Dreams Are Toys

2008-06-03T14:01:00.001-04:00

Testing, Ebersole Rink, White Plains, NY.

2008-06-03T13:58:00.002-04:00

Group-type photos, after the test. Whew!

2008-06-03T13:55:00.002-04:00

This is Nina and Jirka, my skating coaches, with me in the middle. Yup, there I am, short and roundish, surrounded by beautiful skater people. Why are all skaters so good looking? Is it something in the ice?

Skating test with Jirí Procházka

2008-06-03T13:52:00.004-04:00

I recently whipped through two skating tests, passing them both in no small part due to my excellent skating coach, Jirka. He's such a great coach, but (sadly for me, happily for him) has moved back to his home country.

Claire's First Skating Trip!

2007-01-08T12:44:00.000-05:00

This was my daughter's first time on ice. We were at the outdoor rink at Bear Mountain, which has beautiful views of the mountains, the bridge, and a lake, but of course my eyes were all for my daughter, slip sliding away. I kept saying, "March! March! March!" and when she did this, she actually skated! Otherwise, it was pretty much my husband and myself holding her up by the arms, while her legs went in different directions. Awesome!

RM with Naomi and Peter

2006-07-14T09:51:00.000-04:00

This was the last day of Skate Camp, so I imposed on them for a group shot. Nice, nice!

Vakhtang Murvanidze

2006-07-10T16:57:00.000-04:00

RM with Vakhtang Murvanidze. Murve is the former national champion of Georgia, in men's singles. He made an impression on the international scene as a real showman with a fabulous and original skating style.

Skate Camp

2006-07-10T16:18:00.000-04:00

RM with Peter Tchernyshev.

Skate Camp

2006-07-10T16:15:00.000-04:00

RM with Naomi Lang. She's the former US Ice Dance national champion, with her partner, Peter Tchernyshev.

Skate Camp - Sunday

2006-07-02T15:45:00.000-04:00

Sunday 8am. I am SO TIRED. Off to skate!

Sunday 9:45am. Just got out of Naomi and Peter’s class. We began by doing edge work. Forward and backward lunges, focusing on edges and flow. Then on to crossrolls. The forward ones went okay, but backwards? Thank goodness for Naomi, because she helped me figure them out. Well, sort of, anyways.

Sunday 10:45am. We’ve begun to think about choreography, and how to approach our skating with a sense of musicality. Of course, in order to do that, Peter had us disco dancing on the ice. I am not skilled. But then again, none of us really were. We started to get it better when Naomi and Peter had us doing simple crossovers and chasses, but with us interpreting tempo and timing from the music that was playing. That was great.

Sunday a bit later. I just got out of stretching class. Christine is an amazing teacher. She really knows how to make these stretches real, explaining exactly how each one is relevant to my skating. Although I’m pretty bendy for someone of my size and age, there were a couple of stretches she gave us, for hip flexors, that I was usless at. I obviously have a lot to do in that area!

Sunday 11:45am. Back on ice for compulsory dance class, which we had to abandon when we realised that we were sharing the ice with the pairs. The pairs are awesome to watch, really powerful skaters, but sharing the ice with them meant that we couldn’t complete our patterns. It ended up being fine, because we instead played with choreography. Peter and Naomi were trying to get us to interpret emotion through movement. For example, he gave us the emotion “anger”, and we, as a group, had to try to get that across in our skating. We were doing fine until, in the middle of our dance, two of us crashed into each other and both went flying! Once we got over the shock, everyone burst out laughing. So much for “anger”.

Sunday 12:45pm. The staff sat as a panel, and we were able to ask them questions. I’m not shy, so I piped right up. I asked what they found to be the differences between teaching adults and teaching young skaters. Edward said that adults are very intense. They work hard. He did say that one of the things he sees with some adults is a fear of falling, which an adult must overcome if they are to progress as a skater. Zuzanna said that adults WANT to be there, where sometimes with young kids, they don’t, and that can be hard to deal with as a coach.

Sunday 2:00pm. Naomi split the class into two - the more advanced dancers went with Peter to work on their CDs, and we stayed with Naomi to work on the lower level dances. This was wonderful, because we really got to focus on some of those tricky moves in the Rhythm Blues, Swing and Fiesta. Naomi has a way of explaining things where I totally get it, and am able to fix things that I’ve been struggling with.

Last we had our practice session. This was an open skate, held on two rinks, where we got to ask any coach anything we liked. I did end up meeting Vakhtang, and I'm glad. I commented on his performance at the Ice Theater of NY a few years ago, when he'd done this amazingly hot and funky tango. He looked chuffed that I remembered, and even did a bit of a riff off the number for me. I skipped back and forth between the two rinks - I think I was afraid that I’d miss something. I practiced some of the moves that I’d learned, got the email addresses of some of my fellow skaters, and grabbed some quick snapshots of myself with Vakhtang (!), and Peter and Naomi (!!)

The weekend is over, and all I can say is wow, and wow, and wow. I’d been nervous about attending, but I’m so glad that I went. In fact, I’m already trying to figure out ways to get there again next year!

Skate Camp - Saturday

2006-07-01T17:08:00.000-04:00

11:15am. I just got out of Naomi and Peter’s “Compulsory Dance Moves” class, where they did a review of some of the elements that are required in the CDs. Of course, for me, some of those moves were quite new! I think the hardest were the series of linking three turns that we did. My left forward outside three is fairly strong, but my right forward outside three? Next to non-existent. Still, I managed to make it through.

The best part of this class was doing the chasses. I love chasses, although I find them a challenge to do well. Peter was extremely helpful and patient, taking me by the hand (huge grins on my part) and helping me learn a new style of doing them. I normally do them quite upright, but Peter taught me how to do them with more knee bend. That really helped. And I learned a new one – what I’d call a back cross chasse, where you put your foot down behind your skating foot. That was difficult at first, but I caught on quickly.

My favorite part of the class, though, was when Naomi had to teach Peter how to do an open Mohawk. Apparently, for Peter, it had been a while. Then we all got to do a variety of types of Mohawk. Fun? Well, sort of. Fun and challenging.

12:20pm. We just did an hour’s worth of two elements I’d never done – Chocktaws and Twizzles. The Chocktaws were great, once Naomi showed me what the heck one was. I was shaky, but she showed me the basics, so I could practice this new move.

But the twizzles…those were AWESOME. I love them. I’ve seen people do them, but never tried myself. I’m not very good at them, I’m sure, but they are so fun. I felt so free. They ROCK.

Yesterday was really the first day of camp for me. I’d been at work earlier in the day, but I was useless. All I could think about was the Skate Camp. I’d do five minutes of work, then spend the next ten thinking of Peter Tchernyshev. I was hopeless. I was so excited, I was literally bouncing in my chair. When I got to the rink, I introduced myself to every adult around me with a “So, are you here for the Adult Camp?” I met people from NY and NJ, from Boston, from Ohio, even from as far afield as Los Angeles and Canada.

It’s been great skating with so many adults. At my normal rink, I’m the only adult, so this has been a pleasure. And people at this camp are at all levels, from relative beginners, to high level skaters new to dance, to advanced dancers, to people like me, who are just okay.

Skate Camp - PPT

2006-06-30T18:54:00.000-04:00

Today was the first day of the Adult skating camp in NJ. Well, the first real day is actually tomorrow, but today was our opportunity to take private lessons with the coaches if we wanted them.

This is my first year attending, and I was so excited that I was pretty much useless at work today. As the time got closer, I was literally bouncing in my chair. Boing...

And sure enough, when I got to the rink, there was Peter Tchernyshev giving lessons to someone. I sat and watched for a few minutes until my own lesson with another coach came up. I just love PT's style of skating. He really has great flow and power. It's something to watch.

But I had a hard time focusing on my lesson at first. After all, PT kept skating by me. It was very distracting. :grins: That's actually the reason why I didn't choose PT for my private lesson - I knew I'd get nothing done. I'd be way too star-struck. And anyway, I get him all day tomorrow. ALL DAY! And I did see him hanging about outside afterwards. I was too shy and stupid to go up to him and...what the hell would I say? Hi, you're PT? Duh...

On my ice time was also Aaron Parchem and Marcy Hinzman. They were working with a pair team, and they seemed to be having a blast. I did not see Vahktang Murvanitze, although I'd been hoping to. I like his skating.

Of course, I was too shy to introduce myself to PT, but I did introduce myself to several other of the adult skaters. Most are like me - new to the program, so we were all a bit nervous. I'd also been afraid that I'd be the worst skater there, but there really are people at ALL levels at this camp. (Shh...In other words, there are others there who skate WAY worse than I do. Thank God.)

Of course, my coach basically told me, without TELLING me, that my skating sucks. And it does. Well, what he actually said is that I have "adult crossovers", which I do, but that's BAD BAD BAD. My goal in skating is to skate like I belong out there, not like I'm freekin' Frankenstein.

Realised while I was there that I need much chic-er clothing. Off to shop now, hoping to find workout wear that 1) is chic and 2) doesn't make me look fatter. Good luck to me!

Skate Camp - Pre Camp Jitters

2006-06-30T14:26:00.000-04:00

"Skate Camp" starts in...two and a half hours! I can't wait. You have NO IDEA how excited I am to attend this thing. I've wanted to go for the past couple of years, but couldn't fit it into my schedule. Now I get to go! Not only that, but I was just asked to blog this thing officially by the reporter covering the event for United States Figure Skating. So I'll be posting on the official USFS website and whatever else they want. I'll know more about that tomorrow, and will post a link. I can't possibly work. I'm too distracted. I do two minutes of work, then spend the next ten thinking about Peter Tchernyshev. I am such a skate geek. And I have to leave work in a half hour in order to get to Hackensack, NJ on time for my first lesson, so I'm completely useless at this point. I am positively bouncing in my chair.

Skate Camp

2006-06-20T20:28:00.000-04:00

Weekend after next, I'll be attending a skating weekend - I call it "skate camp". I'll get to be coached by several very famous (and very, very hot) ice skaters. I've wanted to attend this thing for three years, ever since I first heard of it. And this year, I actually get to go!

I'm excited. I'm also a bit nervous. My back is kind of shot (I'm under a doctor's care and in physical therapy, pain free at current) and the problem causes my right leg to be weaker than my left. I actually had quite a lovely limp going there, about a month ago. I no longer limp, and I can skate, but I'm no where near as strong and powerful as I was two months ago. But I just could not turn down the opportunity to skate with...drumroll, please...Peter Tchernyshev, all day, for two days. If you've ever, ever seen Peter - skating or not - you'll understand, because the man is to die for. He's a powerful, beautiful skater, and quite lovely to look at. Heart goes pitter pat and all that.

Oleg Makarov

2006-03-10T10:34:00.000-05:00

This is a photo of me with Oleg Makarov. It was taken during the January skating clinic held at the Bear Mountain rink in NY.

New Skates

2006-02-01T12:10:00.000-05:00

I purchased new skates on 25 January (my birthday present to myself, apparently!)

I'd been researching them for a while. They are a serious upgrade from the pair I wear now, in both boot and blade. And they cost a freekin' mint. Ka-ching.

Harlick Competitor Plus boots...oh, look, shiny! http://www.rainbosports.com/shop/site/product.cfm?id=4AC5734C-475A-BAC0-59712EF58C9F658B

But mine have brass hooks. Also, they cost more than what you see here, because mine are semi-custom, with one width at the heel and another at the front.

And blades, Coronation Ace. Very, very shiny: http://www.rainbosports.com/shop/site/product.cfm?id=4AC57501-475A-BAC0-554D8706390CFB7F

Add in set up, sealing, NY's high tax rate, and...$$$$

Ice Dance clinic

2006-02-01T11:46:00.000-05:00

On 28 January, one of my skating clubs held an ice dance clinic with Inese Bucevica and two of her students, Ilana Morse and Justin Morrow. Ilana and Justin are a new team, although each skater has had success with past partners. Inese is a four-time Latvian ice dance champion and has her Ballet Masters Degree in Figure Skating from the Moscow School of Performing Arts. She coaches National, World and Olympic skaters and, needless to say, she really knew her stuff.

The clinic was more sparcely attended than the one run by Oleg and Larisa the previous Sunday, and I believe that the lower attendance was for several reasons:

1) Many local skaters do synchro, and the local synchro teams were competing at Easterns that weekend
2) It's ice dance, which tends to be less popular than other forms of figure skating in the US
3) It was Saturday, which is the Jewish sabbath, and the rink is in a heavily orthodox area.

Which simply meant that I got more time with the coaches!

The clinic was divided into two sections. Inese coached, and Ilana and Justin helped her. The first section covered basic ice dance skills, such as chasses, as well as dance-related warm up moves, like inside swingrolls, inside 3-turns, arm movement, timing, etc. The second section focused on learning the preliminary set pattern USFS ice dances - we went through the basics of the Dutch Waltz, the Nasty Canasty (ahem...Canasta Tango) and the very beginning of the Swing Dance. Of course, I jumped right up when Inese asked if anyone wanted to partners with Justin - I love skating with men who can really partner. One of my friends later told me that, while Justin and I were dancing, Inese kept saying, "Good, good." Grins!

For each dance, Inese made Ilana and Justin do a demo of the dance first - of course, they'd spend the day before relearning these basic dances, which neither of them have done in years. At the end, they demo'd their CD for next year's nationals, which was the...I forget. What's the CD for Novice Nationals next year? Ravensburger Waltz? It was some sort of Waltz. Sorry.

Skating clinic with Makarov and Selezneva

2006-02-01T11:31:00.000-05:00

On 22 January one of my skating clubs had a clinic with Oleg Makarov and Larisa Selezneva, Olympic, World, and European Champion figure skaters. Oleg and Larisa were 1984 Olympic Pairs Bronze Medalists,1985 World Silver Medalists, 1987 & 1989 European Gold Medalists, and five-time Soviet National Gold Medalists. They now coach.

The clinic was fabulous and packed with skaters of all levels and ages. Oleg focused on moves, and so I stuck with him as we moved from beginner (well, what HE thinks of as beginner...whooh!) to intermediate moves, and Larisa focused on jumps and spins.

Oleg split the time in his clinics between those of us who had skating skills, and those who were at a more beginning level. He'd get us more advanced skaters working on something, then show something related, but more basic, to the beginners.

We did some fabulous new stuff that was very much related to compulsory figures, and some things I was familiar with (and yet can't yet do), like backwards crossrolls. A few times, Oleg took me by the hand and helped me through certain moves. Of course, things were a lot easier with him there!

Oleg told us stories of how his coach used to make him work on the basics even when he was training for Worlds - hours long sessions of just forward and backward crossovers, for example, in a quest for strength, power and flow. He also talked about the early-morning hours he spent doing patch practice for compulsory figures. He misses the figures, and gave examples of how their loss has impacted the skating of his students and his own coaching. He said that he now has to struggle to explain and teach things like edges to his students - things that used to simply become rote with the practice of figures.

At the end of the clinic, some of Oleg and Larisa's students did their programs. Then, as the piece de resistance, Oleg and Larisa did a pairs move - he picked her up and spun her, platter style, on top of his head. Her belly was on his head, she put her arms and legs out like a star, he spun her while he was spinning in the opposite direction below her. Not bad, as he said, for people "of our age" - and in my opinion, really fabulous.

Everybody Hates Chris

2005-12-16T16:38:00.000-05:00

One of my husband's friends, Keesha Fleth (aka Keesha Sharp), has a recurring role on the new UPN show "Everybody Hates Chris". The show's very funny. If you like funny, watch it.

http://www.upn.com/shows/everybody_hates_chris/

No Florida Trip

2005-10-21T09:45:00.000-04:00

Well, I was supposed to go to Naples, FL for a business trip on Tuesday. Needless to say...cancelled due to hurricane. I was looking forward to a few days beach-side, even if 99% of the days would be spent working. I'd at least have about a half hour per day to swim, and a lovely view from my window. Instead, the poor woman who sits next to me at work, our company's events planner, is frantically looking for a new place for this meeting.

Today is Friday.
Meeting starts Tuesday.
Some people due to fly out on Monday.

So, it looks like this meeting may end up being NOT on the lovely beach in warm Naples, but off the lovely [sic] Thruway in NEW JERSEY. Gagh. Bleh. Aargh.

Those of you familiar with the NJ Turnpike will understand my disappointment. Those from Europe - it's sort of like moving a meeting from Nice, France, and instead holding it in an office park in Slough, England. Not that there's anything wrong with NJ, or Slough, but it's certainly no Naples/Nice.

This is the hotel where I was supposed to go: http://www.laplayaresort.com/

Sigh.

Serenity Trailer

2005-09-19T13:20:00.000-04:00

Here's the Serenity trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/serenity/

Film comes out 30 September.

U.S. Open Tennis

2005-09-09T13:43:00.000-04:00

I was given a ticket to see the US Open yesterday. Ooh-la-la, tres bien, c'est tennis!

Saw Lleyton Hewitt beat Jarkko Niemenen. That match was actually a lot of fun. At first, it seemed that Lleyton was going to obliterate Jarkko, but Niemenen really stepped up and ended up winning that set. The next sets went back and forth until Lleyton finally won in the fifth. The crowd, at first supporting Lleyton (who is MUCH more famous than Jarrko, and significantly higher ranked), began to get behind Jarkko when they saw him playing so well.

Also saw the mixed doubles final, and a men's doubles set.

I'm not that much of a tennis fan - I watch it some on tv, and did play a bit when I was young, but it's not really my sport. Still, it's more the experience of the day than the actual sport that I enjoy: travelling to Queens by train, walking the beautiful grounds, taking my - extremely expensive - seat and feeling all posh, watching the tennis with the (somewhat) beautiful people.

I could tell who on the train was going to the tennis by how they dressed and groomed themselves. Tennis fans at this sort of event are often so neat and almost-preppy, some very expensively dressed, and everything matching so carefully. Hair neat, makeup simple and neat, clothing neat and not flashy. Quite conservatively dressed, but with a sports theme - not sporty, more "sportive", if you understand my meaning.

Keith R.A. DeCandido

2005-09-07T16:02:00.000-04:00

I had seen the guest list for the Serenity screening last night, and noticed that Keith R.A. DeCandido was on the list. Keith is the author of several Star Trek books, amongst other novels, stories, etc. He's actually written some of my best-loved ST novels.

So, seeing his name on the list, I tucked one of my trusty ST novels into my bag, and off I went to the screening. I'd hoped that, if I saw him there, I'd get my courage up and ask him to sign it. Little did I know that I'd end up next to him in line for the film and have quite a nice conversation. I did, at the end of it, ask him (fan girl like) to sign my book. He did so. I emailed him in thanks this morning, and he actually emailed me back! Very nice man.

Serenity

2005-09-07T14:49:00.000-04:00

I attended a press viewing of Joss Whedon's new film, Serenity, last night. Whooeee!

If you're not familiar with Joss, he wrote Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. He's got a gift for combining action, horror, humour, with strong writing and characters that feel real - even the women.

For more info on Serenity, click here:

It will be released in the US on 30 September.

I had a blast.

Hurricane Katrina

2005-08-31T12:39:00.000-04:00

This may be the most destructive storm in U.S. history. Here's one page with links to most of the reputable charities operating in the area:
http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/animal_environ/hurricanes/?

The website above, like other centralising websites, takes a 3% cut of one's donation, so it's better to find a charity that one likes at the above, then donate directly via the charity's website.

Serenity

2005-08-04T11:52:00.000-04:00

Dance Clinic with Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev

2005-08-01T13:12:00.000-04:00

My club had an ice dance clinic with Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernishev. 2.5 hours, nothing but Naomi and Peter.

For those who don't know, Naomi and Peter were, I believe, five time US National Champions. I was slightly nervous before class, maybe a bit star-struck. That wore off quickly as we started skating.

They both taught the class, going from beginner moves to advanced - so, we started with stroking (which is hard as heck to do right, even the advanced students learnt something), then on to some edge work, then to chasses, then chasses with what Peter called "the wicked edge". At that point, I had to slip away to take my own lesson with my coach. When I rejoined the group, they were doing triple twizzles...yeah, right...so I went and practiced something else until later, when we all came back together and did more edge work, then backward crossovers, which, again, are very hard to truly do right. By then I was exhausted.

I tried to take special notice of the following details because people do like to know and seem to always ask:

They both did look fabulous, and they skate beautifully together. Peter was clean-shaven, his hair a bit long. He wore a very nice jumper, oversized and sort of beigy, which went well with his tanned skin. He wore his 2002 Worlds pants, dark blue I think, and I could see some beigy, old, ratty leg warmers just under the cuffs, which were unzipped. His skates were pretty beat. Naomi looked great. She was quite tan, her hair long with a bit of a highlight in the front. She wore a sleeveless zip fleece, light blue, 2002 Worlds sleeveless zipper thing over a white T shirt that had sort of cut sleeves, I'm not describing that well. I forget her trousers - they were dark. No leg warmers. Her skates were also beat, but not as badly as Peter's. I took a couple of pictures, below.

They looked fit, and their unison was impressive. Power, speed, flow - looked great, the short time they really skated together in front of the class. I was with my coach at the time, and she just kept saying, "very nice, very nice..." under her breath.

Towards the end, Peter took my hand and tried his best to improve my back crossovers. I was miserable at them, useless - what he did has made me completely rethink my technique*. He also joked about a near-collision that my friend and I had by the boards. He'd only just got done saying that the basics are very important. Then, when we almost crashed, he said that stopping was especially key to skating. As an aside, he said that we should all practice that later.

*I've since re-rethought my technique. I asked my coach about what Peter was telling me to do, and she explained that (I may not explain this well) there are two methods out there - one, Russian, which Peter and Naomi follow, has a lot of what I'd call "bounce". The other, what my coach is teaching me, is much smoother. It's a stylistic difference.

Peter really did stump me. I'd been working so long on getting things smooth, one level, on that particular move, and then he's telling me to do the exact opposite.

Dance Clinic with Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev

2005-08-01T13:11:00.000-04:00

RM with Peter Tchernyshev

Dance Clinic with Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev

2005-08-01T13:07:00.000-04:00

RM with Naomi Lang

Ice Dance

2005-07-27T10:46:00.000-04:00

This is my ice dance class. Next to me in the middle, for those in the know, is Mathew Gates, our teacher.

We're not afraid

2005-07-12T16:20:00.000-04:00

Interesting site re: the London bombings:

http://www.werenotafraid.com/

Images are back

2005-07-11T10:46:00.000-04:00

I figured out the problem with the images on these pages.

Hell's Librarian, and Proud of It!

2005-07-06T11:47:00.000-04:00

“You are hell’s librarian. You know more about the dark than anyone else, but you’re not really a part of it, it’s just a job to you, an opportunity to learn. Everything’s about the next life lesson, but if it’s a subject that doesn’t tickle your fancy, forget it, you’re stubborn with an iron will (you’d have to be).”

Which Ultimate Beautiful Woman are You?

Images, darn it all.

2005-07-06T11:45:00.000-04:00

I know that there are some issues with the photos on this page. I've asked Blogspot for some help.

I do love July 4th

2005-07-06T10:47:00.000-04:00

As I sat at the end of my drive yesterday, drinking a beer, watching the fireflies flicker in the darkness, an explosion of fireworks rose over the trees across the street. The sky trailed stars: red, white, and blue. At that moment, I realised how lucky I am to live where I do.

I remember one year I was flying back from a business trip, returning home on the July 4th night. As my plane passed over the Jersey Shore, I could see firework displays happening below me, each town lighting their tributes over the open water.

I wax poetic, but in summary, the July 4th weekend freekin' rocks. It's a great time to be in the US. Any o'y'all want to come by next year, just show up. We'll keep the beer cold for ya.

Which Greek God Am I?

2005-06-30T09:58:00.000-04:00

"You are most like the Greek god Nemesis, of revenge. Hot, sexy and powerful – people don’t know whether to run from you or stay by your side just for the excitement. Dominant and strong, you know what you want and how you want it – if people cross your path – you can bet they’ll pay the price. You’re very intimidating and sometimes overly confident, but you’re the reason people get what’s coming to them. You protect yourself and your friends at all costs – and woe be to all your enemies."

?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??
brought to you by Quizilla

2005-06-01T11:04:00.000-04:00

Dominic Keating. This one is adorable

2005-06-01T10:58:00.000-04:00

Connor Trineer

2005-06-01T10:52:00.000-04:00

Another nice one of Dominic.

2005-06-01T10:50:00.000-04:00

Kevin Sorbo, formerly Hercules and Andromeda

2005-06-01T10:49:00.001-04:00

Leonard Nimoy

2005-06-01T10:49:00.000-04:00

John Billingsley, Linda Park and Anthony Montgomery

2005-06-01T10:48:00.000-04:00

John DeLancie, actor and author. Most famous for his portrayal of "Q" on Star Trek: The Next Generation

2005-06-01T10:47:00.000-04:00

Dominic, Connor and John

2005-06-01T10:46:00.000-04:00

Dominic Keating on stage, listening to an audience member's question

2005-06-01T10:45:00.001-04:00

Dominic Keating at the end of a very, very long day

2005-06-01T10:45:00.000-04:00

Tia Carrere, from Wayne's World and other projects.

2005-06-01T10:42:00.000-04:00

Anthony Montgomery

More Expo Photos

2005-06-01T10:41:00.000-04:00

Here are more of my photos from the Expo in London

2005-05-31T13:03:00.000-04:00

Desperate Housewives at the party, including Felicity Huffman. All the women from the cast looked amazing, and kept their good humour despite being so very in demand

2005-05-31T13:02:00.001-04:00

Marcia Cross at party. In my opinion, Marcia won for most amazingly beautiful person at this event. She's stunning

2005-05-31T13:02:00.000-04:00

Terry Hatcher, yes? Desperate Housewives at party

2005-05-31T12:56:00.000-04:00

Jimmy Kimmel

2005-05-31T12:52:00.001-04:00

RM with the cast of "According to Jim", minus Jim, who kept drifting off.

2005-05-31T12:52:00.000-04:00

RM with the cast of "Hot Properties". The woman to the left is a famous Spanish-language tv star. The man to the right, next to me, is from "Sex and the City"

2005-05-31T12:51:00.000-04:00

RM with Kyle MacLaughlin and the cast of his new show.

2005-05-31T12:49:00.000-04:00

RM with a bunch of very good looking people. Rosanna Arquette to the right, very nice lady, invited me over for a photo. The man in the middle, next to me, was a sweetheart, but I've forgotten his name

2005-05-31T12:44:00.000-04:00

Gina Davis. She's very, very tall, and almost unbelievably good-looking. Fab suit as well.

2005-05-31T12:43:00.000-04:00

RM and Fred Savage and a very nice gentleman whose name I've forgotten. Fred was one of the nicer people I met there.

Upfronts, continued

2005-05-31T12:36:00.000-04:00

I'm about to post some more photos from the Upfronts. Enjoy!

2005-05-27T16:22:00.000-04:00

Dominic Keating on stage

2005-05-27T16:21:00.000-04:00

This is Dominic sticking his tongue out at Linda, who was sitting next to him

2005-05-27T16:20:00.000-04:00

Anthony and Connor on stage, laughing

2005-05-27T16:19:00.001-04:00

John Billingsley, who is such a nice guy. Stayed for the whole party, and when that ended, invited us to the bar. He stayed up until 5am, but I had to crash at 2.30.

2005-05-27T16:19:00.000-04:00

John Billingsley

2005-05-27T16:18:00.001-04:00

Dom reacting to Linda's snarky comment

2005-05-27T16:18:00.000-04:00

Connor and Dominic, laughing on stage

2005-05-27T16:17:00.000-04:00

Linda Park

2005-05-27T16:16:00.000-04:00

Connor Trineer

2005-05-27T16:14:00.000-04:00

RM and Dominic Keating, which I asked him to autograph later (thus the writing). Seeing the photo, he said, "I really should smile more."

2005-05-27T16:12:00.000-04:00

Anthony Montgomery at party with RM. Anthony was very sweet, coming to the party despite his travel problems, and even playing a bit of his music for us.

2005-05-27T16:11:00.000-04:00

Dominic Keating.

Expo, London

2005-05-27T16:09:00.000-04:00

As I'd mentioned, I met several of the members of the cast of Star Trek: Enterprise at this year's London Expo. For fun, I'm posting a few of the photos. Details may follow later when I have more time. Until then, enjoy!

Network TV Upfronts

2005-05-25T14:45:00.000-04:00

The Upfronts are a big event held in NYC, where each US television network presents their upcoming fall season to advertisers and the press. Each network holds its own presentation, usually with a lot of splash - there's the presentation first, then a mingling-type event with food, drink, and a chance to meet the stars of their upcoming shows.

I was lucky to be able to attend the presentation from ABC, which was a good one, because they've had a great year, ratings-wise. They talked about their upcoming season (fall, plus planned mid-season replacements) in Avery Fischer Hall, in Lincoln Center. We heard from the heads of various departments and saw long traillers for their new reality, comedy and drama shows. They are really proud of their Extreme Makeover - Home Edition, obviously, as well as Lost, and have additional reality and sci-fi/spooky shows planned for the fall.

As they presented their hits from last year, they had the casts of those shows come out on stage: Lost, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover - Home. The funnest of these was Desperate Housewives, where the writer, who can really sing, came out on stage and did a HUGE, traditional musical number about the show, including chorus boys and the ladies from the show. It was a hoot (when discussing such an over the top spectacle, there is no better word for it than "hoot".)

After the presentations, we went to a tent outdoors at Lincoln Center and got to drink, eat and meet the stars. Thus the photos, below. And yummy apple martinis done in the ABC tv colors.

Out of all the "stars" that I met, the ones that were most memorable for me were Shaun Cassidy, Martin Landau, Fred Savage, Daniel Dae Kim and Dominic Monaghan. Shaun because he was just so nice, despite the fact that I was probably the 4000th fan girl to approach him that evening. He and I actually had a conversation, and he took special care to make sure I was able to get my photo with him. What a sweetheart. Martin because, goodness, he's an actor of such huge stature, yet was so very kind to me. Fred was surprising down-to-earth for someone who'd been such a successful child star. Daniel - I remember him from Enterprise, and we had a nice conversation. Dominic and I played a joke on my friend, H, while H was getting his photo with the cast of Lost. Dominic stole H's camera and hid it, and we had a bit of fun with H.

I also met Rosanna Arquette, William Shatner, James Spader, Candice Burgen, the president of ESPN, some of the cast of Desperate Housewives, the folks from According to Jim, Kyle MacLaughlin, gosh, who else? Um, there was a lot of star power in that room.

It was a lot of fun. After all, I did "Broadcast and Media Management" in my MBA as one of my areas of focus, and my husband is an actor, so this evening, with its combo of the cult of celebrity plus the inner workings of network tv advertising, was a blast.

2005-05-24T11:18:00.000-04:00

RM with Martin Landau, of Ed Wood and Space, 1999 fame

2005-05-24T11:17:00.000-04:00

RM with Shaun Cassidy and the cast of the new show he's producing

2005-05-24T11:16:00.000-04:00

RM with cast of Lost, including Daniel Dae Kim (formerly of Enterprise) and Dominic Monaghan (LOTR)

2005-05-24T11:15:00.000-04:00

RM w. cast of Boston Legal, including William Shatner, James Spader and Candice Burgen.

Network TV Upfronts

2005-05-23T14:37:00.000-04:00

Until I have time to post more details, here are a few of my favourite photos from the Upfronts.

Celebrity Spotting

2005-05-23T14:19:00.000-04:00

Well, I did end up travelling to London for Expo. Met Dominic Keating in person, as well as Connor Trineer and Anthony Montgomery. Had drinks with John Billingsley. When I got back, I attended the upfronts for ABC tv here in the States, where I spoke with Daniel Dae Kim and Dominic Monaghan (from Lost), Max Gale (formerly of Barney Miller) and several other actor-types. I also met the president of ESPN. Quite a week. I hope to post details later.