About Me and This Blog

Hi! My name is Magie and welcome to my blog. Like a lot of people I live a pretty boring day to day life but on occasion I get to have an adventure and when I do I write about it. So here are Magie’s Adventures, I hope you enjoy reading about them. PLEASE NOTE: This Blog and reports are the property of the author and may not be copied or reposted, in full or in part, without the author's prior written permission and No Video or pictures may be re-posted or linked without express written permission of the owner!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

I Blame it on the Bunnies! 2009 Toronto FanExpo Report

I Blame it on the Bunnies!

August 28-30, 2009 Toronto Fan Expo Report
PLEASE NOTE: This report is the property of the author and may not be copied or reposted, in full or in part, without the author's prior written permission and No Video or pictures may be re-posted or linked without express written permission of the owner!

Well once again the time has come to file my report for FanExpo convention. This year was crazy and here is all the details.


The Sci-Fi Guests for 2009 was:

Leonard Nimoy
Emma Caulfield
Linda Hamilton
Bruce Campell
Mary McDonnell
Thomas Dekker
Avery Brooks
Walter Koenig
Beau Bridges
Billy Dee Williams
Robert Duncan McNeill
James Kyson Lee
Lou Ferrigno


Some other guests I was interested in seeing were:

Kelley Armstrong (writer)
Keith R. A. DeCandido (writer)
Dave Ross (Comic Artist)


There are just to many of all the other guests for me to list them all, but it was a good year for to see some great guests, no matter what you’re into, Gaming, Horror, Comics, Anima or Sci-Fi.

Friday August 28, 2009

There are two truths about FanExpo that no matter what will always hold true. First that no matter who I ask or what line I think is right, I will always end up in the wrong one for registration! Second no one who runs this convention gives a crap about the people who attends it.

After meeting up with Maggie and get into the dealer room (main room where all the dealers, artists, and guests signing are). I got in line for Emma Caulfield to get her to sign my Buffy and Once more with Feeling posters. She was so sweet , so pretty and so tiny! I did tell her I was one of her Tweople and that I found her tweets so funny (which they are!). She said thanks and that she was sick of having to confirm it was really her. I told her Julie Benz put a picture of herself holding her Twitter address up, so people could see it was really her. She said that was a good idea.

After I went to stand in the line for Linda Hamilton autographs, which I hoped would go fast enough for me to be able to get her autograph before I had to leave for her photo op and luckily I did get to the front before it was time to go. I got her to sign my Terminator poster, I also told her how petty she was in person (didn’t realize then that, that could also be taken as an insult as well. Just goes to prove I’m an idiot in the autographs) but she was super nice though and said it was because she was always looking beat up or fighting and that was never a good look. I agreed but told her that she did look beautiful in Beauty and the Beast (LOVED THAT SHOW). She said thank you.

Then it was off to Linda Hamilton photo ops. As I waited some friends came up and joined me, as well as some more were waiting in line already. Linda started a little late because she was still signing autographs, but once they got going it went fast. When it was my turn, she said “hi” and we posed for the picture, they snapped a picture but the photographer was having some trouble with lighting and had to take another, while we were waiting Linda was asking me if I was having fun an the convention and while she was talking to me she was rubbing my back and stroking my hair, it was both really nice and a little weird.

After my photo with Linda I went upstairs to met hubby (Rick) who was coming to met me. He doesn’t normally come to conventions (having only been to FanExpo in 2007 for one day to see Tricia Helfer and Charisma Carpenter). But this year he was joining me for all three days because he wanted to see the Star Trek guests and he really wanted to meet Leonard Nimoy. So I had to show him the ropes.

I deposited Rick in line or Walter Koenig Q&A and asked some friends to look after him.

Then I went back to the massive dealer room and went in search of Keith R.A. DeCandido so I could get my copy of Spike: Blackout book signed. He was happy to sign it and told me he had so much fun writing it and had wanted to write it ever since he saw the Buffy episode ‘Fool for Love’.

Then I went to Artist Alley (where all the comic book artist are) and found Dave Ross, he had just gotten there, so I had to wait while he was setting up. Once he was set up, I was able to get my entire variants of Angel after the Fall # 18, 19, 20 and 21 signed since he did the art work for them.

After that I walked around and found the Rouge Morgue booth because Kelley Armstrong was going to be signing there and I wanted to get the same Angel comics signed by her (since she wrote them).

Now Rouge Morgue might put out a great magazine but they suck at knowing what is happening at their own booth! Last year they didn’t have a clue when I asked about a guest and this year was no different. I asked 3 different people about Kelley all of which directed me to some one else because they didn’t know. Until I got to “the guy who will know for sure” (and didn’t) but he was able to ask some one else. The 4th guy (who finally knew something) told me that she was suppose to be there already and showed me where she would be signing. I told him that it was weird because I saw her as she was coming down the escalators (when I was in line for the Linda Hamilton Photos) he then asked “Really, what does he or she look like?”Oooooookkkkkkkaaaaaayyyyy… Don’t have a clue who she is much? I described her and said I would be back later to check if she was there.


I then went and got in line for Mary MacDonald autographs, the line wasn’t too bad and I was hoping to get her autograph before I had to be at Emma Caulfield’s photo ops. As it turns out, Mary who is the sweetest person is also a real talker. She chats with everyone for a long time, which is great when your up there, not so much when your waiting. In fact I had to leave before I got to the front (not that I was even close to the front) to make it to the photo ops.

I passed Pixel Barel (www.pixelbarrel.com/catalog.php) table to collect Chris Mak (at her request) and we both went to get our photos. Chris was joking with me about giving her ideas on what to do at the photo ops because mine tend to be different. But I can’t always come up with stuff and its even harder with women because asking for my standard hug feels weird. But with Emma at the last minute, I asked if we could do the peace sign, she said “Sure, whatever you want”. Hmmmmm… whatever? Ok, I could take you home with us, I’m sure Rick would love that! Not that I actually said that to her!

After Emma’s Photo ops, I was suppose to go to the meet and greet with Thomas Dekker and Robert Hall, but decided to try to once again get Mary’s Autographs, since she was still signing. Rick had meet up with me by then and said that he really liked Walter’s Q&A.

He was very surprised at both how funny Walter was and how good he was at doing impressions of the other Star Trek cast members, his George Takei was amazing. And actually while we were waiting in line for Mary, I noticed there was no line for WalterKoenig autograph, so Christine and Paul held our place in line while we popped over and got his autograph. There was a little confusion because we got a photo op ticket at the same time and Walter wanted us to know that we wouldn’t get a photo then and there. But once he was aware we knew that, he signed my Star Trek poster, without much else said.

It did take a while but we finally did get to the front of the line and while we were there, I saw Erin Grey walking by and I said “Hey, Erin? Are you following me? Since I saw you just last weekend at Monster Mania!”. She laughed and said “yeah, I was there with John Astin”. I had thought that if I saw her at Dragon Con the next weekend that I would tell her that I knew she was following me, but I didn’t see her at all.


The funny thing that happened was that Rick was looking at her with that look on his face like ‘she looks familiar’, so I told him that was Erin Grey, he didn’t quite get the name and I said from Buck Rogers. He’s eyes went wide and he said “Whoa!!!!!”

When we got to Mary, she was of course super sweet and she apologized for the long wait (and it was not fast).
While she was signing my BSG poster (I’m so running out of room on it) I told her 2 things first that her role was such an inspiration to all women and that she should so have gotten an Emmy for it.
She said that it was always harder for ensemble cast to get Emmy’s because no one person was in every scene and if you see the people who win, they usually are in very scene and no one in her cast ever was. But she thanked me for saying that.

After Mary, we had a little time before the convention closed, so I went to check to see if Kelley was signing and she was. So I went over and had her sign my comics. Maggie pointed out that they had spelled Kelley’s name wrong on the hand written sign, which she said was rude and I agree with her. But these are the same people who didn’t have a cue about the when, where, or who so…

I did spend some time talking to Kelley about her books (which I LOVE!). I told her that I was scratching at the furniture for Frostbitten (www.kelleyarmstrong.com/aFrost.htm) to come out and that I love reading her Tweets and that her comments about going to Chuck E. Cheese's with her kids and thinking that she should write Clay (One of her characters) having to go to one, which was hysterical. The guy with her, I guess wasn’t aware of this and started laughing at the thought. Yeah an anti-social werewolf at a Chuck E. Cheese's is too funny.

I also told her how much I enjoyed reading her Tweets as Elena one of her charterers from her Women of the other World Series (www.kelleyarmstrong.com/mSeries.htm). She told me she enjoys doing it and that it was a lead up to the book which will come out later in September. She also said it was funny that what people really seem to like isn’t the action but the at home stuff with Elena and Clay. I did tell her that I also enjoyed reading about the twins (here I go again with the babbling).
I also told her that I was really liking her Darkest Power Series (www.kelleyarmstrong.com/aDarkest.htm) and was excited to learn that there was going to be a 4th (since it was originally suppose to a 3 book series). She told me that the 4th would have new people in it, it would continue with a new Epson Group. Cool! She said that she liked to change the narrator of her books. At the end Rick was able to get a picture of us, so that was great!

And I’m sure she was glad to get ride of me by then.

Since we were all done plus it was close to closing time. Paul, Chris, Maggie, Rick and I went to dinner. We had planned on doing it before hand but we weren’t sure if Maggie would last the night with her re-injured knee, but she held out. We ended up going to Baton Rouge on Front Street for dinner and it was wonderful.

Saturday August 29, 2009

The morning started off not great, when we woke up our cat DeNiro (the one who’s been sick) jumps up on the bed, as he normally does for his morning snuggles and that is when we see one of his eyes is swollen and filled with yucky green stuff…yeah. Rick and I discussed what we were going to do, since we were suppose to be at the convention early but kitty was more important.

Lucky our Vet was both open and there. They had originally said they were all booked up when Rick called but when I called and told them it was for DeNiro and they squeezed us in. Turns out his eye was infected, don’t know how, best guess is he got some thing it is or our other cat got a lucky shot (I swear those two are like an old married couple, they used to be best friends and snuggle together, now all they do is either ignored each other or fight). DeNiro got an antibiotic shot, which he did NOT like and eyes drops (he was all better a few days later).

Lucky I have amazing wonderful friends and Chris and Paul held spots for us in line, Paul one for Rick in the Leonard Nimoy Q&A line and Christine held one for me in the Emma Caulfield Q&A line. It super sucked that they were opposite one another. So you had to choose which one you wanted to attend. I choose Emma because I had already seen Leonard Nimoy on stage at Grand Slam 2008 (he was great) and I had never seen Emma. Rick on the other hand wanted to see Leonard Nimoy, it was the reason he had come to the convention after all.

I was concerned about the size of the room for Emma’s Q&A because FanExpo is notorious for putting guests in rooms too small for all fans to fit, but this year they did a pretty good job.
While Chris and I were waiting, Ali and her newbie friend Joanne joined us in line. It was cute how Joanne wanted to take pictures of everything.

Emma’s Q&A went great, she was brought in by The Festival of Fear (who always know what they are doing!) and when that is the case they have some one start off the Q&A by interviewing the guest and then moderating the fan questions. Which is nice and that way the guest doesn’t have to do it.

Emma was wonderful and a few things I learned were that she is a sci-fi fan herself, she even has a Star Trek ring tone on her cell phone and we know this because it went off a couple of times. She talked about how she turned down auditioning for the role of Caprica 6, four times!

And after seeing how good it was its her biggest professional regret. She also told a story of going to breakfast with some one who was helping her launch her web comic Contrapussy (http://www.contropussy.com//). This same person was also friends with Edward James Olmos and Michael Hogan, so invited them along as well. She was so thrilled she got to have breakfast with them and got to listen to them using the world Frak (most of the BSG cast use the world in regular conversation). She said she felt like a real fan girl during the breakfast. She also talked about her role in the movie Shadow Play but couldn’t remember who else was in it, because she was cast at the last minute and was now blanking on the names.

The moderator said that no doubt if any one could get Wi-Fi in the room, some one would tell them. So Chris pulls out her iPhone and looks it up on, when she found the info (on IMDB) she showed it to me. I told her she should tell them, but she wouldn’t and told me to. So I got the moderator attention and then read off the names to them.




The moderator said I had been so helpful, that if I wanted to, I could ask the first question. That was no problem for me, because I like going first. I had originally thought to ask about the Buffy episode ‘Once More with Feeling’ but after hearing about her web comic, which was described as Sex and the City but with animals. I asked if she had based the lead character (a sexy cat) on any of her own pets? Sure enough she had. Her cat who’s name is Brian Dennehy, is a person in a cat’s body ( as per Emma). That the few times he has gotten out, he has stayed out all night and come home as if hung over in morning. She also thinks he understands everything she says but chooses to ignore most of it. She was also asked about doing Caprica, if she would be willing to do it and she said in a second. So maybe we need to get Jane Espenson to hire her as well!

While I was at Emma’s Q&A, Rick was at the Leonard Nimoy Q&A. he said that Leonard was very funny and a lot of fun. He did get some pictures and some video so that was cool.





Once we were both out of our Q&A’s we met up in the dealer room with Maggie, Chris and Paul, so we could get Leonard Nimoy’s autograph. Maggie had decided she would rather go and do something more fun, what like waiting in line for hours its fun? So she asked us to get an autograph for her and went off in search of adventure. It was the last time we saw her that weekend, turns out she and Janice went to Front street to get some lunch only to not be able to get back in the building. There were so many people at the convention, that it was now a hazard and it was over fire code.

But what really sucked and once again went to show the greed of Hobbystar was that while people with weekend passes bought months in advanced were not being let back in, they were still letting people purchase new passes.I swear at times during that weekend it felt just plain dangerous to be that building, there were just too many people and the fact that they insisted on having everyone go into the dealer room to have there badges punched and hands stamped, even if you didn’t need to go there, was nuts! It just caused lines, stress and chaos! I was so upset that this year I plan on writing letters and complaining, not just to Hobbystar but to several ministries to get them to do something about the way the convention is run! Ok rant over.

While we waited Rick and I had lunch in line, good thing was that the line was next to the food court. Awwwww con life, eating bad over price food, in line while you wait for something else.

We did met up with Margaret who joined us in the Leonard Nimoy autograph line and we all took turns leaving the line to go do other things since it was a longish wait. Once Leonard got there the line moved fast so fast, I was afraid Margaret wouldn’t get back in time (but she did).

I had Leonard sign my Star Trek poster and Rick got an 8x10 signed for Maggie. I did tell Mr. Nimoy thank you when he signed my poster and said that my husband had a question about his photography at which Mr. Nimoy looked at Rick (while he was signing Maggie’s 8x10) and Rick asked if used filmed or digital. Mr. Nimoy said that he uses digital now (but didn’t seem happy about it). I did tell him as we were leaving that his pictures were beautiful (and they are!) and that he should so do a coffee table book of them.


By this time Avery Brooks Q&A was already about half way through, but I told Rick he should go and catch the rest, so he did. I stayed and got Billy Dee Williams autograph on my Star Wars poster. His line was smaller at that time and I got through it quickly and it wasn’t too interesting, mostly because Billy Dee was still a little stunned by the guy who came up before me, who asked if he had him sign a book would he have to pay and when Billy Dee said yes, he pulls out his camera and shows him a picture he took of him and said it was ok because one picture was worth a thousand words. Man, some people shouldn’t be allowed out of their parents basements! So, Billy Dee just signed my poster and I said thank you.

Since I was done faster then I thought, I joined Rick for the very last of Avery Brooks Q&A. I did catch him singing a spiritual on video, man he’s so cool! Jazz musician kind cool!



Once that was over I went to line up for Robert Duncan McNeill photo ops. While I was in line both Colleen's brother Darrin and her niece Aisling joined me in line. They both had been to a few of the Buffy meet ups and Aisling is really cool for an 11 year old. Turns out she is a big Tom Paris fan, so she had to get a picture with him. I had told her she had to ask for a hug for her picture, she wasn’t sure if she could ask (she was a little nervous) so I told her that I would ask him for one in my photo and if he did it, then she would know he was cool with it.

So when it came to my turn I did just that, he was great and said sure and I got my hug, then as I was thanking him and leaving, I pointed to Aisling and said she wanted a hug too. Robert was so sweet and said “She couldn’t leave without getting one!” and in fact he squeezed her really tight. I saw the picture on Sunday when Colleen picked it up and it came out soooo cute. Awwwww major convention fan girl in the making! The trick is to get them young!

During this time Rick was taking a tour in the dealer room, so I joined him in the 9th level of hell known as the dealer room to get the few remaining autographs. I was able to get first Avery Brooks autograph, he did personalize it to me and did express some surprise that I spelled ‘Magie’ with only one “g”.

Avery used a special paint pen (as suggested by his manager) so it took a lot longer to dry, but the wonderful Chris Mak at PixelBarrel was nice enough to let me leave it at their booth while it dried so I would smear it more, she even laid it flat for me! Thanks Chris. Though I was a little worried she might sell it!

Then I was able to get Robert Duncan McNeill autograph on my Star Trek poster, he was very nice and his line was too bad, so I didn’t have to wait too long. I was thrilled after getting that autograph because it meant I was done and I could leave the poster tube at home on Sunday!

I met up with Rick and he came with me to line up for Mary McDonnell photo ops and once again my wonderful friends waved me over to the front of the line, not only did they hold a place for me, but they also got me a number card (the cards that show who’s photo is who’s and in what order they are taken).

It was great because not only did I get to hang out with them I also got to watch Elizabeth, Sue and Phil do their “Swearing in the Present” photo with Mary McDonnell. It was so great! They brought a book for her to place her hand on and Mary took it seriously too. The photo came out sooo good.For my photo ops I wanted to do something a little different and asked if I could put my head on her shoulder, she seemed a little surprised but said ok. I don’t think she understood why I wanted to do it, but she was still a good sport about it.

While we were in the photo room with Mary, they brought in her suitcase and Mary excused herself to go talk to manager (Erin Grey) and I did hear her ask Erin if she minded and Erin saying “not at all”. It turns out that Mary had to leave that night, we’re not sure why and Erin took over signing at Mary’s table and even brought Aaron Douglas in to sign (that man seems to do nothing but hang out at conventions!).

After Mary’s photo ops, we headed over to East Side Mario for our yearly FanExpo Shindig! We always get a great turn out though poor Heather (our fearless leader) who wasn’t feeling well that morning, fell down some stairs and ended up having to go to the emergency room. Luckily nothing broken, but she wasn’t able to run the shindig.

I am not a really big fan of most of East Side Mario’s food, but I had one of their personal size pizza and it was really good. Since there was so many of us (25-30), we had 2 tables and as it happens we didn’t get to talk to the people at the other table much, but since all Browncoats are cool, we had a great time!


Sunday August 30, 2009

We arrived at FanExpo around 10:30am and we went right into Leonard Nimoy photo ops line, it was already getting longish and we still had an hour and a half wait.

Rick had forgotten his cell phone at home, so getting a hold of him if we went to do different things wasn’t possible, so he told me he was just going to stick to me the whole day (found out later that he meant it).

Once the photo ops started they went fast. When it came to our turn we each stood on either of Leonard and he put his arms around us both and the picture was snapped. The funny part was just after the photo was snapped, Leonard then gave us a little push at our backs, like he was saying ‘ok now out!’ Rick says he didn’t feel it, but I sure did! And so Christine at her photo ops with Leonard.

Right after Leonard Nimoy photos were Avery Brooks photo ops, but they weren't for a little while so Rick and I decided to see about catching the last of Robert Duncan McNeill Q&A. The room was pretty full so we stood at the back of the room. Robert did tell some fun stories including one about how he had his butt set on fire one time while he was playing Captain Proton (by the jet pack) and how one of his greatest accomplishments was that he got Kate Mulgrew naked in one of episodes he directed.

I did get some video of the Q&A, but it’s wasn’t of one better story.



After Robert Duncan McNeill Q&A, I got back in line for Avery Brooks photo ops. When it came time for my picture I told Mr. Brooks that I a couple requests and to please say no if they weren’t ok. First I asked if I could have a hug for the picture and second if I could touch his head in the picture (I so wanted to touch that sexy bald head!). Avery said “No! you can NOT touch my head!” but he wasn’t mad, more like he thought it was funny. So I asked “ok then how about just the hug?” he said sure and pulled me in real tight, so tight I was squished against him (not that I’m Complaining). In fact the photograph asked to take another one (not so squished).
Turns out the one I got back was the first one and I rather liked the squished one! As I was thanking Avery he took my hand and shook it and asked me my name, I said “Magie” to which he replied “with one G”. I don’t know if my face expressed my shock but I was truly was! The fact that he remembered me at all from the day before, when he must have signed hundreds if not thousands for autographs, WOW! I was so stunned I don’t remember leaving the photos or what happened afterward.

Afterwards we had some free time because we didn’t have to line up for Mary McDonnell Q&A since it wasn’t happening. Aaron Douglas was now going to be doing it, but we all know my issues with him (and if you don’t, then read my 2007 Dragon Con report to see what they are). So Rick and I went to take a tour of the dealer room, it was the first time that weekend that I could really look at all the dealer and check out all the things that they had there! It was still super crowd even for the Sunday so, I took some video just to show how crowd it was, and I remind everyone that on Saturday it was almost twice as bad!



We got some lunch, once again at the food court and then went and I had my picture taken at the True Blood booth, with the Eric wanna be (god if it was only the real thing!).

By that time we were bored and because we had to wait around until 5:00pm for the Walter Koening Photo Ops, we had a lot of time to kill. So I gave in and took Rick to see the Aaron Douglas Q&A, it was about half way through and Aaron was being his usually snarky self, but it was funny at times and it killed the time.


After the Q&A, Rick and went outside to get some fresh air and just hang out and I snapped a picture of us which came out really cute.


Then it was back inside to wait for the Walter Koening Photo Op. There were a few in line but it wasn’t a long line, they probably would have more people if they didn’t schedule it at the end of the convention when everyone was tired and wanted to go home!

Walter was nice and we did the same as with Leonard, we stood on either side of him and we snapped the picture. It was nice and fast. And it came out pretty good.

After that, we were suppose to leave but we ended up waiting around because the Avery Brooks photo were on their way and if I could I wanted to get that one (since I knew that there was no way to get the Walter Koening photo, I wanted all that I could have. We had to wait another 40-45 minutes but they finally arrived and I got mine.

Then the convention was over, I’m usually sad when cons come to an end but in this case I was just relived. I swear FanExpo is becoming less fun and more like a chore with some fun through in. I don’t want it is about it but I am just going to blame the bunnies! They aren't just cute like everybody supposes, they've got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses. And what's with all the carrots? What do they need such good eyesight for anyway? Bunnies, bunnies it must be bunnies!

Wish I could say I went home and relaxed, but I went home got changed and took my Mom out for dinner to celebrate her birthday, she didn’t want to do it on her actual birthday since it was a weekday and I wouldn’t be around the next weekend so it was then or never. It was still a nice dinner, even if Rick and I were half dead!

Magie