London Convention Saturday

London Xena Convention
Saturday Part 2

"Join the PLA" = Potodeian Liberation Army. The Army of Xena was the first...but since then we have the PLA, the AOC ("Army of Callisto"), and "Xena's Temple Warriors," among others. What do the "armies" do? Make out with enemy soldiers on the battlefield, then get medals from Meg's tavern for fighting as Meg would, so far as I can tell...

So what other group would cheer instead of groan when they put on a video of Jace singing "Dancing in the Moonlight"?

    People started coming back from Lucy's concert. InkyBlue was at the front of the group, with a camera full of photos. She takes great photos, and she was just bubbling over with excitement, about how friendly and beautiful Lucy Lawless is. I don't regret missing the concerts (I had way too much fun with the XOC in the meantime, both nights), but I do hope to hear her sing someday. InkyBlue's enthusiasm was contagious.
     I had a little time to get to know Alliaria! We've emailed off and on, and I knew she liked hiking and horses. She told us about her volleyball games. Once again, there was that mingled sense of familiarity and discovery.
     From 11 PM on, the last thing on the day's schedule was the cast and crew dessert party. There was a nice setup. We had little tables to stand at rather than sit, and there was the huge dessert buffet in the back (complete with cheesecake!). The whole front of the room was taken up by the dance floor. They played music videos with themes from movies. At first, it was just Solansmum and her husband dancing. I was at a table with Paris Jefferson. It was a bit hard to hear her...really, a bit hard to talk over the music, but that was ok. Brittany Powell joined us next. I was one of the ones she thought wasn't drinking alcohol because I wasn't old enough...but from her, it was endearing. (Well, when someone you've only seen on TV says anything to you individually, you can't take it wrong!) She was so funny. I got to spend some time talking with Alliaria, and Bellyra, who are both lovely people. And with Pandora, who was there in the midst of all of these stories, walking through the convention with me. LadyKate's close friend Tango joined us. I've read a bit of Tango's work (I hope to read more when I find the time for pleasure reading), and she's a gifted writer. Also, an intelligent and fun person!
     When InkyBlue pulled Twinkletoes, GWAC, and Lsaved out on to the dance floor, I figured they were having too much fun to let them do it all by themselves. I don't dance normally...I feel awkward and I can't figure out what to do with my hands and feet. But I can do it if I pretend I'm skating. (With roller skating, there are those moments where it's like the music is inside of you, but there are also those moments when it's mechanical and you're just moving forward. Dancing is like those skating moments where the music is inside, just without the forward motion.) Also...half a world away from my day to day life, surrounded by people who knew me inside and out...I felt free and comfortable. There was one woman whose name I don't know, and one man who was gifted at breakdancing, and they stole the show.

LadyKate and Tango were dancing on one side of the circle. GWAC, InkyBlue, Twinkletows, LSaved, and more XOC-ers were on the other. They put in the first "Lyre, Lyre" video. You know the part where Jace's dancers all connected themselves with their hands in a huge circle and ran around the room? We did that too, laughing and falling over each other. I wrote in my journal later that heart took a picture., but I think it was taking videos that night. So was Steve Sears' girlfriend Amanda! If they post those videos on Youtube, I will proudly post a link!
Mr. Sears also took a group photo when the party broke up around 3AM. He was the only one of the guests who stayed the whole night! I heard that he hung out in the lobby afterwards, talking.

On one hand, sorry I missed that...on the other hand, not sorry at all, 'cause I got a chance to spend some time with InkyBlue, LSaved, GWAC, and Twinkletoes. We went back to their room and watched "The Bitter Suite." It's a neat experience to be watching it with other people who all know every word to every song (and yeah, of course we all sang). We giggled about Callisto's rhymes and wondered when Gabrielle realized she wasn't in paradise. And I was laughing later about watching "The Bitter Suite" with a whole room full of subtexters (love ya ladies...) It would never have occured to me to holler, "Kiss! No, Solan, get out of there. Kiss!" at the screen at the end. (Tango: "That's nothing. Try watching the entire Ring trilogy with a whole roomful of subtexters!")
There never seemed to be enough time to talk, with that group especially, but I said goodnight around four and headed back to my room for a few hours sleep.