There's actually a lot going on right now and I am in that strange state of too much pain to want to do stuff but not enough make me just go and lie down. Probably I should just succumb to the notion that painkillers are my friend and leave it at that.
Tsuneo Sanda graciously allows a photograph with me.
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So here are the promised pictures .It was a huge weekend and it started a day early. So here's the rundown.
We decided some time back to take the Thursday off and use that as a jump day to go to Bonn. Marcus after a little bit of mulling decided that a night extra in the hotel wouldn't kill us especially since the con + hotel had been paid for a while back. So we headed out on Thursday and after a 6 hour drive thanks to shitty road works and stoopid drivers ( OMG where did they all come from???) we arrived at Bonn.
We were checked in by a trainee who really needs to get it together. She couldn't find our room because she couldn't find Marcus' name and eventually a supervisor came and sorted it out swiftly. Then when it came time to sign in she handed me marcus' form and his mine.
Finally we got it all sorted and headed up to the room.
The upside to the Bonn Maritim is the cheap ( I use this term very lightly because 130- euro a night + 2x 17- euros for a so so breakfast buffet is not really cheap) but anyway the rooms were large with a couch to hang out on etc... so that was pleasant.
I nested while the man schlepped and we got ourselves sorted out. We decided to see if we could find the 50st guys but no one was around yet so we continued the exploring and bumped into our awesome Swiss friend Maya and Marcel standing in line to get checked into the con ( we didn't know you could do that) and then we decided that lining up on Thursday evening might not be a bad idea and so we got all con checked in. Once that was done we decided to go see if there was anyone at the 501st area, or at least what we thought would be the stand. We had said we'd be there on Thursday to help with set up. We did find them and the 1st meeting was...well interesting. I was not impressed, in fact after the ten or so minutes of talk I was quite pissed and we decided that it would be better to maybe just give that whole side of things a little distance until I cooled off a bit. I don't want to get into it here but as first impressions go this was not the best one I have ever had.
Thursday night saw us relax in the room and get some sleep. Friday the fun began.
So... Friday..... we got up had breakfast but as per usual my endo / travel stress kicked in with full force so I told M to go bugger around and have fun while I napped on the couch with the heating pad. He came back in shortly before 12 and had some stories to tell.
We eventually wandered around in costume of some sort and browsed the dealers and ended up buying Stargate costume accessories.
Some of the highlights were the panels and the opening ceremonies. Terry Farrell was hilarious and David Hewlett even more so.
We did some costume changes and that was the only day I wore my Tusken it was too hot and too crowded on Saturday and Sunday I couldn't be arsed.
Big freaking highlight of Friday was Tsuneo Sanda's panel and that was the day we also met Stu and Miko. Amazing at and an amazing panel by an incredibly gentle artist with HUGE talent.
We hung out with our Swiss friends and poodled about some more, saw panels etc... we did what you do at a con... stuff.
Friday night was a big party for us, I have not danced like that in years and my body let me know it as well. The crowds were less and the DJ was decent. We partied until 2am I think.
Saturday, which started off with us inadvertently sharing a table with Stu and Miko for breakfast, was the biggest day with the most people and the most costumes. Lots of people and lots to look at. We took part in our first ever 501st thing and joined in the group photo which was a big moment and a lot of fun. I met a super nice guy who was welcoming and friendly and made me feel like there is a space for us in this club after all. Lots of photos were taken and the weather played nice.
In the afternoon we had some panels to see and then we escaped for a while to our room for food and a nap. The evening saw us check out another panel then we met up with Marcel and Maya and ended up room partying in our room with cookies and tea. ( we are such party animals) and we chatted until it was nearly 11:30 missing the panels we'd planned ( no biggie) and realizing that these guys are friends and how much we enjoyed their company. We all headed down to the big party downstairs but the music was crap, way too loud and because I was just so tired we ended up heading to bed at 1 am.
Sunday breakfast was mayhem and we bumped into Stu and Miko again only no one had a table this time so I went on the hunt and was lucky to find a table for four so we all had breakfast together again, somewhat bleary eye'd and less chatty. But it was really nice to get to know them a bit more.
We spent most of Sunday day in the auditorium watching panels and in and out trying to say goodbye to people in case we didn't see them when we bugged out.
Our last moments at the con were spent with Maya and Marcel chatting and it had that end of an SCA event feel.
We finally got on the go around 5 and the first order of business was hot food at Mc Ds. We got home around 11pm and it was welcome thing.
So the hits were
-meeting new friends and refinding old ones.
-Meeting one of the most amazing artists I have seen in ages and having him give us signed 501st trading cards just wow.
-Laughing our butts off in the guest panels.
-Our first con room party
- the Nostromo / aliens crew good job you guys.
- Joe Flanigan and David Hewlett together on stage...sore ribs anyone...
-Seeing some amazing costumes but also realizing that I do a really good job with mine.
-Getting to see the Galaxy Quest effect in action and laughing about it all.
-Ignoring the fact that I am not well and am never going to be well again in my life for a while.
-Discovering that I no longer have a helium hand and that's okay.
-being brought to tears by a performance
-being with my best friend in the world and loving him for the fact that he just gets it.
-feeling as though we lived a years worth of fun in a few days
There were a bunch of little things that were annoying and some stuff that could have been done better at the con but over all I was impressed and we had fun which was the main thing. This is after all a hobby not a job.
and planning it all again next year.
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tales from the dark side...