A Roommate, A Doctor, and A Gentleman

WhedonCon - Day 3

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Marriott - Woodland Hills

Bro and family had plans for the day, so I left their house earlier than I originally scheduled, and Dodie met up with me before the Sunnydale Mall opened.  Since we couldn't go shopping yet and both of us had already eaten breakfast, we wandered around the first floor of the Marriott.  They had a chess team to their decor.

Big Chess Pieces

Wall decor

We saw that one of the first panels of the morning was a panel regarding monsters and makeup, with James Leary (BTVS' Clem) and Camden Toy (multiple BTVS characters, including one of the Gentlemen).  James hadn't quite arrived yet, so the makeup artists (both had been on the show "Face Off") interviewed Camden by himself. Camden's father was also an actor, and when Camden showed an interest in the makeup box, encouraged him and they played with the makeup all of the time.  So when Camden became an actor, he had no problem with the different kinds of makeup they would use, or the amount of time it would take them to do it.  Camden was told that he needed to leave, but he was really liking the discussion, and hung around for a few more minutes, even after James finally arrived.  I really enjoyed this discussion, and it made me even more excited about our scheduled activity for the afternoon.

Leary, Toy, and Makeup Artists

Leary and Toy

James Leary was hilarious.  He showed up late because he didn't realize he had a panel to attend, and asked for coffee.  He didn't seem to need coffee as he was knocking over the water pitcher, and was pretty excitable, though.  The panel moderators asked the same questions of James that they had with Camden.  Next time we come to the Con and James is there, I'll make sure to go to at least one of his panels.

We then attended the panel "The Science of ...WHEDON!"  Panel members were brainy guys who taught science ranging from elementary school to CalTech.  The lady sitting next to Dodie really should have been the moderator or something because she almost took control of the whole thing with her loud statements.  I moved over because a very tall guy sat in the seat in front of me, and also because I was self-conscious sitting so close to her, because everybody turned to look at her for half of the session.  At least it was a small room.  I was grateful for the elementary school teacher, because he would draw while the others were talking so that we could visualize what they were discussing.  It was basically a Q&A with audience members asking questions like colonizing other planets if we use up Earth's resources, as well as how Thanos' Infinity Stones powers worked.  

Science of Whedon panel

We were hungry and went to Starbucks to get something to eat.  As we were waiting for our orders, a woman asked if we wanted to attend the Sunday luncheon because she had some extra wristbands.  OK!  We still ate our food because we didn't want it to get cold, and still needed to wait a few minutes after that before going inside, so I'm glad we ate.  

The Sunday Luncheon was in one of the hotel meeting rooms, and we sat down at one of the tables.  Dagney Kerr (BTVS Kathy) arrived first, and decided to sit by us.  I introduced myself and reached out my hand, but she had just washed hers and knew we'd be eating soon, so she offered to hug me instead.  Then later we heard the rules of No Photos, No Autographs, No Touchies, and No Selfies.  Oops.  Dagney confessed to hugging me and we were told it was OK for them to initiate as long as they had consent.  So no, I don't have any pictures from this event.  Dagney was really cool to talk to, and she is currently a playwright, but still does acting here and there.  She said that she really likes this Con because it's small and she doesn't get overwhelmed by the amount of people.  She hadn't eaten all day yesterday, though, so event organizers need to squeeze in some meal time for them next year.  This day was OK because of the luncheon, but she couldn't eat the sandwiches because of the meat in them.

Then came time for them to switch.  I was hoping that Sean Maher (Firefly's Dr. Simon) would come to our table even though he had arrived a few minutes late. He did!  Because he was late, he wasn't present when they handed out free keychains of the Mutant Enemy logo, which was on wood, just like the pin I had purchased on Friday.  I gave him mine, and he initially refused to take it, saying he would get one, but I insisted, so he took it and thanked me.  If Sean hadn't already portrayed my favorite character of the Firefly series, he would have quickly become my favorite that day.  He talked about his family and living in Michigan, and the show he is trying to develop.  I'm not going to say what it is, but I offered him the name of the series, and he liked it.  I even said he didn't need to pay me for the name.  Yes, Sean gave me a little hug, too.  I was so happy!

We couldn't stay to meet with Andrew Ferchland (BTVS' The Annointed One) or Gigi Edgley (Farscape's Chiana), because we had an event scheduled.  I'm disappointed that we weren't able to be present for the group picture, but I have these nice memories.  I keep hoping that they'll post some of the candids from the event, but I haven't seen any yet.

We then went across the hallway to another meeting room to make a Gentleman Doll with Camden Toy!   Yes, Camden was going to make one, too!  A couple of the gals from our table at the luncheon also attended this one.  We didn't have enough time to finish our dolls, so they gave us the rest of the materials we needed to complete them.  Camden got really involved in making his doll, and asked if he could get his materials, too.  They said they were going to give him a finished one, which he happily accepted, but I think he also wanted to finish his doll anyway.  That was fun!  I need to find time to finish all of these crafts!  

Cute!

We sat outside the next panel room for a little while and I people-watched as Andrew F came by and attended the panel.  I love that!  It was some kind of writers' panel, and he knew one of them.  We went inside, too, because we wanted to have seats for the Sean Maher Q&A, which was taking place right after that one.

Sean did talk about a little of the same stuff he talked about during the luncheon, but mostly received questions about his career.

• On what revival of a series would you want to be?
• Besides Firefly?
• Sean's favorite Simon line (mine, too!):
• "This must be what going mad feels like."
• Sean's advice to his younger self:
• "Fail.  Be imperfect.  I'm a recovering perfectionist."

Sean and moderator Ian

Sean Maher

We went shopping so we could get more Buffy bubblegum:  they're little stakes!  I bought some tea, too.  

We attended the Closing Ceremonies and were told that next year's WhedonCon will be closer to LAX to be more convenient for the guests.  We would also have a discount for next year if we signed up before the end of the month, and it would include a couple of perks.  Then we sang the "WhedonCon" song with The Fallen Stars again before we adjourned.

Dodie left before me because she had an appointment, but we both bought tickets to next year already.  We had a great time!

Thank you, WhedonCon, for a fantastic weekend!

I Cross Stitched A Crossbow

Whedon Con - Day 2

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Marriott - Woodland Hills

I had a bowl of Lucky Charms this morning and was disturbed by the fact that I was eating marshmallow unicorn heads.  Yet I was getting ready to go to a con wherein the major draw is a TV show about vampires.  I'm an enigma.

I met Dodie in the lobby and we went to room C for our first panel, the very long-titled "Top 10 buffy or angel episodes (that inspire us to be strong)", hosted by Ian of The Passion of the Nerd podcast. They started late because there were issues with the sound system, so Ian had to rush through the last few episodes on his list, but we really enjoyed it.  I shed a few tears remembering the emotional punches of some of the episodes, and hearing Ian talk about their effect on his own life, and probably on many of others in the room.  I am now looking forward to hearing his podcast.  We got a chance to talk to him later and tell him how much meaning the talk made for us.  I didn't know when I was getting ready this morning that I'd be in tears before noon.

Dodie had not eaten anything yet, so we went to Starbucks for brunch, and fellow con attendees talked to us as they passed our table.  People at this con are very friendly!  

We walked back to Room C for the "Squee! Buffy Fan & Alumni Documentary".  They were still having sound issues, but we were eventually able to see a rough cut of the work in progress.  I'm interested in seeing the finished product, mostly because I'm a fan of Buffy.

We stayed in the room for the "Once More With Feeling" singalong.  Yes, in the room with the sound issues.  But add to that the wi-fi issues, and it was crazy-making.  They eventually just had someone play it on their phone and we sang along if we knew the lyrics.  A gal dressed as Anya with a very shiny gold skirt did a great job with her bunnies solo.  They finally got the video to work, but we needed to leave because we had a schedule to follow.  We also knew that we wouldn't get to see the whole thing since they started from the beginning despite our having sung about half of the episode already.

Buffy and friend leading the singalong
The gal working on the laptop reminds me of Angela.

We went up to the craft room for Geeky Cross Stitch by Geek Girls Forever/Geek Girls Society.  I had already decided on the Bless This Crossbow pattern the day before, but then had trouble again when I saw other ones.  They were so cute!  I went back to my first instinct and later bought a Star Wars themed one to make some other time.  My goal was to at least finish the crossbow during the crafting session.  I have done cross stitch before, but it sure didn't seem like it when I proceeded to break my hoop before I even started stitching.  The lady helping us (also the pattern maker) was very kind and gave me another hoop because it happens so often that she brings a bunch of extras.  Dodie's pattern was a T.A.R.D.I.S., which had a lot of blue floss.  We were there for a while with our craft faces on.  My love for crafting was renewed this day, and  I would join the club if the meetings were closer to my home or job.

Bless This Crossbow

The Gather App never sent me notifications of our different panels, so I forgot that we were supposed to go to the Sean Maher Q&A.  Instead, we got in a long line for James Marsters.  Camden Toy walked by.  Twice.  From the same direction.  The second time, I asked him if he was twins.  We later realized that we were in the line to take photos with James Marsters. Oops.  We wanted to go to the Q&A.  So we left the line and went to Room G, where we heard the last portion of the "Wonder Women of Whedon" panel with Dagney Kerr (Buffy's roommate, Kathy), Mercedes McNab (Harmony), Julia Lee (various Buffy characters, including Anne), and Miracle Laurie (November on Dollhouse).  

• Mercedes McNab's most memorable scene: when she first becomes a vampire
• Harmony's fight with Xander - "We didn't know that they were filming in slow motion, and we thought we looked so stupid fighting like that.   Then we saw it later and we liked it."
• To Julia: who, in all of the characters you portrayed on Buffy, was your favorite?
• Anne, because she was able to grow and get better.
• What character in the Whedonverse, not on your show, would you want to be?
• Miracle Laurie didn't even let the person finish the question before saying, "Xander.  That's what we're talking about right now, right? A character on another show?  Definitely Xander.  He's so funny."
• Dagney never watched the show either before or after she was on it, because she feels like she would never be able to move beyond it if she had.  So she couldn't comment on what character she would like to play.  "I watch 'The Bachelor'.  I'd want to be the girl that's a mess, and gets drunk in the pool, and everybody's, like, 'She has GOT to go.'"

Moderator; Dagney; Mercedes; Julia; Miracle

We moved up a couple of rows once the panel was over, and I was glad we were there early because the room was packed for the James Marsters Q&A.  He was introduced by the guy cosplaying as Lorne, whom we saw the day before, getting his makeup applied.  He hosted Karaoke at Caritas the night before, too.

James Marsters arrived, cheekbones at the ready.

Spike has arrived!

James said, "Oh, don't make me the bad guy!" when he was asked if he wanted to call on the people with their hands raised.  So "Lorne" called on folks instead.

• Great question (and answer) about the difference between stage acting and film acting, and what it was like to play Spike for TV.  
• I was very theatrical, and when I first worked with Giles, I thought, "I'm gonna wipe the floor with him."  Then he stood there with his coffee, delivering his lines, and he was so good that I started to take the Tony Head Acting Class.  Every chance I got, I was sitting on an apple box just watching him and learning from him.
• Favorite place he's ever traveled to: has traveled all over the Western World, but most of the time doesn't get to explore.  But he does love the Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudi.
• James' favorite part outside of the Whedonverse: Buzz Aldrin in "Moonshot".  He got the part by coming in with a hangover and being surly and they said, "That's so Buzz!"  Then James proceeded to talk science to our audience.  So he's cool, gorgeous, AND smart!  Love him.
• How JM found out that Spike would be failing in love with Buffy:
•   I was watching Riley, and I said to Joss, "If you ever want me to be shirtless on camera, you need to tell me, because we need to work hard to look like that!"  Joss told him, OK, you've got the whole summer.  JM: What?  JW:  Yeah, Spike is going to fall in love with Buffy.  JM:  Oh, just for a couple of episodes or something, like a spell.  JW:  No, you're going to be having sex with her all year.  JM:  So that's how I found out that Spike was going to fall in love with Buffy.  I love SMG, but as a kid sister.  So I had to try to fall in love with her romantically, and I couldn't do it.  It wasn't until I saw her working the drive through and being an adult, basically a single mother, having to take care of her family, and she had to be nice to people.  And I was, like, <makes a dreamy face>.  SMG turns around and sees me like that, and says, "WHAT?  It's the chicken hat, right?  Everybody's been making fun of me all day and I hate it!"  And I was like, "No, no!" but I couldn't actually tell her what I was thinking.
• First kiss with Buffy: took 14 takes because it was so technical.
•   Sarah told me, "James, stop ACTING!  I want to go home!"
• Who was your favorite kill?
• I don't know.  After working 12-20 hour days, my short-term memory is gone.  We would play a game in the afternoon, and ask, "What scene did we do this morning?" and nobody could answer.  I do remember that the make-up guy loved me because I would sit for anything.  If you look at the other actors, you'll see a little bit of blood along the hairline.  But I was willing to have blood all over me.  The make-up artist would say, "The vampires would go for the carotid artery and the blood would spray all over the place."  So sometimes he would just have a bucket of blood and take a handful and throw it on me.  I was like, <open arms> "Yeaaahhhhh!"
• Would you rather play the hero or the...
• <interrupts question> "Villain, villain, villain, villain.  When you're the hero, you have to run around and save the day all the time and suffer guilt.  But if you're the bad guy, you just lurk in the shadows, and when the good guy comes along, you just clock him.  Bad guys don't have feelings, they don't care."
• Great last question of the day:  It's 2018, the world is on fire.  Where is Spike?  
• "Spike would be taking a flight to DC.  And he'll have been dieting so that he'll be hungry.  Yup.  He's hunting."

He's awesome.  I love how much he enjoyed playing Spike, and enjoys talking about it with the fans.  

That was it for us for the day, so I went to Bro's house and we went to The Boiling Crab for dinner with their friends, followed by dessert at Creamistry.  What a great day!

Next up:  Day 3 - Talking to the Talent

Welcome to WhedonCon

Whedon Con - Day 1

Friday, May 18, 2018

Marriott Woodland Hills

I heard about WhedonCon a year or two ago when I was still new about going to cons.  Last year, with several cons under my belt, the event came up in my FB feed again, and I said, "Well, what the heck.  Let's go for it."  The con is run by fans for fans of all things Joss Whedon, and is produced through Fandom Charities.  Buffy The Vampire Slayer (BTVS) is one of my very favorite shows, so I thought it would be fun to hang out with fellow fans.  I bought my ticket in September, and waited several months for the actual event.  Somewhere along the way, I forgot to tell other people that I was going, and I mentioned it to Dodie.  She had time and wanted to go, so she gladly join me.  Mind you, Dodie has been very generous in giving me many things for my Buffy fandom, so she was not surprised that I was going to this con.  She had never heard of it, though.  Well, that's because this is just the third year, so it's still new to lots of folks.  

I had taken the day off work, and drove to Bro's house, where I'd be staying for the weekend.  Bro and I had Thai food for lunch, and the lunch special includes a dessert of mango and sticky rice served in a cup with a cute little spoon.

I then made my way to the Marriott at the Warner Center in Woodland Hills and obtained my credentials.  I think it's cool that the hotel has a booth set up for people attending meetings and conventions like this.  Dodie was at the Starbucks inside the hotel, so I met up with her and planned out our day. First up was the Opening Ceremony.  I had never been to an opening ceremony for a convention, nor do I remember seeing one listed in the other cons' programs.  It was basically a welcome and thank you for coming, and the organizers introduced themselves.  They all seemed like friendly people, and Dodie and I talked to them at various times during the weekend.  The ceremony ended with audience participation in the new theme song for the convention (we sang "WhedonCon"), by The Fallen Stars.

Isn't his guitar cool?

While we were perusing our programs and checking out the events, Dodie saw that the Geek Girls crafting session with Camden Toy only had 7 slots left.  Not wanting to miss out on this occasion, and seeing that it was one of the less expensive extras, we decided to order tickets, then made our way to our first panel.  

Or at least we thought it was a panel.  It was actually the Geek Girls Open House to see what crafts would be available during the weekend.  We got excited when we saw the Gentleman (BTVS) doll that we'd be making on Sunday.  I also liked some of the cross stitch offerings, which we had also added to our schedule via the Gather app.  

We then went shopping in the Sunnydale Mall, AKA the big room with all of the booths and signing tables.  I bought a pretty brooch that looked like a cameo of a unicorn, and we also bought some tea.  I also bought a wooden pin of the Mutant Enemy vamp, and got a discount because I was the first person to buy one that day!  Add to that a reusable straw with a case and a straw cleaner, and I was done buying stuff for the day.  We saw someone getting makeup to look like the karaoke club dude from Angel.  We decided to finish looking at the other booths another day.

Love the name of this tea!

Afterward, we met a lady who said this was his first con last year and her favorite, after having gone to a few after that.  She led us up to the hospitality suite.  I didn't know what was happening, because I didn't understand when she said "Con Suite".  It was a place on the 17th floor that any of us could go to chill and have coffee/water/lemonade/iced tea.  How nice!  We each got a ribbon to add to our badges.  I was just happy about the name the con organizers had placed outside the room.

We went back downstairs and talked to the lady some more, and a guy walked by that she knew and he gave us leis and invited us to the con's T.A.H.I.T.I. pool party that was taking place that night.  I chose a pink one.  Dodie and I made our plans for the next day's meetup time and went home, since we weren't doing any of the after-hours stuff.

When I arrived at Bro's house and got out of the car with the lei still around my neck, Bro came outside as he was about to leave for an event at the niece's school. The look on his face was priceless.  

I hung out with the nephew for a bit until V came home and we went to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner.  I love hanging out with my family.  Once Bro and the niece got home, we watched "Jumanji".  That was fun, although I wished it was funnier.  It's just nice to be able to hang out with the family (and have a free room for the weekend).  Thanks, y'all.

Crispy noodles with chicken.  Tasty gravy.

Next up:  Day 2

I really like the artwork on the program.