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A Dog's Breakfast Screening and Creation Stargate Convention, 2006

November 16-19, 2006

Los Angeles and Burbank, California


by Michelle

Please don't reproduce this article without permission from the author. Images are for personal use only. Feel free to link to this article.

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Events I Attended

Thursday

A Dog's Breakfast Screening

Friday

Cliff Simon
Colin Cunningham

Saturday

Michael Shanks at Saturday Brunch
David Hewlett et al on A Dog's Breakfast
Tony Amendola and Obi Ndefo
Michael Shanks

Sunday

David Hewlett and Kate Hewlett
Torri Higginson
Jason Momoa
A Dog's Breakfast Screening

The late-breaking news of a screening of David Hewlett's A Dog's Breakfast (aka ADB; visit David's website) so raised my anticipation of this convention! Especially hearing that David would be there with his cohorts, and that they would have a Q&A afterward. The good news continued to build as Creation announced David and partner/producer Jane Loughman would give a short talk on the film during the convention. By the time I got to town, David was a full fledged guest at the con, as was sister and co-star Kate. I was so psyched!

My expectation of the screening was that David, Kate, Jane, et al would be hidden away watching us watch the movie until afterward. But, about 45 mins before the 7:30 pm start time in LA, David emerged from the theater to face the mob waiting in line inside the mall. Jane, Kate, producer John Lenic and his little brother Michael Lenic (who was David's stand-in and played the part of "Zero") appeared soon after. David worked the line like a pro, chatting with each group, shaking hands, talking on people's cell phones to their friends, posing for pictures... he was amazingly patient and seemed just a tad nervous to have to make small talk with all of us. Finally he made his way back to the front of the line, welcomed and thanked everyone, and ushered us all inside. That process took a while because he was foolish enough to thank each person for coming and of course that just led to more conversation, poor boy.

In the course of hanging with the crowd, I learned a big reason the screening came to be was that a fan named Julie works for the LA NBC news affiliate, KNBC, and had arranged for a story to be produced on the channel about the movie and how Stargate fans had come forward to help market it. So there was a camera man from the station interviewing David and fans and filming the crowds. Later at the con, David thanked Julie and gave her many props for helping make the screening a reality; he's since done so on his website as well. Such well connected fans David has! The news story aired on Saturday evening, and it was great! [It's now on-line at the channel's website, here.] David and Jane mentioned that such things really help when trying to convince a distributor that a product is worth taking on.

Anyway, I sat near the front of the theater so I'd have a good spot to take photos. The theater was pretty small, but it was full! I'd estimate over 200 people were there. David et al came down to the front and welcomed everyone and thanked them once again (that infamous Canadian etiquette!). Oh, and they were bursting with news they couldn't share about an impending distribution deal that would put the movie out world wide in some undisclosed form. [Since the con, David has revealed that MGM will distribute the film!] I don't recall other major statements, but then I was in a daze by then. Finally the lights dimmed and the movie started, and just the sight of David on screen got everyone going. It went on from there with literally hundreds of laughs at every type of comedy you can imagine, from slapstick to irony to scary darkness... At one point I got very worried about where it was headed, but my faith in David & Co. was not misplaced: it was a very clever, enjoyable movie. The performances were all wonderful, too, and it looks and sounds just beautiful, far beyond what you'd expect of an "indy" film. We understand John Lenic is to largely thank for that, for bringing in all that great Stargate HD filming equipment. My hope is that everyone gets to see it for themselves very soon!

After the movie David his team came down again to answer a few questions. David told us we had laughed in all the right places; he seemed pleased. The question I remember is someone asking how cold it was during filming, which happened in January '06. David said it was sub-zero Centigrade, and that during the scene where he was lying naked on the cold mud, Jane's big concern was for his future ability to father children, so she kept warming the ground between takes with a heater. Very funny. David seems like a real trooper in terms of physical discomfort, based on what he's done on Atlantis and on this movie! Everyone seemed pleased with the audience response, or perhaps just shocked by what geeks we all are. It was hard to say.

The Q&A was short because another movie was to play soon (the nerve!). So we all ambled out, only to find David once again chatting, signing, and taking pics with the fans. Jane tried to edge him away, but he kept going as long as fans were there. After a bit I snuck away, exhausted. I can only imagine how David and the others felt by then! It was a wonderful experience, but it left me wondering how David can keep up that level of fan contact as his star rises. :)

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Creation Convention

Cliff Simon

Cliff was looking healthy and handsome as always. He said it was strange to be doing a con only a few miles away from his home and his dog. He said at the peek, there were 22 Ba'al's. By the end of Season 10, that number changes. He's excited about the movies that are going to be shot next year. He has a "yes" on one and a "maybe" on the other, but it's a Hollywood yes, meaning no contract yet. He's heard that filming will take place in May and June of '07. He expects the movies to be really good story-wise and in terms of special effects.

Spoilers — highlight to read: The first movie will tie up loose ends, while the second will deal with time travel.

Cliff talked about a movie he is planning to do for former SG-1 producer Michael Greenburg. It's a CIA story set in Africa, based on reality, and Cliff will play Osama Bin Laden! It covers early meddling of the CIA in Somalia, and how the CIA actually provided Bin Laden with arms at the time. Greenburg is setting up his own production company so he can have complete control over the project.

Cliff also had a great audition the other day for a movie, a Sci Fi thriller that will be filmed in Bulgaria. He's hopeful of getting the part. He talked about why so much filming is going on in Bulgaria. Much of that work shifted from South Africa when the SA government stopped providing subsidies to films that were lying about their true costs.

As far as his favorite character for Ba'al to torture… he'd love to have tortured Claudia Black. But his initial scenes with Jack, where Jack refused to behave like a scared torture victim, set up the whole personality of Ba'al as someone with a smile and a sense of humor. He really enjoyed acting opposite Richard Dean Anderson (RDA).

Cliff got a role on SG-1 because Michael Greenburg was his friend and thought of him for a part. He read for a generic character, and then they created the character of Ba'al for him. The first episode he was in (Season 5's Summit/Last Stand) in the scenes with all the System Lords sitting around, that was rather an audition to see which ones should be kept around. Cliff watched all the serious performances and decided to go the other way with Ba'al, to make him more interesting. So he gave him some charm, had him give Osiris a look up and down, crouched down in his chair like he didn't care… and it worked for the character, so they kept him around.

He loves playing Ba'al because of his sense of humor, and he's able to add things at times as well. In "The Quest Part 1," he and Ben Browder came up with the Powerbar thing together, when Ba'al was hungry after being trapped in Morgan's riddle. In Part 2, there will be a bit more on the Powerbar front, and that was all sort of created on the spot between Cliff and Ben.

Ba'al and Adria never get a room, but Spoilers — highlight to read: in "Dominion", they get a cage together.

Talking about fun on set, he said since RDA left there aren't as many practical jokes. He said, "Ben Browder is a great guy. He's a great actor to work with, but he's a very serious guy. He's all work." Gee, that's not what we've heard about "White Noise" Ben! :)

Cliff moved to the US in 2000, from his home country of South Africa. He misses aspects of the country, but he never felt at home there. And now life is so hard there, with 80% unemployment and resultant crime, it's just horrible. I asked about the movie Tsotsi, made by Gavin Hood, who played the Russian officer in "Lockdown." Gavin Hood is a good friend of Cliff's, and Cliff went to visit Gavin and got to hold his Oscar for Tsotsi, which one best foreign film for 2006. Cliff loved the movie because it wasn't the cliché black-on-white struggle, but one of rich versus poor. And it does show an accurate depiction of how most of the people live there, in the shanty towns. It's why he won't go back, to see people live that way and nothing getting better.

Cliff told the story of being directed by Peter DeLuise for scenes on board a mothership. Peter asked him to have Ba'al react with an "Ah!" each time an explosion went off around him. Cliff told Peter there was no way Ba'al would react that way. Since Peter is an "actor's director," he finally relented. Even the camera man wondered at Peter asking him to do that!

Cliff has been a personal trainer and now trains at Velocity Sports Conditioning, where they train young people including boxers. He does that to keep himself sane and his mind off of acting and waiting for the phone to ring. He enjoys teaching kids swimming too. He was an Olympic-level swimmer himself as a teenager, although he got burned out on it by age 17 and didn't ultimately swim in an Olympics.

He got onto the stage because he was a gymnast and swimmer, and from there became a dancer. He ultimately was a principal dancer in the Moulin Rouge in Paris. Then he studied acting for four years, won a contest as Mr. South Africa, and made it onto a TV show there. So that's how he got into show business.

When he plays Ba'al, he is really playing aspects of himself. He believes in the DeNiro/Pacino acting approach, in which you pretty much play the character as yourself in order to come across as natural. There's a lot of his sarcasm and sense of humor in Ba'al. He plays Ba'al as if it were him in a world with no rules, where he could do whatever he wanted. He loves DeNiro and Pacino and of all actors would love to work with them.

That was it for Cliff until the Cabaret, and he was back for breakfast the next morning. He seems a relaxed and very able con guest.

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Colin Cunningham

Colin came out with much energy and enthusiasm, stepping down off the stage to give everyone a chance to take pictures close-up. This year is Colin's first experience with Creation cons and his first time doing cons in the US, which is rather strange. He's originally from LA but moved to Canada to go to film school and then for acting opportunities.

Sadly, we won't see any more of Major Davis in the regular run of SG-1, but he would love to come back for the movies. And of course he'd love to be in the fabled feature film if it ever gets made. He very much enjoyed his experiences on the SG-1 set, with the gate and other amazing props.

His favorite job is… "his next one". He also loves doing conventions, and is grateful to Stargate for that. He said Stargate is like a cold sore — the gift that keeps on giving.

Colin talked about many of his other projects and the strange ways he got them, including "crashing" auditions he was told emphatically not to go to because he wasn't right for the part, such as his small role in "Best in Show." In the case of Da Vinci's Inquest, he arrived in full make-up because they thought he couldn't play a druggie. He has learned to do his own make-up and small prosthetics and carries around a kit with thousands of dollars worth of stuff to transform his look completely.

Asked what got him into acting, he brought up on stage his best friend, who suggested he try out for some plays back in college. The poor guy did great on stage considering he's not an actor himself.

His favorite actors to act opposite on Stargate are Michael and Amanda. Amanda is just so good at the technical lingo, and Michael comes from a stage background. You can always tell when you're working with a stage actor — they're focused, they're used to going on no matter what. He loves working with Don Davis because he's such a blast. He was shocked when Hammond was written out of the show.

He feels the success of the show is due to the fact that they never dumbed it down for the audience. He asked the audience what they thought, and people named a bunch of reasons: it is contemporary to our times, the intelligence of the scripts, the humor, morality and life lessons, and my answer, lots of hot guys. :)

Colin then went through a slide show of pictures of him made up for roles over the past few years. The picture from "Da Vinci's Inquest" was amazing in that he looks like a long-haired, crazy drug addict. Nearly unrecognizable, and he did the make-up himself. It was a fun slide-show, with the backstories for each one.

He's had a lot of hair adventures, including need to change from blond to brown and back to blond within a several days while working on Andromeda. The Andromeda hair person promised the brown was temporary, but it washed out orange, and he had to bleach it again. He had to fight to get back $80 from the production to pay for his hair being fixed.

He told the story of how he couldn't remember his one line in a scene and how Peter DeLuise yelled at him just to break the tension, "Who did you have to sleep with to get this job!" It worked! he spoke a lot about good and bad acting experiences, and unnamed jerks versus nice guys like Gregory Harrison.

That wrapped up Colin's talk. He was a nice guy and a lot of fun. I got my autographs from Colin and Cliff and then had to skip the evening Cabaret because the cold I'd been fighting came on in full force. I visited the room of two new-found Atlantis friends and watched some Season 2 episodes, then retreated to my room with a package of Nyquil and a book. Sorry I can't cover what went on there!

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Michael Shanks at Saturday Brunch

Breakfast was rescheduled to a more civilized 10:50 am because Michael had to fly in that morning from Vancouver. We guests had enough time to get some food from the buffet before Tony Amendola, Cliff Simon, and Michael swept in. Michael hopped up onto the little stage platform, causing his shirt to ride up. To the gratitude of nearly all in attendance, he didn't pull it back down for several minutes. That little sliver of tummy is now recorded in many megabytes around the globe. Sigh.

Each actor spent 3-4 minutes at each table, with Michael always staying for a minute or so past the time the steward tapped him on the shoulder. Michael had been in Bulgaria until the previous Sunday making a movie for Sci Fi called "Megasnake," in which he plays a "reluctant ambulance driver." He said the experience was an adventure, but not very pleasant either from the filmmaking or life experience aspects. He didn't elaborate… He said the production company for "Megasnake", Millenium Films, is the same one funding the John Cusack film that was in production there at the same time ("Brand Hauser: Stuff Happens"). Michael just missed hanging out with John, his sister Joan, Hillary Duff and others at a piano bar one night, because he had to work late. Darn! "Megasnake" was filmed on the same sets as "The Black Dahlia" had been, but redressed of course. Michael mentioned at another table that one reason he took this role, without ever having read the script in fact, was that it would get him a new US work visa, so that he could participate in the upcoming pilot season in Hollywood. Otherwise, I don't think he's going to be a great publicist for "Megasnake," which is very honest of him! :)

He said he expected to have his two daughters in the Vancouver Santa parade the next day, but they were expecting torrential rain so he wasn't sure about the 2 year old. As it turned out, it was clear and cold that day and both daughters were on the float with mom and dad. I'm glad they weren't rained on!

As of that Saturday, Michael was one week into three weeks of filming another movie for the Lifetime channel. He had finished filming at 11:30 pm the night before, then gone straight to the hotel at the airport, slept from 1:30 to 5 am, then gotten up to get on the plane for LA. He had to head back that night. Poor guy! He was very much on form except for his slightly red eyes. And of course the hat was a giveaway that he hadn't had time for proper coifing. :) Regarding the back-to-back projects, he said, "My wife's pleeeaseeed with me right now," in a sweetly sarcastic way. He had two more weeks to finish the Lifetime movie and then he was forbidden by Lexa to take on any more work for the rest of the year.

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David and Others Discuss A Dog's Breakfast

The audience was treated to a brand new trailer for the film. [It's now up here at YouTube.] The first snippet was David dressed in nothing but a rubber ducky. The crowd went wild! Honestly, it was a great trailer that will leave people a bit spoiled but probably has to be done for marketing reasons. Then on stage came a smiling David Hewlett, along with sister Kate, partner Jane Loughman, producer John Lenic, and John's little brother (not son!) Michael. David estimated there were 250 people crammed into the theater with him standing in the back. He said to the crowd, "Just so you know, you guys are awesome." He talked about how he set up the ADBMovie.com site to get the word out about screenings and things like that, but the next thing he and Jane knew, they had a global marketing division made of the wonderful Stargate community. He thanked everyone very sincerely.

He introduced everyone on the stage. Michael Lenic had a very small (after editing) role in the film but was there every day working hard as the stand-in for David. John is of course a Stargate producer (younger than I would ever have imagined) and brought along the whole Stargate production machine to film the movie. He said Kate is the only person in the world who could play his sister and is a pretty good actress besides.

David recounted the genesis of the project being that they made a list of things they had for cheap. This included a David, Kate, and the dog. They had more grandiose ideas for movies that they hope to make some day, but they decided on a nice, simple comedy, along the lines of "A Fish Called Wanda" or "Faulty Towers." But basically money drove the decision of what type of story to tell. Jane said it also had to fit into David's four-month hiatus, from writing through completion of filming. Even more important, the house they filmed in was about to be rented, so they had to be out by the end of January. David insisted they start filming on Friday the 13th of January, I guess because he's twisted that way.

David referred to Jane as his eyes and ears on set, and she said there were times she was asking what she was right then: girlfriend, dog wrangler, or producer? David joked back, "I'm producing" in a deep voice. They seem to be very playful with each other.

They shot for 15 days, plus one more day filming on the Stargate sets for the TV show featured in the film, "Starcrossed." It was the rainiest January on record in Vancouver, so the nice little lake behind the house had made its way up to the back porch, making for very muddy filming.

They tried to sell the story to studios, who said it was great except it needed a helicopter and some naked women. :)

David said they were in negotiation for some really good news. He said, "Let's just say it's coming soon... world wide." [As noted above, this turned out to be MGM agreeing to do the world-wide distribution!] Jane said fan enthusiasm, which they could point to on-line during negotiations, made a huge difference. Jane pointed out the news story that was in the works for that evening, and David asked fan and NBC employee Julie to stand up and take a bow for making that and the screening a reality.

Someone pointed out there was a novel called "Starcrossed" by Ben Bova, which was a parody of a really bad science fiction space opera that Harlan Ellison had been stuck working on. David honestly had not known about that, though he tried to pretend he had. He finally admitted that meant he didn't have an original bone in his body, to great laughter. He said he didn't want to make fun of Stargate, but… He praised the music composer (TIm something -- sorry!) for doing such a great job on the "Starcrossed" theme as well as the rest of the movie score.

David and John Lenic said the most challenging technical problem of the movie was the crane, which they used for the exterior shots the last day of filming. It got stuck in the mud and started to roll backward into the salmon stream, in which salmon were finally spawning for the first time in 25 years. It was a big panic to move all the crew trucks out of the way to allow a tow truck in there to drag the crane out and save the salmon. David said from then on when he wanted something he would grab a fish and threaten its life.

Someone asked Kate what her big challenge was, and she said "working with the writer and director and actor," again to much laughter. She always laughed and got red faced after kidding David. It was really cute.

Someone asked what type of martial arts training David went through for the karate scene in the movie, which was a very funny question if you've seen the movie. David said he did take some Tae Quon Do lessons way back when, but by his description, those didn't go so well.

In response to a question he talked about filming "Grace Under Pressure" with Amanda Tapping. He seemed to have really enjoyed the scenes with Amanda. He said Jane was actually standing in for Amanda during some of the rehearsals. They filmed in a giant wave generator pool for three days. The first day was great, but with all of the camera men, grips, and equipment in the water, after a couple of days it looked more like "soup" than water. Jane talked about the scene where Carter is wearing just a bra or whatever, and in order to make Amanda feel more comfortable, Martin Wood said if Amanda has to take her shirt off, everyone does! So all the guys except David of course took their shirts off to film those scenes. David said when Martin took his shirt off, everyone went "Ahhh!!" in dismay. Hmm, I don't think I would mind that at all, personally!

David and Jane told the story of Mars, the canine star of the film. When they met him, he was scheduled to be put down because the vet thought he had hip dysplasia. So David and Jane took him home as a foster pet, to take care of him until they knew for sure when it was time to put him down. But after a week, he suddenly got better! David was a bit disappointed because the 10 minute walks had been perfect for him. :) So anyway they adopted him, and he went from death row to movie star. In the film they didn't have him do anything he didn't normally like to do anyway.

Kate spoke a bit about working on "McKay and Mrs. Miller" and how fun and new it was. She arrived after a red-eye flight, and it turned out they had changed the schedule so that was the day she had to do all the technobabble. So she was in a daze all that day. David was very grateful to Martin Gero for writing the part for her.

David talked about how when Kate was first getting into acting, she asked him to listen to her audition monologue and comment on it. Well, he was moved to tears by it in fact, to his surprise. So he told her it was fine. :)

Someone asked Kate if she had an example of where she paid David back. She said "for all the bad things?" and, quick as lightening, swung her right arm over and slapped him on the forehead with her open palm. And it wasn't a soft slap either! The audience went wild, and Kate laughed herself into tears. David sat with a long-suffering look. Apparently this is not an uncommon move on Kate's part, and David claims she did it once in front of the actor Christopher Plummer.

With that David thanked the crowd, which went wild and cheered the group off the stage.

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Tony Amendola and Obi Ndefo

Next up on stage were Tony Amendola (Bra'tac) and Obi Ndefo (Rak'nor). There were well matched both because they play Jaffa on SG-1 and because they are serious, thoughtful actors. Obi was very gentle and well spoken even if he did seem a bit nervous about the whole con thing. My notes are a bit sketchy on this one, so apologies for that!

Tony had mentioned at breakfast that he is doing the new play "The Pillowman" at the Berkeley Rep this January-February (Berkeley Rep). He warned that it is a very dark, strange play, though very good.

Obi talked about how he watched the other Jaffa including Tony to learn how to work the staff weapon. Tony said the one thing they don't want you to do during a fight scene is stop. Even if you've messed up, keep going because they will cut it together later.

Tony said his favorite episode was "Threshold" because Brad Wright wrote it and it dealt with the backstory of Bra'tac and Teal'c, and that it was fun working in the snow. Obi said he liked parts of all of them, but his favorite was probably "The Warrior," although it was filmed right around 9/11, and it was strange how the episode mirrored real life. He thinks Stargate often deals with real issues in an indirect way, and that it's great that we have a place to work the issues out in fantasy. Tony talked about how science fiction seems to be about the future, but is really about the present. It is about hope for the future from the present, or fear of the future coming from the present.

Tony's favorite part about being a Jaffa is the clothes. He wondered why he has to wear a cap and Obi doesn't, though! He said the boots are so heavy, that the good thing is once you take them off at the end of the day, no matter how tired you are, you feel refreshed. And, the clothes help give him the character, so he doesn't mind the discomfort.

A child asked Obi if he is named after Obi-wan Ken-obi. He said he was five when Star Wars came out, so no, but it was very cool to be a five-year old and have the same name as a Jedi.

Talking about practical jokes, Tony said there was the "Judge Rule" on set, which was "Never be down-wind of Chris Judge after lunch."

Tony talked about the audio book he had done and how it was a great experience, but you have to read for 6 hours a day, and after about 4, the words start to move on the page and you need a break. The one he did was called "An Unfinished Life," and it recently got made into a movie. He really loved the book when he read the copy he was sent, and that made him feel a lot of responsibility to do a good job on it.

Tony talked about meeting Chris for the first time, wondering if it was going to be easy or hard to make the Bra'tac and Teal'c relationship work on screen. He looked Chris in the eye for a moment, and said to himself, "this is going to be easy." He clearly loves working with Chris.

Obi has moved into directing, and is directing his first feature now. It's been great for him to expand his horizons. Tony thinks it's very important to have hobbies or other things to do besides acting, otherwise you are waiting around too much. He admires Chris for taking up writing on Stargate, and it grateful he included the Bra'tac character in those stories. :)

A woman asked about the big smile Bra'tac had when Daniel returned at the end of "Threads." Tony said it was genuine amusement on his part. There was Michael dressed in a sarong made of a flag, and Richard was joking about whether he should wear one, too. Some days are very stressful, but that was a funny day. Richard was doing takes of seeing Michael that were a surprised "Whoa!" or a more interested "Hmmmm" and it made everyone laugh. So that was genuinely a funny moment that he portrayed on screen.

Obi likes science fiction because as an actor he likes variety, and sci fi is great for that. Tony pointed out that with the big blockbusters, sci fi is no longer the outcast genre it once was. And by the same token, with HBO raising the bar, TV no longer has the stigma it once did versus films. Sci fi has a lot more respect than it did. Obi mentioned that horror films do now as well.

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Michael Shanks

Michael was dressed in the lovely black shirt (which made photography much easier — thanks Michael!) and was sporting a camo plastic bracelet that my in-depth photo analysis revealed as saying "Save Our Stargate" and "Keep the Iris Open". I wonder if someone at breakfast gave it to him, but I don't know. Anyway what a sweet thing to wear! The Canada hat was nice and didn't obscure his face too much. The lovely nape with longish hair was in full view, thank heavens.

The first question was about what he had been filming in Bulgaria. He explained it was a creature feature for Sci Fi Channel, not a particular gem, he had to say. He played a reluctant ambulance driver. He gave the "Okay" sign to show how clever he found the role. Not! He said, "Does that sound like fan fiction or what?"

He then talked about the Lifetime movie he was filming then in Vancouver with Ann Archer, and said he plays a bad-guy in that one.

Someone asked how he thinks Daniel Jackson has evolved over the years. He said in ten years you get a lot of chances to evolve. He's evolved as a person, too. When he started the show he was young and naive, and he's evolved from there too. At the start Daniel was a lot more naive and idealistic and "now he has a lot more Jack— um, a lot more Jack in Daniel." The last was in a deep voice and resulted to much laughter and applause. He said they made a decision when he came back to make him more action oriented. He's shedding the idealism. He's still the moral compass for his team, but there's a lot more reality involved in Daniel now.

Asked what is in store in the second half of Season 10, Michael thought about "The Quest Part 1 and 2" and suddenly said, didn't you think the dragon was sort of badly done? He did an imitation of the dragon hanging in the air and said he thought it looked sort of like a fruit bat. He hopes part 2 will show it better.

Quest Part 2 has some ramifications for Daniel that will last the next four or five episodes. Some of that was to cover Michael's absence for two episodes. He had asked for time off to be with his family, then ended up doing a film during that time, and didn't that make him a jerk? Very funny.

He said the last episode of the show is not what you'd expect from a series ender. Spoilers — highlight to read: It's very much a bottle episode in itself, and you get to see how the characters evolve over the course of the rest of the show— without necessarily seeing. You get to see how they will be in the future. It doesn't resolve the Ori storyline, since that will be left to the DVD movies. He later added that they explore a bit of Daniel and Vala at the end of the season in the sense that you see how they might end up.

Asked about finally meeting the Furlings in "200" and then blowing up their planet, he said they had been such a running gag in the production offices, they had to do it. The roles were played by "little people" and they couldn't move around very well in the costumes, but it turned out well. As for blowing up the planet, well, they'd done that before plenty of times so it was okay. :)

He said he wants Daniel to end up still exploring through the gate, not to have his fate tied up in a neat little bow.

As far as his future in the show, and whether Daniel and Vala would lead a spin-off, he said he doesn't think there's a "snowball's chance in hell" of a Season 11. They are past that point already. MGM has expressed interest in another spin-off, and he's heard that at Bridge as well. Brad Wright has said, "I don't know who's going to be doing it, but I'm sure it'll be great!" The last time he talked to Wright, he suggested maybe the franchise needs a break like Star Trek had. So Michael is not privy to all those discussions, but he knows there's a desire to keep the franchise going. The on-line game that's in development is a big deal for the franchise as well.

Asked if he ever reacts as Daniel now instead of Michael, he said yes and in fact that had already happened a few times that day. He mimed some Daniel reactions that didn't seem all that Daniel-like. But certainly he does find it harder to separate Michael from Daniel after all these years.

A child asked him how hard it was to do all those voices in "Lifeboat," and he replied that all those voices live inside his head anyway, it was just a question of letting them out. He talked about how little time he had to get ready to shoot that script, and that he would run lines as the characters by Lexa at night, and she would tell him if it sucked. So it was a work-in-progress effort, and he wasn't satisfied with everything, but he was very grateful to have been given the challenge.

He talked about his favorite episodes to shoot and also to watch as a fan. He really enjoyed filming the first five episodes of Season 9 because he was paired with Claudia and they had so much fun. He had a great time working with her and felt a lot of that fun translated to the screen. Filming "Prometheus Unbound" was also one of his favorite experiences, also for working with Claudia in a humor-filled story. As far as show mythology, his favorites are still "Torment of Tantulus" and "The Fifth Race" for the mixture of humor, drama, and mythology. "Heroes" was probably the most dramatic episode they've done. He loved "200" because it showed how many absurd ideas and conversations go on in making the show. He talked about how he and Ben switched roles at the last second for the Farscape segment, because they thought Vala would think of Daniel in the "Crichton" role. He liked it because they "got to take the piss" out of themselves. He also loved "The Lost City" as an episode in the Stargate tradition.

The fan tried to argue that "The First Ones" was a great episode, but Michael joked that swimming across a pond that was polluted wasn't so fun. The woman argued again, and Michael guessed she just likes to see Daniel tied up.

Someone asked what other parts he would enjoy playing, and he said he really enjoyed playing Thor. He has missed Thor but announced that Spoilers — highlight to read: Thor will be in the series finale, which was greeted with much applause. He imitated Thor then noted that he sounds more like Stewy from Family Guy than the old Thor.

Someone asked if ever watched Farscape. He said he tried before meeting Ben and Claudia but like many had no idea what was going on. Ben and Claudia explained the story to him on set, so he thinks he understands it now. It's on late at night on his TV so he likes to watch it and watch Ben Browder go "completely over the top" battling these weird space aliens.

As far as SG-1's cancellation, he has some sadness about it being over, which is relieved to some degree by the DVD movies to come. So that made the ending of the show much easier to do. But they had a great run, so much longer than most science fiction shows. So while he could be sad, he's very proud of their accomplishments. There was a nice round of applause to that.

As far as crossovers, he's heard some rumbling, and he thinks we'll see one familiar face over on Atlantis, but he knows it won't be him. [It seems he was referring to Amanda Tapping there.]

A little girl asked again what his favorite episode is, and he sweetly answered again that it would be "Prometheus Unbound" to film, and "Torment of Tantulus" to watch. Then he said, "I bet that was filmed before you were born," and worked himself into a state of depression at the idea. He asked her age, she said eight, and he told her he has toothpaste older than she is.

Asked about the DVD movies, he said he doesn't know much, Spoilers — highlight to read: but one is supposed to resolve the Ori storyline, while the other one, being written by Brad Wright, is about time travel-Ba'al-submarines. He doesn't know much and only found out the movies had been green-lit on the internet while he was in Bulgaria.

Asked about practical jokes, he asked how many hadn't heard the "cookie dough" prank that Chris played on Ben. Most hadn't, so he told it again, about how Chris left a poopy-looking blob of dough on the floor of Ben's trailer and how Ben reacted with complete shock rather than anger, as if trying to solve a mystery. The retelling was very funny.

Asked what he is looking forward to the most now that the show is over, he answered, for right now, spending time with his family. He's been given the ultimatum (by Lexa) that once he's finished this Lifetime movie, that's it for him for the year. If he does anything else, he will find his nuts in the blender. For the kids he talked about his cashews and how special they are to him.

Someone asked with all the technology they have, why does Daniel still wear glasses, even though it's very hot. :) Michael replied that he has one for us: In "The Quest Part 1," Carter is walking around with a Palm Pilot that can sense distortions in the time dilation field. Where did we get that from!? While they were shooting, he said, "She has what??" And how the heck could it tell where the edge of the field was. So given that level of technology, he doesn't have any answers to why Daniel needs glasses. He thought Mallozzi outdid himself on that one. This all in good humor of course.

He was asked, if he were to direct Stargate again, what would be the project and who would be in it? Rather a strange question! But his answer was Claudia Black. He and she are batting around ideas for writing a sitcom together. She is living in LA and he's been off in Bulgaria, so they haven't had much time, but he's looking forward to working on it with her in the future.

Asked if we will see Doctor Lam again, he said… Spoilers — highlight to read: We will see her in 2 episodes near the end of Season 10, in "Talion" and "Family Ties."

If he could play a bad guy in Stargate, he would play Cliff Simon, because he's so cool. To be named Ba'al and then be cloned into several Ba'al's would be very audacious. Michael found it completely absurd how Ba'al followed the team around in "The Quest Part 1." It was as ridiculous as Apophis out on a hunt for invisible birds in "The Nox." Michael said, "Dress for it buddy, come on!" It's amazing how Michael makes these connections in real time on stage, for the sake of a good story. But anyway he loves to watch Cliff play Ba'al because of his smirk and that he has such a great time of it and has made him such a fun character.

Someone asked what is going on with his and Don's plans to make the movie "The Maggie Rose." He said Don's been busy and they had to pass off the rights to the project, although it's still available. They estimate it will be a $7 million dollar movie, so there's the question of raising financing. He still very much wants to do it and believes he will some day, but he's not sure when.

Someone asked about the wedding scene in "200" and about the rumors that there were other versions filmed than what we saw. In fact the director did film some alternate endings, but that film is probably locked up in a vault somewhere. One of them was that after the ceremony started, the camera panned down from behind Carter, O'Neill, and Daniel to reveal Jack and Daniel holding hands. The audience appreciated that possibility. Michael said they actually considered putting it in the episode but decided that even with the storyline of "200" they didn't want to go down that road.

A woman asked if he has ever hit any fanfic sites on the internet. His reply was "Never. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever do I read fan fiction. Okay? For the last time, no, no way, Jose. Okay?" He said all this with great drama but also humor. She followed up asking what was the most outrageous thing he ever read about himself or Daniel, but he understood her to be asking about fic again and talked about a site he came upon that hosted Daniel/Thor slash fiction. He seemed fairly squicked by that one. For on thing, he said, it's impossible, Thor's got no genitalia. Regarding that pairing, he asked "What's wrong with you people? Take up macrame!" He sure made the most of that question!

Someone asked if he'd like to do another television series. He said he'd love to do a sitcom. His agents want him to do a 1-hour dramatic series, but he's not sure he wants to commit to playing the same character in a grueling 1-hour show. In any case, he expects to spend quite a bit of time in LA looking for work.

Asked about it, said the episode of MacGuyver he saw being shot in college was about a girl and a problem with teen drinking on a beach. Someone in the audience figured out from that that the episode was "Twenty Questions" from Season 6. Michael expressed great relief at knowing that. :)

He refused to tell what thing Daniel had just told Jack before the loop started in "Window of Opportunity." He said that's the one secret he and RDA will always keep a secret, the tease.

Someone asked about whether his voice will be in the new video game, and he said no, but one of the Australian game developers of the defunct first-person game met him at the sparsely attended Timeless Destinations con and ended up sending him 3 CD copies of the unreleased game. While Michael was at the con, he learned his brother-in-law had gotten it working at Michael's home, so he was looking forward to playing it once he got home. He wants to see what Christopher Judge sounds like when you shoot him. But the actors aren't at all involved with the on-line role-playing game. A little while later a guy asked if he could go to Michael's place and play the game. I think Michael could sell copies of that CD for a good price on E-Bay!

Someone asked about Sam and Daniel's relationship. Taking it purposely the wrong way, he said "Eww." But seriously, he sees it as a bit of rivalry, mostly collaboration, a lot of respect, and some gentle teasing. The fan mentioned how great it was that in "The Quest Part 1," Daniel stepped in front of Sam to protect her from Adria. Michael said Daniel would have done the same for anyone on the team in that situation, because he knows how powerful Adria is.

Michael has never met James Spader and doesn't even know if James knows about the show. He has met Kurt Russell though.

Asked who he hangs out with from the cast, he said he and Chris Judge see each other often and have a production company together. He sees some friends at conventions. Teryl is still a good friend, and he likes to see Donny as often as possible. One thing that became true was that after 10 years, most people's friends are also veterans of the show, like a closed society.

As far as a feature film, he believes the success of the DVD movies will in large part determine if there will be a feature film. He said Brad Wright has said if they don't get it done in the next year, then he will never be part of it because he's so tired of asking. But for now Brad is pushing for a feature. As far as Michael knows, Dean Devlin's wish to make more Stargate movies is not going to happen. The buzz at Comic Con was just wishful thinking on Devlin's part and an attempt to pressure MGM.

With that Michael's time was up. He thanked the audience for everything and made his way off the stage. As tired as he was, I think he was as "on" as I've ever seen him in answering the questions in fun and relevant ways.

Sorry, I was feeling too poorly to drag my sorry self to JR Bourne's talk or the Saturday dessert party, so I have nothing to say about those events. :( I'm sure they were fun!

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David Hewlett and Kate Hewlett

David and Kate shared the stage, while not surprisingly, David did most of the talking. A fan asked if his chair was far enough away from Kate's, so he reached his hand out to be sure he was out of reach of her palm. This was very funny, as was the whole session. David is very quick-witted and a natural up there, and Kate seems very sincere and a good sport for all the teasing. She's also really pretty!

Someone asked for an embarrassing story about his sister. He started to tell it, and she said she knew exactly which one he was going to tell. When he was 14 and she was 5, she came down to the basement to entertain David and his friends. She started moon-walking, but walked right through the chip dip, turned and screamed. To this day, his friends still ask how Kate's dancing is coming along.

I asked if Sheppard is ever going to be nice to Rodney, or if Rodney is every going to call him John. He said he might have called him John once by accident, but really you don't want them to ever make up and be friends too much because it's sort of a Moonlighting thing where it's more fun when they don't get along. Poor Sheppard has to listen to McKay talk all the time, then in one sentence he summarizes what McKay has been trying to say, then we see Sheppard leap into action.

David has 5 younger sisters. Well, two of them are "fake" or step-sisters as he likes to kid them. David was the first in the family to go into acting, and his father, a doctor, was worried he wouldn't be able to make a living at it. He had hoped David would go into medicine too, but as David recalls he was bad at school, bad with blood and just generally completely unsuited to it. His mom was supportive and encouraged him to go on his first audition by himself. He got the little part in a TV show. So his parents were a balance of "make a living" and "follow your dreams." David actually discouraged Kate from going into acting because she was very smart and there were so many things she could do and be assured of progressing in exchange for hard work. In acting you can work very hard and go nowhere. Plus it's a tough business for women. But in spite of all that, she went ahead and obviously has done well! He said he's very grateful to be getting paid to play a character he loves, that he gets paid for, and in which he enjoys the people's he working with. It's so rare, too.

Kate pointed out they both write, which you can do on your own and feel like you're working instead of waiting around for an acting job. David mentioned Kate has written a couple of plays, one of which is being performed in New York City. You can read more at Kate's blog. David asked her how she is sleeping. Apparently she is well known for having in-depth conversations about all sorts of things while she's fast asleep.

A young man asked whether, if McKay ever needed to be shot with an arrow again, could he do the shooting. Once David understood him, with the help of the audience, he did a very funny riff on "You want to shoot me?!" and "Security???" It's hard to describe but very funny.

David said he doesn't do a lot of practical jokes on set because he's so up-tight and has so many lines to memorize. Flanigan, on the other hand, seems to have more free time for such things. He told the story Flanigan had told at Comic Con about how Joe added heavy rocks to David and Paul's packs during a three-day shoot in the woods. Of course, teasing Paul is just part of the normal day and not even considered a practical joke.

Someone asked how hard it was to do "the walk" when he was playing a woman in "Duet." He said the hard part was getting rid of it afterward! In fact, Jaime Ray Newman, who played Cadman, was kind enough to hang out on set throughout filming. Often she was just off camera saying Cadman's lines so David could react. He saw her wandering by a group of extra marines at one point, doing sort of a sexy walk, so he took that and exaggerated it as Cadman's walk. The hardest part of doing that is just to lose any kind of ego, because you're going to look like an idiot.

As far as how he rates Paul as a kisser… Well, when Martin Gero first told him there would be a kiss between the two, he didn't believe it. When they rehearsed, David kissed Paul every time, only because Paul was so mortified. As far as how it was, first of all, it's always a technical process to kiss someone on film, getting the lighting right, etc. Paul was like an electrified fish, vibrating in horror. But David likes the unpredictability of Gero's writing, including the "Duet" kiss and the extra McKay in "McKay and Mrs. Miller."

"McKay and Mrs. Miller" was one of his favorite episodes to shoot, in spite of the work involved in filming the multiple McKays, similarly to Cliff Simon's Ba'al's, where you have to remember exactly where you were and where you were looking. For action shows, he loved "Runner" and "Lost Boys." For acting, he loved "Duet", "McKay and Mrs. Miller," and "Grace Under Pressure."

Someone complimented his chemistry with Amanda Tapping, and he said one can't lose with Amanda. For one thing, she's stunning as well as a fantastic actress. She has a great sense of humor and banter. He said there are some people who are beautiful, and some who shine. Like his partner Jane, Amanda "shines." She cares about people and about doing a good job, yet somehow manages to throw comedy in there as well.

Talking of technnobabble, David mentioned that Michael Beach of ER has joined the cast Spoilers — highlight to read: it was later confirmed that he will be playing the commander of the Apollo and that the part may be recurring. Anyway, Beach came in and on his first day of shooting had a scene with David where David had 5 lines and Michael had 4 pages of non-stop dialog. David offered to "help" him with all the dialog if he needed it. Well it happened that David got his 5 lines wrong every time, whereas Michael knocked out his 4 pages perfectly every time. A bit of a humility lesson for David.

As far as influencing the writers, the most he will do is suggest small changes to lines if he doesn't think McKay would say a certain thing. But as for the rest, the writers have been doing it for so long and are so good at it, there's really not a lot for him to say to them.

As far as stunts, he does lots of tripping and falling, and "arrows in the ass" but saves the dangerous stuff for the professionals.

The Creation guys generously offered to play the new trailer to the film again, and suggested they move out of the way of the screen. Kate agreed she did not want to see David's naked body projected on her face, because that would be too weird. The trailer was well received by the audience, with much cheering afterward.

Someone asked about the scene in "Pegasus Project" where Mitchell pulls out a lemon on McKay. That was all Ben Browder's idea, following up to the scripted part he had done with Flanigan earlier in the episode. David thinks the lemon thing for McKay is a nice, odd little touch that makes the character more human, and he's glad the writers put those touches in. But as for that scene, it was a very long walk and talk, a single shot, so if anyone would make a mistake, they would have to start it over. It was the end of a long day and David just wanted to nail the scene so they wouldn't have to do it again. So it was the end of the scene, and with no warning, Ben brings the lemon out. And David was just telling himself not to lose it, to keep acting, and that was the reaction David really had. Ben likes to throw people off, like in the briefing scene in "Pegasus Project" when Ben started to leaf through the mission folder in front of David, just to get to him.

Someone asked who talks faster, McKay or Daniel Jackson. David replied, don't you mean who looks better doing it? Then mumbled…Daniel Jackson. But as much as he complains about how much dialog he gets, he knows Michael gets a lot too, and once he saw script with Daniel dialog for page after page, and said, "They don't like him, do they?"

And that was the end of David and Kate's Q&A! I thought it went very well, and I hope he enjoyed it too.

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Torri Higginson

Torri arrived with her dog, Sedgewick. She is a very sweet dog, completely unperturbed by the audience or any of the goings on. She managed a nice nap during Torri's talk. Torri was very up and has a very cute way about her that is so different from Weir. Much more playful.

Torri adores working with RDA. He's a very warm, funny man. She told the story of how, when working with him, she messed up a line and used the term, "Oh, bugger me," which she said is a British term with no particular sexual connotation like it has in N. America. She said it once in Richard's company. He grabbed her and threw her against the wall. (Gently, I'm sure!) She was red with embarrassment. He's a trickster but a joy to work with.

She told the story of how she got the job on Atlantis. She had studied in England, and moved to Canada, then to LA on Sept 10, 2001, after which Hollywood sort of shut down for a while. The audition for Atlantis was her only won for the year, but she got the job. She didn't know the work was in Vancouver nor that she would be taking over for another actress in the role until after she was all signed. After thinking about it, she did watch the episodes Jessica Steen had done to get the backstory for the character. Brad Wright told her to play it her own way, however.

She feels Weir has become more comfortable with the sense of responsibility for the expedition, though she wonders if Weir needs a drink now and then. She's very grateful to be getting paid to play. She loves everyone she works with and believes they are all very talented, so she feels very fortunate to be a part of it.

Asked if Weir will get to go off-world in the next season, she asked the fan she meant Season 3 or 4, and the fan said any. Torri said, in Season 4, who knows? Nobody knows; they never know what's going to happen. But in Season 3 she does go off-world a couple of times. She thinks the boys are afraid of her when she pulls a gun.

A man asked how she feels about having such a powerful female role to play. Torri said she hopes Weir is powerful. As an actress she loves playing that sort of role, because there is a dearth of them in our culture. She feels proud of all the fan mail she gets from young women who appreciate the strength of Weir and see her and talk about her as a role model. The man said he loves her character, and Torri got a bit misty thanking him.

She did a lot of work on weekends while filming Season 3 of Atlantis — four short films, a feature, and she directed her own short film. The latter she said wasn't very good, but she did it to learn how to edit, etc. She is finishing a feature script and wants to seek funding for it once she finishes, hopefully in January. She'll do a couple more shorts as well. Those are her only plans so far to do her own work next year.

Asked which guy from Atlantis Weir would choose to go for, and shouldn't she get someone? I think the fan was pleading for Sheppard as the answer. Torri said she thinks Weir should get some nookie, for sure. But Weir seems to have some commitment issues, which might be partly why she chose to leave Earth. She said Weir and Sheppard would be complicated from a commitment aspect, since it couldn't be a short-term thing, though Torri wouldn't deny it's a fantasy Weir might have. She thinks Weir has a bit of thing for Daniel and also for Jack. And that she also finds the Wraith eerily fascinating. ;-)

Asked if she prefers Atlantis or the SGC, she said Weir would definitely prefer Atlantis. That's her place and her mission. As for Torri, she had so much fun at the SGC, and she didn't have to wear a red shirt every day there, so she might prefer it.

She has had some trouble with some of the choices Weir has had to make. She didn't agree with the decisions in "Michael" and didn't see how Weir went from being a compassionate leader to making decisions like the character did in that episode. But, ninety percent of the decisions she disagreed with at the time of shooting, later on she came to understand where the writers were coming from and didn't ultimately disagree. It was either a transition or some other evolution of the character. She thinks Weir has made decisions she (Weir) has regretted but that perhaps were the only choice she had.

I asked how she felt about all of the crossovers that are planned or rumored for Atlantis. She said there is a lot of talk about that. She thinks it's great, but knows there are two camps on the subject, for and against. But she thinks it's great because a lot of the fanbase overlaps, and the worlds overlap. It will be lovely to utilize the SG-1 actors and characters on Atlantis.

She was really looking forward to filming the fight scene in "The Long Goodbye" and thought she had three months to train with the stunt coordinator, Bam-Bam. But it was the world of television, and she next heard she had only a bit more than a week to get ready. Her stunt double and Bam Bam met with her on two weekends to get ready, and they ended up using all of her footage, which she was very proud about. Her favorite episodes include "The Long Goodbye" because she got to play another character and shoot a gun. Although, when she was first being taught how to fire one, she actually started to cry in a very girly way. She also really enjoyed "Irresistible" because it was so different. In the scenes where she was running across the balcony, she was giving an "homage" to Sigourney Weaver in "Galaxy Quest" by stuffing her bra and lowering the zipper a bit more in each scene. She's not sure how much of that made the final cut. She found "The Real World" a great challenge, with different rhythms from the usual Atlantis episode. She has noticed that most Weir-centric episodes end up with her acting by herself or with guest characters as opposed to the other regulars.

If she could write her own Atlantis script, she would love to see Weir show her negotiation powers, for example to make contact with a new planet and actually have a happy ending where they form a new alliance.

She talked about working on "The Storm of the Century" by Stephen King, and she enjoyed working with him a lot. He was very gentle and humble, although very tall. She talked about filming a scene where she is walking through a blizzard and screaming. The "snow" was made of bits of plastic and for each take, she would inhale some as she was screaming, then after the take she would cough and throw it up. So they put a garbage bag near the camera, and for eight hours she filmed and threw up. Ah, the glamorous world of acting! But in general she doesn't do well watching horror so finds it hard to film that genre.

As far as who she would like to see crossover to Atlantis and what she'd like them to do, she thinks it would make great sense for Daniel to be there because of his love of the Ancients. Jack was a lot of fun, so she'd love to have him there. She thinks Claudia would bring a different energy to the show. Torri noted the different energies between the SG-1 crew and the Atlantis crew. The Atlantis crew is in bed by nine while the SG-1 crew is out drinking every night. But anyway, she would love to see Daniel and then Vala cross over.

Her favorite desserts are Tira Mi Su and Banana Splits. She likes Tira Mi Su because you can taste the liquor in there.

Someone asked her favorite scene with each fellow cast member, and she said there is a (finally!) a great scene between Teyla and Weir coming up in "Sunday." It's them being "girly" and playful, and it was fun to see them interact on the same level, without a command hierarchy. She likes Weir and Sheppard scenes at the end of the episodes, where they sort of take a breath. Her favorite scene with McKay is any one where he has three pages of dialog and she has one word.

She doesn't think the character Michael should be a regular because he's too dangerous to trust. He's already switched allegiances several times, and we don't really understand him, and we've abused him besides.

She talked about how she went over to England to study to be a Shakespearean voice coach, but ended up really wanting to act, to study the language of Shakespeare. So she ended up getting a Bachelor of Arts degree. She studied with Daniel Craig (the new James Bond) and Ewan MacGregor, both of whom have gone on to great things.

She's in the middle of moving for the third time since filming wrapped so she barely remembers how the season ended, But she said the cliffhanger is Spoilers — highlight to read: not about Atlantis' connection to Earth. But what happens might affect that connection in an early Season 4 episode.

The most challenging aspect of playing Weir is to add some softness to the scripts that don't really allow for much. The writers are great, but they're all men, and so it's sometimes hard for them to write a strong woman and still leave in some feminine aspects. So she looks for opportunities to do that herself in the scripts.

That wound it up for Torri. She began to exit, and that's when Sedgewick decided to bark, to everyone's amusement.

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Jason Momoa

I'm sorry to say that since Jason's talk started late, and my plane was leaving in not much over an hour, I had to leave soon after Jason's talk began. From what I saw he was very big, very sweet, and had a California-style slurred way of speech that was quite endearing. When I left he was talking about his favorite fighting methods, which seemed very appropriate.

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Wrapping Up

All in all it was a great weekend, with the highlights definitely being meeting David for the first time and seeing his movie, and of course seeing Michael Shanks again, and in such fine form. Creation was as usual pretty organized, but with really very little allowance for spontaneity of any kind. Maybe it's a sign I've done enough cons, but the amount of money I ended up spending for the weekend really struck me as quite astounding. I felt Creation was especially expensive this time; $25 for a simple tee-shirt seems OTT. After announcing that David and Kate would be signing autographs for a "nominal fee" they ended up charging as much for David as for Michael Shanks. I don't blame this on David at all, but on Creation's wanting to suck a few more bucks out of fans, to be honest. I found myself skipping events I had paid for because I just wasn't that into going (in addition to being sick!). Bottom line is this might be my last "major" con report. Or, not…

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