Ahh, what an eventful day, and sadly, our last one. It’s currently 5:20 a.m. here [8:20 a.m. EST! Dayum.] and we’ve stayed up all night. Let’s recap:
1. We got to the Marriott at around 4 p.m. and shuffled into the staff rooms where we did absolutely nothing for a solid hour and a half. By “nothing” I mean “toss around blue bouncy balls while quizzing Laura for the trivia contest.” And Emerson got yelled at by some older lady for throwing the balls at the ceiling.
2. I ran into Abby again, which was nice, then went into the podcast room and waited. Alex [The Remus Lupins] opened up… funny guy. Good artist. He played for… 45 minutes? Something like that, before the first panel came out and discussed whether Harry was going to live or die. [And yeah, for those who asked, the podcast was going live over the internet. MuggleCast.com has the details.] That conversation was kind of… dull. Honestly, anything one can say on that topic is pure speculation and interpretation. Almost nothing can be backed by hardcore evidence from canon. The second one, though, [Laura's panel!] on whether Snape is good or bad was much more insightful. I kept wanting to add something to the conversation but there weren’t any mics in the front rows.
3. Ahh. Trivia. Well, for what it’s worth, Laura pimped the Monty Python question. Leaky won 19 to 12 [and they really did know their stuff-- nice job TLC] but in all sincerity, almost nothing about it was fair. For starters, they asked a ton of NON-HP RELATED QUESTIONS, stating that WB wouldn’t let them hold an exclusively HP trivia contest, so they had to ask random questions about Greek mythology, LOTR, and Wicked. … That’s fine, if that’s what WB said, but a bit of notice would’ve worked wonders, especially considering that the Lexicon specifically told us that there would “only be questions from canon.” ?!?!ONE. Secondly, the MuggleNet buzzers were not working properly. There were several instances where Emerson, Laura, Kevin, etc, held up their buzzers and clicked, clearly displaying that the light didn’t blink when they pushed the buttons. No one cared though, and consequently, TLC’s side got the first go nearly every time. Oh well. MuggleNet still gets more hits. HA. *throws signs*
4. ANDREW WAS SO CUTE AND HAD LAURA STAND UP AND SHE BLUSHED AND HE SAID TO SHOW HER “BEAUTIFUL FACE” TO THE CROWD AND I SQUEE’D LIKE THE FANGURL I AM AND ZOMG!!!!!!111 [I now call upon all L/A shippers to make banners and avatars.]
5. I’m in love with Alex. …not really, but he’s incredibly funny and absolutely brilliant to talk to. Though I felt like such a fan girl [*yuck*], I couldn’t stop myself from getting his CD and asking him to sign it. *blush and sigh* No one tell Harry.
6. Afterwards, Laura, K’lyssa, Brandi, Rachel, Kay, and myself went out to eat before heading up to the boys’ room. Again. I’ve been feeling so awful for being in their room 25/7, like I was annoying them or something, but they didn’t act like anything of the sort. *hugs them* We basically just said goodbye and took off, at which point we headed back to our room, laughed over random crap till our stomachs hurt, then packed. We’re all done now, and I’m getting ready to get my film developed before going to the airport.
I’m going to miss Las Vegas and all my lovely friends. :( It’s been a blast. Lumos went so well, there were so many events and we met the coolest HP fans. Emerson, Andrew, Ben, Eric– they’re all awesome, despite popular rumors. *wink* I’ll post one more time once I’m home for a final, grand summary [at which time I'll also post more pics]. Thanks to everyone who’s been reading and who attended Lumos. “Prophecy 2007″ is in Toronto, Canada next August! [You must go Lei!] Mark your calanders!
<3,
Elysa
Yesterday was “Water Quidditch” at Lumos. The guys’ [Emerson, Ben, Andrew, Eric, Jamie, etc] team won their match so they went out to a movie in celebration. I’ve heard mixed reviews about it. A couple said it was horribly boring, but an equal number had an absolute blast. I suppose it depended on whose team you were on, but I’d imagine Emerson’s gang left no room for boredom.
I MET ABBY! I was having dinner with Laura, Brandi, Rachel, Kay, Jess, Brendan, K’lyssa, and Julie when she walked by gringing her knives. ;) She’s absolutely beautiful and funny and sweet and everything I’d imagined she’d be in person. I was so happy to meet her, and it seems I’ll be running into her today as well at the podcast.
Speaking of the podcast, I’d better go… they’re waiting on me to get there so I can help out. But for the record: all those jokes about Andrew are exactly that– jokes. I’m a hardcore L/A shipper. [Hmm, who do I know with the letter "L" in their first name?]
<3,
Elysa
Okay, so Lumos seems to be going well. But first: adventures at the Venetian. Rachel, Brandi, Laura, and myself took a trolley to the Venetian to ride the gondalas. After a 40 minute ride and about an hour walking [we got lost... a lot] we finally came across the boats. But as fate would have it, the tickets were sold out for the night. However, believe it or not, that was not the worst part of our Italian adventure.
I had the brilliant idea of going to this restaurant, which seemed perfectly innnocent from the outside with its fancy slogans of “the only restaurant in the Venetian to overlook the canal!” For starters, we didn’t even get a table looking over the canal. Worst yet, the whole freaking menu cost more than my life. Stuffed shells [which they condescendingly refer to as some 'zaffron bake'] cost $40! And did you know there’s four types of water? Tap vs. bottled, and sparkling vs. still. WTF. Just give me something from a watering hole, so long as it doesn’t bankrupt me. Not to mention, we were all dressed inappropriately. I was wearing my “Led Zeppelin: Hammer of the Gods– WE ARE YOUR OVERLORDS” shirt while everyone around me was in effing Versace. Long and short of it: we all ordered soup. Yes. Soup. Nothing else, just… soup. Note of interest: never, ever let Elysa choose the place to eat.
Anyway. For the record, Jess and Kay opted to hermit in the room last night, so it was just Brandi, Rachel, Laura, and myself. After the disaster with the Restaurant from Hades we ventured to Eric’s “popcorn reading” of PoA in one of the lobbies of the J.W. Marriot. Quite a few people showed up, all of whom were extremely enthusiastic– they used British accents for the dialogue and everything. The reading lasted around two hours or so, and didn’t finish till around 1 a.m. It was odd introducing myself as MuggleNet staff to a bunch of people wearing a ton of MuggleNet fan gear. I felt very… uppity. : / But they were all incredibly sweet. [TWO OF THEM WERE WEARING HUFFLEPUFF ROBES!!!!ONE] Oh, and by the way, remind me to tell you guys about Emerson making fun of my badgerness. -_-
K’lyssa was at the reading as well, and afterwards we all went up to the boys’ room and hung out for a while. This is where it gets truly interesting, as always. Most importantly, Ben hit on Brandi. YES. I KNOW. I died laughing too. It went as such:
Ben: “What’s your name again? Brandi?”
Victim: “Brandi, yeah…”
Ben: “Brandi, you’re kinda a cutie.”
Victim: *blush [or as Brandi puts it, "hangs head in shame"* "Thanks."
Ben: *holds up shot glass-- begins to sing* "This one goes out to the one I love-- uhh...to Brandi!"
*Ten minutes pass*
Ben: "Brandi, you remind me of a James Blunt song. *singing again --->* Ooooh you're beautifuuul..."
Elysa: *FACEPALM*
Brandi: *HEADDESK*
Emerson: *DIES LAUGHING*
Andrew: *CONTINUES TO BE HOT*
That was definitely the highlight of my evening. Alex of the Remus Lupins was there again. Jamie and I talked a bit about MNFF before Ben stumbled out the door and insisted on 495784564 high-fives. Oh, and Kevin is absolutely lovely. We talked a little, mostly about espresso beans. We didn't leave the party till around 3 a.m... that's 6 in the morning according to our ridiculously messed up body clocks.
When we got back to our room, Jess was sick [but she's all better now] so we let her rest, while the remaining mnetladies laughed our arses off over Ben/Brandi shipping. For the record: Brandi’s not all about it. She’s sticking with Ron.
The guys from Harry and the Potters were there too. I didn’t know who was who, but found out later in the night that I had been talking to the guitar player. Very cool guys. Tonight we’re heading back over to the Venetian to give the gondalas another try. Jess wants to visit the wax museum as well. Afterwards, it’s back to Emerson’s/Ben’s/Andrew’s/etc’s room, but only for a while. Laura’s staying the night there because the podcast show is tomorrow and they have some preparation work to do, or… something.
Remember, if you’re here in Vegas– you don’t need to be registered for Lumos to come to the LeakyMug podcast. It’s tomorrow around 6:30, I believe, at the J.W. Marriot.
On a random note: we saw Clerks II earlier today. HILARIOUS. If you’re mature and/or over 17, go see it. Possibly the best way I’ve ever used $6.25.
<3,
Elysa
So, Elysa is writing a post about our day yesterday, so I’ll go at it from my point of view.
We went out onto the strip via the Trolley and hit up the Venetian, then went to this really poofy restaraunt, then couldn’t get on the gondalas. Yeah, so if that didn’t suck enough, I was majorly sad because I didn’t get to see Harry and the Potters or Draco and the Malfoys in concert which was the ONE thing I was looking forward to on this whole trip because of my work schedule and stuff, I probably won’t have the chance to see them in concert again. BOO. Oh well. That’s okay, cuz it was semi-made-up-for when I got to take a picture with Billy from Draco and the Malfoys and sorta met the Harry and the Potters. That was nifty.
Apparently, I’m also “sort of a cutie.” That was interesting to find out.
Met Emerson, Andrew, Kevin, Jamie, Ben, Eric and Melissa. That was fun. Emerson is really nice. Kind of random and crazy, but nice. Kevin and Andrew area also really nice. Kevin’s really easy to talk to. We went on this tangent about accents and it started this whole thing about how words are pronounced. It was crazy. Eric is such a sweetie. He’s really nice and pretty funny. Found out he loves one of the roller coasters I supervise. That was interesting to hear. Fun guys all around.
I also met Brendan last night and his friend Julie. They’re really nice as well and also really funny. Omg, they cracked me up.
Ummm…other than that, we just kind of congregate at the end of the night and watch House. I love House. Hugh Laurie = *le sigh* :) That’s about it. I’m sure you’ll have PLENTY of update today. I’ll post some pix later when I can hook up my camera. I also have a wicked video of someone playing DDR. ;)
OH MAN. This trip has been insane. But first of all, I’d just like to say– I miss my Lei. :( I hope you’re doing well dearie.
Jess has informed you lot of most things, but…
1. Staff party? Incredible. And for one reason only: Andrew Sims. He’s everything I’d hoped he’d be. I’ve pretty much resigned my life to being naught but one continuous love-fest for him. ;) No, in all seriousness, the guys were very cool. Emerson’s unbelievably sweet. When we walked in, he came up to us all and said, “Aww, your pictures do not do you girls justice. You look great in person.” What a doll. Andrew dished out hugs despite not really knowing who I am, and Jamie let us hear his hot accent. Which, by the way, made my night. He’s so british. I love it.
2. I’m going to be the liaison between staff during the podcast at Lumos. I’m excited, mostly for Laura. I know she’ll be great. But, there’s going to be this massive trivia contest between MuggleNet and Leaky at the end of it, and the HP Lexicon people–OH YEAH I met the creator of the Lexicon! So nice!– are doing the questions/judging. She gave Emerson some examples of the questions, and they’re HARD. No one in the entire room knew most of them, and only Jess and one other girl got a single one right. [By the way, the ONE question Emerson knew is the one that is now on MuggleNet's poll, LOL. And, it wasn't even one of the examples. He just proudly shared that he knew it. The answer's "purple," by the way.]
3. Today we’re hanging out in the room for a little while [we definitely have the best room], possibly go to the pool, but most likely watch season 1 of House. I made the grave mistake of bringing my season 1 DVDs with me, and Brandi’s been tearing them up, lol. It’s been a ritual. Every night we gather in the living room, eat, talk, and… oogle House. Later, though, we’re going to see Harry and the Potters. :)
4. SEREN’S HERE! First of all, when we left the staff party, we were constantly running into masses of crazy fangirls. [Jess says: whoever we saw that was dressed as Luna-- we love you.] They were really sweet, but it’s always rather creepy to meet strangers who know you. And yes, somehow, a couple knew me too. Anyway, as we’re waiting for our cab, we ran into these two girls who said I looked familiar. They asked if I worked for MuggleNet, I said yes, and they responded, “I think you know who we’re staying with.” “Oh really?” says Elysa. “Yep, Seren.” *Enter squee’ing here* So hopefully before the Harry and the Potters show, we’ll get to see our beloved Seren.
That’s all for now. More later! :) Oh, and Jess says: HELLO to Suraj and Ciaran. <3. Elysa says: HELLO to Lei, Nat, and Lexiness. Love and miss you guys! [And Lei, I met Alex from Remus and the Lupins! Thought about you. :) ]
<3,
Elysa
Filed under: In the Resort, Las Vegas, Out & About, Photos, Posted by Jess, Posted by Laura, Posted by Rachel
Hello, all! We have had an exciting week so far! On Monday we went to see the Bodies exhibit at Tropicana and it was amazing. The closest restaurant that we could easily find was Hooters, so we walked the whole way to Hooters (post-decidign not to get on the New York New York coaster since it’s fairly expensive) only to find out that there was an over 21 section in the restaurant and an under 21 section. The under 21 section had a 1 hour wait, so we went to The Dam Restaurant, which was also inside the Hooters Hotel.
On Tuesday we met up with K’lyssa and Eric to goto the Eiffel Tower, but the ticket line was SO FREAKING LONG and we got sidetracked because Elysa wanted a milkshake. We failed to hail a taxi by Paris, and so walked the whole way to the Bellagio to try and get a cab. We didn’t manage to get a cab, but we did get gelato, excluding Elysa, who finally got her milkshake. (They took so long, however, that they probably went and milked a cow fresh for her.) On the way out we stopped for a fountain show, which was decent, but nothing too awesome.
Finally, we walked to Caesar’s and got a taxi after a long wait. I (Jess) taxied with Brandi & K’lyssa to the Stratosphere and Laura, Elysa, and Eric shared another taxi. When we got there, we got our tickets fairly quickly, but Eric took over 30 minutes in the gift shop buying nothing spectacular. Many death threats ensued.
After an hour or more’s wait, we finally got to go up the tower. A couple photos were taken before we went up and the backgrounds were added on later, I will scan them as soon as I get home! Their elevator takes you up 130 stories in 27 seconds and your ears pop like on a plane. SO AWESOME! Brandi & K’lyssa held everyone’s stuff because they didn’t want to ride, and Laura and Elysa only had tickets for Thriller, a claw which dangles you off the side of the building. Eric and I bought tickets for everything, so to save time, we decided to get on Big Shot (A ride that shoots you up to the top of a needle on the Stratosphere for an AMAZING view of Vegas. I will get Eric to give me the photos he took to post!
Elysa and Laura nevergot go on their ride and Eric and I didn’t get on anything but Big Shot because the tower shut down due to heat lightning. :(
Last night (Wednesday night) was a LeakyMug staff party. We were all really nervous at first but after we had a mini-staff meeting directed by Melissa and sat in a circle, things got much more relaxed. Kay kicked Emerson’s ass at Dance Dance Revolution so many times, and a great time was had by all!
And now… what you’ve all been waiting for: PHOTOS!!! (Please comment on this entry if you have comments, and not on the Rock You website!)
Video and audio to come when I use my laptop. Elysa’s is killing me!!!
It takes me the better part of 24 hours to get to Las Vegas, and the first thing I do is go see dead people. Oh, and Pirates II. WTF. I don’t want to talk about it. Anyway.
AHHH SHUTTLE TIME
Later.
Hey there, everybody! Laura, Brandi, Elysa and I are in Vegas!!! Sorry we haven’t updated, I forgot the internet cables for my laptop and wireless is only in the lobby of the main building. Never fear, though! Once Elysa gets her laptop charged we will have some videos and audio for you including the stuff from Brandi and I on the way to the airport!
Rachel should be arriving tomorrow afternoon now, (Woohoo!) and Kay is set to come on Wednesday. We’re about to go out and see the strip, consider checking the photobucket photo album as I am going to attempt to email pics right from my phone to it. :D
Hopefully you’ll have a media enriched update soon,
Jess
