This year we both had tickets under the 300 mark so I shall start with the meet and greet which was on the Friday night.....you sit at a table with around 8 or 9 other people and guests are shuffled round the room spending, in theory, 5 minutes with each table. This is when I learnt that it pays to be a bit more outspoken than I usually am, else you'd never get a word in edgewise.
I guess this would be a good time to mention who the guests actually were: Andee Frizzell, an amazingly tall woman who plays the Wraith Queen (s) on SGA and had stepped in at the last moment when Kate Hewlett had to cancel, Dean Marshall (Sgt Bates), Torri Higgison (Weir), Kavan Smith (Major Lorne), Paul Mcgillion, (Carson Beckett) and bonus guest Jonathan Woodward (mostly known for being in Buffy, Angel and Firefly).
I soon realised, during the time which our table spent waiting in between guests, that to have any quality time to talk you need to bring lots of 'party' stuff and 'hog' said guests so that the time spent with other tables is dramatically reduced.....A snippet of conversations I managed to have:
Dean Marshall will be returning as Bates and has woken up from his coma and is now NID, Andee Frizzell loves British comedy especially Little Britain and plans on looking up The Mighty Boosh, Paul Mcgillion hinted that Carson may pop up in season 5 and thanked the men at the table for showing up (95% of people at the con are female), Kavan Smith finds travelling in Europe with a five month old baby more sucky than he thought he would, Torri Higginson had fun making an episode of NCIS and Jonathan Woodward...well Jonathan was a little worse for wear (he had already spilled a full pint of beer over himself and his chaperon as he attempted to drink it from a crutch)....he asked everybody's name round the table and upon hearing my name was Emma stood up, walked all the way round and gave me a hug with a double cheek kiss (leaving me somewhat flustered)....not quite sure why he decided I was so special, but I'll take what I can get.
The whole process went on for around two hours (ish) and then the room emptied to make it ready for the first party of the weekend. Dad and I vacated to the bar where we ran straight into two lovely ladies who I'd met and chatted with much of last year (they helped me out with rules and regs being a con-virgin last year). I hadn't seen them before I'd left last year and hadn't exchanged details...but there they were.....seated with a Bacardi Breezer in hand, much like they had been when I'd last seen them when I come to think of it...Nicky and Ann (absolute legends and a couple of devils when in possession of a pack of balloons in a crowded room).
Much fun was had with these two and Jo at the parties...people watching, learning dances (I apologise to anyone I crippled during the Doctor Who dance and the ultra fast and difficult Swamp Thing dance) and generally behaving like a bunch of kids on Hairbo....and fawning/drooling over the bar staff and security guards...as if there wasn't enough good looking blokes on the guest list.....but I digress.
Which leads me smoothly to; the guests....I would attempt to write a full account of what each guest had said during each of their talks but between the taking pictures, rushing out for photo shoots and all the laughing I can't remember so I will do little write up of each guest.
Andee Frizzell - What an incredibly energetic and naturally funny lady. I didn't know anything about the woman except for that she plays the Wraith Queen, but as soon as she got out on the stage she had the room in the palm of her hand. She seem surprised that so many people had turned out to see her on the Sunday, expecting everyone to still be in bed with a hang over and had planned on teaching some yoga moves...she did display some amazing feats of flexibility which if I had even partially tried out would have ended up in A & E with limbs being prised apart with a crow bar.
She talked about the make up process and that many of the cast a crew have no idea who she is when they have the wrap party, until she growls and does the Wraith hand thing. One particularly funny story involved her bumping into Joe Flanigan (John Sheppard) and his wife one day and saying hello...no recognition from Joe, Joe's wife asking him if he knew her...and Andee saying "we spent the weekend together....I had you on your knees...."
Toward the end of her talk, on the Sunday, there was much hilarity which she let slip a bit of a spoiler for the the season four finale....she realised what she'd said straight away and the look of shock and surprise on her face followed by some mock "while that's me fired" and skulking towards the door had the room roaring with laughter....sorry though the spoiler stays at P3.
Someone asked her who she'd like to suck the life out of and she said she'd have to think about it....later she was asked about her role in Supernatural (Folsom Prison Blues) at which point she said "I'd like to go back to the sucking the life out of question....but in a good way" (referring to Jensen Ackles)....lady after my own heart there.
What else do I remember about Andee...Oh, she loved my Goonies T-shirt (the woman has great taste in films then), she fell asleep in her room Saturday night when she meant to go the party and woke up still clutching her camera, pronounces it "arse" instead of "ass", used to hate being so tall as a kid until she got given a alcoholic drink meant for her cousin at age 11 and refers to the Wraith feeding thingy as a "hand-gina".
Next up Jonathan Woodward - The bonus guest as he was in town for a Buffy/Angel con next weekend.....hmmmm, now what to say about Jonathan....I personally found him highly entertaining mainly because he was completely off the wall and the insanity of it all had me in stitches. It's safe to say he was a little worse for wear during his talk on the Saturday (Jet lag/hung over/still drunk...delete as appropriate) but I have to give him props for appearing in front of a crowd the majority of whom didn't know who he was. He was fascinated by the lady doing sign language at the front of the stage and tried to catch her out by saying difficult words and messing about behind her...until she pointed out that she could see everything he was doing in a very large mirror at the other end of the hall....very funny.
My funniest moment with the bloke has to be when I was getting an autograph....whilst in the queue he was giving everyone a shot a whiskey...the poor guy in front of me is obviously not a whiskey drinker, especially neat, and I did giggle to myself when he coughed and his eyes watered....the next two people didn't take up the offer and when it got round to me I dutifully downed the shot (closer to a double I might add) ever the professional alcholic student.....I pondered for a second before announcing "Mmmmm, Bells" at which point Jonathan looked up agog saying "Wow, that's amazing" shaking my hand impressed that the, innocent looking, lass in front of him had guessed the brand just from the taste (I neglected to mention I had seen the bottle when the glass had been refilled from the guy in front).....bless him....he was also partial to my Goonies tee, actually offering anything I wanted in exchange....was I tempted?......No bloody way...The Goonies T-Shirt is sacred.
What else from the delightfully mad as a hatter world of Jonathan....well he apparently hates the abomination that is Roast Chicken flavour crisps, gave us a sermon as the Rev. Johnny Wallet (Johnny Cash was already taken) and finally......ahem....."Caaaaaaan Yooooooou Diiiig It!!!"
Okey Dokey....moving on and finally for my post today me thinks....Torri Higginson - Obviously there was a huge cheer for Torri when she came on stage, due to the recent decision by TPTB to remove her character from the show....a controversial decision in a year of controversial decisions in SGA...Torri was quite adorable, thanking a group of fans for their 'red shirt' campaign to bring back the character (well it worked for Carson).
I did miss some of Torri's talks due to the inevitable photo shoots and there appeared to be many people interested in Torri's opinion of the moralistic issues in the story lines of SGA, which did become a little tedious, but a couple of funnier moments were Torri talking about her nervousness when first filming with Richard Dean Anderson (I mean it's Macgyver for crying out loud) and that her education in Britain had caused her to pick up a few choice phrases. When filming a scene in a corridor Torri flubbed a line and exclaimed "Bugger me," at which point RDA dutifully threw her against the wall and attempted to do just that.....I'm sure his actions enabled Torri to then work fluster free for the rest of the day......next time I bump into RDA I may try a similar thing and see what happens, the phrase I utter may be a little different to BUGGER me however.
Another funny moment was when Torri was asked to describe her fellow cast members in just one word...something which proved quite difficult until aided by the trusty hyphen......can't for the life of me remember what the words were for each cast member in the end, but when describing Jason Mamoa (Ronan) she mentioned about how fit the man is exclaiming "I don't know just how that boy keeps it up.".........Queue room full of women with mind in the gutter bursting into raucous laughter...Torri, realising what she'd said, quickly tried to move along the conversation by saying that she meant his energy when he's constantly "jumping over Joe"....Queue more gutter induced hilarity. Torri again tried to rectify the situation by saying "I said jump over him not ON 'im".....Torri my dear the fans will hear what ever they wish to hear if you plant the seed close enough.....or a mile away for that matter.
What else can I say about Torri....Oh, she was incredibly pleasant at the autograph session and we spoke about her dog, she asked me if I had any pets and dedicated the autograph to my cat Henry, who died two years ago aged 20....she can do the splits (see pic) and does a terrific impression of Flipper.
So, that's it for today folks...writers cramp has set in...will write up the rest in a couple of days
Andee Frizzell - What an incredibly energetic and naturally funny lady. I didn't know anything about the woman except for that she plays the Wraith Queen, but as soon as she got out on the stage she had the room in the palm of her hand. She seem surprised that so many people had turned out to see her on the Sunday, expecting everyone to still be in bed with a hang over and had planned on teaching some yoga moves...she did display some amazing feats of flexibility which if I had even partially tried out would have ended up in A & E with limbs being prised apart with a crow bar.
Next up Jonathan Woodward - The bonus guest as he was in town for a Buffy/Angel con next weekend.....hmmmm, now what to say about Jonathan....I personally found him highly entertaining mainly because he was completely off the wall and the insanity of it all had me in stitches. It's safe to say he was a little worse for wear during his talk on the Saturday (Jet lag/hung over/still drunk...delete as appropriate) but I have to give him props for appearing in front of a crowd the majority of whom didn't know who he was. He was fascinated by the lady doing sign language at the front of the stage and tried to catch her out by saying difficult words and messing about behind her...until she pointed out that she could see everything he was doing in a very large mirror at the other end of the hall....very funny.
Okey Dokey....moving on and finally for my post today me thinks....Torri Higginson - Obviously there was a huge cheer for Torri when she came on stage, due to the recent decision by TPTB to remove her character from the show....a controversial decision in a year of controversial decisions in SGA...Torri was quite adorable, thanking a group of fans for their 'red shirt' campaign to bring back the character (well it worked for Carson).
What else can I say about Torri....Oh, she was incredibly pleasant at the autograph session and we spoke about her dog, she asked me if I had any pets and dedicated the autograph to my cat Henry, who died two years ago aged 20....she can do the splits (see pic) and does a terrific impression of Flipper.
The only casualty appeared to be...well, me actually...when a huge rock....and by rock I mean shingle....and by shingle I mena pebble.... was thrust unexpectedly into my path...causing a complete balance malfunction.....I have since been nursing a badly sprained ankle and a jean burned knee....and possibly an ego deflation, though I'm sure the builders nearby were laughing at a particularly funny anecdote and had nothing to do with my spectacularly un-lady like display of gravity theory....just what I need the week of P3.