The 2001 Pasadena Convention was WONDERFUL folks. I want to thank all of you who took the time to say hi to this lunatic and talk about my reviews. It was great to know you've found the site useful and continue to enjoy it. Getting people hooked on fanfic is one addiction I'm ALL for >:-) The events and performances I attended were all fantastic with several standing out. The Bard's Brunch was without a doubt one of my major reasons to be there and proved to be all that I hoped for and more. A couple of hours surrounded by some of the most talented writers and artists in the Xenaverse, on the Net and in the world far as I'm concerned. It just does NOT get better than that.
The ULTIMATE XENA FAN FICTION INDEX crew hosted a very well attended fanfic discussion which went really well. Some 100+ people all talking fanfic, uber, the pros and cons of feedback, the effectiveness of beta readers. Lots of bards and avid readers in attendance. Also very well-attended was the WHOOSH panel "Six Seasons of Xena: What Went Right and What Went Wrong". Among the panelist was scriptwriter Katherine Fugate (WHEN FATES COLLIDE) who talked about her experience writing the upcoming episode and seemed a little floored by the whole fandom phenomenon.
Hudson was her usually memorable self. I spent Friday morning at the Disney California Adventure park with friends (riding this INSANE roller coaster that probably for the first time ever forced me to live up to my online name ;-) but managed to catch the last part of Hudson's appearance. I go into the auditorium and she's walking down the aisle with flashbulbs going a mile a minute headed right for me. Very convenient actually ;-) Can certainly understand why that red outfit she was wearing brought in $5,000 for charity ;-)
Claire Stanfield and Alexandra Tydings decided to do a little...tribute...to fanfic during their Saturday night Cabaret performance. They delivered some rather......"animated" readings of BEDTIME FOR WARRIORS AND BARDS by LN James, DOWN HOME by CN Winters, and three skits by Mil Toro, XENAFANADDICTS R US, SINFUL ADVENTURES and XENA'S KISSES which features this last sentence...
"Xena looks around one last time, then draws Gabrielle close to her in a passionate kiss. Their one kiss rivals the heat of all the other Xena kisses combined."
Needless to say, Claire and Alex's "interpretation" of this last sentence brought the house down...around...and upside down ;-) Pics are now available at Alexandra's own site http://www.alextydings.com/photos/cabaretkiss.htm.
One very nice thing about this con was the opportunity to see one of our OWN make it to the stage thanks to a storytelling talent we all recognized LONG ago. Missy Good took the stage Sunday to talk about her experiences writing fanfic and writing Xena scripts. As an aside we got a confirmation from her in front of a ZILLION fans that yes a Conqueror story is on her TO DO list and I trust we shall ALL keep reminding her of that ;-)
The pup dinner later that evening to celebrate Missy's accomplishments, pupdom and the fandom in general was a riot, featuring among other things a rather large appendage floating around and an unplanned strip-tease by a certain rodeo pup which I'm sure went a LONG way in endearing her to the many in attendance. During the auction that evening people kept wanting to bid on her...all for charitable purposes of course ;-) Most impressive of all was the tremendous amount of money the auction brought in thanks to the generosity of Xenites and the unrelenting efforts of pups Denise and Marsha who spent months working on the posters, getting these signed, shipping them around and organizing the actual bidding.
One Xenite was very deservingly recognized a number of times during the weekend - Mist from Sword and Staff whose own fund raising efforts with that organization have surpassed the half-a-million dollar mark. The Xenaversity gang also contributed to the fund raising with the auction of their years-in-the-making banner featuring over 180 signatures from practically everyone associated with the show.
Throughout the weekend we got to see some very nice music videos including one called "Calendar Girl" by Cruise that NEEDS to make it to the Web. Cruise you out there? HINT, HINT! ;-)
Of course, the big event was Lucy and Renee's appearance and after six years I think they could have simply stood up on stage without saying a word and we would have been happy. They didn't of course. They had Renee come out first. She starts singing "Last Dance" by Donna Summer which had been slated to be one of the tunes for the LAST CHANCE musical script that was never produced. Soon after you hear another familiar voice joining Renee's in the singing and Lucy walks out. House came down, around and upside down again. Both were adorable. Lucy with her very unique sense of "style" was wearing her punk outfit from the SPIDERMAN movie...without the purple hair. Renee was wearing black slacks with a blue shirt and looked only about 3 months pregnant despite actually being in her fifth month. Sharon from Creation asked them a number of questions but hands down the most interesting thing was just to see them interact, talk about how they got to know one another, the practical jokes they've TRIED to play on one another (Renee has a history of trying to sneak crumbs onto a chair Lucy's gonna sit in so these will get up her...wazoo ;-) Much to ROC's frustration Lucy usually manages to evade her practical jokes with ease). They talked a lot about how they've each changed, how the characters have affected them and they've affected the characters. Renee feels she's gotten more like Xena - stronger, more confident. Lucy feels she's learned to be less rash. They didn't completely rule out the possibility of a movie down the line but Lucy did say if it happens it probably won't happen for at least 5 yrs. or so. Creation was filming all this so hopefully we'll get a nice video of the appearance if not the whole con soon. The girls closed their act with a reprise of the "Last Dance" song after which they were joined on stage by Rob Tapert and a number of the other cast and crew members. The Xenites gave them a thunderous send-off.
Overall it was a fantastic, fun, poignant weekend for all in attendance. We got to celebrate something we love - see old friends, make new ones, thank those who've made the Xenaverse possible and encourage those who continue to make it such a special place. Pasadena 2001 ROCKED and I have to say guys - it didn't feel like an ending - just a new beginning. Lots of bards and artists talked about new projects they have going involving both uber and the classic characters, the webmasters in attendance all seemed determined to continue and improve their sites. The series may be coming to a close but I suspect this is one interest that is going to keep us connected for the duration ;-)
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