May 28, 2014
day 1 for my first Fedcon (and convention) experience.
Drive 400 kms to Dusseldorf in a rental car encountering every possible obstacle on the way; traffic like crazy and so much construction what should have taken me 3h or less took me over 4 hours.
I made it exhausted to the Maritim Hotel located at the airport and checked into my room.
First good news was my hotel room is awesome! Large room, bathtub in the bathroom, a large closet, desk, mini fridge and big opening windows. I even got a special sign for Doger in the room!
First thing I did was take the rental car back to the airport (after getting gas) and let me tell you, gas was over 1.60 EURO for 1 litre! OMG. I gassed up, then dropped off the car at the airport and wandered through the terminal roads back to the hotel.
Decided I needed a workout, I changed and went to the gym which was TINY... there was an elliptical machine and a treadmill both of which were occupied and for a LONG TIME (gee thanks for sharing...) so I did my own mini insanity warm up then did a round on the half dozen machines that were there. I am sore and satisfied :)
For my cool down I went to the pool which is actually tiny, so I swam around a few times before jumping out and heading to shower and change for the night.
Now I'm hungry, so I decide to seek out food but the 3 restaurant choices in the hotel are rather expensive (to be expected) and I remember I need to get a pair of shoes to wear with my special new dress I want to use for my Fedcon photo shoots... 10 minutes on the S bahn to the city and a hop skip and a jump away is shopping, open till 8. I have 2 hours. No time to eat, because I don't want to miss ANYTHING during Fedcon I plan to spend my time in the hotel until I check out on the 1st!
They are currently setting up the rooms for the big displays, there is a table where people are picking up their weekend tickets. I was told to check in at 9am tomorrow but I am so anxious I don't know what to expect!
day 1 for my first Fedcon (and convention) experience.
Drive 400 kms to Dusseldorf in a rental car encountering every possible obstacle on the way; traffic like crazy and so much construction what should have taken me 3h or less took me over 4 hours.
I made it exhausted to the Maritim Hotel located at the airport and checked into my room.
First good news was my hotel room is awesome! Large room, bathtub in the bathroom, a large closet, desk, mini fridge and big opening windows. I even got a special sign for Doger in the room!
First thing I did was take the rental car back to the airport (after getting gas) and let me tell you, gas was over 1.60 EURO for 1 litre! OMG. I gassed up, then dropped off the car at the airport and wandered through the terminal roads back to the hotel.
Decided I needed a workout, I changed and went to the gym which was TINY... there was an elliptical machine and a treadmill both of which were occupied and for a LONG TIME (gee thanks for sharing...) so I did my own mini insanity warm up then did a round on the half dozen machines that were there. I am sore and satisfied :)
For my cool down I went to the pool which is actually tiny, so I swam around a few times before jumping out and heading to shower and change for the night.
Now I'm hungry, so I decide to seek out food but the 3 restaurant choices in the hotel are rather expensive (to be expected) and I remember I need to get a pair of shoes to wear with my special new dress I want to use for my Fedcon photo shoots... 10 minutes on the S bahn to the city and a hop skip and a jump away is shopping, open till 8. I have 2 hours. No time to eat, because I don't want to miss ANYTHING during Fedcon I plan to spend my time in the hotel until I check out on the 1st!
They are currently setting up the rooms for the big displays, there is a table where people are picking up their weekend tickets. I was told to check in at 9am tomorrow but I am so anxious I don't know what to expect!
Day 2 (introduction day & opening ceremony) May 29th
WOW. That's the best way I can sum up the first day of Fedcon. I woke up bright and early to grab my ticket and breakfast... I had a short time to get ready for the press conference, and I made sure I looked good. I wore a gorgeous floor length green gown with a split up the left front to the knee, and I definitely caught the eyes of a few ppl! I was supposed to sit in the second row as the first was reserved for press but I got offered a seat up front beside a journalist for a handicapped/disabled person blog style website. He was very friendly but consistently dropped his things!
I shot a few snaps with my Tough TG2 (unfortunately not the best quality camera but it's great for scuba diving...) and listened to the cast and crew from Star Trek, Stargate and Star Wars giggling and joking on that Thursday morning about their voyage to Germany etc etc... It was great fun. And apparently I caught the eye of Garrett Wang (Ensign Kim from Star Trek Voyager)...
The rest of the day was me running about with Doger and trying to get in to every photo shoot I could. I bought an awesome multicolour wig that matched my dress along with purple contact lenses (though I only wore one at a time they irritate the heck out of my eyes) and got friendly with the Stargate memorabilia team of course from Canada :D and the people I told that I came all the way here for FedCon that definitely shocked and amazed those who ALSO couldn't believe I was a Con Virgin!!! "Really!? You came all the way over here for you first convention!?" I guess I must be crazy. Also, I really love Michael Shanks so I crossed a couple oceans to catch a glimpse. He he...
Although he didn't show up for the press conference (so disappointed) he was there for the opening ceremony. This was at 6:30pm and after a LONG DAY of running around (both me and Doger) I was so exhausted that I literally passed out and missed my RDA photo op! Shite. Oh well. Next time! I also kept bumping into G.W. I'm pretty sure he liked the looks of that leg slipping through my dress ha ha. He's a super friendly guy and though he hasn't worked since '05 and has attended several FedCons, he is super friendly and also a bit flirty (well OK I did look pretty good.)
I spent nearly the whole day going from photo shoot to photo shoot, getting as many pics with stars as I could. I also got RDA's autograph. Doger became quite a star as well, as I took him with me for the photos! I had shot with Amanda Tapping (Samantha Carter, SG-1) and a few others. Each photo I look kind of terrible as we were all laughing so hard because the photog took it upon himself to make loud meowing sounds to get Doger to look at the camera! But yes, it was HILARIOUS.
I was kind of overwhelmed by HOW MANY PEOPLE there were around, but it was exciting and such a thrill to see so many people who could just be themselves (or someone else) with their dress, their hobbies and LOTS of cosplay! There were several stands dedicated to Star Trek and Star Wars, lots of memorabilia and the costumes were amazing! That night I went out to the bar to enjoy a drink with the fans and there were a few stars there as well!
I met Garrett Wang (Ensign Kim from Star Trek Voyager) and he actually approached me throughout the day as I was wandering around, that night I had him drinking from my shoes...
Day 3 May 30th FRIDAY NIGHT BABY.
This was a fun filled day! TGIF! I woke up at a reasonable hour to get ready for my photo shoots! I had bought cool contact lenses and make up at a booth the day before, so I decided this would be my cosplay day. I planned to wear my halloween costume from 2008 which was just a white slutty dress and black shiny floor length sleeveless trench. Blue hair, white eyes, and white make up. I looked awesome!
I did shoots with the majority of the stars this day, but my favourite was the Ferengi shoot! It turned out AMAZING. I looked awesome!
I also shot with a few of the Star Trek folks and the entire day I felt like I was being paparazzi'd ... I had my photo taken every 3 minutes from 9am - midnight! I was also shot by the FedCon photog, and he asked Claus (the guy who takes care of platinum ticket holders) if I was a celebrity! Wow that was pretty cool!
I got to pick out my photos for the autograph signings as well, which were coming up on Saturday.
I also had to attend Garrett Wang's panel to make sure he was FUNNY and he definitely was! He has been to so many FedCons that he has a lot of inside jokes... he spoke some German to the delight of the locals, and laughed and joked it was really fun to watch.
Afterwards I decided to have a HOT BATH and wash off my makeup (my skin was damn tired) and I shared the elevator with Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping :P but I looked pretty freaky so I didn't say anything to them, oh well. I completely washed off all the white makeup took out the contacts and went back to "natural", with a Canada shirt and my lululemons to accent my sweet buns.
I washed off my makeup in time for the Stargate panel (wasn't gonna miss that for the world!) which had RDA, Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping. I spent the whole 2 hours sitting on the floor in line to ask a question (I asked something like "how do you feel about getting together after all these years and looking back on your old selves etc etc) but I mainly just wanted my in with my fellow Canadians and made sure to address the fact that I was from small town BC and that Doger and I had come all the way from Canada just for the occasion... Shanks definitely noticed! "Castlegar?" He knows where that is ;-) Us BC folks are tight like that.
After the panel I went back up to my room to change for the bar.
Back into my Cosplay outfit I threw on my wig and the white contacts and put on light makeup to give my skin a break, and headed out to bump into all the cool folks I'd already met and have some alcohol. Party time!
I got dressed back up to go to the bar in my costume but with less make up, and I ended up meeting Nicole de Boer who is also Canadian! She was SO cool! We met in the bathroom, went out for a smoke together and she was hanging with a nice guy named Michael (a friend of Aron one of the Ferengi) and we chatted for quite a while! At one point Nikki and Michael asked if it would be possible to take out my contacts because they couldn't look me in the eye while I was talking to them! I popped one out, because I didn't have anything to put them in, and that was fine for a while (so a few of my FedCon pics are with one white eye and one green ha ha) After that I sat down with her and Alexander Siddig (so 2 Star Trek folks) and they were chatting about Michael having issues sitting in the VIP lounge because he didn't have a pass. Drama drama ha ha oh well. That's what happens when booze is involved! Sid also asked me to remove my contact lens and so I was au-natural, and my contacts just floated around in my purse lol. It was really cool talking with these people, these normal and kind and interesting people!
This was a fun filled day! TGIF! I woke up at a reasonable hour to get ready for my photo shoots! I had bought cool contact lenses and make up at a booth the day before, so I decided this would be my cosplay day. I planned to wear my halloween costume from 2008 which was just a white slutty dress and black shiny floor length sleeveless trench. Blue hair, white eyes, and white make up. I looked awesome!
I did shoots with the majority of the stars this day, but my favourite was the Ferengi shoot! It turned out AMAZING. I looked awesome!
I also shot with a few of the Star Trek folks and the entire day I felt like I was being paparazzi'd ... I had my photo taken every 3 minutes from 9am - midnight! I was also shot by the FedCon photog, and he asked Claus (the guy who takes care of platinum ticket holders) if I was a celebrity! Wow that was pretty cool!
I got to pick out my photos for the autograph signings as well, which were coming up on Saturday.
I also had to attend Garrett Wang's panel to make sure he was FUNNY and he definitely was! He has been to so many FedCons that he has a lot of inside jokes... he spoke some German to the delight of the locals, and laughed and joked it was really fun to watch.
Afterwards I decided to have a HOT BATH and wash off my makeup (my skin was damn tired) and I shared the elevator with Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping :P but I looked pretty freaky so I didn't say anything to them, oh well. I completely washed off all the white makeup took out the contacts and went back to "natural", with a Canada shirt and my lululemons to accent my sweet buns.
I washed off my makeup in time for the Stargate panel (wasn't gonna miss that for the world!) which had RDA, Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping. I spent the whole 2 hours sitting on the floor in line to ask a question (I asked something like "how do you feel about getting together after all these years and looking back on your old selves etc etc) but I mainly just wanted my in with my fellow Canadians and made sure to address the fact that I was from small town BC and that Doger and I had come all the way from Canada just for the occasion... Shanks definitely noticed! "Castlegar?" He knows where that is ;-) Us BC folks are tight like that.
After the panel I went back up to my room to change for the bar.
Back into my Cosplay outfit I threw on my wig and the white contacts and put on light makeup to give my skin a break, and headed out to bump into all the cool folks I'd already met and have some alcohol. Party time!
I got dressed back up to go to the bar in my costume but with less make up, and I ended up meeting Nicole de Boer who is also Canadian! She was SO cool! We met in the bathroom, went out for a smoke together and she was hanging with a nice guy named Michael (a friend of Aron one of the Ferengi) and we chatted for quite a while! At one point Nikki and Michael asked if it would be possible to take out my contacts because they couldn't look me in the eye while I was talking to them! I popped one out, because I didn't have anything to put them in, and that was fine for a while (so a few of my FedCon pics are with one white eye and one green ha ha) After that I sat down with her and Alexander Siddig (so 2 Star Trek folks) and they were chatting about Michael having issues sitting in the VIP lounge because he didn't have a pass. Drama drama ha ha oh well. That's what happens when booze is involved! Sid also asked me to remove my contact lens and so I was au-natural, and my contacts just floated around in my purse lol. It was really cool talking with these people, these normal and kind and interesting people!
Day 4 Saturday May 31st
Today was the BIGGEST cosplay day, with the costume contest in the evening everyone was dressed in their "Sunday best". Today I had to wake up exhausted but I made sure to look half decent for the autograph sessions at noon. I threw on my red Canada Olympic dress and made sure you could see my nipples...
hungover and tired and laughing about the night before, i did my rounds for autographs. as a platinum member we were able to go in 30 minutes before anyone else to get our autographs so it was much more intimate!
I said hi to Nikki and then made my way over to Michael Shanks, the main reason I was there of course! He asked "so did you really come all the way over here from Castlegar?" I said "hell ya." His sharp voice retorted "Why?" and he looked at me sideways... I blushed and pointed at him and said "you, that's why." I didn't have much time to chat, because there were SO MANY people in line... I did want another chance to chat with him but I felt that eventually the time would come. Hopefully... I did have a photo shoot to do with him later on.
I went over to Tony's table and he looked a little bit tired... I joked about the night before and we shared a few laughs and then I wandered off again.
I felt so great. I was special! Cool people noticed me!!! People kept taking my photo! I would live very very comfortably in the limelight... sigh. Definitely something I want to do, someday. The opportunity will come I'm sure!
The day was somewhat overwhelming, trying to make all my photo shoots and whatnot. I had to go back to my room and change for the pictures and look hopefully less hungover... I put on a nice dress, did my make up and straightened my hair. Doger and I made our way to the "lines" starting with Richard Dean Anderson. THAT shot was AMAZING! My dog actually got his tongue in RDA's mouth while looking at the camera for the photo! AWESOME! We actually took 3 shots because he was hoping for it! I need to scan a copy and email it to his agent.
Next was my shoot with Shanks. I ran up to my room and touched up my face, put on my perfume, and got ready to look AMAZING (or so I'd hoped)... I had wanted to give him a bottle of wine but that ended up broken so oops...
grabbed my pooch and got in line. Shanks was about 20 minutes late for the shoot so I was sitting nearly first in line when he came in...
There was a camera crew filming the shoot, and it took them a bit to set up so Shanks was standing for a while before they started taking photos (kinda funny) and when I went up there he said "gee you brought a tickle trunk with you! Fast changer" Bwa ha ha ha yes indeed. I was proud of the fact that I managed to do it all with a 25Kg bag of luggage! Woohoo! And so quickly, it was all over.
On my way out the door the film crew walked past and they stopped me and asked if they could ask me a couple of questions... starting with "did you pay to get your dog here?" and "how much was your ticket?" finally "was it worth it?"
One more photo shoot to do then I was done, and wanted to hit up the costume contest before the bar.
Had I even eaten anything? Who knows.
Saturday night I threw on a hot Andy Warhol outfit with a my short red flip wig, YES I looked pretty awesome.
