A fannish weekend .. with more than a wee bit of Merlin involved ...
Hello internet! Oh how I have missed you. Two days without a connection and I was getting **twitchy**. I even called up our company's IT guy this afternoon in Canada to ask for his help with the new router!
So, the weekend! There have been fabulous posts by loreley_se and londinensa with pictures posted over the past few days. I'll add my wee bit of commentary to the mix :) And some pictures of my own.
Firstly, the weekend actually began on Friday night when londinensa and I met up with fairyd123 to see Madame de Sade at the Wyndham Theatre. It was certainly an intense play -- three acts without an interval. Frances Barber as Comtessa de Saint-Ford -- the lascivious, whip cracking, epitome of sexuality-- is a delight to watch. She has the best dialogue in the play without question. And Judie Dench is just gloriously regal and a pleasure to see on stage. She has more grace in one little finger than most actresses will ever manage to acquire. As for the play itself, I can appreciate the themes that are being explored, but I don't think the play quite achieved what it was intending to do. Was it meant to explain what de Sade believed in? Or rather society's response to de Sade's actions and an analysis of conventional viewpoints as contrasted with de Sade's? In any event, unfortunately, the play didn't seem to achieve either. Nonetheless, an interesting evening and well worth it to see Judi Dench and Frances Barber.
Then, after five hours of sleep, it was up an at ungodly hour in order to make sure I caught the train into London in order to make it to the London ExCEL centre by seven thirty. (Ah yes, the things we do for fandom ;)).
And why the ExCEL centre? For the London Expo of course at which the cast of Merlin were centre stage, doing an hour long panel and free autographs. How could I not go?
Thanks to good travel karma, loreley_se, rodneyscat, lucky_jack and I arrived at the centre well before seven thirty in the morning. And the queue was already incredibly long! And full of cosplayers in gorgeous costumes. I was very impressed. We were shortly thereafter joined by londinensa, lady_razzle and evildrem and later in the morning by the4ts.
Suffice it to say, once we got admitted into the centre, we were seventh in the queue for tickets to the Merlin autograph signing, so we all felt the trip had been well worth it indeed. And hey -- the centre had coffee. That makes everything much better.
Once one o'clock rolled around it was time for the panel and a room *full* of fans cheered on the entrance of Bradley James, Katie McGrath, Angel Coulby and Colin Morgan. In four words: they were *all* lovely!
The full team on stage for the talks.
The adorable Colin and utterly sweet Angel. Colin's Irish accent was in full appearance and he came across as simply huggable. Although I suspect that underneath that innocent exterior lurks a prankster of the extreme quality. Angel just came across as very sweet.
The other half of the Merlin cast who were attending. And seriously, don't they look like they're plotting something? I kept wanting to think of them as the wicked stepsister and stepbrother. Katie by the way is utterly gorgeous and articulate. She was well spoken during the panel and during the autographs.
The Bradster, pouting when someone asked him whether or not Arthur would be less *dim* in the second series.
However, he quickly retrieved his equilibrium and turned the questions back to the audience. There's no doubt in my mind that Bradley is not only the current prankster in the group, but also the extrovert. He's incredibly comfortable in his own skin, but still genuinely lovely to the fans.
As for Colin -- just so, so, cute. I just want to take him home and feed him and look after him!
No, Bradley -- you need not worry. You're more than capable of taking care of yourself. Which is probably why I fan you more than I do Colin ...
Oh look! Fans!! Hello there :D From the comments they made, they're all shocked (happily) by how widely accepted Merlin has been and how much fan support there is out there.
Oral fixation by any chance? I have a number of pics of Bradley with his fingers near his mouth, in his mouth ... you get the picture.
It sounds like Angel will have a fair number of scenes next year. The good news -- Lancelot is returning (in the form of the actor Santiago Cabrera -- who was kind enough to play with Bradley's team in the Soccer Six charity football match ;)). And, apparently, they'll be advancing the romance between Arthur and Gwen. Sounds like an interesting season!
Just. Lovely. Need I say more?
And during the autographs they were incredibly charming. Each of them looked up at everybody in the queue and chatted away -- and that is a talent I'm incredibly impressed with. With Bradley I chatted about his upcoming football match, with Colin his panto experiences and the uniqueness of the genre. And with the gals we chatted accents because they all asked where I was from. My Canadian accent is still quite distinctive ;)
And then it was off to the bar at the Ibis Hotel where we had a few drinks and enjoyed the sun and the entire experience before we all headed off to our various accomodations for the evening. Gotta love fandom though: at one point lucky_jack came back to our table and just laughed at how surreal the moment was. She said as soon as she'd opened the door out onto the deck, she heard us talking about who had the responsiblity of setting up the duty rosters for the Starfleet ships heading to Vulcan. ::hee:: No -- we're really not geeks. ;)
And then, after a leisurely morning on Sunday (although not for me as I was still battling my router ...), it was off to the Chelsea Football Club to see the Soccer Six Charity game -- at which Mr. Bradley James was to be a participant.
I was the first to arrive and scouted out a place in the shade at one of the entry points. I'd picked up a programme and saw rather quickly that we would have the bonus of Santiago Cabrera on Bradley's team. I kept that to myself until the rest of the gang -- loreley_se, rodneyscat, lucky_jack, londinensa, and lady_razzle -- arrived. And my!! Such enthusiasm.
Suffice it to say, once the doors opened, we hustled our way inside, found seats in the fourth row in the West Stands, and then quickly decided to move once we realized that we were in the midst of JLS fangirl central. Good lungs on those fangirls. The screeching was just a bit too much for us.
And after we had moved, we realized that we had been guided by the hand of providence for we were centrally located between Pitches Two and Four upon which our intrepid team of Bradley, Santiago and others played all of their games. We couldn't have planned a better spot.
And on that note: Bradley and Santiago were brilliant!! Seriously -- they scored the majority of the goals and they won 2/3 regular matches. They got to the quarter finals, won their match, and then in the semi-finals they were faced with the Babyshambles Team. That team had some fabulous players on it. But -- as far as I'm concerned -- they had one unfair advantage. Babyshambles had, as their goal keeper, Neville Southall -- retired Everton goalkeeper. Hullo!! This is a charity game. Nobody else has a retired professional goalkeeper. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Nonetheless, our boys ended the regular game with a tied score and it came to the Kick Off. Bradley and Santiago made their kicks against Neville as did a few others but not the entire team. Ergo, at the end of the day, the "In Betweeners" lost. But -- all you had to do was listen to the audience to gather that our boys were the favourites. And they were damned good.
And now, a few pics.
One of our boys showing off his footwork.
The boys together. It tooks us a while to actually find them because originally they were both part of the TelStars teams. But then lady_razzle's eagle eye caught Bradley on the pitch in a green shirt rather than the purple and red shirt we were expecting.
Mr. James ... proving he is light of foot on the football field. He's an excellent player and offence is definitely his strength. But it also came across that he's a fabulous team captain, drawing everyone together, making tough choices about substitutions, and giving those all important peptalks to everyone. And on the two occasions they did lose, he was incredibly gracious in congratulating the other team.
Being on the field isn't always enjoyable. Our boy got quite a hit here. But, he perservered.
Speaking of which, here he is ...
And look at those legs on him!
As for action, the boy knows how to move!
The boys in action. They really made a great team on the pitch.
This is a purely gratuitous shot. And I will raise my eyebrow at anybody who wouldn't have taken a similar shot -- if the angle were right ;)
Look at the boys. Talk about BFF :)
I'll let this pic speak for itself.
And then we have the lovely Santiago. This guy is fabulously good on the pitch. And, to top it off, doesn't hesistate to take off his shirt -- for good reason!!
Mmmm. No further comment.
But it's not only Bradley who deserves a viewing. Thank you Santiago. I realize you were actually stretching out a cramp, but the view was greatly appreciated.
And here are some more gratuitous shots. Lovely view ...
And here are all of the InBetweeners, supporting each other during the Penalty Shoot Off..
And this picture is probably one of my favourites. Bradley is consoling one of the chaps who didn't make his penalty shoot off against Neville. Mr. James -- you are *such* a born leader!
And here he is after the semi-final game ended -- looking mighty fine all glossy with hard earned sweat.
Mmmmm. That's all.
I love this picture. Bradley has obviously taken the loss dearly and only feels comfortable expressing his unhappiness around Santiago (as he's been perky up until now). And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
And here is the utterly gorgeous Santiago, lounging beautifully as he watches the finals.
My. That Bradley is rather bendable indeed. Very much worthy of admiration. Although it really looks like he needs some help stretching out those muscles in his legs ...
And it looks like Santiago is offering! ::grins::
Speaking of Santiago, I think he's finally twigged onto the cameras...
And this was our boy, pointing at us to get our butts down to the side of the pitch. He emphatically pointed at us twice as we were convinced he wasn't actually looking at us the first time around.
And finally, here be the Bradster, filming us with his camcorder. ::grin::
And thus ended another, happily mad, fangirl weekend :D
So, the weekend! There have been fabulous posts by loreley_se and londinensa with pictures posted over the past few days. I'll add my wee bit of commentary to the mix :) And some pictures of my own.
Firstly, the weekend actually began on Friday night when londinensa and I met up with fairyd123 to see Madame de Sade at the Wyndham Theatre. It was certainly an intense play -- three acts without an interval. Frances Barber as Comtessa de Saint-Ford -- the lascivious, whip cracking, epitome of sexuality-- is a delight to watch. She has the best dialogue in the play without question. And Judie Dench is just gloriously regal and a pleasure to see on stage. She has more grace in one little finger than most actresses will ever manage to acquire. As for the play itself, I can appreciate the themes that are being explored, but I don't think the play quite achieved what it was intending to do. Was it meant to explain what de Sade believed in? Or rather society's response to de Sade's actions and an analysis of conventional viewpoints as contrasted with de Sade's? In any event, unfortunately, the play didn't seem to achieve either. Nonetheless, an interesting evening and well worth it to see Judi Dench and Frances Barber.
Then, after five hours of sleep, it was up an at ungodly hour in order to make sure I caught the train into London in order to make it to the London ExCEL centre by seven thirty. (Ah yes, the things we do for fandom ;)).
And why the ExCEL centre? For the London Expo of course at which the cast of Merlin were centre stage, doing an hour long panel and free autographs. How could I not go?
Thanks to good travel karma, loreley_se, rodneyscat, lucky_jack and I arrived at the centre well before seven thirty in the morning. And the queue was already incredibly long! And full of cosplayers in gorgeous costumes. I was very impressed. We were shortly thereafter joined by londinensa, lady_razzle and evildrem and later in the morning by the4ts.
Suffice it to say, once we got admitted into the centre, we were seventh in the queue for tickets to the Merlin autograph signing, so we all felt the trip had been well worth it indeed. And hey -- the centre had coffee. That makes everything much better.
Once one o'clock rolled around it was time for the panel and a room *full* of fans cheered on the entrance of Bradley James, Katie McGrath, Angel Coulby and Colin Morgan. In four words: they were *all* lovely!
The full team on stage for the talks.
The adorable Colin and utterly sweet Angel. Colin's Irish accent was in full appearance and he came across as simply huggable. Although I suspect that underneath that innocent exterior lurks a prankster of the extreme quality. Angel just came across as very sweet.
The other half of the Merlin cast who were attending. And seriously, don't they look like they're plotting something? I kept wanting to think of them as the wicked stepsister and stepbrother. Katie by the way is utterly gorgeous and articulate. She was well spoken during the panel and during the autographs.
The Bradster, pouting when someone asked him whether or not Arthur would be less *dim* in the second series.
However, he quickly retrieved his equilibrium and turned the questions back to the audience. There's no doubt in my mind that Bradley is not only the current prankster in the group, but also the extrovert. He's incredibly comfortable in his own skin, but still genuinely lovely to the fans.
As for Colin -- just so, so, cute. I just want to take him home and feed him and look after him!
No, Bradley -- you need not worry. You're more than capable of taking care of yourself. Which is probably why I fan you more than I do Colin ...
Oh look! Fans!! Hello there :D From the comments they made, they're all shocked (happily) by how widely accepted Merlin has been and how much fan support there is out there.
Oral fixation by any chance? I have a number of pics of Bradley with his fingers near his mouth, in his mouth ... you get the picture.
It sounds like Angel will have a fair number of scenes next year. The good news -- Lancelot is returning (in the form of the actor Santiago Cabrera -- who was kind enough to play with Bradley's team in the Soccer Six charity football match ;)). And, apparently, they'll be advancing the romance between Arthur and Gwen. Sounds like an interesting season!
Just. Lovely. Need I say more?
And during the autographs they were incredibly charming. Each of them looked up at everybody in the queue and chatted away -- and that is a talent I'm incredibly impressed with. With Bradley I chatted about his upcoming football match, with Colin his panto experiences and the uniqueness of the genre. And with the gals we chatted accents because they all asked where I was from. My Canadian accent is still quite distinctive ;)
And then it was off to the bar at the Ibis Hotel where we had a few drinks and enjoyed the sun and the entire experience before we all headed off to our various accomodations for the evening. Gotta love fandom though: at one point lucky_jack came back to our table and just laughed at how surreal the moment was. She said as soon as she'd opened the door out onto the deck, she heard us talking about who had the responsiblity of setting up the duty rosters for the Starfleet ships heading to Vulcan. ::hee:: No -- we're really not geeks. ;)
And then, after a leisurely morning on Sunday (although not for me as I was still battling my router ...), it was off to the Chelsea Football Club to see the Soccer Six Charity game -- at which Mr. Bradley James was to be a participant.
I was the first to arrive and scouted out a place in the shade at one of the entry points. I'd picked up a programme and saw rather quickly that we would have the bonus of Santiago Cabrera on Bradley's team. I kept that to myself until the rest of the gang -- loreley_se, rodneyscat, lucky_jack, londinensa, and lady_razzle -- arrived. And my!! Such enthusiasm.
Suffice it to say, once the doors opened, we hustled our way inside, found seats in the fourth row in the West Stands, and then quickly decided to move once we realized that we were in the midst of JLS fangirl central. Good lungs on those fangirls. The screeching was just a bit too much for us.
And after we had moved, we realized that we had been guided by the hand of providence for we were centrally located between Pitches Two and Four upon which our intrepid team of Bradley, Santiago and others played all of their games. We couldn't have planned a better spot.
And on that note: Bradley and Santiago were brilliant!! Seriously -- they scored the majority of the goals and they won 2/3 regular matches. They got to the quarter finals, won their match, and then in the semi-finals they were faced with the Babyshambles Team. That team had some fabulous players on it. But -- as far as I'm concerned -- they had one unfair advantage. Babyshambles had, as their goal keeper, Neville Southall -- retired Everton goalkeeper. Hullo!! This is a charity game. Nobody else has a retired professional goalkeeper. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Nonetheless, our boys ended the regular game with a tied score and it came to the Kick Off. Bradley and Santiago made their kicks against Neville as did a few others but not the entire team. Ergo, at the end of the day, the "In Betweeners" lost. But -- all you had to do was listen to the audience to gather that our boys were the favourites. And they were damned good.
And now, a few pics.
One of our boys showing off his footwork.
The boys together. It tooks us a while to actually find them because originally they were both part of the TelStars teams. But then lady_razzle's eagle eye caught Bradley on the pitch in a green shirt rather than the purple and red shirt we were expecting.
Mr. James ... proving he is light of foot on the football field. He's an excellent player and offence is definitely his strength. But it also came across that he's a fabulous team captain, drawing everyone together, making tough choices about substitutions, and giving those all important peptalks to everyone. And on the two occasions they did lose, he was incredibly gracious in congratulating the other team.
Being on the field isn't always enjoyable. Our boy got quite a hit here. But, he perservered.
Speaking of which, here he is ...
And look at those legs on him!
As for action, the boy knows how to move!
The boys in action. They really made a great team on the pitch.
This is a purely gratuitous shot. And I will raise my eyebrow at anybody who wouldn't have taken a similar shot -- if the angle were right ;)
Look at the boys. Talk about BFF :)
I'll let this pic speak for itself.
And then we have the lovely Santiago. This guy is fabulously good on the pitch. And, to top it off, doesn't hesistate to take off his shirt -- for good reason!!
Mmmm. No further comment.
But it's not only Bradley who deserves a viewing. Thank you Santiago. I realize you were actually stretching out a cramp, but the view was greatly appreciated.
And here are some more gratuitous shots. Lovely view ...
And here are all of the InBetweeners, supporting each other during the Penalty Shoot Off..
And this picture is probably one of my favourites. Bradley is consoling one of the chaps who didn't make his penalty shoot off against Neville. Mr. James -- you are *such* a born leader!
And here he is after the semi-final game ended -- looking mighty fine all glossy with hard earned sweat.
Mmmmm. That's all.
I love this picture. Bradley has obviously taken the loss dearly and only feels comfortable expressing his unhappiness around Santiago (as he's been perky up until now). And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
And here is the utterly gorgeous Santiago, lounging beautifully as he watches the finals.
My. That Bradley is rather bendable indeed. Very much worthy of admiration. Although it really looks like he needs some help stretching out those muscles in his legs ...
And it looks like Santiago is offering! ::grins::
Speaking of Santiago, I think he's finally twigged onto the cameras...
And this was our boy, pointing at us to get our butts down to the side of the pitch. He emphatically pointed at us twice as we were convinced he wasn't actually looking at us the first time around.
And finally, here be the Bradster, filming us with his camcorder. ::grin::
And thus ended another, happily mad, fangirl weekend :D