Derrick Patterson and Wayne Dowdy

[00:01] DEREK PATTERSON: I am Derek Patterson and I'm an american daily poem like honoree.

[00:10] WAYNE DOWDY: Until the date January 20.

[00:14] DEREK PATTERSON: January of January 26, 2024.

[00:19] WAYNE DOWDY: And we are in.

[00:23] DEREK PATTERSON: And we are in the Memphis public.

[00:27] WAYNE DOWDY: Barbara in Memphis, Tennessee.

[00:29] DEREK PATTERSON: In Memphis, Tennessee. Good.

[00:32] WAYNE DOWDY: I'm Wayne Dowdy I am 59 years old. It is January 26, 2024. We are in Memphis, Tennessee. I am interviewing Mister Derek Patterson. Derek and I have been close friends for. Over. For about ten years now. Derek, go ahead, son. Well, tell me. Let's start by just telling me where you were born and your parents names and when you came to Memphis.

[01:09] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, I was born in Natchez Mississippi, on April 1, 1986, to Will and Matilda Patterson.

[01:23] WAYNE DOWDY: And when did you come to Memphis?

[01:26] DEREK PATTERSON: In 2013. Early 2013.

[01:30] WAYNE DOWDY: Now, when did you first start coming to the library?

[01:37] DEREK PATTERSON: I came to the library about the mid summer of 2014.

[01:44] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. Do you remember when you and I met?

[01:48] DEREK PATTERSON: Sometime around that summer. I know you sent something into me when I walked up to that desk.

[02:01] WAYNE DOWDY: That is true. Remember, we. I introduced myself to you, and you introduced yourself to me, and we started waving at each other. And then you gave me your email address and said. And so for a few. A couple of months, you and I were really. We talked more through the email than we did face to face, didn't we?

[02:29] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah.

[02:30] WAYNE DOWDY: Yeah.

[02:30] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah. Those were the years in the mid 2000 teens.

[02:41] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, about our daily life. And Derek would tell me about what he was doing when he wasn't at the library. You'd sometimes ask me questions, and I'd ask you questions.

[02:55] DEREK PATTERSON: You also show me your family history on the flash dryer, who everyone is, and who's that? Who's who? And who's this person?

[03:09] WAYNE DOWDY: That's right. That's right. Now, about what, about seven months after we first met, something like. Well, maybe more like five months. You and I had been. You and I started talking, and I noticed that you would tell me things like, you could list the name of every president and his terms of office and who is vice president, and not.

[03:39] DEREK PATTERSON: Only that, but all the states that were founded in order.

[03:45] WAYNE DOWDY: That's right. In the order in which they entered the union. That's right. And so I remember talking to a colleague about you, and my friend said, my coworker said, well, you know, he'd be a good volunteer. And sort of a light bulb went off over my head. And I said, that's a great idea. You remember that?

[04:02] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yes, I do.

[04:03] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, how did you feel about becoming a volunteer here at the library?

[04:07] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, it's fine because it helps you and other employees give more time for what y'all need to be doing.

[04:21] WAYNE DOWDY: And how did it. How did it make you feel?

[04:26] DEREK PATTERSON: It's all right.

[04:29] WAYNE DOWDY: Do you have a sense of participation and accomplishment?

[04:36] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah, definitely.

[04:39] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, you got to know everybody here at the library, and the library sort of became your first community here in town, didn't it?

[04:47] DEREK PATTERSON: Right.

[04:48] WAYNE DOWDY: But from there, you also had another community, which was social media.

[04:55] DEREK PATTERSON: That's right.

[04:56] WAYNE DOWDY: Facebook has been even before you and I met. Sort of a lifeline for you. Got to know all these people. Tell me a little bit about your experiences on Facebook.

[05:08] DEREK PATTERSON: People like to communicate to me all over the planet.

[05:13] WAYNE DOWDY: So you say all over the planet. What countries do you have followers and friends in?

[05:18] DEREK PATTERSON: In the UK, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Australia, Canada. Some people in Nigeria, maybe.

[05:32] WAYNE DOWDY: Somebody in Russia, too.

[05:33] DEREK PATTERSON: Russia, too. I had this one russian person that I can't particularly identify because his name is written in chicken scratches. Taiwan.

[05:48] WAYNE DOWDY: In Russian. Yeah. The cyrillic language. Yeah. So, you know, you have this fantastic online community, and your members of several groups, mostly centered around video games and Nintendo and all that. Tell me a little bit about that.

[06:10] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, they're electronic game, and it's a particular activity, hobby to do.

[06:16] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. And there are a couple of things that people particularly like. You always post pictures of yourself with your new games, new collectibles related to Nintendo Super Mario, and then also Sega Sonic. Tell me a little bit about that.

[06:41] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, Mario debuted in 1981. Of course, the secondary mascot of Nintendo, Donkey Kong was also introducing that same gang, Donkey Kong, which was named after the character of the same name, of course, on it, debuted in 1991. Although not as superior as Mario, he got his place in gaming history. In fact, he. He really was just created to replace another fictional character of Saga just to boost up the industry. So Mario's pretty much the gaming icon of the.

[07:32] WAYNE DOWDY: Okay, so what you just said. I mean, you're really an expert on this, aren't you?

[07:40] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah. Or many other active things.

[07:43] WAYNE DOWDY: Right, right. And so a lot of the people online look to you for advice, and they also love your positive energy and your. And so how does it feel to be known all over the world and people contacting you and asking you questions about video games?

[08:08] DEREK PATTERSON: It's very helpful to them. I mean, I can give them a few pointers, what they need to do to get through a particular area and so forth. They get stuck on an area. I can give them particular help, even though I don't know all the answers to the strategy most of the times, but.

[08:42] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, you said it's helpful to them. That really is sort of the theme of your life, don't you think, is being helpful? Because you started out, you talked about being helpful to the library, to the staff, and to the. To the citizens.

[09:00] DEREK PATTERSON: Cause I know that you, y'all, it spares y'all a lot of time to do other things y'all need to do.

[09:12] WAYNE DOWDY: So all of this, all of this volunteer activity, you started at the library, but you soon expanded well beyond the library. And one area in which you've become very well known locally and regionally is through cosplaying. Tell me what cosplaying is.

[09:32] DEREK PATTERSON: Cosplaying is where a person dressed up as a fictional character from a television show or motion picture or comic book or printed media from a comic book character, video game character, and so forth.

[09:53] WAYNE DOWDY: So when did you. When did you. What. What got you interested in?

[09:57] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, what got me interested, I just saw this g four channel that used to air on television back in the mid 2000 with the attack of the show. I think I remember their names. Kevin Pereira and Elizabeth Matt.

[10:24] WAYNE DOWDY: So you saw people cosplaying and thought, I'd like to do that.

[10:28] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah.

[10:30] WAYNE DOWDY: So when was your first cosplaying here in Memphis?

[10:36] DEREK PATTERSON: Probably at the 2015 coach Agri center.

[10:42] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm.

[10:43] DEREK PATTERSON: And that's when I ran into those two fictional characters.

[10:48] WAYNE DOWDY: Which ones?

[10:49] DEREK PATTERSON: Jill and Valentine and Chris Redfield from the resident evil series, gaming series.

[10:57] WAYNE DOWDY: That was very exciting for you, wasn't it? Well, from there, you got to know some of the members of the cosplay community here in Tucson.

[11:07] DEREK PATTERSON: Right. But I didn't know their names then.

[11:11] WAYNE DOWDY: Right, right. But you got to know them a little bit later. And what you discovered, wasn't it, that not only did they dress up at conventions and that sort of thing, but they also did a lot of charity work. Right?

[11:24] DEREK PATTERSON: That's right.

[11:26] WAYNE DOWDY: So you started doing volunteering not just at the library, but volunteering through cosplaying, didn't you?

[11:34] DEREK PATTERSON: That's right.

[11:35] WAYNE DOWDY: Tell me a little bit about that. Y'all have volunteered at St. Jude Hospital.

[11:45] DEREK PATTERSON: St. Jude's Hospital, Labonnier Children's Hospital, downtown section at the barbecue plays central barbecue.

[12:01] WAYNE DOWDY: That's right. For that toy drive.

[12:03] DEREK PATTERSON: That toy drive. That's right.

[12:05] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, you've done several toy drives. You visited kids in hospitals dressed as a character, and you tell me about some of the people that you've met. Garrett and Nikki and. Yeah. And your friend Eva. Yeah, tell me about Eva first.

[12:29] DEREK PATTERSON: I like the narf so much. Cause of her piracy.

[12:35] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. Mm hmm. So you dress it as a pirate going to visit labon or Ghostbuster at St. Jude, I believe, Ronald McDonald House. So doing all this volunteer work, that didn't go unnoticed, did it by people locally and nationally, too. Right?

[13:01] DEREK PATTERSON: Right.

[13:03] WAYNE DOWDY: In fact, in 2017, didn't you receive an award from somebody?

[13:11] DEREK PATTERSON: Yes. Not other than a former US president.

[13:16] WAYNE DOWDY: Which one?

[13:18] DEREK PATTERSON: It's not under George Bush. Herbert Walker Bush.

[13:23] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. And what did he, what award did he give you?

[13:26] DEREK PATTERSON: He gave me the daily points alive for all the volunteering around communities and such, so forth.

[13:38] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. So not. So you're being helpful. And in fact, didn't they start calling you something on the Internet? Didn't they give you a nickname?

[13:51] DEREK PATTERSON: The mayor of kindness.

[13:53] WAYNE DOWDY: Mayor of kindness. And that name kind of stuck, didn't it?

[14:00] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah.

[14:02] WAYNE DOWDY: So. And not only known by people who do volunteer work and who are involved in the community, because you're very involved with the autistic resources of the mid south organization. You go to, you've done their Halloween night. We just did that a few months ago. And. And one of the things that happens every time you do go to a cosplay event at the conventions, too, but especially when we do, when you do volunteer work, are the children. Tell me about the children. They just naturally reach out to you, don't they?

[14:48] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah.

[14:49] WAYNE DOWDY: How does that make you feel?

[14:53] DEREK PATTERSON: Makes me feel surprised. Really?

[14:58] WAYNE DOWDY: Why surprised?

[14:59] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, why? They just run up to you without warning.

[15:05] WAYNE DOWDY: Want a hug? Right.

[15:07] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah. Or some sort. Kind of. Remember that one little girl who ran up to me on the third day of the MCFC in 2015?

[15:26] WAYNE DOWDY: So just about everybody who is involved in cosplaying knows who you are.

[15:35] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah.

[15:36] WAYNE DOWDY: Both. Both locally and regionally, because you go to cons all over the. You've been to cons in what states?

[15:44] DEREK PATTERSON: Arkansas Tennessee, of course. You're your home state. Arkansas state. I'm mostly in Mississippi and Alabama.

[16:00] WAYNE DOWDY: Uh huh.

[16:02] DEREK PATTERSON: But I have yet to do it in other states. Georgia, of course. There's the dragon con there in North Carolina that has galaxy con there.

[16:17] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm.

[16:19] DEREK PATTERSON: Yet to do the one in Missouri.

[16:21] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. Well, we're gonna get there.

[16:24] DEREK PATTERSON: I think you have to go to enemy festival.

[16:28] WAYNE DOWDY: Yeah, well, I think we're gonna. I think we're gonna hit that. We've.

[16:33] DEREK PATTERSON: You've got a long list of places is made. Ohio or even sitting at the Ohio or New York or even the biggest heavy one in San Diego, California. I don't know, at least 10,000 people.

[17:02] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, you were so beloved by the people in the cosplay community, one of the cons gave you an award recently.

[17:10] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah. Josh Mason.

[17:12] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. And what con is that?

[17:14] DEREK PATTERSON: That was the Collierville con. I believe that's made by him.

[17:19] WAYNE DOWDY: Yeah. And what was the award?

[17:22] DEREK PATTERSON: I believe it was the lifetime achievement.

[17:26] WAYNE DOWDY: Lifetime of awesomeness award for all your cosplay work. Yeah. And they talked about how you. You're at every con, you do all this, and you also go to the volunteer events.

[17:42] DEREK PATTERSON: Most. Most cons.

[17:45] WAYNE DOWDY: Right, right.

[17:46] DEREK PATTERSON: If I'm unable to go to.

[17:49] WAYNE DOWDY: And when you don't, what happens?

[17:53] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, things just gotta give well, and.

[17:56] WAYNE DOWDY: They want to know where you are.

[17:58] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, sure. Sure about that.

[18:02] WAYNE DOWDY: Yeah.

[18:02] DEREK PATTERSON: Most of these cosplayer. Now. Expand it now they do. But these cosplays do bore out from time when, over time, in fact, I think the recent Mario one is probably worn out.

[18:22] WAYNE DOWDY: So how many cons a year do you think you go to?

[18:25] DEREK PATTERSON: Probably about ten to twelve.

[18:31] WAYNE DOWDY: And that doesn't count. The other cosplay events that you go to, the volunteer events that you work at?

[18:39] DEREK PATTERSON: Pretty much.

[18:40] WAYNE DOWDY: Right. Right. Now tell me some of the other activities that you're involved in.

[18:51] DEREK PATTERSON: Model trains.

[18:53] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. What is it about model trains that you like?

[18:55] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, how they. Oh, they're just some kind of activity I like to do. Of course, the most recent one I got is the coastliner. Mm hmm.

[19:11] WAYNE DOWDY: At Christmas. Right.

[19:12] DEREK PATTERSON: And also the blind, the Lionel San Francisco model, the line there, that was produced in the 1900. That's an old gauge light.

[19:34] WAYNE DOWDY: The. You also are involved in the scottish society. Right. Tell me a little bit about that.

[19:45] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, some young lady named Dana. Yeah. Got me into it, and I fell into it ever since.

[20:03] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. And y'all, you also go to. You do scottish country dancing, don't you?

[20:09] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah.

[20:10] WAYNE DOWDY: What is it about the dancing that you like?

[20:13] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, the moves are very, uh, the moves are very easy to do if you haven't memorized. I mean, I know they don't have good memories, as I do when I do this, but.

[20:33] WAYNE DOWDY: So how does it make you feel when you're dancing?

[20:38] DEREK PATTERSON: Slightly. Okay.

[20:39] WAYNE DOWDY: Slightly okay. Just slightly.

[20:41] DEREK PATTERSON: Okay. But okay.

[20:47] WAYNE DOWDY: Another thing that you really like to follow is politics, don't you? And you've met several politicians. Tell me about that.

[20:57] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, they want to keep the economy going. They talk about daily topics and so forth, whether it's the economy, the environment, immigration, healthcare, and, um. And, um. Um, it's pretty much all the economy.

[21:29] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. Well, tell what are some of the names of the politicians that you've methemeral in person.

[21:35] DEREK PATTERSON: Of course. Well, there's a course. There's Congressman Steve Cohen, although it was an eye to eye. Course it was, Dan. Vice President Pence on St. Patrick's Day, 2019, there was the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren. That's right. And just out of nowhere, she just wanted, she just gave me an affection.

[22:19] WAYNE DOWDY: Why do you think she did that?

[22:21] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, she sent something into me, just like utterein people do.

[22:29] WAYNE DOWDY: You've met the governor of Tennessee?

[22:31] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah, that's right. Governor Bill has. I'm not sure what he's doing now.

[22:38] WAYNE DOWDY: But a guy named Joe, too.

[22:40] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah. Joe Biden.

[22:42] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm.

[22:43] DEREK PATTERSON: Of course. Donald Trump.

[22:46] WAYNE DOWDY: Yeah. You were in the, in the crowd with Donald Trump. You actually met and talked to Joe Biden?

[22:52] DEREK PATTERSON: I, yeah, that's right. Um, of course, I saw Donald Trump in the, in the rally in the lander center.

[23:02] WAYNE DOWDY: Yes.

[23:03] DEREK PATTERSON: Along with Mike Pompeo. And of course, there's a.

[23:16] WAYNE DOWDY: Now, in addition to your volunteer work, you also work at autozone.

[23:21] DEREK PATTERSON: That's right.

[23:22] WAYNE DOWDY: Tell me about, tell me, you've been there how long?

[23:25] DEREK PATTERSON: Six years now. I started in January of 2018. Of the 16th.

[23:33] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. So tell me about your job there.

[23:37] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, I pack is a smack of automotive products for the customers that they order. Pile up with the box in a box and put bulbs in them so the product won't be shaken once it, it has out for delivery around the US.

[24:00] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. Now another thing you really like are thrill rides. Tell me about that.

[24:09] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah.

[24:10] WAYNE DOWDY: Where you've been?

[24:12] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah. The, the theme parks around the US I've been to were Saint Louis, six Flats over St. Louis and Missouri. Sent six Flags over Georgia. Of course, the, of course, Dollywood in this state.

[24:42] WAYNE DOWDY: What about Ohio?

[24:44] DEREK PATTERSON: Of course, the biggest one, the number one amusement park in the United States is Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. I rode most of the rides there, but due to my side, I could not. The only route I couldn't get on was the minimum force. They couldn't exactly tuck me in unless, unless they would have moved me to another area of the seat for civilized people.

[25:19] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. What about Florida? You've been to Florida?

[25:23] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah. Disney world in 2021.

[25:27] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, what is it about the, I mean, you, you ride the, the scariest and fastest and to me, most dangerous ones. What is it about.

[25:37] DEREK PATTERSON: I wouldn't call them scariers, but they're kind of wild and heartbeat. And if you can't take those kind.

[25:43] WAYNE DOWDY: Of rides, what is it about them that you like?

[25:48] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, just for the thrill of them.

[25:51] WAYNE DOWDY: How does it make you feel?

[25:53] DEREK PATTERSON: Recreational mm hmm. Mm hmm. But. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention, there's the one in Arkansas, magic springs in little. And outside of. In hot Springs, Arkansas.

[26:17] WAYNE DOWDY: Right, right. So what are some of your plan? Where do you want to go next?

[26:25] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, future parks, maybe the one in Kentucky, maybe.

[26:30] WAYNE DOWDY: Which one is that?

[26:31] DEREK PATTERSON: Hmm. Louisville Kentucky, I believe.

[26:39] WAYNE DOWDY: Okay.

[26:41] DEREK PATTERSON: Exactly. Remember what the name of maybe corn is? Islanders.

[26:46] WAYNE DOWDY: Okay. Okay. Well, and we want to go next year back to Florida, but to a different park, right?

[26:55] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah.

[26:57] WAYNE DOWDY: Universal, right.

[26:58] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah. Super Nintendo world, maybe.

[27:01] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm.

[27:02] DEREK PATTERSON: There's one outside the US in Japan on the one under the same name that's still under const. The one in Orlando, Florida, is still under construction.

[27:18] WAYNE DOWDY: Yeah. But we're gonna go, right?

[27:21] DEREK PATTERSON: Hopefully we can. Or maybe in Texas. Six five over Texas.

[27:27] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, speaking of Texas, another places that you like to go to and you're trying to go to as many as possible are presidential sites. What. What presidential sites have you been to?

[27:43] DEREK PATTERSON: You talking about the most recently or just.

[27:46] WAYNE DOWDY: Just in the last few years? You know, all of the ones that we.

[27:49] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, the ones in here in Tennessee were James case. Polk

[27:58] WAYNE DOWDY: Yeah. James K. Poles.

[28:00] DEREK PATTERSON: Andrew Jackson. Andrew Johnson, of course. The one in Arkansas. William Jefferson Clinton.

[28:09] WAYNE DOWDY: Uh huh.

[28:09] DEREK PATTERSON: And of course, the most recent one last year was Jimmy Carter's presidential library and.

[28:24] WAYNE DOWDY: Rutherford B. Hayes.

[28:25] DEREK PATTERSON: Rutherford B. Hayes in Ohio.

[28:29] WAYNE DOWDY: And Abraham Lincoln's birthplace.

[28:31] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah. His historical landmark in Kentucky. That's right.

[28:35] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. So where are we going to go next, presidential sites wise?

[28:44] DEREK PATTERSON: Maybe.

[28:49] WAYNE DOWDY: Maybe go to Texas.

[28:50] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah. Maybe Lyndon Johnson's and the Bushes and the two bush. Or maybe even Ulysses S. Grant. His historical landmarks and Missouri and his libraries in Mississippi.

[29:06] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Well, do you, what. What are some of the other plans? What are some of the other things you want to accomplish in your life?

[29:24] DEREK PATTERSON: Being active actors.

[29:26] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, you certainly are active.

[29:29] DEREK PATTERSON: I don't know. Uh, well, maybe keep volunteering until I can anymore, once I reach that old age, maybe. Or go to Safari parks and see the animals coming up to vehicles and so forth.

[29:56] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, that reminds me, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the you know what, as you like to say, one of the things that you were very involved in is with meals on wheels here in town. Didn't you volunteer with them? Yeah. Mifa.

[30:20] DEREK PATTERSON: That's right.

[30:22] WAYNE DOWDY: Metropolitan Interfaith association.

[30:26] DEREK PATTERSON: That's right. Yeah. Help delivering for senior citizens because they're disabled or can't get around and so forth.

[30:38] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. And what was your experience like when you'd knock on their door?

[30:44] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, they were very pleased that I give them the meals that they order and so forth. Sometimes they will have me do a task. Either they want me to come to the back of their house to deliver it or go to the side or just leave it on the doorstep if they have a hard time moving up.

[31:19] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. So during the Covid-19 pandemic or the you know what pandemic, you. You were out there every week risking your life, weren't you?

[31:32] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah.

[31:34] WAYNE DOWDY: To get. Make sure that people had food to eat. That's something, isn't it? That's important.

[31:40] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah.

[31:43] WAYNE DOWDY: So you're gonna keep volunteering, huh?

[31:46] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, yeah.

[31:49] WAYNE DOWDY: Why do you like volunteering so much?

[31:51] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, it gives people the needs. And like I said earlier, it gives people more time for you to do other stuff to do. So.

[32:05] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, when you put on a costume and you cosplay.

[32:09] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah.

[32:12] WAYNE DOWDY: What is that? What. What's that process like? I mean, do you. Is it. How do you become a new character? Don't you. It's kind of like acting.

[32:20] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah.

[32:21] WAYNE DOWDY: What is that like?

[32:23] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, you go, when you word these cosplay, you interact with people. You want to compete, participate in a costume conference to see if you can win any particular prize. I. Good. Also put, it's also good to be participating in panels to meet these artists, whether they're high or low achievements.

[32:59] WAYNE DOWDY: Mm hmm. And so many people want a picture with your character. With you and your character. What's. How's that? How does that make you feel?

[33:08] DEREK PATTERSON: Makes him feel. I mean, of course, there's shy guy.

[33:13] WAYNE DOWDY: Tell me about him.

[33:15] DEREK PATTERSON: Oh, he's a speechless character who's a ghost light with a nerdy his face shown in the Super Mario series. But now. Now more recently, these cosplay are more expanded compared to the ones in the 2010s.

[33:39] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, tell me about that.

[33:40] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, for an example, instead of appearing as a real life Mario, I actually be inside of a costume like Mario or so for I'm still trying to see if they have toughen Mario to course in. At the Arkansas column that, of course, when these prox specters, the Cedar proc, the spatula.

[34:24] WAYNE DOWDY: Oh, yeah. Well, that was. I mean, I, you know, as we've talked before in the past, I mean, you know, you and I have become really family, and you're kind of like. You're like a son to me. Really. I mean, I call you son all the time.

[34:44] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah.

[34:46] WAYNE DOWDY: And when we were standing there, you were dressed as chef Mario, and you had a little tin metal spatula. And I had checked in first, and I had walked away to wait on you. And these two guys were hassling you about. Can't let you in with this metal, this piece of metal.

[35:10] DEREK PATTERSON: I wouldn't think it was.

[35:13] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, I thought I interpreted it that way.

[35:15] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, because of the. The way it look, it's just. It's just consider the actual real thing.

[35:30] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, yeah, but it's a tin metal spatula. There's no danger in that.

[35:34] DEREK PATTERSON: I mean, what's so. I mean, what's more dangerous, a realistic looking ar 15 or just a real special.

[35:41] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, exactly. And, you know, behind you was a guy with a seven foot tall spear. And I'm like, what do you mean? This is a. And so.

[35:53] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, you know, of course, that guy, he probably just hand made it the hat.

[35:57] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, but that doesn't make any difference. That's still. If you're talking about levels of danger, I mean. But, yeah, so they.

[36:05] DEREK PATTERSON: Of course, you always go to that prop table to get your props, trying to see if it's okay to be let in. Into that convention.

[36:15] WAYNE DOWDY: But I was standing there watching, and at first I didn't know what was going on. And then I heard you say, you know, please, can I take it in? And it made me mad.

[36:24] DEREK PATTERSON: Well, I'm not. I wasn't necessarily pleading.

[36:27] WAYNE DOWDY: No, but. But you asked them and they were like, nope, can't do it. So it made me mad. And, you know, sometimes I can let my anger get the better of me. And so I walked up and I said, is this the problem? And they didn't really even know we were together, I guess.

[36:48] DEREK PATTERSON: But I mean, think about this one. I mean, the Mississippi con. I brought a metal looking electronic plasma in the. In the entry of the trademark sent at the corner and let the prop check look over it.

[37:15] WAYNE DOWDY: Yeah. I don't have any objection to them checking your props. That's fine. But to say that a little piece of metal couldn't come in.

[37:22] DEREK PATTERSON: And so the electronic on is metal.

[37:27] WAYNE DOWDY: Right. Right. I mean, that shouldn't have made any difference.

[37:30] DEREK PATTERSON: And so it was like a battery. Electronic battery, yeah.

[37:35] WAYNE DOWDY: Your men in black.

[37:36] DEREK PATTERSON: Yeah. Because it makes sound effects, sounds.

[37:39] WAYNE DOWDY: That's one of your best props. And so I said, I hope I didn't embarrass you, but I said, is this the problem? And I grabbed it off the table and I bent it in two and threw it in the trash can and said, come on, son, let's go.

[37:56] DEREK PATTERSON: And I got it back afterwards.

[37:59] WAYNE DOWDY: Yeah, they got. They retrieved it from the trash and straightened it out and gave it back to you. But see, I felt like that they were. And, you know, and I can be wrong. I'm often wrong, as you well know. But I just felt like that they were treating you unfairly.

[38:23] DEREK PATTERSON: No, I wouldn't say that. But, no, it's just.

[38:35] WAYNE DOWDY: Well, you think better of people. You often think better of people than I do. I'm more suspicious of people. You're the mayor of kindness. People love you and you love them back.

[38:48] DEREK PATTERSON: I mean, you fear. I mean, you didn't necessarily, I mean, wanted me to bring the realistic looking Ar 15.

[39:00] WAYNE DOWDY: That makes me nervous. That's why I told you, uh, we weren't going to bring it in to one because we were going to have to walk a couple of blocks. And I thought, and I said, you know, it's going to be our luck, some police officers going to come along and have a problem. But anyway, this has been fascinating. Derek, I've enjoyed the conversation, as always, and thank you again for sitting down with me.

[39:30] DEREK PATTERSON: I appreciate your interview. Thank you so much.