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Creation Official Stargate Convention –
February 25-27, 2005 – Grapevine, Texas
(Dallas area)
I attended this convention with my
dear friend, Sonia. The following
is a highlights report of the adventure as I remember it. While every attempt was made to be as
detailed as possible please bear in mind this was all
“reconstructed” from memory.
There is no guarantee that statements or comments made by any guests
are entirely verbatim, even if they appear in quotation marks. Anyone who wishes to link to this page
is welcome to do so (although I’d appreciate it if you’d drop me
a quick email
to let me know). But please do
not copy and use any text from this site at other places without crediting
the original source. Thank
you. Also the thoughts and
opinions expressed here are entirely my own, and do not necessarily reflect
the thoughts or views of any of the other con attendees, Creation staff, or
special guests. Oh, and I’m
a Daniel/Janet Shipper, so expect references to that to pop up at random
intervals throughout. Thanks, and
enjoy my ramblings…
- Michelle Lunsford
You are
also welcome to view my pictures from the convention via Shutterfly. (I’m not certain how long that
link will stay “active”, so if someone has a problem with it
please drop
me a note and I can email you a new link.)
Friday
Con
activities keyed up around 1:00 with pre-registration. We ran into Gena, a fellow
Daniel/Janet Shipper fan who we’d met at Gatecon last July. Got registered, complete with our
little orange wrist bands, and proceeded to “ooh” and
“aah” over all the items for sale by various vendors. I bought some new pictures (some of
which were needed for the autograph sessions), one of the new comics by
Avatar, and the book “Sacrifice Moon” – and the author was
there so I got it signed too. I’m
sure more purchases will be in order before the weekend is over.
Attendance
appeared to be really low, but I reminded myself it was only Friday. And, as it turns out, the smaller
group made for a wonderful casual and intimate feel as things got underway. There were some brief presentations
and several fan-made videos. They
actually opened the festivities with a fantastic Sam/Jack shippy vid to a
song titled “Your Brain”.
There was also a vid featuring Sam to the tune “Get by with a
Little Help from My Friends” and a nice upbeat general team/show vid
right before Peter Williams came on stage. They did the first round of auctioning
– because of the small crowd there were some great buys, although
things did get a bit more frenzied as the auction progressed. I’d been eyeing a very nice
vinyl banner with a shot of the entire team – it was auctioned with
autograph tickets for Don S. Davis, Christopher Judge, and Michael Shanks
– but alas it went for $275, more than I wanted to pay.
I had no
idea what to expect of Peter Williams, having never seen him except in his
role of Apophis. He was quite
charming and entertaining!
Learned that he’s originally from Jamaica, has been married for 17
years, has a teen daughter and son, and really enjoyed filming
“Children of the Gods” (although that part came as no big
surprise). He’s also a huge
fan of reggae, and Bob Marley in particular. Sonia and I actually ended up being
first in the autograph line and as he kept trying to get the pen to work
correctly Sonia now has “personal Peter William’s
squiggles” on the back of her con ticket. J He was gracious enough to personalize
the autographs even without our asking (and even though I think the Creation
staff told them not to do that).
I introduced myself, told him it was nice to meet him, and that I was
looking forward to seeing him in the cabaret that night. He laughed and told me not to expect
too much as he’s not really a singer. But I replied that I was actually more
looking forward to the fun of the event than any performance, which he said
was good.
The
evening cabaret show was awesome!
It opened with Don S. Davis who gave a hearty Texan
“yee-haw!” in greeting and then said some of the most lovely
things about his dear wife, Ruby (who was there with him) before he began his
readings. He’d selected
several pieces that were related to Texas,
including a poem by Baxter Black (love his stuff) and selections from the
magazine Texas Monthly. Also read several songs, one by Willie
Nelson (apparently he’s a long-time fan), and a couple by Toby Keith,
one about Willie Nelson and one titled “If I Were Jesus” (which I
rather liked). He closed with a
selection from “We Still Have Paris”, a book written by a friend
of his with whom he used to teach at university. I could have listened to him read all
night long, but they had to move the festivities along. Peter Williams was next. He’d changed into a black
button-up shirt and I must admit that he was looking mighty fine. He came on stage playing a
harmonica. (The instrument had
been a gift from his father-in-law.)
He then proceeded to talk a bit about reggae music and sing some
selections, inviting us to sing along.
Of all the ones he performed, my favorite was the first one – a
traditional Jamaican folk tune about a woman attempting to sale some fruit at
market (Oh, what a Saturday
night…) Closed his act
as he’d begun with another harmonica piece.
Then
– the highlight I’d been waiting for – Teryl Rothery came
on stage. As expected she was a
little ball of energy and looked absolutely gorgeous! (She was wearing the most amazing
black boots!) She began by inviting
insisting that everyone in the “cheap seats” move forward (even
though Creation had told them they could not) and even insisting that the
Creation workers who were standing guard at the back come on up front and
have a seat to enjoy the show.
(She’s so great!)
She then warned us that just before coming down for the show
she’d been in Chris Judge’s room and had imbibed a Scotch, so not
to hold her responsible for any involuntary flubs that may ensue. (Of course, there weren’t
any.) I can’t even come
close to describing how truly entertaining she was! She sang three Broadway selections:
“Adelaide’s Lament” (from Guys and Dolls), “Can’t
Say No” (from Oklahoma),
and “Hey Big Spender” (from Sweet
Charity). Her singing was
AWESOME – each was sung and acted in character. She jokingly commented that her
singing coach had told her these songs (which she often uses in auditions)
appear to follow a particular theme, that being “getting older and
getting laid (although not necessarily in that order)”. J The last two songs she even
incorporated volunteers from the audience. Erin played her “best
friend” for “Can’t Say No” (and was a real natural)
and Willard Patrick for “Hey Big Spender” – looked like he
REALLY enjoyed himself as Teryl pretty much threw herself at him throughout
the song! In between each song
she chatted and was just quintessential Teryl – I laughed and whooped
and loved every minute of it.
I’m telling ya, that woman is a 5’2”
powerhouse! FANTASTIC
doesn’t do her justice.
Saturday
The
Grande Hall opened for the con at noon and I made a few more purchases at the
vendor tables (those photos are just so
appealing). There was a trivia
contest that was a LOT of fun. They took three volunteers from the audience
to come on stage and work as a team.
Then audience members were invited to submit questions. (There were some basic rules, like
questions couldn’t be too technical, or involve numerical
answers.) The team had to
correctly answer five questions in a row to win a $50 gift certificate for
the Creation vendor table.
(Although that did get reduced to four questions in a row before it
was over.) But the cool part was
that if the question-asker stumped the team, that individual got to choose a
prize from the table (it had lots of official merchandise, like shirts and
books). And the question was then
offered to the audience and whoever from the audience answered correctly also
got to pick a prize. If the
question-asker stumped both the team and the audience, that person got to
pick two prizes! Well, they went
through one team (who finally managed to win the $50 certificates) and were
working through a second team when they missed this question: What was Janet’s response, in the
episode “Hathor”, when the girls are all locked up and the guard
steps in and asks what they have in mind? Well, the team missed it and I got
picked to answer from the audience!
(The answer is, of course, “Whatever
you want, Airman.”) So
I won the “Essential Scripts” book – very cool indeed!
Before
Teryl came on stage they played a wonderful tribute video to her (we later
learned it was done by Rocketchick, as were several of the other videos from
this con that we had so enjoyed – they can be downloaded from the multimedia
section of savejanetfrasier.com) entitled “Short Skirt Long
Jacket”. Teryl’s
question and answer session was fantastic! Of course, she comes bustling out on
stage with her cup of tea and handbag – that’s nearly as big as
she is – and yells out in that chipper little voice of hers, “Hey
Everybody!!” She was
amazingly energetic and entertaining and got through everyone’s
questions. It’s always
impossible to remember everything that was covered, but I tried to recall
some of the highlights…
- She
told the Heimdall story (which I’d heard before, but it’s so
hilarious that you enjoy going through it again) about how she had to wear
this black latex bodysuit with an image of the little Asgard attached to it
and, by chance, Heimdall’s eye-line ended up being right at her
chest. Naturally, with all the
testosterone on set, that got played up to the hilt, especially by Richard
Dean Anderson who even got them to put little blinking red lights where
Heimdall’s eyes were.
- Shared
some moments from the filming of “Heroes”, telling how emotional
it was for the entire cast and crew and mentioning once again how nice it was
to have Michael there with her when she filmed the actual death scene.
- Told
this hilarious bird story, about how one day she and her dog had gone to the
health food store and this baby bird accidentally got inside and landed right
on her arm, which she thought was really cute because she’s a big
animal lover. But then the bird
flew off again and she went crazy trying to save the poor little critter as
it flew all over the store. (If
you’ve ever seen Teryl Rothery on stage, you can imagine how this
played out as she re-enacted the entire scenario.) She upset an entire snack chip display
in her efforts and finally managed to get the bird. She then proceeds to go all over the
store asking people “You want this bird?” and her poor dog is
yapping the entire time this is going on. She finally leaves the store –
completely in disarray now – and is even asking people on the street if
they want this bird. Eventually
makes her way to the pet store – they won’t take the bird either
but she ends up purchasing a cage, seed and a book about wild birds. Once she finally gets home she
contacts the animal rescue center, at which point she learns it is illegal to
keep a wild bird. Well, she
finally got the bird to the animal rescue and the bird cage now contains a
little fake bird and decorates her grandmother’s home. She did follow up with the animal
rescue center, by the way, and the little bird was taken care of and
eventually released back into the wild.
- I think
my favorite moment was actually the very end, when Teryl was signing her
autograph on the two large hanging banners at the sides of the stage. When she got to the one with Michael
Shanks picture she made a point of signing on his arm and then drew a little
heart. Over her shoulder she very
mischievously said “Because you know Janet and Daniel were having an
affair”. J
After
this awesome session we got to hear from Roxanne Conrad, who wrote the second
book in the Fandemonium
line of Stargate fiction under her pseudonym Julie Fortune. As one who plays around with writing
myself, I found it very interesting to hear a little about how things are
conducted from that side of the franchise. (Side note – I have since
finished reading this book and enjoyed it very
much – I highly recommend it.)
Then Sonia and I went for our photo op with Teryl. Yes, I had to pay extra for this, and
yes Creation did pretty much herd us through like cattle. That being said, I’d also point
out that we were informed via the website (before I made the purchase) that
this is exactly how it would be conducted and I opted to do it anyway. It was very efficient and, although
quick, I felt it was handled very well.
And Teryl herself was wonderful about making each individual feel
special. She made a point to say
hello as everyone came up for their photo. She smiled when she saw me and told me
she liked my hat – then she smiled even bigger and said “Oh, and
the sweatshirt!” (I was
wearing my Daniel/Janet Shipper attire.)
She also made a point of saying hello to Sonia (who I’d invited
to be in the picture with me) and then when I sat beside her for the pose she
held my hand. We couldn’t
have been interacting for more than 10-15 seconds and yet she made it
special!
We then
returned to the main room where they did a promo about various sci-fi films
coming out for the summer and fall.
There was another auction, and in general things went for slightly
more expensive bids than they had the day before. The best buy of the day was someone
who got one of the huge side-banners from the stage (the one with Chris, Don,
and Teryl), complete with all the guests’ autographs, for only
$125. The most interesting win
(at least to Sonia and myself) of the day was the Amanda Tapping official
Creation con banner that went to this very reserved looking older gentleman
for $300. The costume competition
followed. We had an Oma Desala,
an ascended Abydonian (they’d incorporated this cool little glowing
balls into their costume to represent the ascended aura), several SG military
type uniformed personnel, and even a Doctor Frasier. Perhaps the most amusing costume was a
Jaffa warrior
uniform made entirely of tin foil and duct tape – he was the First
Prime of Lord MacGyver. One
little girl was dressed in a cute Egyptian princess costume (she won the
junior division). Third place
went to a SGC scout team, second place to a Hathor entry, and first to a
group of Teyla, John Sheppard, and two Wraith.
The Don
S. Davis session was just as entertaining as Teryl’s, although clearly
his style is quite different. Don
reminds me very much of a quintessential Southern storyteller, weaving tales
in that lovely deep accent of his.
Again, it’s impossible to remember every detail, but what sticks
out in my memory is…
- His
obvious devotion and love for his wife, Ruby. He always speaks so fondly of
her. And someone had asked how
they got together, which proved to be a most interesting tale. They had gone out to dinner, and Teryl
and her mate at the time were along.
The men got to talking and the ladies excused themselves for a
time. As ladies are apt to do in
such situations, the conversation turned to romantic possibilities. Ruby admitted she was rather fond of
Don and Teryl basically told her that Don was clueless and if Ruby wanted him
to know she’d pretty much have to knock him over the head with it. So afterwards, in the parking lot,
apparently Ruby just up and kissed Don.
Then they went to Teryl’s home for drinks and at one point when
Don and Ruby were in the kitchen Ruby kissed him again. It was during this moment in the story
that Don admitted he “Put her on the floor”!
- Don
obviously has a huge heart and he always gets a little emotional when
speaking about things that are important to him, such as people serving in
the military and his clear affection for the cast and crew of Stargate. He admitted that the episodes dealing
with family were among his favorites as well as “Heroes”.
After
this they began to set up for the autograph signing and while we were waiting
Don simply walked out from back stage and came and sat near us. He commented that he didn’t like
hanging out “back there” and would much rather be out chatting
with the fans. A few folks did
come up to speak with him and make a photo or two, but no one swarmed him or
anything. He truly is so gracious
and approachable – a genuine sweetheart.
The
autograph sessions were very well organized – everything was done by
ticket row number. Again they
moved us along pretty quickly, but not so fast that you didn’t have a
few seconds with the guests. And
it was no surprise that the guests were once again making every effort to
make those few seconds meaningful.
Teryl was first in the line and then Don. When Sonia got to Teryl she thanked
her for her giving us a brief (one line) performance from her upcoming role
in Julius Caesar and – since
Sonia is an English teacher – commented that now she’d always
think of Teryl in that role when she taught the unit on that play. And then I overheard Don tell Sonia
that she was “lovely” when she stepped up for his autograph
– what a charmer! For my
autograph I’d printed out a particular shot I wanted for both Teryl and
Michael’s signatures – the scene from “2010” where
Daniel and Janet are staring at one another. As soon as Teryl saw this she got this
very playful expression on her face.
She held up the picture and smiling said, “Oh look, it’s
my lover”. I told her that
she was welcome to make any “romantic indications” on the picture
she wanted. She signed her name
and then drew a little heart between Daniel and Janet, complete with a big
arrow and little lines radiating out from the heart, which she referred to as
the “rays of love” between them. Oh yeah, I was on cloud nine, and
thanked her profusely! And while
Don signed I told him how much I’d enjoyed his readings during the
cabaret performance the previous night.
Well, we
were much hyped by this point, and the day wasn’t even complete! Gena joined us for dinner at
Bennigan’s. Fortunately we beat
most of the crowd and were seated right away. Just as we were finishing we saw the
Wraith costume group had come in – they got several looks as you might
imagine. The guy at the table
across from us actually said out loud something along the line of “Did
you guys see that freaky woman that just walked by?” even as he stood
up to get a better look. J
We went
down a little early for the dessert party, to make sure we could find the
room, and ran into a few of the ladies who had been sitting beside us the
whole con. We decided to sit
together, and thus the folks at our table ended up becoming fast
friends. We really did enjoy
talking with one another as much as we did having the opportunity to chat
with the guests. Peter, Don, and
Teryl all stopped by to mingle with us.
Don was the first of the three to join us at our table and again he
shared some wonderful stories and answered our questions. We then had the delight of having our
photo made with him, up close and personal! Now, perhaps I’m being prejudiced,
but I must say I think our table managed to become quite organized in our
photo taking that night. We
seemed to have this almost natural sense of everyone taking their turn
– and we all moved back and forth, so the guest could simply remain seated
(or standing), with us taking photos for each other.
Peter
Williams dropped by next and Sonia and I confessed afterwards that we became
quite enamored of him during this time.
I think maybe he was a little more relaxed here than he had been on
stage, but he was just so friendly and always made direct eye contact with
everyone. Sonia asked him a
wonderful question about how he’d felt about his first con appearance,
because she remembered being a little apprehensive for her first one, not
really sure what to expect. Peter
answered that his first con was in Australia, a last minute deal
when Christopher Judge had to cancel.
He admitted it was a little crazy and all, but basically he’d
learned over the course of doing these for several years that basically the
fans are just normal folks with really big hearts who happen to love the
show. And he shared a very
touching story about a guy named John, who had been at that con – John
was a baker who worked at Woolworth’s and he knew absolutely every
single line of dialogue to every single episode of the show. Yeah, John wasn’t exactly the
“average guy” in the social status of things – basically,
John’s life was baking at Woolworth’s and Stargate. And yet, John and he kind of
“bonded” because every time Peter was asked a question on stage
at that con about a particular episode and he had no idea exactly what they
were talking about, there was John, ready to help him out by telling him
which episode and scene. So before
Peter left, he made a point to stop by that Woolworth’s and ask for
John. Of course this resulted in
John being pretty much the “talk of the town” for days
afterwards! And Peter said it really
was a great feeling to know that simply by stopping by and ordering a couple
of croissants from a place, he’d had the opportunity to have such a
positive effect in this guy’s life.
By the
time Teryl made it to our table it was at least 11:30, and would you believe
she had to be up around 4:00 the next morning to catch at flight around
6:00?! What an amazing woman,
giving of herself until the very last possible moment! She admitted it was partially her own
fault, because she simply LOVES to talk.
J She chatted
for a bit and then offered photos, as the others had done. And it was so cute because every time
she would stand on her tip-toes (she changed out of her really awesome boots
into more comfortable athletic shoes by this time) so she wouldn’t be
so short in the photo with the person.
When Sonia and I stepped forward she noticed my sweatshirt again and
smiled fondly, and then she got this funny look on her face, as if she had
just remembered something. She
looked up at me (she really is only 5’2”) and said, very
matter-of-fact, “Didn’t I meet you once before and grab your
boob?” I can only imagine
the look of surprise on my own face as I blinked a couple of times and
replied, “Uh, no, I think I would have remembered that.” At this point it must have dawned on
her what she actually said because she literally doubled-over with
laughter. She explained that what
she’d meant was she remembered meeting someone with a fan made shirt
before and she’d walked right up to them and simply began rubbing at
the image as she complimented the shirt – not realizing until a few
seconds afterwards that in doing so she’d actually fondled the
woman! So, we all got a good
laugh out of that one. Then after
our photo I simply had to get in one more Daniel/Janet shipper plug – I
told her that, on behalf of the fans, I thought that the next time she did
her “Big Spender” number in the cabaret performance she should
figure out a way to get Michael involved. She looked at me and, pointing at my
shirt clarified, “You mean this Michael?” I nodded and, with this very sly expression on her face, Teryl
responded, “Well, I’ll have to see what I can do about
that.” J
Sunday
No more
leisurely mornings – we had to be up, ready, packed, and checked out in
time for the breakfast at 9:45.
But we made it with plenty of time to spare, and met up with our table
mates from the night before by about 9:15. Had some fun chatting – everyone
was obviously a bit giddy as this was the day Michael and Chris were to
appear. The other ladies joked with
me a bit about my wanting to bid on the Michael Shanks banner, but yet
knowing it would go for a very high price that day. They let us in and I had a lovely
omelet for breakfast. The guests
didn’t show up immediately, but that was just as well because it gave
us a chance to eat and get settled.
There was a silent auction going on at the same time – this one
for charity. And then eventually
the guys showed up, to much shouting and applause. The first thing I noticed was that
they were both definitely sporting the we-were-up-too-late-drinking-last-night-and-so-have-just-woken-up-thrown-on-some-clothes-and-hurried-down-here
look. The next thing I noticed
was that, despite that, they still looked absolutely great! I must confess, I’d seen some
photos from the Creation con in Virginia
from the beginning of February and noticed that Michael had been sporting the
scruffy look at the time.
Secretly I’d hoped he would hang on to that until we saw him in Dallas, so I was
thrilled to get my wish!
Apparently he was taking advantage of the filming-begins-tomorrow-so-I-can-go-just-one-more-day-without-shaving
opportunity. ; ) I’m glad to say they did
actually get an opportunity to eat – although it must be a terribly
weird experience to go through the buffet knowing that all these people are
taking picture after picture after picture of you. But what a delight – they sat at
the table right beside us! And
let me tell ya, both these fellas can put down a pretty good amount of food
for breakfast, and Michael drinks coffee with as much devotion as his character
– I think he became attached
to that mug. J I will admit
that due to having such an awesome and close view, I took opportunity to get
in several nice stares at Michael’s hands (yes, I have this thing for
his hands – can’t explain it, but I simply think he has the most
beautiful, masculine hands I’ve ever seen). I also attempted to ascertain if he
was wearing boots (I know – it’s silly, but I have this thing for
boots too), as he had his feet tucked so nicely underneath his chair, but
alas his jeans didn’t come up high enough above the tops of his footwear
for me to be certain.
After
quickly eating, they both “worked the room”… although in
very different manners. Those who
have seen Chris in person will understand – the man truly is larger
than life, and I don’t just mean physically. His personality is just SO HUGE! It appears that he is drinking less
these days (he mentioned he has a fiancé now, who’d only just a
couple weeks ago had a baby, so perhaps that’s part of the reason why)
so he was more coherent and used less swearing than when I’d seen him
at Gatecon, but he’s still very, very
hyper! Basically, Chris works the
entire room at one time – that’s just his style. I admit it’s a little
overwhelming for me. But I love
him all the same. You can tell he
really does have a big heart underneath all that craziness. And crazy is, perhaps, an
understatement. J He started a
food fight at breakfast. Well,
okay – it began simple and amusing enough. He merely threw something at
Michael. But it escalated. And, unfortunately, Chris was soon being
egged on by some of the more rowdy folks in attendance. Before it was over he was crawling
around under the tables. When it
got to the point where a very few of the other people (con attendees - not
the guests) were starting to throw things, the Creation staff quickly stepped
in and put a stop to it. I
actually got accidentally bopped in the head with a small piece of orange
peel that had been tossed by some person. No, it wasn’t serious, but it
did irk me a little. But Gary,
one of the “head guy” staff from Creation that weekend, made a
point to come over to me and ask if I was okay and everything, which I very
much appreciated. Things calmed
down and started moving along normally again, but then for a moment it looked
as if Chris might be considering going for food-fight-round-two. You could feel a wee bit of tension
– at least from the folks and staff who were getting just a little
perturbed at this behavior – but I think most folks were afraid to
actually say anything. After all,
this is Chris Judge here. But, as
it happens he was standing close to our table at that point, and when there
was a momentary lull in the atmosphere Sonia very wisely jumped up and pulled
him over to take a photo with her!
I opted not to join in on this one (as I mentioned before, I was
pretty overwhelmed at this point), but I did take the photo, so I got to
“interact” with him that way. And then about that time Michael
joined our table.
Now I
must tell you that my friend Gena was – totally unexpected by me
– very faithfully watching my six during all these goings on. As our table was full, she had pulled
up an extra empty seat right between her and me, so that when Michael came
over he would sit there. What a
sweetie she is! But, as it turns
out, when he finally did come over, Lynn
(one of the ladies at our table) was up having her photo made with Chris and
so Michael took her seat.
Actually, I think this ended up being better, because then he was
sitting directly across from me – made for a most excellent view! J I’d noticed when he’d
walked in that he was wearing a tee-shirt with an image of a very young
Johnny Cash on the front. Now, I
readily admit that I don’t care one whit about country music. But, being from Tennessee, I thought it was enough of a
“connection” that I could use it as a conversation starter. I also knew that if I waited for
anyone else to say something first then I’d never get my nerve up to
speak afterwards, so as soon as he sat down I leaned forward and just blurted
out, “So, what’s the deal with Johnny Cash?” I went on to explain that since I was
from Tennessee
I was just curious about it. And
he answered that he liked Johnny Cash (although afterwards Sonia and I
weren’t certain if Michael meant by this that he actually liked his
music or just the image on the shirt) and he was into wearing tees with
images on the front because that’s basically all he wore since he
wasn’t exactly a “slave to fashion”. Of course, the whole time I’m
listening attentively, nodding and smiling, and thinking to myself
“Honey, you don’t need to be a slave to fashion” because,
let’s face it, the man would look good – as they say – in a
potato sack.
Anyway,
he chatted for a few seconds more, and then we immediately launched into
photos because we knew they were running short on time. Sonia and I made our way around the
table, and I decided that I was simply going to go for it – I was going
to find out one thing once and for all.
So as I sat down beside him I turned, looked directly into those
absolutely gorgeous blue eyes and said, “I know this may sound like a
really strange question, but by any chance are you wearing boots?” I have to give the man credit –
absurdity of the question notwithstanding, he rattled off an answer as if it
were the most normal thing in the world.
Alas, no, he was not wearing boots. But he went on to share, as we went on
with the photos that he doesn’t wear boots when he travels by plane because
it’s too much trouble having to take them off for airport security,
which not only makes a lot of sense but also seems to imply that he is
inclined to wear boots at other times.
J When the
flashing of cameras finally stopped, I thanked him for answering my question
and admitted that I’d been curious to know because I “have a boot
fetish”, to which he responded, in a very amused tone of voice,
“Okay, I’m not really going to follow up on that, but
that’s very interesting”.
Well,
photos at our table continued, and Gena ended up being the last one. She had me take a photo with my camera
because the batteries were going down on hers. And then she made a point of showing
Michael the Daniel/Janet badges I had made. (Did I mention she was watching my
six? – what a gal – I’d never have had to gumption to do
that myself, even after asking a crazy question about boots!) He seemed pleased by them. He seemed to especially like the one
I’d made using the hand-holding shot from “Rite of Passage”
and the Dan/Jan stare from “2010”. He jokingly made the comment that
those were pretty much the only two scenes they had together like that to which I admitted that we
(meaning Dan/Jan shippers, of course) had learned to make the most of what
little they gave us.
They had
to pull Chris away from breakfast in time for his 11:40 photo ops, but I
think Michael remained at the breakfast chatting with people even after Chris
went for his on stage talk (at 12:10).
Chris’ stage session, as you might imagine, was wild and crazy,
but also a lot of fun. He
admitted that because he’s ADD we’d have to help keep him on track,
but he did manage to get through most all the questions that folks wanted to
ask. Sonia asked him something
that had actually been spawned Teryl’s appearances earlier in the
weekend, that being since Chris was hoping to write something for season 9 and
also hoping to find a way to write Teryl into an episode, what were some of
the ideas he had or had heard about.
He basically replied that the quantum mirror was a good idea and went
on to share that part of the reason they’d abandoned that plot device
was because, apparently, Richard Dean Anderson has a difficult time with
alternate reality episodes because he can’t keep up with which
“version” of the character they’re dealing with in a
particular scene. J So, in a
round about way, that may actually be one of the “good things”
that comes from RDA’s lack of participation in season 9 – a
revisit to some alternate reality stories. Other things that stand out from his
session are…
- The
various practical joke stories he shared.
- The
Hathor wig was being retired, but made a last appearance and when Chris put
it on he did this hysterical Tina Turner impression.
- This
cute little girl, looking all spiffy in her leather jacket (Chris actually
“flirted” with her, in a very innocent way) asked probably the
best question of the whole session, wanting to know if he was a sci-fi fan
before he worked on Stargate and if he believed there was intelligent life on
other planets. His response was
that yes, he’d been a sci-fi fan (and basically who of “our
generation” wasn’t?) and that he thought it was pretty arrogant
to think that we were the only form
of “life as we know it” in the whole entirety of the universe.
- Shared
a very touching story how he and RDA didn’t really talk much for the
first two years (although RDA and Shanks seemed to hit it off immediately due
to their similar “sense of humor and intelligence”) but it was
actually the birth of RDA’s daughter the provided a shared event over
which they “bonded”.
Also spoke very highly of RDA and in a moment of genuine seriousness said that despite the fact RDA was going to
be sorely missed from the show, no one could blame a man for wanting to make
spending time with his child a priority.
There was much applause to that, I’m glad to say.
As soon
as Chris finished his talk we had to dash out and get in line for the photo
op with Michael. Once again it
was a very professional and efficient “cattle herding” procedure,
but I didn’t mind because we’d had such a fantastic time during
the breakfast. Of course I made a
point to watch as much as I could while waiting for my turn in line, trying
to soak up as much of the moment as possible. As I know I’ve said many times
before, all the actors put forth the effort to make their interaction with
the fans something meaningful, but it’s neat to watch and see what
little individual spin each puts on it.
Michael’s thing, I noticed, was that he made a point to shake
each person’s hand, and after every photo was taken he’d turn,
make direct eye contact, and offer a smile and a “Thank
you”. Wow - him thanking us – I thought that was so
impressive! Well, Sonia went
before me at my insistence. (I
admit, I think I enjoyed watching my friend interact with all these folks as much
as I did interacting with them myself.)
Michael recognized her from the breakfast! He said “Hello again” as they shook hands, and
when she sat down for the photo he put his arm around her and said to the
camera “This is my friend”.
What a sweetie! No, he
didn’t put his arm around me, but I really didn’t mind because I
was too busy doing little internal shouts of “Squee!” because
I’d gotten to shake his hand (really, really beautiful hands) and bask
one more time in the presence of that dazzling smile and those gorgeous
eyes. J
We made
it back to the main room in time to catch the last of the final auction. Just for the record, I believe the
Michael Shanks banner went for $350 – way over my limit. (Which always is better than when it
goes just a few dollars over your limit, because then you kick yourself for
not getting it.) And then Michael
came out for his talk (which means they actually made it through that
massively long line at the photo ops in about 30 minutes – amazing!).
Now I
must say that of all the guests, Michael is one of the best when it comes to
the question and answer stuff. He
makes it entertaining and personal (he stands right at the edge of the stage,
looking you directly in the eye and giving you his full attention), but at the same time keeps it moving very
quickly so that everyone has a chance to get through with their
question. I’d decided I was
going to ask something, and felt I’d even come up with a fairly safe
and interesting question – but more on that in a moment. One of the things that really struck
me was how much Michael adores children!
Yes, certainly all the actors seem to give a little bit more when they
are interacting with kids at these shows, but Michael especially seems to
have an affinity for the little ones.
You can see his face literally light up when one comes up to ask a
question, and he becomes so animated – it’s great to watch. Even when one little boy asked a
question that obviously didn’t have much to do with Michael’s
role in the show (he’d asked “how do you make the special effects so good?”), after first giving
an adorable “Uh… I don’t know?” joking answer Michael
then went on to answer it the best he could, putting it all into language
that an elementary age kid would understand – he truly gave it just as
much serious consideration as if someone had just asked him something very
important or significant. Well, I
was about the 5th question up, and surprisingly was pretty calm
when I got to the mike (even after Michael walked over to my side of the
stage, flashed one of those amazing smiles of his, and so very attentively said
“Hi!”). This is
pretty much how it played out…
Me: “I
enjoyed your performance in “Prometheus Unbound”…”
Michael: “Thank
you.”
(side note: he makes a point to
say that any time someone compliments him on any aspect of his performing)
Me: ”…and
since we know that Claudia Black is going to be back to reprise her role, are
there any aspects of that storyline that you’re hoping they’ll
follow up on?”
(side note: okay, I realize that
one can take that question in light of certain sexual overtones – if
you’ve seen the episode you know what I mean – but I really
hadn’t intended it that way – what I was getting at was that Claudia’s
character had been purposefully ambiguous, leaving the whole issue of
“can we trust her” up in the air, and I was curious to know of
any of that was going to be “resolved” – but as you know,
you always think of the more “intelligent” way to word things
much, much later, when your emotions aren’t so high strung)
Michael: (pausing, looking thoughtful as he thinks it through, expression
slowly turning more playful as he processes the “sexual
overtones” possibility of the question which is, no doubt, not being
helped by the fact that a few in the audience are beginning to make verbal
responses as they too make the connection – then turning that playful
expression on me as he says…)
“Are you going somewhere in particular with that question?”
Me: (thrown for a loop because he’s now responded to my question
with a question – and now I’m poignantly aware of the
“sexual overtones” being implied – I blurt out the first
thing that pops into my head…) “Oh, no-no-no,” (simultaneously I have the
crazy thought that now I sound just like Daniel) “--not necessarily – after all, I am a preacher’s
wife.”
Michael: (momentary expression of slight shock as if to say “how the
heck do I answer this question now?!” - meanwhile the audience is
getting more riled with the verbal catcall-like responses – he glances
out to the audience for a second, then uncertainly back at me…)
Me: (now thinking I’ve put the poor man in an awkward situation and
am scrambling for how to get us both out of this – and really,
spontaneity brought on by nervous giddiness in a rather introverted person is
a very dangerous thing – blurt out the next thing that pops into my
head…) “Um, although if you still want to answer
the question in that way that would
be okay too.”
Michael: (literally jumps back a step as the audience looses it – he
glances back and forth between me and the audience a couple more times before
finally asking…) “Are we talking about the same thing here?”
Me: (determined I will NOT open my mouth again for fear of what might pop
out simply nod my head in the affirmative.)
Michael: (after a couple more uncertain glances between me and the audience
finally says, in a VERY Daniel-like way…) “WHAT?!?!”
Once the
audience finally calmed down he did actually answer my question – but,
as Sonia and I came to discover later, we were both so thrown by the entire
thing that neither of us could actually remember what he’d said. I think it was something to the effect
that he didn’t know anything specific about storylines, but because of
the good rapport they’d had, he was looking forward to working with
Claudia again. And so there,
ladies and gentlemen, you have the story of how I inadvertently managed to
freak out Michael Shanks. But oh,
it gets even better.
Later on
Sonia went up to ask a question.
She said that in season 7 she’d noticed Daniel spoke a lot
faster than normal, and she wondered if this was some conscious decision on
his (Michael’s) part or just a matter of practicality to get through a
certain amount of exposition or dialog.
Now, what she’d meant by that, as she later explained to me, was
if by his “conscious decision” it was an effort by Michael to
make Daniel somehow appear more “peppy”, but for some reason
Michael wasn’t entirely sure how to take the question, mainly evidenced
by a very confused expression. So
Sonia went on, giving the episode “Grace” as an example, and
saying how in that Daniel had spoken really fast, and she made this very
rapid (and very cute) “blah,blah,blah,blah,blah” sound. Well, Michael must have found this
extremely endearing because he suddenly got the most adorable expression on
his face and then, smiling at Sonia, he said, “Now what was that sound
again?” Hee-hee. J Well, I don’t think Michael ever
did quite figure out what Sonia was asking – and after that point I
think he was so amused (in a good way, mind you) buy her cute little noise
that any hope of regaining a truly serious answer was lost. He made some joke about if she was
hoping Daniel would talk slower in the future she was really out of luck
because in the opener of season 9 he has this really long bit of
exposition – paragraphs and paragraphs – to get through. Of course, Sonia is the whole time
attempting to point out that no, that’s not at all what she meant, even
as Michael goes on about how if Daniel talked r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w then
they’d never get through the show, and finally Sonia more or less gives
up and heads back to her seat, at which point – and this is the part I
just love – Michael (who is clearly not quite done being playful
– but still in a kind way, mind you) very cheekily glances at her and
just out of the blue says, as if they were old friends, “Do you like
the way these jeans look? And
this shirt, does this color make me look fat?” Oh my goodness – it was
priceless! While Sonia may not
agree, I think he was just out and out flirting with her. J
After
that much entertaining session (during which I vacillated between shooting
off several photos one right after the other, and simply leaning forward in
my chair and blatantly staring at him on stage) they got the final autograph
line started – Chris was first, and then Michael. I smiled and said “Thank
you!” when I was with Chris, but again I think I was still suffering a
bit from sheer Chris Judge overload to attempt much more interaction than
that. (Really, that’s
typically how I respond to anyone with such a huge personality.) But I did hear Sonia comment to him
that she’d really been blown away by his performance in
“Avatar”, and he seemed really
touched – that big heart of his was shining through again then. Of course, I had my shipper picture
ready when I got up to Michael, and when the Creation staff slid it in front
of him Michael giggled. Now,
Sonia and I talked about this afterwards, and she maintains that it really
was more than a mere laugh – the man actually giggled. So I said
(because you could clearly see how Teryl had done her autograph), “Now,
you’re not gonna be outdone by Teryl, are you?” He smiled and said, “Oh,
no!” and proceeded to sign his name with the typical Daniel smiley face
he does, and then out to the side he drew a big circle and in the middle
wrote D. J. + J. F. Oh man, I couldn’t have asked
for a better gift! And then when
he handed the picture back to me, he actually winked! I fairly floated away after that! I mean, I know the Daniel/Janet
shippers have discussed before how nice it is that both Teryl and Michael seem
to enjoy playing up the whole “relationship” bit, but this was
the first time I ever got to experience it in person, and I must say that
it’s a genuine treat! They
are both so fantastic and generous!
Well, we
made our farewells to old and new friends, and with all the activities now over
(except for a few repeats of some earlier panels about comics and books they
were presenting to keep the rest of the folks in the autograph line
“entertained”), it was time to make our exit.
Now,
I’ve been to several conventions before – both those run entirely
by a volunteer fan base and those conducted by “professional con”
organizations – and I must confess that this has been my most positive
convention experience ever! I’d never attended a Creation
event before, and I’d heard that some people had negative feedback
regarding their own experiences, but I can say that was definitely not the
case with my Creation encounter.
Their web site was extremely informative, with it being explicitly
stated exactly what you got for each level of ticket and any additional
“extra ticket” purchases, and everything ran pretty much exactly
as they had described it would.
I’ve heard some say that Creation events are a little
“pricey”, but I’ve paid nearly as much for similar events
and yet got more disappointing results and a lot less interaction with the
guests. Everything was very
organized – I think the most we were ever behind schedule was about 10
minutes. Overall, I don’t
think I could have been more pleased.
If anyone out there is considering attending one of these Creation
events, I’d highly recommend it!
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