There are simply too many guests at Dragon Con to list this year, in fact they broke the 500 mark for guests (WOW!).
Here are some of the ones I was interested is seeing:
Actors:
James Marsters
Julie Benz
Charisma Carpenter
Felicia Day
Ron Glass
Doug Jones
Gareth David-Lloyd
John Schneider
Catherine Bach
John Billingsley
Anthony Montgomery
Leonard Nimoy
William Shatner
Patrick Stewart
Kate Mulgrew
Garrett Wang
Dwight Schultz
Dirk Benedict
Peter Facinelli
Justin Chon
Mary McDonnell
Michael Trucco
Alessandro Juliani
Kandyse McClure
Kate Vernon
Luciana Carro
Christine Rose
Anthony Daniels
Bruce Boxleitner
And writers:
Charlaine Harris
Christopher Golden
Thursday September 3, 2009
I arrived at the airport in Toronto and while I was in line to check in, I saw Karen (Earthgirl) in line to check in too. Waved hi and asked her what plane she was on. Turns out the same one I was taking, yeah!
That meant we got to talk and trade war stories about conventions and meeting celebs and such while we waited for our boarding call. That was cool! Karen also told me about several new items she had for her booth ‘Firefly Cargo Bay’ (http://www.fireflycargobay.com/). She had her first sale before she even got on the plane! But, how could I help myself? She has such good stuff!
Karen and I split up for boarding since she was sitting at the front of the plane and I was at the back. As I was waiting in line to board, the young woman behind me asked if I was going to Dragon Con. I said yes and asked how she knew, she had guessed because of the poster tube I was carrying. Her name was Amber and she was a Star Wars fan. She told me it was her first time going to Dragon Con and she was a little nervous because she just didn’t know where to go. I told her I would be happy to show her where to go at the Atlanta airport and such.
Amber and I ended up sitting across from each other and an older guy sat beside me, turns out he was going to Dragon Con too. He didn’t look the geek part – he was going to present a science lecture and to run some sort of game. Don’t know which one (not a gamer!). He did have a bit of an attitude about us “common fans” and thought we should check out the science track. Yeah right – if I want to learn about science I’ll watch the Discovery Channel, not fly down to Atlanta and miss seeing James Marsters!
And they call me a freak…
I did learn my lesson from my last flight and since there were empty seats right across from us (me and the ‘I’m better then you because I’m into science’ guy), once we were in the air, I switched so I was able to have the 2 seats to myself. I spent the entire flight writing up my Fan Expo report.
Ok, what does it say about me that on my way to one convention, I am still writing up the convention I was at only 3 days before? Can you say over convention much!
Once we got to Atlanta, I showed Amber the train that takes you to pick up your luggage and where the luggage would come out, but once we got there she got all dismissive. She actually said “Ok, thanks I can take it from here” and walked away. Ok….
Once again, they must have beamed the luggage to the carousel, because it had just started coming out by the time we got there. I got mine and ran back into Karen. She had disappeared after we got off the plane. She was meeting her sister and niece at the airport (their plane had come in about half an hour earlier) and we found them without much trouble. Then we all shared a shuttle ride to our hotels. It was cool because there were 4 of us, so they didn’t wait around for anyone else and we just went.
After I finally got my pass, we headed out so I could give them a tour. I showed them where the major stuff was, the walk of fame, where the photo ops were (they had moved them this year so we found them together) and where all the major guest panels would be. We lost Patty shortly after we started because she was too tired and wanted to get back to her hotel. But I took Joyce through all the hotels. Then, I dropped her off at the Hyatt to make her way back to her hotel because by then all I wanted was food and rest. I had missed lunch so I was super hungry.
One of the nice things about Dragon Con is all the costumes!
I stopped by the dealer room to see if Karen was there, but since it wasn’t open I had to be escorted to her booth (heaven forbid I start shopping early). I wanted to tell her that they had both Ron Glass and Morena Baccarin listed for photos, so that meant Morena was at the convention. Karen was still setting up but showed me all the pretty things, damn another sale before she was even open for business!I went back to the Sheraton and ordered room service. Just after I did, Rosie showed up, she was also hungry so I was able to add to my order. After she ate she went down to register and get her pass. Lucky her, she only had about a 20 minute wait. Grrrrrrr… We hit the hay early because we were both tired and in need of sleep.
Friday September 4, 2009
This was the first time I shared a room with Rosie and I found out something about her, she’s all bouncy and chipper in the morning. ACK! I am so not a morning person! The most you get out of me is a few grunts and ‘leave me alone’ moans!
The first thing we headed out to do was to line up for the Torchwood panel, which was scheduled at 11:00am. We got there to find that a line already started and it wasn’t just a few people. I found out that they were having the Battlestar Galactica panel in the same room at 10:00am. Rosie was nice enough to let me go into the first panel and hold a spot for me in line.
This panel was supposed to be Mary McDonnell and Edward James Olmos. But since Edward cancelled, it was Mary and Michael Hogan.
It was really nice to see Mary in a panel since she had to leave Toronto before her Q&A the previous weekend. She was of course funny and great and Michael, well I totally love Michael, so he can do no wrong in my eyes! But he was great and they played off each other wonderfully.
The best part (which I got on video below) was when Mary called Edward James Olmos on her cell phone and had the entire room yell “So Say We All!” – it was soooo great!Once we got in, I went directly to the mic so I could ask the first question. But after waiting for a while, I was told (by people from the Brit Track) that they wouldn’t be taking fan questions for a while. I still didn’t want to give up my spot until they assured me that I was first and they would make sure I got my spot when they did start the fan questions.
I was able to find some video of the panel on YouTube so I have enclosed the links to it, for anyone who wants to see them.
They started with a tribute to Ianto and had a video with a whole bunch of scenes, which they played for us. Then they went into discussing Children of the Earth for like 20 minutes. I swear they didn’t ask James a thing for a long while – he just sat there and listened. I started getting really pissed – they had 2 guests from the show, why would they ignore one of them? What really pisses me off is that Gareth had 2 other solo panels he was doing – why wouldn’t they save most of their questions about Children of the Earth for then?
James did in fact tell some stories and talk a little, but it wasn’t until the fan questions started that he seemed to become part of the panel.
When they said we could ask the questions, I got up to line up and there was someone in front of me, but true to their word they told her I was first. She wasn’t happy about it.
The funny part was, one of the people managing the fan questions line came up to me and asked what I was going to ask. When I told him, the couple sitting next to the mic heard and told me I should ask, ‘what it was like to kiss John Barrowman?’ I don’t know what my face looked like, but I remember thinking, ‘no way am I asking that, I’ve heard that answer like 100 times, plus if you want to know they you ask it!’
It’s not the best because I was laughing, so the camera was shaking and it kept going out of focus (no idea why):
After the panel it was off to photos, both Rosie and bought most of our photo ops then and I went to line up for the Felicia Day Photo Op. Rosie went off to get us both lunch. Though I didn’t see her again for hours, another miscommunication and the fact that she didn’t know she could go into the “waiting room” (the room where they had us line up for photo ops before hand. Felicia was late because they scheduled her photo ops while she was still in a panel (lack of communication much?). But once she got there she poked her head in and said she was sorry for making us wait but she was in panel (that was very nice of her!). Once they started they went fast and she was very nice, and very tiny!
Once that was finished, the BSG Group photo was next, so once again, I went around and got right back in line. There was a longer wait for them but they had to get everyone together. I did look into the room and I saw Mary McDonnell, Michael Hogan, Michael Trucco, Alessandro Juliani, Kandyse McClure and Kate Vernon but no Aaron Douglas, so that was cool. Because if I had seen him, I would have asked for him not to be in picture. When it came time for my picture I got in front of them all and Michael put his arms on my shoulders and I said we should all gather in but Alessandro Juliani said how about we just tickle you instead. So he did and I started laughing and that’s when they snapped the picture and the reason I am laughing so hard! It was only after I saw it that I saw Aaron was in it, where the FRAK did he come from? I swear I never saw him, not before during or even after. Damn it! Oh well.
After that, I once again went around and got right back in line! Is anyone else seeing a pattern here? The schedule had the Ron Glass and Morena Baccarin photo ops (which I had a photo op ticket for), but neither had showed up. I heard Ron was late getting there and Morena Baccarin just wasn’t there, so not sure why they had her up then. I ended up exchanging the ticket on Sunday for another photo op all together.So next up was the Charisma Carpenter and Julie Benz Photo Ops. I had one done with each, first was Charisma Carpenter, who look fantastic and whom I had met once before, she looked even better (didn’t think that was possible!), and can I say she had on these killer boots!
Then it was Julie Benz. God she is so pretty in person, just perfect! And funny! She’s a little shorter then Charisma so it was a little easier for me to pose with her. Julie was so cute because after a couple of pictures she went over to Froggy to see what she looked like, she wasn’t happy. As if she could look anything but beautiful!
I stood in front of James and asked everyone to come in for a group hug, but Julie said she was a one trick pony. I think James had put his arms around me and with either girls on each side. I don’t quite remember and I don’t have the picture to remind me because it never came out, a bunch of them didn’t and had to be re-taken.
Once again, it was walk around and get back in line for another Photo Op. I never thought I would get tried of taking pictures with beautiful people but I was a little over it by then. This time it was the Torchwood group shot, which was with James Marsters and Gareth David-Lloyd.
Then it was once again around for my last photo op for the day. But these ones were with the entire reason for me coming to Dragon Con, JAMES MARSTERS! So I was pretty excited about them! By then I had met up with Rosie who gave me the sandwich she had gotten for lunch some time back. And we waited in line for our turn.
For my first photo (had 2 on Friday) we re-did one of my favourite hug photos. I once again brought what picture I wanted to do on a sheet so James could see. He was very exact and made sure he put his hands in the same spot and looked the same. It came out good, but still not as good as the original.
When it was my turn (I went right after Rosie), I gave Steve Himber his chocolate, which was different than the kind I normally give him, but I wanted to give him Canadian chocolate. I told him I hoped he liked it even through it was different. His reply was to rip right into it and try it. He said it good and since he kept on eating it, I guess he wasn’t just being nice.
Then I made my way over to the BSG people. They were all in a row and getting to them was difficult. They were in area that everyone went through and lining up for them was hard. Though I did manage to get Luciana Carro’s autograph (she played Kit). She was very sweet and had no handler (that is always weird because you have to hand the money right to them).
As I was leaving I waved to Kate Mulgrew and said hi. She waved back and said hi as well, it was only after I left that I realized that I didn’t have Kate Mulgrew’s autograph on my Star Trek poster. I had an 8x10 picture she signed for me the year before, but not the poster. CRAP! And it was too late to go back and get it then. Oh well…
Then it was off to get more photos! I met up with Rosie, Squirl and Joyce in line. As the day before, they did the Buffy group shot first, I got in line for that because I had to re-take mine from the day before. When it was my turn, I went up to the group, gave James another quick hug, said “hi” to the girls and stood in front of James for the photo. James put his hands on my shoulders and leaded into me, the girls stood on either side of James and me and then Froggy snapped the picture. It came out pretty good!
Then I re-did the dip picture. I wanted to have this one be with my eyes open, staring into James eyes and be all passionate, “Gone with the Wind”. It came out OK, but I wish Froggy had cropped it better, maybe angled it. But still it’s OK. I did get a bunch of whoops from the people in line when we did it, so that was funny.
Today was the hardest day to get my tired butt out of bed, not only because it was 3rd day of a major convention, but also because it was the day I had to get up the earliest! Grrrrrr… Waking up bad! Sleep good!
Rosie was once again up and at them all chipper and full of energy and trying to get me moving. She got a lot of ‘let me sleep’ moans from under the covers. She did at one point tell me James was at the door, to which I replied, “Great, tell him he can join me in bed!” And when she asked ‘what about the panel’, I suggested he could do it from there! Hmmmmm in bed with James! Now that sounds like a fun panel!
I finally got myself up and ready, in time to be in line super early for the William Shatner photo ops. I had originally got it for Friday, which was the only day William Shatner was supposed to be there, but when I was talking to Froggy on Thursday night about how fast I could get the photo done on Friday in order to make it back for the Torchwood panel, he told me that he would be doing another one on Sunday, but to keep it hush, hush until they announced it. So I chose to do it on Sunday instead, which worked out better for me.
But as soon as both Rosie and I walked to the photo area, Froggy came to us and asked if either of us had a computer and what camera we had. We told him and asked what was wrong (because you could tell something was up). Turns out that the photo room was robbed the night before and they had taken the computers and camera that was left in there. OH MY GOD! How awful! Unfortunately we couldn’t help, neither of our cameras were good enough for what he needed and Rosie’s laptop didn’t have Photoshop on it. But, Rosie helped save the day. She asked her friend Roxanne to loan Froggy her camera and it turns out it was same one Froggy had, so that is good! Also, I saw both Jeff and James from J&J running around trying to help, which was amazing! They are such nice guys!
Despite everything that happened, the photo ops with William Shatner scheduled at 8:45am still went ahead as planned, so for anyone complaining about not losing a picture or jpeg, just be aware they all did an amazing job to pull everything together for everyone!
My photo op was uneventful and William Shatner didn’t even look at me, let alone talk to me. It was walk in, DON’T TOUCH THE GUEST! (yes we were told), stand next to him, smile and leave. No talk, no touch, no eye contact. Hmmmm Cesar Millan says the same thing when first dealing with dogs, it keeps them from getting upset. So maybe they just didn’t want William to get nervous and bite someone. Oh and on a side note, William Shatner in person is very puffy.
Joyce was nice enough to keep me company since she was also getting a photo op with Mr. Shatner, so that was cool. And can I say Miss Joyce is a cheeky girl! On Saturday, well I think it was on Saturday, after her Torchwood photos op (Gareth David-Lloyd and James Marsters) she returned to the line, where Rosie and I were waiting for our James photos ops, and tells us, she went up to them and said ‘Magie and Rosie told her to get the sandwich’ (James on one side and Gareth on the other and person squished in-between pose). Insert drop chin here! While it was funny, I couldn’t help think, what must they be thinking of us?Then it was off to line up for the Smallville panel. Rosie (super roommate, she was so good about letting me go off and do other things while she waited in line) was holding a place for me. Turned out that they had let people in early and were doing DragonCon TV from there. You know one day, I swear I will actually turn on the TV at a convention, especially at DragonCon, because they tape panels and rebroadcast them. They also do news updates to let everyone know what is going on – and that was what they were doing in the room. I didn’t hang around long to find out what they were saying because I NEEDED coffee, since we skipped breakfast to be out early. So I went and got something for both me and Rosie and brought it back.
We were in the front row, so that was cool and Rosie had found a spot right in front of the name sign for James. The panel was a good one and had John Schneider, Alessandro Juliani, Helen Slater and James Marsters on it. As well as a moderator who was wearing a skin tight bright yellow one piece suit, not sure who he was suppose to be since I’m not a Superman fan, but it was interesting.
Just before I asked my question James recognized me and said “Baby, you’re up?” At the time I thought, he meant up to the mic and remember thinking ‘well yeah I’m always up’, I figured out later he meant up early to attend the panel. Oh… Sorry guess it was too early for me as well!
Just before the panel was announced, I went to find the mic so I could ask a question. There were 2 of them (one on either side) and unfortunately the moderator chose the other side to start the questions, so mine was the second question asked. I did get the question on tape and the answer, but I couldn’t hold the camera still enough and I missed the stage during most of it, though you do hear everything very well.
John Schneider was great on this panel, funny, smart and insightful, and Alessandro Juliani was also great, found out a lot about him that I didn’t know, including that he is Canadian. Whooo Hooo, we’re taking over! Helen Slater was very quiet during the panel, so not much to say. As for James… well I am not sure what was up with him. I’m thinking that the fact that he was tired, up too early and now bored made him say and do things he normally wouldn’t. He was good during the beginning of the panel, but at one point he kind of stopped paying attention and couldn’t sit still and then went on about the fact that he wasn’t a nice guy and that he had to convince himself every morning to be nice and so on.
Since I was sitting in the front row (right in front of him), I said I didn’t believe him. He heard me (because I said it loudly) and looked right at me. I repeated it and he nodded his head and said yes. I once again shook my head and said no. I am sure he can be a jerk, but I have seen him be a really nice guy too! So he can’t be an asshole all the time or people would have noticed and we wouldn’t keep coming back, right? Plus, you can’t lie to everyone all the time. At one point it would come out that he wasn’t that nice and a major asshole if he was in fact one all the time.
It made it an interesting panel to say the least; even John had looked over at James a couple of times to figure out what was up.
After that panel it was off for another photo op, this time with Patrick Stewart. I do admit I never thought I would pay that much to take a picture with anyone, but I figured it’s a once in a lifetime thing and they were limited to only 100 per day, though I don’t think they sold out of them either day. Once again it was the Cesar Millan style of no talk, no touch, no eye contact. But at least Patrick seemed a little more alert and had a smile on his face. Then again, it might be because my breast was touching his arm, I didn’t notice then (they do tend to go where they want to regardless of what I want) so maybe that helped.
Then it was off to meet Rosie and Squirl in the Walk of Fame. Besides getting James’ autograph both Squirl and I wanted to get John Schneider’s autograph as well, but neither of us had seen him all weekend. I asked outside the Walk of Fame and they showed me where he should be, but advised it was up to the guests to show up when they wanted. Squirl and Rosie had found John Schneider and he was in fact there and signing, and since there was a longer line for James, we figured we should get his autograph first. I was able to get him to sign my Smallville poster and once again I told him that he was my first crush ever. We had a little talk about his stubble and he asked us (me and Rosie) if it worked. We both agreed it worked very well. Then John told Rosie that her hair was working too and he asked if he could touch it. She said sure. Hey! No stealing my thunder here! I was the one with the little girl crush getting an autograph! Hmph!!! OK, note to self, keep Rosie away. She gets too much attention and then spends the rest of the day reminding you that John Schneider stroked her hair! Grrrrrrr…
Since James’ autograph line hadn’t gone down at all, we decided we would just have to get in it and wait it out. Rosie went first because she was going to be giving Steve a present (as a joke). On Friday when she was getting her autograph, she gave James a new belt to wear with his jeans, since a couple of weeks ago he had said that his was falling apart and he needed a new one (he never buys clothes for himself, he is such a guy that way!).
So Rosie had gotten him one and when she gave it to him, she reminded him he said his was falling apart (James loved it). Well Steve (Himber) heard this and told Rosie that his house was falling apart and could she get him a new one. Well as the saying goes, ask and you shall receive, just remember to be specific! She went out and found (in one of the dealer rooms) a small model of a house, so she gave it him and I got a picture of him holding it!
It was actually really funny and Steve was laughing at it, as well as telling Rosie she was crazy. Since the roof came off and it opened up, Steve said he was going to put all his valuables in it because that was as many as he had.
When it came to my turn I once again gave Steve his chocolate – yes, he got chocolate each day. But only because he was a good Steve and he did the reservation for the private party via email so no waiting all night in line for Magie, that makes Magie happy and makes her bring more chocolate!
I did have an interesting conversation with James. I told him about a dream I had after Monster Mania of him and I sitting in a restaurant and him telling me all about string theory. So as result, he made my dream come true and explained string theory to me. It was so cool, to listen to him explain it and he’s so passionate about all this science stuff. He’s also really good at explaining it all, good for the lay person to get a grasp of it. At the end of his explanation, he told me to ask him about M theory, so for anyone at the private party, that is where the question came from.
Here is the video of my 3rd and final autograph and of James explaining String theory to me.
Then it was off to get a few more autographs. I tried Felicia Day but she wasn’t there, as well few others that I wanted who also weren’t there. I did however get Bruce Boxleitner. I was able to get him to sign an 8x10 for my friend Maggie, that I gave her for her birthday. He even wrote Happy Birthday on it! She loved it!
I also got Garrett Wang to sign my Star Trek Poster and I got a picture with him. I had met him before and he was just as cool as before.
Then I went to get Anthony Montgomery’s autograph on the Star Trek poster. He was sweet and really liked the poster, he even held it up and showed it to John Billingsley (they were sitting next to each other) and told him it was so cool. He also asked me where I got it, I think I just said on the internet.
After Anthony signed it, I moved over to John Billingsley, to get him to sign it as well. I had originally planned on having him sign one of my Angel posters and my True Blood poster, but the cost of autographs at this year’s Dragon Con had gone up quite a bit. It went from the average of $20.00 each to $30.00 plus, with some charging as much as $80.00 plus. So I decided to hold off on the other 2 and will hopefully get them signed at a later date. While John was signing, I was telling him how much I loved him on True Blood and his lovely wife, actress Bonita Friedericy, who was also there and sitting next to him, was joking about seeing her naked husband all over the TV. She was really sweet and even introduced herself to me. Had I known she was there and that she was had been on Angel, I likely would have gotten her to sign the poster, but oh well. John was also a lot of fun and was thanking me for liking True Blood and his work.
Then it was time for Photo ops with James, so we all went over to the Marriott to get in line. The really nice thing about waiting in any line for James Marsters is that you always have someone cool to talk to. Then came time for my Photos – I was having 3 solo pictures done, as well as a group picture.
The first thing we did was organize the group shot (the group was fans from the JamesMarstersFans group), since there were 6 of us. It was decided that we would do all our solo photos first and instead of leaving we would wait off to the side and then do the group shot. I had worked it all out with Froggy beforehand, so we were good to go.
For my solo shots, I went up to James gave him his hug and then told him we were re-shooting the dip pose from yesterday, since it didn’t come out. He said OK and went to dip me, but I stopped him and said no it was the one that I dipped him. So we re-did that one. Once again, I was only really holding him still, he was bending over more then me dipping him, but you could see both our faces in it, so at least that is cool.
The last one was a copy of Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer picture that I found and it came out pretty much like it was supposed to, so great, though James looks much better then I do, but that’s not new.
Once all the solo shots were done, it was time for the group photo. We had chosen to redo a promo shot from the Big Bang Theory show – though they only have 5 people and ours would have 7, making it a little harder. It was decided I would direct everyone and position them where they need to be and advise James and Froggy. So the first thing I did was show James the picture and ask if it was OK. Had he said no, we had decided we would let him decide what he wanted to do, but he didn’t say no, he said it was cool.
Then, I went to Froggy and showed him the picture and advised him how we wanted it shot (not full length more cropped). Then I positioned everyone, myself and Rosie had already claimed the spots next to James. So I put Rosie next to James on his right side, and had her move in close. I’m sure that was a hardship for her. Then had Patty, stand next to her and Linda next to Patty, all leaning in as if crowding James. I placed Joyce next to the spot I would be standing in and Berry next to her, also leaning in as much as they could. Once that was done, I stepped in next to James and put my cheek next to his. James put his arm around me and he turned a little towards me, which was really nice, but he was supposed to be standing face forward to have us all leaning in, but I was so not going to complain! And Froggy snapped the picture. It came out pretty good, not as good as I hoped, but it’s a harder photo to do with as many people as we had. At least the ladies were all happy with it and that was the most important thing.
After the photos, Rosie and I went in search of Anthony Daniels, who played C3PO in Star Wars, so I could get his autograph on my Star Wars poster. They had him in one of the exhibitioner halls, wasn’t sure why until I met him. Now I had heard he was a bit of a diva, but I always take whatever I hear with a large grain of salt, since meeting a celebrity can be very different for each person and some people have good experiences and others don’t. So, I encourage everyone to remember that when reading any of my experiences as well. That being said, Mr. Daniels was by far the rudest celeb I’ve ever met. Now he was NOT rude to me, he was rude and mean to the poor volunteer assigned to assist him.
After my swim, it was make myself pretty time (or try my hardest to come close to pretty). I was close to being done when Rosie came back, feeling much better after her cup of tea. She of course blew through getting ready and was done before me. Grrrrrr! Why can’t I get ready that fast! But, I did get to order her around when I put some make up on her. I kept it very natural and light but gave her just a little color, though I couldn’t get her to put on any lipstick or gloss.
Then it was off to the party! Our hotel got us a cab and proved they were really good by asking us where we were going and then directing the driver, who wasn’t sure where it was. I had mapped out how to get there both by walking and driving, but even though it said it was only a 15 minute walk, which I wasn’t doing in heels anyway, it must have been longer since it took close to that just to drive it.
We arrived at Dantanna’s Downtown at the CNN Center just after 6:00pm. It was a nice upscale sports restaurant and was completely empty. We knew we were early since the schedule was:
6:30 PM-7:30 PM – hors d’oeuvres buffet
7:30 PM – James arrives
7:30 PM-8:30 PM – photo with James – each guest will be called up to get a professional photo with James and spend a minute privately chatting
8:30 PM-9:30 PM – open forum for a group discussion/Q&A with James
9:30 PM – private acoustic concert
We told them that we were there for the private party and they showed us right to The Morgan Room, where it was going to be held. They had just finished putting out the hors d’oeuvres buffet, so they were all still hot and really, really good. Rosie was worried we were in the wrong place and was pacing and must have asked 3 different people if this was the place and if they had another room and so on (not even Steve was there, he showed up about 15-20 minutes later). I, on the other hand, went about eating my weight in shrimp! I wasn’t worried because even if we were in the wrong place, hey there was shrimp! By the time Becky arrived, I was already full, having not only eaten a lot of shrimp but found that I really liked the Cheeseburger Empanadas and the Fried Artichoke Hearts.
Rosie and I had picked the table we thought might be in front of James, since there was only one spot off to the side that had some space. We weren’t sure how they were going to fit everyone in the room because Rosie only counted 44 seats and sure enough, they had to bring in more tables and chairs, plus add people to tables and have them be cozy with each other.
I would say most people arrived around and just after 6:30pm and the room filled up fast. Steve came in and gave us a low down of what would happen for the night. How each of us would get our 1 minute with James as well as our picture taken, then we would have the Q&A, which he said was more like an open discussion, followed by the concert. Steve let us know that there would be NO video whatsoever for the concert, so to make sure of this, he didn’t want any camera out at all. We complained about not being able to take pictures, so he allowed us to take pictures for the first song only, BUT he did not want any video whatsoever and if he saw any, he would be coming after whoever took it. So as far as I know, no one took any. Before we knew it, James had arrived. He just came in, sat on a stool in the little space in front of our table and gave us all a big grin.
Steve proceeded to tell us how the one minute personal time would go and showed us how long it actually was by having a fake conversation with James and even playfully posed with James, by putting his legs on James’ lap.
Then it was time for the individual ‘one minute in heaven with James Marsters’ as Steve put it. Since our table was closest, Steve started with us. When it was my turn, I think I was 4th. I went up to James said “Hi Sweetie” and he said “Hi Darling”. We took our picture first and James just put his arm around me and we leaned in and snap, it was casual and cool. Though like almost everyone, I was not thrilled with how the picture turned out. It was the lighting more than anything. Though mine wasn’t as bad as some I saw. Hmmmm Froggy it’s called a flash!
As for what I said to him, I have practiced it so I wouldn’t sound too stupid and I wanted to be funny, so I said “Ok, first I’m going to say that I’m only kidding. So a lot of people have been asking me what are you going to talk to James about in your one minute, but the truth is I don’t really have anything, so I thought we could just make out for the one minute.” And then I gave James an ‘I’m only kidding’ grin. He grinned back, put his head down while he laughed and then said, “Well in that dress, I am might have to consider it!” I replied with “Awwwwwwww, you’re so sweet!” and that is when he went off on me. “No! I’m not sweet, I’m an asshole!”
I went back to my table a little stunned from the “I’m an asshole” conversation, because what do you say to some one who is on that kick? And can you really change their minds? Well, I put it aside and started taking pictures of people I knew well when they were taking to James. I figured everyone would like a few pictures of themselves with him. What is really sad, is that most people told me they liked my pictures of them with James more then the official picture they got. Looks like Froggy didn’t find the flash button with most people and also pulled in a little too tight in the frame for the picture to look good.
The first question was asked by me (any surprise?) and I asked James what it had been liked filming Caprica. He said he had more fun filming Caprica then anything. He seemed to really enjoy it and talked about what it was like. The second question was asked by Stephen and was about what he thought about people who didn’t like sci-fi.
After that Steve Himber asked if we wanted to know what Jane Espenson had said about James’ performance. We all said ‘yes’ and he read us the email he had gotten from her. It said that James was great and that they had loved having him on set. Yeah James!
After reading out Jane’s email, Steve said, “Oh and by the way, I don’t need any help!” We weren’t sure what he was talking about. It turns out that there are these casting calls with roles that go out over the net and some people get them. Well these same people then take it upon themselves to send them to Steve as suggestions for James. Steve explained that people really don’t have any clue if any of these roles conflict with other roles he maybe doing, so its not a help to him at all – and besides he would have been well aware of them himself.
I actually found this really funny and later read on a board about people commenting on some casting calls and what role they thought James would be best for, as well as how they didn’t approve of the way Steve managed James’ career. This to me is beyond funny! Since not only is Steve Himber one of the best managers in ‘Hollywood’ and represents many, many big names in the business (most of which James fans have no clue of), but he also know things like who’s producing a project, how likely it is to get funding and if its worth sending his clients out for that role. But apparently some people out there think they know better. I really wonder if they would like it if Steve went up to them at their jobs and told them how to do it better.
And here is some more videos of questions and answers. Enjoy!
After the Q&A, it was the private acoustic concert, which was great! Very intimate and unstructured. Just him, us and his guitar – no mic, no sound system. It was wonderful, if not a little raw at times.
Layabout
The Truth is a Heavy Stone
Looking at You
Get Up
For what I need
Poor Robyn
Smile
Moonshot
Vandals
London City
All that she wanted
Good bye
Angel
Finer than Gold
But that was it. Steve brought the night to a close, let us know we could hang around longer and reminded us of the start time for the photo ops the day and that they HAD to leave by noon since they had to catch a flight. As Steve was talking, James bent down to put his guitar away and confirmed for a few of us that he does not in fact wear underwear. It wasn’t a big show, just a little bit of cute butt crack. Enough that some of us (who could see) raised an eyebrow, but that was it.
James and crew said their goodbyes and the night was over. We made our way back to our hotel via shuttle from the neighboring Omni Hotel. It was very nice of them to shuttle us back and I tipped them nicely for it. Then it was off to bed.
Monday September 7, 2009
Today we only had one thing planned, last photo ops with James Marsters, which didn’t start until 11:30am. We got to sleep in a little while and we actually went to get breakfast in the restaurant instead of getting room service. The Sheraton does a very nice buffet breakfast, as I found out.
Then it was off to the Marriott to get in line. We were able to hang out with the gang including Squirl and son of Squirl, who for the most part was off doing his own thing all weekend. John (aka son of Squirl) was taking a picture with James this morning, I believe his only one all weekend, and was trying to think of something to do in the pose that was funny. He finally came up with the idea to do a hug with James, but would have them each kick up a leg ‘like school girls’ (his words not mine). I think he was sold on the idea when we all laughed at it. I saw the picture being done and when John told James his idea, James first laughed then said something along the lines of “What the fuck do you want me to do!?” but he was a good sport about it and the picture came out really great!
Rosie was getting her photos done before me and her last photo was going to be her 100th solo photo with James (WOW!!!) so I wanted to watch. Froggy called out “number 100” and for that picture James gave Rosie a kiss on the head and a hug.
I was only getting one photo op that day and I was one of the first few, so no one had told me to hurry (not that it would have mattered) and I went up to James and gave him a hug and got hugged back. I told him that I wanted to be kissing his nose in the picture and asked if that was OK. He said ‘sure’. I put my hands on either side his face and went up on tippy toes to reach, James bent down a little for me and I rocked a little. At the moment the photo was taken, I think I was actually making contact, not that I had intended to, but with being so close and being on tippy toe I just wasn’t stable. It was it was only for a second and the photo came out really, really, really well. It’s actually my favorite from the weekend.
After the shot was snapped, I told James that I wanted to thank him for being so great all weekend or for being an asshole, whichever he wanted to hear. He smiled at me and said ‘you’re welcome and thank you’ and hugged me, and as he was hugging me he gave a kiss on the forehead a very deliberate smacker, to say thanks. I was both stunned and very happy and gave him a big grin!
Once I was done, I went around the corner to find Steve and crew. I had brought some chocolate for them all as a thank you and had intended to give them to Steve, Peg, Helen and Marlene at the private party the night before, but I had forgotten it in the room, so I brought it for them now. Only Steve and Peg were there, but they said they would give both Helen and Marlene their chocolate later when they saw them.
Many of us, stood around talking after and we got to say a group goodbye when Steve and James left (suitcases and all). Which pretty much meant it was the end of the convention for most of us.
Rosie and I made our way back to our hotel to check out. They were nice enough to give us a later check out so that we didn’t have to rush at the photo ops or check out beforehand. After we checked out and stored our bags, we both had a few hours to kill and I had planned on us visiting The Martin Luther King Center, which would have been fun (and one day I will get to it). But we were both too tired from the weekend to do much, let alone a long walk there and a few hours of walking around and learning stuff. We both wanted to do something low energy and mindless. So we went shopping! We hit the dealer rooms, all of them, and had a really good look around. We even bought a few things. I got a few good deals on some comic books and a t-shirt for my godson (belated birthday gift). We stopped and saw J&J at their table, but only Jeff was there, so we talked to him for a bit.
Then we went back down to Froggy’s photos to see if our pictures were done and sure enough they were. We stayed and chatted with a few people, but then we were both hungry so went in search of food. Since we were already in the Marriott, we went to their restaurant. Pulse was closed for lunch, so we ended up at High Velocity. We both ordered and, as we are sitting there (me facing the door and Rosie with her back to it), I saw an actor that Rosie did not like come walking in. I guess a look came across my face because Rosie asked, ‘what’ and I had to tell her that ‘he’ was here. I think if we hadn’t already ordered, she would have wanted to leave but since we were there first and had ordered we stayed put! The good thing was that he was off at the other side of the restaurant talking to people he knew and wasn’t paying any attention to us, so that was good.
In order to take our minds off anyone that might be in the restaurant, Rosie and I put on our own show and tell, taking turns showing each other our photo ops and discussing them. It was actually a lot of fun. We each discussed what we thought of the others and brought points of views the other person may not have thought of, plus we got to find out what happened during each shot and so on.
During all this, once again, I am looking at the door and in walks… Aaron Douglas! The one actor whom I have ‘issues’ with! Rosie asked what was wrong now and I explained, which cause her to go into a fit of laughter! Of all the restaurants and all the actors we would have loved to see, why did the 2 actors we did NOT like have to come in to the restaurant we were at!!! And what made it worse, Aaron Douglas sat his ass down right next to us! I was not impressed. Rosie, on the other hand, thought it was beyond funny. In fact, since we put the photos aside when our food arrived, Aaron noticed Rosie’s photos and started talking to her about them. He said fans never did anything like that with him in his photos ops. Now I was a good girl and didn’t snap with “well that’s because you’re an asshole!” and instead kept quiet and didn’t even look at him. Rosie, on the other hand, had no real idea who he was and had a nice chat about how great James was.
Though if nothing else, it was a source of much laughter. Rosie commented that why did the people we NOT want to see have to come in, why couldn’t we get someone we actually liked to walk in. James had already left, but someone like John Schneider would have been great! But noooooooo we get the 2 actors we can’t stand! Just our frakking luck!!!
After we finished lunch, plus dessert and our show and tell, it was getting late and we headed out, leaving both Aaron and he ‘who will not be named because Rosie dislikes him that much’ still in the restaurant. We headed back to our hotel, where I got my luggage and Rosie kept me company (Rosie was leaving later) until my shuttle got there. It was sad saying goodbye. I had so much fun with her – Rosie was fabulous roommate! Just the right amount of doing things together and yet having our own time apart to do our own thing. Plus she’s a lot of fun! And it had been so great to spend time and see everyone! I have such cool friends!
I spent my flight back writing up my report from FanExpo and being grateful that I was done with conventions for a while! WOW, someone remind me to never again do 3 conventions in a row! But still it was a great time and I had a major blast!!!
Magie
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1 comment:
Great Report Magie! Love reading it and love the videos!
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