with additional dialog by W. Shakespeare, Joseph Dornbierer and Sandy Fletcher.
Mike flew in from Vancouver, Joe and I live in the area and we expect to see Sarah (who also lives here) on Saturday.
Starcon has promised Nanites a table in the activities room - where lots of other fan clubs are located. Great place - you *must* go thru the activities room because it's between the dealers' room and the arena where the guests are speaking!
Mike has his cameras (you expected any less?) as does Joe. And I might find a cardboard camera at the grocery store, just in case...
We'll try to write up a summary of the day's events each evening (and possibly some photos) so that everyone can join the Virtual Con with Nana.
Got to the con site about 7 pm and stayed until about 8:30. We never did find the Activities Room boss, which meant we couldn't find the Nanites table and get set up. But we did wander around, seeing everything else. We passed on the Star Trek Pictionary contest in favor of dinner.
Called Joe Dornbierer and met for dinner. A rollicking good time with stories from the Navy, cons and other strange topics. Then back to the con site for Joe to get registered and find the Nanites table.
Unfortunately registration closed long before we returned. But when has that ever stopped any of us? We sat in the lobby of the hotel until 2 am (or when Blanche turned into a pumpkin, whichever came first). The return time kept slipping from Saturday 8 am to 9 am to 10 am (and I'm still campaigning for noon!).
Nana will be speaking at 4 pm on Saturday and 2 pm on Sunday. More as
the weekend progresses.
Saturday
It's Show Time! Items in double quotes are from Nana.
New rules from StarLand - we cannot sell the photos without permission from Nana. Bummer. But we knew about this earlier in the week, got word to Nana but other things fell thru the cracks. Such as Nana missing the plane (unconfirmed at this time) but she didn't arrive at the con site (10 min from the airport) until 3:30 pm for a 4 pm talk. But more on that later...
No one knew Nanites were to get a booth in the activity room. About 11 am we finally talked the Activities Room Mgr into it and it was great. A table right at the intersection of the Autograph area and the Activity Room. Everyone had to go past us. Lots of interesting people stopped to chat - but we have no idea who'll join.
Mike fretted for hours about getting to talk to Nana for just a moment when she arrived. But about 2:30 pm his diligence paid off. We were awarded 20 min with Nana privately. A small Nanites gathering - Joe, Mike, me and two Nanites who'd never met Nana before - Donna (more about her later also) and Sandy who drove up from New Mexico.
For the first time in history, Nana didn't want coffee! As she put it, "I'm caffeined out today".
Odd snippets of conversation. With the recent raging debate (and that's putting it politely) about Jeri Ryan (7/9 or as we refer to her, 8:53) the topic of the Star Fleet Industrial Strength Brassiere prompted a request for one - either a photo in the near future or possibly one for "NanaCon 2: Return to El Segundo" auction. Nana's comment was "those things stand up by themselves!"
Finally it was time for her public session and away we go... I tried to get as many of the Q&A items as possible.
Whether it's her graciousness and charm or she really likes the area, Nana had wonderful things to say about Denver. She did remark that when little, she and her parents drove from NY to California and went thru Denver and that's all she remembers. But this time... "I could live here. Sid and I could open a little equity school and raise the boys".
The latest is the Camera Crew and the Hats escapde...Nana takes the hats and hides them. Just seconds before someone calls "Action!" and of course, the camera crew is helpless. She's been tossing them under the set below the Turbolift in Ops...And it's full of cables and dirt and rats and stuff...So everyone on the crew is now dodging Nana, holding onto hats with both hands, and so on..
Sid & Computers - "He could stay on it all day and all night. You know what I mean - you do it too, don't you?"
"It's too complicated to lie. Last night I was busy torturing Michael Dorn". Nana has decided it's her lot in life to make Dorn's life miserable both on and off the set. "I'm the sister you hope you never had" combined with the most picky of mothers. "My goal these days is making his life on the set a living hell!" and she started describing 10-12 people for dinner on Sunday with all the kids running around which segued into a short story about Django and then..." what was I saying?"
When the camera crew gets the notice for the next episode, "Oh no, it's a Nana Show" and they all panic!
Dorn is a frequent guest for Sunday dinner and "he makes the best martinis!"
[Sidebar...as I write this, Mike Topf is playing with my dog. Or rather torturing the dog. The tennis ball ran under the cabinet and Mike's laughing at the dog's misfortune...
"You're friends I've met in a certain way. It's great to go to a city and you've got people you know. You have other interests among yourselves...But the action figures...a tiny voodoo figure"
[Buster, the rottweiler and the Kira doll story]
Buster is a devoted Star Wars fan with all the toys, so he'd choose Star Wars!
[At this point she notices the two very large screens on either side of the stage "Oh my god, I'm huge everywhere!"
"I'll be wearing a wig all season because my hair is growing out (back to red color and getting long on top) for other projects. So Kira's hair will be the same all season"Someone in the audience had worked at the clinic in Colorado Springs where Nana's brother Paris visited a couple years ago. And she explained that Paris is the reason she's such as strong supporter of MS - he's stricken with it and very debilitated at this point.
"It's Disneyland for actors. One week I'm a spear carrier and the next, Ophelia"
"I met crew members I never knew worked there!"
Q: Who was the most influential person in your career?
"My mother. She was one of 11 children in vaudeville. She is my inspiration both as a mother and as a working mother"
[Dead silence....]
"I really expected a much more gracious man"
[Another attack of the Fred-Dryer-Syndrome...]
Q: What's going to happen with Odo & Kira?
"I don't know - the writers don't tell me anything!"
[The Marina-Sirtis-Syndrome?]
Q: How did they get Brooks and Shatner to work together in the Tribbles episode?
"I don't know? Ask Sid. He can tell you everything. In fact, he'll pull out the computer and show you the whole thing! I spent the entire time whining Why can't I be in the show? I'm not due for another 2 days!
Q: Which of the DS9 characters is going to die this season? You?
"Nope. {long pause} I signed *my* contract!"
[Milkbath story]
"The special effects are done by Gary and RJ - two of the sweetest men around. But they have this wierd look in their eyes...they love blowing things up.....The traffic cones were beginning to come off so that was the one and only take of that scene"
Q: Can you do an impression of Odo?
"OK - a new candidate for the wierdest question...And don't ask me to tap dance, I hate that!" Nana then went on to explain that when Camille has the makeup base and the nose on (but not the rest of the makeup) then she looks like Odo. "In fact, I don't look right to myselft in the morning without the nose"
Duet [and more elaboration that we've heard/read/whatever]
Q: What was the most fun episode to make?
Our Man Bashir
Q: The most fun character?
"Kira is bread & butter but the Intendant is like spice cake. Every once in a while you need something else"
{Topf: Spice cake? Or is that a tart?}
Q: Which character has seen the most growth over the years?
"Just about everyone except O'Brien" After all, he was established for a number of years on TNG.
Q: When Armin was here he mentioned that Avery insisted on a rather somber working environment.
"I behave better when Avery's around". And then went on to explain that he's so busy that he's much more focussed on the set in order to be so successfully busy. But once he starts laughing there's no hope of getting any work done for a while.
"Armin is such a dear sweet, gentle man. Put the ears on him and he's a big jerk!"
Q: Your favorite episode you weren't in?
"Tribbles. See above"
Q: What is the most bizzare question you've gotten at a con?
"Not a question but an event. A woman came by with a 6 month old baby, put it down on the table and asked me to autograph it. I did. Well, I really autographed the baby's tshirt"
Q: Congratulations on the children. It doesn't show
"Thank you. Lots of situps"
Q: A DS9 album similar to Spiner's "Old Yellow Eyes"?
"I don't think so. Avery, yes. I can belt in the Broadway style but I'm not someone you can listen to on a CD with a glass of wine. That's Avery"
[Oh I don't know...I know a number of people of the male persuasion that would be delighted to listen to a CD with Nana while sitting there with a glass of wine...]
Q: Your favorite movie?
Rebecca
As we explained to Joe:
US: Go find Donna
Joe: What she look like?
US: Just over to the Klingon Brig, you'll see her
Joe: OK, so what/who is she dressed as?
US: You'll know her when you see her.
Joe: But what does she look like?
US: Just go find her
[Joe's beginning to whimper and whine]
Joe: How can I find her if I don't know what she looks like?
US: Just go find her.
At this point Joe (all 6 ft 7 in of retired US Marine Corp) wanders off, more convinced that ever that Topf and I are flying a warp drive ship with a couple quarts low on the dilithium crystals. [NOTE: ever notice the similarity between Dilithium and Lithium?]
But Joe returned with a moderately silly grin on his face. And we're going to keep all of you in suspense for another 24 hours!
Georg, get the towels out again And Iversen, aren't you sorry you didn't fly in?Well, as we promised, the
.
Donna joined Nanites this past summer and set a new standard for formal dress for us.
Due to the lateness of the hour the Sunday travelogue will be
available on Monday.
Monday
Here we go again. Topf tried to tape the Sunday session but something
went horribly wrong. Nothing but static on the tape. I only got half
the questions from the Q&A session.
After obvious exhaustion on Saturday, a long night's sleep did wonders. And shopping, of course! It's easy to think of a con trip as a mini-vacation. No kids waking you at 5 am. No makeup calls. No 2 am shoots. No voice-overs.
"Siddig's handy, laying cement floors and all. The bigger the equipment he can have, the happier he is. And he's obsessive! Won't stop a project until it's finished!"
Q: [Mike Topf] Kira vs Xena - who'd win?
NV:"Lots of the Nanites are Xena fans so I thought I should watch to
understand their fascination. I don't get it."
CC: "It's all a spoof!" Which means Camille and obviously lots
of the Trek crew watch and are fans, too!
Q: Doing anything besides DS9? NV: Hiller & Diller later this month. Richard Lewis is just hysterically funny! It was wonderful to work on the episode
Q: What was your first acting job?
NV: Dancing when I was 17 in summer theatre in Connecticut. I was
accepted to Princeton and delayed it because I was working. Then
kept delaying it and finally decided not to. I regret not going to
college.
Q: Do you ever think you're in the future?
NV: I'm the only one. Sometimes I spend 12 or more hours in Ops.
The starfield is always there and my mind makes a shift and I'm
really there...[a baby cries in the audience]...they (the babies)
are just as bereft as we are....
Q: How old are you? (asked by a 7 yr old girl)
NV: I just turned 40 in July. 7's a good age. So's 40!
Q: You and Andy (Robinson) are the best actors. Trek handles
tragedy very well.
NV: Yes - We can exploit it very well. Violence and tragedy go
hand-in-hand. The writers don't glamorize it. And they know
which actors do it well.
Q: [Fanboy time![ In the 3rd season, episode 455 ("The Defiant")
you leave Tom Riker in a Cardassian prison. Are you going to go
back and get him?
NV: He's got this lucrative film career on Cardassia doing
training films for the Cardassian military.
Q: What was it like working with Richard Dean Anderson on "MacGyver"?
NV: He's a lovely and funny man. Very charming and very good to the
crew. I did 3 shows and enjoyed each time.
Q: Do the casts of Voyager and DS9 interact?
NV: Not really. I see Kate at parties but that's about it. [Both
shows are very time-consuming]
Q: What movies or television do you watch?
NV: I don't watch tv. No time. Rene's a voting member of the
Academy (Oscars) and gave us the video of "Shine". Siddig watched
it but I fell asleep.
Q: About Dukat...
NV: It gets worse and worse. I know it's my imagination again. By
the time I get into the makeup trailer, Marc's already in makeup.
It's creepy. And Marc is the sweetest person! He came over for
Thanksgiving dinner last year. [Obviously it's makeup-specific!]
It's most difficult [the 6 shows during the occupation] to take
orders from Dukat!
Q: How long does it take to do your makeup?
NV: About 2 hours. Sometimes only 90 min. And when my alarm
doesn't go off, 45 minutes!
Q: Those are riding pants. Do you ride horses?
NV: Nope - just a fashion expression.
Q: What about the pregnancy and Kira giving up the baby?
NV: That would have been great to investigate. But there
just wasn't enough time to pursue that storyline.
Q: About Sid?
NV: Who would have thunk? Everytime I saw him he was with a
different blonde - a succession of them. And he almost married
one of them!
[Sidebar: at this point she explained that she and Sid and the boys were going to Las Vegas for a short vacation in October and was hoping to visit the Star Trek hotel. The audience, of course being more current on activities, informed her that the hotel doesn't open until November. Such is life!]
Q: What are your favorite lines?
NV: All the Intendant's!
Q: Who would you like to work with?
NV: Oliver Reed
Q: What's the strangest thing you've ever done?
NV: Marry Sid!
Q: Who's your favorite DS9 character?
NV: Sisko because Avery is such a fascinating person!
Q: Which DS9 character should Kira marry?
[Audience starts shouting out "Odo". Someone blurts "Dukat!"]
NV: "Dukat?? Who said that? No...it should be Tom Riker.
Unfortunately this is only half the session. After the
autograph session, Nana stood for photos with the local
Klingon Houses and, of course,
a photo with Nanites-In-Attendance!