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Kelly L Creighton / Kya White Sapphire writes...
Con Report, 2004:
Friday
August 6th Julie and I wandered through the underground mall-thingy and found breakfast. The place we ordered from, The Cedar Grill, had very small bagels. Not even half the size of real bagels. Weirdoes. Anyway, then we spent hours wandering around Montreal looking for an arcade. We never found one, and since the registration desk was supposed to open at 10am, we headed back to the hotel. Of course registration did not open on time, but we did finally get our badges, schedules and shirts.
At Noon I hosted the "Con Virgin 101" panel. Not many people showed up, and the crowd was a little amorphous as people came and went. Still, we managed to kill time for an hour, before Julie and I decided to go swimming. The pool was heated, but not quite heated enough. We spent a half hour shivering before finally leaving. At that point I spent a lot of time running around looking for people- Kyffin, Ethan, Liz, Ian, Taylor, trying to get everyone settled into their rooms. Then Ethan, Kyffin, Julie and I practiced my skit for the cosplay. I also begged Julie, Kyffin and Karlyl to sign up for the clan olympics with me, and Taylor drew a Green Dragon sign for us to use during events.
Opening Ceremonies were much of the usual, though the first clan olympics event was set purposely to disrupt the ceremonies. Half of each team stood at the back of the room near a large bin of plastic balls. One person from each team stood at the front of the room. One person was the runner. The people in the back were supposed to bring balls to the runner, who then ran them to the person at the front and stuffed the balls into the T-shirt that the leaders were wearing. Kyffin and Julie had a good idea- they stole a blanket and were trying to load a bunch of balls in it for Karlyl to take to me. Alas, the plot was foiled by the other teams, who never let Julie and Kyffin fill the blanket. So Karlyl, providing much amusement to the onlooking staff, looked around helplessly as Kyffin and Julie were nowhere to be seen. Our team tied for last place, and was saved only because we managed to find a BONUS BALL.
Greg went through his usual shpeel, which we all love to hear. Then after opening ceremonies Liz, Taylor, Julie, Karlyl, Kyffin, Ethan and I went out for dinner. (Someone asked us if we were going out to the Crepes place with the staff. "No, we weren't invited." I replied.) We went to Le Marche, which was a neat concept, but poorly executed. The restaurant was set up like an open market, where you could wander from stall to stall and take whatever food you wanted. The selection was amazing, and the food was very good, however the place was so poorly designed that (as Kyffin put it) "The only thing harder than finding what you want, is getting someone to actually serve it to you once you've found it." Dinner was good and not too expensive though, so all was well in the end. We then had to be back for the next clan olympics event: A shot in the dark. There were targets set up on chairs, and we had to hit the targets with kooshballs to earn points. Again, the only reason we stayed in the game was due to BONUS POINTS, because another team was eliminated, and we're still dead last. By that point we were all so totally exhausted (even having fallen asleep waiting for our turn at the event) we all just went to bed.
Saturday
August 7th started with a shower, and a review of Friday's events. Then Julie, Kyffin and I went to Tim Horton's for breakfast. At 10am we had to participate in the Clan Olympics. The event was Trivia Torture. In the interest of not being bitter, let's just say the "evil spirits" (Teams that had already been eliminated, but still got to participate by messing with the game) decided to help all the other teams, and screw us over, therefore kicking us out of the olympics since we were /already/ in last place. That didn't sound too bitter, did it?
Julie, Amina, Kyffin and I went out to find DDR. This time I was armed with a map from the concierge. The first two places he'd marked down were both empty buildings, but the third (the Pepsi Forum) finally turned up DDR. 7th mix and Extreme, I played several times, my feet hate me, I'm very happy. We took the bus back to the hotel and watched the Radio Play (The Journey).
After the Radio Play I got ready for dinner. Being that I wasn't going to wear any makeup, this was very easy. While waiting outside the banquet hall I had a few opportunities to get on camera (In case you didn't know, Disney had a film crew here all weekend, making a documentary on the con for the Gargoyles DVD, due out December 7th 2004!!) So hopefully *one* shot at least will make it on to the DVD. Dinner was good, though I don't know that it was worth the $55CAD price tag. The food may cost that much, but I didn't enjoy it that much. Karine at first announced that Keith David would be sitting at our table. Then it changed to Greg. I love Greg, but Liz was really looking forward to Keith David, so she was disappointed. However we had a great conversation with Greg all night, while Keith didn't show up til after dinner.
Julie, Kyffin and I practiced our skit several times, then performed it for Karlyl. She laughed her ass off, so we knew we had a winner. We were the first performers in the Cosplay, and people loved the show. Despite the fact that the lights did not turn down the way we needed them to, so we didn't quite get the effect we wanted. Ah well. There were great costumes this year, I took lots of photos, which are below. We won honorable mention for cosplay.. not that there was any competition. There was one staff cosplay, and staff is not eligible to win. Then the only other cosplayer won Best of Show because his costume and play were fantastic. So really, we got last place ;P
Karaoke and Dancing followed, though not really a lot of dancing. I had to lay down for a while because I was feeling ill. I went to the bar to get something to settle my stomach. A guy, Nate, came over and started hitting on me, and wouldn't let me go back down to the convention. Once I left, he even came down to the convention to see what it was about (which is fine because I told him he could). Luckily he left shortly, I think we were too weird for him.
I followed Liz upstairs and just socialized with Liz, Taylor, Karlyl and Julie. Taylor is fantastic, he really is. I'm so glad he came this year, I hope I get to see him again soon. We did wander up to the con suite for a while, but by 4am we were so tired, we decided to crash.
Sunday
August 8th I did not want to get up this morning. But by about 10am everyone else was stirring, so I decided to get ready too. Julie and I spent a long time, again, looking for food. We finally found a Denny's-like place and asked for our food to go, and picked up breakfast for Liz on the way back. I just hung out in the dealer's room, signing the Phoenix Gate Anthology. It was weird, I felt like someone important or something :D
I hung out in the dealer's room for a while, signing the PGA and then listening to Keith David. Closing ceremonies came all too soon. Much more hanging out was done, waiting for dinner. I've also registered for next year's con, and volunteered to be the schedule coordinator. We had closing ceremonies, then the first official meeting of the Gargoyles Fans .Org corporation. I took minutes. The meeting ran for an hour, a lot was decided. I hopefully impressed Chris enough that I'll be allowed to do minutes and newsletters for the corporation (as secretary perhaps?).
Everyone not in the meeting left for dinner, so Ethan, Julie and I went to the same restaurant from which we'd gotten breakfast. The food was fantastic. When we got back from dinner we did a lot of goofing off, talking, playing video games and being silly. That's my favorite thing about the gathering- just hanging out with my friends.
Monday
August 9th At this point everyone is wholly exhausted, since we stayed up til the wee hours of the morning. Still, knowing that we had to be in the hotel lobby for the La Ronde trip by 10am, we all woke up early to get ready. Flanker, Ian, Liz, Julie, Karlyl and I wandered down to the underground mall and had tea cakes and other pastries. Flanker had a very large cup of coffee, which woke him up more by burning his tongue and less by caffeine :D And since few things at the con ever start on time, we didn't actually get out of the hotel until something like a quarter to 11.
What can I say about La Ronde? It's an amusement park. We rode a few coasters- the Monster was great. It was the world's largest wooden coaster at the time of it's construction, though whether or not that is still true is up for grabs. What a great, great coaster. We also rode the Dragon, the world's cheesiest and silliest coaster. It was amusing for the sake of it's lameness. Liz and I played DDR a few times. By the end of the day it was pretty much just Liz, Julie, Taylor, Ian and I in a group, and we had a great time with each other. Ian had to go home after our day, we were sad to see him go. We wanted to have dinner at La Marche, but despite the fact that they told the concierge they were open til midnight, their doors were locked at 10 when we got there. Dorks. We ended up eating at Tim Horton's, AGAIN. Not that I mind the sandwiches, which are very good. I just seemed to spend a lot of time there this weekend. I kept trying to go to sleep, but with the girls and Taylor chatting in the room, I kept wanting to join in. I didn't want the weekend to end. Liz did a con badge for me, YAY!
Link for photos: http://www.coloden.com/sapphire/g2004.html
Greg responds...
Hey, Kelly!
It's good to hear about what went on Sunday and Monday, since in 2004, I had to take off VERY EARLY Sunday morning in order to be home in time for my daughter's birthday.
Silver writes...
Because Greg asked for it
Now on to The Gathering report 2004...
We left early morning on the 5th at 8am to be there at 8pm. Montreal being a good 12 hour drive from where I live. The drive being fairly uneventful. Stopped breifly at the boarder for a sreach, but nothing that bothersome. Arrived a little later than planned but no big deal there, I drove the last leg of the journey finding my way to the Delta without any trouble. Once there, took stuff to the room, my mom stayed in the room and I went to the lobby per useual. Met up with the other garg people there as we all kinda waited for a few of the other cars to come(Mainly those with people we knew where arriving that day.)
Don't remember the names of everyone I spoke to the frist night, just about everyone, even Greg for a short time. Though very sleep depribed about the time Hudson and those riding with him came about... sometimes around... 11:30ish? I not being the only one without sleep. I told Seri to go sleep and didn't go to sleep myself until HOURS later. The teasing/bothering Hudson comensed, Lynati managed to braid his hair without him noticing until an hour or so later. Highly amusing when you haven't slept in awhile. I don't remember exactly but Hudson transposed 'awake' for 'asleep' "I've been asleep too long can't you tell?"
Anway everyone finally went off to sleep, finally did myself around 1:30 or so..
Aug 6th.
Barely managed to get up by 10am. Sloooowly.. Anyway, finally get to where registration is going to be, they're running a little late and so I end up helping set up the art panels in the art room. Help with that along with afew others who offered to help. We got the panels up fairly quickly though we found we where minus two elbow joints for the panels so one of the panels got put up later. After that those of us where artists went ahead and set up since where there already. Put up four peices myself... Arwyn Gargoyle, Kythera, White, and Overlook. Overlook and Arwyn both got 2nd place, Overlook got 2nd place in the Cannon Gargoyle, Marker; Arwyn got 2nd place in Digital Fandom Gargoyles. Yeee! I'll talk more about art a little later.
Opening Cerimonies where cool, Greg announced the release date for the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005JNEL/qid=1091423369/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-0560503-0543943?v=glance&s=dvd">Gargoyle DVD</a>!!!!! YEEE.. Dec, 7th for $29.99 if ya didn't know already ;) And of coruse the viewing of the useual opening cerimonies videos. Thom wasn't able to make it but, that's ok, maybe next year. We couldn't board all his dogs... he has something like eleven dogs I think. Keith made it though he ended up being a little later than planned, someone said his plane was delayed. I ended up staying up late that night, around 1 or 2ish... did lots of talking and went to many a panel.. Did some life drawing... watched the camra crew for the documentry come around. They did alot of fliming, it'll be interested to see what they put on the DVD final. I know the flimed the art, they asked all the artists to sign a form so they can use the footage.
Keith finally made it in on the 7th later in the night, about the time of dinner. Glad to see he made it ok and was still willing to answer the Q&A... He really came across as a really nice guy, he had some(all?) of his family there too.. He has really cute kids ^.^ I remember him walking by while I was talking with and about to do a few pics Shaun/BrooklynX, and of course he stopped and looked at Shaun's gargoyles cel collection he had out.
Did my normal stuff at the dinner.. hehe... ended up haveing a sugar eating contest with Gorebash, muhahaha... Vash and Sean also sat at that table and...gah I forgot his name! umm guy whose face I know... ^^;
And oh Yes, the Cosplay costumes ROCKED this year, I can't wait to get my pictures back.. they just...wow.... I'm SO doing a costume next year, as I've already told many people I talked to at the gathering already.
Getting tired and gonna cut this a little short... in short, this was one of the best Gatherings ever, got to meet just about everyone I was planning to, and met a few new friends... causing me to stay up until 5am one night *cough* ;)
Oh yes, I got to sell some prints and comissions. Yee! Did a pic for Riverdale, which was special..^_^ Riverdale was one of the first fan characters I've ever saw when I got online back in '97-'98... was much coolness. *squeak*
Just sorta copy 'n pasted from my own journal and stuffs :)
-Silver
Greg responds...
Man , am I only JUST getting to the 2004 Convention?
Ah... someday I hope to be only a year behind.
Okay, enough dreaming. Peeling back the layers of memory now. Montreal. Yes. It's all coming back.
Good times!
25%
Nothing to sneeze at -- and with gratitude to those who have participated -- but right now, Todd tells me, we only have about 38 Gathering Journals posted at ASK GREG.
That's about 25%. I was hoping for at least FIFTY PERCENT cooperation. C'mon, guys. Put your keyboard where your mouth is!!
You only have until midnight on the 31st!!
Thanks
THE GATHERING OF THE GARGOYLES 2004 JOURNAL - Sunday, August 8 (The Voyage Home)
So I showered and packed. Carol came knocking to say good-bye.
Then I headed down to the lobby.
Said good-bye to Zehra.
Then Patrick and I headed out.
I'd like to be able to tell GXB that our journey was something out of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but the truth is it went incredibly smoothly and we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare.
Sorry, Greg. But you're still my best Gathering Travel story.
Anyway, Patrick & I shook hands on a great convention. And off I went.
I went through American Customs up in Montreal somehow. Then I had some Burger King.
Got on the plane. Slept finally. Missed the meal and the movie. Woke up. Read a bit. Landed. Was picked up VERY promptly by the driver, who seemed surprised to see me coming out so soon.
Got home to my family. Gave my family stuff. T-shirts, pins, Canadian coinage, sketches drawn by someone whose name escapes me at the moment.
Then I shaved off the beard for my newly ten-year-old daughter. Just as well. I'm growing too dependent on the beard anyway. But it seemed to make things official. The Gathering was Over.
EPILOGUE:
We had an extended family birthday dinner for Erin that night, which included my parents, my 94 year-old-grandmother, my sister, my brother and his wife and TWO kids, ages not-quite-two-years-old and not-quite-one-week. Plus of course, me, Beth and Benny.
The next day we drove down to San Diego for a little family vacation. We were staying with Gary & Jane Krisel. Gary was my boss during the Gargoyles years at Disney. He was a big contributor to the show's development. A big believer in the concept. And the guy who basically left me alone to run it. So tip of the hat to Gary. When I told him about the Gathering, he thought I was kidding at first. ("An entire convention dedicated to one cartoon?") I thought HE was kidding about me kidding him, because I'm POSITIVE that I invited him to G2001 in L.A.
Anyway, it was great to see him again.
We did the Theme Park rounds. A day at SeaWorld. A day at the Wild Animal Park. A day at Legoland. Then we headed home again, picking up Norman at the vets on the way.
Norman's wearing a cone/lampshade around his head. But he's doing well.
I finished "I Dreamed I Married Perry Mason". I really liked it and am looking forward to Cece's next adventure: "Nancy Drew Blue".
Then I read Walter Mosely's "Fear Itself". Which was also great.
Today, I saw an early cut of the DVD Documentary. David Grabias and his editor Amy did a terrific job. I'm not going to go into any specifics, because (a) it's not a final cut and (b) I don't want to spoil anything. But trust me it's very cool. And you all look great!
That's about it for now. See you when I get back from Vegas.
Oh, and one last time -- SPREAD THE WORD. GATHERING REPORTS/JOURNALS/DIARIES need to be posted here by AUGUST 31st. PLEASE!!!!
THE GATHERING OF THE GARGOYLES 2004 JOURNAL - Saturday, August 7 (Nightpart III - The Long Goodbye)
With the costume & cosplay contests over, things started to relax. My assignments were over, and I could just kick back. Unfortunately, I was leaving the hotel at 6am the next morning. For the first time, I'd miss Closing Ceremonies, which was a huge bummer. I'd also miss spending any real time with Keith. But my daughter's TENTH birthday was Sunday the 8th. I had hoped to bring the whole family to the Gathering this year, but I just couldn't afford it, and I wasn't going to miss her birthday. In fact, Erin was very gracious about allowing me to fly home Sunday on her birthday instead of Saturday night. The trade-off was I agreed to shave off the beard when I got home. Benny likes it, but Erin doesn't. So it's gone now.
I promise though that next year, the whole family's coming to Las Vegas. In fact, we're leaving for Vegas the day after tomorrow. That's right, I'm so anxious to get back to the Gathering, I'm leaving an entire year early. (Or maybe, it's because my in-laws live in Vegas, and we're going to see them. I get confused sometimes.)
Anyway, we hung out downstairs for awhile. I had a number of nice chats... with Crazyman Marty Lund and his decidedly saner wife Lexy... with Kathy... with Ellen... with Carol... with Shaun... with Tony & Andrea...
Keith and his kids came back down for the Karaoke. Keith couldn't find a song he liked, so he just sang (wearing a baby no less). He truly is one of the coolest and smoothest individuals on the planet.
We've got some great singers in the fandom. Taylor sang the Love Boat theme AND better still "The Summer Winds". Cindy, Zehra & Jen all have amazing voices too. And that YMCA was a classic.
There is no way you're ever going to get me to sing. Never gonna happen. Have to maintain some dignity. But just because I'm a thrill-seeker, here is a brief list of songs I sometimes sing in my car...
Nat King Cole's "When I Grow To Old To Dream"
Joe Jackson's "The Other Me"
Joe Jackson's "Hometown"
Bruce Springsteen's "One Step Up"
Don McLean's "American Pie"
Karine dragged me onto the dance floor. After I made her promise not to go into labor, we did a couple of swing moves which was fun (especially when she eventually let me lead). I definitely think the Gatherings need more swing in general.
Around 2am-ish the downstairs party began to break up. I know I was saying good-bye all night. I was really on the fence about whether or not to stay up all night and take off at six, or try to go to bed and worse try to wake up at five.
Because, I was having too much fun, I opted (mostly by default) for staying up all night.
Karine, Jen, Zehra, Patrick, Tony, Andrea and I went up to the consuite to hang. Had an apple and some chips. Liz, Kelly, Karlyle & Chameleon Girl showed up for a bit, and Liz dropped off a very cool hand-drawn Angela conbadge for me. We watched a surreal live-action Sailor Moon. This is something my kids would go nuts for, so if anyone can copy this stuff to VHS, I'd be interested...
It was all very punchy and silly and cosy and fun. I made one of the most truly tasteless jokes I've EVER made in my life. It was semi-avian in nature.
I love all-nighters. And I loved spending time with these people.
Then finally at about 5:15 it was time to hit the showers. I said goodbye to Karine, Tony & Andrea at the Consuite. To Jen in front of my room.
Of course by this time, it was way past officially Sunday, so I'll finish my last Journal entry tomorrow...
NEXT: The Trip to the Airport: ¿Can Toman top Bishansky?
THE GATHERING OF THE GARGOYLES 2004 - JOURNAL (Nightpart II - The Masquerade)
I had time to run upstairs once more. Talked to Beth. Norman, our basset had had his surgery and was doing fine. Though, unfortunately, he was now completely deaf. (Although, today, when the doorbell rang, Norman started barking just like old times. It was the first time I had heard him bark since the surgery. But I have no idea how he could possibly have known that there was someone at the door. Freaky, but cool.)
While I was upstairs, various members of Keith's family began to straggle in. His son Owen. His lovely wife Dionne, Dionne's niece (whose name escapes me, I'm afraid) and Keith & Dionne's daughters: Maelee and Ruby. Many of you know that Dionne and Keith's first date was his appearance at G1997. That's right. Those of you who saw Keith's surprise entrance might also have noticed a beautiful woman standing in the back watching him. That was Dionne. After he and I did our Q&A, I was so grateful, I treated the two of them to dinner. (How's that for slick? The guy didn't even buy dinner for his wife-to-be. ;)
I came back downstairs and joined Keith as we prepared to judge the Masquerade. Daniel, our hotel contact, was the third judge. His girlfriend Lucy also kinda participated, and we drafted Christine to help us keep everything straight.
Idiot that I am, I forgot to keep my notes, so I tried to recreate them from memory on a groggy Sunday. I apologize in advance for any errors or ommissions.
I will say that the costumes this year were truly amazing -- both in quality and QUANTITY. The last couple years, we've had plenty of the former, but were kinda shy on the latter, as fewer and fewer people seemed to be dressing up. But this year, I'm sure thanks to David Grabias and the DVD Crew, people really went to town. I was especially gratified to see so many canon characters. All the original characters are neat, but for me it's much more fun to see one of my "babies" brought to life.
BEST IN SHOW: Having said that, the runaway hit was an original Gargoyle named, I think, KORUL: the Gargoyle who was afraid of heights. He had an amazing costume, with detractable wings and sang a filk song to the tune of Rubber Ducky. Brilliant.
The awards for Canon Characters:
1st: Shari as Ekidna (bloody amazing)
2nd: Jade as La Belle Elisa (so cute)
3rd: John as the Renaissance Hunter (very cool)
The awards for non-canon:
1. Caille as Argenta (also with amazing wing action)
2. Somebody as Dancer
3. Space-Babie as Laurie Canmore
The Thom Adcox Memorial Award went to Revel as Dracon. Just for the attitude. But he refused to drop trow.
Cutest Couple: Alan & Jackie as Xanatos & Fox from "Eye of the Beholder"
Cutest Old Married Couple: Tony & Andrea as Dracon & Bad Elisa (I loved Jen's line that "Bad" means "Cleavage".)
The Gorelisa Award went to Laurean as Tom. (Staff weren't supposed to be eligible, but (a) it was a limited field of cross-dressers this year and (b) she was just so darn cute and funny.)
We gave a late-comer award to Lynati, who showed up at the very last second with a truly amazing Ophelia costume. Kicked ass.
Winner in the Junior Division was Becca as a terrific Bronx.
The Cosplay winners were Sapphire, Chameleon Girl and Ethan, doing a hilarious recitation (complete with props) of our opening Narration. Totally cracked me up.
There were other great costumes as well:
Elisagargoyle
Fox in her evening gown with the Eye of Odin from "Eye"
Thailog
A Quarryman
And the staff... with all they had to do, they still managed (almost to a man) to dress for the occassion. And they truly looked great.
Jen & Alan came as Gruouch & Macbeth
Patrick & Cindy came as Puck & Titania
Kaylee & Si came as Princess Katharine & Tom (and that kiss was great)
Rob was Lex Luthor (by default, I gather)
And of course Karine showed up as a Pregnant Fox from "Walkabout"...
And the DVD Crew got it all on tape... I am such a proud Papa.
NEXT: THE NIGHT IS YOUNG. (Well, actually, the night is fortyish, but every once in a while, the night has to behave as if it's still in college, you know?)
GATHERING 2004 JOURNAL - Saturday, August 7 (Nightpart I)
After my interview with Emru, but before I headed upstairs, I finally had time to browse the wonderful art show. There were a lot of great pictures and some very funny action figures. Not enough smut for my taste, of course, but it's hard to top the Gargoyles fandom in the art department. I just love seeing your stuff every year.
But the one piece that really spoke to me was Andrea Zucconi's portrait of Elisa. I'm not sure if I can exactly put my finger on why, but I really found it stunning. I don't vote in the contest. I never seem to have the time and the sheer number of categories is a bit overwhelming, but I would have voted that Elisa painting as best in show. JMHO.
Anyway, at 6pm I came back downstairs for the banquet. By the time I got there most everyone was seated. Keith still hadn't arrived but was due within the hour. Becca Morgan drew a number out of a hat, and Karine sent me to sit at a table on the far right. I sat down next to Liz -- who then proceeded to kick me out. I hadn't heard it, but I guess Karine had mistakenly announced that Liz's table would get Keith. So Liz sent me away. I returned to Karine, who sent me back to Liz. I felt like a definite consolation prize right about then. (At best.) But considering that Keith didn't arrive until the Q&A, making it impossible for him to simply converse with his table mates, I still think Liz got the better deal. But you'd have to ask her.
Anyway, dinner was very enjoyable. I shared the table with the Zucconis and Liz and Kelly and Chameleon Girl and Taylor, I think. Karlyle, were you there? A couple other people too. I'm blanking out at the moment.
Kelly told us all of her obsession with Dr. Doom. (How obsessed is she? Well, let's just say I found myself getting jealous.)
The menu cards, printed up by our hotel contact Daniel were extremely cool, featuring a nice portrait of Goliath.
The Menu:
*Nordic shrimp cocktail with avocado sauce
*Mixed greens with walnut oil
*Stuffed pair of quails ith grape and Port sauce
*Potatoes and market fresh vegetables
*Seasonal fruit charlotte with strawberry coulis
or
*three chocolate Bavarian cake with rasberry coulis
*Coffee & tea
Truth is, I'm a man of simpler tastes. The shrimp and salad were great. But I'm not a big quail fan. Not a big poultry fan, honestly. I think of birds as hassle food. Too many bones. But everything tasted great, and as you all know I'll eat anything but lamb.
As the hour came and went without a sign of Keith, Patrick or Carol, Karine asked me if I could get Carol's cellphone number. It was up in my room. So I made a quick run upstairs.
I reentered only to hear an unmistakeable voice announce: "Ladies & Gentlemen, Greg Weisman". Keith had arrived in the couple minutes while I was gone. (And vengeance belonged to those that I had fooled in the past.)
Anyway, food was saved for Keith and Patrick. Though Carol had to go back to the airport to gather up Keith's family. Keith struggled to eat while I tried to moderate the Q&A. Unsurprisingly, there were a LOT more questions for him than me. And unsurprisingly, if you know him, he had a lot to say. A lot of wonderful stories to tell. I love that man. I tried to give him a bit of time to eat. But hey, he's his own worst enemy in that department. Thank God.
(I'll refrain from commenting about the caterwaulling from the next room.)
We finally brought the Q&A to an end to give people time to change into their costumes.
COMING SOON: The Masquerade!!!
Still recruiting journals...
Todd informs me that 21 of you have posted Gathering Journals here at ASK GREG.
I'm very grateful to you guys, but that's less than 14% of this year's attendance, which frankly is kinda pathetic.
Please, PLEASE, take a few minutes to write up your journals and cut and paste them here. And if you've already done it, pressure those who haven't and or spread the word.
This isn't a whim. I need the numbers to show the PTB.
Thanks.
THE GATHERING 2004 JOURNAL - Saturday, August 7 (Daypart)
Despite a wake-up call that I DO remember receiving, I WAY overslept on Saturday, barely managing to shower and get downstairs in time for our second set of Auditions at 10am. Jen was putting out some fire somewhere, so we got to a bit of a late start, but we still had plenty of time to fit everyone in.
As usual, we were using the original audition sides that the actual voice actors used to audition for Gargoyles. Demona, Hudson, Goliath, Elisa, Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway and Xanatos were all written by Michael Reaves and edited by me. Angela was written a year or more later by me.
We got a good turnout, with plenty of women auditioning, including many staff members.
At 11:30, Jen and I went upstairs to my room to cast the piece. There was time for lunch, but neither of us bothered.
We posted the cast list at 12:30pm, but not who was playing what parts.
I had a mug-a-guest next. One or two intriguing questions got asked, and I think I answered one of them, but from what I've seen posted, some conclusions were then jumped too based on facts not in evidence.
Next up was the Radio Play Rehearsal. With a cast of 31, I was very pleased that every one showed up and more or less on time too. I passed out the parts and scripts and we just had time to run through each act once. My favorite bit there was when Jen as Fleance said: "If he gets past us again, you can KISS our paychecks goodbye." And Zehra as Elisa responds with: "Pucker up." I made a rude remark that got a big laugh. But honestly, aren't the possibilities intriguing?
Anyway, as many of you know, we performed "THE JOURNEY" in the auditorium. This version was re-edited for the Radio Play, but came closer to reflecting my original intentions for the script than the strangely edited version (with those awful Goliath voice overs -- which I did not write) that they used in Goliath Chronicles.
THE GATHERING PLAYERS (2004 Edition):
Goliath - Rob St. Martin
Elisa Maza - Zehra Fazal
Brooklyn - Dylan Blacquere
Broadway - Revel
Hudson - Alan Torvik
Lexington - François Ferland
Angela - Annie S.
David Xanatos - Rob Irwin
Owen Burnett - Seth Jackson
Bronx - Syrth
John Castaway - Erik Mambu
Vinnie Grigori - Michael McAdam
Banquo - Ethan Gilchrist
Fleance - Jen Anderson
Art - Alex "Carter" Garg
Billy's Mom - Laurean Broadbent
Travis Marshall - Lanny Fields
Margot Yale - Cindy Kinnard
Matt Bluestone - Eric "Gorebash" Tribou
Lennox Macduff - Chris Rogers
Maria Chavez - Natalie "Vashkoda" Quanquin"
Lois - Jade Griffin
Fox - Kaylle
Alex Xanatos - Liz Chesterman
Cagney - Mary "Stormy" Pletsch
Jogger - Isabelle Filiaircault
Quarryman #1 - Tony Zucconi
Quarryman #2 - David Brown
Quarryman #3 - Sarah McEvoy
Quarryman #4 - Taylor Hord
Announcer - Dan Blundon
Narrator - Greg Weisman
Everyone was just great. Dylan & Revel actually kind of did pretty good Brooklyn & Broadway impersonations. I also loved hearing Lex with a French accent and cast François for that intentionally.
I loved how Jen & Ethan played off each other. And I really loved how Chris & Cindy played off each other.
And Lanny, I believe, has been in all seven radio plays. An impressive record.
And real props to our four leads: Michael, Eric, Zehra & Rob, who were all terrific. Rob had a particularly difficult job subbing for a still MIA Keith David. And Eric was really brilliant. His final "Dream of Me" line gave me chills.
As usual, the DVD squad was around filming. It was hard for them to predict who was going to speak and to mic those people, but hopefully they got some useable footage.
I'd also like to thank everyone who auditioned and didn't get cast. It really is appreciated when you lend your support. And keep trying!!!
Immediately after the radio play, I signed some scripts. (Alan got lucky as his Hudson script was signed by Ed Asner, thanks to Carol snagging Ed's signature when she went to record him for the Opening Ceremonies welcoming tape.)
I was supposed to have a signing with Keith about then. But of course, Keith wasn't there yet. And there isn't much left for me to sign in the fandom. So I sat there for about 45 minutes, talking to Emru Townsend for his magazine FPS. Emru had interviewed Keith and I years ago over the phone. So this was something of a follow up interview. Emru (who by the way has an AMAZING voice) and I had never met in person, so it was great to see him finally. He and I just talked. I don't remember exactly what I said though I have the distinct impression that SOME of what I said about the animation industry should probably have been "Off the Record". But, hey, getting blacklisted at studios is nothing new to me. (Oh, well.)
Around 5:30pm, I went back upstairs to rest and change to a slightly nicer shirt before the banquet. I think I called Beth and the kids. And I almost dozed. But I stayed awake... for a LONG time.
STAY TUNED for (Nightpart)
THE GATHERING OF THE GARGOYLES 2004 JOURNAL - Friday, August 6 (Bring on the Night)
After Opening Ceremonies, Karine wanted to make another effort to go to the Crepe place that we had missed the night before. I ran upstairs to drop off all my junk and to quickly call home.
Then we were off and walking into Old Montreal. This time I had a sweatshirt, which kept me comfortable. Our group included myself, Karine, Mark & Mark, Zehra, Kathy, Shaun, Laurean, Ian and... Gen? (Sorry, I just can't remember.) It was a great group. I heard all about Zehra's plans to translate a Japanese play into English and then direct and produce it at Wellesley. Wow. I also listened to Laurean & Zehra compare notes on Japan, and caught up a bit with Kathy.
Karine wanted to eat outside, because they have a beautiful multi-tiered patio, but that would have been a half-hour wait and by eating inside we could be seated right away. So we admired the patio and, well, sat. Inside.
Dinner was great. I had Crepes Florentine, and then a terrific dessert crepe with Vanilla Ice Cream. I was also seated between two lovely ladies, Karine & Zehra, all the lovlier because they were generous enough to let me taste their dessert crepes as well.
Of course, our waiter was very nice, but a tad dangerous. Dropping plates. Shattering dishes. Spoiling food and even dropping a knife in MY LAP!!! YIKES!
We had plenty of time to eat, but because of delays caused by the server's lack of grace, I found myself observing what's unfortunately become another Gathering tradition: Kathy and I RACING back from dinner to arrive late to my next scheduled event: in this case the Blue Mug in the packed con suite.
This was perhaps the least Blue Mug we've ever had. And I have to admit I missed spending some quality time in the gutter. Some of the lack of azure is probably directly attributable to the absense of a certain pants-challenged voice actor with the initials TA, but I think frankly a bigger reason was that everyone's curiousity about details of the DVD overwhelmed other topics. We did have a couple of smutty moments though. Christine still thinks she scares me. And she did manage to catch me with a question I hadn't given any thought to, but I'm harder to shock than that. (I know Keith had been looking forward to the Blue Mug, as well. And I'm sure he would have done well in Thom's place, but unfortunately, Keith STILL hadn't arrived. In fact, it had become clear that Keith was going to miss most of Saturday's activities as well.)
At around 2am, Karine used the excuse of my bathroom break to end the session. I headed back down to my room. Ate one of Maui's Godiva Chocolate bars. Called Beth, thanks to the time difference, and then went to bed around 2:30am, which was decidedly early for me.
NEXT UP: THE DAY THAT KEPT ON TICKING...
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