Since last week, I finally own a new and good cellphone: the Samsung Galaxy Nexus i9250. I downloaded the PicsArt app (for free) and I have been playing with it for a while.

These are some of my first results. Hope you like them. Please do comment as I am still working on it and all feedback is welcome. Thanks. New pics will be added in the future, I promise.

So please, check it out, rate, comment and have a nice day!

Hello everyone,

I have been posting about FedCon 18 (2009) on my old blog. As I don’t use that one anymore, or not that often any way, I wanted to make one big post here of all the smaller ones I did there. I will do my best to make these several story parts into one good big one. Hope I do it well and that you will like my post about FedCon 18, Bonn, Germany, 2009. Please do note that I don’t want to make too many changes compared to my original posts. I know it may seem a bit messy in the end. But it’s been too long for me to totally rewrite it all. And I want to “save” the old way I wrote it. Hope that makes any sense. Anyway, I hope you like this post. It was my first FedCon convention and I’ve been hooked ever since .

Old posts, taken from http://super-cynni.blogspot.com, edited for this blog post.

After a 1,5 hour drive (well, including the break almost 2 hours on the road), we arrived in Bonn. We weren’t staying in the convention hotel, as it was fully booked already. So we stayed in another one.

We thought it would be like a 1,5 till 2 km walk (a mile or a bit longer) from our hotel to the Maritim hotel where FedCon was being held. So we walked and walked and realized that it was more like 4,5 till 5 km… Luckily, the weather was lovely! We had printed the schedule and that showed that the autographs were being done on Saturday and Sunday. So we did not bring the stuff to be signed along. When we finally arrived there were long queues. Or in German: Schlange. But when we checked our numbers (1071 and 1072) we found out that we had the queue that was the shortest one. So that was a nice surprise. They checked our tickets and ID’s and we got all we needed to enter the con. The woman who helped us out had to check something for us at the info counter so we did not have to stand in the line to get in but could follow her in. When all was arranged we checked out the place. And found out that we could get some stuff signed already!

So we asked about the U-bahn at the info desk of the hotel. They have us a small map and all the info we needed. We rushed to the station but Joyce had trouble getting the tickets in time. So then we had to wait for about 18 minutes. We decided to walk to the next station and try to get the tickets there. We asked a man for some help and we got the tickets in time for the next train. That surely went a whole lot faster. When we got at the hotel we grabbed our stuff and ran back to the U-bahn to get back in time for the autographs and photo sessions.

First we went to get some autographs from the people that were on the first floor. More info about that in my next blog, when I have the pictures to add with it. But Max Grodénchik (Rom, DS9) was sooooo funny, using a flowery fan to blow-dry his signatures. But that also took a lot of time so in the end, they moved him to the back of the signing line… After that we had to hurry because…

We wanted to do two photo shoots that day, so we needed to queue for that: Mark Alaimo (Gul Dukat) and then with Jeffrey Combs (Vorta Weyoun and Investigator Brunt). We met some nice people in the queue who we’ve been hanging out more than once during the whole event. The nice thing about queues is that you have the chance to meet new people and chat along. I am told that when I do something, I’ll plunge right in. I have no problem walking up to people (guests or stars) to ask a question or tell them something. Why should I? We’re all there for the same reasons: we all love Sci-Fi! The photo sessions were really fun, even though the photographer was grumpy and wanted to be like Speedy Gonzales!

After the photo shoots, it was almost time for the opening ceremonial. And no way we wanted to miss out on that! I know I already wrote bits about this ceremony, but now I will try to share all I can remember with you… Here I go:
Seeing we had "late" tickets with numbers 1071 and 1072 (although we did book last year October!) we were more in the back of the area. Part C, row 21. First Marc B. Lee (the ceremonial leader/FedCon leader during the convention welcomed each and everyone of us. He mentioned that there were people from at least 28 countries (it later turned out to be 31 countries) were attending (who registered by buying pre-tickets). Then he told us to shut off all camera equipped items because thanks to Paramount, we were able to see 28 minutes of the new Star Trek movie (several short parts). He made a joke about security with special night vision goggles but we already had seen at least 2 men on the balcony who indeed had these special night vision viewers. But everyone really behaved well and it was truly worth it! After that, Marc told us several "house rules" before he went on introducing the stars of FedCon 18. He started with the German authors that were present, followed by Erin Grey (Wilma Deering in Buck Rodgers -amongst others- actress). She then had to pass the microphone on to two Eureka people (shame on me for not remembering their names at the moment, but I’ve never seen the show). After them came the Star Trek (Deep Space Nine, Voyager & Enterprise) people, who in their turn were followed by three of the four Battlestar Galactica people. Then a big introduction for Admiral Adama from Battlestar Galactica: Edward James Olmos (hope I spelled it right). But then, the woman we’ve all been waiting for: the one and only TOS (The Original Series – Star Trek) lady Nichelle Nicols! A standing ovation for 10 minutes by over 2000 guests and even that felt not good enough for her. At 76 still beautiful and full of grace, owning the stage and all our hearts the moment she made her appearance! Her speech was a long one, filled with love, lovely anecdotes and warmth that flowed directly from her heart. The sparkles in her eyes, sometimes "disturbed" by tears of gratitude, the way she owned the stage and each and everyone of us… I am still totally and only full of positive feelings for that marvelous woman! In the end, her speech was longer than anyone expected (Marc included who tried to interrupt her but was quickly on the side of the stage again) but no one really did mind it at all!

After the wonderful opening, Joyce and I were kinda hungry since we had not eaten anything since that morning at the "Raststette" (highway restaurant in Germany) and we were also getting quite tired. But the food they served at the convention was not really to our liking. So we decided to eat some yummy candy at our hotel instead. Before we were heading back to the U-bahn, Joyce needed a toilet break. While I was waiting, Jeffrey Combs passed by. A kid I did not know was really kind and made a picture of both Jeffrey and me. *yay for kids growing up in a digital world and knowing how to handle a digital camera*. When Joyce came back, luckily she wasn’t really "pissed" for missing it (haha I know, lousy words of choice for someone who just came from the toilet, my attempt of writing my story in a witty way). When we were heading for the exit, there was Richard Hatch. We missed our chance for his photo shoot so I went up to him and asked about a chance to get in a picture with him. He was about ready to grab a dinner but if we’d be quick, it was OK! So sweet of him. Maybe the stroopwafels (Dutch "candy") we handed out to all the stars we met during the autograph sessions did help…seeing he remembered us from that and said it was OK. *yay for the stroopwafels*. So after a quick picture, thank you, have a nice dinner and sleep tight, we headed back to the hotel.

Some of the things I just wrote about were already on the blog. Some with only words and some of the pictures I mentioned being taken were also already on this blog in a previous post. Seeing that evening, back at our hotel, we hooked up to the internet. I wrote my small blog and Joyce chatted with George on MSN. I also uploaded some pictures to my photobucket to share with all of you. While Joyce was chatting, I took a quick shower. I really needed it for sure!

I think we really went to bed around 23:30. We had to get up around 6:45 am again. Our hotel was near Bahnhoff Bad Godesberg. Luckily there were shutters in front of our windows so that blocked out the light and most of the noise. Around 3 am I woke because I was frakking hungry! (again: wanna know what Frak means: watch Battlestar Galactica). I ate some candy and that helped a bit. Then I tried to sleep again till the alarm clock went. I woke before it went, so I put on the laptop and woke Joyce with music instead of the bleeping sounds. I got dressed, made sure the bag was packed with all we needed. When we were ready, we were at breakfast in the hotel at around 7:30. We ate, and I ate a lot seeing I needed it, and after that we grabbed our bag and went to the U-bahn. Back to FedCon! On to the interesting photo- and autograph sessions. On to meeting the stars and meeting new people. When we arrived, we knew we were at FedCon again, since we had to queue again to get in at the time it would open!

Seeing "Q" is a Star Trek character, I am thinking of different things to put on a T-shirt for the 19th FedCon convention next year (April 30th till May 2nd). Something like:
I Q
You Q
We must be at FedCon
And on the back something like:
I’m the first in this Q
Follow me

Haha I know it’s silly but it might be useful…

So anyway: we were in the "Schlange" again. While we were waiting, Richard Hatch passed us by. I wished him a good morning, he wished us a good morning as well. Then he asked how we slept (seeing we told him we were heading to our hotel the night before) and we asked him how his dinner (seeing he was on his way to dinner when he went on the picture with us) was. It was a nice and easy going, but short conversation. Other people (mostly with day tickets) were looking their eyes out! So funny! They are really "just" people like you and me. Only they make more money when signing. When I sign stuff, it normally costs me money…

Seeing we were interested in the first 3 photo shoots of the day (Max, Nana & Robert), we headed to the photo session area right away. There were already some people in line when we arrived. It quickly became more and more (will show some queue pictures asap). We had some nice people behind us, so we had fun. Then a few minutes before 10, Max arrived. He walked up to the queue, asking what was happing that was so special that all of us were waiting for it to happen. Silly man… We all went MOOGIE! (seeing his DS9 character Rom always said it when talking about his mum). He told me that my Moogie sounded great. Then he went to the guys behind us and asked on of them if he’d be joining Max’ panel later on. His response: I’ll be there, what about you? So funny and Max told us he’d think about it. Haha! Then it was time for him to start his photo session so he went into the room and the Schlange was moving. After the picture was taken we rushed over to the next queue: Nana. She was really BIG compared to what we thought she would be (ONLY in height, her body is still one to be jealous of…seeing she’s born in 1957, so you do the math!). But we did find out later that she was wearing heels with an aprox. height of 5cm (almost 2 inches)… After those pictures, on to the next queue for Robert. A guy in front of us was around 2.10 meters (dunno the American height) and the photographer had to take out one of his cases for Robert to stand on! It was really funny and we all applauded for this action. Then we were done with the photographs for a few hours.

About out photograph sessions: we went on the pictures together, so we had 2 pictures taken with each star. After one picture, Joyce and I traded places for the next picture. This way we had two different pictures with each guest.

After these 3 sessions we were looking for the place where Nichelle would be signing. There was a whole lot of confusion about when and where. We were told to check back at the info stand an hour later so they hopefully would have more info for us. Near the info, Edward, James and Michael (all 3 Battletar Galactica) were signing. So we went into that queue, saw Sandra (a fellow "Q" person we met before) and moved up to join her. When we wanted a picture for the signing (which were normally around 3 euro) they told us that they cost 15 euro since the actors brought them their selves)… So I rushed to the FedCon shop and bought a nicer picture for 3 euros… And rushed back. I made films and Joyce made pictures of both Michael and Edward signing. We were told that it was not allowed when James was signing.. Stupid… After that, we went back to the info to find out about Nichelle’s signing. They told us to go up and there they told us to go down again… Sigh…

So when we saw 3 people waiting at a sign with Nichelle at the Karlstad shop, we just stubbornly joined them. The guy from the shop tried to get rid of us by telling us time and again that Nichelle would only be singing stuff bought in their shop. But we just stood where we were and did not listen to him. In the end, about 7 people for their picture signed for free and then only people with merchandise were getting through to Nichelle. We were lucky and able to give Nichelle our stroopwafels as well. Then we were racing to the Nichelle photo session queue. There was a huge line! I mean HUGE! I did make some pictures of it, so I will post them later on. But each and every person in that line just thought ONE thing: it’s really worth it! And it truly was! In that line we met a young woman who was dressed as a Trill. Totally don’t know her name anymore, but she was really nice and it made the waiting time go quickly. So if you are reading this (which I doubt, but still): I’d like to thank all the lovely people who made my time in the waiting lines more fun! Then, while waiting, Nana Visitor walked by. I asked our Trill and Joyce if they could hold my place so I could take a picture of Nana. But someone offered to take a picture of me WITH Nana. And of course I did not refuse. In the end, Nana looked the wrong way on the picture…BUT that got "corrected" on Sunday morning.

Then I shared a picture post. As I don’t want to change too much of the original posts, I will add that post in here as well.

I will try to add some info with every picture I post. Hope you will enjoy it all! And to all readers who have been to FedCon 18 and like to share (HQ) pictures: just leave me a comment! I only had a "simple" Sony photo camera with me, I forgot to bring my SLR one (STUPID ME!!!). So my images may be a bit blurry at times, though I am always willing to share them with other FedCon 18 people *winks*

First: where our hotel was and where the con was being held:

*note: click on any of the pictures for an enlargement; you enter the complete uploaded FedCon 18 folder then as well*

These pictures are made in Friday afternoon, at the U-bahn station and in
the U-bahn wagon when we were on our way back to FedCon 18.

*note: Q is just short for Queue or Schlange; and as a Trekkie it can mean even more *winks* *
OK, as I wrote before, we started in the first Q of the day: at the entrance. The first 3 Q’s were for the photo shoots with Max, Nana and Robert. Since I could not post any picture of the two photo shoots we did on Friday, I will share them all with you now.

Jeffrey Combs: Vorta Weyoun & Ferengi Investigator Brunt *DS9*

Marc Alaimo: Gul Dukat *DS9*

Max Grodénchik: Ferengi Rom, father of Nog & brother of Quark *DS9*

Nana Visitor: Major Kira Nerys *DS9*

Robert Picardo: holographic doctor on Voyager and later Richard Woosley in StarGate

And as I mentioned, we did get our hands on some autographs already: John & Bonita, Max, Robert, Jonathan, Mark & Richard. Here are some scans of their signatures.

The first ones: the sweet & funny couple

Robert Picardo

One of the two signatures of Max
The other one is on my DS9 bag

Richard Hatch

Jonathan Woodward & Mark Sheppard on the back of the cover.
On Sunday Summer Glau signed the front of the cover as well.

So these were the signatures of Friday and the photo shoot pictures of Friday and the Saturday morning already. As I already wrote, after the 3 photo Q’s of the Trekkies, we did not Q for Christopher Judge. Instead we were informing about the signing session by Nichelle Nicols. After her STUNNING performance during the opening ceremony, we just HAD to meet her in person. But the info desk was not too much on the info and the lady asked us to come back in an hour to check about it again. We used that hour to Q for the Battlestar Galactica people: Edward (or Eddy), James and Michael. We were allowed to take pictures of all but James while they were signing our picture. And of course, each and every actor/actress got a stroopwafel from us. So far, all were VERY happy and pleased about the delicious treat. Click HERE for some Dutch info about stroopwafels. And HERE for the English page about them.
So now I’ll share some pictures and signatures of the Battlestar Galactica stars!

Signed by Eddy, James & Michael

A funny picture of Michael Hogan,
taken using the mirrors on the ceiling above him

James signing for the person after us
so we got a picture of him after all!

After that, we went back in search for the Nichelle Nicols autograph session. After being send up and down and back again, we stayed in the shop-line, as I mentioned before, But it did pay off, for us, luckily!

Nichelle and Joyce, ready to give her the stroopwafel

Nicelle and her table seen from the stairs, stroopwafel next to her.
And the result of our waiting… The signed picture!

I do believe I am almost at the point where I left you in writing…

Nana Visitor and me, but she’s looking the other way.
But as mentioned before: that got "mended" on Sunday

Our first picture with Nichelle…
…and when she found out we had another picture with her…
…we had to bend our knees and WHAT A LOVELY RESULT!!!

I left you while standing in the photo shoot line of Nichelle Nicols. And then I saw Nana, got a picture taken with her and she looked the other way. And then our pictures were taken with Nichelle and I posted those pictures already as well.

Being quite happy that the photo shoot went very well, we decided to get ready in the next waiting line: for the big autograph Q with the "big" stars, like Nana and Summer. We checked if there were any signs about restrictions: would the Q be about numbers on your tickets or just stand in line and be served when you’re up. Since we did not see anything about numbers (like from 0 till 300 or so) we went in line.

There we met up with Jens, whom we met on Friday already, with Sandra and Imanuel. *all in the picture with me*. Jens and had some other things he wanted to do, so he left after a while. And since the Q was not moving quickly, Imanuel and Sandra would keep our place occupied so Joyce and I could pick up our pictures from the Friday photo shoots: Jeffrey and Marc. When we got our pictures, we saw they were singing in a room we passed by. Since it was not busy at all, we decided to go in and get my Star Trek DS9 bag signed, give Marc and Jeffrey our stroopwafels and show them our group pictures.

First we went to Marc. He was very nice, as we already knew, but did not personalize his autographs.

He did, however, sign one of our pictures for free because he really liked it a lot. Even though the pink shirted FedCon gall told him we did not pay for it, he insisted.

Then we went on to his neighbor: Jeffrey. He did personalize my bag and was also quite happy to receive the stroopwafels when we gave them to him (and we remembered that we forgot to give Marc his package!).

He also loved the group pictures so much and asked if he should personalize them as well. Again, another pink shirt told him that we only paid for the bag signature. But he insisted to sign both the pictures, without personalizing, anyway. So sweet of him to do so!

Then, happy as we were, we rushed back to Imanuel and Sandra who were still in the line. When we were finally moving up and forwards, we were asked to show our card numbers. And then we heard that about 15 minutes ago they did place a sign "telling" us that they only took in 0 till 600 and Saturday day cards… We were quite pissed. So we went to the info desk and told the woman how it all went. She promised us that we WOULD make it in on Sunday for sure and she was understanding about our reaction. Then we went upstairs for Nichelle Nicols’ signing session. While Imanuel was standing in the Q, we went for beer. 3 glasses, one for Imanuel as well. Seeing we already had her signature already and he just got shoved away so he really was in need for her signature. But when we came back: the Q was EXIT and they were told to come back the other day, also… Imanuel really needed his beer now!!!

Since we did NOT want to miss out the Hogan/Olson photo shoot, we decided to take our beers and join the Q that was already forming at that time.

This time, we DID make it!

After that, we were all quite hungry and decided we wanted some REAL food. So Imanuel went together with Joyce and me to the U-bahn station and we headed for the Bonn City Center.

We walked around and decided to eat at the Pizza Hut.

There we dined for 11 €uro’s per person, beer included! And it tasted so damn good!!!

They do have a new trend in Bonn, we noticed. All the young people were walking around with six-packs under their arms. But that evening there was the "Rhein im Flammen" (fireworks at the river the Rhein) so they were all preparing for it. We were tempted to go out and find six packs as well so we would not stand out in the crowd.

We really had an amazingly good time and much fun and we went back to the convention with a full tummy and a good feeling *smiles*.

Due to the fireworks, the U-bahn was CROWDED and really really full!

When we came back, we went to the Piano bar at the hotel for some more drinks, seeing Imanuel was smart enough to take the U-bahn to his hotel. Well that WAS the initial plan! But first, more beer and then cocktails!

Around 00:30 we decided it was time to go back to the U-bahn, hoping it would still ride us home. It was SOOOOO busy that Imanuel was lucky he did not have to drive, seeing he would not be able to move. All the road was jammed with traffic and more traffic, honking cars and loud music everywhere…

In the end, Joyce and I were at our hotel around 1:30. Imanuel got stuck in the U-bahn and he got home even later… Only to be almost first in line on Sunday morning at the entrance of the convention.

This is the end of our Saturday adventures. I hope you all enjoyed it so far… I know I did!!!
Hello everyone,

I am back to write some more about the last FedCon day: Sunday May 3rd 2009.

We had to pack all our stuff on Sunday morning since we had to check out of the hotel. After having breakfast we asked if it were possible to leave our car at their parking lot and pick it up after the con had ended. That was no problem, so we took all the stuff we did not need anymore to the car and left, for the last time that weekend, to the Bonn Maritim Hotel.

I did make a picture of our hotel, forgot to make any room pictures though…

We left for the U-bahn where we quickly found some other FedCon people, on their way to the event. When we arrived at the hotel, it was quite busy already. But lucky for us, Imanuel really got there early and we joined in at his place in the Q. There we made our plan: he would take our picture that we made with Nichelle and take it into her Q. We would take his picture (for a friend) and get it signed by Nana (seeing we already met Nichelle and were really eager to meet Nana Visitor). When the doors opened, we all rushed to our desired Q, or this time, we started our desired Q’s! Since Imanuel was first in line for Nichelle and we were first for the big autograph hall, the Holodeck).

Imanuel is starting the Nichelle Nicols Q

His Q is growing

Our Q is getting longer as well…

But we weren’t alone for long, a longer Q started to form quickly and after about half an hour waiting, people were already standing where we had been standing the day before (and were not allowed in that time). So we were determined to make it and since we were there first, WHO would possibly get it in his or her head to turn us away??? We were also joined by some gold card members and then a woman working for/with the FedCon Olympics (on the Wii). We have been chatting with her for a while, told her about what happened to us on Saturday. And also that a Staff member from the info desk had promised us to get us in if we were not allowed this time. And then she said to us, that if they gave us any trouble, she would say that we were competing in the Wii games and needed to be back soon to play the semi-finals… So if we would not get in NOW, something would be terribly messed up. I went to chat with Imanuel for a while, since we still had time before they would open the doors. OK the doors were open, so before they would allow us in the Holodeck. When I came back, there were really many many many people in the Q and some looked almost pissed that I passed them and went back to stand in front. Well, not my problem. After a while Sandra came to join us as well, seeing she had the same agreement with the info desk crew member: we could go in first. But she had gone to Christopher’s panel while we were in line. And then almost all the guests had arrived (only StarGate 1 Christopher Judge had to come, he had a panel before the signing began) and they said the first 20 people were already allowed to come in. So Nana here we come! Seeing we really wanted to talk to her AND we needed 5 of her signatures so all the time she could spend on us was ours, haha! So when we were in, we immediately went for Nana’s table.

First we got the picture signed for Imanuel’s friend and then we went on with the picture for our friend Eileen. I, of course, had to tell Nana about Eileen’s pets… Which made her laugh *yay*. It’s in the vid!!! Then our own pictures and my bag and of course we got a stroopwafel for Nana as well. Then she told us those were dangerous. OMG we gave her dangerous food!!! That can’t be good, can it??? And I thanked her for making that picture with me on Saturday, but that unfortunately her head was turned in the wrong way. She gave me quite a look so I did tell her that I id like the back of her head as well haha…. Just watch the video when it’s on here (hopefully when I publish this post) and see it yourself!

These are dangerous!

Signing my Star Trek bag

Signing our Major Kira picture

And finally our picture from the previous day photo shoot

And a great picture together!!!

Seeing a lot of people came for Christopher Judge, we thought we’d be crazy if we did not get at least an autograph from him. So after Nana, we went in Christopher’s line. After a while it was our turn and he was very nice to us. We also gave him a package

Then we went in line for Summer Glau. She was well known for her roles in Angel, Firefly/Serenity and now in The Terminator – Sarah Conner Chronicles. She was quite happy with the stroopwafels and even posed with them for a picture *smile*.

She brought along her two sisters, but I did not make a picture of them, wanted to give them some privacy.

Then we walked up to former "Buck Rodgers" star Erin Grey. I had met her before, back in September 2005 (Screenheroes in the Netherlands) where she signed my first season DVD set. Now we brought along the second season (though I like the first season better). I talked with her about the meeting back in 2005 and she did remember that convention. She gladly signed our season 2 box and was quite happy to receive the stroopwafels. She did not get any when she was in the Netherlands, so she was very curious to their taste. And she gladly posed with us for a picture.

After we met with Erin Grey, we saw that Michael Hogan did not have a huge Q, so we walked over to meet up with him again, asked him if he liked the stroopwafels and if we could have our picture taken with him. He was very kind, again, and gladly posed for a picture with the two of us. We also asked him if he liked the stroopwafels. He told us he was quite happy about it seeing there was hardly time to eat while signing. He only ate one and saved one for the Sunday because he really liked them. We gave him another package to enjoy and he was really delighted! As you might also be able to see in his smile on our picture!

Then we went to Eddy, or Edward James Olmos. There was a German fan in front of us and asked for a posed picture. He had to pay 20 euro’s for it, seeing the photo shoot was also expensive. The fan did not mind and grabbed his wallet. Even though the Pink Shirt said that she did not have any change or a way to keep the money. The fan paid anyway and had his picture taken. Joyce and I only had 1 stroopwafel package left. We decided to be bold and I asked Eddy if he liked the stroopwafel we had given him on Saturday. He said it was WONDERFUL. We told him we only had one package left and were willing to trade it for a picture together with him. He grabbed the package and came up for the picture! Haha! So funny!

He also posed with the stroopwafels while enjoying them!

Then we went over to Sandra who was getting her final autograph (well, standing in the Q).

Hello everyone,

The last time I posted a blog about FedCon, we were still at the Holodeck, waiting for Sandra to get her final signatures. I decided to ask John and his wife if it were possible to go on a picture with them again, this time without a table in front of us. We waited a while, seeing there were people in their Q, but we did succeed and they were quite happy to pose with us.

After that, we finally got to go to some panels. We had to find Imanuel first. But we had not been to any panel that whole weekend so far due to standing in all those damn queues. And now we finally were able to see some. AND at 2pm, there would be a special Star Trek panel and I really did not want to miss that. Attendees were: Nichelle Nicols, Richard Arnold, Robert Picardo, Nana Visitor, John Billingsley & Connor Trinneer.

But seeing we were a bit too early, we just grabbed our seats and enjoyed the earlier panels.

We came in when Dominic Keating was on stage. He did like his "Terminator" image on the background, but he would have liked even better if they had not written his name with a k instead of a c… I have to admit, he is quite a funny guy and I enjoyed his panel a lot.

He was followed by two "Eureka" guests, Colin Ferguson and Jordan Hinson.

After them, we got a Battlestar Galactica panel: Edward James Olmos, Michael Hogan and Richard Hatch.

Attention, Admiral on deck!

Michael and Edward came on first, to be joined by Richard only a few minutes after they started.

So say we all!

After this panel, it was Star Trek panel time! In the meantime, we all ate some chips and drank some liquids and just enjoyed the time spend off our feet, listening to the guests’ stories.

Someone started a whole story that seemed to have no ending…
After a while, the guests got kinda lost…
…as did the attendees of this panel…

At the end of the panel, Nana started walking off stage…
…but got called back by Mark B. Lee for the final bow.

This was really a fascinating panel and Nichelle told us so much. I believe she has enough stories to last us a lifetime. And that Nana wanted to play Sisko’s part because she loved to sit in the captain’s chair! First Robert wanted to play the role of Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine, Voyager), but changed his mind. So Richard gladly took her role. John wanted to be the dog! Hahaha!!! And Nichelle wanted to play an old, very old but still sexy Uhura!!! Haha, I guess she’d be able to even succeed in it ! They should have asked her for the latest Star Trek movie

After this wonderful panel, Summer Glau came up. She was joined by Jonathan Woodward, which was not on the schedule. But Summer had a cold and enjoyed the company of Jonathan. And they made a nice panel together.

Then came Mark Sheppard.

After that, Joyce and I kept our seats occupied for each other so we could visit the toilet without losing our seats. Imanuel told us he’d be getting his bag to his car and that he would come back for the closing ceremony. They had to prepare some stuff before it got going on.

And when it started, Imanuel was still gone with the wind. First the had some auctions ans stuff and it took a bit too long for our likings. But then finally, the real closing ceremony started. Max Grodénchik and Robert Picardo had a very musical ending made for it. And Max did it all in German, singing about Rom and Leeta (his character and wife @ Deep Space Nine). Robert sang about the FedCon 18 event, which was quite hilarious as well.

Then Erin, Colin, Jordan, Summer, Christopher, Dominic and Richard came to say goodbye. John gave away his pants… He was not allowed to throw away the one he was wearing still, seeing that was his last pair. Or so his wife yelled from the audience! (she is so great and funny!!!).

Mark B. Lee told us that the first lady coming on stage was also a great help in contacting the guests and arranging stuff for FedCon. This was/is Erin.

Erin Gray

Colin & Jordan

Summer & Jonathan

Christopher

Dominic & Richard
Also joined by John

John
still having both pair of pants, the one in his hands he threw into the audience
the one he was wearing, he needed to get home, it was his last pair
or so yelled his wife from the balcony…

But the real "party" got started when the rest of the Star Trek & Battlestar Galactica guests came on stage! SO SAY WE ALL!

Jeffrey is doing a little "moonwalking" on stage

Nana, Jeffrey, Max and Marc coming on stage.
Nana, in her speech, mentions she’d better hurry before any of these guys take off their pants…

Max and Marc say their thanks and goodbye’s.

Then Jeffrey, who passes the mike on to Mark…

Mark, Richard and Michael were up next

Michael then passes the microphone, which meant we all had to rise to our feet:
Admiral back on deck! Eddy (Edward) was up!

Eddy thanked everyone for being so kind and that was one of the reasons he kept writing whole "stories" next to his autographs *winks*. He really is a sweet and generous man!

Eddy thanks all the other guests and friends and gets ready
to welcome the diva of FedCon 18: Nichelle Nicols!

She obviously liked the musical parts of Robert, Max and John and burst out in song!!!
WOW she IS a DIVA!
*like we had any doubts left after the first time she entered the stage on Friday*

There was also a little girl on stage and with Nichelle present,
she got all the other actors swinging with both the girl as herself!

This really is the end…

…it was GREAT and: FedCon 19, I am ready for ya!

I love to take pictures of the sky. Sun, moon, clouds, colors… These are my own favorites, so far. I hope to be able to add many pictures, old and new ones, soon. Hope you like what I shot.

I will keep adding pictures to this set, of course. If you wish to keep informed, visit my set of Flickr and use the Feed to subscribe. Thanks. Feel free to comment (not spam) here or on Flickr, thanks!

As I promised a couple of weeks ago, here I am finally posting about my first experiences with the Fujifilm FinePix XP 30. As I might have mentioned in an earlier blog, I was looking for an affordable camera that would allow me to take pictures/shoot video under water. I first saw a very nice one from Nikon, but at the time, I could not afford that one. And then I saw this little buddy on the Fujifilm website. It was a nice looking camera, available in different cool colors and it would suffice my needs. I did some more searching on forums and all, because according to the Fujifilm website, the camera was not to be used in heated pools. And that is what I wanted to use it, amongst other places. But according to several users of this camera, it worked fine in pools. Just don’t use it in too hot environments and always clean it with clean water (soak it for about 5 minutes). But that was also in the users guide so well, OK, this would be the camera I was going to buy.

Please do understand that I am a simple camera user. I am not affiliated with anyone or anything and this review shows you my experiences and thoughts. I don’t claim any rights towards Fujifilm and it’s product. All information about the camera (specifications and all) came from their official website. All views, opinions and remarks about the usage of the camera are mine. I hope you will respect my review and all (polite) comments are welcome.

The first place I tested it was, of course, at home. The camera looked good and was comfortable to use. The flash was a bit too bright when used indoors on closer subjects. But other than that, so far so good.

The GPS works, but it is very slow and drains your battery while searching for a location. And of course, if you have an extra battery, you need to switch it. When doing that, the camera forgets the last used position found by the GPS and it just starts searching all over again. It would be better if there was a back-up for the last known GPS location. Or if you could enter the name of the area you’re in (most of the time you do know that much or you’ll at least be able to pinpoint the country you’re in). I am not sure why it takes such a long time to find the GPS location. Most cellphones have GPS as well and they take less time. So maybe the GPS is not placed in the best position within the camera.

Once the GPS has found a location though, it is very accurate. The camera can stay connected to GPS all day long (until the battery dies) even when the camera is switched off. This will provide you with a quick location when wanting to take a shot. But of course, you have less shots to make due to the battery being drained by the constant use of GPS. It can even create a log for you of all the locations/routes you visited during your battery’s lifespan with the GPS switched on.

After watching several YouTube video’s, I really concur with this one. I DID NOT make it NOR do I own it! © Trusted Reviews.

Of course I have seen some video’s on YouTube where people put their reviews online. I found the one above and I concur with their findings. The camera is a point and shoot after all and not a very expensive one (when you count all the add-ons and extra’s compared to other point and shoot camera’s) It is really it’s money’s worth. The thing I dislike about this video though: why didn’t they check the under water abilities? The man talks about the image quality (above water), video quality and sound (mono) quality (above water) and the GSP and falling tests and all, But never does he mention the under water testing. So that is my next item.

Underwater photo’s and video’s. I already shared one picture I made of myself in the “Bubbles” post. I must admit that, at first, I didn’t expect too much of the underwater features. But the little blue devil really surprised me!

Of course the first thing I bought, together with the camera, was a special strap. Since the camera won’t float, it is best to use a strap designed for water use. It is from Olympus but works like a charm. And that’s what I bought it for. So if you are thinking about buying an underwater camera, please do check if it is a floating model or not. And even if it flows, the strap (the one I have) is bright orange, so it makes it easier to spot the camera when you let it go for any reason.

My first underwater video, my lovely GF giving the camera a kiss. She didn’t know I was filming.

In this video I used the underwater setting that the camera offers It is both affective in videos as it is for photos.

As the man from “Trusted Reviews” already said, the glass lens cover is good in getting dirty. Your fingerprints stick easily to it. But in water, that problem is less worse than keeping an eye on your viewer while shooting video/photos. Water that will stay in front of the lens, when you go down and up again. Of course when you stay under water and only shoot your images there, it’s no problem at all. But when wanting to take a quick shot while taking the cam out of the water and shooting above it, make sure your lens is water drop free.

Here you can see me, under water. When shooting pictures under water, make sure to give the camera some time to focus. When you immediately press the button all the way, you may end up with blurry pictures. Just press it halfway, check your viewer and then press it trough. This way you are more sure that your picture will be in focus. The screen can be hard to see under water though. If you want to shoot many pictures and videos, be sure to wear goggles. It helps. Do check if your goggles allow you to see the screen though. Some have protective lenses that may cause your screen to be darker as it is.

The one button video recording is very easy to use. But when you are in circumstances that are wobbly, you some times press the button by accident (like me in the wild water slide at Center Parcs). Which results in starting or quitting on a video. But that is really the only thing that bugged me about the little red button. It works like a charm otherwise and makes you able to record HD 1280*720 videos. But with mono sound only, which isn’t too bad under water but can sound different when filming above water. I mean, we’re all used to cameras filming with stereo these days. So the audio recording is a minor step back.

According to Fujifilm, you are able to shoot film/pictures to a depth of 5 meter with a max time of 120 minutes. I didn’t test this so I can’t share any experiences on that.

I did test the panorama mode on this camera. My Nikon CoolPix P500 offers a panorama mode as well, so I was already used to using it. But I must say that the results of the XP 30 are not that good compared to the P500. But I guess you should try it out for yourself and see if the results satisfy you. But the image was too wobbly for me. Ah well, it’s not the most important feature and maybe I used it wrong, being used to the P500. I will check it again later on, hoping the results will be better.

Filmed in the pool, above water, with the Fujifilm Finepix XP 30.

With this small video I will end this small review. Some more video can be found on my YouTube channel.

Thanks for checking this review out. If you have any questions or comments, please post them politely and I will check it out. I am not a pro, just a camera lover. Keep that in mind as well. Have a nice day.

Yesterday I shared some of my favorite pictures with you that I had made during my visit to Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem, the Netherlands. I have also uploaded some video’s to my YouTube channel and I will share them with you here as well. I shot the video’s with my Nikon CoolPix P500 camera. Since we were with a big group of friends, I couldn’t allow myself to wait long at the habitats to make the perfect shots. So this is what I made of it in the time I had.

Enjoy the video’s en don’t forget to check out the pictures if you’re interested. They are on Flickr!

Leopard

Asian elephants

Giraffes

I wanted to share those video’s here with you. I published them on my YouTube channel. The music is owned by the Heilbrunner Musikanten, not by me! I only claim the rights to the used video and photo footage.

Video/photo © SuperCynni, music © Die Heilbrunner Musikanten

Video/photo © SuperCynni, music © Die Heilbrunner Musikanten

_{All these pictures are made with my Nikon CoolPix P500 camera.}

So sit back and enjoy some of the pictures. I enjoyed being able to make them

Indian Elephant Hippopotamus

Warthogs

Ring-tailed Lemur

Leopard

Python Reticulatus

Wallaby

Lions

Giraffe

I hope you enjoyed these pictures. Be sure to check them all out on Flickr and don’t hesitate to comment!

Have a nice day everyone

Testing the new Fujifilm FinePix XP30. I bought this not too expensive waterproof camera to take with me on vacation. We went to Center Parcs Bispinger Heide (Germany) for a midweek and I wanted to take pics while having fun in the water. Even though the camera was said not to be used in heated swimming pools, I read some reviews of it’s users on different sites. When many wrote about their swimming pool experiences, I decided to buy this camera and see how it would perform. This is one of the many pics I have taken.
Will write a (small?) review about the camera as soon as I can find the time (and don’t forget about it).
Thanks for checking out my blog. Hopefully I can post more soon… ☺

Via Flickr:
Bubbles and me.

My new car! A Toyota Corolla Linea Terra, “born” on April 2nd 1999 ☺ Here I will post more pictures as I make some progress (with help of dear loved ones) to pimp El Sheepo.

I have passed for my drivers license 11 years (and a few days) ago. Until now I have never had my own car. I have always driven in cars that were owned by others. When ever needed, I did pay my share of course, don’t get me wrong. I have been looking for a car for a while now. together with BF and GF. And tomorrow, I might be buying the car you see on the left… Exciting… Just wanted to drop a line and man, do I have a lot I still want to blog about. I need some time… A lot, haha! Well, I will keep you all posed!

Exciting…

Expensive…

Mine?