All 4 one and one 4 autism!

One of the more fun and wilder events I've been to is Daytime Stars and Strikes at Bowlmor Lanes in Times Square. A host of former daytime actors come out and bowl with fans while others who don't want to bowl watch and eat all the food up. It's all to raise money for autism awareness, and so no matter what happens or who shows up or who doesn't or who hangs around or who doesn't, it's a blast.

I was on lane 20 with two other "stragglers" who hadn't signed up with someone else. There was Jackie, a "One Life to Live" fan who knew "Guiding Light" actors who had been on her show -- like event co-host Jerry ver Dorn and Kim Zimmer -- and Rosalyn, who at least won the autographed "Days of Our Lives" script in the silent auction. So we all had different soap likes, but we got along very well very quickly.

We excitedly welcomed our celeb -- Sonia Satra, who played Lucy Cooper on "Guiding Light" in the '90s. She was so lovely and spirited, we were hugging from the get-go. Our next-door lane neighbor was Bob Woods (Bo Buchanan on "OLTL") and he spent a lot of time chatting and joking with us. In the lane next to him, a microcosm of the mid-'80s in my life -- Michael O'Leary and Grant Aleksander (Rick Bauer and Phillip Spaulding from "GL.") I was doing a little jig in my uncomfortable and unfashionable bowling shoes. It wasn't long before I was in a Musketeer sandwich getting my picture taken. I told them they seemed ageless; Grant quipped that they needed to buy me some new glasses.

What #teamsonja lacked in actual bowling skill, we made up for in enthusiasm. Whoever wasn't otherwise occupied cheered on the others. We invented the "high four" for when someone knocked down four pins -- using four fingers, of course. That led to the high "nine" and the troublesome high "seven" ('cause there are a couple different ways for someone to produce seven fingers.)

Whenever it was my turn to go, it seemed like it was Bob Woods' turn to as well. The lanes seem so much slimmer at Bowlmor, it kinda seemed like we were all bowling together. Anyway, there was always a photographer or a fellow actor or someone requiring his attention, which then required mine because they were often standing in my lane at the time. But the most distracting? At one point, he leaned back and stuck out his belly like an armchair quarterback on a lazy Sunday. Then I really couldn't concentrate from giggling too much.

I was doing all right, bowling-wise, I found the pocket but I kept not getting that last pin to fall down. My usual colorful phraseology was replaced with exclamations of "bugger," but Sonia and my team were very supportive and Bob told me that I was playing quite well. Then we made some sort of bet for his Daytime Emmy that I still can't recall, other than the fact that I won the bet and the man owes me an Emmy. (In all fairness, he later couldn't remember what the actual bet was either.)

Jackie kept disappearing during our game, when it wasn't her turn, she would run around to other lanes and get selfies with the other actors. She would come back with pictures of her with Kim Zimmer and Jerry ver Dorn and Grant Aleksander (whose scoring line garnered a lot of jokes since it read "Gant.") I wanted pictures too, but I was enjoying the laughter and hugs so I didn't really leave the lane. Besides everyone loves Sonia, so we had lots of visitors!

Just as she was leaving, I caught a glimpse of Elvera Roussel, who played Hope on "GL" kinda before my era. The last time I attended the event, I bought a picture of hers and she graciously autographed it. She was under the weather, but told me of a very interesting documentary she's a part of for people raised in Cambodia. She said to look for it in the next year. I certainly will.

Event co-host Liz Keifer, who I've seen in almost every soap over the years, came to visit and I was telling her about how I have clips of her on my Sean and Tiffany YouTube channel. She exclaimed, "the crazy nun!" Talk about your thankless roles, Camellia in 1986-'87 has got to be one of those. Liz said she just didn't know what she was supposed to do with the character, because the show didn't really know either. They didn't give her a lot to work with, so when "GL" called for her to take over Blake Spaulding, she decided she was going to do the character her way and made no bones about it. That obviously worked out in favor, she really did make Blake her own.

Was hoping to see some of Michael O'Leary being the character we all suspect he is, and when I was taking a picture of him with Liz, he turned it on full blast. He kept moving them in closer and closer until I couldn't see anything in the viewfinder. Then there was this mad grabbing of fans and actors and we all wound up in a funny group picture. At which time, I quipped something about how since I dug into Liz's acting closet, I had to do it for Michael -- bringing up the 1981 action cheesefest "Lovely but Deadly," which seemed to be on cable all the time when Michael started hitting it big on "GL." That made him laugh pretty heartily.

Jerry came over at one point, and since I had used my big story on him last time -- regaling him with the tale and picture from when I first met him back in 1986 -- I was much more anxious to see his reunion with a woman named Susan. As we were stragglers, we befriended her when she sat behind our lane for the event. She was in "The Music Man" in school with Jerry back in the late '60s and played his daughter in the show. It was so sweet to see them meet again.

Mostly it was just hanging with Sonia and Bob. Bob told us when Sonia was "One Life to Live," he always wanted to have more scenes with her. And when her character Barbara Graham went to the dark side, he wanted his Bo Buchanan to set her free. I took complete credit when Sonia threw a strike in her final frame, 'cause I called it. And when Bob was bowling in the 10th, I was heckling him so he wouldn't finish with a higher score than my 77. He didn't. Michael came back to razz Sonia for beating her score, but she said mine topped his and I added that since she's my teammate technically she beat him too. (I know faulty logic, but you had to be there.)

Then it got really funny and really silly as none of us could bowl with Bob making us laugh. At one point, Bob and Sonia were asked to pose for a photo with the bowling balls and that led to an unending series of "Bob has orange balls" taunts, for his bowling ball did match his shirt. #orangeballs. Won't soon forget that.

After our game finished, then I went to find Beth Chamberlin, who I always thought did such a masterful job of replacing an Emmy-winning actress who was a huge fan favorite. She too made Beth her own. And lordy, she looks like she hadn't aged since the show went off the air! Sure, she's a fitness trainer, but look at least a year older, won't ya?

Actually, I had a really nice conversation with her about the difference between soaps now and then. And how soap magazines with spoilers and now social media with people typing up caustic phrases without really paying attention to what's going on on screen have changed things so much. Soaps used to be an event, if you didn't see it when it aired, you just never did. Nowadays, if you miss it, you can catch the whole thing later online or even on someone's YouTube channel.

Also talked with Bob Woods about being the proverbial bridesmaid to Tony Geary (except the one time when he won the Emmy that he owes me). He told us about how at that first one, Tony's plan was to get good and snockered at the event. But Bob said he told Tony he would win, and that he should "be there" for that moment. When Bob won the following year, the show wasn't broadcast on national television, so he wouldn't have gotten to see it if an acquaintance at a local Philly station hadn't filmed it. And the person who presented him with the statue? The previous year's outstanding lead actress, co-star Robin Strasser.

Didn't win anything at the auctions or the raffle, but I didn't leave empty-handed either. Besides the cool gift bag, I wanted something that was part of one of the live auctions, a t-shirt for "Quiet on the Set," the play that one of my all-time favorites Terrell Anthony (Rusty, "GL") created featuring a number of different daytimers. Robert Newman had contributed a T-shirt for the event, which he signed. I wanted that! And though my bid wasn't the highest, I did convince the lovely lady who did win to sell it to me afterward.

People I saw in passing: Ron Raines (Alan Spaulding on "GL" as well as a Broadway legend). If I didn't run after him, I wouldn't have gotten my rockin' picture, because he seemed to take off before the bowling started. Lisa Brown and Martha Byrne (mother and daughter on "As the World Turns") were on the lanes to the other side of us, but other than showing Lisa where she was bowling and saying "hi," I didn't get to spend time with them.

Last time, I got a lot of entertainment out of hanging with Sean Ringgold, a big teddy bear of a fellow who played Shaun on "OLTL." We passed each other outside the restrooms. Not exactly quality time, but his smile is worth its weight in gold.

Oh, and I saw what I thought was the back of Jay Hammer's head when I was signing in. It probably was, since I later saw a photo of him with the other actors on the Daytime Stars and Stripes Facebook page. I soooooo wanted to show him the "Where's our baby?" that he wrote for me after my sister spotted him in her video store and sent him across the street to my newspaper back in 1990.

And the capper. As I left, Kim Zimmer hopped in the elevator. I said she was lucky no one else was in there or I would have made her stop for a picture. (Since I had taken a couple with her in the mid-'80s, I didn't feel the need to press the issue.) I said I enjoyed her work for many years on "GL" and she thanked me. The doors opened and she went her way and off I went to work. End of a fun-filled day at #webowl4autism.

The proverbial three-headed Monster

Monster Mania in Cherry Hill, New Jersey is a great place to meet actors. It's organized, well-spaced and the volunteers don't look like they'd like to disembowel you with some kind of B-movie three-pronged sword. They'll ask politely to smooth out a line. Fellow attendees going in all directions at once say "excuse me" when they accidentally bump you. In short, the antithesis of New York Comic Con and Chiller Theatre in that respect. And they get cool guests too.

I was most excited to meet Robert Patrick. Most everyone knows him as T-1000 from the "Terminator" saga, but he's John Doggett of "The X-Files" to me. The much-beleaguered character who fans didn't give a chance because they were so wrapped up in their Mulder and Scullyness. Some of his episodes in the final two seasons rank amongst my all-time favorites. But I was still a little worried about meeting him. He just looks so intense.

So I was really caught off guard when it was my turn on line and he said "Hi, beautiful" before I had even uttered a word. Mark quipped he would have flattened the guy for taking liberties, but we're talking T-1000, right? Not really someone you want to mess with. And besides, he was so nice that there wasn't any reason to.

Then he spotted my X-Files ninth-season crew sweatshirt. "Where did you get that?" he inquired. "eBay, of course," I responded, looking at the ground in mock shame. But that kicked off a discussion about how Robert could list his own stuff on the auction site. He has a ton of that kind of stuff, he said.

So I picked out an X-Files picture on his autograph table and he started to sign it, writing "Where's Muldah?" -- a funny take on Doggett's Bahstan accent. I truthfully said I didn't really care where Mulder was, because I enjoyed him and his character greatly.

That seamlessly segued into self-promotion for Patrick, who is starring on CBS' "Scorpion." His character, Cabe Gallo, is the government handler for a team of super-geniuses who save the world every Monday night. I added that now he could save me in the photo op. He said he would save me and wrapped me up tightly for our picture.

And lest he have forgotten, then he said, "Thanks for the things you said before, it really means a lot to me." Which meant a lot to me, in turn. I added I enjoy reading his posts on Twitter and that he had responded to me a couple times -- usually about hockey. He asked my Twitter handle, I told him and said I'd post our photo there. He not only said goodbye to me, but Mark as well. I told him to have a great weekend as I'm sure anyone else who had the pleasure of meeting him also did.

Judge Reinhold was on extended lunch break, so we went to see Chris McDonald next. He usually plays the heavy in the movies, the most memorable to me being that of Thelma's husband in "Thelma and Louise," but I venture to guess that most people know him as Shooter McGavin from "Happy Gilmore." Actually, true confessions, I really know him best as Goose in "Grease 2," but my favorites of his are "Chances Are" and "Quiz Show."

There was no line when we got to him, I always hate that on the actor's behalf. And he too spoke to me before I really said anything to him. "Are you from Philadelphia?" I'm sure I gave him the sour face on that one and shook my head no. "Jersey?" he asked with great surprise.

That was kind of strike one, actually it was strike two, because his table didn't have any "Grease 2" photos and I kind of had a game plan to get one signed for my sister for her upcoming birthday. He said he had been asked a lot during the morning about that. I quipped, "Well, now you're going to have to sing 'Where does the pollen go?'" from "Grease 2." And he did, in charming bass tone and all!

That sent me reeling the other way, and I forgot to pull out one of the chips I had in my hand -- my awesome "I'm Jack Barry" impression from "Quiz Show." Later that night, I found out there was another chip that could have been played -- we have the same birthday.

I told him how much I enjoyed him in "Chances Are." Even though the impetus for the story is that his character, Louie Jeffries, gets killed, he's still ever-present in the rest of the film. McDonald said if that movie had done better he probably would have had a completely different career as a romantic leading man. (Apparently it just made back its $16 million budget in theaters, although I think it's been discovered by a lot of people on video since. I did see it on the big screen.)

We made the very fortuitous decision to get on the Reinhold line (and actually start it) about 10 minutes before he was due back. It wound up being a long and winding one by the time Judge got back down, so kudos to Mark for that call.

When I got up to his table, I displayed my "I'm Off Beat" button like some kind of Showcase Showdown model on "The Price Is Right" and his eyes and mouth widened. He seemed shocked in the best possible way and genuinely pleased that I had that and a lobby card to have signed. I threw in a little "Arrested Development" reference kinda by accident. "My name is Paige," I told him and then added, "Your name is Judge" in a similar tone to the magazine ad on the show that had a voice chip for his on-screen courtroom show.

Reinhold said "Off Beat" suffered from a trailer that played like an action/adventure when it actually was more of a romantic comedy. I asked whether he had to take a lot of dance lessons. He chuckled and said he didn't and that co-star Meg Tilly was the one who had it rough, since she was a dancer who had to act worse than she actually was. Still, he had to have taken some kind of lessons, there's a whole choreographed routine that recurs throughout the movie. Can't really improv that.

We chatted about the great cast in the movie, including Harvey Keitel, Joe Mantegna and John Turturro, and he added he was so glad that I remembered the film fondly. Which I do, it's a great one to watch and laugh over.

Monster Mania was Judge's first convention, so he was a bit distracted from people at the side of the table who may or may not have been taking pictures of him while he was with me. His handlers didn't help any, as they weren't even listening to him the couple of times he expressed his displeasure over that. If Penny Marshall was there, she would have settled the guy's hash for sure.

But he maintained his composure and took some lovely pictures. I not only had Mark taking some, but there was also a guy doing press photos who snapped some and forwarded them to us later. I felt like I was on the red carpet for a couple minutes. But the rest of the day, I was on a cloud instead since I had met three of the nicer celebrities I've had the pleasure to run across. Some "Monsters" just aren't that scary.

They say it's your belated birthday...

This year, I had the longest birthday in history. Most of the celebration was to be saved for the next week, when my sister was going to be in town and we planned to go to two Rick Springfield events in one day -- an in-store appearance on Long Island and a "Stripped Down" show in New York City.

That required a lot of planning and waking up at 7 a.m. to catch the train to Manhattan for the train to Babylon for the cab to Looney Tunes CDs. Unfortunately, it also involved subfreezing temperatures and a lot of walking for sis, who broke her toe the previous week and was in a walking boot.

We got there just in time to stand in line for about 90 minutes. On top of that, we found out that Rick had come down with a bug (not our fault this time!) The Looney Tunes staffer patrolling the line told us Rick might not perform nor take pictures with attendees. On previous occasions, musicians who had taken ill pulled the sick card on Looney Tunes. But then again, they weren't Rick Springfield.

They originally expected a healthy Rick to do three songs... he ended up doing 4 1/2 -- "Oh Well," "Human Touch" (with a lot of audience assistance), "Red House," "Jessie's Girl" (with assistance whether he actually wanted it or not) and some of "I Need You," a George Harrison Beatles composition.

On the YouTube video of the event, you can hear me go "yeahhhhhh" when Rick started "Oh Well," which also happens to be my favorite Fleetwood Mac song. He does it justice, even when he has the flu.

And then we went back out into the cold to line up for the pictures. If we skipped "I Need You," we might not have been at about 150 on the line, but we didn't. And eventually we did get back in the store and prepped to meet the man.

A bit about my plan. Originally, I helped coordinate a present for Sharon Wyatt, Rick's former co-star on "General Hospital." He was performing in Nashville on her birthday, Feb. 13. And the plan was for fellow Friends of Sharon Wyatt administrator David to take her to the show. But unfortunately, Sharon is still recovering from her umpteenth surgery for osteonecrosis of the jaw and was unable to attend. So my new plan was to get Rick to sign his new CD/DVD for her.

So we worked our way through the line. When it was my turn, and with me surprisingly not shaking for a change from either cold or Rick proximity, I told him it was my belated birthday and that my sister would be getting one signed for Sharon. I told him what that original plan was to be, and quickly got my picture snapped. Then it was her turn, and he signed "To Sharon, with love, Rick Springfield." Perfect.

There's a seamy side to being a Rick Springfield fan. You're forced to watch the lengths to which other fans go to to get to him. How they'll crowd him and try to stay in his face, as if that would make any kind of positive impression on him. (As I write this blog, he's doing a live event on stage at House of Blues in Boston. And fans were asked NOT to ask for a picture with him or a hug or an autograph during the question-and-answer session, but they did anyway.) I'm a dedicated fan, but I never want to be THAT kind of fan. And I think I'm not. In fact, I know I'm not, 'cause my sister would certainly straighten me out if I was.

Anyway as we rode the train back to the city, the snow began to fall -- see, it had been so cold earlier that it staved off the snow. Despite the MTA's attempts to rebuff us, we even got in a visit to the world's best bookstore, the Strand, before setting off for the night concert.

The performance was at The Concert Hall on West 64th Street across from Central Park. It's a converted church with, of course, amazing acoustics. The problem is finding exactly how to get in as there is no signage. Not too much fun hobbling around and trying to figure out where the door is when it's snowing and there are broken bones involved.

But eventually the right door of a door set I had tried before opened, and in we went to the 800-seat venue. Ah, warmth. Nice benches. People trying to step on your toes (good or bad) while getting to their seat in the padded pew.

One double rum and a nondescript opening act later, we got us some Rick. The poor guy was hurting, but he plodded to his stool with a bottle of cough syrup in tow. And truth be told, although he looked sick, he never sounded sick and delivered an incredibly intimate performance.

The "Stripped Down" shows are punctuated by sometimes fun, sometimes poignant, sometimes both at the same time stories about Rick from then to now. He started with "I Get Excited," really peeling away the poppier aspects of the song and delivering it in a raw style that set up the style for the whole evening.

My and my sister's joint favorite, "Affair of the Heart" was next, and he showed us how his use of chords now and then and probably in the future has remained the same. The evening included a spectacular slide show that complemented his stories. This was the case with "Me and Johnny," about a friend he made in childhood back in Australia who remains a close buddy today.

Rick went to the cough syrup bottle often. Frankly, I was amazed that he could recount these stories so lucidly. As I told my sis, I have trouble listing all the names of my cats when I'm under the weather and medicated.

One of the great tales told was about Rick going to Vietnam to entertain the troops and being serenaded by the sounds of bombs and gunfire. The pictures that accompanied these words were precious, and he truly looked like a baby in the midst of intense and great horror. The band gave him a solo to do on that tour, and that song was "Oh Well," now in his modern-day repertoire.

That and "Rolling and Tumbling" show off Rick's real talent and facility with the guitar. I would think that's being lost on the legions of fans who remember him as their first respective boyfriends, but increasingly, the crowds are featuring a lot of men -- and not just those dragged their by their women, but who are really into it. (As if to back it up, at this online House of Blues show, two guys were the first ones up to the mic to ask Rick questions.)

My favorite "Stripped Down" story is about the writing of "Love Somebody." It was inspired by Rick's co-star in "Hard to Hold," not the love interest played (badly) by Janet Eilber, but by the one left behind in the film, Patti Hansen. The former model is married to Keith Richards, and the Rolling Stones' guitarist moseyed down to the set when he heard his wife and Rick were getting along like gangbusters. And as Rick admitted, he turned into a 14-year-old girl himself when taking a picture with his childhood idol.

The most touching story of all would have to be about the passing of Rick's dad. As he explains, when it happened, he could only get a few lines of a song out ("April 24, 1981"). Only later was he able to truly convey his pain, in "My Father's Chair." He performed them back-to-back at the show and choked his flock up.

Sis was charmed by "If Wishes Were Fishes," a funny laundry list of things Rick would ask for if he got an unlimited supply of wishes, including that people stop referring to him as "Bruce Springsteen." He showed an affinity for technology too by belting out the soulful "Inside Silvia" with the assistance of a guitar app on his cell phone.

There were darling snippets of his early writing, including his debut single, "Speak to the Sky" and the very first song he wrote, the Beatle-esque "Painted Girl." Then a detailed story about being invited to write a song with Todd Rundgren, and the subsequent afternoon in which no song came forth. Instead, Rick toked, chilled and was pawed by the pet doxie. And of course, he would never leave out his two biggest hits -- "Jessie's Girl" and "Don't Talk to Strangers."

The evening was capped by a Q&A hosted by original MTV veejay Mark Goodman, who again tried to set down the ground rules about no hugging, autographs, photos. An "enterprising" Rick fan came up with another tactic, an offer to share her bottle of cough syrup with Rick. Another one -- at least one, that is -- would have been honored to get his germs. Sigh. I think I'm ready to write a blues song about the life of a sane Rick fan. A belated birthday gift to myself, no doubt.

Sometimes it's lonely at the top

(Disclaimer: The following should not be taken as a series of complaints. I'm very grateful for this rare treat, I'm just cataloguing the emotions behind them, just as I do each and every time I blog. So, if on the face, it comes off as petty, it's certainly not the place I'm coming from. I don't want to be petty. Not Tom, not Richard and especially not Lori Petty. Great, now I need a disclaimer for that!)

It started back in November. My co-worker, Daren, was giving me the traditional scary-as-hell ride to work, and we were listening to Q104.3. That's a classic rock station that plays the same 27 songs over and over again. So when the deejay said he was giving away Joe Bonamassa tickets at Radio City Music Hall, I was certainly surprised. And interested. I'd seen Joe before at B.B. King's and he's quite the talented guitarist. The part about it being on Q104.3 escaped me, since they don't play his music, but no gripe here.

Mainly I was calling for "ark," the back half of this combo we call "Park." I'm a fan, but Mark's the mega-fan. I was surprised when the phone rang at the radio station and I was shocked when I was told I won, but there it was. Two tickets to see Joe Bonamassa at Radio City, and I was entered for the grand prize of an autographed guitar and a meet-and-greet with Joe B. as well. Spectacular, right?

The next day I hear from Gianna at the radio station, she says the tickets aren't there yet and she'll contact me when they are. A month or so passes and I'm not overly concerned, but wondering what's going on with the tickets.

After the Christmas break, I heard from Gianna again. She told me to go to the station to pick them up. I replied that I don't come to the city that often during business hours, but would make it happen. Then she gave me a long series of instructions of how and when to get them. And then after all that, she added that she could Fed Ex them to me. I think I did a double take, even with no one else in the room. Shouldn't that have been said earlier?

No bother, she took down some info so she could e-mail me some release forms before they could be sent and then hung up. I was about to text Mark with the good news about the tickets and Gianna called back. "By the way, I didn't tell you, you're the grand-prize winner!"

I can't tell you how stunned I was at that. In fact, it had completely slipped my mind that there was a guitar and a meet-and-greet in play, I was just concerned about getting our seats at that point, I guess. My head was pounding as I shakily texted Mark about that one.

Then I signed and e-mailed back my release forms, got the tickets the next day -- although she had thrown some fear in me by saying if they got lost on the way, that was it on that front. But no problem there.

As far as Gianna had said, the radio station's part was done and someone else would be handling the guitar and the meet-and-greet for me. Except that never happened. I never got a call or email from anyone else on it.

The week of the show, I emailed Gianna back and told her the situation, completely unconfident about it based on what she had told me earlier. But by the end of the day, she had gotten back to me with meet-and-greet details. She had also dispatched another email about the guitar.

In the meantime, a conflict had sprung up for Mark. The guy who never had to go anywhere for work was in Atlanta all week. And he was gonna be flapping his wings pretty hard to get home for the show. The meet-and-greet was an impossibility. Can't tell you how much I didn't relish going to that alone. Mark's the super-fan, I'm just the "hey, I enjoy your music" fan.

The next day, another email from Gianna. The guitar was being Fed Ex-ed to me the day of the show. Potential problem: I had to leave for the city at 2 p.m. in order to get the bus, train and walking done to be there by the designated meet-and-greet time. Do I leave the guitar on my doorstep or ask a neighbor if it's not there by 2?

That proved to be no problem either. It showed up in the morning. I made the difficult decision not to lug the guitar onto the bus, train and subway for an autograph and left it behind. Mark's suggestion ... which he later took back ... after I'd decided to take his advice.

Of course, I'm at Radio City nice and early, cause you never know when you're gonna have a bus, or a train, or a walking problem. In the lobby, a lady from PBS was taking names for the meet-and-greet. Only she didn't have mine, she just had the PBS people's.

More about the people who paid for the meet-and-greet through PBS. I'm not sure they saw me at all, standing there all by myself. They seemed to be doing everything but making eye contact. It was a reclusive half-hour, I'll tell you that. With a side order of "should I worry that I'm not on this list"?

Some side issue sprung up between PBS lady and a couple of representatives, I'm not sure whether they were Radio City or Joe B. people, but PBS woman wasn't happy about it. One of the reps started taking names. I worked my way over there, THAT list I was on. Whew. He asked me where my "plus-one" was, I said he couldn't make it.

Now I'm bright-orange Radio City Music Hall wrist-banded and we're led down the hall, down some stairs. And there's a curtain with Joe's name all over it. Some basic tenets of meet-and-greets were given out -- no single pictures taken ... unless, of course, you came by yourself.

And before we knew it, Joe was in front of us with a disarming "sorry, I'm late." There were two people ahead of me and one group of four people behind me, and the guy halves of the couples were trying to stop the women halves from taking pictures. I tried to help, I really did, when I said, "I've heard that people can get thrown out for doing that."

I turned back around, and one of the guy halves said, "She's been here before." One of the woman halves retorted snottily, "I don't care if she's been here before." And that was my big interaction with a non-guitarist at the meet-and-greet. Was trying to help, but I shoulda kept my mouth shut.

I had been stressing about what actually I would say to Joe when it was my turn, but I really shouldn't have worried about it. I told him about super-fan rushing back for the show and thanked him for the guitar (now the latter HAD to be something that no one else in the line was going to say). And then the picture, and before I knew it, I was bundling back up and out the door.

It was about 90 minutes between the time that ended and when we'd be let in for the show, so I got lost in the NBC building for a while. (Funny thing was I almost rolled my eyes when someone at Penn Station had asked me where the exit was, and then I was a couple minutes away from doing the same at NBC. What a maze!)

A hot chocolate and some laps around Radio City and 30 Rock later, it was time to go in for the show. And now I did find some people I could actually talk to -- Dan and Roseanne! Well, not the Conners of TV's Roseanne, and actually, it's Dan and Roseann. But I met some nice people. And incensed them equally -- Dan with my story of getting the guitar and Roseann with the tale of the meet-and-greet. She had been told Joe wasn't doing any because the show was being recorded or some such nonsense. To clarify, I think that Joe's peeps weren't doing meet-and-greets, although he did have the PBS ones ... and mine.

Despite the fact that Dan wanted Mark "to miss his plane" out of Atlanta -- it may sound overly harsh, but it really made me laugh hard, I enjoyed talking with them a lot. And the rum helped too.

When you're sitting in the audience at Radio City, you kinda bemoan the sight line, especially when someone taller is right in front of you. But the minute the music starts, you realize it couldn't sound better.

Joe did two amazing sets, starting off with an acoustic one. This included my (and Roseann's) favorite song "Different Shades of Blue," a tremendous cover of Robert Johnson's "Stones in My Passway," and Daniel Lanois' atmospheric "Still Water." Mark texted during the first song, his plane had just landed.

Then a break (and another rum) before the electric set. More great material, including a dynamic blues triumvirate: Howlin Wolf's "Hidden Charms," Muddy Waters' "I Can't Be Satisfied" and Otis Rush's "Double Trouble." I didn't even THINK about Clapton's version during the latter, so that should say a tremendous lot. And I knew a lot more of his material than I did the previous time I saw him.

And then Mark showed up! He got to see about an hour of the show, including Dan's favorite, a cover of Tim Curry's "Sloe Gin." The three-song encore included a Hendrix cover, "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun), "Oh Beautiful" and "So, What Would I Do."

I didn't get to say goodbye to Dan and Roseann, who ducked out before we stood and turned around, so ... "Bye guys, nice to meet ya!" And then we came home and Mark played with the guitar ... and the cats ... and the dog. And it was good, and back to our wacky embarrassment-of-riches existence that is Grand Central Station meets the Bronx Zoo.

The road to Macca

Text at 1:41 p.m.: Have a Daily Show ticket for you if you can make it.

The kicker was 1.) I would have to leave the house in 15 minutes and 2.) I had to work the evening. But... it wasn't any garden-variety episode of Jon Stewart's Comedy Central program. Paul McCartney was going to be on the show. So how could I not do everything in my power to make it?

Despite the fact that I hadn't showered (apologies to anyone in my immediate radius), five minutes later, I texted "Ok I'm coming."

That wasn't the end of the adventure either. Had to be at the studio at 4:30 p.m. Now, it might not seem so difficult to get from North Brunswick to New York City in two-and-a-half hours. For me, it meant a bus, a train, a subway and then some power walking with my work computer on my back.

But it was Paul McCartney! So I was going to give it my best shot, even if I wound up exhausted and weeping against the wall outside the studio as the show went on inside without me.

At first, everything seemed to be going well. But I was on the localest of local NJ transit trains, making every stop -- even the dreaded North Elizabeth. And with one hour to go before the deadline, I was still 15 minutes from the city, the subway wait, the subway ride and the walk.

And then everything starting falling in place. I was first off the car of my train and got to the escalator before the line got so long that movement would stop. I briskly walked to the subway, and I saw a C train pulling in the station. I didn't know whether I had enough money on my MetroCard to pay for the ride, so I was internally praying like mad. I swiped ... and had just enough for that one ride.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," I kept repeating as the subway doors closed with me on the inside. The other riders probably thought I was one of those wacky talk-to-yourself people that everyone tries as hard as heck to avoid making eye contact with. I even still had bars on my phone, so I could let my friend and patron, Liam, know how I was progressing.

And so when it came to the walking portion of the program, I was way ahead of the schedule. I actually got to the designated area 15 minutes early. Even got to visit the little girls' room AND eat some of Liam's tater tots (I also hadn't eaten yet that day) before it was time to get on the show line.

The Daily Show setup is quite different from David Letterman and others. Liam had scored VIP tickets, which were behind the couple of dozen with wristbands and ahead of a majority of the audience. After security, we were ushered into a room with the wristband people. When they went ahead, we started making assumptions about what that priority level entitled them to, was Stewart firing up the grill and fulfilling steak orders?

Then we segued into a discussion about Ellen DeGeneres' talk show (remember that, because it becomes important again later). And because rain started falling outside, Stewart's peeps picked up the pace and started bringing us in for seating. Another difference with his program, rather than just filing in, people are put together in groups in different sections. Liam's group of four wound up in the first row in the left section.

We got a lot of instructions about what NOT to do, before we were trained in the art of making noise. As The Daily Show goes au natural, and doesn't add laugh track or applause, it was all up to us. The warmup comedian, whose name also happens to be Paul for easy remembering, was abrasively funny and got a lot of assistance from the audience, who came prepared with material and even projected their questions and comments strongly.

Stewart came out next and took some questions as well. He admitted he didn't have time to get worked up about having the Beatle on his show, because he just didn't have time to do so. Weirdest Hanukkah gift he ever got or gave? "Nazi memorabilia." I still don't know if that was giving or getting, but either way, a very strange answer indeed. From the journalists sitting in the first row of the left section, no questions emanated.

The show started with a segment about Congress called "The Grand Budget-Passed Hotel." As my favorite movie of the year -- with all due apologies to the wondrous Birdman -- was The Grand Budapest Hotel, so I was on board right away.

And then next up was the this-is-so-absurd-it-has-to-be-true segment about South Dakota's aborted "Don't Jerk and Drive" campaign. Senior correspondent Aasif Mandvi was hysterical during this bit, and to tell the truth, his green-screen performance on the right side of the stage (but obviously out of Stewart's camera shot) was the only thing I saw clearly for the majority of the show with a camera swinging in front of us and a director or other personnel blocking the view when the camera wasn't there.

But it was a blast. The material was hilarious. I hadn't seen the show since the early years, and now I plan to tune in a lot more. It went so quickly too. There weren't retakes or stoppages, even when Stewart flubbed a line.

And then finally, THE man. It was Paul McCartney. As we were on our feet hooting our hearts out, I did see him pretty well when he came out and gave us some air bass licks.

They did a good job of backhandedly promoting "Hope for the Future," the song Sir Paul contributed to the video game Destiny! The great Macca admitted he doesn't fare well when playing video games, getting blown up pretty much as soon as he takes the controls.

But McCartney admitted he got some cred with his grandkids by being involved in the game, which is now apparently where it's at in terms of musical exposure.

And then Stewart retorted, his own daughter wanted to know why he couldn't do a show ... like Ellen. Liam, Dan Rivkin and I audibly gasped and laughed as our joke was revisited during the show.

"Does she give out CDs and things on holidays?" the former Wings frontman asked. This was almost word for word what I said earlier in the holding tank. Me and Sir Paul. Not just in the same room a couple hundred feet apart, but also on the same exact wavelength.

"You're wishing you were on Ellen too!" Stewart cried.

The segment was over before we knew it, they cut to commercial -- strangely enough they never used a McCartney song of any sort (Beatles, Wings, solo) during the course of the show -- and Stewart was bidding us farewell.

And we were outside with equal swiftness. And trying to put into words the sheer joy of being in the same room with Paul, we call him just "Paul" now that we're simpatico. It was "surreal," it was "once-in-a-lifetime," it was ... well, it was "fab."

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?