Celebrity Worship and Convention Adventures

Classical Theories

Project QL Intern
Sep 13, 2007
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Orlando, Florida
www.marcblee.org
Celebrity Worship and Convention Adventures

Today begins my series on experiences in the convention business with all things in relation to it. Celebrities, fandom, the weird and the bizarre and how I got wrapped up in something no idiot would have the common sense to take on. I've been asked to write a book many times over and in all seriousness, there would be no way I could allow it to be published unless I was on my death bed. :roflmao:

This is more of a salute to those individuals involved with the formulation of a non-TV advertised event called THE LEAP BACK 2009 and is in no way a prologue of things to come, but rather a salute to the group responsible for premiering what will surely be the most talked about reunion of contributors and fans of a show called QUANTUM LEAP. This EVENT debuts right before some television hotshot gets a brainstorm that they should do a retrospective tv special on this most honored show and run frantically to his producer's office with such a fantastic idea. "HEY DORK! WE BEAT 'CHA TO IT AND DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE FOOTAGE FROM THIS EVENT! HA!!"

MY EXPOSE' OF EXPERIENCES ARE IN NO WAY BETTER OR MORE EXTENSIVE THAN THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN IN THE CONVENTION BUSINESS LONGER THAN I HAVE. I JUST BEAT THEM TO IT!!
:hurray::hurray::hurray:

I'll post a chapter occassionally but not daily. I DO have a life 'ya know. Boring as it may be, I still need my downtime. Just keep checking in.

CHAPTER I: WHO AM I?
Who cares!!

CHAPTER II: MY FIRST CONVENTION CELEBRITY FRIEND.
Leaning against a balcony rail at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel in the early 80's, holding a Pocket Book novel about Klingons, trying to act like someone who was a complete aficionado on TREK until a passerby noticed that I was reading it upside down and was amazed at my talent. "Knucklehead! Move along." I was there a day early and noticed that the committee was setting up so I thought I'd profile to meet new friends. I was both handsome :dreaming and tall and dressed liked a mundane :hat ('Ya gotta be a true con goer to know that word) but age has caught up with me now so I am just tall.

It was my first out of state con and it was the Platinum Anniversary Star Trek Convention with the likes of GENE RODDENBERRY, MAJEL BARETT RODDENBERRY, GEORGE TAKEI, JIMMY DOOHAN...blah, blah, blah. Side note: I was never a "crazed" sci-fi fan. I never rushed home to see a show (mostly) and refused to wear a costume. I was cool, :smokin debonaire, and couldn't find a tailor. :spidey Anyway, the word fan is derived from the term fanatic. :bow Read between the lines.

Anyway, long story short, I was asked to help with the setup, did a good job too (I love physical labor.........when I was young :wacko) and was asked if I would like to help out the rest of the weekend. It sorta went like this:

Con1:
Hey Marc, you were great! We really appreciated the help.
Me:
Gee thanks! (I said gee) If you need me for anything else, I'd love to get paid...er, do whatever you want.
Con1: Wow! Funny you mentioned that. You are both handsome and strong but we had no idea you were smart too. You ARE from Baltimore 'ya know?
Con2: We were wondering if you would be available to help us with a small problem we have. No more physical labor is needed from you tho unless you do windows.
Me: Gee (there I go again)! What is it you may want of me....besides windows?
Con1: We have a celebrity who needs an escort around the con and since celebrity agents attending conventions have not come about as yet (thank God!), we thought you would be perfect for one of them.
Me: Gee (dammit!), I'd love too. Who is it?
Con2: It's GEORGE TAKEI. He's a great guy and we'd appreciate it if you'd take the job. Of course news of his homosexuality has not hit mainstream America yet so you should be safe for now.
Me: WOW! AWESOME!!! FANTASTIC!!! No problem. I'd be glad too.
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Me (again): One question tho.
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Me: WHO'S GEORGE TAKEI?

(SULU from Star Trek for those living in caves)

TRUE STORY!! Thus my first celebrity friendship with a guy who's name I didn't know. Needless to say George and I have been friends (amongst many others today) for over 25 years. This part of convention organization worked out for the best for me but there were soon to be others that turned into horrible affairs of the egos. Stay tuned next week for the continuing adventures of..............................

<say it with echo effects> MARC B. LEE IN THE 24TH AND A HALF CENTURY!!!!!



 
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Awsome!!!

"Who's Geroge Takei?" :lol
I'm on the floor over here :roflmao:

Looking forward to reading the next chapter. :hurray:
 
Seriously... you DIDN'T KNOW WHO GEORGE TAKEI WAS?? :roflmao:

Now I'm wondering what you were doing at the con in the first place. :)

On the other hand, you probably were easy for George to be around since you weren't a drooling, worshipping fan begging for multiple autographs.

Me, I would have been asking lots of dumb questions about everyone, or be too starstruck to say anything!
 
Like many shows I just got into, I never know the character's actor names. Example: Those guys on SUPERNATURAL. The guy who was with Jack Webb in DRAGNET. Jan Brady's real name. It's very easy to know Spock, Kirk and Sulu off the top of your heads but to constantly say their real names so that it sticks in your mind just isn't something I do everyday. ask the averaga person on the street who is NOT a diehard fan to name the guy who plays Scotty. Ask your mother. What do you think the majority of the answers would be?

I "liked" Trek and back then I was like many who was exploring what a convention was all about. It was the show I was into, not the actors.

Hope that makes sense.
 
I can totally understand your story Marc.

While I am a fan of both Star trek and Star Wars I am not really into the minutia of either. I am more of fan of the stories and familiar with the behind the scenes people. In the case of both so many of the actors play characters in heavy makeup. Not looking in person like their characters at all.

It was particularly weird experience going to a Star Wars convention. Were most of the actors signing are background characters who appeared briefly in costumes. Very nice people make no mistake. But hard to say you are fan of them or their acting. But more the costume designer who made their clothes and makeup.

As an amateur sociologist sci-fi conventions are fascinating events to observe and partake in!

Nice thing with Quantum Leap is none of the actors were hidden behind makeup. I imagine most of them will still be recognizable to us. Even if we don't know them by name right now.
 
I get it too, I usually just know an actor's name once I want to know more about how they trained and what else they've done.

I actually try to know as little about the actors as possible, I'm interested in how they became as good as they are and how they experience their work and what they may have learned from anything in particular, but I would find it odd for myself to know too much about someone without actually knowing them. Kinda makes sense to me. Not saying that anyone is who likes to research on actors, but I would find myself really 'impolite'.
 
Like many shows I just got into, I never know the character's actor names. Example: Those guys on SUPERNATURAL. The guy who was with Jack Webb in DRAGNET. Jan Brady's real name.

Eve Plumb. :b I can't remember who played Peter or Bobby though.

I get what you mean (and I didn't mean any offense. It's just that Trek is such a classic that it sounded funny that you didn't know). I just have the kind of brain that picks up trivia, so I tend to know the actors' names for the shows that I watch. (I could reel off the whole list for Battlestar Galactica.) I usually don't know anything about them personally.
 
Celebrity Worship and Convention Adventures



CHAPTER III: BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
One of the original 13 colonies and the originator of THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER, Baltimore has created out of me a Flag-waving-Democratic-fool! :cheers I went and graduated from area schools there and living 45 mins. from my nation's capital, I spent a lot of time on the weekends in D.C. playing Frisbee football or getting thru every museum on the mall. :nut

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I am a history buff and a proud American often chastising those foreign visitors who dare deny that everything they have was because of us (stupid me). Defeating the British twice and becoming the undisputed leaders of the free world was my way of declaring my independence while never forgiving those who brought us into slavery. :hmm That was my arrogant youth years and although not many of my opinions have changed, the offensive ones have disappeared and diplomacy reigns supreme within my loins.:moon

I often find myself chastising the youth now :realmad (being an old fart and everything) and complaining how they never had to work for anything and that we had supplied them with the things that have made them a target by people like me. Of course pushing my walker around and putting my teeth back in my mouth allows me to grab my bottle of geritol and...................SNAP OUTTA IT!!!!
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OK..I'm fine now. Sheesh! I scare myself sometimes.

What's this got to do with conventions, you ask? Well, Baltimore was the beginning of my entry into fan-related gatherings and it began with a little group known as CLIPPERCON.
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Clippercon evolved into OKTOBERTREK and finally as it's current status as FARPOINT. These people taught me how to generate fan related events as a team player long before my visit to Boston to meet that guy named GEORGE TAKEI.
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The con organizers of FARPOINT remain my friends today and although I live in Florida, I still travel back to B-more to partake of one of the best fan-run conventions in the known universe.



CHAPTER IV: I GOT INTO DENISE CROSBY'S PANTIES
While working a convention in Hunt Valley, Maryland about 20 years ago, I got the oppurtunity of meeting with DENISE CROSBY. Denise was a participant in an auction at that time and had a pair of boxer shorts that was donated by one of the other guests during that convention. I honestly can't remember who it was but he was a rather...um.....large actor and he offered a pair of his washed (thank God) shorts for auction.

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Needless to say the bidding started off as nonexistent and it took Denise to get up the bidding by offering to put them on. Well it got into a battle in the audience and the price was high enough without my help which someone in the audience graciously offered. THAT help was for me to try them on as well until some knucklehead decided that he would bid 300 dollars if both Denise and I got into them. We both stared at each other, confused,
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while the bidding ended at $600. Denise said sold, grabbed my arm, and we went behind the curtains, took off both our pants and slipped into a leg of the sold item to emerge like idiots trying to scamper along the stage in a pair of boxers twice the size of Conneticut! The usually hooting, applause and laughter broke out as two humiliated individuals paraded in front of a sex-starved audience.
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While prancing around, Denise held onto the shorts tight, trying to deperately keep them down around her bum and screamed to me over the roaring crowd, "Marc! Not so fast. I'm wearing a thong and they didn't pay to see that!!"

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FUTURE CHAPTERS:

CHAPTER V: MEETING PATRICK IN BEL AIR, CALIFORNIA - PRE-TNG.
CHAPTER VI: THE BEST CELEBRITIES TO WORK WITH.
CHAPTER VII: THE WORST CELEBRITIES TO WORK WITH.
CHAPTER VIII:
WHY WE ARE FANS
CHAPTER VIX: THE BEST CONS IN THE WORLD.
CHAPTER X: CELEBRITY WORSHIPPING
CHAPTER XI: THE 2009 LEAP BACK CONVENTION


I HOPE THIS IS BOTH ENTERTAINING AND INFORMATIVE. I TRY MY BEST TO PROVIDE SMILES :D BECAUSE YOU USE TOO MANY MUSCLES IN YOUR FACE TO CREATE A FROWN. :rolleyes


 
Celebrity Worship and Convention Adventures



CHAPTER V: MEETING PATRICK IN BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA -PRE-TNG
As I watched the swearing in ceremonies for the House and Senate yesterday, I reminded myself of MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON with Jimmy Stewart. ;)

Speaking of Stewart, this brings me to a story over 20 years old concerning the soon to be USS ENTERPRISE 1701-D captain, Patrick Stewart.

I was doing the tourist thing in the Beverly Hills section of Los Angeles with a few friends way back in 1987. As we lined up
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for a shot in front of THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES' mansion (you heard me), I noticed a strange but familaiar jogger heading our way. As everyone else was distracted with the shot, I kept staring at the guy about to pass in front of us. I elbowed a friend and then spoke with this guy right as he got closer. I said, "Hi. Aren't you the new Captain of the Enterprise?". He responded, "You'er quite perceptive young man. Indeed I am." He was still in stride while conversing and as he got further away I said, "We have a meeting at the set tomorrow. Hope to see you there". He waved (probably mumbling "FREAK") and went on about his business.

The next day as we toured the new ENT digs, we entered the bridge while Patrick and Gates McFadden were rehearsing a scene. He noticed me over her shoulder and nodded with a smile (No projectiles launched from his direction).

Nice to be remembered at times and Patrick retains his graciousness to this day.

Some celebs deserve to be praised while future stories "may" tell you of a few who's characters are much more pleasant than their real life persona's.
 
Celebrity Worship and Convention Adventures

CHAPTER VI:
THE BEST CELEBRITIES TO WORK WITH.
Hosting these sort of events for a long time has garnered me personal relationships with a lot of celebs. I don't brag about it (if it seems I am here) because my abilities to "not act like a fan" and to keep my mouth shut has helped to maintain my standing with many people, not just celebs. :smokin

I've been blessed with my talent as an Architect and I think there is no skill involved when it comes to dealing with audiences and people in general. Hell, I'm definitely an opinionated person but my opinions are usually in defense of those who don't deserve seedy treatment. I'm well known for my opinions and have gained a few enemies because of it only due to the fact that I've always thwarted their plans for world domination. :rolleyes

My Mother told me to love your fellow man and although there's a few I'd like to push off a cliff, I generally practice that. If I was not wanted as a stage presence by thousands of Europeans (talk about opinionated), I would have been dismissed by Fedcon Germany many years ago after 18 years of service with them. :angel

This now brings me to the topic at hand. I have known many cool people in my lifetime :bow and here's a secret (not really) that I'd like to share. I do not have autographs of any of the 500+ people I have worked with in my life. Autographs do absolutely nothing for me and unless an actors signature was on a blank check, they can keep it. I love my fotos with them as a reminder that I was actually in their airspace but a signed photo would be a waste of a good designing instrument. :wacko

Some of the best celebs I have every worked with will not all be told here. They are in no apparant order, just names of people who strike a fancy with me. :drool

* Bob Picardo (Star Trek/Stargate) fixed me dinner at his home once and showed off his 60 inch.......................television to me. He was quite proud of it. After dinner, he and his wife and a few of us took a nice strool around his neighborhood in the nite air. That was ultra cool.

* I had nice chats with people like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Charles Bronson, Buddy Ebsen, Woody Strodes, Clayton Moore (Lone Ranger), Robert Mitchim and a few other classic cowboy stars as I am a huge Western fan (remember the word fanatic?).

* Marina Sirtis baked me a lemon pie from the lemons off a tree in her back yard and I designed an addition onto the back of her house. I don't think it was ever built tho.

* I hosted a charity auction with Scott (Bakula) and Chelsea performing at a swank 25 million dollar mansion near LA a few years back. Good to hear Scott's voice

* I got my first sunburn EVER on a beach in the Bahamas while playing volleyball with Wil Wheaton. I spent time juggling with him and his family under a street lamp one night outside of his parent's house. I spent time with Gene Roddenberry which remains very special to me still.

* I got drunk once with Lee Arenberg (the short bald pirate in Pirates of the Carribean) last October and plan to do it again while in LA next March.

All in all, these are just people. PEOPLE! Oh yeah they may act and look cool on TV or in movies but they are employees of a company working a 9 to 5 or midnight. They want to be treated as such moreso than as the character that they portray on the screen. I never bring up their work in a conversation unless they start it. That's a rule with me. I have a few actors I remain in total awe of everytime I'm near them but that's the fanboy mentality in me and everyone deserves to drift away into a realm that suits them and I do. Often!

My familiarity with many celebs is by chance. Had I not had the job that I have now, I would be in front of a television enjoying their performances much like many of us here. My job puts me in close proximity of them and immediate conversations based on the need. This happens 4-5 times a year and I treasure heading to my room for a nap once I introduce them onstage. This is what I do as a hobby. I've never drooled over anybody...................well there was that one time with Halle Berry...............I've never drooled over anybody!!! :drool:drool

My list of favorites is extensive. I'm closer to some than I am others and in my next report, I'll mention those that are NOT so close to me. Of course I'm not stupid (sometimes) and names will be left out but the stories should be pretty interesting. If you guess the ones I am speaking of, you'll never prove it nor will I confirm your correctness.

Entertainment is my hobby and smiles on faces is my mission. ALYWAYS!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. :blackeye
 
All in all, these are just people. PEOPLE! Oh yeah they may act and look cool on TV or in movies but they are employees of a company working a 9 to 5 or midnight. They want to be treated as such moreso than as the character that they portray on the screen. I never bring up their work in a conversation unless they start it. That's a rule with me. I have a few actors I remain in total awe of everytime I'm near them but that's the fanboy mentality in me and everyone deserves to drift away into a realm that suits them and I do. Often!
I may make jokes (and they are jokes) about being a starstruck fool, but I totally look forward to the chance to relate to our guests as ordinary people. I'm very curious about the process and experience of making films, but I don't want to push people to talk shop either. I don't see too many celebrities in my neighborhood, so it will be a new experience for me.
 
Celebrity Worship and Convention Adventures



CHAPTER VIII: WHY WE ARE FANS
I'm skipping CHAPTER VII and moving straight to CHAPTER VIII. I'm moving on to this because I tend to get things down on paper immediately as they hit my brain and fandom is hitting me pretty hard right now. I'm the ultimate multi-tasker and this does not affect my work or my concentration on kicking out nice pretty pictures like I do. I'm also modest.

WHY WE ARE FANS.
Why "are" we fans by the way? Well, here's my version. There are thousands of other opinions on this subject but no one can explain fans but fans themselves.

This may sound corny but since the days of cave drawings, man has always had an imagination. Describing a recent hunt or pantomiming an adventure as told by individuals limited in speech or communication methods, man (and you gals too) have over-embellished their idea of the perfect story and millions of years later, we still talk about the 10 foot mutant fish that got away. This is basically called "an imagination". It's that imagination that has caused our races, our cultures to come up with brain-schemed ideas for entertainment or ease-of-living purposes.

On the entertainment end, we as spectators have witnessed the creation of such minor things as books and movies, plays and music and it was those things that has created lovers out of all of us. We discovered, enjoyed and then wanted more of that which has caused us delight and amazement. Out of that need, we have become fanatical. We thrived and starved for more of what we have just witnessed and we have bounded together to form a group known as fans. There are all types of fanatics out there. Those that believe deeply in what they have learned and seen and those that don't. Some of us are surface lovers, never ever getting down so deep into something that it has warped our sense of reality to make us a danger to society. Others want to cause harm to those that do not agree with them for how can we be so blind as to not see that those imaginative creations provided by the world's talent are real. To some it's called faith. To others, reality. Whatever it is, some people lack the ability to determine what's real or not.
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Why are we fans? Because escapism is not just a physical thing. As complicated as the mind can be, we all have a special place within it that we can go to....but with a little help.
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Howdy Doody, Mickey Mouse, Buck Rogers, they all had clubs back then. Personal appearances by the actors, decoder rings out of cereal boxes and membership cards sent to us through the mail showed that individuals can come together to form groups in appreciation of a common factor. These members all worshiped the fact that they could be just like the thing they saw on television or in the movies

QUANTUM LEAP gives us many possibilities, hopes and realities. We see a man trapped in a perpetual rotation of life's examples, both good and bad, and then returns us to ponder over the implications of Sam's journeys. Whether it was a visit to history so as not to repeat it or a lesson in love, QL did not discriminate. The sheer notion that we are being lectured to by characters we have fallen in love with has made it exceptable to us. Why? Because we have become followers of those characters. Fans. Their execution and achievement in making us understand and believe has caused us to worship a thing like Quantum Leap.

We are fans because the realities of everyday life can be hard and escapism is but a few steps away, in the other room in front of a thing we called Lazy-Boy.
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Addendum: TV Things I am a huge fan of (only in brain fart order)

* FAMILY GUY
* JONNY QUEST
* H.R. PUFNSTUF
* SCOOBY DOO
* THE HERCULOIDS
* CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS
* SPACE GHOST
* JONNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT (Google it!)
* THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIES FATHER (all know the whole theme song)
* ROOM 222
* THE MOD SQUAD
* SHAZZAN
* THE BANANA SPLITS (Danger Island, Tom Sawyer, Arabian Knights)
* F TROOP
* MY FAVORITE MARTIAN
* BEWITCHED
* LOST IN SPACE
* LAND OF THE GIANTS
* VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
* YOUNG SAMSON
* LOONEY TUNES
* WACKY RACES
* LANCELOT LINK: SECRET CHIMP (OMG! YouTube the theme song video)
* GET SMART
* DICK VAN DYKE SHOW
* and many many more
 
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* FAMILY GUY
* JONNY QUEST

You know, I used to watch that all the time, and I never understood a darn thing that was going on!

* H.R. PUFNSTUF
OMG! Puf'n'stuf! Marc, you and I must have been kids at about the same time. No, I'm not going to ask how old you are!
H.R. Puf'n'stuf! Who's your friend when things get rough?

* SCOOBY DOO
* THE HERCULOIDS
* CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS
* SPACE GHOST
* JONNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT (Google it!)
* THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIES FATHER (all know the whole theme song)

People let me tell you 'bout my best friend,
He's a warm-hearted person who loves me till the end
People let me tell you 'bout my best friend,
He's my one boy, cuddly toy,
my up, my down, my pride and joy.
People let me tell you 'bout him, he's so much fun
Whether we're talking man to man
Or whether we're talking son to son.
He's my best friend, yeah.

Did you know that Nilsson wrote that song "People let me tell you 'bout my girlfriend" originally, and changed it to become the theme for "Courtship"? Your trivia for the day.

* ROOM 222
* THE MOD SQUAD
* SHAZZAN
* THE BANANA SPLITS (Danger Island, Tom Sawyer, Arabian Knights)
I was madly in love with Fleagle. I was about 6 years old at the time, though.

* F TROOP
* MY FAVORITE MARTIAN
* BEWITCHED
* LOST IN SPACE
* LAND OF THE GIANTS
* VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
* YOUNG SAMSON
* LOONEY TUNES
* WACKY RACES
* LANCELOT LINK: SECRET CHIMP (OMG! YouTube the theme song video)
* GET SMART
* DICK VAN DYKE SHOW
* and many many more

This is a serious nostalgia trip! About 2/3 of them were favorites of mine too.
 
Celebrity Worship and Convention Adventures



CHAPTER VIX: THE BEST CONS IN THE WORLD
I was introduced to the convention community in Baltimore and knew nothing of pro-run cons. I worked with people like me and what we were creating were fan-run events. It was a few years before I knew what a pro convention was and even to this day I hate all pro-run conventions in this country. If I had to really choose any pro-run con that met my standards, there actually are a few. Here's a short list of the best and why:

1. COMIC-CON (San Diego, CA.): The world's biggest meda-oriented event. I stopped going when it was only 70,000 people. Last year they topped 130,000. The studios send entire casts of movies or tv shows to woo the internet savvy audiences. I've met Angejina Jolie and Halle Berry at a Comic Con. The dealers room is one mile long......and then you have walk back! fans line up outside of ballrooms 6-8 hours before they open the doors just to see the cast of BSG or EUREKA or THE SIMPSONS or IRON MAN, etc. It's pretty ridiculous and no way would you see me in any of those lines. I stopped attending CC for a reason but reccommend you visit this at leaset ONCE in your life. It's like climbing Mt. Kilamanjaro.

2. DRAGON-CON (Atlanta, Georgia): How does one describe DC? Think of a Mardi-Gras atmosphere mixed with Halloween and an Erotic Awards Show. DC is both sexually (barely there costumes) and electric. They have a Stars Walk of Fame with names like Jamie Bamber, Brent Spiner, Traci Lords and Mickey Rooney, Lou Ferrigno, Mickey Dolenz (The Monkees) and Bruce Boxlietner. It is the best pop culture convention in the world. With an average of 35,000 fans over a 4 day weekend (Labor Day), this is the ulimate event if you are a goth or a gamer or a sci-fi geek or an anime fan! The sights are amazing and the local Atlanta police and private security is always there for crowd control alongside the conventions massive security force. DC is held in 3 adjoining hotels and gets bigger each year. DC is science fiction on crack. There's professional wrestling and multiple costume contests, one that you wouldn't take your kids to, and night-time metal bands that are extraordinary. DC is number 1 in my book. I also serve as one of it's auctioneers for two 5 hour long events there.

3. THE LEAPBACK CONVENTION (Studio City, CA.): Definitely the most memorable event honoring a singular television show debutes in March with attendence by the main cast. QUANTUM LEAP left and impression on all those planning to attend this once in a lifetime event and should prove to be a staple in the convention industry. With a fan-run committee hosting an event for charity, this serves as an example of the generosity produced from a population known as fans. If you're not going to LEAPBACK, we'll relay the history back to you after we've recovered.

4. THERE IS NO #4. That's it. after 25 years of travelling to cons around the country, I find the previous 3 the only conventions worthy of fandom.

My foreign pro-run list:

1. FEDCON: (Bonn, Germany): It has to be seen to believed. 5000 fans from 30 different countries. Professional partyers. Professional drinkers. The most intelligent fans I have ever heard. The most gracious. The most applause-givers to any celebrity. A beautiful country and a beautiful hotel. More and more Americans are discovering this jewel. I can say more about FEDCON than this but I always tell people to "JUST GO".


The best fan-run:

1. FARPOINT (Hunt Valley, MD.): My hometown team. They taught me a lot and although a very small convention, it's full of friends and heartfelf alliances. Real and honest people with the need to deliver.

2. SHORE LEAVE: (Hunt Valley, MD.) Another Baltimore area group.

I'm sure there are more, but this is my experience. Conventions have come and gone. I know a majority of the organizers in this country and many are not on this list. Not because they don't put on good shows but only because I have found a few that are better. All in all, conventions serve a purpose for those looking. I have been to good and bad ones and choose not to mention the bad ones. Some of those organizers are my friends too.
:wavey
 
Celebrity Worship and Convention Adventures



CHAPTER X: CELEBRITY WORSHIPPING

Well here comes a rather sensitive part of my series here. CELEBRITY WORSHIPING. We all have been accused of it to an extent but what is fandom without a level of worship? Fan, derived from the term "fanatic", is sort of a prerequisite in this educational journey of star appreciation. You'd have to be come sort of a nut to follow the career of an actor or its show. Some fans are a bit more obsessive than others, do crazy things, possess crazy things and live a crazy life as a fan but nonetheless we all have a bit of a screw loose when it comes to actor appreciation.

I was told by a few actors on a few occassions that the reason they are sitting with me at this bar at this moment is because I never started a conversation about their work. They admired that and had to ask again if I was in fact a fan of their work afterall. My general rule of thumb is to allow them to speak of their career first. If that happens, it just opens a door for my own personal questions, of which I never get a chance to ask during my working hours at a con. There isn't a question they haven't answered before and some more times than others. They still confess that the best line of questioning they have ever had are from the European marketplace and welcome it moreso than from American fandom. Wait till QL.

Actors are employess for corporations producing a product for the success of that corporation. They have health plans, insurance plans, punch a time clock and go on lunch breaks like all of us. They actually have skin, own eyes, ears and navels and use the bathroom like the rest of us. They sometimes cry and do not have the ability to fly or cross periods in time. Amazingly so, they also burp, fart, pee, poop, snore, pick their noses and complain about their Venti Lattes not being hot enough. Actors act. They possess jobs.

As Leonard Nimoy spoke to the convention staff, thanking them for the fine time he had this weekend, a few fans stalked in the distance, waiting for the limo to pull off. As it did, so did they. The pursuit to the airport was both comical and sad for they had gotten a signed photo from Leonard and now was in pursuit for more.

We had eyed this tall guy in line to get Jonathan Frakes' signature but we were curious as to what it was he was getting signed. he held nothing and it sort of made the con security boys a bit nervous. As the giant made it up to the table, he kneeled before Frakes, extended his arm across it directly in front of Jonathan and proceeded to ask if he would sign his arm. Security moved in.

Before Mary McDonnell agreed to come to our convention in Germany, she had to be assured that specially hired security will be on hand for an American who had been stalking her for a long time. She had received a well publicized visit from the sherriff's department and told to stay away from the Battlestar Galacttica actress. We never saw her in Europe but paid the expense for Mary's safety.

When we arrived at the 12th century castle for our annual "After-Convention Dinner", many of the actors were already congregating on the castle grounds but we did not recognize the couple, armed with photos and posters, chatting with Kevin Sorbo near the fountain. We instruct our celebs on various signals when being "inundated" by fans and Kevin shot one directly at me. Motioning to my security guys of the situation, the two fans were escorted off the grounds after finding out that they followed Kevin's car to the location of the dinner. Not a pretty sight. They put up a fight. :blackeye

OK, we ALL are not like those folks and there are plenty of other stories I could share with you but you get the point. :nut

In general, fans are gracious and admirable in their worship of a particular celebrity. Some need to be put into reality but even those sorts know their boundaries. I've never admired anything that much that I would have anything related to them or their show in my house. That's just me and is in no way a negative to my sanity as a fan. I just prefer enjoying the fun in my brain rather than dispalying it openly. I'm actually a Monet and huge Van Goh fan and bend a bit to possess prints of their work. :drool

Fandom is what keeps our sense of loyalty true. With this practice, we transverse into other things that makes this a better place to live. If you admire Scott, than you admire some of the values he supports. With that, a valuable charity or organization gains members. If you admire Quantum Leap, it has in some way produced scholars and professors and technicians with the imagination to create a plausible idea to the things imagined in that series. If you enjoy conventions in celebration of a show such as QL, than you have exercised your social skills in creating and discussing new or better ideas in improving this planet we so cherish. :smokin

Fandom, along with it's sub-routine Celebrity Worshiping, has produced some of the more fantastic people and ideas that your parents or friends said was strange, not a good idea or just plain stupid. Without fandom there would be no cell phones, medical marvels or accellerator chambers. Without fandom, we'd all drudge around day after day relying on company bonuses to afford the new picture tube for our antiquated television sets so that we can tune in for this evenings episode of Howdy Doody. :disbelief

We worship celebs because we are the world's fans....and we ain't quittin' either! What would you do without us?
:cheers:cheers:cheers:cheers
 
Celebrity Worship and Convention Adventures



CHAPTER XI: THE 2009 LEAP BACK CONVENTION

I'm fulfilling my promise and adding the last chapter before my early departure to LA. Seems last night I got a call and was asked if I could fly out early to MC an event and serve as a co-Auctioneer with STAR TREK 11's CHRIS PINE this Sunday! This putting me in a packing and paperwork panic including this chapter. So it'll be short.

This convention will be the result of blood, sweat and tears by the people who are putting it on. It's always hard to please some people but generally the masses understand the headaches accompanying the organizers of a convention.

So, we have lost Dean Stockwell as a guest and it is unfortunate. Some of you have sold your tickets not realizing what a great time you will have nonetheless. Many of those who sold their tickets did it for financial decisions and I understand completely. we'll miss you and would hope that you would send good thoughts to the others who are travelling to us.

LEAP BACK will be grand. The people I have met thus far fits my quality of character and I will enjoy spending time getting to know them better.

LEAP BACK will be grand. The excitement of reliving a series that had been off the air for decades will seem like a vacation trip for you.

LEAP BACK will be grand. To witness the knowledge of this series from those who have worshiped it over the years will indeed be staggering for me. The attendees will know more than I EVER could about this show but I'll try to keep up and get educated. That's one of the reasons I love fans so much.

I enjoy gatherings such as this. When the rigors of the day has set in and the desire for a beer or a shot of whiskey is well earned, the discovery of people comes in to play at a much deeper realization than sitting next to them in a ballroom. This convention is not just being a witness to stars and writers walk across the stage, conversing with us all. It's about fraternization. Social encounters. Developing friendships.

LEAP BACK will be grand. Historically grand. And I look forward to being a part of it.

See you all in Burbank!
 
This will be my first Quantum Leap convention, but far from my first >30 SECOND CELEBRITY MEETING<.

I call it >30 SECOND CELEBRITY MEETING< because you usually get 30 seconds (if you're lucky) to interact with the celebrity you are chasing down to meet.

You're in line to meet them, or perhaps bump into them somehow, and you race through your head to figure out what you're going to say because you only get ONE SHOT at this and besides...do you really want to repeat the same thing the celebrity is probably asked all the time.

The most oxymoronic celebrity meeting I had was with Penn & Teller. Penn barely said a word and Teller talked to me for a very gracious five minutes. Maybe it was another one of their tricks.

As usual, I will be dragging around my merchandise to be signed and not quite get everything to be signed. Afterward, the merchandise will either be immortalized somewhere...or like a true huckster, sold on Ebay.

Nah...it's Quantum Leap. I'll probably keep it FOREVER.


FOREVER EVER?

FOREVER EVER!



I'm also glad the cost of this convention is much lower than Star Trek.

A picture with Shatner and Nimoy costs damn near $300.

So much for Priceline Negotiator.


*rolling my eyes*


Come on Bill, you can go lower than that...take a risk.