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May. 24th, 2004 01:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rusty_haloWell, this was an eventful weekend.
Friday: Graduation Party
My graduation party turned out well. About ten people showed up, including![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
soulmate815, drujan, jaydk, a former coworker, a friend from high school, and my parents.
I'm still not so much getting along with my parents, but they wanted to do this, so whatever. It's sort of their party too; they helped put a kid through college and all so I guess they have the right to celebrate. And I'm grateful for that aspect, even if I'm seriously fucking pissed about many other things.
So we went to Kate's in the East Village and ordered a ton of food, which was very good. (Kate's is a veggie place but not all vegan). I love their appetizers. I got pretty drunk and tried to talk to as many people as possible. We were there until around midnight. It was fun; I'm glad it worked out.
I was especially glad to see my old friend Mike, who I don't see nearly often enough. We were in high school together; he's the only person from high school with whom I'm still in touch. So we have this way of understanding each other that I don't have with anyone else, just from shared life experience. I spent a lot of time catching up with him.
Saturday: Eliza Dushku in Philadelphia
This was an, um ... interesting road trip.
After getting to sleep around 3am Friday night, I woke up at 7:30am on Saturday to meetthefangirl, soulmate815, and vampgaia. They rented a car, and we were on the road to Philadelphia by about 10am. (Can I emphasize how very much we should have taken the train? Faster, easier, cheaper, no need to ask for directions, no traffic jams, no tolls, no parking fees, no getting lost....)
Anyway, so the drive went pretty well (except for me feeling carsick, but that always happens) until we got outside of Philadelphia. We waited in traffic an hour and a half to get over the bridge into the city. By the time we got into the city, parked, and walked to the convention, it was 1:30; Eliza began speaking at one. (Though apparently she was a bit late so we didn't miss much.)
Her talk was so dull thatthefangirl and I spent half the time reading the con booklet. I can't remember a single interesting thing she said ... sorry. She just leaned on the podium and looked bored, mostly.
So she finished speaking at 2pm, and they told us she'd be signing autographs upstairs from 3-5. So we went up to get in line, only to find that the line was capped and had been since morning. Um, lame, espcially because there weren't even that many people in it. We'd driven all the way from NYC (andvampgaia from Maine) so we (or at least, I ) felt perfectly justified cutting in line (near the back, basically so that we could be in line). It seemed everyone else pretty much had the same idea. I don't know what the organizers were thinking, capping the line at noon for a 3-5 signing when she was speaking from 1-2. (Actually, I'm pretty sure that they were not thinking.)
Anyway, so we ran intopsubrat and the five of us stood around talking for hours, so it wasn't all bad. It was good to hang out and bond with everyone.
But. Eliza. Of whom I am not a fan. The woman arrives 20 minutes late for her 3-5 signing, takes a 10 minute break in the middle, and then quits 15 minutes early to yawn and chit-chat and sign stuff for security right in front of a line of 300 people who have been waiting 3-6 hours. Then she leaves, utterly ignoring this line, without even a sorry or thank you or anything. Major brat. There are children crying in this line, who have been standing there all day, and no one took any responsibility for the situation. No one ever came and talked to this line--no one said anything. Not "It looks like you might not get an autograph," not "She's leaving in ten minutes," nothing. The head security guy had the gall to bitch about the fact that he didn't get a photo, and refused to take any responsbility for the poor organization. Dude, you have her sign for security in private, not in front of 300 people who have been waiting all day! And someone needed to be pushing this thing along--she was signing six items per person and taking photos. No wonder she only got through 200 people all day!
It was just a poorly organized, lazy, lame nightmare. The name of the con is Wizard World and I'd strongly recommend avoiding them at all costs, because they have no clue how to organize a signing. I've seen James Marsters sign at least ten times and I've never seen anything approaching the awfulness of this.
The one nice thing I have to say is that when we went to get our money back, they refunded our $20. Of course, that doesn't cover the rental car, the tolls, the parking, or the items we bought to have signed, but it was better than nothing. At least the guy who gave us the refund admitted the mistake--it was nice to see someone take responsibility.
So anyway, we also checked out a couple of the other things at the con. Brian Thompson was there (who played Luke and the Judge on Buffy, and the alien bounty hunter on X-Files, among other things.) We got autographs and photos, but he was creepy as hell. I was all gothed out and he was leering in such a disturbing way. He commented on all my clothes, asked where I was from, my age, all this stuff. Then really groped me when we took the photo... just ugh. And kept staring at me, and leered Goodbye, Laura as I left. I still feel like I have Brian Thompson cooties crawling all over me.
So, my new story is thatsoulmate815 is my girlfriend, and she will kick the ass of any man who harrasses me. soulmate815, you have to practice looking really intimidating.
(Honestly, this bothers me. I'd really like to live in a world where I could dress however the hell I want, just for the fun of it, and not have to worry about men taking this as an open invitation to sexual harrassment.)
So the one genuinely cool thing at the con was that we met Brian O'Halloran, who played Dante in Clerks. They were selling widescreen DVDs of Clerks signed by Kevin Smith for only $23, so I bought one of those and also had Brian sign it. He was totally cool, nice, relaxed, cute. That was a good experience.
So then we got food at a Chinese place (mine was probably the worst vegetarian food I've ever had) and headed back to NYC. Except we got lost and drove around very creepy little towns in Jersey for an hour instead. Finally we got directions from a gas station and managed to get on the Jersey Turnpike. Did I mention how much we should have taken the train?
By this point we were all somewhat hysterical, and spent about 5 minutes laughing until we choked after we finally got onto the Turnpike. (Which was started by this insane guy at the booth who screamed "Ticket!" like the world was ending whensoulmate815 forgot to grab the little automatic ticket from the machine that you get when you enter the Turnpike).
So we finally got to NYC around 10:30 PM, then decided that we had to go out for drinks. So we did, and chatted and hung out, and overall I think it was a good trip. It was a bonding experience, and good company, even if objectively it was a nightmare.
So, I got home around 1:30am, and got to bed around 3, and then didn't get up until 1pm the next day, for...
Sunday: Eric Kufs from Common Rotation at the Bitter End
So, I've decided that I really like Common Rotation. I don't know how this happened, because I was pretty determined not to like them, but I do. They're not my type of music at all, but they're smart and sincere and talented. (Pretty much the opposite of Ghost of the Robot -- sorrysoulmate815).
I think maybe it's just I've seen them so many times that I know their songs, I know most of the lyrics, I know the stage mannerisms and the voices, so now it just sort of makes me happy to hear them. So I was insistent that we go see Eric Kufs at the Bitter End, and gotsoulmate815 and vampgaia to come with me.
We couldn't find a time posted anywhere, and he was the first playing, so we got there at 7pm just to be safe. Doors didn't open until quarter to eight, but that was okay--we hung out and waited in CVS where it was air conditioned.
vampgaia and I were pretty much the first ones in, and we had our choice of seats, so sat right in front. soulmate815 joined us shortly.
It was a Sunday night, so there were only about ten people there. It was very nice and intimate. Adam Busch was there, just sitting at the bar. He joined Eric onstage and played harmonica for one song (and gave his harmonica tovampgaia afterwards!)
Eric did a great job--he's talented, and so cute, and seems to be getting a lot more comfortable onstage. He did the audience banter thing well, and thanked the ten of us often for coming. It was neat.
Afterwardssoulmate815 and vampgaia talked to them for a bit, but I didn't. I'm really sort of enjoying this casual fan thing, where you can just enjoy the music and not worry about wanting to meet them or anything. I've never done this before--I usually tend to be all-or-nothing about anything of which I'm a fan. Maybe I'm mellowing in my old age. ;)
So after the concert, we went to the Spanish restaurant that we always visit after seeing Common Ro. (The one where they make the guacamole fresh in front of you--it's awesome.) We chatted for a long time (luckyvampgaia went to see Hugh Jackman's play and told us all about that--I really want to go see it now--and of course soulmate815 just got back from seeing James Marsters in Berlin and London). And we had some serious talk too--it was good to bond with everyone.
So, I got home from that around 1am, got to sleep around 3, and am starting this week totally exhausted.
Friday: Graduation Party
My graduation party turned out well. About ten people showed up, including
soulmate815, drujan, jaydk, a former coworker, a friend from high school, and my parents.I'm still not so much getting along with my parents, but they wanted to do this, so whatever. It's sort of their party too; they helped put a kid through college and all so I guess they have the right to celebrate. And I'm grateful for that aspect, even if I'm seriously fucking pissed about many other things.
So we went to Kate's in the East Village and ordered a ton of food, which was very good. (Kate's is a veggie place but not all vegan). I love their appetizers. I got pretty drunk and tried to talk to as many people as possible. We were there until around midnight. It was fun; I'm glad it worked out.
I was especially glad to see my old friend Mike, who I don't see nearly often enough. We were in high school together; he's the only person from high school with whom I'm still in touch. So we have this way of understanding each other that I don't have with anyone else, just from shared life experience. I spent a lot of time catching up with him.
Saturday: Eliza Dushku in Philadelphia
This was an, um ... interesting road trip.
After getting to sleep around 3am Friday night, I woke up at 7:30am on Saturday to meet
thefangirl, soulmate815, and vampgaia. They rented a car, and we were on the road to Philadelphia by about 10am. (Can I emphasize how very much we should have taken the train? Faster, easier, cheaper, no need to ask for directions, no traffic jams, no tolls, no parking fees, no getting lost....)Anyway, so the drive went pretty well (except for me feeling carsick, but that always happens) until we got outside of Philadelphia. We waited in traffic an hour and a half to get over the bridge into the city. By the time we got into the city, parked, and walked to the convention, it was 1:30; Eliza began speaking at one. (Though apparently she was a bit late so we didn't miss much.)
Her talk was so dull that
thefangirl and I spent half the time reading the con booklet. I can't remember a single interesting thing she said ... sorry. She just leaned on the podium and looked bored, mostly.So she finished speaking at 2pm, and they told us she'd be signing autographs upstairs from 3-5. So we went up to get in line, only to find that the line was capped and had been since morning. Um, lame, espcially because there weren't even that many people in it. We'd driven all the way from NYC (and
vampgaia from Maine) so we (or at least, I ) felt perfectly justified cutting in line (near the back, basically so that we could be in line). It seemed everyone else pretty much had the same idea. I don't know what the organizers were thinking, capping the line at noon for a 3-5 signing when she was speaking from 1-2. (Actually, I'm pretty sure that they were not thinking.)Anyway, so we ran into
psubrat and the five of us stood around talking for hours, so it wasn't all bad. It was good to hang out and bond with everyone.But. Eliza. Of whom I am not a fan. The woman arrives 20 minutes late for her 3-5 signing, takes a 10 minute break in the middle, and then quits 15 minutes early to yawn and chit-chat and sign stuff for security right in front of a line of 300 people who have been waiting 3-6 hours. Then she leaves, utterly ignoring this line, without even a sorry or thank you or anything. Major brat. There are children crying in this line, who have been standing there all day, and no one took any responsibility for the situation. No one ever came and talked to this line--no one said anything. Not "It looks like you might not get an autograph," not "She's leaving in ten minutes," nothing. The head security guy had the gall to bitch about the fact that he didn't get a photo, and refused to take any responsbility for the poor organization. Dude, you have her sign for security in private, not in front of 300 people who have been waiting all day! And someone needed to be pushing this thing along--she was signing six items per person and taking photos. No wonder she only got through 200 people all day!
It was just a poorly organized, lazy, lame nightmare. The name of the con is Wizard World and I'd strongly recommend avoiding them at all costs, because they have no clue how to organize a signing. I've seen James Marsters sign at least ten times and I've never seen anything approaching the awfulness of this.
The one nice thing I have to say is that when we went to get our money back, they refunded our $20. Of course, that doesn't cover the rental car, the tolls, the parking, or the items we bought to have signed, but it was better than nothing. At least the guy who gave us the refund admitted the mistake--it was nice to see someone take responsibility.
So anyway, we also checked out a couple of the other things at the con. Brian Thompson was there (who played Luke and the Judge on Buffy, and the alien bounty hunter on X-Files, among other things.) We got autographs and photos, but he was creepy as hell. I was all gothed out and he was leering in such a disturbing way. He commented on all my clothes, asked where I was from, my age, all this stuff. Then really groped me when we took the photo... just ugh. And kept staring at me, and leered Goodbye, Laura as I left. I still feel like I have Brian Thompson cooties crawling all over me.
So, my new story is that
soulmate815 is my girlfriend, and she will kick the ass of any man who harrasses me. soulmate815, you have to practice looking really intimidating.(Honestly, this bothers me. I'd really like to live in a world where I could dress however the hell I want, just for the fun of it, and not have to worry about men taking this as an open invitation to sexual harrassment.)
So the one genuinely cool thing at the con was that we met Brian O'Halloran, who played Dante in Clerks. They were selling widescreen DVDs of Clerks signed by Kevin Smith for only $23, so I bought one of those and also had Brian sign it. He was totally cool, nice, relaxed, cute. That was a good experience.
So then we got food at a Chinese place (mine was probably the worst vegetarian food I've ever had) and headed back to NYC. Except we got lost and drove around very creepy little towns in Jersey for an hour instead. Finally we got directions from a gas station and managed to get on the Jersey Turnpike. Did I mention how much we should have taken the train?
By this point we were all somewhat hysterical, and spent about 5 minutes laughing until we choked after we finally got onto the Turnpike. (Which was started by this insane guy at the booth who screamed "Ticket!" like the world was ending when
soulmate815 forgot to grab the little automatic ticket from the machine that you get when you enter the Turnpike).So we finally got to NYC around 10:30 PM, then decided that we had to go out for drinks. So we did, and chatted and hung out, and overall I think it was a good trip. It was a bonding experience, and good company, even if objectively it was a nightmare.
So, I got home around 1:30am, and got to bed around 3, and then didn't get up until 1pm the next day, for...
Sunday: Eric Kufs from Common Rotation at the Bitter End
So, I've decided that I really like Common Rotation. I don't know how this happened, because I was pretty determined not to like them, but I do. They're not my type of music at all, but they're smart and sincere and talented. (Pretty much the opposite of Ghost of the Robot -- sorry
soulmate815).I think maybe it's just I've seen them so many times that I know their songs, I know most of the lyrics, I know the stage mannerisms and the voices, so now it just sort of makes me happy to hear them. So I was insistent that we go see Eric Kufs at the Bitter End, and got
soulmate815 and vampgaia to come with me.We couldn't find a time posted anywhere, and he was the first playing, so we got there at 7pm just to be safe. Doors didn't open until quarter to eight, but that was okay--we hung out and waited in CVS where it was air conditioned.
vampgaia and I were pretty much the first ones in, and we had our choice of seats, so sat right in front. soulmate815 joined us shortly.It was a Sunday night, so there were only about ten people there. It was very nice and intimate. Adam Busch was there, just sitting at the bar. He joined Eric onstage and played harmonica for one song (and gave his harmonica to
vampgaia afterwards!)Eric did a great job--he's talented, and so cute, and seems to be getting a lot more comfortable onstage. He did the audience banter thing well, and thanked the ten of us often for coming. It was neat.
Afterwards
soulmate815 and vampgaia talked to them for a bit, but I didn't. I'm really sort of enjoying this casual fan thing, where you can just enjoy the music and not worry about wanting to meet them or anything. I've never done this before--I usually tend to be all-or-nothing about anything of which I'm a fan. Maybe I'm mellowing in my old age. ;)So after the concert, we went to the Spanish restaurant that we always visit after seeing Common Ro. (The one where they make the guacamole fresh in front of you--it's awesome.) We chatted for a long time (lucky
vampgaia went to see Hugh Jackman's play and told us all about that--I really want to go see it now--and of course soulmate815 just got back from seeing James Marsters in Berlin and London). And we had some serious talk too--it was good to bond with everyone.So, I got home from that around 1am, got to sleep around 3, and am starting this week totally exhausted.
