Polaris 2008
Jul. 12th, 2008 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charloweenWe (Teagan and I) started the day by making some con-friends (because why spend the day as two when you can run around as four?); hello to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
janten and jennybenz! That was as we were waiting for Gareth David-Lloyd's Q&A to start.
He cheerfully shared stories from the set (Barrowman likes to put his genitals in/on all the props, apparently... as a joke, I think), joked that he was still drunk from the night before, and told us about how before Torchwood he'd spent four years starving as a struggling young actor in London. Awwww. He's quite good in front of a crowd (funny, natural, charming - he'd do decent stand-up 'cause his timing is great) and even pimped his band's myspace page.
Compared to last year's FanExpo (and the year before), there was lots of Doctor Who stuff. Yes, the place was crawling with Klingons, but the dealer's room was about 30% DW. Also there was a giant Dalek.
Good parenting: give your baby to Darth Vader.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, multiple versions of the same character hung out with a notorious megalomaniac. But come on... after what Vader did to Alderaan, the Doctor would so not return his calls.
Going to a con with an anthropologist is hilarious. We had to get a picture taken, especially after she took that course in the meanings of material objects. And also because no one would believe that a Welshman would wear a silly sheep tshirt to a con. So there: we has a Ianto. Symbolically, anyway. It's such a strange set of rituals and interactions that would never pass outside the space of the con.
Polaris is very different con to the FanExpo. It's smaller, less commercial, and tends to have an older crowd. More Klingons and fewer teen anime fans, that kind of thing. Being smaller and friendlier than some other cons, and staged in a hotel rather than a convention center, the big-name guests tend to wander the same halls as the peons who pay to be there.
It can get quite surreal, quite fast.
Sure, I was planning to get Jason Dohring's autograph, but then later when we passed each other in the hall the little voice in the back of my head is trying to process that Logan Echolls just nodded at me in the hall. And yeah, you see an actor doing a Q&A and autograph sessions, and they're live-and-in-person, but there's still a performer/audience split going on. It breaks down when you see Gareth David-Lloyd wandering past the Harvey's window on his way (you notice, because the line is long and not moving fast) to buy smokes at the Shell station across the street.
Didn't mean to get all philosophical. Yay! Con! Screenings! Attending three of Jim Butcher's appearances! Panels! There was one neat panel called "How To Get Fired From Torchwood", where every fireable offense was met with, "Yes, but they didn't fire the guy that kept a WMD in the basement". It was an interesting combination of being totally silly and mocking the lack of personal responsibility held by any of the characters. Oh, fandom.
The best part (for me) was running into old friends (sorry we missed each other,hoskie), people I haven't seen in a long time that I used to work with at the renfaire here. Teagan got the whole con experience, from the hanging out in someone's hotel room, to the meeting actors and authors, to the people who take their nerdery far more seriously that I ever could/would be willing to show off in public... good times.
Four days until we leave for London! And Cardiff!
janten and jennybenz! That was as we were waiting for Gareth David-Lloyd's Q&A to start.He cheerfully shared stories from the set (Barrowman likes to put his genitals in/on all the props, apparently... as a joke, I think), joked that he was still drunk from the night before, and told us about how before Torchwood he'd spent four years starving as a struggling young actor in London. Awwww. He's quite good in front of a crowd (funny, natural, charming - he'd do decent stand-up 'cause his timing is great) and even pimped his band's myspace page.
Compared to last year's FanExpo (and the year before), there was lots of Doctor Who stuff. Yes, the place was crawling with Klingons, but the dealer's room was about 30% DW. Also there was a giant Dalek.
Good parenting: give your baby to Darth Vader.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, multiple versions of the same character hung out with a notorious megalomaniac. But come on... after what Vader did to Alderaan, the Doctor would so not return his calls.
Going to a con with an anthropologist is hilarious. We had to get a picture taken, especially after she took that course in the meanings of material objects. And also because no one would believe that a Welshman would wear a silly sheep tshirt to a con. So there: we has a Ianto. Symbolically, anyway. It's such a strange set of rituals and interactions that would never pass outside the space of the con.
Polaris is very different con to the FanExpo. It's smaller, less commercial, and tends to have an older crowd. More Klingons and fewer teen anime fans, that kind of thing. Being smaller and friendlier than some other cons, and staged in a hotel rather than a convention center, the big-name guests tend to wander the same halls as the peons who pay to be there.
It can get quite surreal, quite fast.
Sure, I was planning to get Jason Dohring's autograph, but then later when we passed each other in the hall the little voice in the back of my head is trying to process that Logan Echolls just nodded at me in the hall. And yeah, you see an actor doing a Q&A and autograph sessions, and they're live-and-in-person, but there's still a performer/audience split going on. It breaks down when you see Gareth David-Lloyd wandering past the Harvey's window on his way (you notice, because the line is long and not moving fast) to buy smokes at the Shell station across the street.
Didn't mean to get all philosophical. Yay! Con! Screenings! Attending three of Jim Butcher's appearances! Panels! There was one neat panel called "How To Get Fired From Torchwood", where every fireable offense was met with, "Yes, but they didn't fire the guy that kept a WMD in the basement". It was an interesting combination of being totally silly and mocking the lack of personal responsibility held by any of the characters. Oh, fandom.
The best part (for me) was running into old friends (sorry we missed each other,
hoskie), people I haven't seen in a long time that I used to work with at the renfaire here. Teagan got the whole con experience, from the hanging out in someone's hotel room, to the meeting actors and authors, to the people who take their nerdery far more seriously that I ever could/would be willing to show off in public... good times.Four days until we leave for London! And Cardiff!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-13 05:11 am (UTC)....
Um?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-13 12:04 pm (UTC)More independent confirmation...
Date: 2008-07-14 04:56 am (UTC)I got 1.0!
Date: 2008-07-13 05:56 am (UTC)Also, I have an eternal crush on Ianto. Not as much as on Barrowman, but... it's there. Torchwood people are all sexy. Even if Gwen is sort of... cowlike... and Owen is very much a chimp.
Toshiko... Harkness... Ianto...
I'll be in my bunk.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-13 12:43 pm (UTC)I like Owen because he tries so hard. Full marks for effort alone.
But. Seriously. *squee* So much pretty on the show. Except for Gwen's teeth.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-13 01:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-13 02:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-16 02:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-16 03:14 am (UTC)At this time on Thursday I'll be somewhere over the Atlantic. Ah, the anticipation.