Laisser le Bon Temps Rouler (Let The Good Times Roll), eh? Oui! C'est formidable! Or it would be, if I could actually do it! But this is February, and that's crunch time for accountants. The deadline I'm under to finish the task I've been killing myself over for the past week (or nine months, taking the long view) is not endlessly movable. I've got to get it done. I've got to sleep, too, and I've done darn little of that recently. So who has time to party?
It wasn't always like this, though. Exactly two years ago, John and I were at Gallifrey One's Fifteen Minutes of Fame. Gallifrey One is the annual Los Angeles convention for fans of the tv series Doctor Who. I used to go every single year with my friends - seven of the first eight years it was held, in fact. We used to have a great time, interviewing actors and writers, and seeing other people we only met once a year. Then my friends moved away, and I was too busy and too broke to go any more. After a while, I stopped even pretending I might be able to make it that year.
But in 2004, I found out at the last minute that Danny Strong (Jonathan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) was going to be at Gallifrey. My favorite Doctor (Sylvester McCoy), the elusive Paul McGann (the Eighth Doctor), and the equally elusive Janet Fielding (Tegan) would also be there, among others. John and I decided, at the last possible second, that we were going! And we had a blast! Except for the part in which we drove around the Burbank area for three hours, trying to find a hotel that wasn't filled with Super Bowl fans, conventioners and equestrians. That wasn't fun at all.
Above you can see (left to right) Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred (Ace), having a good time posing in front of a fan-built TARDIS prop.Danny Strong turned out to be fun and funny, and there was a weird moment when he inadvertantly reenacted a scene from the Buffy episode "Superstar" by calling me "Karen with a K ." One of the main actors to portray monsters on Buffy was also there, Camden Toy. And so was my old pal Richard Herd. He's been on Quantum Leap, at least two incarnations of Star Trek, SeaQuest DSV and lots of other stuff.
See? I was there too. Here I am having fun with a Dalek, the quintessential Doctor Who monster. No, I didn't take this photo. John did.
But no, I don't get to go to Gallifrey this year, or even Gallifrey One. That's a joke, folks. Gallifrey is the name of the Doctor's home planet, now destroyed as of the 2005 revival of the show.
I did recently get to have a good time on a much smaller scale, though. A week and a half ago, Father Smith of St. Michael and All Angels hosting an outing up Mount Lemmon for the acolytes. Acolytes are the lay people who serve at Mass, carrying candles or the crucifix or the chalice. When I was a kid, such people were mostly called "altar boys." There are probably about 15 or 20 acolytes all together at St. Michael's, but the day trip was early in the afternoon on Super Bowl Sunday. This may explain why the number of people who actually went only filled one rented van.
It was a small but diverse group. We had Father Smith, and Proscovia King, who is in charge of the acolytes. I was there, of course, partly because of this Photo Challenge, partly out of loyalty, and partly because I'm always in favor of good clean Bon Temps, or as I call them, rut-breakers. Rounding out the group were a high school student and two elementary school kids.
Despite the age range, we had a good time together, eating pizza and giant cookies - including a pumpkin nut one! That's the cookie in the front of this picture. We washed it down with Sarsaparilla, while bemoaning the ridiculously high sugar content thereof.
We stopped at Windy Point on the way down, got out and gawked at the rock climbers and the spectacular views. On the drive back down, I even got to tell my two-broken-ankles story to the kids, who were suitably impressed.It's not Gallifrey, but I guess it will do. Added bonus: Mount Lemmon was the site of my photo shoot for the very first Round Robin challenge. That will always be a happy memory for me.
Karen
*****
Now go see what the other Robins are posting, and maybe even join in yourself!
Round Robins for this Challenge:
as of Wednesday, February 15th, 11:00 PM MST
Carly... Ellipsis...Suddenly Carly Posted!
Karen... Outpost Mâvarin Posted!
Tess... First Digital Photos Posted!
Chris... My Photographic Life
Derek... Through My Eyes and Derek's Picture Of The Day Both Posted!
Betty... My Day My Interests
Julie... Julie's Web Journal Posted!
Sara... Animated Seasons Posted!
Celeste... My Day And Thoughts (AOL and BlogSpot)
Dorn... Through The Eyes Of The Beholder Posted!
Sassy... Sassy's Eye Posted!
Steven... (sometimes) photoblog Posted!
DesLily... Here There and Everywhere BlogSpot and AOL Posted!
6 comments:
I did one!..
http://herethereandeverywhere2ndedition.blogspot.com/2006/02/round-robin_15.html
http://journals.aol.com/deslily/HereThereandEverywhere/
Good times with good people and enjoying wonderful places, except for Burbank LOL! I've driven round and round there myself but found a great rib joint as an outcome. Enjoyed your blasts!
these are wonderful, i want one of those cookies, yum yum!
It's sounds like a great time, and lucky you getting to meet "Jonathon." :)
Those pictures remimd me of the year the QL convention and Gallifrey One were on the same weekend! I think we were all done in by the time that was over.
You and the Dalek! What a hoot! I love it!
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