Saka writes...

Hi Greg! Been working my way through the archives and I don't *think* anyone's asked this before, so here goes:

You've mentioned several times that you'd like to keep the series going in any form of media, including comics or novels. My question is, are there any artists or art styles you had in mind for a comic release? Well, that seems hypothetical, se let me reword it. Are there any artists whose work you've looked at and went "This style would work great for Dark Ages/Pendragon/whatever" or would you just try to get the original design team back? If (I wish) all the spinoff series were being produced at once, it would be neat to have different art styles for each one to establish a continuity.

Oh well, just some thoughts. Found out about Gathering 2004 too late to fit it in to my schedule but I'm looking forward to attending G2005!

Dylan Blacquiere writes...

Here's my Gathering journal for the first two days; I'll post the Sunday bit when that's done, but it might take a bit of time to complete.

Friday, August 6

The preparations for the trip had kept Stormy and I up for longer than we’d expected; Thursday had dissolved into a parade of framing artwork, editing writing pieces, haircuts and packing. All of this had started late. We had gone to the Annapolis Valley in southwest Nova Scotia on Wednesday, to check out Digby’s annual scallop festival and visit with a friend. We had only gotten back to Halifax at one p.m. on Thursday, and that left us with not a whole lot of time to do everything that we needed.
But it all came together. Somehow, in the end, it always does.
I didn’t get much sleep that night â€" we had to get up at 5 a.m. to get ready for the flight, but I was also trying to think about the Gathering and how I felt about the whole thing. I was excited about going, but I was also feeling a bit wary and ambivalent. I had recently sort of drifted away from the fandom by default, still talking to people but not writing much in the way of fanfiction or thinking much about Gargoyles at all. I had thought that it was a bit of natural progression, that I was making the transition to writing only original stuff and settling into my second year of medical school. Either way, I was wondering what the Gathering would do for that â€" whether it would reverse the course, bring me back into the fandom, or whether it would just be an excuse to meet with people and have a good time before coming home and doing much as I had before. Last year’s Gathering had given me a “post-fandom bounce”, so to speak, but last year I was still pretty involved. It was a question that was on my mind for most of the four hours I was trying to sleep.
We woke up at five, spent an hour getting showered and dressed and preparing the cats for another weekend without us, and then we were on our way. I made do without coffee, driving through the streets of Halifax and across the span of the Macdonald Bridge over the Narrows. Stormy was excited, looking forward to seeing everyone for the first time; this was my second, so I knew the score, and we spent much of the drive to the airport talking of what she could expect and what we were looking forward to. She was excited about the art show and the Phoenix Gate anthology (which we had both been published in), while I had my list of Gathering goals: buy Keith David a drink, get the Acadian flag on the DVD footage in honour of the 400th anniversary of Acadian settlement in North America, speak French as often as I could, and have a good time with all of the friends I had met for the first time last year.
I don’t like flying that much, but I like airports, and the pre-flight experience was stressless. Check-in, breakfast, security screen â€" all fine, save for the fact that my belt buckle dinged in the metal detector and I was asked to undo it in order to prove that I was not some sort of sartorial terrorist. We waited about twenty painless minutes to board â€" I had my coffee and my Globe and Mail to keep me happy â€" and then we were on the plane, settling in. I almost crushed poor Stormy’s hand when the plane took off â€" have I mentioned that I don’t much care for air travel? â€" but aside from that, the flight was flawless, and we landed at Trudeau Airport about an hour later. We got our luggage and called a cab, and twenty minutes and thirty-one dollars later, we were at the Delta Centre-Ville. We checked in â€" hearing the ominous phrase “king-sized bed” â€" and then went up to the twenty-seventh floor to find our room. Just the king-sized bed, room enough for three people. Problem was, we had asked Mercedes and her brother Andrew â€" two more con virgins and friends of ours from our frequent trips to Maine â€" to stay in the room. Only three of us would get bed space; the last would have to find somewhere to make the floor comfortable. By the time Mercedes and Andrew got there, I had already decided that it would have to be me. I’d reserved the room and though there would be two beds, so the fault, such as it was, was mine. But that was okay; I’d slept on less comfortable floors before, and I was sure that the magnanimity would make up for the mattress deficiency quite nicely.
We went down to La Terrasse to find when registration would start â€" no one really knew, but there was a crowd down there, many old time friends including Allaine, Spacebabie and Revel, Mara Cordova and Aaron Wheeler, Kathy Pogge, and Ellen Stolfa, who I hugged first and longest. We all had a series of chats, and I met a few new people, including Tim, Christine and Becca Morgan, who were there as well. It was time for lunch, though, and people were splitting off and going their separate ways, and so Stormy, Mercedes, Andrew and myself started on our way to find people to hit Montreal with. We ended up going to Chinatown with Greg Bishansky, and we saw a nice part of the downtown before getting to the Chinese Quarter. Nothing seemed to open until eleven, so we had to wait a few minutes, and eventually we found a Vietnamese restaurant and had a fine meal. We got back to the hotel just in time for registration to begin; from that point on I had my Gathering badge, announcing to everyone that I was Whitbourne, and that I was with the fan crowd. And that was when the events started, and so we all started splitting up to check out what the Gathering had to offer.
I first went to the General Round Robin, presented by Spacebabie; the turnout was a little sparse, but that worked fine for the crowd, and I got to spend a little bit more time with Spacebabie, Allaine, Revel and Sarah the Great, catching up on old times since Manhattan last year. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that c-words were off limits (even if it were the adult round robin I have no doubt that same restriction would have held true) and then we started round-robining the scenario of Demona and Macbeth meeting in the Grand Canyon as a prelude to the events of “Sanctuary”. I picked “whiskey” as my word, but ended up using “salamander”, and it didn’t take long for the round robin to be hijacked with a running joke involving Macbeth inviting Demona for a ride in a dinghy. It seemed funny at the time, at least. After the round robin ended I went to look at the art room â€" Stormy and Mercedes had set up their work, and the Icestorm Brooklyn that Stormy had painted to look like Whitbourne was standing proudly (drunkenly?) on his table. After that, I crept into the Combat lecture being given by my friend Flanker; he was having a good time, even though Hudson and Aaron, in the back, seemed to know just as much about weapons as Flanker, prompting him to jokingly ask why they were even there. It was a fun lecture on a subject I know very little about; I liked the sniper scope that was passed around, though I thought it sort of funny that whenever anyone got to look through it, they inevitably used it to line up the crosshairs with poor Flanker’s head. Poor guy.
Next came the radio play auditions, something that I didn’t take part in last year but was looking forward to this time. I got my form, and filled out my preferences (any part, think I can do a Scottish/British accent, no to cats and dogs) and had a nice chat with Kathy Pogge before I was called in to the audition. I ended up reading the Brooklyn part in the audition package, and even though I was one of the last, Greg Weisman told me that I was the first to read for that part so far. “Really,” I said, though I was thinking “cha-ching”. So I read the part, and then read the part again from a farther distance, trying to use all my experience as a drill instructor in cadets to get the emoting across. Greg seemed impressed enough, told me I had done a good job, and so that was the end of that audition. I went outside, met with Stormy, Mercedes and Andrew again; it was getting late, and we anted to find some supper before the fast-approaching Opening Ceremonies.
I can’t understand the difficulty we had in getting food. Everything we could find in the cafes nearby was closed or too expensive, and it took us nearly fifteen minutes to find a sandwich bar that had enough to sate us. We grabbed our food and raced back to the hotel; I had time to eat half of my salad and half of the sandwich before people got called in to the ball room for the opening gala. I sat with Stormy and told her most of what to expect, though I was surprised at how many were there â€" the room was full, it seemed, much better than last years had been, and even Greg seemed surprised. I got to catch up with Wingless, Gabarus and a few other old and dear friends. Karine Charlebois, the con chair, got up and gave a speech, and that was when Maui and Abe Wintersmith got up and hijacked the convention for the Clan Olympics.
I had been signed up for this by Flanker, and I owe him big-time for that. I had been conscripted onto Team Canadian Body Massage, a WTF name if ever I heard one, though I must confess that we had one of the fuller esprit-de-corps’ to be found. It was a neat excuse to wave my Acadian flag, anyway, and try to get it on the DVD, but any pretense at dignity was soon gone as I stood in front of the Gathering wearing a ripped T-shirt, having plastic balls stuffed down my front. And we didn’t even win, even though we cheated fair and square. I had my suspicions that it was rigged, though I at least got to shout “Acadie!” at the DVD crew, and that made things somewhat okay. During the aftermath, Greg Weisman found me and told me that they had forgotten to get me to try the accents during the radio play auditions, and so that would have to be one of my first goals for the next day.
The opening ceremonies continued with a pitch for the 2005 Gathering in faraway Las Vegas, and they sold me completely and utterly, so long as I’m not doing an overseas placement for med school in Africa or Southeast Asia. After that, Greg took the podium, talked about the DVD release, and then showed off the goods â€" the pitch reels, the storyboards, the concepts for some of the thwarted spinoffs, and the voice recordings for the Team Atlantis episode “The Last”, all of which I’d seen and heard but which Stormy had not. She was delighted, and I was pleased that I knew what to expect. With that, the Opening ceremonies ended, and I went out to do the social thing that was, is, and ever shall be the centrepiece of my Gathering experiences. I totally skipped out on the Clan Olympics for it, leaving Flanker in the lurch and causing Maui no end of grief (she hates me still, as far as I can tell), but it couldn’t be denied; it was time to see Montreal. Poor Stormy had to go to bed â€" she was exhausted from the trip and wanted to make sure that she could attend the masquerade the following night. So Ellen, Allaine, Princess Alex and myself headed to the outside world, bound for Ellen’s old stamping grounds from her McGill days and some of the Italian restaurants there. There was quite a bit of talk about writing and baseball and inclement weather â€" I had lived through my first hurricane last year, while Ellen and Allaine had spent some time together watching the Cubs play. It was a fine meal with good friends, and for the first time in months I was hearing fanfic writers talk about stories that had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with giant transforming robots. It’s enough to make me believe in God.
On the way back, Ellen and I talked a little bit about fanfic, and I ended up mentioning that I was thinking of giving it up again. I told her that I felt I wouldn’t have enough time, that I wanted to spend the writing time I had on work that I could publish, that there wasn’t enough time to get my name out there if I spent it working on fanfiction. In her infinite patience, she told me that was fine, but then told me that if I really wanted to write fanfic then I shouldn’t stop myself, because forcing myself to write what I wasn’t interested in was a sure recipe for dissatisfaction and frustration. (At least, that was the gist of it; the conversation extended over several city blocks, at least). I had to admit that the original, artsy-fartsy stuff I had been writing had been utterly less than satisfying, and that the most success I’d had so far had been with poetry and with a story based loosely on my fanfics, and that the rest was shaping up to be elegantly written garbage. So I had been given something to think about as we got back to the hotel, something that carried on into a conversation with Ellen and Alex in Ellen’s hotel room as we waited for the blue mug-a-guest with Greg to start.
We showed up with a few minutes to spare and joined the crowd; Greg was a few minutes later than he’d been scheduled (though he hadn’t entered Keith David territory yet), and as soon as he showed up, the questions began. The thing was, for a blue mug a guest, the questions were surprisingly tame. They were mostly about the DVD rather than any positions or fetishes, and most of the revelations (that I was there for) had to do with special features and such, not like the bombshells of gargoyle sexual orientation that had galvanized the conventions last year. But that was okay, and the theory is going that had Thom Adcox been there then things might have gotten raunchy quickly. Or pantsless. Or both.
At about one o’clock, Flanker and I left the mug-a-guest and went out to explore a bit more of Montreal by dark. We ended up at a small tavern just off of Ste. Catherine Street (another goal!) where I had a pint of Stella Artois and he had a cup of coffee, though something got lost in translation, because he said that he didn’t want any “fancy coffee” and the waitress apparently took this to mean that he did, in fact, want fancy coffee. But things were soon settled, and we sat and talked about military matters, his panel earlier in the day, and a few of his experiences overseas in Bosnia through the Canadian reserves. It was a great conversation, one that will go down as one of the memorable moments of the Gathering for me; we came back to the hotel and parted ways, and then I stumbled upstairs to bed. Stormy, Mercedes and Andrew were sound asleep in the bed; I got a few pillows from the front desk, found a blanket in the closet, and made a nest on the floor to try and while away the few remaining hours of the night, my first in Montreal.

Saturday, August 7

I had spent much of the night shivering â€" the fan was up too high and it was bloody cold, and I hadn’t gotten much sleep until I had cranked ‘er up to Saharan comfort. Nevertheless, I woke up at seven that morning raring to go, running on five hours of sleep. I went to the hotel pool for a brief swim, and then got back to go to breakfast with Stormy, Mercedes and Andrew at the Deli Planet café in the Gare Centrale. We caught up on a few old-times stories, and then got back to the hotel in order to go our separate ways again. I went back to the Radio Play auditions, both to hold a place for Stormy while she checked out the art room, and to follow instructions and give my impression of Scottish and British accents. It was in a different room than the day before, so I followed a crowd of people to find it, heading for the auditorium. Maui was greeting people as we walked in, and she looked delighted to see me. “Witless!” she said. “You’re coming back to Clan Olympics!”
“Wait a minute, this isn’t the radio play auditions?” I asked.
She punched me in the shoulder and chased me away, calling me nasty names.
When I finally got to the St. Charles room for the auditions, Greg called me Brooklyn and the “cha-ching!” sound went off in my head again; nevertheless, I tried reading Hudson’s lines for the accent tests, and they went a little less successfully. Now if there had been a character speaking in an Acadian accent, I would have nailed it, but alas, there was no Avalon Tour episode about Goliath and the others ending up in Bathurst and having to speak in chiac and play the spoons, so I was out of luck. Stormy did well, too; she told me that she had been asked to meow like a cat, and she just imitated our Smokey doing his morning dance for food and attention. It apparently impressed Greg, much more so than Smokey impresses us. This didn’t take all the allotted time, so I snuck into the Thrill of the Chase panel being put on by Spacebabie, Ellen and Christine. It was pretty neat; loads of cool suggestions about chase scenes, a discussion of the movie “Memento”, and plus I got to talk a little bit about “Trailer Park Boys” (my new favourite show â€" go and find it, it should be on Bravo down in the States and most of it is on DVD now). That panel ended up going a little bit over time, as all of the best writing ones often do.
We stupidly decided not to get lunch, and instead just milled about chatting with friends and acquaintances, waiting for 12:30 when the radio play cast was announced. Both Stormy and I were chosen, as was the third member of Team Canadian Body Massage, and I could just imagine Flanker and Maui breaking down into fits of wailing and gnashing of teeth at our inconstancy. Stormy and I went to the room where people were getting set up for the weapons display by the Society of Creative Anachronism; we sat with Flanker, though I was not in the mood for watching people play with wooden swords and say “verily” a lot, and just before the demo started I announced that I was making the quintessential Canadian journey â€" the Tim’s run. Flanker gave a me a toonie, and I set out up University Avenue to score some Tim Horton’s coffee. As I was making my order, I ran into some American fans who had never been in a Tim Horton’s before. “They take credit cards, right?” asked one of them, staring in confusion at the price lists and the wide array of crullers and donuts.
“Why wouldn’t they take a credit card?” replied his friend, looking confident in her ability to buy bagels with plastic. I thought that I might perhaps watch the show, but I chickened out, and told them that every Tim Hortons in Canada that I’d ever been to was cash only. They looked vaguely horrified, but I think in the end that things worked out well.
I came back with the coffees to the weapons demo, and Flanker and I watched for a while. To my surprise, it was quite interesting, and the guys doing the swordplay seemed pretty cool. I think that after spending so much time in the insular cliques of medical school, the geekiness threshold is a little lower once you get to a place like the Gathering; fortunately, I got better. In fact, I figured that if my friends at school hadn’t already googled my name and found my fanfic, then the fact that I had a chance at being on the DVD in my Dalhousie Medicine T-shirt would probably knock me out of the geek closet forever. I ducked out of the weapons show at the first break and went to watch the auction, long enough to watch a bidding war for an animation cell that went up to $455; it was a nice battle, but then it was time for the radio play auditions. I met Stormy and started heading for St. Charles; on the way we ran into Carole Wagner, who told us that the DVD crew had been wanting to interview us as one of the couples who had been brought together by the show. So we ran downstairs to the ball room to see if they were there; sadly, they weren’t, and so we went back up to the auditions.
Greg gave out the parts first thing; I was awarded the role of Brooklyn, while Stormy got to be Cagney. We ran through the lines, floored by the sheer brilliance of the other actors, especially the two playing Elisa and John Castaway. Stormy went all out on her Cagney lines; I did my best to reach into the Brooklyn lines, especially the “parting is such sweet sorrow”; I concentrated as hard as I could on every ex-girlfriend I’d ever had for that one, and I thought it went fine. The audition ended on a positive note, and as Stormy and I left the room, Carole found us again and told us that the DVD crew wanted to try again.
We went down, and gave a ten minute long interview of which I’m sure they’ll use about five seconds. It wasn’t that hard for either of us; Stormy is money under pressure, to coin a phrase, and I’m so used to TV crews an audiences, not to mention that I think I was born with a silver tongue. We talked about how we had come to discover the show, how we had met, how long we had been (I ended up making a crack about my parents’ frustration with the lack of an official wedding that I hope to every God and saint they cut from the footage) and then we gave each other a soft kiss on camera. It seemed sort of lame, but I have my doubts that they’d have used the raunchy French-kiss that I’d wanted to give her, so maybe it’s all for the best. At the end, we were asked why we thought Gargoyles was so unique; I asked if I could be elitist, and then went off on a spiel about how it was a show unafraid to show its intelligence, and how it depended on becoming involved with the characters as though they were real people. Ellen was watching us do this and she tells me that she thought it was eloquent; I have my doubts, but when it comes to TV, I’m always a bit self-flagellating. After that it was time to run upstairs and get ready for the actual performance of the radio play. We had to wait for the DVD crew to arrive, but when they did, we tore right into the performance of “The Journey”, uncut and uncensored. I got a few wild whoops of applause when I stood up and was introduced as Brooklyn, which is always a wicked boost for the ego; I’m not sure how well I did with the lines, though, especially since the DVD crew came up and caught me on tape a few times. It’s something I’d do again, though; loads of fun and lots of laughs. I got Greg to autograph both my and Stormy’s scripts, and then we went to drop some things off in the hotel room before Stormy, Mercedes and I took off to find some food and explore the city.
We walked to the metro station at Victoria Square, pretty much just to say we took it, and we rode it two stations down to the Old Port, or Vieux-Montreal. We walked past a bunch of weddings in the public square and got a bit of the flavour of the place; after a short search for a nice restaurant, we ended up finding a fantastic place called Le Grill. Uncrowded and tucked away in a sort of alcove, with just enough shade to make it comfortable. We had a criminally good meal; I ate filet mignon and drank draft beer, and my companions ate just as well. After that we ended up walking up and down the streets looking for interesting things to see, and we came upon the medieval store that a few people had been talking about, Excalibor. (Is that French or just charmingly misspelled? I’m not sure). But the store was magnificent, and almost instantly I found a multi-coloured raven mask that I had to have. Mercedes bought a mask, and she and Andrew both bought pendants; only Stormy escaped, and she bought something at the native art store. Vieux-Montreal is horrific as temptation for impulse buys. We also went to see art galleries and a few of the streetscapes, including the magnificent Notre Dame Cathedral. I had not spent a lot of time in Montreal before this, only a few hours spent waiting for connecting trains to Toronto or Moncton, so I was glad to see a bit more of the city than Gare Centrale. We ended up walking back to Chinatown, where I saw the Fu-Dogs at the gate on Rue Saint-Laurent, and we got to see it at a busier time than the day before. I also managed to see the street-sign for Rue Sainte-Urbain, or St. Urbain Street, the literary turf of one of my greatest heroes, the incomparable Mordecai Richler, famous for bringing that street to life in books like “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” and “St. Urbain’s Horseman”. Had I time enough and world, I’d have walked on that street for hours trying to retrace the steps, sort of like a Bloomsday pilgrimage in Dublin only with smoked-meat sandwiches; alas, time was getting late and we had to get to the hotel for the masquerade. Stormy had to finish her Quarryman costume, and Mercedes and I at least had masks now, though few clothes to go with it. We got back in time and got the costumes squared away, and then we went down to see what things would transpire.
The costumes were amazing, even though my wicked raven-mask robbed me of any semblance of peripheral vision; we enjoyed the masquerade and the cosplays even to the tune of the nurse’s reunion singing karaoke next door. There were plenty of great costumes â€" and I swear to God I’m dressing up as Bonavista next year â€" and lots of hard work and effort. Poor Lynati, though â€" her Ophelia costume was great, even if it was also late, but she at least got an honourable mention for it. I still have that stupid “I’m a Gargoyle Who’s Afraid To Fly” song stuck in my head, every so often. Aneurhythms are dangerous things.
There was a party afterward, but we didn’t stay; a crowd of us went upstairs to the hotel bar and had a few drinks. Stormy stayed till midnight, and Andrew came and had a few rounds, all the more poignant since he’s not legal in his home country. I med Sadistic Cow and a few others, and Ellen and I started a few conversations about misbegotten golf games and classical music. The DVD crew came up again, though without their cameras; they’d had a long day, too, I gather, an I can’t blame them for wanting a drink.
About fifteen minutes before one o’clock, when the bar was scheduled to close, Ellen pointed out that Mr. David had just appeared. She would know; she’d been to the banquet and had been enchanted by the stories that he had told, I turned around and saw Keith David sitting at the bar, and almost unbidden, I announced that I was buying him a drink, and then I was suddenly up and walking toward him. I think I was a little bit lit; I certainly was more courageous than I usually am, and that explains why I thought nothing of walking up the bar and saying “Mr. David, if you don’t mind, I’d like the honour of buying this round.”
He looked at me in surprise, then flashed me a wide and pleasant smile. “That’s very kind of you,” he said. I fished a twenty from my pocket and gave it to the bartender; he then gave Mr. David a double shot of Muscovskaya (I know because I kept the receipt; how’s that for a souvenir?) that earned me only three dollars in change. I was startled, but I didn’t show it; I left the toonie as a tip, then ran back to my table, got my beer, and joined Keith David for a drink. We had a long and pleasant conversation about medicine (he caught just from the way I talked that I’m interested in psychiatry and thinks that I should go for it). We talked about his interest in the ministry and his belief that acting is vocation as much as his job. We talked about good-and-evil, we talked about memorable roles, we talked about ideal Canadian cottage country and the beauty of Montreal. He bought the next round, and so I can say that Keith David bought me a pint of Sleeman’s with as straight a face as I can manage. After a while, Ellen came over and introduced herself and told him a story about cremation magazines and centrefolds, and Keith laughed so hard that he nearly spilled something. It was just an awesome evening, and when it ended and Keith had retired for the night, the bar lights came on and we went back downstairs. So not only had I met my goal of buying Keith David a drink, but we had actually closed the bar down with him. The only think that would have made it perfect would be if we were in Halifax and he’d bought me a pint of Keith’s Pale Ale, but that would have been asking too much.
We went downstairs for a few minutes and congratulated Greg on the birth of his nephew, and then Ellen, Kathy Pogge, Alex Garg and myself went up to Ellen’s room for a nightcap. It was another brilliant conversation â€" I’m running out of superlatives, here â€" that touched on writing, on Freudian slips, on language, and on the fandom as a whole. We shared book recommendations and tales of reading, had a few finals beers; however, I couldn’t help but notice that a few times I had been talking about writing fanfic in the present tense, and I wasn’t sure how scary that was. I noticed Ellen shooting me a few knowing smiles about it, though. She’s wise, that one.
Finally, at quarter past three, I was on the verge of collapse and so I reluctantly took my leave. I went back downstairs to my room, still giddy at the events at the bar and the receipt in my pocket; that night, when I lay down in my blanket on the floor, I had no trouble at all finding sleep.

John 'Flanker' Clemens writes...

Gathering Report:
I want to thank the Con Staff as well as Maui and Abe Wintersmith for working their asses off. I was anticipating this event since NYC last year, and my expectations were far exceeded.

Pre-Con: NYC 03 was my first con. I chat once inawhile online with folks, but I dont think I was too well known. Once the con was over, I decided I should contribute and participate more, in return for such an awesome weekend. I'm too lazy to be staff or volunteer, but hosting a panel appealed to me. Alot of them are about writing or art. I have no business telling anyone in this fandom how to write or draw. But I know alot about fighting, so maybe I could explain combat to people. So I offered to host a panel about combat, focusing on modern firearms. I was embarrased to see my name listed on the guest section under Greg and Thom for so long, since the I wrote my bio in seven seconds. Over in Bosnia, I submitted a story for the Phoneix Gate Anthology. I thought it was a shot in the dark. It was accepted, and when I saw my name in the list of the greatest fan writers ever, I was totally floored. Then I spent more time editing the thing than I did writing it! I still think its one of the weaker stories in the book, but no one spat on me at the con, so I guess its not that bad.

Also, I ended up getting a room with Abe and BrooklynX, two guys I've never seen. Well BrookX briefly in NYC. And I offered to pick up Wingless and Gabarus/Titanic in Ottawa. Then I haphazardly packed the day before the con.

The Con:

Thursday: This year I did the hard core nerd deal. One day early and one day late (not counting stay overs in Ottawa). We picked up Wingless and drove to the hotel with only a few extra turns. They checked in their room while I stalked the lobby for gargoyles fans. (alot of us really stand out. Ten year old see through t shirts of Goliath are a dead give away). I followed BrooklynX into an elevator after I heard him mumble to someone that he was looking for me. It was funny. I spent the rest of the day wandering around old montreal with Sarah The Great (she really is!) and Abe. Then I pretended to sleep while Maui and Abe discussed the clan olympics, for which I was the only guy to pre register a team.

Friday: After breakfeast and some schmoozing, I had to get ready for my panel. Sarah helped my lug my bag of show and tell items from my car to the room. I waited out the round robin folks and started to set up. Just when I though the dry wipe markers were the coolest thing ever, Greg (I forget you last name dude, sorry) comes out of nowhere with a projector that plugs straight into my laptop with no hassles. Amazing! I think my panel went pretty good. Folks were asking alot of good questions. No one wandered away, and I think I won the approval of the leather trench coat clan. (they didnt make me their cheif...). My panel went over time, which I think is a good sign, and I ended up taking questions in the hall outside.
Then the opening ceremonies started and Abe and Maui succesfully hijacked it. It was the first and last time the team I registered actually came together. 3/4 of us are PGA authors, 3/4 are hosting panels, 3/4 of us were in the radio play. I ended up with most of Montreal being on my team at one point. My team did pretty good, we ended up being in 2nd.

I only had one question for Greg W at blue mug a guest, which wasnt as blue as NYC. (Some of you are very imaginative and/or perverted. God Bless!)Then Whitbourne and I snuck out for a drink. He was witness to the horrible verbal abortion that is my attempt at French. We talked about basically everything until O'Dark stupid.

Saturday: I was pretty busy with the olympics (I had to borrow from Arno's team, then I made her our hostage. I love you Cleo!!) SCA thingie, more olympics and then the radio play, then the banquet (I registered back when I had money...) then the masquerade. Somewhere in there I squeezed in looking at all the awesome art. You people rock.
Everyone seemed to like my Renassaince Hunter costume. I must confess that its actually recycled parts from a Star Wars fan movie I made. I spent a few minutes sewing red slashes on the mask. I figured Keith would get a kick out of it when he mentioned being trained in stage fencing. I got 3rd place, which was very exciting. I ended up yaking all night with Robert and Denis.

Sunday: As if I dont need my ego fed anymore than it was already. All of the PGA authors and artists got to sit behind tables and sign people's copies. I dont think alot of people had a chance to read as far as mine, so I made it through unharmed. We all got good seats for Keith's Q&A. That was awesome. A copy of the anthology was passed around for Keith, we all signed it. The closing ceremonies were exciting. I got Keith to sign my Platoon DVD. Syrth claimed me as her last minute Con Boyfriend. I got all psyched for Vegas. I found out that hideous 'Dark Fighter' backpack I found in Croatia sold at the auction for 46bucks or something crazy.

Robert aranged a laser tag trip that was beyond succesful. I dont think I've ever played with over 30 people, let alone over 30 exceptional garg fans! It was crazy. I had no idea how light Jade Griffon was. I had to toss her from room to room so the green team couldnt shoot her.

Half of us invaded Reubens after the game and they were great, letting us order food and be crazy weirdos even though they were about to close. Back at the hotel I fired some quick sketches into some books. Anything Rivendale tells you is a filthy lie. I ended up in Maui's room playing some insane singing game while drawing silly pics for Beedoo and Arno.

Monday: The end of the con always sucks. All of the cool people you got to meet are leaving, and you're only going to see them a year from now, if you're lucky. Sigh.

I ruined Wingless' tradition of nightmarish trips home. I pulled up front, he hopped in and I drove him to his house without incident. I crashed overnight in Ottawa and got back on tuesday around dinner time. I will now commence staring at the calendar for next years con.

Karine "Kanthara" Charlebois writes...

Gathering Report

It has been a great con. Of course, I’m saying this as the con chair, so this might seem a little head-inflated to say, but with all the great comments and the thank yous me and my team have received, I can’t deny it. It has been a great con.

Patrick arrived on Wednesday the 4th, and I’d taken the week off starting that day to work on the con. When he got here, I’d ran errands, I’d been putting stuff together, making the special passes for the SCA people and one of our auctioneers, and finishing up my art for the con. We started putting the badges together, and had a dinner of burgers and corn on the cob with Adam. Laurean finished the programmes that evening, so Patrick and I headed out to Bureau en Gros to get them printed (good thing they were open 24 hours). The next morning was spent packing stuff up, and then we ran errands -- first we picked up the programmes, went to get spray paint for Patrick’s Puck boots, drove to pick up Rob and Cindy, swung by the airport to get Liz, Taylor and Laurean (and met Trishana there at the same time -- she took a taxi to the hotel from the airport) and we drove back home where we met up with Kaylee who had just gotten in.

The lot of us headed out for food -- Poutine was a must for many -- and then came back to my place to pack up the van. We fit as much stuff as we could in there, split the team between the van and Kaylee’s car, and drove to the hotel.We checked in to the con suite, met up with Shaun, and while everyone was unpacking the van and checking in to their rooms, and assembled con packets, Kaylee and I drove to my work place to pick up the office supplies I’d ordered, and then drove to pick up the Anthologies. When we made our way back to the hotel, we got help unpacking her car, and I called Jennifer to make sure they’d made it into the country this time (long story). When Kaylee’s car was emptied, we drove back to my place, picked up everything that was remaining (I packed then, I didn’t have time before) and then we drove back to the hotel. We left the art panel stuff in the van and made our way to the con suite. Carol, Jennifer and Alan were there, and we relaxed a bit as Jennifer, Carol and Patrick set out to get Greg at the airport. When they all came back, we realized that what we thought would be an intimate outing with friends to dinner had become a huge group, and sadly had to cut down the party to pretty much staff (and future staff) only.

We tried to have dinner at the Jardin Nelson, but were too late and their kitchen were closed, so we found another restaurant on the Place Jacques Cartier for dinner. I had a cream of vegetables followed by Mussels with leaks, and MAN that was good. Cindy and I both had the same thing and kept commenting to each other how good it was.

Back at the hotel later that night (Greg kept refusing to take my sweater and was protective of me because I’m pregnant ;)), we decided to convene in the con suite at 9AM, to go have breakfast and kick off the day.

Friday morning, we went for breakfast in a restaurant on McGill close to the hotel. Service was slow because there was only one person attending the whole restaurant, so we got back late from our breakfast meeting. People were gathered in the soon to be registration area, and we got things started as soon as we could. Apparently, one of our dealers had shown up, saw that we weren’t there, got the “I don’t know what you’re talking about” from the hotel, got angry and left, and they didn’t come back for the entire weekend. That’s too bad -- I was really looking forward to having them in our dealer room. Well, I can understand their frustration and the fact that we were half-an-hour late, but still... their loss.

Ian showed up. Registration got started, and while some were dealing with assembling the art panels (oh crap, we’re missing two elbow connections, here are the directions to Home Depot, Patrick), others were getting the rooms set up, and people started posting their art up. Someone grabbed me and said, “Karine, you should be hosting your panel now” and I was surprised at how fast noon came around! I ran downstairs to get the Perspective panel started. Small group, but they had good questions, and I hope I was clear in my explanations. I ended the panel early since everything had been adressed and no one had any more questions for me, and headed back up to the con suite to make sure everything was under control. I grabbed my art and headed down to the art stage to get my art set up. I barely had time to look at the art on the structure I had space on when I was told to hurry up and set up the VCR for Opening Ceremonies. I realized most that day that being Con Chair means everyone is running after you for answers about EVERYTHING. I zoomed back upstairs, got the VCR and the boom box with Shaun, tried to plug make the setup work, struggled with it until Rob replugged the wires properly and Patrick pressed the right button on the projector... and I went “d’oh.” as the thing started working. We let people in and started up Opening Ceremonies.

Opening Ceremonies are kind of a blur right now because my brain blanked as to what I had to say (I forgot my notes). I did announce that yes, I was indeed pregnant and answered the questions I’d been answering all day, so that people would know *grins*. We all got a turn at the podium, and Jennifer gave Gorebash the Fan Guest of Honour award, which he fully deserved. Liz started talking about the contests, and got “interrupted” by the Clan Olympics for their first event. That was hilarious, took a while to settle, but the we got the stage back. After we were done with all we had to say, after G2005 did their announcement, we passed the podium to Greg, and he did his routine which none of us will ever tire of. We saw the videos, heard the stories, and also heard all about the DVD and its release date of DECEMBER 7TH, 2004!!! (Mark your calendars!).

When that was done, we went out to Jardin Nelson again, this time being early enough to have the kitchens open. We had a wonderful meal, chatted a lot with each other (Geneviève had joined us for dinner, it was great to see her again) and then hurried back to the hotel for the Blue Mug-a-Guest. The consuite was PACKED when I got there (I had to make a deposit)and Greg was entertaining the crowd with stories and answering questions. Adam (the hubby) showed up and I was really happy to see him. We chatted with other people, and Greg commented that this was the tamest Blue Mug ever. I’ve had con virgins comment to me about how friendly this convention was and how much fun they had being with the fans. When Greg decided that his bladder was going to burst at 2 in the morning, I decided to kick everybody out, and sent them to bed. Adam stayed the night. *sigh* snuggly hubby.

Saturday, the alarm went off at 8 AM. I snoozed a couple of times to snuggle with Adam, but then Matthieu decided to give me a powerful kick in the bladder which got me out of bed faster that you can say, “I’ll be right back”. By five to nine, I had the consuite door open for the staff, and they all showed up with surprising punctuality. We opted to eat breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and headed out to our panels/registration/activities from there. I was being interviewed for the DVD at 10:30 that morning, but they ran a little late as they started with Chris Rogers; then I chatted with them, answered their questions, and showed them the t-shirts from all the previous years for the DVD extras. They filmed them all. When noon came around, I’d greeted some of my SCA people, and showed them the way to their demo room. I ran up to the consuite to get changes into my medieval dress, came back down for the SCA demo and the Auction, shared my time between both, took over for Siryn in the Auction when she had to go to the Radio Play rehearsal. Marc(<lj user=”sandman7”>) and <lj user=”baronscartop”> did a great job at the auction, and not only did they SELL everything, they sold it in record time. That was the smoothest, most effective auction we’ve every had in this con. (THANK YOU BOTH!!!) When that was done, I went back up to change back into regular clothes to attend the Radio Play: Greg showed us “The Journey” but in his own way. And it was fun. I really enjoyed it a lot.

When that was over, I went to get changed into a nice dress for the banquet. Carol and Patrick headed out to the airport to pick up Keith David. I invited people in, told them to leave a seat open at each table because Greg’s and Keith’s seats were raffled off. Well, food was served, and after the appetizer and salad, I visited each table to ask how everything was, and to let them know that the menus were keepsakes prepared by our enthusiastic hotel contact, Daniel Fortin. He was excited about the menus and had shown one to me earlier in the day, and I really appreciated that he did that. People were happy to hear that, and they were happy with the food too. Main course was served, and then desert, and still no news of Keith. We were getting worried, and finally Keith, Patrick and Carol showed up -- there had been like 8 landings in 15 minutes and thus Customs was bogged down for 2 hours. Their food was waiting for them and when they got in, we started the Q&A, and Keith was such a good sport about answering questions as he was eating! Keith David is absolutely loveable -- I can’t find any other word to explain it. He’s warm, friendly, huggy, kisses on the cheeks for me, I was overwhelmed by how much joy he emanates.

When food was done, people headed out to get dressed for the masquerade. I took advantage of the pregnant belly to dress up as Pregnant Fox from the episode “Walkabout”, and played the role of wrangler for the cosplayers; then I ran up to get Keith for him to judge the masquerade with Greg, Daniel Fortin, his partner, and Christine Morgan.

The masquerade was AMAZING. It was incredible to see so many costumes -- so many CANON costumes! Even the large majority of the staff was dressed up! It was a great show, and people were impressed. So was the DVD crew. When the masquerade was done, I turned on the boom bax at Mix 96 to at least get some music going as we tried to get the Karaoke working. We had a lot of people up on stage singing, despite our technical difficulties. I had to run out and attend to several things like the hotel rooms for Keith and paying off Greg’s room and and O_o when I got back to the room downstairs, there was a huge crowd on the dance floor preforming YMCA with lyrics going like, “Young man, something something something, I said, Young man, something something something” and EVERYONE was singing along, it was HILARIOUS! Later on, I slow-danced with Alan, and Greg made me boogie, with the twirls and the dips and everything. I had a wonderful time. When we had to leave the room at 2AM, a small group of us headed back to the con suite with Greg, and with no intention of sleeping before Greg had to leave. In the con suite, we laughed, joked, told stories of hilarious things among which was my bachelorette, basically all of us were drunk from lack of sleep. Greg finally decided that it was time to pack and take a shower before he left for his plane trip back home, so when everyone left, I cleaned up the room as much as I was able and then collapsed in bed for a big 2,5 hours.

The evil alarm clock woke me up at 8. Hiss. I snoozed. It rang again. I snoozed again. It rang again. I snarled, got up and took a shower. I opened the consuite door at 9 AM as usual. I was barely coherent as a small group of us convened, and a few of us went to get bagels and cream cheese at the Café Dépôt I usually have coffee at every weekday. (I work just a few blocks from the hotel). I got back to the hotel, and as Laurean started up the life drawing panel, I got Greg’s room finalized, and made the deposit on Keith’s room. Then I got my paper to get to the art panel and saw that Laurean had volunteered to pose since our model had slept in until I showed up... in any case, I got half-an-hour worth of life drawing that morning.

I got my Phoenix Gate Anthology signed, and then went out for lunch with Genn, Félix and Trishana. We went into the Place Bonaventure, and had chinese food. We chatted quickly and had good food, and then I ran back to the hotel to host my dynamic characters panel, which I think worked very well. I got picked up as a Scavenger hunt item by one of the clan olympics team, and it got them bonus points. Wheee! Then I went back in the art room to find that takedown had already happened, and I was incredibly impressed by that. Keith was doing his Mug-a-Guest and being the great public speaker he is, had a more than attentive audience hanging on his every word. I was told he wanted an Anthology, and would like it signed, so I went to all the artists and writers who were doing the book signing, and got them to sign the book for Keith. I gave that to him with a pin as a souvenir, and he was very flattered. Then I announced Closing Ceremonies. The DVD crew packed up, and headed home at that point. I’m sure they got tons of great footage -- I can’t wait to see what they do with it!

Closing Ceremonies were delayed by an hour, but they were concluded quickly enough, with announcing winners for Clan Olympics, the Art Show and the Video contest. G2005 did another speech, and then we started a line for autographs with Keith while G2005 was taking registrations in the back. Shaun wanted a picture of me with Keith, and that man wrapped me in his arms for the picture, making sure he gave a good fatherly rub on my tummy and talked to Matthieu, too. wow.

When all that was done, the staff was rushed upstairs for an emergency meeting, and we learned quickly that it was a pretext to get us all in the consuite for the surprise that had been layed out for us. Scott Rogoff (Abram Wintersmith) had prepared a display of Godiva Chocolates, mints and alcohol for the staff along with a very sweet thank you card that was just beautiful, and very appreciated. Ian had been sent to buy booze as well, and we were ready to start up our Dead Dog party. And party we did. woot. I will save party notes for some other post.

Anyways, I got to bed fairly early considering, and by 11:30 I was out like a light. Then Adam called and we chatted for a while,and then I fell asleep again. Alarm clock went off and I snoozed once, then fell asleep over its muisic until I woke with a start, thinking “I need to clean this room and empty it before 10AM!!!”

Thankfully, I had help.

We got the truck packed and people in the lobby were purchasing their La Ronde tickets from the concierge, at the low price of 28 dollars instead of 34 at the park. I purchased my ticket at the park, being the pregnant lady with the no rides pass.

Man, we didn’t last very long. We walked around the park, did some rides. Well, technically, I was allowed on the Grande Roue (ferris wheel), the minirail and the Spirale (a sightseeing ride up a tower at 312 feet off the ground), but not anything else, so I waited in line with friends, we chatted, had fun, and then I walked through and waited at the exit for them to do the ride. We went on two of the three ridesI was allowed on. I’ll talk more about La Ronde when I’m more coherent -- it’s getting late now.

Patrick, Laurean and me got the van from the hotel and headed back to my place, where Patrick dropped us off and we emptied the van; then we collapsed, and eventually sent Patrick on his way back to the hotel once rush hour trafic had died down. Laurean and I tried to nap, but our brains were in overdrive, so we pretty much got up later and cooked up some corn on the cob while waiting for Adam to bring us sushi. The three of us shared sushi and chatted, and then had an early night. We slept very well.

All in all... a great con, at least from what I’ve been told and from how much fun I have had, regardless of lack of sleep.Would I do it again, be con chair? Talk to me in a month... when I actually come down from the high. I’m tired, but I had a great time.

Battle Beast writes...

I wasn't there, but I'll post anyway because I am a fan and I share in your fun. :)

Friday the 6th

It started out like any other day. I got up, went to work and came home. The First thing I did was go on the computer to find out how people were fairing, making it to Montreal.

I found out about the GARG DVD and so I posted that in the Comment room at Station 8.

I read more posts, and then logged off.

Saturday the 7th:

I went online to find out anymore information. There was little info, but I knew they were all having a fun time.

Latter that day I read one of Todd's rambles on Shadows of the Past that I haddn't read the day before. I went out that night with ftiends, but all I could think about was 12/7...

Sunday the 8th:

I knew things were going to wrap up in Mount Royal, so I went on line. There was little more posted since Saturday, so I tried the Disney Website to see if Gargoyles was confirmed or not (it wasn't), but I still rejoiced at the thought of the 12/7 release date.

I went to bed that night with more great thoughts of the series and still awaited the plethera of gathering journals to pour in.

That is all I will say.

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

Daniel writes...

Who does Angela like more.

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

Gipdac writes...

1. Before “The Gathering” did Fox know Puck and Owen were one in the same?
2. When did Vogel start working for Renard?
3a. When did Owen start working for the Renards? 3b. When did Owen start working for Xanatos?
4a. Before “The Gathering” did Titania know Puck and Owen were one in the same? 4b. If the answer is yes, then when did she find out? 4c. How did she find out?
5. Had Vogel and Owen met before Alexander’s birth during “The Gathering”?

Gipdac writes...

Seeing "Reckoning" when Demona was explaining to Angela how she survived over a thousand years made me think, how much does anyone really know about her immortality; for example during “City of Stone” she lied to Xanatos about it, so…
1. How much of Demona's true story (about MacBeth, her immortality, the Weird Sisters, her clan after Wyvern, the Hunter(s), etc.) does Angela really know?
2. How much does Thailog know?
3. How much does Xanatos know?
4. How much does Puck/Owen know?
5. How much do Goliath and the rest of the Manhattan clan know?