Louise's Post: Ring*Con 2010

**** Due to some forces unknown some of the pictures have gone missing, sorry for that! ****

As this is my first blog ever, I thought this would make a good start. I advise you to get comfy and perhaps some coffee.

Ok folks, let me tell you about one of the most memorable moments of my life: Ring*Con.

Earlier this year Gil Birmingham (aka Billy Black in the Twilight movies) tweeted/posted on FB that he was going to this thingamagig called Ring*Con, in Bonn, Germany. I had never heard of it, and since Germany is so close by, this was something worth investigating.

I soon learned that this was an event I wanted, nay, NEEDED to be part of. Not only were there going to be Twilight actors (some who cancelled last minute, grmbl!) but also from Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and series called Blood Ties and Legend of the Seeker (had never heard of them till then). I immediately informed my best and fellow Twifan Jolanda, and we knew that this was gonna be it. We were going to be there. Fact.

As time passed, tickets went up for sale, and hotel was to be booked later on. We kept tabs on the offical site to keep track when we could book a hotel room (this convention was held at a hotel), and at this hotel, where all the celebs were staying at, we were going to stay at. Fact.

The date was announced, and in a weeks time rooms would become available. Next week turned out to be next DAY. We were an hour late, all rooms had been booked. This did not change the Fact that we were going to get a room. After a few calls and some nerve wrecking emails with some guy named Dirk (who later turned out to be the Big Kahuna of this event!) we....got....a....room. It took a while and a few pinches till it finally struck me that I had actually pulled it off, this was actually going to happen.

Naturally the dream-team went with us.

And then, after what seemed like an eternity, October 14th had arrived. Jolanda packed her things and came over to my place and we did the whole female 'I don't know what to wear' and 'I'm never gonna fit this all in my bag' ritual. I got at least a good 4 hours of sleep, and Jolanda maybe a half an hour more. We got up on time, left on time, and got to the hotel with some time to spare. Whether it was due to the lack of sleep, or that we just really needed to go the bathroom, we hurried to our rooms on the 4th floor. We celebrated by marking our territory on the porcelain throne, and jumping on the beds.

Then we changed clothes (what to wear, and why did I bring THIS?) and headed out to explore. We found that there were not many merchandise stands, and this made us happy; less temptation.Turned out, in the end, that alot of it was much cheaper than normally, so we pretty much hit jackpot with the things we did buy.

"Super Demetri" & Me

Soon we found ourselves waiting in line to get our pictures taken with Gil Birmingham (Billy Black, Twilight). Since it was so busy and took for-ev-ah by the time it was our turn, there was some other actor there: Charlie Bewley (Demetri in Twilight, or as Charlie says: Super Demetri). So we had are photo taken with him, and would have a chance later on for Gil.

We later headed on to the main hall, sat through some panels (front row seats, thanks a gazillion Ursula!) saw Gil Birmingham & Charlie Bewley, attended the main opening and saw the 'Weasly twins' (Harry Potter) and basically....had a blast.

Later that night there was a Vampire Ball which, well, kinda sucked. We looked awesome, obviously,(pictures will follow) but it seemed that most of the people had retired to their rooms, or where shakin their money maker over at the Piano Bar...2 parties...bad idea. Nevertheless, this did not bring our hopes down and we soldiered on, determined to see a celeb (preferably Charlie, he's my cupcake). We did however see "Edward Cullen" and "Jacob Black" kissing, which was kinda disturbing to say the least. The longer we watched the more I was convinced they were 2 chicks, and found out the next day, when we saw them both coming out of the ladies room, that they indeed were.

At 2:30 we had decided this had gone far enough, and that after only 4 hours of sleep the night before, we should call it a night. First we checked out the Vampire Ball which had pretty much bled dead (pun intended), and made our ways to the elevators. Whilst in our semi-comatose state waiting for our ride up, a young man walked torwards us. And before I knew it, I had said:' Hi Charlie'. Internally I was of course all: omgomgomgomgomgomg.

He looked a little sleepy-eyed, and asked if this (the party) always happens at 2 in the morning. We replied that we didn't know, as it was our first time there too.

To our astonishment, he got on the elevator with us. We had a little chit chat and a laugh, but too soon we reached our destination. We wished him a good night, and he wished us sweet dreams. We casually walked off into our hallway, and as soon as the elevator doors closed, we bolted. We got in to our room, stared at each other and went ballistic! By the way, the beds are jump-proof ;-)

We could not believe we had gotten our own private time with him, we felt like we had deserved it. And we did.

We went to bed, chanting that we couldn't believe what had just happend.

The next morning we got up bright and early, for there was alot to do. At first we had regretted not putting our request for roomservice out on time, but that changed as soon as we went to the restaurant...'they' were all there too. So we casually (more zombie-like) took our plates, and stood in line with people like Kyle Schmid (Blood Ties) and Julia Jones (Leah Clearwater, Twilight).

Photoshoot with Gil was on top of our list, so we got there wayyy before time, and eventually were the first of the day to get a pic with him. Booboo Stewart (Seth Clearwater, Twilight) was our next victim, and he totally melted our hearts, he would hug every single person before posing.

Me & Gil Birmingham

Me & Booboo

Afterwards we had some time to kill, and hung out here and there. Saw Booboo not too long after that, he himself was taking pictures and enjoying himself.

Had a bite to eat (seemed practically impossible to fit a decent meal into our schedule).Then it was off to the main hall again, for some more panels, Nick Shirm and Louis Cordice (Harry Potter) and then Booboo Stewart again.

Now, we were once again seated front row, and Booboo came out with 2 t-shirts in his hands. Mark Ferguson (LotR) who was the MC (oooh) announced that we were going to have a quiz...first question was: In which scene do we see Seth the first time? A girl a few rows back was beat me to it. So for the second question I got into position, for I would win this. Fact. Second question was: Which movie was it? She said 'Eclipse' which was of course wrong. So I shot up and yelled: NEW MOON. We were invited up on to the stage to collect our prizes, and to get hugged yet again (twice in 1 day) by sweet Booboo. I had won!!!!!

My prize shirt, photo's and wristband.

After that we wanted to get a photo with the Phelps twins, and as we made our way up there, they were just leaving! We were not amused to say the least, and were really disappointed at the lack of help we got from the volunteers. We even wanted to make a complaint about how hard it was to file a complain. It was Ridiculus!

In the end the three of us tried our darndest to ambush the Phelps twins, without luck. So we returned to the main hall to sit in with their Q&A. Jo and I both asked questions, I asked them what it was like for them to be redheads, and they started with 'daywalker' as to which I responded 'soulless' (they obviously watch South Park ;-) All in all, real good fun.

Louis & Nick, Harry Potter

It was only till that evening that we heard there was to be another party...meaning more opportunities!! This time we decided to not get all dressed up, and got our asses downstairs faster than the night before. Thankfully the party was at the Piano Bar, so no more wishing we had a walkie talkie and standing on the look-out at both parties.

And soon, they started showing up. We saw Gil, Kyle (Blood Ties) and Jason Manns. Louis (HP) was roaming around looking mighty lonely, so I got up and spoke to him for a few minutes. I like to think that made a difference.

It was that evening when I really realised how lonely it must get, especially when you're so young. I really saw them as people, employees, people who are just doing their job. And a damn good one!

Charlie Bewley, Twilight

Soon we also saw Charlie make his way, I scooped him with my left arm and had a small chat with him. He later hung out with a bunch of girls who later turned out to run his German fansite. Even though pictures were not taken with the celebs (it was their free time too) we saw plenty of them, it was so unreal just being under the same roof with so many big names.

The next day we got up early, for we had yet another mission: the Phelps twins. We would have our picture taken with them, fact. Since it was the last day, and there was only an autograph session left, we went to see them, told them how we had missed them the day before, and they both heartily agreed to a pic. It made our day.

Oliver Phelps


James Phelps

As for the rest of the day we went to the Blood Ties panel, which was really great, even for us noobs, who had never seen it, and after that, the Twilight panel. Now, we had tried really hard to get front row, but it just wasn't going to happen. Somehow some kamikaze ninja volunteers appeared from nowhere and told us to get back to our row. Ursula had a Gold Ticket, and therefor was allowed to stay up front.

We figured we had had so much luck so far, that we shouldn't push it. With our heads hung low, we sought a decent place to sit.

Us & Mark Ferguson

By this time I was having a mother of a headache, and didn't get much of the Harry Potter Q&A. By the way, should you ever visit Germany, be sure to bring your own painkillers, for some sort reason they are not allowed to give it to you...no, not even the paramedics... Jo got the Ibuprofen from the car, and I was quickly feeling better. We got back to the main hall in time to see the the Kiwi Panel: Mark Ferguson (the MC, who did an incredible job in hosting this crazy event), Lori Dungey, Craig Parker and Jed Brophy (all in LotR) improvising some musical version of Star Wars. It. Was. Hilarious.

Sadly, the closing cermony was up next. The last photos were made, songs were sung, tears were shed. It was fantastic.

We said our goodbyes to Ursula, and vowed that we would keep in touch, and see eachother soon. And then it was off to the elevators, a 3 hour car drive awaited us.

Urula & us

"Closing Time"

But our adventure did not end there...we left the main hall, and I immediately saw Booboo. And I was off. Jo hadn't noticed him yet, but still kept up with me. Few seconds later when we were away from most people, I told her who we were following, and I was then eating Jo's dust.

Turned out that he too was heading to the elevators, and I knew then and there, that no matter which elevator he took, we were taking that one as well.

My eye caught sight of the first elevator to open, and I motioned Jo to go in it (even though we had to go down to the garage). Booboo and his 2 companions (one who turned out to be his dad!) had already gotten on. He asked this other girl if she had a good time at the convention, and she answered that she did. I then blurted out: 'Convention? What convention? Were you there?' We had a good laugh, and at the top floor, he got off. We wished him a good time and hoped to see him soon. We were ecstatic.

But it didn't end there, either.

On our way down a girl with a room service cart got on. At the ground floor, the doors opened, and there was Gil Birmingham. I seized the moment and invited him in, even though we were going down first. He got on. Can't remember what we said before we got off, only remember saying that I'd like to give him a hug if he didn't mind (and he didn't) and he kissed me on my head (on my hoodie, which has now become holy and unwashable). Jo also hugged him, and told him that it was thanks to his tweet/FB post that I'd seen he was going to Ring*Con, and thanks to him we had had a most memorable weekend. This made him smile.

This is where our adventure ended.