SLC Comic Con Chaotic Fun 2016 - Fan X Style

I figure I'd better get on this now before I forget some of the fun things that happened. This year I went by myself to Fan X, and it was an adventure. The first day even though it was amazing, was lonely, but by the end I realized I was still able to have fun without company. I ended up talking to a lot of different people throughout the day which was way out of my comfort zone. And even though I was socially exhausted by the end of the day, I was glad I'd opened up. Friday was a very long and busy day, but man I had a blast. And Saturday I cut short and went for a few hours, but they were some of the funnest hours of the con. So here's my adventure in pictures and stories:

Day 1:

This time I chose to do VIP, which is on the pricey side, but totally worth it in my opinion. I had a blast getting into all the panels I wanted and being close! My photo ops went really smoothly as well, with little waiting time, and I loved it!

First up was a panel with Peter Davison, who played the Fifth Doctor on Doctor Who. He was so sweet, funny, and a genuinely nice guy. He answered all of the questions gracefully, and it seemed like he was really enjoying himself (even if my crappy pictures don't convey that).

Next up was the Seventh Doctor from Doctor Who, and also known for The Hobbit as the dude with bird shit on his head, Sylvester McCoy. His panel was one of the funnest of the Con. He didn't do the typical up on stage panel, but rather chose to converse with the audience one on one. Someone offered him a Jelly Baby, to which he obliged. And yes he was THAT close to me! He's adorable, funny, and I want him to be my honorary grandpa. I love him!

                                    

    

Right after Sylvester was LeVar Burton. I was so happy I stayed for his panel! I almost left to go walk the floor before my one photo op of the day, but instead decided to stay. He was amazing and so sarcastic, which wins my heart every time. He looks so good, and you'd think most of the questions asked would be Star Trek related, but actually I'd say 75% of the questions were Reading Rainbow related, which was so cool to see. He even sang the Reading Rainbow theme song with a little girl and got the audience to join in. I caught most of it as you'll see below:

                                     

                                                           

After LeVar I had a little time to kill before my photo op, so I walked the floor and got me one whole picture. I seriously suck at this part! I wish I had a better camera than my phone, but my phone is just so much more convenient. Apple get on making a better camera! So with my one whole picture of course it's going to be Doctor Who related, and honestly, it's worth it, because they did an awesome job with their Cybermen. 

                                                                  

My final moment of the day was the best moment of my life. Not gonna lie. First a little backstory; way back in 1993 a little show came out that changed my life. That show was called Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Why did this change my life? This show made me realize that it was ok to like superheroes, to like romance, and that they could both fit in the same show at the same time. Dean Cain quickly became my first celebrity crush at the tender age of 12, and I soon had my wall covered with his pictures. Fast forward to 2013 when Salt Lake held their very first Comic Con, and Dean Cain was a guest. I flipped out accordingly, but was quickly bummed to find out that I couldn't afford to go. Then my best friend came up with free tickets, and I got to see him! But only at his panel, which I was fortunate enough to be close to the stage for. I had no money to get a picture with him, and after the Con I was kicking myself, because I thought it was a lost opportunity I'd never have a chance again for. I have never been so glad to be wrong. I was beside myself when I found out he was coming again, and the first chance I got I purchased a photo. Cut to this past Thursday, my photo op time came, and I was sooooo nervous! I mean I was about to meet this man that I'd adored for 23 years! And man was it magical. As soon as he saw me he was a delight. He asked my name, told me it was pretty, and then click goes the camera. He then told me he loved my shirt, and just had to point at it, and thus the perfect photo below. He was a total sweetheart, and I loved every second I had with him. I kept my composure the entire time, and even until I got home, and then I cried. Yep I'm that girl. At least I didn't do it in front of him!

Day 2:

Still on a high from the day before, I entered Day 2 with so much excitement. It was my busiest day, filled with panels, only to break for photo ops. This day is where the VIP really came in handy. It started out a bit rough as I was taking the train, and missed it. So I had to wait for the next one which made it super tight to get to my first panel, but I made it!

First up was the Paul Blackthorne and Charlotte Ross panel. They are both on the show Arrow, and they were both so cool and sweet, and full of advice. Charlotte even tried to act out a scene and wanted us to guess for an opportunity of a kiss from both of them, but the scene was actually cut out of the episode, so we all had no clue! Either way the video was cute and Paul was clearly terrified/full of awkwardness.

                                

         

I had a few hours to kill after my first panel and before my first photo op of the day, and I found that you can only walk the floor so much, so I decided to see who was in the Grand Ballroom, and it turned out to be Alan Tudyk. I was late to it, so I ended up sitting in the back, and it was actually the first and only panel where I had to watch the screens. I loved VIP!

I just have to say that Alan Tudyk is hilarious. I loved his panel so much,and I now have a new found love for him. I've always liked him as an actor, but his panel made me love him. I'd heard how great his panels were, and they weren't lying. So as I learned, he has what he calls his "Bag of Shit", and it's basically a bag filled with stupid stuff that he signs and gives to the fans that ask questions. Some of the items he gave away were: his left contact lense, a manilla envelope, part of his passport picture, a Bat Mitzvah card, a doily, a cover page to a script, and many other useless things that were essentially turned to gold by his signing them. It was a pleasure to have gone to this panel.

   


Next up was Summer Glau from Firefly fame, and many others. I wasn't really planning to go to her panel, but I wanted to get a good seat for the panel that followed hers. She's a really sweet girl, and genuinely seemed happy to see so many people there. She's so soft spoken, and very patient with the questions that were asked. They're not all winner questions, and it's interesting to see how each celebrity answers them. She did well.

After Summer came Uncle George! His panel I definitely didn't want to miss, and I was actually glad that I sat through the two previous panels so that I could get a good seat. George Takei is a gem. You could tell he absolutely enjoyed being there, and discussing his career. He also funnily enough had a chance due to a question to plug Taco Bell. And told us to go to the nearest Taco Bell after his panel and try the Quesalupa. Toward the end of the panel they let us know that we had just made #nearesttacobell the number one hashtag on the internet. We have power.

                            


Right after George I had my first photo op of the day with Paul Blackthorne. He was a sweetie, and asked me if I wanted to hug in our picture. Who could say no to that?

After my pic I then rushed over to Dean Cain's panel. If you didn't catch on before, I seriously love this man. He's not only hot, but adorable, gracious and just a really nice guy. I was able to sit really close to the stage for his so I could just look at him and swoon the entire time. Lots of questions were asked, and one got asked that I remembered from his previous time there, but this time I think we got a legit answer that I had no idea about. I guess the show ended after the fourth season because Teri Hatcher got pregnant, not because it was canceled. Gah! Dean also said that if given the opportunity to don the suit again to give us a proper ending to the series he would do so in a heartbeat. God I hope that can actually happen some day!

                                


                                

Right after Dean, of whom I did not want to say goodbye to, I had my second and final photo op of the day with Alex Kingston. You may know her from Doctor Who, or even ER as my sister does. She was so cute! I could see her willingly goofing with the people ahead of me in their pics, and I'm not very creative, so mine are usually boring (unless it's John Barrowman). Mine did turn out really cute though, and I loved having the chance to meet her.

And then to end the day off just right, I went to the the Ultimate Doctor Who Panel which was definitely ultimate. We had three Doctors and a Professor up on stage at the same time and it was magical. I had a great seat, and had the best time! They let us in really early which I was glad so that we didn't have to sit on the ground for over an hour. Instead we got to watch them set up the stage for the panel. Much better option I think. The last time they had the Ultimate Doctor Who Panel, I was unfortunately stuck in the very back and had to watch it all on a screen. I was determined this time to not let that be the case. So I jumped on the best seat pricing and it paid off. Having two Classic Who Doctors up on stage together with a New Who Doctor and his love interest was so much fun, and a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'm so grateful that at this point I have been able to meet so many actors from my most favorite show.

Day 3:

I didn't have a lot planned for Day 3, I had two photo ops scheduled toward the end of the day, and one panel first thing in the morning that I wanted to see. I decided I would skip the panel as that would leave me with a lot of down time in between, and like I said before, you can only walk the floor so much. So I spent the morning and early afternoon resting and gearing up for my photo ops. I had planned to take the train, but then I got a facebook notification that my first photo op had been moved up and I literally had a half hour to get downtown, find a parking spot and make my way to the event. Magically I did it! And then found out that my first photo op actually wasn't moved up, so I was a little peeved. Therefore I had some time to kill, so I went and walked around a bit, met Mitch Pileggi on the floor, shook his hand and he called me darling. It made me smile. Then I thought I'd go check out the dance party Joey Fatone was having at his signing booth. That was pretty entertaining for a bit. He interacted with all the people dancing and seemed pretty cool. I never did get into any of the 90's/00's boy bands so I wasn't flipping out like others my age around me were. But nonetheless is was fun to watch.

Finally I had my photo ops which were nicely back to back, and quick! I knocked two more Doctor Who actors off my list, which makes me happy. For those that don't know, I've made it a goal to get a picture with every Doctor Who actor they invite to the convention. So far I'm doing quite well! My first photo op was with Peter Davison, who was just sweet and shook my hand before we took our picture. My second was with Sylvester McCoy (my honorary grandpa) who by day three seemed to have let age taken it's toll. He was seated with a knee brace on, so my picture although I love, looks just like you'd think a picture with your grandpa would look.

While I was waiting for my photo ops I did do a bit of celebrity watching, and snapped a picture of Peter Facinelli and Danai Guirira (Michonne from The Walking Dead). On my way to my first photo op I walked right by Joey Fatone and could have touched him, but I didn't much care. And by the time I'd finished with my photo ops, everything had started to shut down, and you could tell it was the end of the event. It saddened me a bit. This is my home away from home in a way. A place where I can be myself and not be judged. So as I began my trek back to my car, I took a few photos that made me smile.

And thus ends another amazing event. Only fiveish more months until the next one!

The Best and Worst of the TV Revivals

So TV revivals are a thing now, and it's kind of awesome. That being said, we do only get a limited amount of episodes, and not all of the episodes can be winners. And sometimes, the entire season ends up stinking. And maybe, just maybe, someone will do a revival properly and perfectly, and it'll be amazing.

I thought it would be fun to dive into the revivals that have occurred thus far, and the ones that are soon to come. In no particular worst or best order, here are first the ones that have aired:

24:

In the summer of 2014 I thought we were blessed with the revival of 24. I remember the excitement at the fact that Jack Bauer was returning to kick some ass, and I hoped it was going to be everything the last season of 24 was not. I mean it got a flashy title of "24: Live Another Day"! Well I was disappointed. I feel like it started out alright, but then just went downhill from there. A shoddy and hole ridden plot line that once again placed Muslims in the villainous role of which we've become all too familiar. Along with poor execution of maintaining what was left of the characters we'd grown to love, we were left with Chloe who was now sporting some stereotypical punk look, and living the life as a hacker. And Jack who had been in exile for years, forced to come out of hiding and then immediately hunted himself. That is until they realized he was actually needed to solve our Muslim "problem". I had such high hopes, and they were mostly shattered. And I totally get a studio taking a gamble on a revival for one, and not wanting to give it a full season order; but I did find it odd that a show named 24 (because there are 24 hours in a day), with the seasons named "Day 1", "Day 2,", and the concept of the show being that every episode was an hour in that day, that they would only give it 12 episodes, and still have the same concept of one episode equal one hour. I really would like to know what would have happened had Jack had a full day, instead of half a day. But to top it all off, Fox is now in talks of giving 24 a complete second chance in whole, and it won't include Jack Bauer. Yeah Fox, that's not the way to go. Maybe just let 24 rest.


Heroes:

Here's another revival that got a flashy title: "Heroes: Reborn", and yet another revival that just didn't live up to the expectations. Much like season 3 and 4 of Heroes. I will give this revival some credit in that it started out strong. And it had Zachary Levi in it (be still my heart). But that just wasn't enough to keep the momentum of what could have been a really cool revival. Instead it turned into a lackluster mesh of messiness. With lame plot lines, story lines, characters, and they turned Matt evil! Why would you do that? I was saddened to actually be glad when he met his demise. The whole idea that the world was coming to an end so it was necessary to time jump the "chosen" ones to the future to save the world was preposterous. And if you were an Evo you were just out of luck. Or that was the idea, that failed miserably, along with the entire revival. Because in order to have a future, they needed the Evos to get them there. You can't have it both ways. And as happy as I was to have HRG back, and Hiro, and a few others, it just felt as if they tried too hard in some places, and just not enough in others. Clearly NBC saw that they'd made a huge mistake too, because they promptly canceled the chance of a second season as soon as the finale aired.


The X-Files:

This revival was one I was super excited about. I mean it's Mulder and Scully! And for the most part the six episode revival didn't disappoint. I enjoyed all of the episodes, except one. That's not bad considering the episodes weren't one big arc, but rather separate stories intertwining here and there for the most part. I adored the werewolf episode, cried when we lost Scully's mom, forgot and then was reminded just how much I love Mulder and his deadpan monotone demeanor, and just really enjoyed the return of The X-Files. Aside from the one episode that I thoroughly hated and some will say "well that's because it was lost on you", which isn't true, I feel like they did a pretty darn good job for a show that hadn't been on the air since the early 2000's. And with the way they ended what Fox is calling a season, we are left with hope that there will be more X-Files to come. I just hope that Mulder and Scully return as well, and that this wasn't a reboot for new characters, because let's be honest, the new characters weren't that great.


Full(er) House:

I had been looking forward to this revival since the day it was announced, I even took the day off to binge watch the season when it was released. Well needless to say that didn't go as planned, and I have only watched the first six episodes, and I'm not sure when I will finish. Long story. But I can report on the ones that I've seen and say that I am very pleased! Going in you know it's going to be full of cheese, the original show was, so why would this be anything different? You also know that it's going to be a family oriented show that you can watch with your kids. Granted there is some adult humor, but it's tame. And even through all the cheese, I found myself laughing out loud quite a bit. Watching the show was kind of surreal, this is a show I grew up with. Literally. It first aired when I was six (1987) and I watched until I was 14 (1995). I had grown up with the Tanners, and so to see them all back, was honestly surreal. I do plan to finish the season eventually, and hopefully my opinion doesn't change with the remaining episodes. And I'm quite happy that it was given a second season. From what I've watched, it deserves it. The show is not out to win awards, it's out to bring a smile to your face, and they succeeded.


And now onto the ones that will air very soon:


Gilmore Girls:

I could not be more excited for this revival. We've been needing to know things! And I hope they bring the answers. It will be bittersweet though as Edward Herrmann aka Richard Gilmore did pass away, and he will be greatly missed. I hope they give him a nice homage. And then we won't have Sookie there either. And I feel this is a big missed opportunity for Melissa McCarthy. Sure she's doing movies now, but even a little cameo would have been nice. Who knows, maybe it'll still happen? And as for the burning questions! Will Lorelei be with Luke? To be honest I was always partial to Christopher. I heard Rory will be single, so what are all the boys in her life doing back?? Will there be a "This is your Life" theme somewhere in an episode? I can't wait to see Miss Patty's and Doose's Market and Kirk! And Jess...mmm... Oh how I've missed Stars Hollow, and I feel quite strongly that this revival won't let me down. Please don't let me down!


Twin Peaks:

Ok so this is a show that you either love or you hate. I haven't found an in between. And I'm one who loved it, regardless of the fact that the majority of the time I had no clue what was happening. Seriously, this show was so far out there for its time, and even for now. Ninety percent of the show makes zero sense, yet it was still gripping and intriguing enough to keep my attention and realize that it's a masterpiece in its own right. Now with this being said, I haven't actually finished the series. I know, I know, but I feel that I've watched what I need to in order to enjoy the revival, but I also plan to eventually finish the series. Again long story. I at least finished season one which from everything I hear is the most important, and I'm about a third of the way through season two. I'll be honest, I see why it got canceled, season two just isn't as great even if it does have David Duchovny in drag. Either way though, I'm still looking forward to the revival I believe is due out next year, and I expect it to be crazy, nonsensical, and just plain amazing. And hopefully include David Duchovny, if his character is still alive...I guess I'd better finish the series to find out.


Prison Break:

I don't really have much to say on this revival, as I didn't watch the show originally. But what I can say is that I know a lot of fans that are pretty excited about it. And I feel like we've already kind of had a small Prison Break revival in the way of The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow if you know what I mean. Either way I know people are looking forward to this one, and I hope that it is everything they want and hope for.


If I have missed any other revivals that have happened or are going to happen please let me know! I'd hate to neglect a show...