Highlander Rewatched Bonus Episode 3 - 2 Worldwide Gathering Convention Part 1
Bonus Episode 3 - 2 Worldwide Gathering Convention
Welcome to Highlander Rewatched! The podcast where each and every week we discuss another facet of the Highlander universe! Usually we're talking about the series; the movies; could be comic books, more recently; all sorts of good stuff. I'm one of your Rewatchers, I'm Keith!
This is Kyle.
This is Eamon!
Keith: And, we are wrapping up a pretty long day of podcasting. We've been podcasting since like, 10 AM this morning, drinking many a...
Kyle: Was that still today? That feels like a--
Keith: That was still today!
Kyle: That feels like a previous day.
Keith: Yes. Absolutely!
Kyle: I'm a different human now than I was when we started.
Keith: After some of the arguments we got in today about Highlander, it does...*Eamon: Mmhm!* it does feel very long and arduous. We were arguing for... what seemed like hours about how many entrances there are to Joe's Bar. It got crazy!
Eamon: Yeah. *Kyle laughs*
Keith: It was the weirdest conversation we've ever had!
Kyle: I'm uncomfortable in my own skin now. *laughs*
Keith: That's right.
Eamon: Well I think we started recording 500 years ago on the Planet Zeist. I think... I think that's where we started.
Kyle: And now here we are!
Keith: We're going to retcon all that later. *affirming laughter* So today's a very special episode because... well, we're not going to be talking about the... well we're going to be talking about the series, kind of tangentially, I guess.
Kyle: Indirectly!
Keith: Indirectly.
Kyle: Obliquely.
1:39 Keith: So a lot of you listeners out there, uh... have known that this past--what was it?--December, we went to... we traveled to Lakeland, Florida! To take part in the Lashcon Highlander Gathering. It was...
Eamon: The Thirtieth Anniversary Gathering of--
1:54 Kyle: ***** (dialogue buried under Keith's)
Keith: Oh! You were going to define it that way! I was going to define it with an expletive! But you said--*Eamon chuckles*
Kyle: Yeah. The orgy of incompetence that was--
Keith: Yeah, the orgy of incompetence.
Kyle: --that was the Lashcon events. But uh...
Keith: But it was great because we got to meet a lot of great people; even though the event was kind of a mess. And--
Kyle: And tha--I don't know about you, but that really whet my appetite for a... dare I say: a higher caliber...
Keith: Absolutely! It's like--
Kyle: ... of, of Highlander event!
Keith: Clearly! There must be something better out there for Highlander fans, and guess what? There IS.
Kyle: Whaaat?
2:21 Keith: Yes! Uh, so we've got two guests on our show today, to talk to you about that very thing! A brilliantly put together, professional in every way, Highlander Convention! Uh, please welcome to the show, uh well, FRIEND of the show now, uh, former podcast guest, and author of Fearful Symmetry: The Essential Guide to All Things Highlander, author John Mosby! Welcome to the show! Hey, John!
John: Thank you very much for having me! Hi! Welcome you guys!
Keith: Uh, and, uh... organizer and head of Highlander WorldWide, the Official Convention uh... I guess, Provider of Highlander: Carmel MacPherson! Thank you very much for joining us, Carmel!
Carmel: Thank you for having me! All the way across the continents!
Kyle: Yeah, this is like a, a timezone spanning event right now! *Keith: Yeah!* It's like, we're travelling through time just having this conversation! It's--*Keith: That's true!*--It's very special!
John: This podcast is bigger on the inside! *happy laughter*
Kyle: As a little uh... icebreaker, little way of uh, easing our way into the show, we thought it might be fun to... to play a little game!
♫♪♫♪♫♩♬
3:25 Kyle: So--
Carmel: Ah.
John: Aye?
Kyle: Uh, uh-oh! Oh, don't be nervous!
Keith: Don't be nervous!
Kyle: This is a, this is a, this is a... an easy game. This is a little game we call 3 And 5. I will say a category of thing, and you have five seconds to name three examples that fall within that category. And for the purposes of scoring, we're gonna--we're gonna give you some teams that I hope you develop a... a, a severe clan rivalry related to later. *Carmel laughs* So, for the purpose of this game, for scoring it'll be uh, Carmel and Keith versus Eamon and John!
Eamon: Alright.
Keith: Alright, it's on now!
John: Okay! Win or lose, play the game!
Kyle: So... well if you lose it'll be Keith's fault.
4:00 *****Oh, it... okay.
Kyle: I'm calling that--
Keith: Oh I--I'll call that. It's inevitably my fault.
Kyle: Yeah. So the way the scoring works is, like I said, you've got five seconds to name three things that fall within that category. You get one point for each one that you get correct, and if you get all three, you get four points! It's like a little extra bonus point. It's very special. So Keith and Eamon, you'll go first and then... we'll cycle through it, so that by the time we get to John and Carmel, they'll... they'll have gotten the gist.
Keith: Alright.
Kyle: Sound good?
Eamon: Okay. Yeah.
John: Okay.
Carmel: Yeah.
4:28 Keith: Alright.
Kyle: I don't know if people sound excited enough. I'm not sure if I'm like--
Eamon: YEAH!
Kyle: Thank you, Eamon.
Keith: I'm gonna smash this beer can on my forehead. *Eamon laughs*
Kyle: There we go! Now we're talking. So--*metal crunching sound*
Keith: There it was.
Kyle: There it was! Savage!
Eamon: Sound effects.
4:40 Keith: Sound, yeah. Magic of Foley.
Kyle: Alright. Ready to play?
Keith: I'm ready. I'm nervous because I--when I'm on the spot, I do not perform well. *Eamon laughs*
Kyle: And now you've got an audience, like--
Keith: I know!
Kyle: If you screw up now--
Eamon: And now you have a teammate depending on you!
Kyle: Yeah. If you screw up now, John Mosby's gonna know you're a poser. So like--
Keith: That's true!
Kyle: Ready?
Keith: I'm--I... I'm gonna do my best.
Kyle: Keith. In this show, Mac has a lot of run-ins with old friends. Name me three friends that Duncan MacLeod kills in this show.
Keith: Oh! Uh... so we got Cullen. Uh, we have... OH no! OH NO!
Kyle: Oh! And your five seconds is up! You get one point!
Keith: Oh, I blew it!
Kyle: That's it. You're dead.
Keith: I got one!
Carmel: That five seconds goes very quickly!
Keith: It does!
Eamon: It's a fast five seconds.
Kyle: That was a Gentleman's five seconds. *laughing*
Keith: He kills so many of his friends, too, and I...
Kyle: Yeah, it's shocking how many of his friends he kills. Like, being Mac's buddy is a death sentence!
Eamon: It is!
Keith: Alright.
Carmel: If you can't remember the name, can you just sort of say, you know, um, the episode name or... you have to have a name?
Kyle: Um... so... I would say go for it. I'm a... arbitrary and capricious judge. So, I might give it to you sometimes.
5:41 Carmel: Thank you. *laughing* *all laugh*
John: That, that guy with the long coat and the long hair.
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah, there we go!
Eamon: That works!
Keith: That counts!
Kyle: Oh that's all three! You just nailed all of them!
Eamon: Yeah! Is that Dominic Piton? *laughter*
Keith: That's right! There's one of 'em!
Kyle: Boom!
Keith: Alright Kyle. What else we got?
Kyle: Eamon! It is your turn. Ready to rock?
Eamon: I'm ready.
Kyle: Eamon. Taking a--a liberal definition of the term, name me three artists... that exist in the Highlander universe. *Keith wheezelaughs*
Eamon: Oooh. Uh, Tessa Noel. Um... oh... a d-j-uh-uh-Joe Dawson! Uh, uh, uh--*Kyle: Oh, nice!*--Ooooh--
Kyle: Oh, and you're out of time!
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: But that's two! That's two, right there!
Carmel: Uh oh, John! They're getting harder!
Eamon: Yeah!
John: I know! I didn't know there was gonna be a test!
Kyle: I know! This is like--
6:24 Carmel: I have to go and rewatch all the episodes! *laughter*
Keith: That's what we do, here!
Eamon: That's right! *Carmel laughs*
John: If only I had a really good reference book to hand. *more Carmel laughter!*
Eamon: Oh!
Kyle: Yeah, I know! Like, if only one of the people participating in this game had written an essential guide to this thing! *Eamon laughs too*
Carmel: Yes!
Eamon: We can't see you, John! So if you wanna pull that off the shelf, you can use it.
Kyle: Yeah, if you guys are, like, I can call out Keith and Eamon, but if you guys are aggressively cheating, I will be none the wiser.
Keith: *laughing* Right.
Eamon: Hey Carmel, you're online! Pull up a Google search or something! *chuckling*
Carmel: I was going to say, by the time I get to Google my five seconds'd be up. *Eamon laughs*
Kyle: That's the hardest thing about this game, like...
Carmel: Yeah!
Kyle: People tend to get two right away, and then that third one...
Eamon: Ohh.
Kyle: But, Carmel, it's your turn!
Carmel: Uh-oh.
Kyle: Are you ready to rock?
Carmel: Yeaap.
Kyle: Which, speaking of that, transition... your question is: Please name three songs from Queen featured in Highlander.
Carmel: Princes of the Universe. Uh... It's... uh... It's a Kind of Magic. Aaand, ah, Live Forever.
Kyle: Yeah! I'll give you that. Yeah, alright!
Eamon: You got it!
Kyle: Boom!
Keith: You're crushing us! *Kyle: I--* And we do this professionally every week! *Eamon laughs*
Kyle: Professionally is a strong word.
Keith: That's right! *laughs*
Eamon: Alright John, get that book out.
John: Oh no!
Kyle: I know. It just got real! She just got four points for that! So, the pressure is ON. John!
John: Yeah?
Kyle: You ready?
John: No. Go on! *Eamon, Keith, maybe Kyle too, laugh*
Kyle: Can you please name me three Highlander villains whose name begin with a "K" sound.
John: *laughs* Kronos! Cullen! And... oh, God. Um... the Kurgan!
Together: Yeah!
Eamon: There you go!
Kyle: Alright!
Keith: In the nick of time!
Kyle: I gotta say, guys. So far, the guests are crushing you.
Keith: Yes!
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: They have both gotten four points for their trouble.
Eamon: I got two. Good job, you guys.
Keith: I got one.
Kyle: So right now, Team Eamon and John has six points to Keith and Carmel's five points, so...
Keith: Alright. It's still tight, though!
Kyle: It's alright! You've got one more round to... to pull this thing out. *Eamon: Tie-breaker.* I'm not optimistic for you, Keith.
Keith: No, I'm not, either!
Kyle: For you, personally. I'm sure Carmel's gonna carry you, but... *Eamon chuckles, Carmel laughs* Uh... Keith. Name me three episodes withOUT an Immortal adversary.
Eamon: Oooh!
Keith: Oh, man! Uh, so, uh... Family Tree. Um... oh... uh, uh, See No Evil! Uh... AUGH! I got two. Alright.
Kyle: Alright. That's two! That's two. Okay. *Eamon: Wow.* You got two.
Eamon: Good job.
Carmel: Oh well done! God, I would've got none! *laughter* By the time I thought of them... yeah.
Eamon: I'm awful at recalling the episode names!
Keith: Yes. We often forget the episode we talk about week to week. *Eamon: Yeah!* We're like, "What's this episode called?" *Eamon: Yes!*
Kyle: I don't know! Whatever! *laughter*
Keith: Very good!
9:00 Kyle: How could you poll***** that Family Tree, the, where the Im--the non-Immortal adversary is not having a dad. So, you know...
9:06 Kyle: Eamon.
Eamon: Yes.
Kyle: This one's gonna be an in-gag.
Eamon: Ooooh.
Kyle: So, this is for you exclusively.
Eamon: Mmhm?
Kyle: Name me three nicknames we've given Immortals in Highlander.
Eamon: Oh! So there's Carrot. *Kyle chuckles* Um, there is, uh, Dominic the Zone Piton. Uh, and there is... uh, Richie Rawdog Ryan. *Kyle and Keith burst out laughing* Yeah.
Kyle: There is! Alright, you got it. That was a, that was a generous five seconds, but I'm inclined to give it to you.
Eamon: I appreciate that.
Kyle: Carmel, you ready to rock?
Carmel: Yeees...
Kyle: Ohh! That sounded so--
Eamon: Hah-hah! You're crushing it! *Keith: Yes!* You're gonna get this! I know it.
Kyle: Yeah! I--I believe in you! Can you name me three of Duncan MacLeod's girlfriends. *gasp* Here we go!
Carmel: Um, Lisa, Tessa, Anne. *Moment* Except I think I said Lisa who IS Anne. *laughs*
Eamon: Ohhh!
Keith: Oh that's right!
Kyle: Oh! Mmm. You know what--
John: I'm sure in all his time, there's been a Lisa. *everyone speaks at the same time*
10:00 *****Oh yeah, we'll get to that.
Keith: Exactly!
Eamon: Yup! *laughing with Carmel*
*****Kyle: Boom!
Keith: Mac gets around. Yeah.
Kyle: Alright. John.
John: Hello. Right.
Kyle: Final--final shot here.
Eamon: We got this, John.
Kyle: I believe in you! Which I--I'm the judge, so I should not show partiality like that, but I still believe in you. *laughter*
Eamon: Just in general.
Kyle: Yeah. John.
John: Yeah.
Kyle: Can you name me: Three weapons that Duncan MacLeod uses in Highlander.
John: Uh... a katana, a sabre, and his bare hands.
Keith and Eamon: There you go!
Kyle: Yeah. You know what? He's a lethal weapon! I'll give it to you.
Eamon and Keith: Yeah!
Kyle: I will take it.
Keith: The unstoppable beefcake that is Duncan MacLeod!
Kyle: Duncan MacLeod and his bare hands? *Keith: Yeah!* Duncan MacLeod's meat-hooks are a deadly weapon! Oh! So that means... Keith, you blew it, man!
Keith: I did, I--
Kyle: That very first question you only got one point, and that is... Actually you know what? It wasn't even close. I'm just kidding. *Keith laughs* Uh... so it, it is... uh, fourteen to eleven. *Keith: WOW!* The winners are Eamon and John.
Eamon: Woohoo!
Keith: Very good! *applauds*
Eamon: Good job, John!
Carmel: Well done!
Kyle: The thing I was kidding about it wasn't just about the first round, it was that you blew both of your questions. *laughter* Keith. So...
Keith: Yes.
Eamon: Keith, Carmel's a first-time guest!
Keith: I know! I let her down.
Kyle: I know. Carmel aced hers! She got eight points total. Keith: Yikes!
Kyle: For her two things. But--
Keith: Well I gotta brush up on this! I gotta keep rewatching!
11:21 Carmel: ***** to be on the second one. *laughter*
Kyle: Oh... So! That's how you play 3 And 5! I hope... you had as much fun as WE did.
♫♪♫♪♫♩♬
11:33 Keith: Very good! *Carmel and others laugh* Well thanks so much for coming on the show--*laughs* I was just like, this sounds like a wrapup! Thanks for coming on the show! It's over! *much laughter*
Kyle: See ya, yeah!
John: Yeah, that was fun! See you guys!
Eamon: Yeah! Bye-bye!
Keith: Alright, so, the real reason... that you guys are on the show, is because--
Kyle: As a vessel to embarrass Keith. And we've done that, so--
Keith: Yes. Every week I'm embarrassed by my answers. Uh, so! Uh, you guys are putting on the 10th Highlander WorldWide Convention, this coming October!
Carmel: Well it's actually... it is actually the 11th!
Keith: That's right!
Kyle: The 11th? Oh, there's an extra one.
Keith: It's like a bonus one.
Carmel: The 11th. Well actually--we mucked things up. When we did um... uh, I think it was in 2005, or 6, we did a... We called it the Workshop, because it didn't take the format, in some ways, of a conventional con. It was very much a behind-the-scenes looking at the creative, um, the art of production. So we took four episodes, and we followed those four episodes through from script-to-screen. So, we didn't actually give that one a number, stupidly, so we're sort of now buggered ourselves up, because uh, we have to call this Highlander 10, otherwise everyone will be totally confused--
Keith: Right! *Kyle laughs*
Carmel: But it's--it is actually our 11th convention.
Keith: Awesome. What--
Kyle: That's--
Keith: What made you guys wanna put on this 10th convention?
Kyle: Eleventh. *amused*
Keith: Eleventh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! *bursts out laughing*
Kyle: We just established this is the 11th! We JUST established that these go to eleven!
Keith: See?! This, this is why I get the questions wrong week-to-week! *Eamon: Yeah!* Is because...
Carmel: That's alright now. You're allowed to call it Highlander WorldWide 10, otherwise everyone will think "I've registered for the wrong convention!"
Keith: Right! *Eamon laughs*
John: We're like Doctor Who! We-we have a War Convention somewhere.
Keith: Right! *laughter* So what was the impetus for putting this on?
Carmel: Um... to be honest, the last sort of few years have been somewhat busy for me, um, for various reasons, and um... Including quite a number of moves and, you know, an aged parent and so on. And many--and young grandchildren that needed looking after, and um, so on, but um... So, but I could... I could just see a whole new energy in the fandom. And um... you know, including yourselves, you know? And um, I thought, "You know what? It's..." So I started to just sort of put feelers out to John and the others saying, "You know... you know, maybe it's time that we should, um, put another one on." And then... Lashcon announced.
Keith: Heyo!
Carmel: And then we thought--and then I thought, "Oh, well God I... you know, I can't go in and um, announce Highlander WorldWide because, you know, that would just... um... you know, look a bit... mean." Um, so... So we held back, even though I... I have to say, my... my instincts are very good and-and right from the outset I was thinking, "Oh, this is not going to end well." Um... so...
Kyle: Yeah. I mean, your instincts were better than ours!
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: I gotta say; so you've got THAT feather in your cap.
Carmel: And um... And then particularly when I heard he was using my name, you know, with guests, saying that, you know I was right behind him: I'd never spoken to the bloke. Deliberately!
Eamon: Whoa!
Carmel: I mean, I really didn't want Highlander WorldWide's name anywhere near it, because I mean we've spent twenty years building up, you know, our reputation. So um, so we thought: Well look, we'll just wait until that's over in December and then we'll announce um, what we're doing. So, so that's what we did. Um... but... but yeah. It was a... it was a direct reaction to... You know what? It's... it's not... Highlander isn't actually, uh, losing people, it's actually gaining it. There's actually, I think, a-a-uh, you know... Over the last sort of two--two, three years, I've sort of just, you've just seen this pulsating energy, um. So I thought: Well, let's test that out. *chuckles* And also, I felt a real obligation after the shmozzle in Florida. Yeah, the fa--
Kyle: Did you say "Shmozzle?"
Carmel: Yeah. Shmozzle. The fans--
Kyle: That is not a word I know and I am loving it so far!
Carmel: Oh, alright. The fans deserve better than that. Highlander deserves better than that. You know, and I thought, "You know what, we've done this ten times already. Let's um, let's dust ourselves off and have another go!"
John: I mean it was something, as Carmel said, it was something of a godsend, in some ways... a sort of backhanded thing that... BECAUSE Lashcon didn't work, and BECAUSE we have basically... well, before we knew it wasn't gonna work, it gave us that breathing space. So there was, "Should we do something in 2016? Well, that would be a lot of pressure. These things take a lot of time." Soon as Lashcon announced, there was that kind of, "Right! We don't have to do anything this year! We can take our time 'n..." and then when that fell apart, it was like, "Right. It's even more important that we do it properly, but we still have a bit of time, you know, and do it later on in 2017 rather than rush it."
Eamon: Yeah. I mean, I think uh... that was the... the announcement of the-the-the Highlander WorldWide 11 really, kind of... it-at least in my mind the excitement kind of amped up, because, as I was at Lashcon, I was kind of like, "OH! You know. It would be good to do this again, and-and do it right!"
John: That was the thing. There was a lot of people, right at the end, I mean, there was *laughs* there was people like myself 'n stuff, who were you know, ANGRY at what had happened. You know, we'd been cheated out of money, and lied to... Um, and I said to Carmel, at the time, I said, "You know, there's a... there's a feeling; there's a real negative feeling here. There's a lot of fans pulling together, which is always a great thing, but... there was that kind of... this... that it shouldn't go out like this!" And, you know, that was the point when Carmel said, "Well, I'll have a few words with people and say, you know, maybe this isn't, you know, gonna be the end. Maybe there will be a convention," 'n, that's when we started sort of saying "Right. How do we lay the blueprint out?" and you know, normally we probably wouldn't have announced anything until about NOW, but we felt it was important to announce to people that there was an intention to do something properly.
Kyle: Yeah. And... I mean, I know I personally found that kind of meaningful just 'cause... we're kind of on the younger side of Highlander fans. *moment*
Keith: Oh yeah.
Kyle: Yeah. Like--
Keith: Like, we grew up watching it as... teenagers.
Kyle: Yeah, like on like the... in syndication on like, Spike TV or whatever--
Keith: Right. *agreeing noises from Carmel and John*
Kyle: --like, network was showing it. So I kind of feel like I missed the boat on Highlander conventions and things like that. Like that was a whole thing that I would've been too young for, during the first... a lot of the first rodeos, for things like that.
Keith: Yeah. When the show was going off the air, I was b-thirteen years old, I think? *agreeing noises from Eamon and Kyle* So, like I was too young to--yeah. I was too young to go to the conventions... so...
*****17:34 dialogue buried under Keith's words* Carmel: --why, because Kareem, who runs the Davis Panzer, you know um, Highlander's--
Kyle: He's a pro.
Carmel: --he was telling me that his first convention was Anaheim. Um, which was '98 and I think he said he was twelve...
Eamon: Wow! *laughter*
Kyle: There you go.
John: Oh God, I feel old.
Carmel: Oh, no!
Kyle: If it makes you feel better, John: I was ten. *laughter*
Carmel: Well that's why, I think, that the energy that I'm talking about and um, and the fact that you're all... so technically savvy and across the social media, I think THAT, you know, that's really what's um, you know, given it the enormous sort of um, reboot, really...
Kyle: And plus it's now available online on like--*Carmel: Yes.*--YouTube, and Hulu--*Carmel: YouTube, yeah.*--and you don't have to um, like spend a bunch of money on a boxset or something like that, anywhere along the line now, to watch these things, which is great! So, what can people expect, uh, in October like, what's the... what are the-the main draws? Who are the... the Highlander heavy hitters that they can expect to see in Los Angeles?
Carmel: Um, J--well, John's got his--his um, uh, virtual bat out, or his gag out. *John laughs* *Eamon laughs*
John: Carmel has the capacity, quite often, to re--reel out everybody. It's like, "We can't reach them yet!" *more laughter*
Carmel: *gets laughter under control* You can expect to see the heavy hitters. Um. Absolutely. And um, uh--
Kyle: So Sean Connery's gonna be there. Right? *much giggling*
Keith: So that's what you're saying! Sean Connery's coming!
Carmel: *amused* Yes, yes. I mean, I think we've already announced haven't we, Adrian, and um... you'd better say who we've announced, John, just in case I--
John: I'm doing the-the... FORMALLY we've announced Adrian, Elizabeth, uh, F Braun McAsh, David Abramowitz, uh, and Jim Byrnes. And I think uh... from what I was t... I was having a conversation with Carmel earlier on today, I think we can... tell you right now that Anthony De Longis will be there as well.
Keith: Very nice!
Kyle: Very excellent! Will he be doing it--one of his uh, whip classes or other... kind of events as well?
Carmel: He is. Yes.
John: He and Mary... are d--he and Mary are great people, and they're just great people to hang out with but yeah. We haven't formalized the schedule exactly for Friday. Friday's our Classes... uh, sort of, "day" of the convention. Um, we've gotta liaise with everybody and obviously make sure everybody um... because we have one--an area FOR the classes, so, we just gotta make sure everything fits together, so we haven't got the schedule for that. But Friday will be our big... um... training day, as it were.
Keith: It's... it's kind of... one of the unique things about Highlander. Can you tell us more about what classes are gonna be offered? I mean, a lot of shows... You know when you go to like a Star Trek convention, you know, Captain Picard's not teaching you a class--
Kyle: About phaser-shooting?
Keith: About phasers or something like that, like... The people that are IN Highlander, literally are experts on how to do a lot of these things that are exhibited in the show. So that's a really unique thing about Highlander conventions.
Carmel: That's right. That's right. That's why--and it really that's how... we call ourselves a boutique convention. We don't set out to have a thousand people or two thousand people. We want... the people who are there to have a... you know, quite an intimate experience, really, and, um... and the--we, we put the guests to work. They know that. *chuckles* Um, you know, so... oh, um... so, for example as you said, you know, what can people expect? Well, obviously, the Cabaret. All the guests are expected to perform, for fans. You know, um--
Eamon: Ooh!
John: Ouch.
Kyle: What kind of performances have you gotten in the past out of these people?
Carmel: Oh, they've had fabulous ones! We've had Adrian do a kata for us, at our last convention, which was amazing! In fact that's on DVD. Um, Lizzie... Lizzie actually wrote a-a scene for Duncan and Amanda. Ken Gord was a hoot, was he--I mean, I meant every one of them--Jim of course, will... yeah, there'll be a concert with Jim. Uh, trying to think what everybody else did. I mean, we had dances; we had singing; we had Peter playing a guitar for us. We had Richard Ridings and his daughter Freya singing... Yeah. You know, I mean they come up with all sorts of things. I have a DVD called The Immortal Cabaret, actually, from Highlander WorldWide 9.
Keith: Awesome!
Kyle: I'm just picturing now the cast of the movie Cabaret, just starring all the Highlander fans! *laughter*
Keith: That's something interesting also on your site, cuz you offer a lot of products, from the con--past conventions. Like, there's DVDs of... a lot of the stuff that's already happened, which is neat.
Carmel: Oh God, you would not believe what we've still got that hasn't ever been put together. Yeah, and um--
Keith: Really?
John: W--we've just been doing the new website, so... it's not possible at the moment to see everything, but we are--once, now we've got the tickets 'n stuff out of the way, and the bookings started for the convention, we're gonna be turning our sole attention towards that, so that will be built up on the website again, you'll be able to see the full list.
Carmel: And you'll start to see lots of video clips and things on the website too, now that we're sort of... you know, really in many ways back up and running. Um, so getting back to your question on the, um... Friday, there'll be whip... workcl--workshops, there'll be knife workshops, Adrian is doing um, two--will probably end up doing two Sword Experiences. So uh, and Lizzie has a fabulous fan class, fan kata class, that she does. Um, there could well also be um, an acting class. Yeah! So--
Keith: Who do you think would put on the acting class?
Carmel: Well I don't know who that could be. But um, I have an idea--
Kyle: Keith, you should attend that acting class.
Keith: Thank you, Kyle. *laughter*
Welcome to Highlander Rewatched! The podcast where each and every week we discuss another facet of the Highlander universe! Usually we're talking about the series; the movies; could be comic books, more recently; all sorts of good stuff. I'm one of your Rewatchers, I'm Keith!
This is Kyle.
This is Eamon!
Keith: And, we are wrapping up a pretty long day of podcasting. We've been podcasting since like, 10 AM this morning, drinking many a...
Kyle: Was that still today? That feels like a--
Keith: That was still today!
Kyle: That feels like a previous day.
Keith: Yes. Absolutely!
Kyle: I'm a different human now than I was when we started.
Keith: After some of the arguments we got in today about Highlander, it does...*Eamon: Mmhm!* it does feel very long and arduous. We were arguing for... what seemed like hours about how many entrances there are to Joe's Bar. It got crazy!
Eamon: Yeah. *Kyle laughs*
Keith: It was the weirdest conversation we've ever had!
Kyle: I'm uncomfortable in my own skin now. *laughs*
Keith: That's right.
Eamon: Well I think we started recording 500 years ago on the Planet Zeist. I think... I think that's where we started.
Kyle: And now here we are!
Keith: We're going to retcon all that later. *affirming laughter* So today's a very special episode because... well, we're not going to be talking about the... well we're going to be talking about the series, kind of tangentially, I guess.
Kyle: Indirectly!
Keith: Indirectly.
Kyle: Obliquely.
1:39 Keith: So a lot of you listeners out there, uh... have known that this past--what was it?--December, we went to... we traveled to Lakeland, Florida! To take part in the Lashcon Highlander Gathering. It was...
Eamon: The Thirtieth Anniversary Gathering of--
1:54 Kyle: ***** (dialogue buried under Keith's)
Keith: Oh! You were going to define it that way! I was going to define it with an expletive! But you said--*Eamon chuckles*
Kyle: Yeah. The orgy of incompetence that was--
Keith: Yeah, the orgy of incompetence.
Kyle: --that was the Lashcon events. But uh...
Keith: But it was great because we got to meet a lot of great people; even though the event was kind of a mess. And--
Kyle: And tha--I don't know about you, but that really whet my appetite for a... dare I say: a higher caliber...
Keith: Absolutely! It's like--
Kyle: ... of, of Highlander event!
Keith: Clearly! There must be something better out there for Highlander fans, and guess what? There IS.
Kyle: Whaaat?
2:21 Keith: Yes! Uh, so we've got two guests on our show today, to talk to you about that very thing! A brilliantly put together, professional in every way, Highlander Convention! Uh, please welcome to the show, uh well, FRIEND of the show now, uh, former podcast guest, and author of Fearful Symmetry: The Essential Guide to All Things Highlander, author John Mosby! Welcome to the show! Hey, John!
John: Thank you very much for having me! Hi! Welcome you guys!
Keith: Uh, and, uh... organizer and head of Highlander WorldWide, the Official Convention uh... I guess, Provider of Highlander: Carmel MacPherson! Thank you very much for joining us, Carmel!
Carmel: Thank you for having me! All the way across the continents!
Kyle: Yeah, this is like a, a timezone spanning event right now! *Keith: Yeah!* It's like, we're travelling through time just having this conversation! It's--*Keith: That's true!*--It's very special!
John: This podcast is bigger on the inside! *happy laughter*
Kyle: As a little uh... icebreaker, little way of uh, easing our way into the show, we thought it might be fun to... to play a little game!
♫♪♫♪♫♩♬
3:25 Kyle: So--
Carmel: Ah.
John: Aye?
Kyle: Uh, uh-oh! Oh, don't be nervous!
Keith: Don't be nervous!
Kyle: This is a, this is a, this is a... an easy game. This is a little game we call 3 And 5. I will say a category of thing, and you have five seconds to name three examples that fall within that category. And for the purposes of scoring, we're gonna--we're gonna give you some teams that I hope you develop a... a, a severe clan rivalry related to later. *Carmel laughs* So, for the purpose of this game, for scoring it'll be uh, Carmel and Keith versus Eamon and John!
Eamon: Alright.
Keith: Alright, it's on now!
John: Okay! Win or lose, play the game!
Kyle: So... well if you lose it'll be Keith's fault.
4:00 *****Oh, it... okay.
Kyle: I'm calling that--
Keith: Oh I--I'll call that. It's inevitably my fault.
Kyle: Yeah. So the way the scoring works is, like I said, you've got five seconds to name three things that fall within that category. You get one point for each one that you get correct, and if you get all three, you get four points! It's like a little extra bonus point. It's very special. So Keith and Eamon, you'll go first and then... we'll cycle through it, so that by the time we get to John and Carmel, they'll... they'll have gotten the gist.
Keith: Alright.
Kyle: Sound good?
Eamon: Okay. Yeah.
John: Okay.
Carmel: Yeah.
4:28 Keith: Alright.
Kyle: I don't know if people sound excited enough. I'm not sure if I'm like--
Eamon: YEAH!
Kyle: Thank you, Eamon.
Keith: I'm gonna smash this beer can on my forehead. *Eamon laughs*
Kyle: There we go! Now we're talking. So--*metal crunching sound*
Keith: There it was.
Kyle: There it was! Savage!
Eamon: Sound effects.
4:40 Keith: Sound, yeah. Magic of Foley.
Kyle: Alright. Ready to play?
Keith: I'm ready. I'm nervous because I--when I'm on the spot, I do not perform well. *Eamon laughs*
Kyle: And now you've got an audience, like--
Keith: I know!
Kyle: If you screw up now--
Eamon: And now you have a teammate depending on you!
Kyle: Yeah. If you screw up now, John Mosby's gonna know you're a poser. So like--
Keith: That's true!
Kyle: Ready?
Keith: I'm--I... I'm gonna do my best.
Kyle: Keith. In this show, Mac has a lot of run-ins with old friends. Name me three friends that Duncan MacLeod kills in this show.
Keith: Oh! Uh... so we got Cullen. Uh, we have... OH no! OH NO!
Kyle: Oh! And your five seconds is up! You get one point!
Keith: Oh, I blew it!
Kyle: That's it. You're dead.
Keith: I got one!
Carmel: That five seconds goes very quickly!
Keith: It does!
Eamon: It's a fast five seconds.
Kyle: That was a Gentleman's five seconds. *laughing*
Keith: He kills so many of his friends, too, and I...
Kyle: Yeah, it's shocking how many of his friends he kills. Like, being Mac's buddy is a death sentence!
Eamon: It is!
Keith: Alright.
Carmel: If you can't remember the name, can you just sort of say, you know, um, the episode name or... you have to have a name?
Kyle: Um... so... I would say go for it. I'm a... arbitrary and capricious judge. So, I might give it to you sometimes.
5:41 Carmel: Thank you. *laughing* *all laugh*
John: That, that guy with the long coat and the long hair.
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah, there we go!
Eamon: That works!
Keith: That counts!
Kyle: Oh that's all three! You just nailed all of them!
Eamon: Yeah! Is that Dominic Piton? *laughter*
Keith: That's right! There's one of 'em!
Kyle: Boom!
Keith: Alright Kyle. What else we got?
Kyle: Eamon! It is your turn. Ready to rock?
Eamon: I'm ready.
Kyle: Eamon. Taking a--a liberal definition of the term, name me three artists... that exist in the Highlander universe. *Keith wheezelaughs*
Eamon: Oooh. Uh, Tessa Noel. Um... oh... a d-j-uh-uh-Joe Dawson! Uh, uh, uh--*Kyle: Oh, nice!*--Ooooh--
Kyle: Oh, and you're out of time!
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: But that's two! That's two, right there!
Carmel: Uh oh, John! They're getting harder!
Eamon: Yeah!
John: I know! I didn't know there was gonna be a test!
Kyle: I know! This is like--
6:24 Carmel: I have to go and rewatch all the episodes! *laughter*
Keith: That's what we do, here!
Eamon: That's right! *Carmel laughs*
John: If only I had a really good reference book to hand. *more Carmel laughter!*
Eamon: Oh!
Kyle: Yeah, I know! Like, if only one of the people participating in this game had written an essential guide to this thing! *Eamon laughs too*
Carmel: Yes!
Eamon: We can't see you, John! So if you wanna pull that off the shelf, you can use it.
Kyle: Yeah, if you guys are, like, I can call out Keith and Eamon, but if you guys are aggressively cheating, I will be none the wiser.
Keith: *laughing* Right.
Eamon: Hey Carmel, you're online! Pull up a Google search or something! *chuckling*
Carmel: I was going to say, by the time I get to Google my five seconds'd be up. *Eamon laughs*
Kyle: That's the hardest thing about this game, like...
Carmel: Yeah!
Kyle: People tend to get two right away, and then that third one...
Eamon: Ohh.
Kyle: But, Carmel, it's your turn!
Carmel: Uh-oh.
Kyle: Are you ready to rock?
Carmel: Yeaap.
Kyle: Which, speaking of that, transition... your question is: Please name three songs from Queen featured in Highlander.
Carmel: Princes of the Universe. Uh... It's... uh... It's a Kind of Magic. Aaand, ah, Live Forever.
Kyle: Yeah! I'll give you that. Yeah, alright!
Eamon: You got it!
Kyle: Boom!
Keith: You're crushing us! *Kyle: I--* And we do this professionally every week! *Eamon laughs*
Kyle: Professionally is a strong word.
Keith: That's right! *laughs*
Eamon: Alright John, get that book out.
John: Oh no!
Kyle: I know. It just got real! She just got four points for that! So, the pressure is ON. John!
John: Yeah?
Kyle: You ready?
John: No. Go on! *Eamon, Keith, maybe Kyle too, laugh*
Kyle: Can you please name me three Highlander villains whose name begin with a "K" sound.
John: *laughs* Kronos! Cullen! And... oh, God. Um... the Kurgan!
Together: Yeah!
Eamon: There you go!
Kyle: Alright!
Keith: In the nick of time!
Kyle: I gotta say, guys. So far, the guests are crushing you.
Keith: Yes!
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: They have both gotten four points for their trouble.
Eamon: I got two. Good job, you guys.
Keith: I got one.
Kyle: So right now, Team Eamon and John has six points to Keith and Carmel's five points, so...
Keith: Alright. It's still tight, though!
Kyle: It's alright! You've got one more round to... to pull this thing out. *Eamon: Tie-breaker.* I'm not optimistic for you, Keith.
Keith: No, I'm not, either!
Kyle: For you, personally. I'm sure Carmel's gonna carry you, but... *Eamon chuckles, Carmel laughs* Uh... Keith. Name me three episodes withOUT an Immortal adversary.
Eamon: Oooh!
Keith: Oh, man! Uh, so, uh... Family Tree. Um... oh... uh, uh, See No Evil! Uh... AUGH! I got two. Alright.
Kyle: Alright. That's two! That's two. Okay. *Eamon: Wow.* You got two.
Eamon: Good job.
Carmel: Oh well done! God, I would've got none! *laughter* By the time I thought of them... yeah.
Eamon: I'm awful at recalling the episode names!
Keith: Yes. We often forget the episode we talk about week to week. *Eamon: Yeah!* We're like, "What's this episode called?" *Eamon: Yes!*
Kyle: I don't know! Whatever! *laughter*
Keith: Very good!
9:00 Kyle: How could you poll***** that Family Tree, the, where the Im--the non-Immortal adversary is not having a dad. So, you know...
9:06 Kyle: Eamon.
Eamon: Yes.
Kyle: This one's gonna be an in-gag.
Eamon: Ooooh.
Kyle: So, this is for you exclusively.
Eamon: Mmhm?
Kyle: Name me three nicknames we've given Immortals in Highlander.
Eamon: Oh! So there's Carrot. *Kyle chuckles* Um, there is, uh, Dominic the Zone Piton. Uh, and there is... uh, Richie Rawdog Ryan. *Kyle and Keith burst out laughing* Yeah.
Kyle: There is! Alright, you got it. That was a, that was a generous five seconds, but I'm inclined to give it to you.
Eamon: I appreciate that.
Kyle: Carmel, you ready to rock?
Carmel: Yeees...
Kyle: Ohh! That sounded so--
Eamon: Hah-hah! You're crushing it! *Keith: Yes!* You're gonna get this! I know it.
Kyle: Yeah! I--I believe in you! Can you name me three of Duncan MacLeod's girlfriends. *gasp* Here we go!
Carmel: Um, Lisa, Tessa, Anne. *Moment* Except I think I said Lisa who IS Anne. *laughs*
Eamon: Ohhh!
Keith: Oh that's right!
Kyle: Oh! Mmm. You know what--
John: I'm sure in all his time, there's been a Lisa. *everyone speaks at the same time*
10:00 *****Oh yeah, we'll get to that.
Keith: Exactly!
Eamon: Yup! *laughing with Carmel*
*****Kyle: Boom!
Keith: Mac gets around. Yeah.
Kyle: Alright. John.
John: Hello. Right.
Kyle: Final--final shot here.
Eamon: We got this, John.
Kyle: I believe in you! Which I--I'm the judge, so I should not show partiality like that, but I still believe in you. *laughter*
Eamon: Just in general.
Kyle: Yeah. John.
John: Yeah.
Kyle: Can you name me: Three weapons that Duncan MacLeod uses in Highlander.
John: Uh... a katana, a sabre, and his bare hands.
Keith and Eamon: There you go!
Kyle: Yeah. You know what? He's a lethal weapon! I'll give it to you.
Eamon and Keith: Yeah!
Kyle: I will take it.
Keith: The unstoppable beefcake that is Duncan MacLeod!
Kyle: Duncan MacLeod and his bare hands? *Keith: Yeah!* Duncan MacLeod's meat-hooks are a deadly weapon! Oh! So that means... Keith, you blew it, man!
Keith: I did, I--
Kyle: That very first question you only got one point, and that is... Actually you know what? It wasn't even close. I'm just kidding. *Keith laughs* Uh... so it, it is... uh, fourteen to eleven. *Keith: WOW!* The winners are Eamon and John.
Eamon: Woohoo!
Keith: Very good! *applauds*
Eamon: Good job, John!
Carmel: Well done!
Kyle: The thing I was kidding about it wasn't just about the first round, it was that you blew both of your questions. *laughter* Keith. So...
Keith: Yes.
Eamon: Keith, Carmel's a first-time guest!
Keith: I know! I let her down.
Kyle: I know. Carmel aced hers! She got eight points total. Keith: Yikes!
Kyle: For her two things. But--
Keith: Well I gotta brush up on this! I gotta keep rewatching!
11:21 Carmel: ***** to be on the second one. *laughter*
Kyle: Oh... So! That's how you play 3 And 5! I hope... you had as much fun as WE did.
♫♪♫♪♫♩♬
11:33 Keith: Very good! *Carmel and others laugh* Well thanks so much for coming on the show--*laughs* I was just like, this sounds like a wrapup! Thanks for coming on the show! It's over! *much laughter*
Kyle: See ya, yeah!
John: Yeah, that was fun! See you guys!
Eamon: Yeah! Bye-bye!
Keith: Alright, so, the real reason... that you guys are on the show, is because--
Kyle: As a vessel to embarrass Keith. And we've done that, so--
Keith: Yes. Every week I'm embarrassed by my answers. Uh, so! Uh, you guys are putting on the 10th Highlander WorldWide Convention, this coming October!
Carmel: Well it's actually... it is actually the 11th!
Keith: That's right!
Kyle: The 11th? Oh, there's an extra one.
Keith: It's like a bonus one.
Carmel: The 11th. Well actually--we mucked things up. When we did um... uh, I think it was in 2005, or 6, we did a... We called it the Workshop, because it didn't take the format, in some ways, of a conventional con. It was very much a behind-the-scenes looking at the creative, um, the art of production. So we took four episodes, and we followed those four episodes through from script-to-screen. So, we didn't actually give that one a number, stupidly, so we're sort of now buggered ourselves up, because uh, we have to call this Highlander 10, otherwise everyone will be totally confused--
Keith: Right! *Kyle laughs*
Carmel: But it's--it is actually our 11th convention.
Keith: Awesome. What--
Kyle: That's--
Keith: What made you guys wanna put on this 10th convention?
Kyle: Eleventh. *amused*
Keith: Eleventh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! *bursts out laughing*
Kyle: We just established this is the 11th! We JUST established that these go to eleven!
Keith: See?! This, this is why I get the questions wrong week-to-week! *Eamon: Yeah!* Is because...
Carmel: That's alright now. You're allowed to call it Highlander WorldWide 10, otherwise everyone will think "I've registered for the wrong convention!"
Keith: Right! *Eamon laughs*
John: We're like Doctor Who! We-we have a War Convention somewhere.
Keith: Right! *laughter* So what was the impetus for putting this on?
Carmel: Um... to be honest, the last sort of few years have been somewhat busy for me, um, for various reasons, and um... Including quite a number of moves and, you know, an aged parent and so on. And many--and young grandchildren that needed looking after, and um, so on, but um... So, but I could... I could just see a whole new energy in the fandom. And um... you know, including yourselves, you know? And um, I thought, "You know what? It's..." So I started to just sort of put feelers out to John and the others saying, "You know... you know, maybe it's time that we should, um, put another one on." And then... Lashcon announced.
Keith: Heyo!
Carmel: And then we thought--and then I thought, "Oh, well God I... you know, I can't go in and um, announce Highlander WorldWide because, you know, that would just... um... you know, look a bit... mean." Um, so... So we held back, even though I... I have to say, my... my instincts are very good and-and right from the outset I was thinking, "Oh, this is not going to end well." Um... so...
Kyle: Yeah. I mean, your instincts were better than ours!
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: I gotta say; so you've got THAT feather in your cap.
Carmel: And um... And then particularly when I heard he was using my name, you know, with guests, saying that, you know I was right behind him: I'd never spoken to the bloke. Deliberately!
Eamon: Whoa!
Carmel: I mean, I really didn't want Highlander WorldWide's name anywhere near it, because I mean we've spent twenty years building up, you know, our reputation. So um, so we thought: Well look, we'll just wait until that's over in December and then we'll announce um, what we're doing. So, so that's what we did. Um... but... but yeah. It was a... it was a direct reaction to... You know what? It's... it's not... Highlander isn't actually, uh, losing people, it's actually gaining it. There's actually, I think, a-a-uh, you know... Over the last sort of two--two, three years, I've sort of just, you've just seen this pulsating energy, um. So I thought: Well, let's test that out. *chuckles* And also, I felt a real obligation after the shmozzle in Florida. Yeah, the fa--
Kyle: Did you say "Shmozzle?"
Carmel: Yeah. Shmozzle. The fans--
Kyle: That is not a word I know and I am loving it so far!
Carmel: Oh, alright. The fans deserve better than that. Highlander deserves better than that. You know, and I thought, "You know what, we've done this ten times already. Let's um, let's dust ourselves off and have another go!"
John: I mean it was something, as Carmel said, it was something of a godsend, in some ways... a sort of backhanded thing that... BECAUSE Lashcon didn't work, and BECAUSE we have basically... well, before we knew it wasn't gonna work, it gave us that breathing space. So there was, "Should we do something in 2016? Well, that would be a lot of pressure. These things take a lot of time." Soon as Lashcon announced, there was that kind of, "Right! We don't have to do anything this year! We can take our time 'n..." and then when that fell apart, it was like, "Right. It's even more important that we do it properly, but we still have a bit of time, you know, and do it later on in 2017 rather than rush it."
Eamon: Yeah. I mean, I think uh... that was the... the announcement of the-the-the Highlander WorldWide 11 really, kind of... it-at least in my mind the excitement kind of amped up, because, as I was at Lashcon, I was kind of like, "OH! You know. It would be good to do this again, and-and do it right!"
John: That was the thing. There was a lot of people, right at the end, I mean, there was *laughs* there was people like myself 'n stuff, who were you know, ANGRY at what had happened. You know, we'd been cheated out of money, and lied to... Um, and I said to Carmel, at the time, I said, "You know, there's a... there's a feeling; there's a real negative feeling here. There's a lot of fans pulling together, which is always a great thing, but... there was that kind of... this... that it shouldn't go out like this!" And, you know, that was the point when Carmel said, "Well, I'll have a few words with people and say, you know, maybe this isn't, you know, gonna be the end. Maybe there will be a convention," 'n, that's when we started sort of saying "Right. How do we lay the blueprint out?" and you know, normally we probably wouldn't have announced anything until about NOW, but we felt it was important to announce to people that there was an intention to do something properly.
Kyle: Yeah. And... I mean, I know I personally found that kind of meaningful just 'cause... we're kind of on the younger side of Highlander fans. *moment*
Keith: Oh yeah.
Kyle: Yeah. Like--
Keith: Like, we grew up watching it as... teenagers.
Kyle: Yeah, like on like the... in syndication on like, Spike TV or whatever--
Keith: Right. *agreeing noises from Carmel and John*
Kyle: --like, network was showing it. So I kind of feel like I missed the boat on Highlander conventions and things like that. Like that was a whole thing that I would've been too young for, during the first... a lot of the first rodeos, for things like that.
Keith: Yeah. When the show was going off the air, I was b-thirteen years old, I think? *agreeing noises from Eamon and Kyle* So, like I was too young to--yeah. I was too young to go to the conventions... so...
*****17:34 dialogue buried under Keith's words* Carmel: --why, because Kareem, who runs the Davis Panzer, you know um, Highlander's--
Kyle: He's a pro.
Carmel: --he was telling me that his first convention was Anaheim. Um, which was '98 and I think he said he was twelve...
Eamon: Wow! *laughter*
Kyle: There you go.
John: Oh God, I feel old.
Carmel: Oh, no!
Kyle: If it makes you feel better, John: I was ten. *laughter*
Carmel: Well that's why, I think, that the energy that I'm talking about and um, and the fact that you're all... so technically savvy and across the social media, I think THAT, you know, that's really what's um, you know, given it the enormous sort of um, reboot, really...
Kyle: And plus it's now available online on like--*Carmel: Yes.*--YouTube, and Hulu--*Carmel: YouTube, yeah.*--and you don't have to um, like spend a bunch of money on a boxset or something like that, anywhere along the line now, to watch these things, which is great! So, what can people expect, uh, in October like, what's the... what are the-the main draws? Who are the... the Highlander heavy hitters that they can expect to see in Los Angeles?
Carmel: Um, J--well, John's got his--his um, uh, virtual bat out, or his gag out. *John laughs* *Eamon laughs*
John: Carmel has the capacity, quite often, to re--reel out everybody. It's like, "We can't reach them yet!" *more laughter*
Carmel: *gets laughter under control* You can expect to see the heavy hitters. Um. Absolutely. And um, uh--
Kyle: So Sean Connery's gonna be there. Right? *much giggling*
Keith: So that's what you're saying! Sean Connery's coming!
Carmel: *amused* Yes, yes. I mean, I think we've already announced haven't we, Adrian, and um... you'd better say who we've announced, John, just in case I--
John: I'm doing the-the... FORMALLY we've announced Adrian, Elizabeth, uh, F Braun McAsh, David Abramowitz, uh, and Jim Byrnes. And I think uh... from what I was t... I was having a conversation with Carmel earlier on today, I think we can... tell you right now that Anthony De Longis will be there as well.
Keith: Very nice!
Kyle: Very excellent! Will he be doing it--one of his uh, whip classes or other... kind of events as well?
Carmel: He is. Yes.
John: He and Mary... are d--he and Mary are great people, and they're just great people to hang out with but yeah. We haven't formalized the schedule exactly for Friday. Friday's our Classes... uh, sort of, "day" of the convention. Um, we've gotta liaise with everybody and obviously make sure everybody um... because we have one--an area FOR the classes, so, we just gotta make sure everything fits together, so we haven't got the schedule for that. But Friday will be our big... um... training day, as it were.
Keith: It's... it's kind of... one of the unique things about Highlander. Can you tell us more about what classes are gonna be offered? I mean, a lot of shows... You know when you go to like a Star Trek convention, you know, Captain Picard's not teaching you a class--
Kyle: About phaser-shooting?
Keith: About phasers or something like that, like... The people that are IN Highlander, literally are experts on how to do a lot of these things that are exhibited in the show. So that's a really unique thing about Highlander conventions.
Carmel: That's right. That's right. That's why--and it really that's how... we call ourselves a boutique convention. We don't set out to have a thousand people or two thousand people. We want... the people who are there to have a... you know, quite an intimate experience, really, and, um... and the--we, we put the guests to work. They know that. *chuckles* Um, you know, so... oh, um... so, for example as you said, you know, what can people expect? Well, obviously, the Cabaret. All the guests are expected to perform, for fans. You know, um--
Eamon: Ooh!
John: Ouch.
Kyle: What kind of performances have you gotten in the past out of these people?
Carmel: Oh, they've had fabulous ones! We've had Adrian do a kata for us, at our last convention, which was amazing! In fact that's on DVD. Um, Lizzie... Lizzie actually wrote a-a scene for Duncan and Amanda. Ken Gord was a hoot, was he--I mean, I meant every one of them--Jim of course, will... yeah, there'll be a concert with Jim. Uh, trying to think what everybody else did. I mean, we had dances; we had singing; we had Peter playing a guitar for us. We had Richard Ridings and his daughter Freya singing... Yeah. You know, I mean they come up with all sorts of things. I have a DVD called The Immortal Cabaret, actually, from Highlander WorldWide 9.
Keith: Awesome!
Kyle: I'm just picturing now the cast of the movie Cabaret, just starring all the Highlander fans! *laughter*
Keith: That's something interesting also on your site, cuz you offer a lot of products, from the con--past conventions. Like, there's DVDs of... a lot of the stuff that's already happened, which is neat.
Carmel: Oh God, you would not believe what we've still got that hasn't ever been put together. Yeah, and um--
Keith: Really?
John: W--we've just been doing the new website, so... it's not possible at the moment to see everything, but we are--once, now we've got the tickets 'n stuff out of the way, and the bookings started for the convention, we're gonna be turning our sole attention towards that, so that will be built up on the website again, you'll be able to see the full list.
Carmel: And you'll start to see lots of video clips and things on the website too, now that we're sort of... you know, really in many ways back up and running. Um, so getting back to your question on the, um... Friday, there'll be whip... workcl--workshops, there'll be knife workshops, Adrian is doing um, two--will probably end up doing two Sword Experiences. So uh, and Lizzie has a fabulous fan class, fan kata class, that she does. Um, there could well also be um, an acting class. Yeah! So--
Keith: Who do you think would put on the acting class?
Carmel: Well I don't know who that could be. But um, I have an idea--
Kyle: Keith, you should attend that acting class.
Keith: Thank you, Kyle. *laughter*