Supanova 2008
Man, where on earth did the week go? Anyway, here is my rather belated Supanova report.
Day 1
Pretty much the first people I ran into were my friends in the Saint Seiya cosplay group - Hypnos, Hades, and Athena - and we went outside to take photos of their excellent costumes. (Which later won Best Group in the Cosplay Contest. Congrats!)
In Artists' Alley, I met J Marc Schmidt and got him to sign my copy of Egg Story. Picked up his newest comic, Eating Steve, which is about love and zombies and finding yourself. I had thought it would be horror, but it's not - there is some dark humour, like Egg Story, but it is unexpectedly subtle and thoughtful. I also picked up Volume Two of RAE's Cabin Boys comic, which still has the best title ever, and the newest artbook from X-seven, because I am weak like that.
The highlight of my day was hearing Nichelle Nichols talk. There is something about that older generation of Trek actors - articulate, gracious, good-humoured - and she was no exception. She talked about how she wanted to quit the show after the first season and return to musical theatre, and how Martin Luther King persuaded her to stay, telling her she was a role model for African-Americans, especially African-American women. "Besides," he said, "you can't jump ship, you're fourth in command." This last was news to her, so she had to ask Gene Roddenberry to confirm it.
She told us about standing up to a director who wanted her to behave out of character, telling him, "Uhura wouldn't do that." She talked about the hijinks the cast got up to on set, including that time they hid Leonard Nimoy's bike in the rafters. It also turns out she does a great George Takei impersonation. She even sang - and man, she's still got it. It really makes me want to rewatch TOS.
I spotted Jewel Staite and Kandyse McClure at the signing tables, but didn't see Jared Padalecki. I suspect by that time he was holed up inside the photography booth, from which a long line trailed.
Day 2
I caught up with some more friends, pre-registered for SMASH! and wandered around the stalls I didn't get to check out yesterday. I was tempted by the Supernatural shirts and caps, amused by the Battlestar Galactica Minimates, and slightly disturbed by the Death Eater masks.
But this was basically Jared Padalecki Day.
When I walked past the signing tables, I finally caught my first glimpse of Jared! My first impressions were "Fuzzy hat!" and "Dimples!" It was strange seeing him in the flesh as opposed to on a little screen - I mean, he really is an extremely attractive man, and it was hard to keep thinking, "I am a sensible woman, I am a sensible woman. I will not stand here and stare at his bare muscled arms like some crazy fangirl."
There was a long queue for autographs, and a cluster of people around the head of the queue all taking photos. I couldn't help wondering how it would feel, sitting behind that table, trying to sign stuff with cameras constantly flashing. I admit, I took a few snaps, but it made me feel uncomfortably like I was treating a person like a zoo exhibit. I mean, it's a weird thing to do, isn't it, to just stand there and take photos of someone you don't know? I'm still trying to work out my feelings about it.
Towards one o'clock, I started wandering towards the Anime Theatre where Jared's Q&A would be held. The annual Kamehameha Blast-Off was still going, but there were already Supernatural fans hovering around, angling for seats. I managed to snag a spot without much difficulty in the upper tiers of the grandstand seating - I had a great view of the stage, but my camera was too weak to get good photos with the available lighting.
Probably by now everyone who cares has already read a transcript or watched a video of the Q&A - there were so many cameras in the air recording the thing - but anyway, it was a great session. Jared was a good speaker, relaxed and talkative, and fortunately no one in the audience asked any embarrassing or inappropriate questions.
There were some predictable questions - "What do you think of Australia?" ("I love Australia, I love Australians..." - but really, what else is he going to say?) - some bizarre ones - "Who would win in a fight, Captain Jack Sparrow or Captain Kirk?" (he went with Kirk - "Did you see him in that episode with the reptile guy?") - and one jawdroppingly audacious one - "Can I get a hug?" ("Sure!" - and he actually ran down and hugged the girl, to a chorus of "Awww!" from the audience).
His favourite episode is still the pilot, the funniest episode 'Bad Day at Black Rock' (that photo at the restaurant after being the millionth customer, Sam looking worried about their identities being exposed, Dean just all grins at the thought of free food), the toughest episode 'Heart' (because he knew he had to get naked for it and was working out every night), and his favourite line, "I lost my shoe." (He even did the sad voice.)
He enjoyed doing Gilmore Girls, but obviously on Supernatural he has a bigger role and a more developed character. His height was not an issue when auditioning for Supernatural, because they knew about it from Gilmore Girls, but it has caused issues at other auditions, especially when he has to play someone's son.
Someone asked about Jaredina, who appeared briefly in one of the DVD extras, and wanted to know if we would get to meet her. Sadly she is retired. Someone else asked how he envisioned Sam's eventual demise. Jared was all outraged and laughing - he said he tried not to think about Sam's demise, since he liked his job, but if Sam were to die and stay dead, it would have to be that Dean killed him. (Which is whoa, angstapalooza, but it makes perfect sense - if Sam were to die any other way, you can bet Dean would be turning the world inside out to bring him back to life.)
I watched the cosplay contest afterwards - a smaller turnout and a thinner audience than the first day. After sitting through a couple of awkward skits, I realised two things: (1) risque banter sounds better on the page than on the stage, and (2) acting really is hard to do without sounding fake, wooden or cheesy. The Joker was excellent, mostly because he had conviction. I also loved Eva Unit 01 and Angel and their skit of doomed romance. Other cosplayers I was fond of were Dante, Indiana Jones and Irina Spalko.
Photos
On the left is the Dome, the venue for this year's Supanova. On the right is not a War of the Worlds alien, but the repurposed Olympic cauldron from the Sydney 2000 games.
Hypnos, Athena, and Hades. Good and evil, side by side.
The BjdOzCon 2008 table. A rather impressive array.
My grainy photo of Nichelle Nichols.
My even grainier photo of Jared Padalecki.
The Joker. That guy was good. He had the voice down pat.
Eva Unit 01 and Angel. Their love is so heartrending. Literally.
Day 1
Pretty much the first people I ran into were my friends in the Saint Seiya cosplay group - Hypnos, Hades, and Athena - and we went outside to take photos of their excellent costumes. (Which later won Best Group in the Cosplay Contest. Congrats!)
In Artists' Alley, I met J Marc Schmidt and got him to sign my copy of Egg Story. Picked up his newest comic, Eating Steve, which is about love and zombies and finding yourself. I had thought it would be horror, but it's not - there is some dark humour, like Egg Story, but it is unexpectedly subtle and thoughtful. I also picked up Volume Two of RAE's Cabin Boys comic, which still has the best title ever, and the newest artbook from X-seven, because I am weak like that.
The highlight of my day was hearing Nichelle Nichols talk. There is something about that older generation of Trek actors - articulate, gracious, good-humoured - and she was no exception. She talked about how she wanted to quit the show after the first season and return to musical theatre, and how Martin Luther King persuaded her to stay, telling her she was a role model for African-Americans, especially African-American women. "Besides," he said, "you can't jump ship, you're fourth in command." This last was news to her, so she had to ask Gene Roddenberry to confirm it.
She told us about standing up to a director who wanted her to behave out of character, telling him, "Uhura wouldn't do that." She talked about the hijinks the cast got up to on set, including that time they hid Leonard Nimoy's bike in the rafters. It also turns out she does a great George Takei impersonation. She even sang - and man, she's still got it. It really makes me want to rewatch TOS.
I spotted Jewel Staite and Kandyse McClure at the signing tables, but didn't see Jared Padalecki. I suspect by that time he was holed up inside the photography booth, from which a long line trailed.
Day 2
I caught up with some more friends, pre-registered for SMASH! and wandered around the stalls I didn't get to check out yesterday. I was tempted by the Supernatural shirts and caps, amused by the Battlestar Galactica Minimates, and slightly disturbed by the Death Eater masks.
But this was basically Jared Padalecki Day.
When I walked past the signing tables, I finally caught my first glimpse of Jared! My first impressions were "Fuzzy hat!" and "Dimples!" It was strange seeing him in the flesh as opposed to on a little screen - I mean, he really is an extremely attractive man, and it was hard to keep thinking, "I am a sensible woman, I am a sensible woman. I will not stand here and stare at his bare muscled arms like some crazy fangirl."
There was a long queue for autographs, and a cluster of people around the head of the queue all taking photos. I couldn't help wondering how it would feel, sitting behind that table, trying to sign stuff with cameras constantly flashing. I admit, I took a few snaps, but it made me feel uncomfortably like I was treating a person like a zoo exhibit. I mean, it's a weird thing to do, isn't it, to just stand there and take photos of someone you don't know? I'm still trying to work out my feelings about it.
Towards one o'clock, I started wandering towards the Anime Theatre where Jared's Q&A would be held. The annual Kamehameha Blast-Off was still going, but there were already Supernatural fans hovering around, angling for seats. I managed to snag a spot without much difficulty in the upper tiers of the grandstand seating - I had a great view of the stage, but my camera was too weak to get good photos with the available lighting.
Probably by now everyone who cares has already read a transcript or watched a video of the Q&A - there were so many cameras in the air recording the thing - but anyway, it was a great session. Jared was a good speaker, relaxed and talkative, and fortunately no one in the audience asked any embarrassing or inappropriate questions.
There were some predictable questions - "What do you think of Australia?" ("I love Australia, I love Australians..." - but really, what else is he going to say?) - some bizarre ones - "Who would win in a fight, Captain Jack Sparrow or Captain Kirk?" (he went with Kirk - "Did you see him in that episode with the reptile guy?") - and one jawdroppingly audacious one - "Can I get a hug?" ("Sure!" - and he actually ran down and hugged the girl, to a chorus of "Awww!" from the audience).
His favourite episode is still the pilot, the funniest episode 'Bad Day at Black Rock' (that photo at the restaurant after being the millionth customer, Sam looking worried about their identities being exposed, Dean just all grins at the thought of free food), the toughest episode 'Heart' (because he knew he had to get naked for it and was working out every night), and his favourite line, "I lost my shoe." (He even did the sad voice.)
He enjoyed doing Gilmore Girls, but obviously on Supernatural he has a bigger role and a more developed character. His height was not an issue when auditioning for Supernatural, because they knew about it from Gilmore Girls, but it has caused issues at other auditions, especially when he has to play someone's son.
Someone asked about Jaredina, who appeared briefly in one of the DVD extras, and wanted to know if we would get to meet her. Sadly she is retired. Someone else asked how he envisioned Sam's eventual demise. Jared was all outraged and laughing - he said he tried not to think about Sam's demise, since he liked his job, but if Sam were to die and stay dead, it would have to be that Dean killed him. (Which is whoa, angstapalooza, but it makes perfect sense - if Sam were to die any other way, you can bet Dean would be turning the world inside out to bring him back to life.)
I watched the cosplay contest afterwards - a smaller turnout and a thinner audience than the first day. After sitting through a couple of awkward skits, I realised two things: (1) risque banter sounds better on the page than on the stage, and (2) acting really is hard to do without sounding fake, wooden or cheesy. The Joker was excellent, mostly because he had conviction. I also loved Eva Unit 01 and Angel and their skit of doomed romance. Other cosplayers I was fond of were Dante, Indiana Jones and Irina Spalko.
Photos
On the left is the Dome, the venue for this year's Supanova. On the right is not a War of the Worlds alien, but the repurposed Olympic cauldron from the Sydney 2000 games.
Hypnos, Athena, and Hades. Good and evil, side by side.
The BjdOzCon 2008 table. A rather impressive array.
My grainy photo of Nichelle Nichols.
My even grainier photo of Jared Padalecki.
The Joker. That guy was good. He had the voice down pat.
Eva Unit 01 and Angel. Their love is so heartrending. Literally.