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jamesqSaturday was the best day of CCEE so far, with only the faintest whiff of bullshit. But let's not dwell on that.
I am a little in awe of the huge amount of talented people at this convention. The costumes were gorgeous, the panel discussions informative, the big guests were uniformly funny and entertaining, and everyone I talked to was a joy to be with.
I managed to break my fear of talking to people long enough to chat (briefly) with several artists and get their autographs. I got a book from Jennie Breeden, Danielle Corsetto, Bruce Timm signed, and a print from Laurie B!.
It was only later when I realized that every single book involved nudity or outright porn. Which is odd since I kind of lamp-shaded it with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wendy_licious the day before.
Later I saw Q&A sessions with some of the big guests of the show: Steven Amell, Ming-Na Wen and Brett Dalton.
Steven Amell was the third celebrity at expo to surprise me with their normal voice. He sounds like Oliver Queen in all of the "Flashback Island" sequences on the show. He was funny and gracious and a good sport with some of the more outré fan requests. Best question/answer:
Ming-Na Wen and Brett Dalton were both fun. They bantered with each other very well. And Ming is a lot of fun, in total contrast to her Agents of SHIELD character (That's why they call it acting). Best line from a panel full of great lines? This one:
As an aside, I was thinking that Ming was astonishingly good looking for a 40-year old. Turns out I was wrong - she's 51. Damn.
Finally, there was the costume contest. It was a showcase of fantastic workmanship, even in the novice and youth categories! Like I said above - I'm a little in awe. And also kind of sad that I have no crafting talent whatsoever.
While the judges were off judging, they had an Iron-Costumer contest (which, if you're familiar with Iron Chef, you should know exactly what the contestants were in for). That is a great idea, and is exactly the sort of costuming-related shenanigans that will keep the target audience around for the time it takes the judges to do their thing.
I was taking crappy-ass pictures with my phone for the first quarter of the contest, until I realized that I was focusing so much on getting the picture, I wasn't really enjoying the costumes. Since there were professional-grade photographers all around me (I imagine some even work for CCEE), I decided to shut the phone off and just watch. If I want to see pictures later, there'll be better ones online than the ones on my phone. I'll know better next time.
After the expo closed, I grabbed a car2go and joined some friends for sushi.
I am a little in awe of the huge amount of talented people at this convention. The costumes were gorgeous, the panel discussions informative, the big guests were uniformly funny and entertaining, and everyone I talked to was a joy to be with.
I managed to break my fear of talking to people long enough to chat (briefly) with several artists and get their autographs. I got a book from Jennie Breeden, Danielle Corsetto, Bruce Timm signed, and a print from Laurie B!.
It was only later when I realized that every single book involved nudity or outright porn. Which is odd since I kind of lamp-shaded it with
wendy_licious the day before."I want to get a naughty book signed by one of the creators. Can I get you to stand next to me so that she doesn't correctly identify me a solitary, middle-aged, basement-dwelling, pervert?"All in all, it went smoothly, which says a lot about their experience with fans, rather than my level of nervousness.
"Of course."
Later I saw Q&A sessions with some of the big guests of the show: Steven Amell, Ming-Na Wen and Brett Dalton.
Steven Amell was the third celebrity at expo to surprise me with their normal voice. He sounds like Oliver Queen in all of the "Flashback Island" sequences on the show. He was funny and gracious and a good sport with some of the more outré fan requests. Best question/answer:
"Are you as good an archer as Oliver Queen?"I howled.
"I've been practicing since we started production, so I'm getting better. Steven Amell is not as good as Oliver Queen, but he's better than Hawkeye."
Ming-Na Wen and Brett Dalton were both fun. They bantered with each other very well. And Ming is a lot of fun, in total contrast to her Agents of SHIELD character (That's why they call it acting). Best line from a panel full of great lines? This one:
"Brett has the smallest bladder in the cast."I tweeted that and it ended up being the single biggest retweet I've ever written. Unfortunately, it (the quote, not my tweet) lead to a number of pee-related questions.
"What can I say, I like to stay hydrated"
As an aside, I was thinking that Ming was astonishingly good looking for a 40-year old. Turns out I was wrong - she's 51. Damn.
Finally, there was the costume contest. It was a showcase of fantastic workmanship, even in the novice and youth categories! Like I said above - I'm a little in awe. And also kind of sad that I have no crafting talent whatsoever.
While the judges were off judging, they had an Iron-Costumer contest (which, if you're familiar with Iron Chef, you should know exactly what the contestants were in for). That is a great idea, and is exactly the sort of costuming-related shenanigans that will keep the target audience around for the time it takes the judges to do their thing.
I was taking crappy-ass pictures with my phone for the first quarter of the contest, until I realized that I was focusing so much on getting the picture, I wasn't really enjoying the costumes. Since there were professional-grade photographers all around me (I imagine some even work for CCEE), I decided to shut the phone off and just watch. If I want to see pictures later, there'll be better ones online than the ones on my phone. I'll know better next time.
After the expo closed, I grabbed a car2go and joined some friends for sushi.
