Yggdrasil writes...

Gathering Journal

Thursday August 5, 2004

The day started off on a sour note, as I spent the first three hours of my morning proctoring a genetics exam. For those of you who don't know, proctoring involves sitting around and doing nothing for three hours. Anyways, the exam wrapped up and it was off to Montreal. Since I live in Ontario, it was only a 6 hour adventure. The only rough part of the drive was passing through Toronto. In Canada, Toronto has two seasons; winter and construction.

I made it into Montreal by about 8:00. After checking in and dropping off my stuff, I made a quick jaunt down to the lobby to say hello to anyone who was there and then went for a walk in the city. After 12:00 it was time for bed after putting some final touches on my presentation.

Friday August 6, 2004

It Begins. Picked up my registration package, said hello to several more people and then dropped into Con Virgin 101. The room was pretty empty, but the event did help to set the tone for the Con. Thanks for your info Sapphire.

In the afternoon I listened to Flanker's combat discussion (I provided the projector), and had a chance to meet Aaron, Hudson and Greg B. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around downtown before the opening ceremonies. I found a nice café by the docks, and pretty much ate there for the duration of the con. It may have taken about 30 min to walk to, but it was worth it.

The opening ceremonies were a series of revelations. Since this was my first gathering, many of the events and information were new to me. The Bad Guys promo was great, ditto for the Team Atlantis tape. God I'm such a geek, I'll take Gargoyles however I can get it. The Clan Olympics started with an ouch, one event and several injuries already. After the opening ceremonies there was a brief pause, where I acted as a stand in for team Canadian Body Massage. I had to skip out early, since I wanted to attend the Blue Mug a Greg. I didn't have any real questions, but I had heard that the event was a riot…it was.

Even though this was apparently the tamest Mug in memory, it was still informative. I only asked one question about whether Greg would do a commentary if they did the 3rd season. The only thing that will haunt my dreams is the shot sequence presented by Leo. I have no idea what was going on, but it was weird. At about 2:00 we were kicked out of the suite, so it was off to bed.

Saturday August, 7 2004

Saturday was a complete blur. I attended a few talks in the morning, the auction and radio play in the afternoon and then it was time for the banquet. The banquet was a very pleasant affair. Keith David was late, but it gave my time to talk with the people at my table. It was nice to put names to the faces that I knew from the TGC CR. Sarah, Revel, Spacebabie and Kathy it was nice to meet with you. I know I'm missing two people at our table, but your names have completely left my mind.

When Keith David finally arrived, pandemonium ensued. Of the entire evening, I will always remember one event. When someone asked how Keith used Goliath in Pitch Black, it led to an elongated diatribe about his relation with the director. I got to become the personification of that director. I guess I just sat in the right seat, but I got to have Keith David tear a metaphorical strip off of my hide. Memories abound.

I only attended part of the cosplay, but wow. I was amazed by everyone, but Korul (?) that was something else.

Sunday August 8, 2004

Sunday I gave my Biology talk with Whitbourne and Lynati (See I can be taught). This was a blast. I had a prepared talk, so I presented first. Considering that it was thrown together over about 5 hours I thought it was quite good. Lynati gave a quick talk about here research into Gargoyle biology and then we opened the floor to questions. Discussion covered stone skin, muscle mass, gliding, bone composition, and although no genetics really came up, I was able to contribute. After the talk I had to bail and head back to Ontario. If I manage to make it to Las Vegas next year, I would love to team up again for Gargoyle Biology part 2.

Well there you go. I'm sorry that it's so rough, but time is not on my side.

Yggdrasil (Greg Perry)