Dizzy Dandelion: Fantasy Con

The world's first ever Fantasy Con took place in Salt Lake City over Independence Day weekend. Life of the Party Entertainment ran a photo contest to give away free tickets. I submitted several photos of myself in various costumes, and -- happy day -- I won!

Another reason to love this photo!

The tickets were for Thursday only, so I resolved to make the most of my day, including taking the day off from work. I didn't wear a costume this time, and it did not hinder my ability to enjoy myself. I certainly wasn't the only person in normal clothes. I also took my brother Adam and my friend Jillian with me. They didn't stay with me the entire time, and we had a lot of fun when we were together!

Adam went to a panel that I wasn't interested in and was surprised to find a childhood friend on the panel! They talked for a while afterwards, and Adam's friend said he probably wouldn't attend the other days and asked if Adam wanted his "Special Guest" pass. Adam wasn't interested, but he took it for me, so of COURSE I went back on Saturday. Why not?

Sometimes, I feel really lucky.

Comparisons to Salt Lake's Comic Con -- the only other event like this I have been to -- are inevitable, so here goes:

I loved that Fantasy Con set up opportunities specifically for photos.

Isn't Larissa lovely?

"Well, thief, I can hear you and feel your air but I can't see you..."
- Smaug the dragon, The Hobbit

That happy moment when I secretly decided that I am prettier than this gorgeous mermaid.
(I don't care if it isn't true.)

This growling, animatronic creature was far too creepy and cool to be given a name as silly as "Rocky!"

Luke and I below one of the 30 foot guardians.

I borrowed the chicken from the Endor Stormtrooper (on the right). She's a friend of mine.
I think it's tradition I always get a photo with the 501st or Rebel Legion if they are there.

Fantasy Con had a lot fewer artist and vendor booths than Comic Con, and a lot more stuff to do and see, including several places for live performers.

Live-action role players play some sort of game.
(I watched a couple of times, but I couldn't figure it out.
I think there were different games at different times.)

Jessica and Sean from Utah Children's Theatre performed a few scenes from Shakespeare plays.

Holding one of Creature Encounters's beautiful bearded dragons.

Puppeteer Scott Land

A large-scale Ticket to Ride game board.

Fire dancers.
The one on the right had a hula-hoop of fire, and at one point hooped
it on her feet while she did a handstand. Crazy cool.

Joe, or "Joker" performed a nerdy slam poem about Euclidean Geometry... and won the competition!

Adam mentioned that Fantasy Con was more family-friendly than Comic Con, mostly because many of the costumes weren't as scandalous, and probably also because of the aforementioned things to do.

Adam humored me for a photo together.
Who knew Jabba is green? I thought he was mud-colored!

The Marvel booth green-screened us into this photo for their upcoming movie.
I'm now even more excited to see it!

Human AT-AT, with Chewbacca peeking out the top.
"Chewy, get down here, she's wounded!
No, wait! I've got an idea..."

Perfect Captain Hook from Once Upon a Time. Do I look like Emma?
(Oh, now I need to dress up like her next time.)

Friends Madman and Logan were "street" performers. Nice touch!

Fantasy Con wasn't nearly as crowded as Comic Con (I'm guessing that won't be the case if they do it again). I was able to get in to every panel I wanted to see.

Thursday, July 3

Doug Jones, "Billy the Butcher" from Hocus Pocus

Kid History panel
Richard, Dave, Brett, Randy (standing), and John

Middle Earth (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) panel

Billy Boyd, "Pippin" from The Lord of the Rings movies,
sings "Mist and Shadow" at an audience member's request.
Fun fact: the song was written because the LOTR script writers
heard Billy sing karaoke and wanted to showcase his voice.

A bunch of dwarves and Sylvester McCoy "Radagast the Brown" from The Hobbit movies,
and John Rhys-Davies (bottom right) "Gimli" from The Lord of the Rings.

Another photo of the Dwarves

Saturday, July 5

Billy Boyd's panel.
I admit to being sad that he's married. Happily, he was delightful, and even shared a story from
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World!
"'De-manned' isn't a word, is it? Oh, I guess 'demand' is. I demand that you not de-man me!"

Someone asked about Billy Boyd's bucket list, and he said he's always wanted to direct. So, he and the moderator pulled some people from the audience and he directed a scene from The Lord of the Rings. The actress playing Pippin stopped the scene a couple of times 'cause she was afraid of getting hit with an apple..."

Kid History premiered the full version of their short film The Wand of Universal Power, made especially for Fantasy Con.
(Notice the Fantasy Con logo on the knight's armor and shield.
Also notice that the narrator is author Brandon Mull.)

Sean Astin panel.
He reminded me a LOT of my friend Todd.
Now I need to re-watch The Lord of the Rings movies, and then reread the novels.
"If you saw that in me than it exists in you. Never forget it."
- Sean quoting something Sidney Poitier said to him once.

The backdrop in the main ballroom was stunning!

Simon Pegg panel.
Incidentally, his was his first ever Con.
"Vulcans don't emote, but they DO snore."
I loved that he was just as nerdy as the rest of us, and couldn't
get over how much he hates Star Wars Episodes I - III,
or getting to work with Leonard Nimoy as Spock.

Mark Sheppard panel.
It would have been more fun for me if I'd ever seen Supernatural, but the actor was
very entertaining. He kept jumping off the front of the runway to randomly hug
people or talk to an adorable child or tease someone. Haha!
"Firefly wasn't cancelled, it was taken, which is why everyone is so upset about it."
"'Nerd used to be a derogatory term, and it isn't a derogatory term anymore. We OWN it."

The Power of Women in Entertainment panel, featuring Renee O'Conner and Adrienne Wilkinson from Xena: Warrior Princess, Claudia Christian from Babylon 5, Amrita Acharia from Game of Thrones (I met her with Jillian and she was really nice), and Tinsel Korey from the Twilight movies.

I heard from a few vendors that Fantasy Con wasn't as well organized, but as an attendee I didn't notice.

Thursday

Marinda (dressed as an LOTR wood elf)

Jillian knew the guy in charge of the FilmQuest Awards and
he let us hold and take a photo with the Cthulu-themed trophy.
Funny enough, one of Jillian's projects ended up winning. I like to think I'm good luck!

My only celebrity photo: The guys from Kid History.
I was so surprised when Richard put his arm around me that I immediately got awkward :P
Thankfully, they were are very, very nice. They made faces, though,
when I said it was weird to hear them speak with adult voices.

Saturday

Stacy joined me for the Kid History panel.

Ballet West booth

MASK Costumes.
I saw this gown in a play last year and have coveted it ever since.

Patti and I

Thanks to my dart-throwing skills, I won 2 comps to a show at the Off-Broadway Theatre :)

The magic words were: "Free nail art demonstration."
Sadly, due to my chronic sunscreen usage those flowers didn't last the weekend.
This tells me I was right not to buy the kit, even if they did offer free lifetime refills.

Author (and friend) Rebecca Ethington and Spencer Hohl of the Of River and Raynn videos.

In conclusion, I had a marvelous time. My only regret is not trying the archery course. Comic Con will always hold a place in my heart and I like that more of my friends go to that one -- and it's nice that it isn't in the hottest part of the summer so that I can wear a costume and not melt while walking to and from the Salt Palace -- but Fantasy Con had a lot going for it. There was some concern that since it wasn't as well attended as anticipated they might not be able to do it again. I hope they are wrong. I would go again. I guess we'll see.

Speaking of Salt Lake Comic Con, a miracle occurred and I won a free multipass, so I guess I'm going again in September :)