D*C ‘07
I meant to post as soon as we got back to town, but have been passing out on the couch after getting home from work every night. Note to self, DragonCon requires recovery time!
I started getting sick on the Wednesday before we left, and by Thursday I was starting to hack up a lung. Sickness not of the fun. Despite that, I had the chance to meet with some absolutely wonderful LJ friends who overlooked my lack of voice and coughing fits. You wonder reading journals sometimes what people will really be like - and in each and ever case, the reality was even better than their words could convey. I have to say that Buffy fans, both current and former, are some amazing people. I’m afraid I would simply screw up the tags if I attempted them, but to each person I met - it was a delight and I hope we have the chance to do it again. I also have some photos which I’ll be sending by email since I’m not locking this post.
The con itself had pros and cons. The cons of the con - massive amounts of people - hitting more than 40,000 at some points I heard, and there were even rumors of 60,000 one day, so there were some logistical issues involving elevators and room sizes, and lines, lines, lines for every panel which made getting places and seeing things somewhat difficult at times. 2003 was the first year I went, and I recall that they were edging into the low 20s in attendance that year - so the growth of the con has really taken off, and some of the planning hasn’t quite caught up with it. But I have to give the volunteers who plan things some props - I know it’s a tremendous amount of work to put together something of that size. I hope they will give some thought to spreading things more across the hotels and devising some ways to deal with elevators and lines though - the fire marshal was apparently a constant presence and it’s something they are going to have to consider.
The pros were the chance to meet people, interesting panels, and the sheer fun of seeing people enjoying themselves.
I went to two of the Buffy panels. James Marsters looks healthy and happy and content with his new roles that he’s acquired. He seems to still have some lingering unhappiness about Joss Whedon’s comment that Spike was the best ingénue that Angel ever had, he interprets it as being called a bit of talentless fluff that was there as eye candy, even though he doesn’t think Joss understood it that way. I could see his problem with it though - there have been enough comments over the years about his uncomfortableness with some of the nudity, etc., that it’s clear he didn’t want to be seen for his pretty boy looks but as a serious actor. It’s odd to me that he seems to have so much insecurity about it. As much as I love all of the characters in their own way, the transformation of Spike, and the expression and emotion that Marsters brought to the character made him stand out as one of the better of the actors on both Angel and Buffy. He had to play a broad range, and he nailed it much of the time - one reason that Spike became a character so many people are attached to I think. But I digress there - it was interesting to hear him again. He had some comments on Torchwood and Without a Trace, expounded on politics, sang a little, and did some Shakespeare, all of which was quite entertaining. I also went to his concert - probably not a CD I would buy, but an improvement from his Ghost of the Robot days, and he definitely seems to derive a great deal of pleasure from his music. There was some craziness with a charity auction help after - a t-shirt he wore the first day went for more $750, as did his handwritten set list for the concert!
Juliet Landau is quite lovely and delicate - I saw her on one Buffy panel, and then on a panel she did on independent film that was quite interesting. She’s raising money for her own independent film in the same way that Amber Benson did for Chance, and had just finished making a short film of Gary Oldman that she seems quite proud of. She discussed working with both her parents in various capacities, talked a little about her background as a dancer and how she got into acting (I hadn’t realized she’d trained to be a dancer, but that makes sense in watching her performance as Drusilla). She talked about getting cast as Dru - apparently she didn’t audition - Joss had seen her in Ed Wood and liked her, then brought her in to discuss the part, which she said he described to her as a mass of contradictions which she did a lovely job of conveying. I always found Dru the most genuinely frightening of the Fanged Four, and it was delightful to see her in person.
Elizabeth Rohm was also quite pretty, and a better panelist than I’d anticipate - I have to confess that I wasn’t a huge fan of her character on Angel, and she surprised me with how engaging she was. She talked about Law & Order, which I don’t watch, her watercooler moment when leaving the show where she announced she was a lesbian and how that came about, how she botched her audition for Bones and David Boreanez got her another one, and the differences between working on sci fi/fantasy shows and procedurals - complete with some advice to James Marsters on his upcoming gig.
Ken Feinberg who played the Chaos demon was also a panelist. Seemed quite nice - he’s based in Atlanta, does a lot of directing there it seems. Was about to become a father as well, his wife was apparently due on Sept. 2.
I also had the chance to see a BSG panel - Aaron Douglas and Jamie Bamber are a hoot to listen to, and though some of the discussion (the possibility that SciFi may bump the final ten episodes until 2009) was quite annoying, it was great to see them in person and hear their thoughts on the show. I was left with the impression that they’ve enjoyed their time working on it and wish they’d been allowed to go bigger than the constraints of the Sci Fi channel have allowed. Aaron Douglas also mentioned that he’ll be working on Reaper on the CW this fall. I liked the pilot for that one, so I think I’ll be tuning in to see more.
I caught a few track panels on Supernatural (lovely enthusiastic fans), Buffy fic (surprisingly engaged discussion given that it was 1am), and saw the Buffy Horror Picture Show (tons of fun and I was so impressed with the actors - they knew their stuff!) and checked out the Shindig (shiny!). And of course there was always the D*C fun of the costumes everywhere - from Darth Kitty, to the Tetris guys, to the 300 Spartans (complete with airbrushed abs!), and watching the Masquerade. Overall - I’m glad I could go this year and kept going, despite feeling plaguey, and I’m delighted I got to meet so many wonderful LJ folks whose fic, and archives and commentary and comments on life I’ve been reading for years! I hope we get the chance to do it again.
We also got a chance to see the Georgia Aquarium. I’d wanted to see it since it opened, but had read mixed reviews - especially about how crowded it could be. I was pleasantly surprised - very uncrowded on Thursday afternoon, lots of time to stroll at our leisure, and some beautiful tanks. I’m not sure it’s the best aquarium I’ve visited, even if it is the biggest, but worth the trip.
I’ve linked to my pictures - pictures from the aquarium, the Buffy panels I went to, James Marsters’s concert, and costumes galore.
I started getting sick on the Wednesday before we left, and by Thursday I was starting to hack up a lung. Sickness not of the fun. Despite that, I had the chance to meet with some absolutely wonderful LJ friends who overlooked my lack of voice and coughing fits. You wonder reading journals sometimes what people will really be like - and in each and ever case, the reality was even better than their words could convey. I have to say that Buffy fans, both current and former, are some amazing people. I’m afraid I would simply screw up the tags if I attempted them, but to each person I met - it was a delight and I hope we have the chance to do it again. I also have some photos which I’ll be sending by email since I’m not locking this post.
The con itself had pros and cons. The cons of the con - massive amounts of people - hitting more than 40,000 at some points I heard, and there were even rumors of 60,000 one day, so there were some logistical issues involving elevators and room sizes, and lines, lines, lines for every panel which made getting places and seeing things somewhat difficult at times. 2003 was the first year I went, and I recall that they were edging into the low 20s in attendance that year - so the growth of the con has really taken off, and some of the planning hasn’t quite caught up with it. But I have to give the volunteers who plan things some props - I know it’s a tremendous amount of work to put together something of that size. I hope they will give some thought to spreading things more across the hotels and devising some ways to deal with elevators and lines though - the fire marshal was apparently a constant presence and it’s something they are going to have to consider.
The pros were the chance to meet people, interesting panels, and the sheer fun of seeing people enjoying themselves.
I went to two of the Buffy panels. James Marsters looks healthy and happy and content with his new roles that he’s acquired. He seems to still have some lingering unhappiness about Joss Whedon’s comment that Spike was the best ingénue that Angel ever had, he interprets it as being called a bit of talentless fluff that was there as eye candy, even though he doesn’t think Joss understood it that way. I could see his problem with it though - there have been enough comments over the years about his uncomfortableness with some of the nudity, etc., that it’s clear he didn’t want to be seen for his pretty boy looks but as a serious actor. It’s odd to me that he seems to have so much insecurity about it. As much as I love all of the characters in their own way, the transformation of Spike, and the expression and emotion that Marsters brought to the character made him stand out as one of the better of the actors on both Angel and Buffy. He had to play a broad range, and he nailed it much of the time - one reason that Spike became a character so many people are attached to I think. But I digress there - it was interesting to hear him again. He had some comments on Torchwood and Without a Trace, expounded on politics, sang a little, and did some Shakespeare, all of which was quite entertaining. I also went to his concert - probably not a CD I would buy, but an improvement from his Ghost of the Robot days, and he definitely seems to derive a great deal of pleasure from his music. There was some craziness with a charity auction help after - a t-shirt he wore the first day went for more $750, as did his handwritten set list for the concert!
Juliet Landau is quite lovely and delicate - I saw her on one Buffy panel, and then on a panel she did on independent film that was quite interesting. She’s raising money for her own independent film in the same way that Amber Benson did for Chance, and had just finished making a short film of Gary Oldman that she seems quite proud of. She discussed working with both her parents in various capacities, talked a little about her background as a dancer and how she got into acting (I hadn’t realized she’d trained to be a dancer, but that makes sense in watching her performance as Drusilla). She talked about getting cast as Dru - apparently she didn’t audition - Joss had seen her in Ed Wood and liked her, then brought her in to discuss the part, which she said he described to her as a mass of contradictions which she did a lovely job of conveying. I always found Dru the most genuinely frightening of the Fanged Four, and it was delightful to see her in person.
Elizabeth Rohm was also quite pretty, and a better panelist than I’d anticipate - I have to confess that I wasn’t a huge fan of her character on Angel, and she surprised me with how engaging she was. She talked about Law & Order, which I don’t watch, her watercooler moment when leaving the show where she announced she was a lesbian and how that came about, how she botched her audition for Bones and David Boreanez got her another one, and the differences between working on sci fi/fantasy shows and procedurals - complete with some advice to James Marsters on his upcoming gig.
Ken Feinberg who played the Chaos demon was also a panelist. Seemed quite nice - he’s based in Atlanta, does a lot of directing there it seems. Was about to become a father as well, his wife was apparently due on Sept. 2.
I also had the chance to see a BSG panel - Aaron Douglas and Jamie Bamber are a hoot to listen to, and though some of the discussion (the possibility that SciFi may bump the final ten episodes until 2009) was quite annoying, it was great to see them in person and hear their thoughts on the show. I was left with the impression that they’ve enjoyed their time working on it and wish they’d been allowed to go bigger than the constraints of the Sci Fi channel have allowed. Aaron Douglas also mentioned that he’ll be working on Reaper on the CW this fall. I liked the pilot for that one, so I think I’ll be tuning in to see more.
I caught a few track panels on Supernatural (lovely enthusiastic fans), Buffy fic (surprisingly engaged discussion given that it was 1am), and saw the Buffy Horror Picture Show (tons of fun and I was so impressed with the actors - they knew their stuff!) and checked out the Shindig (shiny!). And of course there was always the D*C fun of the costumes everywhere - from Darth Kitty, to the Tetris guys, to the 300 Spartans (complete with airbrushed abs!), and watching the Masquerade. Overall - I’m glad I could go this year and kept going, despite feeling plaguey, and I’m delighted I got to meet so many wonderful LJ folks whose fic, and archives and commentary and comments on life I’ve been reading for years! I hope we get the chance to do it again.
We also got a chance to see the Georgia Aquarium. I’d wanted to see it since it opened, but had read mixed reviews - especially about how crowded it could be. I was pleasantly surprised - very uncrowded on Thursday afternoon, lots of time to stroll at our leisure, and some beautiful tanks. I’m not sure it’s the best aquarium I’ve visited, even if it is the biggest, but worth the trip.
I’ve linked to my pictures - pictures from the aquarium, the Buffy panels I went to, James Marsters’s concert, and costumes galore.