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marguerite_krux) wrote2009-10-28 10:43 am
armageddon expo
Went to the Armageddon Expo last weekend- for the first time, I was able to attend both days and it was absolutely brilliant. [This new trimester thing at uni sucks, but at least it meant the exams finished in time for me to blissfully fritter away the hours gawking at sci-fi stars. ^_^]
'coz the universe giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other, the bad news to compensate for that was that Amanda Tapping pulled out in the end. So devastated. That’s not cool at all. At the beginning of the year, I’d’ve been rather indifferent but since I fell for Sanctuary and full on obsessed over her…yeah, that was awful, leading us on like that and then bailing, grr! Joe Flanigan replaced her, which is kinda funny, ‘coz the first time I saw him- two years ago- he was added to the list as a replacement after Michael Shanks pulled out. It was cool seeing Joe again, but it was a little ‘been there, done that’ and it was still pretty disappointing not seeing Amanda- I haven’t yet met a female star, it’s been a boys’ club so far! [Hopefully that’ll change next year- Claudia Black is supposed to be at a con in March, omg! Ben Browder, too, but guys, CLAUDIA! *bounces*]
And yeah, there was a slight hiccup with the public transport that meant our 'train' ended up being a bus, 'coz the railway system was down for some reason or another- making me and Netty raise our eyebrows and giggle when Joe Flanigan complimented our public transport system- and okay, my feet and back and shoulders were killing me by the end of it, but omg, it was so worth the sore twinges and inconvenience! This was, hands down, my favorite convention experience out of the past four years!
One of the most entertaining aspects about the weekend was seeing the way the guys joked around with each other like real buddies. I love casts that seem to be great friends, it makes it so much cozier and gives me the warm ‘n fuzzies, y’know? During Paul’s Q & A, Jason and Joe heckled him from the back, and then in the afternoon, Jason came in to heckle Joe, lol. [Interestingly enough, nobody bothered Jason during his- but then, as he said in answer to a question on whether anybody had ever pranked him, ‘They wouldn’t dare’. *gigglesnort*]
It was hilarious, I didn’t realize what was going on at first, this random guy got up to ask a question, and he was like, ‘You were talking earlier about the pranks played on-set, did you know about what Jason did with your toothbrush and his bum?’ And I was all, ‘OMG, who is this freak? Wtf is he on?! Why is his voice so weird? Why aren’t his lips moving properly?’
And then Joe was exasperated, ‘Jason! Jason, I know you’re there. Go on, get out’ and sure enough, Jason had been crouching in the seat behind random guy, having his fun at Joe's expense while the guy tried to pretend like he was the one talking, and slouched on out. Ha! Then Joe turned to the 'mime' dude and told him, 'You're worse than Milli Vanilli'- ooh, burn. :P
It is funny when actors corroborate each other’s stories. I remember that last year, David Hewlett mentioning Jason mooning him on one memorable occasion, and Joe did bring that up in answer to the ever popular ‘what pranks have you guys pulled on each other?’ Jason, Joe and Paul were disappointingly unforthcoming on that matter- resorting to the clichéd ‘there are children in the audience’ excuse, because apparently there are very few PG stories they can relate- the mooning incident was the only one Joe would tell us. It was a victory because it made David smile when he’d been all tense and grim the entire day.
One of the things Joe talked about that I don’t think I knew before was that he worked for George Bush Sr [he was very careful to emphasize SENIOR, lol] as an advance man, and he told us what a kick he got out of strolling in to places all serious-like, going, ‘Joe Flanigan. I work for the White House’ and arranging where the President would stay and security and stuff like that. The perk of this job? Lunch. ‘I got drunk with power…I’d order pizza- you’re guaranteed 30-minute delivery- well, an hour and a half later, the guy would show up’- and he put on this expression of terror and exhaustion- ‘ “Oh, where you been? That’s a free pizza!” And he got like, pants searched…we did that a lot, got a lot of free pizzas…’ Seriously?! Another story I’m not sure is really true, but it’s hella funny, so who cares? :P Except for the poor pizza guy who would have to go through a million different security checkpoints and get strip-searched…oh, Joe is EVIL. ‘That’s that’s called abuse of power....’ LMAO.
Something I hadn’t realized before- he was on Warehouse 13! And apparently that episode had one of the highest ratings that the channel had ever received, for either movies or tv shows, so that was pretty cool! [I went home to check the three eps I’d d/l and what do you know, I had the Joe ep all this time and never got around to watching it, tsk tsk]
Someone asked what a perk of his job was- well, this military dude came up to Joe once, saying, ‘Your sideburns aren’t regulation.’ *gigglesnort* [Oh, the number of conversations I’ve seen discussing his decidedly non-military appearance and sloppy salutes…] Joe shrugged, saying it was just a tv show, right, ‘We’re in Hollywood, dude’, but the guy kept insisting it wasn’t right and what would it take to convince him. Joe says, in this off-handed manner, that he wants to fly in one of those planes…
The very next week, he gets escorted to some base, ‘I go out there and they’ve got my name on the plane- they painted my name on the plane!’ Ha! They went all out, huh?! That hairstyle of his must really be nagging some people, heh… ‘I get in there, we’re about to take off- boom. We hear some weird noise, chkrrr! The plane’s broken. Great.’ So he had to hang around a few hours, dressed up in that hot, heavy flight-suit while they fix matters, and end up bringing out another plane and painting his name on it again… *snickers* He told them it wasn’t necessary but oh, they insisted! Problem was, he’d eaten lunch while he was hanging around waiting for them to get ready, so of course, he goes up in the air and promptly throws up. [Oh, GROSS] And the pilot laughs himself silly. ^_^
Another question was which Wraith he liked best- ‘Oh, absolutely, Chris Heyerdahl. He’s an amazing actor- and all we did was stick make-up on him.’ He sounded so disgusted at that- Chris coming in at 4am to get made up as a Wraith and Joe was like, ‘Why don’t we actually use him for a role?’ but nope, ‘They just put him as a Wraith, every major Wraith.’
*sighs* I don't want to sound like a spoiled brat- but seriously, I paid $30 for that? I know that all we're guaranteed is an autograph, basically, the actor scrawling their name on whatever you care to present them with, barring something silly like your own body, etc. etc. But my cousin got a personalized autograph! 'Thanks for coming to Melbourne'. Gah! Not to begrudge her that pleasure, I certainly wouldn't want to diminish her pleasure because that does nothing for my own happiness, but I'm envious as hell, I admit it! She got the personalized autograph last time as well, when I only got his name. *pouts* He better come back in two years again and give me a decent autograph, damn it.
Hey, so, does anyone want an autographed photo of Joe Flanigan? I have no use for two of the same, so you know, if I can figure out how to mail it without getting it scrunched up, I can send it to someone. Early Christmas gift or whatever. Yeah...
He was amazing, I love him so much. He made my weekend so fantastic. You know when you're lining up for autographs, the minders get all tetchy and don't let you take photos sometimes? Or if they do, they don't let you take a photo with the actor, right, 'coz they're protecting their investment, they want you to pay $40 for that pleasure, not get it for free. But Chris was so cool, he invited everyone that came up to him to have a photo with him!
I felt rather embarrassed because the few people before me gave him presents- Shapes and Tim Tams were the most popular offerings, but someone gave him a stuffed koala and a wrapped up present- and she got a hug and kiss from him! Aww! See, that's fine in this context, but I absolutely despise people who use up precious Q&A time to ask for a frakking hug from the actors. It's selfish and inappropriate and makes me want to throttle their stupid necks.
But he was cool with me, gift-less though I was, insisted on posing with me, he just put his arm around me and the minder chick took the photo. I quite like it. Usually shots that are taken upwards like that look horrible, because they emphasize double chins or look up the people's noses or something, but it turned out well, I think! ^_^
At panel, it was hard to hear what he was saying, and my poor mp3 didn't have a chance in hell at recording his speech, which is why I'm unfortunately unable to recount to you guys what happened. I do remember that he put on these hilarious little impersonations and just cracked us all up, but you kinda have to be there for that, there's no way I can do it justice onscreen. I'm not sure what that little performance was about, but he was either playing a woman or a gay dude, trading innuendo with an imaginary figure, it was hysterical!
See, I like that autograph! I'm not too demanding, just my name and a cute little winking smiley face, that's enough to make me happy! *g* [Damn Joe...]
One of the moments I remember is when someone asked what it was like working with Amanda, and he goes, ‘Oh, it’s a challenge working with Amanda, telling myself, don’t kiss her, don’t kiss her, don’t kiss her…’ lol. Yeah, I’d find it hard to fight the urge to just grab her and squish her. :P
alkdfjlakdsjfldsakjfalkj:!
I LOVE THIS PHOTO, OMG! *giddy twirl* It was just so GUH, cuddling up to him. Poor guy, he doesn't get paid enough, I'm sure, getting glomped by crazy fans, lol. But he was so sweet and EEEE! *squee!splodes* ^_^
I actually got up the guts to ask a question. ‘I finally managed to watch A Dog’s Breakfast this week- I was wondering what was more challenging, dressing as a woman or filming that scene where David Hewlett’s character was naked?’
Damn fat guy. Ruined what would've been a perfect shot, grr. But Paul! Paul is so cute!
Hmm, I think my better side is my left, but still, a decent photo overall. Paul was wonderful, I walked over and he says, 'I love your dress, it's very cute'! DUDE. Paul McGillion complimented my dress. HEE. That does wonders for my self-esteem, I tell ya. :D I hate the photographer for cropping off his hand, though, he had his arm around me and you can't tell from this photo, but oh, isn't he adorable?! I want to pinch his cheeks, I have such a weakness for dimples!
[Hmph, another lame autograph- just your name, dude, really? Would it've killed you to get my name in there?]
Now, for a lot of babbling.
Disclaimer: I love all these guys, Chris and Joe the best, so my lengthy recap of Jason's speech isn't indicative of stronger feelings for him. However, he has a deeper, booming voice that was easier to pick out on my crappy mp3 player's recording than Chris' softer tones or Paul's.
So, Jason said he wasn’t anything like Ronon, which I wouldn’t say is entirely true. [‘How similar am I to Ronon? Well, if Ronon was up here, he wouldn’t be nervous right now. I think I shat myself, I’m terrified…We’re very different. I like to smile and laugh, Ronon, not so much…he kills people, I don’t…’]
He was a man of few[er] words; out of all the actors, I think he was the least talkative. Somebody would ask a question, and he didn’t have a problem saying ‘no’ or something similarly taciturn and then move onto the next. Most of the others tend to elaborate on their answers, but sometimes he just wasn’t fussed and that’d be the end of the story.
Which isn’t to say he wasn’t a decent speaker. There were some great moments, that I wish I had on dvd- I wish I had the whole expo on dvd, really. *sighs wistfully*
Re: SGA
‘Why Atlantis was cancelled? Uh, you can ask Joe Flanigan, I think that was his fault.’ :P But he did say that it was cancelled ‘coz the show writers wanted to do SGU- which was not what I’d heard from them, but then again, JM is a total asshat, so I wouldn’t trust anything he says. [This is the dude that dissed Torri, like, as if she’d want to come back to SGA when all they offer her is a measly two lines and ten seconds of screen-time, shut up, loser]
Re: the movie
‘Yeah, no, they’re not going to do the movie…bummer. I talked to the producers and they told me a little bit about it. In the beginning, Ronon’s in a bar and gets into a fight. This guy smashes a bottle in my face and then I kill the guy. I told them, you write it in there that I’m going to eat the guy.’
Re: upcoming performances
Interestingly enough, he mentioned this pilot for a new show he was hoping would be picked up- based on the book Game of Thrones by George R. Martin or some such. Apparently his character is like Ronon- the strong, brooding warrior type that goes around a-slaughtering. *nodnod* ‘I play the biggest bad person’, that’s the gist of it, that I caught, anyway. ‘Basically like Ronon times ten…he kills everyone. I don’t get a gun, I get a sword, and horses. And I hate horses.’
Yeah, riding the horse is a bit of an ordeal for him, lol, ‘coz the last time he was on a horse, it…went badly.
TPTB: Do you mind doing it bare-back?
Jason: Uh, sure.
TPTB: What about no reins?
Jason: Yeah, okay.
So he’s clutching on to, like, the horse’s mane to keep his balance and of course- ‘it rears up and I fall, underneath, and I could see, like, balls’ *snickers*- and he’s flat on his back while the horse nearly tramples him. ‘All right, we’re good. That’s a wrap. Buh-bye…’ So, you know, horse phobia, fair enough, right? But he’s honoring the ol’ cliché and getting back up on that horse, so good for him.
The role also requires him to learn a new language, because the warrior doesn’t speak English. I think it’s some fantasy epic, which sounds rather cool and I’m hoping it works out for him. This has nothing to do with the fact that he mentioned ‘I’m going to be filming my first love scene, I’ll be naked- so you’ll get to see all of this’ and he turns and slaps his butt, lol. Yeah, he hammered home the point about the naked love scene a few times, he was pimping that show and himself for all he was worth. ;P I thought it was pretty funny that he probably got the part because he decided to do the haka at auditions- he looks intimidating enough, and then to do the haka? Yikes! ‘I think that’s how I got the job- scare people, get the job…’
Re: pranks
The only one he’d tell us was a particularly disgusting prank which involved sneaking into a castmate’s trailer, ‘turn the heat up and you turn their water off in their toilet, and then take a really big dump…you have to let it fester, and let the heat make it smell real good…’ UGH, GROSS. *iz squicked out* Boys. Honestly…
Re: Jason/other cast
Q: Do you and the cast still keep in contact?
A: I hate every one of them…No. It’s funny, I used to live with Joe during the last season, and we worked together, lived together, showered together. You know, if he needed help with his butt, I’d do it for them, we were that tight…I haven’t seen David Hewlett at all, which is great. He’s annoying.’
Re: Ronon’s costume
Jason: ‘Favorite part of Ronon’s outfit? Um…I wore a g-string underneath my outfit, it felt so good. Shocking…What was your favorite part?’
Audience member: Probably your pants.
Jason: What part of my pants? The middle? The legs, the knees?
Audience member: I prefer your arse.
Jason: This old thing? *wiggles his butt at us* Wait til you see me on Game of Thrones, you’re going to see me naked. Yeah…so scared. My first love scene, scary…
Re: what tv shows he likes.
Well, it’s funny how actors don’t seem to have time to watch tv. I wonder if their jobs take away from their enjoyment of watching shows, because they know the whole behind-the-scenes process and it takes away some of the magic? But then he has a family, two babies or something, so he hasn’t had much time to watch tv in the past few years, although he loves Arrested Development and he got to watch Chuck on the flight over here. Ha, Chuck! I watch that!
Re: Ronon/other characters
Somebody asked which of Atlantis’ leaders he liked best, ‘My favorite would probably be Weir. When I first came on the show, I liked Torri and I wanted to have that relationship, but I was always with Rachel, it’s so obvious…the aliens are the dark people; Chris Judge…anyone who’s not white is an alien…so the aliens would get together and I was like, no, he’s going to go to Weir…anytime I have a scene with Dr Weir, my interior monologue is basically I’m undressing her…that is my choice as an actor.’ Ahaha! Bawdy sense of humor, I love it… :D *squishes him* Then he added, ‘And with Woolsey, all the time, undressing him…” *gigglesnort*
[Too bad Elizabeth and Ronon’s dynamics were so subtle as to be pretty much nonexistent- actually, on the show, the few times they were together in a scene, Ronon was always playing hard to get, the prat. Though, yeah, a lot of relationships on that show went under-developed, it was always the John & Rodney show. Til Keller turned up and then the writers whored her out to everyone, ugh.
On another note, I wish I’d asked Joe about his favorite Atlantis leader but his panel was pretty fast-paced and I was too nervous to ask anything. Besides, I already asked him about Torri two years ago, so that’s kinda old territory, and I’ve heard him talk about how he wanted Shep’s relationship with her to be more developed, so yeah]
I laughed at the way Jason rebelled against the system- pretty much when they tell him to do something, he’d do the opposite. Like, apparently they told him not to cross his arms or play with his gun, and then in the next ep, he goes and does that epic gun twirl [I think it was the Genii ep where Shep and co get kidnapped for their special Ancient genes]. And when he was talking about the pulse pistol Ronon uses, he talked about the sneaky way he got his revenge at TPTB- ‘it costs like, a thousand dollars per shot, so when they pissed me off, I’d be like this, pew pew pew…’ and he mimed shooting randomly over and over again, ‘Here we go. One thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four…’ LMAO. Dude. Yeah, he’s got a weapons kink, also. ‘She’s got a name. But I’m not going to tell you what that name is. Ronon does a lot of things with that gun…’
Hey, I didn’t realize at the time, but Sarah pointed out that Jason and I both have scars in our eyebrows! Something in common…but okay, his is more impressive, and it has a cooler story behind it. ‘One of my first scenes in Runner, we’re running through with my team on Sateda, battling the Wraith attacking us…there were all these fireballs. There’s like four stunt guys around me and it hits me…if I didn’t have this brow, I would’ve lost my eye. It was like, fifth day of work, and I’m like, ‘Welcome to Stargate: Atlantis. You nearly lost your eye.’
He is massive! I wanted this photo, and the girls and Ryan had their group photo with him, just to see how tall he was! I like tall guys, what can I say? I didn't know he was doing that with his hand, I'm not sure what that is, I'm not an expert on hand signals. [I know it's not Emily's 'affectionate gesture' to Garcia in CM, lol- too bad the censors wouldn't let us see her flip the finger on camera]
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Other actors
Netty and I saw Noah, who plays Micah on Heroes, and Cameron Bright, who's a vampire in the new Twilight movie. These kids shame me- Noah's only 13, and he was so confident and self-assured up on stage. He bounced up, all, 'Ask me questions! Come on...oh, and yes, I did make all the traffic lights green so I could get here on time, it's very handy'. I was expecting a nervous kid and he was just a bundle of energy, so engaged and polite and charismatic.
Cameron's 16, and he was very much like my cousin Sarah's on/off boyfriend, Adam. Same sarcastic, witty sense of humor, self-deprecating, so interesting and a great speaker. Noah was like the perfect child- little prodigy, playing at the Opera House when he was only 5, talking earnestly about how school comes first and how important his grades are to him. Cameron was more 'real' in a way, he talked frankly about how much school sucks and he hates doing homework, lol. He admitted to taking the Twilight role because of the money and he knew it would help raise his profile, and when asked what his dream role would be, he went, 'Hmm...dream role? The Cameron Bright story: All About Me'. LMAO.
It was cute how both boys were there with their mothers, being underage, as they are. They have more poise and assurance than I do, at 21, but they got their mommas with them, aww! At one point, someone asked Noah, 'Do you have a girlfriend?' and I was a little shocked at that brazen query, then he groaned and said, 'Oh, mom, stop it..She loves embarrassing me. If we're out and she sees a group of girls, she'll walk up to them and say, 'Oh, hi, this is Noah, he thinks you're cute'. Lol. Matchmaking mama, and embarrassed son, so adorable.
Someone asked Cameron who his role model was, which he hemmed and hawed over, til the suggestion of his mother was brought up, and he laughed, 'My mother? She's almost 50 and living off her son! What kind of role model is that?' Ahaha! Then he was like, 'No, kidding, I wouldn't be who I am today without my mother' and he praised her, I think 'coz she was giving him the beady eye, lol.
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Ooh, one of the highlights of the weekend- I found a bag of mini Reese's Pieces! I have such an addiction to them, but I can only find the pack of two large Reeses for $2.50, which hell no, not wasting my money like that. Yeah, the bag was expensive at $6 but a lot more value for money. Sadly, when I went back on Sunday, it was all sold out. *pouts*
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Sorry...but no Amanda hate girlie. ;) Amanda was not happy she had to cancel, she HATES to disappoint her fans, trust me.
Glad you had fun though! :D
Eh, Joe's eps of WH13 was okay...I'm not a fan of his...but definitely a fan of the show. :D
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It was so much fun, even with that disappointment, though, the guys there were cool enough to make up for her absence, lol. I'm getting jittery with the hope of seeing Claudia next year, though, I really hope that ends up happening!
Lol, yes, I did kinda realize you liked the show...what with all your squee!posts...your icons...and wow, your lj layout, neat...
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Cons can (and should) be fun, especially if you go with the mind set to have fun and that the actors appearing do not owe you anything. :D
Hey! WH13 rocks! :D ;)
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I gotta say, I absolutely loathe the fans that hit on actors. There's this one chick that used Paul's panel as an excuse to make suggestive comments about them getting together, it was nauseating. He was a good sport about it, though, deflecting her in a funny way. I guess they get enough practice, poor things. She kept pushing it though, and he was like, 'Getting a wee bit randy up here', lol. And at least two fans had the nerve to ask for hugs from the actors. Ugh.
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wow!
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