TF01
3,Convention Reports - Part 3
4,

                        CONUNDRUM (continued)
                       -----------------------
                        Report by Edward Woo
                       ----------------------

SATURDAY: I was wide awake when  the  7:30 am alarm call rang. Maggie
was up also. I had arranged to  give  Simon,  Jane and John a wake up
call this am. I  duly  phoned  them  and  Jane  picked  up. they were
already up eating melons - strange people. I suggested 8 am breakfast
- they agreed.

One electric shave, one wash and tidy up and went down for breakfast.
Maggie was still tired as she was  not  used to getting up this early
as she works late in  a  restaurant.  Into  the garden restaurant and
were shown a nice window  table;  nearly  taking Richard A's table by
mistake. Big John the Klingon was  a  wave  away as I said hello. Our
first Scottish breakfast of fruit  juice,  tea, toast, cornflakes and
cooked bacon energy filler. half way  through it all Donna and Adrian
joined us even though  the  table  was  small  with some many plates.
luckily the plates were removed as soon as they were clean.

Recognised more faces, Klingon  Kevin  who  was  on that Breakfast TV
item as the ST exhibition in  Edinburgh  for  10 secs, a lady with an
arm in a sling, I knew but  not  by  name.  She tried to sell me some
blue prints last year. the  a  young  lady  passed by and said "hello
Edward". Again I recognised the face but  not  name. It took me a few
hours to get it, Katrina. Collected a  few jam pots for lunch and saw
J + J and S over in  the  corner  -   only a little late. There was a
stewards meeting at 10:00 am but  I couldn't attend but showed Maggie
the ropes and she had a read the briefing as well.

It was not 9:00 am yet but the  dealers room had not opened and there
was no queue - that  was  strange.  Looked  round the door but people
were still setting up including Richard on his table with his Voyager
trading cards when the dealers room was  opened, there was a mad dash
and there was plenty of room to  look.  I  dumped a few items for the
IDIC table, 2 books and some  newsletter  items. Across the way I had
some white Horta items to sell which Stephen said I could down.

I had my list but I had  to  briefly  put  price tags on each item in
pencil, ten in all and left them  on  the stall. the usual dealers of
Sheffield, NuEarth, Lincoln and American dealer, a number of familiar
clubs/stalls. One American  dealer  had  genuine  signed photos which
Richard could vouch for as  authentic.  there was a caricature artist
from Sol. the art work was in one corner with two montages of classic
and NG cast framed. A nice  model  of  a Runabout and numerous pencil
and colour pictures of  ST  cast.  Tarkara  was  helping  to set up a
Klingon stall as I passed onto  here  more press clippings. Gave Jean
some bits and bobs for her to  read  till next time including her own
book mark.

Browsing through the merchandise,  nothing  caught  my eye except the
Voyager tech  details,  DS9  concept  drawings  and  writers  guides.
Nothing was urgent except buying a 10x8 colour of Carel Struycken for
him to sign. We decided we would  wait  till after the auctions if we
wanted any thing here, even bargains on a Monday. It was 10:00 am and
we moved to Imperial to see Heros and Demons (Voy) and caught part of
Cathexis as I had to collect my  camera and things. It's good to have
Magggie along as she carried my  300mm  lens and various other camera
bits! Back in the main hall,  the  partition  was being removed as we
took out seats on the RHS  a  couple  of  rows  from the front. I got
talking to Katrina who  was  wearing  a  classic  red trek mini skirt
uniform whilst we waited. To the left  of  me were 2 IDIC members who
recognised my  name  and  we  chatted  also.  Our  view  was slightly
obscured because of 2 speakers but we corrected it a bit later. Scott
was doing an excellent job  compering  the attendees with cheers, the
Praxis, Nexus and Mexican waves.

The opening ceremony  began  with  George  H  introducing the dreaded
committee and the senior  stewards  (the  purple  badge wearers). The
first guest introduced and his approx.  400th con, Richard Arnold. He
came on stage mentioning he does some 40 odd cons in a year. The next
introduction was for the tall  figure  of Carel Struycken. He towered
over everyone on the platform. Finally the biggest applause came from
our guest of honour, Majel Barrett  Roddenberry. She said hello and a
few words but was on next anyway and  kept it short, so we had a five
- ten minute hiatus.

As the 2 speakers  were  in  my  camera  line,  Ian  and myself and a
uniformed Vulcan    got the speakers to floor level and the stands to
one side, to a small round of    applause.  we were still just to far
away for a decent close up  shot  of  the  stage  so I decided upon a
better seat tomorrow instead.

Just about noon the lights were dimmed  and we had a video montage of
Majel's work from No.1 to nurse Chapel, the moves to Lwaxana Troi and
her computer voice to music. The lights rose and Majel was introduced
to great applause and flash photography  as  she came upon the stage.
she moved to the lectern  and  said  she  would give a little reading
first. It was about  the  thoughts  and  visions  of  Gene and of ST.
Meanwhile a tray of drinks were  bought  for her, first on the floor,
then onto the table by Lorraine, I don't think she had a drop anyway.
When she had finished her words to applause it was Q + A session. She
said all she knew  about  the  gossip.  She  talked about the Lwaxana
character and the  story   she  is  working  on  in  which Lwaxana is
pregnant and comes to DS9 asking for  Odo.  Majel said she is so busy
with books, she has no time  for an autobiography. Her computer voice
on ST is a days work.  She  was  very  open and explained that Gene's
ashes have been into  space  and  back.  She  hopes  part  of it will
actually leave Earth and the Solar system. Currently she gets invited
by NASA to see launching and  recently missed the vertical controlled
payload rocket that goes up  and  comes down remotely controlled, the
test was a success and were building the full size one. Majel finally
ended her 1 1/2 hours of  chat,  gossip  etc. saying she was here all
weekend and come and talk to  her  as  she'll  be in the dealers room
signing autographs. That talk was  really  inspiring  and I hope Jean
got it all down on paper.

13:30 hours the hall emptied and  queues  began for the autographs in
the dealers room. At least the  dealers  room was closed for the main
guest. Maggie was hungry so we  went  to  the Garden restaurant for a
quick bite of an omelette, soup  and  Earl  Grey tea. it was quiet in
there. Back to the fray, as  the  queue  had fallen, we joined it, we
had 2 photos back to be signed, one picture was from Half a Life, the
other from Lwaxana Troi episode in  a brown full length dress. Maggie
took the photos back to the room as  she was tired and wanted a sleep
for a bit. Bumped into Harminder who  had an O'Brien and Riker signed
photos he wanted to get Richard to authenticate as genuine or forged.
Journeyed into the dealers room again,  picked up a few flyers before
getting a seat for  Carel  at  15:00.  Sat  near  the  front as Scott
introduced Mr Carel Struycken.

We gave him a warm welcome  and  most  informative. He started with a
brief history of himself followed by Q + A talk. he described most of
his films as science  fiction  and  hence  the  type  casting. He had
worked on Twin Peaks and David Lynch  until finally the money ran out
on the series. he said some of the episodes were weird, even the last
one. He lived on an island  previously  before moving to Holland then
to LA. The life styles were  different  but  not a great upheaval. He
worked on another Sci-Fi  film  -  Oblivion  -  with George Takei and
other famous people in Romania  but  the  food was terrible there. He
would love to produce a movie he's developing but needs the finance.

As for Mr Homn, he could do  with  more  lines, even be father to the
pregnant Lxwana Troi script. He's  not  sure  if  a 3rd Addams Family
movie is possible as Raul Julia  was so distinct in portraying Gomez.
He said before he knew  of  the  Addams  Family,  he did not know who
Lurch was but now he knows.  Finally Scott brought the proceedings to
a close but Carel said he  was  enjoying  it here with his mother and
wife in Scotland.

I left my camera bits for Jean to  mind as Richard was on next. Simon
then gave me a cassette  tape  recorder  to  record Richard's talk. I
said give it to Jean to start and  I'll change tapes over. I went off
to join Carel's autograph  session  and  I  hoped  it wouldn't be too
long. As I had 3 tickets, one Sat,  2  Sunday it was easier to get in
now. We all queued outside the main  hall and were shuffled  right to
keep the entrances clear. I could  hear  Richard A begin his talk and
the slides, which I had seen at Sol  III but still 20 odd places from
our guest. Finally made it, Carel signed  his photo in silver (he had
an assortment of pens) and we  chatted,  he was very friendly and was
willing to have photos taken, even with Klingons.

Returned to the main hall in the  dark  to find my seat between Janet
and Jean.

Took hold of the recorder and sat down  to listen to Richard. I had a
copy of the Trek encyclopedia for Janet  to  sign the Q bit entry but
never got round to it again  -  to  busy.  Richard had slides of DS9,
Generations and 2 of Voyager. Latest  news  Michael Dorn going to DS9
and filming started last week on the  4th season. 1 or 2 original DS9
cast was not happy with  another  cast  joining  the crew as it might
curtail characters story lines in a  season. Michael Dorn is happy to
do DS9 as long as  he  can  do  features  as  well like Colm Meaney's
contract.

Voyager is going to a  2nd  season  despite  UPN  and its ratings. Dr
Zimmerman is  the  most  popular  character  and  Richard  likes Capt
Janeway and is portrayed well by Kate  Mulgrew but the voice is still
a problem to him.

Odo and Quark make's DS9 from  a  script  angle and Sisko waits for a
problem where as Voyager is out there seeking a problem. Richard said
Dwight had signed   1,000 photos for Sol and 1/2 were sold and he had
some on his table  to  sell.  Generations  2  is  due  out in Nov 96,
filming to begin next year and first  draft  was ready - it will be a
Borg  story  line.  Richard  said  Paramount  was  clamping  down  in
Australia on videos ST cons etc. because  it feels it is losing money
to non licenced ST events -  so Britain beware. Finally with all this
news info to digest - more tomorrow Richard said.

Over hearing Richard at the dealers  table  he gave a good analogy of
how Paramount, sorry Viacom is milking  ST  dry. If you put the wrong
fuel in an engine and tweak the engine till it works, there's only so
much tweaking you can do. You will get  it right if you put the right
fuel in the right engine. He   said  we  should write to Viacom, even
though fans make up two tenths of the video audience, it makes up 90%
of merchandising buying power. Over  1  Billion Dollars has been made
in ST merchandising alone.

Next up on the timetable was  the Stephen Rothwell charity auction in
the Lord Provost. I forgot to see  the viewing earlier in the day but
I had a listing. Myself,  Maggie,  John,  Jane  and Simon were in the
hall. Fran and  Harminder  somewhere,  Stephen  did the auctioneering
with the aid of Frances, George and  Jackie help or hindrance. It was
cash, cheque or credit card with payment up front.

It started well with Stephen in  his  flowery shirt. Baggy got ST-TMP
script for £40  signed.  Scott  came  into  the  hall  and bought Wil
Wheaton's signed photo as we cringed at the price of £30. A DS9 large
video box signed went for £20.  Harminder  got the 10x8 of Gates. The
Star Trek exhibition press kit  £65,  Terry Farrel 10x8 £40, official
DS9 script for £55, Joan  Collins  £20,  Duras  sisters £45, a signed
rubber glove John Delancie £12. The  biggest  item sold to a man from
Kent was 5ftx6ft Generations crewman  stand  up £30 - superb display.
Maggie thought the prices were high  but  they seemed low compared to
previous con charity  auctions  -  basically  people  didn't have the
money with so much  merchandise  so  many  cons  and  ease of getting
autographs now compared to the past.

Most of the items photos or signed trading cards. Just before the end
of the auction a photo of a klingon  was sneaked in as the last item.
Stephen was surprised  to  see  it.  Baggy  bid  35,  Stephen 310 and
finally Alison 315. That concluded the  auction.  We broke up and was
heading out when Stephen seconded  me  to  carry that big generations
display back to the committee  room  and  who  had that negative. The
auction had finished early with 1/2hr leeway.

We headed back to our rooms  for  dinner or noodles. Caught Alison by
the lift and asked her why  she  bought  it  -  it  was a spur of the
moment and  for  charity.  For  dinner  we  had  Japanese  meatballs,
noodles, fruit and tea.  Baggy,  Simon,  and   Jane  went for Pizza I
think as I did not think there  was time this evening to eat properly
like last night. After  a  change  of  clothing,  badges etc. we were
ready for the Ceilidh. I had  intended  to go to the panel discussion
but time was short but  did  regret  it  after  listening to the last
1/2hr -  very informative comments  by  Richard. Also missed the tech
talk as well which I wanted to hear.

We moved next door to the Imperial,  the dance floor seemed small for
a Ceilidh but plenty of Scottish sashes. Quite a few people noticed I
had no kilt this year, I said I wanted  to give it a miss this year -
very hot! We found some seats  in  the  middle. we joined Donna, Fran
and Alison. Baggy was in a tie and  shirt. One Dave was not in a kilt
whilst other Dave had an original Trek shirt. Stephen was in his kilt
and so was Craig but did not join in like last year.

The fancy dress competition began  first  with Scott giving his usual
welcome. The number of entrants  were  small  but a varied selection.
Notable entrants included: Scotty from  Relics,  glass + bottle added
for effect, Ensign Ro, Dr Crusher,  Counsellor Troi, A robust Batman,
a youthful Data in a dress and  pony  tails, young Worf, a Klingon or
two, the Generations 18th or  19th  century  costume and 2 characters
from Masks (Dave + TQ) The entrants  lined  up for a quick photo shot
before the judging began  -  I  think  it  was  a committee decision.
During that break for  drinks  we  had  some Klingon entertainment to
raise money. I think someone was  losing their hair, cut for charity.
The winners were announced one of  them  was Scotty, I can't remember
who was second.

As the numbers thinned out the Subrosa Ceilidh began with extra large
participation, literally spilling off  the  dance  floor.  It was far
better than the previous 2 years.  Had  dance with Maggie, Fran, Jane
and a few others to strip the  Willow,  two  step and a few new ones.
It's good to have a fellow  like  Zander  and one expert nearly flung
Fran off the floor.  Jean,  Marquerette,  Baggy,  Dr M'Benga and many
others got involved in a thoroughly entertaining 3 hours with a brief
break for the band. You need  a  break between dances. Majel had come
along and I asked Stephen whether she danced. Unfortunately she has a
medical condition  but  otherwise  would  have  particapated, despite
having numerous invitations. I  got  the  chance  to  talk to her and
thanked her for coming over.  I  think  we  had some photos taken but
I'll see it they turn out. The  Ceilidh  finished at 1:00 am and as I
was stewarding midnight to 1:00 am there was no trouble there. It all
came to an  end  with  the  traditional  old  Scottish  New Year hand
gathering and linked arms.

We left for Ld Provost to  steward  A  Man Alone and Captive Pursuit.
The tapes were in long play or  overnight duration. We had some fruit
to eat before Maggie went to  bed  at  1:30  am. Simon joined me with
pineapple juice in hand and we had a few ZZ's to the 1/2 dozen people
in there, The Klingon party was still going  on up in the 8th floor I
hear. Simon departed for  his  pit  or  army  cot  I  had seen. I was
watching Q less when I was relieved  by John, from Shettland (his 3rd
con and IDIC member) at 3:00 am,  all's  well I said - happy viewing.
Made my way to reception for a  wake  up  call in 5 hrs time. The bar
seemed busy as I went for the lifts.  Got back to the room and set up
my clothes for another  day,  even  had   time  for Scottish biscuits
before I found a pillow at 3:45 am I think!

SUNDAY: Only a little  late  start  with  an  early  call at 8:15 am,
giving  Simon  and  company  a  ring.  Jane  answered  and  was  very
appreciative of the call! The clock  rang  and  it was time to arise.
Down for breakfast with the intention to  catch State of Flux at 9:00
am but breakfast was more important,  only  real  meal of the day. We
were shunted to the restaurant, not as nice but a real energy builder
of juice and cooked fat builder to  wake  me up for the day. Fran and
little girl joined out table of  12  places. The little girl was here
with her parents somewhere in  the  hotel.  Fran was still tired from
yesterdays activities. After the trough  it  was the dealers again to
take some pictures of art work. Amanda and Jim were about having only
been married recently. Vicki from London  had saved enough money from
her Vet training to  buy  some  Trek  stuff.  Her friend from Austria
apologised to me for not writing back as  she was busy with a con and
local ST group. Karinn was  sitting  outside  the main hall reading a
book - not Trek - I had not seen her since Sol.

Frankie got chatting to Maggie about the real me and Jean had bruised
her finger badly during the Ceilidh  but  was swollen. It was Richard
who flung her too much last  night.  Spoke  to Dave who I hadn't seen
since Contagion, he was well and  we all moved into Richard's charity
auction at 11:30 am. No Baggy -  that  was unusual - but Simon joined
me as we  both  noted  the  prices  of  the  auction. Richard started
despite the noisy but cool air conditioning system.

Signed trading cards (master series)  of  most ST characters went for
£5-15. A 10x8 of McCoy £55 and  Simon  got 10x8 of Shatner paying £47
despite the £1 jumps.  Three  film  clips  from  City  On The Edge Of
Forever £70. Interesting T/cards of Troi  +  Riker £35 whilst one for
Riker £36. Fran tried for a piece of Desilu stationary but it went to
£20. Doc Zimmerman + K.Janeway photos went for £30.

A compilation ST adverts went  for  £15.  Overall I think the general
bidding was low and  it  was  reflected  in  the prices. Frances said
Stephen  will  be  happier  with  his  auction  as  the  prices  were
comparable. There was nothing I  really  wanted in either auction. In
fact Richard's 60 odd  items  were  done  in  record time which meant
there was a good 45 minutes before Richard's second talk, so the hall
could be reset at ease. We took  lunch  and  a  visit to see J + J as
Jane  was not too well, something disagreed with her at breakfast and
was sleeping it off. I asked if she might want some Chinese medicines
to John -  no answer. Ran into Margaret and Helen on the stairs, both
had been to Dublin and were  going  to  Wolf 359. Helen had drove all
the way to Holyhead. Couldn't  find  anything on Gary's stall despite
his requests.

Second row seat to get a snap photo of Richard. again he started with
a slide presentation of Generation  clips.  Malcom MacDowell is still
getting death threats for killing  Kirk.  He  said  can I kill Picard
next. The extra scenes in Generations will be in the box set, not the
individual video out next month.  The  scenes  were removed to get an
extra screening in a day in the USA. Then we had a 30 year history of
ST and preparations under  way  for  the  30th anniversary already ie
cons merchandise etc.

Richard felt TNG finished 1 season too  early and did a comparison of
rating points with Voyager DS9 +  NG.  The DS9 characters didn't work
as well as TNG. Voyager is  correcting  this  as it moves to Gene R's
ideas and foresight. More  clips  of  Voyager  coming  out of the art
department now and the last 4 episodes  of Voyager 1st season will be
shown to begin the 2nd season - ratings problem.

Those trailers that the ST cast  use  are  expensive and first sign a
character is  for the chop is  when  the trailer goes. Michael Dorn's
face is now healed after all those years of make up but now he's back
in it again.

The scene where tribbles land on Kirk's head were thrown deliberately
at his head by production people for a laugh. Richard thinks Tim Russ
plays the Vulcan really down to the line over a comment about the 1st
black Vulcan since Leonard Nimoy. That ended  his Q+A. He said if you
want to get things changed on ST write to Viacom not Paramount.

Popped out for a few  minutes  to  find  TQ  + Dave and German friend
sitting on the stairs.  Someone  with  a  video  camera  was doing an
official record and I got out of being filmed and interviewed as they
cornered us.

Whilst waiting for Carel we  had  another  music video with ST scenes
produced by the pair  who  did  the  Queen  video, called Turnaround.
There was time but  was  only  half  completed  -  not  bad. As I was
staying for his talk Magaret and  Helen  had to go off stewarding and
left me with the camera to get some photos - no problem I said.

Mr Carel Struycken arrived, he is a 7ft 4" tall guy and wears size 18
shoes - he said in the past he made his own shoes as he couldn't find
any to fit. He enjoyed running and  would  buy a few pairs of runners
as one or two manufactures go up to size 21. His life style in the US
and Holland are different in some ways and similar in others. he said
he does not get much notice to do NG work just a phone call and a day
or two's work on an  episode.  He  would  love  to  do more but he is
typecast by his height. He did  have some difficulty in understanding
our questions especially with those  Scottish accents but coped well.
He repeated some of  yesterdays  questions  and  ended  his talk with
auctioneering terms going once,  going  twice.  gone.  he was off the
stage within an hour but was off to sign autographs.

Majel was on in 1 1/2hrs time  and  I was determined to get some good
photos. I watched Improbable Cause  followed  by  Half a Life sitting
right on the front row next  to  the stage. Frankie and Maggie joined
me. We discussed values and  Frankie  now had Dwight's address thanks
to Pam.

The hall filled up and it was now 17:30 when we had her video montage
again, Majel arrived and came along the aisle minding the cables onto
the stage, Frankie was there ready  to  catch her. Majel wore a black
and gold outfit sporting an  ST  emblem  in  gold or brass. She again
began reading about the future of space/NASA programme.

I got some great shots of Majel  with  my zoom lens - let's hope they
are in focus! She said we should fund the space programme even though
expensive or example satellite photos can  help in crop growing which
is what one geologist is doing.  She did see the shuttle Mira docking
and thought it was wonderful. Her Q+A  began  and in her life she had
been all over the world and last  year Australia and Germany. She had
stories about Lwaxana and her possible future and Q in Law would have
made a lovely episode.

She was asked about  Michael  Dorn's  bum  and  looking under peoples
kilts last night - that got great laughter. She would love to live in
this country but business would make it difficult. She had still some
limited edition comics left to be  sold.  She gave us a final reading
which was delightful. her final act was to thank everyone as she left
aided by Frankie's hand. He said he  wouldn't wash his hand again but
Pam said "I saw that".

On our way out I bumped into Ian and asked him about the driving test
as Baggy had just failed and had  he  any pointers for the next time.
Back to out hotel rooms it  was  snack time with sandwiches from M+S.
We took the stairs as  it  was  quicker.  Climbed into my combination
DS9, NG and movie uniform for  sciences  only  to go 2 flights to the
stewards party at 8:00 pm in the Scott  suite. In fact I had not been
on the 8th floor since Friday and only today.

A small number of stewards  had  gathered  with Lynsey giving out the
drinks, nuts and crisps. we got a  coke and lemonade. I couldn't find
a beer bottle  opener.  Katrina  arrived  in  a  Counsellor Troi blue
dress. I asked about it. She said it was modified from a pattern with
shoes dyed blue. Marquerette arrived in a red (scarlet) dress and had
to explain the significance being  the  Holodeck fantasy. A Borg came
wandering in and out. Anika from  Germany  was  a student and wore an
original Trek gold costume again made from a pattern. I told her Jean
standing next to her was a teacher - that brought the conversation to
a stand still for a second of two.

Not as good as last  years  tribble  fight  in  the stewards room but
plenty of photos taken. as quite a few were in uniform we had a group
photo taken with the intention  of  attacking  the Klingons after the
opera. Jim was there but had no civil war uniform this time. Spoke to
Harminder who said Majel  wanted  to  autograph  her name over Bill's
head in a group photo!

The Imperial room was full  already  with  plenty of Klingons, a very
adapt name for Klingons. We got as close as possible to see the opera
despite the smoke. The opera  began  with  a  drum beat with the lead
Klingon telling the story.  At  one  point  a  Klingon shouted Qa'pla
practically in the ear of  Katrina  -  wrong  place to sit I thought.
There was a Klingon fight  to  the  death. The Klingons involved were
the Protagonists, the Warriors and  People  with  a 3 band orchestra.
Jean said it was a story  about  confronting a Klingon monster and if
she could understand that she was well  gone. The Klingon make up and
dress were superb but I don't know who  were those faces but it got a
tremendous round of applause for originality.

The whole room was  decorated  in  a  holodeck  fantasy  with bits of
holodeck coming through, I couldn't  think  what they were till Simon
told me. The disco began again to a crowded floor. Dr M'Benga and his
2 nurse colleagues were superb in   their  70's disco dance style, we
tried to copy - failing badly.  Donna  was in full swing pulling Dave
out many times, where dose she get  the energy. I had ago with Maggie
as long as Tim had ago  for  a  bet.  Richard swinging into action as
well. Baggy, Katrina, Vicki, Karinn,  John  et  al all had ago. There
was the Y.M.C.A. song, Star  Trekkin'  and Saturday Night Fever. Star
Trekkin' had Klingons, Spock, Scotsmen and dead security guards an we
all joined in a circle. Tim and I tried to get Simon to the floor but
no luck. In between drinks and dances Majel and Richard A came along.
Carel did some disco work with  his  head above the rising smoke. Ian
and Donna could have done another duet  like last year but no karoke.
During all this a video camera was  running  - we all could be in the
con video!

The final dance came at 1:00 am before we headed back to out rooms.

Back to our beds for a rest and re-energise. had tea and biscuits and
did some packing as it would be easier than in the am. I had a couple
of stewards duties  between 2:00  am  and  4:00  am. I just threw the
clothes in a bag for neatness.

I arrived in the foyer to find  Dave  and TQ still here just about to
leave for their digs in  Paisley.  Got  to steward Necessary Evil and
Rules of Acquisition.

John of Shetland was reading  his  book  outside  his  door. We had 2
dozen people between us. I  took  over  from  John  at 3:00 am, Simon
joined me for a brief time before  he  went  to bed. I chatted to the
other stewards,  another  blue  uniformed  Counsellor  Troi  but I've
forgotten your name. the  senior  steward  went  to sleep to replaced
with another. Chatted to a few overnight die hard attendees, one only
needed 2 hrs sleep per night,  In  fact  one member of the public had
been to the con all day  without  a  badge  I  was told but was quite
amenable to leave when he was told it was a private function.

Stewarding at night is  the  best  time  as  you  don't miss anything
except sleep but you can snooze a bit.  The person in front of me was
asleep as it was warm without  the  air  conditioner on. It even gets
cold at the front of the video hall with air conditioners on. Sort of
fell asleep through Schizoid Man but awoke in time for 4:00 am relief
with video camera, he hadn't had  any  sleep either and was not going
to get any - good luck.

Threw a paper ball at the  sleepless  attendees still chatting in the
foyer before getting to my bed blankets  at  4:15 am. I may have been
awake in the lift but as soon  as  the  head  hit the pillow - it was
lights out till morning.

MONDAY: The morning arrived with  a  9:00 am telephone ring, followed
by a second one  five minutes later. The committee had programmed the
Monday video viewing  correctly  -  just  old  episodes  till noon. I
needed a shower and sort of packed everything we didn't need away. We
went down to breakfast and sat in  an aisle seat. we were eating when
Simon, Jane and Baggy joined us  on  the  next table. Simon was alert
about my adverse comment about the Official Fan Club. Jane complained
that someone had stolen her hotel complaint  form - she looked at me!
As I was filling in the form  I asked for any suggestions, Simon said
it was better than last year -  I  had started filling the form in 20
minutes after I arrived but this time it was 3 days later. Jane asked
for a hard boiled egg and got one in a bowl but no egg cup.

Toast and jam, consumed we  left  to  pack.  briefly chatted with the
maid saying we  hope we were not  to  untidy. Check out time was noon
and we carefully put the  luggage  away  in  the  car -  it was still
there. We finally had a look around  home  for the last 3 days before
closing the door. We queued at the  hotel check out behind big Kevin.
the hotel got my bill correct for once - no queries this time. handed
over my credit card and signed away.

Simon was staying on an extra  night  and  in fact they had taken his
bed away already. John and  Jane  were  packing,  John was still in a
mess and Jane was quietly writing  here complaint form. We did wonder
what we could do to Simon's bits and pieces as a joke before we left.
His clothes were scattered everywhere!

We still had  time  to  visit  the  dealers  room.  Stephen caught my
attention and gave me back my unsold white horta items but at least I
got some cash. Gary was   off  to  Paris  and  Zander was minding the
stall. As the main hall was not quite ready we popped down to the car
to put a few items away  including another signed photograph of Majel
which I got this morning. Majel was happy to sign as many as possible
and when George gave here some certificates to sign. I said they work
you hard, Majel said yes they do.

We  arrived  in  the  main  hall   to   find  it  was  full  already.
Unfortunately we only got half way  along  the  hall. Now I know what
ordinary attendee has to contend with  when  you are not close to the
stage front.

Scott came onto the stage to work us all up with the Praxix and Nexus
wave. Then we waited for  George  to  the  cheers and clapping to the
music - the only thing that  had  gone  wrong this weekend was losing
George this am! He was duly found  and the committee arrived on stage
with Stephen the last to make it with the head set in tow.

The closing ceremony had  finally  begun,  Richard  was first to come
along then Carel and finally Majel lead up the aisle with a bag piper
in the lead playing the  Gene  Roddenberry  march. She arrived on the
stage to a great welcome. The first action was George to hand out the
awards  and  prizes  for  the  short  stories,  poetry,  fancy  dress
competition and art work.

I recognised a few of the familiar  prize winners. Jean got 2nd prize
for her short story. In  fact  she  said  she had forgotten about it.
Scotty came  on  stage  to  collect  his  certificate.  Helen  won  a
competition also and had to make the  long  walk from the back of the
hall to the front.

Finally out sponsored charity was presented  with a cheque for £2,000
nominally as there was  still  more  to  come.  Our  guests were next
presented with gifts of appreciation.  I  couldn't see what Majel and
Richard got but  Carel  got  a  Friendship  cup.  A  special gift was
presented to George's mother with  a  bunch  of flowers. She was very
surprised,  it  was  for  her  hard   work  in  registration  of  the
convention.

Majel said she had received so  many  gifts this weekend and she said
please invite her back  as  you  do  throw  hell  of  a  party at the
Ceilidh. Her final words was to  close  the  con but she said she was
still about today to sign autographs in the dealers room.

The whole hall broke up and we headed  for the front of the hall - to
chat with Jean and Frankie. tried to take some photos of Majel but no
luck, instead got  one  of  Harminder  and  Carel.  Got  a  word with
George's mother about her surprise.  She  introduced me to Lorraine's
mother and described my exploits with  the wrong way round kilt which
is now part of  Contagion  history!  Jean  asked  her whether she got
involved in ST through George or a fan already.

The dealers were  still  dealing  and  IDIC  was  packing up. Valerie
suggested an 2 page A4 con report  please  as SOL was too big and too
late. I had already agreed    to let  TQ  do  it but she still had to
come up with a one line comment.  John  in fact bought my spare Majel
to get signed as it  was  different  from the others available. Carol
and Frances - both nurses -  were  on  their way home to Dundee. Fran
had left earlier for  a  long  train  south.  I  told Stephen another
picture of him in Richard's auction would have been a double blow. He
said he would get me back next  year. Jean left early also because of
flight commitments.

It was early afternoon that we  went  shopping  or out as I described
it. The shops were expensive  but  we  found a Chinese restaurant and
had dim sum i.e. rice,  ducks  feet,  prawn  balls and Chinese tea. I
did ask Helen and Margaret if there  was  a china town in Glasgow but
they did not know either. By the  time we returned to the hotel, Jean
and Baggy had left for home via Edinburgh  but we hope to see them in
October. It was this opportunity  we  got  to register for next years
convention Contagion at a reduced rate on  the Away team table in the
dealers room.

The  video  programme  was  still  running  and  we  returned  to  se
Improbable Cause and Die is Cast, at 15:50 Maggie was tired and had a
snooze in the chair while I  watched.  Peter  joined us and rocked to
sleep with 2 seats. he was fairly happy despite losing his car keys -
he said he would phone the RAC  tomorrow. Harminder was going home as
he was to tired to watch as he commuted to the con everyday.

When those two episodes finished we  had  the  a drink break and walk
before crossing to the other video  room to watch Cathexis and Faces.
Richard Arnold was already  gone  catching  the afternoon flight. The
hall was still full  of  video  watchers.  We  crossed  back to watch
Facets and The Adversary  with  Frankie,  Tim  and Simon. Frankie was
staying overnight and so was okay. We again had those music videos to
entertain us prior to  the  last  episode.  I  asked  the music video
maker lady how long it took. She  said about 40 hours. Ian came along
to say goodbye and at 21:30 it  all ended with the closing credits to
DS9. We all trooped out. I  had  intended to collect the spare flyers
but they had swept away probably by the hotel staff.

I said goodbye to the committee of which only Paula and Scott I could
find, George was nowhere. Frankie's got a special con next year and I
said I'll keep in touch with Simon  and  check out if the photos come
out. George's mother said  good  luck  and congratulations to Maggie.
The final last look was to find  Stephen  in the bar drinking. He had
another day off to rest. I said I  would write the con report as well
as TQ and I'll send you a copy for the committee of Conundrum.

There was still daylight outside as we descended down to the car park
plus I had my ticket stamped. There  was no attendant at the gate but
the barrier was up, so we drove out towards the city centre.

A last look at the hotel for  another year or possibly not, there are
the Away team meetings. We  headed  for the M8/M73/M74 to Motherwell.
We were staying with  our  friend  heather  overnight.  we arrived at
about 10:15 pm and she gave us tea. I gave her a few ST items to read
and watch for our overnight  stay.  We  chatted  a while before sleep
overcame us and  went  to,bed.  She  in  fact  visited  the Edinburgh
exhibition and she said it was excellent.

TUESDAY: We got a 9:00  am  wake  up  call  and  we got a full cooked
breakfast. After that we had a  quick visit to Motherwell town centre
before saying  our  farewells   and  down  the  M74  to  Carlisle and
Liverpool. We had to do a turn  around  as we forgot to give her back
the room keys as she runs a B+B.

To sum, the con was excellent  with  Scott the great entertainer full
of energy. Majel was a superb  guest  of honour. The video programme,
disco, Ceilidh and Klingon opera were  the  best of all times, that's
what made it a success. I think this equals or surpasses the one with
George Takei in 1992.

Well done Conundrum '95 committee!


                  --------------------------------


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details of forthcoming cons to this address:


                  The Final Frontier - Conventions
                            P.O. Box 8966
                             Great Barr
                             Birmingham
                               B43 5ST
                               ENGLAND