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Comment Room Archive

Comments for the week ending July 14, 2024

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MORRAND> I'm not sure, I met a lotta folks at the con and most of them were going by their fleshspace names. I do recall Matt with the fedora mentioning that he ran into you.

As for me, I was the long haired Irish peep who asked Greg about gargoyle religious beliefs at the BioCult panel.

Algae
You are loved.

Oh, and that twist evocative of "The Real Inspector Hound" seems appropriate; that play was written by Tom Stoppard, and Greg Weisman's mentioned being fond of his work. I recall his speaking highly of one of Stoppard's plays here, called "Arcadia", many years ago. (I read it, as a result of his recommendation. It's set in an English country house in two time periods: the early nineteenth century, and the present day - and in the present day scenes, there's a scholar present who keeps on trying to interpret the early nineteenth century events in connection with the life of Lord Byron, and ignoring or explaining away everything that doesn't match his theory - and the early nineteenth century scenes definitely make it clear that his theory was mistaken. Greg wrote an episode for "The Batman", I also recall, inspired by that play, which featured some people discovering the Batcave many years in Gotham City's future, and coming up with some spectacularly incorrect theories about Batman - such as that he was really Bruce Wayne's father, and Bruce Wayne was Robin.) That similar twist might have been influence from Stoppard....
Todd Jensen

I also forgot to mention [SPOILER] Greg Weisman mentioning all the major "Gargoyles" scriptwriters [/SPOILER].
Todd Jensen

Brainiac - Oh, there you are, hello! Yes, please do make corrections; if it's not clear from the number of square brackets in the notes, I was having a pretty hard time keeping up with everything all the time. I'd also really, really like to get the name of the creature that Chip was mentioning right at the top of the panel, because I completely missed writing that down.

Algae - Did I meet you while I was loitering around the auditions line? I know I met a couple of people there, but I kind of got distracted trying to stay out of the line.

The GargWiki summary of the radio play certainly captures the zaniness of the first two acts. It's no spoiler that the third act continues with that. There's a twist evocative of "The Real Inspector Hound" (kind of).

I absolutely hope we can do this again, or something like it, sooner than 2034. (I'm even looking up pie recipes already.)

morrand - [morrand276 at gmail dot com]

Go home, bot, you're drunk.
CarumboZabumbo
Noi siamo le creature della notte! Noi siamo... i Gargoyles!

I im almost done rewatching the Spectacular Spider.I believe MJ should be with Peter,but after Peter is one decision away from proposing ta Liz,And Gwen become the Woman behind the desk in Spidey's Season 4 action.Like Andrew's Spidey got her in his 2th movie.And the season grually reveal his identity,for worse but ultimately better
Philip - [p04659499 at gmail dot com]

Thanks for your report, Masterdramon.

We now have a partial summary of the "Gargoyles - the Movie" radio play up at GargWiki. While it's probably no substitute for the actual performance (I'll have to check again soon, to see if it's gone up yet on YouTube) I found it amusing. [SPOILER] Including Bronx and Fu-Dog getting distracted by a cry of "Squirrel!" from the audience, Ryan Gosling deciding to work on a "Darkwing Duck" movie instead - and his surname certainly matches it - and, of course, Masterdramon's infamous Diet Coke/cell phone. [/SPOILER]

Todd Jensen

Echoing that sentiment as well.

It was a tremendous pleasure not only to reunite with people I hadn't seen in-person in over a decade (Greg Bishansky, Chip, Brainiac, Matthew, etc.) but to get to see Algae in-person for the very first time, after over 12 years of being close friends online. AND to also be able to bring 3 of my other friends from Hawaii to join me in this experience.

Of course, it's also hard to beat how cool it was not only be (probably) the very first Antoinette Dracon cosplayer, but also parlaying that into getting to debut her role in the radio play. It may have been a relatively small part, but I wouldn't have traded it - or the now-infamous Diet Coke box, which I had people coming up to me about for 2 STRAIGHT DAYS - for the world.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. ,From getting to meet Keith, Brigitte, Thom, and Zehra for the first time; from the oodles of fun panels and intriguing revelations; from the sheer, exhilarating experience of getting to share my love of this property with old and new fans alike, in this once-in-a-lifetime anniversary moment.

CONvergence 2024 was truly an event like no other, and I'm really hoping we don't have to wait another 10 years to have something similar.

Masterdramon - [kmc12009 at mymail dot pomona dot edu]
"If you run you gain one, but if you move forward you gain two." - Suletta Mercury

ALGAE - That was a surprise that you came all the way from Ireland (I somehow hadn't pictured any guests from outside North America), but congratulations on that.
Todd Jensen

Add that to my only regret too.
Matthew
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!

ALGAE> "My only regret is not getting to spend as much time with you all as I woulda liked."

That's also my only regret.

Greg Bishansky

Slight correction, it was actually Phoenician who gave my my postcard from the cloisters. My memory's almost as bad as Greg's :P
Algae
'Nuff said.

Finally back in the wilds of Éire after my transatlantic pilgrimage to Convergence 2024 and I got to say it was a truly life-changing experience. Getting to meet so many of you including Masterdramon, Brainiac, Chip, GregXB, both Matts, Phoenician, and Blaise (still have your postcard btw;)) has been truly transformative.

My only regret is not getting to spend as much time with you all as I woulda liked.

Here’s hoping it doesn’t take til 2034 to get another chance. 😊


MORRAND> Believe me, I sympathize. I've struggled with pretty crippling social anxiety most of my life.

Algae
'Nuff said.

Sorry, but the rule of the Blue Mug still applies. We cannot confirm nor deny the dropping of pants.
Matthew
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!

JURGAN - I recall his doing a similar stunt (if toned down) at the 2001 Gathering dinner.
Todd Jensen

Todd: It's been a running joke for years that Thom always drops his pants at the Blue Mug. Sometimes to show off his tattoos, other times just for the hell of it.
Jurgan - [jurgan6 at yahoo dot com]

And sorry for the double post, but I just came across a YouTube review of the "Gargoyles" board game posted by Dennis J. Woodyard (one of the directors of "Gargoyles").

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tme_ZB3j2o

Todd Jensen

JURGAN - What was that about? On second thought, I'm probably better off not knowing.
Todd Jensen

Can we at least confirm that Thom took his pants off?
Jurgan - [jurgan6 at yahoo dot com]

Brainiac> Thanks for the heads up.

Tyler> Most I can say was that plenty of laughs were shared all around.

Matthew
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!

Attention everyone who was on the general Gargoyles Cast signing line on Thursday and Greg's signing line on Saturday! There has been a positive COVID case from someone with known interactions in both. If you were in either line, I would recommend you get tested to be sure we make this as dead a vector as possible.

Morrand, Chip and/or I will post some corrections per your notes on the Bio/Cult panel when we get a chance (we're still in Minneapolis with our fried from abroad; we did the "first time in America" thing today.

Brainiac - [OSUBrainiac at gmail dot com]
There is balance in all things. Live in symmetry with the world around you. If you must blow things up and steal from those around you, THAT'S WHAT RPGS ARE FOR!

Sorry for the double post, but I happened to be glancing through the archive, and found this nugget from a post by someone named Comet in August 2013.

"One of [certain fan-theories] is that dragons could actually be the "Lost Race", another is that they are a Gargate species."

We now know that both are correct.

Todd Jensen

One detail from the information posted here about CONvergence that surprised me; gargoyles are temporarily blinded when their eyes glow. I hadn't thought of that (though it does make sense, when I think about it).

The mention of gargoyles being compatible with Oberon's Children due to their shape-shifting capabilities reminded me of a fan-theory I had once that brownies and other household sprites were the result of gargoyle/Third Race unions, with brownies' dedication in looking after the houses they live in being their version of "gargoyles protect" (the notion being that while they're not as large and formidable as gargoyles, to protect their homes the regular way, they can care for them in other ways); note that brownies and other such beings were traditionally nocturnal.

I'm curious about the other human/gargoyle union (besides that of Goliath and Elisa), but I imagine it'll be a long time before we find out what it was. (I mentioned recently the early depictions of Merlin in legend - as a mad hermit in the forests of southern Scotland who could foretell the future, with no links to King Arthur - gave him a sister who was married to a king named Rhydderch; as I said, the revelation that "rhydderch" is a term for "gargoyle clan-leader" gives new meaning to that story. Did Merlin have gargoyles for in-laws?)

Todd Jensen

I wonder where that 6’10” measurement for Goliath came from? The series bible is available online and says he’s over seven feet. It’s one of those mysteries of the Internet that people just make things up, and other people believe them without doing any further research. Particularly scary in an election year….
Craig

Before I reply, I want to lead off with a bit of important bad news: I got a positive COVID test when I got home this afternoon. I felt fine right up until late last night, so I'm hoping I wasn't too virulent, but it's the hell of a first impression to leave the friendliest and most outgoing people with.

Or, put another way: Aaaaaaaaargh.

Matthew - I look forward to seeing the new title.

Craig - It has been a genuine pleasure to be able to record what went on and I'm glad they were enjoyable. Your kind encouragement is very welcome as well; thank you for that.

Matt - Sorry for the omission: I had originally listed out the panelists and had included a reference to "the Comment Room's own Matt," or something, and it got cut in the final edit without my replacing the mention anywhere. You most certainly were on the panel, and those most certainly were awesome eggs, even if the one gave Greg a bit of a struggle at the end.

The camaraderie, the cohesion, of the group was on full display yesterday. This is most certainly not a bunch of random fans who drifted in out of casual interest, or because they had nothing else to do. I confess I would have sort of cynically sneered off the description of the fans as a family (or a clan) a year ago. I learned I was dead wrong on that. So having Ed Asner show up on the screen, and give his greeting...maybe most people weren't sobbing outright, but you could feel it in the room.

Todd Jensen - It was especially fun to see a couple of points about Wyvern (the dragon) get sort of figured out in real time at the panel. I don't think I have quite captured Greg's utter astonishment that The Internet would put Goliath at 6'-10". I do think I've captured the utter volume of discussion, though, and of course it could have gone on much, much longer.

Which brings up a side point I just thought of: Greg's attitude between panels was, basically, "no, it's my room for all three panels and we're doing things my way." Anyone else could have pointed to the schedule, called time, and gotten a break; he exercised his despotic powers to keep the discussion rolling through the breaks right up until it just couldn't any more. I don't know him well enough to say, but I think that he just might (just maybe) be kinda into this.

E.J. - Isn't it great? Welcome to posting.

Tyler - It went well.

morrand - [morrand276 at gmail dot com]

Tyler> What Chip said is sadly correct. I tried to ask a friend earlier about what was discussed, and their lips were sealed!
Kate

I’m sorry, but what happened at the Blue Mug STAYS at the Blue Mug. We were all sworn to secrecy.
Chip - [Sir_Griff723 at yahoo dot com]
Become a writer, you can be petty~~Roshni Chokshi

Would love to know more about how the Blue Mug panel went if anyone is willing to share!
Tyler

This was both my first CONvergence and my first Gargoyles con/gathering of any kind, after lurking here for about the last twenty years. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone I met who was so friendly and welcoming. It was a real thrill after so many decades to experience the radio play, the blue mug, and everything else I'd read about. Looking forward to attending more fandom opportunities in the future.
E.J. Kalafarski

Thanks for all of your accounts of the CONvergence experience! It all sounds like it was a blast! I'll need to read more of it over when I get the chance.
Kate

Thanks for the reports from CONvergence, particularly morrand's account of the "Gargoyle Biology and Culture" discussion. (I'll have to take a closer look at it later, though even a quick lookover revealed some interesting information.)
Todd Jensen

Third.

So many thoughts on Convergence. Such an awesome week. I'm sure thoughts will trickle in to the CR in the days and weeks to come, but because it is fresh on my mind:

Masterdramon> The diet coke box cell phone was hysterical. Kudos.

morrand> Thanks again for the copious notes. They will last here as a superb reminder of this week and be an excellent resource for GargWiki citations!

Yes, I am the Matt on the Gargoyles Biology and Culture Panel. It was an honor and so much fun. And yes, I was the guy with the life-sized gargoyle eggs. I brought two and sent one home with Greg. The eggs got a lot of attention this week, for sure.

I'm not sure how the room wasn't sobbing when we watched that clip from Ed Asner. When he said "Sorry I'm not there with you all." that got me. Greg clearly misses Ed a great deal and the love this fandom has for each other and the cast and crew is poignantly evident.

So great to meet so many of you for the first time and so many more for the first time in a long time.

I'm exhausted, but what a blast. There is little hope that I can make CONvergence a yearly trip, but when Greg called for a 40th celebration in 2034, I was galvanized to be there.

In the meantime, we've got the old comics coming soon and a new one in about two weeks! Never The End!

Matt
"And, thus, given no choice, we waited..." - Alesand, "The Reach"

Second.

Morrand, thanks again for all your efforts these past few days. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them.

As to your bit of self-analysis in your most recent "Errors and omissions" entry, vis a vis not engaging as much with the community as you might have... All I can say is: Don't be too hard on yourself, and everyone moves at their own pace. Attending the con at all is an act of tremendous courage in my book! It's not the easiest thing in the world to place yourself in a situation where you're surrounded by strangers, some of whom have strong decades-long friendships. Hopefully this doesn't sound condescending; as someone with social anxiety, I just wanted to pipe in with an encouraging note.

Speaking as a Day 1 fan of the series who also hadn't really participated in the fandom before the past couple of years, I also regret not starting sooner. But I'm really glad that I finally decided to start, and I'm glad you did too.

Craig

Thus ends my very first CONvergence and there's some things I need to say:

1. Thank you, Greg not only for putting up with our (mostly mine) endless, nerdy chatter and answering everything with grace, wit and your usual savor faire.

2. It was great to see Masterdramon once more (and his other friends from Hawaii) and it was a joy to meet Morrand, Blaise, Matt, Chip, Algae, Brainiac, Phoenician, and Greg Bishansky face-to-face. Here's hoping to see all of you and more next time!

3. This will be the last week I use just my regular first name here in the comment room. I have been honored with a title from both Brigitte Bako and Thom Adcox-Hernandez and I intend to use it in the future.

Matthew
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!