Moonlight Rising
June 6-8th, 2003

Friar Tuck Inn - Catskills, NY

Guests
Christopher Golden - Novelist BtVS books
James C. Leary: Clem the loose skinned demon (BtVS)
Adam Busch: Warren Meers (BtVS)
Amber Benson: Tara Mclay (BtVS)
James Marsters: Spike (BtVS)
Anthony Stewart Head: Rupert Giles (BtVS)
Common Rotation in Concert

Boy, and I thought Cleveland was the middle of noplace. I can officially announce now that the Catskills are truly smack-dab in the middle of noplace.

That being said, Moonlight Rising turned out to be a great con. If you overlook the hotel. And the food. And the middle-of-nowhereness. And the resulting kerfuffle over James' remarks. But otherwise, it was good!


Thursday/Friday

I arrived at the con hotel, whose name is concealed to protect my sanity, on Thursday evening--I drove up with a fellow Buffy watcher, who was also attending the con. I met up with Brat, Linda, and Alli, and we went to the HoJo's to spend the night. Much fun was had, although we had to wait an ungodly amount of time for our pizza to be delivered. We painted our nails, watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and marveled at the wide selection of cable channels available in the lowly HoJo's.

On Friday, we schlepped over to the con hotel with all our stuff and got our room, which turned out to be large and nifty, yet with a shower that sullied the good name of showers everywhere. There wasn't much to do on Friday before the concerts, so we hung around, found the beacon of civilization that was the town with a CVS, a grocery store, and a McDonald's, and took it easy. Oh, and we bought the Common Rotation CDs, so we could listen to them before the concert, and then we got them signed by the band. Very nice guys, I have to say.

Common Rotation rocks! I was so impressed by the band, because they had such good chemistry up on stage, and they just have a great sound. We proceeded to buy a CD player so we could all listen to the band's CDs all weekend. :-)


Saturday

Saturday was an action-packed day. We managed to pull ourselves out of bed and down to the first Q&A at 9, which was Christopher Golden. Of course, we all wished we had slept in, once he started spouting off his Evilista opinions. He's allowed to have them, but that doesn't mean that I a) agree or b) want to hear them. [sigh] At least, after about 10 minutes, he did ask people to move on to other questions rather than trying to convince him to change his opinion of Spike pre-soul.

Adam Busch was a riot. Several quotes of the con came from him, such as, "That's why there's no Blue's Clues conventions--the kids can't afford the door price." He had a wonderful bit where someone asked him what it was like killing Tara, and he immediately began wailing about how awful it was. "She gave, and she gave, and I took, and I took . . . " [giggle] Priceless. I wish we could have videoed the Q&As so y'all could see it. James C. Leary was next, and was his usual funny, cheerful self. "In Clem we trust."

Amber came out next, and was just a joy to watch. The first thing she did was kick off her flip-flops and sit Indian-style in her chair, saying she expected it to be warm so she brought flip-flops and shorts. She was very interesting--so completely un-Tara-like. For one thing, she's got a dirty mind. :-) All the Q&As were signed for the deaf, and Amber loved the way "spread beneath my willow tree/you make me come . . . plete" looked when it was signed. She kept saying it so the interpreter would have to sign it. That interpreter had a great sense of humor. Amber also discussed how she hadn't watched season 7, as she was depressed she wasn't there, and talked about why and how she didn't come back for Conversations with Dead People, amongst other things.

Anyway, continuing on . . . I thought James seemed a bit off in the Q&A on Saturday. Whether it was tiredness, being in a room of Kittens who have some anti-Spike feelings, or just an off day, he seemed very guarded in his answers. And James' harping on the negative characteristics of Spike seemed even more blatant than I've seen at other cons. Maybe he was trying to play to the room, and he knew that not everyone there were big-time Spike fans. But despite James' opinions, I still love Spike, and I can't help but respect James for expressing his opinions. He's in a room full of Spike fans, and he's saying that Buffy loved Angel? That takes chutzpah.

James talked about the movie he'll be shooting in September(if anyone could make me appreciate slash, it'd be James, so I'll be seeing this one!), and how he had taken the role in part based on he had been married before, and how those emotions were allowing him to connect to the part. One of those long-time secrets that all the fans knew gets talked about! Whoa.

The real bright spot of the Q&As was ASH's. My God, you take all the "James is not Spike" comments, multiply them by a thousand, and you'll get the sense of how much ASH is NOT Giles. Hoo boy. Full of energy, dirty mind, and with a much different accent, you'd be astonished how different ASH is. Like Amber, he enjoyed picking on the sign language interpreter, so there was some great moments where the interpreter was cracking up, and so was ASH. He's got the best smile and giggle ever. :-)

After the Q&As, we got to go through the autograph lines. James C. Leary teased me when I said I'd be seeing him in Tampa, by saying, "You're EVERYWHERE!" I made ASH smile by insulting the hotel's ambience . . . or rather its lack thereof. I talked to James very briefly about the finale, and he mentioned about how upset Joss was about the WB's announcement of Spike's move to Angel, and then James slipped and talked about it at a con, so he had to backpedal thereafter. I told Amber I was really looking forward to Chance, her movie with James, and she said, "Oh, what if you don't like it?" I reassured her I was sure I was going to like it, and besides, everyone was going to cursing like sailors in it, so that would get a thumbs-up from me. Amber seemed to enjoy that sentiment. :-)

We had some time before the VIP dance, so we went back to the room and showered and made ourselves pretty, as well as resting some. Poor Alli and Brat felt sick-like off and on all weekend; the food was so disgusting that we didn't eat dinner after Friday night, but got McDonald's on Saturday and Sunday. Pooh.

The VIP dance was cool. We had all thought that there was no way that James would show up, but there he was, about 10 minutes after we walked in. We waited very patiently, as the people ahead of us were being rather monopolizing of James. But finally, we got our turn.

Commence the James!Story. If drooling fangirl giddiness offends you, please scroll down to Sunday. :-)

First off, we got our picture taken. The security guard offered to take it for us, as we had been so patient waiting. We talked a bit with James about Red Bull and such(it was rather loud, so I had a hard time following the whole conversation). Brat, Linda, and Alli each got a moment with James, and then it was my turn.

James turned to me and said, "Hi! How are you? Nice to see you again!" I of course loved that he said "again," although he could have been referring to seeing me in the autograph line earlier in the day. Anyway, I tell James I want to tell him my con metaphor--the one I mentioned in my Cleveland con report. During all this, it's loud, so you're basically talking into James' ear while he leans close to you. Not a bad thing. I start off by saying, "James, you're the frosting," and he gets a bit of a smile on his face. I then say, "The other guests are the roses, and the cool friends you meet are the cake. Now, the first con or two, you want to eat the icing right out of the can, but after a while, you want the whole cake." James says, "That's a very apt metaphor."

At this point, I've got nothing, and I wanted to wrap things up, because I knew there were other people waiting to talk to James, of course. So I lean in and say, "I'm going to be in Tampa, and I'm really looking forward to it." James leans in, and says, "Is that Vulkon?" I say yes, and he says, "That's the last time we'll have our drummer!" I have no idea what this means. Did James get Tampa mixed up with the Houston Vulkon, which features GOTR, or is the band going to be at Tampa?

I think I can be forgiven for being confused, though, because after James said this, he put his hand on the back of my neck. Eeep!

While my knees started to shake and I thanked God that breathing is an autonomic action, I told James about how Tampa was my birthday gift to myself, just like Shore Leave last year. Meanwhile, he moved his hand from my neck to my shoulder, then down my arm and held my hand. [sigh] He's just smiling and nodding while I'm babbling about how he's my birthday present. At that point, I managed to say, "Thank you!" and move away, but not before James gave my hand a little squeeze.

You might think this all was good, but just wait, there's more!

We all move away from James, and then just hang out for a while. Each of us gets our picture taken with ASH, and enjoy seeing him shake his bottom on the dance floor. ASH's arse got a lot of play this weekend, though. :-)

Alli ended up going back to the room, as she felt sick, and Linda, Leslie and I sat at a table in the back corner of the room, near a set of double doors. Linda, Leslie, and Alli(before she left) were swooning with ASH!Lust, but I wanted to be innovative(among our group) and therefore was busy being one with the James!Lust. Anyway, eventually James' coach had to turn into a pumpkin, and he was moving out of the room. Towards the double doors. Which means he was going to walk right past our table.

And since yours truly is a big goofball, I did a big goofy wave at James.

And he did a goofy smile and wave back, and then stopped at our table, and stood behind my chair.

James said something that I can't remember, and then he leaned down and hugged me around my chair. [sigh sigh sigh] I somehow managed to get my arm around his shoulders, and my face ended up in the crook of his neck. Neck of James. Then he straightened up, and said he had to go to bed now. To be funny, all of us said, "Okay--go to bed, go to bed, go to bed James!" And then he left.

After that, everything was anti-climatic. We went over into the bar, where I told Angela and Scarlett the story, and we talked some more, before we headed off to bed. Well, in theory we were going to bed--really, Linda, Leslie and I stayed up talking and being lusty for quite a while. :-)


Sunday

Sunday started off slowly; we planned to skip Christopher Golden's Q&A and come down for James C. Leary's, but it seemed the schedule had been shuffled around a bit, and we came in during the charity auction, which was being done by JCL and CG. And say it with me, people: "It's for the children!"

It's during the auction that a grope of ASH's arse got auctioned off. There are many versions of this story floating around, so let me just suffice it to say that those women got their money's worth. Damn. :-) I didn't need to worry about going to the gym, because laughing as hard as I did is like working your abdominals.

After the auction wrapped up, we made a quick run into town to the CVS, to drop off the film from Saturday. Then, the Q&As started up again, and we enjoyed Amber all over again.

James seemed more himself on Sunday; his energy was a bit better, and the crowd seemed a bit looser and more responsive. Of course, that's just my opinion. I can't really remember anything he said, although he did say his niece says he smells like hot dogs. I don't recall smelling hot dogs on James on Saturday night, but who knows? :-)

ASH was once again a huge pleasure. Someone had asked on Saturday if he and Amber would sing their duet from OMWF, and they were able to work out the details and sang for us on Sunday. ASH also played guitar and sang two of the songs off his album, which was faboo. He's just so cool.

I won something in the auction, too! I won a Spike bust, with a box that was signed by James and kissed by ASH. Although, I'm not going to keep it--I'm planning to auction it off and give the money to charity, in James' name. So look for it on EBay at some point in the next week or so.

After the Q&As on Sunday, we drove back to the CVS to pick up the pictures. When Leslie opened hers, she gave a little meep! of surprise. She was using her mother's camera and hadn't been sure how the pictures would turn out. But they turned out FABULOUS. She even got some panoramic shots that were gorgeous. Linda's turned out well, too, which was great as it was her camera that took the pictures from the VIP dance.

We got dinner, and then headed back to get ready for the movies. IMHO, Ghosts of Albion was a good idea but not a good movie. There wasn't much to hold either your visual interest or your brain's interest, so you can understand why I was nearly falling asleep. Thankfully, Chance made up for it--it was brilliant! Funny, interesting, and with some unusual things to say about relationships and connections. Plus, seeing James in full drag, and then finding out the dress he was wearing was Amber's? Priceless. :-)

We also saw Stunt Cocks, which is James C. Leary's short film, and it was a riot. Very over-the-top and campy, but in a funny, "we mean to act this silly" way. Great fun.

At this point, we were all feeling pretty tired and a bit out-of-sorts, so we just hung out and took it easy. I actually slept for a bit, before Alli, Linda, and Leslie came back and we all talked for a while. Then, to bed we went.

And then, it was all over. We checked out, and I met up with my driving buddy while Alli, Leslie, and Linda headed home. It was home for me, and then catching up on posts and fanfic, as well as hearing about the JM kerfuffle as discussed on LJ. I've already weighed in on that, so we'll just move on and continue to think happy thoughts, okay?

All in all, this was a good con, especially when you consider it was the first one. The hotel and food situation was unfortunate, but next year's Moonlight Rising definitely won't be there, and James has already said he'd be happy to do next year's. So you've got a win-win situation right there. :-)

Hope you've enjoyed this report! See you in Tampa.