Queer as folk Convention Colonia 2012

First impression

To tide you over until I get my actual report written. :)

The organizational side of things was occasionally quite horrid. Things ran late all the time and sometimes we weren't exactly sure what was happening next. However, practically every time I was about to lose it, the guests somehow showed up and I forgot all about being cranky. It was really weird. :)

My ticket gave me access to the VIP area where the guests were going to be as well both Friday and Saturday but on Friday they arranged a separate area for the guests because people kept mobbing them too much. On Saturday there was only one area so I got a lot of contact with them :)

Randy: as I already might have mentioned, he recognized me from Paris and even had some inkling what my name was. I started babbling about the f**king princess shirt. *facepalm* When I went to get my photo done with him, he called me from the queue by my name. He was overall really nice but maybe a bit withdrawn. He was seriously mobbed on Friday night. Idiot people kept taking pictures of him by sticking their cameras right into his face. It was obvious that he was displeased by that. I would be too if I had a flash in my eyes constantly. On Saturday he made sure to surround himself with security and staff so there was no access to him. He was paired with Sharon for the talks and M&G and that was a very good match. They both obviously had great admiration towards each other. Sharon also managed to make Randy blush a few times with her comments. He was mostly saved from any stupid questions, except for one. Unfortunately that one stupid question was the last one he got from the audience. IMO they should have given someone else a chance to ask something better and not stop there.

Scott: what a man. Already his FB and Twitter behavior had given the impression that he's a really great guy but that impression was nothing compared to what he really was like. In the pub on Friday, he spent considerable time going around and saying hi to people, even after they had their own area. On Saturday he talked with people at the club and also showed us his dancing skills. While I was getting his autograph we got to talking so much that his PA had to sort of shoo me forwards. But it's difficult (not to mention rude) to move forward when the guest keeps talking. :) He was naturally paired with Peter and those two were just awesome together. It was quite obvious they are great friends. Several times they had their own show going on and they just kept goofing around. On Sunday evening he went through the whole front row and shook hands with everyone and thanked everyone. I had the courage to lean forward a little so that I got a half hug and a small peck on the cheek. He also thanked me by name.

Peter: such a great guy too. he simply cannot stay still for long periods of time at a time. While he was signing autographs and had to occasionally wait for the next person, he kept "dancing" while sitting on his chair. Poor guy also had too long legs and when he straightened them, they stuck out from under the table and a few people stumbled on them. Also there really was no serious moment with him, except when he talked about homophobia. That was obviously a very serious issue for him.

Sharon: a total lady and the others quite obviously had a lot of respect towards her. Would never believe that she's 69 years old. Ended up talking with her too quite long when getting an autograph. Regretted not getting a photo with her. It was really interesting to hear about her experiences. And she also made quite a few of us cry when she talked about how thankful she was about the love everyone was showing towards the cast. And she choked up too. There was sort of a Debbie moment when she realized that she wasn't going to get through her speech without getting emotional. The way she said "shit" at that moment was so Debbie-like that it was almost scary. Some people did seem to be slightly starstruck with her since there weren't that many questions which was weird.

Michelle: so very nice too and looks quite different with the long hair. She's a big activist with gay rights and seemed to love to talk about the stuff she has been involved in. She also got quite emotional a few times.

Thea: my impression about her was a bit weird beforehand but she was incredibly nice as well. And also funny. Quite different from Lindsey. Had very good comments about some issues as well.

Robert: GAH! That man should be illegal. He's still very well built and a very good dancer. And so very nice. When I went to take my photo with him he squeezed me so hard and I think I forgot to breath for a while. Very happy with that picture :) He could be very funny but also very serious when that was needed. And he got choked up last night during the goodbyes.

Harris: so very different from Hunter and such a nice guy. On both nights he stayed long to talk with people. Had some very nice talks with him. He was quite taken how well people welcomed him even he was a last minute replacement.

Hal: I have to say that he did surprise me a little. I was totally prepared to hate the guy but I didn't really succeed. Yes, he did have a habit of answering questions that weren't necessarily directed at him but he also had some very nice things to say about Robert, Harris and Sharon. There was one line at the first panel that could have been taken as a dig towards Gale, but can't be entirely sure.

Talking about Gale, I'm now completely convinced that he fully planned to attend the convention and was very disappointed when he couldn't. He was supposed to play in some football game in Germany as well last week and had to cancel that as well. Sharon talked very nicely about him at the final panel and when people stood up to cheer she just commented "I'll tell him, you said that" Scott also took a picture of the cheering crowd and said that he was sending it to Gale right away.



Friday, June 8th 2012

Will spare you from the boring parts of my travel to Cologne. Suffice to say that things didn’t go without a hitch. Was happy to notice that my hotel was right across the street from the convention hotel. When I had checked the address from a map it had looked like I might have to go around a little but luckily that wasn’t the case.

My room was pretty small but it wasn’t like I really needed much. The following days proved very well that I didn’t actually need anything special in the room. Took some things out of the luggage and hung them up before going to explore the surroundings a little. I knew I had a few hours before the registration was supposed to start. However, right in the middle of my walk it began to rain a little so I escaped to sit in the lobby of the actual convention hotel since I knew I was supposed to meet another Finnish girl there at some point.

Was sitting there and pretty much doing nothing when I saw the first familiar face. It was wren_kt7oz. We had met when I was in LA to see Gale in Orpheus Descending. We sat there talking about random stuff. A while later the Finnish girl I was supposed to meet arrived as well.

After a while we moved to stand in the queue that was already forming for the registration. At this point it was about 12:50 and the registration was supposed to start at 13:00. In the queue I met some more people who’s names were familiar from LJ, galeandrandy and bigj52. It was finally nice to connect faces to those names.

For quite a while the queue didn’t go anywhere. When it finally started moving about 13:15, it did so veeeeeeeeeery slowly. There had been only about 20-30 people in front of us in the beginning but it took forever for us to be even close to the registration point. And even when we were the first in line, it still took a while before it was my turn. That was also the moment when I found out that actually with my Loft ticket I could have just passed the whole queue. No one had told me that. Wasn’t much use then anymore. Also it had been nice talking with people so I didn’t actually mind. If I had just been standing there by myself, I would have cared more.

Around 14:15 I was finally admitted to get my ticket in order. First they told me that everything was alright and I just needed my badge and that would include everything. However, I wasn’t that trusting and wanted to see what extras they actually had for me since the list I had printed out of their ticketing system looked weird. Had to wait for a while for the guy who handled that side of things to be free. Couldn’t believe they only had one computer and one person available to check the swaps and extras. I guess that was the reason why the queue went so slowly. He gave me a list of things I had and we went through it together. In the end I noticed that there was in deed a few things missing. I showed them my email exchange with Elke which showed what stuff I was supposed to have. They added the missing stuff and printed me another badge.

Then I tried to sort out the merchandise I had bought before hand. I had reserved a teddy bear as well as a T-shirt and agreed that I would pay for them with one of the photo shoots I was supposed to have with Gale. The staff there had no idea what I was talking about. I had already seen Elke once before and introduced myself to her so I decided to look for her again to get things sorted since I was pretty sure she would at least remember what we had agreed. Found her and got the info that she had my stuff put aside somewhere and would get them in a while. Was happy with that.

Thought that everything was now clear and just walked around. Happened upon galeandrandy again and talked about random stuff once more. Then she started asking if my envelope had included all the tickets I was supposed to have. I was all "What envelope?" It came out that they were supposed to give me an envelope that would have all the tickets I’d need to get the extras I had paid for. The registration people had implied that I just needed my badge. So back to the registration I went. Took me a while to get them to understand what I wanted. Got to talk to Elke and she made sure I got my envelope. Quickly went through the contents and noticed that a few tickets were missing. They were obviously the ones that had been missing from my badge as well. Got those sorted and then also received the merchandise I had reserved at the same time.

Altogether it took me 2½ hours to get everything sorted out from the moment I joined the queue to the moment when I actually had everything I had paid for. Wasn’t feeling too happy at that moment. It did seem they had some pretty serious technical issues and only one person who actually knew how to use the ticketing system. *facepalm* When I looked at the queue that was still there I had a feeling there was no way they were going to get through them all by the time the registration was supposed to end. Felt sorry for the people who were at the back of the queue.

Made plans to see a few people a bit later at the hotel and escaped to eat something and then to have a rest in my own hotel. Had to wake up way too early so was feeling a bit tired. Knew there was a long evening ahead so wanted to be well rested. Ate in the restaurant next to my hotel and had a few beers. Those beers helped to calm me down after the ordeal that had been the registration.

My plans to rest didn’t work out too well. Was feeling too restless so just ended up rolling in the bed but at least I was laying down and kept my eyes closed. About an hour before I was supposed to meet my friends, I started to get ready. Had some nice clothes planned for the evening.

When I was ready I made my way back to the convention hotel. Did get some weird looks on the way from the people I passed. And also some comments shouted after me but since I don’t speak German, don’t know what it was. I choose to believe that it was something positive *g*

From the convention hotel we took a cab to the club together with wren_kt7oz and that other Finnish girl where the first night’s party was supposed to be held. There was already some queue outside the place when we got there. Joined the end of the queue and began to wait what was going to happen. Some time later they told all Loft ticket holders to move to the head of the queue. I followed instructions and we formed our own queue. However, when they started to let people in, I noticed we were in the wrong queue anyway. However, that was easy to correct. Inside the club we got black wristbands that gave us entry to the VIP area at the club. We were also handed these cards that had the club’s name on them but no one explained what the cards were for.

We were directed straight to the VIP area and I took a seat. The area wasn’t that big and I wondered how they were going to fit all Loft and Diner ticket holders there. Saw that there was another area which was fenced off and guessed that area would be the one where the guests would be if/when they showed up.

The VIP area when it was still empty

Slowly the place filled out. The music was playing really loud and it was difficult to talk with people. When I wondered about the card we had been given someone friendly explained to me that I was supposed to use the card to pay for my drinks and then on my way out to settle the tab. The bars didn’t accept cash at all. I was told that it was quite a normal custom in Germany.

A while later I heard by accident that the Loft ticket holders would actually be let into the other VIP area in a while after they had some more staff there to organize things. At that point I was told that was going to happen in about 30 minutes. After 40 minutes had passed, I moved to stand close to that area so that as soon as we were let in I could go and reserve myself a good seat. In the spirit of the convention was drinking JB. Did try to order for a Cosmopolitan but they didn’t have the ingredients. Found that really weird since I would have imagined they would have been told that Cosmos could be a pretty popular drink that evening.

Finally we were let into the other VIP area. Got a nice seat where I had a good view to the stage. Then we just sat there and tried to talk. It was of course quite difficult with the music being so loud. After what felt like an eternity there was loud cheering heard and it was quite easy to guess what was happening. The guests had finally arrived. Can’t remember the order they came in but they all got really loud cheers when they walked in. Since we were standing in the VIP area where they were lead, we got a pretty good view of them all. Scott came and shook hands with us which was nice. A while later Robert followed suit. The others mainly just waived generally to everyone. The last one to arrive a few minutes later than everyone else was Sharon Gless. She got a huge cheer as well and she looked quite surprised by the reception. She obviously hadn’t known to expect it. She also said hello to some people.

Unfortunately the guests arriving caused a small chaos at the VIP area as well as outside it. Everyone was snapping pictures like crazy. And way too close to the guests sometimes. I saw a few times when someone snapped a picture of Randy so close to his face that he was obviously blinded by the flash and his face showed his displeasure about what was going on. I admit that I had my camera out as well when I noticed that they weren’t telling people to not take photos but I snapped my pictures from a distance and didn’t shove cameras right at their faces. However, most people didn’t have the same thoughts. Some of the guests were practically dragged from photo to photo with different people. In the end I did snap a few pictures of the guests from afar but didn’t even try to get closer since I was afraid of being trampled by the crazies that were surrounding especially Randy. I’m sorry that I’m being a bit mean here but some people really did forget all their manners when the guests arrived. Also it scares me to think what the craziness would have been like if Gale had been there. Somehow I fear it would have been many times worse. Scott, Peter and Robert went along the VIP area for a while and tried to say hello to as many people as possible, also in the other areas.

When Sharon wandered into our direction I encouraged my mind to go and talk with her a little. My intention was to tell her how bummed I was that I had just missed her play in London last year. However, with the music being so loud in the club she misheard me and thought I had said I had been in to see the play. Decided no to correct her. She mentioned they might be doing a movie based on the play which would be great. She did mention something about possibly having to do nudity if they go through with the movie idea. Asked her to pose for a picture with me as well since it seemed you were allowed to do that after all since none of the staff were telling people not to.

Not long after that we were told that they were going to make a small area of the VIP area reserved just for the guests and staff and we needed to move out of that area. It wasn’t said aloud but I have a feeling that we were removed from the area because the guests weren’t given a seconds peace with all the people mobbing them, taking pics and asking them to pose for them. If people had been a bit calmer about it, it could have been that we would have been allowed to stay in that area and get to interact with the guests peacefully. Unfortunately, that move meant that we actually had worse view to the stage and the guests than the "commoners" who had the lower tickets. Also since I had hung back because I didn’t want to mob the guests the same way as some people were doing, I didn’t get to interact with them much that night. I can of course be wrong with my guess but still I do feel like blaming the people who mobbed the guests for them being separated to their own small area.

Then the show started but no one was actually watching it since they just kept snapping pics of the guests even after they were told to turn around towards the stage. Some people obviously thought the rules weren’t for them *g* I did try to see what was going on on the stage but without much success.

It was nice watching the guests interacting with each other. Peter, Scott and Robert were obviously enjoying themselves and they kept dancing around. Of course made people to snap even more pictures of them and ignore the show that was going on. Since we had already been thrown out of the area, I snapped a few candid photos of the guests as well.

Sharon and Hal left pretty quickly. I don’t think Hal let go of his girlfriend’s (wive’s?) hand the whole time he was there. Every time he moved somewhere he pulled her with him. Randy was mainly sitting around and talking with the pretty boys from the staff. Harris did interact with people but didn’t come close to the area where we were so didn’t get to talk to him.

There were several different acts on stage. One of them was a magician who managed to rope Scott into his show. He took Scott’s coat and pretended to burn holes to it with a cigarette. Scott did look slightly worried at times. Then at one point he was asked to perform a magic blow. Of course the magician had meant that Scott should blow at his direction to pretend to put down the cigarette. Instead of doing that, however, Scott got on his knees in front of Peter who just leaned back and pushed his crotch closer. People went crazy over that. Cue a lot of cheering.

One by one the guests started leaving. I think Michelle and Thea were the next ones to leave. Scott, Peter and Robert followed them a while later. Harris and Randy stayed behind. They actually ended up staying longer than I had stamina for. We knew that we had an early wake up the following morning so at some point we called it a night with wren_kt7oz and headed towards the hotel with a cab.

End note: Part of me understands that everyone wanted to talk with the guests when they finally showed up. However, I do feel it did ruin some of it for us since they then had their own area and didn’t interact as much anymore. It might have been good if eg. the Loft tickets would have had a small M&G with the guests before the party so that they could have gotten the first squee out of themselves and might have behaved better towards the guests when they got to the club. Of course can’t know for certain but my experiences the following night support this thought. My opinion might be an unpopular one but I have the right to have it.

Also a small comment about the party itself. It was called a Pub night but it was much closer to a Club night. When the program said Pub night I sort of expected something on the lines of what the performances in Joe’s Pub have been. This was just club music and then some performances thrown there to mix things up a little. I definitely wasn’t wearing my dancing shoes and by the end of the evening my feet were killing me. Ended up sitting on top of the seats at the VIP area since there were no other places to sit in where you could still have a view of the show.



Saturday, June 9th 2012

I made my way to the convention hotel. There wasn’t anything going on yet so I just spent my time wandering around and talking with some people. When they opened the registration desk I went and bought tickets to get my photo taken with Harris and Robert. They had made such an impression on me the previous night that I just wanted to get a photo with them.

Then I joined the people who were waiting to be let into the hall. I’ve gotten used to at least relatively neat queues with previous conventions I’ve done but the group waiting there was nothing like that. I did situate myself near the front of the group since according to my understanding Loft tickets were supposed to be let into the hall first. After some waiting (beyond the time they were supposed to start the official program) we were allowed to move a bit forwards. Next we were stopped right at the doors to the actual hall. We were told that they were still working out some technical things. The group standing in front of the doors was quite mismatched. There was no order in it. I had some people with Woody’s tickets standing in front of me. People were pressing forwards from behind and I was very glad I don’t have problems with big crowds and small spaces.

Suddenly one of the staff realized that they were supposed to let the Loft tickets into the hall first and asked all Loft ticket holders to come to the front. Slightly hard to do at that point when there were several hundred people already pressing forwards. Did manage to get myself at least pretty close to the front. After some more waiting, they finally let us in and there was almost a stampede when people tried to get to the best seats. I knew I was going to get a seat from the first row since it was reserved for us but there is difference if you sit near the middle or at the edges. We were told not to run and I listened. Some people didn’t *g* Still managed to get an okay seat six seats from the middle on the left side.

Then there was some more waiting and I amused myself by talking with the people around me. Had some people I knew in the row behind me. It did take a while before the program started. We were quite a lot late already at that point but of course being late is completely normal in conventions.

Finally the moderators got on the stage and said their hellos. I sort of expected that they would have played some music from the series in the beginning but there was nothing. They told us that there were people from 29 countries in there and then called every country and the people from that country were supposed to cheer and wave their flags.

Then they introduced Elke and exchanged a few words with her. Next they brought Scott onto the stage to tell about the process of getting the convention together. And then it was finally time to bring out the rest of the guests.

They started with Scott. They went through his whole history which was a bit unnecessary since I’m sure everyone knew most of it already. Then they started the next introduction and Peter ran on the stage. Too bad he was too early since they were supposed to go through the whole work history before actually calling the actor on stage. Peter did a quick retreat and then came out again at his cue. They went through the whole cast the same way. It took quite a while since they all have been doing so many things and pretty much everything was mentioned. I found it quite unnecessary since I’m sure most of the audience was very familiar with the work the actors have done. And if they aren’t they can always research it. *g*

There was a lot of cheering for every cast member. Hal wasn’t happy with the applause he got so he kept encouraging people to clap more...

When all the guests were on stage they were asked some pretty basic questions, among which when they had arrived to Cologne and if they had come straight from the US or had they been somewhere first. The moderators had the impression that Scott had been the first in the country but Sharon then commented that her plane had landed at least five minutes before Scott’s did. Randy had gone to Paris first and gotten to Germany a few days before. Robert and Michelle had also been to Paris and had caught up with Randy there. Can’t remember when Harris and Thea had got in. Hal told us that he had gotten in quite at the last minute and had been very jet lagged in the press conference. He said it had felt almost like he was drunk because he was so tired. Then he said something in the lines of "Well, at least I made it." This can be taken as a crack against Gale not being there or he might not have meant anything with it. Thea was asked about his German skills and asked to recite a poem she had written in German. Couldn’t understand a word of it but sounded good. At one point all the actors were brought glasses of beer since there seems to be a tradition in Cologne to have a nine o’clock beer (it was closer to ten at that point, though *g*).

There was a few words said about the press conference that was held the previous day. It was seriously arranged in a place called Babylon badehause which means bathhouse. And what was even funnier was that the place was still in use. A few of the guests commented that it had surprised them a little when men in just their towels walked around the place in a few occasions.

Hal was asked why his sun glasses were hanging on his back. He replied that it was easier to hug people and they wouldn’t get smashed in between. Good reasoning *g*

Then they decided to take a few questions from the audience. When they asked if anyone had any questions I had my hand up immediately and the moderator going around with the microphone happened to be just in front of me so he gave me the turn. He made me stand up so that everyone could see me (YAY?). Then I had to tell them my name and where I was from. There was a guy going around with a videocamera for the convention DVD and he came and sticked the camera right into my face. Felt quite nervous all of a sudden. Somehow managed to get my question out. Had it on paper since it had been provided to me by a friend.

It must be nice to know that, even after so long since Queer As Folk was aired, there are so many fans who still love the series. This is something very special, it doesn’t happen to all TV shows. What do you think made QAF stay in its fans’ hearts?

Hal was the first one to answer the question. Can’t remember everything he said but he talked about how there had been lots of firsts in the series and how that might have caught peoples’ interest. He also said that their series had been said to be the gay version of Sex in the City. He didn’t quite agree with that since he didn’t remember seeing HIV positive people in SitC or people getting bashed or many of the other subject matters that were handled in their show. Peter put it all together really nicely by saying that people came for the Queer but stayed for the Folk. Also Robert said something to that but unfortunately can’t remember what it was. Maybe it’ll be on the DVD.

Next there was a question about the LGBT-community and how it has expanded in recent years to include even more people and different groups. Peter talked about how things are changing really fast at the moment and how media certainly has had its part in it. He does hope the progress continues to go forward. Robert added that it is no way a bad thing that the concept of LGBT-community is expanding. There used to be clearly different camps which didn’t mix with each other but now it’s more laid back. Hal threw in his two cents by saying that it’s all about of being who you are and about getting back to partying as soon as all the laws get sorted out.

Harris was asked about joining the series. He admitted to being quite worried how people would react to his character. Being an underage HIV positive guy who had been forced to prostitution by his mom. He was worried he wouldn’t be accepted. Hal added that they had had a trouble with the age of consent. He even talked about how on the first season they had filmed everything for the pilot where Justin was revealed to be 17 years old but then some people had come to them and said that it was possible they wouldn’t be able to show it due to legal issues. However, since in Pennsylvania the age of consent is sixteen they were in the clear. Hunter was originally fifteen but turned sixteen pretty quickly. There was also some talk from Hal about working in close contact with Robert which made Robert raise his eyebrows in a pretty suggestive manner. They also mentioned that this issue was again one thing that had never been addressed in any TV show before, a gay male couple adopts an adolescent boy.

Next question dealt with coming out and the actors were asked to give advice to young people thinking about coming out. I’m sorry to say but this was the point where I started to get annoyed by Mr. Sparks. The moderators sort of tried to imply that maybe one of the people who hadn’t answered anything yet, could field the question. Randy was already raising the microphone to answer when Hal talked over him. He started talking about some running buddies of who two had been gay and how they had only come out after they moved away from the area. He said that in some parts of the US it can be hazardous to your health to come out. Peter countered that with saying that on the other hand it’s better when it’s out in the open. He quoted Brian by saying “No apologies, no regrets” and got a huge cheer for that. And then the moderators cut the Q&A because they needed to get started with the autographs.

All Loft ticket holders were told to get in the line. There we then stood and watched while they prepared everything. I did my best to get organized so that I wouldn’t waste time with juggling with my stuff when it was my turn. Finally all the actors were ready and the first ones were let through. Then it was my turn. Immediately noticed an interesting thing. All the guests had their pictures there and they were already pre-signed. They just personalized them there and then. Not a bad idea in a situation where they mainly just have one type of pictures to sign. Probably saved their wrists a little. They must have been signing them in preparation already earlier.

The first one up was Harris. Said my hellos and then asked if he was having fun. He did say that he was enjoying himself. I told him that I was glad that he had made it and he agreed with me and added that it had been a bit short notice obviously. Asked him what he had thought about the arrival to the party with everyone cheering and yelling. He did thought it had been a slightly surreal experience. He certainly hadn’t expected it. Commented about him staying there quite late. He said that he wanted the chance to talk with everyone. Didn’t mention that since he mostly stayed at the other end of the VIP area, it wasn’t like he actually interacted much with fans, except in the beginning when we were still allowed on that area. *g* Had him sign a picture of him and then my Season 4 poster. Okay, he’s not actually on it but he was in most of the episodes, so a big part of the season anyway.

Then it was Robert’s turn. Complimented him about being so open and friendly towards people at the party and how I liked the way he initiated contact by coming to talk with us and shake hands. He seemed to get a bit flustered by that. Did talk about some random other things as well. Got him to sign a picture as well as the poster too.

And then it was Hal. Tried to come up with something to say to him as well. Did comment on the party and how he left quite early. He repeated what he had said on stage about being really jet lagged and also that it had been too noisy in the club. According to him he had done his time hanging out in clubs all night around. Again a picture and poster signed. Also got the Rage comic for him to sign. Opened the comic from the first page where there are the names of the "authors". Thought that he could sign beside "Michael Novotny". Instead he turned a page and signed on a strip where Zephyr is. Doesn’t really matter but felt a bit annoyed any way since I thought I had quite clearly indicated that I wanted him to sign the first page.

And on to Michelle. She immediately complemented me on my question and said that it had been a very good one. Talked with her about arriving to the party as well. She had been quite surprised by the reaction too. Definitely hadn’t expected it.

Thea: Also talked about the party and how great it had been. My memory really isn’t the best one.

Peter: He also complemented me about my question. Told him how great it was to meet him. Then we just talked about the party and the reception they had gotten.

Scott: Told him how glad I was to meet him as well. While he was signing the poster he told me that it was originally shot differently. His head had been on Sharon’s lap but at the end product his head had ended up really close to the bottom corner and he didn’t like it. The picture was then digitally changed so that he was laying next to hear instead but he did say that there were still also the original ones around.

Randy: He remembered seeing me in Paris and almost remembered my name too. Was quite impressed since it was over 1½ years ago after all. Ended up babbling about the T-shirt I had been wearing there and how I treasured the autograph he had written then with the text "Pia, You ARE a fucking princess." I saw him writing something more than just his name on the poster but didn’t see what it was. Said my thanks and moved on.

Sharon: She obviously remembered talking to me the previous night since she immediately commented that now she could hear me much better than the previous night. She asked me where I was from and when I said I was from Finland she was all amazed that I had made the trip that far. Considering there were people from Japan and Australia in the convention, Finland really isn’t that far. I did sort of say that it wasn’t actually that far away. She was all surprised and then just said that she had flunked geography in school. Told her that it was just about a four hour flight. Had heard somewhere that she hadn’t felt well the previous night and had therefore left the party early. She denied that and just said that it had been too noisy for her. She said that she can’t really be in a place where she needs to yell to be heard since he can’t afford to lose her voice. Told her about Scott’s comment about the poster and how it had been shot differently originally. She did give me a few other comments about the poster too, e.g. that Thea’s leg seemed to be a really weird position. She didn’t make much progress with the signing because we just kept talking and she needed to ask my name a few times. When I apologized for distracting her she just said that there was no need and that she was genuinely interested in what I had to say. What a nice thing for her to say. *happy sigh*

Then I returned to my seat to get organized again. At that point I noticed that I had forgotten to ask Randy’s autograph to the Rage comic. Feeling quite embarrassed I joined the queue again and went to him to get that signed as well. He sort of gave me this half smile when I explained about forgetting it. He signed on the first page where I wanted and then I was all done.

Remained sitting in the hall and watched other people getting their autographs since I really didn’t have anything else to do. Snapped some pics of the guests as well since that was obviously allowed. Was right across from Peter and Scott but they moved around too much so that my photos didn’t succeed too well *g*

Probably managed to get the wrath of Scott’s and Peter’s PAs upon me since I kept going to them and talking about different stuff while they had no one in front of them getting an autograph. Also had some Finnish chocolates with me and offered them some. They seemed to like it. Peter seemed to have trouble sitting still and when I asked him about that he said that it’s a sign that he’s tired. It’s his way of keeping himself awake. I told him that I had been pretty much forced to dance around a little on the previous night because my feet were hurting so much that I couldn’t keep my weight on them for long periods of time. That made him chuckle a little. Did try to offer some chocolate to Randy as well but he politely declined.

Peter also kept sticking his feet from under the table and some people bumped on them when they moved to stand in front of his table. I guess his legs were too long to be held comfortably under the table for long periods of time.

At some point went and talked with this one woman I had met in LA as well. She had written a book about Queer as Folk with a special section about Gale in it. She was selling the book at the convention. It seemed the books were selling pretty well. Talked with her for a while and bought my own copy of the book. There’s actually one part in the book which was contributed by me about meeting Gale in LA.

Then just hung around in the hall until a member of staff came to say to us that they were serving lunch in the restaurant.

After lunch it was back to the hall. The first panel was supposed to start but the guests were still signing. Photo shoots were supposed to start as well but those were delayed too. Finally they announced that Randy’s photo shoot was going to start soon and people were told to queue. I didn’t bother going to the queue yet since I thought Loft tickets had queue priority. Found out later that I was wrong. But any way sat on my seat until Randy actually left his table and headed upstairs. Only then I walked towards the queue and went to pretty much the front of it. Some people probably thought me as a huge bitch but we had been promised queue priority and knowing that the panels might start soon, I didn’t want to end up missing anything. For some weird reason they also said that Thea, Michelle and Robert were going to the photos as well but they just kept sitting there and signing away.

It did still take a while before they started letting people in. When it was my turn, Randy called me by name. Had bought two photos with him. Wanted a normal pose and then had decided to try for a huggy one. The photographer snapped the first shot but didn’t stop to ask if I wanted to change the pose. However, got my hand up just in time to tell him that I wanted another pose, a huggy one. Only then I realized that I probably should have asked Randy first that he was alright with it so I turned to him and asked. He just nodded so I wrapped my arms around his waist. However, he just did this half hug thing but anyway, I’m quite happy with the pic.

Made it back to the hall before the first panel started. It was supposed to be Scott and Peter and I didn’t want to miss them. Of course they couldn’t start the panel before all the actors were done with the autographs since they were in the same room.

By the time the panel did start, they were behind the schedule almost two hours. The moderators came on stage and talked about random stuff. Then they called Scott and Peter onto the stage. At first they walked there in a normal way but then suddenly turned around and went to hide behind the curtain. Then they peaked in from around it. Got a lot of cheers from the audience. Then they took their seats.

The first question was about the crystal meth story arc from the moderators. Peter mentioned something about it being an epidemic in the US. He had loved doing those scenes and was very proud of them. He thought they both did some of their best work there. Scott got a lot of letters from people who were struggling with or had managed to get rid of their addictions. They also shared that originally they were both just supposed to be Michael’s friends but Scott and Peter had such instant chemistry between them that it was changed so that they were good friends as well. And of course later started dating.

Someone from the audience asked about the Emmett and Drew story line. This sprung some discussion about openly gay athletes and how there still aren’t that many of them. Athletes only come out once their careers are already over. Peter’s overall comment about how their story ended was “Emmett got the shaft and not in the hot way.” He also admitted that he sometimes thinks Emmett and Drew together while he’s alone in his bed. In his opinion they got back together after a year or two. He thinks Drew came to Emmett and said something on the lines of "You were always the one." Cue huge "awwwwwww" from the audience. At few occasions Peter pretty much tried to swallow his mic in a very lewd way...

Peter got asked if his wardrobe was in anyway similar to Emmett’s and did his wardrobe change during the series. Peter said that his wardrobe got less fabulous while the series was on. He also shared with us that the first outfit we see Emmett in (the orange leather pants and a see through shirt) was an outfit he saw in a dream and shared with the costume designer. The pants were from a clothing line by Tom of Finland and when the pilot was filmed they weren’t available yet. They were given a prototype of the pants to use. Scott said those pants had made him thirsty for some orange juice.

Scott shared that when he first came for some costume fittings, he was given these really small leather shorts and a tight tank top. He just remembers that his exact thoughts were, "this is not the character I auditioned for". He says there’s a Polaroid picture of him in those clothes somewhere but he doesn’t know where. Peter said that they’d had a different costume designer for the pilot than for the rest of the series. It seemed the original costume designer had been to one Pride and seen some people dressed in small tight leather shorts there and decided that all gays dressed like that. In original plans she had Emmett wearing all these big flowery hats and such but Peter had put a stop to that.

Next Scott was asked if the drug addiction was based on some real stories. He admitted that he had tried ecstasy at one point in his life but had stopped there. The experience had been a way too good one and he didn’t want to experience a bad one. In preparation for the story line he did go to meetings and talked with people to find out about their experiences. Scott and Peter both said that while they are proud of the work they did, it had been very difficult for them. They had gotten used to being there for each other during the series but suddenly they really couldn’t. They said it wasn’t possible for them to goof around with each other one moment and then say all those awful things to each other the next. They didn’t talk much while that arc was on. Scott said he had hard time during the arc because going through all that stuff made him quite miserable. That made Peter share that when you pretend to be someone else for 16 hours a day, it changes you. Since Emmett was the character that he was, he was mostly upbeat for the whole duration of the series, while Scott quite often felt miserable when Ted was being miserable. (A/N: Poor guy *g*)

Next question was about Ted going blond in season five. Scott wanted to make it clear right in the beginning that he did not bleach his pubes during that arc. Cue cheers and laughter from the audience. He told us that the whole bleaching thing had been quite excruciating for him. They changed filming technique that season and didn’t want to end up messing up the pilot in case the new system didn’t work. That’s why they filmed the second episode of the season first. Because his hair was so dark, it needed to be bleached twice to get the desired effect. But then he needed to go back to his natural color when they filmed the first episode and then back to blond for the third episode. He said that his hair was bleached three times in just a few weeks when you are only supposed to bleach your hair once every three months or something. He told a story about how he had been petting his cat and had also ran his fingers through his hair. When he looked at his hands, he noticed that both had about the same amount of hair in them. Obviously didn’t do good for his hair *g*

As a final question they were asked about taking the part. They both said that they had been slightly scared when reading the script for the first time but they were very happy that they had taken the part and gotten to be part of the great experience.

I was in the queue to ask a question as well but they cut the Q&A just when it was going to be my turn. *pout* Oh well, my own fault for joining the queue too late. Although, in my opinion the Q&As were way too short anyway. Every Q&A was just reserved 30 minutes which is like nothing.

After a small break Hal, Robert and Harris came on stage. First there was talk about if it had been challenging to get a HIV+ story line into the show. It was mentioned that of course the show already had Uncle Vic in it but his case was slightly different. He already had AIDS and had almost died from it a few years back but this was all told in the backstory. The producers wanted a story line where a healthy male has relationship with a HIV+ male. There was some backlash towards the producers and actors when Ben got rejected by Michael. However, at that point everyone on the inside already knew that they were going to end up together anyway, since they had already filmed the episodes.

They were asked if they kept any of the props from the set. Hal and Robert had kept their rings. Hal talked something about how when they got married his original ring was way too big for him and needed to be taped to his finger so that it didn’t fall off. On the fifth season he had a ring that actually fit. Harris had kept the swimcap and goggles he used during the scenes where he swam for the school’s swim team. He also said he was still using them. He had also taken one of the toy robots that Michael had. Hal had also snagged a busted silver clarinet that for some reason was hanging in the apartment. Robert admitted to taking Ben’s glasses, one of the brown leather jackets as well as two paintings from the apartment.

Hal got asked about how it had been to do the role as a straight male. He said that it had had its positive and negative sides. His parents saw the first episode only almost a week after it was originally aired because something always came up. Hal’s father had a friend who had been his friend for decades. He had a problem with Hal’s role in the series and that friendship ended there. They never spoke again. Hal did claim he has lost some work due to his role but also that he had no desire to work with people who had a problem with his previous work.

I stood up to ask a question next. I asked Harris and Robert how it had felt to come to the series slightly later than rest of the established cast. They both said that it had been relatively easy. Everyone had been very welcoming and nice. They both also had nude scenes right on their first day on set. Made things relaxed right from the beginning *g*

Part of Michael’s comic book obsession came from Hal because he was familiar with them. They had originally planned Michael to be a Trekkie (in the UK version Vince was a Doctor Who fan) but it was changed to comics after Hal’s input. They had to use some smaller titles because not all the big comic houses were that enthusiastic about them being linked with an openly gay series. DC really wasn’t open to them being used in the series whereas Dark Horse and Marvel were quite alright with it.

Next Hal was asked if it was difficult for him to sing false notes when Michael performed that song to Ben since he can actually sing. He replied that all the dialogue and singing in that scene had been done with ADR. Can’t remember why that was, though. Next he of course was asked to sing, which he did.

Then there was a question about what their future looked like since when the series ended they were quite a happy family. Robert immediately said that Ben will live until he’s 110. Hal was quick to add that Ben will probably be the healthiest of them since Michael has put on some weight from all the crap he eats. Harris was on the same lines with Hunter’s addiction to Captain Crunch.

They’d had had no trouble to work with each other. Had felt like family right from the beginning. Robert even said that now that he saw Harris for the first time in years, he got slightly emotional to see "his boy" all grown up.

That was the end of the panel. I immediately joined the queue to get my photo done with Harris. After some waiting it was my turn. I was planning on asking for a huggy photo but only got out the part "Can I have a hug—" before he totally bear hugged me and squeezed me really tight. I was so surprised by it that I probably froze for a few seconds. That probably made him realize what I had been about to say and said: "Oh, you wanted a hug photo?" I mumbled something to that. He still held me quite tight while the photo was taken. I was quite happy to be there.

When I returned to the hall the next panel had already started. The panel dealt with homophobia and they had Peter, Robert and Michelle on stage together with the moderators and two members of the staff. That panel was probably the most serious one of them all because of its subject matter. When I got to my seat, Peter was saying how everyone can do their part. He has been involved in some projects of which one of the most recent ones has been meeting some gay right activists from China. He can see things changing even if the progress is very slow.

Robert told about his family’s reaction when he decided to come out in the middle of filming QaF in a magazine article. He told that his mom had actually said: "Why don’t you just shoot us in the heart instead?" That’s an awful thing to say. Even if it has been years, Robert still got slightly emotional about it.
Michelle is also very active in different projects and in politics. She has been in Washington to help people being heard.

Robert told us how amazed he has been by the number of people who have told him that they’ve discovered the series only a small while ago and how it still influences people so much.
There was some talk about the series affecting their work and Robert said that he has gained some and lost some job opportunities because of being involved with QAF. And for some roles it hasn’t made any difference. He tries to focus on what works. Peter said that he has lost some roles because casting agents don’t want him in the role because the character isn’t gay. He has gotten this treatment from even gay casting agents. One of them said that gay casting agents can actually be very homophobic when it comes to casting roles.

Next Scott’s photo was up. Got a nice cuddly one with him but don’t like my expression in the photo. He made me laugh with some comment so I look all weird *g*

Got back to my seat a bit after the next panel started. According to the program there was supposed to be a panel with Robert, Peter and Randy but I guess due to time constrains they decided to skip it which was a pity. Or maybe it was sort of combined with the homophobia panel. So it was Michelle’s and Thea’s turn on stage. They were asked if playing a lesbian has made a difference on their career. Thea said that in parts it has had a positive effect since she now gets offered roles he wasn’t even considered for earlier.

They were also asked about the Sam story line. Michelle commented that Mel felt quite betrayed by it all and also made her wonder if she wasn’t enough for Lindsay anymore. Thea talked about how throughout the whole series Lindsay was torn between Brian and Mel.

Thea was asked if the animalistic nature of the relations with Sam had been difficult to go through. She did say it had been but the actor playing Sam had been a complete gentleman. She also said that it had been a lot harder to do the threesome with Leda for some reason. She said that the energy had been completely different.

Next they talked about the scene where Lindsay fertilizing Mel with Michael’s sperm. They both said it had been quite an emotional scene to make.

They were both asked which memory they would pick out from the series. Thea said it would have to be Granny Faye’s letters. Michelle picked the wedding scene when Mel and Lindsay get married. It had been quite emotional too with walking down the aisle.

Thea was asked about her music and she said that she doesn’t have a record out but hopes to have one in the future. She’s also trying to get a cabaret show together.

Lindsay’s relationship with her parents was discussed as well. In Thea’s opinion in that relationship lies the core of Lindsay’s dilemma and the whole thing is quite heart breaking. Her parents are in complete denial. Handling an issue like this was also one of the ways where QAF broke down walls. It showed that sexuality is messy.

I got up to ask from Thea about her work with Free2Luv. It was quite obvious it was an important subject matter for her. Did say that I thought she was doing some very important work with spreading the word and working towards bullying. Did say that the cause is close to my heart too since I was bullied in school. In general she thought that only through educating and making people aware of the issue progress can be made. However, she did also say that sometimes bullying has to be met with bullying and get the message through that way. They ended their panel by kissing and of course got a huge cheer.

Right after that panel I hurried to get my photo done with Peter. Once more got a nice cuddly photo. Since I knew they were going to start taking photos with Robert soon too, I stayed up on the balcony so that I could join the queue right when it was formed. Knew that the next panel was going to be Randy and Sharon and didn’t want to end up missing it. Listened the beginning of the panel from the balcony then since they started before Robert was ready for the photos.

Sharon’s first words on stage were that she was Gale Harold, in drag. Got a huge cheer from the crowd. In some way Randy referred to Debbie as Justin mom. That sprung a discussion about how Justin had had a cool mom but a dick for a father. Sharon said Justin was Debbie’s sunshine. That got a very “Sunshine” like smile from Randy. She also said that she had really enjoyed the role she had as everyone’s mother. However, they were both of the opinion that Debbie is quite cool when she’s not actually your mother. Michael never went for her for advice but others did.

Where’s Justin in 2012? Randy tried avoiding answering the question and went on about how it’s a fictional character and anything he comes up with is as valid as what we can come up with and how he’s more interested in hearing our versions. Someone from the audience yelled "read fanfiction" which was met with a few laughs and a few “no!!!” shouts. Randy did go on to say that he thinks Justin is still in New York and that he really took to New York. The person who asked the question commented that “people don’t want to hear that.” Randy immediately replied that he knows people don’t want to hear that and that’s why he didn’t want to answer the question. He believed in Justin’s decision to go and thinks he became a success since that’s what he wanted. Sharon asked if Randy thinks Justin ever fell out of love with Brian, to which Randy replied that if Justin really stayed in New York that long, the relationship obviously changes. People weren’t happy with that. He tried to go on saying that change is inevitable and it’s not always of the bad. Poor guy looked all frustrated with trying to answer the question the way he saw things even if he certainly knew it wasn’t what people wanted to hear and people protesting.

Then they were asked what their favorite scene together was. They both agreed that it had definitely been their first scene together where Justin meets Debbie and gets his nickname. Randy said that he had been very nervous because of that scene, it was Dame Sharon Gless after all.

At that point they called Robert’s photos so went to take that. Once more asked for a cuddly photo and definitely got one. I guess I was way too comfortable there since I kept closing my eyes in the photos. I think the photographer took about five shots to get one with me my eyes open.

Then it was back to the hall and the talk. Got back there just when Randy was asked about doing a lot of artistic roles. He feels that it’s easy for him to relate to those roles. He went on for quite a while about how the most important thing for him is to understand the art the character is trying to create. He also shortly returned to the Justin/Brian relationship by saying that his reason for believing that Justin stayed in New York because he wants him to be successful and in his opinion that can only happen in New York.

When Randy finished his answer Sharon just looked at him and said: “Isn’t he just amazing? This is why I love him.” And of course everyone cheered. Randy obviously felt a bit bashful about the whole thing. He reached for Sharon’s hand and gave it a kiss.

Sharon was asked about Debbie being a work-a-holic. Sharon replied that she wasn’t entirely sure Debbie was a work-a-holic but she herself definitely is. She said something about working keeping her young. Sharon had a theory about Debbie’s past. She thinks she wanted to open a beauty salon. That’s what all the wigs and make up were for. Sharon said that she originally had 17 wigs but in the end they only let her use one. Getting pregnant made her give up the beauty salon dream but she still made the most of her life and concentrate on being a mother, first to Michael and later to all the boys.

Next question was about the dildo scene where Ted and Emmett share some secrets. Sharon said that the only day her husband decided to visit the set during the whole duration of filming the series, was that day. She also admitted that even if the scene was cut right when she was leaning down, she did actually go down on that dildo. According to her it had been very difficult to keep a straight face while doing that scene.

Randy was asked about the final scene with Chris Hobbs. He said that it had been a very difficult one to do. He could remember feeling extremely relieved when he was walking away. He has also given some thought to what could have happened if Justin hadn’t walked away.

Then there was a question about Randy’s thoughts about the open relationship between Justin and Brian. He said that every couple is different and that for some people such an open relationship works and for some it doesn’t.

Sharon talked about how she had wanted the part from the moment she heard about it. She called Showtime and told them she wanted the part of Debbie and who did she need to fuck to make it happen. It seemed Showtime thought she would bring class to the series but they couldn’t have been more wrong since that definitely wasn’t what Sharon wanted. She felt the series could be trouble and she wanted to be part of it.

Had gotten up to ask a question but once more they cut the Q&A just before it was my turn. *pout*

Sharon got all emotional while giving her thanks. She said that the love people have shown her and the others hasn’t gone unnoticed. I’m pretty sure there were quite a few people who got slightly misty eyed when she said that. People gave them a standing ovation. At one point Randy got on one knee in front of Sharon to "worship" her.

Then it was time for me to head to get my photos sorted. They had this weird system of you needing to queue to get your photos sorted into a folder according to your badge number. It was a veeeery slow process. There were quite a few people before me. I could have of course stayed in the line already after my last photo but I didn’t want to miss the panel with Sharon and Randy. So there I stood for quite a while. It was around eight in the evening at that point and after a while I started wondering if I’d make it to the party on time. The queue advanced very slowly. By quarter to nine I hadn’t gotten much anywhere. I do suspect some people cut the line since first there were people behind me and suddenly there wasn’t *g* Anyway, since it looked like it would still take a while I decided to make a run to my hotel to change my clothes and then leave straight after getting the photos sorted to the party.

When I got back to the convention hotel, the queue hadn’t gone much forward. One member of the staff did come and apologize the situation. He gave all the people who were still in the queue tram tickets to get to the party as well as stamps that would get them into the VIP area in the party. That stamp wasn’t much use to me since I was going to be allowed there anyway. Still it was a nice gesture on their part.

Finally I got myself sorted and was ready to go. It was around 9:50pm at that point. Met my friend in the lobby and we took a cab to the club where the party was held. Got there about quarter past but the doors weren’t open yet. After some waiting we were allowed in and directed downstairs where the VIP area was supposed to be. My first look of the VIP area caused this WTF?!? feeling. Earlier it had been stated that Loft tickets were going to have a VIP section again and so were the Diner tickets. However, the area where we were shown was barely big enough for the Loft ticket holders since there were just about ten seats and a little standing room and we wondered where they were going to put the guests. However, the VIP area for the Diner ticket holders was even more ridiculous. It only had one sofa and maybe room for a few dozen people. There were around 100 Diner tickets if I remember correctly. There was a lot of confusion what was going on.

In the end the areas were combined and it was only for the Loft ticket holders. I’m sure the Diner ticket holders were pleased when they didn’t get the promised VIP area after all. Hung around the area and sipped my one complimentary sparkling wine glass. Talked with some familiar people. Wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to stay in the party since was feeling quite tired and also cranky about the photo thing. Had hoped to have a chance to rest for a while before coming to the party but obviously that didn’t happen. However, around the time I started to think about maybe heading home the guests once more saved the day by arriving to the club. They were shown into the same area where we were and suddenly the place felt really crowded. I ended up standing right next to Harris and Scott. Was actually so close to them that I was afraid I was going to bump into them if someone bumped into me. Clinked glasses with them and talked about random things for a while.

Scott moved on after a while but I stayed talking with Harris. There was one other girl standing there as well. Harris talked about swimming and told us how he had hired a swimming coach to help him with the swimming scenes in the series. He had wanted to do the scenes himself. They had had a double for him but they didn’t need to use him since Harris was able to swim so well himself. He also said that he had really enjoyed the day. It had been interesting meeting everyone, hearing their thoughts and opinions.

Then it was time for some dance entertainment. I missed some of it but apparently Robert had wriggled into a cage they had beside the dance floor and danced there for a while. Then the show was moved upstairs where they had a platform that came a little on top of the dance floor. Robert and Michelle were having great time dancing there. At the same time Scott and Peter were having their own show a small distance away. From my place I didn’t see them too well but they got a lot of cheers. Next Peter moved to dance on the platform with Robert for a while. They really seemed to enjoy themselves. Robert wiped sweat from his forehead on his T-shirt and at the same time showed a very nice six pack. (me shallow? what makes you think that?) Then it was time for Scott and Peter to put on a show. Peter kept ripping Scott’s shirt open and then pretending to be all innocent about it. I’m sure Scott regretted wearing a button up shirt just then. Then Robert joined them as well and all three danced there together. In the end Peter leaned towards people and sort of performed a hug towards everyone. Scott also gave a small bow and then the show was over.

I returned to the VIP area. It was a lot emptier. However, it didn’t take long before the guests were back there and it was again slightly crowded. They didn’t stay long, though. They just came to stand there for a few minutes before leaving. Randy and Harris stayed behind. I wanted to exchange a few words with Randy but he was quite efficiently surrounded by staff and security. Should have probably taken a hint but tried to approach him anyway. Asked a staff member very politely if I could exchange a few words with Randy. He told me that he didn’t really have a voice so he wasn’t talking with people. Accepted that and just said that I had just wanted to tell him that I appreciated him being there and it was great seeing him again. The guy asked for my name and relayed my message to Randy. He did look my way and gave me a small smile.

A while later found myself standing close to Harris again and got talking with him some more. Commented something about it being fun that they were playing the music they were playing since I had never gotten to dance to it in a club before. He looked me a bit stangely and just said something about it being dance music. Said to him that I had gotten to the series so late that I hadn’t caught the songs played anywhere. At that point a light bulb went on over his head and he asked if the music was from the series. When I replied affirmatively, he said he hadn’t known. Just commented on that that Hunter had been so young that he had never been to Babylon. He chuckled and agreed with me.

Someone else came to talk with him so I discreetly moved away. After a while Randy and Harris left as well and almost immediately the VIP area pretty much emptied. I stayed talking with some people a while longer before going for a walk around the club to see if I saw any familiar faces. There were a few.

Did stay dancing for a while before deciding that it was probably best that I headed back to my hotel. Knew that I needed to be up pretty early.



Sunday, June 10th 2012

This time slept right until my, got ready and made my way to the convention hotel. Just hung around and waited for something to happen. While I was wandering around I saw Elke and went to ask her what had happened to Loft ticket queue priority with the photos. She said that with the schedule being late, they hadn’t had time for that. Couldn’t really understand that logic since it wouldn’t have taken any extra time to let Loft tickets go first. However, didn’t say anything. She did say that some people had stayed until ten o’clock to get all the photos sorted. I told her I was very aware of that since I had been there until 9.50pm. She seemed surprised by those news. She promised me that if they developed more than one photo of me with the guests, I would get the other one for free. Otherwise you had to pay for them. Was happy about that.

Moved to stand close to the doors to get a good seat from the hall since I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. I did know they were still taking some photos that morning since they hadn’t gotten through everyone the previous day. I had a photo with Scott and Peter as well as with the whole cast. Once more we were first let in from the first doors to queue up at the second door. There we were given some instructions. Too bad the girl who was giving them was talking pretty quietly and I’m sure everyone didn’t hear her. People started shouting the messages along the queue. While this was going on, the guests walked by us and waved. Sharon gave this royal like wave and got a cheer for it. Then we were let into the hall with a military like efficiency. People with a photo with Sharon and Randy were told to queue up at the left side of the hall and everyone else was told to go sit on the right side of the hall. If you didn’t have a photo that you were waiting to take, you weren’t supposed to be in the hall at all. All the photos were taken on the stage.

For the whole duration of the photos being taken instructions were given in three languages from the stage. You were supposed to move efficiently, not talk with the guests, not ask for any poses and not take photos of your own. Was slightly annoyed about the no poses rule since I had this very nice pose planned for Scott and Peter with me sandwiched between them. Didn’t happen. We were given clear instructions where to place our feet and all. I understand why they had to do it like that but it still felt quite ridiculous. I’m pretty sure the guests got on Elke’s nerves because they just kept goofing around when they were changed from one pairing to another one. And of course people cheered even if they had been told to be quiet. You can’t stop something like that.

Finally the guests were assembled for the group photo. Everyone was told to queue and then we were practically run through the photo. There was a chair in the middle of the guests and you were supposed to walk briskly there, pose for the photo and then go away. The guests actually chuckled a few times when people tried to scramble in and out of the photo as fast as they could. We were hurried along all the time. Part of me found it all quite amusing but there was also the annoyed part.

After the group photo was done, I remained in the hall a while longer to just watch the guests. Noticed that the no photos and definitely no video rule wasn’t entirely clear to people since saw quite a few people taking photos and even video around the hall. Of course not my problem but my inner "steward" wanted to tell them they were breaking the rules. Did actually say to a few people that you weren’t supposed to take photos. Got dirty looks in return.

Left the hall after a while since I wasn’t supposed to be there anymore since all my photos were taken care of. Then I just wandered around. I saw that they had started to give out the photos. Joined the queue but very quickly noticed that there was no way I was going to get through the queue before the Meet and Greets started so gave up. In the end I just went to stand next to the sign that had my first M&G group written on it and waited. After a while a staff member came to us, got our badge numbers and finally lead us to the area where the M&G was held.

My first M&G was with Peter and Scott. On purpose I situated myself so that I was sure to get the front and middle seat. I don’t think I pushed anyone aside or anything. *g* The M&Gs were arranged so that the guests were sitting on chairs in front and there were two rows of chairs in front of them. Sort of forgot to take notes again in the beginning so my memories are a bit vague. However, the following subjects were discussed:

The ending. They were asked how long in advance they knew what was going to happen in the end. They said that not much. They only got the scripts a few weeks before filming started. They had known that the last season would be a bit shorter since every season was slightly shorter than the previous one. They were happy with the ending and didn’t share the view some people had about the ending being rushed. Scott was asked if he knew that Ted was going to end up with Blake and he said he hadn’t known until he read it in the script. It did get mentioned that it was weird that Brian was practically the only one who ended up alone in the end and some people felt like the growth he had gone through during the five years was just wiped out. Scott and Peter seemed surprised that people saw it that way.

I got to ask Scott if the friendship between him and Gale had had an effect on the relationship between Ted and Brian. In the beginning Ted was the person Brian always made fun of but on seasons four and five, they got a lot closer. And Ted was the first person Brian told about his cancer. Didn’t really get a clear answer to the question. Scott did talk about how Ted and Brian made an unlikely pair as friends and maybe that’s why it worked. On the first season when Michael wasn’t talking to Brian, he called Ted and asked him to hang out. Ted benefited from that since he got all Brian’s rejects and he probably got laid more during that period of time than in any other point in the series.

That sort of started a discussion about the dynamics in the group. Peter saw that Emmett had Brian’s respect since he was on his own way unapologetic as well and had the courage to be who he was. Peter continued to go on about how he saw that Brian, Melanie and Emmett had formed the Alpha triangle of the group. They were all out and proud. None of them hid what and who they were. Found this a really interesting point of view.

The time went way too fast and soon it was already time for us to go. We said our thanks and walked out. I returned to our starting point to see where I needed to be next. I had a M&G with Sharon and Randy next. Was slightly nervous about that and hoped that I would get to ask some of my questions since I had quite a few of them. It came out that I really did get a chance to ask questions because almost no one else was asking anything. It was really weird. It was basically wren_kt7oz, galeandrandy and me who asked questions and every one else sat quietly. There might have been one question from someone else. I think Sharon and Randy were quite surprised by it. Don’t know if people just didn’t have the courage to ask questions or if they really had nothing to ask.

Anyway to the M&G. Once more I got a seat in front and center which I was happy about. There was first a question about them going through the work in their head once they’ve finished with it. Sharon said that she always does her best acting work in the car on her way back home. Randy said that the good side of stage work is that you can always correct yourself the following night. Of course what you thought would work, might not always work after all.

Randy was asked about how much advance he usually gets his scripts. He said it’s usually about 1½ weeks before hand and it doesn’t take him long to learn his lines. The only exception had been Waiting for Godot where he had a five page monologue that didn’t really make any sense. Or in a way it did but still. He was asked if he still remembered anything from the monologue. He started reciting it really fast. Okay, he probably only did a few paragraphs but since the text was pretty much gibberish, I was impressed he remembered it all and so was everyone else.

Since we were talking about Randy’s stage work I asked him about doing a lot of Beckett’s work. His first response was, "I haven’t done much Beckett" but then he thought about it and said "Oh, yes I have." Got a laugh out of us. Poor guy can’t even remember what all he has done. I asked him if he agreed with the thought that there was no middleground with his work but you either loved it or hated it. He had to think about it for a while and then said he couldn’t really answer for other people but he personally loved it.

Sharon was asked about the play she did in London last year. She said that disrobing on stage had been the hardest part of that role. She also said that since she’s 69 years old she also has a 69 year old body and revealing all that had been difficult. Then she told us that there had been some guy sitting in several performances with a pair of binoculars which he always put on his eyes when the play started with the scene of Sharon disrobing on stage and “doing herself” as she expressed it.

There was some talk about auditioning. Randy said that he still has to audition for all parts and that’s the part he hates. He said that his own head is his worst enemy and sometimes he seems to lose his confidence in auditions. Sharon doesn’t have to audition anymore. She actually said that if she does audition for some part, she usually doesn’t get it.

That sort of lead to them being asked about being willing to do QaF again since apparently they had been asked this at the press conference as well and they had all said yes. They both still said that but also said that the script would have to be good. A little self-depreciately Randy then said that he would probably have to audition for the role of Justin as well which got him a “aww” reaction from us. They talked for a while about how the show would then have to be in real time and not pick up from where they left of since it’s been seven years and they have all gotten older. They also expressed the fear that if whatever they did wouldn’t be what fans wanted it to be, it wouldn’t go anywhere. They seemed to think it was a risky idea.

Asked Randy about (tAB) and if there was anything happening with it. Did mention that they had screened Thinking in Paris and I had quite liked it. He remembered that but said that unfortunately they are too busy at the moment so they are dismantling the whole thing. Randy has his work and his partner (I guess that’s Marci Adilman) is going through graduate school.

There was some talk about him doing Red and I asked him if he had already gotten all the red paint out of his hair. That earned me a smile, laugh and a "yes".

At that point things started to get awkward when no one else was really asking anything besides the three of us. It didn’t go unnoticed by Randy and Sharon since it definitely wasn’t like we weren’t giving anyone else a turn. After every question there was a few seconds silence which was then filled with one of us.

wren_kt7oz asked Randy about the bright green socks he was wearing. He said he likes all kinds of bright socks. Some weird thing made me ask him if he was aware of a store called Little Mismatched where you could buy all kinds of funny socks. He hadn’t heard about it and he said he had quite enough socks for now.

Finally asked him if he had any future projects he could tell us about. His very short response was a "no" and that he was going back home to audition. Also asked him if he was going to Berkshire this year and got a "no" to that as well.

The M&G was ended by these two girls handing out books to Sharon and Randy that contained all kinds of letters and stories from the fans. They seemed quite surprised by them and immediately leafed through them a little. Did catch a glimpse of my letter to Randy in the book.

On our way back upstairs we were talking about how weird it had been that no one had any questions. I got to ask most of the questions I had prepared. One final question did pop into my mind just before the end but didn’t get a chance to ask it. And I had been asking quite enough questions anyway *g*

Next we went to a M&G with Robert, Hal and Harris. Again my memory (and notes) fail me a little but there was a lot of discussion about different subjects. This time around people were at least asking questions. Someone did refer to the question I had asked the previous day about Harris and Robert joining the series later than the others in the established cast. They pretty much repeated what they had said on stage about the subject, but Robert also mentioned that he had known Peter from before and somehow that also made things easier. He said that they had flown him in to meet everyone but at that point he still didn’t know if he had the part. He did say something about having to meet the most important person to see if their chemistry matched. He of course meant Hal with this and gave him a small smile there. Hal continued on the subject by saying that he had felt an instant connection with Robert. According to him the first season had been very difficult for him professionally because of a clashing chemistry between him and a co-star. I’m sure everyone thought about Chris Potter at that point but then he also talked something about the Brian/Michael relationship which made me wonder if he was referring to Gale after all. I do hope he wasn’t.

Robert talked about the "candle vigil" scene where Ben attacked that protester. He said it had been a very cold night and it had actually taken so long to get the scene done that he had gone to a small shock after the scene and had been forced to seek some medical help afterwards. This lead to a discussion about what were the most difficult scenes to make. Hal mentioned that sometimes they needed to film Spring/Summer scenes in the Winter which meant that they were outside in quite light clothes and also had to chew on ice cubes so that their breath wouldn’t show on film. Randy mentioned the same thing in Paris 1½ years ago.

Harris was asked if he thought Hunter was gay or straight. He didn’t really have an answer to that. He hadn’t given it much thought.

They also talked about the hospital and filming different scenes there. It seems that half of the hospital was still in use while they used the other half for filming. Hal talked about doing the scenes after the bombing and how he had intentionally stayed totally unmoving during the whole set-up and filming of those scenes. He had even slowed his heart beat somewhat. Then he talked something about the filming being so stressful at times that he needed to go through long acupuncture treatments between the seasons to get all the tension out of his body.

Robert has had some hard time dating since people think they are dating Ben and when he doesn’t behave the same way as they’d expect Ben to do, they are disappointed.

Hal had a theory about Michael’s reluctance about being out and proud gay. He thinks that Michael did try to come out of the closet in College (I guess this was during his one term in Community College *g*) but got gay bashed in some way and that made him hesitant about doing it publicly again.

That’s about all I can remember. We again made our way back upstairs to group in front of another meeting point for the final M&G. When we walked into the room where Michelle and Thea were already waiting for us, I noticed that they were sitting pretty far from each other. Once more my mouth overrode my brain and I asked why they were sitting so far away from each other. They just claimed that it was just how the seats had been placed but they did move closer to each other. And I felt like blushing.

I asked them what they thought happened in Canada and if Mel and Linds would ever return back to the US. They seemed to start on the thought that it was quite possible they would not return since things in Canada are so much better for gay people than in the US. Still they did say that things are slowly changing in the US as well so it could be that they will come back one day. Michelle did say that he does love the US but she just hoped that progress would be faster.

Michelle got politically active while she was doing the series. She still feels like she isn’t doing enough. She got a bit emotional while talking about all the work she has done. She also sort of admitted that she has had experiences with women as well.

Thea talked about the relationship between Brian and Lindsay and how the triangle between Mel, Lindsay and Brian was the base in the series. She felt that Lindsay always felt oppressed and Brian had the means and ability to set her free.

I asked their thoughts about the "Alfa-triangle" Peter had talked about in their M&G. Michelle seemed quite surprised by the thought but in the end she said she loved the idea. She seem to ponder about it for a while.

After that M&G I didn’t have anything planned for the whole afternoon. Those who had more expendable income, headed for City Walks with the guests. I had tried to win a ticket to those walks in raffle but had no luck. Told everyone that was heading to those walks that they needed to tell me everything that happened.

Since the queue for the photo pick up was pretty short, I joined that one. When it was my turn, they handed me a pile of photos and then told me that I needed to choose between the photos if there were more than one photo with a certain guests. I told them that Elke had promised me all the photos without extra charge but of course they didn’t believe me. I quite understood why they didn’t believe me but still did feel slightly frustrated to meet another obstacle. I tried to see someone around who could maybe help me. I did happen to see one of the guys who had seemed to be in charge of at least some of the things. Went to talk to him about the photos and he told me that he was going to sort me out in a minute. There was also talk about the lunch that was supposed to be included in my ticket. He promised to sort that out as well.

A while later I was directed into the restaurant which was different from the one where we had eaten the previous day. This time we were given menus that we could choose from. We were told that the tab would be picked up to 20 euros and whatever went over that, we needed to pay ourselves. I picked out a schnitzel and ordered a beer as well since I felt like I needed one. The beer was again just 0,2l which is really small. Almost drank it all before my food even arrived. Got another beer as well. The schnitzel was pretty huge and I knew there would be no way I could eat it all.

After the lunch was done I tried to find the guy again who had promised to help me with the photos. After some searching I managed to find him and he took me to the photo people to say to them that it was all settled and that I could have all my photos without extra charge. It was incredibly nice of him to do that. He was very nice to me otherwise too.

After the photos were sorted out, I decided to head out for a few more beers with the Swedish girl. We went to the close by patio and enjoyed us a few beers while enjoying the view of the Rhine. And the beer tasted really good.

We returned back to the hotel a while later to see what was happening. When the talks were supposed to start in the main hall we were told that there were still some photos that were going to be taken. The actors had agreed to 30 minutes more of photos. Again we were told that we weren’t allowed to take photos of our own while the photo shoot was going on. Everyone who still had photos to be taken was told to queue at one side of the hall. Then they were run into the photos one by one to get the combination they wanted. The actors found the whole process really funny and again kept goofing on the stage. When Scott was told that he wasn’t needed for the next photo shoot, he slumped and walked off the stage dejectedly. A bit later he was back on stage and Sharon was told she wasn’t needed for the next photo and Scott pretended to kick him off the stage. A bit later Sharon and Hal were in the same photo and while they were waiting for some changes, they first hugged and then Sharon slapped Hal in a very Debbie like manner. Of course everyone again cheered.

After all the photos were taken the actors were allowed a small rest. Then it was the time for the final panel. In the original program there should have still been two panels but I guess they decided to skip one because of time constraints. All the actors were once again welcomed to the stage with huge cheers. The moderators said a few words about the weekend and then said that every actor would be in turn be asked one question by someone from the audience. Below what I remember from every question and answer:

Harris: He was asked what his plans were now. He said that he was going to concentrate on acting even if he would also continue to do his music.

Peter: He was asked about the difference between him and Emmett. His reply was that it was their fashion sense.

Scott: (my question) Are we going to see more of Dr. Fillmore (Bones). He said that he certainly hoped we would since he had really liked doing that role. He gave a little backstory about the character in case some people weren’t aware of who it was and then added that with some spare feet being sent in the mail in Canada right now, there might well be need for Dr. Fillmore again.

Hal: Who would he pick as his best friend out of the characters in the show? He thought about it for long and hard. He mentioned a few names but in the end went with Ted. Peter’s comment to that was "Why don’t you just admit you don’t like gay people." which in my opinion was a bit strange comment and I’m not entirely sure what Peter meant with it, knowing the rumors that were circulating about Hal in the past. Hal didn’t react to that in any way. He was also asked why he didn’t pick his "husband" as the best friend and he said he couldn’t really imagine his husband as his best friend, or something on those lines.

Robert: What he was going to do next? He was going straight to Prague to film a period movie. He didn’t really give any details about the movie.

Thea: Was she interested in doing audio books? Basically she just said yes but there was a longer answer too.

Michelle: How did Mel manage to lift Lindsay after proposing since Michelle is smaller in size than Thea? Michelle almost looked "offended" by it. She got up from her chair, did a few stretches, took of her jacket and pulled Thea up as well. Then she performed some push ups on stage to warm up. Next she did try to twirl Thea around the same way she had in the series but ended up sort of dropping her. She then explained that they’d had the love on their side then.

And then it was time for the embarrassing moment. It was time for someone to ask a question from Randy. I had my hand up and so had probably quite a few other people. The moderator did look my way but then commented that Finland had asked too many questions already. Yeah, he didn’t know my name, only that I was from Finland and kept calling me that *g* However, the guy beside me had his hand up as well and the moderator ended up picking him. What a mistake!!! First of all the guy kept calling Randy Justin, even after being corrected by the moderator a few times. *facepalm* And then his question: Do you like Cologne gay boys? *double facepalm* Randy stared at him for a few seconds and then just said yes. And that was it. Someone commented "That was the last question?" The moderator did tell Randy that they would get him another question in a few minutes. The guy beside me was practically falling off his chair from laughing and he obviously thought he had been just hilarious with his questions. Everyone else in the hall was all WTF?!? Even if my question wasn’t anything special, it still would have been better than that one. Or I’m pretty sure anyone else’s question would have been better. Okay, Randy did get off easily but still. What a question to ask as a final question…

Sharon: What Debbie-like advice would she give people? She thought about it for a while and then replied: "Dream big and follow it." Very good advice in my opinion.

Don’t know if the moderators forgot all about promising Randy another question or if they just decided not to bother with it since they just moved to the next step in the program. All guests were asked to give one thing that they were taking with them from the convention. You would think that’s a simple question but almost everyone managed to give these really long answers which were very moving and it’s quite possible there was no dry eye in the audience by the end.

Scott: First he said that he’s taking home about 20 extra pounds from all the chocolate people have fed him. Then he got more serious and said that he’s taking with him all the warmth people have shared with them during the weekend.

Peter: He said that it’s been great being together again with his co-stars and meeting everyone. He said he’s taking everyone with him. He launched into an explanation how on the previous evening they had all been really tired while they had been driven to the club. They hadn’t even had energy to talk in the car. However, somehow in the club the energy had grabbed them and they’d had a blast dancing. Peter said that when it was time for them to go and they were up on the platform, he had spread his arms and enveloped everyone in a hug. He wanted to do that again now so he spread his arms really wide and then folded them like he was hugging. Many people copied him.

Harris: He said it’s been great to see so many people interested in him and his work.

Hal: He had liked seeing Sharon’s smile again after so many years. He also said that seeing Harris’ name on the list of actors that were going to make it had been great. He had also quite enjoyed the M&Gs where it was possible to talk with people in a bit more intimate setting.

Robert: He liked how talking people had brought back all those small special moments from the series he had already forgotten. People asking him about scenes and him suddenly remembering them. He had also liked having the Babylon moment the previous night.

Sharon: She said that since she had been the last one to arrive to the pub on Friday night, due to having a cigarette outside, she had had no idea what kind of welcome the others had received. She said that the love that had poured towards her when she had stepped into the pub had been overwhelming. She wants to take home that love and she also wants to take home the love towards Gale and how he was missed.

At this point she held this really touching speech about how Gale really did want to be there and how disappointed he had been because he had to miss it. She choked up a few times while she spoke. Gale was supposed to play in some soccer game on Thursday and a few of the cast members had arrived to Cologne a few days early just because of that. She said that if anyone had any doubt about Gale wanting to be there, they were wrong. She got this huge applause with people standing up and cheering, part to her and part to Gale. When people finally quietened down a little, she commented: "I’ll tell him you said that." Cue another applause and a lot of cheering. Scott snapped a picture of people giving the standing ovation and said that he was going to send it to Gale right away. Too bad he didn’t get a reply that he could have shared with us.

Thea: She wanted to say that the convention had reminded her of the fact that it didn’t matter how bad you fell or how different you were, you can always get up. She wanted to thank people for talking to her and sharing their thoughts.

Michelle: She was glad to notice how the connection between the cast was still so strong but she also felt that the cast and attendees had created a little world of their own during the weekend where we all were friends and together. She also wanted to share this moment she had experienced on stage. She didn’t specify when it had happened but she said that she can’t have caffeine since she seems to be slightly allergic to it. However, at some point she had had some coffee and immediately it had made her heart race quite badly. She had wondered that it was a bit of a strange feeling and just decided to concentrate on the moderator speaking. Then she had thought that it was possible she might have a heart attack right there and then. However, then she had thought that she was surrounded by so much love in a country that had excellent health care (cue chuckling from the audience) and there were all these friends around her that she was actually quite safe. She knew that whatever happened to her, she would be okay and that had made her heart slow down to a normal rhythm. She also choked up a few times during the speech and so did probably quite a few members of the audience.

Randy: He said that his topmost feeling was being humbled. He tends to just do his work and then forget about it since he has a tendency to get exceedingly neurotic if he thinks about his past work too much. However, the convention had shown him that people were still affected by the work he has done and that’s been an incredibly humbling experience. He said that just one person being affected by what he has done, is enough to justify his existence, not to mention a roomful of people. I got a feeling that he was a bit choked up as well and speaking straight from the heart.

That was the end of it, pretty much. Elke did still come to the stage to say her thanks. The guests were also given a CD that included a song someone had made for the convention. Then they stood there and took their bows. People were cheering like crazy and of course standing up. The noise in the room was actually quite deafening. Then they walked off the stage with people still continuing the cheer. It didn’t take them long to return. Scott jumped off the stage and went through the whole first row and thanked people with hand shakes and hugs. When he got to me and got a hug too and a thank you with my name mentioned. I was touched that he remembered it.

The guests still stood on stage for a while before taking a final bow and walking backstage. The cheering went on for a while longer and then slowly died. Then it was time to start saying goodbye to people. I wanted to refuse to leave the hall since that would then mean it was all over. I said bye to all the people around me and some other familiar faces. Then we slowly walked to the hotel lobby while making plans to go for dinner still later that night with a small group. On my way out said goodbye to a few other people and really had to swallow my tears constantly because I kept getting choked up. I’ve gotten choked up in other conventions too when it has all ended but I can’t remember anything this bad.