9th Gathering Report
by Sue

Diary.

10th August.

Saturday morning.

Early.

Really early.

Woke up with a start. Cold sweat. "The prizes! I still have to finish packing the prizes! Cue the tapes. The tapes! Who's got the tapes? Print the nametags. Hope the ink doesn't run out. Should have bought a spare. Cheapskate! Always waiting for the specials. At least Mark's got the quiz all sorted out."

Yes, the typical morning routine for another Gathering of the Fans.

You'd think that by now, after eight of these, it would become easier. No way! It just becomes bigger, more involved and very challenging to come up with something new.

Saturday afternoon.

4 pm.

Okay, we've just arrived at István's. There are tables to shift, projector, screen and VCR to set up and food to prepare. It's one hour before we start and five minutes before I expect the first eager Xenaphile to burst through the door. Stephen, the café's owner and our most generous host, casually tosses me, ".Oh, and Chloë's already here. She's in the Ladies'"

Arrrgh! The first Xenaphile is here already and we haven't even moved the first chair!

Panic! . No, don't panic, commandeer.

4.15 pm

Things are really moving. Literally. Tables, chairs, food rushing hither, thither and yon and Chloë's on her hands and knees gaffer taping down the speaker cables. Come early, will you?

Mark, our ever-cheerful Video God, staggers in laden with equipment and videocassettes but sans his famous chocolate cake. Today is Áron's 7th birthday and Lisa has made one for her son.

Mark takes longer than he should to appraise Chloë at work - from behind. We shake him out of his reverie and put him to his task, which he does with a very self-satisfied smirk.

Bit by bit, the equipment is set up and tested.

One by one, the Xenaphiles roll in: Bronwyn; Mary Rose; Terri, Trish and Mel; Vic and Christine; Andjam; Bec, Stripe and Feral; Irene; Jennifer and Andrew; Priscilla and Lilian; Nicole; Millie and Bradley and Evelyn.

5.45 pm

A little behind (referring to the schedule, not to Chloë), we start. Speeches. Welcome. Blah, blah, blah. So why are we here? Oh yeah. Callisto! To honour that mad, crazy, delicious fruitcake and watch the three most-popular-by-vote Xena: Warrior Princess episodes in which she features: Callisto, The Return of Callisto and A Necessary Evil. Three wonderful and exciting escapades that teach us, a) not to play with matches, b) stay away from quicksand and, c) avoid lava pits especially when Xena's around.

We settle back and watch Callisto, the episode that started the legend.

6.30 pm

Lights up and first intermission and oh boy! Stripe takes the floor with Show and Tell. Stripe is an avid Hercules fan and she not only has Amazon jewelry and a genuine sword from the Hercules' set to show us but the Sovereign's cod piece as well! And does it get passed around and touched and fondled and fingered and sniffed! And it is quite capacious, if you know what I mean! We convince Mark that he is man enough to fill the bill and help him to fit it on to prove it. The pictures speak for themselves. "Speak"? Perhaps "scream" is the word.

7.15 pm

Way behind schedule now but who cares? Once more the lights dim for The Return of Callisto.

8.00 pm

We grieve a little over the callous demise of Callisto but we know she'll be back. After all, this is the Xenaverse and you haven't lived unless you've died a few times.

We quickly move on to the next feature of the night - a rip-off of the highly successful TV show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? We call our super quiz, Who Wants To Be A Greedy Bugger? Video-God Mark dons his Quiz Master cap after doffing the Sovereign's cod piece, and we're ready to go. We select our first contestant by the most advanced technological means: the first, most strident answer wins. Surprisingly, the demure Priscilla is first and loudest!

She knows her Xena, too. Pris makes it through all ten levels and collects thunderous applause and ten fabulous prizes worth as much as $2.74. In total.

Next in the hot seat is Mary Rose. A valiant effort and a lot of cheating by the audience win her 6 prizes.

The last round is a double-header with Nicole and Andjam consorting and collecting 6 prizes each.

What I forgot to mention is that Quiz Master Mark ran out of questions at Level 6 in Priscilla's round. Luckily, Bec, the Supreme Champion of Knowledge of All Things Xena, and who has been barred from answering more than one question in all of our previous quizzes, jumps to Mark's aid and quickly compiles really, really difficult questions to carry on with. Onya, Bec!

After the furore dies down, everybody receives chocolate Tim Tams and note pads, postcards, rulers, badges all with Callisto or Hudson on them, as a memento of the evening.

9.00 pm

An hour late, we screen the last episode, A Necessary Evil.

9.45 pm

Party time! Stephen and Lisa's son, Áron, is 7 today and we celebrate with chocolate cake, presents and a card signed by all of us. His speech of thanks comprises in total of, "Cool!"
As well as making one little boy happy, we make a few little girls happy. Mark fulfills several Xenaphiles' wishes (no, nothing to do with the Sovereign's cod piece - get your mind outta there!) - for Jennifer, he has Lucy in The X-Files; for Nicole, Callisto in Surprise and, for Stripe, A Friend in Need, Parts I and II.
In recognition of Mark's unbounded munificence, we present him with Bad Girls, the complete series 2 and 3. And a box of Tim Tams. He seems to have a thing for strong, nasty women, leather and handcuffs.hmmm.

What a night!

One of the best! And the 10th Gathering will be even better.
Stay tuned!
your host; Sue!

9th Gathering

Andjam.jpg 271 X 410 115 KB	Aron_and_cod_piece.jpg 282 X 401 109 KB	Aron's_party.jpg 457 X 401 186 KB	Chloe.jpg 232 X 285 45 KB
Markgodofvideo.jpg 264 X 400 111 KB	Nicole.jpg 534 X 386 199 KB	Stripe.jpg 271 X 398 112 KB	sue.jpg 279 X 386 126 KB
Terriearrings.jpg 286 X 400 120 KB	TrishandTerri.jpg 489 X 325 168 KB