I-CON 25

I had a three-day pass for this con, but I ended up going on Saturday only since most of what I wanted to see was on that day.  The con opened at 10 AM, but a friend told me to be there early because the lines just to get passes could be crazy.  I got to the sports complex at just before 9 AM and luckily didn't find much of a line for the people who preregistered.  I met a couple of guys dressed in Stargate outfits - green BDU's.  Looked like they were supposed to be Jack and Daniel ...one guy was wearing sunglasses almost like the kind Jack would wear from time to time and a baseball cap, while the other guy was wearing gold framed glasses with no lenses in them.  They were pretty much the only other Stargate fans I met outside. 

Armed with a program schedule, I headed down to the dealer tables.  What an assortment of weird and interesting stuff.  There was a table with some Stargate merchandise - mostly issues of the magazine and the different trading cards.  Kevin Sorbo and Ron Glass were already down there setting up for their autographs.  I talked to them for a little while and they were both very nice guys.  I'd first seen Ron Glass way back in Barney Miller (hope I'm not dating myself here, lol) and he told me he really enjoyed working on that show.  When Kevin Sorbo found out I went to school at Stony Brook he asked what I studied and I told him "geology."  He said that he was always interested in courses like that.  He asked me if the campus is really nice in the spring, with all the foliage and stuff (it is).  I got autographs from both of them and it was cool meeting them.

Carmen Argenziano and Ron Glass were due to speak at 11 AM at some sort of talk entitled "Wise Old Men."  We were in the lecture hall waiting for the talk when they came in and announced that it had been cancelled.  Richard Hatch from Battlestar Galactica (BSG) was going to give his Q&A in that room instead, so I decided to stay put.  He seemed like a nice guy, actually kind of philosophical.  He talked a bit about the old BSG, but mostly it was about the new series.  I zoned out a bit there because I don't watch the new BSG and had pretty much no idea what he was talking about. *g*  He showed a gag reel from that show and also a trailer from a new series he's working on called Magellan.

His talk lasted about an hour and a half and then I went to get something for lunch.  After that, I headed back over to the sports complex.  I met Tara from the Stargate Alpha and Omega group at the Information Desk.  I told her I'd been looking for Carmen downstairs at the dealer tables earlier, but couldn't find him.  She told me he was down there now, so we headed back down.  After searching amid the numerous tables and dodging the crowds, I finally found Carmen.  I presented him with gifts of appreciation from my fellow Sam/Daniel rebels, including a Jacob/Selmak bear (teddy bear with Tok'ra costume made by Chris), two fanfiction stories by Monica and Cindy, and a Thank You card/note signed by Chris for us Sam/Daniel 'gaters.  He was a bit surprised to receive all of it, but very gracious.   He said, "Oh! A tok'ra bear!"  He had just come in from outside and had been wearing a cap.  He put it on the bear and let me take a couple of pictures of him holding the bear.  Then his handler asked if I wanted a picture with him and I said "oh, yes, please," so she took one pic of me with him.  Autographed photos were $20 each, but he let me have 2.  He signed one to me and the other I got him to sign "Sam Daniel rebellion RIGHT ON!"  I'd told him that I belong to an online community of Stargate fans called the Sam/Daniel Rebellion, how we miss him, and how we appreciate him talking about Sam/Daniel in a positive light.  He thanked me again for presents and shook my hand. 

His Q&A was at 3 PM, so I went up into the gymnasium early to get a good seat.  I sat up front and I took a few pics of him before the questions started.  I can't remember how many questions there were, but almost less than half of them were related to Stargate.  He mostly talked about acting in general and people asked him about the other films he appeared in, such as Godfather II and Sudden Impact (he said he liked working with Clint Eastwood in that one).  Someone asked him about Jacob's end on SG-1, and if he felt that was a good time to end.  He said no, and he wished it didn't happen.  However, he had been doing a play in LA during the last few episodes.  He lived in LA while they shot Stargate in Vancouver and there was an inconvenience and expense issue for TPTB; they were looking at more local actors.  He speculated that maybe they wanted to start a fresh story.  He loved the character and he wanted to continue, but he said that's showbiz.

Someone else asked him what his favorite episode was, and he said it was The Tok'ra, Part II.  He loved working with the woman who played Selmak's former host, Saroosh (sp?).  He said that when it was time to do the scene where they had to lie next to each other and the symbiote would leave her to go into Jacob, he wonderd how that would look on camera, with him lying there with his mouth open like that, lol.  He also said that there was a moment where he tells Sam how proud he is of her, and at that moment, he put his hand on Amanda's cheek and she started crying.  He said it ended upon film and it was a nice moment. 

He said that you never know which take they'll use.  Once, when they were going to some planet, he came out of the gate and tripped, and of course they left that take in.  When his son was going to see it, he kept telling him, "oh, wait until you see this" (he didn't know that they kept that take in).  His son saw it and said, "Daddy, you look like a sissy!"  LOL.

Someone also asked what RDA was like as a person.  He said that he was always warm and friendly, although one time he was in a bad mood because he had a fight with his ex-girlfriend.  Carmen's son was visiting the set that day and remarked to him what a grouch RDA was. *grin*  RDA wasn't happy for the rest of the day.  That was about it for his Q&A session, and about it for the convention for me.  I had a great time.  Carmen was such a sweet guy and I was really glad to meet him.


Here are a few pics from the con, including several of Carmen with the Jacob bear (and one of the bear before I gave it to him), several of him during the Q&A panel, and a picture of myself with him (please don't mind how awful I look there, lol!).  I've also scanned the two autographed pics from him and put them up here.  Click on the thumbnails for full-sized images.  Please do not hotlink.  Enjoy!