had a blast at supanova! (part 1)

Today I attended the Supanova Pop Culture Expo at the RNA Showgrounds. It was a brilliant day! I had actually bought a ticket to attend yesterday but when I found out that Sean Astin would only be conducting a seminar today, I asked the lovely people at Supanova if I could exchange it for a Sunday ticket, which they kindly allowed me to do. Thanks groovy Supanova staff!

Anyway, I arrived just after 10am and discovered the pre-bought ticket queue was moving pretty quickly (hooray!) so it wasn't long before I found myself inside with crowds of people (of all ages) browsing stall after stall of comic books and anime stuff and other assorted fantasy and sci-fi paraphernalia. First stop was to pick up a copy of Sean Astin's book "There and Back Again" which was conveniently located right by the entrance. That's product placement for you! Bit of a scoop for Supanova to have the book available as I don't think it's been released anywhere else yet. Yeah, look at that pretty cover there. :-)

I had a quick browse through some of the stalls then made my way to the seminar area for the first speaker of the day, Jade Carter. There was a small crowd, which was great because it meant that everyone who had a question was able to ask it. Jade was lovely and warm, very personable and extremely chatty. When he finished speaking, a young lady asked him to come out for photographs which he was more than happy to do. I decided this was too good an opportunity to pass up, so jumped in line. Upon telling him I wasn't a "Jag" fan (the show he is best known for) he joked that he wasn't going to have a photo with me and walked away! *gasp* Lucky for me, he came back. ;-) (You can click on the image to bask in the spunkiness of Jade.. and see my foolishly grinning self.)

Jade Carter seminar snaps: 01 / 02

Next up was the boring part of the day - standing in the autograph queue for about an hour and a half. *yawns* Actually, I chatted to some lovely people also waiting in the queue, so that made the time pass quickly. Since you have to pay for autographs (!) I had to make a choice as I only carried so many $$$s with me - I opted for Sean Astin and John Noble (he was $5 cheaper than Sean and John Rhys-Davies). Unfortunately, because the queue moved slooowly at the end, I missed John Rhys-Davies' seminar, my only disappointment for the day. Bummer!

John Noble asked my name and shook my hand, and it was wonderful to enjoy a brief personal chat with the man who did such a magnificent job of bringing the difficult character of Denethor to life. A very charming man. :-)

Sean Astin gave up his lunch to sign for as many people as possible, as he had to leave at 3:30 in the afternoon. I said something along the lines of "yay it's Sam!" as he was signing and I think he snickered at me? Ah well, he seemed a little distracted (possibly rather autograph-weary) but it was still a buzz to come face to face with a hobbit! And he was kind enough to pose for a photograph with me (see below).

Do I look flushed? Heehee, I'll just put that down to hobbity good cheer. Moving on, I was getting hungry by this stage, so I ventured over to the Madman Anime Theatre to check out the Kamehameha Blast-Off! Contest. Apparently this is something from Dragonball Z, but to me it was just a really amusing session of people getting up on stage, doing some weird "power up" kind of moves, and hollering really loudly! Great fun and suitable lunch time entertainment.

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The afternoon session (including seminars by Sean Astin and John Noble, another encounter with Jade Carter, and some costumed frivolity) to follow in a subsequent post, most likely to be typed up tomorrow. Right now I want to watch Zoolander. ;-)

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