Supanova Brisbane 2011 Report
Excuse my possible and probably misuse of tenses, written con-adled and sleep deprived. Image heavy!
Day 1.
Not being much of Anime fan means getting to Supanova on a Friday any damn time you please...as long as it's before 6PM, because that's when the opening ceremony begins/if you are narcissist, time to get yourself bone heading in the back of a 7PM project Weekend Whip-Around segment.
damianl , victoria_jean & I turned up with half an hour to spare (who knew it would be so easy to get through town on a Friday night?!) and took a wander through the stalls. One of my main reasons for going on the Friday was to pre-purchase the autograph and photograph tokens for the next day so as to avoid standing in line...in the boiling hot sun...for 3 hours...aka - last year's con.
This ability to pre-purchase was only just pointed out to me recently by sg_dingo - my other reason was for the merchandise. Last year all 'the good stuff' was sold out on the Friday night, and I had a little something in mind for strg8g33k (because you know, she's like totally awesome and sent me something so very lovely from a con she herself attended last year) so there was that.
I also found two most awesome pre-signed pics - one, the infamous Jack/Daniel promo pic for season seven, yes the crotch to hip pic signed by Richard Dean Anderson (I will have to get Michael Shanks to sign it in December :P) and one of Paul Watson and RDA on the ice in 2005 with a baby harp seal, signed by both of them *nyaw!*
The opening ceremony was quite possibly one of the most homoerotic performances I have ever seen in person *wink* and the MC did rather remind me of Adam Richards. There were a bunch of authors, comic book writers, musicians etc. on stage - I didn't actually know any of them. (If you do know someone who was there and want the video I should be able to upload that for you) We did have some pretty good seats thanks to sg_dingo with whom we hooked up with at the ceremony.
There they finally announced the big...announcement - Supanova is moving to the Gold Coast next year!
A room divided.
Massive cheer from the peeps who had travelled up the coast; many a 'boo' from the Brisbanites who have a hard enough time getting any cons in the first place, despite being the 3rd largest city in the country. (location, location, mutter, mutter)... :P
But all was not lost as Brisbane is still retaining a Supanova - it will just be held in November instead of April (yes, hotter weather for the cos players! :P). Also, Christopher Lloyd who was to headline this Supanova was called away for work at the very last minute will be in attendance in November. There will also be a Supanova held in Adelaide.
After the ceremony, we headed over to the Supanova store to purchase the pre-paid tokens for photos and autographs and it was time to head home for the night, so we gave sg_dingo & Inky_owl a lift as they were on our way...and we're really nice people and all. ;P
Day 2.
We arrived around opening time and since we had the weekend passes, thus the wristbands, we walked straight in, no waiting in lines this year (I am still so thrilled about this :P) victoria_jean grabbed more tokens and we bid adieu to sg_dingo and Inky_owl for a while to peruse the stalls and take in the sights. One of the things that was not there the day before was this bitchin' DeLorean:
It was pretty much full the entire time (well, every time we walked past) with fans climbing all over it and snapping pics. There were a couple of Marty McFly's around the place too...
Soon it was time for victoria_jean's pic with Charisma Carpenter so she lined up. Charisma said she loved her shirt, a snazzy floral number she had only bought a few days ago. While waiting for her photo to be printed, we wandered back to the stalls and I finally got my hands on the Sam and Teal'c action figures from series 2 *score* They had all the little Stargate trinkets, badges, patches, hell, even alt. Sam & Jack's wedding photo from Point of View, lol! Granted most of these things you could probably make yourself or buy online for cheaper, but the atmosphere is just really really cool. :P
It was then time for my photo with Peter Williams (Apophis, baby!) so I went to line up, but we were told we couldn't just yet because due to Christopher Lloyd's cancellation, they were giving his spot to Tom Felton due to the overwhelming amount of Harry Potter fangirls at Supanova this year and boy, even with the new layout of the photo booth and autograph tables (and moving the wrestling to the stalls building) the place was packed with screaming, crying tweens. It was... a sight. ;P
With that finally out of the way, I found that I was actually first in line for Peter Williams (eep! :P) so I was ushered into the booth (no tripping because it was actually rather calm and organised this year, thank goodness!) and was enveloped in a big hug from PW, well ok, when in Rome... :D We straightened and posed for the photo, but then PW shouts “Wait!”, dis-tangles himself from me and walks over to a mirror they have set off to the side “I just want to make sure I have nothing in my teeth!” *snerk* He makes a show of sticking his finger in his mouth and rubbing his teeth to make sure they're pristine. I look to the camera guy and we both sorta half shrug, heh. Peter comes over and we go to pose again while the camera guy sets up the shot. While he's doing that, Peter turns to me and says “You're my first, so this will have to be a practice shot!” He then rests his head on mine and wriggles around to find whatever position he wants to be in, his ear catches my hair and lifts it so I do look like I have a boof of hair there in the photo. :P The shot is taken and we both thank each other at the same time.
Since the printers were clear of the Tom Felton pics, mine is printed almost right away so I pick it up and we go over to get PW to sign it. PW only had about 10 people in his line, so his 15 minute session is a 5 minute one and the only people in front of me for his sig were ones who had bought the pre-printed promo glossies.
I give him the photo and say “Not bad for a practice shot” :P and he picks it up and studies it for a good 10-15 seconds...then announces, loudly “Damn, we look good together!” Bwaha! If I were a less composed person, I probably would have sporfled or some such. :P He then points out a little curl right on the top of his head that is slightly sticking out, so then I point out his ear making my hair boofy and he laughs. Because there were very few people behind me, we had some time so we commented on the lovely red background they chose this year (last year's was a pale washy blue). He asks for my name so he can autograph the pic and I give it to him - with complimentary spelling, coz, you know :P He gives me a 'you poor thing' look (lol) and writes “One love 'my name'!” Nyaw! :P We all thank him and say goodbye.
Everyone who comes away from the line comments on how lovely he is. He didn't get all too many people throughout the day from what I saw (it was a heavily HP/BSG/Buffy crowd this year), but he chatted to everyone and posed for pics at the autograph table which they're totally unobliged to do of course.
Grabbed some lunch before Peter Williams' panel - the only veggie option - hot chips, and sat and ate on the grass along with The Doctor and Predator. The day did actually get quite warm. It was supposed to rain...
Peter William's panel, we got 5th row seats and I was on the isle, so pretty good for filming (the first few rows are reserved for VIP ticket holders). And, I needn't really say anything about his panel, other than it was awesome and here it is:
Afterwards damianl got the urge to watch Stargate, mwaha! So we watched Serpent's Song and Holiday, just because it was on the disc as well, and 'Oh Danny Boy!”... “SHAVE MY HEAD!”
Day 3.
Our lazy day. Nothing planned but for the Whedonverse panel so I took a little time in the morning to jot down some semblance of the events from the previous two days for this report. :P Once we got there we caught up with sg_dingo and Inky_owl again to check out a bunch of the artists in Artists' Alley. I bought a Stargate poster print of the original team running from an open gate by Stewart McKenny. Very cool! ;)
Peter Williams was back at his table wearing his 2036 Apophis shirt. :D
More wandering around the various stalls. I saw a few of those cool looking Sanctuary shirts, but they only came in Large and extra-large, damn. I'd have thought a show like Sanctuary with a predominantly and appropriately targeted audience would have shirts in women's sizes. I was also on the look out for a Cameron action figure, because then I would have all of SG-1, but alas, no such fortune came my way. And no one had even heard of the Stargate comics, le sigh.
Chips for lunch again, and then victoria_jean and I got in line for the Whedonverse panel...where everyone was then told 5 minutes before it started that only VIP and special ticket holders were allowed to attend the panel. Cue lots of cranky people as there was no signage or anything written in the Event Guide to suggest this, other than the little box being coloured pink but no key as to explain why. Bummer.
So we hung around outside waiting for damianl to come back from his journey to find a McDonald's in The Valley (*snerk*) and took stalkeresque pics of all the cosplayers. There were some pretty good costumes - not as many as last year, but certainly a lot of work was put into these! We caught up and had another look around the stalls and decided to call it quits. Found sg_dingo and Inky_owl to say our goodbyes, much hugging and many a photo.
I had a great time!
A selection of mementos:
20,000 people attended last year, I can only gaze slack jawed in awe at the amount this year. We guesstimated between 50,000-80,000. This was trying to walk down the stairs...
Star Wars!
damianl 's shonky sneaky iPhone camera work as PW signs my photo. :P
Peter Williams saving us all from his 'eyes going off' at the beginning of his panel. Thankfully he was able to control his god-like powers and the audience was unharmed for the duration of the panel...
MORTAL KOMBAT!
Quality merchandise...
Jodelle Ferland took a break between photos and signing to play a little Rockband 3. She was good!
Photos by myself & damianl
Day 1.
Not being much of Anime fan means getting to Supanova on a Friday any damn time you please...as long as it's before 6PM, because that's when the opening ceremony begins/if you are narcissist, time to get yourself bone heading in the back of a 7PM project Weekend Whip-Around segment.
damianl , victoria_jean & I turned up with half an hour to spare (who knew it would be so easy to get through town on a Friday night?!) and took a wander through the stalls. One of my main reasons for going on the Friday was to pre-purchase the autograph and photograph tokens for the next day so as to avoid standing in line...in the boiling hot sun...for 3 hours...aka - last year's con.
This ability to pre-purchase was only just pointed out to me recently by sg_dingo - my other reason was for the merchandise. Last year all 'the good stuff' was sold out on the Friday night, and I had a little something in mind for strg8g33k (because you know, she's like totally awesome and sent me something so very lovely from a con she herself attended last year) so there was that.
I also found two most awesome pre-signed pics - one, the infamous Jack/Daniel promo pic for season seven, yes the crotch to hip pic signed by Richard Dean Anderson (I will have to get Michael Shanks to sign it in December :P) and one of Paul Watson and RDA on the ice in 2005 with a baby harp seal, signed by both of them *nyaw!*
The opening ceremony was quite possibly one of the most homoerotic performances I have ever seen in person *wink* and the MC did rather remind me of Adam Richards. There were a bunch of authors, comic book writers, musicians etc. on stage - I didn't actually know any of them. (If you do know someone who was there and want the video I should be able to upload that for you) We did have some pretty good seats thanks to sg_dingo with whom we hooked up with at the ceremony.
There they finally announced the big...announcement - Supanova is moving to the Gold Coast next year!
A room divided.
Massive cheer from the peeps who had travelled up the coast; many a 'boo' from the Brisbanites who have a hard enough time getting any cons in the first place, despite being the 3rd largest city in the country. (location, location, mutter, mutter)... :P
But all was not lost as Brisbane is still retaining a Supanova - it will just be held in November instead of April (yes, hotter weather for the cos players! :P). Also, Christopher Lloyd who was to headline this Supanova was called away for work at the very last minute will be in attendance in November. There will also be a Supanova held in Adelaide.
After the ceremony, we headed over to the Supanova store to purchase the pre-paid tokens for photos and autographs and it was time to head home for the night, so we gave sg_dingo & Inky_owl a lift as they were on our way...and we're really nice people and all. ;P
Day 2.
We arrived around opening time and since we had the weekend passes, thus the wristbands, we walked straight in, no waiting in lines this year (I am still so thrilled about this :P) victoria_jean grabbed more tokens and we bid adieu to sg_dingo and Inky_owl for a while to peruse the stalls and take in the sights. One of the things that was not there the day before was this bitchin' DeLorean:
It was pretty much full the entire time (well, every time we walked past) with fans climbing all over it and snapping pics. There were a couple of Marty McFly's around the place too...
Soon it was time for victoria_jean's pic with Charisma Carpenter so she lined up. Charisma said she loved her shirt, a snazzy floral number she had only bought a few days ago. While waiting for her photo to be printed, we wandered back to the stalls and I finally got my hands on the Sam and Teal'c action figures from series 2 *score* They had all the little Stargate trinkets, badges, patches, hell, even alt. Sam & Jack's wedding photo from Point of View, lol! Granted most of these things you could probably make yourself or buy online for cheaper, but the atmosphere is just really really cool. :P
It was then time for my photo with Peter Williams (Apophis, baby!) so I went to line up, but we were told we couldn't just yet because due to Christopher Lloyd's cancellation, they were giving his spot to Tom Felton due to the overwhelming amount of Harry Potter fangirls at Supanova this year and boy, even with the new layout of the photo booth and autograph tables (and moving the wrestling to the stalls building) the place was packed with screaming, crying tweens. It was... a sight. ;P
With that finally out of the way, I found that I was actually first in line for Peter Williams (eep! :P) so I was ushered into the booth (no tripping because it was actually rather calm and organised this year, thank goodness!) and was enveloped in a big hug from PW, well ok, when in Rome... :D We straightened and posed for the photo, but then PW shouts “Wait!”, dis-tangles himself from me and walks over to a mirror they have set off to the side “I just want to make sure I have nothing in my teeth!” *snerk* He makes a show of sticking his finger in his mouth and rubbing his teeth to make sure they're pristine. I look to the camera guy and we both sorta half shrug, heh. Peter comes over and we go to pose again while the camera guy sets up the shot. While he's doing that, Peter turns to me and says “You're my first, so this will have to be a practice shot!” He then rests his head on mine and wriggles around to find whatever position he wants to be in, his ear catches my hair and lifts it so I do look like I have a boof of hair there in the photo. :P The shot is taken and we both thank each other at the same time.
Since the printers were clear of the Tom Felton pics, mine is printed almost right away so I pick it up and we go over to get PW to sign it. PW only had about 10 people in his line, so his 15 minute session is a 5 minute one and the only people in front of me for his sig were ones who had bought the pre-printed promo glossies.
I give him the photo and say “Not bad for a practice shot” :P and he picks it up and studies it for a good 10-15 seconds...then announces, loudly “Damn, we look good together!” Bwaha! If I were a less composed person, I probably would have sporfled or some such. :P He then points out a little curl right on the top of his head that is slightly sticking out, so then I point out his ear making my hair boofy and he laughs. Because there were very few people behind me, we had some time so we commented on the lovely red background they chose this year (last year's was a pale washy blue). He asks for my name so he can autograph the pic and I give it to him - with complimentary spelling, coz, you know :P He gives me a 'you poor thing' look (lol) and writes “One love 'my name'!” Nyaw! :P We all thank him and say goodbye.
Everyone who comes away from the line comments on how lovely he is. He didn't get all too many people throughout the day from what I saw (it was a heavily HP/BSG/Buffy crowd this year), but he chatted to everyone and posed for pics at the autograph table which they're totally unobliged to do of course.
Grabbed some lunch before Peter Williams' panel - the only veggie option - hot chips, and sat and ate on the grass along with The Doctor and Predator. The day did actually get quite warm. It was supposed to rain...
Peter William's panel, we got 5th row seats and I was on the isle, so pretty good for filming (the first few rows are reserved for VIP ticket holders). And, I needn't really say anything about his panel, other than it was awesome and here it is:
Click to viewAfterwards damianl got the urge to watch Stargate, mwaha! So we watched Serpent's Song and Holiday, just because it was on the disc as well, and 'Oh Danny Boy!”... “SHAVE MY HEAD!”
Day 3.
Our lazy day. Nothing planned but for the Whedonverse panel so I took a little time in the morning to jot down some semblance of the events from the previous two days for this report. :P Once we got there we caught up with sg_dingo and Inky_owl again to check out a bunch of the artists in Artists' Alley. I bought a Stargate poster print of the original team running from an open gate by Stewart McKenny. Very cool! ;)
Peter Williams was back at his table wearing his 2036 Apophis shirt. :D
More wandering around the various stalls. I saw a few of those cool looking Sanctuary shirts, but they only came in Large and extra-large, damn. I'd have thought a show like Sanctuary with a predominantly and appropriately targeted audience would have shirts in women's sizes. I was also on the look out for a Cameron action figure, because then I would have all of SG-1, but alas, no such fortune came my way. And no one had even heard of the Stargate comics, le sigh.
Chips for lunch again, and then victoria_jean and I got in line for the Whedonverse panel...where everyone was then told 5 minutes before it started that only VIP and special ticket holders were allowed to attend the panel. Cue lots of cranky people as there was no signage or anything written in the Event Guide to suggest this, other than the little box being coloured pink but no key as to explain why. Bummer.
So we hung around outside waiting for damianl to come back from his journey to find a McDonald's in The Valley (*snerk*) and took stalkeresque pics of all the cosplayers. There were some pretty good costumes - not as many as last year, but certainly a lot of work was put into these! We caught up and had another look around the stalls and decided to call it quits. Found sg_dingo and Inky_owl to say our goodbyes, much hugging and many a photo.
I had a great time!
A selection of mementos:
20,000 people attended last year, I can only gaze slack jawed in awe at the amount this year. We guesstimated between 50,000-80,000. This was trying to walk down the stairs...
Star Wars!
damianl 's shonky sneaky iPhone camera work as PW signs my photo. :P
Peter Williams saving us all from his 'eyes going off' at the beginning of his panel. Thankfully he was able to control his god-like powers and the audience was unharmed for the duration of the panel...
MORTAL KOMBAT!
Quality merchandise...
Jodelle Ferland took a break between photos and signing to play a little Rockband 3. She was good!
Photos by myself & damianl