Arma pt 2, saturday!!
Ok, so finally back with another post!
Saturday started with a 6am wake up… trying not to wake the girls I was rooming with (whoops!) I left at about 7, looking for COFFEE!!! Ended up going to Gloria Jeans, bout 5 blocks away (the opposite direction that I needed to go, got coffee and what turned out to be slightly dodgey banana bread. I headed back towards the convention centre, feeling a lil nervous, lil nauseous. So I got to the con at about 8, and found one of the guys I’d met on FB and waited…and waited….It wasnt long before Amanda (not AT) got there, so we talked about all the things we had planned for the weekend, and discovered that we had almost all the same things on, so we decided to stick together for the weekend, after all, its always better having someone to share these experiences with! So eventually the doors opened, and we headed straight for the autograph tables!
I’d already decided that the first person I wanted to see was Amanda Tapping. So I jumped into her line, and waited to get my first ever autograph! By this point I was totally fangirly and panicked again, and was just hoping I wasnt going to cry again, or pass out! So my turn arrived, and AT was so nice, and friendly, she asked how I was going, and totally ditzing out I replied something like “ummmm, terrified” in a very small voice! She asked why, I responded with meeting you, and she said she wasnt scarey! (felt like such an idiot after this!) She also mantioned that me nickname, Flik, was pretty! (Squeeee) So I moved on to the next line, and got my Robin Dunne auto, poor lad was looking quite tired!
Agam was next, and she was so chatty and friendly! She mentioned my eiffel tower necklace/earings, and asked if I’d ever been to Paris. I said that I’d never been over seas, but I was dying to travel, and she said that I HAD to go to Paris, it’s such a beautiful city, and she loves it! So now its on my list of must go places! I didnt actually read what she’s written on the pic at the time, but when I looked at it that night, she’d said “go to paris”!!! so stoked!!!
After this, Amanda and I headed to Agams panel. It was so great, hearing her stories from sanctuary. A few times when there was a lack of questions she threatened to sing, so I eventually got up the nerve to ask a Q, and said, seeing as she’d threatened it a few times, would she sing something for us….she refused, laughing!! Well, I tried!
After this, we went and looked around for a while, checking out the stalls and such, and trying to find any merch that appealed to us. Alaina Huffman’s panel was next. I actually hadn’t seen anything she’s been in at the time, but after meeting her and chatting for ages the night before, I really wanted to go see her! She was lots of fun to listen to, and I now have another few shows on my to-watch list!
Next was more wandering around, photos with the delorean and R2D2, and a few more autos, before it was nearly 3 and we realised we hadn’t eaten!! So we went to find some not-so-cheap food, and then touch up the makeup a little and get ready for our photos with AT, RD and the sanctuary 3!!!
The line for AT was HUGE!!! no other word for it!!! Even having a gold pass, it still took forever! but we finally got there, and AT was lovely!! She asked how I was finding arma, and after a moment of thought I said, “overwhelming!!! I’ve never been to one of these before, never met celebs, never done any of it, and I’m feeling soooo overwhelmed!!” to which se asked “but you are enjoying it?” and I said oh yeah, its awesome!!! It was so great to get to actually talk to her (and use words, not just stutter gibberish!!) and she really wanted to make sure I was having a good time there!!!
We didnt really have anywhere to go for a while after that, so we went and had a look at the auto lines again. I noticed that Agam’s line was pretty well empty, so after talking for a few minuted we finally got gutsy enough to go and say hi, and I asked, seeing as she wasnt busy, if we chould just hang and chat for a bit, and we’d get out of the way as soon as anyone came for an auto. She was happy to chat to us, but we didnt chat for too long, as we were still fangiring out quite a bit!
The Sanctuary 3 pic was after that, I felt soooo short between Agam (in heels) and AT (in flats, but still soooooo tall!!!!) and that was fun! went by really fast though, not much talking!
My pic with Robin came after that, and that was great! After they pic was taken, Robin had to check that is was a good one, so he went over and checked it, with his arm still around me, said it looked good, and was quite slow to let me go (not complaining, I was quite slow to let him go, too!!!) and held on to my hand for a few seconds before I went…
We rushed off to catch the last of Rob Picardo’s panel after that, though I’d really wanted to see him we both wanted to get the pics done! Loved hearing him read a bit from his book (must buy!!!) and sing one of his song parodies, sooo very funny!!! Even had Amanda (not a trekky) convinced to come to his panel the next day, after this!!!
Then was the Sanctuary panel!!! Funniest thing all day!!! Agam saw us all taking pic, and got photos of all of us!! Robin and AT were doing their usual goofing around, and AT showed us the new book about sanctuary that had been made to raise money for S4K! So many funny moments through the panel, loved watching them all interact!
After the last panel, we rushed off to pick up our photos, and then it was Back to the backpackers for me to get ready (really fast) for the Dinner!!!
will post more on that amazing night later…..must sleep…..
Amanda Tapping: Best Stargate Convention Moments (by sam1Helen)
Be more awesome. Oh that’s right… you can’t.
This is why I am an Amanda Tapping Fan… heehee, she so much AWESOME!!!
WOW!!! What a night!!!
So I arrived in Melbourne safe and sound, and only mildly panicked from the flight. Had a great time shopping and walking around the city on thursday and friday, and by friday arvo I was trying to fight off my nerves…My first panic was that the dress code for the cocktail party was ‘smart-casual’, but it was a cocktail party, so I was darn-well gonna wear a cocktail dress….plus, I’d owned the dress for nearly 6 years and worn it 3 times, so it was about due for another trip out of the wardrobe! My other nerves were all celeb-related… 1, I’d never met any celebs before, 2 some of my very favourite people ever were gonna be there, 3, Amanda-freaking-Tapping was gonna be there…..enough said…..
So I finally found the place I was going to, a little more worried because I was a little late…Thankfully they hadnt opened the doors yet. I was also lucky in that one of the first people I saw was Bron, who I’d met on FB and had been giving me lots of tips on what to expect at one of these events! So she directed me to upstairs, and it wasnt long before I found another FB friend, Amanda, who I pretty well stuck to over the entire weekend. So eventually we got let in. Amanda and I had a bit of a look around, and saw that most people were milling over the other side of the room, where we assumed the celebs had come in. So we were standing there trying to see who was where, when all of a sudden I noticed Robert Picardo walking over towards us!!! Well, not towards us, but past us to the bar area…As he passed I managed a very quiet hi, and a little wave, and he said hi back and kept walking…..It was at that point that my tears started!!! We spent a few minutes laughing at me crying, before heading over towards the crowd.
The first person I wanted to see was, of course, Amanda Tapping…. So we headed over towards where she was….I was still trying to compose myself again, so we went over quite slowly, bit by bit, and finally get to a few meters from her. she was, of course, surrounded by people, all chatting away, and due to nerves we stood back a little and waited for a bit of space to open up…A few times she looked over at me, and every time she did I went a little more fangirly!!! Then came the moment when she looked right at me and said hi (still surrounded by people, so I wasnt getting any closer at that point) and the tears started again!!! so we moved a bit further away, and I got myself a bit composed again…. OMG moment!!!
It was right about then that Bron found us again….She asked if I’d had a chance to meet anyone yet….Still a little teary I said no, and she said that she’d just been talking to Robin Dunne and had told him she had a friend who really wanted to meet him, so she led me over to say hi… So after Hi’s and hugs, Bron took a couple of photos for me during which Robin leaned a good bit of his weight on me while complaining about jetlag!!! I was still mostly unable to speak, but I started feeling much more at ease then, felt really comfortable around him, which really helped me through the rest of the night…He went off to chat to other fans after that, but, feeling a little more comfortable I was ready to seek out another celeb for a chat.
Agam was the next person I talked to. I was still quite stuttery, but I was able to get more words out this time, and ask a few questions. She was so lovely, and nice, and put me even further at ease. Got to hear some sanctuary stories, and what else she’d been working on. More pics, before moving on again.
My next target (lol) was Robert Picardo, this time, hopefully without tears. This was surprisingly difficult. He was quite often surrounded, and moved about a lot, but eventually we got a couple of words with him, and some more pics. I heard later that he’d been quite mobbed at the start, which was possibly why he was a bit less sociable than some of the others.
By this point, I was feeling much more confident, and began to seek out AT again. She and Robin were in two little groups in a corner of the room, so we went and stood over near them. AT was on the phone (ph belonging to one of the fans, most likely talking to another fan who couldnt be there) and Robin was trying to get her to hand it over so he could talk, being quite funny about it. Eventually AT handed the ph to him, and went back to chatting. I was quite close at this point, but still 2 or 3 people between us. A few moments later one of the staff approached AT to take her away, just as I was getting close!!! (total panic hit at that time, the eyes welled up again!) but as she turned around to say bye to us all, she looked dead at me, turned to the staffperson and said no, wait, turned back to me and said “you, you’ve been waiting, I saw you” and came over and hugged me for a full 15-20 seconds, just holding me while I tried not to cry, the only thing going through my mind was “omgomgomg, she SAW me!!!” and she held my hands for a moment before we got a pic taken, and she was gone, once again my tears were flowing!!!
That was my first “best moment of my life” for the weekend….(more to come)
After that I went and talked to a few more celebs, without a worry, after all, I’d been hugged by Amanda Tapping, and she SAW me and remembered me, and after that everthing else was a non-event…..
So I went and chatted to Alaina Huffman for quite a while, I think probably about half an hour, about how she was enjoying Oz, what she was getting up to, her shows, etc, and she was probably my fave conversationalist of the night, it was so easy to talk to her, and any other worries I might have had about “celebrities” just went!
My last stop for pics was Nic Brendon, who was also lovely, but quite in demand so we didnt chat long. We ended up going back over to Alaina after this to chat again, before joining the massive line up for photo and auto tokens for the next day, followed by the long walk back to the hotel, the entire way I was just floating….
So that was my first ever celeb cocktail party…. oh, and most of the other people there were just as dressed up as me, so that was one less thing on my mind from the start…..
will put up my “saturday” blog later…. :)
whoops……
ok, so as I suspected, I’ve been failing as a blogger, again…….tonight I will attempt to put down all that I’ve done over the last few weeks, in Melbourne for Arma, and in Sydney……will be many blogs, I suspect…..
must try to do this more……
here goes?
well, I’ve decided to try putting pen to paper (figuratively speaking, of course I actually mean fingers to keys) again and getting some of these stories spinning around in my head into some sort of coherent form….I think I’ll try writing a script this time though, as all of my attempted novels have fallen appart by the end of the first chapter….We’ll see how we go, and I might even post something here….
2 Weeks To Go!!!
Ok, so in 2 weeks I’ll be going to Armageddon Expo in Melbourne….and I’m soooooooo excited!!!!! Also, it will mean 2 weeks off work, also super exciting!
So I’m going to the cocktail party, which means I’ll be chatting to the likes of Amanda Tapping, Robert Picardo, Robin Dunne, Agam Darshi, Alaina Huffman, and many more amazing type people, so expect a bucket load of pics from that night!!!
Then theres the expo itself, which is going to be TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!
Then theres the dinner with Amanda and Robin on the sat night…..There are no words for my excitement, just squeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!
Along with the excitement of the expo, theres also a few milestones to lookforward to….My first flights, my first time in Melbourne, hoping to get my first profesional manicure and massage (ok, so I’m a small town chicky looking forward to my first time in Melbourne, and would like to take advantage of that with some girly/pampering time!!!) My first time busking in a big city (assuming I can get the permit!!) and I’m sure I can find a few more firsts while I’m there!!!
I’ll be posting like crazy while I’m there, so tumblr. you have been warned!!!
“tumblr. nah, not going to bother”
Famous last words…..Said the same ones right before joining twitter and facebook… wonder if this one will stick like they have!
Well, I’ve wanted to start a blog for a while, and I have….a few times….and faded away from them all… Here’s hoping this will be different.
Now to try and work this one out….we’ll see :)
Base By: Jahrenesis
