icon 26: part 2: saturday & sunday

[amezri]

continued from Part 1...

March 24, 2007

Was awake at about 5:00am, but didn't actually get up until about 7:00am. There was some random kid passed out on the floor to my left; still have no idea who that was. Got showered and geared up in my Tenth Doctor outfit. Sort of sat around for a couple hours and ate an apple while I waited for the other to get up and get going XD

Met up with yukiyoshi and Bryan on the way to Javits. We were on our way to see a silent film from 1911 called "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." There were only two other people in the room when we showed up (I suspect 10:00am is a tad early for most con-goers), so we sort of sat towards the back. When the film started finally, we could hear the music just fine, but there was no video. That's kind of annoying at any other time, but you try figuring out a silent movie that way. The other man in the room started narrating what was going on (or he was making shit up, I have no idea) while ozw sort of wandered around trying to find a tech to fix it. It took about 15 minutes before the problem was resolved and we could enjoy the film. It was sort of interesting; you kind of forget how the idea of "horror" has changed over the many years of the media. I mean, I hate scary horror films, but this wasn't at all frightening -- probably wouldn't even scare small children these days -- but in 1911 I'm sure it was terrifying.

After the movie, we have about half an hour to kill before I had to get to the Tory Belleci signing. We decided to do a mini photo shoot with me as the Doctor and Oz as the TARDIS around the Javits building. yukiyoshi took all of the photos and the black & white ones came out really well I think. Very cool.

ozw and I headed to the Tory Belleci signing then, but as we waited in line, a staffer came and told us that Tory's signing was canceled and had been rescheduled to 3:00pm when he'd be signing with Kari. Grr. Wasn't really sure what to do at that point, so I think we wandered over to the 501st table, which was packed, before heading down to the Dealer's Room. I went to Claudia Christian's table first and gave her Tom's CD (she thanked me and she said she loved listening to new music) and a print of Deliquesce. She was really surprised at the gifts and the woman next to her (probably her manager..?) said, "oh, we can give you something in return!" and gave me a copy of Claudia's CD, "One Upon a Time..." That was very nice of them. I also wanted to buy an 8x10 to be signed -- always have a terrible time figuring out which I want, so as I'm looking, Claudia's pointing out all the ones she has and a binder with more, saying, "clothes, no clothes, whatever you want!" Bwaaah! I ended up getting the Ivanova promo photo. She commented on my outfit, and I said that I was the Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who. She didn't quite get it, but said that I looked very Annie Hall. Heh. I also asked her about Starhyke and when that would be out -- she's hoping soon.

Dean Haglund's table was right next to Claudia's, and there weren't more than a couple people there, so I shifted over. He had a few 8x10s as well as the Chill Pak he invented, which is basically an ice pack for your laptop. (I'm sort of wondering if he had one of those crap Dell Inspirons which are known for overheating to the point where they can burn you.) I gave Dean a print of Deliquesce and he immediately checked it and said, "oh good, you did sign it." Heh. Then he chatted with me about it a bit, asking if I used Photoshop and then wanted to know what the source images were. I vaguely gestured at the frog skeleton, a bee hive, and that there was a Greek statue in there somewhere as well. He talked about the improv skit he was doing that night with Claudia and Denise Crosby and that there would be a DVD available. Since I wasn't 100% sure I was going to make the Cabaret, I figured, why not? The extra selling point was that all three of them would sign it for free. While he was out from his table getting pictures taken with a couple other people, I sort of snuck my camera in there and asked if he'd take a pitcure with me as well -- since he was already up and everything. That done, I had him sign an 8x10 of a Lone Gunmen promo shot and was about to go to Denise's table, but it seems both she and Claudia had wandered off. With a reminder from Dean to come back Sunday to pick up the DVD (he'd be burning DVDs all night!), Oz and I wandered off.

We decided that we were both hungry and went to find food. As we passed by the barbecue stand and tried to decide if we wanted that, we ran into a man dressed at the Fourth Doctor! I took a photo of him and then geeked out with him a little bit. He asked about the TARDIS hoodie ozw was wearing. [Let me just add here that all weekend people were recognizing the TARDIS hoodie and asking about it, but only like one person actually knew I was the Tenth Doctor -- he didn't say anything really, just covertly took a photo; so I'm just going to pretend her knew.] He finally realized I was the Tenth Doctor and said, "oh, that's a fantasy of mine! I've always wanted to come back as a woman!" XD So I remarked that he had, in the "The Fatal Death"! So we geeked a bit about that and couldn't figure out the name of the actress in that, but between the two of us, we got it :-P ozw used out cameras to take photos of us together. He was also nice enough to give us some Jelly Babies. ZOMG. I haven't had these since I was in Ireland and bought a package on a whim. I heart them. Said goodbye to him and continued our search for food, which did not end with barbecue and giant turkey legs.

We ended up meeting yukiyoshi and Bryan at the SAC for lunch. I decided on pizza, which was probably the cheapest thing that you could buy there, but still fill up on... and not feel completely sick after you've eaten it. After lunch, we all headed back over to the ISC to hang out a bit and wait for it to be time for the 501st panel. I was sort of hoping there would be boffers on the lawn, but they hadn't really set anything up yet. We ended up just sitting on the steps for a while and waiting for the 501st panel to start. Saw a lot of Naruto cosplayers and some other interesting costumes.

Members of the 501st, Rebel Legion, and Empire City Garrison started out of the ISC, so we followed them to their panel. It was sort of funny because as we got to the back entrance to Old Chem and the guy was like, "Are you with the panel?" because clearly, none of us were in Star Wars gear. But I just sort of said, "panel, yes," and he let us inside. Hahahaha! Nice. Once inside, we waited a little bit outside the room while the Ghoul-a-go-go screening finished up. The panel itself was pretty cool. The very little I know about the group is all because I'm friends with Tanya, Dion, and Zach who are with the group. I had met Bonnie & Andres (who handed me his camera and asked me to take photos for him) at Farpoint this year. They're all a bunch of fun people, so it was fun to learn a little more about their groups. I think yukiyoshi might be joining up. Heh.

After that panel, we all headed back towards the ISC -- I wanted to try the Mythbusters signing again. The SCA people were at it on the physics lawn, so yukiyoshi stayed there to get some photos. ozw went in with me to wait in line. Uh. Unfortunately, they had cut the line off 10 minutes before the signing was even supposed to start. WTF. So lame! Went back outside to the physics lawn and got myself some silly photos of people sword fighting. It was sort of boring, so we went back in to the ISC. I swung by the 501st table to say hi to Tanya. I think while I was doing that, the others went to get some Italian ice and sat down on the steps inside for a bit, so when Tanya and Dion headed down to the dealer's room, I passed on going down with them and sat with my other friends instead.

We did make it back to the Dealer's Room a bit later. Stopped at Denise Crosby's table (yukiyoshi had a bit of a squee). I have this terrible habit of never knowing what to say, which is why I now hand out artwork to basically break the ice, so I gave her a copy of Deliquesce, which she looked at and admired, checked the back for a signature and set it aside so she could sign my Improv DVD cover and then an 8x10 of a Tasha Yar promo photo. I asked if I could get a picture with her and her wrangler got up and motioned me behind the table to sit next to her. I said that yukiyoshi was my photographer XD Got a very nice photo, actually. So while I was putting that stuff away, yukiyoshi got an autograph and handed me her SLR so I could get a photo of her with Denise -- I hope I didn't screw that up. I've never used a camera that shiny and expensive before XD After that, I went back to Claudia Christian's table to have her sign the Improv DVD cover and also asked her for a photo. She was really nice about it.

Wandered around the Dealer's Room again. I went back to the table with all the Doctor Who stuff and ended up getting a Sonic Screwdriver torch, because you really can't have enough of the things. Seriously. I want one in my room, one in my car, one in my bag... It's a handy, swanky flashlight and LED lights are awesome. I also stopped by the Buzzy Media table and bough the first Dresden Files audiobook, "Storm Front," in MP3 format. I kind of wanted the others, but the only deal they'd cut me was $100 for the set and a free shirt. I did get a free GIANT canvas bag though. That'll be handy for carrying stuff to the hotel at Shore Leave, I think. Jim Butcher was to be signing that night, but I wasn't sure where I was going to be so I said I'd try to come back Sunday.

This is starting to become a theme, but we sat outside on the steps again before heading over to the Hunks and Geeks panel at Harriman. Took a lot of photos. There was a guy putting together his cardboard mobile suit on the sidewalk. It sure was a process, but once together, it was pretty cool. It was certainly a traffic-stopping crowd drawer. Met up with alorarose at that point, too. Hadn't seen her all day!

Right, Hunks and Geeks: Stereotypes in Media. Funnily enough, the geek didn't show, so we got a good hour of talking with the hunk. Jamie Bamber bounded in and said hello. He continued to impress me with his intelligence. Seriously. I'm not a brainiac, but I consider myself pretty intelligent, but somehow I feel like if I were to have a conversation with him about anything of importance, I'd feel like a drooling idiot. There were a ton of Battlestar questions. At some point, someone mentioned the stereotypes of male leads being dumb and cited Jack O'Neill and John Sheppard, which sort of irked me because if you've ever actually watched Stargate: Atlantis you'd know that Sheppard is not only smart, but is a complete geek, quoting Star Wars, The Princess Bride, and playing what is essentially The Sims with McKay! Argh. Jamie also talked about how he went up with the Blue Angels and had to work really hard on not passing out during certain maneuvers. Right before he ended the panel, someone asked him what he'd put in an episode of Battlestar and he putted a spec script out of his bag! ozw got video.

After that, we headed over to Javits for the Mythbuster Toolkit panel only to discover that not only had they combined the previous Mythbusters panel with this one, they also moved it to another room and rescheduled it for an hour earlier. By the time we got there, the room was packed. And by packed I mean that if you didn't mind being crammed against the door or wall and not seeing anything, you could go in. We totally opted out and instead headed back to Old Chem for the second 501st panel - History of the 501st. When we got there, there was once again a bit of a wait as this time Spat was having his panel which seemed to have run a little bit over. Or we were early. I'm not sure anymore. Anyway, there were only two other people at the panel except for us (about which Andres made a comment to me and I said, "hey, I brought three people with me!"). I sort of wish they had gone away so we could have a general hang out time. LOL Oh well. They ended up combining that panel with the next one -- Meet the Rebel Legion -- and ending a little early. ozw, yukiyoshi, and Bryan went off on their own and I stayed with Dion so I could go with them to dinner. Went with them back over to the ISC while they backed up and reorganized and I got a ride with Tanya and Dion.

Okay. Getting to dinner at Applebee's was way more of deal than it should have been. First of all, our car and four others all met up at one parking lot. They were then to follow us out to the restaurant. Well, as we were making a turn, some other car cut in front of us and next thing you know, along the winding turns, we lost them all. They'd ended up following some other car (... because it had a Star Wars sticker.. I think I overheard...) and were going the complete opposite direction. That was three of them. They'd totally lost Zach somewhere along the way. Well, it turns out that Zach was actually going the right way because... he stopped and asked for directions. So while we gathered everyone, Zach was directed to reserve a table. We did all finally get to the restaurant together, but it took a fair bit of slow driving and a combination of internal cabin lights and warning lights. Applebee's though. Oy. They did not know how to handle a group of 12 -- Dion and I watch as three of the wait staff along with a hostess had a huddle by the podium to discuss. I'd say it took about 45 minutes for them to get us a table and even then they'd only given us 11 seats so Ian (I think it was.. I don't know the ECG guys :x) had to stand until they sorted it out. Actually, they waited until the table behind us was done -- the old lady then wouldn't leave because she'd left money on the table and I guess we look like the type who's going to swipe it?! Whatever. All sorted finally. Order drinks and food right away for maximum speediness. Still took like 40 minutes for food to be delivered and by that time I knew I was screwed. I'd be missing most of Cabaret >_< And... I'd left my cellphone in the car. Ooops. It was pretty fun though. As per usual, I somehow ended up sitting with the guys while the girls were all sat at the other table. That's okay, though, I generally get along better with guys, sort of always have, so no big deal. We didn't finish dinner until about 10:30pm; Tanya and Dion drove me back to campus and dropped me off by the SAC so I could run in for the end of Cabaret.

Except Cabaret had run late and I actually didn't miss anything except the hilarious Haglund/Christian/Crosby improv bit. I spent the next 3 hours or so experiencing some pretty painful acts and technical difficulties. Ugh. I admit that Luke Ski was all right and Vlad & Creighton of Ghoul-a-go-go are always pretty entertaining. I thought it was particularly funny that Vlad kept saying "Voltaire will be coming right up," when, in fact, there was not Voltaire at all this ICON (totally bullshit) and in Voltaire's place was Creighton with a little mustache and his hot dog on a stick doing a Voltaire impression. If it wasn't already 2am and people weren't ready to pass out, there might have been a riot. Srsly.

We stumbled outside and as the last act of the night, I threw a bit of LED poi. Unfortunately, my ill-fitting Doctor suit and the big overcoat were not really the best sort of outfit for it. Had a few goes at doing weaves and a couple butterflies, but having taken my coat off, it was too damn cold to do any more. I think it all looked pretty cool, though; yukiyoshi and ozw took photos and videos.

Headed back to Oz's room to get some sleep. I did pack up most of my stuff before heading to bed since we had to wait for alorarose to get back and collect her stuff before we locked up.




March 25, 2007

Got up at 8:00am and got dressed in my Threadless "Dark Side of the Garden" shirt. Finished packing everything up and once ozw and seijitataki were awake, we put our stuff in the car.

Headed over to the ISC for the Tory signing. Surprise! He canceled his so he could sign with Kari. I'm not sure which was was uncomfortable being at con alone, but I guess they just wanted to do everything together -- but no one mentioned it to the track leaders beforehand, hence all the shitty planning and rescheduling. Checked the changes board just to be sure, which is a good thing, because they'd bumped Kari's signing up by an hour.

Had some time to so we ended up in Harriman for Jamie Bamber's Cylons: More Human than Human panel. Which was...interesting and filled with a lot of psychobabble. It was sort of interesting though, as Jamie really doesn't like the Cylons at all and thinks they should all be wiped out, but people were bringing up a lot of interesting points, like how Cylons were created by humans and so were emulating their creators. Cylons are monotheists while the humans are polytheists. Someone mentioned that human-form Cylons are born full-formed so they don't have that period of learning that real children experience -- their memories and behaviors are all sort of implanted. Jamie also talked about how he wished the Cylons were a little different from each other -- that with in the Sixes, only Gina was notably different (he mentioned that Tricia was more like Gina than Six) and as a father of twins, he could tell the difference between his kids from a mile away. I think, though, they do have different personalities, though. Caprica Six is definitely more... flinchy? She's not as sure of herself as the other Sixes, and certainly not as manipulated and sexual as Baltar's HeadSix. Then again, Baltar is nothing like HeadBaltar. On the topic of Number Six, we got on the discussion of how they are sort of exploring humans and in the dream where Six kills Hera, Jamie mentions that the look on her face makes it seem more like a curiosity killing. Others were chiming in saying that she'd wanted to kill Hera in order to save her from her future, or whatever else, but yeah, Jamie thinks of it more like the way a larger animal plays with a smaller animal out of curiosity -- just to see how far they can go. He actually used the term, "I broked it," when describing Six in that scene. Yes. Broked. I heart you, Jamie Bamber.

ozw and I skipped out of the rest of that panel so I could get over to the Tory and Kari signing. Thankfully, this one was a-go and I was second in line! Woohoo! The wait wasn't too long and the SCA people manging the line were all really nice. After some juggling around the guy before us (the guy I see at all the cons and his son...), I gave Tory and Kari prints of Deliquesce. Tory asked about it briefly. I handed Tory the Mythbusters Movie Myths DVD to sign first (he passed it over to Kari) and then the 8x10 of him, Kari, and Grant. I also had him sign the Underworld DVD because... I'm a dork and I thought it would be sort of funny. Kari was finishing up the 8x10 and the Mythbusters DVD -- she drew a stick figure of herself and then drew one of Tory! Heee. When he passed the Underworld DVD over, she looked up and asked me if I wanted her to sign it too. I said, sure, why not? I mean, she was there watching it all go down. Finally, I had a photo taken with them. Came out pretty well. Hooray!! They were really nice and I wish I'd gotten to see their panels. I also really wish I had remembered to mention the 501st plaque presentation from Saturday XD Oh well.

After that, we headed down to the Dealer's Room so I could pick up the Improv DVD from Dean Haglund. If I were smarter, I suppose I would have gotten their earlier so I could have had one with a label on it. Oh well. At least I got a DVD cover; they'd run out of those on Saturday. Went back upstairs to kill some time before Jim Butcher would be at the Buzzy Media table, so we sat in on the tail-end of Claudia's panel. She made some comment about us being late, but them amended it with, "well, okay, I was later too!" Ended up sitting next to the Fourth Doctor I'd run into on Saturday. He was very nice and offered us Jelly Babies again ^^ Claudia was really funny. And snarky. And she totally made fun of Britney Spears. I love her. Her Q&A ran a bit over, which she said something about, and said, "I'll just keep talking until Jamie Bamber arrives," but Jamie was already in the back sitting in a seat listening to her Q&A XD He made some gesture telling her to continue, at which point, she finished up and got off stage and went over to talk to him.

We didn't stay at his Q&A too long since it was mostly stuff we'd already heard anyway (people tend to always ask the same questions) and I wanted to go see Jim Butcher. Which is silly because I haven't even read the Dresden Files or listened to the audiobook and I think the show is a bit crap. Anyway. Got him to sign the Storm Front CD and also took a picture of him. Took one final look around the Dealer's Room and picked up two Sleeping Sickness microbes (one for me and one for queenmaab) and a little HeroClix character -- not because I play the game, but because I think they're sort of cool.

Met up with seijitataki at the SAC and headed back to our car to start the trip home. Traffic wasn't too bad on the drive back. Stopped once to get something to eat and fill the gas tank. Other than that, we got home in about four hours, so I still had time to unpack and wind down before I headed over to tiscbh28's to watch the Battlestar Galactica finale. (To which I say, Jamie Bamber, you are really good at deflection.)



+ Video from ICON 26 on YouTube

And that concludes my ICON 26 report. Hope it was worth the wait. I figured if I didn't stick to it and actually finish the damn thing, I'd never get it done -- seems that I never wrote up my ICON 25 report for that reason. Procrastinated and it never got done. Next year, I am so getting a hotel room.

Comments

[semplice.livejournal.com]

Wait, you don't have jelly babies there??

If you ever want any just say the word and I'll send you a couple of packets. Not sure they'd get through customs, but we can try.

[amezri.livejournal.com]

Not generally available, we don't :( But I've found a site that has imported British foods and candies. Placed an order earlier this week, so I hope they get here soon ^^ If it doesn't work out, I'll let you know. Thanks for the offer! :D

[fyrdrakken]

Oh, yeah. Between your con report and the googling fun I had Saturday, I'm started to get that pre-con buzz going for PR... (I'm taking Drusilla on the off chance I make myself actually do con posts from there. I haven't checked but I'd expect the con hotel to have wireless access. And if I don't get my photos uploaded then, I may never get around to it.)