Snowstorm stopped sometime overnight, but there was still a ton of snow everywhere. I think this deterred a lot of cosplayers today. Hell, they had to cancel a lot of the outdoor activities that the expo usual has going on. Thankfully, the sun came out later, so the melt is on, but I wouldn't be surprised if we have another snowstorm before the Victoria Day long weekend next month.

I didn't get up to much today. Maybe the snow sucked away some of my energy. I did wear my Jessica Jones Defenders cosplay, which is surprisingly effective outfit for after a snowstorm. So warm and comfy.

Sunday details behind the cut )

Well, that's it for another year. I say this every year, but I'd really love it if the expo got David Tennant as a guest. Him or Christopher Eccleston. Hell, both would be awesome.
Yes, a snowstorm in April. Such is the city I live in. Though, it is funny watching the reactions of the celebrity guests who aren't used to our wacky weather. Zachary Levi was just mystified on his Instagram.

Saturday details behind the cut )

I'm not up to much tomorrow so I get to sleep in! Sun should be back out, too, thank goodness.
I don't know if someone at the expo made a sacrifice to the weather gods, but it didn't snow! By some miracle, the weather held. It was damn cold but no one had to walk in the rain and/or snow.

Friday details behind the cut )

Tomorrow I have to grab Catherine's autograph and get a photo-op with her. I also knitted a Shazam doll for Zachary Levi, so I need to give that to him. Here's hoping he accepts gifts from fans.

Still here...

Mar. 9th, 2019 05:29 pm
locker_monster: (Default)
- Hmm, I haven't posted here since New Years. Haven't felt very chatty, I suppose.

- Saw Captain Marvel this weekend. I quite enjoyed it, but I wouldn't say it's in my top three Marvel movies. I am excited to see more of Carol now that her origin movie, so to speak, is out of the way. Just some quick thoughts:

Spoilers for Captain Marvel )

Once again, the latest Avengers movie is out the same weekend as the comic book expo. I have no idea when I will have a chance to see it.

- Oh, and speaking of the expo, they announced Catherine Tate as a guest again. She was supposed to appear last year, but had to cancel, so it's great that she's free to come back. I can finally wear my femme!Ten cosplay for the main reason I put it together: to get a photo-op with Catherine. The expo also announced Jennifer Hale as a guest. She voiced Commander Shepard in Mass Effect, and she's also a pretty prolific voice actor, so I'm super excited to see her. If they got Mark Meer to come back and the two of them did a panel together, that would be so awesome.
It was rainy all day but that didn't seem to put a damper on things. It kind of messed up people's cosplays, though. I didn't see as many costumes as yesterday.

Sunday details behind the cut )

Well, that's another expo done for the year. Now I need to find time to go see Avengers: Infinity War. I've been living in fear of spoilers since Thursday night.
My god, it was hot today. It's usually not this warm in April around here. I did end up wearing my Ten coat, but I had to ditch it midway through the day. It was just one layer too many. Thank goodness for coat checks.

Saturday details behind the cut )

Tomorrow's forecast is crap. Rain all day. :-( I'm a little bummed that the good weather didn't last the entire weekend, but 3 out of 4 days isn't bad.
Whoo, parade day! Perfect weather today. I wish I had a group shot of the Doctor Who cosplayers, but I didn't think to grab one. There were these cute kids (twin siblings) dressed up as Twelve and Thirteen. Oh my god, they had so many people taking their picture. The parents are big Whovians themselves and they've been dressing up their kids since they were born.

Friday details behind the cut )

Saturday is going to be a little more packed schedule wise. I need to grab Wil Wheaton's autograph and potentially give him a knitted Wesley Crusher doll that I made him. Here's hoping he's accepting gifts.
Day one of the comic book expo! I didn't do anything besides check out Artists' Alley and the Exhibitors' Hall. And even though I wore my comfy shoes, my feet still hurt. :-P I guess I should have sat down at some point, but there's just so much to see.

Case in point: a friend and I probably spent a good half hour trying to pick out t-shirts from the Tee Turtle booth. My god, they have some of the cutest t-shirts. I got this one, which I think sums me up nicely in t-shirt form. Also got a nice Arrow swag bag, in that it's Arrow branded on the outside. Actually, all of the swag bags were CW DC themed - Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl - so I would have been happy with any of them. Me thinks the Fan Expo HQ people had leftover bags from another con and they're just trying to get rid of them.

Parade day tomorrow. Forecast is calling for sunny skies and 21C. Saturday is a whooping 24C. This is pretty big deal since it hasn't been this warm in god knows how long. I'm going to be boiling on Saturday, though. My femme!Ten cosplay has so many layers: dress shirt, blazer, brown coat. This is the one time I wish it was a cooler weekend. Oh well. I can ditch the coat for a bit and hang out in the fresh air.
- Sigh. Catherine Tate had to cancel her appearance at the comic book expo. So no Doctor Who guests this year. Consequently, this means no photo op for me, either. I do believe this will be the first year that I don't have a photo op booked with any of the guests. I mean, I could take the money I was going to spend on Catherine and put it towards another guest, but at the same time I feel like I should be more frugal. We'll see. I will probably get Wil Wheaton's autograph, since he's a guest and I have something for him to sign plus I knitted a Wesley Crusher doll so I'm hopeful he'll accept it as a gift.

The only annoying this about this is, and it's a very minor annoyance, is that I actually put together a femme!Ten cosplay. I'm still going to wear it, of course, but the main reason I put the costume together was for the photo op with Catherine. Oh well. It's a costume I can wear again and again so it's not like it's going to go to waste.

- A friend organized a game of archery tag for her birthday party this weekend. It's basically like dodge ball, only you shoot each other with padded arrows rather than hurl balls at each other. The only archery I've done is in video games so I had zero experience to draw from going in. In theory, I like the idea of shooting things, whether they be targets or moving people, but in practice, it's damn hard and probably only really fun if you're in shape and/or are good with a bow and arrow. Not to say that I hated the experience, but I doubt I will do it again.

Also, ow. My knees and thighs are so sore from ducking and kneeling behind cover. Thank god I don't have to climb any stairs at work. I also have some wicked bruises all along my arm from snap back from the bow string. I think I got off fairly easy, though; many of my friends were seriously black and blue and swollen. The place had arm guards, but some of my friends said it didn't really help since the bow string would get caught on the guard. No wonder Ollie wears leather and Clint has arm protection.

 Axe throwing is much more fun. Your arms and abs hurt the day after, but you don't have to worry about going into work with big bruises.

- Saw A Quiet Place as well. Horror movies generally aren't my thing - I think the last "horror" movie I saw in the theatre was The Village - but the movie was getting good reviews so I thought I would check it out. I actually quite enjoyed it. There are some logistical things you wonder about, but they are minor quibbles. The tense atmosphere the movie creates was amazing and the sound design was incredible. Seriously. The use of sound in this movie is so good. It's not that there's a lack of sound, but the sound that is there is so amped up because you are so aware of it.

There are jump scares, but those are a given in a horror movie. At one point, a lady in the theatre cried out, but she quickly apologized. I don't know why she did. It's a horror movie; there's nothing wrong with gasping loudly or a quick cry. I guess it's because Canadians are so polite. :-)
The local comic book expo has been slow to announce guests, but the announcements seem to be picking up. And they had a good one today:

Catherine Tate is coming to the expo!!

Finally, I will have a signature on my Doctor Who 50th Anniversary calendar for October aka Ten's month. I wonder if this means they have other Doctor Who actors planned for the future. David Tennant is scheduled to appear at Emerald City Comic Con so maybe he's branching out into the Western half of the North America? Hey, I can dream, right? He was in Montreal last year; maybe he wants to come back to Canada again.

Once more, I am tempted to put together a femme!Ten cosplay. I already have a few elements; sonic screwdriver, brown coat, tortoise-shell glasses, Chucks. I do have a brown skirt with blue pinstripes, but I'm very much lacking a matching a suit jacket to go with it and I highly doubt I will ever find one. I would also need a light blue dress shirt and a Ten-esque tie, but those seem easy enough. Man, if I had the money, I would buy a replica suit online and just have it tailored so the cut is more feminine.

I don't know. It's something to think about for now. Though, if the expo does the impossible and they do get David Tennant as a guest, maybe I'll take the plunge and spend the money.
Whew, made it to the end! Four fantastic days of geeking out. I need a Time Turner or a TARDIS; there weren't enough hours in the day to see all of the awesomeness.

Last day of the expo behind the cut )

Sigh, it's back to work and reality tomorrow. At least now I can rest my feet. Whoo, sensible shoes and not shoes for cosplay!
My rushing around day was yesterday, so today was a lot more chill. At least, as chill as it can be for a Saturday.

Chill Saturday details behind the cut )

Tomorrow is the last day. There's a few more panels I want to check out, but I'm also debating whether to get Nathan Fillion's autograph again. I have a Mal action figure that's begging to be signed. I guess I'll decide in the morning.
Met the man himself today. God, he's amazing. I'm so glad he decided to do some cons before the end of his tenure. Apparently this was only his third con (I guess they don't count San Diego Comic Con or New York Comic Con since that's work related).

The awesomeness that is Peter Capaldi behind the cut )

Oh, and randomly, I had two media types take my picture while I was waiting around for stuff. One from Blogtor Who and one from Space (the channel that airs Doctor Who in Canada). I'm on the Blogtor Who Twitter if you want to see. I was surprised people wanted to take my photo. My costume is nothing special; it's still a work in progress. Maybe they were impressed with my homemade scarf?

So that was day two. I feel like I just did a Saturday. Man, I'm getting old. Tomorrow is my photo op with Jeremy Renner. I'm still debating whether I should get his autograph or not. We'll see. But much sitting tomorrow! Yay!
Comic book expo this weekend! Yay!

As always on Thursdays, I took the opportunity to check out the exhibitor's hall. I was not wearing sensible shoes so now my feet hurt. This will probably be the norm for the rest of the weekend.

I'm keeping myself on a budget this year, so the only thing I bought were Girl Guide cookies. Yes, cookies. They never seem to come to my door so I had to buy a box.

I also got James Marsters' autograph. He was here a few years ago, but I totally missed him, so it's great that they got him back during Buffy's 20th anniversary. I have so much vintage Buffy swag from the late 1990s and early 2000s and I finally managed to put some of it to good use. Below is a Buffy postcard of Spike and Drusilla from a pack of postcards printed in 1999. Yes, I've had these postcards for over 15 years!



And apparently James doesn't do shenanigans during photo ops, one of the reasons he doesn't do team-up photo ops with John Barrowman, since Barrowman is the king of shenanigans. Oh, and I totally forgot to tell James Marsters that I'm super excited to see him in Runaways. D'oh!

Tomorrow is parade day. Temperature doesn't look awesome, but at least there's no rain or snow in the forecast. I know Peter Capaldi is already in the city (a friend managed to snap a pic with him at the hotel) so fingers crossed, Capaldi is part of the parade. I will probably squeal like a little girl if my cosplay group ends up walking behind his car.
- Aw yeah. The Doctor Who Experience is offering TARDIS set tours for the summer. I did the tour last time when I was there in 2013, but hey, why not do it again. I'm going for my birthday, dang it! I'm going to treat myself. Maybe this time I'll remember to look at more of the details than just generally gawk at the whole set.

- So my supervisor asked me this week if I needed April 28 off since that's the first full day of the comic book expo. I kind of laughed in the back of my mind. See, that's a supervisor who cares. She's also a geek, too, so that helps as well. Another co-worker, the other big geek at work, is also going so that's probably what prompted my supervisor to ask. Good thing it's kind of slow right now. I'm not going to miss much (beyond a pay day) if I'm away for a day.

- I think I have my cosplays sorted out. I'm not going to bother with Thursday night this year. I'm going straight to the grounds from work, and while the dress code is fairly laid back, I don't have anything that would double for both work and the expo. So:

  • Friday: Femme!Four from Doctor Who. A repeat from last year. It's parade day and my photo op day with Peter Capaldi. I settled on a Classic Who Doctor because I thought Capaldi might notice it more. There will be an endless amount of Tens and Elevens and Twelves and Claras, but there probably won't be too many Fours. If anything, Capaldi will notice the scarf and maybe that will spark a conversation. Fingers crossed that he's involved in the parade. Hey, last year our Doctor Who cosplay group ended up walking behind John Barrowman's car. It could happen, right?

  • Saturday: Jessica Jones from Jessica Jones. I considered breaking out my Melinda May cosplay for Saturday, since that's the day of my Jeremy Renner photo op, but then I remembered that I had another Marvel cosplay. Melinda would make more sense, since she's S.H.I.E.L.D. and Clint was S.H.I.E.L.D., but my gosh, my Jessica Jones outfit is so comfy. I'm also considering bringing a toy bow for Renner to hold. He seems like a chill guy so hopefully he's not going to mind holding a cheap prop for laughs.

  • Sunday: Ace from Doctor Who. This might be subject to change. My Seven cosplayer mentioned he might be doing Seven on Sunday so this would be a great opportunity to match him and snap some photos. If he changes his mind, maybe I can break out my Kaylee cosplay in honour of Nathan Fillion.

- Still pounding away at Mass Effect: Andromeda. There are just so many side missions to do; I don't know when to stop. I should probably focus on the main storyline and finish up the game that way, but I'm so easily distracted.

- And I thought I would mention that I do have a Dreamwidth account under the same username. I'm not using it right now, but it's there if needed.
- GUYS THE COMIC BOOK EXPO ANNOUNCED PETER CAPALDI AS A GUEST!!! I was totally not expecting this. I thought he'd be busy finishing up the Christmas special or something. You should have seen me at work. I was practically vibrating I was so excited.

I think this is his first Canadian con. I always thought that Toronto Fan Expo would get him as a guest first, but clearly the Expo people are magic. Now I actually have to plan my weekend. Before this I didn't have much of a schedule. And cosplay plans! I don't have the funds or the time to come up with a Twelfth Doctor cosplay, as much as I'd like to, but I can always use one of my other ones. But which one? Fourth Doctor? Eleventh Doctor? Ace?

I'm so stoked that I get to see Capaldi before he bows out as the Doctor. I can attempt to tell him how much I've enjoyed his run as the Doctor, though I'm very certain that I'll just end up rambling and saying something ridiculous.

- I also got news that my temp job is extended to the end of June. No more month to month speculation. It's not a permanent job, but it's a little more security than I had last week. Considering the comic book expo keeps announcing awesome guests, I'm going to need the extra funds. ;-)

- So I had ordered some stuff from ThinkGeek for upcoming birthdays and much to my surprise, the package that showed up last week didn't contain anything I had ordered. Suddenly I was stuck with this box of stuff and who knows where my stuff was. Thankfully, ThinkGeek has a helpful return form for cases like this and they've shipped out my order again. But here's the really great thing. I was dismayed at the thought of shipping the wrong items back on my own dime so I phoned their help line today. After explaining my situation (that I'm in Canada, that this isn't a refund), the lady informed me that I could keep the wrong items at no cost to me. I was actually quite floored that they would let the items go, but I guess it's just easier in the long run. I don't have to pay to ship it back, they don't have to pay to generate a shipping label for me, and they end up with a happy customer. So as often as I grumble about shipping to Canada, ThinkGeek does do right by their customers.

As for the items I received in error, I'm going to give them away. It doesn't feel right to sell the items on eBay or wherever.
- Hmm, I haven't been very chatty here lately. It's more a lack of anything exciting to talk about rather than general laziness.

- So the local comic book expo somehow managed to get Jeremy Renner as a guest. Yeah, I don't know how they did it. I can picture him doing Comic Con or a Wizard World con, but not our modest expo. Okay, okay 90,000 to 100,000 attendees is not modest, but we're not exactly a hot spot like Toronto or San Diego or New York City. Also, shouldn't he be busy filming Avengers: Infinity Wars Part 1? Or does this mean that Clint's not in it? If Renner suddenly cancels, then that's probably a sign he's in the movie.

I'm debating whether to resurrect my Melinda May cosplay for a photo-op. It's the only Marvel/S.H.I.E.L.D. related thing I have. Though, it would be fun to bring a prop/toy bow and arrow but I don't know if Renner allows props in his photo-ops.

- Speaking of unexpected guests to the city, it turns out that Maisie Williams is also here. A friend of a guy at work ran into her at a karaoke bar. Apparently she's filming Game of Thrones here. I laughed at the thought - I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to film snow and mountains back in Europe? - but apparently the guy who supplies the dire wolves to the show lives outside the city. So it's not completely improbable that the show would bring some of the actors here. On top of that, Ewan McGregor is here filming season three of Fargo. If I actually cared, I could try to track them down, but that just seems weird to me.

- A vacation in Cardiff in May is looking very likely. I haven't been back since November 2013, and that was just for a day, so it'd be nice to spend more time there. I mainly just want to go before the Doctor Who Experience shuts down, but I'm sure there are other things to see in the city. A side trip to Portmeirion, where The Prisoner was filmed, is also in the cards. I mean, why not. The two aren't near each other, but it's my best opportunity to visit the place. Plus, it's The Prisoner's 50th anniversary this year, so now seems like an excellent time to go.
- The local comic book expo announced Nathan Fillion as the first guest for next year. He was here three years ago, but I'm not going to say no to more Nathan Fillion. :-) The expo claims he really liked it the last time he was here and has wanted to come back ever since. Now that he has all of this free time, he can certainly do the con circuit. Plus, he can go visit his family up in Edmonton once the con is over.

I kind of want to believe that this is a lead up to a Firefly reunion. 2017 is the 15th anniversary since the show premiered. I don't think many of the cast are working right now so it wouldn't be that hard to gather them all together for a weekend. I'm only short three more signatures for my Serenity comic! If I can get the rest in one fell swoop, I will be super happy.

- I checked out the first episode of the animated reconstruction of "The Power of the Daleks" and it's okay. I can't imagine watching the rest of the serial like this. Like, I don't mind the odd animated episode here and there, especially if it's filling out an incomplete serial, but if you're going to do the whole thing, you really need better animation. I know, the BBC budget for this isn't huge, but something a bit more smooth would have been nice. The movement of the characters feels a little stilted or jerky at times and other times they're just standing there, not doing much of anything. Oh well, just more incentive to find more missing episodes.

- I also checked out the first episode of The Grand Tour aka The Show That Isn't Top Gear But Is Totally Top Gear But Just With More Money. It's more of the same when Clarkson, May, and Hammond were hosting Top Gear, and that's just fine. I really only watched Top Gear for the fun and weird antics the guys got up to. I do miss The Stig, though. He mostly just drove cars around the track, but when they did allow him to do other things, like have him riding the Tube in a four way race across London, he was amusing to watch.

- They finally started casting for the new Star Trek series! Michelle Yeoh will be playing a starship captain. She won't be the captain of the Discovery from the sound of things, so it's probably just a recurring role, but that's still cool. An Asian captain! I don't think we've really had one since we saw Sulu as the captain of the Excelsoir. Hopefully this leads to more casting announcements. They really need to get their butts moving if they want to make the premiere date of May next year.

- And Happy Whoniversary (yesterday)! Just over a month until a new episode!
Last day of the expo. Last appearance ever of Stan Lee at the expo. Last day to hang out with a horde of geeks.

As much as I complain about how tired I am, I do love this weekend. It's the best time of the year. It's the only comic book expo or con that I know I will be attending every year since it's right in the city. Not everyone has a big convention in their own backyard.

Last day of the expo details behind the cut )

Well, until next year. I actually think I'm running out of people that I want to see. The expo is getting that good at booking the actors that I love. Just get David Tennant and all will be right with the world.
Or, alternatively, the day John Barrowman stole the show. Even without seeing tomorrow's panels, which include Billie Piper's and Stan Lee's last appearance here, I can officially state that John's panel was the best of the weekend. Why?

Panel talk behind the cut )

Last day tomorrow. I have to get Alan's autograph and his photo-op, but it shouldn't be too bad. I am missing out on Billie's panel, since it conflicts with Alan's photo-op, but if I hurry, I might be able to catch the end. It's also going to be Stan Lee's last appearance ever in the city. The man's been going non-stop all weekend.

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