More of the report :)
The next day we had more panels than the day before so we got an early start. The first panel was around ten in the morning. The guest was Aldis Hodge. Aldis was chipper considering the time of morning. He came on stage with a wide grin and was ready to answer questions. He had an awesome attitude and you could tell he loved to pose for pictures.
Aldis was told about Matt doing the Jerk dance so he requested that Matt come to the panel so he could show him how the dance should be performed. It took a while to get Matt and I almost forgot he made the request until Matt showed. It seems they actually got Matt out of bed up in his room to bring him downstairs. That poor guy it was funny though; he looked sleepy. He played along he went up to Aldis they did some hug thing then Aldis demonstrated the dance a few times. The whole thing was amusing. I have to say Matt is a good sport.
My picture with Aldis was taken before he was on stage that day. I told him I wanted a hug and he gave me a wonderful hug. It’s my best picture to date I think. I also let him know I left a signed copy of my book at the desk for him. He was excited because he is also a writer. At the autograph tables he told me he asked them about my gift and they assured him he would get it. That was cool of him. I had him sign the picture of us together he seemed to get a kick out of that. My husband said that Aldis and I make a good couple.
--Con rumor 1: I heard the guests have to pay their own way to come to the convention. I had no idea---
--Con rumor 2: I heard that Jensen had not wanted to come to the Con because he was tired of being accosted by fans. I guess there is a secondary rumor to go with this one but I am not totally clear. It’s something about he came to avoid rumors about certain relationships among the cast of the show. No idea what that is all about.
Con Actor Sighting after hours-One ghost facer was spotted getting out of a cab at around three in the morning with some groupies, um what seemed to be fans from the convention. The Ghostfacer was seen dancing to Thriller near the cab. It was pretty funny actually. (there is always something scandalous going on at these conventions things no one discusses, go figure huh)
---
Anyway back to the actual convention. I goofed actually Fred Lehne was before Aldis. I am not real sure why that didn’t click with me but though Fred was entertaining I cannot remember a lot of his panel. It could have been because I was tired.
Okay, I have considered this and the rest of the report will be more impressions then details that everyone has already told. I have to be honest I had some issues at the convention that may have been more in my head than real and I let myself get upset on Friday night. I got over it but it put a damper on the night for me; I had hoped to be whooping it up. I do thank my new friends, Joanne, Kristy, Nic and whoever happened by that night outside for cheering me up.
From this point onward I will write what I remember of that Saturday. The panels were all great. The thing that stuck out with Travis and AJ was the story about Jared carrying Travis around on his shoulder. It was hilarious to think of little Travis on Jared shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I was dying laughing. They told us the cast and crew at first thought it was funny but after a few minutes they were encouraging Jared to put the him down while Jared only laughed. I mean think of it they hire stunt men to take their falls and here Jared is laughing and endangering another actor. Of course, it was all in fun but just imagine it. It is pretty hilarious to some extent though.
That night my roomie and I decided to eat at the hotel restaurant despite the cost which was considerable. There was an Italian buffet that was quite tasty and included dessert and salad.
Something I forgot was that I worked the can drive booth for an hour one day; it was a way to meet other fans and help out a bit. I took that time during Matt’s panel on Saturday since I had already seen him on Friday. He was the only one that had a repeat panel.
Saturday night we had a chance to see the Friday episode on one of those many televisions during the time we were waiting for autographs from Aldis, AJ, Travis, Mark and Fred. It was a little distracting because of the set up but it was still good to be able to see it at all.
--Sunday morning was the big day. I got in line early to take my picture with Jensen. They had the Jensen and Jared panel after the Breakfast with the Gold pass people. I waited with a multitude of others for my picture. Of course at the convention things like pictures and autographs are at warp speed. It makes sense with that many people involved. It seemed like no time at all before I had my turn.
When I was across the room from Jensen he seemed beautiful of course but very posy like. He would take a step smile and click. Oh I hate the way the rooms are set up for pictures but they are set up for speediness. Now a line of people stand across the room as you take your picture there is no sense of privacy for your money believe me. Clif was there at Jensen’s right hand if anyone got crazy. I do understand that for sure I am not complaining just explaining.
So when my turn came he had to take a second for water so I got an extra moment to look at him. The pictures do not express his essence at all. I walked up and said hi. He didn’t hear me so I said, “Maybe I should have said Howdy.” We smiled, put our arms around each other, oddly enough neither of us knew what to do with our other arm and on the picture they are each hanging at our sides. It’s like a mirror image. We are joined at the hip; go figure. I stopped him before I was to walk away and said, “ I need to tell you something,” he said, “okay”. It was a word of encouragement (if you don’t know I am keeping it private now) that I said to him and it seemed random that of all the things I could have said that came out. I believe it was for a reason. He heartily thanked me and I walked away. I still can’t believe I had him by the arm; I mean I physically held his arm LOL. I bet Clif was ready to pounce on me. It all goes just so fast.
As everyone surely knows by now during Misha Collins Panel that afternoon Jensen showed up. It was cute he pretended to be a shy fan and asked Misha to imitate Dean. It was funny. We had all hoped and assumed he would come to the panel since he was in the building it made sense. I really hate the rumors that he came for alternative reasons other than that he loves us fans. Because of Jensen’s arrival though we did not have a Jared Padalecki panel. The three of them shared the stage for the last half hour or so before they did autographs for all three of them.
I didn’t have a Jensen autograph ticket because I am not an autograph person so much I mean if it had been free like the last couple of years, they came with the packages it would have been fine. No great loss on that front. Not that I wouldn’t have enjoyed another chance to be up close and personal. I am not saying that I just couldn’t afford it.
I did have tickets because of my Silver packager for autographs with Jared and Misha however. I made sure to tell Jared congratulations on his marriage and to let him know I also left him a copy of my book. I couldn’t help but tell him it’s an updated version and Jensen has the old copy. He got a laugh out of that and appreciated the thought. He seemed very carefree and happy.
Misha was just as open and happy. I congratulated him on his baby boy and he asked if I had children. He was surprised that my child was much older and I take that as a compliment to my looking younger.
The last big event of the day was the pictures with Jared and Misha. I ended up having to take three pictures. For some reason each of us took turns closing our eyes. Misha first, Me then Jared. I guess that means we took four pictures. My eyes are so big on the picture in my attempt not to blink or shut them it’s hilarious. It looked like they were pinching me. It was fun. Misha said you ruined my picture and I pouted, “don’t make me cry.” We all laughed in the end before I got some super big hugs from them. Jared also liked my shirt, Love, Dream, Live it said.
I didn’t have a chance to see Brock’s panel. I heard he has some issues with the questions and he didn’t quite know how to react to fandom. I guess everyone has to learn to deal with this group of avid fans.
That Sunday afternoon after all the fanfare was done we met some more cool fans outside. We decided to go out to eat with them and several others. It was a nice ending to a cool weekend.
Actually I stayed up talking with Ashley, one of the ladies we met, that night till almost two. She had no idea that there had been so many Chicago conventions. It makes me wonder how I ever found out about them. I suppose it was in a forum. I wonder how many none forum goers don’t know about all the fun. It’s kind of sad if you are a fan of the show and don’t have the chance to meet other fans. It’s just a thought. I want to encourage you all to speak out and tell others about the show.
That's all I can think of for now.
Pictures are up next :)