Fangoria '09
Fangoria '09
The Cocktail Party
My budget was already stretched to the limit. Because of this, I didn't buy any new clothes for this weekend. But, that turned out to not be so bad. Last year, when I stayed in LA, I did a lot of shopping due to extreme boredom. Also, I did a bit of shopping for D*C last year, so I had some new, never before seen dresses. Excluding one outfit, all I did was wear dresses last weekend, actually.
Anyway, Friday, I decided to wear this blue, Mandarin dress. Initially coming low to my ankles, I took it to the cleaners, where I had it hemmed up to the knee. No further because it had deep slits up the side. Hey--legs are my greatest asset. I mos def wanted to show off the gams.
As usual, going to see James made me come over a bit queasy. We got there a bit early, so I hauled ass to the ladies to gain some type of composure. I mean...there was nothing to be nervous about anyway, right? I'd seen the man before...Right.
I got to the incredibly tiny party room for thirty people (the organizers were working on moving us to a bigger space within the Zanzibar club/bar, which had a really great ambiance, actually) only to find that James, decked out in a black suit with a dark blue button down (omg--drool) had shown up while I was MIA. He was right in the front of the room, while my friends were towards the back. Talk about being conflicted. I thought it'd be rude to walk past him without saying anything to stand with my friends, but I didn't want to interrupt the conversation he was already having with a couple of people. So yeah, I pretty much just stood there for a few seconds, trying to figure out what the crap to do. But then, it ended up not mattering, because James looked up and noticed me.
"Hello," he said, reaching out a hand. I smile and extend mine to shake his, and he smiles as we do so before pulling me towards him for a hug. Just as I wrap my free arm around him to return the hug, because our hands were still holding, I feel his face by my cheek, and he gives me a kiss there. Somehow, that doesn't faze me, and we both pull back at the same time. Okay--I was probably beaming like I'd just watched an ep of Smile Time or something, but still, I didn't stand there with my mouth open or nothing.
"You look fabulous," he said, using an up and down hand gesture in reference to my whole body. "Beau-tiful. Wow." He started talking about how his son's made of cool, and is practically like this guitar prodigy which is great. He admitted to being slightly jealous at how talented his son was, but so tremendously proud. It was shortly after this that our party was directed to move to the next room, which could actually hold more than fifteen people for our thirty plus cocktail party. The lighting was fantastic, and there was a big, round, fire place like thing in the center of the room. Okay, who cares about all that--I'll try to stick to the good stuff. Apologies, but I'm TWS (typing while sleepy).
Right before we moved, I sought out one of the servers, and requested a Long Island. It's been such a long time since I had alcohol... (last spring, actually). The first few sips from the straw had my face scrunch up as if I sucked on a lemon. I took a few deep swigs after that, and got over it. But yeah, I went for the Long Island cause I'd rather spend money on one big drink, as opposed to a bunch of little ones, which add up on my poor wallet.
The evening passed with me dancing with my friends, hanging out, while James made his way around the room, talking to the cluster of folks. He eventually did his tongue drill again, at the request of Ms. IB, but I was too tipsy to really care. Isn't that weird? I know, right?
But yeah, the cocktail party was fun. Not even just James--but hanging with my girls too. Although, I do hope there will be a pool party in the future...Ahem.
Saturday Photo Shoot
As I mentioned, my budget was tight, so I decided to only get one photo with James, which I was saving for Sunday, and the group photo, which we were doing for Saturday.
So, I stood at the front of the line with my friends, watching as they did their individual photo ops, and then we went to the back of the line, for our special picture. It was decided in my group that I would present the picture to James, which was totally fine with me. When it came to pictures and picture taking with James, I am strangely calm (now). Well, cept for that one incident Sunday...but I'm jumping the gun.
I should add that Chris was the photographer. Chris who is stupidly talented. Chris who is kind. Chris who is an artist, and wants the shot to look good just as much as you do. Chris who is responsible for my forehead pic. I so <3 Chris. If I could fold his tall self, and put him in my pocket to go with me wherever I went, I so would.
Ahem.
So, finally the room is clear, and it's just me and my friends, and Chris instructs his assistant to close the door. Yes, we had a closed set for our photo.
I held the sample picture in my hand, and approached James, who smiled warmly at me. I had to look away for a second before showing him the picture.
"I was wondering if it would be okay for us to do that?"
He looked up at me, slightly smirking again, and said, "Of course I'll do it for you, baby." Insert blushing here.
My friend takes out a sheet and lays it on the floor, and we all attempt to get in poses similar to the picture. James tells us to look beautifully bored, or something like that, and then the camera flashes, and I ask Chris if I can see it, but he just shakes his head, thinking the pic came out all good and stuff. Yeah, excluding James, not so much, as we discovered later that day. Whoops--jumping the gun there.
So we all kind of get up, and as my friends are putting back on their shoes and stuff, James is standing in front of me and says, "You really are beautiful," and I smile and look away. Yes, the man reduces me to being Miss Celie. The rotten bastard :P
Saturday Q&A
I decided to change my clothes before the Q&A. Our hotel was literally a block away, and we had a few hours in between the autograph session and the Q&A. And anyway, I wanted to have something different to wear to the concert later that night, and changing before his Q&A was the only time I had to do it.
I decided to ask him a question. Second in line, I felt the nerves acting up again, but then I had to straighten up cause it was my turn. I stepped up to the mic, and he said (I believe) "hello, beautiful," in this like...soft voice, smiling at me all the while. I didn't say thank you or anything, because all I am capable of doing is smile back at him. I mentally shake myself a bit, and then ask my question.
"If Spike were here, what would his assessment of you be?"
I was told it was a good question, and I thought it was a good question...but his answer was...basically, he said Spike hated everyone, and would totally call James an idiot. I didn't agree with the first bit, though found some merit on the latter, but I frowned, arms crossed, index finger to my lips as I watched him as he explained his answer. Honestly, I felt like he pegged Spike a bit wrong on that one. When he finished, I kind of shrugged or something, and you know what he said?
"I love you, baby," with a smile. Aww...Yes, that beat my frown's ass, and I beamed at him again before walking back to my seat.
Wanting to know if he'd come back to Chicago, I got up towards the end to ask my second question. Of course, just as soon as I get to the mic, it's time for him to go. But James sees me, and tells the lady that he'd take one more. Oh, that little scamp.
Now, I don't recall exactly, but I think I said, "being a huge fan of Barack and Michelle [who he's like "in love" with. He has such a fanboy crush on her. Personally, I wish I could steal her arms. Just saying]], when do you think will be the next time you'll visit Chicago?" since the man hasn't been there in over eight years. And yeah okay, it's where I live :P If I didn't have to get on a plane to see the man, that'd be cool. Of course, it won't stop me if I have to--clearly.
He somehow misinterprets my question, thinking I asked when was he going to live there again, and he said that when his kids finally graduated high school and went off to college, he'd come back and do theatre, and I was like, "No--I meant to visit, not to live there." And his response was that even if he just visited to do a play, they can at times run six months, which lead me to saying, "No" again, and clarified that I meant for an event or a convention or something, to which he replied, "Oh. Well, whenever you invite me!" And then he went on to say how NY theatre sucked because it was so commercial and all about the money, and how Chicago was just superior when it came to theatre and acting. He didn't get any argument from me. Big props to Chicago there--the city, in my (not so humble) opinion. Though I was kind of surprised he said he'd go back to do theatre. But I won't complain :P
Quick note about the Q&A--James was interrupted several times by a drunken fan, hellbent on having a personal conversation with James that involved yelling at him while he was on stage. Luckily, Ms. IB shut that shit down, cause she's made of win. And it was hard to hear at times, due to the convention center's suckiness...I really hope someone has a transcript, because I unfortunately missed a great deal of his answers.
Concert
So let me start this off by saying that the people at Creation who organized the seating for this concert are a bunch of ding a lings. On their site, it explicitly said that Gold Ticket Seats DID NOT INCLUDE JAMES' CONCERT, and yet they kept those block of seats away from the reserved seat ticket holders, and gave us (the ones who paid twice as much for our tickets) seats all the way off to the fucking side, where you couldn't see shit, cause James is just one guy, and not a play or a band. Yes, again, Chris the photographer aside, the Creation people really sucked donkey balls. I, and two others, went in like thirty minutes before the concert once we realized how they mucked up horribly, and pretty much told them they had to fix this now or there was going to be a big ass problem on their hands later that night, and you'd think it'd be an easy fix, right? To rearrange the seats so that the reserved people could use the Gold Ticket seating? Well, it would have been an easy fix, had the Creation people not been so incredibly simple. Instead, it took them an hour to come to a solution to the seating problem.
Once the concert began, James mentioned that he'd forgotten his guitar strap. Instead, he was using a strip of duct tape. No, I am really not joking :P From a distance, I'd thought to myself, "Is that satin or something?" but then James told us all to move closer so it'd feel like we were in the same room, and I could see that yes, it was duct tape. One thing about moving closer though--we all tried to lift our seats, and then promptly realized that the seats were connected. People started working in teams to move the rows of chairs. I pulled on mine so hard, that it separated from the rest. Needless to say I was pretty close to the stage.
He started with this new song, which I totally loved. I don't remember the name, and only one line specifically...
"Life can be a bitter pill, but you'd better learn to chew it," or something like that. I really hope he plays it again at whatever the next thing is, so I can hear it again. It really was great. James seems to be on a roll with the new material, and I look forward to whatever comes out next.
There were more snafus--none because of James. Um, the Javitz Center's equipment was pure crap. Earlier that day at the Q&A, it was hard to hear anything because there were no proper partitions to separate the con floor from the room beyond these thin, black sheet things, which stopped the background noise of absolutely nothing. In fact, at one point the Q&A mic went out, and James jumped off the stage to let the woman use his mic. At the concert, the main speaker to which his guitar was plugged to or whatever, was nothing but pure static. It was so awful, that there was nothing to be done but unplug the damn thing, and James just sang and played with no speakers or mics. He was absolutely great, and I hope to high heaven he does an unplugged album.
What else...James was really, really pissed I'd heard about all of the fuck ups of the con people, but you couldn't see it in his performance. However, he did cut it short, giving no encore, because he'd just had enough at that point. Which really was understandable. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't do one of those cons for awhile (which only makes me sad because that means no Chris :( ).
Most of the songs were...girlfriend related, such as "Lookin' at You," "Finer Than Gold" and "Fall of Night," which didn't seem to be easy performances. Not easy as in, he seemed to be a bit emotional about them. Those three, the Cowboy song, "London City," the new song...Button Down Vandals, and...crabs. I can't remember the others.
After it was over, I had to go to the ladies', and one of the Creation dumb asses wouldn't allow me to use the nearest bathroom, instead forcing me to go all the way over to the other side, which, as I came to find out once I reemerged, that I totally missed James exiting, and he actually chatted for a second with my friends. Yes, I was very pissed that evening.
But, we all (a large group of con goers--met a lot of great new people) went to this restaurant called Burgers and Cupcakes, where I had the most DELICIOUS, light, tasty raspberry cupcake, and salmon burger. My god, that food was good...
Sunday Photo Shoot
I had two outfits for Sunday as well. What I wore there was for the photo shoot itself, the same purple, satin dress I wore to the D*C banquet, and the pink dress to walk around in the con and stuff--the same one I wore to my graduations/the first time I met James.
Once again, we were at the front of line, and when James walked past to head into the room, he greeted me with a, "Good morning, beautiful." And I've come to discover that whenever he drops me a compliment, I can do nothing more than smile shyly before lowering my eyes like a loser, though I hope it read as me being demure. Oh well.
For our photo, I tried to pose him like what was in the picture. Oh wait--first let me say that he was wearing this fugly, Ward Cleaver brown sweater, and luckily, had a black T-shirt on underneath. So hellz yeah, I asked him to take it off--the sweater you pervs--and he was all, "Yeah, sure" and did. What I found out later, what I didn't realize in the moment, he was totally laughing his ass off as I tried to physically maneuver him into the pose I wanted. I guess I was being a bossy bitch again :P Telling him, "No, you're doing it wrong--like this," and then moving his body by his shoulders or waist to get him where I wanted him. He was probably being difficult on purpose, the fink. I kid ;)
When I got him as close as humanly possible to what I wanted, or as close as I was going to get anyway, I stepped into position, flush against him, and put my hand on his head. And then we locked eyes at close range, which was a first. It was so...intense. So incredibly, unbelievably intense that there was just nothing else. I seriously couldn't think--I don't remember touching his hair or anything. Any pose I had for myself flew out of the window, which is why I'm just standing there in the pic (but luckily, it turned out okay. Not exactly what I wanted, but ok). It's like he had hypno beams in his eyes, and I was in some kind of like, trance. After that flash went off, we both smiled, hugged, and then I walked off. Had to go get back in line for our group pose.
When it was our group again, they closed the doors just like yesterday, and James said, "You guys are taking me back to the WB, huh?" While my friends set up the sheet again, I pulled him to the side and told him that, while I wasn't sure how the whole convention thing worked, that he was totally invited to come back to Chicago by me. I then asked if he could do a Marsters Class perhaps if he did show up, cause that'd be awesome, and then he went back to the whole "Chicago's about serious acting" blah blah blah, and I was all like, "Still, you should totally do it," but then that conversation trailed off as it was time for everyone to get into their poses. The difference was this time, I was the director, to ensure it looked good for everyone, and not just the insanely always good looking and photogenic Marsters.
Everyone laid down in the general spaces of where they should be, and I directed each one counter clockwise, with "turn your head for a three quarter shot," or "you're losing your neck" or "your neck is too tense--turn this way" and so forth, all the while ignoring James. Why, you ask? Cause he was staring at me the whole time, laid back relaxed, smirking at me. I was trying to be about business, but he was making me want to laugh, or you know, have it rain in my panties or something with all the smirking. I tried to ask him to move his head a bit at the very end, but he was still smirking, raising his eyebrows and stuff. Embarrassed, I just thought "to hell with it," and let him be.
(Note: It kind of reminded me of how he was lounging in the rubble in "Wrecked," if that can give you guys a mental image. Just surround him with women, and you know, have him not be naked and blond).
So yeah, after my "to hell with it," I decided to take my place next to him. I put my head on his chest, looking up at the camera, and he wrapped his arm around me, and I placed my hand on top of his. My friend smoothed my hair down, and then Chris took the shot. He gave a "hold it," took another, and then we were done. We were all like, "yay!" or something, and when we stood up, he said "It was nice having an orgy with you guys."
One by one, we gave him a hug, and filed out. God, that photo is just...neat.
Sunday Autograph Line
Right after the photos, I went to the ladies to change my entire outfit. After debating, I decided to get my picture I'd taken at Valencon with James autographed, but only because he'd been personalizing the photos.
He totally noticed my change of dress.
"Oh my--oh my god, did you change?!" he kind of exclaimed, sitting halfway out of his seat to look down at my attire.
I leaned on the table and said, "Well, the purple dress was my photo op dress, while this is my 'walk around the con' dress."
He responded with a shake of his head,saying, "What are you doing to me? You're killing me!" To which I laughed.
After he signed it, writing a "one love" for the personalization, he looked up at me, and shook my hand with a smile.
When he got up to leave the autograph table, everyone applauded. He walked right by me, and paused, and we both smiled at one another, and then he continued his way on out.
I really had a blast (though still on a Q&A transcript search, which is sad, but necessary).
Quick notes on NYC--it's crowded and smelly. Yeah...
The Cocktail Party
My budget was already stretched to the limit. Because of this, I didn't buy any new clothes for this weekend. But, that turned out to not be so bad. Last year, when I stayed in LA, I did a lot of shopping due to extreme boredom. Also, I did a bit of shopping for D*C last year, so I had some new, never before seen dresses. Excluding one outfit, all I did was wear dresses last weekend, actually.
Anyway, Friday, I decided to wear this blue, Mandarin dress. Initially coming low to my ankles, I took it to the cleaners, where I had it hemmed up to the knee. No further because it had deep slits up the side. Hey--legs are my greatest asset. I mos def wanted to show off the gams.
As usual, going to see James made me come over a bit queasy. We got there a bit early, so I hauled ass to the ladies to gain some type of composure. I mean...there was nothing to be nervous about anyway, right? I'd seen the man before...Right.
I got to the incredibly tiny party room for thirty people (the organizers were working on moving us to a bigger space within the Zanzibar club/bar, which had a really great ambiance, actually) only to find that James, decked out in a black suit with a dark blue button down (omg--drool) had shown up while I was MIA. He was right in the front of the room, while my friends were towards the back. Talk about being conflicted. I thought it'd be rude to walk past him without saying anything to stand with my friends, but I didn't want to interrupt the conversation he was already having with a couple of people. So yeah, I pretty much just stood there for a few seconds, trying to figure out what the crap to do. But then, it ended up not mattering, because James looked up and noticed me.
"Hello," he said, reaching out a hand. I smile and extend mine to shake his, and he smiles as we do so before pulling me towards him for a hug. Just as I wrap my free arm around him to return the hug, because our hands were still holding, I feel his face by my cheek, and he gives me a kiss there. Somehow, that doesn't faze me, and we both pull back at the same time. Okay--I was probably beaming like I'd just watched an ep of Smile Time or something, but still, I didn't stand there with my mouth open or nothing.
"You look fabulous," he said, using an up and down hand gesture in reference to my whole body. "Beau-tiful. Wow." He started talking about how his son's made of cool, and is practically like this guitar prodigy which is great. He admitted to being slightly jealous at how talented his son was, but so tremendously proud. It was shortly after this that our party was directed to move to the next room, which could actually hold more than fifteen people for our thirty plus cocktail party. The lighting was fantastic, and there was a big, round, fire place like thing in the center of the room. Okay, who cares about all that--I'll try to stick to the good stuff. Apologies, but I'm TWS (typing while sleepy).
Right before we moved, I sought out one of the servers, and requested a Long Island. It's been such a long time since I had alcohol... (last spring, actually). The first few sips from the straw had my face scrunch up as if I sucked on a lemon. I took a few deep swigs after that, and got over it. But yeah, I went for the Long Island cause I'd rather spend money on one big drink, as opposed to a bunch of little ones, which add up on my poor wallet.
The evening passed with me dancing with my friends, hanging out, while James made his way around the room, talking to the cluster of folks. He eventually did his tongue drill again, at the request of Ms. IB, but I was too tipsy to really care. Isn't that weird? I know, right?
But yeah, the cocktail party was fun. Not even just James--but hanging with my girls too. Although, I do hope there will be a pool party in the future...Ahem.
Saturday Photo Shoot
As I mentioned, my budget was tight, so I decided to only get one photo with James, which I was saving for Sunday, and the group photo, which we were doing for Saturday.
So, I stood at the front of the line with my friends, watching as they did their individual photo ops, and then we went to the back of the line, for our special picture. It was decided in my group that I would present the picture to James, which was totally fine with me. When it came to pictures and picture taking with James, I am strangely calm (now). Well, cept for that one incident Sunday...but I'm jumping the gun.
I should add that Chris was the photographer. Chris who is stupidly talented. Chris who is kind. Chris who is an artist, and wants the shot to look good just as much as you do. Chris who is responsible for my forehead pic. I so <3 Chris. If I could fold his tall self, and put him in my pocket to go with me wherever I went, I so would.
Ahem.
So, finally the room is clear, and it's just me and my friends, and Chris instructs his assistant to close the door. Yes, we had a closed set for our photo.
I held the sample picture in my hand, and approached James, who smiled warmly at me. I had to look away for a second before showing him the picture.
"I was wondering if it would be okay for us to do that?"
He looked up at me, slightly smirking again, and said, "Of course I'll do it for you, baby." Insert blushing here.
My friend takes out a sheet and lays it on the floor, and we all attempt to get in poses similar to the picture. James tells us to look beautifully bored, or something like that, and then the camera flashes, and I ask Chris if I can see it, but he just shakes his head, thinking the pic came out all good and stuff. Yeah, excluding James, not so much, as we discovered later that day. Whoops--jumping the gun there.
So we all kind of get up, and as my friends are putting back on their shoes and stuff, James is standing in front of me and says, "You really are beautiful," and I smile and look away. Yes, the man reduces me to being Miss Celie. The rotten bastard :P
Saturday Q&A
I decided to change my clothes before the Q&A. Our hotel was literally a block away, and we had a few hours in between the autograph session and the Q&A. And anyway, I wanted to have something different to wear to the concert later that night, and changing before his Q&A was the only time I had to do it.
I decided to ask him a question. Second in line, I felt the nerves acting up again, but then I had to straighten up cause it was my turn. I stepped up to the mic, and he said (I believe) "hello, beautiful," in this like...soft voice, smiling at me all the while. I didn't say thank you or anything, because all I am capable of doing is smile back at him. I mentally shake myself a bit, and then ask my question.
"If Spike were here, what would his assessment of you be?"
I was told it was a good question, and I thought it was a good question...but his answer was...basically, he said Spike hated everyone, and would totally call James an idiot. I didn't agree with the first bit, though found some merit on the latter, but I frowned, arms crossed, index finger to my lips as I watched him as he explained his answer. Honestly, I felt like he pegged Spike a bit wrong on that one. When he finished, I kind of shrugged or something, and you know what he said?
"I love you, baby," with a smile. Aww...Yes, that beat my frown's ass, and I beamed at him again before walking back to my seat.
Wanting to know if he'd come back to Chicago, I got up towards the end to ask my second question. Of course, just as soon as I get to the mic, it's time for him to go. But James sees me, and tells the lady that he'd take one more. Oh, that little scamp.
Now, I don't recall exactly, but I think I said, "being a huge fan of Barack and Michelle [who he's like "in love" with. He has such a fanboy crush on her. Personally, I wish I could steal her arms. Just saying]], when do you think will be the next time you'll visit Chicago?" since the man hasn't been there in over eight years. And yeah okay, it's where I live :P If I didn't have to get on a plane to see the man, that'd be cool. Of course, it won't stop me if I have to--clearly.
He somehow misinterprets my question, thinking I asked when was he going to live there again, and he said that when his kids finally graduated high school and went off to college, he'd come back and do theatre, and I was like, "No--I meant to visit, not to live there." And his response was that even if he just visited to do a play, they can at times run six months, which lead me to saying, "No" again, and clarified that I meant for an event or a convention or something, to which he replied, "Oh. Well, whenever you invite me!" And then he went on to say how NY theatre sucked because it was so commercial and all about the money, and how Chicago was just superior when it came to theatre and acting. He didn't get any argument from me. Big props to Chicago there--the city, in my (not so humble) opinion. Though I was kind of surprised he said he'd go back to do theatre. But I won't complain :P
Quick note about the Q&A--James was interrupted several times by a drunken fan, hellbent on having a personal conversation with James that involved yelling at him while he was on stage. Luckily, Ms. IB shut that shit down, cause she's made of win. And it was hard to hear at times, due to the convention center's suckiness...I really hope someone has a transcript, because I unfortunately missed a great deal of his answers.
Concert
So let me start this off by saying that the people at Creation who organized the seating for this concert are a bunch of ding a lings. On their site, it explicitly said that Gold Ticket Seats DID NOT INCLUDE JAMES' CONCERT, and yet they kept those block of seats away from the reserved seat ticket holders, and gave us (the ones who paid twice as much for our tickets) seats all the way off to the fucking side, where you couldn't see shit, cause James is just one guy, and not a play or a band. Yes, again, Chris the photographer aside, the Creation people really sucked donkey balls. I, and two others, went in like thirty minutes before the concert once we realized how they mucked up horribly, and pretty much told them they had to fix this now or there was going to be a big ass problem on their hands later that night, and you'd think it'd be an easy fix, right? To rearrange the seats so that the reserved people could use the Gold Ticket seating? Well, it would have been an easy fix, had the Creation people not been so incredibly simple. Instead, it took them an hour to come to a solution to the seating problem.
Once the concert began, James mentioned that he'd forgotten his guitar strap. Instead, he was using a strip of duct tape. No, I am really not joking :P From a distance, I'd thought to myself, "Is that satin or something?" but then James told us all to move closer so it'd feel like we were in the same room, and I could see that yes, it was duct tape. One thing about moving closer though--we all tried to lift our seats, and then promptly realized that the seats were connected. People started working in teams to move the rows of chairs. I pulled on mine so hard, that it separated from the rest. Needless to say I was pretty close to the stage.
He started with this new song, which I totally loved. I don't remember the name, and only one line specifically...
"Life can be a bitter pill, but you'd better learn to chew it," or something like that. I really hope he plays it again at whatever the next thing is, so I can hear it again. It really was great. James seems to be on a roll with the new material, and I look forward to whatever comes out next.
There were more snafus--none because of James. Um, the Javitz Center's equipment was pure crap. Earlier that day at the Q&A, it was hard to hear anything because there were no proper partitions to separate the con floor from the room beyond these thin, black sheet things, which stopped the background noise of absolutely nothing. In fact, at one point the Q&A mic went out, and James jumped off the stage to let the woman use his mic. At the concert, the main speaker to which his guitar was plugged to or whatever, was nothing but pure static. It was so awful, that there was nothing to be done but unplug the damn thing, and James just sang and played with no speakers or mics. He was absolutely great, and I hope to high heaven he does an unplugged album.
What else...James was really, really pissed I'd heard about all of the fuck ups of the con people, but you couldn't see it in his performance. However, he did cut it short, giving no encore, because he'd just had enough at that point. Which really was understandable. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't do one of those cons for awhile (which only makes me sad because that means no Chris :( ).
Most of the songs were...girlfriend related, such as "Lookin' at You," "Finer Than Gold" and "Fall of Night," which didn't seem to be easy performances. Not easy as in, he seemed to be a bit emotional about them. Those three, the Cowboy song, "London City," the new song...Button Down Vandals, and...crabs. I can't remember the others.
After it was over, I had to go to the ladies', and one of the Creation dumb asses wouldn't allow me to use the nearest bathroom, instead forcing me to go all the way over to the other side, which, as I came to find out once I reemerged, that I totally missed James exiting, and he actually chatted for a second with my friends. Yes, I was very pissed that evening.
But, we all (a large group of con goers--met a lot of great new people) went to this restaurant called Burgers and Cupcakes, where I had the most DELICIOUS, light, tasty raspberry cupcake, and salmon burger. My god, that food was good...
Sunday Photo Shoot
I had two outfits for Sunday as well. What I wore there was for the photo shoot itself, the same purple, satin dress I wore to the D*C banquet, and the pink dress to walk around in the con and stuff--the same one I wore to my graduations/the first time I met James.
Once again, we were at the front of line, and when James walked past to head into the room, he greeted me with a, "Good morning, beautiful." And I've come to discover that whenever he drops me a compliment, I can do nothing more than smile shyly before lowering my eyes like a loser, though I hope it read as me being demure. Oh well.
For our photo, I tried to pose him like what was in the picture. Oh wait--first let me say that he was wearing this fugly, Ward Cleaver brown sweater, and luckily, had a black T-shirt on underneath. So hellz yeah, I asked him to take it off--the sweater you pervs--and he was all, "Yeah, sure" and did. What I found out later, what I didn't realize in the moment, he was totally laughing his ass off as I tried to physically maneuver him into the pose I wanted. I guess I was being a bossy bitch again :P Telling him, "No, you're doing it wrong--like this," and then moving his body by his shoulders or waist to get him where I wanted him. He was probably being difficult on purpose, the fink. I kid ;)
When I got him as close as humanly possible to what I wanted, or as close as I was going to get anyway, I stepped into position, flush against him, and put my hand on his head. And then we locked eyes at close range, which was a first. It was so...intense. So incredibly, unbelievably intense that there was just nothing else. I seriously couldn't think--I don't remember touching his hair or anything. Any pose I had for myself flew out of the window, which is why I'm just standing there in the pic (but luckily, it turned out okay. Not exactly what I wanted, but ok). It's like he had hypno beams in his eyes, and I was in some kind of like, trance. After that flash went off, we both smiled, hugged, and then I walked off. Had to go get back in line for our group pose.
When it was our group again, they closed the doors just like yesterday, and James said, "You guys are taking me back to the WB, huh?" While my friends set up the sheet again, I pulled him to the side and told him that, while I wasn't sure how the whole convention thing worked, that he was totally invited to come back to Chicago by me. I then asked if he could do a Marsters Class perhaps if he did show up, cause that'd be awesome, and then he went back to the whole "Chicago's about serious acting" blah blah blah, and I was all like, "Still, you should totally do it," but then that conversation trailed off as it was time for everyone to get into their poses. The difference was this time, I was the director, to ensure it looked good for everyone, and not just the insanely always good looking and photogenic Marsters.
Everyone laid down in the general spaces of where they should be, and I directed each one counter clockwise, with "turn your head for a three quarter shot," or "you're losing your neck" or "your neck is too tense--turn this way" and so forth, all the while ignoring James. Why, you ask? Cause he was staring at me the whole time, laid back relaxed, smirking at me. I was trying to be about business, but he was making me want to laugh, or you know, have it rain in my panties or something with all the smirking. I tried to ask him to move his head a bit at the very end, but he was still smirking, raising his eyebrows and stuff. Embarrassed, I just thought "to hell with it," and let him be.
(Note: It kind of reminded me of how he was lounging in the rubble in "Wrecked," if that can give you guys a mental image. Just surround him with women, and you know, have him not be naked and blond).
So yeah, after my "to hell with it," I decided to take my place next to him. I put my head on his chest, looking up at the camera, and he wrapped his arm around me, and I placed my hand on top of his. My friend smoothed my hair down, and then Chris took the shot. He gave a "hold it," took another, and then we were done. We were all like, "yay!" or something, and when we stood up, he said "It was nice having an orgy with you guys."
One by one, we gave him a hug, and filed out. God, that photo is just...neat.
Sunday Autograph Line
Right after the photos, I went to the ladies to change my entire outfit. After debating, I decided to get my picture I'd taken at Valencon with James autographed, but only because he'd been personalizing the photos.
He totally noticed my change of dress.
"Oh my--oh my god, did you change?!" he kind of exclaimed, sitting halfway out of his seat to look down at my attire.
I leaned on the table and said, "Well, the purple dress was my photo op dress, while this is my 'walk around the con' dress."
He responded with a shake of his head,saying, "What are you doing to me? You're killing me!" To which I laughed.
After he signed it, writing a "one love" for the personalization, he looked up at me, and shook my hand with a smile.
When he got up to leave the autograph table, everyone applauded. He walked right by me, and paused, and we both smiled at one another, and then he continued his way on out.
I really had a blast (though still on a Q&A transcript search, which is sad, but necessary).
Quick notes on NYC--it's crowded and smelly. Yeah...