The Fandom Gods were with us
Apr. 18th, 2004 09:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vivienStarfest, 2004
In which Vivien and Silveraspen meet Sean Astin, who is a nice guy. And much more handsome in person!
Silveraspen and I decided to check out Starfest, after our wonderful day there last year when we got to meet Michael Rosenbaum. And squee and giggle a lot. So we figured, while we wouldn’t be squeeing and giggling quite as much, we still wanted to meet Sean Astin. We headed there right around 11:30 and as we checked in, we found out that Sean was already signing autographs. Drat, we thought, the lines would be horrendous. We ponied up the money for the autograph ticket (which was twice as much as it was for Michael last year) and headed to the line. Which was not there. In fact there was so little of a line, we had to stop and regroup so we had a plan for when we got up to the booth where he was signing.
We were sharing an autograph ticket, so we were hoping he would sign my book, “A Hobbit’s Journal” that I got for my 12th birthday to both of us (I had the book open to the Samwise page). So we stepped into the line and waited all of 3 minutes for our turn. Sean took the book and said, “Oh, I love these books.” He then started signing to both of us, as I had put a sticky note on the page to be helpful.
I responded that it was something I’d had a long time, and then I spoke my planned words of “I was one of those picky people who didn’t love the movies at first, but through it all, you were always Sam, so thank you.” He said thank you back. Then I said that I loved the episode of Angel he directed and asked if that had been a difficult, since it seemed like a hard episode to direct. He said, “It wasn’t hard to do, it was just hard to get used to the set up of things.”
Silveraspen had this whole time been standing beside me and taking a very discreet picture, and Sean noticed her shirt (which said New Zealand, was black, and had the symbol for the All Blacks rugby team) and said, “Nice shirt!” She replied, “Thanks, it was a nice trip.” He asked if she had gone to New Zealand because of the movies, and she said no, she’d planned on going because she’d always wanted to, but the timing was good. (I was zoned out a bit at this point because Sean shook my hand. Which was very sweet and unexpected. Squee.) He asked Silveraspen if she’d seen the All Blacks play. She said, “No, I didn’t get the chance. Did you?” Sean then got this wistful, remembering look on his face, grinned and said, “Yes, I did have that chance. I saw them play in the Cup against Australia… they lost in the last few minutes! Damn!” Then our time was up as the next thing to be signed was slid in front of him, so we thanked him again and stepped to the side to take a couple more pictures.
It was a very nice encounter. He looked very tired, but he was still very gracious and sweet. And, I might add, much more handsome in person, especially sitting in the sunlight (the signing area had sky lights). Squee.
Sean's Q&A was very animated and funny, and he admitted he talks a lot if allowed, which was very amusing. Plus he also went on about how beautiful Denver was and how gracious and genuinely nice the fans were. Which of course made me whisper and giggle, "Oh Sean, please tell your friends so that if they get asked they'll come. Pleeeeeeeease." More on the Q&A, and more proof that the Fandom Gods were with us this day, when I have more time. I took notes. Lots and lots of notes ;)
One of the funnest parts of the convention for me is the people watching. Last year there was a strong Harry Potter costumed contingent along with the usual stormtroopers, Jedis, and Klingons. This year it was all about Lord of the Rings.
Here were some of my favorite costumes.
The
was a cutie, and the Aragorn-boy wasn't shabby. And they had put some work into the costumes.
This little
was so adorable, and very excited to have his picture taken.
I loved the
- the girl had done it with ric rac and hot glue. I could so do that. Hmmm, not too much longer till Halloween. Must start planning.
There was a dearth of Merry and Pippin/Billy or Dom pics in the dealer room. But there was
Mwah, I want a signed autograph of both of them! But I don't want to buy one, I want to be right there oozing into an incoherent puddle of goo as they sign it in front of me. Ah, if only....
In which Vivien and Silveraspen meet Sean Astin, who is a nice guy. And much more handsome in person!
Silveraspen and I decided to check out Starfest, after our wonderful day there last year when we got to meet Michael Rosenbaum. And squee and giggle a lot. So we figured, while we wouldn’t be squeeing and giggling quite as much, we still wanted to meet Sean Astin. We headed there right around 11:30 and as we checked in, we found out that Sean was already signing autographs. Drat, we thought, the lines would be horrendous. We ponied up the money for the autograph ticket (which was twice as much as it was for Michael last year) and headed to the line. Which was not there. In fact there was so little of a line, we had to stop and regroup so we had a plan for when we got up to the booth where he was signing.
We were sharing an autograph ticket, so we were hoping he would sign my book, “A Hobbit’s Journal” that I got for my 12th birthday to both of us (I had the book open to the Samwise page). So we stepped into the line and waited all of 3 minutes for our turn. Sean took the book and said, “Oh, I love these books.” He then started signing to both of us, as I had put a sticky note on the page to be helpful.
I responded that it was something I’d had a long time, and then I spoke my planned words of “I was one of those picky people who didn’t love the movies at first, but through it all, you were always Sam, so thank you.” He said thank you back. Then I said that I loved the episode of Angel he directed and asked if that had been a difficult, since it seemed like a hard episode to direct. He said, “It wasn’t hard to do, it was just hard to get used to the set up of things.”
Silveraspen had this whole time been standing beside me and taking a very discreet picture, and Sean noticed her shirt (which said New Zealand, was black, and had the symbol for the All Blacks rugby team) and said, “Nice shirt!” She replied, “Thanks, it was a nice trip.” He asked if she had gone to New Zealand because of the movies, and she said no, she’d planned on going because she’d always wanted to, but the timing was good. (I was zoned out a bit at this point because Sean shook my hand. Which was very sweet and unexpected. Squee.) He asked Silveraspen if she’d seen the All Blacks play. She said, “No, I didn’t get the chance. Did you?” Sean then got this wistful, remembering look on his face, grinned and said, “Yes, I did have that chance. I saw them play in the Cup against Australia… they lost in the last few minutes! Damn!” Then our time was up as the next thing to be signed was slid in front of him, so we thanked him again and stepped to the side to take a couple more pictures.
It was a very nice encounter. He looked very tired, but he was still very gracious and sweet. And, I might add, much more handsome in person, especially sitting in the sunlight (the signing area had sky lights). Squee.
Sean's Q&A was very animated and funny, and he admitted he talks a lot if allowed, which was very amusing. Plus he also went on about how beautiful Denver was and how gracious and genuinely nice the fans were. Which of course made me whisper and giggle, "Oh Sean, please tell your friends so that if they get asked they'll come. Pleeeeeeeease." More on the Q&A, and more proof that the Fandom Gods were with us this day, when I have more time. I took notes. Lots and lots of notes ;)
One of the funnest parts of the convention for me is the people watching. Last year there was a strong Harry Potter costumed contingent along with the usual stormtroopers, Jedis, and Klingons. This year it was all about Lord of the Rings.
Here were some of my favorite costumes.
The
was a cutie, and the Aragorn-boy wasn't shabby. And they had put some work into the costumes. This little
was so adorable, and very excited to have his picture taken.I loved the
- the girl had done it with ric rac and hot glue. I could so do that. Hmmm, not too much longer till Halloween. Must start planning.There was a dearth of Merry and Pippin/Billy or Dom pics in the dealer room. But there was
Mwah, I want a signed autograph of both of them! But I don't want to buy one, I want to be right there oozing into an incoherent puddle of goo as they sign it in front of me. Ah, if only....
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Date: 2004-04-19 09:37 pm (UTC)Kaity
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Date: 2004-04-20 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-19 10:14 pm (UTC)And, I'd be interested in seeing the picture of you and Sean Astin. If not here, then on HoE. :)
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Date: 2004-04-20 07:07 pm (UTC)Poor Aspen... I feel so bad for her.