con report: farpoint 2009
Feb. 18th, 2009 02:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amezriFarpoint 2009: February 13-15, 2009
This year, Farpoint moved from the Hunt Valley Marriott to the Crowne Plaza in Timonium. I think the hotel is really lovely (and their carpet is not barf-worthy), but the layout is kind of wanky for a convention. Dealer's room, autograph area, and stage for various shows were all in the same central area. It was a bit chaotic and there weren't nearly as many dealers this year as in years past. Disappointing, actually. Also, we had a fabulous view of the interior wall designed to look like an exterior.
Friday, Feb. 13
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smashedrecords and I got on the road in a timely manner - 7:00am! Craziness. Even better, the trip was fairly uneventful and we made it to the hotel in 6 hours. Got checked in with no problems and moved all our junk in after picking up our badges.
After getting into our Boondock Saints outfits, we headed down the the Northern Lights restaurant/bar to get something to eat. Ran in to Bonnie, Andres, Will, and Kristin. Chatted a bit before they ran off to do other things.smashedrecords and I just hung out there for awhile eating some tasty chicken tenders.
Swung by the ScifiHero table to say hello to Dan. I dropped way too much money on some toys, but I figured if I hit it up now, I wouldn't have to deal with it later in the weekend. Found Marvel blindbox toys and for the first time I got exactly the ones I wanted - Wolverine and Venom. Also stopped by our regular stand and snagged one of the new John Sheppards, bloody Drucilla, Vampire Willow, and a set of 3 Serenity vinyl figures. Ken was nice enough to let us leave them there while we went out for dinner.
Will wanted to check out Chap's Pit Beef, so we all squeezed into the car and off we went. It was definitely a shack... next to a strip club. I wasn't feeling the beef, so I just got fries (ew) and mac & cheese (tasteless). Overall... I wasn't too impressed and all I can say is that I went there?
When we got back to the hotel, I ditched the peacoat and headed to the ScifiHero table to leave my artwork.smashedrecords and I sat with Dan for a while. Adam and rpc180 dropped by and entertained us by simultaneously fiddling with their gadgets. Dealer's room closed at 10pm, so I helped Dan close up and then we wandered over to the bar.
Not much going on for a Friday night, but the Alien scared the crap out ofsmashedrecords and terrorized a girl singing karaoke. I have to admit, it was pretty funny watching her squeal... mostly because she kept on singing! And the bar manger looked like Christian Bale. Srsly. I like to call him Bartender Bale.
Saturday, Feb. 14
Valentine's Day! Though you wouldn't really know it looking at the con. Which is good. 8am was probably too early to get up after the late night, but whatever. Got into my SGA gear andsmashedrecords put on her punk rock Atlantis gear (which is awesome) and off we went for Day Two!
I discovered that Alan Tudyk was signing autographs outside the official time at a table in the hallway, so I decided to just fork over for that instead of dealing with the line and stuff later. Gave him a copy of Midori and got an 8x10 and a Firefly cover signed and also got a photo with him. He was pretty nice to everyone. Dan sent me back to get some things signed for him, so when I was doing that I asked him about that Direct TV commercial and he agreed that his made no sense at all. He'd never worked with Dule Hill before but they asked him if he wanted to do it and he agreed. He also mentioned that he thought the original script was funnier and that it started of one way and ended another.
Dion & Tanya had arrived about noon... and I know I said hello and gave them keys to the room, but then I sort of forgot what happened.
While wandering the fan tables, discovered that the Shore Leave guest list is full of awesome - Jason Momoa, Rachael Luttrell, Robert Picardo, Christopher Heyerdahl, and Michael Welch! So. Yeah. Registered for that.
Had lunch at Northern Lights withsmashedrecords, rpc180, and Paul. Met his friend Dennis who wanted to know about my costume for a production he was working on, so I told him about ScifiHero and later referred him to Dan.
Next up was Alan Tudyk's Q&A. I don't think there was anything I hadn't heard before, but he's funny and personable. He was asked about Spamalot, Death At a Funeral, and then someone asked about his reaction to Heath's death, which is always kind of a weird thing. He'd brought the cast gag reel for Serenity (which is a bit longer and more profane than what's on the DVD) and showed that to us. Before he left, he also helped run the charity auction, to which he contributed a 3:10 to Yuma shirt, some signed photos, and his expired SAG card. I think the lot went for over $400.
There was a lot of wandering around and sitting at the SciFi Hero table this day that I don't really know what I did. I know that I hadn't been able to connect to the wireless in the hotel with my netbook and finally decided to bring all my junk back to the room as I wouldn't need any of it. I ran into Emerald in the elevator and when she couldn't get into her friend's room (turned out to be the wrong one), I let her use ours.
After Alan's autograph line died down, the Colonial Marines ambushed him at his table with the Alien, who Alan said he'd wanted to meet. He was so freaked out! It was funny. You could hear him say, "I met him already! Why does this freak me out so much?" as he cowered.
I know I was late to the Phase II panel Alex and Paul were running (managed to get Romel and Emerald to come with) and that was pretty lame as there wasn't anything being said I didn't know or anything discussed that I card about, for that matter. But still, it was amusing if only because I did know what they were saying andsmashedrecords was sitting at the table.
Masquerade was a great time - lots of neat entries like Playing with a Full Deck (Queen of Hearts, Jack Harkness, Joker, Flying Ace, and the Burger King) and The Penguin and Ms. Puffin. I didn't take any photos this year as they were being a bit wanky about cameras. Meh. Whatever. More loitering in the halls post-Masquerade as we waiting for judging to finish. The Alien was again prowling the hotel and scaring the crap out ofsmashedrecords.
Ten Forward was in the same area at the signings and dealer's room, which worked well, since it was also right next to the bar. I hadn't eaten anything since lunch, so at 10pm I was ready to chew someone's arm off.smashedrecords is pretty used to my behavior so she just like me wait for my food while the other were all asking me if I was okay. Hah. Really, no. Blood sugar crash = bad. I did get to see Bartender Bale running back and forth and that still amuses me to no end. I actually ended up with a lot of photos of him in the background without even knowing it. Anyway, I got my chicken and sat at the bar where Dan was talking with Zac, who I'd just met then. There was discussion of politics and electric cars, which is funny because nearly all my electric car knowledge comes from the interwebs and Top Gear.
At some point while I was eating, I heard two distinct screams of terror and figured it wassmashedrecords yelling at the Alien. Turns out it was. I'm amused. Apparently a she stormed off, Dion told her that it was awesome. I want photos. And video. Oh, and Alan Tudyk was at the bar hanging out with Abe T. Alien and the USCMs. And Spat. Anyway. He hung out there for a long time and I think most of that was because they were keeping the crazed fangirls away.
After I'd eaten (nom nom nom) and was no longer in danger of pulling a McKay, I hung out with everyone closer to the dance floor. I did end up going out there a couple times, but seriously, that DJ has some sketch taste. In any case, I can say that the partying and hijinx lasted until about 4am.
Sunday, Feb. 15
Normally, Sunday is a rush day, trying to get out the con at a decent hour for the 6 hour drive home. This year,smashedrecords and I decided to stay an extra night. Even though we started feeling like there was nothing at all to do, it was still nice having Sunday to partially decompress from the weekend. Mostly, we just hung out at the ScifHero table. And tried on corsets.
Uh. I did wander back to Ken's booth to buy the new Ronon toy. What? It actually looks like him! Can't resist. I also saw Revoltech Miniatures, which I had to have because I love that line.
Gareth/Abe T. Alien came by to say hello andsmashedrecords apologized for screaming in his face. We also got to chat with Spat and his friends before they headed out. (Spat tried on my Jayne hat.) It'd seen Spat at numerous conventions, but never really talked with him, so that was cool. He's attending ICON as a guest this year and while it would be nice to say hello to him again, there really is no reason to head that way.
Adam and I helped Dan pack up all his stuff to be shipped back to him and so he could get to the airport on time. He unexpectedly gave me a Zat for helping him out! :D Pretty awesome! I have always wanted one.
While the others wanted to go back to Chap's Pit Beef,smashedrecords and I headed to An Poitin Stil, a local Irish pub. SO much better than pit beef. I had a shepherd's pie finally (or... country pie, really as it was beef and not lamb). After dinner, we sat in the room for a while and watched the beginning of Accepted before the rest of the crew got back from dinner and wanted to hang out in the lobby area. Wow, was that a sad sight. Totally empty! We all headed to bed about 10pm as everyone was pretty tired.
We headed home early Monday morning and, traffic being pretty light, made it home before 4pm. I didn't feel like unpacking anything and went to bed. Slept for 13 hours. It was awesome.
Other links:
+ all my Farpoint 2009 photos
+ twitter posts: friday, saturday, sunday
+ Alien attacking karaoke girl
This year, Farpoint moved from the Hunt Valley Marriott to the Crowne Plaza in Timonium. I think the hotel is really lovely (and their carpet is not barf-worthy), but the layout is kind of wanky for a convention. Dealer's room, autograph area, and stage for various shows were all in the same central area. It was a bit chaotic and there weren't nearly as many dealers this year as in years past. Disappointing, actually. Also, we had a fabulous view of the interior wall designed to look like an exterior.
Friday, Feb. 13
smashedrecords and I got on the road in a timely manner - 7:00am! Craziness. Even better, the trip was fairly uneventful and we made it to the hotel in 6 hours. Got checked in with no problems and moved all our junk in after picking up our badges.After getting into our Boondock Saints outfits, we headed down the the Northern Lights restaurant/bar to get something to eat. Ran in to Bonnie, Andres, Will, and Kristin. Chatted a bit before they ran off to do other things.
smashedrecords and I just hung out there for awhile eating some tasty chicken tenders.Swung by the ScifiHero table to say hello to Dan. I dropped way too much money on some toys, but I figured if I hit it up now, I wouldn't have to deal with it later in the weekend. Found Marvel blindbox toys and for the first time I got exactly the ones I wanted - Wolverine and Venom. Also stopped by our regular stand and snagged one of the new John Sheppards, bloody Drucilla, Vampire Willow, and a set of 3 Serenity vinyl figures. Ken was nice enough to let us leave them there while we went out for dinner.
Will wanted to check out Chap's Pit Beef, so we all squeezed into the car and off we went. It was definitely a shack... next to a strip club. I wasn't feeling the beef, so I just got fries (ew) and mac & cheese (tasteless). Overall... I wasn't too impressed and all I can say is that I went there?
When we got back to the hotel, I ditched the peacoat and headed to the ScifiHero table to leave my artwork.
smashedrecords and I sat with Dan for a while. Adam and rpc180 dropped by and entertained us by simultaneously fiddling with their gadgets. Dealer's room closed at 10pm, so I helped Dan close up and then we wandered over to the bar.Not much going on for a Friday night, but the Alien scared the crap out of
smashedrecords and terrorized a girl singing karaoke. I have to admit, it was pretty funny watching her squeal... mostly because she kept on singing! And the bar manger looked like Christian Bale. Srsly. I like to call him Bartender Bale. Saturday, Feb. 14
Valentine's Day! Though you wouldn't really know it looking at the con. Which is good. 8am was probably too early to get up after the late night, but whatever. Got into my SGA gear and
smashedrecords put on her punk rock Atlantis gear (which is awesome) and off we went for Day Two!I discovered that Alan Tudyk was signing autographs outside the official time at a table in the hallway, so I decided to just fork over for that instead of dealing with the line and stuff later. Gave him a copy of Midori and got an 8x10 and a Firefly cover signed and also got a photo with him. He was pretty nice to everyone. Dan sent me back to get some things signed for him, so when I was doing that I asked him about that Direct TV commercial and he agreed that his made no sense at all. He'd never worked with Dule Hill before but they asked him if he wanted to do it and he agreed. He also mentioned that he thought the original script was funnier and that it started of one way and ended another.
Dion & Tanya had arrived about noon... and I know I said hello and gave them keys to the room, but then I sort of forgot what happened.
While wandering the fan tables, discovered that the Shore Leave guest list is full of awesome - Jason Momoa, Rachael Luttrell, Robert Picardo, Christopher Heyerdahl, and Michael Welch! So. Yeah. Registered for that.
Had lunch at Northern Lights with
smashedrecords, rpc180, and Paul. Met his friend Dennis who wanted to know about my costume for a production he was working on, so I told him about ScifiHero and later referred him to Dan.Next up was Alan Tudyk's Q&A. I don't think there was anything I hadn't heard before, but he's funny and personable. He was asked about Spamalot, Death At a Funeral, and then someone asked about his reaction to Heath's death, which is always kind of a weird thing. He'd brought the cast gag reel for Serenity (which is a bit longer and more profane than what's on the DVD) and showed that to us. Before he left, he also helped run the charity auction, to which he contributed a 3:10 to Yuma shirt, some signed photos, and his expired SAG card. I think the lot went for over $400.
There was a lot of wandering around and sitting at the SciFi Hero table this day that I don't really know what I did. I know that I hadn't been able to connect to the wireless in the hotel with my netbook and finally decided to bring all my junk back to the room as I wouldn't need any of it. I ran into Emerald in the elevator and when she couldn't get into her friend's room (turned out to be the wrong one), I let her use ours.
After Alan's autograph line died down, the Colonial Marines ambushed him at his table with the Alien, who Alan said he'd wanted to meet. He was so freaked out! It was funny. You could hear him say, "I met him already! Why does this freak me out so much?" as he cowered.
I know I was late to the Phase II panel Alex and Paul were running (managed to get Romel and Emerald to come with) and that was pretty lame as there wasn't anything being said I didn't know or anything discussed that I card about, for that matter. But still, it was amusing if only because I did know what they were saying and
smashedrecords was sitting at the table.Masquerade was a great time - lots of neat entries like Playing with a Full Deck (Queen of Hearts, Jack Harkness, Joker, Flying Ace, and the Burger King) and The Penguin and Ms. Puffin. I didn't take any photos this year as they were being a bit wanky about cameras. Meh. Whatever. More loitering in the halls post-Masquerade as we waiting for judging to finish. The Alien was again prowling the hotel and scaring the crap out of
smashedrecords. Ten Forward was in the same area at the signings and dealer's room, which worked well, since it was also right next to the bar. I hadn't eaten anything since lunch, so at 10pm I was ready to chew someone's arm off.
smashedrecords is pretty used to my behavior so she just like me wait for my food while the other were all asking me if I was okay. Hah. Really, no. Blood sugar crash = bad. I did get to see Bartender Bale running back and forth and that still amuses me to no end. I actually ended up with a lot of photos of him in the background without even knowing it. Anyway, I got my chicken and sat at the bar where Dan was talking with Zac, who I'd just met then. There was discussion of politics and electric cars, which is funny because nearly all my electric car knowledge comes from the interwebs and Top Gear.At some point while I was eating, I heard two distinct screams of terror and figured it was
smashedrecords yelling at the Alien. Turns out it was. I'm amused. Apparently a she stormed off, Dion told her that it was awesome. I want photos. And video. Oh, and Alan Tudyk was at the bar hanging out with Abe T. Alien and the USCMs. And Spat. Anyway. He hung out there for a long time and I think most of that was because they were keeping the crazed fangirls away.After I'd eaten (nom nom nom) and was no longer in danger of pulling a McKay, I hung out with everyone closer to the dance floor. I did end up going out there a couple times, but seriously, that DJ has some sketch taste. In any case, I can say that the partying and hijinx lasted until about 4am.
Sunday, Feb. 15
Normally, Sunday is a rush day, trying to get out the con at a decent hour for the 6 hour drive home. This year,
smashedrecords and I decided to stay an extra night. Even though we started feeling like there was nothing at all to do, it was still nice having Sunday to partially decompress from the weekend. Mostly, we just hung out at the ScifHero table. And tried on corsets.Uh. I did wander back to Ken's booth to buy the new Ronon toy. What? It actually looks like him! Can't resist. I also saw Revoltech Miniatures, which I had to have because I love that line.
Gareth/Abe T. Alien came by to say hello and
smashedrecords apologized for screaming in his face. We also got to chat with Spat and his friends before they headed out. (Spat tried on my Jayne hat.) It'd seen Spat at numerous conventions, but never really talked with him, so that was cool. He's attending ICON as a guest this year and while it would be nice to say hello to him again, there really is no reason to head that way.Adam and I helped Dan pack up all his stuff to be shipped back to him and so he could get to the airport on time. He unexpectedly gave me a Zat for helping him out! :D Pretty awesome! I have always wanted one.
While the others wanted to go back to Chap's Pit Beef,
smashedrecords and I headed to An Poitin Stil, a local Irish pub. SO much better than pit beef. I had a shepherd's pie finally (or... country pie, really as it was beef and not lamb). After dinner, we sat in the room for a while and watched the beginning of Accepted before the rest of the crew got back from dinner and wanted to hang out in the lobby area. Wow, was that a sad sight. Totally empty! We all headed to bed about 10pm as everyone was pretty tired. 
We headed home early Monday morning and, traffic being pretty light, made it home before 4pm. I didn't feel like unpacking anything and went to bed. Slept for 13 hours. It was awesome.
Other links:
+ all my Farpoint 2009 photos
+ twitter posts: friday, saturday, sunday
+ Alien attacking karaoke girl
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Date: 2009-02-19 11:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-22 06:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-22 09:12 pm (UTC)Glad you enjoyed the con report and the photos!
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Date: 2009-02-23 03:06 am (UTC)ah...well, don't get mad, but Twitter (& posts of tweats) turns me off & I tend to skip 'em. Guess that means I'm an old fuddy-duddy, sorry. At this point I'll also confess that I rarely, if ever, text message anyone at all. "Get off my lawn, you kids!" ::shakes walking cane::
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Date: 2009-02-23 05:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-23 03:07 am (UTC)did you get any sales?
no subject
Date: 2009-02-23 05:46 am (UTC)