The Musings of Adam Lawton

The day started out a little slow. By the time I got to the con floor which was around 9 or 10 there were a few people standing around, and the dealers were continuing to arrive and set up shop.

Not too long after Richard Hatch arrived and I was able to introduce myself. I got an autograph from him and he was kind enough to take a photo with me. He was also having an Acting Class the next day which of course I knew I had to attend, so I bought a ticket for that as well.

I saw Jerry Doyle wandering around a little later and he remembered my name from the night before. He gave me a big bear hug (one of soon to be countless) and asked how it was going.

Soon after both Virginia Hey and Gigi Edgley arrived as well. At one point a little while later I was walking by their tables when Gigi came up to me and introduced herself. She said she saw me walking around and told me her name was Gigi.. like I didn’t know! : ) Very nice and unexpected of her to do, she is such a dear.

Jerry came up to me again and asked if I was staying at the hotel. He said that he was having a room party later that night up in his presidential suite, took out his room key and showed me the room number. “Should be pretty easy to remember right?” he asked. Yeah, Jerry Doyle had just invited me to his room party..

WarEagle of the Wolfpack Elite boards also came up to me and said hi. He then pointed out Moshi whom I went and gave greetings to.

I went to some of the QA sessions, the first of which was Richard Hatch’s. He was talking about Battlestar Galactica, both new and old and his feelings for the new show. When he first heard that they were going to do a remake he was pretty upset, but once he saw what it was he was very pleased - along with anyone else who’s ever seen the show.

He showed the trailers he did for a continuation of the original Battlestar Galactica which took place 30 years later. Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming was the name of it, and though the graphics were a little on the hokey side it’s really quite good considering it was done around 1999. He also showed a trailer for a series he is currently working on, The Great War of Magellan. Richard is a big Sci-Fi fan, and he was talking about what he thinks of different studios in general. He made some really good points on how networks give the can to great Sci-Fi shows, Firefly being a prominent one that he mentioned, and pointed out how studios only focus on Neilsen ratings instead of merchandise and even DVD sales. Richard said as an example that if people could pay $10 a month for shows that they wanted to watch - rather than most of the shows on a given subscription-based channel most people don’t even care about - the show would still be on to this day. If a single episode of Firefly cost 2.5 million dollars to produce and only a million people paid $10 a month, well you can see that there is much profit to be made.

After Richard’s session, it was Virginia and Gigi’s turn. Even though I have yet to see Farscape (yes I feel horrible about it, but I will be getting the series soon) I wanted to hear what they had to say just because they are such great people. Though they did talk a bit about the show, they also talked about acting in general too which I found fascinating.

Later on was the VIP Cocktail Party. By this time it was around 6pm so I went back to my room to get cleaned up and sit down for a sec, then went out on the patio for the event. At first there was hardly anyone there, so a nice couple who I would later become friends with, the Ostenbergs, invited me over to their table. We were chit-chatting about the convention and sci-fi in general. It was pleasantly strange because a couple people came up to me and asked “oh you’re the guy with the blog right?” It’s always a blast when people know your name and you don’t know theirs. Just kidding! Not too long later Virginia came at our table right next to me and joined us. I forget how, but we started talking about computer security and Virginia told us that when Farscape was airing how “fans” would hack into her system for fun and move her cursor around and the like. Gigi and Virginia had to leave early for some reason, but later on Gigi came back - and then we went up to Jerry’s room for the party.

Again, not that many people were really there. I met Buddhaful and some others of the Wolfpack Elite, and also a pretty devoted die-hard fan of the new Battlestar Galactica who’s name escapes me at the moment. He was a Physician though and his girlfriend’s name I’m pretty sure was Andrea.

I was talking with Gigi again and she asked me why I didn’t have a drink. I told her that I don’t drink, and she really wanted to make me one. I mean, how can I say no to that? So I followed her and she made me a vodka orange snapple something or another, and I went back over to the sofa with her. I honestly only took a couple small sips, but just the fact that Gigi made me a drink is one for the books. She left after a while, and after partying for a bit I was really sore from standing all day. Uncle Jerry was on the sofa so I took a seat next to him, and the bear hugs were even mightier than before. He was pretty sloshed, and at this point I’m going to have to omit some details hehe. I really like the guy though, he’s very wise and has some great stories to share.

Richard was there too for a while and ended up spilling a drink all over the floor. He wasn’t hammered or anything, but it was pretty funny.

The party pretty much died down by around midnight and I ended up leaving at 1 or so. That was my amazing day, and stay tuned tomorrow for The Wrath of Con: Day 2!