A tale of hair pulling, jewelry and furious tossing!
This weekend I fought off the post-Whitby blues by going to the Brighton Film and Comic Con. Sadly it was an SM con, but I was only going for James, and for the shenanigans that happen around cons - cos shenanigans!
Work was INSANELY busy for the two days that I was there. Yes, I did everything I was meant to, and I am truely impressed by that. I did 2 weeks work in 2 days, I cut it right down to the essentials and delivered. Here's hoping I don't go in to discover that there was an issue!
Friday I finished packing and got myself over to International to wait for the Spark Express to Brighton! After making a tit of myself by asking where the toilet was (behind me), Spark appeared and we set off. There was singing, chatting, giggling and a fabulous stop at Oxford services aka South Mims, which was where we used to stop on the way to UKC :-) It's changed a lot, not least because it now has a salad shop that promises 'Furious tossing'!! We also saw THE CUTEST puppy - wee 9 week black puppy called Piper who had just been washed. So soft, so fussy, so cute!
The weather got worse on the way to Brighton, and by the time we arrived, it was dark. Spark let us out near to what we thought was the hotel. A fraught phone call to Rosie later and we realised we were in the wrong place. I got Lizzie and I into a taxi whilst frantically texting Spark (who it turned out, parked just round the corner from the correct hotel). The hotel was excellently situated, a little hot and a tad noisy, with the tiniest bathroom and the most intimate shower curtain, but it sorted us out completely. And it's not like we were in it for long.
We met up with Nicole and Linzi in Spoons (for the traditional con food), and chatted for ages until we realised that we really should go to bed prior to James Day!
Saturday was just as wet and windy as Friday had been. The awesome Jodie, Nicole (plus her balloons) and Linzi had got a really good place in the queue, and SM actually had people queuing inside to avoid the Weather! It was all terribly civilised! The doors opened and we raced (in a very British fast walk) to try and find James' signing, there were a couple of false starts, but we all got there pretty swiftly.
Traditionally we all formed a James Line behind some people getting very confused at the buying table. I actually liked that there was a seperate table to pay for autos, it got all that pesky juggling for cash thing whilst trying to keep a hold on your stuff out of the way. James arrived......without Mark. We all looked at Nicole who was having an 'ARGH! What do I do with these balloons?' moment! But we needn't have feared - Mark turned up later and got hugs, balloons and pressies. He's such a super dude!
I had a lovely first auto with James, he said 'Hi', then looked up, grinned and said 'HI! It's great to see you again!', he laughed over the Spoon for Stirring on The Twitter and drew a wee heart on my auto *swoons a tad*. I was thrilled - no 'Bite Me' *laughs* James was next to John Hurt for the whole of Sat, and fanboy'd mightily about it. So sweet!
I poddled off to find Miss Kitty's jewelry as we had talked about Buffy themed bracelets etc, and I was thrilled with her Spike bracelet and Buffy necklace. So thrilled I bought one of each! I went a bit mad with the shopping on the first day - the stalls were so varied! It was BLISS! I've come away with a glittery Myfanwy, musical Bagpuss, MLP charms, comic books (I couldn't resist) and a wee Lego minifig mermaid! And I was being fairly restrained! A truely excellent range of stalls!
The photo ops were held in the coolest part of the hotel - it was BLISS! I'd decided on my pose, and ended up third in the queue!! Sadly I was behind someone who was doing the 'I have all the BTVS stuff, all the rare stuff, see how awesome I am' wittering. Considering they also thought that James wouldn't have any issues with people grabbing his arse - I don't think they had any idea about stuff in reality. Yes, you may have James's burn prosthetics in a shadow box, but you have no idea on how to behave with people!
The photo op itself went fabulously - James was fine with the pose (face to face) and it took for ever for the photo to happen. So much so that James raised that damn one eyebrow and made me giggle. I told him he was terrible and he grinned!! I wasn't happy with any of the photos this weekend, I've felt rubbish bodywise all weekend which had a lot to do with it. I looked at myself in the full length mirror today in Spoons, and I don't know what happens to me in front of a damn camera! It's almost like I inflate!
The talk on Sat was short and very sweet. There were some excellent questions - Spark's Macbeth one, DeeDee's Abrupto one, the woman who asked about music in 1980s New York, however I was more than a little stunned when the moderator ignored all the hands in order to ask a question from a friend. I don't think it impressed SM either as he was replaced come Sunday. James was very well rested (he missed his car from the airport, so nearly didn't make Sat!!) and in excellent fooling - at the end when there was a mic malfunction, he sat up going 'There's a fucking Cylon in here!' It was just excellent to see him having such fun!
Sunday was more of the same, except we found a short cut and got up to the auto table even faster. Mark popped out and said how much he loved the Whitby Lucky Duck I'd got him :-) He ended up hanging with us after we'd done the auto line. James got to break in my new auto book from WCC and we talked about avoiding growing up and growing old :-) It was lovely to spend time with Mark, we talked music and tv and pets, among other things, and ended up at the photo ops again :-) And as we entered the photo ops room, I heard a 'Jules!' and then saw an Abi as the Winter Soldier. I responded in the correct Gillespian manner - screaming, running and hugging. Mark passed us and I said 'And this is the Gareth fandom' *laughs* Gillespians are quite something! We can be just as loud with only two *laughs more*
James was in a super spiffy mood in the photo ops, and this just continued when he did the final ones in the John Hart coat. Spark had a pose she was sure he'd say no to (we actually joked about it), but he was fine with it - which completely blew her mind! Linzi told him he could do anything, to which he said 'Anything?' then tickled her, laughing when she called him a sod! It was utterly lovely, and I am pleased I saw such a wonderful relaxed boy. And we had Mark making faces at us in the line up, which helped to relax things.
Spark's apres-photo op wibble happened away from the boys (which was good, as she had trouser/foot/tying herself up issues) and we headed up to queue for the talk. Sadly this was the one bad note in the whole weekend. Madam 'Uber BTVS fan' had her nose put out of joint by us getting there first, and ended up being terrifically petty-minded when the 3 people who had been delayed by photo ops joined us. Considering she had NO issue with 5 of us joining the queue on Sat when she was at the front of it, I'm pretty sure she was just being a cowbag. It led to a serious sense of humour failure for me, and I hope I never see her again.
Sunday's talk was a little more generic, James describing his fight acting 'Face - black belt, torso - green belt, full length - bullllshit!' was fabulous! And I may have forgotten my indoor voice when he said 'Some women like guy on guy', my response 'SOME!!' James ended the talk by saying that he was filming cosplayers from any of his shows and then filming all of us cheering. That cheered me right up, plus I got goodbye hugs from Mark after which he insisted on showing me that he was carrying the duck around *daft moment*. And then I went back to the hotel with Spark as I was totally over the general public.
Sunday was also Rememberance Day, and the whole con came to a stop for the 2 minutes silence at 11. It was one of the most incredible things I've been part of, actually gave me chills. Incredible.
Sunday ended with a meal at Spoons with chatting, giggling, eating and hugging. A great way to round off a fabulous weekend.
Much as I hate to admit it, the con had a great atmosphere and was a fantastic experience. It was very quiet compared to WCC and other SM cons, but I liked that. It was an excellent venue, and despite Brighton being stupidly windy, I really enjoyed myself!
Today has featured Spoons breakfast, a fabulous journey with Spark and Lizzie and home. Tomorrow is work - that sucks!
Work was INSANELY busy for the two days that I was there. Yes, I did everything I was meant to, and I am truely impressed by that. I did 2 weeks work in 2 days, I cut it right down to the essentials and delivered. Here's hoping I don't go in to discover that there was an issue!
Friday I finished packing and got myself over to International to wait for the Spark Express to Brighton! After making a tit of myself by asking where the toilet was (behind me), Spark appeared and we set off. There was singing, chatting, giggling and a fabulous stop at Oxford services aka South Mims, which was where we used to stop on the way to UKC :-) It's changed a lot, not least because it now has a salad shop that promises 'Furious tossing'!! We also saw THE CUTEST puppy - wee 9 week black puppy called Piper who had just been washed. So soft, so fussy, so cute!
The weather got worse on the way to Brighton, and by the time we arrived, it was dark. Spark let us out near to what we thought was the hotel. A fraught phone call to Rosie later and we realised we were in the wrong place. I got Lizzie and I into a taxi whilst frantically texting Spark (who it turned out, parked just round the corner from the correct hotel). The hotel was excellently situated, a little hot and a tad noisy, with the tiniest bathroom and the most intimate shower curtain, but it sorted us out completely. And it's not like we were in it for long.
We met up with Nicole and Linzi in Spoons (for the traditional con food), and chatted for ages until we realised that we really should go to bed prior to James Day!
Saturday was just as wet and windy as Friday had been. The awesome Jodie, Nicole (plus her balloons) and Linzi had got a really good place in the queue, and SM actually had people queuing inside to avoid the Weather! It was all terribly civilised! The doors opened and we raced (in a very British fast walk) to try and find James' signing, there were a couple of false starts, but we all got there pretty swiftly.
Traditionally we all formed a James Line behind some people getting very confused at the buying table. I actually liked that there was a seperate table to pay for autos, it got all that pesky juggling for cash thing whilst trying to keep a hold on your stuff out of the way. James arrived......without Mark. We all looked at Nicole who was having an 'ARGH! What do I do with these balloons?' moment! But we needn't have feared - Mark turned up later and got hugs, balloons and pressies. He's such a super dude!
I had a lovely first auto with James, he said 'Hi', then looked up, grinned and said 'HI! It's great to see you again!', he laughed over the Spoon for Stirring on The Twitter and drew a wee heart on my auto *swoons a tad*. I was thrilled - no 'Bite Me' *laughs* James was next to John Hurt for the whole of Sat, and fanboy'd mightily about it. So sweet!
I poddled off to find Miss Kitty's jewelry as we had talked about Buffy themed bracelets etc, and I was thrilled with her Spike bracelet and Buffy necklace. So thrilled I bought one of each! I went a bit mad with the shopping on the first day - the stalls were so varied! It was BLISS! I've come away with a glittery Myfanwy, musical Bagpuss, MLP charms, comic books (I couldn't resist) and a wee Lego minifig mermaid! And I was being fairly restrained! A truely excellent range of stalls!
The photo ops were held in the coolest part of the hotel - it was BLISS! I'd decided on my pose, and ended up third in the queue!! Sadly I was behind someone who was doing the 'I have all the BTVS stuff, all the rare stuff, see how awesome I am' wittering. Considering they also thought that James wouldn't have any issues with people grabbing his arse - I don't think they had any idea about stuff in reality. Yes, you may have James's burn prosthetics in a shadow box, but you have no idea on how to behave with people!
The photo op itself went fabulously - James was fine with the pose (face to face) and it took for ever for the photo to happen. So much so that James raised that damn one eyebrow and made me giggle. I told him he was terrible and he grinned!! I wasn't happy with any of the photos this weekend, I've felt rubbish bodywise all weekend which had a lot to do with it. I looked at myself in the full length mirror today in Spoons, and I don't know what happens to me in front of a damn camera! It's almost like I inflate!
The talk on Sat was short and very sweet. There were some excellent questions - Spark's Macbeth one, DeeDee's Abrupto one, the woman who asked about music in 1980s New York, however I was more than a little stunned when the moderator ignored all the hands in order to ask a question from a friend. I don't think it impressed SM either as he was replaced come Sunday. James was very well rested (he missed his car from the airport, so nearly didn't make Sat!!) and in excellent fooling - at the end when there was a mic malfunction, he sat up going 'There's a fucking Cylon in here!' It was just excellent to see him having such fun!
Sunday was more of the same, except we found a short cut and got up to the auto table even faster. Mark popped out and said how much he loved the Whitby Lucky Duck I'd got him :-) He ended up hanging with us after we'd done the auto line. James got to break in my new auto book from WCC and we talked about avoiding growing up and growing old :-) It was lovely to spend time with Mark, we talked music and tv and pets, among other things, and ended up at the photo ops again :-) And as we entered the photo ops room, I heard a 'Jules!' and then saw an Abi as the Winter Soldier. I responded in the correct Gillespian manner - screaming, running and hugging. Mark passed us and I said 'And this is the Gareth fandom' *laughs* Gillespians are quite something! We can be just as loud with only two *laughs more*
James was in a super spiffy mood in the photo ops, and this just continued when he did the final ones in the John Hart coat. Spark had a pose she was sure he'd say no to (we actually joked about it), but he was fine with it - which completely blew her mind! Linzi told him he could do anything, to which he said 'Anything?' then tickled her, laughing when she called him a sod! It was utterly lovely, and I am pleased I saw such a wonderful relaxed boy. And we had Mark making faces at us in the line up, which helped to relax things.
Spark's apres-photo op wibble happened away from the boys (which was good, as she had trouser/foot/tying herself up issues) and we headed up to queue for the talk. Sadly this was the one bad note in the whole weekend. Madam 'Uber BTVS fan' had her nose put out of joint by us getting there first, and ended up being terrifically petty-minded when the 3 people who had been delayed by photo ops joined us. Considering she had NO issue with 5 of us joining the queue on Sat when she was at the front of it, I'm pretty sure she was just being a cowbag. It led to a serious sense of humour failure for me, and I hope I never see her again.
Sunday's talk was a little more generic, James describing his fight acting 'Face - black belt, torso - green belt, full length - bullllshit!' was fabulous! And I may have forgotten my indoor voice when he said 'Some women like guy on guy', my response 'SOME!!' James ended the talk by saying that he was filming cosplayers from any of his shows and then filming all of us cheering. That cheered me right up, plus I got goodbye hugs from Mark after which he insisted on showing me that he was carrying the duck around *daft moment*. And then I went back to the hotel with Spark as I was totally over the general public.
Sunday was also Rememberance Day, and the whole con came to a stop for the 2 minutes silence at 11. It was one of the most incredible things I've been part of, actually gave me chills. Incredible.
Sunday ended with a meal at Spoons with chatting, giggling, eating and hugging. A great way to round off a fabulous weekend.
Much as I hate to admit it, the con had a great atmosphere and was a fantastic experience. It was very quiet compared to WCC and other SM cons, but I liked that. It was an excellent venue, and despite Brighton being stupidly windy, I really enjoyed myself!
Today has featured Spoons breakfast, a fabulous journey with Spark and Lizzie and home. Tomorrow is work - that sucks!