Creation Con Chicago 2009 Report
Day One (Friday, November 13th)
Guests:
Steve Carlson Concert
Karaoke
So… Hot…
So anyone who knows me knows that I am a cold person. Cold hands, always wearing layers, loves the sun.
But room 268 was hot as HELL when I woke up.
I had a headache, which I’ll admit could be PARTIALLY due to the alcohol, but the entire hotel must have had the heating on because it was warm everywhere. Tonya and I met Lia and Carol and Sandy for breakfast and after eating, I felt better. After taking our time and having a leisurely meal, we headed to the main room for the first guest, Alona Tal who plays Jo Harvelle. Both Carol and Sandy were sitting close to Tonya and I, but Lia had a seat in the back so we waited with her while she waited for Kati and Jeanne to arrive, but Alona began before they showed up.
I’m not a huge fan or Alona, or any of the females for that matter, and judging by the rather sparse crowd, I was in the majority. But she is a lovely young woman and really rather charming, and maintained a cheerful and pleasant attitude throughout her entire question and answer panel. I got a few pictures, mainly to figure out what setting I would be using for later, and enjoyed listening to her speak.
Traci spoke next, the actress who played Pamela the psychic. Again, I wasn’t very excited to see her and really only barely remembered her character, but she received the same mild but genuine interest from the crowd as Alona had. Traci came off as a little ‘forced’ to me, for lack of a better word. She seemed hyper aware of the attention and sometimes moved as if she was under close scrutiny, smiling brightly and laughing just a tiny bit too much. She still was a great guest and was very spirited, ending her panel with a prank call to her mom as Alona stood beside her. The crowd enjoyed the light-heartedness and everyone felt good.
During the break, Kati and Jeanne found us and we had a long-overdue reunion. I hadn’t seen Kati since Kazcon and hadn’t seen Jeanne for a couple of years. We went to lunch together, including Lia, the five of us walking just down the street to a sandwich place. Jeanne’s daughter has a boyfriend now, and Kati’s brother got married. It was very nice to see them both again.
After an uneventful autograph signing, Tonya and I caught up with Kati, Jeanne, Carol, Sandy, and Lia for Giordano’s pizza in our room. Two medium pizzas and some garlic bread was surprisingly costly, but it’s authenticity was worth the price. Very good! Sandy shared her beer with me and Tonya gave Kati an early birthday present: a very nicely framed picture of Kati and her brothers from the summer-time wedding. I enjoyed talking with everyone and having us all crammed in the small hotel room.
Friday night Steve Carlson played for a rather sad, thin crowd--albeit they were diehard fans. His performance was great: mellow and passionate and acoustic, and the show felt very personal as he played any and all requests, including a song he hadn’t played in so long he actually forgot the words mid-verse. But his slip-up was endearing and everyone got a laugh before he quickly got himself back on track. The time seemed to fly by as I took hundreds (no, literally hundreds) of pictures.
The night finished late with a karaoke party across the hall in the hotel bar. Although crowded and ungodly hot, there was a steady line up of enthusiastic singers and the crowd was supportive. Tonya, Sandy and I each had a drink as we waited to see if one of the stars would show up, and right when we couldn’t take it anymore, Alona took her turn at the microphone, followed by Traci. Tonya and I took some photos but it was really too dark, and I felt self-conscious when my camera kept shooting out that green beam to focus. We left then, but found out the next day that Jim Beaver had also made an appearance.
Out in the lobby, we sat for a minute to cool off and talked to Karen (who’d been to Kazcon) and Amy Blair, who’d just arrived and discovered she had the room across from Aldis Hodge and was teasing about eavesdropping on him with a glass pressed to his door.
It was getting late, so Tonya and I headed up to our room. I transferred the day’s pictures to the laptop (shocked to discover exactly how much I still have a crush on Steve) and put the camera batteries on to charge.
BED.
Guests:
Steve Carlson Concert
Karaoke
So… Hot…
So anyone who knows me knows that I am a cold person. Cold hands, always wearing layers, loves the sun.
But room 268 was hot as HELL when I woke up.
I had a headache, which I’ll admit could be PARTIALLY due to the alcohol, but the entire hotel must have had the heating on because it was warm everywhere. Tonya and I met Lia and Carol and Sandy for breakfast and after eating, I felt better. After taking our time and having a leisurely meal, we headed to the main room for the first guest, Alona Tal who plays Jo Harvelle. Both Carol and Sandy were sitting close to Tonya and I, but Lia had a seat in the back so we waited with her while she waited for Kati and Jeanne to arrive, but Alona began before they showed up.
I’m not a huge fan or Alona, or any of the females for that matter, and judging by the rather sparse crowd, I was in the majority. But she is a lovely young woman and really rather charming, and maintained a cheerful and pleasant attitude throughout her entire question and answer panel. I got a few pictures, mainly to figure out what setting I would be using for later, and enjoyed listening to her speak.
Traci spoke next, the actress who played Pamela the psychic. Again, I wasn’t very excited to see her and really only barely remembered her character, but she received the same mild but genuine interest from the crowd as Alona had. Traci came off as a little ‘forced’ to me, for lack of a better word. She seemed hyper aware of the attention and sometimes moved as if she was under close scrutiny, smiling brightly and laughing just a tiny bit too much. She still was a great guest and was very spirited, ending her panel with a prank call to her mom as Alona stood beside her. The crowd enjoyed the light-heartedness and everyone felt good.
During the break, Kati and Jeanne found us and we had a long-overdue reunion. I hadn’t seen Kati since Kazcon and hadn’t seen Jeanne for a couple of years. We went to lunch together, including Lia, the five of us walking just down the street to a sandwich place. Jeanne’s daughter has a boyfriend now, and Kati’s brother got married. It was very nice to see them both again.
After an uneventful autograph signing, Tonya and I caught up with Kati, Jeanne, Carol, Sandy, and Lia for Giordano’s pizza in our room. Two medium pizzas and some garlic bread was surprisingly costly, but it’s authenticity was worth the price. Very good! Sandy shared her beer with me and Tonya gave Kati an early birthday present: a very nicely framed picture of Kati and her brothers from the summer-time wedding. I enjoyed talking with everyone and having us all crammed in the small hotel room.
Friday night Steve Carlson played for a rather sad, thin crowd--albeit they were diehard fans. His performance was great: mellow and passionate and acoustic, and the show felt very personal as he played any and all requests, including a song he hadn’t played in so long he actually forgot the words mid-verse. But his slip-up was endearing and everyone got a laugh before he quickly got himself back on track. The time seemed to fly by as I took hundreds (no, literally hundreds) of pictures.
The night finished late with a karaoke party across the hall in the hotel bar. Although crowded and ungodly hot, there was a steady line up of enthusiastic singers and the crowd was supportive. Tonya, Sandy and I each had a drink as we waited to see if one of the stars would show up, and right when we couldn’t take it anymore, Alona took her turn at the microphone, followed by Traci. Tonya and I took some photos but it was really too dark, and I felt self-conscious when my camera kept shooting out that green beam to focus. We left then, but found out the next day that Jim Beaver had also made an appearance.
Out in the lobby, we sat for a minute to cool off and talked to Karen (who’d been to Kazcon) and Amy Blair, who’d just arrived and discovered she had the room across from Aldis Hodge and was teasing about eavesdropping on him with a glass pressed to his door.
It was getting late, so Tonya and I headed up to our room. I transferred the day’s pictures to the laptop (shocked to discover exactly how much I still have a crush on Steve) and put the camera batteries on to charge.
BED.
1 comment:
Cold hands, warm heart. :-)
Did Jeanne go to the first Kazcon? If so, then I remember her! Say hi for me! And Kati, as well of course.
I can imagine the female stars receive less of a welcome than the males. It is a female dominated fandom and we females like looking at hot men. Not that we're shallow or anything. *whistles*
The photos of Steve are great! I wish I could have been there. You have such great taste in music. I bet I'd have loved listening to him too.
Karaoke parties are fun, especially when there's alcohol involved. I admire Alona and Traci for getting up and rocking it with the fans. Now wouldn't it have been nice if the guys had done the same. Though, there may have been some mobbing going on. *lol*
I bet you were tired by the end of the day. Tired but energised. I know I would be.
Post a Comment