![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
(no subject)
So. Auckland Armageddon, 2009.
My verdict: way, way better than the Aotea Centre. If the crowds that turned up on Saturday had turned up to the Aotea, no one would have been able to breathe, much less move. There were a lot more vendors present than in the past, but that did mean the grid layout of stalls became quite disorienting - particularly on the first two days, I'd get lost and struggle to find the exit, let alone whatever stall I was looking for.
I think concerns about proximity of public transport and the availability of food on site are legitimate, but those are (IMO) the only two areas where the Aotea comes out ahead of the Showgrounds. There was a cafe selling food at typical cafe prices ($7.50 for a panini etc) and hot chips/hot dogs/baked potato stalls outside, so while there was food it was expensive. I took my car and forked out $6 a day for parking because it was easier than public transport.
I also thought the addition of "carnival" rides (in all honesty largely aimed at kids) gave it quite a festive atmosphere outside. Saturday was beautiful weather, Sunday was pretty good, so there were cosplayers and families and everyone else sitting on the grass outside surrounded by rides and food stalls - pretty cool.
Otherwise: Gigi Edgley is adorable and so awesome, and she has a fiance who is also awesome and rides a 12 foot unicycle. Jason Momoa was wearing an All Blacks shirt on Saturday. Both Jason Momoa and Joe Flanigan seemed pretty sure the Atlantis movie won't go ahead. Jason played the guitar. There were more vampires present than usual and Twilight merchandise at what felt like every second stall.
Terrible quality pic of Jason Momoa - note the Silver Fern!
Equally bad pic of Jason playing guitar. However, these are better than my pics of Joe Flanigan, in which you can barely see the man.
Gigi Edgley. So so awesome.
Jamie, Gigi's fiance, on his 12 foot unicycle. (That's a wig he's wearing, by the way.)
Jason Momoa and Paul McGillion 'editing' Joe's poster. They gave him a goatee, a moustache, some interesting facial markings and a silver eyeball.
Only at Armageddon: R2D2 and a princess.
ETA:
Things that made me happy:
* parents there with their kids
* especially the cute Jedi kids at the 501st Legion
* girls digging through boxes of comics
* listening to people talk about Stargate and BSG and Farscape
* getting awesome action figures at great prices, including Kat from BSG who I was not prepared to pay full price for, but got knocked down on the last afternoon
* so many people of all ages
Things I wish I'd done
* not missed Paul McGillion's panel
* gone to the Robot Chicken panel and signing because Seth Green
* had my photo taken with the 'Stargate Trio' - Joe Flanigan, Jason Momoa, Paul McGillion
* asked if they'd sell me the Joe Flanigan poster that Jason and Paul decorated (how awesome would that be? I bet someone scored it)
My verdict: way, way better than the Aotea Centre. If the crowds that turned up on Saturday had turned up to the Aotea, no one would have been able to breathe, much less move. There were a lot more vendors present than in the past, but that did mean the grid layout of stalls became quite disorienting - particularly on the first two days, I'd get lost and struggle to find the exit, let alone whatever stall I was looking for.
I think concerns about proximity of public transport and the availability of food on site are legitimate, but those are (IMO) the only two areas where the Aotea comes out ahead of the Showgrounds. There was a cafe selling food at typical cafe prices ($7.50 for a panini etc) and hot chips/hot dogs/baked potato stalls outside, so while there was food it was expensive. I took my car and forked out $6 a day for parking because it was easier than public transport.
I also thought the addition of "carnival" rides (in all honesty largely aimed at kids) gave it quite a festive atmosphere outside. Saturday was beautiful weather, Sunday was pretty good, so there were cosplayers and families and everyone else sitting on the grass outside surrounded by rides and food stalls - pretty cool.
Otherwise: Gigi Edgley is adorable and so awesome, and she has a fiance who is also awesome and rides a 12 foot unicycle. Jason Momoa was wearing an All Blacks shirt on Saturday. Both Jason Momoa and Joe Flanigan seemed pretty sure the Atlantis movie won't go ahead. Jason played the guitar. There were more vampires present than usual and Twilight merchandise at what felt like every second stall.
Terrible quality pic of Jason Momoa - note the Silver Fern!
Equally bad pic of Jason playing guitar. However, these are better than my pics of Joe Flanigan, in which you can barely see the man.
Gigi Edgley. So so awesome.
Jamie, Gigi's fiance, on his 12 foot unicycle. (That's a wig he's wearing, by the way.)
Jason Momoa and Paul McGillion 'editing' Joe's poster. They gave him a goatee, a moustache, some interesting facial markings and a silver eyeball.
Only at Armageddon: R2D2 and a princess.
ETA:
Things that made me happy:
* parents there with their kids
* especially the cute Jedi kids at the 501st Legion
* girls digging through boxes of comics
* listening to people talk about Stargate and BSG and Farscape
* getting awesome action figures at great prices, including Kat from BSG who I was not prepared to pay full price for, but got knocked down on the last afternoon
* so many people of all ages
Things I wish I'd done
* not missed Paul McGillion's panel
* gone to the Robot Chicken panel and signing because Seth Green
* had my photo taken with the 'Stargate Trio' - Joe Flanigan, Jason Momoa, Paul McGillion
* asked if they'd sell me the Joe Flanigan poster that Jason and Paul decorated (how awesome would that be? I bet someone scored it)