Far Away, So Close - HAL-CON 2014

 

Greetings, Con Crawlerz!

Before I get into the meat of this month's entry, Gentle Reader, please permit me a brief biographical indulgence.

For close to four glorious years I lived life large, pretending to be a real, bonafide full-time independent writer, editor, novelist, videographer, and all-around busybody. And while this venture was supremely liberating it was also financially draining, eventually depleting my life savings down to a fraction of what it used to be. For the full story, please see the previous two-hundred and fifty one entries of this here bloggie. Assuming, of course, that you're particularly hard up for entertainment value.

This necessitated my tentative re-acquaintance with the reality of gainful employment. Mercifully I was lucky  enough to snag a part-time job just over year ago that actually dovetails with my interests for the first time ever. Subsequently I've been trying to sustain a precarious balancing act between my creative pursuits at home and working at this new gig at night to keep the lights on. In popular parlance this is often referred to as "burning the candle at both ends".

Well, color me horrified when my new place of employ took on a major presence at HAL-CON 2014 and blacked out November 7'th to the 9'th for vacation time. Ever since this event rose phoenix-like from the ashes back in 2010 I've played amateur journalist every year: video-capturing the Q&A's, producing a series of independent promo reels, meeting celebrities, conducting interviews and much, much more. For further details here are the links to my previous HAL-CON-related entries:

HAL-CON 2010/11        HAL-CON 2012        HAL-CON 2013

Although I was disappointed by this blackout I also wasn't surprised. Working at a place with close ties to my geeky interests was always an occupational hazard. Paradox would be a constant risk where obligation and intent were concerned.

Now, if I had a brain in my head I would have looked at the HAL-CON event schedule and tried to scheduled around some of my usual must-sees. But since this was the first year of the blackout I really didn't want to impose any restrictions on my availability. Besides I'd already decided that my attendance this year was heavily dependent on what guests they brought on-board.

As an ersatz replacement for the late, lamented Fleet Con, HAL-CON was always mandatory attendance at first because me and my circle of peeps used it as an excuse to play board games all day long. But now that HAL-CON was doing it's own separate game day I didn't have as much of a burning desire to attend the flagship event.

Or so I thought.

When the likes of Michelle Forbes, Kristian Nairn, Morena Baccarin and the multi-talented Mark Sheppard were all announced as guests I started to experience major pangs of ennui regret. Distracted by my work, these feelings went from vague nagging to full-fledged panic as the big weekend drew closer.

This desperation prompted me to compose a pathetic eleventh hour "Hail Mary" email to the powers- that-be to see if I could, at the very least, document some of the guests Q&A's for my YouTube channel. Much to my surprise not only were they totally open to this idea they bent over backwards to accommodate me. Needless to say, it's pretty awesome to be working for a non-authoritative / non-draconian work environment for the first time in my life.   

Knowing that my odds of meeting any of the guests fell somewhere between "lottery winner" and "lightning strike victim" I didn't do any research or come up with any hypothetical questions. I just picked up some digital video tapes and then bombed into the event the next morning, duly armed with my delusions-of- grandeur inspiring vendor pass.

DAY ONE: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7'th

10 am - 2  am: Worked.

2:45 pm - 3:30 am:   Michelle Forbes Q&A.

I was super-stoked to see Michelle speak. I've been an ardent fan of hers ever since her character Lieutenant (née Ensign) Ro Laren finally made Bajorans interesting to me on Star Trek: The Next Generation . Over the years she's made tons of new fans by playing the less-then-hinged Admiral Helena Cain in Battlestar Galactica: Razor and the walking aphrodisiac sex monster Maryann "the Maenad" Forrester on True Blood.

For anyone out there who risks losing their tenuous grip on reality if they watch something that doesn't involve aliens, monsters or elves: you're really missing out. Michelle has appeared in a bunch of critically acclaimed dramas, including Homicide: Life on the Street, 24 and most notable of late, The Killing. Plus if you haven't seen the movie Kalifornia, featuring Michelle, David Duchovny and a batshit nuts Juliette Lewis / Brad Pitt, then you need to rectify that shiznit A.S.A.P., son.

Beautiful in more ways than one, Michelle is one of those rare celebrities that seems completely devoid of pretension and totally down to earth. Despite having a rough trip to the con she was nothing but gracious, warm and approachable. Some guests claim to be excited to meet their fans, but Michelle really walks the walk. You can definitely get a sense of this as you watch her funny, informative and quite candid Q&A linked below: 

By rights I should have been exhausted by the time my work obligations and the Q&A were over but the collective energy of like-minded people milling around really sustained me. As such, I spent the better part of the day shooting B-roll video of the vendors, auction items, models, props, video games, pinball machines and my usual haunt, the third floor gaming space.

Later that day I bumped into one of my regular HAL-CON cohorts, Sabina. Jetting to the front of the autograph lineups and claiming the closest Q&A seats thanks to the newfound powers inherent in her shiny, limited-edition Warp Pass, she was having an absolute blast. By the time I found her she was just about to get her photo taken with Kristian "Hodor" Nairn.

"You should totally jump into the picture with me!" she enthused.

"Oh no," I replied. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" she returned. "I've seen lots of guest photos that have two or three people in them. I'm gonna ask to see if it's okay!"

Sabina sure has come a long way. When she first started going to these things she was downright terrified by the prospects of meeting celebrities and now, here she was, strong-arming me into a photo opportunity with the gentle giant from Game of Thrones. Was this glorious feeling of drunken entitlement merely the result of  her now-veteran-level con status or a side effect bestowed upon all Warp Pass holders? If it's the later, then I know why every one of them sold out in a matter of hours! 

Before I could form another protestation we cut through the lineup like a White Walker's blade through a Stark's carcass (Starkass?). Sabina snagged the requisite approval, resulting in the following historic photo:

Two funny l'il pieces of trivia about this awesome snap:

1. That look of shock and awe on my face is 100% genuine.
2. If you're looking at this and thinking "Wow, I didn't think Kristian would be so short" then you really need to know that he's SITTING DOWN ON A STOOL IN THIS PICTURE. I.E. he's a big boy.

In the brief time we shared with Kristian I got nothing but positive vibes from the dude. Happiness comes offa this guy in waves; just look at that genuine smile! Let's face it, he snagged a pretty sweet gig. He shows up to the Game of Thrones set, brightens up the place with his good karma, carries stuff around, never needs to memorize dialogue and gets to hang out with a lot of incredibly cool and creative people. Plus he's a master-class D.J. to boot! Indeed, Kristian is livin' large in more ways than one.

Later, when a few of my beloved coworkers were finished their shifts, we hung out together for awhile and played a tile-laying board game called Monster Factory. As soon as we started into it I began to suspect that Carcassonne designer Klaus-Jürgen Wrede doesn't retain a particularly vigilant legal team.

In the game players take turns picking up and placing tiles, trying to perfectly time the creation of their boss monster before moving on to spawn a host of minions. The gross-out factor makes this one perfect for kids and the simplistic rules turned out to be a perfect fit for a bunch of mentally exhausted, punch-drunk retail monkeys.

I stuck around for as long as my energy level held out which was around  9:30 or so. I left that evening feeling pretty content, having enjoyed a surprisingly-fulfilling day.

DAY TWO: SATURDAY NOVEMBER 8'th

I rolled in around 10:15 am to help my peeps set things up but then rushed off to document the:

11:00 am - 11:45 am: Morena Baccarin Q&A

As moderator Garrett Wang would likely attest, it was just a privilege to be within line of sight of Morena for an hour. If you think she looks incredible on screen in Firefly, How I Met Your Mother, Stargate SG-1, V and most recently in The Red Tent and Gotham, then you need to realize that she's even more striking in person.

But Morena isn't just another pretty face. She's shown tremendous range in such dramatic fare as Homeland and Heartland where she played Jessica Brody and Jessica Kivala respectively.

Hmmm, interesting.  Homeland. Heartland. Jessica Brody. Jessica Kivala. Co-incidence? Perhaps...

The other considerable compliment to Morena's unearthly beauty is that she's smart, sassy, self-depreciating and funny as all get-out, as her insightful Q&A will attest:

I get a bit morose watching this because I met Jewel Staite last year and I really wanted to meet Morena and get her autograph as well. Oh, well, maybe it's for the best. Standing in her presence I probably would have exploded like Ben Affleck at the end of Dogma.

As folks started to file out of the auditorium I remained rooted to the spot. Mark Sheppard's Q&A was up next and I didn't want to miss it. Knowing what I knew about Mark, I expected a pretty wild ride and he certainly didn't disappoint.

12:00 pm - 12:45+ pm:  Mark Sheppard Q&A

Unless you've been living underneath a genre-warded rock for the past two decades then I guarantee you've  seen Mark Sheppard somewhere. The first time I ever remember laying eyes him he was playing the pyrokenetic serial killer Cecil L'Ively in the first-season X-Files episode "Fire". Years later I marveled at his instinctive turn as the incompetent penny-ante minor crime boss Badger in Firefly and as Paddy Armstrong in the tremendous "Guildford Four" biopic In The Name of the Father.

M.A.N.T.I.S., Battlestar Galactica, Sliders, Star Trek: Voyager, Charmed, Bionic Woman, Dollhouse, Doctor Who: Mark's resume is so chock-a-block with sci-fi and fantasy credits that he arguably usurps Hugo Weaving's "King of the Nerds" crown. Speaking of royalty, his guest-starring gig as Crowley, the King of Hell and chief foil for the Brothers Winchester on Supernatural has generated so much buzz that he was elevated to the status of series regular in Season Ten!

Mark's been an accomplished musician ever since he was a wee lad growing up in London and this video certainly bears that out. Clearly he's comfortable being on stage and can work a crowd like an accomplished stand-up comedian.

So here it is, folks. Sit back, relax and enjoy what I consider to be the best HAL-CON Q&A I've ever seen: 

The Mark Sheppard Happy Smile Time Show™ ran a bit late so I had to scramble to get something to eat before my shift started. Pressed for time, I was forced to dislocate my jaw and swallow my chicken shwarma wrap whole like an anaconda as I ran back to my station.

2 pm - 8 pm:   WORKED.

By the time my shift was over I was beat to a proverbial snot. At that advanced hour all of the autograph sessions and panels were done with so I just crawled home, knowing that I had yet another long day ahead of me on the morrow.

DAY THREE: SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9'th

10 am - 6 pm:  TWERKED. No, wait... that's wrong. I actually WORKED. I got all of my twerking done the previous Sunday. Sorry.   

My obligations kept me pretty busy that day so I couldn't break away at all. By the time I was done, everything of note was long since been over so I just helped the guys pack up the booth and then hit the bricks around 7:30 pm.

***

So yeah, th-th-that's all, folks! No autograph-related meet and greets. No guerrilla-style interviews. No board games played. No writing-related panels. No cool vendor finds. And, trust me, there were ample opportunities for all of this plus much, much more!

The most painful omissions included missing out on both Kristian Nairn and Garrett Wang's Q&As. I also had to pass on Mark Sheppard's Sunday afternoon "Bonus Round" Q&A, which, by all accounts, was just as raucous and memorable as the first. Sorry, but that just sucks. 

Now, I don't want to make it sound is if I harbor any resentment towards work; quite the opposite in fact. The vendor pass I wore for most of the weekend gave me the freedom to come and go as I pleased. I didn't pay to be there; in fact I was paid to be. In other words, I was one of the only HAL-CON attendees who walked out of the World Trade and Convention Centre Sunday night richer than when I went in on Friday morning.

Besides, the onus was on me to try and get scheduled around these things a lot earlier. And even when I sent that last-minute request as an afterthought my employers did everything they possibly do within their power to help me. It's times like this when I think about all of the poor local nerds out there who would have loved to have gone to HAL-CON but couldn't either because they didn't have the cheddar or their all-too-terrestrial work/life responsibilities kept them away. 

Still, working through HAL-CON certainly wasn't my first choice. It was pretty painful at times; especially when my free-range friends popped by every once and awhile to tell me about all of the fun they were having. It was kinda like hearing your favorite band playing all of their best songs in another room while you're stuck working at the merch table.

If challenged to come up with an overarching central theme for this blog one possibility might be:

"We earn money to do things we want to do but often can't do those things because we're too busy earning money." 

Such is the irony inherent in our wacky modern work-a-day world. If I'm mad at anything I'm mad at society for making me choose between economic necessity and once- in-a-lifetime opportunities.

Here, let me give you another example. Back in 1997 my buddy Dean passed up going to a local outdoor music festival called Summersault because he "had to work". In doing so he missed his chance to see A Perfect Circle, Foo Fighters and the Smashing Pumpkins, the later being one of that particular band's last live shows as a cohesive unit. Now, I know what I did that day but I daresay Dean would be hard-pressed to remember what was so gorram important at work that required him to miss out on something so incredible and unique.

EPILOGUE:

If any of the HAL-CON organizers are reading this then rest assured that you guys totally hit it out of the park this year. After the "unlimited day pass" debacle of 2013 you more than made up for that little faux pas this time out. Trust me, I met hundreds of people over the course of those three days and literally everyone I talked to seemed to be having the time of their lives. Kudos for once again making major strides to improve the pedigree of geek culture here in the Maritimes.

EPIC VID If you were at HAL-CON this year then I calculate that there's about a 17% chance that you're somewhere in this video.

GLORIOUS CON FAILZ  Leave it to my favorite indie movie-makers @ Red Letter Media to take the piss out of the convention format by viciously skewering both No Brand Con and Chicago Comic Con:

"CONNNNN!!!"

Hello, Fellow Geeks and Geek-ettes!

On Saturday, November 12'th, I had the privilege of witnessing first hand the triumphant, full-circle resuscitation of Hal-Con: the Maritime's oldest Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror/ Gaming/Comic Book festival.  The con originally had it's start back in the Mesozoic era (i.e. the 1970's), but unfortunately it suffered a premature demise in the 1990's.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that I may have attended the last original Hal-Con w-a-a-a-a-a-a-y back 'round 1995 when it was still being held at the Ramada in Dartmouth.

I absolutely loved attending that event.  At the time I was collecting Magic:The Gathering and Star Wars Customizable Card Game singles like a rat on cocaine, so I was super-excited to have all the local vendors (and a few I didn't recognize) under one convenient roof.  I was delighted to see model builders showing off their geeky wares.  I had a blast browsing through boxes of scarce and obviously-well-cared-for comic books.  I was heartened by the sight of people playing traditional board games, which I'd tragically fallen out of at the time.  I was excited to see all of the creative, imaginative costumes that people were dressed up in, particularly the boisterous Klingon Kontingent.

Above all, I was super-excited to meet the actors.  I got a chance to listen to Dave "Darth Vader" Prowse tell some cheeky 'behind the scenes' Star Wars stories.  I witnessed Star Trek scribe D.C. Fontana thrill an entire room packed with people all wearing pointy ears and forehead ridges. I even enjoyed hearing Brian Thompson (who at the time was playing the Alien Bounty Hunter in The X-Files) rant about how the hotel's dry cleaning service had ruined his favorite white shirt.

So, that's what happened: Brian Thompson probably murdered all of the original organizers with his bare hands!

Just to prove that this amazing event actually happened, here are two game cards that Brian and David signed for me:

Before I go any further, I do need to give a quick shout-out to another mini-Con that occurred with some frequency here in Halifax.  Even though Fleet Con eventually went bottoms-up as well, it certainly helped to keep organized genre fandom alive in the region during those lean years.  Although nominally organized and promoted, Fleet Con did succeed in bringing together board gamers, Klingons, anime fans, LARPers, vendors, model makers and dudes who have a fetish for dressing up in stormtrooper armor.

 
After the original organizer packed it in, Fleet Con vanished like the Tardis.  Fortunately for us, however, some industrious folks were laboring away behind the scenes in an attempt to resurrect the venerable Hal-Con.  When it was first announced that the event's second kick at the can would be held on October 29-31, 2010 at the Lord Nelson hotel in Halifax, we we all super-excited.  

Indeed, Hal-Con was supposed to be the great geeky hope to replace Fleet Con for us.  Unfortunately the organizers failed to provide the most basic convenience which essentially dampened the experience for us rabid board gamers.  Here’s the (admittedly harsh) post-mortem email I sent to the organizers after it was all over:

“Well, with the 2010 Hal-Con now behind us I felt compelled to email over a few of my thoughts. 

I'd like to start by saying that just as soon as the event was announced myself and four other friends all rushed out and got weekend passes. 

Although I'm happy that the event seemed to be well-attended (and hopefully successful from a financial standpoint) we were all very disappointed that there seemed to be absolutely no open space where we could just throw down and play some of the board games we'd picked up in the vendor room.  When we rushed out and bought those passes we just assumed that there would be some space to play a board game, read a graphic novel, 'ooooh' and 'ahhh' over our vendor room acquisitions, check out people in costume or just sit around and gab. 

In fact, as far as we could tell, there were only three tiny little broom-closet sized rooms on the third floor for gaming which were already spoken for by preregistered players. BOOO!!!

Because we weren't provided any place to 'hang out' (I've been told veteran con-attendees refer to it as a 'Consuite'?), we really had no incentive to stick around.  In fact, a bunch of us had to go across the street to Rockbottom Brewery just to eke out a place to play some of the games we bought.  Oddly, we found that the late, great Fleetcon, with it's on-site snack options and proliferation of free table space was much more conducive to a good time (for us at least).    

All told, I only felt compelled to spend a few hours there all weekend (and some of my friends, even less).  In fact, I'm just considering my $45.00 entrance fee this year to be a donation. 

On a more more positive note, there seemed to be a lot of enthusiastic attendees, a good assortment of vendors, the central location was convenient and I got to meet Denise Crosby.  Yaaay!!!

Overall, I really wish you folks well and hope that my concerns are addressed for next year.  I likely won't be getting a weekend pass again because of this and the guest list will be a major factor as to whether or not I go at all.  Trust me when I say this: we want to keep supporting unique events like this in in our region, but alas, we're gonna need more incentive next year to consider attending.”

Just a side note: Denise "Tasha Yar" Crosby was indeed a real delight.  I got her to sign a photo for a huge Star Trek geek in our family, which gave me a convenient excuse to chat with her.  I think she liked talking to me because I was the only dude in the lineup who wasn't wearing pointy ears or grilling her over how her cabin number on the Enterprise could possibly have changed between Episode 3 and Episode 21 of Next Gen.  Instead, I just asked her if she'd been to Nova Scotia before, recommended a trip out to Peggy's Cove and then told her that she was awesome in Dexter.  She even gave her only button away to me!

Well, after the previous year's debacle, we reasoned that Hal-Con 2012 could only go up for us.  Despite our optimism, we could only bring ourselves to purchase a day pass.  And let me tell ya folks, this year the Hal-Con organizers really made me kick myself for being so conservative.  In fact, on November 12'th, 2011, Hal-Con launched into the stratosphere faster then a Soyuz rocket!  Although I look back and wince at the brutal emails we sent to the organizers last year, I really do believe that they took our advice and made some really astute improvements.   

After our traditional breakfast at Cora’s @ 8 am we rallied and ventured forth.  We left the restaurant around 9:15, which was a bit later then I would have preferred since the doors were supposed to open at 9 am and I knew it was going to be busy.  My persistently patient significant other dropped me and a friend off at the doors while my two other homies hoofed down to the World Trade and Convention Center.

Still paranoid that we wouldn't get a table for gaming, my line-mate got her media pass and then went straight through to try and secure a spot.  Despite the early hour, the line-ups were huge, but moving briskly.  After I got registered, I quickly rushed upstairs to the massive game room to locate my line-breezing compadre.  As soon as I saw the arena-sized space allocated to gaming, all of my trepidations melted away.  The Hal-Con organizers really went above and beyond the call of duty to provide ample free table/crashdown space for everyone.

As if this wasn’t awesome enough, the vendor section had been heavily expanded.  There were at least four, double-lined halls filled chock-a-block with boardgames, toys, shirts, posters, vintage collectibles, jewelry, dice, keychains, costumes, accessories, comic books, video games and I think I even saw a Spaceballs-brand flame-thrower.

I also jumped at the chance to meet some of the guests, chief amongst them Erin Gray, a.k.a. Wilma Deering from T.V's Buck Rodgers in the 25'th Century.  In my first blog about formative television I talked about the impact this goofy show had on me as a kid.  Despite the sometimes questionable merits of the production, I have Erin to partially thank for confirming my heterosexuality even at the tender age of nine.     

In addition to her role in Buck Rogers, I first saw Erin as Kate Summers opposite a very young Rick (nee Ricky) Schroeder and Jason Bateman in Silver Spoons.  She also appeared in such diverse fare as Magnum P.I., Murder, She Wrote and in the ninth Friday the 13'th flick Jason Goes to Hell.  In 1996, Erin established "Heroes for Hire" a talent agency which specializes in booking Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror celebrities for special events.  Pretty cool, huh?  

As she signed my Buck Rogers DVD I asked her if all the crazy weather we'd experienced the day before had interfered with her travel plans.  She told me that she'd been lucky enough to get out of L.A.just ahead of a nasty storm system and also managed to avoid the torrential rain and wind that had cancelled flights into Halifax the day before. She expressed concern for her daughter Samantha on the East Coast, since her region had also been hit pretty hard with power outages and flooding.

I also had a chance to compliment Erin's recent turn in Felicia Day's amazing web-series The Guild, where she plays a Wilma Deering-esque character.   

"Wow!" she enthused, addressing me and her assistant/agent.  "It's amazing how many people are talking about The Guild!  It's great!"

I thanked her, shook her hand and wished her a great weekend.  Proud that I'd managed to avoid any  Vork-like fanboy behavior, I gathered up my swag and went back to our table where the boardgames had already begun.

En route I also noticed local behemoth Robert Maillet milling around amongst the crowd.  Known for his stint in the WWE as "Kurgan" as well as screen appearances in Zack Snyder's 300 as well as Sherlock Holmes, Robert seemed to be reveling in the con atmosphere just as much as all the insignificant humanoids were who were constantly jockeying for his attention. I was tempted to go over and ask him what it was like to plow Tony Stark in the mush if I didn't harbor an irrational fear of a live demonstration.  

Also in attendance was human Valkyrie Drakaina Muse.  After signing autographs and posing in her stunning Crimson DK outfit, Drak gladly did her rounds, meeting fans and graciously posing for about a hojillion photos.  Her gregarious personality and large then life...um, presence, certainly explains why the French-born hottie has inspired well over 250 works of fantasy art.  Here she is posing with a wonderful Wonder Woman and L'il Thor, which I'm sure is how Drak would describe her spine after wearing this outfit for twelve hours. 

While my posse was finishing up a round of Mr. Jack Pocket and prepping for a game of Buffy The Vampire Slayer in honor Nicholas Brendon, I took the opportunity to get some mileage out of my last Halloween costume:

   
I started to walk around the convention floor, pausing every once and awhile to take a pic with other thematically suitable cos-players:

Man, Jean Gray's eyes are really freakin' me out back there...

My peeps also soon discovered that it's "not wise to upset a Wolvie":

  

After the Scoobies set the mood for Nicholas Brendon's Q&A by annihilating Adam in a rousing game of Buffy, a couple of us dashed off to catch the presentation.  With his natural comedic talent augmented by Joss Whedon's hilarious dialogue,  Nick effortlessly made Xander one of the funniest and most memorable characters on the show.  As it turns out, he's pretty damned hilarious even while making up his own lines!

We went to the main hall fairly early to ensure a seat and then promptly walked smack dab right into a Klingon Konvention, Maritime-style:

The local Klingon Assault Group was conducting a ceremony in honor of J.G. Hertzler, who played  Chancellor Martok in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  A few interesting facts about Monsieur Hertzler:

 

1. He seems to love the convention experience, even dressing up in full Martok/Klingon regalia for the presentation.
2. He was born in Savannah, Georgia.  Out of character he speaks with a very cool southern accent, which makes his original performance as Martok all the more interesting to me.
3. He's probably the most approachable con guest I've ever encountered.  He shook my hand on the way out of the hall and was even nice enough to leave most of my phalanges and metacarpals intact.
4. He has a wicked sense of humor, playfully cutting up Nick Brendon as his fans waited in line for his autograph.   "What is this person's appeal?" he demanded. 
5. Had funds and time permitted, I would love to have met him and gotten him to sign something.  I shant make the same mistake twice.  The dude is awesome! 

Eventually the Klingon Kombat Kore moved on, presumably to pick a fight with the pasty, frightened  Federation types wandering around and possibly annex an entire "Subway" location.

Nick Brendon's Q&A was fantastic.  Here are a few choice highlights:

1. Thanks to Nick, at least three female members of the audience likely left Hal-Con with a " baby in their belly".
2. Water bottles can strategically be used to cover up crotch holes.
3. While shooting "The Pack", Nick got pantsed on set by Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan. Yeah, guess who wasn't wearing their Underoos™ that day?
4.  He'd been to Halifax to shoot a movie before and even visited the Home of Confederation/Provincial Sandbar P.T.A (i.e....P.E.I.) where he stayed at a hotel with a golf course.  He didn't play golf but he did see some potatoes.
5. Joss Whedon actually wrote the role of "Captain Tightpants" (a.k.a. Mal Reynolds in Firefly) with Nicholas in mind.  Unfortunately, Fox picked up the pilot before Nick could leave Buffy, forcing Joss to cast Nathan Fillion in the lead role.
6. Nicholas auditioned to be on How I Met Your Mother but didn't get the roll partially because the producers were concerned about having too many Buffy alumni in the cast.  *Pfffttt!*...as if there could ever be such a thing! 
7. He was shooting a pilot when Buffy ended, so he wasn't on set during those last few days.  Although missing this farewell still inspires nightmares, he couldn't imagine doing it any other way for fear of being emotionally crippled.
8. One of Nick's consistent nightmares: not being included in an imaginary Buffy Season Eight! 
9. His reaction to hypothetically encountering a real life vampire:  incontinence!
10. He implored fans to keep writing to the producers of Criminal Minds to keep his recurring character Kevin Lynch...well, recurring.   
11. Voted "Hal-Con Guest Most Likely To Lose His Wallet".
12.  Snoopy dance!

 

     
After the presentation, we went straight into Nick's autograph session.  Understandably, after killing it with the audience, the lineup to get his signature was freakin' insane.  When it was my chance to meet him, I thanked him heartily for the awesome Q&A and then told him that my significant other would likely beat me to death with a sack of rusty doorknobs if I didn't get her "Once More With Feeling" soundtrack signed.  He laughed and signed both the CD and one of my Buffy comics.  

Back at the gaming table, Dean, Chad, and Malcolm had already plowed through a butt-load of cool games like Perry Rhodan, Summoner Wars, and Quarriors!   I managed to sneak in a tense session of the dice-chucking Love(craft)-fest Elder Sign.  Like its big daddy, Arkam Horror, players take on the role of investigators, trying to collect Elder Signs by overcoming tests and challenges whilst trying to prevent the Doom Track from filling up.  Unlike its parent game, this game actually appears to be winnable.

Hungry, tired and spazzed out from all the concentrated geekery, we eventually decided to push off around 6 pm.  On the way out we all agreed that the World Trade and Convention Center was a fantastic new venue for Hal-Con.  We all vowed to go back again next year, this time properly armed with two day passes in order to reconcile all the game playing, panel attendance, Q&A's, costume contests, vendor browsing, photographs and signatures.

Stellar job, Hal-Con organizers!  Please take this blog entry as a formal apology for my chippy email from last year...

EPIC:

My humble video apology/love letter to Hal-Con 2011:

 

EPIC-CON  Felicia Day attempts to lead her fellow Guildies through the hazardous realm of Mega-Game-O-Rama-Con.  I can relate.  P.S. Part 7 and onward features the lovely and talented Erin Gray!



FAIL Mercifully I didn't see any costumes as heinous as what's documented here:

http://costumefail.com/