Browncoat Ball 2010! (aka the crazy group of Browncoats who invaded Charlotte, NC for a weekend)
(gildedmuse, you demanded a "full report (of course) of the whole big damn thing", and a full report you shall have. Some mighty impressive TL;DR is here, and I expect you to read it all. XD
Don't say I didn't warn you.)
I'd love to know if anyone else went, and what they thought. (Or even if you didn't, comments are loved) You probably saw me running around snapping pics or whirling on the dance floor, if you attended.
The following is lots of my recollections rather than just a simple report on the event, so apologies if the only thing you wanted to know was textbook details. :P
My boyfriend picked me up late at night after classes on Thursday, and we spent the night at a friend's house 'cause she and her dad were driving us down to Charlotte. We three watched Galaxy Quest late at night, got a few hours sleep, woke up at 5:30am and were on the road before 7 on Friday morning. Slept a bit in the car, but we were all laughing and having a hilarious time.. making fun of the car, the teeny road, the GPS system.. it was all great.
Friday: Got to Charlotte and the hotel around 11, talked and relaxed while everything was getting set up, got ourselves registered early and got in the rooms, then hung out around the bazaar and talked to everyone and got to know some great people! I wore a shiny purple oriental-ish robe thing over my Browncoat-y outfit and got many complements. Went to some of the panels, including the one for waltzing (met narrativeliving and her awesome husband there), and saw some of the martial arts demo, but my favorite had to have been the Whedon authors panel. K. Dale Koontz was there, and her book "Faith and Choice in the Works of Joss Whedon" has been on my wishlist for almost two years now. I bought a copy and she signed it! She's really sweet in person, and I'm glad I got the chance to meet and talk to her (without sounding like a dumbstruck fangirl) - there were only five people in the audience (I mean, we're scheduled up against the burlesque lesson, so.. yeah) but that made it more relaxed and fun. :) It was also cool when I went to the Hospitality Room where all the raffle prizes were, and started fangirling some of them, and Dale walked up and started fangirling them with me! (The Hospitality Room was a nice area with all the prizes and just a fun place to chill and relax.)
Then there was the Washasaurus Luau, outside in the courtyard area in the evening (because on Wash's home planet, he couldn't see the stars *sniffle*) and we all got lei'd. You know. With leis. *snicker* And then there was a buffet of yummy foods, omg they were delicious, and we played a game where we had a crew and had to come up with the most bizarre thing ever. My crew were the Purplebellies and we had to rescue the One-Eyed, One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater.. for some people on Persephone, I think, because its tears would heal those with Bowden's Malady on Bowden's Moon. Or something. It was crazy awesome.
And then the Shinyoke Karaoke! The first thing I remember was going over to where narrativeliving was during the eating food portion of the evening and she complained how there was only one Chess song listed. <3333333 CHESS IS HER PASSION *sings* And one Les Mis song, nothing from Wicked or Rent, and not even Moulin Rouge apparently. (We did get to look up stuff online, though.) So she sang Someone Else's Story (totally being both of our go-to audition song, apparently) and I didn't get time to do I Dreamed A Dream, but we banded together with her husband, my boyfriend and best friend, and a friend of theirs, and did Time Warp from RHPS to close the whole thing out!
Although, River (Julie, but I call her River apparently as I can't remember names well) and I were totally up for Take Me or Leave me from RENT, or La Vie Boheme, or anything from ttB.
Susannah Ravenswing performed her concert after that, which was awesome. She wrote/sung a Jayne/Kaylee song that was absolutely hilarious, even though I don't ship it a bit. All the songs were fun. There's this gorgeous song, beautifully written, about the pioneers who went out to find what we now know as the 'Verse. Started out with (IIRC) the story of a young girl singing the starship song, then the girl's child who is middle-aged, and then that child's granddaughter who is old, and Zoe is born, through these generations. It was hauntingly pretty.
Midnight Pajama Party!
Nothing like having a group full of tired Browncoats, jam-packed in a room, all singing the theme song together. We watched Jaynestown (and all sang Hero of Canton) and then Out of Gas. Also a fun thing being able to quote lines togeether, especially for Jaynestown. "This must be what going mad feels like."
Saturday: Early morning! Got up, had breakfast, and walked to the monorail system (lots of us have costumes and got some great interesting looks from people in cars) - where a friend and I instigated us all singing Hero of Canton on the lightrail, the poor Charlotte residents :P - to this cool 'shady tavern' for a barbeque luncheon ..and surprised by the burlesque routines, no idea they were gonna perform there. It was pretty interesting though, considering that this is like, a form of empowerment for them rather than objectification, they do ti because they want to. I surprisingly didn't have a problem with it when I saw it like that, although my boyfriend was hugging me and was like, "Yeah, I'm just gonna say right now you're the only one for me." XDDDD Poor guy. Awww.
Then we went to a small trolley museum and had fun on the old trolley, sang Hero of Canton (again) while taking pics in it and looked around a bit. Poor curator didn't know what he got himself into by letting us in. My boyfriend and I decided to break off from the group at the second musem, and explored downtown Charlotte instead. Starbucks and coffee, always nice. There was a cool statue thing, and a nice waterfall area. Went to check out a photography museum area and the performing arts center - TOURING CAST OF IN THE HEIGHTS AND NEXT TO NORMAL. NEXT YEAR. OMGOMGOMGOMG. *flailing*
Got back early to the hotel, hung out with my best friend for a while, tried on our gowns for the ball that night and made sure they all fit, and just relaxed and talked with people. Then we got ready for the cocktail party and actual ball. It was fantastic, all the costumes! Lots of pics were taken, and a professional photographer had an area for super nice photos - there was nobody in line after the ball so I got to do a bunch of poses. :)
The ball.. wow. There was a clogging group who were completely on-the-mark, and the band was this great group.. a bagpipe, guitar, and drums. They played several waltzes and some faster songs that all the girls got up and danced/twirled to, including me! The food was all well-thought out and the decorations were gorgeous. I danced a few dances with my BF, a few solo twirling dances with other girls, did a FUN! clogging routine led by the dancers, and at the end we all sang Hero of Canton as it was played by the band. Awards were given for costumes, and the organizers were all thanked (Audrey was fantastic, she worked so hard to make this happen and it was perfect!). Everything seemed to happen this weekend, including a proposal! It was so adorable. <333
After that I hung around with my new friends and took pictures, had fangirling fun, and then went upstairs with my friend and watched two Buffy episodes to wind down (I don't even remember which ones. We were THAT tired) while the game room was packed with people playing Apples to Apples, a bootleg Monopoly game with a Firefly/Serenity theme, and beer.
Sunday: Another early morning, but it was all good. Raffles started and I won quite a few things: oriental urn with beautiful chinese symbol earrings, a Wash-themed gift bag (mini-dinosaurs, beach stuff like a pink octopus sand thing that was from the Miranda commercial, and two silly Hawaiian banners), and what I especially love, an Alliance Currency Money Pack based off the original source data from the movie, with replicated money and a Miranda Map. <333333333333333 My boyfriend won a raffle for the Firefly boxset, funnily enough, cause it's not like he doesn't have it, and he was joking earlier how it'd be funny if he won, cause he put a ticket in for the heck of it. All the other fans were like GO INDOCTRINATE SOMEONE! :D
My phone ringer went off during a quiet moment, and suddenly you hear the Doctor Who theme blasting from the corner of the room, hah.
After that, there was a sort of Words of Wisdom based on Shepherd Book's life, not really a Sunday church service, but it was really nice. Had about 20ish people for that, and it was about speculation on Book's life before he was in the abbey, and how it could have affected him before the canon begins, and it compared the focus of love in both Christianity and in Buddhism (I mean, those two religions are the most prominent in the show, and it IS a Firefly convention). What was really interesting to me among things that were said, was that not once in the Bible does the word 'regret' show up. I don't know that I've ever heard that before.
Then it was time to say goodbye to all of it, and friends, and I really do miss it still.
PS: I was a terrible Bounty Hunter. I recognized all but two people but was so timid to actually go arrest people that I only caught one Outlaw. :P
Don't say I didn't warn you.)
I'd love to know if anyone else went, and what they thought. (Or even if you didn't, comments are loved) You probably saw me running around snapping pics or whirling on the dance floor, if you attended.
The following is lots of my recollections rather than just a simple report on the event, so apologies if the only thing you wanted to know was textbook details. :P
My boyfriend picked me up late at night after classes on Thursday, and we spent the night at a friend's house 'cause she and her dad were driving us down to Charlotte. We three watched Galaxy Quest late at night, got a few hours sleep, woke up at 5:30am and were on the road before 7 on Friday morning. Slept a bit in the car, but we were all laughing and having a hilarious time.. making fun of the car, the teeny road, the GPS system.. it was all great.
Friday: Got to Charlotte and the hotel around 11, talked and relaxed while everything was getting set up, got ourselves registered early and got in the rooms, then hung out around the bazaar and talked to everyone and got to know some great people! I wore a shiny purple oriental-ish robe thing over my Browncoat-y outfit and got many complements. Went to some of the panels, including the one for waltzing (met narrativeliving and her awesome husband there), and saw some of the martial arts demo, but my favorite had to have been the Whedon authors panel. K. Dale Koontz was there, and her book "Faith and Choice in the Works of Joss Whedon" has been on my wishlist for almost two years now. I bought a copy and she signed it! She's really sweet in person, and I'm glad I got the chance to meet and talk to her (without sounding like a dumbstruck fangirl) - there were only five people in the audience (I mean, we're scheduled up against the burlesque lesson, so.. yeah) but that made it more relaxed and fun. :) It was also cool when I went to the Hospitality Room where all the raffle prizes were, and started fangirling some of them, and Dale walked up and started fangirling them with me! (The Hospitality Room was a nice area with all the prizes and just a fun place to chill and relax.)
Then there was the Washasaurus Luau, outside in the courtyard area in the evening (because on Wash's home planet, he couldn't see the stars *sniffle*) and we all got lei'd. You know. With leis. *snicker* And then there was a buffet of yummy foods, omg they were delicious, and we played a game where we had a crew and had to come up with the most bizarre thing ever. My crew were the Purplebellies and we had to rescue the One-Eyed, One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater.. for some people on Persephone, I think, because its tears would heal those with Bowden's Malady on Bowden's Moon. Or something. It was crazy awesome.
And then the Shinyoke Karaoke! The first thing I remember was going over to where narrativeliving was during the eating food portion of the evening and she complained how there was only one Chess song listed. <3333333 CHESS IS HER PASSION *sings* And one Les Mis song, nothing from Wicked or Rent, and not even Moulin Rouge apparently. (We did get to look up stuff online, though.) So she sang Someone Else's Story (totally being both of our go-to audition song, apparently) and I didn't get time to do I Dreamed A Dream, but we banded together with her husband, my boyfriend and best friend, and a friend of theirs, and did Time Warp from RHPS to close the whole thing out!
Although, River (Julie, but I call her River apparently as I can't remember names well) and I were totally up for Take Me or Leave me from RENT, or La Vie Boheme, or anything from ttB.
Susannah Ravenswing performed her concert after that, which was awesome. She wrote/sung a Jayne/Kaylee song that was absolutely hilarious, even though I don't ship it a bit. All the songs were fun. There's this gorgeous song, beautifully written, about the pioneers who went out to find what we now know as the 'Verse. Started out with (IIRC) the story of a young girl singing the starship song, then the girl's child who is middle-aged, and then that child's granddaughter who is old, and Zoe is born, through these generations. It was hauntingly pretty.
Midnight Pajama Party!
Nothing like having a group full of tired Browncoats, jam-packed in a room, all singing the theme song together. We watched Jaynestown (and all sang Hero of Canton) and then Out of Gas. Also a fun thing being able to quote lines togeether, especially for Jaynestown. "This must be what going mad feels like."
Saturday: Early morning! Got up, had breakfast, and walked to the monorail system (lots of us have costumes and got some great interesting looks from people in cars) - where a friend and I instigated us all singing Hero of Canton on the lightrail, the poor Charlotte residents :P - to this cool 'shady tavern' for a barbeque luncheon ..and surprised by the burlesque routines, no idea they were gonna perform there. It was pretty interesting though, considering that this is like, a form of empowerment for them rather than objectification, they do ti because they want to. I surprisingly didn't have a problem with it when I saw it like that, although my boyfriend was hugging me and was like, "Yeah, I'm just gonna say right now you're the only one for me." XDDDD Poor guy. Awww.
Then we went to a small trolley museum and had fun on the old trolley, sang Hero of Canton (again) while taking pics in it and looked around a bit. Poor curator didn't know what he got himself into by letting us in. My boyfriend and I decided to break off from the group at the second musem, and explored downtown Charlotte instead. Starbucks and coffee, always nice. There was a cool statue thing, and a nice waterfall area. Went to check out a photography museum area and the performing arts center - TOURING CAST OF IN THE HEIGHTS AND NEXT TO NORMAL. NEXT YEAR. OMGOMGOMGOMG. *flailing*
Got back early to the hotel, hung out with my best friend for a while, tried on our gowns for the ball that night and made sure they all fit, and just relaxed and talked with people. Then we got ready for the cocktail party and actual ball. It was fantastic, all the costumes! Lots of pics were taken, and a professional photographer had an area for super nice photos - there was nobody in line after the ball so I got to do a bunch of poses. :)
The ball.. wow. There was a clogging group who were completely on-the-mark, and the band was this great group.. a bagpipe, guitar, and drums. They played several waltzes and some faster songs that all the girls got up and danced/twirled to, including me! The food was all well-thought out and the decorations were gorgeous. I danced a few dances with my BF, a few solo twirling dances with other girls, did a FUN! clogging routine led by the dancers, and at the end we all sang Hero of Canton as it was played by the band. Awards were given for costumes, and the organizers were all thanked (Audrey was fantastic, she worked so hard to make this happen and it was perfect!). Everything seemed to happen this weekend, including a proposal! It was so adorable. <333
After that I hung around with my new friends and took pictures, had fangirling fun, and then went upstairs with my friend and watched two Buffy episodes to wind down (I don't even remember which ones. We were THAT tired) while the game room was packed with people playing Apples to Apples, a bootleg Monopoly game with a Firefly/Serenity theme, and beer.
Sunday: Another early morning, but it was all good. Raffles started and I won quite a few things: oriental urn with beautiful chinese symbol earrings, a Wash-themed gift bag (mini-dinosaurs, beach stuff like a pink octopus sand thing that was from the Miranda commercial, and two silly Hawaiian banners), and what I especially love, an Alliance Currency Money Pack based off the original source data from the movie, with replicated money and a Miranda Map. <333333333333333 My boyfriend won a raffle for the Firefly boxset, funnily enough, cause it's not like he doesn't have it, and he was joking earlier how it'd be funny if he won, cause he put a ticket in for the heck of it. All the other fans were like GO INDOCTRINATE SOMEONE! :D
My phone ringer went off during a quiet moment, and suddenly you hear the Doctor Who theme blasting from the corner of the room, hah.
After that, there was a sort of Words of Wisdom based on Shepherd Book's life, not really a Sunday church service, but it was really nice. Had about 20ish people for that, and it was about speculation on Book's life before he was in the abbey, and how it could have affected him before the canon begins, and it compared the focus of love in both Christianity and in Buddhism (I mean, those two religions are the most prominent in the show, and it IS a Firefly convention). What was really interesting to me among things that were said, was that not once in the Bible does the word 'regret' show up. I don't know that I've ever heard that before.
Then it was time to say goodbye to all of it, and friends, and I really do miss it still.
PS: I was a terrible Bounty Hunter. I recognized all but two people but was so timid to actually go arrest people that I only caught one Outlaw. :P