Sir Patrick Stewart at Central Canada Comic Con (C4) 2012

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to meet (briefly) and attend the Q&A of Sir Patrick Stewart. I must say, he seems like one of the most intelligent, handsome, and down to earth people on this planet. He is quite hilarious, as well. 

I didn't get his autograph, which saved me quite a bit of line-standing (He actually came back on Sunday because he didn't want to leave any fans behind - I really respect that). There was a sign by his table prohibiting hand shaking - quite fine, at the Q&A he mentioned that he was also obsessed with washing his hands - especially on the subway. He was quite amused (and confused) when he was in the green room washroom (where there were no children) and there was a poster with written and illustrated instructions on how to wash your hands. 

"Who knew it (hand washing) was so complex?"

Of course, we informed him that the city of Winnipeg decided that these hand washing posters were to be made a requirement after the flu epidemic a while ago.

The Photo-op line was one of the longest I had ever seen. The wait was well worth it, however, when I walked in and saw him face to face. And do you know what he said to me? He looked a me and said, jokingly, "Ooh, scary! Very scaary person!" To this day I do not know what he meant by that, but it's not like I really care.  I had my picture taken with him, thanked him, and ran off to get into line for his Q&A.

When he finally went onstage in the conference hall, he promptly apologized for the fact that he would not be removing his cap because he had had laser surgery. He then spoke about Winnie the Poo and how the people in Winnipeg had been telling him that the bear was named after Winnipeg - when he knew that it was an English series of stories. A debate occurred between him and several people in the audience on the subject.

He also spoke about how on he felt in places like Manitoba where there was only flat land.

"I get a feeling that is like claustrophobia"

Somebody in the audience shouted out that that was called agoraphobia. Sir Patrick, being the intellectual that he is, promptly informed her that and agora was a marketplace, and that agoraphobia was a fear of the marketplace, or busy places - not of open spaces.

He spoke about being knighted, and how he does not insist on being called by his title. In fact, he says he often prefers just Patrick.

And here is an interesting fact: he shared with us that he experiences olfactory delusions - he smells things that are not there. When asked if they were linked to memories, he replied that he did not think so. He often smelled roses, and he does have a rose garden in his house, but that seems to be the only connection. He told us that whenever he in going up or down a certain staircase, he smells a cut egg. Nobody else had ever smelled it except for him. Well, actually - he did tell us that one girl had suddenly screamed because she had suddenly smelled it as well, but only once. Luckily, 95% of his olfactory delusions are quite pleasant.

He only told us about these delusions because a friend had told him to talk about it.

"They'll be interested (she said). How wrong she was."

Well, I was interested.

When asked about his friendship with Ian McKellen, he explained that that they had shared a dressing room for twenty two weeks - something that was first suggested by Ian so that they would begin the play (Waiting for Godot) before meeting on stage. It was this which brought them closer together. 

When asked whether or not he would appear on the Big Bang Theory and Die Hard, he responded that "I don't know what it (Big Bang Theory) is" and that he was not going to appear in Die Hard - at least "Not as far as I know".

There was a teacher in the audience who told him that he asked his students who they would want to play them if there were a film about their life. The teacher told him that he always told them that he would want Patrick Stewart to play him - and then asked Patrick who he would want playing him. He first stated, in response, that it would have to be a series of actors if it really were a film based on his life - for each age and stage. He did come up with quite a few actors, however - I only caught a few: Sir Ben Kingsley, Sir Michael Caine, Sir Sean Connery - they were all knighted actors, and for a very good reason.

Another audience member asked him how he got the role as Professor X in X Men, and what he did to prepare for the role. He told us that he was called in, and the woman he went to see was holding an X-Men comic book in front of her face. His reaction:

"'Where did you get that comicbook with me on the cover of it?' and she said, 'Exactly!'"

To prepare for his role, he says that he simply read a lot of comic books:

"I read a lot of comic books - that was my research"

Of course, Sir Patrick Stewart is most known for his role as Captain Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek TNG. When somebody asked him about his singing "A British Tar" in Insurrection, however, he could not remember singing it at all. As an audience, we told him what happened and why he was singing the movie, but he still couldn't remember. 

"I'm embarrassed because I don't remember" 

One audience member even sang the song for him. Finally one audience member shouted, "You should rent it, it's really good"

He does watch the movies, though. Marina Sirtis told us that Patrick would never talk to the press about a new Star Trek movie until he had actually seen it, unlike a lot of actors.  He also told us about when he was alone in his hotel room and ordered room service -

"Room service and a bad movie is really my idea of heaven"

And when he looked at the channels on the television, Star Trek TNG was on ("I sit and watch it, and I have no idea what happens next"). So when the room service person came up with his food, he looked at him - at the TV... Patrick told us that he could imagine the employee going back down and saying to the others, "I have just seen the saddest thing".

He was asked if he would ever appear on Doctor Who or Sherlock (BBC) - and he replied that he had never been asked, but he would consider it if he were.

When speaking about the theatre, he told us about when he played Othello (which you may read about here) and how there was a lot of opposition to the "photo negative" cast (breaking down racial barriers, brilliant!). Apparently even most of the actors where very uneasy about how the play was cast.

He also spoke about playing MacBeth, and how playing the character for so long "really starts to do things to you". He recalled beginning to drink more than he should have been, and being extremely depressed - at least when he was outside of the theatre.

When speaking about why he was an actor, he replied:

"I act because I want to change the world"

and went on the reference Shakespeare:

"To hold a mirror up to nature". 

My favorite story was about how he witnessed racism in New York - attempting to hail a cab with his black cast-mates from Othello, he found that the cab drivers would actually speed up as they came near. So, in order to get a cab, he had the others hide while he stood alone and hailed a cab. Only when the cab stopped did he open the door and signal for the others to enter the cab. He told it better, obviously, and it was great.

During the Q&A, a baby started making a fuss and crying. The parents tried to comfort it, and got up - seemingly leaving the room. Patrick Stewart, being the amazing man that he is, spoke up:

"I'm fine with it, really - it's just a little baby, wishing it were somewhere else"

None of us minded, and they stayed in the room for the rest of the session.

I really hope that he comes back to see us again.

C4 Comic Con 2012 Adventures Day One

For the last three days, I have been spending my days at C4 - Central Canada Comic Con 2012. It was - as usual -  an amazing experience with beautiful people, intricate costumes, and great displays and exhibitions.

Day One

I didn't bother dressing up on the first day of the convention. I just wore some jeans, my IDIC shirt, a sweater and some comfortable boots. I met a friend on the bus to the convention center, and we kept each other company for the rest of the day.

After waiting in the long line-ups and running back and forth between different ticket booths buying passes, we finally made it to the final admission line. I met one of the local dealers on the side, and he informed me that he had just gotten in 12 inch Doctor Who scarves. I absolutely adore the First Doctor, so instead of going up to the main exhibition room, I handed in my ticket, got stamped, and ran back to the smaller room to get the scarf of my dreams. Only after purchasing and donning my new scarf did I go up to the main exhibition floor.

There weren't actually any Q&As or photo-ops that I were interested in on Friday, so I took the day to do some shopping, take some photos, and familiarise myself with the setup.

I almost got a bat'leth for 150 dollars, but I really don't have room on my walls to put it up - and I don't have any shelf space either. In fact, my shelves take up my walls. The exhibitor did let me hold it and have my picture taken with it, however:

There was also a large (small) TARDIS cutout which I had my picture taken with:

I picked up quite a few items, two of them being a Vintage Mego Spock Figure and Mego U.S.S. Enterprise Action Playset (with a spin action transporter) for him to sit inside! Surprisingly, I only spent 50 dollars for each of them.

I also purchased a Limited Edition Captain Kirk snapback cap from 1994 (with the words "Captain Kirk" in large letters on the back and "Star Trek" written on the side). From the few sources I have found on the internet about this cap, it is rare. I don't believe that unless I actually have proof, and I don't care. It cost me ten dollars, and I love it.

The next photo is not the greatest quality, but it shows my entire haul from the first day. Not already mentioned are my box of Star Trek TNG stardiscs, Empty TARDIS box of Jelly Babies, Triforce drawstring bag (to hold my rupies), Strangers in the sky (one of my favorite novels about Vulcans) read by Leonard Nimoy and George Takei on cassette, 1996 Beavis and Butthead TV Talker, Star Trek TOS Fotonovels, and a TOS comic lot.

I also got an amazing portrait drawn of myself as a Vulcan in Starfleet, which I will post at a later time.

I met an old friend on the bus ride home, whom I excitedly (and loudly) spoke with (spoke to) about my comics and action figures, and about Star Trek/Doctor Who in general (to the amusement of the passengers around me).

I spent the rest of the night at home, putting the final touches on my costume for the next day.

Day Two

Nana Visitor and Chase Masterson at C4 2011

This weekend I will be attending the Comic and Toy Expo, so I have decided to hunt down the rest of the photos I took at the 2011 Central Canadian Comic Con and stick them on here before I take any more. I am such a procrastinator, I doubt these pictures would ever get up if I don't do them now.

At the Con I was constantly running around and getting into lines for Q&As and autographs/pictures. One of the Q&As I managed to get into were for two of my favorite DS9 actors - Nana Visitor (Kira Nerys) and Chase Masterson (Leeta):

Unlike the Shatner and Frakes Q&As, I was in the seventh row. I didn't mind being there at all, as it was still quite close to the front. The only problem was that it made taking pictures more difficult with the camera I had at the time - unfortunate, because they looked so incredbly beautiful.

Anybody could tell that Nana and Chase were friends  - they seemed very close, joking with each other beforehand and during the session. They giggled when they saw cameras flash and posed for the rows of fans for about five minutes before they started. They were absolutely adorable, and two of the nicest people I had ever met.

The stories they told were amazing, and Chase actually got quite weepy while talking about her experience with a stalker and legal case - a fake matchmaking (extremely sexually inviting) profile was made with her real name, phone number, and address readily available. She was soon receiving threatening and perverted phone calls, and had to relocate with her son for several months. When she took legal action in 2003 against the hosting company, the hosting company won because it had not created the profile itself - thus being protected by the US Communications Decency Act. This obviously had a huge impact on her psychological well-being, but she seems to have (for the most part) moved passed it.

Did I mention the Joker was there? He just walked up behind them and crouched down to talk to them. He was actually working at the con, and did the introductions.

Playmates The Keeper from Talos IV and Bele from Cheron

While rummaging through the boxes at Comic Con in October, I found two more Playmates Figures (Aside from Spock ad Pike, shown here). I took some photos so that you, the readers, may see the wonderful details.

One of my favorite characters (I have many) has always been The Keeper from Talos IV, a Talosian as seen in the first pilot episode "The Cage". Because of this, I was extremely excited when I found a Playmates Serialized Warp Factor Series 5 Talosian from 1998. It is obvious that this is The Keeper, due to the pendant worn around the neck. It also came with a Talosian viewer (alien menagerie monitor) and a classic action base.

On the back of the box:

U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Alien Database:
Creature: Talosian Keeper
Homeworld: Talos IV
Unique Features: Unusually Large Cranium
Unique Capabilities: Telepathic Communications
Comments: Talosians are extremely dangerous. They can implant any thought or illusion in the Humanoid mind. Talos IV is quarantined.

Also, check out those matching underwear and muscular legs. I never knew.

The fourth and last figure I got at that table was Bele from Cheron, as seen in the TOS episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield". This figure is part of the same series as the Talosian Keeper - the 1998 Serialized Warp Factor Series 5. The "Galactic Gear" that came with Bele: a Lantern bottle (Ornate beverage container), fluted glass & fluted bottle (glassware appropriate for formal toasts), stemmed glass (Useful for all occasions), acorn top bottle (Container corked to keep the flavor),  and a classic action base.

On the back of the box:

U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Alien Database:
Name: Bele
Rank: Chief Officer, Commission on Political Traitors
Homeworld: Cheron
Unique Characteristics: Bi-Colored Pigmentation (Black/White)
Comments: Bele is one of only two survivors of his species (Cross-reference: Lokai)

Eventually I would like to get such figures as Sarek, Spock from Unification, and - although I am not sure that one exists - Surak. Until then, I shall sit on the top bunk above my shelves and admire the Playmates figures that I have.

C4 Comic Con - William Shatner - Photos and Video

One of my favorite parts of Comic Con was seeing William Shatner again. I got in line right away, so I could get as close to the front as I could - fortunately, there was an empty seat in the first row. We had to sit the room for an hour before the show, so I conversed with some of the people I was sitting with. We talked about Star Trek and Doctor Who, and watched Night Court (with Brent Spiner as Bob Wheeler) on somebody's iPhone.

Finally, he came down the stairs and made his way to the stage:

This time he was wearing jeans and a leather jacket, as opposed to the suit he wore for "How Time Flies". He looked amazing, and hearing him answer questions was great. Fortunately, we were allowed to take video (which I did!). Unfortunately, the sound was terrible. So here are some quotes from the session:

• "And if you can move one molecule, you can move... two. And you still have nothing..." (When talking about the transporter and how scientists are working on teleportation technology) 
• "I am involved in trying to invent shows... Um, one - I'll tell you about because I'm in the process of doing it right now. It will open with a monologue by someone, maybe me, like the Twilight Zone - where the guy says 'I  think people are basically bad. They scheme, they plot... they conspire all the time. And here are some of the conspiracies.' And the hour will be a conspiracy that may or may not exist. Was there a JFK conspiracy? But this is from the point of view of the conspirator.
• All I know is, that you hear about... as you get older your brain's more foggy (?), and sticky, and - and you lose... it doesn't have to happen. I'm here to tell you, it doesn't have to happen if you just allow yourself to be creative in your own way.
• I struggled for twenty years trying to come up with a couple thousand dollars in the bank, brought up three kids, it was tough. I got ahead, the last several years, I have a little money. And I got a little prestige.
• But I'm doing it! It's the one percent! I've never been one of the one percent! I'm telling you, if you can ever get a limo to drive you to a private airport to get get on a private plane and go someplace... do it!
• You know, I've grown as an actor, I'm growing all the time - I'm finally finding out how to do it... you know, it's such a shame.
  

He also speaks about how people get addicted, his site "MyOuterSpace", "Weird or What?" and horse competition he was in the day before. He also tells us that around the time when one of his children was born, he was watching the television and a March of Dimes commercial came on. He watched as the "tiny tim" polio poster child made his way across the screen, and this affected him greatly - he was lucky, his child was healthy. But sickness can happen so suddenly. He is now a spokesperson for March of Dimes.

One person said to Shatner - they heard that he does math problems in his head before a show. He got a big laugh out of that one, and told us that the only math problem he does is "I'm one... where's my other one?".

And remember the show "How William Shatner Changed the World"? He tells us about how Paramount would not let him use "How Star Trek Changed the World" or even "How Captain Kirk Changed the World".

Now, for the video! I will leave you with part one, and the links to the continuing videos. I hope you enjoy - and I do apologize for the sound quality. (Also you can hear me giggling throughout the entire thing.)

Part Two (on the brain, his horses, how his life has changed, and March of Dimes)
Part Three (where he talks about "stupid Paramount")
Part Four (on Weird or What, acting on stage, and doing math problems in his head)
Part Five (where he explains his "singing" and his spiritual views)
Part Six (where he talks about careers and such)

C4 Comic Con - Jonathan Frakes - Quotes and Photos (Updated)

One of the special guests at the Central Canadian Comic Con (C4) was Jonathan Frakes, best known by Sci-Fi fans as Commander William T. Riker of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I took a lot of pictures, but as there was no video allowed, I had to depend on my terrible note-taking skills for quotes. Here are some of my favorites:

He was legitimately singing opera here. Seriously. It was amazing.

"When I first started on 'Star Trek,' I went to a convention in a little town called Syracuse, New York and everyone was still indignant that our show had come on the air because they were very heavy into Kirk and Spock and they really didn't like the idea of a new 'Star Trek.' I was waiting in the dealers' room to go on stage and at a dealer's table they were selling those action figures of the thinner versions of all of us... with Geordi LaForge $35, Picard for $50, a limited Data for $50 and the sign at the end of the table said, "buy any action figure and get Riker for free."

"I was more interested in where do you go to the bathroom on the Enterprise? What do you EAT? And why no POCKETS in the space suits? Don't get me started on my space suit. And what about this... (does an exaggeration of Riker's walk). Why did he walk like that all the time?"

"Wheaton is walking next to me and says, "you know Frakes, I can tell by the clothes that you wear and the music that comes out of your dressing room that, you used to be cool. Little shit."

"In real life, I play the trombone but I don't play it well. And on the show when you hear somebody playing the trombone and it sounds sort of not so good it's me. When you hear the trombone and it sounds really good on the show, that's Bill "

"Picard. Come on. Pfft, Kirk or Picard. You saw 'Generations.' Two captains in search of one good hairpiece."

" I wish 'Gargoyles' was STILL on the air! The greatest job. First of all, you go to work in your pajamas. Secondly, they've always got bagels and cream cheese. Thirdly, you sit around in a circle with other funny actors. It was a great gig. Marina, Data, um, Kate, Keith David, it was a great group. And it was one of those jobs where they would gather us all, like when we do the 'Family Guy' stuff they'd find us and we'd just have to do our lines. But with 'Gargoyles' we'd actually get together in the room and do the show. I liked that gig. I want it BACK!"

"So Nana Visitor... she sends Thomas Riker to some Cardassian prison and leaves him there for years! For years I was in the prison! ...Still in that bloody prison! I'll speak to her about that this evening."

"That was a great space bird." (after standing on one leg, other leg stretched out behind him, flapping his arms for about five seconds)

It's a really bad quality pic, but "That was a great space bird".

"In my country, we have wireless mikes." (after trying not to trip on the cord, and yelling at a Klingon (in Klingon!) who was trying to untangle it.)

"I try to encourage actors to find any other career... It's a really GLAMOROUS profession and it ALWAYS works out! EVERYBODY gets rich and you stay young FOREVER!"

"(Talking about Twitter) Spiner's got a million and a half, LeVar's got a million and a half, I just, I just joined, feel free to sign up. Jonathan S. Frakes. Who is that pretty girl who called me Franks when I came up here?" (He was, in fact, introduced as Jonathon Franks.)

"I'm not much of a Sci-fi fan, oddly enough... But I am enjoying Person of Interest."

"But oddly enough when Star Trek started, I didn't really know that we were joining part of the popular culture and thought we'd be under a rock or something. I didn't understand the power of the original Star Trek and didn't understand the passion. And then Roddenberry, may he rest in peace, was so great. He believed so heavily in his optimistic view of the future. I auditioned for 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' six times over several weeks, and each time as it got closer and closer to them finally making the decision I'd have to go into Gene Roddenberry's office and I'd sit there and he's sort of you know, he was like a coach. And he'd coach and say your audition is going to be great today, you're the guy I want to play Riker, and he said to me in the 24th century there will be no hunger, there will be no greed, and all the children will know how to read."

"Deep Throat Nine" (As he called Deep Space Nine throughout the show)

"I started to look at the original show and at that time got the VCRs of the show and watched those. And my wife Jeannie Francis who is a big Kirk fan she had Kirk posters on her wall when she was a kid. And then I go home for Christmas after the first season to see my mom and dad in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and I went out to the refrigerator to get a beer and a refrigerator was on the back porch and I go to the refrigerator and on the door is a poster -- this big -- a picture of Patrick Stewart. 'Oh, I just love Patrick Stewart.' Mom??! I'm in THE SAME SHOW! The other half of that picture is ME! 'He's so beautiful. And that voice… numba one… to BE!' (Imitating Patrick Stewart). Humbling."

"The 'Nemesis' movie was, my thoughts on why it didn't do well, awkward, be very careful Jonathan you are using your outside voice… speak diplomatically. I think that the core audience of our movies, which was you guys, wanted to see the Star Trek family which is Patrick and Brent, etc., And that movie was sort of about Thomas Hardy's character. The guy who was by the way, not only Inception, he's like the hottest thing. He's like a huge movie star now. And it's fabulous. He got his start in that movie. So I always thought that that movie, in addition to not being directed by me, was problematic because it was about a character who none of us really knew. I'm not sure that's what the problem was. I also think that Paramount with their infinite wisdom was really, incredibly, greedy, in terms of we had our show on the air, that they put Deep Throat--'Deep Space Nine' on the air, no, they put 'Voyager'then 'Deep Space' then 'Enterprise' and then we did 'Generations' and 'First Contact' and 'Insurrection' and there was just too much Star Trek. And 'Nemesis' was the first star trek movie to lose money. We made nine movies that all made money and as you know that's what projects into the future, so when 'Nemesis' stopped to make money the franchise came to a screeching halt until J.J. rebooted it brilliantly a couple of years ago. What's your theory about why it was a stinker? Or was it a stinker? Some people liked it."

"I'm serious. It's all work with me… Except for this one time. Michael Dorn, dear sweet turtle head, is up on the, you know, back end of the bridge, and old baldy is sitting there and I'm over here and the beautiful and talented Marina is over here. And Dorn had in his hand, because for years he's wanted to do this -- raw egg. So he leans over the bridge, and SMASHES it on Patrick's head. Albumin everywhere. Yolk down that British face. That's a lie. That's a boldfaced lie. It never happened. It would've been great though, right?"

"You know how we use to get hit by phaser fire from enemy ships? And we'd all rock around and be thrown around the bridge, and Marina would be over in her seat, and when we got hit her hair would lay back and she'd look over and her breasts would be full, and I'd be over here rocking and throwing my self around like Riker, and Patrick would be sitting over in his captain's chair, the ergonomically built for his back captain's chair, which was stolen by a fan at one point… And he would all be, very stoic. And under his breath, I heard this many times (imitating Patrick Stewart), "Oh Jonathan… Jonathan… 25 years in the Royal Shakespeare Company… FOR THIS??"

Just as I suspected (and was told by other Star Trek cast members), Jonathan Frakes is a very funny man and a great performer. At one point, a couple of people were attempting to take video of him talking. He walked to the front of the stage, leaned down, and yelled - "NO VIDDEEOOO!" It must have been a personal request, because video was permitted for every other guest.

I went and got a picture with him after the Q&A, which was very rushed and taken professionally. I looked up at him and said, "I love you". He hesitated for a moment before saying "and I you". I felt like a really big creep, but I don't really care. It was great seeing him, and he is just as handsome as ever. I just wish I could have been less awkward is his presence.

C4 Comic Con - Finished (and Signed!) Captain Kirk Painting

Comic Con is finally over. I enjoyed it immensely while it was on, but there is nothing more exhausting that being in a giant building filled with people - running around to be one of the first people in line to see some of Star Trek's most celebrated people.

I was fortunate enough to get the painting I had done of Captain Kirk personally signed by Mr. Shatner. I was so excited and nervous, he had to keep asking me what I said when I told him I had painted it. He told me it was "very well done", however, and was really nice and somewhat shy/gentle about it.

Over the next week or two I will be posting pictures and/or video I took from the Q&A sessions - including Jonathan Frakes, Ethan Phillips, Nana Visitor, Chase Masterson, and the one and only - William Shatner. I will also be posting pictures of some vintage collectables that I came across (and now own) so check back! I will be very busy.