Sunday MWC report
I caught a quick breakfast and then convened in the atrium to watch the latest Doctor Who episode and the Sarah Jane Adventures pilot with neadods and several other people. It became a running joke that she should rent it out and pay off her car repairs. God knows there was enough interest. I will save the reactions for another post, but suffice it to say, there were moments of great glee for old and new fans alike... and some annoyances as well. The Sarah Jane show might be intended for children, but it was quite enjoyable and I look forward to future episodes.
I went through the art show and was severely tempted by the shiny jewelry. There was a lovely lovely Egyptian inspired piece with a scarab as a main setting that I nearly bid on, but I thought better of it. I did manage one last sweep through the dealers room to see if there was anything I just had to have. I acquired a pair of stills, but otherwise, nothing really grabbed me.
I signed up for next year's con. I fear I may have a bad number for the hotel lottery for a change, but you never know. I certainly hope I'll be feeling better for the next one. It's been a rough stretch and I think it definitely impaired my enjoyment of this year's convention.
I went to two straight panels. The first one was on "Obscure TV Shows" and lord did they come up with some zingers, ones that had appeared for a few episodes. Everyone always started off with "No one with remember this but..." only to hear a chorus of "Oh, I loved that!" There were quite a few I wasn't familiar with. The second panel was a semi-annual one on old time radio. I was on that panel two years ago, but I think I preferred staying in the audience. "Remember WENN" received a mention, which pleased me no end. (*grrrs in AMC's general direction*) The nice thing was having two older people on the panel who remembered the radio shows and the time period as it was, rather than those of us younger folks rediscovering the old shows. We talked about how much we learned about WWII from radio broadcasts, like the reasons for the gas rationing. Not for a lack of gas, but because it would wear out the tires. I still recall listening to the RatPatrol radio's D-Day broadcast and how my perceptions of that day are now changed by knowing what they were listening to or how they heard the news.
Dinner was with normadesmond, nydia_s, suzy_queue and isamom. Hummingbirds also puts up movie posters during the weekend so we were seated in the Star Wars corner with the classic trilogy on one side and the newer ones on the other. They'd expanded their musical repertoire to include some country music. Some sounded like vidding songs, so we wondered if someone offered them some additional music.
Afterwards, four of us decided to convene downstairs again for more videos. I had told suzy_queue she had a prime opportunity to convert me to "Torchwood" if she so desired, since I hadn't watched any of the episodes. We watched the pilot and the "Captain Jack Harkness" episode. The way to my heart is right through the WWII episodes, what can we say? It's definitely a very different mood and feel from the main Doctor Who series and much much more adult. I'm going to need to see more episodes to form a more coherent opinion of some characters, Gwen and Owen especially. But it was amusing to see my "Oh who's he? *perks up* That's Ianto?!" He made quite a first impression. Very sad little fangirl, aren't I?
After determining that the atrium was getting a wee too loud for our tastes, we reconvened in my room. The wireless connection had been bad last night, presumably being pushed beyond its limits by a lot of anxious fans. Oops. It was doing a lot better this time around. I finally was able to ahem a dialup copy of the new Doctor Who episode so we continued the Media West tradition of watching the new episode on my laptop. I had already seen it this morning, but I enjoyed rewatching it and trying to notice other details. Having watched "Captain Jack Harkness" I actually found myself comparing the treatment of Martha and Toshiko.
The con is more or less over for me. I'll be on the shuttle for the airport with the hope that United will deign to let me leave Chicago this time around. Speaking of the Tardis, according to our itinerary, we appear to be arriving a minute later. I know it's the time change, but it does make you pause. It's been quite a convention. Maybe not the stress reliever I'd entirely hoped for, but I got the chance to see and hang out with old friends and watch some shows and otherwise be fannish for a few shining moments. Alas Tuesday will be back to work. I also have a ton of writing I need to catch up with. Maybe on the flight... or maybe waiting in the airport... who knows what awaits me?