11 Days of Con
So, Ive just returned home from the most manic 11 con days of my life. Between Friday 12th and Monday 22nd May, I attended three conventions in two different countries: Asylum 18 in Blackpool, England, JIBLand2 in Rome and JIB8 in Rome… and now I’m exhausted :P.
I won’t talk much about Asylum 18, other than that it was in Blackpool, in a crappy hotel, and unfortunately, I didn’t get that usual ‘SPN Family’ feeling from it. Not sure if it was the venue, or the bad stage lighting, the sheer number of people, or the fact that a lot of my regular con-goer friends weren’t there… but I just didn’t feel like I was at a normal SPN con. In fact, I actually left before it ended - I finished up a Coffee Lounge (Meet and Greet) with Adam Fergus and David Haydn-Jones, walked past Misha who was on his way to the final panel, and then walked right out of the door and to my car for the 3.5-hour drive home. I just wasn’t feeling it :(. Not that I didn't enjoy the con, but it didn't feel like a normal SPN con to me.
However, the next few days in Rome more than made up for the not so great Asylum 18, so here’s my more detailed JIBWeek recap:
My highlights from JIBLAND2:
- Despite not watching Outlander and Penny Dreadful, I had a great time at JIBLand. Tom Ellis is great and I pretty much fell in love with Sasha Roiz and David Guintoli from Grimm (I binge-watched the entire show in 3 weeks back in Feb/March). Plus, it was such as small con (maybe 300 people?) that it felt very friendly, with the guests even trying to learn our names
- My roomies and I got a personal introduction to the lovely Tom Ellis by Daniela. We went to the Welcome Party, which was basically about 40 of us mingling with the guests in one of the business meeting rooms at the Hilton, and were just debating how to go up to Tom without being obvious, when Daniela overheard us and was like: “No, girls. Be obvious. Be obvious” and she took my friend’s arm, pulled us over to him and introduced us!
- Over the next hour we chatted to Tom, David G. Sasha and Jason Manns outside on the roof area and it was just like hanging out with someone you just met at a party… not like an actor-fan interaction at all
- I actually managed to have a conversation with every single guest at autographs
- I also stood up and asked two questions in panels (which I’ve only ever done once before):
1) I asked Tom Ellis about the transition between British TV and US TV (he said the main difference was in the amount of money used and also in the publicity)
2) when Sasha, Jason and Rob (Benedict) were asked about where they would like to travel to and they mentioned Japan (where I just was last month) and then Sasha said he was planning a trip to Patagonia and Antarctica, I just had to get up and tell them that I had just spent 3 months living in Antarctica. It was so cool because they were asking *me* questions about it (I had to correct Sasha when he said it was dark all the time - because it was summer there and it was light all the time!)! I said that I was forecasting the weather there and they started pretending to do TV forecasts for Antarctica, and then when I said there was a fellow Supernatural fan there, and that right now there are 22 British people on the base for winter, they decided they should have a Supernatural convention in Antarctica :P.
- Thanks to my friend bringing devil’s horns and a trident to Tom’s photo op and then telling him he could keep them, I got a cool photo op with him wearing them:
- However, my best photo op of the con, possibly even better than a J2 photo was my double with Sasha and David Guintoli. They were on fire, jumping around and making everyone laugh, and it was the most fun photo op experience I’ve ever had. I could have stayed all day just to watch it. A lot of people were asking for ‘squishy hugs’ and they didn’t disappoint. Sasha is Jared’s height, but in my photo he slid down my body, grabbed my legs and then apparently slapped my bum afterwards (which I didn’t even notice). I was laughing the whole time:
On Friday, JIB8 started and suddenly the con was much busier and buzzing with excitement… it was a bit of a shock after the laidback nature of JIBLAND2 though!
My highlights:
- First up was my Briana photo op. I was supposed to get one at Asylum 18 as it was included in my pass, but missed it (which wasn't too much of an issue since I already had one for JIB):
- The ‘Making Bacon’ song by David Haydn-Jones. David is completely different from Mr. Ketch and is a lot of fun on stage. On Friday, he talked about how he was always making up jingles at home, and gave an example of being in the kitchen and just singing a jingle about ‘making bacon’ (Making bacon, making making bacon)… and it kinda went viral :P. The next day, Jason was joking about this new song he heard on the internet about ‘making bacon’ and then they sang it together as if it was this big new song :P.
- Like with JIBLAND, I managed to have conversations with I think every single guest at autographs. With Jared, I wanted to mention how much I loved his chapter in the new book, but I also didn’t want to make it emotional, so I told him how the first part made me all nostalgic for my childhood. I said that my brother had been a big Ninja Turtles fan and that he got a home-made Raphael costume for Christmas when he was 5. Jared’s response: ‘I would give ANYTHING for a home-made Raphael costume!’ :P. He also talked about how his boys were really into Ninja Turtles now too :).
- I had a really tight hug from Jensen in photo ops and for the first time ever I actually remembered to smell him (since everyone says how great he smells)… he smells good!
- Jared ran his hand down my whole back as I was walking away after my J2 photo op :P. Unfortunately, I'm not too happy with the op... J2 look great, but I look terrible (I've put on some weight lately and this photo op really shows it)!
- My Jensen autograph experience was the best ever and was the highlight of the weekend for me. It went like this:
I knew he was rushing to get the autos done Sunday afternoon so I tried to keep it short:
Me: (placing a photo in front of him): So this is a photo of Antarctica that I wanted to show you, because right here (points) is a place called Jensen [It’s actually the Jensen Nunataks, named after a 1960s Glaciologist]
Jensen: Antarctica? Wow, really? (Looks at the photo)
Me: Yeah, I was living there and-
Jensen (looking up at me in surprise): You *lived* there?
Me: Yes, for 3 months
Jensen: How?
Me: I’m a weather forecaster and was forecasting for the pilots flying there
Jensen: I mean, *how*? With who?
Me: Oh, the British Antarctic Survey
Jensen (sitting back in his seat and looking impressed, giving me a massive grin): That’s AWESOME!
Me (basking in his brilliant smile and eye contact and the fact that I’m having an actual conversation with him): …
Jensen (picking up the photo and nudging Daniela): Hey, Daniela, look at this-
(However, Daniela was trying to keep the queue moving so instead of looking, she told him to hurry up :P:P)
Me: You can keep the photo if you want
Jensen (puts it to one side): Oh, okay
He kept looking at me and seemed like he wanted to ask more, but there wasn’t time… so I said a quick goodbye and walked away :):(. I've just been told by my first roommate that as I left he carefully put the photo into an envelope like he was going to keep it :).
That night, I dreamed that I went back to the auto queue later when there was no queue and carried on the conversation with him… I was so disappointed when I woke up and realised it never happened :PP.
- Jensen’s powerful, emotional speech during the final panel - along with my auto experience, it made all the delays and frustrations of the day melt away :). When he talked about wanting to be able to talk to every single fan properly, it reminded me of how he seemed to want to know more about Antarctica but couldn’t.
- The Monday night concert… so amazing! For the first time, I was right near the stage (only one person in front of me), which is the closest I’ve ever been. The concert was emotional and fun and I really felt like part of this special family. I thought it was so great that Jensen and Jared can sit there with us in this small club and watch the show too, without being mobbed or screamed at. I was also impressed during the con when Jensen walked along the corridor to the photo op room and there were no screams from the fans lined up along the sides - lots of phone were held up, but everyone was respectful and didn’t scream. I love that the guys can walk among us like that :).
- My highlights of the concert were when Jensen sang Simple Man and halfway through, he turned it over to us and we all sang; Jensen singing Brother; Jason and Rob singing Hallelujah, and we all sang the choruses, with phone torches swaying. Jason was visibly touched and Jensen came out on stage halfway through and filmed us singing.
Overall, despite things running late at JIB8 and the J2 panels being cut short, it was one of my best con experiences ever because I really felt like a real part of this incredible family. I wasn’t nervous, I chatted to the guests like they were friends, I felt all the emotion… it was amazing. And it’s weird because I don’t have con blues as such, but I keep tearing up with pride and happiness and emotion when I think about the events of the weekend. I think a big part of feeling like a family is the amazing friends I've made through conventions too - it's just not the same when they aren't there :).
A few photos:
I won’t talk much about Asylum 18, other than that it was in Blackpool, in a crappy hotel, and unfortunately, I didn’t get that usual ‘SPN Family’ feeling from it. Not sure if it was the venue, or the bad stage lighting, the sheer number of people, or the fact that a lot of my regular con-goer friends weren’t there… but I just didn’t feel like I was at a normal SPN con. In fact, I actually left before it ended - I finished up a Coffee Lounge (Meet and Greet) with Adam Fergus and David Haydn-Jones, walked past Misha who was on his way to the final panel, and then walked right out of the door and to my car for the 3.5-hour drive home. I just wasn’t feeling it :(. Not that I didn't enjoy the con, but it didn't feel like a normal SPN con to me.
However, the next few days in Rome more than made up for the not so great Asylum 18, so here’s my more detailed JIBWeek recap:
My highlights from JIBLAND2:
- Despite not watching Outlander and Penny Dreadful, I had a great time at JIBLand. Tom Ellis is great and I pretty much fell in love with Sasha Roiz and David Guintoli from Grimm (I binge-watched the entire show in 3 weeks back in Feb/March). Plus, it was such as small con (maybe 300 people?) that it felt very friendly, with the guests even trying to learn our names
- My roomies and I got a personal introduction to the lovely Tom Ellis by Daniela. We went to the Welcome Party, which was basically about 40 of us mingling with the guests in one of the business meeting rooms at the Hilton, and were just debating how to go up to Tom without being obvious, when Daniela overheard us and was like: “No, girls. Be obvious. Be obvious” and she took my friend’s arm, pulled us over to him and introduced us!
- Over the next hour we chatted to Tom, David G. Sasha and Jason Manns outside on the roof area and it was just like hanging out with someone you just met at a party… not like an actor-fan interaction at all
- I actually managed to have a conversation with every single guest at autographs
- I also stood up and asked two questions in panels (which I’ve only ever done once before):
1) I asked Tom Ellis about the transition between British TV and US TV (he said the main difference was in the amount of money used and also in the publicity)
2) when Sasha, Jason and Rob (Benedict) were asked about where they would like to travel to and they mentioned Japan (where I just was last month) and then Sasha said he was planning a trip to Patagonia and Antarctica, I just had to get up and tell them that I had just spent 3 months living in Antarctica. It was so cool because they were asking *me* questions about it (I had to correct Sasha when he said it was dark all the time - because it was summer there and it was light all the time!)! I said that I was forecasting the weather there and they started pretending to do TV forecasts for Antarctica, and then when I said there was a fellow Supernatural fan there, and that right now there are 22 British people on the base for winter, they decided they should have a Supernatural convention in Antarctica :P.
- Thanks to my friend bringing devil’s horns and a trident to Tom’s photo op and then telling him he could keep them, I got a cool photo op with him wearing them:
- However, my best photo op of the con, possibly even better than a J2 photo was my double with Sasha and David Guintoli. They were on fire, jumping around and making everyone laugh, and it was the most fun photo op experience I’ve ever had. I could have stayed all day just to watch it. A lot of people were asking for ‘squishy hugs’ and they didn’t disappoint. Sasha is Jared’s height, but in my photo he slid down my body, grabbed my legs and then apparently slapped my bum afterwards (which I didn’t even notice). I was laughing the whole time:
On Friday, JIB8 started and suddenly the con was much busier and buzzing with excitement… it was a bit of a shock after the laidback nature of JIBLAND2 though!
My highlights:
- First up was my Briana photo op. I was supposed to get one at Asylum 18 as it was included in my pass, but missed it (which wasn't too much of an issue since I already had one for JIB):
- The ‘Making Bacon’ song by David Haydn-Jones. David is completely different from Mr. Ketch and is a lot of fun on stage. On Friday, he talked about how he was always making up jingles at home, and gave an example of being in the kitchen and just singing a jingle about ‘making bacon’ (Making bacon, making making bacon)… and it kinda went viral :P. The next day, Jason was joking about this new song he heard on the internet about ‘making bacon’ and then they sang it together as if it was this big new song :P.
Click to view- Like with JIBLAND, I managed to have conversations with I think every single guest at autographs. With Jared, I wanted to mention how much I loved his chapter in the new book, but I also didn’t want to make it emotional, so I told him how the first part made me all nostalgic for my childhood. I said that my brother had been a big Ninja Turtles fan and that he got a home-made Raphael costume for Christmas when he was 5. Jared’s response: ‘I would give ANYTHING for a home-made Raphael costume!’ :P. He also talked about how his boys were really into Ninja Turtles now too :).
- I had a really tight hug from Jensen in photo ops and for the first time ever I actually remembered to smell him (since everyone says how great he smells)… he smells good!
- Jared ran his hand down my whole back as I was walking away after my J2 photo op :P. Unfortunately, I'm not too happy with the op... J2 look great, but I look terrible (I've put on some weight lately and this photo op really shows it)!
- My Jensen autograph experience was the best ever and was the highlight of the weekend for me. It went like this:
I knew he was rushing to get the autos done Sunday afternoon so I tried to keep it short:
Me: (placing a photo in front of him): So this is a photo of Antarctica that I wanted to show you, because right here (points) is a place called Jensen [It’s actually the Jensen Nunataks, named after a 1960s Glaciologist]
Jensen: Antarctica? Wow, really? (Looks at the photo)
Me: Yeah, I was living there and-
Jensen (looking up at me in surprise): You *lived* there?
Me: Yes, for 3 months
Jensen: How?
Me: I’m a weather forecaster and was forecasting for the pilots flying there
Jensen: I mean, *how*? With who?
Me: Oh, the British Antarctic Survey
Jensen (sitting back in his seat and looking impressed, giving me a massive grin): That’s AWESOME!
Me (basking in his brilliant smile and eye contact and the fact that I’m having an actual conversation with him): …
Jensen (picking up the photo and nudging Daniela): Hey, Daniela, look at this-
(However, Daniela was trying to keep the queue moving so instead of looking, she told him to hurry up :P:P)
Me: You can keep the photo if you want
Jensen (puts it to one side): Oh, okay
He kept looking at me and seemed like he wanted to ask more, but there wasn’t time… so I said a quick goodbye and walked away :):(. I've just been told by my first roommate that as I left he carefully put the photo into an envelope like he was going to keep it :).
That night, I dreamed that I went back to the auto queue later when there was no queue and carried on the conversation with him… I was so disappointed when I woke up and realised it never happened :PP.
- Jensen’s powerful, emotional speech during the final panel - along with my auto experience, it made all the delays and frustrations of the day melt away :). When he talked about wanting to be able to talk to every single fan properly, it reminded me of how he seemed to want to know more about Antarctica but couldn’t.
- The Monday night concert… so amazing! For the first time, I was right near the stage (only one person in front of me), which is the closest I’ve ever been. The concert was emotional and fun and I really felt like part of this special family. I thought it was so great that Jensen and Jared can sit there with us in this small club and watch the show too, without being mobbed or screamed at. I was also impressed during the con when Jensen walked along the corridor to the photo op room and there were no screams from the fans lined up along the sides - lots of phone were held up, but everyone was respectful and didn’t scream. I love that the guys can walk among us like that :).
- My highlights of the concert were when Jensen sang Simple Man and halfway through, he turned it over to us and we all sang; Jensen singing Brother; Jason and Rob singing Hallelujah, and we all sang the choruses, with phone torches swaying. Jason was visibly touched and Jensen came out on stage halfway through and filmed us singing.
Overall, despite things running late at JIB8 and the J2 panels being cut short, it was one of my best con experiences ever because I really felt like a real part of this incredible family. I wasn’t nervous, I chatted to the guests like they were friends, I felt all the emotion… it was amazing. And it’s weird because I don’t have con blues as such, but I keep tearing up with pride and happiness and emotion when I think about the events of the weekend. I think a big part of feeling like a family is the amazing friends I've made through conventions too - it's just not the same when they aren't there :).
A few photos: