SG-11

[beccaelizabeth]

Someone posted SG-11 pictures.

Which reminds me I haven't posted my con report.

Is shorter than usual. And suffering from more than usual amounts of brain fuzz. There's this feeling where I'm not sure stuff didn't only happen in my head. I get that feeling a lot. It hasn't been true very much lately, but YOU NEVER KNOW. So I fear to post.

Anyways, I'll drag out the laptop and put the report in here. I typed it up while at college but couldn't post from there because the laptop doesn't just plug in to the network there.

Yes, I did studying too. All the reading. Just... finished the report first.


Teryl Rothery
Obi Ndefo
Paul McGillion
Peter Flemming
Bill Dow
Douglas Abrahams 

 Wolf SG-11 A New Hope

Convention report: Smooshed together as a general summary of what I remember from the weekend. Probably not very detailed. Quite possibly wrong.

I spend large parts of the time curled up with my eyes closed and my fingers in my ears. This is actually because I'm listening really hard – background noise drowns talk for me, and also random crowd loud kind of freaks me out – but it do mean I miss a lot of visual stuff, unless it lasts long enough for me to guess from the woos, like when someone takes their shirt off.

There was also serious this year, seeing as the con was on Remembrance Sunday. Both days there was silence at 11. 
People being silent in large numbers sounds very different than empty rooms. Like, big silence, full of thinking.

It feels kind of weird being all about the fictional military Stargate show when is a weekend of thinking of real military. I think I like it better when the convention is on a different weekend. But I don't think other people should like it better either way, other people can think what they think, is up to them.

Anyways, less of a me report than usual, for the weekend contained only the usual challenges and I had only the usual difficulty managing them. This is a particularly cool kind of usual though because it feels less uphill than it has before. No particular specific disability issues. I do the happy dance.

... I do the subdued and achey happy dance, for I did the convention dancing. But that was fun too.

Guests

There was a lot of talking about pranks and practical jokes and stuff. Enough I can't remember who said what.

Thing is, I don't like that kind of joke. The kind where it is only funny because 'fooled you' or because getting a specific reaction out of someone. The kind where if someone knew what the prankster knew it wouldn't be funny. I don't get why that is funny, because obviously often people do not know. And if the funny depends on the 'obviously' that they 'should' know then actually it isn't obviously because obviously is very local and not many people share the same set of obvious. But other people don't think that way. So they thought it was all funny.

I thought it was mostly *facepalm* the bad way, so remember it well I do not.

I don't think I'll type much of it up because to not remember it well takes the remaining funny out.

Obi Ndefo

Was on Angel – he's the barkeep from the second episode. He mentioned it particularly because the fight scene was hard to do. It was his stunt double that got set on fire, but it was the actor that did some of the fight, in the makeup where half his face was falling off and he couldn't see out of that eye. Is hard to do stunts one eyed because of the whole depth perception issue. So that was challenging.

He was also on some Treks, I think DS9 and Voyager? Forget. But he got to be a Klingon and fight Worf. Which he found very cool.

He was learning convention dances up on stage. I think the Doctor Who dance and the Macarena.

He... said some other stuff that was also cool. I'm sure. My memory, it is not so brilliant.

Oh, also, in the autograph q, he remembered my shiny outfit from the Friday. He is Cool.

 

Bill Dow

Dr Lee, of the ever unreliable theories. He reckons that science is a process of trial and error, and therefore someone has to make all the errors. This is his valuable contribution.

He first auditioned for Chevron Guy. He started well but kind of lost interest around chevron 4. So they said, what are you doing, it gets more exciting! And he's like, you want me to get more excited? ... I think you have the wrong guy.

So that being agreed, he walks out, and in walks Chevron Guy that we all know now.

When he tried out for Dr Lee, his first episode was Prodigy, which I think I may actually have not seen. I don't remember it. I don't know why I wouldn't have seen it, I own every DVD set, but, anyways. I didn't know he was in that. But he was going around the tables on the meet and greet challenging people, so I think many people did not know that.

Auditions for Dr Lee, he gets in the room, and every other seat is full of young asian women. So he's slightly puzzled, and then he realises, in the minds of TPTB, Dr Lee is a young asian woman. And his agent sent him.

He says, sometimes agents are great to have, and other times...

But, he got the part. Must have successfully persuaded them he's a young asian woman. ;-)

First time through the gate, he hadn't seen the show, so he was just sort of walk walk walk, ordinary walk. And the director (Peter Delouise, I think that time) was all “what are you doing, this is a big moment!” So he does a big moment walk, which he demonstrated on stage but I can't type. But it looked funny. And then he says, they haven't asked him to do that bit again. *sigh*

He did all that dramatic stuff in the theoretical jungle, with the water and stuff, and Daniel Jackson. And the water stunt was... interesting.

They had walls made of styrofoam, and guys with fire hoses, and they had a big huge tank of water, and they were going to pour it down on them and then fire hose the bricks and it was all going to be very big. But then everyone that wasn't actually in the shot stood well back and kept out of the way. Because, you know, possibly bigger than that. And the water came down, and they got washed away, and the fire hoses and the bricks went, and it was all very... Well, he told it better than I'm typing it. Is the problem with conventions, the seeing it is a whole different experience.

He started out wearing his own glasses for the character, but for that stunt they reckoned he better have replacement glasses. So they made glasses for the character and he wears his contact lenses and those glasses over them. Only sometimes he forgets and goes home with the character glasses. Entirely by accident.

The other part of the water stunt was to go underwater and then Daniel gets out of the water and then Dr Lee does. So they had a big tank of water and they had the actors get under the water and then get out. Which, you know, sounds simple. But they told him that Dr Lee has to stay under for long enough that everyone gets worried. So Daniel can get out and then there has to be a big long pause and then Dr Lee can get out. So could he stay down just a bit longer?

Fun.

So he talked a lot about Stargate.

And he mentioned that he gets a lot of science explainer roles. Because the bald with glasses look obviously means he has a big brain. Also he was on Millenium and he had about a page to memorise about Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (er, I think that's it, BSE. He couldn't remember it on stage either.) And he did it real well, so another time they had a bunch of science stuff to be told the director asked in particular to get him (the explainer) back.

He also mentioned that he was a mature student. Doing a masters degree now. He did a bunch of university when he was younger but it never added up to a degree, so lately he went back and made it add up to a Humanities degree, and now he's dong a masters degree in Cultural Studies. He hasn't had his topic approved yet but he is going to be studying something about greek theater compared to the modern experience.

He also brought a book to the convention, because he has an essay for Tuesday.

Good luck with that...

He read out a bit. I think it was Ulysses? Difficult to read, difficult to read out. He said for class they had to pick a bit that would sell the book to an audience, so we were like a test. So he was going to read out one of the dirty bits. And it was about fireworks and stuff. Kind of cool.

Now I've written that I'm paranoid I've put it with the wrong actor. Urrgh. I always get that. I have it writ down somewhere, and I have memories, yet I hate to rely on my memory, because memory is weird.

ANYways, I thought the Cultural Studies thing was cool, and the mature student thing, because that is what I am doing. I was going to say something about it but, er, didn't.

Peter Flemming

I didn't really remember who he was, but he had some vocal fans in the audience. I really should, you know, watch Stargate sometimes.

Someone went up in the Q&A and asked if he knew that his nickname on the internet was Agent Cutie Pie.

He said he did not. And he went all blushy.

Whenever there was lack of questions he did singing. Day-O. And getting audience to sing back. That was fun.

He had brought his family over. I think he said his oldest was six. There were questions about favourite film and he said Finding Nemo.

It was all very cute really.

He... did a bunch of talking but I don't recall much.

He also took his shirt off. I remember that. The audience asked, and he decided that was okay. Nicely put together.

And then he got embarrassed and put his shirt back on.

Next question was about his scar. Big scar up his abdomen. Emergency surgery after he was 13 and they built a tree fort and he walked along a log and fell off and went on some rocks and started bleeding internally.

See, scars make interesting stories, but they be scary stories too. In an alternate universe, there's a different guy playing those parts, you know? Kind of shuddery.

Doug Abrahams

(I think someone decided his nickname would be Rhubarb Pie. To go with Cutie Pie I guess.)

Was also asked about scars. Did not take his shirt off. But he says he has some impressive ones. Mostly from stunts. And hockey.

He plays hockey with PF. Says PF has a habit of walking out the dressing room not entirely dressed.

He has scars around his mouth from getting hit in the mouth with a hockey puck. But we can't really see them when he wears the beard like he had this weekend.

He says he has a big scar on his back that had something-teen stitches to put it back together from when he got knifed on a film once.

He also got kind of shot with a stunt gun. More than once. He says now he doesn't want stunt guns pointed in his direction at all. Always tells people to point them off to the side some. (For camera that works just as well, like with stunt punching, so I think that is a very good rule.) But before, one time he was doing a stunt show, and they'd done the show a hundred times, and the way it went was him and another guy on horse, he gets 'shot' and falls off to the right, guy behind him pulls two guns and fires left then right. Only this time, the last show, the guy behind him has a brain fart and pulls the guns and fires right first, which of course is right where he's falling into. And he gets all burned and its very bad, and he has some gunpowder in his face still, and it all sounded very and-you-act-why? And yet, still, here he is.

He likes getting shot when it works properly. Stunt guns fire out flame out the front so is very bad being too close to them. But the being shot is usually fun, he reckons. They get lots of squibs, little blood packs with little exploding bits in them, and those go off, and he ends up all covered in pretend blood and doing that jerking falling thing. But to be shot in the forehead it has to work differently. So to do that they have a little wax ball full of pretend blood and someone with a blowpipe to shoot it. And he was a bit worried about that and asked the guy, but he said is okay, he's done it a hundred times. So then bang, blowpipe, and splat! ... Right in his eye. Which, you know, uncomfortable. So then he gets makeup fixed and cleaned up and set up again, and action again, and splat! ... off to one side. Oops. So by the third time he's stood there waiting for it, but he's gone nervous, so his eyes are sort of squinted up now and he basically looks like he's waiting to be hit, and that wasn't so good. But splat right in the middle, so they used the shot. But he wasn't happy with that.

Someone asked him what superhero he would be, and he said maybe the Thing or the Hulk. He was in Fantastic Four, and also the old Hulk movies. The Hulk from the old movies was played by this really huge actor who was hearing impaired. So they did a scene in court and he was playing a lawyer and he wound up the guy until he went Hulk and then the big green guy walked up to him and grabbed him by the neck. So big green actor walks up and grabs him and lifts him, tie and shirt and all, and he's lifted up, and he's kind of choking. And, well, its hard to tell a deaf guy you're choking without screwing up the shot. This section of the talk had much miming and face expressions and was fun to watch. But then they say cut, and the guy doesn't hear cut. And he's hanging there all choking – which must have looked really realistic, probably thought it was really good acting – and the guy still hasn't heard 'cut'. So then someone goes up and taps him on the shoulder, and then he knows it is cut.

(Personally I'd think that was basic precaution, knowing how to tap out, but I think a bit sideways I guess.)

When he's on Stargate he is an Ori Prior now. (He signed my autograph 'Blessed be the beccaelizabethi' :-) fun).

He has a lot of makeup to do, a messed up face and lots of branding. More branding on a prior means more rank.

To get that makeup means going in at four in the morning. Apparently you can't even get coffee in Vancouver at four in the morning.

Also the makeup is kind of like getting a face massage, so he's real relaxed again, kind of dozing off.

Ori get fancy powers, like with fire. So he thought that was cool. He got to make fire.

They set up a fire line, which makes real fire in front of real actors, in real robes. And then they set him up to walk up right near the fire. And made the mark and stuff, and it was all set up. So he's doing this, and there's two guys just out of shot all dressed in the fire gear and with huge great extinguishers, so, you know, nice relaxed atmosphere there too. And they're filming and he's right up to his mark, and then he's like, “er, guys, robe catching fire...” and the guys with fire extinguishers are rushing right in, but he's all, okay, I got this, and stomping it out.

... The more I type, the less I understand why he's still in the business...

He does white water rafting and skydiving for fun.

... Yeah, that do explain a lot ...

Teryl Rothery

I like Teryl. She's always so energetic and happy. And at the meet and greet she took a smiley sticker. A pink one. Put it on her face.

She likes meeting people, and she gives good talks.

Teryl told the bird story again. After getting permission from the sign language interpreter, who has Opinions on it. It involves saying things veryveryquickly because pretending to be panicky.

A baby wild bird flew down and hit Teryl on the arm when she was going to the shops with her little dog. She had tied up the dog outside and gone to a health food shop. The bird hit her and stayed on her arm. She went in the health food shop and it flew away. And she was going nuts trying to get it out from under the organic potato chips. And then she caught it and didn't know what to do with it, so she went outside, got the little dog, bird still in hand, and went to the pet shop. Then she bought a bird cage and some bird seed and took it all home. Then she phoned the bird sanctuary and they said she couldn't keep the bird. It was a wild bird and she couldn't keep it. So then she had to give them the bird, and she got all tearful because she was attached already, and she kept phoning them to see if the bird was okay.

See, it's all in how she tells it.

And the moral of the story is Teryl is a crazy lady.

She told the story about filming with David Duchovny. Said nobody had asked that one for ages. But they were filming and the room got filled up with water, and it was nice hot water, and they didn't want to get out. So they were having fun in the water. And DD is a very intelligent, smart, funny guy. She said. So he got part of a chocolate bar and made it float in the water.

To me, this is not funny, but everyone laughed, so to many this is funny. *shrugs*

Then there was the story about Siler. Filming Stargate, in the infirmary with Siler sick in a bed, Sam and Janet were having a conversation and Sam said she had a date and left and Janet did a little smile. And officially that was the end of the scene. But she'd told them to keep rolling. So after the little smile she turned around, went over to Siler, climbed up on him and said “So, how sick are you?” in sexy voice.

Everyone laughing.

So then the director says “Er, Teryl, the behind the scenes people are here today filming and they got that.”

:-)

Most embarrassing audition story: Snakes on a Plane.

She was supposed to be an air stewardess, so she was in a little blue skirt and shoes with heels. So she was supposed to run in and pretend to go save a baby from some snakes. So she figures, run right past the camera, look dramatic. So she gets all worked up to do really dramatic arrgh-save-baby run, and zooooms in. But half the floor was carpet and the other half was not. So on the carpet, run real fast, but as soon as she hits smooth floor, whoosh, feet go flying. Teryl goes flying. Up into the air. She says at one point she had a moment to realise she was horizontal, in mid air. And then bam, down on the floor, but still flying, sliding forwards, right into the camera. Sliding in a skirt, so the skirt ended up around her waist. Camera on a tripod, so one leg of the camera ends up right between her legs.

Most dignified entrance ever.

And the chaos didn't end there – camera started tipping forwards. Big expensive camera, cameraman rush forwards and grab it. Big flapping, everyone big fuss. Yet oddly distant, fuss around rather than about. So someone is saying “pick her up, pick her up” but like they've forgotten Teryl is right there in front of them and it was a whole thing.

So Teryl is lying there wondering how to recover from that. And really, there's no good way. She's lying there, legs spread, camera between them, skirt around her waist... There's no getting out of that.

So she stands up, smooths down, and says, “Well, it worked for Sharon Stone.”

:-D

... Oddly, she did not get the part.

BUT, a part she did get, and we are all very yaay, BABYLON 5 movie!

Yaaay!

Teryl in B5!

Yaaay more B5 for that matter :-)

Teryl is always a joy to watch on stage. She loves the fans, loves the conventions, puts a lot of effort into the talks, and has a lot of fun with it.

She said a ton more than I've remembered well enough to write down. I mean, there were questions, and actual answers. I just remember the performed anecdotes. She's good at them.

There was also a song. That was fun.

Also also, there was kissing.

There's always asking about kissing. Asking who is a good kisser. And this time asking who she'd like to kiss. And Teryl answered with a list of names that included one of the other actors that was actually there, who would be on stage right after her.

:-)

Paul McGillion

I don't watch Atlantis. I don't like Atlantis. I got kind of fed up of it fairly quickly.

But I'd met this guy at the first convention he was at, where he went around all the tables looking kind of nervous and saying it got better.

In many respects I do agree with him. I just, you know, don't want to watch.

But, I do kind of like him. I mean, independently of the part he plays on TV. He gives good convention. 

At the meet and greet he took a smiley sticker, a green one, and put it on his arm.  Nice arms.

He's nice, and he joins in the fun. Tells jokes and does silly stuff.

For instance, wearing a kilt on stage.

Obviously his character is from Scotland. With the accent and all. I think he said one of his brothers is a doctor so he phones him to get him to say the medical words in the right accent. But most of the time in person, he does not have that accent. Some words, some times, but mostly not.

Yet on stage he decided to be a true Scot.

Teryl checked.

Came out on stage and looked under the kilt. (I think, I only saw her standing up again. Sorry, I listen with my eyes closed a lot.)

So he'd hired a kilt and sporran and one of those nifty jackets and he even had a knife in his sock. It was pretty cool.

He also had a flask full of scotch to drink. Unfortunately he left it on the table with the lid off, and it got knocked over. Spilled before he noticed. “Now that's just a bloody crime.” (With accent.)    (er, this many hours later, I'm not even sure I got the words right, sorry.)

But Scotch Jimmy went up and gave him his present, so, refill.

... I don't really remember much of what Paul said. Sorry. I'm sure he answered questions, I just... aren't that motivated to remember the answers.

I do remember someone asked him what it was like kissing. This time, of course, talking about McKay.

So, apparently he's a terribly kisser. He has sandpaper lips. And he keeps wanting to rehearse, even though the filmed long ago ;-)

To get them to agree to this kiss the... er, PTB of title I've forgot... went first to Paul and said about the scene and said that DH was okay with it. So P says if he's okay then that's okay.

So then he goes to DH and says about the scene and says P is okay with it...

Sneaky.

 

I don't know. That kiss kind of pissed me off at the time, because why is it always a joke? Why couldn't there just be kissing? I mean, it's not like there's any law against it, even a military law, them both being elsewise. So the being jokey about the joke kiss kind of reminded me I was pissed off. Sorry. I know, is all meant in fun. But...

Well, there's a reason I love it much more when John Barrowman goes on TV to do interviews and talks about marrying his long time partner just because finally they can. I mean, this stuff matters, and every time somebody laughs... Is hard not to feel they're laughing at, even though I know full well the vast majority are not.

ANYways, back to the convention.

And kissing.

When P got on stage after T's talk everyone was all telling her now there should be kissing. Because she said. He was on her list.

She tells the audience they are rude, and gets on with other things.

Sunday he walks on in a white doctor coat, and they do some thing with a volunteer and possibly a saw. No, I didn't really watch. I no longer recall what that was about. Except Teryl got a little light to shine in their eyes. Someone had asked Teryl if she learned anything from playing a doctor, and basically the answer was no. But she got that thing with the little light down. (And also, CPR whilst riding a gurney. I think that's the word. The rolly thingy. She knew the word, I need more sleep. But she's good at that, got the rhythm and everything.)

So they do that, Teryl goes away. And then a bit later comes back on, snogs Paul, kind of gives the audience a look and goes away again.

... You ever have a weird feeling like you're not sure that didn't happen only in your head? Sometimes I wonder...

So, Paul's talk, what he actually said... Um, he did impressions. Of the other actors. And people who watch the shows found that funny.

... I so can't remember. It isn't that it sucked, is just it didn't stay in my head.

Oh! He did the story where he phoned his dad right when he got cast for Stargate.

You know, I can't remember if I've heard him do that story before or if it was AD. He said he'd heard Aaron Douglas did that story. Didn't know why. (I think it's because it's a good story.)

So: P gets the part on Stargate, so he phones home to Scotland to tell his parents. His dad answers the phone. P says, he's on a new show, it's called Stargate.

P's dad: “Star Trek”

P: “No, it's a new show, called Stargate.”

P's dad: “Trek”

P: “Stargate.”

P's dad: “Don't you raise your voice to me. I know what it's called. I've been watching it for years.”

So phone gets handed to P's mum: “I hear you're going to be on Star Trek.”

P: swallows first answer Yes.

 

... It is much, much, funnier in person. Especially with the accents.

So that was a good story.

You know, mostly I go to these things for the parties. Which would be why I'm so utterly brain fried when I get back. I was up until 0500 on the Sunday night. Not a lot earlier the other two nights. There was dancing. It was great fun.

So the daytime stuff, I'm usually a little fuzzy for.

I have a little post it note for the autograph q. It is pre-written. I have been congratulated on foresight and recycling. But basically it's because by 1600 on a Sunday the odds are against me being able to spell my own name.

;-)

 

Guests turned up at the parties. There was even dancing. Sort of crazy dancing, but hey, so very not alone in that.

I did dancing and learned the Doctor Who dance finally, and wiggled out of the corset doing the Timewarp, but that happens with such great regularity I now check the fixings between songs out of habit, which probably looks weird but doesn't sproing quite so frequently.

And I did talking as well, which is somewhat miraculous. I mean, when I first started doing conventions I barely made it out of my room, I stuttered all the time, I had trouble staying upright for reasons entirely unrelated to alcohol, and it was all just... Very Much Big Deal.

Now it is Very Cool, and I can talk, and I only fall over for reasons unrelated to disability (ie trousers I forget have strings on the end, and the whole breathing in corsets thing I need to remember.) And I attend all the daytime and all the party and I get dressed up real shiny and people say nice things about my clothes and I have the Best Weekend Ever until the next one :-)

... Actually, the last Angel convention is still the Best Weekend, but this one was still pretty damn good.

I might not get to SG12. I don't think I'll book so far in advance. If I leave it until the last minute I can see if I'll be able to avoid Mondays next school year. I hate missing classes.

But the gaps between semesters are pretty big, and I think I'll be able to find some conventions that fit in them.

Right now, I am booked for zero conventions. None. Not one.

This is fundamentally unnatural and must be fixed.

Conventions, yaay :-)

I realised I'm on none of the lists that would have other people's con reports. Like, zero. None. Anywhere. I only saw those pictures because I was poking someone else's friends list.


It is 0430 in the morning. It is much less fun being awake at 0430 when the reason is not to do with party.

On the plus side far fewer muscle groups hurt right now. Swings and roundabouts.




I have no photos of me, because I have no working camera. But I was assured I looked great. Often. By each and every guest in fact.
Made. Of. Win.
:-D

Comments

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

This is fundamentally unnatural and must be fixed.

Redemption!