Supanova Sydney 2013 Day 2 - Saturday
Day 2 dawned wet and miserable... but that was just the weather. Luke (known from now on as L) arrived dressed as Batman - and looking AWESOME I must say - at our place and then the four of us, Amber (henceforth A), trueblue55 (henceforth S) and I were gratefully driven down to the train station by A's mum R. We caught the train in to Lidcombe and then changed to the Olympic Sprint to Olympic Park, where the Convention was being held at The Dome. Thank goodness we had already gotten our passes and tokens the night before because it was bedlam already.
S hadn't had breakfast so we ducked into The Lounge for something to eat and coffee. Bad idea. Their service was shocking and the food was worse. S and I didn't even get our coffees. They took that long to come out we just cancelled the order. L & A ordered after us and got theirs before us, as did 3 other customers. Just ridiculous. S was so fucked off. Anyway! We got inside the con and it was just MADNESS. Because of the weather, everyone was inside and staying inside all day. You couldn't move, you couldn't breathe. Thank god for the VIP pass, that's all I can say. Queuing for anything would have been a nightmare!!
Our first event on the schedule was a photo op with Carrie Fisher... HOMG Carrie Fisher you guys! Like Princess Leia! You have no idea how excited I was to meet her. She was the first female actress that I ever wanted to be. The first female CHARACTER I ever wanted to be. Leia was strong and BAMF and independent and capable and was able to put men in their place and keep them there. She didn't need a hero to look after her, she was a heroine. No one I had seen before was like Princess Leia. She was just... she was everything. And she was a toy as well! She just kicked ARSE! So yeah, it was just a dream come true to be in the same room as her, let alone be able to put my arms around her!
When I went into my photo op, she stared at my T-shirt and she read it and said, "May the fez be with you... what is that from?" and I replied that it was Eleven from Doctor Who and she replied that she liked it, she liked it a lot and then opened her arms up for a cuddle and snuggled in close. Our photo is so cute. Though you should see Sam's. She's so snuggled into his arms. It's adorable. She loved his Iron Maiden/Storm Trooper mashup t-shirt too. She's just wonderful.
After our photo op, we headed straight into the Eve Myles & Kai Owen panel - because Eve and Kai did everything together this weekend. And they are awesome together. We laughed so much. There were a lot of questions about Torchwood, and it was clear how much they loved working together, how much they loved the entire cast, and how often John Barrowman spent on set without his clothes on. Eve and Kai play off each other so much. Reminds me a lot of Robin Dunne and Amanda Tapping actually. Anyway, they are gorgeous and beautiful and hilariously funny. Eve danced on stage and Kai and Eve sang and it was GLORIOUS.
After the panel, we went and got a few autographs done, like Carrie Fisher, who I got to sign my original, boxed, 1984 Endor Forest Princess Leia (she will never ever be sold), Sam's photo with her, and a birthday card for my twin nephews who are turning 5 in August and a massive Star Wars fans. From Carrie, we headed down to the exhibitors hall to the book stands to get Sam's Trudi Canavan books autographed. Then we went to see Rupert Young, from Merlin. He played King Arthur's knight Sir Leon. Rupert is just wonderful. He was engaging and happy to talk to every fan who came into his autograph line. I got an autograph done for miss_bekahrose because she couldn't come down for the convention, and I told him how she couldn't come and that she was studying to be a teacher and to save up to move to England to teach next year. And he said that he was sorry she couldn't make it and to give her his best wishes. He asked if we were going to be at the VIP party that night and we said we were and he said he'd catch up with us there and we said definitely. I'm sure there was some more small talk. Oh, I mentioned that Eoin's toys had multiplied, because on his table there were like 4 new stuffed toys. So we nattered about them and Rupert said Brainy and my koala were back at Eoin's hotel room. And then Eoin came in and so we had a quick chat with him and to his handler, who I know but I'm not saying who it is.
I said to Eoin that his Koala had multiplied during the night, and he grinned and said yeah! And then he picked up a kangaroo and said he wanted to show me something cool and hid it behind his back, and then told me to say my name as he thrust it into my face. So I did, and then it mimicked me and bounced up and down. Which made me laugh, and it laughed like I did and bounced up and down. HOMG. And then Rupert was asking him about it, so he thrust it in Rupert's face and it didn't work, so he told Eoin they had to go for the Excalibur photos. And Eoin said to us it never works when you want it to, and it repeated what Eoin said, which just made him roll his eyes and toss it onto the table. SO FUCKING FUNNY.
Okay, so then here comes my most embarrassing moment ever you guys. And I'm not kidding, I'm never, ever going to live this down. Ever. I'm like, hideously embarrassed and I'm sure everyone else has forgotten about it except for S and A, but HOMG. Okay, so S and I are lined up for the Excalibur photo op. Facing the camera it's Rupert, Eoin, Bradley and Tom. And because S and I are short we stand in front of them. Right? Set the scene? Okay. So I push Sam into the room in front of me and Eoin's like "Hey!" and Sam's all "Yeah there's two of us," and I said, "It's a double team!" which HOMG MY MOUTH YOU GUYS! FFS. Of course, the UK guys are like "WHAYHEY!!!!!" and LAUGHING AT ME. So because it's all so fast, we're standing in front of them and at the last second I remembered to put my arm around Sam. HOMG. HOMG YOU GUYS. By doing this, I accidentally... *SIGH* Okay. Here it is.
I ACCIDENTALLY HIT BRADLEY JAMES IN THE CROTCH WITH THE BACK OF MY HAND.
I'm not kidding. I hear this groan, and Bradley said, "Ohhh. That was a knock... on my... cock." And the other three are killing themselves laughing. Sam is killing himself laughing. I'm dying of embarrassment and repeatedly saying "I'm so so so so sorry!" over and over again, before I run out of the photo area, and then call over the wall on the other side of the makeshift studio, "I'm REALLY, REALLY SORRY!" and die of embarrassment all over again.
I nutted King Arthur. More to the point, his knights let me nut King Arthur and didn't defend his honour. I think this is because they adore me. *Raspberries Bradley*
So after that debacle, because it had taken forever for the photo ops to be taken, we went up to the Merlin's Knight's panel, it was an Exclusive panel, but it started SO LATE that we had to leave just as it started because we had photo ops with Kai and Eve. So we made our way down to the photo booths and found out that they were an hour late, so we could have stayed up there. WELL. We ended up going and getting some lunch and then going over to Kai and Eve as their lines were low and I got my Kai autograph done and Sam got his Eve one done. And let me tell you, they are just the most WONDERFUL PEOPLE EVER. Kai recognised me from twitter!!! First he said he loved my Manchester United jersey (which I had on for my photo op with him), and I told him that Sam was a Toon fan, and then he recognised me from twitter. And he asked me my handle and I told him and he was like, "THAT'S IT!! I knew it was you!!" So we had a good chat and we told Kai and Eve that we drove down from Brisbane, 14 hour drive and he gave me a hug for that and Eve gave Sam and I a hug for it, and Kai signed my photo and my Man Utd Rhino. :D :D :D And we talked to Eve about her show "Frankie" and how much we love it, and I told her that I tweet her about it and she grabbed my arm and said, "Oh my god yes! You do! I recognise you!" and she gave me another hug. It was so funny. Oh I love them so much. They asked if we were going to the VIP party and we said for sure. Oh and we were talking about tattoos, because Eve said that she wanted to draw a tattoo on Kai's arm but he wouldn't let her, and I said to Kai that he was lucky because I have 2 real ones because of Sam. Eve gasped and said, "Where?!" and then covered her mouth and then said, "Oooh, can I ask?" and I laughed and said on my heart which I can show her that night because my dress won't cover much of it, and then I turned around, lifted my shirt and pulled the top of my jeans down and showed them my Dallas Stars tramp stamp. Kai immediately recognised it as a sports logo - PROPS FOR THAT!!
Anyway we left them when more people came up to get autographs and said we'd see them later. So we went over to the photo ops area and lined up there for our photos to wait for them. And they came over pretty much straight away. I sent an urgent text to A to get her there for her Kai photo because she had one alone and one jointly with me. :D I went in first to get mine, and Kai gave me a giant cuddle. I'm about the only fan with Kai that got a huge cuddle, and I've seen most of the fan photos that came out. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. And then A came just in time and she had on HER Man Utd jersey and her United Champions scarf so they held the scarf up - their photo is AWESOME! And then for our joint op, Kai holds it above our heads and told us to cuddle into him, which we did. It's BRILLIANT!!
Eve also told us all to hug her too. She's just gorgeous and wonderful and I love her to pieces. She's so wonderful and kind and generous. I've always said that I love Eve, it was Gwen I didn't like, and it still holds true. I utterly adore Eve. She's just such a wonderful soul. I love her so much. She's so funny and free spirited. She's just a gorgeous person.
After our photo op A and L went to the Hobbit panel, while S and I wandered around the merchants. After the panel was over, we headed home to get ready for the VIP party. By the time we got there though, with the stops on the train line, we had like 10 minutes to get ready. It was the fastest time EVER to get ready, but we did and we headed back into the city for the party.
When we got to The Establishment, Kai was already there for the party - because the Wallabies Vs UK Lions game was going to be on TV during the party. So we went inside, said hello to Kai (I got a hug hello), and went to the bar. I started on the scotch and coke early because I already had a migraine and I didn't have any medication on me. We found a place to sit and watch the game. There was no bringing around of the guests it was meet and mingle yourselves. It was an interesting night, seeing the guests and their own natural behaviours. Bradley James was extremely jetlagged, poor guy. He didn't want to talk to anyone but other celebrities, and watch the game. He was most unimpressed about being interrupted by fans for any reason unless it was to talk about the football and only for short periods of time. He hijacked our conversation with Eve, without an apology by the way. So I wasn't impressed with that. But what can you do? Eve and Kai were most gracious with everyone. The Weasley Phelps twins were happy to talk to anything tall, leggy and good looking but anyone else, the conversation went nowhere. Anthony Montgomery hugged me at the end of the rugby game because Australia lost and he was just enjoying the football. He is a RI.OT. He really is. The Hoff was doing business deals on the phone while at the party and thought Australia won when it was the UK. Most of the American stars left in the second half of the game because everyone was watching the football and not paying much attention to them.
S and I spent a lot of time talking to Eve and to Rupert. I also talked to Eoin as well, who got really smashed by the way. Probably as smashed as Kai did. Eve, Sam and I spent a lot of time talking about Frankie, and filming it, her research process, community nurses and how special they are. I told her how amazing the series is, and how amazing she was in it, and how the series and especially her character of Frankie reminded me so much of Sam's Mum, and I went on to explain how Mum had just passed away from brain cancer and how quick it took her and she had brain cancer and we had cared for her at home with the help of hospice nurses and how we were the palliative care, not the doctors or nurses but the family, and the hospice nurses were our community nurses in NZ and they were just amazing. So the three of us bonded over that. She has so much respect for the community nurses and she said that Frankie was the role that she had to play. She just had to have it. And I tell you what, she is absolutely brilliant in it, so if you haven't seen Frankie, you absolutely must get your hands on it, and then petition the BBC for a second series, because we need more of it. It was just phenomenal and props to Lucy Gannon for writing it. I also showed Eve my tattoo - I couldn't help it, because my dress didn't cover it at all, and explained how it was my star sign and Sam's and the dolphin stood for peace, love and harmony. And she looked at Sam and said, "Yes, until you argue and then it turns into a dinosaur, am I right? RAOR!" Oh My GOD is she hilarious. She asked about my tattoo and if it hurt to get it and I told her it was like a paper cut, and she said, "They fucking hurt!" I laughed and said it only hurts when the needle is in but when it's out you don't feel it. And then I told her how Sam has 4 tattoos and is a total needle phobe, and how during our Stars tattoos in Dallas, which we got done by a really famous tattoo artist, Sam went first and bitched and moaned and whined so much through his I told him to grow up and, "Suck it up, Princess." And now Bobby calls him 'Princess Sam'. She thought that was brilliant.
Oh and when Kai came over to put his drinks on the table to go to the bathroom, he looked at my chest and saw the tattoo and pointed at it and said, "Explain?" So I told him that the purple symbol was Virgo, that's me and he interrupted and said that he was a virgo too and then asked what date, and I said September 1 and he said September 5, and put his hand up in the air for a high five. I couldn't leave him hanging! So then we were like comparing family members who were also born in September as well. HOMG so much in common. LOL.
Oh and when Eve left, I said to her, "You know how you all had the first generation figurines?" and she nodded. I said, "Well, Gareth sold his Gwen and Jack to raise money for Blue Gillespie, and I have them." Her face lit up, I tell you. She told me to bring them tomorrow for her to sign and I told her I couldn't because it was back in Brisbane and she pouted and said, "Bollocks! Well what are we going to do about it?" So I told her we'd come up with something. I'm thinking if I can find a clear sticker, I'll send it to her for her to sign with a black sharpie and she can mail it back to me, and I can stick it on the back like Gareth's, OR I'll just go to a con in the UK or wait for her to come back and get her to sign it then. But I'm pleased that she was so happy that I had bought Gareth's Gwen action figure. That made me all warm and fuzzy.
Also I got a photo with Eoin, what was awesome. :D His eyes in the photo are hilarious.
We watched the end of the game sitting around Bradley James and Tom Hopper, and I was next to Anthony Montgomery on the seat behind the lounge that Bradley and Tom were on. I watched as repeatedly girls came over to Bradley and asked for photos and be begrudgingly said yes but looked totally bored and not interested in the photos. It was amusing yet heartbreaking. I was teasing Eoin towards the end of the game because he kept coming over when Australia was kicking for goal and kept missing and then he'd fuck off again. The bastard! I blame him for our loss. He gladly takes it! A wanted to talk to the Phelps twins but they were totally not interested in the conversation. I guess we weren't .... leggy enough?
Anyway I didn't care because I had a migraine and I was just ready to go home. A and S got another drink, I got a glass of water and we moved down to the end of the room where it was a little quieter, but yeah. It was time for us to go because I was getting sicker and sicker. So after A and S finished their drinks, we said goodnight to Kai who latched onto A and gave her a massive cuddle goodnight, and then onto me and gave me a huge cuddle goodnight, and pointed at me and said, "Wendy." And I asked, "And my twitter is?" And he replied, "Magikalrhiannon." I grinned and said, "Good man." He shook Sam's hand and they had some male bonding over the Lions winning and how Kai was tired - he looked totally fucked to be honest. He needed to go to bed. But yeah, he was hanging out for the fans. He is just a good man. So we told him we'd see him tomorrow.
Then we went to say goodbye to Rupert, who gave me a hug goodbye and I got a photo with him too. He's such a sweetheart. Seriously. He's just adorable. If you don't love Rupert there's something wrong with you.
And I got a hug goodbye from Eoin too, and we talked about The Inside, his movie, which is available on DVD - written, directed and starring Eoin himself by the way - and how awesome and fucked up it is. I love the movie, it's a brilliant little horror independent movie written and filmed in 2 weeks. He was completely stoked that the movie had make it's way to Australia and that someone had watched it and loved it. He was genuinely thrilled. It was awesome. So after that, we said our goodnights and headed for the door.
Apparently we weren't the only ones leaving - so were a bunch of celebs. We got to go down in the lift first, because they were going to "catch the next one", according to the handler. We walked down to Circular Quay and then down to the Sydney Opera House because Sam had never been there before. And then back to the train station at Circular Quay, passing the roleplaying Dom/Sub gay men taking photos of themselves in masks by the fence with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background all lit up. O_O I wasn't aware that we had suddenly morphed into Kings Cross...
ANYHOO. We got home around 12:30am. It was a fucking long day, but supremely awesome. Aside from the Thailand/Bangkok jokes I now have to live down.