I bought a few small toys from a dealer. These guys were also at the con last year; they have bins full of minor character action figures for a buck apiece. I purchased a Raven figure (a wrestler) and a plastic sword (so I've been on a Highlander riff of late…) Another trip to The Room. Jayne popped in for awhile, so I got to talk a bit with her. She's a very friendly lady - or she just has a good pokerface when a man is oh-so maturely babbling next to her. Obviously, I'm hoping for the former. She came across as a very calm person, very well grounded. I found myself quite attracted to her. [I know: an attractive intelligent woman... and I'm only one of likely thousands (or hundreds of thousands) who feel that way...] 4pm: Collectible Card Games My next panel. I used to play Magic: the Gathering and collect the cards for other games, so I volunteered for this one. Maybe 3 people attending (Mr. Subject-Changer was there…) It was an okay panel, with just myself and the gaming room director speaking. All we really did is to talk about the games we've heard of. I had dinner in the Room. There was really nothing else to do until the Masquerade started at 8pm. Walking around the hotel, it was as I'd feared: the convention was depressingly under-attended. With the people organizing the con, there were maybe 100 people total. Before the Masquerade, Jayne had a signing. Pat, reminded of her TV commercial debuts by the program book, got a Crispy Crunch candy bar for her to sign (smart bastard). I still got two autographed pictures from her, so I was happy. 8pm: the Masquerade This was also just okay. The biggest anticipation was for author/fan Derwin Mak's costume… Derwin is known for his cross-dressing antics (at last year's Primedia he dressed as Monika Lewinsky, complete with cigar). He'd been explaining to people how he wanted to dress as Shania Twain this year, but left all his costuming stuff at home. :] Our friend Kriqor (he's living in Toronto for schooling for a few years) showed off his mini Maul costume, as at Con*Cept. It wasn't in competition, but it was still a hoot. Here came guest gaffe#2: GoH Chris Owens was supposed to be one of the judges on the Masquerade, but he still hadn't arrived. It was announced that he'd be there during the dance. By this time, Mike was off to make phone calls. He was incredibly bored. 10:30pm-ish: The dance After much dawdling, the dance started - and now Chris Owens was supposed to arrive about 11:20. If anyone actually had planned to come to the con to meet him, they were probably feeling very ripped off by now… Pat danced for awhile. I just sat and waited for the announcement of the Masquerade prizes, as was a longtime attendee, Andrew. He's a guy with a learning disability who comes to the con every year solely to dress as an incarnation of Dr. Who. Great taste, in my opinion. I chatted with his mom while we waited. Andrew's come a long way from the first time I met him in '95. He was too shy to finish a sentence back then. Now, he seems a lot more confident. More power to him! It was my talk with Martha that helped to galvanize my intent for the new web-site within a site, MSInformation. There were no room parties this year again, so I just went up to the room to sleep. Mike was already there, looking at the far more appealing flier for a convention called Toronto-Trek. Day's Summary: It really felt more like a Ghost Town than a convention. Some interesting chats, meeting Jayne - these were high points. Overall though, it didn't feel like anyone was having fun. |