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Convention Information

BURBANK, CA, USA
 Fri., Sat. & Sun.
January 12-14, 2007
Burbank Airport
Hilton and Towers
2500 Hollywood Way

Purchase Tickets
 

Guests

Lucy Lawless
Renee O'Connor
Claire Stansfield
Michael Hurst
Robert Trebor
Adrienne Wilkinson
Jennifer Ward-Lealand
Patrick Fabian
Jay Laga'aia
Brittany Powell
Zoe Bell
Steven L. Sears
Rob Tapert
Liz Friedman

 

 

 

 2007 OFFICIAL XENA CONVENTION

 Photos

     Reports       Links


The Gathering of Friends (aka The 2007 Official Xena Convention)

by KT
fsktl@uaf.edu

Once again, for the eleventh time as the advertising reminds us, we are gathering to celebrate the Xena: Warrior Princess show.

It’s amazing to realize that these things have been going for eleven years. Except that many of us old-timers indeed show the passing of time and have become more old-timer than ever. Julie was watching the crowd line slowly shuffling into the hall to get their week-end bracelets and noticed that there are more of us now that are moving a bit slow, perhaps limping some and even using canes to get around. Not to worry though—we old-timers are being supplemented every year by fresh young things who are rip-roaring with excitement over their first ever con. The fresh young things who were con virgins last year are more blasé now—they know people here, they know the drill, they sit on the couches and sip their morning soda (pop) with us as we sip our morning coffee.

Yesterday afternoon was a melee of incoming fans. Screaming with delight at the first sight of each other again. One group I happened to be with who were exchanging pleasantries, we’re just enjoying being together and the conference door opens up and a lady comes out scowling, sweeping her hands up and down in a “lower the noise” gesture and hisses to us, “There’s a meeting going on in here.” She gives another scowl and closes the door and I say with a laugh, “This is a Xena con honey—we just don’t do quiet.”

Later the doors of the BIG conference room on the other side of the hall open and a whole bevy of Catholic priests and their female attendants, (you know, those women who look like Donna Reed looked in “It’s A Wonderful Life” when she never got it on with Jimmy Stewart), came mincing out. I got this huge grin on my face and thought, “Oh, this is probably the best sharing of con venue we’ve had since the year we had the Teenage Ballet Convention.”

At that convention, a doctor friend of mine was along. She had a huge head cold, was working on a migraine and had self-medicated herself into a loud, just about hallucinatory high. She cackled in great delight at seeing all these twirling teenagers in tutus prancing in the lobby as the Xena fans went to and fro to the convention. In her drugged state she just found that mix of ballerinas with their frou-frou stage mommies and we tough Xena fans wildly risible. I thought we might have to do CPR on her to help her get her breath back, she was gasping and howling with laughter so much.

Lots of old faces, lots of new. Brand new mother/daughter combinations where the young kid is a major Xena fan and the mom is along as driver and source of money for Xena stuff. I love those combinations. Last year we had two three generation groupings, Grandma, Mom and kid. In at least one of them, the grandmother and grandkid were the fans—the mom again was just the enabler.

So the line went well, as always, my tickets are in Alaska and I am here. As always, it’s never a problem and I got my wrist bracelet and con pass necklace with no problem. I said as we walked back to the hotel that night, “We’re all tarted up now—and don’t we look good.”



There’s some very nice new pictures and posters—one fabulous one of Lucy from Battlestar, from the last scene of Downloaded. Rather than “Girl with a smoking gun, it’s “Girl with a smirk and gun.” MARVELOUS look on her face.

(click on the thumbnail for the larger scan)
 


When we went into the bar that night, it was the usual BLAST of sound as old friends found each other and new friends were high on their first con. And it suddenly struck me—you know how the song goes, “You wanna go where everybody knows your name”? Well, this is the place.

My favorite quote from today was overheard when two fans who had never met in person were talking and one said to the other, “What’s that accent you have?” And the other person answered, “I don’t have an accent. It just sounds like I do.”

Gods bless us everyone.

KT

 

 

 

 

AUSXIP - Australian Xena Information Page
AUSXIP Lucy Lawless - Xena  |  AUSXIP Renee O'Connor - Gabrielle