Emilie De Ravin GalaxyCon OKC 2024

Not long after Texas Frightmare was another convention. This time in Oklahoma City. The Wife was actually interested in going…no, not to attend the convention but to visit several fabric and yarns stores in OK City. I didn’t argue. It was good to spend time together and to top it off, The Wife drove.

I have never been to a Galaxy Con before. It was nice. Depending on the guest list, I’m sure I would go again. It was an easy 3-hour drive from the Dallas area. We left early but not too early.

I can’t claim to be a ‘Lostie’ but I really enjoyed the show, Lost. It intrigued, confused, and frustrated me. I’m not sure if I’d ever re-watch the series but it was a part of American culture for a long time. Since Emilie De Ravin was at the show, I HAD to get her autograph.

I will say it was an odd experience. She didn’t look comfortable at the signing. She was extremely quiet, like she was whispering. She handed me a post-it note from a previous guest. I had to ask twice what she wanted because I couldn’t hear her. She just wanted me I would get rid of it. I took the post-it and put it my pocket.

As I mentally revisit this, I wonder if I should have asked if she needed help. The set up was 2 tables. The handle, who was handling the money, was 10 feet away. Maybe she needed someone closer to remove the sticky notes and hand over the correct pens. Conventions can be overwhelming to fans and guests alike.

AH

Dominic Monaghan Fan Expo Dallas 2022

While every Lord of the Rings fan was excited to see DominicMonaghan listed at Fan Expo, I was excited to see his name listed because of Lost. I’ve had a hard time picking up their autographs.

Dominic’s line was long but not too daunting. I printed out a photo and choose a green sharpie. I thought it might look good because it’s on a tropical island.  It didn’t pop out as much as I hoped.

He was moving fast. He mentioned to the couple in front of me that he was told to sign faster.  I didn’t even bother asking for a quote. I was very happy to see he added: Not Penny’s boat to the signature on his own.  I found that very fan friendly.

AH

Jeremy Davis Comicpalooza 2019

The weekend after the Texas Frightmare and Fan Expo doubleheader in Dallas, I was drove to Houston for Comicpalooza. I drove down Friday night was ready to tackle a new convention Saturday morning.

The first autograph I picked up was Jeremy Davies. Being a Lost fan, I had to get a photo from that show. The Saving Private Ryan photo was very tempting too.

He was dressed in a vest and tie. He was at his table when the show opened. He was squared away when I walked up. We shook hands and I mentioned the first time I saw him was in Ravenous. He lit up.  He told me a buddy wrote the script. He was curious how I saw it. I’m assuming it wasn’t in the theaters long. Maybe it was straight to video.  I told hm I saw it on HBO or Showtime a long time ago. We chatted about that movie and Lost for a few more minutes.

A very nice guy.

AH

M C Gainey Comicpalooza 2018

Right After spilling Henry Ian Cusick’s coffee, I walked up to MC Gainey’s table. I checked if he had any beverages waiting to be tilted and then shook his hand.  When he asked how I was doing, I said, I just knocked over a cup of coffee and pointed to Henry. Who was greeting a fan but also wiping up the last of the spill.  MC said a smile that Henry deserved it.

Again, another friendly person. We spoke briefly and he signed for me.

AH

Henry Ian Cusick ComicPalooza 2018

After I was done with Jimmy Walker, the Good Times continued with Henry Ian Cusick. Yes, that was a pun. D and D were still with me. We were still smiling from the Jimmy Walker encounter.

Henry looked up and stared at me for a second. He furrowed his brows and asked if he knew me. 

Ohhh, so much ran through my feeble mind in the second before I answered.  I briefly thought about saying that was impossible as you cancel EVERY show you are scheduled in which I thought about attending.  I thought about politely saying no. I thought about saying I have that ‘face’. I even thought about say: Henry Baby, yes, of course we know each other…

I opted for: No, but if it means we get together for a beer at the bar and chat for a while. Yeah, we know each other.

Meanwhile D and D are laughing. Henry looked at his handler, then me, then said: sorry that sounded like a pick-up line didn’t it?  With a big smile to let him know I was not bothered, I said, Yes, it did it.  

Then the conversation was fast and furious. I can’t remember all of it. Henry was nice and rolled with the direction we took that opening sentence. Henry, D and D, and I all said inane things to further that narrative. It was a silly situation.  It was good natured. We were all laughing.  At the end, I think it was well established I was a cheap date as 1 beer would have me on the floor.   But everyone promised NOT to take any photos…

I felt bad for Henry as he was sucked in the muck with D and D and me. So I took a breath and pointed to a photo I wanted signed.  I told him I really enjoyed Lost. He didn’t have much to say about that and just thanked me for watching.

I turned to check if I was making anyone wait behind us. He told me not to worry as we had time. I mentioned I really enjoy The 100. I’m not the demographic of that show so I think he was skeptical that I watched. Since we were best friends and all, he wasn’t’ going to call me out on that.

I mentioned I loved the whole concept of: You are Wonkru, or you are the enemy of Wonkru. It was needed to survive. He was intrigued. I said that seemed to be what was needed to break the boundaries and work together. I asked if she can move off that platform.  He had a lot to say but stopped as he remembered that only 1 or 2 episodes had aired when we were chatting. He knew a lot more than he could say. 

He did ask if I was Team Octavia.  I smiled because that reminded me of Twilight and the Team Edward/Jacob. An image flashed in my mind of me on the couch with my Team Octavia banner in the crook of my arm as I angrily Twitted to Team Clarke: Clarke is a such a hussy.  She doesn’t deserve…

Hold it, I got caught up in the moment…

I looked at Henry and I saw the smile that said I needed to choose my next words carefully. From that smile I knew the plot was going to have a lot of twists. I didn’t continue. I knew I just had to sit back and literally watch the show.

Wow, what a great encounter. I thanked him and we shook hands. And as I let go, I knocked over his coffee. Then D and D said something like: Wow. He didn’t even have a beer yet.  We all laughed. It was a good ‘callback’.  He started cleaning up the spill.  I asked what kind of coffee he was drinking so I could buy another.  He refused with a smile. I left feeling slightly embarrassed but really glad I finally met hm.

AH

Michael Emerson ComicPalooza 2018

I may not be a Lostie but I really enjoyed the show.  Attending the Lost panels at SDCC was one of the highlights each year; back when you could attend panels without sleeping on the sidewalk. I had to add Michael Emerson to my stash of graphs.

He stood behind his table. He greeted people with a reserved smile but his face opened up once the fan started speaking. He chatted about anything. He talked about wife’s gig and traveling on free weekends to reconnect. He talked about Lost and the stage and anything you wanted to mention.

AH

Francois Chau – SDCC 2017

One of my favorite booths, Holzheimer's Distribution, had actors throughout the SDCC weekend. As I was walking by on Friday morning, I saw Francois Chau. I was about to continue walking when I saw a photo on the counter from Lost.  Then I recognized him.  I had to stop and got a photo signed.

He signed and I told him I could not pass up on Lost actor.  While he didn’t get a lot of air time on TV, he was a staple in the footage that was presented at the SDCC panels.  My favorite scene was with the rabbit disappearing and then reappearing and causing a panic. He admitted he never knew what the scenes were about but it was always interesting.

AH

Mark Pellegrino Alamo City ComicCon 2017

Mark Pellegrino had a constant line. It wasn’t long but it was steady.

Ever since The Wife and I saw him on Lost, we have been fans. His roles tend to be small supporting types but interesting. I’m big Supernatural fan and I like what he has brought to the Lucifer character.

The guy in front of me gave Mark a bottle of 12 year old Scotch.  The guy said he was a 'man of his word' and promised to bring the bottle because of a Twitter conversation. Mark is a big ‘Twitterer’ and interacts with fans a lot through that medium.

I choose a photo from Lost to get signed. Somehow it just felt wrong to want Satan’s autograph.  

I mentioned The Wife and I always liked the episodes of Lost that he was in. We hoped to get some insight to the mystery when he was on the screen. He asked if we did.  I said not as much as we hoped. He sadly smiled and said no one did.

AH

Ian Somerhalder Walker Stalker 2016

I would say 95% of the people in line for Ian Somerhalder wanted him because of Vampire Diaries.  I would also say 95% of the people in line were girls. My friends wanted him for Rules of Attraction. I’m a closet Lostie.  I wanted him for Lost.

My friends snuck me into the ViP line with them.  This allowed me to bypass the long line that had already formed as the show opened. Instead of spending the next hour in line with teen and young adult women struggling with their crushes, I spent 5 minutes in line with my friends.  

My friends had a nice conversation with Ian about the Rules of Attraction. He seemed excited to be talking about it. It was a pleasant run through memory lane.  When it was my turn, I got to bask in their afterglow. He smiled and shook my hand. I mentioned Lost and he smiled. We talked about filming in Hawaii and he admitted the only problem was he had just one season on the show.

I left and caught up with my friends and ventured on to more signatures.

AH

Nestor Carbonell Lost

I’ve already admitted to being a Lost fan. While I didn’t research every Easter Egg the show threw out there, I did think about most of them.  

Getting any autographs from Lost cast members is exciting.  Nestor Carbonell was just as nice as everyone else I met at the convention. And while we didn’t interact much, I love the quote he added to the photo.

AH

Walker Stalker Con Dallas 3/14/15

Daniel Dae Kim

I had to wait twice for Daniel Dae Kim. The first time, he needed to leave for a photo op. It happens.  Conventions are busy places for celebrities. They have scheduled time at their tables of signings. Then scheduled times for photo ops. Then scheduled times for panels that they need to attend.

 When we were finally face to face, I barely said hello before he asked me about the UofA. Yes, I was wearing a UofA shirt. Puzzled that he knew the logo, I asked if he went there. He said no but he was a sports fan. While I don’t know how big of a sports fan he was, he knew more than me about the UofA.

I congratulated him on working 10 years in Hawaii. He smiled. He knew most were not so lucky to work in paradise that long.

After he signed, he handed over the photo. Then he took it back.  He asked ’Lost’ or ‘5’?  not knowing what he meant, I said Lost. He then scribbled something.  I thanked him and walked off. I looked at the scribble and couldn’t figure it out.

Later, I told the wife about it. She glanced at the photo and gave me an exasperated look. She said he wrote ‘Jin’, his character name. D’oh!  

AH

Walker Stalker Con Dallas 3/14/15

Daniel Roebuck

While I forgot that Daniel Roebuck was on Lost, I did remember him on Grim. So I was excited about seeing him. Once I saw the photo on his tabled, I remembered his school teacher character that got blown up from handling the century old dynamite.

AH

Walker Stalker Con Dallas 3/14/15

Harold Perrineau

I was pretty nervous about Walker Stalker Con.  They had a huge line up and I truly wondered if my money or my time would run out before I got everyone I wanted. I arrived a little after 8AM. The doors were scheduled to open at 10:30 AM.

Oddly enough, the first priority I had was the cast members from Lost.  Most of them do not do conventions so my collection is fairly empty of that cast. When the doors opened I searched for the actors from lost.

When I found their tables, the only one present was Harold Perrineau. I got in line and after a short wait I was chatting with him. He seemed as pumped as me. We only chatted for a few moments. We talked Lost and conventions. He said he has been enjoying doing the shows and was thinking about doing more of them.

Then I mentioned Z Nation. There is no doubt it’s a cheesy show. Think Sharknado meets zombies. It would have NOT been on my radar except for Harold and Tom Everett Scott. Harold was killed in the first episode and Tom was killed 6 shows later.

With a wry grin he said he did it as a stunt; just something to do. He also admitted he got a lot more attention from that appearance than he expected.

AH

Walker Stalker Con Dallas 3/14/15

Andrew Divoff Twisted Tales 2014

Twisted Tales Film Festival has been running for a few years in Dallas but not on the radar.  This is year it was on the radar and there were a few celebs I wanted to get. However, when I arrived all of the celebs were at a movie screening. Since I had another engagement that evening, I couldn’t stick around to wait for their return.

Again, my fellow hound, Gambit, came to my aid and offered to pick up some signatures.  Of my ‘want list’ for the show, the one that seemed toughest was Andrew Divoff. Being a Lostie (fan of the show Lost), it was an obvious choice.

It’s a nice addition to the collection and I owe many thanks to Gambit for the help over the last year or so.

AH

Mira Furlan Space City Con 2014

Most of the people waiting for Mira Furlan were Babylon 5 fans.  I know her more as Rousseau from Lost.

Over the last couple of years we have been at the same shows but for one reason or another I haven’t gotten her.  This was my time.  I walked up. She smiled.  I pointed at a photo and asked if I could get that one signed.  She started signing.  As I started to hand over my money I was telling her how much I enjoyed Lost and then I dropped the bills.

I knelt to pick up the money.  Since I’m getting old, getting up isn’t so easy.  With a failed smile plastered across face, I struggled to stand again.  I could see some concern in her eyes as I grunted my way upright.

I handed the money over. The photo was returned and we never said another word. Oh well. You can’t always be a winner.

AH

Evangeline Lilly #SDCC 2013 Nerd HQ

This is not my tale to tell. The wife had this adventure. She wrote all of it except for the parts she didn’t.

I relinquish the keyboard to her...

Sigh…ComicCon.  Not really my thing.  I go.  Mostly because my husband will have TOO good of a time without me.  Well, maybe that’s not the total truth.  He does have a good time there. I just want to share and there are some things at ComicCon I enjoy too.

When I first started to go, everything was smaller and easier.  You didn’t need to wait in line forever. You could move from room to room as you wanted.    Now the whole event is waiting and waiting and hoping you make it into a panel you wanted to see.

My ComicCon trip is complete if I see The Big Bang Theory panel.   True Blood and Game of Thrones are bonuses.  This year, I did see Big Bang but I missed out on the other two; although I did get to see Joe Manganiello at Nerd HQ.  My husband surprised me by getting a ticket to Joe’s panel.  I really enjoyed that.

What I didn’t realize, this was part of a bigger plan.  He actually had me scoping out the place for the Evangeline Lilly book signing.  The love of my life also got me a ticket to the Evangeline panel.  The goal was to get a couple of her books signed.  While my husband was busy getting Tom Cruise’s autograph, I was to get Evangeline’s.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland #SDCC 2013

Never thought I’d get a winning raffle ticket for Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.  Yes, I would have preferred the original series but any free autograph is relished.  Again, this was a case of people giving up.  I came back to the Sail Pavilion after getting Grant Imahara’s auto. I saw there were still people holding the canvas bags.  I hustled over and picked up a few different winning tickets.

The worst thing about the ABC booth:  they had no room for people to queue up.  Someone from the booth took a group of us to a place far away to wait.  I think we were even forgotten about for a while. While we were waiting security came by and tried to disperse us.  The group refused to leave.  It’s always interesting to see people refuse.  Civil disobedience.  Higher level security came by and we still refused to move.  Someone contacted the booth and a representative came by and spoke with security and defused the ‘crisis’.

Michelle Rodriguez ComicPalooza 2013

The big big big name for me at this show was MichelleRodriguez.  I might have driven the 4 hours back and forth JUST for her. 

This was one of the longest lines I stood in the whole weekend.  It moved slow as she talked with everyone and seemed generally happy to hear what the fans had to say to her. She took photos of fans with tattoos or costumes or shirts she liked. The smile never left her face. She personalized and she even allowed table side photos. 

AH