Vancouver Stargate Con 2011

[itsjustgwen]

 So, it's been almost a week, but I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to get my con report done.  Here, hopefully, behind the cut

On Friday, Kim and I headed over the border to the con. We were able to check into the hotel early, but I couldn’t register for the con, as I only had Saturday and Sunday tickets.  I snuck past the security person to look to see if they had any good pictures or merchandise. The selection was even lamer than usual this year. Kim went in the auditorium and I wandered over to Metrotown and window shopped, before going back to the room for a nap. 

Around 4:45, I headed up to La Fontana Caffe, which is about 5 miles north of the hotel. We had a Stargate meetup scheduled, but it’s a regular hangout spot for all the sci-fi fans, so we had about 14 people there. We chatted for awhile and no one seemed very interested in watching anything, so at about 8:00, John turned on the karaoke. I had always wanted to do it, so I tried it. I sang with Nina on one song, which turned out ok, but when I tried to do “People” on my own, it was a disaster. Still, I had fun and I’d like to do it again. It was midnight before I made it back to the hotel, but Kim was still up, thank goodness.

Saturday was the big day with Joe and David. First came Robert Davi. He was surprisingly enjoyable. David Hewlett had tweeted the day before that he was on the same plane as Davi and that he was flirting with all the women on the plane and striking out. So, Davi immediately started with talking about this, saying that, the minute he stepped off the plane, people started calling him about David’s tweet. He was very indignant, saying that he only flirted with one woman, but he said he wouldn’t have minded it so much if David hadn’t said he struck out with everyone. He proclaimed that there was now a vendetta between him and David. He was very funny, alternating between a scary vengeance-seeking face and a gleeful grin. He talked about “Profiler” and his music, which he is very serious about.

 

During the break, we went downstairs and ran into David Hewlett in the lobby. He was just about to get in the elevator, but we were able to warn him about Robert Davi’s threats. When we got back from lunch, Paul McGillion came on. I’m not a big Beckett fan so I wasn’t so thrilled with him. He mentioned that he had gotten married and gone to Hawaii. That’s really all I remember. Then, it was Joe’s turn, but wasn’t on his own for long. David came on, saying something about (in a whiny voice, imitating Joe) don’t leave me alone. The implication was that Joe had asked David to be on the stage with him. David talked about the Robert Davi vendetta. He said that Twitter is probably a bad idea for him, as he has no filter between brain and mouth. He talked about Baz wanting to pee on everything and had a great time swinging an imaginary penis all over the place. He cracked Joe up at least twice. Another funny thing was during the questions. There was a big Colonel Sheppard banner above the place where the questioners stood. David first said something like, “It’s hard to concentrate when I’m looking at your crotch.” Then he said, “All I see is your crotch” and later he told someone in a booming voice to “Approach the thighs”. Joe looked like he was torn between laughter and embarrassment.

David mentioned several times that he loves to eat and has a problem with his weight.  You can see him chomping on the Timbits that Joe brought out from behind the curtain.

 

When Paul came back on stage and the three of them were together, David sat at a small distance away from him. It was kind of strange. It was really hard to get good pictures of them. Between the dark stage curtains, the dark clothes that they were wearing, and the distance between them, it was almost impossible. I was in the back and am not good at keeping my camera steady. I didn’t like having Paul there. It seemed to mess up the dynamic between Joe and David.

 

Saturday night, the whole Vancouver group, plus Katie from Seattle, tried to go to dinner at the Red Robin a block away. It didn’t work out very well. Even after waiting an hour, they couldn’t accommodate our big group. We ended up at two smaller tables, and a few people gave up and left.

 

Sunday was Brad Wright, at 9:30 in the frakking morning. I was not impressed. He said that all of Stargate was dead right now and there would be no SGU movie. He said that MGM will be restructured and come back, and he believes there will be Stargate in the future, but he doesn’t know how many years it will be. He stated baldly, “I did not cancel Atlantis!” He said that he would not have cancelled something that made him money. He claimed that it was MGM’s decision and that he was just writing SGU as a movie. No one called him on anything until almost the end. A questioner stood up and said something about his rude and disrespectful treatment of the fans. You could tell he did not like that. He claimed he never said rude things and then back-tracked and said that on Mallozzi’s blog, people asked him rude and insulting questions and he responded in kind. The questioner said that it was very unprofessional of him. Wright looked like he was trying to swallow various things that he wanted to say. He asked the questioner for specific instances of his rudeness. When she couldn’t give any, he said the negativity was “all in her head”. In the end, he said something like I was never rude, but if I made anybody feel bad, I apologize.   Damn, I was wishing I had screen caps of some of the things he said about not needing Atlantis fans.

 

 We got word that Chris Judge had to cancel because of a family emergency. I was disappointed. He was really the only reason I bought a Sunday ticket. The really upsetting thing is that he came to the hotel that evening and drank with some fans in the bar. So, I can’t help wondering how much of a family emergency it really was.

The last panel was Corin Nemec, JR Bourne and Jamil Walker Smith (Greer from SGU). It was actually pretty good.   It was apparently Jamil’s first con and the other two had just met him, but the three got along famously. Jamil is a very upbeat, quirky guy and he kept cracking up JR and getting raised eyebrows and grins from Corin. After Jamil gave two great thoughtful, philosophical answers, JR kept referring all the questions to him, and saying “ditto”, instead of answering himself. It was a fun panel. Jamil kept it interesting, JR looked gorgeous, and Corin seemed amiable. 

 

I can’t remember if it was before the panel or after, but I was out on the outside roof patio with four friends, one of whom was dressed in a Star Wars sand trooper costume. Corin came out for a smoke. He thought the costume was neat and took a picture of himself with Yves. Cindy bravely seized the opportunity and asked if she could take a picture of the two of them. I saw a second of hesitation on his face, but he let her take a couple of snaps of him with Yves, which Cindy posted to the Vancouver Stargate Meetup page.

 

So, my impressions of the con. Lots of empty spaces in the schedule with not much going on. I have to say that I’m glad I didn’t spend the money for a gold or silver ticket this year.

Comments

[stclare.livejournal.com]

Wow thanks for the info. Did the crew put davids chair so far away? he and joe normaly sit quite close.

I wish that lady had brought quotes with her, though it sounds like it was quite intermidating to be the only one to stand up and say what a lot of people had been thinking about his comments. Did he say that MGM/SYFy had asked him to take the blame for canceling atlantis and/or begining sgu? ive seen it said just wondered what your take on that part was.

Anyway thanks very much for writing it up for us to read :)

[itsjustgwen.livejournal.com]

I think David moved the chair out, but I could be wrong. I thought it was weird at the time, but I was thinking about it later and have a theory. Paul kissed David at the end of the panel - a big, smacking kiss right on the lips. What if he said behind stage, "I'm going to get you back, David, for kissing me in the show." Of course David would sit farther away from him.

BW didn't say that MGM/Syfy had asked him to take the blame, but he did say that there was a "party line" that they were all told to follow. He mentioned that he thought it was crazy of Syfy to announce the cancellation of Atlantis and the debut of SGU at the same time.

Thanks for asking questions! You made me remember more.

[stclare.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the clarification. its hard to get a handle on BW. One miniute hes alright the next.....:(

I wish I could have gone but im in the UK hes never gonna make it over here.

[tashirasbubble.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing this - Great report.

[itsjustgwen.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I waited too long to remember a lot of details, but I always like to write something up.