New York City Convention
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The Journal of the Journey (or: Merpups Take Manhattan)


###Warning-There are merpups pictured within this article. If you find a photo of yourself that you are not willing to publish here, then please email the person responsible for the page with the name of the photo and a short description of your part in the photo. We don't want anyone to get spooked at seeing themselves without warning!

Thanks to Maj|k and Isurus for their photos, which have been shamelessly stolen to use throughout this report. Just use your Back Button to return here.



This is the quite un-official report of non-Missy Con ’99 held at the New Yorker Hotel in New York City, NY on March 27-28 1999.

Armed with a stack of Merpup Con tags (quickly becoming the Pup badge of honor) Den Pups chakram88 (Lisa) and Shazb (aka: Not that Shari) headed south to Manhattan. What would we find? How would we find the other pups? Would Liz Friedman answer THE question, officially? These were the burning questions.

This report will contain statements from other NYCon pups as reported on the Merwolfpack mailing list. And because the pack is a living breathing entity, expect this report to grow and change as more information and photos are sent our way.

For those of you who are unaware, or choose to forget, there was quite a storm in the northeast on Thursday "the Storm of the Century" dontcha know. As Isurus pup reports: We drove through a blizzard that turned a 3.5 hr drive into a 5 hour drive. The roads were fine until we hit CT and then it got really treacherous. I'm blaming Tanya for that. I just know she brought the snow with her from Canada and I later found out that she was in CT at the time. (Can’t let Tanya take all the blame – a certain upstate NY pup could also be blamed for that storm <G>)

Turns out some of the pups took advantage of the culture and shopping that that NYC offers. I know, I know, pups/culture who knew you could use them both in the same sentence? Per Tiff (with some edits):
After dragging my lazy pup butt out of bed, I took the trek down to the MET, boy bet no one thought us pups could be cultured. [ed. Note: didn’t I just say that?] Took the grand tour, saw many interesting weapons, beautiful stained glass windows, and a really cool Egyptian temple. At about quarter till 12:00 I took a nice cold seat on the steps outside the MET to await first contact. After about a good 10 minutes, I saw a slightly curious looking canuck peering at me. It was the whole Tanya: "Tiff?" Tiff: "Tanya?" Great dialogue for the first meeting huh? And now, having met up with Isurus it’s off to go shopping. Our first stop FAO Swartz. I never knew as a grown up, that I could spend an entire hour in a toy (children's) store. Now toy (adult) store that’s a different matter all together. [ed note: this WILL be addressed later in the report] Our eyes were filled with Teletubies, power rangers, magic tricks and a really sad selection of Xena merchandise. So we scooted after an hour and walked to our next play place The Disney store. I am glad we got a picture of two adult women riding two white cats.

And so as all the pups are slowly gathering in NYC it is time to meet in the lounge of the New Yorker. Time to put faces with all those screen names (and real names with the faces and screen names). As one pup reported and I’m sure we all concur: "I was disappointed when Dar Roberts party of 8 didn't show for the table they reserved in lounge Friday night." But the pup meeting was quite an experience. And just exactly how do pups find each other in a New York hotel when they have no idea what each other looks like:

"When three very suspicious and dangerous looking women walked into the lounge. Tanya and I are not subtle by no means, so we proceeded to stare at them till we both heard, "They are staring at us." Then over flew a crazy Bostonian saying, "Are yous guys pups?" We all started laughing and our group became a little bit larger. After a quick introduction, Is, BG, Kim (honorary pup) and I went in search of more food (shock huh?). We were assured by Moe, Seljane and Rosie that they would take good care of our seats. Coming back our pup group hadn't seemed to have grown anymore yet so we went in search of pups. Let me tell you walking through a crowded New York City hotel lobby and muttering "pups, pups" can get you some strange looks, but it can also get you other pups. At this point we picked up Darkwind77 (BJ, Lurker Extraodinare). A few more trips like this and we had a whole bar of pups. Then the Wild and Crazy Pup showed up: Sasha. Sasha, let me tell you, is a New York site seeing stop in herself."
At this point Michael (Salfan) let us all touch his stuff. No don’t go there, I mean he brought out all his Xena memorabilia --- we all got to play with a real chakram and he had an actual stunt knife from the set. That and a few photo albums kept us all entertained and got us in the mood for the upcoming convention. But not before we headed off for some dancing. And although we all got a taste (don’t go there) of Tanya and the incredible shrinking top, it would not be until Saturday night that we all felt comfortable enough with each other to really let loose.

Friday night we all headed out to the village (that’s Greenwich Village) under the guidance of Sasha:
She decided she was gonna take us to the West Village for a little stop at a place called Crazy Nanny’s. Nice quaint little bar/dance club where they have no concept of watering down drinks, in fact they seem to like to do the exact opposite, they pour as much alcohol in them as they can. After sitting and watching some pups dance and a few other patrons dance with mirrors, or was that just an extension of the room, some of us pooped pups headed back to the New Yorker to kick back and relax and have a chat session.
Saturday

As should be the case, the pups were the first in line at the registration desk. Although no one could exactly tell us what it was that registration was for. <G> The convention was, well, a convention. Several of us bought Xena action figures. Chakram88 wanted the "Sins of the Past" Xena, because it had the best toys. Yolanda had to buy a new version because she lost the sword to hers. "I can tell you guys that I play with my Xena doll."

Claire Stansfield was just wonderful. To see an actress so thrilled with her work, and she spoke aloud something X:WP fans have been saying on the ‘net for years: "It’s too bad this show can’t get any Emmy nominations." Did you all know that she first auditioned for the part of Morgaine on HTLJ? She told a great story about receiving the script for ADITST and reading the description of Alti: Old Hag, Bag of Bones. "Boy, whoever gets that part is going to be sorry" ---- up until she walked on the set she thought she was going to be Cyan. And as was reported from SM Con -- Claire is no hag. [ed note: This pup’s jaw was dropping I admit.]

We were all very disappointed that Liz Friedman was not there, but she was called back to New Zealand on Xena business.

After the videos and trivia contests that seem to be a convention staple, and a Q&A with writer Paul Robert Coyle, we had the pleasure of listening to Bruce Campbell. Bruce was wonderfully funny. He spoke not only of his role as Autolycus, but also about his role in Army of Darkness. He shared with us some of his e-mail from fans. As Jeff reported to the list:
Word of warning … if you email Bruce you may end up in his book. There seems to be some really strange people out there... It may just be Bruce's 'special' fans because he read some strange emails to us.
Bruce let us in on a secret, (well it was a secret to me, other HCNBs may have known this) all of the costumes on the show(s) are made by hand. And in echoing something Claire said about the Emmys, he said shows like ER should get an award for "Best Shoppers" while the crew on X:WP & HTLJ really make costumes, and it was a shame they were not recognized for it. So there you have it folks, even the extras in the taverns, all those costumes are sewn by hand. For the upcoming Xena ep Déjà vu All Over Again they custom made a suit for Ted Raimi instead of purchasing one.

One of the questions asked of Bruce was how many times he had to kiss ROC in the scene from The Quest. His answer, "There are worse ways to spend a day than kissing pretty ladies, just ask Lucy." As the saying goes – the crowd went wild.

As some of the pups were in line getting autographs (and e-mail addresses) from the stars the others gathered in the lobby to figure out a strategy for watching Xena (it was The Way) and getting dinner.
We all went up to our room to watch the ep. Man you have never watched a Xena ep until you have done it with 22 other pups packed into a small hotel room with 5 large pizzas and Chinese food!

I’m not sure who was more shocked when they came to the door, Isurus’ friend Kim, or the pizza delivery guy. But I’m sure the image of 22 people sitting on two double beds, the floor, and the heating unit was quite a site. And trust me, these rooms are the size that two people can’t pass by each other in the space that is not taken up by furniture. The look on Kim’s face when we all screamed "NOOOOOO!!!" as Gabby threw her stick in the river was quite entertaining. If sitting in the dark, silent as lambs wasn’t enough to tip her off we were HCNBs, that did it. (For those new to this – HCNB = Hard Core Nutballs. A xenite term of endearment)

Something I noticed, watching Xena was about the only time the pups could actually sit still for more then 10 minutes at a time.
After Xena, Kristin (tape pup) shared with us Word Warrior’s rendition of the CVK (Centaur Village Kiss) from AT A Distance. Even though the tape runs out at a very inappropriate moment, Kristin has assured us that she used the final side of the last tape to get the whole scene intact without having to flip the tape. It was one big mush pile let me tell you. For those of you who have not had the chance to hear Wordee read – do so. Kristin’s tape site

After we had recovered from that, we decided to head down to Greenwich Village (again) to Meow Mix. Sasha had worked out a discount at the door for convention goers. Well, it took 4 cabs to get us all there (damn City has a rule about only 4 to a cab, sheesh). While waiting for the last cab to get there we ran into a couple of grrls from the convention. One was dressed as Xena and the other as Naima (mehndi lady from Between the Lines). Of course we had our picture taken with Xena. As they walked up the street a NYC police car pulled over. The officers jumped out, ran up to Xena &0150; and had their picture taken.

Meow Mix was quite fun. We missed the band, but that worked out well, because it gave us the whole stage to dance.
We found out that we had broken the Meow Mix server!! AROO!! That was the 4th time that weekend that we had been recognized by someone (including Creations Staff) "Oh YOU guys are Merpups? Yeah we know about you!!" LOL We met up with Deb and Barbara McKlay and Jules Mills at the club. We had taken over the Meow Mix!!

I noticed Tanya didn't mention how she threw her body off the stage into Jules surprised arms.... and there is a huge difference between flirting and being friendly.
For several of the pups, who shall remain nameless, to protect the innocent, the highlight of the evening was the Meow Mix Hostess known as the Black Amazon. She was dressed in furry Amazon garb, and wow could she dance. This is one NY Con attraction that can only be described via the pictures of said dancer and the viewing audience. (ok, this picture is just too good not to use)

For other pups a very entertaining attraction at Meow Mix was the vibrating chair. No, this is not an actual thing they have, it was just a very strategically placed bar stool. This stool was right in front of some very large speakers and sub-woofers &0150; the floor vibrates, the chair vibrates, pups smile.

As is inevitable, pups get tired. So we all headed back to the hotel. Some in cabs, others braved the subways.
Taking on the subway and scaring off some of the riders was a great feat for us. We certainly ran across a diverse bunch there. A bum in a down coat rattling a cup for donations and I believe an orthodox Rabbi. He probably was thinking how he could save our souls. Yeah right???? Getting wet, sorry Moe, take a picture
Back in the hotel most of the pups piled into one bed (don’t go there) to catch the update from Missy. Of course the big question from all of us all weekend was, "Where’s the closest Internet Cafe?" Fortunately Seljane had brought her laptop and the pups were able to get their fix, with CC6 doing the reading.

Sunday

Because of the change in guest stars for the convention, Sunday was pretty much a copy of Saturday, with a few different videos. So the pups gathered together to play pool across the street at the adult book store. Hey it’s Manhattan, you’re surprised that there would be a pool table on the third floor of a XXX toy shop?

We all gathered in the lobby for good-byes to each other and the friends we’d made along the way. Several pups headed home while others took advantage of the day to do some sightseeing. Rain be damned. As described by Tayna:
On Sunday we grouped together again (funny how we are just able to find each other all the time) We went to the XXX toy store to play pool...among other things right Seljane and CC6. LOL We came back to the con to pick up the other pups and then ventured into the subways!! We went to see the Statue of Liberty, but it was raining and cloudy so we just took group pictures and howled in the subway system. After getting jumped at by people in the bushes selling glasses and umbrellas (we were already wet) *Don't SAY WET MOE* WE got back on the Subway and went to the Met Museum. That was awesome. A bunch of pups howling when they lost their pack members...boy did WE get weird looks...go figure? LOL We basically made a B-Line for the weapons exhibit and hung out there for most of the time. After that we got cabs and went the Hard Rock Cafe for Dinner. After Moe picked up the Cab driver and got her number *GO Triple XXX PUP!!!* we went in the Hard Rock. After the Hard Rock and a very interesting dessert conversation with the waiter.. *Blush* we headed back home on foot in the rain. Once there we piled into Seljane's room and postponed the inevitable good-byes.
Look out Orlando …. Here We Come!! (don’t go There! <g>)