Con Withdrawal

I can't believe that this time last week, I was travelling from West to East London on 3 modes of public transport dressed as Uhura from the Original Series to get to the Excel Centre and the most amazing Star Trek Convention ever!!

So my last blog concentrated on the mission that was getting all Captains to sign my poster.  I will try and cover the rest of the Con in this one.  Maybe it may help me get over the melancholy of accepting that it's over - well for this year anyway.

The highlight of Friday has to be wondering around the convention when a lot of people were at the paid Captain's Opening ceremony and the rest were at the free Alternative opening ceremony.  It was so quiet, there were no queues for anything and we managed to get some fantastic photos of the Starship's interior doors and the 'Beam Me Up' App. I also ran into these guys......

......The first couple to have a Klingon wedding in the UK.  I did attend the wedding but could not see past the media circus surrounding them.  I did hear some of it though.  My Klingon is a little rusty so it's good that they were translating the ceremony into the local tongue.

The couple were from Sweden and you can read more about them here if you're interested.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/21/klingon-wedding_n_1989936.html

The video is hilarious by the way.

We toasted them with Klingon Blood wine and wished them well.

I can think of worse ways of spending your honeymoon than at a Star Trek convention but for all the publicity they generated, I hope the Con Organisers gave them complementary Platinum tickets.

One of the highlights for me was watching the William Shatner talk.  After following him on Twitter for a while and reading about his recent talks in the UK - one in particular where he managed to offend an entire town in Essex, I was very interested to hear what he would have to say.

He was entertaining and the hour passed too quickly as he skillfully avoided answering the questions posed to him and basically told us stories of his travels and experiences.  The 2 funniest being how he had to excuse himself from stage in Australia when he was doing a 'One Man Show' as he had (ahem) Shat-nered himself  and how he and Leonard Nimoy would try and beat each other to the lunch cart when they were filming Start Trek.  Those guys did not pull any punches.

He did manage to offend a couple of Northerners by saying that he could not understand a word they were saying - funnily enough they were followed by a Scot asking a question.

Hearing Bill speak was a pleasure but the most significant moment of my weekend, possibly of my life to date actually was meeting Patrick Stewart and having a photograph taken with him.

Now I could complain about how it was very rushed and there was no real time to make any kind of connection but the truth is, it was an honour.  He was very polite and lovely and I think he was quite amused by our 'Wesley Crushers' T-shirts.

And I am now the proud owner of this photo - of me, my brother and Sir Patrick Stewart.  Don't you think he looks like a favourite Uncle?  He looks so relaxed.

I did not get to do it all - Brent Spiner - I will catch you next time.  It would have been so great to meet the man that played Data but time and money were both becoming a bit of a factor.

But I did get my com badge - £15.00 which is not too bad and less than they were selling it for at Comic-Con.  I also bought a T-shirt (adding to my geekwear collection) and a mug.  What do you mean I'm a victim of marketing, I don't know what you mean.  Well - I needed something to remind me of my weekend.

When's the next one?

Meeting the Captains

Having looked forward to it for months, my excitement reached fever pitch in the week preceding the biggest Star Trek Convention in history. All 5 Captains and many more key characters from the Trek universe, 3 days of talks, photoshoots, autographs and browsing trek goodies.

Having decided against spending close to £100 to see the Captains Opening Ceremony - although I did hear some of it from outside the arena - I had a few aims for the weekend:

1. Meet all 5 Captains and get them to sign my Destination Star Trek London poster.

2. Hear William Shatner talk

3. Have a photo taken with Sir Patrick Stewart

4. Meet Brent Spiner

5. Find a reasonably priced com badge


1. Meeting all 5 Captains and getting my poster signed

Getting the 3 day pass meant a free goodie bag which contained a A3 sized poster of Star Trek London showing all 5 Captains, my mission was clear - I wanted it signed - by all 5 Captains. This gave me a chance to meet all 5 Captains and experience their security, charm and level of eye contact. So let's compare:

a) Kate Mulgrew
She had the shortest queue when I started my challenge so I went to her first. I realised the reason her queue was so short was because she was not even looking up at the people she was signing for. I think I embarrased her into looking up when I said what a pleasure it was to meet her - she looked up and said thanks.
But on the whole she just seemed grumpy which is such a shame as my friends saw her on stage later that day and said that she was such an inspirational speaker but in person - well she was grumpy.
However, she did personalise the autograph, stating - to Hena, Good Luck, Kate Mulgrew. Which was nice.

b) William Shatner
Another speedy signer. Bill had a very long queue but it was moving fast, the lady handing out the virtual queue tickets said that he was whizzing through them. Again, I managed to make eye contact by telling him how much I enjoyed his talk earlier that day - he had the good grace to look at me and say thank you - which was cool.
No personalised autograph but hey- I got to meet William Shatner!! After having heard him speaking - there was no doubting his star quality.
Oh and his security looked like they meant business but they were actually quite friendly and let us take a photo of him signing my poster.




c) Avery Brooks
Possibly the most intimidating of the 5 Captains. The guy in front of us was with a girl who was just there for company I guess. Avery looks at the guy and says "Who is your friend? Are you not going to introduce us? You should introduce your friends - it's polite" Poor guy looked like he was about to Shat-ner himself (sorry). So before I even handed him my poster I said "Please let me introduce you to my brother" and Shai shook his hand!!
I then asked his minder if she would disagree with him to which she answered "I would not dare."
He reminded me a little of what I expect Samuel L Jackson may be like.
Another personalised autograph - thank you Mr Brooks.
Sorry I did not get to see him perform on the piano at the TNG party that evening.




d) Patrick Stewart
Jean Luc most definitely had the strictest security, when I finally found him at the autograph booth, he was away a lot doing talks and photoshoots, we were not even allowed to take photos of him from the queue or while he was signing and his security guard may not have looked as scary as Will Shatner's security but he meant business. They would not even let Shai in to keep me company.
But Patrick Stewart was such a gentleman, he made eye contact, asked how I was and smiled at me - I won't lie - I was completely star struck - wonderful wonderful man.
So not a personalised autograph but an absolute honour. I told him I would see him for my photoshoot shortly, he may have raised an eyebrow but I can't be sure.


e) Scott Bakula
Funnily enough, my last Captain . He just never seemed to be at his table.
If Avery was the most intimidating, Scott Bakula was by far the friendliest Captain. He even did the crinkle eyes smile when I told him I have adored him since Quantum Leap. So cute! He asked how we were doing and said goodbye - he was lovely
My final autograph - personalised and I was done.



The poster is my pride and joy.
Just need a suitable frame.

More Star Trek weekend blogs coming up .......