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Tag: CONsole Room

CONsole Room 2019 Recap

First things first: Welcome to year nine of Confessions of a Neowhovian (~throws confetti~ ~releases “Happy Blog Birthday” balloons~)!

As I look through my posts, I realize that I haven’t reported back regularly to my readers about the happenings at my local con these past few years. I can understand why I’ve done it that way; after the first couple of years, my attendance at CONsole Room has been a bit more casual. I don’t have anything particularly scintillating, like photos with the guests or even my own cosplays, to share.

But although I haven’t ignored it completely, mentioning CONsole Room in passing from time to time, I thought I should be a bit more formal about it this year—especially as CONsole Room has moved from May to January.

As usual, experiencing it as a commuter con colors my perceptions of CONsole Room, as does the added factor of bringing my daughters along. There were plenty of panels and activities that, had I been a “captive audience” for the con, I would gladly have attended, and almost certainly would have enjoyed. Given my personal constraints, though, this year my attendance was limited to Saturday and a single Friday evening panel.

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Confession #120: I Love a Retrospective

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My kids had spring break last week. We spent some lovely time with family members whom we don’t get to see often enough, and returned home with a couple of spare days to laze around the house. The girls and I have been making our way through modern Who together over the past few months, and before we headed out of town, had reached the end of Tennant’s run. Although they were resigned to the change, they were (much like their mom at that stage) not really ready to move on.

However, with several more days of spring break stretched out in front of us, and the Smith era just waiting there invitingly, the girls decided to dive in. They grudgingly agreed to give this not-Tennant guy a try, knowing that eventually we’d roll back around to Capaldi (remember that they started modern Who by watching Series Ten), but they weren’t harboring any high hopes.

We started on Wednesday the 4th with The Eleventh Hour (S05E01, a day late for the eighth anniversary of its first broadcast) and binge-watched nearly two full series, finishing The Girl Who Waited (S06E10) by Sunday the 8th. That’s twenty-four episodes in the span of five days—a serious feat, if I do say so myself. Somewhere in the middle they reached the fourth of the five stages of the Whovian’s regeneration cycle (counting “Regeneration” as the first), though I don’t know that they necessarily rank Eleven as their favorite. Still, they’re on board with him being the Doctor, and they adore Amy, Rory, and River. Result!

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Confession #115: I’m Considering Cutting Corners

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My daughters have continued to expand their Doctor Who horizons in the past few months (we’re currently on a Seven-and-Ace kick), which has led them to a broader awareness of my own fannish activities. The last time I mentioned some breaking guest news from Gallifrey One, for example, one of them pouted, “I really want to go to Gally…”

It dawned on me last weekend that although getting them to Gally with me is unlikely to prove financially feasible any time soon (flying roughly 2000 miles isn’t cheap for one, let alone three or four—never mind the cost of lodging, food, and souvenirs), we have a local Doctor Who con (CONsole Room) where they could dip their toes into the experience.

So I wandered over to the CONsole Room site to see what the con might have in store for my girls, should we decide to go. At this early stage (we’re still seven months out), there isn’t a lot of detail to be had. However, there is a headliner who’s been announced, and having seen her myself at Gally, I can vouch for her being a great guest: Neve McIntosh (a.k.a. Madame Vastra). I bet the girls would love her.

Except they currently have no idea who Vastra is.

Now I’m in a bit of a pickle. I have been trying hard not to force any viewing on my kids, because I want them to want to watch my favorite show, rather than to feel pressured into it, thereby enjoying it less. I’ve presented some options throughout the Classic/pre-Hiatus run, and let them choose among those curated offerings. My reasoning is sometimes peculiar, but so far they haven’t come away disliking anything, even the more esoteric and oft-disparaged serials.

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The Stinker Swims

Review of The Underwater Menace (#32)
DVD Release Date: 24 May 16 (Region 1/N.America)
Original Air Date: 14 Jan – 04 Feb 1967
Doctor/Companion: Two, Polly Wright, Ben Jackson, Jamie McCrimmon
Stars: Patrick Troughton, Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines
Preceding Story: The Highlanders (Two, Ben, Polly, Jamie)
Succeeding Story: The Moonbase (Two, Ben, Polly, Jamie)

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the third iteration of CONsole Room, my local Doctor Who convention. I won’t be posting a full recap on it this year, as I was only there for a few hours each day for the panels I was on, but among the guests were three early Companions: Anneke Wills (Polly Wright), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon), and Wendy Padbury (Zoë Heriot). All three worked with Patrick Troughton (though Anneke started with William Hartnell), so there are plenty of each of their episodes that are missing.

Interestingly enough, one of the more recently recovered episodes (found in December 2011) was from early in Season Four (Troughton’s first), including Anneke as Polly and Frazer’s second outing as Jamie. It was finally released on DVD here in North America about two weeks ago, a week and a half before CONsole Room. I didn’t manage to find time to watch it until after the con, which is a shame, because then I might have been able to (a) ask the guests some semi-intelligent questions about the story when I saw them on their main stage panel on Saturday and (b) fully appreciate the cosplay of the (highly embarrassed) young lady who got called out to show off her Polly-as-an-Atlanean costume during said panel. Alas, I did not have that much forethought. With mild regret for missed opportunities, then, I sat down to watch the last release of the home video line (barring any further lost episode recoveries).

The Underwater Menace has a reputation as one of the big stinkers. Until now, it’s only been possible to watch one of its four filmed episodes, which in my opinion makes it ridiculously difficult to judge. Even with this release, Episodes One and Four (those still absent from the archives) are terribly difficult to follow, as all we have to go on are the soundtrack and production stills. Thank Prime for closed captioning.

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Cosplay at CONsole Room

Thanks to staff photographer Larry Barthel, I can now share a few of the costumes from CONsole Room that didn’t get illustrated in my recap post because my own images were so poor.

Entries in the Masquerade are along the bottom edge (including the Monoid; 12th Doctor not pictured).

There are too many other awesome individuals pictured here—those who simply cosplayed the con—for me to single out; I’d either list them all, or miss someone I thought was worth an extra note. Instead, I’ll just ask for your input. Which ones are your favorites?

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CONsole Room 2015 Recap

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This past weekend (29-31 May 2015) was CONsole Room 2015. I’m thrilled that a local-to-me dedicated Doctor Who convention has cropped up and made it successfully through its second year. I have every intention of continuing to patronize it, and am considering upgrading to the Sponsor level. More on that later.

[Side note: I apologize for the lack of photos. After moving house a week prior to the con, I didn’t really have my head on straight, and wouldn’t have been sure where to look for my camera even if I’d remembered. The few photos I did take (with my iPod) were simply too poor to post.]

As last year, I began my con experience on Thursday night at the Pre-Con Mixer. It was a fun time to socialize with the friends I’d made there previously, but due to guest-of-honor Colin Baker’s bad knee, he wasn’t able to circulate among the crowd as Sophie Aldred and Deborah Watling had (and to be honest, we were really spoiled by how much time Sophie spent with us last year). Nor did our table get any time with the other guests of honor. Ellie and Joseph Darcy-Alden (Francesca and Digby from The Snowmen) were unable to be there at all, and though I saw Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones of Torchwood) come in, that was the last time I spotted him.

Having had my expectations raised so far by my first experience, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the Mixer wasn’t quite as fabulous for me the second time around. I doubt, however, that the mild disappointment I felt will be enough to deter me from attending the Mixer next year.

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Confession #75: I’m a Bit Boggled

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In a few months, it will once again be time for CONsole Room, the new Doctor Who convention in the Twin Cities (now in its second year). Having fallen in love with the con scene after my first Gallifrey One in 2012, I was thrilled when one cropped up local to me, and I’ve been trying to get some of my Gally friends to join me here for CONsole Room (because seeing them once a year is just not enough!).

Its first year seemed to go pretty smoothly, and from what I could see was well received. Since I want to see it continue to thrive, I would like to do something to contribute to its success—without getting into any con ops/volunteer roles. (Sorry; simply not one of my strengths.) When the call for panelists came, then, I was happy to respond.

What I didn’t expect was to be put on all the panels I’d listed as interests.

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CONsole Room 2014 Recap

This past weekend, for the first time in over twenty years, a dedicated Doctor Who con was held in the Twin Cities (that’s Minneapolis/St Paul, for those unfamiliar with the moniker). I was thrilled to have a con right here in my own town, and I have to say the organizers acquitted themselves well. While it was a very different experience—both on the con floor and off—than I’ve had at Gally, I had a great time, and look forward to next year.

So what was it like? Glad you asked!

Thursday
Since I didn’t have to contend with the expense of airfare or lodging, I felt justified in springing for one of the “extras” available: the Pre-Con Mixer on Thursday night. Not having done any events like it before, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, other than the advertised details: there would be hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar, and the two guests of honor (Deborah “Victoria” Watling and Sophie “Ace” Aldred) were scheduled to attend.

I have to say, the event was a greater success for me personally than I could possibly have imagined. Although awkward at first—none of my friends were attending the con, let alone the mixer—I found my groove eventually. I chatted with someone I’d seen on Twitter, and before long, Deborah Watling herself had moved to our table. We talked about her recovered episodes and what we liked best about them before she moved on to other attendees.

In fact, that transition led directly to my making some new friends. As I stood uncomfortably alone at the table while conversations swirled around me, the eye of a verbal storm, I couldn’t help but notice that one of the two women Deborah was engaged with had a brilliant fandom mashup tattoo. When they parted ways, I felt compelled to follow these other fans, tapping one on the shoulder.

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