PART 3
Steve came out and explained that they would do the autographs at the front and that this was the bit that always took the longest, and if people lingered, the Q and A would be cut short. The table was brought out into the middle of the floor and James came out and sat on my side – no more than about 10 feet from me – and the queue formed on the other side of the table, so I had a great view.
Again, being in the front row, we were the first up for autographs and I was about the 15th in line. I had to gather up my pictures to be signed, James’s gifts from me and my little camera so I could just run it to video what James said to me as it’s impossible to remember it all afterwards! It was quite a feat juggling it all – and it didn’t help that when we got to the table we were given our pre-signed picture of James as Piccolo – the sexy hoody shot! I had my picture from DragonCon where James is smirking at the camera and I’m giving him an innocent peck on the cheek, to be personalised, and a black-and-white shot I took of him at DragonCon.
Mariah (who was sitting the other side of me and who I originally met in the autograph queue at DragonCon) was in front of me so I got James talking to her as well – saying about how he cant sign on anyone’s faces – he’s got into trouble for that from actresses before – especially on the Buffy group shots – you were in trouble if you made a mark on anyone else!
And then it was my turn – we shook hands and I said “Hi James” as he gave me that gorgeous smile and said “hello” in that special voice he seems to save for autographs, that makes your knees go weak….! Consequently, James started to sign my picture, copying my name across from the piece of paper we all had with our names on so there was no problem about the spelling, and I was just staring at him not saying anything! I suddenly realised and said “this is terrible! I’m not talking to you!”
James signingJames replied “its OK – well, Steve will probably spank me again” and I couldn’t resist adding “ but you just like that!” which he didn’t rise to, just continued as he is signing “ I always think “ oh its only 150 people and we’ll have time to talk to each other” but no….”
“…we don’t” I finished for him. “No” said James very regretfully “it never really works out” (he really does like talking to everybody!)
James laughing with meAt this point, everyone in the theatre starts whooping and yelling, so James turns round and looks up at the big screen behind him which is showing Torchwood – “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” and Captain John has just made his first appearance. James made a “Yikes” face at me and I said “I think you’ve just arrived through the Rift” and we both giggled!
”you’ve just come through the Rift”James then handed me my pictures and I quickly said – “I have gifts for you” and handed him the chocolate rose (hand made red chocolate!) and James face lit up and he said “oh yeah – thank you”. I added “Its all chocolate - a rose from Rosie for Valentines” and James is smiling and said “Love it.
Love that” (and it sounds like a slightly English accent – I’ve noticed that before – he sometimes goes into an English accent talking to me!!)
Valentines rose from Rosie“And a book” (well I
am a librarian!)– I gave him “Moondust – In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth” by Andrew Smith. James said “oh” as he saw the cover (Apollo spacecraft taking off) and I explain about it being the search for all the astronauts who walked on the moon “I thought you might like it – don’t know if you’ve read it – I have and it’s excellent”
“No, I haven’t” said James, still looking very interested “Right on – I’m going to be in Japan with nothing to do, so…”
And then I handed him his last gift - “And this is a piece of the moon for you!” – James stares at it and I continue -” it’s a very, very teeny piece of the moon” (it was a tiny speck of moon rock on a card which I put in a frame for him)
“Yes, it is” James said, looking at it in amazement- his face is a picture! And then “Fuck! Far out!”
Stunned James!Then he looks up at me grinning and still looking shocked and says “That’s
totally cool!” and you could tell he was really pleased. So I said – “I can’t give you the whole moon, but I can give you a teeny piece of it”
James put it down on the table to one side of him and was still looking at it and answers me “ no, no..” and then cups his hands over his face, covering nose and mouth as he still seems gobsmacked by it and says partly to himself I think “ that’s
so fucking cool!”
He was grinning at me as we shook hands again “thank you – hey, I bet Buzz brought that back” (actually it’s from a lunar meteor – you can’t buy any of the rock they brought back – but I didn’t want to spoil the moment, so I just agreed!)
“That’s awesome” said James, looking to both sides of him at the gifts and then up at me “Thank you love – you’re the awesomest!” and I was laughing and said “thank you” - and as I turn to go, James added “you got me chocolate and moondust” in a very pleased voice, which made me laugh like mad as I turned away!
Smiley JamesMariah and Dina who had obviously been watching and seen James’s reaction were asking as I got back to my seat “What did you give him???”
(I actually got that piece of the moon way back, just after DragonCon when I got the idea from an advert on a local radio station that was for something completely different, (Yellow Pages I think!) saying “It’s amazing what you can do on the internet these days – buy chunks of the moon…” and I thought “Yes! Perfect for James – so I did!)
Back in my seat, I was all squee happy, having had such a good reaction from James to his gifts – even better than I had hoped! I got my camera out and started taking pictures of the autograph session. And this was when my seat proved itself as one of the best in the house – because the queue ran the other way, James was almost permanently in my sight for all the rest of the session!! So I just sat in my seat (or Dina’s – we swapped for a bit) for well over an hour and just took photos of James! It was wonderful - a photographers dream – I just shot pictures continuously of James reacting and interacting with the fans, joking and laughing with everyone. And I could hear a lot of the conversations too which was great! He signed someone’s jeans (whilst she was wearing them!) and the top of someone else’s boob – I think so she could get it tattooed! And he didn’t seem to mind a bit – he was as friendly and smiley and as charismatic as ever - I love watching James interacting with people – concentrating totally on them – his face is just so expressive as he listens to each person, you have an idea what they are talking about even if you can’t hear. Just wonderful to watch and photograph – that seat was worth every cent of the $225!!
The lighting was fantastic too, being that it was a theatre. Lovely light and shadow on James’s face – really showing off his cheekbones!
I really didn’t want to miss a moment of James watching, and even though I was desperate to go to the loo, it was quite a while before I did a quick dash to the bathroom and then dashed back. Even if my seat hadn’t had such a good view, I think I would have moved down to the front across from James where a lot of people were and take pictures the whole time. Some people were out in the foyer and milling about, but I wasn’t going to miss a minute of James watching time! I mean – there’s James right in front of you – I just wanted to look at him forever - he holds my eyes all the time, I’m just drawn back to him. That glow was there again, you couldn’t help but stare at him. It was wonderful!
Whilst I was in the bathroom, I talked briefly to a couple of newbies – one of whom said she almost wished James had turned out to be a total jerk so she wouldn’t want to come and see him again – then said she thought he was so very personable! The other said she was really glad he wasn’t a jerk – she thought he was fantastic. I think we've got two converts there!
I did move across to the side for a bit and was taking pictures of Amy Sue with James. Then Magie was waiting off to the side to see Steve and give him his present and it was obvious they were going to go across my line of sight. They met up right in front of me and hugged, completely blocking my view, so I was saying “get out of the way!” in a mock-angry voice at them - Steve protested as they separated “but she’s bribing me with dark chocolate!” so I said that was OK then – and then, when he walked back to his seat by James, he stopped and did “bunny ears” behind James’s head whist grinning at me! And I got it on camera!!
(link coming in a bit when I find it!)
There was a short break then before the Q and A, so Sylvie and I dashed out to the concession stand to get a quick drink and something to eat – though I nearly didn’t get any food as the hot dogs were only cooked moments before we were going back in and there was no food allowed in the theatre and I wasn’t going to miss a moment of this - so I scoffed down the hot dog in about 3 bites with it scarcely even touching the sides…..!