ATLRetro

Celebrate two of the 20th century’s most successful series at  TimeGate, Atlanta’a annual DOCTOR WHO/STARGATE convention, held every Memorial Day weekend (May 24-26) at the The Holiday Inn Select Perimeter-Dunwoody. OK, both shows are alive and well in the 21st century, especially DOCTOR WHO which has been airing its 50th anniversary season on BBCA, but ATLRetro has to love them a little bit extra for sharing our own passion for time travel at the heart of their premises. We admit if the Doctor asked us to be his companion, we’d be ready to take off in the TARDIS and take our chances with Daleks, Cybermen…well, maybe we’d skip those weeping angels. We’re not quite so versed in the STARGATE universe, except wishing we had one of those gates so we could indulge in some good old-fashioned Egyptomania and maybe grab a souvenir from Atlantis. However, we certainly know fans love STARGATE, and we’re happy they have a place to go to share their passion.

In other words, time travelers will have a ball. Here are our top reasons to attend!

Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.

The Sixth Doctor

Perhaps the biggest draw for Timegate this year is an actual Doctor – well, Colin Baker, the actor who played the sixth Doctor (1983-86). Whovians will already know that his actual first appearance on the show was in the Peter Davison serial “Arc of Infinity” in which he played Commander Maxil, and some of his best episodes included “Vengeance on Varos”, “Mark of the Rani,” “Revelation of the Daleks” (guest starring Colin Spaull, who is also a Timegate guest; see below) and the infamous “Trial of a Time Lord” season. Colin’s association with DOCTOR WHO has continued throughout his life. In 1989 he once again stepped into the role of the Doctor in the stage play DOCTOR WHO: THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE, written by Terrence Dicks. He also starred in a series of loosely DW-themed movies as the Stranger, and in 1993 starred alongside former Doctors Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy in THE AIRZONE SOLUTION. He starred alongside DW alums Caroline John (reprising her role of Dr. Elizabeth Shaw), Louise Jameson, Jon Pertwee, Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred in the first of two P.R.O.B.E. movies. In 1999, Colin stepped back into his role as the Doctor for the 30th Anniversary special DOCTOR WHO; DIMENSIONS IN SPACE.He also is the only Doctor to have written DOCTOR WHO stories and even a comic strip, entitled “The Age of Chaos,” featuring the Sixth Doctor, Peri and Frobisher. He continues to record new radio adventures for the Sixth Doctor for Big Finish Productions.

"Revelation of the Daleks"

More Great Retro Guests

Timegate has more guests than ever who have acted or been otherwise involved with the two shows, particularly DOCTOR WHO. Andrew Cartmel was script editor of DOCTOR WHO during the Sylvester McCoy (seventh doctor) era, responsible for bringing classic tales like “Remembrance of the Daleks”, “Ghost Light” and “The Curse of Fenric” to the screen. He also wrote two non-fiction DW books: THROUGH TIME: AN UNAUTHORIZED AND UNOFFICIAL HISTORY OF DOCTOR WHO and SCRIPT DOCTOR: THE INSIDE STORY OF DOCTOR WHO 1986-88. He’s also written audio adaptations of a hypothetical fourth season of the Seventh Doctor for the Big Finish-produced DW radio series, with Ben Aaronovitch and featuring what would have been the final appearance of Ace in the TVseries, as well as WINTER FOR THE ADEPT, a Fifth Doctor and Nyssa radio adventure.

Colin Spaull appeared alongside Colin Baker as Lilt in “Revelation of the Daleks” and returned to the show in 2006 as Mr. Crane in “Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel” with David Tennant as the Doctor. He also appeared in the Big Finish DOCTOR WHO Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller audio adventure, GRAND THEFT COSMOS, in 2008. Apparently he enjoys real ale and is a strong supporter in the campaign to keep Britain’s local pubs open. So we’re guessing he’d be fun to share a pint with at the Holiday Inn bar.

The cast of STARGATE: ATLANTIS

More guests include Steve Gostelow, who was originally contracted to design and create props and costumes, including Cybermen and Daleks for special footage filmed for a 30th anniversary DOCTOR WHO documentary. He was then asked to play various monster roles in the show, including Cyberman, Cyber Controller, Red Dalek and Emporer as well as regular Dalek. Steve’s advise for getting cast in on-screen monster roles is to design costumes that fit you so perfectly that they couldn’t hire anyone else! Valerie Halverson did costume design job on STARGATE SG1, ATLANTIS and UNIVERSE.  Jody Lynn Nye has been an award-winning published science fiction and fantasy author since the 1990s.  Comics illustrator Kelly Yates has worked on DC Comics’ THE GREEN ARROW SECRET FILES and THE JLA/JSA FILES. Lars Pearson is one of the foremost experts on DOCTOR WHO in North America.  And yes, that’s just the tip of a guest list that includes many more authors, artists, actors and experts.

The Atlanta Radio Theater Presents: DOCTOR WHO: THE ENEMY WITHIN

The Atlanta Radio Theater (ARTC) are pros at recreating the spirit of old-time radio, but founder Bill Ritch is also perhaps Atlanta’s biggest Doctor Who fan and expert. He introduced generations of Atlanta fandom to the show, even in the 1970s before it was officially on TV here.  So anyway, we’re certain that anything ARTC does with Doctor Who will be fantastic. For more background on ARTC, read our article about them here.

Ray Harryhausen!

The stop-motion SFX master sadly passed away recently, but his spirit lives on at a special tribute Friday at 7 p.m. led by Anthony Taylor. Anthony is one of Atlanta’s top experts on science fiction film and TV, whose credits include ARCTIC ADVENTURE!, an official THUNDERBIRDS novel based on the iconic British television series by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, and THE FUTURE WAS FAB: THE ART OF MIKE TRIM, about artist Mike Trim who designed models and special effects for multiple Anderson series. Anyway, he know he knows a lot about Ray, and that he’s assembled a great team of folks who also have an affection for stop-motion.

Doctors, Daleks, Companions, Tardises, Soldiers and Ancient Egyptians

Ever wanted to be exterminated by the love of a woman dressed as a sexy Dalek or ask the TARDIS what it’s like to carry the Doctor around. Creative humanized takes on classic monsters and the TARDIS itself have become de rigeur at cons. But you can also expect to see plenty precise recreations of Doctors and companions, as well as StarGate soldiers and aliens. And well, we wouldn’t be surprised to some steampunk ladies and gents and even a superhero or few since con-goers don’t always stick to a specific con’s fandom. No matter, watching and interacting with costumed versions of our favorite characters has become one of the most fun reasons to attend a con, especially in Atlanta where DragonCon and AnachroCon set high standards for costuming and cosplay. For peak viewing, some of the best will compete in the Masquerade Saturday night at 9:30 p.m.  Of course, we highly recommend joining in the fun by costuming yourself. Not sure what to do? Well, Timegate has a bunch of panels offering tips for beginners and experienced costumers.

Who has a sonic screwdriver?

You betcha someone in the TimeGate dealers’ room will have one of the Swiss army-knife of sci-fi gadgets. Whether you can wield it like the Doctor to get out of all manner of messes is on you, however. We also expect action figures, posters, stills, books, collectors’ magazines, jewelry, long scarves, costumes accessories, Dalek air-fresheners to exterminate any onerous odors in the automobile (well, we know you can buy them somewhere!), jelly babies and more objets extraordinaires to surprise even us.

Out-of-this-World Entertainment

It used to be that cons were mainly panels and parties, but lately they’re booking some pretty cool entertainment. Timegate is no exception with Prof. Satyre’s Sci-Fried Sideshow, Moxie Madness and karaoke on Friday night. And “Celtic-Gallifreyan” music (don’t ask us to explain! you’ll have to go see for yourself) from the Ken Spivey Band and Atlanta nerd-rock band Go, Robo! Go! providing live music, followed by a deejayed dance on Saturday.

Party Like It’s…Well, You Pick a Year!

We don’t recommend you drink anything you’re told is a Pan-Galactic Gargleblaster, because, well, we’re pretty sure it’s just a lethal combo of sugar, food-coloring and several types of generic booze. But cons are pretty well-known for their great room parties. Yeah, shhh, don’t tell the muggles, but geeks know how to have fun! Look for announcements by the elevators and on freebie tables around registration. TimeGate also has a con suite with free food and sodas for con badge-holders.

Registration opens at 4 p.m. and programming kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Friday May 24 and runs through Sunday  May 26 at 6 p.m. Online registration is closed but you can still purchase a weekend pass at the con for $60, a day pass for Friday and Sunday for just $30, or a day pass for Saturday for $35.

 “This is one of the original balls to the wall crazyass movies. We saw that we could screen it through Tugg.com, so we had to.”

– Alex Orr, Fake Wood Wallpaper

BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA (1974); Presented by Fake Wood Wallpaper; Dir: Sam Peckinpah; Story by Peckinpah andFrank Kowalski/screenplay by Gordon Dawson; Starring Warren Oates, Isela Vega, Robert Webber; Memorial Day Monday; 9:30 PM; $9; Plaza Theatre. Trailer here. Advance tickets here.

Innocents will suffer. Holy ground will be desecrated. And 25 people will die. So announces the trailer for BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA. Whether you’ve just seen THE WILD BUNCH or are a diehard follower of Sam Peckinpah, the seminal director who redefined ultra-violence and realism in the Western and action film genres of the 1960s and 1970s, the chance to see a 35mm print of a Peckinpah feature on the big screen is a rare treat – so you shouldn’t have to think twice about walking out of that cookout your family or friend throws every year. Sadly given the studios’ mad race to all-digital, it could be your last time, too. Not to mention a swell test to see how many bullets and blood your new squeeze can take. [Editor’s note: I once complained that THE WILD BUNCH wasn’t violent enough. Score!]

That being said, the under-rated ALFREDO GARCIA is pretty much universally dubbed as the most surreal and gruesome of his cinematic ventures. Set in contemporary Mexico rather than the Old West, the premise is pretty basic, a hit is out on a man named Alfredo Garcia, with a million dollars reward, and yeah, the title is literal – the proof of death is in the head. The man contracted to accomplish the bloody task is Bennie, a ne-er-do-well bartender and alcoholic with a penchant for not being afraid of dishing out ultra-violence if it means revenge and retribution, played perfectly by Warren Oates who had previously teamed so well with Peckinpah on THE WILD BUNCH. The Badass Hall of Fame calls Oates their “Patron Saint,” and while they wax about his swagger in THE WILD BUNCH, they dub ALFREDO GARCIA “his masterpiece.”

Warren Oates in BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA. Photo credit: United Artists, 1974.

We could tell you more like there’s a sexy woman Elita (Isela Vega) with the misfortune of being along for the ride and in love with Bennie to boot, much tequila is consumed, and there will be slaughter. But if we told you too much, we’d spoil that wild ride. So instead, how about some fun facts to whet your appetite for art and violence. Yeah, you heard us right. We said “fun facts” …so what ya gonna do, shoot us?

– Peckinpah considered BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA, shot in Mexico with an almost total Mexican crew, a snub on his enemies in Hollywood and his antipathy for Richard Nixon and the direction the U.S. was heading in the 1970s.

– Peckinpah also considered James Coburn and Peter Falk for the role of Bennie.

– Oates based his performance of the drunken protagonist on Peckinpah himself, even stealing his director’s trademark sunglasses for the role.

– Oates didn’t like the movie and told folks not to see it. While back then, reviewers agreed, they don’t any more, and the white suit and sunglasses Oates wears in GARCIA have become his iconic look.

– Kris Kristofferson plays a biker in the movie.

Emilio Fernandez as El Jefe in BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA. Photo credit: United Artists, 1974.

– Mexico film director, Emilio Fernandez, who plays El Jefe, was rumored to have killed men in duels. According to screenwriter Gordon Dawson, “Emilio would take out his .38s and start blowing the art off the walls.”  (He also played Mapache in THE WILD BUNCH)

– Frank Kowalski, who shares story credit with Peckinpah, wanted to write a movie that brought together two concepts. The first was  bartenders who “lead the most colorful lives going. They live fast and get broads, and, the next thing they know, they’re 45 or 50 and it’s all over. It’s a strange life cycle, like a moth.” The second, inspired by the real life case of Caryl Chessman who raped women at gunpoint and whose death penalty conviction caused controversy, was what would a man do if forced to watch another rape his lover. Shoot the hell out of him, of course, while she watches!

Sources: The Badass Hall of Fame and BLOODY SAM, THE LIFE AND FILMS OF SAM PECKINPAH, by Marshall Fine, Primus, 1991.

Photo courtesy of Yolanda Rabun.

The Atlanta Jazz Festival brings a national and international who’s who of the art form to Piedmont Park for an amazing free concert every Memorial Day Weekend. With so many incredible artists, we decided we couldn’t pick just one, so this week, look out for two Kool Kats.

Kool Kat #2 is Yolanda Rabun, one real lady of jazz who’ll be singing both her own originals and classic pieces on Memorial Day Monday, May 28 at 3 p.m. The former Atlantan now lives in North Carolina but is excited to be returning home in support her debut CD SO REAL, and we can’t wait to hear her, whether she’s channeling classic chanteuse Billie Holliday or showing us with her voice how the true meaning of love embodies peace and harmony and even when true love means it’s time to leave. She has sung with Isaac Hayes for President Ronald Reagan, performed with Clay Aiken, been the lead vocalist of the Stanley Baird Group opening for Jennifer Holliday and traveled the world. All at the same time as serving as corporate counsel for a Top 5 Forbes company. We caught up with her to find out more about her eclectic background, what her mother taught her about music and life, and what it means to be So Real…

How did you discover jazz?

My mom introduced me to Nancy Wilson and Nina Simone when I was younger. Billie Holliday was a really big hero of mine. And Diane Reeves. My background is musical theater. I always think of musical theater as a story being told to music and that’s what jazz does too. As I got older I was called by jazz bands asking me to come play with them, and I began stepping out. In fact, throughout school I would sing with different jazz bands. I’d do things here and there, but I really got into my jazz vocal career five to six years ago when I became the official lead jazz singer for a band in North Carolina.

Who are some of your favorite classic jazz singers and why?

Billie Holliday, her music changed during the course of her career and that was very impressionable on me because it gave me meaning behind what jazz what can be. When I think of jazz, I think of improvisation—feeling through music based on what’s going on around you, being more straightforward with tones, more purposeful with meaning. As Billie got older and had been through more, her music became slower, energy more focused either in the emotion of anger or the emotion of sorrow. That was amazing for me. This woman could take music and deliver a message basically through the emotion going on in her life and the song. That’s a skill that I’ve worked on through my years studying music.

Sara Vaughn and Dinah Washington also made an impression on me, and Nancy Wilson is one of my biggest influences.

Trumpeter Al Strong and Yolanda Rabun at Raleigh's Artsplosure Festival 2012. Photo credit: Frank Myers.

Do you consider your style to be traditional jazz or contemporary jazz?

I don’t even think I want to be labeled. I like to be considered both so I’m not put in one corner or other. There’s a photo of me with a flower in my hair on my album, and that’s part of my brand. When you see it, you probably think Billie Holliday. I almost want to you, I sing traditional jazz in live shows. But listen to all of my music and you’ll find out it’s a mix. I want to send the message that whether I am singing contemporary or classic jazz as it was back in the day, whether soulful jazz or gospelly jazz, in the end it is jazz. And jazz is delivering emotion through the actual sound you hear in the music.

There must be a great story about how you came to sing and do a recording with Isaac Hayes and sing for President Reagan?

I was a junior at Northside School of the Arts and President Reagan was visiting. There was a big production and they wanted a song. They said Isaac Hayes was producing it and my face lit up. When I met him, he said he was so glad I was singing it. He was amazing. He was very caring about what needed to happen but also very stern and concerned that I was at my best. When I did it, it was on CNN and all the news stations. As soon as the song was over, I got so excited that I turned around and shook President Reagan’s hand. The Secret Service didn’t expect that. But he grabbed me and hugged me. It was a great experience all around, meeting the President and working with Isaac Hayes.

You often quote the statement: “Half of what I say is meaningless but I only say it so that the other half may reach you.” Where did you get that from?

It was something my mother said to me. I always wondered what she was saying. But I know now it means to pay attention to everything that is said since the portion that you need the most comes when you are ready to receive it.  The story about Isaac Hayes and being able to meet the president—what does that all mean? Mr. Hayes said a lot to me in the course of our working, I remember him reiterating that I would be a singing lawyer and that I am! In the end, it’s about having been blessed and continually being blessed to be able to work with really great people in my career. I’m based in NorthCarolina now, have traveled all around the world and I get to come back home to Atlanta for the Atlanta Jazz Festival. Did you know I used to sing the theme song for Atlanta and now I am coming back toAtlantato sing my music. I’m really, really excited.

Can you take a little about your debut CD SO REAL?

SO REAL is smooth and soul jazz. I started writing the song “So Real” for my husband. It was exciting for me, doing a demo and getting back into the field of music. As a corporate lawyer,  I’d gone full surge into that career but I wanted to get back to music. I wrote the song “So Real” as part of a demo and then set it aside.  Finally, the hard start of stepping out on my own and starting on my own album began in 2010. Because everything became  “so real,” that’s the music I wanted to sing and make my own. I took the single and created a full HD video, and then it toured to Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Jordan. I sang for it for the US troops because what they are doing for us was so real. Then I finished the album and took it back to Diego Garcia, and the  response  was amazing. The “So Real” song and album did well on the charts for the independent labels in the UK. I can’t even tell you how overwhelmed and excited I am.

Can you give us a taste of what you’ll be performing at the Atlanta Jazz Festival?

Hi, I’m Yolanda Rabun here and this is my new contemporary jazz album “So Real.” That’s a big deal. I’ve been the lead singer for a jazz group and now I’m stepping out and here I am. You will see a mixture of a lot of musical influences, Nancy Wilson,  Billie Holliday and others that will surprise a few. I will do some songs from my SO REAL album, and a song by one of the biggest influences in my life out of all my influences, Gladys Knight! My songs involve a journey of love, a journey of freedom, a journey of harmony and peace. My show is centered around the idea of real love and what that is, whether it’s blossoming, wonderful and happy or searching and unclear. In the end it’s about harmony and peace.

I’m from Florida but grew up in Atlanta. I went to Warren T Jackson Elementary, SuttonMiddle School and Northside School of the Performing Arts. I met my husband, Rick, in Atlanta, I was married in Atlanta (formerly known as Yolanda Williams) , one of my children was christened in Atlanta at my home church (Cascade United Methodist), my mom, (Kappitola) is in Atlanta where I was raised as her only child.  Atlanta is my home. I’m coming full circle. I started in Atlanta with my music, went off and became a lawyer, and now I’m coming back with my music.