Polaris 2007
I've added another convention to my year - this time, it's Polaris, formerly known as Toronto Trek, still sort of known as T-Con. What a fun con! It's a lot smaller than Anime North, though still held at the Doubletree. It's definitely an older crowd, something I'm very appreciative of, and really, it's more in keeping with my fandoms. As much as I enjoy watching some anime now and then, I'm a sci-fi chick at heart. Aliens, space ships, superpowered humans, time travellers with sonic screwdrivers... that's the stuff. Got me a sonic screwdriver of my own now, too.
In the hotel room, it was me, Enk, tvnerdgirl, C-, and S-. Friday night had Klingon Karaoke. The difference between this and regular karaoke is minimal, except that half of the singers are in costume, the majority being Starfleet. One girl even had regulation Starfleet hair (double-bound ponytail!). Then there's the annual rousing Klingon singing of "Yellow Bird of Prey." Similar to Yellow Submarine, just changed. I wore some closet cosplay of Inara; basically my new pretty red and black floral dress and a beaded shawl. Oh, and Enk dyed my hair dark brown in the hotel room. I like it; in the sun you can still see red highlights. Harry's Bar did a special drink menu for the con, and they had names like Starbuck's Cocktail, Sonic Screwdriver, Firefly (a shot), Orion Slave Girl, Atlantis, and Jack/Daniel. Lots of alcohol was consumed, and lots of fun was had.
Saturday saw Enk and I in Prof. Umbridge and Prof. McGonagall, respectively. tvnerdgirl went as River, borrowing a pair of Enk's big boots and shellacking her hair to her head with hairspray (I helped there). We shopped, went to panels, looked at stars, etc. The panels were pretty good, at least the ones I managed to get to. I almost made it to the Meredith Rodney McKay panel, but stopped in my tracks at the Klingon Joining Ceremony. Yep, a Joining Ceremony, with the text and ribbons and brass bracelets and everything. There was so much to watch and things were just *happening* everywhere. There was a sweep of the hotel by the United Americas Colonial Marines (a group from Montreal that likes to do such awesome stuff). That can be found here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=fN-37gKDNQw They were fun. One of them is the guy who did the big Dalek for FanExpo 2005, and then Hellboy for FanExpo 2006.
Saturday night was the Masquerade and the dance. The Masquerade was only 37 entries (!). They were varied, and the length didn't matter as much, as there was one that went on for 2 minutes. Nobody minded, and they could have gone on for a bit longer, really; at least that was the concensus among the women in the crowd, including the female MC. Check out Red vs. Blue Spartans on the YouTube video list for that one. http://www.youtube.com/user/polarismasq Heck, check them all out. At this moment there are only 10 videos up; I suggest Dalek Bumps, Kill Bill (originally titled "The Safe Colour"), and Klingon Spartan. The last one did not need a pre-recorded track. Such a booming and clear voice; so awesome.
The dance was really really fun. I changed yet again into a satin Chinese print dress with Mandarin collar. I sweated right through it as we all danced like fiends. I haven't danced that much in a very long time, and it felt good. The songs were varied and had only a few slow songs. Derwin Mak I've concluded is the cutest man alive. And Erick Avari (Chandra Suresh from Heroes, the village leader from the Stargate movie) is a party animal. He was dancing with all the ladies, and at one point grinned at Enk and approved very much of her dancing. She was wearing her corset, so that meant boobs up to her neck, so none too surprised there. Later on, he led the crowd in a chant of "Rock and Roll! Rock and Roll!" to get the djs to play something a bit more to his liking. It worked. So much fun! There were a number of Cape Cods on my part, and I had considered trying to hit on the Starbuck cosplayer behind me, but was too nervous. What? She was hot. I should've had more to drink.
Sunday had more panels, and more star Q&A sessions. I managed to see Torri Higginson from Stargate Atlantis, who is so charming and has a bit of a girly squeal, and Katee Sackhoff from Battlestar Galactica, who said 'frak' a lot and had a number of risque stories. Rated PG? Hardly. I wrote notes for some, because I'm that much of a dork, and I may post them at some point. This day is when I bought my sonic screwdriver, which came with a pad of 'psychic paper', on which you can write using the UV pen attachment on the screwdriver, and then it shows up under the blue light. It's wipe off, too. I had to bargain, or fight off, another man for a main gauche for Knight. It's stunning; has a basket guard inlaid with red, silver scrollwork over it, and it's pointy and shiny. Not full tang, to my disappointment, but still pretty. I got the stand for free! It's now sitting proudly on his dresser. We stayed right until closing ceremonies, which lacked a bit of pizzazz, but everybody was beat.
Overall, looking forward to next year. The first guest has been announced: Rachel Luttrel, of Stargate Atlantis! Whoo! I'd love to see Jason Momoa, simply for the drool factor, but she's pretty darn good, too.
In the hotel room, it was me, Enk, tvnerdgirl, C-, and S-. Friday night had Klingon Karaoke. The difference between this and regular karaoke is minimal, except that half of the singers are in costume, the majority being Starfleet. One girl even had regulation Starfleet hair (double-bound ponytail!). Then there's the annual rousing Klingon singing of "Yellow Bird of Prey." Similar to Yellow Submarine, just changed. I wore some closet cosplay of Inara; basically my new pretty red and black floral dress and a beaded shawl. Oh, and Enk dyed my hair dark brown in the hotel room. I like it; in the sun you can still see red highlights. Harry's Bar did a special drink menu for the con, and they had names like Starbuck's Cocktail, Sonic Screwdriver, Firefly (a shot), Orion Slave Girl, Atlantis, and Jack/Daniel. Lots of alcohol was consumed, and lots of fun was had.
Saturday saw Enk and I in Prof. Umbridge and Prof. McGonagall, respectively. tvnerdgirl went as River, borrowing a pair of Enk's big boots and shellacking her hair to her head with hairspray (I helped there). We shopped, went to panels, looked at stars, etc. The panels were pretty good, at least the ones I managed to get to. I almost made it to the Meredith Rodney McKay panel, but stopped in my tracks at the Klingon Joining Ceremony. Yep, a Joining Ceremony, with the text and ribbons and brass bracelets and everything. There was so much to watch and things were just *happening* everywhere. There was a sweep of the hotel by the United Americas Colonial Marines (a group from Montreal that likes to do such awesome stuff). That can be found here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=fN-37gKDNQw They were fun. One of them is the guy who did the big Dalek for FanExpo 2005, and then Hellboy for FanExpo 2006.
Saturday night was the Masquerade and the dance. The Masquerade was only 37 entries (!). They were varied, and the length didn't matter as much, as there was one that went on for 2 minutes. Nobody minded, and they could have gone on for a bit longer, really; at least that was the concensus among the women in the crowd, including the female MC. Check out Red vs. Blue Spartans on the YouTube video list for that one. http://www.youtube.com/user/polarismasq Heck, check them all out. At this moment there are only 10 videos up; I suggest Dalek Bumps, Kill Bill (originally titled "The Safe Colour"), and Klingon Spartan. The last one did not need a pre-recorded track. Such a booming and clear voice; so awesome.
The dance was really really fun. I changed yet again into a satin Chinese print dress with Mandarin collar. I sweated right through it as we all danced like fiends. I haven't danced that much in a very long time, and it felt good. The songs were varied and had only a few slow songs. Derwin Mak I've concluded is the cutest man alive. And Erick Avari (Chandra Suresh from Heroes, the village leader from the Stargate movie) is a party animal. He was dancing with all the ladies, and at one point grinned at Enk and approved very much of her dancing. She was wearing her corset, so that meant boobs up to her neck, so none too surprised there. Later on, he led the crowd in a chant of "Rock and Roll! Rock and Roll!" to get the djs to play something a bit more to his liking. It worked. So much fun! There were a number of Cape Cods on my part, and I had considered trying to hit on the Starbuck cosplayer behind me, but was too nervous. What? She was hot. I should've had more to drink.
Sunday had more panels, and more star Q&A sessions. I managed to see Torri Higginson from Stargate Atlantis, who is so charming and has a bit of a girly squeal, and Katee Sackhoff from Battlestar Galactica, who said 'frak' a lot and had a number of risque stories. Rated PG? Hardly. I wrote notes for some, because I'm that much of a dork, and I may post them at some point. This day is when I bought my sonic screwdriver, which came with a pad of 'psychic paper', on which you can write using the UV pen attachment on the screwdriver, and then it shows up under the blue light. It's wipe off, too. I had to bargain, or fight off, another man for a main gauche for Knight. It's stunning; has a basket guard inlaid with red, silver scrollwork over it, and it's pointy and shiny. Not full tang, to my disappointment, but still pretty. I got the stand for free! It's now sitting proudly on his dresser. We stayed right until closing ceremonies, which lacked a bit of pizzazz, but everybody was beat.
Overall, looking forward to next year. The first guest has been announced: Rachel Luttrel, of Stargate Atlantis! Whoo! I'd love to see Jason Momoa, simply for the drool factor, but she's pretty darn good, too.