Just so you know, one of my pals got a hold of my camera and so half the shots were either really dark or were taken like he was drunk (which he was). I salvaged what I could so don't hold it against me. If you have any photos of this con, send me a link or the photos and I will put them up.

I went to Exoticon (November 18-21, 1999) with a whole new attitude in mind. I was there to promote the movie HELL NIGHT as well as be a part of a cam panel. I also had the opportunity to promote my fan club and my website at a booth that was provided for me. I had a lot of groovy merchandise to sell (like screensavers, pictures, buttons, etc) and I brought my entire computer down (via Brandon's car) so I could broadcast live from the dealer's room with TWO cams. Pretty cool.

I arrived there at 6pm waiting for Dave to pick me up. Unfortunately, he forgot about me and I had to lug my two full suitcases through the airport to find a shuttle to the hotel. He made it up to me by giving me a pass to The Dungeon in the French Quarter - so in my head I forgave him. (just kidding dave - i know you had a lot of stuff to do for this con).
 

My Free Pass to the Dungeon

This sign was too amusing to pass up, I had to take a picture.

The French Quarter is of course way happening. Where else can you find Huge-Ass-Hurricanes for 4 bucks? Anyway, a funny story had happened while we were getting our food from the Clover Grill. I had written about it in a Moment for Us and I will put it here as well. Even though at the time it was most uncomfortable to be there, it was funny when I remembered it later.

"It's been two hours since I got here to this town, and I have already seen tits - I must be in New Orleans" - Yakdog. So I am here, right now, as we speak, at the dealer's room in New Orleans, LA at ExotiCon hanging out with two cams. Finally something went right with what I wanted to set up. I didn't have any connection probs, or any cam probs or table probs. It's almost as if God smiles upon me. But the day isn't over, so knock on wood. We went out to the French Quarter last night. Jamie, Brandon, Todd, me, Jester Fred, and Yakdog (yes, the very same one in the forum) shared a hotel shuttle to get there. The usual drinking and debauchery was going on (including a girl carrying a sign that said "wash the girl of your choice" outside one nudie bar). But the real scene was happening at the Clover Grill. We went in for a quick bite to eat before resuming our drinking for the evening. Jamie and Brandon had to use the facilities, but upon looking at this establishment that was the size of my purse, thought that there wasn't one. The chef looked up and pointed us to a door that seemed to go to the kitchen. While they were in the bathroom, I made the mistake of asking the chef about the cleanliness of their bathroom facilities. He proceeded to let me know that I was in a gay diner in a gay block of the quarter. I am not sure what this had to do with my question, but then he decided to pull out his gay newsletter and show me who he thought was hot and who was really not a girl,the rave that was going on the next nite, what he was gonna wear... My friends were laughing at me trying to get away from this conversation, but as this place was the size of a shoebox, he pretty much had his attention focused on me and I had no where to hide. If it weren't bad enough that I explained we didn't really get that channel in Huntsville (besides the one club called the vieux Carre that is lost between several alleys), he thought this the best time to explain the pre-op surgery he was going through. I wish you could see this guy, as Jamie's first thought was that he was a serial killer with bad teeth and a serious eye problem. I found out that by taking female hormones for four years, you pretty much don't change the size of your boobs (I told him not to feel bad about the small boob thing - we related on that one). He showed me that he lost all the hair on his chest and that he was planning on changing his name to "Diva Las Vegas" as that was what everyone knew him by. By the time I had gotten out of there, I knew more than I wanted to about this man and got no answer from him from my original question. Lesson learned? If it looks like a weirdo, don't get involved by asking stupid questions.

So that was mostly my evening for Thursday. I had to cut my nite short as I had to set up my table when I got back and had to be up early in the morning to set up the computer and the cam. That morning I was thankfully not hungover and ready to set up my booth for the weekend. I couldn't believe it - I didn't have a single problem. That rocks. I even had a special page up just for the weekend while I was away and the ExotiCon home page even had a link to my site on it's splash page.
 

Me and my booth of stuff :)

Christine poses for the cam :)

That day, I sold more stuff than Tom Savini (of Dusk til Dawn - the character of Sex Machine) and Jason Carter (of Babylon 5). Too cool - and I was so worried I wouldn't do well. I had fun showing people the cam and how it worked. Most of the time when I turned the monitor around for them to see, they realized they were on cam too and quickly moved to the side as if my cam was shooting off invisible death rays. I did like the fact that some of them were already aware of my website and thought it my writings were pretty funny. I always have this feeling (for some unknown reason) that only me, my mother, and Yakdog ever look at my site. It's kinda neat when people come up to you and compliment you in person. It makes me feel good to know I made someone laugh and that the site is worth the upkeep. The Reverend came by and made fun of my table, but then again the reverend makes fun of everything and everyone so I wasn't concerned.

Chris, Belle, Keefer, Mystrys, Lord Vyle - and other cams (and web addresses) I can't remember at this moment - had a cam set up in a breezeway where they could catch people in and out of the dealers room. I wish I could have hung out with them more, but I was obligated to stay at my table (dammit). They were taking digital pics and uploading them to the net. Chris and I made plans for the Cam Girl Panel. She was gonna present it like a talk show and made sure that Mystrys and I had questions that we could answer. I always hate it when I get thrown for a loop and stumble over my words. (I hate speaking in public - I do better as a mime).

Then we found out that our panel got cancelled and that sucked. I don't know what happened, but we were on the online schedule but not on the printed schedule. It seemed that the making of a Rocky Horror Picture Show was more important than having a panel with three cool chicks broadcasting live on the internet. I can admit that certain men in fishnet are appealing, but that was no reason to squash our panel like a bug. I don't get it.

Friday nite was the Coronation Ball and every guest had to attend, and it seemed that as Queen ExotiCon 1, I had to be in the procession (cool-a-roo - this year they are doing the Sultan of ExotiCon 2). We had plans with Tom Savini afterwards to go hit the Quarter and go clubbing. After I was changed into the White Queen outfit, I ran into Tom's "bodyguard" (whom we will refer to as "Girl" from now on) who implied that I wasn't welcome as I was one of the little people. Todd was pretty pissed when he heard that (Tom and Todd have been pals for years) and told Tom what Girl had said. Apparently this chick was trying to edge in on Tom and didn't want anyone in the way. Tom was pretty sick of her by this time as she was always 2 steps behind him and watching him like a hawk. He said not to worry and that everything would be taken care of.
 

Here I am as Queen.

Todd tried to get a decent pic of me and King Alfred.

At the coronation, I again felt like the coolest thing on the planet (but not quite as much as last year - as this year the procession was much shorter) while on King Alfred's arm prancing around the audience and the king blessing them with his microphone (I didn't get it then either). After we introduced a very sloshed Farshad as the Sultan and he had his say, we disbanded and I ran to the room to get changed quickly to go out on the town with everyone. Apparently, it wasn't quick enough as Girl had herded Jason Carter and Tom Savini into two cars before we were even down the stairs. We knew it was a long shot, but me, Brandon, Jamie and Todd got in the hotel shuttle and were determined to find our pals in the mess of people at the Quarter.

Once we got there, we had a few clues about where to look for them. We found the club that we were supposed to meet him at, but he hadn't shown yet. As we were walking away (feeling mighty dejected), we spotted them walking towards us down the street. Tom was glad to find us as he, Denise, and Jose (a way cool guy) didn't want to hang out with "Girl" and the rest of that crowd. He was avoiding her at all costs.
 

Todd, Tom and Denise - waiting for Brandon, Jamie and I to get drinks.

From then on we had a great time on the town getting hurricanes and voodoo stuff (for Denise). It was cool that it was Jose's first time in New Orleans and he was just as awed by the tackiness of the two legs swinging in and out of the window of a nudie bar as I was last year - and we bonded at that moment :) We had a great time at The Dungeon courtyard and sat around and talked while people passing by looked at Tom with vague recognition - some even going so far as to say "hey, you are that guy in that movie with that penis gun". I know it must get old for him, but I guess I would really dig it if someone came up to me every once in a while and said "hey, you are that cynical crabby chick with the webcam that doesn't get naked" I think the funniest one Tom got was "Hey, aren't you in a band?" Tom just smiles and says his automatic response of "Dusk til Dawn - Sex Machine."

Later that nite at The Dungeon's bar, Girl found us and was quite surprised to see us (meaning the "little people" to her) there. Seeing that she was wrong about us, she quickly came up to us and tried to make it better by greeting us one by one. She said something to me like "you did well as Queen tonite" - because as you know, it takes a lot of talent to get up on stage, parade around, and say absolutely nothing - end sarcastic quip. She ended our evening as Tom wanted to get away from her and called it a nite.
 

Jonathan and Ramona set up the booth next to mine with pretty cool special effects stuff.

Steve shares with me how he feels at that very moment. Even if I don't want to know.

The next day, I was very very hungover to the point that I couldn't get to my table the next day til 12. It took me an hour to get 2 pieces of toast down to calm my stomach. But I looked fabulous in my suit and was ready to go after that hour. My booth was even ready when I got there (thanks to todd) and I managed to sell more than Tom and Jason again (what an ego trip - but probably a short lived one when I go to other cons that are bigger). During the day I got fitted and measured by the Wyerd Systers (for every measurement you can possible think of including some I don't understand) for some costumes and clothes for an upcoming clothing line I want to have. We are at the very preliminary stages for this, but you can never be too prepared. I wanted to get all measurements done that I could as I wouldn't be seeing them for a while. I wish I could tell you the cool stuff that we are coming up with, but I want it to be a surprise :)

The HELL NIGHT panel was scheduled for today. Not a lot of people from our group showed (lamers) and there was only Jonathan (special effects guy), myself, Brandon, and Todd there to speak. We showed our trailer (which again made me grimace in pain - I don't like the sound of my voice or the way i look in the trailer) and we answered questions from the audience. As you know i am uncomfortable speaking in public, but Todd forced me to talk anyway and directed people to ask the other panel members questions as well. (dammit) :) Chris and the other cam girls even showed their support and attended the panel. I'm glad they were there.
 

Steve takes his place as the Emcee of the costume contest with glee :)

This is the guy that ended up winning the costume contest

Tom was planning to sneak out again tonite, but Dave came by and told all the guests that they weren't allowed to leave and that we were to stay in. Todd, Tom and I were accosted that nite by Dave to be the celebrity judges for the Costume Contest. I think it was the quickest contest I ever was a part of. We judged 6 contestants and had a winner by the time the last one sat down. My pal yakdog even got to emcee it (he was so proud). We were on our way out the door when we noticed that Tom finally had his way and had somehow sneaked out the back to get out of the hotel during the confusion of awarding the prizes. I think he even managed to elude Girl. Too funny.
 

I liked this girl's wings.

Me and Christine pose outside of the Pussycat Lounge Party. Incidently - the outfit I am wearing is one I want in the clothing line.

We spent the remainder of the nite going from party to party with a brief interlude of the fire department visiting the hotel. A fog machine had set off the smoke alarms and everyone had to evacuate the building - very annoying. I tried to snap a pic of myself hanging on to the fire truck (while the firemen weren't looking - of course) but it didn't come out very well. One of the most amusing parts of partying was watching Brandon watch people that he thought were over the spandex/weight ratio. Every time he comes to a con he sees something more bizarre than the last time. This was no exception. When we visited the Electric Swinging Psychadelic Pussycat Lounge party - the room wtih the Machine was full. He left - claiming disgust, but he came back again to look to see if there was anyone new strapped in to the machine. At one point, a guy had even gotten in and was bare-ass naked. That's when we decided to leave :)

During our partying, we did manage to see The Way of Russ. Russ likes to hold a midnight mass (if you would like to call it that and forget everything you know about catholicism) every Exoticon. Basically, he reads from his bible and shares with us his self discovery of alcohol and everything good with it. This year, he even got the Reverend as a guest speaker to say the ten comandments of Russ. Froggy also made an appearance and then the great offering of everclear and gatorade (also known as ReAnimator) commenced. Brandon found out later that morning that half a glass is more than enough to shock you into a buzz.
 

Reverend preaches a captivating sermon

Froggy makes an appearance at the Way of Russ Midnight Mass

Our plane departed much to early (8:20 am) with an hour and a half drive back to Huntsville. Yugh! People were still up drinking when we left at 6am. Dave even saw us off at the shuttle to the airport. I had a really cool time and I look forward to setting up another booth and hanging out with Tom again at another con. I am sad that I didn't get to hang out with everyone that I wanted to. There was too little time it seemed.

What did I learn this Weekend?

One hurricane is enough to last me all night and that I should never try to guzzle it, and that when I am feeling down, I am glad that there are people around who will come to my rescue (you know who you are), and that I should never never let yakdog use my camera AGAIN, EVER. I also learned that some people who are destined to be enemies, can still get along and have a good time (you know who you are, too).

Well, thanx for tuning in again. check me out next time at a place that I am not sure of and a date that I don't know. My schedule is kinda screwy and I am not sure which conventions I will be attending next. But tune in anyway, as I plan to have a good time there as well.