Twilight, Travel, and Treats

I was surfing YouTube today for a piano tutorial for Turning Page by Sleeping at Last (by the way, didn't find one). Found this very nice cover though but I doubt he will provide sheets. Pity.

I came across the official Breaking Dawn Behind the Scenes footage. There is a good 10 minutes here. Maybe you've all seen it but I hadn't yet so I was super excited. A nice way to get my movie fix until I see it for the third time.

It's a gentle reminder too that IT'S NOT REAL!! Yes this is silly since of course I know it's fiction but it bears repeating. Sometimes my brain becomes so ensconced in fanfic and Edward that it's a good jolt back to reality.



Enjoy!

Yes that's director Bill Condon with our favourite couple

Is it cynical of me that I didn't expect to like Breaking Dawn Part 1? I didn't really confess that to people considering I'm supposed to be this huge Edward and Bella nut. But the thought of watching her grow gaunt and have Edward brooding in the corner while Jacob comforted her didn't seem like much fun. I guess I am a pessimist at heart and it even invades my love of Twilight. Enough that I forgot there would be this amazing wedding and supposed headboard breaking to look forward to.

Well, I was proven wrong. I absolutely LOVED most of BD Part 1. You can guess since I'm so pro-Edward that the parts I didn't like were mostly Jacob and Wolf pack related. Like the scene where they all convene and Jacob eventually breaks off. I don't know why but I just start laughing and rolling my eyes even though it's supposed to be so tense.

I'm not a huge music person. Although I love playing the piano and singing, I don't go running out to buy soundtracks before the movie comes out nor do I usually know any of the artists beforehand. But I have fallen hard for a few songs on this one.

My favourite from the Breaking Dawn soundtrack?



This was at Breaking Dawn Tent City - were some of you there for that?? Must have been amazing.

Every time I hear this song I start to cry. I'm sure commuters driving past me must think I'm crazy. This song is so incredibly sweet and moving that I can't stop listening to it. The piano sheet music isn't anywhere to be found and I can't wait for months for Hal Leonard to release it so I'm praying someone has time on their hands to transpose it.

So the surprises that I loved?

I didn't expect them to play 'Flightless Bird, American Mouth' during the vows. Absolutely floored and it made the scene perfect. Even Rob Pattinson admits that his favourite scene in the series is the Twilight dance scene.

The speeches were a great touch. It was wonderful to see Edward get up there and tell the world how much he loves Bella. So relieving just to see him so happy!

As much as I've made fun of Taylor Lautner in the past I was impressed with his performance. The scenes he had trying to convince pregnant Bella to have an abortion were good - really, he didn't totally suck ;)

Things I wish were different?

Catherine Hardwicke had it right when she incorporated Bella's narrative voice into Twilight. Stephenie Meyer wrote everything in first person and most of us Twihards still think of the series in that way. There were definitely scenes where it would have been more complete to have Bella's thoughts accompanying the scene.

For example, don't you all remember that the transformation was supposed to be awful? There was all of 2 seconds of that in the transformation sequence when her heart restarts. Major pitfall not having that included.

Another part of the transformation that I wish was different? For some reason I always thought that Edward would be holding her hand or by her side that whole time rather than standing by the window waiting. I suppose it made it easier to do all the CG work without Rob's hair in the way but it doesn't seem very Edward like to leave her alone to suffer (even if they did think the morphine was sedating her).

Well, I've only seen it twice in the theatres so far. I'm sure I'll watch it a couple more times still since it was just that good. Another year seems too long to wait for Part 2!!

Well I'm off to work on the Fandom Gives Back compilation. I think FGB was close to reaching the $250,000 goal to help fight childhood cancer but every $5 donation counts so please go donate :) There are also auctions for autographed books - like my favourite Master of the Universe which has now been published by E.L. James as Fifty Shades of Grey.

This was my second TwiTour or as I like to call it TwiCon. My first was in Vancouver last year where I had brunch with Peter Facinelli (see post here).

My favourite Breaking Dawn photos from the convention. I'm finding a way to make these my iPad wallpapers :)




1. You don't have to sleep in the street for days to see Robert or Kristen up close.

They announced a few weeks before the convention that Robert and Kristen (oh and Taylor too) were going to be in Los Angeles. HonoluluGirl and I had said if there was any way we could pay to have good seats to see the Twi-fecta rather than sleeping on the street for 3 days (like our dedicated friends do for Comic-Con) that we would totally do it. Suzie - I missed you! You must come out next time :)

2. I need a better zoom lens for next year (yes I'm going next year!)

Instead of shelling out 300 bucks for seats in the back for the whole weekend I banked on buying the Saturday reserved seats for 60 bucks. Managed to catch it pretty early after it was released. For reference I got seat D28.

My view from seat D28

As zoomed as I could get without worsening the blur.

I didn't get great photos though. Why? I love my Canon S90 and decided to take it and gave Mr. TC the SLR for his photo tour. It still wasn't good enough. However, I did sneak some video footage for myself - teehee! I know you can see the whole panel online right now but it's much better when you took it yourself!

Twired Jen has MUCH nicer photos and was sitting just a few feet behind me.

Check her blog and others who had nicer seats (and nicer cameras) for all the great pictures.

3. Hyatt Regency, although pretty, was lacking some amenities for a picky girl.


The Hyatt Regency Century City where the convention was held was nice. Great convention rate of $189 down from $299 rack rate. Easy check-in and even better with a Hyatt Gold Passport that Mr. TC has from years of business travel. Nice good Beverly Hills feel. Downsides if you're a picky princess like myself? Missing bathrobes, slippers, hairdryer in room, and a showercap.

4. There are crazy fans out there willing to pay $2000 for an autographed 8X10 of Rob and Kristen.

The auction started after noon. Most notable was a bedroom BD photo autographed by Rob and Kristen went for $2000! And I thought I was crazy.

4. I could have flown in and out of LA on the same day and still seen the Cullens and Twi-fecta.

The schedule packed most of the good stuff into a few hours. After the auction at noon there was some secret footage and behind the scenes interviews. Not great but a nice taster.
The Cullens and Twi-fecta with Director were on after them and everything was finished by 5:30pm.

5. I am now a real fan of Jackson Rathbone. Oh, and I don't hate Melissa Rosenberg.


Now while I'm watching the Twilight movies I often bitch about some of the poor writing, etc. But to be frank I still think she has done a good job and the feminist in me is just happy to see more women in important positions. It was actually good to hear her perspective and also a bit more about her writing process.

About Jackson, that man is such a character. It's such a 180 to see him as Jasper now because he's quirky, funny, sweet, and humble.


6. All Edward merchandise is sold out on the Friday already.

I was on a mission to come home with a Breaking Dawn fleece blanket. Imagine my dismay when I showed up Saturday am and all the Edward merchandise was gone. Apparently the diehard Cullen Crest gold passport people are mostly Edward fans (of course I wasn't surprised, just disappointed).

Next best thing?

Head over to the nearest Hot Topic store. We don't have these in Canada so I was ecstatic there was one 5 minutes from the hotel. And of course they had a ton of Edward merchandise with no lines.

Yes I picked up one of these too.

My hubby was trying to convince me this pillowcase is too precious to use. I'm not falling for it.

7. The vendor room was worth it for the movie props.

I'm not sure how many of these are real. Frankly I don't care but happy to just delude myself.

Note the wedding invite is there too.

The only interesting display for the vendors was the Barbie Collectors. They had the whole display on sale. I wanted to buy the Jane doll but alas it wasn't for sale. They were just there to announce that in Feb 2012 there will be Bella & Edward Wedding Barbie dolls.

They gave out Wisteria seeds as well - same as the Breaking Dawn wedding arch flowers. But alas no seeds can cross through customs so I had to leave them behind :(

By the way I am oddly a huge fan of projected light displays. The convention entrance area was pretty to say the least. I wanted to take one of these things home.




9. You can tell a lot about someone by their shoes.

Of course this is an old adage but I definitely think it holds true in this case.

Rob - with his short socks, totally beaten up shoes. Awkward, would have been the shy kid at school. Adorkable.

Kristen - stylish yet comfortable. Cares but doesn't care about what you think, know what I mean?

Ashley - trendy, daring to the point of perilous. Appearance is important.

Elizabeth - stylish, sexy with confidence.

Didn't realize how deep my shoe obsession runs until just now...

10. For some reason watching Kristen Stewart put her hair in a ponytail in mesmerizing.

I have no idea why I was so intrigued by this mundane action. Maybe it's because I've been waiting for years to see her in person. Or just that I've always liked her high ponytail looks. Regardless I was captivated. So weird!

You can see the entire Rob/Kristen/Taylor panel (including the ponytailing) in its entirety here.

It was nice to hug some of my Twihard friends from out of town. I'm glad we had a chance to see each other even though it was brief.

Well, I survived my first Rob and Kristen live viewing. I've realized that unless I get a new lens for next year I'll be spending lots of time taking pictures of the screen again :)


Next I'll do a small LA Shopping and Food Bites post...