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Podcasting Makes Me Feel Good! A Conversation with the Loch Ness Ghostbuster
50 Plays18 hours ago
In this episode, Satsunami talks to Martin aka the Loch Ness Ghostbusters about all things Ghostbusters! But how has the film series changed his life? What is it like to be part of such a tight knit cosplay community? And he did WHAT for charity twice?! All of this and more in our latest episode!
Check out Martin's fundraiser for Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland here!
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Transcript
Introduction and Welcome
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Chatsunami, a Scottish variety podcast that discusses topics from gaming and films to anime and general interest. Join me, your host, Satsunami, as well as the rest of our Chatsunami team for our takes on these very important pop culture topics. Sir, it's clearly a trap. I accept copyright! That happens three times in the film. Every time that general goes, don't do this one thing, he goes, do you know what I'm gonna do? That's the exact thing.
00:00:27
Speaker
Does it well? She had the pointy teeth? What was that about? She looked like Bilbo when he wants the ring back. but She turned into it. I just want the lightsaber one more time. Parasite says, no, you will get back into your office and work. No, says the man in Zoom. yeah Trousers are for the working man. You're bursting into your hotel room. Honey, we need to go.
00:00:50
Speaker
Leave the kids. We can milk an odysh. Oh!
00:00:58
Speaker
That's the worst thing you've ever said on any of the episodes. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can check us out at our website, chattsunami.com, as well as all good podcast apps. As always, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated.
00:01:14
Speaker
Stay classy and have a minute. This has been chattsunami. I'm sorry.
Meet Martin: The Loch Ness Ghostbuster
00:01:24
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of Chatsunami. My name's Satsunami and joining me today is none other than the one and only Ghostbuster aficionado himself, it is Martin aka the Loch Ness Ghostbuster, which is a sentence I never thought I'd say this year. Martin, welcome to Chatsunami. How are you doing?
00:01:44
Speaker
I'm doing great. Thanks for inviting me on. Yeah, no problem. Absolute pleasure to have you on. Before we get into talking about your work and everything, because i think a lot of people's ears perked up in the audience there when they heard the words Ghostbuster and Loch Ness. So I've got to ask the crucial question. What was your starting point with the Ghostbusters? It would probably be growing up. I'm a child of the late 80s, early 90s. So I was in my sort of five, six years old childhood prime, as it were. And it was the real Ghostbusters cartoon. It was the films on VHS, EBS. it was the Kenner toys, it was the comics, the annuals and things like that and there was, where I grew up, there was a few of us just all living in close proximity to one another and it was one thing that we all shared a love for. As I grew older, the kind of other things started to take my focus away from that. but It's always been kind of there in the background. It's, oh, Ghostbusters on home, I'll sit and watch that. oh, there's a new film coming out. Oh, we'll need go and see that. It kind of just small spark, just started to build. And I was just, one day I'd received a nice little back pay from my work because it turned out they'd been underpaying me for about two and a half years. Oh, wow. Yeah, so I thought, right, I'm going to treat myself. and I went on to eBay and found a proton pack and it was just a total impulse buy of yeah I want a proton pack and that was pretty much it from that point on before you know it it was the flight suit the trap the PKE meter it was trips to London to go and see Ghostbusters live with a full orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall seeing the Ecto-1 parked outside the Albert Hall and a whole load of guys from the team that are based in Southend-on-Sea who are very much the standard bearers for UK Ghostbusters. It kind of made me think, I'd like to do that. And that was it, really. It's kind of grown legs from there and it's just taken off at a breakneck pace. So what you're saying is it's a slippery slope once you get that proton pack?
00:03:43
Speaker
Yeah, that's your gateway drug. Get your proton pack and that's it, they've got their fingers hooked in you for life. Because when you fire that up for the first time on your back, I've seen it at events since young and old. People have tried the pack on and it just brings an instant smile to people's faces. Yeah, because the thing is, i remember it must have been a couple of years ago, and I'm not sure whether you were involved in this or not. If you were, apologies, I must have walked by you. But I remember one of the cons that I went to in Glasgow, there was a massive group of fans who were dressed up as Ghostbusters. And initially I thought, all right, it's just a cosplay group and everything. And then I saw that the event itself had the Ecto-1, the car. Thank goodness for that. It's been a while since I've watched the part. one. I watched the second one, and it was like, it's the actual one, isn't it? I remember they were walking around the con and everything, and it was absolutely fantastic to see. And I genuinely, it sounds terrible to say, but I genuinely didn't realise how prominent the fanbase was for Ghostbusters still. See when you went and got that proton pack, and you went on your journey, to become the Loch Ness Ghostbuster. Did you expect this massive community going
The Diverse Ghostbusters Fanbase
00:04:51
Speaker
into it? I didn't expect the community to be as this large and as this diverse as what it it has turned out to be. It is young and old. It is all walks of life. It is male and and female. There is no set demographic for this particular fandom. It appeals to everyone, not just those that do these events and raise money for charity or go to cons and things like that, but it appeals to everyone. everyone. We get just as much reaction from your 40 year old father of two than we do from a five year old who's with that family. It brings a smile and a joy to everyone and that brings a smile and joy to us as well. For pretty much all of us the only thing we really want to do is make people happy. If we can do some good and put back into the world at the same time even better but we're just really there to make people happy. And out of curiosity, I mean, this is a twofold question, I suppose, both related to the name, the Loch Ness Ghostbuster, because I did notice that a lot of people in that community, and again, honestly, see, looking at the work you did and everything that led me down, such a rabbit hole in the Ghostbusters community. It was really amazing to see how passionate everyone was and the amount of people who have their own name and everything and their own identifier. I suppose the first question, of course, is what inspired you A, to take that name? I kind of know why it To be honest, being a fellow Scot is like, yeah, I know, but what was the deciding point for you to choose that? And then also, why did you decide ti then to don the Proton Pack and get into cosplay as the Loch Ness Ghostbuster? the name choice it was a no-brainer i'm in inverness i've got loch ness a five minute drive from where i'm sitting right now and it felt like everyone knows where loch ness is there's the mythology that's tied to the law and it's a nice kind of marrying of fiction in fact making sure that i put out there that yes i believe that there is something in that water And for me, the first kind of thing that I did that got me just set on this path was I work for the NHS up here in Inverness. I work in Rigmore Hospital and I'm in an office based role, but my office is just around the corner from the children's ward. It was thinking back two years ago now at this point. Just a thought just went into my head. Why don't I go and visit the kids on Halloween? in all my stuff bring some goodie bags for them some colouring sheets because it was just a case of these little ones have to spend Halloween in a hospital they're missing out on the joy that Halloween brings for a lot of kids so if they can't get to Halloween I'll help bring Halloween to them and out of all the things that I've done so far and plan to do going forward these hospital visits mean the most to me I look back on them with very fond memories and I'm proud for even just taking a half hour 45 minutes out of my afternoon or evening just to pop in there.
00:07:39
Speaker
Makes you feel good about yourself. Quite literally, Bustin makes me feel good.
Cosplay and Shifting Geek Culture
00:07:42
Speaker
I honestly can't imagine the reaction you must get when you go in and the full outfit and everything. With the full outfit, the Proton Pack on, my pack's modded as well so I've got the music files so I can actually have the music playing as I'm walking around. Everyone knows Ray Parker Jr's Ghostbusters. No matter where you are, if you hear it, you know what's coming. You know the lyrics. It puts a spring in people's step and it certainly makes carrying the pack around a lot easier when you're in the vibe, you're feeling the mood. Yeah, it's just a good feeling. And at the moment, there's a lot of just horrible feelings in the world for people. So even just an escape. which for me as well is it's an escape my job in the hospital is not the brightest and there are moments where we have to deal with difficult situations for people and having something that's an escape to just go and do and spread a little love and joy is a good feeling and out curiosity take when you're in the hospital and everything your colleagues instantly know you as martin the ghostbuster you know they just kind of go oh right there he is he's coming Yeah, it's pretty much sort of my unofficial theme tune now in work, even if it comes on the radio, but it's quite obvious what my passion is. I've got my Ghostbusters lanyard with my name badge on it. I've got a little pin on it, an Egon on my desk. So it's fairly obvious to everyone what my passion is when I'm not working away. When I was younger, a passion such as this was kind of not frowned upon, but it was looked down on in social circles and It has been quite interesting watching how people's opinions of geek culture and popular culture in general have skewed so significantly, even in the last 15 to 20 years, from being ridiculed for liking a particular series of films. not just post-misters but if you liked Star Wars in the early 2000s you were kind of pointed and laughed at or if you liked reading comic books and now everyone knows who Iron Man is, who Spider-Man is, Bruce Wayne is Batman, it's the geeks have inherited the earth is definitely the same, the kind of fits into that and it's nice to kind of just be socially accepted and it's just interesting how opinions can change over time if you were to ask me when i was younger would put a full ghostbuster cosplay on and walk around a shopping center or a convention i probably would have looked at you and said absolutely not but now it's a persona it's cosplay i can understand why those individuals who like to do cosplay that involve that covered face or persona they're playing a character it's acting it's in the name it's you are playing a role it just happens that i put on a proton pack in a khaki flight suit and try and just have fun No, you make a totally valid point there because, I mean, I remember, I think it was when I was kind of in the middle of university and my friend and fellow co-host Martin McAllister, I remember I came back to my hometown and everything and met up with him and he turned around to me and he uttered the words that I never thought I would hear from him. He turned around and he said, hey, do you want to play D&D, Dungeons and Dragons? And I was like, I'm sorry, what did you say? Because not that was like against trying it or anything, but it was more, as you said, that kind of stigma that people were at the time, it was getting a bit more popular and things. But you know that way is from all the American films where it's like, oh, you're a nerd that was in the basement and watches anime or you play weird games or, you know. tabletop games, that kind of thing. There was always that stigma around certain hobbies. And when he said that, I genuinely was like, oh, I don't know, you know, it might not be my thing. I mean, was so influential to me that it was our first episode for the podcast. It's the one that kicked things off. Through that, we went to different comic conventions. I even remember, think it was my brother that turned around once and said, oh, are you going to that thing where the people wear the pointy ears? Yeah. And I was like, yeah, yeah, I'm going to that. And I didn't know what to expect, but I mean, between the cons I've gone, whether it's general comic cons, I mean, this is how nerdy I am. I've even been to the model conventions for tabletop games like 40k and all of that. And they are awesome. honestly some of the nicest and most passionate people in the hobby you can meet it is just so refreshing to hear oh they're into this and they're giving you tips about how to do that is honestly it kind of opened my eyes that all this time you listen to all these stereotypes of oh that's a weird fandom or oh people who watch that are weird and i mean think that's why for the longest time i never watched Star Trek. I mean, Star Wars, that was the one that was all action and lightsabers, whereas Star Trek was more talking and dialogue and things, and it's like, oh, that's boring. Yeah, so Star Trek's kind of, I want start a war between the two fandoms, but Star Trek is more mature Storylines are more askew to current events. It's a way to tell a modern parable in a futuristic setting. They all have their sort of lessons seeded into the narrative of the episode. But it's probably one of the reasons that Star Trek for so long was that episodic, no long story arc narrative. And it wasn't until sort of Deep Space Nine that they kind of, you know, they brought in the Dominion War and it felt like, okay, this follows on from this, this follows on from that. and you could see the cause and effect of whatever happened two episodes ago now has consequences now and going forward in the series. But yeah, the stigma with nerd culture, I've always just found it so strange because if I were to be nerdy about having my head under a bonnet, tinkering my car, or going down to any number of stadiums every Saturday or Sunday. That's okay, but if I want to sit and watch episodes two, three, and four of Star Wars on a Sunday afternoon when I've got a day off, how dare you? Oh no, absolutely. I do think that you're completely right in what you were saying earlier, it definitely feels as if there's a shift towards normalising, and I hate the fact I'm saying, you know, oh, we're normalising something that was normal to begin with, but, you know, normalising, enjoying those types of shows. And I think Although, again, they might draw the ire of a certain community, but for things like Stranger Things, for example, that popularised... I don't even know how it popularised D&D, because they played it for, like, one or two episodes, and then it became known as the show for D&D, you know? Yeah. They played it more than that. For legal reasons, that's a joke, but... Stranger Things had a massive effect, not just for D&D, but for 80s pop culture as well. Whether it be music, Ghostbusters as well was featured in second season, I think. Yeah. Because they all went to school dressed up. But there was this massive resurgence in 80s music, fashion, movies, and all kind of just followed on from success of Stranger Things. Which is great because a lot of people will roll their eyes when you would suggest let's watch any particular movie from the 80s. A lot of 80s movies are really good and a lot of 80s movies are considered classics these days. Especially for Ghostbusters, that is right up there with things like, I mean, I was about to say Jurassic Park, but did that come out in the 90s or late 80s? Jurassic Park was 93. 19? 19? Yeah, that would have been it. Because, you're completely right, though. The amount of trailblazers. I mean, one of my favourite films of all time is The Terminator, the original. Don't get me wrong, it's like, I like Terminator 2 before people start.
00:15:10
Speaker
ah shop but benchboard I mean, I have genuinely, I've been to, it was the GFT in Glasgow, and ironically enough, it's how I met one of my friends and other co-hosts, Adam, where him and I and a couple of other friends, we went to the GFT and they were doing a back-to-back double build of Terminator and Terminator 2. One of the best days of my life, not gonna lie. but That movie is just so iconic. And it is interesting to see that a lot of films, even in the 90s and early 2000s, they tried to replicate that kind of lightning in a bottle, didn't they? To, I suppose, appeal to the nostalgia, but at the same time, try to make what was so special back then. And I mean, it was a real hit or a miss, depending on the property, wasn't it? Yeah, there was very much a kind of appealing to the member berries. Yes. Appealing to those that were around the first time and those that have come around since and try and galvanise and rejuvenate your fandom. My own problem would probably be is that your fandom are going to age out over time. People are going to move away from particular things. So if you can get them while they're younger and instill that passion, again, hate to sound cynical, but in the Hollywood system... You've got a money-making machine at that point. To quote Ian Malcolm, you can package it, slap it on a plastic lunchbox, and you're going to sell it. I mean, I think that's why franchises like Star Wars, for example, is so popular. Because, I mean, they were lucky in the sense of every couple of generations, they brought out a new trilogy and everything. and they managed to capture the imagination of the kids watching it and now it's just so expansive. You've got the TV shows, you've got the films, you've got, oh, and as you said, you've got the lunchboxes and everything. It's hard to get
The Ghostbusters Franchise: A Discussion
00:16:55
Speaker
away from. And this might be a controversial question, apologies, but in terms of Ghostbusters... How do you feel about, say, the progression of the films? Obviously there's been mixed responses from, i think, was it the 2016 reboot? Or it could have been earlier than that. Time is a flat circle. Because then they brought out the other two with Paul Rudd, didn't they, after that? Yeah, i mean, even Ghostbusters 2, for a lot of fans, it's not their favourite. I wouldn't go so far to say they hate it, but there's a lot of passion for original. I don't mind the 2016 reboot. Probably have some people in my friends group at me with pitchforks. It's a movie. It's not trying to say a have deeper message. It's not a serious movie. It doesn't pretend to take itself seriously. I took my son to see the 2016 Ghostbusters. He enjoyed himself. I enjoyed myself. It was something different. And for some people, it might not have worked for them. But at least they tried. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. They took a chance. Didn't appeal to everyone. Okay. Okay. So Sony, TriStar, GhostCorp, they re-evaluated things and we got Afterlife, which is at the moment my favourite. It's the one that I can just put on pretty much any time. I don't know if it's down to the feeling that the nostalgia, being able to see these characters again after so long, but also the feeling that it's passing on the torch and it's a good movie. It balanced that legacy sequel, reboot, remake, remake,
00:18:21
Speaker
mix. Sometimes see that one of these films will try so hard to appease the fans from before that it forgets that it's trying to tell its own thing. Force Awakens comes to mind. Frozen Empire was good, wasn't great. I feel that I get asked that a lot from people, not so much in the fandom, but friends outside, how I felt about the Frozen Empire, the last movie. It was good, but it could have been better and it felt like it had been very much a victim of the editing process. The story felt rushed. and it felt like there was a lot of filler that didn't need to actually be in that film. It was honestly a shame when that happens, especially when you know you're looking forward to and you think, oh I can't wait to see this, flipping back to Star Wars. I think a couple of the sequel trilogy ones, we spoke about this in length in our Star Wars Month episodes, but yeah, the amount of it that you watched, and I totally agree with your point where it's like you thought, yeah,
00:19:13
Speaker
Yeah, that was good, but between the editing and things kind of outwith the creative control side, I mean, that is a shame. But again, I'm just, I'm so surprised that something like Ghostbusters, and I get it because it's quite an iconic name. I hate to say brand because I don't want to make you have a vision that I'm wearing a suit being like, it's a brand. Yeah, was it the McDonald's CEO who took a burger and was like, this is our products, you know? This is delicious. Internally screaming. Exactly. It's like, yeah, I'll have this later. It's like, no, you won't. But I get studios want to make money and and they want to say, let's revive, ironically enough, let's revive the Ghostbusters. But I mean, even before that, as you were saying at the beginning, you know, you had the two films and then you also had the cartoon. I remember that. And i even remember it was my brothers that had, you know, one of the toy sets, the fire station. Mm-hmm. and everything and some of the ghosts that went around it was really cool when it was so prominent i suppose with the rise of 80s nostalgia it did make sense to bring it back and say yeah this is something that hopefully newer fans are going to resonate with as well as the older fans for better or for worse but i mean they gave it a go though didn't they oh yeah mean, for Afterlife, I think having both Ivan Reitman and his son Jason involved in that sort of director-producer combo certainly helped because you had people who have lived and breathed this franchise for 40 plus years now at this point guiding the way. Sometimes you would probably find that for reinvigorating a franchise, if you've not got the individuals that were there, spearheading what made these films, series etc so special. They can lose their weight and going back to what we were saying earlier about how there's a point of you can't look anywhere now but you can see Star Wars or so on and so forth. The MCU as well, it's oversaturation at this point. For me personally it's just, don't get me wrong, I love Star Wars. And I love the MCU, but at this point it's really hard to keep up with the lore and what's next. And oh, to enjoy this film or this series, you have to watch two other series. One thing for Ghostbusters is we've got four movies, two cartoons, and a whole load of lore that kind of just runs in the background. But it's not a gatekeeper to you enjoying it. But I find a lot of these other franchises now, you have to have a degree in the lore to be able to fully appreciate what's going on on screen. Oh no, absolutely. And that is amazing how accessible it is. I mean, especially to younger fans as well, that they can look at these characters and really just see the cool ghost-busting part of it, the kind of action, but at the same time, the older they get, the more they start to appreciate everything else in the film. I was going to say the effects as well, but I mean, some of them do hold up, and then others, it's like, yeah, that could have done with another minute, maybe, maybe. But speaking of that accessibility and speaking of the fans, going back to something we were talking about earlier there, I was of course saying that you do the cosplay and things, you meet up with the fan
Community and Engagement Among Fans
00:22:19
Speaker
community. I even saw, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but do you guys have customised trading cards or something that you give out at Comic-Con? Yeah. Yeah, I was so shocked at that, i was like, oh. my god that's so cool all credit for them have to go to a good friend of mine luke the green-haired ghostbuster over in northern ireland it was his idea he reached out to me quite early on in the process before it took off asking for firstly if i'd be interested and what i thought about and i was straight away just 100 yes sign me up i'll happily take ah he designs the cards for free all you have to do is send him a photo of you or your group your logo for the back side of it and whatever you'd like to be on the front. Your social media handles, your favourite movie, your favourite piece of equipment, your favourite character can all be customised. We had our big meet-up just recently down at the NEC in Birmingham Megacon called Cross the Streams and I think at the count there was over 200 of there and I saw so many cards trading back and forth between people. I came back with a stack of cards quite thick and spent a good hour after getting back and getting settled, getting them all back into their binder that a lot of us seem to have now. And we've got a Facebook group for organizing trades. I've had cards sent to me from as far away as California. I've sent cards out to California and to Canada, to Spain, Italy, down the road to Glasgow and Edinburgh. It's just It's great, it just brings us all together. It's a tool to create bonds and unfortunately in a lot of fandoms 99% of those involved are good, nice people but unfortunately there are those that treat it as if it's their fandom.
00:24:04
Speaker
They own it, they're the gatekeepers. and Thankfully I've not been a target myself but I've been on the sidelines, I've seen a snide comment about you're not an accurate flight suit or your boots aren't right or it's just... little digs that just nip away at people and over time that can really hurt people it's death by a thousand cuts so by having the cards it's about just getting people talking and unifying people and yeah i've got a stack of them always on me whether i'm out and about in the suit or just in my jacket pocket because they're great for business cards as well it's just here you go here's my card with all my details on there and if you see any more of us chances are we'll have a card too but It is honestly such a cool idea because I was looking at my own business cards in comparison and I'm like, God, that's boring.
00:24:50
Speaker
so butli I'll still give them out, you know, obviously. But was like, in all seriousness, it is just such a cool idea because I remember you actually unlocked a memory for me there when I started the podcast. and even before the podcast became a thing, I was doing Twitch streaming. And I don't know why, but I always remember there was a guy who was like, hey, wouldn't it be cool if all of us streamers and things had pogs of ourselves? And I haven't heard the word pogs years as it related to Twitch. When he said pogs, that unlocks a thing in my mind. I was like, good lord, does anyone know what a pog is anymore?
00:25:30
Speaker
unfortunately it didn't go through. I don't even know how that would work, you know, that way. i think the fact that it's familiar yet different. Yeah. For a lot of us, we still do. I mean, patches is the main one, the main sort of trading medium. We've all got our individual logos, so it is nice to trade patches as well. But patches, they take time to get made.
00:25:50
Speaker
Depending where you get them from, the quality can be either fantastic or really poor. Also, without trying to sound like a typical Scott thinking about money, there's the financial aspect. as well absolutely yeah a pack of cards i can get 100 cards for x amount whereas i could only get so many patches for the same amount you know i put them in envelopes all the time with patches because i can just give them away cards away just willy-nilly card sticker patch in an envelope sealed away it goes they're handy to have they really are just a great thing i'm so pleased that the community has kind of latched on to it as much as they have it's like a proud friend moment i'm really proud of what luke has managed to achieve just by giving up some of his free time to design the cards. He doesn't ask for any reimbursement or anything like that. He just he does it all in his free time. Doesn't ask for anything in return. He just has helped bring so many people together. Especially for someone, say, like myself, where I'm not a member of a large group, a set group. I'm up here in the Highlands all by myself. It's a way for me to actually engage with individuals. I can send someone a card and then, oh, look, I have a new follower. Oh, I know that individual. I'll follow them back. Oh, I really like that post. It's an engagement tool. They're great. And they just keep going from strength to strength. There's Ghostbusters Day coming up in June in New York City. There's going to be limited edition cards, chase variants that you can effectively only get there on the day if you're in New York. so there's that appeals to that kind of collector mindset as well of oh i need to get this one i need to get this one i'm missing this i'll trade you one of these for one of them it builds and builds and builds and it's got the momentum and it hopefully will keep the momentum going yeah it's just it's definitely one of the things that i'm kind of involved most pleased to have been an early adopter not wanting to sound like i'm tooting my own horn by saying that oh yeah i was there quite at the beginning ready to go just signed up straight away it's a lot of fun like i say it's just it's an easy thing to do just to hand out a card or pop one in an envelope and post it away somewhere oh no it's a fantastic idea whenever i go to a convention nowadays and i remember when i started doing this i was nervous about doing it and i've spoke about this in the podcast before but it's when i gave over and it's like again it's similar it's a pack of couple of stickers, maybe a pin and a business card in there. And it's like, whenever I talk to someone, they'll just give it over. And initially, I felt really awkward about it because i always got a mixed response. Some people were like, oh, this is amazing. And oh do you want a free sticker because of it? Other people kind of looked at it and said, what the heck is this? I wrote podcast as well. I'm not just giving you random things. But yeah, it is just nowadays, you know, you just give them a mic. Listen, I'm a podcaster. I need to offload all of these business cards because I've literally, and I think I bought them two or three years ago. I had the packs and I've got maybe a couple left. and for future cons coming up this year I've had to buy more and everything. You're completely right though, it is, I'm not saying it's a fortune, but I mean it is still a lot of money to send away for these things, whether it's stickers or as you said, the patches especially. I have noticed that the the more higher quality stuff, whether it's a keychain, a pin, those kind of things definitely are the ones that they might cost less, but they'll give you less of them because of Yeah, it kind of limits your options compared to giving out stickers and things. But at the same time, as you said before, it's so satisfying when you get that ding on your phone or your computer and someone's followed you because of that. And it is honestly such a fantastic thing to be able to get to know all of these other creators. And as you said, the fact that these are very Ghostbusters-specific, and you are building that community yourself with other people there. I know you said that there is always that 1% that are the quote-unquote undesirables of any fandom that will always nitpick, because I know in terms of the cosplay community, I think, and others like that, you're always going to get that one that says, oh, I don't think it's this, I don't think it's that, and it's like, yeah, that's nice, go stand in the corner.
00:29:57
Speaker
It was like, yeah, I don't want to talk to you if you're going to moan all day kind of thing. But yeah, the fact that you've been able to inspire so much positivity with this, it is genuinely amazing to see. And speaking of that positivity, I mean, this has also led you to do a lot of
Martin's Charity Work and Community Involvement
00:30:14
Speaker
charity work. I noticed, which I honestly like couldn't believe how incredible this was that genuinely feel free you to jump in I get anything wrong, but you did one for the Archie Foundation in 2025. Yep, that was an abseil down the side of Dunrobin Castle in October. In just the flight suit, the proton pack was just a bit too cumbersome to abseil down the side of a building with. But that was a lot of fun. That was very rewarding. Also as well, kind of helped the children's ward that I visited as well. Not just the children there, but their families as well in being able to ensure that some of the everyday worries that most of us kind of don't take for granted. It's not a big worry, but will be a bigger concern if your little one's ill or spending an extended period of time in hospital. So there was a big group of got together and went down the side of the castle. And then coming up this year, there seems to be a running theme with me suspending myself off of very large structures myself and some of the guys from Ghostbusters Angus are going to be going off the side of the fourth bridge in October again. We always seem to pick the best time of year to be tied from a rope and slinging ourselves down the side of a building. But that one's going in of chest hurting stroke Scotland. And again, another well-deserved cause. But the whole charity effort is fandom-wide for us. There is a young lad in Milton Keynes. He was born with by a condition called Noonan Syndrome. And he is at the moment waiting for the green light for... a skydive. Now this boy is in his mid-teens and he's doing a skydive for charity. I would like to do a skydive but I've been told under no uncertain terms am I ever going to be allowed to do a skydive by my other half but this young lad is incredibly inspiring to be able to go just do something as intense as that. There's just always an opportunity for us to give back which ties into initiative that's been run over on the other side of the Atlantic just now where Sony Pictures and Ghost Corps are basically running a campaign where the quote-unquote franchises which is what we refer to as the law of the groups they are matching dollar for dollar the donations that they're raising over the course of a separate year of time and that's called Ghostbusters Give Back. It's a way to do some good in the world, and it's just little things. It doesn't really cost me anything to sign up to do an event, and be able to earn a decent bit of money that goes into a much larger pot that benefits someone who really needs the help. If we all were a bit more considerate for each other, the world would be a much better place. No, I couldn't agree more with that. When I was reading that, when you said you abseiled downed in Robin Castle, and then I felt like it was a thing of deja vu. Did your partner feel the same when you said, bye, I'm away to Abseil and another thing? Yeah, what was the reaction there?
00:33:00
Speaker
It was just this kind of the slight head tilt and the look. I'm very lucky my partner's so understanding. about what I'm passionate about. If I turn around and say, going to Birmingham next week, okay, how are you getting down to Birmingham? Because I don't drive. So that's another thing that I have to bear in mind when I'm signing up for doing events is how logistically how to get there. But it's just a case that she'll just go, okay, As long as it doesn't conflict with a wedding or a birthday, it's generally, it's a green light from her. She's really understanding. She knows it brings me joy. And if I'm happy, she's happy. She might draw the line at some purchases. I might have had the occasional WhatsApp of, what have you ordered now? And a photo of a massive box sitting in her front door. But I'm very, very lucky that she's understanding. Just as long as she doesn't open it up and it's a parachute for your skydiving.
00:33:46
Speaker
ah Yeah, I've been checking that chute a couple of times it was a chute for a skydive. Yeah. No, it's absolutely fantastic though to see that. And honestly, I know this will sound like a silly question, but see when you first got that proton pack and everything and you thought, all right, I'm just getting into this as a hobby. Oh, it's just one purchase. Then you get the costume. Oh, it's just a cosplay. Did you genuinely expect the domino effect where it has led to all these incredible things that you've been doing truthfully probably yes i do have a tendency to hyper fixate on a certain thing from time to time and it might just be the case that this is my thing for the time being but it was kind of okay i've got the pack now that's the main thing how much is a flight suit yeah okay how much is a pair of boots right how much a patch And it just built from there, little micro steps in the right direction. One big purchase to start you off and then, as I said earlier, that's your gateway drug. That gets you hooked. Before you know it, you're buying comics and you're buying looks around the room to see what he's got. Trade paperbacks that are now out of print that are worth a ridiculous amount of money. But we don't tell anyone how much they were in this household because... There'd be a scene of a crime scrolling through Etsy as well. Etsy's great for finding just little bits to kind of make things pop a bit more, whether it be a sticker or little props. I would love to have a 3D printer. It would make life so much easier. I'd be able to print off what I want. Again, that's a thing that I might eventually get but working my way up to it but being able to have that tool that resource of being able to go on and purchase things that are craftily made and are outside my skill set it's not as if i could smash it together myself is invaluable but there's a lot of items on my wish list and saved in my basket and just one a month will do for the time being until whatever hasbro announced next gets put on long Because, funny enough, when you said about outside your skill set, I remember during the lockdowns, I thought, I wonder how hard it could be to get into cosplay and everything. And because I was watching The Mandalorian, of course, I had to order myself a pre-made one, and I thought, oh yeah, I'll paint over it and everything, but the guilt really got to me, and I thought, I can't be paying over this, so I totally know what you mean. You know, you go on, you see all these just absolutely amazing, I don't even know what you would call them. I mean, artists in one way But yeah, these creatives, I suppose. Yeah, the art of cosplay. Yeah. It's incredible that from the craft work of working with foam and 3D printed parts to even just, not saying it a demeaning way, but basic sort of older skills such as sewing and fastening a button or styling a hairstyle or makeup. It's just all these little bits. I really enjoy just walking around a con and just going, that's amazing. That looks cool. Oh, that's a link. my missus will who? Link? Zelda? She'll just look at me blankly and I just of go never mind it's just that's the sort of effect that I get from seeing characters or cosplayers portraying characters I recognise so it's how I like to think that not all but some people would feel see me walking around with a proton pack of flight suit a jar of slime hanging off my leg things like that it's just a great way for people to express themselves and again the advent of Etsy for components 3D printing and social media whether it be Instagram, YouTube, TikTok. There's a massive resource library now for people to be able to effectively build whatever they want. If they're willing to put the time and the effort into doing it, they can make cosplay of a character that they've grown up as and admired and have thought, oh, that'd be really cool to do. So it's opening up the world to so many possibilities now, and the standards are just going app and app and app. Each passing con I go to, there's always at least one caution when I'm standing there thinking, how did they manage that? And that's part of the fun as well, is trying to figure out how did they pull that off? Honestly, you're not wrong, because think a Comic-Con is one of those places where you'll see such a, and I mean this in the best way possible, but you'll see such a scale of different types of cosplayers, but they're all having the same amount of fun. You know, I remember I went to one and it was a guy who, he basically just dressed as Optimus Prime, but his armour was called cardboard and everything. And it was a bit of a shame because were waiting in the line and his armour kept falling off. He had to keep putting him back on again. But, I mean, it was just amazing to see that dedication put into it. And as you said, it's the same with all the other cosplayers. Some of them, I've genuinely did a double take and I'm like, there is no way that's not a professional one. I remember when my friend Martin and I, we were working with Fan Frontier in Glasgow, and that is probably the only place where you'll see somebody dressed up as Pyramid Head from Silent Hill, and also standing beside him with SpongeBob SquarePants. It was a couple of months ago when we went to PowerCon by the same company and there was a guy dressed as Mr. Blobby. It was so funny because I don't think he was part of the staff. He just came there as Mr. Blobby. But it was like we'd walk outside and we saw the guy sitting on the bench and, you know, he had normal clothes, of course, on underneath. But then you see beside him and it's just like the torso of Mr. Blobby. I was like, that is terrifying. Oh my god. The comms, they're a safe space. They're a safe space. And you do get the full spectrum of individuals. Young and old, male, female, straight, gay, bi, from highly skilled at cosplay to just having a bit fun. And it's inclusive, everyone's able to enjoy themselves, and you do get moments, like you were saying, where you will see one character standing in a queue to get lunch next to someone from a completely different fandom, completely different genre altogether. But then they're standing having a laugh and joking around and making friendships. And I've met people in cons in the past. I'm still friends with them to this day. It's just, they're fun. They're not cheap sometimes, especially when you have an abilitating addiction to art prints like I do. But they're squirreling.
00:39:46
Speaker
so enjoyable and just an opportunity for us to all to get together and it's like i say it's a safe space where people can just be themselves for a few hours and then return to their normal lives there afterwards I mean I have to agree with you Artist Alley is probably the most dangerous place for anybody's wallets yeah went to MCM at the Xcel in London a couple of years ago. And my partner's parting words to me as she dropped me off at the airport were, what are you going to do? Be safe. What are you not going to do? Buy art. And I came back with four or five art prints. And again, I got the look of, yeah, just whatever makes you happy, baby. The amount that you do see in and those particular areas, again, it's so cool to share other people's interests and passions and see their talent as well and be able to take a bit of that talent home and be like, look, I've got this. It honestly is fantastic. And speaking of cons, I've got to bring this up before we wrap up. Of course, the reason that I, or one of the reasons that drew a spotlight on you for me was because you're, of course, getting involved in the Highland Realms
Anticipation for Highland Realms Comic Con
00:40:50
Speaker
Comic Con. Yeah. Which it completely blindsided me when they were looking for, you know, creators and things. And they're oh, do you want to come? And I was like, I have never been to Inverness for a Comic Con. Heck yes. I mean, technically they are the first... Am I right in saying they're the first kind of con of their kind? We've had some cons before. i'm just trying to think the name of the company that's been up here a few times. be BGCP. They've been up a few times, but there was a con that ran here in Inverness for a few years, going back maybe about 10 years ago. last night It was here a few years and then it kind of just fizzled out. So it's exciting to have a local con happening here, particularly for me, because at the moment, if I'm wanting to go to a con either involves getting up before the sun to head south on the A9 or staying in a hotel overnight beforehand so it's gonna be really nice for a change just to be able to get up out my own bed and go straight to my own bed afterwards but yeah just kind of caught out the blue that they reached out to me as well and flattered and honoured that they've asked me to be part of this inaugural event for them and I'm excited to see how it goes. Same here because it does look as if it's shaping up to be a fantastic con and I know it Definitely, as of recording this episode, it's a few months away. It's not until the 17th of October. I don't know if that's going to be pre or post abseiling for you.
00:42:06
Speaker
Post abseil, two weeks after. twelve hundred October's a busy month for Ghostbusters. At least you'll have a story to be like, yeah, you know, you're cool, but if you abseiled this month? I have.
00:42:16
Speaker
Have you upseiled from a national monument this month? Because I have. But just because the event's done, though, doesn't mean that the fundraising stops. Oh, of course. No, it's absolutely fantastic. And it is going to be fantastic. I mean, to see all the creators and, of course, see yourself, because this is something I was talking to the illustrator Grant Plouwer, I said it's kind of a funny thing where I talk to a lot of people over, you know, Zencaster, and it's always audio only, way it's just like a voice call. So it's like, whenever I turn up at Comic-Con, I always make an effort to wear Chatsunami branded hoodie, just to be like, yes, I am the person from the podcast. But it's always weird, because it's like, you can see them in the distance, and it's like, I swear to God... Not like standing in the shadows being like, oh, I know what they look like. i was like, i swear I'm making it myself known them. I'll have to get, you know, the tour guides, they have like the umbrellas. I'll need to get a Chatsunami branded one be like, yes, I'm here, come get interviewed.
00:43:18
Speaker
But yeah, honestly, it is going to be fantastic to see what they do with Highland Realms. And yeah, as of this episode, tickets are, of course, on sale. So yeah, if you're listening and you've got free time in Inverness on the 17th of October, get tickets. Yeah. that's all i can really say that's gonna be fantastic and you know as you said it must be such a relief just to be able to get up go there and then come back home because think for the most part all of the cons i've been to have been in driving distance like 20 30 minutes away and it's like right okay i've not been to any down south in london or anything there was one time think again it was my friend martin and i we were in want to say it was dublin and this was pre-covid you with some the big sign and everything and it was like oh look there's a comic-con do you want to go to and it was like no we're going to another one at home in a couple of weeks so thought okay fine i thought it's just so wild that we could have just been like yeah let's just just do it yeah yeah this But it is honestly so great to see how expansive these types of cons are becoming now. Because don't get me wrong, they've always been around to some degree, but the fact that they are, as you were saying, they are just such a safe space and a place for all of these fandoms to come together and just essentially geek out about whatever they want to is fantastic. I think it's great as well, particularly for say individuals this far north without wanting to try and have a pity party. This far north tends to kind of get forgotten about a lot of the time when it comes to shows on tour, whether it be musicals and plays, music tours, live shows and things like that. So the more options for people here to do things is always going to be win in my book. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a trip down to the Central Belt, but I can't do it as much as I want to. And having some homegrown events to not just attend, but bang the drum for, and hopefully keep them going for the foreseeable future, it's a win. Absolutely. Honestly, I hope that it runs for many years, because you're completely right, and know I have a cheek, because a lot of whenever shows come, they usually come to Glasgow or Edinburgh. Totally not side-eye in Edinburgh right now. LAUGHTER But as always Edinburgh, you're completely right. Whenever there's like a big, big show, it's always London. Because the amount of times I'm sure you've heard as well, you hear, oh, we're going on a UK tour. And it's like, yeah, you're going to London, aren't you? Yeah, I admit, I kind of lost my mind when Critical Role announced they were playing Edinburgh Castle. And was my life's mission to get tickets to that show. So I'm really looking forward to that. I'm just hoping the rain stays away.
00:45:55
Speaker
Well, it might make the rules a a bit more interesting. is that a five i don't know it's rolling away or it's floating away made a lot of rolls half the time it was probably rude actually that actually happened to me one time not playing dnd and edinburgh castle of course but i remember i went to it was like a centenary event for the end of the first world war i know not as thrilling but I remember they did a show and everything that was absolutely brilliant, but at the very end, it poured down. It was torrential rain. I don't think I've ever been as soaked in my life. I might as well have just jumped in the river, jumped back out, and I still would have somehow been drier than standing in the rain. And it is. It's like, yeah, fingers crossed for you.
00:46:39
Speaker
Hopefully they've got a tarpaulin or something. It's going to pretty big chair pollen. Yeah, oh, it has to be. It'll be good. It'll be good. Oh, yeah. It's just, yeah, it's nice to have sat in a bit closer to home. But yeah, honestly, I can't wait for that. And I can't wait for everything that's coming up for you. So without any further ado, Martin, thank you so, so much for coming on Chatsunami tonight. And yeah, sharing all your passions. Well, thank you very much for inviting me on. I've been an experience, but really enjoyed it. And hopefully I'll come back again. Oh, absolutely. You're more than welcome. If not, I'll just do that awkward thing where I confront you Highland Realms and be like, why aren't you coming on the podcast? No, for legal reasons, that's a joke. I definitely wouldn't be doing that. But before we wrap up, where can these amazing Pandalurians listening at home find your content? The main place you can find me is on Instagram at Loch Ness Ghostbuster. There you'll find loads of Ghostbusters orientated posts and stories, some random bits of my day-to-day life as well. like to mix that in. And you'll also find me on Facebook, again, at Loch Ness Ghostbuster for all your Highland Ghostbusting needs. I can only reiterate definitely go check out Martin and the Loch Ness Ghostbuster go check out that channel it's absolutely fantastic and yeah if you want to check out more episodes from ourselves then you can check us out at our website chatsunami.com as well as all good podcast apps I also want to thank our amazing Pandalurine patrons Robotic Battle Toaster, Ghosty and Cryptic 1991 thank you so much for supporting the show and if you would like early access to episodes, exclusive content, as well as a whole bunch of goodies, then you can indeed check us out our Patreon page at patreon.com forward slash chat tsunami. This podcast is a proud member of the Popat Collective. For more information, check us out our Twitter slash x page at Popat Collect. Until next time, thank you all so, so much for listening. Stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated.