Carol Burnett – under planning and over planning 2019

Several months ago, Carol Burnett came to town and did a performance at the Winspear I Dallas.  I got there about 2 hours before the performance. She got there about 4 hours before the performance.  I missed her.

It happens. I under planned. I was disappointed.

Luckily, she decided to came back to Dallas in March. This time she was going to do 2 nights at the Winspear.  The Wife and I actually got ticket to the Friday night show. I took Friday afternoon off to make sure I got the theater early enough to see her enter.

My hope was to be there, get the autograph, drive him in rush hour traffic, and then The Wife and I would drive back to see the show.  The plan was a little hectic but it was ‘a plan’. Not the BEST plan but it was my plan.

4 O’clock rolls around. No Carol.

5 O’clock and no Carol.  I text The Wife that she will probably need to drive down by herself.  

6 O’clock and still no Carol.  The Wife is about to drive to the Theater.

7 O’clock and we wonder if Carol will just walk in at the last second and not sign for anyone.

7:30, Carol’s car arrives.  The Show starts at 8 PM. The Wife is at the front of the theater waiting for me. I’m at the stage door.  Carol waved and one of the handles told us she will sign but they will collect all of the items and she will sign inside the building.  We knew she would do this because this is what occurred the last time.  We were all good with this.   

About 7:45 when I get my photo back. I quickly say my goodbyes to the other hounds and walk to the front of the theater to meet The Wife. It took a few minutes to find each other as we had different ideas on where to meet. We got to our seats and saw a wonderful show.

A great addition to the collection and relived some great memories from the show.

AH

All-Con 2019 BSG

I like All-Con. It’s a very small convention. It’s held in a hotel and parking can be a pain but it’s a well run convention.

It has a variety of panels, a poker tourney, roller derby, Night Time entertainment, and some autograph guests. This year they had a mini Battlestar Galactica reunion.  They brought 7 actors from the Original series to town.  They set them up in their own conference room and let the fans interact, get autographs, and photos.

There were 3 signatures I ‘needed’. Laurette Spang, JackStauffer, and Sarah Rush. All three were very fan friendly and let the BSG geeks chat and get a few minutes of their time. They had all been to Texas and Dallas before and enjoyed the town.  As always, when working a convention, it’s hard to get time to sightsee.

My conversation with each was very different. Laurette talked about texting Dirk Benedict and chatting about kids and regretting not seeing the 6^th floor Museum.

Since I was wearing my ubiquitous UofA shirt, Jack and I talked college football. As we have established in the past, I am not a good alumni and don’t know football. I politely nodded my head at appropriate times.

Sarah had a quiet charm about her. I don’t remember what we chatted about but I know I was there few minutes. 

This Con also provided me to chance to meet up with some fellow collectors I hadn’t seen I a while. I don’t stay for the panels. There was a BSG panel just as I was leaving which I sure was great with 7 cast members. I need to enjoy the sun and fresh cool air after a week of clouds and rain.

AH  

Larry Correia Half Price Books Feb 2019

Before I traveled to LA for Gallifrey One, I went to a book signing for Larry Correia. The signing was at Half Price Books.

Larry is a goofy sci fi writing guy. He knows he’s goofy and doesn’t shy away from that. He is charming in his goofiness and had me smiling and laughing as he spoke. He gave an update on his projects. It seems he is writing 20 books at once. Then he took questions from the audience.  While the questions seemed dull, the answers were goofy enough to make up that.

AH

Paul Freeman Madness Games and Comics Feb 2019

The day I came back from LA, I landed and dropped off the bags at home. Then I drove into Plano to visit Madness Games and Comics. Why? Because Paul Freeman was there doing a signing.

If you thought The Wife wanted to put me into rehab after getting Josh Gates’ autograph, she now thought it was too late for detox to do any good.

Paul was friendly. People had a lot of different ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ items for him to sign. I think the golden skull from the opening scene of the movie was the best. I was boring and just did a photo. Once we were done, I had to rush home and spend some quality time with The Wife.

AH

Josh Gates and LA Travel and Adventure Show 2019

This is a cautionary tale of a man greying at the temples (okay more than just the temples), growing at the waistline, and feeding his addiction.  A man, whose Wife you need to pity, that somehow allowed the evil empire of Facebook to track him to LA, California.  And worse, they placed an ad on this feed.   Yes, you are correct, he did the worst thing imaginable: he read that ad.

Okay, enough of the melodrama.

While I don’t check-in with Facebook, I’m sure the cell towers in LA told Facebook everything they needed.  While I was slightly irked that I saw a local ads while I was in LA for Gallifrey One, this ad was opportune. The ad was for the LA Travel and Adventure show. It just happened to be occurring downtown at the LA Convention Center the same weekend as Gallifrey One. It also just happened to have Josh Gates in attendance.  

I like Josh. I find him funny. I watched him on the SyFy channel’s ‘Destination Truth’ and I now watch him on ‘Expedition Unknown’.  I have wanted his autograph for years.  This was my chance. Facebook was feeding my addiction.

I stressed over about getting a photo printed for him to sign. But I figured there would be a generic stock head available. I also worried about missing Gallifrey One to attend a different convention. While the Fates like to toy with people, this time they were kind. Josh was at the show for Sunday only. I had gotten all of the autographs I need from Gallifrey One by Saturday. I would only be missing out on the Sunday panels if I changed plans.

I decided it was meant to be. I ubered to the LA Convention Center which was about 30 minutes away.  I wandered around and actually found a booth selling Josh's book and some photos.  I was happy. Then I relaxed and sat in on some travel panels instead of Whovian panels.

As I waited, I sat through Samantha Brown’s panel. The Wife and I have enjoyed her shows over the years. It was great to hear Samantha had a new show on PBS. She gave a great tip abut using the ironing board in the hotel room as a desk or as a storage shelf. After her, there was a short panel about visiting Korea and Japan. Both locations I want to see.  Then Josh took the stage. He was amusing as always. One of his themes for the panel was ‘taking a chance’ when traveling. his point was to give yourself some time to change plans and add something unplanned to the agenda after you ‘hit the ground’.

After the panel, I got in line for his signing. He had a long line. When I finally got to the front, I mentioned, I took a chance and came to this show. I told him I came from to Dallas for the Dr Who Convention. He paused and asked how I liked the new Doctor.  We exchanged a few words about Dr Who. Turns out he is also a Tom Baker fan.

After we were done, I headed back to the hotel. I called The Wife and explained how one convention full of autographs wasn’t enough and I HAD to go to another show. Yes, my name is AH and I collect autographs…

AH

Barbara Hambly Gallifrey One

The last autograph I picked up at Gallifrey one was the author Barbara Hambly.  

I read a lot of Star Trek books as a kid. Then Star Trek got some fresh legs and they started printing a new book every few months. It was impossible to keep up with them as I was now an adult and working. A few of those new books were from Barbara. I tracked one down and got her to sign it. 

AH

Carole Ann Ford and William Russell Gallifrey One

I was very excited to see that both Carole Ann Ford and William Russell were attending this year’s Gallifrey One. They worked with the first Doctor and that was over 50 years ago.

Luckily, I got to see the panel with them together and they charmed the crowd with their anecdotes.  The panel’s MC did a good job of asking questions, follow up questions, and then getting out of the actors’ way as they answered. For the most part, the stories were well polished as they have told them time and again over the decades. While some tales may be apocryphal, they held the audience in their hands as they talked.

When it was time for their signing, there was a long line; which I loved seeing. I worry that the current crop of Whovians have no idea about the history of the show.  I see this with Star Trek. The Next Gen crowd dismisses anything prior to Picard.

I must admit to being my own enemy.  When Carole and William were signing, I goofed. I got a photo signed by Carole for myself.  Then I got her and William to sign a duel photo for a friend. I forgot to get a photo of William signed for myself.  When I realized my gaff, it was too late to get back in line. I had to wait for the next day to start again. It all worked out and I was a happy camper.

AH

Katy Manning Gallifrey One

Katy Manning was one of the BIG reasons I wanted to go to Gallifrey One this year. She was from the original series and worked with the 3rd Doctor. The chances of getting her again were probably very slim.

She was very funny in the panels she attended. She currently is doing big finish audio plays and playing her character of Jo Grant from the TV show.  She is ‘old school’ and calls everyone ‘darling’. It’s so British.

While in line, I saw that she was sitting to sign the photos and then popping up to hug the fan. For me, I actually got two hugs and two darlings. She was tireless. She has more energy than I do. She had stories to share with everyone. She seemed to really enjoy being there. She shared that she had a relative in Kentucky and showed off her Kentuckian accent.

I was really happy to get this chance to see her.

AH

Patricia Tallman Gallifrey One

I’m not going to question the ‘why’ but Gallifrey One had a Babylon 5 reunion. While I was never a fan of Babylon 5 and I never got why others ‘got it’, I did sit through the panel.  The cast seemed to enjoy being there and talking about the show and working together.

Over the years, I have acquired most of the cast’s autographs. Mostly from work other than Babylon 5. One of the noticeable signatures I was missing was Patricia Tallman. Because I stayed to the end of the panel, I was in line for over an hour.  There were many more people behind me in line; I was probably in the middle of the line.  I know the convention extended the signing session to work through the large crowd. It seems lots of people ‘got’ Baylon5.

Patricia was friendly. I mentioned I really enjoyed the remake of Night of the Living Dead. But since she had a Next Gen photo, I opted for Star Trek.

AH

Geoffrey Blake Gallifrey One

While Geoffrey Blake is not a Dr Who alumni, one the venders brought him in. The vendor was Holzheimers, who I know well from SDCC. Since he was on a Star Trek Deep Space Nine episode, I figured I would add him to the collection. He has a nice career and you’d recognize from 'Contact' and other movies.

AH

Gallifrey One Caitlin Blackwood – young Amy Pond

A last minute addition/substitution was Caitlin Blackwood. I was happy to see her. If I remember correctly,  she was replacing someone I had already seen at another show.

She was quiet and looking at her phone. When I approached, she smiled and put the phone away. Being barely 18 years old, I’m sure it’s odd for old guys like me to ask for an autograph. She signed and added the ‘fish fingers and custard’ on her own.

AH

Gallifrey One Lisa Greenwood and Sophie Hopkins

While attending the panels (yeah, I actually spent some time sitting in panels and enjoying the convention), I was amazed how many of the Dr Who alumni are doing Big Finish audio shows.  While not the same as being on the telly, it’s something they seem to really enjoy as they get a chance for their characters to be fleshed out.  They also have the opportunity to work with actors and characters that that span the 55 years of Who-dom.

Both Sophie Hopkins and Lisa Greenwood are working with Big Finish.

Sophie was nice and friendly. She regretted 'Class' not being renewed. She was happy the show was continuing on Big finish.  She mentioned enjoying her trip to LA and had thoughts about moving there.

While Lisa Greenwood might not have been born when Colin Baker starred as the 6^th Doctor, she currently plays ‘Flip’, the 6th's Dr Companion,  with Colin on the Big Finish audio plays.  Friendly and funny, it was interesting to see her interact with the ‘old timers’.  While she was signing, I mentioned my wife knew her from Call the Midwife, her face lit up.

AH

Gallifrey One and Michael Jayston, Rosie Jane, and Jon Davey

While at Gallifrey One in LA, I wanted to pick up as many autographs as possible. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be back and some of these actors were older and traveling would be more difficult. This might be my last chance.

When Michael Jayston started signing, there was a small line. Other people had the same thoughts as me.  He was a memorable Time Lord during the Colin Bakers series.  Some fans were getting Dr Who encyclopedias signed.  A great project for those with the patience.

Next was Rosie Jane. She was much younger and traveling was not difficult for her.  She was enjoying her trip to 'The States'. She was also enjoying the weather (cool and wet) but mentioned that seemed to cause lots of complaints from the locals. She was surprised by the flooding LA was getting in the hills. In fact, the flooding delayed John Barrowman arrival as he had washed out roads to deal with.

Jon Davey has done a lot of Dr Who with his face hidden.  He has been a Cyberman and Dalek and even been on the Sara Jane Adventures. He was friendly and willing to chat. I caught him just as he was starting his lunch so I quickly got my signature and gave him his time to eat.

AH