Gateway Inn
1780 Sunrise Highway
Merrick NY 11566
516 378-7100
 
 
 
 

Friday 29 September 2000 --- Boston/Haverhill

Heather flew into Boston Friday night, and I drove in to Logan Airport to pick
her up.  Her flight was slightly delayed, and we stopped for a quick bite to eat
at The 99 on the way home.

Saturday 30 September 2000 --- Haverhill - Long Island

Heather and I were up early and left the house by 9am for our drive to Long
Island.  We stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and stopped one other time
briefly, and arrived at our hotel by 3pm.  We changed and freshened up, and
headed out to the comedy club around 4pm, which was only about 5 minutes away.
We waited in line for over an hour outside, and saw Steve, Scott, and Jason
(Steve's brother-in-law) arrive, and then they let us inside.  Heather and I got
great seats :o)  Steve and Scott came right out and went around first to take
pictures with everyone, then went back around for autographs, while Jason was
selling tshirts and pictures.  We were lucky to be on the side they started
with, and then we ordered some food and drinks after we were visited.   After
everyone at the VIP session got pictures and autographs, they let in the rest of
the crowd, and the comedian came out, who was actually fairly entertaining.
Then Steve and Scott came back out and did a Q&A for about an hour, then
auctioned off a few items, before heading out.  We waited outside until they
left in the limo, then headed back to our hotel.

Sunday 1 October 2000 --- Long Island - Boston/Haverhill

Once again, we were up early to start driving back to Boston.  We had a free
continental breakfast at our hotel, stopped for gas and were on the road by 9am
again.  We made it back to Boston, with one brief rest stop, by 1pm.  We tried
unsuccessfully to find a one-hour photo place that was open so that we could get
our pictures developed, but had no luck.  We had lunch at Houlihans and then
wandered around Quincy Market for awhile until time to head for the airport.  I
dropped Heather off, and managed to find a one-hour photo open and functioning
in Haverhill when I got home, so I had my pictures developed :o)
 
 

Heather's Recap

Jayne and I made the drive from Boston to Long Island to see Steve Burton and Scott Egan on Saturday, September 30. We arrived early at the Brokerage Comedy Club, where patrons must wait outside and line up before the doors open just prior to the start of the show. It was a nice afternoon -- sunny, but a little windy, and we chatted with other fans who were in line just ahead of us. We soon discovered that they were also online, posting on some of the same message boards... and, we had run into each other at the GH luncheon in California. How funny... what a small world. LOL

When Steve and his entourage arrived *g*, it was in a white stretch limousine that we had seen circling the block ahead of time. LOL Everyone had their cameras ready when it finally pulled up alongside the curb just outside of the front door. Steve, Scott, their travel agent/manager, Steve's brother-in-law, and one bodyguard (no, not Francis! LOL) got out of the car and walked into the club, but not before several pictures were snapped! Jayne and I took several rolls of film between us.

Once inside, we chose a table that was level with the stage, in the front against the railing, just off to the right, so that we would have good photo opportunities with no obstacles in the way. We ordered drinks and food, and tried to find room for everything on the small table! The room filled quickly, although it was not to capacity until a bit later on, when the VIP session ended.

For this one-hour show, we had paid extra, but it was worth it! There was no opening act, no long emcee introduction.... just Steve and Scott, talking to the fans, with lots of one-on-one time. You don't usually get this at the comedy club appearances, so it was a special perk. When Steve entered the room, I was immediately impressed with how well dressed he was, and how great he looked! I'm so used to seeing him in a t-shirt and jeans, leather jacket, with gelled hair, this was a welcome surprise. He wore grey dress slacks, a long-sleeve, dark sweater, and his hair was longer than I've seen it lately, styled back with a bit of a wave. Yes, shallow moment, but I swooned! He smiled quite a bit – a genuine, happy smile that was reflected in his eyes, not the smirk that Jason Morgan often sports when he is pretending to be amused. LOL Scott Egan was wearing black jeans and a white shirt, with a leather jacket that could have been borrowed from Jason's wardrobe, looking very casual compared to Johnny, who usually sports a designer suit and tie!! He also smiled much more than his alter-ego, oft-sombre bodyguard.

We were told that in order to make sure everyone got quality time with Steve and Scott, the two men would circulate around the room, taking pictures and signing whatever we wanted autographed. Steve's brother-in-law Jason Gustin (his wife Sheree's brother) was on hand to sell 8x10 photographs and t-shirts (more on him in a little bit!)

We were one of the first tables Steve and Scott approached, which was fortunate because we were already a little nervous and wanted to get our things signed before they ran out of time! Jayne and I each took the other's picture with the two handsome guys. I thanked them both for coming as we were getting set up for the picture, and Steve paused to look at me and said, "well thank YOU for coming!" *g* I tell ya, standing between the two of them, with Steve's arm around me, and Scott's other hand on my shoulder... my concentration was shot! LOL

Scott seemed almost nervous, but he was having fun, I think. Steve kept calling him "Johnny", like his character. Starting early, and continuing throughout the evening, everyone was trying to take "butt shots" with their cameras when he leaned over to sign things on the table, and when he realized what was going on he said in a mock-stern voice, "Quit taking pictures of my ass!" LMAO

I kept asking Jayne, "Are you sure you got a good picture? Was I smiling? Were THEY smiling?" LOL Thankfully both of our shots turned out well. :-)

After they had circulated for the pictures, they came back (separately) to sign things, and we had Steve autograph magazines, pictures for friends, etc. Scott autographed the photo I had taken with him at the luncheon. Steve mentioned some items he had for an auction that they could do later on in the show, if we wanted.

They soon had to leave, but Steve said "We'll be out soon." (For the actual show). The club was beginning to let the people in who did not have the VIP tickets. NOW there was a crowd!

The warm-up comedian teased the crowd (which was almost all female, except for about three or four guys). He joked that the men who had been dragged there deserved to be richly rewarded *g*... of course, he reminded them, for any ‘action' they got later on that night, they were to keep in mind that their wives/girlfriends would NOT be thinking of them, but of a certain soap star!!! LOL There was also a bride-to-be in the crowd, who was enjoying her ‘bachelorette' party.

Finally, Steve was introduced, and came walking out from the back hallway. Everyone was screaming, very loudly, and Steve said, "Okay, that's enough!" Poor guy, I think his eardrums were pounding! "Wow, what's going on?" he asked, looking out at the crowd.

Again, the flashes from the cameras were going off – pop-pop-pop – like the Paparazzi! As I mentioned earlier, Steve looked great, and his smile lit up the room. There was no doubt that this was not Jason Morgan. "First of all," he said, "I heard I have some cousins by marriage here – where are they?" He saw them sitting just to the right of the stage, at a table near ours. "Do you have all your teeth? Because mine don't," he joked. "Thanks for coming, and thanks for paying full price," he added. They laughed.

Steve took the microphone off its stand and walked around the stage, looking out at the crowd, and posing for pictures as the flashes continued to go off. "Wow. I'm only doing one show tonight because I've been here about 29 times," he told us. "I appreciate you guys coming back every time, again. Who's new? First time?" He looked around at the hands that went up, and was pleasantly surprised that several of us had never been before. "Not too bad... that's pretty good."

Rather than wait for questions, Steve began talking about GH. "You know I'm done with the show now, right?" Lots of "awwws" from the audience. "It was fun, a fun six weeks. I came back and I was thrown in the Scooby Doo gang with Lucky, Elizabeth, Nikolas and Juan." There were lots of cheers, laughs and applause at this. "How did I get thrown in that one thing?" he asked, grinning. "The writers – first of all, I love ‘em – but I didn't want to be put in that whole, freakin' mystery machine, whatever it is. And the name is very original for the dead guy -- ‘dead Ted'." He started to laugh along with the crowd at this. Imitating one of the scribes for GH, he said, "We get paid millions of dollars to write, and we think of ‘dead Ted'. And he's in a freezer somewhere, right?"

Someone yelled out No! -- the trunk of a car.

"Whose trunk?" Steve asked.

Everyone was yelling, and he hollers back, "Not all at once, I can't hear!" LOL

"Zander's," they told him.

"Ah, Zander's. He's doing a pretty good job, Zander," Steve admitted. (I think he meant Chad, LOL). "So have I found Emily yet?" he asked.

We told him no. I called out to him, "You found her hat!".

Steve shaded his eyes because the lights were shining on him. "Oh right, and her pixie sticks!" LOL "It's kind of funny," he said, "and it dawned on me that it's kind of like E.T. You know, now I'm looking for pixie sticks everywhere to find Emily."

"So what do you guys think about Lucky?" The response was primarily positive. "Well you know, he's a little angry. I thought Jason had an anger problem," Steve joked. "Now I come back and this kid is mad at everybody. And his hair is like crazy..." this brought lots of laughs! In character, Steve pretended to be a little bit competitive. "I want to see where I take Elizabeth away on my Harley, and he's chasing me on his scooter. Now that would be funny!"

Steve brought up another subject. "Sonny and Carly are together now." Lots of cheers. "Yeah, that's a very stable relationship," he joked. "Great environment for a kid to be raised. Isn't it great? I do all the hard work and you know, it's a bunch of bull..." He paused, as the fans chatted away. "I raised this kid, this red-headed freak." There were laughs from the audience as he continued, "Whose kid is that? Where's red hair? – don't say Bobbie either, because that's not real!" More laughs. Steve was really getting into it now. "Blue eyes... where does he get that from? Not AJ and Carly."

Someone yelled " from you" and he stopped, looked right at them and said loudly, "It's not my kid!!!" LOL "It's AJ's, and Carly's! Well anyway, the point is, I raised this kid, doing all these monologues, he's pooping on me.... you know, he barely talks, and then I come back. He's about five feet tall, he's like, ‘Hey Jason, how ya doin', you want a drink?' I walk in, and I'm like, ‘no, but AJ will'. Because AJ's only fun when he drinks. Isn't it sad?" The audience agreed. "It's cool though, because he pushed Carly down the stairs, and she fell... she was pregnant again." Someone suggested that Jason should be with Carly. "Carly's just been with too many people," he said. "She's taking after Bobbie, but it's okay." (I have to say here, that I honestly didn't get the impression that Steve was suggesting that it was a GOOD THING that Carly fell and lost her baby. What he was saying was that Billy Warlock was finally getting some heavy dramatic scenes now that his character has been drinking, which is much more interesting than what he was doing before).

Then he asked the fans if Bobbie and Roy were still together. "Still together... you mean they break up?" someone yelled.

"He reminds me of an Indian, because when he first came on the show, all he did was walk on the dock." Steve then imitated him, hands crossed against his chest, pacing. "You know the look that you have to give at the end of the scene, that I know you all practise at home? You know the look... you're just looking off into space, not really saying anything, thinking, ‘is this scene over yet? I'm really hungry', and you think I'm thinking about baby Michael, which I don't really give a rat's ass about. You know that look?" LOL

Steve continued his routine, moving on to another storyline (he seemed to have an opinion on almost everything on GH). "It was fun being back... I watched a scene with... oh gosh, that whole Ned/Jax marriage... I mean, whatever, whoever was married – Alexis, Chloe, Jax and Ned... now Chloe's with Lasha on the island. Where does he live anyway? Where does Lasha live?" Everyone was laughing at this, and Steve explained, "I call him Lasha because it's funny that he calls Laura that." He then imitated Stefan saying 'Lasha.' "What is that? A dish? But I know he lives on Spoon island. So where is he supposed to be now?" The fans called out suggestions... "Mediterranean, Greece", etc. "It's like Fantasy Island, Survivor... I have no idea," he lamented.

"You guys know I have a guest with me today, right?" Whoo hoo!!! we yelled. But instead of introducing Scott, he switched to a new topic.

"Hey is there a new Tammy?" he asked. "Tammy the hooker has been replaced with another hooker. Well you know what gets me is that people actually eat food at Kelly's. I'm sorry, it's a gross situation to talk about, but you have a prostitute serving your food!" A few people laughed, but most of us just kind of groaned (don't go there, Steve, LOL). "And I just know how clean that can be. You know what I mean? I mean, that whole place has just been not a nice place for a long time. It started with Ruby, right? Who else lived in there..." He stopped, as Scott emerged from the back hallway, having been told to come out on stage, I guess!

There were screams as he walked up to join Steve on stage. Steve looked at him, hands on his hips, looking a bit ticked off (as a joke!!). "First of all, did I ask you to come out yet?" Scott looked confused, but was smiling. Steve went into character, "Johnny, I didn't ask you to come out yet!! Who told you? Did you have to open a door to get up here?" LOL! "Let's have a round of applause for Scott Egan!" The cheering was really loud!! "I didn't call you up, but that's okay."

Scott took the mic and said, "Welcome to the Scott Egan show!" LOL "I work for Sonny Corinthos."

Steve said "Let's move that for ya," as he took the stool and pushed it back toward the wall. "I know you're tired from that long flight we had."

Scott agreed, saying "What a long flight it was. Boy are my arms tired." The audience laughed, and Steve groaned, pretending that Scott's time was up.

"Thanks for coming, Johnny!" he exclaimed, putting his hands up. He pulled the stool back out and said, "Have a seat, son. So, you actually speak," Steve remarked. "Johnny talks... here, you gotta say hi to everyone." He handed him the mic.

"You guys are great," Scott says.

Steve was smiling, and told everyone how popular Scott really is. "Johnny's famous. We went to Philadelphia about three weeks ago, and you know, it's not me, it's Jason who's popular. So I go up on stage... and, here, you guys are awesome.. But in Philly, there's a bunch of hillbillies and farmers. And Johnny comes in, and everyone rushes the stage, and I'm like what's going on?? What happened?!!"

Scott said modestly, "In some markets I'm doing okay." LOL "They can relate to me... I don't know, maybe it looks like I'm standing outside a barn door."

"Do you have a last name?" Steve asked. "Johnny...?"

Scott says he was trying to come up with something. He was thinking about the Jerky boys, you know like Frank Rizzo... Johnny Rizzo.

Steve said "Or maybe Johnny Benson? You're trying to get Carly too?" I missed what Scott said in response, but he swore, and Steve freaked out. "We have two girls over there under 18, so watch your mouth!" he scolded. "I think I like it better when you just stand there and say, "Bobbie." LOL (when he's playing Johnny, opening the door).

Scott was chatting with audience members, and at one point it was interfering with Steve's answer to a question, so he turned to him and said, "When someone says, ‘Johnny, I have a question for you,' then you can talk." Oh, okay, Scott said. LOL Then Scott noticed someone's hand up. "There's a question over there," he indicated, but Steve said another girl was first. The question is for "Johnny" she said. "Johnny's single," Steve replied. "You can have him after the show. Take him home." This was met with more cheers. Someone asked Steve to give their friend a hug for her birthday, and he said he couldn't, but Johnny would! So, Scott ran down into the audience and gave the girl a big hug, much to her delight, then he returned to the stage. Steve did a little "Mission Impossible" theme as Scott ran down and back again.

Steve said that they're trying to get Scott more dialogue/scenes on the show, and asked people to write in, seriously, because fan mail does help. "You can write in for Scott Egan, General Hospital, 4151 Prospect Avenue, Hollywood California, 90027." Everyone laughed since he said this so quickly!! "He will gladly send you a head shot, and he'll probably talk to you until you're sick of him. He'll write you letters, he'll call you at home..."

Someone asked if Scott had any scenes with Michael - ‘babysitting the monkey'. "I had a couple of scenes with him," he said. "I carried him a couple of times, I think I carry him next week." Steve joked that it was like carrying Timmy from Passions around, which made everyone laugh. "It is!! I think Michael's bigger."

Someone asked if Jason would tell off Carly. There were lots of "No's" being yelled out, and Steve said "Hold on, it's an angry mob!" LOL Scott was saying something, and Steve turned to him and made a noise like the sound of a key clicking in the ignition of the car... Scott says Steve ‘busts his chops' and tells him on the set, "don't get in the limo"! Because we know that is a fate equalling death for the bodyguard! LOL So this "click-click" sound they make was something that went on all night, every time Steve wanted to "put Johnny in his place", LOL.

Steve continued, "Well, you know, my character has brain damage, that's the only way a man could put up with Carly – if you're Sonny, or you're brain damaged." There were some awww's, but he quickly added, "I mean, Sarah Brown's awesome to work with, the best actress in daytime. You know, I'd like to tell her (Carly) off sometimes, but I like to work with her (Sarah) and Sonny (Maurice)."

"Will you ever get Carly back?" Someone asked. "No, I'm done with that. I'm hoping it's AJ or someone."

Scott piped up, "I heard Vanessa's coming back." There were HUGE cheers when this happened, and Scott put his hand over his mouth, pretending like he had let out a big secret.

Steve said, "Hold on, hold on... Scott's a rookie at these appearances, and he sings like a bird up here. See, he does it, and then you guys will go home and cyber-web each other (ROTFL at the term he used -- Steve held up his hands and pretended to be typing quickly)... ‘Steve Burton says Vanessa's coming back'... and then I get a call from Mickey Mouse on Monday saying, ‘Were you in Long Island saying that Vanessa's coming back?' and I'm like, yeah." LOL "So, I don't know if that's true or not."

Scott continued to get everyone riled up by adding, "Well maybe when I saw her on the set, she was just visiting." LOL More laughs. "Maybe," Steve said, not elaborating.

A cell phone was ringing. "Hey you guys, answer that phone," Steve said.

Someone asked about Jason and Elizabeth. He said, "Well, first of all, she's with Lucky. I like Lucky. Actually I don't know what's going to happen if I come back, I really don't know. I don't know if I want to go back to the five-finger discount haircut, though." LOL He held up his hand just above his bangs, sticking straight up, like a rooster. "You know I've had that haircut for so long, then Johnny had it, and everyone else had it..."

More people were calling out to him, and he said, "I'm coming, don't worry, I'll be there." He said he is married. The bachelorette group wanted to know if he had any advice for the bride-to-be. "Do I have any advice? I don't really know her, so..." he thought for a moment and added, "It needs to center around the lord, or you're in trouble. That's what my advice is for you."

Scott said, "that's good advice."

Steve responded, "Oh god, from a guy who sees a shrink every day and takes anxiety pills." LOL

Scott said, "Thanks for telling everyone in the room!" And acted hurt.

"That's a joke, but you're not supposed to act like it's true," Steve laughed. (They worked really well off each other, IMO!!)

Scott answered the ‘advice' for the bride question. "You know what, if you're compatible and you just give each other space, it's going to work out, but don't try to do what I did with my last girlfriend and confide in her because I'm really over her and I don't care about that little...." He laughed, and said he needed one of those pills now. Seriously, though, he said that it was great, and Steve wished her good luck.

"Okay, I'm over here now," Steve announced, turning to the next group of fans who had their hands up and were calling out.

The next question was when his final day was. He said, "I find Emily, I bring her back to the Quartermaines, and then I go off to kill somebody."

"Sorel?" the audience asked.

"No. Carlos, a guy you don't even know." (Huh? We do *so* know him!)

Then Scott tried to make some trouble by saying, "I know a secret about Sorel..." and hinted at some pictures he had. This was some kind of inside joke that they kept referring to all night... I'm still not really sure what it was all about.

"This is getting out of control," Steve laughed. "Please...we don't have all night long, and Scott's doing a sideshow later in the parking lot."

Will there be a sad goodbye between Jason and Carly? Steve said, "A sad goodbye? No, because it's left as if I'm coming back, but I don't know if I am for real. You can't do a final goodbye again. How many times can a guy leave... it gets boring after a while."

His favorite time on GH? "Probably the time I got to win an Emmy, with the stuff with Robin. That time, and the last two years on GH working with Sarah and Maurice were the best. And Johnny!" he added, looking over at Scott.

"Remember when you bought me the restaurant?" Scott asked, in character.

"Yeah," Steve said.

Scott was getting into it now. "That was my first dialogue ever on the show. I walked in like this... ‘It's true? Moreno and I? I don't see us together."

Steve laughed. "You still know the line, that's what's weird!" LOL Steve explained how it came out. "I felt bad for him, so I buy him a seafood restaurant... what was it, a Red Lobster or something? And then when I gave up the mob and became a mechanic for two weeks..."

Scott was starting to act out the scene, and Steve wanted to tell the fans about his outfit. "He had the worst wardrobe on, it was definitely from Luke and Laura; it was Luke's sweater. And Scott was nervous, which is fine, because you know sometimes it's tough to do a scene, for an actor."

Scott added, "Three lines". LOL

"I've never seen a man sweat so much!" Steve exclaimed. "I had to take him aside and say, 'just breathe'." Scott was trying to remember the scene, and Steve said, "It was the yellow sweater scene, that's all I know. You had a polyester sweater on, and you were sweating like I've never seen."

Scott explained, "I was actually doing push-ups before the scene." LOL!

Someone asked about what Scott had said about Vanessa coming back... did it have to do with Jax. Steve said, "Well, I guess the word around set is that she did a show for NBC now. So, it's going to be airing, and if that doesn't work out, she may think about coming back, but that wouldn't be for another year anyway. But that'd be cool."

Where did Johnny get his glasses? He pulled out these funky sunglasses that Steve had been teasing him about. "I got them next to this yogurt shop..." the laughs were interrupted when Steve suddenly noticed that some of his cousins had left.

"What's going on here? Jason, your cousins left!" he yelled out to his brother-in-law. "That's my brother-in-law," he announced (for those who hadn't been at the VIP session). "He looks like Val Kilmer." Scott looked over at Steve and said, "I'm talking here!" And Steve said, "Hey... whose show is it?" LOL "Did you meet your cousins yet?" he asked Jason. (Yes). "Good."

What's Steve doing with his time now? "Golf," was his immediate answer. "I have a production company with some people and we're trying to get movies made, I want to produce and direct. I love real estate, so I have some income properties. I keep very busy. Leaving GH , I had three months off. The first month is awesome, you know, because I got to spend a lot of time with my wife. We have dogs, we have a horse and stuff, but she's a poor thing because by the sixth week I'm going out of my mind, I'm pacing the floor. It's horrible to be unemployed and not know; even to be employed and you're not working..." He looked out at the faces staring up at him and remarked, "You guys must think I'm crazy, you'd love four months off, wouldn't ya?" LOL "But I occupy my time, I do a lot of stuff. I want to do more than act."

Someone wanted to know what Maurice is like. "He's great. He's the exact opposite of his character, total opposite."

Scott added, "The antithesis."

Steve did an eye roll and joked, "Here come the big words." LOL

"I'm sorry, was I being grandiloquent?" Scott asked.

The fans laughed, and Steve said, "You don't speak on the show, so you have to use big words here, it's okay, just rattle them off."

There was a question about the input that Steve has to his part on GH. "I've been there eight years, and I'm very loyal to GH, and I love them. It's like that now, I mean Tony Geary gets to write his own scenes; we couldn't do that, but... he comes and says, ‘here's your lines' and I'm like what? Alright, that's fine, now I have no lines and you have them all. But you're Luke, so that's fine, I don't care."

Scott, who had been sitting quietly, piped up, "Now you know how I feel!" ROTFL

Steve asked him, "Do you get paid?"

Scott said, "Yeah."

"A lot of money for not saying anything," Steve added.

Scott pointed out, "These are very loyal, gracious fans, they know there are no small parts." (Or something to that effect, I didn't quite catch what he said).

Is Jason the one who finally figures out that Lucky has been brainwashed? Steve responded, "Is that why he's so angry? Because he got the mind-meld from, what's her name... grey hair?" LOL

"Helena!" the crowd yelled.

Steve found the story a little far-fetched. "It's funny how Helena gave him the mind-meld, he came back, he's like an expert black belt karate man, and he's two years older! Supposedly."

"He was gone for like eight months or something," Scott said.

"Yeah, I know, they did this... they said they were going to speed it up, he was going to be older and come back. And he looks different. He didn't get surgery at General Hospital, that's for sure. You never see the hospital anymore on the show."

Someone asked what was in Steve's front pocket. He reached in, and put his hand on the object. "That's my wallet," he informed her. "Thank you for looking." Everyone was laughing, and Scott wanted to get in on the action, so he stood up and pulled out the case that was in his pocket... "These are my sunglasses," he added, which made everyone laugh even louder. "That's good, red," Steve laughed. (They call each other red...more on that later).

Steve realized he had his back to some of the fans on one side of the room, who were almost "behind" him, so he turned and talked to them for a minute. One woman commented on his hair, saying he had a "flip" in front, which made Steve groan, because he just got used to be called a "porcupine", now it's a flip! LOL He said he had a little wave going to the right. They joked about him not really looking at them... he said, "Well, I'm sorry, but if I say the whole show to you..." and turned, demonstrating how it would shut the rest of us out. (Hey, no complaints here, more butt shots for us!!! LOL)

"Anything else you'd like to complain about?" he teased, still talking to the one woman. "Are you married?" She said yes, and he said, "You are? Where's your husband?" At home, she replied. "For a reason?" he asks, making us all laugh. "Where were you? What did you do? How was your whole day?"

Scott looked over at the woman and said, "You're not in a very fortuitous spot."
 
Steve grinned. "He knows all the big words," which just had everyone laughing out loud again!!

Steve turned to face the women behind him again, and posed so they could take a picture. She said she wasn't getting very many good pictures of him Steve just shook his head. "I have brain damage," he explained, sending the crowd into more gales of laughter. He looked over at Scott and said, "Are you a useless bodyguard, or are you going to take care of her for me? Please!"

Scott replied, "I'm feeling slightly laconic." LOL

"What do I feel after this?" Steve asked, sighing with exaggerated impatience.
 
"Demoralized?" Scott suggested. "Despondent?"

As we were all laughing, the girls behind Steve were calling out again, and he turned around, pretending to be frazzled and frustrated, and shouts, "I'm LOOKING!!!" ROTFLMAO This was the FUNNIEST part of the show! "Geez...bustin' my CHOPS over here!" he wailed.

If he does come back to GH, what would he like to do in terms of a story? "You know, I have no idea, actually. The lady who writes primarily for me is awesome [side note: I think it's Elizabeth Korte, but I may be wrong... anyone know?]. She's written great things for me, so she'll say, ‘what do you think about this or that' and I'll say ‘yeah, I like that, it's cool'..that's it, as long as I'm working with Maurice, and Carly..." he stopped, realizing he was using actor and character names together. "See, I even get them mixed up!" He turned to Scott, and as an example of the different names he uses, said "Johnny, Red-ass, Egan.." Steve said he has learned a lot from Maurice, and he likes to use his emotions and experiences in his performances. He enjoys the more emotional, dramatic stuff.

Someone on the same side as the women behind him asked a question, and he said, "I'm sorry I've been ignoring you. Go ahead.." He had to shush Scott. The question was about the last appearance that he did with Scott, Maurice and Michael, and would he do another one like that again. "I don't know... the lady that books me at all of these.. she's awesome... sure, we could. Hey.. I'm unemployed! What have I got to do?"

What drew him to the comedy circuit? A few fans yelled out, "Money!" LOL Steve said, "Yeah, that's it." But he was just kidding.

Scott looked over, confused, and said, "The what circuit?" LMAO (he was about three steps behind the game).

Steve said, "You know, I gotta tell you, this is a lot more fun than sitting at Sears for three hours, signing autographs." Everyone was laughing and clapping at this. "No, I'm serious!!"

Scott was signing another autograph, and trying to make jokes, and Steve was razzin' him... he said "Live it up now, it's your last one! Last stand of the bodyguard!" LOL So Scott took advantage of the opportunity and said, "You know my sister's getting married to an Irish fireman?" and Steve said, "Oh really?" and Scott replied, "No, O'Reily." LOL Everyone laughed and applauded, and Steve said, "Don't clap at that.. it's not funny!" He kept shaking his head saying, "That's REALLY not that funny." LOL Poor Scott!!
 
Someone had read an article in a magazine that said that when he was working with Kimberly McCullough, the two of them didn't get along. Steve shook his head. "No. You guys gotta quit reading those things. I know it's your only source, but it's not true, most of the time."

Scott, who was listening closely, decided to be a troublemaker again and in a ‘don't-listen-to-him' tone said, "Oh *yeah* it is!"

Steve scolded him immediately. "First of all, you weren't even AROUND when Robin was on the show!"

"Yes I was!" Scott countered.

Steve laughed, then went back to answering the question. "No, Kimberly and I... the thing is, you leave so many times, and come back and leave.... once a relationship's over, it's over. There's no... come back, let's reunite Luke and Laura again! For the twentieth time. You guys have seen it."

Scott, such a bad boy, says, "So... is she coming back?" LOL!

Steve got back to answering the question about people not getting along. "No, everyone gets along on the show, you have to...you work together, it's like a family."

Question for Johnny!! Steve was happy. "Yes, please!! More questions for Johnny."

Where do you live??? Steve reiterated the question. Where does Johnny live? "The elevator," Scott deadpanned.

"He lives in the elevator. You can't see in all of the time," Steve explained. "There's like drawers and clothes, suits..."

Scott commented on how recently, there will be a scene with Bobbie and she'll say, "Where's Johnny?" and it's like, "Oh he's on a break. .... Where am I?" LOL

Steve said, "I know...that just means that they're over-budget that week."

What would Scott like to see for Johnny? Steve answered first, saying, "How about a date?" Scott readily agreed, saying "That would be great! A love interest." While he was answering, Steve was talking to some fans near the stage, and Scott looked over at him and Steve said, "See, now you know how it feels! Talk while I'm talking." LOL

Scott continued with the answer, "A love interest would be great, but just to be able to act. I watch great actors every day like Maurice, Sarah and Steve, and I'm not complaining about my job..." Steve had kind of snickered at the last comment, but Scott said, "No I'm being serious," and Steve said, "Oh, thanks, that was nice." Scott continued, "I watch them every day, and just to be given the opportunity to work with them, and to have some full parts, some dialogue..."

Behind him, Steve was making faces and doing things with his hands (I guess he was getting bored not being the center of attention for two minutes? LOL) and the audience was laughing. Scott, never breaking stride, says, "I can see him." LOL Of course, trying to get them going even more, Steve yells out, "Take your shirt off!" The screams got louder. "Come on man," he said. He kind of hesitated, said, "I'm kind of training right now." Steve said "Next time we come here, you'll take it off?" And Scott said, "Absolutely!" LOL (Hey... I've got it on tape... he promised!!). "We'll be back in about a year," Steve added.

Scott said, "Just to finish answering that question..." and Steve interrupted with, "Is this going to take much longer, she's got her husband at home and he can't wait to see her," referring to the woman who was sitting behind him. "Go ahead, red," he said. Scott said "Just to be able to act, and to show everyone out there that Johnny's capable of doing more than we see him do, it would be nice."

"Right," said Steve, "It would be nice. You can act; a lot of people on the show can't." (Hmmm... I wonder who he was referring to? LOL)

Another question for Scott. "Where was Johnny when Sonny was getting slapped by Mike? Why didn't he come to the rescue?" Scott laughed, and said, "You know what, on break!!" LOL

Steve said, "Sonny's being slapped like a woman, and Johnny's on break!! What is he doing?? What happened? Where were you?"

Then Scott joked that Johnny was leaning on the door outside, just whistling... (you had to see this to really get the full effect, LOL)... "He's waiting for UPS!"

Is this Steve's last appearance here? "For a while, yeah." Lots of "no's" and "awwws"... "You know something, I love New York, and you guys -- seriously this is not to patronize you or anything, but New Jersey and New York have the best fans ever." Lots of cheers! "In Philadelphia, forty people and a cow show up.. but you guys are awesome, and it's great to come back, but I've been here so much and there's only so many people around here to come see me." After a few more groans of disappointment, he added, "Well, we'll come back in less than a year and Johnny will be ready to take his shirt off." LOL

Scott is from Glenridge, NJ... "I'm a Jersey boy."

The bride-to-be's phone rang, and Steve pretended to speak for her. "Hello... Hi! We're watching soap stars!! Come pick me up... I'm drunk! Now.. please!! Hurry, I spent all my money on Scott Egan's picture." LOL

Is Jax leaving the show? "Jax is gone!" Steve cheered, and lots of fans applauded (hey!! That's our Ingo!!! No fair, LOL). "No, he's on Titans now, so I think he's done... he's chasing Brenda, now that she's not dead from driving off a cliff." LOL "She was back, and he chased her."

Someone in the audience was surprised at this! "He's been gone for weeks, don't you watch the show?" Steve asked. LOL

More people were yelling, and Steve was trying to get to all of them, but the lights were in his eyes. "I can't see up here! I will at the end," he promised, meaning signing stuff.

Scott was being mischievous again, doing something with the scripts, and Steve said, "Sorry, that's not going to get you more lines."

Are you still friendly with Sean Kanan? "Yes, I've talked to him a few times he's doing well, he's producing two movies now," Steve said.

More ruckus with Scott on the other side of the stage, so Steve looked over at them, "You guys got bingo going on over here?"

The person who asked the previous question couldn't believe they replaced Sean with Billy. "Well first of all," Steve explained, "They're different types. I like Billy Warlock a lot, I think he's a great actor. He definitely brings something else to AJ, kind of like a street quality. Sean fit the part of AJ great -- you know, yuppie man, but you gotta take chances and Billy's an established actor, he's good, that that's what they wanted. So the worst is when you cast someone who can't live up to the other person."

Someone asked what happened with Semper Fi. "It's such long story, I really don't have time," Steve answered. "Good things came out of it, though. They're going to show it as a two-hour movie of the week in December and January. I had to shave my head bald, and it was awesome. I play a marine, so it was pretty cool. It's about five guys in boot camp who work to resolve their differences about each other." Steve did say at one point during the weekend that his management is in talks with NBC and Dreamworks, and also ABC, so we will find out soon what's in store for him, and whether he'll be back to GH or not.

What does he want to do? "I want to do TV and films, hopefully." What about movies - has he written anything? "I don't have a screen play."

Scott was sitting down on his stool, and started complaining about neck pain. He said he needed a kink worked out or something... so Steve played along, and walked over and took hold of either side of Scott's head... and on three, he turned Scott's head just as Scott cracked the water bottle he was holding, making an awful ‘CRUNCH' sound!!! LOL Most of us expected it, I think, but a few people let out shrieks of pain! LOL

Even though it wasn't written into the story, Billy and Steve decided to try and reestablish a relationship between Jason and AJ, and build something out of nothing. "They want us to be Cain and Abel all the time, and it's not interesting," he told us. If Steve does return to GH, he would like to see more interaction between the brothers, as well as with the rest of the Quartermaine family. The scenes at the hospital when he brought Emily back were a good example of that.

Steve's wife Sheree is devoting a lot of time to charity work these days, and so the couple decided that Steve would have an auction in conjunction with his appearance. He mentioned that they would be at Rascal's in NJ the next day, doing a huge auction, with a simultaneous Webcast, the whole thing. He had brought a few items to auction off that night, however, if the fans were interested. The reaction was positive. Steve pretended to be a bit leery about proceeding, admitting jokingly that he had "stolen" many of the items he was auctioning off from the GH set. He explained that the money would go to children living in a group home – somewhere between a foster home and a permanent placement. The idea is to take them to a baseball game or do something that is meaningful and fun for them, more hands-on, as opposed to simply providing them with donations of clothes or food. Although he didn't come right out and say it, I got the impression that Steve enjoys participating in these activities himself.

There were four items up for auction, and Steve asked his brother-in-law to circulate the items and give the fans a chance to get a closer look at the merchandise. Jason Gustin (Sheree's brother) is an aspiring actor himself, and bears a striking resemblance to Val Kilmer. He was almost as popular with the crowd as the celebs themselves, and when fans at a nearby table asked if he would mind posing for a picture, he indicated that he didn't mind at all, but admitted with a sheepish grin that he was worried that Steve and Scott would tease him endlessly about it! LOL (I guess they've picked up on the fact that Jason is no slouch himself in the charm department!). As everyone cheered for Jason, Steve grinned and announced, "He's so cute – I love him." Awwww....

There was a little bit of confusion as to how they would go about the auction. As the Brokerage staff and Steve's assistant hustled around to prepare for the auction, Steve did his best imitation of an auctioneer, rambling off a few numbers very quickly. He made it clear that all of the successful bidders should be sure to get a picture with him and Scott at the end of the auction.

Holding a long-sleeve pullover, Steve said, "The first item is a shirt I wore on GH - yesterday." This would have been his last tape date, I think. He held it up to his nose and confirmed, "It's washed." He showed the audience the tag that the wardrobe department puts on it, and explained that it's very small so that he looks really big on television. "I put a shirt on and I'm like, ‘is this Lucky's shirt?'," he joked (he must have been referring to the OLD Lucky, Jonathan Jackson, because Jacob Young isn't exactly tiny, LOL). He offered to autograph the shirt if the winner wanted, although he feels that sometimes a signature can ruin an item.

The bidding started at $50, and Steve's cousins were the first ones to put their hands up! "I planted you all along," Steve confessed, laughing.

A rather exuberant fan screamed out, "Fifty dollars!!" and Steve squinted into the bright spotlights, trying to spot her near the back of the room, yelling, "You're psychotic!" but he was laughing, just having fun with her. I'm actually glad I witnessed this exchange, because there are a lot of fans who get upset when Steve calls Carly psychotic, thinking he means it in a clinical sense; however, I realize that it's just a term of affection!!

The bids went up... $70, 75, 80.. "You're crazy!" Steve remarked, shaking his head at the thought of people willing to pay that much for his shirt. LOL "You got your checkbook?" he asked the woman with the last bid. She nodded. "That's all that matters," he laughed. Someone bid $81 (one dollar up from the last bid) and Steve stopped pacing and looked up at the crowd. "Hold it," he said. The bidder laughed, and agreed to go up to 90. The bid continued... 95, 100. "Oh my god," Steve exclaimed. $105. $120. "Holy cow, she's crazy," he hollered. $130. 135. "Please, one second," he asked, trying to quiet some of the noisy people down. $140 - Sold! Steve laughed, and added, "Here's what happens. When the check clears, you get your shirt. That's the catch, baby," he teased. "I know you have rubber checks in there."

When it was time for the next item, Steve told the crowd that when he said $50 was the starting bid for the shirt, someone had remarked, "Fifty?!"... "Well, wait until you hear what we're asking for the scripts," he warned. He pulled out his last script from GH. Bids started immediately with $100. 120. 125. 130. 140.... 150... 160... 170... "Jason?" Steve called out, looking for his brother-in-law who was circulating the merchandise. $175..180... Steve's still searching for Jason. A very determined fan called out her bid – a huge jump from 180 to 250!!! She was excited, but no sooner had she yelled it out than another fan bid $300!!

"Hold on," Steve said, trying to keep up. He looked over at the fan who had bid $250, and she said, "$310." Steve teased, "You're not such a hot shot how, huh?" LOL 320..325..350..360..

"Come on, go for it!" Scott Egan yelled, getting in on the action. "Come on, ten bucks!" The script sold for $360.

"Go on back, baby," Steve directed the young woman (indicating the back of the room where she would get her item, and picture taken with S&S). "Hold this Johnny," Steve said, handing him the GH sign.

"Bustin' my chops," Scott sighed, pretending to be abused. Steve laughed and added, "The lights go off in the back and it's like Chia, the circus elf." (I have no clue, either). LOL

The GH sign displayed autographs from Steve, Scott, John York, John Ingle and Michael Saucedo. One of Steve's cousins bid successfully and got the sign for $200. "What's up with that?" he asked. But he soon learned of their generous nature, because they offered to give the item to a fan, and donate the money they had bid to the charity. Steve thought that was a nice gesture, but teased them by pointing at Jason and saying incredulously, "It's his family – they're nuts! I've never seen them before and they're giving me money!"

"Last but not least," Steve began, counting the signatures on the script up for bids. "Seventeen signatures on it – it's a show – I don't know what show it is, but it's worth it because they're hard to get and they only do it for charity. They usually go for seven or eight hundred dollars." The bidding went very quickly this time... up to $200 and then $300. "Going once, twice... okay she got it," Steve announced. Scott said something we couldn't hear, an d Steve turns to the crowd and says, "He just told me to auction him off!" At this point the audience is whooping and laughing. "I can't auction Scott off!" Steve protests. He looks back at him and says, "What do you want to auction off... a drink with you in the back?" More screams! LOL "Fifteen minutes, having a drink with Scott Egan, with his shirt off?" (This from the guy who refuses to pull stunts like that because it's too ‘beefcake', LOL). "Nah, we can't do that," he finally admits, even though Scott was getting into it, undoing the buttons on his shirt. LOL

Steve thanked everyone for coming and making it possible for him to be on GH. "And thanks to my cousins who I never met," he added. Waving goodbye, he announced, "I'll be back!" (Like the Terminator?*g*) Steve strode off to the back, while Scott lingered behind for a few quick pictures/autographs.

We waited outside after the show, talking to some of the other fans and sharing our mutual disgust at the idiots who were trying to push their way into the back of the limo when Steve and Scott finally emerged from the club. These women were actually leaning into the car and snapping pictures of them inside the limo. Oy!!! But they were gracious nonetheless, and shook hands and waved goodbye to everyone. Scott was cracking me up, because I think he's still new to this whole adulation thing, and he really enjoys the limelight!! I'm going to write to GH and ask for Johnny to have more scenes, that's for sure!

Jayne and I did not attend the show at Rascal's on Sunday, but some of you may have watched the Webcast of it. I did, and there wasn't a lot of difference between the two shows, believe it or not. Steve did a lot of his "routine" about GH at both shows. On Sunday, he was wearing a black, short-sleeve button-down shirt, with the same pants as Saturday night (grey dress slacks). He did an interview before the show began, and talked about his future on GH and other projects in the works (which I mentioned above).

He came out, started talking about the storyline, asked the fans what happened on Friday, and he started right in with the stuff about the ‘Scooby Doo' gang, then S&C, then Michael and what he looks like, right down to the "where did he get red hair and blue eyes"... with the same reactions to the answers!!!

When Scott came out, they talked about how he had relatives in the audience (it was the same as with Steve and his 'cousins' the other night, only this time they were in Jersey, where Scott is from, so he had his grandma and other family members there).

Does he have a bike? Steve said he's going to get a motorcycle (he doesn't have one now). When Jason first had his brain damage, and he got a bike, it wasn't a Harley.. it was like moped. Steve thought that was the worst!!! Jason picked up Carly at Ferncliff, and it backfired like 4 times. Steve, however, likes to ride and hopefully he will.

If he came back again, he'd love to work with Sarah, Maurice, the Q's... but he doesn't miss holidays and tight reindeer sweaters anymore! LOL

What airline does he usually fly? asked "Ellen", his friend from United Airlines that was there in the audience and usually helps them... he said "good question Ellen" (she asked it to get a plug I guess, LOL). If it wasn't for her, they'd be at the back of the plane, in the 54th row, next to the bathroom, Steve said.

It was Scott's grandma's birthday (she was in the audience)... she was 82, and Steve was giving Scott a hard time, but he said he loves her. LOL

About being on GH, he said he had a good time, it was "nice to be home" for the six weeks.

Then he talked about Carly, and made the now-infamous comments about how you'd have to be brain damaged to be with her and how he doesn't understand why Jason would even talk to her now after what she did to him... he doesn't understand it. He said this is his internal dialogue when preparing for a scene with her. "Jason...here comes Carly... you love her, you have to talk to her." (I can see why people might take offense to this, but remember it's CARLY, not Sarah he's talking about). Also, since he said almost the same thing the night before, it's apparent that he had prepared this as a "bit" to perform, and he was exaggerating about that, among other things.

Scott was talking to some fans while Steve was answering questions, and he turned around and said to Scott, "What are you having a little monologue with 'your people' here?" LOL

Then Scott wanted questions for himself... so Steve tried to solicit some!

How come they never paired Jason and Liz? Steve started in with the Lucky being 'angry' thing again.... totally word for word from the night before, and then stuff about Helena "some grey haired lady... what's her name?"... He mentioned once again how Johnny and Renaldo don't look like bodyguards... they look like Chippendale dancers!

Scott tried to tell the joke about the O'Reily thing, and Steve said no, he's heard it too many times... so Scott tried again, he had a new joke, though... he said did you hear about the man who lost the whole left side of his body? Steve said "no....?" and Scott says, "He's alright now." LMAO Then the REAL groaner... "Two peanuts were walking down the street... and one was assaulted." (Get it? A ‘salted'????) Ha ha

Scott got a part in a commercial... he knocked on Steve's door at 2AM and said he's going to Japan! LOL Steve asked Scott if he had told his mom yet. Yes, he had, and she was thrilled.

Now... why they call each other "red"... it's just a joke, it's dumb... but Steve says it's really weird to call him Scott Egan (which is why he calls him Jason all the time, I guess). Scott tried to give Steve a nickname on the set... "red ass".. but Steve turned it around on him on the set, and now the crew all calls Scott 'red ass'. LOL

Next was the bids/auction... Steve talked about the charity Sheree is doing, etc. They auctioned off the scripts, shirt, sign, etc. and one of Jonathan Jackson's guitars... Steve said JJ was going to sell it, and Steve told him that he makes a lot of money, so why not auction it off for charity instead? So he signed it and gave it to Steve.

There was a SOD program from when he won supporting actor.. Not sure how much they got for that. (I have one at home, I should have brought it for him to sign! LOL).

Then the guy that was helping with the auction said they had some great head shots of Steve, and he said... "You know, when your husband or boyfriend go out of town...." and Steve says "Hey! Let's not go that far, it's a daytime show." *g*

They wanted to auction off the Maurice book of photos, and Steve said the starting price was too high because "he's not that good!" LOL

When the bidding for the tour got up to $2000, Steve was saying, "This is crazy!" LOL And he said "Lunch is included...I get a Disney discount!" Then Steve said "Johnny will join us for lunch"... the bids are skyrocketing now! LOL Every bid, Steve was saying "Oh no... that's not good." "Hopefully we'll have an earthquake, and you'll get a little taste of California.. because the state is on rollers", or something like that! LOL

Things seemed like they were a little disorganized. The t-shirt went for $50 (what a steal!). It was going to be more, but Steve brought it down (he doesn't want people spending that much, I guess!).

At one point, Steve teased Scott's grandma about not bidding on anything.. he yelled out, "It's your birthday, grandma, BID ON SOMETHING!!" LOL There was also some guy named "Johnny" in the audience who was talking with a heavy Brooklyn accent and Steve imitated it... .kinda funny.

Someone asked Steve where his wife was, and he said "at home".. apparently she doesn't like to fly! She gets very, very nervous.... and Steve says "we (he and the other actors) fly a lot!". So, she stays behind. They joked a bit more on stage, and Steve asked "Johnny" if he was getting hot or was ready to go with his jacket on and everything, then teased him about going to see "mommy"... LOL Before leaving, they were going to take pictures with everyone there.

So, there you have it... in a rather large nutshell. LOL

There has been so much talk and speculation about Steve Burton and the way he conducts himself at fan appearances, I felt I should address some of the concerns I have heard, and give my two cents on how I see things, etc. Not that anyone really cares what I think, but it makes me feel better to at least speak my piece. *g*

What I've taken away from this weekend, and the couple of other times I've met Steve in person, is that he genuinely cares for and respects the fans of General Hospital, and his fellow actors. I believe that Steve understands the complexities of writing soap storylines, and acknowledges the fact that they can't always make perfect sense or have immaculate continuity. He has his own production company now, and is planning to direct, so one would assume he has an understanding of being on both sides of the camera. When Steve makes an appearance at a comedy club, he is ‘performing', and what he says is part of an act.

There has been a lot of discussion and debate on the message boards regarding the things that Steve has said at his appearances. Why do Steve's comments bother some of the fans so much?

If a comedian did a bit about GH, and made similar comments, would people be in such an uproar? An outsider who saw a few episodes of GH might comment on how twisted Carly's plans to get Michael away from AJ have been (drugging him, tricking him, marrying him, etc.) They might say, "Well, that person doesn't watch the show, he/she doesn't fully understand the complexities and layers that these characters have," etc. etc. Steve does.

Maybe it's because we the fans are so emotionally invested in our stories, and expect an actor like Steve to be at LEAST that invested himself, that when he criticizes or makes fun of the show, it seems sacrilegious. No matter how rotten the character, the actor responsible for the portrayal has to ‘own' that character, make it a part of them, and find something in its makeup to love, or that is worthwhile. As a fan, we would never suggest that one of our favorite characters was not worth the paper his or her dialogue is written on. So why doesn't Steve seem to agree?

I think he *does*.

Just because he calls Carly names or shakes his head at the insanity of it all, doesn't mean that he doesn't appreciate the writing, the acting, and everything else that goes into putting that on the screen. So maybe he thinks Jason is better off without Carly. Much as I hate to admit it, it's probably true, given what we've seen! She *has* hurt him in the past, and would do it again, albeit unintentionally, just because that's how she operates. And he doesn't want her to change for him.

It's one thing to joke about the show; it's quite another to leave people wondering whether you actually mean everything you're saying!! I'm sure no one would expect Steve to preface every negative comment he makes about GH with a disclaimer -- for example, "I'm going to make a joke about one of the characters now, but please understand that I really don't mean this as an insult to the actor who plays him/her." But it might help if, on occasion, he peppered the things he says with a positive afterthought. For example, if he says "Carly is psychotic, and the only way a man would be with her is if he was brain-damaged like Jason", he could add, "...but Sarah does such a great job of showing the other side of Carly and expressing her vulnerability, you can't help but get drawn in," or something like that. What usually happens is that at some point in the show Steve will say that he loves Sarah, that she is great to work with, and in his opinion she is the best actress on daytime. Unfortunately, if this happens after the "Carly joke", his initial comments have most likely already left their impact on the listener.

From some of the accounts I've read of fans meeting Steve, the impression many people have is that he doesn't seem to understand that the point his critics are making is not that he says 'mean things' (because all of us can laugh at or be critical of our faves once in a while!) but that he is consistently negative with his comments and disrespectful to the fans and his fellow castmates while doing so. I have friends who have told Steve straight out that his remarks are NOT seen as a joke by many people, and that it's disrespectful of the other actors to bash their characters all the time, with no mercy. Steve's response to this? It's meant in fun, he means no disrespect, and that he really DOES love working with those that he's often the "meanest" to.

One might argue that he is not compassionate... but to me, it's obvious that he wants to be there for his fans. He is involved in charity work, and has faith in God. He does a lot of appearances, and spends a lot of time taking pictures and signing autographs, and I don't get the impression that he's gritting his teeth and just trying to "get through it". He made it clear on Saturday that he wanted everyone who was in the room to get a picture if they wanted it, and he would sign anything they brought with them. He came to our table twice, and signed about five things.

I guess it boils down to the fact that Steve is outspoken, and makes no apologies for saying what he thinks. I am not offended by the things he says in jest, but I can certainly see why others might be. Either way, he has made an impact on a lot of people, and as far as I can see, he will always be a big part of GH.
 

Port Charles & General Hospital Fan Club Annual Fan Club Weekend
Los Angeles, California
July 19-27 2000

Sheraton Universal
333 Universal Terrace Parkway
Universal City, CA 91608
818-980-1212

Wednesday 19 July 2000

I had an uneventful airport commute, made it into Boston in good time, and found parking easily at Central parking.  There was a slight mishap trying to maneuver all my luggage up the escalator, I ended up dropping my big suitcase, and it rode up to meet me all on it’s own *g*.  There was a short check-in line, only 2 people in front of me, and 1 person behind me, however, there was only 1 ticket agent working, and the person he was dealing with apparently had a problem, and 20 minutes later, none of us had moved out of line.  The guy behind me was getting vocal about it, and finally managed to attract enough attention that someone else came over to wait on us.  I checked in, bought some magazines, and got to the gate just as the flight was boarding.  We had strong head winds and some turbulence, and the flight arrived about a half hour late into Los Angeles.  I collected my luggage, and rode the shuttle to the rental car place, where Heather caught up to me about 10 minutes after I arrived.  We picked out a lovely purple Sebring convertible, and were on our way to the hotel by 3pm :o)  We hit some freeway traffic, but found the hotel without a problem.  Our room was still being cleaned so we had to hang out in the lobby for a bit, but finally got in and unpacked a bit.  Lesley met us at the hotel, and we went up to Universal Citywalk for dinner, and then went to bed, as we were exhausted from jetlag.

Thursday 20 July 2000

We were up early, and ready to leave for the General Hospital set by 9am.  Lesley, Laura, and Karla met us in the lobby, and Karla drove us to the studio.  We were escorted to the Green Room, where we were met by the GH fan club president and co-president, Debbie and Debby.  We hung out there for awhile, watching the actors come and go … we saw Amber Tamblyn, Becky Herbst, Coltin Scott, Jacob Young, Michael Saucedo, Real Andrews, “Leticia”, Dylan and Blake (the “Michael” twins) … and Amber, Coltin, and Real talked to us for a a bit.  We watched a bunch of “Sonny/Carly” scenes on the live feed from the set in the Green Room.   Debbie then took us up to the set, and we watched more “Sonny/Carly” scenes, and also some more scenes with “Sonny/Carly/Leticia/Michael/Bobbie”, and then we went back to the Green Room.  John J. York stopped by, as did Maurice Benard, Sarah Brown, and Jackie Zeman after they finished taping.  Nancy Lee Grahn and her daughter Kate, and Tava Smiley came in to meet us for lunch, and we headed over to the “ABC Center Grill” for lunch.  Tava and Nancy were super nice and friendly and we all had a great time at lunch.  While we were eating, Ingo and Todd came in, and we chatted with them for a bit.  Nancy’s daughter Kate, who is 2 years old, apparently has a crush on Ingo, LOL (she has good taste at such a young age *g*) … she kept leaving our table with silverware and walking over to Ingo’s table to hand it to him.  Ingo and Tava had to leave soon to go to wardrobe and make-up for their afternoon scenes, so we went back to the Green Room, and watched “Liz/Lucky/Nik/Emily/Juan” scenes, and then “Mac/Maxie/Georgie” scenes.  “Georgie” and Kate were playing together for a bit in the Green Room, and were having fun with the singing bass fish on Real’s dressing room door.  Constance Towers came in, and looked much less fearful than “Helena”, LOL.  Nancy and Kate left, and then we went up on set again with Ingo and Tava to watch their scenes being taped.  When we came back downstairs, we saw Constance transformed into “Helena” and we were all speechless, LOL.  Debbie took us on a tour of wardrobe and make-up … the make-up stations are filled with pictures of the actors.  In wardrobe, each character has their own rack of clothes, and “Jax” has so many clothes, he has two racks, “Jax” and “Jax annex”, LOL.  “Andreas” shares some of the “Jax” clothes too.  We saw a rack of suits for “the Goons”, LOL, too.  When we mentioned we were big fans of “Johnny” one of the wardrobe guys took our picture to give to Scott Egan to prove to him that he *does* have fans, LOL.  After wardrobe, we saw “Helena” again in the green room and apologized for our speechless-ness earlier, and chatted with her for a bit before we left.  It was a great day, we were there for about 8 hours and saw a lot, met a lot of actors, and got lots of pictures and autographs.  We then drove around L.A. for a bit, and then had dinner at Universal Citywalk.

Friday 21 July 2000

We slept in a bit, and then went over to the Sportsmans Lodge, where all of the weekend events were being held.  We walked through the “Soap Boutique” for a bit, then went back to Universal Citywalk for lunch.  Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to get ready for the Port Charles event that evening.  We had a great time at the Port Charles event, we had a front row table, right next to where the actors walked in, so we got lots of great pictures.  Nolan North was the emcee, and was awesome :o)  All the actors were introduced, and then there was a Q&A, and then we walked around to get pictures and autographs from everyone.  The actors that attended were :  Nolan North, Sarah Aldrich, Kimberlin Brown, Susan Brown, Jeffrey Byron, Pat Crowley, Kiko Ellsworth, David Gail, Beverly Garland, Peter Hanson, Erin Hershey, Coltin James, Thorston Kaye, Kelly Monaco, Ion Overman, Jay Pickett, Nicholas Pryor, Julie Pinson, Kin Shriner, Carly Schroeder, and Marie Wilson.

Saturday 22 July 2000

It was an early morning … we had to be at the Sportsmans Lodge by 7am for Nancy Lee Grahn’s event.  Nancy’s guest was Constance Towers, and they did a Q&A and chatted with the audience for about an hour, then they walked around to all the tables for pictures and autographs.  We left there and headed for the Universal Hilton to go to the Quartermaine’s Brunch.  The actors that attended were Leslie Charleson, John Ingle, Anna Lee, Jeffrey Byron, Tava Smiley, Billy Warlock, Stephen T. Kay, Amber Tamblyn, Michael Saucedo, and Susan Brown.  They did a Q&A, and we had brunch, and then the actors walked around to all the tables for pictures and autographs.  After that, we had a few hours off, and went to the hotel to change clothes before heading back to the Sportsmans Lodge for the Maurice Benard event.  Maurice was by himself, and did a Q&A, and posed for pictures.  We received a pre-autographed personalized photo of Maurice when we arrived.  Following that, we went directly to the Real Andrews event, who had Maurice Benard, Michael Saucedo, Jacob Young, and Coltin Scott as guests.  Again, it was a Q&A, followed by pictures and autographs.  Next, we went to the Kurth and Taylor concert, which Tava Smiley, Jacob Young, and Coltin Scott also attended.  Afterwards, Tava signed autographs, and Jacob was hanging out by the pool for awhile.

Sunday 23 July 2000

Again, it was an early morning.  We had to be at the Sportsmans Lodge by 8am, since we had promised to help Debbie.  Heather and I were assigned to work at one of the raffle tables, and we took turns shopping for merchandise while we worked.  Again, we had a front row table for the event, with a great view of the actors walking in, and got lots of great pictures.  John Ingle and John J. York were the Masters of Cermonies, and the other GH actors that attended were :  Leslie Charleson, Anna Lee, Denise Alexander, Rachel Ames, Real Andrews, the guy that played Larkin (I can’t remember the actor’s name), Scott Egan, Vanita Harbour, Rebecca Herbst, Shell Kepler, Wally Kurth, Jon Lindstrom, Stephan Nichols, Marissa Ramirez,  Robyn Richards, Michael Saucedo, Coltin Scott, Maurice Benard, Tava Smiley, Amber Tamblyn, Lisa Vultaggio, Constance Towers, Kristina Wagner, Billy Warlock, Landon Wine, Jacob Young, Jackie Zeman, Ingo, and Wendy Riche (the GH executive producer).  After the actors were introduced, there was a Q&A, and then we spent the rest of the afternoon getting pictures and autographs from everyone.  When Maurice signed my GH scrapbook, he signed fairly large, so I challenged Ingo to sign larger, LOL.  He ended up with a signature across two pages of my book, ROTFL.  When we left there, we went to Jerry’s Deli for dinner, then back to the Sportsmans Lodge for the Real Andrews Gospel Hour with Real, Jonathan Jackson (and his brother and father, who are members of his band “Scarlett Road”), Coltin Scott, Lisa Vultaggio, and Vanita Harbour.  We had to leave for the next event, and missed Vanita singing, but everyone else was fabulous.  I was very excited to be able to see Jonathan, and Coltin sang an awesome Garth Brooks song acapella.  Next, we went to Becky Herbst’s event, and her guests were Jacob Young, Coltin Scott, Amber Tamblyn, and Michael Saucedo.  This event was probably my favorite of the weekend, and Jacob and Coltin were shirtless for a bit *g*, and Coltin was wet (a water fight between him and Amber), LOL.  Again, it was the standard format of Q&A, followed by an auction, and then pictures/autographs.

Monday 24 July 2000

This was basically our only lazy day.  We slept in, picked up pictures, and spent most of the day with Kayla and Kevin.  We had lunch near UCLA and dinner at Universal Citywalk.

Tuesday 25 July 2000

We were up early again, to go back to the General Hospital set to spend the day with Ingo and Todd.  We went to the Green Room first, and saw “Benny”, “Sorel”, Maurice Benard, Scott Egan, Ron Hale, John J. York, Wally Kurth, Lisa Vultaggio, Real Andrews, Becky Herbst, Amber Tamblyn, Michael Saucedo, and Jacob Young.  We watched some scenes being taped on the Green Room LIVE feed, and then Ingo and Todd showed up with hugs and kisses (and Ingo remembered our names, LOL).  We headed over to the ABC Center Grill for lunch again, and while we were there, Maurice and Scott came in, as did John, and also Wally.  Wally stopped by our table to talk to Ingo for a bit.  Erin Hershey and Kiko Ellsworth from Port Charles also came in.  After lunch, we went back to the Green Room and watched more scenes, and Tava came in to say Hello.  We also saw Constance Towers and Landon Wine.  Todd left, and Ingo came back after wardrobe/hair/make-up and chatted with us, introduced us to Tava, LOL, and then he and Tava left to run lines, while we watched more scenes on the LIVE feed.  Ingo took us up to the set, and we spent the rest of the day up there watching numerous scenes with “Jax/Chloe”, and he left us up there when they had a break to watch “Helena/Andreas” scenes, and then we watched more of “Jax/Chloe”.  We stayed up there until they were done for the day, and Tava came over to give us a hug and a kiss and to wish us a safe flight home.  Ingo followed and walked us out, with hugs and kisses from him too :o)  Afterwards, we went to Universal Citywalk again for dinner.

Wednesday 26 July 2000 / Thursday 27 July 2000

We got up and packed and checked out of the hotel, and then went to Santa Monica for the day.  We took a long walk on the beach and then ate lunch and shopped for a bit.  Then, we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway for a few hours, and came back to Santa Monica for dinner, before heading to the airport.  We returned the car and took the shuttle bus to the terminals.  Heather and I parted ways, and my flight was slightly late leaving L.A., I slept for most of the flight, and got into Boston about a half hour later than scheduled.  However, we then had to wait another half hour on the runway to get to the gate, and another half hour until our luggage appeared.  I finally got to my car, to find the battery dead, so I had to wait another hour for AAA to come rescue me.  I finally made it home about 10am.
 

Heather's Recap

Heather’s GH Fan Event Weekend & Studio Tour Recap!!! :-)
August 2000

Well, it took me a while, but my GH Fan Weekend recap is done!

There's a little something for everyone, since we went to almost every event, and spent a lot of time at the studio as well (all of the scenes we saw being taped are airing this week -- who knows, there might be a few hints about some upcoming storylines in there too!).

If you're thinking that you've 'heard it all' by now, let me ask you this:

Would you like to know what line Ingo asked to have changed in Monday's script? Or what he had to say about "Helena's" skin-tight outift on set?

Want to know which scene got Sarah Brown an ovation from the crew?

Ever wondered what Maurice's wardrobe looks like up close? Or what he had to say about Ingo?

Curious to learn more about Michael and Coltin showering together? Or what Amber was willing to do in the name of charity at Becky's event?

Maybe you'd like to see pictures of the gang from Port Charles...or find out which PC actress' best beauty tip is 'use soap and water'! LOL

The answers to these questions and many, many more can be found here:

Grab a drink and get comfy... it's a long read! LOL

Heather ;-)
 

Intro

Despite the title, this recap covers more than just the weekend (what can I say, brevity is not my strong suit, LOL!).

There have been many reports on the events of the GH weekend, detailing everything from upcoming CD releases
(there are quite a few!) to what was served for dessert (I believe it was strawberry shortcake, *g*). I hope you
will indulge me as I throw my recap into the ring. It took me a little while to finish it, because I just started a
new job (and because I had about a hundred photos to scan, LOL).

Many of the pictures I've used are Jayne Lupi's, since she had a better zoom on her camera *g*, so I'll thank her
in advance before I forget!! LOL She was also a big help in filling in a lot of the details that I had forgotten
about our whirlwind week... so this really is a ‘tag-team' recap. Thanks to my pal West (Heather McDonald) for
the Tava pics, and to Kevin and Kayla Simon for their contributions, and anyone else who filled in gaps or gave me
pictures... much appreciated! I'll concentrate on the highlights of the trip, and if there's anything I've missed, or
you want to know more about something, just E-mail me, and I'll spill all the juicy details... LOL (or you can bug
Jayne, I'm sure she won't mind! *eg*)

This was definitely one of my best visits to LA as far as General Hospital goes. Jayne and I teamed up for
fun-filled week of soap stars and sunshine! We attended the luncheon and most of the fan events that weekend,
toured the GH set on two different days and saw about ten hours of taping altogether, met almost every actor
there (some three or four times -- in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to take out a restraining order
on us by the end of the weekend, LOL), and even had lunch with Ingo. Then there were the sights and sounds of the
city of Angels -- driving out to the coast, cruising the Pacific Coast highway from the Santa Monica Pier, up
through the Palisades, to Malibu (where Brad and Jennifer's wedding tent was being set up *g*). . . but wait, I'm
getting ahead of myself here. I'll start at the beginning.

Wednesday: I love LA *g*

Jayne and I arrived in LA on Wednesday, July 19, and after the usual hassle of negotiating the shuttle bus to the
car rental place with significant luggage in tow, we were finally on our way to Universal City, home of the
CityWalk and a million tour buses! I was the designated driver for this trip, since I had driven in LA a couple of
times before, and because my love of rental cars far exceeds Jayne's. *g* I have to say, the best way to get a
suntan in California is to drive around in a convertible. Of course, as we soon realized, you actually have to put
the top DOWN to do this. LOL Our friend Kevin (otherwise known as the hubby of my babe twin, Kayla) vowed to
have us driving that way before we left!! (We did.... but more on that later).

Our car of choice was a purple Chrysler Sebring convertible. We rented from National, where they let you
choose the car you want. Call me simple-minded, but I got a cheap thrill walking out to the parking lot, locating
the row of convertibles, and picking the one we wanted to drive off the lot! LOL Luckily, there was enough space
for all of our luggage, and air conditioning too (which is why we didn't put the top down right away). It was still
early in the day and there wasn't a lot of traffic, so we found the hotel without a problem. It helps to stay at a
major theme park -- there are signs everywhere! LOL I love palm trees... the majestic ones line the streets, while
others grow here and there, adding a taste of the tropics to the big city, and for someone who spends most of her
time surrounded by a forest of coniferous trees in Eastern Canada, it's a very unique and relaxing feeling to
watch the fronds waving in the breeze. *g*

There was a slight delay getting our hotel room, and the desk clerk, Dustin (in his early to mid-twenties, I'd
guess), told us to check back with him in about 20 minutes. Well, we waited on the comfy couches in the lounge,
just across the lobby where he could see us, and I kept making eye contact so he wouldn't forget about us (LOL,
not because he was like, totally adorable or anything! LOL). After a while I think he felt embarrassed that the
room was taking so long (or else he was completely frightened and wanted to get away!), so he disappeared. LOL
He would reappear every now and then, and say "it's almost ready" or "I'm going to check on the room right now".
LOL At one point, we decided to ask a different clerk if the room was ready, and as soon as Jayne walked up to
the desk and asked, he came out of the back room and stuck his head around the corner saying he was on his way
up to personally check on the room. LOL Finally, after almost an hour of waiting, it was ready.

After getting settled in and unpacking, we got a surprise visit from Lesley, who has just recently moved to
California and was planning to take part in the festivities that weekend. We went to the Universal CityWalk for
dinner at the Hard Rock Café... and were treated to an influx of stimuli.... including a spinning car and HUGE
screen showing music videos, right next to our table on the balcony! Exhausted from our jet lag, we headed back
to the hotel for an early night.... we had a BIG day ahead!!!

Thursday: GH Set Tour

Thursday was our tour of the General Hospital set and lunch with Nancy Lee Grahn and Tava Smiley, which we won from the General Hospital Fan Club. Lesley Foss., Laura Cueller., Karla Vana., Jayne and I headed for Prospect Avenue around 10:00. It's funny, because from the street, the ABC sign and office buildings are not as overwhelming as one might anticipate. The lot looks more like that of a small, local station. That's because only GH, Port Charles and the ABC News are taped there. However, the back lot is impressive... once you go through the gates, you see the huge satellite dishes pointing in every direction, and the exterior of the main building which looks like the Emergency Department entrance on GH. I'm sure a lot of you have heard these descriptions or seen pictures from
others who've been on set tours, etc., so I won't go into great detail.

Anyway, we gave our name at the gate, and were directed to the employee parking lot further down the street.
We spotted a few personalized license plates, and tried to guess which actors might drive the various vehicles
that we spotted in the 'reserved' spaces, LOL. From there, we went to the Green Room (which at GH is actually
green, LOL), although I have to admit, I hesitated at the elevators, debating whether or not to go up to the fifth
floor production offices and have a word with some of TPTB! LOL I was the only one who had been there before,
but I think I was more nervous than the rest of my friends! Something about being right there where it all
happens is just very exciting to me.

Picture this: You're in the Green Room, with its large windows that allow you to see all the goings-on in the
hallways where the dressing rooms are located. The couch you are sitting on is one where countless actors
have run lines with each other, chatted about what they did on the weekend, etc., and all around you are little
reminders that this is "the place"... there are taping schedules posted on the board, a recycling bin for the GH
scripts, and even coffee and doughnuts for the staff. The extras sit quietly, reading magazines or watching the
TV, waiting for their scenes to be called. At the back of the room (just above the coffee and danish) is a TV
monitor with a live feed, showing what is happening up on set. Just outside the back door of the Green Room are
stairs that lead up to the set, and every so often the actors who are up next will walk by, and you just kind of
stare at them through the glass windows, trying not to let your jaw drop open if it's someone you REALLY admire!
LOL Some of them will actually come in an chat while they grab a coffee. You hear the early morning chatter of
the makeup and wardrobe people next door, and see the interns delivering scripts, fan letters, and other mail to
the actors' dressing rooms.

All this, and the ‘tour' hasn't even started yet! LOL

We hung out with GH fan club president Debbie Morris, and her assistant Debby O'Connor, who had organized
the tour for us. Over the next little while, we saw Amber Tamblyn (Emily), Becky Herbst (Elizabeth), Coltin
Scott (Nikolas), Jacob Young (Lucky), Michael Saucedo (Juan), Réal Andrews (Taggert), Annette Chavez
(Leticia), and Dylan and Blake Hopkins (the "Michael" twins, who were having a little lunch before their big day
of taping). Coltin was definitely "on" that morning, and he had us all cracking up before we were even formally
introduced. He wandered into the Green Room, the back of his hair sticking straight up, script in hand, clothes
disheveled... walked straight over to the coffee, and without even turning around to look at us (although he knew
we were there), deadpanned, "I have a whole four lines today." LOL He apparently had rolled in to the studio
quite early (the call time is usually much earlier than when they actually start taping), and had fallen asleep on the
couch in his dressing room, waiting for his call for hair and makeup. What I thought were his 'street clothes' were
actually part of the outfit 'Nikolas' had worn to the rave on the show! He was wearing a blue tank top with an
orange shirt, and baggy pants. He was complaining about his clothes (all in good fun, of course), because he
thought that a prince should have a better wardrobe, and we all agreed. He said they're planning to put him in
suits and nicer clothes soon. He was happy with his new haircut, however, and we all agreed that it suited him!

We were waiting for the Sonny/Carly scenes to show up on the monitor (the crew was on a five minute break), and
the volume was turned up quite loud, without anyone realizing it. When the sound came back on, Coltin (who was
standing right near the set) jumped about a foot, then lunged for the volume knob, crying out, "What are you guys,
deaf?!!" LOL When the taping started, Coltin was talking to the screen, making jokes about Carly asking Sonny
for the $40,000. When Sonny said, "What's the asking price?" and Carly replied, "I'm not very good with
numbers," Coltin was chuckling away. He had started to tell us about what was happening in his own storyline, with
the rave, dead Ted, etc. and then when Jayne told him that the last thing we had seen was Nikolas and Lucky
discovering the missing Cassadine freezer, he said we had to forget everything he just told us. LOL Coltin took
some photos with us, then returned to his room to get ready. While I was out of the room (wandering the halls
aimlessly, getting into trouble *g*) apparently Michael came out of the men's room, which is right across the hall
from the Green Room, having just finished taking a shower, and all he had on was a towel!! LOL Poor guy... I guess
he wasn't expecting fifteen people to be sitting there. LOL

Amber wandered in a bit later, very energetic and looking to run lines with her co-stars who were not answering
her page over the loudspeaker. LOL She talked to us about the events planned for the weekend, then spotted a
five dollar bill on the counter, and told us that if anyone was looking for it we should tell them that she had
pocketed it. A few minutes later, Réal Andrews showed up to get something to eat, and mentioned missing money.
We told him about Amber, and he said it wasn't fair because she makes more money than he does! LOL When he
saw her walk by the door, he yelled out, "Amber!!! You stole my money!" or something to that effect. Very cute.

Coltin returned briefly, and he and Réal were chatting (I later learned that they are actually very good friends.
Coltin was at Réal's gospel hour later that weekend, and told us that they sometimes go over to Réal's house to
play pool). Dylan and Blake were adorable, dressed alike, their red hair flopping all over the place as they ran
around the Green Room. They played with their toys while their mom and the woman on the GH staff who is
responsible for them prepared them for taping. Someone told me that they don't actually share their scenes on a
given day... they decide themselves once they are there who wants to do them, and the other is there as a backup
if one is not feeling well or gets too tired. So far there hasn't been a time when they both wanted to do the
scenes! LOL

Since Lesley and I wanted to watch Sarah and Maurice in action *g*, Debbie took all of us upstairs before
Nancy and Tava arrived, and we found a place on one of the sets that wasn't being used at the time -- (Jax and
Chloe's villa balcony, surrounded by plants that kept tickling my legs, LOL), then later we moved to the inside of
"Kelly's". I stood behind the bar, while the others sat on stools... I noticed that the counter is very scratched,
and the kitchen behind the wall is a mess!! So much for Tammy's hard work. LOL. We watched more of the
Sonny/Carly scenes, which totally blew me away because at the end of one scene, Carly was in tears, and as the
stage manager yelled, 'clear' to signal the end of the take (kind of like 'cut'), the crew applauded her!!! That is
rare on a soap, at least from what I've seen. What an intense moment. The scenes with Sonny, Carly, Leticia,
Michael, and Bobbie were fun to watch too. These were all done at the Brownstone. The best part is in-between
takes, when someone has flubbed a line, or Maurice decides to have some fun with the doll that they use as a
substitute for Michael during rehearsal. Twice I saw him deliver a really sweet line like, "I love you Michael, see
you tomorrow" and then give the doll's head a sharp flick with his finger, or give it a sqeeze!!. LMAO Annette
(who plays Leticia) brought the doll over to us and told it to "say hello Michael", and made the doll's hand wave.
LOL Later, when she had the "real thing", she came over and said "say hello to Michael... I mean Blake!" LOL

Even Réal, who was also watching the scenes with his own tour group, was laughing at the silliness. Every now and
then he would whisper to one of them or make a joke, and he was certainly entertaining the ‘crowd' that had
gathered on the set to watch the taping. I think Mr. Andrews has a bit of a crush on Sarah, because he kept
saying how he thought Taggert and Carly would be good together! LOL (Who knows... maybe if AJ gets
Hannah....nah, I like S&C too much!). Then, once tape was rolling, while we were all trying to be very quiet and not
make a sound so as to get kicked off the set, we heard a loud crashing noise, and one of the overhead lights
hanging from a cable came falling down, right next to Réal! LOL I think he accidentally bumped into it. A few
heads turned, but once they realized it was ‘one of their own' who was at fault, LOL, they went back to work.
Sheesh!! A few minutes later, Réal came and stood near where I was standing, and took an apple from the bowl of
fake fruit on one of the tables. I actually thought he might try and bite into it, if only to see my reaction... but
then he just winked at me and put it back. LOL

They actually didn't need to do too many takes... everyone was "on" that morning. Sarah was so cute... she was
running around (literally) after she had finished her scenes for the morning, while Maurice had one more scene to
tape (the one where he called Benny and told him to block Carly's efforts at finding a house). Sarah went
whizzing by the Kelly's set, waving hi, laughing, and saying she'd see us downstairs before she left. Besides her
great smile, I noticed that she is very skinny!! LOL I met her last year, but I think she's even thinner since she
had her baby. She was wearing a really great red print dress, and was carrying a big fluffy robe (it gets cold
upstairs!).

Between takes, Debbie called out to Maurice and he came over and shook hands with all of us, and we
introduced ourselves. He was very polite, but seemed almost shy about meeting fans. He spoke with Debbie
for a few minutes, then we all headed back downstairs after the scenes were done.

Back in the Green Room again... John J. York (Mac), Sarah Brown (Carly), and Jackie Zeman (Bobbie) all stopped
by after they finished taping. Amber and Michael were in and out, chatting with the fans who were there for
their tours (three of us in total, I think). Most of the actors were very happy to see us, and didn't mind posing
for pictures. Still, I felt a bit odd asking for individual pictures, and now I regret that I didn't ask Sarah for
one since she was unable to attend the lunch that weekend. She did do a group shot with everyone, however, and
then some "modeling" poses, which were cute, and we got to spend a little time talking with her. She was very
anxious to get home to Jordan (her daughter) and was still running around! She is just a bundle of energy, and
never stops moving, it seems.

Nancy Lee Grahn arrived with her daughter Kate (who is an absolute doll), and talked to us for a while, getting to know each of us a little bit, and telling us about herself too. She also asked if there was anyone we hadn't met and wanted to meet, or get pictures with. Maurice and Jacob's names both came up, LOL. We said we had been chatting with lots of the actors, but she wanted to see if she could find anyone else, so she left the room and came back a few minutes later, walking behind Jacob, her hands on his shoulders, sort of marching him into the room, LOL, announcing, "I got one!" We spent some time with him, talking about the show and the luncheon, and he was very gracious and accommodating as far as pictures went!  When he speaks to you, he stares intently into your eyes the entire time … very mesmerizing.

Tava Smiley arrived shortly, and after introductions all around we headed over to the "ABC Center Grill" to eat.
The two actresses were extremely outgoing, chatting with each of us and asking about where we were from, what
we did for a living, and our interest in GH. They didn't seem phased that we were all members of Ingo's fan club,
LOL!! In fact, Tava commented to Jayne that the IRFC is a "fun fan club", and we do cool things because Ingo is
so cool, LOL.

Tava and I both ordered the chicken medallions, which were fantastic. She asked for no garlic on hers, even
though she LOVES garlic, since she had to get "smoochie" with Ingo that afternoon (I think the phrase she used
was "lovin' all over him", LOL). Hmmm... I wonder if Ingo was equally considerate where lunch was concerned! LOL
Of course, Tava had a bit of a cold, and I teased her by saying, "So you avoid the garlic, but a little cold is
okay?" *eg* Touché.

When the meal came, I was ROTFL at Tava's comment about the 'capers' on the plate. She said she loves them,
not because of the taste, but because of their name. . . "it sounds like they're always up to something," she
quipped. LOL!!!! I just love her, she's so sweet and funny. She had me laughing all through lunch!!

While we were eating, Ingo and Todd came in, and we chatted with them for a while. They had been to the NBC
party for Titans on the CityWalk the night before (hmm...if we hadn't been so tired, we might have crashed their
party after our dinner at the Hard Rock!) and Todd was upset because he had missed "Survivor" (for those who
watch, it was the episode where Greg got voted off). I am also a huge fan of that show, and of course I had missed
it as well. So we commiserated together, discussing the next week's show, and who we thought might get voted off,
while Ingo continued to eat (it's been confirmed many times before, but he really NEVER stops eating as long as
there is food in front of him). Réal and his tour arrived a bit later as well, along with Jacob (who was their host
for lunch) and for some reason (maybe great intuition?) The Tag-man spotted Lesley and started calling her
"trouble with a capital 'L'", LOL!!! She swears she had never met him before that. Hmmm.... Then Karla, our
resident "IRFC doctor", was asked for an impromptu examination of Réal's elbow... he had some kind of infection
that was causing some swelling, and he was headed to the clinic to have it looked at. Karla agreed that, in her
professional opinion, it did not look good. :-( He was asked about it at his Event on Saturday, but didn't reveal his
prognosis.

Nancy's daughter Kate, who is 2 years old and very mature and spunky for her age (gee, wonder where she gets
it?) apparently has a crush on Ingo and, with a bit of prompting from her mom (who also has a bit of a crush on
Ingo, I think! LOL) kept leaving our table with items of silverware and walking over to Ingo's table to hand them
to him. It was *so* cute. He would take the spoon, or fork, and politely thank her, and then tease her a bit,
usually giving her some "line" to take back to mommy, which of course had all of US cracking up, and poor Nancy
shaking her head and rolling her eyes. LOL Nancy told us a story about Kate which she also repeated at her event
on Saturday morning, about how her daughter recently had a "time out" after hitting mommy. Nancy put Kate in
her room, and had to stand in the hallway holding the door shut because Kate was trying to get out. Kate was on
the other side of the door, pulling at the handle, screaming to be let out, crying, and Nancy was doing her best not
to give in or convince herself that she was being a terrible parent. Finally, when things quieted down, she opened
the door and said "Are you sorry you hit mommy?" and Kate said yes, so Nancy said, "Okay, you can go get
cleaned up and mommy will get your pyjamas and we'll read a story." So, Kate left the room (or so Nancy thought,
LOL) and as Nancy walked over to the dresser to get Kate's PJ's, the light went off, the door slammed shut
behind her, and she heard Kate yell from the hallway, "HA!!!!!" in a pseudo-vicious tone (well, as vicious as a 2
year old can sound). Nancy was floored, and wanted to know where her daughter picked up such behavior!!! LOL

Ingo and Tava had to leave for wardrobe and make-up in preparation for their afternoon scenes, so we went back
to the Green Room, and watched Liz, Lucky, Nikolas, Emily, and Juan scenes, and then Mac, Maxie, and Georgie
scenes on the monitor. Breck Bruns (Georgie) and Kate were playing together for a bit in the Green Room, and
were having fun with the singing "Billy Bass" fish that was mounted on Réal's dressing room door just down the
hall. Have you guys seen these things? They're hysterical!! You push a button and the little fish lifts its head and
sings a variety of songs. Kate kept wanting to go and 'push the button' and do a little dance while the music was
on.

Later, Constance Towers came in, looking very casual and much less intimidating than her alter-ego "Helena", LOL.
She had some items for Debbie to auction off at the luncheon... beautiful things she had collected on her travels
around the world. There were things like jewelry from Paris and a scarf from India... I was stunned!

Before she left, Nancy asked if we were all planning to attend her event on Saturday morning, but we said it had
been sold out, so she gave us all a personal invitation and said she would have our names added to the list. We said
goodbye, then she and Kate left.

Tava had appeared again briefly, with hot rollers in her hair and a beautiful blue print outfit
(which you will see Monday, I think), and when she left to return to the hair & makeup room,
Ingo came down the hallway looking for her calling out, "Hey Smiley!!! Wanna run lines?" LMAO
(He calls her Smiley... I love it!). Finally, we went up on set again with Ingo and Tava to watch
their scenes.

It's amazing how a few short scenes can take hours to tape. Both Tava and Ingo had their lines down, and seemed to be pretty good at improvising various little things where needed.  For example, one scene ended with Jax and Chloe sitting across from each other, and they changed it to have Chloe get up and go over and sit in Jax’s lap and “snuggle”.  The set they were taping on was new to them,
and it involved a lot of blocking to get the positions correct. The prop guys were being called in to move tables, etc. I wish I could tell you more about the scenes we saw, but we all signed confidentiality agreements for ABC that said we wouldn't repeat anything we had seen or heard on the set that day. Bummer, dude. LOL The irony is, I try to stay spoiler free and yet I know more at this point than I would if I was reading all of the scoops. *g* Of course, as I said before, most of this stuff will air next week..

When we came back downstairs, we saw Constance again, who had transformed into "Helena" and she literally left
us all speechless, LOL. We passed her in the hallway, and there was just silence. LOL Earlier she had been in a
casual pantsuit with sunglasses, and suddenly she was dressed impeccably from head to toe, wearing a gold suit
with large pieces of jewelry, hair and makeup done... even her posture seemed straighter and she appeared taller!
I was actually intimidated. LOL

Debbie took us on a tour of the wardrobe and makeup rooms. The makeup room is the most "decorated" place in the building, I think, with pictures of the GH actors from magazines, calendars, etc. at each station. In the wardrobe room, each character has their own rack of clothes, and "Jax" has so many clothes they had to create a "Jax annex". LOL "Andreas" shares some of the "Jax" clothes too.  One of the woman working there told us that they had just sold off the entire “Jax” winter wardrobe.

Lesley and I located Maurice's rack, complete with the green bathrobe he wore after he and Carly made love for
the second time, and his swim trunks from the "island paradise".

There was even a rack for the mobsters' suits – labeled, appropriately enough, "Goons". LOL

One of the women was sewing an outfit for the mysterious Brenda look-alike (the blue one we saw her wearing on
the show the other day). We chatted with her for a bit, then when we mentioned we were big fans of "Johnny",
one of the wardrobe guys took a group picture to give to Scott Egan to prove to him that he *does* have fans,
LOL. After we left the wardrobe department, we saw Constance again in the Green Room, and with a little
prompting from Debbie, made up for our speechless-ness earlier and chatted with her for a bit before we left.

In appreciation for all they had done for us, the five of us gave Nancy and Tava a small token of our thanks – some wooden frames, perhaps to hold memories of this weekend, or whatever else they might like! In fact, many of us had taken pictures of Nancy and Kate in the Green Room, and gave her copies on Saturday at her event.  We also gave Tava a copy of the tour group photo with all of us, Tava and Nancy in the green room. They were both extremely appreciative, almost embarrassingly so! Nancy was elated, saying she really needed a frame and had been wondering when she would have time to go out and look for one. Tava thanked us later, because we
had to leave her gift in her dressing room since she was still taping when it was time for us to go. She caught up with Jayne and I at the Quartermaine Brunch on Saturday morning, and said she was touched, and very delighted when she returned to her room after her scenes, to find a present waiting! *g*

Leaving the set, I think we were all just floating... it was such a great day!! When we got to the car, we dug out
our maps and talked about some of the things we had seen and heard, before deciding what course to take next.
We drove around L.A. for a bit, trying not to get into too much trouble *g*, and headed back "home" to have
dinner at Universal CityWalk, at B.B. King's place, on the balcony overlooking the center square. :-)

Friday: Shopping and Port Charles Event

Friday morning Jayne and I slept in a bit, and then went over to the Sportsmen's Lodge, where all of the weekend
events were being held. We walked through the "Soap Boutique", where the Fan Club had many items for sale...
pens, keychains, pictures, posters, and the silent auction items including pieces of GH and PC wardrobe. Again, I
was surprised at how small the actors are. We visited with Debby O'Connor, and checked out the garden area
where Wally Kurth's concert was to take place the next night.

Later in the afternoon we went to Universal CityWalk again (our home away from home... or should I say, our home
away from our home away from home... er, hotel.. It seemed like everywhere we went, Frosty Bites was never far
from our minds!!! LOL). We ran into Lesley, who had shown up after a job interview, and the other officers (Kira,
Blue, Jeannine and Caren) who were just finishing up lunch at the Deli. I guess this was the place to be on Friday!
LOL We walked around for a while, had something to eat, did some shopping, then went back to the hotel to change
for our big evening!

Friday night was the Port Charles event, and we had a front row table, right next to where the actors walked in,
so we got lots of great pictures. Nolan North was the emcee, and did a fantastic job. For those of you who
attended the first IRFC Luncheon in Marina del Rey, you might remember "Todd from Teasers", the waiter who
stripped for Kira when he brought out her birthday cake (well, okay, so it was only a t-shirt, LOL); he used to
work with Nolan at the restaurant, and we kept in touch after the luncheon... Kayla and I are founding members of
the "Todd from Teasers Fan Club", and we joke about it even though neither of the men actually work there
anymore (it's not even called Teasers! LOL). Okay, sorry, I digress...

All of the actors were introduced: Nolan North (Chris), Sarah Aldrich (Courtneyl), Kimberlin Brown (Rachel),
Susan Brown (Gail), Jeffrey Byron (Mark), Pat Crowley (Mary), Kiko Ellsworth (Jamal), David Gail (Joe),
Beverly Garland (Estelle), Peter Hanson (Lee), Erin Hershey (Alison), Coltin James (Neil), Thorston Kaye (Ian),
Kelly Monaco (Livvie), Ion Overman (Gabriella), Jay Pickett (Frank), Nicholas Pryor (Victor), Julie Pinson (Eve),
Kin Shriner (Scott), Carly Schroeder (Serena), and Marie Wilson (Karen).

Unfortunately, Lynn Herring (Lucy) and Jon Lindstrom (Kevin) could not make it to the event, although Jon
surprised many of the fans by showing up on Sunday at the GH luncheon (I was so glad to see him!).

I had bid on a poster of Lucy and Kevin in the silent auction, but was beat out by a HUGE Kevin and Lucy fan who
paid nearly $300 for it. I told myself that it was too big to travel home with anyway, and that I didn't really
NEED it. LOL It was nice, though. *g*

There was a Q&A session, during which Nolan had some fun with his castmates, twisting their words and
encouraging them to be silly. He teased several of them on their hair and wardrobe as they made their ‘entrances'.
Julie's brightly colored outfit and blue eye shadow reminded him of "Mimi" on the Drew Carey Show.

When Erin came out wearing turquoise snakeskin pants, he noted that no blue lizards were harmed in the making
of her outfit. LOL Kiko was sporting a top that showed off his muscles, and Nolan pointed out that he could
afford a top that actually fits now! Beverly Garland joined the group onstage, and Nolan said that she's so
popular, they named a hotel after her. ROTFL (It's true, the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn is where a lot of the
fans stay in LA).

There was an awards ceremony, and the winners were voted on by the fans. When Nolan and Lisa Ann Hadley
(ex-Julie) won for best couple, he joked, "Who would have thought that a read turd of a guy and a mental case
would be your favorite?" LOL The Question and Answer period brought more interesting comments, especially
regarding personal hygiene. When asked for her best beauty tip, Marie said that she likes good old fashioned
soap and water. Nolan did not seem very impressed with this little tidbit, and so when Ion was asked a similar
question, he jumped in before she could answer and said, "You better not say soap and water," LOL.

Later on, after dessert and coffee had been served, and the auction items dealt with, we walked around to get
pictures and autographs from everyone. Even though I don't watch PC regularly, I know the characters from
cross-overs, the Nurses Ball, and in some cases, from when they used to be on GH.

Kin Shriner and Carly Shroeder were terrific together, seemingly as close as Scotty and Serena. She had a little
blue fuzzy purse with her, which was absolutely adorable. Jay Pickett was great, too... very warm, friendly, and
sporting a fabulous smile!! He chatted with each fan for several minutes, but even those waiting in line didn't seem
to mind!

Thorsten Kaye (Ian), who Lynn Herring calls "Torso", is very striking in person, and that accent is not too bad
either! Kiko Ellsworth (Jamal) and Erin Hershey (Alison) won me over with their camaraderie and willingness to
accommodate the fans' requests. They posed for pictures together, then separately, then with the fans, and signed
everything we put in front of them.

I got each one to sign their ABC postcards from the one word "labels" campaign. Alison's is "trouble" and
Jamals's is "smooth". LOL Erin displayed none of the nastiness that her character Alison has shown on GH... she
was truly a sweetheart. Keiko has the most amazing blue eyes... you have to see them in person to really
appreciate their beauty!! I decided that I may just have to start watching PC for these two.

We also got pictures and autographs from Nolan North, Julie Pinson, and Ion Overman.

Although I was glad that the actors stayed for a long time, some until every autograph was signed, I was also
disappointed because we didn't have time to make it over to Jerry's Deli for the IRFC get-together. We had a
very early morning planned for Saturday, however, so we were probably better off with the sleep! *g* I did
manage to spend time with my friends the rest of the weekend, whether it was at lunch or during the events.

Saturday Part 1: Nancy's Event

On Saturday morning, we had to be at the Sportsmen's Lodge by 7am for Nancy Lee Grahn's event.
Luckily, they had a very nice buffet with fruit, danish, coffee and tea set out for us while we were
waiting for the event to start. Nancy's guest was Constance Towers, who showed up early and was
talking to one of the reporters outside for a bit. She came inside while we were lined up for the buffet, and
talked to us for a few minutes about working with Stephen Nichols, and how much she enjoys him, and appreciates
his professionalism. Later on, she told the group how she and Stephen purposely ‘play up' the sexual tension
between their characters. So, all of you out there who've wondered about the Oedipal complex that Count Vlad
seems to have for mommy dearest... you're not imagining it!!

Once the event started, Nancy came in and introduced her on-screen rival, LOL, who joked that she must really
love Nancy to get up at 7 o'clock for her! They answered questions and chatted with the audience for about an
hour. The discussion included everything from trivial, fun things like Helena's 'boy toys' and Alexis and Sonny's
living situation, to more serious issues like health and body image in Hollywood. As some of you may know, Nancy
does a series called "On the porch" with other actors from daytime, and gave us some insight on the issues that
are most relevant today, in her opinion. It was clear that Nancy and Connie are good friends and are both very
intelligent, articulate women.

On the lighter side, Constance said that she loved having Ingo in her bedroom, LOL, and that she and her daughter
had to plot to keep her husband from watching the show that day. Nancy commented that Constance's husband is
even better looking than Ingo. As for Alexis and Sonny living across the hall from each other, we can expect some
"Will and Grace"-type scenes from them (sounds like a lot of fun!). Nancy spoke about the recent ‘fight scenes'
Alexis had with Ned over moving into the penthouse, saying she was overjoyed to finally have some meaty stuff to
tackle -- some real conflict for a change! It seems that Alexis and Ned are sometimes a difficult couple to write
for, and Nancy is forever digging into her ‘bag of tricks' as she calls it, to find new and different ways of making
the relationship appear fresh while the scripts are ‘recycled'. Wally is very laid-back, while she is rather hyper,
and while he will tend to let things slide and not "push" for better story, Nancy has no qualms about speaking up.
*g* Of course, she's not as fearless as she was before Kate came along, because now she has a young mouth to
feed at home, and can't go into a production meeting with the ultimatum of "do it or I quit"... because she might be
out of a job! LOL

When someone asked why Helena wasn't more immediately suspicious of Andreas when she first learned that Chloe
had 'seen' Stefan die, Connie replied that she had also thought of that, and said that when Andreas exited the
room the other day, she wanted to ad lib the line, "I hope you're triplets!" LOL She also joked about all the men
that Helena has been involved with, and the rumors of her having illegitimate children – possibly even Alexis or
Chloe. "Helena's been very busy. She had all these eggs and didn't know what to do with them," she laughed.
Nancy talked about how she will sometimes use a prop to say something that isn't scripted... for example, throwing
the glass on Helena's yacht to show her anger at the murder of her brother. After the question period, the two
ladies walked around to all the tables for pictures and autographs. I was surprised when Constance came to our
table and remembered Jayne and I from the set two days before. She is such a sweet lady... nothing like Helena
at all! LOL.  Nancy also remembered us from the day before, and was very excited to see the pictures we had taken of Kate.

Saturday Part 2: Quartermaine Brunch

We left the Lodge and headed for the Universal Hilton to go to the Quartermaine Brunch, with Leslie Charleson
(Monica), John Ingle (Edward), Anna Lee (Lila), Jeffrey Byron (Anna Lee's son), Tava Smiley (Chloe), Billy
Warlock (AJ), Stephen T. Kay (Reginald), Amber Tamblyn (Emily), Michael Saucedo (Juan), and Susan Brown
(Gail).

What I love best about this event is how the actors like to make their entrances, for the most part, in character!
John Ingle came in as "Edward", and did a little shtick with the audience before Leslie finally entered and said it
was HER party (just like Monica would say it is HER house!) and she took over from there. LOL Billy wore his
sunglasses for a while, and joked about needing a "drink". John and Amber bantered back and forth, as he
commented on her attire and she whined, "Grandfather!" LOL

Stephen T. Kay wheeled Anna Lee in, who could only stay for a little while, but was very happy to be there and to
see the fans. We took several pictures of her and she spoke for a minute or two. The lady who helps her get
around, get dressed for wardrobe, and is generally her right hand was introduced and got a round of applause for
all she does. I'm sorry to say that I don't know her name, however! It's very clear that Leslie is quite fond of her
on-screen mother, and was right by her side at the events she attended.

The actors were all seated at two tables up front, and I enjoyed watching the interaction between them. Tava
spoke to Billy Warlock and Stephen Kay quite a bit, and Michael joked with Amber for a while. At one point, I
had to laugh because Stephen got up and was helping to serve coffee to the people at his table... à la Reggie! LOL

After a short Question and Answer session, we had brunch (which was quite good!), followed by a raffle. Many of the items were from GH wardrobe, including some lovely items that Leslie was sad to say goodbye to, and a very trendy pair of black shoes belonging to "Emily". When Amber learned that they were ‘giving away' her shoes, she threw a very "Quartermaine-esque" temper tantrum, her bottom lip practically obscuring her chin as she pouted at Leslie, stomping across the room from her table to the podium, arms crossed in front of her, hair flapping madly behind her, and grabbed the shoes away.  I'm not quite sure how much of this was for show!! LOL It was a woman at our table who was the lucky 'winner' of the shoes, and Amber noticed them later on when she came around for autographs... she seemed much less upset at that point, but still cast the winner a very dirty glance, LOL Frances, a Jonathan Jackson fan, who was also sitting at our table, won one of Alan's ties, and wore it for the rest of the morning! Our very own Geneva won one of Carly's sheer pink tops (I love this one... and so did Caren and Lesley, when they saw it later on! LOL We were all telling Geneva to start the bidding and auction it off to one of us! LOL). Geneva told me that when Tava came around to her table, she told Geneva that she'd be 'one hot mama' wearing that for her husband! LOL

The centerpiece on the table was actually a pyramid of General Hospital mugs, one for each guest. The slogan
read, "Quartermaines... we put the "fun" in dysfunctional!" LOL

The actors walked around to all the tables for pictures and autographs. While Amber was at our table, Michael
came up behind her and said something about her ankle bracelet, which he joked was a 'cuff' that allowed the
police to keep track of her. LOL The two went back and forth for a bit, then he picked her up, swung her upside
down and over his shoulder, and she started to yell... but there was nothing anyone could do! LOL Ah, those crazy
kids... *g*

Michael was threatening to have "Monica" come over and spank her daughter for misbehaving, but Leslie ended up
coming over on her own and told them -- in character -- to cool it. LOL Amber was selling a book of her poetry,
and the work is surprisingly mature and insightful... you would never know this from watching her exhibitions! LOL
Tava stopped by our table, and remembered us from the set on Thursday. She thanked us for the gift, and we
chatted for a bit, then got more photos... she was having a wonderful time, and was glad that everyone else was
enjoying themselves too!

I have a script from the Nurses' Ball two years ago that I won at last year's luncheon, with a few signatures
already on it... and I've been collecting more as I go. I have over 35 names now, but there is still one that I
cannot recognize. I asked Leslie, Susan and a few others if they could identify it, but no luck. Finally, I asked
John Ingle, who took a few moments but still couldn't do it, and, like the true professor he is, started to complain
saying "why can't they just print like normal people?" LMAO!!! After listening to me whine about it all week *g*,
Jayne made it her mission to figure out whose name it was, and prompted me to ask people even when I shied away,
LOL. We finally figured out whose signature it was... Lisa Vultaggio!!! But it doesn't look ANYTHING like her
name. LOL In fact, it reminded me of what Ingo said in New Jersey about some of the signatures on the Nurses'
Ball and GH shirts he was auctioning off. He was reading the names, and then he got to one that he couldn't
decipher, and said, "chicken walking in ink, walking across t-shirt", LMAO!!!

Saturday Part 3: Maurice's Event

What a day... zipping here and there and everywhere!! We went to the hotel to change clothes before heading
back to the Sportsmen's Lodge for the Maurice Benard event. We knew we would be going non-stop until late that
night, and I think our dinner was mostly crackers, cookies, and whatever else we picked up at the drug store when
we dropped our pictures off for developing. LOL By the second or third trip, the people working at the photo lab
knew us by name!! "You again?" the clerk exclaimed when we returned with handfuls of film, to pick up our last
order. LOL I think Jayne and I were keeping them in business all week.... we must have supplied them with at least
30 rolls of film over the course of a few days, and while it was one-hour processing, a few times we actually had
to wait a day or two, no doubt because other GH'ers were using their services too!! There were only two places to
get film developed in a 10 or 15 block radius, as far as we could tell.

Back to Maurice... the energy level was high for this one, as "Sonny" fans are some of the most hyper and
dedicated (translation: scary) people I have ever seen!! LOL Okay, so I'm exaggerating, but some of these people
are a little frightening, to be brutally honest. Jim Warren put this event together, and had lots of little gimmicks
arranged... including ‘masks' of Maurice (which served as excellent fans while we were enduring the heat in line
outside) that he told all the fans to hold up in front of their faces when Maurice walked in, so he would be faced
with a ‘sea' of his own image. LOL There were pictures on the wall that Jim had taken of Maurice and Tony
Geary. When it was time, Maurice made his entrance by tearing through a paper TV set that was hung from the
ceiling.

He laughed at the masks, and knew immediately that it was Jim's work. LOL He said "He did it to me again... next
year he'll have you doing cartwheels," LOL. As much as Maurice's ‘looks' have escaped me in the past, I was
DEFINITELY paying attention that afternoon! Whew!! He has been working out, and he said Réal talked him into
getting a tatoo (just a temporary one, though, LOL -- he can't compete with that on a daily basis) on his arm, right
around the bicep... it looked great!! He wore a sleeveless black muscle shirt, and his hair was slicked back (but not
too greasy). Wow. Yum. :-) Sarah's one lucky lady. LOL

Maurice answered questions on everything from his storyline, to Manic Depression, to his daughters, to Steve
Burton's return. He doesn't know why Jason shows up again, but he said he'd tell us if he knew. LOL It was clear
that he would like to see GH do an MD storyline, and with his contract being up this Fall, he might use that as a
negotiating factor. TPTB are reluctant to do that kind of story, because they think that Sonny isn't ‘sexy' in that
state. The other problem is that a lot of these kinds of stories like the HIV/AIDS one, make the ratings go down,
unfortunately. However, Maurice feels that there is a lot of range there, from highs to lows, that as an actor
would be amazing to tackle -- very intense. He said if he were a writer, he might sit down and write something like
a movie of the week about MD, but it takes time to do it.

He has talked briefly to Steve, but not about the specifics of the upcoming storyline. He enjoys working with
Sarah, because she challenges him – "it's like being in a fight with someone who knows how to fight!". Maurice
agrees that the character of Sonny wouldn't have slept with Carly, and betrayed Jason the way he did, but it was
a way for GH to put the characters together, since Steve was leaving the show. But he likes the story, and says
that even if they aren't absolutely right for each other, you can't help but watch (ITA!!!). The challenge working
with the twins who play Michael is to get them to look at him and talk.

"Of all the women you've had, who is the best kisser?" one fan asked, and Maurice very wisely said, "None of
them come close to my wife. That's the honest truth." But obviously you can't compare screen kisses to the real
thing, he added. It's not the same. Does he get bizarre questions? Yes, sometimes, especially the boxers/briefs
one (it's briefs, by the way, LOL), but he says most of the fans are quite respectful and in fact, the letters he
receives are wonderful. A lot of them are about MD. Maurice spoke to a writer from People for about three
hours at his house, doing an interview on the subject, and they liked the piece so much they were getting quotes
from others, and going to make it into a bigger story. Next month he'll be in Boston speaking for the cause again,
in front of about 500 people. He's very passionate about it, and he'll speak to anyone about what happened to
him, just to get the message out there, even at the risk of hurting his career, because to him people's lives are
more important.

He would never want to play another soap character other than Sonny, because he's "cool". There's nothing he can
do as an actor about the whole "mob" thing... and since it's a soap, it can't be the Godfather.... it's ‘implied'. All
he cares about is that GH gives him great relationships with the other actors, and that the writing be truthful (as
far as the characters are concerned), and he feels like he's acting.. It doesn't take much to please him. In over six
years, there's only been about a three month period where he wasn't happy with the story (he said a new head
writer came in... hmm, who could that be?), so that's pretty good good. He will improvise occasionally, but the
writing is so good he doesn't need to touch it, he just goes with it. Sometimes, to rile Sarah up, and keep the
feelings of the characters going even in between takes, he will say something like "come back here, b**ch," as
she's walking away.

"Do you ever want the character of Sonny to be happy for any period of time?" Maurice thought that was a good
question. Before the miscarriage, he played Sonny very happy, because he knew the bottom was going to fall out
soon. Normally, the actors know the story about two weeks ahead of time, and he doesn't usually ask about what is
ahead, he just plays it. But this time, he wanted to know, because of the impact it would have. The problem,
Maurice explained, is that if Sonny becomes too happy, he will lose who he is – because Sonny's not a happy
person. They like him on the edge, working towards happiness, but never quite getting there. When Maurice gets
to the point where he feels like he's exhausted Sonny, he will stop. He doesn't want to play a character that has
no where to go.

"Sonny operates from an angry place," Maurice told us. "Everything's heavy with him -- if you lie to me, even if
it's a little white lie, it's the end of the world. He'll kill you... it's like ‘how dare you do that? Whereas with me,
it's like – get over it." In real life, Maurice has learned that anger is not good. He warned us that Sonny is going
to go off on Mike again (we can see that coming, right?) and it's going to bring up a lot of old stuff for Sonny,
because he just can't get over a lot of the damage that was done to him as a child. He did say, though, that he and
Ron Hale try to lighten things up a bit when they can.

I asked him about the missed opportunity for a scene between Sonny and Jax at the hospital after Carly lost the
baby. Maurice thought it would have been interesting to have done something there, but he was very pleased with
the way things turned out with the scene with Liz. If you remember, she was comforting him about his loss and at
the end of the scene, Sonny said "hold me" and she gave him a hug... apparently that was an ad-lib, because
Maurice was so in the moment and just went with what he was feeling. He said they were either going to cut it, or
leave it in, and they left it. So, he was pleased with that. Later, when someone asked whether Sonny would collect
the ‘favor' that Jax owes him before Ingo leaves the show, Maurice joked that maybe Sonny could invite Jax over
to the penthouse, they'd have some wine, and see what happens … because "he's kinda cute" ROTFL (You heard it
here, folks! *g*)

There was noise coming from outside, and Maurice asked "What's up with that music?" and some of the fans
explained that it was Kurth and Taylor rehearsing for the concert that night, and he responded jokingly with a
"gimme a break" tone of voice and said, "Eddie Maine? Whatever!" LOL

Someone asked about his history, how he started acting. Maurice was born in San Francisco, and when he got out
of high school he was kind of a tough, womanizing punk (his words, LOL), not quite sure of what to do with himself,
and someone suggested he try modeling, so he did that, and got an agent, but he was too short so he lied and told
his agent he was 5'11". His first add was for Speedos on AM San Francisco show... all he had to do was walk out
and do a little pose *g*.. He did calendars too. Then he got into commercials, did a screen test for All My
Children. LOL He did a few plays, but he quit acting when he had a nervous breakdown. The story goes... that same
year he had the breakdown, he entered a contest called "the most watchable man in Contra Costa", like a Miss
America thing. LOL He did it, and came in second or third... "my body wasn't that good". He got a little trophy.
He went to San Francisco, and entered the most watchable man in SF, and he won! So then they were going to fly
him to LA for the most watchable man in America. But he had his breakdown in between these two contests. At
this point in his life he had no confidence... he would look in the mirror and see the ugliest person in the world. But
he got up, and went through it, and finally got better... he still had no confidence, but he was functioning, he said.
So he walked on stage with his shirt off, then with his suit on. The question was "what do you look for in a
woman?" and he said "it's not what's on the outside it's what's on the inside," and he said everyone was very
impressed with that, LOL, and he won!!!! LOL "I won the whole shebang! My dad was drinking, happy, like I'd just
won a million bucks... the guy from NBC came and asked me to read for Family Ties." So, that was it.. he got his
confidence back, then he started taking acting lessons, and 7 months later he got All My Children. :-)

Someone asked about Finola Hughes, and with Robin's recent visit to Port Charles, whether Maurice would be
interested in working with her. He said he'd love to do something with her, and there's been discussion in the past
about that, but he's not sure.

There was a question about his acting technique, and what he has learned from various acting coaches. He shared
with us some of the best advice he's gotten. One trick is to listen to the last couple of lines the person said to
him... but while they're talking, you just respond to things like facial expressions. Another coach taught him to
have images in his mind when he acts... so he can really "see" what he's thinking of. For example, during that
recent scene where he talked about Mike stealing his bicycle when Sonny was a kid, he was thinking of his own
dad when he would have a fit, and his mother, etc., and that's why he's so serious. He believes that's good acting.
He learns everything by heart until he knows it inside out, and then breaks it down, and works through it with his
wife. "I work hard at what I do, I've got stuff all over my script... all week I'm working on stuff for next week."

Outside of GH, he hangs out with Réal, and Ron Hale, Billy Warlock and Michael Saucedo. He says he never really
had a mentor, besides acting coaches, or someone who took him under their wing, so he learns from everyone... the
crew, other actors, picking up their mannerisms, etc.

Maurice has stayed in touch with Michael Sutton and recently talked to Vanessa Marcil, who told him she misses
acting, she'd love to come back, and he says he might be interested in the story of a triangle (which one fan asked
about)... but that remains to be seen. He loves working with Réal, and Michael Saucedo too, but they haven't had
many scenes together lately. He enjoys coaching the younger actors at GH, working with them, because most of
them are very receptive and are like sponges... he did it with Vanessa, and Steve, and Réal. The problem is, when
he does it and someone isn't as receptive, he gets crazy. "I don't have the patience you need to do that," he said,
meaning professionally.

Maurice started to sing, "I woke up in New York City..." and told us that he went to see Ricky Martin in concert
in LA after he called and invited him. "It was fantastic man, he's fantastic... he was dancing, shaking his bon bons,
LOL!! He's gotten a little bigger...it's great to see his success."

When Jim said it was time to draw for the door prizes, Maurice said, "But I'm not done talking, dude." LOL
Maurice had autographed photos of himself for us prior to the event, and then took pictures at the end of the
question period.

Saturday Part 4: Réal's Event

Réal's event was next, and I decided after seeing so many people winning cool raffle items that I wanted in on the
action! Besides, Réal always says to go for it, and that there is no such word as "can't". LOL So, I bought $10 of
tickets just for fun, and lo and behold... I won a sweatshirt and pants with Réal's own logo and signature on the
back! It was so comfy and warm, I even wore it to bed!!!

When Maurice and Michael showed up to join in the fun with Réal, someone joked that they were the "three
amigos", but Michael said, "More like the three stooges!" LOL!! Jacob also joined them later, and they played
Who Wants to be a Millionaire -type trivia. I didn't know many of the answers, but it was fun to watch them all
joking around during the event... especially "Lick", which is the nickname Jayne and I have for Lucky and Nik --
our favorite new couple. LOL (just watch them in any scene... there's always these longing looks being exchanged,
not to mention the gratuitous touching!)

There was a discussion about "stamina", a theme that carried through the weekend, which I think was related to
Réal's upcoming honeymoon. Maurice was talking about coaching the other actors and it led into him coaching Réal
on his honeymoon performance. LOL Michael thought maybe he could learn a thing or two from Sonny... and others
joked about Sonny and Carly being the ones to give Juan and Emily the big "sex talk", not Taggert, LOL. There
may be a lot of opinions out there in cyberland about Maurice and his acting style, and about Sonny and the
"gummy bear mob", LOL, but it was obvious that many of the actors (young and older ones alike) look up to
Maurice and try to learn from him. Again, at the end of the event, there was an opportunity to get pictures and
autographs, but since I already had lots *g*, I just went up to say hello to Réal, and talk to him some more about
the sweatshirt and what his symbol means... he said it's about dedication, courage and strength, all the good
qualities that make for a strong character. I'm really impressed by his dedication and how open he is with the
fans. :-)

Saturday Part 5: Kurth & Taylor Concert

What would a GH weekend be without a Saturday night rock concert???? The highlight of the evening was a
performance by Kurth and Taylor. Jayne's friend Amie is co-president of the Gate (along with Brenda), and she
got us priority seating right near the front! Unfortunately, Jayne and I didn't get to spend much time with her,
but hopefully we'll meet again soon. Tava Smiley, Jacob Young, and Coltin Scott also attended. Tava and her
friends were on their feet for the better part of the show, dancing to the music and cheering Wally on. It was
great fun to watch them all!

One of the fans passed around little fuzzy "stick on beards" that looked like the growth on Wally's chin *g*, and
many of the people were wearing them all evening (not me!! I like it on him!). Most of the songs they played were
off the new CD, "Freedom", which will serve as a soundtrack for Wally's movie "Man On Fire", planned for
production sometime next year (it has been pushed back a bit... more on that later).

Wally also did his rendition of "Simply Irresistible" (like he did at the Nurses' Ball), "The Seventh Son" (the
first song Eddie Maine ever sang on GH), and "Gimme Three Steps", which Wally said was the last live
performance of that song! They're retiring it to make way for new stuff. LOL.

They chatted with the audience in between songs, sharing little anecdotes and talking about the movie. The crowd
really got into the music, jumping up and clapping along, following the lead of the enthusiasts in the front rows!
There was a little girl who was escorted to the front of the aisle, and I believe it was the daughter of Pat
McCormick, because he was waving to her and smiling. At one point, there was a small scare when one of the
speakers literally fell over!! It just toppled from its perch, and Wally was frantically waving at his
sound/equipment guy to come and right it, still singing all the while! Everything was okay, though, and things
continued without a hitch. LOL

Afterwards, the band signed autographs, and Tava congratulated Wally then talked to the fans despite the fact
that she must have been exhausted and had another early morning the next day! I don't know how she does it, but
the woman is tireless, and her smile never seems to fade. We didn't wait in line, since we knew we would see Wally
the next day, so we hung out by the pool for a while with Kevin and Kayla, along with Jim Warren and Jacob
Young, who was talking to some friends.

Sunday Part 1: GH Luncheon

Sunday was another early morning. We were at the Sportsmen's Lodge by 8am to help with raffle tickets. This
year there was a new item which I thought was a brilliant idea. The winner of the raffle was allowed to go to the
front of any actor's line, all afternoon. Imagine -- no waiting, just walk around and show your pass, and you get to
see whoever you want immediately! We ran into the winner while we were in Tava's line later on that day, and she
said she felt bad doing that, but hey... she paid the money and won the raffle!! She had every right.

I know that I'm about to make myself sound like some stuck-up snob here, but I can't resist... if you don't want
to hear about my "hit list" of fashion victims, skip to the next paragraph... LOL Kevin, Kayla, Jayne and I, who
were all *impeccably* dressed for the luncheon, ROTFL, nominated ourselves the "Fashion Police", mostly because
we were all waiting patiently during the two or more hours before everyone was let in, and we needed to pass the
time once the raffle sales slowed down. *g* There were many rather frightening items of clothing on display...
actually, that's not really fair to the clothing. LOL It was the people IN the clothes that had me shaking my head
in amazement, and horror at times!! Without getting to specific, the funniest one was the "birthday present hair"
(complete with multi-colored bows and ribbons, tied in the back, dangling down). Then there were long, dark socks
with shorts, bras that were completely visible above the back of people's tank tops (a personal pet peeve of
mine), and, best of all, a tacky red and black lacy slip dress that was about three sizes too small for the wearer
(I call it the ‘lingerie monstrosity') paired with heavy, black work boots like Doc Martens. I was actually
embarrassed for the poor girl. Okay, strike me down now.... I'm a horrible person. LOL

Again, we had a front row table for the event, and sat with the President of Réal's Fan Club, Linda Torrence, and
Julius, the president of Jackie Zemans's Fan Club (the ‘Z Society'), along with other friends of theirs. Our
luncheon packets included a letter from Wendy Riche thanking the fans for their support, continued enthusiasm,
and love since there was not enough time allotted for "thank you's" at the Daytime Emmys this year. Say what you
will about Ms. Riche, but she shows up every year to the luncheon, listens to everything that goes on, and talks to
the fans one on one for as long as the actors do.

The GH Fan Club asked John Ingle to begin the proceedings, which he did by welcoming everyone and thanking
them for "working their butts off all year" to spend the weekend with the stars. LOL He then announced each of
the cast members as they entered the main ballroom and made their way down what I call "press alley" (a
cordoned-off walkway along one side of the room, leading up to the stage, where photographers awaited the
onslaught of good looks with their paparazzi-type cameras and recorders). The task was one that the
Quartermaine patriarch's alter-ego seemed to enjoy very much, as it gave him a chance to slip into character as
"Edward" and get in a few jests along with the scripted introductions (more on that in a minute).

A few late arrivals (not mentioning any names *AHEM, Ingo!!*) caused some confusion at first, as the organizers
of the event and hotel Security exchanged hand signals and walkie-talkie messages until everything was
straightened out. What a production! LOL Luckily we had great seats, and got some good pictures of everyone as
they entered (well, okay, so Jayne was the one who got the great shots... I was sitting there staring at the
beautiful people up close!!).

The first person John announced was, appropriately enough, the "First Lady of Port Charles", matriarch
extraordinaire, Anna Lee (Lila), accompanied by her personal assistant, and Leslie Charleson. She got a standing
ovation, and seemed almost overwhelmed by the attention.

The others were announced in alphabetical order, and Wendy Riche (the GH executive producer) was also on hand to join everyone on stage.

The actors that attended were:  Leslie Charleson (Monica), Anna Lee (Lila), Denise Alexander (Lesley), Rachel Ames (Audrey), Real Andrews (Taggart), Scott Connell (Larkin), Scott Egan (Johnny), Vanita Harbour (Dara), Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth), Shell Kepler (Amy), Wally Kurth (Ned), Jon Lindstrom (Kevin), Stephan Nichols (Stefan), Marissa Ramirez (Gia),  Robyn Richards (Maxie), Michael Saucedo (Juan), Coltin Scott (Nikolas), Maurice Benard (Sonny), Tava Smiley (Chloe), Amber Tamblyn (Emily), Lisa Vultaggio (Hannah), Constance Towers (Helena), Kristina Wagner (Felecia), Billy Warlock (AJ), Landon Wine (Andreas), Jacob Young (Lucky), Jackie Zeman (Bobbie), and last but not least, Ingo Rademacher (Jax).

Constance Towers and Landon Wine were called on to present the GH Fan Club Awards:

Actor: Maurice Benard
Actress: Sarah Brown
Supporting Actor: Billy Warlock
Supporting Actress: Tava Smiley
Couple: Jax and Alexis

Ingo had not arrived when the "favorite couple" award was announced (J&A), and Nancy was not there, so Tava
got up, went over to Wally, and gave him a hug and kiss!! LOL

Storyline: "The Fab Four"

When they presented "Fab Four" storyline award, Wendy Riche commented that now they have the ‘Fab Three'
left behind, LOL.

Ingo finally did show up, and he walked in looking very relaxed and casual in his shorts and loose-fitting shirt. He
explained that he had been surfing that morning and "the waves were like ‘this high'," he said, raising his arm to
indicate the relative size of the surf.

Ingo seemed quite surprised when they told him he had won ‘best couple'. Constance told Ingo best couple should
have been Jax and Helena!

The passing of the torch from one "John" to another took place as John J. York stepped up to the podium to ask
each of the actors one or two questions for the Q&A session. Anna Lee and Leslie were to go first, so that Anna
Lee could say a few words before she had to leave. She was asked why Lila puts up with Edward after everything
he has done, and she commented on how many times she has had to say, "Oh Edward" LOL. Then, I think she
surprised everyone with how much spunk she has by saying she would like to have a really good love scene written
for Edward and Lila!! LOL She took a moment to tell the crowd that she had wanted to come last year, and hadn't
been able to, so she was determined to make it this year! She listed off the people who told her not to come...
from co-stars, to family, to her dog! But lucky for all of us, she didn't listen. LOL There was another standing
ovation for her, and all of the actors joined in as well.

Leslie Charleson was asked about her current storyline, and what she thought about Monica getting pregnant at
this point in her life. She said that she was surprised when the idea came up, but that she's going to run with it
and see what happens...it could be interesting!

Denise Alexander said she would love to have Lesley working as a psychiatrist again, doing ANYTHING again,
LOL, but she is glad to be on the show and to be getting some air time with her on-screen family. She likes
working with Genie, but I think she'd like to be doing more!

Rachel Ames was asked about Liz's rape storyline, and how that affected Audrey in dealing with her own trauma.
She said it brought up a lot of memories for her, but she was glad to help her granddaughter through it, to some
degree. She said she really enjoys working with Rebecca.

Réal Andrews spoke about the Ironman, and his answer to how he did was "I finished!" LOL It was a long and
gruelling event, but his faith and his love for his brother got him through. He spoke about the charity for his
brother Mark who passed away, and thanked the fans who had been coming out this weekend.

Maurice reported that Ron Hale had wanted to be there, but couldn't make it, and sent his regrets. He was asked
to speak a little Spanish for the romantics in the audience; fans wanted to know what he would whisper to Carly
the next time they make love. He uttered a very sexy phrase, in a low voice, with a delivery that would make you
melt. The translation? "Carly, I want to kiss you on your lips, and then I want to kiss you all over." Whew!! This
got a rise out of the audience!! John J. York joked, "Boy, I'm glad there's a podium in front of me!" LOL Too bad
Sarah Brown wasn't there to hear it... I'm sure she would have had an interesting response as well! LOL

Next was Scott Egan, and his question was, "Does Johnny have any hidden talents?". He looked a bit surprised by
this question, and when he didn't immediately speak up, John reiterated, "They want to see your hidden talents."
Taking John's joke from the previous question one step further, Scott replied, "Well, I don't have a podium in
front of me, so..." ROTFL!! I was doubled over myself, because Wally, Jon, and Stephen were laughing at the
‘podium' jokes, and you know how laughter is contagious!! It was more entertaining watching them reacting to each
other than the event itself. *g* Anyway... Scott said that he played pro baseball for a while. He can't sing, he
can't dance, although he can sing in the shower. John interjected, "He can open one hell of a front door!" LOL
Scott said he was very grateful to Wendy and crew, because he's been on the show for three years now and
(knock on wood) he still will be for some time to come. "I don't ask for any lines," he joked, "or they'll blow me
up in the limo." LMAO

Vanita Harbour was asked about her off-Broadway show "Dreamgirls". She said it was a small venue, and Tava
(who was sitting behind her) stood up and said that Vanita was unbelievable in it! (In a good way, LOL). This was
something that impressed me about Tava... she seems to be very supportive of her castmates, and tries to attend
as many of the ‘outside projects' as she can, including Wally's concert on Saturday night. Vanita is working on her
singing, and will be releasing a single in the near future (along with half of the cast members, LOL... more on that
in a bit).

Scott Connell (Larkin) was asked about his role in the play, "Ladies of the Corridor". Does he prefer a romantic
lead or a sleazy agent (as a love interest, John added jokingly). Scott said "I think in general, I prefer work."
LOL Actually, he's in a new play, in the role of a scumbag (it's becoming a pattern, he added, LOL). He said it's
fun to put on anyone's shoes and go out and have fun with the role.

John asked Rebecca Herbst, "Will Liz give in to Nikolas?" She wanted to know what the audience thought. There
was lots of cheering and applause... then she joked maybe she'd give Sonny a try (not in this lifetime, LOL) or
maybe Jax...then she reached for "Johnny" in front of her and decided he might not make a bad partner either.

John Ingle's question was "When are you going to ease up on AJ?" to which he replied, "Never!" JJY liked that
answer... short and to the point.

Stephen T. Kay wasn't there... phooey, he's my favorite. But at least he was at the Q Brunch.

Shell Kepler was asked about a new line of clothing she's doing for ValuVision. She said, "Oh good, I know the
answer to that one". Blonde moment? *g* She wore one of the sweaters from that line, and said if it weren't for
that, there was no way she'd be wearing a sweater on such a warm day! JJY asked if there was any connection
between ValuVision and ValuJet? LOL (he's *so* bad!)

Wally Kurth was relieved that his question had nothing to do with the hair on his face. LOL He talked about the
movie he is making... during which Ingo stood up and yelled out to the audience to ask if Wally is naked in the film.
Yes, ladies, he is. The production could be pushed back to next summer now, but they have filmed some concert
scenes in Montana (sounds nice!). At his concert on Saturday night, Kurth and Taylor played a few of the songs
from "Man on Fire".

Jon Lindstrom, who had been sitting next to Wally and Stephen, seemed to perk up when it came time for his
question. He was asked if Kevin would ever be over Lucy. After a minute of loud cheering and calls from the
audience, he replied, "What they said." LOL Actually, Jon doesn't think that Kevin is over Lucy, nor does he think
he ever will be. "That's why he has absolutely no sense of humor at this point," He joked. I love this man. LOL

Next question was for Stephen. JJY addressed him as Stefan, saying, "You poisoned Helena, Helena poisoned you,
what's next?" He put out his arms, got a really odd look on his face and yelled, "I'm going to poison the whole
world!!" LOL Seriously, he said he thinks he's going to kidnap some young, beautiful blonde woman. After the
microphone had been handed to the next person, JJY jokingly said, "No, I meant on the show." LOL (In case
you've been living in a cave, the blonde woman happens to be Chloe!)

Ingo's question was next... he stood up, displaying his casual attire once again. He was asked about the character
he will play on Titans – David O'Connor. Ingo laughed and said he's going from a multi-million dollar millionaire to
a night club manager, who surfs during the day and manages a club at night. He looked down at his outfit, and said
"he pretty much looks like this". So JJY joked, "So you're going out on a limb?" LOL. "Stretch it baby," Ingo
said. *g*

The new kid on the block, Marissa Ramirez (Gia) was asked about her previous work. She used to be on MTV,
doing "Senseless Acts of Video", a stunt show. She loves being on GH because she doesn't have to worry about her
life, or someone else's life – it's very safe. She's very happy, even though she's playing a ‘bad girl', and hopes
that the audience likes her anyway!

Robyn Richards (Maxie) was asked about her sailing competitions. She does a lot of racing in her own boat, and
she's going to Nationals. She also added that she meets lots of "cute guys" there. JJY jumped in as "Mac" and
said "Stop that!!! We don't want to hear about that!" LOL

Michael Saucedo told the group about his new CD, and the single "We Got the Night" which was being sold that
weekend (Michael thanked everyone who had purchased a copy). Amber started to sing the song, which made
everyone laugh. He said they had eight songs finished, and five more to do, and hopefully they'd be releasing it in
the fall. Little plug for Michael here: You can get the CD through www.michaelsaucedo.com. It features an
acoustic version and a dance mix, too, which Amber gives a thumbs up!

When it was Coltin's turn, JJY cued the audience by saying, "Okay, on the count of three..." and we all sang
Happy Birthday. When it got to the "Happy Birthday Dear Coltin" line, he joined in loudly with, "TO ME" LOL
Coltin also has an album coming out, but a lot of the music has been changed, although they are progressing
quickly. He hopes to have a single out by the end of the summer. He's not sure if there's any chance of him singing
on GH; he hopes to, but it's just a matter of figuring out how a prince is going to sing, he laughed. JJY asked, "Is
Nik going to get a new love interest, or does he belong with Liz, or what?" Coltin looked over at Wendy to see if
she might tell him. He said Nikolas has been in love with Liz for over a year now ("it's called stalking," he joked)
but there's also Gia who is new, so we'll see what happens.

Next question was for Tava. "Now that Ingo is leaving, who will Chloe be paired with?" She responded, "Well,
I'm very sad about that." This got a lot of "awwww's". She added jokingly, "I think we should get Brenda back
and I could be with her!" LOL "I'm kidding," she said. JJY asked Tava about her outfit. She said she was proud
of herself because while her character is a designer, she is not, but she managed to come up with something clever
for the day... she put her mother's scarf from the 60's together with a gold link belt (which John had earlier
tucked in for her) and made a top. She said she was going to send pictures to her mom. As to the question about
who Chloe might end up with romantically, she said diplomatically, "I would be happy to be paired with any of the
handsome men on my show."

The question for Constance was how can we find out about her singing appearances with John Rait, who, as she
pointed out, is the father of Bonnie Rait. He was a Broadway star, appearing in Carousel, Oklahoma and many
others. She thanked everyone who has written to her over the past year; she has opened every letter, and has
answered every letter herself, she appreciates it so much. "And because I have the microphone for a minute, this
is the most wonderful cast I could ever hope to work with," she gushed. "They are wonderful actors, and serious
about what they do, and some of the performances I've seen on GH, if they were on the big screen, they would win
an Oscar." This received a big round of applause! "The producers are wonderful too." Back to the question... for
those who want to see her in concert with John Rait, it will be next Spring, they have dates in 2001 in Florida,
Fort Lauderdale, Miami, etc.

Amber had a tough "either/or" question to answer: "Given Juan's recent behavior, do you want Emily to stay with
him, or turn to Lucky for comfort?" After some shouting from the audience, Amber joked that both Jacob and
Michael might be upset if she named the other, so she decided to remain neutral.

Lisa Vultaggio was asked to do one of her impersonations – she said she could imitate Tina Turner, Mick Jagger,
Madonna, or Marilyn Monroe. Everyone was yelling out different names, but finally she decided to do Tina first,
singing "What's Love Got to do With It", complete with hip moves and facial contortions; then Mick Jagger,
"Jumpin' Jack Flash", which was hysterical!!! You had to see it to believe it.

Kristina Wagner was next, and JJY started to say, "Could you do an imitation of..." LOL. The real question was,
"Do you see a future for Felicia and that two-timing, ....er, Luke?" He then went into character, saying "What
does he have that I don't have?" LOL They bantered back and forth for a bit, with Kristina making some
‘suggestive' comments about her on-screen hubby vs. Luke, and then she said "are you done with me?" and he
answered in character, "Baby, I'll never be done with you!" LOL

When it was Billy's turn, he took the microphone and announced, "First of all, I want to say that I have an album
coming out, the first single's called "I'm a drunken loser". ROTFLMAO!!! This was funny, because so many of the
young cast are working on music projects right now. JJY asked, "Besides anti-perspirant, what tricks does AJ
have up his sleeve?" Billy said he has done so much now, what more is there? Crawling out from under a rock? He
added that AJ is like a bad rash, you just can't get rid of him. LOL "A little Nupricane will help that," John shot
back. Billy added, "I really don't know... like I said, I'm locked on... Taggert, look out buddy. Who knows... finally
AJ might have a shot at getting laid." *g*

Landon Wine was next... "Any chance we'll be seeing more of Andreas... we love him when he speaks so gently into
Constance's (Helena's?) ear," JJY cooed, in a funny voice. Landon grinned and said, "I'd love to make my way
through Port Charles." JJY responded in character, "He's sitting next to my wife!" LOL The serious answer:
"Yes, I hope so. It's been an answered prayer, the encouragement I get from my entire family. When I was up in
Seattle, going to school at a college for the arts... and there were a lot of fans there, and four religious fans in my
family, so this is a real dream come true for them as well as for me to be a part of this family. It is a
tremendously talented cast."

JJY's own question was "tell us about your golf game", and he joked, "I would be at the British Open right now,
but I chose to be here with you instead." LOL He then said sarcastically, "It's the same. Thanks for reminding
me." LOL

John said, "This one's for Jacob, who also believe it or not, has an album coming out." Jacob replied, "Come on,
we gotta have an original question." The question was, Lucky plays a lot of chess with Helena. Do you play in real
life? And where's Foster? LOL I think it was Michael who stood up behind him and pointed out Jacob's outfit....
"Does it look believable?" This got a big laugh. Jacob said, "It was all stage set ups, but I gotta tell ya, it was
lots of fun learning a little bit about the game, in fact, after about six times doing it, one of the prop guys came
up and gave me a book. ‘You might want to learn some chess in the off-time', he suggested. I don't play the game."
LOL (That was interesting because in his REBEL commercial, his line is "Rules ??? I don't play that game").

Jackie's question was "Now that you and Roy are together, how would you react if Jerry were to resurface?"
"He's in the water," Ingo joked. Jackie said it's a hard one to answer. She's enjoyed working with A Martinez
very much... "Whether or not the romance works out remains to be seen, but Wendy was just telling me earlier
there is a possibility with the storyline, and that's all. " She also introduced her mom Rita and her sister Carol,
who came all the way from Florida and New Jersey, respectively to be with her.

Wendy Riche had a question too... JJY read from the card, "Everyone always loves the Nurses' Ball, but this
year's seemed short, with fewer character performances. Is this a trend for future balls?" (That got a big
laugh). She responded honestly. "It was a little shorter.... we love the NB, but it's very complicated to do, and it's
costly, and we have to look at it from year to year to see how much we can do. This year we put it all into one day,
and we hope that you enjoyed it and we hope that you will still enjoy it next year. The actors enjoy it too." JJY
joked, "Oh yeah, we LOVE it," referring to the fact that most of the actors spend hours at the set, very long days
of taping, and it's arduous. LOL Jon Lindstrom wanted to know if anyone saw "Chick Magnet", the number he did
with some of the PC gang. LMAO!! Then John joked that one viewer commented that the Nurses' Ball is the one
single reason to find a cure for HIV. LOL!!!... because it's so hard to shoot, he covered. *g*

That concluded the Questions & Answers... the actors all came down from the stage to sit at their autograph tables, and we took all of our ‘stuff' and began to circulate... I went to get Jacob's autograph on my script (I already had a picture with him from the studio, but I asked for another one anyway, LOL), while Jayne went to Rebecca Herbst’s line, and then we both moved over one line to Wally's table! *g*  We skipped over Coltin, since we already had pictures and autographs with him, and also Amber Tamblyn, Michael Saucedo, Billy Warlock, John Ingle and Leslie Charleson, who we nabbed at the Q brunch.

A few funny stories:

When Jayne got Maurice to autograph her GH scrapbook, he turned to a page that had lots of space on it, and
signed in very large script. Given the on-screen rivalry between Jax and Sonny, Jayne thought it might be
amusing to challenge Ingo to sign his name even larger. *g* Well, he made one attempt, but it wasn't quite big
enough, so he flipped to the next page, which was practically empty, and scrawled across both sides of the book.
LMAO

The question is, though: "Is BIGGER really better?" *eg*

Since Ingo is leaving the show, I thought Tava could use a little something to remind her of him when he's gone. So,
as a joke, I made her a Jax surf kit – complete with a little Jax paper doll dressed in blue and yellow swim
trunks, a surf board with different colored covers, little sea creatures, etc.

As I was presenting this to Tava, Ingo looked up from the autograph he was signing, and watched very closely. I
don't know if he was intrigued, or scared out of his mind. LOL (Jayne says Ingo's comment was, "you're so
freakin' creative", but I missed that!!) He also mentioned the "Brenda Bender" magnet toy we got him in Andover,
which Jayne spotted on our shopping trip in Harvard Square... Ingo's such a kid... but then again, so am I, so I
can't really talk!

Tava insisted on propping ‘little Jax' up against her water glass, and later on in the afternoon Jim Warren ended
up taking a picture of Tava holding it up.... imagine my surprise when I learned that the little guy had turned up in
both SID and SOU last week! LOL

It was great to see Jon Lindstrom there, and I told him as much when I met him. He was extremely nice, and
apologized for not being there on Friday night at the Port Charles dinner. Just talking to him for a minute made
up for not getting that poster! LOL

Scott Egan was equally as gracious... he seemed thrilled to have so many new "fans" there. We told him how much
we all love Johnny, and that the group had a picture taken in the wardrobe department for him. Maurice had
joked about Scott being nervous about the luncheon, but he seemed to be fairly relaxed and enjoying himself.

John J. York was the only actor I saw that had brought pictures of himself to autograph and hand out, which I thought was very nice.  Unfortunately, Kristina Wagner and Robyn Richards had to leave before we got to their table, so we missed them.  Others we never got to see were Shell Kepler, Jackie Zeman, Vanita Harbour, Scott Connell, Real Andrews, and Marissa Ramirez.

Constance Towers and Landon Wine sat together at their table, and most of the picture requests were for the two
of them together. Landon is the warmest, most gracious person I met all day... and Constance was equally
impressive and awe-inspiring, as I had learned at the studio. When I approached the table, he held out his hand
and introduced himself, and said thank you so much for coming today!! I was in love. LOL TV does not do him
justice... he has a beautiful face, with a warm smile, penetrating eyes, and a real charisma.

Heather (Canuck), Jayne and I mentioned what Connie had said at Nancy's event about hoping Andreas is actually
triplets, and this got them to thinking about a name for the third man. "Alexander" is what Connie suggested.
Landon seemed to like this... he said "It's a good Greek name," LOL!! I got a pic with both of them together, and
honestly, I felt like I could have stayed at their table all afternoon. It was just the best!

Stephen Nichols was talking and joking with the fans as they waited in his long line, although he seemed to be
getting a bit tired. At one point, we could hear some girls screaming on the far side of the room, and Stephen
pipes up, "They used to scream like that for me. They don't scream like that any more." I'm sure when he played
"Patch" Johnson on Days of Our Lives, he had LOTS of young admirers screaming for him (I was one of them,
LOL!! He came to my city to do an appearance at a mall quite a few years ago... it was great!). Anyway, I caught
the eye of a girl standing in the next line and said to her, "We could scream for him, couldn't we?" and she was
laughing and nodding, so we got the attention of a few people in our lines, and on ‘three' we all gave a little scream
for Stephen! He laughed in appreciation... it was so cute!!!

Towards the end of the event, there were some shrieks and a lot of commotion coming from Tava and Ingo's
table... and, as many of you may have heard by now, it was indeed a "Sharpie" marker fight. LOL Every time Tava
would lean forward to sign an autograph, Ingo would reach over and place a small dot on her spine with his marker.
Then, when Kayla went up to get her magazine signed by Ingo, he began to draw on Tava's picture, making a beard
and other markings on her face. Once she realized what he had been doing, the "fight" was on! LOL They chased
each other around the room, with Ingo doing some interesting "leaps" to try and catch up and pin her down.
Needless to say, they both escaped with some semi-permanent tatoos on their arms *g*, and with Ingo missing one
shoe!! After it was all over, Tava took the magazine and wrote "Dork"on Ingo's picture. LOL What a riot
(literally and figuratively).

We also stopped by to see Rachel Ames, Denise Alexander, and Lisa Vultaggio.

Jayne and I walked out with Kayla and Kevin, and took some pictures on the footbridges outside, overlooking the
fishpond and waterfall. We ran into Coltin, who was headed back to the main Lodge, and Lisa Vultaggio who was
waiting for her car at the Valet parking. Both of them stopped to sign autographs and take pictures, even though
they looked very tired! :-)

After the GH event, we had a few hours off (hallelujah!!) We planned to return that night for Réal's gospel hour, and Becky's event as well, which we had decided to go to at the last minute. We did yet another picture run *g*, and had something to eat at Jerry’s Deli, then hurried back to the Lodge... where parking was almost impossible to find!!! Finally we got a spot around behind the hotel.

Sunday Part 2: Gospel Hour

Réal's Gospel Hour was different from anything else we attended that weekend... kind of a cross
between an 'unplugged' concert, a prayer meeting, and a fan event! LOL Réal and some of the other actors often
attend Bible study classes together, or have prayer meetings at home. He wore a t-shirt that said, "Jesus is my
sponsor", and said that through him, all things are possible. One thing Réal wanted to make clear was that this was
a gathering where everyone in the room was considered an equal... there were no 'stars', just a bunch of people
who wanted to celebrate with friends... and share in prayer and song if they wanted.... but "if it's not your thing,
that's okay too", Réal said. What amazed everyone, however, was how tranquil and cool the room seemed compared
to every other room we had been in that weekend.

While the program for the event had specified a ninety person maximum, there were easily a hundred fans in the
small room. The chairs had all been stacked along the side walls, and we sat on the carpeted floor to enjoy the
music. The lights were turned down, adding to the subdued atmosphere. Kevin and Kayla, bless their souls, had
temporarily maximized their ‘floor coverage' by stretching out, thereby saving Jayne and I some space next to
them, near the back of the room. I had to laugh, however, at how we were all dealing with our various ‘injuries';
between Kevin's knee, my ankle, and Jayne's toe, we all had trouble getting comfortable ‘yoga-style' amid our
bags, while contending with videographers who insisted on taking up enough space for three people, two pack-mule
teams and a safari of pygmy goats... and, who were not adverse to turning around and glaring if one of us so much
as brushed the side of his or her leg while shifting positions in order to avoid losing complete circulation in our
extremities.

Just when we thought we had defined our ‘boundaries' and left enough space around us to stretch comfortably if
necessary, a ‘prehistoric' fan who will remain nameless came stomping in and plopped herself down in the empty
space, practically landing on top of Kevin! (Hey! You make a better door than a window, Scary!!!). Oh, and I
musn't forget the imbecile who sat behind us, continually rustling her plastic bag during the performances so that
the sound essentially became part of the percussion. LOL Peace on earth, goodwill toward men, yada, yada, yada...
(did I mention the tranquility? LMAO)

Jonathan Jackson was there with his family. Jonathan, his brother, and his dad have a band called "Scarlet
Road", and they played for us. First was their rendition of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
(JJ did a great job on this one), followed by some really nice songs that JJ wrote on his own... one was "God
Candy" from the CD of the same title. Coltin sang "One Night A Day" (a Garth Brooks song) a capella... it was
amazing. He has a fantastic voice, better than any of the others on the show that I've heard!! Now if only he could
be a singing prince on GH. LOL Lisa Vultaggio sang Day by Day from the Broadway Musical and did a great job!
Unfortunately we had to sneak out early to get to Becky's event upstairs, so we missed Vanita Harbour, but from
what I heard she was very good! The evening ended with everyone joining in prayer and then warm wishes and hugs
all around. :-)

Sunday Part 3: Becky's Event

Becky's event was probably the funniest and most entertaining one all weekend, which is why I'm going to try and
transcribe it almost word for word. I never laughed so hard at a "fan event" before!! It was great to see the
interaction between them (some of which we had already witnessed at the set). Becky had invited all of her
co-stars in the "fab five" (which soon will include Gia, the newcomer) to join her for the fan club's second annual
soiree.

Before we even got into the room, we noticed the five of them getting ready in their own hotel room, just across
the courtyard from where the event was being held. They wandered onto the balcony for a few minutes, relaxing
with their friends who were along for moral support. Amber's friends Coco Tigler (who had worked on the poetry
book), Matthew Dean, and Sam Sarpong were hanging out and helping Amber. Coltin's girlfriend was also there.

Once the event got underway, and the screams had subsided, Amber, Michael, Jacob and Coltin joined Becky
onstage to answer questions, talk about their storyline, and auction off a lot of memorabilia from their own
collections and from GH. I think they earned a lot of money for charity that night, especially with what the
actors were willing to perform to ‘up the ante' at times, LOL!! Amber is a great auctioneer... she has lots of
energy, and gets people motivated to put their hands up (even if she does occasionally go backwards with the bids,
LOL). She would offer to do crazy stunts and even sing Brittney Spears songs if the bidders would offer just a
bit more money.... oops, there I go again, getting ahead of myself. More on the auction later...

It was apparent that the five actors get along really well, and while they may not hang around together a lot off
set, they still find time to share yogurt parfaits from McDonald's and shower together. *g* You're probably
wondering what I'm talking about right? Well, that's exactly how many of us were feeling at the event! This
young, talented group has a lot of "inside jokes" (some were explained to us, others were left open to
interpretation), and they don't miss an opportunity to take digs at each other, all in good fun of course!

The Fan Club president, Ginny Mahl, introduced herself and some of the others in charge of organizing the event.
They talked about the charity that all the money was going to, "The Jesse Cause", saving babies from Group B
Strep, which is something Becky recently learned she had. They asked everyone to give out the pamphlets they had
distributed. Also included in our event packet were two gorgeous pics of Becky, her bio, and a few other odds and
ends. The event got underway with some questions and answers, with all five of them sitting on stools at the front
of the room.

Becky talked about how they all affectionately call their storyline, "Dead Ted in the Bed", LOL. She recently saw
"Ted" at the mall, and he asked her what had happened with his character, and she had to tell him he was in the
Cassadine freezer! LMAO!! Michael likes the story because he felt like Juan had been in a lull for about four
months, saying "you're the greatest girl in the world" all the time. "Not that you aren't," he said to Amber. LOL
"It's just more interesting as an actor (which I am on some days) to have some conflict and some drama and some
things to deal with as opposed to a fantasy world where everything is great." Jacob said that it is's definitely a
"meaty storyline that they've been thrust into" (holy sexual overtones, Batman! LMAO!!! Those were his words,
not mine *g*), that it is being written well, and intelligently done, and that they're all just having a good time with
it.

When asked about the fight between Lucky and Juan, Jacob said "it was fun actually", then laughed as if there
was a story there, while Michael joked that he should "do it again", LOL. Michael explained that originally in the
script, his character was supposed to tear into Lucky, so he was pretty psyched, but when he got up to the set, it
was changed because the director felt that it was unlikely that Juan would get to hit Lucky since he's an expert
in martial arts. Michael thought it was unfair because poor Juan gets pumped day in and day out, and he really
wanted to hit Lucky!!! LOL Michael said he pouted for about half an hour, and tried to lobby for anything... even a
sucker punch! LOL So in the end, he did get one shot in, but Lucky's reaction was very slow and exaggerated...
Jacob did a brief re-enactment, but you had to be there to get the full effect! It was like a slow-motion Scooby
Do move ...

Speaking of nifty moves *g*, someone asked Michael if he had any "help" jumping up on the counter in the Nurses'
Ball performance of Footloose, and he revealed that yes, there had been a mini trampoline behind the counter. I
wondered about that!! I don't know if you remember, but Juan appeared to jump from the floor to the top of the
counter in one swift motion! LOL It seemed that they all enjoyed performing that number, although rehearsals for
the NB tend to drag on and run late into the night!!

Someone asked if Becky would be singing to Jason again when Steve came back to GH for a few weeks this Fall...
this was in reference to the Christmas carol she sang when he was shot and staying at her apartment. She said she
probably won't be, LOL, but she is looking forward to having some great scenes with him (I really hope not,
*sigh*... oops, there's my nasty personal opinion sneaking in again! LOL).

Michael and Amber revealed that they do, in fact, get tired of saying the same old lines sometimes. "You're my
girlfriend" is a particular thorn in Michael's side, and he said that one time he actually tried to drop the line
from his scene, even though normally he's quite respectful to the writers and tries to say what they've put on the
page for him. "If you change your lines a little bit in the heat of the moment, and the real meaning isn't lost, then
they'll let it slide," he explained. However, on this particular day, Michael said he ended the scene without
including the line, and the "voice from above" (aka the Director in the booth upstairs) came down over the
intercom and said, "Ah...Michael... you forgot the, ‘you're my girlfriend' line," LOL. Busted! He didn't get away
with it after all.

A fan asked what are the first three things they do when they get to the studio on a typical day. The guys started
teasing Becky and Amber about "fruit cups".... Amber explained that usually Becky picks her up, and they go to
McDonalds and get parfait cups... "For all you granola and vanilla yogurt and fruit fans, you have to get one..
they're the best things!" So, generally they eat, and go back to sleep... LOL Just kidding! Actually, they usually
go from their cars right to the hair and makeup room. Michael said "Coltin and I shower." There was a lot of
laughter and he added, "Not together..." He added that they do talk to each other in there sometimes, though...
"Hey Coltin how's it going? How's your water pressure today?" Then Michael told the story of how he came out
of the men's room the other day (the day we were at the set, LOL!!) and he's singing to himself, wrapped in a towel
and then he sees about 15 guests in the Green Room, on tour. *g* Becky had a really confused look on her face and
as a joke asked, "Do you guys live in your cars? Why do you shower at work?" LOL!! Jacob looked like he was
feeling left out and wasn't saying anything and so Michael looked over at him and said, "Sorry Jacob... it's okay,
you can shower with us if you want to. I got this really good body wash..." LMFAO!!!!

Michael explained that since there is a long time between when they have to be at the set and when the taping
actually starts (for example he had to be there at 9 the next day, but doesn't tape until probably 11), they can
usually shower and do all that stuff at work instead of getting up really early and getting ready at home (that's
such a guy thing, LOL). Jacob said, "That's real tough because I have to be there at 7:30 tomorrow." LOL Becky
said she had to be there at 7:00! LOL The guys were teasing the girls about how long it takes them to get ready...
Coltin insisted he he can be ready in five minutes, and he does his own hair. LOL Becky begged to differ, saying
the guys need funky stuff done to their hair too, LOL... she was giving Coltin a hard time, debating each point he
made, so finally he gave the microphone away... (all of this was done in fun, they were teasing each other and
laughing at some inside jokes!).

They were asked about roller coasters, and if they have a favorite ride... Amber and Becky liked the "Tower of
Terror" at Super Soap Weekend. They went on it about three times in a row... the other was the Rockin' Roller
Coaster, which was also a great ride! Jacob gets motion sickness – he doesn't do Roller Coasters. Coltin said,
"Me? Hell no." He told the group about the Screaming Eagle roller coaster at Six Flags in St. Louis. It's the
oldest roller coaster... they haven't fixed the track and the wood is old." He was five years old and rode it with
his mom, and he says they're still making fun of him for saying ‘that word', LOL. "I was riding on the coaster and
I actually fell out of the seat... I was lying on the front of the car, literally black and blue, so I don't go on those
things anymore." Ouch. :-( "I'll go on those little swings," he joked, and the Tidal Wave." They talked about the
parachute ones where you drop yourself by pulling your own rip cord. Those ones are scary!! Michael made a joke
about yanking the cord, and apologized because his mind was in the gutter on that one!

Speaking of that, what do they like to do for fun? One fan asked. LOL Michael said, "We already told you, we
shower together!" *g* Amber said it depends on what kind of fun you're talking about. Michael said Amber likes
to drive fast! "Yeah, that's what I like to do. Thanks Michael... yes, I did get a 30-day suspension upon my
license... that would be a good lesson not to speed." When Kevin (our friend) asked how fast was she going,
Michael said "95 in a 55", LOL. Becky and Amber roller blade, and they go to raves! LOL (kidding). Jacob likes
to surf, mountain bike, play video games... anything that takes him outside. Becky went swimming in the ocean the
other day. LOL No one does that anymore, she complained. Jacob said he once got stung by a stingray.. His whole
ankle was swollen and puffy, and has ooze dripping out of it... ewwww!! Becky got stung by a bee for the first
time ever the other day... hmm... the discussion started to wane, so they changed the subject!!!

Frances, another big fan of Becky's and especially Jonathan's, said she loves what Becky did with her hair.
Michael jumped in and said it was his decision, because he also consults on the girls' hair. LOL "I told her to wear
that hat today," He said, pointing to Amber. Becky said when she came on the show, she had short hair but Wendy
Riche likes long hair, so she grew it out, but she much prefers it short. So, she convinced them to "chop it", but
the show didn't think she was going to cut it quite that short, and she's been back to the stylist three times this
month.

Jacob was asked about his relationship with actress Rachel Leigh Cook (from the movie "She's All That"), and he
said that they've been dating off and on, but she's a busy girl. So when she's in town, they go out, but they can't
really have a ‘formal relationship' because of their work. I thought this was one of the most honest answers an
actor has ever given to a question about relationships!! Very impressive, IMO. He didn't hedge or change the
subject... just answered it, very sincere. He's so "not" Hollywood... he seems like a Robert Redford type, who
would be comfortable on a ranch somewhere in Colorado or Montana, riding horses and kickin' back.... (okay,
fantasy time's over, LOL... back to the recap).....

Next they drew for a door prize... a lovely picture of Becky and Amber, black and white, on a cute little easel.
*g* Jacob said he would announce the "lucky" number. Ha ha

Kevin asked if there was any chance we might see the original personality traits of "Lizzie" from when she first
started on GH. She nodded and said, "I think right now that old character starts to resurface, because she's
getting frustrated with Lucky's treatment of her." Coltin jumped in with, "Nikolas is gonna win!" LOL

The next question was an interesting one... "What is your favorite storyline that the veterans are in on the show,
and who is your favorite to work with?" Becky likes Tony, but her favorite storyline is Sonny and Carly, just
because it's so much fun to watch and she thinks any one of them would feel blessed to work with them. Coltin
joked that it's the "Sonny and Carly" show right now.... he agreed they're amazing, but he has missed working with
Stephen Nichols, even though he loves working with "these four". He misses the scenes when they found out they
were father and son. The other scene he liked was when he and Jacob were carrying the dead body. "I wish we
had a chance to work with everybody. Michael's been blessed to work with Maurice, and Becky has worked with
those two (Maurice and Sarah)... we all look up to those two, as well as Tony Geary and Genie Francis, they all do
a wonderful job."

What does Becky think about a Liz/Sonny pairing? LOL She said she thinks it would be a wonderful thing!!
"Please, write your letters. I don't know what he'd be doing with an 18-year old, but...at least I'm legal." *vbg*
Jacob piped up, "I can give you a few ideas." LOL!!

Another fan, Pete, said that Maurice mentioned he would be into working with Becky, and she thought that was
very cool. He asked Jacob and Becky how they felt about redoing some of the old Liz/Lucky scenes after JJ
left. Jacob said fans wrote in with mixed reactions to that – some said they could live without it, but he and
Becky both felt it was necessary to show those again and recreate it for the sake of the story.

Coltin gave Amber a huge compliment, saying that she is amazing, and ‘blows all of us away every single day',
because she goes from being wild and crazy one minute, to crying or doing emotional scenes. This got a big round
of applause!!

The five addressed the question of disagreements or disputes on the set, and Jacob explained that it's like a
family, you have little tifs from being in close proximity where you have occasional squabbles or whatever...
Becky added that usually it's because they're concerned for the welfare of one person, and it just proves that
they care. If they get agitated with each other it might be because one of them comes in a good mood, ready to
goof around, and another is having a bad day... so when one's not focused, it just makes it difficult. Awww....group
hug. LOL

Jacob was asked if he keeps in touch with anyone from the Bold and the Beautiful.... he said he does. Ashley
Cafagna (who played Kimberly), and Susan Flannery, who he said is wonderful and whom he loves to death, also
John McCook (Eric Forrester)... quite a few people, he loves them over there, they're great people.

Someone asked Amber what her favorite storyline has been... "That's a hard question, because I've been there
for six years, with multi-leveled storylines with everything you could possibly want in a story." The Dorman one
was one of her favorites, especially doing the hospital scenes, like the one where he threw her up against the wall
(although it was a ‘stunt chick' – "I could have done it!" Amber exclaimed). She felt that she was a little too
inexperienced to appreciate the Paige storyline, the death of her mother.. It was one of her major growing points.
It started about three months after she started on the show, and she didn't have a chance to enjoy it or realize
how amazing it was. The one they're doing right now is definitely one of her favorites.

Michael was teased by the others on the stage about his scene with Sherry in the middle of the L&B studio.
Anyone could have walked in, not just Emily, LOL!! Get a room. :-)

Someone asked if the three guys would ever sing together as a trio, and Jacob said "I can probably guarantee you
that it will happen in the future." Jacob was kidding, but Michael pointed out that they sang together in Toronto
last weekend, and they sang Happy Birthday to some lucky lady in the audience, but it was bad... "It wasn't our
fault, some guy from Days was throwing us off," he joked.

Next was the auction...

The first item up for bids was a picture of the fab five, in a beautiful frame...Amber began by saying she was
going to provide the audience with the best of entertainment... the best of the Running Man... LOL Then she said
that actually, three of the people in the picture don't really matter, it's just her and Becky who count. Michael
shot back with, "When the police took your license away, did they give you an anklet?" And she retaliated with,
"The part of Juan Santiago will now be played by....." and he said, "How can you be so far away from her house,
doesn't it go off?" LOL These two would continue to do that the whole evening, back and forth, and it was like
watching a tennis match when they got going... too funny!! The best part was that they are obviously comfortable
enough with each other to do that. The pic was autographed by all of them. They got a $50 bid, so Amber then
jumped to $175.. LOL!!! She amended that and began going up in increments of $5. It finally sold for $85.

Next was a GH t-shirt with all kinds of autographs, including Tony and Genie!! Those are really hard to get. The
bids were very slow, so one of the women from the fan club whispered to the ‘gang' to remind the fans that it's
really hard to get Genie's autograph, so Michael looked up (knowing that we had all heard her) and immediately
repeated in a low, deliberate voice, "It's really hard to get Genie's autograph," LOL!! Amber reiterated this,
saying she wasn't sure, but she has heard that it's really hard to get Genie's autograph. LMAO!!! These guys were
cracking us up. Things got heated up when Michael offered to put the shirt on while it was being auctioned... he
did, and Amber said, "Okay.. do I hear THREE dollars?" LOL!! The deal was whoever got the t-shirt could pull it
off of him! When the bids got up to $85, Amber was pushing for $90, saying "come on, it's only five more bucks!"
and then in a sing-song voice, "you know you waaaaant it, you know you waaaaant it"....When Michael offered a
kiss on the cheek as well, Coltin joked that he should get some Binacca (however you spell that, you know the
breath freshener stuff you spray in your mouth). The lucky winner got it for $110. Amber did some "strip" music
sound effects for the removal of the shirt!!!

The next item was a long, rectangular shaped poster of Jonathan and Becky; it was one of the last ones available
from SSW, signed by both of them... apparently there were riots over these things at Super Soap Weekend!
Frances was bidding on the poster, even though she had her own, because she was missing Jonathan's signature.
Amber joked that she was going to have a heart attack when the bids got to $155, because she was still going up
by $5. So Michael said go up by tens.... and Amber proceeded to ask if anyone had $200. ROTFLMAO!!! "I said
TEN!!" Michael yelled out. But the fans went for it anyway... they quickly jumped to $250.... then $300!! They
went for $360 in the end. Frances didn't get the poster, but she said it was okay, she had money to spend now!
LOL

Next up was the script from Lucky's memorial. It is a great one, because they cut so much (I'm assuming from the
eulogies) that there is stuff in there that no one has ever seen before.. And it was signed by both Jonathan and
Becky. There's also a note on the back from Becky to her mom "Mom... I'll be back in 20 minutes, 12:15, love ya."
LOL Amber threatened to "bust a move" if the bids didn't pick up. "I'll make you a little deal. If we get $250, I
will perform, at the same time, the Running Man, with the Cabbage Patch, followed by a little breakdancing move
I can do right here in the front." LOL "Get the men to take their shirts off!" Someone yelled. "That comes later,"
she assured them. She got the $250, and actually did the moves... accompanied by Michael's rap/sound effects.
She was awesome! "There's a preview of next year's Nurses' Ball," he joked.

The five actors had made imprints of their hands, just like the ones you see in the concrete on the sidewalk
outside of Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, with a framed border, the name of their character, and a little
message written inside... they were heavy items, but somewhat original and worth the money, I think! Amber
started the bidding on Becky's ‘paws' at $100, and went up by 20's this time. Jacob took his turn to convince the
fans to start bidding... "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a one of a kind piece, it's a beauty... made on Hollywood
Boulevard!!" Amber agreed that it is hard to duplicate something like that! Michael and Amber were trying to
convince Pete, another big fan, to bid higher.

Rebecca's Jockey ad, which she signed was the next item...Amber promoted it as "Becky in her underwear".. It
went for $80. When someone asked about a similar picture of the guys, Michael said "Is that before or after our
shower?" LOL

The winner of the next item got to have their picture taken with the fab five to be in Soap Opera Update
magazine. "Unless you don't want ALL of us," Michael said. Amber said "Yeah, in case you don't want any of those
three in it," indicating the men again! LOL The winner paid $320. I'm not sure if this was the same item or not,
but a woman named Marlene Veronica Maria Pirotta did get her picture in Soaps In Depth with the five of them,
and Coltin kept repeating her name from memory (I guess learning those lines pays off, LOL)...later she also bid
on Becky's tapes, too. She donated a lot of money to the charity!!

An exclusive photo of Becky and Tony Geary from the Emmy's in a beautiful frame went for $60.

Someone offered to donate $100 to the charity if the five would sing Happy Birthday to her daughter Megan.
The girl went up to the front of the room, and they started to sing, but it sounded awful... LOL Michael said "This
is the song that's been butchered more than any other," he joked. "Let's all get close to the same note." They
started again, and it was pretty good, but quiet, LOL... especially considering what the noise level had been up to
that point!

Next were pictures of Jacob and Rebecca, autographed by both of them.... very cute poses, I almost bid on them
myself! They went for $220. :-)

They also had pictures of Becky and Amber.. "This is the good stuff right here," Amber said proudly. She
mentioned the choreography in the photos was her idea... the two of them looking at each other in various poses...
simple, but nice. Jacob bid $150, then Michael bid $200.. Amber was surprised, and was trying to keep up when
Michael turned to Jacob and said, "Dude, you got me covered, right?" LOL Once things got underway, he joked,
"This is Amber when she used to be able to drive." She got him back by saying that the pose where she and Becky
are frowning is when they were thinking of his face! LOL He retaliated once again with, "Did you guys hear that?
I think it's her anklet going off." Amber's retort? "No love, man." LOL Jacob agreed to $210, and then Michael
started to get anxious for someone in the audience to bid more. The $220 bid was up for grabs and Michael
laughed saying, "Come on, we're daytime actors." LOL Amber tried for $215, then said how about $213. 50? LOL
Finally it went to Jacob! I thought that was really cool, really classy too. *g*

Next was a purple haze script signed by Jonathan Jackson himself. Frances got into this one, and Michael was
egging her on, giving a play by play as if it were a racetrack: "And she's off!" he yelled when she put up her hand
for the $50 bid. His auctioneer style was a big hit in addition to Amber's rhythm... when the bidding slowed, as it
would every so often during the auction, Amber said, "Don't make me put you in a purple haze," LOL. "Don't make
me do some funkadelic stuff up here... I'll do it!" LOL "Alright here goes... I'm going to say $285, and I will
perform any song that you want me to sing." Michael said, "I thought we were already at $210...girl, what are you
smoking?" (He meant to say $310, which made things even more confusing). LOL The fans yelled out they were
actually at $330. So Becky picked a random number, $385, and said she'd sing her song for that amount. Michael
was still giving her a hard time because of the huge jump from 310 to 385, and she said "that's why I said I'll
sing a song for them!! Are you deaf???" (at this point I was doubled over in laughter at the confusion!) "Go
Brittney!" someone yelled. Amber took the cue and said she knew all the songs... "Ooops I did it again", "One more
time", all of them baby! LOL "Becky said make it $350, she's a wuss..." Amber sighed. "I had faith in you, but..."
LOL "$350, I'll sing and you can all wear ear plugs," she promised. Michael was laughing!! But, no one went for
the $350, so it sold for $310.

The club then brought out a memory book of Becky's pictures from when she was eight years old, right up to her
current head shot. They held the album up, and showed some of the pics to the audience. Coltin yelled out, "$100!"
and Michael came back with $150. Again, they bid $175 and $200, respectively, and Amber took the floor to
start getting bids from the fans and called out, "Okay, $175..." and Michael looked at her and said sarcastically,
"You didn't understand the words ‘two hundred'?" LOL She hadn't heard him, obviously, and he gave her a hard
time, again. He laughed, imitating Amber, saying, "Okay, we have 200, how about 25...here's you backing up.. BEEP
BEEP BEEP...". LMAO!!! Michael said "these pictures are so cute, come on!" and Amber added, "Becky's cute little
chubby face." When she got up to $260, and no one was bidding, Michael says "No one wants to bid because they
know in about 30 seconds you'll go back to $100." LOL Final sale $220!.

The next item was announced.. "It's another chance to have your picture in a magazine, only this time...." and
before she could finish, Michael interjected, "It's Hustler!" LOL No, not Hustler. This time the picture is with
Amber and her new poetry book. They asked Amber to read one of her poems, so she chose one called, "Wolves
watching"...and she joked that we could ‘follow along' if we had the book, on page 45. LOL She wrote it when she
was 12, which is amazing considering some of the vocabulary and phrasing: "Why I ask is why you can't answer
me; I am creating philosohpies of the earth as she should be, round, rotating right while citizens look left...".
Amber auctioned off the book and picture, saying that if anyone wanted to get the book autographed, her friend
Coco was in the back and she did all the photography for it. "Show me the love," she kept saying. When the
bidding stalled just under $100, Coltin made a comment about her not being worth it, but then she got $100, and
so he bid $110, and Michael said, "Okay, here's Coltin, digging himself out..." LOL. Andrea, the girl from Germany
who was sitting next to me, got the book for $115, and had her picture taken with Amber.

Pssst... BIG surprise coming up here....

Next up was a tour of GH... it was thought at first that maybe Becky could persuade one, or two, or three of the
guys to help her on the tour, whoever happened to be at the set that day. They agreed that whoever was available
would have lunch with the winner, and the tour with Becky and whoever else. Then they changed it to two tours,
for two people each. They started bidding at $100. Someone jumped in with $500 almost immediately (I think it
might have been Stacey), and so Amber said, "Alright, do I hear $7,000?" LOL When the bids were up to $900,
Amber said, "Come on, you can have your own charity event to raise money to pay for this one," LOL. As soon as
the bids hit $1,000, there were screams throughout the room... I looked up and there was Jonathan Jackson, who
had come upstairs to stop in and say hello! Everyone was going nuts, clapping... Amber said "In the flesh," LOL.
JJ hugged and shook hands with all five, and it was especially nice to see him and Jacob together, since JJ
couldn't make it to Réal's event the day before. Everyone said "awww" when he hugged Becky and Amber.

Amber told him that they auctioned off one of his scripts, and Frances yelled out "whoo hoo!" They said that
Frances has spent a lot of money on items, and has never gotten a personalized autograph from JJ, and since she
travelled all the way from the East Coast, they wondered if he might sign her poster for her. JJ agreed (of
course, what choice did he have? LOL) so everyone was clapping and cheering as she ran up to the front of the
room and got her autograph. Amber and Michael resumed their tag-team auctioning with the $1000 bid on the
tour. There was some confusion... two people at the back of the room thought they had the tour for $1100... so
Michael said we'll do three tours if everyone pays $1200. And that was done! :-) yay..more money for the charity!
LOL

The next item was a package with one of Becky's scripts (comeplete with Becky's doodles) and a magazine signed
by both Jonathan and Becky. The script was the "My Girl" episode when Lucky sang to Liz. Amber tried to read
the characters, and she couldn't pronounce "Thaao" because the print wasn't clear... she thought it was "Thaag",
LOL. The package went for $270.

There was another script when Lucky and Liz go to get their first Christmas tree together, and find out about
Tom getting sentenced. While this was going on, Coltin returned to the room (he had been gone for a while),
wearing a GH shirt. *g* A few people started to get excited, since this was obviously what Amber had been
referring to earlier when people asked for the guys to go shirtless, LOL. Michael said to him, "So you can just sit
and think about taking your shirt off," LOL. Amber thought she'd read a little dialogue... so she did Lucky's deep
voice, while Becky played Liz. Frances yelled out that she could do it!! They figured she probably knew the
dialogue by heart. "I'd like to see that," Michael said. So she tried to recite some of the lines, and did pretty
well, but nerves got the best of her I think and she couldn't remember any more. It sold for $160.

Next, Amber announced, "We will be auctioning off Coltin Scott..." (loud cheers from the audience).. Oh, excuse
me, not Coltin Scott but the shirt that he's wearing. I'm sure you could discuss a price for him at another time."
LOL Amber began to sing while Coltin wiggled, and Michael joked, "Stop it, we're losing money." LOL Bids
started at $80. "I'm feelin' it," Amber declared. Someone's cell phone was ringing, and it threw her off for a
minute.... "$120 for the t-shirt, it's got his sweat all over it!" she declared. When it was made clear that the
winner would get to take the shirt off of him, Michael jumped in with, "And the way that Coltin sweats, you want
to take it off quick!" LOL They showed the autographs of the cast members on the shirt. "What kind of cologne
do you have on?" someone asked Coltin. "Old Spice," Michael joked. "Brute!" someone countered. Michael
suggested that Coltin walk through the audience so people could see what they were getting... while Amber
announced the latest bid. "$200 for the shirt and mayyybe Coltin!" LOL Michael kept going... "Go ahead, touch it,
feel it, run your hand over it..." Amber said Coltin really *did* smell good! LOL In a fashion show-type
announcer's voice, Michael continued, "It's a beautiful Nurses' Ball, 2000, 100% cotton, probably a size large..."
and Coltin was playing it up, dancing around, and Amber, laughing, yelled out, "$200 for him to STOP dancing,"
LOL!! They finally got $200! Michael began the by-now-infamous ‘strip music', while Amber joined in with "We
got the night", LOL!!! as Coltin presented himself for the "disrobing", LOL. Everyone whooped when the shirt came
off, revealing some skin!!

Amber had the distinct pleasure of auctioning off Michael's handprints next, and she wasted no time poking fun at
him – again! LOL "Now we have hand prints by ‘Wan' Santiago," she announced, purposely mispronouncing Juan.
Then she sang, "Juan...singular sensation," and followed it with Juan-tanamero, LOL! She read off what he had
written, his name, the date, GH, ‘all my love'... then she let out a little squeal when she noticed it said J+E=love!!
LOL "Juan plus Emily...isn't that sweet?" She smiled. "Okay, so we're going to start this at $7." LOL Just
kidding! She got up to $75, and kept looking for more, and Michael said, "Coltin, take your shirt off again."
Amber said, "Come on, guys...$100 for Michael Saucedo's hands!" Michael started getting into character and said,
"What about my hands, baby?" LOL Amber said, "From personal experience... they're nice." She tried to get
Coco to bid $120... LOL "No? Okay." Michael kept looking at Frances, saying, "Frances... what happened to ‘I
love Michael'?" LMAO!!! "$150, anyone? Come on, it's just a number," Amber coaxed. For $200, Michael said
he'd give a kiss on the cheek, so Amber said "$200 for Michael's hands and his lips! That's easily like $1000,"
she laughed. "You can put this up on your wall, say you went with him..." LOL. Finally, they got $200. Becky was
holding the imprints while Michael did his thing, and then asked them to take it from her because it was really
heavy. LOL

Alright, the moment we've all been waiting for... Jacob's shirt! GH t-shirt with signatures all over it... Ingo,
Becky, Steve, Amber, Patricia, John York, Mary Beth, Maurice, Scott Egan, Réal, Tava, Kristina, Wally, Genie
Francis too! Becky reminded everyone that some of those people were already gone or would be gone soon, like
Mary Beth, Ingo, Patricia...etc. They asked Jacob if he would be willing to do a kiss on the cheek too, and he said
with a bit of a swagger, "I could probably arrange something like that." For $200, you get a kiss, a hug, and all
the signatures on the shirt! It didn't take long! *g* But they kept going... up to $250! The girl's name was
Jennifer, and she got to take it off Jacob's back and get her kiss.

As Jacob walked back up to the front, Amber was kidding around saying, "I want one... Jacob... touch me,
Jacob...I want a kiiiisss..." holding out her cheek to him, which he did kiss. LOL She acted like she was going to
faint, and then fell to the floor. LOL

As most of her fans know, Becky does a lot of designing, and she was auctioning off pictures of herself in gowns
that she had made for "Liberty Designs" and wore to the SOD awards 2000, along with the patterns for them. On
the back were pictures of her with Jonathan and Jacob at the Emmys, and a piece of the fabric. After a few
bids, and Michael and Amber working hard, Coltin and Jacob decided to ‘model' them for everyone, walking down
the aisle so we could all get a good look.

They kept wiggling, and Amber teased "Come on, it's worth the waddle... Coltin will shake his butt in your face."
Michael said "Okay I think I'm going to be sick." LOL Amber started offering "$160 – with shower pictures! I
have them too," she swore. Michael said, "I'm holding onto the video," LOL!!

Next up...Amber's hand prints! "These are by far the best hand prints... they're mine! Mine's the most creative,
by far," she claimed. "I've got ‘touch me' in the middle of my hand, then I've got ‘GH Crew for life' down here in
the bottom; then ‘Becky was here', ‘Fab Five Rules', ‘I love Juan', and my signature at the top with Emily Q."
Before Amber could get started taking bids, Jacob had to leave. He gave hugs to his pals, and Michael said that
everyone was sad now. :-( Jacob's parting words were: "Thank you all so much, this has been a special treat for
me. You guys are great." Becky gave her co-star a hug before he left.

Back to the hands! Michael took over doing the auction.... When they got up to $120, the next bidder (Frances)
called out "125", and Michael looked a little stunned. "$125? We haven't gone up in $5 increments in about 2
hours," LOL!!! The hands sold for $150 in the end. :-)

Coltin's hands were next...he picked up the plaque and walked over to show them off to everyone. "Talk about
meaty hands, wait until you see these ones," Becky laughed, noticing how deep the imprints went. "He's got some
thick digits," Michael added. Coltin claimed the guy who was doing them pressed his hands down. "Yeah right,"
Becky countered. LOL "GH Fab Five 2000, God Bless" was the message. When they got up to $175, Michael said
if you bid $200, Coltin will kiss you on the cheek. So, the woman who had bid $175 put up her hand and Michael
said, "You're bidding against yourself, I like that." LOL They teased her because at first she didn't want to bid
the extra $25 for the kiss. Ginny Mahl (the fan club president) stepped forward and said, "How much will you up
it if Becky pours water on Amber?" LOL Everyone was laughing, and Amber quickly left the room... we all thought
she was angry, but in a minute we would find out that she was actually quite "into" it!! LOL Michael was laughing,,
and said "I didn't know we were going to have a wet t-shirt contest!"

Amber came back with pitchers FULL of water... all ready to go! LOL "Easy," said Michael as Amber got near
them, and Becky added, "For some reason honey, I just don't trust you," LOL! Coltin said that for $300, he'd join
in too, meaning they could pour one pitcher on him and one on Amber, and all of a sudden the fans were into it
again. Michael said "That's weird, they don't want to kiss you but they want to pour water over you." LOL One
bidder asked if the other bidder paid the $200, and got the hand prints, could she add the $100 and just pour
the water? LOL "Alright, we'll do it," Amber said. "Come on up here!" Amber said she was wearing one of her
favorite hats too... which would get wet either way. The girl dumped the pitchers, and Amber screamed quickly,
but was a good sport. Michael stepped back and said, "Okay, Michael's not involved in this," LOL. The two of
them ended up SOAKING wet... and freezing cold!! LOL There was ice in the pitchers too, I think. As a token of
appreciation for the donation, they gave the girl who had bid an autographed picture of Becky (since the other
woman got the hand prints, I guess).

Amber was shivering, and her tatoo had smudged (awww), while Coltin had changed into another shirt (he didn't
want to get his white sweater all wet), and she announced that the next item would be a sweater that she would be
wearing. LOL "That actually kind of woke me up, to tell you the truth," she said. The next item was Emily tapes...
from Stacey Lopez, who made/edited the tapes herself. She offered to explain what was on them... from Amber's
first year to the present day. Michael asked her, "Do you want to pour water on Coltin?" When she said how many
hours of scenes were on the tapes, Amber said jokingly, "Nice...that's enough to annoy you for days." LOL After
the bidding started, Amber asked who had been watching the show since before 1996, and over three quarters of
the room put up their hands, I think... "Oooh.. never mind," she laughed. "Well for those of you who haven't, you
better start raising your hands!" The bidding was slow... "$80 and I'll give you one of my shoes," LOL. "How
about one of Becky's bracelets that she made?" She even put it in her mouth... ewww... "You can stick it down
your pants..." (I think she was getting tired... either that or something was in the water." Stacey sweetened the
pot with a picture of Amber and Becky... the winner got it for $100.

The last item was Becky tapes... 7 tapes, 8 hours each, starting with Elizabeth's first scene... they asked if
anyone could quote the dialogue from when she first saw Lucky. He said, "I'm Lucky" and he said "We'll see."
LOL Amber started the bids at $200 because of the number of memories on the tapes. She got up to $250 and
said, "$300 for Becky, Becky, Becky, and a little more of Becky. Did I mention Becky will also be in these
videos?" LOL Stacey said she'd throw two interview tapes in with Jonathan commercials and all kinds of rare
footage, which she would mail later. They said no less than $350 for all of that. "You can watch Becky kiss me,"
Amber said, pointing to her cheek and motioning Becky to kiss her. "And you know I'm not going to shut up until I
get it," she added. "$350, you do not need that mortgage payment." They finally got it, and everyone cheered and
applauded.

Even though the auction was over, there were some things that the fan club was going to be putting up on eBay..
Becky's Planet Hollywood leather jacket, more scripts, and a few other things. Search for ‘Rebecca Herbst' and
you'll find them in the next couple of weeks. They thanked everyone for all the money they raised, and said that
the actors would stay for autographs and pictures for a short while.

Are you still reading? Wow...

You might want to go grab a drink or something. LOL There's still more!!....

Monday: Leisure time!

Monday was our "lazy day", but also one of the best ones I spent in LA. We slept in, picked up pictures, and hung
out with Kayla and Kevin...what a handsome couple! *g*

With excellent navigating from Kayla, and dedicated help from Kevin on putting the car's top down (where's the
switch??? there's GOT to be a switch here somewhere! LOL), we finally made it to Westwood, where we had lunch
near UCLA. And if anyone tries to tell you that I wanted to take up three spaces in the parking garage, don't
listen. *vbg* To be honest, given the ungodly rates they charge for parking in the afternoon down there, I don't
think it's unreasonable to take up a few extra spaces. LOL The day was filled with strange and funny moments... I
won't soon forget "leftovers" at the payphone, or "Look! It's Billy Warlock!!" (He was everywhere! *g*) or
reminiscing about the "I'm your biggest fan" t-shirts, and ‘Jurassic Park', thundering down the aisle with a huge
posterboard, headed right for a very frightened actor. LMAO!!! And how I managed to capture this scary
creature on film Saturday night at Wally's concert. *eg*

After lunch we went back to our hotel and when we walked in the door, there was a room service cart with an
elaborate display of fruit, chilled wine, and other scrumptious goodies, all laid out on linen napkins with place
settings for three, set up by the window. There was even a business card affixed to the basket and a message
reading "with our compliments". Well, well! How special are we? Um... not very, I guess. Alas, upon further
inspection, the spread was not, in fact, meant for us, but had been placed in our room by mistake. For a moment, I
think Kevin and Kayla thought we were generous hostesses, offering a feast for our guests. LOL

We settled for water and hot tea, since our ‘bubbly' had disappeared, and spent some time looking at pictures --
drooling over shirtless Jacob and then laughing hysterically at my Réal sweats & Sonny mask, among other things!.
Jayne told K&K about the really cooooool elevator outside the hotel that goes from the parking lot of the
Sheraton up to the parking lot of the Hilton, which is just up the hill. It is a glass enclosure, so you can see all
around... it's a great view of the hills and Universal City.

We met up again for dinner at Universal Citywalk. We wandered around a bit, not sure where we wanted to go,
reading the LA billboards and finally decided on a great Mexican restaurant, where
we had Margaritas and talked about the events.... and I laughed so hard I think our waiter must have thought I
was crazy. LOL K&K... you guys rock!! ;-)

Tuesday: A Day with Ingo

Tuesday morning we got a phone call to meet Todd and Ingo for lunch, and Ingo offered to have us spend the afternoon at the GH set again, since he would be taping scenes with Tava, if we were interested in that as well. Oh yeah, twist my arm to spend time watching GH "live".  LOL It was a beautiful day (every day is gorgeous in LA, though... like the song says, "it never rains in California"
-- at least not while I'm on vacation there!). Ingo greeted us with big hugs and kisses *g*, and was in a very good mood, considering the busy and stressful week ahead! While we ate, he and Todd told us about the press/publicity they are doing for Titans, and how Ingo
planned to tie things up on General Hospital. We laughed when Todd was describing the photo shoot for Titans the day before, because apparently *everyone* was there, and Todd said there were so many gorgeous people on hand it was like "beauty threw up", LMAO!!! He has such a way with words. It sounds like NBC and Spelling Entertainment aren't skimping on much in terms of material things, either.

Ingo gave us a few tidbits about the GH storyline, although we saw enough of it on Thursday and then later that
afternoon (Tuesday) to get a pretty good idea of what is ahead. When I mentioned how impressed I was with
Landon Wine at the GH Luncheon, Ingo was like, "Who?" And we told him he plays Andreas, Helena's boy toy, so
then he remembered and said "I had a scene with him the other day." (The scene in the park, where Jax grabbed
Andreas around the neck). Apparently one of the scenes where Jax was on Helena's yacht and she was ordering
Andreas around, Ingo ad-libbed the line "Does he do sit and roll over too?". He didn't know if they'd kept that in
or not, and we confirmed that it was there. LOL

We talked about everything from Ingo's new house to Todd's plans for Ingo – looks like he's going to be spoiling
our one and only, LOL. They want to get Ingo moving on some new projects, and doing publicity other than the
soap stuff he has been doing, for obvious reasons. Todd mentioned that they were trying to get him on the cover
of Skin Diver magazine (which has now been confirmed...it's going to be the first person on a cover! Cool huh?).
Without betraying any confidences, I think it's safe to say that Todd is very dedicated to doing what he can to
promote Ingo and make things as easy on him as possible, which means traveling with him and ‘taking care of all the
crap', basically, and spoiling him!! LOL Which shouldn't be too hard since Spelling TV is already doing a pretty
good job, by the sounds of it. No doubt Blue will be busy preparing all sorts of AAC projects for the IRFC to
promote Ingo and show our continued support!

Todd didn't come with us to watch the taping at the set in the afternoon, as he had other things to take care of (busy guy, you know *g*) so Jayne and I returned to the scene of the crime *g*, and went to the green room to wait for Ingo while he got ready. Tava came by and we chatted for a while... I don't know if she was surprised to see us again so soon, LOL. It was a busy day for taping, although there were only a few other ‘fans' in the Green Room. We saw the actor who plays Benny (he was commenting on the political convention that was airing on the TV at the time), the actor who plays Sorel, Maurice Benard, Scott Egan, Ron Hale, John J. York, Wally Kurth, Lisa Vultaggio, Réal Andrews, Becky Herbst, Amber Tamblyn, Michael Saucedo, Jacob Young, Constance Towers, and Landon Wine. Erin Hershey and Kiko Ellsworth from Port Charles also came in.  We also ran into Constance Towers in the ladies room, and I swear at this point she was convinced we were stalking her, LOL.  Again, we watched some scenes on the monitor while we waited and visited with the others. We could hear Ingo's voice echoing through the halls, and at one point he appeared looking for Tava, script in hand, calling out, "Smiley!!! Hey Smiley... want to run lines?" LOL

I had to laugh at some of the interplay between Ingo and the other actors on GH on the days we were there. First
of all, whenever he sees Maurice, they seem to go into a staring match right off the bat... then one of them will
crack a smile, or just walk away (mostly Maurice, because he's got more important things to think about than
staring at Ingo, I guess, LOL). At one point, Wally came over to talk to Ingo for a while, and they were discussing
the time they went out kayaking (Ingo spoke about it in Long Island, I think). Wally was saying how "tippy" the
surf skis are, and how much trouble he had just staying on... and also how strong your arms have to be to paddle!
Wally said he'd love to go again, though, and Ingo told him that he's welcome to come kayaking with him again
whenever he feels like it. Wally told us that he used to think the Ocean Ironman competitions that Ingo does were
‘wussie', LOL, but after one morning on the surf ski with Ingo, he changed his mind. He now has great respect for
Ingo!! LOL It's very clear to me that these two are close friends... it's nice to see!

While we were talking to Ingo in the Green Room, the subject of "method" acting came up, a style he doesn't
particularly embrace, so I asked him how he prepares for his scenes - he says he basically does nothing, LOL. He
just learns his lines, and when they count down and the cameras start to roll, it just hits him and he goes for it.
There's a certain amount of pressure on you when they say, "Five, four, three, two....". Even if he has to cry, he
says something comes to him if he needs to do it, like when he did the Brenda death scenes.

Tava came back from hair and makeup, and Ingo started to introduce us to her, saying, "Have you met my friends
Heather and Jayne?" at which point Jayne and I laughed because it was about the fourth time we had seen her in
as many days! She explained that we knew each other well, LOL. We asked if she had gotten all of the Sharpie
marker dots off of her spine from the ‘fight' with Ingo... LOL She said she had removed most of the ink from her
arms, but that she hadn't really scrubbed her back. She apologized for "stealing Ingo away", but she wanted to
run lines before they went up on set, and we were happy watching Maurice and Ron do their scenes on the monitor,
so we stayed put. *g* I have to say, these were some of the most intense scenes I've ever seen the two of them
perform, and I think it was a tough shoot for both of them. You could cut the tension on the set with a knife... and
at one point, Maurice blew a line and yelled out a rather loud obscenity. Everyone just kind of backed off for a
second, while they got back on track. I can't wait to see these scenes when they air... without giving too much
away, I think it's safe to say that it has to do with Mike's gambling debt, and Sonny is... well, upset. LOL Great,
great stuff, though. I was almost crying watching it.

Only minutes after they had begun to rehearse, Ingo and Tava were called to the set for their scenes, so we all
headed upstairs and worked our way through the props and cables to the Nurses' Station, the only permanent set
(it never moves). The first few scenes Ingo and Tava had were in the garden outside the villa, and Ingo was having
trouble with a couple of his lines... the stage manager talked to him for a minute, trying to get things straightened
out, but when the cameras started to roll, Ingo ended up following in Maurice's footsteps and included a rather
colorful word in his delivery... then he paused while they got ready to do the take again, and after a beat, Tava
turned to the crew, tilted her head to one side and said, "Well, I guess we're not going to use THAT one!" LOL

A little later, Tava left for a wardrobe change, and Ingo got a short break since Tava had some scenes with the bellman that Ingo was not in. He came over to chat with us, and while we were talking, Maurice showed up looking for John Homa (the acting coach) who had been talking to the stage manager.  We had mentioned to Ingo about Maurice’s reaction earlier to blowing his line, and he commented on it to Maurice, LOL.  Suddenly, Constance and Landon appeared for their scene, and we all kind of gasped, because Helena was dressed in a "cat suit" outfit! She had skin-tight black leggings and a body suit, black gloves and ankle boots...and she looked like a million bucks, of course (man, I'd love to look like that when I'm her age). Anyway... she started walking toward the set, with "Andreas" in tow, and Ingo stopped short, and looked her up and down... then he lets out a low whistle and says, "Damn!" ROTFL.  Constance was LOL as well *g*.  (Maybe we know how Helena can really win Jax over! LOL).

Constance is such a consummate professional, and so good at what she does. There was one scene where she was to
deliver a rather sinister line, and the director needed something "more" at the end, so they asked her to look up,
at a point on the balcony I believe... and so on the next take, she delivered the line, and instead of turning her
whole head (as I would have, LOL) she just shifted her eyes upward... and she had the most EVIL look in them....
man, she was spooky!!!! I guess that's the secret... you can be subtle, since it's "close-up" TV... not like in the
theater where you need to project and "go big". LOL I'm always surprised at how quietly they speak on the set, it
seems like they are almost whispering, but the microphones/booms seem to pick everything up really well. Shows
how much I know about it! *g*

The last scenes of the day were done on yet another set, the hotel room / balcony where Jax and Chloe are
staying at the villa. We moved down to the "outdoor" set for Kelly's, sitting at the tables with the little vases of
yellow flowers, across the way, behind the cameras. We got comfortable, and settled in for what turned out to be
a few more hours of taping! Tava was up first, with scenes by herself and with the bellman, as I mentioned
earlier. The man who played him was only there for a few days, I think (he was on Friday's show with Helena), and
Tava was very nice to him after they were done... she thanked him and shook his hand, and he seemed very pleased
and grateful to her.

When Ingo was reviewing his script earlier in the day, he came across a line that Jax was to deliver to Chloe that
he didn't particularly care for. Chloe asks Jax about the timing of a certain event, and he is supposed to answer
with something along the lines of, "The other night, in the garden, when the moonlight danced on the water...." etc.
I asked Ingo what he thought the line should be, and he said "The other night. Period." LOL I admitted that it was
a little ‘flowery', even for Jax, and Ingo just rolled his eyes. *g* Anyway, Ingo talked to the director about
changing the line, and got script approval before taping started, so we're watching them perform the scene where
this line comes up, and the stage manager comes over and tells Ingo that he got his line wrong (it's supposed to be
‘when the moonlight danced on the water'... etc.), and Ingo says loudly, "I'm NOT saying that." LOL Craig said he
didn't realize that the lines had been changed, and Ingo shot back, "Well maybe if you'd pay attention in
rehearsal, you'd know!" And I was so startled, I didn't realize he was only joking... but everyone on the set
started laughing, so I knew it was okay. Of course, Ingo is one to talk considering he was lying on the BED with
his eyes closed while Tava was consulting with the acting coach and director. LMAO.

Some of the set crew teased us about sticking it out and not being paid to sit there all day, LOL … I guess after
years of working on a set, it loses some of the novelty!! LOL One of the prop guys came over, and started up a
conversation -- what a character!! He told us he was 70 years old, but he works because he loves it, and he'd
rather do that than retire and sit around doing nothing all day. I think he said he plans to retire at 84, or some
odd age. LOL He told us some jokes about pie (since we were sitting at Kelly's), while some of the other crew sat
reading newspapers at the bar. During the taping, one of the ‘gels' (a clear piece of plastic-type material that
covers the spotlight) started rattling due to a breeze caused by a large fan, and they had to stop and fix it (with
clothespins, no less! LOL) and when they jokingly accused the guy who was in charge of the lights for being the
cause of the problem, he redirected the blame on the older gentleman who had been talking to us, since he was the
one who had to "aim" the large fans. LOL

Actually, some of the ‘technical' stuff is quite interesting, and I found myself saying, "Oh, so
THAT's how they do that!" For example, during a ‘flashback' scene, Tava/Chloe was sitting in a
chair on the set, and she actually had to remain still for the time it took to play the flashback (I
guess they time the clip) and then the stage manager would cue her when it was time to continue
with the scene. The only problem they had was the shadows being cast on the chair... there was a strip of shade
that kept falling on Tava's face, and they had to redo the scene a few times, asking her to move to the center of
the chair. Another one was the ‘telephone call', which I had actually learned in Andover is done with both people
on either end at the same time (I always thought they taped each end of the conversation separately, but I guess
for timing sake, they don't do it that way). In this scene, Sonny and Sorel were talking on the phone; Sonny was in
his penthouse, while Sorel was in the limo. LOL... that was another funny thing! You know how sometimes we see
Sonny or some of Moreno's thugs in the limo? We saw it on the set, and it's only half a car... the same principle as
the helicopter or Jax's jet, which was set up last time I was there. I laughed when they were testing the phone
because the crew didn't know the name of the actor who plays Sorel, so you hear this voice going "Hello? Hello?"
trying to get him to answer, and he finally says "yes" and they ask him, "What's your real name?" ROTFL He says
"Joe" (I guess it's the same as Sorel – Joseph – unless he was taking cues from Maurice and REALLY getting into
character, LMAO). Anyway, the prop guy says, "Okay, Joe, I guess the phone's working." LOL

It's also very interesting to see how much goes on just outside of camera range. In any given
scene, there are props and people about two feet away from the actors. I spotted all kinds of
things on the set that were hidden from view. For example, Tava rolled her water bottle under the
bed in the villa before taping started; then she laughed and asked us if it came out the other side
(I guess she was aiming for a different spot, LOL). Then Ingo would put his food down on the floor just near his
feet, along with his and Tava's scripts once the cameras were rolling. Sometimes their shoes or a bag would be
sitting nearby... Sarah often kicks off her shoes before a scene starts. You may have noticed that in the park the
other day, and again at the Brownstone. The prop guys had cleaning stuff, towels, and other things sitting just
under the table in Sonny's penthouse and in Jax and Chloe's villa. And, did anyone happen to notice the fruity
tropical drink that Jax was sipping while stretched out in the villa the other day? It had an OLIVE in it, LOL.
Jayne noticed this at the set, and pointed it out to the rest of us. I guess the prop department was short on fruit
that day. *g*

We stayed until the very last scene was finished and it was "a wrap" for the day. The scenes had been very emotional ones, and I had tears in my eyes from watching! When Tava came over, I told her as much, and she said it was nice to hear that, since they don't always get immediate feedback like that from the audience! *g* She gave Jayne and I a big hug and kiss goodbye, and wished us a safe flight home. Ingo joined us, and Jayne commented to him as to what a great job they both did.  Ingo seemed to be very touched by this, and Tava gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek as well, and thanked him for doing a great job. They both seemed very satisfied with the
scenes they had just done, but also very emotionally drained. Ingo told us that he finds days like that ‘very difficult', because it takes so much out of you. Ingo may not subscribe to "method" acting, but he certainly doesn't leave everything at work... he definitely felt the effects of the emotional scenes after leaving the set. It was strange seeing him like that, because it was like we were suddenly privy to something personal, a state of mind that normally he would take to his dressing room by himself, and deal with before going out and facing the world again. Okay, maybe I'm being overly dramatic...then again, maybe not.

Jayne and I went back downstairs with Ingo to his dressing room, and as we walked the hallways, there wasn't a
soul around!! It seems everyone clears out pretty quickly at the end of the day. We decided not to linger and just
give him his space (considering we had spent most of the day hanging around, LOL). We did give him a few gifts,
however. Jayne had found a wonderful poster of the Boston skyline, since Ingo had mentioned he thought it was
beautiful when he flew into Massachusetts the previous month. I gave him a limited edition "Sydney 2000"
Olympics tank top that a woman I work with had designed herself for the Canadian National Basketball team, and
then finally a ‘surfboard' frame that stands up on end, for his new house *g*.

After walking with us to the door, he gave us a hug and kiss goodbye, and while I was thinking that this would
probably be the last time we would see him for a while (after going to so many appearances this year!), he said,
"See you soon." LOL It reminded me of the movie "Gilbert Grape" with Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio,
when he says, "It's not goodbye, it's just goodnight." :-)

So, guess where we had dinner? LOL Yes, it was back to Universal Citywalk, only this time we had LOTS to talk
about, and we wanted to get down some of the details of our trip before we forgot everything!! I had a little
brown bag from one of my purchases that I scribbled notes on, as we enjoyed our meal and reminisced about all
the fun things we had done (in fact, the bag is right here beside me now, LOL!)

Wednesday: Cruisin' in Santa Monica

Wednesday -- our last day! -- *sniff sniff*. Well, we weren't going to waste a minute. We got up, went for
continental breakfast at the lounge on the 9th floor, then checked out and said goodbye to the hotel, the parking
garage, the flower beds, Universal Citywalk... LOL

We drove to Santa Monica, and it was quite the nostalgic trip for me since I have made a point of getting out to
the ocean and the Pier every time I've been to California. I love the way the air changes as you near the ocean... it
becomes clearer, and you can taste the salt air! We headed for the parking garage at the 3rd street promenade
(free 3 hour parking! Yay! LOL) then went walking.... we headed for the Pier, doing some people watching, and
enjoying the sights. Since it was so gorgeous, we decided to go for a walk along the beach, into the surf... and oops!
We did get a little wetter than we had planned. LOL No worries, the sun dried us off quickly. No cute lifeguard
sightings, unfortunately, but I did see a few bathing suits that definitely needed the attention of the fashion
police again!! (And there we were with no Kevin and Kayla to join in the castigation, LOL).

It was hot – so ice cream was next!!! We found a spot on the Promenade to sit and watch the people walk by. I
won't soon forget "Dan", the unemployed, sober, homeless man who had made a sign stating he was looking for a
wife to support him, and had propped it up next to the bench where he had set up residence. LOL (No, he didn't
get any offers while I was looking). Then there was the staring contest I had with two construction workers on
the second floor of the building being remodeled across the street.. LOL. "Okay Jayne, don't look now but....
HEY!! I said don't look!" *g*

This was also our last day with the convertible, so we decided to take a drive up the coast on the
Pacific Coast Highway and enjoy the view. We headed out, and sped past the beaches along Santa
Monica, the Palisades, up into Malibu and Topenga Canyon (I hope I have these right, LOL). No, we
didn't see Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's wedding tent, but we didn't know we should have been
looking for it! LOL I found out when we got back that we had driven right past where it was
supposedly set up. Anyway, I got some definite color on my arms and face... I just might have to get
myself a convertible. *g*

We returned to the Promenade for dinner at Mario's, a wonderful Italian restaurant that I remembered from
last year... it's right near the end of the street, just a little hole-in-the-wall place that you wouldn't expect to be
so fabulous just from looking at it. We sat outside on the patio and watched the street performers, a trio of
musicians, one of whom was playing – of all things – a digeridoo! (You know, it's that primitive instrument from the
Aborigines of Australia, made from stringy bark or woolleybutt eucalyptus sapling... it looks like a Matterhorn).
There were many passers-by who stopped to listen (how can you not be intrigued... after all, it comes from
Australia! LOL), and we had fun ‘people-watching' during the short time we had before our week would sadly come
to an end. :-(

Conclusion

Thanks for reading... I hope you enjoyed my self-indulgent chronicle! LOL

Heather
 
 

Ingo Rademacher --- 2 appearances at the Comedy Palace (8pm / 10pm)
Grill 93 --- Andover, Massachusetts
June 17 2000

Thursday 15 June 2000
 

Heather called me at home from the airport in Ottawa to let me know that her flight was delayed. So, I kept checking on the flight, and once it had left Ottawa and had an E.T.A. for Boston, I left home to drive to the airport. Of course, once I got to the airport, the flight was later than planned anyway. There was no information posted on the monitors, and everytime I asked, I was told that the flight was due at 8:22pm. The lack of accurate information was frustrating, but since many flights into Boston had been cancelled, I was just happy that Heather's was not. Eventually her flight landed after circling the city for about an hour at 9:15pm. We stopped for dinner on the way home at On The Border.
 

Friday 16 June 2000
 

We had breakfast and then left Friday morning for Rockport. It was a very hot, humid day, and walking along by the waterfront in Rockport was a perfect place to be, because there was a nice sea breeze to cool us off. We shopped for a few hours and had some ice cream, and then headed into Boston. We ate lunch at Houlihans at Quincy Market, and shopped there for a few hours and then headed back to Haverhill. We had dinner at Mango Grill with Bob, Bill, and Lisa for my birthday.
 

Saturday 17 June 2000
 

We left early for Boston to meet up with La and Steph and stopped at Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast to eat along the way. We picked them up at their hotel in Kenmore Square and drove over to Harvard Square. We walked around and shopped for most of the day, and had lunch at the House of Blues. We left Boston and made a brief stop at the Rockingham Mall, then dropped off La and Steph at their hotel, then Heather and I went home to change for the Ingo shows. We arrived back at Grill 93 around 7pm and had dinner there before the first show. Both shows were great, Ingo looked good, as always :o) We took lots of pictures, and even asked some questions :o) After the second show, when most people had cleared out, we gave Ingo a small gift we had bought for him while shopping, a "Brenda Bender" … he loved it and was very entertained bending it into all different shapes, and said it would be keep him amused on the long plane ride home :o) We took some pictures of him playing with it before we left. We also hung out a bit with Todd before he and Ingo headed back to their hotel.
 

Sunday 18 June 2000
 

We slept in a bit on Sunday and then took our pictures for 1-hour developing. We went back home and ate breakfast and then picked up our pictures and headed into the airport. We had lunch there, and Heather's flight was delayed again. While sitting in the boarding area, we noticed a woman that looked like Genie Francis, and upon closer inspection, discovered that it was indeed Genie Francis :o) She was also waiting for a delayed flight with her husband, Jonathan Frakes, and her two kids, Jameson and Elizabeth. We sat right across from them for about an hour until Heather's flight left.
 
 

Heather's Recap

After a very busy week, I finally found time to sit down and put together a recap of the Andover
Ingo events ... reminiscing about my 'vacation time' with the Angels.  I want to thank Jayne for
her pictures (we combined our rolls of film this time, and so the scans are of all our 'best shots')
and for her assistance in remembering all the details of our weekend together (there are too many
to include here, but I'll do my best to give you the highlights!!).  Thank you to Gina as well, who
filled me in on the Worcester event since I did not attend that show. This was definitely a trip to
remember!  True, there were a few mishaps and unavoidable delays that dampened our spirits,
including ground stoppages at the airport ("What do you mean Boston Air Traffic Control isn't
letting ANYTHING land?"), Angels stuck in terminal hell (that's 'terminal' as in 'airport' and as
in 'lethal', LOL) Glad you finally made it to the Red Sox game, Caren!! *g*... and, of course,
HOT, HOT weather... ("Blue, you only brought PANTS?? Yikes!" or... "Hey La, let's go in this
store for an air conditioning break!" LOL). But overall I think most of us had a great time in
Boston and would return in a heartbeat!

I can't decide what my favorite part of the weekend was, because we had a great time everywhere
we went.  I stayed with Jayne, the hostess with the mostest *g*, who has graciously let me invade
her space during my last two visits to New England. :-) Even Max welcomed me with open paws
this time around, despite the fact that I always insist on taking pictures of him to finish up the rolls
in my camera, and blinding poor kitty with the flash in the process. LOL!

On Friday we visited the seaside village of Rockport, walking along the winding streets, window
shopping at the boutiques and browsing through the souvenir shops.  We had ice cream and
watched the boats sailing in the harbor, then took pictures of some that were docked in the
marina, piled high with lobster traps, rocking in the breeze that was blowing in from the ocean.
The candy store was fun... I spent a lot of time in there, and even found some sugar-free stuff for
diabetics that we don't have in Canada!  I picked up a collectible "Happy Days" canister with
Richie Cunningham and "The Fonz" on the side.  ROTFL  I'm such a kid. :-)   In the afternoon
we browsed through Quincy Market, where I found some interesting jewelry and souvenirs at the
vendors' kiosks that lined the pedestrian walkway.

Since it was Jayne's birthday (she's 29 and holding, I'm told... *vbg*), we went out on Friday
night for drinks and dinner to celebrate with her friends who live in the Boston area.  Bill and Bob
picked us up at Jayne's condo, and I knew the second I got in the car that I was in for an
entertaining evening.  We met another friend, Lisa, at the restaurant, and the five of us had a great
time telling stories and analyzing Canadian geography, LOL.  I laughed more in a few hours that
night than I had in weeks, I'm sure!  The one thing that I took away from the evening is that I will
never look at another leather airplane seat the same way again! *wink* And, despite what Bill
says, I don't believe that all actors are abortive. :-P

As much as we would have liked to have slept in after our celebrations the night before, we had to
be up early on Saturday to meet La and her friend Stephanie for shopping and lunch in Boston.
The weather couldn't have been better, and it was a perfect day for sightseeing.  We went by
Fenway Park, where I admired one of the most recognizable features in sport: the "Green
Monster" in left field.  We saw Harvard, with its well-manicured grounds, and later walked
through the park past the academic buildings.  We also caught a glimpse of MIT and Boston
College.  Shopping in Harvard Square was great fun, although I had more than enough to carry
with all my purchases!  The heaviest one had to be the "Book of Answers", which is the literary
equivalent of a crystal ball.. each page has an answer written on it, and in order to get an answer
to your question, you must concentrate on the dilemma, then open the book to any point once you
feel the time is right.  It was almost spooky how well the answers corresponded with the
questions we asked!  The House of Blues was our restaurant of choice for lunch, complete with
funky decor … la "Luke's Club", some jazzy background music, and memorabilia covering the
walls.  We had our picture taken on the steps outside, one of the few group shots from the
weekend, I think!

The nice weather wasn't destined to last, and by the time we headed back home, a downpour had
started.  But would four determined shoppers let a little rain stop them from finding the perfect
shoes to go with Stephanie's outfit?  No way!  LOL On to the mall!  It didn't take long to make
the purchase, and soon we were headed back to the Tage Inn to get La and Steph checked in.  As
we whizzed by on the highway approaching the exit, I took a picture of the sign at the club next
door to the hotel, advertising Ingo's appearance.

~*~

Show time...

The club filled quickly, and the energy level was high.  Many of those in attendance had not met
Ingo before, and were beyond excited.  It is these fans that I love to watch, because the surprise
and delight on their faces when they get their first glimpse of the Golden One is worth the price of
admission alone! LOL Jayne and I spent time catching up with old friends, and getting to know
new ones.  We got something to eat, ordered drinks, and got our cameras ready (Hmmm... is 8
rolls of film enough for a 45 minute show?  LMAO).  Shortly after 8pm, Mike took the stage and
introduced himself (many of us have spoken with him on the phone, more than once! *g*) and got
the crowd warmed up.  He then handed things over to the comedian whose name escapes me
now.  Although I did laugh at the occasional joke, he was about as forgettable as his act.  Finally,
it was time for Ingo.

When he entered the room, flanked by security, there were wild cheers and applause, with the
music of GH being played in the background as he walked up to the stage.  Maybe it was the
effects of the Hawaiian sun, or the relief of having completed his races, but Ingo was a picture of
relaxation and peace.  He had a 100-watt smile, contrasted against his well-bronzed skin, and his
eyes, if you can believe it, looked bluer than ever.  As Sandy H. put it, "When he's happy he takes
gorgeous to a new level."  (I hope you don't mind me using your line, Sandy, but it fits him to a
'T'!)

The first thing Ingo commented on was the size of the crowd. "What do we have, two thousand
people here?  Wow!"  He looked around the room in awe. He asked if there were any kids under
18 in attendance, and one person put her hand up.  After Ingo learned that her mom was with her,
he asked the room, "Can I say f--k?  It's not a G-rated show," he laughed.  Ingo noticed there
were several men in the audience as well, and thanked them for their support.  "I hope you're here
with your wives," he joked.  To the rowdy bunch on the far side of the room he called out,
"Gettin' some piss into you back there?"  When the crowd laughed, Ingo explained that
'piss' is Australian for 'alcohol.'

Ingo was thoroughly impressed with the welcome he got from the fans.  "This is great... the best
reception I've had in a long time... ever since my character turned out to be a complete loser over
the last two year!"  When the crowd indicated that they didn't want him to leave, Ingo said
"Everyone chip in a dollar and I'll stay for another year".  Joke!! (Never say never, Ingo... have
you heard that Steve's coming back??? *vbg* Ooops... I guess that's considered a spoiler, eh?)

The format of the show was "Question and Answer."  To his credit, Ingo answered pretty much
everything that was asked of him, even questions that were repetitive or invasive.  I tried to
capture as much of it as I could, give or take a few comments that were drowned out by laughter
or whoops of enthusiasm!  LOL

TAKE A LOOK, question marks

Why are you leaving?
As if he had been shot, Ingo immediately reacted with a vehement, "No!!!  No, that's a bad
question to start off with."  There was some definite frustration beneath his smile, as if he has
been getting that question a LOT.  "Let's start with easy ones, like what's your favorite food," he
coaxed.

Will you ever work with Vanessa again?
Again, it was obvious that Ingo has been asked the question many times, and he answered
promptly.  "I don't want to get anyone's hopes up.  I seriously doubt that's going to happen.  Even
though everybody would like to see her and I'd like to see her.  But you never know.  It's not set
in stone yet, I can tell you that.  But anything can happen."

What happened with you and Rebecca Herbst?
Ingo and Becky met, they dated, they broke up... no biggie (I'm paraphrasing, LOL).  When one
fan asked how long he had dated her, Ingo said, "Oh, she's gonna kill me," referring to the fact
that he couldn't quite remember the length of time they were together.  "Six months?  A year?"
Ingo looked out into the audience, perhaps hoping that one of the trivia-friendly fans might have
committed the fact to memory.  He did say that he and Becky were never engaged, and he never
dated her sister as was rumored on the net.  They are very good friends now.  This question was
also raised at the first show, and when someone asked about Becky and her new fianc‚, Ingo
pretended to be caught by surprise, saying, "Becky's engaged?"  (Now he's a comedian, LOL. . .
Just don't quit your day job, Ingo.. Oh wait   you already did!  ROTFL)

How are you going to leave the show?
"You weren't listening before, were you?" laughed Ingo.  "I covered that already."  The fan, who
was sitting a few rows back, had a great comeback:  "I was too busy looking into those eyes!"
Everyone cheered at this, and Ingo smiled.  "From all the way over there, eh?" he teased.

Are you as romantic as the character you play?
In a strong, crass Australian accent Ingo exclaimed, "Bloody 'o, mate!"  He then demonstrated
Australian foreplay by pretending to poke (by that I mean "tap", LOL) an imaginary woman lying
next to him and asking, "Are you awake, love?"  ROTFL  "That's pretty romantic, isn't it?"  he
laughed.  Ingo says personally he's "not very good" with all that.  He said he wouldn't get into his
abilities in the 'love department' and bore everyone.  (Awww... come on, Ingo!  Enquiring minds
want to know!)

The next person to ask a question had a bit of an accent, and Ingo wanted to know where
everyone at her table was from.  She said 'Malden', which Ingo tried (unsuccessfully) to repeat
several times.  He's very into accents -- the Brooklyn one blows me away (there is absolutely no
trace of the Aussie dialect when he delivers his "How you doin'" line … la Joey Tribiani), and his
Scottish accent is pretty killer too.  But the Boston one just isn't quite there yet.  LOL

Will you take off your shirt?
Ingo was fanning himself, trying to cool off a bit by moving the shirt around, but he wouldn't
remove it.  "Maybe later."  A few more women yelled out, "Now!" and he kept saying, "Maybe
later."  He joked that Maurice (Benard, who plays Sonny) would never take his shirt off because
he's a little heavy around the waist.  When a few people "oohhhed" at this comment, Ingo
defended himself, saying that was the nicest thing he could say *g*.  Ingo felt it was only fair,
considering the abuse he takes from other cast members at their own appearances.  "How many
have seen Steve Burton in one of his shows? How does he go on about me?"  LOL Ingo indicated
that he would never say anything bad about Steve, then proceeded to stare blankly ahead,
dropping his jaw a little, and panned the room without any emotion.  A few seconds later Ingo
repeated himself, "I'm not saying anything bad about him."

Can I have a hug?
Ingo said no at first, because if he gives ONE person a hug, everyone will want one (and the
problem with that would be....????  Just kidding).  However, he changed his mind and said that
she would be the first person to ask, the first one to get a hug, and the last one too.  She ran up,
got a big embrace, after which everyone cheered, then just before pulling away she grabbed for his
butt! LOL  Ingo joked as she walked back to her seat that she stole his wallet . . . and his room
key!  This, of course, led to the next question...

Where are you staying?
Ingo laughed, and feigning innocence said,  "Ah, let me think about that... where could the nearest
hotel be?"  (The Tage Inn, where Ingo, Todd and some of the Angels stayed -- in separate rooms,
of course, LOL -- just happened to be right next door to the comedy club, with no other hotels in
the immediate vicinity).  The security guard, who had been sitting near the back of the stage, arms
folded, for the better part of the show, tapped Ingo and whispered something to him that we
couldn't hear.  Ingo nodded and then said to the crowd, "I'm in trouble". LOL

One of the "locals" asked if Ingo wanted to come to a party she and her friends were having.  He
said that he was there only for the evening and then was flying out in the morning (very early!!).
And unfortunately he hadn't had much of a chance to see the beautiful city.  He must have
thought that some people interpreted his comments as 'lip service', because he added that if he
didn't like Boston, he would say so.  "I have no problem saying this place is a sh hole. I was in
Jersey not too long ago, and wondered how long people could live there, it's a real dump.
Actually, Jersey's not that bad," he amended.  Then he said that the whole East Coast reminds
him of Europe.  "It's really pretty.  I flew in this morning, we caught the red-eye, and he said to
Todd (his manager), 'Dude! Look at all the water!  Is Boston on the water?  I had no idea... it's
beautiful!  Boats everywhere..."

Ingo noticed a girl in the audience who was very bronzed, and asked where she got her tan.  She
said North Carolina, but Ingo didn't seem convinced that the sun was that hot there. "That's very
dark . . . did you go to Fake 'N Bake?" he asked. LOL (Does he just make this stuff UP?  Maybe
he *should* be a comedian)  I couldn't hear what she said in response, but Ingo said, "Dirty,
dirty.." then asked if she had tan lines.  Ingo feels strongly about the amount of "coverage" on
sunbathers in the USA.  "There's far too much clothing in America.  The lifeguards wear shorts,
whereas in Australia they wear Speedos... they call them meat hangers, banana hammocks or dick
togs."  LOL (I remember this from his radio interview too).  He looked around the room and
noticed one woman who wasn't smiling.  "She's not impressed," Ingo commented.  "She thought
this would be a G-rated show." (G-string maybe, LOL *g*).  The woman next to her was VERY
into it, though, and Ingo asked if they knew each other.  They said no but they get along really
well.  Ingo asked, "Are you okay with the language, lady?"  He explained that some people don't
like it when he says the "F" word.  He asked how many people don't like it, and about three
people put their hands up.  Ingo said, "You're SO outvoted, I'm sorry."  He laughed, shook his
head, and added, "You're shit out of luck!"  LMAO

Are you and Vanessa still friends?
"Yes, I just called her a little while ago, actually."  This was referring to the first show in
Worcester, where Ingo called Vanessa on his cell phone to ask her about the rumors that she is
returning to GH.  The two seemed very friendly during the chat.  As Gina recapped for me from
the first show, a girl asked him if Vanessa was coming back; he said he hadn't heard anything, but
she said, "Well, it's in this magazine," and Ingo said, "Let me see."  It said "I want to come back"!
LOL Ingo said, "Let's call her and find out!"  He yelled to Todd to pass up his phone and he
scrolled the names in his address book and said "Vanessa Home" and pushed send.  Finally he
said, "Oh my god, you actually answered."  He kept calling her "sweetie".  She confirmed his
"no", that she's not coming back and, and he told her where he was with a room full of his fans
and hers as well.  Ingo asked, "Wanna say 'hi'?" so the fans all yelled.  He said, "Lets try
something."   He put the earpiece to the microphone and told her to say 'hi' and they all heard her
say "Hello."  It was really cool to hear her voice, Gina says.  Ingo then told people that he's
moving and going closer to the beach to hang out and do basically nothing for while and train for
upcoming events.  Okay, back to Andover... Someone said Ingo should have brought her with
him, and he agreed. "We're still friends, and it's great to get..." all of a sudden Ingo stopped, and
turned around, because some people at a table on the side of the room were talking.  "Hello!  Just
because I'm talking to the lady doesn't mean. . . (pause). . . you're so rude!" he reprimanded
jokingly.

There was a comment by one person that she was sick of Chloe's dreams.  Ingo said "everyone"
is sick of the dreams, including he and Tava! "Have you figured it out yet?" he asked, meaning
what the dreams are about.  Yes, Ingo, I think we got that one months ago. LOL "She's seeing
through Helena's eyes". . . Ingo then made some Twilight Zone sound effects... LOL

Who do you like working better with, Brenda or Chloe?
Oh that's a 'put me on the spot' question, he said.  "Who says Brenda?" he asked, and lots of
people cheered.  "Unbelievable," he said.  "Why don't you figure it out for yourselves."  He
added that they are both great to work with, but the storyline right now is terrible.  "All the T-
words," he said.  "Terrible, traumatic, tedious, tired, tearing, tenacious, tormented... torturable..."
he laughed as others threw out names.

What is your best memory from GH?
"My best memory... god, it all blends in.  Best memory?  Well, the funniest thing was probably
when I went onstage for the very first time, the first day I was there, and I thought I'd be really
cool and go familiarize myself with the set, check out the set that I'm going to be working on, so
I went up during the shooting of a scene in "Luke's" where Tony Geary was filming a scene with
someone else -- it doesn't matter who it was, it was Tony Geary!  I walk on the set and I'm like
cool, they're taping a scene, and I'm drinking water, and you know how it happens every now
and then you're like (he imitates taking a drink of water)... and it goes down the wrong way?!
Now I'm at the back just going.. (pretending to choke)... that was the funniest moment, I'm going
to walk on the set my first day when Tony Geary's taping and just f k it up.  LOL  The stage
managers's turning around, going like this.. (shhhh)."

What was your best dramatic storyline?
"The best storyline, material-wise that I had was after Brenda went off the cliff.  That was the
most challenging stuff I ever had to do.  Unfortunately it didn't last for very long, it was only
three weeks and then I was off gambling -- forget about Brenda!" LOL  Imitating Jax in a sad,
dramatic voice, Ingo said, "Brenda!! Oh my god, Brenda!! I love you, you were the love of my
life!! Then we went off... to... where did we go?" Obviously Ingo felt that whole story was
rushed.  Jax had to go win back his fortune in Monte Carlo.  Someone asked Ingo what V's alter-
ego Isabella's last name was and Ingo says in a totally deadpan voice, "You're asking me?"
LMAO  "You have a better memory than I do," he added. (BTW... it was Castillo).  This
reminded him of a scene he taped the other day. . .

Ingo and Brad Maule were doing a scene where they had to speak on the telephone, so the two
sets were beside each other, and the phone conversation was taped 'live' (I didn't know this, I
always thought they did it separately!).  Ingo recounted, "I was dialing, and I said, "Uh, listen...
uh, Tony... Brad it's Ingo, oh sh "  LOL

What are your plans after you leave the show?
"I don't really have definite plans right now.  I've been on the show for four and a half years, and
I haven't really had any time to myself, so I'm going to move my stuff back down to the beach,
but I might take a stab at something that comes along, see what looks good, do a guest role
maybe. . ."

Are you performing at the Nurses Ball?
"No.  I'm in Hawaii.  I got back two weeks ago, I was there for twelve days.  Before I left, the
executive producer Wendy Riche called me up and said, 'Honey, sweetie (she calls him honey and
sweetie? Pardon me while I hurl), could you come back a couple of days early?' and I was like,
'Ah, no.  I can't, because I'm racing on the Sunday and I'm leaving on the Monday, but I'll tell
you what, I'll stay a couple of extra days before I leave, and push my flight back to the
Wednesday so you can shoot some extra episodes and I can pick up some extra cash'." *g* (he
made like he was rubbing bills together).  And Wendy calls back the next day and says don't
worry that won't be necessary, take your vacation, and so Ingo was like, 'okay'.  "Then later on I
found out she was trying to trick me into coming back for the Nurses Ball." (Ingo told us in Long
Island that he hates ballroom dancing!)  After a few laughs, he pretended to be back on the phone
with Wendy.  "Nurses Ball?  Ah, no.. I'm flying to Australia, then Hawaii, then to the moon."

One of our Angels, La (Laura) asked Ingo about his race in Hawaii...(I was curious about this as well!)
Ingo didn't miss a beat.  "Well... after I saw the big shark, I fell off another three times..." A few
people laughed, and he said, "You think I'm joking don't you?  No... like a 10-foot tiger shark.
And I'm falling off in the water.  You see me up here on stage now and think, 'nah...' but I'll
explain it to you." (Please do. . . I think about half the audience passed out when they heard the
word 'shark'.)  Ingo continued to explain the conditions. "From Molokai to Ohahu is one of the
roughest channels between the islands, the wind blows every day and the swell is pretty huge, 15
to 20 foot swells, and high winds.  There are 100 paddlers and 100 escort boats, and we paddled
from Molokai   which is a small island near Maui   to Oahu, and we did that for four and half
hours, and everything went pretty smooth, and the shark popped out in front of me, then
disappeared to the side, and the kayaks we have are very narrow, only 20 inches wide, very
fast..." he stopped for a moment and said, "Am I buzzing?" and added that he was very hot.
Someone said take off your shirt, but Ingo said it would turn into a striptease show (once again, it
behooves me to ask what the problem with that would be????? LOL).  "Anyway, I finished four
hours and eighteen minutes later, and I'm still recovering."

Did the shark come back?
"No, he never came back, forgot about him.  He disappeared.  The thing is, the guy who does my
water bottle exchange gets in the water, holding up his arm... everyone does it, 100 people get in
the water five times each."  There were gasps from the audience at this point, so Ingo added, "No
one's ever been eaten."  Oh sure, Ingo!  That's reassuring. LOL "It's all about being in the right
place at the right time, or the wrong place at the wrong time."  Yikes...

Another woman said she had a request, and Ingo, even before hearing it, said "no".  LOL  This
person's friend let her and her husband, daughter and three dogs and a cat stay while she's
looking for a house, and was too shy to stand up and say hello so her friend asked if Ingo would
say hi to her.  "Hello," he called out.  "Wow... you can do it now you think?  Get up and say
hello."  LOL  She did, it and Ingo asked if her friend was a good houseguest.  The woman nodded
and Ingo said, "You should kick her out soon.  Three months.. it's way too long." LOL

Will you be doing another one of the Ironman triathalons?
"Yeah, I did one of them the Sunday after that kayak race in Hawaii, and there is a series of races
called the Bud Light Oceanman series I'll be doing, up and down the California coast.  It starts
around July 15." He'll do two of those races, then later in October he's going to San Francisco to
do a 15 mile race around Alcatraz on Angel island (Hmm..... 'Angel island', huh?).  He didn't fall
off in the last Alcatraz race, but he fell off three times in the Molokai one... after 16 years of
paddling.

What is the best or worst job you've ever held, and why?
"The worst job I probably ever had was pumping gas for three days.  Three days I lasted," he
said, laughing.  "In Australia, gas stations are big on selling you anything but gas.  (Imitating the
salesman), 'Would you like some dog food, would you like a six-pack of Coke?'  So basically, I
didn't have a job so I thought alright, I'll do this for a while.  The guy told me 'you won't last
unless you sell Pal dog food and Coke cans.'  So Ingo would approach a customer, "How you
doin'?  Hey did you see our special on Pal?  You don't even have to go to the supermarket, I can
just load it right in the back of your car.  We got specials on Coke too, man."  So then they were
like, 'okay you can just shut up'.  I wasn't a very good salesman."

Do you currently have any lady loves right now?
"Not right now." (No elaboration, LOL)

Are you planning to go back to Australia?
"No, I'm not going back to Australia, I'm going to stay in Hollywood, definitely.  My parents are
there, my sister lives there, so I'm pretty much at home now."

Do you have any children?
"Not that I know of."

How tall are you?
(With a high voice and a lisp), "With heels or without? 'Cause with my pumps I'm like 6'10."
ROTFLMAO   He's really 6'2'.

Of everyone on GH, who will you miss the most?
(In a small child's voice) "I'll miss my mommy, and my daddy..." He paused, and then addressed
the question in a different way.  "The thing is, it's not like I'm *leaving* leaving, I'm still going to
see those people, and I can stop by work.  I'm not really that close to any of those people.  I hang
out with Wally a little bit."  This got a positive reaction from the crowd, so Ingo continued.
"Yeah, we go out sometimes and have a boys night out.  It's pretty cool... we go out together and
people see us and they're like (imitating fans pointing and gasping), "hey.. aren't you... but.... oh
my god!!!"  LOL And we're like (putting on another lisp), "Yes?"

How did you get the job on GH?
"I wasn't really going out for any daytime stuff when I came to America, but there was a general
audition for the Casting Director at ABC about a year before I got the job, and basically I wasn't
available to go after that stuff, I was keeping myself available for something else, and then when
GH came along, they called him up and asked him to read for it, and we'll change it for you.  So
basically it came down to me at the end of the audition process.  Usually there's 5 to 10 actors,
but on test day it was just one, just me.  So they had pretty much made up their minds."

What's it actually like working on a soap opera?
"What's it like?  Like a day to day kind of thing?"  Ingo thought for a moment, then launched into
his 'fantasy' of being pampered as a soap star... "Well, it's quite nice actually, I get up in the
morning and my housekeeper has made this beautiful buffet breakfast, the aroma of the coffee
drifts into my open door...over my white satin sheets. Then I (someone yells out "then you wake up") LOL Yea, that's right, you think I'm joking, don't you? LOL My parakeet wakes me up. Then uh, No basically it's, ah, fall out of bed (lol) fall out of bed, get in the garage, OPEN the garage, lol, drive to, I'm only 5 min from work which is really cool, I drive to work, I get into work, I go straight to the doughnuts, 7:00, good, yup, here we go, that's my favorite (Are there many?) No not many, we don't get many doughnuts ever since Disney took over, they kind of cut back a little bit.  It's OK, I tell them to their face.  Every time I go to Disney I raid the fridge there & they look at me and their like (NY accent) "What are you doin, man?" I go "Hey, I work for ABC, OK? No, their good, every thing is good.

Someone says "Hi Ingo"  (Ingo) What, what am I, I'm not even done.  But Hello anyway, Hi, how are you?  Good.  Um, and then I, uh, I go to work, yup, Go to Hair and Makeup, & uh, that's if I have a morning call that is, and then I'm pretty much done before 12 o'clock & if I have an afternoon call, about 2:30, I go to the beach in the morning & workout and come to work about 2:30 in the afternoon.  (sarcastically) It's really easy.

Ingo, Can I ask my question now?
No, you know what, you can sit down and somebody else can ask a question. No , you can GO ahead and ask a question.
If you could only accomplish 1 more thing professionally, what would you choose?
Only 1 more thing? WOW, that's kind of like a question like every… one thing that you could eat for the rest of your life what would it be?  If I can only accomplish 1 more thing?  (thinking) You know what it would be, to be to completely CLEAN up this planet (clapping) LOL That's a lot of  "F" work.  Not in this lifetime LOL
Hi Ingo, it was a pleasure to meet you in the hall earlier.
(Ingo) Oh, yea, that's right the 2000 nurses ball shirt.
 (Girl) I'm so excited, it came in the mail on Friday. (Ingo) (surprised) Oh, really, you just got these. Yea. OMG, that's right, I wasn't there. LOL That's why they look so different, I'm like I haven't seen that before.  CAUSE YOU WEREN'T THERE (ROMFLMAO)  Hey Cool, Hey Great.
OK, In a totally unrelated question from GH or anything.
(Ingo) You can ask personal questions too.
How would you feel, if you were to get married someday, how would you feel about taking the woman's last name (what????) lol
W-O-W!!!!
Because my name is Terri Palingo, and if we got married your name would be Ingo Palingo. ROTFLMAO
It would probably actually help my career. LOL.  Imagine, Hey Ingo Palingo is in that movie.  Your name I would take LOL.  When…sombody's girl…like her name was Rademacher , or something like - Poor girl that I'm going to marry with my last name.

Hi Ingo. (Hi) I just wondered if you ever hear from your Brother on the TV, Jerry? (Someone yells out - Julian)
Yea, I hear from him, last I heard he was blowing up oil fields (LOL) somewhere in Northern Arabia somewhere.  No, I talk, you mean Julian, I talk to Julian, yea.  Not in a while but, yea we chat.  Who? Spona??? Or something, I can't remember what it was, damn thing, I don't know, (someone must yell out word he was looking for) There we go, you see, that's what it was, exactly… he's doing OK (this was very faint & I couldn't catch all the words)

Hi Ingo - I was wondering how you felt about children?
(LONG PAUSE)  Well yea, you got something to tell me? LOL What like names or anything? Like, um, do I want to have any?  "Not right now," Ingo said. Eventually, though? "Yeah, I'll have a dozen," he said jokingly. "Two or three, probably. Isn't it funny how people always have this number in their head? I met someone the other day who said she wanted to have eight children. 'Not with me, you're not!'" Ingo told her.  LOL (In the earlier show at Worcester, he apparently said no more than two or
three, or else he'd have to buy a minivan, LOL).

Will Chloe leave when Jax leaves?
"I really don't know," he said.  When some of the audience members started saying yes, Ingo
commented that they were a "savage crowd", then joked, "Nothing but good Christians in this
crowd."  LOL

Someone who is obviously rather gutsy asked, "Since you gave a hug to the first person who
asked, would you take a picture with the first one to ask for that?"
"No, but good try," Ingo laughed.  Then he started to explain why... "No, I can't..." then changed
his mind.  "Okay. No more first timers for *anything* after this!"  (Aw darn, there goes MY
idea... *koff koff* LMAO).  Two fans came up and posed for a picture with Ingo.

Someone said to Ingo, "I heard you like wine."  To which he replied, "I don't whine!" She
corrected him, saying, "No, to drink," but Ingo continued the joke, putting on his best nasally
voice and said, "I don't whiiiiine, my god, ever!!!"

What is Ingo's favorite wine?
"Penfolds from South Australia.  You can get it at the liquor store.  It's really good."

What Environmental projects are you involved with?
"Greenpeace is one of the main charities I'm involved with because it's the only world
organization that is for basically cleaning up the whole planet.  It attacks all the most important
issues, like Japanese whaling in the arctic, and the deforestation of the rainforests which affects
the ecosystems in the rivers.  Sixty percent of the food you buy in the supermarket is genetically
engineered. For example, they mix fish genes with strawberries so they can withstand the cold
better when they grow them. If you're a member of Greenpeace you get the magazine and you
can read up on all this kind of stuff.  They have to label everything that's genetically engineered;
basically they mix the genes of something like a fruit or vegetable with something that will make it
grow better, so it doesn't get attacked by a certain bug or whatever, but we don't know the side
effects of that and in this country, like Kellogg's Corn Flakes for example... it's genetically
engineered corn.  I don't eat that stuff.  In Europe they won't put it in because the market said no,
we don't want to eat this stuff because we don't know what it does.  So that's one of the things
I'm trying to raise awareness for, because we need to rally as a whole nation, and start saying
'no', this is what we want to eat, and bring down the rates of Cancer and other diseases that are
killing us in this country."

As the audience applauded, I was thinking how 'deep' this was for a comedy club, and yet how
passionate Ingo was about it, and that his sincerity was surely convincing a few people to take a
closer look at their environment and maybe even DO something about it.  I was just about to
comment on this to Jayne when I heard someone exclaim, "Ingo, take your shirt off!"  (LMAO...
was that a big WHOOSH I heard as the significance of the moment went zipping right over the
head of one particularly obtuse fan?)

Would you consider going to CBS?
"No," Ingo laughed.  "Hold on, just a sec... let me do something from Days of Our Lives on
NBC."  Ingo paused a moment to get into character *g*, then said, "Oh my god, I wonder what
Stefano's thinking right now?  Oh my god, there he is! I hope he doesn't see me!"  The audience
laughed, and Ingo said, "Do you walk through your house like that, talking to yourself?  Okay,
some of you may... but most of us don't.  That's a negative on that one."

The next question was from one of the few men in the audience: 'Now that my girlfriend's going
to leave me to stalk you, can you get me a date with Chloe?'
Ingo laughed.  "Yeah sure, just come on down... she's easy man.  I'm joking!!"

Ingo... I hear you sing.
Ingo smiled and began with, "You never close your eyes..." (pause) "I don't remember how that
goes."  (Another pause) "You've lost that loving feeling..."  He stopped.  "Come on, keep going."
coaxed the audience.  Ingo started again, but very slowly...  "Whoa (pause)  that (pause) loving
feeling . . .  I don't really sing that well without a guitar..."  He laughed and added, "But don't
anybody bring one up here!"

Jill, the next person to ask a question, started with, "-I-N-G-O" (like the song about Bingo the
dog).  "Oh that's original!" Ingo teased.  "Keep 'em coming."  She then told Ingo that it was her
birthday, so he asked everyone to sing along with him.  He began with the Happy Birthday song,
then gave three cheers of, "Hip, hip, hooray!" and followed with "For she's a jolly good fellow..."
which got a lot of laughs, and then he ended with a little ditty sung in Australia (those who
attended the Virginia Beach luncheon will remember Ingo and Scott singing these songs to the
birthday girls).

What is the most romantic thing you ever did for a girl?
"Okay, I'll share the story with you.  When I was about 22 I think...23..." he paused, and sang the
first line of American Pie, "A long, long time ago..."  ROTFL.  "I prepared this in the afternoon; I
went to the beach, and I dug a hole and I got a bunch of twigs and stuff to build a fire and I
covered it with newspaper and I put sand over it so no one could tell that there was a fire built
there, because otherwise people might ruin it or something.  So we had these sand dunes that
were near the town that we lived in, so anyway, we went out to dinner and then afterwards we
drove out to the sand dunes and she's like, 'What are we doing?' and I'm like, 'Come on.' We
have these swags in Australia, where we roll up   the jackaroos used to use them when they'd go
away for weeks and weeks; it's like a mattress that has a canvass cover so you can sleep under the
dew and you don't get wet.  Everyone has one of those in Australia; it's a 'shag-o-mattress' in the
back of the car, mate! It's got a pillow, a blanket, and a bottle of wine wrapped in it.  I ended up
lugging this thing down and she's like, 'Where are we going?' So we went down to the beach,
and I unrolled this thing... bottle of wine, couple of plastic cups in there, and boom! One match in
there, and there we were, lying on the beach, looking up at the stars."  Everyone went,
"Awwww...." and he said "Yeah, it was a good night." LOL "A few people got killed on that
beach, but you know, I felt safe."

What do you keep playing with in your pocket?
Ingo stuck his hand in then, and pushed whatever it was forward and up... which of course
resulted in great laughter from the group. The security guy tapped Ingo on the arm and a few
people yelled out, "In trouble again!" but Ingo said, "No we're out of time actually."  There were
a few groans and a chorus of "no's" of disappointment and Ingo says, "Oh my god, come to the
next show!"  Ingo pulled the object out of his pocket.. It was his cell phone!

Any last questions?

They STILL asked him to take off his shirt.
"I'm going to do that in the next show, maybe."
 

Do you think the Red Sox will trade Trot Nixon for Sammy Sosa?
"I don't have red socks!  What red socks are you talking about?"  Ingo played 'dumb' on this one,
then said, "Oh, it's a baseball team, okay right.  I don't watch a lot of sports; I just watched
basketball again for the first time the other day, to give it another shot.  I don't get the thing about
playing seven grand finals; in Australia we played for one.  Here they play seven.  'Best of seven?
Okay.'  Make another eight billion dollars in advertising.  All those poor suckers that watch it
every day."

Did Playgirl ask you to pose?
"Yeah... well, they put my mug on that magazine the first time without me knowing about it.
'Hey, you're on the cover of Playgirl!'  'No I'm not!'  'Yes, you are!'  Okay, that looks like me...
I had no idea.  So, the second time they were going to do it again so we decided to take control
of the photos and that's why we ended up doing it the way we did it.  It was a good interview, I
like the way it came out.  The conversation we had was over the phone, so she basically wrote the
whole conversation out.  I sounded pretty... smart."  LOL

Mike asked everyone to stay where they were, and they would have a chance to buy posters of
Ingo which he would sign in between the two shows, on stage.  Quite a few people lined up to get
an autograph... the line was almost out the door.   Out in the lobby, many people were already
gathering for the second show which was to start at 10pm.

~*~

For reasons that have yet to be satisfactorily explained (at least to anyone I've spoken with who
was in attendance), the second show in Andover was moved from the main comedy hall to the
dining room of Grill 93.  Ordinarily I wouldn't have minded the change of venue, except that the
ambiance for a late night comedy show is not quite the same in a room where you picture senior
citizens enjoying their meals under bright lights in oversized, opulent chairs on castors.  The
energy level was nowhere near that of the first show, as if our adrenaline was being absorbed into
the plush carpeting and upholstery, sucking the life from our hormone-infused bodies. The table
numbers did not match up with those from the other room, so the servers did their best to find
comparable seats for everyone.  However, some guests who were not lucky enough to already be
inside waiting ended up at the back of the room.  I can't really complain, because we ended up
right next to the stage where we were supposed to be, and had a front row view which was great
for picture taking (of course most of our shots are profiles, LOL).

The show started much later than scheduled, but finally things got underway and Mike appeared
to introduce the comedian once again (who wasn't any funnier the second time around... in fact, if
anything, he was more annoying).  Everyone in the room was waiting for one thing   one person,
I should say.  "Are you guys ready for Jax?" yelled Mike.  (Loud screams from the audience)
"The Comedy Palace is very proud to present from General Hospital, Mr. Ingo Rademacher!"

Ingo's arrival wasn't as impressive this time... Ingo emerged from the kitchen, I believe (it was the
same door our wait staff had been using all night).  He hopped on the stage right away, grabbed
the mic and looked around for his chair.  "Anyone seen my stool?" (audience laughs) "So how is
everyone tonight?  It's pretty late isn't it?"  Ingo looked around, unable to see much in the dim
light.  "How many guys in here tonight? One..two..." he counted, pointing them out. He asked if
they were there with their girlfriends or wives.  "Came to keep an eye on her, didn't you?" he
joked, addressing one man at a table down front.

"So you having fun, drinking?  That's what we do in the back room."  Ingo took his cup, and
explained he was having coffee now.  (He only actually had about three sips before he put it down
and left it there for the rest of the show).

The security guard brought Ingo his stool... and he joked that it was the wrong height put with
the mic, if he wanted to sit.  "Okay, here we go..."  He looked out in front of him where many of
the Angels were sitting, and after their cheers of laughter and hollers he observed, "It's the happy
drunk table!"  LOL Loretta was waving hello, and he made a comment about them being "Good
Christians."   He said hello to the people at the table to the right of the stage using his NY accent
again.  "How you doin'?".  Looking over to the table to his left (where Pam, Jayne, Linda and I
were sitting), his face lit up with recognition and he said to Jayne, "Hey, how are you!".  (Hard to
miss us Ingo groupies, I guess LOL).

"Okay, fire away with questions!" Ingo instructed.

Why are you leaving?
Uh-oh, not THAT question again!!   "That's always the first question!!" Ingo lamented.  "Why do
YOU guys think I'm leaving?"  There were a few theories shouted out, but Ingo summed up,
"Four and a half years I've been on the show, I want to do something else."

What are you going to do?
"Nothing.  Basically not very much."

Ingo wanted to liven things up, so he asked, "Anyone know any really good jokes? They can be
dirty.  Come one, everyone's supposed to be funny here tonight!!!"  He tried to convince one girl
in the audience to tell one and share, but she refused.

What is vegemite?
Ingo smiled, then said (tongue-in-cheek), "When you go to Australia, you put it on bread.  And
it's very sweet and very nice, you put it on really thick, and take a big bite out of it."  Several
people laughed, because they know that it's NOT a yummy, sweet-tasting spread.
Ingo then 'fessed up.  "Actually, I thought it was like Nutella.  When we moved from Germany to
Australia, we didn't have Vegemite there, we had Nutella.  I thought that's what it was, so I put it
on really thick.  I almost threw up.  You put it on really thin on toast."

Just then, a cell phone rang!  It was Loretta's daughter Crystal.  She put Ingo on the phone, right
after saying, "Just remember, she'll never be legal!"

Ingo took the phone and said, "How can you call me, interrupting my show?"  No, no... you just
called your mom in the middle of a show...  Your mom is getting her fix of me right now!"  LOL
Ingo said to Loretta, "She said she wants to know if the guy can sleep over on Saturday?  She's
having a party at the house..."  Ingo then told Crystal that her mom said it was fine, have the guy
over, have everyone over.  You can drink all the alcohol, no problem.  He gave the phone back to
Loretta and said he'd make a good parent one of these days.  ROTFL

I don't remember what happened next, but Ingo said to one of the audience members something
like, "You gonna pick my quarter up? (Pause)  You ever see that movie... 'breakin' these legs?'
I'll do a movie, one of these days..."  (It's over my head, LOL)

How are you leaving?
Ingo thought for a moment, then said, "Um...I'm going to walk out of the room..."  Ha ha.
Seriously, "It's still up in the air right now."

It's not fair. (That he's leaving)
Ingo looked very solemn and said, "Well, you know, sometimes things aren't fair."  LOL  He
went on to explain that it has nothing to do with his contract, he's not in negotiations for more
money or anything like that, he just needs to get out and do other things.

Is Brenda coming back?
"A lot of people have been asking me that." (This question is even starting to annoy ME now,
LOL).. Poor Ingo.  Besides, didn't he just say his exit is up in the air?  Do people even listen to
the questions??)

Someone asked if Ingo would call Vanessa like he did at the first show.

Another cell phone rang...

Ingo got back to answering the question about Brenda.  "No, I don't think so.  It would be great
if she came back, it's kind of what everybody wants and that's what soaps never ever want to do,
give people what they want and then have them ride off into the sunset, and everyone stops
watching the show."

Can I give you a hug?
"No." (We've done this before, LOL)

How about a kiss?
Ingo laughed and said sarcastically, "Oh sure, a kiss would be no problem." (He didn't do that
either).

Do you still have your boxers?  (Everyone laughed, so the person asking the question clarified,
"the dogs!!")
Ingo laughed.  "They're mom and dad's, yeah, they're still up there at the lake."

And the "other boxers"?
"Still got those too.. got a few of those."

How did you do in Hawaii?
Just got back, I came 34th out of 93 overall.  22nd in the Kayak division.  And in the King's Race I
came...what 38th or something?  A few people called out, 21st and Ingo said that was out of the
men's.  He laughed, yeah five girls beat me in that race.  Which is okay, that's alright." (Of course
it's alright!!! Those women are professional racers... Ingo has a full time job!!)

Pam called out to Ingo, "Geneva says 'hi'."
"Oh yeah? I'm sorry she couldn't be here. Where is she right now?"

She says she'll see you next month.
"Okay.  (Pause, getting a confused look on his face).  Where?"  LOL

She's in Las Vegas right now.  She'll see you at the GH Luncheon!
"Oh, GH Luncheon!  Duh! Of course, yeah I'll be there, it's my last year so I'll definitely be there.
Maybe." (LOL... sounds like he wasn't so sure after all... but according to Todd, and Kira, it's
confirmed).

What happened to your accent from the show?
"What do I sound like on the show?  Do I sound more American on the show?  I have days when
I'm on the show I sound more American but then when I talk to my friends I sound more
Australian, especially since I was just in Hawaii hangin' out with the boys there... 'Hey mate,
how's is goin'.   You should have heard me four years ago!"

Ingo thought the audience was looking a little tired, and asked if there were any more questions
or should we all just go home. LOL "Was the comedian that bad?" he asked.  A few people
expressed their displeasure (including me).  "Oh come on...no.  He was funny at the back! He did
some jokes on me, and I laughed."

What are your plans?
"Sell my house, move to the beach."

What beach?
"It's somewhere in Los Angeles."  (LOL)

What about moving to New York?
"I just said that to throw the press."  Ingo was hinting at being on another ABC show, I guess. " I
like NY, but not to live for any long period of time."

Someone asked about the Oxygen Bar that was featured on E! (I think).
"I haven't actually been back to that bar since that story.  But I've been meaning to go.  It's
actually not a bad thing, you know, especially in a city like LA, because it's so polluted there all
the time and the oxygen level is so low it's not a bad idea to have a bar up there, I would support
it, they have really good health drinks there too it's just that my schedule has been so crazy I
haven't been back there."  Ingo asked if anyone had ever tried it, and they said no, but they had
had laughing gas.  Ingo has never had it, not even at the dentist.

Do you like junk MacDonald's or Burger King?
Ingo said excitedly, "I love McDonald's, I love Mackers! (That's what he calls it).  It's one of
those things where you eat a little bit of this, a little bit of that... I like junk food way to much to
cut it out of my diet.  I love hot Thai food, I love Sushi, Snickers, Kit Kats (uh-oh... I think Ingo's
about to get MORE chocolate bars mailed to him, LOL).  "I'm not really a big fan of
McDonald's, to tell you the truth.  I like the fries... but the burgers are like rubber... you picture
them scraping the stuff off the floor... that's where the filets are from, it's 'fish waste'.... ewww.
It's true, really, you want to stay away from those.  And the buns have a two and a half year shelf
life."  Everyone laughed, but Ingo was serious.  "I kid you not!  One of my friends was shooting a
commercial for McDonald's down in Australia and they were like, 'No, we're not shooting this
for another six weeks, why did you send us all the buns already?' and the guy at Mackers was
like, 'Don't worry, they've got a shelf life of two and a half years.'  That's without refrigeration.
Cool, huh?  Eat enough of those and you'll never decay when you die!" LOL

Would you ever run for political office?
"No, I don't think I could... I could become a U.S. citizen, but I think you have to be born here..
or is that just for President? It's a good question, I don't know... It's something that I've
definitely thought about, later on down the line, but right now I'm trying to do my bit, and create
awareness through charities like Greenpeace.  But definitely, later on down the line, it could be
good... could be a bit of fun."

There was a bit of a lull, and Ingo commented, "You guys are so quiet... the last crowd was way
more fun than you guys!"  Someone shouted out, "we ARE the last crowd", LOL.  "Oh you are?
Okay, come on, liven up! Okay, everybody stand up!!"  Ingo got up, and raised the mic up.
"Come on, come on... here we go.. Some music!!  Put your arms above your head like this, and
now you're going to yell, on the count of three!  One, two three......"

WHOOOOOOOO !!! the crowd screamed.

"Doesn't that feel better?  Want to do it again?"  Yes?  Okay, go!!! (We did it again).  Now we're
all awake.  Well, not really... okay, everyone get up, go out the front door, and run around the
building twice.  Then try and hold your breath."  LOL

Someone was asking about Ingo's abs, and wanted him to pose for a picture... Ingo said, "You're
dirty... you were dirty in the last show too! You're the one who pauses the video right when I'm
on!! I've seen your type around, yeah."  LOL (Reminds me of the radio D.J. who mentioned all
the women who 'self-loved' to Ingo in the afternoon! LMAO)

Will you miss acting with Becky?
"Becky... I've only ever had one scene with her, I think."  He clarified for those who didn't know
that he means Rebecca Herbst, who plays Elizabeth.  "I dated her for a couple of months, we're
good friends."

Ingo looked out into the audience at the 'Angel table'.  "Loretta, what's up? Did you have a
question or did you want to wait?"
She asked, "Where do you shop?" (Good question, Loretta!)

"For what?" Ingo asked.  LOL

"Just in general, in Beverly Hills," Loretta clarified.

"Shopping for clothes?  Barney's, Frederick's of Hollywood..." he paused, because he knew that
wasn't right.  "Not Frederick's of Hollywood, what's that other one? (Someone in the audience
called out, 'Fred Seigel').  "Yeah, Fred Seigel,"  Ingo repeated.  "I always get the two mixed up.
Barney's.  And Ross!!!  Oh my god, am I the Ross shopper from now on in San Francisco I found
the best one there.  Ross Dress for Less," he explained.  Everyone laughed, and he said you don't
have that?  He even sang the little ditty, "I got it at Ross".  LMFAO "Everything is like $5.99.
You get everything there... the old Ralph Lauren stuff, Calvin Klein, you just go to your pant size
34 (waist size 34, ladies, take note *g*) they have all the different styles."

Someone said that everything's on the floor in that store.  Ingo said, yeah, you just take them
home and wash them. LOL Then he was asked if that's where he got the shirt he was wearing.

"No, I got this at Urban Outfitters, 3rd street promenade."

Where did you get your necklace?
"This is from Hawaii, I got it while I was there.  It's coral."

Have you been into the Boston area?
"No, this is my first time in the Boston area.  It's great, I really like it.  I was saying to my
manager, we flew in early this morning and I was like, 'Wow, cool, there's a lot of water... and I
see a lot of boats, and I'm like, wow, dude this is like on the ocean!'  And I was surprised, it's
pretty, I really like it.  I've heard a lot of really good things about Boston, I'm sorry I'm not going
to have a chance to stay here and check it out, but I'll probably be back one of these days.  Hang
out a little bit, go to university, because I thought it was really smart when I was in Australia, I
wanted to go to Harvard to study law (yeah right, he just wanted to meet the surfer chick with the
law degree!), or that other college, Stanford..."  Someone said they were doing their studies there,
and Ingo asked if there were any other volunteers for a personal tour.  LOL When another girl
said yes, he asked if they would mud wrestle for it.  LMAO! Then he yelled out to no one in
particular, "Can we get a mud wrestling ring in the middle of the room here please!  'No
problems, coming right up.'  We're going to have some fun here tonight."

Would you ever date someone younger than you?
"No, it has to be the same age or older," Ingo responded jokingly. LOL "No, it doesn't matter
what age."

Do you have a girlfriend?
"Right now?"

Yeah?
"Maybe."

What do you need to qualify?
"You need to surf, and have a law degree.  But you need to be a good surfer, you need to be, like,
out there with the boys."

Will you teach us?
"No, you gotta learn... you have to be a surfer from way back.  I'd have to think about that..."

How about if we just pick up surfer dudes on the beach? (Loretta, our fearless angel, was
referring to her encounters in LA).
"How about you just quiet down a little bit," Ingo laughed.  She reiterated her comment, and Ingo
finally got it, saying, "You pick up surf dudes on the beach."  Yes.  "What does that have to do
with me dating anyone?" Everyone laughed.  "Loretta, what're you doing to me now?"  She
blamed alcohol for her behavior.  Ingo said no, alcohol is the reason you fall on the floor.  LOL
Ingo's definition of alcohol abuse?  "Dude, you spilled your drink!" (Bad joke)

Who are you going to miss working with the most?
"Probably Vanessa.  We already answered that... that was in the last show, I guess."

There were some random comments about Chloe, and Ingo said, "Oh my god, you guys are so
harsh. It's a bad storyline for us right now."  Ingo did his best Arnold Shwartzenegger and joked,
"It's not a tum-ah.  You guys should hear the jokes between takes, especially when the Awesome
Foursome work together, which is what we call ourselves, after working together for so months,
nobody could do their lines because all of them were so horrible, and no one knew the dialogue so
it would take FOREVER to tape stuff and the producers would come out and tell us to learn our
lines and rehearse before we come up to the set and we'd say, 'we can't read this stuff more than
once or we'll go crazy!"

How did he like working with Nancy Lee Grahn?
"She's good, we had fun working together... but we never consummated the marriage though."

What's your favorite storyline on GH?
"When Brenda went off the cliff."  A few people laughed.  "It's true!"  Someone complimented
him on his acting, and said it made her cry.  Ingo said, "It made me cry watching myself!! I was
like, 'look at the poor guy'!!"  LOL "That was good because going to the reality of that is what I
did, and I think that's why people liked it so much.  Actually, it was pretty hard.. You kind of live
it every day for three weeks... or however long it was."  He pretended to be talking to the
producers, "Do I get to cry for a WHOLE three weeks, and then be happy, or do I like cry and
then it fades away?"  And they told him, "You get to cry for a whole three weeks and then you go
to.." Ingo forgot AGAIN where Jax went.  LOL  "Monte Carlo!" everyone yelled out.  "Yeah,
gambling," he laughed, then finished up by saying, "So, it was pretty hard... I'd come home
emotionally wrecked every day for three weeks."

When you were at the hospital, did you want to have a scene with Maurice when Carly lost the
baby? (This was my question)

"Yeah, there was this great opportunity to do something with the two of us there, even just a
quick one...you know, 'Sorry about what happened, and...I don't know what else to say to you."
Ingo laughed.

Jayne asked, "Are you going to work with Sarah at all?"
"Sarah?  No, I don't think so.  She's a great actress.  I don't really get to work with that many
people on the show.  They only hitch me up with the bad people," he laughed.

Someone asked about the Soap Opera Digest awards for Hottest Male Star.
Ingo explained the process.  "After Drake Hogestyn won it for 12 years in a row, they changed
the rules so you can only win 2 years in a row," (which is what happened with Ingo).  "Cause I'd
STILL be winning it, right?"  (Cheers, applause).  "Yeah, instead they gave the award to Steve
and he's like, 'I don't want this.  I won best actor last year.'  They got all offended, and Maurice
started whining too.  I told him, 'Dude, you should be happy man, you got the same award that I
got!  They hate that even more," Ingo laughed. ROTFL  "I told him, 'Maurice it means you're
still a good actor, but you're HOT.. you're the hottest!"  (Somehow I think Ingo's words would
be lost on those two, LOL).

Would you like to play a bad character?
"Maybe for a short time, but it's not really what I want to do.  Leading man roles, that's what I
want to do.  The role I'm playing now, except I'd shoot people.  If Jax had a gun it would be
great.  I'm into this whole James Bond thing."

Whatever happened to V?
"The storyline just didn't work out, I guess.  Yeah, she's a great actress, I still keep in touch with
her. She's good.  She wrote a great  screenplay, I hope it's going to get made soon, she's actually
a really talented writer.  She did a guest role on the Pretender.  Her character wasn't the greatest
character, they didn't take advantage of her talent.  They also tried to pair us up, which didn't
work either.  They shouldn't have tried that because the guy was still in love with Brenda."  He
also mentioned that he'd love to work with Stephen Nichols again. "I don't know; it would be
good.  He's great."

Ingo looked around again.  "Everyone really tired, everyone want to go home?"
Noo!!! came the response. LOL

Are you going to be doing Titans, or any prime time soaps?
"I don't think so!" Ingo said in a funny voice.  Todd yelled, "No way!" from the back of the
room.  He quoted from the script (I guess), "Sir, what would your destination be?" then said,
"'Shower, change, Beverly Hills.'  I'm not even going to go there.. Just remember those lines.
But I won't tell you what they're from.  I shouldn't be telling you anything right now.  Get myself
in trouble..."

Someone had brought their mother to the show, since the next day was Father's Day, so this was
'mother's day', I guess... Ingo said, "It's Father's Day?"  LOL

Who do you try to emulate in your acting?
"I don't really try to copy anybody seriously, but there are a few actors that I'll have fun with, just
copy them...but as for character, I don't really look at anyone.  Like Arnold Shwartzenegger (he
did the accent), and then Dougray Scott... (Scottish accent).. "Have you seen Mission Impossible
2? Did you like it? The best thing in that movie was, 'Come here you bad girl!'  Wasn't that the
best line in the movie?  That was my favorite line."

Would you like to do the Bond role?
"We've been talking about that.  That's one of those things, on a serious note, my managers have
been looking into for a few years, and I'd like to pursue that.  In an odd accent, he said, "My
name's Bond, James Bond..' Or should I lower my voice more? (He tried again, too low and
gruff). "That wouldn't work either.  How about a Scottish James Bond?"  (This time he did it in a
rogue accent and it sounded hysterical).  "What do you think?  I don't think there'd ever be an
Australian one."

When is your last air date?
"End of August sometime."

What's your favorite Jax and Brenda memory?
"Eating S'mores.  You guys remember lines from that... (he seemed amazed at the things the fans
can recall)... it was messy.  We had a lot of good moments... so many scenes, every day, I
couldn't remember ten right now."

There was more silence and so Ingo said, "Alright, hey... we're all done?  You guys are so tired!!
It's getting really hot."

How's your relationship with Wally?
"We get along great.. we go hang out.  Actually, Wally came down and paddled with me before I
went to Hawaii, and I had him on the kayak.. He's like, "I can do it!" and I'm like yeah, come on
down... just put your feet on the side, don't try to put your feet in the stirrups.. He puts his feet in
the stirrups, and... flip! Away he goes.  The kayak is really tippy, so you can flip right out of it.
But he did good, he did really good."

There's a rumor that you're dating Vanessa in real life
"There's a rumor that I'm dating Vanessa in real life?  My goodness, I've never heard anything
like that!" Ingo joked.  "It's so old... that's like four years ago.  You guys in Boston are really
slow!"  LOL "Do you go to college?"

Do you have a girlfriend?
"Not at the moment."

What does that mean?
"It means I don't have one at the moment."  ROTFL "I'm always looking.  Right now, you know,
I'm just focused on work.. I'm not searching."

What about the Emmy fight?
"What about a fight at the Emmy's?  I don't know anything about that."

Who broke it up?
Ingo said innocently, "I don't know what you're talking about.  There was never any fight at the
Emmy party."

What's your idea of romance?
Ingo asked who was at the last show, because he was about to do the same joke again.   "My idea
of romance is this... (tapping the imaginary person sleeping next to him), 'honey are you awake?'
Yeah, that's it."

Who is your favorite Winne the Pooh character?
"Winnie himself! Winnie's the Daoist. Daoism is a great philosophy.  Winnie the Pooh is cool."

"Sir, did you have a question?"
A man in the audience said, "Not me."  Ingo asked if he watched the show at all, and he said "No,
my wife fills me in."  Ingo says to her, "Oh yeah? He watches it?"  The wife says sometimes he
watches it.  Ingo asked if they went to bed and watched the tapes, and if the guy liked Hannah,
the one with the dark hair..she's a detective, FBI agent.  "She's alright!  I'll make sure I send
some girls up here next time," Ingo added.  He says he feels sorry for the men who get dragged
along, imitating the wife saying,  'Come on, you gotta drive me, I want to drink.'  The man said it
was his wife's birthday, so Ingo said that in that case they should have some time alone.. "You
can both leave right now... take her out of here to the parking lot, you can come back if you want,
but just go out for five minutes."  LOL "You're a good man for bringing her here."

The security guy tapped Ingo on the arm and told him to wrap it up soon.  "Alright, so we're out
of time.  Actually, I've got to get on a plane in six hours."

When and where will you be in Miami?
"August 12, not sure where (Todd wasn't sure yet either, he's trying to work something out).
Ingo added, "Check out the web page, if you want to become a fan club member, it's
www.ingorademacher..... (he looked over at us to get the rest of the addy, because he never
remembers it exactly!! So Jayne and I are like, "dot net!!!"  LOL.). "It's a really cool site, and a
really cool group of people."

What are you reading right now?
"Um, besides Hussler and Playboy... um, a subscription of... what's that one called... BID... TID...
I don't know.  (um, SID?? LOL) The only thing I read are boating magazines, car magazines,
boating mags, car mags, car mags and boating mags.

What kind of a car do you drive?
"X5... do you know what that is?  You don't get it in Boston yet.  It's the new BMW SUV.  It's a
rocket.. I love it.  Silver and black!!"

"Thanks very much for coming everyone, it's been a splendid night.  (Did he actually say,
'splendid'? LOL).  Have a safe trip back to wherever you're going, and I'll see some of you next
month at the GH luncheon, and then in Florida...and then maybe I'll be back in Boston!"

It was time again for autographs (even though the Q&A was over, Ingo still had a long line ahead
of him!! And he had a VERY early flight!  We hung out for a while after the show and talked to
Todd, who was buzzing around all over the place as usual.  LOL A little later, when Stephanie
had her turn in line to get an autograph, I took a picture of her and La with Ingo.  Earlier in the
day, the four of us had been in Urban Outfitters and had picked up a little 'posable magnetic
sculpture' called the Brenda Bender, LOL, and we gave one to Ingo.  (Funny how he got his shirt
there too...it must be an 'Ingo' kind of store, LOL).  Anyway, he took it out of the can and
immediately shaped it into action... when he noticed the 'bendy boobs', he said they were much
too far apart and had to push them together.  When I pointed out that the fingers were also pliable
and could make the 'peace sign', Ingo thought it would be funnier to have the middle one sticking
straight up. LOL I said, "I have to get a picture of this," so he posed. LOL We were probably the
last ones to leave, and of course Loretta and I with our kleptomaniac minds *g* spent more time
in the lobby to acquire certain "memorabilia", LOL!!!  Don't worry, Loretta... I won't reveal the
'connections' you used to get the BIG poster... or how I managed to end up with dozens of Ingo
pictures and flyers.  LOL (All my offline friends who can't come to these appearances will get
one, for sure!!!)  While a few Angels headed off in their cars, we went next door to the Tage Inn,
although the lounge had closed earlier (it was very late at this point) but everyone was really tired.
 Ingo and Todd were leaving very early in the morning, and would only have about two hours
sleep that night, but hopefully they got some rest on the plane on the way home!!! LOL So, all in
all it was a pretty good night. I had enough energy to pack my suitcase and read magazines in
preparation for my flight the next day as well... and start composing this recap in my head. *g*

~*~

Epilogue *g*

My last day in Boston... and as with every other leg of the trip, there were some minor 'glitches',
including traffic delays, and my missing wallet (I only noticed it wasn't in my purse *after* I had
checked in and gone through security in the airport!! Yikes.. But we found it, on the floor of the
car, thank goodness!).  There were a few flight delays, so Jayne and I had a late lunch and decided
to wait near the gate until more information became available.  The boarding area was so
crowded, we looked for some empty seats on the other side of the lounge, near the windows.
After sitting there for a minute or so, Jayne looks at the woman sitting across from us, holding her
daughter on her lap, and says to me, "That woman really looks like Genie Francis." Having been
fairly oblivious to the people around me, I took a closer look, and waited for the 'non-
recognition' factor to kick in (i.e. some feature or expression that lets me know it's not REALLY
her even though the similarities are remarkable).... only, that didn't happen. The longer I stared
(yes, I was probably being rude!) the more she looked like Genie!  I knew it had to be her when I
saw her husband sitting in the adjacent row of chairs, reading the newspaper... it was Jonathan
Frakes (you might know him as 'Riker' from Star Trek).  I said to Jayne, "There's no doubt it's
them!" No one approached them, but I imagine a few others recognized one or both of them, as
we did.  Genie was wearing a light blue sundress with a matching cardigan, and her hair was
down.  She wore little makeup, and looked even more beautiful in person than on TV; I was
amazed at how slight she was (I guess when they say the camera adds 10 pounds, it's true!).  She
sipped a diet Pepsi and played with the kids while Jonathan continued to read the newspaper.
Later, he took them for a stroll, then Genie took them over to the window to watch the planes
outside.  The children are named Jameson and Elizabeth, and while they are both very fair-haired
(taking after mom), they have many of their father's facial features.  They were also very well
behaved considering they were stuck in a boarding lounge waiting for a delayed flight, and were
probably tired since it was late afternoon.  At one point, Genie wanted to use the cell phone, and
called out to her husband across the way.  LOL If there was anyone in the lounge who hadn't
noticed them by then, they would certainly have now.  They both seemed relaxed, and looked
tanned, having started their vacation (they have a house in Maine, I'm told, because Jonathan
loves New England).

Skip ahead.... my flight is announced, and I board the plane, and end up sitting across from a man
who had been in line in the airport bar behind Jonathan when he ordered a beer.  The man was
kicking himself because he could have offered to buy the beer, but didn't think of it quickly
enough.  Ironically, I was reading an old SOD magazine that Jayne gave me so I wouldn't be
bored on the plane, and it turns out there was an article on Genie performing in a project that her
husband produced.  There was even a picture of the two of them.  If I hadn't been concerned
about interrupting them during 'family time', I would have asked them to sign it.  But I respect
their right to privacy, and didn't want to intrude.  In any case, I'm glad I got the chance to see
Genie, because usually she and Tony Geary don't do personal appearances (like the GH Fan Club
Luncheon), and they tape on a closed set.

So...there you have it, in a rather LARGE nutshell...

And just think, I'm ready to do it all over again next month in LA... for the GH Luncheon!

Will you be there too?

Heather ;-)
Ingo Groupie and darn proud of it. LOL
 
 
 
 

Ingo Rademacher --- 2 appearances at the Brokerage Comedy Club (7:30pm / 10:30pm)
2797 Merrick Road, Bellmore NY 11710 (516 785-8655)
May 6 2000

Gateway Inn
1780 Sunrise Highway
Merrick NY 11566
516 378-7100

Ingo Rademacher --- Soap Star Luncheon with Cameron Mathison (noon-4pm)
Excelsior Hotel, 355 Route 9 South, Manalapan NJ 07726 (732 294-0292)
May 7 2000

Friday 5 May 2000 --- Boston/Haverhill

Heather's flight from Ottawa arrived into Boston around 8:30pm ... I left Haverhill around 7:30pm and picked her up at Logan Airport, and we tried to contact Jeannine to meet us for dinner, but we never found her. We ended up stopping at Friday's in Woburn for dinner, and then went back to my place in Haverhill. We checked email and chatted for awhile before going to sleep, around 2am.
 

Saturday 6 May 2000 --- Haverhill - Long Island

We got up around 7:30am and got ready to leave, doing one last email/internet check before we left at 9am. We stopped for breakfast at Cafe 97, and then went to One Stop Market to pick up some sodas, water, snacks, etc. for the car trip. We also made a stop for gas, and we were on our way by 10:30am. We made a couple of brief stops, and hit some minor traffic, but made it to Long Island by 3:30pm. We checked into the hotel and rested for a bit, then changed and headed off to dinner at the Outback. We got to the Comedy Club around 6:15pm, and they were just starting to let people in for the first show. We ended up sitting about halfway back, which wasn't bad because the club was very small. There were two "warm-up" comedians before Ingo came out, and they were OK, but not that good. Ingo was very entertaining, he seemed very relaxed and appeared to be having a good time. After the first show, Heather and I got in line for the second show, and were very close to the front of the line, so we had much better seats. We saw lots of people from the fan club outside and we ended up all sitting near each other. The two opening acts seemed a lot funnier for the second show, apparently they had been drinking at the bar with Ingo and Todd for 1.5 hours between shows. Ingo was definitely drunker for the second show, and much more entertaining :o) Soon into the show, he realized that there were quite a few people there from the fan club, and about halfway through, he noticed Heather and I wearing our Cancun t-shirts :o) Todd came out and sat in the audience with us, he was also very drunk, and very entertaining. After the show, we talked briefly to Ingo and Todd outside as they were getting into their limo, and then we said goodbye to everyone and headed back to the hotel. We got back around 1am, and ended up chatting until after 2am.
 

Sunday 7 May 2000 --- Long Island - New Jersey - Haverhill

We got up at 7am and were out of the hotel by 9am, they served us a complimentary continental breakfast in the lobby. We hit some traffic getting to New Jersey, but not too bad, and we also got briefly lost, but we arrived at the event about an hour prior to the start. We got a front row table, and chatted with other fan club people we knew for awhile. Kira and Blue had car trouble, and didn't arrive until close to the end of the event. We had dinner and there were auctions, and then autographs and pictures. We got to talk to Ingo for a bit, and also to Todd, and to Kira and Blue briefly as well. After the event, we changed into something more comfortable, stopped for gas and ice for the cooler, and were on our way home. We got stuck in some traffic, stopped to eat dinner in Connecticut, and got home around 11:30pm. Again, we stayed up until almost 2am chatting and checking email/internet ...
 

Monday 8 May 2000 --- Haverhill/Boston

We slept in and then checked email/internet, then headed out to drop off the pictures to be developed and pick up some breakfast. We came back and hung out for a bit, then showered, got Heather packed up, and then headed out to lunch. We had lunch at the 99, then picked up the pictures, which came out really good :o) We then headed into the airport, and Heather was on her way home by 5pm ... I got stuck in a bit of traffic driving home, but arrived about 6pm.
 
 

Heather's Recap

Saturday night on Long Island... feels like Summer already and it's only the beginning of May.

"Man, it's a hot one; like seven inches from the midday sun..."  ~ Rob Thomas ('Smooth' by Santana)

Back home in Ontario, Canada, it's cold and wet. But here in New England, it's warm and sultry... inviting even. The drive from Boston - where I am staying with my excellent hostess Jayne *g* - to Long Island is not only scenic, but educational. I can feel myself decompressing as we near the Coast, and signs of travelers headed for the Atlantic with their sailboats abound.

Jayne and I arrive at the Brokerage Comedy Club in plenty of time for Saturday's early show, but even so, there is a lineup outside the front door. We find a parking space on the side street and join the other Ingo fans waiting patiently (or not so patiently, LOL) to be let in. The club itself is quite small, with seats for about 150 or 200 people. There are tables on risers at the back of the room and on either side of the stage, and then rows of seats going out from the front of the stage. We are seated at the end of one of the center rows, with a good view for picture taking!

Things finally get underway just after 7:30. The emcee jokes that contrary to the typical male/female mix at the Brokerage shows, the audience is literally FULL of women who are there to see Ingo, and that even HE is anxious to meet the Blonde one himself! *g* He does a short stand-up routine, then introduces the headlining comedian, Tommy - a unique character who uses a prop wig, guitar and drum set to imitate all four Beatles, and a ball cap and nerdy glasses to taunt NY Mets fans. Although the response from the audience is lukewarm, I find his Dr. Seuss rap to be quite entertaining!

After much ado and a long-awaited introduction, Ingo appears from the back hallway, wearing khaki pants and a brown t-shirt, heavy boots, and amber-tinted sunglasses. He has a drink in one hand, and waves to his fans before settling on the bar stool that is set up in the center of the stage behind the microphone. He has to raise the mic and comments on the emcee being rather 'short', LOL.

Ingo greets the audience in a loud voice, with a Brookyn accent à la "Joey Tribiani" from the TV show Friends: "How you doin'?" This draws laughs from the crowd, so he repeats it a few times. He says he's been practicing, using Joey as a model. *g*

Before long, questions are being called out from the audience. The fist one, of course, is, "Are you leaving GH?". Ingo says that he is not allowed to answer that, because every time he talks about leaving, he gets a call from a woman named Susan in the Executive Producer's office saying that Wendy Riche wants to talk to him. Ingo then demonstrates his typical reaction to such a call, pretending to quickly dial the phone, and asking Todd (his manager) in a semi-panicked voice if he said anything to a magazine about leaving the show, because Wendy is ticked off again ... and he gets in big, big trouble! LOL After this response, someone in the audience asks, "So, you're staying?" and Ingo responds immediately, "No." LMAO!!!!! (Um, is that a phone I hear ringing, Ingo? LOL)

Ingo does not believe that Brenda will be back for Jax's exit. He doubts it very much, and says he is not getting his hopes up for it. Then, perhaps realizing that he might get in trouble for talking about leaving again, he adds, "But then again, you never know." LOL

Asked why he has chosen to leave the show and what his immediate plans are, Ingo goes on to say that he is taking some time off, and moving back to the beach. He is selling his house, which comes as a big surprise to many of us because he just finished renovating it. "That's why I did it," he laughs (I guess even in Hollywood, resale value is important!) Ingo says he has had the 'whip out', getting his parents to help him fix it up. He pretends to be supervising his father while painting... "You missed a crack up there, only a half hour lunch break for you today!" LOL He also says that part of the reason for moving closer to the beach is that he wants to 'get in shape'. This, of course, draws a huge laugh from the group, but Ingo is serious! What he means is that he wants to get into top racing form for his competitions in Hawaii next month.

Ah yes... Hawaii. Wouldn't we all love to spend a couple of weeks there? Ingo is heading off to the land of sugar cane and pineapples on May 24, and invited anyone who wants to come and watch the races to fly there as well! LOL Ingo joked that we could send him the bill care of Todd Tanguay, then thought better of it and added, "care of General Hospital". He has his first race on the 28th. It's a 32-mile ocean kayak paddle from Molokai to O'ahu, which is one of the toughest races in the world, and Ingo hopes to at least finish it. He called it "four hours in the saddle"; it's a huge challenge and he is really looking forward to it. The week after that is the Outrigger King's Race, on June 4th at 8:00 in the morning, one that Ingo has participated in for the last few years.

Someone asked if Ingo would be attending the Emmys. "I got invited," he said gleefully, giving us all a big grin. He said the call he received was another one from Wendy Riche's office, which had him worried, and he started his 'Todd-did-I-say-anything-to-the-magazines?' routine. "I just had my a** kicked last week!". Usually when it's something bad Ingo doesn't call back for two or three days - and he's suddenly 'really busy', LOL. But this time he called right back, because he knew there wasn't anything wrong... he ran down to the local supermarket and checked all the mags. "Nope, nothing in there!" he joked. So he called back and Wendy said, "Angela Shapiro and I would like to invite you to the Emmys this year", and he said he would love to go because this will be his last year. He said he thinks this is the first time ABC has paid for him to go because usually Dick Clark Productions pays because he presents.

He said that he isn't bringing anyone with him (no date). A few fans yelled out, "I'll go!" and Ingo said "so many choices!" LOL He asked, "Phone number?" Then someone showed Ingo a picture of him and Rebecca Herbst's sister from last year, and he said, "Oh yes, Rebecca's sister... a lot of trouble again. Any other questions or do you want me to go?" LOL Everyone laughed, and Ingo said "just kidding".

The next question was how GH would write Jax off the show. Ingo suggested that everyone write in ideas, because he has not thought about it at all. He has no idea what they will do. He's sure they'll come up with a good ending, but he would like to know. He asked what we thought. "Not off a cliff," someone shouted out. "I could dive off the same cliff," Ingo joked. Then he did his Braveheart imitation, where William Wallace is about to be killed and yells out, "Freedom!" He asked if anyone had seen it, because he thinks it's a great movie. He doesn't think that GH will kill him... perhaps he'll go find Jerry. Someone said, "Go look for V" and Ingo replied, "she lives right down the road; I see her all the time." (referring to Lisa Cerasoli's residence near him in Hollywood Hills, I believe). Another suggestion was "marry Chloe", which actually got a lot of "no's", and Ingo said, "Marry Chloe and then what?". After a few negative suggestions followed, Ingo said, "Gee, somehow I get the feeling that some of you just don't like Chloe!" He asked how many like Chloe, and as the hands went up, Ingo started counting, "One... two... three.... out of... five? I can't see anything in these lights!" LOL They brought up the house lights and he looked out into the crowd, noticing that there were more than five people. The next suggestion was to have Jax get back together with Alexis. "Who wants that?" he asked, sounding surprised. There were many cheers. He said that he and Nancy had some really good scenes and that he liked working with her. Vanessa was his favorite person to work with, however. "We had some really great scenes, we.... I don't know what it was." (More laughter) "Maybe it was all that off-screen stuff (long pause) that never happened." LOL Pressing the issue, another fan commented that Ingo took Vanessa to the soap opera awards. He said, "Yes, but we came very late." He joked that she never returns his calls because she is a 'big movie star'.

As for the men that Ingo likes to work with, he says he loves working with John Ingle - he's brilliant. Will Jax get ELQ? Ingo says it will never happen, LOL. He really likes Billy Warlock too, and talked about the scenes we saw today with the two of them in the bar. Ingo and Wally get along really well too. They worked out the other day at Will Rogers State Beach, Ingo said, because Wally likes kayaking. The only problem is, the ones Ingo uses are very 'tippy', which can be tricky for someone who's not used to them. "It's like if you've never ridden a bike," Ingo explained. Then, imitating Wally, he said, "Dude, I know how to do it! I can kayak!" So Ingo gave in and told him to come on down. He told Wally to put his feet on either side of the kayak and leave them there, or else he would flip over. But in the end, they had a good time, and he's doing well. (I'm assuming this was in reference to the fact that he recently broke up with his wife, Rena Sofer, who played Lois).

Ingo asked where everyone was from. Someone said, "Queens", and Ingo said, "Oh my god...that's where Coming to America" was filmed... he just saw that the other day too. Another person said they were from Long Beach. Ingo got a kick out of this, joking that someone must have really thought long and hard about the name. In a deep voice, with an American accent, he said, "What are we going to call this place?" and responded to his own question with, "I don't know man, it's a long beach." Everyone laughed at this! Then another person announced they were from Hicksville... Ingo commented that it was near the expressway where they got lost earlier in the day. He said the only place that they ended up where they were supposed to be was JFK, when they landed. They got lost everywhere else! LOL

He was asked if he would like to do Broadway. "Actually, you know what? I don't think so," Ingo responded. "I did school musicals when I was in high school, and we didn't get paid anything for that. Broadway is just a lot of work and I like my free time too much. It's not something that I want to pursue.. besides, I'd have to move to New York, and I need the ocean too much." The East Coast audience protested this, saying that he would have the Atlantic Ocean, but Ingo said it's polluted, then added that it's probably not as bad as LA. It's too cold in the winter, he added. He's thinking of moving to South Beach... he gets postcards from Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm, which is like the Gold Coast in Australia where he shot Paradise Beach. He loves that kind of climate.

At this point, someone's camera started making a whirring sound, and Ingo said loudly in an authoritative, German accent, "Stop re-vinding zee film!"

Someone asked Ingo to sign the cover of their Playgirl, and Ingo referred to it as the "d**k magazine", LOL. Then he looked around to see if there were any men in the audience. He promised to sign the magazine after the show, but didn't want to be unfair to the rest of the fans.

The next question was if Jax and Sonny would ever have scenes together again. Ingo said that when Maurice returned to GH, that was something that he thought would happen, but he doesn't know why it didn't. He loves Maurice, and they have wicked ping-pong tournaments. He would love to work with him more, and they had great scenes. They were in the same scenes the other day at the hospital, after Elizabeth cut her hand... in the ER set.

Ingo has no clue what the music box is all about.... someone asked about it, and he seemed to be confused about what they were talking about, then he exclaimed, "Oh that thing!" Someone said they think it has something to do with the Cassadines and Ingo said sarcastically, "Is it that obvious?" LOL!!

Next question... how far in advance do the actors get their scripts? Ingo asked for clarification... "How far in advance do we GET the scripts or READ the scripts?" LOL They get them about a week in advance, and Ingo reads them about five minutes before his scenes. "I'm really good at memorizing." He says you get good at it after a while... especially if you're doing a lot of scenes in one week, it's easier to just do it ahead of time instead of trying to remember everything. He demonstrated his technique by pretending that it was a tape day, and the director says "rolling tape" and he runs over to his mark after quickly reviewing his lines. He says sometimes they blame their unpreparedness on the writing! LOL

Asked if he has a girlfriend, Ingo replied, "No, not at the moment!" Then looked around the stage to see if anyone was there with him. LOL Someone asked, "Do you want one?" and his response was the same. LOL "But I do like girls... I hope that shows!"

Then came the infamous question, "Do you wear boxers or briefs?" His reply was, "Dirty, dirty dirty..." LOL Then Ingo stood up and pulled the band of his underwear up above his pants, revealing the Calvin Klein elastic (more on this in the second show! LOL). After some of the shrieks and cheers had subsided, Ingo said, "I have a horrible body." (Yeah right... not in this universe, LOL!!)

Ingo said he doesn't have anything set up for after he leaves; he doesn't really want anything set up right now. "I went out for a few pilots, but nothing turned out so I'm happy about that, because I don't want to go straight into another job. I turned 29 the other day, and so I'm kind of picky about what I want to do now. I'm going to take some time off, do my beach thing again, bum around a bit, kick back... and if there's any good guest roles that come along like on the WB ... for example Felicity... she needs somebody to play opposite *g* (I guess he likes Keri Russell! LOL)... that's what I'm going to do. Guest spots, movies, anything that comes along that I really want to do. I want to expand my roles.. I've played two characters my whole life: Sean Hayden and Jasper Jacks."

Ingo said that he probably won't ever go back to lifeguarding. There is a problem using the LA county lifeguard headquarters sometimes, if you want a hot shower after a workout. Ingo argues with them that when they come to Australia, they are allowed to use the facilities. "Yeah, but you guys are a social club and we're a professional organization," he said, imitating one of the authorities (they are part of the LA Fire Department). He says one of these days he may have to take the lifeguard test just so he can take a shower! Then he'd have to put in his four hours a year for re-checks.

A girl said she had a present for Ingo... flowers and a balloon that said "hugs and kisses"... he took them from her and tried to find a spot to set them down. Everyone yelled out that he should set them on the little shelf/bar behind him... which Ingo hadn't noticed up to this point. Suddenly he realized he could put his drinking glasses there too! Of course, always the ham, he tried to put the balloon there... and it floated up to the ceiling.

"Never say never" was Ingo's response to whether he would come back to GH or not. Now that he's thinking about leaving is not exactly the time to be thinking about when he would come back. He thinks that GH is the best daytime show there is, the most realistic when it comes to dialogue, and they're constantly trying to improve the writing. It's very hard to put together a show that shoots 45 minutes of TV a day, and then coordinate the storylines. Ingo said that Tava is great, but I got the distinct impression that neither of them are particularly thrilled with the current storyline.

Todd, Ingo's manager, poked his head out into the crowd from the back hallway. Ingo introduced him and said he had been in the bar getting tanked. *g* They had been singing songs, and so someone asked Ingo if he would sing. He said no, that the microphone didn't have enough reverb. The subject turned to birthdays, and Ingo asked who else was a Taurus. "So get this, this is pretty cool... both of my good friends had sons born on my birthday, this year. I'm driving along and I'm like, 'Dude, did you get your boy' and he says 'Yeah, he was born at quarter past twelve this morning' and I'm like, 'that's cool.... Geez!! That's my birthday!!"

Traditional Taurus Traits
Patient and reliable
Warmhearted and loving
Persistent and determined
Placid and security loving

Then he said he always forgets that it's his birthday. "Does that happen to you guys?" Ingo asked. You get up in the morning and it's like half an hour before you realize what day it is! And you don't have a choice but to have a birthday with the family. He says he's training for his race and he doesn't want to go out and night and get drunk. Of course everyone started to laugh because as he said that, Ingo held up his glass and looked behind him at the others on the bar. "This is the first drink I've had in a long time," he explained. He said he was drinking vodka/soda, and the next one up would be a Vodka/Sprite.

Someone asked about the Nurses' Ball, and Ingo said, "I'm SO not going to be there for that!!! Do you have any idea how much I hate doing the nurses' ball? As much as you love it, I hate it. I don't like to dance.. I really don't. I'm going to be in Hawaii when they're shooting that." He said that Wendy asked him to come back a couple of days early and he said it would be impossible (he sounded "really" heartbroken too...LOL).

One of the guys from the club brought Ingo his drink and he said, "This is Audi right here." Ingo asked him if it was like the car, and the guy responded, "No.. it's Artie." Ingo said, "Don't I feel like a f***ing idiot," LOL!! "It's that German thing coming out in me... like audio."

Ingo was asked where he was born... he named the village, Iserlohn-Letmathe, and then he spoke a few words in German to see if anyone would understand. A couple of women did... and they said they could speak German and announced, "Ich leibe diche" (not sure of the spelling, LOL) but Ingo claimed that everyone knows how to say "I love you" and "How are you". Another woman spoke to Ingo in a German accent, although he teased her that it was really a Long Island accent! He did his 'How you doin' imitation again, and asked which of the burrows the accent was from. "Brooklyn" came the response. "I've been working on that... Hey, how the f*** are you doin'?" (Ingo totally did NOT sound like himself when he said this! LOL) He started doing the Sopranos, then said he likes Scottish too.. He wanted to see if we could guess what the next thing he said was from, but said that he had already given it away earlier. People yelled out, "Braveheart!" and so then Ingo wouldn't do it, because we knew what it was from, but I could tell he really wanted to do the accent. *g* He always does it at parties.. He loves the movie, and thinks it's a great love story. Getting into character, he started off with the line, "We don't want to die for these bastards!" And then he replied as William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson), "Fight, and you might die. Run, and you might live.. at least for a while. We'll all be dying a long time from now in our beds; and if we can take back this one day for a chance to pay for the freedom of Scotland, today is that day!"

To Scottish friends I lift a glass
To you, who've kept alive
The memory of heroes past
Across dark moors of time

To you who know this simple truth
And show it near and far
It is the tales we tell ourselves
That make us who we are!

So let us drink to Scotland fair
It's sorrow and it's solace
And lift our glasses in the air
To you and William Wallace

And to the clan that bears his name
My sisters and my brothers
I'd rather be a man in your eyes
Than a king in any others!

~Randall Wallace

Ingo was asked if he is a romantic like his character. He responded, "What do you think?" and a few people said yes!! Then Ingo pretended to ask for another opinion, and called out, "Todd sweetie!" ROTFL He did say that he enjoys being single right now. This led to a discussion of the Jax and Brenda storyline, and how Ingo would have liked to see the story go further when Brenda died. "If you lose somebody that's that close to you in the way they had built the relationship... I was really pi$$ed, actually... I wanted to see him go down." He asked the writers about it, and the answer was Alan Quartermaine is really down.. But Ingo says he would have played it very differently from the way Stuart Damon did. But they didn't take it far enough... he cried for three weeks, and then there was the Monte Carlo thing which Ingo says nobody enjoyed. "They even know it bombed," he added. Ingo said, "They do this whole James Bond thing, and I'm like... well give me a f***ing gun!" LOL Then, imitating the producers, "Oh no, Jax can't have a gun." Someone said that Jax could be the next James Bond!! (I totally agree! LOL)

There was a question about the one time Jax was in jail, and he needed to be reminded of when that was... when they arrested him after Jerry first came on. He joked, "Bail is set at eight million dollars," and that Jax would just have his accountant to fly the money in. He could even pick up some Chinese in Hong Kong along the way. Actually, Ingo got really upset about that aspect of Jax, because he's such an environmentalist. He said that Greenpeace is doing a fantastic job of stopping the whaling in the Arctic, where there is a whale sanctuary... a national park. The government isn't out there doing anything about the Japanese who come in and don't understand that it's not allowed! The Zodiacs are out there tying themselves to the whales and trying to cut them free. But since they're a non-violent organization they can't use guns or force. Ingo said if nothing is done, in 20 or 30 years there won't be any whales left, which would be a shame because they're so pretty to look at.

A woman tried to ask what Ingo wears when doing a love scene, but he jokingly accused her of trying to change the subject away from environmental issues! LOL While most of us think that Jax is a terribly romantic man with wonderful, elaborate surprises, some might be surprised to learn that there is one aspect of Jax's character that Ingo does not appreciate, and that is the fact that he flies in food from all over the world! This bothers him because it costs about $25,000 in jet fuel, about $20,000 for the pilot, then you have to pay the cab to go get it... all that money could go to charity! And what do they do, heat it up in the microwave, if it's not stale already!! He asked us to write to GH about that.

Ingo talked about Anne, his older sister, saying she got married and moved out after he supported her for a while. *g* She's an acupuncturist (more on this later, as well...)

Ingo doesn't know why GH decided to get rid of Jerry.. He said they probably wanted to open up the relationship with Bobbie, and A Martinez became available....

He joked with the people in the front row, who came very early (2:00 in the afternoon) to get a table. He said if they were any closer, he could spit on them! LOL

Another fan came up on stage to present him with a baseball cap, and he thanked her, saying "I know where this goes" and turned around to put it on the ledge. He doesn't have a favorite sport in America, but he used to watch rugby in Australia. Football is too slow in the US... four hours long, etc. He joked about the wives of football fans saying, "Okay honey...I'd like to do something ELSE today!" In rugby, the game is over in an hour and a half, and you can actually see the players faces, you don't have to try and read their names off the jerseys (which is difficult for him because he reads slowly, LOL).

Ingo doesn't really miss Australia, he said, because his whole family is in the States now. He used to live all over in Australia... New South Wales, Queensland, after high school he traveled around and worked at the different resorts, then he lived in Brisbane, and Sydney and on the Gold Coast... now he lives in the Hollywood Hills, but he's moving back down to the beach. What beach? "Just the beach," he answered. LOL Then, jokingly, "It's a long beach."

Working on GH is like doing five shows in one... he doesn't know half the cast members. Going to the awards shows he sees the other actors and says, "Oh yeah, you're on my show!" and they say, "No, you're on MY show!" LOL Someone kidded that it's Tony Geary's show. Ingo laughed and said, "Okay, I'll give you that... but it's his show first, then it's mine. Tony Geary's great, he's fantastic to work with, I really like him, especially since he got his hair cut. It looks good!" As for his own hair, Ingo's had different styles.. He says the spikes are probably his fault, because he plays with it a lot. I get really radical... I don't want to look pretty. "Give me some of that petroleum!" LOL

Someone commented that when she watches Jax, she puts him on pause.. And Ingo said, "You put me on pause?? You SICKO!!" LOL Then he said "you put me on pause and you..." well, let's just say he suggested that she becomes 'master of her own domain'!!! LOL (for those of you who watch Seinfeld, you'll know what I'm talking about! *g*).

Ingo doesn't even know what is happening on the show right now... something about Elizabeth cutting her hand, which he referred to earlier. As for his own storyline, he said, "Chloe gets good news from Tony, then bad news." LOL Someone joked, "She has another dream!" He did say that Jax and Chloe have an argument...they really enjoyed it, they really hated each other that day. He said that his mother told him his dancing sucked in the Russia scenes. "Your timing was way off," she told him. It was 10:00 at night when they shot that, with very little rehearsal, and they just told him to do it. "You've danced before, you've had tons of lessons...just do it!" But Ingo says you forget that stuff.

Another fan asked if Ingo and Maurice are friends, and he replied, "Were you sleeping when I answered that question? Or were you in the bathroom?" Then, bringing up an earlier joke he said, "Oh, I know... you had the TV on pause and you were ************ (the becoming master of your own domain thing again)!" LOL He said they like each other, and they hang out. "I like Maurice. I don't hate anybody...except some of the lifeguards." LOL (At this point, I had tears streaming down my face I was laughing so hard!!!)

When someone told Ingo he has beautiful eyes, he said it's no wonder with all the colored spotlights they had on! He could barely see.

How tall is he? 6 foot 2 (he says he grew recently...LOL)

What does he do on his down time? Ingo says he likes to have sex! (Then someone in the audience said, "No...*down* time!") ROTFL

When it was time to leave, and some people were bemoaning the fact that the show was over, Ingo said "come to the next show... it's in about half an hour." There was a big round of applause, and he hurried off to parts unknown on the other side of the wall...

~*~

Most of the IRFC crowd arrived after the first show was over, and Jayne and I decided to wait outside and catch up with them all! We got great seats for the late show, right near the stage. Ingo and Todd spent the hour and a half between shows in the bar with the comedians from the club, singing Beatles tunes, drinking more, LOL, and gathering material on each other for the second show.

Both the emcee and Tommy (the lead act) gave out autographed pictures from Ingo's 2000 calendar at the beginning of the second show; one by a very democratic method of "pick a number between one and a hundred", and the other by giving it to the person who laughed hardest at his jokes. LOL Ingo had autographed the pics, "To Hot Chick"... ROTFL!!

~*~

For the second show, the emcee asked everyone to stand up and applaud as Ingo walked out... as if we needed encouragement! LOL "How you doin'?" Ingo yelled. He then announced that he had to go to the bathroom, but that he would hold it. (Don't get me started on the comments from the peanut gallery about 'holding it', LOL).

Let me warn you now.. this show was a far cry from the first one!!! There were fewer people in the audience, (most of which Ingo recognized from the fan club) making for a more intimate setting. It was late, the room was dark, everyone had been drinking for a while, and it felt like we were all sitting around in Ingo's living room or something...

He did a bit where he pretended to be on the phone with Steven Spielberg, turning down a movie for $3 million... saying he was in the middle of a show and it was 'little money'! Putting his cell phone away in his pocket was an interesting feat all by itself (you had to be there, LOL).

Ingo sat down and noticed a man sitting right in front. "A dude in the show!" he exclaimed. When the man indicated that he wasn't dragged to the show by his female companion, Ingo said "that's cool!" Then he got a little worried. LOL But he added, "that's cool".

Someone asked where was the tuxedo... Ingo said he was up at f***ing 5 AM that morning, spent eight f***ing hours on the plane, and another f***ing five in a limo, and she expects him to look good after that? Besides, he was appearing as "Ingo" not as "Jax" and Ingo does *not* like to get dressed up, LOL. He asked everyone to order drinks so we could all get buzzed together... LOL The more questions he gets, and the longer the questions go for, the longer drinking time he has. *g*

He said he wanted to hear from us... about the show, about what he's doing, about his exit... *vbg*.. "Oh, what's that about?" He asked jokingly, as if he had purposely opened a big can of worms! "It's a reality baby," he commented. He still wouldn't confirm a date, though.

One girl commented that Jax puts her to bed every day. "You go to bed at 3 PM?" He asked. ROTFL Then he imitated someone asking, "Ingo, did you ever hear of a VCR?" He then proceeded to have a conversation with the woman who asked about the tuxedo... She told him she works in the Garment industry, and he asked, "Is that clothing?" LOL (Jax would know, since it's Chloe's profession!) "English is my second language," he said. "German is also my second language," he added, laughing. "I don't have a first. Isn't that terrible?" He grew up in Germany, but he failed German, got 48% (fail). He did okay for a little while in English... his eighth grade teacher liked him, but after that it was all downhill. When asked what language he thinks in, Ingo said "What are you talking about?" LOL

He asked if anyone traveled a long way to come and see him. One girl said Florida, and Ingo asked if that is in America. He joked, "I know where that is.. It's South!" He said he is going to Miami in August. (I should have said I came all the way from Canada *g*, but I didn't...)

Ingo was asked to take off his sunglasses, and he tried to explain that the lights were very bright and he couldn't see anything! However, he did oblige, and while doing that, nearly fell off his barstool! He managed to catch his footing at the last second, then looked out into the audience and said, "Hey Loretta... ever fall off a barstool?" LOL (For those of you who may not know, one of the IRFC members, Loretta, who hosted a group of fans at her house this past weekend fell off a bar stool not too long ago, and broke her ribs and her nose!) Ingo said he couldn't even tell. (Ingo doesn't have a drinking problem... he drinks, he falls off his barstool, he gets back up... no problem! LOL)

Loretta then introduced her daughter Crystal, who had come to the show to see Ingo in person. "Hello sweetheart," Ingo said. "Are you 21 and over? That's the question I'm supposed to ask." LOL There was a brief discussion about the legal age of consent, and the lines his friends were feeding him about it. He said he just turned 29. "I'm definitely legal!"

Todd made an appearance, and got a round of applause, getting into the discussion. Someone in the audience asked who Todd was, and Ingo replied "my boyfriend", LOL. Ingo said that Todd had been working at Expo '88 in Brisbane, and when Ingo was there he went to the American Pavilion... they never actually ran into each other, but it's funny how paths cross, Ingo said. 'It's a small world," he declared. "How big?" Todd yelled out. "Small," replied Ingo. Then he made a gesture with his hands, holding them a few inches apart. "It's about this big." Oh really??? asked some of the fans. "The world, on a scale!" Ingo clarified, giving a few of us a look that suggested he knew what our gutter minds were thinking! LOL

SIZE DOES MATTER! *eg*

Ingo wanted to take some questions... but he couldn't see anything, so he said just jump up and yell out really loud!!

The first one was about him working with Vanessa. He said his female co-stars come and go... and every time the audience doesn't like someone, they go! People write in, and a few months later that person is out of there! He said he does miss working with her. "We had a fantastic time." He accidentally spit, and explained that they actually have to do lots of takes at GH because he tends to spit a lot! "It's not a very attractive quality." The man in the front row said he could sell it! Ingo says, "I'm going to have to bottle it.. that stuff will dry out fast!"

One of the fans sitting in the front row asked how Ingo got the scar on his lip. "Good question!" Ingo exclaimed, smiling and pointing at the woman who had posed the question. Now, many of us have heard this story, but I'm not sure how many have ever seen the re-enactment! LOL Ingo was anxious to give the play-by-play and act it out. He stood up, moved the stool aside, and proceeded to narrate the event:

"Ingo, in Germany, at seven years old.... 'Okay, I'll play chasies with you... you run and I'll catch you!' Here goes Ingo, running toward the wooden gate... smack, he pushes it open... but... it doesn't open!! But it's an old wooden gate, so it's got a LOT of flexibility... and it's got a nice, big iron lock... right at lip height!" (ROTFL!!! You just *had* to see him when he was doing this.) "I come running, I'm charging down...I smack the gate.. it slams, bounces back and smacks me in the lip. Three stitches. I was on the operating table, bleeding profusely, and they put this green sheet over my head. And then they sewed it up... and I'm like, how the *bleep* did you do that through the sheet? I'm not kidding you! They must have cut a hole in it or something, but I couldn't work it out for the longest time! I'm like, surgery is really amazing..they put a sheet over you, you feel a little tingle tingle, and then.. done! And the thing is not even sewn on to your face! True story."

Someone asked the "boxers or briefs" question again, and Ingo said "guess". Then he decided to have a debate with the audience about the different kinds of underwear. "Normal underpants - that's what we call them in Australia - they're about four inches wide; then you have boxers that are baggy... then you have boxer briefs that are tighter...." and he proceeded to SHOW us what he meant. (Ladies, you'll have to use your imaginations here, because I didn't manage to get a shot of this... darn the luck! So much for traveling light and not bringing an extra camera battery! LOL). Let's just say that as keeper of Ingo's member..(ship), I'm happy to say everything appears to be in fine form. *vbg* (I know, I know... I'm as bad as the rest of them, so sue me...)

Ingo, king of the segues, decided that now would be a good time to announce his appearance in NJ the next day, for the Breast Cancer charity that was started by the Baldwin brothers. LOL (I don't think anyone was paying attention at this point.....our minds were definitely elsewhere!) He said that if we came the next day, he would take more off.. But only if we came up to him and said, "I was at your show last night, and I only got half a show." (Not sure if anyone actually tried this the next day or not! LOL)

What surprised me most was that Ingo seemed completely comfortable taking the initiative to talk about whatever was on his mind at the moment. He encouraged us to ask questions, but when the room got quiet or the fans seemed to be too shy to speak up, he raised his own topics and threw out opinions for us to reply to.

Someone asked why he is leaving GH. He replied, "I got offered more money by Days of Our Lives." (SO not true). "I'm just kidding!!" (Ingo doesn't like that show at all, LOL) He asked what they will call GH when he leaves, because now it's "Ingo Hospital". *g*

Getting more serious about his role, Ingo said that playing his character gets a little boring after a while. Someone said, "especially with Chloe" and Ingo said that's terrible... "Into the sin bin with you!" LOL Then he asked if we knew what that meant... it's an Australian term for penalty box. He said he played a lot of rugby league in high school, and he enjoyed it, but he didn't go to the sin bin.. he did things by the rules.

"There are all kinds of crazy roles that you're going to be seeing me in, hopefully," he said. Everyone cheered, but Todd was being mischievous and started yelling out, "What about Brenda?" LOL

It was about this time that Ingo noticed Jayne and I were wearing our souvenir t-shirts from the last luncheon and yelled out, "Cancun!!!" There were cheers from all of the fan club members there!! He apologized for the weather, saying it was horrible... f***ing atrocious!. He explained that Julian (who played Jerry) had just gotten certified and wanted to go diving, so they drove down and were told it was too windy and they couldn't go out. So they went to look at the lions instead... but he wondered if they ever got fed because they looked sick. There was a sickly ocelot in the cage with them too, and it disturbed Ingo so much that he said it's important to pay attention to our environment, animals included! He talked about the whaling again, and how important Greenpeace is to him.

The next topic of conversation was about him leaving, and whether Brenda might be back... he joked about how unrealistic Brenda's survival would be. "She went off a 300 foot cliff, and the roof was torn off the car...sheared..." (He demonstrated with his hands). He asked if we'd believe it if she came back? He said he could because as an actor, he'd have some really good stuff to work with! He demonstrated what Jax's likely reaction would be to Brenda returning, and then jokingly said that she came back so that she could go down on him one last time, LOL.

Ingo says he loves working with Tava, but that they're both getting a little tired of the storyline. He joked about the lack of chemistry with Hannah... he said, "Why do you think Maurice is working with Sarah Brown?" LOL He said he wasn't insulting anyone, he just pointed out that some actors have chemistry between them, and some don't. If they have chemistry with each other on set, it usually means they want each other off set. He said it's not always the reality, but it helps. He says you can be really attracted to someone and even if you're both in relationships, it helps because you have more of a chemistry on screen.

Another fan gave Ingo a picture that she made of Winnie the Pooh, and someone asked why he likes Pooh so much. He's more into the Classic Pooh as opposed to the more modern one. Ingo spoke about Taoism, and how he became interested in the Eastern philosophy because of his sister Anne, who studied Chinese medicine and is now an acupuncturist.

The basic philosophy behind Taoism is that everyone has their own 'stuff' (problems) to deal with, and they shouldn't get caught up in the media hype of things that are other people's business. Some people think that this means Ingo doesn't care about anything, but that's far from the truth. He cares about a lot of things, but he understands the importance of looking out for yourself and your loved ones, and letting others handle their own problems, because everyone has enough to deal with.

It's been said before, but it bears repeating: there should be a law against looking this delicious! Every now and then, Ingo would just gaze out into the audience (well, what he could see of us, anyway, with all those lights in his eyes, LOL), tilting his head to one side or the other, a hint of that mischievous grin on his face, his eyes hiding some mysterious secret that, if you're lucky, might actually be revealed... Then he would lean back, prop his boots up on the bar in front of him, lick his lips or laugh out loud before launching into another anecdote, with one hand on his drink and the other on the microphone. At times his conversational tone turned more serious, when he decided to share the things that matter most to him. The profundity of his statements brought the atmosphere to a different level, causing him to stop, shake his head and exclaim, "Wow... that was pretty deep! Enough of that. This is a *f***ing* comedy club!" ROTFL

Ingo then decided to ask if it was OK if he said "f***" in here (kind of late now, LOL, since he'd been using the word quite liberally all evening long) … one fan made a comment, and he tried to get her to say the word, but she wouldn't … then he offered her a kiss on the check if she'd say it, but still her answer was "no" … THEN he offered her a kiss on the LIPS if she'd say it, but she still wouldn't give in !!! We were all cheering her on, and even Todd jumped up and said HE'D say it for a kiss on the lips, ROTFL. Ingo then asked if she was married, and asked if she talked dirty to her husband in bed … "F*** me, f*** me, f*** me", LOL. The guy up front agreed with Ingo, LOL.

Ingo was asked if he plans on moving to New York. "No, I don't plan on moving here, ever." He brushed off the 'boo's', saying that everyone has their own place to live. Todd suggested that Ingo might like to live in Hawaii! Ingo said yes, if they moved Hollywood to Hawaii, it would be perfect. He complained about the water temperatures in CA when he is training... and how hard it is to train for a race that will be in 80 degree water, while he is in 65 degree water on the beach in LA, with cold rain coming down in the morning! He loves NY, and coming there on weekends, being in the park, etc.

Ingo said that he would love to work with Finola Hughes. "She's a hottie, isn't she?" He asked. He was thinking of going to do her show, but that would be too soon after GH, I guess.

When asked for autographs, Ingo said he'd sign as much stuff as we wanted the next day.. "I'll sign everything.. body parts...anything you want!" Someone said they can't go... "What do you mean you can't go?" he asked. "You're living right? You're alive, right? You drive there and you just go!" The woman said she's unemployed, and the ticket is $125!! Ingo said, "Someone paid $5000 to have lunch with me!" LOL Well, most of us know that he was talking about Margie, one of the IRFC members, who was in the audience. The group started chanting, "Margie, Margie, Margie!" LOL He said if the woman stood outside the bar, she could get everyone to donate money and she could go. If he had the money, he would have given it to her right then.

And.. before we knew it, it was time to say goodnight... "Any last questions? No marriage proposals?" Ingo asked with a grin. Loretta volunteered that she only wanted sex!! And after a rather x-rated conversation, her poor daughter Crystal called out to Ingo asking if they could please stop talking about her parents! LOL

Ingo finally wrapped things up, saying, "Alright kids... from another big kid.. Cheerio! See you tomorrow!"

~*~

After the show, the IRFC crowd gathered outside the club, near Ingo's limo, waiting for him to come outside. Todd made a friendly exit, as usual, working the crowd and offering smiles to all, and not far behind him was Ingo, accompanied by the obligatory 'muscle'. LOL We said our goodbyes, promising to keep in touch, although most of us were going to be at the event the next day.

~*~

May 7, 2000

I may not drive in NY or NJ very often, but I feel like I now know some of the expressways and turnpikes more intimately than I could ever have imagined. LOL I also learned that one road can have two separate sets of addresses, which have absolutely nothing to do with each other ("Wait a minute... 355 Route 9 is a HOUSE?? Ackk!") But thanks to Jayne's skillful driving and my brilliant navigation ("I can't find any of the highways on this map!! LOL), we made it to Manalapan with time to spare...

~*~

The Excelsior Caterers is a reception hall that specializes in banquets and wedding receptions. Picture a two-story building with ample parking, a grand foyer, spiral staircase, large ballrooms with hardwood dance floors, lots of gold and brass, and plush restrooms... you get the idea. The IRFC group were given the best seats in the house -- two tables at the front of the room, right near the 'action', on either side of the dance floor. However, I think Maria had the BEST seat of all, winning the first auction item which was the seat next to Ingo! Another lucky bidder sat next to Cameron, and the ladies were joined by the organizers to round out the head table. My only complaint about our seats was that we did not have a great view of the leather pants and boots! LOL

Other auction items quickly followed. There were two slow dances with Cameron, and when asked why he wasn't auctioning off a dance, Ingo replied, "My foot is sore." Hmmm... I don't suppose this has anything to do with him telling us that he doesn't like ballroom dancing?? *vbg* Of course, despite his protestations, Ingo still managed to trip the light fantastic with Cameron for a few seconds! LOL

Cameron got cozy with the winners of the slow dances, swaying to the music through two songs as the videographer captured the memories on tape. There was some grabbing of body parts going on during these songs, and poor Cam couldn't protest because these young women had donated a lot to charity and were going to get their money's worth! LOL

After the dances came the auction for the skits with Ingo and Cameron. Ingo's skit went to two lucky bidders for $350, while Cam's went for $300. Ingo had written the dialogue for his skit, and once everyone was in place at the front of the room, he declared that they would be performing the scene with no rehearsal. "This is off the cuff," he said. "Ready?" He then turned to face the two women.

Reading from his script, Ingo addressed the first woman. "Excuse me ma'am... girls... I was wondering what girls like you (he then paused to explain to the audience that he was modifying the script since there were two women, not one, which drew some laughter, then he continued) ...what girls like you were doing in a place like this?"

"That must be the oldest line in the book," the first woman scoffed, placing her hand on her hip and delivering the line with just the right amount of sarcasm.

Ingo tried another 'line' on the second woman. "I seem to have lost my phone number... can I have yours?"

The young woman was not impressed, and responded, "1-800-not interested."

With a thick, Australian accent Ingo made yet another proposal. "How about you and me at the cave down under?"

This drew much laughter from the crowd, and he asked the girls if that had been inappropriate, LOL. One of them responded with a comment about how much it would cost him.

"What are you, a hooker?" (Ingo laughed, then said 'it doesn't say that') "Give me a break lady! Help me, help you! Help me.... help you!" (picture Ingo as Jerry Maguire, making the accompanying hand gestures, LOL!!)

"Aren't you the guy on General Hospital?"

Ingo smiled widely. "I think I am!"

"Yeah right, nice try..." the other woman said skeptically.

"Yeah! I can prove it!" Ingo shouted in a Scottish accent.

The first woman finally gave in and offered him her number... "1-800-I am interested... and by the way, you had me at hello!"

Ingo pretended to be emotional, and repeated, "She had me at hello!" He then did a few "Show me the money" lines before thanking the girls and giving them a big hug.

At this point, we had eaten our salads and bread, but it was time for the main course. We all sat down to enjoy our meals and listen to the background music provided by the DJ. Ingo was getting restless, LOL, and caught's Jayne's attention, and asked her if she had fun last night. Jayne replied that she did, and asked if Ingo did as well. He grinned, and said "yeah", and then asked Jayne if she got any sleep, because he only got about 3 hours, LOL. After lunch, the main auction began.... with another lunch! LOL

The first item up for bids was lunch with Ingo (that's me, he said, LOL) in LA. He said this would be the last one that he'll do... then added jokingly, "because I'm moving to New York." There were loud cheers at this! He explained that it's not a tour, you have to fly yourself to LA, and he will take you to lunch at a beautiful restaurant in Santa Monica.

During the bidding, Ingo was doing all the work, increasing the amount by about fifty dollars each time. He decided to give the bidders a little tip on moving things along by saying, "You can yell out whatever number you want... it usually breaks up the bidding if you make a jump. That's how I got my boat at auction... it was like ten thousand, then twelve, and I yelled out, thirty thousand!". Well, the bidding didn't quite go that high for this item... in fact, Jayne and I jumped in near the end when we realized that the lunch was going for well under $1000... considering Margie paid $5000 for herself and her friends when Ingo auctioned off another lunch in Baltimore. We didn't expect to walk away with it, but for some reason the other bidder dropped out just like that! Ingo seemed very happy that we had won *g*

The DJ put some Beach Boys music on... first was "Surfin' USA", which had Ingo and Cam movin' in their seats. Ingo asked them to turn it up a little bit because he was enjoying it so much. He started to sing along to "When I saw her standing there", and "Barbara Ann".

The next item was a blue bathrobe, which Ingo donned and modeled for the rest of the bidding period. I don't think he expected an item of clothing to draw the kinds of bids it did (although he might recall the blue silk pajamas going for a grand total of $3000!!! LOL). When the bids reached the price of the luncheon auction, Ingo began to wonder why these bidders had not jumped in on the last item. He commented, "Wouldn't you rather have lunch with me for the same price?" LOL

In order to encourage serious bidding on the GH scripts, Ingo suggested "get your friends together, see if you can do a better job than the GH actors!" LOL

The next item was a General Hospital t-shirt with the ABC Daytime logo on the back. The shirt was signed by several cast members, and as Ingo began to read the names, he discovered that some of them were barely legible -- almost like scribbles! "Coltin Scott, Becky Herbst, ... chicken walking through ink, walking across t-shirt" ROTFL!!

Ingo had two copies of February's Playgirl. When asked if he was naked in it, he said no... half naked. LOL Later, Cameron auctioned off a poster of himself in which he was wearing a shirt... "very rare for me," he joked.

It was about this time that Kira and Blue finally arrived at the event, causing a big round of applause from the IRFC crowd, who had been worried about them! The bidding on the Sopranos tour had been held off until they got there, so that was the next item up. As people began bidding, he warned them that they might not want to go up against Kira, LOL!! She was bound and determined to get the tour, and she did! I think Blue and Caren were thrilled at this, to say the least!

Ingo held up some CD's by Brad Maule, and imitated the style of music by singing a few bars of John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High". LOL Karla was the lucky bidder on these!

Next up was a Port Charles package. Since it is a half hour show, Ingo joked that it was a lightweight script... 'featherweight', he said. Ingo took a look at the cover and joked, "Yeah, that's definitely signed by all five cast members." He went on to say, "little studio, little show, low-wage actors...." A chorus of 'Oooh's' went up from the crowd, but Ingo said he was only joking. He likes Port Charles... it's a cool show, kind of like ER. The script was accompanied by a photo of Michael Dietz and Jay Pickett. He said they are his friends, then asked Jayne if he got their names correct. ROTFL!! The two went for 70 dollars.

When Ingo saw the General Hospital mugs that were being auctioned off, he cried out, "These are cool! How come I don't have one of these?" LOL "I have to have one of these! I'm going to start the bidding off at 50 dollars, and I'm going to bid on it myself." Another gentleman went to 60, and Ingo said, "Sir, you don't want to be bidding against me. I like big mugs." LOL Unfortunately, the mug went to someone else for 80 dollars. There were more mugs, however, so Ingo bid 50 dollars on the second one, then went up to 90... He started to sing the bid then, in a sing-song voice, "You say ninety, I say a hundred..." LOL. There were no takers, so he finished off with, "Going once, twice....sold to me for 90 dollars, thank you!" When Ingo was auctioning the final mug, the bidding stalled at 50 dollars, and he said "make me feel better, I paid almost one hundred for mine!"

One item that I thought was really cool was a black "Luke's" t-shirt, like the ones the staff at Luke's club wear on GH. On the back is a silhouette of a saxophone player, and on the front is the logo for Luke's. I bid against Maria on this one, but she managed to snap it up in the end! Congrats Maria! (Can I borrow it sometime? LOL). Another really neat item was two tickets to the Emmys on May 19, which includes dinner with the stars beforehand. Ingo said that the winners could 'get all dressed up', LOL. Karla and Loretta won this !

Finally, almost all of the items had been auctioned off; however, Ingo turned around to look at the table behind him to see if there was anything else left. He noticed a small black purse, and held it up (as a joke) to take bids. Someone yelled out that it was Heather's purse (a young daughter of one of the organizers), and the little girl came running across the room and took it back from Ingo, saying "that's mine!" Ingo told her he was only kidding, he wasn't going to sell it. He asked her name, but she was very shy and wouldn't look at him, hiding behind her hands. Ingo apologized, giving her his best smile, but she was not about to be won over so easily! *g* (unlike us, LOL)

Ingo mentioned his Web site, but got momentarily confused when he tried to remember if it was ingo.net or ingo.com... we corrected him saying it was ingorademacher.net, and he just laughed and said what he does is go to the search engine and type in his name, and it's the first thing that comes up! ROTFL "All I have to do is type my name," he laughed, quite tickled that he could find himself that way. :-)

The last item on the auction block was an 8 day/7night vacation villa in Jamaica!! Ingo's reaction was an enthusiastic, "Bi+chin'!!!". He decided to bid on it, and Cameron, who was also interested, decided he wasn't bidding against Ingo! However, Blue got in on the bidding, and Ingo dropped out (although he seemed to be discussing it with Cam a bit more). Blue walked away with the trip for a real steal! (Hmm... maybe she could invite Ingo to come along... *vbg*)!!

After the auction was finished, Cameron and Ingo took their seats at the autograph tables, where they remained for the rest of the afternoon, signing anything and everything! I asked Ingo to stand for our picture, so I could get a shot of the leather pants! *vbg*, while Jayne opted to stay seated for hers.

He was very generous with his time, spending several minutes with Jayne and myself when we told him we had a gift for him. It was a photograph I had taken of he and Kira in Baltimore, which was enlarged to an 8 by 10, and framed. He stood up and gave us both a big hug, and thanked us for being so thoughtful! *g* (We gave Kira the same picture). Ingo also signed three posters that I had, for some women at the office, who were completely THRILLED when they received them this week. I just love seeing the smiles on people's faces, caused by the Blonde One himself. :-) And finally, after taking up WAY more of his time than I had planned, I asked Ingo to record a special message for a certain someone *wink*... and he did. All in all, my afternoon was made! LOL Jayne had Ingo sign her copy of Playgirl …

Next we got into Cameron's line (which was moving fairly quickly!) and when we got to the front, I realized that he had only one chair behind the table. When I went up for my autograph, Cam said, "Sit or stand?" and pointed at his lap. ROTFL I said stand, because that's how I had posed with Ingo, but afterwards I thought to myself, I could have sat on Cameron's lap... duh!!! Oh well, too late now. LOL Jayne, however, DID take him up oh his offer and had her picture taken with him sitting on his lap *g*

After that, things happened very quickly, and before we knew it the event was coming to a close. I tried to spend as much time catching up with IRFC friends as I could, talking to new friends and ones I have known for years... I won't name them all, because I'd be sure to forget someone! But you know who you are! Jayne and I also spoke to Todd for awhile, and we had a chance to say goodbye to Ingo before he left.

All in all, it was a great weekend, probably one of the best ones I've spent at an Ingo event! And, just to clear things up *g*, any rumors you've heard about the misuse/abuse of a certain "F" word, or comments on underwear 'stuffing', or Todd being asleep in the back of the limo -- are more than likely complete fabrications and have no basis in the truth... *vbg*

... yeah, right... 'Dear Diary' isn't buying it for a second. LOL

Thanks to Jayne for her hospitality, and to Max.... who generously shared his space and left me relatively scratch-free! *vbg* I can't wait to do it all again next month! LOL

Yours truly,
Heather ;-)
aka Ingo Groupie #2

P.S. Does this make Jayne "Ingo Groupie #1" ???
 
 

Ingo Rademacher at a benefit for the Children's Cancer Foundation
Baltimore, Maryland
April 14-17 2000

Marriott Hunt Valley Inn
245 Shawan Road
Hunt Valley, MD 21031
(410) 785-7000

Friday 14 April 2000 --- Haverhill-Manchester-Baltimore

Travel basically went smoothly … I had a bit of a problem trying to find parking at the airport, but I got to the terminal in plenty of time, and my flight left and arrived on time. I got my luggage fairly quickly in Baltimore, then checked on Heather's flight, and it was about 15 minutes late, so I went to pick up the rental car. I waited for Heather near her baggage claim, for not very long, and soon we were on our way to the hotel. We arrived around 2-2:30pm, and our room wasn't ready yet. We saw lots of IRFC people we knew in the lobby, and ended up getting some lunch at the hotel bar. We checked back in at the front desk around 4pm and our room still wasn't ready, but they ended up giving us an upgraded room for no extra charge. So we went to the room and got settled in, and then Caren called and invited us up to her room for Hurricanes :o) We went up there, and hooked up with Caren, Kira, Blue, Jeannine, and Meredith for a bit, then went to the bar. Afterwards, we had an IRFC birthday dinner for Kira at the hotel restaurant, then went back to the bar. By the end of the evening, the bartender, Don, knew all our names :o)
 

Saturday 15 April 2000 --- Baltimore

Heather and I slept in, then went to the hotel restaurant for a buffet breakfast … then we went up to see Blue, Jeannine, and Meredith, who were all still in bed in their jammies reading. We stayed there for awhile, then decided to venture out because Heather needed to go to a drugstore. We called Kira and Caren to see if they needed anything and Kira decided to join us. The three of us went to Wall-Mart for a bit, then came back and hung out again with the gang, we were all kind of lazy. We had some lunch in the hotel bar, then went back to the room to get ready for the evening event. We all met in the bar for a few drinks beforehand, and then headed down to the ballroom. The event was a lot of fun, Ingo looked good, and seemed happy to see us all :o) When he came in to the room and walked by us to his seat, he said "Cancun baby" :o) Todd was there too, and he came over and sat with us for a little while. Ingo came down a few times to talk with us also. Our new favorite was Victor Webster, from "Days of our Lives" … he reminded us all of the character "Ranger" from the Janet Evanovich "Stephanie Plum" novel series. After the event, we all changed clothes and headed back to the bar. Eventually Ingo and Todd and the rest of the soap stars showed up and we got to spend some "quality time" with them :o) Ingo even gave me a neck massage :o) and he played the piano for a bit, singing to Kira :o)
 

Sunday 16 April 2000 --- Baltimore

We were up early to get ready for the morning brunch and the continuation of the event. Todd stopped by briefly, and Ingo was kind of talking to us from the head table. After the event was over, we had some lunch at the bar and then Heather and I went to a mall for awhile. We had dinner at The Outback and then hung out at the bar in the hotel and then in Kira's room.
 

Monday 17 April 2000 --- Baltimore-Manchester-Haverhill

Heather and I got up early and packed and then went to breakfast in the hotel dining room. We went up to Kira and Caren's room to say goodbye, and hung out there for a bit before we had to leave. Heather's flight was about an hour before mine, so I dropped her off at ticketing and went to return the car. My flight left and arrived about 15 minutes late, and I was home by 5:30pm.
 
 

Heather's Recap

Most of the IRFC group arrived in Baltimore on Friday, and met at the Marriott Hunt Valley Inn for the dinner that night.

Each of the guests got a 'goody bag' with various trinkets inside, and AAC coordinator Blue let everyone choose a birthday card for Ingo. Although no specific instructions were given to combine these two items, it seems some people felt compelled to put the combs and/or brushes from their bags INSIDE the birthday cards!! (Gee, could this be a hint that people are tired of the out-of-control spikes on Ingo's head these days? LOL)

As is the standard IRFC tradition, we quickly made friends with our waiters and bartenders. A couple of them even helped out with the mini-auction we had at the table on Friday night. Don was particularly generous with the drinks, going so far as to bring them to our table later on at the event downstairs in the hotel ballroom!! *g*.

Poor Meredith... she was the last one to be served her meal... it seems they forgot her filet mignon on the original order! (Thank goodness for the Hurricanes, and Mere's personal bartender, Caren! *g*).

Saturday evening arrived before we knew it. Most of the IRFC group were lucky enough to be sitting right up front. Our group had a table in the front row next to the dais, with Victor Webster, Drake Hogestyn and Ingo Rademacher all in plain view. Wow. Who could ask for anything more? *g*

Victor and Drake are both from Days of Our Lives, and although I don't watch the show much anymore, I am very aware of who these two talented and handsome actors are, and I was snapping away with my camera.

There were introductions for everyone sitting on the dais, then for the stars.

Ingo's face lit up with recognition when he saw Kira and the rest of the fan club group sitting at the tables up front (where else would we be? *g*). When he got to his seat on the dais and saw the little paper umbrella garnishing his fruit plate, he held it up to us, and with a big grin on his face yelled out, "CANCUN, BAYBEE!" which prompted a chorus of whoops and cheers. He then tucked it behind his right ear, and sat down to his meal. LOL

Anyway, Ingo, being the huge HAM that he is, was posing a lot during the evening, and often got up behind the podium (or on his chair) to show off his brilliant dance moves *vbg*. Now, I'm not insinuating that our Adonis was jealous or anything *g*, but when he noticed that several of us were paying more attention to Victor, Ingo moved over and sat next to him!! LOL Maybe he was worried about a replay of last year, when Kira threatened to start up "Roark Critchlow Net"!

Shirley introduced the children who were representing the Foundation. One young woman (I believe her name is Christie) spoke very eloquently about the CCF and all it does, and about her own personal experience with the disease. She has been in remission for several years, which allows her to consider herself "cured". She mentioned a younger friend of hers who was not as fortunate, however, and passed away recently. It was at this point in her speech where she got a little choked up, and had to stop speaking for a minute. As she tried to regain her composure, there was not a dry eye in the room. At that moment, it really hit home what the night was all about, and what our money was being used for. Very humbling indeed.

After dinner the auction began, with items ranging from scripts, to clothing, to audio recordings of songs sung by the stars, to artwork. Soap Opera Update offered a photograph with the bidder's favorite star to appear in the magazine, and Soap Opera Digest provided two tickets to their 17th Annual Awards show in the year 2001. Victoria Platt (Vicky Spaulding on Guiding Light) sang the Whitney Houston song "I Will Always Love You", and during her performance she sauntered over to Ingo and put one arm around his shoulders as she sang.

She then picked up the tempo with "Best of My Love" , to which Ingo and Victor did a little groovin'. First Ingo pretended to play the saxophone, while Victor swayed to the music.

Then Ingo got up on his chair and gave us a better view of his 'assets'.... ROTFL

Victor even offered Ingo a little money for his efforts! LOL

Ingo was so impressed with Victoria's singing (at least I *think* that's what he was impressed with, LOL) he bid on her autographed color photo and got it for $200!!

Ron Raines (Alan Spaulding on Guiding Light) also did a little singing... or should I say, some BIG singing. This man's voice is very powerful. He reminded me of Robert Goulet singing "To Dream the Impossible Dream". He auctioned off an autographed CD entitled, "Ron Raines Broadway Passion". Scott Holmes auctioned off his Grease jacket, which he wore on Broadway.

Beth Chamberlin (Beth Raines on Guiding Light) auctioned off a black beaded dress, which Drake was very interested in bidding on. However, he wasn't sure if it was the right size for his wife, so he asked one of the guests who had a picture of him with his wife (I believe) if he could take a closer look and 'eyeball it'. LOL We were joking that his wife might be a little insulted if he brought home a dress that was too small! *g* When a few of the other stars started giving Drake a hard time about all the debating he was doing, holding up the bidding, he said he was serious, he has three daughters and a wife who could possibly wear the dress... then he thought twice about the daughter thing and asked if the dress was too racy for a 14 year old. LOL

Now, as I mentioned earlier, Victor Webster was a definite highlight of the evening in terms of eye candy. This man works out, and it shows. One of the items he was auctioning off was a short sleeve shirt. Of course everyone wanted Victor to model the shirt; he complied with the request because it was bound to up the bids! LOL He peeled off his sweater and slowly slipped into the other shirt, flashing it around a little bit before slowly buttoning it up. The flashes from the cameras were clicking away, especially when Victor turned around! *g*

When it was finally Ingo's turn, the first item up for bids was an autographed beige bathrobe. When it was suggested that Ingo model the robe, he put it on.... over TOP of his shirt. "Boo!" hissed the crowd. LOL Ingo refused to remove his shirt. Personally, I think he was afraid of being compared to Victor. *g* However, anyone who has seen his Playgirl spread knows he has nothing to worry about. The robe went for $525.

The next item was lunch with Ingo for four people. He pointed out that this was only a lunch, not a studio tour. "I'll take you to a really nice restaurant," Ingo said, then he looked out at the audience. "Maybe I'll be able to get you on the set, I'm not sure if they'll let me on," he added with a devilish smile. He suggested a nice place in Santa Monica, where he had eaten dinner the night before, overlooking the ocean.

The bidding went up fast and furious... the announcer would take the bid up by $50 each time, and he would check with all the bidders by saying "half, and a half, and a half..." and I was laughing because Ingo was looking out in our table's direction and mouthing those same words over and over quickly, laughing, making it sound like "hafanahafana". LOL

Margie (from IRFC) started to bid, and a few others at the surrounding tables pitched in and offered to add to the total, and much to everyone's surprise, she stayed up all the way to the end. Everyone was chanting, "Go! Go! Go!" When the bids reached $5000 the auctioneer said "Think about it... it's once in a lifetime... are you all through bidding at five thousand?.... Sold!" There was applause all around. Whoo hoo! Congratulations, Margie!

Shirley Howard then introduced Kira, who received a big round of applause. As Kira made her way up to the front, Ingo joked that she "loves public speaking", which brought more laughter from the tables, since we know that Kira isn't one to seek the spotlight or the microphone unless it's for a good cause like this one! Kira announced to Shirley and everyone listening, "We have a donation to make to the Children's Cancer Foundation... two thousand, two hundred and thirty-five dollars." More applause!! Yay IRFC!!!

Kira continued, "And we also have something else, something very special that I'd like Ingo to open up here. This is something we're going to auction off now." She added that Ingo was on the cover of this particular magazine, but that he might not want to open it up to the centerfold, LOL. Ingo then whipped it out... the magazine, that is *eg*... and there was a chorus of 'oohs' and 'ahhhs' and more cheering! He then looked out at the crowd and with a big grin on his face said, "No, I'm not naked inside!" LOL Ingo then teased Shirley, asking her if she had ever heard of Playgirl. She shook her head no, feigning innocence as she rifled through her papers on the table in front of her, and Ingo replied that they'd have to get her a subscription. She was a good sport about it, and took Ingo's teasing very well! Ingo was about to start the bidding, when some of the group called out to him to hold it up again. So he held the magazine sideways, thinking that might be a better view. *g*

Ingo decided to go up by hundreds, starting with $100, then $200. At that point Caren jumped up to help the bidding along (gotta get those bids up there, right? *g*) and then Ingo looked out in to the crowd, and said "Now we'll go up by fifties." LOL She didn't have to stand for long, the bids went up quickly, and the magazine soon went for about $450. Ingo thought he should add a disclaimer, so he joked in a semi-serious voice, "I don't take any responsibility for anybody who is offended by the content of the magazine." LOL

Shirley took the microphone again, and said that she wanted to say a very big thank you to Kira and all of Ingo's fan club and supporters. She asked everyone to stand, and pointed out Todd Tanguay, Ingo's manager, thanking him for all he has done. Todd was dressed for the event in a black suit and white open-collared shirt, with the trademark blue sunglasses from Cancun! *g* His hair is much longer now, and IMO he looks like a laid-back Val Kilmer. Whew! Ingo took the mic from Shirley and blurted out, "He's single too!" ROTFL (I'm sure Todd appreciated that, Ingo! LOL).

At the end of the evening, there was a receiving line where everyone could line up to shake the hands of the stars, although no pictures or autographs were allowed at that time. Those who had paid to have their picture taken with the stars could get in line for that as well. Most of us headed upstairs to the bar just off the main lobby of the hotel, where eventually the stars drifted in to join in the celebrations. I found everyone to be very warm, open and funny, and most of all, obliging! This was technically their "free time", but many of them signed autographs and posed for pictures.

I spoke briefly with Drake Hogestyn, who is an absolute charming man, and told him all about my mother's 'crush'. LOL Just before he moved on to speak with another fan he said, "Tell your mom I said hi." Victor Webster was charming as well, and was a good sport when we asked him to humor us and deliver a few lines from a Janet Evanovich novel. One of the main characters is named Ranger, and there was no doubt in any of our minds that this man was destined to play the part...especially with his dark, good looks and majorly buff bod. *g* If and when they cast the film version, let's hope his agent can get him a reading!! :-)

Ingo treated us to some tunes on the piano, serenading both Kira and Geneva with some ad-libbed lyrics to go along with one of his own compositions. Victor came over to join the group at one point, and got the Blonde One's attention by calling out, "Hey Ing!" (No "o", just "Ing", LOL). The two of them hung out with Mathew St. Patrick (Adrian Sword on AMC, formerly Taggert on GH) as well. Ingo ended his 'concert' by looking up and saying "that's it". LOL

Sunday morning started off a little quieter than the night before, since everyone was either recovering or in shock. LOL The stars looked good, maybe a little overtired, but smiling and alert nonetheless. Victor arrived in all black, with a jacket to match, looking every inch the part of Ranger (it's an obsession for some of us, what can I say). Ingo was wearing a white sweater, and his hair was definitely UP.

Although the blonde highlights are back (hallelujah!) the spikes were looking rather long, prompting many of the fan club to offer him the combs and/or brushes they had received in their care packages at the IRFC dinner on Friday night.

Blue gave Ingo his birthday cards (and combs, LOL) which he began to read immediately. He also looked over our membership list which I had done alphabetically by first name for him, and he commented that we should not let any more Aimee's join, since we have too many as it is. ROTFL (however, if your name is Aimee and you happen to be lurking here on the board and want to join, don't worry... I won't tell Ingo, okay? LOL)

The first things to be auctioned off on Sunday were the skits. Ingo bid on Victoria's, but was outbid by another fan. A few of the fan club members got the high bids on some of the skits (more later...)

Caren bid on a couple of items that Victor was auctioning off... she got a black and white poster and a pair of shorts that he wore in a celebrity basketball game (Days of Our Lives vs. Passions) for the bargain price of $150!!! *g*

One of the things I enjoyed the most was the banter and the interaction between the stars themselves, whether on or off stage. We don't always get to see them hanging out with each other off the set, so it adds another dimension to the person we see in front of us. Drake Hogestyn was very funny, often interjecting amusing anecdotes from the set of Days of Our Lives, or other jokes/stories to add some flavor to the event. During his skit, he told the woman who was playing Marlena "Doc" Evans to his John Black to lower her script, which was covering her face. "If you can see the camera, the camera can see you," he instructed. LOL

Drake talked about the 'one on one' shot, where the actor reflects to the audience. He became very dramatic, saying the actor begins to peel the layers off the onion, and give them everything they want. This is when you show the women of America that you put them on a pedestal not to look up their dresses.... then he turned to his partner and said, "Where was I?" LOL Ingo was eyeing Drake with an amused expression during this speech.

Even Victor was hamming it up in his skit, in which he was playing opposite the character of Kate, whose husband is impotent. Victor said (in character, as Nikolas), "Come on Kate... we both know that Victor can't get it..." (there was laughter from the audience at this point)... "I mean, can't be the husband that you need." She responded with, "He can give me what I want." He then joked, "Okay, I'll send him some Viagra." There was some excitement when he read the directions saying "they embrace". He says, "We have to start planning our first business trip. All work and no play is not good for anyone. So what do you want to do? Work...or play?" *vbg*

Maria (our infamous SID reporter *g*) got to do a skit with Mathew St. Patrick (Adrian Sword, AMC). She did a great job and seemed to have her lines memorized! And, lucky gal, she even had a little congratulatory exchange with Victor!

Ingo's skit was next, which he performed with Lynn, another IRFC member, who also did the skit with Vincent Irizarry. When he saw her come up on stage Ingo said, "You're doing two!?". The scene was taking place in Jax's apartment, and Ingo asked "Who's got the first line?" and began the countdown: 5,4,3,2... Lynn (Chloe) had the first line. "Jax, I'm so happy to be well again and to see that gorgeous face of yours." There was some mumbling off 'in the wings', and Ingo looks over to see Drake chatting with one of the others at the table. "Excuse me!" Ingo says, then switches to a DeNiro-type New York accent as he confronts the star of another popular show (Days), on another network (NBC). "Was I tawkin' during your scene, huh?" (This was payback for Ingo because he and Victor were earlier scolded when they were talking to some fans during Ron Raines' skit, and were asked to return to their seats, LOL). Then Ingo made a crack about GH being the number one show, so Drake retaliated with Days' TV Guide Award (1.1 million votes out of 1.6 million viewers), and Ingo said, "That's because you're on at lunch." Victor jumped in, poking fun at the two of them, saying, "My daddy can beat up your daddy!" Finally, after the laughter subsided, the two of them picked it up again from "Chloe" telling Jax how gorgeous his face is. Ingo was being very campy in this scene, reading his lines with a lot of satire and funny looks! I think he ad-libbed in a couple of spots as well.

Jax: Oh, Chloe, my face isn't that great.

Chloe: Oh yes it is. It was awful not being able to see your bright, big smile.

Jax: Well, it's great to see you smile, and to see you so... happy.

Chloe: The best thing about my illness was that I could go back in my memory and think about all the great times that we had.

Jax: Yes, I'm so glad that you had those memories to hang on to.

Chloe: Oh what wonderful memories of our fun times as two people from Sweden.

Jax: Yes!

Chloe: The best memory of all was spending New Year's Eve in all the different time zones.

Jax: And wouldn't it be nice to be blind again? All those memories? Yes, that was one of my very *special* arrangements that went off perfectly.

Chloe: From now on, whenever we do something special, it's your job to plan it.

Jax: Sounds good to me!

Chloe: Especially another trip to that romantic island we went to. It was the most beautiful memory of all, the first time that we made love.

Jax: Well..uh, you could call it that. (ROTFL!!) Yes!

Ingo then looked at the lines on the page and yelled, "What?" and pointed to one of the ladies on the panel and said, "Faith wrote this". (I believe she authors all of the skits). Ingo was obviously finding the comments a little conceited, because he asked, "Do I have to say this to her myself? 'That was the very best of all my plans.'" Ingo laughed at how silly he thought it sounded. Faith paused a moment, then shot back, "You didn't have to read it." LOL!!!

When it was Stephen Schnetzer's turn to do the skit, Ingo handed him the microphone and said something like are you ready? And Stephen said he was very excited, then began asking for his advice. "Should I lose the glasses?" Ingo joked that he had actually been sent by GH to "check him out", since Another World is no longer on the air. Then Drake chimed in with, "I hear there's an opening in your cast." LOL!! Touché!!

Stephen wanted to say something before he started. "I want to tell you that in the six years that I have done this, this has certainly been the most successful experience. You've all been really wonderful, I hope you all give yourselves a big round of applause right now." (The audience clapped). There's a great group of actors up here and it's been a real pleasure to work with them too." He then proceeded to act out a scene with a lady named Karen, who was quite the actress!

At the end of the event, the CCF thanked all of the soap stars for their contribution. Shirley said, "I want everyone on this dais to know that we love you very, very much, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Speaking for everyone in the room, for our Board of Directors, for the children, for all the doctors, for everyone who has helped, know that there are not enough words to say 'thank you' and to tell you how much we love having you come here to this event. It's the highlight of our year, we wait all year long for this." She stressed that the CCF knows exactly how the money donated is being spent. "We pray for the day when we may hear only adults and children's laughter, and never ever have to hear their cries of pain. So please help us make this a reality."

There was a draw for the door prizes, including 4 Orioles tickets, where the lucky winner could go out to Camden Yards and see Cal Ripken who had just reached 3000 career hits the night before. Drake offered to draw first. He stepped up to the box and said, "We're going to jam our hand down the little hole here...it's exciting." He reached in and added, "It feels good!".

Drake then asked who likes the Orioles, and who likes the Yankees. The applause was mixed... then Shirley said Drake used to play for the Yankees. "Yeah, I did." Then he added, "I want to thank everybody here, all these soap fans. You know, our genre is sometimes in a little bit of trouble, we're losing soaps left and right so it doesn't really matter what show you pull for, I just think that we all share something in common; we're doing a great thing here and we all appreciate the fans coming out."

Drake also talked about an interesting development over at NBC. "You the soap fans are going to be able to determine, for the first time in history, a storyline on Days of Our Lives. Does anybody know that? Whose baby is Princess Gina's? On the Internet, whoever gets the most votes, that's the way the story will go. You see where we're going with this? Interactive TV before long. We're going to be in the middle of a scene, shooting it live, they're gonna stop the scene and say fans vote. Which way do you want the storyline to go? John dies, John lives. It's going to be happening, you watch."

They asked for another number to be drawn, so Drake says, "Okay, Ingo, get up here and draw." Ingo seemed hesitant, so they all coerced him into getting up. (We must have worn him out or something! LOL) Ingo reached in, and commented that Drake was right, it did feel good to stick his hand in. "You want a fresh box?" asked Drake. (Ew...) Ingo pulled something out that was a folded up piece of paper, but that's not what he was supposed to be fishing for (a ticket stub). "That's not it?" he asked, as the crowd laughed. Ingo drew another ticket. "Okay, so what numbers do I say?" He asked. "The last five?" (The audience yelled, 'all of them'). "Al l of them? Okay, 1, 4, 7, 5, 3, 9, and the last number... (pausing)... 9." There was a winner in the back of the room. "Come on down," Ingo called.

The rest of the weekend is a blur... the event ended, everyone said goodbye, and most of the fan club had flights leaving in the afternoon. We hung around in the bar for a while, and a few of us stayed until Monday (which was again, another rainy day!! Sheesh). All in all, though, we had a good time and I'm sure many of us will do it all again next year.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to Ingo! LOL

Heather ;-)
 
 

The Third Annual Ingo Rademacher Fan Club Luncheon
Cancun Mexico, November 1999

Gran Caribe Real Resort & Spa
Blvd. Kukulcan Km. 5.5
Cancun Q. Roo, Mexico.
Telephone: 52 (98) 81-REAL (7325)
Fax: 52 (98) 81-7399

Monday 1 November 1999

I worked a half day, and went home to pack. We ended up leaving late, I didn't pick Meredith up until 8pm. It was a struggle trying to fit all our luggage in my car, plus leave room for Jeannine and her luggage. Meredith had a bunch of merchandise and supplies that Kira had mailed for us to pack in separate bags for us to divide up once we reached the hotel in Boston. We picked up Jeannine, squeezed her and her luggage in the car, and arrived at the airport hotel around 10pm. We left Jeannine and all the luggage with a bellboy to check in, and Meredith and I went to park the car. We thought the hotel was connected to the parking garage, so we figured we'd walk back instead of waiting for the shuttle ... apparently we were wrong because after about a half hour of wandering around, we never found a way to get to the hotel, so we ended up taking the shuttle after all. By the time we got to the room it was 11pm, and we repacked our suitcases to fit in all the supplies and merchandise. I decided to take a shower before bedtime to save time in the morning. We all took turns checking email, and finally went to bed around 1am. The hotel did not have rooms with 3 beds, so Meredith volunteered to sleep on two big chairs pushed together, and let Jeannine and I have the beds. Once we all got settled, Meredith had a giggle attack, which kept us awake longer ... needless to say, we didn't get a lot of sleep, and we never heard the end of Meredith "having" to sleep in the chairs all week long :o)
 

Tuesday 2 November 1999

The alarm went off at 3am, and Jeannine and I awoke to discover Meredith already awake and showering. We were supposed to check in at the terminals 2 hours before flight time since it was an international flight, so we wanted to be out of the hotel by 4am. Jeannine and Meredith had a 6am flight, and mine was at 6:20am. When we checked out, we asked to divide the cost of the room three-ways, and there ended up being an extra penny, which coincidentally ended up on Meredith's bill. So, this tidbit got added to Meredith's seemingly endless mantra about having to sleep in the chair and then having to pay the extra penny for the room. We ended up at the terminals around 4:30am, Jeannine and Meredith flew on Continental, and I was on American (I used a frequent flyer ticket for the trip). I checked in at the ticket counter and got some breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. They didn't open the gate area until 5:30am, and I bought a magazine. My flight left on time, and so did my connecting flight in Miami. I slept a lot of the way from Boston to Miami, and both flights were uneventful. I got to Cancun, picked up my luggage, and found where I was supposed to go to get the transfer shuttle to the hotel. I got the green light at Customs, YAY, and arrived at the hotel around 1:30pm. Meredith, Jeannine, and Kira (who they met up with in Newark) had already checked in (they arrived in Cancun about an hour before me), but our rooms weren't ready yet, so I walked around the hotel checking it out and looking for them. I ran into them in the lobby on my way back through, and we all went to the pool/beach restaurant for lunch. The waiter liked Meredith, and tried to get her to do a tequila shot and lick the salt off of his arm, which she refused to do. After lunch, our rooms were ready, and we went and unpacked then sat by the pool for a while. We had dinner and drinks, and met up with Caren who just arrived.
 

Wednesday 3 November 1999

After breakfast, we met up with Jeannine, plus Blue and Heather, who had both arrived late the night before, and we sat by the pool for a while, until the rain started. We had lunch, then worked on some fan club stuff, then went to shower and wait for Ingo to arrive. We met for drinks in the lobby, and Ingo, his parents (Arndt and Roswitha), his sister (Anne) and brother-in-law (Volodar), and his manager (Todd) arrived shortly afterwards. Once they checked in, Ingo came over to say hello to all of us and chat for a bit, before heading up to his room. We hung out at the bar for a bit, and when I went to the ladies room awhile later, I ran into Ingo and Todd exploring the hotel and I stopped to chat with them for a bit. We had dinner, then worked on more fan club stuff afterwards.
 

Thursday 4 November 1999

The weather was mostly good and we spent a lot of the day by the pool. Ingo came out for a while, and was recognized by a few fans that were not in our group, and totally shocked to see him there. I talked to him briefly, and later on he came by the pool bar and hung out with us for a bit. We worked on some fan club stuff for a while, then a small group of us (me, Meredith, Jeannine, Blue, Heather, Caren, and Kira) had dinner with Ingo and Todd. Julian arrived while we were eating and came over to talk with Ingo for a bit. After dinner, we hung out at the bar for a while with Todd.
 

Friday 5 November 1999

We saw Ingo and Julian at breakfast. It rained almost the entire day, and we spent most of it working on fan club stuff preparing for the weekend events. There was a fan club gathering in the lobby bar, which we attended briefly.
 

Saturday 6 November 1999

We were up early to get ready for the luncheon. I was scheduled to work at the merchandise table with Anne and Volodar. Ingo had the merchandise in his room, and he brought it down before the event, and helped me get the table setup. He asked me to wear one of the t-shirts for the day, and told me to pick out whichever one I'd like as a gift from him :o) I helped with check-in, and had a front row reserved seat for the morning portion of the event. Kira introduced Ingo, and then they presented all the officers with certificates of appreciation, signed by both of them ... we each went up on stage to receive them (and a hug) from Ingo. Julian arrived and Ingo and Julian acted out a few scenes, before breaking for lunch. After lunch, I worked at the merchandise table for most of the rest of the event with Anne and Volodar. They showed me their wedding pictures, which were beautiful, I really enjoyed spending time with them. I had Ingo autograph my copy of his Playgirl cover, and got a picture taken with him. I also won one of Ingo's Hawaii Outrigger race t-shirts and a GH script in the auction. Once the event was over, the officers posed for a group picture with Ingo, and Ingo helped me pack up the merchandise that wasn't sold. We did some more work preparing for Sunday's event, then went down to the bar, where Ingo, Julian, Todd, and Ingo's parents joined us for awhile.
 

Sunday 7 November 1999

Since it was raining once again, we changed the "beach" olympics event to the "ballroom" olympics event. I helped with check-in, and Ingo and Julian arrived early to help setup. I mostly observed the activities, and took pictures. There was an egg/spoon relay race, a three-legged race, a soccer game and a ping-pong game. Julian's team won the relay (despite multiple cheating attempts by both sides), and Ingo's team won the race. The soccer game ended in a tie, so Ingo and Julian had a penalty kick playoff, which Julian won. Ingo beat Julian in the ping-pong game, however. The weather cleared up enough so that the final event was moved outdoors, water volleyball ... they didn't keep score and just played for fun :o) Afterwards, Julian went inside to prepare for his event that evening, and Ingo went swimming in the ocean with his Mom and Volodar. We had lunch in the pool/beach restaurant, and Ingo and his family came in while we were eating. Ingo tried out his new camera (a present from the fan club) and took a picture of us at the table. Then it was on to Julian's event, which we also worked at, for check-in and setup. I had my picture taken with Julian and had him sign a picture of him that I had bought. Ingo worked at the merchandise table with Kira and Caren, and I sat with Meredith, Heather, Jeannine, and Blue. Ingo and Julian demonstrated an acting fight scene, and also acted out a GH scene. Ingo showed us what a Julian temper tantrum on the set was like, which was hilarious. Following Julian's event, Ingo and Todd hung out at the bar with us until 4am drinking, singing, and playing pool.
 

Monday 8 November 1999

We sat in the sun by the pool for a while, and Heather and I went for a walk on the beach and swimming in the ocean, which was beautiful. Ingo and his whole crew and Julian were all leaving today, and we met them in the lobby to say goodbye. After checking out, Ingo came over and thanked us all for everything, and we each got a hug :o) We went back to the room and packed, had dinner, and relaxed with everyone to say goodbye.
 

Tuesday 9 November 1999

Blue left very early in the morning, and Heather left early for a tour since she wasn't leaving Cancun until Wednesday. Kira, Caren, Jeannine, Meredith, and I rented a taxi (a large one) to take us to the airport together. My check-in line was quick and I waited with them while they checked in. The flight that Kira, Jeannine, and Meredith were on left first, and we walked them to the gate to say goodbye. Caren and I had lunch, and then she left, and my flight left soon after. Once again, all my flights were on time, and I had no problems with customs in Miami. I ran into a guy from work at the gate who was on my flight to Boston.
 

Make-A-Wish Dinner Dance with Julian Stone (and other soap stars)
7 August 1999 - Springfield MA

Meredith drove us to Springfield MA from Haverhill MA (about a 2 hour drive) on Saturday afternoon. It was a fairly uneventful trip ... we made one wrong turn and went about 5 minutes out of our way, but other than that, we had no problems. We arrived about 15 minutes early, and found a table close to the reserved tables set up for the celebrity guests. We checked out the silent auction items, I bid on the Julian Stone autographed Teddy Bear and a GH script from the 1999 Nurses Ball signed by the cast along with a Nurses Ball T-shirt signed by Julian (I didn't win either ... oh well).
 

While waiting for the stars to arrive, we had a few appetizers, and other guests joined us at our table. There was an older couple at our table, and the husband was extremely opinionated (I was just waiting for Meredith to tell him to "kiss her butt", but she restrained herself admirably ... LOL). We ended up having to order White Russians so that we could cope with his non-stop complaining. This guy did not stop talking until he ate dinner and then he left (thank goodness).
 

The event was very casual, there were no organized autograph tables, everyone just mingled and went up to the stars to chat, take pictures, get autographs, etc. After dinner, Meredith and I found Julian and chatted with him for a bit and took some pictures. The only other star there I recognized was Don Jeffcoat from OLTL, and we also went over and talked to him and took some pictures. He told us that he and Ingo were "best buds".
 

We hung out for awhile, watching everyone, and keeping an eye on a teenaged girl stalking poor Julian. This girl was all over him, following him everywhere but the men's room ... LOL. She also took every opportunity to touch/grab him. We noticed another fan that was with him a lot, and it turns out it was the PR director of his fan club trying to protect him from the teenaged stalker ... LOL.
 

We went over to Julian when we were getting ready to leave, and ended up chatting with him and his fan club PR director for awhile. He told us that his daughter has a crush on Ingo (she's 5, starting young, but has good taste ... LOL), and that he was recently certified for scuba diving, and has been getting some tips from Ingo. It seemed as if he and Ingo get along really well.
 

That's about it :o) Our ride home was also uneventful ... YAY !!!

Kurth & Taylor event
Saturday November 21 1998, Boston MA

I left my house around 9:30am and picked up Meredith and we headed into Boston. We had an uneventful drive in, and parked at the Prudential Center parking garage and were in line at Dick's Last Resort by 11am. They let us in about 11:30am, we had reserved VIP seats, and were fairly close to the front. We were sitting at long tables, and Meredith and I were across from each other. There were two guys (one next to each of us) that go to almost all GH and K&T events and had a duffel bag filled with photo albums, which we looked at while we were waiting for the event to start. We ordered some beer and some appetizers too.
 

Judy Paparelli (a local radio personality) was the MC, and she introduced Rena, who had flown in on the red-eye flight from CA that morning. Rena introduced Wally and the band, and they played their first set for about an hour. They did a mix of old and new stuff, both of which was really good, I can't wait for their new CD to come out. Local FOX TV news was there and filmed a quick promo, which I saw later that night on the news.
 

After the first set, Rena and Wally did a Q&A, and then an auction for the Ryan White Foundation and the Boston Medical Center Children's AIDS Program. Most of the auction items were the standard stuff ... pictures, shirts, scripts, set tours, etc. But, Wally offered to sell his leather pants and said that whoever won them could come up on stage and take them off of him ... and he also volunteered his sweaty t-shirt with the same undressing option. The t-shirt went, so we got to see him shirtless, but no one was willing to bid more than $500 for the pants, so he decided to sell them to Rena for $525 instead and keep them on ... oh well.
 

The second set was just as good as the first set, and afterwards Wally, Rena, and the band did pictures and autographs with the non-VIP ticket holders. We walked to the Park Plaza hotel for the reception, and Wally, Rena, and the band arrived around 6pm. We got some appetizers and drinks and Wally, Rena, and Christian did another Q&A, then did autographs and pictures with us. I was a little nervous when it was my turn, but not too bad (I had practice before when I met Ingo). I had to explain to them to spell my name with a "y" (Jayne instead of Jane) and Rena thought that was interesting (so did Ingo last month when I saw him).
 

After that, Meredith and I went to try to get the band members to sign our programs. By the time we got to Wally and Rena, Christian had disappeared, so we found him first and chatted with him and got autographs and pictures. Then we found Pat McCormick and spent most of the rest of the evening talking with him (we never did find the rest of the band). We also got autographs and pictures with him, he was really friendly to talk to. He invited us to go back to Dick's Last Resort after the reception to hang out, but by that time it was 9:30pm and we were exhausted. Before leaving, Wally and Rena were hanging out chatting with those of us that were left, and we spent awhile talking with Wally about trying to get Ned a better storyline. We stayed until Wally and Rena left, then walked back to the Prudential Center and got home around 11pm. It was a long day, but we had an awesome time :o)
 

The Second Annual Ingo Rademacher Fan Club (IRFC) Luncheon
Virginia Beach, Virginia
October 10, 1998

Sheraton Oceanfront
Atlantic Avenue & 36th Street
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23451
757-425-9000
800-521-5635

Friday 9 October 1998 - Sunday 11 October 1998
 

I met Meredith on the IRME (Ingo Rademacher Message Exchange) ... I had already decided to go to the luncheon by myself, and had reserved a room and a plane ticket, and bought a ticket. Meredith had posted that she was from Massachusetts and had just found out that she could go. I wrote to her asking if she was planning to fly from Boston, and if so, maybe we could fly together. She replied that she was, so I gave her my flight info, and she got a ticket on the same flight. We chatted more, and decided to room together also. We also discovered that we lived in the same town (so we also planned to drive to the airport together) and we also had attended the same college. We met for dinner a few weeks before the luncheon, and I showed Meredith my pictures from the first luncheon. Both of us were very excited to go :o)
 

Friday morning, I picked Meredith up at 11:30am, and we drove south to Boston to the airport for our 1:30pm flight. We live on the MA/NH border. We got to the airport and parked the car without a problem and went into the terminal and the nightmare began. The flight departure board told us that our flight was cancelled, and the check-in line was miles long. I asked Meredith to wait in line, and I went to a telephone and called US Airways directly. After many tries, the agent finally found us a flight (with 3 connections) leaving from Manchester NH and arriving in Virginia Beach around 8pm. At this point, we figured we'd be late for the Angel dinner, but at least we'd be there for Saturday. Also, while I was on the phone, Meredith heard that the next 3 flights out were also cancelled. So, we headed back to the car, and drove north for an hour. While driving, I realized that our return flight was still scheduled into Boston, and now my car would be in Manchester. So I called US Airways from the car, explained what had happened, and they switched us to a different flight on Sunday arriving into Manchester. They also told us that our flight from Manchester was still scheduled to leave on time.
 

We get to the airport, park the car, take a shuttle into the terminal, where we discover that our flight has now been delayed for 2 hours, which meant we'd miss all our connections. So, once again, I asked Meredith to wait in a huge long line while I went to call US Airways. This time they couldn't find any options for us except a United flight leaving at 7pm, connecting through Dulles, and arriving in Virginia Beach at 11pm. They told me it was wide open, but they couldn't reserve it for me over the phone because it was a different airline, we'd have to wait in line and have the ticket agent do it. So I called the Sheraton to let them know that we'd be arriving very late to make sure they held our room, and also left a message for Jeannine to let her know we'd miss the Angel dinner.
 

Meredith and I waited in line for about an hour, and when we finally got up to the counter, we were told the United flight was full. The only possibility we had was a connection through LaGuardia, but the agent didn't sound very hopeful that it would work out. At this point, Meredith (who was determined to get there) said we should just drive, we could make it there, and she didn't mind driving. So we started to leave the terminal, when I came up with the idea that instead of taking my car, we should rent a car. That way we could leave the car in Virginia Beach and fly home and wouldn't have to drive both ways. We went through 3 rental car booths and at the 4th (and last) one, we got the last car. So, we left the airport, stopped for food (neither one of us had eaten all day), stopped for a map, and we were off. This was about 4pm. We did fine up until the Massachusetts Turnpike where there was a huge line of traffic, but after checking the map, I found a different route with less traffic, and we took that, and also avoided going through Hartford, CT.
 

We were going along fine until NYC, and we got hung up in traffic there for about an hour trying to go over the George Washington Bridge. Once we got out of that, we were in line at a toll booth, and we happened to notice a mini-van next to us with the words "NYC Guardian Angels" on it ... we took this as a sign that everything was going to be OK from then on. It was now about 10pm, and we made our first stop for gas, a bathroom break, and a caffeine soda refill in NJ. The trip seemed to pick up speed, the states were passing quicker, and there wasn't really any traffic. We had a little while of pouring rain around Philadelphia, but other than that, everything was fine. We didn't get lost at all. We talked about anything and everything GH related, and we talked about college things we had in common. We were both started to get really tired, when we finally saw the Virginia border, and the fact that we were finally in the state we needed to be in gave us the incentive to go on. We had to stop for gas and a bathroom break again, and we finally made it to Virginia Beach about 6am, 14 hours after we began our drive.
 

We found the hotel without a problem, and the desk clerk was amused by our story, and our room had not been given away :o) By the time we finally got to our room and beds were in sight, neither of us could sleep. We were supposed to return the rental car to the airport before the luncheon, but with the way our luck had been going, we decided to keep the car another day and not risk a chance that after all we had been through, we'd get stuck at the airport without a ride back to the hotel and miss the luncheon. Meredith took a shower, and I called US Airways to confirm our return flight, only to discover that it had been cancelled because we never took the first part. I spent a half hour on the phone with them, and they finally agreed to re-instate the return flight for us, and to give us a credit for the first part that we never used. Things were looking up. I took a shower and we both got ready for the luncheon and went to breakfast. We were starting to get a second wind, but neither of us could eat. So, we went upstairs to wait in line for Ingo :o)
 

There was a huge line there already and it was still 45 minutes before check-in began. We met the people in line around us, telling everyone our travel saga. Everyone was psyched to meet Ingo :o) The line starting moving and we got our luncheon packets, and went into the ballroom. I had officer seating at table 2 and Meredith was at table 9. I started seeing lots of people that I had met at last year's luncheon, it was great to see them all again. Once everyone was in and seated, it was time to begin. Kira started off, and introduced Scott. It was great to see Scott again too, he was so much fun last year. Then, it was time for Ingo :o) As soon as I heard his voice and knew he was about to walk in the door, I knew everything we had gone through to get there, including no sleep was worth it. He looked so good, but that was no surprise. He was great all day, he and Scott are so personable and funny and entertaining, the day just flew by.
 

Ingo walked through the room to say hello to everyone, and then it was gift time. Ingo was very excited. There was a question and answer period with Ingo, games, auctions, and autographs and pictures with Ingo (and Scott too). I had brought a picture of Ingo and I from the luncheon last year for him to sign. I also bought a picture of him, but he was so tired by this point, I didn't want to ask for more than one autograph. He commented on the different spelling of my name, he thought it was unusual. And, I had my picture taken with him too. At some point during the day we had lunch, which was very good. All too soon it was over, but it was a great day :o) After everyone else left, the IRFC officers stayed behind, and Ingo came back briefly. Kira had plaques made up for us to thank us for our dedication to IRFC, and she and Ingo presented them to us, and I got a hug and a kiss from Ingo, and my picture taken with him and Kira. By that time I was so tired, I was in a daze, but I'm still in shock that I got kissed by Ingo :o) Ingo was really exhausted too, but he made it really clear that he really appreciates all we do for him.
 

I went back to the room, and Meredith was already in her jammies looking through the room service menu. I changed also, at this point, the lack of sleep was catching up with both of us. We ordered dinner, and went online to check out what was going on, ate dinner, and both of us were in bed and asleep by 9pm.
 

Sunday, we were up at 7am, went online again, and then showered, packed, and got ready to leave. We checked out, and discovered that since we got in so late Friday night, the hotel didn't charge us for Friday night :o) Things just kept getting better. I ran into Laura in the lobby and she tracked down my officer gift from the fan club that I missed getting on Friday night, it was a beautiful engraved photo album. Laura also told me that she was able to sell our Friday night Angel dinner tickets to someone else, so we'd be getting a refund from that.
 

We headed to the airport, dropped off the car without a problem, and actually got boarding passes for a flight. We met someone else from the luncheon at the gate, and continued to talk about Ingo. We were so excited to actually step onto a plane :o) Our first connection was on time, and so was the second. We landed in Manchester on time and without problems :o) We headed to a 1-hour photo place, dropped off our pictures, and went out to lunch. When we got back, the woman developing the photos was all excited, she was having a great time checking out the pics of Ingo. When we went up to the counter to pay for them, the clerk asked if we were the ones with the General Hospital pictures. It was pretty funny. We ran out to the car and looked at the pictures immediately, most of them came out really well (how can any picture of Ingo NOT be good :o)
 

I took Meredith home, and our journey came to a close. We both said we'd do it again without hesitation. Being able to see Ingo was DEFINITELY worth it :o)
 

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