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The Phoenix Gate

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RIPOSTES 2006-08 (Aug)

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Ra writes...

I was wondering, I have been looking around for my answer, and I couldn't find but ONE part of it.
I'm simply wondering if you could post the magic spells that are spoken in Latin here. I'd love to see them. Like when Magus turns the clan into stone, or the spell to part the mists into the Isle of Avalon etc. The only one I could find in this page was the spell to make the Phoenix Gate work.

"Deflagrate muri tempi et intervalia!" Which means, "Burn down the walls of time and space!"

Thank you for your time.

Greg responds...

I can't remember off the top of my head all the spells we used, and I'm not going to go script by script through 65 scripts to find them all...

But here are the two you specified...

Dormiatis dum castellum super nubes ascendant.

and

Vocate venti fortunate,
Ex ricae Oberonis,
Et hic navis frugum regate,
Ad orae Avalonis.

Response recorded on August 25, 2006

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michael coco writes...

hey greg i am a big fan of the gargoyles i watch every chance i get and i was wondering (it would be awesome)if there is going to be a live action movie or if there is what is the progress of it?

Greg responds...

As I've stated before, the live-action movie which Touchstone Pictures (a division of Disney) had in script development for years as been shelved. No progress to report.

Response recorded on August 25, 2006

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Richard von Heinz writes...

1) Is Nokkar the Sentinel aware of the cloaked island of New Olympus or has New Olympian technology being able to fool the technology developed by his kind?

2) How did the New Olympians manage to create such advanced technology years ahead of human technology when they had a much smaller population and less resources for research and development when in regard human civilizations have been inventing continuously. For example even through humanity was in the Dark Age in Western Europe, people were still developing stuff in the MidEast and the Far East.

So in short order how did the New Olympians get so ahead? Did they just bypass or skip some of the technologies that humanity has or were they just really brillant at inventing stuff.

Greg responds...

1. Well, without confirming whether or not Nokkar COULD have seen through their cloak, I think the short answer is that he DIDN'T see through it. Had no reason to look. He's looking outward for an external attack. That's where his sensors are aimed.

2. Continuity helps. A few brilliant individuals who are able to build upon the work of their predecessors without interference and are given the resources can do amazing things in very few generations. Scattered advancement (two steps forward, one step back) across continents with little or no communication doesn't encourage speed of development. I also think an open mind helps too. Who believed that a man could fly in the so-called real world? A few people certainly, but until the Wright Brothers proved it, not the masses. On New Olympus, lots of their citizens can already fly. So making the leap to creating a chariot to accomidate those without wings or other flight capabilities isn't quite as difficult.

Response recorded on August 24, 2006

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Richard von Heinz writes...

1) Why did the producers of the show go with iron as the general weakness for Oberon's Children when many of them like Raven, Odin or Anubis were figures from mythologies that didn't see iron as a sort of "god kryptonite". In fact the Fenris wolf from norse mythology was able to snap his iron chains and had to be finally chained with a magical one and many of the gods and demons of the Far East didn't seem to have a problem with iron.

2)In relation to the first question why was Oberon the king and lord of the third race that included such beings as Odin and possibly Zeus and other godhead when in the traditional stories he was just a minor king of the fairies or elves?

In general I'm just rather curious why you put so many of the qualities found in fairies and elves such as Oberon and the iron weakness onto mythological figures such as Odin, Coyote or Anasi which in the end from my point of view kind of diminishes the gods.

Greg responds...

1) When combining so many mythologies, certain choices have to be made. Since we were putting a traditional "fairy" figure like Oberon at the top of our feudal pyramid, using iron made sense. I understand your objection, even sympathize with it, but I also don't regret our decision.

2) Well, a short answer is that we wanted to diminish the gods a bit... or put another way, we wanted to create a unifying system for them all. A feudal system. Oberon and Titania got priority, because in general SHAKESPEARE got priority. Titania, as far as I know, is not a traditional figure but an invention of ol' Will's. I've always freely admitted to being a Shakespeare fanatic, so his characters, including Macbeth, Oberon, Titania, Puck, the Weird Sisters, etc. were always going to have featured roles in this series. Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference, and I was the guy in charge. That doesn't make me RIGHT in some transcendent sense, just means that I had the right to create the universe I wanted to play in. So I did.

Response recorded on August 24, 2006

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Todd Jensen writes...

Just so that I've gotten this straight - so in the very first outline for "Mark of the Panther", it was were-jaguars rather than were-panthers? I'm glad that that was changed; since jaguars live in South America rather than Africa, it'd be pretty strange seeing one (ordinary or were) showing up in Nigeria.

Greg responds...

Yep, and that's why the change was made of course. We got the beast wrong. So we fixed it.

Response recorded on August 23, 2006

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Todd Jensen writes...

Thanks for the ramble on "Mark of the Panther". (Boy, we're really coming along well with the rambles now! Isn't it great?) Here are my thoughts on it.

One of the moments that still most stands out to me is the legend of the Panther Queen that was incorporated into the story; the change of animation to set the old tale apart from the present-day action was a particular delight for me. (Although I hadn't even thought until you mentioned it that somebody tuning into "Gargoyles" during this story could have mistakenly believed that they were watching a different television program.)

I've read a little about Anansi before the series came out, though I'm no expert upon him. One thing that I had learned about him, which I think that the episode captures accurately, is that his tricks and schemes had a tendency to backfire upon him - and this is what happens in both the Panther Queen story and the main action. In the Panther Queen story, Anansi, indignant about having to turn the Panther Queen's son into a panther, banishes all the humans from Karadigi - and then realizes too late that he's just sacked his entire hunting force, so who's going to bring him food now? And in the present day, Anansi's getting Fara Maku to hunt for him worked too well - he gorged himself to such an extent that, once out of his web, he was too fat and unwieldy to fight the gargoyles effectively.

Diane's helping to resolve satisfactorally the problem of Goliath's difficulty in acknowledging Angela as his daughter reminds me of something that you once said about why they generally leave mothers out of Disney movies: the mother, if she was there, could have found a solution to the problem so quickly that there'd be barely any story. And once Elisa's mother shows up, she does indeed help solve the Goliath-Angela problem (though without preventing there from being a story).

And I picked up (by the last time that I saw this episode, a few months ago - I regularly watch my "Gargoyles" tapes every summer) on the link between Diane telling Fara Maku about his desire to keep Tea by his side "That's not love; that's selfishness" and her telling Elisa at the end that love is about letting go.

The moment that you mentioned about Diane telling Goliath with a certain indignant dignity "I don't need protection" and Goliath saying "Of course" always amused me - and I found myself also thinking of "mother-in-law" towards Diane at that moment.

The first time that I saw this episode, I thought that Anansi had indeed been slain at the end, though "The Gathering Part One" proved me wrong on that. And, truth to tell, I'm kind of glad that the Children of Oberon are so difficult to kill and that we haven't had any genuine deaths among them as yet in the series. After all, they are (or the bulk of them are) traditional figures in humanity's own myths and legends, part of our cultural heritage. Obviously, a genuine death for Anansi wouldn't result in everyone forgetting the tales about him, but still, his passing, or the passing of any other member of the Third Race, would somehow (to me, at least) diminish the "tapestry of story" that we have gained from them. (When we get to "The Gathering Part Two", I'll mention how Oberon's sentence upon Puck has a similar, if not as strong, impact upon me.)

Thanks also for telling us about how Bronx somehow reminded you and your family of Norman again. (I wonder now how the Cagney scenes in "Gargoyles" would have affected me if I'd seen any of them between the time that my old cat Merlin passed on, two months ago, and the time that I adopted my new kitten Obie.) Norman sounds like he must truly have been quite a dog.

Greg responds...

Norman was indeed quite a dog. I miss him still. We have two new old dogs now, Sammi & Abraham and we still have our cat Bigtime, but we recently lost our cat Iggy during a power outage. And when I say "lost" I mean that literally. Heat wave. Power outage. Open windows. He must have run off. But he hasn't come back.

Kinda know how Hudson felt about Bronx during the World Tour. So I'm hoping Iggy's having fun in his own personal Avalon.

Response recorded on August 23, 2006

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Joey writes...

How did Elisa know how to wake up Sleeping King Arthur in Avalon part 3?

Greg responds...

The Magus filled her in off-camera.

Response recorded on August 22, 2006

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Joey writes...

If Gargoyles hadn't (temporarily) ended when it did, would it still be going or would you have run out of material by now? 10 years is a lot of episodes. How many eps per season would there have been anyways? 13, 52, or somewhere in between.

Greg responds...

Well, there are SO many "ifs" in your hypothetical question, I don't know how to evalute the specifics. But I am QUITE confident that I would not have run out of material by now. The new comic book can easily go twice that long assuming sales support us.

As for how many episodes per season, that's a financial question, not a creative one. We didn't do 13 in season one and 52 in season two for creative reasons, but for financial ones. Likewise the decision to make 13 in Season 3 (Goliath Chronicles) was again financial. So in the intervening seasons, the answer is zero per season, for what Disney perceived as financial reasons. So how to evaluate financials for a hypothetical non-existent season is impossible.

Response recorded on August 22, 2006

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Todd Jensen writes...

Thanks for the Election Day present, Greg - namely, the "Walkabout" ramble! Here's some thoughts of mine on it in response.

For a start, I missed this episode the first time around (due to my moving to my first Central West End apartment the day that it first aired), so I only got to see it during later showings (by which time, of course, I'd seen "The Gathering" and knew the real story about Anastasia Renard). Fortunately, it didn't ruin the episode for me.

Generally, I have difficulties with the notion of an artificial intelligence as the antagonist (whether a computer, a robot, or what-have-you) - when it's a deliberate antagonist, that is, as opposed to just following orders like the Steel Clan robots or Renard's cybots - because I find it a little too difficult to imagine a machine becoming evil. I believe (like Goliath in "Outfoxed") that it takes a living being to engage in motives of good or evil. So, for example, I usually have a hard time accepting a computer or robot out to conquer the world since that would require it to have emotions (power-hunger, greed, paranoia of the "I've got to conquer them before they conquer me" variety), which I can't imagine an artificial intelligence developing. That said, I found that Matrix's actions in "Walkabout" worked for me since it wasn't out to reformat the world out of "villainous motives" but merely because it was obeying its programming, to create order, and thought that it was carrying out its duty. It might not even have understood, at that stage in its development, that its bringing order to the world would mean disaster to all living things on the planet. So the Matrix worked for me.

(I might add that one of my favorite bits in the episode comes when Goliath is protesting repeatedly to the Matrix in the Dreamtime that its form of order would bring about death to everyone on Earth, and the Matrix replies, in this almost desperate fashion "But we must have order." It said that in a way that felt, to me, as if it was beginning to understand at last what Goliath was saying, but still had the problem that its programming demanded that it produce order, and it couldn't go against its programming.)

I'd gotten fond of Dingo after "Upgrade", and so I enjoyed seeing him again, wanting to make a change for the better. The touch that I especially liked was his mentioning about how he'd used to be a hero to a lot of people when he was on the Pack's television series, and wants to go back to that, only this time being a real hero rather than just playing one on television.

You're correct about the "Dreamtime" being not quite accurate; a friend of mine who knows more about Australian Aborigine legend than I do pointed out that the Dreamtime was actually a "mythical time period" when the world was being created rather than some sort of other dimension.

I liked your mention of how the Avalon World Tour was supposed to take the cast to every inhabited continent (the "inhabited" part would explain the absence of Antarctica - which you were planning on sending King Arthur and Griff to, anyway). Technically, they don't set foot in South America unless you enlarge its boundaries to include Central America (in this case, Guatemala), and don't set foot on mainland Asia (as opposed to Japan) in the television series (though there's your Himalayas story that you'd planned for the Gargoyles comic to make up for that).

I got a chuckle out of Erin's response to the name "Matrix" in connection to the movies.

Of course, another big element is the introduction of Anastasia Renard on stage at last, plus seeing Fox pregnant. (I've sometimes wondered whether there were any S&P issues with that part.) I especially liked Goliath realizing that Fox is Renard's daughter after being introduced to Anastasia.

Again, thanks for the ramble. I'm really looking forward to more to come.

Greg responds...

I don't recall any particular S&P problems with Fox's pregnancy. Though I definitely feel that the mere fact that we were allowed to have Fox get pregnant was something of a miracle.

Response recorded on August 22, 2006

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Todd Jensen writes...

Thanks for the first new Ramble in a year, Greg. I really enjoyed reading the "Hound of Ulster" one, and hope that this is the first of many more to come in the last couple of months of 2004; I've been eagerly awaiting the rambles for the last 22 episodes of "Gargoyles" that you worked on, after getting the rambles for the first 44.

I only saw the first half of the episode the first time that it aired (I was in the middle of a move from the suburbs to the Central West End of St. Louis in early 1996, and so missed the end due to working on the move with my family). And by the time that I got to see the whole thing through, I'd already seen "The Gathering", complete with the Banshee's fate at the hands of Oberon. Not that it hurt things that much. Since then, I watch my taped version of it regularly each St. Patrick's Day, as a holiday tradition. The big pity is that I can no longer remember my initial response to it (such as whether I thought that Molly was a person independent of the Banshee whom the Banshee merely masqueraded as once or twice, or whether they were one and the same). Sorry about that.

I was amused to discover that you'd originally thought of calling this one "A Bronx Tail" in light of how the Goliath Chronicles used that title later on. (I recall that they also used that title in the "Gargoyles" comic book series, at one point.)

I honestly hadn't thought of the Lassie connection with Bronx until you mentioned it (but then, I know Lassie more by reputation). (I did catch the Wizard of Oz quotes right away, though.)

I'm a bit puzzled by your mention of a certain "Liscoo". Is that the name of Rory's hometown (if so, it obviously didn't make it into the dialogue of the completed episode)?

You were correct in not using the term "Barghest" for that episode, since it's indeed linked to northern England (those viewers who were already aware of the discrepancy from the original Cuchulain legend would have let you have it even more if the term "Barghest" had gotten into an Irish story!). But I like the notion of associating gargoyle beasts with the "black dogs" of Britain and Ireland. The "black dogs" of British and Irish folklore do match gargoyle beasts; they're generally nocturnal, are awe-inspiring creatures that can strike fear into people's hearts, and yet often appear in the role of protectors, despite their fearsome quality. So Bronx playing the role of one of them works.

I find the "dwarves made my shoes" line appropriate, since one of the most famous mythical denizens of Ireland is the leprechaun, and leprechauns are dwarflike shoemakers. (Was that line intended as a direct reference to leprechauns, or is it just another neat coincidence?)

(Another piece of trivia: the Cromm-Cruach - the Banshee's "death-worm" form - or, more precisely, its namesake in Irish mythology, was the source for the name of Crom, the god worshipped by - or, more accurately, sworn by - Conan the Barbarian. Robert E. Howard, the man who originally created Conan, had the habit of borrowing almost all of his names from actual legend and ancient history.)

I'd thought myself (after a couple of showings of the episode, though not right away) that there is a certain similarity between Rory/Cuchulain and the Mighty Thor of Marvel Comics (both modern-day people who become "real" mythical figures after discovering a stick that transforms into the mythical figure's traditional weapon). Hopefully you'll be able to solve it if you ever bring the series back long enough for Rory to show up again.

And, yep, the Banshee did pass up the opportunity to mesmerize her prisoners. (She also showed that annoying tendency that so many interrogators have of "I've already made up my mind about whether you're innocent or guilty, so all the evidence that you're innocent won't mean a thing to me." A bit like Nokkar later on in "Sentinel", in fact.)

I share your delight in Rory's dad's lack of enthusiasm at seeing Molly. I also enjoy the parts where Rory warms to Bronx (particularly where he actually rides him).

And, yep, it wound up being mainly Rory's episode - but Bronx still got a big role in it.

Greg responds...

I have long term plans for more on Rory, Banshee and even--

Oh no, it's the SLG SPOILER POLICE!

"Damn it, Weisman! Save SOME surprises for the comic book!! Don't make us punish you ... again!"

Response recorded on August 22, 2006

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Lord GargFan writes...

Sorry to ask this again, but, here it goes...

What did Titania whisper to Fox at the end of "The Gathering, Part 2"?

Here are my reasons for you answering this question:

1. It's been long enough. Time to answer this question.

2. It's a burning question that most people want answered.

And another question:

Would what she whispered to Fox be important in a future episode or spin-off?

Greg responds...

Your reasoning seems faulty to me.

1. It's almost been too long. I think at this point my answer would be anti-climactic.

2. I know there's a contingent that doesn't want the answer, but just cuz some fans think they want it, doesn't mean they're right to want it.

And in any case, I have promised to reveal the answer when the Gathering has five hundred or more attendees, and not before. So if you really want the answer, help us scare up attendance for Pigeon Forge!

As for your final question, all things come around in Gargoyles.

Response recorded on August 22, 2006

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Lord GargFan writes...

How would the gargs vote in the election 2004? Also please include the votes for Owen, Elisa, and Xanatos.

Greg responds...

I'm still back in 1996.

Response recorded on August 22, 2006

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Michael Melnikoff writes...

My question relates to the video game "Kingdom Hearts" made by Disney and Square-Enix. For those who haven't played it, the game features worlds, plots, and characters from Disney's many movies and cartoons, even going so far as to get many of the original voice actors to voice the characters. Disney/Square are currently making the sequel Kingdom Hearts 2, and if that game does as well as the first, possibly even a Kingdom Hearts 3. It may be entirely possible that the Gargoyles could be added into one of these two games. Would Disney even consider doing something like this? If it happened, would Disney contact you about a possible plotline for the Gargoyles section of the game? Thanks a bunch.

Greg responds...

I think it would be great, but I have no idea how to make it happen. Don't even know whom to talk to about it. If Disney or Square or whomever decided to include Gargoyles, I would hope they'd come to me. But I can't be sure they would.

Response recorded on August 22, 2006

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Darius writes...

When will the first season of Gargoyles be released in the UK, I already know it will be released 7th December in the United States and I've found no information that it will even be released in the UK.
yomandaz@msn.com

Greg responds...

I don't know even now (nearly two years later). Was it released in the U.K.?

Response recorded on August 21, 2006

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Sam writes...

What kind of buildings were gargoyles found on originally?

Greg responds...

In which culture?

In western culture, mostly cathedrals and castles. But there are a ton of gargoyles on less impressive buildings as well.

Response recorded on August 21, 2006

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DPH writes...

How exactly did you come to realize that Puck and Owen were the same person?

Was it because you looking at who Puck had served and needed somebody?

Greg responds...

I can't believe I haven't answered this before here. But since Todd didn't field this one, I guess I haven't... or at least not here at ASK GREG.

Anyway... No.

We always knew there was something special about Owen, but didn't know what it was at first. Then when we first started working on "The Mirror" and created Puck, it suddenly occured to me that Puck was Owen. An epiphany. I immediately called Brynne Chandler Reaves and Lydia Marano. The conversation went something like this...

Greg: "I just realized: Owen is Puck!"

Brynne & Lydia: "We know!"

It was just so right. The references in "The Mirror" to Puck "serving the human" and in "City of Stone, Part One" to Owen being "the tricky one" were put in post-epiphany.

Response recorded on August 21, 2006

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DPH writes...

Will you please give us approximate dates for when Goliath & Elisa arrived at the various points on the world tour?

Greg responds...

All of them...?

Greedy, much?

<sigh>

Let's see. I'll do it 'til I'm worn out.

Goliath, Elisa & Bronx first arrived...

--on Avalon on December 28, 1995.

Goliath, Elisa, Bronx & Angela first arrived...

--at Wyvern on January 1, 1996;

--on Queen Florence Island on January 3, 1996;

--at Loch Ness on January 16, 1996;

--in Prague on January 19, 1996;

--in Paris on January 21, 1996;

--in London on January 23, 1996;

--in Egypt on January 25, 1996;

--in Ireland on January 27, 1996;

--in Australia on May 1, 1996;

--in Nigeria on May 16, 1996;

--in Norway on May 19, 1996;

--on New Olympus on May 22, 1996;

--in Guatelmala on May 24, 1996;

--on Rapa Nui on June 10, 1996;

--in Ishimura on June 14, 1996;

--in Arizona on June 16, 1996;

--in Tibet on June 18, 1996;

--for the final time on Avalon on July 4th, 1996,

--and back in Manhattan on July 9th, 1996.

Gee, guess I have more stamina than I thought.

Response recorded on August 18, 2006

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Tony Jay, R.I.P.

I just read in today's paper that actor Tony Jay has passed away.

I won't pretend that I knew Tony well. We only worked together once, when he played Anubis for us in the GARGOYLES episode "Grief". But what a great guest spot, huh?

I just loved what he did as Anubis a.k.a. the Jackal-God a.k.a. Death a.k.a. the guy who refused to play favorites. And one of my favorite bits in all of Gargoyles was how we combined Tony's voice -- first with Matt Frewer's and then with Tony Shaloub's -- to create the two Avatars of Anubis. Three totally different personae, one great talented actor. As one might imagine, that could have been a frustrating day, struggling to match up Matt's work with Tony Jay's. (Tony Shaloub recorded at a different time.) But Tony Jay made it easy for us.

He'll be missed.


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Jade Griffin writes...

The Gathering 2004 : Jade Griffin's Journal
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
August 5 - 9, 2004

DAY 1 : THE ARRIVAL

August 5th- Thursday

I'd been looking forward to another Gathering, having missed last year's con in New York. Not even the necessity of flying to a foreign country could dampen my mood. I couldn't wait for my voyage to start!

Having never traveled outside the US, I was grateful for some friendly assistance from seasoned passengers. None on my flight were headed for the Gathering but I find helpful people are more plentiful than previous pessimistic estimates calculated. Arriving the day before the Gathering at 6pm to the hotel, who should I see but the famous and welcome faces of Eden and Kanthara! Followed closely by a sighting of Siryn in the elevator, I was in the comfort of garg fan familiarity. My second home:)

It really is special, the feeling of Clan. We laugh, we share, we know and help each other, but it's more than that. It is a feeling for me that no matter what goes wrong, who cares! It will come out right. I know this because my good friends and fellow Clanners are here with me:)

That evening, I met two of my three roomies -- Mandolin and Kathy-- and had a nice dinner -- accompanied by Chyna Rose and Seri Wavelength-- where we talked on all manner of subjects, from anime crossover fics to garg biology.

BTW, the hotel is gorgeous, everyone is nice, and the food and rooms excellent. Thank you, Montreal Delta Centre-Ville!

I found more and more well-known faces (and names for those I'd never met irl) -- including Greg Weisman, creator of Gargoyles-- and don't get to sleep until roughly 2AM. But who could pass up Godiva chocolate bars and the offer of secrets revealed from Clan Olympics coordinator Abram Wintersmith? Thanx Mau and Abram!

DAY 2 : THE MISSION

August 6th- Friday

Up but not having eaten, I went down to the lobby to see who's about and the Mezzanine to get my badge for the con. It's nothing unusual that it was late setting up. No biggie. More time to gather and chat:) What we do best. I also began collecting room #s to relocate people later.

After registering, unofficially assisted a duo of con virgins with questions. Decked out in my homemade G'04 t-shirt and con badge, I musta looked fairly official looking because I got a lot of questions!

Time to set up art. I hurried back up to the room, grabbed my entries, and set my shtuff up. Grabbed a bite to eat and signed up for Artist's Alley, where artists can take commissions and sell their art on the spot. There for almost 1.5 hrs, and then at the end I received a whopping 6-person commission! There were so many awesome artists competing in the art show I felt a tad outclassed. Y2Hecate, Taylor, Sara Berkley, Noel Leas, Eden, Karlyl, and so many more. The garg fandom definitely has the most talened and creative people. But let's not forget the film crew hired by Disney to make a G'04 documentary. I'd been watching for signs of them, and saw them a bit that day. Hard not to lugging around a film camera and a boom mic:) But I wasn't trying to get in anyone's way, so at the Artist's Alley I stayed. And at every Gathering I attend, I do one thing besides my infamous Mystery Gargoyles Theater 3000 event (more on that later). I bring a picture to give away.

This picture has a rather touching story behind it. It is a memorial picture I did after learning of poor Granite's unfortunate accident that took her life, and I refuse to sell the picture. I want her remembered, and so I give the picture to others, to remind them of her, of how special we all are, and that we are a special group because we care so much about everyone, even those we met only briefly.

As I told this story to one fan stopping by, the film crew heard me. They came over and asked me to say the story again. Intrigued, they later came back and filmed me explaining from the start, and reading the lyrics that go with the picture, from Disney's Millenium Walk: "We Go On". I was so happy to have them interested in Granite's picture, I think I forgot to say my name! LOL. And yes, it was great getting on camera. Can't lie there.

Opening Ceremonies. We got to watch Greg's (aka Greg Weisman, series creator) usual delightful video collection of hopeful projects, and then got a little surprise. Greg had an audio tape of others we'd like to have as guests, saying hello to us from afar and hoping to see us in following cons! How sweet! And then Clan Olympics interrupted the whole affair with an intro of the teams and the first competition. Talk about wild!

Greg came back to the podium after the planned 'interruption'. He had important stuff to say, and we listened well.

"The first season of Gargoyles will be released on December 7th of this year, in time for the holiday season."

Ecstatic applause ensued.

"I have a mission for you." Greg said. "Even if every one of you bought ten copies of the dvd..."

And here we interruped with a hearty, "Only ten??"

Smile. "It won't be enough to get the show back. I want you, like missionaries, to spread the word. We need to tell everyone about it. that is the best thing you can do to get new material for the show. If it sells phenomenally well, we'll get that shot. So go out there, post it online, tell everyone you know, get the word out about the dvd. This is the pivotal moment, the make-it-or-break-it. Our only shot at this, but we do have a chance." Note: not verbatum

Even more ecstatic applause errupted.

So we now have a mission, and a good start.

Here's an even better one: Chris Rogers, heading the G'05 con in Vegas, informed us that the fandom is now a legal organization, with all the legal rights and priviledges thereof. We can write off Gathering expenses on our taxes, including travel, membership dues (Gathering admission), and probably hotel expenses! Can this really be true?? OMG! Exciting stuff! We are recognized!!

After Opening Ceremonies, it's time for MGT3K. Mystery Gargoyle Theater 3000 is a combo of the show antics of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Gargoyles. Basically, I invite con goers to join me in making fun of the episodes:) I get it all down on the net and post the 'scripts' on the official MGT3K website. For more info, see Mystery Gargoyle Theater 3000 for info and the scripts! I was pleased to see about 30 people attending. Ah, the faithful hecklers:)

The con does something every time I find fascinating. This year it was called the Blue Mug-A-Guest. In cons prior, it had no name I knew of. Basically Greg Weisman inviting however many will fit into the con suite to talk about whatever we want involving gargs or his other works. And I mean ask him ANYthing. This session was rated 18 and over, people. Frequently, though, we had mild queries for the Creator, and the room was totally packed. I think I counted 45 or so people in one small con suite, and you know how small those rooms are!

It was another late nighter but as always, I fell into bed around 2:30 AM, very happy and psyched.

DAY 3 : THE MASQUERADE

August 7th- Saturday

Aside from Keith David (voice of Goliath) being seriously delayed, the con was going great. So much to do! I had another commission, a pic trade with Taylor, the art show to cast my vote in, a few panels to catch, food, auditioning for the Radio Play, socializing, merch to peruse, the auction to bid at, and then dinner. Still no Keith David...

Many people dressed nice for the banquet, and let me tell you, I felt I should have. It's ambience. spoke nothing but elegance and decadence. Beauty, tasteful delights, and no small meal! Add that to great company and you get... Exquisite.

BTW, 2 things different in Canada than in the US-- Same # of bums on the streets but the shops all have open windows and walls! Instead of air conditioned buildings, they let the natural breeze cool you while you eat and shop. Cool:)

Keith David arrived and was very friendly, open, amiable, and very willing to tell stories, even after all the delays of flights and having his three children with him. He must really like us!

I and others had to depart w/o hearing all of his stories. Costumes to prepare!

Like many this year, I worked hard on my outfit. We wanted to look good. We all knew the film crew would be there, and so would Greg Weisman and Keith David. I hoped everyone would be surprised and pleased with mine.

Wow. What cool costumes! Echidna, Loopy, Princess Catherine and Tom, a pregnant Fox, MacBeth, Puck, Ophelia, Xanatos and a trenchcoated Fox from Eye of the Beholder, and fan characters galoure. There were lots more. Sorry if I haven't named you.

I decided mine needed some dialogue so I signed up to do the cosplay. I had ten minutes to come up with something as I waited in line to walk in! I also had a hard act to follow with Loopy's scared-of-flying gargoyle song and play. Dang, that costume rocked! But I'd give it a try.

"Jade Griffin as Elisa from Eye of the Beholder!"

My que! I jogged down the aile in my ball gown and up to the stage, flashing my con badge like a police badge.

"Elisa Maza, NYPD! Has anyone seen Fox and Xanatos??" Well, my entrance surprised many, as I looked just like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Of course, this was from the garg episode Eye of the Beholder where Elisa dressed as Belle one Halloween night ;) I continued, "Aw, crap! They ditched me again! Every Halloween it's the same thing. And I even have the right wig this time, too. Oh well... Can't let this go to waste." Where I proceeded to 'rip' the bottom of my specially tailored gown off in a solide stroke and flash some leg, and a gun holster, before sauntering off.

I guess I made an impression. I won second place in cannon characters (costume). Truly the 'Belle' of the ball, everyone said I looked awesome. Everyone seemed to want to take my picture, or have one WITH me! (and if you have any please! I'll do a photo swap for a copy!!) They asked me how I made it, said I looked so cute! *giggle* Best of all was when Greg announced the winners : "Jade Griffin as La Belle Elisa!" Wow:) What a title!! I'll treasure it always.

We danced, we sang karaoke, we got Keith to sing and Greg danced. Eden dressed as Titania gave a superb rendition of Chicago's All That Jazz which drown out the mad-cat yowling of the next room over's horrid karaoke (and dang they were aweful! I hope Keith realized we were totally busting up because of them during his talking and not him. Major LOL!) Again, up until @ 1 or 2 AM.

DAY 4 : THE ORGANIZATION

August 8th- Sunday

Greg couldn't join us to rally for the closing ceremonies but Chris Rogers was more than plenty to stir the fire. Right after closing, the first meeting of Gargoyles Fans.Org convened. We discussed in parliamentary procedure fashion who would be elected on the board of directors (and we did that there), how to meet, how often, started discussion on publicity for G'05 and the DVD being synchronous. Tons of ideas, on all aspects of this exciting step in our beloved fandom. It is the fandom we support the most, you see. Finally, legal recognition! Can you imagine how rare that is? What other fandom has done that? I can't name any! We have that status. It makes me happy. With whatever we do next, we have already accomplished a lot.

DAY 5 : THE DEPARTURE

August 9th- Monday

Aw, gotta go. Laser tag last night in a 3-story facility and a tour of old Montreal that got me and Robert lost and I missed my flight. Did I mind? Naw. The spirit of the Gathering goes with me. It's a part of me. No... I make it a part of the Gathering. We all do. This group is so special:) We make it special, because we try, because we do, because we are there. At the Gathering or no, we are always by each others' sides. I go home, to Reno, to rl, but I never left my Clan. In fact, I just got closer:)

EPILOGUE

If you couldn't tell, this fandom is dedicated to the color and expression of creativity and to the enjoyment of life and fun. In spirit, we are gargoyles. We live, we love, and we'll defend and protect that with everything we've got. We are Gargoyles Fans, and we live!

Greg responds...

Hey Jade, I guess you've retired your "La Belle Elisa" dress. But it's always great to see you...

Response recorded on August 18, 2006

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Lord Sloth writes...

Friday (part deux): I wasn't completely certain that I'd go for do the auditions today, wondering vaguely if there might be some kind of advantage to waiting and going for the one that Keith would be down for. I turned out to be wrong on two counts, count one being that an audition is a fairly informal business and having another celebrity there would surly just add to the pressure; and count two being of course that it was a moot point anyway since Keith didn't arrive till the banquet. But I was determined to be part of this radio play and it's usually better to get it over with than to worry for another day, even if I could rehearse my lines for longer.
As for my lines, Xanatos script looked mighty tempting as there was a whole lot of fun new smug dialogue to play with, but I decided I'd be better off bringing out all the guns with Demona's emotional rampage. That made getting the part of Xanatos in the end all the more ironic, but I shouldn't get ahead of myself. Now I think, for the most part, that the audition went quite well, but be straight with me here Greg (if you can remember), did you write something akin to disgraceful next to my English accent? Cause I think I would have in your place. I THINK I did a fairly good Scottish and cat, but then I haven't heard myself on tape so who knows, all I know for sure is I don't blame you for not giving me Jon Castaway!
So that was fun, much more fun then what I did next. There was still a good hour or so before the opening ceremonies, so I thought I'd make another attempt at getting a new charger for my camera. The end result was that I spent the hour walking/running back and forth along Rue St. Catherine (I think) looking for something that ended up costing from seventy to one hundred smackers anyway. At least John (sorry, can't remember your full name) accompanied me for a good portion of the time, and twas good exercise so not all was in vain.
So, back I came just in time for the start of the show, and what a show it was! I can't say I fully understood the Olympic mentality, but I think I'm still glad that I opted not to participate. All the awards and promos were good stuff <was good stuff?>, though my hands were pretty exhausted by the end, we still had to show plenty of enthusiasm for the cameras. But as Xanatos says, that was all merely the icing, and the cake was fantastic; even more then getting the DVD news (which was great) I had been yearning a long time to see those spin off pitches/reel, and that was a dish best served cold. It wasn't entirely what I expected with some very different art then what we normally see on the show (I know they weren't finalized, but I wonder how close those shows would look to the one I know and love). Those giant robots were a little disconcerting as well, a little too close to X-men's sentinels, whom I was never fond of, but hearing claw, dingo, Robin and the rest again more then made up for it. And then I got to hear Demona again! I wasn't expecting that, even though I knew you had played that tape before, I didn't know it would be hear. That was something, once Marina came up I closed my eyes and let my mind fill in the pictures, though I might have looked like I was on drugs or something cause I had a big grin on my face. And then Mole re-dubbing her his "angle of the night", a bit sacrilegious but very hilarious!
Then that was that, and all I had were memories. I stuck around for Gargoyle Theater and threw in some cheeky comments myself, (which are on an audio file somewhere too no doubt. That was fun enough, but ultimately I prefer not to mock what I love too much, the scars can run too deep (so I hope Captain Chavez doesn't get a hold of that tape and hear my comment to her).
Anyvay, I'm not certain what I did for the next hour, I think I went up to Alex's room to hang out and watched south park in French, so that was mostly forgettable. Comparatively speaking.
Then came the Mug a Greg in Blue. Pretty good stuff, though I don't think I learned anything new that hadn't been said before in ask greg (which is understandable, not everyone who came will have been there), but it was plenty cool enough to listen to the way you phrased your answers/rants and to note the similarities to the way you write the same thing. Admittedly, it wasn't all that blue, I had a vague notion by the end to ask another Q along the lines of which of your characters you find the sexiest, but by then it was nearing 2am and I could barely string two word together coherently. I guess that's what happens when there's not enough smut in our dialogue, but I digress.
So far I was having more fun then I planed to, and there was still a lot to look forward to tomorrow. So I stumbled back to my Hostel to get what sleep I could.

Greg responds...

Hey Sloth, I'll be honest, I have NO memory of your audition. Remember the performance, of course. But the audition? Nope. But obviously, you did well enough to get cast, so...

Response recorded on August 17, 2006

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Aaron writes...

Greg, I'm sorry, I've been writing for the past three hours straight and I'm not anywhere close to being done.

But G04 was lots of fun, I'm looking forward to Vegas (though not all the work that's going to come with it) and if you're curious you can read the full account of my gathering journal which should be posted on my LiveJournal

(http://www.livejournal.com/users/justicevoles/

by the time you read this.

Again sorry, just ran totally out of time.

Greg responds...

Hey Aaron,

Don't sweat it too much. I'm a bit confused that you were able to post this. When did the posting function shut down...?

Response recorded on August 17, 2006

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Demona Taina writes...

Hi Greg! I couldn't make it to Montreal this year, but I've made up my mind to go to Vegas. Thank you so much for the DVD; I'll buy several copies when it comes out! Now, on to my questions... This is something that's been puzzling me for a while, and I couldn't find it anywhere on the archives. I'd be so happy if you had the answers.

1. In the episode Reawakening, after Coldstone and Goliath fell into the river and Goliath was losing consciousness, he holds on to Coldstone's forearm. Is there a deeper meaning behind that? Was it:

a) a warrior wrist-shake
b) a cry for help
c) asking forgiveness
d) an unconscious reaction

If the answer is a, b, c, or d, why? If none of the above, what? I'm just so curious about that scene. It's so deep and moving; definitely one of the best scenes in the entire series.

2. When Goliath and Coldstone are in the river, Hudson is heard in the background saying "A gargoyle can no more stop protecting the castle than breathing the air," it slowly trails off. Was Goliath thinking that and it trailed off as he lost consciousness? Was Othello? Or does it have a deeper meaning?

I would be so grateful if you had the answers! Thank you so much, and I look forward to meeting you in Vegas!

Greg responds...

1. All of the above.

2. It's somewhat symbolic, but yes, Goliath wa thinking of it. And it trailed off as Goliath began to lose consciousness. I like to think that Coldstone was thinking something similar.

Response recorded on August 17, 2006

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Zehra writes...

Whoops, sorry the last part of this is late. Picking up where I left off..

Zehra's Gathering 2004 babbles, part III

Sunday, August 8th (Zombie Sunday, and Keith David rocks)

Around 6am, I said bye to Greg in the lobby. Then I went back up to my room and slept for about 5 hours.

Wandered down around noon to the Keith David Mug-A-Guest, and talked with some cool Canadians while sitting on the floor, waiting for Keith.

When Keith entered, the room was imbued with energy as he proceeded to shake everyone's hand. Throughout the Q&A he dripped more gems. Keith credits God as the main thing that has gotten him through his career. That response particularly stuck with me-I think that's really awesome.

After the Q&A, I had a quick lunch before closing ceremonies. The art show awards were announced, and I was pleased because a lot of the pieces I voted for got awards. Yay talented artists!!

I got Keith to sign my radio play script--he saw that I played Elisa and gave me a high five. *squeal* I told him I wanted to become a stage director, and he said maybe someday he'd be working for me. What a nice, awesome guy.

After that, I crashed in my room for a while. Watched Mean Girls on the hotel tv, which I really enjoyed (particularly the Caesar speech.) Then I took another nap. By the time I woke up, it was too late for dinner, so I went to the con suite to see if anybody was around. Who did I run into outside the room but Alan! Who ushered me in, and made me sit dangerously close to his wife. Men. ;) Karine, pregnant bartender extraordinaire, mixed me a yummy cranberry vodka peach schnapps drink. Mmmm tastes like college.

After saying goodbyes, I went back to my room and watched CNN until I heard my fill of the Scott Peterson trial news, and fell asleep.

Monday, August 9th

For some reason my body thought it'd be a great idea to wake itself up at 5am (residual jet lag.) So I gave into it and had breakfast, and plotted what to do with the rest of my day. I thought about joining the amusement park folks, but I really wanted to go shopping. Thanks to the kindly instructions from the Signature Club lounge's lovely ladies, I set off for Eaton Centre, a mall about a 15 minute walk away.

The weather was freaking BEAUTIFUL. Clear blue skies, a cool wind blowing in. No need for a jacket.

I bought some things I probably wll never wear. A really cute, kinda retro 70s dress, with a Lichtenstein-esque pattern. One of those "poncho" things that are in style these days, a delicate pinkish knit with fringe. But the best buy was from this casual clothes store called Ko Kawaii (multiated Japanese for "cute kid") There, I found the best pair of lounge/workout pants EVER which I affectionately term the Shego pants. Black with a green stripe down the edge. These sweatpants were the perfect cut--slim, long and flare at the bottom. And they combined 3 elements I love: 1) Shego colors 2) Japanese (the characters for ko kawai were on it) and 3) the number 28, my birthday and lucky number (I'm wearing them now, actually) My only regret is not buying more. And I'm pretty sure its a Canada-only chain. Bummer.

So..to answer the age old question: Is Canada more fashionable than the US? The answer would be a resounding YES.

I wanted to do more sightseeing, but I'm paranoid and as a girl travelling alone and not knowing the area well(though I hear Montreal is very safe,) I didn't meander too far from the hotel. That's what I miss about Japan--the safety. I went all around that country by myself and never ran into any problems. It's probably the safest place I've ever lived, or ever will live.

Also, I was exhausted (damn 5 am start.) But I did stop at a cathedral (Queen Mary of the World, I think) on my way back, and rested there for 20 minutes. Beautiful architecture. I love old buildings of worship. Mosques, cathedrals, temples, shrines--they're all so beautiful. The energy in them is just so...peaceful. Soothing, calming--I guess is the best way to describe it.

Got back to the hotel, and took a nap which lasted 8 hours (oops.) In the late evening, I spent the money I would have spent on dinner by renting Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (another great film. I love Kate Winslet) and then finally went to bed.

Tuesday, August 10th

Uneventfully got to the airport in the afternoon.

Sat next to a nice man on the plane who was interested in talking my ear off about how the airlines dont know what the heck they're doing, and can't run a business. He began talking about how the company structures are flawed and how fare tables are in flux and inconsistent...and having absolutely nothing to add(I STUDY THEATER) I nodded and smiled. He was cool though, reminded me of Mr. Clean.

Came home to my dad who brought home Indian food for me. Yay!
Watched Go Team Go, the Kim Possible episode I'd been wanting to see for a while that I had set a tape for on the Thursday I left. Yay!

Thus ended a great little vacation that totally recharged me, and made me glad to be back on this side of the world. Thank you, Greg! :)

Greg responds...

Don't thank me. It's those VERY HARD-WORKING Gathering Staffers who put on the show. All I do is show up and help heft the occasional box or fold the occasional t-shirt... oh and get a lot of hero-worship. The things I put up with. ;)

Response recorded on August 16, 2006

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Vashkoda writes...

Gathering Report Part II, condensed version

Saturday:

Since I'd promised everyone I would audition for the Radio Play, I was forced to get out of bed around 9. Gore had apparently stayed up late at the Mug-a-Guest the night before, and told us to go on ahead to breakfast without him. I spotted a lot of con-goers this time around, and members of the staff eating at a table beside us (it was amusing to watch the con staff wander around the hotel forming a train behind Karine).

I thought I'd be too nervous to eat, but Sean reminded me I'd need energy for the auditions, especially with Greg calling for loud projections. So I forced myself to have a few croissants, then began hunting for a restroom (which took me ten minutes because the door had been left open so that the sign wasn't visible. Ugh). I tried calming myself by meditating/resting with my hood over my eyes (not that that did much good). Finally I settled on talking to Carol Wagner, who was manning the line. I asked her what she did as a living to have the role of Guest Relations at every con, and how she managed to have so many contacts that she was able to get all those voices on the tape Greg aired. I figured she was a talent agent of sorts. It turns out she's simply in the animation industry, though she still deserves lots of props for what she's managed to do. Then I got the script, and having done Angela, Hudson, and Goliath before, I decided to do Xanatos this time. Greg saw me and instantly said, "Vash!", and I was gratified he had actually recognized who I was the day before. I spoke my lines, then spoke them from the back of the room. I didn't even have to be told to project this time, though I was asked to have more fun with the lines. I think my sarcastic tone must've impressed him most, because I snagged the role of Maria Chavez, who has a few lines of irony in her dialogue with Bluestone. I also tried to mew like a cat, though I made the admission that if I tried to project, it would sound like the cat was being tortured. ;)

Afterwards, Sean and I dropped by the Dealer's Room/Art Gallery. I spotted Siryn making gargoyle masks with Becca Morgan and another fan's child. It seemed like a lot of fun, but after Si admitted that the crafting was a little costly, I relented in my efforts to join in. I then spent at least an hour looking at the different art pieces and voting on the best ones, changing my mind several times (my favorites were a blended image of Demona and Elisa's faces called 'Red, Blue and Gray' (I think), and a picture of Demona's hand crackling with magical energy that Kythera made called 'The Storm' that ended up winning best in show). A very cool picture of Puck looking devious and another of a Mary-Sue harassing Brooklyn also later won awards. Gore was up by this time, so we decided to have another go at finding a Radio Shack and lunch. Thanks to his net connection, Sean was able to get directions. Unfortunately, these directions did us little good, as we discovered that most of the shops were actually underground. If not for a disappointing stop at another computer store, we would never have known this subterranean mall existed, as apparently the entrance was through the bank across the street. We finally find a universal remote for the hotel tv, and grab lunch in the food court (not wanting to ruin the banquet meal to come, I limited myself to McDonalds fries). We get back just in time for Greg's Mug-a-Guest, though I'd been to one of those before as well, and was interested in checking out the SCA weapon's demonstration in the room next door. So I sat in the back of Greg's panel so that I would be able to slip out unnoticed now and then, but Greg caught me and made me feel horribly guilty. Since the SCA people were taking forever to get ready, I decided to stay put and take notes. Topics ranged from Hudson's "Dark Ages" name, to Mab's appearance in the show, to Disney's old plans to make the Gargoyles Universe their equivalent of the DC and Marvel superhero universes (it seems the Gargoyles spinoffs weren't just a pipe dream). Greg also discussed his attempt at making a Stargate series, and his opinions of the "Atlantis" movie. The biggest revelation came as Gore brought up a topic we had discussed in his car, asking Greg in a very indirect way whether G&E's adopted child was G2198 Nick's ancestor. Greg answered "yes" after a moment of hesitation, though there were other good questions he refused to give answers to. Afterwards came the Radio Play rehearsals, and I discovered Gore, Seth and I had all been given roles. Since it was in the same room, we chilled for a while as we waited for everyone else to arrive. It was "The Journey", as Gore and others had guessed from the character initials at the bottom of the audition sheet. A big difference was that this was the original version that Greg had submitted; not the version that the TGC staff had edited. It was exciting, as many of the voices were dead-on (and some, like Lex with a French accent, were a lot of fun to listen to). Amazingly enough, we finished on time with fifteen minutes to relax before showtime. I would have returned to the room, but Gore stopped to look at BrooklynX's cells, and I couldn't help but admire them as well. Before we knew it, it was time to assemble in the large, lecture-hall-like room. Luckily, since I had a scene with Gore, we got to sit next to each other and chat while the room filled up. Of course the DVD crew was there, but since I was in the second row, I wasn't too anxious. Everything went smoothly, and it was a lot of fun!

Afterwards came the banquet. I usually skipped these to save myself some money, but I figured it would be nice to at least have one meal where you didn't have to worry about where you would eat. Gore, Sean, Seth and I chose a table together, and soon we were able to rope Silver and her mother in with us. The appetizer was shrimp, which I'm sure was amazing for those who liked it, but most of us filled up on the bread (which had suspicious colored lumps in it that I'm really hoping were olives). The salad was all right, except that Silver's poor mom couldn't have any because they didn't know if there were any nuts in the dressing. The quail and dessert were great. Keith David finally arrived and took his seat at the table that had drawn his name. Though both he and Greg offered to take questions, Keith was obviously the center of attention, and had to sneak bites in between answers. He said, "I don't think there's a more avid fan of Gargoyles than me. If I wasn't doing it, I'd be watching it." If he were to be remembered for two things, he would want it to be "Jelly's Last Jam" and "Gargoyles". Keith gave no short, simple replies, but told long, thoughtful answers to each question (often going off-topic). He himself loved Shakespeare, and appreciated Goliath's elevated language. He most admired gargoyles' humanity, "their sense of being, to not be of the world, but in it, to not fall prey to it. It's something extraordinary".

Greg also threw in a few anecdotes about how listening to Elisa say Goliath backwards created the name "Thailog", and how Keith was able to bring life into a small part character like Officer Morgan. I took more detailed notes on all of this, which will again have to be limited to my website version, but I can say the evening was a blast, despite the neighboring convention's attempt to drive us all mad with their horrible singing. Afterwards, Sean and I went back up to the room to catch a nap before the masquerade, but I overslept and just made it to the awards segment. The costumes were amazing, though.

Although there's still Sunday and Monday to cover, I'll have to end here to make the deadline. It was a great con, and a big thank you to the staff and fans that made it possible.

Errata: I got the name of the G2005 hotel wrong. It is indeed the Palace Station Hotel and Casino

Greg responds...

I had a vague memory that the posting function shut down at midnight, but I'm glad you made it in under the wire, Vash.

Response recorded on August 16, 2006

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TopMan writes...

Before I begin on the rest of my journal, I'd like to mention something I forgot to mention before, which isn't really relevent to anything, but I feel it important to mention it as it was a situation I felt I'd handled a bit awkwardly. During the course of Friday day, I had inspected the artwork, and saying (pretty much to myself and Reusch) my usual jokingly begrudging comments about how I wish I could draw. Period. Well, Michael (it was Michael, wasn't it? My memory is really bad, all the time) must have overheard me talking about drawing, and approached me during the opening ceremonies, and said something to the extent of "I heard you talking about drawing. You draw? Do you ever take character requests?" I was really caught off guard by this, because I really am not the greatest of artists (this isn't just something I tell myself to put myself down... I guess I have potential, but that's all it is at the moment) and I figured with all the great artists in the con, it was strange that he'd ask me. So I managed to blurt out in the Sentence-Fragment-Caveman-Language "Um. No. I mean... Yes, but... I suck. You don't want to ask me." What I meant to say was that I was really flattered by the offer, and of course I'd have done it if he'd really wanted me to, because I always love when people ACTUALLY want me to do something (it makes me feel helpful ^^) but with the very few art skills I possess at the moment, I was very doubtful at being able to give him anything that would match his expectations, nor anything that he'd really deserve. So, if you're reading, Michael, or if anyone who knows him is, tell him I'm sorry if I was rude!

Well, with that being aside, on with the journal!

Saturday, August 7th

Reusch and I had to take our own car so that I could stash my Thailog costume in the trunk until Masquerade time, so she drove, as I don't know how yet. We got there JUST in time for the Clan Olympics Trivia Torture... that is, it would have been just in time if everyone else had been there on time, and of course not everyone was (I envy their sleeping in =P). So, as we were taking our seats, Nez and David gave us our Clan Flags (little bandana things to represent our clan; ours were green and yellow with bugs on them) and I was told to sit at the front. Then, for some reason the other three decided for me to come up and for David to go down.

AND THANK GOD FOR THAT! If I had had to endure the gross tortures... *shudders* The Trivia Torture was fun, although our team MUST have come in dead last for the event itself. We got I think 2 answers right (or maybe even only one), and when we DID pick a card we got Boned, so we ended up with no bonus points. It's not that we didn't know the answers... Nez and Reusch were very savvy in the regular trivia, and I knew most of the answers to the Gargoyles trivia (though most others did too, so I once again found myself a hindrance to the team). The problem was the way the answering team would be chosen: we had to write it down and then raise our hands. Our team, unfortunately, was not equipped with speed writers, so the only times we won the round were when nobody else knew the answers, and that was rare. There was also a question that we had gotten right, about phobias, but then one of the other people objected, because they said they had been diagnosed with the phobia and it was something else. So the question became moot and another question was drawn. It turns out that the dictionary definition was on our side, so we should have gotten the point for it, but we only found this out in hindsight. Besides, we don't really have a right to complain, because the Green Dragons were really unfairly treated in this game, as they were about to win and then were deprived the title. I don't blame Abe or MAui for it, and I'm not mad at anybody, but there definitely should have been more rules laid out for the Spirits to follow. Of course, nobody would have been able to anticipate that going in, so I guess it was Live And Learn. Surprisingly, even though we got no bonus points, we somehow were only bumped back down to third after the event, which I assume was because we ended up in third for the final standings, and THAT was all because of the fact that we were too anonymous for anyone to even notice us, let alone target us. Good and bad, I suppose.

After that was the one hour lunch break, during which time Reusch and I went up to the con suite to watch more Gargoyles fun. Hunter's Moon part 3 was playing, which was funny because I hadn't seen parts 1-2, and Reusch hadn't seen anything past Future Tense, but we watched it anyways, and Awakening came after that, which has some of our favourite lines... ("Oh Magus... what've ye done?!") We made a new friend there, Kaylee, who was working on her costume at the time, coincidentally dressing up as Princess Catherine (and looked beautiful and elegant all the while). So we sat, chatted, watched the show, and told her how awesome it'd be to say this line or that line when she was in costume. She never did though (tsk tsk!)

Afterwards we headed down to the SCA Weapons Demonstration, which was pretty cool, but not really my thing. The thing I'd have been more interested in, the Melee Fighting part of the demonstration, was going to be during Clan Olympics, which was a blast, so I had no grudges about missing the Melee.

Pictionary was, well, a blast! I've always loved pictionary, and we ended up coming in first for the event. Reusch, Nez, and David, yet again, are the ones to thank for this, because I only got one of the four topics we got right (One for the money, two for the show!). That in itself is surprising, as usually Reusch and I are able to read eachothers minds, and we often do excellently in this category. Still, this event put us back into second place!

The bonus round, however, dropped us back down AGAIN into third. It was a ball-picking game, where if you picked 3 of the same colour, you lost. We started off great! The deciding ball was yellow, and then I drew a blue ball to get us one point (I was the only one of the four teams to not draw the Bad Colour in the second turn), but then we drew two yellows right away, negating the point we'd earned and ending our turns.

We had some time before the Radio Play was supposed to commence, so Abe and MAui gave us boxes to decorate. While most of the other Clans were playing another round of Pictionary, we all jumped in and had a blast with our box! Reusch wrote the team name on the top of one side, where underneath I was drawing a picture of Riel, the Gathering mascot, heartily looking quite depressed and belting out the team motto (Groooooaaaan). Caption for the picture was "Riel loves us! So should you! ...please?" Nez and David were doing a fantastic job on the second side, where Nez drew a Gargoyle and we forced her to draw it holding a Tim Hortons bag (she was being avidly against Tim Hortons for no reason) and David drew a picture of the "Poutine Grande", I guess the Mexanadian official food, a poutine within a taco shell that disgusted everyone and delighted me to no extent. It was around this point that the Radio Play was gonna start, so Reusch and I went to go see it while Nez and David were gonna wander.

The Radio Play was FANTASTIC. I can't think of anyone who did a bad job, and the atmosphere was very lively and friendly, instead of each person just standing up, reading the line with the emotion of a robot, and then sitting down. Michael as Vinnie, *insert someone's name I unfortunately forgot, sorry!* as John Castaway, Eden as Margot, Stormy as Cagney (HEHEHEHEH!) and *insert ANOTHER name here, sorry!* as Macbeth were really the ones who made the show fantastic, but not a single line was delivered badly from anyone, and at the end I almost wanted to shout out "Encore" (to which the cast probably would have shouted out "NO!") ^^.

There was a lot of extra time here before the banquet, and obviously we didn't want to eat anything, so we met up again with Nez and David and went up to their hotel room to decorate the rest. They had bought several tacky little items, including a loon with propeller wings, weird coloured balloons, and stickers with traffic signs. So while David drew a picture of a Gargoyle shouting "You want Tomalés?!?!" (which, incidentally, is still stuck in my head) and Nez did some weird giant flower with the jumbo wax crayons she'd bought, Carolynn and I were having some immense fun with the stickers, putting little captions. We had a stop sign sentence that read "STOP beating our clan", a recycle-esque sign captionned "All around fun", and a no-parking cloud (very random). Then, I had a stroke of genius, or stupidity. I took the speed signs (which, for some reason, ALL had the number 80) and put them sideways, so they'd make a little face. I then dubbed it "The Official Groaning Emoticon". We all got a kick out of this, so we decided that we really WOULD make it our official emoticon.

It was around this time the banquet would be starting, so we said goodbye to Nez and David yet again, and headed down. At first we felt foolish, because we were sitting at a table alone... then Flanker came along, and we convinced him to sit with us, yay! Then he convinced Sarah, he/we convinced Kaylee, and we convinced Annie and Catherine to sit at our table. We now had a full table (since we were asked to keep one spot open for a Guest Raffle, heh) and we couldn't have asked for better tablemates. The conversations were fun, and Annie and Catherine irritated Reusch and I to hell with a weird rearranging game that ended up having a surprise twist to winning, which they refused to tell us until much later. Reusch and I started doing a little tap dance routine with our silverware, we found that the hotel had WAY too much time, as their vegetables were cut into Stars of David and U.S. states, and *most* of our table were unanimous that the food wasn't bad, but wasn't at all to our tastes. The shrimp was ok, although I can't say I'm one for avocado sauce, the salad seemed a little bland (but then I'm just used to creamy caesar), the potatoes and vegetables were good, and the quail was not bad, though none of us were big on the stuffing... so we all sort of carved it out and just ate the bird. When desserts came, only one at our table (Flanker) got the chocolate, but I had decided several months in advance that I HAD to get the chocolate dessert, so I did what I do best, be annoying, and asked the waiter if he could possibly substitute it. He did, and I ate some of the best cake I've ever had. Reusch got stuck with the fruit thing, but she didn't like the cake much when she tried it anyway, so I guess she was kind of boned there.

KEITH DAVID CAME! It was very sudden, and suddenly we were just all clapping as he came into the room. The poor man had to answer questions as he ate, but I think he actually enjoyed the attention, at least partly. The room would have been quiet enough to hear a pin drop, as we were so attentive to his words... if it hadn't been for the GodAwful Karaoke (TM) next door, which, at least for us near the back, and with my semi-bad hearing, completely drowned out his low voice. Also, unfortunately, I had to leave early to start applying my blue face makeup and putting on my costume, which also meant I missed his Dead Horse comment =( Ah well.

The putting on of the costume took more than an hour. The horns I'd bought (the liquid adhesive kind) refused to stick to my head, so 15 dollars were wasted. One really exciting thing though was that as I was trying to apply the horns (and at this point I was half blue, half skin-coloured) who should walk into the bathroom but Keith David!!! After going to the bathroom, he came to the sink where I was, and as he was washing his hands he asked me if I needed help. I explained to him how the glue would stick the horns on but that it was feeble and wasn't drying well, and he asked to take a look at it, and gave me a bit of advice. I thanked him profusely, and though they still didn't work (it must have been something to do with the glue) I was glad that I'd wasted the 15 dollars on the horns, just so that I could get Keith David talking to me ^^. My ears weren't even visible either, so I didn't bother with them, so another 10 dollars wasted. I went through a whole tube of the blue stuff, but I had bought two, so no worries. Unfortunately it was rubbing off everywhere, so parts of my costume were unintentionally blue, while my fingers weren't quite blue enough. And of course, once I put the feet on, the evil feet that took days to create, they immediately began to fall apart. I'd brought a glue gun, but had nowhere I knew of to plug it in, and with my fake nails and all I wouldn't have been in any condition to use it, so I was stuck. Reusch helped with some scotch tape I'd brought, but as you know, that doesn't work well on fabric, so I had to walk EXTREMELY carefully.

Because I was so preoccupied with the falling apart of my costume, and adding to that it was my first Masquerade and I didn't know what to do, I was very nervous, and must have been on the stage for a total of what, 5 seconds? I waved weakly and left, period. Luckily, my shoes held out, coincidentally, until the moment I left the auditorium, where they immediately fell apart, so that was a plus. It's a bit of a shame, since the costume took a lot of time and money to make, that it ended up falling apart and being such a "failure"... which is to say, I didn't win any awards. I know, I know, how egotistical of me, because it was my first con and it was a bit of a thrown together costume and it didn't really deserve an award, but I was still hoping, you know? Anyways, everyone who did win certainly deserved it (*ahem* Korul, anyone?), and even those who didn't, still had kickass costumes. I don't want to mention any here, because I know I'll leave someone out who really deserves a mention, but I will say that whoever dressed up as Banshee did a really great job, and I think it's a bit odd that she wasn't mentioned in most people's con journals, because it really was an A+ costume.... everyone's was. Congratulations everyone! On a side note, I think one of the things that has made me so bitter about my costume was that I didn't end up getting a ribbon. And I'm not talking about a Prize ribbon, but the ones that were handed out to all the participants afterwards. Obviously, it wasn't intentional: They only had so many, I was the person on the far left, therefore the last in the row, and SOMEBODY would have not gotten a ribbon even if it wasn't me, but still, it made me feel a bit rejected nonetheless. It cheered me up a bit that a lot of people approached me afterwards asking me to pose for pictures, and a couple of people complimented me on my costume, so maybe it wasn't as bad as I'm thinking it was, but definitely, next time I'll make a human costume, as it's less time, less money, less chance of falling apart, and therefore less nervousness when presenting. I have an idea of what to dress up as, but I'm not going to say anything yet, in case it falls through. Still, I had a great time, and at least I have several pictures to boast, including one with Keith David, the guy who actually DID Thailog's voice. That's reward in itself. And this paragraph turned out to be a big egotistical rant, so I'm gonna stop now and move on.

Reusch and I were originally gonna enter the Karaoke contest, but neither of us were up for singing that night, and I was already feeling a bit down because of the unfortunate happenings of the costume, and I'm self-conscious enough about my singing as it is, so we ended up leaving after that. I wish I hadn't, as there were apparently some great moments that I missed, but luckily, most were taped and put on S8.org, so I got to see them! Thanks to Gore for that! So we went home, and slept.

Sunday, August 8th

After we arrived at the hotel (via my dad, again), we went up to join the Hunter's Moon Dash, a.k.a. Scavenger's Hunt. Nez and David had a permanent marker, and immediately on our arrival put an 80 on our hands. It was awesome! They actually liked my joke ^^ Then we decided to put them all together, and David spoofed the Wonder Twins of Superfriends "fame" by saying "Wonder-groan powers unite!" and we all groaned, it was awesome. Anyways, scavenger hunt. Reusch and I already knew that we'd lost. Scavenger hunts are death to us, as we SUCK at finding anything, and have no imagination, but we did our best anyways. We actually managed to find some stuff, but the problem was we were usually the last to procure them. I did manage to find a DISGUSTING KFC sandwich in the parking lot (still in the wrapping, thank god) that must have been from weeks ago, and that counted as A Bird, Any Bird, but that was about the only thing I contributed that wasn't exceedingly late. So yeah, definitely lost, but still had a good time.

*Side bar here: I'd decided to wear my Team Bandana a different way each day, and I ended up with a bib, a loincloth, and a sort of Old Lady Shawl thing that goes over the hair, but I got no pictures of that, sadly*

Now we had some time before anything was going to start, so we Mexanadians were going out to lunch (we'd finally convinced Nez to try Tim Hortons). Along the way, we met up with a bunch of people, although unfortunately the only name I caught from the group is White, and I haven't been able to contact her since in order to find out who else was there (if anyone has White's contact information, I'd really appreciate it ^^) It was awesome, we practically took over the Tim Hortons. We took 3 tables and shoved them together, and we were carrying our box and everything, it was an insanely bizarre picture. We got to talk a lot about random things, and I got to know some more people (even though I never learned their names) and I had a great time.

What was SUPPOSED to happen was that we would spend 5 or 10 minutes looking in the art galleries, and then we'd head off to a panel. I'd wanted to go to all three of the panels featured in this spot, but Reusch had decided she'd be most interested in the Colouring seminar, so we were going to go there. However, with buying the PGA, getting it signed, voting for the art contest, buying random Gargoyles trading cards, and the like, we ended up being too late to go to any panels. So we attended the Keith David Mug-A-Guest, which was fascinating. I never knew that Keith David once played Moufassa in the Lion King Broadway, I'll have to talk to him about that if I ever get into a conversation with him.

After the Mug A Guest was closing ceremonies, which had all the energy of a funeral durge. We were all tired from the con, and sad that it was over. Still, the closing ceremonies were fun! Karine started off in french, which I'm now happy I understand, and while I don't remember everything, I remember the first thing she said was "I've lost ALL my english!" That got chuckles from all us french people, and weird stares from the others. The artists got their awards (the art was AWESOME this year!) the Clan Olympics winners were announced (we tied for third with Clan Challanged part Duex, which means we were never technically under third place ^^ GROOOOOAAAAAAN!) Canadian Body Massage was in second (congrats to Flanker and all his temps!) and Arcadian International came in first and won snazzy t-shirts, so congrats to you guys! The olympics were a blast, and I can't wait to participate again. Las Vegas presented again, and I REALLY wanna go, I hope my parents change their minds. I pre-regged for 20$, so at least I can contribute, if I don't end up going.

As I was waiting in line to get Keith's autograph, I signed up for Laser Quest, and then, when I got to the front of the line, I said to him "Mind if I be greedy and ask for two things signed?" He just laughed and said "Of course not". So I got him to sign a Goliath trading card, and the programme. On the programme he wrote "To my good buddy Thailog- All the best. Love Keith David". He didn't instantly forget me, and took note of my costume, so I was very happy about that! That man is such a great guy.

Laser Quest was awesome! Reusch wasn't there for it, so I hung out with Jade Griffin a bit, and talked with Wolffer a lot (he was a really big sweetie and offered to drive me home, because I insisted on taking home the Mexanadians box). I, of course, sucked at the Laser games, and of course I was picked as King for the team (Damn you computer! Don't pick me!!!!) but it was an awesome time. One highlight was when we all walked in, someone happened to look up, saw Gargoyles perched on the ceiling, and we all started cheering. Another was the staff there, who seemed elated to have such weird people here (I think the guy at the counter actually took a picture of the group making Gargoyle faces). They were just fantastic people, and it was a great night. Wolffer and Viv and I didn't end up staying for supper, as we weren't very hungry, so we left after the games.

Monday, August 9th

I'm running out of time to write this, so I've gotta be brief, and only mention the highlights. One of the best parts of the day was the Metro ride, because someone ended up starting to say the Goliath monologue from the credits, and of course we all joined in, and we had a bunch of people staring at us. After the metro came the shuttlebus, which was a quick ride to LaRonde. We started off in big groups, then broke off into smaller ones after lunch. Luckily, before that we got a picture of Kyffin and I perched on top of posts in Gargoyles positions. Chyna Rose, Sarah, Reusch and I stayed together for the day, singing showtunes from Rent and going on the Monster, the Ovni, the Vampire, and the Cobra. Unfortunately the lines were too long for anything else, and we left at 5 due to the heat and a bunch of other people leaving at the same time, but it was still fun.

That ended the Gathering, sadly. I'm really hoping my parents will change their position so I can go to next year's at Las Vegas. The people are so friendly, it wasn't at all what I was expecting. Thank you all for making a n00b feel so welcome ^^

-Top Man

Greg responds...

Did you make it to Vegas? What about Valencia? We're still here! Hope you are too!

Response recorded on August 15, 2006


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