with Ghosthead" with Russ of the of the Greater Manchester Ghostbusters.
Russ, tell us a bit about you. Who are you? What are you doing? Other hobbies or interests?
Well My name is Russell Turner, I live in Manchester in the UK and I'm 29 years old. My profession at the moment is IT & Systems Administrator, IT is probably my other main hobby apart from Ghostbusters, I started building computers in my teenage years just because it interested me and I enjoyed it. As far as sports and leisure I'm a massive football fan supporting the best team in the world, Manchester United. I try to go to as many games as I can but its very difficult to get tickets.
Where did you love for Ghostbusters come from?I got in to Ghostbusters from a very young age, since I was born 81 and the movie being released in the cinema in 84, it wasn't long before we had the movie on VHS, after initially scaring the crap out of me in the first scene with the librarian ghost (aged 6 or 7) I was hooked. I remember running home from school just to get home in time to watch The Real Ghostbusters cartoon, I recorded every episode as a kid but sadly they would of been recorded over a very long time ago, plus who owns a VCR player these days anyway?
I started to build my pack in the summer of 2009, my initial plan was to have some simple built for my friends 30th birthday party just after Christmas but after a few weeks of work I decided I wanted something a bit more serious so I started hunting for actual parts rather than items that just looked close to the actual thing I wanted. I found a khaki Nomex on ebay rather cheap and then the whole thing just took off from there. Following plans from GBfans.com I finished my pack and even had enough time to build a trap in time for the 30th, since then I haven't looked back and own a great collection of Ghostbusters props, uniforms and memorabilia.
We have seen that you have participated in many events. What is was your favourite event so far? And why?
Well my favourite event so far has to be the first real event I went to in full gear, this was called Zombie Aid 2010 and was held in the streets of Manchester on Halloween night, it was an event to raise charity. Basically myself and two other friends went to meet the zombies of Manchester head on the response we received was overwhelming, being the only 3 people there who weren't dressed as zombies in about 3000 people, we were literally mobbed for hundreds of photographs and asked repetitively about our gear and flight suits. I've since become more custom to the photos and questions when I travel to these such events but I'll never forgot that night and how it made me appreciate everything I had worked so hard for.What does the term "Ghosthead" mean to you? Why did you get involved with a "franchise"?
Hummm good question, the term Ghosthead means a number of things to me, firstly I would have to say 'community' it reminds me about how many other people share an interest in Ghostbusters and even after after all these years how strong the franchise is to this day. Secondly it reminds me of 'knowledge' and how every single Ghostbuster fan I meet has something new to add to a collection of different views based on the cult hit of the 80's. The sharing of ideas, theories and descriptions I come across when I meet a new fan is second to none when it comes to Ghostbusters. I guess I got involved with a franchise as I enjoy the community spirit, I used to be a big fan of on-line multi player games but that has since dried up a bit, I think this has now totally replaced that in every sense.Thank you very much, Russ (aka Dr Turner)
