Guests of Honor

Actor Guest of Honor: Lee Arenberg
Lee Arenberg has the remarkable ability to morph himself into frightening aliens, twisted psychotherapists, lascivious entertainment executives and everything in between. Most frequently referred to as a character actor, Arenberg maintains a flourishing acting career—30+ years spanning television, stage and film. Arenberg has appeared in more than 30 movies, including Cradle Will Rock (1999), RoboCop 3 (1993), Waterworld (1995), Bob Roberts (1992), The Apocalypse (1997), Cross My Heart (1987) and the fantasy adventure feature Dungeons & Dragons (2000). He is, perhaps, best known for his roles as the pirate Pintel in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and video games (2003-2007) and as Grumpy in the romantic fantasy TV series Once Upon a Time (2011-2018).

Bitten by the acting bug at age eight when he portrayed David in his Hebrew school play, Killing Goliath, Arenberg notes that the parable “could be the title of any actor’s chances in this game.” A native Angeleno, Lee attended Santa Monica high school with “brat packers” Sean Penn, Robert Downey Jr. and Emilio Estevez, and co-wrote a play with Estevez which was directed by Penn. Lee’s first professional job was in 1986 at the Mark Taper Forum in Ghetto, a play directed by Gordon Davidson. Within weeks he was cast in three films, including the role of Norton in the feature Tapeheads (1988) opposite Tim Robbins and John Cusack. Guest appearances on television began in 1987 with the hit sitcom Perfect Strangers (1986), and have continued with memorable roles such as the parking space-stealing New Yorker on Seinfeld (1989) and as the murderous rock promoter opposite Katey Sagal and Sam Kinison in Tales from the Crypt (1989), as well as roles on Arli$$ (1996), Friends (1994), Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), Star Trek: Voyager (1995), and Star Trek: Enterprise (2005). Arenberg can also be seen in the role of the notoriously huge studio head, Bobby G., on the controversial syndicated comedy Action (1999) opposite series star Jay Mohr.

Arenberg names his family and friends as his inspirations, and states that having grown up on Los Angeles’ Westside, he was able to see actors as the parents of friends and classmates, not as just as movie stars. “It also gave me an honest assessment of the industry and what I was getting myself into,” he laughs. He credits “fear of failure” as his main motivation, and admires the talents and creativity of such legendary actors Paul Muni, Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff. Lee also credits much of his development as an actor to his participation in the Actors’ Gang, one of Los Angeles’ oldest theater companies. The Actors’ Gang was founded by Lee in 1981 with Tim Robbins and other friends from UCLA. After 20 years as an actor in the group, Lee made his writing and directing debut with Foursome, a play about golf, sex and witchcraft. In his leisure time, Arenberg enjoys golf, cooking, blues harmonica, video games and pitching for his softball team Bubblin’ Crude, which is made up of other actors, many of whom are friends from high school. He is involved with St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and other children's health causes, and animal rights organizations, participating regularly in fund raising efforts on behalf of those charitable causes.
FFI: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0034305/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

Artist Guest of Honor: Darla Ecklund
“I am inspired by almost everthing - people, nature, talent in others... I guess life in general always offers some kind of inspiration.” Darla specializes in watercolor, sketch and comic art. We are pleased to have one of her beautiful and unique pieces featured on this year’s MarsCon program book and souvenir con t-shirts.

Author Guest of Honor: Kathryn Sullivan
Kathryn Sullivan has been writing science fiction and fantasy since she was 14 years old. Having read her father’s collection of sf and fantasy, she started writing her own. The world set up in The Crystal Throne has been developing since then. Some of the short stories escaped into fan zines, print zines and ezines, but those were collected into Agents & Adepts. And now even more have been added to the expanded Agents, Adepts & Apprentices. She has an essay in the Hugo winning Chicks Dig Time Lords and reviews in Outside In and Outside In Boldly Goes: 117 New Perspectives on 117 Classic Star Trek Stories. “Search and Rescue” and “The Oracle of Cilens” are just a couple of her short stories. Any birdlike beings in her books only slightly resemble her cockatoo owner.
Website: http://kathrynsullivan.com

Fan Guest of Honor: Eric M. Heideman
Eric M. Heideman is a Minneapolis Roving Librarian. He founded Krushenko’s, a speculative fiction conversational space, in 1983, and continues to run it at several Minnesota/Wisconsin cons, including MarsCon. For many years he was the science fiction/fantasy reviewer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He founded the small press publication Tales of the Unanticipated (TOTU) for the Minnesota Science Fiction Society in 1986.

Music & Comedy Guest of Honor: Lauren Mayer
Lauren is a satirical songwriter who has been around so long, some of her earlier songs were played on The Dr. Demento Show before the Internet. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Yale, a 5-time recipient of the San Francisco Cabaret Gold Award, and the writer-producer-performer for several albums of comedy songs, including Psycho Super Mom, Return of Psycho Super Mom, Latkes, Shmatkes, and the soon-to-be-released If My Uterus Were A Gun (And Other Musical Rants From The News). She has also provided custom comedy for corporate meetings, fundraisers, conventions and private parties, including Wells Fargo, Hewlett-Packard, and the California Association of Funeral Directors, among others, as well as writing several published children’s musicals, plays, and educational songs. And for the past 2 years she has written a brand new song every week, based on current events, recorded it and created a video for her youTube channel. She is a card-carrying Jewish mother who secretly hopes for a gay son (so he’ll never leave me for another woman.) For more information on Lauren Mayer please visit the artist's web site at: http://www.laurenmayer.com

Posthumous Guest: Aron Eisenberg
Aron Eisenberg was born on January 6, 1969 in Hollywood, California, USA as Aron Scott Eisenberg. He was an actor and producer, known for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) as the character Nog, a teen-aged Ferengi. He also appeared on Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and Playroom (1990). He died on September 21, 2019, in the USA. He is deeply mourned by the SF community.

Featured Guests:

Adrian Lee
Adrian Lee is the founder of The International Paranormal Society and a member of the Luton Paranormal Society in England. He has comprehensively investigated ghosts and paranormal activity all over the globe. He became interested in the paranormal after experiencing several events in his childhood home. In adult life, the idea progressively intrigued him that he could interface with the dead from a historical perspective. He first came to Minnesota early in 2008 to work on several paranormal video productions, and he spent two years working in Minneapolis as the national and international news correspondent for a live paranormal talk radio show on 100.3 KTLK. He currently hosts the only weekly paranormal news quiz show, “More Questions than Answers” on the Dark Matter Digital Network.

His paranormal investigations are informed by his clairvoyance. He sees detailed pictures in his third eye presented to him by the deceased. This allows him to have a very precise communication with the spirits. He also has the skill of remote viewing and clairsentience. In his youth, his psychic sensitivities were dormant for some time. It was only through his work with other sensitives and through his exposure to various kinds of paranormal contact—coupled with his own personal psychic development, that he developed to where he can now utilize those skills freely. Like any other ability, his clairvoyance continues to evolve and is becoming stronger through the implementing of structures surrounding his design for life, critical introspection, and practice.

Adrian Lee has written the books Mysterious Midwest: Unwrapping Urban Legends and Ghostly Tales from the Dead, Mysterious Minnesota: Digging up the Ghostly Past at 13 Haunted Sites and How to be Christian Psychic: What the Bible says about Mediums, Healers and Paranormal Investigators. He currently lectures on all aspects of the paranormal including ghosts, UFOs, psychic development, and angels.

Featured Musical Guest: The Great Luke Ski!
At Dragon*Con 2004, Dr. Demento declared “the great Luke Ski” to be his radio program’s “Most Requested Artist of the 21st Century”. Since then, Luke held onto that title by having his nerdy comedy songs on The Dr. Demento Show’s annual year-end “Funny 25” countdown of his most requested songs of the year for 16 years in a row, with a whopping FIVE of them reaching the #1 spot, including his most recent hit “Candybars”. Luke Ski worked as a storyboarder, writer, and voice-over artist for Cartoon Network’s Mighty Magiswords, created by TV’s Kyle. Luke has been the Chair of the MarsCon Dementia Track since its inception in the mid 2000s, and delights in making Ian write all this copy so he doesn’t have to do it himself. ;P
http://www.thegreatlukeski.com

Featured Guest Jeffrey Morris
Filmmaker and Production Designer Jeffrey Morris is a life-long storyteller and science enthusiast. His post-modern stories depict positive and plausible worlds of tomorrow based upon realistic physics and projected technology. Humanity has always been inspired by narratives that challenge the status quo and drive us forward. Morris connects the dots between sci-fi, education, and vocational ambitions inspired by imagining and projecting the future.

Authors:

S.N.Arly
St. Paul science fiction and fantasy writer, S.N. Arly has had short stories featured at FearsMag.com, a limited edition DragonCon 2000 chapbook, several issues of Tales of the Unanticipated, and most recently the WolfSongs anthology. She has received two honorable mentions from the L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future contest. She is a member the local critique group Guts and Rocks.
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/S.N.Arly1?ref=name

Ruth Berman
2016 Guest of Honor
Ruth Berman has published fiction and poetry in many magazines and anthologies, including science fiction, fantasy, general, and literary publications. Her novel Bradamant’s Quest was published by FTL Publications, and she is one of the contributors to the anthology Lady Poetesses from Hell, by the LPFH. She is one of the co-authors of Autumn World by Joan M. Verba et al., and has written articles on sf/fantasy for many journals. Books she edited: Dear Poppa (MN Historical Society), The Kerlan Awards in Children’s Literature (Pogo Press), Sissajig and Other Surprises (short fantasy by Oz author Ruth Plumly Thompson). Aqueduct Press and Black Coat Press have published her translations of French fantasy (The Invisible Prince/The Prince of the Aquamarines, a pair of fairy tales by Louise Cavalier Levesque, and Trilby/The Crumb Fairy, fantasy stories by Charles Nodier, respectively). She is a longtime Twin Cities fan. Ruth was one of the founding members of The Rivendell Group and a founding member of Minn-Stf, the local Minnesota Science Fiction Society.

T. Aaron Cisco
Taylor “T.” Aaron Cisco is an Afrofuturism author with a few books out (Teleportality, Dragon Variation, The Preternaturalist, Shadow of the Valley, Big Ass Aliens). His latest book, Black Nerd Blue Box, was just released in December, and is a nonfiction memoir of growing up Black and Nerdy (and obsessed with Doctor Who).

He’s probably better known for his work as an award-winning television producer, having launched Twin Cities Live (on KSTP out of Minneapolis-St. Paul) and CrimeWatch (on WMAQ out of Chicago). He currently executive produces and serves as showrunner for DinnerTime on AmazonPrime, and is an occasional contributing writer to various publications. He won the 2018 Page One Award for his piece on Black Panther for Twin Cities Geek.com, and he is the creator and coordinator of TC Trek Trivia (for the past five years it’s been the only, recurring pub trivia in the Twin Cities dedicated to all things Star Trek) and Wibbly Wobbly Wednesday (like TC Trek Trivia, but focusing solely on Doctor Who). In his downtime, T. is a prolific cosplayer, and is quite familiar with the convention scene/environment, having been a special guest, invited guest/ panelist, and/or conducted readings and signings at CONvergence, last year’s Marscon (woo hoo!!!), CONsole Room, Wizard World Minneapolis, WakandaCon, MetaCon, Crypticon Minneapolis, and the Twin Cities Black Author’s Expo, to name a few. To close out 2019, he was a Guest of Honor at DuluCon (Duluth, MN- Oct), WordBrew 7 (Minneapolis, Oct), and GalaxyCon (Minneapolis, Nov).

G. David Nordley
2013 Guest of Honor
G. David Nordley was born and raised in Minneapolis and Golden Valley, Minnesota. His main interest as a writer is the future of human exploration and settlement of space, and his stories typically focus on the dramatic aspects of individual lives within the broad sweep of a plausible human future. His novella Kremer’s Limit, written with C. Sanford Lowe, appeared in the July/August 2006 issue of Analog. A collection of linked Mars-related stories was published as an electronic book by Scorpius Digital in September 2001, with a print version appearing in 2003 (sold out). His novel To Climb a Flat Mountain (first appearing as a serial in Analog) was published (ebook and print-on-demand) by Variations on a Theme Publishing. He is a four-time winner of the AnLab, the Analog reader’s award for best story or article of the year, and has also been a Hugo and Nebula award nominee.
Website: http://www.gdnordley.com

Ozgur K. Sahin
Ozgur K. Sahin is a local author and life coach with a background in astrophysics, history, and consciousness development. The Wrath of Brotherhood, book one of his historical pirate trilogy, Brethren of the Spanish Main, is currently available in eBook formats with a print version in the works. His weekly column, “Elitism For All,” appears in the Calamities Press eMagazine and deals with personal development stemming from self-awareness, as well as its doppleganger: entitled elitism resulting from rampant narcissism in our society.

Tyler Tork
Tyler Tork lives in the Minneapolis area with a sweet and strongly opinionated wife, no pets, and several computers. He’s a techie guy to pay for groceries, books, and toys, since writing doesn’t quite cover expenses currently*. Tyler believes in the Oxford comma, as do all right-thinking people. His recent book, Doctor Dead, is just out from Rampant Loon Media. His work has also appeared in Tales of the Unanticipated, Stupefying Stories, and the MinnSpec anthology Sky-Tinted Waters, among others.

Joan Marie Verba
2001 Featured Guest
Joan Marie Verba earned a bachelor of physics degree from the University of Minnesota and attended the graduate school of astronomy at Indiana University, where she was an associate instructor of astronomy for one year. She has worked as a computer programmer, and health-weight loss coach. She currently works as a writer, an editor/publisher and a social media manager and mobile marketing consultant. An experienced writer, Joan is the author of the nonfiction books Voyager: Exploring the Outer Planets, Boldly Writing, and Weight Loss Success!, as well as the novels Countdown to Action!, Action Alert!, Deadly Danger!, Situation: Critical!, Extreme Hazard!, and Danger Zone! plus numerous short stories and articles…

Musical Artists:

Karl Brown
Karl Brown was a writer, pianist/keyboardist, and vocalist in the 1980s San Francisco band Automatic Pilot. In 2007 he started recording his own songs and posting them to the FuMP Sideshow and Mad Music. He has participated in various collaboritave projects including Hey Birthday Boy, Mr. Smith Goes To The Hospital, and the Art Paul Schlosser remix project. He has performed at the MarsCon Dementia Fan Showcase, and made his Main Stage debut in the 2014 FuMP Jukebox. Karl has also composed experimental electronic music, and works as a software developer. For more information on Karl Brown please visit the artist's web site at: http://www.automaticpilot.org

Devo Spice
Devo Spice is a comedy rapper from New Jersey who has been called “the red-headed stepson of Weird Al Yankovic and Eminem.” His demented brand of hip hop has made him one of the most popular artists on the nationally syndicated Dr. Demento Show. Devo Spice founded the comedy rap group Sudden Death whose songs “Cellular Degeneration”, “Getting Old Sucks” and “Pillagers” were the numbers 1, 2, and 4 most requested songs on Dr. Demento in 2007.

Devo Spice performs regularly across the country at music clubs, comedy clubs, and science fiction conventions. He has shared the stage with Dr. Demento, MC Lars, MC Frontalot, Jonathan Coulton, Paul and Storm, and many others. The live show features videos and animations synchronized with the music resulting in a hilarious show that goes over very well with a variety of audiences.

Sudden Death broke onto the scene in 2002 when their song “Dead Rappers” became a hit on the Dr. Demento Show. Devo Spice also teamed up with The Great Luke Ski that year on Luke’s song “Peter Parker” which went on to become the most requested song of the year. In 2003 Sudden Death hit it big on Dr. Demento with “Ozzman”, a backhanded tribute to the Prince Of F’ing Darkness. 2005 was a breakthrough year for Sudden Death on Dr. Demento when they had 2 songs in the top 10 at the end of the year with “Spam” at #10 and “Inner Voice” at #1. Then in 2007 Sudden Death produced a constant stream of hits on the show resulting in his songs ending up #1, #2, and #4 most requested songs of the year. Devo Spice also appeared as a guest vocalist on the #5 most requested song of the year. In 2007 Sudden Death became a Core member of The Funny Music Project, or The FuMP (http://www.thefump.com) which releases 2 songs every week for free under a Creative Commons license. In 2008 Sudden Death released their third album which was titled Fatal Error. The album features the songs mentioned above plus other hilarious original songs and parodies. It was considered for a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album in the fall of 2008. In late 2008 Devo Spice decided to drop the group name Sudden Death due to rising confusion with other bands using that name. For more information on Devo Spice please visit the artist's web site at: http://www.devospice.com

Feng Shui Ninjas
The Feng Shui Ninjas are Justin Hartley, Dave Stagner, John Kentner, and Tamara Anne, and they have come to rearrange the furniture between your ears with their music. Blurring the lines between rock, folk, and common sense, they bring the bizarre when they rock the MarsCon stage.
http://www.fengshuininjas.com

Brett Glass
Brett Glass is an Electrical Engineer, science nonfiction author, inventor, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter based in Laramie, Wyoming. Known to the computer community as the author of Borland's “Turbo Pascal Tutor” (which taught tens of thousands of people to program) and as a columnist for some of the earliest computer magazines (including Dr. Dobb’s Journal of Computer Calisthenics and Orthodontia, BYTE, PC World, PC Magazine, InfoWorld, and Boardwatch), he helped to bring up the modern Internet as a graduate student at Stanford. He also founded LARIAT, the world’s first wireless ISP, which has been operating for 25 years. He continues to run LARIAT and also Glass Rental Management, which has taken on the multiyear project of restoring the tallest building in downtown Laramie – built in the 1920s and suffering from years of neglect and a dangerously broken elevator – to its former glory.

The first records Brett owned as a child were Sheb Wooley’s hit single “The Purple People Eater” and the soundtrack from the movie Mary Poppins, both of which could be said to have shaped his musical tastes to this day. He has been composing silly songs and parodies (as well as some serious material) for as long as he can remember. Formerly the bass player for Jim Burrill’'s comedy music trio Sounds Like Fun and Margaret Davis and Kristoph Klover’s Avalon (the precursor of Avalon Rising), he’s a regular performer in the Marscon Dementia Track and at FuMPFest and pops up at filk conventions when he is able to escape briefly from his two businesses. He loves creating complex backing tracks stitched together with digital audio workshop software, but also loves to jam and improvise; he’ll often take a bass or guitar to a bluegrass or rock jam with no prior knowledge of the songs being played, guided only by his ears and a view of a guitarist’s left hand.

Michael William Hunter
Michael William Hunter is an actor, a writer, a podcaster, and now a comedy song-writer. He’s from the cold, harsh lands of Alaska and has spent his many winters inside his room consuming all forms of pop culture he could get his hands on. Now, he lives in Los Angeles and uses this knowledge of music, games and television to write song parodies of songs he grew up listening to. His first and most notable song he’ss done is “Alfred Matthew Yankovic” which is a song about the king of parody, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and also doubles as a parody of the opening number from “Hamilton: An American Musical”: “Alexander Hamilton”. It ranked #2 on The Dr. Demento Show’s Top 5 for March and April 2018 and reached #4 on Dr. Demento’s Funny 25 of 2018. It also was nominated for a Logan Whitehurst Memorial Award for “Outstanding Parody Song of 2018”. Michael also co-hosts a podcast about “Weird Al” Yankovic's music called “The ‘Weird Al’Phabet”, where they discuss every one of Yankovic's songs in alphabetical order. For more information on Michael William Hunter please visit the artist’s web site at: https://www.pipedreampodcasts.com/michael-william-hunter

Il Neige
Il Neige (it’s French) is an L.A. based songwriter whose love of the electric guitar is matched only by his passion for Simpsons quotes. He began producing comedy music in 2014 with “Sub Zero,” widely regarded as the moment “Let It Go” parodies stopped being funny, and has since gone on to spoof Bastille, the Beatles, and more. His originals walk the line between silly and sincere, covering topics ranging from Nintendo, to the memification of Christmas, to…okay, so it’'s mostly Nintendo. His most recent project is “Rock that Pokemon,” a Youtube series that attempts to immortalize all 800+ of the little buggers through song. Citing influence from Green Day, Weezer, and whichever Ska band is playing in Anaheim tonight, Neige believes there’s always room for a little more Geek in your Rock. For more information on Il Neige please visit the artist’s web site at: http://youtube.com/ilneige

Beth Kinderman and the Player Characters
Beth Kinderman & the Player Characters are a Minneapolis-based band consisting of Justin Hartley (drums, accordion, percussion), Beth Kinderman (vocals, guitar, bass), and Dave Stagner (guitar, bass). Since forming in 2008, they have also been joined by a variety of backing vocalists and collaborating instrumentalists including Elizabeth Greenberg, Lizzie Gross, Tami Murck, Sarah Ravely, Kelly Reich, and Nikki Walker. Beth, Dave, and Justin first met in a music circle at MarsCon 2007, and formalized their partnership for MarsCon 2008 after Beth teamed up with Dave to record her first album at his Extraterrestrial Highway Studios. Since then, they’ve released three full-length CDs (All Of My Heroes Are Villains, Apocalypse Blues, More Songs About Robots & Death) and two EPs (Winter Is Coming, Return Of The Son Of More Songs About Robots & Death) on TropeStorm Records (http://www.tropestorm.com"). Their music is an eclectic mix of progressive rock, folk, punk, and filk influences, all tied together with Beth’s poetic lyrics and memorable melodies. They’ve performed around the Midwest at venues including the 7th Street Entry, Terminal Bar, Wild Tymes, The Coffee Grounds, Dunn Brothers Coffee, Acoustic Cafe, Twin Cities Pagan Pride, and Grinnell College; and conventions including MarsCon, CONvergence, Minicon, DemiCon, ICON, No Brand Con, and Windycon. Much of their output consists of serious songs about geeky topics (comic books, Star Wars, zombies, Battlestar Galactica, roleplaying and video games, fantasy novels, Game of Thrones, etc…), but they also write the occasional dementia or parody track and are thrilled to team up with the FuMP to help their funny music reach its audience. For more information on Beth Kinderman & the Player Characters please visit the artist's web site at: http://www.bethkinderman.com

Kornflake
Current co-host of “The Flopcast” the always effervescent ‘Kornflake’. See more at: http://flopcast.net/about.htm

Marc with a C
Marc With A C is the musical identity of lo-fi troubadour Marc Sirdoreus. According to his bio, Marc was born at a very young age, and he makes pop music in small, DIY ways, cobbling together any available instruments and recording gear to capture the excitement of the moment – but only using enough sound to serve the song itself. To date, there have been twelve full-length Marc With a C albums, as well as countless EPs and online-only releases, including the recent follow up to “Unicorns Get More Bacon” entitled “Half Serious, Half Kidding”. Marc is a prolific songwriter that rarely tours, yet somehow this is his second appearance at Marscon. Folks can expect oodles of sarcasm, sweaty pop workouts, singalongs and stories that sometimes have a point, all performed by a guy who maybe wonders what he’s doing here. http://www.marcwithac.com/

Mikey Mason
Mikey Mason (a nationally touring standup comedian by trade) made a splash on YouTube with the video for his song, “She Don't Like Firefly,” which spurred the recording of his crowd-funded geek rock/comedy album, “Impotent Nerd Rage.” He recently completed his second geek album, “Barbarian Jetpack,” and is now working on an EP of non-comedic songs inspired by Neil Gaiman’s novel American Gods.

Mikey’s work has been featured on Nerdist.com, MTV Geek News, SyFy’s Blastr.com, and in Time Magazine’s Techland. He has made multiple appearances both on NBC and at the legendary House Of Blues, headlined on all four coasts and performed at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, the 2011 Geek Media Expo, and RPG conventions across the US. He is also a proud media sponsor of Can’t Stop The Serenity, a fundraiser for Equality Now, and performs at at least one CSTS each year.

“Soooo great!!”—Morena Baccarin (Firefly, Serenity, Homeland, V)
“Hilarious.” “Totally catchy.“ ”His voice is so awesome that we immediately ran to his website to check out his tour schedule.”—Blastr.com (SyFy Channel)
“This album totally doesn’t suck. Which I like. The music is quality, the guy can sing and play and not to be captain cliche or anything... but I found myself wanting more.”—Audrey Brown, bornforgeekdom.com
“The wordplay is genius.”—Juliette B. Edwards, nerdsraging.com
“My dad had a great sense of humor, knew hundreds of jokes, puns, limericks, etc and would have LOVED your song!”—Cindy Gygax (Daughter of RPG luminary Gary Gygax)
For more information on Mikey Mason please visit the artist’s web site at: http://www.mikeymason.com

TV’s Kyle & Lindzilla
Kyle Carrozza has worked at Cartoon Network as the creator and lead voice actor of your favorite cartoon Mighty MagiSwords, but by late-afternoon/early-evening he becomes TV’s Kyle, churning out quirky, catchy, original comedy tunes for all to enjoy! In 2014 he married his long-time girlfriend and frequent on-stage vocalist / dinosaur-outfit-wearer, Lindsay Smith, aka LINDZILLA, who also worked on Mighty MagiSwords as a character designer! He also co-hosts the bi-monthly animation podcast Kyle & Luke Talk About Toons with the great Luke Ski and is one half of the duo Scooter Picnic with Insane Ian, which he describes as “bloopcore quirkhop” as if those words have meaning. Silly cartoon man. http://tvskyle.net

Prop Masters:

Dave Duca
Dave Duca from Oconto WI, is an announcer for their local radio station, and enjoys the many ambitions in the Community and Events. Born in Green Bay, Dave’s hobbies and interests go anywhere from astronomy, shortwave radio, rotary cam engines, UAVs, and Bread Pudding. He finds it fascinating, taking things apart to figure out how they work. “Anything from a simple space shuttle to a complex door knob will do.̵ His fort’e is literally anything autonomous, including Daleks. He goes on to say that, these Kaled Creature Machines are a wonderful exercise in frugal budgets and recycling. “...it’s amazing what a person can make in a McGyyver State of Mind...” These past few years of making Daleks with my good friend Michael [Glielmi] has enhanced everything so much more. “...Attending Conventions as a proper Dalek, has earned a greater interest in the younger set, than I ever could’ve imagined...” he says.

Bill Kimball
Bill will be joining us for the first time at MarsCon 2020. He is the creator of the much-anticipated, amazing Chrome Dalek which will also be touring with him.

Michael Glielmi
Mike Glielmi, residing in Holland Town WI, is a mechanical designer of wide experience. Born in Chicago Illinois, he fell in love with all things sci-fi well before he attended school. Science fiction and fantasy are ever present in the warp and woof of his life. Dr. Who has, for a very long time, been the golden threads in that weave. Then Mike once dared to ask his very good friend Dave Duca, a kindred spirit in all things Whovian, if Dave would consider making a Dalek for the purposes of attending conventions. Mike was already an avid attender of many conventions, often showing up at such events in costume. “What better costume than a Dalek?” Mike thought. Little did the unsuspecting resident of Holland Town know how such a question would “Release the hounds!” The hounds have not stopped running since! In the years after that fateful question, Daleks have been flying from Dave’s residence of “Porchwood” at a dizzying pace. Now, Mike also has been creating Daleks from his residence in Holland Town. Wisconsin is soon to be over-run with the children of the “Cult of WISkaro”... the name Dave and Mike have coined for the group of Dalek creators.

Steve Roberts
From South Wales in the U.K. where Doctor Who is now shot (“that’s weird – seeing a spaceship crash on a beach on which I built sandcastles as a kid”) Steve has been a fan of science-fiction in all media from as early as he can remember.

In 2009, upon attending his first Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles, he was horrified that no Daleks were there as they saved the show from cancellation in 1963.

By the next Gallifrey convention, he had built a life-sized Dalek which was (mostly) operational and roamed the halls issuing preposterous threats and exterminating the unwary.

A life size robot dog followed because the size and weight meant a Dalek was difficult to move. K-9 can be shipped or flown anywhere with ease. Steve has also been working on other Sci Fi related props and models such as HAL 9000 from 2001 and a DRD from Farscape.

Other Guests of Distinction:

Nathan Block: Distant Calling Pictures
After 10 years, 30 short films, a pile of nominations and 6 awards, Nathan Block and his Distant Calling Pictures production team are seasoned veterans of indie short film creation. Distant Calling Pictures is proud to present selected works for your viewing enjoyment at MarsCon, as well as a panel on how to make a short film. The viewing will consist of short films ranging from drama, horror, dark comedy and action. Whether you are seeking to make your own film, aspiring to act or are just film-curious, we’d love to talk to you! Drop by our panel.

Senior Master Robert Frankovich
White Tiger Martial Arts (Song Moo Kwan Taekwondo & Haidong Gumdo)
Midwest Haidong Gumdo
White Tiger Martial Arts teaches Korean martial arts, and they will be bringing a main stage demonstration of Korean sword art Haidong Gumdo as well as an Intro to Sword class to MarsCon. This is your chance learn the cuts and blocking maneuvers used by Gumdo sword masters, and then test your skills in one-on-one combat! http://www.white-tiger-martialarts.com

Mystic Dawn Amtgard
The Barony of Mystic Dawn is an Amtgard Chapter based out of the Twin Cities, MN, as part of the Kingdom of Polaris. Amtgard is a world-wide organization dedicated to medieval and fantasy combat sports and recreation. We use padded weapons, fantasy and authentic clothing, and imagination to immerse players in a world of heroic combat, quests, crafts, and more. No matter if your interest is competitive sports fighting, finding an outlet for your creative talents, or honing your leadership skills, Amtgard has something to offer you! FFI: https://amtgard.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/groups/MysticDawn.Amtgard/

The Saber Legion
The Saber Legion is a worldwide saber club, with a focus on saber combat and sparring. Our Mission Statement: Love and always represent your charters and who you are. We’re here to teach all the ways of the force. With sabers, all will be united! http://www.saberlegion.org

MarsCon is a fan-run science fiction convention for all ages held every March (sometimes in late February) in the Twin Cities area. At MarsCon you’ll find panel discussions, parties, guest of honor presentations, music of many kinds, our art show, film/anime room, science room, dealers room, charity auction, and masquerade. The Dementia track is virtually a con in itself, and attracts a nation-wide audience.

MarsCon 2020

“Visions of the Future”
February 28 - March 1, 2020
Hilton Minneapolis/St Paul Airport/Mall of America
3800 American Blvd. E.
Bloomington, MN 55425

Send questions about MarsCon to info24b@marscon.org, we’ll do our best to send answers!

More about MarsCon may be found at...
  • Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarsconMpls
  • FaceBook: www.facebook.com/Marscon
  • Dementia: marscondementia.wordpress.com

If you are searching for the Marscon in Williamsburg, VA click here.

© 2020, FenSF