Genie Eve at the Arc Hotel

                 

MY GENIE EVE ADVENTURE

It was a snowy night in Ottawa but the Stars started appearing one by one and sometimes 3 or 4 at a time. The Genie Awards were being held in Ottawa and were being planned and promoted better than ever  thanks to CBC the NAC and many more businesses in the downtown area. I had made my way downtown to view the film Barney's Version which was up for 11 awards including Best Picture. When I arrived at the theatre I was told that there was only a 9:30 pm showing. So I headed over to the Arc Hotel where I had heard through my Twitter connections that the celebs were going to pick up their swag bags. It was quiet for a while and then they started to arrive.

The first celeb to arrive was one that I had been tweeting with in the days leading up to the Genies. It was Jian Ghomeshi of CBC's radio show Q. I introduced myself and shook his hand. Since I was going to be in the fan zone the following day I did not ask for an autograph.

A few people started to come out of the Hotel and move toward the SUV parked alongside the hotel. I noticed someone getting a photo with one of them so I hurried over to see that it was the very friendly Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent. I asked for his autograph and before he did he removed his glove and shook my hand. He is such a warm and gentle human being and it was an amazing experience to meet him. The person who had his photo taken with Mr. Pinsent was a young man I will call J. He was well informed in the field of movies and very interested in the arts and especially in film making.

Mr Pinsent was heading over to the NAC for rehearsals with Allan Hawco from "The Republic of Doyle" as well as Zaib Shaikh from "Little Mosque on the Prairie". When Mr Pinsent arrived back at the hotel he asked us if we carved these Genie Ice Sculptures when he was gone.

A short while later William Shatner showed up and quickly whisked by us into the Arc.It turns out Mr. Shatner is a going to be one celeb that might be difficult to land an autograph and photograph.

Next to arrive was the lovely Shannon Tweed. J said Hi and she pleasantly said hello back. She was not with Gene and as you will read in my next blog, she had Brett W Wilson from CBC's Dragons Den as her date for the Genies.

A few other autograph seekers had arrived by now and we all stood politely and quietly by the Taxi stand outside the Arc Hotel. It was really snowing heavy now and we were all getting soaked and our toes were freezing but we did not care.

George Stroumboulopoulos arrived and stopped to talk with us a bit. I asked for his autograph and I was treated to one of the coolest works of art in my autograph book.

The next person to arrive was a bit of a surprise because I did not see him on any of the Genie lists. It was also cool that I was the only one that recognized him which gave me a bit of an advantage to talk with him.  It was one of my favorite Canadian actors Don McKellar. As soon as he came out of the car I think I said "Don McKellar, Holy S#*t, it's Don McKellar". He came over and we chatted for a bit and I asked him for his autograph. I like it when people who sign my book add extra messages to their autographs. Don McKellars had such a message included. I met him 3 or 4 more times over the next 30 hours at the different locations that the Genies and the after parties were held.

The DJ for the Genie Awards was Kardinal Offishal. He was in and out a few times during the night and when he came back the final time at around 11 pm I asked him for his autograph and he signed this pretty cool autograph.

A car pulled up and stopped at an angle in the middle of the street and out jumped Jay Baruchel wearing his dark grey embroidered Montreal Canadians cap. He quickly went into the hotel.


One of the final groups to arrive was Kirsten Kreuk from Vancouver who portrays Lana Lang on Smallville as well as 4 episodes as Hannah on one of my favorite shows Chuck. She was accompanied by Tyler Labine who stars in Mad Love with Jason Biggs. He was also in Anti-Trust and Zac and Mira make a porno. Below is Kirstens autograph.

Tyler Labine is a really cool guy. He came out a bit later for a smoke and talked with us for about 15-20 minutes.

A few other stars that arrived were Sook-Yin Lee and Jodele Ferland.

A little after midnight I headed to the bus stop, soaked to the bone. I now had to regroup for the next day as I was trying to be first in line at the Fan Zone and then hopefully get into the Genies. I made it home at about 1 am and had a long hot shower to warm my body back up ready for more adventures on Genie day. BTW I never did make it to see Barney's Version but it is on my to-do list.