It's part 2. Regular readers (and are there really any other kind?) know what that means. (It occurrs that I should really make a way to easily navigate back to part 1 without having to scroll down a bunch. Oh well. Maybe in the mythical Version 2. Except it's structure is totally different anyway. Well, enough of that.)

So anyway, more fun wandering around the dealer room. I beefed up my wardrobe a bit. Goodie. :)

Jaeger ran up to inform me that Lisa Howard was, right at that moment, signing autographs. He was on his way for a picture, and in a bit of a hurry. After completing the transaction I was in the process of making, I followed suit. He had just bought his picture when I arrived at the chosen picture purchasing booth. After the purchase, he needed a dollar bill for some reason, so I obliged. He promised he'd make it up at some future point, and went with haste to the autograph room.

I bought a Lisa Howard picture of my own, and decided to try my luck at the autograph gig. When I arrived, Jaeger was nearly at the front of the line. As I took my place at the back, I saw him posing with the one who portrays the mighty (and ill-fated, as of this season) Captian Marquette. Another member of The Contingent was using Jaeger's camera to snap the photo. Cool. One advantage of the "not quite as big" celebrities: the rules aren't as strictly enforced when it comes to photo posing, special requests, etc.

At that point, I knew how Jaeger could repay the dollar. As he passed me in the opposite direction next to the line, I requested that the recompensation be made in the form of him taking a digital picture of me with Lisa Howard. He was more than willing to oblige.

The line didn't take long, and I was pretty much speechless while in the presence of THE Captian Marquette. I did manage to blurt out my name, so she could at least sign the damn thing. Even saying that was a bit of a stretch. Oh, and I also asked if she could pose with me for a picture. She was very nice, and happy to oblige. Jaeger's flash failed the first time, due to another simultanious flash in the room tricking his light sensor. The second shot was good. I did my best to thank her through my shyness, and was off. I looked at the pic on Jaeger's LCD display. Excellent. I'll post a link when it's up on his page.

(As a side note, I must say that while Lisa Howard looks really GOOD on the show, she's even more attractive in person. By quite a large margin. I ain't kidding. A link to the photograph, when Jaeger posts it. Proof. But the only REAL proof was to have been in the room.)

We went back to the dealer room to look at toys for a few more minutes, and Jaeger and I went our separate ways for a while. (While I consider myself both a Trekkie and a Xenite, I must admit that my loyalty, in its current state, is probably more heavily weighted toward the latter. And I believe Jaeger's Babylon 5 interest to be stronger than mine. Well, my interest in B5 would probably be a lot greater if I ever got the chance to actually WATCH the show. And I mean more than just a stray episode here and there. So anyway, we pursued our separate interests separately for a while. Better for everyone that way.)

I decided I couldn't resist a Xena Season 2 VHS tape which had "Remember Nothing" (YEAH!) and "Orphan of War". Excellent. I haven't seen either of those episodes since they first came out, but they were awesome. While I don't agree with the reprobates about the show turning to crap in Seasons 3 and 4 (I might be with them on some of the season 5 stuff. Some of it.), even I must admit that later Season 1/Season 2 was truly the Golden Age of Xena. The whole thing was so fresh, the ratings were high, the Xenite net community was forming in direct parallel with the explosion of the online population at large; the subtext was just starting to consciously surface in the show itself (as a direct result of online fan enthusiasm), along with classic ad lib dialog to that end, the characters had really just taken shape, the writing was right on track. And run-on sentences were the bane of all humanity! :)

So yeah. I bought the tape. Probably paid a little more than it was worth. Didn't regret it.

Jaeger and I regrouped and made our way to the main auditorium early to witness the Lisa Howard talk. A guy neither of us were familiar with was finishing up. Quite the entertaining fellow. Turns out he played the Emperor on B5. Given that Jaeger didn't already know that fact either, maybe he really hasn't seen all that many more episodes of B5 than I have. But I think he has.

During the brief break between sessions, we procured a seat closer to the front, and globbed onto several other members of The Contingent. It wasn't long before Lisa took the stage. She was most entertaining. Now, everyone in that audience knows the "moves" to pilot a Taelon shuttle. Don't we? ;) That was most hilarious. A new dance craze indeed. [/me repeats the moves presently.] Next time, I'm going to be watching very carefully to see if she follows that exact sequence when piloting the shuttle. Of course, I'd probably have to get my hands on a season 1 or 2 rerun to see her doing it. :( hmmm.

She answered various questions, talked about the season finale, in which her character will be returning for ONE episode at least (must see!). She doesn't know anything about what's going to happen next season. She doesn't know if she'll be back on the show again. Might not, cause she's in negotiations for another show right now, which she isn't supposed to talk about. But apparently, the negotiations are for a WB sitcom (groan, says me).

Talked about how it was a struggle to leave EFC, but she believed it was ultimately the right decision to spend more time taking care of her daughter. Working hours for scifi actors are hell, and sitcoms allow a much more sane schedule for the cast and crew. True, I'm sure. But damn if all that extra work doesn't make for a hell of a lot more enjoyable experience, from the audience perspective. :)

She talked about how her daughter (a toddler) gets all confused when she sees mommy on tv when real mommy is in the room at the same time. lol.

Anyway, a most entertaining talk. Oh, and when one person asked if she would have done anything different concerning writing and the show's direction, she said she would have spent more time exploring the characters' personal lives, as opposed to the large amount of action which filled a lot of time. She also would like to have seen Lili take more leadership roles, instead of always having to answer to Boone, or Kincaid, or Da'an, or some MAN. That drew quite the reaction from the audience. (Quite frankly, I actually agree. Does that make me a betrayer of my gender? I hope not.)

Oh damn, I am going all night with this, aren't I? And I have to WORK tomorrow. Let's try to speed it up. But life must be DOCUMENTED, at all costs. (Ponder the contradiction: Coders hate writing documentation for their programs. I am no exception. Yet SOME of us insist on DOCUMENTING our personal lives to a degree far beyond what NORMAL, software-document-happy people would consider sane. Isn't that just ODD? Discuss amongst yourselves. I need to get back on topic.)

After Lisa Howard came John de Lancie. An interesting follow. Initially, I thought him rather arrogant, but after watching for a while, I decided that may just be his schtick. Some of it was quite funny. Could also be a way of dealing with the stress of having zillions of freaks flock to see him and ask the same questions again and again. My perception may also have been somewhat affected by what I overheard another member of The Contingent -- who had waited through the autograph line -- whisper to Jaeger before the talk. I believe the word "twirp" was used to describe this actor. Of course, when judging the accuracy of such statements, one must also take into account the credibility of the one who speaks them. I won't say anything else on that, for fear of treading into a place I might later regret.

John de Lancie's talk. A couple of notables: How he became an actor. In school, he did horribly. Flunked classes, had an awful time learning to read. Hated it. Then, one teacher threw a book at him. Henry V. He was to read, memorize, and play one of the major roles. That's where his acting started. He learned that he was good at it. He liked it. He did it.

Hmmm. Much more touching the way he told it. Oh well. The other memorable: How he got the role on TNG. He initially had little interest in it. A persistent producer kept coming after him, inviting him to lunch, giving him scripts. He wasn't going to be able to do it because of the other play he had going on in Japan.

They shuffled the shooting schedule for "Encounter at Far Point" to place all his scenes during the last two weeks of the shooting schedule. That's how bad this producer wanted him, cause apparently this guy had been really inspired and humored by de Lancie's performance on Days of Our Lives, while he (the producer) went through triple bypass surgery.

So anyway, they rescheduled as much of the shooting as possible to fit de Lancie's schedule. But even then, it was going to be a problem, because the shooting needed to begin at 5am on a Monday morning, and his plane wasn't going to leave from Tokyo until late Sunday night. But his wife reminded him of the one thing that ended up being the salvation of the role: The International dateline. He ended up leaving Toyko Sunday night, and was back in the U.S. late Sunday morning, with a day to spare. :)

Ok, my pathetic retelling doesn't compare with hearing it from the horse's mouth. But I try. And I'm trying to hurry too. Still got Kate Mulgrew ahead.

After de Lancie, Jaeger went to regroup with other members of The Contingent, as they apparently had some sort of community meal thing going. I wandered back to the dealer room, still thinking on what would be the "perfect" decoration for my cube. After circling the room a couple times, I decided another poster would be ideal. One to complement the VA Linux "The Wall" poster I put up a couple weeks ago. That one is just great to stare at when my mind is trying to churn something. :)

I eventually decided one that featured a really spiffy depiction of NCC1701E going into warp drive. Yeah. With the shiny laminated surface which I hope doesn't cause too much glare. That was the one. The happy bank account depletion card once again came into play. Woohoo!

Jaeger caught up with me just after I had purchased the final garment for the day, and we got to talking with a guy who was pitching L. Ron Hubbard's book, "Battlefield Earth". The movie, starring John Travolta, is coming out next month. This may be one where I cross the picket line of my futile boycott. He showed us the preview on a little tv screen. Impressive.

After talking with him for a while about various things, I, followed by Jaeger, both succumbed to the enticement of a good scifi read. We each bought a copy.

Being well aware of the tyranny of the Church of Scientology, the progeny of this same author, I did feel some sense of moral quandry about it. I justified the reading of the book using something resembling this logic: The Christian Church has done MANY nasty things over the centuries. Yet the Bible still has many good things to say. Do we throw the whole thing away because some people who claim it as their guide act like assholes? I think not. So perhaps there is also some merit in the writings of this man, despite the evil his creation has wroght. Is that a weak argument?

Moving on, Jaeger and I had spent just a bit too much time talking to that dealer guy, and we were late for the main event: Kate Mulgrew. By the time we arrived in the auditorium, she was already into her monologue on the stage, and the house was PACKED.

We found a place to stand in the back, which was also quite heavily populated with bodies. (Although it wasn't as bad as the year Patrick Stewart was here. Now THAT event was TRULY PACKED.) Jaeger snuck up the isle to the front picture taking area, which also looked quite crowded, to get some shots in.

Kate's speech: Damn, she is a good speaker! Far exceeded my expectations in both content and presentation. She's opinionated, ain't afraid to admit it, and expresses her ideas with clarity, force, and passion. What is it about playing the role of captian that makes these few select people so... Commanding. Engaging. Enlightening.

And I felt really sorry for Jaeger, The Ambassador, and other members of The Contingent when Mr. "I'm such a big bad in change authoritarian asshole" decided, or had a whim, or whatever. Did I say that? Yes, I did. Cause I went through the same thing last year, and quite frankly, it sucked. Anyway, they were forced to leave in the middle, and I sympathized, but knew nothing could be done. We parted ways, held up hands with separated middle and ring fingers, said our "Live long and prosper"s, and they were gone. Bummer.

Oh damn. Swap's getting full again, and I WANNA FINISH. I hate Netscape. Well, I guess I'll cut it again, and return with a Part 3, detailing more of Mulgrew's speech, and possibly what happened after on the ride home. Maybe. I might need sleep too. brb.