I just got back from SF and must tell you, though I could only go to the convention one day... I had a wonderful weekend. For those of you who have never been to a "Con", meeting and being with your Amazon sisters is as exciting and fun as the event... in some cases much more so

The Amazons that created, produced and presented the GABS (Great Amazon Breakfast Social) on Sat AM, {{{Whisper-Areswriter-Cass'}}} get a huge round of applause for making a meal a real event, a fun event. It was a great way to get to know some special Amazons that were heretofore unknown to me, because I just don't get to the forum much these days... The games were clever, the prizes lovely, folders a great idea, name tags looked and fit great and the magnets were really neat. This was an exceptional group effort by a few special individuals who spent their time and money to make it that way. THANK YOU! And thank you for the warm welcome and hello's from all my new Amazon friends

A special treat was Kendaa, who flew all the way from Sydney (thank you Bastet) and she presented packages of Tim Tam's and little lapel size clip on Koala bears to everyone.

There were several new pix... I bought just one. It is of Kevin dressed as HerK sitting in his 'director's chair' and playing with Gizmo (who looks more like a mouse than a dog in those big hands). The sheer joy on his face was something I could not resist... There were better chest shots (and the gods know how much I appreciate a good chest shot), even better smiling pix... but to me this one was special.

The event itself was interesting but Xena focused primarily... It was a small intimate gathering, at least when compared to the LA area conventions. We saw some new bloopers that were wonderful. I'm sorry to say I didn't take notes so can't give any details. Also saw a few, very few, slides from up coming eps. I have NO news to report about Kevin's possible CON attendance in Jan (though he's scheduled to be in Vancouver, B.C., Canada filming "Andromeda" then) or verification that he definitely will be in a XWP episode this year, though it is or may be still in discussions.

Both guest were very entertaining, but the audio was so low I had trouble hearing what Tim (Eli) Omundson and Kevin (Ares/Iphicles) Smith said.

Tim was the first 'guest star' and wore a navy suit. He has sleek, black, longish-short hair and NO dread locks (they were extensions, but the beard was his). He is a good friend of Ted Raimi and told some stories about Ted, his different auditions for Pac Ren and his first read through with Renee and Lucy. He was energetic and self depreciating about his lack of 'physique' which lead into a funny story about the robe he had to wear as Eli. He did a great 'Scots' accent when asked what he wore under it<LOL>. To be honest I was so far back and still can't see well enough to tell you if he was really good looking or not... but he seemed very "model put together"... Attractive, outgoing and charmingly actor-like

Kevin Smith was wearing skin tight black jeans and a loose white long sleeved sweater/T-shirt that zippered mid way up the chest... Have to say I was a bit disappointed not to have a glance at that chest (sigh). Apparently he was saving it all for the 'cabaret' show later that night Ceallach has a vault full of photos of the cabaret so those of you who are interested will be able to see what I mean as she will make those available on her web site soon.

Anyway, Smithy looks great in his shorter hair cut and no facial hair. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of 'visiting' with Smithy... He is a totally uneffected Kiwi, with a wonderful sense of humor, attentive and polite. A right mate! Beauty!! He read a bit from some play (when asked and given the book to read from) but I was unable to hear the question nor the piece he was reading, so can't tell you what it was other than dramatically riveting. He did several 'voices', accents and characters and had us rolling with laughter. I found his "Jerry Patrick Brown" the funniest and he added after doing his JPB that driving the Harley was, I'll have to translate ... a lot of fun and a real treat! He talked about his decision to move on to 'other' things and leave the Pac Ren stable (so to speak). He talked about the recently aired telemovie "Lawless", which he made for NZ TV. (I got to watch this the night before at Ceallach's house and it was pretty good... Kevin plays an undercover Narc). It seemed to be a short presentation and I was hoping he'd give a preview of what he was going to sing that night, but he didn't and he was scheduled to appear the next day as well, so that may explain the length of his presentation.

I get a real kick out of the "music video's" that Creation shows just prior to bringing out the guest... it is clips of the character to the tune of a rock n'roll song. For Eli/Tim the song was The Eurythmic's "Missionary Man" <LOL> and Smithy's song is... of course, what else but "Bad to the Bone". I didn't have tickets for the cabaret Sat night or for the next day so said my goodbyes.

I thank those of you who have already posted con reports. I know how fun it is to hear about such special events, especially when we can't attend them ourselves.

I also wish to send my prayers to those who are being battered yet again by another Hurricane on the Atlantic coast and to those of you in So. Calif who got shaken this weekend. Earthquakes - I know how they feel having survived the Loma Prieta 10 years ago. I am thankful this weekend's quake hit a sparsely populated area.

Thank you all who sent me well wishes...

Hugs,
~Ap

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~ø¤º*APOLLENA*º¤ø~
~~Queen of the Amazons~~
*SSS*
A Sorbonne no matter what character Kevin Sorbo portrays!
Sorbonne-HerKulean-SoviaK-KULL'sValusian
*Young Hercules' other Mother*
HerKuleS, Half Man, Half God, All Hero, All Heart
HerKuleS, The Greatest Legend Of All Time
KULL Rocks! It's good to be Queen!

<vel@worldnet.att.net> http://members.xoom.com/velselvan/ve05000.html

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