valoise: (Default)
I've never been to the really huge for-profit conventions. My first exposure to cons was with Highlander Worldwide (HLWW) in 2006 in Leeds. A wonderful fanclub run event. I made so many friends there and this led me to the even smaller events run by the the Peter Wingfield Fan Club (PWFC). Until the start of the pandemic these groups and the friends I met there formed the core of my fandom family, even as the events themselves become less frequent.

From these groups I dipped my toe into a number of regional and larger cons. Worldcons, Vividcon, and Gallifrey One ended up being the ones I attended the most. Vividcon died in 2018 and I miss it a lot. Now that I live on the east coast I've found a couple of cons that I like (Long Island Who and Balticon) but haven't made the kinds of friendships that smaller events like HLWW, PWFC and Vividcon made possible.

This year because of really crappy weather and the likelihood of canceled flights making travel a real shitshow, I canceled on my current fav last weekend, Gallifrey One. The same crew of fans have been running Gally since 1991 and at the closing ceremonies it was announced that 2028 was going to be the last one. All things come to an end, but I'm more determined than ever to make the next three Gallys.
valoise: (Default)
Since about 2015 Gallifrey One has been one of my favorite cons.  A bit bigger than most fan-run cons, Gally has been going for over 30 years, starting during the wilderness years when the only new Doctor Who content were books, Big Finish audio, and fanworks.
In addition to guests from the cast and crew of both Classic and Modern DW, I love the focus on fan-created content including (but not limited to) panels, cosplay, a vidshow, game shows, art show, live podcasts and more I usually spend more time at these activities than in the main hall with the highlight guests.  This year one of the guests, outgoing show runner Chris Chibnail, also signed on for a panel other than in that main hall. And on that panel I saw his inner fanboy joyously emerge.

Because the convention takes place in LA, there is a regular panel of television writers who are also DW fans. Regular Gally guests Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, David Gerrold, Craig Miller, and Gillian Horvath have worked on iconic shows from many ST series, Highlander, Lost, Family Guy, The Orville, and many, many more. Chibnail, grinning broadly, seemed a bit awestruck and had to be encouraged to join in. When Craig Miller mentioned being a creator of the UK kid's show Pocket Dragon Adventures, Chibnail's looked absolutely delighted. I'd heard that this is the first fan event that he'd been to since he was a teenager. Even as the DW showrunner he had only done the huge commercial spectacle of ComicCon to showcase Jodie Whittaker taking over the role of the Doctor. It looked like Gally was his safe place to let his fannish joy take flight.
valoise: (Default)
Festivids go live is today and, of course, the first thing I did was watch this lovely vid made just for me. Chopped is one of my favorite shows but I had no hopes I would actually get a vid for it. This wonderful vid captures the tension, the struggle to get it right, the weird ingredients that are thrown at the contestants and the wonderful judges. It's everything I hoped for and more.

Here It Goes Again

I'll try to watch most all the vids during the week and will post a list of those I loved best soon. I've got to get back to my major Doctor Who marathon. I want to get through the rest of Classic Who before I leave for Gallifrey One on Feb. 11 and I just found out that both Hulu and Netflix are pulling the show from their line up. I'm not sure if that means both the classic and modern shows, but I've just started season 26 so I think I can finish it off this weekend.

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