Weekly Update: May 3 to 10 (ComicCon Pictures)

Weekly word count: 3500

Not my best week but hopefully I can do better next week.

This weekend was one of the highlights of my year: Ottawa's annual ComicCon.  According to the news, over 40 000 people were in attendance.

I got to see Malcolm McDowell, who was very funny and crusty.  He's been in an amazing number of films and TV shows, as well as lending his voice to various video games and other animations.  He said his major regret was a musical project developed by the songwriter for AC/DC in which he would have gotten to play Zeus.  It never ended up getting off the ground.  He also talked about Clockwork Orange and how he had a lot of fun working with Stanley Kubrick.

 

 

I stayed late the first night to see Mira Furlan, who played Delenn on Babylon 5 (one of my favourite shows).  I hadn't appreciated that English was her third language (Croatian and Russian being the first two).  She talked about her frustration at being given some of the longest and most complex speeches of any character when she was working on the show.

 

Wil Wheaton was hilarious but also touching.  He talked frankly about the difficulties on his days on Star Trek: The Next Generation, when he would go to cons and be attacked by "adults who should have known better."  He said he believes he hasn't had the trouble of most childhood stars because he avoided the parties and instead stayed home with his non-entertainment friends, playing board games.

 

 

Marina Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes (also Star Trek: The Next Generation)  were highly entertaining and obviously in a good mood.  It was great to see their genuine friendship, one which has lasted over 30 years.

 

 

I could have listened to Billy Boyd (Lord of the Rings) all day, and not just because of his delightful Scottish accent.  He sang the farewell song from Lord of the Rings for us and it was beautiful. 

 

 

It was a great privilege and honour to have a chance to see both Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca - Star Wars) and Nichelle Nichols (Uhura - original Star Trek).  While I hope they both have many enjoyable years ahead of them, I am always aware that this could be our last opportunity to see them.

As always, there were many wonderful costumes to see and enjoy.  Maybe it is the writer in me but the idea of slipping into someone else's skin and personality for a little while holds a lot of appeal.  Maybe I just never entirely grew up from playing make-believe.

These fine gentlemen were raising money for breast cancer by taking pictures with the fans.  And as a die-hard Wolverine girl, this was definitely one of my highlights for the weekend.

I came home on Sunday, exhausted and foot-sore, but exhilarated and creatively-recharged.  All weekend, I had particularly vivid and memorable dreams, which is usually a good sign that my imagination has hit overdrive.  I'm looking forward to funnelling that into Metamorphosis this week.