So, follow me… if you dare!

It’s amazing how much the landscape changes between Los Angeles and Phoenix. I’d traveled through desert, but only at night on my way to Las Vegas. I’d seen the desert from 40,000 feet in the air, but definitely, definitely never driven through it like this. And you know what? I think I’m onboard oanimation‘s plane if we decide to go to Phoenix Comicon again. Some of the views were spectacular, especially since we got to catch both sunrise and sunset during our drives – beautiful, indeed! But next time, I think we’ll save ourselves the 6-hour drive through 95+ degree weather, even if it was cheaper to do this than to fly.

I should probably mention that my partners in crime this time were oanimation (can you believe I’ve never been a James Marsters event without her? I must be getting co-dependent) and mad_brilliant_ and later hellziggy joined us at our hotel. When we finally arrived at our hotel, oanimation did a wonderful imitation of my lack of sense of direction while we tried finding the proper parking lot-except she actually knew where she was going… I got lost after the first turn. We ended up going right up to the hotel entrance to ask one of the hotel attendants where in the world the parking structure was located. He told us that we would need our parking pass from the hotel after we checked in to make use of their parking structure (and get the reduced rate), so off we went into the nicely air conditioned hotel to check in. While we waited at the concierge, a man looked at my ace-wrapped left wrist and said, “That looks painful.” I replied, “It is.” And so he said, “I hope it’s not going to stop you from playing.” That puzzled me. Stop me from playing what? I thought maybe he meant gaming, but to be sure I asked him what he meant. He responded, “Oh, you aren’t playing volleyball? I keep thinking everyone is here for volleyball.” Ah. The USA Volleyball Open National Championships were taking place in Phoenix that same weekend, so the hotel was a mix of geeks and tall athletes.

Once we were all checked in (the Hyatt people were super friendly!), we got our stuff out of oanimation‘s car, and while she parked her car, mad_brilliant_ and I miraculously lugged everything up to our room. After freshening up just a bit, we went to register for the con and then got some muchly deserved lunch at First Watch, which oanimation and I had checked out online prior to our trip and mutually decided that we had to go eat there. Sadly, I thought the food was only ok. My chicken sandwich was too salty and the home fries were meh. The fruit was yummy, except for the slice of orange.

My memory after food was consumed is rather foggy, but if oanimation is correct, we hit up the exhibit hall, where all sorts of con shenanigans were taking place. James was signing and mad_brilliant_ had brought her Sock Monkey for him to sign… except she got really shy about having him sign it after hellziggy told us that Patricia was at the con with him. I told her not to worry about it, that a lot of people brought weird things for him to sign. Hey! At least she hadn’t brought a bra or pair of panties! Just in case it helped, I volunteered to drag her up to the auto line. The dragging wasn’t necessary, but I did walk up to the table with her. As predicted, mad_brilliant_ had nothing to worry about! Patricia loved her Sock Monkey! I must’ve gotten distracted (surprise, surprise) because before I knew it, mad_brilliant_ was in front of James and he had exclaimed, “Monkey fur!” I walked up to mad_brilliant_ when James was saying something about “having made a lot of friends” and went on to admire her uber-nifty Diesel bag. I should probably mention, James was looking mighty fine and happy. That’s always nice!

Having accomplished Operation Sock Monkey, oanimation and I went to check out the photo op booth and the rest of the exhibit hall. We were both disappointed that Emma Caulfield had cancelled. It would’ve been awesome to meet her. After strolling through the hall, we made our way to main auditorium for Wil Wheaton’s panel. But we were there super early, so we sat in on Genie Francis’ Q&A. I had no idea who she was, but I liked her. Sadly, by the time she was done, I was done, too. There was no way I was going to be able to sit through another panel. mad_brilliant_ and I made our way back to the hotel and knocked ourselves out on the comfy beds.

We woke up when oanimation came back all giddy after having spent an awesome hour with Wil. Sucked that I missed it, but that nap sure was good! Probably the most exciting thing I did after napping was grabbing a cheeseburger out at the grill at the Hyatt for only $5.50. I was getting over a cold and I think that just added to my exhaustion. While the girls went to the Rock Band shindig, I showered and got ready for bed. That awesome nap I’d taken earlier kind of screwed with my sleep, though, so it wasn’t as restful as I wished.

Despite not having to be anywhere early on Saturday, I was ready to get out of bed by 8am! That gave me plenty of time to get ready and grab a bite to eat at the bagel shop. I don’t think I had to be anywhere on Saturday until James’ Q&A at 3pm. I had decided prior to the con that I was not going to get any photo ops or autographs from James. Getting a photo op for James was tempting, but no way I was going to pay $40 for an autograph. I know it’s about the “face time” with James, but… I’ve become more of a penny-pincher since the last time I attended a James con/event (February 2009). Instead, I mooched. oanimation was getting an autograph from James that morning so I went with her. While she waited in line, I wandered around the exhibit hall, making a stop at James’ table because I wanted to take a peek at the “Coffee With James” auction. I noticed there was only one sheet, so I asked Steve if the other two sessions were already full. Steve said that the three sessions had been consolidated and now there would only be one 1-hour long session with James. The starting bid was $75 and I think when I walked away, bids weren’t past $125. I relayed this information to oanimation and mad_brilliant_, who’d been interested in the auction. However, oanimation and I hadn’t bothered considering this event on account of each session lasting only 20 minutes. One hour, though? That was more tempting–especially if the lowest bid stayed at around $100.

I wandered around a bit more until it was oanimation‘s turn at James’ table. For some strange reason, I ended up ahead of her, so James thought that it was my turn to get an autograph and reached out to shake my hand. I shook his hand as he said it was nice to see me again. I replied, “Nice to see you, too, but it’s not me. It’s her,” and I moved out of the way. oanimation and James chatted and I listened. He was curious about what her t-shirt said, but her con badge was in the way. James reached out to move it out of the way, but he hesitated before he got there. oanimation read to him what it said as I moved her badge out of the way. He laughed immediately, which I think made oanimation super happy (the shirt was a Star Wars+Physics reference). Afterwards, he complimented oanimation on the photo he was signing, saying something about making him look good or cool. I beamed at oanimation ’cause she’d asked me to pick out the photo for her–no easy feat, as I’m sure you know! oanimation was sweet and told James I’d picked it out.

The whole “Coffee with…” was still on our minds. We hung out by a wall, probably doing some math, until oanimation just decided and went to add her name. I followed her, watched her put down her name, and as she walked away, she told me, “Whatever you decide.” I stood in front of that sheet for a good two or three minutes before Steve just said, “Just do it, chicken.” Pbbbltt!!!! I put down my name. So much for being a penny-pincher, right? Except, no. I told myself that if the price went higher than $125 I would have to cross off my name. I also joked with oanimation that it would be funny if I was the lowest bid and she didn’t get to go.

After jotting down our names on that freaking list, oanimation had a photo op with someone… James, I think. I made my way to The Guild panel, featuring Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton. Despite never seeing the show, I had fun at the panel. When their hour was up, I reunited with oanimation and we sat third row from the stage for both John Schneider’s and James’ panels. I’m not a Smallville fan, but I do recall watching some of the real early episodes–so at least I had some idea of John’s character in the series. His Q&A was very interesting and fun, too. I liked him and good lord does he have amazing hair. Probably the best question I heard all weekend was, “Who does your hair?” LOL

For James’ Q&A, he had company on stage in the form of a very annoying moderator. I’m sure he thought he was being funny, but… No. Just annoying. James was his usual self, though. It’d been so long since I last saw him do a Q&A that I didn’t mind hearing repeat questions. And I was having a lot of fun taking photos!

James Marsters doing his Q&A thing

After the Q&A was over, oanimation was sticking around for the Star Trek panel, but I wanted to go check on that auction which had been bugging me throughout the Q&As. Sadly, the lowest bid was up to $145, which broke my $125 rule and I had to cross my name off. ( I texted oanimation to let her know the status of things and that I was gonna go get some food. Consolation prize. I took myself to the hotel’s sports bar, where I found a comfy seat in front of the giant TV and watched almost the first half of the Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns game. I can’t believe they were playing two blocks down the street and I was watching it from a hotel bar. I wish I’d gotten to see the whole game, but there was this thing I’d already bought a ticket for… James’ concert. *sigh*

I didn’t bother buying a VIP ticket. I figured so long as I got in line somewhat early-ish (half an hour), I would be okay. And I was. I stood right behind the VIPs, who were sitting down so I had a nice clear view of James during the entire thingie. Being as Lakers-obsessed as I am, I was constantly checking the score on my phone. I know, I know… but I couldn’t rest easy. I didn’t want the Suns to force the Lakers into a game 7. Fortunately, they didn’t. I did enjoy the concert, minus that one part where my messenger bag fell on my injured wrist. Hearing my wrist POP scared me, the pain was mind-blowing, but five minutes later I was feeling better than I had before! Go figure. I think this all happened while James sung his new song, so I missed pretty much all of it. Also, the lighting at the concert sucked. I was glad mad_brilliant_ let me borrow one of her monopods–it allowed me to use a slower shutter speed than I would’ve otherwise. Even then, my concert photos ain’t that great. (

James Marsters during his concert

When the concert was over, we all headed back to our room. We looked through our pretty captures of the day and just vegged until it was time to head back downstairs for the Geek Prom! We sort of danced to some of the music played, in our own geeky ways. Felicia and Wil were the “hosts”…. sort of. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I think we made the most of it. We stayed at the party until midnight, at which point we turned into pumpkins.

Sunday I managed to “sleep” in a little later, though oanimation and mad_brilliant_ had to get up early to make it to their breakfast date with James. Oh, right! So remember how I had joked with oanimation about how it would’ve been funny if mine turned out to be the lowest bid? Well, I was the lowest bid. But since I took my name off the list, oanimation‘s name was within the “top ten.” Ha! (

While the girls were off doing their thing with James and hellziggy was downstairs getting breakfast, I got ready and decided to venture out around the city on my own–a feat I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish as easily without my Android phone. After googling the nearest ATM for my bank, I mapped it and studied the map very, very carefully. As soon as I got down to the street, I had to pull it out again and make sure I headed in the right direction. I’m not dumb, but I do get turned around very easily. Once I figured out which street was on my left, I knew which way to go and how far–all of two blocks! I explored a little past my destination, but not too far ’cause of the heat. On my way back, I stopped at Starbucks and had me a delicious iced caramel macchiato….yum!!!

When oanimation and mad_brilliant_ came back from their date, I made them tell me everything they remembered. Eventually, all four of us (hellziggy included) made our way back to the exhibit hall to buy our group photo op with James! While I was at it, I also got a photo op with Aaron Douglas. Originally, we were driving into Phoenix early because Aaron was doing his Q&A Friday at 1pm. However, when it was moved to Saturday at 6pm, we knew weren’t going to be able to attend it. I consoled myself with a photo op.

It wasn’t long after we bought our photo op that it was our turn to go in through the curtains to see James. mad_brilliant_ and oanimation were ahead of me, hellziggy behind me. We all said hi and mad_brilliant_ got the first hug. When he turned to me and he looked a little… I don’t know, surprised, maybe? He pulled me in for a hug and as he did, he said, “I haven’t seen you!” Or something along those lines. I thought, “Dude, you shook my hand yesterday.” But of course, he wouldn’t remember that, and technically, that time wasn’t my time but oanimation‘s time. I guess, technically, he’s right–I haven’t seen James since last June (the play) and I didn’t do any of the more personal stuff at this con, except for the group photo op. So, that was neat. I asked him how he was and he said, “Hungover.” I tried to say, “I hope that means you had fun last night,” but I’m not entirely sure if that’s what came out of my mouth. Once the photo was taken, we were out the other curtains, and that was that.

We didn’t do any panels on Sunday. After we did our photo op, oanimation and I went back to the hotel’s sports bar for lunch. As we were walking to the hotel, I turned to my right to say something to oanimation when I noticed she was no longer next to me, but a couple of paces behind, hand to her head and little leaves falling all around us. oanimation had missed the tree and walked right into a low-lying branch. I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing. I *did* ask her if she was ok, but seeing as she was still standing, I figured she was. We very carefully made our way through the convention center to our hotel afterwards. On a sidenote, I had mentioned to oanimation earlier that the only time I sneezed while in Phoenix seemed to be when I walked right by those trees! The trees were out to get us! Bad Phoenix trees!

Tummy full of chicken tenders (mmmm… chicken tenders…), we made our way back to the exhibit hall to meet up with hellziggy and get our Aaron Douglas photo ops. It was a madhouse! Apparently some photo ops were switched to a later time and Stan Lee had people already in line waiting for their photo ops despite not being scheduled until later. No one from Froggy’s team really knew what was going and people were getting antsy/annoyed. Finally, Froggy called out for anyone doing Aaron Douglas photo ops and we raised our hands. I was the first one inside the curtain and I stood there until Aaron asked me, “Who are you here for?” I said, “You.” He immediately moved towards me and I stuck my hand out and said it was nice to meet him. He then led me to our “mark,” we took our photo and then I shook his hand again and wished him a good day. Aaron has a really nice, deep voice. It was nice to listen to it.

We bid our goodbyes to hellziggy, since we were unlikely to see her again. oanimation and I just bummed around the exhibit hall for a while, hoping they would print out our Aaron photos quickly. We didn’t really have to wait long at all. Maybe an half an hour later, they were ready. It was 3pm by that point and we were more than ready to head out for the day. We met up with mad_brilliant_ once again, and by 3:30pm, we were back on the road, homeward bound.

Overall, Phoenix Comicon was a lot of fun. The crowd was larger than I expected, but not insane. It was perfect-sized! I did imagine that that was how San Diego Comic Con was when it was still in its infancy (but a lot less desert-y). Not that I was paying all that close attention, but from my opinion, everything seemed to run smoothly and it was nice to get to stay in a panel room without having to go back outside to line up for the next panel, like at Dragon*Con. Also, paying under $100 for a hotel room, per person (taxes included): NICE! SDCC’s hotel rates make me cry–and is the reason I won’t be doing Chicago Comic Con, even though the Final Five Cylons will be in attendance (read that as: Michael Trucco!!!!!).

If you’ve made it this far down the page: THANK YOU!!! You are very brave.

Not that I’m anywhere near done with my photos, but here are the few that I’ve posted: Clicky! I’ll be adding more soon… hopefully….

Also, major thanks to my wonderful roomies: oanimation, mad_brilliant_, hellziggy, Sock Monkey, and Moose. Extra special thanks to oanimation for driving us for 12 hours (and letting us snooze or straight up knock out) and to mad_brilliant_ for supplying snacks, especially those frosted animal cookies!

Michael Rosenbaum

After the amazing Smallville panel with Michael Rosenbaum, jaesha, oanimation, and I were determined to get as early as possible to the queue for the panel with James and Michael. Frankly, that was the panel I’d been waiting for the entire weekend. When oanimation first told me about this panel, before D*C, I literally squeed her ear off! I was so excited! Despite having gone to bed late the night before, we were up early (by Dragon*Con standards) and claiming a spot at the front of the line, later on taking turns getting properly ready for the day. It was absolutely wonderful having the panels take place in the same hotel where we were staying! Brilliant!

James Marsters

Unlike the day before, the doors to the ballroom were opened much closer to the start of the panel. After handicapped and press were let in first, we got to go in and I managed to get a seat somewhere in the second row. The panel itself was fun. Very, very fun. Michael was hungover, though, so he had less energy to spare. Unlike James who supposedly went to bed at 10pm. I’m pretty sure he was the only adult person at that con asleep at that hour. No details here about what was said… I hear there are YouTube vids, though. Overall, it was pretty much the fun I expected to have at a James and Michael panel. They could have both stayed on stage all day and I would have been perfectly happy!

After the panel, jaesha and I had to run over to the Hilton to take our photo ops with Nathan and Alan. For whatever reason, I get more shy around actors who are not James, so I say very little aside, “hello,” “thank you,” etc. So, I didn’t really say much beside those 2 things. It was neat meeting Alan, though. I hadn’t met him.

Once I was done with that photo op, I ran back to find the girls who were making line for the Firefly panel and get their food orders. Hello, long line to get into the panel!!! It was sooo long! Supposedly they weren’t going to let anybody line up before 1pm, but what are you going to do with hundreds of people ready to make line hours before that? I guess they had to make line unless they wanted a real serious fire hazard. I found the girls near the entrance to the walkway to the mall. Took their orders, got a little lost trying to find the mall, doubled-back and then made my way to Subway.

After I finished eating, I realized I had a text from… actually, I’m not entirely sure. Although, I figured it came from someone in eyesthatslay‘s, musing_mia‘s and angstchic‘s group. Oooh! And I forgot to mention… angstchic provided me with a bag of goodies that have already come in handy. Smarties are yummy. ) Thanks, hon! The girls are absolute sweethearts. Super thanks for letting me make line with you! So… for the Firefly panel I ended up much closer to the stage than I anticipated.

Morena Baccarin

It was a good panel, but I could tell that the energy had been zapped from Nathan, Alan, Jewel Staite, and Morena Baccarin. The panel was not as energetic as what I’d seen a few days before with Nathan and Alan. Still, it was a lot of fun and I’m glad I got to see them all on stage. Think maybe one year Adam Baldwin won’t cancel? Granted, I love Chuck…

After the panel… I think we had more photo ops. At least I think we did… with… James? Wow, I can’t remember anymore. I do remember completely caving and getting myself an extra photo op, though. When I went up to him for my photo, I thanked him for singing “This Town” the night before. He told me, “It was for you.” Hee.

Photo ops with James done, I wandered over to the Walk of Fame to check out what was going on. As I was rounding one corner, I saw a dude at a table that looked familiar. I looked up at the sign with his name and it read, “Dustin Pari.” I had to think for a moment about where I’d seen that name… D’oh! Ghost Hunters!!! Dustin saw me looking and smiled at me, so I smiled back. I kept looking at the guys all sitting at their tables… Dave Tango saw me and also smiled. I knew the line to meet the TAPS crew was long, but after I figured out that getting all their autographs would be free (save for the price of the photo), there was no way I would not get in line to meet them!

An hour later, I was finally standing in front of Grant Wilson, and I babbled like the fangirl I am. I told him that my sister and I started watching the show this summer and got totally hooked. We’ve even recorded all the re-runs we catch on TV. He thought that was great and reminded me that the show starts up again this week (tonight!!!) and I told him I knew that, but since I was going back to school, I had no TV! Not to mention, the cable here doesn’t even show the SciFi channel. Woe! I also told him that I admired the poise with which he and Jason handled all the situations. He told me they had to because they were professionals. I just told him that I could never do that, so I genuinely admired their courage. He laughed and on my photo he wrote, “Scare ‘em back, Yani.”

Next I got Tango’s autograph and I told him too that I really enjoyed the show. I really like how he and Steve interact. It’s funny. Next was Robb from Ghost Hunters International. I’m not a big fan of the spin-off, but I don’t mind it either. Robb asked me where I was from, so I told him. He then asked me if all my family was from there and I was starting to say yes, but I realized then what he was asking me. Apparently GHI will be heading down to parts of Latin America (lots of good ghost stories around there), and he’d been asking people to find out if any of them were from one of the countries they’ll be visiting. GHI won’t be visiting El Salvador, but I’m curious to see where they do go. While I talked to Robb, Dustin had signed my photo and totally ignored me. Boo!

I have to say, out of all my D*C experiences, meeting the TAPS guys was my “geeked out” moment. I was so ecstatic and only a little sad I hadn’t been able to go to one of their panels. I’m especially happy I got to meet Grant. He’s just so cool. Shame Jason couldn’t be there, but maybe next year? I hope so!!!

My last stop at the Walk of Fame was James’ autograph line. This time I had him sign another photo I took at the SD Indie Music Fest. As he signed it, he told me, “Hey! You got the Gibson!” referring to his guitar. He told me that the guitar was too beat up now to travel with. Rather than bringing up the SDIMF again, I thanked him for trying at the concert the night before and that I’d had a lot of fun despite the less than stellar situation. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t happy with the outcome of that concert, but… he tried. Since he’d been shaking my hand when I was telling him this, he kept holding it while he told me that on an artistic level, it was not great. However, on a human level, he genuinely felt that we were all there with him and enjoying each others’ presence. At least, that’s what he saw when he looked at us during the concert. I agreed. I know I had fun! Hee, it wasn’t until he finished talking that he let go of my hand and the whole time, mad_brilliant_ took photos. She’s my papparazzi, or so she says.

Lastly, jaesha and I took our joint photo op with Michael. I had planned on saying something, but at the very last minute, all I could mutter out was a thank you. Lame, I know. But I get tongue-tied around him. So pretty.

Before the night ended, jaesha, oanimation, and I had one last drink from the Pulse Loft bar as we chatted at the Marriott’s Atrium with mad_brilliant_ and did some more people watching… doing our best to extend the time we had left at Dragon*Con. Not much later, we began the packing process.

Overall, it was a great weekend, and I’m so glad I decided to go. My roomies and I are already making plans for next year! Hopefully the guest line up will be as good as it was this year.

Photos for the rest of the weekend will be up… eventually. Hopefully sooner rather than later, when school gets more hectic.

James Marsters

The first panel of the day was Torchwood with Anthony Lewis, Gareth David Lloyd, and James. Frankly, I don’t watch the show. I tried when it premiered here in the U.S. but I just couldn’t get into it. I wasn’t interested in the panel, but I realized something the night before. I paid a lot to go to a party featuring James and this dude from TW. I should at least find out what he looks like. Plus, the panel took place in our own hotel, meaning very little walking was needed. Always a good thing at a con.

Since it was the first panel, people were let in to the ballroom early… unfortunately, I had just run off to the restroom when they did, so mad_brilliant_ tried her best to save a seat for seapea and myself. We were off to the left side, second row. Not a bad view, but at some point while we waited, one seat closer to the center aisle opened up and I took it. Worked out perfectly because then we had a seat for lightdependent.

James Marsters

If I recall correctly, the panel was interesting and funny. During the first half hour, a moderator asked the guests questions and then the floor was opened up to the audience. Different format for Dragon*Con, but I think it worked out well because then all the actors had a chance to say something. When it was the audience’s turn, I think most forgot that Anthony was there, too. Granted, I don’t know what kind of role exactly he played in the show, but I’m guessing it wasn’t big enough to really draw the audience to him. And hey! I got to see who this Gareth dude was… he was funny.

After the TW panel, oanimation, jaesha, seapea and I got in line for… I think it was a Smallville panel, although I’m not sure. All I knew was that it featured Michael Rosenbaum. There was a BSG or Stargate panel in between, so we waited until that line went in before we lined up. While we queued, I did a quick food run to Subway. They had a very efficient line going at Subway… I guess they’ve had plenty of practice by this point.

Michael Rosenbaum

In a nutshell, Michael’s panel? *swoons* He brought out his friend Chris, who for the most part, talked only when prompted by Michael. From the get-go, Michael was very entertaining. Apparently he didn’t like the mics the panelists were provided with, and as he went to get the cordless mic he requested, he made note of one “excited” mic. *shakes head* Michael is much like James in the sense that he has boundless energy, however, Michael is a comedian and seems to really enjoy being the entertainment and making people laugh. Once he went cordless, he didn’t want to sit down and half-way through, he even jumped off the stage because he wanted to be down there with the audience. Although that was totally awesome, the problem with that idea was that there were no lights on the floor and people in the back could no longer see him, even through the big screen. To rectify that, Michael walked towards the back of the ballroom and interacted with the audience there. Ooh!! And there was one cute little girl named Marion. I can’t remember the affiliation between her name and the show Happy Days (I’ve never watched it), but her name reminded him of the show and he instructed her to say, “Happy days” whenever he sang the first part of the show’s title song. And she would! Every single time. Considering I heard Michael talking about her later on in the day, I figure he was very taken with her.

After seeing Michael’s panel, jaesha and I were convinced that we had to get an autograph and another photo op with him. He was just too much fun to pass up. We got a joint photo op for the following day and got our autographs that afternoon. I didn’t really say much except that his panel had been awesome and I looked forward to seeing his comedic projects. He did get a kick out of the “awesome” comment.

That afternoon I also had my first photo op with James. For the photo, we just did the huggy one… I’m not sure if that was his intent, but that’s the one we ended up taking. Before I left, I asked him if at that night’s party, if there was any chance he might sing “This Town.” He said he might. I followed up with a, “Please,” to which he responded, “You know what? I will.” I beamed at him. I’m sure I did anyway. Soon as I was out the door I literally bounced my way to my friends. I *love* “This Town” and it’s been a while since I heard him sing it. I figured there was no harm in asking.

Once we were done with photo ops and at the Walk of Fame, roomies and I headed up to our room to relax and eventually get ready for the uber special party. We mostly relaxed. )

We headed out fairly early to the shindig because we wanted to make sure we snagged a table that would allow for all our friends. Himber & Co. were a little late to start, but as it turned out, it was due to the restaurant changing the venue on them. Rather than hosting the party in the upstairs part of the restaurant, it had been moved to the back patio. Logistically, this proved to be a problem. The area was small; there was hardly any room for the 60 paying customers, plus tables and chairs, not to mention the space James would need for the mic and stuff. There was no space for the guitar’s amplifier and generally, the sound sucked.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not particularly fond of JMLive and their oft disorganized events. However, on this occasion, no way can I lay blame on them. Everyone was thrown for a loop with the venue change, but tried their best to make it work as best as possible. Rather than the originally planned 10 people per table, I think we ended up with 12 or 13– 2 or 3 new faces to meet.

Once we’d all settled into a table, Froggy came in and took photos of everyone’s table, including James and Gareth. It was pretty neat! The concert began immediately after the photos were taken, which caught me a little unprepared. Was the idea for James to sing while we all ate? Ha. So not gonna happen. I took out my camera and tried to take advantage of what little available sunlight was left. It was difficult, seeing as how it was well past 7pm at this point, but I did take some at the beginning. I was waaay too close to James to even consider taking photos using flash. I’m sure I would’ve completely blinded him.

James Marsters

James began the concert with “Katie,” which I was very happy to hear. It’s a fun upbeat song, and another one he hadn’t played in a long while. What songs followed exactly completely escapes me, however, he did sing “This Town.” And he didn’t just go right into it. No… nope. He mentioned before starting the song that someone had requested it. He looked at me, I guess unsure whether or not it had been me, but if he’d doubted it, I heard oanimation and jaesha helped him along by pointing me out. When he looked at me for confirmation, I nodded and he told me the song was for me.

• Flaming-red face: Check
• Desire to suddenly disappear: Check
• Warm squishy feelings: Check (although it might’ve been the apple martini)

Every time he looked at me during the song, I got terribly self-conscious. I’d smile, but it was a little weird. Not entirely unpleasant, mind you, just strange. It was pretty darn neat though and I got to hear my favorite song. Yay!!!

Throughout the night, our entire table got a lot of eye contact with James. Good table, nice table.

The concert didn’t last long. James did mess up some and he would start songs he’d already sung. When he meant to start “Not a Millionaire”, he began playing a song he’d already sung and couldn’t remember at all how to play “Not a Millionaire.” He skipped down to another song instead, but I think that ended up messing him up even more because later on, he began playing it again. It wasn’t until about 1/3 into the song that he realized he’d already played it. After that, he played “Birth of the Blues” and that was the last song we got. Not a particularly long concert.

On top of that, during “Birth of the Blues,” one of the strings got messed up. James and Gareth had apparently worked on something together but because of the broken string, James did not feel confident they could pull it off. Rather than sucking, he called off the musical portion of the evening and began doing his rounds at the tables. Before he did, though, I thanked him for singing “This Town” although I think he thought I was thanking him for the entire concert. His response: “I tried.”

James began at the table behind us, and while we waited, we chatted. I told mad_brilliant_ to prepare her story because she’d be telling it to James. I’m not sure if she believed me when I said that.

Soon after James got to our table, jameslovin1 presented him with a drink, but he told her that he was sticking to the red wine that night because Steve had told him that some people thought he was falling apart or something like that.

My goal had been to have mad_brilliant_ tell James her story, so I got his attention and told him that. Someone on the other side of the table said something, and I recall there was a toast after that, but soon as it was over, James turned his attention back to mad_brilliant_ and asked her to share. I think it’s best if she shares her story, but it was really awesome and James, I think, really appreciated it. We toasted again afterwards.

I’m sketchy on the details of what happened next, but I know that mad_brilliant_ took good notes after the party, so I’ll leave the rest of that up to her.

Once James left our table, I thought it was over. I’d completely forgotten about Gareth. Oops. Since most of us moved around to chat with the people at our table, by the time Gareth made it to ours, I had no chair. I was standing across from him, behind oanimation, I think. He did ask me if I wanted to sit down, but I was fine standing. Frankly, I don’t remember anything of what he said at our table. I partly blame the alcohol (mine and his) and partly the fact that I have difficulty enough understanding accents when completely sober… trying to understand a tipsy person when I’m tipsy myself? Really not going to work out too well. Hee.

Before the night ended, Steve asked that everyone sing happy birthday to James, as he stood on a chair in the middle of the patio. It was funny because James really, really didn’t want that. As he stood on the chair he looked down at me (I was sitting at this point), and he told me, “This is not good.” I just shrugged at him. Nothing he could do!

And so ended our night at Max Lager’s. Several of my tablemates and I continued our festivities at the Marriott’s High Velocity sports bar, for a few more drinks and nibbles. We waited a long time, but eventually we got a table. As we waited, we chatted and people watched… lots of good costumes and some that were just… interesting.

It was a good night. A really good night and I’m very glad that I did end up going to the party. It was fun, despite all the technical glitches. Granted, I usually have fun at these types of events because no matter what, I know my friends and I will make the best of it. And we did. )

I had, as usual, absolutely wonderful roomies: seapea, jaesha, oanimation, and mad_brilliant_. Thank you mad_brilliant_ for having the foresight to book in advance! Also, all their all-night efforts certainly paid off, and I’m so incredibly thankful to them for that.

It was awesome seeing angstchic, eyesthatslay, musing_mia, psubrat, zoonut, vampgaia, thefangirl, lightdependent, jameslovin1, ladyanne04, rock_room, soulmate815, and zeta0497. I hope I’m not forgetting anyone… Likewise, I really missed not seeing sandy_s.

Over the weekend I took TONS of photos of all the panels I attended. I’m not kidding when I say tons, either. I definitely went overboard and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to get through all of the photos. Especially since I have to send my computer in for repair this week and oh yeah… that little thing called school (and let’s not even mention that I’m nowhere near settled into my new location). I’ll try my best, though, and hopefully I’ll be able to get out as many photos as possible.

Friday
I arrived early morning Friday to Atlanta, and since my roomies had arrived the day before, I had to go on a little hunt for them. After freshening up and getting my registration over with (the latter taking no more than 30 minutes), I went to join jameslovin1 at the queue for the An Hour in the Buffyverse panel with James Marsters. The con people overseeing the ballroom where James’ Q&A was to be held opened up the room really early, so we went in and got ourselves some nice seats. Since my roomies were in line to get tickets to James’ special party, I tried to get them some decent seats within the first 4 rows or so, and considering the whole front row was reserved exclusively for handicapped… not too bad.

While I did that, oanimation secured me a spot at James’ party. I have really awesome friends, don’t I? When oanimation returned, she told me she hadn’t gotten my party ticket, the meanie. But of course she’d gotten it and we were numbers 14 and 15. Yay! At that point, I really hoped this party was going to be worth it. I’d had extreme reservations about attending the party and I was firmly set on not going. But, it was the only concert James was scheduled to do, and I really like hearing him sing live. After many chats with oanimation, we’d decided that if it was possible to get a ticket, we’d go, but if not, we’d be okay and instead hold a PotC viewing party in our room. Since we got tickets, though… )

James’ first panel, a solo Q&A, was actually pretty good. I was expecting repeats of questions asked time and again, and while there were a couple that I’d heard, several questions were interesting. What were the questions and answers? Pfft. Beats me. All I remember is enjoying the panel. The other thing I do remember? The relief at choosing not to do a photo op with James that day. I didn’t mind that he wore a red and white soccer jersey to the con… I just wasn’t very keen on having a photo taken with it.

After James’ very entertaining Q&A, jaesha and mad_brilliant_ went in search of the line for Nathan Fillion’s and Alan Tudyk’s panel. Talkie (is that right?) told me that the panel had been moved to that same room being used for James’ panel, so I led the girls to the line, which surprisingly, was not very long. However, on the way to get in line, I saw angstchic, eyesthatslay, ladyanne04, and musing_mia, whom we ended up chatting with until the doors were open for the Firefly panel.

Nathan and Alan are a hoot. Seriously. LOVED them. What was said exactly totally escapes me, but I’m SO glad I got to see them on stage that first day. They just have such amazing chemistry and very obviously get along well on a personal level. It was great!

After the Q&A’s were over… I have absolutely no idea what we did. I remember we only did those 2 panels and then had a break until 7pm when we went to get our photo ops with Michael Rosenbaum (OMG, SO PRETTY!!!). Hmm. I do recall I went looking for zoonut and chatted for a bit… Oooh!!! We chatted and she walked me over to James’ autograph line! That’s what we did. I had my favorite photo from the San Diego Indie Music Festival printed out as an 11×14 and I wanted him to sign it. Right.

While James signed my photo, I asked him if he’d had a busy summer. He told me he did… that he’d been busy for the past year and a half, but had taken the last 4 weeks off to relax. I told him I envied all his time off, but that I was glad that he’d finally gotten some rest. He responded that yeah, it was good but now he was ready to get back to work. I asked if there was anything in the works, but he said he had nothing lined up. As I was getting my photo back from him, zoonut came up behind me and asked me if I’d told him. I looked at her blankly and asked her if I’d told him what. She then turned to James and she told him I’d taken the photo. He responded that it was a great picture, for which I thanked him and told him I’d taken it at the SDIMF. I told him that concert was my favorite and in my opinion, one of the best ever, not only because he sounded fantastic, but because of the nice wide audience he had. He completely agreed with me!

After the autographs, my roomies and I had to figure out the dinner situation (and holy crap! It wasn’t until then that I realized I hadn’t eaten all day, save for a couple of snacks. Oops!). We’d agreed that we’d get pizza, but weren’t sure where we could order it from. We weren’t even at our hotel at the time, but we went to the Hilton’s concierge and asked if they knew where we could order pizza. The guy was very nice and gave us a prepared list of pizzerias in the area as well as a Chinese food restaurant. Extremely convenient and useful information. I do have to say… I hate ordering over the phone. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I love that for most places, you can order online, but we didn’t have that option (what with no internet), so I had to order over the phone, which took much longer than necessary.

Once the little pizza debacle was over, it was pretty much time to do our photo ops with Michael (*swoons*). Have I mentioned yet that he’s SO PRETTY? Guh. Could just stare at that man for hours. And he looks so much better with hair, too. When I went up for my photo op, I didn’t really have all that much to say. Before taking the photo, Michael told me to smile. I told him I was. When I saw the printed copy the next day, Michael was smiling in the photo too. Yay!

Photos taken, oanimation, seapea, jaesha, and I proceeded to our room to await our yummy Papa John’s pizza. Nummy.

I uploaded a handful of photos for the panels I mentioned above. I’m really, really hoping I can get through at least some of my images before I have to send my computer away, but if not… they’ll eventually be up!

First Panel: An Hour in the Buffyverse with James Marsters

Second Panel: An Hour in the Firefly Verse with Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion

Next time: Saturday!!!

The panel was moderated by Kristin from E!, and she did a good job of keeping every panelist involved and brought up interesting questions. Matt Roush is scheduled to be the moderator for the Buffy Reunion, so hopefully he does as good a job of ensuring that everyone gets a chance to talk, which won’t be easy what with there being 13 panelists and some of them known for being quite chatty. )

Overall, the Pushing Daisies panel was a lot of fun and it was great to hear what everyone had to say. I really do love getting the behind-the-scenes stories that the cast and crew share and getting a chance to see how they interact as a group. It’s a nice insight of the show from a different angle.

When the panel was over, oanimation and I watched as everyone raced up to the stage to get autographs and photos with the guests. We just kind of hung back and waited it out for a bit and while we did, we managed to snag Pushing Daisies tees that they were handing out! Neat! Eventually we gave in and got autographs from our faves, Chi and Kristen. I was so excited about meeting both because I’ve enjoyed their work on previous shows. At least I told Kristin that I really liked her in The West Wing, for which she thanked me and told me her role was only suppose to be 4 episodes long. Ha!

Oooh!!! And the CEO of the Paley Center mentioned during her welcome speech that a couple of shows are going to be streaming LIVE on their website and she specifically mentioned Buffy, so do be on the lookout for that if you want to watch!! A couple of people we talked to after the event weren’t sure if that’s what she said, but that’s what I heard. Hopefully that is the case so that people who weren’t able to get tickets and those unable to travel to L.A. for the event will have a chance to participate, too!

After everything was said and done, we hung out with girlfmkitty, Kelly, and a couple of their friends. We really needed food, so we headed over to Baja Fresh across from the Cinerama Dome. Not too bad…

I did manage to get some photos during the panel, which I’m quite giddy about! I’ll post them up once I’ve gone through them.

JM @ the Soho Revue Bar

The Soho Revue Bar proved to be quite tiny; I’m still not entirely sure how we managed to cram 120 people in there. It was a lovely little venue, though, with absolutely great lighting and an excellent sound system. Of course, I took more than plenty of photos, but I wasn’t as shutter-happy as I’ve been in the past. I’d barely paid attention to some of the music at the Grand Slam gig, so I wanted to take this opportunity to just listen. I still managed to take a couple of hundred images, but there was definitely more listening going on. You can view a few photos of the concert right here.

As far as warm-up gigs go, this was good. It was nice and intimate, making it easy for James to interact with the audience and vice versa. He even took a request for Button Down Vandals! It was a very nice beginning to this mini-tour.

JM @ Spring Fever

Due to problems along the Central line, Spring Fever got a late start. I think initially they had planned to do the concert first, and then the reading, but it was reversed. James read A Phoenix Too Frequent, which was just fantastic! I love how he’s easily able to transition from character to character and make each one come alive simply by utilizing different intonations. It’s just awesome. Considering that I have a very short attention span, yet managed to pay attention throughout the entire reading (which lasted about an hour or so), says a lot for his ability to captivate an audience. Or at least me, anyway.

After a 20 minute intermission, the concert began. Again, because of the delays, the length of the concert was drastically cut down. Originally, he had several songs listed, but cut-out nearly one-third or so (including Patricia and Louise, thank God!!). mad_brilliant_ snagged the set list, which she posted over here. It was still a very nice, very intimate concert, though. There were some neat light changes going on in the background, which gave life to the blank white screen there. The sound was an issue. If James moved, there was a lot of feedback, so he had to restrict himself to one area, unless he wanted to blow out our hearing. This time, I combined listening with shutter-happy skills and took loads of photos. Of course I was going to go a little crazy what with being front-row and having no obstructions! I’ve posted some photos from that evening over here.

After the concert was the cocktail reception, which I only found out a month or so ago from oanimation that James was suppose to attend. I’d been under the impression that the reception was just for us fans, but hey! More time with James is nice. )

Like at the Queen Mary, James made his way through all the different little groups, nudged along by Steve. We were at the opposite end of where he’d started. I was hanging out with several friends. We were having a great time just talking among ourselves, but before we knew it James had made his way to our side. When he turned, he looked directly at me and said something which I can no longer remember, probably just along the lines of “Hi.” Before he was really able to turn all his attention to us, though, he was called back by someone so he could talk to a girl in a wheelchair. Again, he looked at me and told me he’d be right back. I said okay and continued hanging out with my friends; in fact, moved a bit away of where I’d been standing to be closer to my friends. One of my friends said that when James turned around and didn’t see me where he’d left me, he started looking around until he found me and our little group. )

What I found funny was that, again, he looked at me and said hi and I replied in kind. The whole time he was standing right next to me and did I say a single word? Nope! My friends kept him talking; I just stood there, wanting to say something but not really able to figure out how to say it. One of my friends handed James an album of photos she took at Grand Slam. Somehow he got into talking about his guitar, about one he fell in love with that I think he can’t bring with him, and other guitar-related stuff. What amused me at the end was that when James was nudged by Steve to get him moving, he again turned to me, rubbed my arm and said something along the lines of “it was nice seeing you” or something, to which I replied in kind and shook his hand– as if I’d been the one talking to him the entire time. But hey, at least I felt included on some level…

After the event, my friends and I went to a late dinner by Picadilly Circus. We had some fantastic Chinese!

JM @ the Union Chapel

In a nutshell, it was friggin’ fantastic!! The Union Chapel really was a great venue for the concert. James sounded better than ever and because the crowd was so much bigger than the last two events, he came out with tons more energy, which was great!! (Especially since the guy that opened for him nearly put me to sleep. What’s with JMLive booking opening acts that inspire sleepiness?) It was a fairly long concert, and he *finally* sang This Town, which he hadn’t done at the other two gigs. I was very happy that he did! About a third of the way through the concert, James took off the sweater he was wearing to reveal a sleeveless shirt underneath. While I do enjoy the nummy arms, I wasn’t very thrilled with the cut of the shirt. seapea made a point that wife-beaters look better on him. Still, nummy arms. )

The last song before the encore was Angel, and for the very last “La la la’s”, James just let the crowd take over. He was having such a ball! oanimation got great pics of him at that point! And for the very last song, we got the pretty, pretty lullaby, which I believe is called Baby Blue, but I could be wrong. I totally adore that song!

Due to very bad organization on JMLive’s part, the day had had a less-than-stellar beginning. By the end of the evening, though, we’d nearly forgotten all that crap. Nearly. James tends to have that sort of effect. )

JM @ Collectormania

James attended Collectormania from Saturday to Monday. oanimation and I attended all three days. We had photo ops both Saturday and Sunday, and I got some of my photos authographed on Saturday and Monday. I have to admit that at the Saturday photo op, James got me completely flustered and a little weirded out by how he seemed genuinely happy to see me (that he even recognizes me always surprises me), even giving me a hug, and then ended my photo op with a compliment. I know it seems silly, but I’m not good at taking compliments, and one from James was just strange, although quite nice.

For the autograph, I had him sign a photo I’d taken at the Grand Slam concert. There were a lot of people in line for Saturday’s autograph session, which made it feel a little rushed for me. Either way, I at least got a “wow” from him when he saw my photo, which is more than I can ask for.

Sunday’s photo op session was a bit calmer for me, and all in all, nice. I had two photos with him; I’m glad he takes the initiative to change up the poses for the photos, because I sure as heck wouldn’t be able to come up with anything. That evening, James had his Q&A, where Steve Himber proved how incredibly hilarious he can be. The entire Q&A was great; several great questions were asked, and only a few were repeats and even less were cringe-worthy.

I did the last of my autographs on Monday, when it was a lot calmer than it had been the last couple of days. Even though I had two photos, I only inteded to get one signed. When I got that photo signed, I told James that I’d had a lot of fun at the events. He told me he had too, and wished he could stay longer, but his son’s birthday was coming up, so he had to go back home. I nodded, thanked him, and said my goodbyes.

After getting my autograph, I kept on staring at the extra photo that I had, the one I hadn’t gotten autographed. My friends insisted that I had to get it signed, and after some persuasion, I dragged one of them with me to get that last photo signed. When it was my turn for the autograph, I shook his hand and he immediately proceeded to rub my hand in both of his because mine was very cold. We talked a bit about how cold it was while he signed my photo. As he was handing it back, I had to take my chance and ask him my burning question: Clinton, Obama, or other for 2008? *bg* He seriously thought about the question and considered some of the other candidates, like Edwards, but when it came down to it, he said Barack Obama, which had me nearly squeeing with delight. He went on to explain that he would really like to see a black man in office (which, yeah… okay… I suppose race might be a component for some), but that he just genuinely liked his style and work ethic, and brought up the comparison to John F. Kennedy. He definitely went on for a while and I listened and made a couple of comments here and there. I walked out of there over the moon!!! I was so ecstatic I’d gone and bought that second autograph and you know, had the courage to ask him that! It also re-affirmed to me why I like this guy so much. Sometimes I forget. )

With the event dwindling down, it was time to say goodbye to all my friends. I was sad that everything was over, but I know I’ll be seeing many again in the future. I’m already considering attending Dragon*Con. I wish I could attend Fangoria, but it’s much too soon for me to go out there. Either way, I had a fantastic time in the UK this year, and while I credit James for much of it, there was a lot more to this trip that was just perfect. Like Stonehenge. Can never forget Stonehenge!

James Marsters was the scheduled BtVS guest; he did Q&A’s on both Saturday and Sunday and a concert Saturday night. Many of the questions asked are some I’ve heard before and a few others were new and interesting. At the moment, none in particular stick out, but his Q&A’s were certainly very entertaining. It never ceases to amaze me how much energy this guy has, making it extra hard to snap photos. He was incredibly bouncy at this event and very smiley and much fun to see.

For the Saturday night concert, James sang several old favorites and some new ones. He was suppose to explain the stories behind some of his songs… as a friend expressed, though, he has way too many songs apologizing to his girlfriends. One that isn’t about apologizing, though, is This Town, which is definitely one of my favorite songs. Granted, I don’t interpret the song the way James sees it. Whereas he says that it’s about unrequited love, I think it’s more about two people trying to make a life together. I like this interpretation, so I’m sticking to it. I might be wrong, but I believe someone mentioned that this concert was the longest he’s ever done, with a total of 25 songs. Oooh! And he had another guitarist accompany him, which added a lot of depth to several of his songs. I think there are still a few kinks they need to work out, but it definitely sounded great! I hope the guitarist will accompany him all the way to London, where James will be doing a few concerts. That would be very neat!

I posted some photos of the weekend in the Gallery. Mostly James, but I do have some Adrian Paul and Battlestar Galactica photos coming in the near future. Those probably won’t be posted until I get back from the UK, though. I’m going to have quite a backlog by then, though, since I plan on taking many, many photos while traveling. I can’t wait to see Dublin!

James Marsters

I just really like the actual shot and how it came out once I made it a black and white photo.  To see more photos of the Queen Mary event and other cons, check out the Gallery!

On a totally different topic, fundraising for AIDS Walk has been going well and I think I will definitely be meeting my goal! I have the last batch of auctions up on eBay, which includes one of my favorite items: A photo of David Fury with the puppets from the episode Smile Time from Angel‘s season 5. I hope this last auction block goes really well! Thus far, Team Neptune as raised over $2800! I’ve raised the team’s goal from the $1000 we surpassed a few weeks ago to $3500. I’m confident we will reach our goal, and would not be surprised at all if we surpassed it!

Oh! And this weekend I am going to the Booster Events Blowout convention, featuring Jason Dohring, Francis Capra, and Michael Muhney from Veronica Mars! Whee! I’m so excited! Brendan Fehr (Roswell) and Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville) will also be there, but I’m more of a VM fan than anything else. Anyway, loads of fun to be had, and hopefully, more pics to come!

It should also be said that I am posting this from Springfield, MO, on the last day of my trip to see a very dear friend of mine. It saddens me that I must leave already, but I guess that’s why it’s called a vacation. *sniffle* On the bright side, said dear friend of mine will be joining me in my city for… another convention in three weeks! Yay!