Subject: How I lost my shirt for Dave! (Trip Report) From: Cathy D Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 00:05:36 -0400 Newsgroups: alt.fan.letterman This was quite possibly the best and worst (for me) DaveCon I have attended! But it was also the most fun! I only wish I hadn't had to miss the DaveAnon party! You know that old saying about the best laid plans of mice and men? Well, here is the plan: Leave house at 11:30, get to train station by 12:00, get ticket, arrive in NYC at 2:25, arrive Manhattan Chili Club 3:00, meet with other alf'ers, get a bite to eat, get on line to get tickets, see show, attend dinner at Martini's at 8:30, leave Martini's by 10:15-10:20, get to Penn Station by 10:35-10:40, leaving me plenty of time to locate the gate and board the train. Well, that WAS the plan. Here is how it actually went: I got out of the house at 11:33. A little late but nothing to worry about. I arrived at the train station at 12:05. Still shouldn't be a problem. I have plenty of time to get my ticket. Train doesn't leave until 12:25. Wouldn't you know it, getting my ticket took much long than I had expected! When I (finally!) got to the window the man commented "I bet you were wondering if you were going to get your ticket in time!" He then explained that all of a sudden everyone wanted some kind of special ticket--tickets to Las Vegas and things like that! I did manage to get my ticket about 5 minutes before the train was due into the station, so all was well and good. Right? Wrong! The train arrived late. It wasn't real late, but considering that the train originated in Albany and I was getting it in Hudson which is the first stop after it leaves Albany you wouldn't have expected the train to be late at all! That wasn't the only delay, either. I'd had a choice of getting the 10:25 train which would have gotten into NYC at 12:25 or of getting the 12:25 train and getting into NYC at 2:25. I chose the 12:25 as it originated in Albany and there was (or so I thought) no reason for it to be delayed. Whereas, the earlier train originated in Buffalo or Toronto or some such place, and ran a much greater risk of being late. Another reason for taking the 12:25 train is that is a turbo train which is a bit unusual. Amtrak has being getting these trains updated and refurbished and I wanted to be able to describe it to my husband who is a rail fan. Also, I like the idea of taking a train that doesn't see as much service as their regular trains, but I digress. Back to my story: Now I'm a bit further behind, but it still shouldn't be a problem. Well, remember that saying about plans and mice and men? My plans were about to go further awry (remember that second delay I mentioned?) when the train was delayed just outside of NYC. They had a problem with a switch and we had to wait for a couple of trains to leave Penn Station before we could enter. I didn't arrive in NYC until the time I had planned to arrive at the Manhattan Chili Club. Still not a disaster--yet! I'm at Penn Station and where I want to go is only a couple of subway stops away. Being that I was in a bit of a hurry I figured that I could check the subway map once I was on the platform and waiting for the train. Guess what? -- no maps!!! I decided to grab the first train that came along knowing that I only had to get into the right vicinity and I could walk the rest of the way. I got off at 50th Street and 8th Avenue, and realized that I had no idea which direction was north, south, east or west!!! (One of you New York'ers is going to have to explain to me how you tell north from south and east from west in that concrete jungle you call home! ) I picked a direction and started walking. Naturally, I was headed the wrong way! I turned around and decided to try for Broadway and then walk up from there. I bet you can easily guess what avenue I found myself at! 9th! By then I knew which direction to walk and I arrived at the Manhattan Chili Club hot and thirsty and knowing I wouldn't have time to grab a bite to eat. My trials and tribulations weren't over yet, but at least I arrived in time to see the Late Show! [:)] Traci got me a glass of water (Thanks, Traci. [:)] while I was greeting all the other afl'ers. We were quite a large crowd and I don't think I managed to meet everyone. I got to meet Micah, Dave Sikula (we all learned how to pronounce his name correctly! [:)] , and during the actual taping I got to meet Brady (Waterclock). I don't think I got to meet Steve (Hello, Steve! [:)] There's probably one or two others I missed getting to say "Hello" to. (So, "Hello" to anyone I missed!) So many people, so little time! Donz was there and handed out some CD's. Karen, Traci and Brad also handed out DaveCon T-Shirts and buttons. After we got our tickets (dotted! [:)] some of us went back to the Manhattan Chili Club where I finally had a bite to eat! [:)] I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about the show. Everyone will get to see it on TV, but I do have a few observations I'd like to share. We got the usual "lecture" before being let into the theater, but there were two people doing it instead of just one. It varied a bit from what I remember last year, but not by much. They still insist on instructing people to laugh even if they are not sure something is funny! The waiting after the lecture before they finally let you into the theater seems interminable! I think they should give the pep talk just before letting you into the theater, but enough of that! We finally got seated, the band came out and then the best part of the pre-show ritual-- Dave runs out to greet the audience, spend a few minutes with us, and answer questions from the audience! Dave had some really funny comments that he made. He was telling us that each Late Show falsl into one of three categorues, the great ones, the good ones and the ones that blow! Then he asked us to guess which one we were getting! That got a big laugh from everyone. He actually picked one of our group to ask a question, but I'll let that person tell you about it! [:)] We were seated right down front in the first two rows, and I had the best view of Dave of any of the Late Shows I've attended. In the past my view has always been partially blocked by one thing or another. I was hoping that my great view would last through out the show, but alas it was not to be. [:(] When Connie Chung came out they moved a camera over and it TOTALLY blocked my view of Dave and Connie! [:(] I was seated on the side towards the band in the very first row in the very first seat in the middle section. I found myself watching the band almost as often as I watched Dave. I was surprised to find out that they spent quite a bit of time watching the monitors (when they weren't actually playing) that are above their heads and to their right. Every time I looked at Andrew Gold he was looking at the monitors. And Sid and Will spent quite a bit of time looking at the monitors as well. I also noticed how they acted when they first came out just before the show started. The horn players especially caught my attention. Chez (or was it Tom? See note below.) went around in front of the bandstand and then behind it to get to his position, Tom was wearing one of his colorful outfits and came out bouncing around, doing a bit of a dance. Bruce came out walking with this very "cool" attitude about him. I liked it! Note: There is always so much to notice I wish I could make notes! By the time the show is over there has been so much crowded into my brain that I've never sure if I am getting names and memories correct or not! That may be the case with the band members. So, my apologies if I've gotten things mixed up. At the time it was perfectly clear to me, but now it seems muddled! [:(] They had a bit of a screw up during the Top Ten. The "walkie-talkie" bit didn't have any sound and they redid it. Personally, I thought it was funnier without the sound! On another one the captioning didn't show up. Another observation: Dave seemed to talk with a noticeable lisp. I'm not sure if it was the sound system or what that made it seem so pronounced to me as I hardly notice it when I am watching the show from home. Anyone else notice this? (Perhaps he should get braces as Ton Cruise suggested! ) After the show (as everyone now knows [:)] , we were invited up on stage to be a part of the TMS. Tony is a wonderful person. I would love to be able to sit down with him and just talk to him about his career in show business. He was telling us about working on different shows and how great it is to be working for Dave. I wasn't able to catch everything he said, but one thing I did catch was when he said it still gets a thrill every time he walks out on stage! After taping the TMS we all had a group picture taken on stage and got a tour of the back stage area. We got to see the control room and Tony told us we could take anything we wanted. Some people got some Late Show scripts. I got a rehearsal script. We nearly didn't get out of the theater! Tony was going to let us out of the stage door, but discovered it was locked. We headed back to the audience area and found that all the doors to the theater were locked! We had to exit through the door that leads to the office building. Even after we were out of the building Tony stood around and spent more time talking to the group! We had to move up our dinner reservations by half an hour. Fortunately Martini's was willing to let us do that. I made quite an entrance into Martini's! They have a ramps on both sides of the door leading into the restaurant and I turned around to warn people to watch their step. Unfortunately, the ramps are also narrower than the doorway and in turning around I stepped off edge of the ramp and went "splat" down on my butt! I realized right away that I hadn't really injured myself very severely, but the staff was quite concerned and quite anxious to get me up off the floor (A customer down on the floor isn't providing very good advertising for them! ) Someone even offered to pick me bodily up off the floor, but I refused as my leg was cramping and I was afraid that moving would cause my leg to cramp even worse. Once the leg cramp had eased I was able to get up and found my way to our tables. Some of our groups didn't like that fact that the tables weren't all together and went about correcting that oversight on the part of Martini's. Finally, we all got seated. I had a bit of an "Alice In Wonderland" experience. Shortly after we had all been seated I went to the rest room to check on my ankle and when I came back I found my seat had seemingly moved! I felt like I was at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party! (While I was gone another table had been added to the end.) Dinner was excellent. Good food, good company, but not enough time! A bag of candy necklaces was handed around to all who wanted one. Tony and Mike surprised us all by coming over and saying hello to us all. Also, Eddie Brill was having dinner at the same time and spoke to a few of the people at my end of the table (I wasn't one of them-- too far down). I don't believe there were any other "celebrity" sightings that night. [:)] How time flies when you are having fun! I had planned on leaving Martini's around 10:15 which I figured would allow me plenty of time to catch a cab and get to Penn Station in time to catch my 10:50 train. The reality was that I lost track of time and before I knew it, it was 10:30!!! Brad offered to help me get a cab and we went outside. Wouldn't you know it, there isn't a cab in sight!!! However, a llama suddenly appeared at the curb and offered to get me to Penn Station on time! I'll tell you-- that llama should have had seat belts! I thought I was going to get bounced out onto the street! It was quite a wild ride to Penn Station!!! The llama didn't know where the Amtrak entrance to Penn Station was and so I was left to figure that out for myself. (He dropped me off near a different entrance than I had used previously.) My ability to go in the wrong direction didn't desert me now. I ran up some steps under the impression that I'd find the entrance to Penn Station there, but quickly realized the steps led only to Madison Sq. Garden! I then ran over to some people to ask them how to get into Penn Station, but they couldn't seem to understand what I was saying. Another person I ran over to wasn't much more help as her directions weren't clear to me. I did manage to understand that I needed to go just a tiny a bit further down the street where I found the entrance! I ran into Penn Station (and I mean that literally! Thank goodness my ankle wasn't sprained!) One would think my troubles were over, wouldn't one? But, no, my ability to go the wrong way continued to haunt me! I found the departure schedule and learned the gate number my train would be leaving from. They also announced the last boarding call about that time. All I needed to do was find the gate but since I entered Penn Station from a different location than I was used to I managed to get turned around and headed in the wrong direction to find the gate! I was asking people where the gate was and they were trying to direct me! I felt hopelessly lost, but I did (finally) manage to find the right gate and board the train. I barely had time to find a seat before the train was leaving! I've made myself a promise that next year I am going to get a hotel room and hang the cost!!! I made it home slightly bruised, but none the worse for wear. My adventures (and misadventures!) is what made this trip so memorable to me. I can hardly wait for next year! [:)] I hope everyone enjoyed reading my trip report. I know I don't have the way with words that others have. My talents lie in other directions--I just haven't discovered which direction that is yet! [:)] Note: The "llama" was a bike with a cart behind it. Kinda like a rickshaw. Oh yeah, about that shirt I lost for Dave? I know how cold it is in the theater and so I decided to bring a long sleeved blouse to wear over my tank top while in the studio. Well, seeing as how it was too hot to wear the blouse on my way to see the Late Show I draped it over my pocket book. I did keep checking occasionally to make sure it hadn't slipped off, but somehow I lost it anyway. Anyway, that's how I lost my shirt for Dave! [:)] (I hope some homeless person found it and is using it.) "Wrong Way" Cathy [:)] -- ------------------------------------------------- The e-mail address in the header is no longer valid. My e-mail address is now cathyd@empireone.net -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =----- http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! - ----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----