Jeff Goldblum, Elijah Wood, George Takei, and many other celebrities were guests at this year's Phoenix Fan Fusion, the re-branded name for the annual Phoenix Comicon, which has taken place in downtown Phoenix for several years.


Other guests at this year's convention included Paul Reubens, Summer Glau, Matthew Lewis, Chris Sarandon, Adam Savage, and Billy Dee Williams, to name a few.


Tens of thousands of comic book fans, movie and television fans, and all around nerd culture fans attended the annual event to see their favorite celebrities, see the various cosplayers, and meet their favorite comic book artists.


Last year's attendance number was 57,853, down from the all-time high of 106,096 in 2016, but organizers sought to reduce admission price to this year's event, hopefully allowing their attendance numbers to regain traction.


You can find photos from the event here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmDPYBRs

The first annual Versus Expo took place this past weekend, with video game fans gathering to watch their favorite Twitch streamers, YouTubers, and online personalities compete at various video gaming feats and raise money for charity.


The event was created out of the YouTube channel Versus, which is ran and operated by JoshJepson and AttackingTucans, both of whom are Lets Players on YouTube and Twitch.


The event featured several speedrunners, running games such as A Hat In Time, Super Monkey Ball, Yooka-Laylee, Super Mario 64, and many other games.


The event was able to raise several thousand dollars for charity, with this year's charity being "Save the Children."


You can find photos from the event here: https://flic.kr/s/aHskU2hmJ3

The 2019 WonderCon, hosted annually in Anaheim, California at the Anaheim Convention, made its triumphant return this past weekend. With tens of thousands of attendees gathering to celebrate nerd culture, superheroes, and see their favorite stars from upcoming film and television shows.


Among the film slate this year included a panel for the 20th Century Fox film Dark Phoenix, with the stars of the film gathering to discuss how they made the picture. Sophie Turner, who plays the eponymous Dark Phoenix, was on hand, as well as Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Evan Peters, and several others. Hoult also appeared for the Tolkein panel, held immediately after Dark Phoenix.


In addition, Warner Bros. brought several of there upcoming features, with Shazam! headlining the panel as Zachary Levi, Jack Dylan Grazer, Mark Strong and Asher Angel, came to the stage to present footage from the film as well as take audience questions.


Other panels at the event included Agents of Shield, a writers panel for The Big Bang Theory, Fear the Walking Dead, Legion, and Archer, just to name a few.


You can find photos from the event here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmC97hEv

The 25th annual Celebrity Fight Night was held at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge in Phoenix this past Saturday, with celebrities gathering to honor special guests and raise money for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.


Among the celebrities in attendance were Chris Tucker, Reba McEntire, Buzz Aldrin, Rita Wilson, Brian McKnight, Lindsay Wagner, Pia Toscano, John O'Hurley, and many others.


The event has been held since 1994, with Muhammad Ali at the helm, officiating the ceremonies until his passing in 2016.


Rod Stewart also attended the concert portion of the event, with the remaining guests walking the red carpet, posing for photographs, and giving interviews.


You can find photos from the event here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmb21ua4

Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John O. Brennan served as keynote speaker of the 2019 John J. Rhodes Lecture hosted by Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University in Tempe. The event was held at the Tempe Center for the Arts on Thursday evening.


Previous lecture speakers in recent years have included Jeffrey Toobin, Jeff Flake and Jon Kyl, among others.


Brennan served as the 5th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, after being appointed to the position by President Barack Obama in 2013. He served in that role until the inauguration of Donald Trump to succeed Obama.


Brennan was also present in the Situation Room at the White House when the order was given to military officials to kill Osama bin Laden, as he was serving in the role Homeland Security Advisor at the time.


You can find photos from the event here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmw8EKVE

Former astronaut Mark Kelly, and husband to former U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, announced his intention to run for the United States Senate this week. Kelly, a Democrat, intends to challenge incumbent Republican Senator Martha McSally who was appointed to the seat by Governor Doug Ducey.


Kelly launched his bid at a rally in Tucson, and later held another rally near downtown Phoenix, accompanied by Giffords and brother Scott Kelly. The event was held outside the Van Buren, with hundreds of supporters gathering to show their enthusiasm for Kelly's candidacy.


Kelly and Giffords have been vocal about reforming gun laws in recent years, following the deadly Tucson shooting that nearly cost Giffords' life in 2011, and led to the deaths and injuries of several others.


This will be Kelly's first foray into the political scene as a candidate himself. Kelly retired as a NASA astronaut in 2011, after spending more than 54 days in space during the span of his career.


You can find photos from the event here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmB19T2Z

Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks, made an appearance at Arizona State University this week, appearing at a talk titled "From the Ground Up," where he spoke with ASU President Michael Crow about his recent book, as well as speculation that he is planning to run for President of the United States.


Schultz has made news by stating that he would consider running as an independent candidate in the 2020 election, if he felt he could make a difference in the race.


Schultz's potential candidacy has been met with both support and some criticism as well, with some political analysts labeling Schultz a potential spoiler, which could tip the election in favor of Donald Trump.


Schultz has remained consistent in his position that he would not run if he felt he would help to re-elect Trump.


You can find photos from the event here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm94X4Tn

Former Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt appeared at the State Capitol on Monday afternoon, in order to support the drought contingency plan that has been put forth by current Arizona Governor Doug Ducey.


Babbitt made an appearance at Ducey's State of the Union address as one of Ducey's guests, appearing alongside former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl and former Democratic nominee for Governor in 2014 Fred DuVal.


The day also marked the swearing in of state legislators, with several new elected officials taking the oath of office for the very first time.


Elected officials gathered outside the Arizona House of Representatives following Ducey's address, taking photos with supporters and fellow elected members to commemorate their swearing in.


You can find photos from the event here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmwYc3oa

Both U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema and U.S. Senator Martha McSally, as well as Governor Doug Ducey, addressed the 2019 Legislative Forecast Luncheon hosted at the Arizona Biltmore on Friday. The event serves as a kickoff for the upcoming session at the state legislature, and is held annually by the Arizona Chamber.


The event also featured a panel of top legislators, including Arizona Speaker of the House Russell Bowers, House Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez, State Senate President Karen Fann and Senate Minority Leader David Bradley.


Sinema and McSally both spoke about the goals that they hope to achieve over the course of their terms in office at the United States Senate in Washington, D.C.


Ducey spoke about his hopes to work with newly elected lawmakers on a drought contingency plan, which he hopes to pass by the end of the month.


You can find photos from the event here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsm8aA76c