Conventions and courtesy

Reader, yesterday was somewhat of a spectacularly geeky day for me. The London Film and Comic Convention was on at Earls Court, something I went to last year (and was utterly overwhelmed by the pure geekiness. And the BO smells. Teenage boys are stinky.) and had enjoyed, so this year we went back, this time in costume (like I said, it was a very geeky day). So, seeing as this year's line up had quite a few Dr. Who actors (including the gorgeous Karen Gillan who The Lad got a photo with), we went as the Dr. Who cast, with one friend dressed as the Doctor, The Lad dressed as Rory (in the Roman Centurion costume) and me dressed as Amy Pond in her police kiss-o-gram costume. (And another friend in a space invader costume, which still sort of fits the genre...and even if it doesn't, it was still awesome.)

Now, the experience taught me a number of things. I feel it is only right and fair to share those things with you. So here is my list of...

DOs AND DO NOTs AT A FILM AND COMIC CONVENTION

• DO bring lots of cash. Things are very very expensive, from the food to the tacky souvenirs you will no doubt end up buying. You may think you are immune to the charms of film themed merchandise but things change in there...I know people who have walked out of the Earls Court convention centre with memory loss and armfuls of Superman posters and Star Wars mugs, unsure of what happened. I went in with £30 and came out with a cheap pendant and a very empty purse.
• DO bring your own water. It's quite muggy and there's a lot of walking inside, and otherwise you'll get charged a fortune for a mini Evian. And then you won't have any moneys left to buy star wars mugs. Which would of course be tragic.
• DO play convention bingo. Fat person in motorised chair? Girl in very inappropriate fur bikini? Sweaty teen with spots following girl in very inappropriate fur bikini? Past it Star Trek actor? BINGO!
• DO be prepared for a long wait if you choose to go get your photo taken with a star. a) in the queue for said photo and b) after, to actually GET the photo. Because it takes HOURS! And there is no queueing system at all. It's just a mass of angry sweaty people.
• DO dress in a costume. People will ask you to pose for photos for them, making you feel like a celeb. If you go in a themed group, they'll get photos of the whole group and you'll feel like a rock band. Very amusing.
• DO bring loo roll. They run out faster than Glasto. 
• DO make an element of your costume yourself. Or else there's no point. You will be seen as a bit of a loser. Which, in that particular room, is a talent. 
• DO attempt to make eye contact with the film stars who are signing autographs, you will be able to pretend that you know them and you're just too cool to say hi. Last year, The Lad actually DID know one of them, cause when he was little he used to be friends with Neville Longbottom who was there for signings. We didn't say hi. I wanted to, but The Lad was way too cool. 

And that's all for now!

Bye chaps!

Ash

x

• DO NOT make eye contact with the artists/writers on Comic Alley. They will guilt you into buying their very expensive comics with 'yeah, we spent ten years on it, we lost the budget, there was a fire, the artist's arm fell off, but here it is, our life's work' and you'll think 'crikey, they've worked so hard it MUST be good' then you'll get home and read it and realise most of it is based around their friendship group and is full of in jokes you don't get. Or, as happened to The Lad, you'll get home and realise it's a rude comic with lots of bottoms.
• DO NOT go dressed in a costume with very tight skirt (my mistake). People will poke your bum. Because they think that you being in costume gives them a right to. And there are so many people there, you will not catch the culprit.
• DO NOT go dressed in a sexy police girl costume. The same jokes get made over and over and over. 'Hey, if you want to arrest anyone..', 'You can try out your handcuffs on me if you like?'. Ick. My own fault, I should have gone as a sand person from star wars. 
• DO NOT wait around to see Corey Feldman. He is way too popular. You will not get to see him. And it will be sad, because you will not be able to quote Puppet-master vs Demonic Toys at him.
• DO NOT dress as Jessica Rabbit. There's a girl who always does it for the LFACC and she has bigger boobs than anyone in the world. You will be known as Small Boobed Jessica Rabbit. 
• DO NOT give in to sugar cravings. You will crash and burn on peanut M&Ms.
• DO NOT get too over excited over the tiny children dressed as Dr. Who. Their parents will think you're going to try and steal them.