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Not knowing what to expect, I got down to Scarborough early in the day on Saturday. The event was scheduled to start at 1:00; I arrived around 10:15 to make sure I got a decent place in line. It was pretty busy down there, but not quite as busy as I had expected. I browsed the store for a while, and eventually settled down in a chair to read for half an hour or so. Around 11:30 a table was set up, and the line started to form. I grabbed a second LP - a limited "Record Store Day" edition that hadn't been available Friday - it's in white vinyl and includes a bonus 7" record with some extra material. I wound up about fifteen people or so from the front of the line, with an hour and a half to go until the start of the event.
By 1:00 it was quite busy, but not nearly as crazy as I had expected. Channel 6 was there and there were a whole bunch of photographers, in addition to the line of fans wrapping around the store. When I got up to the front Mr. Nash commented on my picking up two albums. He was kind enough to sign one for my sister. I'm planning to give it to her tomorrow - she's a big fan of The Hollies. All in all it was a fun event, a good wrap-up to a long work week, and great way to spend my 30th birthday. I'll need to keep an eye out for Bullmoose's Record Store Day event for next year!
We got up to the Cross Center about 20 minutes before the doors opened, and headed straight for the guests' booths as soon as we were allowed in. About five minutes after hitting the floor, Colin Baker arrived. We ended up being second in line to see him! He was quite pleasant - and quite hungry. He had his convention coordinator person run out to find him breakfast and coffee at Starbucks. Mr. Baker was quite pleasant - my cousin had a "bow ties are cool" shirt on, and he told her that she needed a "dotty ties are cool" shirt, since dotty ties are better. All three of us got photos signed, and we had a group photo taken with him.
I headed over to Tim Rose next, probably best known as one of the puppeteers on Star Wars; he did the puppet work for Admiral Ackbar in Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. I ended up getting a photo from Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal - his first Dark Crystal photo of the day! I knew he was the puppeteer for one of the Skeksis in the film, but he told me that was just the role he was credited for. A friend of his working on the film got hired to play Barkley the Dog on Sesame street and had to leave filming, so he ended up doing a number of other characters in the film as well. Nichelle Nichols arrived while I was talking with Tim Rose. Luckily, my cousin and fiancee were right up near the head of the line - so I was able to run over and join them. As with Colin Baker, we were right up near the front of the line. Ms. Nichols signed a nice headshot for me, and we had out photos taken. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to meet her again before she retires. I was sad to see that she was moving a bit slower than she was in 2013, but she is in her mid 80s. After seeing Ms. Nichols, the three of us went wandering around the convention floor. Somewhere along the way we lost my fiancee - so my cousin and I kept wandering on our own. After taking a look at the vendors, we ended up at Verne Troyer's booth. He did have much of a line - which I thought was a bit surprising. I ended up getting a photo of him as Mini Me in Austin Powers. My cousin, a big Harry Potter fan, had him sign two photos of himself as Griphook in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - one for herself, and one for one of her friends. Mr. Troyer only played Griphook in the first film. He was the actor on screen, but Warwick Davis dubbed the voice. In the later films the role was recast to be ALL Warwick Davis. my cousin and I also had our photos taken with him. Later in the morning we swung by Denise Crosby's booth. As with Ms. Nichols, I had the opportunity to meet Ms. Crosby three years ago at Star Trek Boston - I was first in line then, and quite nervous (I hadn't met many film/TV people at that point). I'll never forget it - she just started laughing and said "You're so cute!" My fiancee has never forgiven her for that :-P. I ended up getting another photo signed - one of her as Tasha Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation - and, again, my cousin and I had our photo taken. We also caught her Q&A panel that afternoon. The final autograph stop of the day was Brenda Hickey. I'm not exactly familiar with her work, but she's one of the artists who draws the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic books for IDW Publishing. I ended up picking up a comic book for my fiancee - she she LOVES My Little Pony - and one for myself as well. All in all, it was a fun and successful trip! With any luck we'll head back up again next year. I think all three of us are going to keep an eye on it to see who they have for guests.
After the show, I did my traditional run over to the stage door to see if I could get my playbill signed. This was, perhaps, the most sedate signing of the three shows I've seen, due, perhaps, to the somewhat older audience. Unlike No Man's Land with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, there were no "professional" collectors jockeying for space with attendees and unlike The Cripple of Inishmaan with Daniel Radcliffe, there were no young women desperate to see the actors trying to push people out of the way. It was quite pleasant and, as always, a treat to meet everybody (especially without getting crushed).
An hour later, they were taking about their experiences with Venezuelan strippers. By 4:30 I was freezing (it was about 20 degrees out), and they were discussing theology and Martin Luther. An hour after that I ran across the street to McDonald's to use the restroom and find something warm to drink.
My girlfriend joined me around 6:00, and we chatted until the store opened. By that time, the line stretched around the store and across the entire mall parking lot. We were quite lucky - we managed to get tickets. There were only 400 guaranteed tickets available and nearly a thousand people in line! Jump forward a week - the day of the signing. It was cold and wet. Luckily, we didn't have to wait outside for long. We got in line for the signing at about 3:15, and our group was called inside at about 3:30 (15 minutes ahead of schedule). The actual signing was fast - 15 minutes later we were out of the store. When I got up to the table, Mr. King smiled and cracked a joke: "For a bunch of people who've been scared to death, this is a pretty lively group. It's kind of like 'The Walking Dead.'" And that was it. It may have been fast, but it was a thrill. I started reading Mr. King's books just a few years ago, but he quickly became one of my favorite authors. Today was an experience I will remember for a long time.
By 1:00, the crowd was beginning to grow. By 3:00, the road in front of the expo was barricaded, and there was police tape keeping people from wandering through on the street. That didn’t stop people who didn’t have tickets, or who thought they’d try and jump to the front of the line from waiting at the tape. By 4:00 the line stretched out of sight - there were more than 7,000 people in line. Around that time, the event staff told the people who’d wandered up front to go to the back of the line, and let people with disabilities through, to head to the handicapped seating. Right afterwards, they let people representing the unions supporting Mike Michaud through (the people sitting on risers behind the stage). Then, it was our turn.
As soon as I made it through security, I bolted for the front, leaving my girlfriend in the dust (she’d expected this – first one through was supposed to go and grab us a good spot. At first, it appeared that we wouldn’t be able to get right in front – there was a reserved section in front of the general admission section. After a minute or two, though, I realized that the bleachers on the left side of the gym were ALSO general admission, despite having a barrier in front of them. We quickly shifted spots, getting seats in the front row, stage right, directly next to the rope line. And there we sat. People slowly filtered in after going through security. Sometime before 6:00, the fire marshal cut off new admissions – the Expo only has a capacity of about 3,000. 4,000 people who arrived were not allowed in. We chatted with a lovely older lady as we waited for the show to start and tried not to be crushed by the influx of people. The “professional” autograph hunter was sitting a seat down from us. A little after 6:00, the show got started. Mike Brennan (mayor of Portland) came on stage and spoke, followed by Ben Grant (chair of the Maine Democratic Party) and U.S. Senate candidate Shenna Bellows. After a brief intermission, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree came on stage to speak followed, after another brief pause, by former U.S. Senate majority leader George Mitchell. During another brief intermission after Mitchell, the entire front row where I was sitting lunged forward. I don’t know what started it, but, presumably, someone thought that Obama was coming out next, ran to the barrier, and everyone else followed suit. There was a bit of a dustup. The “professional” autograph gentleman was arguing with security, refusing to get back to his seat, while a pushy young woman in an orange blazer was shoving people out of the way to get to the front of the rope line. Bottom line: Obama wasn’t next. Security had everyone sit back down, and stationed someone in the aisle to make sure that people stayed seated. Afterwards, Michaud came out. His speech wasn’t radically different than the speech he gave at the rally with Bill Clinton the other month, but it was still inspiring and energized the crowd. Following Michaud was the President. Again, the crowd surged forward. This time, those of us right in front were allowed to stay by the barrier (unfortunately my girlfriend had to go back to her seat, but that was just 3 feet back). There was a secret service officer standing directly behind me, and another in front of me (not to mention many more stationed around the President, and in the crowd). Right off the bat, the secret service agent in front of me noticed that I had a book. He told me to put it on the floor, that the president would not be signing anything, and that he didn’t want to see me try and pick the book up again. I was a little disappointed, but did as I was told. Mr. Obama’s speech was fantastic – the man is an amazing orator. He wove together themes of hope and change, and laid out why he thought that Mike Michaud was the right person to lead Maine. There was amazing energy in the crowd while he was on stage. I’ve heard that in other rallies the President attended this election cycle, people walked out while he was speaking. That didn’t happen up here, and, after seeing him in action, I couldn’t imagine such a thing happening anywhere else. He was electric. Absolutely electric. I was transfixed, standing there letting his words wash over me like waves. Perhaps the most memorable moment of his speech, for me, came near the end when Mr. Obama spoke about cynicism in politics – particularly that sown by the far right: "Cynicism didn’t put a man on the moon, cynicism has never ended a war, or cured disease, or built a business, or taught a young mind ... Hope is what built America.” -Barack Obama Portland, ME October 30th, 2014 After his speech, the President made his way around the rope lines, shaking hands. Again, there was a massive rush forward, but I did get the chance to shake Mr. Obama’s hand (as did my girlfriend) before he headed back stage. Before I turned to leave, however, I noticed a couple of aides gathering books from the crowd. Despite what the gentleman with the secret service had said, the President was going to sign a few items! One of the aides took my copy of The Audacity of Hope, and the security staff told me to wait in the lobby for the aides to come back with the book. You may be wondering why I have kept mentioning the “professional” autograph hunter. Well, as I was making my way back to the lobby, he very nearly got arrested. He had given one of the aides several books (at least 4, maybe more), and was refused to go to the lobby when directed. The security staff called over the police, as well as some of the secret service officers, to escort him out to the lobby. 2 minutes later, the aide returned with my book, as well as several books for the gentleman who was escorted out. All in all, about 12 people got books signed. At first, I was worried that they’d set up an autopen machine back stage, but, while I was there I was also able to look at a book that someone else got signed. While similar, the signature was not identical to that in my book (no loop on the "B"). After closer examination, I think that the autograph is genuine. What concerned me at the time were the dots at the start of the B in Barack and at the end of the final letter of Obama. After getting some sleep and getting a look at the signature in better lighting, I was able to see varying pen pressure which would not be present with an autopen signature. Both dots appear to have been the result of a slight backstroke from the pen contacting/leaving the page combined with bleed from the marker. All in all, it was a fantastic experience. The chance to hear a sitting President speak does not come every day, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. The event was made all the more special by getting a chance to shake Mr. Obama’s hand and to have my book signed. I don’t think that it’s too much of a stretch to say that this is now the crown jewel of my collection.
Two hours later (the rally started half an hour early, presumably because most of the ticket-holders had arrived) it was extremely hot in the building - it was 80 degrees outside, and the building itself is apparently not air conditioned and has poor air circulation. That combined with 1,600 people pressed together made for intense heat and humidity. Half an hour into the rally a woman standing right behind me fainted and had to be carried out by paramedics.
President Clinton himself came on stage with Mike Michaud around 8:00. Michaud's speech focused heavily on fighting for veterans, specifically on the bipartisan veteran's healthcare reform bill passed earlier this year, whereas Clinton's speech focused on bringing people together, getting things done and Mike Michaud's attributes that will make him a successful governor. You can get a taste for it in the video clip at the Portland Press Herald article linked at the bottom of the page. Arriving at the Expo four and a half hours really paid off for me. I was at the rope line, about 6 feet from the podium. In fact, that's the back of my head in front of the "I Like Mike" sign on the podium. After his speech President Clinton came around the rope line. I had the opportunity to shake his hand, talk to him for a minute and have my copy of his autobiography signed. I feel very lucky; with 1,600 attendants, I was one of only perhaps 100 people to have the opportunity to shake President Clinton's hand, and one of only 6 to get something signed. http://www.pressherald.com/2014/09/02/bill-clinton-are-we-coming-together-or-drifting-apart/ *Full Disclosure: I could have seen President Obama speak at the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial in Washington D.C., as I was in the area that weekend. Unfortunately, even though I was just a few minutes walk away, I didn't realize that the dedication was going on until the next day. |
AuthorA blog documenting autographs as they enter my collection - usually with some extra information and a brief biographical statement. Archives
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