SF Convention Adventures

[Jan]

I know there's at least one other poster (Yes, OmahaStar, I'm lookin' at you!) who enjoys attending SF conventions so I thought I'd start a thread for them even if they're not B5 cons.

I'm at a Vulkon Convention this weekend which only has one semi-B5 related guest, Jeffrey Combs (Harriman Gray in 'Eyes') but I came because I'd never seen George Takai or Nichelle Nichols in spotlights (though I've seen Nichelle at cons doing autographs several times). I've found that even if I'm not a huge fan of the shows represented, I have a good time seeing the actors.

Today's highlights were George Takai's spotlight which was half him talking and half Q&A. First, he looks much younger than you'd think from his recent appearance in Heroes; I think because he was so enthusiastic. I'm not sure where he got the energy since he'd apparently come from the UK Friday night and was going to have to go back again tonight. Unlike some of the Trek actors who've expressed that Trek had a somewhat negative impact on their lives, George told of many cool things that had come to him because of Trek and seemed grateful. I didn't have him autograph anything but I stopped in to watch his session for a few minutes and he seemed to be taking time to relate to each fan.

The other thing that was fun today was a session where Mark Alaimo and Jeffrey Combs got together and did several monologues from Shakespear.

As usual I didn't buy anything from the dealer's room. It was the usual collection of autographed pics and bootleg DVD's. One seller seemed to be speciallizing in self-published unauthorized books about various shows. I made the mistake of buying one of that sort of thing for Crusade once and learned my lesson. Yikes! You'd think they could at least spell the names of the actors right.

Tomorrow will be Nichelle's spotlight. I caught glimpses of her today and she's so stunningly beautiful. I'm looking forward to it.

Jan

[SmileOfTheShadow]

That sounds really fun Jan! And you don't even have to travel for this one. I'm just upset that they're scheduling worldcons during my annual hawaii vacation for the next few years now.

[Jan]

Today was an even better time than yesterday although it started of on a *really* surreal note.

I pulled into the conference center parking area of the hotel and noticed that there were a number of Sheriff and Police cars parked there but didn't really think much about it. Walked up to the entrance and noticed what looked like a whole *lot* of SG-1 dressed fans hanging around outside. Got inside and discovered that they weren't SG-1 dressed fans, they were attendees of a SWAT convention! Talk about your odd mixture of people - fit and trim SWAT team members mingling in the halls with, well, somewhat less than fit and trim fans. There was a *lot* of studious ignoring going on, though I caught some of the SWAT con members watching some of the costumed aliens out of the corners of their eyes. The table selling SWAT t-shirts was right next to a robot exhibet table.

Today's highlight was Nichelle Nichols' spotlight. Remember I mentioned how beautiful she is? It looks like it's inside and out. She's obviously a deeply spiritual lady and spirited to boot. And gracious. Like George, she credits the fans for keeping Trek alive and Gene Roddenberry's vision alive for so long. That's not something you hear from the later Treks much, they sort of came into the phenomenon in midstream. But Nichelle and George both reminded us of what it was like when Trek first aired and how much tension and strife and unrest there was back then and how Gene's show gave people hope for the future.

One lovely thing she told us was about how she and Louis Gossett Jr. had been friends for many years but that at this past DragonCon, they met and for once didn't have other relationships going with other people...so they're together now. It was sweet. She seems so happy and wanted to share.

A fan asked her about how she met Dr. Martin Luther King and she told how he'd forbidden her to leave the show as she'd planned after the first season. I'd read that many times but it was *special* hearing it from her herself.

At the end of her panel she sang 'Almost Like Being in Love' (that's either the title or the chorus) and even worked in a little tribute to Trek conventions. She's got a beautiful voice.

After yesterday and today, I suddenly remembered that I used to be every bit as big a Trek fan back then as I am a B5 fan now. I haven't really given it any thought for years. And I always tell how it's Trek's fault that I became so script obsessed. I'm really glad I went even though there weren't any B5 guests (unless you count Jeffrey Combs).

Jan

[Talwyn]

It sounds like you are having a marvellous time at the con Jan and to see Nichelle Nicols would be a highlight indeed.

I also would bet that a lot of those SWAT guys would have rather gone along to your con than theirs and I would say that there'd have been a few that would have gone back to buy some toys/souveniers

[OmahaStar]

One seller seemed to be speciallizing in self-published unauthorized books about various shows. I made the mistake of buying one of that sort of thing for Crusade once and learned my lesson. Yikes! You'd think they could at least spell the names of the actors right.

Egads, I know exactly what you're talking about. I've seen that type of book several times, and if they can't even get the names of the actors right, you just know the rest of the book will be riddled with errors. Hal Schuster is one of the names that come to mind of "authors" like this.

Every once in awhile, you might be able to find an undiscovered gem ... but there's a lot of crap you'll have to dig through to find it.

[Spoo Junky]

I had a friend who met Nichelle Nichols in an unusual way. It was an appearance in Toronto for the 20th anniversary (I think) of Star Trek. They asked for anyone whose birthday was on the same day as the first episode (Sept. 8) to come up and meet them. Lucky for him, that was his birthday so he met her, and I think George Takai and Walter Koenig (it was a long time ago, can't remember). I thought that was kind of cool.