Word Searches are back at Winchester Family Business

Yes, I know I have been absent from this blog for way to long.  AND it's been ages since I made any new word searches to help pass the "hellatus's" of my favourite show and yours, Supernatural!

But, the word searches are back.  One featuring the Impala has just been posted on www.thewinchesterfamilybusiness.com so please wander on over and check it out!

All is calm on the BC coast

So it looks like the waves didn't come and all is good on the West Coast again. 

The big shake and the big wave

First, love and concern going out to the people of Japan in this trying time.  I don't personally know anyone in Japan, but I know quite a few people here who have friends and family in Japan and my sympathy goes out to them.

Next, for any one who is wondering how the west coast of BC is doing.  As I listened to the news on the radio this morning, getting ready for work, there was an inteview with a fisherman from Port Renfrew (one of the coastal towns on Tsunami Advisory) he said he had see the water level rise by about a foot, and he had seen exaggerated wave motion, however, we have not see or heard any other news reports since then.  It's now 10:50 am and I would hope that means that nothing bigger is coming down the pipe. 

I will try to post if any more news comes out.

Salute to Supernatural Vancouver 2010 - Day 2

Saturday August 28

OK, another lesson learned.  If you are only going to get 4 hours of sleeps (well, not quite but close) then there is a definite advantage to staying in the same hotel as the event.  Fredric Lehne’s panel started at 9:25am.  I missed the first 2 minutes.  Sigh.

When I sat down Fredric was asking who had attended Jason Manns’ concert the previous night.  He told us that Los Dos Diablos was his idea.  He called Richard Speight and suggested it to him, to see if he would be interested because, he wasn’t going to tote his guitar on the plane unless he needed to (and I totally get that, why bring extra baggage if you don’t have to) and thus the musical interlude was planned.

So what happens?  To Fredric’s dismay, a few minutes into their song the G string of his guitar breaks.  It was enough to totally throw him off track.  He said, while he was desperately trying to figure out in his head, how to migrate from G to the next note – he missed a complete verse of the song.  I don’t think any of us in the audience were any wiser, but he said he was so embarrassed.  (It’s OK Fred, we thought you were great).

What that did, however, was allow him to talk about how his “G-String” broke on stage.  One poor soul got up to ask a question but also felt compelled to explain that g-string was also what folks called a certain type of underwear.  I guess they just couldn’t tell that we all knew that already and was the reason why we were laughing so hard.  Hee hee, no harm done.

 
Next up was Rob Benedict.  I don’t know if it is just the way Rob is, or if he was putting a bit of “Chuck” into his Q&A, but he has the same sort of vibe.  Which surprised me a bit, really, because being in a band, you would think he is used to performing in front of a crowd.  Although, in his defence, I’m sure a crowd to listen to music is NOTHING like the Supernatural Fandom.  GRIN.  He talked about the episode "The Real Ghostbusters" and how they ran all those lines at the end and that, I believe he said, they were all written by Eric Kripke.  None were ad libbed by him (but I could be remembering wrong, so don't quote me).  

He also said (and I believe he mentioned this at another con, or in an interview) that he was more nervous doing the fake convention for the episode than he was coming to the real conventions.  

Of course, he was asked about the whole Chuck/God thing.  He said it was kind of funny because he didn't really get it from the script, but when he got to Vancouver to shoot the episode, the crew were all like, "so, your God huh." which kind of took him by surprise.  However, he really likes how Kripke left it ambiguous.

Now we come to Matt Cohen’s second Q&A of the weekend.  I was very happy that he had signed up to do two panels (he also did two autograph sessions).  You know, it’s hard to talk about the folks involved in making Supernatural, whether you are talking about the stars or the crew, everyone is just so nice, and sweet, and genuine, and funny.  I am starting to sound like a broken record.  But it’s true and Matt is no exception.  He joked about how he figured Jared’s workout routine obviously wasn’t working cause he was in much better shape.   

He also talked about how he is more of a method actor.  Having to actually live some things to understand them enough to be able to act them.  He said how grateful he was to the fandom and how he loves the conventions because we happily gave him so much energy to work with.  It was all so positive and fun.

CLIF!!!!  Clif Kosterman came to talk to us!  How cool is that.  Tiny from Folsom Prison Blues and Jared and Jensen’s bodyguard and overall security dude.  What a treat to have him here.  He talked about how he got into the business, starting off as a teamster driving trucks, and the process he went through to be qualified to do security and just what he did to get himself known/recognized in the area.  He actually auditioned for the role of Tiny, which happened before he became the boy’s bodyguard. 

Part way through Clif’s panel, there was an unexpected special guest with a question for Clif.  It was Misha!!  They had quite the entertaining back and forth about how Misha is a much better actor and how he doesn’t need any special protection, because he’s so great.  And Clif was agreeing, saying he knows but what can you do, however they boys have improved.  All very funny.

After Misha left, Clif was asked about Jared’s house (btw, Jared no longer owns this particular house).  He did actually live with J&J when they both lived in Jared’s house and how he is literally with them 24/7 while they are in Vancouver.  And then it sort of sinks in – when does this man see his family??  He did say he likes it much better when they film in Langley as he doesn’t have to get up as early, but wow.  What a commitment to your job.  Certainly made me appreciate what he does so much more.

The next thing for me was getting in line to get Fredric Lehne’s autograph.  It was included in my gold package and, since I had no idea if I would ever get the opportunity again, I purchased it extra.  It was lovely.  He shook my hand and we had a lovely short little chat, then he shook my hand again.  Hee!!  I shook hands with the Yellow Eyed Demon!  He was very nice.

So, that being said, I was late for Samantha Smith’s panel – seems like an unexpected theme for me this Con.

What an absolutely lovely woman.  I really think short hair suites her so much more than long hair.  However, she doesn’t really look like Mary with it short.  Her panel was fun.  I think it’s very cool that she’s also such a big fan of the show too.  Kind of makes her “one of us” in a way.  One of the questions she got asked was about playing “scary Mary” as she calls her.  As an actor, she enjoyed the challenge, but it’s not her preferred way of playing the character.  She really likes playing Mary as the sweet, protective mother. 

She was also asked about her thoughts on the discord between Mary and John.  She feels that couples have disagreements all the time and she doesn’t feel that it was any reflection on Mary and John’s relationship.  Also, with the scene with Sam in the panic room, she feels the real Mary would not have said the things Dream Mary did.  She would never turn her boys against one another. 

I’m pretty sure someone asked her about other projects she’s working on, but I don’t think there is anything at the moment.

Up next, Misha Collins.  The man does not disappoint.  Who else would start of his panel with a story about how he cut his finger and would then auction off the bloody band-aid??  The money was to go towards a collection for the poor woman from the previous night.  Turns out she would have to take the train home (I assumed she flew to Vancouver and could no longer fly) and collecting donations to help with the expense.  So yeah for Misha helping out and in a way that is totally him.   

Notice the buttons and pockets

Then, half way through his panel he realizes his jacket is on inside out.  Buttons on the inside, explained why he couldn’t find the pocket.  Then, he realizes that he wore it that way through the photo op and none of the fans noticed either!!!  He said we let him down, here he thought we had is back and nobody noticed the tag on the outside collar!!!  We were all roaring with laughter.

So, off comes the jacket and he puts is bottle of water on his chair too, then sits back in to take more questions.  Couple minutes later he stands up again, for reasons I can’t remember, takes two steps and states he’s embarrassed again.  The lid on the water bottle was not on tight enough and now he’s got a big wet spot on his leg (at least it was on the outside of his leg). 

He talked about The Random Act and how and why he got involved (and because of the lateness of this missive, we know that he did his run and raised over $94,000 – way to go Misha!). 

Then we got to meet Demore Barnes.  The Archangel Raphael.  This was his first convention.  He made sure we knew he was a convention virgin.  Laugh!  Which didn’t necessarily mean much, because he got tips from Misha on what to do.  And he learned them well.  I swear it was like he’d been doing these things for ages.  Number one tip from Misha – never really answer our questions, and try to reply with a question because it drives us crazy.  Demore was a very quick learner.  He was hilarious.

He danced for us.  One girl was bold enough to ask if his pants were leather (which I was curious about too – they had a shine to them that made them NOT look like black denim), he asked her if she wanted to feel them (crowd oohs), she did and said, nope, they were denim.  Weird.

He was asked a raft of standard convention questions, which he didn't really answer.  Pranks?  No.  Was he "warned" about the fandom?  No, but he doesn't think we are that bad.  He thinks we are all great.  And he capped off his Q&A by asking if he could take a picture.   Which he posted on his Twitter account.  Guess what, I can see myself in his photo!  Hilarious!

Location, location, location – next was Rush Hamilton, Supernatural’s Location Manger.  He opted not to do a slide presentation because all it would be is a bunch of shots of empty fields!!  Hee! 

So, we learned a bit about the process they go through for scouting locations – they take tons of photographs!  If they use a real home that belongs to someone, they usually try to put everything back the way they found it, but occasionally, the owners like the change and tell them they can leave it.  I believe that is what happened in the set that was Lisa Braden’s house from The Kids Are Alright.

We learned that they were shooting no more than 6 blocks away from the hotel Friday night and, he said that someone had figured out the new code they used on the location direction signs for the crew and asked if whoever took them could bring them back.  Apparently they disappeared very shortly after they put them up.  I also learned that Mr. Hamilton is a hard man to photograph as he rarely stands still.  :)  It certainly was great to have him there though.  I love learning about the technical side of the show.

With the panels completed for the day, I stuck around to watch the costume parade before heading out to get supper.  Very nice costumes.  Folks put a lot of hard work into them.  There were a couple of Castiels, but the winner was a woman (already in a wheelchair with a leg injury) who dressed up as Bobby.  It was very well done.

Last event for the day for Gold patrons was the dessert party.  Again, Creation made improvements.  The music was a normal decibel.  We were able to actually talk to the special guests when they came to our tables.

First up were Matt Cohen and Demore Barnes.  Demore said that this process was kind of like a wedding, where the bride and groom go around and talk to their guests.  So he asked which one of them should be the bride?  Vote was by applause and Matt was the lucky (?) winner, he got to be the bride.  Really, the whole thing is more like speed dating.  They get about 5 minutes per table before their handlers are telling them it’s time to move on. 

Someone said that Samantha and Rob had gotten delayed while signing autographs and they’d be along in a bit.

I was at a table with 2 very nice ladies from Alberta and 5 nice girls from Japan, who barely spoke and English.  The one girl sitting closest to me seemed to speak English the best and she tended to do the talking for the group.

First guest to my table was Demore and he sat next to me.  Cool.  He was having a great time at the Con and was very grateful for having been asked and for the warm reception he got from the fans.  He asked the girls if they had come all the way from Japan, which was a yes, and then, before we knew it, it was time for him to go. 

After a wait, long enough for one of the Alberta ladies to say she was too tired and head back to her room, Matt came to our table.  Now in the mean time, the Japanese girl next to me, asked me to essentially “do the talking” as their English was not very good.  Ha, I come to this and end up with a job!  One I gladly took.  GRIN.  And, Matt sat next to….me!  Cool again.  He was running on fumes.  He hadn’t slept much either.  He stuck around with Aldis and Katherine after the karaoke and chatted with the fans for a bit, but he was loving it even though he was very tired.  Again, this special thing that is Supernatural, he was very grateful to the fans, and we were grateful to him for agreeing to be a part of the Con. 

Lastly was Samantha and Robert.  They opted to travel to the tables together (and the whole wedding joke was brought up again) and when they go to my table, they sat on either side of me!!!  I was holding the lucky horseshoe that evening.  And even though I did agree to carry the conversation, it really wasn’t necessary.  Samantha and Robert asked everyone where they were from and made simple enquiries that the Japanese girls were able to answer.  I know we spoke briefly about something else, but by this point I my energy was flagging having been up 20 hours the day before and was fast approaching 20 hours again this day.  Then they were tapped and off to the next table and I grabbed my bag and was off to my hotel, ready to get some much needed shut eye.

Besides, I had to get up to be to breakfast with Jared and Jensen the next morning!!

Salute to Supernatural Vancouver 2010 - Day 1

Hard to believe a whole year has gone by and the 2nd Salute to Supernatural Vancouver Con was about to commence.  I was pretty excited because there were even more guests lined up for this year’s con than last year AND we were getting some of the crew out to talk to us.  This was gonna be cool, we were going to hear about “how the show is made” kind of stuff.  Wicked bonus.

Friday August 27th

Sadly, I arrived late.  Last year I was lucky to have received money for my birthday that I saved up for the con.  This year, no such luck.  So I had to try to reduce my economic foot print.  Because of that, I missed Katherine Boecher’s panel all together and most of Matt Cohen’s.  Part of that was because I was travelling, part was because I seemed to have gotten an incorrect schedule of events and thought no one was going on until 2:30pm.  Sigh, oh well, what can you do.

However, the last couple of minutes of Matt’s panel were good.  A fan asked if he had been warned about “us” fans being crazy.  He said, we weren’t crazy, he was crazy and we were nothing like him.  He thinks we are great fans.  That got a round of applause.  And then he was done.  Lucky for me, Matt happened to have a second panel on Saturday so more about him later.

Next up was Aldis Hodge.  He’s such a sweetheart.  I think he honestly is surprised we love him so much even though, he killed Sam...  But, how could we not.  He’s so nice and so much fun. 

He talked about Leverage and answered questions about his character from that show.  Video games were brought up.  He was asked what he was currently playing and discussion revolved around being a geek for a bit. Oh, and the poor boy was cold.  That morning in Vancouver it was cold and raining and apparently, when he left LA it was 105 degrees F - and he didn't bring a jacket.  He warmed up though.

Then, I believe this came out of a question from a fan, but I didn’t hear the asker very clearly.  Aldis has a hobby – watch making.  At least he’s going in that direction.  He has ordered a tool kit and looks forward to learning to take apart watches then put them back together. 

Just before his time was up, someone asked if he had done voice work on, I believe it was Grand Theft Auto.  Please forgive me if I got the game name wrong.  But, she was right.  He was very pleased she had noticed.  It was also a great experience for him, being someone who loves playing video games, including that one, to have a chance to voice a character.

Then he was off and Richard Speight Jr. was up next.  First thing Richard did was ask who had travelled the farthest.  That inspired him to hop off the stage and start wandering through the audience interviewing folks to find out how far they had travelled.  When he realized there was a guy in the audience, he was surprised.  “Hey!  You’re a dude!?!  What are you doing here?” he asked.

Then he proceeded to go on about how this guy must be a spy because guys don’t’ come to Supernatural conventions.  It was all very funny. (and as an aside, there was a noticeable increase in male attendance – very cool)

And I must say, Richard is a hard man to photograph.  He does NOT stand still!  GRIN

So, someone asked him if he, personally, had Gabriel’s powers what would he do with them, would he pull a prank on Jared and Jensen? 

He thought about it and said, yes, he would make Jared really short (and mimed patting a little kid on the head) and he would make Jensen a New York Jew because Jensen has the look and the walk and he’d like to take it away for just a little bit. 

Someone asked him about how he felt doing the “porn” scene from Hammer of the Gods.  After a “hell yeah”, Richard explained that as he’s not a leading man, he never gets the girl, so when the script came in, he was pleased and went and told his wife, “Honey, I get to go to Vancouver again and I get to make out with two hot chicks”.  He was surprised she wasn’t as excited about it as he was.  Laugh.

Last up was Jason Manns, for his Q&A (his concert was later that evening).  It was kinda cute.  Usually he would have a chair on stage.  Which makes some sense as, I am sure, that many times he does shows, he would be sitting.  However, he first brought up his lack of chair when someone asked him a question he needed to think about before answering.  He talked about his music and someone asked him about a project he was involved with called Rock Slyde.  Then he was asked another question that he needed to think on, and he brought up not having a chair again.  Then, in rapid succession, he got a chair AND a coffee.  We all got a bit of a giggle and he was very pleased.  

And to cap off his Q&A, he played a couple of songs for us, which was a nice teaser for what we were in store for his concert that night.  Musically anyway, but I’ll get to that later.

Next was waiting in line time for everyone.  Katherine, Richard, Matt and Aldis were doing autographs.  So far I was pleased with the way Creation had the schedule going. 

So, I now had enough time to go to my hotel (which I opted to stay at a different hotel this year) change and eat before needing to be back for Jason’s concert.  It was really nice going for a walk after sitting and standing for the afternoon. 

Now, here is some advice for you folks thinking about attending next year.  The hotel I stayed at was about 5 blocks away.  Not far, I could walk there casually in about 10 minutes.  5 minutes if I had to hurry.  The room was very clean, but with the beds it was TINY, very little room to move around.  The bathroom was huge in comparison.  All in all, it was nice and the bed was comfortable.  HOWEVER, it was on Granville Street in the entertainment district.  And my room was on the street side.  The businesses on this section of Granville were either restaurants, bars or sex shops.  So when I finally crawled back to the hotel at 2am after the Karaoke party, everything was in full swing in this section of town.  Nice thing was there was police everywhere so I didn’t feel uncomfortable walking to my hotel, but I had to go to sleep listening to the TV to block out the street noise.

So, I would recommend not staying there if you have any trouble getting to sleep.  There are lots of hotels in that area, and many closer than 5 blocks that are cheaper than the Sheraton Wall with better benefits.  My hotel had free wireless internet in the rooms.

So, lesson learned for me and if anyone reading this would like a listing of the surrounding hotels; drop me a message in the comments and I’ll happily give you a reference list.  OH and I did do what I mentioned last year, about food.  Course I’m also on a special eating plan right now due to trying to get my blood sugar under control, but, if any of you reading this are planning on attending and are driving and able to bring food with you.  Or you are arriving and staying at a hotel that has a kitchenette, I highly recommend going to the grocery store and getting your own food.  I found eating my own meals that I brought with me really helped me stay energized.  And it cost a lot less to eat that weekend.

So, travel advice section over.  On to Jason Manns’ concert.

I discovered Jason’s music part way through Season 3 when I saw some posts about “Jensen Ackles sings”.  Of course I had to investigate and found Crazy Love that the two of them did.  One thing led to another and now I think I have every CD he’s put out.  As much as I enjoyed Steve Carlson, I was very disappointed that Jason wasn’t at last year’s Con.

So, I was very excited to see his name on the event schedule.

He did not disappoint me.  He was so much better live.  He has a wonderful voice and I could just listen to him for hours.  But I’m getting ahead of myself. 

So Jason comes out on stage with a drink in his hand.  He says, “so you might notice something missing – my guitar.”  He told us a story about a musician who was here, and he needed to borrow his guitar and there was another musician as well and they were called Los Dos Diablos (the two Devils), or something to that effect and they wanted to play for us.

And who comes out on stage but Fredric Lehne and Richard Speight Jr.  Sadly I don’t remember the song they played, but Fredric had some changed lyrics he used that were Supernatural oriented.  

Also, the G string of his guitar broke, which we found out in his Q&A the next day, that that really threw him off.  I’m sure the rest of us didn’t notice, we were too busy laughing and enjoying their surprise appearance.  And if he tries to deny it, don’t believe Richard.  He can sing well.

That wasn’t the end of the surprises for this show though.  Unfortunately, about half way though Jason’s set, a woman tried to get out of her seat and leave the room.  She only made it out to the middle isle before she collapsed on the floor, in pain and having trouble breathing.

There were three nurses in attendance that rushed up and helped the woman stay calm and looked after her until the paramedic arrived.  Good news was she got onto the gurney herself after they helped her sit up and we heard the next day that she was doing well in hospital. 

Our unexpected intermission over, Jason carried on with a now shortened set list.  The mood picked up again and we all enjoyed the rest of the set.

Next up was Karaoke.  Now, last year they had it set up in a room where folks could drink, but it was a tiny closet of a space.  I took one look and said forget it.  I think folks might have complained to Creation because they set it up in the Grand Ballroom (where Jason just performed and the Q&A take place as well).  No alcohol was allowed but that didn’t seem to deter folks.  I still didn’t think I would hang around to listen, but I was in line to get Jason’s autograph, so I was going to get to listen whether I wanted to or not!  Laugh.

So Matt, Aldis, Richard and Katherine all came out to participate.  I am so glad I was there because it was an absolute laugh riot.  While folks sang (some good, some not) the four of them either acted out the song or did backup dancing or sang and did those other things as well.  I laughed so hard I cried. 

It was an excellent end to the first day of the convention.  Stay tuned for day 2.