Starfury Report Serenity LA November 2-4, 2007 Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin, Ron Glass, Jonathan Woodward, Mark Sheppard, Nectar Rose, Christina Hendricks and Yan Feldman
This is just a quick recap. Overall I am very happy with the event. There are always glitches and things you wish were a little different but overall I give this a B+. It was held at a club so that in itself makes it different. The Browncoat Passholders sat at round tables so walking among them for the talks was not easy. That I will blame for the lack of questions at this event. It made things much more difficult for the BDHs. They were all wonderful. I really can't say enough how wonderful I think Jonathan is at these events. He has fun and wants you to have fun as well. He is an entertainer. Not sure about the whole drinking all the time bit. Not sure if it’s his stage persona or the real Jonathan. But I see a good soul, a good heart and a real good person in Jonathan Woodward. So the fact that I bought the Alliance pass to party with Jonathan was really the event I was looking forward to. I was ticket #1 for the party with Jonathan. I give Jonathan an A+. He is just a doll and a sweetheart and he never stops trying to make sure you are having a good time. Aside from the continuous drinking I see no negative where Jonathan is concerned. It was great seeing Jewel again she is sooo beautiful it makes my eyes hurt just looking at her she is gorgeous and fun. Matty was there and he is a hoot. Morena, Ron, Adam, Mark, Yan, Christina, Nectar were all there as well. Nectar Rose is just adorable. She is beautiful, sweet, fun and great at giving talks. Besides hanging with Jonathan my other favorite moment was watching Nathan walk up to the club as we were returning from lunch. We were late for the girl’s panel. I see Nathan and I just stop and wait for him to approach. He says, "Hi ladies" and walks in. Saxon said he asked the door guy if he could go in. My brain went missing so I didn't catch that. I love my Captain.
***More Detailed Starfury Report***
I have wanted to go to a Starfury Convention for the longest time, ever since the first Firefly Convention took place in the UK. As soon as I heard about it I bought a ticket. I remember hearing that the link to buy tickets was on. I was at work went to lunch and bought 3 Alliance passes. I wanted to party with Jonathan Woodward. That was the main thing I was looking forward to. I really thought it would sell out. However some folks already had their Browncoat Cruise tickets and then Creation started selling tickets for a Firefly/Serenity Tribute. Too many choices, I chose Starfury. Jonathan and Mark spent a lot of time with fans at B3 the year before and Sean Harry has done so much having these Cons on a regular basis I wanted to go as a thank you for all they have done for the fans.
Thursday
I was absolutely flying high Thursday at work. I had gone for one day to Creation and had a blast so I was now even more excited for Starfury. I had to drive to Hollywood from Anaheim in rush hour traffic. They would only be there until 8pm. I arrived at 7:45pm. I was in a tizzy by then. I parked right in front. I ran inside and saw Saxon and Wyobar and gave them a big hug. Then I asked, "Where is registration?" and I made my way to the back. I was out of breath and my mind was missing. A couple of the girls knew me from B3 and said my name. It was nice to see them again. I picked up all 3 tickets and left. I gave Tribbelynn a ride to Glendale by taking the scenic route, which means I went the wrong way, the long way and that is a great adventure in and of itself. Let’s me just say that the sign Exit Do Not Enter is actually a very helpful sign. :-) The dinner with JenskiJen was nice. We talked about the differences in Australia and the US. We talked about Creation the weekend before and other things in general. It was nice to see JenskiJen, James and FireflyLynn again. There were a few SoCal Browncoats like Brian who was not joining us for Starfury.
Friday
Apparently there was more registration in the morning, the first talk was at 1:30pm so I had a lovely slow Friday morning. I took my sister Carol. The Element is a club so there was a bar to the right as you enter. There were tables in front of the stage for Browncoat Passholders. Alliance Passholders had to sit off to the side or way in the back. In total there were about 200 maybe more maybe less. The way things were done was photo sessions and then talks. I was still debating getting a photo op. The Schedule was as follows:
· 10:30am Main Hall Opens
· 1:00pm Photo Ops Ron Glass
· 1:30pm Talk Yan Rafael and Nectar Rose
· 2:30pm Photo Ops with Yan Feldman, Nectar Rose and Jonathan
· 3:00pm Talk Ron Glass
· 4:00pm Photo Ops Morena Baccarin and Jewel Staite
· 4:30pm Talk Jonathan Woodward
· 6:00pm Close
· 8:30 Browncoat Passholder Party at La Cantina
Nectar Rose was the first to go on stage. She played the lovebot and shared what that was like. She basically meditated, slow breathing focus on one point. She is truly as adorable as she is beautiful. Yan Feldman was supposed to be at the opening talk with Nectar Rose but something came up so she was on her own. Nectar’s mom was eccentric so that is her real name. She started acting as a child because her mom wanted her to. She has loved it ever since. Nectar handled herself very well and I was impressed. She talked about her first time going to a convention in the UK.
· Morena said, “Since you’re the newbie you go first.”
· Not having a clue Nectar said, “Ok what do I do?”
· Morena said, “Well you walk out on stage.”
· Nectar, “There’s a stage? Then what?”
· Morena, “Then you talk.”
· Nectar, “For how long?”
· Morena, “An hour.”
· Nectar, “How many people?”
· Morena, “About a thousand.”
Well after Nectar Rose was Ron Glass. Ron was really all over the place. I don’t think even he knew what he was talking about. I did ask him if he ever watched the DVDs since working on the show. He said he thought about it. It would be good for him so he can answer some of these questions so he is going to try for the next time. He really wants another movie but he thinks we are all just waiting in vain. He started telling a story and then told us to make sure remind him what he was saying. For the most part it was rambling but it’s always fun seeing Ron. Unfortunately I could not stay for most of Jonathan’s talk since I had to take Carol to work. Jonathan Woodward is one of a kind. He came out alone. Alone is really a lot harder. Our BDH work better together they are able to play off each other. Jonathan came up with a solution for his talk. He brought a mirror and placed it on the other chair. He is really cute and I just loved watching him. His lips were moving so I know he was talking but I can’t remember anything he said. We left for work. I went home and did not go back to Hollywood until the next day.
Saturday
· 10:30am Main Hall Opens
· 10:30am Group Photo
· 11:30am Photo Ops Adam Baldwin and Mark Sheppard
· 12:00pm Talk Ron Glass and Christina Hendricks.
· 1:00pm QMX Presentation
· 1:00pm Photo Ops Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin and Christina Hendricks
· 2:00pm Talk Jewel Staite and Morena Baccarin
· 3:00pm Talk Adam Baldwin and Mark Sheppard
· 4:00pm Make-up demonstration by Dayne Johnson
· 6:00pm Close
· 8:30pm Browncoat Passholder Party at La Cantina Jonathan Woodward Party for everyone else at El Scorpion
Adam Baldwin and Rosie
I decided to go ahead with the photo op with Adam. It was nice. I also took a picture with Dave (Suinegapf) and Adam. We were at the start of the line. Adam walks in sees Dave and says, “Dave!” and shakes his hand. Poor Dave’s brain went missing he was speechless. Adam thought he might have got it wrong for a minute. Then Dave nodded I think, I was just looking at Adam. As Adam walked away he saw me and said, “Hey” We took our picture together and then I had to get back in line for some reason then I took my picture alone.
I went to grab some coffee. Saxon was on her way she dropped off Ewok and a breakfast burrito for me. One problem with the location was that no outside food or drink was permitted; they sold Burgers, Cheeseburgers and Hot Dogs for $14 apiece. I know a bottle of water was $6. Those prices were just a bit much. So we had to go out and get something. That meant missing something. So I missed Ron and Christina’s panel. I did see the QMX panel. It was nice seeing the guys creating such great stuff. They also talked about the Serenity Replica. It’s coming but they want to make it very detailed and that is proving to be more difficult. It was nice listening to their product and knowing I have many things already. Jewel and Morena came on next. The hard thing about these panels was that getting in line was difficult. Passing the mic around was difficult since it was hard to see. The room was dark since the lights were kept off for the most part. They did a great job together. They are friends and they poke fun at each other. Adam and Mark had their talk. It was more of the same. I did go up to ask Adam about describing Casey. I told Mark about seeing him on the first Medium episode. It was quick and you never got to see him again but it was wonderful. He has been in an episode every year so he believes he will return.
I was very hungry by 4pm. Saxon and Ewok stayed for the make-up demonstration I made my way to La Cantina for dinner. It was nice to get away for a bit. The food at La Cantina is very good. Now we are getting to the best part of the weekend. Jonathan's Party Saturday night. I bought the Alliance pass because I wanted to party with Jonathan. That is where I wanted to be and I was #1. Everyone else was buying the Browncoat pass so it was no big deal. There were about 150 Browncoat passes and 20 Alliance passes and then Saturday or Weekender Passes. So I started to worry about the party. I have been looking forward to this for a long time.
When I walked into El Scorpion there was Ray and 2 other girls. One more woman, Cathy, had walked in before Jonathan arrived. There was a long table so we moved over there. Nectar arrived with Jonathan. Jonathan was a bit confused. It appears he had no idea what was happening or why we weren't at the other party. I explained it to him and he decided that we got the better deal our bar was cool and it was more intimate. Matty (Jewel's Husband) came over to hang out with Jonathan. He is a fun guy and having Matty and Jonathan there was great. Matty was trying to figure out how the American Cons were done and which Cons I had gone to. I told him I was at the DragonCon the year he went with Jewel and there was a shindig. The security guard did not realize he was with Jewel and he was moved off stage. I told Jonathan that would be a great Con to go to. He thinks he needs to wait for an invitation. Jonathan was worried at first that all the pressure was on him but we were all just glad to be together. It turned out to be the after party for the La Cantina Party. The whole back room was full and we closed the place. I had a great time and did not want to leave. I was supposed to stay Saturday night with Saxon but she went back at Midnight. I stayed until 2am so I stayed with JenskiJen. I was tired, giddy and a little tipsy. As I said we closed the place. We were all outside waiting for someone. I had a small purse and at one point someone pointed down to the sidewalk and I realized it was my purse. It was daylight savings so although it was 2 am it was now 1am all over again. The bar however still closed. I was very very happy that the party went so well. It was also nice that Jonathan stayed the whole time.
Sunday
Now as many of you know I am Catholic and even on Shindigs I like going to church. I went to sleep at 2:30am but for daylight savings it was now 1:30am. I awoke at 6:30am which was really 7:30am. I work on Sundays normally my shift starts at 7am so I usually get up at 5:30am. So this was like sleeping in. So I got up and got ready and headed out. I needed to find a church. I asked at the front desk and they knew there were churches but they weren’t sure if they were Catholic. He said to try the taxis. I asked one man he also didn’t know but he thought the church near the Element might be Catholic. So I took an early morning walk. It was foggy and nice, well except for all the homeless still sleeping. I found Starbucks and asked there but the girl had no idea. So I got my coffee and egg sandwich and kept walking. As I suspected the church there was not Catholic, however I was able to ask a man passing by and he knew! It was just a block down on the other side of the block basically. I arrived hoping for an early 8am Mass it as 7:20am and Mass here started at 7:30am perfect timing. I was up and ready to go. I was very happy that Starfury turned out so well. After Church I still needed a ride to get back to Saxon’s hotel since my stuff was there. I texted Ewok and everyone was still sleeping so I went back to hang out at Starbucks for about an hour and then called again. I had my coffee and I had gone to church so I was feeling great. No ill effects from the night before. The Sunday schedule was:
· 10:30am Main Hall Opens
· 11:00am Photo Op with Mark Sheppard
· 11:00am Talk Jonathan Woodward, Yan Feldman and Nectar Rose.
· 12:00pm Photo Op with Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite and Christina Hendricks
· 1:00pm Photo Op with Jonathan Woodward, Nectar Rose and Yan Feldman
· 1:30pm Talk Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin and Christina Hendricks
· 3:00pm Talk Adam Baldwin and Mark Sheppard
· 4:30pm Autograph Session
· 9:00pm Party at Element.
So I was looking forward to Jonathan’s talk. I was hoping he would do church again. Instead he brought stuff to give away. Jonathan has moved to New York but still has stuff here in storage so he brought books and misc. items to give away. There was Yan or Rafael trivia. Nectar Rose came off the stage to get questions from the audience. Those three worked hard to entertain. They gave up on the waiting for questions thing and just put on a show of sorts. It is nice to see them try so hard. After that talk I decided to go ahead and get the Photo Op with Jonathan. I don’t know what it is about him but he radiates this positive energy. He is fun and funny, cute and easy to talk to. It’s an intoxicating combination. So when it was my turn to pose with him I told him I had a great time at the party last night and he was glad to hear it. I was really giddy as we were posing. All I could think was I am standing with my arms around Jonathan and his arm around me. I smiled the picture was taken and off I went. Of course as I was walking away I realized I wasn’t ready for the picture. I am not sure if I was even looking at the camera at that point. I have a very distinctive smile. It’s in all my pictures it is trademark Rosie. When I got my picture back later I was looking at the camera. I did not blink but my smile, well it was in the beginning stages. I am not really pleased with it since my face looks too full. It looks like I am holding my breath or something with a small smile. It’s cute just not mine. But after thinking about it for a while I decided to call it my Jonathan smile. In that moment I was just thinking about Jonathan and I was incredibly happy that everything had turned out so well. Jonathan is a sweetheart.
Well after taking that picture I was hungry. The Jewel and Morena’s panel was at 1:30pm. I went to the food court at Hollywood and Highland with Carol, Saxon and Ewok and then came back as quickly as possible. The panel had already started. We had to finish our food and drinks. As I approached the door from one side I see Nathan walking up from the other. I stopped and waited to let him pass. The girls were behind me but I was speechless. I couldn’t even say hi. Nathan did acknowledge us by saying, “Hi Ladies” without breaking stride and walked in. As Saxon said he asked for permission to enter and the guy at the door was also speechless he nodded and then pointed him in. I just love my Captain. Nathan Fillion is one of the best. He took a moment to stop in and help the girls with their panel. He basically kept asking them questions himself. He was adorable. He asked Jewel about the Captain on Atlantis and who was better. He asked Morena about Heartland and who was a better Captain. He asked Christina as well. They all said he was the best. There was much laughter and hilarity. Nathan is gifted in livening up any party. Poor Adam and Mark had to follow him. Nathan did not stay for their panel. At this point my mind is a blur. The guys didn’t do much in terms of entertaining they relied on the questions. Mark is great at giving long interesting answers. He loved being on Firefly and the warm welcome he received. He has worked with Adam a lot so having him on the set was great. Adam was great and at the end thanked us for all of the support. He acknowledged that Nathan is a hard act to follow.
After that was a closing ceremony where Sean Harry thanked everyone from his staff to sponsors to the guests. Each guest came out and said their piece. I remember Jewel saying that she enjoyed being reminded of something so special so thank you for that. Mark was brief with his thanks. Adam said another thanks to everyone and blew a kiss. Autograph sessions followed. I decided to have the Serenity Reference pack signed by Jewel, Morena and Ron. Adam signed my photo. I told Mark, Christina and Yan that I would love to get their autograph but I ran out of money. I did decide to purchase one for Jonathan for my photo. Nectar was next to him so I was able to talk to her a little. I told her the only thing I had to say is that she is adorable. It was nice having her with us. I had never seen her at a convention so it was a nice treat. I also told her that I had been looking forward to Jonathan’s party and I had a great time. Jonathan at this point gives me a high five. I told him I chose the ticket that included a party with him. He looked up sweetly. I showed him my pass since it was number 1. He read the name so he wrote Rosa on the autograph. During the photo op he did remember my name since he said, “Hi Rosie, Hi Taffy as he walked by me and Cathy who was also there. He started calling her Taffy and she nodded not really hearing what he said until he told someone else like Laffy Taffy. She corrected him but it stuck. However on my photo it says, “Super Rosa Thank you so much for a great party.” I also explained the smile to him and he got it. I gave him a hug and off I went.
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