My Big Damn Convention Blog by SimonWho

SIMONWHO'S BLOG

SimonWho

My Big Damn Convention Blog
Monday, May 2, 2005

I thought I'd share my delight at being at the first Firefly convention and indeed my first convention too.

From the moment I arrived, everyone was enthused, friendly and fun, it seemed comfortable to talk to anyone there, even if it was just to admire their costumes or ask how far they'd come (and some came from really far away). A big hi to everyone I met, however briefly. A huge apology to everyone whose name I didn't catch or obliterated with one of those oh so many bottles of Stella, but I was glad I got to speak to a fair few of those on this very board, especially Darin (whose costume is even better in the flesh/cloth), Jamie (who I hope arrived safely back yesterday), "Cap'n" Eric (good luck with your powers of persuasion so you can make it to the next one), Izzy and Louisa (remember, you are never allowed to tell anyone that I was being beaten by a girl), Mike (I'll see you next on Living TV I guess!), Flo (her posters came out wonderfully, I have a lot of everybody's signatures on my wall now), Ruthie (whose expression when a Ruthie Fan badge was pulled out on her was priceless), Brian (I owe you a beer, come to the next convention), Matt/PsychicRiver (I definitely owe you a pint, I think we must have kept missing each other by moments, really disappointed that I didn't catch up with you), Kirsty/DoubleShiny (who did so well with her questions to the BDHs, much much better than me), really just a big thank you to everyone I met, there was not one unfriendly person there.

Next time I will be all prepared with name badges and organise my time better to do more things around the photo sessions and autograph collecting (although I had great fun in the queue for those too). I'm also looking to add a few more Wonderfalls fans, have to set aside a 45 minute slot or two next time for it.

The fans present would have made it a really great weekend but we also had 8 fabulous guests too. Sean Harry made a speech at the end about how great the guests had been behind the scenes which was wonderful because they'd been fantastic in front of them.

Sadly Adam Baldwin had to cancel but a) we had been prepared for it and b) he also sent a video message over, with his own twisting of The Man They Call Jayne, complete with nifty hat.

Chris Buchanan, the executive producer of the movie was probably the biggest surprise for me. Funny, smart, in perfect key with the fans, charming and diplomatic, particularly when the 'F' word was mentioned (that's "Fox", obviously). The sort of guy who might end up giving Hollywood producers a good name.

Mark Sheppard felt like one of us, as comfy talking to the fans as he was with his co-stars. I heard several tales about his wicked sense of humour too. I now seriously regret not getting him to sign a photo. Like his character, he's no bad guy and deserves to return at the next available big screen outing.

Jewel was adorable, funny, as happy talking about the demands of playing an alcoholic as her shoes and Maui. She was so obviously pleased to be reunited with the rest of the cast plus she got to give Nathan the finger (we should have shown them how we do things here in England - two fingers is traditional).

Morena is so stunning in person that it's almost a pity because every time she talked about possible roles for her, acting heroes, the 'process', characters, reading Shakespeare, her eyes just lit up and she was so enthused. It was impossible not to see how much she loves acting and how that is what's important to her, not the way she looks.

Summer was so sweet, talking about how she came into dancing and acting, her childhood and her influences (Dirty Dancing! 1 and 2!). She was so open to the audience that it was almost unnerving, particularly when this time next year, she'll have a few million more fans. I also should mention that it is unfair that these three ladies can party to the early hours and still turn up to a 9 o'clock photo shoot, looking as though they had been carefully prepared for it by sleeping for the previous week.

Ron Glass gave every question a wonderful pause of consideration, then delivered an intelligent, often really funny response in those tones of his. We didn't hear Book laugh much on the show which is surprising because, as a fan said to him, it is the most charming laugh imaginable. His rapport with the fans also grew over the weekend, so much so that by the final sessions, he could just reduce his comments to just a few words and everyone knew exactly what he meant. He was very personable, right down to shaking hands with those having their photo taken with him.

Alan was wonderfully goofy, pulling faces, holding his own against Nathan in the upstaging stakes (which was no small feat), being as likeable a person as Wash is. His enthusiasm for all the various projects he's been involved with was contagious and his sheer delight at the reception he got each time he walked in the room stayed for the whole three days. The Wash-o-saurus was definitely the icing on the cake.

Nathan Fillion. The Captain. There seriously aren't enough words to praise how good he was this weekend. He had a one-liner ready at a moment's notice. He was full of energy on stage. He bounced off every member of the cast. But what really impressed me was how many gears he had and how effortlessly he shifted between them. When he needed to be serious, which happened a few times, he did so and everybody treated what was saying seriously. When he had to get things going again after some drawn out question, he could do so in a couple of sentences. He went from sentimental to mocking to sincere without so much as a breath and the audience knew exactly what he doing all the while. He was note perfect the whole damn time.

Okay, I'm sure that we'll do more retelling of the stories and jokes they told elsewhere but I just wanted to say how good a time I had and that I will definitely be back.

COMMENTS

Saturday, September 10, 2005 12:09 PM

PSYCHICRIVER

Ah I just found this!

Very good report, spot on! You bought back so many memories that had been lost!

And yeah, we missed each other! I think that happened again in Edinburgh last week.

Tuesday, May 3, 2005 1:42 AM

FIRKO

Great report - do you attribute 98% of it to Nathan?????
The atmosphere through the whole weekend was great, and I was so proud that the planets first Firefly con was held in the UK!

Monday, May 2, 2005 4:04 PM

HORSENBUGGY

I was at DragonCon last year with Nathan, Jewel and Adam. It sounds like you were treated to the same awesome experience we had over here. Ain't it grand? And the thought of calling Nathan "Mr. Fillion" has me cracking up. I can just see him looking behind him and asking if you'd seen his father.

Monday, May 2, 2005 1:00 PM

MONTANAGIRL

Another blog, just for me? Really, you don't have to do that.

*Runs to book of Shakespearian insults to prepare for next blog full of "even more juicy bits of gossip and info," as she's pretty sure "You suck" will be insufficient to encompass the jealousy she will be feeling.*

Monday, May 2, 2005 12:33 PM

RELFEXIVE

Well reported :)

Monday, May 2, 2005 11:06 AM

SIMONWHO

You mean something like "Dear FFF members, today I was pompous and Zol went crazy?"

I'm struggling to remember exactly when they played the Adam Baldwin video (time lost all meaning very early on. At the Saturday night party, I saw one guy in costume and thought "Wow, I know him from way back at ... oh, today's breakfast.").

Ah, suddenly I know when it was. Just before the costume parade, which you were in, they played a video from him so you were probably in the corridor, avoiding the slow moving dinosaur. He basically just apologised for not being there, thanked all the fans for their support, said how excited he was by the movie, how glad he was that his fellow cast members were in front of the screen to mock him (and they did) and then he pulled on the hat ("nifty, huh?") and launched into Jayne, albeit with some different lyrics but everyone cheered so loudly that I couldn't hear what he was actually singing.

MG, sherrist, just because you said that I suck, I'm going to do another blog in a couple of days, with even more juicy bits of gossip and info. Prepare for extreme suckage!

Monday, May 2, 2005 11:01 AM

ARAGLAS

That was rocking SimonWho! I feel like such a bad fan for not going to any of the conventions. *smacks self* I am going to go to one. I refuse to have anythin happen in my life until I go to one.

*great, I've just condemed myself to a boring life... I'll never get to go!* *sobs!*

Monday, May 2, 2005 10:09 AM

ZOL

Cool report, you got most of the stuf down, I never feel right about doing something like a blog as it would probably read like Jaynes rendition of Simons Book (Safe).

One thing, I didn`t get the Adam Baldwin video message, there was the DVD extra played but I didn`t see his message to everyone - I`m confused?

I feel I have a connection/bond with the cast after this, and that won`t change -one thing everybody did, and I don`t know if it`s the same in the U.S. but we all went by 1st names for the guests - there was no "So Mr Fillion, what was it ... etc..." it was "So Nathan, what was it ..." which maybe made them feel more relaxed (I don`t know maybe they will do a blog on us lot

)

Cheers

Darin (Zol.)

p.s. Next thing for me maybe the Comic Con in June then the Fan Table at Memorabelia (If you can help send out the word!)

Monday, May 2, 2005 8:57 AM

MONTANAGIRL

I say this with love, "You SUCK!" ;)

Seriously, I'm glad you got to go and had such a great time. Thanks to your report I at least got a feel for it. And it made me completely jealous.

Monday, May 2, 2005 7:47 AM

SHINY

Great report! Thanks SimonWho! :)

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