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Lynati writes...

Con Journal Part 2

Friday

Was woken up by Mara getting back to the room from a venture out, and the notification that my reputation as a Scary Fangirl (tm) had apparently preceded me. I, naturally, took this entirely out of proportion and spent the morning avoiding two of my fanfic heroes less I do something to confirm the fact. (Easy to do with the whole "incognito" thing; I had to pass within two feet of them on a couple occasions in the crowd). We hit registration and got our con goodies; and as further proof that Chris has the powers of mesmerism, Aaron was convinced to sign up for the Clan Olympics 2005 staff team. (If there is one thing he hates more than participating in a sport, it's participating in a team sport.) They needed a fourth, and I'd already begged off for the fact I had a costume to finish (again). So Mara wound up in the last position, whereupon I think something along the lines of "Well, I guess you're Staff now" was then said. We haven't eaten yet, and as we run into Hudson's group and Cat's Crew we learn they have not either. So we all decide to go out for lunch, with a few other random fandomites also in search of sustenance. About seventeen of us arrive at this café, see that they are packed and turn to leave when (the manager?) comes out and says there is room enough for us all at the outside tables, and the service is fast…won't we stay?

We do, and the service was fast, and the food was good and inexpensive. I had a gyro, and sat and chatted with Chris while Cat pulled my arm out at a funky angle and spent about ten minutes fixing the carpal tunnel that had started to develop in my right hand. (Thank you again, Cat; I haven't had so much as a twinge since.)

Emambu and I and a couple other slipped back to the con early, wanting to catch the Voice Acting Seminar (another panel I have never quite made it to.) It was good; Emambu and Revel were great reading out Lex and Brooklyn's lines from one scene, and whomever did Griff's lines from that bit of M.I.A.

I'd almost worked up the courage to volunteer for a reading when the camera crew showed up. Now, the thought of making the attempt in front of the crowd was already enough to give me a minor difficulty in breathing; there was no way I was going to embarrass myself on film to boot, even with the general assurance that it wouldn't make it onto the DVD.

It was a good panel; I'd like to see what it's like with more presenters. It ends, and I am temporarily stunned by the fact that Ethan seems to have sprouted a smaller, paler, female version of himself, and hadn't noticed. I go over to the girl because reality demanded it, and tap her on the shoulder. This turned out to be White Avator, one of the fandom's artists. I sneak off then to work on my costume (I have a very strong memory here of chipping off an extraneous chunk of glass in time to Mellencamp's "Rain on the Scarecrow" playing on my walkman) and remain there until I am dragged down to Opening Ceremonies. (I knew what time it started; I just didn't realize that time was already upon me.) Three seats were supposed to have been saved by our friends in the second row; somehow things got mixed up, and there were only two. Mara opted to sit in the row directly behind, so I sat between Aaron and a girl who turned out to be Mercedes.

Didn't take me long to realize that the two people sitting almost directly in front of me were Dylan and his fiancée, Stormy. Attempts to return a greeting were dismembered by Aaron suddenly attempting to display his sense of humor with something that involved a Vulcan pincer grip and the back of my neck…and then the show, as it were, was on.

Current Staff was introduced, leaving not a few of us deeply impressed that Karine could Chair a con while THAT much pregnant. Greg Weisman got up to talk, which resulted in a quote from the con that seems to live in infamy right next to "mommy, what's a con virgin?"

Greg had made a comment about how after this many years, he doubted the fandom had anything left that didn't have his signature on it, but if anything was left…
Cat's immediate response was, "Sign my Grandma!"
Greg looked at a loss for words, which was funny in its own right even though he didn't deliver what I thought was the obvious response of: "Bring her to Vegas!" ; )

About then Abe and MAui stepped in with a surprise first event for the Gargie Olympics. About the time the walkway had cleared and they were counting balls, I slip off to the other side of the room to talk to whom I hoped (correctly) was Norcumi, whom I'd been keeping an eye open for. Kythera popped up minutes later and took the seat next to me, and…I cannot remember that conversation at all. um. *^_^*

About that time Chris is tapped to pitch 2005, and introduce his staff…which I get a surprisingly illustrious inclusion into. (hee, I felt special…) I watched Quindar (Norcumi's s.o.) during most of this. He, heretofore, had been very much in doubt of some of the 2005 intentions and the staff's ability to pull them off; by the time I got to speak to him about it that night, Quindar admitted to being impressed by the speil, as did Norcumi. (Both are shockingly cynical once you get to know them, and not terribly easy to impress. They are very helpful people to have playing the devil's advocate for ideas.) My one odd-note-out about it was that, from where I was sitting, with the reddish long sleeves and the sharp claws and my inability to clearly see his facial features, the mascot looked unnervingly like Freddy Kreuger.

I get back to my original seat right when the lights are turned down for the "home videos" part of OC, and watched the faces of those around who, while hardly new to the fandom, had never attended a Gathering before. It was strangely gratifying to see their expressions; maybe it was knowing that I am not the only one drawn so deeply into the show. After that was the Atlantis ep "The Lost", which I'd yet to hear. I liked it, although I had the misfortune of sitting in front of Rika as well as Mara and Cat, and…I think she tried to crawl into her own hat at one point. I could almost keep a straight face through the, er, more innuendo- accessible portions…but I couldn't help but turn to see how Rika was handling it, and I just lost it after that. In front of me at the staff table, Siryn didn't look like she was coping much better… ; )

(Of course, it wasn't until after the con that we realized that "…all the grunts, groans, and gasps of combat being taken terribly out of context by our collective filthy, filthy little minds" (as Christine Morgan put it) the script actually *directs* the Voice Actors to sound that way at points, when we had a chance to sit down at Greg B.'s house and look at a copy.)

Opening Ceremonies end, and Aaron and I wind up talking to Mercedes for a bit. Enter here the discussion shifting to fellow writer Cyrway without Aaron or I directing it there. Sayeth Mercedes, "It's good to know she still has fans as dedicated as you. As far as I know, there's only one person out there who still writes to her about her Gargoyles fic."
Us: ""oh?"
Mercedes: "Yeah, there's a girl she found who does filks about her universe,"
Me : (thinking) oh cool, there is someone else writing Cyrway filks?
Me : ~ pause as reality kicks in ~
Me: "You mean…someone *besides* me?"
Mercedes : "What name do you post under?"
Me: "Lynati"
Mercedes: "Yeah, that's the one."

So. Yeah. She's read them. And apparently doesn't hate them. The One deigns to notice my work in Her name! (…ever had a running gag that lasted so long that you and your friends lost track of the line between the joke and reality? It's a scary, scary thing. On that note, there really isn't a 30-ft tall statue of Eddie of Winslow in Aaron's backyard.) (Yet.)

I get rather distracted at this point, and miss/don't recall much of the conversation that she and her brother have with Aaron at that point. I'm too busy bouncing around like the hyperactive fangirl I am.

I meant to work on the costume more from after OC to the start of the Blue Mug, but this wound up not exactly happening. First off, I was distracted by conversation with Hudson and Kaelyan in lower level for a bit, throwing in a "actually, I have a pair of pliers" to Kael's comments about the so-far failed attempts to get the DVD player hooked to the TV. I promised to send them up; I had also promised to drop by to visit Cat's Crew and have them around to chat to while I worked. I head upstairs, when I notice a fandomite drifting by herself; being someone who 1) values her own solititude at times and 2) has been left wandering for lack of anyone to hang with, I decide to by a good con-goer and strike up a conversation. This is Dancer, whose friends took off for dinner without her; I offer to let her come hang with me if she has nothing better to do, after I run a few errands. We head to Rika's room first, were she and Cat are quickly embroiled in a metal-working conversation as I talk to Rika and Heccy. Eventually those still awake- ie, not Sammy or GE, who were also sharing room and ride- come up to my room. Dancer mentions wanting to call home but her phone not working, and I mention Hudson wanted it known that his satellite phone was available for such calls. I send her up with my pliers, which struck another thing off my list. Unfortunately, Dave and Heccy realize they are more of a distraction to my work than a help only 20 minutes before the Blue Mug, so I really only had about that much time for the costume. *sigh* Then again, I come to the con primarily to see my friends, not to be awed over at the masquerade. (Although I really do enjoy that, when I happens.)

I head up to the consuite, and have a chance to talk to Liz around then about turning in my AMV's for the contest, which I was advised to do the next morning, early. (As it turned out, I wasn't capable of upright motion for most of that morning, so I missed entering them entirely. Eh, for those who care- and have windows media player- they are posted at:
http://lynativerse.artchicks.org/Invincible.WMV
http://lynativerse.artchicks.org/PerfectDay(med).WMV
and the one I was forced to render in two parts:
http://lynativerse.artchicks.org/WarriorGoodbyeP1.WMV
http://lynativerse.artchicks.org/WarriorGoodbyeP2.WMV

I found myself staring again at the aptly-named White, who has hair so beautiful I could not resist asking to be allowed to pet it. (I'm not usually that touchy-feely with people I don't know very well. The conventions have really helped improve my ability to handle social situations.) I liked the conversation; after all, the blue mug doesn't *have* to be raunchy; it just is allowed to be. I managed a couple decent questions. (Forgetting one that came as a follow-up to one I'd recently gotten response to at Ask Greg; At the time of The Last, did Demona really believe she was the last gargoyle alive?) It ended late, and I again worked later- about 5am- on my costume, and gave myself my first hot glue burns of the weekend. (my only second degree burn from a glue gun, ever, would come the next night...along with Mara's. :\ )

tbc

Greg responds...

It's the people, isn't it? I like to think I contribute, but really the thing that makes the Gathering work year after year is the family it has become. Squabbling family on occasion, but family nonetheless.

Response recorded on August 09, 2006

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Torvik writes...

Am I the last one to post a journal?? (Hope not...)

2004 Journal for Alan (Torvik)

I'm doing this all backwards.

It seems like most people get involved in the fandom, and *then* attend the Gathering. Not so in my case. My sister and I attended because we loved the show, and now here I am, looking to be connected to the fandom throughout the year as well. Funny.

I thought the con was great. It took a while for us to find our niche and the rhythm of things, but that didn't really dampen our fun at all.

I was drawn to the con for a couple reason, one of which was the acting aspect (voice and otherwise). I had put a big circle around the voice acting seminar on my schedule, and felt confident that we'd get there in time for it. However, because of our hour long flight delay, and trouble getting to our hotel (we stayed at the Days Inn down the street - $40/night cheaper AND we got a Shrek 2 theme room ;) not only did I miss out on the seminar, but on the RPG Panel and the first auditions. Disappointing.

Opening ceremonies were alright. I wanted to ask the pregnant lady who she was, and what her role in the weekend was. The first half didn't feel so much like a ceremony, as much as it felt like the ref laying out the rules before a wrestling match…

I enjoyed what Greg had to share, especially the pitches he had prepared. I liked the idea of Gargs 2198 (or whatever the year was) and Dark Ages. Bad Guys seemed a little contrived, and the rest seemed like an ever bigger stretch. (The Gate was 'just out of reach' for 40 years?? Reach a little farther man! Come on! ;) Still, it was a great glimpse into all the workings that boil below the surface that we never really get to see.

MGT3K (don't ask me to write it out) was fun, especially since I had found myself heckling episodes over the past half year since I had dusted off my tapes. I appreciated Jade when she invited Jackie and I to sit closer on the floor. I was like, 'Hurray, acceptance!' I gotta check the site out sometime to see if any of my lines got picked up.

We left after that, since we were kinda tired and weren't too interested in the Blue Mug. It was a nice walk back to our hotel. Only twenty minutes (downhill), and three Tim Hortons on the way. We felt far safer walking downtown Montreal at that hour than we would have in Winnipeg.

Jackie wasn't feeling so hot the next morning, so I caught a cab and went by myself. First off, I went to audition. The form I was given asked if I wanted only large part, only a small part, or whatever. Now I naturally WANTED a large part, but I didn't want to jeopardize my shot at getting anything by saying I ONLY wanted a large part, so I put 'whatever'. It also asked if I could speak with an English or Scottish accent. I didn't know what to put, but I knew I didn't want to limit myself, so I put a yes for both of them. Afterall, it didn't ask if I could do them *well*. (The back of the audition bundle had an early concept pic of Angela! Just another one of those fringe benefits of attending the con!)

I read Hudson's part for the audition. Since I started watching Gargs, I had adopted little Sottish hints to me speech, and I think that helped. I had also spent two months in London, but that didn't really help at all. My attempt at an English accent sound like an Irishman trying to sound Scottish.

From there, I went up to the ConSuite and watched Hunter's Moon 1-3. Good stuff. Good stuff.

Jackie and I were going to attend the SCA demo (whatever that meant) but we decided to help Mug Greg instead. I finally got to ask my question that had been sitting on 'Ask Greg .com' for half a year, and received a satisfying answer. (When he lead the clan, everyone probably called Hudson 'Mentor', not as an official name, per se, but a respectful handle all the same. After Goliath took up leadership, some still called the older gargoyle 'Mentor' but it wasn't as common, and had pretty much slipped away my the time they had reached NY.)

After that, were rehearsals. I checked the cast list, and sure enough, I was on it! Once we were all assembled, Greg called out each person one at a time, and announced which part they had. I tried not to get my hopes up. I really tried, especially since Kieth David wasn't going to be there to read the part of Goliath, and I knew that my voice had a certain resonance to it.

Finally, Greg reached the end of his list, and asked "Who still doesn't have a part?" I put up my hand, as did a guy in the front row. "Oh," Greg said, "So-and-So, you're Owen." Everyone clapped. "There must be someone who still doesn't have a part." I raised my hand again, and Greg announced that I would play Hudson's role, which I was pleased with. Then he said that they had seen Ed Asner (the original voice of Hudson) in LA, and they got him to sign the script, which I would be able to keep after the show! This made being Hudson *especially* ok. ( http://www.geocities.com/_zith/script.jpg Sorry about the horrible quality of the scan. I'm using my parent's computer right now X-(

The Radio Play was lots of fun. Sure, I only had 4 lines, but Hudson was mentioned often. When I heard the person read Castaway's part, I suddenly remember what an English accent was *supposed* to sound like. It'd obviously be fun to be a part of a Radio Play with a smaller cast. Maybe next year…

After that, it was the official time to watch the music video entries. A bunch of us crowded into an elevator and headed up to the ConSuite. Sadly, only 3 video actually worked on the laptop. Luckily, one of them was mine. I thought the other two were kinda cheesy and boring, while mine was fresh and punchy. (Well, what else am I supposed to say about my own video?) Yet, I saw that votes were also piling up for 'Learning to Fly' (despite the fact that Gargoyles clearly don't fly… ;) We cast our votes and left for our hotel.

Jackie and I skipped the banquet, because a) it was very expensive, b) we both wanted to take a nap before the long evening started, and c) we needed time to get our costumes ready. So we slipped back to our hotel and did the above.

We were going as Fox and Xanatos from 'Eye of the Beholder'. I had suggested the idea to her a few months ago, expecting that I'd have to do some major wheedling to get her to go along with the idea. To my surprise, she was excited about the idea right away. Lucky me.

Her costume was simple. I went to Value Village and found the longest trench coat I could find as well as an old, gold necklace I could take sections out of. I went to Michael's to get Fimo and some half marbles to make the Eye of Odin from, and I already had body paint to 'tattoo' her eye with.

My costume was a little more involved. I picked up some sleek black sweat pants from the aforementioned VV Boutique, as well as an equally sleek black t-shirt which would be worn over a dark purple long sleeve sweater. A pair of black socks and a dark brown pony-tail extension rounded off the simple part of the costume.

The tricky part was the jet-pack. I had grabbed a few screenshot of David wearing it, but still struggled in figuring out what exactly it looked like, since the shots weren't that clear. I went to Home Depot, and wandered around their duct-work section trying to put it all together in my mind.

It ended up being simpler than I thought. The only noticeable modification I made was changing the suit to dual-thrust from single-thrust. I found two duct-elbows that were big and wide enough to do the trick. I also bough four duct straps (2 for the belt, and 1 for each arm strap), and one plate to go across my chest. I used ordinary duct tape to hold it all together, and shiny waterproof tape to cover it.

The finishing touch was the easiest to overlook. I went to Radio Shack and bought two red lights, a switch, some batteries, and other little do-das that are required for electrical work. The guy working there was very helpful since I had never done anything like this before. I rigged up all the lights together, and they worked great, except they were a bit on the dim side, and the lights in the ballroom already had a red tinge to them.

That night we finally assembled all of our costumes together, and I think we looked great. Sure, I didn't have the goatee, and Jackie didn't have strawberry blond hair, but we were close enough. (I even put on extra clothes under my costume, just so I'd look more buff ;)

We arrived back at the con on time, but the dinner went long, so we spent time waiting around. Since we were participating in the costume contest, they asked us to wait in another room with the other competitors. We were an interesting look crew, to say the least. What I really like is that even though there were tones of people dressed up, there was only one overlap in costumes. (Double the Dracon means double the trouble, eh?) There were four Foxes, and even tow from Eye of the Beholder, but they were all different.

Once everyone was seated in the ballroom, we lined up outside the doors and waited to be called in. Jackie suggested that I carry her in to the stage. I was hesitant (afterall, my buffness was only because of the extra clothes I was wearing) but decided to give it a shot. I picked her up, and as we walked down the aisle I whispered to her, "I've never felt more heroic in my life."

I think it was our entrance that secured us the 'Best Couple' award. I was so very pleased with the outcome. Jackie and I enjoyed the rest of the ball, listened to some karaoke. I really enjoyed getting our photo taken with Jade. She was dressed up as Elisa from Eye, who of course was dressed up as Belle. It was SO prefect. I couldn't have planned it better.

I also pulled Greg aside and thanked him for casting me as Hudson. I think the role came with a certain mantle, and I appreciated having it placed on me. I also told him that everyone at home loved my voice, but I wanted to know what 'people from his world' would think of me. 'Would I be just another voice?' He said that I had a good sound, and that doing accent work might be good for me, but ultimately I had a Canadian sound, and if I wanted to work in an American market, I would need to learn how to turn it on and off. It was advice I could understand. Jackie and I left not long after.

The next morning we were back, ready for our last day of the convention. Jackie decided to sit in on the Garg Bio discussion (since she's majoring in it) and I went to help Mug Keith David, who had only arrived the night before, just in time for the end of the banquet. A couple of us had been sitting there for almost an hour, when someone announced that Keith had not been informed about the session, and would not be there until after lunch. Disappointed, I left to join the end of the Bio session.

The Mug-A-Guest was pretty good (although I did get bored with it after a while). The biggest highlight was Keith's answer when I asked 'What, other than perseverance, do you most attribute where you are at to?' Without batting an eye, he said "God". Apparently he had wanted to go into ministry, and decided that this was the best kind of ministry for him to be involved in. I found that real encouraging. It was a refreshing contrast from the 'go where the work is' and 'perfect your craft' advice.

The Closing Ceremonies were nice. They announced the art show winners for a while. I still wasn't sure if I had won the Best Music Video award. I had hoped as much, but I felt there were enough votes for 'Learning to Fly' to give me a run for my money. After the art awards, they gave the floor to the Las Vegas people for a bit, and said a bunch of 'Thank You's. I began to wonder if they had eliminated the music video contest because of low turn out. Then, just before they were going to finish everything off, Liz stopped the proceedings, and asked if the creator of the music video 'Faint' was present. And I was! I went up and collected my ribbon, well contented again.

After the official closing, Jackie and I got in line to get Keith's autograph. I took that opportunity to thank him for his words that afternoon, stating that it helped me remember the role my faith needs to play in my career. Once we were done with that, we headed out to make our way to the airport.

Jackie and I had a great time at the Con. We went, wanting to spend some time together before she got married, and we had an excellent time doing so. Our costumes were GREAT, I won the contest, I got to be in the Radio Play, and received good advice about voice acting.

I probably won't be in Vegas next year, but I think I'll get a supporting membership and try to enter another video. The year after, who knows? I'm also finding a number of people who have said to me 'Oh yeah, I remember that show. Whatever happened to it?' At which point I give them the big Dec. 7th speciel. (I hope it goes well…)

Well, it's almost Sept. 1st, so I had best read this over, and post it. Thanks again fandom for helping keep this going. Looking forward to being more involved in the future.

Alan/Torvik/Xanatos in a jet-pack/the music video contest winner/…

Know what? Just call me Tor.

Greg responds...

Hey Tor, glad you had a good time. What exactly is a "Shrek 2" theme room anyway?

Response recorded on August 09, 2006

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Lynati writes...

2004 Montreal Con Journal

Part 1

My con experience, as with most who travel by caravan, starts a bit before the actual con dates.

It started with a couple small problems; I can't fly on an airplane until I get this little "has seizures and blacks out on planes" thing looked at and hopefully fixed; Aaron didn't have time to renew his passport, and Revel wound up promising both him, Mara, Greg B. and Alex a ride to the con along with Spacebabie, in a car that only seats four. About that time, Emambu offered/was convinced to drive from Pittsburgh to Kansas City and pick me up. Deciding that 1) Pittsburgh wasn't too bad a place for a layover from the Texas contingent, and 2) Revel didn't especially want to navigate New York alone, never having driven in the state, we wound up using Pittsburgh as a crash point for one night (well, morning as it turned out), and both vehicles- Emambu, Aaron, Mara, and myself in the Mafia Cruiser, and Spacie and Revel in his Hyena- would travel together to get the Bishansky brothers, and take another night there before heading up to Montreal.

There was also some juggling of luggage, mostly me leaving most of my stuff- not planning to return to KC until some time in September, I'd had to pack for a full summer, and somewhere along the line decided that being separated from the hub of my communications, art, writing, and research for over two months was too long. Add in I was already traveling in a car with huge trunk space, and that I wasn't entirely comfy in leaving it alone in my apartment for two months, I wound up bringing my entire computer set-up (sans printer) with me.

So Thursday we take of from Greg's mother's house, and are Montreal-bound. Today's trip wasn't much different than the previous day, with Aaron and Emambu indulging in sports-conversations, and an uninterested Mara and I in the back seat, dozing and working on art. I'd called for a stop at the nearest home-depot-esque store to pick up a few more supplies for my costume, and indulged in a lot of wire-wrapping of sections of chicken wire together for my vastly-unfinished costume.

During the con, I wound up re-living my 2002 position of holing up in my hotel room for half the con, missing both the radio play and several panels I wished to see, working on a costume that I didn't finish nearly to my standards but wore anyway, and which people seemed impressed by. Of course, while I automatically jump to my own laziness as an excuse for this, it isn't really true. Both times I had pressing school issues- 2002 I'd gone to Germany on a school trip for credit, and had to mail my costume home as I couldn't lug it around eastern Europe. I left that trip two days earlier to make the con. This time, it was finishing up the last credits I needed to complete my double-major- with the class ending on July 28th- and packing up my apartment, since I wouldn't be back until I came through to add everything to the moving truck I'd be bringing my Maryland property with, en route to a final destination in Texas. Both, sadly, ranked ahead of my costume in things I had to focus on- and even then I'd only had time to start Ophelia on July 3rd.

Besides, there was always the next years…

Anyway, after a while the conversation shifted a bit; some was centered around the webcomic Jack, and a long debate about the nature of its anthropomorphic reality. More was fic-related, since all four of us are/were fic writers…or at least, fic procrastinators. Before hitting Pittsburgh, the Texas contingent had come up with a new game to pass the time, called "Fate", which we indulged in for a while. Each person takes a turn in picking a canon character, and each time around everyone explains what happened to that character in their own world. Eventually this dissolved into fic-talk (my favorite pastime) and some TGS-related discussions. This would not be the first time such a topic came up during the con. ; )

I, sadly, had no more chances to sing, as Emambu had given into my request for lessons on the ride up from Kansas City, and I spent a large portion of that trip butchering Melissa Etheridge and listening in awe to Emambu's talent when it came to a best-of Van Morrison album.

It was bordering dusk when we hit Canada, and the fic chatty was still going strong. We cross the border with ease- if over an hour's wait- but have to pull off at the first opportunity when it is realized that no one has the directions from the border to the hotel. Between 411 and a helpful native, we were on our way…only to be further diverted by more road construction. We reach the hotel, unload at the front, and I check in. New experience for me, and considerably easier than I was worried it could be. There are a number of our age/type people hovering about in the lobby, and I get some help in carting everything up to the room. Come back down to mingle after finding said room to be satisfactory…if tricky to get into.

I recognized Leo, and managed to correctly place another girl- whom I'd only met briefly at 2001- as Chyna Rose. She, Mara and I, and one who I absolutely did not recognize as Silver despite a long art-related chat in '02, sat down to stretch out and talk. Talk at this point mostly revolved about interesting quirks in finding the hotel, pet cats, and Wolverine. Others drifted in, most of which I'd never met in person. This included Chameleongirl, whom I know from LiveJournal, and the Sadistic Cow, who I know from the one Gargoyles fic that actually gave me nightmares as well as from Mooncat's forum. Didn't really chat with either of them much during the con; sorry guys.

About that time the caravan that included Chris, Hudson and Ethan showed up, and I wasted no time in pouncing Ethan over the matter of my furry feet, which I was forced to leave with him in New York and had been assured, repeatedly, would be returned to me at the con. I was really really looking forward to being reunited with them, my first attempt and surprising success at gargie feet, but that didn't happen; in an apartment the size of a breadbox, they had proved unfindable.

I'm really going to miss those feet. : (

And while I'm busy sulking about that, Aaron wanders away from where he'd been chatting with Chris, comes up to me and says, "I'm in".

To which I, knowing he couldn't possibly mean 2005 con staff since his insistence post-2003 that he'll never get within 300 feet of being on a con staff again and Mara's equal insistence that she would gut anyone who attempted anyone who attempted to convince him otherwise with a plastic spork, cleverly respond:

"What?"

"Treasurer. For 2005. Chris talked me into it."

"What? HOW???"

"I'm not sure."

I notice at this point Mara is talking to Chris, and no sporks seem present. It takes me a while to process this, so it's a full three minutes later, after I've gone back to chatting with Silver about art stuff, that I turn back to where Aaron is talking to Hudson's group and yowl a "Are you insane?!?"

Aaron: "What?"

Me: "…nothing."

Time passes, and the (rather large) group that had accompanied the con staff and Greg Weisman out to dinner return; it may have been after midnight by then. Anyway, an all new round of greetings goes on, of which I am only peripherally part of as I either don't know, or am severely intimidated by, most of those who just showed up. I should also take this time to point out that I was at the con ingocnito- as myself. About three months earlier I'd needed hair for an art project, right then, and lopped off my ponytail to use. I'd cut it back further in the tweening months, so for the first time since I was seven I had hair that didn't reach my shoulders. Second, I was wearing contacts instead of my usual (darkly tinted) glasses. It had taken Hudson until after I started talking for him to recognize me, and Kaelyan about five minutes after that. (Kathy Pogge didn't for over a day, but then, she had far less reason to than either of the guys.)

But Greg Weisman knew in two seconds flat, and gave me a hug as well. So there's a group of over twenty fans carousing in a mass of sub-groups chatting right in front of the hotel doors for about half an hour before people start begging off and heading to bed. The ones left eventually decided to move out of the middle of the lobby walkway- where everyone tended to gravitate to throughout the con- over to the couches, and all we sat down and chatted for a bit.

The group broke up, and I worked on my costume while Aaron and Mara went to sleep, and for a couple hours after that.

tbc

Greg responds...

Hey, YAY for me. Sometimes I'm quite dense about these things, so I'm glad I wasn't that time. Usually, once I really meet a person, he or she is locked in fairly well. But it can take me two or three gatherings to lock someone into my less-than-traplike brain. And I'm sure there are many exceptions.

Response recorded on August 08, 2006

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Spoogens writes...

Da Gathering Journal.

Well.. This 2004 Gathering was a learning experience.
I learned that this con has morphed from people just coming to see cool, new things and drool over voice actors and Greg. It's turned into a mission and a family. Like in all families, not everyone gets along, but we all stick together and go to ungodly places to see eachother once a year. We take care of eachother, trash hotels together, and constantly strive to make the family a big and better functioning unit.
I learned that everything in Montreal is written in French, and detours and incredibly hard to navigate in a foriegn language.
I learned a pint in Canada is Nearly Ten Smakeroos.
I learned smokes come in packs of 25.
I learned Keith David is very friendly when tipsy.
I learned everyone gets friendlier and smilier when in ridiculous costumes.
I learned Radio Plays are cooler in auitoriums.
I learned everyone bands together when in a country where they can't read the road maps.
And I learned why I've never gone to Montreal before.

I can't wait until 2005, because I know that no matter where we are, or how exspensive a 5 inch pizza is, we are a family.

Greg responds...

An extended family that's eager to extend even further. Tell your friends.

Response recorded on August 08, 2006

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Venus writes...

I have no time to do a real journal, sorry.....college is draining my soul (I have 5 seperate assignments to finish by tomorrow as I type this!), but I did want to get in a blurb before it was too late.

I had an awesome time at this past gathering, it was my third, and definately won't be my last. I saw masses of friends....those people are my family, and it makes me uber happy that I get to see them atleast once a year.
Gargoyles on DVD! I've already convinced another girl here to buy it. ^-^
And....soon back on TV? We can only hope!

Umm, like I said...it was great, I had masses of fun, and I hope everyone can make it for 2005! I'm wearing my t-shirt for it today! I'm a walking advertisement!
See you guys in Vegas!

Greg responds...

Glad you had fun. Stick with us, the best is yet to come!

Response recorded on August 07, 2006

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Nikki "Y2Hecate" Owens writes...

Gathering 2005

Unfortunately, with school and family madness, I've not had time to write up an actual con journal (yet). But, I did want to say a few things about it.

The 8th Gathering Of The Gargoyles, was actually my 4th Gathering. It was a wonderful experience, as always. The staff did a great job, and I thank them for all their hard work.
Traveling to Canada was a new and exciting experience for me. I'm glad I got the chance.
The Gathering itself is always fun for me, and this year was no exception. But here's some of my personal highlights.
The banquet was delicious. I was a little worried that I wouldn't like it, as I'm a very picky eater, but I'm glad I tried it.
The art show was amazing. So many talented artists! Seeing all the great pieces and the work put into them really encourages me to improve my own art.
Lots of interesting panels, as usual. I only wish I had the time to attend more of them. Radio Play, and Blue Mug were a couple of my favorite events.
The Masquerade and Ball!

The best part, however, is just hanging out, and seeing all the fans that attend; my friends, and all the new people I meet.
The Gathering is just that.. a gathering. A gathering of lots of great people from all over the world, just hanging out and having fun. All in the name of Gargoyles.
It's something I look forward to every year.

I can't wait to see everyone in Las Vegas for 2006! Come hang out with us!

~Nikki/Hecate~
(If anyone's interested: When I do finish my more detailed con report, I'll post it here: http://www.y2hecate.com/Gathering2004/ )

Greg responds...

As many of you know, Nikki loves the Gathering so much that she's now conchair for the 2007 Gathering in Pigeon Forge, TN.

Response recorded on August 07, 2006

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2006 SAN DIEGO COMICCON JOURNAL

2006 SAN DIEGO COMICCON JOURNAL

Just a quick and dirty rundown of how I spent this year's record-SMASHING attendance ComicCon.

WEDNESDAY JULY 19, 2006
8:30am - Wake up at home.

10:30am - Chiropractic appointment and Physical Therapy. (Always good to get worked on before a long drive and a long weekend in an unfamiliar bed.)

11am - Massage. (I know. I live the hard life.)

12pm - Home again to pack.

12:30pm - Hit the road in the not-that-old PT Cruiser.

3:30pm - Arrived in San Diego. Drove down to the Convention Center, but even on Wednesday, parking was impossible. Wound up parking all the way up at Ash & First and walked the many, many blocks to the Con. But I like walking, so frankly that worked fine for me. Stood in the Exhibitor line to pick up badges for myself and my family. (Thanks to SLG and Dan Vado.)

4:30pm - Called my old boss Gary Krisel to tell him I was on my way. I was staying with him and his wonderful wife Jane. They live about twenty minutes north of San Diego.

6:30pm - TWO HOURS later I arrived at their house. Now that's some traffic! Gary and I went to Chilis for a Build-My-Own-Burger. Then it was back to the Krisels. Gary and I talked for a bit. Then I retreated to my room to read Faulkner's Light in August.

1:30am - Lights out.

THURSDAY JULY 20, 2006
8am - Wake up.

9am - Grabbed some fresh OJ and hit the road.

10am - Not wanting to HUNT for a parking space, I just parked at First & Ash again. Walked to the con and found my way to the SLG Booth. Discovered I was scheduled to sign for FOUR HOURS a day for four straight days. That seemed excessive at first, but in the end I found I was GRATEFUL for (a) having someplace to sit and (b) something to do. The convention was completely overwhelming to me. Better to keep busy. Ran into a few people: Perrin Klumpp (of CONvergence) and Tad Stones (of Hellboy).

11am - Started signing GARGOYLES comic books with penciller David Hedgecock. Saw a few familiar faces, including Will H., Howard Bliss and Brian Dumlao.

1pm - Dave treats me to lunch from Café Express. Just a hot dog. (I know how little this guy makes on the comic.) But it was nice to just sit and talk. I really spent some quality time this weekend with Dave and with color artist Will Terrell. Both are great guys.

1:45pm - Headed up to the Panel rooms and caught the end of Tommy Kovac's spotlight panel. He's the creative mind behind SLG's WONDERLAND comic. Dan Vado and Tommy had some funny schtick going.

2:15pm - Had my own spotlight panel moderated by Dan. Talked about my background. Introduced Dave and Stephanie Lostimolo (our cover colorist). Talked about my hopes, plans and fears for the GARGOYLES comic. Answered some questions. It was a brief panel, but a lot of fun. I saw a bunch of familiar faces including Shan & Kevin, Shara (in costume), Seth, Scott, Brian, Jerry (taking pictures of course) and Michael. Met up with Sam Bernstein who was shooting B-Roll for a project we're working on together.

3pm - Sam, Seth, Michael McAdams, Scott, Brian, Tom and I went to Horton Plaza for my SECOND lunch of the day. Had Sushi at the food court. And Ben & Jerry's.

4pm - Started my very deliberate tour of the Exhibit Floor, covering aisles 0-500.

5pm - Second signing of the day - this time with Dave and Will, who had shown up (I'm told) during my panel. First time I had met Will in person. Good guy.

7pm - Went to dinner with the CONvergence gang: Pat & Tim, Perrin & Jenni, Chris & Melissa, plus Len Wein and his wife and Bob Skir. First of course, Pat and I had to walk all dem blocks to my car. Then we drove to a restaurant called Embers. It was a fun evening. But by 10pm we had closed down the place!

10:40pm - Back to the Krisels'. Read some of the Ape Entertainment Comics that Dave had given me (that's his company), including Athena Voltaire, Teddy Scares and The Black Coat. It was all fun stuff.

2am - Lights out.

FRIDAY JULY 21, 2006
8:30am - Wake up. More OJ and then off to the con, again parking at Ash & First.

10:30am - Walked the floor from 600-1000.

11am - Signing with Dave & Will.

12:30pm - Left the signing a half-hour early to attend the Gotham Group party at Rama. Saw a ton of people - most of whom live in L.A. as I do, though we never get together here - including, Bob, Bill, Steve, Bob, Andrew, Grace, Bob, Tramm, Michael, Dean, Nicole, Duane, Michael, Megan, Ellen, Peter, Eddie, Dmitri, etc.

2:30pm - Ted Murphy of Adult Swim interviewed me on camera. Not too sure whether that's going to get used. Have the feeling I wasn't quite on my game. But it was great to meet Ted. When the interview was done, I toured 1100-2000, and was definitely on the verge of burnout. But I ran into more old friends, including Kim, Kevin, Parker and Richard & Wendy Pini. We arranged to have dinner that night.

4pm - I went to the BET Animation Panel with Reggie Hudlin, Denys Cowan and Sydney. They're in the very early stages… but this white Jewish boy would love to get on that network. Honestly.

5pm - Back to the SLG Booth for another two hours of signing with Dave & Will.

7pm - Crispin Freeman and I hiked to my car, and then we met Richard, Wendy and Izzy for dinner at Todai.

10pm - Back at the Krisels'. Beth and the kids were already there, having driven down that afternoon from L.A.

1am - Lights out.

SATURDAY JULY 22, 2006
8am - Wake up.

9:30am - Depart with Benny for the Con. This time we parked near the Baseball Stadium and for Benny's sake we took a pedi-cab to the con.

10:30am - Stopped by the Animation Writers Caucus panel for a bit. But Benny was bored. So we went back to the floor and toured 2000-2500. None of my family had ever been to ComicCon before. It was - shall we say - eye opening.

11am - Back to SLG for our morning signing. Will had bugged out to hit the beach, so it was me, Dave and BENNY, who would have happily signed anything you put in front of him. He was actually a pretty good sport. Eventually, Erin and Beth showed up. Benny and Beth went exploring, and Erin sat with Dave and I for awhile.

1pm - Grabbed some Pizza from Café Express, but there was literally NOWHERE to sit. Wound up sitting single-file on a staircase. After lunch we toured 2500-3000. And then Beth had had enough. She left with the kids to go swimming at the Krisels' (where Benny got stung by a bee - which is one of his major nightmares, but it wound up not being too bad). After they left, I toured 3000-4500. Then I ran into Dave Schwartz, his wife Nanci and their daughter Kara (who I'm fairly certain was named after Supergirl). I was glad to get off the floor and we went to see Frank Miller's panel on THE SPIRIT movie that he plans to write and direct after he's done with SIN CITY II.

4pm - Caught the end of the TV Guide Panel, mostly cause I wanted to sit down and relax and wait for the NEXT panel in that room.

4:30pm - Veronica Mars panel with the creator and a whole bunch of the cast. I'm a HUGE VM fan. Love the show. (Oh, speaking of being a fanboy, I also stopped by Phil Foglio's booth/table. Wanted to introduce myself, but chickened out - and only bought his stuff. Wound up sending him a letter and a copy of GARGOYLES after I got back to L.A. We've since had a really nice e-mail exchange. Guess I was silly to be such a chicken.)

5pm - Back to SLG for more signings with Dave. Since at that point, we didn't know Will had gone to the beach, we were starting to worry about him.

7pm - Went to THE BATMAN panel. Wanted to know what THEY were giving away about the episodes I had written, so that I'd know what was fair game for me to talk about. I think there really taking some interesting chances with their fourth season, and I'm very proud of the episode "Artifacts" that I wrote for them. Also, I can now say that Brendan Routh (SUPERMAN) is appearing in another of my episodes: "The Everywhere Man". But he's NOT playing Superman.

7:30pm - Went to the Animation Writers Caucus party at a nearby hotel. Talked with Kevin, Kevin, Nicole, Jymn and others. (Yeah, I'm name dropping, but I'm only giving first names mostly, so you can try and make a game out of who's who.)

9pm - Dean, Brian, Andy, Erika, Andrew, Ian, Nicole and I headed out to attend the Jetix Party at a way-too-hip-for-me bar named Thin.

9:30pm - We arrived at Thin. But by this time, I had a headache, so I said hi to Jermaine and Tracy and then took off.

11:15pm - Returned to the Krisels'. Beth and the kids and the Krisels were already asleep.

2am - Went to bed.

3am - Fell asleep.

SUNDAY JULY 23, 2006
8am - Wake up.

8:30am - OJ and Rye toast. Said goodbye to the Krisels and my family. (The latter were going to swim some more and then head home.)

10:30am - Parked on the street up near Ash & First. Hit the floor to finish off the 4600-5300.

11am - Signing with Dave & Will.

1pm - Had Thai food with Joey Cavalieri of DC Comics. Pitched a few ideas to him. One of 'em may go. We'll see. But mostly Joey and I caught up. It'd been something like twenty years since we last saw each other.

3pm - Our last signing. All through the con, I think we had a nice steady flow of people coming up to buy books and get signatures and sketches. Felt good.

5pm - Departed the con.

8pm - Made it as far as Irvine and stopped off at Nicole's house for dinner.

10pm - Finally made it home. That's it!


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Jonathan D. Parshall writes...

Got to the hotel the day before the convention absolutely exhausted. That airport really ain't so great. Just collapsed into bed.

The first day I attended a extremely interesting panel with John Clemens about combat. Hudson showed he was scarily familiar with weaponry of all types. :) The opening ceremonies were cool, learning the next con was to be in Las Vegas was a pleasant surprise and I definitely plain on attending. Watch the Clan Olympics take over the ceremonies was a highlight and I only wish I could have managed to see more of it during the con. Afterwards I was participated in Mystery Gargoyles Theater 3000, which was a blast. After dinner and going to my room for a while, I attended the Blue Mug-a-Guest with Greg. Am I the only one who thinks we really get a bigger room for this? The past two have each seemed far too small, this time especially. I still enjoyed the conversation and got to trade a few before hand with Whitbourne about Tim Hourtins. Got my question answered, but again forgot to ask the question I put off asking in New York.

The next day I was at I the auction and managed to buy some things I really don't need. The Radio Play was wonderful. Whoever did the voice of Vinnie really hit the nail on the head, it sounded perfect. The banquet was probably the highlight of the con (Despite the subpar food, but I was expecting that. I am SO looking forward to those Las Vegas buffets!). Listening to Keith speak was a treat, despite having to strain to hear him over the caterwauling next-door (Who the heck were those people anyway?).

The last day was sad, but it really great to get my photo with Keith and a autograph. I had planned to go the amusement park, but a mix-up of my fault prevented me. Still, it was all in all a great con and am already checking airfares for next year. See you'all there!

Greg responds...

Short and too the point.

Response recorded on August 04, 2006

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CKayote writes...

Note to readers; I was writing actual hard copy in a notebook while I was at the con. I've

transcribed it pretty much word-for-word, so when it's written in the present tense, that's

because I wrote about it while it was happening. Where it's in past tense, that's because I

was writing about it later on.

Thursday Evening

Airline travel was airline travel. I'll invest in a jetpack.

8-ish: Got to hotel. Ate. Talked with other gathering-goers. T-Shirts from precious

Gathering and trench coats are good indicators.

1: Finally got to bed. On the floor. Still better than the "mattress" in my dorm last year.

Friday

9:45: Awake. Went to Eat with Sarah the Great. Found out I don't like Swiss Almond Mocha

Chocolate coffee.

We went and registered in. Gotta buy a Shirt. Signed up for Blue Q+A and Clan Oylmpics.

12:00: Went to Sapcebabie's General Round Robin. We talked about UCF (she just graduated

from the university I'm attending).
Waited for more people to come.
Seri Wavelength, Whitbourne, Allaine showed up. We waited more. Lord Sloth showed up.
We started. Allaine taped the whole thing.
"Macbeth and Demona in the Grand Canyon whitewater rafting. Using the words "Bitch, Ropes,

Rocks, Flirtatious, Salamander, Moss, and Whisky"

1:15: Dingy! Out of Round Robin.

1:50: Went to fill out a ballot for the art show. Must take some illegal pictures. Then get

lunch.
Bought a Gathering T-Shirt and Phoenix Gate anthology.
T-Shirt was too small, so I exchanged it for another one.
Got lunch with Sara the Great.

3:15: Saw a little bit of Greg's voice acting talk. He was talking about picturing the

characters in his head before making the show.

3:30: Went to costume seminar.

4:15: Wrote on the hard copy of this journal. Waited for opening ceremony at 5:00.

4:45: Made a sign for our Clan Olympics team. We purposely spelled it wrong. -> For those of

you who don't know (re: everybody), I was on Clan Chalangd, Part Duex.

5:00: Sat with my team (Me, Sarah the Great, ChynaRose, and Allaine) at opening ceremonies.

I stuffed the most balls down my shirt! So proud.

Vegas sounded great. Decided I had to find money to attend.

Enjoyed the pitch presentations. Liked the evolutions of the character designs.
Great story about 'This is meant for kids?!"
Wasn't impressed by the New Olympians presentation. Thought the design for Sphinx was

interesting. Very Gargish. I wonder why no one on AskGreg has asked if she has some ancestry

in the New Olympian Clan.
My advice (not that I'm qualified to give it) to Greg on this one is it needs to have some

plot rather than just premise.

Bad Guys ROcked!

Disappointed we didn't get to do Mystery Gargoyles Theater 3000.

Dinner: Ate a bagel at Tim Horton's.

10:00: Shot in the dark. We came in last but made 3 tic-tact-toe. Must get someone to

exorcise the "spirits".

12:00-2:00: 'Blue' (why is it called Blue?) Mug-a-Guest. Not a lot of 'Blue' questions. Was

I the only one who asked adult questions (I asked using the tail to pleasure one's self and

where little Oberon's Children came from) or is my memory bad? Probably both.

Saturday

9:50: Dragged myself out of bed (re:the floor). Roomates need to wash their feet. Damn!

10:00 Torture trivia. Lots of fun. I'm surprised the other teams didn't try to get us out

first.
But never fear! I am the holder of the magic 1up ball!

11:15: Out of torture trivia. We were down to 2nd from last. Saved the 1up ball.

I went upstairs and cleaned up. Had some bad donuts and awlful coffee (mostly water) at Tim

Horton's.

12:00: Sat around talking about commercials with some of the English con-goers at the

McDonald's by the Tim Horton's.

12:30: Came to the auction. Bought some stuff.
I'll see about scanning the coloring book up onto the internet.

1:37: Still at the auction. Going to buy a dangly and stick it to my forehead like White.
Damn! The Brooklyn went up to $26!
Bought the last Broadway one for $6. Probably too much. But I must suction cup it to my head

so I can take a photo and put it on the internet. Which means I need a website.

They auctioned of "The Cell". You feel the tension in the air. If someone had lit a match

I'm afraid the room would have exploded.

$41 for the "Darkfighter" backpack.

Gotta email Rita M. and congratulate her on how well her artwork sold.

2:30: Played really hard pictionary. It was really hard.
We got last and had to allow another team to die. But we still had the Hunter's Moon Dash to

make it up.

3:15: Payed for my auction stuff. Attached the Broadway sucker to head. It rocked.

Played pictionary some more just for fun. Robert was really good at it. we got all the

phrases when he was drawing.

3:30: Put in the minimum $20 bid on the Gargoyle-alien-armor-dune-worm painting. It's sort

of alot and not's Netzumi's best piece, but it's picture I stumbled upon that got me into

the fandom, so it's worth buying.

3:40: Put stuff down up in the room. The I went to attend the radio play. Was wondering what

it was going to be. I know it needs lots of people and there's about 30 sitting upfront.

3:50: We started the radio play. Had to wait for the film crew.

4:21: They did "The Journey". Going to see the music videos next.

4:30: Seen the videoes. Disappointed there was only 3. Apparently the mail-ins didn't work

or some such. Poor Siren. Trying to remember if Nickerous said he sent some in.
Think mine was the best, but I'm partial. Didn't because of it.

Went to A fan's room. Ate his pizza and watched a few episode tapes.

8:30: Banquest is over. Keith David is doing Q+A. Annoying music from next door drifting

over. But don't worry, "Our hearts will go on."

9:30: Kicked us out to prep for the Masquerade.
Gotta do something for it next year. Severius or Owen?

9:50: Masquerade's getting going. Lots of people in costumes who don't seem to be in the

contest. I wonder if the full body gargoyle guy scared them off.
Costumes were great. Ran out of pictures on my camera. Started taking them with the digital

in my cell phone.
My hands are sore and bleeding from all the clapping! And I'm finding I write with too many

exclamation marks.

11:45: Went up to Sarah's room and we made "The ONE BOX."
Came back down and took Allaine's pciture with my camera phone. I know he saw us. Wonder

what he was thinking. Will find out the hard way.
But it'll be worth it. Our characture of him is great!

11:55: Came down to karoke to see what's going on down here.

1:05: Lyric-less "YMCA" (we didn't know any of the words so we insert 'something-something'

every 5 seconds).
My hands are still sore from earlier.

1:35: My "I Will Survive" is a hit.

Sunday

10:05: Sarah had Scott drag me out of bed for the scavenger hunt. Lot of fun. Bought the

knick-knacks we didn't have.
Sarah ran upstreet(and I mean literally mean up and in up-hill) to a convience store and

nearly passed out.

12:30: Saw the Keith David Mug-A-Guest.

1:15-ish: Bought the "Midori' piece I had bid on in the art show.
Bought another T-shirt too. (Later I got home to realize that the gargoyle is on the back of

the shirt, not the front like I thought.)

3:00: Closing. Looking forward to 2005. Registered for next year. Got a free T-shirt.

5:30: Swam in the indoor pool. Feel much better.

6:30: Showered. Smell much better.

7:00: Laser Tag!

KICKED @%#^& ASS!
Glad I wore all black.

9:30: Went to eat at a restaurant called Rueben's. Lousy sandwich. Fires were good. It was

decided that we will do laser tag next year in Vegas.

10:45: Siryn is a mean drunk. Enough said.

11:00: Talked with Lynati & others about TGS stuff. Aaron, Marge, & Greg Bishanky(?) showed

up later.

1:40: Went to bed.

Monday

7:30: Sarah dragged me out of bed. We walked around and saw the architecture.
Got breakfast. Good food.

9:50: We got back. Ran to the bathrooms.

10:10: Out of room. Sat in lobby and talked.

11:30: Outta there. Cuaght bus to the airport.

12:55: Finishing Gathering Journal in airport. Missing everybody already. Dang.

Greg responds...

That was punchy! It had verve!

Response recorded on August 04, 2006

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Leo writes...

Thursday, August 5th: "Pre" Gathering.

We arrived at the Delta Centrville a little after 6PM. Kelly and I went with the porter and our bags to our room on the 28th floor (the highest "guest" floor in the hotel). After tipping the porter we relaxed in the room for about a half hour, checking out what channels the TV had to offer. Alex only had time to glance around the room and make a couple calls home before he had to go play "Taxi Driver" between the hotel and the airport. Lord Sloth then stopped by after checking in at his youth hostle and we let him keep his stuff in or room while he was at the con.
We arrived at the Delta Centrville a little after 6PM. Kelly and I went with the porter and our bags to our room on the 28th floor (the highest "guest" floor in the hotel). After tipping the porter we relaxed in the room for about a half hour, checking out what channels the TV had to offer. Alex only had time to glance around the room and make a couple calls home before he had to go play "Taxi Driver" between the hotel and the airport. Lord Sloth then stopped by after checking in at his youth hostle and we let him keep his stuff in or room while he was at the con.

We spent most of what was left of the evening lounging in the room or taking exciting elevator rides down to the lobby, either for Kelly to have a smoke or to see if we could catch any other con-goers as they were checking in. By about 10:00 most of the "con veterans" had arrived and we hung out in the lobby (A Fan, Mara, Aaron, Spacebabie, Revel, Liz - who is also from Virginia - Wingless, and many others) Alex Garg had arrived with Kathy, but they had to leave again to go pick up Kathy's room mate as well as Denis - the 4th person in our room. This caused some confusion when Denis arrived about an hour and a half after Alex Left.

I was under the impression that Denis had arrived with Alex. So Kelly and I brought him up to the room. We watched TV for a while and waited for Alex to come back from "parking the car". About half an hour later when Denis asked us where Alex was, I said he probably stayed down in the lobby to chat. THEN.. we find out that Denis actually didn't get picked up by Alex, he took a taxi when he couldn't find he, at the airport.

Oops.

At about 1:AM, Alex comes in looking exhausted. He looks at the bed he had planned on sleeping in, sees Denis asleep in it, then looks at me and Kelly. After briefly explaining the misunderstanding we finally called it a night, with Alex sleeping on an exercise mat on the floor.

Friday, August 6th: Gathering, Day 1

The four of us (Alex, Kelly, Denis, and I) had breakfast at Chez Antoine, the "bistro" in the hotel lobby. With us were Ellen Stolfa, Kathy Pogge, and a couple other fans. Most of us ordered the buffet, which was pretty good but a little on the expensive side. After breakfast, we went up to the mezzanine and hung out until registration started. I saw many familiar faces and many new ones as well, including the "famous" Christine Morgan.

A little while later, registration opened and I picked up my package - con badge, T-shirt, Phoenix Gate Anthology, and schedule (or rather "program" - 26 pages and center stapled - kudos to Syrin for the awesome job). After our little group had registered, Ellen invited us on a walking tour of downtown Montreal. We all went back upstairs, dropped off our packets gathered our "tourist" gear. Unfortunately my digital camera needed a recharge so I had to take my bulky SLR film camera instead. On the way back down I stopped at the con suite and dropped of a couple movie contributions for the video room: "They Live" and "Men at Work" - both featured Keith David. Soon we were all assembled and ready to go.

We first stopped at the Notre-Dame Basilica. I had seen videos of this building, and I knew the interior was even more spectacular, so I really wanted to go inside. I was particularly interested in seeing the famous organ which has been there since 1891. Unfortunately we didn't have much time, and we were hoping to stop for food before getting back to the con. So I took some photos of the exterior and a couple shots of the horse-drawn carriages that were lining the street. I hoped I would be able to come back later and see the inside. We then visited China Town where we browsed a few of the shops. We then made our way back towards the hotel. On the way back, Ellen took us by McGill University, one of her Alma-matters. We briefly stopped at a bistro on University Street. Its small atrium featured a sculpture of a cow. This provided for some amusement as one of Kelly's online personas is "The Sadistic Cow." Ellen and Kathy decided to stay and eat, while the four of us from room 2816 rushed back to the hotel so we could catch the beginning of the second block of panels since we were already missing the first block.

I went to Flanker's "Understanding Combat" panel. I don't think he'll be able to do this panel in Vegas, much less set foot in an airport with his "visual aids" - which he let us play with. :-D. I then auditioned for the radio play. I never bothered to audition at the last to cons. I was hoping Keith David would be there, but he hadn't arrived yet. So Greg had brought in "Crazy Demona" Jen to assist him. I read for Xanatos and did my "angry cat" impression. The DVD crew was waiting outside the room. Being a multi-media enthusiast I had to get a close look at that camera. After that I went up to the room and relaxed a bit before Opening Ceremonies.

Opening Ceremonies started out with the usual introduction by the con staff. Gorebash was awarded the title of "Fan Guest of Honor." Then Clan Olympics "took over" with their first event: "Get Stuffed" - where one team member stands at the front of the room, wearing a ripped oversized t-shirt, into which others try to stuff as many plastic balls as possible (I took pictures). After the silliness was over, the G2005 staff pimped next years con and unveiled the mascot, unofficially named "Blue Eyes." Then Greg (after pulling his sadistic "Ladies and gentlemen, Keith David" stunt) played a tape recording of several of the production crew and voice talent involved in the show, including Ed Asner (Huson) sans accent. Basically they all said the same thing - how they loved working on the show and that if they could they would try to make next year's convention. Next came the big announcement that the DVD was going to be on December 7th (the day after my birthday.) Greg then proceeded to elaborate by reading from a printed out PowerPoint presentation (which you can read more about in his own journal). The rest of Opening Ceremonies proceeded "normally" with the screening of the two promotion videos, the Bad Guys lica reel, and the audio recording of the never animated Team Atlantis episode, "The Last."

After Opening ceremonies we retreated back to the room - I think we watched "South Park"… in FRENCH - before heading down to the Blue Mug -A-Guest, where you can ask Greg anything that comes to your dirty little mind. At least that's how it was last year. This year, it wasn't so "blue." Some say it was because we didn't have Thom Adcox there to encourage us. I think it might have been because it was scheduled before the "regular" mug-a-guest since Greg couldn't stay Saturday night. Whatever the reason, it seems more people were interested in talking about the DVD than asking naughty questions. Although I didn't stay very long, I did work up the courage to show Greg the screen shots of frames that might have been "overlooked" but the animation supervisors, as well as a compilation of screen shots with accompanying text (courtesy of the "Sadistic Cow.") These were passed around and got some amusing reactions.

To be continued..... (hopefully)

Greg responds...

I've come to the conclusion or at least the opinion that the reason that Blue Mugs are no longer as blue as they once were is because we've already covered most of the blue bases. At every blue mug, somebody pipes up and asks a silly or humorously obnoxious question that's so out there that I don't have an answer, but serious blue discussions that we might have seem old news.

That's my theory, anyway.

Maybe the comics will encourage more blueness -- since they won't be blue at all, but may inspire blue thoughts.

Response recorded on August 03, 2006


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