So Much Happened, So Little Words to Describe It

I attended my first Science Fiction/Fantasy convention.  The Central Canada Comic Con put on by C4 continues to grow on both their guest lists and their attendance.  This year the list includes Nana Vistor (Kira from Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine), Ethan Phillips (Neelix from Star Trek: Voyager) among many others.  I attended three panels:

1. Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh from BSG)
2. Jonathan Frakes (Yes, Riker himself)
3. William Shatner (Yes, THE starfleet captain himself)

Jonathan Frakes spoke quite a bit about directing series and felt grateful he learned the skills while on Next Generation.  If being 50 and a woman seems tough in the TV business, 50 and male without 'enhancement' proves equally difficult.  He spoke with wit and candor, especially answering a question regarding the box office disappointment of Star Trek: Nemesis.  Basically Paramount rushed out Trek after Trek until people felt sick of it.  Even I recall feeling sick of it during that period.  While the entertainment business is a business, greed is not good in creativity.  Mr. Frakes did praise JJ Abrams reboot of the franchise, singling out Karl Urban's performance as Dr. McCoy as a memorable part of the movie. 

Kate Vernon proved a laid-back sort of person and encouraged everyone to ask questions. She talked about about the craft of acting, including the stresses of being a guest star after having new pages delivered to her the day before shooting her scene.  One fact I missed, and I saw the movie several times, she was in Pretty in Pink as one of the snooty rich crowd with James Spader.

As for Captain Kirk himself, well he doesn't disappoint in his appearances.  The word retirement doesn't appear in his lexicon and my friend got his autograph.  I stuck up my hand for a question about why stage is still important for actors and writers.  I got more than I bargained for as he used seeing Kevin Sorbo on screen as one example than went to the corner closest to my spot and said "I love you" with his usual dramatic flair.  (When he used Kevin Sorbo as his man for the screen, I substituted Nathan Fillion in my head.) Somewhere someone has a video of the event.   Needless to say point proven about the immediacy of the stage.  He also said 'nice question' and I do aim for good questions. 

The whole thing seems like a dream right now.  The event was held near the end of October and here we are in November.  Would I attend again?  I heard Brent Spiner is due to attend next year.