes, and is therefore NSFW.
Hugh is also the founder of "Parents Basement Productions", a small production company located in the Philadelphia area. He has produced, directed, written, and performed in two short films: "Teddy's Big Escape", and "Young Geeks In Love". Both can currently be seen on YouTube.com.
If you are interested in obtaining Hugh's services as an actor, then you should visit his online acting resume.
Hugh has been a long-time fan of the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres, and has been active in organized fandom for many years. He is a member of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society (PSFS), and served as the Society's president and vice-president, as well as a member of it's board of directors. He was also the chairman of the Society's annual conference, PHILCON, in 2003, and it's vice-chairman in 2002. He served as a committee member for the conference in other years. He also attends, and regularly is a panelist at, many SF conventions, such as Arisia, Balticon, and Wicked Faire. In 2010 he was the "Guest of Awesome" at Pi-Con, in Enfield, CT. He is currently the Director of Programming for Philcon 2011. Hugh is available for event management services related to conventions and conferences. He is also available as a speaker on matters of interest to fandom, including SF, fantasy, horror, futurism, writing, and lifestyle issues. If you would like to engage his services as a speaker or event manager, please contact him for more details.
Hugh was, until recently, a Retirement Administrator with a large investment company just outside of Philadelphia, PA. He holds the Series 6 and Series 63 licenses, and is also a Certified IRA Services Professional (CISP). This does not mean that he will give you financial advice.
If you would like to know more about Hugh, then check out his extended bio. Or, you can read his blog. You can find it right below this introduction, which makes things awfully convenient.
Please note, the views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of any employer, business, or organization through which the Internet was accessed in posting here.
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- Next weekend, April 28th, will be the April Dorian's Parlor. I will be set up to do portraits there, as usual.
- The following weekend is the opening of THE AVENGERS. I am planning to see the movie that weekend, and may organize a get-together to do so. Saturday the 5th is Dracula's Ball in Philadelphia, but I'm not sure yet if I'm going to that or not. On Sunday the 6th is the birthday party of a dear friend.
- May 11-12 is Zenkaikon, which is a great little anime con held over in Oaks, PA (just past Valley Forge on Rt 422). I've been asked to set up to do portrait photos of the cosplayers there, so that should be pretty awesome!
- May 18-20 is The Steampunk World's Fair, in Piscataway, NJ, where I should, once again, be set up for portrait photography! This was a great event for me last year, so I'm looking forward to it.
- The next weekend is Memorial Day weekend, which is usually when I go to Balticon in Hunt Valley, MD. I would like to go, as it usually is a great con and there are people there I only get to see once or twice a year, but it's possible I may have to skip this year, both for financial reasons (I am not a panelist this year, so I have to pay for my attendance, as well as for hotel, travel, and food, as usual), and because I don't want to kill myself doing tons of things in a row. Of course, I've been invited to participate in several Memorial Day weekend festivities, and it might be good to relax, especially since the next week is...
- Wizard World Philadelphia Comic Con, May 31 to June 3 (yes, it starts on Thursday night this year!). I'm running a table to promote Philcon/PSFS (as I do every year), and we're also helping out with a table for SPARC (we teamed up last year to great effect, and figured to give it another go this year). They have a fantastic guest line-up this year (including the Artist Guest-of-Honor for this year's PHILCON!), and it should be a great show. Running the table at this show is a lot of work for me, but we've gotten a few new people each year, and it's worked well for us as a promotional venue. Oh, and as if that WASN'T enough, Saturday June 2nd will be the second anniversary Dorian's Parlor! But by the time this weekend's over, I'm going to be WIPED OUT!
- The next weekend is Jeff Mach's Wild Wonderful Wicked Woods
Anyway, if any of you plan on being at any of these fine events, please make sure you find me and say hi! Provided, of course, that I haven't passed out from exhaustion at that point. ;-P
- How am I feeling?:
busy
- Where am I?:United States, Pennsylvania, King Of Prussia
- How am I feeling?:
awake
Below is the information for the viewing and funeral for Lisa Hawkins, wife of Orenthal Hawkins (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1)
popfiend). I currently plan on attending the services on Saturday, before heading home to work at Dorian's Parlor. I don't know that I'll be able to be able to make the viewing on Friday. Per O's request, please pass this information on as appropriate. Below is the information, in his words...
The viewing will be Friday, March 9, 2012 between 4pm and 8pmpopfiend). I currently plan on attending the services on Saturday, before heading home to work at Dorian's Parlor. I don't know that I'll be able to be able to make the viewing on Friday. Per O's request, please pass this information on as appropriate. Below is the information, in his words...Castle Hill Funeral Directors, Inc.
1528 Castle Hill Avenue
Bronx, NY 10462
(718) 828-9222
Her funeral will be on Saturday, March 10, 2012 @ 10am
St. Frances of Rome
4307 Barnes Avenue
Bronx, NY
(718) 324-5340
She will be laid to rest in Woodlawn Cemetery.
There will be a repast afterward at the Trinity Baptist Church Sunday School building. I'm not sure of the precise address for the Sunday School building, but it is next to Trinity Baptist Church @ 808 East 224th Street, Bronx, NY 10466-4404 (718.231.3639).
As I have mentioned before, in lieu of flowers, we request that you donate to St. Jude's Children's Hospital in her name.
The funeral home was chosen because it is a family business near where we lived most of our marriage. The church for the funeral is the church she grew up in and where she taught Sunday School for many years. She loved it so. Woodlawn is near where she grew up. And Trinity is the church I grew up in. When we were married we alternated services between my church home and hers. I wanted to honor her life in the choices I made. Yes, she's a little farther away from me, but her story is told as it should be.
Please pass this on as you are able.
- How am I feeling?:
sad
We at Philcon are pleased to announce that our principal speaker for Philcon 2012 will be author and poet Catherynne M. Valente!
Catherynne M. Valente is a New York Times Bestselling author of fantasy and science fiction novels, short stories, and poetry. She has written over a dozen volumes of fiction and poetry since her first novel, The Labyrinth, was published in 2004. She has been nominated for the Hugo, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards, as well as the 2011 Nebula Award for her novella "Silently and Very Fast". She is a winner of the James Tiptree Jr. Award for expanding gender and sexuality in SFF, the Mythopoeic Award for Adults, the Lambda Award, the Million Writers Award for best online short fiction, the Rhysling Award, and the Andre Norton Award for YA literature.
You can find out more about Ms. Valente by visiting her website, or her popular blog at yuki_onna.
Philcon 2012 will be held November 9-11, 2012, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, NJ. Membership, hotel, and program information will be available at our website, Philcon.org, as it becomes available. Thank you, and we can't wait to see you there!
Once again this year, I will be the head of Programming for Philcon, working once again under our conchair, Gary Feldbaum. Anyone interested in helping us out this year (because we are always looking for new volunteers to keep the con running) may contact us directly. Thanks!
- Where am I?:United States, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- How am I feeling?:
excited
- How am I feeling?:
amused
Testing, testing... Is this thing on?
I'm currently sitting in the lobby of the Westin Hotel in Boston attending Arisia, and figured I should post something here. I've been a bad blogger lately, and since I've decided that I need to do more writing, I figure that here's a good enough place to start.
Most of my online presence has been focused on the Book of Face lately, and over the holidays I was posting to my Tumblr account. However, FB isn't really conducive to longer, more wordy posts, and I have to admit to not really being enamored with Tumblr's interface, as well as the inability to comment on it. So, for all of it's flaws (and the fact that, frankly, LJ is becoming less and less relevant as a social media platform outside of Russia), I guess I'm here for now, at least for long-form blogging. I will probably continue to use Tumblr for my photography, and Twitter for... well, Twittering, I suppose. And, of course, I will remain on Facebook... like anyone who wants to be active online has a choice these days when it comes to that. :-/
It looks like the con is actually starting to wake up, as I'm seeing more and more people wandering the lobby and making their way to breakfast or whatever. I had two panels last night, both about creating / running panels for cons. (Paneling about paneling... How recursive!). This afternoon will be panels on Ray Harryhausen and Steampunk Costuming. I am thankful for the generosity of good friends, which allows me to be here. I always feel rejuvenated after spending some time among my tribe. Maybe this will help me with some much-needed motivation.
Well, I need to get myself moving, but I do hope all of you gentle readers are well, and have a wonderful weekend. Please comment, and let me know how things are going.
Ah, well... Onward and Upward!
- Where am I?:United States, Massachusetts, Boston
- How am I feeling?: awake
Prices were originally supposed to increase as of 12am this morning, but with the Jewish New Year this past week, we decided to extend the pre-registration price until the end of the weekend.
PURCHASE MEMBERSHIPS ON OUR WEBSITE!
Register now to get the lower membership price, and join us for the 75th anniversary of Philcon, the world's FIRST science fiction con!
Philcon will be held November 18-20, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, NJ. Please see our website for more details, to purchase your membership, and to reserve your hotel room!
hughcasey at ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
philcon:Pre-Registration rates for Philcon memberships
will be going up on Oct. 1, 2011 (This Saturday)!
The current rate is $40 for a three-day membership. Starting at Midnight, Oct. 1 (12:00am), this rate will go up to $50.
Philcon also offers special rates of $25 for a three-day membership for current students, or active-duty military personel, and $20 for children ages 7-17. Children under age 7 are free (all attendees under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or legal adult guardian).
Please pre-register now to get the lower rate! You can do so online at our website:
PHILCON 2011 MEMBERSHIP
ysobelle) created a remarkable piece of corsetry for our mutual friend Nicole (aka amazonv) that looks suspiciously like a certain time-traveling police call box used by a certain well-loved Doctor. A quick snapshot that she took of the ongoing project was then posted online, and almost immediately went viral in a BIG way. So last night, we put together a quick photoshoot to properly show it off...The
Please note that it's not quite finished yet... it will include working lights and sound when it's completed! :-)
More photos can be found here.
(PS... please do us a favor and feel free to spread this around!)
- How am I feeling?: accomplished
I was informed this past weekend that I MUST post to my LJ more, as some people just HATE Facebook that much. *sigh* Well, OK, here I am. ;-)
Overall Status: I am still alive. The celebrations may now commence.
Employment: I am still not employed in any full-time capacity. I have been working, part-time (3 days a week) at the family business of an old and dear friend, probably far more due to his generosity than to my actual talent.
Photography: This has been doing quite well. I have a couple of things in the fire... I'll let people know if they come through. In the meantime, I will once again by doing portraits at the first anniversary of Dorian's Parlor on July 16th, so you should all come by and get your picture taken by me. (I'll be up on the second floor, on the balcony over the ticket desk... there will be signs pointing the way to me.) If you'd like to check out some of my previous Dorian's work, you can find a whole gallery of it on my website, at http://www.hughcaseyphoto.com. (Yes, I've been finding out recently that even people WHO FOLLOW ME REGULARLY don't know I have a photography website. *SIGH*)
- Also, I do now have a Facebook fan-page for my photography, and for any other public work I may do in the future (writing, filmmaking, whatever). You can find it at https://www.facebook.com/HughCaseyFanPag
Writing: Haven't been lately. Need to do so again. Soon. Some of you should bug me about that. ;-P
Philcon: Still chugging along. We're much more on-track than we have been in most previous years recently, and I'm kinda proud of that. My plan is to get a "Save-The-Date" notice out to prospective program participants shortly, get program items ready in the next month and a half or so, send out invitations to participants by the end of August, get RSVPs by the end of September, then have the still-tenative-but-mostly-complete schedule ready by the beginning of November. Please note... this is my PLAN. And we all know that no plan survives contact with the enemy. However, I've built in reasonable wiggle-room, so we should still be good (he said, with fingers crossed...)
- Also, Philcon has it's own Facebook page as well: https://www.facebook.com/Philcon.PSFS. Plus, if you'd like to RSVP to our event on Facebook, you can go to: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=1
Social Life: I still have many, many good friends and loved ones. I cherish them dearly. I enjoyed a July 4th weekend with my brother and his lovely wife on Saturday, and Sunday with the remarkable skola and boundowl and many, many wonderful people at skola's annual "Summerfest". Lots of great conversation, good food, good drink, and I even got "hit on" by a lovely young lady who is still in her 20's! (That don't happen to old farts like me too much, y'know!) So, yes, I do truly love my life and the people in it.
Love Life: Yes, I have one. Thanks for asking! ;-)
Health: I'm still overweight by a substantial margin*. Other stuff is OK, though. Asthma has been under control, and no other serious health problems have reared their ugly head. Which is good, as I have no health insurance, and just a trip to the doctor costs me over $100. I am worried a bit about my blood pressure**, but until I'm covered again, there isn't too much I can do on that front, other than keep an eye on it and try not to have a stroke and/or coronary.
In My Head: I've been doing pretty good. I have not-good days where my black moods take over, but they tend to be fairly few and far-between (or, at least, few-er and far-er-between-er***). The thing is that, even being not-very-employed and with my other problems, my life is actually pretty damned good overall. And I'm going to enjoy as much of it as I can, since I know that it can (and will) turn on a dime at any moment. And then it will get better again after that. The thing that gets you through the bad times is remembering that the good ones will come once again, and holding on to that.
I will post more later. Gotta get back to doing other stuff right now. :-)
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* I should be about 70lbs. less than what I currently weigh. I'd be happy with 40-50 less.
** Yes, it's high. No, I'm not telling you HOW high.
*** Yes, I know that's probably wrong. Grammar Nazis can bite me.
- How am I feeling?: busy
I find myself thinking of the quote attributed to Mark Twain... "I have never wished a man dead. But I've read some obituaries with great pleasure." I mean, the man certainly deserved the worst punishment imaginable. Yes, he was directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of American non-combatants on 9/11, but we need to remember that he and his organization was responsible for even more deaths in Africa and the Muslim world. He preached a vile, twisted version of Islam that, both directly and indirectly, was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, from Somalia, to Afghanistan, to Iraq, to the Persian Gulf, to New York City, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania. He held many evil beliefs, and he was responsible for many evil acts. He deserved to be subject to justice.
The problem is that I don't think that this was justice... it was vengeance. And I, for one, am uncomfortable with my government being in the business of revenge. I would prefer that the United States act like an enlightened, civilized nation... not like a Don in a Mafia movie. We are supposed to be better than that, and the only way we become better than that is to act like it.
No, this was revenge, not justice. If it were justice, he wouldn't have gotten off so easy. And make no mistake... he got off easy. It would have been far better if he were taken into custody and placed on trial. Because, as it is, he died thinking of himself as a hero. (Of course, there are those who will think of him as martyr... but they'd think that no matter what.) I would have much preferred that he have that stripped from him. Bring him to an impartial venue (say, the ICC), make the case, dismantle his arguments, and expose him to the entire world as the vile, evil little man he was. Then let him rot in prison, having to face, every day for the rest of his life, that he was a complete failure.
When he died, it should not have been after living for years in a well-appointed compound in an affluent city in Pakistan. He should not have died like an action hero, holding an automatic rifle while being gunned down by our troops. He got what he wanted... he got to die as a heroic martyr, at least in his own mind. How much better would it have been if he'd been first stripped of everything that gave his life meaning, thoroughly and completely humiliated, and then let to die, alone, unloved, and unadmired. THAT would have been justice... and far worse in his mind than a heroic death fighting the Great Satan. It would have been far better for him to have died a lonely, pathetic failure. THAT would have been justice.
Now, mind you, I'm quite aware that many of you may be perfectly OK with revenge, and don't give a whit about justice, at least in this case. And, frankly, I completely sympathize... as I said, the bastard deserved the worst that we could give him. I just don't think we gave it to him, and that's just a damned shame.
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(Play nice in the comments section, kids. I will be at work today, but when I can I will happily delete comments and ban commenters who don't play nice, as I'm in no mood for it. Disagreeing with me, or someone else, is perfectly OK. Personal attacks or inappropriate comments are not... and *I'M* the one who decides what's inappropriate, and my tolerance level is pretty low today. Also, I don't want to see anything along the lines of conspiracy theories about either OBL not really being dead, or he died long ago and we kept it secret, or how it was convenient that this happened at the start of election season... Again, it's Monday, and I have a low tolerance for that kind of BS today, so I will probably wield The Banhammer Of Loving Correction rather injudiciously today. So, again, play nice, and have a great day!)
The DoubleTree Hotel's group rate for The Steampunk World's Fair will only be good until this Friday, April 29th!
If you want to take advantage of the lower rates, I strongly suggest you BOOK YOUR ROOMS NOW! Otherwise, you could miss out! Click on the link above for more information!
Thanks!
"I will smack you like a poncey, blonde crowned-prince!"
And now, a picture for reference (FB peeps, click click through to the original post to see):
So far, two episodes in, Tyrion Lannister is far and away the best character among a host of great characters, and Peter Dinklage is committing grand-theft-miniseries among one of the finest casts on television currently (Hell, the show stars actors as good as Sean Bean, Lena Headey, and Julian Glover, and Dinklage STILL runs off with every scene he's in!). In short, this show is DAMNED GOOD, and Dinklage is GREAT!
I already know who I'm rooting for come Emmy season.
On a side note, note the new LJ icon! It's made by me, and anyone who wants to snag and use it may do so.
- How am I feeling?: impressed
Congrats to all of the nominees!
Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang is up for auction. The current bid is one million dollars.
(A fine, four-fendered friend...)
It's apparently the original, drivable car from the 1968 movie. The license number (the car has an actual UK registration) is "GEN 11", or, if you read the ones as letters, "Genii", (a magical being).
This car is a beautiful piece of work. "Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang" was only the second movie I saw in a movie theater (the first was Disney's "Pinnochio", just a few weeks before), so she holds a certain special place in my heart. I hope she goes to a good home.
- How am I feeling?:
tired
To my Wiccan and Pagan friends, Happy Eostre's Day!***
To my Jewish friends, I hope you are enjoying your Passover!
Remember, there are as many roads to God as there are people on the Earth, and if you do not believe that, well, maybe your God is too small. Because, whatever God may be, doesn't he contain multitudes?
Just a thought, is all. Have a wonderful day.
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* This is a line from the hymn "Christ the Lord is Risen Today", and is adapted from a line in Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, which in turn is quoted from the Old Testament Book of Hosea: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” If there is any one thing that the Christian faith can be said to be about, it's this... the triumph over death. I still find something comforting in that.
** I would ask, for the sake of those who do find this to be a truly holy day, that people hold off on "Zombie" jokes on this post. I know that a lot of people find it funny. But, also, a lot of people don't. It is, after all, making fun of what Christians consider the holiest day of the year, and the central tenant of their faith. And this is not what this blog post is about, now is it? Any comments of that type will be removed as inappropriate. Thanks.
*** Yes, I know that the true "Eostre's Day" would be the Vernal Equinox, on or around March 21st. But, given that the word "Easter" was an adapted from her name, I thought that referencing the goddess was appropriate. :-)
- How am I feeling?:
thoughtful
So, at the end of each MARVEL movie, they run a short teaser for the next one. THOR is going to be no exception... and here's a somewhat fuzzy look at what it is. It was obviously recorded during a preview, so check it out now before it gets pulled off the web! (WARNING: Spoilers for THOR lie within!)
So, those of you who watched it... what do YOU think? (WARNING: Spoilers will be in the comments, I'm sure...)
- How am I feeling?:
geeky
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