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Calgary report Part One
There's really no way not to make this long and drawn out, but I'll try not to meander too much. :-)
As a bit of background information, I have a trick knee, which I tweaked when I slipped in the bathtub a few days earlier, so I'm using a cane throughout the weekend. I also came equipped with a little folding tripod stool, since standing in long lines is completely out of the question for me.
I caught a cab outside my hotel around 8:30 Saturday morning, which took me as close as it could get to the Big Four building at the Calgary Stampede Grounds, where I'd be picking up my badge and wristband. It was a very l o n g walk once inside the building, but here was the first instance where the cane was an asset: the people ahead of me were directed to lines on the right, but I was sent off to the left, where I waited for maybe four seconds before being waited on. Properly equipped, I trekked back outside of the Big Four building (which was also the photo op location), where I was directed by a shouting volunteer to proceed to BMO Centre Building D&E, because the main entrance by the Corral was full. Meaning there were thousands of people waiting to enter by the main entrance already (doors were not opening until 10 am.)
I took my time walking over there, resting and snapping some photos along the way. When I was walking past the entrance to Building D, the door popped open, and I was invited to come in. "We won't make you walk all that way." So I avoided the probably quite huge throng waiting at the exterior E entrance for admission, got to sit on a bench in front of the interior entrance to Hall E, and got admitted to the Hall five minutes or so before the throngs were admitted indoors. Halls D and E were where the media guests were giving autographs. I was right where I wanted to be, and jumped right into Nathan Fillion's line (upper left hand corner of the map), so that I could get his autograph as a present for my SIL. (From what I've been reading today, this was a very wise move. Many people tried and failed over the course of Saturday and Sunday to a) get into his line without being turned away because it was full, b) actually make it to the front of the line before he had to leave to be someplace else.)
I plopped down on my little stool, and chatted with my neighbors in the line, one of which was a fellow originally from Ireland who works on the set of Supernatural! He was showing us pics on his cell from the wrap party, and also said that Jensen and Jared are pretty much all business on the set, and that they know just how lucky they are.
~~one hour later~~ Yes, one hour later, even though I'd gotten into the autograph line before the main doors even opened, I finally got up to Nathan's table. The Irish guy ahead of me had a photo of Nathan and Adam Baldwin, that Adam had signed a few years back...and defaced by drawing a mustache on Nathan's face, etc. Nathan said, "I know just what to do," and took a Sharpie and drew false eyelashes on Adam, then picked up his cell phone and took a picture of it, saying, "He'll get this later today." At one point he looked over at me, including me in the joke...which was the point where I kind of went "OMG NATHAN FILLION!" instead of just being 'yeah, I'm in line for Nathan Fillion, been in line forEVER..."
I'd placed a little Post-it note with my SIL's name at the top of the photo I'd selected for Nathan to sign. So he asked, "Are you Carol?" "No, I'm Cindy." "And where is Carol?" "She's in Indiana, and she adores you even more than I do." "Well, that's really saying something, because you and I go way back." "Well, that's true, but not everyone was aware of that, so thank you for announcing it!" :-D \o/
~~~
So now it's just after 11:00, and I head down to the end of the aisle to where I expect RDA to be, but he's not there! I panic a bit, hoping he hasn't cancelled, then I head over to where Michael should be signing, only to find a sign that says his flight was delayed and he won't be signing until noon. There are maybe a dozen young girls sitting on the floor, camped out waiting for him. I waffle about joining them, but decide against it, and head back over to where I expected to find RDA. I ask a volunteer, and find that he's been moved over near Nathan! So I scoot into his line, which isn't too terrible at that point, and eventually find myself one customer away from him. (I've selected a photo with both him and Michael on it, since Michael's delay means I can get both signatures on it.) (Oh, and there's a little handwritten sign announcing that Rick will not be able to personalize any autographs, as the line has to keep moving.)
So Rick is still talking to the woman in front of me, and at the same time he's signing my autograph. He slides it towards her, but his handler stops him. The other woman moves away and, OMG, he's all apologetic! I shake hands, take my photo, say "Thank you," and just kind of beam at him, but I'm sort of regretting that there was no real personal interaction while he was signing...and then he proceeds to make it up to me big time! Screw keeping the line moving!
"Are you from Calgary?" "No, I'm from Wisconsin." Rick does a double fist pump. "Yeah!" "Midwest," I say. "That's what I meant. You know I'm from Minnesota?" "Yes, I..the whole world knows you're from Minnesota!"
Again, I thought that was the end and was just sort of beaming at him and preparing to step away. "Are you on vacation?" I got all shifty-eyed. "No, I...came when I heard you were going to be here." (And Michael, but I didn't say that!)
HE GRABBED MY ARM! And gave it a little shake. "You're the BEST!"
I wanted to say, "No, you're the best", but I have a feeling those words never actually left my mouth... because HE GRABBED MY ARM, OMG!
Again, I'm ready to move away, but now he clearly feels EVEN MORE that he owes me something. "Are you...tell me...are you at least doing some of the photo ops or anything?" "Yes, I'm doing the photo op with you and Michael!" "Excellent! See you there!" "See you there!"
And I float away on Cloud Nine, resolved to never wash my arm again... :-)
I return to Michael's table, only to find that he's not there, what line there was has disappeared, and he's not expected to be signing until 2:30 now. So I head over to the Big Four building where my 1:30 photo op with Rick and Michael will take place. I was thinking I would have time to grab something to eat over there, but I ran into the woman who'd been in line for Rick with me, and she said the food court was insane, and she'd given up. So I just sat and enjoyed the sunshine and the parade of costumed attendees until shortly after 1:00, when I headed for the photo op entrance.
I got inside, and downstairs, and had just entered the huge room when a volunteer started shouting that everyone there for the Stargate photo op needed to go away and come back in ten minutes. My knee hadn't enjoyed doing the staircase, so I was going to try to get out of having to go up and out and then down again. I got directed to the elevator which would take me to the food court area where I could wait, but I'd no sooner pushed the elevator button than someone started shouting, "Stargate photo ops this way!" So I went back into the room and got pointed in the right direction and slid into line. Supposedly no one had been able to line up for this op until this point, but somehow I was still behind about 70 people. Yay for my little stool! A volunteer came along at one point and made everyone who had sat down on the ground stand up again (fire marshal regulations), but I was cool. \o/
We waited for a very long time, then got taken in small groups into Room 2. There was a mirror for last minute primping, and a table to dump all our belongings onto, and then we rounded the curtain, and there were Rick and Michael. It was all really fast. No time for chitchat. I handed my cane to one of the volunteers, responded to Michael's inquiry as to how I was doing, slid my arms around them, turned to smile at Rick (who looked like he was trying to remember if he didn't know me from somewhere, lol), and then faced front and smiled.
And then they both started SQUEEZING closer to me!
*fans self* They give great sandwich, I'm just sayin'. I think you can see that on my face. :-D
~~~~
more to come
As a bit of background information, I have a trick knee, which I tweaked when I slipped in the bathtub a few days earlier, so I'm using a cane throughout the weekend. I also came equipped with a little folding tripod stool, since standing in long lines is completely out of the question for me.
I caught a cab outside my hotel around 8:30 Saturday morning, which took me as close as it could get to the Big Four building at the Calgary Stampede Grounds, where I'd be picking up my badge and wristband. It was a very l o n g walk once inside the building, but here was the first instance where the cane was an asset: the people ahead of me were directed to lines on the right, but I was sent off to the left, where I waited for maybe four seconds before being waited on. Properly equipped, I trekked back outside of the Big Four building (which was also the photo op location), where I was directed by a shouting volunteer to proceed to BMO Centre Building D&E, because the main entrance by the Corral was full. Meaning there were thousands of people waiting to enter by the main entrance already (doors were not opening until 10 am.)
I took my time walking over there, resting and snapping some photos along the way. When I was walking past the entrance to Building D, the door popped open, and I was invited to come in. "We won't make you walk all that way." So I avoided the probably quite huge throng waiting at the exterior E entrance for admission, got to sit on a bench in front of the interior entrance to Hall E, and got admitted to the Hall five minutes or so before the throngs were admitted indoors. Halls D and E were where the media guests were giving autographs. I was right where I wanted to be, and jumped right into Nathan Fillion's line (upper left hand corner of the map), so that I could get his autograph as a present for my SIL. (From what I've been reading today, this was a very wise move. Many people tried and failed over the course of Saturday and Sunday to a) get into his line without being turned away because it was full, b) actually make it to the front of the line before he had to leave to be someplace else.)
I plopped down on my little stool, and chatted with my neighbors in the line, one of which was a fellow originally from Ireland who works on the set of Supernatural! He was showing us pics on his cell from the wrap party, and also said that Jensen and Jared are pretty much all business on the set, and that they know just how lucky they are.
~~one hour later~~ Yes, one hour later, even though I'd gotten into the autograph line before the main doors even opened, I finally got up to Nathan's table. The Irish guy ahead of me had a photo of Nathan and Adam Baldwin, that Adam had signed a few years back...and defaced by drawing a mustache on Nathan's face, etc. Nathan said, "I know just what to do," and took a Sharpie and drew false eyelashes on Adam, then picked up his cell phone and took a picture of it, saying, "He'll get this later today." At one point he looked over at me, including me in the joke...which was the point where I kind of went "OMG NATHAN FILLION!" instead of just being 'yeah, I'm in line for Nathan Fillion, been in line forEVER..."
I'd placed a little Post-it note with my SIL's name at the top of the photo I'd selected for Nathan to sign. So he asked, "Are you Carol?" "No, I'm Cindy." "And where is Carol?" "She's in Indiana, and she adores you even more than I do." "Well, that's really saying something, because you and I go way back." "Well, that's true, but not everyone was aware of that, so thank you for announcing it!" :-D \o/
~~~
So now it's just after 11:00, and I head down to the end of the aisle to where I expect RDA to be, but he's not there! I panic a bit, hoping he hasn't cancelled, then I head over to where Michael should be signing, only to find a sign that says his flight was delayed and he won't be signing until noon. There are maybe a dozen young girls sitting on the floor, camped out waiting for him. I waffle about joining them, but decide against it, and head back over to where I expected to find RDA. I ask a volunteer, and find that he's been moved over near Nathan! So I scoot into his line, which isn't too terrible at that point, and eventually find myself one customer away from him. (I've selected a photo with both him and Michael on it, since Michael's delay means I can get both signatures on it.) (Oh, and there's a little handwritten sign announcing that Rick will not be able to personalize any autographs, as the line has to keep moving.)
So Rick is still talking to the woman in front of me, and at the same time he's signing my autograph. He slides it towards her, but his handler stops him. The other woman moves away and, OMG, he's all apologetic! I shake hands, take my photo, say "Thank you," and just kind of beam at him, but I'm sort of regretting that there was no real personal interaction while he was signing...and then he proceeds to make it up to me big time! Screw keeping the line moving!
"Are you from Calgary?" "No, I'm from Wisconsin." Rick does a double fist pump. "Yeah!" "Midwest," I say. "That's what I meant. You know I'm from Minnesota?" "Yes, I..the whole world knows you're from Minnesota!"
Again, I thought that was the end and was just sort of beaming at him and preparing to step away. "Are you on vacation?" I got all shifty-eyed. "No, I...came when I heard you were going to be here." (And Michael, but I didn't say that!)
HE GRABBED MY ARM! And gave it a little shake. "You're the BEST!"
I wanted to say, "No, you're the best", but I have a feeling those words never actually left my mouth... because HE GRABBED MY ARM, OMG!
Again, I'm ready to move away, but now he clearly feels EVEN MORE that he owes me something. "Are you...tell me...are you at least doing some of the photo ops or anything?" "Yes, I'm doing the photo op with you and Michael!" "Excellent! See you there!" "See you there!"
And I float away on Cloud Nine, resolved to never wash my arm again... :-)
I return to Michael's table, only to find that he's not there, what line there was has disappeared, and he's not expected to be signing until 2:30 now. So I head over to the Big Four building where my 1:30 photo op with Rick and Michael will take place. I was thinking I would have time to grab something to eat over there, but I ran into the woman who'd been in line for Rick with me, and she said the food court was insane, and she'd given up. So I just sat and enjoyed the sunshine and the parade of costumed attendees until shortly after 1:00, when I headed for the photo op entrance.
I got inside, and downstairs, and had just entered the huge room when a volunteer started shouting that everyone there for the Stargate photo op needed to go away and come back in ten minutes. My knee hadn't enjoyed doing the staircase, so I was going to try to get out of having to go up and out and then down again. I got directed to the elevator which would take me to the food court area where I could wait, but I'd no sooner pushed the elevator button than someone started shouting, "Stargate photo ops this way!" So I went back into the room and got pointed in the right direction and slid into line. Supposedly no one had been able to line up for this op until this point, but somehow I was still behind about 70 people. Yay for my little stool! A volunteer came along at one point and made everyone who had sat down on the ground stand up again (fire marshal regulations), but I was cool. \o/
We waited for a very long time, then got taken in small groups into Room 2. There was a mirror for last minute primping, and a table to dump all our belongings onto, and then we rounded the curtain, and there were Rick and Michael. It was all really fast. No time for chitchat. I handed my cane to one of the volunteers, responded to Michael's inquiry as to how I was doing, slid my arms around them, turned to smile at Rick (who looked like he was trying to remember if he didn't know me from somewhere, lol), and then faced front and smiled.
And then they both started SQUEEZING closer to me!
*fans self* They give great sandwich, I'm just sayin'. I think you can see that on my face. :-D
~~~~
more to come
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And oh, Nathan! I love that he wrote 'stay shiny' on the autograph for your SIL. I adored him on Firefly and love watching him in Castle too.
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And that hand on your shoulder! *phew*
Thanks so much for the report. Looking forward to part two ...
Chris xx
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And what a lovely experience!!!...weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!...*dances happy dance for sid*...
So glad you got a great one...you deserve it honey!!...LOVE IT!!!
\o/ \o/ \o/
xoxoxoxoxoxo
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Thanks for sharing all the terrific little tidbits that go towards making the con experience great. Looking forward to part deux!
*mwah*
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(Anonymous) 2013-05-02 04:47 pm (UTC)(link)What a simply splendid photo of my favourite Sid with those two good-looking guys! Also, YaY for the hand on your shoulder. *g*
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And you give great con report, too.
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I would snug you, but somehow I don't think it would quite measure up!! ;D
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I think it must be great for them also, meeting at conventions after such a long time. Coming back to the family. I'll have to watch the panel yet, there are too many conventions happening in the US at the moment. I just watched the Dragon Con Torchwood panel with four of the five main stars, that one was fun as well.
I prefer our smaller cons over here in Germany though, yours sound crazy with standing in line for hours. The Stargate cons I went to had usually about 400-500 people, and some of them even only 100. Now THAT was familiar! Even the biggest event in Europe, Fedcon, has "only" about 3000 people.
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And Michael has the sexiest collar bones... Mmmm.
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And I'm so bringing a white cane should I ever do a con LOL!
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And I float away on Cloud Nine, resolved to never wash my arm again... :-)
*lol* I can totally understand that sentiment!
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Things I Have Learnded About the Ones Worth Seeing: (such as RDA, MS, AT, etc.)
They love having real contact with fans. They really do. They don't like being turned into cattle-call production lines, and they will often rebel or sabotage efforts to make them do it.
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Gah! now that's my kinda sandwich! Great pic! RDA is all over you! squeee ;)
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This is fabulous, truly. Darling gracious actors, a fantastic picture!!!!, and a great experience. I'm just smiling like crazy here, so happy for you -- and so glad you linked and I could get to share the squeeeeeeeee! ♥♥♥
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