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I posted this in the comment room, but Todd suggested I repost it here...
RADIO PLAYS...
Sometimes I just don't have anything Gargoyles for us to do. And I'm not sure if just doing old episodes is all that interesting. And the other things have been fun... at least it seemed that way to me.
Here's a history of the works of the GATHERING PLAYERS...
1998 - RAIN OF THE GHOSTS (an unproduced pilot I wrote)
1999 - THE ROSWELL CONSPIRACIES (a rejected pilot I wrote)
2000 - ROUGHNECKS: THE STARSHIP TROOPERS CHRONICLES (the last arc of the series, which I story edited, half of which was unproduced. Written by me, Jon Weisman Lydia Marano, Cary Bates and Michael Reaves.)
2001 - GARGOYLES: "Hunter's Moon, Part Three" (Note: this was the first time that we actually did something gargoyles related for the radio play. This included scenes that were cut for time from the original. Written by Michael Reaves.)
2002 - TEAM ATLANTIS: "The Last" (Unproduced episode featuring Demona and Fiona Canmore, written by me)
2003 - GARGOYLES: "The Reckoning" (Performed in honor of Gary Sperling, who co-wrote the script with Lydia.)
2004 - GARGOYLES: "The Journey" (my uncut version of the script)
2005 - DOC SHAKESPEARE (An unproduced pilot written by myself and Sam Bernstein)
2006 - GARGOYLES: "The Mirror" (written by Lydia Marano and Brynne Chandler Reaves)
2007 - GARGOYLES: "Clan Building, Chapters III, IV & V: Invitation Only, Masque & Bash" - (from the comic, premeiring chapter V before it was published. Written by me...)
2008 - Geez, I should probably figure this out soon...
Anyway, you can see that traditionally, we've only done something gargish about half the time. For me it's fun to get to see my unproduced work performed, and it does give the fans a little insight into the biz. In any case, I've never heard any complaints from the folks who attended.
Greg Weisman
OFF TO CHICAGO... ON A WING AND A PRAYER...
Well, I didn't make to the LA Gathering :(
I got home from G'05 to find that management had cut my hours at work, and by October I was unemployed.
So yeah, I had just enough money to keep alive and there was no chance of getting to LA this year. I did pre-register though, so at least I made my contribution.
To make things even better, I got a bad cold that lasted the four days of the Con, then suddenly got better. The Universe conspires against me! :D
Everyone who went this year seems to have had a great time, so congrats to Jen & Co for pulling off yet another wonderful Gathering.
Kyt informs me that I have been registered for next year at Pigeon Forge, so now I *have* to come. Time to go mug old ladies for spare change I think ;D
I'm going to leave you with something I left out of my Montreal Gathering journal (my first Gathering):
Thurday night, when everyone was arriving at the hotel, Kelly and I were waiting for an elevator to go up to our room.
A bunch of people got off and Kelly introduced me to one in particular. You.
I said Hi and I think I shook your hand. We got in the elvator and headed up.
It took me two stories to realise what had just happend, I turned to Kelly and went "That was *THE* Greg!"
I felt like and idiot :D
Here's hoping I'm less of a fool next year :)
By now, we're old friends though, right?
Sunday, June 25, 2006: 3RD DAY OF THE GATHERING OF THE GARGOYLES
So how is everything going? Good I hope. Only one more day of Gathering of the Gargoyles. I'm sure everyone is having a great time out there at the gathering. Everyone must be really busy trying to get to everything there. Just curious, but how many sessions are going on out there? Do people have time inbetween sessions to do anything else? Did you do any sight seeing in L.A.? I hear that next year the gathering will be in Tenessee near the Smokey Mountains. That would be so cool to go to. There must be a lot of sight seeing to do for the next gathering, that is if you have time to get away from the convention. I've been to Tennessee once up in the Smokey Mountians. I barely remember it, but the few pictures I have in my mind are of very beautiful scenery. I can picture the mountains with dark clouds around the top of them. Maybe I can get a plane ticket and head out there next year not only for the gathering, but to recharge my memory of the scenery. I think that if there was another gargoyle clan out there in the U.S. (besides the Manhattan clan), they should be located in a place like that. The mountains would be great cover, and there are little towns all around in there that they could protect if they felt the need to. I'm really hoping that I can convince someone to go with me now that I'm getting myself psyched for the Smokey Mountains.
Since the gathering is almost over for 2006, I might as well get your opinion on it. Did you think that the turn out was better or worse this year than other gatherings? Did a lot of voice talents from the Gargoyles show come to the convention? By the way, how many of these gatherings have you attended? I know that this one in 2006 is the 10th annual one, but did you go to the first few, like the 1st or 2nd gathering? Who exactly started these gatherings (don't just say fans, please)? Do you think that more talents from the show will come to next years (2007) gathering?
Well, now that I've questioned you out, I might as well mention a few things that happened today since this is sort of a journal of what's going on during the gathering. Today is Sunday, so of course church. After that, we (my family) had tacos and I slept for a couple of hours. I woke up to find nothing great on TV or on TIVO. Later, my parents and I watched some murder mystery movie where some woman was being tricked into thinking she was crazy by her husband and best friend so they could get rid of her and get all her money that she'd made. It was interesting. Not as good as it would have been to be at the gathering (I had to throw that in there).
When I mentioned church, it got me thinking. I know religion is a touchy subject for a lot of people, but I was wondering if any gargoyles were religious in some way. If they are, do they practice human religions or do they have one of their own? I could see a clan living in a big church building with the stain glass windows and such, with them posing on top on the steeple or roof during the day and then protecting the town at night. I can just imagine the picture in my head. It would look rather gothiky though.
Now that's my ramble/journal for today. Just one more for tomorrow. I'm sure you'll miss my long talks about nothing (probably not). I hope all is well, and thank you for your time.
Charisma82
Turn out for 2006 was high for a Gathering. Having the con in L.A. always helps, because we can get a TON of special guests (because they're all local) that we couldn't afford to bring to a more distant location. Someone from the Gathering would have to give you exact figures, but I believe the attendance was probably our second highest ever - second only to G2001, which was also in L.A.
We did have quite a few voice actors, including Keith "Goliath" David, Thom "Lexington" Adcox, Brigitte "Angela" Bako, Elisa "Obisiana" Gabriellie, Morgan "Petros" Sheppard, Jim "Dingo" Cummings and others. Plus quite a few voice actors from WITCH and other shows as well.
I've attended all TEN Gatherings. It might seem like quite an achievement, but really it's all thanks to the fans, who pay my way for every non-L.A. convention and put me up (and put up with me) at the L.A. cons. There are a handful of fans whom have also been to all ten conventions. They are my heroes.
"Who exactly started these gatherings (don't just say fans, please)?" - Okay, I won't say fans. I'll say FAN. May "Elisa Maza" Li (I hope I'm spelling that correctly) was THE fan that got the ball rolling by almost single-handedly organizing the first Gathering in NYC. Burned her out so much that she didn't attend again until this past year, when she was given the Fan Guest of Honor award. Of course since then there's been a long list of people who have contributed. I'd list 'em, but I'm sure I'd forget some people, and I don't want to offend.
For info on Gargoyles religion -- which is both Animistic and Monotheistic -- check the archives under GARGOYLE CUSTOMS.
Adding to all the con journals before Gore closes the door... Here are a couple thanks from G2005 guests:
...please post a note to all the fans expressing my heart felt thanks for their well wishes and especially for the Get Well Card. I look forward to seeing them all next year. In the meantime I plan to work on some Gargoyle Flipz books.
Dennis Woodyard
I had a nice time at the Gathering and I am looking forward to bringing in the best book we can possibly do for those fans.
Dan Vado
And just another thanks to all our great guests at G2005. Greg, and The Weisman Family, Thom Adcox, Dave Schwartz, Dan Vado, and though he could not make it in person Dennis Woodyard, who joined us in spirit.
Carol
G2005 Guest Coordinator
Thanks, Carol!!
As requested, here is most of my Gathering report.
Thursday, July 29th:
Despite trying to sleep in, all three of us got up early. After eating, we packed up our small bags that we were taking up before folding the CD covers. Once we had everything ready, we packed up the cars. I was taking mine, while Arno rode in Beedoo's (since six of us were coming back from Las Vegas).
After filling up my gas tank and getting some ice, there was a mix up and I ended up hitting the road before they did. We met up at a rest area and then got moving again. About ten miles out from Kingman, we ran into a lovely thunderstorm that was pretty decent in size.
About an hour later, we stopped at the Hoover Dam. After taking a few pictures, we hit the road again for the last bit of the drive into Las Vegas. One thing I did notice on the drive was despite being close to the exit for the hotel, it sure seemed to take forever. Finding our exit, we discovered that we had to get over four lanes to make the turn into the parking lot.
We got over two, but missed the turn. I think we went another three or four blocks before turning around and pulling in. We checked in, found the room and a few minutes later, was greeting by another thunderstorm that included hail. It must have followed us up.
At some point, we brought all of our stuff in and discovered Dubble, Jade Griffin and somebody else's name that escapes me.
After storing stuff in the room, we hit the buffet for dinner. After getting back, we noticed my room key didn't work. Ooops. I think around midnight or a little after, we called it a night.
Friday, July 30th:
The lot of us in Beedoo's room started waking up around 8 am or so and started taking our showers. By 10:45, we wandered downstairs to get breakfast. Of course, we got there at the tail end, so we got charged for breakfast, but got to sit down for lunch. Ooops.
After our food, we started to pick up our packets and then Beedoo and I went to get the keys fixed since two worked and the other two didn't. After that, I think we found Rob and put his stuff in our room. Once that was solved, I think we wandered for a bit before I ended up tagging along and watching the first Clan Olympics event. They tried to draft me, but I was just going to watch.
It was pretty funny and after that, I believe I ran into Mandolin and we went to a writing panel for a little while. Later on, I ran into Countess downstairs just after she ran her toe over with her luggage. Took her up to the room so she could deposit her stuff.
More wondering around and then we had dinner at Subway or the buffet. I can't remember which. Attended opening ceremonies, where I never get tired of everything Greg presents, even if it is the same year after year. After it was over, I did my pre-registration for next year.
The rest of the night is a blur, though at we saw Abram Wintersmith and later on, Maui showed up. I conked out early and woke up at some point to say hi for a few minutes before passing back out.
Saturday, July 31st:
Once again, getting up took the lot of us quiet a while, even though we tried to all meet at 9 for breakfast. We got downstairs around 10 to discover that it was brunch and rather pricey. We then went to the café and had breakfast there.
From there, I tagged along and watched another part of Clan Olympics, the Trivia Torture. I then hit the art show for a little while, though I didn't view all of it. After talking with Siryn and a couple others for a little while, I tried to find out if there was a nearby art store so I could pick up a sketchbook. Digging out the yellow pages, I found out there was one about a mile up the road.
Finding the place was no small task since it was buried in the back of this fairly decent sized plaza. After picking a couple up, I stopped at the Vons that was in the same center for some more bottled water since running out earlier in the day.
After dropping things off, I met up with Norcumi and Quindar so we could make a dinner run. I think it might become a tradition for the three of us. I drove us to the TGI Friday's where we talked about the insane construction projects going on at our college campuses among other things. Once we got back, we ended up watching the poker tournament.
That was a fun game to watch. I ended up chatting with Silver for a while as she drew and inked one of my gargoyle characters, Eagle. I think we called it a night just after midnight.
Sunday, August 1st:
Unlike everybody else in the room, I woke up around 11am. I guess I really needed the sleep. I ended up getting Subway for breakfast/ lunch. I ended up talking to Tigrse for a little while. From there, I went up to the dealers' room where I found Silver and she finished color the Eagle picture.
Jade Griffin drew it next, followed by Liz while I voted in the art show. I also got dragged into helping meet part of the scavenger hunt by saying something along with a few others and then running down to my car with Rob so they could use my ice scrapper.
Moved my car a little closer since I had to park farther out after the dinner run the night before heading back inside to then pass the book over to the Kythera. She drew and colored a naked version of Gadget who looked like she was stalking Chaos off screen for some, uh, adult fun.
And the last person to draw in there was Dreamie, who did another sketch of Chaos. Then the art show started closed up, so I tried to hunt down the rest of the Arcadia clan that wanted to hit the Rainforest Café. Sadly, I didn't find them, so I watched Law and Order in the room while relaxing. I fetched subway for dinner, since I didn't have the money for the banquet until a few days before the Gathering started.
Countess swung by the room and I chocked on my food that I tried to scarf down so I could see the masquerade. After getting there, I tried to get a picture of Flanker, only to find out my batteries were dead (and they were supposed to be new). Ran back up, got some new ones that worked and make it back down with a couple minutes to spare.
Once that was over, I pretty much hung out and talked with Thom and Flanker for a while before watching a few others throwing balls at various circles with points on them in another room. After watching for a little while, I called it a night.
Monday, August 2nd:
Got up early and started packing all of my things around 8 am. Around 9:30, we got breakfast. While a few went back to finish packing, I ran into the art room to pick up the art I had bid on. From there, we loaded up both of the cars and finishing, realized me missed the shuttle out to the strip.
A trip on the shuttle, followed by one on the monorail, we hit the Star Trek Experience. The first ride some of us went on was the Klingon one. It was quite cheesy, but we had fun and laughed how part of Las Vegas surely got wrecked. Near the end, I yelled out "Vegas will never be the same again!" which got a few laughs.
Realizing we lost part of the group, we waited around for a bit before doing the Borg 4D. I would have to say that was cheesier than the other one. Of course, one of the probes nailed me right in the spine and the 3D glasses didn't fit very well over my regular glasses.
After that, it was dinner at Quark's Bar. The Klingon guy ruled. At one point, he came by and said, "Six girls for two guys. You are true warriors." Later on, he asked which one of us was the leader. Sadly, all good things come to an end. Rob, Beedoo, Arno, Countess, Delfine and myself said goodbye to Dubble and somebody else (who were staying the night) before we headed back to start the drive home.
The drive was pretty decent and we were treated to a nice light show from a thunderstorm. About 20 miles out from Kingman, I had to pullover and stop for a couple minutes because the rain had gotten so bad, I couldn't see more than 3 feet in front of me. And I think Rob chewed up about half of his battery power trying to take pictures of the lightning. I don't remember what time we got in, but about ten to fifteen minutes, we were all asleep.
All in all, I had fun at the Gathering and look forward to next year.
"Farewell, my enemies!"
July 30, 2005
Day Four
It appears that Summer, like Mooncat, is an early riser, which means more trouble for Alexandria and I.
We didn't have any plans until noon, when MC and Alexandria hosted their Othercon Adult Round Robin. Naturally Summer and I came along. It was held in one of the hotel suites, so there was one of those beds that lowers out of the wall. I was still tired, so I probably spent half the panel lying in the bed (and much of the rest of the time pacing around the room). The panel attendee list was a lot like last year - Spacebabie and Malkavien were there for the second time, along with Alexandria and I (who hosted it last time). There was also Mooncat, Summer, and Efrainman.
Imagine this - seven writers in the room, and a majority of four was best known for writing femslash. Everyone writes the names of two characters from the show, puts the slips of paper in a pile, and then the characters are randomly selected.
The first name chosen was Demona. Later I discovered three different people used her as one of their choices.
The second name chosen was Fox . . . in her were-Fox form from Eye of the Beholder.
I looked directly at Summer. No words were necessary. Who else could it have been?
When I looked at all the slips of paper afterwards, I discovered only two male characters had been written down - Matt Bluestone and Jon Canmore. Spacebabie was the obvious culprit. Still, she was vastly outnumbered by we slashers, and a second straight year with a f/f pairing at the Adult RR was inevitable. Note that last year, we got Fox and gargoyle-Elisa. What is it with the Adult RR and characters in their altered states?
Anyway, we had a real blast doing this RR. We went around three times, coming up with an interesting little story where Fox changed INTO a were, BACK into a human, and then two more times again! Always, conveniently, Fox was a human when it was Summer's turn. Just reward for her. She was okay. While others spoke, she and MC drew naughty sketches.
Afterwards, we didn't really have any other panels that we were excited about, so we spent the entire day at the Strip. Part of the day we took Summer to the casinos she missed the first time, especially the Luxor. Summer likes jackals, obviously, and there was a nice store inside that sold Anubis-jackal figurines which we knew she would like. We also returned to the Excalibur, the MGM, etc. While we were at the Luxor we also rode one of those motion rides that makes you feel like you're on a roller-coaster when you're not (like the Back to the Future ride at Universal Studios). The ride was fun, although the movie that came with it was laughably bad.
Then we went back to the Tropicana and took the hotel shuttle to the Fashion Square Mall. We walked around there for a while, then checked out the Treasure Island before heading to the Mirage with its "secret gardens".
For just $15 you could enter a very nice animal habitat with a few specific kinds of animals. They had several dolphins in one part, and in the other part there were white lions, white tigers, white striped tigers, orange striped tigers, regular lions, an elephant, jaguars, and a very odd-looking turkey. I was able to get some really nice pictures, but really this was a special moment for Summer and Mooncat. Suckers for big cats, they are. I think they left only because it was closing time.
We also took in the outdoor Sirens show in front of the Treasure Island that night, which I thought was pretty lame. It was very hot, incredibly crowded, and there was a short show with some pyrotechnics as a gang of pirates fought against a gang of strippers. Well, sirens, but they were strippers of course. Before it started, I took a few minutes to check out the new Wynn, which is a very high-class hotel. I also got a couple pictures of the Manolo Blahnik store, just because someone asked me to. (Not the last time I'd take pictures of a shoe store that weekend!)
By then it was already 9 PM, and we'd been on the Strip for seven hours. We took the Shuttle back to the hotel because I had to meet with Lynati and Aaron again to plan for the game show. This time there were a lot fewer disruptions, and we edited and suggested questions until about three in the morning. And we still weren't done! We agreed to come back the next night after the Masquerade for the last push.
And then - well, it was 3 AM. I was exhausted. I went to bed.
July 31, 2005
Day Five
I think by now I was trying to forget that my vacation was over halfway done. I'd been waiting a year for this trip, you see.
I crawled out to breakfast because I had to be at the Anthology Signing at 10:30 AM. Glad I went. I don't remember how many books I signed for, but Ellen was there, and Greg Bishansky and Mandolin and Summer and Lynati and Aaron and Lauren Balestrino . . . a lot of talented writers and artists, let's say. It was a lot of fun :)
I don't remember what I did for the next hour. Walked around, talked to people, I imagine. Eventually I went to the W.I.T.C.H. panel in the Con Suite, which was (no offense, Greg) more interesting than I thought it would be. Plus by now everyone had heard about the infamous "Is Irma a lesbian?" discussion at the Blue Mug-a-Guest the other night.
My day got a lot busier after that. I hosted my first of two panels that afternoon, the "Reading Aloud" panel. Everyone got to read from their own stories aloud. I read the first chapter of "The Forty-Seven" with help from my roomies and Ellen. Alexandria, Tigris, Lynati, and Summer all read. I forget who else read aloud, but I have it all on tape, so they've been recorded for eternity. It went very well, I thought.
From here we went right to the Radio Play. This time around Greg unveiled a non-Gargoyles script he'd written as a TV pilot. There was a definite fantasy element to it, and despite it being something wholly original and not in the least fandom-based, it was quite entertaining. After that was the Banquet. By now Alexandria and I basically have a tradition of not attending, so we had dinner with Mooncat and Summer instead, which was just fine by me. We came back for the Masquerade, though. The costumes were very good. My favorite was Cindy as the Banshee. At one point I was mugged by "A Fan", who was dressed as Mace Malone - I think. He was a gangster, I know. No, really, I was mugged. He shoved me into a corner and ordered me to stop taking pictures. True story.
Anyway, after that they had the art awards to hand out. Much to my shame, I never really got around to voting, but there was some really great art this year, and even _I_ could tell that the Zodiac pieces were the best of them all.
By this time my roomies had gone out to the Jacuzzi with Alex Garg, while I waited at the awards with Ellen Stolfa and my camera. I think the very last award they gave out was the "Editor's Choice Award for the Gathering Anthology", which surprised me because I wasn't aware such an award existed. It didn't last year.
While I was still digesting this, they announced I was the winner. I was pretty much floored. Ellen got up and hugged me, which was nice, and everyone applauded, and I'm sure I didn't express just how grateful I was for the applause, just as much as I was for the award. I kinda hugged Lynati too. I received a large stone gargoyle statue, which is looking down at me right now.
There wasn't much else to do after that except track down my roommates and heap scorn on their heads for relaxing in a spa and missing my big award. Then I went back to the Con Suite once Lynati and Aaron were ready, and we worked on the Game Show. Emambu was there for a while too, and we talked for the second time of the Convention (the first was when he and Ellen were in the lobby the other day). Us Philly guys have gotta stick together.
We finally finished the questions, if not the printing, at 3:30 AM. I schlepped back to my room and passed out.
"Trophies!"
2005 Gathering Convention Report
So this year for 2005 I was on staff as the Dealer Coordinator. In the end I think that went well but I feel like I should have had twice the dealers we did have. Go me for volunteering myself last fall. lol I should have gotten dealers starting with the end of the 2004 con. You live and you learn.
With the past two conventions of me on staff and for the most part feeling responsible to work the Art/Dealer room I don't really have much to talk about. Did I have a good time? Yes I did. Let me elaborate. For the most part I'm skipping over people's names because this thing would be way longer and I'd feel bad as I'm likely to miss someone.
Friday, July 22, 2005
The Gathering for us starts a full week before the official start. After a full day of work we go pack up our car late Friday night. Why were we leaving then? Because of our plan to attend Sea Dog Nights! For those not in the know, Sarah and I belong to a pirate entertainment/reenactment group called BOOM which is short for Brotherhood of Oceanic Mercenaries. The website, which Sarah and I did much of the work on, is http://www.BOOMPirates.com
So we packed up our pirate stuff and our Gathering stuff which included my laptop, my printer and my sword. I left my pistol behind to be on the safe side. ;)
We left home at around midnight and drove from just south of Seattle to just south of Portland until I felt I needed a nap.
Saturday through Monday
We got in the last of some great piratical fun. There was Sea Dog Nights which was interesting as it was filled with SCA and other performer types. That was down near Eugene, OR. We also had a extra good time entertaining at a private party Sunday in Vancouver, WA and spent Saturday and Sunday night with friends in Portland.
Monday morning we said our good byes and made the trek to Las Vegas. We had planned to go through Ashland, OR which is just at the southern end of Oregon. Since we slept in it was about 6PM when we got to Ashland. Since it felt like we missed a lot by getting in to Ashland so late we figured we'd stop back this way again.
The car didn't like Mt. Ashland which put a bit of strain on the breaks with several miles of 6% down slope. The car just kept speeding up so I had to break every so often so we didn't speed down to the top speed of 110 which is on my speedometer. I've only gone up to 80 in it before. We continued south on I5 until we passed Sacramento then found a place to sleep for the night.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
We continue on and on through California down to Bakersfield then go roughly east from there to Las Vegas. We probably should have found someplace to stay along the way but we both were looking forward to getting into Las Vegas so we went all the way to the Palace Station. Our reservation was for Wednesday with check out on Monday. Well it turns out there was a huge furniture convention in town so all the rooms were booked. What?!?! Oh yeah and this furniture convention is not open to the public. It's dealers only and wow they've filled up all the remaining spaces we have. So 6 hotels later we find a motel 8 that has rooms available in nearby Boulder City. I should have just called my aunt and uncle and said we had no place to stay. Oh well. Maybe we will next time. :)
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Checked into the Palace Station and got all our stuff in the room. Then I dropped my car off to get the AC fixed and the front brake pads replaced as I wasn't going to have the time myself. I spent time fixing up the database and getting everything ready for the Art Show this would be a recurring theme tweaking, updating or enhancing to get the most out of the Access database with all the art show information. For dinner we met with my aunt and uncle and had a very rich and tasty French meal. That was quite enjoyable.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
The big activity Thursday other than working on getting everything ready for everyone that registered for the convention was the Tournament of Kings. It was a good show. Unfortunately Greg and Thom were stuck in a snafu of airline issues so they were unable to attend. We were in the Dragon section so it was amusing when the evil dragon knights would come out and kick ass. It happened far too infrequently if you asked me.
Friday, July 29, 2005
Frantic day with much setup. Fortunately we had set the room up last night so it was manageable. The dealers were ready to go quickly. I had to really scramble to find an electric screwdriver. We had peg board, 2x2s, screws and an electric screwdriver with no screw bits! Noooooo! Do not want!!
Aaron saved the day finding and asking a maintenance worker to borrow his electric screwdriver. We were behind schedule an hour but we worked hard and got all the art up quickly after assembling the art display boards.
I got a $3 cup of hot water and tea bag for Dreamie so she'd have her morning tea and not feel like total crap anymore. It was a necessity but I must say curse you Starbucks! I could get a 100 count box of tea bags for that price. ;p
Saturday, July 30, 2005
The celebrity poker tournament was entertaining. I stood behind Thom and watched in horror as he went all in when he didn't have the cards to back it up. It was entertaining to watch and in the end it came down to one hand between Chris Rogers, Greg Weisman and Gorebash. Chris won.
After that I wandered a while and then dropped in on Hudson's Rant. It was funny and I'll leave it at that.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
The two big things about the day I remember are the masquerade and the banquet. I enjoyed the food and ambiance much more than the hotel buffet. The food was far better and the atmosphere was comfortable and inviting. Mix in that every table had a few door prize winners on top of everyone getting a gargoyle candle holder and it just was perfect. I had mixed feelings about the dessert happening as the masqueraders were entering the room but that was probably due to the fact that I took pictures of all of them before getting into the room. So I didn't get to sample everything but I did get some good treats. I hear I missed the best chocolate stuff. D'oh!
There was a great Brooklyn this year that won best of show and it was well deserved. There were many great costumes this year of which I have pictures of them all. I was a pirate as had been the case for the past 3 years now. :)
Monday, August 1, 2005
Until we closed the Art and Dealer room it was all about selling anything that was left. Over time artist filled in and picked up their artwork that hadn't sold. For the most part it was a blur of me filling out receipts, taking payment and getting people out with there items.
It was a relief to get all the Disney art packed up and safely out of the Art Room. It was fantastic to have at the convention and a wonderful show of support by Disney. Still I felt the need to go and check that the priceless works were okay every so often.
I also managed to get a few minutes to extend my checkout time by an hour. And get all my stuff into the car as we planned on leaving later in the evening.
That night we decided to go with the rest of the staff and see Penn and Teller. It was a great show. Thanks Chris! We had a good time.
I could go on now about the trip back but I'll just say it was a non stop drive back to Seattle, WA that took 21 hours and left me wanting lots and lots of sleep.
I know this all doesn't sound like much but it was a great time and I'm glad I was on staff for the 2005 Gathering of the Gargoyles convention. :)
"Farewell, my enemies!"
Ok here is my Con journal it's a bit late.
Being a first time person to this convention I have to say I had more fun here then I did as say Comic con or anime expo or any of the big conventions. This con is like a big family and everyone is so nice. It's so fun that the cast of the show and greg all sit with you and talk to you. Not like big cons where the body gards are around a famous perosn.
I will be back next year. This is going on my list of conventions to attend every year. I've always wanted to attend but It was never close enough for me to get to.
Friday
I got up late. I planed to leave at 5am and left at 9.
I drove up from california. Got a rental car to make sure I was'nt broken down and lost in the evil desert. I have never been to vegas before let alone driven that far. I found it fun how you would be in the middle of no where and suddenly on the side of the freeway. You see Bestbuy. Then you drive many miles more and a mcdonalds apears. The thing that I kept wondering is ...."is that really a mcdonalds or a secret under cover goverment building" but anways I think I got excited when I saw a roller coaster going over the freeway. I thought is this vegas am I here? Can I stop driving now? Course it was only one building but I mean a roller coaster over the freeway. You can't go wrong there. I wanted to stop it looked so kewl.
Kept saying must get to gathering. Must get to gatherng. Finally saw lots of large buildings and knew I was there. Got into traffic jam. When you get in a traffic jam you know you are someplace important. I got off at the wrong exit and did'nt know you had to keep going down the freeway and there was a giant palace station hotel sign. Hehe me and my stupidness. Finally got there and saw Cins in the hotel lot with other people with gargoyle tshirts on. I knew I was in the right place. Everyone at the gatherng was so nice. The moment I got there they helped me carry my stuff up to the dealers room. I got there and met up with flanker and everyone else who was helping me with my booth. I got the booth set up and practiced the dice game with a few people before opening ceramonies. EVERYONE MUST PLAY THE DICE GAME!!! :wink:
Flanker was really good at getting people to play it. Everyone played because of the candy. CANDY IS GOOD!!!
Next year we hope to do another game like that with better prizes and a themed California theme. Dealers room was really fun too. Got to talk to all the neat artists in the fandom.
Opening ceramonies. Ive never been to a gathering before so This was really neat. Got to see all that neat stuff that greg brought along . I love keith david and his "ive been denyed everything even my convention" After opening ceramonies Checked into hotel and got large set of wings up to room. The people playing the slots are like " what the fuck " and then go back to playing their slots.
Then I met up with sarah the great. I found out they call her that cause she is great :wink: We got into our skanky, hoe, hootchi mamma outfits to go clubing. Then messed around on the strip for a bit. When we got back it was like 3am. I have never seen so many drunk people. I liked ceacers palace because of the arcade. Lexy played some sort of fishing game and won something wierd. Then we found some pimp hats in the gift shop. We found this little doll. I relaly don't know how to explain this. It was a doll that had hooker clothing on and little boobies cleavage showing. I just had to wonder what the hell. Finally after walking around on the strip we all piled back into the van and went back to the hotel. I was so tired I just went up to the hotel and blacked out. One thing about vegas. 2 dollers for breakfast. :lol:
Saturday
Woke up to the noise of someone having fun in the next room. Flankers responce as I wake up " hey shara do you hear that" " Hear what?" Squeek squeek squeek squeek. Bang bang bang bang agienst the wall. Must of been a stray vegas hooker.;-)
Anyways got up made it down to the dealers room to set up the booth. It was fun hanging out in there eating candy and getting people to roll dice for t-shirts and candy. We had about 3 entries in our art contest to win a season 1 dvd. Writting contest we got some really neat entrys. I have to post The drawings and writting on the publicity site and the comics site as soon as I get some time. http://www.ka-blamo.com/cons For anyone interested in that link. I have this really rich friend who is crazy. by crazy I mean about gargoyles. He has a giant life size goliath statue he had osmeone make to sit in his living room. Anyways the point. He pays for me to get booth space etc at conventions to promote gargoyles and we have contests like the one mentioned above. Our new project is located at that link.
Dealers room. Went and looked at the raffle and artwork. It figures the one peice of artwork i wanted to buy was bid on by a weisman kid. You can not outbid the kids of the person who created your fandom. Our booth had posters on it left over from comic con. The aeon flux and everquest ones went fast. its funny everyone hated the kanu reeves constintine movie *L* no one wanted thoughs really. Basicly the game went like this you get 3 rolls the first day. 2 rolls the second day. And 1 roll the last day. Depending on what the dice landed on you got to choose from 2 prizes. T-shirts where gone by the second day. Had so much fun. Flanker is great. he would yell out. "hey you!!! You want to roll some dice? Get free stuff" People love free stuff. Then came the quest for food. I found a subway in the hotel we where in and I am cheap so that was my first food quest. Lexy and my other peeps joined in on the free tshirt fun. Met a really neat writter named ellen. We talked a bit. I'd love to talk more to her. Found hudson and molested him day 1.
Hudson molestation day 1
Had to cuff him with fuzzy hand cuffs and give him spankings.
Back to saturday.
Went up to the hotel and changed into my taekwando outfit. I forgot my orange belt. *pouts* But anways walked through the casino feeling all tough. Had my chucks at my side. Helped flanker out with his martial arts pannel. Did my songum 2 form for everyone and talked about taekwando. Met a really neat girl who used to do takewando we talked for awhile about our schools. Flankers pannel was fun because we found this cop lady whoh was attending the gargoyle con. She talked all about her work and such. Learned about what to do if someones trying to rape you etc and all that.
After that went back to dealers room and found cin and her group and talked and bothered them for a bit. Got my stuff and closed up our table in the dealers hall. Went back to my room and took a nap. talked to tabs on the phone told her that next year she has to help me molest hudson. Then slept for an hour before flanker and sarah got me up to go walk around on the strip.
The vegas strip is amazing. Its like adult disneyland/disneyworld. So much to do and not enough time. We went walking around on the strip and saw all the neat hotels that we missed on friday. Then we saw charlie and the choclate factory. Interesting movie. I still like the old one for its cuteness but I like the new one for its creepyness. We where giggling at the guys handing out the asian school girls flyers. You buy her and if you dont like her will send you another. LOL Interesting. That and they had newspaper stands. Insted of newspapers they where full of girly dirty magazines. Sarah got her tiki mug. I wanted one but was careful not to spend. took some neat pictures and sarah and I became crazy tourists.
Got back agian everyone was going to the 2 doller all you can eat feast thing at 2am. I was so tired flanker and I went up to sleep. I had masqurade the next moring so I needed all my sleep so i could torchure myself with that costume of doom.
Sunday
I can't really remember what I did sunday. Oh wait I was working our both in the dealers room. Then I went to flankers martial arts pannel and helped him out. I brought my taekwando uniform and my training Nunchucks. That was fun. I am alwasy shy when I am in front of a big group of people. I talked a bit about why I got into taekwando and did a form.
Then I went to cins costume pannel that was very well informed. Being a cosplayer all her tips really helped me. Wig care is the hardest part. I went to look at her portfolio. That thing is amazing. I showed her my gargoyle mask I made.
Not sure what I did next. I think I was tired and went and took a nap. They Closed the dealers room down for the slave labor comic pannel.
The banquet was much fun. I was'nt going to go but I am glad I did. The food was Good. I'm not a picky eater. All you can eat is good with me :P Then I left to get ready for the masqurade. I was dressed as brooklyn from future tense. It took me awhile to get into that thing. The wings are hard to move around in. We had to move from the con suite down this back way of the hotel. They have this thing about masks and such. I ended up creating a new dance called the gargoyle shuffle because i had to side step down the hall. Cin helped be my gargoyle mother and direct me just like my friend tabs did at comic con. I won the goreelisa award and another award. Love my gargie statues. There where some really nice costumes and cute ones too.
After that I went up and got out of the torture costume:P the mask is hot and the wings are really heavy. Then I went to find abe and his shot in the dark game. That was alot of fun. hes another neat person I met this year. The game was where you threw squishy objects at point cards in the dark. I played that for a bit and then got draged into the next room where greg and Tom where sitting down talking with everyone. They where all just hanging out and being silly. This is where I really found out that this convention is so neat. Just how it's like family and everyone is talking.
Finally went to sleep woke up on monday and packed had to say goodbye to Sarah and flanker and maui and many others and get back home since I drove. Before we went out to eat agian at the 2 doller breakfust. Molested hudson one more time before leaving :P Hes so fun to talk to.
I cant wait till next year.
Gathering Pictures
More pictures from the Kewlest convention ever.
Hudson picture. Is this before or after the molestation.?
http://www.ka-blamo.com/journal/gathering/Hudson.jpg
Lexy,Flanker and the dice game.
http://www.ka-blamo.com/journal/gathering/dicegame.jpg
Sarah and our trip to the office depot. Strange things in there.
http://www.ka-blamo.com/journal/gathering/saraleia.jpg
Winter and his ren fair garb.
http://www.ka-blamo.com/journal/gathering/wolfie.jpg
Abe and the shot in the dark game. I think I was having to much fun with this game. Squishy balling things in the dark . *giggles*
http://www.ka-blamo.com/journal/gathering/shotdark.jpg
"Farewell, my enemies!"
July 29, 2005
Day Three
The Gathering officially began today. I was up relatively early, partly because Mooncat basically woke up early every day, and it wasn't easy to stay in bed with her up. The three of us went to breakfast at the Palace again. Since the entrance to the Palace buffet was right next to the convention registration table, there were a lot of people milling around, and I said hello to some people I hadn't seen in a year.
From there I sat in on the Con Virgin panel, even though this was my third Gathering, and I was surprised to see all the people who were there for the first time this year. Once it was over, I stole an opportunity to shamelessly promote my upcoming Win David Xanatos' Money game show panel, once again giving someone the opportunity to (loudly) discover that "Allaine" is not, in fact, a woman.
Then I went to Ellen Stolfa's panel on writing improvement with Emambu. I left halfway through because it was mainly a primer on grammatical mistakes, and I was already familiar with most of the information. I ended up in the Art Room for a while, where I finally spoke to Cindy/Eden. We'd actually seen each other the previous night in the hotel lobby, but she was talking to someone and I didn't want to interrupt (and she wasn't really sure who I was). Kathy was also there and I found out she'd be leaving early, unfortunately.
Next was the Demona debate, hosted by Spacebabie and Revel. This was a lot of fun, mainly centering on questions like "Which words best define Demona?" and "Was she that bad a planner, or did she just want to be stopped?" Nothing like making excuses for a genocidal madwoman, I say. Also had one of the best lines of the Gathering when we were discussing why Demona never had any children after Angela and someone observed "Why would anyone go near her anyway?" (I believe his point was that you wouldn't want to come within ten yards of someone so unpredictable and dangerous.) My response was something along the lines of, "I can't believe I actually HEARD those words."
By now our last roommate Summer Jackel had arrived. This was my first time meeting her, and she proved to be a really great companion for the next four days. I ran into Cindy again and she invited me to come with her to the Mirage and meet her sister. I went to find Summer to see if she was interested, because she's got a thing for big cats and they have plenty of THOSE at the Mirage, but she was jet lagged and passed out, so I eventually passed on Cindy's offer. I basically wandered about until the opening ceremonies. I think we maybe had a snack.
Then came opening ceremonies, which was the usual collection of special videotaped moments and messages from the cast and crew. Greg had a lot of news regarding the DVD release of Season Two, as well as a sneak preview of some of the extra material. Apparently a lot of the cast was in L.A. for the DVD bonus materials, and Greg took the opportunity to record their messages to the fans. Still, the best moment was Keith David, who said, "I've been deprived everything - even my convention!"
The crowd basically erupted.
My roommates and I left a little bit early so we could head to the New York, New York casino. We had tickets for a 10:30 show that night, and we met Ellen for dinner at a Chinese restaurant inside NY NY, which was all very nice. Then we went to the show, which was Cirque du Soleil's R-rated Zumanity show, and I won't go into a lot of detail, but it was really an incredible show. I would see it again in a second. I think it was that moment that I understood that Las Vegas isn't about gambling any more. I would like to return some day for a three-day visit, stay at a hotel, take in a couple shows (definitely another Cirque show), not do any gambling whatsoever, and consider that a great time :)
Speaking of gambling, earlier that day I went to get the gambling out of the way. I put $20 into a quarter-slot Wheel of Fortune machine in the Palace Casino, determined to play until it was all gone. As it happened, I got my total up to just under $125 before I played back down to $80. I cashed my sixty-dollar profit, and I ended up spending the rest of that sixty dollars in slot machines the rest of the vacation. So I broke even in Vegas, which was good enough for me.
Anyway, once the show was over, the four of us went back to our hotel rooms and crashed. The next day would be Summer's real introduction to the Strip, and a chance for the rest of us to see some things we'd missed.
"Trophies!"
I suppose I owe a con journal, don't I? Didn't take any notes, so I've forgotten most people's names.
Trip wasn't so interesting. Got into Vegas late Thursday. The plane was practially full. Why are there so many people flying from Jersey to Vegas on a red eye? But after that got a ride to the hotel and slept. Next day, I went for breakfast then waited around the main lobby for registration. Didn't know until I asked some passing congoers that there was a lobby to the con area. After getting my con packet, there wasn't much to do for a while but stand around and chat.
When panels actually started, I planned to peek in on the round robin, then steal some of the food from the con virgin panel. However, I got roped into the robin; we had some fun. The operative phrase of it being, "around in a circle, going, 'Wheeee'". I like to think I helped Wolfers get that spit take. After that stole some cake and melted ice cream from the remains of the con virgin panel before the grammar panel. Emambu offered a cookie to anyone who spotted two existing mistakes in his handout. I thought I saw two missing commas, but that was a no go.
I stopped off for a rest and to get rid of my package o'stuff before Opening Ceremonies. The greetings from the cast were fun, espcially Keith David's being denied everything... even his convention.
From there, it was dinner at the buffet with A Fan, then the Blue Mug. Greg wimped out of what color exactly females are on the excuse of being color blind; and I'd like to take partial credit for a resurgance near the end of the thing by asking which cast members have the best sex. I should have included a past and future rider there so the answer wouldn't be so obvious.
So, day two.
Wait, I believe I forgot something from Opening Ceremonies. A partially recreated lyca reel of The Lost (the Team Atlantis episode with Demona). Excellent work on the timing and additional art. And especially the bit of subtitling.
Right, day two.
Skipped out on the first set of panels for brunch, then off to Series Development. There we found out why Steven Speilberg is an evil, evil man (he ruined two pitches for Greg).
Voice Acting was interesting, and it was there that I heard Thom's approach to scripts: "My line, $@!#, !@#$, $!#@, my line, my line..."
I was hoping for more comparisons of style out of the Martial Arts and less of a saftey lecture, but it was still we got at least one good fight out of it.
The comic panel was a nice brief look into the industry and how last minute we were. Greg Guler's Goliath and Eliza that they had at Comicon is the only piece of artwork they have for it.
Then a quick dinner before the Poker Tourney. Kaioto went out early, Thom played mostly by committee, I forget who lost their last chip on a blind, Greg had some good plays, but Chris Rogers eventually pulled through. Fun, but I was hoping for more calling and less folding. And after that, ice cream right before the shop closed for the night. Then a brief trip to the arcade with Greg and Thom. Thom isn't that bad of a marksman. Not spectacular, but better than I with a lightgun.
And to round out the night, Hudson's rant. My British comedy got a brief but funny throwaway, but he elaborated more on my next. I got some love from Revel as he and Spacebabie left for the night, then I pulled out myself before act two.
To continue: Day three.
Got some food, went to hang around the art show for a bit. Then it was time for the storytelling panel; pretty straightforward, ended with a bit of film analysis (look at how these elements come between the characters; his neck between the ceiling beams makes you think of scissors; that lamp looks like a coffin).
There were some technical difficulties at the original W.I.T.C.H. room, so we went to the con suite. On booting up the DVD player there, we were treated to a nice adult content warning. Someone had forgotten to take out the "how to dominate your man" DVD.
After that, I took a break before the radio play, which was a nice story about the immortal daughters of Shakespeare. Though I did hear some of the gratuitous nudity was added just for us.
The banquet was nice, I sat at a pretty much all TGS table (Greg Bishansky, Revel, Spacebabie, Mandolin). In the dim light it was hard to tell the color of the stars under the candleholders for the door prizes, but that was all right. Then there was lots of Masquerade prep time; the cosplayers needed a security escort through the casino. Apparently they get paranoid about people in masks. Revel was quite slick as Jackal, but the giant heads were impressive.
And to finish up my con journal.
But first about the hotel. Boy, those were low shower heads. When will they discover that things built for the average man are too small for half the population?
So, sunday. After checkout and breakfast, I decided to see if I couldn't spectate Win Xanatos's Money, but Aaron convinced me to take the pretest. Should be a used car salesman, that man. Surprise of surprises, I was in, against two fic writers whose work was the subject of some of the questions (Ellen and Alexandria). My strategy was to see if I couldn't figure it out from, see if they others' lack of answer would give me a hint, then take a guess. Managed to kill the Mulder question on a guess, chose a British name for another because of a spanner in the question, and the only one I killed by memory was on Norcumi. Went into finals with a $100 lead, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't get it. It turned out that no one wagered anything, so I won it. I probably should have put down something to let the better woman win.
After that was Creating Original properties, where Greg showed off a couple promos (one a repeat under another name from '03). Then I hung out in the art room (with Revel, Spacebabie, Emambu, Winterwolf, Dreamie, and a few others), helping to take hooks out of pegboard, except to check out how the bidding went on Thom's pants.
I don't remember much about Closing Ceremonies, but afterward Revel and Spacebabie let me come with them back to the main hotel (having handed in my room key already), where they had a little discussion that I was a slight sounding board for. Then it was off to the con suite where they had a little mating ceremony.
Nothing left to do after that but waste time until my flight out at midnight, arrived in Newark at 8, then the monorail to the train and the train back to Redbank (and a ride back home).
Na zdorov'ya.
"Farewell, my enemies!"
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