[  Mood: Amused ]
[  Currently: Reading Fistful of Charms ]
So I was relaxing with some reading after I finished a batch of strawberry jam when the phone rang. The woman identified herself as Cami and wanted to speak to the lady of the household. Last time I checked, this was me.

After having identified myself as the lady, she said that she wasn’t selling something, that this was a survey and would take 90 seconds. I like surveys so I said go ahead.

She then launched into a preamble about how many parents feel that the ratings system has become too lenient and that TV shows for children are becoming too violent and many parents feel helpless to respond. Now I went to University and took Poli Sci 100; I know about how you can influence someone’s response to a survey question with the preamble. At this point I engaged in some thought and asked myself, what was the agenda behind the call.

When she finally got to her question, if I agreed or not. I said no.

This surprised her, and she began a rant about how TV for children was getting more violent. At this point I was bored, so I told her the call was over and I hung-up.

I then got up, looked up the phone number on my call display and Googled it. I came up with this page. As you can see from the comments, this kind of stuff is their modus operandi.

I then search the Dove Foundation itself, and came to their website. A Wikipedia page reveals many more goodies.

This organization appears to have an alternate agenda to sell you products under the guise of looking out for the children. Now who really is warping the morals and values of our society?

After lunch Sunday, it was a quick whip back up to the autograph line to get Ron Glass’s autograph. The prices this year had all stabilized to $20 no matter what you were signing. In previous years I have seen it as high as $35. He was very polite and charming. Then back to the art show to help out. Lest you think I spent too much time in the art show, they got me into the con free, so no complaints.

Teardown is an interesting part of a con. Hauling down all the art that has not been sold. It is interesting to see which artists do well and which do not. Sometimes it is all about how you display a piece. Other times it’s about who the guests are.

Then it was back to Katie Sackhoff‘s autograph line. She was a Sunday only guest. As I was sitting in line, one of the ConCom walked through the line announcing that Katie would not sign a certain photography. It was an artsy shot of Katie in bed wearing nothing but a sheet. There was rampant speculation in line that it was a Photoshop effort. Husband unit was at her talk where she was asked about the photo. Apparently, she was convinced to do that photoshoot when she was much younger and now regrets it. Hense why she is refusing to sign.

While waiting in line, Marina Sirtis came by to have a chat with a woman next to me about Coronation Street. It seems she is a huge fan of this British Soap. So am I, so we had a pingfest, as they are known.

I made it to the back half of Ron’s talk, and it looks like today the questions focused on Firefly. Ron was okay as a guest, but it was clear that he didn’t quite understand the whole con thing. I wonder if this was his first appearance. The Toronto Browncoats gave Ron a birthday card.

After that it was off to the Con Bitch panel. One of the things I love about Polaris is that they actually care what you think. Unlike the previously mentioned profit based con. The Con Bitch panel is where people like me go to tell them what they did right and what they did wrong. And they actually listen, engage in a dialogue and write things down. What an idea.

Then it was back to the hotel room to do the update, but the computer died. This also means the couple of pieces I was working on for Rev SF will be delayed. Sorry Joe.

So that was Polaris – a great con. They have already signed Rachel Luttrell from Stargate Atlantis for next year, and my membership has been bought. So tune in same bat time, same bat channel.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[ Currently: Drinking White Tea ]
Hey all!

Back from the con. You may be wondering why I have not finished my con reports. Or maybe you are not and I am only talking to myself here.

My laptop suddenly died Sunday night as I was working on the update. So I will try and reconstitute the subtle humour and genius of that post ASAP.

Kisses!

[  Mood: Happy ]
[ Currently: Drinking Tea ]
Continuing with last night’s narrative

At 6:00 pm, I returned to the Art Show to help with the last hour before bidding closed on the art show. This meant I ran the Print Shop for awhile. A pattern has emerged. As soon as I sit down, the Print Shop gets busy. By 6:30, I was at the front door, acting as gate keeper and announcer. I got to warn people of the impending closure of the art show. Then at 7:00 pm, we shut down, kicked everyone out.

The Husband Unit, the Artisan and I went for a yummy dinner with crappy service at Milestones across the street.

We made it back to the hotel with enough time to change and get back downstairs for the art auction. I wore a dress! Dear god.

As we were heading down, the Artisan wondered if the masquerade had started. The Masquerade is the costume contest at Polaris and it is famous for starting late. We later found out that the masquerade had still not started at 9:30, the time the art auction started.

Initially at the auction I was to be a listener. Then I got promoted to auctioneer. And let me tell you, those are huge shoes to fill. People come to the Art Auction to watch the regular auctioneers banter at each other and try to convince you to go higher with your bids. Except those guys were at another con, so people had to put up with Husband Unit and I. I got a few laughs from the crowd and compliments after the show.

After dealing with some of the post-auction sales and pick-up, it was too bed.

This morning it was back to the art show to help with Sunday Sales.

Very busy day – and I am off to my Sunday PM activities.

Talk to you later.

[  Mood: Cool ]
[  Currently: Eating Grapes ]
Morning again.

I didn’t get a change to do a blog last night as I was exhausted after a very full afternoon and evening and collapsed into bed.

After lunch yesterday I returned to the autograph line to get Tori Higginson, Marina Siritis and Eric Avari’s autographs. I mentioned before that this con has special needs accommodations. I have very flat feet and the hotel ballroom floors either never had under padding or the under padding has been worn away to nothing. This means that after about 30 minutes of standing, I am done for several hours. Luckily, the con will put me in a special line with chairs. This doesn’t mean I get through any faster as they do a great job balancing the needs of the all, but it does mean I can enjoy the con with much less pain.

Autographs were fine. Marina chuckled at my real name, and I had to explain to her that it really was my name and that I had been in possession of it for 36 years. It made the personalization very special. Eric Avari was also lovely, commenting that he had a niece with my name. We chatted briefly, it is an autograph line after all.

I got out of the autograph room halfway through Ron Glass‘s presentation, so I decided to return to the art show to help out. I ran into Husband Unit there, and he told me that Ron had been a wee bit boring as he had talked only about Barney Miller.

At 3:00 pm I attended the screening of the television adaptation of Tanya Huff’s Blood Ties. Tanya is one of my all time favourite authors. She writes well and has a sense of humour. She is also a geek. Now the first thirteen episodes of this series have already aired in the US and the rest of the freaking world. Here in Canada, they will not start until August. It was good, very good. I plan to do a review for RevSF once I return to Ottawa.

5:00 pm saw me at a Heroes panel, that was packed. The panelists were very good, as were the audience. The most exciting part of the panel occurred when one of the panelists dared to suggest that Peter didn’t need Nathan to save him and New York at the end of the season, that he could have done it himself, given that he could fly. A group of women that I like to call the Peter Patrol did not like that at all and went on the attack. Some of it was a little shrill and emotional. It was like putting a Klingon into a room full of Tribbles. Even without that excitement, we could have gone on all day. An hour was not enough time.

Well I must away. I will blog what I did from 6:00 pm on at a later time.

[  Mood: Distorted ]
[  Currently: Eating Turkey and Cheese Sandwich ]
Just enjoying some lunch. A very important part of Con going, no matter what people tell you. You need to eat, and eat well. I have seen people exist on stale bread for days and they are not the same people on Sunday that they were on Friday.

This morning saw me at two panels, both Dr. Who related. The first was a costuming panel. I though it was a comparing ninth and tenth Doctor panel, but obviously I need to read con info better. As do some of the panelists who had the same idea as me. But I did learn that David Tenant’s suit and jacket combo are custom made. And I saw an inflatable Dalek with a droopy probe.

The second panel was hosted by Graeme Burk, editor of Enlightenment, the fanzine of the Doctor Who Information Network (DWIN). Actually, he was the only panelist. So he lead a lively discussion on if we prefer the old villains coming back in Doctor Who or do we want new ones. Result – a balance. Given that there were some people who haven’t seen season 3 and others don’t read spoilers, we steered away from discussion on the Master – who is coming back!

Then it was off to the autographs to get Teryl Rothery’s autograph. Twenty bucks – Canadian. Polaris (well T-Trek) used to give you autographs with membership, but then SFX (part of the Hobby Star Mega Commercial Convention in August) arrived. They charge hundreds of dollars to the fans and the actors sell their autographs. Polaris found it increasingly difficult to get actors to agree to free autographs. So last year they changed it to pay as you go.

This didn’t really change my convention going habits as I have always bought my photos from the actors so that the money was going to them, not to bootleg guy from yesterday.

Anyways – lunch has been inhaled, and I must away to my next autograph line.

[  Mood: Silly ]
[  Currently: Watching Polaris TV ]
Morning.

I got some sleep, but my body woke me up at 6:00 am. And the problem with sharing a room, when you wake-up so does everyone else. We’re not sure who woke up first, but we were all up and eating by 6:30 am. As we ate, we discussed possible events in the upcoming Harry Potter book to help the Artisan prepare for her upcoming 10:00 am panel. We also helped The Artisan fill out the 37 page The Ultimate Deathly Hallows Predictions Exam. Well I did. The Husband Unit lapsed back into unconsciousness.

In addition to our instant oatmeal and Harry Potter, we also enjoyed one of the nicest features of Polaris 21, the Polaris TV channel. This actually started last year for the twentieth anniversary of the con. The channel shows videos of previous year’s events. There are guest appearances, masquerades, tributes to previous guests who have passed on, documentaries and news pieces on previous cons, music videos, and previews of upcoming sci-fi. I personally paused and enjoyed a tribute to DeForest Kelly.

There was also a brilliant, heavily edited Wonder Woman episode called “Spaced Out” that guest-starred Rene Auberjonois as a jewel thief. Most of the action takes place at a Science-Fiction Convention for a classic sci-fi series that was being brought out of retirement and redeveloped. There are also references to an actor called Leroy Leonard. Clever subtitles let us know that this episode came out about the same time that Star Trek: Phase Two was in development.

Perhaps the nicest part of Polaris TV is the playing of the “I’m a TT, I’m a Polaris” videos that have been circulating through the Internet.

To help long time attendees like me (I have been coming since T-Trek 11) cope with the name change, the ConCom has made the change. They are funny little parodies based on the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” comercials. Two are on the web (Polaris vs. Toronto Trek – Part Oneand Polaris vs. Toronto Trek – The Saga Continues )
Several more premiered on the channel, as did a blooper reel. The blooper reel caused the Husband Unit to bolt awake, make everyone shut up so he could watch the vid.

That’s it for now. I must go shower so that I don’t stink too badly. Convention Hygiene is almost as important as Convention Nutrition. And then I’ll slip into my RevSF t-shirt for the day. Come say hi, if you are here.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[  Currently: Eating Hummus and Pita ]
Well what an exciting day! Polaris has a lot to offer. The Husband Unit, the Artisan and I spent most of the evening in the Art Show helping out. I worked the print desk where I got to sell prints. Most of the sales were for a fabulous artist and friend, Heather Bruton. Sales were brisk and we managed to sell out of some of her prints.

I also got to talk to one of my favourite artists, Lar de Souza, who in addition to being a brilliantly funny illustrator and punner of his own, is the artist of Looking for Group. He was very excited to learn that I knew what the hell he was talking about. I dropped the name of RevSF and said they had directed me to the site. It looks like Lar and company may move to formally publishing the comic. This means that it might be appearing at the Comic Book shop near you SOON. In addition, he and the other guys will be going to San Diego Comic Con to promote the comic. How exciting! I sense an interview possibility.

I also saw some beautiful pieces of art. Lar had some of the original pages from Looking for Group up for sale. In addition, there were some beautiful jewelry pieces available. There were, of course, the requisite number of show/movie inspired art pieces. Sketches, paintings, cartoons, cross-stitch and stained glass are all available for bid. And I also had the privilege of being scarred for life by a Pinky and the Brain slash/SM cartoon. You have no idea.

I did however make it into the dealers room. Actually, I had to as Katie Sackhoff and Tori Higginson where not bringing their own photos for autographs. So I had to buy a few from a dealer and hope like hell they won’t be ripped up as bootleg. This is after I heard him tell a story of how he was kicked out of a convention in England for selling bootleg Supernatural photos. This may be a very short series of blog entries.

While in the Dealers Room, I saw two different models of remote control Dalek, black and gold. Both are only currently available in England. I felt way more than a little giddy. My announcement of their availability upon my return to the Art Show caused more giddiness. It was a veritable Roddenberry of Nerdgasms!

The Artisan ducked into the Klingon Karoke. She reports that while there were Klingons doing security, she saw no Klingons singing. Mind you – she didn’t stay long.

That’s all for tonight. I must try to get some sleep so that I make all the events planned for tomorrow.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Eating Insant Udon Noodle Soup – Con Food – Yum! ]
Well it is finally here, the weekend that many a Canadian and Northern US fan has waited for, Polaris 21.

What you say, you have not heard of Polaris? Have you heard of Toronto Trek? Up until last year, this fine event was called Toronto Trek. The name change this year comes from the fact that with the word Trek in the title, everyone thought it was a Star Trek Convention. Apparently, some actors and other Sci-Fi luminaries (cough – JMS) won’t come to a Trek convention. (If you want more info, go to the webpage )Although they won’t admit it, the name really comes from the fact that in Canada, cities are so far away from each other, it is a Trek to get here. For me it was five hours.

Polaris is the largest fan run convention in Canada. There are bigger cons, but they are for profit ventures where you tend to feel like sheep. Being smaller, and run by fans, Polaris has a more homey feel. You get time to talk to the guests and get to know them. (Andreas Katsulas hugged me while I was getting an autograph one year. Apparently he did this for a lot of the female fans. God bless him!) There is reserved seating and they actually have services for children and special needs. I know, I should have warned you to sit down.

Husband Unit and I, along with a very dear friend The Artisan, have arrived safe and sound, despite being nearly run off the road by a transport truck whose driver was too busy enjoying a burger to remember to stay in his lane. We have also procured a room, even though we arrived early. We had to settle for a room with a queen sized bed and a couch. The Artisan is thrilled as she loves to sleep on the couch. (No really!) We have managed to unpack our most important worldly possessions, the food, despite initial attempts of the 40 year-old bell boy.

Husband Unit, the Artisan and I will be reporting regularly (well as regularly as possible) about the goings on and the news from the Con. Look for us on Saturday in our RevolutionSF shirts.

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