DallasCon report
[The costs]
The costs
Silver pass $349
Jensen Q&A $545
Jared Q&A $305
Hotel (shared with 3 other girls) $92
Airline $248
Shuttle bus to the airport (round-trip) $42
Food $80
Photos $16
Total $1677
[General Stuff]
General Stuff:
My plane was delayed on Friday so I missed both Chad and Gab’s panels. Note to self: Come in one day earlier next time. I wasn’t interested in Matt and Richard’s panels so I stayed in the hotel room to have some quiet time. I wasn’t very impressed by Sebastian’s panel. I especially disliked him orchestrating fan screaming. It feels to me like disrespect. His answers can be compared to standup comedies that use cheap sexual innuendos and aren’t very funny. Among all the panelists I’ve seen, his panel was the least intelligent one.
As Silver pass holder, I had five free autographs. Mark Sheppard, Richard, and Matt all signed whatever you wanted them to write, whereas J2 signed their names.
I’ve always wondered how much time VIP pass holders had backstage with the panelists. I was told that in average they had 5-10 minutes. Although at DallasCon they were lucky to have more time sometimes. I think ths VIP pass for DallasCon was around $1200 and it was considered cheap. Wonder how much it would be for LVCon. $3000?
[Mark S]
Mark S.:
Mark Sheppard was brilliant. I think he likes to tease you and mess you up. He shares that mischievous trait with Crowley. I enjoyed his panel thoroughly but became a bit tongue-tied when he tried to mess me up later at autographs. For those of you who know BSG and Mark’s role in it: Remember that Romo Lampkin’s first line was “For the glory”? That’s what I asked him to sign. He almost refused. And I almost lost my cool. It went something like this (and I was way less articulate than presented here):
Me: Please write “For the Glory.”
Mark: Why?
Me: That’s your first line in Battlestar Galactica.
Mark: I said that?
Me: (Having a small panic attack. Did I remember the wrong person? Did Mark really play Romo in BSG?) Yes.
Mark: When did I say that?
Me: When the Madam President asked you why you’d present…
Mark: Yes, I said that. But I didn’t mean that. It was not for the glory. There’s a whole speech cut before that, about fear…
Me: Please just sign it.
Later on when I had more time to think I kicked myself for not having talked more with him about it. Although I did feel that I shouldn’t hold up the line for too long. Well, next time. Next time I’d be prepared!
[Mark P]
Mark P.:
Mark Pellegrino had a cool, dry humor. He was almost never loud. He answered the questions respectfully and as well as his tired brain would allow him. - He just came from filming “Revolution” in North Caroline. - When he answered questions he walked from one end of the stage to the other end, in order to be closer to the person who was asking the question. He held one hand out to keep the stage light from shining into his eyes, so that he could see the person more clearly. I felt moved by those small gestures.
Two questions stuck with me. One was about what he liked about playing Lucifer. He said that he could do whatever he wanted, and it was Okay. The way he said “Okay” was just so typical Lucifer that was quite entertaining. The other question was what other things Lucifer would do to torment Sam. He said he would hide Sam’s cloths when Sam came out of the shower or something. Then he turned on his Lucifer face and said to the audience, yes, I’d do that for you. Oh, and when he was asked what happened when he was kicked out from heaven, he insisted that he just tripped.
[J2's Q&A]
J2's Q&A:
There are two amazingly detailed reports for Jensen and Jared’s Q&A by Fangasm and Redteekal, respectively, so I’m just going to talk about my impression about the sessions.
I’ve heard about Jared holding his Q&A sitting in circles, whereas Jensen’s Q&A was like a mini class, with Jensen sitting in front of the classroom, facing everybody. This time, both Jared and Jensen’s Q&A had the same classroom setting. A high chair was set in front of the room, two rows of chairs built two half circles facing the high chair. Four chairs were set along the back wall. Both Jared and Jensen’s family members sat on those chair later. The 20 lucky fans drew numbers from a pot to determine their seats. But really, there was no bad seat in that kind of small circle.
I thought Jared’s Q&A would be more like a casual flow of conversation among friends, whereas Jensen’s Q&A might be more like a lecture. And the reality was just the opposite. Jared dominated the Q&A, talking a mile a minute, looking more serious than I’d ever seen him, not at all the jokester persona. I was a bit intimidated, not willing to ask a “stupid” question, and ended up not asking any question at all. Jensen was more relaxed and happier than ever. He looked at everyone in the eye and invited everyone to ask questions. I felt much more relaxed, too, and really felt that I was a part of the conversation.
An interesting detail: Jared turned the chair around so that he was leaning against the back of the chair when talking to us. When Jensen came in, he turned the chair back to the original position so that we could see the entirety of him.
[Jared's Q&A]
Jared's Q&A:
Before we saw Jared, we heard him laughing outside of the door. That was just so typical Jared and so very heartwarming. Then he and his parents entered. Jared looked a bit sleep deprived, his face a bit pale and his eyes a bit puffy. I remembered how awestruck by his beauty I was when I first saw him in real person at NashCon 2011. Back then he looked so young and vibrant. It almost seemed that he was glowing. But not at the DallasCon. Guess parenthood would do that to you.
Couple of times when he was describing working at the show, he talked about what Jensen said or did. It was amazing how spot on he was. Nobody asked him to do a Jensen personification or so, but he can do it so perfectly, anytime, anywhere. I was also amazed that Jared was genuinely not mad at the waitress who twitted his credit card. He truly has a heart of gold. *swoon*
When they were leaving, someone thanked his parents for supporting him and for the show. His mom turned to us and said, “Thank you for watching the show”, then stage whispered, “Keeps him off the street.”
[Jensen's Q&A]
Jensen's Q&A:
Jensen looked younger and fitter than on screen. And did I mention that he was very relaxed and very happy? Not the serious and reserved professional that I had in mind at all. He was very approachable and made me feel very comfortable asking various questions. It was a bit unnerving but a lot amazing (yeah I know I use this word a lot, but what else can I say?) that he looked into my eyes, sometimes for a long time, when he answered my questions. I think I have some ADD issues so at one point my mind started to wander when he was giving a long answer. Note to self: Work on my concentration.
His father was serious on the surface but looked bemused from time to time. Fangasm was right to say that Jensen takes after his dad. His mom was a very sweet lady, was nodding and smiling the whole time, affirming Jensen’s childhood stories. I can see how very nurturing his parents are. Both of them were holding good eye contact as well, that must be why Jensen was so good at keeping eye contact.
[J2 Panel]
J2 Panel:
I saw some people complaining about no good questions at the panel. I didn’t notice that at all. Personally I always wonder what questions I could ask at such an event. I wish there were a compiled list of questions already asked (and the answers), and another list of potential questions to be asked.
Whatever questions were asked, J2 were having a great time and giving the audience a great, fun time. When Jared said if he’d be a fairy tale character, he’d be the beast, Jensen said, “Congratulations, I guess that makes me the Beauty.” Then Jensen looked all smug at the audience’s reaction and Jared was looking at him like, “WHY did you just say that?!” That was priceless.
[Couple of pictures I took with my iTouch]
Couple of pictures I took with my iTouch:
Fan's Impala, notice the license plate:
View from our 12th floor hotel room.
Costume contest. Winner was the trio of Bobby, Sam, and Dean:
