...and a good time was had by all!
Who knew a magazine could breeze a first class con? Whoot!
Back from the SFX Weekender and it was brill!
High points:
• We didn't get lost. Not even once. darkhavens stayed overnight on Thursday and we set off at stupid o'clock Friday morning to collect suki_blue from her house then on to Gatwick to pick up sweet_exile. Good thing I replaced the Ford Ka with a Honda Jazz because we and our luggage actually fit in. Yays!
• Being greeted by Storm Troopers and having The Doctor run a sonic screwdriver over me. *fangirl squee*
• The chalet was clean and the beds comfy. Well, mine was. Suki may have more to say about that. *g* I shared a room with Darkhavens and the apartment with Suki, sweet_exile and mirasol, and the chemistry was damn near perfect. We all got along so well it was a real wrench to say goodbye. *sniffle*
• Meeting up with vampirefever, vic_amy_z, princess_s and lonelybrit. Lovely women, always a hoot and up for a laugh. Gotta love 'em!
• James Marsters Q&A. What can I say? I love James, always have and always will. He has real affection and respect for his fans. I didn't embarrass myself too badly. The person in front of me in the signing line asked him what he liked about the UK, why he spends so much time here. He cited BBC News as a draw because it's in-depth and comparatively objective, which gave me an opening to slam Fox News and its tragically right-wing agenda. He actually headdesked. LOL! He got quite excited when I mentioned Jon Stewart and said he'd met the guy and found him very down-to-earth and a truly nice, smart man. Nice to have my preconceptions confirmed.
• Gareth David Lloyd Q&A. Gareth was comparatively restrained but it was a multi-fandom con and there were a lot of kids there. Rather sweetly, he said he'd been told not to swear and if he did (and he did), don't complain to SFX but see him after to moan. And he wouldn't give a toss. *g* The moderator actually did more of the innuendo thing than Gareth did, once he realised the low level to which the humour of the audience could descend. He don't know us very well, do he?
Gareth does the JM thing and is always, always nice to the fans because he's long since twigged that he's talking to his audience, the people who pay hard-earned dosh to see him.
• Tom Baker Q&A. I'm absolutely sick I missed it. I toddled back to the chalet for a little rest and reading of the porn and failed to get back in time. Major fail! Others will post about how brilliant, eccentric and funny he was. *kicks self*
• Elizabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane, DW's Companion) was amusing, rather earnest and into the 'acting is an art' thing, but extremely likeable.
• Buffy Sing-along! OMG but I'd forgotten how brilliant OMWF is. There were two guys seated near us who knew every word of every song, and the dialogue, and put us to shame.
• Robert Rankin, the renowned author, presented the SFX Awards in an inimitably eccentric, what am I doing now? style. You'll see the results elsewhere but Supernatural, Being Human and True Blood all got a nod.
• Going home was equally trouble-free. We dropped Mirasol off at Rye station, got sweet_exile back in good time for her check-in at Gatwick, dropped off Suki, and the M25 failed to be the world's largest parking lot. Thank everything! Darkhavens and I pulled an all-nighter with plentiful alcohol - nothing new there - and I waved her off at the train station this morning afternoon. The woman is made of fun. *g*
Low points, which I'm struggling to find:
• I wasn't entirely comfortable with having the Q&A's, signing sessions and dealer stalls all in the same room.
• The screening room was separate but there was an exit at the side and people streamed through, opening and closing doors and conversing loudly. Not a big prob since the sound system was first class, but an occasional minor irritation.
• Too few chairs and not enough priority to those of us with VIP (equivalent of a Showmasters Gold). We'd paid extra, considerably extra, but the VIP queues weren't properly marked and we didn't get priority seating for anything. It was their first event and they’ll learn these little refinements, like looking after the mugs who'll pay more, but for a first event, astoundingly good!!
There's so much more I could say, but suffice to say it was a wonderful weekend that I wouldn't have missed for the world. I'll never stop going to cons, silly as they may seem to non-fandom people. They're a joy and a great way to meet up with old friends and make new ones. My fandom friends are the bestest!! *huggles*
Off to watch Thursday's Supernatural now. Is it good? No, don't tell me. :P
Edit: Ooh! Suki's just posted a much more entertaining report here. Yay! BWAH!
Back from the SFX Weekender and it was brill!
High points:
• We didn't get lost. Not even once. darkhavens stayed overnight on Thursday and we set off at stupid o'clock Friday morning to collect suki_blue from her house then on to Gatwick to pick up sweet_exile. Good thing I replaced the Ford Ka with a Honda Jazz because we and our luggage actually fit in. Yays!
• Being greeted by Storm Troopers and having The Doctor run a sonic screwdriver over me. *fangirl squee*
• The chalet was clean and the beds comfy. Well, mine was. Suki may have more to say about that. *g* I shared a room with Darkhavens and the apartment with Suki, sweet_exile and mirasol, and the chemistry was damn near perfect. We all got along so well it was a real wrench to say goodbye. *sniffle*
• Meeting up with vampirefever, vic_amy_z, princess_s and lonelybrit. Lovely women, always a hoot and up for a laugh. Gotta love 'em!
• James Marsters Q&A. What can I say? I love James, always have and always will. He has real affection and respect for his fans. I didn't embarrass myself too badly. The person in front of me in the signing line asked him what he liked about the UK, why he spends so much time here. He cited BBC News as a draw because it's in-depth and comparatively objective, which gave me an opening to slam Fox News and its tragically right-wing agenda. He actually headdesked. LOL! He got quite excited when I mentioned Jon Stewart and said he'd met the guy and found him very down-to-earth and a truly nice, smart man. Nice to have my preconceptions confirmed.
• Gareth David Lloyd Q&A. Gareth was comparatively restrained but it was a multi-fandom con and there were a lot of kids there. Rather sweetly, he said he'd been told not to swear and if he did (and he did), don't complain to SFX but see him after to moan. And he wouldn't give a toss. *g* The moderator actually did more of the innuendo thing than Gareth did, once he realised the low level to which the humour of the audience could descend. He don't know us very well, do he?
Gareth does the JM thing and is always, always nice to the fans because he's long since twigged that he's talking to his audience, the people who pay hard-earned dosh to see him.
• Tom Baker Q&A. I'm absolutely sick I missed it. I toddled back to the chalet for a little rest and reading of the porn and failed to get back in time. Major fail! Others will post about how brilliant, eccentric and funny he was. *kicks self*
• Elizabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane, DW's Companion) was amusing, rather earnest and into the 'acting is an art' thing, but extremely likeable.
• Buffy Sing-along! OMG but I'd forgotten how brilliant OMWF is. There were two guys seated near us who knew every word of every song, and the dialogue, and put us to shame.
• Robert Rankin, the renowned author, presented the SFX Awards in an inimitably eccentric, what am I doing now? style. You'll see the results elsewhere but Supernatural, Being Human and True Blood all got a nod.
• Going home was equally trouble-free. We dropped Mirasol off at Rye station, got sweet_exile back in good time for her check-in at Gatwick, dropped off Suki, and the M25 failed to be the world's largest parking lot. Thank everything! Darkhavens and I pulled an all-nighter with plentiful alcohol - nothing new there - and I waved her off at the train station this morning afternoon. The woman is made of fun. *g*
Low points, which I'm struggling to find:
• I wasn't entirely comfortable with having the Q&A's, signing sessions and dealer stalls all in the same room.
• The screening room was separate but there was an exit at the side and people streamed through, opening and closing doors and conversing loudly. Not a big prob since the sound system was first class, but an occasional minor irritation.
• Too few chairs and not enough priority to those of us with VIP (equivalent of a Showmasters Gold). We'd paid extra, considerably extra, but the VIP queues weren't properly marked and we didn't get priority seating for anything. It was their first event and they’ll learn these little refinements, like looking after the mugs who'll pay more, but for a first event, astoundingly good!!
There's so much more I could say, but suffice to say it was a wonderful weekend that I wouldn't have missed for the world. I'll never stop going to cons, silly as they may seem to non-fandom people. They're a joy and a great way to meet up with old friends and make new ones. My fandom friends are the bestest!! *huggles*
Off to watch Thursday's Supernatural now. Is it good? No, don't tell me. :P
Edit: Ooh! Suki's just posted a much more entertaining report here. Yay! BWAH!