HIGHLA-L Digest - 30 Aug 2001 to 2 Sep 2001 - Special issue
Automatic digest processor (LISTSERV@LISTS.PSU.EDU)
Sun, 2 Sep 2001 09:14:29 -0400
There are 10 messages totalling 1040 lines in this issue.
Topics in this special issue:
1. Trilby's Con Report: Sunday
2. Very OT: Metallica e-mailing lists
3. Trilby's Con Report: Friday
4. Trilby's Con Reports (3)
5. Bi-Monthly Reminder
6. Trilby's Con Report: Saturday
7. Message from Tarryn for Billie-Lee Williams
8. My turn: Reunion-part 1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2001 00:59:33 -0400
From: Trilby <trilby23@bellsouth.net>
Subject: Trilby's Con Report: Sunday
SUNDAY, Aug 26, 2001
So I'm up again early Sunday morning, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed,
and with bells figuratively on, for another light breakfast with the
totally delightful KDKlah's, as excited as can be about taking
Anthony De Longis' Beginner's Sword Class at 9:00. I had to miss
Ginjer and Donna's readings (so I still only know "Barricades" by
reputation, drat it all!!), but I'm so excited that I get to Concourse B
a good 15 minutes early to stretch and warm up, and I pair up
quickly with Sandy. I had the absolute delight of meeting her about
3 years ago at a Jim Byrnes gig in St Louis, and when she
recognized me at the Gala and said Hi, I could hardly believe it!
(She said "I thought I recognized your dancing style!" Gee, I know
I'm a bad dancer, but I didn't think I was actually *memorable*!)
(*JOKING*, Sandy! You were such a sweetheart!)
Consummate professional that he is, Anthony showed up right on
time, with nary a trace of the late night he'd just had (or of the very
fine Scotch that he was drinking Saturday night, and passing
around for the table to sample. Anyone who thinks they don't like
Scotch needs to try whatever-it-was that Anthony had after the
Gala!) OH, but the man looks GOOD!! There's something about
him in person that doesn't translate all that well onto the screen or
photos - charm? charisma? the way he seems totally involved
with life? I don't know. I'm with Kristina on this one: I always
thought he was good-looking, and his sword work in "Duende" was
just amazing, but I didn't really "get" it till I met him in person.
And, oh, I *SO* get it now!! Oh BOY do I ever get it!
Mary and - surprise! - Gillian came with him to help teach the
class, which was a special bonus. "Listen to what they say,"
Anthony told us. "They speak for me." It was such a treat to have
three teachers for one class! Everyone got a lot of attention, and
more important, care.
We started with warmups and stretches, slow, careful, and
thorough. Anthony was scanning the group of us the entire time,
watching us, keeping an eye on every one of us. He is a born
teacher, no question. He has that magic ability to communicate
his love of and enthusiasm for his art to his students, and he takes
his responsibilities as a teacher *very* seriously! "If I say
something that's not clear to you, tell me so. I've got 22 different
ways of explaining everything, and my job as a teacher is to find
the way that suits each of you best." He was also very conscious
of making sure nobody got hurt: "Turn to your partner and test the
distance" - meaning, hold our swords at the ready and make sure
we're not close enough to whack each other by accident. "Now,
look your partner in the eye and repeat after me: 'My Job Is To
Keep You Safe'." We all promised to keep each other safe more
than once that morning!
One of the things Anthony emphasized was that the sword isn't
some weird thing that hangs off your hand, and it isn't in control.
It's an extension of your body, and you control it, not the other way
around. (Didn't that basic piece of teaching make it into a HL
script somewhere?) When you have control, only the smallest
movements are really needed - but since that's not very interesting
for the screen, he taught us several big, sweeping, theatrical
movements too. ("Palm up, over your head and brush the hair,
palm down.") He also talked about moving from the feet up, with
the whole body, and using the power that comes from the earth
(now, I *know* that was in "The Samurai"!). I was impressed by
how closely the sword class was related to the Tai Chi Fan class,
with the emphasis on awareness of the body as a unified whole,
rather than just arms and legs swinging around madly. Anthony
demonstrated how staying on the balls of your toes can make you
more mobile, so that you can turn your entire body with just a
small movement. (I kept doing this funky thing with my hips,
swinging my body around by momentum instead. Gillian caught
me at it and tried to fix it, but I don't think I mastered that particular
skill. *G* )
One of the most admirable things about Anthony as a teacher was
that he gave *everyone* in the room as much personal attention as
possible. He was always on the move, going from one pair to the
next, making adjustments and giving encouragement. Once, he
even pulled little ol' *me* out of the group (probably so he could try
to "fix" me!), to help him demonstrate a particular movement, and
how to line up your feet properly for stage or camera angles
(forward/right foot straight forward, back/left foot at a 45-degree
angle, and very slightly - like six or eight inches - to the side of
your partner, rather than being directly in line with each other). He
also talked about how much you have to use your peripheral vision,
rather than gluing your eyes to your partner's sword ("If I'm duelling
with Trilby, I'll be focusing on her chest," says Anthony. "Fine with
me!" says I, very happily; but of course his point was that if you
watch your partner's body, their sword will be in your peripheral
vision.)
About halfway through, we switched partners, so Sandy got a
break from my enthusiastic and not-always-accurate swinging. ;-)
The break also gave me a chance to grab a smaller "weapon".
Remember the sword fight between Methos and Amanda in
"Methuselah's Gift"? Elizabeth Gracen had commented more than
once during the weekend that Adrian Paul (the director of that ep)
had had her in tears during the filming of that fight scene, and in
one outtake, she was saying, "My arm's about to fall off." Well,
most of us in the class weren't using anything *remotely* heavy -
mostly we used 4-foot wooden dowels - but after maneuvering that
dowel around for an hour or so, up, down, in, out, over my head and
back, I was ready to grab one of the smaller (and shorter) sticks
that were still available. I have more respect than ever for
Elizabeth, Stan, and any of the other actors who had to film a
swordfight scene with little or no prior training! One knows,
intellectually, how tough and how tiring it can be, but actually
experiencing even a small shadow of it for yourself gives you a
whole different appreciation for how hard the actors are working!
But by the end of the 2-hour class, we were all able to go through a
short fight scene, both attacking and parrying. For someone who
started watching Errol Flynn movies at the age of 4 or 5 and
wanted to be Robin Hood, not Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland was
gorgeous but the guys got all the fun!), it was pure heaven!
OK, now I have to brag a tiny little bit. Shortly after the con was
over, I went up to the Ops room to see if they needed anyone to
help do anything. On my way I met Anthony coming down the hall,
finally on his way to dinner, and I said Hello. "You were excellent
in the class this morning," he said - gee, without any prompting or
anything!! I did the usual Southern "Aw, gee, shucks," thing - it's
kind of a knee-jerk response to any compliment. "No, really," he
said. "You were very good." I thanked him for the experience and
wished him a good night. OK, so maybe he was just being nice to
a fan, and I know that he meant "good for a beginner with a 4-foot
dowel in her hand", but I don't care!! I DIDN'T TOTALLY SUCK!!
Could the weekend have POSSIBLY been any better?
But I'm getting ahead of myself ....
The rest of Sunday was just as wonderful as the rest of the week. I
don't know that I can add very much to what's already been posted.
Also, I've mislaid my little blue schedule (it's probably inder the
clean socks but I can't lay hands on it for the moment), so I've
gotten a little fuzzy. I think today was the day I finally met Ardie!!
She was one of the "guards" at the ballroom door. Another face to
put to a name that I know so well!!
I think the next session after the sword class was the Q&A with
Adrian and Stan. It was an absolute joy; both guys were "on" and
ready for fun! The food fight in Paris has already been mentioned;
so has Adrian's disclaimer that he doesn't think Stan will be
guesting on "Tracker" anytime soon ... does anyone else watch
"The Actor's Studio" on Bravo? Someone asked a question that
came from that program: "If there is a God, what would you want
God to say to you when you go to Heaven?" It made me wonder if
either Adrian or Stan has ever watched the show, because the
question seemed to take them both totally by surprise. They took
it very seriously and thought about their answers for a moment.
Adrian answered first, saying that he hoped God would say that
Adrian and done good things for people, and had made a difference
in people's lives. Then Stan said that he hoped God would say that
Stan had been a good person; Adrian looked at Stan and said,
"Yeah!" Like, "Good answer!"
I got in line for this Q&A too (no, I'm not a bit shy, why do you
ask?), and I asked them, of the scenes they had together, were
there any that particularly stood out for any reason - good, bad,
fun, hard to do? That got them both reminiscing for a few minutes.
Stan mentioned "Something Wicked" and "End of Innocence",
while Adrian remembered "Under Colour of Authority". It was so
great seeing them together, and the thing that really impressed me
was that what they talked about remembering were scenes that
they loved doing together - not the ones that were hard to shoot, or
freezing cold.
Next up was an hour with Jim Byrnes and Peter Wingfield. In one
of the unused tapes from the "Best Of" series that was shown
earlier, the two of them talked about how quickly they hit it off, and
it showed on stage. Peter mentioned that his character in (I think)
Stargate is being killed off, and they aren't even going to bring him
back to do it - they're going to use previously filmed footage and
some cinema magic. He talked about having to make decisions
about what jobs you take: "Whenever you accept one job, it means
you aren't available for other work. You have to decide whether
taking a particular job is going to be worth giving up other
opportunities. So you tell them, 'I'll do this if you'll make a
commitment to me for three shows,' because if they won't, it's not
worth being off the market for so long." He also mentioned Noah's
Ark, and said that the show became boring because there wasn't
much difference from episode to episode; and that it was a little
silly sitting around listening to the director calling "Action, duck!
Cue the duck!" *G*
Jim said that he and Elizabeth still wanted to do a project together
(a CD with EG's photography? Not sure about that), but they
hadn't been able to get together yet. He also said that he's been
doing a lot with his music, but he hasn't had many acting gigs
lately. He did mention that he has a role as a Catholic priest, and
a *comedic* role as a blind quadriplegic, but I didn't catch the
names of either project (Jette? Are you out there?).
The talked about how much fun it was to do "Indiscretions", and
they agreed that Dennis Berry was director "in name only" - it was
the last HL episode filmed, and they pretty much did what they
wanted. (I wanted SO MUCH to get in the Q&A line again and ask
them: in the scene where Methos says he knew Joe was lying
because "you do this thing with your face", and then mimics what
Joe does - was that something that Peter had noticed previously,
watching "Joe" onscreen? Or did they work it out together? But I
figured that asking questions in 3 Q&A's was plenty, and other
people should have a chance too. But I *still* want to know!!)
(BTW: Totally OT, but I work with someone named "Amy
Dawson". *G*)
During their hour, Ocean Hellman came onstage carrying a tray
with two bottles of what looked to me like Heineken's beer, to great
audience applause. Peter got her a chair and insisted she stay
with them, and she talked about filming her scene on the porch of
her house with Peter (isn't that the famous "unthinkable" line?).
She said she had been acting most of her life, and she *never* got
emotional over a role. Ever. Except for that scene. They finished
that scene, and the entire crew was completely quiet. She said
she walked down the porch steps and went behind a tree, and just
started to shake, she was so "rocked" by the emotion! Peter
reached over and took her hand, and Ocean squeezed back, and
Jim said, "Get a room!" LOL!!!!
Next came an hour with Elizabeth Gracen and Nadia Cameron-
Blakey. I was volunteering again, this time "guarding" the ballroom
door. There were two of us, me and Elke (Hi Elke!). I thought this
would be nice and easy, I'd get to sit and listen, but it was actually
very busy, so I missed a great deal of the program. People were
coming and going the whole hour, and once I had to be a bad guy
and tell someone they couldn't bring coffee or food in. Just doing
my job. (Hey, I was the stage-manager for a part-time opera
company for eight years, I got LOTS of practice telling people they
can't bring food here or there. *G*)
I did hear Elizabeth talking about Alexandra Vandernoot. She said
that they didn't work together except for that scene in "The Lady or
the Tiger", so they didn't know each other well; but Elizabeth did
remember that Alexandra was just amazed that there was no
smoking allowed on the set (and I believe she said that was Adrian
Paul's strict rule). They also talked about the flashback in
"Methuselah's Gift", where Amanda and Rebecca had been sharing
a bed; Nadia said "Why does that have to be erotic? Who was it
that decided that two strong women can't just be good friends?"
and someone from the audience shouted out, "Some man!".
The con was winding down, and it appeared to some of us in the
audience that something that was supposed to happen .... wasn't
happening. I have no idea what was going on, but they seemed to
be "stalling". Finally Peter and Ocean returned to the stage and
read another exchange from "An Evening at Joe's" - the excerpt
when Alexa figures out that "Adam" is an Immortal. It was sweet,
and touching, and a delight to me, since I had missed their
readings before.
It was a (very small) disappointment to me that Adrian, Stan, and
Jim weren't there for the final farewell, but apparently they all had to
leave for professional commitments. In any case, to me, the Con
was less about the GOH's than it was about celebrating Highlander
in all its forms, meeting new and old friends, and reforging the
bonds that brought us all together in the first place.
Thank you, Lynn and Janean and all the staff, for going to lengths
and working harder than any of us on this side of the stage can
possibly imagine. Thanks to Big John for his unfailing energy and
brilliant smile. Thanks to so many, many of the con attendees for
the hugs and good will, and for welcoming a "newbie" like she was
an old friend. Thanks to Gillian and Donna, to Ken and Bill, and to
all the other writers and creative personnel who were with us in
spirit, for giving us six seasons of Highlander to treasure - and for
giving us each other. Thanks to Ginjer, Anthony, and Braun for
helping to keep the flame alive. And a very grateful, special thanks
to those of you who signed my copy of "An Evening at Joe's" after I
caught "autograph fever" on Sunday, even though you were all off-
duty. The writers have always been the real stars in my eyes.
How soon can we do this again?
---------------------- Trilby
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 19:49:54 -0700
From: Danni Butterfuss <dbutter@wvi.com>
Subject: Very OT: Metallica e-mailing lists
Sorry to cross post this. I am looking to find out if there are any
Metallica e-mail lists. Please contact me off list if you know.
Thanks
Danni dbutter@wvi.com
--
MZ?
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2001 17:05:22 -0400
From: Trilby <trilby23@bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: Trilby's Con Report: Friday
Hi Jen,
> > After those came a truly excellent documentary, directed by
> > Elizabeth Gracen, called "The Damn Deal" - conversations with
> > three drag queens who compete in female impersonator contests.
>
> Ohh, sounds really interesting. Is that shown on cable??
Nobody mentioned it being shown on cable, so I'm guessing not.
But if you're inclined, I'm sure it's for sale on her website:
http://www.elizabethgracen.org/
------------ Trilby
"Who's the African-American professional investigator who has
safe, consensual sex with strong, independent women who work for
equal pay? Shaft." - Steve 2000
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2001 17:50:33 -0400
From: Trilby <trilby23@bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: Trilby's Con Reports
Nancy wrote:
> Just wanted to say thanks so much for posting these. I'm enjoying
> reading about all I missed.
Thank you so much!!
> 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.
That's absolutely true. I missed a lot of programming that I would
have dearly loved to see, because I wanted to take the classes.
One "con veteran" said she thought there was too much "down
time". Different strokes, I guess - for this ConVirgin, there was no
down time at all!
-------------------- Trilby
Live long and prosper. May the Force be with you.
Remember that the truth is out there ...
And no matter where you go ... there you are ...
But in the end there can be only one.
Oh, boy.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2001 00:09:48 -0500
From: Debra Douglass <ddoug@cs6668160-46.austin.rr.com>
Subject: Bi-Monthly Reminder
(updated 8/1/00) HIGHLA-L Bi-Monthly Reminders
The address to send your LISTSERV commands to is
LISTSERV@LISTS.PSU.EDU. The listowner can be contacted at
ddoug@CATRIO.ORG
If your posts to HIGHLA-L are being "submitted to the moderator of the
HIGHLA-L list" please check out the section below titled "WHAT TO DO
IF THE LISTSERV SAYS YOU ARE NOT SUBSCRIBED TO HIGHLA-L:"
-----
All of you received the Membership Rules when you first subscribed to
this list so I'm not going to repeat them here but I will hit a few
high points. Also included is a few LISTSERV commands to change your
subscription to this list.
No Flaming Is Allowed. (see note)
We have strict Spoiler Rules for the current first-run season.
Please don't post a message about any current season episode until
after you have read the Welcome message (this contains all the
rules).
This is a -private- mailing list. Do not forward information posted
on this mailing list without the -original- author's permission.
ALL ADS listing items for SALE, no matter how minor, MUST be cleared
through the list owner FIRST.
NOTE:
Flaming: adj. (possible origin: Webster's 3.intensely emotional;
ardent; passionate) Usage on Internet: intensely emotional and very
derogatory remarks about an individual, a group, or a dearly held
belief system (religious beliefs, politics, sexual orientation,
certain TV series, etc.). To insult, treat with scorn or great
disrespect.
Flame remarks are usually empty of any actual facts, just
emotionally charged opinions and sometimes obscenities.
Flame-bait: derivative of Flaming (see above). Any remark, which in
itself does not qualify as a Flame, but because of trigger words,
irritating adjectives or phrases (usually used in a rude manner) is
almost always guaranteed to elicit Flames from people who read the
message.
END NOTE
BUT REMEMBER:
Disagreements make for lively debate,
and lively debate is what keeps this list
INTERESTING!!!
Do NOT send any 'public service announcements' unless they are related
to Highlander. BTW if you receive a computer virus report check it
against <http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html> before passing it
on.
********************************************
HOAXES, VIRUS WARNINGS, SPAM OF ANY TYPE,
INCLUDING SALES, CHAIN LETTERS AND DONATION
REQUESTS, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED ON
HIGHLA-L or HLFIC-L.
********************************************
Do NOT post 'test' messages. If you aren't receiving mail from the
list, send email to ME and I'll look into it.
To send a message to the group, simply address it to
HIGHLA-L@LISTS.psu.edu. Also, you should be able to reply to any
message from the list as you would normally reply to a message from a
single person.
If your messages are not being posted to the LIST, check to make sure
that you are NOT including the message headers from any message that
you might be replying to. A message that contains (in the body of the
message) any unaltered email header that includes the address
of the list will be bounce to the errors queue.
<<Sender: HIGHLA-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU (Highlander movies and TV series)
<<Reply-to: HIGHLA-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU (Highlander movies and TV series)
<<To: HIGHLA-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU (Multiple recipients of list HIGHLA-L)
The reason that these didn't blow up this message is because I
preceded them with '<<' on each line.
As LIST-owner, I reserve the right to remove anyone from the list who
violates the rules (they are in the Welcome message that you will
receive when you subscribe).
USEFUL LISTSERV COMMANDS
To change your subscription options to stop receiving the list of a
period of time (i.e. for a vacation or finals week): send mail to
LISTSERV@LISTS.psu.edu with only the following line in the body of the
message (the Subject line is ignored):
SET HIGHLA-L NOMAIL
To change (or to reset) your subscription options to receive the list
as separate email messages (default): send mail to
LISTSERV@LISTS.psu.edu with only the following line in the body of the
message (the Subject line is ignored):
SET HIGHLA-L MAIL
To change your subscription options to receive the list in a daily
digest: send mail to LISTSERV@LISTS.psu.edu with only the following
line in the body of the message (the Subject line is ignored):
SET HIGHLA-L DIGEST
To change your subscription options to receive the list as short
indexes of all postings (you can then retrieve the messages that you
are interested in reading): send mail to LISTSERV@LISTS.psu.edu with
only the following line in the body of the message (the Subject line
is ignored):
SET HIGHLA-L INDEX
If you want a prefix to show up on your subject lines to help identify
which message come from HIGHLA-L then send email to
LISTSERV@LISTS.psu.edu with only the following line in the body of the
message (Subject line is ignored):
SET HIGHLA-L SUBJ
The prefix [HL] will appear at the beginning of each Subject line of
all new messages from HIGHLA-L (The string 'Re:' will appear before
the prefix on replies).
If your mailer does not provide the mailing address of the person who
sent a post (usually PC and Mac mailers) you might want to change your
subscription option to get the headers also placed in the body of the
message. To do this: send mail to LISTSERV@LISTS.psu.edu with only the
following line in the body of the message (the Subject line is
ignored):
SET HIGHLA-L DUALhdr
Be careful and edit these headers out of any reply because they may
cause problems when you try to post the reply (the LISTSERV software
may fail to post your message).
To Unsubscribe: send mail to LISTSERV@LISTS.psu.edu with only the
following line in the body of the message (the Subject line is
ignored):
SIGNOFF HIGHLA-L
Note: DO NOT send mail to HIGHLA-L@LISTS.psu.edu to unsubscribe.
It may seem that your SIGNOFF didn't take effect because you are still
getting posts. There is probably a backlog of messages in HIGHLA-L's
queue that were posted before you sent the SIGNOFF command. Those will
continue to come until it gets to the timestamp when you unsubscribed.
This can take several hours or might even take up to 24 depending on
how backed up everything is.
*WHAT TO DO IF THE LISTSERV SAYS YOU ARE NOT SUBSCRIBED TO HIGHLA-L:
When trying to send one of these commands if you receive back a
message saying that you are not subscribed to HIGHLA-L this means
that your current outgoing email address has changed since you
subscribed to the list. It is very common for system administrators
to do this without notifying their users. The way to straighten this
out is to SUBSCRIBE from your new address and SIGNOFF from the
old. If you can't SIGNOFF from the old address please notify me and
I'll remove it.
If you post a message to the list and then receive a message stating
that your message has been forwarded to the moderator (me) that is
another indication that your outgoing email address has changed. I
will forward your message to the list if I can determine that you
are currently subscribed under any address (if the message doesn't
violate any of the Rules). Send me email and we will straighten it
out so that you can post unrestricted again.
SPECIAL: To request a copy of the Highlander FAQ list (Frequently
Asked Questions and the answers) send an email message to me at
ddoug@CATRIO.ORG with 'Send HL FAQ' in the Subject and
the FAQ will be sent to you automatically in nineteen parts. Collect
the contents of the numbered messages sequentially in a file for the
complete FAQ. Beware: the total FAQ is currently 273k. To check the
latest version number, send me email with 'Query HL FAQ' in the
Subject line.
I have other files that you can retrieve by automatic mail request.
If you send one of the following string (only one request per message)
in the Subject line of a message to ddoug@CATRIO.ORG
you will receive the following files by automatic mail request.
'Send HLFIC Instruct' = Instructions for retrieving
stories from the LISTSERV
(most recent 2 months only; the
rest are available by ftp from
ftp.highlander.org)
'Send HL Intro' = Introduction to HIGHLA-L and
subscription instructions
'Send Sword FAQ' = The Sword FAQ from
rec.martial-arts (22 March, 1994)
'Send HL FAQ' = The Highlander FAQ in 19 parts
(each part 350 lines or less)
'Send HL mFAQ' = The Highlander FAQ in 25 parts
(each part 250 lines or less)
Also we have a World Wide Web and an ftp site:
WWW -> http://www.highlander.org/highlander/
FTP -> ftp.highlander.org - /pub/highlander or
FTP -> 198.87.195.20 - /pub/highlander
The latest version of the FAQ is always available through me. The Web
and FTP sites may have older versions. The copy on Highlander.ORG is updated
every two to three months (more frequently if necessary) and I have no
control as to when any other Web site updates their version.
Davis/Panzer Productions their their own WWW site which
contains information about the TV series, the movies, and available
Highlander merchandise.
http://www.highlander-official.com/highland/
Rysher Entertainment also maintains a Highlander site about the TV
series.
http://www.rysher.com/highlander/
-Debbie Douglass
(HIGHLA-L list owner)
--
.------------------------------------------------------------------.
| No flames were thrown in the creation of this email message. |
|-----------------------------.------------------------------------'
|Debra Douglass \
|ddoug@catrio.org \
|http://www.catrio.org \
`---------------------------------`
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 16:06:55 -0700
From: Lynn <lloschin@sprynet.com>
Subject: Re: Trilby's Con Report: Saturday
From: "Trilby" <trilby23@bellsouth.net>
> 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.
Just a quick clarification... Roberta did not work on HL or the Raven;
she was Tessie's stunt double for the first 8 episodes or so of QoS.
Roberta is an actress, choreographer and teacher -- you can read more
about her at http://www.westsidefencing.com/stagecombat.html
> 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!
They also showed incredible stamina... they added a third class at the
very end of the convention, at 4:30 Sunday afternoon! Amazing.
> 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!)
Unfortunately, the dealers' room was the size it had to be if we were
to have the stage combat classes. Otherwise we could have opened
those two rooms and had the dealers in both Concourse A & B, but there
was just no place else to put the classes. The only other downstairs
ballroom besides the Grand Ballroom ("Lindbergh" I think) only has 8'
ceilings... and I promised Anthony I wouldn't put him in a room with
ceilings under 10' again! We didn't put the dealers in there because
it's actually smaller than Concourse A... unless we wanted to have
viewer dealers in a slightly wider space that would allow for better
traffic flow, but we didn't want to turn dealers away. Oh well,
lessons learned and all that.
Thanks for the reports, Trilby! Tiffany especially enjoyed hearing
she looked like EG :) And we are grateful for your help, too.
Lynn
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2001 08:52:59 +0200
From: Marina Bailey <fdd-tmar@netactive.co.za>
Subject: Message from Tarryn for Billie-Lee Williams
Tarryn asked me to forward this for her:
I'm trying to get hold of Billie-Lee Williams, aka McCelt,
in Cupertino, Ca. Let her know I am in the Bay area and want
to bring her what she asked for, but when I e-mail it
keeps getting bounced. I'm here until the 12th of
Sept.
Tarryn's email address while she's in the States is:
tarrynlz@yahoo.co.uk
But Billie-Lee, if you email me offlist, I can give you the
phone number of the people she's staying with.
- Marina.
\\ "But then, we saw that Obi-Wan doth look upon ||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> //
// Qui-Gon with lust, and that Mr. Lucas was not || R I C H I E >> \\
\\ likely to include that in the next movie, so we ||>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> //
// said screw it and wrote it ourselves." - Warning || \\
\\ page of the 'Master & Apprentice' slash site || //
//==fdd-tmar@netactive.co.za=Chief Flag Waver and Defender of Richie==\\
"Let's face it: *slash* is in the details." - Julad
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2001 23:54:32 -0700
From: Lynn <lloschin@sprynet.com>
Subject: Re: Trilby's Con Reports
From: "Trilby" <trilby23@bellsouth.net>
> > 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.
>
> That's absolutely true. I missed a lot of programming that I would
> have dearly loved to see, because I wanted to take the classes.
> One "con veteran" said she thought there was too much "down
> time". Different strokes, I guess - for this ConVirgin, there was
no
> down time at all!
LOL -- we read that on one (and only one) of the evaluations and we
just blinked! Down time? Programming schedule (with guests): Friday:
1 pm - 6:30; 7:30 - 11 pm; Saturday: 9 am - noon, 12:30 - 7:00, 9 pm -
midnight; Sunday, 10 am - noon and 1 - 5 pm.
If there was down time, the staff definitely missed it!
Lynn
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2001 09:09:02 EDT
From: Dotiran@aol.com
Subject: Re: Trilby's Con Reports
In a message dated 9/2/2001 1:55:25 AM US Eastern Standard Time,
lloschin@sprynet.com writes:
> Down time?
DOWN TIME???
Sessions were back to back -- literally !! and since I didn't want to miss a
thing (and felt I had "grown" roots into my chair after three days *g*) I had
to run to get to the bathroom and resorted to running across the street to
Taco Bell for a $1.78 dinner at one point just to save time. In another
thread here I will post my own con memories, tried to do it earlier and
discovered we have a 400 word limit on this list *g*
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2001 09:13:51 EDT
From: Dotiran@aol.com
Subject: My turn: Reunion-part 1
In the beautiful, full color, classy program booklet, weread that the Reunio=
n=20
was dedicated to the memory of Myles Ferguson. There wasa photo and tribute=20
to him. I knew immediately that this con had heart.
=20
I can't comment on the many exciting sword and fan classesbecause I didn't=20
attend any. If wecould have watched I would have been there, but "hand=
s=20
on" work wasnot my cup of tea.::::images of pacifist weilding sword::::=
a=20
danger toall::::::*g*
=20
Thanks to easily accessible hotel fast food and bathroomfacilities, I was=20
able to make all but one of the sessions in theauditorium. No mean feat.=20
What aschedule !! My dead center reserved seat was well used. It=E2=80=99s a=
wonder I=20
didn=E2=80=99tplant roots there and grow green leaves out of the top of my h=
ead.
=20
Maureen Russell's film clips from "Best ofHighlander" were=20
enticing. She made me realize how very much footage shehad that was *not*=20
used from her interviews and I long for all of it. There were some very=20
funny PW and JB clipsthat revealed their easy camaraderie (though that=20
footage was later eclipsed aswe saw them bantering for real right before our=
=20
eyes.)
=20
The next session with Elizabeth, Nadia (and Big John) wassimply charming.=20
Both women are beyond beautiful. They each have a remarkablepresence. They=20
were a study in dark and light contrasts. Nadia's skin is what Iwould term=20
translucent. (Quite byaccident I wound up in the ladies room with them righ=
t=20
before that session andseeing them up close, both so tall and willowy, only=20
enhanced my appreciationof their beauty, and their charm. They were just=20
being girls together.) Their session was open, forthcoming anddelightful.=20
Nadia said that she and her handsome husband John, who is a writerand who wa=
s=20
at the convention with her, also have a website(websitewriters.com) that is=20
her non- acting job. Others have told of her delightful stories of not=20
recognizingAP the first day on her HL job, and of her calling him Andre. =20
Nadia also mentioned that Adrian calls herwhenever he is in her town and the=
y=20
often have dinner.=20
=20
(Interestingly enough PW had a very similar story of AP'svisits to him) The=20=
&
quot;bonding" of many of these actors with one anotherthrough their wor=
k=20
on Highlander, their obvious affection for one another, wasone of the=20
recurrent themes and the most "real", visible and lastingmemory I=20
cherish from this convention. (It is all the more remarkable because if one=20
can believe even half ofwhat one reads in entertainment magazines, it is not=
=20
the "usual" wayof things in the business. I read thatafter almost=
=20
8 years on the XFiles, DD and GA, costars, have almost zerorelationship off=20
screen. When DD and his wife had a baby last year theyreportedly didn't even=
=20
get a note from GA.)=20
The portrayal of intimate and complex friendships among themain characters,=20
especially the men --which is rarely attempted on television--was one of the=
=20
major accomplishments of HL:TS. The genuine and visible affection and=20
respect these actorscontinue to have for one another is a tribute to them al=
l=20
as admirable humanbeings. =20
=20
Stan Kirsch was his usual charming, boyish and very funnyself. He said that=
=20
his movie "TheFlunky" has, at this time, no US distributor. One=20
interesting tidbit hementioned was that he was once an SAT math tutor and=20
said acting is a piece ofcake compared to that. At the moment heis still=20
taking acting classes and he teaches them to beginners. The session was a=20
bit ruined for me becausesome of the fans within my range of hearing were ou=
t=20
of control IMO and some ofthe comments were between rude and lewd. Or both.
=20
I missed much of James Horan's commentary on Band ofBrothers (but for a very=
=20
good reason) though the part I did see was riveting.He seemed to have a grea=
t=20
many fans in the audience.
I shortened my time in JH=E2=80=99s session only because one of myprimary go=
als in=20
attending Reunion (and the reason I registered for it longbefore Adrian Paul=
=20
had confirmed *g*) is that I have never had a chance to seeor meet Donna=20
Lettow. (I had the joy of seeing Gillian Horvath last year atGathering 5, =20
and was impressed withher youth, voluptuousness [is it ok to say that?], her=
=20
relaxed, joyous,energetic spirit, and her humorous and intelligent stage=20
presence. If it ispossible, she was even more delightful on all those levels=
=20
at this convention*and* I got her autograph in my copy of "Evening at=20
Joe's" which Ilugged from South Bend just for that purpose.)
=20
But somehow or other, I had never been at a convention withDonna Lettow. For=
=20
lo these many years I have read her witty, articulate,biting, knowledgeable=20
and impassioned posts on AOL, on ATH, and even for an alltoo brief time on=20
the old Rysher forum. Like many of you I believe her novel"The Zealot&
quot; is the finest of the Highlander novels, and a trulygreat novel even=20
without the Highlander connection. I admire genius wherever Ifind it. I=20
truly wanted to meet DonnaLettow. I lined up outside the autograph room and=20
once inside had the fun ofactually getting to *thank* these wonderful people=
=20
who brought the magic of Highlanderinto being -- like Ken Gord and F.Braun=20
McAsh. Clutching my "Watchers Chronicles" in my hand, (I'dlugge=
d=20
that in great hope all the way from South Bend too) I met theenthusiastic,=20
young, Donna. She surprised me by actually standing up to give mea hug. (The=
=20
online experience is amazing, so many of us feel as if we've knowneach other=
=20
for years) I was deeply honored and touched. She may deny it :) butDL is=20
downright cute. [ducking] Warmthand tenderness are right there on the=20
surface along with the expected brashcompetency. Heavens! Her battle scars=20
don't even show :)
=20
The next session was the "Readings from Evening atJoe's". If=20
gluttony is a sin, thenbless me father for I have gorged. What a feast. I ha=
d=20
already read the entirebook, but was awed by the power of Jim Byrne reading=20
his poignant contribution.Ocean Hellman, Ginjer Buchanan, Laura Brennan,=20
Darla Kershner, F.Braun McAsh,Ken Gord, Maury Ruvinsky (sp?), Gillian=20
Horvath, Donna Lettow, AnthonydeLongis, were all on this panel as well.=20
Highlights were Ken Gord and Jim Byrne reading Gord=E2=80=99s very funny hoc=
keystory=20
, and Stan Kirsch re-rendering a tragic reading into a comedy. Stan Kirsch=20
will have missed his calling inlife if he doesn't do more comedy. The man ha=
s=20
a natural talent in that area.
=20
Having never seen the Script to Screen presentation thatDonna and Gillian do=
,=20
I was thrilled to finally catch up with it. I loved everyeducational and=20
humorous moment from hearing about the "pitch" to the"rewrite=
&
quot;, and on to post production . Now I know what all thosecolor pages mean=
=20
in a script. Now I know how many pages of script it takes tofilm. I see even=
=20
more powerfully how very collaborative the television mediumis. I see the=20
importance of the producer and the need for an in-house writingstaff that is=
=20
consistent and understands the show. In the Q and A that followed the Scrip=
t=20
to Screen presentation,they said that their new show, Myth Quest will air on=
=20
PBS in January. I'm surewe'll all be eager to see that.
=20
The evening session with F.Braun and Anthony was more than Ihad expected. I=20
had seen them do a sword demo before, but never with quite thefullness and=20
good humor of this one, and NEVER with the speed at which theywould finally=20
perform it. It was totally frightening. Only the knowledge thatthese men=20
loved life, trusted one another, and were good enough to have controlin that=
=20
situation, kept me from jumping up and running - screaming - from theroom=20
once they put the whole fight into action.
=20
Saturday morning found me up bright and early to catch theWriter=E2=80=99s R=
oom that=20
Donna and Ginjer presented. It was fascinating to see how tooutline an=20
episode right there on the spot even though I don=E2=80=99t write fictionand=
so I=20
wasn=E2=80=99t really creative enough to share in the process. This wasfollo=
wed by =20
the delightful andinformative =E2=80=9CPen vs. The Sword=E2=80=9D with Gilli=
an Horvath,=20
F.Braun McAsh and AnthonydeLongis.
=20
And then it was time for=E2=80=A6=E2=80=A6=E2=80=A6=E2=80=A6=E2=80=A6and Hou=
r with Adrian Paul. Ican only reiterate=20
what others have said. I have never seen him so radiant,bouncy, funny,=20
energized. His presence on stage was, as always, electrifying.He seemed=20
visibly happy. He is, if it is possible, more devastatingly handsomethan=20
ever. Surely he has a portrait aging in an attic somewhere! Among his=20
manyprojects he mentioned having done a small role in a movie called Storm=20
Watch.He mentioned that a new PEACE website will soon be up as well as the=20
Trackersite and that both would have message boards on them. At the Origins=20
conventionin Columbus a few weeks earlier, some of us had noticed a rather=20
large scrapeon AP=E2=80=99s right elbow. Here, he described the rollerblad=
e=20
accident that caused it. In fact, he acted itout. It was both frightening an=
d=20
hilarious. He mentioned that the Peacefund isbeing restructured, getting a=20
Board of Directors, and that among the things he=E2=80=99d like to dois set=20=
up a=20
soccer tournament with celebrities as a fundraiser.
=20
Immediately after AP left the stage it was time for a Q andA with Peter=20
Wingfield and Ocean Hellman. Some tidbits from the Q and A: In aWilderness=20
movie PW just finished he had to play a Scottish Presbyterian. Hehad only a=20
few days to acquire a Scottish accent so he rented a Braveheart tapeand=20
played it over and over again. He said he has no idea what his accent=20
willsound like. PW loved the Horseman script and as he was first reading it=20
he saidhe couldn=E2=80=99t believe such a great script could be in his hands=
to play=20
insteadof Brad Pitt. When asked what their most interesting job ever was,=20
both Oceanand Peter said it was =E2=80=9Cbeing a mom.=E2=80=9D Peter said th=
is with a=20
twinkle in his eye,but meant it because of how challenging it is. PW said=20
among his other wild jobs in life he was once a kids partyentertainer and he=
=20
once had a job washing instruments from the operating room.
=20
The next panel (and yes these are quite literally back toback) was =E2=80=
=9CStories=20
from the Set=E2=80=9D and featured Nadia Cameron-Blakey, Anthony deLongis, O=
cean=20
Hellman, James Horan, Tracy Scoggins, Bruce Young and a surprisevisit from=20
Richard Lynch (from =E2=80=9CBlind Faith=E2=80=9D). One story Tracy Scoggins=
told concerned=20
her stint on The Colby=E2=80=99s when Adrian was on that show. In oneepisod=
e,=20
Adrian=E2=80=99s character, the Russian ballet dancer, is supposed to jumpfr=
om a=20
balcony and Tracy=E2=80=99s line afterwards was =E2=80=9Cit=E2=80=99s a good=
thing you are adancer,=20
anyone else would be injured.=E2=80=9D She complained that the line was real=
ly dumb=20
and Charlton Heston said=E2=80=9Cit was supposed to be my line, but I wouldn=
=E2=80=99t say=20
it so they gave it toyou.=E2=80=9D Ocean Hellman talked about amovie shoot=20=
she did=20
once where they used instant potato flakes for snow, and itstarted to mist=20
and she wound up covered with mashed potatoes.
=20
The next panel featured David Abramowitz, Bill Panzer, andKen Gord. The=20
proverbial TPTB. It was a treat to listen to these men. Amongthe things BP=20
is working on now is another series tentatively called Trinity, abroadway=20
musical, a DVD of Season 1 (supposedly due out the first week inNovember),=20
another movie with the =E2=80=9CMiramoids=E2=80=9D (Miramax) called The Sour=
ce, andhe is=20
thinking of putting out a CD of scripts. David A. closed the session by=20
singing a Jewish blessing. It waspowerful.
=20
Next we had a panel on the Ethical Issues in Highlanderfeaturing David=20
Abramowitz, Jim Byrnes, Elizabeth Gracen, Donna Lettow, andPeter Wingfield.=20=
=20
Some of the moraldilemmas (represented by a video collage from various=20
relevant episodes) were:Can a man of honor break an oath? Honorand Pride,=20
Keeping promises, Surviving, and Redemption. One of DA=E2=80=99s great lines=
: =E2=80=9CJoe=20
was perfectly consistent in his human inconsistencies=E2=80=9D
=20
Then came the auction. Others have reported on it, I willsimply agree. From=20
the opening with GH and DL through the moment when AdrianPaul joined EG and=20
SK to pump up the action, the auction provided some of thebest entertainment=
=20
in any convention I have attended. If AP ever quits his dayjob, he can becom=
e=20
an auctioneer. Theauction was hilarious and exhausting, and it lasted over=20
an hour and a half--but I didn=E2=80=99t want it to end.=20
=20
------------------------------
End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 30 Aug 2001 to 2 Sep 2001 - Special issue (#2001-251)
******************************************************************************