It was mostly due to the actions of one star. Not Adam West. Not William Shatner. Not Verne Troyer. No, gentle reader. None of these stars were able to achieve as much infamy, or generate as much general chaos as the one and only:
SHANNON DOHERTY.
It started out simple. As do all stories of hell unleashed. Doherty’s handler, a fellow named Mike, required the attentions of three volunteers to help escort Doherty, and fellow Charmed star Holly Marie Combs, to their autograph booth. As we waited for them, the number of volunteers needed grew to a total of six. 6 volunteers should have been overkill. I began to wonder if they would really need me. But Mike was resolute, so I remained with the large group.
The plan changed slightly, because Doherty and Combs had brought along their own photographer, and would need to unload the equipment nearby. They pulled their cars around the back, and entered through the loading dock. I ran to retrieve a cart to take the equipment. Emphasis on “ran.” It had been a farther distance than I had thought it would be. Argh.
We set up the autograph booth, and the fans arrived. About a hundred, if my math was right. Because there were so many, we had to separate the main body of the line. This was problematic because we would need to go retrieve small groups of the line to ferry over to the booth. But what really became problematic was the price. Because, in a word...
It was pricey.
Doherty and Combs were charging $40 to have their photographer take a picture of them with the fan. ON TOP of that, it would cost $20 for their autograph. EACH. So you were looking at a total of $80 by the time you were stepping out of the booth. Wow. But the fans agreed, and the line was still long and strong an hour or two later.
Then Shannon Doherty went on a cigarette break.
By the time she came back, the price for a picture with both Combs and Doherty went up to $60. And the price for each autograph? $30 each. EACH. So now you were spending $120 easy.
*CHOKE*
And like magic, the line got cut in half. What had originally been an hour wait, was now 15 minutes. Fans were pretty pissed. Heck, I was pissed. Honestly, if she had stuck with her original price, she would have gotten a hell of a lot more money in the long run. Tsk, tsk.
A little later, I got shifted around to other duties. I even got to hang out with Ted Raimi at his booth for a bit. After the madness of ShaDo, it was nice to talk to a genuinely nice guy like Ted Raimi. Let it be heard from the mountain tops! That guy is an okay guy.
I met up with Justin to catch my lunch and figure out the plan for later that night. My friend Jamal was going to have a Doctor Who night watching the first three episodes of the 5th Series with Matt Smith, the new, 11th, Doctor. Hopefully I would get out of the Con in time to watch it with them.
I began the slow process of collecting signatures for my volunteer shirt. I started with Ted Raimi, then got Doug Tenapel (creator of Earthworm Jim), and continued from there. But I wouldn’t be just segregated to celebrities and the such. I fully planned to collect the other volunteer’s signatures by the end of the 4th day.
After the Con, I hitched a ride with Justin AND Jamal, who decided to come along to show some love. We picked up some dinner and then headed to Jamal’s apartment. Ben joined us before the first episode was finished.
We watched The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below, and Victory of the Daleks. Let me first clarify that David Tennant is going to be my Doctor for all time. Nothing can, or will, change that. That being said…
Matt Smith is really, really good.
I mean, wow. This guy has a really incredible grip on who his Doctor is. He’s weirder. He’s more sly. And he is the equal to every actor that’s gone ahead of him. My hat goes off to him. He quite possibly went into being the Doctor amidst more nay-saying and bitterness than Tennant had had to deal with. And he impressed me. Good going, Mr. Smith.
And Stephen Moffat, the new show runner, is going all out. With great writing and new creations to help bolster the already 50-odd years of continuity and rogue’s gallery. Though I think the new opening credits are a bit ridiculous, and the new version of the theme isn‘t quite hitting the right note with me, it cannot be said that the new run will go unnoticed. So my over-all feelings about the new Doctor Who? In two words:
I’m down.
Topics of Conversation @ The Con: Tasers, travel with no excuses, ferries, vicious lawyers, how can electricity be individually allocated, Hawaii fever, The New Doctor Will Skull-F**k You!, the kindness of burritos, Amy Pond, the genius of the green tongue, etc.
-Nate
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