United Fan Con - Jewel at Springfield MA 11/10-11/12 by ItaMoon

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United Fan Con - Jewel at Springfield MA 11/10-11/12

POSTED BY: ITAMOON
UPDATED: Thursday, November 16, 2006 13:17
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Thursday, November 16, 2006 1:17 PM

This is my take on the UFC experience this past weekend. Re-posted from the New England Browncoat board.

The Marriott in Springfield was very fancy but not really up to the chain's standards. It's in a less-than-thriving neighborhood and has
some of the poorest signage imaginable. The parking is rather expensive (yes… having to pay additional $$$ to park in the hotel's own lot leaves a bitter taste) and the guest parking card I was given did not work.

We win! Our Browncoat quartet (Holly, Michelle, Drew & Simon from CT) did luck out big time with our room location: 1 floor above the photo shoot room and only 2 floors above the main convention halls. Saved mucho time skipping the long wait for the elevators.

If you're ever looking for an easy convention roommate, Simon's great: insisted he was just fine sleeping in a chair(!) We tried to ply him with extra blankets and pillows, but he claimed he was all set. By the end of each night, however, he'd slipped down onto the floor. The second night, despite great pains, I managed to trod on him on my way to the bathroom. (Sorry!!!)

Got photo sessions with Jewel Staite, William Shatner, and Mark Stricksen -- companion to the 5th Dr. Who or somesuch back in '85. Tried to sell / give that one away: My pass automatically included auto and photo sessions which were scheduled against our FF/Serenity panels. Eventually I ended up going to the Stricksen session and he was wonderful! I read his program bio back at my room and realized I needed to talk more with this fellow. Fascinating life! Wouldn't mind borrowing it for a few weeks. During the banquet when our table was lining up for the yummy food, I popped over to his table and had a lengthy conversation about his current doings. At the cabaret, he read a bit from a book (actually chewed by a rat) he'd written when
he was 6(!) and illustrated how it foreshadowed his present career. He produces, directs and occasionally stars in loads of nature films
for Animal Planet, the Smithsonian, and another similar big nature network. Exotic locals, tales of Steve Irwin, near death (twice in one day) and malarial adventures were recounted. Got to talk to him again in the line for the mass auto session on Sunday. Came away very impressed.

Evidently I unknowingly used the Jedi mind trick on Jewel and her minder while getting her to `john hancock' my grenade. I didn't think to pay them and they didn't think to ask! At the photo session she thanked me for asking good questions and the previous Q&A. I did ask about Rebecca Gayheart's first day on the FF set. She was
politic and wouldn't vouch for Alan Tudyk's take on the series' first read-through. (She joked(?) that Alan was probably a little tight with drink when he told that story.) While Drew was naturally entranced by Claudia Christenson (sp?) (Babylon 5) in her tight leather push-up skin revealing through the leather-laced side
outfit, I found her conversation a bit bawdy and her Q&A more fit for a late-night comedy club.

Grace Park (BSG) and Jewel are in a close race for sweetest humans on the earth, but at the risk of offending, I'm gonna say Grace wins. And these two women are SO UGLY! Wait… the other thing. Disgustingly beautiful even up quite close.

I think we should propose a bill: all sci-fi shows filmed and / or shown in the US must only star Canadian actors. Good god they're nice!

Shatner was great on stage but his people protected him so thoroughly that it was impossible to get any time with him. At the auto session, a 10-foot mote was created to protect the Man from the unwashed masses shuffling past behind a rope. The con assistants grabbed your
items for signing and rocketed then beneath his pen. I really can't make out what he wrote!? It was so ridiculously quick that I thought for sure the pro photo session would be conducted as
each fan ran past a cardboard cutout of Shatner.

In line as I approached the camera area I noticed no one touching him and vice versa. It's so much more usual to have the actor fling their arm around you and make small talk. I asked the session supervisor about it. "Do not touch the Bill." Fortunately, the talk, auto and photo
sessions were to run straight into the banquet so I had already donned a black (and if I do say so myself fairly flatteringly cut) dress. I had a feeling the girly-girl thing might work well – he's got that reputation. Ah, it did! I got eye contact and a `hello' from Cap'n Kirk. After the shoot HE thanked ME. Other folks said, "He talked to you?" I also got to chat with x-Monkee Peter Tork about music – he's really into the blues currently. Plays 5-string banjo like me.

Met lots of terrific folks and picked their brains on all sorts of stuff including one fellow who had the Perfect Storm's Clooney and
Walberg invade his Gloucester kitchen and cook him a meal.

Had to practically drag the interesting but verbose Peter David out of Melissa and my panel room We needed to begin our 3rd discussion –
the one on all the cool Firefly / Serenity collectibles out there.(Thanks to David - thehey - for adding lots of info to this one!) P.David kept asking how much time he had but showed no sign of stopping. Finally Melissa and I just went around his back, moved the table right up to his butt where he stood preaching, and started opening boxes and bags and setting out our collections.

At her Q&A, Jewel recounted the whole story of her vs. Nathan in the rude finger-off they conducted during their appearances re: Serenity. Nice to hear it from one of the horses' mouths. Although she claimed that Nate was the actor she bonded most closely with on FF, she also revealed an annoying side to him. He played a dangerous prank (greased her dressing room door handle, the failure of which causes the would-be opener to pitch backward down the stairs) Injury
could've been serious but NF rolled around on the floor laughing. She says he is relentless and annoying and will play the same trick
over and over until you stop him. Meanwhile, he ends up practically in stitches over it every single time. (This was all delivered in a
tone of sisterly affection.) On the bright side, she praises him heavily -- saying is amazing to work with because even after 16 hours, he's still in a good mood pulling up the morale of everyone on set. Jewel also painted Ron Glass as possessing a droll dark sense of humor; he constantly took shots at Morena and her
wardrobe. "What is this, a circus?" Evidently Morena is much more of a "t-shirt and jeans" kinda gal and was a bit overwhelmed with some of her more spectacular costumes.

I had a great time both attending and leading the panels. Saturday's discussion on Faith vs. Belief in the `Verse was wonderful – even
wandered into the Miltonian realm. Melissa's stately readings from "The Book of Joss" were hysterical as well as illuminating to the discussion. (The B of J being the Serenity movie companion.) And a big thanks to Deb - kessa - for many wonderful insights. Your remark about
it being a discussion Joss would've loved made my weekend! Unfortunately, camera equipment was brought in just AFTER this panel but I believe Melissa's thought provoking topic of post-Miranda
speculation was recorded. Mistypendragon followed with updates on the entirety of the World of Whedon.

So, now I am poorer -- yet richer -- for the adventure!
(Word for the wise: don't eat at the fried chicken dump down the street from the hotel.)

- ItaMoon

ItaMoon

____________________
Inara: What did I say to you about barging into my shuttle?
Mal: That it was manly and impulsive?
Inara: Yes, precisely. Only the exact phrase I used was "don't".

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