Geez, how did this goofy kid worm his way into the Marathon machine?Riffing off yesterday's thread about the relatively quiet board status lately (and since this seems to have been fairly popular these last few years), here's a restart of the Questions of the Week leading up to SF33! It's a chance to engage in a more in-depth conversation about Marathon-related topics.
And kicking this year's questions off is a matter most personal to all of us: our own evolution as Marathoids. Whether you've been attending this cinematic thing of ours since the halcyon days of the Drexel North, or if your formative years took place at the Arena Grand (or even our current home at the Drexel in Bexley), you've probably experienced some changes along the way, be they in your appreciation of the events or in how you logistically handle the 24-hour dive into filmic obsession.
I've told my story so many times, in so many ways, in so many forums that some of you are probably sick and tired of hearing about how the Marathons changed my life. It still holds true, though. I look back at the rabid obsession I had for the Marathons as a teenager and young man in his 20's as sorta magical times. But I also see my Marathon fandom (and even though I'm a co-organizer, I'm still a fan at heart) as a mirror image of my maturation as an adult. It would be hard for me to duplicate that rabid enthusiasm of my early days today, but my current love for the Marathon experience isn't any less powerful, just deeper.
I'll echo another sentiment recently expressed her in saying that I tend to tamp down my overt enthusiasm in the weeks leading up to each Marathon, if for no other reason than not to burn myself out before the main event. Working behind the scenes tends to have that effect on you. Of course, I tend to do this with a lot of things in my life, so there's that too. Nonetheless, when the day of each Marathon rolls around, and when the crowd starts filing in and filling the room with that very particular energy, it gets me jazzed like nothing else.
Admittedly, I entered a period where my enthusiasm was tempered just a bit. The Drexel North hangover was tough to shake, especially as I saw the shaky progress through the halls of the Arena Grand and Gateway, and the sometimes tumultuous years of the post-2008 Drexel Sci-Fi Marathons (under previous management.) The Horror Marathons always kept me enthusiastic, and I can definitely credit the resurrection of the 24-Hour Horrorfest with rejuvenating my passion for the genre. And when I partnered up with Bruce for Sci-Fi in 2014, it injected me with a renewed love of that event that continues until today.
On a purely logistical level, I've lived quite the Benjamin Button-esque existence as a working Marathoid. Unlike most of the population, I couldn't stay awake in the late hours worth a lick when I was in my teens and early 20's. But as time has progressed (and as more and more of my Marathoid cohorts complain of not being able to survive the rigors of the event), I've been able to brave most fests with little or no sleep. Chalk it up to my vampiric roots (see what watching THE HUNGER so many times will getcha?) Actually, chalk it up to a dedicated training regimen. In those yonder days of the '90s, I would drink soda and eat a sizeable dinner, or dig into the pizza early. But for years now, I've made sure to eat a good deal of fiber during the Marathons, and drink plenty of water. I enjoy my first cup of coffee of the day during the first film, but then I try to hold off on more java until the prime time hour or later. Less food parcelled out over time seems to work for the most part. And I've also found that thinking of the event like you'd think about a real Marathon, figuratively putting one foot after another while not looking too far ahead, is a great mindset to adopt.
One more thing too, one that perhaps ties in with my step behind the scenes: I tend to be a bit less judgmental about the films in any Marathon, even the ones outside of Columbus. Eleven years ago, I posted a mini-rant on the old Drexel forums about my dislike for the screening of STARSHIP TROOPERS 2 (which, granted, was before director and FX wizard Phil Tippett had been confirmed as a guest.) My argument was that its presence prevented the lineup from being truly great. Today, I would take a much wider view of the filmic slate, looking instead at the strong quality of the lineup as a whole, rather than one film. It kinda baffles me when a select few attendees take such grievous umbrage at one film in the lineup; two years ago, a few people chided us for showing THE SATANIST as if it were a snuff film about child sacrifice. In the end, one film is one film. Lord knows there have been films over the years that I haven't liked. I sat in the lobby in 2010 rather than watch the latest Larry Blamire film, but that didn't completely turn me against that Marathon (although now that I'm scanning that lineup, it was probably my least favorite of recent times, so.....yeah.....) Anyway, you get the point.
So what about all of you? How have you evolved over the years?