October 15, 2004 - SeaTac, Washington
Anglicon XVII, October 15-17, 2004
Torvald Meets A Klingon
Many years ago, after Eric and I had met on-line and talked on the phone once or twice, I decided I had to meet him. Luckily, there was a very nice opportunity available in the form of Anglicon V, held in SeaTac at a hotel. The convention was in the Spring of 1992, and Eric and I met face-to-face there for the first time in the Hospitality Suite.
Twelve and a half years later, we attended our 13th Anglicon, Anglicon XVII, at the very same building where we attended our first. This one was different than all the others, though. We brought Torvald with us...
After first visiting Registration and making sure Jean Meuer knew he was attending, Torvald headed over to Hospitality, where he sat down in approximately the same spot that Eric and I first met each other at. No, that's not the same chair. Not by a long shot.
As I recall, and it's been a few years now, there were several chairs in that corner when I wandered in looking confused and lost. It was my first ever science fiction convention. I was a college student who had convinced a friend to drive me down to Seattle without any plan besides going to the con. A group of people asked me if I needed help, and I said, "I'm looking for a friend." They said, "We're friendly!" Laughing I admitted I was looking for someone specific. They asked what shows I liked, and I said "Doctor Who". At that name, a man sitting a little further over said, "Did I hear someone say 'Doctor Who'?" According to him, the next words out of my mouth were "Hi Eric."
Moving on, the guest for this year's convention was the lovely and talented Virginia Hey, who has been in a great many shows, most recently the science fiction show Farscape in which she played the lovely Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan, "the hottest blue chick on TV since Smurfette!"
It took me quite a bit of time to work up the nerve to ask for a photo with the troll, at which point I felt I owed her the story of why the Troll is an heirloom in our family. I believe I repeated that story at least six times over the weekend. In any case, Virginia was wonderful about it, and had no problem posing with the Troll after she learned that it wasn't something alive (she was slightly alarmed to see my box and was expecting a turtle or something similar - oh, the stories that con guests could tell!).
Check out Virginia Hey's website and blog and her store. I bought some bath salts from her at the con. Aside from being an incredibly cool person and a perfect convention guest, she also has the distinction of being the first person to pose holding Torvald. Like that means anything... Note that Torvald seemed to enjoy the perch.
Moving on, the other Farscape guest was David Franklin. He's also an interesting person and a great convention guest. And hey, he's been in The Matrix: Reloaded as well as Xena. He's got one of those quirky senses of humor that some people mistake for ego. He was fun to simply chat with as well as to listen to during the panels. He was also perfectly willing to pose with the troll. His comment was "as long as he isn't more handsome than me."
This next image is of guest Heather Alexander and her husband Philip. Heather is in costume. The first night, for the concert, she dressed a bit conservatively as a Griffindor. But for the rest of the con, she was all Slytherin.
Moving on, the last guests I got to pose with Torvald were Phil and Kaja Foglio and their two experiments. Phil cleverly held Torvald so that both of them were looking at the camera from a similar angle. Note the excellent Girl Genius artwork in the background. Phil took Agatha's place in the picture.
After watching his father pose, Experiment #1 asked politely if he could also pose. The result was this simply fantastic image. He managed to be so serious for just a moment, and I caught that one moment...
After this, I needed to get Kaja Foglio. Experiment #2 wasn't likely to be able to pose with the troll alone, so I figured I would get Kaja and #2 together. However, when #2 saw Torvald, she just HAD to play with him. Torvald, being not too fragile, was still fragile enough to not trust with one so young. So Kaja held Torvald away from her... which led to the predictable tears. It only took a moment to get the tears away, though, as the Foglio children experiments are every bit as much hams as their parents makers, so once Experiment #2 spotted the camera, she focused on it and stopped crying. Note that Experiment #1 managed to pop into the picture at the last moment, also. Incurable hams.
Now, Klingons from the IKV T'Mar generally support KBTC, and since this convention is a fundraiser to support KBTC as well as a science fiction convention, the Klingons were out in force. And I simply could not resist having Torvald pose with one of them. Note how utterly terrified Torvald manages to look in this picture. I'm very happy with how this one turned out.
This lovely lady was the co-chair of the convention this year, E.J. This picture was actually taken at the unofficial opening ceremonies, right before the con started. I think. In any case, that's the boss, and I couldn't use the other pictures I took of her with the Troll because folks from the Commonwealth would have recognized the hand gesture.
During a panel, Torvald managed to find a friend. Yes, this is a Monster Book of Monsters. Torvald seemed to have no trouble with it, but maybe it had already been pacified by someone rubbing its spine. Or maybe that tight leather strap simply prevented Torvald from being the latest victim of the book.
And lastly, an image that shows that the convention was not all fun and games for Torvald the Troll. No, indeed. He also volunteered to help with sound checks. And believe me, you do NOT want to hear a troll yodel.
So that was it for Anglicon this year, and for the very first trip where Torvald went to visit people instead of places. No doubt there will be more to come in the future... watch this place.