This is an old revision of the document!
Hi there wiki people, my name (which you no doubt have already gathered by the title of this page) is JohnMatthews but I am also known as DJ_Brick, DJBrick or just Brick. I always wanted a con name and so one night I mentioned this to Blasted BillPutt and he thought for a moment then said, “how about Brick”? And it stuck. I have been in fandom for about 14 years now, although I was into ScienceFiction way back in the early 1970's when I discovered reruns of shows like Star Trek and Lost In Space. The first conventions that I ever attended were Creation Conventions where I saw, in person, people like William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Mark Lenard, Bill Mumy, Marina Sirtis and even Dawn Welles (Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island). I've also been to a few MediaWest conventions. I kind of miss those, haven't been to one in several years. My first con of what I call “the local group” (kinda borrowing from Carl Sagan there) was ConTraption Kaizen in 1991 which was held practically in my back yard at the now non-existant TroyHilton.
The “local group” cons were a new experience for me. A lot I didn't understand but it was all interesting and kept me coming back. For a while I was not getting much out of cons. I hardly knew anyone and was too shy to just go up and say hi. Glad to say that all changed a few years ago. What changed things you might ask? Volunteering. I signed up to help out in the consuites and made new friends. Later I was sucked into the black hole of concoms and actually ran some of the consuites I had volunteered in previously. I met more friends. I also went to parties held by the StilyagiAirCorps and MOFO and am now a fairly regular attendee of MOFO Monday night gatherings at Denny's in Southfield, MI. Being on a ConCom is a lot of work but is also fun if you let it be. Try it some time.
So what have I actually done for the cons? Well I ran consuites for ConClave 29 and 30, 31 Flavors of ConFusion in 2005 and assisted in PenguiCon 3.0 in TwoThousandFive. I've been the co-dj with Blasted BillPutt at PenguiCon 2.0 in TwoThousandFour where I unwittingly sat on a ham sandwich (ask me or Bill about that one sometime). I was the dj at PenguiCon 3.0 in TwoThousandFive with the help of my friend GregBarker, better known to us [MOFO]-ites as Mortar. I was the dj once again at PenguiCon 4.0 in TwoThousandSix. I was the co-dj with my buddy Blasted BillPutt at ConFusion 31 and I will be doing the co-dj thing with Bill again at our new Relax-a-con called ConVersation in the Summer of 2006. I am also slated to be the Saturday dj at Synthetic ConFusion in January of 2006. Geez, with all these dj gigs, I guess I'll have to take a break from running [ConSuite]s huh? Though I did promise SharNims that I'd be there to help her with PenguiCon 4.0's [ConSuite]s. It's only right because she was there and gave me so much help at ConClave 30. Oh yeah, and I'm co-running the ConSuite at ConVersation in 2006 too so never mind about that taking a break thing 
I'd like to explore other ConCom positions in the future. Don't know about being a ConChair though, we'll see on that one. It'll be a while.
As for my interests obviously I like ScienceFiction a lot. I haven't read a lot of books in my time but those authors I have read include WhitleyStreiber, StephenKing, MadelineLengle and RobertAspirin. So much more to read but where's the time? In films, I've enjoyed StarTrek, StarWars, HarryPotter and classics like TheDayTheEarthStoodStill, ForbiddenPlanet, WhenWorldsCollide, WarOfTheWorlds, TheThing and so many more. On TV, of course my all time favorite was and always will be LostInSpace. Others included StarTrek, Space:1999, Quark, Logan'sRun (HeatherMenzies - yummm!), BattlestarGalactica, DarkShadows, Buffy, Angel and again so many more.
I'm also into radio. I've had my own show, “The Glowing Dial” which has been on the internet since November of 1996. The show started off on “Yesterday USA Radio” and is now available on my site “The Glowing Dial Page” in downloadable mp3 format. The show is also carried by “The Olde Tyme Radio Network” and “Stay Tuned America”. I was recently told by CoreyHarker, the owner of STA that my show is one of the most popular on the network. he said that their numbers go through the roof when were on. Cool huh? So what is my show about you might ask? It's about old time radio. Yes, before television came along people used to watch the radio. No kidding they really did. They'd stare at that glowing dial and make their own pictures. Radio was the theatre of the imagination and shows like mine are trying to keep that art form alive because we think it's special and should not be forgotten. There's something magical about a director, actors, musicians and sound effects men creating a sonic tapestry and letting you, the listener, create the visuals in the privacy of your own mind.
I was first introduced to radio by hearing a portion of OrsonWelles and TheMercuryTheatreOnTheAir production of “The War of the Worlds” by HGWelles which panicked America on the night of October 30, 1938. I was blown away by the production and how cutting-edge and original it was for the time. For our Halloween 2003 show (available for download in The Glowing Dial Archives), we paid our tongue-in-cheek homage to Orson and the WOTW broadcast. It was a fun thing to do and my first multi-track editing experience. You can hear the whole show by clicking below:
Downloadable MP3 (right click and save target as): http://goldenaudio.net/glowingdial/TheGlowingDial-No.NET03.mp3
Streaming Real Media: http://www.vintageradioplace.com/broadcast/arcglowingdial0310.html
Aside from “The Glowing Dial Page”, I also have a few other websites going. One is called “The Sightings Information Page”. This site is an expanded episode guide based on the Paramount show “Sightings” which was a sort of paranormal news magazine show. I originally just wanted to make a list of all stories that they did on ghosts or hauntings and it turned into this page. I've heard from several people who were featured on various segments of the show. Just sent all episodes featuring “The Heartland Ghost” to New Dominion Pictures research department. New Dominion makes the new paranormal series “A Haunting” which is seen on the Discovery Channel.
I also made a fan page for the JackWebb produced “Project UFO” which was a Dragnet type show about two Blue Book fellas that investigated UFO sightings. No one ever did a page for it so I did. It's gotten some neat attention too. I have leads to interview 2 of the show's leads, WilliamJordan and CaskeySwaim as well as it's producer and former head of Project Blue Book, ColonelWilliamTColeman. I'm working with Col. Coleman's nephew Wayne to make some nice dvd's of all 26 episodes as well as streaming episodes which are posted on my site every few weeks or so.
Well, I've strayed a bit from PenguiCon haven't I? Sorry, I'm into a lot of stuff. Come up to me and talk to me some time and I'll tell you more. In the meantime why not visit my sites?
The Glowing Dial Page - http://www.glowingdial.com
The Sightings Information Page - http://www.glowingdial.com/sightings_home.htm
The Project UFO Page - http://www.glowingdial.com/p_ufo.htm
The Olde Tyme Radio Network - http://www.vintageradioplace.com/broadcast/
Stay Tuned America - http://www.staytunednetworks.com
Yesterday USA Radio Superstation - http://www.yesterdayusa.com