OK.. first of all I didn't realize that when the hubby made the reservations at the Sheraton that all the regular rooms had already booked. As a result he went with the upgrade and we ended up on the 3rd floor Club Level. That meant we needed two keys to get into our room. One for the door-to-the-floor and one for the door to the room. It also meant free happy hour (wine & beer & food ) every evening! We pretty much ate dinner there.. though it does take alota those little chicken drummets & deep-fried shrimp to fill us up!! Like whales eating plankton we were! Breakfast was also thrown in every morning. So really there was little need for us to even leave the floor.. except of course to go to the convention or a bar.

The "Message Board" in the lobby of the Sheraton. A sign points the way!! The hubby. In a Bar!

Friday 02/07/03 -

1:20pm Music videos- Saw a couple of these but since I had just gotten there I opted to wander around the place a bit.. though there really isn't a lot to wander around in. It was pretty much set up like last year.. in 3 parts. Venders, auction/autograph area and convention floor. I didn't buy anything but tattoos. Bought abut 10 of those.. but we'll get back to that later!!

(left) Auction. No they are not auctioning off "Xena" but what ever it is she is holding.

(right) Hades shops. Who knew.. Hades was actually an elderly black gentleman.

2:00pm Paris Jefferson (Athena)- She seemed likable. I don't know how many conventions she's actually done but she came off as being rather new to the genre. I don't think I took any picture of her though. Hmmmm.. I can't believe that. I must admit I'm not real good at picture snapping. I tend to take them while people are moving or I'm moving or both. Not to mention the lighting is rather dim.

3:05pm Tim Omundson (Eli) Yeah.. the savior himself. He cleans up quite nicely!! Plus he bantered well. He's probably done this type of thing a hundred times or so. He played harmonica and sang "Eli's Blues". He was entertaining and seemed like he'd be fun at a party!!

Told the hubster that I'd meet him at 5pm for cocktails so I missed Danielle Cormack (Ephiny). Sorry. Didn't see the Friday night "Piano Bar Cabaret" either. (Hey.. I'm not made of money ya know!!)

At about 11:30pm I decided to drop some Xenaville Gazettes off by a couple of the hotel elevators. I could only afford to distribute about 50 of them. My husband was kind enough to play paperboy (among other things) and at about 5:30am delivered 20 or so under the doors of our slumbering neighbors. I thought our hallway (right) was kinda spooky. Like the hallways in bad dreams!


Saturday 2/8/03 Decided to try a couple of those tattoos I mentioned earlier. One was of the new & old Chakram and the other was those rotisserie knives that gabby carried in her shoes during the last couple of seasons. Anyway.. I slapped one on here. The hubby slapped one there and then another one here etc.. etc.. all places that no one (probably) would ever see. Then just for the hell of it I stuck one on my neck. A double Chakram right over the old jugular vein. These are some very realistic & very durable tattoos. Suitable for the most hardened of convicts I'm sure. The only way to get them off was with rubbing alcohol… All I had was drinking alcohol and I wasn't gonna waste any of that! It woulda been easy to forget that I was marked though.. except I kept catching people staring at me. Especially at the airport.

Missed most of the Xena Trivia Competition.

Saw most of the Xena Silent Movie (courtesy of Xenaversity). It was quite amusing though just a tad bit too long.

1:40pm Jay Laga'Aia (Draco) Draco is one of my favorite bad guys. OK.. he wasn't really all that bad. Not bad like Callisto. So let's just say that Draco was one of my favorite reoccurring characters. Jay came out with pretty much a routine. He told some amusing stories answered some questions and played electric guitar. I remember enjoying him.


I would like to take this opportunity to remind all of you that I do drink at these things and as a result my recollections are sometimes vague.

Thank you.

2:20pm Melinda Clarke (Valasca) - Ummmm.. I almost ran smack-dab into Melinda Clarke as I was walking outa the restroom (she was walking in). Evidently this sorta thing musta happened to her before because she had her arm in a sling. But I hadn't eaten since breakfast and had had a few drinks so I decided to go find the hubby and then some food. So I missed her explanation as to why she was wearing that sling! Oh well!!

After we ate I wanted to check out a couple of comic book and postcard stores that I had noticed on Colorado Blvd. So I missed Steve Sears, Darien Takle (Cyrene) and Meighan Desmond (Discord).

5:10pm Hudson Leick (Callisto) - I suppose that Callisto is my favorite character. In some ways even more than Xena and Gab. I guess I just like 'em evil!! I will always love Ares. And I prefer evil Xena over reformed Xena.

Hudson is a real pro at this convention thing. She handles an audience well.. knows what they want to hear and answers questions quickly and with humor. I enjoyed her last year. And I enjoyed her this year.

She was poured into a sleek silver gown which she auctioned off at the end of her set. She talked about her mother (they were supposed to do a duet together during the Friday night cabaret.. but her mom had to have knee surgery done or something like that. I believe Hudson was somewhat relieved that their "act" had been cancelled). She also mentioned that she'd recently had a part on "Fastlane" (Fox) but other than that said she wasn't doing anything.

She brought a friend up on stage who answered a couple of questions about Hudson as she changed for the auction.

Hudson strikes a pose
Hudson and friend playfully embrace.

Then I hurried back to the 3rd floor for Happy Hour!!! After about 4 quick glasses of Merlot (a nice little Merlot at that!) and some nibbles I put on my least wrinkled clothes and headed back down to the convention hall for the real reason everyone was here.. to see Lucy and Renee. I actually ended up seeing Renee much sooner than expected when she passed us just outside the hotel lobby. What was really amazing was that it was my husband that recognized her!! I was so busy checking to make sure I had my ticket that I didn't even notice her (flanked by 3 men.. perhaps body guards). Of course they probably saw the "tattoo" on my neck and thinking I'd just been paroled from prison or something hurried her off.

8:30pm "Coffee Talk Live" with Lucy Lawless & Renee O'Connor My seat was O-51 and it really sucked. Especially for $70!! Oh sure I got to see Rob Tapert walk by (about 10 feet away). But honestly I wouldn't have noticed him either if someone hadn't shouted something like "Hi Rob!" from across the room. He smiled rather sheepishly and waved back but never stopped moving.

I also didn't know they were allowing still cameras either so I left mine behind. Of course from where I was seated I wouldn't have gotten any decent shots anyway. In fact I actually saw better from my general admission con seats.

I did bring a little note book to jot down quotes and stuff. It was kinda dark so I had trouble later trying to read what I'd written. It also didn't help that I'd dribbled red wine all over my notes sometime between returning to my room and going to bed.

Anyway.. Lucy & Renee took the stage! They both seemed relaxed and in good spirits.
I gotta think that this was some of the easiest money these gals have ever made! There was no moderator or questions. It was sorta like a "Mystery Science Theatre 3000" format. The clips were shown while the girls made witty or insightful comments throughout.

Here's a selection of random wine stained quotes in no particular order.

Voice from the audience: "Give us a movie!"

Lucy: "Mrs. Hardface bitch!" (not sure if this was in relation to Xena or Gab or someone else)

Renee: "Morissette."

Lucy : "Out.. out damn spot!" (during a bloody Renee scene I think)

Lucy: "I remember that scene really well" (But I don't & didn't write it down)

Lucy: "Lord of the flings.."

Renee: "I'm like a cockroach.. I just keep coming back." (probably after one of her death scenes.)

Renee: "Vaguely remember screaming"

Lucy: "Stuffed?"

Lucy: "A great ep" (Ides Of March)

Lucy: "Just like the Simpson episode" (Xena & Gabby flying off in "Many Happy Returns")

Lucy: "Gabby's on top!" (A Friend In Need. The "kiss.")

It seemed like the whole thing lasted less than an hour but I could be way off on that. Still.. how ever long it was.. the time flew by. And I actually left feeling kinda gypped. I mean 70 bucks to watch two women sit around and chat seemed kinda steep!
Still I would probably do it again. Go figure!

Sunday 2/9/03

Broke and slightly hung over we decided to leave late Sunday morning (instead of 6pm as originally planned). For some reason I ached all over.. like I'd done some kinda hard physical labor or something. Hmmmmm.. oh yeah..

Anyway.. sitting in the airport (feeling the stares of strangers) I thought back over the last couple of days. I'd really had a good time. So did the hubby. We ate a ton of deep fried shrimp and drank like fish. I took a shit load of crappy pictures and the hubster spent money like a drunken sailor. Saw Renee and Melinda Clarke and Tapert up close (even if it was only for a few seconds). "Coffee Talk" was kinda a let down.. but then I really didn't expect a lot from it (well maybe a better seat!!!) And oh yeah.. I sported a tattoo!!!

So yeah… it was a pretty damn fine weekend all around.
And I expect to see most of Xenaville there next year.. you know when the movie comes out!!!!!

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