Day 3 - DT meetup, Fact or Faked guys & more

I changed into the flip flops Rex bought me and we high-tailed it over to the Cafe Diem, then walked through the restaurant to get to the hallway in question. There, Christiane was waiting with her husband and two kids. At that point, I started getting calls from fellow fans coming to the event who were either lost or trying to figure out where we were exactly. Rex walked off for a moment during the onslaught of calls but he came back and waved me over. “We're over here!” I didn't quite know what he meant, but I assumed he meant Josh would be meeting us there, so I walked over. When I looked up from my phone, I mentally said “duh!” because Josh was literally right there outside of the Hard Rock shop talking to Rex.


Click "Read More" below for the entire story of Day 3.

Friday started out to be a late day because Christiane had a very complex "Ghost Busters" outfit to put on, so we didn't get to the Convention area until maybe noon or so. I definitely had to still do my nails, though, so I'm also a guilty party in getting there late. We also agreed that Saturday would be crazy and Friday from the afternoon to the evening would be very busy for us, so we'd try to get extra sleep.

I called Rex Williams, the "DT" field medic for seasons 3 and 3.5, before we drove over, but I also called him once we were in the area. The original plan of action was to meet at the Cafe Diem, but because we got there so late, Rex said he'd meet us in the lobby of Hall C, and also that his phone was dying. We waited for him for about 15 minutes, but we wanted to get up to the line to meet the “Ghost Adventures” guys in the Sails Pavilion, so I left Rex a message and we made our way.

We wobbled to the Sails Pavilion in our very poor choice of shoes and waited in line to get an autograph or picture with the Travel Channel's resident ghost seekers. Suddenly my phone rang – Rex's phone had a little more juice left. He asked where I was and I told him in the autograph area in Sails waiting for the “GA” guys. He made his way over a few minutes later, to which we chatted, took photos and I had a short on-camera interview with him. 


After the interview, he told me he had run into Josh earlier, had lunch with him and talked about the future of “DT”. He told me about the details of the “DT” meet and greet that was happening later, which I didn't even have all the details of yet myself! He said it was initially going to be in the Cafe Diem, which was the information that I had, but because of how noisy and crowded it was, we would all meet in the hallway of the Hard Rock Hotel first.

Rex and I made our way over to the Gaslamp District while Christiane
waited in the “GA” line (they were there everyday of the Con, so I figured I'd try again another day) and we just talked about random things. We have a common factor in our current jobs, as he works in the medical field directly with patients and I deal with billing/supplies/customer service for hospitals and patients. At one point, he looked down at my feet and saw me wobbling. He glared and said “we're getting you better shoes.” We went into an apparel store nearby the Cafe Diem called the Gaslamp Garage to kill some time. 

I went over to the flip flops section with him and showed him how overpriced the selection was and how not small enough my feet were for the shoes. He picked out a few pairs and asked me to try them on to humor him. I tried on a cushy pair of zebra stripe ones and said they were cute, but not over $20 worth of cute. He grabbed them, brought them to the register and bought them! I said “Rex, no, seriously” but he replied that I can't argue with him because he's doing it for me to be nice and that's that. After the shoes, he said “we need to do something about this, too” pointing to my outfit, saying "trust me - I shop with my wife and she has great taste." I let him show me some dresses, but I told him he was being silly and we needed to get over to the Hard Rock, as it was almost 3:45 p.m. and the meet up was to happen at 4.

I changed into the flip flops Rex bought me and we high-tailed it over to the Cafe Diem, then walked through the restaurant to get to the hallway in question. There, Christiane was waiting with her husband and two kids. At that point, I started getting calls from fellow fans coming to the event who were either lost or trying to figure out where we were exactly. Rex walked off for a moment during the onslaught of calls but he came back and waved me over. “We're over here!” I didn't quite know what he meant, but I assumed he meant Josh would be meeting us there, so I walked over. When I looked up from my phone, I mentally said “duh!” because Josh was literally right there outside of the Hard Rock shop talking to Rex.

I walked over toward Josh and heard Christiane in the background yell “oh,
he's right there!” to her two daughters. Rex pointed me out and Josh turned, smiled and shouted “Amanda!” I went over and he automatically reached out for a hug, which amused me because he finally realized after meeting him in person three times that he's not getting a hand shake from me. He gave me a huge hug and asked me how I was. I shook my head, threw my hands up and I said "I don't even know!” He chuckled and asked how I was liking Comic Con. I joked that I felt like I was being interviewed now and he chuckled, saying it was. I told him the Con was great, but my anxiety was on edge and I wished people could pick a lane to walk in, so to speak. “oh, this is your first Comic Con, right? Yeah, that'll be rough on you.”

Danny Lutman, production coordinator for "DT" walked over and introduced himself. While Christiane and her family met Josh (her two little girls were shy around him), I looked over to my right and suddenly felt like an idiot. Kris Williams and Amy Bruni of "Ghost Hunters" were standing right there! I looked at them and said "I'm so sorry! It's one of those days, I didn't see you there." Kris asked if I was Amanda and I said yes (we had been corresponding a bit on Twitter prior to Comic Con). 

I got to chat with the "GH" gals a little bit and then I heard a slight commotion behind me. Colin Ferguson from "Eureka" popped into the hallway and was talking to Josh, as well as Danny. I filmed them chatting for a little bit until some of the fans started showing up. I had to kind of distract Josh from Colin and started to get him to meet fans. He finally told Colin he'd see him later and put his full focus on the fans who showed up.

A lot of them were taking group photos with Josh and with the "GH" ladies. I even got to take a photo with Kris, Amy and Colin, which was pretty cool (we actually took two because Colin made fun of the blurry photo I took in comparison to one that Danny offered to take for us instead of me awkwardly angling it). One point of the meet was funny when Danny literally had a string of cameras on his arm taking photos for everyone and he seemed to have an issue juggling them. He was taking a photo with one person's camera, but Josh mercilessly teased him by jokingly yelling "lens cap! the lens cap, Danny! Je-zus!" 

Then, it was my turn to take some photos with Josh. I asked if we could take a few different ones and he said it was absolutely no problem. We first took a normal pose. Then, I asked if we could poke fun at the people who either say we hate each other or that he can't stand me and mock like we're going to fight. He chuckled and said "okay, let's go" and we posed like we were going to punch each other. Josh, being the actor he is, kept the intensity but I kept giggling. 

Finally, it was time for my Holy Grail fan photo. I asked if Josh could put out his hand like this, and I showed him my claw. He furrowed a brow and asked "what did that mean/stand for?" I cringed a little and said "Lady Gaga?" Josh smirked and put his hand out in a claw. I was dying - it was one of the funniest moments ever and I loved that I got to mix two of my fandoms together in that moment. He was a sport, as I'm sure he's not a Lady Gaga fan and I appreciated him humoring me like that.   

A few more photos were taken of fans with various people, including an individual photo Christiane got to take with Josh (as she works for my page), and when the chaos died down a little, Danny asked Josh how they were doing on time. Josh replied "it's only 4 - we're ahead of schedule" and then asked what we were going to do now. Christiane said "well, what about that drink you still owe Amanda?" I laughed and thanked her for selling me down the river, I think I said, but I was mostly joking. Josh chuckled and said "well, I don't see any cocktails, but there is a PinkBerry around the corner", to which he lead the way outside of the lobby and over to the frozen yogurt shop.

Josh and I lead the pack, with Kris and Amy, then the fans following behind us. The girls and guys who showed up took apart their Syfy Comic Con button packs and were handing the circular decorative sheets to Josh, Kris and Amy to sign. When the fans were still pulling out things for them all to sign, I still had my camera on video and I had it pointed to Josh. He surprised me by slightly blocking the camera and said "video off." I did as he requested and he said he just wanted to talk to me as a person, which I appreciated, even though this wasn't the first time we'd had a candid talk. 

We spoke about general topics, including continuing our conversation about "Quantum Leap," which was a very geeky moment for me. I grew up watching the show and Josh asked if Sam ever got to leap home, or did he imagine it. I told him he did sort of got to go home in the past, but at the end of the series, he leaped into himself to talk to Al's wife Beth and that he never made it home. He nodded, saying "right right" and we both seemed to be on the same page that we were excited about a movie being in the works. Funny note - after we had spoken about "QL", the next day Josh made a quick reference to the show during his moderating of the "Sanctuary" panel, which I thought was pretty cool that perhaps our conversation sparked that. 

Josh was handed more things to autograph, including two copies of the May/June issue of TAPS ParaMagazine with him on the cover. His jaw dropped and he was like "wait, I seriously haven't even see this yet!" and he flipped the pages to his spread. It was a pretty amusing moment and I would have liked to have gotten it on video, but I didn't want a camera shoved in Josh's (as well as Kris' and Amy's) face the entire time. All three of them signed the magazine, and Christiane actually gave me the extra one to either keep or to give away in a contest/auction off.   

We finally made our way to the counter, and I revealed I'd never been to PinkBerry, so I wasn't quite sure of what to get. Kris and Amy also revealed they'd never been either, which Josh reacted to in mock disgust. He asked me to pick a size and I grabbed the tiny, but he insisted I get a bigger one. He told me about the difference in the yogurt flavors, how the regular was actually tart and not really sweet, and then he pointed to the toppings. "You take the yogurt and put a bunch of sh*t in it," he said to my amusement. I giggled and said "okay, so I'll have a little of this sh*t and a little of that sh*t." Josh laughed, as he knew that he could cuss around me and me around him without there being an issue. 

Kris said she wanted the Pomegranate flavor and Amy said "it's on vacation!" pointing to the sign next to the flavor, which meant they were either all out or it was out of season perhaps. Kris responded with "ah crap," but she ended up getting a good concoction with chocolatey stuff in it. I chose a combination of regular with Pineapple and Strawberries in it, but I was tempted by one of the chocolate toppings I can't remember the name of (and I'm not a chocolate person, so that says a lot). The other fans got their yogurts and Josh announced out loud while pointing to all of us "this is on me, guys!"

I finally put my video back on, as Josh and I sort of broke away from our conversation at that point, and turned it to the other fans who'd shown up. I asked how they were feeling and the general consensus is that they were all blown away. Once the yogurts were all purchased on Josh's card, he made some small talk with the other fans, but Danny was getting antsy that they would all be late to where they needed to be. I took one more photo with Josh, and it came out beautifully. It's actually a photo I've only shared with friends/family and have kept to myself - I feel like it's something sentimental I don't quite want to share with the public, as odd as that is to say. 

Danny got in front of everyone and said thanks to everyone for coming, and then thanked me for putting it all together, to which the other fans who showed up cheered slightly to. I can't remember if I said "oh stop it" or something to that effect, but it was some sarcastic comment, but I really was glad everyone had a good time and flattered at the "thank you's". Josh, Kris, Amy and Danny said farewell to us all and made their way out. Rich, Christiane's husband, was sitting outside with their kids when they walked by to leave and he overheard Josh saying to Danny "I know I'm late," but that shows me that he, along with the "GH" girls, really care about their fans and would have rather spent that chunk of time hanging out with us rather than sitting around in private or extra time with people they see on a consistent basis anyhow.  

Once it quieted down, I got to chat with the other fans and they even got to speak to Rex and take photos with him. He eventually had to leave as well, so it was just us fans left behind, at that point. I was so distracted that I still had most of my yogurt left, and it was melting. Some of it poured over onto my shoes and I joked to the others "I Monica-Lewsinky-ed all over myself", which got a good round of laughter (hey, we were all adults there! haha). We all had to part ways though, and I went with Christiane and family for a light dinner at the Cafe Diem. 

When we were brought to our table after we went into the Syfy Photobooth, we were highly amused that without even asking for it, we were brought to the "Destination Truth" themed table! We took photos of the tabletop, sans food, and sat down. The waitress complemented Christiane on her costume and told me she loved my shoes, as well as my nail polish color (Amy also said she loved my shoes earlier inside PinkBerry). Then, Christiane's eyes got wide before she settled her stuff down and made conversation with the person sitting behind us. I was still a little dazed from the quick meet and greet earlier, so I asked her quickly who it was. Imagine my embarrassment when she told me it was Ben and Austin from "Fact or Faked" on Syfy (to my defense, the 2 weeks leading up to Comic Con were a little nuts and I didn't have time to sit down and watch the whole first episode of "ForF" before coming to San Diego). 

Ben and Austin were both perfectly nice to us, even letting us sit down in their booth next to them. I interviewed them both and took photos for the fan site, as well as chatting up their friend Josh who was along on the trip (no, not the Josh we went to PinkBerry with, haha). Austin looked over at me and said "let me ask you a question - you're a female." I laughed and said yes. He asked if I had lotion on me, to which I pulled out a huge sealed ziplock bag I had called the Hygiene Kit. All the guys at the table looked in awe at it and agreed when I said a lot of other people at the Con needed something like this - the bag had make up, a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and other essentials in it. I told Austin he could use Evian Water Spray or Bare Minerals Skin Revver Upper, and he chose the lotion over the spray to remedy the sunburn pain on his face. 

We went back to our table and Rich, as well as the kids, had to end up going. Christiane ordered a sandwich with some fries while I went to go change into my Lady Gaga outfit for something she and I were doing later that night. I would talk about it, but we both actually signed a confidentiality waiver. Needless to say, yes, it was essential I dress up in my GAGABOT outfit. I wanted to wear it all day, but when the meet and greet was planned for Friday, the same day as the super secret project, I wanted to look professional until it was over.

I went to the ladies room in the Hard Rock and changed into the GAGABOT outfit - a black dress with silver sequins, black tights, broken Christmas lights and other electronics wrapped around me, and of course, a blonde bob wig. I felt weird walking out of the stall dressed like that, especially when I donned my crazy sunglasses with "GAGABOT" in sticker-crystals spelled out on the lenses, but then I remembered it was Comic Con, so NOT dressing up was outside the norm here. 

I walked back to the table and Ben saw me. His jaw dropped and he said "oh my goodness!" His friend Josh saw me, laughed and said "you make a kick ass Lady Gaga!" Austin was gone, so I said I should play a joke on him when he comes back. They totally agreed with me and I hid from view when Austin came back. I slinked back over to the side of their table and said "hi, you're hot, can I have your number?" in my best Lady Gaga voice. Austin's jaw dropped as well and he was grinning while his friends cracked up. I was like "no, it's me, Amanda." He laughed and replied "oh, I know, I just didn't quite know what to say. You look cute like that, though!" 

We all had to end up parting ways and the waitress, when she saw me in my new outfit, told me she loved it and had one of her coworkers come over to the table and look at me. The other waitress told me "wait - do the claw", and when I did, she giggled and said she agreed with the resemblance. I was a little unhappy with the wig, but then again, I should have just ordered a better one weeks ahead of time online, so it was my own fault. People seemed to like it, though, as a lot of people either said "Gaga!" whenever I passed by, or asked for a photo. 

Suffice it to say, the rest of the night was pretty much a blur (a mostly confidential blur, at that), and we met some more awesome people, including this kid JJ, who I posed with for fight-scene pictures in his outfit (I cannot remember for the life of me who he was dressed up as - sorry JJ!) We got back to the room, scrubbed off the makeup and prepared for yet another crazy day tomorrow.