A Station Eight Fan Web Site

Gargoyles

The Phoenix Gate

Ask Greg Archives

Gathering 2005

Archive Index


: « First : « 10 : Displaying #36 - #45 of 62 records. : 10 » : Last » :


Posts Per Page: 1 : 10 : 25 : 50 : All :


Bookmark Link

JEB writes...

A warning: My journal is LONG this year.

Gathering 2005 Journal - Day -1
July 28, 2005

Going directly there from work, I managed to get through the security gate at BWI in record time. In fact, everything was bizarrely easy- the e-tickets went through fast, the people in line were nice and easygoing. (Note to self- flights on weekdays are a good idea.) Just sat down and read my Doctor Who anthology (Short Trips- ironic title, as it turned out) while I waited.

Then the flight itself- Baltimore to Pittsburgh. I don't think there are many things I find more exciting than takeoff. The rush of speed, the sharp climb as the landscape below shrinks, then floating above the clouds, looking down at the world through a drifting sea of mist and a landscape of white. (I was fortunate that there wasn't anyone sitting next to me- otherwise, I would have had a lovely view of the cabin.)

After arriving in Pittsburgh, I got myself dinner from a McDonald's that evidently didn't see much business around 7 p.m. A few passengers around me at the time looked like they might also be going to the Gathering, but I stopped short of humming the Gargoyles theme to see if anyone would perk up. (I didn't recall any of those faces being at the con, so it's just as well.) It's about this point that I began to realize I was technologically behind the curve- everyone had neat cell phones or laptops- I had a years-old cell phone model that couldn't do much more than play Tetris. (This point became more apparent as the long weekend went on.)

Unfortunately, when I arrived in Las Vegas about five or six hours later, things went sour. The flight from Pittsburgh to Vegas itself was fine, if very long- finished Short Trips and moved onto the sequel, More Short Trips. Las Vegas itself was a striking sight as we approached, a cluster of stars in a vast ocean of shadow. (Kind of interesting that "Sin City" should shine so bright from a distance.) But after that... I waited for an hour in the wrong baggage claim, and when I finally did figure this out, I wasn't able to find the last hotel shuttle of the evening before it left. So, I had to wait in line for a taxi. A very, very, long line- there were literally a hundred or more people there.

When I finally got to Palace Station (tipping the cabbie far too much, my dad said when I mentioned it later), I went to the employee's floor in the main building instead of my floor in the Courtyards. I eventually found my way to my room (after passing by the Con Suite on the third floor, but I was in no mood for socializing), which- counter to the request I'd made- was a smoking roon. However, by that point I was too tired to care, so I just went to bed.

Greg responds...

I've been looking for you!

Response recorded on December 01, 2006

Bookmark Link

John 'Flanker' Clemens writes...

The short of it: The cons keep getting better. This was my 3rd.

Pre con:
I have to say, I'm a god at planning trips. I got three one way flights from Buffalo to Vegas, Vegas to Vancouver, Vancouver to Toronto. All I have to do is get to Sarah 'The Great's place in Buffalo and we fly in together. I also volunteered to host another panel on combat, this time discussing hand to hand. I got cheap flights, but paying for hotel and registration could be an issue. Looking the Gathering forums, I found a crazy offer. Some lady would pay my hotel and registration if I helped her run a booth promoting her website. Too good to be true, but I asked anyway. She wanted me to phone her. Hey, for a few bucks, why the hell not? Apparently she's serious. OK, whatever gets me to the gathering. She also mentioned she studied Tae Kwon Do and could bring some stuff to my panel, sweet!

THURSDAY
I have never never ever had a problem crossing the US border. Apparently there must be a biker gang or terrorist cell called 'Gargoyles' because I was interrogated by US Customs for over an hour. I was really nervous. Eventually they let me go and Sarah's mom was mad that I was late for dinner. Sarah and I made it to the airport to find that our flights were delayed which could mess up our connecting flight. But, there were no major problems, other than the fact that we were supposed to rooming with Denis but had no way of getting ahold of him in Vegas. I ended up calling his cell from the hotel room phone. Ouch.

FRIDAY
I was going to hit a rental range to fire some machine guns, but no one showed up. There was tepid interest in doing that or some airsoft later. No biggie. Registration was scary since Shara was supposed to take care of it, but they couldnt find my con badge and I couldnt find Shara. They found me one, but Shara didnt show up for awhile, I was a little tense. I finally met her and we set up her table. She had me running a dice game that basically amounted to me giving away free gargoyles t shirts and posters. It was fun, and an easy way to earn a hotel room and registration. I dont recall anything exciting happening friday night. I was just exhausted and went to bed.

SATURDAY
My panel was to happen at 3pm, but I still got up early and helped out with Shara's table of free giveaway madness. It was cool and I kept meeting really people like Paul and Julie. Shara let me go check out the voice acting seminar, since I constantly miss it at prior cons. It was really interesting and Greg and Thom are really good and getting alot of information across in limited time. I had to grab my martial arts stuff and start strapping it on while they wrapped up their panel. Paul came in and had mentioned earlier that he had studied alot of Tae Kwon Do and Hwrang Do and was also a veteran of Iraq. I brought two sets of sparring gear so I loaned him one and figured I'd start my panel with a bang. Martial Arts is a pretty big topic to cover in an hour so I didnt bother preparing notes to read or anything dry like that (like my panel was last year). I asked to guys to open the doors and Paul and I fought while the seats filled. It was a really good match. He got a good kick on my face, and I knocked his glasses off his face. We put on a good show and I bowed and began talking about martial arts between heavy breaths and glasses of water. After I explained a little and talked about how to pick a school and things like that, Shara displayed her Tae Kwon Do uniform and performed a Kata. Next I invited Julie, a 12 year veteran of law enforcement to speak about street combat. She's a real life Elisa Maza and she totally made the panel something special, even to the more experienced guys like Paul and I. We wrapped up and I think the panel went really good, and much better than I thought it would. And I ended it just in time because the fire alarm went off. I tried to get some info about the comic coming out but I missed the main part of that presentation. I slept friday night so I decided to go out saturday. I turned down Maui's invitation to the Rainforest Cafe, a decision I would regret the rest of the con. A bunch of us broke off to see the strip and go see 'Charlie and Chocolate' Factory. Poor Noel was driving around in someone else's HUGE van at night in an unfamiliar city full of hostile drivers. Things were rough and I ended up breaking down and eating totally overpriced tiny pizza. We DID eventually get to the theater missing the first couple minutes of the movie, but it was still a good time.

SUNDAY
Sunday I got up and had to kill some time. I had plans with some guys on the Somethingawful.com forums to meet up and go shooting in Boulder City. But I always wanted to audition. I knew I wouldnt be back in time for the Radio Play, but maybe that just made the audition less stressful. I read for Broadway, I think I did ok, since Greg seemed surprised when I said I couldnt be in the play. I apologized and left. My buddy picked up and we went to Boulder City. I wont bore everyone with details but it was much cheaper than renting and I had good time, and hurt my hand firing guns that are too damn big. I got back to the hotel around 5pm, and found out that I couldnt get a haircut for the banquet because the shop was closed. Darn it. I shaved off my goatee and started putting together my dress uniform. I decided to wear it because I didnt bring a costume this year and there's nothing wrong with a little attention whoring at the Gathering. Plus I look like solid gold in that thing. I was late and Sarah came to my room, she went out and got osme make up and wore a nice gown and looked totally fabulous. We got there late but it was cool since nothing had really started yet. The banquet was really awesome this year. There was a weird period between the banquet and the masquerade where I couldnt find anyone. Dark Lord talked to me for a few minutes before I had to remind him that I was Flanker and that I had shaved. Dark Lord is a special individual and I wont forget him anytime soon. Desert was served during the Masquerade which was cool since I wasnt in the masquerade and got some chocolate cake. Shara totally smoked everyone in her brooklyn costume as I knew she would when I first saw it. I cant believe it was her first con. The rest of sunday I just hung out with everyone and bought Thom a beer and generally had an aweosme time. Eventually the party broke up when Greg fell asleep in his chair.

MONDAY & TUESDAY
This part of the Con was crap. You start saying goodbye to everyone and it sucks. Sarah and I formed a band of die hard cling-ons(After we got free show and dinner for listening to a time share pitch). We started stalking Chris Rogers and ended up following him into some pretty awesome buffets. Chris is the Man. Almost a dozen of us hit the Adventure Dome on tuesday and roped in a family so we could get the group discount. We all a good time even though I was feeling a little sick. We met up with Chris again who got us through a massive line up for the Buffet at the Bellagio, because Chris is the Man. I had a killer time with Sarah the Great, Liz, CKayote, Hudson, Dancer, Chris, Aaron and if I got your name wrong or forgot you just smack me in LA.

Greg responds...

Farewell, my enemies!

Response recorded on December 01, 2006

Bookmark Link

Doug writes...

Hey Greg It's Doug

Just wanted to get my gathering journal in, sadly it is a short one as I was in vegas for more reasons than just the gathering, in fact as I mentioned in your mug a guest I literally threw some cloths in a bag, left hunters moon going on the VCR, and got on a plane. I had never really been out of south texas much so it was cool to be in a different place.

I waited for two hours to register then rushed right up to the suite to talk to the mighty Greg Wiseman. I was pleased to find that the atmosphere was quite nice and I was not nervouse, even though this was my first gathering. I feel that many of the questions I had on my mind kinda drive things for a while and I was happy that they got answered one way or another. By the way did you ever check out hunters moon, I could swear he almost touches her hair on the train. I was pleased to hear about the comic and your work on the Batman.

I stuck around in the Suite to talk to Thom, man that guy is awsome one of the coolest guys I have ever spoken with in my life. He was very open and honest about working in the profession of voice acting and I learned a great many things from him, And he is just hillarious and was very helpfull in answering any questions about the industry, lex or the show. I would also like to thank both you guys for your sigs. I have to be the only person to ask Greg Wiseman "Can i be a son-of-a-bitch and ask for your autograph." HAHA and Thom signed his Lexington as well.

I then went over to the Demona debate and thought it to be a little "Over Analyzing", and many of my opinions seemed to be overlooked or ignored and I dunno... I just kinda wasn't into it after that but I did stroll over to the dealers room and found a talented artist who runs creatures of the night and bought several pieces of her work just as she was closing up shop, she was happy to sell me them at a nice rate and I was down to 5 bucks after my anthology purchase, long story short after a few hours of the gathering, and the blue man group I was good. Hope to see everyone next year in LA

Greg responds...

Trophies!

Response recorded on December 01, 2006

Bookmark Link

Greg Bishansky writes...

Journal Thingy... Part 3
First off, let me say that if I forgot anyone, or am putting things in the wrong order, I'm sorry. The past weekend is quickly becoming BlurrCon. Which is why I want to finish this sooner rather than later.

First off, on Thursday, I saw Andrea Zucconi, and a big shout out to her about that. I never really knew her at the previous cons, I knew of her, but she friended me on LJ shortly after G2004, and I friended her back, got to know her over LJ, so it was cool seeing her this year.

Also saw Siryn, who's getting married in a few weeks I think. Another call out to her, though now I think I need to at least send a gift ;)

Saturday, July 30th

I slept in today. Was not quite enough to get me off my jet lag, but it helped. Got up, showered and dressed and once more, I went in search of breakfast. I forget what I ate, but I did end up at the Series Development panel, but it's all a great big blurr. I recall enjoying it though.

I think I spent most of the day hanging out in the art room though, just chilling with people. I bought pre-registration for Gathering 2006... the full package. Hung out with everyone, it was all cool.

Eventually, we went to the Slave Labor panel, and got to hear more about the comic. Dan Vado seems like a cool guy, and the panel gave me hope, the comic looks to be in good hands indeed. Especially since he's going to leave Greg alone to write what ever he wants.

After this I went with Revel and Spacebabie to dinner, as well as another girl, and I forget her name, and I feel really bad about it. Food was okay, we talked politics and horrible job stories.

After that, it was time for the Celebrity Poker Tournament. I was at first calling it for Thom, he's an actor, he should be able to bluff, but he was out early. In the end, Chris won the game... game, poker is a sport... Greg came in second, followed by Gore. It was a fun watch.

Revel and I headed back into the casino, he won money this time, but I lost a bit. Was still ahead from where I started though.

After that, it was time for Hudson's Rant, always fun. Pick a random topic out of a hat. I'd reproduce some of it here, but this is the PG version of the journal.

Later on, the art chicks finally returned from throwing Siryn her bachelorette party. I pointed at her veil and made a joke about her and Adam eloping. But I followed them back up, and (contrary to popular jokes at the moment, I was not stalking them ;)) so I could give Jen an animation cel I purchased for her of Goliath and Demona from "Awakening: Part Four". I wanted to get it out of the way, because, given how hectic these cons are, I wasn't sure if I'd get a chance again. I'm happy to say she loved it.

Night ended in the con suite, chips, pizza, Super Smash Bros. Hung out for a while, before returning to my room to collapse.

Greg responds...

You'll have to do better than that!

Response recorded on December 01, 2006

Bookmark Link

Greg Bishansky writes...

Journal Thingy... Part 2
Friday July, 19th

Woke up, showered and dressed and went downstairs in search of food, ran into Aaron in the casino and decided to help him out, ended up watching the con suite for about fifteen minutes, since it was unlocked with no one in there, and was soon relieved and went back down to the con, and assisted a little (very little) with art room set up, hung out, then spent about 90 minutes at the registration table with Chris, Seth and a few people, had some Burger King for lunch that Revel and Spacie got me.

It was about this time that Revel gave me the art piece I commissioned from him, which would go on to be a big hit at the con and won second place in the art show. For those who weren't there, here it is.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v661/gregx/KillDavid.jpg

Ended up missing the Demona Debate, which I was interested in, but aw well, been involved in so many of those, I wasn't bothered about it. Spent a good chunk of the day in the Art Room, chilling with Aaron, Revel and anyone else that happened along.

Finally it was time for Opening Ceremonies. Chris welcomed us all to Vegas, Greg got up and showed his usual videos, and some new ones. He made his speech about what a big year it's been, what with the DVD coming out, and new DVDs and comics on the way. Finally, Opening Ceremonies concluded with Seth showing the new fan made leica reel of "The Last". Basically, for those who don't know, in the cancelled "Team Atlantis" series, Greg wrote an episode set in 1920, guest starring Demona who was being hunted by Fiona Canmore. The episode was scripted, voice recorded (Marina Sirtis reprised her role), and only partially story boarded before they cancelled the series. Those were auctioned off at Gathering 2003, and Vashkoda did a wonderdul job adapting the storyboards into an animatic, lining it up with the voice tape, adding music and sound effects and color... it was very nice. Now to see if we can possibly get it finished. Vash, if you read this, you did a great job.

So, after Opening Ceremonies, Revel and Spacie and I head into the casino. I was of course adamant against gambling, but then I got board and put down $100 at the Blackjack table. I did not know what I was doing, so we stay in for a couple of hours, I get the hang of it and I walk out with $138. That was fun.

Next up was Greg and Thom's Blue Mug-A-Guest. Fun as always, and this year it was actually blue. "Are Gargoyles pink inside?", Greg also talked some more about the comic, it was good times.

Finally, it's about 1 am and we decide to call it a night, and head down to the cafe for food, Greg shares some anecdotes about the business, Aaron and Emambu are talking about soda. I have a cheeseburger. Good times.

Then we call it a night for real.

To be continued.

Greg responds...

Good times, indeed.

Response recorded on December 01, 2006

Bookmark Link

Greg Bishansky writes...

Gathering 2005 Part One

July 27th

I couldn't sleep, there was just no possible way I would ever fall asleep. The shuttle was supposed to pick me up at 7 AM, and here I am, not being able to sleep. So, at 5:30 am and wide awake, I do what any one would do. I go to the diner to have breakfast. Thank gods for 24 hour diners. I order the Eggs Benedict and coffee and orange juice. Eggs good, coffee tasted like chalk though. So, I come back, right in the nick of time to catch my shuttle.

So, we take a drive, pick up two more people, one of whom is flying on the same exact flight that I am. Cute girl who I spend the remainder of the trip over to Vegas flirting with. Same shuttle, same place, hell our tickets had us sitting next to each other on the plane. I never caught her name, which kinda bums me out now, but not too much.

So, we soon arrive at John F. Kennedy airport. I hate JFK and greatly prefer LaGuardia. JFK is a very hard airport to find your way around without asking directions, and the place is HUGE! JFK is it's own enclosed city, it has it's own monorail and everything.

And now it's time for my rant on Airport Security... first of all, keep in mind, I'm not wearing my trench, I'm wearing a black suit jacket (not the same one I wore later at the banquet), and Security is all over me, everything except t-shirt and pants has to come off. THey pull me to the side to further frisk me, and my Zippo Lighter is pulled out of my checked luggage and confiscated... I was pissed. But, I get everything back, and I make it to the plane. Yeah, yeah, this is my first time on an airplane post 9/11.

The flight is long and uneventful. The in-flight movie is Sahara, but I'm not interested. I try to sleep a few times, I skip the meal, but I have this curse of not being able to sleep on airplanes. The last half hour of the flight is really nice, as we fly over the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam... hmm, somehow, you'd think the Hoover Dam would have a no-fly zone. Aw well.

We land in Las Vegas, and well, Sin City wastes no time, there are slot machines in the airport, as soon as you step off the plane. I go and grab my checked luggage, and head to grab a shuttle. Unfortunatly, we end up with a lousy shuttle. AC is broken, driver doesn't know where anything is. Eventually I spot the Palace Station from the window, and point it out, and so I get dropped off, and check in.

First of all, I drop off my stuff, and go get food. I treat myself to a cheese burger and fries from the Cafe (I forget it's name). I wonder back to my room, and try to watch some TV, nothing's on, and the hotel doesn't have Comedy Central, so I can't catch the Daily Show later in the evening. So, I order myself some hotel porn... the porn wasn't very good.

I check my e-mail, and find out that Dreamie and Winterwolf are in the hotel, so I call them, get their voice mail, and leave a message. It's late, so I roll over and go to sleep. I get a call back, and it's them, naturally I invite up to my room to hang out, I haven't seen them in two years. So, we chill and get caught up. I show them some crap on the internet... most prominently the American translation of the Chinese dub for "Revenge of the Sith"... which led to this year's in joke:

Do not want!... which was the Chinese translation of Darth Vader's now, infamous Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, first day, despite some problems ended on a high note... a high note that continue on for the entire duration of my stay.

July 28th

Got up, showered and dressed and went downstairs for breakfast, wondered over to the Buffet and I spotted Chris Rogers, Hudson, Seth, Kathy, Zaius and Dancer, and they invited me over to sit. So, we ate, and again got caught up, battle plans were discussed for the con, and so on, we finished and left.

Soon enough, Aaron, Revel, Spacie and Lynati showed up, and we helped them unpack their van (they drove to Vegas, all the way from Houston, TX), and since Aaron and Lynati were on con staff (AGAIN! They're masochists ;)), they had a lot to bring. So, we do that, and a group of us head out to Target, and the Home Depot to get crap that's needed for the con. I wasn't on con staff, but I did so much volunteer work, at times it did feel like being on staff again. Not that I minded, I'm always glad to help out a Gathering where I can.

So, we take two cars, Aaron and I ride in the rented van and follow Chris, unfortunatly, he knows his way around and we don't, so we lose him for a bit, lefts and rights are confused, but eventually we all end up at Target and get this stuff done.

We bring it all back, and drop the panels off at what will be the art room. Then we chill for a while, and I'm blanking a bit, but eventually we go to see the Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur, which is like "Medival Times", but a little better. Food was okay, and we get to sit in the evil section and root for Lord Mordred and his Dragon Knight. It was hokey, a little lame, but hey, still fun. BTW, some people rode in a bus, and a bunch of us crammed into Aaron's rental van, I got stuck in the trunk... and unfortunatly no pictures were taken. But, I got a seat in the back on the way back, still fun.

We came back to the hotel, where more people arrived in the lobby, including Jen, Cindy and Kythera. Great to see those three again. Jen greeted me with a hug, as did Cindy. We hung out in the lobby for a while, before the art chicks called it a night, and the rest of us went back up the Con Suite... at long last, Greg Weisman and Thom Adcox arrived from a ten and a half hour flight from Los Angeles (yes, ten and a half hours to get from LA to Vegas... you heard that right), we all hang out and chat for a while, Greg tells us about why he didn't like Batman Begins, and yeah, his critisisms are valid, and he's entitled to his opinion, but I still think the movie kicked ass.

Eventually we all call it a night, and hit the sack.

To be continued...

Greg responds...

I just think you're starved for a decent Batman movie. ;)

As I told you, it's the high quality of Batman Begins that raises expectations that ultimately I think the movie fails to meet. So...

But I really liked Kelsey Grammer as the Beast. Seriously.

Response recorded on December 01, 2006

Bookmark Link

kathy writes...

Con Journal - G2005 The Compressed Edition

I'm back. Home again just long enough to switch suitcases, do some laundry and water the plants. My Gathering went something like this...

Wednesday (If it's 4:00 a.m. it must be ORBITZ)
Thanks for the wake up call, Customer Service. But my flight isn't until 7:00 and I really (edited)ted to sleep until 5. Oh well. Grab the bag, feed the pets and away I went. One minor travel delay meant that instead of arriving in Vegas way before everyone else, I landed at the Las Vegas airport in time to shuttle over to the hotel with Mandi and Jenn my roommates. Yay for travel bungles that actually work out!

We arrived at the hotel after a short shuttle ride. And, as expected, there's a great big stack of boxes waiting for me. We check in, the nice men at the Bell Desk deliver all the convention stuff promptly and the three of us head downstairs to get some lunch and catch up.

Speaking of catching up. My biggest regret this very short weekend was the amount of catching up I didn't get to do. Bad timing, stuff to do, failing synaptic responses rendering me incapable of speech, all contributed to not nearly enough of what usually highlights my Gatherings - the chance to really sit down and talk to people about everything and nothing. But to Ellen, Seth, Lanny, Hudson, Greg B. and whoever I'm unintentionally blanking on that I did get to see this year - Thank you. And to Leo, a big hug and many thanks for the cd.

After lunch, there's convention stuff to do. Boxes to open, tee shirts to fold etc. We get the errands done and decide to see a show. Not a lot of same day tickets left, but we end up with tickets for "V" "THE ULTIMATE VARIETY SHOW" (second set of quotes are mine). Actually, it was pretty amazing. V is produced by the folks at Cirque d' Solei but isn't nearly as expensive (or sold out) it's a rotating group of performers and supposedly no two shows are exactly the same. We saw a singer with an incredible set of pipes, a drummer in a climbing harness who played a wall mounted kit, a really good juggler, a pair of Russian strongmen/acrobats/contortionists - sort of hard to put a label to, but it's the sort of thing that Cirque in all its incarnation is famous for. There was a pair of dancing illusionists and an impressionist who must have been raised on long hours of the "Gong Show" (you really had to be there, but the act was amazing in a trainwreck kind of way) and finally the host - a guy who told incredibly bad jokes ("When I first came to Vegas my luck was horrible. I lost everything, had to sell my clothes, my car. (beat) Boy was Avis (edited)ed.") He was also Mr. Memory telling the audience where they lived by their zip codes. Then after he'd interacted with more than a dozen people reeling their list of numbers and cities off one after the other.

And of course, there was audience participation. A guy got a group of men up on stage, put them into rubber masks and made them do horribly silly things to the delight of the audience. It was, all in all, a pretty good show.

After the show, there was dinner at Lombardi's an Italian restaurant and shopping in the Aladdin's faux foreign bazar. If it hadn't been for some bad news from home, it would have been a wonderfully relaxing evening. (Safe travels, Serena the cat, you are missed.)

Thursday (A bad dress rehersal means a great show)
Thursday the rest of the con staff gathered from all and sundry points. We had a TERRIFIC group this year and it was a joy to work with each and every one of my fellow staffers. Chris, Lanny, Lynati, Aaron, Mara, Seth, Winterwolf, Dreamie, Hudson, Carol and Abe, without which The Strip would have been a shadow of itself, you all ROCK. Thank you.

Any how, the usual pre-con chaos ensued. But, it was good, productive chaos and stuff got done. 'Course that doesn't mean it wasn't slightly nerve wracking. And then of course, there was Thom and Greg stuck in Ontario (California, not Canada) who missed out on Tournament of Kings, our pre-convention staff and guest dinner.

TOK was huge fun. Our block of tickets was in the DRAGON section, which means (for those who have never gone to one of these medieval themed dinner shows) we got to root for the bad guys. And you know, sometimes it's good to be bad. Sadly, the show was rigged and King Christopher the blandly handsome prevailed over Mordred and the Black Knight.

The group split up after that. Most of the attendees headed back to the hotel to either get the illusive "good night's sleep" or to do more last minute convention prep. I ended up in the wrong car (Chris's) and went for a tour of some of the sites of Vegas.

Bellagio, Luxor, New York, New York... I finally figured out what was throwing me about the Las Vegas hotels. All those famous places re-created, but the scale is off. And of course, they're all juxpositioned against one another in unlikely combinations. It's like being on a steroid enhanced version of the Universal Studios backlot. Cool, but weird.

Anyway, we saw the dancing fountains of Bellagio and the chocolate fountain, the indoor gardens and the fish tank behind the registration desk, missed the Sirens and Pirate battle, but did take in the Volcano erruption before heading back to the hotel.

That of course, began the dreaded search for my cell phone which began appropriately enough, in the Consuite. I was so hoping I'd left it on the table that despite the fact that Greg W. had finally arrived, I waited until I'd torn through everything on the conference table before saying a proper hello. (I'm sorry!)

Cell phones are leashes that tie you to... everyone really. But like every other user of the dread device, I've become dependent and not having it, especially during con weekend was a notion too awful to contemplate.

Never did find the blasted thing, despite retracing steps, reporting it missing in two hotels and the shuttle service. If anyone found a blue Nokia older model and is still hanging on to it - drop me a line, will you?

Anyway, Greg and the rest of the consuite contingent were talking comic books, graphic novels and the like. I stayed to listen for a while but soon it was time to call it a night (morning?) and we all went to bed.

Friday (Places people, it's SHOWTIME!)
Staff meeting, pre con last minute stuff to do and we still had registration running at five after 10:00. Yay team. Thing were off and running. The Dealers Hall and Art Show were assembled, staffed and stocked dispite a technical problem with the drill. There were blessed few problems with reg packet distributions and (eventually) we even got the bulk of the items for the silent auction out for display.

In the midst of much running around, I managed to get in a little shopping myself, acquiring a new cel of Goliath, a nice ensemble pencil sketch and a leather belt.

Good merchandise was had this year. Many thanks to Alan for coordinating the hall. And thank you - Van Eaton Gallery, Designs by Kate, Knightscross Leatherworks and all of our other participants for providing such spiffy stuff and such good company. (I spent several shifts behind the G2005 staff table selling tee shirts, anthologies and calendars and everyone was just terrific looking out for each other and generally keeping the atmosphere lively.)

(Oh! and there was AMAZING flourless chocolate cake and ice cream brought over from the Con Virgin 101 panel. Yum is an pale word choice.)

Eventually though, the Dealers Room and Registration closed for the day. We secured everything that needed securing and it was off to Opening Ceremonies!!

New dvds! New comics! New material from Greg! And to top it off - Thom Adcox's pants! What more could a couple of hundred eager fans (edited)t?

Dinner maybe. Which is where we were off to next. The seafood place was busy, but the Italian one wasn't. Plus we had coupons! Excellent food, good company, leftover eggplant parmesean for breakfast. It worked for me!

Sadly though, a tradition was broken. No frantic jog walk through a new city to make it in time for the Blue Mug. Thom got lost and was late even though it was just up the escalator and around a couple of corners, but that wasn't really quite the same.

The mug wasn't really "blue" this year. Maybe a light skyish color. Many people were really more interested in the impending comic and Greg tried hard not to scoop himself since that was the focal point of the Slave Labor/Creature Comics panel the following day.

After the Mug, it was time for pie! And after that, the group called it a night (morning).

Saturday (We're Swinging Now!)

Cold Eggplant might not be the breakfast of champions, but it did hit the spot. After which there was con stuff to do (silent auction set up) and then a panel to present.

Yep, a panel. With Ellen and Revel to keep things anchored, we talked about writing Action Scenes until we were kicked out of the room. It went great! The audience was engaged and interested and for the first time since I got roped into doing these things I felt completely at ease. Thank you Ellen for organizing my rambles into a coherent outline and Revel for providing really excellent talking points during the discussion.

Then there was cake! Scott (Brother Abe) bakes. Well. Very excellent chocolate goodness. And I never got the chance to thank him properly. Abe, if you're reading this. Mucho appreciado.

More con stuff. Registration table. Dealers room. Moved stuff that was stored in my room into the con suite during the radio play auditions. Fire alarm went off due to an over enthusistic cook. Everyone remembered the 3rd grade drills and exited the hotel through the stairwells in a quiet and orderly fashion, milling around the alley behind the hotel until we got an all clear. I was impressed.

The exact sequence of afternoon events after that is all kind of blurry. I do recall closing the Dealers Room for the Slave Labor/Creature Comics panel so that everyone could attend.

Got there a bit late. See above. But what I did hear was worth it. As usual grass roots participation is a must for project success. Spread the word.

After the panel I went back to the Dealers Hall to do cashier prep for the silent auction lots that sold Saturday and to explain the system to the rest of the crew.

I checked out of the hotel. Then Lanny and I went to dinner,talked about deep and profound things and generally made ourselves late to the poker tournament so I had no idea exactly what was happening during the game itself having not read the rules to Texas Hold'm. But everyone seemed like they were having a good time and the pot moved back and forth between Gore, Greg, Chris and even Thom. (I think Kai had busted by then) before Chris eventually took all.

Everyone trooped down the hall for ice cream. I said my goodbyes and I was airport bound.

Carol, everything was perfect. You dropped me off in exactly the right spot. I got through check in, slogged across the terminal, cleared security and arrived at my gate five minutes before they called my section number.

I wondered briefly what I was going to do on my way home. (I'd read my book and it was too cramped to knit properly). Two minutes after take off they killed the lights and I didn't wake up until we were in approach to Charlotte. Guess I was tired after all.

Sadly, the Charlotte airport doesn't have those comfy rocking chairs in the waiting area where you actually need them. Three cold, uncomfortable hours later, I was headed on my final leg home, and thus ended (for me anyway) the 2005 Gathering of the Gargoyles.

Love and many thanks to all,

kathy

Greg responds...

Kathy,

That was a great read. Brings back memories.

Now that we've started 2005 conjournals, I want to extend a blanket apology in advance to all who posted them here.

Posting ConJournals here was and is very important vis-a-vis the powers that be. But in the interest of trying to catch up on ASK GREG, I'm going to keep my responses to a minimum, so that I can race through the year-and-a-half-old journals and get back to answering questions.

Thanks for understanding!

Response recorded on November 30, 2006

Bookmark Link

G2005 - Tuesday, August 2

G2005 - Tuesday, August 2

8:30am. We hit the road back for Los Angeles. Reading Harry Potter most of the way. (Although we didn't actually finish the book until just last night.) We stopped for lunch at Tommy's (chilicheeseburger, chilidog, fries, coke)... and we were home again by 2pm. That's five and a half hours, including the hour-long lunch break. Half the time it took Thom and I to fly to Vegas. Oh, well.

After that, it was Unpack, Nap, Dinner. Beth made a great home-cooked meal of Meat, Corn, Mushrooms and Strawberries.

More Harry Potter. Did some actual work on W.I.T.C.H.

Then finally bed.

So ends my journal.

Please, everyone post your G2005 CONJOURNALS to ASK GREG by the end of August. I've asked Gorebash to shut down the ASK GREG Submit function at about midnight on August 31st. So before memories get even hazier, please take a few minutes to write up your experiences and cut and paste them here.

Thanks.


Bookmark Link

G2005 - Monday, August 1

G2005 - Monday, August 1

11:30am. I went down to the art room to collect the kids' art that hadn't sold. (Some of it had!) Spent the entire day saying good-byes to various people as they took off.

12:00pm. Time for my final panel: Creating Original Properties. Talked about DOC SHAKESPEARE. Also showed the animatic "sizzle tapes" for MECHA-SAPIENS (which I developed with Vic Cook and Greg Guler) and KIDD/HERO (which I developed with DAG Entertainment and Vic Cook). Thom came in during the panel to say his goodbyes. Hopefully, he had an easier flight back to L.A. than the one that brought us here.

1:30pm. The auction began with a piece called "Bonanza" by Spike -- which depicted Hudson, Brooklyn, Lexington & Broadway as (respectively) Ben, Adam, Joe and Hoss Cartwright. Now the day before in the silent auction, my daughter had put in a bid on Liz's "Leo" piece and gotten it. And my son had bid $5 on Bonanza. All this was done with Beth's permission. We were willing to buy them each a five-dollar piece of art. But Benny noticed that someone had bid $10 after him on Bonanza. Without asking us, he bid $15. That someone then bid $20. And Benny bid $30!!!!! Thus sending the thing to the live auction on Monday. We were stunned. But he offered to pay in the money he made on his art, so I told him that if the bid didn't go beyond $30 in the live auction, I would get it for him.

So anyway, Bonanza came up for bid. I bid $30. And then... I made faces. Yeah, Spike, I'm truly sorry. No one was forbidden from bidding higher. (And the person who had bid against Benny had already left the con.) But I'm not sure anyone was willing to bid against me or my mock-scowl, so $30 is all you get.

The kids love all the artwork they got from Liz and from Spike and from Jade. Beth has framed or is framing it all. It all goes up on their now very crowded walls. Karine also drew me a picture that I am very fond of -- though I don't see us putting it up on the wall.

I did some signing during the auction. But I also wandered around a bit. Fusion Demon had lost her Doc Shakespeare script, and I found it and returned it. But I also found Thom's script -- which I guess he had given to her -- and didn't realize it wasn't up for grabs. So it got auctioned off for $150. Thom's pants went for big money too, I think.

3:00pm. Closing Ceremonies. Brief and to the point.

4:00pm. A group of us went to Quark's for dinner. Patrick, Tony, Andrea, Trishanna, Cindy, Kyt, Julie, Karine, Jen, Seth, Seth, Jade, Scott, Marina, Liz. I finally got that messy burger that I've been wanting since San Diego. Plus onion rings AND fries.

7:15pm. Then I took a taxi back to the hotel. Packed up.

8:15pm. Checked out of the hotel and waited outside. Saw that guy in the big Top Hat. I'm sorry, I'm blanking on your name, but we had a nice talk.

8:30pm. Beth, Erin and Benny picked me up and we drove to my in-laws, where we read chapter ten of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. And I had a blueberry muffin, minestrone soup and juice. I was still pretty wired, even after the family went to bed.

3:00am. Went to bed myself.

I'll wrap up this ConJournal tomorrow...


Bookmark Link

G2005 - Sunday, July 31

G2005 - Sunday, July 31

10:00am. Erin, Benny & Beth arrived at the hotel. They had actually arrived in Vegas the day before, but they were staying at my in-laws house, so I hadn't seen them since Thursday morning. We got them checked in, badged up and showed them the art show. Hung up a couple more of Benny's pictures.

10:30am. Second Day of Auditions with Thom & Jen. Erin auditioned, and did great. We had a number of good people the second day too.

11:45am. Jen & Thom & I went back to Guadelajara's again for our casting lunch. I had a Roast Beef Dip, Fries and a Pepsi. We had some really tough casting choices to make. A lot of good people for only 16 roles and two understudies.

1:00pm. Jen & I posted cast lists at five different locations. I wasn't going to take any chances.

1:30pm. Had a panel next on W.I.T.C.H., the series that I'm working on now. The location got tossed around a bit, but we finally wound up in the ConSuite. I showed the animatic "Pilot" created by the series' first set of producers, who were pushed sideways a bit by Disney, who replaced them with a second set of producers, who were the showrunners for the first season. All four of those producers were then let go, and I did Season Four. I tell this story to show that it can happen to anyone in this business. God knows, it's happened to me. Anyway, it was a fun panel, but I felt very restricted as to what I could talk about. I don't think the entire first season has aired yet, and I didn't want to spoil anything for their stuff, let alone MY second season stuff, which won't begin airing until December at the earliest. But next year's WITCH panel at G2006, should really kick some ass. We'll have a bunch of writers and actors there. Anyway, I recommend checking out the show. We have some really fun stuff planned. It's one of the most fun shows I've EVER worked on.

3:00pm. We had our Radio Play Rehearsal. Everyone showed up, which meant our understudies didn't have much to do, but I hope they enjoyed the process at least. I had fun. It was a great group.

4:30pm. The Radio Play. Again, everyone showed up. This year we were doing an original live-action pilot called "DOC SHAKESPEARE", written by myself & Samuel Bernstein. *UNSOLD*.

Here's the cast list:

Susanna Shakespeare - Laurean Broadbent
Judith Shakespeare - Jen Anderson
Mike Santos - Erik Mambu
Jeff Wylie - Seth Jackson
Anita Santos - Kaylle
Luís Santos - Eric Tribou
Tess Derbyville - Sarah McEvoy
Hamnet Shakespeare - Erin Weisman
Aaron Moore - Adam Leigh
Lewis Santos - Echo Eberle
Arthur Soames - Revel
Ralph - Thom Adcox
Jonas Kent - Alex Garg
Doris - Lanny Fields
Mort - Bruce Lane
Nathan - Vani Shaw
Understudies - Tracy Prelog, Anthony Zucconi
Narrator - Greg Weisman

Everyone really did a great job. I was very pleased with the response.

5:30pm. The family and I went back to my hotel room, to hang out for a while.

6:00pm. Banquet. The four of us were told where to sit, but we were sitting alone and there was some confusion as to how or whether anyone else was supposed to be chosen to join us. Eventually, the Leonard Family (Susan, Robert, Chloe & Carly) joined us and so did GXB, though I think we were too dull for Greg, as he bailed on us at some point. It became a very family oriented discussion there. Erin won the big Gargoyle centerpiece, and Susan was very nice and gave Benny the Garg Puzzle Cube thing. Appreciated, but very unnnecessary. The food was great, I thought. Salad, veggies, rice, eggplant, meat, onions.

No Q&A -- which surprised me. I guess there's just not much left to ask me and Thom. Though I'd think everyone would have wanted a shot at Dave.

After dinner, we went upstairs again and the kids changed into their costumes. GREAT COSTUMES -- created of course by Eden. Last Halloween, Cindy made Benny a Goliath costume (which he reprised for the con) and Erin a Marilyn Monroe costume (which Cindy then added wings to, to transform it into a HOLLY costume, i.e. the mascot of G2001 & G2006).

After they were dressed, we went down to Lanny's room, where Benny got painted purple and Erin got a few make-up highlights. We hung out there awhile with Cindy, Abram, Jen, Karine, Lanny, etc.

9:00pm. Dave, Thom and myself judged the costume contest (after dessert - apple pie, Banana Cream Pie, Swan Puff, Pepsi). Some great costumes...

Junior Division
Erin's Holly won best non-canon character
Benny's Goliath won best canon character
Fusion Demon won best cosplay

Senior Division
Noel's Werefox (with an honorable mention to Jade's La Belle Elisa) won best cosplay.
Eden's sexy Banshee won 1st in canon.
Revel's great Jackal won 2nd in canon.
Onyx won in non-canon.

Tony & Thom won cutest couple.
Andrea won the Thom Adcox Memorial Award.

Shara as Future Tense Brooklyn won both the Gorelisa Award and Best in Show.

Beth, Erin & Benny left at that point to head back to my in-laws and call it a night.

We gave out the art awards too, but I didn't write all those down. I know that Liz's amazing Zodiac series won Best in Show, among others.

After that, I just hung out talking... which is of course one of my favorite things...

Who was there? Thom, Seth, Tony, Andrea, Carol, Dave, Marina, Flanker, Ahkento, Liz, Trishanna, Jen, etc. (I know I'm missing a ton of people. Sorry.)

Finally, we called it a night....

More soon...



: « First : « 10 : Displaying #36 - #45 of 62 records. : 10 » : Last » :