con: NEFE 2009
Nov. 24th, 2009 01:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amezriNew England Fan Experience: Boston, MA: Nov 13-15, 2009.
Seriously? Weirdest con EVAR. Weird people. Weird venue. Just. Weird.
Friday, Nov 13
Got up at 7am and got the rest of my stuff together for con. grabbed cereal for breakfast and headed to Maria's. We left a little after 9.
It was a pretty uneventful drive. Until we got to Boston. We got a little lost at the exits and killed 20 minutes getting to the Boston Common lot. Saw some kids in Boston Common playing Quidditch. Headed to a food court to get some food. Met up with Julian and Karyn. Liz was still a ways off. After a bit of a wander through Chinatown (which is small and filled with food places & not much else), we grabbed our luggage out of the car and dragged it to the hotel. Had some more time to kill so we headed to the Rock Bottom brewery so they could get a drink.
Oh, we kept passing Gareth David-Lloyd and Julian was betting we'd see him 3 more times tonight. He looks so sad and lost every time we see him. Julian and I decided to make a game out of it and just count how many times we spotted him that weekend. I don't know if either of us actually ever said hello or anything when he walked by.
Headed back to the hotel and wandered through the vendor's room. Not a lot there, but I got a Pegasus and Raptor Titanium die cast. Managed to get both for $20 instead of $24! woot.
Waited for Liz to arrive in the lobby. Once she got there with Meg, we checked into the room. Karyn drew our Boondock Saints tattoos. We headed California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. Poor waitress was overwhelmed but was doing a great job.
Headed back to the hotel and I saw that Corin Nemec was at his table signing. Bought an autograph ticket and got a photo signed. Talked with him a bit and gave him my moo card with Atropos II on it. He asked about the art and I said I had a piece for him but left it in my room. He was really cool and said he'd be there all weekend so I should stop back.
Well, ran up to the room to put the photo away and managed to get back down in time to catch him at his table as he was packing up. Gave him the print of Atene and he took the time to chat with me. Asked me how many layers were in the piece and said he can see the industrial window elements and I said there was a goldfish in there and pointed out the colors. He said the works would look really good on a large canvas print. We talked about how it was hard for artists to sell artwork now. Said goodbye and ran off to find my group.
Maria and I headed up to the room and decided to take the stairs -- which do not go up to 6th floor. Argh. So we waited for the elevator on the 5th floor... and the full one that opened had Corin Nemec in it! I didn't notice but Maria said "how did you beat us in an elevator?" and he waved at us. A guy jumped in before we could. Oops.
Got back in the room. Said hi to Pano and Mike & K. The boys headed out for food and booze. We set up the beds and made room for sleepings. Meg brought her laptop and we watched silly videos.
Since there was nowhere to hang out at this convention (like a large bar or lobby area) a large group seemed to gather in our room for party time.
Hung around the room for a while before heading to the Repo Shadowcast - which is basically like a RHPS stage show. It was okay. I spent most of it watching the actual movie. The Grave Robber and Repoman costumes were the best.
Headed back to the room after. The boys were busy running around. Found random pants littering the bed... We decided to just get them in a pile and set up the room for sleeping.
Saturday, Nov 14
Woke up at 7am but didn't really get up and moving until 8am. Once everyone was up, we went to the food court in City Place for Dunkin. I got a bagel and a pumpkin donut. Yum!
Once back in the room, Maria and I got in to Evil Alice & Evil Red Riding Hood costumes. Headed down with Karyn to the Corin Nemec Q&A. He was a little late, but once started, he was funny and charming and most of the questions were good. He was telling us that SS Doomtrooper was originally called the Citadel and the story was great and the concept drawings were awesome...then the movie got finished. Someone asked why he did Mansquito and he sort of hung his head. He did say he wanted to do it because it was like the old scifi monster cult films. There was one genius who asked who the main villain of Stargate:Universe would be, as if Corin had some inside information about a show that's two removed from the series he was in.
After the Q&A we loitered in the dealer's room where I got a Martha figure and a Winchester patch and Dean's necklace. Julian was at the SFH table so we hung there for a bit.
Lunch was discussed soon after. I was hungry and cranky but didn't want to eat. I went anyway. Had a california roll. Meh.
Came back from lunch and switched to my Doctor costume. At the last minute, made him drunk Doctor. Maria was Reinette. Karyn did a great job curling her hair. We did a wander of the dealer's room again before Karyn mentioned the Gareth panel going on right then, so the both of us ditched everyone and headed down.
Caught the last half of Gareth's Q&A, which was pretty good. He's sick of people asking him about snogging Barrowman, but otherwise, he gave some good answers to things. He talked about the Ianto Memorial in front of the building face of the Cardiff Torchwood.
After the Q&A, I stopped by to say hi to Robb Demarest from GHI and gave him a print of Paleo since he was nice and gave me shirt at Big Apple con. He joked that he didn't have anything to give me back. We chatted a little about ghost hunting and the Hudson Valley and Albany groups that started. Robb told me about his next con and I said that I've been unemployed for a year and a half and can't afford to go. But he kept saying "oh you're going," and Kristyn, who was next to him, was like, "she just said she couldn't afford to go!" and he said "oh, she's going!" Uhhh.. nope, sorry.
Caught up with the crew at the ScifiHero table. Karyn, Liz, Meg, and Maria were at the table. While there hanging out, a weird kid came up and started talking about my costume and how he was going to do it and I just needed a sake bottle and finally I stopped him and asked who he thought I was. He said a drunk Japanese business man and I told him that I was Doctor Who. He shut up and went away.
Maria and I headed back to the room to change in to different costumes before the costume contest. Maria was all gothed out and I got in my Jubilee costume. Met up with Karyn and Meg to get in line. Spotted Garth David-Lloyd again (fourth!), but he wasn't looking lost this time.
Nimoy ran over his time, then the contestants weren't ready, so there was a lot of stalling going on. Was a bit hungry and made angry, threatening tweet about it.
Overall, the costume contest was a little lame. Costumes that were good were a comic Rogue (great job on body suit) and space vampire George & Martha Washington. The rest were kinda meh.
Back to the room to regroup for dinner. The boys didn't go to the costume contest as they were still playing manhunt. I think at that time they'd been playing for over 6 hours. Had Gareth sighting #5 as we were trying to get an elevator down and then saw him again as were getting off in the lobby (counting that as #6).
After picking up dinner at Subway, we headed back and ate in Meg's room. I was getting kind of crank and restless so once I finished eating, I headed to my room to organize my luggage. Maria came with. There was pizza and beer everywhere and I did my first party foul - knocking Karyn's beer over.
I just wanted to walk around. Mostly, I just wanted to walk around by myself. A group of us headed to the 5th floor to see what was going on in the gaming room. Ran into Corin again as he was just outside the celebrity dinner. Had a quick chat with him about what was going on tonight - lotta nothing - and that the guys were playing manhunt all day. Then said they'd run off for a beer run, to which Corin wished them good luck since he hadn't seen any. I jokingly asked if he wanted anything and he said he didn't drink. I said I didn't either and he high-fived me. Mentioned that we were probably checking out some dance and then the gaming room and would see him later. He gave me another high-five before we parted. [Seriously, I find the high-fiving kinda weird.]
Hit the game room where Maria, Meg & I watched Liz play Guitar Hero for a little before we headed out in search of something to do. That led us to the 15 floor where we'd been hearing there was stuff to do. Well... we got up there and found a fancy lounge, but nothing else so we sat a bit. Apparently that's where guests were staying, so perhaps it makes sense that it was so quiet.
With nothing better to do, we found ourselves wandering a little aimlessly. Ended up at the lame dance where Brian was trying to get them to play some house music so he could break dance. Their definition of house and his was clearly not the same. We waited around for an hour or so during which time we watched the 10 kids in the room dance like spazzes. When the DJ played some pop-y techno, none of them knew what to do. Maria, Karyn, and I finally danced to one song, but it was very tiring... Does that mean I'm getting old? I mean, watching kids stare at each other during a techno song already made me feel old...
When we first walked in to the dance, I spotted Robb Demarest in the back of the room looking on and looking a bit frightened. Went up and asked him if he was enjoying this and he said he'd rather go back to the bar. We chatted a bit, but he was clearly too drunk (even though he said he wasn't). He gave me his card and said they were casting for GHI and GHA and I should try out. I said that I'm a chicken and would probably scream. He said that the producers would probably like that and I said that didn't want to be that guy. He said he didn't want me to be either and I should try out anyway. He said he was really glad that I had come out for the con and I told him I'd actually planned on NEFE before Big Apple. We continued to marvel at the badness of the music before he headed back to the bar to continue to get his drink on.
When we finally gave up on the lame dance, Maria, Brian, and I headed out and ran into Rachael and Paul Fest, who were about to go to the piano bar to get a drink and hang with Robb D who was still drinking. Rachael needed something from her room, so the rest of us headed to the bar. Robb D had actually finally gone to bed. We stayed long enough for one drink before leaving and heading to the game room.
They were still moving supplies to the room so we hung out a bit and then regrouped in the room. Everyone looked kinda dead, especially the boys who'd been manhunting all day (10 hours by then, I think). Video games were played, talking was had. Finally they busted out Apples to Apples and got a good game going... until hotel security came and said they needed to close the room. Kinda lame...
Us girls headed back to the room and cleaned up a bit and got settled for bed. The boys came in some time later. Have no idea what they did.
Sunday, Nov 15
Was freeeezing last night. Apparently someone turned the AC on and never turned it off. Probably the boys when they were using the room as a manhunt base. Got up and showered and went to get breakfast at Dunkin's with Maria.
Finished packing after we got back and woke everyone up. Once everyone was awake, they headed for breakfast and Maria and I checked our bags and then wandered into the dealer's room. Chatted with Rachael about True Blood and LKH/Anita Blake, the latest book is apparently better? Might give it a glance.
While checking the Anime Cafe table, we ran into Corin Nemec. Seriously amused he kind of snuck up behind us and said, "Hey guys, what's up?" He asked us how last night went and we told him about the lame dance party and the game room that we got kicked out of. Told him that we had to drive back to Albany and that it was more difficult to get in to Boston and we got lost. He started telling us how he got lost Friday walking around and that he got all turned around ... he was in the middle of finishing when this weird girl just started talking at us. Not even sure what she said but she killed the conversation. The three of us didn't really know what to do then, so I turned to Corin and was all, "Okay, so, nice to see you and you have my contact info, so I'll talk to you later!" Corin said good bye (did a weird high-five handshake thing?) and then he (well, we) ran away.
After some more wandering, Maria and I went to the lobby to wait for the others to get back from breakfast... and there were the girls coming toward us, so we got back on the elevator and went to the room where they finished packing.
Headed down to the lobby so they could check their bags. Then we all went back up to the 5th floor for a last browse of the dealer's room. Passed Robb D as we walked by the elevators and said hello.
In the dealer's room I ended up buying an old Farscape calendar & stationary for $2 and then managed to haggle a $10 TARDIS cell phone charm down to $8. Also bought a cool Christmas gift for someone. How did I spend all this money in there when I didn't think there was stuff I wanted?
Headed to the lobby to loiter for a little while. Corin said hi on his way to his signing table and then waved on his way out to have a smoke. Honestly, it was the best thing all weekend because I know we haven't been trying to catch his attention. Liz, Pano, Meg, Mike & Kittredge had to leave about 1:30pm to make their train. That just left Maria & me and Julian & Karen. Maria & I decided we needed lunch. Food court again. Meh.
After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with Julian & Karen and catch the end of Corin's Q&A. Passed Gareth again (#7). Corin's Q&A was funnier this time. Julian and Karen both asked him questions. He told us a funny joke. We stayed a bit longer than planned, but I think it was worth it.
Had to go get our bags out of holding and ran into Corin. I swear, these run-ins are not on purpose. He greeted us before I even opened my mouth and I said that we were heading out. He said goodbye and that he'd contact me about my artwork. I've heard that a lot, so I'm not expecting it to happen at all, but it was cool he mentioned it.
Got my bags, rearranged things, and took the walk to the garage which felt backbreaking with all my junk. Got in Maria's car and we headed home.
Another con weekend comes to an end. Overall, I think I had a good time.
Additional media:
all photos here
Twitter posts: friday | saturday | sunday
Seriously? Weirdest con EVAR. Weird people. Weird venue. Just. Weird.
Friday, Nov 13
Got up at 7am and got the rest of my stuff together for con. grabbed cereal for breakfast and headed to Maria's. We left a little after 9.
It was a pretty uneventful drive. Until we got to Boston. We got a little lost at the exits and killed 20 minutes getting to the Boston Common lot. Saw some kids in Boston Common playing Quidditch. Headed to a food court to get some food. Met up with Julian and Karyn. Liz was still a ways off. After a bit of a wander through Chinatown (which is small and filled with food places & not much else), we grabbed our luggage out of the car and dragged it to the hotel. Had some more time to kill so we headed to the Rock Bottom brewery so they could get a drink.
Oh, we kept passing Gareth David-Lloyd and Julian was betting we'd see him 3 more times tonight. He looks so sad and lost every time we see him. Julian and I decided to make a game out of it and just count how many times we spotted him that weekend. I don't know if either of us actually ever said hello or anything when he walked by.
Headed back to the hotel and wandered through the vendor's room. Not a lot there, but I got a Pegasus and Raptor Titanium die cast. Managed to get both for $20 instead of $24! woot.
Waited for Liz to arrive in the lobby. Once she got there with Meg, we checked into the room. Karyn drew our Boondock Saints tattoos. We headed California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. Poor waitress was overwhelmed but was doing a great job.
Headed back to the hotel and I saw that Corin Nemec was at his table signing. Bought an autograph ticket and got a photo signed. Talked with him a bit and gave him my moo card with Atropos II on it. He asked about the art and I said I had a piece for him but left it in my room. He was really cool and said he'd be there all weekend so I should stop back.
Well, ran up to the room to put the photo away and managed to get back down in time to catch him at his table as he was packing up. Gave him the print of Atene and he took the time to chat with me. Asked me how many layers were in the piece and said he can see the industrial window elements and I said there was a goldfish in there and pointed out the colors. He said the works would look really good on a large canvas print. We talked about how it was hard for artists to sell artwork now. Said goodbye and ran off to find my group.
Maria and I headed up to the room and decided to take the stairs -- which do not go up to 6th floor. Argh. So we waited for the elevator on the 5th floor... and the full one that opened had Corin Nemec in it! I didn't notice but Maria said "how did you beat us in an elevator?" and he waved at us. A guy jumped in before we could. Oops.
Got back in the room. Said hi to Pano and Mike & K. The boys headed out for food and booze. We set up the beds and made room for sleepings. Meg brought her laptop and we watched silly videos.
Since there was nowhere to hang out at this convention (like a large bar or lobby area) a large group seemed to gather in our room for party time.
Hung around the room for a while before heading to the Repo Shadowcast - which is basically like a RHPS stage show. It was okay. I spent most of it watching the actual movie. The Grave Robber and Repoman costumes were the best.
Headed back to the room after. The boys were busy running around. Found random pants littering the bed... We decided to just get them in a pile and set up the room for sleeping.
Saturday, Nov 14
Woke up at 7am but didn't really get up and moving until 8am. Once everyone was up, we went to the food court in City Place for Dunkin. I got a bagel and a pumpkin donut. Yum!
Once back in the room, Maria and I got in to Evil Alice & Evil Red Riding Hood costumes. Headed down with Karyn to the Corin Nemec Q&A. He was a little late, but once started, he was funny and charming and most of the questions were good. He was telling us that SS Doomtrooper was originally called the Citadel and the story was great and the concept drawings were awesome...then the movie got finished. Someone asked why he did Mansquito and he sort of hung his head. He did say he wanted to do it because it was like the old scifi monster cult films. There was one genius who asked who the main villain of Stargate:Universe would be, as if Corin had some inside information about a show that's two removed from the series he was in.
After the Q&A we loitered in the dealer's room where I got a Martha figure and a Winchester patch and Dean's necklace. Julian was at the SFH table so we hung there for a bit.
Lunch was discussed soon after. I was hungry and cranky but didn't want to eat. I went anyway. Had a california roll. Meh.
Came back from lunch and switched to my Doctor costume. At the last minute, made him drunk Doctor. Maria was Reinette. Karyn did a great job curling her hair. We did a wander of the dealer's room again before Karyn mentioned the Gareth panel going on right then, so the both of us ditched everyone and headed down.
Caught the last half of Gareth's Q&A, which was pretty good. He's sick of people asking him about snogging Barrowman, but otherwise, he gave some good answers to things. He talked about the Ianto Memorial in front of the building face of the Cardiff Torchwood.
After the Q&A, I stopped by to say hi to Robb Demarest from GHI and gave him a print of Paleo since he was nice and gave me shirt at Big Apple con. He joked that he didn't have anything to give me back. We chatted a little about ghost hunting and the Hudson Valley and Albany groups that started. Robb told me about his next con and I said that I've been unemployed for a year and a half and can't afford to go. But he kept saying "oh you're going," and Kristyn, who was next to him, was like, "she just said she couldn't afford to go!" and he said "oh, she's going!" Uhhh.. nope, sorry.
Caught up with the crew at the ScifiHero table. Karyn, Liz, Meg, and Maria were at the table. While there hanging out, a weird kid came up and started talking about my costume and how he was going to do it and I just needed a sake bottle and finally I stopped him and asked who he thought I was. He said a drunk Japanese business man and I told him that I was Doctor Who. He shut up and went away.
Maria and I headed back to the room to change in to different costumes before the costume contest. Maria was all gothed out and I got in my Jubilee costume. Met up with Karyn and Meg to get in line. Spotted Garth David-Lloyd again (fourth!), but he wasn't looking lost this time.
Nimoy ran over his time, then the contestants weren't ready, so there was a lot of stalling going on. Was a bit hungry and made angry, threatening tweet about it.
Overall, the costume contest was a little lame. Costumes that were good were a comic Rogue (great job on body suit) and space vampire George & Martha Washington. The rest were kinda meh.
Back to the room to regroup for dinner. The boys didn't go to the costume contest as they were still playing manhunt. I think at that time they'd been playing for over 6 hours. Had Gareth sighting #5 as we were trying to get an elevator down and then saw him again as were getting off in the lobby (counting that as #6).
After picking up dinner at Subway, we headed back and ate in Meg's room. I was getting kind of crank and restless so once I finished eating, I headed to my room to organize my luggage. Maria came with. There was pizza and beer everywhere and I did my first party foul - knocking Karyn's beer over.
I just wanted to walk around. Mostly, I just wanted to walk around by myself. A group of us headed to the 5th floor to see what was going on in the gaming room. Ran into Corin again as he was just outside the celebrity dinner. Had a quick chat with him about what was going on tonight - lotta nothing - and that the guys were playing manhunt all day. Then said they'd run off for a beer run, to which Corin wished them good luck since he hadn't seen any. I jokingly asked if he wanted anything and he said he didn't drink. I said I didn't either and he high-fived me. Mentioned that we were probably checking out some dance and then the gaming room and would see him later. He gave me another high-five before we parted. [Seriously, I find the high-fiving kinda weird.]
Hit the game room where Maria, Meg & I watched Liz play Guitar Hero for a little before we headed out in search of something to do. That led us to the 15 floor where we'd been hearing there was stuff to do. Well... we got up there and found a fancy lounge, but nothing else so we sat a bit. Apparently that's where guests were staying, so perhaps it makes sense that it was so quiet.
With nothing better to do, we found ourselves wandering a little aimlessly. Ended up at the lame dance where Brian was trying to get them to play some house music so he could break dance. Their definition of house and his was clearly not the same. We waited around for an hour or so during which time we watched the 10 kids in the room dance like spazzes. When the DJ played some pop-y techno, none of them knew what to do. Maria, Karyn, and I finally danced to one song, but it was very tiring... Does that mean I'm getting old? I mean, watching kids stare at each other during a techno song already made me feel old...
When we first walked in to the dance, I spotted Robb Demarest in the back of the room looking on and looking a bit frightened. Went up and asked him if he was enjoying this and he said he'd rather go back to the bar. We chatted a bit, but he was clearly too drunk (even though he said he wasn't). He gave me his card and said they were casting for GHI and GHA and I should try out. I said that I'm a chicken and would probably scream. He said that the producers would probably like that and I said that didn't want to be that guy. He said he didn't want me to be either and I should try out anyway. He said he was really glad that I had come out for the con and I told him I'd actually planned on NEFE before Big Apple. We continued to marvel at the badness of the music before he headed back to the bar to continue to get his drink on.
When we finally gave up on the lame dance, Maria, Brian, and I headed out and ran into Rachael and Paul Fest, who were about to go to the piano bar to get a drink and hang with Robb D who was still drinking. Rachael needed something from her room, so the rest of us headed to the bar. Robb D had actually finally gone to bed. We stayed long enough for one drink before leaving and heading to the game room.
They were still moving supplies to the room so we hung out a bit and then regrouped in the room. Everyone looked kinda dead, especially the boys who'd been manhunting all day (10 hours by then, I think). Video games were played, talking was had. Finally they busted out Apples to Apples and got a good game going... until hotel security came and said they needed to close the room. Kinda lame...
Us girls headed back to the room and cleaned up a bit and got settled for bed. The boys came in some time later. Have no idea what they did.
Sunday, Nov 15
Was freeeezing last night. Apparently someone turned the AC on and never turned it off. Probably the boys when they were using the room as a manhunt base. Got up and showered and went to get breakfast at Dunkin's with Maria.
Finished packing after we got back and woke everyone up. Once everyone was awake, they headed for breakfast and Maria and I checked our bags and then wandered into the dealer's room. Chatted with Rachael about True Blood and LKH/Anita Blake, the latest book is apparently better? Might give it a glance.
While checking the Anime Cafe table, we ran into Corin Nemec. Seriously amused he kind of snuck up behind us and said, "Hey guys, what's up?" He asked us how last night went and we told him about the lame dance party and the game room that we got kicked out of. Told him that we had to drive back to Albany and that it was more difficult to get in to Boston and we got lost. He started telling us how he got lost Friday walking around and that he got all turned around ... he was in the middle of finishing when this weird girl just started talking at us. Not even sure what she said but she killed the conversation. The three of us didn't really know what to do then, so I turned to Corin and was all, "Okay, so, nice to see you and you have my contact info, so I'll talk to you later!" Corin said good bye (did a weird high-five handshake thing?) and then he (well, we) ran away.
After some more wandering, Maria and I went to the lobby to wait for the others to get back from breakfast... and there were the girls coming toward us, so we got back on the elevator and went to the room where they finished packing.
Headed down to the lobby so they could check their bags. Then we all went back up to the 5th floor for a last browse of the dealer's room. Passed Robb D as we walked by the elevators and said hello.
In the dealer's room I ended up buying an old Farscape calendar & stationary for $2 and then managed to haggle a $10 TARDIS cell phone charm down to $8. Also bought a cool Christmas gift for someone. How did I spend all this money in there when I didn't think there was stuff I wanted?
Headed to the lobby to loiter for a little while. Corin said hi on his way to his signing table and then waved on his way out to have a smoke. Honestly, it was the best thing all weekend because I know we haven't been trying to catch his attention. Liz, Pano, Meg, Mike & Kittredge had to leave about 1:30pm to make their train. That just left Maria & me and Julian & Karen. Maria & I decided we needed lunch. Food court again. Meh.
After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with Julian & Karen and catch the end of Corin's Q&A. Passed Gareth again (#7). Corin's Q&A was funnier this time. Julian and Karen both asked him questions. He told us a funny joke. We stayed a bit longer than planned, but I think it was worth it.
Had to go get our bags out of holding and ran into Corin. I swear, these run-ins are not on purpose. He greeted us before I even opened my mouth and I said that we were heading out. He said goodbye and that he'd contact me about my artwork. I've heard that a lot, so I'm not expecting it to happen at all, but it was cool he mentioned it.
Got my bags, rearranged things, and took the walk to the garage which felt backbreaking with all my junk. Got in Maria's car and we headed home.
Another con weekend comes to an end. Overall, I think I had a good time.
Additional media:
all photos here
Twitter posts: friday | saturday | sunday
