WonderCon!

April, Courtney, and I headed to WonderCon yesterday. We parked close to the convention center and then followed the people in costumes to the door. First, we headed to the exhibition hall, where April found some amazing Simpsons toys. Several artists were trying to sell their wares–a few were handing out samples. Then, we came upon the stars.

Which stars? Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar on STTNG), Aaron Douglas (the Chief on BSG), Lou Ferrigno (the Hulk), Richard Hatch (BSG), Richard Herd (the Greatest American Hero), Suzie Plakson (Q’s “wife” on STTNG), Q himself, Brent Spiner (Data), and Lindsey Wagner, the original Bionic Woman. We didn’t actually get to speak to any of these people–they were charging for pictures and photos and thus weren’t open for free geeky conversation. Spike from Buffy was behind a curtain somewhere, charging $40 for an autograph. The Chief from BSG had a sign up that his money was going to a charity, at least.

There was one man we couldn’t resist, however. Adam Baldwin, from Firefly and Chuck, made us gasp in a display of nerdiness we hadn’t experienced in years. We pooled together $10 to get a picture with him. (Just as we were crowding together, he commented on the aroma of weed that passed by us.) The best part was that I got to touch him for free. The second best part was that we kept hearing people say that “Alec Baldwin” was there.

After a quick lunch, we headed back in for panels. We were going to sit in on a panel on Star Trek and Philosophy, but the speaker, a preacher, seemed boring, so we headed off to a celebration of the “anniversary” of the Galaxy Quest television show. We were afraid that a few of the audience members wouldn’t play along with the panel as they discussed their favorite episodes, guest appearances, and the resurgence of the series, but everyone seemed game. In the very entertaining panel, they mocked the conventions of sci-fi tv and showed that we nerds can make fun of ourselves.

Then, as we were heading into a panel on Kick Ass, we were stopped by one of the marketing people of the film. He asked us if we would see the film that night for free and then be interviewed on camera about it afterwards. He said that they needed to reach out to a female audience and that our femaleness (combined with our hotness) made us ideal. He also seemed to think we were young.

Thus, armed with our VIP tickets, we went into a crowded room for a panel discussion with the cast and one of the graphic artists. I’ll be reviewing the film for matchflick soon, so I’ll sign off with this:

April, Adam, Courtney, Karma