Serenity cubed. A hungover report.
POSTED BY: sunnyj
UPDATED: Friday, September 22, 2006 16:04
VIEWED: 9370
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Hello everyone.
Just this moment got back from Serenity Cubed. My very first convention. Absolutely loved it, and after having such a great weekend I thought I’d quickly make myself a cup of tea before sitting down in front of PC to fill everyone in who couldn’t be there whilst attempting to do my best in describing some of the things that happened during the weekend’s fun and frolics. I apologise in advance as this recollection is probably as hazy as my head feels sore. Also please note that the person writing this is very tired, nursing a hangover and therefore takes no responsibility for the use of poor grammar throughout.
FRIDAY
Like I said above this was my first convention and as I was going there by myself I was many shades of nerves. Unfortunately by the time I brought my tickets there were no rooms left at the Thistle hotel were the con was. Finding a small hotel just five minutes down the road I checked in, whilst doing so I noticed that the lady in front of me had a Serenity key ring, so straight away I knew that the Browncoats had arrived! I quickly introduced myself before joining forces to head over to the Thistle.
Registration for the convention was in the afternoon and after picking up our passes I wasted no time at booking cast photos for the next day with Jewel, Sean and Morena. After walking around for a while like a lost schoolkid on their first day I plucked up the nerve to talk to few other flans. I realised that soon after we were all here to enjoy the weekend and my nerves soon disappeared.
The opening ceremony kicked off around 8:30ish (after a screening of one of Morena’s ‘Stargate’ episodes. She makes a very good baddie being both strangely innocent and just a downright nasty piece of work. It’s a shame Stargate isn’t being renewed for a new season as it’d be great to see her in many more episodes). The opening ceremony was introduced by Gigi Edgley (Chana from Farscape) who then introduced the guests. Everyone became very excited when she introduced the first mystery guest. Fits of hysteria ensued the guests was revealed as Michael Fairman (Niska) at his first con. Putting on an Eastern European accent he proudly announced that he now has both of Mal’s ears! Shortly after, Nectar Rose was introduced. I must admit at first I wasn’t quite sure who she was, then it clicked…’It’s Mr Universe’s Robot Missus!’
Mark Sheppard was next to receive a manic and wild welcome from the audience that he so richly deserved. Then when Gigi introduced Christina Hendricks to the audience she was as shocked as everyone that, in her place Sean Maher gatecrashed her introduction! He was followed afterwards by Christina then in quick succession Morena and Jewel both rushed in almost ahead of their introduction to a rapturous ovation from all us Browncoats. From this point I knew that the weekend would be a lot of fun! After a few hours I retired to my hotel a bit early to sleep up for the long day that awaited me…
'Poor little thing. Never even saw the light of day, now its in showbusiness!'
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...SATURDAY
I once again caught up with my nervousness when I arrived for my 9:00 guest photos with Sean, Jewel and Morena. I mean, like most un-photogenic people I shudder when a camera is pointed in my general direction. So you can imagine how terrified I was to be meeting and having a picture taken with our Big Damn Heroes in front of lots of people! First up was Sean who although appeared to be almost as shy as I was as I approached the camera. He shook my hand and made me feel instantly welcomed before introducing himself (as if he needed to!). After my first photo I waited in line for my turn with Morena. I was kind of hoping the queue to see her would be a bit slower, thus allowing myself time to compose. However before I knew it I found myself once again stepping up to the photographer’s backdrop. After exchanging greetings I surprised myself and managed to string together a coherent sentence as I told her that it was an absolute pleasure to meet her. She warmingly smiled said that that it was ‘Really sweet to of said that!’ Almost passed out with excitement! After two photos I thought I would feel a little bit more relaxed, however my final picture of the session was with the lovely Jewel! But just like Sean and Morena she made me feel really welcome in the same way Kaylee would if you boarded Serenity with a box of Strawberries. Finding some unknown courage after our introductions I put both arms around her and as she cuddled up for the photo I’m sure she could feel the drum and bass solo my heart was beating to! All three of them really made me feel welcome. You could tell that they were really having a good time with everyone during this session. Afterwards I went and booked for photos with Michael and Christina. After relaxing in the reception area I decided to check out the Trade room (which virtually ran out of all Firefly merchandise within the first 20 minutes). I was excited when I heard they had copies of the ‘Done The Impossible’ DVD. Unfortunately the ‘had’ was past tense and I had to make do without (boo hoo, sob sob). Before I knew it I was back in the photo room for my shots with Christina and Michael. Just like before the queue for this soon wound it’s way round the room leading me to my arch nemesis, the camera and Christina Hendricks. Just like the other three she seemed genuinely happy to meet me saying hello and proclaiming ‘cool…another redhead’. Soon after was my meeting with ‘Adelai Niska’. Any illusions of Michael being anything like a certain Eastern European speaking Torture lover were immediately quashed, we chatted for a moment and I then asked him something I feared I might of regretted, ‘Would it be okay if you could pretend to throttle me?’ I asked, unsure of how he may of responded to my request. Thankfully he laughed and held out his hands placing them around my neck. As people in the room noticed our pose I heard several cheers and laughter. One thing I must say about my cast photo experiences is that with all the actors for one brief moment with each of them I felt as if the cameraman and we were the only people in the room. As a whole it was a nervous experience but my first cast photos (of many more in the future I hope) was an experience I won’t forget for a long time.
After sharing each others photo tales I regrouped with a couple of people I had met earlier and went to the main hall to catch the first of the weekends Q and A sessions. The first guests to appear were Gigi Edgley and Nectar Rose. Unfortunately by the time I got there they were rounding things off. The next two guest speakers were Mark Sheppard and Michael Fairman. One of the earlier questions that was asked was about Niska torture scenes in Firefly. As Michael was discussing how he approached his character and scenes Mark joked about how Michael may of enjoyed the scenes a bit too much! They made a great team with both of them regaling us of many of their stories of their time spent working in the industry and how it is to portray evil characters. One of the best stor
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...Later on in the afternoon was the second of the talks and the one I was personally looking forward to the most. The one with Jewel and Morena. When the two of them were on stage you can really tell how close they are. At times it almost felt as if you were listening in on a private conversation. A particular question I remember was when someone asked Morena about whether her Brazillian roots meant that she was passionate about football (soccer)? Her response clearly showed that she is definitely a fan of ‘the beautiful game’ as she told us how she followed the Brazillian team in the world cup and was upset when they were knocked out by France in the quarter finals. When the fan asking the question mentioned Brazil’s disappointing performance she leapt to the defence of her team saying that there are still the best team in the world before adding that David Beckham is just a ‘pretty boy’ much to the applause and cheers of the crowd and Jewel’s surprise at her friends passionate outburst. The two of them constantly had the whole room in hysterics.
Then followed Sean Maher and Christina Hendricks turn to take to the stage. Sean seemed a bit nervous at first but the two of them soon found their pace. At one point a large Scottish fan (kudos on the kilt) approached the microphone and asked the two of them which sci-fi character would they most like to kill! Christina and Sean looked almost as shocked as most of the audience as the fan continued to put on the pressure for Sean’s answer. He finally responded with the answer ‘what’s your name?’
Following the talk was the first of two autograph sessions. These were arranged according to ticket pass number. In one room were Sean, Jewel, Mark, Christina and Michael signing for the second half of the ticket numbers. In the other: Morena, Gigi and Nectar were doing the first. Unfortunately on the Friday they mentioned that Morena had to leave on Sunday morning for filming on ‘Stargate’ so she did her best to pull out the stops to make sure that she signed as many people as possible (talk about RSI)! Being a highly organised individual I didn’t get round to buying my convention ticket till a couple of weeks ago. Due to this I was ticket number 687. In response to FollowMal’s question before the convention I think that there were about 700 tickets sold (with an additional 25-50 being allocated for Stewards. This meant that my chance of getting Morena’s autograph looked slim. For a couple of hours I waited nervously, constantly checking the notice boards to see when it would be my turn. Fortunately to my relief with about 5 mins to go of Morena autograph session they had reached my ticket. Like a kid at Christmas I rushed upstairs to the signing room and got her scribble on my official companion book. Despite what remaining little time she had left she had time to briefly say hello. I thanked her and wished her well. Going back to the reception area I realised that it had just become my turn for the other signature room (what a stroke of luck!). After getting Sean’s signature in my book I went over to Christina’s table, after chatting about our common ground of hair colour I mentioned that I have a twin brother who when I told him she was there he was disappointed that he wasn’t there to meet her. When I asked her to sign a photo for him, she took a moment to draw a special doodle for him. Next up was Mark’s autograph, which he wrote whilst talking to me about the weekend. Speaking of doodles, when I arrived at Jewel’s table I noticed that she had decorated a glass on her table with a creative pattern of varying colours. After saying hello I told her how I admired her artwork. She’s got quite a hidden talent there!
In the evening was the fancy dress parade, which took place in the large hall after they had cleared away the chairs from the day’s talks. The guest acted as judges for the event that played host to some absolutely brilliant costumes. There was everything from Edward Scissorhands to a Reaver Chef (who took home the gran
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...SUNDAY
Struggling to wake up on Sunday with a steadily increasing hangover I made it to the opening talk of the day. A solo effort from Gigi Edgley. Not being too familiar with Farscape I thought I may not know too much about the topics that she would be discussing with her audience. She started off by showing us all her new showreel that she has taken with her to L.A. where she moved to a day or so before the convention. Unfortunately they had a few slight hiccups with the playback of the showreel for a few minutes, though being the trooper she is she easily kept the show going. After the showreel she took questions from the audience telling us all stories of on-set injuries on Farscape, make up troubles and when she got the news the show was cancelled. If you ever get the chance to see her at a convention put her on top of your list of people to see. She was such a lively and animated guest speaker and one of the many highlights of the weekend.
Next up was the guest talk with Mark Sheppard and Nectar Rose. Like Sean yesterday, Nectar seemed a bit nervous at first but soon got into it. Mark though is the kind of bloke who you could happily listen to for ages telling us about how in the 1980’s his band supported U2 and his experiences working on the X-files and recalling one instance when he was recognised by a woman who asked if he was an actor. When he said he was she replied ‘You’re a scary man’!
After an episode of ‘Space Cases’ (that was apparently screened for the sole purpose of embarrassing Jewel) there was another talk from Micheal Fairman and Christina Hendricks. At one point an amusing discussion arose from a question as to weather Saffron would be able to seduce Niska. This was revisited several times throughout their talk. I think it was left that the pair should join forces to exact revenge on Mal and that although Niska may not be deceived Michael would be!
Straight after Christina and Michael’s talk it was time for Sean and Jewel to go onstage. This talk was defiantly another highlight of the convention. I must make a special mention to Simon, a fellow Browncoat and another convention virgin that I met over the weekend. As he stepped up to the microphone he said he had a question for Sean that wasn’t from him but from his sister. As Simon took a moment to apologise for the impending question Sean clearly looked a bit concerned. Then Simon asked the question which he felt was important not just to his sister but for all female Browncoats…’SEAN…WHAT DO YOU PREFER? BOXERS, PANTS OR A THONG? To which after roars of laughter Sean responded ‘I don’t wear underware’ before eventually confessing that he prefers Boxers. This set the tone for the rest of the talk as from time to time if Sean was ensure of an answer he would just say ‘Boxers’ and if he’d didn’t say the B word someone in the audience would. A question from yesterday talk with Jewel and Morena was re-visited when someone asked about if Jewel thought weather Kaylee’s and Simon’s relationship would last and what would happen if they had a baby? On Saturday Jewel said that if the relationship did end it would be Simon’s fault. Sean was quick to defend his character saying that as Simon is more relaxed he probably wouldn’t make any more stupid mistakes. When mentioning about Kaylee and Simon having a baby Jewel said how Kaylee would like a girl so she could dress her up in pretty things whilst Sean was quick to say that Simon would prefer a boy! Other bizarre topics included Jewel’s love for Peanut Butter and the fans revealing the genre of erotic fan fiction! One of Sean’s more memorable stories came toward the end of the talk when he told us how once, when he was out with his nieces and nephews for ice cream, he asked why he was considerably undercharged for the ice cream he had just brought. The worker at the parlour told him that it was because he was entitled to a special ‘Firefly discount’! Throughout all of this though everyone kept on coming back to Sean’s boxers!
After the Q and A I remembered being wo
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...Finally it was the guest’s turn to say their farewell to the capacity filled conference hall. It was quite an emotional moment for all and everyone expressed an interest in attending Starfury 4 in Glasgow (Ron Glass already comfirmed). The final speech was made by Sean, who seemed really moved by the whole weekend (well, maybe not the underwear question). As he thanked everyone, he made a special mention to Jewel who snuck up behind him and gave him a big kiss. As our beloved guests left we all wound up the convention by doing what we all do best. Partying once again until the small hours.
As I left my house bound for Starfury on Friday morning I was really nervous. I had no idea what to expect from a convention and was a little bit (well very much if I’m being honest) scared at meeting new people. Looking back over the weekend as the Post convention depression everyone told me about is setting in I realise how I had nothing to worry about. What I found at Starfury was a place full of people who shared a common love (and a desire to party!) We were all there together as Browncoats and everything I experienced over the weekend will never be forgotten. I am ever so greatful to the guests (special shout to Morena who despite her crammed schedule still took the time to meet as many people as possible), the organisers and Stewards who gave up their time and most of all am grateful to all the new friends I have made for making me feel as though for one weekend the convention was my home.
If you’re reading this and have never been to a convention for the same reasons I almost didn’t my advise is don’t think twice, just go! With Browncoats the phrase ‘Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet’ rings home with more truth than ever before.
Stay shiny!
'Poor little thing. Never even saw the light of day, now its in showbusiness!'
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Thank you for the report, sunnyj! Fun reading.
--Karel.
"Wonderous is our great blue ship that sails around the mighty sun and joy to everyone that rides along." -- Jeff Lynne, Electric Light Orchestra.
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SUNNYJ!
Thank you for the great reports! Well written and just lovely.. like being there. Glad the first time was so good for you...lol
thank you so much for taking the time to share yor experiences with all of us!
Chindi
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Quote:
Originally posted by sunnyj:
Soon after was my meeting with ‘Adelai Niska’. Any illusions of Michael being anything like a certain Eastern European speaking Torture lover were immediately quashed, we chatted for a moment and I then asked him something I feared I might of regretted, ‘Would it be okay if you could pretend to throttle me?’ I asked, unsure of how he may of responded to my request. Thankfully he laughed and held out his hands placing them around my neck. As people in the room noticed our pose I heard several cheers and laughter.
Thank you so much for the great report!
What a fun time you had!
Your experience w/Niska/Michael reminded me of meeting Adam Busch (AKA Warren from Buffy):
I asked if he could look like he was going to murder me...and he agreed,
but just as the photographer got ready to click the picture he said: "or I could look like I'm madly in love with you"
and he pulled me into a hug - I totally cracked up.
Photo ops can can huge fun!
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Thank you thank you THANK YOU for posting!! I am attending MY first convention ever in December (Flanvention II in Burbank CA). The more I learn about conventions from posts such as yours, the less intimidated I feel. Thank You!
Life is short, brutal, and unpredictable. EAT DESSERT FIRST.
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Quote:
Originally posted by BelugasMom:
I am attending MY first convention ever in December (Flanvention II in Burbank CA). The more I learn about conventions from posts such as yours, the less intimidated I feel.
don't worry BelugasMom,
there will be a lot of people from this site in Burbank,
I'm hoping we can do a meet up for Dinner Thursday,
or breakfast Friday...
getting in the mood for the fun
Anyone else have any S3 reports to add?
And pictures? lots and lots of pictures???
please
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