This was the actual start of the con. Many of us PMEBers skipped Opening Ceremonies to wait in line for the Dealer's Room to open. (I was one of them, if you couldn't guess.) My goal was to get lots of Sylv and Turlough pics and some audio adventures and The Infinity Doctors. To be succinct, cha-ching! (Well, so the audio adventures were rather expensive, but I'm hoping they'll be worth it.)
I skipped the photoshoot and made my way to the DrWho autograph line. I'd gotten most autographs that I'd wanted except Caroline and Mark. Of course, they stupidly split them up (which is something they should have done BEFORE the con ever started) and I went into the Caroline line. (Heh.) Caroline, Louise, and Geoffery were together, and I bought a lovely photo of Caroline & Louise from Devil of Winterbourne and had them autograph it, and a nice BW photo of Geoffrey for him. (I didn't realize my logistics problem until later, but they way I'd scheduled this, I'd completely miss out on a Mark autograph...)
For lunch, several of us (please don't ask me to list them - I'd forget some) went to Denny's. A few brave souls walked the 20 minutes there. This was the FIRST time that I've ever walked there where it wasn't (A) raining, (B) snowing, (C) freezing, (D) muddy, or (E) all of the above. I think that's illegal... (But I won't complain).
Judi and Elsa had to run off back to Judi's home to see if Gail's magical tape had arrived in time for the party, and most of the rest of us went onto the DrWho panel.
I was a little worried when I read that Paul Simpson was hosting the panels again because I thought he did a lousy job last year. This year he was much improved. He let the audience come up with questions and let the stars do all the talking. The panel, however, was a logistical nightmare. 7 guests and 1 hour to talk. Sylv, Caroline, Louise, Geoffrey, Mark, Terry, and Lisa. (Oh, did I mention how FINE Mark looked? Damn FINE. Turlough da Man!)
They did a wonderful job, however, and we got about an equal amount of discussion from each. At the moment, I can't remember details. As I recall them, I'll mention them.
After the panel it was rehearsal time for the Radio Play. If you weren't aware, Marion Saunderson wrote a lovely Doctor Who radio play for us to perform during the PMEB party. I worked on sound effects (though during the rehearsal, we couldn't hear it because we had no batteries for the computer speakers). The players did a fine job. Steph was Rocco, a ganster. Alryssa was Father Paul. Marion was the Doctor. Carole was Maisey who used a Southern drawl to counteract her English accent. Andie was da Boss. More about the play later.
With rehearsal behind our belts (and batteries finally in the speaker, thanks to assistant sound editor, Judi, and her driver, Elsa) we gathered for our (now traditional) trek to Bennigans.
Last year we went to Bennigans with 16 people and were spot on with the bill when it came around. This year we had 23 people and did the same. (Without even looking at the bill before hand!) Oh, and perhaps I should mention one PMEBer who arrived between meals...
ALDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think Alden was greeted with more hugs and camera flashes than any of the guests at the con. Well, he came from such a long distance, we owed him that much. :) It was lovely to see Alden again and I hope he'll eventually find it in his heart to forgive us...
High from our success at Bennigans (2 years running) we headed back to the hotel to set up for the PMEB party. Since our room was out in the boonies and a tad bit smaller, we switched to Carole and Mary Ellen's room. (Will THEY ever find it in their hearts to forgive us?) We had a few troubles setting up, however. The TV's cable cord was blocked so that we couldn't remove it. With much technical discussion, we figured a way around it.
What was probably the highlight of the set-up was seeing Alden's face as he brought Elsa's second VCR into the room. (You see, we had him on a wild goose chase for a particular reason.) As Alden held the VCR out to me and asked, "OK, where do you want me to stick this?" he was looking at my shirt, which proudly said, "Alden, we love ewe!"
Elsa, fine t-shirt maker that she is, made t-shirts for about 9 of us which all proclaimed this true statement. I'll let her show you the picture when she returns from her trip. (On a side note, she also made me a second shirt with her painting of Turlough and the ever true statement: Turlough da man!)
The party was meant to start at 8, but with everyone getting photos of Alden and his Harem, it started closer to 8:30. We were sad that we didn't have Gail's lovely "Cut to the Chase" video of Paul, but we did pretty well without it. Steph made a music video of Paul clips that was very well done. Then we had a "Sing-Along with Paul" which was made by Elsa. We first sang along to the song from Monocled Muntineer and then to Paul singing in Paper Mask. Alas, he's not done much singing in the movies, so Elsa finished the sing-along with "Time Warp" from Rocky Horror Picture Show. Those who felt like it stood up and danced the Time Warp along with singing it. (Sorry for stepping on you, Suki.)
Seeing my chance at a bit of Sylv conversion (since the master tape wasn't there) I put in my half hour Sylv compilation tape. I started with two scenes from Mark Strickson (Christmas Carol and Dolphin Cove) and then went into the Sylv bits. People who'd never had the chance to see Sylv dressed as a flower standing in a bucket while Lenny Henry rubbed Pig Manure onto him FINALLY had the opportunity to rectify that. :) Sylveste McCoy, Human Bomb, also hammered a nail into his nose and performed an escape from metropolital police handcuffs (while wearing only undies, suspenders, socks, and a bow-tie). I know that I loved the clips (cuz I picked them out in the first place) and I hope that others enjoyed them too.
Next we watched the hit of the con (it would seem): The Few Doctors. If you've not had the opportunity to see this DWAS video, go out and get it now. It's an absolute hoot. The basic plot is that the heads of the BBC are deciding the future of Doctor Who. The sports department has made a sample video of the Doctors vs the Monsters. And the director used to work for Benny Hill. Peter Miles, JNT, and Gary Downie (a "mate of JNT's" as Sylv described him) were all guest stars. :) I laughed often and loud.
With our videos done for the most part (and with our Masqueraders done - congrats to Erin, Tom, and Alryssa!!!!!!) we started our radio play. There was a delay as the sound person had technical difficulties with the computer, and then the show started. I'll let those who saw the show describe what they thought of it. I, for one, enjoyed it. (I do know, however, that Sharon didn't think the accents were very accurate :-).
After the radio play, we basically listened to the McGanns, ate lots of food, and talked and talked. When it was getting very late and Carole and Mary Ellen wanted to go to bed, we put on Three Kinds of Heat (which earlier in the day Sylv admitted was his worst film) hoping that people would leave. They didn't... But we started to clean up anyway and folks eventually made their way out. Then it was time for room 2905 to head off to our room and go to bed (amidst more blanket wars with Judi).
BTW - have any of you ever had trouble sleeping when one of your roommate snores?
Early the next morning, I woke up. And subsequently woke up all my roomies. (Sorry ladies!) But it was time for the second day of the con and I was too excited to sleep.
If you'd like to read about Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday, click one of the links. If you'd like to return to the photo page, click here. If you'd like to return to ACME Page Fillers, Inc. click here.