I haven't been able to read all the reports yet, so forgive me if I repeat anything that has been said. I must say, though, that writing that report yesterday did the trick, now I feel like I'm back, and happy and grateful to have had such a lovely trip to Neverland. And enjoying hearing about everyone else's experiences. Funny thing, though, whenever I see people in red T-shirts now, I just assume they must be Clan Denial, especially if there is more than one person together. And I keep expecting to run into Big John in the halls. And somehow, in seeing them, AP became Adrian, PW became Peter, SK became Stan, and JB became Jim. (I totally missed Elizabeth, darn it.) It's an odd little distinction, especially since I didn't talk to any of them face to face. But that's what happened.

I took a few notes during the Panzer/Abramowitz Q & A that I thought might be worth sharing (especially if no one has brought them up yet). It wasn't important to be looking at them, see, so I actually wrote stuff down. These are all paraphrases, though, so if I don't get the wording exactly write, feel free to correct.

Someone asked, "Are you ever surprised by the reception given a new character?" The reply: "Mostly we're surprised by the reception when we remove a character." (Uh, yeah, to put it mildly.)

Abramowitz said that if they'd had it to do over again, they would have made Duncan older. 400 years turned out to be a narrower window than they thought it would be. For instance, they dearly wanted to put Duncan in the Salem witch trials, but unforunately at the time he was in China, and he would have to have been a witch to get there. (Boy, doesn't that sound like a killer episode. I'd have forgiven them the discrepancy, I think.)

They would really like to introduce Methos and Joe in the new series, but they want it to be rocking and rolling on it's own first. (That makes sense. They want it to stand on it's own, and not be dependent on Methos and Joe, but as soon as it is they'll bring them in. Sounds great to me.)

In reference to Richie (and this is a direct quote): "I know many of you mourn him, and I'm sorry. But he's dead."

They talked about how Amanda certainly isn't Duncan with a sword, but she is Amanda, and she survives. Up to this point, we haven't seen just how she does is, and that will be interesting to explore. When asked if she will have a watcher, they reacted like they hadn't thought about it, but then said - "You can't have an immortal without a watcher, so . . ." (I assume there will be one, though he/she wouldn't have to be visible at first.)

Lots more was said, of course, but that's what I wrote down.

Unfortunately, I can't really remember a thing Adrian said. I was too busy watching him, and listening to him talk. If I'd had any brains in my head, I would have sat there afterwards and written down everything I could remember, which was more or less what I did with Peter, except not soon enough after, so I'm missing lots of stuff. But here's what I've got.

First of all, my question (which was almost last, although I got in line before it started - he gave such good, long answers that we didn't get through that many questions). I said, to the best of my recollection: "Hi Peter, my name is Sarah." (He's now looking at me. It was a miracle my brain continued to function as well as it did.) "I know you've covered some of this," (he had talked a lot about the horseman stuff, and I kept being terrified that he would answer my question before I got to ask it, because I had so much adrenaline in my bloodstream there was no way I could think of another one) "but I've always wondered - when you first saw the script for "Comes a Horseman" and "Revelation 8:6" or where introduced to the storyline, was it a surprise?" (That wasn't all of my question, but for some reason I quit there to see what he would say.) He said, "Are you kidding? It came out of the blue! They said, 'Have you seen the next script?' I said, 'No.' They said, 'You're one of the 4 horsemen!' I mean, what would you think?" And dang, dang, dang, I SHOULD have then followed up with my real question, which was "Did it change your perception of Methos to find out about this terrible, secret past, or did it fit in with how you thought about him?" but my brain short circuited and all I said was "Good question" in direct response to his probably retorical question. And then he elaborated a little more, but darn darn darn I don't remember what he said, and then I said thank you and smiled and he smiled back like he was happy to have made my day. WHAT A GUY! I may have to write him a letter and ask the rest of it. I hear that he takes questions for the PWFC newsletter. I may have to join. Why I haven't yet is somewhat of a mystery to me.

ANYWAY, on to other stuff he said. (Keep in mind that all the time I'm listening to this stuff, I'm running through my question in my head trying not to forget it, and also listening to his accent, and watching his lovely profile and the way he's got his feet hooked up on the chair.)

He said that Methos evolved through a combination of writing and acting - the writers gave him good stuff, and he put a certain spin on it, and that gave the writers new ideas, and that in turn inspired him - sort of an organic process. He said that he first envisioned Methos as a thoughtful, reflective kind of guy, but looking back, he can't find that Methos anywhere. Like the character kind of took over. I think I saw that someone had mentioned that he said Methos goes off and does things he doesn't tell Peter about. He first said, well, all of Methos is in me - and then paused and said, that's not right. He said, I have a feeling he has me pretty well under control. He mentioned "Finale" with the watcher CD that got loose - he said "you notice that he never acts very worried about it. Well, think about it. HE'S NOT ON IT" (We roared.)

He talked about how much fun Methos was to play - so much depth, so much variety (comedy, drama, wit, darkness) that now he's finding it hard to get excited about other parts he reads. He mentioned that usually as an actor you have a lot of experience reading parts that are really wonderful that you know you're not going to get, so when he read "Comes a Horseman" and "Revelation 8:6" he had to keep telling himself, "no, this isn't something I have to audition for and most likely won't get. I get to DO this! I've already got the part!" He talked about how those episodes explored the dark side of Methos, and that you don't want to go to that kind of place very often. All of us have things we really don't like about ourselves, but sometimes you have to confront them, and it becomes an important spiritual journey. But it's hard, and also hard on the people around you.

Someone asked if he's been surprised by the fan response to the character, and and he went on for several minutes about how flabergasted he was that he can go to cities on opposite sides of the world, and people know him. "I mean, people put MY face on T-shirts!" (I practically stood up and said "yes we do!" Maybe I should send him my Methos quote T-shirt. Hehe.)

Someone asked if he'd like to direct, and he said he wasn't that interested in directing per se, but there are a few projects he'd like to do that he wouldn't trust anyone else to have his vision of, and he'd like to direct them himself. Sorry, I was spacing just listening to his voice, but it had something to do with a marathon runner and a baby that was dying, and some kind of connection between them that ends up in the mind of the runner - he has to finish the race or the baby will die. Hmm, interesting.

And again, I was spacing through the first half of this question, but he said something about how quitting medical school took him a long time, but once he did it, it was the easiest thing he ever did. This one struck home for me big time. When you're struggling on a path because you don't see an alternative, and suddenly you either are forced off it or finally get off it, all at once everything seems clear and you breathe this sigh of relief that you don't have to struggle with something that wasn't right for you in the first place.

LADY MAURA MACWENCH

Well, here it goes, I am not a person of many words and I don't write all flowing and such...but here is my thoughts and opinions of the convention weekend.

First of all, let me tell you that all my co-workers and non-highlander friends thought that my sister (Lady Sheona) and I were totally nuts for rooming with three people that we had never met, except through the internet. But I have to say that all of our roommates were wonderful and kind ladies! (Thank-you for the fun times...Aaerile MacWench, Teufelin MacWench and Sneaker MacWench)

I guess the first major thing that we did was meet alot of the MacWenches in the hospitality room (HilndrLvr MN MacWench graciously allowed her room to be used). There was alot of hugging going on, as we finally got to put faces with the many e-mails, posts and chats! It was kind of like a family reunion. Alot of you looked familiar to me and I know that I had never met you before!

The next thing that I remember was the meeting in the forumlander room. It was so neat to finally get to meet everyone. As we all stood up and told who we were , there was alot of ooohs and aaahs, as we were connecting faces to on-line names. I think that this was one of the best times of the convention!

One of my roommates (Teufelin MacWench) won the cast dinner raffle! It was so cute, she was in total shock and her hands were shaking. I was very happy for her! Hopefully she will post her experience on the forum.

After the welcoming ceremony, We attended the mixer. Well since most everyone was watching the final eps (to be/ not to be), the mixer was very empty. They held the trivia contest and had a very good band (The High Lonesomes) play! Those of us that were there also got to have our pictures taken on the set of the loft and in the elevator! I got to sit on the couch!! Very cool! We had a great time dancing too.

The only thing I regret is not seeing the screening of the final eps! We over slept Saturday morning and missed it! I would have loved to see it with a room full of HL fans, but I still look forward to seeing it in May!

Everything was great about Saturday, the Q and A's with Peter and Adrian, the Jim Brynes concert ( I must agree with Mistress Rose, wenches do like to dance!!). And Roger Daltry singing with JB, that was a once in a life- time event!

Sunday, I wanted to get up early and see if Adrian was signing at the Peace table. Well there was this humongous line already at 9:30 am, and they were not even sure when or if he was coming! But since we did not have anything scheduled till 12:00pm, we decided to stand in line. I think that it was around 11:30 that Stan showed up to sign autographs and some people got out of line to get his. That shortened the line some. Then we heard that Adrian was there to sign, ....Yes! Then about 1:00 pm, Adrian left the Peace table to join other Q and A's. The sad part was, I was within about 8 people of getting the autograph. Not knowing whether he would be back or not, I opted for sitting in line till he did! (Thank God for Julie (in KC), her daughter Jeni, WebMistress MacWench, Casilda MacWench, Morgaine MacWench and I'm sure there were more, for making waiting in line seem like it went alot faster!) Around 3:00 pm, we heard that Adrian was coming back!!! When I got up there Adrian said to me...(oh my God he did talk to ME!) "I hope that you were not waiting to long" to which I replied "Well only about 5 hours". He like jumped back and looked totally shocked and I said "but it really was worth it, thank-you very much" and then he finished with "no, thank YOU".

I am a very happy happy wench, and I will never get over that smile...the smile that at that very moment was meant for only me!

P.S.

I also got Peter Hudson and Valentine Pelka's autographs and they were very truly nice gentlemen!

And thanks to Sneaker for the wonderful MacWench banner, that she made!

And thanks to BJ, for having dinner with us Sunday night...you are a very genuine and great guy!

BIG JOHN

Hell is a McDonald's in an airport in Los Angeles.

Yes, folks, it's true.

Claudia, MacKinney, Guin, and Miss L. can back me up on that one. :)

Ah ... yes. Oh, yes.

Sometimes there are special events in a person's life and you don't really know what to say, or how to put it into words, so you just try and hope it goes well.

WOW.

Saw Jim Byrnes three times. Spoke to him twice. Jim is a gentlemen with a million dollar smile and twinkle in his eyes.

Adrian Paul. The man went above and beyond the call of duty for us. In addition to his Q&A, I saw him at the swordmaster demo, he came in during the Good Guy Panel with Alexandra Vandernoot, Ocean Hellman, and Bruce Young. Let me just say this: no matter how good Adrian looks with a sword on TV, in person, it's just awesome. He and Anthony DeLongis are masters. It shows. A live swordfight. Adrian had a smile on his face until he settled into that famous stance, and there it was ... he became Duncan MacLeod. His face changed. Grace. Beautiful, deadly grace. He's fantastic. Just ... fantastic.

Peter Wingfield. It's simply not possible to be more thoughtful about one's character than Peter is about Methos. He is ... amazing. Peter sold me on a Methos series. Just ... wow.

Stan Kirsch. Well, I tell you, I had dinner with the Clan Denial on Thursday evening, and what a fun group. AC was soooo excited and she had no idea what was in store. The gang made quite an impression on Stan. (His "Ladies in Red," as I'm sure AC will tell you!) And Stan made quite an impression on me. What charisma! I was the last person who spoke to him before he left the con. Standing by the door, watching Adrian with the new owners of the T-Bird, and a guy walks up and stops beside me. Stan. I said hello. Thanked him. He said, "It was really nice to meet you," we talked for a second (mainly me thanking him profusely and him saying "thanks" and "glad you enjoyed it") and off he went, shortly after Adrian walked out to his limo.

And he told me that I rocked. ("Big John from Indiana ... *you* rock!")

Peter Hudson. A gentlemen. Very soft-spoken. Intelligent. Nothing like Horton ... but those eyes! Got his autograph.

Valentine Pelka. Well, all I can say is that I got the full Kronos experience. Got his autograph and asked him to threaten me as Kronos. Drops his head, raises his eyes, and Valentine is gone. Kronos is sitting there, looking up at me. "You'll never know who's coming for you next." Straight out of "Armageddon." Smiles. Slips back into Valentine. Shakes my hand. The next night I'm walking down the hall with Pete, who is the wonderfully kind husband of Forever, and there comes Valentine around the corner, with a beautiful smile on his face. I greet him, he asks how Pete and I are doing, and asks, "Do you know where the bathroom is?" Spectacular grin on his face! Looking at me over the rim of his glasses: "I can't find the bloody bathroom anywhere!" Too cool.

Alexandra Vandernoot. Elegance. Grace. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen in person. Just ... wow. Gracious with the crowd, fun in the Q&A, and just ... wow.

Elizabeth. Didn't stay long. Fumbled my speech, forgot it all, asked something — I don't even really remember what — and when she started talking I remembered the whole thing. Oh, well. Live via satellite and she's still gorgeous. Sigh. :)

Roger Daltrey. Fun. Sang "Stand By Me," one of my favorite songs. With Jim Byrnes. Yes. Oh, yes.

Ummmmmmmmm ... Bill Panzer. Talked to him twice in the halls. Great guy. Knows Highlander inside and out. He likes to tease with little bits of information that aren't really information. He's fun to talk to. Peter Davis patted me on the shoulder.

F. Braun McAsh could have talked swords for days and I'd have listened. Passion and knowledge. ¡Duende! Anthony DeLongis is HUGE. Very cool.

Just ... wow.

Ocean Hellman is LOVELY. Adorable. No wonder methos fell for Alexa ... she's so natural and charming.

James Horan. Talked with him for about five minutes at the Jim Byrnes concert; we were raised very near to each other and we talked about Highlander, his Dracula appearance at Actors Theater of Louisville that I saw the same evening that I saw "Band of Brothers" for the first time ... outstanding. Very cool.

(Special thanks to a certain very lovely member of this Forum for trying to smuggle me in to meet Adrian ... I won't say who you are in case you don't want me to say much, but I appreciate your efforts! Adrian was already gone, but it was just so exciting to be back there! Back where? Oh, nowhere in particular ... heh-heh. :))

Donna Lettow and Gillian Horvath. Too much fun! I had the honor of talking with Donna twice. She's fantastic. Gillian is great! Donna discussed something very interesting about "To Be" and "Not To Be" ... and I'm not telling until you've all seen it. :)

Speaking of "To Be" and "Not To Be" ... no spoilers ... I was in tears through the whole thing. Laughed. Cried. Cheered. And cheered. And cheered. There was absolutely no better way to end this legend. "Not To Be" is the most fantastic thing I've ever seen. And something between Joe and Duncan in "To Be" ... no ... that would be telling. :) "Indiscretions" was a little flat but Peter and Jim took it to a level that was so awesome that the fairly tepid story didn't drag it down. This is the Dream Team, folks. Get 'em a show, DPP!

Adrian ... Stan ... Peter ... all the gang ... just ... wow.

Want some news?

Unfortunately, I congratulated Adrian on "Dog of Flanders" and he said that it wasn't going to happy. (Sorry, Big Guy!) He is, however, going to be in a John Landis film with Michael Biehn, Dan Aykroyd, and ... I remember the answer to every question that was asked to Adrian EXCEPT for the one that I asked. I was talking to Adrian Paul and I simply don't remember anything he said to me!

HL4: Panzer knows more than he's telling us. Peter wants to be in it. Do the math. (And don't take that too literally. Yet.)

The new Series: Elizabeth, and that's really about all. Nothing new was announced that I heard, but I wasn't there for all of her Q&A.

The best thing about the con? Sharing it with the wonderful group of Forumlanders that was there. (Pat-OO: thank you sooo much for you generosity. I was very deeply touched, and I thank you.) What an amazing and wonderful group of people ... it was an honor to be there and share the experience with you.

MACARUIN McTrollwench

Like many others I came into Anaheim on Thursday afternoon. After not connecting with Morgaine at the airport as intended, that place is huge, I shuttled alone to the Hilton. Immediately I'm thinking, ok, what was Gemma's last name again, its French I think. I go to the desk and spell it for the very young man working the desk. "Sorry no one by that name is registered". Oh no. How about Ruiz, no, sorry. Well I don't know what my roommate looks like, I don't know her last name, I have no room number. Panic is starting to set in. I go to the message center and ask if anyone has left any messages for Macaruin. The girl looks at me like "oh God, another goofy conventioneer". Sorry no messages, how about your real name. No to that but there is a room under your name. Apparently the very young man I first spoke to doesn't know how to type very well and spelled both our names wrong. Oh well, I head up to the room, no Bobbie, no messages. Now what? Its about 8 pm my internal clock time, 5 Anaheim time. I'm thinking dinner, but I don't want to do it alone. In the end, I decide to walk down to the lobby and walk around with my name tag on and someone is sure to recognize my name. Sure enough, upon entering the elevator, a very nice lady say, "Macaruin its me, Scottie, and gives me a hug......my first of many, many welcoming hugs from fellow forumlanders. What started out truly scary, turns into the best weekend I can remember in a very long time. I met so many wonderful, fun people.

My first convention event was a Wenchly get together graciously hosted by Hilandlvr and her wonderful husband. There I got to meet all the wenches. Words can't describe what it meant to me to finally meet these wonderful ladies. Mistress Rose was such a source of strength to me when my son passed away and to get to finally get that "hug" was wonderful. All the ladies are the best. A group of us went down to register for our "holy ground" seating and found a lovely girl all alone and invited her to join our group. Linda, aka Foundling- wiw, was a very nice addition to our great little group. Our seats in the Loft turned out to be 5th row, off to the left. Oh geez, we won't be able to see what's happening on the right side. Never fear, as fate would have it, the chairs were placed on the left side of the stage and we had excellent seats.

All Thursday evening I kept looking to meet my very first forum friend, maxie(tartanmaxtroll). Several people had seen her but I hadn't. Friday there were many maxie sightings but I never connected until later in the day. BJ had managed to run into her and described her to me (she later learned the descriptive terms and gave the young lad a severe thrashing). This troll and I went back to the beginning of my posting and it was such a treat to finally meet her. She and I enjoyed many a late night in the lounge together and thoroughly enjoyed our time together. Those that are adventuresome should ask her about the planter and the photographer. ;' )

So much has been said already about the forumlander party and the GOH's Q & A so I'll skip over those adding just a few thoughts: 1- The series ending is a fitting ending to an amazing show and to view it with friends makes it even better. 2- Adrian Paul is the most beautiful man to behold. It is a pleasure just to watch him walk by and when he smiles that smile, many hearts melted into puddles. He also has enough energy to fuel LA for decades. 3- Peter Wingfield is very literate and a true showman and I'd love to watch many more Methos episodes. 4-All the actors are better looking in real life and Stan is a very funny guy ( and his actually was bigger than Adrian's). 5-There's nothing better than celebrating a truly remarkable show with friends that you were acquired because of that show.

My very small adventure on Sunday started with some of my clansis's getting Adrian's autograph, after waiting in line for hours. I decided not to miss any events because the day before Calla and I stood in line for an hour or two only to have the line cut right in front of us. So, I decided to just be happy with the viewings I'd had of him hustling by amongst his body guards. I decided to venture into the dealer's room one last time and maybe pick up another production still of Adrian (one can never have too any pictures of that Man). As I'm standing by the first table by the door, with my backpack (loaded with Adrian buttons) sticking out into the doorway, I feel a touch on the shoulder and a deep, slightly accented voice says, "excuse me". I turn around only to find Adrian RIGHT THERE! Oh, MY, GOD!!!!! I'm thinking was that HIM? Did HE touch me? I frantically look around for confirmation and lo and behold my clansis MacKinney is standing on the other side of the table and is nodding, "HE touched you, it was Adrian!". Well let me just say "Oh MY GOD!!!!!!" Still floating 6 inches off the floor, I decided to hang around and wait for the other wenches to get his autograph and hopefully catch the event on film. It wasn't to be, but I did manage to stand around near the PEACE table for 20 minutes or so on the pretext of waiting for my friends and helping the PEACE volunteer keep all the pesky gawkers away (luckily she didn't notice my gawking, drooling, and extreme adulations). After the autographs were received and the events duly celebrated, Calla, Webmistress and myself headed on down toward the museum. We were then approached by a PD staffer asking if any of us wanted to be video taped. WMMW and I declined but brave little Calla accepted the challenge. Webmistress and I spent the time waiting, getting to know Rene, wife of Don, Sr.Post Production Supervisor. Well, this was the second highlight of my adventure. Rene was just so friendly and talkative. She told us little "Highlander" inside stuff. She's Stan's Vancouver Mom and friends with Adrian. She said all the actors were really nice and they got along quite well. As we were chatting who should stroll along on his way out of the convention center but Peter Wingfield, and in his arms was a rather large bag containing a certain gift given to him by a certain Wenchly Clan. Too Cool. As Rene excused herself to hug Peter and his lady friend goodbye, we three wenches just stared and thought, "Wow, she really is friends of all these people we've watched and admired for 6 years". After Peter walked off, with nary a word uttered to him by we three wenches, Rene excitedly stated that Peter and lady had just gotten engaged and aren't they so cute together. Stunning comes to mind, but cute? Anyway this lady was so much fun to befriend. She was just as nice as can be and it felt like we had our own little corner of the Highlander universe. Needless to say, Sunday afternoon remains the highlight of my HL convention experience.

It was hard to say goodbye to all the people I met at the con, especially maxie and Gemma. I will of course see them again sometime, I'm determined. It was worth every penny, every minute I lost not sleeping, which were many, and I'd do it again in a month or two, as soon as I can get my sleep patterns back in order. We Midwestern forumlanders might have a get together at Kasandra's cabin when they start filming in Toronto, but even if we don't, its a time I'll remember for ever. Thanks Panzer/Davis for making the Celebration just that.