Supernatural Cons 2024: Back to the West Coast for San Fran!

I’m finally catching up with posting about the most recent Supernatural conventions before I head to Austin for the 150th Supernatural con there this weekend (please wish me luck surviving the Texas heat…)

Mid July was a convention in San Francisco, which for me also means flying out a week early to spend time with my daughter – so this con was family of all kinds, both the ends-with-blood kind and also my SPNFamily, the don’t-end-with-blood kind!

I made it to the con hotel on Friday early enough to catch some karaoke, which drew a good sized and very passionate crowd. Lots of the cast joined the fun, including of course master of ceremonies DJ Qualls and Matt Cohen. Lisa Berry, Osric Chau, Samantha Smith and Adam Rose also helped make every single song sound pretty damn good.

The theme was “prom” so we had some beautiful prom dresses and tuxes and Matt Cohen in a prom king crown because of course he was!

I was a happy camper because we got not one but two Abba songs, including my favorite Dancing Queen.

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

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I had no idea Adam Rose was such a talented performer – he sang a rendition of Sonofabitch or whatever that song is actually called that may have rivaled Jensen Ackles! Helped along by Matt Cohen.

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If you haven’t been to con karaoke in a while, check it out – it feels reinvigorated, with lots of the cast having a blast with the fans. Similar to how it started way back when!

And at this con, you got your very own crown or tiara to take home if you took the stage.

We also got the good news on Friday at the con that Season 2 of ‘Tracker’ will be premiering in October – and that Jensen will be back as Russell in at least two episodes! That definitely put everyone in a good mood.

Saturday I caught Misha Collins’ panel, as I always try to do. For some reason he and Rob re-enacted Richard Speight Jr. touching Misha’s jacket backstage. Creepily.

He told some parenting stories, as he often does, including that time he took infant West to a rave – and had the horrifying realization in the middle of the chaos that perhaps they did need to change the way they were living their life a bit now that they were parents.

Oops.

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Supernatural Conventions 2024 – Return to Seattle!

Seattle is a city full of memories – some of them wonderful, some of them not, and some of them bittersweet. As I flew into the city, I was thinking of my friend Krista, who we lost not long ago. I spent one of the most fun days ever with her and a group of other Supernatural fan friends in Seattle. Krista was our unofficial tour guide, taking us to the original Starbucks and demonstrating how to navigate the fish markets with her trademark finesse and sense of humor. And then we all returned to the con to indulge our mutual love of Supernatural.

Beautiful memories…but I miss her.

Some of my other really fun times in this city have been with my friend Alicia, who picked me up from the airport like old times. We hadn’t seen each other in WAY too long. We had lovely coffee and catch up chat time on another Starbucks patio, reminiscing about some of the best days of my life – the ones we spent on the Supernatural set, driving across the border after a con here in Seattle to spend the day sitting behind Bob Singer or Phil Sgriccia or whoever was directing, watching the boys film our favorite show and overcome with gratitude.

Again, beautiful memories…but I miss my friend and I miss my Show.

Then of course there was that memorable Supernatural con in Seattle that got cancelled after half a day by an unexpected snowstorm. Snowpocalypse made for an interesting Friday afternoon, especially because I also was coming down with a terrible cold. I was lucky to escape on one of the few flights that got out, back to the East coast but sad about missing the con.

This time went a lot more smoothly. (There were penguins to remind those of us who’d experienced it of Snowpocalypse though).

I caught some karaoke on Friday night, with some of my favorite people – Matt Cohen, Osric Chau, Adam Fergus, Julian Richings, Alaina Huffman and of course DJ Qualls.

It was like karaoke in the old days, with Adam Fergus dancing on chairs in the audience.

I missed most of the panels on Saturday since I was on my own in the vendor room, but this con was fresh off the series finale of Walker and Jared’s candid comments about the disappointing state of the network that was Supernatural’s home for so long, the CW.  Matt Cohen talked about how important those comments were in his panel.

Matt: From his position of success, it’s very important for a guy like him to use his voice and reflect exactly what’s going on in the industry.

He said that so many in their industry are in a crisis of not working, there’s the threat of AI, etc.

Matt: I want you to look up what Jared said and support our guy.

I love how they all support each other, then and now and always.

I did make sure to catch Misha Collins’ panel on Saturday – it’s one I never miss.

Misha had some memories of Seattle too, including the GISH French maid world record attempt with tons of people packed into a sweltering gym.

Misha: Eventually seven ambulances came because French maids were passing out, but people still held hands to break the record!

(Despite this, most of us who did GISH regularly still miss it lol!)

Misha has been quite active in politics recently, and said he’d just realized the debate tactic recently used (overwhelming with lies) is called “Gish gallop”!

He brought on stage a student who had selected him to interview as someone from Washington who’s had a positive impact for a school project – good job, Addy!

Someone asked what he was interested in at school.

Misha: I was a bit shy. I was always the new kid at school, so I would observe people a lot.

He said he was always getting hurt or injured on his birthday for some reason.

Misha: Shit, it’s about to be my 50th, I’d better be careful!

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Supernatural Cons 2024: Columbus Con!

Columbus, Ohio is a city I don’t think I’ve ever been to before so I was excited that there was a Creation Supernatural convention there in June. It’s also a city where two of my friends who I do not get to see NEARLY enough live, so I was extra excited!

My friend Alice is one of those friends, the lovely person who founded the Winchester Family Business website that, along with this one, has been covering all things Supernatural and Supernatural-adjacent since the very beginning of this wild ride. She picked me up at the airport and joined me at my vendor table all weekend, which made vending even more enjoyable than it always is.

We had a lovely dinner on her back deck with her hubby and some rambunctious dogs and cats, and then joined in some of the karaoke fun. It’s so awesome to have Matt Cohen back at karaoke, and DJ Qualls was made to be the host. Don’t miss the Friday night fun if you’re at a con – or even if you just stop by for that!

Saturday I caught a bit of the R2M panel, which I also love having back – Matt, Rich and Rob are inevitably hilarious together.

Rob: I’m a fanboy when it comes to music.

Matt: Did you just say a hot dog shoved inside a pickle??

A fan asked the three about the history of that time they wore pink pants in Paris. Richard proceeded to give the entire history of pants.

Rich: Did I answer your question?

Fan: Uh, no…

They all laughed about going shopping together for salmon pants and having a blast.

What is the episode that best represents Supernatural to them?

Matt: ‘Baby’, and not just because I’m in it. It’s the boys in the car on the road.

Matt gets it.

Rob: Swan Song, with its great recap up til that point.

Another great choice.

Rob was asked about his musical influences and he said Pearl Jam.

Someone asked Rich about his role in Band of Brothers and he said he did a lot of research for Skip’s backstory.

Rich: There was no google then!

Rich on directing Supernatural: The violence is very carefully planned out and storyboarded.

Matt on directing Supernatural: You want to do a lot of planning and you also want to make sure you tell the entire story.

Before the ladies panel, we got to wish Kim Rhodes a happy birthday. Thank you for your beautiful chapter in Family Don’t End With Blood, Kim – I know it has inspired so many people who have read about your experience with the show and how fandom changed you.

Kim Rhodes, Briana Buckmaster, Samantha Smith and Lisa Berry were a fab foursome.

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Supernatural Conventions 2024: New Jersey and Jensen’s Real SPN Baby!

The New Jersey Supernatural convention is my “home con” – at least until next year when we’ll finally have one in my actual hometown of Philly. That means I get to drive there! (I hate driving but it’s better than flying…) My friend Rita joined me on a lovely spring day, and together we managed to navigate our way there with only a few wrong turns!

Leading up to the con there was a lot of excitement, for several reasons. One, unlike the con in Burbank a few months ago, Jared Padalecki was at this con – so yay!! Two, everyone was charmed and just plain thrilled at the news of Supernatural actors DJ Qualls (Garth) and Ty Olsson (Benny) being engaged, and couldn’t wait to see DJ to congratulate him. And three, Jensen Ackles was bringing his Impala to the con – the actual screen-used Hero #1 Baby. There was as much anticipation for that as for any other guest!

I was on my own in the vendor room with the books, so I didn’t get to attend as many panels as I wish I did, but every panel I did manage to get to was entirely happy making. The con is in a giant convention center (not my favorite type of venue) but it does make for a cavernous vendor room, as you can see. (‘The books’ are the two with chapters from the Supernatural actors, Family Don’t End With Blood and There’ll Be Peace When You Are Done, plus a few other behind the scenes books about the show, and the new book that’s a deep dive into The Boys, Supes Ain’t Always Heroes. Links on the home page here fyi).

I caught a little bit of Richard Speight, Jr., Matt Cohen and Rob Benedict’s panel, which invariably includes a lot of hilarious stories. Rob told the story of someone writing a part for him – and then he actually didn’t get the part! Only Rob.

The three were asked who would play them in a movie.

Matt: Drake Rodger!

(Makes sense to me)

Richard: The animated corpse of Don Knotts…

(If you don’t know who that is, look it up lol)

Matt reminisced about his time on General Hospital – and how his character was a neurosurgeon priest – and a stripper!

(Hey, he was versatile…)

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