Pegasus 3
Cons are always fabulous. Always. And this time around was no exception. It began in lovely style on Thursday when I picked up beeej from Heathrow and -- rather than letting the poor girl sleep -- we headed straight off to Hampton Court where we did audio tours, checked out The Great Vine, got lost in the Maze, and made sure her Shep action figure was photographed in a variety of non-compromising positions. After working up an appetite (and finding a crown for our action figures ::heh::) we did the English pub thing and then returned home to an evening of fangirling and talking about graphics and all sorts. I finally relented and let her go to bed at eleven o'clock. A successful mission of wearing out the poor visitor.
Unfortunately I had to go to work on Friday, but evildrem drove up and met up with beeej at my house from where they decamped to the Sheraton and were soon joined by bigtitch. And thus began the official part of the Con Weekend as they headed off to the infamous Thistle across the road for the Meet and Greet where I joined them.
The Meet and Greet was fab. As we were towards the back, we had time to kill as our table was amongst the last to be visited. Fortunately, being the seasoned con goers that we are, we brought our own entertainment -- legos and play dough. Which resulted in the creation of a lovely tableau which each of the guests commented upon.
If you look closely you'll see: the Tardis, a puddlejumper, a MALP, the Face of Boe, the Stargate, John lying in the Chair, Ronon with dreads, and of course Captain Jack being worshipped by the gummi bear aliens (while engaging in tentacle sex).
Dean Marshall and Andee Frizzell were both rather ... intrigued ... by the enhancements made to Captain Jack's crotch. Tori Higginson was just bemused and slightly perplexed by the whole layout. Kavan Smith just laughed and suggested we were having too much fun. And Paul McGillion probably had the least to say although even his eyebrows did rise.
I'm rubbish at remembering what the guests say during these meet and greets. Paul talked about Star Trek of course; he was obviously gutted not to get Scotty, but it seemed as though his popularity was made known to the producers and they apologized repeatedly but reiterated that they had already settled on Simon Pegg (it seems like he was the complete frontrunner from day one). Nonetheless, he loved being part of a big budget film (even though he sounded slightly bitter with his 'blink and you'll miss me').
Tori was very sweet; she came across as slightly dorkable during the Meet and Greet, yet during the talks the following day, her intelligence and poise shone through. It's obvious that she's amazed at the supportive fan reaction to Weir. And yes, she's hoping that Weir comes back in Season Five (particularly so that she can wear that sexy leather outfit which was shown for all of five seconds in "Spoils of War").
Andee was hilarious. She really had a hoot playing with the figures on the table. We didn't really talk about her role in Atlantis during the M&G but learned much more about it the next day.
Dean Marshall and Kavan Smith are just utterly lovely. Kavan hasn't seen Jason Momoa without his dreads yet but was kidding that Jason could have hidden a beer can in his hair.
We wrapped it up after the M&G and headed out, only to return to The Thistle on Saturday afternoon for the p.m. talks. We skipped the early morning talks (we had important things to do such as breakfast and acquiring pink fizzy drink for the evening :D).
The first talk of the p.m. was by Andee. She is extremely outgoing and vibrant. And tall! 6'1" -- and naturally skinny. You can see why they chose her as the model Wraith Queen. It takes five hours to put the makeup et al on and another two hours to remove it; her working days are *long* and it's very difficult to see with the contact lenses and the prosthetics. When asked which was her favourite Wraith look, she liked the Queen with the long red hair and really white skin. And it turns out that one of the Queens had a working name on set. Mila. ::heh:: (I've always been convinced that my Mila has been channeling an alien -- all cats do after all!).
When asked who would she suck the life out of, she queried, 'in a positive way or a negative way'? (Oh yes, she has a beautifully dirty mind.) She deferred answering the question but then later when she was talking about appearing in Supernatural, she came back to the question and answered rather enthusiastically "Jensen". :D
What would she love to play? A vampire (several times she mentioned a passion for things "dead/undead"). And on what show? Any show basically. The room cracked up when she started out with Law and Order. Of course Law and Order needed a vampire.
And what is one of her favourite memories of working on Atlantis? She has a picture taken during rehersals. She's got the wig on and the makeup but she's wearing a pink towel wrap and baggy grey trousers with Joe kneeling in front of her on sandbags. Go Wraith Queen!
Andee Frizzell. Absolutely lovely woman. She plays all of the Hive Queens.
Fabulous laugh!
And the most expressive of the lot when it comes to her body language and facial expressions.
Paul McGillion was next. Came on the stage in a black kilt and a Save Carson shirt. He was obviously and continues to be chuffed about the fan reaction to his death and the various attempts to make the producers see sense. He's really pleased to be back in "The Kindred" and confirms that his departure at the end of the two episode arc does not close the door on the possibility of his return in Season Five.
There were lots of questions about his appearance on "A Dog's Breakfast" and he discussed the entire Star Trek audition/filming experience. I didn't realize that James Doohan's son had supported him as the favourite for the role.
He repeated the lovely story about his parents visiting the set of Atlantis and just being so polite and awestruck and simply "not wanting to be a bother". I can totally see that. I can also see his Scottish parents being a bit concerned about their teacher son (one of seven children -- five brothers and a sister! Eeek!!) making a living as an actor.
When asked to summarize the Atlantis actors in one word and then a reason as to why, he cracked everybody up with his answers:
Jason. Cool. Because he is.
Rachel. Sexy. Because she is.
Tori. Classy. Because she is.
Joe. Hair. Because of the gel!
David. Creepy. Because he kissed me! Seriously though, funny. Because he is.
And the good doctor came on stage wearing a kilt. :D
Mr. McGillion.
::heh:: Paul was looking at the x-rays and describing whose brains they all were. The bottom right hand corner one belonged to Rodney -- "pea brain" -- said in the most loving of fashions of course.
And finally Tori. Lovely, lovely person. She's obviously amazed at the amount of support her character has received and is grateful for the fans for that support. To confirm her dorkiness, she did a lovely dolphin imitation at the request of the audience. To confirm her total non-dorkiness, when asked about what RepliWeir was going to do, she went on to say that wasn't it completely unfair that the guys got to meet all of these attractive alien women. Well, she's convinced that RepliWeir is on a search for the planet of the men with eight arms. ::big grin::
Little tidbits: when she finished acting school (in England), she returned to Canada and for several years was the Queen of the B movies. She adores her dog. She used to go to Wales as a child and spend summers with her grandmother whom she really looks up to as instilling within her the difference between right and wrong.
And when asked about the differences in working on the SGA set and the SG1 set, she described it as the SGA kids being the nerdy side and the SG1 kids being the cool side. Filming with RDA and Michael Shanks and the rest was apparently a lot of fun; of course they made her regularly blush, but they were also very relaxed, showing up late with beer in their pockets and so on. Whereas the SGA kids are still the neener keeners, showing up early and being ever so proper (although I'm sure that's starting to give way quick enough :D).
We adore Tori. She's beautiful and intelligent and oh so sweet natured by the sounds of it.
And she was oh so tickled pink when a group of fans held up signs in the audience when she first came on. I don't remember what the signs said exactly but it had something to do with meeting her and within minutes, being a fan for life.
Lovely guests.
Then it was onto the auction during which I actually bought something! I've been wanting some SGA art for a while now, and when this came up, I couldn't resist. And the price was utterly reasonably -- I've spent more on a grocery run when friends were coming over.
It proudly watches over the shelves containing my DVD collection.
And then, it was time for the evening disco during which we all drank far too much but had oodles of fun. No guests dancing though. Very sad. But, we nearly shut the place down. We left at three in the a.m. to toddle back over to the Sheraton, guided back by own mother duck, bigtitch.
Suffice it to say Sunday was a wee bit rough. As I had missed Kavan's talk, I actually headed back to my house and was joined later in the day by beeej and evildrem for the rest of the evening. And yes-- first order of the day. "Harmony". Oh, *how* do I love my show. That episode simply rocked. ::beams::
So, all in all, a fabulous weekend was had.
Unfortunately I had to go to work on Friday, but evildrem drove up and met up with beeej at my house from where they decamped to the Sheraton and were soon joined by bigtitch. And thus began the official part of the Con Weekend as they headed off to the infamous Thistle across the road for the Meet and Greet where I joined them.
The Meet and Greet was fab. As we were towards the back, we had time to kill as our table was amongst the last to be visited. Fortunately, being the seasoned con goers that we are, we brought our own entertainment -- legos and play dough. Which resulted in the creation of a lovely tableau which each of the guests commented upon.
If you look closely you'll see: the Tardis, a puddlejumper, a MALP, the Face of Boe, the Stargate, John lying in the Chair, Ronon with dreads, and of course Captain Jack being worshipped by the gummi bear aliens (while engaging in tentacle sex).
Dean Marshall and Andee Frizzell were both rather ... intrigued ... by the enhancements made to Captain Jack's crotch. Tori Higginson was just bemused and slightly perplexed by the whole layout. Kavan Smith just laughed and suggested we were having too much fun. And Paul McGillion probably had the least to say although even his eyebrows did rise.
I'm rubbish at remembering what the guests say during these meet and greets. Paul talked about Star Trek of course; he was obviously gutted not to get Scotty, but it seemed as though his popularity was made known to the producers and they apologized repeatedly but reiterated that they had already settled on Simon Pegg (it seems like he was the complete frontrunner from day one). Nonetheless, he loved being part of a big budget film (even though he sounded slightly bitter with his 'blink and you'll miss me').
Tori was very sweet; she came across as slightly dorkable during the Meet and Greet, yet during the talks the following day, her intelligence and poise shone through. It's obvious that she's amazed at the supportive fan reaction to Weir. And yes, she's hoping that Weir comes back in Season Five (particularly so that she can wear that sexy leather outfit which was shown for all of five seconds in "Spoils of War").
Andee was hilarious. She really had a hoot playing with the figures on the table. We didn't really talk about her role in Atlantis during the M&G but learned much more about it the next day.
Dean Marshall and Kavan Smith are just utterly lovely. Kavan hasn't seen Jason Momoa without his dreads yet but was kidding that Jason could have hidden a beer can in his hair.
We wrapped it up after the M&G and headed out, only to return to The Thistle on Saturday afternoon for the p.m. talks. We skipped the early morning talks (we had important things to do such as breakfast and acquiring pink fizzy drink for the evening :D).
The first talk of the p.m. was by Andee. She is extremely outgoing and vibrant. And tall! 6'1" -- and naturally skinny. You can see why they chose her as the model Wraith Queen. It takes five hours to put the makeup et al on and another two hours to remove it; her working days are *long* and it's very difficult to see with the contact lenses and the prosthetics. When asked which was her favourite Wraith look, she liked the Queen with the long red hair and really white skin. And it turns out that one of the Queens had a working name on set. Mila. ::heh:: (I've always been convinced that my Mila has been channeling an alien -- all cats do after all!).
When asked who would she suck the life out of, she queried, 'in a positive way or a negative way'? (Oh yes, she has a beautifully dirty mind.) She deferred answering the question but then later when she was talking about appearing in Supernatural, she came back to the question and answered rather enthusiastically "Jensen". :D
What would she love to play? A vampire (several times she mentioned a passion for things "dead/undead"). And on what show? Any show basically. The room cracked up when she started out with Law and Order. Of course Law and Order needed a vampire.
And what is one of her favourite memories of working on Atlantis? She has a picture taken during rehersals. She's got the wig on and the makeup but she's wearing a pink towel wrap and baggy grey trousers with Joe kneeling in front of her on sandbags. Go Wraith Queen!
Andee Frizzell. Absolutely lovely woman. She plays all of the Hive Queens.
Fabulous laugh!
And the most expressive of the lot when it comes to her body language and facial expressions.
Paul McGillion was next. Came on the stage in a black kilt and a Save Carson shirt. He was obviously and continues to be chuffed about the fan reaction to his death and the various attempts to make the producers see sense. He's really pleased to be back in "The Kindred" and confirms that his departure at the end of the two episode arc does not close the door on the possibility of his return in Season Five.
There were lots of questions about his appearance on "A Dog's Breakfast" and he discussed the entire Star Trek audition/filming experience. I didn't realize that James Doohan's son had supported him as the favourite for the role.
He repeated the lovely story about his parents visiting the set of Atlantis and just being so polite and awestruck and simply "not wanting to be a bother". I can totally see that. I can also see his Scottish parents being a bit concerned about their teacher son (one of seven children -- five brothers and a sister! Eeek!!) making a living as an actor.
When asked to summarize the Atlantis actors in one word and then a reason as to why, he cracked everybody up with his answers:
Jason. Cool. Because he is.
Rachel. Sexy. Because she is.
Tori. Classy. Because she is.
Joe. Hair. Because of the gel!
David. Creepy. Because he kissed me! Seriously though, funny. Because he is.
And the good doctor came on stage wearing a kilt. :D
Mr. McGillion.
::heh:: Paul was looking at the x-rays and describing whose brains they all were. The bottom right hand corner one belonged to Rodney -- "pea brain" -- said in the most loving of fashions of course.
And finally Tori. Lovely, lovely person. She's obviously amazed at the amount of support her character has received and is grateful for the fans for that support. To confirm her dorkiness, she did a lovely dolphin imitation at the request of the audience. To confirm her total non-dorkiness, when asked about what RepliWeir was going to do, she went on to say that wasn't it completely unfair that the guys got to meet all of these attractive alien women. Well, she's convinced that RepliWeir is on a search for the planet of the men with eight arms. ::big grin::
Little tidbits: when she finished acting school (in England), she returned to Canada and for several years was the Queen of the B movies. She adores her dog. She used to go to Wales as a child and spend summers with her grandmother whom she really looks up to as instilling within her the difference between right and wrong.
And when asked about the differences in working on the SGA set and the SG1 set, she described it as the SGA kids being the nerdy side and the SG1 kids being the cool side. Filming with RDA and Michael Shanks and the rest was apparently a lot of fun; of course they made her regularly blush, but they were also very relaxed, showing up late with beer in their pockets and so on. Whereas the SGA kids are still the neener keeners, showing up early and being ever so proper (although I'm sure that's starting to give way quick enough :D).
We adore Tori. She's beautiful and intelligent and oh so sweet natured by the sounds of it.
And she was oh so tickled pink when a group of fans held up signs in the audience when she first came on. I don't remember what the signs said exactly but it had something to do with meeting her and within minutes, being a fan for life.
Lovely guests.
Then it was onto the auction during which I actually bought something! I've been wanting some SGA art for a while now, and when this came up, I couldn't resist. And the price was utterly reasonably -- I've spent more on a grocery run when friends were coming over.
It proudly watches over the shelves containing my DVD collection.
And then, it was time for the evening disco during which we all drank far too much but had oodles of fun. No guests dancing though. Very sad. But, we nearly shut the place down. We left at three in the a.m. to toddle back over to the Sheraton, guided back by own mother duck, bigtitch.
Suffice it to say Sunday was a wee bit rough. As I had missed Kavan's talk, I actually headed back to my house and was joined later in the day by beeej and evildrem for the rest of the evening. And yes-- first order of the day. "Harmony". Oh, *how* do I love my show. That episode simply rocked. ::beams::
So, all in all, a fabulous weekend was had.