Heathrow Park Hotel
November 13-14, 1999

 

Friday, November 12

My trip to London began on Wednesday before the convention. I spent the first two days sightseeing in London (read my trip report and see the pictures), then made my way to the convention on Friday morning. Friday started with breakfast, then I finished packing, and went to Euston Station to redeem the TravelCard vouchers for next week. I made it back to the hotel by 11:00 and started the trek to Heathrow at 11:30. Dragging the heavy luggage through the Underground was every bit as bad as I had imagined. Next time, I’ll opt for a more expensive mode of transportation, just to have help with the luggage. *g* People aren’t often willing to help either. One of the station workers took pity and helped me up the stairs when he saw how much I was struggling. He asked if my bag was filled with gold bouillon. There are very few handicapped facilities there, so lifts and elevators aren’t always available in all public places.

Once I finally reached Heathrow Airport, I found a taxi and was off to the hotel. My roommates, Judy and Kris, had already arrived and were in the room. We settled in a little then walked over to the hotel reception (lobby) to see who was there and register for the con. After registering and greeting friends, we met up with Loraine and Denise and had dinner in the hotel restaurant. None of us were among the lucky 100 participating in the cocktail party. Judy, Kris and I had volunteered to be stewards so after dinner, we were off to the steward meeting to get our duty assignments. We met the Wolf staff and were given a briefing on all the rules. I must have beginners luck, because my first-time volunteer duty assignment was the autograph queues, both days!

We did a little exploring of the hotel after the meeting. We couldn’t sneak into the cocktail party (not that we were trying) and only got a quick glimpse of the party-goers through the door. We wandered into the main hall and found a guy wiring the place for a quickening (shhhhh, it’s a secret.) After that, we decided to call it a day and get some sleep. We didn’t have enough towels, so while Kris and Judy were getting ready for bed, I walked back to the front desk to ask for more towels. After waiting several minutes for my turn at the front desk, I turned to leave, only to run into none other than The Man himself. Adrian and his bodyguards were leaving the cocktail party, and so I followed right along behind them, out into the parking lot. (I had to cross the parking lot to get to my room....really!) Adrian was dressed in all black in a long, ankle-length leather coat. It was a straight cut with a regular suit-style notched collar and a split in the back. His hair was very short in back, and shorter all over which made the curls on top more pronounced. His jaw line was very square and prominent and he had a huge smile on his face. He stopped to talk to the security guards before getting into the car, which meant a few more moments to gaze at him as I passed by on the way back to the room.

 

Saturday, November 13

Adrian was first up at 10:00. He seemed to move around non-stop, kind of a nervous energy, throughout the entire Q&A, and he was very upbeat and entertaining. Someone asked him to tell us something that we didn’t already know about him. He joked that everyone online already knows everything about his personal, professional and private life. Then he said he was 23, which someone corrected, 25. He laughed and said “Oh right, I’m 25. You must have been online.” He struggled to open a bottle of water while thinking of a more serious answer, then remember that as a child, he was afraid of thunder and lightening. He went on to say that one night he was visiting his cousin who was a dressmaker. He had scampered under a table during a thunderstorm because he was frightened, and while hiding, he took a pen and scribbled all over the dress she was making. When she found the dress with pen marks all over it, she thought he had just done his usual “bad boy” thing because he was bored, but later realized he had done it when he was frightened. Adrian mentioned that the movie was going well, and spoke a little about Romania, and answered the usual barrage of questions. He talked for over an hour until time for his autograph session, and my first steward duty assignment.

As soon as he sat down at the table, he wrote ENDGAME in large letters across the tablecloth. Throughout the session, he would scribble something else on the tablecloth, covering it with his other hand as he wrote, so no one could see what he was writing. When we asked what he was writing or tried to read it, he would cover it with his hand and give an evil laugh. Later he told the audience he was writing down the things that people were saying to him at the autograph table. The tablecloth was auctioned off to the highest bidder, and I believe all the auction proceeds went to the PEACE Fund.

I was on duty for 2 1/2 hours, in charge of sending a few people to the table at a time to keep the queue moving. Part of the time, I was even handing him the photos and telling him what names to personalize. Photos were allowed, and even with a flash from several feet away. Unfortunately, everyone wanted to pose with him, which slowed down the line tremendously. I started offering to take pictures for people as they got their autographs, to keep the line from stalling. Everyone was allowed one personal item signed and unlimited Wolf photos signed. He even personalized items, which I’ve rarely seen allowed at previous cons. The autograph rules changed constantly during those two hours. The “one personal and unlimited number of Wolf photos” changed to only one personal item and one Wolf photo. Then they had to discourage people from posing for pictures with him at the table. It was better to give everyone on queue a few moments with him than only a few people taking up all the time. At the end of the 2 1/2 hours, everyone in the queue had an autograph.

Early on, Gill let me slip into the queue to have my pictures autographed. She walked up to the table with me and told him she was only letting me off duty for a few moments, so he had to sign fast. She was joking of course and he laughed. I was standing 5 feet from the table for the entire 2 1/2 hours, but the second I stepped over into the actual queue, my heart started pounding. He liked the drawing I had brought for him to sign and took a very close look at it. I reminded him that he had seen my work before, and he said, “oh, that’s right.” He actually remembered speaking with me about my drawings in Anaheim almost two years earlier.

After the autograph queue was finished (on time) and before he went to lunch, Gill asked for me if I could have a picture taken with him. He said yes, and I ran to get my camera. He even let me sit next to him behind the table, leaned in close, shoulder to shoulder,..... and then my camera malfunctioned. :-( The battery chose that exact moment to die! Another lady was standing there and took a picture of us, but I didn’t know her, and she disappeared before I could get her name and ask for a copy. If you’re out there and reading this, PLEASE write me! When I got up to see what was wrong with my camera, someone handed him a cell phone. Apparently it was Alexandra, and he walked off, speaking with her in French.

Adrian was only there for Saturday, but he signed extra pictures for the Sunday-Only attendees who may have missed him. He also signed for about an hour at the Peace table between the regular autograph sessions on Saturday. It seems safe to say that everyone who wanted his autograph, was able to get one.

I missed the Clan Ranald sword demo while I was on steward duty and also missed the first half of Marcus’ Q&A. Kris told me later that Marcus was so nervous and shy being onstage alone, that he literally hid behind his guitar for the first part of the session. He sang a few songs throughout the hour, and luckily I caught the last couple. He has a wonderful voice.

I had missed lunch during steward duty, so I slipped out to the bar for a quick bite before Alexandra’s session. She was already onstage when I returned to the main hall and I was shocked to see her with short brown hair. For a moment, I thought it was Elizabeth. The new hair really suited her and she looked beautiful. She was very relaxed, her accent was even better than ever, and she seemed more comfortable with the whole Q&A thing since her first time in Anaheim. She knew what to expect this time and seemed well prepared for the questions. She commented on how much she was enjoying the interaction with the fans there, since she was kept so secluded in Anaheim. She said her only views of the hotel in Anaheim were of the back hallways and kitchen, trudging through all the garbage. Towards the end of her session, a familiar voice came over the speakers, speaking French. They had slipped the mike to Adrian out in the hallway. He came in, flowers in hand, and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. As they settled in to finish the Q&A together, he put the flowers in a glass on the table onstage, just as she was sitting down. She immediately asked why he was hiding her behind the flowers and moved them to the floor. Their banter was great and he seemed surprised at her “cheekiness.” He auctioned the jacket he was wearing, (a black wool Highlander jacket with leather sleeves and “Endgame” written across the right front), a few pictures, and the autograph table tablecloth. Alexandra said she wasn’t good at selling things and sat back to watch and kibitz Adrian every now and then. With each new item, she would run over to have a look. When he took off the jacket to begin the bidding, she asked if he had sweated in it, then asked to smell it. He smelled it and said yes, but she came over and smelled it too, then said “yeah, it’s good.”

Alexandra was the last Q&A for the day. Later that night, we stopped by the party for a few minutes. Peter Hudson and Marcus Testory were mingling with the crowd and posing for pictures. It was an amusing sight to watch Peter dance the YMCA. He wasn’t very coordinated at first, but he was getting the hang of it by the end of the song. We ran into him afterwards, and he told Kris he was having trouble with the “C” and she showed him the correct way to do a “C”. I jokingly asked Marcus why he didn’t attempt the YMCA, to which he replied, it wasn’t his type of music.

 

Sunday, November 14

Just as we were getting ready for breakfast, our phone rang. I had been chosen as one of the 5 finalists in the Highlander Quiz. Each person was given a multiple choice quiz with their registration, then they drew 5 finalists from the correct responses. It was exciting to be told I was one of the 5 finalists but then came the punishment. They put us all onstage and quizzed us for an hour before the Q&A’s started that morning. I have to admit, I haven’t watched my Highlander tapes since the series has all but disappeared from TV, and I had a hard time remembering any of the answers to the questions asked. I came in 4th, and the winner was a Brit named Penny. We each received a certificate signed by Adrian, and I believe Penny may have also claimed a Highlander jacket for first prize, but that’s just an assumption on my part.

Peter was up first and was very entertaining. He did some cartoon voices which seemed very out of character for him, and it was hilarious. Marcus and Richard Ridings did their Q&A together that afternoon. They were wildmen! Marcus certainly didn’t seem shy with Rich onstage. They ran through the audience, climbing over chairs and sitting in laps to each person who asked a question. Rich was a big teddy bear and even said he wanted to be Winnie the Pooh. Marcus wants to be James Bond. What a pair! Someone asked Rich to sing and he sat on the edge of the stage and sang “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” What an incredible, powerful, bass voice!

Before Alexandra’s Sunday session, there was a lull in the schedule and the sound crew entertained us with a puppet show. (Yes, we are easily amused.) A group of bunnies dressed in tartans and wielding swords battled it out, then we were entertained with a song by the Spice “Bunnies.” Midway through the song, two of the bunnies disappeared, then returned, each carrying a baby bunny. Things were running late by this time and I had to eat before steward duty, so I missed most of Alexandra’s second Q&A. I heard she was just as entertaining as she had been on Saturday. I stopped in long enough to take a couple of pictures of Alexandra and Peter, who had joined her onstage.

I reported for steward duty to learn that Peter and Marcus had planes to catch, so they only had an hour to sign. It was a bit difficult squeezing 3 queues into the hallway, but with everyone working together, we managed, and Peter & Marcus stayed until everyone in their lines had an autograph. Once again, Gill kindly worked me into the queue during my duty. The Wolf staff was very kind to make sure all the stewards didn’t miss out on any autographs if they were working during the sessions. I had rushed to finish a Four Horsemen drawing to have signed and it was a hit with Marcus and Rich. Marcus, even through his shyness, seemed to like the drawing and was very enthusiastic when I offered him a print of it. Rich was equally enthusiastic and said he loved pencil drawings. After he signed it, he jumped up and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek to thank me for the print. Later, as the queues were coming to an end, I got into the end of Alexandra’s queue. She loved my drawing of her, very graciously accepted a print, and posed for a picture with me. Rich also posed for a picture with me before he left. When he put his arm around my shoulder, Kris told him not to crush me. He really wasn’t crushing me - he was just so much bigger than me it looked like he could do some harm. He really is a just a big teddy bear.

After all the excitement was over, we headed back to the room to pack. Later we visited Loraine and Denise in their room for champagne and conversation and then cruised through the party before heading to bed. The next morning, our London adventure would begin.


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