HIGHLA-L Digest - 29 Aug 2001 to 30 Aug 2001 (#2001-250)
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Thu, 30 Aug 2001 22:00:01 -0400
There are 4 messages totalling 376 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Reunion con question
2. Trilby's Con Report: Saturday (2)
3. Trilby's Con Reports
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Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 22:31:43 -0400
From: Sandy Fields <diamonique@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Reunion con question
At 05:12 PM 08/25/01, R. Shelton wrote:
>Unfortunately I couldn't make it to the con in L.A., but I heard from
>a friend that you can't shop in the dealer's room without having a
>convention badge. I didn't think this was true of past cons.
I didn't think so either. I thought hotel guests were able to shop in the
dealers room at previous cons. Maybe I'm wrong about that. Not sure...
but it's true that you needed a con badge to shop in the dealers room for
this one.
>Was I wrong to sell stuff to non-con-goers in the past or is this a
>new thing? Anyone know for sure?
I think each con sets its own rules.
-- Sandy
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Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 22:47:55 -0400
From: Trilby <trilby23@bellsouth.net>
Subject: Trilby's Con Report: Saturday
SATURDAY, Aug 25, 2001
Saturday started with breakfast in the Court again (Hi KDKrah and Mr
KDKrah!) This was one of my favourite parts of each day - a quite time
with HL fans to chat with and some healthy food to get me started for the
day! I met a lot of wonderful people today: Jubie and Rebecca,
Maysong, Lee, Gnu, Merrie Gail, Lormac, Becky, Mary/highlandmg, Lisa,
Tracy, Tera and Cameron, and several that I *know* I'll smack myself for
not remembering. right now.
I missed a lot of the actual programming on Saturday, because I had
signed up for all 3 of the Beginner's classes that the con offered. I
missed Donna Lettow's "The Writer's Room", and "The Pen vs The
Sword" with Gillian Horvath, F.Braun McAsh, and Anthony De Longis,
and I was deeply disappointed that I couldn't see both programs, but I
had a *wonderful* time in Elizabeth Gracen's "Tai Chi Rainbow Flying
Fan" class!!
Elizabeth and (please GOD let me get this name right) Roberta Brown led
the class. Roberta was Elizabeth's (stunt double, I think?) for HL, and
also the stunt double for the lead in QoS. Roberta was a little more
advanced than Elizabeth, so Elizabeth often deferred to her in matters of
movement, etc.
Can I take a moment to tell you how beautiful Elizabeth is? She's let her
hair grow past her shoulders, and at least that morning she wasn't
wearing much makeup. She and Roberta are both also *tiny*. Elizabeth
may be tall (but then, I'm 5"1' so everyone looks tall to me), but she has a
very small, fine build. She's not in the least bit frail, though - she and
Roberta both showed a lot of physical strength during the class. You
have to have a strong body to be able to stand on one foot, with your
arms both held in different directions, and kick to the side (up high!) with
the other foot! Both ladies were wearing black leotards & tights, with a
long white gauzy cotton top with an Oriental motive embroidered on the
front. Someone asked if Elizabeth was going to market a line of clothing
and she said it was in the works. ("Plus sizes too?" I asked, and she
said, "Absolutely! We're working on a clothing line that will be both
beautiful and comfortable, and appropriate for plus sizes." YAY!!!)
But back to the class: Elizabeth explained that she discovered this form
of Tai Chi while she was preparing for "The Raven". She was looking for
a martial art that was specifically designed for females, and she found
this form that uses a fan. By coincidence, she mentioned it on the set
during the first few days that Raven was being filmed, and one of the
crew was able to put her in touch with a (Chinese?) woman there in
Toronto, who had taught the form for decades. Elizabeth explained that
these martial arts are often taught only within a family, and handed down
from one generation to the next; in China (?) this woman was a well-
known and highly respected teacher. Elizabeth studied with her, and was
able to use the fan in at least one of the Raven episodes.
Roberta had also brought along an actual combat fan - we were all using
big bright silk fans with big plastic spines, but the combat fan was a little
smaller, with steel spines. No question - that would make one h*** of a
weapon!! Elizabeth explained that the fan Tai Chi form was based on a
woman being able to grab a common household item and use it as a
weapon. ("Like a frying pan," someone said, referring to "Methuselah's
Gift", and everyone laughed. "All the women just love that scene!" said
Elizabeth.)
In the class, of course, no combat was involved, and the ladies
emphasized that they were teaching us an exercise for meditation,
breathing, and to tone the body - not a self-defense class. First Elizabeth
and Roberta went through what for all intents and purposes appeared to
be a kata (but I'm not sure that's the proper name for it) - side by side, the
went through a series of movements, mostly slow and graceful (control
of the body is obviously a major goal!), and except for a few side-kicks, it
looked more like a dance than a martial art. Then they slowed it down,
and took us through it step by step and motion by motion. Their
exercise had four separate "phrases" to it, but the class only learned one.
Each movement and pose had its own name (one was called "The
Immortal Points The Way" *G*), and the ladies explained each of them
not just in terms of how to move, but why. Each movement was either an
defensive or offensive movement, or both. They showed us how the left
hand was held *this* way to protect the face, and how the fan was held
in the right hand *that* way to use as a stabbing weapon or to deflect a
blow. When you saw it broken down, you could tell how each
movement had its basis in either self-defense or an offensive strike!
At the end of the 90-minute class, all of us could go through the entire
exercise from beginning to end (some more gracefully than others, but we
could *all* do it!). Elizabeth and Roberta were both fun and gracious,
and we all had fun too.
After the class, I told Elizabeth how much I had enjoyed "The Damn
Deal", and that I thought putting Peter Wingfield in drag as a contrast
against the *real* drag queens was a wonderful, original idea. She
laughed and said, "Petey Wingnuts is such a good sport. We had fun!"
She also said that they were hoping to do a follow-up to "The Damn
Deal", or maybe an expanded version.
T class over, I jumped back into the regular programming - the Q&A with
Adrian Paul. I missed the first few minutes, but I saw most of it. He
looked super: relaxed and happy, always smiling. Much of what he said
has already been posted - how he wanted Peter Wingfield to play the
bad guy, but "things didn't work out" and he's very happy with Geraint
Wyn Davies (did I get that right?) as the villain. He also talked about
how pleased he is with his leading lady, who apparently has a much
greater acting background than the IMDB would lead one to believe.
Then, of course, there was the story about shooting in his underwear for
the first scene of Tracker - I wanted to ask "Boxers or briefs?", but I
suppose we'll see soon enough. *G*
To be completely honest, I was a little disappointed. Adrian was eager
and excited to talk about Tracker, but he didn't appear very interested in
answering questions about HL. Now, don't crucify me - I *know* he's
got a new project that he's enthusiastic about, and that he's probably
answered every HL question a hundred times. He has every right to
want to talk about his new things, and let HL be in the past. Still, since it
was my first con, *I've* never heard some of the questions or answers,
and I would have enjoyed hearing more about his HL experiences. On
the other hand, that would have been nothing but "same-old, same-old"
to Adrian and probably to more than half the audience. No Q&A is
going to be perfect for everyone, and I certainly did enjoy hearing about
Tracker too!
I suppose I should also give my take on what some people thought was
poor form on Adrian's part. He was asked what he thought of Endgame,
and he gave a very honest and direct answer: he said that he wasn't
happy with the finished product, and that he was disappointed because
he thought it could have been better than it was. However, there were
"too many cooks", and each one had different ideas, and in his opinion
that's not the way to get the best possible movie onto the screen.
Some people have said they felt he was "bashing" Endgame, and that it
was unprofessional of him to be laying blame on anyone. Now, from
where I was sitting, I didn't hear anything like that. No names were
mentioned in any derogatory way; no fingers were pointed; no area of
the filmmaking process was singled out - not the writing, the directing,
the editing, or anything else. What I got from his comments was that
there was no one, single guiding force behind the movie, and that if there
had been, it would have been a better product. As I mentioned in ATH,
the impression I got from him was, "That's Show Biz." I didn't hear any
bashing or trashing of anything or anyone. I know that some will
disagree with me, but reasonable adults often disagree about things, and
it doesn't mean one side is wrong and the other is right. Enough said.
Right after Adrian's Q&A came an hour (I assume Q&A format again)
with Peter Wingfield and Ocean Hellman, but I skipped that - I hadn't
been able to get into the Dealer's Room on Friday, and I wanted to try
again today. (This was my one single little quibble with the con: the
Dealer's Room was too small, and the traffic didn't flow well at all. But it
may be that the Con didn't have much choice about that; it seemed as
though there was only one large room available in that area, and it was
being used for the classes. I don't think anyone would have been
happier if the Dealer's Room was all the way on the other side of the
hotel from the rest of the con activities!)
But what there was in the Dealer's Room was just beautiful! Gorgeous
photos, wonderful jewelry (one dealer, Ravenwing, turned out to be
located only 90 minutes from where I live!), stacks of books. Ginjer
Buchanan told me later that they brought 1,000 copies of "An Evening
At Joe's" and sold out of them by Sunday morning, or maybe even
earlier. I bought my own copy, and spent WAAAAAY more than I
should have on jewelry (The Last Temptation Of Trilby) - but then again,
I only spent money I had saved up and set aside for the con, and I got
some *wonderful* things that I hadn't seen anywhere else.
I also staked out a place in the silent auction room and had a quick lunch.
James Horan was supposed to sign autographs, but traffic was stopped
dead and he was running late. I don't normally do the autograph thing,
but I was determined to say hello on behalf of a friend who's a big fan.
The room wasn't crowded, so the sweet ladies of the JH Fan Club let me
camp out and wait. I had a quick lunch, and James got there just in time
to sign a few autographs and answer some questions. He says he has a
CD coming out "within the year".
At 1:30, I was back in Concourse B, getting ready for the 2-hour Combat
Knife Class with F.Braun McAsh. My second workout in one day! Let
me tell you, this man is a walking database that contains knowledge of
every fighting skill or weapon you can think of (I didn't know, for
instance, how much he knows about guns, especially period weapons). I
had a great partner (thanks, "Camper"!), and Braun was interesting,
informative, and *very* intense. He talks almost non-stop, a constant
stream of instruction and education. The two hours went by really fast.
I missed the rest of the afternoon programming because I was
volunteering at the Dealer's Room from 4PM till 5PM. Adrian and Tracy
Scroggins were at tables in the room, and I was terribly impressed by
how patient and polite all the HL fans are! There was no pushing, no
bad temper, no crowding - really, everyone should be proud of
themselves!! Bravo, y'all!! (During this time, Stan had also said he'd
come do another autograph session, but it was a long time before he got
there - traffic was still backed up, I suppose.)
And then I missed "Behind The Scenes Classics" with Gillian and Donna
because, well, because I was stupid. Or brain-dead from the long day.
The ballroom (where most of the programming was held) was closed to
get ready for the Gala, and I clean forgot to check the "theatre" schedule.
All weekend, HL tapes (and related programs, like QOS) were being
shown in the theatre, and I didn't look at the program to see that at 6PM,
the tapes stopped for "Behind The Scenes Classics". DAMN!! *Bang
Head On The Wall* I really, really wanted to see that!! (Well, at least
the nap I took felt good.)
My roommate (Hi Helene!) and I got ready for the Gala together, and
joined the group waiting at the door. When the ballroom doors opened,
the setup was just perfect. The dance floor (which had previously been
the best seating) had been cleared completely, and tables were set all
around with candles and white linen tablecloths. There was plenty of
room for everyone, and I think most people had a good seat. I found a
seat at a table
James Horan came out first. Man, did he look *Gorgeous*! He was
wearing a velvet frock coat that one of the dealers had up for sale, and
he's a very sensual, engaging performer, coming down to the edge of the
audience to sing to or flirt with some of the women (lucky them!). He
sang to a taped accompaniment, and he started with a few songs that I
imagine were intended to "get the crowd going" - "I'm on
Fire"(Springsteen) and an Elvis song that I didn't recognize, and also
"Walking in Graceland". To tell the truth, I didn't think these were very
well suited to his voice. He seemed to be straining a little, and he was
frequently off-key ..... but on the other hand, there were some sound
problems (he kept motioning to the sound engineer to crank up the
sound because he couldn't hear his accompaniment), so maybe that was
the problem. In any case, after those, he started into what he calls his
"lounge act" - and OH MAN WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! He sang a set of
standards and show tunes: "Where Or When"; "I Never Loved You";
and "Stars" & "Bring Him Home" from "Les Miserables" - now, THIS is
the music he was born to sing!! Ballads and love songs! Someone, give
that man a Broadway musical!! (Can anyone else see him as Javert in
"Les Mis", or Chauvelin in "The Scarlet Pimpernel"? I sure can!!)
This was the only time I was disappointed in the conduct of the HL fans.
I was sitting very close to the front row of tables, and I frequently
couldn't hear James singing because there was so much audience
conversation. Most of it came from the back, I think - the people in the
tables that were farther away may not have realized that, yes, they
*could* be heard. I wonder if all the background chatter didn't
contribute to JH's problems hearing his accompaniment tape? Well, in
any case, he gave a splendid show and he's a very gifted entertainer.
And then, after James' set, Jim Byrnes came out.
If you've never heard Jim Byrnes play live, there's not really any way to
put it into words. He treated us to a crazy evening of good ol' down-and-
dirty acoustic blues - just Jim and his guitar, but you'd swear there was a
whole band onstage! At first, nobody got up to dance .... and then
Anthony De Longis brought his lovely Mary out onto the dance floor,
and showed everyone how it was done! Everyone else stayed put and
watched. (Later on, he said to me that "I thought that if we started the
dancing, everyone else would join in." I *wanted* to tell him, "Well, in
the first place, watching you and Mary was TOO great, and in the
second place .... who wanted to be compared to y'all?" *G*) But by the
2nd or 3rd song, Jette and (I think it was Beverly - Beverly, was that
you?) were up dancing, I joined in with half a dozen others, and then
Stan came out onto the stage and motioned to everyone to get up and
dance!!
Well, just about everyone did. :-) The crush began! Everyone crowded
around Jim onstage, who kept on playing even when he broke a guitar
string! Elizabeth got up and joined in 2 or 3 times, and Anthony and
Mary were on the floor most of the time too. Unfortunately, there was
some elbowing and hogging of the floor going on, but most of us worked
our way to the front of the crowd, enjoyed being 4 feet away from Jim for
a song or two, then worked our way back to let everyone else have a
turn.
(Was anyone else in St Louis about 3 years ago to hear JB play for a
telethon, and then at a local blues bar? That was the first and only other
time I saw JB play live, and someone else who was there that weekend
recognized me at the Gala! Sandy, it was so great to see you!! You
drive, and you rock, girlfriend!)
Waaaaay too soon, JB finished and started to leave. I was standing near
Anthony and Mary - I tried to be somewhere near them whenever they
were on the floor, because it was such a pleasure to watch them. When
Jim started to leave, Anthony started whistling, stamping his feet, and
clapping his hands over his head. I picked it up, and so did everyone
else around, and soon the whole audience was stamping and clapping!
Sure enough, Jim sat down to play another short set - was there ever any
real doubt? (Anthony high-fived me and one or two others nearby. "No
performer can resist stamping feet!" he shouted, just as gleeful as any of
us fans.)
When the Gala ended (way too soon for us), a group of us hung out in
the bar, winding down, till well past 1AM. Anthony and Braun were
both there, having as good a time as everyone else. For the record:
Braun is an energetic, social person who'll talk to anyone about
anything; and Anthony is just plain the most delightful, charming man
I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. He just radiates happiness and
good will, and it was a joy to see how affectionate he and Mary are
together. Around 1:15 or 1:30 AM, someone (well, it was me) asked
Anthony if he was going to be ready for the sword class at 9AM the next
day. "I'll be there with bells on. Will you?" he asked me. "Absolutely,"
I told him, and, sure enough, I was.
But that's for the Sunday report.
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Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 08:07:25 EDT
From: PWFan16@aol.com
Subject: Re: Trilby's Con Report: Saturday
In a message dated 8/30/01 3:03:02 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
trilby23@bellsouth.net writes:
> I suppose I should also give my take on what some people thought was
> poor form on Adrian's part. He was asked what he thought of Endgame,
> and he gave a very honest and direct answer: he said that he wasn't
> happy with the finished product, and that he was disappointed because
> he thought it could have been better than it was. However, there were
> "too many cooks", and each one had different ideas, and in his opinion
> that's not the way to get the best possible movie onto the screen.
>
See now I respect him for that because I agree 100% with that statement. If
he got up there and praised it up and down I might thing less if him in that
case because you would not he was not telling the truth.
I really like when actors can be honest enough to say stuff like that.
Thanks for the reports!!
JMO
Lora
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Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 10:41:36 -0700
From: ndancer <ndancer@prodigy.net>
Subject: Re: Trilby's Con Reports
Just wanted to say thanks so much for posting these. I'm enjoying
reading about all I missed.
And I wouldn't mind hearing reports from a few other folks, particularly
since it sounds like there was so much good stuff to do that
one person couldn't catch everything.
Nancy
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End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 29 Aug 2001 to 30 Aug 2001 (#2001-250)
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