Fall down go boom.

[lance_sibley]

I can't believe I'm still awake. Nor can I believe that it's actually Monday night already...

This past weekend was fantastic. I feel so lucky to be working with such a dedicated, talented group of people - and several of them have already come up to me to talk about how they want to change some of their departmental procedures for next year.

Let me catch up on my sleep first, willya? :P

Seriously, we scramble, we work our butts off, we worry, we lose sleep... and then it all turns out perfect, or so close to perfect as makes no difference.

I'm sure several things will occur to me to talk about once I'm rested (four days of four hours of sleep - or less - per night, along with being on one's feet for three days straight (ouch) will do that to one), but there are a few things that happened today that I'd like to share.

That's right, today. I wanted to sleep in my own bed last night (plus, my Mastercard is perilously close to its limit) so I left the Dead Dog Party around 1 and schlepped my luggage a couple of blocks to Martin Grove and Dixon (because there was no schedule on the bus stop right in front of the hotel, and I had no idea if the Malton bus was even still running, so I thought I'd walk over to Martin Grove and take the southbound bus to Eglinton instead). There was a schedule posted there, however, which said that there would be a bus along at 1:48 and another (the last one) at 2:07. Since, by this point it was about 1:30 and my luggage weighed a ton or two, I didn't feel like crossing the street to wait for the southbound bus so I just waited for the Malton bus. Problem was, the 1:48 bus doesn't exist. The 2:07 came along and I asked the driver - he said that the schedule must be out of date, since the bus previous to his was an hour earlier. So he told me to call the TTC and complain, both about the inaccurate schedule and the lack of a schedule at the stop in front of the hotel. Which I will, once I've slept.

Despite all of that, and having to change buses twice, I was home by 3. I didn't get to bed until 4, however... and then I had to be up around 8:45 this morning to get back to the hotel to return my headset to Security and help with cleanup. Hence my comment above about stuff that happened today.

Anyway, I was standing in the hallway talking to a couple of people when I noticed David Gerrold struggling with some of his luggage. I went to open the door for him, and he asked to borrow my umbrella as it was pouring out. When he came back, he asked me to come up to his hotel room to help him with the rest of his stuff, so I ended up carrying his laptop, a duffel bag and wheeling his suitcase out to his car. Fortunately it had stopped raining by then. Anyway, David was well pleased with his experience this weekend, and gave me a goodbye hug and kiss, along with a cheerful "See you at Worldcon!" I have to admit, I didn't expect that from one of our guests... though David was fantastic all weekend, at least when I was around. I'm told he was less than fantastic at other times, but I never saw it myself. summ3r_daze, Stephen and I had dinner with him Friday night (Subway, at 10:30 PM... big whoop), and then I spent some time chatting with him and cuteteenboy Saturday night in the con suite. I guess he figures we bonded? He actually offered to enrol me in one of his training courses to help me with my confidence (I'd been recounting the story of "Project Jarrod" to them), but since I'm planning to go to Dragon*Con immediately after Worldcon, it'll have to wait for another time.

Anyhow, about an hour after seeing David off, I decided to go up to our con suite to see if they needed any more helpers. I walked to the elevator with one of our Security volunteers, and just as the doors were closing someone jumped in. I was kind of zoned out by this point, and not paying attention. The Security volunteer made some small talk with the other occupant of the elevator, and then got off on the fourth floor, whereupon the other guy started talking to me...

"So, are you checking out?"
"No, I checked out last night. I had to come back to return my headset and help with cleanup."
"Oh, you worked on the convention?"
"Yes, I was one of the Co-Chairs."

It was at this point that I actually started to pay a little more attention to the conversation, and looked up and extended my hand, introducing myself...

"Hi, I'm Lance."

He returned the gesture.

"Pleased to meet you... I'm Garrett."

Yeah. I rode all the way up in the elevator with Garrett Wang (for any non-Trek fans reading this, he played Ensign Kim on Star Trek: Voyager) and I was completely out of it for most of the conversation. *headdesk*

Me, blushing furiously: "Um, yes, I know."

At the exact same moment, he looked down and waved his hand: "Oh, I guess you probably know that."

(No need to be bashful, Garrett, I was the idiot.)

Anyway, there was a band visiting Toronto from Kansas City who had been helping to clean out our con suite, so we all loaded up a dolly with garbage bags, took them down to the hopper in the bowels of the hotel and then went and sat in the lobby with whitesangria and Katherine, who were waiting for Garrett to come back downstairs to be taken to the airport. We all had quite a lively conversation, and they invited us to come to see them tomorrow (Tuesday) night, at 9:30 at a bar called "Reavers", wherever that may be. If I'm awake, I may very well go. The singer was cute. ;) They also gave whitesangria a copy of their CD.

So I ended up getting home around 6, having had to stop for groceries on the way, and have been studiously avoiding the computer for most of the night. I caught some of the media coverage of TT - we were on Entertainment Tonight Canada and the HypaSpace segment on the Space channel. I heard we were also on CP24 (a local all-news station) on the weekend, which is cool. The ET Canada coverage was pretty much just about George Takei's coming out last year, but the HypaSpace segment was good. They used a clip of gurudata and some footage of other people in and around the Dealers' Room and Model Show, and bits of George's and David Gerrold's press conferences. (Apparently, David thinks Canadian fans are "saner" than American fans...)

Among the other guests, I managed to get to meet Mira Furlan, saw Michael Shanks and Lexa Doig on stage and signing autographs (only briefly in both cases), and got autographs from Amber Benson and Adam Busch, who both said thank you for inviting them and doing such a good job running the con. (Well, you're welcome, but don't thank me, thank the rest of the committee who actually did all the hard work. :) ) Oh, and I did see George Takei walking the hallways, and he stopped to say hello to me. I've often found that the bright t-shirts, headsets and slightly glazed looks get the attention of the guests.

Oh, and there's a TT tradition where the committee all chip in and buy gifts for the Chairs, so at the Dead Dog party Sunday night I was presented with the DVD box sets of Doctor Who: In The Beginning (the William Hartnell episodes) and season 7 of Red Dwarf, and a card signed by everyone on the committee. Reading it actually brought tears to my eyes once or twice. (Now see what you've done?)

Oh, and kosst_amojan, if you're still reading your friendslist, I know you're too young for me. :P I swear, though, I'm going to have to add you to my roster of fairy godsons. Until this weekend, I didn't think you were quite that angsty. (Oh, and his name, in case you've forgotten in your complete and utter pessimism about the topic, was Jacob Wolf. ;) )

For a short entry, this has gotten long, and I really want to go to bed. More later, as it occurs to me.

Oh, one other thing, though: if any of you who are reading this are lucky enough to get to see Michael or Lexa at another con, I dare you to ask them if they knew that the human sphincter can be stretched to 25 centimetres. But you have to tell me about their reaction. (And no, that did not come from a conversation they had with me... despite my reputation as "Captain TMI," I would never say such a thing to a guest. It was actually from a question they got from the audience on Sunday during their Q&A. And it was relevant somehow. I'm just too tired to remember. But they kept bringing it up for the rest of their time on stage.)

Comments

[evil-admiral.livejournal.com]

You met Garrett Wang (everyone's favorite 7-year ensign), Michael Shanks, and George Takei???!! You are fucking awesome Lance!

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

And Mira Furlan, and Amber Benson, and Adam Busch, and Richard Hatch, and Julie Caitlin Brown, and David Gerrold. ;)

I missed out on meeting Jewel Staite (don't tell alpinemaps, though - I was supposed to sneak her into my luggage and bring her to Worldcon for him ;) ) and Lexa Doig (though I saw her on stage). I also never got a chance to talk to Rob Shearman, though I saw him in the Dealers' Room - I got called away before I could say hello.

You really should come up for the con one of these years. You'd have a great time. It's a bit different from Dragon*Con, but similar - it's a little less overwhelming.

[vanessalp.livejournal.com]

Though you do sound sleep deprived, it sounds like you had a really great time. I was LMAO at your exchange with Garrett Wang in the elevator. I must admit, I wasn't too surprised, since all of the Voyager actors I've met so far have been pretty 'normal.'

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

When do I not sound sleep deprived? ;)

And yes, they do seem to be more down to earth, though George Takei and Walter Koenig are also really nice. I'm told that Jimmy Doohan was also like everyone's favourite uncle, too, though I only barely got to see him a couple of times from a distance.

I enjoy it greatly when actors relate to their fans on a more even keel. The ones who think they're better than the rest of us just because they're famous, and want to stay far away from us as much as possible, are annoying. (It's understandable, but it's still annoying.) I remember last year at Dragon*Con, walking through the lobby with rockgoddes, summ3r_daze and our friend Stephen, and hearing "Hey, Toronto!". I turned around, and it was Chris Owens (Agent Krycek from The X-Files). Apparently one of my companions had seen him and waved, but I still thought it was neat that he a) was wandering around the lobby by himself in the midst of several hundred fans, and b) chose to come over to talk to us specifically (and asked us to help him find wherever it was he was headed).

[elizard100.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, a bar called Reavers? Neat. We should tell the Firefly fans!!!

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

That was my thought. *grin*

I can't find any listing for it online or in the phone books that I have, though, so I have no idea where it is, or even if I've spelled it correctly - I just used that spelling because of the Firefly reference. I tried a couple of alternate spellings in Canada411.com, but nothing came up. Maybe whitesangria knows, as she was there for that conversation as well.

[brendand.livejournal.com]

Who is this kosst_amojan and how old is sie, that sie is too young for you?

[evil-admiral.livejournal.com]

My age-ish. But that wouldn't stop Lance, now would it? =P

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

He's about 23. I met him through TrekBBS, and we started corresponding, and I recruited him onto concom.

He's a lot like me in that he's shy and I find myself trying to push him into talking to guys. He'll tell me that he finds someone cute, and I say, "So go and say hi!" and he responds that he doesn't know what to say. He's adorable, but seems to think that he's unattractive despite travellingone's and my best efforts to convince him otherwise. (Here's ([IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y15/boywhocantsayno/TT18_Me_and_Mike.jpg[/IMG]) a picture of the two of us together. He's on the right.)

The incident I was referencing above was with regard to a young guy, about his age or maybe a bit younger, who had been at the bitch panel and as we were leaving, someone said, "It's now time for all the fangirls to go and drool over Michael Shanks." I said, "It's not just the fangirls," and he turned around, punched the air, and said "YES!!!" kosst_amojan and I were standing up against the wall when he remarked that there was an empty seat next to this boy. I told him, "So go and sit there!" He said, "But what do I say?" I told him, "Look, he's here to see Shanks, so don't be obtrusive. But when Shanks says something funny, and everyone is laughing, comment on what he said. That way neither of you will miss anything, and you've got an opening to share something." He did eventually go and sit with the guy, but he still didn't say much to him.

I'm thinking I may have to drag him down to Woody's and give him the Jarrod treatment. ;)

[the-nita.livejournal.com]

You always were adorable when you realised you were being clueless.*G*

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Thbbbbffffttttt! *grin*

Fortunately, it doesn't happen nearly as often as it used to. I don't think. I hope. ;)

[jj79.livejournal.com]

Dude, Mira Furlan is absolutely gorgeous, even all dirtied up in Lost.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

She is - even I can see that. :)

She was still jet-lagged when I met her on the Saturday afternoon (she'd flown over from Zagreb, via London), but she was very gracious.

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

Garret Wang = hot

You did a heck of a job, Brownie.

Actually, unlike Brown, you really did do a heck of a job. Thoroughly enjoyed myself.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Garret Wang = hot

He is! And I'm not normally attracted to non-Caucasians - it's not a racist thing (at least, not on a conscious level, and I certainly hope it isn't) but there have been exceptions over the years. Garrett Wang is definitely one of them. He was adorable when he realized he was unnecessarily introducing himself to one of the con chairs, who was likely (and is in fact) a fan.

You did a heck of a job, Brownie.

Actually, unlike Brown, you really did do a heck of a job. Thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Thank you! I'm glad to hear that. One of these times we'll have to find time to at least sit down and have coffee or something at a con and chat - we always seem to be running in opposite directions when I bump into you.

Are you going to Dragon*Con this year? Last year, rockgoddes, summ3r_daze, Stephen and I made a point of having dinner together every night so that we could share stories. If you're coming this year, you'll have to join us.

[dlacey.livejournal.com]

David Gerrold was fantastic. For me, he was the highlight of an all around great weekend. Thanks to you and the rest of the committee for everything you did.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself, and thank you for the compliment.

Now that the con is over, we'll have to sit down together at some upcoming pub night when you're up here. I barely had time to wave at you and Cliff all weekend. (That's the one thing I regret about being on concoms - I never get to chat with friends because I have so little down time. There was a cute guy I met at last year's QC party whom I saw outside smoking at one point - I wanted to go over and say hi but couldn't get away. :( )

[mountebank.livejournal.com]

Go to bed, would ya?!

That really sounded like one of the kick-assiest weekends you've had in a long time. Keep up the Project Jarrod, it really is making a difference in more than just yourself.

And it's great to know that the likes of Garrett Wang knows that he, too, puts his pants on one leg at a time. Next time: more eye contact!

Now... get to bed, would ya?!

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Go to bed, would ya?!

ROFL! I managed to get to bed around 3, and woke up at 2:30. *grin*

That really sounded like one of the kick-assiest weekends you've had in a long time.

It was! Even though I was always running around, I'd do it again next weekend if I could. :)

I realize I'm making it sound like the con was full of problems requiring the Chairs' attention, but it wasn't - it ran very smoothly. It was just that the energy level was so high. I was always going up to people and saying, "So, how are things going?" and being told that things were fantastic.

Keep up the Project Jarrod, it really is making a difference in more than just yourself.

It is! dx4 said something similar to me. There was one chance I missed - there was a guy I met at the room parties I threw last year whom I saw at one point and wanted to go and say hi, but I missed the opportunity. :( Next year, for sure. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, I will at least get his attention long enough to say hello.

And it's great to know that the likes of Garrett Wang knows that he, too, puts his pants on one leg at a time. Next time: more eye contact!

Yes, sir! After four days of four or fewer hours of sleep, however, I think I can be forgiven a slight lapse after the event was actually over.

Now... get to bed, would ya?!

*salutes*

[aprilsnark.livejournal.com]

I dare you to ask them if they knew that the human sphincter can be stretched to 25 centimetres.

You and I apparently share a brain (or a tendancy towards the inappropriate), because that comment during that Q&A was the result of a dare from me.

They were talking about fart wars on the Stargate set, and Sebastien (of Bawls fame) leans over to me and says "I'd love to go up to the mic and tell them that the human sphincter can expand to 25 centimetres". I shrug, and without much thought said "I dare you". He points at me, says "you said the d-word", and promptly heads off towards the mic.

And, boy, did they keep returning to that factoid throughout their talk. :)

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

You and I apparently share a brain (or a tendancy towards the inappropriate), because that comment during that Q&A was the result of a dare from me.

Why am I sooooo not surprised? ;)

They were talking about fart wars on the Stargate set, and Sebastien (of Bawls fame) leans over to me and says "I'd love to go up to the mic and tell them that the human sphincter can expand to 25 centimetres". I shrug, and without much thought said "I dare you". He points at me, says "you said the d-word", and promptly heads off towards the mic.

ROFL! I couldn't quite figure out how we got from the fart wars (though the stories about that were amusing), but it's all good.

And, boy, did they keep returning to that factoid throughout their talk. :)

That's why I dared someone in my post to bring it up at another con. I think it would be funny if it came up again at some unspecified time in the future, at some other con in some other city.

[avt-tor.livejournal.com]

(Apparently, David thinks Canadian fans are "saner" than American fans...)

The actual dynamic is that fans with similar interests travel in groups and there are more American fans, so instead of seeing two wacky people you see twenty.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Yes, that would make a big difference. Though I don't think TT is significantly smaller than the average American media con, except for Dragon*Con and San Diego Comic Con. In fact, I think we're a few times larger than Shore Leave now.

Apart from Dragon*Con, where celebrities are a dime a dozen, I haven't been to an American media con in years. So I don't know how large numbers of American fans react to, say, sharing an elevator with a guest. I've been in elevators with Judson Scott, Chris Owens, and a few other actors at TT, and have always found that people tend to leave them be. Similarly, I tend to leave the guests alone when I bump into them, except for perhaps nodding a "hello" - I recall Christopher Judge, George Takei and, yesterday, Garrett Wang starting conversations with me (or at least saying "hello" first, if nothing else). This weekend, I think the only guest I initiated contact with (outside the autograph room, anyway) was Richard Hatch, and that was when I was working the elevator line after the Masquerade and he walked up. But I was talking to everyone, to let them know about why there was a lineup, and to ask them to please be patient.

As I said in my post, I suspect it's the "concom member at work" factor - they know that I'm someone who's unlikely to go all crazy fanboi in their presence. But I wonder if there are cons where the actors are more guarded about roaming the hallways or speaking to the fans in these downtime moments.

[ashoemaker.livejournal.com]

Wow! Sounds like quite the weekend! Glad to hear you had such a great time, and I loved the story with Garrett Wang. Sounds like I'll see you at both WorldCon and Dragon*Con later this summer.

As for kosst_amojan, he can't be *that* young if he goes by "Kosst Amojan". ;)

[travellingone.livejournal.com]

I think he's 23/24.

[randomyst.livejournal.com]

I know that I said it to all of the Chairs sometime during the con but GREAT job. I kept pointing you guys out to attendees who didn't know that you (and other staff members) were responsible for their enjoyment.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Thank you - I'm glad that you and everyone else had such a good time this weekend. And I hope that you weren't too weirded out when ladygiggles told you that someone was looking for you. :) I was actually surprised that anyone knew where you were - I wasn't expecting an answer, much less such a quick one (she got back to me about 30 seconds after I called on the radio). Nor was I expecting you to come out of the Main Room - I was going to bring Trippy in and look for you there.