Not So Funny When It Happened

Sunday Gareth

2009-11-17T01:56:11Z

SORRY, don't know why the cut on the last post work. Hopefully this one will!

Q: What scenes were the most fun to film?
A: Some scenes I liked watching more then I liked filming, just because they were good scenes, but filming them was either awkward or uncomfortable. You know the topless scenes, yeah I was freezing. And then I accidentally slipped my hand down John's pants (British phrase for underwear) and I was like "OH GOD, I'm going to need a shower and 30 minutes to reflect, I'll be back:

Q: What was your favorite line?
A: The telephone line, I've got it here on my phone, you want to hear, a fan blue toothed it to me. *searches for it for a bit then* Yup no phone, no mobiles, no phones, HELLO anyone there Nope because there are NO PHONES! LOVE that line *I know I've butchered it here, but you know the line he's referring to hopefully.

Q: What are your guilty pleasure tv shows, you know bad things you shouldn't really enjoy but you do?
A: Ummm, nothing really, all the shows I watch are really good?

Q: Okay, so, what shows do you enjoy?
A: Dexter, Sopranos (been catching up on the box sets), Carnival, Big Love for a while but then eh, Entourage, Breraking Bad.
OH HEY, I'd love to play some Welsh guy on the Sopranos I could smuggle wool. HEY, Tony, I got some 50 kilos of wool for you.....

Q: What movie has touched you recently?
A: Halloween 2, it scared me, and that's tough to do

Q: What's your idea for how they could pull off a Season 4 of Torchwood since it was all wrapped up in a little bow at the end of COE?
A: Good question, you could do past version of Torchwood. Like Torchwood 1820, and Jack would still be there, and perhaps one of Ianto's ancestors would work there, or better yet, he'd be one of the baddies they were trying to catch. (this 1820 Torchwood became a running joke for the rest of his talk

Q: Are there roles you wouldn't do?
A: Some if the quality of the production isn't there. He turned down a role as a pedophile on Law & Order London, not because it was a pedophile, because if that was handled correctly with good script and layered performances yeah it would be good, but from what he's seen thus far of Law & Order London, nah, wasn't the right place.

Q: Roles you would like to do?
A: Well, until the Dark Knight I would have said The Joker, but Heath Ledger played that so beautifully you just can't touch that performance. *Someone in the back of the room yelled "Penguin"
PENGUIN, FUCKING PENGUIN?!?!?! I would rather play Cat Woman then Penguin - meow... PENGUIN! *shakes head*

Also love to do MacBeth in Tim Burton style, you know a post apocolytic world where Scotland is an amusement park... he went on about this for a while and he had some pretty cool ideas. He said, MY IDEA, I'm going to run with that Fuck Off Kenneth Brannaugh! Then it descended into an audience member getting all twitchy when he said MacBeth and he started to do it just to torture her.

Q: What was your most embarrassing moment in your career?
A: Actually fainted on stage once. I was in a dog costume and I got really hot under the lights and just fainted, smashed into a safety rail and smashed my nose. Didn't realize it until finally got off stage 3 scenes later and noticed the blood under my costume. Funny thing was he was actually scripted to faint, just about 3 lines later, so his other cast members just thought his timing was off and didn't even realize he had really fainted.

Q: Best things about the US?
A: Steak, cheap lobster, In & Out Burger, South Beach, Malibu Beach, Epcott Center

Q: Hardest US accent to understand?
A: Atlanta

He's working on a comic book, but he couldn't tell us anything about it. He said the studio hadn't even seen it yet so he wasn't going to say anything cuz they may just absolutely trash his story and tell him it's rubbish and rewrite it.

Q: What band would you like to open for?
A: Tool *said instantaneously, not sure the girl had even finished asking the question*

Someone held up the COE pic of Ianto holding Jack from behind and asked, "What were your thoughts when they were shootin this?"
A: I want to go play with the gun again. SERIOUSLY, in that same photo shoot they let me play with this MASSIVE AK47 and I just kept thinking, I want to go play with the gun again!

Q: Favorit Torchwood Villian?
A: Capt. John, but they weakened that character in end. Billis, BILLIS was a proper evil villian

Okay, that's about all I've got for Gareth. Some folks who missed Saturday asked the same questions again and there was other rambling conversations, but that's the bulk of it. I'll try to post some more photos tomorrow and finish write ups of Corin an James Hong.

More Gareth from NEFanX

2009-11-17T01:13:37Z

Okay, going to try to keep this short and sweet, more Q&A style and not so narrative, we'll see if I succeed

Q: Would you come back and play Ianto Jones if they asked you?
A: Yes, but it would have to be in a way that didn't cheapen the death scene, ie woke up and it was all of dream thing... He said but sure he'd love to play Ianto in a parallel universe, evil Ianto, Ianto squared, etc.

Q: Do you ever go to Ianto's shrine in Cardiff?
A: Yeah, I've stopped by occasionally, it's really quite amazing. He said funny thing, the city of Cardiff had to put up a sign explaining that it was a shrine to a television character because a lot of folks were getting quite concerned that something really tragic had happened to a real human being and it was scaring folks. He said it's quite large now, amazing what 9,000 hysterical women can do! *eg*

Q: Children of Earth was quite dark, do you like doing dark pieces?
A: OH YEAH, love it, love that whole Greek Tragedy type thing, gives you a chance to exorcise demons.

Q: How did you get into acting?
A: First role at 10 or 11 playing a robot and I was hooked! Though my robot voice did sound like a Dalek. After that took some acting classes that he regretted then landed with the National Youth Theater that he LOVED. He did Mack the Knife there and that's when he got noticed and got representation and yeah, that's how it started.

Q: SO, whatcha doing now?
A: Producing a graduation film, the Kasimir Effect, doing some writing with Kai Owen, and I've got Panto coming up in a few weeks.

At this point I shout to him YEAH, you sure can ROCK a tri-cornered hat!

GARETH: OH GOD, you've seen that poster?!?!?! HOW AWFUL! *and he starts making the goofy face he has in the poster* Just ugh!
ME: Yup, not your best color
GARETH: NO GOD NO, Gold is NOT my color, I am hoping that was only for the photo shoot and they'll let me wear another color for the show, perhaps black!

Q: What's it's like doing the radio plays?
A: Good, but you've got to be careful NOT to go over the top with your performance.

Q: Has John Barrowman heard your reading of Sin Eaters and has he commented on your 'Jack' voice? (personal aside, his Jack voice ROCKS)
A: I don't know if he's heard it, but even if he has he'd be all "OMG I sound NOTHIN like that!" *he says in a PERFECT Barrowman voice, and starts laughing*

Q: Will Blue Gillispie do a US Tour?
A: We'd like to and there are some folks who've volunteered to help put that together, but takes time, money, etc. and we would really need US representation to pull it off. But we'll see, we'd like to.

Q: Why does the Welsh Ambassador in the Lost Souls sound like he has a French accent? (Lost souls is a Torchwood radio play, Ianto pretended to be the Welsh ambassador)
A: WHAT, FRENCH?!?!?!?! BLOODY HELL WOMAN, I AM WELSH, What an INSULT! FRENCH! GEESH! *laughing* Next question FRENCH!

Q: What role would you like to play?
A: Ooohhh, something historical. I'd LOVE to do Vlad the Impaler. I mean talk about a GREAT real character! There's all this fake vampire stuff around but I mean he was REAL! What a nutter!

Q: What was your best convention moment?
A: Kai and I were at a convention in California and a rugby tournament was on. A bar down the street had a $20 cover at 7:00 AM and you could watch the game. SO the place was PACKED with Welshmen and we hung out there and got PISSED and then went back and did our panels - GOOD TIMES!

Q: Why do you think American audiences get into Torchwood more than they do Dr. Who?
A: The sex. *laugh*

Favorite place you've filmed: Brecken Beacons (Countrycide)

Where would you like to film?
Miami and the Canadian Rockies

Q: Do you believe the rumor that John Barrowman is a robot that Scot Gil built?
A: No, I think Scot Gil is a robot that John Barrowman built, I mean have you seen that guy? He's RIPPED, yup, Scot is clearly an android.

Q: Favorite Doctor Who?
A: Sylvester McCoy, because he's the one I grew up with.

Q: Which Doctor would you want to join as a companion?
A: MMMM, not sylvester McCoy, needs to someone more that you could just you know, pop down to the pub with. MMM, Matt Smith, YEAH, I'd go with him. I've met him seems quite nice and like a guy you could go to the pub with and have a pint.

Did I post the other day that he read for the US pilot, "Rex is not your lawyer" but didn't get the part, it went to David Tennant? He didn't even know David was reading for it. He found out when he read it in the papers that David had the role and he was like WELL, good, at least it went to some real competition (or something like that)

They told him that the Save Ianto Jones campaign had raised over 11,000 pounds for Children in Need. He was quite chuffed (to borrow a British phrase)

Lets see that was most of Saturday. He also talked about being scared of the Stingrays in the water in Miami. At breakfast in the morning we did say, Gareth, you do realize that sting rays really aren't dangerous. YEAH, he says, tell that to Steve Irwin!

Also from breakfast my friend asked, hey you've been in the States now for a while, when do you go home?
A: Yeah, yeah, I've been here a month, but I go home tomorrow. Can't wait, I REALLY miss my dogs!
*cue us trying not to go AAWWWWW* Instead we asked what kind and they are whippet mixes (he has 2) and ferrets. We talked about some other stuff at breakfast, but most was just normal conversation, and not really of interest to others. Though he did say he went to the original Cheers (Bull Finch Pub) and liked it, had a good chicken pannini there.

OK, so I lied, this is only the rest of Saturday and Sunday breakfast, I'll post Sunday separately.

Sporadic Gareth Post

2009-11-15T04:31:28Z

Cuz it's been a long day and I've been drinking for the last 5 or 6 hours....

TOkay, so Gareth's bnd is hopefully going to get a new album out in the first quarter of next year and available for release in the US, YAY!! They would like to do a US tour and there are lots of folks trying to help them pull that off but not sure if it's going to work in the end..

WARNING NOTE: If the 5 hours of drinking didn't tip you off, this is going to be a bit schizopheneric just ride with it and the typo's, please.

He's just finished filming sherlock holmes which should be available soon in the US because Blockbuster was one of the backers so we should see it soon. It's Sherlock Holmes, and he's proud of it, and well, um it's got dinasours and dragons in it. Sometimes you just gotta do what the producers demand. Though he did love the fact that they let him do actual rock climbing in the filming. I can't wait to see it!

Someone asked when he found out Ianto was going to die, when did he know? He said:

Well I talked to my agent in April 2008 and he told me there was a new Torchwood, there were 5 episodes and I would be in 4. And I thought, Am I on holiday? stuck in a time riff? having a day offf? WHAT? ---- UM, NO, you die...... OH SHIT

Do you keep in contact with the other cast members?

Yup, hear from Kai on and off all the time
John texts me now and again to see how I''m doing and Naoki phones me when she needs something *ear to ear grin*

Come to find out he also audition for the US pilot "Rex is not your lawyer" but did not get it (Part went to David Tennant" He has spent the last couple of weeks in LA looking for US representation. Hopefully I'll be having breakfast in the AM with him and I'll find out what his preferred company is, and I'll give a twitter shout out to help make that happen!!!!!!!!!!!!! POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!

OOOOHHH, SUPER cute boy in the audience, probably about 6 or 7 asked Gareths some questions throuhout the Q&A:

1. What was your favorite Dr. Who Monster? = Daleks, followed by the Cybermen for obvious reasons.

LATER that same boy asked: Do you work with Cybermen? Gareth laughed and looked at the boy and said "No, but I dated one once?

Q: What was your favorite fun filming moment?
A: Pretending to drive the JCB, course it would have been way more fun if they actually let me drive it, but they didin't so...

Did you take anything from the set when you left:
He proudly showed us his watch and I won't tell you what else he admitted to, cuz BBC might fine him

Q: What was it like to start out with a cyber girlfriend in the show and wind up with a boyfriend, what was that like for you as an actor?
A: Well, there was always that bit of flirt between Jack and Ianto so it really wasn't that much of a change. Biggest change, when you're shagging the lead character you get more screen time, more dialogue, so I was over the moon, or over his moon as it was....."

Q: What do you think were your finest scenes?
A: Tough one: Countrycide, the scene about when was your last snog... THAT was a great scene to film, and the Children of Earth death scene he thought was one of the finest (SO SAY WE ALL, though it breaks our hearts). Though he did say later in the Q&A that the final death scene had been rewritten because the original was too lovey dovey and didn't really fit the situation. He felt the rewrite was more true to both charecters.

OKAY, that's page one of 3 pages of notes, I need to go to bed now, I promise I will post more in the AM and more of the FANTABOUS Trika's photos in the AM!

OK quick fly by Gareth Pic Spam

2009-11-14T23:48:32Z

I'm going to dinner with the celebs in 30 mins. so no time to write up Gareth's talk now, but a fly by pic spam posting of Gareth.

ALL PHOTOS courtsey of trika

NEFanX Corin Nemec

2009-11-14T23:26:03Z

Hey there, this is the first of my Saturday posts. This is just Corin Nemec, I'll post Gareth next and then go back to James Hong.

Corin looks great, SUPER skinny and wearing super tight jeans (yes there will be pictures)

Someone asked him about bananas in space and he said

“WOW, the fans in the UK really have something about those bananas! They actually have an “Order of Jonas’ Bananas” which I think is a little, um a little presumptuous. Every time I go to the UK I get banana gifts of them. One time I got a 10lb bag of banana sponge candy things. I mean MY GOD, what do you do with 10lbs of banana candy? I had to leave it there, didn’t want to explain it to customs, but I really wonder what the hotel staff thought when they found it in my room after I left”

Asked which one he could live without cheese or chocolate? He answered chocolate in a heartbeat, he loves cheese. This set up a running gag for the rest of his talk. I won’t go into the details but it was very funny.

His favorite episode on Stargate SG-1 = Nightwalkers

Stuff he’s working on now:

Robo Doc coming to a video store near you soon! It’s a National Lampoon film where real doctors are replaced by robots and the malpractice suits go way down. It’s a comedy, he said he thought it was one of the better films National Lampoon has put out recently.

Other stuff: House of Bones, horror flick released a couple months ago.

He’s also finished working on and airing 2 Web series (acting & producing).

Rules of the Game a reality type show where he and David Faustino both try to pick up woman. David following the ‘rules’ and Corin just winging it. David had more luck then Corin, which obviously did NOT please him! ;)

Other one is called Star-ving, a scripted fake reality show about two actors trying to get back into the game, again with David Faustino.

Someone asked him how it felt to have his own action figure. He said he didn’t think it looked much like him. And some guy said he had one, but it was still in his box. And Corin said, YES, in the box, PLEASE DON’T play with me! LOL

Asked his opinion about SGU he said, Well, I haven’t seen it yet, but, yeah it does sort of seem like the “Dude, Where’s My Car?” of the SG Franchise. I think it’s more Lost in Space myself

Someone asked him about a movie he was in that ended up being titled "Storm Troopers of Doom" and he said when he signed on it was called The Citadel and sold as an ENTIRELY different from the final product which of course forced my friends and I to ask.... "One question, Mansquito, WHY?" He laughed and said, "That's a very good question, I'll have to get back to you." LOL And then he went on to say he always loved the atomic scare movies, Attack of the Giant Tomatos, etc. and this was billed as the same fare. So when we asked, so will there be a sequel, he said, "GOD NO!" (video link coming once we figure it out!).

He is a photographer as well and he is currently putting together a photo show that may tour the US.

Okay, that’s it for now, as promised – PICS!

!

ENJOY!

Quiet Morning here at NEFanX

2009-11-14T14:27:10Z

Of course it's just barely 9:15AM so no wonder it's quiet! My two roomies have gone downstairs for breakfast, but I'm not a big breakfast person, so I'm nibbling on mini-bagels, yogurt and diet coke in the room and enjoying a little quiet time. Thought I would take this opportunity to post about yesterday.

Gareth has been spotted in the building with Gemma, unfortunately, not by me though. Oh well, we'll see him soon enough. Registration yesterday was a bit of a drag. Stood in line for over an hour. Not sure what was taking them so long, because there weren't all that many people. Should have just waited a couple hours then gone down, because by about 6:00 PM there was NO line. Oh well!

Didn't do too much yesterday, went to the dealer room, saw some cool T-shirts I am going to HAVE to buy. My favorite: "You had me at restraining order" *snerk* Went to the opening ceremony in the hopes that Gareth my show, but no, it was just the organizers.

Back up to the room hung out, drank wine, watched the tail end of the Wizard of Oz and then went downstairs to watch the live Shadowcast of Repo! The Genetic Opera. Want to talk about a STRANGE juxtaposition of two shows! Both have heros and bad guys, music and death, and well, um, that's about where the similarities end.

First talk I want to see today isn't until 11:00 AM Corin Nemec of Star Gate and Parker Lewis Can't Lose fame. Just chillin' until then, might go hit the vendor room to pick up the t-shirts.

Hopefully I'll have pics and more to share after the talks today and dinner with the celebs tonight.

GARETH IN BOSTON!

2009-11-13T00:04:42Z

SO, WAY back on July 17th I posted about Gareth David Lloyd coming to Boston in what seemed like the incredibly distant date of November 13-15. Well, guess what? IT'S HERE! And he's going to be here, barring any Torch-tanic fiascos. Where is here? It is New England Fan Experience and United Fan Con. It is the WIERDEST conglomoration of a fan con I have EVER seen, it's got sci-fi, pop culture, anime, gaming, and a science track. Just ODD, but thus far, the organizers seem on top of it, they've been doing this or some version of this con for the last 10-15 years or so, so I am hopeful it will turn out good!

Got a couple friends coming in for this, one is taking the train up from North Carolina and battling the delays caused by Ida. Hopefully she won't be waylaid too long!

Looking forward to a great weekend, hanging out with friends, being my true geek-self and laughing A LOT! I'll post photos (and maybe videos if I can figure out how) and con reports of course!

If you have a twitter account you can follow along at the hash tag #nefanx

Con Web site: http://www.nefanx.com/ For those in the Boston area, tickets are still available - come join the mayhem first hand!

Gareth David Lloyd in Boston

2009-07-17T14:41:03Z

OMG - I just found out that Gareth David Lloyd is going to be appearing in Boston at a convention the weekend of Nov. 13-15. Already have a couple of fan girly pals coming in for it! I'm VERY excited!

Weekend package tixs are fairly affordable at $125 (includes reserved seat, one dinner & one breakfast with guests in attendance), and hotel rooms in downtown Boston for $149 is DIRT cheap!

For details go here http://tinyurl.com/mxp4pt :)

YES, we are probably sick and twisted folks that the headliner is Leonard Nimoy and we care more about seeing Gareth, but, um, wellllll, it's Gareth! ;)

/Public service announcement

Thank you for your support!

2009-06-24T23:59:09Z

Hey there everyone thanks for your support *HUGS FList* - WE WON!!!!!!!! I'm really happy and thrilled we are going to be able to donate money to leukemia research in Jessica's memory! So thanks all who helped and/or tried to help, your efforts were truly appreciated! *hugs*

AND to give PFT Corp. their due, it was probably it was just a glitchy site (as shown by the multiple problems folks were having) and they really didn't cheat. I mean if I think about it rationally, what company would EVER risk their corporate integrity over a frikkin' t-shirt contest! But man I was PEEVED at the time!

So once again, I thank you all for your support it means a lot to me! *hug*

YAY! It's back up!

2009-06-24T18:04:00Z

YAY! The race committee fixed it, it's back up and % reset to where they were before the mysterious glitch!

http://www.jpmorganchasecc.com/tshirtcontest.php?city_id=4

ERG
Page down 4 times "Just Green It"
Then end to get to the vote button, might need to click it twice

THANKS!

NOT FUNNY!

2009-06-24T17:43:31Z

ARGH! So much for us winning the t-shirt competition. The site has had a mysterious malfunction and only company names G and after are appearing. MMMM.... odd our major competitor was a computer tech firm and at the same time our shirt dropped off the site their shirt jumped by 20% (we had just been a couple points apart).

I MEAN COME ON PEOPLE! It's for CHARITY! If you can't win honestly do you REALLY need to resort to sabotaging the site?!?!?! That's just mean, and it's CHEATING!

PHT Corp = TOTAL FAIL!

YES, I have sent a note to the race committee, but the day before the event I'm sure they've got more pressing matters!

Help from my flist for charity!

2009-06-24T15:00:47Z

FList I need your help! Our company is competing in the JP Morgan challenge this Thursday. As part of the challenge there is a T-shirt design competition. Currently our company (ERG) is in 2nd place but we would like to win! The company currently in first place is a MUCH larger company than we are so they've got us out numbered in voters - HENCE where my helpful flist comes in!

First prize is $500 to donate to charity. We would like to donate the money to a local leukemia group in honor of one of our colleagues who passed away this year.

Besides all that it'll be FUN to help the little guy win over the big guy! SO, please go and vote, vote early, vote often (yes you can vote multiple times). My company's name is ERG and the t-shirt design is "Just Green It" (we are supporting greening offices at this event as well).

Voting closes at 5:00 PM EST today. Votes LATE this afternoon will help us spring ahead of the unsuspecting competition! Instructions below:

We are within 2% of the popular vote to WIN the Corporate Challenge T-shirt contest...    If we band together...we can WIN!!.   During your lunchtime break, please take a moment and cast your vote(s) for our TShirt. Here's how:

1. Click http://www.jpmorganchasecc.com/tshirtcontest.php?page=tshirt&city_id=4
2. Use the page down button 4 times to get to our ERG tshirt and select by clicking on the circle to the left of ERG.
3. Use the END button to jump to the bottom and click on Vote.

The page will refresh and you should see a "Thanks for Voting" screen.... if not, scroll down and revote. Two consecutive votes will always register the vote.

Q: Can I vote multiple times?
A: Yes, but you will need to wait 10 seconds between votes or it will not register.   If you see the message "Poll Results", your vote didn't register.
     You need to see the "Thanks for Voting" to have your vote count.

Fly by posting

2009-06-09T22:09:04Z

Just a fly by posting - might do a couple of these as little thoughts come back to me over the next couple of days:

When asked what classic super hero he would like to be Gareth answered Batman without hesitation (I'd pay to see that), he then went on to praise Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker and said what a finely nuanced job he had done.

Oh, and John's next album is going to be songs from the movies and he encouraged folks to send in emails to his web site with suggestions.

Final Recap Pt. 5 - The Man Himself

2009-06-09T00:36:45Z

Okay, once again this is going to jump around a little bit because I just realized I left some things out from Saturday with all the chaos and racing around and what not. SO, here goes, buckle in, it's JB so you know its going to be a bit of a wild ride!

Okay thing I forgot from yesterday:

1. Adam and his Mom (from the Making of Me) were there in the audience. Adam came up to the microphone to and asked, "John, do you remember me?" John stared hard at the image on his computer than screamed OMG Adam its YOU!!! I'm so excited you came! How are you, how's your Mom, is she there with you, how are both your brothers? He was just so excited to see him and REALLY wished he could have been there in person. Adam chatted with John for a little bit and then moved on. John was so touched that he was there.

2. When Carol was on stage with John on Skychat someone asked the question "Was John really such a horrible child?" The look of utter shock and disbelief on John's face was precious, his jaw was about on his desk top. He was 'guppying' trying to come up with a response when Carol said "Oh yeah, he was miserably so" Now John is looking utterly shocked and bewildered, Carol continues, "yup, he was TRULY horrible as a baby, he cried all the time, non-stop" At that point John started laughing, laughing so hard tears were rolling down his cheeks (you know how fabulous and contagious his laugh is, so we were all laughing along, not sure at what though) FINALLY John gasped out, "OMG because of the feed I thought they asked "Was I really such a WHORE as a child!!!! I was thinkin' where the hell did they get that idea!!!!" Everyone got it then and there was lots of laughter around that!

Okay, from Sunday's talk. I must say, John was looking super cute in what I believe to be a Ralph Lauren white polo shirt with blue polo ponies on the shoulders. His hair appeared to be still just a tiny bit damp, or maybe that was gel, but he was looking super fine and in high spirits!

Again, lots of questions, many of which I don't remember because I was standing in line to ask him a question as well, but I'll try:

George, JB's old Web master stepped up to say hi and JB was absolutely thrilled to see him. JB introduce him to the crowd and said what a huge help George had been getting JB's current career off the ground. High praise and George seemed pleased (if possibly a little embarrassed by the praise).

OH, almost forgot this, the VERY First question, someone asked John why he hadn't been on Top Gear yet. And he said, Because I haven't been asked, I would LOVE to be on Top Gear, so if you all want to see me on Top Gear, send emails and letters to the BBC to request it, I would LOVE it. Course I'll have to wait for my foot to heal first! I've always thought JB would be FANTASTIC on Top Gear. All his Dr. Who cohorts have been on and JB loves cars SOOOO much and with his competitive streak, he would tear up the course!!! SO, start writing letters now!!!!

Someone asked about his vocal regime and what kind of training he does. He said he doesn't train with a vocal coach anymore because at some point, you either know how to do it or you don't. But when you're starting out a vocal coach is good and he feels you should have a vocal coach the same sex as you, because boys and girls sing differently, need to use vocal chords differently, etc. etc. He said he knows there are folks that disagree with him on that point, and that's fine,it's just his opinion. He said he doesn't really do 'warm ups' per se when he sings, he just talks or hums most of the day before a show just to keep his chords limber. And later on when another questioner stepped up he showed us just how limber his chords were.

Next up was the most touching moment of the whole con. A woman stepped up to the microphone and said, "Hi John, I'm Sherrie" John immediately burst into the 50's hit Sherry and hit the falsetto note perfectly without breaking a sweat!! I can't sing worth a bean and his talent is just awe inspiring to me. JB sang a couple lines to her and then let her ask her question. She said earlier she had given a gift to Gavin to give to John and had he got it. JB looked perplexed and she said, it was from one of the patients. And John leaned forward and said SHERRIE, OMG, IT'S YOU SHERRIE!!!!! OMG if I was there in person I would go give you the biggest hug, OMG, Sherrie, what you do, so touching, you're amazing! I won't tell folks, but if you want to share, go ahead. She said, no, didn't really need to share, she just wanted to make sure John got the gift because it was very important. Carol chirpped up and said she knew which one it was and she would get it from Gavin next week when she was over there and make sure John got it. John asked, "what is it?" And then Sherrie explained:

She works in a high risk pregnancy ward in Alaska, her work mainly focuses on the native population. She had a young Inuit girl on the ward who was bed ridden for two months. The girl didn't speak English all that well and had never seen a television before. During her recovery phase Sherrie brought in copies of Tonight's the Night for the girl to watch. She really loved the show and JB so she made a Dreamcatcher for John because he was someone who helped people reach their dreams so she wanted to make sure he had a dream catcher to help him. She had her father, who is a chief, bless the dream catcher for John. Sherrie said to please make sure to read the hand written note that went along with the dream catcher. The girl's English wasn't that good and she wanted to get the note just right for John. She wrote 9 drafts in pencil before settling on the final note. Sherrie said the girl just wanted him to know he was very special.

WELL, as you can imagine, at this point JB was BAWLING like a baby as were most of the audience, Gareth was on stage and even he welled up. John's furiously whiping his eyes and trying to pull himself together to say something. Finally he chokes out, thank you, thank you for sharing, its for people like you and her I do what I do. Bless you! Then he said, Sherrie, make sure I have the address where you work, Gavin and I will see to it you get the equipment you need to do your job. EVERYONE IS BAWLING at this point. Sherrie thanks him and walks off. John is still whiping his eyes and snuffling when Gareth shouts, "AH, stop crying you big POOF!" which got John laughing which is exactly what he needed. Next person up to the mic. said, Not sure how I can follow that! And eveyone chuckled. It was SOOOOOO amazingly moving, I'm bawling all over again just writing about it!

ETA: I forgot about Sandy from down under which got John singing Sandy from Grease. She invited him down and he said he would love to go, but when he does he wants to go for at least a couple months to see everything there is to see, not just a quick in/out *wink*.

Lucky me I had the FINAL question of the whole darned con (no pressure) so I said to JB, on the risk of getting scolded (he looked perplexed and intrigued all at once) SO, Tonight's the Night, ummmm, lets just say I was in the UK for the last 6 weeks or so (he looks surprised like, really?) yeah, let's just go with that, that's how I was able to see the show. (then he got what I was saying and chuckled) I said the show is FANTASTIC FANTASTIC FANTASTIC, pure fun positive entertainment,, LOVED it! My questions are: Any chance of a second series, any chance of BBC America airing it, and out of all the dreams did one in particular stand out to him? He thanked me for liking the show and said SEE, that's why we make the show, for the fans, to hell with what the critics say, the audience loves it and I make it for them NOT the critics. He wasn't sure about a second series, he was supposed to talk to the BBC about it later this week, but now with the injury that would be delayed. He did say, it is in part a financial decision and times being what they are who knows. As to BBC America airing it he said, well, really that's up to YOU, the fans. It was fans writing into BBCA asking to see Joseph and Maria that got them to air those shows, so if you want to see it, write to BBCA and ask for it! The do listen to the fans so go ahead and write or email. Finally any one dream above the others, no not really, I just feel very blessed to be able to help folks who are going through rough times. We've all been there and I feel very lucky that I'm in a position to help others. Thanks for asking about that! And I said, thanks for bringing something positve back to television!

Then JB said that was a nice segway into his closing of feeling soooo lucky to have such fabulous fans who were still willing to show up at the con and have a GREAT time dispite all the stuff that had happened.

Posted this yesterday, but its the only one I have - my friend took a pic. of JB smiling as he was listening to my question:

At the end they brought everyone up on stage for one final good bye, it was a fantastic weekend everyone! See you all next time JBs on this side of the pond!

SO, your mission readers should you accept it write to BBC at http://www.topgear.com/us/contact_us/ to request JB on Top Gear and write to BBCA to request Tonight's the Night at: http://www.bbcamerica.com/viewer_relations.jsp Start writing folks!

Final Recap - Pt 3 Gareth (and Tom Price update)

2009-06-08T22:09:17Z

Okay, and now the post you've all been waiting for, the final session with Gareth, and then John and Gareth.

First off, let me say, WELL DONE GARETH!!!! He had the responsiblity of shouldering this con dumped on him at the last minute. Initially at the cocktail party on Friday it was looking like he might be slightly overwelmed, but he rallied SPECTACULARLY and really stepped up to fill in some really big shoes. Well done lad, well done! You should be very proud of this accomplishment! And thanks Gabriel for keeping him safe all weekend from the Curse of Torchsong!

Gareth, first up, lots of Q&A for him. Sorry I remember some of the details of the others better because I was actually taking notes, Gareth, too hard to drool, watch his every move, and take notes simultaneously - I'm sure you understand but I'll try my best none the less

First off, Gareth has done Shakespeare. I had NO idea he did Shakespeare. He said he'd been in Henry V (I was very tempted to yell for the Crispin Day speech, but I restrained myself), Loves Labours Lost, 12th Night, and Macbeth - after he said that title he started spinning round and spitting on the ground (pretending) as any good actor would - though truth be told, with what had already been happening at the con the Danish Play Curse was the least of our worries.

Folks asked him to speak in Welsh which he did, the little bits that he knew. He said he was one year late for the compulsory learning of Welsh in the school system so he was only now pickinig it up. Some asked for him to say something dirty in Welsh and he said the Welsh language didn't have any swear words to which an audience member went bullsh*t! Which got GDL laughing. Finally he came up with something and said it. The girl asked what does that mean and he said - FILTHY - HEY, give me a break my vocabulary is limited. He also said sweetheart and something else. Sounded quite lovely.

His band has a new drummer and they are working with him. They have some big dates coming up opening for a popular Welsh rock band ETA Clutch (courtesy of edibleflowers because I couldn't remember, glad she was paying attention!) and he is hosting a festival at a major bar in Cardiff in the end of August (???? again, drool factor ate my brain) but once the dates and info. have been confirmed I'm sure they'll show up on Gareth's web site at: http://www.garethdavid-lloyd.co.uk/ .

What else, Gareth is set to star in an independent British film called A Very British Cover Up. He plays the judge in a "Best Drag Queen in Wales" competition. There are three competitors and of course the judge is sleeping with one of them, there's framing for murder and many mishaps, as you may have guessed its a comedy piece. Debuts in Cardiff on June 30, more details at http://www.averybritishcoverup.com

He's also directed the play Boogie Nights at his old college Coleg Gwent. He actually missed opening night of the play to be in Chicago with us, and he hadn't heard reports on how it went. And he's recorded an Torchwood audio book (which he said is the MOST tedious process EVER) which is due out next week I think he said. He also said he did 3 45 minute Torchwood radio plays for the BBC which are scheduled to air before Children of Earth (ie soon, but he didn't know the dates). He said he really liked doing the radio plays because he still got to play Ianto but he didn't have to shave and he could show up and work in a hoodie! SO CUTE this guy is! So, it's not just our hero JB who's been burning the candle on both ends! GDL is keeping himself very busy as well!

He also spoke about a script for an educational play/film that he wrote for the UK educational system talking about the dangers of binge drinking. GDL quote - "HEY, write what you know they say'. In the version he wrote it happens in 5 scenes, the orginal structure was start with the final scene and all the horrible outcomes that had happened, then go to the first scene how it all began, then the 4 scene descent into chaos, then the 2nd scene, things are starting to get out of hand and finally ending with the 3rd scene, the point where you make the decision to keep drinking or pull out of the nose dive. He said he wrote it in this order because he wanted to leave kids with the choice, that this was a decision that was theirs to make and they could choose to make the right decision and avoid the consequences. He said the script didn't state that, cuz he didn't want to get all preachy, but it was clear that each individual featured made the decision, and made the wrong one. He also wrote it with really raw language and typical street grammar, etc. WELL, the British Education system got hold of it and decided it was too convoluted and put it all in scene order 1-5 and softened up the language so it ended up being this preachy wag your finger and though shalt not do that sort of SHYTE (per GDL) . He was really peeved and hates what they did to his piece, but he wrote it for them so they have the rights. He said he learned from that lesson and future contracts will be different! His version of it sounded frikkin' fantastic - sort of a "Spring Awakening" thing before Spring Awakening had been written.

He also brought out his 'handler' Gabriel AKA Ninja to thank him on stage for all his help over the weekend. He also publically thanked Sherrie and Beth two nurses who were in the audience and helped Tom Price throughout the weekend with his injury.

BTW: Saw Tom Price briefly on Sunday an he was looking MUCH better. Looked to be in far less pain then he was on Saturday, and he actually had some color back in his cheeks (not THOSE cheeks, git your minds out of the gutter :) His flight wasn't until mid-afternoon, but he came over so that the volunteer staff could get their pictures taken with him. SUCH a trooper!

Okay, now onto GDL pics:

This is Gabriel and Gareth's backside (silly people's heads in the way)

Pretty arms....what was he saying....

Yes, even I would pick up this hitch hiker...... but he's got an ax YEAH, but it's GDL!

Laughing Gareth, always a lovely sight!

GDL doing the pensive thoughtful look - gotta love smart guys!

Okay, so I lied at the beginning, JBs stuff is going to have to come in a fourth and final post, Gareth's post has grown WAY too long on its own, guess I remembered more than I thought! Gareth judging drag queens, I'll pay to see that!

Final Recap Pt. 2 - Mark Sheppard's talk

2009-06-08T18:43:24Z

Okay, where was I when I when I left off last night?!? Oh, yeah, I think I had made it through Peter's talk on Sunday.

Next up was Mark Sheppard. Like all the rest Mark took questions, told stories, etc.   He said he was introduced to Peter O'Toole at one point and Peter said, LOVED your performance in Name of the Father. Mark just stood there speechless, jaw gaping like a guppy. He said all that kept running through his mind was MY GOD, you're Lawrence of Arabia! LOL He said it was pretty humbling. He did also speak to the topic of the film and the horrible miscarriage of justice that can happen if people start to let the little morals slide, it's a slippery slope (cue Mr. President sticking a pen in someone's neck - BSG reference for those unfamiliar). He also spoke about his respect for Saul Rubinek (Leverage, Warehouse 13, amongst a ton of other stuff). Said Saul was really a huge star in Canada. At one point Saul Rubinek, Mark and Jamie Bamber were walking down the street in Vancouver and some folks came up and said "OMG - You're Saul Rubinek, can we get a picture with you?" and then they proceeded to ask if Saul's friends would mind holding their bags while they got the picture. So there's Mark and Jamie standing there schlepping these folks bags while they got pics with Saul. TOO DAMN FUNNY!

He also talked about Leverage (sorry, I haven't been able to see the show up until now, my TNT hasn't carried it, but I think they are restarting season 1 this week, so I'll watch now). Mark's son absolutely LOVES the character of Eliot Spencer and wants Eliot to get in a fight with his daddy's character Sterling. Mark is like GREAT I've seen that man in fight scenes and they just absolutely WAIL on one another. Thanks son, thanks A LOT!

I can't remember what started the conversation, but he started talking about how technologically advance we have become with downloaded shows, TV on demand, DVRs/TiVos, Hulu, iPlayer, etc. He said face it folks, YOU out there in the audience, you and your kind are completely changing the face of the entertainment industry. The time has come, "Geeks have inherited the earth!" *crowd goes wild!* He ended by thanking us from the heart of his bottom! LOL

Almost forgot, while he was on stage one of his kids called, he asked if we minded him answering and we said nope, not at all. He picked it up and talked with his wife and kids briefly (warning them they were on speaker in front of a few hundred people). Mark was VERY cute with his son, 'love you too, I'll call you back real soon when I'm free' SOOOO adorable!

OY, another almost forgot... Someone asked him if he had any momentos from the shows he'd worked on. He said he wanted Badger's hat, but it was a rental so he couldn't keep it, though he did work it into one of the episodes he was in on Medium. He said he has 3 chair backs from BSG, one says Sheppard, one Lampkin, and the other Mr. President. Jamie was peeved (jokingly) cuz he never got one that said Mr. President

OH, and again, on complimenting Torchwood. Mark said it was SUCH a fantastic show, well scripted, well shot, and well acted. He said, "I KNOW what they spend to produce that show and its a FRACTION of what is spent to produce crappy shows here in the US! He said they can do more on a tiny budget then most people here could do with a full studio budget backing them.  Really amazing, he was genuinely impressed!

Funny aside, at the cocktail party on Friday night he looked more like Gaius Baltar then Romo Lampkin. He was perched on the edge of a sofa and there were all these women, on the couches near him, sitting on the floor at his feet, all staring at him in absolute rapped awe as he spoke.  Don't get me wrong, the man is brillant and he has many deep thoughts and really funny stories but it was the similarity between that scene and Baltar's flock that made it amusing to me.

On to the pictures

Mark laughing

:
.Mark trying NOT to laugh

Mark, "WHAT, I'm workng here too ya know!

Okay, that's it for Mark's talk, onto Gareth's, then John's final talk.

Back home - Final recap Pt. 1

2009-06-08T06:22:06Z

Okay, I'll start this post tonight because I need to unwind a bit before bed, but since it's already after 1:30 AM who knows how long I'll last!

Morning started off waiting in line AGAIN this time for photos with Carol and then a second Gareth photo. Gareth was having a GRAND time with his second photo op. People were having him strike all kinds of odd poses, women were jumping into his arms and having him play out all kinds of senarios (much to the dismay of the photographer who was concerned about staying on schedule - screw that, this was WAY more fun). My pose wasn't too creative just a standing spoon cuddle, but mmmm, is that lad adorable! I did have a creative pose thought up and I'd even brought props, but it was a John/Gareth/me pose and wouldn't really work without JB.

Then onto the Carol Barrowman and Tommy Lee talk (the illustrator of the Selkie comic NOT the rocker). They were talking about Comic Con last year and Carol told a story about leaving in the car, they were pulling out of the secured parking area when John screamed, "OMG STOP THE CAR NOW!!!" The driver slammed on the brakes and John threw open his door and went racing down and across the road (Carol said damn lucky he didn't end up like Tom Price!). John was racing after none other than Lindsey Wagner, the original Bionic Woman. He was all fan-boyey and Carol said Lindsey looked a little concerned about who was this mad man that just raced down the street to catch her! LOL

Next up was Peter Wingfield - he started by showing a bunch of photos from the filming of Riverworld (based on the Phillip Jose Farmer novels more info. here: http://scifiwire.com/2009/04/sci-fi-casts-riverworld-p.php The photos look FANTASTIC. Great costuming, GORGEOUS location in Northern British Columbia. BEAUTIFUL horses, though Peter said they were HUGE (and they looked it). One of his stage directions was he was supposed to get an order and then JUMP up into the saddle and ride off. The stunt coordinators said you're going to need a box to stand on. Peter was like really, well okay if you think so, but I'm pretty limber, got good jumping skills. So he stretched and got ready and said his line and LAUNCHED onto the back of this horse only to end up halfway up him and slowly slide back down. He looked at the stunt guys and said, "Um, I'm going to need a bigger box!"

Peter also filmed an internet series that he thinks will start airing at the end of this month. It's called 10,000 days and its about the people who survive a massive meteor strike on earth and what they go through. Filmed outside of Los Angeles and pretty much all the talent was paid gas money to get there, and not much else, but they did it because they believed in the story AND they are exploring what might become the new evolution in entertainment and they all want to be a part of it somehow. The series is called 10,000 Days and supposedly they'll be a web site up by the end of the month at www.10000daystheseries.com but I just checked and there's nothing there now.

He talked about going back home to Cardiff and how much it had changed. He said he went for a run in an area that used to be a bit sketchy and he rounded a corner and there was a Masariti dealership with a boat dealer on the other side. And the luxury condos on the Cardiff docks just blew his mind (I mean, COME ON, he said it's the Cardiff docks, it's not Nice!)

Then he said something about it was his mother's birthday today and YES, he would call her later. Someone yelled, "call her now" and he laughed and said, would you be okay with that. Everyone applauded and so he tried to call his Mum. Couldn't remember if he had her listed under Mum or her name. It was her name with Mum in brackets after it like he might forget LOL! Unfortunately, signal sucked in the building, so call wouldn't connect. Someone shouted, "Maybe she changed her number" and he just about fell over laughing at that!

He talked about the end of Highlander and how wierd that was after Adrian Paul left. Because of contractual issues or something Adrian wasn't in the last few episodes and the final episode filmed was just Mythos and Joe on what amounted to a road trip. Mythos and Joe's Excellent Adventure (as the woman who asked the question called it). Peter laughed at that and said it was GREAT fun filming it because it turned from Highlander into just a 'buddy film' with shadows of Highlander. He said it was a bit odd after 5 season to have the guy who had carried the show gone for the end of it. BUT, it worked for Peter because he got to play the big finale scene and that was fine with him!

Okay, been writing for over an hour. Damn near 2:30 AM here, must go to bed. I'll post more tomorrow, I promise!

Crazy short pic spam

2009-06-07T23:48:35Z

Okay, just a few brief pics to post and then I have GOT to run to the airport to catch my flight. I will try to write up my thoughts tonight while waiting for my flight and post them in the AM after I'm back home.

OKAY,on to pic spam, stories will have to wait until later!

Tommy Lee & Carol

Peter calling his mom to wish her happy birthday

Mark thinking

RIGHT HERE!

Yeah, AND....

JB listening and smiling at ME!!!!! OMG

Must run or I'll miss the shuttle!

Face of Bo

2009-06-07T21:48:23Z

Last unclaimed signed copy of the Face of Bo in North America is now MINE!

YIPPEEEEE!!!!!!

Cabaret & JB stuff

2009-06-07T05:44:04Z

Where do I begin.....

Start at the beginning I suppose - so 4:30 in the morning UK time John appears via sky chat in his little gray hoodie. Gareth and Carol have been on stage having a good flirt (again) and then Gareth starts flexing his arm muscles, Carol does the same , so not to be outdone, John whips off his shirt and starts flexing. Gareth says DAMN, you've been working out mate. John said are you crazy I've been on the road for the last two weeks busting my ass on stage each night, who needs a gym.  And trust me, he did look VERY FIT!

Okay, let me back up to earlier today (and he repeated it tonight) What the hell did JB do to his ankle you might be asking, was he staggering around in stillettos practicing for La Cage? NO, he said, don't I wish. He was relaxing on his back deck day after his final tour gig at the Albert Hall and he was walking toward his pool and his flip flop caught just at the edge of the concrete and the lawn and his ankle snapped sideways and he collapsed on the lawn. His Mum was there, thought he was being a baby and went over and kicked him and said OH, stop being a baby and git up, whatcha doin' laying there. He had to explain that he really was hurt and eventually he convinced them he was really injured. Two or three MRIs later they say he's torn all the ligaments in his ankle.  He's in one of those big plastic cast things. Which he kept lifting up to show us.

Jumping around a bit here, sorry, so many stories popping in my head in random order....

SO, earlier today Tom Price was the first person in JBs Q&A session. He stepped up to the microphone and the audience went wild. John was looking totally perplexed didn't know why all the cheering, because they hadn't sent him the video feed yet. The moment he got it and saw poor Tom standing there with his arm in a cast and sling he started applauding and laughing and said "TOM, you IDIOT!  They drive on the OTHER side of the road in the US! My God are you okay?!?!?" Tom replies "Well at least I didn't trip in my own damn backyard! At least I'm HERE!" LOL John just about fell outta his chair at that!

Someone asked JB about the scene with Gray in the basement of the hub and how do you prepare for a scene that intense. And he said for that scene he just thought about it as someone he had a strong physical attraction to and having to kill them.  Then he said, yeah, strong physical attraction, have you seen Lachlan Nieboer? Not hard to do that, Carol chirpped up and said YEAH, UM, I'd take that! John said you sis could only get my sloppy seconds and they bantered back and forth about that and then (unbeknownst to John) Gareth snuck out on stage and gave Carol a HUGE snog and the crowd goes wild. John couldn't see it he had the video feed from the Q&A mic. not the main stage and he said, what, what?!?!? Someone said, Gareth just snogged Carol. John said, my point EXACTLY, my sloppy seconds sis! *cue crowd going wild and Gareth flipping him off* Much giggling on JBs part.

Mark Shepard jumped in the Q&A line this afternoon and asked HEY, why aren't I in Torchwood? When are you going to find a role for me in Torchwood? JB said well any guy who comes to Torchwood needs to measure up, think you could handle that. Mark, thought he could!

Tonight's cabaret. John sang one song, on his own, no music no accompaniment and it was BEAUTIFUL, pitch perfect and moving. Peter Wingfield did a couple numbers on an acoustic guitar and he sang and they were nice. Gareth did two songs from Blue Gillipsie "Bam Bam" and I don't know the name of the other. He also did one song on piano called "take it like a bitch". The boy has some SERIOUS lung power. Music/sound kind of reminds me of a cross between Black Flag and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Okay, damn near 12:30 here, let me go pretty up some pics to post then its away to bed. Pics below, sorry I can't figure out how to get a LJ cut to work of late, so just deal with the pic spam. Sorry dial up users!

JB & his Mum

Not me, HIM

I'll post more tomorrow, going on 1:00 AM here now, so I must sleep!

ENJOY!

Day one recap thus far

2009-06-07T02:06:43Z

BTW - All photos contained here in are courtesy of my friend. My camara SUCKS at indoor shots and her's ROCKS!

Okay, where to begin:

Lines, stood in LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of lines today. Missed Peter Wingfield's talk because of waiting in a line, but other than that, caught the rest of the talks but missed a photo with Carol. Might grab that tomorrow.

First up, Tom Price - bless his soul with his arm all bandaged up and wearing the sling all wrong. Poor lad, obviously in a ton of pain but having a good time with the fans. Some of the audience were RNs and they instructed him on how to wear the sling to allieviate the pain. Which helped some. Poor lad was probably munching down on vicodin like they were Pez candies!

Next Mark Shepard: He said Dollhouse has been renewed thanks to internet downloads, and (quoting) "And I mean the legal downloads, not the stuff you get from those other kinds of sites and NO I'm not talking about your porn!" He is also going to be in SciFi's Warehouse 13, gave some background on that show, sounds cool. His character in Leverage is coming back (squeels of joy everywhere). When asked why he wasn't in the Firefly Serenity movie he said because if he was Badger (his character) would've been killed off. And since Badger was the character Josh Whedon wrote to play himself ("but the man can't act worth shit"). Josh couldn't bring himself to kill his alterego so he just didn't include him. Mark would like to do more on Burn Notice and talke lovingly about Edward James Olmos and how he truly was the patriach of the BSG set.

When asked if he would like to be on Torchwood he responded "What do you think?!??!" He also said he loved the character of Capt. Jack and John Barrowman was the "sexiest, craziest characters on television"!

Next up Gareth - he came hobbling out on stage with a crutch (I posted that pic. on the last entry) People asked him all kinds of questions, including, what knot does Ianto use to tie his tie, (answer half windsor), what knot does Ianto use to tie Jack (answer Full Widsor). He said last night a fan showed him a photo of all their Dr. Who/Torchwood action figures and he said "HEY, where am I?" and the fan responded Oh, well these are only the 12" characters and Gareth said "HEY, why don't I have a 12" character, I want a 12" character....ummmm oops..."

Someone asked about the silver fingernail polish on Lisa's hands when she was a cyberwoman. And he said "OH SURE, Ianto did that, because one must be pretty if one is a psychopathic killer." Then he went off on a tangent of one must look ones best before you destroy humanity or something along that line. When asked what Ianto's theme song was, sorry I forget the actual title but he had the artist wrong, and someone corrected him and he said OH YEAH, Survivor did Eye of the Tiger, well that would be Ianto's second song! *cue images of Dean* And speaking of images:

Next up was Carol for just a wee bit, then John joined via video conference. You gotta love any appearance that starts in a wig and a tiara and by the end of it he's half naked, not to mention a guest appearance by totally sexy cabanna boy in a speedo!! TOO funny lots of folks, lots of questions, LOTS of funny tales. MAN, those pain meds are putting our hero in a very happy place right now! LOL Let see, we got to see his mom, two of his dogs Harris and Capt. Jack, and did I mention Scott ?!?!?!

Okay, I will try to find more words (and pics) later tonight when we get back from the cabaret. Seating startes in 20 minutes so I gotta git dressed and get back across the street. Don't quite know what we are in for, but as all things this weekend, we are just gonna roll with it!!!!!

Stay tuned for cabaret details and more about John's talk. LOL Honestly there was quite a bit of fun innuedo but also some truly touching moments. I'll attempt to do it justice upon my return - PROMISE!

Quick post before dinner

2009-06-06T23:50:56Z

Just have 20 minutes between leaving and dinner, so no time to post a recap. Will do after the cabaret tonight with many more photos GDL will be singing tonight. He was THRILLED someone in the audience had his band's album on their MP3 player. Heard him practicing before we left. Bit of a cross between post-Black Flag Henry Rollins and NIN. THIS should be interesting!

Without further ado GDL hobbling onto stage:

Day 1 torchsong

2009-06-06T17:58:10Z

SO, back at the hotel for a quick bite of lunch on the 30 minute break, thought I'd post some comments. Only got to see Tom Price's talk this morning, rest of the time I was standing in line for photos. MMMMM.... listen to Peter Wingfield or get a photo with Gareth..... my choice was clear!

The disorganizers of this con are still doing their level best to F' this thing up. They are not able to print out any of the pics. that are being taken because their printer broke. HELLO!!!! Chicago suburb I"m sure there's a Staples around here somewhere!!!! So now I am going to have to purchase things for the actors to autograph. How F'ing convenient for all the folks in the Dealer's room!!!!

Did see an autograph face of Bo lithograph that Tommy Lee is selling signed by he and JB. VERY tempted, but $100. Still might do it.

Tom Price was hilarious on stage. Obviously in significant pain but being a GREAT sport. He tried to play the voice mail he got from his mum when she found out he'd been injured. He said his mom was all weepy at the end of it.

He also said, YEAH, look at how the chips have fallen, look who's still standing folks. YES, that's right! Gareth is a WITCH! LOL

He also said John Barrowman stated Red Reeboks he was wearing were "The GAYEST shoes he'd ever seen!"

Okay, Mark Shepard starts up across the street in 3 minutes, gotta run! Photos and more later!

Torchsong: In the beginning

2009-06-06T05:09:08Z

SO, in the beginning...

Okay, so as you all know JB the headliner for this week had to cancel yesterday because he blew his ankle out in an accident at home. Kai had to cancel for personal reasons.

Well, the 'Con of Doom' as we all have started to call this (also called Swansong) continues. It seems the fine young Tom Price (PC Andy Davidson) was wandering the streets of Chi-town and stepped off the sidewalk whilest looking the wrong way (being British and all) and was promptly was hit by a bike. From what I've gathered this evening it was a bicycle that hit him and NOT a motor bike, but he fell really badly and broke his arm.

OKAY ~~~~~warm karma thoughts surround and protect the rest of the guests~~~~~~~~

SO, tonight, registration that they had slated for 30 minutes, yeah SOOOOO not happening, stood in line for over 90 minutes. Thankfully the talent was great and they hung around until all folks got the chance to get in and they made it a point to make the rounds to see most of the folks. I talked with Peter Wingfield, Carol Barrowman, tormented Mark Shepard about Barcelona kickin' Manchester BUTT (couldn't resist he he was wearing a Manchester jersey) and shook Gareth's hand and put my hand on his shoulder and asked him if he had protection. He looked at me a little perplexed and I said, with all that's happened Gareth you need protection, look both ways before crossing the street, don't blow out an ankle, etc.... And then he got it and started laughing and said, yeah, yeah, this fella here is gonna keep me safe, and pointed to the attractive Asian guy who had been assigned as his handler for the evening.

Here's a couple photos, one of peter one of gareth, neither great cuz we weren't supposed to have cameras so we were on the down low shooting without a flash.

I actually spent most of the evening observing the faces of the people talking with the talent. The look of awe and excitement and utter joy and at some points rapture (Mark S.) that people were experiencing was really heart warming. I mean THIS is what it is all about. Fans and talent together, just talking, its great. Most of the talent seemed to be having a fantastic time. Gareth seemed a bit overwhelmed at being the center of attention at times and also completely at ease when he laughed and apologized for walking into my shot of Mark S. He chuckled when I told him, YOU can walk into ANY shot of mine, no worries! (meanwhile his security was glaring at my camera)

Met up with Switch42 tonight, she seems super nice. Also met a lovely fan from NYC and ended up having dinner with her in the hotel bar. All in all it was a nice day.

Might end up in a battle with the con. organizers tomorrow, because they are refusing to refund the $200 I paid for extra autographs and photographs with JB who IS NOT HERE. They say I can use those the next time JB comes to one of their cons in Chicago. WELL, that's assuming I have the money to fly to chicago AND pay for a hotel AND I'm free for whatever dates it happens to be scheduled (slim chance since I'm on the road 2 outta every 6 weeks!). These people are going to have a riot on their hands if they don't become more flexible!

In spite of all that, people seem to be having fun here. Some of us are planning on printing up tee shirts that say TORCHSONG: I survived the Con of DOOM I think they would sell fabulously well, just wish I could get them printed in time.

Tomorrow starts with photo ops of Peter Wingfield at 9:30, though I did give Switch my digits to call if shit go BOOM in the AM and they need extra hands on deck. Only time will tell....

OH, and the hotel NO MINI FRIDGE - "those are on a first come first served basis" HELLO, I RESERVED it a week ago on the PHONE, I think that counts as FIRST COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I hadn't thought of reserving this in advance because most hotels have both, but tonight before bed my friend checked all the 8 pillows in the room, all of them are down and she is allergic and will swell up like a balloon if she sleeps on down. SO, we call to get some foam pillows, and are told, we are all out of them as is the hotel next door, we'll see what we can do tomorrow (same response as the fridge) WTF?!?!??!?!? SERIOUSLY, I am NOT a fussy guest, but basic necessity should be supplied!
AHHHH..... again, good time or good tale this equals TALE!

Totally NOTFUNNY!

2009-06-05T04:56:15Z

SO, it appears that John Barrowman will not be attending the Torchsong convention in Chicago. He blew his ankle out and his doctor won't let him fly!!!!!!! UUUMMMMM OKAY, a convention pretty much focused on ONE key person and now that person can't attend CARP!!!!! No refunds will be given per the show organizers it said on their Web site all guests were schedule permitting and their would be no refund based on schedule changes.

John is going to try to participate via satellite, but honestly, it's just not the same. People have paid BIG money to see him live and now we get to see him on a video screen?!?!?! I can do that at home folks!

I know John must be absolutely GUTTED about this! And the organizers are scrambling to make alternative plans. They say they can't give refunds because they still have to pay for the convention center, etc. I get that, but at the very least I feel they should refund the cost of the evening cabaret ticket. It's the same damn room as the day time events, so not like they have to pay for that twice! And again, they should have purchased non-performance insurance. With John's track record of performing almost always (I can think of only one other cancellation) it would have been more affordable than a lot of performers. (I'm a professional meeting planner and used to be a Stage Manager, so I know what I'm talking about on this score)

I feel REALLY bad for everyone though. There's one girl here who flew in from AUSTRALIA for this event. Just really sad! :(

But we're still going and we're determined to have a good time - when life gives you lemons, make vodka lemonade!