Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Angel Booster Bash Report

I had a blast at the Bash! I’ll try to recount for you here as much as I can remember about the event.

Friday July 29, 2005

I’m in Los Angeles! Driving in from the airport was very cool! I couldn’t believe I was finally here where entertainment industry looms large. I must say, however, that the drivers here are insane! I swear the cabbie nearly got us killed twice! On the way to the hotel I remember passing the Kabbala Center and a Bently Dealership.

In order to afford the hotel, I’m sharing a room with Booky and Jazzy. After I check-in, I chuck my stuff in the room and head to the registration area for the convention. There I see some familiar faces (Secret, Sock, Jazzy, Vicky, Jewel, and Peachiest) as well as meeting some online friends for the first time (Booky and Denise).

After making the rounds for awhile, I head back to the room. That’s when I notice that none of Booky or Jazzy’s stuff is in the room, so the hotel made a mistake. I get my stuff and head back down the the check-in counter. For some reason, they didn’t have Booky listed as having checked in even though she got here on Thursday, but I got everything straightened out and I got to the right room.

At 3:00 there was a panel with Mercedes (Harmony), Clare (Glory), and Jenny (Nina). I don’t remember much about the panel itself except that Mercedes has a lot of the same mannerisms as Harmony and I like Jenny because she’s as much of a fan of the shows as we are. She knows episode names and everything!

At 4:00 there was an episode commentary of "Unleashed" with Jenny Mollen and Camden Toy. I’m not sure why Camden was there since he’s not in the episode, but he does have lots of interesting things to say about the makeup process regarding the demons. Jenny is as sweet as can be. She had a lot of behind the scenes stories. I don’t remember all of them, but there was one involving David Boreanaz in which he was brought to the set early and he was left waiting. So, they got to the scene were Angel drops Nina off to her house after the whole werewolf ordeal. As it turns out, they had the keys in the ignition, so David cranked up the engine and drove off. He and Jenny drove around Pasadena for awhile. David figured if he had to wait then the crew could wait for him.

At 5:00 there was an Improv with James Leary. I didn’t stay for the whole thing, but I did get to listen to someone from the Slayercruise sing "Yellow Submarine" in Vietnamese.

At 7:00 there was the cocktail party! My two favorite words of the day were: open bar. [Note to self: although it may seem like a good idea at the time, nine rum and cokes after flying across country is way too many!]

While relatively sober, I did manage to talk to Julie Benz. I told her about the Whedonverse Multimedia Project and of course she remembered us! She was very happy to learn how quickly fans were able to raise the money for her library donation. She mentioned something about when she was 15 she checked out a library book from there and never returned it - we won’t tell them.

I also got to talk to Drew Goddard. I was a little less sober than I was when talking to Julie. This is evidenced by the fact that at least twice (that I can remember) I told him I was his biggest fan. We talked about the possibility of a Spike movie. He said he would love to do a Spike movie with Joss. He also made a point of telling me that Joss also wants to do a Spike movie. Finally, he said that if a Spike movie didn’t happen, that it wouldn’t be due to a lack of prodding Joss on his part because he wants it to happen. I think I may have said I love him after that .... or maybe that I was his biggest fan again.

Then, I ran into Jonathan Woodward. He was drinking scotch and has been known to wear a kilt, so I asked him if he was really Scottish. He said yes, so for some reason I decided to give him my family’s history, we’re Scottish too. He was very polite!

Later that evening some friends and I ventured into a room party. I don’t know who’s room it was, but James Leary was there and he poured me a drink. It was a large glass consisting of about 4/5ths rum and 1/5 coke. I only had a few sips when my friend smartly decided to call it a night and I agreed.

Saturday July 30, 2005

I didn’t order any photo ops this time. It’s actually the first convention where I didn’t order pictures. Anyway, that meant I got to sleep in!!! Or, at least try to sleep in. I was still on East coast time and my roommates both got up early. Nonetheless, I could lounge around until the Angel’s Food Drive luncheon.

The AFD luncheon began a little after 12:00 (the photo ops were running late) and I picked a table at the front and in the middle. However, Booky and Jazzy told me they were saving a table for the AFD folks and since I am one of the AFD folks I moved to a table in the back corner. Booky kinda of annoyed me when she didn’t let me sit where I wanted (I ended up with my back to the room) and many of the folks she was saving seats for ended up sitting somewhere else. It was disappointing that all the AFD gang didn’t get to sit together since the luncheon was the main reason many of us came. I was also disappointed because if I had stayed where I was sitting I would have been next to Adam Baldwin. He’s a handsome fella!

Near the end of the Luncheon, Nicole from the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank got up to say a few words. Thanks to fans, we raised enough money to provide over 175,000 meals to people all over Los Angeles including at risk families with children, the elderly and the homeless. Adam Baldwin presented her with a check for over $10,000 and the Booster Bash is hoping to raise about $2,000 more through its charity auctions. Plus, I think Andy Hallet fans raised some money for the foodbank to celebrate his 30th birthday.

At 1:30 there was a Q&A with Chris Kane, Steve Carlson, Adam Baldwin and Stephanie Romanov. Steph is gorgeous! She has her hair brunette now and I think she looks fabulous. Her sister was sitting in the back with Steph’s new baby. I don’t remember much about it. Steph would tear up every so often. At one point they were asked their favorite movie. Adam said "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and Stephanie said the "Shawshank Redemption". Sorry, can’t remember what Chris or Steve said. Another question was what kind of animal they’d want to be. Adam said eagle, Stephanie said giraffe, and Chris said wolf. Apparently Chris has a wolf tattoo, but he wouldn’t show it to us. There was a lot of laughing and joking around. Adam is hilarious.

At 2:30 there was a charity auction. The only thing I remember is someone paid $2,000 to sit next to Alexis Denisof at the banquet. Whoa!

I think the auction was followed by another panel, but for the life I me I can’t remember it and I don’t have any more pictures from any of the events on this day.

At 6:00 was the banquet and my only chance to see Alexis Denisof, whom I’ve never met, but since I got a bunch of tickets to events for free (since some friends of mine cancelled at the last minute and gave me their tickets), I decided to do something nice and let my friend Jazzy who was travelling from the UK to the United States for the first time so that she could enjoy the experience.

So, while the banquet was beginning, I walked across the street to the mall area and had a cheeseburger and chocolate milkshake at Johnny Rockets. I LOVE chocolate milkshakes. Anyway, I head back to the room and I’m surprised to see Jazzy sitting there and not at the banquet. She’s clearly upset. So I ask what’s wrong. She says that a lot of the seats were reserved and she had find an unreserved seat. Also, which table you got to sit at had something to do with your ticket number. Well, she found a seat and had been sitting there a good 20 minutes when someone rather impolitely told her to move. She was so upset she left!

Then, there’s a knock at the door. It’s Sock ... also known as Andy’s Bitch. She tries to convince Jazzy to go back down to the banquet. Secret, Sock’s sister, has an open seat next to her where Jazzy can sit. When that doesn’t work she says "Joss fuckin’ Whedon" is downstairs now! Jazzy offers me her purple arm band to get into the banquet, but I decline, opting instead to stick around and provide moral support. Besides, I didn’t realize Sock was serious. I mean, Joss Whedon, downstairs now. Yeah right. Stoopid, stoopid, stoopid!!!!

Note to all my friends. I love you. However, if I ever get a chance to meet Joss Whedon again, I’m leaving your ass!

We caught the first bus out to the Key Club to have a drink and drown our sorrows. I traded my ticket with Jazzy since my ticket came with the Kane Meet and Greet and I didn’t think I’d be able to hold up that late. Although I wasn’t in much of a drinking mood, I did order a beer (much to the surprise of Sock - I usually drink liquor) in the hopes that it would ease my lingering hangover. Unfortunately, it didn’t do any good. I was exhausted and it just made me more sleepy. So I ended up leaving before Kane got on stage. I did see some of Common Rotation and Amber Benson was in the house enjoying the show. Jonathan Woodward came see the show too. He’s a cutie!

Get back to the hotel, call Sock to let her know I got back in one piece, collapse in bed.

Sunday July 31, 2005

Ok, who’s idea was it to have a bus tour beginning at 7:30 in the morning! It’s lucky I got to bed early. What’s sad is that James Leary got downstairs to meet the bus before me! Wow! It’s gotta be said - this guy shows up to do his job.

Secret handed my her Angel and Spike action figures. She’s taken lots of pics of them at various points during the convention, but she was unable to attend the bus tour. So, Jewel and I were happy to take on that responsibility. We visited the Hyperion Hotel, the Wolfram and Hart building (which turns out to be Sony Pictures), the cemetary used in Buffy (appropriately called the Angelus-Rosedale), the Shrine auditorium (not sure what episode it was in), Sunnydale Highschool (in Torrence), and Buffy’s house. Jewel and I got a couple of cute photos. One of which nearly got us run over by the bus! James Leary also had fun by putting the dolls in naughty poses.

After the bus tour, there was supposed to be a "Future of the Verse" symposium with AngelDiva from Save Angel, Ruth from How’s Forever, and Me representing the Whedonverse Multimedia Project as well as sitting in for Teep over at Support Spike who couldn’t make it. Unfortunately, the symposium was supposed to start at 10:00 and the bus tour with all three of us on it didn’t get back until about 10:30. When we got there the room was empty. We talked with a few people in the corner of the room for awhile, but ultimately our event ended up being cancelled.

After that, there was a Q&A with Mercedes, Brigid and Drew. I think it was supposed to be an episode commentary, but it ended up just being a regular Q&A. I don’t remember much about it other than me taking a lot of pictures of Drew Goddard. LOL! I remember him saying something about how much he liked writing for The Mayor too. Something about him writing a bunch of pages of The Mayor as The First in season seven that ended up being cut down significantly.

At 12:00 there was a panel with Julie, Chris and Mark. Andy was supposed to make an appearance, but he was MIA. Mark is very funny and much more handsome than I imagined he would be. Julie cannot take a bad picture - the woman is gorgeous. Chris, in typical fashion, had a Bud in hand and was drinking it during the Q&A. I wish I’d taken notes! Sorry.

Finally, a little after 1:00 we started the Sunday Luncheon. I was starving! At my table, we got to enjoy the company of Brigid Brannagh and Scott Schwartz. Scott is a BIG guy, yet very sweet! Conversation varied from racism across the world to who we think should play Wonder Woman. The dessert was yummy!

After that, I stood in line for the autograph session. I had everyone sign my Booster Bash memory book and I got autographs from Chris Kane (who told me he had a sister named Jennifer), Stephanie Romanov, Andy Hallet, Julie Benz (who wrote "Bite Me!"), Mercedes McNab, Mark Lutz (signature illegible), Jonathan Woodward (his name was spelled wrong in the memory book), Camden Toy, Clare Cramer (I told her how much I loved her as Glory), James Leary, and Drew Goddard (who wrote "It eats you starting with your bottom").

Sometime after the autograph session there was an impromtu appearance by Andy Hallet and Mark Lutz in the main room. Andy wanted to make up for his tardiness and/or absense at previously scheduled events. It was HILARIOUS! My friend Sock was his PA. When Andy gets on stage he says something about Sock telling him he ought to change. So, he gets out the bag he packed and starts rummaging through it. He has a surprising number of prescription bottles that Mark proceeds to tease him about - he also pretends to be the voice in Andy’s head while he’s getting his stuff together. Then, Andy gets behind a screen and actually starts to change clothes! When he comes out, he’s wearing white pants, a shirt, a silk robe and a wig!

Its really difficult to remember all the banter between Mark and Andy. I will say that during the talk Andy, unlike Chris Kane, did show us his tatoo. It says Boo! Unfortunately, the picture I took of it didn’t come out. At some point, Andy starts telling Paul Lynde stories. For those who don’t know him he was Uncle Arthur on "Bewitched" and was the Center Square on Hollywood Squares and was an openly gay actor in a time of intolerance. Andy would like to do a movie project based on the actor’s life. Towards the end of Andy and Mark’s improv, they began playing with a large Lorne doll and at one point Mark started being naughty with the doll!

I hung around awhile after that and sat through another charity auction - basically I was too tired to move. Later on, a bunch of us chipped in and we ordered pizza. Secret, Sock, Greg, Tinkerbell, Denise, Dave, Booky, Jewel, Jazzy and I think Kathy and maybe one other person sat in the registration area and enjoyed our pizza. It marked the end of an amazing event!

If I remember any more details I’ll add them! Photos will be posted in the Gallery soon!