RCW 139

Convention
Name:	RCW 139
Dates:	1996-1999, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2019
Frequency:	intermittent
Location:	Toronto, Canada
Type:	fan con, but with pro guests
Focus:	Due South
Organization:
Founder:
Founding Date:	August 15-18, 1996; August 15-17, 2008
URL:	http://www.rcw139.org http://www.rcw139.webeden.co.uk http://www.duesouthlives.com/ http://www.facebook.com/rcw139 http://rcw139.ca http://fly.hiwaay.net/~warydbom/rcw1997/index.html banner for the 2008 & 2010 cons banner for the 2008 & 2010 cons
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RCW 139 is a Due South convention held in Toronto, Canada, generally during August.

The name comes from a license plate seen frequently on the show.

The original incarnation of the con ran from 1996 to 1999. In 2007, some Due South fans decided to hold another and got it organized, held in August 2008; the con continued in 2010, 2012, and 2014, and a "reunion" con is scheduled for 2019.

The 1999 con spawned the press article Gross encounters: on the way to writing a profile of Paul Gross, the author discovers his fans are the real story. Reflections on celebrity worship, Internet love and Canada as the Holy Land that included a depiction of fans and fandom that some fans did not find flattering.

1990s

Con 1 (1996)

The first con drew more than 100 members, and had both organized programming and a lot of informal, spontaneous fannish gatherings, both at the con and for fannish trips around the city.

Convention Booklet from the second RCW 139

Con 2 (1997)

The second con, RCW 139: Due It Again, was held on August 15-17, 1997. Membership climbed to almost 200 people. The City of Toronto had officially declared Friday, August 15, 1997, Friends of Due South Day in recognition of the show and its success, and to celebrate its renewal. There was a celebration at Queen's Park at noon with Toronto mayor Barbara Hall, several members of the Due South cast, and the entire convention membership in attendance.

Con 3 (1998)

The third con, RCW 139: A Cop, A Mountie, and A Convention, climbed to 300 members, and once again included cast members, including David Marciano (who played Ray Vecchio) and Gordon Pinsent (who played Bob Fraser, Fraser's father).

Another convention booklet cover from the second RCW 139

Con 4 (1999)

The fourth con, RCW 139: Ride Forever was the final one held for nearly a decade. Paul Gross (who played Fraser) was among the professional guests.

See Gross encounters: on the way to writing a profile of Paul Gross, the author discovers his fans are the real story. Reflections on celebrity worship, Internet love and Canada as the Holy Land for article in a Toronto newspaper that some fans did not find flattering.

2000s

Con 5 (2008)

After a long break, RCW 139: Toronto Holiday was held in August 2008.

Pro guests included David Marciano, Catherine Bruhier (who played Elaine Bresbiss), and Camilla Scott (who played Inspector Meg Thatcher).

Con 6 (2010)

The next con, RCW 139: Duesers' Day Off, was held in August 2010.

Pro guests included Tom Melissis (Dewey), Tony Craig (Huey), Camilla Scott, Catherine Bruhier, Ramona Milano (Francesca Vecchio), and Paul Gross.

See panel notes: RCW 139; Notes from panel with Tom, Tony, Camilla, Catherine, and Ramona

See press article: Due South convention: Still engrossed with Paul Gross's series, 12 years later by Melissa Leong. National Post, Aug. 17, 2010. (Accessed 20 August 2010)

Convention Reports

Con 3 (1998)

Here is the first part of the RCW III Report with a slashy twist. The more comprehensive gen report will appear at http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/6374/ sometime in the future (read when I can get to it!).

First off, let me say that most of this slashiness will involve words spoken by the delectable David Marciano. Not that this means to imply that he was being deliberately slashy or even knows about it (more on that later). All slashy bits said by him were said in a humorous vein, but one can hope! :)

I went with a group of friends out to dinner on Wednesday to an Italian restaurant, Ray Doll in tow, and the sign outside the establishment said that a meal there was as good as sex. Hmm. Must be a Canadian thing. Anyway, it was a grand start to the trip. And we discussed shrimp salad and "MOH, MEAR!" on the way back (see the DS Archive).

David had three panels scheduled for Friday. The first was the DETECTIVE ARMANI panel. When I first saw him as I waited in the Forest Hills Ballroom, I was stunned. He was in the room a full fifteen minutes early, no announcement or fanfare, and looking so incredibly *gorgeous* that I could feel my heartbeat speed up! He was wearing powder-blue jeans and a casual shirt, and was looking bronzed and tall and slender. Yum! And those *eyes*! The most breathtaking green eyes on the planet, ladies and gentlemen.

Video clips from the series were shown, and he was quite pleased to see them again. He said the scene with Ray accusing the Canadian airport worker of 'discriminating' in "NORTH" was even funnier now! He played along with the trivia quiz game and was absolutely adorable.

Interesting note: we saw the scene from "THE DEAL" in which Benny gets all embarrassed in the women's lingerie shop. A shot of a dummy with a red wig was in this one. David said, "That wig looked like the one that Benny wore as Miss Fraser." And he'd also mentioned during the auctioning of the Riv later that Miss Fraser's pantyhose might still be there!

The scene in "LETTING GO" just before the line "Two axes" was spoken was shown. Ray was giving Benny the gift of a power saw to help rebuild Bob Fraser's cabin, and then he helped his friend into the bed. David pointed and said, "That's the essence of DUE SOUTH right there." He also said that it was good to see that scene again, and that they thought it was going to be the final ep when they filmed it. Emotions run high during a time like that.

During the Q&A; in the middle of the day, a fan said that she'd been obsessed by Paul before becoming obsessed with David, and he smiled and said, "*I'm* obsessed with him!" And he also described Paul as "Handsome, talented and rich!" He said that when he was behind the wheel of the Riviera, Paul always felt safe. Awww.

A fan asked about what he thought of certain fanfic on the Net, and he just sort of chuckled and said, "That's why they call it fiction." Oh, yeah, baby.

David spoke about chemistry, and how he and Paul had it as actors. When he acted with someone, he gave his all, and if he was lucky, he got that back, and that made magic on the screen as it did with him and Paul.

During the D'MOB panel, he said that Ray had shot at Victoria because she was taking Benny away from him. "Kill the bitch!" Oh, my.

There was interest on his part in Ray Doll's handcuffs ("Baaad Ray Doll!"), and he absentmindedly fondled them while answering questions. He was incredibly delicious, and throughout the day and the next, gave off a glow that was sexy and dazzling.

David also had an idea for the ending of DUE SOUTH: Benny would call from up North and Ray would answer 'Benny' (his voice was filled with soft love when he spoke the name) and they would express their gratitude to each other for all that had gone on between them during their three years together. While I didn't like the notion of them going their separate ways (Uh uh, no way, no how!) I still felt that this was a better ending than what we got! David has said repeatedly that the show was about the friendship between the characters of Benny and Ray. He's got that right!

I heard from people on Saturday morning that there was a *very* interesting article in the TORONTO GLOBE AND MAIL. No, not the insulting article. That was published after the con. This one was during the con, and quite an eye-opener. It not only described what slash was and its various categories (PWP--"Plot, What Plot?", for example) but stated that while the X-FILES couple of Mulder and Skinner were written in a darker vein, if you wanted romance, go to Benny and Ray of DUE SOUTH! I kid you not! The following are two paragraphs quoted from a DS story:

"Okay, what did we do? A little frottage, mutual masturbation, fellatio and you don't have a clue what I'm talking about do you?" "No, Ray." Fraser circled one of his lover's nipples contemplatively. "Perhaps if you wrote it down I could look it up next time I'm in the library."

There was a lot of discussion about subtexts and women reclaiming pornography. The writer also said that Paul Gross was aware of slash and seemed highly amused by it ("a boyish fit of giggles"), and wasn't bothered at all. When asked if the infamous 'buddy breathing' scene in "MOUNTY ON THE BOUNTY" had been a deliberate nod to slash fen, he said, "No, not at all. It's too marginal an audience to worry about," and finished with "no one's clever enough in television to be putting anything like that in." Hmm, why am I not convinced? :)

The Blooper Reel from the last season was shown that night, and there was a few shots of Fraser and Ray K. at dinner, and then looking soulfully into each other's eyes while a romantic song played. All set up for fun, but slash fen in the audience were happy.

There were Closet parties and at the Gala Dinner (Where we had shrimp salad. I could barely eat it through my laughter), the table I was at proclaimed Tom Melissis a male tart (He kept taking his shirts off all day, all for charity, but there was a grand total of three shirts auctioned off, the last one a last-minute request. He needed an RCW T-shirt after that!).

This year's RCW was definitely more slashy than last year's, and the so-inclined people I hung out with had plenty to talk about. We all toasted each other at the Gala Dinner and had a blast, because, after all, aren't slash fen more fun? :)

Con 4 (1999)

Hi, all! Ready for the report? I figured that you'd rather know right away than wait until I can get a webpage done up in the Garden. So, here goes:

This was the slashiest of the all the RCWs I've attended. Slashers seemed to be coming out of the woodwork. There must have been plenty of dirty floors about! The ax pins worked marvelously. It was *so* cool to see that pin on someone and know that they were a Slash Sistah!

I met Cheryl and Jan after the D'MOB panel. That panel was slashy in itself as we played the Q&A; panel that David did last year, and he spoke the comments about Paul being handsome, talented and rich, and "I was obsessed with him myself!" :) So that was a great start, eh?

Cheryl had her little red basket of ax pins and gave them out to deserving slashers on her list.

I saw Karen Rossi and Jennifer Swanson, Jennifer being kind enough to sit on the panel with me since I was the Lone Ranger up there and I hate public speaking. So that was a success.

There was word of the blooper reel from last year being uncensored and being shown, and I kept missing it (more on that later)!

Ya want slash? Dean McDermott put on a performance that was a hoot! Since Catherine Bruhier had blotted her lipstick on a napkin in the Green Room, he suggested that she sell it at the auction. It got some money. :) So someone handed him a lipstick and he put it on! He commented on the color and blotted the lipstick on the napkin and sold it! He was playing it up and the slashers in the audience were whooping with laughter. I observed some people while he was doing his schtick and there were some stonefaces. Apparently Dean playing at lipstick was not their cup of tea. Ahem.

So he got Tom to do it when he dropped by! The ultimate kicker was when Tom kissed Dean! Okay, on the cheek, but it was cute.

Dean was in fine form. He joked around while auctioning off items, and Catherine became an auctioneer, too. Tom was used to it.

Dean and Tom looked great, as usual, and Catherine is *absolutely gorgeous*! She was wearing a suit and her hair was tied back. And she was scheduled for a panel the next day, while Dean couldn't make his panel and so had come to the auction. I'd read in the fine print in the auction announcement that there would be 'guest auctioneers' and ran up to get my program book. Autographs would be the next day, alas.

More to come, dears!

During the break in the auction when the guests were taken back to the Green Room, I was running upstairs for more film when Dean and his 'handlers' came to the elevators! Oh, dear! I was wearing the Turnbull for Prime Minister shirt, too, but I don't think he noticed. :)

My, is he *tall*!

Later that evening I would be in the same elevator as Tom Melissis! I smiled at him and figured they didn't think I was a nutcase or anything since they let me on the same elevator. :)

Earlier in the day we'd had the D'MOB breakfast at FLO'S DINER, and I enjoyed watching DS Jeopardy! In the afternoon was the RCMP Panel with a retired veteran, one in red serge, and Greta, the Mountie's wife. The older gentleman showed slides from his posting in the North in the '40s, with interesting stories to go with them. When he showed a slide of someone named Zuko, everyone laughed and he was told that it was the same name as a villain in DS.

I caught snippets of episodes as I passed through the Hospitality Suite from time-to-time.

Speaking of the Hospitality Suite, at the Meet 'N' Greet Constable Michelle Paradis was back in full red serge. One of the slashers asked to touch her serge and she said, "Sure! And what about these boots?" The slasher got to touch her boots and all the way up to her inner thigh! Hmm. Hijinks in the Hospitality Suite!

Catherine Bruhier was incredibly beautiful. She really is a lovely person, too.

In the afternoon several of the slashers had a pizza party and talked slash for at least two hours! Heaven! ;)

Next: Saturday's guests! Sexual fantasies!

I managed to get a seat in the front row for the first panel at 9:00. Unfortunately, the panel started about 9:45! Sigh.

Anyway, the panelists were Maury Chaykin, Jessica Steen, and Daniel Kash. Benny Bear was with me, and we laughed and had a great time. Maury said at one point, "Now here's a question for *you*! How many people have had sexual fantasies about Paul Gross? Raise your hands!" Amid the laughter he added, "And the men, too!"

At the autograph signing each one was very personable, and Daniel said to me, "I saw you with that bear! You have a thing for him, don't you?" He wrote something about Benny in my program. :)

The second panel featured Catherine and Ramona. Goddess, are these two *gorgeous*! All I could think of was, "Oh, my goodness. I have to get the TALES OF THE QUEEN'S OWN #2 finished!" :) Catherine was casually dressed in violet and her hair was loose, like when she wore it as Elaine. Ramona was in a white dress and they were beautiful together. Ramona told us how several projects for her had fallen through. :( Then she said that she had suggested to Paul that in the last season, Frannie actually get pregnant...by Ray! Catherine said, "Huh?" because she was thinking the Ray *she'd* worked with! :) Anyway, it was Kowalski, but the plan would have been that he would have never found out. Unfortunately, they were shooting out of sequence and Ramona's pregnancy would have looked weird going back and forth...now you see it, now you don't!

Draco was on this panel, too, and his trainer told of his cataract surgery and how well he's doing now. He offered to have everyone take a picture with Draco.

I didn't reach the autograph room in time before they cut us off, but the DS gals said they'd join Tom at his panel (Tony was ill). Autographs would be done right after again.

At the autograph signing Tom asked me, "Were you here before?" I answered yes and he said, "I remember you." Well, Catherine said, "You made her day." :) Ramona asked me the same question. Hmm. ;) She wrote, "To Jeannie--I really know you. I *really*, *really* know you!" She was a luv.

Catherine had asked a slasher about the axe pins and the woman replied it was a good way for those of us on-line to recognize each other! :)

I got a picture of Draco with me. He kissed me! :)

It was time for the Gala Dinner and I dressed in my red suit with the 'diamonds' and white shoes, bag, silver necklace, and axe pin. Thefinal touch was a pink butterfly hairpin. I was ready!

The Closet got a table and we our table was third to be called for dinner! Closeteers included Karen, Jennifer, Jen LG, Jan and a few others slash-friendly.

Then it was announced: Paul was coming!

After the Gala Dinner, a Closet/Serge party was held in Anagi's room. I'd met her on Thursday and we'd had the slash pizza party in her room on Friday.

The room was full. It was a delight to see new faces. There is a new generation of fandom coming along, people. We talked and laughed and had fun for about three hours. I left at 1:45 because I had a lot to do the next day to get ready to leave and see Paul before that!

Someone actually used "The monkey is in the vase" password to get in! :)

Sunday morning Karen called me and said that the final showing of the Uncensored Blooper Reel would be at 9:45, so I hightailed it down there and the room filled up with people appreciative of, um, art. :)

I *knew* something had been left out of that video when they'd showed it last year. And boy, was I right!

The blooper reel showed the scene in "CALL OF THE WILD" between Fraser and Ray K. outside Ray V.'s hospital room. Ray K. asks, "Are we still partners?" and Fraser said, "Yes, if you'll have me." Ray K. nods and turns, assuming the 'position' against the wall. Well, now it's more like Paul and Callum taking over. Paul tosses the coat and Stetson and grips Callum's hips, Ramona coming into the shot and saying, "He really likes you," and Paul rams home, Callum throwing his head back! Whew!

So I was primed for Paul. :)

The door prizes were given out at 10:30, and the presentation of the Gayle Grossmith-Boudorian memorial quilt. Then we all had to leave the room and were given tickets for a seat lottery! I got called about halfway through and made sure my extra roll of film was handy.

And then...*he* was there!

He looked *gorgeous*! Incredible, edible, delicious! He wore a light-green short-sleeved shirt and his hair was wavy. He was tanned and healthy-looking. Mama, was he healthy-looking! He was smiling and took the podium, standing for a few minutes so that people could take pictures, then sat down and smiled. Oh, my!

He was utterly charming and witty. The woman beside me said, "Oh, my god, is he gorgeous!" Can't argue with that!

He seemed a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, in that he said, "You people are wonderful." And he was comfortable after the first few minutes, as comfortable as a person can be in a roomful of strangers!

He answered questions which were drawn by lottery. He was asked about the buddy breathing and laughed. He said that he hadn't gotten as intimate with David, but even though he was straight, hmm...:)

Someone asked him about his comment about Americans 'not getting it'. He said that he was definitely referring to the American networks, *not* the American people. He joked about making fun of the Americans and saying that it's because we're the last superpower, and what fun would it be to make fun of Cuba? :)

He has nine pages written of the curling movie, and he intimated that THE JUDAS KISS would be showing in the States (intimated, not specifically stated) and that there would be a few more projects that might be see in the U.S., but he couldn't give details.

He said that Dean was totally crazy and would come up with stuff like the feather dusting, and he laughed and said that he had no dignity when he saw the pictures of his fellow Mountie putting on lipstick!

He did the puffin face for us, and said it was something he used to do with his brother all the time.

He seemed happy to answer the questions, and when one of the organizers said that it would be the last question, he said he'd take more. He stayed for a half hour more than scheduled. There were no autographs, as we'd all received an autographed rubber duckie in our registration packets! :) He didn't have time to stay for autographs, and I had to get to the airport, anyway.

Paul was charming and gracious. He said that David and Callum were very different people to work with, but except for the stunt thing coming up again (He said that David was a bit of a 'stumblefoot' and didn't do stunts, while Callum could be thrown out of a plane, and he wouldn't even know it!), he was generally positive about his co-stars.

One woman started her question with, "Do you realize that you're responsible for breaking up homes?" and the Ray/Ray question was humorously asked. People cheered at the mention of Ray Kowalski, and then they cheered for Ray Vecchio. I'm glad that Paul got to hear how popular Ray Vecchio is.

I listened and respected his intelligence and wit, and I feasted my eyes on his beauty. Truly, the camera does *not* do him justice. He is *gorgeous*, *gorgeous*, *gorgeous*! He thanked us all for being there, and really seemed surprised at our interest and effort in traveling to Toronto to honor the show. He was very appreciative for our interest. When he said goodbye, he blew us all a kiss. :)

Karen and I talked about him all the way to the airport, and I was giddily happy all the way home. I've seen David, and now I've seen Paul, and all is well with the world!

Little tidbits that were left out as I'd typed the previous four reports at white heat:

Slashy Music at the Gala Dinner: "YMCA" and "THE TIME WARP".

Many thanks to Jan for coming up with the idea for the axe pins, and to Cheryl for all her hard work in making them.

There was a panel on Thursday night with Jay Semko and Jack Lenz. Jack was late so Jay had to go onstage alone for about twenty minutes and was delightful, the shy guy. :) Jack told us about an idea that they'd had for making a musical (like COP ROCK!) out of the episode, "SAY, AMEN". He gave an example: Fraser pointing down the street and singing, "Stop that car!" Oh, brother! :)

The PGEB did scenes from the episodes and the contestants had to guess which episode the dialogue was from.

DS Jeopardy! was fun.

Ramona and Catherine were asked how they got their parts on DS. "We stripped," said Ramona. And they kept saying they stripped as a running gag througout the panel. Oh, yeah, honeys!

Yep, saw Paul's forearms. ;)

I realize that some people (I have heard some opinions) are not too happy with Paul showing up at the last minute, only for an hour (though it was actually 90 minutes), etc., etc. People *did* have to reschedule flights and some had to miss him altogether, because it was just at the time people begin leaving for home. I wish he had come on Saturday, or at least earlier on Sunday. However, I think he was still uncertain of what to expect but maybe finally decided to see what all the fuss was about. He *was* a gentleman and seemed very sincere to me in his appreciation and amazement at our dedication to the show he'd done. And he also said with genuine regret after admitting that he could have done better with the ending, "I sorry I ended it."

So are we, Paul, but you make it up to us by bringing back Ray V. from Florida and partnering with him again, and letting Kowalski/Turnbull have some fun, too! I like the idea of parallel partnerships.

Con 6 (2010)

Thursday The official start day was Friday, but on Thursday those that were already here (most people, honestly) all went down to Toronto's Distillery District. Though now the area has been changed and renovated somewhat, walking through it is like walking into an episode of dS. So many scenes - big and little - were filmed in those streets. Bird in the Hand, Gift of the Wheelman, The Blue Line, Mountie on the Bounty, Heaven and Earth, Mountie & Soul - this list goes on. Some need to be pointed out - here on this street corner, that's where they talked to the 'blind' man in MoTB, or these streets are where they skated in TBL. Other features are obvious - the window Fraser Sr. drops Gerrard out of is still there in its original state, and as we looked at it I knew everyone there was playing the scene in their heads. It's not a huge area, so the tour was brief, but it gave us a chance to get to know one another. We sat down to a lovely dinner, and suffice to say that my Father's "I'm just staying for the tour" quickly turned into "I'll stay for a drink" and then into "yeah, I'll just stay till everyone leaves".

Friday Friday we all arrived bright and early, since the registration had been moved up a couple hours. I'm thinking a lot of people, by that point, had guessed why the registration had moved up, but I'm incredibly clueless so I had no idea until Paul Gross walked in the room and I remained in a state of shock/joy for the better part of his panel. He stayed for just over an hour, answering our questions with warmth and honesty, and, you know what? I thought it was incredible that he had agreed to come out for a convention of 60-ish people for a show that had been off the air for more than a decade. He had a plethora of funny and insightful things to say, and expressed several times his shock and joy that people all over the world were still so in love with this little show from Canada. He also started the trend of a phrase we'd hear throughout the weekend time and time again - due south, he said, was always impossible to put in a box. It was part crime show, part drama, part sitcom. It was a lot of things, none of which were important. What was important was that it was always full of heart.

That panel, however, only took us to about 10am. Friday was insane and full of ridiculously awesome activities. We had a kit-kat tasting contest (kit-kats being Paul Gross's favourite chocolate bar, naturally) that was full of kit-kats from Germany, the UAE, Britian, and even a ginger ale flavour from Japan. Stuffed full of sugar, we all sat down to watch North and All the Queens Horses on the big projector screen. We had voted for those episodes previously, and I love both of them, but secretly I was hoping we'd get one RayK/one RayV so we could spread the Ray love around. With that said, watching them with everyone was an experience I wish I could repeat time and time again.

The day was capped off by two more incredible panels - one with Const. Terry Russel, RCMP, and another with Jay Semko. I honestly wasn't sure how the panel with Terry could go as long as the slot (2 hours, or something crazy), but when they had to cut him off we all still wanted more. The RCMP is a fascinating organization, and Terry was incredibly open about every facet of it. He answered questions with a refreshing honesty, and didn't blink an eye when asked about his salary, his benefits, his pension, or detailed accounts of cases he'd been involved in. A couple stories he told of cases that stuck with him were so starkly intimate it was almost uncomfortable, but he balanced them out well of tales of pranks and jokes played by officers on the drunks rounded up on long Saturday nights. Nobody wanted his panel to be over - apparently our obsession with mounties doesn't end with the ones on TV.

Jay's panel was equally great, though for different reasons. He took us through his introduction to the show, his composition process, and his thoughts as a musician on dS. It was really interesting to hear his process - basically, he just liked to watch the scene, get a feel for it, and jam away on the spot - and obviously it worked. He had is guitar (which was amazing) and strummed away, occasionally breaking into one of the many recognizable pieces that we all associate with dS. You know, just the regular stuff.

Like the theme song. (There'll be a better video of this coming soon, but I still get chills from this one).

Anyway, he was very proud and very fond of his time on dS - as was everyone who ever worked on it, it seemed. He remembered most of what he had composed and regaled us with details of late night sessions and high-pressure compositions that ended in various combinations of helpless laughter and the job getting done (eventually). He happily signed autographs for all and seemed honestly interested in the people who were there - he and I got into a conversation about music (yeaaaah french horn!) and I had to be shuffled off by a con organizer so other people could, you know, also get autographs. Whoops.

Saturday Saturday started off brilliantly, with breakfast at the Patrician Grill, where dS also shot quite often. The attendees filled the Grill, and the owner spent all breakfast telling us stories of filming and laughing alongside us. Laughter seemed like the theme of the day - breakfast was followed by the big panel, with Tom, Tony, Camilla, Ramona, and Catherine (you can read more about that panel here). They were, of course, hilarious, and they interacted really well both with one another and with the audience, which I thought was great. They signed autographs with the same excitement and warmth as Jay had the day before. That night was the gala dinner, which Ramona & Tom attended, and which was delicious. It was also interrupted by a fire alarm, but hey, you can't win 'em all, right? The group photo was hilarious - Ramona insisted she get a special one with all the under-25's, who she took to calling 'my babies', and the two 18-year-olds got their own special shot as well. It pays to be young, apparently!

Sunday Another ridiculously jam-packed day - I have no clue how we fit everything we did into Sunday. The Scavenger Hunt judging was, naturally, hilarious (someone brought a roast beef sandwich all the way from Britain - now that's commitment). When the tables look like this, then you know people are serious about their scavenging. Due South Jeopardy only served to intensify the competitive spirit of the attendees, and was incredibly fun (even though my team ended up with, well, zero points. It happens). It didn't stop there, though - Tom Melissis came back to oversee the Charity Auction, which had tons of awesome stuff, from scripts to signed posters to stuff from the set of dS. I spent all the money I have ever had ever (well, not really, but close enough) and walked away with a signed script of Call of the Wild (both parts!), and Spy vs. Spy. I did restrain myself though - I wasn't willing to, you know, sell my car to afford the Paul Gross/David Marciano signed script of North. Tom Melissis was roped into signing approximately five million thousand hundred more things, but took it all in stride and with a smile.

And with that, the convention was over. Technically.

Tuesday Two days after the 'real' end, everyone who was still around decided to head across the street for lunch at the Spotted Dick (no, I am not making up that name. The British people said it's some sort of cake with raisins? Or something? British people are crazy. But awesome. But also crazy).

Along with the crazy group of duesuers came the one and only Tom Melissis, who once more posed for a million pictures, signed a million things, and was generally hilarious and friendly. I have to say that his enthusiasm really embodied the feel of the whole convention for me. He really, truly wanted to be there and had a fantastic time - and we all did.

All in all? A fantastic weekend with fantastic people, and something that I would absolutely, totally, and completely attend again.