Dragoncon 2001

Sunday & Monday

Sunday - Andy Hallett - 11:30am Panel / Andy Hallett, Mark Lutz, and Bailey Chase - 2:30 Panel / Bailey Chase - 5:30 Panel
Monday - Bailey Chase - Autograph Room / Airport - Bailey Chase and Chris Demetral sightings

Andy Hallett - 11:30am

my favorite pic of Andy. he's laughing so hard. i think it's so cute.

Our first thing Sunday was another Andy panel at 11:30. At first they thought he wasn't going to come, and we were going to have a Mark panel. We wouldn't have minded that because Mark is really funny. (Dare said he's like Ben Stiller's little brother). But in the end Andy did come, and do a short panel. About 30 minutes or so. We had awesome seats in the front row.

There was a question about whether he ever goes...I can't believe I'm saying this about his lines. Or something.

He said there was a scene where Angel comes to the bar, and he (Andy) is in his bathrobe and he says something like Zuku's petals (?), and he said it wrong and the audience corrected him. He said he didn't know what it even meant. And sometimes when he's calling Angel "sweetie" he's going...I said what?

Someone asked about the song he sings at the end of "There's no Place Like Plrz Glrb." He said while they were shooting, it's him walking away so they told him he could sing anything. They dubbed over it later with Over the Rainbow.

There was something about the internet. And the Succubus Club. He did an interview. Someone involved gave him bad directions. I don't really remember the details.

A question about jobs he'd had before acting.
In high school he was a cashier at the A&P. That's how he got to know everyone in his town. Everyone there does a little shopping everyday. Then later he worked at his aunt's ice cream store. She also sold grave stones and the store was called "Cones and Stones." Heehee. The cones got turned into a video store.
Then he was a personal assistant for someone, Bill Cope? I have no idea who that is.
In LA. His 1st job was at a gym. He was broke, walking the street, looking for the first place that would hire him.
Then he worked for a management company as a runner. But it's time consuming having a job in the industry. There's no time for other projects.
So he was a personal assistant again.
He told a really funny story about how he claimed he had a heart attack once after he was exhausted from vacuuming. (I think this was back during high school). And his friend found him lying on the floor, and he told him he thought he'd just had a heart attack, but really he was just tired.

A question about the make-up.
It takes three hours. Mainly because it's a really thin prosthetic, and it's very delicate. It takes an hour just to glue it on. He said he goes in cycles, getting it glued depresses him. It's really strong glue, stronger than the one they use for the vamp faces. He said David, if he wanted to, could rip off his prosthetic, but Andy can't do that. After they put on the prosthetic, they do the detailing with an airbrush. Then hair, wardrobe, and contacts. He said he'd seen people wearing those funky contacts at the con, and he couldn't believe it because they hurt him. He said he has two pairs because he bitched about the pain so much. One pair is thick, it hurts but he can see. The other is thin, and feels good, but he can't see with them in.

A question about where the suits come from.
They're off the rack. Some of them were bought on Hollywood Blvd. At Fox Hills Mall.

He talked about the incredible attention to detail on Angel. Things like his cuff links, his belts, and shoes go unnoticed. He mentioned one pair of shoes that were purple fur loafers.

He said taking off the make-up usually takes 30 minutes. He takes off the stuff on his hands himself because he doesn't like to sit still. And they'd done it in 15 minutes before, with two people working on his face. He mentioned Charisma sitting in the chair next to him, them stopped himself because he was going to leak something again.

He mentioned Amber's movie again. James Marsters is also in it. He's a gay guy who comes on to Andy in a park. There was some joking about George Michael here.

In terms of character development, the Host is written darker this season.

He talked about Angel being his first gig, and how everyone was nervous about whether he could do it. Both Joss and David showed up for his first scene even though neither of them was directing the episode, and he said that never happens. He was supposed to open and close the show. He had a second monologue in that first episode of season 2. During the end monologue, he made it lighter, fun. They were cracking up. He got caught in the curtains coming out. He saw a different side to the Host. Every actor brings a part of themselves to the roles they play.

Question - Has the stuff he added helped keep the character on the show? He said, I like to think so. Without tooting my own horn. He mentioned a time on the set when someone was angry and said, anyone can play a demon in a green suit. But he thinks he can take some responsibility for what the character is.

Question- Will there be a Host action figure?
It's supposed to come out in January. They did the laser scanning of his body. Someone asked how many of the figures he's reserved. He said he wouldn't tell. Then someone asked how many people live in his hometown? Everyone was laughing at that.

He explained again how the role of the Host came about. He was working at the BB King restaurant thing at Universal CityWalk. He knew Joss on a social level, and invited him and his wife to come see him. So they did. Joss got the idea for the karaoke singing demon, and told Andy he should audition for the part since it was inspired by him. He didn't just give him the part. He doesn't do favors like that on the show. Andy talked about how Joss micromanages the shows, especially Buffy. He auditioned for the Host 3 times...did the first monologue, the I Will Survive one. And he had to sing two songs. He was really nervous. After the audition, he and the other finalist were alone in a room together. Then they came and got the other guy and Andy thought the other guy had the part. Then they called him in and told him he had the part and he was really professional about it. As soon as he got out in the hallway, Joss came out and picked him up and was jumping and twirling him around, and they ran down the hall to Joss' office all thrilled.

A question about what he thinks of the make-up he wears.
He said Optic Nerve used to do it, and now Almost Human does. They coated his face in plaster, and they used to put straws in people's nostrils but it changes the shape so the cast isn't quite right. And they don't do that anymore. He said one of his nostrils was blocked, and then he stopped and was talking about how he was rambling, and the guy who asked the question must be annoyed because he's talking about his nostrils.

He said they showed him a drawing of the make-up. Originally it was going to be more demonic, and more dramatic. The original had big horns, a really long chin, (he motioned like it was long enough to reach his stomach), and the face was white with pink detail, veiny and scary looking. There were a lot of test make-ups. They changed to a new prosthetic, but kept the white. He spent all day doing test make-up. Then the make-up artist, Dane, thought it would be fun to make him look like a drag queen. And the producers loved it. He talked about still having to put on lipstick and mascara.

The first time he saw the make-up he was scared. He said the detail doesn't all show up on the screen. He pointed out a red light on a camera, and said the eyes are as bright as the light. It felt like it was really him. And he thought...my mom will flip.

The panel ended around then. After the panel we went to get lunch at KFC. And I think this was when we went to the art show. We got to stand next to this giant statue of the The TICK!

Andy Hallett, Mark Lutz, Bailey Chase - 2:30pm
Then we went back for a panel with all the Buffy/Angel guests. Andy, Mark and Bailey. Bailey was there first, but then when the others came they made him go out and then come and make an entrance with the other two which I thought was funny.

We had good seats again. They were in maybe the third row, but still pretty close, and not too hard to see if I twisted around in my seat a little. :) This was sort of hard to keep up with note-wise because there were three people to keep track of, and in at least one place I wasn't sure who was talking.

The first question was from David about how each of their characters was designed for different things, like the Groosalugg (and by the way, what the hell is up with spelling it like that? Why don't they spell it Gruselug?) was only intended to be there for a couple episodes. Graham on the other hand was a recurring character for a season. Etc. Actually, I don't remember what the question was. But it was something to do with that concept, and possibly like...how do you try to keep your character coming back?

Mark - You do your job, and then hopefully the character builds from that.
Andy - You do things slightly differently. Give it a twist to land the part.
I think it was Mark who said he wore a Speedo to his audition, and that was different.
Bailey - He had to know his place in the scene, and move the story forward. With Graham a lot of his character was behavior, not lines.
Andy - He used to not get that about the behavior. When the camera was off him, he'd be just blank. Looking at his fingernails. Crunching and munching. But Bailey is right about behavior and presence.
Okay, this seems out of context, but earlier I think David had called the Groosalugg a brief shot character. And Mark made a little innuendo about that. And then later he said something about he was known for brief shots and Speedos, and then he was like...Sorry, mom or something like that. And it was all very funny, but I have no idea how it related to anything.

There was a question about what was the little twist they gave their audition to get their part.
Andy - He grabbed the stapler and used it as a mic. And he sang his ass off. He told a funny story about how they asked him to sing a slow song, and all he could think of was Amazing Grace. And then they asked him to sing a fast song, but he drew a blank, so he sang Amazing Grace fast.
Mark said something funny here, but I can't decipher it
Mark - His audition scene was when he first gets introduced to Cordy. He thought there was comedy in the fact that his character is this guy who's clearly a warrior, but doesn't see himself that way. He showed us a little bit, like when he's talking about his lips, and then he smiles big. And when he's talking about his muscles, and he flexed. And Joss said...hire him and make sure he does that. He got a call back, and they asked if he could wait. He kidded that he was going...well, I have a cake in the over... There were a couple soap opera actors waiting with him. And the casting director came in, and was talking to the soap guys and telling them, you should try to find the comedy, why don't you do this? And directing them to do what Mark had done. And then Mark stood up (in the panel) and was yelling...Hey! That's my stuff! And then he did the voice of the casting people going...sit down, Mark Lutz! And him still yelling, No! That's my stuff! It was really funny.

Bailey - Humor is really important on Buffy and Angel. For Graham, he was playing a military guy, and if he did anything to the lines it would take away from that. He did the "Maybe she's Canadian" line with Mark in the audition (I think). He said he gets a lot of mileage out of self-depreciation, and in an intimidating situation like that he can get them to laugh at his own expense.

A question about where the Host will be in season 3.
Andy- The same environments. But there's a different side to him, less jovial. And again he stopped because he can't give anything away.
Mark and Andy started joking about the Host showing up on ER, in the operating room with his full make-up. He has guts open in front of him, and a martini in his hand.

A woman was asking a question, and Bailey noticed her shirt and asked her to stand up and show everyone. She had on a shirt with a stake sticking out of her chest, and it said something like...I fought Buffy and all I got was this lousy T-shirt. Her question was about why they thought Buffy was so popular.
Andy- Joss dared to be different. He takes real life and supernatural metaphorism. They have great writers. They're talented, outrageous and have bad-ass imagination.
Mark - Most of your favorite movies and tv shows are original. Two of his favorites, Seinfeld and Simpsons. Then he said he lives next to the low talker from the episode of Seinfeld with Jerry's puffy shirt. He said he was all excited and e-mailed his brother going...I live by the low talker! And his brother said...too bad it's not Newman. Then Andy got him to tell the story of when he met Wayne Knight. Andy had called him with a "Newman alert" because he saw him at the supermarket. So Mark hauled ass, with his "hair on fire," to get there. He caught him coming out of the store. He told him he was Mark, and his brother was a huge Newman fan, and it was his birthday, so could he call him? So Wayne agreed, and Mark gave him his cell phone. And when his brother answered the phone Wayne said, "Hello, Steven!" (and Mark said it like Newman does when he says Hello, Jerry!") And then he said, your very large brother accosted me in a parking lot, and I fear bodily harm. And Mark acted out his side of the conversation with Wayne going...Not Newman, Wayne. Hee hee. It was cute.

Then someone in the audience said, if she told him it was her birthday could she get a kiss. And he let her come up. Then someone said they wanted a birthday spanking, and he said they'd better clear the table or something.

Someone asked Andy to sing (someone asked at every panel, and he kept saying...later. He did sing at the awards banquet, but we didn't go to that.) So he said later again, and someone said they'd buy him drinks in exchange for songs.

Then back on the topic of the question and the studios attitude toward Buffy and Angel. Bailey said that for the studios it's just about the bottom line. It's not about the artistic merit.

Something about fans.
Andy- The fans have been so dedicated and supportive. And so loyal.
Bailey - They introduced the Initiative before the commandos were cast (which is why they were running around in those ski masks...it was actually some stunt guys under there). Then when they first appeared without the masks, they had the face paint, and the fans didn't like it so they stopped using that. He also said the fans' positive response to the Initiative meant Graham and Forest stayed. He said TPTB on Buffy really listen to the fans and what they say does have an impact.

A question about doing stunts. I think.
Mark - Used to be on a Canadian hockey show called Power Play. So he did some stunts there. But there was some things you don't do. Like if you're getting catapulted. I think he mispronounced something there, because then he joked that he was using a rented brain.
Bailey - A cute story about how his stunt guy was getting repeatedly catapulted and bounced off a tree. It was raining, and Bailey was standing there with about three people holding umbrellas over him so his hair wouldn't get messed up, and here's his stunt guy just in the rain getting hit into a tree. So he went over and held one of the umbrellas over the stunt guy.
Mark - Another cute story about a stand in he and Andy know. They said his name, but I can't read my notes and I'm sure I spelled it wrong anyway. But anyway, he was working on Angel. It was that rainy, cold day they talked about early. And Mark was there with heaters and stuff, looking at the monitors, and the stand-in knew they could see him in the monitors, so he did this little nod into the camera. I can't describe it, but Mark acted it out, and then he (Mark) said God bless him.
Andy - He said he does all his own screaming. He actually has a stunt guy (everyone laughed at that because the Host doesn't do a lot of danger stuff). Andy said he feels bad cause it takes him so long to get into make-up, and then the stunts are like...once he had a stunt guy for when he fell off a bar stool. Mark joked that he never does that in real life. Andy said there was a fight scene in Pylea where he got to hit someone with a rake, but that was all he got in the fight.

A question for Andy about how he feels about the character's popularity.
Andy - It's overwhelming. He was sort of stepping into the Oracles shoes, and he thinks everyone on the show was hopeful, but skeptical. They were afraid it would get worn out as a device. He said that's everyone's real voices in the Karaoke (including Julie Benz and Mercedes). David Greenwalt was the one who wrote the music and lyrics for the song Christian Kane sang.

A question about what they do with the scripts when they're done.
Bailey - recycle them.
Andy - He was saving them, but they pile up because there a bunch of different rewrites for each one.

Question - Who's a worse dancer, Alexis or David?
Andy - Alexis can dance. There was a funny part where Andy said...he can really shake his...and then he couldn't remember the expression and people were shouting out stuff like tailfeather, moneymaker, what his mamma gave him, etc. And he was like, no, no. And then he went...he can really shake a leg, and everyone was like...that's not it either, that means hurry. He brought up the scene in Blood Money where Alexis is dancing in his underwear. He said there's a hilarious extended version of that on the blooper reel.

Question for all 3 about their other roles.
Bailey - What was different about the role of Graham was that less was more powerful. He talked about a horror movie called Rats that he just shot in Bulgaria. I'm not sure if this next part is about Rats or another thing. But he said he was playing a character with a lot of flaws. He was getting to play a bad guy who wanted to take over the world, which was fun.
Andy - I don't really remember why Andy said this, but he got reminded by something Bailey said of two boxers who started fighting in the middle of an interview, and he could imagine that, the table getting thrown.
Mark - Most of his other roles are jocks. And his role on Angel was unlike any of his others.
Andy - His only other thing is Amber's "Chance." And he plays a nightclub singer. (Someone spoke up from the audience, that it's not like the Host at all). In "The Enforcers" he plays a sleaze bag who runs a hotel. Someone asked about when Amber's movie would be out, and the answer was it'll be ready when it's done.

I think it was Dare who asked if he gets to keep the Host's clothes.
Andy - He doesn't. Someone asked if he'd want to, and he laughed and said no.

Another question about a CD. He didn't want it to just be covers. Joss is writing him a song. And Amber wrote him one for Chance.

A question about who they'd like to play if they switched from Buffy to Angel and vice versa.

Mark - Buffy. Everyone was cheering and then he sat back and crossed his arms and told the other two. "Follow that."
Andy - Spike. He's a bad ass. James is fun in real life.
Bailey - Andy. I want to be you, man. He said he'd like to wear those horns.

A question about whether they watched any of the episodes before they were on the shows.
Bailey - joking. He watched all of them "religiously." Then he said he'd started to watch it.

I don't know what this was in reference to. Something about his character.
Bailey - Something about getting his own CD of singing karaoke. (joking). He was invited back for the 100th episode, but he was in Bulgaria. There's nothing definite for next season. Part of the problem is, he'd have to come back with Marc Blucas and the scheduling is hard to work out. Someone suggested that his evil twin could show up on Angel and sing at the karaoke bar.
He said something about there always being an opening. Mark joked that he wasn't touching that one.
And someone brought up the fact that Graham was bitten by a werewolf, but nothing happened with that.

A question about which shows they'd like to do.
Mark - He'd like to see Andy on Hollywood Squares.
Bailey - Jackass. Someone told him it was canceled, and he said...oh, shit!
Mark - He'd like to be on The West Wing or The Simpsons.
Then he did a little part from an episode where Barney was saying he's not a drunk, then asking if that was beer in that ashtray.
Andy - His favorite show was the Larry Sanders Show. The character Rip Torn used to play is exactly like the producer of Angel. He said his other favorite show is Third Watch. He'd like to be a firefighter. He joked that Mark had said earlier our favorites are the original shows, but that one isn't at all.
Someone said they'd like to see them bring back Name that Tune for Andy. Andy told that once he had the chance to go on the Gong Show, but not as a judge...as one of the people that gets gonged.

A question for Mark about whether he hates South Park since he's Canadian.
Mark - It's all good-natured ribbing. He loves South Park.

Not sure of the question here.
Andy - He's not a series regular. He doesn't think he could handle the make-up everyday, so he's glad about that. Someone said, he could handle it if they paid him enough. And he agreed, if they put a couple more zeros on his check.

A question about their hobbies.
Andy - lots of bars & grills, theaters, showcases. He likes to see local talent. He named some bar, but I can't read what I wrote there. His favorite thing is to hear people sing, especially old black women.
Mark - scuba diving. He also roller blades, hikes.
Andy told a funny story here about how he was certified for scuba diving, but his friend thought he cheated on the test. And he swears he didn't. He took the test, and his friend fell asleep, and when he woke up, Andy was looking at the answer book, but he was done with the test, he was just checking his answers. And Mark was like...oh! I thought you meant you cheated on the practical part (where you're actually diving) and I couldn't figure out how. Did you have someone else take the test for you? And Andy was saying, no I passed that part with flying colors. Mark said he went to South Africa over Christmas. He was diving there and saw Great White sharks. He said they're like big yellow buses with fins, and everyone who was at the other panel with the bus story cracked up.
Bailey - golfing, hiking with his dog. He lives in the hills. He also likes to go see standup. At this place on Melrose, the guys on Whose Line used to come and work on their improv before they put the show on the air.
Andy - one cool thing about LA is you never know who'll be there.

The last thing was a discussion about what's the difference between a regular and recurring. Andy's agent ended up answering it mainly. I think she said from 4 to 13 episodes is recurring.

After the panel, I took a picture of the three of them together, and then Dare got one with Mark.

And I was trying to take a picture of Bailey. Twice people walked in front of him just as I was taking the picture. And the second time, he noticed and asked if I wanted a picture, and I said yeah, so he was standing there. And then the camera wouldn't go because the flash wasn't charged, and I was like...forget it, it's not going. And Dare said I should let her try and get in the picture myself. And I asked Bailey if I could, and he said sure, so I got in it. And Dare was holding the camera, and I thought it still wasn't working, so I kind of shrugged and made a face, saying it wasn't working just as the flash went off. And Bailey said it was an action shot, and I laughed and said yeah. And then after he left I went...God, I am a doofus.

me being a doofus. this came out better than i thought it would :)

We had to choose between going to the Secret Adventures of Jules Verne tea, and the Klingon Beauty Pageant. Dare had wanted to go to the Klingon wedding the day before, and I had already dragged her to a few things for Jules so we went to the beauty pageant. It was funny, but the room was freezing, freezing cold which didn't help me with my already having a sore throat.

Bailey Chase - 5:30pm
After we saw who was crowned we went back for Bailey's solo panel. We found out before he got there, that the stuff with the guests on Monday were canceled because people were leaving on earlier flights. But Bailey was going to sign that morning so we were going to go up then and get a picture of him with Dare.

The first thing they did when Bailey got there was show one of the music videos from Friday because it was an Initiative video to "The Boys are Back in Town."

He talked some about the Initiative afterwards and said a lot of it was filmed in Santa Monica, and the woods were shot in Alhambra (?). He said he thought that thing with the elevator behind the mirror was a cool idea, and laughed about how Leonard (Forrest) smoothes his eyebrows as they walk in. Someone asked about whether the elevator was really there. He said they were actually walking into a plywood box after the retinal scan. And that the part with the Initiative was shot in a different place, in Valencia.

Someone asked about all the toys he got to use like the guns and little tracking devices and stuff. He said they were fun. But the prop guy took his job very seriously, and right after they'd finish a scene, he'd grab the handheld devices from them and turn them off to save power. So he didn't get to really play with them. He said they had a weapons expert come in at the end of the season for when they had the big battle with Adam.

A question about his career before Buffy.
He was on the Young and the Restless and did guest spots on other shows including Married with Children and Saved by the Bell. Then he said he graduated into prime time for spots on Charmed, Jag, VIP, etc.

A question about the camaraderie between him, Marc, and Leonard. He said they got along well, and would hang out off set. The chemistry carried over onto the screen. He said they still keep in touch.

A question about his favorite tv show.
He said the Sopranos. Although the last season was his least favorite.

Something about his dog.
It's a yellow lab named Gabe (I think. I may have written Gage, but that seems wrong), and he's been with him for 7 years.

He was born outside Chicago (Bailey, not the dog :) and moved to FL. He lived in Naples, then he was sent to a boarding school in Jacksonville because he was "so well behaved." :) He played baseball there and Chipper Jones (Atlanta Braves player) was on his team. (Dare used to have a huge crush on Chipper so we thought that was cool.)

A question about how he handled the negative fan reaction.
He said most of it was directed toward one character in particular (meaning Riley). And then he joked, "I handled it great!" He said Marc didn't understand the backlash at first, but he came to see that most of it was fan loyalty to Angel.

A question about why Marc left...was it his movie career, or did they decide to get rid of Riley because of fan reaction?
He said it was probably a little of both. Joss and the others wanted to take a different direction, to focus on Buffy and the Scoobies. But Marc has been doing well with movies, so it worked out well.

A question about whether he gets only part of a script or the whole thing.
The whole thing. He said everyone is encouraged to really familiarize themselves with the whole episode. Rewrites happen up the last minute though. They had different colors for different drafts, and with those he'd only get the pages he was in.

A question about Joss and secrecy, and if they have to sign any confidentiality agreements or anything.
He said they do have to sign things. He mentioned how Andy would just get excited about an episode and want to talk about it and share his excitement. Someone said on other shows they have financial penalties, and Bailey joked that maybe Andy was going to get a bill.

A question about the movie Rats.
They shot it in Bulgaria in spring. It stars Ron Perlman. And Sarah Downing (Roswell and Dead Last) and some other WB stars. He said they're basically running from killer rats. He said shooting in Bulgaria really made him appreciate the US. He talked about the poor conditions a little and how they're not fully recovered from communist oppression. He said one thing that was amazing was the amount of cigarette smoke on the set. It was a closed set, and he said everyone, the cameramen, the mic operators, everyone was smoking.

A question about him watching Buffy.
He said he liked it when they left high school, because they were entering the real world and facing new challenges. He said he watched Angel when it first started. He thinks Charisma and David have good chemistry.

A question about casting.
He said he didn't read with other candidates or actors. They didn't match them up beforehand to see how the chemistry was working. He said he was surprised he was cast next to Marc because they are similar physically.

Another question about Rats. About the actual rats I think.
He said the rats were trained. They had scientist people, and then he joked, I think they were scientists, they had on white-lab coats. He said there were dozens of real rats. Some of the actors had to have the rats crawling over them with fake blood, and they'd put some kind of food on the actor's bodies, so the rats would feed on it, and stay there. He said he was lucky because his character dies through digital fx.

A question about his contract I guess.
He said he was brought back on an episode by episode basis. They had a sort of standing unspoken agreement with his agent to let them know if he wouldn't be available, and otherwise they'd just let him know when they wanted him.

A question about whether it was weird coming onto Buffy which had a cast that's been together for years.
He said it's as weird as you make it. They're just people going to work like everyone else. He said Sarah is gracious with the other actors. The only difference in coming into an established show like that is that the longer they've worked together, the better they are, the more efficient the production is.

I don't know what the question was here.
He said that one thing he liked about Graham was that the role wasn't written for looks. The looks weren't described. It just described him as solid, a rock, a strong, silent type. His character breakdown at the audition didn't mention looks.

Something about Graham and Riley.
He said Riley is Graham's number one guy. His loyalties are with Riley. And he felt like Riley betrayed the code when he left the Initiative. Graham wanted to bring him back in line, and ultimately he did bring him back in.

I don't remember the question here either.
He said Leonard (Forrest) used to flip to the end of the script every week to see if he died. He'd ask the person handing out the scripts if he died this week, and then one week the guy answered yes. Leonard got quiet, and was kind of giving puppy dog eyes. But he got to come back from the dead for a few episodes.

Someone said there should be an Initiative spin-off.
Bailey joked about the Initiative guys going into the karaoke bar in Angel, and there being a record scratching sound as everyone looks over.

I think someone asked about an action figure, and there isn't one, but he talked about the trading cards. Heehee. He said it was kind of weird. But he gave one to Chipper Jones (he called him Chip) since Chipper had a bunch of baseball cards of himself.

Someone asked about the werewolf bite.
He said at the end of season 4 there was a potential for a different road, but the werewolf thing was dropped, and they brought in the black ops thing the next season instead. He said there are only so many storylines you can pursue because there's a limited amount of time.

Question about his favorite episode (maybe :)
His favorite episode is Hush, which he wasn't in. They went over budget and some of the smaller characters were cut. He said Joss caught some flack for not putting Graham in that episode, because the fans were going...the guy who never speaks wasn't in Hush?

He talked about Joss driving all over town in a broken down Toyota Celica, driving from set to set and trying to direct, write, cast, and do it all.

Someone asked if he liked shooting at night or during the day better.
He said he liked the regularity of working days, like normal working hours. But it's cool to go shoot on location at night.

Question about humor on the set.
Okay. This was funny, but I have no idea what he was talking about. So he said he and Leonard and Marc used to play a game where they'd try to get the other guy to say who. Like. Did you see the new prop guy? Who? And then if he said it, the other two would say something about nuts. I have no idea what it was though. Like These nuts? or something. The way he said it was really funny, but I think you had to be there. Anyway, he said that they'd be doing this to each other on the set when they were supposed to be getting serious.

A question about the difference working on a soap.
He said there's no energy on the set of a soap. It's really uncreative. They're following a formula that works, but it's not fun. The product suffers because of the constraints of time and budget, etc.

He talked about how they used to tease Leonard about Forrest having a crush on Riley because people on the internet were saying that. He said the first time he heard Graham had a website (I think from Leonard) he was blown away that someone would do that. He appreciates all the fans have done.

Question about whether he gets recognized.
He said he mostly gets approached outside of LA. People are respectful, usually they just want an autograph, or they'll just wave and smile.

A question about his girlfriend, or if he has one?
He said his girlfriend went with him to the PB party. But he's not seeing anyone right now.

A question about him doing more cons.
He said he'd feel bad about it because he'd feel like he was taking away from other people who are currently on the show. If he were to come back on the show, he'd do other cons. The audience told him there are Star Trek guest stars that still come to cons, etc. He said just because they do it doesn't mean it's right for him.

This is his first con, so some people asked if he's seen anything strange.
He said he's been asked to wear some strange things.

A question about what he'd like to see happen with Graham if he did come back.
He said when he left the show, the character and the storyline were to a point where it needed to be developed or move on. He said he'd like to see Graham have a love interest, or go over to the dark side. That would be the coolest. He said his favorite character is Spike.

Someone asked about the posting board and the next posting board party.
He said the bronze has moved to the beta-bronze, and they are planning to have another PBP. He didn't say whether or not he would go.

Okay. My notes say: "pool of Jell-o." I don't remember what that's about at all, but it must have been funny cause I'm laughing even though I have no idea what it was.

He said he was surprised he didn't die with or before Leonard's character. And he said Leonard had a hard time with all that make-up they had him in for the reconstructed Forrest.

Someone asked something about who he'd like to act with.
He said Charisma. Maybe a love story. Preferably not PG-13.

Something about Marc Blucas and Freddie being in Summer Catch together. He said after Sarah got together with Freddie, Sarah got happier and that made everyone's life better.

A question about his favorite couple.
Tara and Willow. He said they're the most interesting. Someone brought up Cordy and Graham.

A question about his favorite actors.
Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett. Idols growing up, Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford. In directors he likes David Fincher.

The panel degenerated at the end to people telling Bailey which roles they thought he should play, and general sort of confusion.

After Bailey's panel, we went back to our hotel. Then we came back for the costume contest. We went into the overflow room so we wouldn't have to wait in the line. The contest was great. Anthony Daniels was hosting, and he was hilarious. He had all these snarky comments and innuendoes that were really funny. There were some cool costumes like the Blue Meanies, the Powerpuff Girls, Scorpius, this Dragonwoman who was sending out clouds of "smoke" that was really baby powder and had moving wings. Chris Demetral was there judging, but we couldn't really see him. One of the weirdest costumes was this guy who I think called himself the Helping Hand. And he had on basically a chain mail shirt, and these little Speedos with a giant green arm and fist coming out of his crotch. And the penis/hand thing MOVED and GLOWED IN THE DARK. We were *crying,* we were laughing so hard. And Catwoman got proposed to on stage. The whole spectacle of the contest was a lot of fun. Afterwards though we were in a big crush of not moving people because they wouldn't let us go forward until the room was cleared, and people were only taking the escalator, not the stairs. We ended up leaving the room, and going all the way around the building to get out of the mess. Oh, and that was when we saw the naked girl for the second time. Before she'd been wearing a bubble wrap tube top, and some electrical tape over her nipples (electrical tape was a popular look) and then this time she was wearing police line do not cross tape.

We went up to Lynn, Lex Chelle and Mala's room. They were watching Buffy, so I stayed and watched the end of Teacher's Pet, then The Pack. After that I had to go to bed. Dare stayed a while longer.

Dragoncon 2001

Monday

lynn, dare and mala. dare's got on her tall boots!

The next morning we moved our flight from 5:30 to 2:20 since the stuff we were going to stay for got canceled. We wanted to go see Bailey again though, so Dare could get her picture. We had a whole big thing where we went to the girls' room, and then we were going to go over cause they were still packing. But Dare didn't have her D*con badge. So we went back to our room. Then she was just standing there by the door, and I was like...you have the key. Only she left it in the room. So we went back up to the girls' room to look for it, and it wasn't there. We had to go to the desk and get another copy. Then back to our room, then finally we went over to the con. Bailey wasn't at the Walk of Fame when we got there, around 10:30 or something. So we went through the dealer room one last time, and I got a video and a couple buttons. Dare decided to get some colored contacts, blue. So we did that.

Bailey Chase - Autograph Room

We went back to the Walk of Fame, and Bailey was there talking to Mala and Lynn. So Dare went over there. Doug from the SAoJV dinner saw me and stopped me so we talked for a sec. His wife had gone to Klingon wedding so I asked about that. And then they told me how the tea went. It was cool to see them again before the con was over. Then we said bye, and I went over to join the others. Dare told me she'd explained to Bailey her whole theory about why Riley sucks. Heh heh. And he was nice enough to listen to her rambling. He came out to take pictures with us. Dare was telling Mala and Lynn about her contacts, and she said she bought Bailey Chase eyes and was showing the blue contacts. After he took pics with Mala and Lynn, I asked him if I could take another picture with him, since I was a doofus before. He said sure, and I got to take a second pic. (Nice boy :) Then Dare got hers. He listened politely to us talking about fanfic for a while. He joked around about the Forrest/Riley fic, and said that he and Marc and Leonard used to kid each other about it, and ask if this was the week they'd be coming out. We told him he should come to more cons, even if he doesn't get back on the show. Some other people were waiting with cameras, so we shook his hand, and stopped bothering him.

<g> He was really nice and indulgent, and he was calling me by my name. Which at first I didn't get, then I realized I had a name tag on my hip. LOL.

Dare and I went back to the hotel to check out, then we met up at Chik-Fil-A with the rest of our little group. (Dare won a free wrap on Saturday and insisted on getting it ) We said bye, took some pictures, and headed for the Marta.

Airport
We were waiting in line at the airport when I noticed Chris and Jana in the line on the other side of the little divider thing. I pointed him out to Dare, and she called his name, and he asked how we were doing, and we told him to have a nice flight. He was getting pulled out of the line to go to the counter when we called him. Anyway, that was fun, and we were going...how weird! I can't believe we ran into him.

Then when we went to the terminal, I noticed Bailey at one of those stands. We went over and said hi to him, and told him to have a nice flight too. It was really funny to see the two of them at the airport. Especially because we'd been joking earlier since we moved our flight up, that it would be fun to see all the celebs getting on their planes. Then we went over to our gate, and a couple minutes later we were on the plane. First class again!! And we flew home...the end <g>

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