G2005 Con Report, part 3

[mandolin]

Okay, I did say I'd post more of this. And now that I know people are reading it, I can't slack off.

Doing better. The cold has been beaten back, and I got almost all of my security deposit back from the apartment complex in spite of giving up on the apartment. Yay. :)

More importantly, yesterday was blue_soulfire's birthday. I wished her happy birthday on e-mail, but tricked myself into thinking I'd posted it here too. Sorry...

Edit: Linking to previous parts because it took me so long to write up each one.
Part 1
Part 2

Anyway, on to Saturday.

Saturday, July 30

Got up around 8 am, and my roommates were already gone. I got my bathing suit on and decided to check out the pool, but after 20 minutes my mind was so much on everything ELSE I wanted to do that I changed my mind and went to go shower. It also wasn't quite as fun by myself. (I was highly amused by the three kids having a cannonball contest, though.) Went to the booking desk to ask about prices for "Thunder From Down Under," and cringed - especially since they were non-refundable and since Jen left her cell phone in the room so I couldn't check with her about the price. Decided to wait til the half-price ticket place opened up instead.

Showered and stopped into the "Writing Action Scenes" panel hosted by Revel, Kathy and Ellen. It was actually an interesting panel, but I stepped out early because I was bound and determined to visit the art show early enough in order to actually VOTE on everything this year. I took my notebook in and jotted down numbers of pieces I'd probably vote for, not having time to see it all but not wanting to waste the time. Loved the Gargs zodiac, but Revel's "Kill David" parody got my vote for Best Digital. I cracked up the moment I saw it. I didn't manage to put in a vote, but had the sense to bring in my notebook and jot down the piece number and category of every piece that I really liked.

I was leaving when I heard Hudson shouting, "We need Post-It Notes, stat!" Didn't ask why; I figured leaving it up to my imagination would be more interesting.

I got on the 11 am shuttle to the Strip, figuring I'd have time to hit the half price ticket place when it opened. Unfortunately, I discovered that they didn't even offer half-price tickets for Thunder from Down Under. Disappointed, I still had an hour to kill, so I went over to the Wynn. I really do regret not getting my camera out and going bonkers inside; the Esplanade is total eye-candy in itself. I restrained myself from going into the shops, but noticed there was a student discount for a viewing of the Wynn art collection. I was already curious, and the discount shut up the accounting department long enough for me to go check it out. It was a nice collection - with some pieces by Monet, Gauguin, and Renoir, as well as Picasso's Le Reve. The audio narration you could listen to was actually fairly interesting - I usually don't like audio recordings that go with exhibits, but they were interesting and Steve Wynn's story about the Andy Warhol piece was actually kind of amusing. I still didn't know what to do about the show tickets - I already knew the 8 pm show was out - but viewing the collection was a nice, relaxing way to spend the time before catching the shuttle back to the hotel.

I was starving when I got back, so I got lunch at the Broiler and went up to the Con Suite to donate the other half of my chicken sandwich to the Con Suite fridge. I was there in time to see Hudson and Lynati "rehearsing" for the costuming panel and going over how best to make a face cast or even a full body cast. I got a nice photo of Cat and Hudson by the window with the Palace Station sign in the background. No reason, it was just a cool shot. I think this was when Kyffin posed a question that no one had asked Greg yet: what would happen with Demona's immortality if someone tried to smash her during the day? (Before "The Mirror," that is.) I think the only thing Greg's said about that is that no one had tried.

Since the radio play auditions were going to take place, I went to my room to clean up and check for messages and just had to walk right next door to get to the head of the line. Naturally, I didn't get a part, but the nice thing about the auditions is that Greg and Thom still took me seriously and had me go over another section of the reading again. I read Elisa this time - I'd done Lex twice, didn't really feel I could handle Demona (and I could not possibly read Angela with a straight face). I could have tried to do a British accent, but given my attempts in Hood Theater, I decided not to. (When we did Jane Eyre, my Mrs. Fairfax sounded like she was from Boston. I pulled it off in Pride and Prejudice, but then I was Miss Bingley and had maybe a third of the lines that I did in Jane Eyre.) This was probably a good call, since the part that required a British accent was the lead...

Afterwards I went down to the dealers' room and finally placed my votes for as many categories in the Art Show as I could - and I did, actually, get a cookie. Then I rolled the dice at the "gambling for prizes" booth and won some candy. Yay, sugar high! (Does that count as really gambling in Vegas?)

After dithering over whether or not to get tickets, I decided to take a chance and went to the booking desk to get Thunder From Down Under tickets for the 10:30 show. I couldn't get a hold of Jen, but she had wanted to go see it, and even if we had to pay full price it was worth a try. Unfortunately, the guy at the desk could no longer get tickets online, so he gave me the number to call Excalibur and reserve two tickets. Note that when we'd gotten tickets through the booking desk online, they were non-refundable, so I assumed that was the case here.

Everyone piled into the Slave Labor Graphics panel at 4:30 to find out about the comic. Greg, Marty, and Dan Vado were hosting the panel, and they could finally answer questions about the comic book deal. They had no idea when it was going to be released, the deal was just made and Greg hadn't written anything yet. But Dan estimated a spring release date since Gargoyles was part of a package deal of books with Disney: Haunted Mansion was coming out in October, and if Tron and Wonderland were spaced out as Dan thought they would, he guessed that April or May would be a likely release date. Greg was really reluctant to discuss where he wanted to take it; he hadn't written anything yet, and he'd been dropping hints about his plans to keep people's attention. Besides, he was a little nervous about fan expectations: "What if you read the book and go, 'Eh, it's okay, but after 12 years I was expecting an orgasm?'"

The panel turned to how to get the book, then what other titles SLG had licensed: among them, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. (Dreamie: "Why?") Dan also mentioned that he apparently had one fan who asked him the same question every con he went to, and about crazy ideas he had about taking properties in different directions. ("What if I made Power Rangers like Kung Fu Hustle? People would go 'You're nuts!' So I was probably on to something.") They are shooting for a teenage audience.

Stopped in the room to call the tour company - since Jen's group was "outsourced" to another tour company, I wasn't sure if their return trip estimate of 8:30 was accurate. Got a hold of someone who told me that due to the Saturday night traffic, the return time would be more like 10:00. Talk about cutting it close. So I started discreetly asking around to see if anyone else wanted the second ticket. No dice - Lanny had already seen it, but he highly recommended I go.

Went to the Clan Olympics event to see some people and discreetly wish Countess a happy birthday (see, no one embarrassed you) and ask around if anyone wanted my extra ticket. No takers, but it was amusing as anything to see the expressions on some of the guys' faces when I had to explain to them what the ticket was for.

So, while I passed the time, I went to the Charity Poker Tournament. Abe was calling it, and Greg W, Marty, Thom, Tony, Gore, Adam, and Chris were playing Texas Hold 'Em - which I understand the basics of, although I was totally lost when it came to the small blind, et cetera. I did manage to follow the action and get a lot of quotes.

(Going around the table, announcing what charity each player was playing for)
Marty: "Put donations in Thom's pants."

Abe: "Feel free to make some noise."
Greg: "So it's not like golf."

Gore: "Large Blind Tony. I like that. That's a good nickname."

(Shortly after this quote, Greg got all of Tony's chips. Thom tried to steal one of Greg's chips, much to our amusement.)

Marty: "I don't want to get shot."
Aaron: "Well, that's a good life goal."

Marty: "I was talking about the game."
Thom: "I thought he was flirting with me."
Marty: (puts head on table for a second) "My wife would be jealous."

(Greg folds)
Marty: "I knew you were full of shit."
(Marty was out of the game not long after.)

Marty: "I knew I could get Greg out, but I didn't know what Thom was thinking!"
Aaron: "Nobody knows what Thom is thinking."

Greg: "Eric, it ain't your money."
Gore: "But it's my pride!"
Carter: "That's worth, what, two chips?"

Carter: "Unless you're too scared..."
(Greg folds.)

Mom called, so I missed a few minutes of the game, and then came back in to hear...

Lanny: "This is the Blue Poker Tournament."

(Thom wasn't familiar with Texas Hold 'Em, so he kept asking for advice.)
Marty: "Thom's playing by committee at this point."

Thom was out of the game, and then Adam ran out of chips. Seth: "Greg, Eric, Chris. Fated battle?"

Ducked out for 15 minutes, and when I got back at 9, Gore had $10,000, Greg $27,000, and Chris had $33,000. The blinds went up to the thousands.

(Chris bets $5000)
Marty: "He just wants your kidneys."

Greg: "You could have killed him off! You could have killed him off, and you BLINKED!"
(I think this was to Gore, re: Chris.)

(Abe accidentally calls Chris "Greg")
Marty: "Okay, everybody's officially Greg."

I think Gore was out of the tournament at this point.

Gore: "I didn't think [Greg] was bluffing."
Marty: "He writes David Xanatos!"

Chris, however, won the poker tournament.

I borrowed $10 from Shaun for cab fare, since I had no luck with the ATMs and didn't think I'd get out before the last Tropicana shuttle left.

As it was nearly 10, I went down to wait for the shuttle and hopefully for the tour bus. 10:00 rolled around, and the shuttle to the Strip showed up, but there was no sign of Jen, so I got on the shuttle to the Tropicana. It got there at 10:15, and I hopped off and RACED across the bridge to the Excalibur, got turned around trying to get to Merlin's Theater, hurried to the box office to find...

...that since I'd ordered them over the phone, the tickets were refundable. *facepalm*

So, yes, I only had to pay for one ticket, and Thunder From Down Under was fabulous (and unfortunately, they didn't give much opportunity to kidnap one of the guys or I'd have contemplated ways to smuggle Matthew in with my luggage). I wanted to get in the photo line, but even sitting up front the line was around the theater by the time I could get up out of my chair. After standing in line for half an hour and not moving very far at all, I said the hell with it and decided to go get a cab. I was wired, true, but adrenaline will only get you so far when it's after midnight and your internal clock is still partially on Eastern time.

As it turned out, the $10 I borrowed from Shaun was just enough to get me back to the hotel; had I not borrowed the money, I'd have been screwed. Or walking back to the Palace Station, which is not a wise move after midnight all by yourself.

Apparently, the tour company's late estimate was WAY off. Jen was just getting in when I got back to the hotel well after midnight. We were both wired for various reasons, and with nothing else to do decided to go hang out in the Con Suite. There was leftover pizza to be had and already a bunch of people hanging out, and then Siryn's bachelorette party stampeded the room. I never got the name of the show they went to, but I think they went to American Storm - the show that some of my friends recommended that was too far out of the way for me to afford cab fare to (and have half a chance of going to see after Jen's Grand Canyon tour).

We hung out there for a while, eating snacks and watching Kayl and Siryn play Super Smash Bros. It took about an hour before the adrenaline wore off and we headed back to our room.

For some reason, I have this quote from Hudson from that night - "I don't get it. You guys drink, I get tipsy. What's up with that?" The rest of the conversation is no longer legible. And I never did manage to ask him about the Post-It notes.


I promise there will be more to come. :)

Comments

[ladyiapetus]

Gore: "I didn't think [Greg] was bluffing."
Marty: "He writes David Xanatos!"

*sniggers*

[ecogryff.livejournal.com]

and thank you for the birthday wishes indeed. i am somewhat amazed that no one embarrassed me. guess sometimes i get lucky. : )

if i had been available that night, i totally would have helped you kidnap a member or two from the Thunder From Down Under cast. heehee.

[violetbloom.livejournal.com]

My favorite?

Marty: "I don't want to get shot."
Aaron: "Well, that's a good life goal."

[brooklynx.livejournal.com]

*L* Good work on the quotes.

And I totally realized I forgot I lent you that $10 (and if you paid me back or not). O_o

[weirdweb.livejournal.com]

No. I still owe you that $10. I have not forgotten. :)

[brooklynx.livejournal.com]

Ah, ok. *L* Like I said, I couldn't remember. I blame it on the lack of sleep during the con. ;p