Graduation Celebration Trip: Day 6

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to our vacation photos!

On this first day of the Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis convention in Vancouver (Burnaby), BC, the events didn't get started until the afternoon.

So we had the GPS guide us over to Mount Burnaby. At the park near the top, we parked and all of a sudden see this coyote wander the length of the park. It was 11am.

This park also has several locations that were used in filming SG-1 episodes. For example, the Kamui Mintara Totems were used in "Upgrades". Here you see a great view of downtown Vancouver in the distance, just before the blue harbor. In the foreground is one of the totems with a Orca whale on it, that points due west.

Here you see most of the art installation. One totem has a standing bear (on the left) and one has an owl (on the right).
The river valley to the north of the park was VERY foggy. Can you see the huge container ship down there in the fog?

Another piece of art in the park was this living scupture from one of Vancouver's sister cities in Japan. These are dancing cranes. The feathers are grass that grows on fabric.

But the highlight of visiting this park area was to see/eat at Horizons Restaurant, which was also used in filming the episode "Upgrades" mentioned above.

We had a very nice (and expensive) lunch at Horizons. On a clear day (or night) they have incredible views of the city and the mountains. Here, Mike is contemplating the schedule for the convention.

This is a view toward the bar and front door. I had the menu's lovely "Wild BC Salmon", Mike had a nice "New York Steak", and we had the "Dessert Sampler for Two" which was wonderful. Our waiter was a cute guy who was born in Minnesota, but had lived in Canada long enough to pick up some of their accent.

After lunch we drove across the river and up the mountain to Simon Fraser University, Burnaby Campus.

The courtyard at SFU was used in filming SG-1 everytime there was an episode about Narim's planet Tollana (such as "Between Two Fires"). That courtyard was also filmed extensively as the River Walk area of Caprica City on Battlestar Galactica.

As we were looking at a campus map, a student comes up and asks us if we need help finding anything. I tell her that we're just looking for the buildings that were used in filming SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica, and she gives me a face like she has no idea what I'm talking about. Apparently SG-1 is hardly watched at all in Canada BECAUSE it is considered an American show and thus unworthy of Canadian eyeballs. Their loss.

These photos pan down the "River Walk" from north (i think) to south (i think).

Just west of the courtyard is the long set of stairs that lead down to another courtyard area. This area was also filmed in "Between Two Fires" as SG-1 and Narim run from the explosions of the goa'uld invading the planet, and Narim stays behind to fight with his people.

Given that this is a college, there was a beautiful four-tier fountain that morons had put a bunch of detergent into so that it was covered in foam:

Now it was time to return to the hotel for the convention to start!

Here are a couple of banners they had hanging as decoration in the ballroom. These were auctioned off for about $350 each, although Samantha Carter's did go for north of $500.

I am not able to show you photos of the actors who were guests at the convention...we are prohibited from public display of those photos. However, you can see a lot of actor photos at Gateworld.

Here's the schedule for the day, which was April 2, 2009. You can read Gateworld's summary of the day here.

3pm: Music Video Open

3:05 - Valerie Halverson, costume designer for Stargate Atlantis & SG-1 and well as Andromeda.

3:45 - Music Video (these were all entries by attendees, who all got $100 gift certificates)

3:50 - Working Actors of Vancouver Panel: A presentation featuring some dynamite actors that have appeared in Stargate and many other shows shot in Vancouver.

Participating are:

• Fulvio Cecere: SG-1's "Colonel Davidson"; Battlestar Galactica: Razor's "Lt Alastair Thorne"; Dark Angel's Richard Sandoval
• Kirby Morrow: Atlantis' "Captain Dave Kleinman"; XMen Evolution's "Cyclops/Scott Summers"; Dragon Ball Z's "Goku"
• Heather Doerkson: Atlantis' "Bridge Pilot/Apollo Technician/Meyers"; Smallville's "Isis"; BSG's "Sgt Brandy Harder"
• Jody Racicot: SG-1's "Vernon Sharpe"; Flash Gordon's "Dr Hans Zarkov"
• Michael Kopsa: SG-1's "General Kerrigan"; Dead Zone's "Jake Traux"
• Patrick Currie: SG-1's "Fifth/Chaka/Eamon"; BSG's "Enzo"

4:30 Autographs with panel members (additional fee)

5:10 Stargate Trivia Yes/No Contest

5:20 - 5:45 Photo Ops with panel members (additional additional fee)

5:30 Music Video Salute

5:35 Gary Jones, "Chief Master Sargent Walter Harriman"

6:15 was supposed to be Christopher Heyerdahl, but he cancelled (had to work). Instead we got to meet the actress who played each and every one of the Atlantis Wraith Queens.

7:50 Autographs with Gary Jone and wraith queen (additional fee)

9:30 Special Event (additional fee) "Star Hole SG-1.5 starring Gary Jones and Dean Haglund". Dean was a Lone Gunman on X-Files. Description: Get ready for the biggest shocker in Stargate history. Gary Jones, aka Sgt Walter Harriman, is finally going through the gate! After being told repeatedly by producers for 10 years that it was too expensive to send him through the computer-generated "puddle," Gary is finally taking matters into his own hands, always to hilariously disastrous results, joined by his comedy partner, Dean Haglund of "X-Files" Lone Gunman fame. Gary will reprise his role as Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman, to the delight of the fans, and Dean will play ALL the secondary characters like, say, Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c, and Sam Carter. Other guest star spots will be filled by audience members!

We attended the above comedy, and later bought the DVD of it that they filmed. It was a pseudo-improv episode of SG-1 and Mike says it was the most he's heard me laugh in over 10 years of marriage. Your milage may vary.

Yes, the rest of this trip was packed like this, so you can see why it is taking me a while to blog about it...this post alone took me about 3 hours to create.