Chicago con 2011 Saturday pix
Quick upload of pix and a few comments before heading off to Dragon*Con; if I don't do it now, I probably won't do it at all, figuring that the "window of opportunity" has passed. sgamadison assures me that it's not already too late ;-)
Saturday morning started with the Gold breakfast with Ben Browder :-D The man is just lovely! He took his time at the tables--no 90 second rush for this guy. Unfortunately, it meant that the breakfast ran over Kavan Smith's and Alex Zahara's talks. Ben apologized to the people still there when Kavan was supposed to start, and said anyone who wanted to go to that could leave, and he wouldn't be offended :-) I was at the last table, so it was a long wait and I missed Kavan and Alex, but Ben was worth it! He is a genuinely *good* person--considerate, caring, devoted to his family, trying to raise his kids to be decent human beings.... Can you say Boy Scout? ;-) Seriously, he's the kind of guy you'd want as a friend for the long haul.
Chris Judge, OTOH, not so much. He spent most of his time on stage talking about poo and flatulence related pranks, and about how he couldn't say anything about Dark Knight except that he was in it. Frankly, not impressed.
Paul McGillion made a brief appearance during Chris's time on stage, showing off his Cubs t-shirt to mixed reactions from the Chicago locals :-)
When he had his own time on stage there was a very touching moment with the Atlantis gate segment that adorned the stage. He noticed it, said, "I remember you!" very wistfully, and put his face down on the top of the gate. It was soooooo sweet :-)
Ben was self-deprecating and amusing as always, with some serious moments interspersed as well :-) He's had an "interesting" (i.e. *crappy*) year--he lost both his dad and his long-time manager to cancer, and if that wasn't enough, his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer! (Fortunately she's doing really well.) He joked that they've found the cause of cancer, and *he* is it. He had lots of amusing anecdotes about SG1, and some about Farscape as well.
Some quick comments about the dessert party: Alexis Cruz and Alex Zahara "crashed" the party, which was a lovely surprise. David Deluise is hilarious! As is Kavan Smith :-D Paul McGillion is utterly charming :-) (Chris Judge arrived late due to autographs and his meet&greet, and was so drunk he could barely walk. He staggered up to the table, said hello and sloppily apologized for being late, and staggered off to the next table. I'm not sure whether or not that was better than not showing up at all....) Overall it was the best dessert party in a long time!
Saturday morning started with the Gold breakfast with Ben Browder :-D The man is just lovely! He took his time at the tables--no 90 second rush for this guy. Unfortunately, it meant that the breakfast ran over Kavan Smith's and Alex Zahara's talks. Ben apologized to the people still there when Kavan was supposed to start, and said anyone who wanted to go to that could leave, and he wouldn't be offended :-) I was at the last table, so it was a long wait and I missed Kavan and Alex, but Ben was worth it! He is a genuinely *good* person--considerate, caring, devoted to his family, trying to raise his kids to be decent human beings.... Can you say Boy Scout? ;-) Seriously, he's the kind of guy you'd want as a friend for the long haul.
Chris Judge, OTOH, not so much. He spent most of his time on stage talking about poo and flatulence related pranks, and about how he couldn't say anything about Dark Knight except that he was in it. Frankly, not impressed.
Paul McGillion made a brief appearance during Chris's time on stage, showing off his Cubs t-shirt to mixed reactions from the Chicago locals :-)
When he had his own time on stage there was a very touching moment with the Atlantis gate segment that adorned the stage. He noticed it, said, "I remember you!" very wistfully, and put his face down on the top of the gate. It was soooooo sweet :-)
Ben was self-deprecating and amusing as always, with some serious moments interspersed as well :-) He's had an "interesting" (i.e. *crappy*) year--he lost both his dad and his long-time manager to cancer, and if that wasn't enough, his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer! (Fortunately she's doing really well.) He joked that they've found the cause of cancer, and *he* is it. He had lots of amusing anecdotes about SG1, and some about Farscape as well.
Some quick comments about the dessert party: Alexis Cruz and Alex Zahara "crashed" the party, which was a lovely surprise. David Deluise is hilarious! As is Kavan Smith :-D Paul McGillion is utterly charming :-) (Chris Judge arrived late due to autographs and his meet&greet, and was so drunk he could barely walk. He staggered up to the table, said hello and sloppily apologized for being late, and staggered off to the next table. I'm not sure whether or not that was better than not showing up at all....) Overall it was the best dessert party in a long time!