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Harvester of Eyes writes...

Gathering Journal, Part Two

Friday, 6/22/2007

I slept longer than I had in a while, but I was on vacation. Wasn't very hungry when I woke up. Had a lot of nervous energy, which usually deprives me of my appetite. Went down to the lobby with my brother, drank some coffee, ate some biscuits and gravy (which were surprisingly good). Tacky as everything was, the people of the town were very friendly. After breakfast, we attempted to find our way upstairs to claim our badges. We wound up going outside to the Convention Center by mistake, then back inside, then down a few dead-ends until we found the stairwell we wanted. Lots of dead-ends in this hotel. It had so much character, I'm amazed that the fire warden hadn't condemned it yet.

After we got our stuff from the Dealer's Room, my brother and I split up. I ran across the street to Walgreens for more supplies, and then sat in on the Fanfic 101 group discussion. Stopped back in the hotel room afterward for a cold slice of leftover bacon pizza. I initially was not going to go to Thom Adcox's voice-acting panel, but my brother was going, so I went with him. I'm glad I changed my mind. Thom is a very funny guy and had some very amusing stories to tell about his experiences in the business. I did manage to take away the sense that voice-acting is tough (the business aspect of it). Plus, he also mentioned that the Gargoyles voice cast looked upon the Goliath Chronicles as a paycheck, which made me laugh.

Had time to kill before Radio Play auditions, so my brother and I went for a drive to see what was in the direction of Gatlinburg. It's weird, because you eventually reach a point where the tackiness of Pigeon Forge just seems to stop abruptly, and you're in the middle of the woods again. We followed that road for a bit, and then turned around, and got back to the hotel with time to spare.

Never made it to auditions, though, because I ran into Kelly (Sadistic Cow) up in the dealer's room. I wound up following her back to her room, where she introduced me to Leo, DTaina, and Doppelganger. For some reason, they were watching "Lois and Clark" on DVD (and I joined Leo in annoying Taina with Superman jokes. Can I make a good first impression or what?).

Fortunately, the episode was just ending, so we all went down to see the ducks. They have these freaky looking ducks that swim in the river next to the picnic area behind the hotel. They're like these mutant duck-turkey things. I got some pictures of them. We chatted for a bit, fed some Chex Mix to the mutant ducks, and then went inside to avoid getting sunburned. I lost track of my companions on the stairway between the first and third floors, mainly because I started chatting with Carter (Alex Garg) and Seth (IRC Goliath) about movies and the tackiness of Pigeon Forge. After that, I ran into Matt on the way back to my hotel room. I told him that I wasn't going to enter the mini-golf raffle, because miniature golf infuriates me, and I wanted to make a good first impression.

Opening Ceremonies were shortly after that, and they were a lot of fun. Most of us wound up moving onto the floor shortly after we got there, so everyone could see the TV, but I didn't care. There was also some trouble with the video, but again, everyone was in good spirits about it. I'd never seen the "Bad Guys" demo reel before. It was more hardcore than I'd been expecting. I also enjoyed watching the "Atlantis" episode. The unfinished scenes were actually very entertaining, even though the finished scenes looked great. Greg Weisman broke the podium and took it in great stride. And apparently, going only 20 minutes over is good for him (I spoke to someone later who advised me that his average is 40 minutes over).

My brother and I went to Wendy's after that (Spicy Chicken sandwich, the only thing I ever get from them), and wound up missing the first few music videos. But that was okay. I'd already seen a few of them on youtube. I hung out in the Atrium after that, which was fun. I have to remember to bring my chess set to Chicago next year. I love to play, but no one in my family will play with me anymore. Chatted with the comic book dealer, who apparently has been in his chosen field since 1983. Told me about what a few of his oldest comics were. I went downstairs after that to see what Cow, Taina, and Leo were up to. Hung out with them, Doppleganger, and Carter for a bit. Watched the last hour of "Army of Darkness," and wound up reciting most of it (hopefully, I wasn't annoying anyone).

Went back upstairs after the movie to see what was happening in 2A. Someone (I think it was Mara) did an amazing sketch of Delilah using only Crayola markers. I chatted with JEB for a bit about gaming while I watched. Lost track of the picture after she finished (there was talk of slipping it under Greg Weisman's door. I spoke to her the next day, and she didn't know what happened to it, either).

After that, Hudson started ranting. It was all highly offensive humor, which is a guilty pleasure of mine. I managed to get my brother out of the hotel room for some of it. Pity we never got around to the Jalapena contest (that sounded fun), but Hudson's rant more than made up for it. Got tired around midnight, so when Hudson stopped to use the restroom, my brother and I went back to our room for rest.

Saturday, 6/23/2007

Overslept, which means I missed Radio Play auditions (after I swore I'd set my alarm for them). My brother and I went down to the lobby, and but the line for breakfast was too long. So we decided to go elsewhere. We ran into a Fan as we were leaving, so he asked if he could tag along.

Despite what Thom said during his voice panel the day before, we did wind up eating at the Red Rooster. I didn't get the pancakes, though. Just had cornflakes and coffee, the breakfast of champions. A Fan and my brother did a lot of the talking (my brother's pursuing a master's in History, so he loves to hear people talk about themselves). We split up after that. I bought some provisions from Walgreen's, as well as something for my stomach, since I felt a little queasy. Bought the least drowsy thing I could find. By early afternoon, I felt like my cynical old self again.

Perused some art up in the Dealer's Room after dropping the stuff off back in the hotel room. Saw some things that caught my eye, but didn't bid just yet. Figured I'd stew on it while I sat in on Karine's panel. However, I did buy a T-Shirt for Gathering 2008 in Chicago. I'll be doing my best to make it there. Showed up for Karine's panel early, so I chatted for a bit with Mandy and someone whose name I can't remember (I'm sorry. I've always been better with faces than I have names. Takes me a few tries to remember someone's name). Karine's panel was very entertaining. I was very impressed with her energy. People were asking some very good questions, and she sat and patiently answered them all while juggling her infant son. The way people have talked about it, I'm very much looking forward to seeing Issue #5 of the comic now (the preview pages looked great). Went back to the Dealer's Room after that, and placed a bid on some artwork that caught my eye.

Didn't get a chance to sign up for one of the Mug-a-Guests (I meant to yesterday, but got sidetracked), so I had time to kill before the Radio Play. My brother and I went down the road to a country record store. Got some postcards, and came very close to buying a redneck cookbook. I do like hushpuppies. After that, we drove back to the hotel, and went up to the Dealer's Room. We hung out, chatted with some people, and I wound up flipping through some... interesting... comics that Kelly bought.

Took a nap before the Radio Play, got up ten minutes before it started, shotgunned half a lukewarm Pepsi, and then my brother and I took the long way around to 2A. The cast for the Radio Play was great. It was not what I expected: Issues 3, 4 and 5 of the comic. To anyone who wasn't there, all I'll say is: buy Issue #5 when it comes out. If your comic store doesn't carry it, get them to order it through any means necessary. It is well worth it.

I was expecting the play to go on a bit longer. So I had a chunk of time to kill. I smoked a pipe by the river, and had a little chat with Cow and Leo. Then went back to the room for dinner, which my brother and I had purchased earlier. We were tired of eating fast food, so we scarfed some Oscar Mayer Lunchables (not to mention some fresh blackberries, which tasted great) and watched Jesus Talk Live for about five minutes. Less said about that, the better.

After we ate, I went to MGT3K. I ran sat next to Matt, and had a lot of fun. We all did our best to tear into "Lighthouse in the Sea of Time," "Outfoxed," and "The Price." Oh, and Greg, even though you weren't there, thanks for letting us roast your intros. ( ;

We had time to kill after the main event, so Jade Griffin put "The Mirror" on for us to watch (and rip apart). Pity they didn't have the script for that one. I probably cracked my best jokes during it.

Blue Mug-A-Guest was after that. I jogged downstairs to try and grab some sugar, but the vending machine ate two of my dollars and gave no love. I had my eye on those Mike-and-Ikes, too. Ah, well. I ran back upstairs, and found a seat right before it started. Man, was that wild! I think we scared my brother away with the second question. He went back to the hotel room before eleven. Thom told some interesting jokes, and I also have a vague memory of some youtube videos being passed around. By 12:30, I was falling asleep in the chair, so I went back to the room for sleep.

To be concluded...

Greg responds...

Roasting my intros sounds a bit like shooting fish in a barrel.

Response recorded on July 21, 2007