"Oh, must we dream our dreams and have them, too?"
(Elizabeth Bishop)

鼦lexandra Vandernoot(Tessa) was the first to enter. She was wearing a tan dress that fell just above her knees, with a matching wrap, her hair similar to the length and style of Counterfeit. I do have to say she is truly the most gorgeous, graceful, elegant woman I have ever seen in my entire life.

鼦ndrew Dividoff(??) (Larka and Bad Day in Building A) came in next. His hair was longer than when he was Larka and he had a brown sports jacket on.

𦸅alentine Pelka (Kronos) came next. He has a thinner face then you perceive in 'Comes a Horseman'. He was dressed in a black shirt with more of an open collar and a lighter shirt underneath(which you could only see up close). He wore a belt with dark pants.

謭in Caide(actors' name?) was next, with a light jacket and dark shirt. He doesn't look half as scraggly when he's not a deserted Captain! :)

蘯eter Hudson's hair is short and light, he has these magnetic blue eyes. He also wore a sports jacket with a darker blue shirt underneath. One thing that struck me later is his great accent, which Horton never had.

硓. Braun McAsh(swordmaster) was next, wearing all black, to match his black beard and hair.

�Then,. . . ..Peter Wingfield(Methos) with a tall slender blonde woman. (In case your wondering, I'm floating about 10 feet off the ground by now). He wore a button up cream shirt and tan pants and. . .*THUD*

�Then came Tracy Scroggins(Cassandra). She brushes her highlighted hair out of her face and turned towards us a bit. She was wearing brown tights, a cream pasley miniskirt and a dark jacket. Such a striking figure!!

痃avid Panzer(producer) came next, and had changed into a dark suit instead of the kilt.

�The next few all came in a group. Roger Daltry (Fitzcairn) has shorter curly hair and a tan leather jacket, a dark shirt and jeans.

獱im Byrnes came in with a light gray jacket and dark slacks. His hair is medium length. (I'm getting so close to the ceiling by now it isn't even funny)

�Then came. . .yes,. . .the man himself. Adrian Paul. (wow!) He had on tight black jeans, a black shirt and a black button up on loosely over them. His eyes swept the room, from right to left, and he actually looked over and smiled at me for a moment. He hugged Bruce Young(who came in just before him) and then came over to see us. He was the first to really say anything to us. He said "Hello"

Mass reply: "Hello!!"

AP: "Congratulations. So how is your dinner?" and then he looked around to realize we hadn't been served yet, and started to laugh and made a joke about it. About now I looked at the other two at my table and realized we had the biggest grins on our faces!

�The man who was closest to Adrian introduced himself, saying "Hi, I'm the real Duncan MacLeod, that's my given name."

AP: "You've got to be kidding me."
DM: "Nope."
AP: "Are you Scottish?"
DM: "No."
AP: "A name like MacLeod and you're not Scottish?!?"
DM: "Oh, yes, I am. I couldn't hear through your accent."
AP(switching accents): "Oh, do you want me to talk in an American accent?"

He then said he hoped we enjoyed our dinner, he was going to go sit down and he'd come talk with us later.

䒷tan Kirsch (Richie) had entered during that time, and I barely caught him as he walked by. He was wearing black jeans, a white shirt and a black leather jacket.

鼦nthony De Longis (Octavio Consone and Blackmail) came in with a woman named Mary. He had on a tan suit jacket and a lighter blue shirt. He wears glasses and had a gold band on his right wrist.

�
Myles Ferguson (Kenny) also snuck in somewhere around there.

The last two to arrive were Ingrid Henning (Valkyrie-actress's name?). Her hair was dark and straight and she had a dark brown dress on that was cut just above the knees and had an open back. Oceana (Alexa) was there in a thin strapped dress, a reddish brown with cream flowers.

When they were all seated I could see Peter Wingfield and Valentine (who were sitting together along with Alexandra) and the back of Adrian's head and Roger Daltry's profile(they were sitting with McAsh).

I was too nervous to eat much and while the two at my table talked I just kept glancing back and forth between the two tables. (and I decided it wasn't such a bad thing that Adrian cut of his ponytail, as I got to see his neck for most of dinner!) Adrian has the neatest laugh, he talks with his hands a lot and when he finds something particularly funny throws his head back.

Dinner proved to be good. While a piano played in the background I reminded the waiter for the umpteempth time that no, I didn't want any wine. I did have a salad and ate some of my pasta and chicken. As I'm eating/watching I saw that Stan had gotten up. Apparently he had to leave, and instead of stepping out the way he came, he slung his jacket over his shoulder and sauntered out through our tables. It was really too cool! (so intentional, and so Stan!)

Cassandra also walked through. David Panzier came over to talk with our table and we teased him for taking off the kilt. He just politely chatted with us, and as he left he patted my shoulder.

I'm almost done eating, or stirring my food, . . . I'm not quite sure which I was doing, when the actors started making their way over to our tables. Alexandra apparently fell ill and left.

The first actor to approach our table was Peter Hudson. He is so personable. He asked me if I was done with my dinner, and although I knew I couldn't eat another bite I said 'No." and he replied "That's good." He lowered himself to our eye level by putting his hands down on our table. He congratulated us thoroughly and asked what our plans were for tomorrow and said he was really looking forward to things. The whole time he's talking I'm captivated by how gracious he is, yet the back of my mind keeps chanting "evil man, evil man, evil man". Truly though, I can separate characters and actors.

Bruce Young then came by, he was wearing a white sweater and a red barrette. He has a strong accent and sometimes I couldn't quite catch everything, which was okay as I was still in the dumbfounded permagrin nodding stage of things. He simply congratulated us and asked if we were enjoying ourselves.

Kin Caide was next, introducing himself with "you may not know me, but I play . . . " and then all three of us filled in for him "Kin Caide" We chatted about his character, and that he had to die the worst death of anyone on the series. He agreed, but said his character was just plain evil. I replied "yeah, but you wanted to whack Kenny, and that was a good idea." And he chuckled a bit.

�
He leaves and my plate is cleared, and suddenly I hear this thick accent (*thud* have I mentioned I have a thing for accents!!) behind me with "Hello, . . .is anyone sitting here?" All three of us leapt in with no's and I moved my chair as fast as humanly possible. Suddenly I found Valentine Pelka sitting at my right. He was also extremely personable, and ended up sitting down at every table and talking for quite a while. The first thing he did was learn our names. (Wow!!)

We talked about his character a bit, and I asked if he was prepared for the response he received. He said that was a good question and stopped to think for a moment. Finally he replied that he had only seen a few HL episodes before he got the role, and they happened to be some of the poorer ones. So one of the producers gave him I think either the Kallas of Xavier arc to watch and he saw how truly great some things could be. He said that one of the things he liked was that Kronos wasn't just two sided. He was evil, but he had certain ways he liked things to be, like the four horseman, and also his calculations with Methos. He also said he liked how simple Kronos was, as he was used to playing Hamlet where he had to study all the deeper meanings of what his character was doing (and he then quoted some of Hamlet's "To be. . or not to be.").

Around here somewhere my desert was delivered, I must have looked slightly afraid of it, for he asked: "Are you going to eat that?
"No."(in a small voice I think)
"You're not?!" (much surprise)
And Kim jumped in explaining we were all too nervous to eat.

贌e then talked for a bit about the response people had to the show. How surprised he was that some woman was telling him how the show had helped her deal with some very hard times she had dealing with some disease. Kim leapt in to tell him that HL had saved her marriage, as she'd been close to a divorce and then they started watching HL together. He paused for a moment after her story and said "I think I'm starting to see it all now." We talked for a moment more and then he said he'd leave us to the other guests.

�
The second he left we all started talking about how we were doing, how nervous we were, and I was determined to stop nodding and grinning so much (HA!). For one thing I almost think it made Valentine uncomfortable that I had such a wide permagrin on my face. (oh, and thank heavens the other girl had given us all breath mints, . . .especially for this next moment!)

狢 saw Peter Wingfield coming and did my absolute best to keep my breathing at a normal pace (well, normal for the most exciting moment of my entire life). He came and said hello. (I could die for that accent, really I could!) After a short intro I told him that I loved him in Noah's Ark. He replied, somewhat surprised "Oh, . . .well that's good!" (as if he didn't think anyone would have liked it) He then attempted to call Roger Daltry over, but realized he was busy so just started to talk. I asked him if he enjoyed working with the animals and he and I began to converse one on one. (but just wait, it gets better!). and Roger Daltry came over. He said hi all around and put his hand on Kim's shoulder. (there is actually a picture of that moment, but I'm waiting to receive my copy).

贌e suddenly realized how badly I was straining my neck to see his face (and I sure wasn't taking my eyes off him), so he knelt down at my feet. He had one hand on the table and rested his right arm on my seat cushion against my leg. *THUD* He talked about how hard it was to work with animals because you never knew how the timing was going to work. He said he liked working with them, but that it was hard as he is allergic and it affected his asthma (and just him saying that I could feel my face fall incredibly sympathetic). He said "Yeah, . .that show was sponsored by Benadryl." (actually, it was some other drug, but same difference).

鼦s he's talking I suddenly became aware that someone had their hand on the back of my chair and was listening in. I could tell he was sort of leaning on the back of my chair, other hand either at his side or on his hip. I glanced up and there was Adrian Paul. He looked down at me and smiled. I couldn't quite tell where to direct my attention, but I was talking with Peter so I went back to him and after a moment Adrian left. (heaven, pure, sweet, incredible heaven!!)

贌e talked to me for a bit more and asked me how I got the Noah's Ark tape. When he found out he started joking about black market tapes flying around the country.

Peter stood up Peter then talked with all of us, and when he found out we'd all just met he asked us where we where from. We went in order, New York, Cincinnati, and Utah. He commented that that was from all over and how different it was, and "Utah (you should hear how he says that) isn't that in the middle of somewhere?" We started talking about how different each place was.

"You can't walk down the street where I live."
"Really, I feel pretty safe on my street."
"Yeah, and I can ride my horse down main street."

And he laughed!! At me, at what I'd said, that cute laugh that spreads his grin across his face.

He then said "So, how much did all of you pay to come here tonight?"
There was a pause as we all looked at each other, and I finally meekly answered. "Ten dollars"
"Ten dollars!!! A woman over there (gestured with left hand) paid over one hundred!!!"
I tried to stutter through an apologetic explanation but looked up and he was grinning and everyone else was laughing. (wow- I was even teased by Peter Wingfield!) He then said that he was going to leave us and make he way back to get his desert.

A few moments later Anthony and Mary come to our table. He shakes my hand and says "Hello, I'm Anthony De Longis."
"Yes, I know."
He stopped and looked at me. "Well, that's good!" and Mary said "That's a great answer." And everyone laughed and I turned bright red.

We all told him how much we loved Duende and he said how proud he was of the swordplay and loved how it ended. He said that he and McAsh had worked on that fight for quite a while, but Adrian had only 30 minutes to practice. When they went to film it was pouring rain and that they both fell twice. He asked if any of us were on the net and gave me his card. He's currently choreographing an opera and working on a cavalry display with whips and sabers.

He left and for a while I just sat watching everyone leave. Peter Wingfield was still eating his dinner when I left, and McAsh was still telling sword stories (he's longwinded but entertaining). Valentine was sitting at the last table he visited.

狢 floated my way up to my room, being stopped by people every few feet, asking me how it was, who I talked to and if they could smell or touch me. At least I had an identity besides being a link to Crom!

狢 had been in there from 8:00 to 11:30, and it truly was a magnificent fantabulous experience. Not only did I get to see a lot of actors no one else did, but Peter Wingfield knelt at my feet and talked with me face to face!

�

April 11

I awoke around 7:00 (not bad for not getting to sleep until twoish). I tried to write up a bit about the dinner, but then decided to head to the screening of 'To Be. . .or Not To Be" (the final episode of Duncan MacLeod)

Don't worry, no spoilers, just let me just say that I couldn't have ended the show for myself in a better way. I got to see the final two episodes back to back on a big screen TV with other fans (I was sitting by Big John) all of us laughing and crying together. And truly, I love the way they ended it, I can walk away from it satisfied and with that overwhelming HL intensity I know and love.

WOW!!! I just can not believe what a great time I had!

�

�

Anaheim

�

�