Zack, tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you? What are you doing? Other hobbies or interests?
I'm Zack. Most people know me in the Ghostbusters community by that name. Back when I first started using the internet as a young kid I didn't know to come up with a creative username so I just used my real name(used to be along with my last initial) and it just stuck!
Back when the internet was new, I remember the whole class in school getting to try it out and of course searched for my favorite movie. I remember the website Spook Central with a yellow background with a picture of the library ghost and thought that was amazing! haha I became fairly active on the original Ghostbusters message board made by Bill Emkow.
I remember all the rumors of a third movie with Chris Farley and Will Smith and even remember the day Chris Farley died, people on the message board were like "what now?" But about me in my real life, I worked several years at Wild Adventures Theme Park(where the last parts of the movie Zombieland take place) as a stage technician running lights and sounds for the shows in the park and looking to get back to school to figure out what I want to do!(Aren't we all?)
I remember Ghostbusters as long as I can remember anything. I don't know if I remember the cartoon first or not. I remember my parents recording the movie when it originally aired on ABC pausing to keep the commercials out for me! I had Real Ghostbusters as well as Filmation's Ghostbusters episodes recorded at the end of the tape.
I guess in the same way everyone else loved the movie and cartoon, something with the likeable characters and of course the cool equipment, car and theme song, it just stuck with me! I very much remember getting to see the second movie in theaters and of course playing with all the toys. I had a Ghostbusters party for my 4th birthday!
When I was young, one of my aunts made me a brown flightsuit and I had my elastic belt and my rain boots and Kenner proton pack! When Norm's proton pack plans first surfaced, I was so excited that there was a way to make a proton pack, I printed out all of the pages. Then the pages sat there, haha I was young with no idea how to go about such things.
Halloween 2006 I went to a party for work with the inflatable pack and suit and made elbow pads. The next year I got my first flightsuit and worked on a junk cardboard pack which really impressed everyone when I went out with at the bar on Halloween night. I since made a slime blower, a few other small things and hope to have my really nice proton pack done for Halloween this year. I love dressing up as those characters. It's such a unique and instantly recognizable look. Everyone loves it!
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| Real Ghostbusters Playful Poultergeist |
My love of Ghostbusters and music many years ago allowed me to take on a project probably a lot of people remember. Creating MIDI music from the Real Ghostbusters series. I loved figuring out different parts in music and RGB was no exception. I arranged a lot of the songs by ear. It used to be it's own website but I since put them on youtube. Although the MIDI format is a bit laughable and dated today, back then it used to be the only way to hear a Real Ghostbusters song without sound effects and talking.
Probably my favorite event was the first PKE Surge at Dragon Con 2009. It was the first time I really met other people in that type of setting, getting to meet people I had known online for years. The parade was a lot of fun!
I invited two of my Georgia Ghostbusters friends and we got to go around and run around in "Zombieland" I've never had so many pictures taken by so many people before. Also more recently, I got to do the Cherry Blossom Festival parade and get my girlfriend and little girl involved.
What does the term "Ghosthead" mean to you? Why did you get involved with a "franchise"?
"Ghosthead" will stick with me forever. It's so cool to form special friendships with people that have the same passion for the series that I do! I really only recently got involved with the Georgia Ghostbusters and have done a few events with them. I had been a member on the website but working on the weekends and driving long distances prevented me from ever going to much of anything. Unfortunately, I don't get to see them too often so I sometimes forget I'm in the franchise haha I talk to a lot of those guys on a regular basis though.What does it mean to you Ghostbusters group?
It's cool to be part of a group and go do events to raise money for good causes and keeping Ghostbusters on people's minds.
I hope to continue to be active with Ghostbusters events for awhile! It's something that people remember about me and I'm not ashamed to say it, it's become part of who I am!
Ghostbusters Fans, it's been fun getting to know a lot of you over the past several years and always look forward to new people getting excited about the movies I love so much!
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