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RADIO PLAY: The History

I posted this in the comment room, but Todd suggested I repost it here...

RADIO PLAYS...

Sometimes I just don't have anything Gargoyles for us to do. And I'm not sure if just doing old episodes is all that interesting. And the other things have been fun... at least it seemed that way to me.

Here's a history of the works of the GATHERING PLAYERS...

1998 - RAIN OF THE GHOSTS (an unproduced pilot I wrote)
1999 - THE ROSWELL CONSPIRACIES (a rejected pilot I wrote)
2000 - ROUGHNECKS: THE STARSHIP TROOPERS CHRONICLES (the last arc of the series, which I story edited, half of which was unproduced. Written by me, Jon Weisman Lydia Marano, Cary Bates and Michael Reaves.)
2001 - GARGOYLES: "Hunter's Moon, Part Three" (Note: this was the first time that we actually did something gargoyles related for the radio play. This included scenes that were cut for time from the original. Written by Michael Reaves.)
2002 - TEAM ATLANTIS: "The Last" (Unproduced episode featuring Demona and Fiona Canmore, written by me)
2003 - GARGOYLES: "The Reckoning" (Performed in honor of Gary Sperling, who co-wrote the script with Lydia.)
2004 - GARGOYLES: "The Journey" (my uncut version of the script)
2005 - DOC SHAKESPEARE (An unproduced pilot written by myself and Sam Bernstein)
2006 - GARGOYLES: "The Mirror" (written by Lydia Marano and Brynne Chandler Reaves)
2007 - GARGOYLES: "Clan Building, Chapters III, IV & V: Invitation Only, Masque & Bash" - (from the comic, premeiring chapter V before it was published. Written by me...)
2008 - Geez, I should probably figure this out soon...

Anyway, you can see that traditionally, we've only done something gargish about half the time. For me it's fun to get to see my unproduced work performed, and it does give the fans a little insight into the biz. In any case, I've never heard any complaints from the folks who attended.
Greg Weisman
OFF TO CHICAGO... ON A WING AND A PRAYER...


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tyler writes...

I love this website!!!!!!!

I have some questions about gargoyle beasts

1. what do other beasts of other clans look like. like london, mayan, loch ness ect.

2.i noticed the picture of the blue gargoyle beast of the gathering of 2004 looks a lot like it could be bronx and budecca offspring. i was wondering if it was designed to b their child or if it was desinged after them? if it was to be their kid whats is it's name, gender ect. ( sorry if u dont know what im talking about i cant think of the word, mascot maybe, it was on there web site and in a few different places in different positions)

gargoyles # 6 comes out today o ya

Greg responds...

I'm glad you love it, tyler, but without being too judgmental, I wish you'd make better use of its archives.

1. I'm not going to tie my hands -- or rather my artists hands -- by committing to something visual before we choose to depict it.

2. You'd have to ask the designer of the mascot. Mascots are fun -- but they aren't canon.

Response recorded on October 15, 2007

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Jade Griffin writes...

Um... I am posting my review of the dvd. I was forwarded here so forgive if this is the incorrect place to stick this in Greg's section... Here goes!

The menus were exciting to watch unfold. As a big fan and devoted Gathering (convention) attendee, I skipped the great quality of the sound and video for a peek at the Gathering Documentary. Wow. That to me is the most special part of the dvd. The film crew were awesome when we were there and filmed for four straight days nearly. Though I wish all of the footage could be used, what was selected for the film I felt spoke adequately of our devotion to the show. Though I missed not seeing Aaron's demona tattoo;) I was seen no less than three times, which is a plus, but the way in which the documentary was put together was quite professional and I am pleased and proud to see Disney able to take the time to honor us, the fans, for our dedication. Without us, there would have been no dvd for some time. It is a mark of achievement, the whole package, and many years in the making. Here's to the tenth year, and hopefully many more to come!

Greg responds...

I missed Aaron's tattoo too. It was in the rough cut I saw. Wish they had left it in.

Response recorded on October 20, 2006

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Lord GargFan writes...

Here's my DVD review:

First, the Power Rangers commercial made me laugh. Someone brought up how it was like the murderer speaking at the victim's funeral.

The animated menus were GORGEOUS!!! Absoulutely beautiful.

The clarity of the pictures were awesome. Ditto for the audio.

The commentaries, doc, and pitch were enlightening to me. It's a pity that they didn't make the Gathering featurete longer.

Anyway, that's my review. Short and sweet.

Thank you, Mr. Weisman, for creating such a good series.

Greg responds...

You're welcome. I'm very glad you liked the DVD. I liked the current length of the Gathering featurette. Like you said, "short and sweet". There were a couple of things they cut that I wish they had kept in, but I've watched ALL the footage they shot that weekend, and I think they got most of the best stuff.

Response recorded on September 22, 2006

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Jade Griffin writes...

The Gathering 2004 : Jade Griffin's Journal
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
August 5 - 9, 2004

DAY 1 : THE ARRIVAL

August 5th- Thursday

I'd been looking forward to another Gathering, having missed last year's con in New York. Not even the necessity of flying to a foreign country could dampen my mood. I couldn't wait for my voyage to start!

Having never traveled outside the US, I was grateful for some friendly assistance from seasoned passengers. None on my flight were headed for the Gathering but I find helpful people are more plentiful than previous pessimistic estimates calculated. Arriving the day before the Gathering at 6pm to the hotel, who should I see but the famous and welcome faces of Eden and Kanthara! Followed closely by a sighting of Siryn in the elevator, I was in the comfort of garg fan familiarity. My second home:)

It really is special, the feeling of Clan. We laugh, we share, we know and help each other, but it's more than that. It is a feeling for me that no matter what goes wrong, who cares! It will come out right. I know this because my good friends and fellow Clanners are here with me:)

That evening, I met two of my three roomies -- Mandolin and Kathy-- and had a nice dinner -- accompanied by Chyna Rose and Seri Wavelength-- where we talked on all manner of subjects, from anime crossover fics to garg biology.

BTW, the hotel is gorgeous, everyone is nice, and the food and rooms excellent. Thank you, Montreal Delta Centre-Ville!

I found more and more well-known faces (and names for those I'd never met irl) -- including Greg Weisman, creator of Gargoyles-- and don't get to sleep until roughly 2AM. But who could pass up Godiva chocolate bars and the offer of secrets revealed from Clan Olympics coordinator Abram Wintersmith? Thanx Mau and Abram!

DAY 2 : THE MISSION

August 6th- Friday

Up but not having eaten, I went down to the lobby to see who's about and the Mezzanine to get my badge for the con. It's nothing unusual that it was late setting up. No biggie. More time to gather and chat:) What we do best. I also began collecting room #s to relocate people later.

After registering, unofficially assisted a duo of con virgins with questions. Decked out in my homemade G'04 t-shirt and con badge, I musta looked fairly official looking because I got a lot of questions!

Time to set up art. I hurried back up to the room, grabbed my entries, and set my shtuff up. Grabbed a bite to eat and signed up for Artist's Alley, where artists can take commissions and sell their art on the spot. There for almost 1.5 hrs, and then at the end I received a whopping 6-person commission! There were so many awesome artists competing in the art show I felt a tad outclassed. Y2Hecate, Taylor, Sara Berkley, Noel Leas, Eden, Karlyl, and so many more. The garg fandom definitely has the most talened and creative people. But let's not forget the film crew hired by Disney to make a G'04 documentary. I'd been watching for signs of them, and saw them a bit that day. Hard not to lugging around a film camera and a boom mic:) But I wasn't trying to get in anyone's way, so at the Artist's Alley I stayed. And at every Gathering I attend, I do one thing besides my infamous Mystery Gargoyles Theater 3000 event (more on that later). I bring a picture to give away.

This picture has a rather touching story behind it. It is a memorial picture I did after learning of poor Granite's unfortunate accident that took her life, and I refuse to sell the picture. I want her remembered, and so I give the picture to others, to remind them of her, of how special we all are, and that we are a special group because we care so much about everyone, even those we met only briefly.

As I told this story to one fan stopping by, the film crew heard me. They came over and asked me to say the story again. Intrigued, they later came back and filmed me explaining from the start, and reading the lyrics that go with the picture, from Disney's Millenium Walk: "We Go On". I was so happy to have them interested in Granite's picture, I think I forgot to say my name! LOL. And yes, it was great getting on camera. Can't lie there.

Opening Ceremonies. We got to watch Greg's (aka Greg Weisman, series creator) usual delightful video collection of hopeful projects, and then got a little surprise. Greg had an audio tape of others we'd like to have as guests, saying hello to us from afar and hoping to see us in following cons! How sweet! And then Clan Olympics interrupted the whole affair with an intro of the teams and the first competition. Talk about wild!

Greg came back to the podium after the planned 'interruption'. He had important stuff to say, and we listened well.

"The first season of Gargoyles will be released on December 7th of this year, in time for the holiday season."

Ecstatic applause ensued.

"I have a mission for you." Greg said. "Even if every one of you bought ten copies of the dvd..."

And here we interruped with a hearty, "Only ten??"

Smile. "It won't be enough to get the show back. I want you, like missionaries, to spread the word. We need to tell everyone about it. that is the best thing you can do to get new material for the show. If it sells phenomenally well, we'll get that shot. So go out there, post it online, tell everyone you know, get the word out about the dvd. This is the pivotal moment, the make-it-or-break-it. Our only shot at this, but we do have a chance." Note: not verbatum

Even more ecstatic applause errupted.

So we now have a mission, and a good start.

Here's an even better one: Chris Rogers, heading the G'05 con in Vegas, informed us that the fandom is now a legal organization, with all the legal rights and priviledges thereof. We can write off Gathering expenses on our taxes, including travel, membership dues (Gathering admission), and probably hotel expenses! Can this really be true?? OMG! Exciting stuff! We are recognized!!

After Opening Ceremonies, it's time for MGT3K. Mystery Gargoyle Theater 3000 is a combo of the show antics of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Gargoyles. Basically, I invite con goers to join me in making fun of the episodes:) I get it all down on the net and post the 'scripts' on the official MGT3K website. For more info, see Mystery Gargoyle Theater 3000 for info and the scripts! I was pleased to see about 30 people attending. Ah, the faithful hecklers:)

The con does something every time I find fascinating. This year it was called the Blue Mug-A-Guest. In cons prior, it had no name I knew of. Basically Greg Weisman inviting however many will fit into the con suite to talk about whatever we want involving gargs or his other works. And I mean ask him ANYthing. This session was rated 18 and over, people. Frequently, though, we had mild queries for the Creator, and the room was totally packed. I think I counted 45 or so people in one small con suite, and you know how small those rooms are!

It was another late nighter but as always, I fell into bed around 2:30 AM, very happy and psyched.

DAY 3 : THE MASQUERADE

August 7th- Saturday

Aside from Keith David (voice of Goliath) being seriously delayed, the con was going great. So much to do! I had another commission, a pic trade with Taylor, the art show to cast my vote in, a few panels to catch, food, auditioning for the Radio Play, socializing, merch to peruse, the auction to bid at, and then dinner. Still no Keith David...

Many people dressed nice for the banquet, and let me tell you, I felt I should have. It's ambience. spoke nothing but elegance and decadence. Beauty, tasteful delights, and no small meal! Add that to great company and you get... Exquisite.

BTW, 2 things different in Canada than in the US-- Same # of bums on the streets but the shops all have open windows and walls! Instead of air conditioned buildings, they let the natural breeze cool you while you eat and shop. Cool:)

Keith David arrived and was very friendly, open, amiable, and very willing to tell stories, even after all the delays of flights and having his three children with him. He must really like us!

I and others had to depart w/o hearing all of his stories. Costumes to prepare!

Like many this year, I worked hard on my outfit. We wanted to look good. We all knew the film crew would be there, and so would Greg Weisman and Keith David. I hoped everyone would be surprised and pleased with mine.

Wow. What cool costumes! Echidna, Loopy, Princess Catherine and Tom, a pregnant Fox, MacBeth, Puck, Ophelia, Xanatos and a trenchcoated Fox from Eye of the Beholder, and fan characters galoure. There were lots more. Sorry if I haven't named you.

I decided mine needed some dialogue so I signed up to do the cosplay. I had ten minutes to come up with something as I waited in line to walk in! I also had a hard act to follow with Loopy's scared-of-flying gargoyle song and play. Dang, that costume rocked! But I'd give it a try.

"Jade Griffin as Elisa from Eye of the Beholder!"

My que! I jogged down the aile in my ball gown and up to the stage, flashing my con badge like a police badge.

"Elisa Maza, NYPD! Has anyone seen Fox and Xanatos??" Well, my entrance surprised many, as I looked just like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Of course, this was from the garg episode Eye of the Beholder where Elisa dressed as Belle one Halloween night ;) I continued, "Aw, crap! They ditched me again! Every Halloween it's the same thing. And I even have the right wig this time, too. Oh well... Can't let this go to waste." Where I proceeded to 'rip' the bottom of my specially tailored gown off in a solide stroke and flash some leg, and a gun holster, before sauntering off.

I guess I made an impression. I won second place in cannon characters (costume). Truly the 'Belle' of the ball, everyone said I looked awesome. Everyone seemed to want to take my picture, or have one WITH me! (and if you have any please! I'll do a photo swap for a copy!!) They asked me how I made it, said I looked so cute! *giggle* Best of all was when Greg announced the winners : "Jade Griffin as La Belle Elisa!" Wow:) What a title!! I'll treasure it always.

We danced, we sang karaoke, we got Keith to sing and Greg danced. Eden dressed as Titania gave a superb rendition of Chicago's All That Jazz which drown out the mad-cat yowling of the next room over's horrid karaoke (and dang they were aweful! I hope Keith realized we were totally busting up because of them during his talking and not him. Major LOL!) Again, up until @ 1 or 2 AM.

DAY 4 : THE ORGANIZATION

August 8th- Sunday

Greg couldn't join us to rally for the closing ceremonies but Chris Rogers was more than plenty to stir the fire. Right after closing, the first meeting of Gargoyles Fans.Org convened. We discussed in parliamentary procedure fashion who would be elected on the board of directors (and we did that there), how to meet, how often, started discussion on publicity for G'05 and the DVD being synchronous. Tons of ideas, on all aspects of this exciting step in our beloved fandom. It is the fandom we support the most, you see. Finally, legal recognition! Can you imagine how rare that is? What other fandom has done that? I can't name any! We have that status. It makes me happy. With whatever we do next, we have already accomplished a lot.

DAY 5 : THE DEPARTURE

August 9th- Monday

Aw, gotta go. Laser tag last night in a 3-story facility and a tour of old Montreal that got me and Robert lost and I missed my flight. Did I mind? Naw. The spirit of the Gathering goes with me. It's a part of me. No... I make it a part of the Gathering. We all do. This group is so special:) We make it special, because we try, because we do, because we are there. At the Gathering or no, we are always by each others' sides. I go home, to Reno, to rl, but I never left my Clan. In fact, I just got closer:)

EPILOGUE

If you couldn't tell, this fandom is dedicated to the color and expression of creativity and to the enjoyment of life and fun. In spirit, we are gargoyles. We live, we love, and we'll defend and protect that with everything we've got. We are Gargoyles Fans, and we live!

Greg responds...

Hey Jade, I guess you've retired your "La Belle Elisa" dress. But it's always great to see you...

Response recorded on August 18, 2006

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Lord Sloth writes...

Friday (part deux): I wasn't completely certain that I'd go for do the auditions today, wondering vaguely if there might be some kind of advantage to waiting and going for the one that Keith would be down for. I turned out to be wrong on two counts, count one being that an audition is a fairly informal business and having another celebrity there would surly just add to the pressure; and count two being of course that it was a moot point anyway since Keith didn't arrive till the banquet. But I was determined to be part of this radio play and it's usually better to get it over with than to worry for another day, even if I could rehearse my lines for longer.
As for my lines, Xanatos script looked mighty tempting as there was a whole lot of fun new smug dialogue to play with, but I decided I'd be better off bringing out all the guns with Demona's emotional rampage. That made getting the part of Xanatos in the end all the more ironic, but I shouldn't get ahead of myself. Now I think, for the most part, that the audition went quite well, but be straight with me here Greg (if you can remember), did you write something akin to disgraceful next to my English accent? Cause I think I would have in your place. I THINK I did a fairly good Scottish and cat, but then I haven't heard myself on tape so who knows, all I know for sure is I don't blame you for not giving me Jon Castaway!
So that was fun, much more fun then what I did next. There was still a good hour or so before the opening ceremonies, so I thought I'd make another attempt at getting a new charger for my camera. The end result was that I spent the hour walking/running back and forth along Rue St. Catherine (I think) looking for something that ended up costing from seventy to one hundred smackers anyway. At least John (sorry, can't remember your full name) accompanied me for a good portion of the time, and twas good exercise so not all was in vain.
So, back I came just in time for the start of the show, and what a show it was! I can't say I fully understood the Olympic mentality, but I think I'm still glad that I opted not to participate. All the awards and promos were good stuff <was good stuff?>, though my hands were pretty exhausted by the end, we still had to show plenty of enthusiasm for the cameras. But as Xanatos says, that was all merely the icing, and the cake was fantastic; even more then getting the DVD news (which was great) I had been yearning a long time to see those spin off pitches/reel, and that was a dish best served cold. It wasn't entirely what I expected with some very different art then what we normally see on the show (I know they weren't finalized, but I wonder how close those shows would look to the one I know and love). Those giant robots were a little disconcerting as well, a little too close to X-men's sentinels, whom I was never fond of, but hearing claw, dingo, Robin and the rest again more then made up for it. And then I got to hear Demona again! I wasn't expecting that, even though I knew you had played that tape before, I didn't know it would be hear. That was something, once Marina came up I closed my eyes and let my mind fill in the pictures, though I might have looked like I was on drugs or something cause I had a big grin on my face. And then Mole re-dubbing her his "angle of the night", a bit sacrilegious but very hilarious!
Then that was that, and all I had were memories. I stuck around for Gargoyle Theater and threw in some cheeky comments myself, (which are on an audio file somewhere too no doubt. That was fun enough, but ultimately I prefer not to mock what I love too much, the scars can run too deep (so I hope Captain Chavez doesn't get a hold of that tape and hear my comment to her).
Anyvay, I'm not certain what I did for the next hour, I think I went up to Alex's room to hang out and watched south park in French, so that was mostly forgettable. Comparatively speaking.
Then came the Mug a Greg in Blue. Pretty good stuff, though I don't think I learned anything new that hadn't been said before in ask greg (which is understandable, not everyone who came will have been there), but it was plenty cool enough to listen to the way you phrased your answers/rants and to note the similarities to the way you write the same thing. Admittedly, it wasn't all that blue, I had a vague notion by the end to ask another Q along the lines of which of your characters you find the sexiest, but by then it was nearing 2am and I could barely string two word together coherently. I guess that's what happens when there's not enough smut in our dialogue, but I digress.
So far I was having more fun then I planed to, and there was still a lot to look forward to tomorrow. So I stumbled back to my Hostel to get what sleep I could.

Greg responds...

Hey Sloth, I'll be honest, I have NO memory of your audition. Remember the performance, of course. But the audition? Nope. But obviously, you did well enough to get cast, so...

Response recorded on August 17, 2006

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Aaron writes...

Greg, I'm sorry, I've been writing for the past three hours straight and I'm not anywhere close to being done.

But G04 was lots of fun, I'm looking forward to Vegas (though not all the work that's going to come with it) and if you're curious you can read the full account of my gathering journal which should be posted on my LiveJournal

(http://www.livejournal.com/users/justicevoles/

by the time you read this.

Again sorry, just ran totally out of time.

Greg responds...

Hey Aaron,

Don't sweat it too much. I'm a bit confused that you were able to post this. When did the posting function shut down...?

Response recorded on August 17, 2006

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Zehra writes...

Whoops, sorry the last part of this is late. Picking up where I left off..

Zehra's Gathering 2004 babbles, part III

Sunday, August 8th (Zombie Sunday, and Keith David rocks)

Around 6am, I said bye to Greg in the lobby. Then I went back up to my room and slept for about 5 hours.

Wandered down around noon to the Keith David Mug-A-Guest, and talked with some cool Canadians while sitting on the floor, waiting for Keith.

When Keith entered, the room was imbued with energy as he proceeded to shake everyone's hand. Throughout the Q&A he dripped more gems. Keith credits God as the main thing that has gotten him through his career. That response particularly stuck with me-I think that's really awesome.

After the Q&A, I had a quick lunch before closing ceremonies. The art show awards were announced, and I was pleased because a lot of the pieces I voted for got awards. Yay talented artists!!

I got Keith to sign my radio play script--he saw that I played Elisa and gave me a high five. *squeal* I told him I wanted to become a stage director, and he said maybe someday he'd be working for me. What a nice, awesome guy.

After that, I crashed in my room for a while. Watched Mean Girls on the hotel tv, which I really enjoyed (particularly the Caesar speech.) Then I took another nap. By the time I woke up, it was too late for dinner, so I went to the con suite to see if anybody was around. Who did I run into outside the room but Alan! Who ushered me in, and made me sit dangerously close to his wife. Men. ;) Karine, pregnant bartender extraordinaire, mixed me a yummy cranberry vodka peach schnapps drink. Mmmm tastes like college.

After saying goodbyes, I went back to my room and watched CNN until I heard my fill of the Scott Peterson trial news, and fell asleep.

Monday, August 9th

For some reason my body thought it'd be a great idea to wake itself up at 5am (residual jet lag.) So I gave into it and had breakfast, and plotted what to do with the rest of my day. I thought about joining the amusement park folks, but I really wanted to go shopping. Thanks to the kindly instructions from the Signature Club lounge's lovely ladies, I set off for Eaton Centre, a mall about a 15 minute walk away.

The weather was freaking BEAUTIFUL. Clear blue skies, a cool wind blowing in. No need for a jacket.

I bought some things I probably wll never wear. A really cute, kinda retro 70s dress, with a Lichtenstein-esque pattern. One of those "poncho" things that are in style these days, a delicate pinkish knit with fringe. But the best buy was from this casual clothes store called Ko Kawaii (multiated Japanese for "cute kid") There, I found the best pair of lounge/workout pants EVER which I affectionately term the Shego pants. Black with a green stripe down the edge. These sweatpants were the perfect cut--slim, long and flare at the bottom. And they combined 3 elements I love: 1) Shego colors 2) Japanese (the characters for ko kawai were on it) and 3) the number 28, my birthday and lucky number (I'm wearing them now, actually) My only regret is not buying more. And I'm pretty sure its a Canada-only chain. Bummer.

So..to answer the age old question: Is Canada more fashionable than the US? The answer would be a resounding YES.

I wanted to do more sightseeing, but I'm paranoid and as a girl travelling alone and not knowing the area well(though I hear Montreal is very safe,) I didn't meander too far from the hotel. That's what I miss about Japan--the safety. I went all around that country by myself and never ran into any problems. It's probably the safest place I've ever lived, or ever will live.

Also, I was exhausted (damn 5 am start.) But I did stop at a cathedral (Queen Mary of the World, I think) on my way back, and rested there for 20 minutes. Beautiful architecture. I love old buildings of worship. Mosques, cathedrals, temples, shrines--they're all so beautiful. The energy in them is just so...peaceful. Soothing, calming--I guess is the best way to describe it.

Got back to the hotel, and took a nap which lasted 8 hours (oops.) In the late evening, I spent the money I would have spent on dinner by renting Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (another great film. I love Kate Winslet) and then finally went to bed.

Tuesday, August 10th

Uneventfully got to the airport in the afternoon.

Sat next to a nice man on the plane who was interested in talking my ear off about how the airlines dont know what the heck they're doing, and can't run a business. He began talking about how the company structures are flawed and how fare tables are in flux and inconsistent...and having absolutely nothing to add(I STUDY THEATER) I nodded and smiled. He was cool though, reminded me of Mr. Clean.

Came home to my dad who brought home Indian food for me. Yay!
Watched Go Team Go, the Kim Possible episode I'd been wanting to see for a while that I had set a tape for on the Thursday I left. Yay!

Thus ended a great little vacation that totally recharged me, and made me glad to be back on this side of the world. Thank you, Greg! :)

Greg responds...

Don't thank me. It's those VERY HARD-WORKING Gathering Staffers who put on the show. All I do is show up and help heft the occasional box or fold the occasional t-shirt... oh and get a lot of hero-worship. The things I put up with. ;)

Response recorded on August 16, 2006

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Vashkoda writes...

Gathering Report Part II, condensed version

Saturday:

Since I'd promised everyone I would audition for the Radio Play, I was forced to get out of bed around 9. Gore had apparently stayed up late at the Mug-a-Guest the night before, and told us to go on ahead to breakfast without him. I spotted a lot of con-goers this time around, and members of the staff eating at a table beside us (it was amusing to watch the con staff wander around the hotel forming a train behind Karine).

I thought I'd be too nervous to eat, but Sean reminded me I'd need energy for the auditions, especially with Greg calling for loud projections. So I forced myself to have a few croissants, then began hunting for a restroom (which took me ten minutes because the door had been left open so that the sign wasn't visible. Ugh). I tried calming myself by meditating/resting with my hood over my eyes (not that that did much good). Finally I settled on talking to Carol Wagner, who was manning the line. I asked her what she did as a living to have the role of Guest Relations at every con, and how she managed to have so many contacts that she was able to get all those voices on the tape Greg aired. I figured she was a talent agent of sorts. It turns out she's simply in the animation industry, though she still deserves lots of props for what she's managed to do. Then I got the script, and having done Angela, Hudson, and Goliath before, I decided to do Xanatos this time. Greg saw me and instantly said, "Vash!", and I was gratified he had actually recognized who I was the day before. I spoke my lines, then spoke them from the back of the room. I didn't even have to be told to project this time, though I was asked to have more fun with the lines. I think my sarcastic tone must've impressed him most, because I snagged the role of Maria Chavez, who has a few lines of irony in her dialogue with Bluestone. I also tried to mew like a cat, though I made the admission that if I tried to project, it would sound like the cat was being tortured. ;)

Afterwards, Sean and I dropped by the Dealer's Room/Art Gallery. I spotted Siryn making gargoyle masks with Becca Morgan and another fan's child. It seemed like a lot of fun, but after Si admitted that the crafting was a little costly, I relented in my efforts to join in. I then spent at least an hour looking at the different art pieces and voting on the best ones, changing my mind several times (my favorites were a blended image of Demona and Elisa's faces called 'Red, Blue and Gray' (I think), and a picture of Demona's hand crackling with magical energy that Kythera made called 'The Storm' that ended up winning best in show). A very cool picture of Puck looking devious and another of a Mary-Sue harassing Brooklyn also later won awards. Gore was up by this time, so we decided to have another go at finding a Radio Shack and lunch. Thanks to his net connection, Sean was able to get directions. Unfortunately, these directions did us little good, as we discovered that most of the shops were actually underground. If not for a disappointing stop at another computer store, we would never have known this subterranean mall existed, as apparently the entrance was through the bank across the street. We finally find a universal remote for the hotel tv, and grab lunch in the food court (not wanting to ruin the banquet meal to come, I limited myself to McDonalds fries). We get back just in time for Greg's Mug-a-Guest, though I'd been to one of those before as well, and was interested in checking out the SCA weapon's demonstration in the room next door. So I sat in the back of Greg's panel so that I would be able to slip out unnoticed now and then, but Greg caught me and made me feel horribly guilty. Since the SCA people were taking forever to get ready, I decided to stay put and take notes. Topics ranged from Hudson's "Dark Ages" name, to Mab's appearance in the show, to Disney's old plans to make the Gargoyles Universe their equivalent of the DC and Marvel superhero universes (it seems the Gargoyles spinoffs weren't just a pipe dream). Greg also discussed his attempt at making a Stargate series, and his opinions of the "Atlantis" movie. The biggest revelation came as Gore brought up a topic we had discussed in his car, asking Greg in a very indirect way whether G&E's adopted child was G2198 Nick's ancestor. Greg answered "yes" after a moment of hesitation, though there were other good questions he refused to give answers to. Afterwards came the Radio Play rehearsals, and I discovered Gore, Seth and I had all been given roles. Since it was in the same room, we chilled for a while as we waited for everyone else to arrive. It was "The Journey", as Gore and others had guessed from the character initials at the bottom of the audition sheet. A big difference was that this was the original version that Greg had submitted; not the version that the TGC staff had edited. It was exciting, as many of the voices were dead-on (and some, like Lex with a French accent, were a lot of fun to listen to). Amazingly enough, we finished on time with fifteen minutes to relax before showtime. I would have returned to the room, but Gore stopped to look at BrooklynX's cells, and I couldn't help but admire them as well. Before we knew it, it was time to assemble in the large, lecture-hall-like room. Luckily, since I had a scene with Gore, we got to sit next to each other and chat while the room filled up. Of course the DVD crew was there, but since I was in the second row, I wasn't too anxious. Everything went smoothly, and it was a lot of fun!

Afterwards came the banquet. I usually skipped these to save myself some money, but I figured it would be nice to at least have one meal where you didn't have to worry about where you would eat. Gore, Sean, Seth and I chose a table together, and soon we were able to rope Silver and her mother in with us. The appetizer was shrimp, which I'm sure was amazing for those who liked it, but most of us filled up on the bread (which had suspicious colored lumps in it that I'm really hoping were olives). The salad was all right, except that Silver's poor mom couldn't have any because they didn't know if there were any nuts in the dressing. The quail and dessert were great. Keith David finally arrived and took his seat at the table that had drawn his name. Though both he and Greg offered to take questions, Keith was obviously the center of attention, and had to sneak bites in between answers. He said, "I don't think there's a more avid fan of Gargoyles than me. If I wasn't doing it, I'd be watching it." If he were to be remembered for two things, he would want it to be "Jelly's Last Jam" and "Gargoyles". Keith gave no short, simple replies, but told long, thoughtful answers to each question (often going off-topic). He himself loved Shakespeare, and appreciated Goliath's elevated language. He most admired gargoyles' humanity, "their sense of being, to not be of the world, but in it, to not fall prey to it. It's something extraordinary".

Greg also threw in a few anecdotes about how listening to Elisa say Goliath backwards created the name "Thailog", and how Keith was able to bring life into a small part character like Officer Morgan. I took more detailed notes on all of this, which will again have to be limited to my website version, but I can say the evening was a blast, despite the neighboring convention's attempt to drive us all mad with their horrible singing. Afterwards, Sean and I went back up to the room to catch a nap before the masquerade, but I overslept and just made it to the awards segment. The costumes were amazing, though.

Although there's still Sunday and Monday to cover, I'll have to end here to make the deadline. It was a great con, and a big thank you to the staff and fans that made it possible.

Errata: I got the name of the G2005 hotel wrong. It is indeed the Palace Station Hotel and Casino

Greg responds...

I had a vague memory that the posting function shut down at midnight, but I'm glad you made it in under the wire, Vash.

Response recorded on August 16, 2006

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TopMan writes...

Before I begin on the rest of my journal, I'd like to mention something I forgot to mention before, which isn't really relevent to anything, but I feel it important to mention it as it was a situation I felt I'd handled a bit awkwardly. During the course of Friday day, I had inspected the artwork, and saying (pretty much to myself and Reusch) my usual jokingly begrudging comments about how I wish I could draw. Period. Well, Michael (it was Michael, wasn't it? My memory is really bad, all the time) must have overheard me talking about drawing, and approached me during the opening ceremonies, and said something to the extent of "I heard you talking about drawing. You draw? Do you ever take character requests?" I was really caught off guard by this, because I really am not the greatest of artists (this isn't just something I tell myself to put myself down... I guess I have potential, but that's all it is at the moment) and I figured with all the great artists in the con, it was strange that he'd ask me. So I managed to blurt out in the Sentence-Fragment-Caveman-Language "Um. No. I mean... Yes, but... I suck. You don't want to ask me." What I meant to say was that I was really flattered by the offer, and of course I'd have done it if he'd really wanted me to, because I always love when people ACTUALLY want me to do something (it makes me feel helpful ^^) but with the very few art skills I possess at the moment, I was very doubtful at being able to give him anything that would match his expectations, nor anything that he'd really deserve. So, if you're reading, Michael, or if anyone who knows him is, tell him I'm sorry if I was rude!

Well, with that being aside, on with the journal!

Saturday, August 7th

Reusch and I had to take our own car so that I could stash my Thailog costume in the trunk until Masquerade time, so she drove, as I don't know how yet. We got there JUST in time for the Clan Olympics Trivia Torture... that is, it would have been just in time if everyone else had been there on time, and of course not everyone was (I envy their sleeping in =P). So, as we were taking our seats, Nez and David gave us our Clan Flags (little bandana things to represent our clan; ours were green and yellow with bugs on them) and I was told to sit at the front. Then, for some reason the other three decided for me to come up and for David to go down.

AND THANK GOD FOR THAT! If I had had to endure the gross tortures... *shudders* The Trivia Torture was fun, although our team MUST have come in dead last for the event itself. We got I think 2 answers right (or maybe even only one), and when we DID pick a card we got Boned, so we ended up with no bonus points. It's not that we didn't know the answers... Nez and Reusch were very savvy in the regular trivia, and I knew most of the answers to the Gargoyles trivia (though most others did too, so I once again found myself a hindrance to the team). The problem was the way the answering team would be chosen: we had to write it down and then raise our hands. Our team, unfortunately, was not equipped with speed writers, so the only times we won the round were when nobody else knew the answers, and that was rare. There was also a question that we had gotten right, about phobias, but then one of the other people objected, because they said they had been diagnosed with the phobia and it was something else. So the question became moot and another question was drawn. It turns out that the dictionary definition was on our side, so we should have gotten the point for it, but we only found this out in hindsight. Besides, we don't really have a right to complain, because the Green Dragons were really unfairly treated in this game, as they were about to win and then were deprived the title. I don't blame Abe or MAui for it, and I'm not mad at anybody, but there definitely should have been more rules laid out for the Spirits to follow. Of course, nobody would have been able to anticipate that going in, so I guess it was Live And Learn. Surprisingly, even though we got no bonus points, we somehow were only bumped back down to third after the event, which I assume was because we ended up in third for the final standings, and THAT was all because of the fact that we were too anonymous for anyone to even notice us, let alone target us. Good and bad, I suppose.

After that was the one hour lunch break, during which time Reusch and I went up to the con suite to watch more Gargoyles fun. Hunter's Moon part 3 was playing, which was funny because I hadn't seen parts 1-2, and Reusch hadn't seen anything past Future Tense, but we watched it anyways, and Awakening came after that, which has some of our favourite lines... ("Oh Magus... what've ye done?!") We made a new friend there, Kaylee, who was working on her costume at the time, coincidentally dressing up as Princess Catherine (and looked beautiful and elegant all the while). So we sat, chatted, watched the show, and told her how awesome it'd be to say this line or that line when she was in costume. She never did though (tsk tsk!)

Afterwards we headed down to the SCA Weapons Demonstration, which was pretty cool, but not really my thing. The thing I'd have been more interested in, the Melee Fighting part of the demonstration, was going to be during Clan Olympics, which was a blast, so I had no grudges about missing the Melee.

Pictionary was, well, a blast! I've always loved pictionary, and we ended up coming in first for the event. Reusch, Nez, and David, yet again, are the ones to thank for this, because I only got one of the four topics we got right (One for the money, two for the show!). That in itself is surprising, as usually Reusch and I are able to read eachothers minds, and we often do excellently in this category. Still, this event put us back into second place!

The bonus round, however, dropped us back down AGAIN into third. It was a ball-picking game, where if you picked 3 of the same colour, you lost. We started off great! The deciding ball was yellow, and then I drew a blue ball to get us one point (I was the only one of the four teams to not draw the Bad Colour in the second turn), but then we drew two yellows right away, negating the point we'd earned and ending our turns.

We had some time before the Radio Play was supposed to commence, so Abe and MAui gave us boxes to decorate. While most of the other Clans were playing another round of Pictionary, we all jumped in and had a blast with our box! Reusch wrote the team name on the top of one side, where underneath I was drawing a picture of Riel, the Gathering mascot, heartily looking quite depressed and belting out the team motto (Groooooaaaan). Caption for the picture was "Riel loves us! So should you! ...please?" Nez and David were doing a fantastic job on the second side, where Nez drew a Gargoyle and we forced her to draw it holding a Tim Hortons bag (she was being avidly against Tim Hortons for no reason) and David drew a picture of the "Poutine Grande", I guess the Mexanadian official food, a poutine within a taco shell that disgusted everyone and delighted me to no extent. It was around this point that the Radio Play was gonna start, so Reusch and I went to go see it while Nez and David were gonna wander.

The Radio Play was FANTASTIC. I can't think of anyone who did a bad job, and the atmosphere was very lively and friendly, instead of each person just standing up, reading the line with the emotion of a robot, and then sitting down. Michael as Vinnie, *insert someone's name I unfortunately forgot, sorry!* as John Castaway, Eden as Margot, Stormy as Cagney (HEHEHEHEH!) and *insert ANOTHER name here, sorry!* as Macbeth were really the ones who made the show fantastic, but not a single line was delivered badly from anyone, and at the end I almost wanted to shout out "Encore" (to which the cast probably would have shouted out "NO!") ^^.

There was a lot of extra time here before the banquet, and obviously we didn't want to eat anything, so we met up again with Nez and David and went up to their hotel room to decorate the rest. They had bought several tacky little items, including a loon with propeller wings, weird coloured balloons, and stickers with traffic signs. So while David drew a picture of a Gargoyle shouting "You want Tomalés?!?!" (which, incidentally, is still stuck in my head) and Nez did some weird giant flower with the jumbo wax crayons she'd bought, Carolynn and I were having some immense fun with the stickers, putting little captions. We had a stop sign sentence that read "STOP beating our clan", a recycle-esque sign captionned "All around fun", and a no-parking cloud (very random). Then, I had a stroke of genius, or stupidity. I took the speed signs (which, for some reason, ALL had the number 80) and put them sideways, so they'd make a little face. I then dubbed it "The Official Groaning Emoticon". We all got a kick out of this, so we decided that we really WOULD make it our official emoticon.

It was around this time the banquet would be starting, so we said goodbye to Nez and David yet again, and headed down. At first we felt foolish, because we were sitting at a table alone... then Flanker came along, and we convinced him to sit with us, yay! Then he convinced Sarah, he/we convinced Kaylee, and we convinced Annie and Catherine to sit at our table. We now had a full table (since we were asked to keep one spot open for a Guest Raffle, heh) and we couldn't have asked for better tablemates. The conversations were fun, and Annie and Catherine irritated Reusch and I to hell with a weird rearranging game that ended up having a surprise twist to winning, which they refused to tell us until much later. Reusch and I started doing a little tap dance routine with our silverware, we found that the hotel had WAY too much time, as their vegetables were cut into Stars of David and U.S. states, and *most* of our table were unanimous that the food wasn't bad, but wasn't at all to our tastes. The shrimp was ok, although I can't say I'm one for avocado sauce, the salad seemed a little bland (but then I'm just used to creamy caesar), the potatoes and vegetables were good, and the quail was not bad, though none of us were big on the stuffing... so we all sort of carved it out and just ate the bird. When desserts came, only one at our table (Flanker) got the chocolate, but I had decided several months in advance that I HAD to get the chocolate dessert, so I did what I do best, be annoying, and asked the waiter if he could possibly substitute it. He did, and I ate some of the best cake I've ever had. Reusch got stuck with the fruit thing, but she didn't like the cake much when she tried it anyway, so I guess she was kind of boned there.

KEITH DAVID CAME! It was very sudden, and suddenly we were just all clapping as he came into the room. The poor man had to answer questions as he ate, but I think he actually enjoyed the attention, at least partly. The room would have been quiet enough to hear a pin drop, as we were so attentive to his words... if it hadn't been for the GodAwful Karaoke (TM) next door, which, at least for us near the back, and with my semi-bad hearing, completely drowned out his low voice. Also, unfortunately, I had to leave early to start applying my blue face makeup and putting on my costume, which also meant I missed his Dead Horse comment =( Ah well.

The putting on of the costume took more than an hour. The horns I'd bought (the liquid adhesive kind) refused to stick to my head, so 15 dollars were wasted. One really exciting thing though was that as I was trying to apply the horns (and at this point I was half blue, half skin-coloured) who should walk into the bathroom but Keith David!!! After going to the bathroom, he came to the sink where I was, and as he was washing his hands he asked me if I needed help. I explained to him how the glue would stick the horns on but that it was feeble and wasn't drying well, and he asked to take a look at it, and gave me a bit of advice. I thanked him profusely, and though they still didn't work (it must have been something to do with the glue) I was glad that I'd wasted the 15 dollars on the horns, just so that I could get Keith David talking to me ^^. My ears weren't even visible either, so I didn't bother with them, so another 10 dollars wasted. I went through a whole tube of the blue stuff, but I had bought two, so no worries. Unfortunately it was rubbing off everywhere, so parts of my costume were unintentionally blue, while my fingers weren't quite blue enough. And of course, once I put the feet on, the evil feet that took days to create, they immediately began to fall apart. I'd brought a glue gun, but had nowhere I knew of to plug it in, and with my fake nails and all I wouldn't have been in any condition to use it, so I was stuck. Reusch helped with some scotch tape I'd brought, but as you know, that doesn't work well on fabric, so I had to walk EXTREMELY carefully.

Because I was so preoccupied with the falling apart of my costume, and adding to that it was my first Masquerade and I didn't know what to do, I was very nervous, and must have been on the stage for a total of what, 5 seconds? I waved weakly and left, period. Luckily, my shoes held out, coincidentally, until the moment I left the auditorium, where they immediately fell apart, so that was a plus. It's a bit of a shame, since the costume took a lot of time and money to make, that it ended up falling apart and being such a "failure"... which is to say, I didn't win any awards. I know, I know, how egotistical of me, because it was my first con and it was a bit of a thrown together costume and it didn't really deserve an award, but I was still hoping, you know? Anyways, everyone who did win certainly deserved it (*ahem* Korul, anyone?), and even those who didn't, still had kickass costumes. I don't want to mention any here, because I know I'll leave someone out who really deserves a mention, but I will say that whoever dressed up as Banshee did a really great job, and I think it's a bit odd that she wasn't mentioned in most people's con journals, because it really was an A+ costume.... everyone's was. Congratulations everyone! On a side note, I think one of the things that has made me so bitter about my costume was that I didn't end up getting a ribbon. And I'm not talking about a Prize ribbon, but the ones that were handed out to all the participants afterwards. Obviously, it wasn't intentional: They only had so many, I was the person on the far left, therefore the last in the row, and SOMEBODY would have not gotten a ribbon even if it wasn't me, but still, it made me feel a bit rejected nonetheless. It cheered me up a bit that a lot of people approached me afterwards asking me to pose for pictures, and a couple of people complimented me on my costume, so maybe it wasn't as bad as I'm thinking it was, but definitely, next time I'll make a human costume, as it's less time, less money, less chance of falling apart, and therefore less nervousness when presenting. I have an idea of what to dress up as, but I'm not going to say anything yet, in case it falls through. Still, I had a great time, and at least I have several pictures to boast, including one with Keith David, the guy who actually DID Thailog's voice. That's reward in itself. And this paragraph turned out to be a big egotistical rant, so I'm gonna stop now and move on.

Reusch and I were originally gonna enter the Karaoke contest, but neither of us were up for singing that night, and I was already feeling a bit down because of the unfortunate happenings of the costume, and I'm self-conscious enough about my singing as it is, so we ended up leaving after that. I wish I hadn't, as there were apparently some great moments that I missed, but luckily, most were taped and put on S8.org, so I got to see them! Thanks to Gore for that! So we went home, and slept.

Sunday, August 8th

After we arrived at the hotel (via my dad, again), we went up to join the Hunter's Moon Dash, a.k.a. Scavenger's Hunt. Nez and David had a permanent marker, and immediately on our arrival put an 80 on our hands. It was awesome! They actually liked my joke ^^ Then we decided to put them all together, and David spoofed the Wonder Twins of Superfriends "fame" by saying "Wonder-groan powers unite!" and we all groaned, it was awesome. Anyways, scavenger hunt. Reusch and I already knew that we'd lost. Scavenger hunts are death to us, as we SUCK at finding anything, and have no imagination, but we did our best anyways. We actually managed to find some stuff, but the problem was we were usually the last to procure them. I did manage to find a DISGUSTING KFC sandwich in the parking lot (still in the wrapping, thank god) that must have been from weeks ago, and that counted as A Bird, Any Bird, but that was about the only thing I contributed that wasn't exceedingly late. So yeah, definitely lost, but still had a good time.

*Side bar here: I'd decided to wear my Team Bandana a different way each day, and I ended up with a bib, a loincloth, and a sort of Old Lady Shawl thing that goes over the hair, but I got no pictures of that, sadly*

Now we had some time before anything was going to start, so we Mexanadians were going out to lunch (we'd finally convinced Nez to try Tim Hortons). Along the way, we met up with a bunch of people, although unfortunately the only name I caught from the group is White, and I haven't been able to contact her since in order to find out who else was there (if anyone has White's contact information, I'd really appreciate it ^^) It was awesome, we practically took over the Tim Hortons. We took 3 tables and shoved them together, and we were carrying our box and everything, it was an insanely bizarre picture. We got to talk a lot about random things, and I got to know some more people (even though I never learned their names) and I had a great time.

What was SUPPOSED to happen was that we would spend 5 or 10 minutes looking in the art galleries, and then we'd head off to a panel. I'd wanted to go to all three of the panels featured in this spot, but Reusch had decided she'd be most interested in the Colouring seminar, so we were going to go there. However, with buying the PGA, getting it signed, voting for the art contest, buying random Gargoyles trading cards, and the like, we ended up being too late to go to any panels. So we attended the Keith David Mug-A-Guest, which was fascinating. I never knew that Keith David once played Moufassa in the Lion King Broadway, I'll have to talk to him about that if I ever get into a conversation with him.

After the Mug A Guest was closing ceremonies, which had all the energy of a funeral durge. We were all tired from the con, and sad that it was over. Still, the closing ceremonies were fun! Karine started off in french, which I'm now happy I understand, and while I don't remember everything, I remember the first thing she said was "I've lost ALL my english!" That got chuckles from all us french people, and weird stares from the others. The artists got their awards (the art was AWESOME this year!) the Clan Olympics winners were announced (we tied for third with Clan Challanged part Duex, which means we were never technically under third place ^^ GROOOOOAAAAAAN!) Canadian Body Massage was in second (congrats to Flanker and all his temps!) and Arcadian International came in first and won snazzy t-shirts, so congrats to you guys! The olympics were a blast, and I can't wait to participate again. Las Vegas presented again, and I REALLY wanna go, I hope my parents change their minds. I pre-regged for 20$, so at least I can contribute, if I don't end up going.

As I was waiting in line to get Keith's autograph, I signed up for Laser Quest, and then, when I got to the front of the line, I said to him "Mind if I be greedy and ask for two things signed?" He just laughed and said "Of course not". So I got him to sign a Goliath trading card, and the programme. On the programme he wrote "To my good buddy Thailog- All the best. Love Keith David". He didn't instantly forget me, and took note of my costume, so I was very happy about that! That man is such a great guy.

Laser Quest was awesome! Reusch wasn't there for it, so I hung out with Jade Griffin a bit, and talked with Wolffer a lot (he was a really big sweetie and offered to drive me home, because I insisted on taking home the Mexanadians box). I, of course, sucked at the Laser games, and of course I was picked as King for the team (Damn you computer! Don't pick me!!!!) but it was an awesome time. One highlight was when we all walked in, someone happened to look up, saw Gargoyles perched on the ceiling, and we all started cheering. Another was the staff there, who seemed elated to have such weird people here (I think the guy at the counter actually took a picture of the group making Gargoyle faces). They were just fantastic people, and it was a great night. Wolffer and Viv and I didn't end up staying for supper, as we weren't very hungry, so we left after the games.

Monday, August 9th

I'm running out of time to write this, so I've gotta be brief, and only mention the highlights. One of the best parts of the day was the Metro ride, because someone ended up starting to say the Goliath monologue from the credits, and of course we all joined in, and we had a bunch of people staring at us. After the metro came the shuttlebus, which was a quick ride to LaRonde. We started off in big groups, then broke off into smaller ones after lunch. Luckily, before that we got a picture of Kyffin and I perched on top of posts in Gargoyles positions. Chyna Rose, Sarah, Reusch and I stayed together for the day, singing showtunes from Rent and going on the Monster, the Ovni, the Vampire, and the Cobra. Unfortunately the lines were too long for anything else, and we left at 5 due to the heat and a bunch of other people leaving at the same time, but it was still fun.

That ended the Gathering, sadly. I'm really hoping my parents will change their position so I can go to next year's at Las Vegas. The people are so friendly, it wasn't at all what I was expecting. Thank you all for making a n00b feel so welcome ^^

-Top Man

Greg responds...

Did you make it to Vegas? What about Valencia? We're still here! Hope you are too!

Response recorded on August 15, 2006


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