More Audio from Writers Block

I’ll be updating this post as I get the audio files cut down and uploaded.

(Part 1 - 25MB)

(Part 2 - 25MB)

Larrymcg’s trip report

I was threatened by a very mean person (all the MTTers know who I’m referring to) to write about my experiences, so here goes…

First off, I owe a ton of thanks to moxie, susan, EH, sora, and TLK for chaffeuring me around Scranton, picking me up each morning from my hotel and taking me back at night, being great pals, and even helping me sneak into one of the corporate events (more on that later.) Also, thanks to macolly and IHT for being my non-corporate pass buddies.

Some of my stories may sound repetitive because they happened to others as well…

The coolest thing happened very early on the first day. We got on the elevator and who is there but Craig Robinson. I had just said “Dinkin Flicka” before the elevators opened, and susan repeated it when we got inside and then Craig, with great excitement said, “Dinkin Flicka!” Awesome.

The first night was a bit of a bummer because everyone went to the Casino Event and there was no separate major event going on for the non-corporate people. Therefore, I just basically hung out at the hotel and chatted up IHT.  There was one highlight, though. The following exchange happened when I visited (just to watch sports, because I don’t drink)

Drunk Lady: Do you work on the show?
Me: Uh, no.
Drunk Lady: (channeling Meredith at her creepiest) Well, you should.

We did visit Poor Richard’s, which was a bit of a disappointment to be honest.

Day two was pretty cool. We had lunch at Cooper’s and then hit the Cast Q&A. Before the Q&A they showed a blooper reel that was completely awesome (especially the Alfredo’s pizza scene). Then the Q&A was outstanding. We really got some good info out of it. Ed was clearly the star and relishing his moment in the spotlight. He was so cheerful and funny throughout the whole convention and it was really infectious. Craig did a joke where he kept coming up with reasons to kiss Mindy, but I think he went to the well one time too many. (That is NOT a euphemism.)

Later that night was the lookalike contest. The contest was fun, and the Michael, Jim, Dwight lookalikes were very good. Leslie, Phyllis, and Andy were judges and they gave the lookalikes audition style questions. Some of the responses were pretty bad and I wondered if the people had even seen the show. Also, Angela and Ed came on stage to judge their own lookalikes, with Angela calling the contestants “skanky”.

After that, the Scrantones played and that was a blast because cast members took turns performing with them. Best of all was Kate Flannery who absolutely rocked “Hit Me With Your Best Show”. I also saw Ed Helms and Creed perform and they were both awesome.

Day 3 started early for the bloggers breakfast, which was a total dud. However, the writers Q&A followed that and that was awesome for so many reasons. First of all, some totally awesome person (who will remain nameless because I don’t want to get her in trouble) managed to finagle me a leftover corporate pass that allowed me to sit up front at the Q&A and also go to the follow up cocktail party.

The Q&A was definitely informative and they revealed a ton of information about the writing process. I got the impression that they were as excited to be in Scranton as we were. After the Q&A, we got to see a sneak preview of the 1st half of Thursday’s episode. I won’t reveal any spoilers, but it looks like a great episode. Can’t wait to see what happenes in the 2nd half.

After that was the final cocktail party, where I was able to meet and talk to Jen Celotta, Greg Daniels, and Gene and Lee. This was the high point of the convention (other than the elevator ride with Craig) It felt surreal when I was sitting there thinking, “I am talking to Greg Daniels!”.

People started departing at this point, but that night Moxie, sora, and I went to see Dan in Real Life, which was really good.

Then it was time to say goodbye and I cried like Dwight in the Coup. And Susan said, “Hug it out, bitch”. Okay, that didn’t happen, but she did say many mean things to me throughout the weekend. At least she kept the physical abuse to a minimum.

So overall it was a blast and I can’t wait to go again. I’ll definitely be getting a Corporate Pass, too.

Audio from Writers Block

I’ll be updating this post as I get the audio files cut down and uploaded.

(Part 1 - 25MB)

Pictures from the Cast Q&A

A few more pictures after the jump.

Audio of Cast Q&A from the University of Scranton

The total Cast Q&A was over an hour and a half, so I’ve split it into snack sized 15 minutes (plus or minus) portions, for your downloading/streaming pleasure. I will update this post as I get the files cut down, and I’ll be adding those clips after the jump. This was such a huge highlight of my convention experience, I hope you enjoy it.

(Part 1 - 17.2MB)

(Part 2 - 19MB)

(Part 3 - 12MB)

More clips after the jump.

Saturday, Day Two of the Non-Stop party

My blog of my experience of Saturday, posted here:

 http://unwritten007.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/saturday-day-two-of-the-non-stop-party/

Saturday at the Convention: Or, If This is Heaven, I’m Going to Start Going to Church

Sorry for the delay - here’s the rundown on Saturday…..

My version of Day One (of the non-stop party)

My blog about my first day (more to follow).

 http://unwritten007.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/friday-day-one-of-the-non-stop-party/

Moxie’s Friday Post…

Okay – sorry for the delay in posting but my lack of sleep finally caught up with me last night at 2:30am.

 

It’s already been mentioned but I just have to say it again – this convention has already exceeded my expectations. There is an incredible vibe of familiarity here – and I’m not sure I’ve ever really witnessed such a thing before. EVERYONE – and I mean EVERYONE – has been sooooo frakkin’ nice you almost have to wonder if they put Prozac in the water here. It is so strange that even I’m being nice to random people – actually initiating conversation with random people I see – and I *hate* people. It’s like Bizarro World for me. But I have to admit it’s been fun.

 

In many ways what’s making this convention exceptional is hanging out with my core Dork Squad – larry, sorano, susanita, and EverybodyHurts. It has truly felt like this is our own private party, despite the number of people here. I’ve also had a chance to meet So Tawdry and McGigi ( what cuties! Both of them!) as well as meet a few new people. I’m not sure I’m going home.

 

But enough on that – you want the dirt, right? Well, here’s my experiences:

 

First celebrity sighting was Phyllis and Leslie in the hallway of the Radish Inn as I was taking my luggage up to my room. Strange thing was that when I first saw them, my reaction was “Oh, there’s Phyllis,” - in such a comfortable way as if I had seen a friend or family member. Then it hit me “No, that PHYLLIS! I don’t really know her in real life!!” It was freaking and familiar to see them standing there all at the same time.

 

The next sighting was Craig Robinson. We had dawdled in our hotel room for a while before the opening reception, and as we were joking in the hallway waiting for our elevator, larry said “Dinkin Flicka” as a response to something silly susanita and I were doing. Soon as he said that, the elevator doors open and a handful of people are already in the elevator – one of them being none other than Craig Robinson. We all grinned like idiots to ourselves, and then susanita (I think) finally said out loud “Dinkin Flicka” - and Craig’s face just lit up. He asked how we were doing, and then I remembered it was his birthday so I wished him a happy birthday. He said thanks, and then just as the doors opened to the lobby, I looked back at him and said something like ‘Yeah, and isn’t scary that I know it’s your birthday?” (More with the intonation that I was a huge dork and not a creepy stalker!)

 

The reception was the start of a realization for me: People can get stupid around celebrities. Craig, Angela, Creed, Oscar, and Brian were at the reception, and the hordes of people flocking around them made me want to run the other way. What do people think they are going to get from a 3 second interaction in such a mob?? So we eventually went into the bar, where we met I_Heart_Toby and her sweet mom. We sat at high table near the doors, and after a little while, who comes up to the table behind ours but Kent Zbornak. I had seen a photo or two of him before, and that with his Dunder Mifflin jacket and confirmation from Sorano – we sat around for a few minutes whispering (OMG, that’s Kent!) The beauty was that since he wasn’t an on-air star, he didn’t have a crazy crowd around him. And after a few minutes (and the realization of when in the hell would I ever get a chance to do this again in my lifetime??) I turned around and approached him.

 

I asked him for a photo (long story that will become apparent at a suitable time) – and he was just wonderful. After the photo he made the mistake of asking me (of ALL people!) “So what do you think about Jim and Pam this season?” Poor guy never stood a chance.

 

I suppose if I’d really been able to process who I was talking to, I would have been unable to form words. Fortunately (for whom is uncertain at this juncture!) I just naturally slipped into what I call MTT Jam Mode and babbled away. I told him I thought they were doing it right, and that less is certainly more. I said something about Jim and Pam being such private people that we aren’t going to see a lot of overt PDA stuff, and that was totally cool. It’s good to be able to imagine for ourselves what’s happening. Blah, blah, blah – go back and read my posts, and I’m pretty sure I said it to Kent.

 

Much more important were the things he said to me – he said that “a character” was coming back next episode and there was going to be some stress on the Jim/Pam front. I told him that wasn’t even an issue, because they would have to do a hell of a lot of good writing to get me to believe that these two aren’t meant to be together, not after all they have done to write them as they are. I also said that they had a wonderful opportunity to be the first television show to actually show a realistic HAPPY couple, and that is a something they shouldn’t pass up. Then I went on about how it’s normal for them to have stress, (did I mention how much I talked?) - and basically he agreed with me.

 

He talked about how much effort is put into the stories – first the write the story line, then they go back and add the jokes, then they look at from the point of it being a “documentary” and figure out how it should be shot to look that way, and then they move into interpretation of each scene and line. He said they are aware of different levels to the scenes. I told him that we (at MTT) do much the same dissection, only it’s after the episode airs and we do it for free. Case in point was the beds pushed together snippet in Money – he said that was a deliberate little tidbit, but you had to be watching really closely to get it. I assured him we watch very closely.

 

I did ask him about the Pam/Jim continuity error. He said (and maybe this is the party line, or maybe it’s the truth, I don’t know - ) that they’ve always believed Pam was there first. I said “So this means it was Jim’s first week at Dunder Mifflin when he asked her out to Cugino’s and then found out about Roy.” He nodded his head and said yes. So I guess we are going with that story. Heaven help him if we get another switch down the line.

 

The Casino Night adventure was reasonably well done – though I think they should have sold about half as many corporate tickets than they did. Also, I truly believe you should have had to take some sort of test to even be able to buy the damn ticket. Something that proved not only your understanding of the show, but demonstrate your ability to follow simple directions, act like a considerate human being, and generally know how to behave in polite society. Oh, and know that the actors are people, too.

 

The biggest thing they stressed to us when we got on the bus to go to the casino was NO PHOTOS. That apparently is a casino house rule. In addition we were asked to NOT ask the cast for autographs, as this was a night just to mingle, have fun – and for them NOT to be mobbed. Well, everything was nice until the cast actually show up, and then people (some people) completely disregarded everything they were told and out come the cameras. I didn’t get to a chance to talk to Ed, but that’s probably because the poor guy was trapped taking photo after photo with people. Of course he was incredibly gracious, but I felt so angry at these people for doing the very thing they were asked NOT to do. And the staff at the casino clearly wasn’t enforcing the rules, which only made it worse.

 

I did sit at the poker table next to the one Angela, Ed, and Craig were at for a little while, and actually talked to Craig at least twice while we were there. I’m sure he remembered us from the elevator encounter, and at the end of the night he came over to us and (clearly drunk!) said he did his best tonight, whatever that means. I know he seemed to try his best when taking photos with the busty ladies. He’s actually quite a big guy – and the coolest brown suede jacket on, which I got a chance to feel under the disguise of telling him I liked it. Not that he was sober enough to notice.

 

I talked briefly to Angela, but like every other encounter last night – I just sorta walked into it. I was talking to EH and susanita, and I turned around to look back at Ed again. Well, when I turned around, who was right next to me but Ms. Kinsey? God, she so tiny. “Fancy meeting you here” my dorky self said, and she chatted to us briefly. Then she noticed th badges I was wearing and asked where we got them, and susanita proudly told her we’d made them. Then susanita and EH gave her badges (and she asked for an extra beesly/halpert 08 to give to Jenna – which totally made susanita’s LIFE) and I suggested that maybe she should have just keep walking past us. The only downside to this interaction was the crush of people around us, and the fact that band was really too loud for any type of conversation.

 

I’m pretty sure that Kent was stalking me that evening, because every time I turned around, he was nearby. Talking to other people, of course, and not usually looking in my direction, but I could tell he was following me. I know stalking. At one point EH and I went outside to get some air and he was talking to some guy out there (actually the guy was talking to him about the film industry in Scranton or something – and I felt bad for how trapped Kent seemed but was so polite nonetheless.). How Kent knew I was going outside at that point amazes me. He’s just that good.

 

Oh, and I had the surreal experience of having not one, but TWO people with corporate tickets looking for me last night. Two fanfic fans. They were both super sweet, and I hope I run into them again over the course of the weekend, but it was just so weird to me. One of them even took a picture with me, (while Kent watched!) and it was clear this was some sort of big thing to her. I am not saying that to imply that she was stupid – it’s just that I had no idea people really could give that much of a crap about what I’ve written.  Oh, and what’s even crazier?  Tanster (of Office Tally fame) was asked about my whereabouts last night.  Tanster!  On the Office celebrity hierarchy she’s a good 10 slots higher than me.  And she’s directing fans to me.  It’s a fucked up world, people.  (And it was great to finally meet Tanster!!!)

 

But the strangest event of the evening did not occur until we were leaving the casino. We were on our away out the door when I became aware of a older, dark-haired woman who was walking alongside us, her camera phone open. It looked like it was pointed at us, but I didn’t know her so I assumed either she was just texting someone or taking a picture of something else. Well, I’m walking out the door when she jumps in front of me and says:

 

“Wait - I need to take a picture to prove I saw you.”

 

Then she snaps a photo with her camera phone and darts back into the building. No indication who she was, nothing. I had my MTT Moxie badge, so I assumed I was who she thought I was, but I guess I’ll never know. Maybe I have my own stalker now.

 

I’m just glad sora, EH, and susanita were to there to witness it, because it was without a doubt, the most bizarre thing that has ever happened to me. And I’ve lead a pretty strange life. Oh, and I hope we run into the Oompa Loompa twins again at some point over the course of this weekend, so I can get a picture. McGigi will know what I’m talking about. We shared a deep bonding “what the FUCK was that?” moment over it. (Did I mention what a cutie she is?)

 

We ended the evening at Chick’s Diner – I’d gone the whole day on (as I posted earlier) 1 can of red bull, 6 pretzel sticks with cheese, and 4 jumbo cocktail shrimp. To me, going to Chick’s was a given since it was a “landmark” - Jim and Pam went there for breakfast toward the end of Squirrel McPants. Given that it was never actually mentioned in the show mean that it was NOT crowded, and that was a relief. I’m really happy to be where ever the crowds AREN’T. Again, ran into super friendly local people who didn’t sneer at us for being dorky Office fans. And they wished us a good weekend when we left. I think a letter to the newspaper is in the works when this is all done, complimenting the locals for their manners. Manners some of the Office visitors clearly left at home.

 

Okay, so today is rainy, which is a shame because the street fair is today. We’re probably going to miss most of that simply because we do want to make it Cooper’s, and it would be nice to just hang out together instead of fighting the crowds. The Cast Q&A is later today, and another VIP reception is afterwards. I brought a digital voice recorder to try and tape the Q&A. Susanita did as well, so hopefully between the two of us we’ll have a recording of that to share with you all.

 

We do wish you all could have made it this year. I’ve been picking up random things that I’ll sort out and send to those of you that couldn’t make it. Nothing too exciting, I’m afraid. Just little mementos to know we really have been thinking of you.

 

Secondrink’s Scranton Friday

Hey everyone!  Just been running around town today, checking things out and took some fun pictures that I’ll be posting all weekend.  Of course

There really weren’t a lot of people around tonight, which I guess isn’t surprising given the fact that Casino Night was going on and the rain was not fun to be out in.  Boo to that!  Too bad the front desk told me that they’re expecting 50,000 people to be here this weekend…I find that hard to believe, but ok.

My two friends and I did happen to walk to the Radish Inn right when the cast was walking out to go to the casino, but we were too far away to get good pictures.  Sorry!  But all three of us got passes to go to the autograph sessions, so *fingers crossed* we’ll get some pix tomorrow afternoon!

Poor Richard’s is pretty great, and they are pretty serious about Halloween I’ve noticed; there are decorations everywhere in town!  And Alfredo’s is thisclose to Poor Richard’s, which was perfect…and the pizza isn’t hot garbage but is very good [/Jim].

We drove by Penn Paper, the intersection of Mulberry and Washington, Cooper’s, The Bog, Paper Magic, Farley’s and the pictures were terrible, so I’ll be going back to get better ones!

 Hope everyone is having fun and I want to see you all out and about tomorrow!