Personal log – 7th of May, 2009.
Guten abend, liebe Menschen. Wie geht es dir?
I’ve had a fantastic weekend in Bonn, Germany with the Commander. Yes, I spent three fun-filled days of sci-fi goodness brought to you by the FedCon: The largest European Sci-fi event!
I am happy to report that I have finally made First Contact with sentient (geek) species in the Delta Quadrant!
I must say it was an interesting experience since this was the first time I ever drove outside of the Netherlands. I mean, I’d gone to Germany (Hamburg) on a road trip before, but never as the designated driver. Good thing I had the Commander to be my trusty navigator. I mean, there is no speed limit in driving in Germany. It’s like piloting a shuttle in slipstream! Anyway, we left Amsterdam around 0900 hours of May 1 and arrived at Germany 3.5 hours (and around 291 kilometers) later.
We dropped off our bags at the Kaisehof Hotel in Bonn (Bad Godesberg) and then rushed to the Maritim Hotel, where the convention was held. The lobby was packed with sci-fi fans from all over the world. In total, there were around at least 30 countries represented in the convention, me being the only Filipino. On the first day of the convention, you could see people dressed up in their favorite sci-fi TV show character already, a lot of them walking in-character.
On the first day, we had ourselves registered and got ourselves a goodie bag filled with a very nicely done booklet written in both English and German, a DVD of a game, the convention program, our convention passes and armbands, as well as some other goodies. After that, we went into the convention area of the hotel. The place was divided into different places: The Main Bridge, where all of the main events happened (panels, etc.); The Ferengi Market Place; The Klingon Trading Center; Holodeck; Reception; Info; and some other rooms which were reserved for the art and model exhibits as well as for Fed-Lympics.
The whole convention was covered with stalls from different entertainment companies such as Paramount International and Nokia (they were promoting the Nokia N-Gage with the Star Trek game included, and their people wearing Star Trek-like uniforms). In the Ferengi Market Place, you could see a gazillion different things from patches to official t-shirts, to uniforms, to collectibles such as Jedi light sabers or phaser pistols. I bought myself a few patches (Klingon patches, etc) as well as a few t-shirts. I am now a proud owner of an official Star Trek Voyager T-shirt as well as a Battlestar Galactica Cylon shirt!
We spent the afternoon attending the panel of Richard Hatch (Apollo of the original Battlestar Galactica, currently playing Tom Zarek in the re-imagined BSG series). After him was a panel from Max Grodenchik (he plays the Ferengi ROM of Star Trek Deep Space 9).
Later in the day, we attended the opening program and it was absolutely fantastic! They had a laser light show, and then some really cool trailers, as well as introductions to the whole line-up of actors and actresses who decided to grace the event. I’ll mention some of them, but you can find the rest in the FedCon website:
- Erin Gray (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
- Nichelle Nichols (TOS); Robert Picardo (VOY); Nana Visitor, Jeffrey Combs, Max Grodenchik and Marc Alaimo (DS9); and Connor Trinneer, John Billingsly, and Dominic Keating (ENT)
- Edward James Olmos, Michael Hogan, James Callis, and Richard Hatch (BSG)
And so on and so forth. Nichelle Nichols and Edward James Olmos received standing ovations from the crowd. The best part of the whole opening ceremonies was the fact that they managed to show 28 minutes’ worth of footage from the new Star Trek movie (courtesy of Paramount and JJ Abrams). But with such a feat, they warned us that anyone who was caught filming the footage would be not only kicked out of the convention but would also get love letters from their lawyers. Eek!
We closed the evening by watching the panels of Edward James Olmos and Nichelle Nichols. By the time we left, it was already almost 2300 hours and the last panel was with John Billingsly who started it with only his boxers on!
Day 2
The Commander and I woke up early (8-ish) and got dressed in our BSG Duty blues. We went down at the Kaiserhof Hotel for breakfast in our uniforms, earning us curious looks from the hotel staff and some of the guests. Not that I mind, but I was also a bit relieved that we weren’t the only ones “in-costume”. Sitting at another table was another group of fans from another sci-fi series and they looked even “stranger” to the normal eye than we did. And let’s just leave it at that.
After breakfast, we took the subway (less than a five-minute walk from Kaiserhof hotel) and four stops later, we were on our way to the Maritim once more. In the morning, we were able to attend the panel of Robert Picardo. He’s hilarious! Seriously, not like the grumpy Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) from Voyager. Especially not his Bootleg Bob skit entitled “Please sign this” (or something like that). After him, we were able to attend a panel with Summer Glau (Firefly/Serenity).
After that, we walked around a bit, took some pictures and visited the different stalls in the Ferengi Market place. I was tempted to buy a TOS phaser and TOS communicator (both at least 30 euros each). Even the light saber tempted me as well (Yoda lightsaber 100 euros, the Anakin/Darth Vader one is 150 euros, I think). In the end, we arrived at this stall owned by an American couple. The lady, C, sold me my VOY and Cylon shirts. Awesome stuff that may have cost me an arm and a leg. But well worth the money I spent.
The highlight of my day was when I managed to get an autographed photo signed by Robert Picardo and was able to talk to him. I even managed to take a photo with him. He seemed to be a very nice guy. I had to line up though. At his right side was John Billingsly and at his left was Erin Gray.
Later in the afternoon, we just roamed around. We got stopped by some people asking us where we “bought” our uniforms and for how much and to take our photos in uniform. We even got compliments on how good our uniforms were! I mean, I even found a Centurion from the original BSG series walking around so I decided to take a photo with it. I seriously think I am a Cylon Skinjob! As we roamed around, we also saw Jeffrey Combs (Shran of ENT), playing Wii Tennis during the on-going Fed-Lympics.
Later that day, we watched the costume contest. It was amazing at how people really go out of their way to make their costumes as authentic and “awesome” as possible. There were people who were dressed up as Seven of Nine, one as Boba Fett, one as the alien from Aliens. There was even a woman who was dressed as an Orion slave girl, and guess what her talent was? Well, she gave a “show”. I jokingly had to cover the Commander’s eyes.
After this was a short break to select the winners. During the intermission, the Sarlacc Survivors band played (well, more or less) and it was hilarious! Especially the part where they incorporate Star Trek stuff (the romantic escapades of Capt. James T. Kirk and Commander Will Riker) into their act. They even played alongside another group who looked like they were clones of Kiss! After this, they announced the winners of the costume contest. I told the Commander that in the next convention, I will join this contest.
Later that evening, the Commander and I ended the evening with a very entertaining panel with James Callis and Michael Hogan.
Day 3
We both decided to come to the convention in the afternoon since there wasn’t much for us to see in the morning (more Stargate and ENT panels). I came of course, dressed in my “Scotty” shirt and black pants and boots. I ended up looking like an anonymous “Red Shirt” and it was an on-going joke between me and the Commander that eventually someone would say “Darn it, she’s dead, Jim!” (Quoting Dr. McCoy of TOS of course.)
Earlier in the afternoon, the Commander and I managed to attend the Battlestar Galactica group panel (featuring Adama, Tigh, and Zarek); as well as the Star Trek Tribute Panel (featuring Richard Arnold, Phlox, Kira Nerys, Uhura, Trip Tucker, and the EMH). And even later that afternoon, they had the closing ceremony which was also fantabulous! They had an auction of some things including Klingon wall (ornament) insignia with at least 32 signatures, which sold for around 1000 euros. It was amazing how people could spend for such things. But of course, the auction was for a good cause (Spina bifida cause in Germany).
The amazing thing about FedCon is that it is well organized, especially for an event where there are more or less 5,000 people attending it. And the attendees are just plain “cool”. I mean, I saw James Callis (Gauis Baltar of BSG) walk past me in the lobby and there weren’t any fans hounding him. In fact, the fans seemed to be more interested in enjoying the company of fellow fans, the ambiance, the freedom to express one’s self (especially in costume) and well, of course to see the actor who plays their favorite sci-fi characters.
While I was there, I wished that my family were there to experience what I did, especially JL who has always been my buddy in “cosplaying” back home in the Philippines. (By the way, JL, where is my Picard uniform TNG jacket?) Second, I wish there were more Pinoys there, especially my VA comrades. Maybe someday… But for those who are really interested in attending it, it is very much well-worth every penny spent. The whole event when you book it, includes hotels and meals during the event itself, so you don’t have to worry about food.
End log.