SEARCH OF HYPOALLERGENIC DOG
by Madeline Mattingly.
David shared a story about how his wife and daughter really wanted to have a dog in the family. He has always had allergies to animals, but wanting to make them happy.....
They went to the pound and found a boxer which his daughter named Broccoli. Due to it being too large and not getting along with the neighbour's dog, I'm afraid Broccoli had to go to a different home.
They next found a Maltese who became known as Cookie. Arriana, with the logic of children, wanted to call the dog Cook originally, David related, but he finally convinced her to call it Cookie. It was very funny watching David playing out this scene of him and the imaginary
Ariana arguing:
"What do you want to call the dog, Ariana?"
"Cook!" stated Ariana firmly.
"Cookie? You wanna call the dog Cookie?" asked David nodding his head hopefully.
"Cook!"
"Cookie?"
"Cook!"
"Cook-ie!"
Unfortunately Cookie became very ill and died. They now have another Maltese, Sara. She is very special to the family. David shared a photo of Sara with us - he carries it around with him.
TEN THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT DM
- He's never been to Chicago.
- He doesn't speak Italian.
- He made his acting debut in second grade in 'something about a Christmas Tree.' He had a black eye because he'd been playing slow motion football the night before.
- He has got a lovely speaking voice.
- He's got allergies but his wife and daughter persuaded him to get a dog. The current dog is called Sara.
- He really is a John Travolta fan.
- He's very witty.
- He's good at maths and studied Accountancy and Acting in the same year at college.
- He plays in pro-celebrity golf tournaments.
- Before RCW, he had never been to a convention before.
THIS IS YOUR CAREER BOOK
You may recall I invited you to send in reviews and messages for a 'This Is Your Career Book' to celebrate the first ten years of David being an actor.
I was literally swamped with contributions! Thank you very very much to everyone who sent best wishes, messages, thank yous and reviews, large or small. I think we did David proud.
Due to the personal nature of some of the reviews, (I was trying not to read them - and I was typing 'em!) I am not going to make copies of the book available. And anyway the book was a special gift to David meant for him and him alone really However, due to popular demand, I will occasionally print extracts in the newsletter - with the authors' permission, of course.
The book took a lot of effort on my part. What with only two months to receive the contributions, type them in, find quotes, search the Internet for reviews, select media clippings and mess around with the layout until it was right, obsess over whether the paper was bleeding the colours or not ... Let's just say it was frantic - but boy was it worth it!
The book was printed straight from Gandalf's printer onto genuine parchment paper. It was divided into four sections: Dedication, Career Highlights, Media Interest and Clippings. The Career Highlights section was divided by role. There were reviews on Touched By An Angel, Kiss Shot, Last Don, Seaquest DSV, Superboy, Midnight Caller, Civil Wars and of course DS.
The Media Interest included pages from the Internet on some of David's more obscure roles and sound bites on Ray. These were especially amusing as some described Ray as sloppy dressing while other termed him dashing and smart! At the back of the book, I photocopied a selection of David-related newspaper articles including the TV Zone features.
As to layout, I tried to make it a bit swish. I found a really nice multi-coloured border to highlight the headings and placed colour photos and quotations here and there to break up the text. As a fun feature, I pasted in a little Riv at the bottom of each page in such a position that, as you flicked through the book, it looked like it was driving across the page from left to right. All in all, I would say there were about 50 pages.
I got the book professionally bound with a matt black cover and got a brass plaque engraved with the following inscription:
'David Marciano, This is your Career, 1988 - 1998
The dedication in the front of the book ran:
To laugh often and love much, to win the respect of intelligent persons ... to earn the approbation of honest critics; to appreciate beauty; to give of one's self; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived --- that is to have succeeded."
Harry Emerson Fosdick
I presented the book to David at the DA Panel after all the other gifts. (And no you ain't getting a picture of the presentation because I'm in it!) He looked pretty pleased with it and said something like "I bet these are nice reviews!" After the convention, when David
had a chance to read it properly, he sent me an e-mail with the following message to us all:
g H.E. Fosdick's definition of success right up front. It brought to my attention that I have attained it.
As for all the articles, thanks. I haven't seen some of these. They're great. I haven't finished reading all the Career Highlights, but what I've read so far has brought me to tears."
Well there is no doubt how much David loves and appreciates the book - and, more to the point, appreciates the love and devotion its many contributors gave him. So thank you once again to everyone who made this gift so special.
THE DA PANEL
BY ELAINE
Friday was D Day - or more precisely, DM Day. The purpose of the DA Panel was to drool over David, I mean er run a quiz. To this end I had spent many moons concocting fiendish quiz questions with the indispensable help of Julie Matthews, Sue Howard and Lesley Skoyles. To make the quiz more exciting for participants and audience alike, Leona had compiled a delightful video tape of pertinent clips to run alongside the aural questions.
We'd got the tape converted, we had the questions neatly written out on cards, we had audience sheets, prizes and running order. We were ready. Thursday evening we held a DA Planning Session, a rather grand title for us all sitting round giggling and doing very little in the way of planning. But we all knew what we were doing, right?
Thursday night was fraught for it suddenly occurred to me that the Panel which had been in the organisational stage for months was no longer a vague date in the distant future but was tomorrow. It would all go pear-shaped, I prophesied and, although I could imagine running the panel, I could not get my brain around the fact that I would actually be meeting David. In person, for real.
Friday dawned. We held a short rather frantic meeting first thing then trotted off to sample the tensile nourishment of Mmmmm Muffins.
Scottish Ann summed up the prevalent panic by coming into our room, wearing red socks and announcing, "I didn't know whether to change my shoes - I mean socks. Fortunately I'm not nervous."
The day before, some evil committee member - who probably pulls the wings off flies in his spare time - told us that the DA Panel would be held in one of the small discussion rooms. When Leona went to confirm our room, we were told firmly that we were not in the small syndicate room. Oh no, we were in the main room. The large room, the room that held 300 people. I remember quite clearly stepping onto the dais and looking out at the vast cavernous room before me and thinking about running away. Ali says I sat down heavily and went rather pale. Too right, I was checking out possible escape routes!
Still there was nothing to be done but get on with it. We had about half an hour to organise ourselves. London Ann went off to photocopy more audience sheets while Leona set to with the video tape. The cake was supposed to be delivered at half nine but at twenty to ten there was not the slightest whiff of buttercream. By five to, things were falling apart nicely - the cake was still conspicuous by its absence, the photocopies could not be done and the video was playing up...
Then Lillian appeared. "David's here," she told me. It seemed a million miles from the podium to the corridor where he was apparently waiting...
I remember looking outside the room, picturing in my mind's eye a David dressed in an Armani suit, perhaps with a smart polo neck underneath.
There was a tall slender guy stood reading a display; that was all I registered as I searched the corridor for someone answering my mental description. Then the display-reading guy turned and Lillian was introducing us!
Immediately I saw David my fluster and shyness disappeared because he was just so cute! Very sweet and genuine and, as he shook hands, swapping umbrella, coffee cup and bag from hand to hand, ever so slightly nervous. Well okay, so I wasn't so completely confident that I was able to speak in clear coherent sentences but I was working on it!
David said something along the lines of, "Hi, Elaine, what's happening?"
which, as our colonial cousins will testify, is a general greeting in similar vogue to "How do you do?" But it threw me - just for a second. I have an enduring image of saying something completely ridiculous.
I think it was "Oh! Thank very much!" but, given the circumstances, it could just as easily have been "Dogs eat aeroplanes" or "Purple!"
But as I say it was but a momentary lapse because David was smiling that little boy lost smile and his eyes were twinkling and ... Anyway we adjourned to the back of the hall while I explained the quiz to him then I introduced him to the other panellists. Leona was favoured with the Look (when David opens his eyes very wide and flutters his eyelashes) but managed to discharge a sensible reply to his greeting and the rest seemed obscenely controlled.
We had a few moments before ten when the quiz was to start so David and I (I like saying that!) sat at the dais platform while he chatted to everyone (Ann threw him momentarily; David asked innocently if we had all flown in from England. "Scotland!" she screeched vehemently) and signed some stuff for the next DA Auction. He's very well-trained actually because he did it all independently without being told!
He really liked the laminated cards I'd designed for prizes and chortled when he saw the one of Ray wearing that hideous orange cardigan. "You can always tell season one," he said.
At ten the quiz began. Everyone applauded our very own Detective Armani and David grinned happily. I then introduced the two teams - Margot, London Ann and Vicky on the Consulate team and Scottish Ann, Ali and David on the Precinct side - and explained that I would
be completely impartial. No favouritism whatsoever. I can't understand why no-one believes me! The fact that the Consulate team had been told the night before that they were going to lose had nothing to do with it.
The first question was 'Which is the only episode not to feature the Riv, Huey and Louie and Fraser in any uniform?' The answer is of course North. The Consulate team answered that starter and were given the four bonuses - not that they got any points. Leona showed three clips from North and David watched mesmerised. It was obvious that all Leona's time painstakingly editing the video clips was well worth it! Indeed David kept mentioning the video clips all day!
The actual content of the panel is a bit of a blur, though it all seemed relatively easy. I wasn't particularly nervous any more and David was just so approachable and witty that it wasn't hard work.
As a contestant he was perfect - he didn't know very many answers, bless him, but he was happy to ramble off on tangents, tell silly stories and interact with the other contestants. He was, in essence, a riot and the audience were obviously lapping up every witty line and grin.
We came to a round on The Deal which me and Leona knew was an observation round but the panellists didn't. They all watched the clip expecting some general question relating to the episode. When I instead asked what number the lingerie shop was, David stared at me and muttered "You couldn't have asked us before the clip?"
One of my very favourite moments was when we got to the Inuktituk round. This was a multiple choice question for both teams - all they had to do was match the correct Inuktituk translation with its English equivalent. Both teams fell to it eagerly and for a few moments silence
reigned. We have a great photo of David, Ann and Ali all concentrating really really fiercely. Eventually time was up and I asked the Consulate for their answers. Of course, not being conversant with the Inuktituk language, they didn't have a clue so I checked with the Precinct.
David and the others went through every choice trying to get the right answer. They were taking it all so seriously! I was having so much fun. You see me and Leona knew the truth: That I'd made the whole round up and the Inukituk translations were just gobbledegook.
When I told him, David's face was priceless. Ah, the power! I did enjoy that!
Concerning Juliet is Bleeding, we showed three clips: the shooting, Ray dancing with Irene and the bedroom scene. David told us that there were two ad-libs in the dancing scene. Ray's line "No, the man in the Moon" was one while "I'm gonna shake his peaches" was another. I had kind of expected the first one to be an ad-lib but the second?
Paul plays the moment beautifully; despite David's line being spontaneous, he not only carries on the scene but extend the moment by asking Louie what the phrase means.
David got in the habit of saying "Sorry Elaine" quite a bit. He'd ramble off on some tangent, entertaining us with silly stories. I was only half listening because I was thinking about how much time we had left and how many questions we had to get through; David finished a really really lovely story about North (I think), everyone else applauded but because I hadn't been listening, I said "Yeah anyway, the next question..." David killed himself. Every other time he went into one of his little stories, he'd turn to me at the end and say "Sorry Elaine!"
It's all a blur now; it certainly feels like it happened years ago, not a month ago. I do know that everyone had a lot of fun. The audience seemed to be playing along and as for the nutty contestants they did a grand job. I'd sincerely like to thank all those who helped to make the DA Panel such a huge rip-roaring success: Ali, Ann, Margot, Vicky and Ann. And of course, the great man himself, David Marciano.
HIGHLIGHTS
By Ann Manwell.
'Professor' Margot paying David $5 for the answer to a question on Victoria's Secret.
Members of the audience making eyes at David when he handed out prizes for answers they'd given. The only one who didn't was a young kid who walked on Cloud 9 for the rest of the convention.
David answering the question on the Riv. His eyes lit up. He really loved that car.
Ali playing the music tape and none of our team recognising Ride Forever. The Consulate team singing the real words to California Dreaming. David signing some of the picture sheets.
Elaine's question on Inuktituk.
THE CLOTHES SHOW
Cue Clothes Show music!
At RCW 139 Mr Marciano colour co-ordinated baby blue with baby blue. The long-sleeved shirt was light in texture with four buttons (the top one nonchalantly left undone) and gave tantalising hints to the simple yet inelegant white vest beneath. The designer jeans, worn low on the hip, were fashionably baggy and loose.
For the Gala Dinner, Mr Marciano favoured state-of-the-art casualness by cooly draping an electric blue jacket over his shirt. The jeans were replaced by a pair of cotton blue trousers. Mr Marciano's unique style of dress was further highlighted by his sporting a pair of scuffed sandals teamed with classic grey socks. Mr Marciano occasionally accessorised with an umbrella and a shoulder bag.
The Gala Dinner
By Leona Crutcher.
You all remember at the beginning of Juliet is Bleeding when our heroes are sat around waiting for food? Well, that was us at the Gala Dinner. It was a buffet and you had to wait until your table was called. The Guests were invited first so they had finished by the time the fourth or fifth table had been called. Somehow I managed to make a napkin look like a stetson and got a round of applause for it!
When we finally got fed, it wasn't really worth waiting for, to be honest. The highlight was when David told me and Elaine that ours was the best panel and that he'd enjoyed himself with us. Then he and Katayoun posed for a piccy with our table. It is worth mentioning that Katayoun looked very beautiful that evening. After having enough of such Gala events as a naff magic trick and
young Stella singing very adult songs for a girl her age, we headed up to Ann's room for champagne. An hour later some merry DA Girls waddled down to watch the blooper tape before crashing out.
By Elaine Lucas.
After transforming ourselves from ugly ducklings into swans, the DA lot tottered (we were wearing high heels, okay!) down to the main hall for the Gala Dinner which started at 7:30. In the grand old tradition of conventions, the Dinner did not start on time so Leona and I tried to drum up interest in a few rounds of Pictionary. When the others started to edge away from us and make signs that we had nothing to do with them, we took the hint and subsided. No fun, some
people.
We were very near the front of the queue so we spent a while discussing strategy: if we wanted to sit near the Guests' table, we'd have to work out which of the three reserved tables it was... When the door opened we stampeded to the table we thought stood the best chance of being close. We were, of course, wrong.
I know I joked about trying to get a table close to the guests' but I'm actually thankful that we weren't. After just a few minutes, it became apparent that people were watching every mouthful the guests took. It must have been very uncomfortable for them. Worse still, after they had barely eaten their desserts, people began swamping their table. This is just my personal opinion but I don't consider it very polite and I'm afraid this intrusion put a dampener on the entire evening for me. David, bless him, was as gracious as ever, but he soon moved to the back of the room so that he could talk to his fans without disturbing his fellow cast members. (I didn't mind
people talking to him then.)
The highlight of the Gala Dinner was meeting Katayoun. Mrs M is quite quite stunning. Angie does not do the lady's beauty and presence justice. She is much taller than I imagined and was wearing a very sexy black dress with her hair up. She was polite to everyone and it was absolutely delightful to see the pair of them together.
Some prizes were given out and then we all gave a round of applause to our very industrious committee. They had all worked so hard for very little gratitude so it was nice to see them getting the credit they deserved - especially Karin.
Ramona looked ravishing when she came to say goodbye. She is obviously quite delighted with her new role of mother. She thanked us for our support and shared a few of the joys of motherhood with us - like sleepless nights and breast-feeding. She had to leave us for more
pumping, she said!
Glen our auctioneer did some sort of cabaret turn involving a Mind Game then David took to the stage to say goodbye. He had had a smashing time and got rather emotional towards the end. He left to a standing ovation - and quite right.
Then we were treated to singing. The young girl who had played Stella in the flashback sequence of Eclipse was apparently also a singer. She tortured us for a goodly half an hour - could have been more. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be unkind. It wasn't that she had a bad voice (indeed her voice was truly remarkable, very powerful) or could not keep a tune; it was the fact that she was barely 15 and was dressed up like a dog's dinner. She was warbling songs that were somewhat inappropriate too and the whole thing gave the impression of a little kid trying on her mother's clothes. Very disturbing.
The DA lot departed soon after. The Gala Dinner entertainment might have got going - I hope so! - but we had an urgent appointment with some champagne, courtesy of Ann Munro.
By Jennifer Swanson.
This occurred that Saturday night and most of the celebrities that had been with us earlier were there for it. David Marciano and his charming wife, Dean McDermott and his pregnant wife (she's due in September), Ramona Milano, Ann Marie Loder and Tom Melissis sat at a table together, which just so happened to be near my own.
The dinner was a very nicely done buffet. Lots of food to choose from, so no one could have gone away hungry. After our dinners were eaten the festivities were in full swing. The celebrities were gracious in letting fans come over to get autographs, take pictures with them or just chat. What a truly nice and friendly bunch of people they are.
There were special moments throughout the night:
We got to hear David Marciano read us all the hilarious Bad Fiction Contest winner's entry, we got to see a third season blooper reel on loan to the convention, which added to spoiling us and, with Dean present, we got to see a clip of Turnbull singing a special ad-libbed country Christmas song called 'Santa Drives A Pick Up', from an as yet unaired episode called Good For The Soul. Dean had mentioned it during his panel and of course we all were dying to see it. It's an hilarious Turnbull scene sure to go down in Due South fandom history!
The night ended with heartfelt sounding `Thank-you kindlys' from each of the celebrity guests. Ann Marie was quite choked up saying goodbye and Tom made a pitch for his coming to any other cons we have in the future, even if it takes place in New Zealand. The dinner ended at
the stroke of midnight, since the hotel staff was kicking us out to clean the room, and our special guests had just left.
We stragglers adjourned to the Hospitality Room next door. Those who lasted past midnight were spoiled some more by getting to see 2 of the 4 unaired episodes, the first being Good For The Soul and the other Dead Men Don't Throw Rice. Well at some point around 2:30 AM Sunday this amazing night pretty much came to a close for us.
DISPLAYS
The Lists and DA were invited to set up displays in the Hospitality Room.
PGEB
Paul's List had a piece of wall next to the bar. There were about six or seven photos of Paul. One or two, I think, were publicity stills of him as Fraser but the others were definitely hunky Paul
pictures. The Alliance poster of Paul was the display's centre-piece. Yummy, poster that.
D'MOB
Among the gems were an Italian candle, a husky dog, a pool ball, 'Ray's' wallet full of American money, a Chicago street map, Armani cologne and postcards from Chicago, Canada and Sicily - the latter being from Uncle Vito! Someone had brought in some handcuffs (bet they had fun
going through customs!) while another had painstakingly forged Dief's wolf licence.
I loved Ray's appointment's calendar. Someone had dreamed this up and filled it in with all his cases. Even the handwriting looked authentic. I also laughed at the IOU's 'Benny' had drawn up to promise to pay Ray back for the money he borrows.
The out and out winner though was the postcard from Burning Down the Houses. When I saw it I genuinely thought it was the real postcard from the set. The artist had merged the two pictures beautifully and even Ray's writing on the back looked perfect. I don't know how long that took to do but, boy, was it worth it!
Lastly Elyse had stuck a number of TV Guide adverts and posters on the wall around the table. Fans in Britain won't have seen most of these promos; there were a few from The Pilot and a lovely one from Juliet with Ray stroking Irene's face against a backdrop of a dying Riv.
CKREB - Callum's List.
Their display was located on a pillar between ours and D'MOBs and consisted of a lovely mean and moody photo of CKR plus a few other photos. Some were of him and Paul so I presume they were from the third season. I think there were about eight photos / pictures all together.
Actors' Gallery
On the other side of the bar were a couple of rows of framed photos of all the cast, including Catherine Bruhier, Beau Starr and Daniel Kash but no David.
Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to compose the gallery and the whole was very pleasing. Most of the photos looked like they were taken a while ago; Gordon still had dark, glossy hair while Paul's photo looked to be about the same time as Tales. Dief was represented by Draco.
DA'S DISPLAY
When Karin invited us to organise a display for the Hospitality Room, I immediately visited Cloud Cukoo Land: we could have a Riv zooming round, perhaps a buzzer quiz ...
In the end I think our display was pretty impressive, thanks to all the mad er dedicated people who beavered away on it.
Having two teachers organising it (Ali and me) it had to be themed and interactive. Ali and Margot double or triple backed all the pages in red and white (for Canada) or red, white and blue (for America) and the whole was arranged around a giant compass logo - designed by Ali as my attempt looked like a steering wheel.
I selected pages from past n/ls to go up on the display; we had articles on friendship, episodes, poems, David, nit-picks ... Ann Manwell sifted old cook books in order to create an authentic
Ma Vecchio's Cook Book of DS-related recipes like polenta and meat balls - complete with jam stains and yellowing pages - while Margot bought a policeman's leather notebook and produced Bob Fraser's Book of Handy Inuit Hints.
There was a Fashion Catalogue of the best and worst of Ray's wardrobe.
And Leona painstakingly researched the Riv, the results of which labour of love were bound into a Book of Amazing Riv Facts.
We had bombs with Woopses, sky-scrapers with Chicago info and postcards, newspapers and memorabilia from Canada. Lastly we had favourite DS quotes translated into Italian by Ann's friend - some of them were hilarious!
GORDON PINSENT
By Sarah Gee.
Gordon Pinsent is one generous individual. Even after filming into the small hours of the morning, he still decided to appear at the con for his 10:00 am Q&A session and stayed an extra hour after that to sign autographs. How many other actors would do that these days?
There were several memorable moments to this Q&A. The first happened as soon as Gordon walked into the room. A rather awestruck expression crossed his face as all the cameras flashed at once. He obviously never realised how devote DS fans truly are or how much OFDM is liked.
He does now! Another hilarious moment occurred when one of the con staff produced an old album Gordon recorded some time ago and held it behind him for all the audience to see. It had a picture of a very young Mr. Pinsent on the cover. Once he realised what we were all laughing
at, he groaned in embarrassment and asked what it would take to get that copy burned. Instead, good sport that he is, he autographed the record and donated it to the auction where it went for a very good price.
Yet another moment that sticks out in my memory was the story of how he got his first acting job. In two words - he lied! He had stayed late one night after watching a play and had started up a conversation with the play's director. She'd asked him if he had acting experience.
He'd hadn't any, but he'd said he did anyway. She'd asked him if he wanted to try out for one of the supporting characters in another play she was directing. He'd replied that he wanted the lead. And he got it! Kind of makes you wonder about all the times your mother told you that nothing good ever comes from lying . . .
Personally, I had liked Gordon before meeting him like this, but this Q&A made me a true fan! In a world where so many actors are jaded towards their fans, Gordon was gracious and giving. He won us all, I think, with his good humour and unassuming manner.
HELLBENT
By Alison Hirst.
Mr. David Marciano is very sharp, very witty and very entertaining.
Okay, so you can't see the smile that preceded every fond recollection or hear the tone that are instantly recognisable as his, but I can assure you that all the anecdotes we heard were stories that he loves to tell and that were just waiting to be shared.
There was the tale about the unexpected audition: A friend recommended David for the part of Tanas ( Satan). David duly went along to talk to the people in charge and was told a short while later that he had got the part. He stood up to leave and was asked were he was going.
He explained that he wanted to go and tell his agent the news. The director said that he couldn't right now because he was needed in wardrobe. A surprised David asked if they wanted him to try on some of the costumes. No was the reply, they were filming his part in twenty minutes!
SORRY ELAINE
By Leona Crutcher.
It started for me back in May once I heard that David was attending.
Well, I just had to be there. After a quick financial check, I decided to go anyway. DA had a whole hour and a half with David. What were we going to do with him? My little mind worked overtime on that one but a quiz was decided upon so, with Elaine's guidance, a lot of to-ing and fro-ing and a great deal of watching DS, I cobbled together a compilation tape of clips from DS and David's other roles. Wednesday morning and some ungodly hour saw me arrive in Preston to meet up with Elaine and Margot. A cab trip to the airport, a stop in Duty Free for a vital cocktail ingredient (Blue Bols - wey hey!)
and then to the plane. The flight was two hours longer than I'd anticipated but some handy pen and paper provided entertainment in the form of DS Pictionary and Hangman. The steward was stingy with the drinks and the meal included 'fancy peas.' Left a lot to be desired.
Thursday saw shopping. A quick trip to look for tacky touristy things to take home plus a visit toTiffany's. The minute I walked in there I felt intimidated and felt sure I was going to break something.
Then I saw the price tags and felt worse. After debating between golf balls and baseballs, we decided on the pressie for David and parted with the cash. A baseball paperweight, all wrapped up in a Tiffany's bag - and I got to give it to him...
Back at the hotel, RCW was starting. The Welcome Pack was possibly the best I have ever seen. A neat RCW 139 number plate, a carrier bag, two pens, one American, one Canadian, some Milk Duds, a chocolate bar with quotes on the wrapper and a kit kat signed by Paul Gross.
He'd signed one for each of us as he couldn't make it.
The Meet and Greet was a bit of a anti-climax, given that no guests were there and the food was sparse. There were maps on the walls and, upon closer examination, I discovered that each and everyone's home town had been pin-pointed. Fourteen countries were represented and it was quite a nice feeling to see Bournemouth with me there representing it.
While the Production Panel was taking place in the main hall - Draco was apparently a wonderful guest who fielded questions from the audience - we set up the DA display in the other room and walked round the hotel looking for spare copies of the Globe and Mail as there was a DS piece in it.
Friday saw an early start as the DA Quiz was at ten - but I still had a chance to collect some of Draco's hair left behind on a chair and boy does he shed! Once the television and video arrived, I got started on getting it working. I heard Elaine say "And this is Leona, she'll be operating the video." I turned, looked up and David was stood smiling at me with coffee cup in one hand and brolly in the other... After they peeled me off the floor, I smiled and shook his hand and said "pleased to meet you." I also vowed never to wash my hand again.
The Quiz went marvellously. David was superb after a quiet start he really got into it, trailing off into anecdotes and ad-libs - and saying "sorry, Elaine" for interrupting the quiz! The audience evidently enjoyed it by the sound of their laughter and, judging by the photos, David enjoyed it too. It went so well, in fact, we only got through ten minutes of the clips.
When it came to the presentation Ann gave him the knitted Ray she had worked so hard on - apparently the hair was really difficult.
I presented him with the baseball and didn't fluff my lines. David was so chuffed with the knittie; he kept playing with it and holding it aloft.
David was on stage again at one with his own panel. Yet again he was superb. This man was jet-lagged but still found it in himself to be polite and charming. He signed autographs straight after and, by the time I got to him, he was still polite and charming. He broke off to attend D'MOB's panel. Another quiz like ours but I couldn't play as I had a headache. Elaine came second. When D'MOB finished David went back to finish signing. He was still charming, polite and smiling! Bless him!
If Friday was David Day then Saturday was Riv day. The stunt Riv which was to be auctioned off was displayed outside the hotel. To say it was a beautiful car would be an understatement even in rough condition as this one was, it was a very cool car.
At twelve the auction started and I knew right away that I didn't stand a chance with the script. The phrase 'More money than sense' springs to mind. As it turned out I had more chance with the Riv than with Ray's business card.
David was there to auction the Riv and David-related items. He was a very naughty boy though as his mickey-take of auctioneers became a very suggestive 'hummana, hummuna' in a sexy voice which instantly bumped up the price!
One DA Girl, as he now calls us, did come away with a pair of David's longjohns. David now has a mental image of Elaine sat in her office, wearing them and drinking tea.
Sunday proved a quiet day with the remaining auction items being sold and the last panels being poorly attended. By this point I was dead with a cold and felt rotten so Sunday was a bit of a blur.
Tuesday was a rude awakening. All too early a fire alarm went off.
At first I turned over and ignored it but when it didn't stop Ann and I figured we'd better go. I saved my passport, Ann her photos.
It turned out to be a false alarm - someone smoking on the fourth floor. After breakfast and saying goodbye to Ann and Ali, I went shopping to spend all the money I had failed to spend at the auction.
We wished Ann a safe journey as she was leaving earlier than we were then spent the rest of the day in the bar wasting time. We did go across to the Alliance building to create hassle but the receptionist all but told us to $%^& off so we left.
It was a superb convention with David shining. For me, the best bit was during the DA Panel when questions on the Riv came up. He sat up straight with a smug grin and said "I know this" with his body language. he was quite right too - the Riv is powered by a V8 engine.
Sorry, Elaine!
BOOM!!
By Alison Hirst.
There was the story about the explosion in The Pilot. Oh, there was supposed to be an explosion, all right, it just wasn't meant to be so big.
Paul Haggis (series creator for the uninitiated if there are still some out there on some dim and distant planet) and the guy in charge of the pyrotechnics had had an interesting discussion about just how many explosives needed packing behind the mirror in the bar. Paul Haggis finally won and the pyrotechnics guy went to get some more.
The call went up for all those brave (or should that be daft?) enough to go and watch the explosion. Paul Gross was first in line and David decided to go and get a cappuccino.
Countdown began and then BOOM!
The bar was ruined, there was glass everywhere, ceiling fans were stood on their end facing up instead of down and everyone looked rather shellshocked.
See, you just can't beat having a good cup of coffee - you just ask David next time you see him.
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE
By Alison Hirst.
David, talking about the river water at Elora Gorge, got diverted into a discussion about why Evian called their product Evian. I don't think he's a great fan of theirs!
Anyway, apparently the water in the river did not look quite so clean and refreshing as Ray makes out in North. David was somewhat sceptical about the properties of all the bits floating on the surface but was reassured that it had been tested. He did then point out to us that there aren't many chemical labs near Elora Gorge!
He decided the best way to get out of actually drinking much disputable tasting water, was to splash it around a lot instead. Which is why, in the episode, you see Ray lapping at it, open-mouthed.
HUNDREDS GO MAD IN TORONTO
By Ann Manwell.
I had a marvellous time at the convention and didn't really feel I needed a plane to fly home. After a slight hitch when I discovered I'd been overbooked on the flight and had to wait to see if there were any no shows, I did get on the flight I wanted and arrived safely in Toronto. I did wonder, however, if Titanic was an appropriate in-flight movie when crossing the Atlantic.
Later I met Elaine, Ali, Ann and Margot, whom I'd met at the DA mini-cons and Leona, my room-share who turned out to be just as nutty as the rest of us. We had a quick meal in an Italian restaurant that night (where the waitress rather amused us by giving us free garlic bread) then had an early night to adjust to the time difference.
Thursday was the day Elaine, Leona and I went to Tiffany's to choose a present for David. We were there really early and found out the shop did not open until ten. As it was raining we found an underground shopping mall and had fun looking round until it was time to go back to Tiffany's. We must have looked rather bedraggled but they let us in anyway. We spent ages trying to choose between a crystal golf ball, baseball and an assortment of pens with a golfing theme. In the end we chose the baseball because the golf ball didn't look nearly as nice. The assistant put it in a proper Tiffany's bag for us.
We'd brought all the other pressies with us so all Leona and I had to do was find a gift box for the Ray doll and some sort of buzzer / squeaky toy for the opposing quiz team. Funnily enough this was not as easy as it sounds. One shop assistant admitted they didn't have any gift boxes but said somebody must sell them because they were always being asked for them . We eventually got a box but ended up borrowing a squeaky duck from Elyse.
By Elaine Lucas.
The Tuesday before the convention had been spent in a whirl of last-minute preparations. Margot (that'll teach her to stay over night!) was volunteered for the task of gluing display items while I frantically printed off sheets, wrote letters and ... packed. There was so much to fit into a suitcase! Clothes, who needs clothes, I thought, just fit in the merchandise and display items!
Leona, who had travelled up from Bournemouth over night, arrived at about five and by nine we were sat in the Departures Lounge, sipping coffee and trying to remain calm. By three, we were getting sick, sick, sick of flying but had another two thrilling hours to go.
At last we arrived. I decided to forgo the pleasure of explaining why I had 3 Boxtree novels, 3 Companion books, a load of badges, keyrings, coasters and mugs, not to mention five forests' worth of triple-backed papers, in my suitcase and ticked the nothing to declare box on my
Immigration card.
It was so nice to return to Toronto and to the Radisson. We met up with Ann (from Scotland), Ann (from London) and Ali - the latter two having arrived from New York! - and started the convention the way we meant to continue by stuffing our faces in a lovely Italian restaurant whose waitress reminded me of Ma Vecchio as she kept coming round with more garlic bread.
Thursday morning, I met up with Vicky and Robin and attended the meeting for RCW helpers - or, as the committee insisted on calling us Highly Visibly People. Still we got a freebie T shirt! Being Highly Visible meant we couldn't slope off so easily so we found ourselves trapped in a meeting held by two Metropolitan Policemen (not Mounties - darn!) who insisted on telling us in morbid detail about what to do if we got into a Situation. Odds On, they said gloomily, we'd have a Good Time but it was best to Know What To Do in case of axe-wielding psychopaths.
And being Highly Visible, it was probably Odds On too that we'd be picked on first!
In the afternoon, having gift wrapped presents, Leona, Scottish Ann and I retired to my room in order to put the display together. There followed an hilarious three hours - if you thought sticking and gluing was boring, you obviously haven't tried doing it with Ann! Not only did she glue the photos into the wrong boxes, she happily cut them into pieces and then tried to piece them back together.
Then we all went to the Meet and Greet which was a bit of a damp squib as no-one was willing to meet or to greet There was however a real live Mountie in dress reds who gamely posed for photos and went around with a bemused smile on her face.
DM'S Q AND A
By Ann Manwell.
At one o'clock David did a Q and A. The reception he got was terrific and there were so many flash lights going off he ended up raising his hands in mock protection of his face. Individuals asked questions for this session but they also asked them at D'MOB so I'm not sure what topics were brought up where. David talked about the accident with the bar being blown up in The Pilot, explained why the Mountie's hairstyle varied and told the full story of Lincoln filming A Cop, a Mountie.
He spent about an hour on questions and his depth of knowledge and love for the show shone through. he really cared about the character of ray and how the character was treated. He was also generous in his remarks about Paul and wasn't bitter about what happened.
Asked about the Trailer Wars between him and Paul, he said these ended when they both had so much stuff outside that the crew couldn't pack everything away. The kiddies' paddling pools appeared as production costs because he and Paul said they were planning to use them as props in a future episode!
After the autograph session, David returned for the D'MOB panel at 4pm. He ended up as question master and DA members gave away the answer to the question on the Statue of Liberty because we were laughing so much.
After that session David went and signed autographs for anyone else who wanted one; the end result was that he'd been at the convention from before ten until six with just a couple of short breaks. He must have been exhausted but he rarely showed it (he rubbed his face a couple of times) and he was unfailingly polite. I have never seen a convention guest give that much to the fans. At one point he said he believed in giving as that was the way you got things back. I sincerely hope he got back as much as he gave but it certainly looked like it from where I was standing.
By Elaine Lucas.
After our panel in the morning David also attended an official RCW question and answer session and the D'MOB panel. I don't mean this the wrong way at all but the two have since merged in my pitiful brain and I cannot remember at which session he said what - so sorry in advance if these are not in the correct order.
David once again proved how very funny he is. I knew that he was a lovely guy but I hadn't expected quite such a wicked sense of humour.
He called Paul 'a national treasure' and gave an account of how Paul was Action Man when it came to stunts. If you saw Fraser doing something life-threatening, you could guarantee it was Paul doing it - if you saw Ray so much as run, it was someone else. Great wimp!
With regard to the third season, David was nothing but diplomatic.
He stressed that he considered his character to be the one and only Ray Vecchio but he was not nasty about it. One amusing story which occurs concerns Callum's inability to drive. When David returned to film Burning Paul took him aside and told him he always felt safe in the Riv with David driving. Apparently he could not say the same for Callum as, on the first day of filming, the poor guy crashed the car!
As to how the show ended, David explained that he had suggested a different ending to the Powers That Be but had been politely but firmly turned away. He had suggested ending the third season as it had begun with a telephone call coming in for Fraser up in Canada from Ray.
Ray was to say goodbye to his best friend while Fraser was to thank him for his friendship during his time in Chicago. David felt it would have underlined the two characters' affection for each other while still allowing for the fact that they had drifted apart. As David so rightly said, the heart of DS was the love these two opposites showed one to the other that made it so special.
The last question of the RCW Q and A session was whether David wore boxers or briefs. He grinned, leaned forward conspiratorially and replied that we could imagine him in whatever took our fancy! The perfect way to finish really.
D'MOB's panel was hosted by Jeannie-Marie, Elyse, Nikki and Janet.
I have to be honest and say that I thought D'MOB could have used their time with David better; their quiz was all very pleasant but not particularly exciting especially as it lasted for over 40 questions.
David took over as question master and livened things up by trotting off into silly voices.
One of the questions was what did the Riv drive through in An Eye For An Eye? The answer was a sapling and a gate but I shouted out that it drove through snow too. David nodded sagely, told me I was right but that he still wasn't giving me a point. The Riv drove through the air, through snow, through the grass and through air molecules too, he said - but he still wasn't giving me a point. Stingy or what! Funnily enough, even without that point, I managed to come second and Vicky Haslam came third.
It was at the D'MOB panel that David began adopting a very silly Sicilian accent when he was talking. "You talkin' to me?" he'd growl as the audience shouted out their answers to the quiz questions. Very funny but I imagine you had to be there to appreciate just how daft he looked.
D'MOB then presented David with all their gifts. They had clubbed together to buy the airline ticket for Katayoun as their main prize.
David was very touched by their generosity, saying later that he had been able to feel more comfortable at the convention knowing his wife was there to support him. Ahhh. They also bought Ariana a whole menagerie of Beanie Babies and David a small bottle of Georgio Armani cologne. Jen had written 'Detective' in front of the 'Armani' and David joked "Georgio won't be pleased."
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