Busking For Change - Toronto - October 2, 2008

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!

More than 50 musicians hit the streets of Toronto on Thursday as part of Busking For Change, a day-long event to raise awareness and money for War Child Canada, which provides humanitarian assistance to war-affected children around the world. Some of the musicians that were busking were:

CHANTAL KREVIAZUK
OUR LADY PEACE
FINGER ELEVEN
BRIAN MELO
SUZIE MCNEIL
LOWEST OF THE LOW

Unfortunately I only found out about this event the day before. So I couldn’t prepare for it as well as I would have liked. The 2 musicians that I really did want to see were, Chantal Kreviazuk and Brian Melo. And I am happy to say I got to see both.

I was running late when I left the house so I forgot my camera, so I had to take pictures with my cell phone (that why they are crappy).

I have to say, that my boss was really good about me taking off to check them out. I checked out Chantal Kreviazuk when she was at Queen Street & John Street (in front of the Much Music building). She was doing some interviews when I got there, then she started signing. It was a small crowd, maybe 50 people (most of them press). She sang a couple of songs, while people went through the crowd to get donations. I had mine out and ready, since that was the point of the entire day. Then I had to leave, back to work, hi ho, hi ho!

Later in the day I headed out to see Brian Melo, he was playing even closer to my work. Though when I went to the place I had seen them player at earlier, I couldn’t find them at all. I walked all around Metro Hall, looking for the signs or crowd.

I finally found them on King Street. Brian was running late, so I sat and ate my late while I waited, I kept expecting the crowd to show up, since Brian Melo was the 2007 Canadian Idol winner and has had a successful album since. But no one showed up. I actually had a private concert all to my self, really cool for me, but it must have been weird for him, singing to this one women, standing there trying to take pictures with her cell phone. I did however make a donation again! My stupid cell phone died, so I didn’t get any good pictures of him, which sucks.

It started raining and while I had my umbrella, I decided I should get to work before my boss decided he was too lenient. When I got to the office, I called in to Virgin 99.9, they put me on the radio (not the first time) and I told everyone that if they were is the area they should check Brian since he was amazing!

Well that was my adventure for the day! Pretty cool if you ask me!

What happens in Tobermory, stays in Tobermory!

Magie’s September 6 – 13, 2008 vacation 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!

What happens in Tobermory, stays in Tobermory. Or at least that is what the shirt we got my husband Rick says.

This year for vacation we decided to rent a cottage. We choose to do this because we did not want to broad our dog again (it was really hard on him last year) and because my in-laws (the only other people he lets near him) are still in Portugal. So we had to take him with us.

I found this really nice cottage in Tobermory, which is located at the very tip of The Bruce Peninsula in Ontario about 5 hours northwest of Toronto. (See map). So the following is my report of our vacation.

Saturday September 6, 2008

We arrived in Tobermory just after 5:00pm, check in time was 4:30pm, it was a really nice drive up and not difficult at all. Though we did have to stop a few times to let Apache out and give him water. What made the drive even easier was that I had playing “Small Favor” the latest Dresden Files book by Jim Butcher (the audio book) read by James Marsters. I had already read the book, but Rick had not and he kept meaning to (since he is a Dresden Files fan himself). I have to say that I was AMAZED at how why James reads those books, the voices he gives the charters, it was more like listening to an audio play then a listening to a book.

Once we checked out the place we unpacked and set up the kitchen, we were surprised to find they have everything you could need, so we didn’t have to bring as much as we did. They even had dog food for anyone who forgot theirs.

I also found a note telling us, that we can feed the duck (they liked Cheerios and they had a full box for us to use) and the blues jays (they liked peanuts and also had a full bag of them for us). Then we made dinner, since we were both hungry and after taking Apache for a walk around, we hit the hot tub. It was sooooo relaxing to just sit in a hot tub, relax and watch the lake.

Sunday September 7, 2008

We got up late (well I did) and Rick made me breakfast, which I informed him would be his job for the rest of the week. I have to say there is nothing better then a big breakfast on a lazy Sunday morning. After this, I went out to the dock to see if I could feed the ducks. At first they weren’t around but then one of them came swimming along and once the others saw I was feeding him, they all came over to get their share. Though none of them would come too close to the dock to get the Cheerios.

By this time it was afternoon and I had a few things planned for us to do, the first was to check out the locate town, seemed Rick had forgotten a few things when he packed up the food (not waiting for me to help). Also I wanted to check out some of the locate shops. Since we had kept seeing signs for a sweet shop at we drove up to Tobermory. We found that they had a very small town center around the harbour called Little Tub harbour. We found the grocery store, which was very well stocked and had a walk around the harbour. They were a few art shops in the harbour as well, but the prices of the items were way to high for us to get anything, though they were pretty to look at.

Once we were done shopping and having our ice cream at the sweet shop, we drove to The Bruce Peninsula National Park, to see The Grotto. All the guide books said it was a must see, so why not. Rick had kept joking about find Hugh Hefner and playboy bunnies there (since the cave in by the pool in the Playboy mansion is called “The Grotto”).

Once we got there, we found that we had to take a trail and it was quite a hike to it, turns out it was about 3 km each way. It was pretty for the most part but NOT an easy hike since the trail went through woods, up and down hills and so on. Also there were LOTS of signs that said we had to watch for Bears (yeah…). We finally did make it there (with me saying all a long “and who’s bright idea was this” and Rick replying “that would have been you!”) and while it was pretty, not sure it was worth the march through the woods. But oh well.

Once we hiked back, we drove to Big Tub Lighthouse which was just past our cottage so I could take some pictures. Then we headed back to the cottage for dinner and another soak in the hot tub.

Monday September 8, 2008

We got up a little earlier today because we some big plans and after once again informing Rick he was required to make my breakfast we headed out. I had schedule a boat trip for us.



It was aboard the Blue Heron V and it toured 2 shipwrecks and big tub harbour and then took us to Flowerpot Island. The funny this we learned was the 2 wrecks were in the harbour we were staying at, the same ones we could swim to, but it was still really interesting and we did find out the wrecks were of The Sweepstake which sank in 1885 and The City of Grand Rapids which burned and sank in 1907.

Then it was off to Flowerpot Island. It turns out that it was named Flowerpot because of the large rocks which they say looks like flower pots, personally they just like big rocks to me but what do I know. We got off on the island were able to walk around, we had to hike (once again) to be able to see the “flowerpot” rocks up close and while we were there we checked out the cave at flowerpot.




Which was surprise, a big cave. It was pretty I guess and interesting that it was very high up the rock face of the island, but still it was only a cave.

We made it back to the dock with lots of time to share, so we had to wait for the boat to come back and get us. The trip back was a little rough and the waves were pretty high, I choose to stay down below and not get soaked, but others choose differently.

Once we got back to Little Tub harbour, we had lunch. We defiantly knew we had come in the off season since we were the only people in the restaurant, which is always a strange feeling. Then we headed out to see some more lighthouses, I have always been interested in them this way we could see the country side during the drive and I could take pictures once we got there. So I had a few mapped out to see.

We drove to Cabot Head Lighthouse and Museum which was took longer to drive to then it stated, said it would be 46 minutes, when in fact it took almost an hour and half. But it was a pretty cool since we actually got to go inside this one and check out the displays they had, it actually looked and felt more like a house then a lighthouse. I was able to get some good pictures and then we headed back to the cottage (still listening to Small Favor all the way, I swear James Marsters just make a long drive much easier to bear).

Once we arrived and found that our dog had not eaten the furniture (we were concerned that he might if we left him along in the strange house for too long, but he was a good boy) we made dinner and once again hit the hot tub for a soak. Just before dinner I once again went out to feed the ducks, this time they came right away and there were a couple more of them. They were a little less cautions about coming too close, though they did keep some distance, I had Apache with me on the dock so they were not about to swim right up to it, though Apache was not paying any attention to them. But I was really enjoying feeding them.


Tuesday September 9, 2008

Since we plans but nothing that required us to be anywhere at a certain time we got up late and took our time. I once again went out and feed the ducks, this time they started coming out as soon as they saw me and came right up to dock to get their Cheerios.

The day was looking cloudy and looked like it would start raining at any moment so, I wasn’t sure if we would get to everything we had planned or if we would have to skip some things due to the rain. It turned out we only skipped one thing. The first place we head to was Lions Head Lighthouse which was actually in the harbour at Lions Head. When we got there is was raining pretty hard, so taking pictures while holding an umbrella was not easy. Once we were done we drove through the town of Lions Head, cute little town, but not must there. Makes you wonder where people get there stuff if there isn’t even a Wal-Mart (or Zellers or Canadian Tire) around.

I had planned to see Grieg’s Caves which were close to Lions Head, but since we would have to hike for 20 minutes to them in the rain, we chose to skip seeing them. Some how I think I will live…

Then we drove to Cape Croker lighthouse, which was a very long drive mostly on a dirt road, since it is on a very edge of the east side of the Bruce Peninsula. With the rain it wasn’t a very pretty drive but it was still interesting. When we got there, I was disappointed since not only was there a fence that wouldn’t allow anyone near the lighthouse but it was also the most modern (and it looks like it was still being used regularly). After screaming for the third time in frustration Rick came over to help hold my umbrella, because as I was trying to take the pictures, every time I took one I would get rain on the lens and it would ruin the shot. But with his help I was able to get the picture.



Rick then told me to check out the shore and once I did I found that people had made Inuk’s, not just one or two but 20 or 30 all long the shore. They were actually really cool and made the shore look super interesting.

After we drove to Wiarton and had a look around. It is the biggest town in the area and seems to have the most shops, we stopped and checked things out. I did not see any signs for Willie (Wiarton Willie is the groundhog that comes out every February 2nd to look for his shadow and predict if we will get 6 more weeks of winter in Canada) though I was hoping we would come across something so we could stop in, but no such luck. We did do a little shopping, then we headed to Bruce Cave’s, which was close by.

By the time we arrived at Bruce Cave’s it have stopped raining and the sun was out. So we hiked over actual it wasn’t bad at all, only took 10 minutes to get there. Once we did we found… a big cave (I should really learn my lessons on this, but oh well) it was kind of cool I guess and the hike was easy so that was nice. On the drive back from Bruce Cave’s we stopped at a Artist Studio and I was able to buy a couple of pottery pieces, which was nice. The entire area is filled with artists that you can go a look/buy the art. Don’t know what it is about the area that draws them, but there are a lot of them.

Once we were done, it drove back to cottage. We skipped the hot tub that night because the rain had started up again. I know many people like to hot tub in the rain, but it would have made the water colder and we were tired from the very long drives.

Wednesday September 10, 2008

Originally I had planned to go to Sauble Beach on Wednesday but I had checked the weather report and found that Thursday was going to be both warmer and sunnier, so I decided to switch Thursdays plans to Wednesday. Which was going to be a very lazy day of just hanging around the cottage and doing nothing.

It turned into a beautiful day, bright and very sunny (but not THAT warm). After advising Rick that he was once again required to make a large breakfast and eat said breakfast. I went out to the dock to feed the ducks. There were already a couple on the dock and as soon as I got there the rest showed up. This time they were NOT shy, instead they were demanding and some got right on the dock and stood beside me (about a foot away) demanding food. It was a little unnerving.

After that we decided to let Apache swim in the lake. We wanted to wash him anyways, so it was big deal if he got went. When he was younger Rick had taken him down to lake Ontario but he did NOT what to get in the water, so we figured he just didn’t like water that much. But ever since we got there he seemed interested in going in, so we figured we would see what happened. He LOVED SWIMMING! Most of the lake near the cottage wasn’t very deep, so he could just walk around, but he did swim out further. It was when he was further out that a duck swam by him (well about 5 feet away) and he then got very interested in following the ducks. He wasn’t able to keep up to them or even get close, but he enjoyed trying.

Once we saw he was getting really tired, we bought he back to the cottage and gave him a bath. He even seemed to enjoy sitting in the sun to dry off. It was nice to see him having fun like that.

I also put out the Blue Jay food (peanuts) for them, but even though it all disappeared I didn’t see any of them come and take it.

The day ended with dinner and a soak in the Hot Tub, all in all it was a really great day and one of the most relaxing I have had in years!

Thursday September 11, 2008

I didn’t want to get to Sauble beach too late, so we had to get up earlier today, but still not that early. We arrived just after 12:00pm (it was about an 1 hour and 15 minutes from Tobermory) I was hoping it would be the hottest part of the day. It was a beautiful day, just not hot enough to brave the cold water. And the beach was empty, expect of course for two crazy people in their bathing suits. We did do some shopping at the local stores, got ice cream and walked in the water up to our hips, but that was as far as I was willing to go. Then we sat around on this deserted beach trying to get dry/warm. We finally had enough and left about 2 hours after we got there. I still think that this place would be really great in the height of summer and I bet the water would be great then. We may have to go back next year and try it. Maybe drag a few friends a long as well.

We then drove down to Southampton which was only about 20 minutes south of Sauble Beach. I had hoped to have lunch at Grosvenor's Restaurant there, which was a 4/5 star restaurant and turned out to be in a beautiful old converted Victorian house. But when we got there we found that they only opened for dinner at 5:00pm. It was really too bad because the food already smelled wonderful. Oh well, next time we are in the area.

We drove over to see the Lighthouses in Range Lights at Southampton, there are 3 lighthouse in the area (one of which is on a nearby island) so I was able to get some pictures of all of them. Though one of them was further back and not on the water, which had me wondering what the heck they used it for, but it was still pretty. Once I took the pictures, I was able to sit near the shore and eat my sandwich and just enjoy the view. Southampton is the oldest port in the area (as per the city signs) so it has the nicest old house I have seen in a long time. If anyone enjoys looking at Victorian or Edwardian homes I would recommend a trip to Southampton.

Then it was time to head back, this was the furthest south we had been so it would take the longest to drive back. Once we did get back, it was still day, so we took Apache for another swim which he once again really enjoyed and I was able to feed to duck again.

This time these ducks were right there and actually stepping on my feet to get me to feed them. I had to shoo them off the dock a bunch of time, because they are freaking me out being so close and I was afraid I would step on one by mistake. But as soon I turned around some of them were back on the dock standing right beside me demanding their share of the food.

We capped of the night with dinner and a soak in the hot tub, which as always was very nice.

Friday September 12, 2008

Originally I only 2 things planned for the Friday, first to clean the cottage (since it was part of our rental agreement to leave it clean) and second to go on a sunset dinner cruise on the MS Chi-Cheemaun, which sails from Tobermory to Manitoulin Island and back (but only on Friday nights during the Fall Schedule). However when I called on Wednesday to book I was informed that the dinner cruise was all booked up AND they already had a waiting list. So that crossed that of the list, which was a pity, since it would have been really nice to do.

We ended up having another VERY lazy day. Rick spent the entire day with his nose in a book; he was reading the series I gave him for our anniversary and he wouldn’t put it down. It was like pulling teeth to get him to do anything. We did finally clean up and I was able to go out and once again feed the overzealous ducks who were once again jumping up on the dock and stepping all over my feet to get some food. Now I know they were all well feed because by Friday I had gone through a large box of Cheerios. But that did not stop them from demanding more.

Once I was done feeding them, I decided to try and feed the Blue Jays and this time see if I could see any actually fly down and grab a peanut. So I laid them all out on the railing of the back deck (that were the instructions said they liked to get them) and I sat and waited for a while. Sure enough it could a bit but a Blue Jay flew down grabbed a peanut and flew off to break it open and eat it in the trees. This happened a few times and then they must have realized I wasn’t going to do any thing to them and they relaxed. They would fly down take their time, choose a peanut, sometimes choose one drop it and pick up another, sometimes try and take more then one and squawk when they could not pick up both. It was really interesting to see them and they are very pretty birds up close.

After a while a chipmunk came up on the deck, I can only assume to try to get some peanuts as well. So I took some and tossed them to him, he broke them open and stuffed them in his cheeks, then ran off. He did come back and I toss him a few more and while he was breaking the shells open I went back to watching the blue jays, well a few minutes more and I felt something on my leg. Sure enough the chipmunk had crawled up my leg looking for more peanuts, this startled me and I let out a yelp. Rick came out a couple of minutes later to find out what was going on and then proceeded to tease me about the big mean chipmunk attacking me. He joined me on deck to watch the blue jays for a bit.

While we were sitting there, the ducks (seeing that I was feeding the others) actually walked all the way up the path to the base of the deck looking for food, I couldn’t believe they would do that. This of course started Rick on, “you know they will now follow you back to Toronto, looking for you to give them more Cheerios”. Actually I still half expect to go outside and find one quaking away and demanding dinner from me. Note to everyone, DON’T OVER FEED THE DUCKS! They will never leave you alone if you do.

We ended the evening the same way as all the other nights, dinner and a hot tub soak, though it was a little bitter sweet knowing it would be the last night we could so that.

Saturday September 13, 2008

We had to be up early because check out time was 10:30am. We got everything cleaned up, packed and were on the road by 10:15am. And while I did go out and try to feed the ducks one last time, the little buggers were no where to be found, hmmmm maybe they were already heading to Toronto and would met me there.

Apache I can say was NOT happy about leaving, he defiantly wanted to stay. Can’t say I blame him. The drive back down was made a little easier by James Marsters reading Small Favor, we were on the last few CD’s but we still did not finish them all by the time we arrived. It took us a little longer to get back then to drive there (or at least it seemed to). But once we got home we dropped off the stuff and went over to my mom’s place to pick up the cats (whom had spent the weekend at Grandma’s). And while I was happy to have the entire family together again, I had already started to miss the cottage. It was a wonderful vacation!!!

Dragon Con Convention Report 2008

Dragon Con Convention Report 2008

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 it is report time. This year I attended Dragon Con in Atlanta for the second time. It is a very large convention and while I am not good at brevity, I will try to limit this to the bare facts. Though I will NOT promise to leave out the James Marsters and Nathan Fillion drooling!

Some of the guests that I was interested in seeing there this year were:

James Marsters, Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Jewel Staite, James Callis Tahmoh Penikett, Michael Hogan, Dominic Keating, Hayden Panettiere, James Kyson Lee, George Takei, Avery Brooks, Walter Koenig, Michael Dorn, Cirroc Lofton, Ethan Phillips, Linda Blair, Dean Haglund, Phil Morris, Robert Picardo, Gareth David Lloyd, Anthony Lewis, Jake Lloyd, Daniel Logan, Ray Park, David Prowse, Laurell K. Hamilton, Harry Turtledove

Dragon Con in downtown Atlanta over 3 hotels (this year they added a 4th the Sheraton, but I never made it over to it this year) the main hotels are The Hyatt, The Marriott and The Hilton. All one after the other, so you can walk though one, cross the street and be in the next one.

Thursday August 28, 2008

This was my second trip to Dragon Con so I thought I new the ropes, but the first I realized once I arrive at the Atlanta airport was that I had gone to the wrong spot for a shuttle last time, which explains why we had such a hard time getting. Once I did find the right spot it was no problem getting to the hotel.

After checking in and lunch, I got a call fro Stephen (from JMConAps) to advise that the line for registration was already around the block. This floored me since it wasn’t just after 1:30pm and it didn’t open until 4:00pm. So I headed over to get in line (registration was at The Hyatt). The good thing was that they opened up about an hour earlier. Once we had our badges, Stephen and I went over to the Hilton to check out where the tickets for the James Marsters & Gareth David-Lloyd Party / Concert would be sold the next morning. Since the event was limited to only 60 people and would be sold on a first come first served basis (each person allowed to buy a max of 2 tickets). We knew we had to be one of the first 30 people in line to make sure we got one. Well once we arrived any plans to come back early in the morning disappeared, since there was already a line forming and had been since 10:00am. So we decided better to be safe then sorry and camp out as well. I did go back to my hotel first to pack what I needed and such. But I was back in line by 6:30pm and YES I spent the entire night on the floor of the Hilton waiting for tickets. I am nuts? YES! Did I get tickets? YOU BET! I would however like to thank Becky (madbrilliant) for EVERYTHING! Not only did she lend me a pillow, but she also gave me some ear plugs. This allowed me to actual get some sleep, not much sleep because the floor is HARD! But a few hours. I would also like to mention that Froggy (Photographer Extradanaire) also came out and join us and hung around until about 3:00am. I did leave around 7:00am to shower and change. I scarred poor Lizz (roommate) to death, since I had told her I was camping out all night, so she hadn’t expected me back at all. But I was back in line before 8:00am.

Friday August 29, 2008

By then quite a few people had joined the line, but we knew most wouldn’t get a ticket, since Becky (the most prepared person on earth) had given out numbers to the first 40 in line. I found out later that the last person to get a ticket was number 38. What number was I? “5”!!! Hehehehehehe!!!!

Once we got our tickets, we jumped back into line for James first Photo Ops. This of course was theme for the entire convention, going from line to line, to then another line and so on. I had my first 2 pictures taken with James, the first was our standard hug pose but for the second I gave James his very own Jayne hat that I had Angela – Ma Cobb (http://www.geocities.com/fadingendlessly/) make just for him! And I asked him to wear it for the picture. For some reason, people in the room thought this was funny and started laughing at the photo! I thought he looked great in it! James was a very good sport but was a little embarrassed by the hat.

Once the photos were done, I went over to the Hyatt to see An Hour in the Buffy Verse with James Marsters (James only solo Q&A). By the time I got there they had already started letting people in, but Shirley was able to get me a seat in the front row, next to her and Stephen. I was able to ask the very first question to James which was “Having just finished playing an Astronaut, do you STILL believe that cavemen would win in a fight?” James laughed at the question, but he did say that he had to do some research on Buzz Aldrin and found a YouTube video of Buzz punching out a journalist. It seems this journalist was following Buzz around and telling him he was a fake and fraud and never walked on the moon. The 77 year old Buzz finally had enough and laid the guy out with one punch (not to mention the guy was 40 years younger and a foot taller!). So after he saw that video James said that if the Astronaut was Buzz then he thinks he would win! Which I thought was a brilliant answer! I can’t remember most of the questions, but I remember that a little girl asked (in a very mature question aboutdoinga social experiment) if he could roll his tough? James was not able to hear her so he jumped off the stage and went to stand in front of her so he could hear her, then he laughed and showed her he could. He did do Caliban from the Tempest, which I have on tape and hopefully people can see it!

I was suppose to leave early, since I have Photo Ops with Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk. But I couldn’t tear myself away and stayed to the end. Then I raced through 3 hotels to make it. By the time I did, everyone had finished. I knocked on the door and asked if they were still there. They were and I was able to take my pictures (now if I looked messed up it is because I didn’t even brush my hair or fix my make up before I could the pictures). The funny thing is that Alan did not realize I there for the photos and told me he had to pee. I told him I could wait for him, but then one of girls working with the photos told him why I was there. He then said no it was OK, he would just go on the way back to the autographs since it was on the way.

My first picture was with both of them with me in the middle. Then as soon as it was done they BOTH moved away from me super fast, each giving the other the chance to take their single shots with me. But at the time my thought was yeah do I smell bad (well I had just run through 3 hotels, so maybe I did). The second shot was with Alan (he’s so cute!) and as I took this shot I had my back to Nathan, which allowed he to read the back of my t-shirt. It said “Proud Canadian Browncoat” on it (which I am!). So when it was his turn, he asked me about it and asked where I was from. I told him “Toronto” and he then got this serous look and said that he heard that they only way some one could become friends with some in Toronto was if some dies (so there was an opening). I laughed and assured him that wasn’t true and that I would be his friend. Then we took our picture together. After I did talk to them both a little bit and mentioned that the Edmonton Browncoats had Nathan and Vancouver had Jewel while Toronto had no one. Alan said that he had never been to Toronto, but had always wanted to go. I told him that when he did come, that then the Toronto Browncoats would take him out!!! He said OK.

Once I was done, I rushed over to the Marriott. Harry Turtledove (Author) was only going to be doing one signing at 2:30pm on Friday. Now unfortunately it was at the same time as Nathan and Alan Panel, but I had hoped that I could make at least some of it. Harry Turtledove is an author my husband really likes and since our wedding anniversary was coming up in a few days. I decided to get the second part of the series he really liked (and hadn’t read yet) signed for him as a gift. The line was not too bad I waited about 20 minutes and Mr. Turtledove was very sweet. I asked him if he could sign the books to Rick and write Happy Anniversary, which he did. After I ran to The Hyatt to catch the last of the Panel, ONLY to be told that the room was full and I could NOT get in. I was sooooo disappointed. Though from here on in, I can now lord it over my husband that I gave up Nathan Fillion just for him!!! So no more, poor Rick from anyone!

So instead I got some food and went to stand in line for the Battlestar Galactica Panel with had James Callis, Richard Hatch, Aaron Douglas, Tahmoh Penikett, Edward James Olmos, Michael Hogan and Kevin R. Grazier. It was a very good panel and I enjoyed watching them all. And it is very apparent that they enjoyed working together.

Once the panel was over I went back to the Hilton to get my photos and hit the Walk of Fame (which was held in that hotel). However even though all of them were printed and set out ALL of mine were missing. Once I confirmed no one picked them up for me, they had them re-printed. So someone out there decided they wanted my pictures, which is just creepy! Once I got my photos I went to get some autographs, I was able to get James to sign my Torchwood poster and at that time. I told him that I was NOT looking for sympathy or anything but that I just wanted him to know that some people lines up fro 16 hours, some even 24 hours just to get tickets to the event, just because we loved him! He was surprised and really grateful to hear that.

Then I got some of my Battlestar Galactica autographs. The first was from Tahmoh Penikett, who signed both my Battlestar Galactica Poster and my Dollhouse poster. The funny thing is that when I met him he said the same thing to me as Grace Park did “have we met?” He was such a sweetie and I did tell him that we were all so happy he was now part of the Whedonverse family! Next was Michael Hogan and what a sweet man. I told him we were both from the same place (southern Ontario) he asked where I lived and then told me his son lives in Toronto, actually he gave me his son’s and even the street he lived on. The whole time I was thinking he really shouldn’t do that, since for all he knew I get be some crazy person that would then go to his sons house and stalk him. But still he was very sweet. Lastly I got James Callis to sign my poster, I swear some one needs to feed that man! But he was also very nice. That was it since I had the others autographs.

I then went to stand in the long line for Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk. At which point I called my friend Kelly who had made it down to Atlanta and would be at Dragon Con for the Friday only. She ended being in line for James Marsters autograph, once she told me that I saw her and told her to turn around and waved at her. She came over and joined me once she was done. She had missed James Panel since she had gotten in early in the morning from driving all night and asked what happened. She also offered to help me hold my thing since it would give her a chance to see Nathan and Alan up close (can’t say I blame her). I got Nathan to sign the Mal cover of Those Left Behind comic book, he wrote “To Magie, Stay Shiny!”. Then I moved to Alan, whom I still needed on my Serenity poster, I he signed that and the Wash cover of Those Left Behind comic book. Though he did ruin my Serenity Poster, he signed his name right by Nathan’s head and a bit went onto Nathan’s face in the poster, so he continued it making it into a moustache on the poster. I was half upset half amused. But I did say to Nathan, “Look what Alan did to your picture!” Nathan saw it and laughed then said, “You know Alan has always been jealous of my good looks.”

The last autograph and picture I got was from Linda Blair who signed my Supernatural poster. Any Kelly joined us for the picture. But after this it was getting late so we went and met up with Matt (Kelly’s Fiancée) as well as Crain (who was with Kelly and me) and we all went to dinner. Now we did not know where we were going and there was some joking about me having a place mapped out (I think it was Matt who asked why restaurant info wasn’t in my info blinder) because I am a bit of a planner, OK I’m a lot of a planner. But as we drove around I got a chance to see new parts of Atlanta I had not seen including some very nice houses in Buckhead (in think that was it). We ended up at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner and the food was very good as was the cheesecake! It was a great dinner made even better by seeing both Kelly and Matt again! But soon it came time to go and they drove me back to my hotel, where I cashed completely from a good day.


Saturday August 29, 2008

I did get a pretty good night sleep, IN AN ACTUAL BED!!! But I did get up early so I could be in line for the Hayden Panettiere Photo Ops. I knew the line would be long and I was right. When she arrived she was flanked by 4 security people and was walking in the middle of them. My first thought was WOW, she must have had some pretty bad experiences at convention already to need so many. Once she arrived, we were told that they would be going really fast and that Hayden was not feeling well, so we not able to touch her. It looked to me like she was feeling fine, but they used it as an reason to tell people to hurry up. We were told she could touch us but we COULD NOT touch her. When it came to my turn, I told her I liked her new shorter hair cut (which I did) then we posed for the picture, she put her arm around me and mine went around her back (but NOT touching her) it was more automatic then anything. BUT, I got a very stern “move your hand” from her scary bodyguard, so I did and just let it hang. The only nice thing was finally seeing an actor as short as I am!

After the picture I headed over to the Marriott to line up for the Torchwood panel, which started at 11:30am. But by the time I got there (about an hour before) they had started letting people in and the seat I found was not a good one. Wish I was closer. It was a good panel that had James Marsters, Gareth David-Lloyd and Anthony Lewis. James and Gareth were in good moods and did crack some jokes. Anthony I got the impression was still a little shy, though he did tell a great story about the fact that Torchwood shoots more then one episode at the same time. And that just before he shot his love scene in bed with Tosh in “To the Last Man” that they had just finish filming the love scene in “Adam” and that Bryan Dick (who played Adam) and him had high fived each other on the stairs to say “Ok, your turn”. Gareth then cut in with, well yeah he loosen her up for you, this got an Oooooooooo from the crowd. He tried back peddling, but it didn’t work well. Also James did talk about having one of the best nights when he and Gareth went out in Cardiff. He also mentioned that they peed on the capital, but he didn’t go into detail about that.

After the panel I rushed back over to the Hilton for my photo Ops with George Takei and Walter Koenig. The wait was actual very short and since they did the one with them together first, I was done in less then 10 minutes. Though George Takei did ask me if I had waited long, I told him that no in fact I had not, BUT that if I had they would have been worth it. He then said that was very sweet of me and we took the picture.

I then ran down stairs to grab some lunch since I knew I wouldn’t get any other chance. I ate my sandwich in line waiting for my Photo Ops with the Battlestar Galactica guys. My first Photo was with Tahmoh Penikett, whom I just adore!!! And who gave me a big hug (without being asked) he also said he liked my enthusiasm and now he is part of the Whedonverse and that makes him even better!!! Once I was done I got back in line and got my picture with Michael Hogan, who was the sweetest man, I didn’t even ask for the hug, he just hugged me as the photo was taken. Lastly was James Callis, who for some reason seemed a little nervous to me but was still very nice.

The photos were done super fast, so I rushed over to The Marriott to see about getting Laurell K. Hamilton (author for the Anita Blake books and more) to signed my books (I had brought down 4 of them and had carried these heavy books around all day) when I got there I was told that her line had been cut off some time ago. I was stunned, I was just under an hour early and yet I was too late. I was told that if I wanted I could wait around and see if she would be willing to sign any more after the people in her line were done. So that is what I did, I waited over an hour but then was told that she was done and I would have to come back, either on Sunday or Monday.

I headed back to The Hilton to get in line for my Saturday Photo Ops with James, but because I wasn’t in line early. I ended up about the middle of the line. Because of this, my second picture was really bad, my first was good. I had asked James if we could re-do the Spike and Dru forehead pose and he said sure. But for the second one I asked for something fun and he asked if he could hug me (now the answer to this question is always going to be YES!) so he hugged me from behind but my balance was wrong and he looks like he is coking me (this is the only picture I am not posting).

Once I was done, I headed over to the Walk of Fame to get some autographs. My first stop was with Morena Baccarin and Jewel Staite. I had them each sign the covers of Those Left Behind (one with Inara and one with Kaylee) and I got my photo taken with each. I say once again just how beautiful Jewel is, don’t get me wrong Morena is lovely but Jewel in person is just too pretty!!! I am always left speechless, well at least I said more then “Hi” to her this time.

After I got Walter Koenig autograph. Then I headed over to get James Marsters autograph, I had a my Spike After the Fall #1 comic book to sign. James really liked the cover (it was the dealer intensive cover, so far my favourite cover). I also got to talk to him about his deleted scene in P.S. I Love You. We had talked about it at Grand Slam in April and he said he thought it was a good thing it was deleted since it would have ruin the movie (his words not mine). At the time I hadn’t seen it, once I had seen it I had a different opinion. I reminded James of our original conversation and I told him that now that I had seen it, I wanted to respectfully disagree with him and that I thought he was crazy! (And that exactly what I said). I told him it was a wonderful scene and that it would have only added to the movie and even explained why his charter was in it. Also that it was a real shame it had been cut out. The funny thing was that Steve Himber (James Manager) was sitting next to him and nodding at what I said, so it nice to know Steve agrees with me. James did say, that it was really nice of me to say that and he told me he learned a real lesson about asking for things and expressing his opinion on a movie set (he went into detail at the Smallville panel the next day). But that was sweet of me to tell him.

Once that was done, I got my autograph on my Heroes Poster from Hayden Panettiere. Her line had originally been out the door after her photo ops in the morning but now was a very reasonable size. I did ask her if she found the room hot, since I hadn’t been there that long and I was already ready to melt. She said she was always cold so this was good for her. Then I moved on and got my Star Wars autographs from Jake Lloyd, Daniel Logan, Peter Mayhew and David Prowse. All signed my Star Wars Poster. Daniel Logan who played the young Boba Fett called me Beautiful (awwwwww!!! How sweet!). I had also wanted Ray Park autograph but his line was just too long and I had to go (not to mention the slight melting problem I was still having).

I then went back to my hotel to get ready for the party and I actual to take a cold shower (insert your own dirty thoughts here if you want) because I still so hot and I did NOT want to show up to the party all sweaty and smelling. Though a few people who attended did not feel the same way as I did, but to each there own. The one good thing about camping out for tickets and something the wonderful Becky point out during our long wait is that most of us had gotten to know each other already. So it was more a casual party setting then any of the others. Dinner was a buffet and they severed:

Caesar Salad House Smoked Pulled BBQ Pork BBQ Chicken Coconut Shrimp Garlic Mashed Potatoes Baked Beans Coleslaw Buttermilk Biscuits Chocolate Chip Cookies

Though I didn’t eat that much, couldn’t because James had gotten there by the time I got my food and I was too nervous. Because of some mix up the restaurant, they put us out on the patio. While it was very nice out there, it was not the most comfortable for everyone and it made the concert a bit of a problem for James since he only had one microphone for signing and non for his guitar. While I was sitting at the table right in front of him and could hear the guitar fine some further away could not. Though James did make jokes that since people couldn’t hear him playing that he was the best guitar player ever and even Eric Clapton had called him up for advise but that he had to turn him down since he was just to busy to give any. He played the following songs:

Katie
Smile
This Town
On the Moon
Looking at You
Dont Worry Son
London City
Vandals
Birth of the Blues

The really thing was that while he did have a set list he didn’t go in order and when he got to the end he said he was going to play the “dirtiest” song he ever wrote and started playing Looking At You. We all started looking at each other and about a third though James stopped and asked if he had played it already, we said yes and he said “FUCK!” really loudly and then started playing Birth of the Blues. But that was the end, it was a short concert, nice but too short (then again if it was 3 hours, I might say the same thing). At this time Gareth was to perform but as he got ready, James told him that his 5th string had broke and that he could play and rock and roll without that one. James did have to assure Gareth he wasn’t joking and show him it was in fact broken. We did yell out that Gareth should do it a cappella, but he chose not to. This was the only disappointment of the night. Both James and Gareth apologized and said they would make it up to us with charm when they came to our tables.

Our table was the first one James headed to and he stayed there a while and talk to all of us about what it was like to work on Moonshot and about his watch. It is a replica of the ones the astronaut worn during this Apollo 11 mission. I did ask James about what the actual space suit was like to wear, he had mentioned that the helmet was really bad for him since the inner one was pressed right up to his nose and it made him feel like he was being suffocated. But I asked him about the suit itself. He said that it weighted 80 pounds and because of the short cuts they took to make it weight less (the real ones weighted 102 pounds) it made it worse in some ways and straps and Velcro would rub up against him. All in all it was very uncomfortable. Once Steve came to get him, I asked Steve if I could just give James a gift I had brought him. Steve said yes. So I stood up and off slightly to the side, Steve told James that I had a birthday gift for him, I told James that I knew he had already read the book and likely had it as well as I pulled out Small Favor by Jim Butcher. BUT that this one was signed to him from Jim himself. I also told him what Jim had said to me, that he loved James work on The Dresden Files and if it was up to him James would do all of them. James seemed really touched and gave me a really tight hug (the kind where some one squeezes the air out of you) and said thank you, but he looked me right in the yes and really meant it. That for me was nicest part of the entire evening. He also told me he loved doing readings and he also wants to do the rest of them. Then he had to move away. I will say for everyone who asks me what he smells like, I finally smelled him when I got the hug, and the truth is he just smells nice but not like anything special. So I think just his natural James smell is pretty good.

While James came to our table first, Gareth came to our table last in his rounds, by this time I was feeling very sorry for him. Since the first thing he did once he got there was start picking the chicken out of the tray (with his fingers, which was cute to me at least) and then he attacked the shrimp on our table. My guess is that no one feed the poor boy! Then he wasn’t able to perform his concert. All I wanted to do was give him a hug, I didn’t since I watched a couple of the James fans scare him a little since they had NO IDEA who he was, so I didn’t want to add to that. I did ask Gareth how he enjoyed Toronto and if he had gotten a chance to meet up with John while they were both here. He said he like Toronto a lot and that even though he went down to the studio to see John, he had just missed him. He only got to met up with him when they went to San Diego. He also talked about how much he hated Los Angeles and the best thing about it was leaving it (his words not mine). He said he found everyone really fake there (in Hollywood) and that people would only talk to you if they thought they could get something from you.

Then Steve came and got Gareth because he had one last suspired for James. He had James stand in the middle of the room and asked Gareth to lend us in singing him Happy Birthday. James stood up on a chair but was totally embarrassed by this and at the end told Steve to go

I also wanted to say that during the time in between James and Gareth, Steve came over and spent some time with us at our table. He also showed us a trick he could do, he can tie a cherry steam in a knot with his tough, some a few of us can do (including myself) but he could do it really, really fast!!! Like in a few seconds! So, go Steve!

The party ended around 10:00pm and I went back to my hotel since I was still really tired. Not sure when Lizz came in from party all night, but I am sure it was very late, the notty girl.


Sunday August 31, 2008

I once again got up early and after breakfast headed over to The Marriott to get in line for the Smallville panel. I wanted a good seat. Because I was waiting in line I had to miss the Dollhouse panel with Tahmoh Penikett, which was switched to 10:00am from 8:30pm on Sunday. That was a bummer; I would have liked to see that. The panel was great, James is wonderful but Michael Rosenbaum is so funny and both together was a riot! I was laughing so hard I could barely hold my camera up straight. Micahel seems to me the kind of person that everyone ends up around at a party because he is the liveliest and funniest in the room. He was a little more sarcastic then in Toronto the week before (but I find that funnier!). He was also tired since this at 11:30am and he said it was too early for him. He did say James went to bed at 10:00pm last and James said yes he was a good boy last night. So he must have gone to bed right after the party.

There was a Battlestar Galactica panel next, but I decided to skip so I could wait in line for the Firefly panel. I was NOT taking a chance I could not get in. I ended up near the front of the line and that is where Karen (earthgirl) found me. Even though we were both there it was the first time we had seen each other. She told me that she had the other Firefly panels on video and would even send me a copy if I taped this one for her. I said no problem and since I was able to get the front row (of to the left side) it was easy to tape. Everyone was great, Nathan did seem a little tired (poor guy must be working too hard) but he was still funny at hell! As usual Nathan gave out gifts to anyone who asked a question, this time it was signed cards (signed by everyone at the panel). It was a really wonderful panel and I only wish I could have seen the other 2.

Once I was done I grabbed lunch, then went to get my last remaining autographs, there were a couple of Star Trek people I wanted to get. But I completely missed Avery Brooks, who I did not even see in the distance the entire convention. I did get my Buffy poster signed by Dominic Keating, he did the funny thing of saying when I rolled out the poster “Buffy, oh I was in that!” Well yeah, that is why I am getting you to sign it dude! He also said that Sarah’s nose was altered for the poster, because that was not her real nose. Actually that was pretty funny. Then I got Dean Haglund to sign my X-Files poster, he was the last of the Lone Gunmen I needed. He did make a joke about the fact that the other never personalized it for me and that they suck, but he would because he was the best!

After that I got my last autograph from James. I got him to sign Spike after the Fall #2 cover. I also asked him if he had eaten Squid yet, since in a past on0line Q&A he said he hadn’t. He said he has and liked it, so I told him that the next time he was in Toronto, I would bring him and Steve some of my Mom’s home made Portuguese style squid for them to enjoy, since it was THE BEST! He said sure, Steve however looked very interested. Then that was it, I knew I wouldn’t likely see him the next day, so I said good bye and thanked him for another great convention.

Then it was off for my last photo Ops with James Marsters. This time since I knew I would be getting there late I decided to go last, plus I wanted to ask some thing special and I did not want too many people in the room. Turns out it wasn’t as big of a deal as I thought. I wanted he to be giving me a kiss on the nose, which came out great. I also got a bit pose (which did not come out great since James had some trouble with getting my hair out of the way. And last solo picture was me giving him a kiss. Then we had a group shot, we arranged to have member of JMConAps (the James group I am part of) get a shot with James. It came out really nice.

Once I was done I checked out the dealer room and even bought a couple of things, including the Small Favor Audio book. I also found Karen at the Firefly Cargo Bay stall and gave her back her video camera. But I was still tired so I headed back to my room for the night, had to miss the Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, done in the Rocky Horror style. I was told later that it was really, really good so I am sorry to have missed it.

Monday September 1, 2008

Last day of the con and I had to be in line super early. It was last chance to get a signing from Laurell K. Hamilton who writes the Anita Blake book series and whom I really wanted to see/meet and get a signature. Even though I was super early, the line was already about 20-30 people long. But after a long wait I in fact, did get my book signed. Only one, since she committed to doing everyone in the room about 100 people but in order to do that she would only sign one each and wouldn’t do any pictures (crap!). She was very sweet and when I got up to her she told me she liked my necklace, then tried to remember what it was, but she confessed she was too tired and it wasn’t coming to her. I told her it was a Druid pentagram and she said, “that it!” The I told her I was a practicing Druid and quick as could be she replied “Well, when are you going to stop practicing and just do it!” At which I laughed! And told her that was a really good one!

After this, I checked the walk of fame one last time (no James, thought it looked like he just left). And there wasn’t really anyone else left. I picked up my remaining pictures from Froggy, said Good Bye to everyone (mostly) and Lizz and I checked out the dealer rooms one last time before going back to the hotel, so I could check out. Lizz was staying another night.

Then I was off, back home. Though I will say my plane was laid 3 hours, I got in super late (and I still had to be at work the next day). Poor hubby had to stay up to come get me which was very nice, but the again I did give up Nathan Fillion for him, sooooo…

Well that is it. Hope everyone enjoyed the report.