Rosie Goes to See James at the Vampire ball - Part 2
So here is the second and final part of my ramble from the vampire ball - enjoy!
SUNDAY
Didn’t get a lot of sleep as I was up early and getting my stuff packed up, so I could go and catch the bus that took me back over to Ashford to collect my car. We checked out of the hotel and then drove down to where the free parking was - except there wasn’t any as all the locals were obviously taking advantage and there wasn’t an inch of space! So we had to drive down to the Renaissance and resigned to having to pay for parking (though in fact didn’t have to after all, there was a con rate so that was good!) No James this morning - didn’t see him arriving or anything.
It was photos first again with James and Juliet the first ones at 11am so we all lined up again like the day before - and when he arrived it looked like James was wearing the same t shirt and jeans as he had been the day before! Again, I was having two photos (as were Jules and Becky) so all three of us had one picture and then had to wait for the second. I got a “hey Rosie” when he saw me, but again James wasn’t really talking. For the first one I asked if we could just lean on each other - James was going to go for back to back, but I said more like sideways and looking at each other. So we leaned - me with my arms folded and James with his thumbs in his jeans pockets - and looked at each other. I’m pretty sure that he was actually looking at my forehead and not into my eyes like I was with him but the view was pretty damn good anyway! James’s gaze was totally steady whereas I know my eyes are flicking back and forth, trying to take in all the details - especially as he had this gorgeous sort of half smile on his face. I ended up not grinning like a loon for once (probably because I was concentrating on that beautiful face!)
Going back in for the second shot James was going for the handshake again (he was on autopilot I think!) but then realised it was me. I was going for amusing poses that were easy for James, so I asked him if he would stand in front with his arms out to the side and I would stand behind with my arms up - so we did! James is doing a surprised face and I’m doing a huge grin. Actually it is a great shot because my fat chin is hidden behind James’s shoulder. That’s it! I’ve got the solution to my fat chin in photos problem - just always put a James in front of it...!
I hung on for Becky to have her second picture and then we went off to the hall for the infamous “Communion” that I had heard about, though it was going to be different with no Jonathan Woodward, as it was his invention - it was described to me as “Jonathan talking bollocks for an hour and then giving everyone whiskey” They were already running behind time (I got another great front row seat on the other side this time) and it all ended up starting really late, so the communion got put in with the first talk time and Julia ended up joining Brody and Neil. Neil had brought his guitar as he had threatened to, and admitted he couldn’t play it well at all - he’d just learnt how to for his part in Mama Mia. He said the guitar had been tuned by James (but not in the key he wanted it!) and he had one of James’s guitar picks - it was a Marsters Mobsters one - which Neil read out and said he might throw it into the crowd later.
They were hilarious together again. Neil insisted on dropping trou to show us his new underpants (this was partly from a joke from the day before when Brody wasn’t wearing any!) and there was lots more utter irreverence and silliness - we all sang Thank You for the Music, not exactly accompanied by Neil as he really wasn’t that good at playing. The communion bit itself was a bit weird - just seemed to consist of con goers all lining up to have neat whiskey poured in their mouths straight from the bottle. (Apparently Jonathan does it with Pringles and whiskey, but they had forgotten the Pringles!) I did not partake, as I can’t drink alcohol and it did seem like a bit of a bizarre turn of events, though lots of people wanted to join in, so each to his own. I can see it might upset some people on religious grounds, but I just found it strange. Maybe it’s different when Jonathan does it?
The talks carried on again - Juliet’s stalker came back to the microphone to ask more long-winded questions of Ksenia and Mariana which again had everyone hiding their heads and groaning when he started. Mariana and Allan were funny - beat-boxing every now and then throughout their session and it came to light that Allan really doesn’t like blood in real life (True Blood effects are so OTT that it doesn’t seem real!) it made him feel peculiar and made his feet feel weird. He got all kind of quiet and hunched over talking about it. Mariana was fine with it - think she was brought up on a farm - but was pleased because, as she said, she had found Allan’s Kryptonite!
Then it was James and Juliet. I could see James waiting off stage - he had changed and was now wearing a pair of blue jeans and the red long sleeved t shirt he’s worn at a few other cons recently; and was sitting there laughing with Juliet. They had put a third chair on the stage which turned out to be for Sean as he was going to moderate for the first bit and sort of interview them before questions and to my joy, as I hoped, James let Juliet go first (ever the gentleman!) so she was sitting in the middle and he was on the far side chair so facing back towards me whenever he looked at Juliet or Sean, so I was up for some great pictures.
It was good fun - James was again very smiley and always laughing a lot. Sean alternated between the two of them so I had lots of lovely photo chances of a smiley James without a mike in front of his face whilst he looked at Juliet. Asked what they were working on now, James said that he was about to go and film the 2 part finale for Warehouse 13 between then and the convention in Paris (3 weeks) - much whooping from me as he finally came out and said he was on W13 again - and then he said it was going to be hard work as he is in practically every scene! Now that was GREAT news!!
DeeDee asked them if they would please do the Spike and Dru pose again for anybody who had missed it the day before and as they got up Juliet said they should do it in her direction (she was on the end of the row on my side) - so they did it towards us first and I got a photo and then again in the centre where I got a couple of great pictures.
There was a lot of Spike and Dru stuff of course and specifically about acting differently for theatre and for TV. James demonstrated how you can say the same words but with completely different emotions. He did demanding - just with a short sentence from what I can remember - and then seductive. Oh boy, did he show he can act! He only turned it on for about 3 seconds towards Juliet and all he did was to put his hand on her arm briefly, but everything about him changed. His whole face softened, his eyes went smoky; he dropped his chin so he was looking up from under his lashes and his whole attitude and posture just went kind of fluid as he gave her that one look and just said a couple of words. Even his voice changed to a velvety come-on. Talk about seductive - oh my God, he so was! It was electrifying to see - made my insides somersault just watching from a distance! He is so damn good at what he does! God knows what it must be like to have that turned on you at close range and for longer - think I would have been on the floor in a matter of seconds! (I do have a couple of photos that captured it, though the second one is rather wobbly...!)
They were asked what Spike and Dru would do if they met the vampires from Twilight (Sean the organiser loathes Twilight with a passion!) and Juliet reminded James of the fantastic answer he had given to the question before, so he said it again - “Stun them with great dialogue!” which brought the house down!
Juliet’s stalker (who is also called James it turns out) was up again and he managed to ramble on for ages kind of setting the scene and making most of us lose the thread completely as it never seemed to be building up towards a conclusion and then finally he (surprisingly) asked James a question (something about Spike and Drusilla) but did it as a closed question so got a very succinct “yes!” in reply, and no more - and that got a laugh!
There were lots of questions and fun stuff throughout the hour and it was great, both James and Juliet were a delight to watch and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
As that was the last of the talks it was then autographs for the regular ticket holders, which meant Becky was going to be going through. Having had a complete attack of James fog myself the day before, I had completely failed to give him the book I had as a gift him - even though I had been holding it right there in my hand at the time! - so thought it was worth asking if I could go through and just give it to James and then come back out and they said yes. So I lined up with Becky, but this time James was seated at the far end of the room as the last of the autographs so I decided I might as well stay and keep Becky company and just lurk behind her (prompting her occasionally to speak - she was fine with everybody but got all nervous and tongue tied with Juliet and then James!) As we were waiting in the lines I went over to just talk to Neil - who had stayed all day because he was having so much fun! - because I just wanted to thank him for being there. The volunteer who was with him was wearing a Guild of Radical Librarians t shirt like mine, and he was a fellow library worker, so we swapped stories whilst I waited for Neil to be free. When he was, I told him that I had not come across him before, this was the first time I had encountered him and he was fucking hilarious! I got a hug and a kiss on the cheek for that! Yup - I’ve definitely got a bit of a crush on Neil! He had gone much browner during the day as he had to tan for his part on stage and Sunday being his day off was also tan applying day - he was joking he could open the batting for Sri Lanka now - he really was that much browner and with his black hair (he really does have great hair!) I could see what he meant!
Juliet’s line was the slowest moving because she was taking her time with everyone so I left Becky there and went across to join James’s line. Steve was with him today so I got to talk with him briefly. James had to sign a whole bunch of pictures for absentee people just before me, so I got time to admire from close up! We did our usual handshake and I got a “hey Rosie!” and a beautiful smile as I said there was nothing for him to sign, I just wanted to give him the book ( “How the Universe Got Its Spots”) as I had forgotten the day before. Apologised that I hadn’t read it though I had tried, as most of it was going straight over my head, but I thought he might enjoy it. James did his usual of reading the back cover and looking inside with great concentration, checking it out before thanking me for it. Couldn’t really stay any longer so I just said I would see him in Paris in a few weeks time and he replied that he was going to be tired in Paris because of the filming just before. And then I got another of those amazing smiles and a few seconds of him watching me leave....!
I joined Becky again but lurked behind her when it was her time with James. She had three things for him to sign and James gave her a GOTR card (he was giving them to everyone) and she said she had the albums and I chipped in that I had given them to her (and then shut up!) and they talked about GoTR's sound. Then it went quiet as James was busy signing, so I whispered to Becky “Tell him about the hair bleach” so Becky told him the story of when she was much younger and had been watching Buffy for the first time and thought that Spike was so cool, she had asked her mum to buy her 3 bottles of peroxide so she could bleach her hair white, and burnt her head. James laughed a lot and agreed that it really did sting!
As Becky had a high number ticket, we were towards the end of the lines, so going straight to the hall afterwards for the closing ceremony, I didn’t expect a seat. But they had changed it for the evening party so it was all big round tables and chairs and we found two odd seats on a central table with Erykah, Nicky and Jules. I took the one on the side nearest the dance floor, where there was a centre table for the guests- but still a way back. The ceremony got delayed of course so it was very late starting - but hey, we were on con time. Eventually the guests started coming out - Ksenia followed by James, who with wonderful fortuitousness sat in the centre seat which gave me an unobstructed view of him through the gaps right in front of me. I nearly whooped for joy and started taking photos!
Neil was last out and had brought the guitar with him again and made us all sing Thank You for the Music again - which we did fine and carried on singing without him playing when he got stuck on the chords! - and then he gave James back his Marsters Mobsters pick. (James should so have taken the guitar off Neil and played it instead...!)
James and Juliet got to pick out the raffle tickets for the signed convention banners - James was making hilarious faces when he was delving in the box and we all drummed on the tables. Then each guest got up to speak and James was last up as the feature guest. Amid all the cheering and whooping said that they, the guests, were just an excuse for us to get together and have a good time - it was meeting people that was the idea, getting names and numbers and before you knew it you would have more friends than you could deal with! (and he is so right - so many great friends because of cons!) much table thumping and feet drumming for that from our table. James thanked all the helpers and volunteers and said he would love to come back, he had thoroughly enjoyed it!
And that was pretty much it. The guests all left to a huge amount of noise - me watching James up to the last moment as he waved and grinned to everybody and then we went out to the foyer as Becky and I were going to be leaving, but there were more costumes to see and photograph and an awful lot of hugging goodbye. Juliet passed through right by us, so we called out goodbye and she turned and was blowing us kisses; and I saw Neil leaving as well so yelled out to him along with a few others and he grinned and waved to us. Lots of hugging was done - it was so great to be able to spend time with people I hadn’t seen for ages. (We ended up meeting Jules on the way to the car so there was more hugging in the middle of the road. She had been so much fun all weekend, I was sad to say goodbye!) And then we found our way out of Heathrow, stopped on the way back to eat (KFC! Bad Rosie!) and got back to my house at about midnight.
A great weekend. James was all smiley and lovely but to me he does seem to be drawing back from fans in some ways - much less touchy-feely in photo ops for instance - which is fair enough. After all, anything he chooses to give us is entirely up to him; we have no right to demand anything from him. Even if that is what he used to do, he doesn’t now and that is totally his choice. He looked wonderful and seemed very happy and he has work coming up, which is great!
It was a really good con - different in the way it’s run, so in some ways there was less James for me (such as in autos) but on the plus side, loads more time to spend with people and have time to talk - none of that just saying ‘hi’ in passing whilst dashing between talks and photos etc. Really could catch up and that was brilliant. And I’m so grateful to everybody who just gathered Becky into their groups as soon as they met her and included her in everything immediately - it made a great first con for her. I love how all ages mix quite happily at cons - Jill and Becky calling each other Grandmamma and granddaughter was hilarious - and everybody shares some common interests and no one is excluded. It was a lovely weekend all round!