Gathering 4- Fantasy Con Report

Having been told to meet my crew leader at the hotel, I asked for directions in finding where I could get the shuttle, and left the airport. Having learned from my Anaheim experience [They (whoever they are) are right- experience IS the best teacher!], I didn’t bother waiting for a shuttle marked Renaissance Hotel- I had learned such creatures as complimentary/hotel shuttles do not exist. Instead, I found the nearest SuperShuttle, asked if they could deliver me to the hotel, and asked the cost. It was the amount stated on the G4 site- so I took it...along with about 8 other people headed to the hotel- all dressed in some form of HL clothing. Couldn’t understand why they were there! :-)

I arrived at the hotel around 1:15, able to check in right away. After dropping my stuff off at the room, I called the front desk to find out where the Convention Operations Center was. It was half-way down the hall from my room, so I went there and waited until my leader arrived. While I was waiting, Adrian arrived- and there wasn’t a room ready for him.

Let me tell you, he looked wonderful! He was wearing tight blue jeans, with a slight tear in the left knee and well worn in all the right places!! *g* He also had on a blue polo shirt, with the buttons unbuttoned- exposing his neck and chest for view. Every now and then, I could catch a glimpse of a chain around his neck, but couldn't see what was on the end of it.

After listening to the conversation for a while, I told Kris that none of my roommates had checked in yet, so he could wait in my room if he wanted. After checking with Adrian if he was willing to do that, I took him down to my room. After opening the door, I offered him the key and said I would leave him alone. He refused, asking me to stay. Knowing I had a while to wait, I agreed. I sat on one bed, while he stretched out on the other- crossing his legs at the ankle and putting his hands under his head. (Sigh... the jeans fit even better when he was laying down!! sighhhh...)

We talked about his trip up from California- basically uneventful except for the 4 girls that followed him through the airport. They apparently even tried to follow him into the bathroom, but security stopped them. He said that stuff like that happened a lot. We then talked about this con. He asked how many cons I had worked and I had to admit that this was the first one! He looked at me and grinned. When I asked him what was so funny, he just chuckled and said, "We love to initiate Con virgins! So be careful and don’t trust anyone!!" (Thanks a lot Adrian! Nothing like increasing the fears of someone who has never done this before!)

After about 30 minutes, Kris called the room and told me Rob (my crew leader) was here and asked me to come to the room. Apologizing to Adrian, I gave him the key so that he could come and go. Smiling, he thanked me and told me he would see me later.

After Rob ate, our group of 4 sat down and discussed our duties- and signed the confidentiality statement. What that means is that I can discuss anything that happened in public, but nothing that occurred out of site of the public. Sorry, guys!

I was assigned to Special Events- which I knew going to Denver. What that meant was that our group covered events such as the Dealer Rooms, the auction, the Jim Byrnes concert, the Sunday breakfast, and we helped at the Jammie Jam. Let me tell you, for being camera shy- I had my picture taken A LOT during the con- by both the convention people and by the con members.

After discussing our jobs and what was expected of us, I was asked to change into my STAFF t-shirt as we toured the hotel and where the events would be occurring. Going to my room, I knocked on the door. Adrian opened it and let me in. Trying not to stare, I couldn't help but notice that he had gotten *very* comfortable, walking around in bare feet and his polo shirt ("Act professional! Pretend that you are not READY to attack him. Deep breaths!!!" ) Explaining the situation (and hoping I wasn't too flushed), he sat back down in the chair and told me to go ahead. Grabbing my t-shirt from on top of my suitcase (that happened to be by his chair *g*), I went into the bathroom and changed. Coming out, I apologized for interrupting and left again.

As soon as I got back to the Con Ops, we began our tour. We were shown how to get from place to place through the staff areas. We were also told what to do in case we heard an ALERT come through on the channel we were assigned. That meant that we had to find the nearest exit for one of the guests of honor so that they could leave quickly. We were each assigned to be the ALERT person for a star that might need to escape quickly- and I was given Adrian. *g* We then had to practice the drill in each room. Boy, you can get lost in the staff areas!! There are so many twists and turns. I was sure I would have to be down there after hours learning the way! (But I spent the after hours having much more fun!!)

After passing the test, we were shown the rest of the areas that we would need to know about- where the autograph session was to be held, the video room, the "green room" for the guests, etc. We then went back up to Con Ops and the Staff Room was explained. That was the room where food and drinks were available all day and most of the night. We were required to eat 2 meals a day and/or sleep 6 hours. No problem, I thought. (Boy was I wrong!!) We then went down to the Staff Room so we would know where it was, bringing the supplies for our room in the dealer area. We then proceeded to set the room up for the next day. At the same time, we escorted dealers through from the loading dock so that they could start setting up their booths for Friday. We also directed people to the registration table that was on the same floor. We stayed there until 10:00, then went back upstairs for a general meeting with all of the other staff that were there.

Returning to my room around 12:00, I found that 2 of my roommates had checked in (and Adrian had left). But he had left me a note thanking me for the use of the room and the shower. (I wanted to keep the towels, but the hotel staff found them sticking out of my suitcase and took them! Party poopers!!) By the time we introduced ourselves, it was about 12:30, so we went to bed. Well, I just began to doze off- when a voice announces over the PHONE that, "There has been a fire alarm activated on the 8th floor. The elevators have been shut off. The fire department has been notified and are responding. We will keep you notified of developments." They then immediately repeated the message. Well, let me tell you- what a dilemma! Try to go back to sleep and hope it's a false alarm (That was MY vote after the use of some..shall I say?... colorful language!) or do I crawl back out of bed to DRESS in case the hotel is evacuated? (That happened one time I had gone to a concert. The hotel fire alarm went off at like 5:00 am. While some of the hotel guests were evacuating, the hotel staff were checking people in and out!!) Anyway, my roommate got out of bed to watch the fire department respond- they were right next door to us. *g* Choices again: sleep...no smell of smoke; sleep.... you could hear the alarm from the 8th floor; sleep..... Gosh, I was tired! ; SLEEP!! Only to be told AGAIN, "There has been a fire alarm activated on the 8th floor. The elevators have been shut off. The fire department has been notified and are responding. We will keep you notified of developments." An immediate repetition. EGADS!!!!! MORE colorful language... then we talked for a while.... No announcements.... Back to bed... dozing off... Phone announcement- "The fire department has responded and the problem has been dealt with. We are sorry for the inconvenience." ARRRGGGHHHHH It is around 1:30 by now- 6:00 comes awful early!!!

(Of my roomies- all 3 of whom were strangers until Denver :-) - 2 worked for Security and 1 worked the Stage. One of my roomies was also Jim Byrnes "liaison". One of my other roomies was the one who bought some of the pics at the auction- and then gave them back to be auctioned again. If anyone noticed a Security person with REALLY weird eyes- she was my 3rd roomie!! She wore contacts that were odd shaped or colored. In fact, she wore red eyes to the Jammie Jam- and had a white face. SPOOKY! I *STILL* don’t know what color her eyes really are! *g*)

I finally got back to sleep around 2:00- only to be jerked awake at around 3:30 by noise in the next room. Starting to cuss at the idiots, I stopped when I recognized the laughter. Adrian and Stan were next door! Turning over, I saw my roomies were gone. Didn’t take much to figure out where they were! I pulled a pair of jeans on under my night shirt and went next door. Turns out, quite a few people were next door, playing games and watching TV. They welcomed me in and that was it for sleep that night! About 4:30, all the people there split into 2 teams- with actors and staff evenly divided between the teams. The teams then challenged each other in a trivia contest. Some of the trivia was very obscure- and due to the nature of the con- was focused on HL and/or it's stars. One of the questions was what color underwear did Stan have on in the love scene in Chivalry. (It was blue checked.) Another question was what was the name of the horse used in Line of Fire (Apple). Our team did pretty good, but we were losing by 2 points when most of us had to leave to get ready to report to duty at about 6:00. Our group had to be in the room for a 7:30 meeting.

Now, the con! As some people have mentioned, the PEACE room was small. But they had requested a separate room from the other dealers. Their room was directly across from the Convention Services room- where I spent much of my day. Since our room was located in front of the 'hotel staff area', the guests would walk through our room going to and from their sessions. We were not supposed to speak to them unless they spoke to us first. (So, I assume attempting to grab them or kidnap them would have also been frowned upon! LOL)

The first time Adrian came through, he said a general, "Hi y'all." on the way through, then winked at me at the table and grinned. (I was beginning to NOT trust that guy!) The minute he walked through the door into the dealer area, the flashes went off!! He looked very nice- dark pants and white shirt. A word to sum him up- YUMMMM! (My prejudice may be evident here, though! *g*) When his session was ended, LOTS of people got ready to take more close up pics as he walked back through to our room- but he went out another door without being seen! On Sunday, when he entered the PEACE room after the Q&A, he walked right through the crowd- and no one even knew it!! They either didn’t expect it or didn’t recognize him. Can you imagine it????

When Stan walked through the first time, my first thought was, "GOD!! He looks so young!" Maybe it was the lighting, but he had NOT looked that young when he was in the room upstairs! He also looked very nice and he also looked fit- but, damn, he looked young! (And no comments that it might be because I am OLDER than him!!! LOL) He looked around at the staff in the room, grinning when he saw me and giving me a little wave. (All right, I'm beginning to panic here!)

*I* played an important role in the life of one con goer. *g* She got stuck on the elevator and COULD NOT get down to the Ballroom level- where EVERYTHING was. She finally got off on a floor , walked downstairs and came to our room seeking refuge. Well, actually, she needed directions to registration- but refuge sounded so much better! LOL

I also had the privilege of being "harassed" by Peter Hudson! He, BTW, is a *wonderful* person! The harassment came when he walked through on the way out and told me that it looked like I was asleep on the job. He disagreed when I tried to convince him that I was just watching something in the dealer area and, grinning, he said he was reporting me to Kris. (Panic is beginning to escalate here!!) Like I said, very personable! On Sunday he came into our room to hold a conversation with a group of people- and asked permission if they could meet in the room. (Yeah- as if I was going to say, "No, Mr. Hudson, I'm sorry. Go find another room. I don't like to share!!" )

Due to working, I only got to see 2 things- Adrian’s Q&A on Saturday and Stan and Adrian’s Q&A on Sunday. I requested the Saturday Q&A time slot free since I went there to see Adrian. Saturday morning, however, I thought my hope to see the Q&A would be blown since one of my co-workers woke up sick! ARRRGGGGHHHHH! Thankfully, the Q&A wasn't until 4:00- and my co-worker recovered. (Bless her!!) In fact, the leader covered the room so we could BOTH go. I took about 4 rolls of film- and could have taken another one, but I thought he was going to end on time. WRONG!!

Saturday’s Q&A. I got to see Adrian come on stage since Stan ran over about 15 minutes. I was much closer than in Anaheim- front row seats- stage right. GREAT vantage point- especially when he stood on the corner of the stage. OOOHHHHH! Ho looked great! White tee and purple slacks. Now, you know my thing about jeans- but these were acceptable because they were NOT the unstructured type of pants I despise! They were slacks- slim fitting, form defining, ummm... I’m sure you know what I mean. *g*

Let me tell you- it’s darn hard to get a good pic of him when he WON’T STAND STILL LONG ENOUGH TO FOCUS THE CAMERA!!! But, the visual effects are etched in my mind- even if they weren’t captured on film! I was disappointed when someone raised the aftershave/cologne question. I like a man of mystery... BUT it helped that NONE of the names he mentioned were even vaguely familiar- they were all foreign names (as in- I probably couldn’t even afford to read the label!) and basically unable to be written unless you spoke the language. So, it’s still a mystery to me!

Some of the questions included the standard ones- comments about his career, thanking him for his DM role, etc. To be honest, I don’t remember a lot of the questions- I just enjoyed listening to his answers! *g* One I found interesting (guess it’s the blood- and-guts part of me!) was not whether he’s ever had stitches- but HOW MANY had he had. He didn’t give a number, but did relate some of the areas he’s had them- his forehead (Editor’s note- Return of Amanda), the corner of his right eye (Modern Prometheus) and his hand. He also mentioned that he hurt his neck when he was younger and also on the set- having to wear a neck brace. While talking about this, he mentioned that he has never broken a bone, but that he has had to have vertebrae fused together in his neck. He didn’t say whether this was as a kid or an adult. He admitted that he never had stitches until he started HL. (Think those swords might have anything to do with that??)

Another question I remember is someone asked him to repeat the proposal he made to Tessa- and he refused. (This was written in several reports.) He said, basically, that the proposal came from intense emotions at the time. I can’t remember exactly what he said, but I remember thinking that it made sense- and that I was glad he had refused since that was a memorable scene and couldn’t be repeated, in my opinion. Someone also asked him about “boxers or briefs”. His look was, "You have got to be kidding!!" But he answered it with, "Calvin Klein- and that’s all I’ll say." I wanted to jump up and yell, "BOY, does he look good in them!!!" At that point, Adrian looked at me and grinned, almost as reading my mind. With a slight shake of his head, he kind of made me understand that I was going to "pay" for that!!

Someone also asked him about the Chivalry scene- whether it was really his butt in the scene. He laughed and said, “Yes, want proof?”- and put his hands to his waist as if to undo his belt. He also said that the actress (who played Kristen) didn’t know he was going to do that- and didn’t know where to look! [Now, get serious- where your YOUR eyes have focused??????]

During Saturday’s Q&A, Adrian was given one of the Duncan MacLeod mugs and he commented that it could give you nightmares. After some discussion about it (the presenters said some have said it looks like Elvis), Adrian said it could be used as a weapon and pretended to heft it. [Personal note: I received one of the mugs with my Season 5 tapes- and I can’t *give* it away!! LOL]

Adrian was asked by a young (I think) boy about how much he could lift. After questioning what he meant, the boy asked how much Adrian could bench press. At that point, Adrian said that he didn’t lift weights. He then went on to explain that he did different things to keep in shape (and named some of them- but like the colognes he named, his voice was more interesting than the names!). He also explained that when you lift weights, your muscles are shortened and he wanted long muscles for flexibility. (Seeing it in writing brings very interesting images to mind!! *g*)

Another question brought up by a young person asked him about the horse he kept falling off. At that point Adrian said, “I told you- never work with animals or children!” Adrian explained that it wasn’t him that kept falling off- it was the stunt man! (No one believed him!) He then explained that he swore one of the horses they used (when he lived with the Indians) understood the word “Action!”. He demonstrated how the horse would be standing there calmly- eating or dozing or whatever- and when the actor (or stunt man) started moving and the crew yelled ACTION, the horse would look over his shoulder and take off! Not only did Adrian tell about it- he demonstrated the horse’s actions! Adrian would bend over, talk about what the actors/stunt man would be doing, then look over his shoulder like the horse would and then he would bolt across the stage. He had everyone laughing!

During Saturday’s session, he was asked about the dancing in Duende, and he said that he had done it, how they cut from feet to face, etc. Then he did a demo of the dance. My thought was, "Jeeze, I can’t believe I just finished my last roll of film!!"

Another question raised was that of race and prejudice. The questioner was an Afro-American woman and she questioned why there were no shows dealing with the issue of race, except for the one with Bruce Young (Run for Your Life). Adrian’s response was that that was the focus of the show. Otherwise, race made no difference. He then went on to use examples- like Rae Dawn Chong having a mixed heritage. Race should not make a difference- people are people.

He also used the analogy of certain dogs being termed dangerous or whether that was another question. But while discussing the issue of dogs, he brought up the issue of violence and he asked the audience what was the most dangerous animals on earth? And they (we?) answered- man. This may have been in response to a question asked about what, with all his training, would he do if he brought his date out to the car and there were 8 guys at the car. Adrian response was to call a cab! People laughed, but he said he was serious. You don’t have to prove yourself. Don’t put your self (and others) in danger to prove yourself. Ask them to move- and if they won’t, then you leave and take a cab. Come back for the car later.

Immediately after the session, one of the security people came out looking very serious and motioned to me to come back stage. Slowly getting out of my seat, I glanced at my co-worker, who was studiously looking away from me. I could feel my face get hot and my hands get cold. “Jeeze,” I thought, “What have I done?? I’ve been very polite to all the guests, I’ve avoided giving information out...” I kept running possibilities through my mind. Slowly walking toward the security and behind the stage, I swear my heart was going to stop! Getting to the curtain, security opened the curtain and told me to go through. Walking through, first person I saw was Kris- with Adrian standing next to her, very serious faced and with his arms crossed over his chest. My heart just about stopped!! Stopping in front of Kris, I remained silent, but no one said anything. Hearing slow steps behind me, I looked over my shoulder and saw Jim Byrnes coming toward me- with my camera!! “Please, please, please!!” I thought to myself, “Don’t take the film! I’ve got pictures of Adrian with his tongue out!!”

As soon as Jim reached me, Kris took the camera and Stan, James and Peter came up to us. With a grin, Kris told everyone to get together so our picture could be taken! I stood there in shock as Adrian looked at me and laughed! Putting his arm around my shoulders, he whispered in my ear, "Remember? We love to initiate con virgins!" and chuckled! Turning my face towards his, I whispered back, "Yeah, but have any actually died of a heart attack??" Still chuckling, he said, "No," and squeezed my shoulders just as the flash went off. After that, I had to go back out and work the auction! Thankfully, my section was fairly quiet. Who could think after that???

After the auction was over, we were told to take a quick break and report back to the room to get ready for the concert. After eating, I reported back and was told to go into the room. The band was warming up at the time. Inside the room were all the staff and security people who would be working the concert. Also there were the stars. As the band continued it’s warm up, someone put on a tape of the Anaheim concert and we had our own concert with the stars. Each star made it a point to dance with each us us. As Adrian danced with me, he asked if I had forgiven him. Looking up at him, I said that I had, but that I had never expected the con to be like this!! He laughed and said that everyone likes to have fun at the cons- and the new workers are the ones that are the easiest to trick. He then told me that there have been some that had gotten really mad and left the con mad- not even finishing the weekend. Still looking up at him, I smiled and said, "Remember, pay back is a bitch!" Chuckling, he agreed and said that he would be careful around me! Soon after our dance, I had to REALLY report to work and didn’t get to see him again that night.

The next time I saw him (other than the Sunday Q&A) was when he was leaving the PEACE room to catch a flight. As he and Stan walked through our room, they both stopped and thanked each of us for our hard work and shook the hands of the men and kissed the women on the cheek. Then they left through the doors into the bowels of the staff area. And I realized I had never had a chance to use ALERT- or "My escape with Adrian plan!"