TEX-Files '96: This was NO place for an entomologist...
TEX-Files '96 is now but a fond memory. What follows is
my con report. Thanks to Beth for this scan of the TEX-Files
'96 group photo and to Moby for this scan of me, The Enigma, and
Moby himself.
You can also relive TEX-Files '95, the first annual
reunion of this fun-loving group. There are more photos from that event available down below.
I'm going to do the Oscar thing first and thank a bunch of people for all
their help. Carol and Mary Jo -- thanks for helping me with advance work.
I
appreciate Ande' and Jules for helping with airport pickups and dropoffs
and Tara and all the others who volunteered even though their services
weren't needed. Thanks to Tara for manning the suite for me on Friday and
Carol and Mary Jo for going to the grocery store with me and helping set
everything up. Thanks to Donna, my mom Marilee, Albert, and Barbara and
Zuriel for bringing food and ice. Jules did a fabulous job with the trivia
contest on Saturday night and I appreciate the folks who donated prizes,
including Angela, Beth, Tara, and Paul Roth (creator of "The XXY-Files").
A
special thank-you to my brother Van for going to the grocery store again
on
Saturday night at like 11 p.m. to replenish our supplies.
Carol got up early on Sunday morning and set up the suite and she and Mary
Jo helped again on Monday. I really appreciate them since this was supposed
to be their vacation and they weren't rabid X-Philes to begin with ...
although they are much =more= rabid now than before!
Okay ... on to the report. TEX-Files started early for me when Carol, a
friend from another mailing list, came in Monday night (the 12th). We had
a
great visit, and Mary Jo, whom a few of you knew from X-Files mailing
lists, joined us Thursday around 1 p.m. We spent that time in a combination
of errand-running and sightseeing, as well as trying to experience as much
of Austin's cuisine as possible in a mere few days. :-)
Friday was when TEX-Files officially started -- at 10:45 a.m., actually,
when I
picked up Sum, aka Lisa, our first arrival, at the airport. For any of
you who like football or have followed the news lately, you may be
interested to know that I sighted Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith in the
airport while waiting for Sum, and ended up getting his autograph. Ande's
husband Mark turned out to be a fan so I was glad that I got it and was
able to give it to him.
I dropped Sum off at the hotel and unfortunately had to ditch her for about
an hour while I ran home to get Carol and Mary Jo. We packed my car full
of
our stuff and got back to the hotel in time to run into Mystic and her mom,
who had been picked up by Ande'. I left the three of them to get situated
while Carol and Mary Jo rode with me to the airport to pick up Dick. When
we got back, we were able to check into our suite and sleeping rooms, and
then Carol, Mary Jo and I went to the grocery store to pick up dinner and
the rest of our supplies. By that time several other folks had arrived and
started connecting, mostly in the lobby bar, which is really nice -- it's
an open-air atrium type place with a small stream flowing through it to
evoke the Hill Country -- and I gave Tara one of the suite keys so she
could go ahead and let people in. By the time we got back from the grocery
store she had already organized the beginnings of an X-Files story-telling
card game that turned out to be great fun.
I had been feeling a little panicky because I felt I was late getting
everything set up, so it was great that there was an activity planned for
everybody, and I appreciate Tara's being such a good "group leader."
:-)
The game continued off and on all weekend (and into the
wee hours of the night each night!). Someone had put on "Tooms,"
and we did
watch most of that, but no one brought his or her entire tape collection,
so we really didn't watch as many episodes as we did last year. People kept
arriving all evening, and we watched "731," some more closely
than others,
and ate sandwiches and chips and socialized until pretty late. We had
originally planned to hold the trivia contest on Friday night but decided
to put it off until there were more people there.
It was interesting to get to meet several "net celebrities," at
least from
X-Files fandom. I enjoyed talking with noted fanfic writers Amperage and
Livengoo (and Amp's husband Alan) and meeting Oscar, aka ZiggyB, whom some
of you will know from x-files-announce. We also got to meet a lot of fans
who had found out about the event from various places and either drove in
from Houston or Dallas or came from Austin to check it out.
Saturday morning continental breakfast was available in the suite and then
most people dispersed in smaller groups to go shopping, eat lunch,
sightsee, etc. (Actually, I would love to know what you all did; post
reports!!!). We met back at the suite around 3 or 4 p.m. intending to hold
the trivia contest, but it was delayed yet again by the appearance of our
true celebrity sighting. As you've all heard by now, "The Enigma"
(which he
spells as "Thenigma"), who played the bald-headed blue jigsaw
puzzle
tattooed naked guy in "Humbug," dropped by our suite for a while.
Turns out his wife, who is his tattoo artist, was working in Austin and
so
he was here with her. He met up with a local Phile who told him about
TEX-Files, and decided to come by. He brought two friends, Joe aka "Mr.
Lifto" from the Jim Rose Circus, and Joe's wife April, who is a
massage
therapist here in Austin. The two performers are taking a bit of a hiatus
until the Jim Rose Circus goes on tour again. All three of these guests
were =incredibly= charming, friendly, mild-mannered, down-to-earth folks,
further smashing any stereotypes I personally might have held about the
type of people who
choose to make their livings in, shall we say, somewhat alternative ways.
The Enigma was so patient about signing everyone's t-shirts and nametags
and posed for pictures with anyone who asked. (My shirt says "to the
ravishing Robin, from your blue friend, Thenigma.") He not only talked
about
himself but asked each of us what we did for a living and really carried
the conversation with great poise and grace. He said some interesting
things about what it's like to basically be a human puzzle. That is his
stock answer to people who ask him "Why did you do that to yourself?"
"Well, I'm a puzzle."
He gave some fun insights into working with Kim Manners. He described Kim
as being pretty manic -- he said the director would set up
one shot very quickly, i.e., "I want this, this, this, now set it up!"
Then
he would run over to the other set and yell "Action!" Then film
that scene,
finish, yell instructions on how to set up the next one, and run back to
the first one and yell "Action!" He made it seem very frenetic
but fun. Mr.
Lifto said he had been asked to be an extra in "Humbug" but chose
not to
because it was too close to when he needed to be in Austin getting ready
for his wedding to April. He said he regrets it a little because of all
the
attention The Enigma gets now! (The Jim Rose Circus has a newsgroup
devoted to it, if your browser supports newsgroups.)
The Enigma also did a little trick for us -- he put a quarter inside his
eyeball and made it disappear. Ewwww...
By the time they left it was pretty much time to go to dinner, so we left
and drove up to El Mercado, a Mexican food restaurant nearby where we had
a
private room. I think this was one of the highlights of the weekend for
me
because the food was great and we all had such a good time just chatting.
After dinner it was back to the hotel for group photos and then the
long-awaited trivia contest!
Jules split the people who wanted to play into four teams of three. She
asked 20 questions, and the team who got the fewest correct (Molly, Ashley
and Angela, sorry gals) was eliminated (although they received lovely
consolation prizes). This continued until only one team was left, and then
that team was split and the three individuals went head to head. The second
runner-up, Oscar, received a t-shirt, two X-Files pins and two lovely
photos of David Duchovny (which I suppose he will share with a friend);
the
first runner-up, Jess, received an Official Guide and a Japanese version
of
the comic book with the pilot episode and Ice; and the winner, Beth (who
some of you know from her DDEB3 web site or her MiriLand web site), got
the
XXY-Files prize package, a copy of the XXY-Files and a mouse pad.
At some point on Saturday we had also watched the "official" 3rd
season
blooper reel, which was funny but, IMHO, not as fun as last year's. I
laughed at the outtake of David running around without pants and the one
of
him and Mitch Pileggi pretending to get reeeeal close. ;-)
On Sunday we once again had breakfast in the suite and then dispersed for
lunch. Several of us just went down to the hotel restaurant and had a nice
group lunch there. After lunch we all converged back in the suite for the
last "official" activity, which was watching "The XXY-Files."
For anyone
who hasn't heard of this, it's a spoof of the X-Files that contains quite
a
bit of transvestite humor. It was really funny -- especially the spoof of
"One Breath" that had Dana Scally lying in the hospital with excessively
enlarged breasts, proving once and for all "her" true gender.
I really
liked "Nurse Nancy." The maker of the video had very kindly sent
the
XXY-Files prize package and some key chains, as well as extra copies of
his
video, which were snapped up. Anyone else who wants one can contact Paul
Roth via e-mail.
I'm sorry to say that after dinner Sunday night I wasn't feeling well. I
ended up staying in my room the rest of the evening except for a couple
of
forays into the suite to see if everyone was okay. I think most folks sat
around playing the card game and/or watching tapes of the show. I made sure
somebody got Paula's phone number so they could do a group phone call as
she requested. :-) Once again, I apologize to anybody I didn't get to say
goodbye to. I hope you all had good trips back home and I'm so glad you
all
came.
Monday Jules helped me get everybody to the airport. We had said goodbye
to
our last departing friends by about 12:30. Carol, my friend who had been
visiting for a week by that time, was in town for one more night, so she
helped me get my stuff unloaded and then we went to dinner with my mom and
brother AND my aunt and cousin (so Carol got the full family treatment).
<g> I saw her off at nine-ish on Tuesday morning and arrived at work
somewhat less than bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as the saying goes. :-)
As always, I'm really sad that TEX-Files is over! I wish that all of us
lived closer together so that we could do it more often. I'm glad that I'm
close geographically to at least some of you -- looking forward to the
customary season premiere party in Houston -- and I do hope that somebody
takes over and does a reunion like this next year, whether in San Antonio
or someplace else. I am going to send out an "evaluation" in the
next few
days to the folks who attended so I can get feedback on how you liked
everything and turn it over to potential organizers.
The last thing I want to say is that you were all delightful guests and
I
hope you had as much fun being here as I did having you here. It was great
to see friends again, to meet new ones, and to spend time with each and
every one of you. I'm looking forward to a new season of the X-Files and
to
____-Files '97!
TEX-Files '95
This page contains photos from the first fantastic get-together of fans
that took place in Austin, Texas, August 4-7, 1995. Most of the attendees
were friends from Delphi Internet Services, but we were joined by X-Philes
from America Online, GEnie and Prodigy, as well as various internet providers
and even friends and relatives who are not online (gasp!). About 35 people
from all over the country attended; some of the states represented were
Washington, California, Illinois, Connecticut, Massachusetts and North Carolina.
On Friday night, the participants gathered in the hospitality suite at Austin's
Hyatt Regency hotel to get to know one another in person. We watched the
infamous blooper tape and of course the episode that was broadcast that
night, "Shapes." On Saturday morning we had a group photo session
at the State Capitol and then ate lunch at the Hula Hut. Saturday afternoon
was free for sightseeing, and then we drove out to the Salt Lick for some
famous Texas BBQ! Sunday was mainly a free day, but we did hold a birthday
party for David and Gillian that evening, complete with cake and a cameraman
from the local FOX affiliate.
Click on the description of each photo to view it. They're in 16 million
color format, so if your monitor supports that, you're in luck. If it doesn't,
the photos may appear a little grainy. They range in size from about 11
to about 60 K.
Enjoy!
This is the TEX-Files group photo.
We were stunned to find this mysterious piece of artwork
on the wall of our hospitality suite. Was Mr. X there before we were?
Several people allowed their inner children to come to the surface when
a couple of pairs of Power Ranger gloves were unpacked. Here are some of
the victims:
Guy
Pam
Sherri
Siena
The BBQ dinner at the Salt Lick was definitely one of the highlights of
our weekend. Several TEX-Files were captured while eating;
Hesti managed to avoid the camera until she was
finished. Russ played accountant and made sure we
covered the $500 bill!
Here's a picture of the cake we had for David and
Gillian's birthday party. Yes, we sang.
Susan, Jess and Gerri are captured while signing birthday
cards for our two favorite television stars.
Parting was such sweet sorrow! Here is a photo of Paula
getting her luggage ready in the hospitality suite on the last morning
of TEX-Files.
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