Close encounters of the Chiller kind

Going to Chiller is always an adventure. It's different than the "big" comic conventions, in some ways, it's less expensive -- except apparently in the case of Dawn Wells of "Gilligan's Island" fame. And it takes place mainly on one floor of a hotel, in different rooms ranging from grandiose to teenie-weenie.

So when I heard five of the people I wanted to see at the October 2014 convention were in the same room, it should have been the cause of celebration. Instead it was a cause for concern. At one of the more recent conventions, that room housed a "Jaws" faction -- props along the back wall, production designer extraordinaire Joe Alves along the right side, artist Roger Kastiel along the left side and the deputy (Jeff Kramer), the skinny dipper (Susan Backlinie) and the journalist/screenplay writer (Carl Gottlieb) along the front side. It worked very well then.

I really couldn't fathom how they possibly planned to put the "Happy Days" contingent -- Henry Winkler, Marion Ross and Cindy Williams, a four-person "Baywatch" group, Oscar-nominated actresses Teri Garr and Lesley Ann Warren, sister-and-brother team Kristy and Jimmy McNichol, Diana Canova of "Soap" and Butch Patrick of "The Munsters." It didn't seem like there would be room enough for them to breathe, let alone the lines they would bring in.

Therefore, my game plan was to go to that room first during the one-hour pre-show, get the celebrities who came down early, and basically hang around until I got everyone I wanted to get in there. It did work like a charm.

When we got in the first person I saw Marion Ross, just looking so much like Mrs. C, even though almost FOUR decades have past. And she was just as sweet as you would think Richie and Joanie's mom would be. So cordial, even though she has to have been told that people grew up watching her, what, a billion times? I also mentioned her "Night Court" appearance, we laughed about how her character related more TV characters than real people and when she gave the laundry list, "The Fonz" had been one of those names. She also appeared on "The John Larroquette Show," that guest shot was probably one she didn't hear as much about from fans over the weekend.

By then, Henry Winkler's line was out the door and Teri Garr's line was starting to form (even though she wasn't there yet). As Teri was my No. 1 priority at the event, we got on that line. But then a strange and wonderful thing happened. And this has never happened to me in the history of conventions. (I think I'm enough of a seasoned veteran now to make that proclamation.) Henry Winkler walked up and down his line, shaking hands and thanking people for waiting for him. How precious is he?

So we switched over to his side and waited for our turn to talk to him more personally. Around this time, one of the more stringent of Chiller's security personnel tried to clean up the lines in the room. Henry's was out the door, Teri's was out the door and everything else was kind of devil-may-care. The "Baywatch" people, whose table we stood alongside, weren't even in the room yet, and there was already not enough room for people to come and go.

Anyway, not even half-hour later, there goes Henry up and down his line again thanking people. Just so charming. MORE charming than Fonzie. Ayyyyy! I got to say something about how I grew up on "Happy Days" and I had just watched "Night Shift" that week and he was so wonderful on "Arrested Development" and it was a massive run-on sentence (a lot like this one). The way he really listened and then said, "Thank you so much" was about as heart-felt as I've heard from any celeb ever.

By this time, Lesley Ann Warren was on the scene. She's a big favorite of mine, particularly from "Clue" and "Victor/Victoria," but I'll watch anything she's in. I told her what a huge fan I am and apologized ahead of time for wanting to focus on Miss Scarlet, because that movie I've probably seen more than any other one. I knew that she replaced Carrie Fisher in the role just before they started filming and said I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role. More very genuine thanks and her addition that "sometimes it just works out that way" in Hollywood.

Then, the polarizing moment. Mark had been taking pictures for me, while I was talking with the celeb and the posed shots as well. Lesley Ann saw him out of the corner of her eye and playfully chided her with her finger until I said "he's with me." There's an unwritten rule that you don't take pictures at Chiller if you're not with that particular person at the time. Mark said he really got scared that she was gonna smack him down, but I thought she was really sweet about it and not offended at all.

So I continued on my "Clue" diatribe after that about how the film really didn't reach an audience until it got out on video, but I was one of the people who had actively sought out movie houses playing the different endings when it was released in theaters. She was impressed at that. And we took our picture together and I told her how absolutely wonderful she looked. I added that she would meet a lot of "Clue" fans that weekend, but to remember that I'd be the biggest one. When we bid farewell, she thanked me by name. It seems like such a small thing, but it means a lot when they remember your name long enough to do that.

After that, it was time to get on the Teri Garr line. And while it was a bit frustrating, it had to be a lot easier on us than it would wind up being for those coming on Saturday. The door of the tiny room was getting really crowded with people who seemed to be pretending they wanted to be in the room, only to jam themselves on Teri or Henry's lines when the security personnel asked us regularly to "move back."

But it was also during this time that I was "recognized" myself. Eric Ackerman, someone I've talked to online and specifically in the Fans of John H. Reilly group on Facebook, asked if I was the Paige who does the John and Sharon Wyatt sites. I was really taken aback ... for 30 seconds. Then we started chatting like old friends. He told me great stories about one of the "General Hospital" Fan Club gatherings, and especially about John's wife Liz, who I adore anyway. That's when I heard of Dawn Wells' $100 pricetag, oh well, I wasn't going for her anyway. While we waited, Jeremy Jackson of "Baywatch" amusingly stopped to take a cell phone picture of a poster of himself on the wall.

Teri arrived, by wheelchair as she suffers from multiple sclerosis, and slowly but surely, the line began to move. Now the thing is, you wait your turn, and then everything is stuffed into about a two-minute span, including the part in which you pay. So first she took note of my "This means something" mashed potatoes shirt from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" -- have I mentioned that's my all-time favorite movie in a while? And she said "that was a great scene" while I was digging out my bills. Then I gave up my treasured lobby card for her signature, and although she's understandably soft-spoken, she said something so sweet that I'll never forget it -- "That was a wonderful film." Exactly the way I feel.

Even though it's difficult for her, she didn't even just sign her name, she added "with love." Mark got a nice photo of me with Teri when we were setting up for our picture, as I told her I've been a big fan of her career. She's just one of those actresses who absolutely no one else is like. And that's a real special gift. We took a really nice picture (or a couple as Mark has been well-schooled in the Lorrie art of getting more than one) and I wished her well for the weekend, although I have to admit I got increasingly concerned about her in such a small space for the whole weekend.

And then off to see the McNichols! This was a strange one, because there was Jimmy's small table and Kristy's to the right of that and Jimmy was available first, so we started talking. I, of course, mentioned what I do for Sharon and John because he was on "General Hospital" back in the day. He quickly pointed to a picture he had brought with him for autographing purposes from those days. And then I saw the CD. Now I used to have Kristy and Jimmy's album, and I clearly remember dancing around my bedroom in my formative years to it. So that I had to pretty much had to get.

Then the whole thing gets confusing. Because you could get a picture with them both, which I wanted, and they both would sign the CD and then I was also getting an autographed photo of Kristy for a friend. I'm not really sure how that went down, there's a good possibility I was overcharged, since there was no CD-photo-autograph price. And I think Jimmy made up the autographed CD price on the spot.

The really cute moment, though, was Jimmy pointing out one of their songs was called "Page by Page." He really found that amusing, considering what my name is, and even called Kristy over to laugh about it. She then promptly spelled my name wrong on the CD. But I have to say again, she was really personable, all happiness and light and listened attentively to everything I had to say. Her reaction didn't seem like someone who was hearing something for the kajillionth time. This had to be the most appreciative crop of Chillerites I've run across.

She had a great assortment of pictures on her table and I wasn't sure which to pick for Rowdy Ron, so I had her just pick out her favorite. She was going to just write "to Rowdy," which I found hysterical for some reason. When I added that it was for a lifelong superfan in Florida, he got an extra "Hey!" written on his photo.

Finally, we were able to leave the Room of Doom. Too small, Chiller, way too small. Especially when we got into some of the larger rooms and guests had no visitors at their tables. Wouldn't it have been better to give Teri Garr some space and some air? How do you not see it when you're designing who will sit where? But I digress.

On to the Tatum O'Neal line! She co-starred with Kristy in "Little Darlings," and it's really too bad that hasn't been released officially, because I would have had them both sign my copy. She was in the big wide "Living Room" thankfully. And we ran into our new friends, Eric and mom Audrey again. It really made the time pass swiftly being able to talk with them about who they've seen and what those people were like (although I didn't know about Brad Dourif until I started writing this blog!)

In fact, we spent so much time talking that I didn't "prepare" for getting to the front of the line. And I totally forgot the name of the movie I wanted to mention to her -- "Circle of Two" with Richard Burton. So I gave some generic line about being a big fan. How boring, I mean everyone says that! "Circle of Two," now that would have been something.

But Tatum definitely provided the comedic highlight of the evening. She was giving Mark serious direction on how to take photos with a cell phone. "Lift it higher ... higher!" she urged. I didn't mind, I was getting a tight hug the whole time. "Higher! Higher!" Mark still wasn't doing it right, so her handler took over and snapped a few pictures. And darn if the Oscar winner for "Paper Moon" wasn't right. The pictures were better when taken higher.

Mark did take this advice to heart for the rest of the night. With both William B. Davis and Joe Pantoliano, he professed to be from the Tatum O'Neal school of picture taking, raising his cell phone aloft for both.

I was excited about seeing Bill Davis, who played the Cigarette Smoking Man on "The X-Files" so Xcellently. He had no line, so I got to talk to him quite a bit about the one episode he wrote for the show, "En Ami." I asked whether it wound up like he had envisioned it, and he said it seemed really different, particularly at the end when he throws a disc with important information into the lake. The ending kind of came off as ambivelent, when Davis said what he really wanted to show was that CSM was not that bad. I guess Chris Carter and the powers-that-be wanted something a little less obvious and more subject to interpretation, though.

Then we talked about the episode's title "En Ami," which if you pronounce it as straight French means "a friend." Buuuut, if you just say it quickly in English, it's more like "en-emy." He seemed to appreciate that distinction being picked up. When we took the picture, he gave me a tight hug that felt about as far from away from the menacing CSM as he could possibly get. Bill also said good-bye to me by name.

My capper was a doozie, Joe Pantoliano, who has been the quirky comic relief in what seems like every movie ever. My personal favorite is "Memento," and I told him so, but he couldn't seem to hear me too well over the din in his room. But I did get some nice tight hugs for the photo -- although I'm seriously disturbed by the presence of 1.) a Rangers jersey, 2.) a scary looking hand and 3.) a photo bomber in our picture. When I look just at us, though, I'm all good.

It was a fun whirlwind of a Chiller, that's for sure. Still hoping that everything's OK in the little room with all the cool celebrities in it.

Waiting for Birdman ... and finding Supermen

I had a great fortnight with my sister recently. We got to see Fleetwood Mac reunited and as strong as ever. We spent time with treasured family. Watched movies and battled in '80s trivia games. And we hit the big city for New York Comic Con and the New York Film Festival and to ransack The Strand. A pretty great way to spend time with your best friend.

The comic con was set at the end of the two-week period, and we noticed that "Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance") would be closing the film festival. We already knew that stars Michael Keaton (a big favorite of both of ours -- but particularly my sister) and Edward Norton would be doing a panel at Comic Con, and we went to Lincoln Center to get overly priced tickets for the big preview, but they were already sold out. Then we found out other screenings would be going on in other theaters around the complex and decided to go to that.

But that was even after the convention. In the meantime, we found we could score tickets to the 30th anniversary screening of "This Is Spinal Tap," and yet another brilliant entertainer, Christopher Guest, would be on hand for the film. So off we went to that.

Guest possesses a razor-sharp wit as well as the ability to disappear into whatever role he's playing. I've always been astonished by how completely the actor vanishes and the character appears, something that would seem to be made even more difficult by the fact that he's often directing the movie which he is always starring in. He told us he hadn't seen the film that did "for rock and roll what 'The Sound of Music' did for hills" in about 12 years.

So we laughed our butts off with the audience at the film festival watching the so-called first mockumentary -- although let me state right here that Guest told us he really doesn't like that moniker.

And then Guest and the moderator sat down to answer questions from the audience. Like I said, Guest doesn't suffer fools likely, so those with inane questions got deftly swatted without being held up for ridicule. That makes one a little wary of asking their own question, but it is supposed to be what I do for a living, right?

So up my hand went up. The moderator called on me. I stood up, and someone not even in my general vicinity proceeded to ask his own question. He was swatted. I tried again. I asked Guest whether he wished he'd kept anything from the film. He still had the Gibson Les Paul which he used in the movie. And the other thing he kept was a napkin with different variations of the band's name, Spinal Tap. Whew, no swatting.

Stupid question of the Q&A ... and there's always at least one ... was about how many fingers he had on his right hand. Wrong film!

But many of the questions did lead to interesting responses. Guest told us about how many musicians -- including Jeff Beck -- had come up to him over the years insisting that Spinal Tap was an incredible simulation of their own band. Guest maintained no group, in particular, inspired the plot, but that didn't keep from the audience from continually hazarding guesses.

A couple days later, it was time for New York Comic Con. We were wearing our new "Supernatch" shirts. Mine proclaims Team Crowley on front and Team Castiel on the back and Lorrie's is the reverse. They were VERY popular. In fact, of all the conventions I've been to, this shirt has gotten the most feedback of anything I've ever worn -- even if many seemed puzzled over being able to play for both teams at once.

We went to the panel for "Librarians," basically because John Larroquette will be starring in the TNT series -- although he was not on hand for the Q&A. They showed us clips from the series, and even with Rebecca Romijn as the female lead, it looks interesting enough to warrant a watch. The project is the baby of Noah Wyle, who was in the three "Librarian" films as well as an occasional appearance on the series and serves as executive producer, and writer John P. Rogers, who had me at the numerous references he made to his show being like "The X-Files." Also in the cast is Christian Kane ("Angel"), who admitted it's nice getting to play a character he actually likes for a change.

From there I went to a panel I liked a lot less. It was "Elementary," the modern take on Sherlock Holmes with Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. They showed the entire season opener first, and then proceeded to deliver what sis and I call "a Smallville panel." That's a Q&A so boring that you realize your time could be better spent elsewhere. Luckily, I had something great lined up next -- a photo op with Gillian Anderson.

Although I met Anderson the previous year, she IS Gillian Anderson. She starred in one of my all-time favorite shows and her work continues to astonish and entertain me. During my five seconds with her (those things go really quickly and I think I actually got more time than the photographer would have liked me to), I congratulated her on doing the "Streetcar Named Desire" prequel she had just signed on to direct. She thanked me, but added it's only a short film and not a major deal. Then I lied to her. I said I'd see her at the panel for "A Vision of Fire." But I didn't. Because I couldn't get in. One hundred thirty capacity for a Gillian Anderson panel? She wasn't even the only one in the discussion. Same thing happened with the "Librarians" cast signing. Limit of 130. I think 130 was the magic number.

After being shut out of those things, I was a little concerned about being on the line for the "Birdman" panel, since it was what we wanted to see most for the whole thing at the sold-out convention. Just think about how many tickets it would take to sell out the Jacob Javits Center. So I got on the line very early. Lorrie joined me soon after and we sat through most of some kind of Batman comics panel as well as "Once Upon a Time" -- another full screening and "Smallville" panel. But each time one ended, we were able to move up, until we had pretty good seats for the main event.

Before Keaton and Norton graced us with their presence, though, the emcee asked for volunteers to do Keaton impressions. I volunteered Lorrie's "Johnny Dangerously" impersonation. "Why are you saying that she'll do it?" he asked me. "Because she can't," Lorrie offered. When he kept haranguing me on that, I added, "I'm her agent." That shut him up and sis got to show off the prison grapevine bit she started doing when we were kids.

The emcee teased her about the length of her bit, but he probably would have thought twice if he knew about the crappy "Jack Frost" impression that was coming next. And the one after that that seemed like "Beetlejuice" crossed with "Batman," instead of one or the other. Lorrie beat them by a longshot ... not just saying that as her agent.

Anyhoo, finally, what we had been waiting for -- Keaton and Norton. They brought some clips. As I knew we'd be seeing the movie the next day, I watched their reactions. Michael seemed to be very amused by the clips, and he later told us about how internally he was thinking about Norton's reactions while acting with him.

Even in the little clips, you could tell what an amazing film it is. The two actors told great stories about working in the film, although they were intentionally vague about the more technical aspects of the trademark long shots. The moviemakers apparently have been able to get way past the days of Alfred Hitchock's "Rope."

"It's not like anything you've seen before," Keaton told us. It's true, it almost defies description. It might exist just to defy description.

So back for more the next day, after a soggy, in-vain wait for the NYCC shuttle near Penn Station. My big plan of getting William Shatner to sign my "Airplane II" lobby card was kiboshed by his exorbitant autographing fee, but Brent Spiner was much more reasonable. I'm not a Trekkie, but even I laughed when Jonathan Frakes came by and kissed him on the top of the head. When I got up to Spiner, I found he fist-bumps rather than shakes hands and keeps a bottle of hand sanitizer close by. I told him I enjoy his work whenever I see him and my personal favorite is Bob Wheeler from "Night Court." To that end, I brought him Neccos, a reference to a storyline from his penultimate episode. "Very inventive," he proclaimed.

Then I waited on Anderson's autograph line to get my "X-Files" lobby card signed. I noticed she had both a can and a bottle of Coke on her table and pointed out that we're fellow Cokeheads. Got a chuckle at that. And then I told her she looked gorgeous and to stop that because she's ruining it for the rest of us. That induced a big smile and a nice laugh.

We got done relatively early on the second day, and so Lorrie found us a nice panel to sit down in. On the 10th anniversary of Christopher Reeve's passing, OUR Superman's foundation was continuing to carry on his work. This became my favorite thing at the convention. It started with the video atop this blog. And then we met these four men in the panel -- Dustin, Drew, Rob, Kent. The four real-life Supermen. And Matthew Reeve, Christopher's son, who is helping champion the epidural stimulation procedure that has enabled these men to walk again.

All of them were so engaging, whether they were talking about how this "big idea" -- and the website is called ReeveBigIdea.org -- rejuvenated their own lives or how these four and more are looking to bring 36 more people in for the next treatments. #36for36 they call it. They laughed about being at their first Comic Con and wanting to race their chairs down escalators.

Matthew talked some about his dad, what he was like as a father and how close the cause was to his heart. It was almost no-pressure sales, they told us what they'd been through and did tell us how to donate, but didn't force-feed any of it. And the power of their words affected me greatly. I've donated since, I post their information as much as I see it, and I hope the 36 get their 36.

After the panel ended, we shook hands with these men. Some of them had said in that video that they couldn't do that before the procedure. And they did so with us, without thinking twice. So inspiring. I even got to tell Matthew very quickly how much his dad had meant to me over the years. It marked the perfect ending to the convention, you can't really think about how crowded the thing is or what panels you got shut out of when that is right before your eyes.

And the vacay wrapped up with the landing of "Birdman," which is beautiful, artistic, and even touching beyond possible description. So much more than the long-take calling card that will be its initial draw in the media and maybe to the public. It's supremely clever as a script and amazingly clever technically. I'm expecting great things from it this awards season, and I'll be disappointed if that doesn't come to pass. As for us, it was an award-winning fortnight to be sure. Pass that through the prison grapevine, will ya?

My show of shows

I never thought it would happen. Experiencing Fleetwood Mac with all five members from their '70s heyday. In 1987, I saw the Mac on the University of South Florida campus, but Lindsey Buckingham had left after the recording of "Tango in the Night." Then when I saw them again in 2009, Christine McVie had long been retired.

I have five silver rings -- one for each member of the seminal group -- and I've always worn the ones of those performing to their respective shows. The most I'd ever gotten to wear was four. Until October 6.

It was a show like no other and a feeling like no other. I can't think of any other band in which it doesn't matter to me who the lead vocalist is. Even with The Beatles, I tend to show my preferences. But Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, I love them all. And the different shades they bring out in their music ... and in me.

Stevie was my idol in my formative years. I had the most immediate connection to her -- the dreamer, a strong woman who bends but does not break. I pitched a fit once when we weren't home in time to watch her HBO special.

Then there was Lindsey. He feeds my hunger for guitar in a most soulful way. He's the bridge between the dreamer and the wizened woman of the world.

Christine. Always passionate and affecting, even when I didn't quite understand what she was singing about in my youth. In my youth, my favorite song of hers was "Over My Head." On stage at Madison Square Garden, she admitted the writing of that song was affected by the addition of Lindsey and Stevie to the roster. But now that I can understand the feelings and the yearnings, she's perhaps the most resonant of all with me.

It started off ... as their shows always do ... with "The Chain," the one song written by all five members of the band. It had so much power with the five of them on board, as it was indeed proven that you can never break the chain.

You know how many bands just save their most famous songs or the rockers for the back half of their set? Fleetwood Mac just can't do it, everything is a hit. I feared that the people behind me would call for me to sit down after the first few numbers, but I did stay on my feet and sway and dance for almost the entire night.

Christine's first chance to take the spotlight was on "You Make Loving Fun." That starts with the words "Sweet, wonderful you." And it was pretty much the way I saw it too. So wonderful to have her back. She may have not performed for 15 years or so, but she didn't miss a bloody beat. She completes Fleetwood Mac and she completes me.

And then Stevie stepped forward for my childhood song "Dreams." And then Lindsey took the mic to rock through "Second Hand News." See what I mean? Just one gem after another.

It's strange and wonderful juxtaposition, you go from Stevie's "Rhiannon" to Christine's "Everywhere." It seems and feels right. And then Lindsey rocked again for "I Know I'm Not Wrong."

And then the t-shirt portion of the program. The marketing people came up with the ingenious idea of "Tusk You" shirts in tribute to the the mostly instrumental "Tusk." Even a better idea to put the Stevie song "Sisters of the Moon" into the set. And even better than that to have "Sisters of the Moon" shirts to mark the occasion. And particularly well suited to me with sister in tow.

Lorrie was graciously taking pictures the whole time -- sometimes with my phone, and with each of her phones until the batteries wound down. At one point, my Lindsey ring tried to make a run for it, but luckily he was safely tucked in my bag when he did so. Brief panic, quickly averted.

I had different dances working for all the numbers -- Christine's "Say You Love Me," Stevie's "Seven Wonders" -- a song I was never a big fan that I really enjoyed that night, and Lindsey doing his fingerpicking magic on the reworked "Big Love."

And then I lost it on "Landslide." It's an emotional song to be sure, but I can't remember it ever affecting me that way before and certainly not as quickly as it did. I guess it was just being able to recognize in that moment that it was a landmark moment for me and how phenomenal it was to have my sister there for it.

But I recovered for Lindsey's "Never Going Back Again." Then Stevie prepared to deliver "Gypsy," only it was actually Christine's turn to sing "Over My Head." And then Stevie twirled away on "Gypsy."

Maybe because I hadn't seen Christine in 25 years, I was grooving on her songs pretty badly. Or pretty well-ly... "Little Lies" was a lot of fun, because subconsciously you're trying to sing all three of their parts. And I was tugging on Lorrie quite a bit during the number, while she was trying to take pictures and sing and sway. I'm quite sure whenever I hear this song hereafter, I will think about that and laugh ... and sing ... and sway.

We didn't lose incredibly much from the setlist with Christine's return. "Oh Well," yeah, it's one of my all-time favorite Mac songs, but ... wait for it ... oh well. The main others were Lindsey's slowed-down version of "Go Insane" and Stevie's "Stand Back." But in our favor, we still had Stevie's "Gold Dust Woman" and Lindsey bringing down the house as always with "I'm So Afraid."

By this time, we're rolling toward the big finish and if I wasn't having such a good time, I'd probably be forlorn about the night coming to an end. But when Lindsey kicked into "Go Your Own Way," it was impossible to go anyway but theirs. "World Turning" rocked out -- complete with wacky Mick solo and our favorite Brett Tuggle sampling Lindsey vocals -- and then right into "Don't Stop," which had been sung without Christine on the more recent tours, but never should be done without her again.

The band intros finally afforded us a better look at John McVie, and I had been supremely fearful about seeing the Mac in any version again after hearing he had been diagnosed with cancer last year. But he looked great -- when we could see him and he wasn't tucked away to the right of Mick's drum set, and thus, out of view. But he was perfect all night and it was inspiring to have him anchoring the lineup.

After a brief break, they returned with "Silver Springs," with the dynamic vocals between Stevie and Lindsey only bolstered by Christine. And then the traditional capper with an unusual twist, Christine came on stage to perform "Songbird," and this year, he had Lindsey in tow with tasteful guitar licks.

I'm not sure I can go back to seeing this band if ANY of these five go missing again. ... OK, I probably can, that's probably overstating the case, but I do know it won't be the same. This is the way it's supposed to be for me.

I was worried about this blog not conveying exactly what I needed it to. I've been fortunate enough to go to a lot of great events -- landmark concerts with once-in-a-lifetime occurrences and conventions where I got to meet childhood heroes and other people I adore -- but this one is just going to stay in my heart and soul forever. And I guess that really says it all.

Why we should all crush on Glenn Tilbrook

If you ever have been to a Glenn Tilbrook show, you'll understand exactly what I'm about to talk about. And if you have never seen a Glenn Tilbrook show, you might not really get the gist of it, but I'm going to do my level best, because the man is worth it.

He's best known as the affable lead singer of Squeeze, handling the musical part of the songwriting chores for the new wave/pop band (I know, I don't agree either, but that was the era in which they burst on the scene out of the United Kingdom). He can be in his element in any scenario -- in reunion shows with that act, in band shows with his own Fluffers, and particularly, in solo performances. It was the latter in which we veteran Tilbrookians -- myself, Mark and Liam -- saw our hero at City Winery on Sept. 25.

At this time, it's only right to talk about Mark's substantive man crush on Glenn. Now Mark really gets on board for artists that I guess I can say I gave him his first serious introduction to (Rick Springfield and Lindsey Buckingham spring to mind), but it's a whole different level when it's Glenn. Something about the unusual way in which he crafts a song and then brings that to fruition -- the first video on this blog, "Take Me I'm on Yours," being a really strong example of that.

Anyway, the dreamlike state Mark gets into while watching Glenn seemed to be aided at this show by the oscillating fan blowing straight into the artist's face and sending his wild mane in all directions -- sometimes at once. Here's an example of that in one of the most fun songs to help Mr. Tilbrook sing.

Even when Glenn is seemingly putting together a show off the cuff by calling for requests and that sort of thing, he still stays perfectly in command of it all. He laid down 27 songs for us, from an Irish chestnut called "Ice Cream" that he sang as a childhood to fan favorites such as "Pulling Mussels (from the Shell)" and "Goodbye Girl." He included a good bunch of his post-band work too, including my favorite, "Untouchable," and Mark's, "Still."

Glenn's solo version of Squeeze standard "Slap and Tickle" might go a long way to explaining my original premise. You're sitting there, listening and watching and just marveling that one man can handle all these chores at the same time. It's like Michael Jordan taking a free throw for the championship while doing his substantial (no doubt) taxes and fielding phone calls from his agent at the same time. The master of the multitask, no chore of which he is anything less than spectacular at.

He's also a musical sponge, taking from probably the most wide-ranging array of influences that anyone can possibly have. On that day, he pulled the Monkees' "Pleasant Valley Sunday" out of his arsenal. Of course, that widespread range is ever-evident in the Squeeze catalog as well, and when he offered up tunes that might be lesser-known to the assembled like "Dennis" and "Black Sheep," he'd book-end them with Squeeze classics such as "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Labelled with Love."

After a break and as the show started to unfortunately wind down, he pelted us with back-to-back Squeeze classics -- "Slap and Tickle" gave way to "Pulling Mussels" and then "Another Nail from the Heart" into "Tempted," "Cold Shoulder" and the finale "Goodbye Girl."

The only time I zoned out of the show was after reading on Liam's phone that, in his final Yankee Stadium appearance, Derek Jeter smacked the game-winning hit. It was just so Jeets, so Captain, so him. And I didn't mind so much because the song being performed at that moment was "Tempted," which was not originally performed by Glenn when released by Squeeze. I get sadly puritannical at moments about things like that. Although thinking on it now, one of my favorite Fleetwood Mac songs to experience live is "Oh Well," and it's not Peter Green up there performing it.

So for everyone, and even me, since I paid no attention through my tears of joy, here's Glenn performing "Tempted" that night.

So the man crush is seriously understood, and I'd be if didn't admit to having a wee bit of one myself. Now is that ... is that love? It's the cupid, cupid, cupid disguise. That more or less survived ... now that is love. Yeah, I know, I'm not giving you anything original, just swept up in the magic of the Tilbrook.