What I did on my summer vacation (VanCon Report Part 2)
Continuing on with my VanCon report, my friend L dropped me off at the Wall Centre on Friday a little before noon, so I checked in and promptly made about 4 attempts to get my room's swipe card to activate the elevator before I actually made it to the 12th floor LOL. The room was really nice, with a balcony and a great view of the city, but with not a whole lot of floor space so I was glad there was only going to be 2 of us sharing the room. My roommate hadn't checked in yet (and we had yet to meet for the first time), so I attempted to find my way to Creation's con registration table. The Wall Centre has 2 towers so I was disappointed to discover our room (which I'd booked back in January) was in the other tower, away from the convention activities but, eventually I got my bearings, found the line-ups and picked up my registration package. Actually, I should mention that, since I'd made this trip on my own, I struck up a conversation with a few people in line - fighting my natural tendency toward introversion/shyness (aka hermit-ness) - and subsequently managed to keep myself in a pretty social "mode" for the entire convention. [Pause for self-congratulatory pat on the back]
I wandered through the vendor room which was quite a disappointment as compared to the one at EyeCon but ended up buying one photo each of Jake Abel and Misha since the only goodies I'd brought for autographing were my s1 and s2 DVD packages, which neither of these guys "fit". (Yes, I'm that anal - just ask anyone I hung out with at the con, they'll be happy to confirm it and discuss my OCD as well.)
In due course I made my way to the "theater" and found my seat. And was extremely happy with it! I was in row F, seat 30, which ended up being only 7 seats from center. I'd had some concerns about whether seat 30 would be too far off to the side but it wasn't at all. Before the events began I tried to look out for my roommate who was a few rows in front of me and quite a ways off to the side (unfortunately for her) but couldn't find her yet. I did however spot erinrua only 4 seats away from me (who I'd recognized from pics posted on her lj) so immediately made my way over to introduce myself. Erin and I have actually known each other for almost 10 years, having both been involved in the Magnificent Seven fandom but we'd never actually met before. And though we didn't get much of a chance to socialize outside of the line-ups we were in together for photo ops and autographs, we Mag7/SPN/working dog lovers hit it off like I expected. As anyone who's met her can attest, erinrua is a super, super lady!
Gabe Tigerman was the first guest and he was adorable. Much less nervous than the first time I saw him at EyeCon #1, which had been his first con. Gabe is sweet and funny and clearly devoted to his wife (and new writing partner). I hope we see more of him on TV or in movies in the future.
My memory gets a little blurry here but I honestly can't remember what I did between Gabe's Q&A and "The Ladies of Supernatural" panel. At some point in the day I did go back to my room and finally meet wynterwolf47 , my roommate of awesomeness (as I would soon discover) but I actually think that wasn't until after Alona, Julie and Traci had their panel.
So, let's assume that was afterward and just fast-forward to the 3 ladies. Damn, what a vision those 3 provided up on stage! As I mentioned in my friends only entry of the other day, my camera sucked out loud and eventually died on me but I will share this small picture below to 1) give you an idea of where I was seated and 2) provide a visual of just how striking an image it was to have that blonde, that red-head, and that brunette on stage together. They were all stunning and loads of fun but I'd have to say that Traci stole the show for me with her saucy, sexy, very-like-her-character-Pamela's attitude.
I think this is the point where I went back to the room and met my roommate and, over the course of the weekend, the 2 of us got along famously. Fandom - new and old - was largely our topic of conversation and we had so many loves in common, I'm sure we both blurted "were we separated at birth?" several times over the course of the weekend *g* So here's the part where I have to stop and thank gatorpez for hooking us up. Thanks, girl… if I couldn't share this trip with you, you picked one helluva rockin' roomie for me as your replacement!
So, getting along terrifically, wynterwolf47 and I decided to have dinner in the hotel's restaurant along with her friend G, who traveled to the con from Cali. The 3 of us had a great time chatting about SPN but we went our separate ways afterward as I made my way back for autographs and they carried on making their own fun. During the autograph session, I got to see Aldis Hodge for the first time (his panel was the next day) and man does this kid sparkle! I fell for him just watching him talk to the people ahead of me - he truly has a smile that lights up the room. I asked him about Leverage and when it might make its way up to Canada but not surprisingly he didn't have any info. No worries though - I have every intention of picking up the s1 DVD now that it's available. Alona was pleasant and more personable than I found her at EyeCon, where IIRC she wasn’t feeling well, but I'm afraid I had a slightly awkward moment with her when she misconstrued something I said during our brief chat. Nothing major at all but I was disappointed that it happened. Gabe was a sweetheart - no surprise there but, since his autograph came after Alona's and I had decided it was best to keep my yap shut, I didn't really say anything to him other than a thank-you.
Despite the time spent in line-ups for autographs, I'm not really into them much so I didn't pay the extra that Creation charged for Julie and Traci and hence didn't get in line to see them.
Back to the room (I think?) for a break and another chat with wynterwolf47 - henceforth to be referred to as ROA (roommate of awesomeness) - before heading back down to Steve Carlson's concert. I was exhausted by then with no intention of staying through his entire set even though I love, love, LOVE his music and since I’d planned to go to his show in Chinatown the Sunday night anyway. Much to my surprise and delight, Steve appeared on stage along with Darren Sher and his lovely wife Rosalee and the 3 of them performed an amazing set. Oh and another pleasant surprise was Aldis' role as MC for the concert. Once again his grin was infectious and I found myself really looking forward to his Q&A the next day.
As much as I am crazy about Steve's voice and guitar, Rosalee and Darren blew me away equally with her voice and his mad keyboard skillz. Their show was fantastic, starting off with softer ballads and finishing with a rip-roaring jam session between Steve and Darren that had me completely enthralled. Needless to say, I stayed for the whole gig and when I got back to the room, was wired enough to stay up late and chat some more with ROA ;).
Fortunately Saturday's activities didn't start too early and the day rolled along at a pleasant non-frantic pace. At some point early on in the day I finally joined the 21st century by receiving my first ever text mail and enthusiastically if ineptly returning it (with no idea what I was doing LOL). The text came from nonniemous and writerinchains (lj will simply NOT let me enter their lj user codes), letting me know that they would be arriving at the con a day earlier than originally planned. \o/ Nonnie and I met each other on lj (thanks to a common interest in SPN and Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and had become friends so I was really looking forward to meeting her in person along with her good buddy inchains. So, at some point during the earlier panels, these weary travelers found me and we made arrangements to do lunch.
First up was Aldis and by this point I was not surprised at all that I really enjoyed his panel. What a bright, fun, hilarious and personable young man. When he talked about being the son of 2 marines, he had us all cracking up. And when he talked about his concerns about fan reaction to him as the killer Sam Winchester, I found him incredibly endearing. I've been wanting to watch Leverage ever since I first heard about Christian Kane being in it but having seen Aldis in person, I *really* want to watch it even more.
After Aldis came young - very young - Jake Abel, appearing at his first con. The kid was a hit. Mind you, anyone who can impersonate Jensen's deep-voiced "Sammy!" and can re-enact one of Jared's "I am farticus" episodes couldn't possibly be anything but a hit in front of that audience ;). Seriously though, the kid really impressed me as a young actor who cares about his craft and cares about his audience. I truly wish him all the best in his career.
Somewhere in there, nonnie, inchains, and I hooked up and decided that we'd do take-out for lunch - namely, Subway subs that we took back to the theater to eat there. These 2 ladies are just terrific and I'm so glad I got to not only meet them but hang out with them quite a bit during the con. I'm really thrilled that they were able to get last minute Saturday tickets because we had so much more time together that day than we ended up having on Sunday and missing out on spending time with them would definitely have been a loss.
Steve Carlson had his panel next and a question I had submitted for him was asked. Coincidentally, my question came up right after someone else had asked about potential other Canadian performances, so, as my turn to stand immediately followed, I stammered something along the lines of "Toronto would love to have you" - only much more incoherently - before Adam (the con's host) read my question. So much for me being cool and collected ::snort:: Anyway, I wanted to know what 5 albums would be in his collection if he was restricted to that few and his response was pleasantly surprising. Okay, so U2 and Beatles albums aren't exactly earth shattering answers but I loved that he picked the Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack as his third choice. The man definitely has character *g*. He only gave me the three but that was fine with me.
Next up were the Ghostfacers and AJ and Travis definitely won my heart. I’ll be honest and say that I’d grown a little weary of them as characters on the show but, seeing them in person, I have a better understanding of why they are so popular within the fandom. Both of them are attractive and extremely funny and their camaraderie and on stage antics were just a hoot.
And then there’s Misha! Wow, where do I start? I guess my gut reaction to his panel brings forth 2 immediate thoughts: 1) he was hysterical, and 2) he was fascinating. To start with, most of you have probably read already that Misha went against the grain and declined having pre-submitted questions read to him by Adam. Completely understandable now that I’ve seen him in action. For Misha, these Q&A’s have nothing to with the questions or the answers and absolutely everything to do with interacting with the fans, or minions as his greatest devotees are called ;). In fact, aside from maybe one question, Misha didn’t really give a straight answer to anything asked of him. Hell, even nonnie’s cultural and relevant query about his involvement with the Burning Man event was deflected and turned into fodder for his smart-assery *g*. And this is why I found his panel so fascinating. Despite the fact that I was busting a gut laughing so hard over his comments and answers (and take-downs), after all was said and done I felt as though I’d walked away from his panel gaining very little substance from it. Which is fine, of course. It was entertaining as all get out! Instead I came away with the sense that Misha doesn’t give anything away he doesn’t want to and that all that gloriously fun pandemonium surrounding him is calculated and designed by one exceptionally intelligent - and let’s not forget very attractive - man. IOW, I think he’s playing his fans to a degree but I don’t for an instant think he’s doing so with any malice whatsoever. I just think he finds us - or specifically our fandom - as fascinating to him as he was to me. Which is exactly what I told him when the opportunity arose. More on that later ;).
So, after Misha’s panel came the autographs, and I had fun with those. I had my s1 DVDs for AJ and Travis to sign and found AJ a lot of fun to talk with. The encounter was brief but I played my “fellow Canadian” card which resulted in a few pleasantries exchanged. I don’t think I got a word out of Travis because he and AJ were goofing around with each other ;). Jake was adorable and I had a really fun moment with him. As some of you may have heard, he was sporting a fake “porn stache” while he was signing so when I approached him, I threw his picture down in front of him and announced that I was pissed off. That got his attention - and major eye contact - and then I followed up by saying that his picture looked nothing like the “real” him LOL. Which resulted in some joking banter about porn being a potential side-line career for him. He really seems like an endearing young man. Not to mention very attractive (and old enough to be my son!).
Misha was last and that’s where my inborn klutziness came shining through. Okay, so maybe not klutzy exactly, but what do you call a person who loses something in their own pocket? Me, I guess ::sigh:: Even for package holders, for Misha’s autograph, we had to hand in a separate ticket to the volunteer/helper next to him and fortunately deangirl1 was sitting next to Misha and, since we’d introduced ourselves to each other earlier during the con (fellow Ontarians unite!), she took pity on me and didn’t treat me like the idiot I was for losing my ticket in the goddamn front pocket of my jeans. So, while Misha signed the photo I had of him, I kept fumbling to find it and apologizing profusely for screwing up the works. Misha graciously, and with a lot of humor in his eyes, told me not to worry about it and to stay there and keep looking and when I put my s1 DVD set down to have use of both hands during my search, he grabbed it - the set, not my hands ::pout:: - and made to sign it as well. Anal rule follower that I am, I told him not to sign it ::head desk:: since I hadn’t paid for an extra. So, he pushed it away and then promptly shrugged (I’m sure I telepathically heard a “what the hell, fuck it” coming from his brain), took it back and signed it anyway. He really is a rebel, isn’t he? Gotta love the man *g*
For the life of me I can’t remember what I did about dinner that evening. I know I ate the second half of my sub and I’m sure there was some fun fan-girl socializing with nonnie, inchains and ROA but the timing is a blur to me. At some point I know I did make it back to the room where ROA and I continued comparing fangirl notes about SPN and other, older loves. Yay, Lancer! \o/ Eventually we got ourselves ready for the Gold Package holders’ Dessert Party and made our way over there. We were able to sit together and had a decent table and I can certainly attest that the dessert was delectable! I understand that there weren’t enough desserts in supply to go around and that really bites. I hope those people who were short-changed were at least given more time with the guests circulating the tables. AJ, Travis, Jake, Richard Speight Jr., and Misha were there as promised and Jim Beaver, bless his heart, arrived as a surprise guest. I was so pleased to see him get the rousing-est rowdiest? applause. I really do adore that man!
Our table was quite lucky and all the guests made it around to see us, albeit Travis only appeared long enough to joke briefly with AJ and carry on his way. The handlers were definitely watching their clocks but it sure felt at times that some were running awfully fast. Again though, I’ve heard that not every table saw every guest so, in the grand scheme of things, we did very well. If my memory serves me correctly, I think it was actually Misha and definitely Jim we got to spend the most time with and that certainly didn’t hurt my feelings at all ;).
It’s here where I had my “moment” with Misha. Misha sat down with us in the designated guest chair which was directly across and furthest away from me. That sucked when the music got loud and the dancing started but, for the first few guests - like Misha - it was fine. Misha asked us all individually how we were and then, once again paying attention to each person, he asked us how we were enjoying the con. I can’t remember exactly what I said but it was something along the lines of “having a fabulous or magnificent time”. Anyway, I have no idea why he picked on me but he promptly asked me why? That was it - just the word “why?” accompanied by direct eye contact and man!, no wonder Dean wilts under Castiel’s piercing gaze sometimes! So, whether it was the glass of wine, the sugar rush from dessert, ROA’s company, or the stars aligning, I decided I had a backbone and responded with something along the lines of, “because I’m having every bit as much fun watching you as you are watching us.” Now, seeing the words in print, makes them seem a little harsh or disrespectful but that was not at all my intent. I was just letting him know that I found him really intriguing as a person and not just hot *g*. And Misha totally, totally got that! \o/ I can’t remember if he said anything to me (I don’t believe so) but I definitely remember the momentary pause and the firm nod and especially the smile that overcame his face that absolutely reached his eyes. And though I’m sure he forgot the encounter by the time he made his way to the next table, that momentary connection just made my night (and completely cancelled out the effects of the wine I’d drank in hopes of falling asleep quickly when we got back to our room LOL). In fact there were a few of us who definitely got some squee mileage out of that moment for the entire remainder of the con :).
I should talk about Jim here too but what can I say that hasn’t been said already? The man is one of the most gracious individuals I’ve ever met and, since he didn’t have a handler, our table had the benefit of quite a lengthy visit with him. As I wrote in my EyeCon report last year, Sam Ferris referred to him as a saint and, after reading his book and having spent these little snippets of time with him, despite what I told him the next day (more on that later *g*), I’m hard-pressed to disagree.
Well, who’d a thunk I’d have taken up this much space on my lj without even having written about Jensen and Jared yet? And the likelihood of me getting Sunday’s report written and posted before tonight’s premiere is pretty damn slim. Oh, well. We’ll give it a try and, if I fail, there’s always the weekend ;).
Thanks for sticking with me, gang. {{hugs}}