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hathycolHEY YOU GUYS I HAVE RETURNED FROM CONVENTION. I am battered, bruised, and feel little like I have been put through some kind of wringer, but it was COMPLETELY worth it. Even if I did have to do a full day at work on Friday. Woe. By about quarter to four I was on a constant stream of "CAN I GO NOW PLEASE I WILL MAKE THE TIME UP HONEST" and by ten to four I was in the car, changing into comfy driving shoes and heading to Milton Keynes.
I have recently taken to listening to Radio 2 on the way home, because I loathe Greg James and miss Scott Mills. I sort of hate myself for this. However, it did have the advantage of getting to listen to The Longest Travel Bulletins Ever. During one of them I even passed the incident she was talking about, I felt quite proud of myself. I've made an executive decision to never drive anywhere on the Friday before a bank holiday weekend. By some miracle all of the traffic going my way kept moving all of the journey, albeit slowly and with me taking the M6 toll road. But yeah, wow, those are some scary reports you don't want to hear when you're driving.
Anyway, I arrived in reasonably good time to be informed that I'd already checked in. The woman behind the desk looked horrified. I assured her it was fine, and sauntered off to go and meet whoever had already arrived. It was Lucy! We chatted, compared driving notes ("I HAVE BROUGHT SO MUCH STUFF" "ME TOO") and before long we were joined by Ann, Louise, and Dee, and Lucy went to go and pick up Pippa. We ordered pizza, and ate leisurely whilst watching Have I Got News For You. By definition, a good evening. Plus the random banter in the evening was marvellous, including Ann's Lies To Small Children. ("If you say gravity, you have to pay Stephen Hawking £7.50.")
We started the Saturday at 6am. It is a source of constant amazement to me that people I've attended conventions with think I'm a morning person. I'm not a morning person, I am very much an afternoon person. However, if I actually have to be awake in the morning then I have the ability to shoot up, have a shower, and make tea for other people so that they are also awake. It is a gift. Hence the fact I was up first and all perky and stuff. ALL AN ACT.
Anyway, we were up, dressed in Starfleet uniform, and then headed out into the pouring rain. Oh, my hair. I wailed a little, particularly as we were then queuing up for Karen Gillan for an hour, outside in the rain. WOE. Ann and Lucy very kindly went to Asda and bought me the World's Chinsiest Umbrella. It's pink, with pink union flags, and hearts, and ruffles. It's so hideous it came out the other side and is now fabulous. Also, it kept me dry, and this is crucial.
We got into the stadium, and then... queued some more. It was a morning of queuing, to be honest, but it meant we got party tickets and Paul McGann photoshoot tickets, before flinging ourselves madly across the stadium in order to attend said photoshoot. Oh, god. I went in, and put an arm around the back (I'm too shy to go for the cuddle) and I realised with horror I had put it up his coat. The photo says it all. So, you know, I began the convention by inappropriately touching Paul McGann. GOOD TIMES.
We got autographs for Louise with Katy Manning and Louise Jamieson, who were both lovely as usual. Katy Manning = AMAZING. I then found myself somewhoe ending up with Finn Jones autograph. I'm not proud of this. I'm getting quite into Game of Thrones, but I had made an executive decision that I simply couldn't afford the money involved for the guests there. Then I walked past Finn Jones and garbled a bit at his sheer beauty. I think I may have actually used the phrase 'I like your trousers'. He was very lovely, though, and gave me a hug. I squeed. He is a beautiful, lovely human being. And he wrote 'Nay' on the picture he signed for me, as it was a horse on. I loled.
The main problem with Saturday was that it was heavingly, crushingly busy, and we all had photoshoots at awkward times. So after meeting the lovely Wendy Padbury, I queued for hours and hours and hours for my Karen Gillan photoshoot. I am midly peeved about this. I bought my ticket in advance so I could be near the start of the queue, and they confirmed it would be called in batches. Instead, I found myself at the end of a massive queue when the organisers changed their mind. I wasn't best pleased, and nor was the swarm of people with low ticket numbers around me. Ah well, I made some friends! Also, Karen Gillan was lovely, and scarily beautiful. There are women I fancy, and women I want to look like, and she is a very much in the latter category. Very much like a china doll.
Managed to meet up wih everyone after that, and I must admit I am beginning to forget the order that we did everything in. I know that I managed to meet Sean Astin, who was LOVELY, even if I did forget to tell him that Sam was my favourite hobbit. Because he is. We also met Karen Gillan properly, and this time had a little longer with her and she was a complete sweetheat.
We also all went as a big group to meet the beautiful amazing woman who is Nichelle Nichols. Oh my goodness. She's tiny, but so unbelievably beautiful - that HAIR! - and gave off an aura of calm and awesome. I actually had the cold tingles afterwards.
We also made a friend on Saturday! A chap called Dominic came up and started chatting, and really clicked with David, and we ended up spending the weekend with him. This is why I like conventions - everyone just gets on, and it's a good experience like that.
Lucy, Pippa and I all headed off to the bus slightly earlier, as my feet were killing me and we are all clearly lazy. Lucy chatted about brains on the bus, and by the time we'd got back to the hotel and got changed, I had a pleading phonecall from Fiona asking me to pick her up, so I strode out into the wilds of Milton Keynes with my car. It is astonishing how much easier it is to navigate the place with a Sat Nav.
Returning safe and sound to the Travelodge, we all nipped out for a quick bite to eat before heading to THE PARTY. (Minus Louise, who watched Casualty and reports she had a lovely night.) It was an AWESOME AWESOME NIGHT, despite the drinks prices. We were the only ones dancing for about two hours, but man, I have missed dancing like a loon. For a large portion of it, we were being watched by Sean Astin ("DANCE LIKE RABID MONKEYS!" was the official strategy) which was a surreal experience.
I also went up to Callum Blue during the party, and very solmenly told him that I felt that Dead Like Me was one of the most underrated shows of the past decade. He very cheerfully agreed with me, and we had a chat. At no point did I mention I couldn't recall the name of his character. Fail, Colleen!
It was a wonderful, wonderful night. Also discovered that Erick Avari (Yusef off Stargate) is a filty pervert, which is something I could have done with not knowing. And Lucy gave us all a lift home. I officially love Lucy for this.
The next morning was challenging, shall we say, but nothing large gulps of tea, a full bottle of water and two paracetamol didn't push me through. There was also a moment of woe when I realised I'd forgotten my holster belt for my River Song costume, so mostly I resembled someone who just really liked double-denim. I managed to get all the way to the convention with the car before I realised that I'd not checked out, though. Oops. (It did mean I got to see girl!Captain America in the Travelodge, who I cheerfully greeted with "Morning, Cap".) On returning, we queued for a surprisingly shorter time before heading in to the venue and getting the tickets we needed.
Then we had breakfast. Oh, man, that is the best plate of food I have ever consumed.
We met Michael Dorn, who revealed that he'd seen us dancing the night before (OH THE SHAME), and then spent a lot of the rest of the day just wandering around a bit. I managed to persuade Lucy and Pippa into buying corsets (they both looked FABULOUS) and we waited for approximately a trillion hours for Hannah Spearitt's VQ ticket to come up. Even scheduling a trip to MacDonalds failed it.
That said, we did get to enjoy Pippa spending a day at the convention as Irene Adler. This was a marvellous sight indeed, even if I think she did freeze to death!
Alas, exhaustion and train times beckoned, and we had to all head out separate ways. I came home and fell on the sofa and pretty much stayed there for the next 36 hours. It was a lovely weekend, though - I missed several people, of course, and we probably should have spaced out some of the guests better, but it was still well worth it.
Now I am stony broke, and my MOT is due at the end of this month, so obviously today Richie and I bought a TV. Er, yes.
Pictures here, including Finn Jones and his beautiful face.
I have recently taken to listening to Radio 2 on the way home, because I loathe Greg James and miss Scott Mills. I sort of hate myself for this. However, it did have the advantage of getting to listen to The Longest Travel Bulletins Ever. During one of them I even passed the incident she was talking about, I felt quite proud of myself. I've made an executive decision to never drive anywhere on the Friday before a bank holiday weekend. By some miracle all of the traffic going my way kept moving all of the journey, albeit slowly and with me taking the M6 toll road. But yeah, wow, those are some scary reports you don't want to hear when you're driving.
Anyway, I arrived in reasonably good time to be informed that I'd already checked in. The woman behind the desk looked horrified. I assured her it was fine, and sauntered off to go and meet whoever had already arrived. It was Lucy! We chatted, compared driving notes ("I HAVE BROUGHT SO MUCH STUFF" "ME TOO") and before long we were joined by Ann, Louise, and Dee, and Lucy went to go and pick up Pippa. We ordered pizza, and ate leisurely whilst watching Have I Got News For You. By definition, a good evening. Plus the random banter in the evening was marvellous, including Ann's Lies To Small Children. ("If you say gravity, you have to pay Stephen Hawking £7.50.")
We started the Saturday at 6am. It is a source of constant amazement to me that people I've attended conventions with think I'm a morning person. I'm not a morning person, I am very much an afternoon person. However, if I actually have to be awake in the morning then I have the ability to shoot up, have a shower, and make tea for other people so that they are also awake. It is a gift. Hence the fact I was up first and all perky and stuff. ALL AN ACT.
Anyway, we were up, dressed in Starfleet uniform, and then headed out into the pouring rain. Oh, my hair. I wailed a little, particularly as we were then queuing up for Karen Gillan for an hour, outside in the rain. WOE. Ann and Lucy very kindly went to Asda and bought me the World's Chinsiest Umbrella. It's pink, with pink union flags, and hearts, and ruffles. It's so hideous it came out the other side and is now fabulous. Also, it kept me dry, and this is crucial.
We got into the stadium, and then... queued some more. It was a morning of queuing, to be honest, but it meant we got party tickets and Paul McGann photoshoot tickets, before flinging ourselves madly across the stadium in order to attend said photoshoot. Oh, god. I went in, and put an arm around the back (I'm too shy to go for the cuddle) and I realised with horror I had put it up his coat. The photo says it all. So, you know, I began the convention by inappropriately touching Paul McGann. GOOD TIMES.
We got autographs for Louise with Katy Manning and Louise Jamieson, who were both lovely as usual. Katy Manning = AMAZING. I then found myself somewhoe ending up with Finn Jones autograph. I'm not proud of this. I'm getting quite into Game of Thrones, but I had made an executive decision that I simply couldn't afford the money involved for the guests there. Then I walked past Finn Jones and garbled a bit at his sheer beauty. I think I may have actually used the phrase 'I like your trousers'. He was very lovely, though, and gave me a hug. I squeed. He is a beautiful, lovely human being. And he wrote 'Nay' on the picture he signed for me, as it was a horse on. I loled.
The main problem with Saturday was that it was heavingly, crushingly busy, and we all had photoshoots at awkward times. So after meeting the lovely Wendy Padbury, I queued for hours and hours and hours for my Karen Gillan photoshoot. I am midly peeved about this. I bought my ticket in advance so I could be near the start of the queue, and they confirmed it would be called in batches. Instead, I found myself at the end of a massive queue when the organisers changed their mind. I wasn't best pleased, and nor was the swarm of people with low ticket numbers around me. Ah well, I made some friends! Also, Karen Gillan was lovely, and scarily beautiful. There are women I fancy, and women I want to look like, and she is a very much in the latter category. Very much like a china doll.
Managed to meet up wih everyone after that, and I must admit I am beginning to forget the order that we did everything in. I know that I managed to meet Sean Astin, who was LOVELY, even if I did forget to tell him that Sam was my favourite hobbit. Because he is. We also met Karen Gillan properly, and this time had a little longer with her and she was a complete sweetheat.
We also all went as a big group to meet the beautiful amazing woman who is Nichelle Nichols. Oh my goodness. She's tiny, but so unbelievably beautiful - that HAIR! - and gave off an aura of calm and awesome. I actually had the cold tingles afterwards.
We also made a friend on Saturday! A chap called Dominic came up and started chatting, and really clicked with David, and we ended up spending the weekend with him. This is why I like conventions - everyone just gets on, and it's a good experience like that.
Lucy, Pippa and I all headed off to the bus slightly earlier, as my feet were killing me and we are all clearly lazy. Lucy chatted about brains on the bus, and by the time we'd got back to the hotel and got changed, I had a pleading phonecall from Fiona asking me to pick her up, so I strode out into the wilds of Milton Keynes with my car. It is astonishing how much easier it is to navigate the place with a Sat Nav.
Returning safe and sound to the Travelodge, we all nipped out for a quick bite to eat before heading to THE PARTY. (Minus Louise, who watched Casualty and reports she had a lovely night.) It was an AWESOME AWESOME NIGHT, despite the drinks prices. We were the only ones dancing for about two hours, but man, I have missed dancing like a loon. For a large portion of it, we were being watched by Sean Astin ("DANCE LIKE RABID MONKEYS!" was the official strategy) which was a surreal experience.
I also went up to Callum Blue during the party, and very solmenly told him that I felt that Dead Like Me was one of the most underrated shows of the past decade. He very cheerfully agreed with me, and we had a chat. At no point did I mention I couldn't recall the name of his character. Fail, Colleen!
It was a wonderful, wonderful night. Also discovered that Erick Avari (Yusef off Stargate) is a filty pervert, which is something I could have done with not knowing. And Lucy gave us all a lift home. I officially love Lucy for this.
The next morning was challenging, shall we say, but nothing large gulps of tea, a full bottle of water and two paracetamol didn't push me through. There was also a moment of woe when I realised I'd forgotten my holster belt for my River Song costume, so mostly I resembled someone who just really liked double-denim. I managed to get all the way to the convention with the car before I realised that I'd not checked out, though. Oops. (It did mean I got to see girl!Captain America in the Travelodge, who I cheerfully greeted with "Morning, Cap".) On returning, we queued for a surprisingly shorter time before heading in to the venue and getting the tickets we needed.
Then we had breakfast. Oh, man, that is the best plate of food I have ever consumed.
We met Michael Dorn, who revealed that he'd seen us dancing the night before (OH THE SHAME), and then spent a lot of the rest of the day just wandering around a bit. I managed to persuade Lucy and Pippa into buying corsets (they both looked FABULOUS) and we waited for approximately a trillion hours for Hannah Spearitt's VQ ticket to come up. Even scheduling a trip to MacDonalds failed it.
That said, we did get to enjoy Pippa spending a day at the convention as Irene Adler. This was a marvellous sight indeed, even if I think she did freeze to death!
Alas, exhaustion and train times beckoned, and we had to all head out separate ways. I came home and fell on the sofa and pretty much stayed there for the next 36 hours. It was a lovely weekend, though - I missed several people, of course, and we probably should have spaced out some of the guests better, but it was still well worth it.
Now I am stony broke, and my MOT is due at the end of this month, so obviously today Richie and I bought a TV. Er, yes.
Pictures here, including Finn Jones and his beautiful face.
