More Wizard World Toronto 2012 Memories

Previous memories.

Okay, so – the Vampire Diaries panel was a lot of fun. The panel was just Paul Wesley and Torrey DeVitto – and I think I didn’t realize for a few minutes that they were both married and castmates on the show, but it sounds like that’s a lot of fun for them. I hadn’t actually gotten to see any of Torrey’s episodes of the show at the time, because I was many months behind, though I’ve caught up to her first appearances by now, thanks to a small weekend marathon.

Jeri Ryan’s Q&A was scheduled in the same room next, and I’d heard enough to guess that Wizard World was going to enforce the ‘clear out of the room and let the people waiting in line have first choice of seats’ policy, so I actually took off five minutes early, when the volunteer mentioned that it was going to be last question, just to beat the rush – and that seemed to work pretty well, though I’m not sure if there was any chance of not getting back into the room.

Jeri was a lot of fun, telling stories about what it was like to be the new girl on Voyager and how she almost fell over on the bridge wearing a laser prosthetic piece over one of her eyes, because it took away her depth perception. She talked up her new show ‘Body of Proof’ a lot too, which makes sense because it’s still waiting on news for getting renewed. I asked her about if she felt she was typecast from having been on Voyager – “No, I feel like it gave me a lot of career opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise” – and asked about her favorite role since, which got her talking for several minutes about Leverage. I’ll have to check that series out.

My last event of the day on Saturday was a Doctor Who fan panel, which was a lot of fun. It was put on by a new fan group, the Doctor Who Society of Canada, which was apparently born at Fan Expo 2011, and they said that they’re looking for new members and had events regularly in the Toronto area.

After the panel, I hurried home so quickly I realized on the bus that I’d completely forgotten to collect the photo that I had taken with Amy.

Sunday morning, as I got off the bus at Union station, something unfortunate happened – I slipped on the slightly wet pavement and wrenched my knee. But I didn’t want to let it ruin my day, so I hurried off towards the convention center as quickly as I could manage, and soon I was in line to get back into the show. I’d inventoried my Buffy and Angel graphic novels Saturday evening, and managed to pick up several new titles, (getting a discount on a slightly worn copy of the last ‘Buffy Season Eight’) and I also remembered to get my Amy Acker photo.

Soon enough, I was headed back down to panel room B. First was the Quantum Leap Panel – Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell talking about the old days together, which was an awful lot of fun. I kept using the same trick of leaving the audience a few minutes early to get in line for the next one – hobbling actually, on my injured knee, but I managed well enough. Sean Maher’s Q&A session was next, and it was a lot of fun. He talked about some of his favorite bits of filming “The Playboy Club”, and being a part of Joss Whedon’s “Much Ado about Nothing.” I was able to ask him about his favorite moment of working with Jewel Staite – he said that moment in the Movie where Simon tells Kaylee that his one regret is not making time to be with her, and her reaction is ‘Hell with this – I’m gonna live!’ I also asked him if he had any notion of what happened next for Simon and Kaylee after the movie.

“Well, Jewel and I joked a bit about that. She said that if there was a Serenity 2, it should open with Kaylee like eight and a half months pregnant, really big. And she’s shaving Simon’s head, saying that he’s just too damn pretty.”

And the last Q&A panel of the entire con was Amy Acker. She was great, really funny and sweet, talked about Cabin in the Woods, and Much Ado about Nothing, and how she’s going to be guest starring on Person of Interest. That’s about all I can remember now – catch you later!

May the Fourth be with you.

Happy Star Wars day, everybody!

I’d like to ramble just a bit tonight about my completed Script Frenzy screenplay draft, ‘Geek at Heart’. It’s a romantic comedy set in the world of fandom, and my main character and a lot of his friends identify as Star Wars fans and dress up as the core cast of ‘A New Hope.’

That was a last-minute decision, because I was planning everything about Script Frenzy at the last minute this year. Sometime well into the last week of March I was still thinking I was going to be writing about a dating agency with all of the set-ups happening on trains – still a romantic comedy, but that movie would have been very different in the details. And I’m not a big Star Wars fan myself, but I guess I’ve absorbed a lot about it, because all kinds of cool Star Wars stuff kept coming out as soon as I got familiar with those characters.

My favorite line, which is hopefully going to be in a Script Frenzy official video, is from a montage where all of Harry’s friends are working the various fan groups that have come to the big convention, trying to find dates for him – and mostly striking out. Amanda, who plays the role of Princess Leia in their group, talks to an older Klingon couple about the possibility of setting Harry up with a Klingon girl:

“We have heard of your Jedi Knights, princess, with their light sabers and mind tricks. That is not the path of a true warrior, and there is no honor in it. Do not ask again!”

Somewhat faded memories of Wizard World Toronto 2012 – part 1

Because of the non-stop craziness of the A-Z challenge and continuing to do Six Sentence Sunday, I didn’t get to tell you anything about the Wizard World Toronto Comic Con, which took place April 14th and 15th. I had a really great time, (except for perhaps one moment that I’ll tell you about later,) and want to send a shout-out to the Wizard World team for a very well-run show.

I’ve been to Wizard World Comic Con in Toronto two times before. In 2010, it was actually the first fan convention I ever went to – I won a general admission ticket in a Toronto Browncoats shindig giveaway, and had a really great time, meeting Jewel Staite and Magda Apanowicz. I blogged quite a bit about the 2011 show at the time.

There were a lot of changes to Wizard World Toronto in 2012. They moved from the Direct Energy Center on the CNE grounds to the North building of the Metro Toronto Convention Center, a venue that I haven’t been to since the overcrowded 2010 Fan Expo. They also cut it down to a 2-day show, eliminating the Friday afternoon part of the schedule, and moved into April – the same weekend as the Ad Astra fan-run literary convention, actually. I’m disappointed that I couldn’t go to both Wizard World and Ad Astra this year, but I have no regrets about picking Wizard World.

I stuck with the same strategy I used in the March comic con of taking the GO bus into Toronto each day, rather than getting a hotel room downtown. I was also able to drive to the Hamilton bus station this time, in my new car, which actually made the commute a lot less stressful. I got to the South building pretty early on Saturday morning, armed with my barcode ticket printouts. It didn’t take too long to get one of the barcodes scanned and an official wristband sealed onto my person. Then helpful volunteers directed me up an escalator…

To wait in line, with the rest of the general admission peons, for the doors to the show floor to open. (Behind the advance VIP line, but they had to line up too, at least.)

But around 10 am the line started moving, and I went straight for the celebrity autograph area along the back of the floor. Not many stars were there yet, but I think there was a volunteer at Sean Maher’s booth, saying that he was on his way, so I waited around and got him to sign the two items that I’m trying to get signed by the whole Firefly cast – my Serenity blueprints book, and the graphic novel of ‘Those Left Behind.’ Waited a bit longer for somebody to show up at Amy Acker’s booth – eventually heard from somebody that her flight was delayed and she’d be half an hour – or an hour.

The rest of that morning went pretty quickly. Lining up for the photo op with Sean, by that time the word was in that Amy was on her way and a line was forming at her booth, so I joined the line, got her to sign an Angel comic and a head shot, then lined up to get my photo taken with her. I think around this point I must have grabbed a slice of pizza from the ubiquitous Pizza Pizza concession, and wandered the sales floor, looking for anything really cool I had to buy, Picked up some ‘Firefly’ promotional cards, wandered through the comic book stands looking at all the Buffy and Angel graphic novels, and realized that I had very little certainty of which titles I already owned, so I didn’t buy any that day.

I don’t really remember anything else before three in the afternoon on Saturday, which was the Vampire Diaries panel. Actually, I remember lining up for the panel shortly after two. And I think that I’ve rambled long enough for one post, so I’ll pick it up there next time!

Toronto Comicon wrapup

So, I’m feeling a bit under the weather this afternoon – combination of a cold coming on, lack of sleep with the Spring Forward, and tiredness from the convention weekend. But still I’m really pleased that I went, and in general satisfied with my choice of strategy for Toronto Comicon.

A little background – since I first started going to conventions in Toronto, two years ago, I’ve always made reservations for hotel rooms close to the venue, to stay in the big city for the duration. And I usually tend to pack heavy, both for what I take to the hotel, and even what I take from the hotel to the convention itself, though I’ve been trying to moderate the latter, since lugging around too much as I hurry from panel to panel or make my way across a busy sales floor is really tiring.

This spring, I decided to break all of those patterns. I didn’t stay overnight in Toronto at all, and I tried my best to restrict what I put in the messenger bag that I took with me on the bus each day – a half-dozen digital gizmos, including iPhone, work blackberry, and ipod nano, some handy snacks, sunglasses, and a clipboard with my tickets and the con schedules. That was pretty much it.

The days were on the long and tiring side – I had a lot of fun, both at the convention and watching videos while on the move, but leaving my apartment around 8:30 and getting home around 8 in the evening made for a long day – and then, I was struggling to log some NaNoEdMo time and do a few other things while I was home.

I still think it’s better than taking out a hotel room for a little two-day convention at least, so I’m going to try the same strategy next month for Wizard World. (There’s a Browncoats shindig the Saturday night of Wizard World weekend, and so I’ll probably be rushing to order my food quickly, pay quickly, and get home so that I can get up to bus back in on Sunday morning.)

Oh, the sacrifices that you have to endure while saving up for a car.

Let’s see, what other memories from Comicon can I share with you since Saturday’s post?

Toronto comicon by hobbystar, day 1

I am typing this entry into my iPhone while waiting in line for a Nicole Deboer and Robert Picardo Q & A session, in the Metro Toronto Convention Center.

Con season for 2012 has officially begun.

I waited in my first line at 10:15 am this morning, for people who bought their tickets online to be let in.

It’s been crazy fun so far, emphasis on the crazy. So far I have:
Gotten two autographs from Charisma Carpenter, and one each from Robert Picardo and Kristanna Loken.
Bought my ticket for the Can’t stop the Serenity 2012 screening
Found two Angel graphic novels that I didn’t already have at the dealer stalls.
Spent eight dollars for a slice of pepperoni pizza and a bottle of water
Bought a ticket for Charisma’s photo op

I’m running low on cash, but have enough to grab some munchies before the photo op

Six Sentence Sunday is tomorrow, but I’ll have more of a Comicon report on Monday!

Sunday, my last real day at Dragon*Con

I’m feeling sad about having to leave Atlanta behind so early today – next year I’ll seriously have to plan to arrive on Thursday and leave on Monday, so that I really have four full days at the Con.

Here are just some of the highlights from yesterday:

• The Red Dwarf Q&A with the voice of the toaster, which had hints about the new series to be filmed this winter.
• Getting my picture taken with Autumn Reeser.
• The Browncoats Redemption wrap panel. (I still have to watch that DVD.)
• Trying to answer Anne McCaffrey trivia questions, (mostly NOT Pern trivia,) and eat a cheeseburger and fries in the same time slot.
• The Anne McCaffrey art panel with Michael Whelan, who apparently put Pern onto the New York Times Best-seller list with the cover for “The White Dragon”, which I didn’t know.
• A fan panel discussing Chuck and the upcoming new season, which reminded me of a lot of things that I love about that show.
• The Doctor Who season six review panel, and asking a question about the missing pieces and unanswered questions of Melody Pond’s life.
• The ‘Big Bang Theory’ discussion panel, which had a guy dressed up as Howard Wolowitz in the audience.

One thing that wasn’t particularly a highlight was not getting into the ‘Stars of Buffy’ Q&A, after leaving the Michael Whelan Q&A to wait most of an hour for it. Oh well.

I also thought it was interesting that most of the fans on the Doctor Who review panel had such hate for the little Amy Pond intro spiel on the North American broadcasts this season. (I think it originated with BBC America, but the Space channel in Canada airs it too.) They really seemed offended about how it introduced the Doctor as ‘The Imaginary Friend.’

Myself, I don’t really think that intro is necessary, but I rather like it anyway – mostly as a little recap of some of the basics of the current state of canon for anybody who’s checking out a new episode and needs those basics. “I ran away with him, and we’ve been running ever since.” Come on – what’s wrong with that?

Saturday at Dragon*Con

I had a very busy day.

Breakfast at the Holiday, then the shuttle over to the Hilton. Armed with my ‘Buffy Omnibus Seven’ and ‘Dollhouse one-shot’ comics, I got two signatures from Felicia Day and one from James Marsters. The extra Felicia signature was on a ‘Doctor Horrible’ glossy photo.

The ‘Is the Doctor a meddler’ panel was standing room only, and not much of that, so I wandered over to Kate Mulgrew’s Q&A for a while, and then pulled out at the half-hour mark to get into line for the big Smallville Q&A session.

I’m not sure if anybody else does that, though I suspect it’s more common than you might think. There’s a half hour break between panels and other items on the schedule, to let people go from place to place, but really popular panels get lines starting up more than hour early. So, if you leave one panel half-way through, you can get to the site of the next and have nearly an hour, which should be enough to get you a pretty good seat. Obviously, you wouldn’t bother unless the second panel is a lot better than the first.

So, Smallville Q&A, was a lot of fun, we heard from Laura Vandervoort about her superhero poses and got a lot of fun stories from the villain guys, and heard about what everybody’s up to now. I got into line with a question that was mostly for James and partly also for Sam Witwer, about how much they knew about their character’s dark sides when they first started, because we met Brainiac and Doomsday through their secret identities first. But when I was second in line to ask, James had to leave early, so I decided not to bother and went back to my seat.

Dragon*Con Friday – Once more, with Rocky Horror

So – Dragon*Con! I made it here, and all that!

Left yesterday morning at 7am to go to the airport. Flew through Washington briefly, got to Atlanta, took a shared shuttle to the Holiday Inn, checked in and immediately got set to go register at the Convention. By 4 in the afternoon I had my badge – there was almost no line-up for pre-registers by then.

Then I spent several hours running around, getting a good sense of the five host hotels and where they were in relation to each other – at least, I hope it’s a fairly good sense. Dragon*Con is a bit new to me, in that though it’s a bigger con than Fan Expo is, it doesn’t feel exactly like the commercial ‘floor cons’, such as Fan Expo or Wizard World. Instead, it’s a giant version of a fan ‘hotel con’ like Polaris or Ad Astra – hence, why it needs five host hotels, I guess.

I dropped by the Whedonverse fan track room in the middle of a panel about absolute power corrupting in Joss Whedon shows, got bored and went on more exploring, and got four autographed pictures:

• Laura Vandervoort
• Tahmoh Penikett
• Autumn Reeser
• Michael Rosenbaum

I could have gotten autographs from James Marsters and Felicia Day too – but I had left the comics that I want them to sign back at the Holiday Inn! Oh well, try today I guess.

Fan Expo ends with a LARP and a half!

It’s been well over 24 hours since I’ve been home now – didn’t post yesterday because I just felt worn out, but it was another great day, mostly full of LARP-ing. I did get Lexa Doig’s autograph and went to visit a writer friend in the gaming demo room, as well.

The first LARP I tried out was Shadow Realms. Because it was early in the day, and not very well publicized, there was only me and two sisters participating in the demo, and four members running it. I played a dark elf mage character, with a lot of complicated spells to try and memorize: “I cloud your mind to fumble!” …and a very weak-ass fire sword. There was a silly ice-breaker scene to get started with involving some kobolds in a sideshow run by a huckster, and then a more serious fight against goblins, which involved a lot of running around, throwing fumble spells, and then the goblins throwing their friends spare weapons and picking up the fumbled weapons when we couldn’t guard them anymore. But it was great. I’m sorry I didn’t think to have somebody take a picture of me in my blue wizard’s cloak.

The NERO Canada demo was much larger and more elaborate – I took a warrior class that time, who had two special one-use skills of parry and death blow, and the organized adventure had four different fight scenes – vine creatures in the forest, bats along a narrow cave ledge, (so the bats could fly in the open part of the room, but adventurers had to stay along the edges,) undead creatures summoned by standing on squared of a grid corridor, and a minotaur and living statues defending the villainess. I didn’t make that much account of myself with a sword, but our group outnumbered the monsters most of the time and were able to make use of that advantage even against powerful damage numbers.

One little tidbit of difference – with Shadow Realms, you shout your damage number with every swing, and with Nero, it’s only when you actually hit.

Once the Nero Canada demo wrapped up, I was ready to go home, so I checked for Eliza Dushku photos, (still not ready, hope it comes in the mail okay,) picked up my suitcase at the Fairmont luggage check, and headed over to Union Station.

And I got a Union Dairy Freeze: An ice cream headache brought on by buying a soft-serve cone and eating it all before boarding the next available bus.

Fan Expo day three update

Well, it was all about Eliza Dushku and Lost Girl, it turns out. Not that either has anything to do with the other beyond sharing my time today.

I was in line by 8:45 to get in, and so I arrived at the autograph booths close enough to ten AM to get the number 67 ticket. They’re using a new system of number tickets in addition to the lines for autographs this year, it seems – once the space allocated for the line is full, anyone else has to get a ticket, and they call a certain block of numbers that can come and join the line when there’s room. So once the easel said ‘up to 75′ next to Eliza’s line, I rushed forward to take my place. If you miss the call for your block, you can use your ticket to join the line later.

Got plenty of good stuff, both for myself and for a friend who’s also a big Eliza fan. Then it was up to the Lost Girl panel, which was really cool, because there was so much positive energy in the room – you could tell that the cast loved working on the series, and had a lot of fun together, and there was a huge turnout and everybody in the audience was excited, and the cast was thrilled to see that they had so many fans. After the screening, the cast had a special limited-time signing, so I got a bunch of signed mini-cards. Then it was time to quickly grab a pizza and head up to get my picture taken with Eliza at the ‘photo op.’

After I’d left the photo op room, things kinda got less eventful. The convention center was very crowded by that point in the afternoon; I went to one panel that I thought looked cool, but I was late and it was standing room only, so I didn’t stay. Then another event got cancelled, and I ended up sitting for about an hour and a half in the waiting line for Eliza’s question and answer session, which was pretty cool – I got a good seat and recorded some of it on my camera. And then a dinner shindig with the Toronto Firefly group to round out the day.

So it was a fun time, despite a lot of waiting around. But even the waiting time I put to good use – reading on the iPhone! I finished reading “Prisoner of Azkaban”, read Terry Pratchett’s “The Light Fantastic” through from beginning to end, and started on “The Rock Rats.” The battery went down more than halfway just from all of that reading!

PS: Since I see that somebody was searching for it, the autograph fee for Eliza Dushku was a bit on the pricey side – forty dollars a signature, and fifty for the photo op ticket.