Convention Photos 2003

OK, Jenn here...so I wanted to do a little something different this year, not just put up a bunch of links....so I decided to do a commentary on the Con, put in some stories, etc. But where to find the time? So what you're getting is a quasi-commentary mixed with a bunch of links. Sorry. I'll try to fix it up as I get the time. The photos are combo of digital (kinda crappy) and scanned in pics (mostly good, but some out-of-focus). I've optimized the pics for easy loading and because Alex and I are running out of room on our server. Finally, please don't use any of these pics anywhere else on the internet without first contacting me or Alex. Thanks so much.

Thursday, November 13

Yes, I know the Con didn't start on this day. But Alex and I arrived early and stored our gear at the hotel and headed up...um...down, I don't know, to Universal Studios, oops, I mean Universal City. We enjoyed such great rides as the Studio Tour (pretty cool), Jurassic Park (wet), Backdraft (hot enough to melt hair), Shrek 4D (it was cooler with the glasses off) and finally the Mummy (which scared me to death, it's a funny story now, but it wasn't so funny when I was running for my life, trying to get out of that damn building). Here's a few pics of Alex and I as we wandered about the streets.

We went back to the hotel, de-stressed, and went over to the Pre-reg and then ate in the restaraunt, watched ER and for one night only turned in before 12 AM.

Friday, November 14

Ricky Manning in a suit

Ricky came onstage in a black suit, looking mighty fine. He teased us with lots of talk of a project in the works that will make all us Farscape fans very happy. Then he teased us some more by taking off the suit coat and putting on one of his funky shirts. More pics of Ricky [ 1 2 ]

Unity - Stark and Zhaan

Next came Paul Goddard and Virginia Hey. It was the first time I've ever seen Paul and I've seen Ginny at least four times now. They were a lot of fun. Paul said he never thought of Stark as insane, just pushed to the limits by all the sadness and horror he'd seen and that because of that, he had a hard time relating to people. Virginia said that she always tried to make Zhaan seem priestly, for example if the script said "John, don't do that," she would say, "John Crichton, do not do that." They made everyone happy by posing in unity for all of us - afterwhich Virginia asked for a cigarette. LOL. More Pics [ 1 2 3 4 ]

He Cut His Hair! - Crais

I'm still in shock. Lani came out sans long hair and looking mighty fine in sunglasses. It was amazing. He was asked the usual questions about which part he was cast for first, Crais or the voice of Pilot. But it's great to hear the answers again....same basic answers, new year of the Con. More pics [ 1 2 3 4 ]

Friday night Jeopardy and going over to the hotel bar

I tried to get into the girls Jeopardy game by showing my very tiny, little tattoo, but no luck. Oh well. It was still fun to watch Ginny spank Lani on stage....which resulted in the Convention being nicknamed, SpankScape 2003. After the Jeopardy bit a bunch of us Pacific NW girls headed over to the hotel bar, for much drinking. The pool table was monopolized so we sat at the bar and met lots of great folks, including one lady Alex and I met in 2002, responsible for multiple rounds of margarita shooters that resulted in my terrible hangover last year. I stayed clear of the shooters this year and was thankfully hangover free the next day, although quite tired from staying up so late. :-) Pics from the Jeopardy bit [ 1 2 ] Pics from our stay at the bar [ 1 2 ]

Saturday, November 15

My Pics with Ben and Claudia

Oh, my dear, I was so nervous for these pics with Ben and Claudia, but all in all, I think they turned out great.

Farscape and Duct Tape

Rockne O'Bannon came out on stage with tape over his mouth, again hinting that there was something he'd like to tell us, but couldn't. I'd never seen Rockne before, he was very interesting and quite funny. Pics [ 1 2 ]

This is the story of a girl who got a guitar 10 years ago as a gift, and took her first guitar lesson last week

As much as I love to look at Ben Browder, Claudia remains the highlight of my Convention experience every year. This year was no exception. She always looks amazing, and is so hilariously funny. She does a wonderful American accent..."She's funny. Isn't she funny?" I was laughing so hard. Her stories about wine tasting in the Napa Valley, being in love and looking for acting work in the States were great. Then someone asked her to sing for us and she said that if she ever sang in public, she would sing for us. Pics of Claudia [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ]

Then she announced that she needed to introduce someone to us....Ben! And he brought out a guitar case. Ben and her were so cute together and then she told us that she was going to do an "interpretive dance" and proceeded to dance around with the microphone stand. Ben finally decided to take a seat in the audience and wait for Claud to finish. Pic of Ben and Claudia together [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ]

Finally, she had her guitar tuned and began her story, playing three chords while she spoke, and told us all that if you love rock 'n roll all you need to know is three chords - Rock On! And then she started to sing. I have never heard that song before, but I cried. Quite honestly (and I've been on an emotional roller-coaster lately) what she did up there was inspiring. She sang for us, because years ago she used to sing, but others teased her for her strong (loud) voice and she stopped singing. She sang to thank us Scapers for all our hard work. It was amazing.

America Has Changed

Ben took the stage after Claudia finished her song and he stayed with tradition throwing out autographed cards to the audience. His hands were shaking, but if I was up in front of that many people, I'd be nervous too. He told us a bit about what he's been up to, acting in the Six Million Dollar Man and getting ready to film a movie in Texas. He was asked about moving back to the States after living in Oz....and he told us that since 9/11 the U.S. has changed. We're more fearful now as a nation. He told us about being in New York on Sept. 11 and what it was like and that, in his opinion, we should come together as a nation rather than being so afraid. More Pics of Benny [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ]

Elvis, Bookstores and Rugby

Next Raelee Hill (Sikozu), David Franklin (Braca) and Jonathan Hardy (voice of Rygel) hit the stage and talked, pretty much at random about all kids of things. Raelee is trying to open a bookstore in Sydney. David recently played Elvis on stage, I think. And Jonathan rambled on and on about all kinds of hilarious and risque things. What a funny trio! Pics [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 ]

Saturday Night Cocktail party, again ... going over to the hotel bar and partying in the lobby until 3 AM

I love Farscape, I like to party and I LOVE to dance....so this was a ton of fun for me. Here's a pic of Alex, Sarah, me and Michelle at the table. Everyone at our table (Alex, Sarah, me, Michelle and Mary) enjoyed the music, sang along and got our pictures taken with all the stars who showed up at the party. Ginny was waiting at the door to give us all hugs and she took a great pic with our group. David posed for individual pictures with all the girls, including me....interesting, but he was having the time of his life, hugging everyone. Gigi remembered Alex and I from last year, which was neat and the pic I have is of Sarah and I with Gigi. Lani left our table before I could get a pic with him, so I followed him to the next table and some very nice lady took this pic and then emailed it to me, and Alex took this one of Lani and I. I also had pics taken with Bianca and Raelee and Paul.

Alex also had some great pics taken at the party with David, Lani, Ricky and me! :-)

We went over to the hotel bar after I danced until they turned the lights on and had some drinks and then Alex and I challenged for the pool table. I offended this older man by calling him "Sir," I think he was just kidding, but I apologized anyway. Then we attempted going to a room party, but there were about 50 of us and the hotel security told us to party in the lobby, so we brought out all the party supplies and stayed in the lobby talking until about 3 AM, at least, that's how long I lasted. Alex stayed out until 4:30 AM. Party animal. :-)

Sunday, November 16

And my question for you is....

Ben kicked off the day on Sunday with a sermon. At least that's what he called it, I just think that since he'd been living outside the USA for so long he has a unique perspective and I enjoyed hearing what he had to say. Then he opened up the floor for questions, but rather than just letting the audience ask, he surprised everyone in line by asking them his own question first. "What is your favorite episode of Farscape?" And when the audience member answered, Ben would say "And that is the correct answer." It was great fun. Pics from Sunday [ 1 2 3 4 5 ]

I have a crush on this John Crichton guy

Next up was Francesca Buller, Ben's wife. She's been in lots of Farscape eps and most recently in the We're So Screwed trilogy as the Hat Lady. She told us that Ben is so different from John that she sometimes just puts on the Farscape eps and watches him and that she has a bit of a crush on John. LOL. She was up there in her bare feet walking around the stage and having a great time. Pics of Franni [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ]

The girl grew over 30 centimeters in a year

It was a convention first for Bianca Chiminello. She played Jenavian in the Look at the Princess trilogy and I was shocked to learn that that was her first acting gig. She told us all about her training as a kid, how she took ballet until she grew too tall too fast and how she was taking acting classes when she got the call to audition for Farscape. She didn't get a long time to be on the convention stage, but it was great having her there. Pics of Bianca [ 1 2 3 4 ]

I was the the fluffer on set...

What convention would be complete without Gigi Edgley. She was hilarious. She rapped for us and then sang a little for us, told us all about her album and how it's going and she made a ton of jokes. The lady who asked her to twirl the ribbons was back this year and Gigi twirled them again for us. The funniest thing for me was her joke about waking up in the middle of the night after Farscape and need to get her creative juices flowing again... she said, "and that's when Gig reaches under her bed for..." LOL More pics of Gigi [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ]

All in all I'd say it was a great Convention. I had a lot of fun, met some great people and was thrilled with the hints that Farscape was coming back to TV.

Playing pool for four hours

Sunday night, after I'd had a little nap, Alex and I went to eat in the restaurant with some friends and then we played pool until the bar closed down.... people kept putting there quarters up there, but Michelle and I just kept winning. :-) It was agreat last night.

Monday, November 17

Mullholland Drive and Beverly Hills

On Monday, Alex, Michelle and I rented a car and drove over Mullholland Drive and into Beverly Hills. We walked along Rodeo Drive, went to the La Brea Tar Pits. Rodeo Drive was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but oh well. I was not disappointed by the houses along Mullholland.

I think that's it everyone, if you made it this far through my commentary....congrats. See you next year.