It is a beautiful Sunday morning in Nashville, and I know it will only get better! It is JDay at NashCon!
Category: 2016
Salute to Supernatural Nashville: All the Yum that is M2R2M
This article features all the NashCon awesomeness that is Rob Benedict, Richard Speight Jr., Matt Cohen, Misha Collins and Mark Sheppard. I’ll just mention a few of the highlights.
Rob, Richard and Matt took the stage for a panel on Saturday afternoon. Let’s be honest, okay? If you are lucky enough to have one best friend in your lifetime, then you are truly blessed. And here we have these best friends – THREE of them. How awesome is that?!
Salute to Supernatural Nashville: The Saturday Night Special
The Saturday Night Special. Let me break that down for you… Yes, this is a concert that takes place on Saturday. And yes, this concert takes place at night. But let’s examine the word “special.” You could read the word as if it were a noun, a word which denotes a thing, such as an item on a menu.
“I’ll have the Saturday Night Special, please, with no onions and mayo on the side.”
Or perhaps a Signature Cocktail.
“C’mon, ladies, let’s go dancing at (insert your favorite club’s name here) and consume copious amounts of their Saturday Night Special.”
I will concede, from a grammatical point of view, that the use of the word ‘Special’ in “Saturday Night Special” is indeed a noun. However, in this context, the word ‘Special’ is not a noun. It is, instead, an adjective. Webster’s defines ‘special’ as an adjective: “of a kind different from others, distinctive, unique, extraordinary.” And that, my friends, is the Saturday Night Special. This is a concert that is different from all other concerts. It is distinctive and unique. It is extraordinary.
Salute to Supernatural – Nashville: We done up and did it this time!
I have said it before. In fact, I have said this so many times that she may be quite tired of hearing it. Oh well. I just have to say it again – Thanks to Lynn for allowing me this incredible opportunity to write a few articles for her!
The Salute to Supernatural Convention in Nashville makes my 5th con, and once again, I was not disappointed. The staff and volunteers from Creation Entertainment truly put on a wonderful weekend. The lines moved quickly. Questions were answered with smiles. I am so very impressed by the continued enthusiasm these volunteers show, even on Sunday evening, even after working crazy-long hours. If you have the chance to attend one of these cons, please make the time to thank these people for making your experience the wonderful thing that it is.
The Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center served as the venue in Nashville, and I thought it was similar to the venue in Vegas… and by similar, I mean both venues are HUGE. I have an app on my phone that tracks my steps, and wowza – I averaged 8,200 steps each day of the con, walking nearly 4 miles each day! Not gonna lie, yes, I did get lost a time or two, or four. Who’s counting.
Jensen Ackles Meet and Greet from Nashcon – The Evolution of a Rockstar!
I love Nashcon for a few reasons. One, it’s at the Gaylord Opryland, which is like Disney World smashed together with Under The Dome, complete with a river running through the hotel, waterfalls and a boat ride. Not to mention whole town squares full of shops and bars and restaurants – all INSIDE the giant dome of the resort. It’s pretty amazing, and it means that walking back to your room even at 2 am is perfectly lovely.
I also love Nashcon because I have very fond memories of the first two cons there. Jensen doing a live singing performance for one of the very first times, which was (as you can imagine) unbelievable – Kathy and I were in the green room later that day doing interviews and Jensen came over to ask how he did, which blew my mind. He seriously wanted to know. I see the confidence he has now when he comes out onstage at the Saturday Night Special and am blown away by the evolution of Jensen ‘Rockstar’ Ackles. Nashcon also reminds me of Brian Buckley, since we spent a lot of time with him at one of the early Nashcons; I found myself thinking of him at random moments, with fondness. Good memories.
Houscon Friday and Saturday In Pictures
Before it’s suddenly Nashcon, I wanted to share a few of my favorite moments from Houscon (Jared, Jensen and Misha moments still to come).
Rob’s smile (and cosplay Bobby). Seriously, Rob’s smile could light up a room. And does.
Houscon – Jared and Jensen Meet and Greet Tidbits
Valentine’s weekend was pretty special this year for Supernatural fans. Not only did we get to spend the weekend with Jared, Jensen, Misha and company, but there were Valentine’s cards throughout the Hilton’s lobby, some of them SPN centric, so nobody was without one. Courtesy of the Supernatural facebook group, it was the sort of gesture that makes me all warm and fuzzy about fandom – and especially this particular fandom.
Jaxcon Sunday with Jared and Jensen – Is It Hot In Here?
Post number three from Jaxcon, phew! I’ve got an embarrassment of riches with such beautiful photos to share thanks to Kim and Christina. I’m also in an emotional mood about Show, thinking about the anniversary of Kim Manners’ death, and the impact he had on the Show. Kim had such a profound influence, and in some ways, he set up the tone of the set which continues to today. He helped bond them all together, so in a sense, it was Kim who is partly responsible for that sense of SPNFamily that the cast and crew and fandom all feel.
Yesterday Eric Kripke, who’s responsible for this amazing show, tweeted in support of Sera Gamble’s new show, The Magicians, reminding us all that the SPNFamily supports each other. Add that to the cast’s tweets about Kim, and I’ve been feeling more emotional about Show than usual. In a good way.
That sense of closeness was very evident at Jaxcon. It was the first con of the year, and both fans and guests hadn’t seen each other in far too long. This is a cast that is demonstrative in their affection for each other, which makes the entire con feel warm and fuzzy and just plain good. You can see it in the photo ops, whether it’s Richard, Rob and Matt or Jared or Jensen and Misha or Kim and Katherine or any combination of cast and fans.
Jaxcon Friday and Saturday!
We’re currently snowed in with a blizzard blustering all around the house, which makes me even more nostalgic for Jaxcon last weekend – where it was a balmy 65 degrees and I spent most of the weekend either being entertained by the Best.Cast.Ever or hanging out with fangirls. So, to warm me up, here are some memories and photos from Jaxcon.
I was lucky enough to have the super talented Kim Prior there to take pictures, which explains why so many of these are gorgeous (and also makes the ones that were taken on my phone look even more dodgy, but oh well – I love my reliable little Galaxy!) I was doubly lucky to have the pleasure of meeting Christina, who also shot some fabulous photos and generously offered them to Fangasm. Hopefully this will warm all of you up too (apologies to my Aussie friends, who need cooling down instead – alas, this won’t help…)
Jared and Jensen at Jaxcon – Supernatural Cons Kick Off 2016!
The Supernatural Creation con circuit kicked off 2016 with a first time visit to Jacksonville, which turned out to be an awesome con! The Hyatt Regency won me over almost immediately by a) being right on the river, which was beautiful and b) proving themselves almost as big Supernatural fans as most of their guests were. Not only was Supernatural playing on TNT at the bar and the restaurant, but they had a gif of all the Supernatural title cards projected on the lobby floor! How cool is that??
It was a short walk to restaurants and I spent a lot of time hanging out with fangirls and conjecturing about what the second half of Season 11 will likely bring (with a mix of nervous anticipation, hand wringing trepidation, squeeful joy, and academic musings – as several of us study Supernatural as well as fangirl it). In fact, quite a few students from UNF’s Supernatural course were in attendance, much to the incredulity of all the guests.
Jensen: There’s a COLLEGE COURSE about Supernatural??? Of course there is!