Wild Cosmia, what have you seen?

I think that musicians are probably harder to get autographs from than actors. I say this without any real authority, but it would make sense to me - how often are musicians out? Actors are always making random appearances but musicians might come around every time an album is released and that’s it. And I have had much better luck with actors outside of venues than I have had with musicians.

That said, I was not going to wait outside after the show for Joanna Newsom because it was Madison, WI in December and less than 30 degrees - I wouldn’t even expect her to stop, and I sure wouldn’t want to stand out there in the cold for a chance. So, even though I had tickets, I didn’t plan on getting her autograph after the show. About a week before the show though, I read on the Joanna Newsom sub Reddit that she was doing meet-and-greets after shows and I got excited.

The day of the show, we get there about 15 minutes after the door opens and I ask the person at the merch counter if she would be coming after the show. She told me that she didn’t know because she didn’t do it after every show, and she would find out afterwards. The show was amazing, maybe one of the three or four best shows I have ever seen. She is just as great live as she is on her albums. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her hands as she played the harp; it was genuinely mesmerizing. I have never had such an emotional reaction to a show, her music really speaks to me.

After the show, I head to merch and ask if she will be coming by. Still no idea. I wait near the merch counter, and the crowd thins out until there are maybe 30 people left. The merch person nods to me, ‘yes, she is coming.’ The crowd thins out further to maybe 20 people, and the security comes by and asks us to line up because Joanna is coming out.

She could not have been sweeter. She signed my Y’s LP and I took a picture with her. This is now one of the best pieces in my collection, top 5 for sure.

Tom Baker

I do have Tom Baker's autograph three times already - once on a signed collage I won from the Diamond Comics booth at Comic Con (I think in 2003, but honestly don't remember), once in a copy of his autobiography, and once on series 1 of the Doctor Who trading cards from Strictly Ink.

However, I would like to have photos of all the Doctors and of the living actors I was only missing Tom Baker and Christopher Eccleston. So, I decided to take advantage of the send-in through Tom Baker's website and have a photo signed.

I wanted a photo of Romana II and the Fourth Doctor but couldn't find anything that I liked, so I sent this photo of The Doctor with Leela:

Now I just need Louise Jameson to sign it as well. It could not have gone more smoothly - I placed the order (less than $25 total shipped back to me), mailed in the photo and got email updates from his team when it arrived and when it mailed back to me (actually, I also got one asking me if I had forgotten to mail the photo and had to let them know I placed the order a few days before actually mailing). Great service and I couldn't be happier. Now to track down Christopher Eccleston...

Chicago TARDIS 2015 (or ‘Can someone show me their UNIT? Anyone?’)

After attending 2014 solo accidentally, I decided to head down to the 2015 show with my wife. She was not going to attend the show, but she would spend time at the mall and then afterwards we would go to dinner and do a little joint shopping. Two things messed that up: 1) she needed $600 of work done on her car a few days earlier, severely reducing our available cash and 2) the show put out the schedule and I was basically booked until 6:30pm. So, solo again in 2015 on the Saturday of the show.

I was heading down to get Ingrid Oliver, Paul McGann, Dan Starkey, Burn Gorman and Nick Briggs for myself, as well as another Burn for my friend Mark, another Ingrid for my friend Lew and a couple of autographs for a guy I know on the Rebelscum forum. I accidentally bought an extra Starkey ticket and Ingrid was such a late replacement that Lew didn’t have time to send anything, so I needed photos there.

Originally, Jenna Coleman and Eve Myles were attending and they cancelled after I had purchased their autograph tickets, so I needed to exchange. I read online on Friday that the exchange process was not going well, so I then decided to head to show early (literally probably 3 hours before I would have left otherwise) to make sure it all went fine. They had apparently learned from Friday’s issues and I had zero problem exchanging the tickets.

I decided to head first to the dealer room, where I was going to buy my traditional Big Finish audio and pick up the photos I needed to be signed by Ingrid Oliver and Dan Starkey. Now I remember why I make my own photos - the place I have them made at charges $2.50 and they were charging $6 at the show, and I was not that happy with the image choices. I bought my audio (UNIT: Extinction) and then went over to talk to Andrew Cartmel.

Andrew Cartmel would be on my Mount Everest of Doctor Who script editors. Terrance Dicks, Robert Holmes, Douglas Adams and Andrew Cartmel. So I knew I needed a couple of things signed by him, and pulled two DVD covers from the DW collection. I bought a copy of his book Script Doctor, and we talked a little bit about his upcoming novel and Sight & Sound magazine until someone came up behind me to talk to him. He gave me a signed photo, signed my book, and the two DVD covers for me. The Remembrance of the Daleks cover now just needs Ben Aaronovitch to be complete for me.

Next, I went and sat in on the programming. I usually avoid panels like the plague (fan questions are the absolute worst) but I like the panels at TARDIS. I did especially enjoy the live commentary for The Sarah Jane Adventures with Finn Jones and Katy Manning, but if any people from the show read this - please either raise the mic volume or lower the volume of the show they are doing commentary for. It was hard to hear a lot of what Katy said.

I had a brief window of time before getting to the queue room and went to the dealer’s room to get Nick Briggs’ autograph on an 11x14 I have of Peter Capaldi and the Daleks from the season 9 premiere and got him to sign two items for my Rebelscum pal. Then, into the queue room for several hours of autographs.

First up, Ingrid Oliver. I had my own photo - an 11x14 I made of the 12th Doctor/Clara/Osgood/Kate Stewart promo from the Zygon two-parter - and a photo for my friend Lew.

There was a small issue with Ingrid and I thought I was going to miss her. I was getting Russ Mullan for someone on the RS forum, and we were lined up. The line did not move because apparently someone in that signing group had not showed up, and the Ingrid line was moving pretty quickly. Since I was towards the end already (they line you up by group number) I was starting to worry that she would finish before the other line started - but since so few people were there for Mullan, I was also worried that I would miss him. The woman running the lines in the hall then told us that Mullan was delayed, so I hopped into the Ingrid line about four people from the end. Ingrid was friendly enough, and signed Lew’s photo with no problem. I asked her to add Osgood to mine and she said ‘in case you forget later?’ I am shocked I was the first person to ask her to do that.

Then back to the queue room for Burn Gorman. He was signing alongside Samuel Anderson who I had no interest in (Danny Pink really killed season 8 for me, he was a really awful character). Sam was watching the Klitchko/Fury fight on his phone and drinking pints. He seemed like a lot of fun, and we talked about boxing a bit. Later as he was walking through the hall I congratulated him on the Fury win and he yelled ‘yeah, you don’t know shit about boxing!’ (I told him I thought Fury would lose). Sam seems fun, Danny Pink is still the worst character on this show since Martha’s mum. Burn was a nice guy. The guy sitting next to him made fun of Russell T Davies’ awful signature on Mark’s photo. Now I need Eve Myles and this thing is complete.

Dan Starkey was next. I bought three tickets instead of two for him accidentally. I finally started the Paternoster Gang photo that I should have started with Neve McIntosh at the C2E2 and since I had the extra ticket, I had him sign and personalize another photo to me. He was very quiet when I met him. While walking up to him, I passed a very bored looking Finn Jones and Ian McNiece and felt bad for them, but not bad enough to pay for their autographs.

I then got John Levene for my friend Lew, and got back in line for Paul McGann. Paul was incredibly nice, and spent time talking to everyone. He started to personalize my photo and I stopped him and his signature strayed a bit over the edge of the photo. I stopped him from personalizing because I had an idea for a wall display of autographs - all of my Doctors, matted and framed in order. That can’t happen with this photo now because the matte would cover part of his autograph. So, I either abandon the idea or I get a new Eighth Doctor photo signed. I did tell him why I didn’t want the personalization and told him that I would now have every living Doctor aside from Christopher Eccleston. ‘Good luck’ he told me. I told him how Euros Lyn once told me that CE is the nicest human being in the world and would sign if I met him in public, but he would never do a convention. ‘Of course, they said the same about you, and here you are,’ I added and he smiled and said ‘well, they got it half right’. And off I went, 2015 in the books.

I had a great time, even though it was a little hectic with the autographs all overlapping at the end. The guy in charge of the queue room really has his stuff together and made it an easy process, even with so many groups signing or doing photo ops at the same time.

That being said, I am not planning on going in 2016 unless the guests really blow me away (Arthur Darvill, Jemma Redgrave and Catrin Stewart would do that for sure, as well as Peter Davison again so I can get him on an 11x14 for the project I mentioned above. My current PD autograph is a personalized 8x10). I am going to be hopefully buying a new house in 2016 and need to watch my budget a lot better than I did this year. Right now, my plan is to only attend Comic Con International in San Diego. Wizard World Madison would be a go if they do general admission autographs for David Tennant, and the C2E2 would be tempting if they add Willa Holland or Mike Colter, but my plan right now is no other cons and no getting help from friends or people I know on forums in order to save money. Of course, I wouldn’t be shocked to be writing another of these reports in 2016 but the current plan is to take a sabbatical for 2016.

Soft Reboot

Sorry that this post is not about tracking down autographs, but about me and my boring life.

I am not someone who worships Wil Wheaton as the nerd God that shall lead us all, but I always liked Wil. I liked him in Stand By Me, and I liked Wesley on TNG (and Wil is slightly older than I am so I never minded Wes being ‘the smart ass kid’ on the bridge) and when I discovered his writing, I liked that he was someone who had the courage to talk about his personal issues. I remember seeing him at my first San Diego Comic Con in 2001 and being intimidated about going to talk to him, and years later I read about how he had a miserable time because he didn’t get a lot of traffic in the autograph area. Earlier today, I saw a link to his site where he wrote about doing a soft reboot of his life.

You might not know this, but I also have been depressed my entire life. I also have OCD. Not ‘have to tap every light switch twice before bed’ OCD, but when I was younger (and until I was in my mid-twenties) it manifested in constant hand washing and showering. My mother was clueless about how to help with it, and so it just continued until I was done with college. I would wash my hands raw. I showered three times a day. Now it manifests in obsessions. Checking my checking account balance constantly or finding something to collect, like Nintendo Amiibo or Funko Pop figures or Tyler Stout Mondo prints. It stresses me out not to do it but it also depresses me and stresses me out after I do it. After I buy ten Funko figures and realize I don’t even like the characters (seriously, Thunderbolts Punisher? Daryl Dixon? Ugh) I feel depressed and then obsess about the money I spent. It’s a cycle, it sucks, and it depresses the hell out of me.

So I am also going to do a soft reboot of my life.

Why am I putting it out in public for all to see? (Well, two people read this thing and I’m not even sure both of you guys read every post.) If I am going to be honest about it -- and why do it if I am not going to be honest about it? -- then I need to be held accountable. So I am starting with five items and I will take a look at how these things have gone after 90 days. Starting on 10/26/15, reevaluate on 1/26/16, and see about making more changes.

1. Finally get serious about weight loss. That means getting more active and sticking to Weight Watchers. I did lose 50 pounds a few years ago and gained 30 of them back when I was laid off due to self loathing. I started this blog a year ago to track my progress getting back down, and I am basically in the same spot that I was then because I get depressed/stressed/angry/etc and eat the feelings away. Even more depressing than being fat is being such a cliche, so I am getting serious. I have created minor benchmarks for myself - down 15 by the time I see Joanna Newsom in December, down 20 more by the time I see David Tennant in April, and down 15 more by the time I go on vacation in July - and I will reach them.
2. Decaffeinate myself. This will be the hardest. You know how people say they started smoking at 13 and finally try to give it up when they are 45 and it’s the worst thing they have ever done? I have been a soda drinker since I was even younger. It has ruined my teeth. It gave me terrible acne when I was in high school. It gives me terrible headaches when I don’t drink it. It’s expensive, and I am an addict. Hell, I drank two while typing this blog entry and I will drink another one as soon as I am done. I want to give it up completely.
3. No more collections. This doesn’t mean I have to give up my hobbies, but it means that I am not starting any more collections. No discovering something new, like I did last November with Amiibo or in July with Funko Pops, and devoting time and energy into it. I am going to still spend time on the things I especially love doing like collecting autographs (and my main focus there is and has been Doctor Who) but nothing new. This will legitimately help because if there is something I want to obsess about and collect, I simply can’t do it.
4. No more charge cards. Money is my number one stress issue. So no more charging. Tying into this one, early next year I want to create a legit and realistic budget (for example, Wizard World Madison for David Tennant and Comic Con in San Diego being my only conventions for the year). I have taken all the cards other than the emergency card out of my wallet and will not make any more online purchases unless I can pay cash/debit.
5. Read more often. In college, I read constantly. I read for fun, but I also read non-stop because I was an English lit major. After I left college, my reading dropped way down. In part this was because a) I was burned out and b) it’s hard not to get annoyed when you are trained to analyze the hell out of everything. Reading for fun is a lot less fun when you need to break things down and interpret them, which is what being a lit major teaches you to do. I found myself either reading the classics or things which defy interpretation. I am going to read at least 20 minutes a day, for fun. A comic or a chapter of a novel, not a forum thread about Funko Pop exclusives.

Wizard World 2015

When I met David Ramsey at the C2E2 earlier this year, I overheard him tell the woman in front of me that Wizard invited him to the Chicago show later in the year and he wasn't sure yet if he would say yes. She told him that she had never attended a Wizard show. When I got up to him, I said that I had attended a few of their shows and I was not a fan. "It's too much of a meat market," I told him. There's a feeling with one of their many shows that they are doing a memorabilia show and not doing anything for the fans. There are no studio panels, there's just row after row of dealers selling overpriced books (For example, I wanted to pick up a few of the issues I am missing of Jack Kirby's amazing Kamandi comic. I want to give a big shout out to the dealer with the huge sign that said '25% off' and had all the issues at least double the going price. Sure, here's $18 for that issue I can get for $8 on eBay with buy-it-now) and people selling their autograph. You can attend other cons and have a great experience without paying a dime, but Wizard seems designed (like Creation) to take my money and not really care if I enjoy myself.

I haven't attended a Wizard show in a long time - I honestly think the last one I attended was 2006 when Kristen Bell was there. I originally planned to attend Saturday to get Stephen Amell's autograph. I have an 8x10 signed by Stephen that my friend Lew picked up for me (thanks, Lew!) but since then I have started to really prefer 11x14 pics, so I wanted to go down for the day and grab him on an 11x14 and add Brett Dalton to my Agents of SHIELD photo. I posted a help thread on the Rebelscum forum, people asked for help, and then I decided not to go after a debacle with the Amell autograph tickets.

I was a little (!!) bitter about it, but it didn't really matter since I did have his autograph already. However, my father-in-law called me because he could get a ticket from Groupon and would consider it a birthday gift. Amell was then added to Friday and I could get an autograph ticket for that day, so I asked off of work and decided to head down. I had to go alone because my wife had a 3pm staff meeting and I needed to be to the show by noon, so I left directly from work. I went to the autograph area after checking in, and went for the Amell line and tried to get in line. "Come back in 30 minutes. You already have your ticket, so you're guaranteed." I went back in 30 minutes. "Come back in 30 to 45 minutes. You already have your ticket, so you're guaranteed."

I decided to get Scott Wilson's autograph while killing time. I bought a Funko Pop! of his character on The Walking Dead and thought it would be nice to get it signed if it wasn't too expensive. The sign in front of his stall said $40 for an autograph, which is sadly about the entry level price these days. The line wasn't too long, and it was a roughly 45 minute wait. There was a dicey moment there when the handler said that photos cost money but that hugs were free, and sure as hell, he was hugging every single person. Anthony Daniels once forced a hug on me at a Wizard show, but I was not about to hug Hershel. Thankfully he signed the Pop! and apparently since I never mentioned hugging him, I was able to leave without the embrace.

Then back to Amell. "Come back in 45 minutes. You already have your ticket, so you're guaranteed." I wandered the sales floor and bought two Funko Pops! (Agent May from SHIELD and Agent Carter) and went to drop them off in my car. 

I get back and the line for Amell looks shorter. I see a guy with a blue volunteer shirt. Is this the end of the line? "It's done for today, no one else can get in line." I laugh, he laughs, I go to get in line and he stops me. "It's really done, we can't even get through the people who are in line." I walk straight over to the person running the line. They oversold the tickets. OF COURSE THEY DID. As long as there are dopes handing Wizard their money, they will sell you a ticket. You won't get anything in exchange for it, but they will sell it to you. I tell him I was told over and over again to come back. "Sorry, but I can promise you will get in tomorrow." I am not here tomorrow and I drove 90 miles for this, and bought my tickets a week in advance. "Well, if you come back at 5..." I don't want to come back at 5. How about you tell this guy I can get in line, and if he leaves before he can get to me, fine. But I am not leaving and coming back again. I ran out of things to do here. He agrees, so I get in the line. It was about 3 at this point, and he was signing until 5.

Thankfully Arrow has gotten pretty fast at signing and is cranking these things out. The line is moving so fast they start to let more people in, and I get close to the front. I snap a couple of photos and the security guard walks over and says "I let you have the first photo, but no more or I will have to remove you." Photo ops have killed the photos you used to be able to take of people signing. Right after this, Nathan Fillion walks over and shakes Stephen's hand before leaving, which was a nice moment. (A nice moment I don't have a photo of even though I was 10 feet from them!)

I finally get up there and have him sign a Pop! figure for someone I know on the Rebelscum forums. He reads the post-it note with the instructions and tells me he likes how specific it is. I then get him to sign my photo. I was going to ask him if he is going to sign trading cards for the next Arrow set, but instead I asked him about his winery. Then I shook his hand and left. I wandered around a little after that because it was rush hour and traffic would be terrible, so I looked for an Adam West Funko Pop! with no luck before heading out.

The good: Stephen is a nice guy. He seems to genuinely appreciate his fans. The bad: his signature has gotten much worse with time and it looks like he is initials only now. The ugly: Wizard shows are not fun. They are all about getting money from you, and not really giving you a great experience in exchange. I want to say I would not go back to one, but if they announce David Tennant or someone big from Marvel Studios next year? Yeah, I would head back. I'd make sure to get there early and never wander far from the autograph line though.

More of my favorites

These two items are highlights of my collection, for a couple of different reasons.

Robert Pattinson - this was acquired by a friend of mine from a card collecting forum at the London Film and Comic Con, probably in 2006/7. Why is it a highlight of my collection? Well, take a look at the completed auctions on eBay. Ignore the $30 ones, those are fake. Look at the real ones. See the signature? It's just an R now. This is a full signature, and it's a Harry Potter photo instead of Twilight. This is something you literally could not get these days - after so many signatures, his autograph has devolved into a single letter, and good luck getting close to him.

Elizabeth Henstridge - my friend Lew got this for me at a con in Texas. She's cute as a button, I love the photo and I have grown to really love Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. after the really great season two. But she's currently doing the convention circuit on a currently airing show, so why is it such a great part of my collection? Same deal as with Robert Pattinson: her signature has changed for the worse. She only signs her first name now, and while there is a chance she will eventually return to the full signature, it probably won't be anytime soon and so I'm happy to have this piece.

Comic Con 2015 - Doctor ???

Comic Con operates on a different level from any other con I have ever attended. At any other show, you either buy the tickets ahead of time or line up as long as it takes, and Comic Con used to be that way. Somewhere along the line though, they hit critical mass and changed everything so that all of the big names are raffled. What this means is that you have to line up, wait for hours, and then pull a ticket. Maybe you win (yay!) and maybe you lose (boo!), but there are no guarantees for Comic Con autographs. I have been on both sides of this - I have lost things I have waited 8 hours for (Game of Thrones season 1, iZombie) and I have won things I really wanted (Game of Thrones season 2, Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise). Sometimes a ticket draw can determine your entire weekend.

Years ago, Russell T Davies was at the con and signing on Thursday. I told my wife that it would ruin my entire weekend if I missed it (exaggerating, but still - RTD is hard to get and it would have bummed me out). I ended up winning and getting my copy of The Writer's Tale signed and I still treasure it. Four years ago, Matt Smith and Karen Gillan were a ticketed signing and we waited all morning to pull tickets. When I got to the front, I put my hand in the bag and there was one single ticket left... and it was a winner. I have had decent luck with Who at SDCC.

This year, I wanted to pull a ticket for the current Who crew of Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman and Michelle Gomez.

A friend of mine got in line very early in the morning, and we joined a few hours later. The person who runs the autograph area told us it wouldn't be an issue if we were not there early, because most of the tickets were losers to allow more people to try and pull and make it fair, so I knew that going in to the draw. As we got closer to the front of the line, I started getting nervous. I was chanting 'pleaseletmewin' like a crazy person. I see one person win, three people lose, one person win. 'Pleaseletmewin, pleaseletmewin' and then I pull the ticket... and I win. I lost it a little, and was honestly shaking from relief and excitement. I was going to meet Peter Capaldi!

Before that, we attended a signing for the new Amazon Prime show Hand of God starring Ron Perlman. At the end of the signers was a young British guy who asked us what we were doing next. 'Doctor Who!' I yelled and he asked about Peter Capaldi. 'Tell him Julian Morris says hi. He used to live upstairs from me and he and his wife are the nicest people. Seeing him on Prime Suspect is what made me want to be an actor.'

Based on past experience, BBC America does not provide items to be signed which is nice. It's nice because when they do provide items - like when we went to the signings for Being Human and The Mighty Boosh - they just do small postcards. Instead, they allow two personal items per person, so I had my photo and one for my friend. As we waited for the signing, the person running the line came over and told us no personal items, they would provide an item. We were disappointed, but it was better than nothing. Ten minutes before the signing though, she announced again that there was a communication error and we would only be allowed to have personal items signed. This was an issue for the people without personal items because they didn't have time to run and get something from the show floor, they would never make it back in time. The Who signing was not on the convention center floor, it was sequestered in a separate room (sort of like how Chicago TARDIS had Billie Piper) and they do not allow photos of any kind. I had my 11x14 and I was ready.

In the room we go. My heart started to race. We get to the front where the handler tells us that we are not allowed two items, and can't get our friend's photos signed. I tell him it used to be two items, he tells me that it's not anymore (the security there are not the nicest people in the world). I get to the front and hand my photo to Michelle Gomez and she gushes over it, asking me where I got it. It did take me quite a while to find a photo with all three of them on it - plenty of shots with any combination of Twelve, Clara and Missy but no combos of all three. She called the handler over and asked them to get her a copy of the photo. Next was Peter Capaldi. He also mentions how much he likes the photo, and we tell him the story about Julian Morris. Turns out he had lived in the same building when Julian was a kid, and Julian would walk the Capaldis' dog. 'What is he doing these days?' 'He's on a tv show on Amazon Prime.' 'So glad to see he is doing well.'

Then I say to him 'Mr. Capaldi, I am never nervous when I meet people at these things, but I am shaking like a leaf to meet you.' 'Oh, don't be nervous and just call me Peter.' Seriously, nicest guy in the world. Jenna was last in the line, and she was also very nice. She's a gorgeous woman (although she's no Karen Gillan. Karen was genuinely breathtaking.) She signed the photo and we headed out of the room.

All weekend, I was happy about the signing (even when the other parts of the con were not so great - but no complaints, that's just Comic Con). I plan on matting and framing the photo. I think I am going to do the work myself because it will save me literally hundreds of dollars to start doing my own framing for my signed pieces. I also bought a Funko Pop! of The Twelfth Doctor. I couldn't get into the exclusives line for Funko to get the Eleventh Doctor/Handles or Twelfth Doctor in spacesuit that I wanted, though.