Surreal and Anndie's Adventures in Pasadena - SciFi at its Scariest

We feel we've had enough time to recover and collect our thoughts. Now - our con report for Grand Slam 13 - March 11-13^th, 2005. Brace yourselves.

Friday, March 13^th

We got up at 2AM. That's right. 2 in the morning, in order to drive to Portland and catch our 7:30am plane to Burbank/Pasadena, CA. Needless to say, by the time we got there, we were TIRED. By the time we picked up our rental car, drove to the con hotel and figured out where the hell we were, it was around 12pm. We, being the ultimate geeks, had gold weekend tickets (meaning: all kinds of good perks!), so we picked up our lanyards and little plastic badges that became our weekend friends. Oh, yeah - and the mylar-type bracelet that could not be removed until the weekend was over. The hotel wouldn't let us check in until after 3pm - we hadn't showered since 2am and had been on two airplanes, numerous busses, shuttles and cars, and touched who know what all day. We didn't care, we were at the CON!! (It was giddy exhaustion, but whatever!)

First things first - we walked all over the building to check out the layout of the con rooms, drooled over all the shiny stuff everywhere and finally wandered into the autograph room. (Well, actually, our first stop was to trade in our photo op ticket with Nathan Fillion for his con replacement, Alan Tudyk, since Nathan couldn't make it. We didn't care - Alan is MUCH cuter and way fun!) We first toured the con's official merchandise tables, picked out which t-shirts and photos we wanted and eventually bought over the weekend. In the autograph room, we talked to several people and got quite a few autos (obviously) - Grace Lee Whitney, Bobby Clark (aka Gorn from TOS), Scott McDonald and Randy Oglesby (Dolim and Degra from Enterprise - who enjoy slashing their characters); Chase Masterson (Leeta on DS9), Wil Wheaton (Wesley!). If any one remembers that moment in "The Family Guy" series when Stewie was grinning at the idiots and said "Jackasses" to himself, I just have to say - Wil has that grin DOWN. There were other very cool people hanging out in that room, like Richard Hatch and Herb Jefferson Jr. from the original Battlestar Galactica and the guy from the robot suit in Lost in Space (the series). Good times. (Before you ask - no, I am not going to scan any of our autographed material and post them.)

The highlight of Friday afternoon was a surprise appearance by Robert Picardo, the doctor on ST Voyager. He was of course incredibly funny, but it was why he was there that had us all rolling. He was auctioning off "special" things for charity. Things like - he stole parts of the Voyager ship. Panels from the bridge and engineering. Needless to say, he raised a good amount of money for several good causes, and we were laughing hysterically at the image of him running around, hiding these panels under his jacket.

Our privileged selves with the gold package got to meet/get autos with John deLancie, Jerry Hardin (Deep Throat!!), Nichelle Nichols and James Darren (DS9 and amazing singer). We also caught all of their presentations. John deLancie is incredibly funny, and experienced in cons so he is good at them. Nichelle Nichols is just amazing, as always - beautiful, sharp, and an inspiring speaker. James Darren gave us a little taste of what was to come that night, singing a few of his favorite songs from Deep Space Nine (he played Vic Fontaine in the later seasons, a holographic lounge singer who gave advice).

John deLancie- looking "thoughtful" and then staring at the huge banner of Michael Shanks

Nichelle Nichols, looking elegant James Darren, singing a bit

Friday night, after we ate a hurried dinner across the street, came the Cabaret. First up was George Takei, who doesn't sing great but has a lot of passion. His part was very touching - he told a story of how music affected his life, from his youth spent in a Japanese interment camp in the U.S. where he learned traditional Japanese lullabies (one of which he sang), through a series of songs over the years. Following him was Nichelle Nichols. I knew she was a singer, but had heard very little of her before this concert. She surprised us both - her voice is amazing, she sang a variety of songs, from gospel to jazz to stage songs, each with a distinct character that she captured perfectly.

Next up was the star of the night - James Darren. Most of us geeks know him best fromDS9, but he is a legendary singer and proved it. His sang a full concert himself, favorite songs from the show that he explained as well as many of the songs he's best known for. I was thrilled, Anndie was amused as well. Last on the agenda was Chase Masterson, who is also a singer (apparently). I love her, so I'll just say she should stick with the acting. She's incredibly hot, so it's okay.

James Darren Chase Masterson

Anndie and I stumbled into our hotel room that night and went to bed around 12:30am...after being up since 2AM. But before falling asleep, we took great pleasure in watching some of our glorious DVD finds of the day - in this case, all 5 seasons of Babylon 5 bloopers. Oh, man. Surreal's find of the day was a complete series DVD set (homemade) of Earth 2. squee!

Saturday March 12^th

We had a full day ahead of us. The first thing on our agenda - photo ops with Connor Trinneer (Trip on Enterprise) and Rene Auberjonois (Odo on DS9, and so much more). We brought with us a stuffed Porthos dog we'd found at the Star Trek experience. Porthos joined us in both photo ops (as you can see), and both boys thought he was cute. Both men were extremely nice, perfect gentlemen.

Connor, us, and Porthos

Rene, us, and Porthos

After the photos Rene and Connor gave a duel presentation on their Star Trek experiences and they made a great pair. Rene of course was lucky enough to have7 strong years on DS9, but as we all know, Connor recently lost his job due to the cancellation of Enterprise after only 4 years. Needless to say, he was bitter. Rene only encouraged him to bitch, at which point Connor proceeded to do so. It was very entertaining, naturally.

Between here and the next person, they showed a music vid. It was the first one we saw that weekend and one of the best. It was a tribute to the red shirts of TOS to the tune of "Another One Bites the Dust." The audience was in hysterics, it was great.

Throughout the day we wove around the dealer and autograph rooms. We found many great things that we somehow had to cram into our luggage. Zines, photos from MacGyver, The Sentinel, and other great things - including a very special find of a copy of the Lone Gunmen comic book. We finally have two copies!! One of the dealers had some incredible artwork based on many shows and films, and we fell in love with a particular print from Stargate - a desert scene with a 'gate in the foreground, SG1 near the gate and beautiful sky work of planets and moons. It was just too expensive, so we walked away. (But we'll come back to that.)

Following Rene and Connor was Majel Barrett Roddenberry. Needless to say, I simply feel privileged to have had this opportunity to hear her speak, in the wake of the cancellation of Enterprise and the foreseeable end of Star Trek. Her words were powerful, in response to a con attendee's comment on how we need ST now more than ever, with its message of hope. (Don't mind me - all fans know the power of fandom in our lives, and at times it can make us a little too deep.) The only way they could have followed such a presence was with the most famous name at the con - Mark Hamill. Damn, that man is funny. And still really hot. He spoke about being the hero in Star Wars, and the villain in Batman (he voiced The Joker for the animated series), and about other projects he has worked on. His most recent one is Comic Book: The Movie, which was filmed at last year's San Diego Comic Con. We were entertained by his stories of making that, and are very curious to find the movie.

After Mark Hamill we stood in line for our next set of autographs from Connor and Rene. Anndie took a moment to talk to Connor about being from the NW (he's from Washington state) and teaching (his mother was a teacher also). Rene was doing a special thing for the Doctors Without Borders charity - he was doing a cartoon of Odo's bucket with a thought-bubble above it with a person's name, and he signed under it. It was too adorable and DWB is a charity I particularly like, so I got one for me and one for our old roommate Robert (also a HUGE DS9 fan).

While we were in this line, we had a minor freakout moment. There was a special sneak presentation of a feature film (straight to DVD) being shown that night at a local theater, and the stars/production crew were there to pimp it. One of the stars was Mirina Sirtis (Troi on TNG), and ****ing Dean Haglund (of Lone Gunmen fame). Fucking Dean. He showed up and we had no warning. Anndie frantically wrote her contact info on her business card and she asked one of the stage staff to pass it on to Dean's handler. We may yet get him to come to the LGM con! Anyway, after discovering his part in the film (it's called "Spectres," more about it later), we decided to go see it that night.

The next event on our schedule was the Firefly Happy Hour, aka Get Adam Baldwin and Alan Tudyk Drunk and Let Them Go. There were about 60 or so people there, and both guys worked around the restaurant to each table to talk to everyone. Just for my good friend Amazon X, I asked Adam the most important question in our lives: "So, which Baldwin are you?" He smoothly dodged it and turned it back on me. So we asked him about his most famous props - the ski hat and his weapons. He has most of them, including the hat and most of the weapons (but, sadly, not Vera). He thanked us for the beer and went on his way. Alan came around next, and we just couldn't get past how adorable he looks.

We got to shake both guy's hands and by then we were running out of time; they had to get back to the con for their talk and stuff. They, along with the special effects coordinator Loni Peristere, gave a fabulous talk on Firefly and the upcoming film "Serenity." They also had stuff they were giving away to people as trivia prizes when they came to the mike to ask questions. Alan was flipping a coin to see if they would get a question, and no matter how many times he flipped it, Adam always said it was right.

Alan thinks he is scary. Flipping a coin, and it's heads damn it!

Right before their talk, we had our photo op with Alan.

Alan and us

On stage after them was the costume competition (a must-see at any scifi con). There were some really dumb ones, naturally - but some people did make some amazing costumes. My personal favorite was someone who had a Borg costume; there was also a hot guy in a military uniform (Star Wars rebel pilot). The winners were a family of apes - they were fun.

The last part of the night at the con itself was our autographs with Alan and Adam, who by then had gotten to know us pretty well. Adam thanked us for the beer again. Heh. Down the hall from the con room was a special gold-weekend dessert party that we only went to for long enough to down some ice cream. It was time to go see "Spectres."

The film stars Mirina Sirtis, Dean Haglund, Tucker Smallwood (Enterprise), Linda Park (Enterprise), Lauren Birkell, and Alexis Cruz (SG the movie and series). It's available on DVD in April - GO FIND IT. It's amazing, and any fan of those actors will love it. The showing was at the famous Rialto Theater in LA, an incredibly spooky place for seeing a ghost movie in. After the screening, a few of the stars appeared with the writer, producer, and director for a short Q&A before the Rocky Horror Picture Show fans stormed the building.

After this eventful day, we had to get some sleep because somehow, Sunday would manage to beat it. We went back to the room, repacked our suitcases with souvenirs, and tried to sleep (ie. giggle like schoolgirls).

Sunday March 13^th

Finally, the day we were waiting for. As much fun as the rest of the con was, and as much as we had wanted to meet and speak with the others at the con, this was Stargate Day at the con. The day began with the Stargate Brunch, where about 125 or so people met at the same restaurant as the Firefly brunch. We got our food, took a table with a very sweet New Zealander named Hanna and a local named Marya. These girls became our friends quickly and we eagerly awaited our guests - Michael Shanks (Daniel), Christopher Judge (Teal'c) and Peter Williams (Apophis). Chris, we recognized when he arrived (and we fully expected him to cleanout the brunch). The other two, not so much. Not to give away spoilers (that already exist online), Michael has grown a beard (they made him- they need to be able to tell him from his new co-star on SG, Ben Browder). Peter Williams has an afro like we couldn't believe (he's originally from Jamaica, has a beautiful accent).

Brunch began innocently enough - until behind us Chris and Michael started a food fight. We watched it escalate from sugar packets, until the next thing we knew Chris was standing on a table with a glass of water poised over Michael's head. Their handlers stepped in at that point. Peter was sad to have missed it, but we helped him out. We also noticed that Chris was showing Michael's appendix scar, despite Michael's struggles. Peter came over to our table about the time all three had come into our area of the place, and we handed him the muffin that was sitting on our table. He proceeded to throw it at Chris's head. He missed, but Chris got it and presented it back to us in a stoic fashion. One of the fans then presented an incredible work of art to the men, done with airbrush and charcoal. It included beautiful portraits of Teal'c, Daniel, and Apophis.

Michael showed his gratitude. Chris was happy as well, just in a more subtle way.

We asked Peter about his work on "DaVinci's Inquest," and he said his hair got too long so they haven't called him back. Pout. Don't ask where our other hands are here:

Chris was next to come play with us (Anndie got much time next to him, shall we say.) He's a big guy.

And Michael's pants were...well, you can see.

Chris started picking up cameras at random and taking pictures of Michael and various other things. We did managed to ask him to clarify when he was at the U. of Oregon (our alma mater), and where he lived while here. Michael came over next while Chris was still there and it turned into chaos. This was the result:

Their handlers were getting their workout that morning, and eventually we all migrated back across the street to the con. We happened to walk back with Michael and got a chance to chat with him a bit more, which was nice. So was the leather jacket he wore.

As soon as we got across the street, we headed for our "official" photo op with Michael (though of course, we prefer the one above for obvious reasons!!!)

Because of the lunacy at the brunch, we set back the timing of some of the stuff. Like we were going to complain! Right before they got on stage, a music vid was shown, our other favorite of the con (and one we'd seen online): an ode to the Goa'uld to the tune of "Puttin' On the Ritz." Brilliant. Anyway, the three guys got on stage and did their thing. It was hysterically funny, we probably fell out of our seats a dozen times and couldn't stop laughing through most of it. Most of the questions were for Michael, and Peter and Chris decided to give the "star" his space:

Someone asked Michael how he felt about his character dying all the time, and Peter gave a disgruntled "You're asking the wrong guy!" He was such a good sport, joking about how they must have really hated him to bring him back repeatedly only to kill him off every time.

First one way.... ...then the other.

They held conferences on how to answer.

Honestly, we can't remember half of what was said, mostly because we were laughing too hard to catch it. But this part was our favorite. On either side of the stage was a large screen displaying the action on stage alternating with stills of the actors from the show. One special picture came up repeatedly, and soon Peter, then Chris became fixated on it:

The first time we lost it completely was when Peter said the picture was "oddly fascinating," and Chris just said "Man, you look really gay in that." It just got worse from there; to preserve dignity, I won't go into detail. Throughout their time on stage, they had a running joke where they made the questioners say their name and where they were from, and all three repeated in unison, "Hi, <name> from <place>." By the tenth time or so, it was just Chris doing it and Michael pointed it out to him. Chris said, "Really?" And did it again, louder. They all had so much energy and were just wonderful for the format, playing off each other and the audience. The last, greatest moment (for us) of their time on stage was at the very end. They had to wrap it up but there were still a few people standing at the mikes. They left, but not before Chris caught the last girl on her way back to her seat. He literally leaped off the stage and chased her down halfway across the room, with his mike in hand, and asked who she was and what her question was. It had to be that last question of the day, and he just had to go after her: she asked how they felt about slash. Chris looked to Michael for the answer, and Michael said "I'm fine with it, until I found out about Daniel/Thor." He made horrified sounds, but overall it sounded like they were all fine with it. So much so that Chris took the badge the girl had with her and ran it over to the camera that displayed on the screen and held it up for all to see. It was a photo manip of Teal'c and Daniel (promo shots of the actors) standing VERY close together. Chris made hooting sounds and ran toward the stage, yelling "I only have one thing to say," he said to Michael. "WHO'SYOUR DADDY???" I'm so glad it was over then, because neither of us could breathe, we were laughing so hard. After they left the stage it was time for more autographs with the three of them. That took most of the rest of the afternoon.

While we waited for our turn, they began the first of two auctions of the afternoon. Remember way earlier, when we were moaning over the beautiful SG art print? Well, it came back to haunt us. Part of the auction was a copy of this print, the proceeds going to cancer research (as the artist had died of cancer recently). It wasn't just the print. The print was signed by no less than 9 signatures (so far) from SG cast members: Teryl Rothery, Chris Judge, Peter Williams, Steve Bacic, Ronny Cox, and several others. After we stopped wetting ourselves, the bidding began. Anndie won. SQUEE!! It's currently in our living room, and it will be Anndie's personal traveling autograph collection for every con we go to. Everyone we meet will sign it. Anyway, back to the autograph line we went. Chris and Peter's signatures were already on the print, but Michael's wasn't. We'd already gotten our own autos with him, but the guy in charge of the con took the print back to Michael and had him sign it as well.

Thus ended the Stargate portion of the day, much to our sadness. But there was a bit more to come, what turned out to be the most emotional of all the presentations of the weekend. The last star of the weekend made her appearance that afternoon: Jolene Blalock, T'Pol from Enterprise. This was her first ever convention, after 4 years on Enterprise, and it was bittersweet as it came literally on the heels of her Star Trek career. The Tuesday before was the last day of filming of the series, and they began tearing down the set that weekend. She was with us while her show was being destroyed and throughout her time on stage, she struggled to keep her composure. But she knew we were having the same problem, and the sad pauses were not uncomfortable.

Mostly, she was still in disbelief over the end of Enterprise. She said she'd been a Star Trek fan all her life. When asked how she felt about being a part of ST, she could only say "Honored." We applauded her. That's about all I can say here, because the whole time was just too raw for everyone, and we all did our best to make sure she knew she was welcome in the future cons, to make her experience a good one. Hers was the last autograph line we stood in that weekend, and despite the long day and emotions exposed by the talk, she had a smile for everyone. I hope to see her again in more cons.

On that note, the con slowly wrapped up. No one really wanted to leave, especially on such a bittersweet note. Anndie and I hung around and talked to a bodyguard we'd befriended over the weekend (he had been at the Firefly happy hour and the SG brunch, as well as handling the SG actors that day). It was time for us to leave - we were flying home Monday morning.

That's all. Really. Nothing else happened.