Back with my budgies...

Home, home, home at last.

Can anyone tell me how it could be that, when the plane I flew home on only had about 50 seats, there were five hundred people or more in the line at customs and immigration? I think I was in that line almost as long as I was in the air from Chicago. There must have been a whole flotilla of airplanes coming in at once. maaseru met my plane to drive me home, bless her.

The flight was bumpy most of the way so we only got a beverage fairly near the end of the trip. When the stewardess came by I was looking at her cart thinking vaguely of an iced diet Pepsi (not in evidence) and she wordlessly handled me a Margarita. I looked at the man sitting beside me. He shrugged. He didn't want it. The stewardess said, "It's yours."

"Thanks," said I. I really do rather like Margaritas.

"Drink it all up, now," she said, and I thought she sounded like my mother. But of course I did drink it all up. I probably would have done anything she told me to. She was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.

I have been through many methods of transportation. First, I walked to the CTA station - not sure whether it's the El, the subway, or the train, or all three. Took a train to central Chicago. Took a bus to the Planetarium. Then took a bus and two different trains back to Rosemont, took a shuttle to the airport, took a plane to Ottawa, and a car to get home. Maybe I should go out on a bicycle too?

There's much more to say about the convention and about today, but I'm too tired now to say any of it. I'm still high on the joy of "Torchsong" but it's really time to go to bed and sleep.

Torchsong...

I got up this morning and even before shower and coffee, tried to find Gareth David-Lloyd's song online. No luck. He said we could post it. Surely someone did - ?

I thought I'd post "best moments of Torchsong"... not that I'm likely to ever cover them all. There were so many.

• Seeing and talking to John Barrowmanon SkyChat. No, it isn't the same as his physical presence, but it's pretty damn close.
  
  
• The way he shared his time and attention with us when clearly he had a painful and stressful weekend. I hope our company made him feel good. I think it did.
  
  
• Hottest moment: Gareth on the piano, singing Take It Like a Bitch, Captain.
  
  
• Most gorgeous man ever born: Peter Wingfield. (Sorry, John.)
  
  
• Sweetest moment: Sherrie, a nurse from Alaska, told John about a patient of hers, a seventeen year old aboriginal girl who was bedridden in the hospital with a high-risk pregnancy. She had never seen television before, and spent her time making a dreamcatcher for John, which was blessed by her father, a shaman. As Sherrie told the story, John was in tears. "Stop crying, you big poof," said Gareth, affectionately.
  
  
• Cutest moment: Captain Jack Harkness licking John's face, and John clearly loving the canine affection.
  
  
• Most shocking moment: Seeing the entry of Tom Price at the cocktail party, with his arm in a cast.
  

More about Torchsong and Peter Wingfield...

I puzzled over the question of why Peter Wingfield was invited to be John Barrowman's replacement guest at Torchsong. He hasn't seen Torchwood. As far as I know the only connection between them is my love of each, and the con certainly wasn't organized for my sake. Too bad.

I asked Peter how he came to be there. "They phoned Valentine Pelka," he said, "and he got in touch with me." Yes, but... why? And why didn't he bring Pelka along? He's also on the short list of "actors I would like to see".

So I mused over possible connections, a train of thought linking Wingfield to Torchwood:

• Methos, like Captain Jack, is very, very old. A survivor. In fact, Jack is practically a child compared to Methos, who must be about 3,000 years older. But Methos is from the distant past and Jack is from the distant future. It gets a bit confusing when I try to contemplate the comparative timelines. Wibbly-wobbly.
  
  
• Methos and Jack both have good coats.
  
  
• Peter Wingfield is from Wales. Torchwood Three is in Wales.
  
  
• Both have good smiles and dimples.
  

...Any other ideas?

Torchsong and still more about Peter Wingfield...

A few odds and ends about Peter Wingfield at the convention:

• He looked good. Really good. I've never seen him in person before: I don't know if he looked that good because he always has and always will, or if the fresh air and exercise on filming in Kamloops helped, or if he has a painting in an attic. He is incredibly attractive.
  
  
• At the cocktail party, one of the organizers was making sure that the guests had a chance to talk to everyone. She (having met me one second earlier) introduced me to Peter. We did a "so pleased to meet you" mutual politeness while he smiled that incredible smile and I tried not to dissolve into a puddle on the floor.
  
  "Where are you from?" he asked.
  
  "Ottawa," I said, eloquently.
  
  "I've never been to Ottawa," he said. "I only know it by ... reputation."
  
  "It isn't our fault, it's the company we keep," I said. "I didn't vote for them!"
  
  "Neither did anyone I know," said Peter.
  
  We agreed it was one of those universal mysteries.
  
  
• In his first panel, Peter talked about working on "Riverworld", the TV miniseries based on Philip Jose Farmer's books, which he finished filming a week ago. ( When he was given the script )