Dragon*Con 2007, part 2
Okay, this is still my Dragon*Con report, continued from [ here]. We were right up to the concert, right?
So, Concert.
In which Jen Deciphers What She Wrote in the Dark
First I made notes about what James was wearing, which was... pointless, considering how many awesome photos have been posted from the concert. (mad_brilliant_ has some incredible ones in her journal [here], and check CDS [here], [here], [here], and [here] for some awesome pictures by [cindy253]. Scout's wonderful concert and charity auction photos are linked from CDS as well, [here]. ETA: You may have to join the board to see these pictures.) Anyway, he was wearing a sleeveless gray/black shirt and blue jeans. And when he sings, he stands with his feet sort of wide apart, and he often taps his right foot, or sort of... like, shakes his leg to the beat. Which is cute. :) And he keeps hitching his guitar up on his hip, which makes me want to go up and adjust the strap for him.
1. The first song James did when he came out was actually my least favorite song of his that I know. Heh. Well, first he talked about "Malcolm" getting broken and how "Crystal" had been shoved through the wall in his hotel room, and THEN he played this song. (Malcolm and Crystal are guitars.) I filmed a little bit:
Click to viewI'm just... really not impressed with the lyrics here. He's gonna "get up your stream?" and "up your peaks?" Seriously? *sigh*
2. The second song he did was "Layabout," which he said he wrote while he was in Cardiff. I put a star beside the title of this song because I actually liked it, although now I can't remember how the tune goes. (bendy1 transcribed the lyrics in her post [here], along with lyrics to his other newer songs, if you're interested.)
3. "All She Wanted" was next, and I actually put two stars next to it. He introduced it by saying, "It's about me being a dick," but it was still pretty. He said he wrote it to get out of a deep hole he was in with his girlfriend... and that it almost worked.
4. He said, about "Up on Me," that it was a song about feeling sorry for himself. I also made a note next to this song that afterwards he addressed his guitar, "Crystal, you're doing good, girl!" Then he said something like, "I love guitars that'll stick by you. Buried in the wall, and you just pull 'em out and they stay in tune."
5. Next was "Smile." Everyone knows this song, right? It's one that I don't actually like very much because some of the lyrics are spoken and not sung, and for some reason that kind of breaks me out of the song. It would be pretty, except for that.
6. Apparently, James wrote "Louise" for a friend of his in England. He said he wrote it "primarily to give her shit." It's kind of a fun song... I don't remember much about it except that it describes a woman driving pretty recklessly.
7. Okay, this one was my favorite. I think it's called "Fall of Night." (Three stars, people.) He introduced it by saying, "Here's another sad song." It's about a dude who thinks his girlfriend is cheating on him and decides to leave her: "I'm leaving in the morning/ and I won't be here come the fall of night." He said he had to write another song to get him out of the hole that this song got him into when he wrote it. And THEN he said, "Sometimes I think I'm not a good boyfriend. I'm too passionate." (Because that's always a problem, right?) Anyway, this is a song that I would actually listen to even if it weren't James Marsters singing it, which I think is saying a lot since I'm not normally a big fan of his music. The only slight problem I had with it is that the word "night" is on a note just a little bit too low for his voice, so he never quite gets down there and kind of has to whisper it. But it's still pretty.
8. "Here's another sad song... I'm really doing well in life, though." It was "Poor Robin," and after that one he said, "Take that, Robin!" Because he is so very mature. :) Speaking of which -
9. "Civilized Man" is about a crew member who worked on a film James did in Toronto, and James said the guy was always sweating and yelling and ruining his day every day. "I just wanted to kill him. But I didn't kill him; I didn't even hit him. I wrote a song about him instead, and I didn't go to jail, and here it is. Oh, I later found out he was a coke addict. That's why he was sweating all the time." (James is [one to talk.])
10. "Not a Millionaire." I starred this one, so I must have liked it. James said he likes to write story-songs to get out of his head for a while. "This is about a guy who can race cars."
11. The next one was called "White Hot Girls." I um. Really didn't like this one. He said something like, "My neice saved this song. It only had two verses and she asked, 'Why don't you write a verse about good girls?'"
12. James called this one "Vandals," but he said it's the first song he ever wrote with his friend Gordon, and Gordon wants to call it "Button-Down Vandals." It reminded me a lot of "Cherry Bomb" by John Mellancamp. Fun song.
At this point, someone called out that it was her birthday, and he said into the mic, "Happy birthday, baby." I think she wanted him to sing to her.
13. This one was another new song, and he paused for a while before playing it because he said he couldn't remember how. Then he was like, "Okay, here we go." And played "Looking at You." I put a couple of stars by this one too, but I think I was being a little careless with my stars. I remember I did like it, though. For some reason, throughout the song a group of fans down at the front would randomly start laughing and cheering, and at the end James said, "You are naughty people!"
14. "This is one I wrote for my boy. It's called 'Don't Worry Son.' It's also about almost dying on the freeway trying to get to him." Meh. I didn't like this one.
Then he said something like, "Okay I've got three more songs, then I'm gonna take a short break, and if you scream loud enough I'll come back."
15. "This is the song I had to write to get out of the hole I got myself in with the other song." Okay... *embarrassed* I didn't actually catch the name of this song. It's the one that goes, "Freight train, take me outta here/ I don't care where you're bound." Does anyone know it? I think I remember liking it, but I can't tell if these are stars next to it or if I just scribbled over something...
16. "Want to hear some blues? Anyone? Okay. I like the blues." This one was called "The Truth Is a Heavy Stone." I enjoyed it, but I think it's one that I would only enjoy if I can see him performing it. Like, I wouldn't listen to it on a CD, but I'd totally watch him grunt and sort of twitch his hips while he sings it as often as possible. :)
17. Something like, "Gonna send us on out with a little lovesong at the end. But please scream because I want to come back." Song number 17 was "London City."
At the end, someone called out "We love you James!" and he said, "I love you more. So scream really loud." Then he blew a kiss and left the stage.
Of course everyone screamed (I even screamed) and when he came back out he was like, "For me? Really?"
18. The first encore song was "Katie." He started by telling us he did a stupid thing: "I fell in love with a lesbian, man." I recorded the whole song (and the next song, "The Birth of the Blues.")
19. When I played "The Birth of the Blues" for my mom later, at one point she was like... "I can't understand what he's saying." *facepalm* That's because it's not real words, mom. *sigh*
20. This was called "Dance Slow." He said, "My producer doesn't like this one, so it might not go on the album."
"Okay, I got two more old ones. You might have heard these before."
21. It's a B-side from the first Ghost of the Robot album, and it's called "Goodbye." It ends with the line, "I'm sorry baby. I'm just fast," and James said, "She really said that to me - 'I'm just fast.'"
22. "This is my last song." This one was called "Angel," and James said it was about someone named Helena (who is "a sweetheart and doesn't know it") but... okay, the title? I think I know who it's really about. (Oh, I wish.)
After the song was over he said, "And since Marsters' Mobsters gave me like eight thousand picks," and he threw some into the audience. Oh, and then someone yelled something I couldn't quite make out and he said, "Not unless you pay me, baby." They probably asked him to take off his shirt.
Lots more clips of the concert (and James' Q&A's) were uploaded to Youtube by fenderlove. Check them out [ here]!
Is Everyone Here Very Stoned?
Okay, so after the concert, they did this charity auction thing, right? Steve Himber stood onstage and sold some things that belonged to James, beginning with the shirt that James had worn at Dragon*Con the day before, while James stood next to him and grinned. (Each of the items they sold would be signed and personalized by James when the fans met him backstage.) So the shirt they started with? It's just a t-shirt. Steve mentioned that they hadn't even washed it, and James said, "It even stinks a little bit!"
And so they started the bidding, and James, who was sweating a lot by this time, was holding the shirt, and he started like, wiping his sweat with it. Really! He wiped his sweat! And the bidding jumped up when he did that!
Can I just say, gross.
One of the people bidding was a dude standing near us, but he dropped out once the total reached like $400. James actually stuck the t-shirt underneath his shirt to wipe his stomach with it! RavenU got a picture of him [doing this]. (RavenU's other terrific Dragon*Con pictures are [here].) Anyway, I keep switching back and forth between thinking it was hot and throwing up in my mouth a little bit. Who wants this guy's sweat-soaked stinky shirt? I mean, even if it is James Marsters. Once it got to $700, James smirked at one of the people bidding and said, "So, what are ya gonna do?"
And his stinky shirt sold for $715.
Okay, I've just thought about it again, and... maybe... maybe if it were David Boreanaz's sweaty shirt, I would have bid on it. Maybe. I don't know, though, man. Because... eww.
Other items sold in the auction:
- A framed picture from Union Chapel sold for $325.
- A picture of James that had already been signed sold for $200. Steve: Will you put some DNA on it? James: Yeah.
- A magazine from the UK with James and John Barrowman on the cover sold for $200.
- Tonight's set list, written in James' own handwriting. James: I was supposed to do little squiggles and smiley faces on it, but I forgot. Steve: If the right bid comes in, I'll make him do artwork on it. (Sold for $750.)
- James' Dragon*Con badge sold for $575.
James: You just saved a couple of kids' lives, right there!
Yeah but... James, they were drunk. They didn't know what they were doing! The whole time, I was just sitting there going, omg. Omg. OMG! Everyone here is independently wealthy except me!
The Long Way Home
After those poor people were robbed the auction, we made our way back to the MARTA. (I met a browncoat named Bill on the train. He's from Connecticut.) It wasn't nearly as crowded this time, but a few of us did get a bit separated. Deb and Rebecca were going to Deb's house, but Christina and I were going back to the convention hotels, so we got off before they did. And so did Savannah and Sarah.
Sarah and Savannah (fenderlove): the before picture.
Savannah and Sarah had accidently gotten off the train before they meant to, so Christina and I decided to walk them down the street to their car, and they said they would give us a ride back to the hotels if we did so. Oh, and I filmed us going up the long escalator:
(I'm the voice that says, "Oh, awesome!" and "But you're also on livejournal." Christina is the one who asks where Savannah is located online. Also, Savannah's bright red boots rock. But I don't think you can see them here.)
So we got back to the hotels without much fuss, going through the Peachtree Center Mall. We ended up turned around a few times, though... and at one point we exited the Hyatt and were told we couldn't come back in, which was... weird. We ended up sneaking around and in through another door. And later I found out why they weren't letting people in the Hyatt on Saturday night: There were apparently some [ overcrowding issues.] (There's a poll about Dragon*Con overcrowding [ here], and there has been a suggested solution [here] *snerk*, although I'm thinking James has very little to do with why it was so crowded this year - come on, people. Half the cast of the original Star Trek was there, not to mention Jamie Bamber and all the Stargate people, and it's a SCIFI convention!)
Anyway, here's a fun embarrassing moment: while we were in the Hyatt Saturday night, I saw [that really attractive guy from last year] who was dressed as Angel again this year, and when I tried to point him out to Christina, I pointed discretely and said "There's Angel," and she didn't hear me, so I said a little bit louder, "There's Angel," and she goes, "Who? Where?" and so I point really obviously and go "It's ANGEL!" And of course, right at that moment, he turns around and looks at me pointing at him. *facepalm* But I didn't get a picture this year because I was too embarrassed to ask.
So anyway, the four of us went outside and started walking down the street where Savannah and Sarah had parked, and we actually went several blocks through downtown Atlanta at night without finding the car. And at one point, a guy started talking to us, and I turned around to see if he was actually talking to us, and I heard him go, "No, don't run away!" and when I looked back, Sarah was hurrying past. Heh! She ran from him! Which... you know, was probably smart. But it was funny.
Deciding the car wasn't parked down that street, we finally turned around and retraced our steps back to the Hyatt. At this point, Savannah and Sarah were in a bit of disagreement about landmarks they had seen when they parked the car that morning, only coming to an agreement that it was near the parade. Which. Was gone. But then we turned down another street and walked several blocks in that direction, and it turned out to be the right one. Yay!
My favorite exchange of the night:
Sarah: Look, Luckie Street! I said Luckie Street.
Savannah: When did you say Luckie Street?
Sarah: I said it in my mind, to myself.
Savannah: Well, that's the kind of thing you need to say out loud, to other people.
So we finally got to the car and got in. And it wouldn't start. The battery was dead because the lights had been left on.
Someone mentioned calling the police to see if they would come out and help, but we didn't know the local number for police, so I suggested calling 911, but they didn't want to do that. Of course, my first instinct was to call Deb and Rebecca because I just knew they'd come and help us, but as it turns out, we were right across the street from the hotel where Christina was staying, so we walked over there and asked the guy at the front desk what the local police number was. He said to call 511 for information... which is definitely the wrong number. So we called 411 for information, got the police number, called the police, and they gave another number to call, specifically for people whose cars break down in parking lots. But apparently, that number was for people whose cars break down in the airport parking lot, which wasn't a lot of help.
Savannah and Sarah: the after picture.
So we finally called Deb, and even though it was the middle of the night, she and Rebecca drove out to get us, just like I knew they would. Sister Cuervo and Sockmonkey to the rescue! ♥ I sort of can't get over how great CDSers are. They gave me a ride back to the Hilton and took Savannah and Sara back to the Omni, where they were staying. Christina just stayed where we were since it was her hotel, but I felt bad because she missed a late panel she'd wanted to go to that night. But hey, it was an adventure. :)
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
So while I was doing all this stuff on Saturday, what were my sisters and brothers-in-law doing?
Honestly, haven't the slightest. But they had fun! And they got to meet Aaron Douglas and Jamie Bamber's hair, which makes me a little jealous.
Afropuff!Jamie.
My sisters were Starbuck. As a cylon. (There are many models...) What is Jamie's face here?
Hot twin action with Aaron Douglas.
Aww, look at that face! And check out Jamie Bamber's ass in the back.
Also: Mark Sheppard (from Firefly and Battlestar Galactica)
He totally saw my mom trying to sneak a picture.
Excerpt from my sister Sara's con report:
Saturday Amy and I dressed like Starbuck Cylons and in the Walk of Fame some guy gave me the once over and said, "Kara Thrace...NICE!" I didn't hear him, but Scott did and thought it was hilarious. Jamey outdid everyone with his "Budget Vulcan costume." He wore a tight shirt with a pinned on trekkie insignia and windsuit pants, and he put tape on his ears and used my eyeliner to create Vulcan eyebrows. A short guy hobbled over and said, "Love the vulcan costume!" and as he walked away, Scott said, "Is that guy dressed as a mutant?" He wasn't.
I swear I don't know that guy on the end. (On either end.)
Excerpt, continued:
Saturday afternoon I talked with a couple of the actors from Battlestar Galactica, and that night, the guys remembered me. Jamie Bamber, who plays Apollo, was standing at the bar when I walked up and ordered a screwdriver. As the bartender handed me a cranberry and vodka (out of o.j., he said), I turned to Jamie and said, "I have a low tolerance - this drink is going to get me wasted. I'm a cheap drunk." I don't know why I said that. A few minutes later I noticed that he was staring at my chest. I said, "What are YOU looking at?" and he said, "uh...ahem... where's your twin?" and I said, "over there" and pointed at Amy who was ordering a Jack and Diet coke. Then I walked away because I couldn't think of anything clever to say.
Oh, God. That sounds like me.
Jamey drew on the tattoos. With a Sharpie, I think.
Starbuck(s) with the President.
More of the Galactica crew.
My sisters also claimed that at the BSG party that night, Aaron Douglas invited them up to his room. Amy asked which room (as a joke... probably) but they didn't go. I would have gone! But um. He didn't ask me. *sigh*
I'm told there was an old man inside this Cylon costume.
I'm thinking this guy wasn't at the BSG party.
That about does it for Saturday night. Man, we were all so pooped. And hungry again. And sleepy. My mom and I stayed up a little later than everyone else, talking, but we finally got to sleep around 3 or so. Oh, and at this point, my brother Brad and his girlfriend Natalie had also shown up in Atlanta, but they went straight to the Sheraton because there was no room at the inn Hilton. Heh.
12-inch Angel and 70-inch Spike
Hey, it's not the size that counts.
Sunday morning I woke up feeling like my eyes were too far apart. (Does this happen to other people? When you stay up late? ...Just me then?) Amy and Jamey left early to go back to Alabama, and Sara and Mama wanted to go to a [ Harry Potter panel] that started at 10 but I wasn't ready, so I told them to go on without me. Scott slept late (he moved from the floor into the bed) and at about 10:15 or so I headed downstairs to check out the dealer rooms, which were located in the Hilton.
I thought about going to get some food in the Consuite, but I called my brother and he said he and Natalie would meet me in the dealer rooms, so I stuck around. Christina also planned to meet me there. The first thing I bought was the Tales of the Slayers graphic novel:
I already had Tales of the Vampires.
And then I came across my favorite dealer. Actually, he's not my favorite in that I especially like him or anything, but he's the same guy I've bought almost all of my action figures from, and I see him at every convention I go to. He's the only one I ever see with the Angel figures worth having... and I think he charges too much, but since he's the only one who ever has what I want, I pay him what he asks. He sometimes gives me a deal, too, since I'm a frequent buyer. I bought my second 12-inch Angel from him:
I have the 12-inch Liam, so now I need the two other variations of Angel. (This one was an exclusive that they apparently only made 1,000 of... so he was expensive. $125 plus tax.)
He also had puppet!Angel, but I didn't get him because I know a place I can order him online for cheaper. But the dealer guy's nice - I picked up a 6-inch Spike and he reminded me that I'd already bought that one from him last time. (I never look at my Spike figures, so I forget which ones I have. I have all the 6-inch Angels, though.) When I felt like the guy was on the verge of offering me a job, I sort of hurried away.
Mama and Sara and Christina showed up while I was shopping and, somehow, Christina managed to convince me to buy a... big, cardboard standee of Spike. *headdesk* I don't even know how it happened. One minute I was standing there without the big cardboard standee, and the next minute I was hauling that thing around like I owned it... because I did, in fact, own it. WTF, man?
He was $30.
I also saw this, which was kind of interesting:
Dude. I totally would have done it if it were less expensive.
Christina and I went back up to the room for me to drop off my action figure and graphic novel, but I kept the standee with me because I wanted to get James to sign it, and I didn't want to have to come back to the room and get it. So then we went to get in line for the 1:00 Buffyverse panel, but on the way we stopped in the Marriott for me to get my photo-op picture, which I hadn't had time to pick up the night before.
Yes, I know I already posted it. What?
We found Savannah, Sarah, Karen, and Kerry already in the line for the panel, so we stopped to talk. Savannah and Sarah had managed to get an upgrade on the rental that had been drained the night before, which was cool. And I admired Sarah's sparkly shoes. :)
Even More Fun with Approximate Quotes
Sunday's Q&A with James, Elizabeth, and Ken
We sat in the center section for this Q&A. I balanced my standee against the row of chairs in front of us, and the guy sitting next to me was like, "Hey, we can just look down here instead of up there. Perfect seats!"
I thought I might get James to sign his forehead, but people kept telling me not to. I'm not sure why.
I saw Brad and Nat and my mom on the way into the panel, but we didn't sit with them. And this panel is also online in a few places (a transcript by bendy1 [ here], video footage on Youtube [here], and you can download the entire Q&A as an mp3 [here]) so I'm just going to point out a couple things. Because man, this report is eating my weekend like whoa.
1. My first note is, "Where's Juliet?" And the answer is... not at the Sunday Q&A.
Elizabeth's looking kind of evil in that top left picture.
2. James: Good morning.
Elizabeth: Is it morning? Oh... he's a rockstar.
3. James' favorite movie is Apocalypse Now ("The most horrifying film I've ever seen"), Elizabeth's is Out of Africa (because it's "beautiful, epic, sweeping") and Ken's is Dead Poet's Society. (Ken is the man.) James: That film is so good, and then Robin Williams went and made Patch Adams. (James tells a story about owing Robin Williams $300.)
4. Someone asks about the difference between Law and Order and Angel. Elizabeth says the fans are the difference, because Angel fans are so much more fun. Elizabeth: Why did the Law and Order truck drop me off? I'm in the wrong fuckin' party!
5. About filming Torchwood - James: They knocked my tooth out and twisted my ankle, but they were very nice about it.
6. James does more Shakespeare. This time it's Macbeth, and it's not quite as good as the one from Saturday, but still pretty cool. [Watch it here] in a clip by fenderlove.
Is this a Red Bull I see before me?
7. Someone asks what age would be appropriate to show their children Buffy. James: Not yet! Not until puberty, man. (He says there are some kids who could get it at a younger age - although you'd have to sit down and talk to them about it - but it's a lot different seeing your dad do that stuff.)
8. What superpowers would they each have if they could? Elizabeth chooses being invisible, to be "a fly on everybody's wall." James: You're devious! That could come to no good. (James chooses flying, but says it would be suicidal without super healing powers as well, so... he'd choose flying but be too afraid to do it.) Ken also chooses flying, then jokes that it would be useful not to have to use the elevator.
9. James says that on Without a Trace he had to do a quarter-mile walk from a helicopter pad with his hurt leg, but that the worst part was that it was really hot and he was sweating like a monkey, so the whole time he just kept thinking "Don't sweat, don't sweat." (Ken: Like a monkey? James: It's true!) Then Ken tells James that he knows a guy who could probably help him with his hurt leg - some kind of massage therapist or something? - who could "move the muscle around" and Elizabeth goes, "I can do it!"
James and Elizabeth were flirting with each other a lot at that panel. And I just now realized that James and Elizabeth are the names of the two vampire lovers in episode one of season three of Angel - Heartthrob. Coincidence?
10. Did James get to grope Sarah Michelle Gellar? James: I got to grope Sarah, and they paid me. (He also said he started thinking of her as his kid sister, so some of the scenes were hard for him to do - like licking her arm. He couldn't do it, just kept cracking up, and she would get mad at him.)
11. James goes off on a liberal political rant. I tuned him out for a short while. Something about John Kerry killing a bunch of people.
12. James is a purple belt in Judo. Which totally fits right in with this fanfic I'm writing... (Heh)
13. Elizabeth's father gave out her address to this guy who said he wanted to send her a Christmas present. She ended up taking legal action against the guy because he wouldn't quit sending her things. James says he's never really had a stalker because he always plays tough characters, so people shy away from stalking him. Ken says he used to have a lot of stalkers, but he couldn't keep them funded.
14. Someone asks about James' 5-episode arc on Without a Trace. James: They think it's gonna be five. But they thought that about Spike too.
15. About Law and Order: Elizabeth: I was so excited! I thought I was a lesbian, and then I found out that I was. James: Lesbians are hot. What was my question?
16. Someone asks James to sing. He sings All Apologies into the microphone, which keeps popping. It was um. Fun. But not the best singing he's done. Afterwards - James: I sang for free.
17. What costume would they each wear to Dragon*Con if they dressed up? James (to Elizabeth): Princess Leia in a bikini, please! Elizabeth: Alright. Alright, I will. For you. (James says a storm trooper.) He says the costume people on Angel told him to steal Spike's duster when he left, but he wouldn't do it... then later Fox sold it for a quarter million. James: And I have kids, man! ...But I still have my honor.
18. Someone asks how James lost his virginity. He tells the threesome story that everyone already knows. In this version, he was 14.
19. My next note is James' favorite story about David Boreanaz. I can't remember how this segued from the virginity story... Anyway, it's the horseracing thing that everyone already knows. Oh! Elizabeth said something about wanting to work with David again, and James interrupted to tell the horseracing story. I think. He also said David was the best director they had in season five of Angel.
20. James says that when they filmed the fight sequence in The Harsh Light of Day (a fan helps him remember the title) that Sarah punched him in the nose because he was getting too close to her. Heh.
21. Elizabeth was kicked out of public school and sent to reform school. Now she's on the Sarah Lawrence Board of Directors. Elizabeth: Thank God I got my shit together.
22. James talks about Torchwood again, and working with John Barrowman. There's a barfight, and then kissing, and after he describes it, Elizabeth goes, "That's hot." She's a slasher!
23. Someone asks about their weirdest convention experiences and mentions the woman that took off her shirt the last time James was at Dragon*Con. Elizabeth: I don't wanna see breasts! (Okay, so not a femslasher, then.) James: I like the freakiness! The weirder, the better. (He tells a story about a really old lady who grabbed his butt at his first convention and told him to clench.)
24. Someone asks if James got into lots of fights when he was younger. He seems reluctant to talk about it, then tells us that after he got kicked out of Juliard then he was in a bad place and started "conducting business" in Central Park, which involved defending your territory. I'm pretty sure he was talking about selling drugs, but the way he said it sounded like he was talking about being a prostitute. Which would have been so much hotter.
25. We end the panel on an up note: James talks about being pissed off at Joss for calling him an ingenue. Overreact much?
After the panel was over, I met up with Brad, Nat, and my mom, and we rushed off to stand in another line. On Saturday, Mama, Sara, and Scott had been given some special passes to a sneak preview of the new CW show Reaper, which will premier on September 24, and it was going to start in just a few minutes. And they got an extra one for me because I'm special. :) (Special, not special needs.)
Don't Fear the... Reaper Pilot?
Yeah, I got nothing.
So the passes came on CW lanyards. We were all walking advertisements. I feel so used.
Of course this was after we spent money on Dragon*Con lanyards... sigh.
Nat, Brad, and Mama meet James Marsters in the line.
When they started letting people in at about 2:30, they cut the line off between me and Brad, but we told them we were together, so they let us all in. And then it turns out they let in about 70 more people behind us. Sara and Scott were already sitting in the room when we got there, and Sara took a couple pictures of us.
I look evil back there! Probably because I haven't eaten since that smoothie the night before.
I'm... not sure what's going on with my hand. Or my face.
Sara happened to have a granola bar in her backpack, so Natalie snagged it and gave it to me since I was starving. We sat across the room from Sara and Scott, and before they played the episode, a dude from the CW gave out some free t-shirts and Dirt Devil handvacs to people who could answer trivia questions about Kevin Smith, who directed the Reaper pilot.
The girls sitting behind me commented on my Spike standee. Heh.
I enjoyed the show. It was pretty funny - silly, even. You could tell that Kevin Smith had a hand in it. That said, I don't think I'll be watching this show when it starts coming on TV, since I already don't have time for the shows I do watch, and I don't see myself getting much out of this show except for a few laughs. I'd recommend it to other people, though. The premise is that this dude's parents traded his soul to the devil before he was born, and on his 21st birthday, the devil comes and says the guy has to work for him as a reaper, which means he has to capture souls that escape from hell. And deliver them to the DMV.
At the BSG panel, Aaron Douglas said that he'd be in Reaper, but he wasn't in the pilot. (I was a little bit disappointed.) But on the way out of the room, everyone got a Reaper t-shirt that says on the front, "My parents sold my soul," and that made up for it. I think I shall wear it to work! (I um. work at a church.)
Consuite Romance?
So after the Reaper sneak preview, Sara, Scott, Brad, Natalie, Mama, and I went to stand in line for the Battlestar Galactica panel that was happening at 4:00. I was anxious because I knew some of the ladies from CDS were meeting up at 6 and I wanted to be there, but I also wanted to get James to sign my standee, so I was thinking about not going to the BSG panel... and then Christina called and asked what I was doing, so I abruptly changed plans and decided to meet her in the Consuite, then go to the Walk of Fame in the Marriott to meet James.
Brad and Scott kept making comments that I was sneaking off to sooper sekrit panels.
So I went up to the Consuite, having not eaten anything but a granola bar in forever, and when I got there I got a coke and... at this point in my notes, I have written down a name.
*blush*
This is, I think, the one time during the whole weekend I managed to meet someone new and not make a fool of myself, at least a little bit. I was proud like whoa. We talked about... things... and then he asked for my email address, which is like asking for a phone number if you're a normal person, and... it was nice.
Of course then Christina and I had to hurry off because I was afraid the line to meet James would be really long. And as soon as we left the Consuite, I realized I had not actually gotten any food and I was still starving, so I ran back in and got two triangles of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then ran back out again.
I literally can't believe this is going to a third post.
Follow [this link] for the rest of my report, including my mortifying celebrity experiences and the part where I almost *headdesk* myself into oblivion.