Dallas Con Report, PART 2!
The Battlestar Q&A session was at 2:00 Saturday. No room clearing at this con, so I just parked in a seat, as close as I could get without buying an extra-expensive VIP ticket (just as well since I'd spend most of my time in the futile question line anyway). Kevin Sorbo of "Hercules" did the Q&A before them, the main highlight of which is that he would not like to be on "Spartacus" and 'show his junk' on television.
And then my baaabies arrived. It may be useless to go into the kind of in-depth recap I usually do, since some kind soul put the whole thing online already if you care to watch. But here's some highlights in text and pictures...
As is kind of typical of these things, Edward James Olmos had a tendency to monopolize the mic a bit. The panel was okay, but far too short, and I wasn't sure the moderator did the best job getting to other people rather than asking things himself. Then again, the first lady who "asked" a "question" (I use these terms loosely) was like a parody of every awkward moment at a Q&A ever.
(PSA: If you are planning to start your time at the mic with "I don't have a question, I just want to tell you all personally..." and then go into a lengthy personal history that includes YOUR DEAD CATS, I shit you not, just... don't. Do not do that.)
It opened with the mod asking them about their charity work, so EJO talked about Waterkeeper, Tricia about Acting Outlaws (having rides with Katee for gulf oil spill relief and amfAR, their next ride will benefit the Humane Society). James didn't really have any project like that but did say he gives money from his con stuff to children's charities. Funny bit where he'd misheard someone backstage as saying "charities you'd like to pump for" which he thought was... an odd word choice. The moderator said it was actually PIMP for, which is even worse.
James did his American accent which is still awful. :p But he had the best line of the panel when he said it's the dream of British actors to work in America, or more accurately "for Americans, in Vancouver."
Tricia name-checked a bunch of Sixes and included Sonja and Lida (possibly calling her Lila in the process but close enough). :DDD Talked again about how much she liked playing Gina because HeadSix was feeling like a schtick after a while. Eddie told the story about his no-aliens demand from the beginning of the show.
James and Tricia telling awkward sex scene stories. <333 How the miniseries "red spine" scene was the first thing they shot together, and James was eating his anxiety with donuts from catering, and felt awkward about his flesh-colored undies and everything, and he told a crew member he didn't want them to ~make too much fun of me~ and the guy was like "Trust me, no one's looking at you." Tricia started reenacting at one point how they were practicing getting the clasp on her overly complicated underwear off, and sort of embraced/mock-kissed him twice (DARLINGS) in the process. It's minute 17-19 of that video I linked above, if you watch nothing else.
Edward James Olmos still thinks that BSG invented the internet. No, I kid, but he did say the words "It was called blogging" at one point. AND, oh my god people who were around fandom at that point will appreciate this... he mentioned the Last Supper photo and how fans were flipping the image around and trying to find ~clues in it. FANDOM NOOBS, THIS IS A REAL THING PEOPLE DID. (People not me. I was sort of mocking it endlessly.) Good times.
Random mention of Alessandro Juliani that I thought was *really* sweet, 'cause it was just kind of out of nowhere. (Not many of the other actors were mentioned but Mary once or twice.) Olmos just brought him up, calling him "AJ" (Callis clarifying he meant 'Gaeta' for the audience), and then he went, "Yeah, his real name is AJ. That kid was so good." <3
Olmos talking about the improvised "so say we all!" scene in the mini. (Everybody, mostly extras, just mumbled the words, and he started the loud SSWA response thing, which wasn't scripted.) He told the cameraman "just follow me, I don't know what's gonna happen." (Fucking essence of Olmos, I say that with all the love in the world.) Callis added his perspective that the rest of them really needed that push, that something "crystallized" in that moment for the show. He also noted that it felt like a rally in the '40s, and scary in a way like a group-consciousness > individual moment.
(Random thing I wrote down: at the very beginning of the panel EJO jokingly demanded the moderator call him "Mr. Olmos", so then James did it at one point later on, it was cute.)
EJO talked (granted because an audience member asked) about his play "Zoot Suit", and the theater nerd in me was kind of amused when he said it was the first Broadway show about latinos, other than "West Side Story" which was up there with "South Pacific" in terms of, like... accuracy. Heh. Also talked about "Blade Runner", repeated his half-joking (?) thing about how BSG could be seen as a prequel to it and Gaff as a millenia-later descendent of Adama.
Tricia was asked about the baby-neck-snapping scene, reiterated that she saw it as a mercy-killing. It wasn't written that way but her and director chose to play it like that. She saw it as a defining moment for her, seeing an innocent baby of a race she was about to exterminate, and "she didn't want this little piece of innocence to suffer." *sobs forever*
Someone asked oddly (LOTS OF ODD QUESTIONS AT THIS PANEL, I GOTTA SAY) what their "social pet peeves" were...? EJO and James failed to come up with an answer and hid behind Tricia, who adorably said the following things: ignorance, intolerance, car-dinging, and meanness to animals. XD
The moderator went into this whole thing about the late Larry Hagman from "Dallas" (which I guess has a lot of weight given where the con is) enthusing to him about the new Battlestar Galactica and that it had an ensemble of great actors who always had something going on behind their eyes, and the mod was really excited to tell James Callis especially that he had mentioned him and compared Baltar to J.R. (I never watched Dallas and know nothing about J.R. except his iconic eeevilness, so I had this kneejerk reaction of HOW DARE YOU, SIRS, GAIUS BALTAR IS NOT J.R. But James laughed and seemed pretty tickled about it, so. *g*)
And it ended with James and Tricia talking about EJO as a director on Battlestar. Tricia told the other sex scene story about Olmos deciding on the day to do the "taking her from behind" scene in Tigh Me Up, the one time her husband was visiting the set, and you kind of just have to see his reaction, because holy sheepish adorableness...
She's not even saying anything that scandalous! (See?)
They both, more seriously, had a lot of praise or EJO as a director, James saying he would drop everything to work with him again, etc. Anyone can act but it takes being comfortable, and he felt "bulletproof" with Olmos directing. And that was the panel, after one last "so say we all" obvsly.
On a personal note, shortly after this (it was actually in getting my photo op, a CALLIS SITUATION once again) I managed to lose my little green notebook where I was taking copious panel notes. All things considered it was the *least* expensive thing I could lose, but still distressing. Luckily it ended up straight in the Lost & Found, even amid the chaos of the convention. But the funny part was that the Lost & Found lady had to ask me, somewhat confused, "What language is it in?" The answer was "French", because the whole front of that notebook was still full of directions from when I visited sunshine_queen in Paris last year. ;)
Though my phone was rapidly dying, I checked out the exhibit floor and had more fun cosplay sightings.
After chilling and napping in my hotel room a bit, I met up with rococoms once again as that vendors' room closed for the day, and I tagged along to dinner with a large group of her coworkers from the con. Once again I appreciated some time to socialize with living people and regain MY SANITY. :D We ate an AMAZING (if alcohol-free) place called Vila Brazil. At first it just seems like a typical buffet, I'm thinking okay, some good stuff here, I load up on rice and beans and brocolli and fried cauliflower, whatever. And then the waiters... just start bringing out *waves and waves of meat* to the table on giant skewers and cutting off slices/giving pieces out to whoever wants it. Pork sausage? Chicken leg? Chicken wrapped in bacon? Cuts of beef? So my plate very quickly was just buried in various meatly foods like FUCK YOUR BROCOLLI, and it was all reeeally good, just great company AND meal.
On Sunday I returned to the con to ~bask in some Callis and Helfer. Not paying for autos this time - I was nearly out of cash - but I'd come all the way to Dallas, Texas (technically Irving) so I needed to make the most of it. *g* No hug from James this time, but I asked him about his upcoming movie Austenland, which he said was a departure for him, very "silly." He added he's also about to be on "Arrow" in a couple of weeks but sounded... kind of unenthused about that, making jokes about how he didn't really do much in it, "I flew through that show quite LIKE an arrow." He didn't actually sound all that confident he'd be on it again.
It had hit me mid-convention that the thing I really wanted to say to Tricia's face more than anything, that somehow I'd never gotten to before, was... basically that whole story about how Gina was gonna be written more sexual and immediately hook up with Baltar* and she was the one who pushed against that and made her more brittle etc. ('Cause you know I've talked about this online roughly ALL THE TIME, I didn't even touch the prostitution thing 'cause I'm increasingly hoping/convinced that was something RDM and the writers thought with their Inside Voice and hadn't suggested to her.) And she was like, yeah, now thinking back to that, in the early episodes they definitely had discussions about that. She wanted to infuse her with post-traumatic stress, and when it did happen later on it was hard for her, etc. And I managed -- without crying, which, go me -- to just gush at her a bit about how much that character touched me and I credit her entirely for that, and she was appreciative and very sweet. <3
Idk I feel like I should've had a less one-track mind with this con because there were several other cool people I got to spot in the autograph area -- Billy Boyd ("the least famous hobbit" I explained later to my dad, sorry baby Pippin but it's true), Morena Baccarin, both Lea Thompson and Christopher Lloyd in a kind of "Back to the Future" reunion thing. *g* But one thing or another kept me from most of those panels (Morena's was a shame tbh, it was scheduled right during the Callis/Tricia photo time), so I just kinda saw them from afar. :)
And that was really it for my con experience! I bought a few more gifts and things, including a gorgeous painting of the Kobol ruins that's now hanging in my bedroom. And took a few more pics...
And if you didn't see it on twitter - BEST COSTUME EVER here on the right. (Context.)
I took a shuttle a bit before my flight to get lunch at a Thai place, I saw rococoms one more time, and I had a brief experience with post-con depression that was VERY bizarre because the con was technically *still going on* (all the impooortant stuff was over though *sob*) and by the time it was actually post-con and I was home, it had already faded. And that was my Dallas adventure!
Whew, you all get an imaginary cookie and Callis-hug if you made it through this entry! :)
And then my baaabies arrived. It may be useless to go into the kind of in-depth recap I usually do, since some kind soul put the whole thing online already if you care to watch. But here's some highlights in text and pictures...
As is kind of typical of these things, Edward James Olmos had a tendency to monopolize the mic a bit. The panel was okay, but far too short, and I wasn't sure the moderator did the best job getting to other people rather than asking things himself. Then again, the first lady who "asked" a "question" (I use these terms loosely) was like a parody of every awkward moment at a Q&A ever.
(PSA: If you are planning to start your time at the mic with "I don't have a question, I just want to tell you all personally..." and then go into a lengthy personal history that includes YOUR DEAD CATS, I shit you not, just... don't. Do not do that.)
It opened with the mod asking them about their charity work, so EJO talked about Waterkeeper, Tricia about Acting Outlaws (having rides with Katee for gulf oil spill relief and amfAR, their next ride will benefit the Humane Society). James didn't really have any project like that but did say he gives money from his con stuff to children's charities. Funny bit where he'd misheard someone backstage as saying "charities you'd like to pump for" which he thought was... an odd word choice. The moderator said it was actually PIMP for, which is even worse.
James did his American accent which is still awful. :p But he had the best line of the panel when he said it's the dream of British actors to work in America, or more accurately "for Americans, in Vancouver."
Tricia name-checked a bunch of Sixes and included Sonja and Lida (possibly calling her Lila in the process but close enough). :DDD Talked again about how much she liked playing Gina because HeadSix was feeling like a schtick after a while. Eddie told the story about his no-aliens demand from the beginning of the show.
James and Tricia telling awkward sex scene stories. <333 How the miniseries "red spine" scene was the first thing they shot together, and James was eating his anxiety with donuts from catering, and felt awkward about his flesh-colored undies and everything, and he told a crew member he didn't want them to ~make too much fun of me~ and the guy was like "Trust me, no one's looking at you." Tricia started reenacting at one point how they were practicing getting the clasp on her overly complicated underwear off, and sort of embraced/mock-kissed him twice (DARLINGS) in the process. It's minute 17-19 of that video I linked above, if you watch nothing else.
Edward James Olmos still thinks that BSG invented the internet. No, I kid, but he did say the words "It was called blogging" at one point. AND, oh my god people who were around fandom at that point will appreciate this... he mentioned the Last Supper photo and how fans were flipping the image around and trying to find ~clues in it. FANDOM NOOBS, THIS IS A REAL THING PEOPLE DID. (People not me. I was sort of mocking it endlessly.) Good times.
Random mention of Alessandro Juliani that I thought was *really* sweet, 'cause it was just kind of out of nowhere. (Not many of the other actors were mentioned but Mary once or twice.) Olmos just brought him up, calling him "AJ" (Callis clarifying he meant 'Gaeta' for the audience), and then he went, "Yeah, his real name is AJ. That kid was so good." <3
Olmos talking about the improvised "so say we all!" scene in the mini. (Everybody, mostly extras, just mumbled the words, and he started the loud SSWA response thing, which wasn't scripted.) He told the cameraman "just follow me, I don't know what's gonna happen." (Fucking essence of Olmos, I say that with all the love in the world.) Callis added his perspective that the rest of them really needed that push, that something "crystallized" in that moment for the show. He also noted that it felt like a rally in the '40s, and scary in a way like a group-consciousness > individual moment.
(Random thing I wrote down: at the very beginning of the panel EJO jokingly demanded the moderator call him "Mr. Olmos", so then James did it at one point later on, it was cute.)
EJO talked (granted because an audience member asked) about his play "Zoot Suit", and the theater nerd in me was kind of amused when he said it was the first Broadway show about latinos, other than "West Side Story" which was up there with "South Pacific" in terms of, like... accuracy. Heh. Also talked about "Blade Runner", repeated his half-joking (?) thing about how BSG could be seen as a prequel to it and Gaff as a millenia-later descendent of Adama.
Tricia was asked about the baby-neck-snapping scene, reiterated that she saw it as a mercy-killing. It wasn't written that way but her and director chose to play it like that. She saw it as a defining moment for her, seeing an innocent baby of a race she was about to exterminate, and "she didn't want this little piece of innocence to suffer." *sobs forever*
Someone asked oddly (LOTS OF ODD QUESTIONS AT THIS PANEL, I GOTTA SAY) what their "social pet peeves" were...? EJO and James failed to come up with an answer and hid behind Tricia, who adorably said the following things: ignorance, intolerance, car-dinging, and meanness to animals. XD
The moderator went into this whole thing about the late Larry Hagman from "Dallas" (which I guess has a lot of weight given where the con is) enthusing to him about the new Battlestar Galactica and that it had an ensemble of great actors who always had something going on behind their eyes, and the mod was really excited to tell James Callis especially that he had mentioned him and compared Baltar to J.R. (I never watched Dallas and know nothing about J.R. except his iconic eeevilness, so I had this kneejerk reaction of HOW DARE YOU, SIRS, GAIUS BALTAR IS NOT J.R. But James laughed and seemed pretty tickled about it, so. *g*)
And it ended with James and Tricia talking about EJO as a director on Battlestar. Tricia told the other sex scene story about Olmos deciding on the day to do the "taking her from behind" scene in Tigh Me Up, the one time her husband was visiting the set, and you kind of just have to see his reaction, because holy sheepish adorableness...
She's not even saying anything that scandalous! (See?)
They both, more seriously, had a lot of praise or EJO as a director, James saying he would drop everything to work with him again, etc. Anyone can act but it takes being comfortable, and he felt "bulletproof" with Olmos directing. And that was the panel, after one last "so say we all" obvsly.
On a personal note, shortly after this (it was actually in getting my photo op, a CALLIS SITUATION once again) I managed to lose my little green notebook where I was taking copious panel notes. All things considered it was the *least* expensive thing I could lose, but still distressing. Luckily it ended up straight in the Lost & Found, even amid the chaos of the convention. But the funny part was that the Lost & Found lady had to ask me, somewhat confused, "What language is it in?" The answer was "French", because the whole front of that notebook was still full of directions from when I visited sunshine_queen in Paris last year. ;)
Though my phone was rapidly dying, I checked out the exhibit floor and had more fun cosplay sightings.
After chilling and napping in my hotel room a bit, I met up with rococoms once again as that vendors' room closed for the day, and I tagged along to dinner with a large group of her coworkers from the con. Once again I appreciated some time to socialize with living people and regain MY SANITY. :D We ate an AMAZING (if alcohol-free) place called Vila Brazil. At first it just seems like a typical buffet, I'm thinking okay, some good stuff here, I load up on rice and beans and brocolli and fried cauliflower, whatever. And then the waiters... just start bringing out *waves and waves of meat* to the table on giant skewers and cutting off slices/giving pieces out to whoever wants it. Pork sausage? Chicken leg? Chicken wrapped in bacon? Cuts of beef? So my plate very quickly was just buried in various meatly foods like FUCK YOUR BROCOLLI, and it was all reeeally good, just great company AND meal.
On Sunday I returned to the con to ~bask in some Callis and Helfer. Not paying for autos this time - I was nearly out of cash - but I'd come all the way to Dallas, Texas (technically Irving) so I needed to make the most of it. *g* No hug from James this time, but I asked him about his upcoming movie Austenland, which he said was a departure for him, very "silly." He added he's also about to be on "Arrow" in a couple of weeks but sounded... kind of unenthused about that, making jokes about how he didn't really do much in it, "I flew through that show quite LIKE an arrow." He didn't actually sound all that confident he'd be on it again.
It had hit me mid-convention that the thing I really wanted to say to Tricia's face more than anything, that somehow I'd never gotten to before, was... basically that whole story about how Gina was gonna be written more sexual and immediately hook up with Baltar* and she was the one who pushed against that and made her more brittle etc. ('Cause you know I've talked about this online roughly ALL THE TIME, I didn't even touch the prostitution thing 'cause I'm increasingly hoping/convinced that was something RDM and the writers thought with their Inside Voice and hadn't suggested to her.) And she was like, yeah, now thinking back to that, in the early episodes they definitely had discussions about that. She wanted to infuse her with post-traumatic stress, and when it did happen later on it was hard for her, etc. And I managed -- without crying, which, go me -- to just gush at her a bit about how much that character touched me and I credit her entirely for that, and she was appreciative and very sweet. <3
Idk I feel like I should've had a less one-track mind with this con because there were several other cool people I got to spot in the autograph area -- Billy Boyd ("the least famous hobbit" I explained later to my dad, sorry baby Pippin but it's true), Morena Baccarin, both Lea Thompson and Christopher Lloyd in a kind of "Back to the Future" reunion thing. *g* But one thing or another kept me from most of those panels (Morena's was a shame tbh, it was scheduled right during the Callis/Tricia photo time), so I just kinda saw them from afar. :)
And that was really it for my con experience! I bought a few more gifts and things, including a gorgeous painting of the Kobol ruins that's now hanging in my bedroom. And took a few more pics...
And if you didn't see it on twitter - BEST COSTUME EVER here on the right. (Context.)
I took a shuttle a bit before my flight to get lunch at a Thai place, I saw rococoms one more time, and I had a brief experience with post-con depression that was VERY bizarre because the con was technically *still going on* (all the impooortant stuff was over though *sob*) and by the time it was actually post-con and I was home, it had already faded. And that was my Dallas adventure!
Whew, you all get an imaginary cookie and Callis-hug if you made it through this entry! :)