This probably going to be a bit longer than the write up to the Comic Cruise.
So I had always imagined my first time in Holland would have been Amsterdam - Not that I am a marijuana smoker or I have got the need to visit a Red Light District (I'd probably be more inclined to visit the Anne Frank Museum to be honest), it's just the place I would have predicted - and I assume that where 99% of the Brits travelling to the Netherlands end up including many of my family (many likely for the activities just mentioned -, not that I am judging!).
So I had always imagined my first time in Holland would have been Amsterdam - Not that I am a marijuana smoker or I have got the need to visit a Red Light District (I'd probably be more inclined to visit the Anne Frank Museum to be honest), it's just the place I would have predicted - and I assume that where 99% of the Brits travelling to the Netherlands end up including many of my family (many likely for the activities just mentioned -, not that I am judging!).
So here I am on the 2nd day of the UK Comic Cruise, already tired - arriving in Rotterdam and then on a coach to Utrecht (which I'm still figuring out how I should pronounce, though I think I have got the hang of it) to attend the Dutch Comic Con, something that was booked without knowing a single guest who would be appearing at the con, now I knew from looking at the previous events that it wouldn't be a number of Dutch TV stars of no interest to an international man (of mystery) like me and was about to call the line-up semi disappointing (which isn't really true) until a few weeks before they announced Dirk Benedict. It's funny how a random name can perk up your opinion of an event.
We (as in me and my Nephew Dominic) was lucky enough to get on the first coach for Utrecht, and I was walking down the aisle when I heard a "Hi Rob" and looked up it was Virginia Hey, so really cool she remembered me and asked me how I was - it sticks out to me because I've met signees before then literally 5 minutes later they walk past me and there is no acknowledgment (not that I need it).
So we got our bands once we was off the coach and made we it to the venue which was huge, 4 halls including one just for stalls and another a gaming area - this is easily the largest convention I have ever attended - and I first made my way to where the guests are, noticeably by far the most popular guest was Dirk Benedict (which I will get too in a minute), so the first guest I met was Dr. Beverly Crusher herself Gates McFadden, who I had two things for. Firstly my Labyrinth poster, which you recalled I lost got signed by Michael Henbury in November, she thought it was cool somebody was getting something non TNG to sign (she was dance coordinator on the movie).
And then she signed my Star Trek - First Contact mini quad which I'd got signed by Alice Krige late last year.
So then it was on to Sean Maguire, best known for playing Robin Hood in Once Upon A Time or if you are British like me Eastenders or a short pop career in the late 90s, and I'll start firstly by saying, his assistant (volunteer from DCC) I saw be rude to a bunch of young ladies saying something like "he's not here to hug and kiss you, he's here to sign autographs!" which while technically true was more just the way she said it - even though it was too benefit me, but anyway he was a nice guy who hasn't seemed to age a day in years and we even talked about said pop career (since I listened to it for the first time in ages not too long ago). Hershey's have not sponsored this entry at all, it just so happens it was something I brought from DCC and was the closest thing to anchor it.
and a close up (this could end up being pretty cool if I get any other names on it).
So moving onto the final guest for me for the weekend - Dirk Benedict, which was, well certainly an experience, okay this could be long winded, I joined the end of his longish cue and was inline 30 or maybe 40 minutes and literally got 2nd to the front and he had to go for a photo shoot which he then would follow with lunch and be back for two, obviously it's frustrating but I'm a nice guy (who moans a little bit based on this blog), so thought okay I'll come back at 2 and hope for the best as far the line goes, so I go for a walk around and walk past and see that 15 minutes later he's back at his desk signing, so I was a bit pissed off with that and went back to see it was just a limited quick signing since he had some down time between signings/lunch and couldn't join the back of this now very tiny cue, so I basically walked around for another 20 minutes or so, then happened to walk past again to see if he was still, now I was ready to go in all angry but the guy helping the line waved me over from a distance and put me in the cue, and it turns out they fit me as literally the last person before his lunch as he left the table after meeting me, so I feel that they knew they are screwed up with me and tried to at least make it up to me.
So anyway I digress and haven't actually talked about meeting Dirk Benedict, so what did I get signed...
something from Battlestar Galactica... no...
okay then, it surely as to be that 80's classic series The A-Team...really, it's no again
If you answer 80's wrestling movie Body Slam... you are correct! It's a film that at best received mixed reviews, but he loved seeing this VHS cover, asking if it had a DVD release (DVD on demand I believe is the answer) and saying it was his favourite experience of making a movie (hence why he put that).
Okay if you only look at this blog to read about the autographs part that is it for this 2 parter, but I'm going to continue talking about my convention experience both at DDC and coming back on the boat.
So yeah, I was pissed for a bit of the today but felt better once all that was sorted and could look around the stalls a bit better finally finding my Nephew who had wondered off during my autograph hunt, he headed which should have been no surprise to me to the gaming area (he's a big gamer, well compared to me he is).
I ended up going to a stall for the new Power Rangers movie, where there was posters, now I'm not really a PR fan but I can't resist something that's free especially a foreign poster, the thing was I think you needed a scratch card and you win it, but obviously the language barrier (and being English we don't usually bother to learn other people's languages, which without getting too political is kind of ironic) I didn't understand and she just ended up giving me the poster anyway, so here it is
I also picked up free posters for Star Wars Rebels and a game (which had a cool bag) - because again I can't resist free stuff, and brought a couple of DVDs, most to sell but I got a a Dutch release of Enter The Dragon (paired with Cobra), I don't know if I have mentioned it but I collect Bruce Lee stuff and multiple versions of each film. This is my 6th Enter The Dragon DVD I believe (plus 2 videos).
and it was more walking around (like a Lord of the Rings film), buying some reasonably priced American Candy (like the Heshey's that appeared in a couple of photos) and all that jazz before having to return to get the coach - now here's the thing despite being 34 my Mother worries about me when I go away (I am the youngest so I'm her baby) and she specifically told me not to accept something from anybody, which is what did when I hope an employee of Monster Energy Drinks was handing out free drinks. So yes 4 free things, I consider this a good success and despite me being miserable for a section, a fun day was had...
So going to Holland, we had our bags checked, what you usually would expect - we had none of this returning, no checking for alcohol or knives (which they had kept asking us going) and we got back on the boat fairly easily, I went for tea which was a buffet and expensive by my standards but it was lovely, maybe because I had hardly ate since the same time the day before.
We ended up in the bar, watching the comic con entertainment for the night, firstly a talk including Virginia Hey which was enjoyable, followed by a dry talk about East Yorkshire's (where my hometown of Hull is) involvement in JRR Tolkien's writing, I did appreciate the guys love for it but honestly was not my thing, and we got another one man show from Simon Fisher Becker called Let Zygons Be Zygons, I don't know what it was like compared to the show he did coming (since I only saw bits) but this was a lot of moaning, I still found him an interesting speaker though
Next up was Star Draws, which was a version of pictionary with 2 teams, it didn't quite work because you couldn't really see the white board from where we was - whilst this was happening a female dressed as Poison Ivy sat in front of us and kept talking to us rather 2 shy guys and ended up eventually turning around to talk to us... and then comes the part where people will think I'm making up..
She was a porn actress... now this could be no big deal to some people (especially if you are Charlie Sheen) but I have never socialized with somebody who works in the adult film industry, I checked her out when I got back for educational purposes (honestly!) and yes she really is, I won't name her here, but she pages and some videos on various sites and all I'll say is I've never had a conversation with somebody who has been with 5 men at the same time (that I know of and that's not including your Mother obviously), but before finding her profession I found her intelligent, funny, beautiful and besides her not been ashamed of it so it came up a couple of times (phrasing), she was good company who even brought us a couple of drinks - my Nephew, who is 20 as only drunk once before and I guess all it takes is a porn star to convince to taste alcohol, also in case he reads this, this is an artist impression of when he was very, very drunk in the bathroom and slipped and was holding his knee
I got in bed past one o'clock... alone, since I wasn't in a porno, and thought of the day I had while I listening to music to get me to sleep.
And that's it's a fabulous weekend, with a story to tell that nobody will really believe us about, seriously if you met me, you'd realize how much the hanging around with a porn actress sounds ridiculous. That been said so I don't like I'm harping on about it, was a weekend of fabulous guests (and one moment of me spitting dummy out), it all feels like an experience I'll never forget and I would gladly consider doing it again!
We (as in me and my Nephew Dominic) was lucky enough to get on the first coach for Utrecht, and I was walking down the aisle when I heard a "Hi Rob" and looked up it was Virginia Hey, so really cool she remembered me and asked me how I was - it sticks out to me because I've met signees before then literally 5 minutes later they walk past me and there is no acknowledgment (not that I need it).
So we got our bands once we was off the coach and made we it to the venue which was huge, 4 halls including one just for stalls and another a gaming area - this is easily the largest convention I have ever attended - and I first made my way to where the guests are, noticeably by far the most popular guest was Dirk Benedict (which I will get too in a minute), so the first guest I met was Dr. Beverly Crusher herself Gates McFadden, who I had two things for. Firstly my Labyrinth poster, which you recalled I lost got signed by Michael Henbury in November, she thought it was cool somebody was getting something non TNG to sign (she was dance coordinator on the movie).
So anyway I digress and haven't actually talked about meeting Dirk Benedict, so what did I get signed...
something from Battlestar Galactica... no...
okay then, it surely as to be that 80's classic series The A-Team...really, it's no again
If you answer 80's wrestling movie Body Slam... you are correct! It's a film that at best received mixed reviews, but he loved seeing this VHS cover, asking if it had a DVD release (DVD on demand I believe is the answer) and saying it was his favourite experience of making a movie (hence why he put that).
So yeah, I was pissed for a bit of the today but felt better once all that was sorted and could look around the stalls a bit better finally finding my Nephew who had wondered off during my autograph hunt, he headed which should have been no surprise to me to the gaming area (he's a big gamer, well compared to me he is).
I ended up going to a stall for the new Power Rangers movie, where there was posters, now I'm not really a PR fan but I can't resist something that's free especially a foreign poster, the thing was I think you needed a scratch card and you win it, but obviously the language barrier (and being English we don't usually bother to learn other people's languages, which without getting too political is kind of ironic) I didn't understand and she just ended up giving me the poster anyway, so here it is
Back To The Boat (and Comic Cruise)
So going to Holland, we had our bags checked, what you usually would expect - we had none of this returning, no checking for alcohol or knives (which they had kept asking us going) and we got back on the boat fairly easily, I went for tea which was a buffet and expensive by my standards but it was lovely, maybe because I had hardly ate since the same time the day before.
We ended up in the bar, watching the comic con entertainment for the night, firstly a talk including Virginia Hey which was enjoyable, followed by a dry talk about East Yorkshire's (where my hometown of Hull is) involvement in JRR Tolkien's writing, I did appreciate the guys love for it but honestly was not my thing, and we got another one man show from Simon Fisher Becker called Let Zygons Be Zygons, I don't know what it was like compared to the show he did coming (since I only saw bits) but this was a lot of moaning, I still found him an interesting speaker though
Next up was Star Draws, which was a version of pictionary with 2 teams, it didn't quite work because you couldn't really see the white board from where we was - whilst this was happening a female dressed as Poison Ivy sat in front of us and kept talking to us rather 2 shy guys and ended up eventually turning around to talk to us... and then comes the part where people will think I'm making up..
She was a porn actress... now this could be no big deal to some people (especially if you are Charlie Sheen) but I have never socialized with somebody who works in the adult film industry, I checked her out when I got back for educational purposes (honestly!) and yes she really is, I won't name her here, but she pages and some videos on various sites and all I'll say is I've never had a conversation with somebody who has been with 5 men at the same time (that I know of and that's not including your Mother obviously), but before finding her profession I found her intelligent, funny, beautiful and besides her not been ashamed of it so it came up a couple of times (phrasing), she was good company who even brought us a couple of drinks - my Nephew, who is 20 as only drunk once before and I guess all it takes is a porn star to convince to taste alcohol, also in case he reads this, this is an artist impression of when he was very, very drunk in the bathroom and slipped and was holding his knee
And that's it's a fabulous weekend, with a story to tell that nobody will really believe us about, seriously if you met me, you'd realize how much the hanging around with a porn actress sounds ridiculous. That been said so I don't like I'm harping on about it, was a weekend of fabulous guests (and one moment of me spitting dummy out), it all feels like an experience I'll never forget and I would gladly consider doing it again!
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