Doctor Who Day

I didn't realize Seattle had so many Doctor Who fans...

Eric and I crossed the mountains Friday night with a very unhappy Inkwell the cat. We stayed at my folks' place in Renton (thanks again Lisa, for putting up with us). Inkwell wandered my mom's fabric collection and was given lovin' by my parents.

Saturday morning we headed out to Lincoln Square in Bellevue to watch the simulcast of Doctor Who on the big screen in 3D. We joined up with other fans while there, then we left hubby-Eric to wait for another fan while we went in and got seats. I found a pair of seats in the top row for Eric and I and when he came in I waved. He spotted me, then was greeted by somebody else, then by another person, so he threw his arms out and shouted, "For everyone who knows me, HELLO!" and got a surprisingly large response. That's how I know theater #4 had a lot of Androgums and other old school fans in it. We later learned many of our friends were also in theater #12.

When Eric made his dramatic entrance, I told the girls sitting next to his empty seat, "That's the guy you're going to be sitting next to." They giggled. Nervously I think.

What can I say about "Day of the Doctor"? Let's see... the opening sequence with Strax informing people of proper theater etiquette, particularly the screaming popcorn, was a delight. The 3D bit at the beginning showing how to tell if the person sitting next to you was a Zygon was a hoot. The episode/movie itself was ... wow. I mean, wow. It was... wow. I'm sure there were bits that I would quibble about, but frankly at the moment I still want to just enjoy the experience. There is a special aspect of watching anything in a theater full of like-minded people... Doctor Who seen that way was simply amazing. It just was overwhelming.

Anyway. After the movie was the short making of, and that was also fun to watch in the theatre. I think maybe two people got up after the episode itself was over. No rush to the door until after everyone in the whole place was certain there wasn't any more delightful bits to watch.

Eric and I eventually got out of Bellevue Square, I'm not sure how, and made our way to Marlow's place in Totem Lake to have a mini-Androgum party. We had pizza, dissected the episode and watched "An Unearthly Child" (just the first episode, not the rest of the story with the cavemen). We had a good discussion and made up some theories that I'm sure many other people will have made up, and then we carpooled (five of us) to Seattle to go to the Experience Music Project party.

There were Androgums at the head of the line, we managed to join them and pack the front of the line with Androgummy goodness. We stood outside in the cold for more than an hour and I got more and more hyper just to keep warm. Eric had changed into his fifth Doctor costume and I was wearing the Ace jacket my mom made as a costume for me more than 20 years ago for Visions '93. More than a few people recognized who I was supposed to be, although there was a large number of folks who simply, sadly, had no clue.

Getting in was easy enough, but there were so many people that my main goal was to get away from the crowds until the party settled a little. So I actually found the bar where the trivia was going to be held and settled down after my initial run-through of the building. Unfortunately, no soft drinks at that bar and even a cup of water cost $1. Yikes. Still, it was a relatively quiet place early in the evening and I managed to rest my feet and recover from the cold.

Then the trivia started and the place got packed. Eric came back, Dan arrived... we only needed Ryan to make the Doctor Who trifecta. As it was, Eric and Dan managed to answer most of the trivia questions without any trouble at all, and then they promptly left me alone in the bar before the results were announced. I was not at all surprised to find out that they'd won the contest, but because they were missing, I had to go and accept the prize. I then gathered them up and got the guy running the quiz to get his picture of the winners. We then divvied up the loot, which had some neat stuff. Nothing huge, but it was good.

I left to wander the building and see some sights while they watched our place in the bar. I got some pictures of some of the attractions (Wizard of Oz, mainly) and was recognized by more than a few people... either as Ace or for being the one who won the quiz. It was far too crowded for me to handle being out and about for long, so I headed back to the bar and enjoyed the boys, this time with Ryan, taking the second quiz. When the results were announced the trifecta had only missed one. They came in second... somebody had managed a perfect score.

I can't remember exactly what we did next, but basically we left the bar for the night and headed to the costume contest. A tree approached us and asked Eric to follow her because she was doing the costume contest. I didn't realize she meant she was the MC of the costume contest, but Eric followed her while I wandered the edges for a bit. When they started pulling the finalists out of the crowd I managed to get to the other side of the stage to take some pictures. Eric was a finalist.

They started with the best Doctor category and pulled up three contestants. A second Doctor, Eric as the fifth Doctor, and an eleventh Doctor. Eric was crowned the best, got a loot bag, and eventually found me and got a big hug. One of the people who was handing out prizes handed me a little prize, a Doctor Who minifigure, because I was wearing a costume and hanging out so close to the stage.

The other prizes were announced, they were well deserved, and then I went to get Eric's picture with the EMP's Cyberman.

I don't really remember much after that. I was tired, hungry, and mildly grumpy. Our group found the car and we all headed up Lake City Way and stopped at Dick's Drive-In for some cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes just before midnight. We eventually made it back to Marlow's house, then Eric drove us back to my folks' place where my mom was waiting up for us. I somehow got to bed... and we came back over the mountains with an EXTREMELY grumpy cat late this morning.