Halloween
2004
October 30-31, 2004
York Hall - Bethnal
Green - London
Guests |
James Marsters: Spike (BtVS/AtS) |
David Boreanaz: Angel (BtVS/AtS) |
Juliet Landau: Drusilla (BtVS/AtS) |
Amy Acker: Winifred "Fred" Burkle (AtS) |
Jane Espenson: Writer (BtVS/AtS) |
Luke Perry: Pike (BtVStM) |
I arrived Wednesday and spent the night at my in-laws, catching up and the like. I’d slept well on the flight and managed to stay up until 11pm, but woke up at 1am completely wide awake, meaning I was a little tired the next morning. My coughing was getting worse, but I still felt somewhat OK, so ventured into London to meet up with rockgoddes and psubrat to go see Highgate Cemetery. I was surprised to see drinkthepoisonx, 10zlaine, and vampgaia joining us, which was a treat. Highgate was fun, but the walking around seriously depleted my reserves, and by the time psubrat and I got around to checking into our hotel, I’d lost most of my voice and was running a fever. Unfortunately, I had to cancel the dinner arrangements with i_digress_uk because I was just so out of it.
Friday morning, I woke up to learn that psubrat had managed to throw her back out. She was in incredible pain and my fever hadn’t really gone away so after an aborted attempt to get her some painkillers and the like, we ended up back at the hotel where she rested for the afternoon and I slept, trying to get rid of my fever. I woke up in time for us to go register for the con, though I was lagging in serious ways. We ran into the wonderful denny_dc who wanted to go out to dinner. This somehow stretched into being at the Italian restaurant down the street from our hotel until almost midnight, and then in her hotel room (she was staying at the same place we were) until 1:30. When I got back to my room, I discovered a note from i_digress_uk and the_royal_anna saying that they’d waited for me in the bar, hoping to catch up. I was supposed to call i_digress_uk that day but with the fever and the like, I’d not gotten the chance. I was horribly upset and felt so guilty that they’d come all the way out to see me. Then, 5 minutes later, there was a knock at the door and there they were!
After much crying and explanation, we settled in for a wonderful visit. The girls stayed until after 4am, and by the time I fell asleep it was 5am. Guess what time I got up to get ready for the Saturday convention? 6am. So I went into the first day of the con after been laid up with fever for a day and a half on an hour’s sleep. Go me. Still, the visit I had with them was more than worth it.
Saturday:
Since I’d registered Friday night, I just had to go in and find a seat. There was already a long queue for merchandise (James’ line was at least 4 to 5 times longer than David’s when I arrived, and there were many times when David didn’t have one and James did. Of course, James’ table was also selling the pics for the other guests and ticket opps for autographs/photos, so that contributed a little bit. I hope.). I decided to go ahead and queue because I didn’t want to risk not getting the pictures I’d promised people, and was still queueing when Jane started her Q&A. One of my questions had been selected to ask her on Sunday, but they announced that they were combining them all in one day so that she could do a commentary to Pangs on Sunday instead. I didn’t want to leave my place in the queue so I ended up not asking her a question. Some highlights from her Q&A:
There was a small break, and I was talking to denny_dc when we noticed they were leading the guests in along the side to take them backstage for the welcome that was to follow. We immediately spotted James and just followed him with our eyes until they disappeared in the front. Then, a man stepped out onstage with his back to us. He was only there for a few seconds, but I turned to denny_dc and commented, "I think that was David." We were horribly amused because we hadn’t even noticed he was part of the entourage, since we were so fixated on James.
Then came the welcome, where all the guests came out and said a few words in greeting. Everyone was wonderfully gracious, and for being as pregnant as she is, Amy Acker’s bump was tiny! I’ll say it here, David is *much* better looking in person than he is in photos or on TV. He’s lost a bit of weight and looked *fantastic*. And this comes from someone who has never thought he was in the slightest bit attractive before.
They switched around David and James’ Q&A’s so that David went first. He was nervous at first, but soon relaxed into it. Some highlights:
James Q&A came after the lunch break. The question I’d submitted for evenstar_estel had been selected, so I spent most of my time in the queue waiting for it to be answered. I have to admit, I wasn’t thrilled about it; I’d lost my voice on Friday and was incredibly hoarse, but I did it anyway. However, by the time I got up to the front of the queue, I was shaking like a leaf and probably came across as a huge fool. Anyway, here are some of the highlights:
I missed the Q&A’s in the afternoon because of having to queue for my autographs with Juliet and Jane, and my picture with David and James. I delivered evenstar’s painting of Juliet that she’d done, and she was incredibly pleased with it, saying how lovely it was and that she loved the shadows in it.
With Jane, I babbled for 5 minutes about how much I loved her. I’m sure none of it came out coherent, and I don’t remember what she said back to me.
And my picture. I knew what it was going to look like because they already had some of the pictures out for people to collect, so I knew I’d be standing between the two guys. I was so busy talking to soulmate815 (who was working the photo room) that I had to be prompted to go up to the guys. James greeted me first with a wide smile and the like, and I immediately apologized again for being so hard to understand during my question (I’d apologized when I asked it because I started it and he couldn’t understand, asking me to repeat the first part over again). He said it was absolutely not a problem and that my voice actually had this great rock star quality to it which made it incredibly sexy. Silly man.
David was smiling and friendly when I greeted him, as well, but it was all over way too quickly. However, I *love* my picture with them. Yes, James looks like a goofball and David’s giving the same smirk he gave in most of the other pics, but for some reason, this one just gets to me. Love it, love it, love it. I'll scan it in tonight and post it in the second part of my report.
There was a break until the evening events so we went and got something to eat. They were also showing videos and episodes, as well as other things David, James, and Luke had done (like the Millennium episode and David’s Married with Children episode), so we were well entertained during the in-between bits. sdwolfpup? Your vids were an absolute hit. "A Little Fall of Rain" got huge applause and the "United States of Spike" was a weekend favorite, specifically requested to be one of the final two vids they showed on Sunday (the other was the "West Hollywood Lifestyle" one for Angel which bookended yours wonderfully).
The evening’s entertainment started with David and James’ commentary of "The Girl in Question." There were some technical things at first because David had no clue what was going on and wanted to hear the audio, but then you couldn’t hear the guys so they turned the audio back off. It ended up just being David and James riffing along with the show, making mock dialogue and poking fun at most of the stuff. All silly. Highlights include David pointing out that James kept staring at the Italian CEO’s breasts (which turned into hysteria every time the audience caught Spike glancing down during their scenes with her), James doing the Burkles’ voices in an absolutely ridiculous rendition of what was going on in that part of the episode, and the sound effects David did during the scooter scene. James commented he got hurt when the Vespa wiped out, too.
They gave away the breakfast raffle then, and of the 10 people who got selected, 4 were men. This wasn’t actually indicative of the ratio of the con, but I was rather pleased that so many got to go. I’m sure it made it more comfortable for the guys.
David didn’t do the Halloween reading. Instead, he spent his time giving out prizes to memorable people at the con, including aunty_char, the woman who sat in seat 666, and others. He was incredibly warm and genuine during this, and I think I probably enjoyed this more than if he’d done the reading.
James was last, wearing the shirt that so many seemed to hate in his MTV appearance and ripped jeans. Personally, I thought it worked. It was a performance and from my seat, he looked damn good. He was admittedly very nervous as it was his first solo performance in 2 years, but after a shaky start, he seemed to settle in to it. He told us that the CD should be out next spring (April, I think).
His left hand was hurting halfway through the set, so he took a break to rest it and told a story about one of his theater experiences. It was a play he was producing, directing, and starring in, and they were rehearsing in a church basement. The reverend showed up during their final dress just a few minutes from the end at a very emotional moment, and completely through everything out of whack, simply because it was "my church and I want to see the play." James fought the urge to deck him there, and instead punched the floor, which, being a church basement, meant that it was concrete underneath. He broke his hand and went to emergency, but because he was poor and didn’t have insurance, they couldn’t do much. The doctor basically broke his hand every couple weeks after that because it was the only way to get it to heal properly without the splint that was necessary. Kind of explains why his left hand knuckles look the way they do now, huh?
The set was really good, but it’s the usual ballad/love song stuff that James excels at. Songs about the women he’s wanted, the women he couldn’t get, the women he wants to go away…that kind of thing. Are we sensing a theme here? Still, he poured his heart into it, and it’s hard not to be affected by how much of himself he gave to it.
Sunday
Thank god for the extra hour of sleep Saturday night because otherwise, I would’ve been much worse off than I was. After a bit of a rough start, I finally arrived at the con in time to see Juliet’s Q&A in the morning. I’d missed hearing her on Saturday so was relieved I got the chance. She was incredibly articulate and well-spoken, much like I expected. Some of the highlights:
Probably the funniest thing in the whole Q&A was when James returned from the breakfast. He was being led down the side of the hall when all of a sudden he shouted out, "Juliet Landau rocks the house!" They waved to each other and blew kisses. It was *very* obvious that they have strong affection and respect for each other.
After Juliet, I went and got my autograph from Amy. She was absolutely adorable, so very much like Fred except minus the techno-brains and the accent. She even does that wrinkly nose thing that Fred does. It’s too cute.
I then had my photo op with Luke Perry. He was incredibly gracious all weekend, and very good looking in person. And whippet thin, much more so than I’d thought.
I hurried back then to hear Jane do a commentary on Pangs. She was literate, and funny, and absolutely a joy to listen to. Some of the things she talked about were:
David and James’ Q&A followed the lunch break. I had a question that had been selected, so I queued early so that I’d be near the front of the line, but then, the woman two people before me, asked a question almost identical, so I stepped from the line. I was told I could ask another question but I couldn’t think of anything anyway, though I was really miffed that I didn’t get to ask the one I had. I only heard about half the Q&A, though, as this was when I started feeling really poorly and stepped out partway through. However, some of the highlights are:
This was where things starting downhill for me. I was completely out of it for the bulk of the rest of the day, only catching snippets of Amy’s and Luke’s Q&A’s. I missed the fanfic panel completely. I did manage to get through my autographs with James and David, but those are a blur. I don’t even remember what I said to James, and I’m pretty sure all I said to David was hi and thank you. The few bits I remember:
The farewell was split between David and James. David came out first and gave the most wonderful, heartfelt thank you to the fans. Then, James came out with an armful of flowers for the organizers and stewards that had been purchased by the audience (a woman had gone around collecting donations). Everyone exited the stage, with Lisa (the MC and one of the primary con organizers) and James pulling a GrArg Monster behind them. It was an amazingly warm way of ending the con, and completely encompassed the mood of the entire weekend.
So, my impressions:
JANE: Love her, love her, love her. She’s accessible, loves what she does, and is intelligent and articulate beyond belief. Plus, she loves Spuffy. How could you not love that?
JULIET: Elegant. Intelligent. A little aloof, but still very nice. I really enjoyed her Q&A on Sunday; I just wish I could’ve seen more.
AMY: Too damn cute for words. She’s such a giggler and wrinkles her nose in the cutest ways. And it’s thoroughly unfair that she’s 7 months pregnant and has this tiny little bump to show for it.
LUKE: I never watched 90210 and really had no opinion on Luke before seeing him this past weekend. I wouldn’t say I’m a raving fan of his now, but I certainly appreciate him more. He’s so warm upon meeting people, and good-looking to boot.
DAVID: OK, I’ll admit, I was never an Angel fan. I never thought of him as good looking. And I still don’t. David, however, is a gorgeous man. Photos and media just don’t do him justice. He’s a bit shy in one-on-one contact, but he got quite bright on stage. However, the man isn’t exactly on the bright side. And he’s a trifle obsessed with sex. Still, he has a charm that’s hard to ignore when he’s on, and I’m more willing to give him a bit of credit in some things than I was before.
JAMES: Ah, James. Our darling James. Sometimes I wonder if this is the same man I saw at Moonlight Rising. Whatever it is he’s done in the last 4 months, whatever it is that’s been said to him to get him to this place, he is more relaxed, more contemplative, more…serene than I’ve ever seen him. It’s as if he’s realized he doesn’t have to pretend any more, or something like that. He *definitely* is looking more his age, but I see this as a good thing (and all those new pictures where you can’t see the lines under his eyes? Airbrushed, most definitely.). He’s still sexy as hell, and charming, and always has a smile that reaches his eyes when he looks at you.
I didn’t see his MTV appearance, so I only have what I saw at the con to base my opinions on. I know there’s a certain dislike around for some of his behavior, but I saw absolutely nothing this weekend that I’d constitute inappropriate. Occasionally, he’d do or say something that would make me raise my eyebrows, but so did everybody else. (David’s comments about being more than 12” when they were raffling the 12” of Angelus figure were certainly ew-worthy.) But, he was also incredibly giving, stepping back on the occasions when it wasn’t about him and letting others have their spotlight. He’s a professional, and it’s obvious he truly cares for these people he’s surrounded with. More than ever before, I’m proud to be one of his supporters. He’s proven to me time and time again that he deserves it.
Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures because I left the camera at home so that Craig could get pictures of the kids at Halloween. I do, however, have the pictures I had taken at the con, as well as scanned the 3 new James shots, though many of you may have seen them already.
David, James, and Me: Like I said in my previous post, I *love* my picture with David and James. Don’t ask me why; I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Luke and Me: I opted to get a picture with Luke, only because I didn’t have anything for him to sign and thought this might be more fun anyway as I often get so tongue-tied in trying to find something to say to the guests.
James' new headshot
James' other new shot
James and his guitar
In spite of being ill, it was a fabulous weekend. Thank you so much to the incomparable psubrat and rockgoddes, all of Julie's angels who were in attendance, Jill and aunty_char, the magnificent denny_dc, and Valeria from Mexico (if you're on LJ, hon, I don't know your nick, sorry) who approached me and was so incredibly sweet and wonderful about my fic. I got to talk to quite a few people this weekend, and all of you are a big part of the reason why this con was just so worth it. (If I've forgotten anyone specifically, I'm sorry but my brain is just so darn mushy right now.)