Fan Expo 2010: Day 3 (Last Day)

Ahhhh, last day. But what a day it was. I'm exhausted, I'm sore, but damn it I'm happy! And I'm so glad I did all three days to get the true experience.

So, to recap: Got down to the convention center right around 10 am. The line down Lower Simcoe was almost under the tunnel, but not quite, and before too long I was back up across the parking garage and very nearly where I was yesterday. But Lord it was hot. I stood baking in the sun for over an hour, listening to very loud geeks discuss whether or not David Tennant's sideburns are real and whether or not Data could have a child biologically. Sigh. I ended up meeting one of those geeks, dressed head to toe in a Doctor Who suit, named Ellen, when I discovered she was also racing to the line-up to get James Marster's autograph. It was just after 11am by that point, and he was starting at 11:30. She made a beeline for one of the merchant tables, however, to buy a sonic screwdriver, so when I got to the line-up a mother/daughter team by the name of Denise and Alicia got in behind me, and then Ellen got in behind them. Denise and Alicia chatted me up as we waited, and it turns out they're pretty hardcore fans. Alicia apparently had even been to a Twilight convention.

As we got closer, and I could see Mr. Marsters sitting up front, dressed in a blue t-shirt that hugged his torso nicely, I began to get nervous. Just as I had done with Bruce Campbell the year before, my nerves were getting to me. I checked with my new friends if I looked alright, and they assured me I looked fine and to relax, it was going to be fine. But still, this is James Marsters were talking about. There was no relaxing here.

Once I paid for my autograph and handed over my DVD cover of Spike episodes that I wanted him to sign, I found I was having the opposite problem that I did with Mr. Campbell. Instead of rambling, I clammed up! The two people ahead of me had lovely chats with the man at the booth, and he seemed happy to talk with them (this was a little less formal than the session I went to last year), but as soon as I got up there it was almost death. I smiled and said hi, he said hi and shook my hand (I TOUCHED HIM!), I asked how he was and he said fine. He complimented me on my hair, and I said thanks, I had just got it done. Then there was a lull as he signed my cover, so I mentioned that I had been to the Q&A yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. He said he had fun to, but wished that the hosts hadn't asked quite so many questions so that the fans could get more of an opportunity. And here's where I choked. In retrospect, I could've said how his singing was my favorite part, but my mind went blank at that moment. I smiled, nodded, said thank you very much it was nice to meet you, and made a hasty retreat. Gaaah. I hope he could see I was nervous and he didn't think anything of it. He meets lots of people, I'm sure, so he could probably tell. But I went and stood at one of the tables behind the lines for the autograph tables and waited until I settled down and was sure that the ink had dried on the signature before sliding it back into the DVD case with trembling fingers. Still, I looked at that signature, in silver ink, and was so happy. I had done it! I had met Mr. Marsters, shaken his hand, spoken with him and got his autograph. So cool! That disc will now have a place of honor on the shelf.

After that I had another mission. I had t-shirt requests from my brother and my roommates sister and brother-in-law. After looking at some of the tables that had shirts, and getting side-tracked at the Marvel table with free comics and a photograph with Captain America's shield (which made me look so tiny, as you can see) I went back to the big Stylin booth to find two Bazinga shirts for my roommates people, and a Green Lantern shirt for my brother. Mission accomplished, and they still had the sizes I was looking for.

After all this, I figured I'd earned a break, and I was not going to make the same mistake I did yesterday, where I only lived on granola bars. I got a slice of pizza to keep my energy up (and listened to a kid have a full blown tantrum in a stroller. Lovely). Then, as it was just past 1pm by that point and I had some time to kill before the afternoon events I wanted to attend I worked the floor, searching through boxes and boxes of discount graphic novels and getting some more free stuff. There weren't quite as many people as there were yesterday, which made navigating the crowds easier.

By the time I made it to the lowest floor for the Vampires in Film and Television panel discussion I was really feeling the exhaustion. Because of that, and because of the podium blocking off the table from where I was sitting so I could only see three of the five people, and the guy sitting beside me leaned forward the entire time, so I had to as well to see even that, I didn't catch every point that was made. But what I did catch was very interesting, like how some mediums use vampirism as a commentary on homosexuality, and the defanging, so to speak, of vampires in YA fiction when adult vampire fiction is so mature. There was a little talk on the difference between Western and Eastern vamps, and on favorite vampire movies or books. I do love my vampires.

Once the discussion was over I raced up one floor to find the room where they were screening an episode of Supernatural. I found it full, so I stood for the first few minutes, but people were coming and going, so it didn't take long to find a seat, and even though it was in the back I could see everything perfectly. I hoped it would be one of the many episodes I haven't seen yet, but nope; it was "Lazarus Rising". Still, an excellent episode, introducing favorite character Castiel, and I stayed and watched the whole thing.

After that it was just before 5, with a little more than an hour until the Expo shut down. So I decided to make a few last loops around the convention floor. At the Tron booth they were throwing out t-shirts and light disc frisbees, but I was not fortunate enough to grab one. What I did find though was the other iTunes card I wanted sitting out on the DC table, so I grabbed one for myself and some for other people. Sweet.

A lot of the collectibles I was looking at were so expensive, so I ended up getting one more graphic novel. By then it was twenty to 6, so I took a moment to take every in one last time, and then went downstairs to head back out onto Front street and to Union station. The ride back had a slight delay (what is with Subways this weekend?) but nothing major, so I got back home alright.

I'm sad it's all over, but I'm also wiped, so maybe it's good that it is only three days. Back to work I go tomorrow, but I feel happy. I feel like I was a part of something special, something big, and the more I go to Fan Expo, the more I feel that these memories will stay with me forever. I really feel I belong, and it's a great feeling.

Another year until we do it all again. I'll see you there.

Fan Expo 2010: Day 2

I think I'm in love. With who you ask? James Marsters. Now lots of you will probably think, yeah, we know, you've been in love with Spike for ages. True, but now I'm in love with the man behind Spike.

And so leads us to my second day at Toronto's geek heaven. The trip to and from was much easier this time around (thank God, no smoke on the tracks I guess). How would I describe today? Exhausting and not without it's mild irritants, but mostly...magical.

I arrived at the Convention Center around 9am and found a line, as I'd expected, but a much shorter line this time around, only going down Simcoe a little ways. And though I travelled alone, I managed to make a line buddy by the name of John. We chatted for some time about likes, dislikes, home life and what brought us here today. He was there mostly for gaming and anime, so the opposite of what I was there for, but we found a lot to talk about regardless and he explained the finer points of his costume to me.

I got in at about 10:15am. Perfect. I had time to take a quick look around, ask about the iTunes gift cards and discover that they were only being given out to people buying tickets that day (Boo!) and to find the room, two floors down, where the DC Universe panel discussion was being held. That was a very interesting talk between some DC writers and artists about some upcoming projects, and some very interesting questions came up (among them were what everyone's favorite DC and Marvel characters were).

I left that a few minutes early to get in line for the Tron Legacy sneak peak. I was a little worried once I saw the line, but it turns out it was in a huge theatre, so finding seats was no trouble. There was some talk of everyone having to confiscate their cameras and phones, as they were showing secret movie scenes, but fortunately it did not come to that. They just had security guards to keep an eye on things. Once in my seat I met another Melissa and her mother and brother. The Tron preview was hosted by InnerSPACE hosts Ajay Fry and Teddy Wilson, and featured a peak at the new video game with one of the games designers and a Wii demo on the big screen. Then we had a great compilation of clips showing Tron references in pop culture, from 30 Rock to Family Guy to music videos and South Park. Then a very cool surprise; Mr. Bruce Boxleitner was brought out, an actor who has starred in both the original Tron and the upcoming feature, and is maybe best known for starring in Babylon Five. Then we were shown both a trailer and seven minutes of never before seen footage, all in 3D (glasses were handed out as we came in). Honestly, the movie looks pretty cool, and I'm excited to see it. Mr. Boxleitner came out with Ajay Fry to answer a few questions from the audience. I quite enjoyed Mr. Boxleitner, he was funny and charming. One thing he pointed out was that the original Tron was slammed by the critics at the time and did poorly at the box office, but he feels that some of the blame for that lands on the fact that E.T. came out that same summer and, as he put it, sucked all the oxygen out of the room. But, he was quick to point out, E.T. doesn't have a new movie coming out 27 years later. The audience cheered at that. He also encouraged all of us to go out and see it four times each opening weekend.

By the time that wrapped up and we had deposited our 3D glasses in the recycle bin it was a little after 1. I knew it was too late to try to go to the Stan Lee presentation, but as that wasn't high on my list of things to do this weekend that was alright. I was ready to get some lunch. But, by then the size of the crowd had ballooned to almost locust-like proportions. There was a nice sized crowd of people waiting to get in outside, so leaving the building was impossible unless I wanted to join the wait to get back in. And they were only letting people back upstairs a few at a time to try to control the crowd, so there was a crowd of people waiting around the escalator. Seeing I had nowhere to go and nothing to do, I decided to go get in line for the James Marsters Q&A, even though that wasn't for a couple of hours. I found the right line, got comfy, found a granola bar I'd packed for just such an emergency and settled in with my iPod Nano. Plus I had to deal with a mass of people, including a few behind me who kept talking at booming volumes and kept wiggling into my personal space. Grrr.

But you know what? Totally worth it! I got a great seat, just a couple rows back from the front and on the aisle, so I had the clearest view I think I've ever had at Fan Expo. After another half-hour, our hosts (Teddy Wilson and Natasha Eloi) introduced the man of the hour. He's looking good, that guy; his brown hair's grown out a little bit and he had on a sleeveless shirt, showing off his arms. Meow. It was funny hearing him talk and not sound British. He sounds very American, and I thought at times I detected a Southern twang to his voice. Still, I'm not picky.

He was an absolute delight. He was funny, intelligent, gave nice full answers and was great with the fans. Turns out he's a well rounded actor. He's not only done the Sci Fi stuff like Spike or Captain John or Brainiac, but also the stage and Shakespeare and more main stream stuff as well. When asked about playing villains he talked about how in Shakespeare there are no villains (with the exception of Iago or maybe Richard III), and that that's how he's always seen the characters he's played. He told some great stories about working on "Once More With Feeling" and how hard the cast worked to make that come to life. He talked about his new projects and how much he relates to his character on Caprica. He talked about Angel and having to make it look like he was kicking David Boreanaz's butt while Boreanaz had a bad knee but wouldn't give up until the scene was finished. Of course he was asked about his kiss on Torchwood with John Barrowman. Again, meow. He described Barrowman as a born leader who helped him out of a tight spot while filming and made him feel comfortable about that hot and heavy scene. Apparently Marsters was originally hoping to get on Doctor Who but they didn't need him for anything there and came up with this role on Torchwood instead. Our gain.

A couple of my favorite responses: when asked if there was anything about Spike he would've played differently; "Nothing." And when asked if it was better playing a supercomputer than a vampire; "Actually, I don't think anything's been better than Spike." Yay! Spike's voice even made a brief appearance this afternoon.

But the most awesome thing came right near the end. He sang for us. Someone asked him if he remembered any lyrics from "Once More With Feeling" and would he sing them for us. He confessed that he didn't, but he could sing something else. A song from a TV movie he'd done for SyFy. I made sure the video option on my camera was running. Honestly, it was lovely when he started singing. For a song from a TV movie it was haunting and sad, and he sold it. The whole auditorium went silent. I was beaming and felt something pretty deep. It was a real moment.

And then he finished, and it was over. One last round of applause and a standing ovation, myself included. I left feeling so satisfied and happy. I knew that if I'd experienced nothing else that whole day that one hour would have made the trip worth it.

The crowd had dispersed somewhat by that point, so I made it back upstairs and basically walked around for about an hour and a half looking at comics and collectibles and displays until my shoulders ached, my feet started to hurt and my mind went numb. I got some graphic novels, some free stuff, and checked to see when Mr. Marsters would be signing autographs tomorrow. Then a little after 6 I left to head back to the subway. They were keeping the Expo open until 8 tonight to meet demand, but I figured it's been a good day and the time had come to leave.

So there's two good days. Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring. Last day, a few things on the agenda. How will it all go down? To be continued...

Fan Expo 2010: Day 1

After a long wait, a year of anticipation, one of my very favorite times of the year is finally upon us. Fan Expo, one of the biggest geekfests in all of geekdom, opened it's doors to all at 4pm this afternoon. And where was I at that time? Not quite where you might think.

Picture this. I and my roommate Andrea get ready to leave for about 1:30pm. I've got my Batman t-shirt on, my new Capri jeans, my shape-ups in the vain hope that this will tone my legs (I've put on weight recently), and I've done myself up with black-eyeliner, silver sparkly eyeshadow and red lipstick to go with my awesome, recently dyed purple hair. I'm dressed to kill, I have everything I need, my ticket is in hand, I'm ready for anything.

Or so I thought. We get on the subway line from Yorkdale headed to Union station. So far things are fine, we're aiming to be at the Convention Center early to avoid a massive line-up. We get to the St. Claire West Station, and are told that due to some smoke in the tunnels, we all have to leave the train because it will go no further until the fire department gives the all-clear. But don't worry, they tell us, because shuttle buses will take you to the next station down south and you can hop the train from there. All of this would have been fine with me...if we did not have to wait a good forty minutes or so to catch one of those buses. Lord, did that tick me off. I felt like I was waiting for Godot. Not so much the wait, but the fact that the instructions for where we wait and for what were not very clear and there was no one to ask. I mean, what kind of operation are they running?

But we get our shuttle bus (we practically had to knock people over to get on), get to the St. George Station and take that the rest of the way in. We end up chatting to a Melissa, a fellow geek who's meeting her husband down at the convention. We finally get to Union, get to the Convention Center...but by this point it's after 4, and my worst fears have been confirmed. A line up. A massive line up, snaking all the way down under the tunnel on Simcoe Street. And not only must we wait, but we must wait in separate lines, because Andrea still needed to buy her ticket. So I'm standing alone for about an hour and a half to get in. Fortunately there were lots of costumes to see and I had my iPod with me, but still it was a long wait.

By the time I get in, get my wrist band and get onto the convention floor it's about twenty to 6. I figure there's no point in trying to make any of the 6pm panels I was hoping to get to and try to occupy myself until Andrea makes it inside (the line for ticket buyers was longer than the one with advanced tickets). However, how could I possibly stay down hearted? It's Fan Expo, for God's sake! Even in the little bit I saw tonight and with the heavy crowds my heart leapt. These are my people! This is where I belong!

And boy was there a lot to see. The tables for Marvel and DC and the Tron Display kept me occupied until Andrea made it in at about 6:15. We went to the food court to get some pizza (with me getting a Fangtasia tattoo along the way), which was right near the autograph stations so we saw a few famous faces like Ernest Borgnine and Felicia Day. After getting my picture taken with the Metallicar (see above, so awesome!) we went to the big T-Shirt store and Andrea got some really good scores with shirts featuring Sheldon Cooper's Friendship Algorithm and Pinky and The Brain's to-do list (1. Wait until tonight 2. Take over the world). While she was doing that I tried to find out about the collectible iTunes cards that the Expo is handing out. She got one, with Doctor Who on the front, when she got in but I didn't, so I went back to the ticket counters only to find out that they were fresh out. Aaahhhh! Fortunately Andrea gave up hers, as she's not a fan of Doctor Who or Torchwood, so yay! Hopefully they will have lots to give out for the next two cards over the next couple of days.

After a stop at the HMV set-up there, we went downstairs to room 205B. That's another thing that surprised me about this year's Expo. While last year it was held in the South Building in the deepest, darkest depths, this year it was in the North Building, which is all open with lots of room and lots of natural light. A nice improvement. Anyway, room 205B was a panel discussion on the X-men comic series, featuring bigwigs from Marvel comics. Andrea was talked into this with the promise of having somewhere to sit. Before it started and while she was saving our seats I picked up a couple of things and had two separate but similar conversations about True Blood with two vendors, after they noticed my Fangtasia tattoo. Once they heard I haven't seen Season 3 they kept mum so nothing would be spoiled, which I appreciate.

The discussion itself was very interesting. I admit, I did wonder if I would get kicked out once people noticed my Batman t-shirt, but nobody seemed to mind. After our speaker pointed out a kid Wolverine and his X-23 mom, we got into an update of what's been going on in the comic series and what we can expect in the near future. This is great for me because I'm very behind on the comics and have no idea what's going on. For instance, I had no idea that one of my favorites, Nightcrawler, had died. Whaaa? Or that the devastation to the mutant population from the House of M events may start to turn around with a new group called Generation Hope. Plus we got into a little bit of insight into how that industry works. Once I heard the questions from the hard core fans, I was a little reminded of how out of my league I was. Wow.

So, aside from a few hiccups, it was a good day. I got some great free samples, especially from the DC table, where I lined up to get free comics and lots of buttons and posters. I was able to squeeze in an event, and there's two more days of cool stuff to look forward to, with my orange Deluxe wrist band strapped on for the whole three days. All in all, a good start.

Now please God, let the subways be working tomorrow...and let the line ups be short.

Twilight Hater...And Proud of It!

Firstly, December is here! Now everyone can go nuts with the Christmas season and I won't say a word. Heck, I'll even join you!

But back to my main point; I hate this whole Twilight fad. Hate it! Hate just about everything about it. Now as you may have noticed if you're a regular reader I love vampire fiction...but I hate this. Hate that it's so popular. Hate that it's giving vampires a bad name. Just...oooohhhh.

Some of you may be screaming 'NOOOOOOO! How can someone hate Twilight? It's so awesome, it's the best thing ever!' Or at the very least you might be thinking 'Hey it's not Keats but it's not that bad either; why the strong negative feelings?' And look there are some things I'm so crazy about that I can't understand why someone wouldn't like it, so I get where you're coming from. But, in a rare moment of zen, we have to realize that nobody can like everything (and if they say they do they're lying scum). And if you'd be so kind to indulge me, I'd like to take this oportunity to vent my frustration at this obnoxious fad (I can call it that, it's my blog).

So be more specific? Well, I hate Bella Swan. She's a whiny little wuss who lets her life and identity be consumed by a man. Even if he is a gorgeous, mystical, sparkly, slightly thrilling man, that don't make it right. There were a few recent articles at EW that make a great argument for Edward's stalkerish and potentially abusive behavior (see here and here).

And speaking of Edward, as the wise and vampire-savy authors at the discussion panel I attended at Fan Expo pointed out, why on earth would Stephanie Meyer make Edward a vampire if there's no bite to him, or at least not enough to make him truly dangerous. Sure, he might try to kill Bella...but chances are he probably won't. Boooooring!

Plus, real vampires DON'T SPARKLE! I understand taking liberties with vampire mythology, and Dracula was able to walk around in the daylight, so that's not the issue. But Dracula didn't sparkle. Know why? Because he was a REAL VAMPIRE! (And no I don't mean 'real' in the literal sense, I mean real in the established fiction and mythology sense)

Now I'm sure there are those out there who are saying, 'Well Al, how can you spew such venom at something you've never read or seen?' Fair point, but what you may not realize, gentle arguing reader, is that I did try reading it. At the coaxing of the teens I serve at my library I picked up the first volume and thought I'd give it a try. I made it to page 100, decided life was too short, and closed the book. My adorable, incredibly smart 18 year old cousin had assured me before hand that I'd feel like I was falling in love with Edward along with Bella. Maybe I'm looking at it from an almost 30 year old filter, but I have to disagree; I thought Edward was a jerk. And the constant back and forth dance he'd been doing with Bella up to that point was just annoying. Maybe I don't have the patience for that kind of thing at my age, though I know of many people older than me who like the series. Go figure.

Whether you agree with me or not, that is my point of view. Bring me True Blood or Buffy. That's what I'm looking for in my vampire fiction. Hell, I'll even take Van Helsing. At least their suped-up version of Dracula didn't sparkle. Feel free to cheer me on or condemn me in the comments section, your choice.

Movie Review: Let the Right One In

I went into this movie last Friday night on the heels of a lot of hype. Back when I went to Fan Expo, everyone on the panel discussion I attended on Vampires in Fiction said that this Swedish sleeper hit was the best recent vampire film they'd seen. Reviews have all been good as well. I gotta say though that while I definitely enjoyed it, I watched the credits roll that night without any sense of "Oh my God, that was awesome!" I started to wonder what all the hype was about.

Now that I've had a few days to let it process, I am starting to see a few things about Let the Right One In that make the film stand out. The story about Eli, a vampire in the body of a twelve-year-old girl who befriends Oskar, a twelve-year-old boy, comes across as a surprisingly sweet tale of adolecent romance, given the subject matter. Many of the classic vampire elements are here, from sunlight = bad to not being able to enter a home without being invited (hence the title).

But what I think is the true message of the film didn't really hit me until those few days later. I think what makes the movie stand out was that it really shows the downside of being a vampire. Most vampire movies I've seen show vamps as being powerful, confident individuals, part of communities of other vamps and living indulgent, aristocratic lifestyles. Not so for Eli. She is lonely, dependant on others for survival, constantly at risk of being discovered and stuck as a twelve-year-old. Not a glamorous life at all, and showing in the full light of day (pardon the pun) that is what makes this vampire movie so unique...and so haunting (trust me that scene at the pool...you'll know it when you see it...is quite jarring). I don't know why it took a few days to pick up on all of this (maybe I was having a slow week), but I got there eventually.

My Verdict: Quiet, mature, a bit touching, and it makes you think. In a vampire movie. Wow.

Marvel and Disney: Strange Bedfellows

A big announcement was made today; Marvel Entertainment is set to be purchased by the Walt Disney Company for a reported 4 billion dollars, stock and the rights to about 5 000 characters (insert low impressed whistle here). The full details have yet to be revealed but the entertainment world is abuzz. Many of Marvel's characters are currently owned by other movie companies, like Spider-Man at Sony, Iron Man at Paramount or the X-Men at Fox. How will that be addressed? Hopefully all will be revealed when and if the deal goes through.

As someone who grew up with both Disney and Marvel comics I find myself scratching my head at this turn of events. Disney and Marvel...business partners? The company that gave us so many princess movies and the family friendly faces of Hannah Montana and Suite Life is going to own a comic book legacy that for the past seventy odd years has given us scantily clad superheroes, sometimes in very adult situations? This doesn't add up for me.

Some reporters watching this, like Marc Bernardin at EW.com, are hopeful that this deal will help Marvel branch out a bit from superheroes and try other forms of comics and graphic novels. Perhaps I'm being pessimistic but I worry that the opposite could happen; that Disney may end up being more restrictive of what Marvel can do. The Mouse House, in all it's power and glory, sometimes has a tendency to make everything family friendly. But occasionally I like my comics gritty; DC's Vertigo line is one of my favorites (and it's definitely not for kids).

It's still really early, so we'll have to see how this progresses. Just yesterday though I was at the Marvel booth at Fan Expo. Now Marvel might go through a pretty drastic change. For good or ill? Time will tell.

Fan Expo 2009 - Day 2 (I came, I saw, I conquered)

I saw Bruce Campbell.

I spoke with Bruce Campbell!

I got Bruce Campbell's autograph!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

But let's back up a little first.

Yes, today was the second and last day of my first ever Fan Expo experience, and it was just as memorable and eventful as Friday night.

Well, not right away. The first part of my day was spent waiting in line. After packing up my things, putting on my Victorian shirt and Spike heart necklace and slicking my hair back with styling cream that turned my normally brown locks pink, I had arrived in Toronto at about 10:30am, and was at the south building of the Convention Center at about quarter to 11...to find a nice long line just to get into the show room. A half hour later I was finally inside, and immediately went to the celebrity autograph section to get a sense of the line up for the first autograph session of the day with Mr. Campbell. I got there just as the guys running the booth were explaining to other convention goers that the tickets had been sold out, but once hearing that I had a ticket they ushered me to the line up off to the side. At first glance the line didn't seem so long; but then I realized it continued behind the curtain and snaked all along the wall. So I got on the end of it, determined to wait it out (hey, this is why God invented video iPods). Nearly two hours I waited as the line slowly snaked it's way around. While we waited the volunteers at the Expo wrote down our names on post-it notes to put on the items we want signed (the woman behind me had an action figure from Army of Darkness that was maybe a foot tall; I don't know how anyone could sign that) and gave us some guidelines; no personalization's, no pictures, etc. But then we were back out from behind the curtain, and the man of the hour was in view.

Now, for those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Campbell's work, he's been in movies and television (currently he's in the TV show Burn Notice) and he's written two books. But his biggest claim to fame is starring in the Evil Dead trilogy, directed by Sam Raimi. I love those movies, and I've been a big fan of Mr. Campbell ever since. I was not alone; from what I hear he was one of if not the most popular celebrities there that weekend, with the event organizers adding another block of tickets while we were all in that first line. And I was fine right up until only maybe four people were ahead of me. That was when the nerves started to hit, but also a lot of excitement. I had my book ready, one of his, entitled Make Love* The Bruce Campbell Way, a novel about him trying to make it in an A-list movie (it's very funny, I'd definitely recommend it). And finally it was my turn to go up. And you know what? He was totally cool. Well, the first Evil Dead movie came out the year I was born, so you gotta think he's been doing this kind of thing for a long time. The first thing he said to me was "Hi there sweetheart", and when he saw what I had for him to sign he complimented me on my choice of books. He chatted me up as he signed it, asking what I did for a living, and I rambled something about being a librarian and reading stories to kids. He asked if I get a big crowd for that sort of thing, and I replied that we get a fair size. He said he's glad libraries are still around, and I said yeah, thank God for that (or something silly; like I said I was nervous). He handed back my book, said "Thanks dear", I thanked him very much and moved off to the side. It was all of twenty seconds, if that, and as I moved away I had a moment of Holy cow, did I really just do that? I stopped to look at my signature on the inside title page of my book. It is indeed there, written in blue. Again, EEEEEEEEEEEEE! And I knew that anything after that would just be gravy.

Still, by that point it was 1:30pm, and there was so much more to do! After refuelling with a slice of pepperoni pizza I wandered around the convention, looking at the wares of the vendors, helping myself to free comics and goodies at the booths for DC, Marvel, etc., checking out the gaming stations. The TVs that aired Big Bang Theory on Friday were now showing Supernatural. So much to see. But I kept an eye on the time, because there was one more thing I wanted to participate in; a panel discussion on vampires in fact and fiction (no surprise there).

I had to leave the show room and go up a floor to get to the room holding the discussion. It was about 10 to 3, and there was a line. Seeing how small the room was from an open door I had a moment of panic; would they be able to fit us all in? Fortunately, I managed to get a chair way off to the side. Unfortunately, from where I was sitting I could barely see the table with our panelists. There were five women seated up there, one of whom was an editor for Rue Morgue magazine, and she was the one who led the discussion. The four panelists consisted of Elizabeth Miller, a former professor and an expert in vampire literature; Nancy Kilpatrick, who wrote the Power of the Blood series; Karen Dales, who wrote Angels of Death; and Karen Armstrong, who wrote Bitten. (I could not see Ms. Armstrong at all from where I was sitting. Only when she leaned forward could I catch a glimpse of her.)

Despite my visual problems it was a very interesting discussion. The authors had different ideas on what makes a vampire a vampire, like whether or not to focus on the horror aspect of it or the fantasy. Many points were brought up that I hadn't considered before, like the vampire being the only acceptable portrayal of the alpha male or alpha female in fiction, or that some publishers argue that when a democrat is president then vampires are popular, whereas if a republican is president werewolves are in. Many of these writers were not big on the romanticizing of vampires, like in Twilight ("Sparkle Vampires"). Their argument was why bother making Edward a vampire if you're going to take the bite out of him? (Hear Hear) I was very impressed with Ms. Miller in particular; I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who knows as much about vampire fiction, and particularly about Dracula, than her. She shed light on a few pieces of information I didn't know, like how Dracula didn't really become famous until the 1920s, long after Stoker had died, and that Stoker definitely did not base Dracula on Vlad the Impaler, only borrowing the name. I may have to read her book.

When the floor was opened for questions most people asked the authors what they thought of different versions of the vampire story from books or TV shows. We actually went over the time limit, and another event organizer had to kick us out.

I spent another hour back in the show room, taking one last look around. So many people were in costume (anime characters, a few Princess Leia's, a few Disney princesses, super heroes, a Doctor Who, a Halo soldier, a Pikachu, etc.) Looking at t-shirts my pick for the best slogan was "And then Buffy staked Edward. The End." So many cool things, but eventually, perhaps inevitably, my stamina had worn down. So a little after 5 I took one last look and then left the show room, making the slow accent to the surface and natural light, to rejoin the real world and all the Jonas Brothers fans roaming the streets of Toronto just as I was leaving.

So now I'm back home; the pink has been washed out of my hair, the glitter and mascara taken off my eyes, and I'm sipping on my can of Slurm as I type. My signed book is resting in my Expo bag, and I have shown it to everyone who will look.

All in all, it was an awesome day, and an awesome experience. I will be back next year. Maybe I can get the whole weekend off.

Was anyone else working the Expo this weekend? Have you ever been to a convention like this? Feel free to post your thoughts. Oh, and here's a couple more shots.

Fan Expo 2009 - Day 1

And so it has happened, at long last...my first sci fi convention.

But not just sci fi. Oh no, that would be too easy and too...generic for Fan Expo, the largest convention of it's kind in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. Not only sci fi, but also (hold onto your hats) horror, comics, manga and even gaming. In other words; total sensory overload.

I'd been looking forward to this for weeks. I'd never even heard about it before, and for the life of me I can't imagine why, until a colleague mentioned it one unassuming day at work. And I realized quickly that this is one of those things that I just couldn't put off to next year; I had to see it, be a part of it, asap. So tonight I and my roommate Andrea, who I wouldn't describe as a sci fi, horror, comic, manga or gaming geek but who was curious about the experience, hopped the subway to the Toronto Convention Center.

Once we found the right building, got our tickets in order and I got my deluxe pass badge, we found the main hall...and as soon as I set foot inside I couldn't stop myself from saying "Wow" out loud. There was just so much to see, far too much to describe here, but if you can envision vendors everywhere selling everything from comics to collectibles to t-shirts to DVDs to trading cards, as well as promotional booths for game demos, movie studios, and even a big display area for Tron: Legacy of all things, you'll start to get the idea.

I gotta admit when I first got to the main hall I wondered if I was in a little over my head. All I could see at first was manga and gaming, neither of which I'm too familiar with. But after a quick look at the show program we realized we were just in the wrong spot. The other genres were further on down. Once I found horror, comics and sci fi I was like "Oh yeah, all is right with the world", and the rest of the night was smooth sailing. Andrea got a Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital t-shirt (all House fans should get that reference, and if not then shame on you). I got my picture taken with True Blood vampires (I think I look pretty bad ass), scored a Supernatural tattoo, saw so many people walking around in costume I lost track of all the different characters and I got to see celebrities like Lou Ferrigno, Emma Caulfield, Beau Bridges, Linda Hamilton and Mary McDonnell in person! We were even able to take a break and watch Big Bang Theory, which they were screening in the Warner Brothers section on several television screens. Not bad for one evening.

I'll be going back on Sunday, and I'm hoping to look around some more, participate in a panel discussion and/or demonstration and generally get my geek on. My main goal however will be to get Bruce Campbell's autograph! I've already picked up the ticket tonight, and apparently they've been selling like hot cakes. (Though when I told the guy behind the counter that I already had something for Mr. Campbell to sign he asked point blank, trying to be funny, "It's not your boob is it?" A class act all the way. Andrea informed him that I had to leave something to the imagination.)

People, a giant leap has been made in my pop culture identity. Now I can officially say that I've been to a convention. Check that off the list.

Keep your eyes open for my post on Day 2. In the mean time take a look at the pictures I've included here; more to follow.