vyperdd | Entries tagged with farscape

After thinking about it for months, made up my mind this morning that I am going to the 'All Hell Breaks Loose' SPN con being held in Sydney and Melbourne at the end of May.

Confirmed guests so far are Richard, Misha, Tracey and Jim. Interestingly there are still 2 guests TBA boxes on the sight. Am no way getting my hopes that one or both of them might be filled by SPN actors whose first name starts with "J" From everything I've heard around the 'net, there is very little in hell of either Jared or Jensen making another trip downunder.

Am still kicking myself for not getting into the show a couple of months earlier-- I started watching in June or July 09, even though I was aware of it for a long time beforehand. I even remember seeing the end of one ep, can't recall which one, but think it was season 1, saw JP and JA and foolishly thought "Oh, they're just pretty boy teen actors, not my type at all" Little did I know that they would quickly grow into amazingly gorgeous men-- definitely my type. :-)

AHBL 1 which both Jared and Jensen attended was held a few months before that. I have the con on DVD and have watched it heaps, but having gone to lot of Farscape and Stargate cons, there is nothing like actually being there in person, meeting the actors, getting photos and autos and perhaps even best of all, hanging out with fellow fans who not only share my obession but understand it as well. Love the fact that you can be in a queue waiting for autos or photo-ops, turn around to the person behind you, a complete stranger, and immediately start a conversation without having to explain anything and without being considered weird for being obsessed by a tv show.

Will only have to miss 1 shift at work (Saturday) and swap Monday morning for the arvo shift. Fly to Sydney on the red-eye after work Friday night, onto Melbourne Sat night before flying home Sunday night or Monday morning.

Have pretty much accepted that I'd have to travel to the US to meet both J's, which I really, really want to do. One thing in my favour is that it's looking really good for a season 8 which hopefully means more cons later this year and into 2013. I need a big lead-in time as flights to US from Oz are expensive, then there's accomodation and the con tix and all the goodies like photos and autos.

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: talk back radio

To say it's been a rollercoaster couple of weeks is the understatement of this and every single millennium that has ever been or will ever be. Lost my job, lost the little villa I was on the verge of buying, but found another job with better pay and superannuation and less hours in less than a week.

With absolutely no previous experience or qualifications I snagged a job as a console operator at a local service (gas) station. Been training this week and really enjoying it as it's totally different from the courier driving I've done for the last 20 years. I actually have to use my brain which is a very refreshing change from the almost robotic chore driving had become over the last couple of years. I'm meeting lots of new people and learning lots of new skills and the ladies I work with are really great, very friendly and understanding to the point of explaining things and procedures as many times as I need them to. Some things, such as the cash register stuff, came really easy as it's pretty much all computerised. Other things, such as the tallying up and reporting at the end of shift and end of day and the closing precedures took a fair bit longer to sink in.

But the biggest challenge is yet to come. Starting on Saturday, I'll be doing the 1pm-9pm shift solo. Thanks to the great training that I've been given, I'm pretty confident that I can handle the responsibility that comes with basically running the service station on my own. Di (who has been training me) and Sue (our boss) are only a phone call away and Di has said she'll even come in towards the end of my shift just to see how I'm going and if I need a hand with anything which is really sweet of her.

Other good news this week is that my Farscape 10th annversary t-shirt arrived from the US. Tried it on straight away and it fits perfectly and looks fantastic.

Taking the train down to Mandurah tomorrow to visit my dad and step-mum. They leave for a 12 month caravan trip around Australia in early May, so it might be my last chance to see them before they leave. Will miss them heaps but hope they have a great trip.

Current Mood: content
Current Music: Buffy, The Vampire Slayer on the TV

Interviewed by sunkrux

1) Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me!"
2) I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3) You will post the answers to the questions (and the questions themselves) on your blog or journal.
4) You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5) When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. And thus the endless cycle of the meme goes on and on and on and on...

1 - How'd an Aussie like you get into Farscape, since it really wasn't shown down under? ;)

A US scaper on an David Duchovny/ X-Files list I was on had mentioned the show a few times and when it was cancelled she was rather distraught. A tv station in Aus had just started showing season 3 late at night with next to no publicity. (This is the same station that showed season 1 at the same time a little known sporting event called the 2000 Olympic Games was taking place in Sydney.) It sounded like a interesting show. I'd heard of it before but had dismissed it as a kid's show because of Henson's involvement and the use of muppets.

We got chatting and I told her I'd give it a go. Had it on just in the background while I was on the computer, but it didn't really grab my interest. Told her the guy in black leather (Crichton) was kinda cute but that was about it. She said I had to watch Different Destinations and if I still wasn't getting into it, then she'd stop trying to 'scape me. So I turned off the computer and watched DD with no distractions and within 10 mins I was 'scaped. It's a brilliant episode and the ending, even 6 years and many, many re-watches later, is still as heartbreaking and shocking as the first time I saw it. As soon as it was over, I was online searching for other Aussie fans in the hope of getting episodes of the first 2 seasons. Within a couple of days, I'd hooked up with a lovely bunch of local scapers who supplied me videos of eps (I didn't even have a dvd player at that stage). Watched all of season 2 in one marathon session over a weekend. We've traveled to Sydney a couple of times for Farscape cons and still meet up for lunch every 6-8 weeks.

2 - How scared are you about buying your first home? (congrats btw)

Thanks!
Completely UtterlyTerrified. Have had many sleepless nights and angst filled days and it's still not over. I had thought I'd received final approval on Monday, only to find out today that yet another section of the govt finance department has to give the loan their tick of approval which will probably take another couple of weeks. It feels as if I'm on a rollercoaster with all the stomach-churning emotions to match.
I don't have any regrets though as I'm paying not much less in rent each week and at least I'll be paying off my own mortgage, not someone else's.
I just want all the frellin' red tape and crap to be over and done with, get packing and move on in.

3 - What is your favorite comfort food?

mashed potato with lots of butter and lemon pepper

4 - What is your favorite childhood tv show?

The original Battlestar Galactica. Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) was my first tv crush.

5 - If you won tons of money, as in enough to never have to work again, would you quit work?

Hell yeah!!!!! At least for a few years in which I would travel to every place I've always wanted to visit and attend heaps of cons all over the planet. I would probably go back to work at some stage and enjoy it a lot more as I wouldn't be relying on the wage to put a roof over my head and food on the table.

The Good:

My dvds of the 2005 and 2006 Farscape cons in Burbank arrived on Friday. Am still waiting for 2007 but it's on back order.As much as I wanted to, I couldn't sit down and watch them straight away as I was hosting a Nutrimetics (cosmetic/skin care) party that night. Finally watched them at almost midnight after way too many glasses of wine. And it was well worth the wait to see Ben Browder do his 2006 Q&A in a bunny suit. I kid you not!

That man has no shame, which is probably one of the reasons I adore him so much both as an actor and an ordinary guy.

Will have to watch it again I can't remember a lot of the question and Ben's answers as I was too busy rolling around on my bed giggling and trying not to spill my wine. But the bits I can remember were an absolute blast.

The bad:

Had my passport photos done yesterday and they're nearly as bad as my driver's licence photo. Why do these things always look like mug shots and bad ones at that??

Oh, well at least it's over and done with. Can put my passport application in now and cross another thing off my very, very long must-do list.

Current Mood: awake

Have set this up so I'll have somewhere to post my pics from the Armageddon con in Melbourne & the Farscape con in Burbank in November '08. Figure I might as well add the odd thought along the way to keep people up to date with all the trials, tribulations and revelations of planning my very first overseas trip, from herein known as the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. Hopefully, there will be plenty of the first, only a few of the second and none of the third but I know I ain't that lucky.

A little bit of history:

Back in late February '08, I got the crazy idea that I could afford to take 2 weeks off work, save all my cents and dollars and fly to Los Angeles for a 3 day Farscape convention known either as Burbank or (my fav) the 2nd Frelling Farewell. Get to meet the cast, catch up with some friends from the East coast of Oz and the US I first met at TaScape '04 and Ozscape '05 and spend 3 wild days and nights hanging out with a heap of 'scapers from all over the world.

The idea was all Mark's fault. He's also going to Burbank and I don't know whether to kiss him or kill him when I see him in LA. Will probably do both. <g> He issued an invite to all Aussie scapers to join a pilgrimage to LA and invade the Burbank Farscape con, saying the Perthies (of which I'm one) had gotten ourselves all organised. By the time I found out that in fact only 2 other Perthies were making the trip, I was too hyped up to even consider not going and so here I am on the verge of spending an obscene amount of money.

And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I got a Google alert that Michael Shanks is appearing at Armaggedon '08 in Melbourne on Nov 1 & 2, the same weekend I'm flying to LA, so what was originally a few hours stopover on Sunday in Melbourne turns into a Fri night red-eye from Perth, a 2 day con experience and more pain for my already abused credit card.

The good:
Booked my Perth to Melbourne red-eye flight last night as I was worried that the cheap early morning seats would sell out and I would arrive too late Sat morning in Melbourne. I'll get into Melbourne at 5am. Figure I'll hit the Curves gym for a 45 minute workout on the way to my hotel as it's likely to be my only bit of spare time for the following 2 weeks.

Visited the travel agent tonight and got a really good price on the Melbourne-LA-Perth legs, so will be booking them on Saturday morning. Prices are set to rise come Monday, so looks like I got in just in time to save a few hundred bucks, which is always a good thing, especially considering how much I've already spent on the Burbank con tickets so far. Let's see: 1 gold ticket package (which includes a Friday night cabaret and Saturday evening dessert party with some of the cast), Sat afternoon cocktails with Claudia Black, Sunday morning breakfast with Ben Browder, Autographs and photo ops with Ben and Claudia.

And what I'm planning on spending to see Michael Shanks and David Hewlett at Armaggedon in Melbourne Nov 1 & 2: 2 day pass, autos and photos with Michael and David, dinner with Michael.

The bad:
Only just realised tonight that 1 & 2 November is the weekend before the Melbourne Cup ( a horse race for those not in the know, also known as the race that stops a nation) and therefore hotel prices skyrocket and become rarer than hen's teeth, which means I'll have to book somewhere sooner rather than later.