Polaris 26!

[rusty_armour]

Before I say anything, I just want to thank njc2007 and lazigyrl for asking me to attend Polaris (again) and for being such warm and generous friends! I had an absolutely wonderful time and I'm sure they were the main reason for that! :-D

Oh, where to start? Where to start? Well, for me, it started bright and early on Saturday morning. I had told njc2007 that I would try to arrive at the Sheraton Parkway as close to 9:00 am as possible as that was when the pre-registration desk would be open. To my surprise (especially as I was relying on public transit), I arrived around 8:40. njc2007 had been kind enough to offer me a place to stay that night and had even had a keycard left at the reception desk for me. As I was carrying quite a bit, I decided to drop stuff off in the room first. I assumed njc2007 might be off getting breakfast with lazigyrl, but I knocked on the door just in case. Then I felt terrible when it turned out that njc2007 was still there and had actually been asleep. She was a total sweetheart about the whole thing, giving me a big hug as I apologized profusely. She also gave me a big bag of Cracker Jacks (some of which I ate with my lunch today - Mmmmm!) and we talked for a bit. Then I went next door to visit lazigyrl (who njc2007 assured me was awake) to see what havoc I could wreak there.

lazigyrl answered the door in this awesome post-apocalyptic fairy godmother costume, complete with green neon stockings and a purple wand. She eagerly took the plastic pistol I brought for her, and gave me a fabulous present in return. It turns out that she had received some Sherlock t-shirts in a con grab bag and wondered if I might like one. As I've been resisting the urge to buy Sherlock merchandise for months (with the obvious exception of the DVD and soundtracks), I was more than happy to accept. Happily, the t-shirt just fit me and, being me, I've included images below:







Shortly after the happy t-shirt moment, I returned to njc2007's room with lazigyrl to oooh and ahhh over the stunning chainmail coif she was wearing -- a coif she had made herself. I was saving my own little fashion accessory for the Masquerade, but I decided to change into my new Sherlock t-shirt as it was perfect con wear.

Before I could partake in any Polaris fun, I had to go to the pre-registration desk. Then there was a little matter of visiting the Polaris security office to get certain weapons cleared. lazigyrl had already received clearance for the plastic pistol, though she had promised to return when it was actually in her possession. The woman in the security office seemed surprised that lazigyrl actually did so. I think she may have been even more surprised when I pulled out my plastic bandolier (e.g. bullet belt). I assured her that it was completely plastic as she touched one of the bullet tips with a rather serious expression on her face. After ascertaining that the bandolier wasn't a serious weapon, she gave me security clearance.

After checking out a couple of vendors, the three of us went to have a delicious buffet breakfast and an interesting conversation about mpreg. Then lazigyrl and I attended this great panel called "Sherlock: How Did He...?" Those of you who have seen "The Reichenbach Fall" can probably figure out what the discussion was about. I'll just say that many interesting theories were exchanged...

As there weren't really any other panels lazigyrl and I wanted to attend for a while, we took in the Charity Auction Display, the Art Show Display, and the Marketplace. At the Charity Auction Display, we decided to support our favourite superheroes. You see, for a loonie, you could place your name on a ballot for your pick. I was torn between Superman (as Superman: the Movie is my favourite film of all time) and Doctor Who. I ended up going with Doctor Who. lazigyrl, who was horrified that no one had voted for Iron Man, paid for five ballots and stuck them all in a row on the wall of superheroes. She was a little calmer in the Art Room, while I was squeeing over this beautiful glass Dalek someone had created. In the Dealer's Room, it was about to get worse.

Shortly after lazigyrl managed to get a great deal on five Star Trek action figures, we ended up at Pixel Barrel's Doctor Who booth, which is always a dangerous place for me. I managed to talk myself out of a few things, but I couldn't resist a plushie Dalek. I mean, I was able to walk away for a bit and check out other booths in the Marketplace, but I knew damn well I'd be going back there to get a Dalek. lazigyrl thought I should get a blue one as it's the closest shade to purple, which happens to be her favourite colour. I had originally been eyeing the blue ones as I thought they were the closest shade I could get to silver. Then, I decided to go with red as I remembered that there were some red Daleks before Mark Gatiss opened his big mouth, and we were cursed with the rainbow-coloured Daleks from hell. Neither one of us liked the yellow ones.

In my defence, the plush Dalek I bought cost less than an Adipose and it can talk. It's also mine. All mine. MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE! Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee!





I was a bit more restrained with my other purchases. For example, before breakfast, I got a T'Pol action figure (as I already have four other Enterprise action figures, the Enterprise bridge and a beagle) for $5.





OH! And there were the grab bags that lazigyrl and I bought for $3. I didn't feel guilty about that because the money was going to charity. We also got some pretty cool stuff in our $3 grab bags, such as steel water bottles (with the Pillsbury Doughboy on them) and canvas tote bags. Oooooh! And there was a basket of Tribbles at the Starfleet booth. We grabbed the last two grey ones, which were a steal at $2 each! And look how cute mine is. It has already made itself at home.





The last of the purchases was this beautiful sonic screwdriver key chain. I had eyed it at least three times before I had to give in. I accidentally bought it while making the trip to njc2007's room to grab a bottle of Sprite. I wasted no time adding it to my key ring when I got home.







By now, you probably think I spent all my time at Polaris spending money, which isn't true. For one thing, there were these two FANTASTIC Daleks I had to stalk! Well, actually, one was a Dalek and one was a Dalek Dreadnaught, which is even more FANTASTIC! They were definitely one of the highlights of Polaris!








Dalek Dreadnaught with the Tenth Doctor



The Eleventh Doctor without a Dalek,
but still looking cool with the bow tie





lazigyrl with the Dalek



rusty_armour with the Dalek


After we finished terrorizing the Daleks, we caught most of John Paladin's rather hilarious panel on Klingon makeup. Don't get me wrong. I found watching the transformation fascinating and learned some interesting tips. It was John Paladin who was funny, especially when it came to answering questions. Following John Paladin was Tony Amendola (e.g. Bra'tac on Stargate SG-1), who also gave a really good panel. He had some great stories to tell about his career. I especially like the one in which he met Anthony Hopkins as a student and then ended up working with him years later in The Mask of Zorro. It was during this panel that we were reunited with njc2007, who had been attending a series of discussions on skeptics and skepticism. I managed to snap a picture of her in her incredible chainmail coif while she was working on what will no doubt be a gorgeous purple chainmail dress:





Another Polaris highlight had to be Wil Wheaton. I'd heard he was a great con guest, but nothing prepared me for just how hysterical his panel would be. He's an amazing speaker and vastly entertaining. He read slightly sanitized versions of two stories he'd written. Then, he regaled us with an EXCELLENT recap of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Justice". I felt sorry for Neil Grayston (Douglas Fargo on Eureka) because he had to follow Wil Wheaton. However, they're apparently good friends, and, despite the diminished audience, Neil Grayston still held his own. He was funny and charming, especially when he tried to make an origami crane and ended up with something that resembled an aircraft carrier.

I just had time to change before Masquerade started. I should point out that I'm cheap and lazy when it comes to costumes. As Polaris was going with a post-apocalyptic theme this year, I tried to aim for that. I bought the bandolier and some prosthetic scars, but that was it. The bandolier looked okay, but I didn't realize that prosthetic scars required special makeup. As the one I was going to use looked stupid on my cheek, I transferred it to my arm. It still looked stupid, but, perhaps, not as glaringly stupid. *g* Anywaaaaaaay, here's my bare minimum post-apocalyptic-ish costume:





The Masquerade was a lot of fun. It's essentially a costume contest in which contestants display their creations to the audience. While the MC told a lot of lame jokes, he was still really funny, especially when it came to his reaction to certain costumes and his banter with the leader of the Ninjas (e.g. tech crew). Two favourite Masquerade creations were Borg Elvis and, not surprisingly, the Dalek and Dalek Dreadnaught. I'll leave Borg Elvis to your imagination. The two Daleks made a grand entrance, gliding into the Gillies Main Room and gliding up the aisles towards the stage. The Dalek ordered the Dalek Dreadnaught not to exterminate the humans. It also ordered the Dalek Dreadnaught not to exterminate the judges because it wanted to do that itself.

When the Masquerade winners were announced at the dance, the two Daleks took away two of the top awards. They also made a request for the first song of the evening, KLF's "Doctorin' the Tardis," which I've loved since it was first released.

Watch on YouTube

We only ended up staying for a few more songs as the dance floor was pretty much abandoned for some reason. I know there were some panels being held at that time, though there were a lot of people gathered outside chatting. Being geeks, maybe they were simply happier chatting than dancing. In any case, as we were all really tired, we were ready to retire for the night.

So, to sum up, Polaris was a blast! Thanks again to njc2007 and lazigyrl for helping me have so much fun! :-D