Can't speak for Adam, but I'm really happy to be there!
He looks pleased too, so I'm hoping it wasn't just an act
What a truly nice, gentleman; albeit with a wicked sense of humour!
More soon.... I shot over 400 pictures!!!
Serenity LA report [apologies for errors and omissions ; travelled over 10,000 miles!!]
First encounter with Adam...Sat 3rd November, about mid-day, near enough. Picture me dolled up in my maroon and black Sheriff/Las Vegas showgirl outfit [see above]. Fair bit of cleavage and leg, hair piled up on top. Spent the queue centering myself and wondering how this first encounter was going to go. Took my first look at the Big Guy who was talking to the person about 4 or 5 in front of me. Into my head popped two words, unbidden; 'Ricky Linderman'. So, I've got me a big, grown-up version of him to deal with [without the killing, I hope]; that's okay. Adam's hair is short, but curling slightly, very pale blue eyes. He had no visible reaction to the cozzie at all; he was clearly in, 'I am having my photo taken' mode and locked totally 'in the zone'. That's okay; I've met that in other actors before. We had a brief warm interchange, I introduced myself. thanked him and shook his hand and said something like 'Catch you later' and that was that.
Autograph queue - juggling lots of items! [Firefly DVD cover, Serenity book, Firefly crew tee shirt, BDM in the Collector's Edition, unpainted Jayne dolly and Angel comic #1, plus a photo or several of Adam!!!]. I think the Angel comic went to Adam first. He said something like, "I'll sign right over Charisma Carpenter's face" with quite a bit of relish [personality clash between them, maybe?] and I responded with a slightly OTT sympathetic "Oh, poor Charisma!". He signed the Jayne dolly box without comment; Sean Harry helped stretch out the tee shirt before I could get my mitts on it [they were full, remember!]; Adam found a spot in the book and on the DVD cover pretty quickly; so that left my signed picture. I asked him if he could personalise it and he said, "Sure". Then came the usual thing of me saying my name and starting to spell it and the writer going on autopilot and starting to put two 'l's. I had put it down on the autograph paper, but Sean had whisked that away. Adam duly checked himself, looked up really apologetically and said 'sorry' [in a way that made me think of a very little boy; it was utterly open and charming and I bet he had that look pegged when he was three, if not before!]. He skilfully combined the almost two 'l's into one and I said, "Blame my Dad, he chose it!" [stock response!]. I thanked Adam and worked my way down the rest of the line. On the way back, I walked down the other side of the signing place, against the wall out of the way as directed and glanced back towards Adam for another peek. He had his head mostly down, but I saw his eyes flick my way from under his lashes. By the direction of his gaze, I think he was checking out the heels and fishnet combo [GG]. [Yeah, that'd probably do it...].
Saturday night - Lyn and I were walking down Hollywood Boulevard looking for somewhere to eat. There was an 'English' themed pub on the other side called the 'Pig and Whistle' and we'd notionally earmarked that as a place to eat. One of the QMx guys [I'm so sorry - blame it on the jet-lag, I've forgotten your name and you were so nice] didn't know where 'La Cantina' was so we offered to walk him there as it wasn't that far. He offered us a drink for our pains, we accepted gracefully, then he wanted to eat. We took a glance at the menu and decided purely on the spur of the moment to stay put. Boy, are we glad we did... I ordered fajitas which came with about enough for four people. I started on it gamely enough, but I think the 5,000 mile trip was really playing havoc with my appetite levels. In the UK I'd have easily demolished at least half of what they served me, but I had real trouble making headroads into the piles of yummy looking stuff in front of me. I concentrated on the beef strips in a metal pan nearest me, which had been caramalised with sweet green peppers and onions. It was utterly delicious.
The convention had the place under an exclusive booking from 8.30 p.m. About 8.05, there we were eating, chatting to the QMx guy and generally easing into the evening, when Sean Harry arrived and Adam with him. We looked up and smiled and said 'Hi' so as not to appear rude. Adam smiled back and came over to sit next to us [well, next to Lyn, who came close to melting into a puddle at his feet!]. So, the four of us sat and chatted about a whole heap of things for over HALF AN HOUR! I offered Adam sharesies in the fajitas, but he'd already eaten at the famous Russo's bar and grill just down the road. So I kept forking the beef [Adam's comment was that it looked good and I said it was; just not used to American size portions!] and letting Lyn have her moment whilst putting in the odd sentence at a suitable juncture. Plus, the...erm...scenery was well worth watching!! I was even more impressed by how natural, charming and sweet Adam is in person. Lots of facial expressiveness, good listener, charming. Late on into the conversation we were joined by the guy who'd actually found the Ariel ambulance in a scrapyard and Adam's face whilst the guy told his story was a picture of incredulity, amazement and deeply genuine interest.
Later on, long after Adam had left us to mingle, I went to the Ladies. On the way back, Adam stopped me, said my name with a little bit of a question [I have got it right, haven't I?] and put out his hand. I smiled, shook his hand right back and we had another short interchange. I really can't remember what we said [sorry]. There was a slightly...hesitant atmosphere; from both of us. I had to think about it a lot afterwards. Back in the UK, I think I got it! I think he didn't know quite what to make of me!! [not the first time this has happened!!]. I'm tall [and I was wearing serious heels that evening], Amazonian, with striking features, have what most people would probably categorise as a 'BBC English' accent and I have two tattoos to date. Plus there's my deepish speaking voice and my very dry sense of humour. Bit of a package! We communicated, but there wasn't that 'moment' when we 'clicked'. And I was busy adapting and getting used to Adam 'up close and personal'. Hopefully, next time, we'll make it past that hesitancy, or whatever it was.
Lyn and I had a lovely chat with Jewel at the bar who was regaling us with stories from being on Atlantis. I was flattered that she remembered me from previous times. Jewel and I both agreed that Ronin [Jason] is stunning [woman's got taste!]. We went on to talk about Adam in very flattering terms as well [I knew I liked her!].
For those of you who'd like to see the touristy stuff
Universal Studios, Santa Monica, Tourist bus ride
Subtitles mine: largely aiming for humour because I'm really fond of the big guy
Hang on; got a phone call coming in... |
And if I tilt this way, I look really cute... |
Big, gorgeous grin! |
Note to Adam: be careful where you put the mike!!! |
Goofball! |
Hang on a minute, let me pitch the note...hmmm... |
Oooh, tough question! |
1. Got hiccups 2. Gonna sneeze... |
Is there vodka in this orange juice?!!? All right! |
Ah, memories! |
Adam and a book called something like 'Pretending to Care' Which is about the theory of retail |
Feelings, nothing more than feelings... |
You crack me up!! |
Doing the 'heroic' face |
And here's a song for the ladies... |
Cracking up! |
Now here's a Jayne look... |
So, Mark... |
Sunday- Yes, this report is going to be Adam-heavy! But with a HUGE pile of [squee!] for Nathan turning up 'unexpectedly', on his own dime as far as I could tell. Jewel was in on it because she dropped a big hint in the bar on Saturday night. The day started with Adam being late. Sean apologised on his behalf and said things would be rescheduled a bit, don't worry. Given what happened later, maybe Adam was late on purpose! About 10 minutes into the talk with Morena, Jewel and Christina, a loud [and instantly familiar!] voice asked the ladies what it was like kissing Nathan. It was he! He came on stage, joked and chatted with all three and got a HUGE reception. So, the photoshoot with Adam was the first thing we saw of him, after Nathan had left. I was in somethng closer to normal clothes, but had brought 2 Jayne hats. The stewards must have guess that I'd planned to offer Adam the spare to wear and they asked me VERY nicely to ditch it. I suppose it would be seen as endorsement of a fan-made product, so I did. Adam and the attendees were on chairs this time. He put his arm around the back of my chair and I got flummoxed by my skirt suddenly getting gappy on me, but did raise a slightly skewiff HUGE grin for the photo. We exchanged pleasantries, he remembered my name and that was about that.
Q &A. Finally got to ask a question! To both Mark and Adam [they were placed together both days and evidently 'kicked off' each other]. Something along the lines of 'If you could cast Jayne/Badger's parents, who would you pick?' Mark claimed Badger was an orphan and Adam suggested Ronald and Nancy [I'm guessing he meant 'Reagan' here]; adding that he thought it would be interesting if Jayne had come from a 'normal' stable background and a house with white picket fences, etc. Lyn asked hers and both Adam and Mark did a bit of verbal pigtail pulling; mainly because they had both noticed that Lyn has a HUGE crush on Adam! [Woman's got taste!]. She asked about whether Adam would ever put on the Superman cape and tights and Adam gave her a Look [GG]. Not quite a Paddington hard stare, but it had a flash of deep intensity to it. His verbal reply was, 'Well, I do for my wife', and that was that.
Lyn also asked Adam what a 'typical day on set' was like and Adam did this rib-achingly funny thing of jolting himself awake, peeling his hand off his face and looking completely bleary-eyed whilst heading for the first coffee hit of the day. I guess you had to be there; I've described it as best I can!
Earlier he'd been talking about filming Gargantuan in Australia [I think]; away from home again, on the road. At that point the most charming little half-smile crept over his face and he said, "My wife married a gypsy", as if he still couldn't believe his luck. Adam; you sweetheart. I'll bet she counts herself gorram lucky to have you around, too. On the Saturday, a lady who works in retail had gone on a bit about this book called, 'Pretending to Care' [or something like that], which is about the theory of retail. On Sunday she brought a copy of said bookand both Adam and Mark had a look at it and Adam said he'd see about 'placing' it on set. At the end, another lady got up and said something along the lines of, 'Isn't it time that Inara figured out that Jayne would make the best male companion ever and whisk him off to Sihnon for training?". Adam's response was gloriously enthusiastic, "About TIME!", then he waxed lyrical about the idea in slightly incoherent tones, finishing by dropping into Jayne and doing one of those eager intense 'bad boy grins', "TRAIN ME!!" [Adam, there'd be a queue of willing ladies, trust me...]
Autographs - we thought we were done but Sean Harry kindly said that Lyn and I [if we paid] could have our posed pix from Saturday signed by Adam. I mentioned this as I put Adam's piccy with me down. He got my name right [GG]. put 'Serenity Always' and signed the photo. Lyn had an interchange with him, kissed his cheek. there was something said about Adam not making it to the Sunday party and Sean backed Adam up by saying that he had an early start in the morning. At that moment, Adam looked tired; it was suddenly there in his eyes. I leaned forward, he half rose and I kissed his cheek too. Total impulse, mixed with empathy.
Ron in a thoughtful moment |
Ron grinning |
Jonathan playing a self-penned song called 'Animal Mother'!!! |
Jonathan contemplates himself... |
Mark being his usual charming self |
Expounding some point I've now sadly forgotten |
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Nectar being enthusiastic |
Morena and Jewel |
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Nathan surprised just about everyone on Sunday! |
Nathan and one of his goofball faces |
No, I don't know why Morena is feeling Nathan's thigh! |
'Vera' and 'Patience'!! |
Pulse beacon, side 1 [it's cylindrical] There was also a largeish grey model of Serenity [gorgeous]; but we were told not to publish photos, because it's not approved yet. Looks awesome even 'rough' and is going to be really quite sizeable [2 feet long, approx]. |
Pulse beacon, side 2 |
Had to bring out the Jayne hat, hence the crooked grin!!
For those of you who'd like to see the touristy stuff
Universal Studios, Santa Monica, zoo, Tourist bus ride
