summer_jackel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
summer_jackel) wrote2005-08-05 06:26 pm
summer_jackel) wrote2005-08-05 06:26 pm
Gathering 05!
So I am back safe and sound from...believe it or not...an utterly wonderful weekend in Las Vegas.
The Gathering of the Gargoyles is a tiny but delightful con. This fandom is full of delightful, excellent, fabulous people...but then I knew that, it's the main reason I made the pilgrimage, to meet them all in the flesh. Con activities included a lively and entertaining reading panel (I read the first scene from my Eye of Odin anthology story. Those of you who want the story but for whatever reason don't have the book, let me know). We had a fun adult round robin, which ended up with the highly amusing pairing of Demona and WereFox (the latter is, you can guess, my fault). The life drawing panel was great, and a nice opportunity to loosen up my pencil hand.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
allaine77 's fanfic trivia panel was hilarious. I was highly amused that neither alexandria24 nor Ellen won, *despite the fact that some of the questions were about their stories*. Hey, at least they didn't get any of the questions that *were* about their stories...wrong. The concom did a great job of creating a really really fun little event: kudos to them.
Greg Weisman, the show's writer and co-creator, is really really really cool, and brought with him all sorts of delightful treats like his pitches for the show, the voiceover and art for an unfinished episode of 'Atlantis' that stars Demona (along with a really cool fan-made storyboard of same) and the script, which was acted out in a radio play, of a show he pitched about an immortal doctor. I enjoyed it a lot. Also displayed was a lot of original art from the show, including the background of Macbeth's library (beautiful!!!!!!! the *window*!!! the stained glass window of Demona....) and conceptual drawings of Elisa in her Belle dress, Demona in her cop uniform, the three Weird Sisters in chains, and WereFox, among others. I was allowed to photo these, and will share if asked. Beautiful, beautiful stuff. Van Eaton Gallery was also selling cels from the show, some of them jaw droppingly lovely. If only I had a job right now...if only!
By far the best part, though, was spending time with my excellent friends, all of them usually spread all over the continent. I roomed withallaine77 alexandria24 and mooncatx. They are really fun people!!! We spent a goodly amount of time roaming the Las Vegas "Strip" and trying mightily not to let the shocking desert heat evaporate us completely. On my first night there, we saw "Zumanity", an R-rated Cirque de Soliel show. Guys? If ever you end up in Vegas, you've got to see this show. It was easily one of the most exquisitely beautiful human-created things I have ever been privileged to witness. It was beautiful, tender, scary and shocking. REALLY good. I want to see it again.
It was also excellent to meet in personalex_garg, earls_guys, Ellen Stolfa (Auntie Ellen, Auntie Ellen!!!) and Julie Shadowrunner, among lots of others. Wonderful, happy.
And. Vegas itself. I think that I will just link tobaxil's report of his previous visit to the place, both because it is a beautiful bit of writing and becuase he hits the nail on the head; I can't put it any better.
http://baxil.livejournal.com/79284.html
This is a seriously scary place. Stunningly extravigent. Fun in that artificial, Disneyland sort of a way, but overwhelming in the flashing lights, reality warping archetecture and constant presence of the slot machines. The opulance of ponds, water shows, lakes and fountains *in the middle of the Nevada desert* tripped me in the eco-consciousness in a huge way, as well as the truly profligate use of electricity (also most likely water-sourced). You really have to see this thing to believe it, and it's worth seeing, and taking the warning in stride: a necessary lesson in what we are, as a species and a culture, and what we will do given the opportunity.
The human falsity and decadence of the place is constantly overshadowed by the quiet yet constant presence of the beige and purple mountains and mesas in the distance, the still and omnipresent desert around and beneath. Few biomes have given me as deep a sense of overwhelming *presence* as the deserts of Nevada and Arizona: fierce, deadly, sere and beautiful places. The fabric between this world and the next is thinner in these rarefied deserts, and even the garishness of the Strip and the tired dayside tawdriness of the sprawl of everyday life surrounding it cannot completely drown this out. Hard not to contrast this trip with my last time in the Southwest, when I rafted the Grand Canyon and hiked out of the Bright Angel trail (by night, so as not to die).
That said, I actually did enjoy the strip, despite my panic/aversion to crowds being tripped in a severe way during a really silly free show at the Treasure Island hotel. I would *really* have loved this place as a kid...all those castles and fountains and the way awesome shiny black pyramid. We saw the white tigers and lions, as well as one very cute and frisky male dolphin, at the Mirage, all of which I, naturally, loved. Could have stared at those beautiful kitties all day long. And about did, much, I believe, toallaine77 and alexandria24's perceived annoyance. Tigers! I love Tigers!!!!! I was very happy to finally get to see them.
And I love Gathering and the folks I spent it with. Thanks, guys. I'll post photos soon.
The Gathering of the Gargoyles is a tiny but delightful con. This fandom is full of delightful, excellent, fabulous people...but then I knew that, it's the main reason I made the pilgrimage, to meet them all in the flesh. Con activities included a lively and entertaining reading panel (I read the first scene from my Eye of Odin anthology story. Those of you who want the story but for whatever reason don't have the book, let me know). We had a fun adult round robin, which ended up with the highly amusing pairing of Demona and WereFox (the latter is, you can guess, my fault). The life drawing panel was great, and a nice opportunity to loosen up my pencil hand.
allaine77 's fanfic trivia panel was hilarious. I was highly amused that neither alexandria24 nor Ellen won, *despite the fact that some of the questions were about their stories*. Hey, at least they didn't get any of the questions that *were* about their stories...wrong. The concom did a great job of creating a really really fun little event: kudos to them.Greg Weisman, the show's writer and co-creator, is really really really cool, and brought with him all sorts of delightful treats like his pitches for the show, the voiceover and art for an unfinished episode of 'Atlantis' that stars Demona (along with a really cool fan-made storyboard of same) and the script, which was acted out in a radio play, of a show he pitched about an immortal doctor. I enjoyed it a lot. Also displayed was a lot of original art from the show, including the background of Macbeth's library (beautiful!!!!!!! the *window*!!! the stained glass window of Demona....) and conceptual drawings of Elisa in her Belle dress, Demona in her cop uniform, the three Weird Sisters in chains, and WereFox, among others. I was allowed to photo these, and will share if asked. Beautiful, beautiful stuff. Van Eaton Gallery was also selling cels from the show, some of them jaw droppingly lovely. If only I had a job right now...if only!
By far the best part, though, was spending time with my excellent friends, all of them usually spread all over the continent. I roomed with
allaine77 alexandria24 and mooncatx. They are really fun people!!! We spent a goodly amount of time roaming the Las Vegas "Strip" and trying mightily not to let the shocking desert heat evaporate us completely. On my first night there, we saw "Zumanity", an R-rated Cirque de Soliel show. Guys? If ever you end up in Vegas, you've got to see this show. It was easily one of the most exquisitely beautiful human-created things I have ever been privileged to witness. It was beautiful, tender, scary and shocking. REALLY good. I want to see it again.It was also excellent to meet in person
alex_garg, earls_guys, Ellen Stolfa (Auntie Ellen, Auntie Ellen!!!) and Julie Shadowrunner, among lots of others. Wonderful, happy.And. Vegas itself. I think that I will just link to
baxil's report of his previous visit to the place, both because it is a beautiful bit of writing and becuase he hits the nail on the head; I can't put it any better.http://baxil.livejournal.com/79284.html
This is a seriously scary place. Stunningly extravigent. Fun in that artificial, Disneyland sort of a way, but overwhelming in the flashing lights, reality warping archetecture and constant presence of the slot machines. The opulance of ponds, water shows, lakes and fountains *in the middle of the Nevada desert* tripped me in the eco-consciousness in a huge way, as well as the truly profligate use of electricity (also most likely water-sourced). You really have to see this thing to believe it, and it's worth seeing, and taking the warning in stride: a necessary lesson in what we are, as a species and a culture, and what we will do given the opportunity.
The human falsity and decadence of the place is constantly overshadowed by the quiet yet constant presence of the beige and purple mountains and mesas in the distance, the still and omnipresent desert around and beneath. Few biomes have given me as deep a sense of overwhelming *presence* as the deserts of Nevada and Arizona: fierce, deadly, sere and beautiful places. The fabric between this world and the next is thinner in these rarefied deserts, and even the garishness of the Strip and the tired dayside tawdriness of the sprawl of everyday life surrounding it cannot completely drown this out. Hard not to contrast this trip with my last time in the Southwest, when I rafted the Grand Canyon and hiked out of the Bright Angel trail (by night, so as not to die).
That said, I actually did enjoy the strip, despite my panic/aversion to crowds being tripped in a severe way during a really silly free show at the Treasure Island hotel. I would *really* have loved this place as a kid...all those castles and fountains and the way awesome shiny black pyramid. We saw the white tigers and lions, as well as one very cute and frisky male dolphin, at the Mirage, all of which I, naturally, loved. Could have stared at those beautiful kitties all day long. And about did, much, I believe, to
allaine77 and alexandria24's perceived annoyance. Tigers! I love Tigers!!!!! I was very happy to finally get to see them.And I love Gathering and the folks I spent it with. Thanks, guys. I'll post photos soon.
Yep, it's a hoot!
(Anonymous) 2005-08-07 02:08 pm (UTC)(link)-- Auntie Ellen
Tigers, Tigers!
Piccies, I want the piccies!!! *happy kitty drool* -- I loved the displays of the original disney production art. If only my camera was working at the time *fret* -- I think the problem I was having was the batteries on my adaptor punked out on me. grrrr... So have to depend on Summer Jackel and Ellen's generousity on sharing the pics they took of the model sheets I so very very VERY want copies of. mew, mew, mew.... piccies, piccies, piccies!!!
If only you could have stayed a few more days... *sad* We went to go see another show on Tuesday night... all lovely bondage and fetish themed *^_~* -- I think you would have liked, YUM!!! The suite hotel we moved to on Monday was AWESOME! But me so sick kitty *~_~* ... When we got there I sicked up... but I did feel enormously better afterwards. We couldn't get the por... um... entertainment files I'd burned to dvd and brought with me to play on my little lap top though. sigh. Next time I just burn what I want to show to my external hard drive, *determined kitty face*
Eeeeeeeeee!!!! Missed you so much!!! *pounce!!!!* The suite was awesome, had a full kitchen and stuff. Wanted to share it with you... *cuddles Summer*
sleepy nowwww
*topples over*
>^vv^< snooze
Re: Tigers, Tigers!
And I have links to pics in my LJ too, MC.
Sincerely, Allaine
Re: Tigers, Tigers!
Hey Jackel!!!! Pictures!!! Especially the model sheets of the Wierd Sisters, Fox and Elisa pleaseeeeeeee. *^_^* I'm going to work on the portfolio of Weird Sister pics I planned on and they'd help ever so enormously *batty bats kitty eyelashes at the Summer Jackel* >^@@^<
mew!