Shows for the end of the world

We saw two shows in almost a month's time at the Best Buy Theatre in New York City, separated only by a little massively destructive storm named Sandy. So here's a 2-for-1 Best Buy special -- reviews of both shows in one place at one time.

The first was the same day as Chiller Theatre marking the 30th anniversary of Asia. And the second, Rick Springfield, with material from the new album ("Songs for the End of the World") -- and not the one he has called new for the past three or four years ("Venus in Overdrive").

These shows were like sense memory explorations for me, taking me to another time and place. My sister and I used to rewrite the lyrics to "Heat of the Moment" -- first as an excuse for getting wet on the way home from the mall ("It was the heat of the moment, telling us to go through the sprinklers") and then every year after its release ("And now you find yourself in '82" to '83, '84 and so on so forth).

And Rick, well, Rick's been well documented in my blogs. My first musical love, I credit him for being the gateway to many of the other artists I ended up taking to heart.

Mark didn't think much of going to Asia, but he actually ended up enjoying it. And never a problem getting him to go to Rick, he likes him as a musician and songwriter. As he tells it, he's always more open to my musical taste than I am to his.

Seeing Asia brought back a memory I hadn't really considered in years. In elementary school when everyone picked the instruments they wanted to play, I wanted more than anything to be a drummer. I wound up with the cornet -- and that only lasted a couple weeks or so, since I couldn't play the darned thing.

I do believe that Carl Palmer is heavily responsible for that wish due to his work on the self-titled Asia album. Although I have unflagging adoration for guitarists, I didn't air guitar, I jammed on the air beat on the skins.

At any rate, Carl is the key to the reunited Asia having the power and presence it does. He came into the show at Best Buy seemingly foisting the group on his back with energy and general enjoyment.

That's not to put down John Wetton's vocals, which are another key to Asia, as he provides the signature sound akin to Steve Perry with Journey or David Lee Roth with Van Halen. To paraphrase a commercial of the day, two great tastes that taste great together.

Steve Howe provides another piece to the puzzle. The seminal guitarist really proved his worth at the show when the group divvied up the workload and he played acoustically on his own. Some blues, a lot of feeling and a little humor when he chided that bane of audience existence -- people talking during a song they don't know.

Not much opportunity for what was deemed the "5 percent ruining it for everyone else" during Carl's solo at the end of "Holy War," since he was beating the heck out of his drums. The beat just pulsated through every nerve ending and made the air drummer in me equal parts jealous and appreciative

John and keyboardist Geoff Downes had their moments on a couple of songs as well with "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" and "Cutting It Fine." It was a great way to keep the musicians and the audience happy at the same time. Well, except for the 5 percent.

What that minority came for, of course, were the hits -- "Heat of the Moment," "Only Time Will Tell," "Soul Survivor" and "Don't Cry." Still don't understand why the people who only want to hear those don't stay home and put their CD on repeat, but they were delivered with great gusto.

It's difficult to talk about Rick Springfield without a word like "gusto." He just barrels through his set like there couldn't be any other life choice for him. On this occasion, he also charged through me, but I'll get to that in due time.

His setlist has been reworked with the old new album songs coming out in favor of the two strongest tracks from the new new album, "I Hate Myself" and "Our Ship's Sinking." We got "Living in Oz" instead of album mate "Alyson," which is a plus change in my book. Also returning to the set was the montage of hits, starting with the complete "I Get Excited" before seguing into bits and pieces of "Bop 'Til Ya Drop," "Celebrate Youth," "Calling All Girls," "Don't Walk Away," "State of the Heart" and "What Kind of Fool Am I."

Just a word about "Calling All Girls" inclusion here, mostly so I avoid saying how I could do without the final two songs in the montage (oops). But again, flashback to the past. When I was on junior varsity gymnastics, I was riding the late school bus home and the ROCK station played Rick Springfield. That song, not released as a single was played on an album station and without attaching a bubble-gum label to a great songwriter.

Rick still pays heed to his own influences. Mark wanted to hear "Jet" and not hear "Red House," and that's precisely what happened. Plus, order now and get a special bonus, "Can't Buy Me Love!" We got "Jet" early on and then a few licks of "Red House," which worried Mark until his frown turned upside down when that eventually became "Crossroads." "Can't Buy Me Love" wouldn't have been much of a surprise if I'd read the message boards before the show, so I'm glad I didn't do that.

And now on to when I got the "Human Touch" from Rick. He always makes his way through the crowd during that song. And although he quickly was having problems with the chairs that easily fold up, he kept on truckin' through the crowd. I was just jamming and not reaching for him -- I do feel like I've filled a certain quota on that front -- but he must have slipped on my slick jacket and sorta fell on me.

Mark quickly helped him along, and I was left doubled over ... in laughter. I've tended to get knocked around during concerts, but I certainly minded less when it was Rick! More than the "human touch," more like a quarterback sack. And Rick always says he wasn't any good at sports. I'll agree to disagree on that one.

So these were our last two concert dates before the prophesized end of the world on Dec. 12, and I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. "Teenage ambitions you'll remember well" indeed.

Paying off a 'Six Million Dollar' debt?

October promised to be very conventional for me, with Comic Con at the beginning of the month and Chiller Theatre at the end. The former turned out to be a bust as I walked around in an ill/semi-conscious state. (I did attend the Christopher Lloyd question-and-answer session to hear him talk about "Clue"; chilled out in Peter Davison's entertaining Q&A even though I'd never seen his "Dr. Who"; and saw one of my favorite '90s bands, Ben Folds Five, live.)

But that meant hopes wound up being that much higher for Chiller Theatre, particularly after having so much fun at the spring edition. I met up again with one of my favorite online friends, Carol, and her amiga, Linda. We were well prepared in terms of who we wanted to see. (Read: Who we wanted to spend our bucks on, since everyone has their own pricing structure for photos, autographs and the combination of both).

The gameplan was to get on the big "living room" line with the upper-echelon celebs first, and then work our way to the others after that. But there's always room for improvisation as Carol informed me after Mark and I arrived that Deborah Foreman was tucked away in a little room and there wasn't a line for her at all. So Linda and I headed down another corridor so I could meet her.

Deborah is probably best known from "Valley Girl," but my personal favorite is "April Fool's Day," a-more-comedy-than-horror flick from the mid-'80s. In it, she plays the main character Muffy, who wants to set up a mystery vacation spot at the home she inherited. She's using her friends as guinea pigs to see if it'll work out, only problem is that someone's offing these people one by one.

As Muffy begins to act more and more suspicious, her remaining friends come to realize that they might be dealing with her murderous sister, Buffy. So when I had my picture taken with Ms. Foreman, I put my glasses on top of my head like she had. The person taking the photo for us said that we looked like twins -- Muffy and Buffy. (We look about as much like twins as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito did, by the way.)

Now Chiller is kind of a B-list movie/TV event (if you're being kind), but they do bring on some marquee names for the event. The big two headliners I wanted to meet were Lee Majors ("The Six Million Dollar Man") and Penny Marshall (comedienne-turned-filmmaker). So they were my "targets" for the living room.

Carol was high on seeing Penny too, so when we finally made our way down the long corridor line and into the room, we were happily surprised to find Ms. Marshall's line wasn't too long. I anted up for both a signed photo and a picture with her. She was decked out in the G-Men sweatshirt that I've wanted to get for myself for a while.

We had some polite chatter and then a rogue photographer came by and snapped a picture of her -- pretty much a no-no at this show. She was irritated by that and I asked her if she wanted me to "take care of him for her," that made her laugh a bit and kept the brief meeting light. I also told her I had recently seen her in some "Battle of the Network Stars" video, I think she did everything short of rolling her eyes at that.

It took me a while to figure out which of the photos to get -- it's like a smorgasbord when you get up to the table and see so many cool professional shots -- but I opted for the "silly" one from "Laverne & Shirley" and happily got that one signed.

Joan Collins was on a break while we were in there, but we got to "check out" Connie Stevens, and let me tell you, she looked better than a lot of the actresses half her age. Then we headed for the Lee Majors line.

Now the trick about Chiller is that you can't tell the pricing structure until after you've stood on the person's line, and by that time, you pretty much want to get something for your time. The former Steve Austin was $40 for a photo, $40 for an autographed photo and $50 if you wanted something of your own signed. I ridiculously thought that the $50 was combined and decided to get my Season 1 DVD cover autographed. Until they asked me for $90. Uh, no, thanks. I guess they have to pay off the six million dollars for that bionic surgery somehow, right?

I did resign myself to at least getting a picture with him. After all, I am a child of the '70s, and during that time, you couldn't get much better than being bionic. But the technology must have rusted, because Mr. Majors said he couldn't get out of his chair because of a bad knee. He didn't say much beyond that and the old axiom of not meeting your favorites for fear of disappointment bounced around my head for a few minutes.

But fresh off that disappointment, we were about to leave the room when we saw Steven Bauer's short line and intriguing sign -- photos $10! Although I haven't seen him on "Breaking Bad," I do remember the likes of his '80s flick "Thief of Hearts" and "Wiseguy."

I thought he was the most genuine person we met that day. Gives good hugs too. That was $10 well spent.

Sitting nearby was the actor I kept making fun of during the afternoon, much to Linda's chagrin. Andrew McCarthy -- who I deemed the least talented actor at the event, even though there was no way that could be true -- was a borderline Brat Packer and my least favorite character in one of the movies from the era I saw dozens of times, "St. Elmo's Fire."

His line was short as well, but like Steven, he seemed to be really conversing with the people who stopped to meet him and not just taking their money and scribbling down a name. But sue me, I still wanted Molly Ringwald to end up with Jon Cryer in "Pretty in Pink."

The person I had been most looking forward to meeting at the event was Pamela Sue Martin, who I loved in "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" and later in "Dynasty." I was super-psyched about getting to meet her, because Nancy Drew was just my hero when I was a pre-teen. I had all the novels and had rewatched the series prior to the last Chiller (at which I met Hardy Boy Parker Stevenson).

Carol seemed to be almost as excited about seeing me meet Pamela Sue. She had a friend who arrived while we were waiting for the actress to return from her lunch break, but she still stuck on the line with me. Poor Eric Shea (PSM's young brother in "The Poseidon Adventure" was at the next table, but he seemed to be spending more time trying to track her down for those of us waiting for her).

She finally did arrive and I got to meet Nancy Drew/the real Fallon! (Both Carol and I will work overtime to maintain that we adore Emma Samms, who later assumed the role of Fallon, but that we preferred PSM in the part.) She was really sweet and surprised to hear that my major reason for attending the event was to meet her. Then Carol upped the ante by saying that she just wanted to watch me meet her because she was such a childhood hero of mine and I tend to race my motor when it's someone that meaningful to me. Pamela Sue got a hearty chuckle out of that one.

And by the way, her deal was MUCH better than Mr. Majors'. I got my photo taken with her and my Nancy Drew DVD cover signed for $25, and she made conversation with me too! I really should let Steven Bauer retain his title as "Deal of the Day," but I was thrilled to have it play out that way.

After we got chided for sneaking a photo of Valerie Harper (I told you the actors/handlers don't take kindly to that), Carol and Linda went their own way. Later in the afternoon when I finally found Mark, I got to meet wonderful Roger Kastel, the very talented artist who created the art for the movie posters for "Jaws," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi." He was sweet and appreciative, and he took a lot of care to sign his autograph in places that would stand out and be unobtrusive at the same time.

The day wasn't even over for us as Mark and I were heading to the city to see Asia. A certain superstorm was making its way toward us as well. And while I perused the convention during the ensuing power outage, I resolved to remember not to bust on the Chiller lineup so much when they start announcing the celebrities for April, since it's the non-marquee names who prove to be the most interesting at the actual event and they keep out-of-pocket costs down. That should last for, oh, about five minutes.

An 'Affair' to remember

As providence would have it, the Rick Springfield fan documentary, "An Affair of the Heart," was set to premiere the same week I was on vacation and my sister was in town. And Rick was scheduled to be in attendance for the first shows!

Once upon a time, Koop and I went to see Rick in Orlando during the "Living in Oz" Tour. We both sported signs, Mine was "You'll Always Be No. 1 With Me" and hers was "Rick, You Gorgeous Hunk." Those were the kind of memories I expected to revisit while watching the movie that followed the travails of several diehard fans. The poster sports the tagline -- "Do you remember where you were when you forgot about Rick Springfield? ... They never did."

Kind of hard to forget someone who was plastered on my walls for years and years. And on my t-shirts. And in my scrapbooks for both music and acting. ... Who I followed over various TV shows -- starting with my "General Hospital" obsession to the short-lived "The Human Target" to the syndicated tongue-in-cheek "High Tide," which once cheekily paged Rick's "GH" persona Dr. Noah Drake to liposuction in the background. And all the slick TV movies in between.

However, I knew I didn't really qualify for the kind of rabid fan I expected to see in the film -- there are fans who follow him everywhere. The special shows -- like the Rick Springfield & Friends Cruise and four-day acoustic ones in the Midwest, and the regular ones too -- like his umpteenth visit to Atlantic City. People who don't feel they've had the full experience unless they've also paid for the soundcheck and touch him in the meet-and-greet.

I've seen him maybe 20 times over the years, and figured that number would probably strike derision in the hearts of the people who would be featured in the movie. But I still wanted to see it, and about a year after its initial film festival appearance, it was finally coming to a theater near me.

It took weeks of watching the IFC Center website before tickets went on sale, but I snatched them up as soon as I saw them. And that day, as both sis and myself started showing signs of a flu bug that would knock us silly for the next few days after that, we made our way into the big city.

I snared a copy of the new CD, "Songs for the End of the World" at Best Buy because it had a couple of bonus tracks and we headed for the theater. We picked up the movie tickets and I saw a line for a meet-and-greet. It was shorter than one might expect, and when we got to the front, a security guy asked for our tickets. I presented the ones for the film. "No, not those, do you have tickets?" he asked. "Yes," I said. I showed him the movie tickets again. "No, are you supposed to be here?" "Yes," I said. I could have gone on like that all day. Fortunately, I didn't have to as he ushered us in.

Not much of a line from there either as I quickly got in Rick range. He had started the day in a New York City subway, bellowing his new song "I Hate Myself," and of course, the ol' chestnuts like "Jessie's Girl" and "Don't Talk to Strangers." I asked him how that went and he replied, "Crazy."

Not much time for formalities, so he signed my CD and we took my fourth picture with him. Then it was sis' turn. One of the ushers took the pictures for us and my iPhone chimed with a message just as she was finishing the task. "Mark's messaging you," she told Lorrie. "WHO????" Rick asked with mock outrage.

We waited until we were outside to laugh about pulling a fast one. ... And another fast one was about to come too. There was not really a line for the showing of the film, everyone was kind of just clustered in one place. Until someone from the theater decided to rope off the area starting at a motor scooter about 200 feet away. Guess who wound up first on the line?

Yep, it was me -- the 1,326th biggest Rick fan of all time!! Well, it was me for a little while because a little elderly couple pulled an even faster one. They sort of loitered to the right of the sign and then when we started to be let in, they just skipped out in front of us. I appreciated the craftiness, so I let it slide.

The theater chairs might have been a little too comfy, they were angled back so you could look up at the screen from the second row without craning your neck too badly.

Not much of a chance to fall asleep though, as the stories ranged from touching -- Rick's music helped a scared girl who had heart surgery make it through 18 months of being confined to her bed -- to funny as Rick had to (and did) win over a heavy metal crowd at an outdoor concert in Sweden -- to slightly contrived as two best friends alienate their husbands with their attachment to Rick. (All's well that ends well, though, as the two spouses get their own private audience with Rick and come away from the meeting smiling almost as much as their wives.)

The film definitely reminded me of my own concert memories -- from the first one back in 1981 in which my friend Linda and I stood on the chairs the whole time and I sang/screamed myself hoarse the night before I was supposed to give a speech in school. The second one I already mentioned; the third one, my mom drove me, sis and best friend Cheryl to Hollywood (what Rick deemed the "Hollywood Sweatatorium.") I left thinking that all Rick fans would probably have a tale or two or three to tell, even if it was something as small yet meaningful as listening to "Kristina" on the Walkman through two headphone jacks while participating in a March of Dimes' Walk-a-thon with Koop.

Rick seemed genuinely touched, both in the film and during question-and-answer afterward, by the effect he's had on people's lives. He's actually the person who probably has been transformed the most. Which was the surprise of the film and of the night.

Sis and I wound up bedridden for most of the next few days, and then Rick had to cancel some dates due to his own illness. I guess I shoulda asked if he wanted to hang and watch movies with us during the Q&A period. But it's just as well I didn't, they might have shoved us in some sequel to the film. I've since decided that the low end of the diehard Rick totem pole has its rewards.

Sister, can you spare?

Vacation started off promisingly enough with my sister, Lorrie (aka Koop), coming in for nine days of fun, frivolity and shopping. She probably never would have dreamed that modern-day pop culture would ace out '80s revelry in my world, but it did when Shark Week clearly tanked MTV in t-shirt wars.

One of our first endeavors was Daytime Stars and Strikes -- an event at the Bowlmor Lanes in New York City that raises money for the American Cancer Society and features actors from the now-defunct East Coast soap operas. The plan: I bowl and Koop watches.

Each group of fans bowls with a couple of daytimers. I definitely had a makeshift want list, most of whom hailed from host Jerry ver Dorn's days as Ross Marler on "Guiding Light." Michael O'Leary (Rick), Elvera Roussel (Hope), co-host Liz Keifer (Blake), Maeve Kinkead (Vanessa), Kurt McKinney (Matt), Beth Chamberlin (Beth), Ron Raines (Alan), Ellen Dolan (Maureen, later Margo on "As the World Turns") and Denise Pence (Katie) were all people that I would have liked to have bowled with.

Instead, I wound up on a lane with Andrew Trischitta (Jack, One Life to Live) and Austin Williams (Shane, OLTL), who I really didn't know because I stopped watching when Trevor St. John left the show in the double Todd Manning debacle. They were really nice guys, though, and there still was a great affinity between them and more of the show's younger actors who came out for the cause.

But all was not lost, because late-arriving Sean Ringgold (Shawn, OLTL) got added to our lane and the big teddy bear was a barrel of laughs. Had a lot of fun with him, especially when he wound up bowling in the "Lisa" spot on our roster. I must have called him "Lisa" one time too many when he chided, "The name is Shawn-a."

Andrew set up our game with bumpers, which I just rolled my eyes about at the start but benefited from later on. I had my competitive juices flowing (of course!), so I was determined to at least win on our lane.

Since no one else was bowling particularly well, even with bumpers, it started looking good when I picked up spares here and there -- although I never did bowl particularly well on the first ball of the next frame.

Sis was my biggest supporter -- I got pep talks and one massage before I went each time. Except for the time early on when I turned around, only to see her chatting Tina Sloan (Lillian, GL) up! An in-depth discussion on napkins, I believe it was. But a nice surreal moment all the same. And then there was the time Koop walked away, and I finally got a strike!

Jerry also came by the lane at one point and I showed him a picture of when I interviewed him and Kristi Ferrell (Roxie) a couple of decades earlier. His jaw seemed to drop when he looked at it, and we decided to recreate the shot at that moment.

I also "sparred" with Sean -- he looked very humored by belligerence -- and discussed the intricacies of the sport of bowling with another late arrival on the neighboring lane -- Nathaniel Marston (Michael, OLTL and Eddie, ATWT). OK, me and the incredibly well dressed Mr. Marston were just clowning around.

As the game wound down, and bowlers -- both actors and fans continued to disappear at an increasing rate -- it looked like I was going to win. But I didn't take anything for granted. Got a spare on my last ball, giving me a third in the 10th frame -- and Lordy, a non-bumper-assisted strike that Sis saw! And Sean/Shawna too!! My final score was 122, a lot better than when I had feared I might not crack three digits.

Before the "competition" got under way, there also were raffles and prize events, the latter of which you put your own tickets into a bowl only for the items you'd like to win. When I looked at the overall list, there were two main things I wanted -- Debrah Farentino's autographed photo from the prizes and Elvera Roussel's photo from the raffle. I ended up with both!

I got to meet Elvera in the process of bidding and winning her lovely photo. I really liked her as Hope Bauer back when I first started seeing "Guiding Light" many, many moons ago. She seemed really honored that someone would come to the event this much later to see her, so it was all worth it before the bowling even commenced. She also primped me for our picture like a doting mother hen.

I didn't see half of the "GL" actors that I had been hoping to at the event, but I did squeak out a minute with Maeve Kinkeand and Kurt McKinney. I told Maeve how I loved Vanessa for years and years, but then added to Kurt that I primarily know him as the first Ned on "General Hospital" because I do the Sean-Tiffany YouTube channel and he's all over that for a couple years. He got a laugh out of that.

Enjoyed some quality time with Tonja Walker, who has been on several different shows, but again I seem to know best from "GH" as wacko Olivia. She couldn't believe that so many people still love to hate the character this much time later and we commiserated about shows reusing the same names again -- like Olivia and, say, Sean ... Katherine ... etc.

And had another minute with former Emmy winner Gina Tognoni (Dinah, GL and Kelly, OLTL), who just looks so gorgeous and is so sincere that's embarrassing to be in her presence. Just kinda makes you want to go home, crawl into bed and stay there for two days. But that's later in the vacation, stay tuned!

Chasing Zöe (and other assorted Chiller tales)

Twice a year, after poring over the lists of "celebrities" attending the Chiller Theatre Exposition in Parsippany, N.J., I usually decide not to go on the basis of not having someone I realllllllllllly like there. But this year, it actually came to fruition because 1.) my sister was able to go and 2.) I was going to meet an online friend who I've been talking with for quite a while.

There were some folks I was looking forward to seeing: Robert Loggia, who is a cult figure in my newsroom due to this orange juice commercial and this "Family Guy" appearance; Parker Stevenson, one of my teen crushes from "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" and Zöe Bell, the stunt woman for whom Quentin Tarantino scripted an amazing set of car chases for in "Death Proof."

Since I watched "General Hospital" back in the day and have been tuning in more recently to see my favorites from said day, I also planned to see Jackie Zeman (Bobbie Spencer). Admittedly, she's not one of my favorites, but she is from "my era" of the show. And there were other assorted people that I also wouldn't have minded seeing -- "Shawshank Redemption" warden (Bob Gunton), creepy serial killer in "Copycat" (William McNamara) and Linda Blair (because she uses her celebrity to help animals).

So after a few years of talking about it, I finally was on my way to Chiller. (Truth be told, I sort of wish -- in retrospect -- I went last time when Pam Grier was there, but that's another story.)

Sis and I set out for the Friday night activities, making the wise decision to use our early-access pass that night (since the general admission line snaked down the street and we weren't gonna be back in time for early admission Saturday). Now as you know if you've ever been to a convention in which people are selling things, it's best to make a loop around before you start doling out your money. It's also sometimes hard to do. I basically did a good job of that, but sis was a little dismayed when she grabbed the first "Popcorn" DVD she saw, only to find it popping up quite a bit across the convention hall.

Now the great thing for me about the conventions is the chance to meet actors. My sis goes for the opposite reason, to check out the merch. But she will be the first person in the world to stop what she's doing if she hears I'm going to have my picture taken with an actor. Which I will always give her full marks for doing.

At Chiller, many of the main attractions are in what they call "The Pit," which makes for long lines and general mass confusion. The "Boondock Saints" guys were tremendously popular, but having not watched that, I didn't approach those lines. Saw Dean Cain and although I never watched an episode of "Lois and Clark," he looked so approachable that I just ended up on his line. While I was winding my way through that one, that's when I noticed Parker Stevenson (who I actually WAS there for) tucked to the side and looking lonely. I told his companion -- for the purpose of this blog, I will call them handlers -- not to let him go anywhere because I would be right there after Dean.

I was wearing my Superman hoodie, so it seemed appropriate to meet Dean that day. At least he was impressed. I asked him if he was growing a playoff beard (for hockey), he said he wished he was, and this was just for a part he was doing as a basketball coach for a TV show. I questioned him further about who he was rooting for in the hockey playoffs. "Devils, of course!" he stated. The fact that I was standing in front of him in a Devils hat probably had nothing to do with it, right?

So we're having our picture taken, and he's sort of framing the Superman logo on my hoodie. This led to much discussion and general total disbelief that was what he, in fact, was doing. But let me discount one theory. Not a baby bump ... he actually had his hand on my cell phone and wallet in the pocket. A totally nice guy, I was really glad I got on that line and I vow to at least watch the first season of "Lois and Clark."

On to Parker... after all, I promised! And now my sis has shown up and she's taking the picture for me. Parker was looking at my Volume 2 of "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" box set that I wanted him to sign and admitted he didn't even know it was available. I said "You should!" He said that he gets so little royalties for that show that it didn't matter much on that front. He also said he had shown his own children the first season and they enjoyed it greatly. We talked a little about "Legion," a sci-fi movie he said was supposed to be campy, but they didn't quite get it right. I said we still laughed our way through the whole movie. He met Lorrie and called us the dynamic duo -- or something like that -- as we were departing. By the way, the man has mesmerizing eyes. There's a chance he put me in a trance and I clucked like a chicken and just don't remember it.

My third "target" for the day was the one-and-only Robert Loggia. As previously mentioned, Mr. Loggia looms large in my newsroom. A fan a couple of people ahead of me asked if it was indeed him in "Family Guy," and he and his handler said it indeed was -- still disputed in some circles (but not by me). My objective was to get him to sign a photo to the newsroom with "R is for..." and then his signature. Which is just what I got! While we were setting up for the picture by sis, I told him that I really liked him and Carroll O'Connor in "Return to Me" and he said that was a good memory for him. As I was leaving I told him to have a good weekend at the convention and he replied "Thank you, darling." What a sweetheart.

After some bad pizza, I went on another search for Zöe Bell, and apparently the celebrities in the same room as she was supposed to be were hearing the same question a lot. So off to do some shopping ... got the entire series of Gary Cole's "American Gothic" for a really nice price. One last fruitless check for Zöe, during which time I saw Jackie Zeman and there was a funny moment when I told her I couldn't meet her until tomorrow because I promised a fellow GH fan, and we called it a night.

Blasted an old "American Top 40" on the way to the convention the next day, that was as fun as anything that happened that day. Sis does great impressions of Steve Perry and basically anyone doing a power ballad. And we got to the show not too long after Carol. Finally the first meeting! I can't speak for them, but I felt comfortable right from the get-go with "Movie Star" Carol and her witty friend Linda.

I asked what she wanted to do first and Carol said Jackie Zeman! So we worked our way over to that room so I could meet Jackie more properly than I did the previous night. I told Jackie that Carol and I met because we're both big fans of Sharon Wyatt and we were diehard viewers during her time on the show. (I think it was a pretty good tap dance myself.) I wanted Carol to be in the picture with Jackie, so we did that and each got an autograph too and that was that. Probably our fastest meet of the day.

Another run through the Zöe Bell room and I was getting bad vibes, because one of the tables that had been there the previous day was gone. That didn't bode well. So we continued on our merry way and then we saw the table for "Shawshank Guy." I kind of regret calling him that, because even though there were five or six people between us, he still heard me say that.

In reality, the actor who played the warden in nature's perfect movie, "The Shawshank Redemption," is Bob Gunton. But I didn't really talk about that when I got up to him. He was also in "61*" -- Billy Crystal's great movie about Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle and the 1961 race toward the home run record. Bob played Dan Topping, the part-owner and president of the Yankees during that era. He mentioned how similar Barry Pepper (Maris) and Thomas Jane (Mantle) looked to the real guys and about telling Crystal that he was the only guy who could have gotten all the great character actors together for the movie. He said Billy cried when he told him that.

When we set up for the picture -- Bob made sure the "Shawshank" poster in the back could be seen in the shot -- then he off-handedly said, "You're now an inmate of Shawshank," which made me burst out laughing (as you can clearly see).

Now on Saturday, there were at least three times as many people as Friday night, so the pit lines were crazy. The "Boondock Saints" lines were out one door and down the sidewalk and the regular pit line was almost to the seller hall. We got on the latter, only to have some guy come by and say "Go to 'The Sopranos' line, there's no one on it." So Carol, Linda and myself took the hint (where others didn't). Only we couldn't find said line. So I went into the pit to find a security guard who could tell me where it was and just kind of ended up in the pit, with Carol and Linda hot on my heels. We laughed about that all afternoon.

So we got on Linda Blair's line. I feel she really uses her celebrity for the good. She wasn't just there to rake in the autograph/picture bucks, all her proceeds went to the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation for rescued pets. While we were on that line, we noticed how short the Dean Cain and Parker Stevenson lines were. They definitely could use a better system at Chiller, for there were people just standing on long lines waiting to get in to see these guys, but they must have felt otherwise.

Linda, Linda and myself had a reallllly long conversation about rescuing animals, as it is a cause as close to Linda's heart as Linda B's. And I got my two cents in about the menagerie that we've brought into the fold. A few times Linda B. said she had to go, but she just kept talking with us. As Carol later humorously pointed out, she thought Linda Blair had stolen her friends.

Down different corridors, there were rooms with other celebs. I never did lay eyes on headliner Alice Cooper, but I was thrilled to meet William "Call Me Bill" McNamara. We talked about "Copycat," one of my fave lesser-known films and he said that the movie and "Seven" were vying to come out first. "Seven" did and "Copycat" was inevitably called a copycat of that thriller. Personally, I like "Copycat" better. Bill also showed us on my DVD cover that the movie poster was also his creepy character but over that picture was a reflection of the film's stars Holly Hunter and Sigourney Weaver. He said most people didn't usually see it was him, and I concur.

For those who have seen "Copycat," it starts with an agoraphobic serial killer expert (Weaver) talking to an auditorium of college students about how non-descript a serial killer can be. She calls for a camera to scan the crowd and the view passes over McNamara, but never stops on him to foreshadow who the film's villain will be. One of my favorite cinematic moments.

After a quick discussion of "Stealing Home," which Bill said didn't get great reviews but was very popular with movie lovers, we bid adieu and stepped to the side. That's when Linda and Carol had a little discussion about the movie poster behind McNamara -- "Chasers" with him, Tom Berenger and another Chiller guest, Erika Eleniak. When Carol said "I loooove Tom Berenger," I could see Bill and his handler overhearing and laughing. Twas a cute moment.

That was mostly it for us at Chiller, save the moment when I told Carol and Linda we'd probably run into my sister in the bathroom -- and then we did! Sis was equally bemused when Linda, who she hadn't met, started talking to her about her son, the "Star Wars" fan, because Lorrie couldn't figure out why this woman just struck up that conversation with her.

So after one last look for Zöe, I did some more shopping -- yay, I got Billy Preston DVDs and some movies I probably didn't need -- and then sis and I bailed and decided to go check out Kevin Smith's comic store in Red Bank. (No, there's no picture, it's called SECRET Stash.) I actually did better at the little music shop across the street. Nice prices. On the used stuff, anyway.

The capper was a few miles away, visiting the convenience store Kevin Smith made famous in "Clerks." Lorrie and I were much more taken by the abandoned video store next door, for we could peek in the window and see videotapes -- a few of which we know would be worth some bucks on the internet market -- just sitting right there. So "Goliath Awaits" and "Cookie" continue to await someone to come whisk them away.

Convenience store itself was less impressive, particularly the guy who played a disenchanted clerk better than Brian O'Halloran did in the movie. So I bought a lighter to commemmorate the moment -- Devils' red, of course, since Kevin Smith is a big Devils fan -- and our adventure drew to a close.

So all in all, a great weekend and I'm awaiting the list of the celebs at the October Chiller. I'll try not to get too worked up, though, in case one or more of them Zöe us. (And just for the record, on her Twitter, Ms. Bell says she never was officially confirmed for the event.)

Castaway, the sequel

There were lots of reasons to be psyched about Peter Frampton's show at the Beacon. I've never seen him before, he's one of 'Ark's favorites and he always reminds me of my Great Aunt Ruthie -- a rockin' soul if ever there was one -- who just loooooved him. Plus, although any show at the Beacon is special, this one was being recorded for release. He was playing the entire "Frampton Comes Alive" set (including rarities only found on the deluxe release) and his son, Julian, came out for a couple numbers.

But the spotlight was clearly on the reunion between Frampton and the custom 1954 Les Paul guitar that was used on the landmark live album. That guitar was thought lost forever when a cargo plane crashed in 1980. But the guitar had been picked up in the wreckage and played around Caracas, and a local customs agent helped forge its return to a very grateful Frampton. The Beacon show was to be the first place it was played publicly.

It was a sensory experience when Peter brought the guitar out for "Do You Feel Like We Do," the seminal song that closes the live album. Just goosebumps of all kinds, eyes tearing up and all that kind of wonderful stuff that comes from being part of such a legendary moment. It sounded beautiful -- obviously well rested up (see Peter's picture of the guitar being put to bed the night before the show). The notes just reverberated through the crowd and all the years they were apart kind of melted away.

Not to make light of the rest of the show, for Frampton showed what a profoundly great musician he is throughout the course of the evening with great little bits of occasional storytelling -- like how "Show Me the Way" originally bombed as a single, until he was asked to release the live version and that shot up the charts.

It's easy to see how he might have gotten stuck in the quagmire of pop icon with affable hits such as "Show Me the Way" and "Baby I Love Your Way." But that belies his real power as a musician, because even back then, he had reinvisioned the Rolling Stones' "Jumping Jack Flash" with a funky slow groove.

We got two takes of the heart-felt "All I Want to Be (Is By Your Side)," an early crowd participation number and later more of a cool jazz version with no bells and whistles that was just as powerful.



And all the so-called fans who ran off the minute the "Frampton Comes Alive" segment of the show ended missed some really great stuff. Frampton won a Grammy in 2007 for Best Pop Instrumental Album for "Fingerprints" and it's really obvious why. He's such a virtuoso that he can take something that one might wrongly have suspected to be off his radar like Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" and make it his own.

Peter brought out son Julian for two numbers, and the kid has a strong voice, although both his numbers came across as a little perfunctory. But it was fun to watch them mix it up and the songs were well assisted across the board by Peter and his band.



Mark was sitting on the trump card, though, a song he expected me to realllllly love. And we finally got it to end the night, as THE guitar returned again for another perfect selection, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Can't imagine what that must have been like for Mr. Frampton, because just witnessing that felt like holding a winning lottery ticket. Definitely looking forward to hearing more out of both of them, and not just on the upcoming DVD.