Gallifrey One 2012 Highlights!

I guess better late than never :) It took awhile to get back into the swing of things after the con, but things have been smooth for a few weeks now, so I figured now was a good time to list out a few highlights:

1. Seeing Radio Free Skaro's live show and talking to Warren randomly at the bar.
2. Meeting Camille Coduri, Paul McGann, Tony Curran, Mark Shephard, William Russell, Nicholas Briggs, Barnaby Edwards, Charlie Ross, Jake McGann, Daphne Ashbrook, Yee Jee Tso, Philip Segal, and the Big Finish actors.
3. Meting peeps from LJ (Hi Michelle! Hi Becca!)
4. Seeing the insaneness of an Amy Pond photoshoot.
5. Skittle Amys (that showed up anyways lol)
6. The 3 Who Fangirl!
7. Meeting Austin Whovians (hey guys!!)
8. All the freakin fantastic cosplay. My faves: Aztec Barbara, the Adipose, the Ood (and the Ood-dogs), Old Amy (TGWW), the hot Nine, the Nine with the mannequin arm…the list can go on for awhile…
9. LobbyCon (especially Sunday night!)
10. Roscoe’s in Inglewood

I had a blast and can't wait to go back next year!! Come on 2013!

Peace & Who,
Jess

Gallifrey 2012 Recap: Friday

Lesson learned from Gallifrey: Even if you can't post your blog, write while it's still fresh so you don't forget half the stuff that happened.
 

Friday of Gallifrey One was complete madness. I've already written about the awesomeness that was me believing the steam from my iron set off the fire alarm.  That turned out to be a false alarm thank goodness!  The Radio Free Skaro interviews were really fantastic, especially Toby Haynes as he talked about Sherlock and Doctor Who!! His bit on Sherlock can be found here.  Steven asked great questions of all the guests and it really gave a taste for what was to come the rest of the weekend. Camille Coduri was seriously funny in both the RFS interview and on her own Q&A panel. When asked by a fan which Doctor Jackie Tyler and Camille would "go for," Camille stated she thought Jackie would go for the 9th Doctor because, "Jackie likes a bit of rough." The crowd erupted in laughter and cheering! She then said Tennant was her Doctor. The opening ceremonies were great as Sean Lyon introduced many of the weekend's guests and Daniele Favilli (Angelo, Torchwood Miracle Day) gave a really adorable speech.

The Amy Pond cosplay was interesting and not something I would want to do again.  Costuming just isn't my thing, but everyone else looked fantastic and Jess and I met Michelle who Jess knew from the internet - Tumblr or LiveJournal I think.  It was instant friendship and mutual craziness.  This was evidenced by the end of the night as Michelle and I approached Chris and Steven from Radio Free Skaro out by the pool. We had both had a little bit to drink and had agreed that Michelle really identified with Chris as she can be highly pedantic about Doctor Who and I almost always agreed with Warren who just loves the show.  I mean really? Who cares why there are still clocks in a universe where time has stopped.  It was a cool way to illustrate what had happened and advance a plot point. I digress. Chris recognized Michelle from her photo and the guys were very nice and extremely approachable.  Afterwards, Michelle and I started a bit of a TeamChris/TeamWarren thing that devolved into a spectacularly insane idea.  More on that madness in another post. Later that night while hanging out with Sean from TardisTavern we talked to Warren and he was extremely gracious and totally agreed with my point of view. At least that's how I think I remember it - drinks had been drunk and the conversations are a little hazy.

I've posted some of the photos from Friday of the cosplay and RFS panel after the jump.  The rest can be found on our Google+ Picasa page.

Gallifrey 2012 Recap: Thursday

Our first Gallifrey One is over and we had a magnificent time! I'm going to be recapping the entire weekend over the next few days as I sort through the pictures and videos. So please enjoy!

Thursday was pure excitement as Gally started to get under way.  There were already hundreds of guests at the hotel and many were in their costumes. I think the highlight of the day for Jess was riding on the shuttle with Richard Franklin.  Mine was discovering the wonderful, crazy, awesome world of cosplay and learning about badge ribbons.  For those not in the know, badge ribbons are small ribbons the length of convention badges on which people print pithy, amusing, silly, funny, weird, random statements related to fandom.  These ribbons are then passed out and traded throughout the convention.  I think my favorite was actually a set of 5 ribbons.  Four had the word thing and the last had a picture of a lizard.  The Doctor, "Yeah, listen, listen, got to dash... things happening. Well... four things. Well... four things and a lizard." (Blink)  Love it!!

Our roommates arrived later in the evening with a simply mental travel story.  They wanted to fly standby but couldn't get on a flight so they bought tickets for a flight out on Thursday morning.  They missed the plane because of an unfinished cosplay outfit and had to fly in to Palm Springs.  From there they got on a combination of buses, trains and shuttles to make it to Gallifrey.  It was like a convention version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles! 

Some fun pictures of the first nights cosplay below and of the ribbons we gathered.  Tomorrow I'll look in depth at the start of the official convention when the madness truly began.

Femme 11 from The Lodger

11 playing football with the cutest 6th Doctor

Two awesome River Songs!

Gally Ribbons

Captain Jack Harkness!

LobbyCon!!

Other than some pics of an awesome Jammie Dodger package there will be no updates tonight as its 3am and I am waaaaaaasted. Met all 3 guys from Radio Free Skaro tonight and a podcaster from Austin: Sean f/ Tardis Tavern. Lots, lots more sometime tomorrow.

Cosplay and RFS recap

Radio Free Skaro was ridiculously awesome! Camille Coduri has a fantastic wit and told some very funny stories about working on DW. Barnaby Edwards (Dalek operator) talked about Daleks then and now and how you still need 4 hands to maneuver them. Toby Haynes was simply brilliant even if he wouldn't give away the secrets of Sherlock. Pics and video will follow eventually of everyone on the panel including Chip's TMTL live podcast.

I've also post a few pics of cosplay that I snapped with my phone. A great interpretation of K-9, Idris and 10, a couple of great Amys and a brilliant femme 11, and the cutest little 8. Jess and I did the skittle Amy group photo; unfortunately only 4 of us showed up but it was still really fun. We met Camile and got her autograph! She is such a sweet person and took the time to chat with us. We're at her main interview now and I will update on that this evening. Hopefully I'll be able to get the better pics up waaaay late this evening.

Radio Free Skaro!!

Jess and I went to the Gallifrey 101 panel and now have fantastic seats for RFS. First guest will be Camile Coduri! Also Toby Haynes, Gary Russell and more. Check out the awesome set!

Wake up call

Let's just say, as someone who doesn't iron clothing on a regular basis - or at all - having the fire alarm go off at 8am while I'm ironing my cosplay shirt was seriously disturbing. No, I wasn't burning my shirt, there was a false alarm and we didn't even leave the hotel room. Our poor roommates, more on them later, we're still asleep and got quite a rude awakening!

Last night was fantastic with some people in very cool costumes and lots of ribbons being passed out. I'll have a whole post on the craziness of ribbons. Unfortunately wifi is a little more expensive than I wish to pay so pics will be limited until I can get access. Jess and I went down to get our badges at 6 and there must have been 200 people in line already. Lovely insanity! After we checked in we ate at the sports bar in the hotel - yummy goodness. We then hung out around the lobby and Jess passed out her ribbons and I snapped pics of a femme 11 in the soccer outfit from The Lodger, Captain Jack, two River Songs - one very tall and one very short - who came to Gally together, and the cutest little girl in a 6 costume. Chip from Two Minute Time Lord snapped a pic of her this morning in a 4th Doctor costume.

Today is going to be mental as we hop from panel to panel and Jess fits in all her cosplay photo shoots and celeb photo ops. Lots more to come!!

Let the fun begin!

Several DW fans on the flight from Austin, two were connecting from Baltimore! The flight was slightly mental, especially on the approach when we dropped altitude so fast several people shrieked. All the kids on the flight thought it was hilarious. Despite the rough landing, and a overhead baggage compartment flying open, we all made it safe an sound.

On the shuttle to the hotel we met the Gallifery head honcho Sean Lyon. He was there to meet Richard Franklin. Jessica instantly knew who he was as she has watched waaaay more of the classic series than I have. For all the new Who fans like me, he played Captain Mike Yates with the 3rd Doctor.

We've settled into our hotel room, very nice, and explored the hotel, gorgeous pool area, and gone to the liquor store, as evidenced by the picture. The bars close at 2am, but you can bring your own drinks. Hooray!!! We're going to pick up our badge at 6 and there's a meetup for Austin/Texas Who fans later tonight. Definitely looking forward to meeting more DW fans!

Gally Bound!!

Jess and I arrived at the Austin airport super early. I got maybe 3 hours of sleep and Jess has been up since 2am for work. We're running pure Doctor Who excitement!!! Well, that and coffee for me. Less than an hour till take off now and we've already checked Facebook, the Gally forums and #gally on Twitter! Damn I love social media. Update will be frequent throughout the con though pics my be slower in coming as the good ones will have to be uploaded when/if we get a moment to breathe. Hope everyone enjoys the updates and if you want a pic of something let us know.

More Firefly/Serenity

The Dallas SciFi-Expo was pure amazingness! As you read below in Laura's post, the panel was hilarious and a great opportunity. I am so glad we didn't pass it up. (I'm also grateful that what we thought was the initial panel line wasn't the actual line, phew) I hope to see the full cast together one day *dreams*

On to the autographs: As Laura was holding our place in line, I went to grab the others signatures. I managed to: tell Ron I was nervous to which he laughed and led to a short awkward silence then small conversation while he signed my book. He smiled as he handed me the book back and said "that word is dreaming if you can't read it" and wished me safe travels and I wished him the same as well; next, when I got to Sean I was total kool-aid smiling because, come on, the man is a gorgeous human being. I got a hug from him which was great. As I leaned in, I told him congratulations on everything and he proceeded to hug me a little tighter and said thanks and you better believe I kept hugging him until I felt like I intruded in his bubble long enough; and with Jewel I totally blanked for a second, but she's too nice and carefree to stay mute, so I told her that her "Tudyk/Two Dick" jokes will always work. She laughed and said she couldn't help herself :) (These actors are the best!)

I joined Laura back in line for Adam's autograph, and when we were almost to the table, I looked over at Eliza Dushku's table (her boots were HOT!) I noticed a Mr. Hottie sitting behind her. I finally recognized who it was, but I wanted to be sure, so I poked/tapped Laura on the shoulder. She confirmed it; it was RICK FOX! As we struggled to get our cameras/phones out to take a photo of him, of course it would then be our turn with Adam *sigh* Two hotties within a 10' span. Laura was first with Adam (see post below. I wish I would've heard it, but I was dealing with the guy collecting payment) When I got infront of Adam, I asked him to sign it to me and while he did that, I leaned forward and told him I was glad he said something about the "last" question and then asked for a good one. He laughed and we chatted about it a bit longer, along with the next guy in line. It was a fabulous moment.

After getting everyone's autograph, I headed to the cast photo-op line and Laura met me over there with some pretzels (con food needs an overhaul). We waited there for a bit, and when the line started moving Laura went to the photo-op exit area and waited for me. Once it was my turn, I was on automatic "hurry up we have a line" mode, so I slightly spazzed as soon as I saw the four of them waiting for the next photo. I proceeded to totally miss the big neon green mark on the floor, so after I stepped infront of them (and put one arm around Sean and one around Ron), Sean politely instructed me to scoot forward alittle bit. Cue the embarassment. The photo turned out cute (Vote Smuggler), totally derpy, but cute.
After that debacle was over, we went around the convention and did some shopping (I scored two Han Solo dolls! They're 12" tall, so you can't call them action figures.) It was a great time and I can't wait for Gallifrey One in 3 1/2 days!!

Firefly/Serenity

Adam Baldwin!!

 What an excellent Firefly/Serenity panel with Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite , Sean Maher, and Ron Glass!  There were some excellent stories from their times on set and a really fantastic moment when a fan failed to pronounce Alan Tudyk's name correctly!  As per usual the last question was an epic fail with some idiot asking the panel about the politics of Firefly and if it had anything to do with the 2000 election as well as asking Jewel about the great female characters in Firefly and other Joss shows. Why this guy couldn't have just asked the one question for Jewel and left the political crap out we'll probably never know, but it was a seriously awful question!  The actors handled it well with Jewel speaking to her experience portraying Kaylee as a real woman and Adam completely dismissing the other nonsense by stating, "I don't know."  Luckily the moderator was great and let another fan ask his question which was light years better and the panel ended on a great note.  Someone should seriously vet these "last" questions before they're asked - it really drags the room down and makes everyone cringe inside.  Overall though, it was a great Q&A.

After the panel Jess and I waited in line for autographs.  I waited in Adam's line while she got Jewel, Ron and Sean.  Then she waited while I got those three as well.  Finally we both got through to Adam and it was glorious.  I had him sign my Better Days graphic novel and asked him to sign it in a particular spot.  His response was, "Honey, I'll out it anywhere you want."  SWOON!  I bit my tongue and he didn't seem to notice the thousand completely inappropriate thoughts that raced through my head.  It was lovely - and the graphic novel looks great!  Jess has a really cool Firefly book with beautiful cast photos and had everyone sign that.  She also got a hug from Sean Maher; I am completely jealous!  Her photo with the cast tuned out great as well. 

It really was a brilliant start to our 2012 convention mayhem!  More pics after the jump.

Dallas Sci-Fi Expo!!

It was an excellent day spent amidst geeks like us!! There were Femme Doctors with Fezzes, Indiana Jones and his father, Serenity, Star Wars, and lots of other cosplay roaming the halls and lots of Doctor Who paraphernalia. Jess and I had a great time meeting people from all over Texas and getting ideas for Jessica's next costumes - notice I did NOT include myself! My Time Lord Magazine shirt was a hit as well as The Vote Smuggler shirt Jess wore. Mine was so popular one extra "special" guy asked for a picture - AWKWARD!! Adam Baldwin was a very welcome distraction. More pics and videos of the Firefly panel to follow later. All in all a really fantastic way to start off 2012!! 

 

Waiting...

Killing time before they open the room for the Serenity panel. We've already seen an 11th Doctor and some great DW shirts!!

Serenity Q&A crowd

Over 2 hours to go and the line for the Q&A is massive!

T-shirt and badges

The Firefly shirt looks awesome!! And Kaylee's on our badges!

Allons-y!!

Headed to Dallas for our first convention of 2012: Dallas Sci-Fi Expo! It's about a three hour trip from Austin and we have Doctor Who audio books and podcasts for entertainment. Gallifrey One is less than a week away!!

The Dallas con is a Firefly/Serenity fan girl dream as Adam Baldwin (Jayne), Jewel Staite (Kaylee), Sean Maher (Simon), and Ron Glass (Shepherd Book) will all be there. Jessica is getting a photo with all four! I'm settling for autographs in my Better Days graphic novel. There's a brilliant illustration of the whole crew in the front. Soooo excited to see everyone at the panel and autograph booths!