Starfury Defiant – My first convention (29 – 31 April 2002)

I’ve been back a couple of days now but it still seems a bit unreal, as if you had been walking through a museum in a couple of hours time and have seen all the pictures. It becomes a bit hazy. It’s time to put it to paper before losing it all.

First: Skywise where were you? I met MyGirlCrais, she is a very lively and lovely person to meet, very bubbly. She spotted me after Gigi’s Saturday talk. Wasn’t easy to miss, I had a T-shirt on with Crais in full Peacekeepers uniform and I was wearing THE Badge! We looked everywhere for Skywise but didn’t see her. Maybe next time.

Friday:

Arrived on the Friday, got to join the wrong queue first (one for registration and then one for photo-shoots) then they had the wrong name to my registration number.

At first I felt a bit lost, it was my first convention don’t forget, but I was quickly made welcome by a group of people who were mainly into Earth: Final conflict and I listened to their stories of past conventions.

Apparently the ones held in the UK are the preferred conventions since it gives the fans and the guests the chance to mingle, drink, talk and dance with each other. In America they are only allowed to have the pictures taken, do their talks and autographs and have to disappear in their rooms.

I saw Lani get out of the car and nearly did a double take. “Gorgeous, gorgeous” was the only thing that went through my mind.

Went to the dealer’s room where I acquired the second Crais-doll (Vengeance is mine). Have two now and hubby is wondering if my brain is going retro.

I’m not into dolls, just Crais-dolls (LoL). Also got the Farscape calendar 2002, which has Crais in full Peacekeeper’s uniform standing next to Aeryn in it. All other “stuff” was on the rest of Farscape, drat!

When the guests arrived for the opening ceremony I could see him walking up and was surprised how much he looks like Crais (well, of course, he is the actor playing Crais… duh!).

His long hair is real! He has a thick, black mane of hair, which he keeps tied at the back of his head but instead of it falling down his shoulders or back, it surrounds his shoulders like a thick mane.

He looked a little heavier than when we see him as Crais but we found out on Sunday that the effect must be partly due to the shirts he’s wearing. The way his trousers were turned up at the ankles make him look shorter than he really is. In reality he is close to 6 feet.

Anyway, he went up to the bar, like all the others, and was eventually stopped by hordes of people who wanted their pictures taken with him. Being the “shy” person that I am I tried not to rush him.

He was stroking Talyn (this is not a hussy but a baby-iguana, more about the little thing later) and asked the Lizard-lady (that’s what everybody called her) all sorts of questions about the lizard. I must admit I was not paying any attention to what was said; his voice is like velvet, deep and husky.

He spotted me and my T-shirt (picture of sneering Crais, very close up, blue background) and asked me where I had purchased it. When I told him that I had made it myself he was very pleased with it and said he liked it. A photo was taken of us shortly thereafter. He has strong and very warm hands. When I had my arm around his waist I could feel a solid man under my hand, it was definitely the shirt. His smile is just to die for.

In the opening ceremony he made some funny comments on getting through passports. The story went, that when he walked through they were asking for his identification and his passport was a couple of years old, therefore the mane of hair wasn’t as prominent. They looked at him and then back at his passport and then he remembered that he had the Farscape-companion with him, which has his Crais picture in it. Now they remembered. His accent is less thick than the Australian accent, so I assume that it is a New Zealand accent. With it his voice is slightly lighter than the Crais-voice and almost nasal but still has that lovely huskiness in it.

Gigi came on. If it hadn’t been for her voice and mercurial presence you wouldn’t recognise her. She wore glasses and her hair is short. She is fast! In speech and in movement! Now, she has a very thick Australian accent but it is so sylph-like that it is very pleasant to the ears.

Later that evening I decided to join the disco (normally don’t like to disco) and luckily I did. The guests were dancing as well, especially Von (Flores) and Robert (Leeshock) deserve a mentioning here. Talking about poetry in motion! Von even managed to dance on top of the table later in the evening.

Back to Lani. Man-oh-man, can that man move and groove! Can you imagine a cross between Topol (in Fiddler on the roof) and John Travolta all combined in one man? It was a beauty to behold. Unfortunately there were so many people surrounding him that I didn’t get much of a chance to get very close, would have liked to though.

Maybe it was for the best, fainting because of over-excitement wouldn’t do.

They all left at nearly one in the morning and I stayed until 2:15.

Saturday:

Up again at 6:30. The photo-shoot was at nine and I didn’t want to miss anything!

Had breakfast on my own (they’re really seating the people funnily in the hotel).

Waited in eager anticipation for my photo-session. He showed someone his ring and stone, which he wears around his neck on a black leather string. Then it was my turn.

Lani was dressed in a frilled but bright white shirt and jacket for the shoot and had a small earring in his left ear, makes him look like a pirate.

The first photo was with Gigi (on my right) and Lani (on my left), he commented that he liked the second T-shirt too. When it came to the second photo he stepped back, thinking it would be with Gigi since most of the people before me had requested it.

When they asked him to step forward for another photo he acted surprised, more for my benefit I hope. Wearing a different Crais T-shirt (picture of Crais sitting relaxed in the Command Centre of Talyn) two days on the trot, would I be wanting a photo-shoot with only Gigi?

He smells nice. Very lightly scented of sweet herbs and a very solid body. I think he must have been able to hear my heart thud very loudly.

I listened to the talks of most of the guests. If you ever get the change, the following people are worthwhile to listen to: Robin Downes. I think he comes originally from England but has been living in America for a long time and has an American accent. He is in Dark angel. He is hilarious and his voice-overs are great. His voice registers from very high to low.

Von Flores and Robert Leeshock had a double-act, someone suggested Morecombe and Wise, which was rather risqué and full of innuendo but absolute fun. Von is “unemployed” at the moment but is travelling about and doing his photographing and thinking of going into producing. Robert had something lined up but it fell through in March. Still looking around. Missed Nana Visitor first time around because my door-key wouldn’t work, no sweat, as long as I don’t miss Lani’s talk. Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.

Lani’s talk was great. It was mostly interactive. By the way, as promised, I asked him how his name was pronounced properly: it is pronounced as it is written. No extra inflections or such. He spoke of his work on Farscape At first he would come in and do Pilot and then another day to do Crais but it turned out to be too expensive and so he had to do them both on the same day.

When someone asked which he did first on a day: Crais or Pilot, he explained it was easier to do Pilot first and then Crais since Pilot’s voice is an octave higher than his own voice and of Crais, so much lower and, boy, did he go low! The sort of low that makes butterflies dance in your stomach. It’s not natural for someone to go so low and not be swamped with females of all shapes and sizes.

He also had a funny story about Wayne Pygram but since that falls under the heading of spoilers I will not repeat it here. I will write it down for my own pleasure and such of you who will want to have a copy of it and don’t mind spoilers or who have already seen the ending of season three. It will be omitted in this post.

Since the Farscape series is now over, it is safe to include the spoiler here (grin).

When they were doing the scene in the Command Carrier after Talyn had Starburst, Wayne, as Scorpius, was going to be standing on the stairs when the water was coming down. He asked how much water was going to come down, they told him “not to worry, just a trickle”. When it was shot he was shocked to see more than a trickle come down and found himself knee-deep in water.

Another remark (this by one of the fans later on, not in the chat) which falls under spoilers and I dread to think if that could be true, was that if they pander to American demand Crais might be out for a long time or for the remainder of Farscape due to his complexion. At certain angles he does look Middle Eastern and what with the 11^th of September last year… That he is Polynesian and not Middle Eastern doesn’t come into the equation. Let’s hope the producers think of the rest of us as well who are not American.

Sometimes the actors can be thankful for small blessings. One day one of the technicians detected smoke coming from one of the sets, namely the set of the Command Centre on Talyn. A small fire was detected and duly extinguished. It also made them realise that when filming there could be about 18 people standing quite cramped on the set with only one corridor to escape through. The set was rebuilt with a backdrop, which could be forced/moved outward should an emergency like that arise again. It made everybody else feel more safely.

The Scream. He build up to that quite nicely, telling us the story how they were filming the Boolite-storyline. Jool and Crais were just supposed to look at each other and down and back. Together they decided to do the scream. So, it was: look at each other, look down, look at each other and then scream. We all heard the scream on the episode but to hear it life! It was (pardon the Americanism) Awesome! Came right out from his toes! No microphone needed!

Since MCG already mentioned it, it was I who asked the question if he would be back for season four. It was also this humble person who asked when he is doing Pilot’s voice and when he’s doing Crais’ voice there is a definite British accent to it and in Crais’ case he sounds like Richard Burton, does he do it deliberately?

He was visibly pleased by that, although corrected me justifiably that it is Sir Richard Burton, and admitted that when he was doing Pilot’s voice he kept the actor John hurt in mind and must have unconsciously used Sir Richard Burton’s voice for Crais. No wonder his voice sends shivers down everybody’s spine!

He also said, that given the chance he would like to perform and tour Othello as Othello (of course). Personally I think he would make a perfect Othello. He has the voice and the presence to pull it off quite nicely. When he asked if any of the fans would go and see him on stage he was surprised to learn that quite a number did.

I, for one, will definitely go if he’s touring in Europe, London preferred. I like Shakespeare and think of it girls, even if you don’t like Shakespeare to see and hear Lani on stage for three hours!!!

On Sunday they were going to auction off his red pumps. A definite must to see!

MCG has covered most of the rest of the talk and done her part brilliantly and I find not much more to add to that. Although, wouldn’t it have been good to be the stand in model?

Gigi was next and MCG has covered all there was to say. It was a pleasant surprise when I felt a hand on my shoulder, “You’re GitonCrais?” and looked at MCG (well, we introduced each other).

MyGirlCrais you are a sight for sore eyes. Cohorts, you have to believe me, she is a very nice person to meet. Very lively and bubbly and young. Once I get around to sorting the pictures properly (have the idea I downloaded them wrong, will have to look into it this weekend) I will send MCG her picture first, she can decide whether the picture will go on the board, although I don’t see any reason why not.

It was a great pleasure to meet you MCG and your sister. When it comes to embarrassment, it is still illegal to kill sisters (and brothers) or else I would be an only child long ago! LoL. Sorry you couldn’t stay for the disco and the Sunday, it was great.

At six in the evening there was sad news coming over the speakers, the Queen-Mum had died. I felt sorry for Ian, who is a royalist and rang him. It is not fun when you’re across the Pond and Hubby has to listen to that bit of news on his own.

Unfortunately, they closed the autograph-session down at number 275, 56 short of my number. Ah, well. After grabbing a bite it was time for the Fancy dress party.

15 people signed up to be reviewed and judged. Most were dressed up as Zhaan/Delvians or Chiana, with one person dressed up at Crais. He was a Welshman and had been there since Friday dressed as Crais. The intent was there but he didn’t have the same presence as Crais (who has?). Mind, it didn’t help that he was quite drunk (or gave the impression as such) for most of the time.

The prices finally went to (2 and 3) Chiana-dress-ups and first price a Scarran. There was a baby-price for the young(est) Chiana and literally a baby.

The Lizard-lady had shaved her head completely bald and was painted blue to be a look-alike-Zhaan, talking about dedication!

Later the guests came back, around 12 or one, and the disco went on until well past four (the clocks went back one hour that night) in the morning. Lani was still there and I managed to sneak another picture in with him. That man has stamina!!!

Imagine, it is quarter past four in the morning (he already had done a photo-session, a talk, autographing-session, Fancy-dress-judging and a 3-hour-bout of discoing), he had a bottle of Smirnoff-breezer in his hand (he didn’t look, smell, talk or walk as if he had drunk any alcohol; not a bit!) and he’s still going. I finally went up to bed at 4:30 but learned the next day that Lani, Robin, Von and Chiana had gone to another hall to play pool until 7 in the morning. And guess who was present, nice and shiny and bushy-tailed again at 10:30? You guessed it!

Sunday:

Missed some of the morning’s fun because I did a one-and-a-half-hours walk trying to find a cash-machine, which was non-existent. Something to keep in mind when going to that venue, bring cash with you!

That morning I learned that Talyn (the iguana) had died. Apparently Lizard-lady had taken the wee beastie into the disco with her. Bright lights, blasting music and being tossed in the air. The poor dear couldn’t take it. It is now buried in the hotel-grounds (literally) with a spoon to mark its grave.

I went to most of the afternoon-talks (including Nana Visitor’s) and by now had made myself almost to the front of the rows. The talks of Chiana and Lani are quite blurry in my mind due to the rush of adrenalin, which was given to us almost at the end of the talks. The auctioning of the red pumps! (proceeds were going to Kevin Smith's family).

I’ll try and write down what I can remember.

Someone asked Lani if Crais would be back for Season 4. He doesn't know. They've filmed about seven episodes of season 4 so far and he hasn't been in them as Crais. He DID say that he felt that Crais wasn't finished, that he didn't have closure and really wanted to carry on with him so, if they want him, he'll do it. He then talked about the red shoes and claimed they made him feel “really butch” (LoL).

He talked about filming the scene in GEM where Crais and Aeryn are supposedly in bed together.

Apparently Claudia didn't do it, it was someone else, a model. The model had been told by her agent, that all she'd have to do was walk across a room. She'd be naked, but the camera would be behind her so you wouldn't see anything. Then she got to the set and the script read, “she is in bed - on top of Crais”! For some reason (can’t understand why), she objected to this! So they (model and Lani) introduced themselves over lunch and then went to film the scene.

Lani lies back, she's straddling him - and they're talking about the weather! Then it's decided that they (the producers) want a bit more. She has to make it look as if they're actually having sex. So she's wriggling around on top of him (Lani swears he was 'thinking of England' - he kept his trousers on while filming BTW) for about six takes (she kept getting it wrong apparently – purposely?). How did this end? Well, let's put it like this. The original idea was that the camera would begin behind her, move round and pan up Lani's body in close up. They had to scrap that idea because the censors wouldn't let the scene past! And Lani’s wife decided to visit the set that day (heehee).

To get the auction going Lani was “persuaded” to wear the pumps to show them off.

Not only can he stand on them (just trying pumps on I fall over) but he can… boogy!

Imagine him doing a twist on them, shaking his body! A balancing act worthy of an acrobat! He walked around on them as if it was the most natural thing for a man to do without once losing his balance, even flicking his hair in a feminine way and putting up a high voice. And with all that not even losing his manly charm. That man can wear anything! The form of his ankles would put many a woman to shame.

Lani also remarked that for putting on the pumps he had to wax his legs and recommends it to all men (I could almost “feel” the men in the audience flinch).

The bidding went up fast! The promise was that if it reached 700 Pounds Lani would dance in them and he did! Then Von, Robert and Robin came up and promised that if it went over 800 Pounds they would strip. A man from Dallas won the shoes at 800 Pounds.

All cameras had to be put away. Doormen stood in front of the doors and on the sound of “You sexy thing” the men on stage started to dance and strip. The pheromone in the place could be measured quite easily I think.

Von sidled over to Lani who was still dancing on stage and slowly took first his shirt off, tweaked his nipple and then took his undershirt off too. He didn’t go further than that but it was enough. Lani is solid, not at all fatty just broad chested and his chest is hairless. A wonderful sight to behold! Mind you the other three weren’t bad looking either (LoL).

Afterwards they left and the auctioning went on. I still wanted to get the autographs and with an adrenaline-rush still coursing through my body I couldn’t be held accountable to bid on something I might not be able to afford.

It took a little while for my poor heart to simmer down.

When I got to the registration-desk I found out that there was still one (signed) picture left of the guests in school-uniforms. I tried to raise the money through the hotel but that was not their policy. Well, you saw what the picture was like (see: “Nice legs” on this board) and with a last longing look I went to join the queue for the autographs.

I had a bit of luck there. Just before it was my turn, Lani had been given a third degree by a German couple (sorry, Marzi but they were the cartoon-Germans, I’m not saying all Germans are like them, I know they are not) who had been giving all the guests a grilling, holding up the queue in the process and making the guests weary to talk to any other fans, that was obvious. Then someone came in and dumped a stack of photographs in front of Lani, which he had to sign first. When it was my turn the poor man would have just signed the deeds to anything you put in front of him.

I had one personal item (one of the pictures for the T-shirts) and a picture of Crais reaching for his transponder to sign. My name is not an easy one so I had given my badge to his helper to get the other two personalised. He signed the badge first. “No,” the helper and I said, “That’s not the personal item.” So, he signed the other two pictures as well. I managed to thank him and to tell him that his presence made season three much more enjoyable to watch, which seem to perk him up a bit.

Unfortunately I missed the closing ceremony because they started at least half and hour earlier than announced. Drat! And the raffle! Suppose one of the prices had been a kiss by one of the guests (as if, in my dreams)?

Saw Lani for the last time at about one in the morning. This time he was wearing a black jacket. Black really suits him, he looks so much more gorgeous in it. Unfortunately the person who took that picture should never be given a camera!

When he took his jacket off later he was only wearing a sleeveless shirt. Yummmm!!!

The party was finally over at 2 in the morning. I stayed and talked to someone until 3.

Over the weekend I will look at the pictures (and remember to send them to post them) and hope that there will be any good pictures. I know that Lani’s ankle-shots while wearing the pumps came out reasonably well. Can someone give me a hint how I can post the pictures on the board?

Now it is back to reality and work. Have one consolation, hubby is of the same build as Lani (only somewhat older, a couple of inches shorter and doesn’t have the wavy hair), has a beard and a deep voice. Go figure…

Well, I hope you like my report (and that it isn’t too long and boring) and maybe if the place is right, Lani is there and hopefully not too far away (like across the world) I might attend another convention and meet you there.

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