The best Valentine's day ever

[neverwhere]

Yes, there was an insane amount of Paul McGann, lots of Doctor Who fangirlishness, but most importantly...Jonathan from Buffy KISSED ME! AIIIII!!! *swooncrashthud*

More on that in a moment. *grins*


I didn't think the day would turn out well at first, as I woke up late, couldn't find my Who shirt, forgot to bring my autograph book (grrr arrggh), and spent the first hour and a half wandering aimlessly through the small dealer's room and uninspiring guest panels. Cons really are so much better when you have someone to laugh with, and I was feeling mightily sorry for myself that I had come alone. But praise be! Soon I was alone no longer; as I joined the queue for Paul McGann's autograph, who should be standing in front of me but versaphile, whom I knew was at the con but as there were 800 people and I wasn't exactly sure what she looked like, I didn't think we'd ever bump into each other. Thank the Great Green Arkleseisure we actually did, because I know I wouldn't have had such a fun time without her. Anyhoo. Paul McGann. Yes. Mmmmmmm. Oh, you want me to actually talk about him and not drool copiously all over myself, do you? Allrighty then. ;-)

Paul has never looked so gorgeous as he did yesterday, in his tight black t-shirt and khaki trousers, short hair just slightly wavy on top...oh, YUM. And he's so utterly charming! In the interviews he was very amusing, rather laconic and occasionally grave, and totally Scouse. I giggled every time his voice lost the RP twinge and did a Scouse intonation, it really suits him and is very sexy.
I was going on about waiting for his autograph, wasn't I? Right. versaphile was first, giving him some messages from her friends about his 'sexy clavicles' (which he wanted to hear again, hehehe) and asking why he's never done any drag roles ('I didn't realize anyone was tracking these things'), and when she said she swooned over his voice, he asked for her room number so he could leave her a message. Which of course gave me the idea to phonepost with him saying something into my mobile! Unfortunately by the time I was able to get the damn thing working and Paul took my phone, it timed out before he could finish speaking, so my brilliant idea came to naught. SOB! He signed my programme, I swooned a bit and couldn't say anything coherent (of course), and then we moved on. (You can hear a phone post Pam made while we were in the queue here -- that crazy voice occasionally heard in the background would be me. Heh. ;-)

I also got my programme signed by Janet Fielding, who played the 5th Doctor's companion Tegan, and Kate Orman, (in)famous Doctor Who novelist. I told her we once had an email correspondence waaaay back in 1996-7, and she said my email was vaguely familiar, and that we should start it up again. So perhaps I will. :)
I did see Susannah Harker, albeit briefly -- I barely got to squee at her at all, just a 'IlovedyouinPrideandPredjuceandHouseofCardsandUltravioletEEEEEE' thing. I missed her interview, which was very disappointing, but at least I got one picture and she signed my programme. If you would like to see the lucky programme, please click here. Paul's signature is on top in silver, and if you squint a bit you can just make out Susannah's on the bottom in black. I still can't believe I forgot my autograph book. Paul's siggy would have been right behind Sir Ian McKellan. Arse. (Oooooh speaking of, I forgot to mention that I followed Paul to the tables, and was only a few feet behind him so I was treated to a rather excellent view. It's really firm. *lol*)

As we were leaving the signing tables, I overheard someone mention TheOneRing.net's Oscar party, so of course I had to interrupt the conversation to say I was also attending, and it turned out the woman speaking was TORN staffer Garfiemao, whom I had actually been writing for several months about various local events, but she didn't remember me, which I suppose is understandable what with her being so busy and popular and all. We talked at length about LOTR and the oscar party, and she promised to meet up with us later on. We then hurried over to the main ballroom, and managed to get excellent front row seats for the programming highlight of the day -- a retrospective on the tv movie with director Phillip Segal, Paul, Slyvester McCoy, and Yee Jee Tso. We had to wait an hour for it to start, and in the meantime Janet Fielding was being interviewed about the role of women in Doctor Who, her work as an agent, and other assorted things. As soon as we got our seats, I left for a bit to find Danny Strong, which turned out to be the highlight of my day, and kept me squeeing quietly to myself for a very long time.

In case anyone doesn't know (you poor, sad souls) Danny Strong played Jonathan, the short, exceedingly geekycute member of the Troika and general hapless victim for many years on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There wasn't a queue for his autograph, and even when I said I didn't have any money for his signature, he was extremely gracious about it, and gladly agreed to take a picture with me. I told him that I've had a crush on him since before his character had a name, and he seemed genuinely shocked (and pleased!), said 'Well in that case you deserve a hug!', and proceeded to open his arms, embrace me and squeeze rather tighter than I thought any person would ever hug a stranger. Needless to say, I swoooooned. *gigglegrin* Then we posed for the photo, and just as he was leaving my side, he kissed me on the cheek. GUH. I think I started to babble and say things like 'Oh my!' and blush furiously. I definitely remember the blushing. What an amazingly sweet man! I wish I could have taken him home with me. *laughs*

After the smoochage, I went back to my seat and waited for the movie panel to start. I wish I could remember some of the things that were said, but my memory is like a sieve, and I'm afraid the only snippet I can recall doesn't even relate to the film, but at least it's amusing: Paul was asked about working on Hornblower, and told a very silly story about how when he first went to work on the series, the ship was built into the side of a cliff, and not on the ocean at all. To make up for the lack of wave movement, all the cast members were told to sway very slightly, which of course they did completely out of sync and looked ridiculous. Then someone had the bright idea of getting a really big stick and moving it from side to side, and everyone would just look at the stick and be coordinated. And then of course no one was looking near the camera or each other, but the really big stick. Finally one of the camera operators just stated the rather obvious idea of making the camera move, and leaving the people alone. Honestly, the way Paul told this story was absolutely hilarious. *giggles* I even have some adorable pictures of Sylv and Paul swaying and making silly faces at 'the big stick' in front of the TARDIS. Hopefully they'll turn out so you can all laugh too. ;-)
There was much angst in the interview about how the movie wasn't made like Philip wanted, and how he vowed never to work with networks again -- apparently it was Fox who hired Eric Roberts, which just tells you right there all you need to know about the crapness of network tv. Bitterness, laughter, wonderful chemistry between the actors...it was all there, I just wish I could tell you more about it. I'm sure someone on LJ who was there will be able to give a better description, but sadly that person isn't me. :)

Here's the really incredible thing about the day -- thanks to versaphile, I was able to join the activities of the Paul McGann Estrogen Brigade, an online fanclub that I had joined when it was created in 1996, but forgot about a few years later and was surprised to find it even still existed. And all the members were going to have dinner with Paul McGann. Oh yes. I sat at table with THE PAUL. For most of the dinner he was at the other end of the table, and I'm sure versaphile would be able to tell you more about the engaging conversation they seemed to be having down there, but I was at the opposite end, seated next to (thankfully) Garfiemao. She talked a great deal about planning the Oscar party, and things that happened at the previous parties -- my favourite was hearing how John Rhys-Davies likes to wander among the 'regular' guests, even without an escort, and talk to everyone like he was a normal partygoer. Isn't that sweet? After about a half hour, Paul sat down across from me, and I was treated to five delicious minutes of staring into those gorgeous eyes. I remember him discussing his performance in Morning Becomes Electra, and how upset he was that it was closing early. He became very passionate when talking about the theatre, which endeared me to him immensely. And then he had to be whisked away to another function, but before he did I thanked him for coming and said what a pleasure it was to meet him, and he took my hand, grasped it firmly, and held it for at least 10 wonderful seconds before letting go. His hand was so warm. Mmmmmmm.

Not long after he left, I said goodbye to Garfiemao, and spent about an hour and a half with versaphile and her PMEB friends before leaving the Con. What a day! Total cost, including petrol, new disposable camera, convention ticket, two LOTR bumper stickers and a nifty Stargate enamel pin bought in the dealers room: $64. Memories received: priceless. (Jonathan kissed meeeeeeeeeeee!)
Also, I took about twenty pictures of Paul, so if even one of them turns out really well, I can always make some copies and sell it on Ebay. *grins*


Wow, I can't believe how long this report is -- I think it's even longer than Comic-Con, and I was there for four days! *lol*

Comments

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[randiriel.livejournal.com]

I highly doubt they are sold out already.