Torchsong: Sunday madness
The final rundown of the panels and assorted randomness.
On Sunday morning I got up and headed over to the convention center earlier than I had the previous day since I wanted to make sure I got all of my photo-ops in. The day before, things had run slow and I missed the photo-ops with both Mark and Carole. As well, Tom didn't do all of his due to the pain he was in, and he ended up not doing any on Sunday before leaving for his flight; he came in long enough to get them with the staff and then headed off, hopefully to be well taken care of at home. I also wanted to ask if I could get a replacement autograph card for Carole since I'd lost the one that came in my packet; fortunately, that was no trouble at all.
I got my picture with Mark first (and had a nice time bonding with one of the staffers, who had a Jayne hat of his own and was wearing a Serenity t-shirt). When I put my Jayne hat on, Mark said, "Very fine hat!" and was very gracious for the picture. As I headed back to the table to get my bags, the handler quoted me a line from the same episode of Firefly that the hat is from (damn if I can remember which line now, though) and I said, "It's cunning, isn't it?" Then I had to run and get into line for my Gareth picture (I'd exchanged my Kai photo-op to get another with Gareth). Since a lot of other people were asking for the "spoon" pose (and Gareth's line must have been pretty long again, because the staff wanted to move it along, asking us to pick out a pose in advance), I didn't feel any hesitation in asking for the same. He took my hand and drew me back against him, letting me stay there until they saw the picture was good. Let me just say, he is so nice and warm and I have a new happy place. I could have stayed cradled like that against him all day. What a nice guy, too, he called me "sweetheart". mmm. happy place.
Went in to watch the end of the Carole & Tommy Lee panel. Carole said that she plays with her Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde figures for inspiration, and sometimes Edgar Allen Poe joins in. Some interesting discussion about the female audience in comics, San Diego Comicon (and an amusing story about how John screamed "STOP THE CAR!" at the last Comicon so that he could run back and meet Lindsey Wagner, the original Bionic Woman. The man is such a fanboy it's ridiculous. And you know what, I had a Bionic Woman doll AND the car she plugged into, so there.)
Got my photo with Carole next and once again she recognized me; shook my hand and asked me how I was before we stepped together for the picture. The woman is so kind, she seemed really into making personal connections with people, because I overheard mentions of books that people had recommended to her, or other things that she was glad someone had found. I really admire her even more now, because this sort of thing has to be a complete mindbending left turn from what she normally does. She totally has that same Barrowman personality, though. It must be in the genes.
Sat in on the end of the Peter Wingfield panel and watched his presentation of pictures from the Riverworld shoot, which I knew nothing about! Though come to think of it, I may have heard a mention of it on Slice of Sci-Fi. Anyway, the pictures were gorgeous and he talked as well about other projects he's involved in, including a post-apocalyptic thing called 10,000 Days that'll be online. Seems very into exploring these new models of entertainment and I was tempted to ask if he'd heard of Dr. Horrible. When trying to come up with points about the new models, he said he had one, then two, no three, and then said, "No one expects the Spanish inquisition!"
Peter also confirmed that he was born in Splott and that it's now referred to by those working on the gentrification as 'Sploe'. Grew up in Grangetown. Has never seen Torchwood but he now intends to watch it. It was his mother's birthday and he hadn't called her to wish her a happy birthday yet, but when he tried, he couldn't get any reception on his cellphone. Oh well. The story that cracked me up was the one about how they were filming a scene in Riverworld with cameras only in helicopters far overhead -- all the actors forgetting they were being shot and pretending to be pirates, until a voice came over the loudspeaker to say, "Can we do that again with less acting."
Mark Sheppard's panel was also quite enjoyable. Though I only know him from a few shows (Firefly, Dollhouse, Bionic Woman), I knew he has had quite the career already and was surprised to find out that he was in In the Name of the Father, which I saw in the theater and watched again just recently. Now I'll have to watch it again, clearly. He told some great stories, including about meeting the one guy he fanboys over, Peter O'Toole (me too, Mark, me too) and gave a hilarious imitation of his three-year-old's promotion of BSG. There was also the story about a quiet birthday party at Timothy Hutton's house and the one about eating the best gelato in the world (I know that wasn't the main point of the story, but I can't remember the actor's name and it cracked me up). He also apparently plays tech support for all his celebrity/industry acquaintances and knows all their passwords.
I had something to eat and came back in time for the Gareth & John panel. Gareth began alone and fielded a variety of further questions. As he had on Saturday, he started out sitting in the provided chair, but soon got up and remained standing until John joined the feed. A lot of good questions, including one about the things he's done on the other side of the camera (including the play, Wrecked, and the one he just directed, Boogie Nights); lots of talk about A Very British Cover-Up and the horrible fake tan he had to be sprayed with for it; how he likes playing darker heroes and would welcome more anti-hero type roles. He mentioned that he left school prior to graduation and was a "bit of a rebel"; the song, "Take it Like a Bitch", was written when he was in college (at 15? then again, I know nothing about the British school system) and frustrated by his inability to attract women. I get the impression that he has had to deal with a lot of shit in his life this far, what with the mention that his mother passed away only five or six years ago and no mention at all of his father. He was asked if he knows any Welsh; he doesn't know much, only a few phrases, because the year after he left school was when mandatory Welsh classes were put into the school regimen. (Apparently, prior to that, you were only allowed to learn Welsh if you were good at Spanish or German... we all shared his "wtf?" at that.) He offered the word "filthy" in Welsh and the phrase for "I love you", but didn't know "sweetheart".
Someone asked Gareth if there was any bodyscaping done for the hothouse scene. Gareth said that none was done on his part, though they both got a light spray tan so they wouldn't be blinding white on camera.
Once John appeared on the feed (wearing a tiara, which he then put over his eyes Geordie LaForge-style), the chaos took over again. John started out by asking that video of the previous night's antics not be put online, since he doesn't want the British media to get hold of it or other things he'd mentioned. Personally, I could completely understand this; there are always things that happen at a con or event that simply can't get mentioned (the skits at the Hub, anyone?) and I'd hate for John to feel like he can't be himself around the people who love him. Gareth settled down to watch since most of the questions were directed at John; he turned his mic off and sat sipping a beer. This was funny when John asked Gareth a question and it took Gareth a moment to turn his mic on and respond.
John: Is he still there?
Gareth: Sorry, I was having a wank.
John had said the night before that he flirts shamelessly with Gareth, even going so far as to call him "mine", and this was evident today. The two of them have a clear and warm friendship, and Gareth gives as good as he gets. Someone asked how John warms up for concerts, and he said, "Aside from Gareth stretching my vocal cords?" Many mentions of the hothouse scene in Adrift.
Everyone introduced themselves before asking John their question. This led to things like John singing a couple lines of the Four Seasons' "Sherry Baby" when a lady named Sherry stepped up to the mic, and "Sandy" from Grease when Sandy (who was even from Australia) introduced herself. Sherry's story was particularly moving; after she'd introduced herself and John realized that he knew her through their email correspondence, she talked about how she works in a high-risk obstetrics ward in Alaska, and a 17-year-old native girl was brought in for two months of enforced bed rest due to her pregnancy. The girl, the daughter of the chief of her tribe, had never even seen television before. Among other things, Sherry showed her an episode of "Tonight's the Night" to show her how dreams can come true. The girl was so moved by the way John fulfilled wishes that she made a dreamcatcher (which she'd brought to have Carole give to John) and had her father, the chief, bless it. John went from astonished to full out tears by the end of the story, and so did quite a bit of the audience including me. John then said to make sure that Sherry gave Carole the information about the hospital because he wanted to make sure some funds got to her. Good God, this man cannot be for real! He started wiping off his face with his shirt and Gareth teasingly yelled, "Oh, stop crying, you big poof!" It was totally endearing. (At some point John also called him "Gaz" which just tickled me too much.)
Sandy from Australia mentioned that "Sandy" was her favorite song and John's reaction was "Shut up!" He recounted how vividly he remembered first seeing the movie of Grease. She asked when John would come to a convention in Australia. He said that he wants to, but he needs to really set about three months aside for it, because he's been asked to do Torchwood promo, promo for his albums, etc., etc., plus he'd want to spend some time relaxing. She mentioned the diving off the coral reefs, and he said, oh, that's all we need is for Scott and I to get stuck and lost and eaten by sharks! "And I know about sharks!" made everyone explode in laughter. (Megalo-John?)
Someone asked if Jack is in love with Ianto and John said, well, John Barrowman is in love with Ianto! Then that there's something we have to watch for in S3. Insert my groan of frustration here. John said how he just flirts with Gareth shamelessly because he thinks he's a very attractive man, and Gareth's secure enough in his sexuality to take it and return it. =)
Another question referenced something Gareth was asked at Dragon*con, about how if Jack and John fought over Ianto, who would win. His response at D*C was that he'd like to be the filling in a two-captain sandwich. John promptly added, "I'd be the mayonnaise in that sandwich!"
When asked if he'd be on Top Gear anytime soon, John said to write to BBCAmerica and ask them for it. The same with whether Tonight's the Night will be shown over here.
John finally had to go and everyone came out to say goodbye, with Gareth tossing in, "We love you, John!" as the feed ended. My final thoughts: John was clearly devastated to not be there in person, purely aside from the pain he was in with the injured ankle, but he gave everything he could and was amazing. What a presence - even through the video you could feel the force of his personality. It was amazing to hear people admit that they were nervous to speak to him even via a satellite feed, but he did his best to calm everyone down and was so generous in making sure he addressed each person by their name if they'd introduced themselves.
Got my autographs - Mark and Carole - and thanked Carole for giving me the most surreal moment of my life by waving to me in the restaurant the day before. Mark made a point of saying that he always signed the Firefly box set in the same place so you know it's him.
At some point I was in line behind Adam, the kid from The Making of Me - I can't remember if this was Saturday or Sunday now, but he had River Song's sonic screwdriver so I brought out mine to compare, and we had a discussion about the differences between those and the Master's laser screwdriver. Very endearing kid with a lot of energy, just a typical 11-year-old.
And... that was it. Coming home and readjusting to the real world after a few days of intense fan mania has been difficult, to say the least. Personally, I can't wait for the next thing. I'm seriously considering the Hurricane Who con in Orlando over Halloween now, who's with me?
(Incidentally, my iTouch paid for itself on the drive home when I got turned around while driving around Indianapolis. I stopped at a Starbucks and used the wifi to pull up Google Maps and get directions home. Technology ftw.)
On Sunday morning I got up and headed over to the convention center earlier than I had the previous day since I wanted to make sure I got all of my photo-ops in. The day before, things had run slow and I missed the photo-ops with both Mark and Carole. As well, Tom didn't do all of his due to the pain he was in, and he ended up not doing any on Sunday before leaving for his flight; he came in long enough to get them with the staff and then headed off, hopefully to be well taken care of at home. I also wanted to ask if I could get a replacement autograph card for Carole since I'd lost the one that came in my packet; fortunately, that was no trouble at all.
I got my picture with Mark first (and had a nice time bonding with one of the staffers, who had a Jayne hat of his own and was wearing a Serenity t-shirt). When I put my Jayne hat on, Mark said, "Very fine hat!" and was very gracious for the picture. As I headed back to the table to get my bags, the handler quoted me a line from the same episode of Firefly that the hat is from (damn if I can remember which line now, though) and I said, "It's cunning, isn't it?" Then I had to run and get into line for my Gareth picture (I'd exchanged my Kai photo-op to get another with Gareth). Since a lot of other people were asking for the "spoon" pose (and Gareth's line must have been pretty long again, because the staff wanted to move it along, asking us to pick out a pose in advance), I didn't feel any hesitation in asking for the same. He took my hand and drew me back against him, letting me stay there until they saw the picture was good. Let me just say, he is so nice and warm and I have a new happy place. I could have stayed cradled like that against him all day. What a nice guy, too, he called me "sweetheart". mmm. happy place.
Went in to watch the end of the Carole & Tommy Lee panel. Carole said that she plays with her Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde figures for inspiration, and sometimes Edgar Allen Poe joins in. Some interesting discussion about the female audience in comics, San Diego Comicon (and an amusing story about how John screamed "STOP THE CAR!" at the last Comicon so that he could run back and meet Lindsey Wagner, the original Bionic Woman. The man is such a fanboy it's ridiculous. And you know what, I had a Bionic Woman doll AND the car she plugged into, so there.)
Got my photo with Carole next and once again she recognized me; shook my hand and asked me how I was before we stepped together for the picture. The woman is so kind, she seemed really into making personal connections with people, because I overheard mentions of books that people had recommended to her, or other things that she was glad someone had found. I really admire her even more now, because this sort of thing has to be a complete mindbending left turn from what she normally does. She totally has that same Barrowman personality, though. It must be in the genes.
Sat in on the end of the Peter Wingfield panel and watched his presentation of pictures from the Riverworld shoot, which I knew nothing about! Though come to think of it, I may have heard a mention of it on Slice of Sci-Fi. Anyway, the pictures were gorgeous and he talked as well about other projects he's involved in, including a post-apocalyptic thing called 10,000 Days that'll be online. Seems very into exploring these new models of entertainment and I was tempted to ask if he'd heard of Dr. Horrible. When trying to come up with points about the new models, he said he had one, then two, no three, and then said, "No one expects the Spanish inquisition!"
Peter also confirmed that he was born in Splott and that it's now referred to by those working on the gentrification as 'Sploe'. Grew up in Grangetown. Has never seen Torchwood but he now intends to watch it. It was his mother's birthday and he hadn't called her to wish her a happy birthday yet, but when he tried, he couldn't get any reception on his cellphone. Oh well. The story that cracked me up was the one about how they were filming a scene in Riverworld with cameras only in helicopters far overhead -- all the actors forgetting they were being shot and pretending to be pirates, until a voice came over the loudspeaker to say, "Can we do that again with less acting."
Mark Sheppard's panel was also quite enjoyable. Though I only know him from a few shows (Firefly, Dollhouse, Bionic Woman), I knew he has had quite the career already and was surprised to find out that he was in In the Name of the Father, which I saw in the theater and watched again just recently. Now I'll have to watch it again, clearly. He told some great stories, including about meeting the one guy he fanboys over, Peter O'Toole (me too, Mark, me too) and gave a hilarious imitation of his three-year-old's promotion of BSG. There was also the story about a quiet birthday party at Timothy Hutton's house and the one about eating the best gelato in the world (I know that wasn't the main point of the story, but I can't remember the actor's name and it cracked me up). He also apparently plays tech support for all his celebrity/industry acquaintances and knows all their passwords.
I had something to eat and came back in time for the Gareth & John panel. Gareth began alone and fielded a variety of further questions. As he had on Saturday, he started out sitting in the provided chair, but soon got up and remained standing until John joined the feed. A lot of good questions, including one about the things he's done on the other side of the camera (including the play, Wrecked, and the one he just directed, Boogie Nights); lots of talk about A Very British Cover-Up and the horrible fake tan he had to be sprayed with for it; how he likes playing darker heroes and would welcome more anti-hero type roles. He mentioned that he left school prior to graduation and was a "bit of a rebel"; the song, "Take it Like a Bitch", was written when he was in college (at 15? then again, I know nothing about the British school system) and frustrated by his inability to attract women. I get the impression that he has had to deal with a lot of shit in his life this far, what with the mention that his mother passed away only five or six years ago and no mention at all of his father. He was asked if he knows any Welsh; he doesn't know much, only a few phrases, because the year after he left school was when mandatory Welsh classes were put into the school regimen. (Apparently, prior to that, you were only allowed to learn Welsh if you were good at Spanish or German... we all shared his "wtf?" at that.) He offered the word "filthy" in Welsh and the phrase for "I love you", but didn't know "sweetheart".
Someone asked Gareth if there was any bodyscaping done for the hothouse scene. Gareth said that none was done on his part, though they both got a light spray tan so they wouldn't be blinding white on camera.
Once John appeared on the feed (wearing a tiara, which he then put over his eyes Geordie LaForge-style), the chaos took over again. John started out by asking that video of the previous night's antics not be put online, since he doesn't want the British media to get hold of it or other things he'd mentioned. Personally, I could completely understand this; there are always things that happen at a con or event that simply can't get mentioned (the skits at the Hub, anyone?) and I'd hate for John to feel like he can't be himself around the people who love him. Gareth settled down to watch since most of the questions were directed at John; he turned his mic off and sat sipping a beer. This was funny when John asked Gareth a question and it took Gareth a moment to turn his mic on and respond.
John: Is he still there?
Gareth: Sorry, I was having a wank.
John had said the night before that he flirts shamelessly with Gareth, even going so far as to call him "mine", and this was evident today. The two of them have a clear and warm friendship, and Gareth gives as good as he gets. Someone asked how John warms up for concerts, and he said, "Aside from Gareth stretching my vocal cords?" Many mentions of the hothouse scene in Adrift.
Everyone introduced themselves before asking John their question. This led to things like John singing a couple lines of the Four Seasons' "Sherry Baby" when a lady named Sherry stepped up to the mic, and "Sandy" from Grease when Sandy (who was even from Australia) introduced herself. Sherry's story was particularly moving; after she'd introduced herself and John realized that he knew her through their email correspondence, she talked about how she works in a high-risk obstetrics ward in Alaska, and a 17-year-old native girl was brought in for two months of enforced bed rest due to her pregnancy. The girl, the daughter of the chief of her tribe, had never even seen television before. Among other things, Sherry showed her an episode of "Tonight's the Night" to show her how dreams can come true. The girl was so moved by the way John fulfilled wishes that she made a dreamcatcher (which she'd brought to have Carole give to John) and had her father, the chief, bless it. John went from astonished to full out tears by the end of the story, and so did quite a bit of the audience including me. John then said to make sure that Sherry gave Carole the information about the hospital because he wanted to make sure some funds got to her. Good God, this man cannot be for real! He started wiping off his face with his shirt and Gareth teasingly yelled, "Oh, stop crying, you big poof!" It was totally endearing. (At some point John also called him "Gaz" which just tickled me too much.)
Sandy from Australia mentioned that "Sandy" was her favorite song and John's reaction was "Shut up!" He recounted how vividly he remembered first seeing the movie of Grease. She asked when John would come to a convention in Australia. He said that he wants to, but he needs to really set about three months aside for it, because he's been asked to do Torchwood promo, promo for his albums, etc., etc., plus he'd want to spend some time relaxing. She mentioned the diving off the coral reefs, and he said, oh, that's all we need is for Scott and I to get stuck and lost and eaten by sharks! "And I know about sharks!" made everyone explode in laughter. (Megalo-John?)
Someone asked if Jack is in love with Ianto and John said, well, John Barrowman is in love with Ianto! Then that there's something we have to watch for in S3. Insert my groan of frustration here. John said how he just flirts with Gareth shamelessly because he thinks he's a very attractive man, and Gareth's secure enough in his sexuality to take it and return it. =)
Another question referenced something Gareth was asked at Dragon*con, about how if Jack and John fought over Ianto, who would win. His response at D*C was that he'd like to be the filling in a two-captain sandwich. John promptly added, "I'd be the mayonnaise in that sandwich!"
When asked if he'd be on Top Gear anytime soon, John said to write to BBCAmerica and ask them for it. The same with whether Tonight's the Night will be shown over here.
John finally had to go and everyone came out to say goodbye, with Gareth tossing in, "We love you, John!" as the feed ended. My final thoughts: John was clearly devastated to not be there in person, purely aside from the pain he was in with the injured ankle, but he gave everything he could and was amazing. What a presence - even through the video you could feel the force of his personality. It was amazing to hear people admit that they were nervous to speak to him even via a satellite feed, but he did his best to calm everyone down and was so generous in making sure he addressed each person by their name if they'd introduced themselves.
Got my autographs - Mark and Carole - and thanked Carole for giving me the most surreal moment of my life by waving to me in the restaurant the day before. Mark made a point of saying that he always signed the Firefly box set in the same place so you know it's him.
At some point I was in line behind Adam, the kid from The Making of Me - I can't remember if this was Saturday or Sunday now, but he had River Song's sonic screwdriver so I brought out mine to compare, and we had a discussion about the differences between those and the Master's laser screwdriver. Very endearing kid with a lot of energy, just a typical 11-year-old.
And... that was it. Coming home and readjusting to the real world after a few days of intense fan mania has been difficult, to say the least. Personally, I can't wait for the next thing. I'm seriously considering the Hurricane Who con in Orlando over Halloween now, who's with me?
(Incidentally, my iTouch paid for itself on the drive home when I got turned around while driving around Indianapolis. I stopped at a Starbucks and used the wifi to pull up Google Maps and get directions home. Technology ftw.)