It's a good thing most of us are early risers and can function on a minimum of sleep – we went to bed at half past very late and were up at quarter past way too early. Stumbled out of the house and managed to steer the car to Dunkin Donuts for minimal sustenance and caffeine, and then we were on our way. And bouncing (and not necessarily from a caffeine high).

After getting lost in Manhattan, devra's husband sweetly put us on the right track despite our frantic phone calls to him at such an early hour (honestly, that early in the morning it's amazing he was coherent enough to talk but I think the panic quality in our voices woke him up fast), and then we were at the hotel.

With the sun barely risen, we sat in the car and looked up at the hotel and realized – Michael Shanks and Chris Judge are most likely in that building. After swooning (a couple of times), sighing many a times, we hied our butts into the hotel just on the off chance the guys might be sleepwalking around the hotel.

We found the spot where the convention was being held and despite the lack of printed information and instructions for con virgins, thanks to other fans and the costumed props volunteers, we found the Creations people (tee shirts or sign tags announcing them as STAFF would have been helpful instead of being told to look for a short, blond woman).

This was the only true problem we had with the con. The confusion and lack of communication between the Creations staff. Yes there were tickets go to the front of the hotel where the brunch is being held. No there are no tickets left. Wait, maybe there are. Go see this person. There are tickets, maybe this person knows. Wait here, go there, look for this person.

After extreme highs and lows and disappointments and elations we were bouncing together at a table, almost too excited to eat. We ate, talked, pinched ourselves, bounced some more and finally calmed down a little.

Gary Jones and Peter Williams made an appearance and we started bouncing again. We found Gary to be extremely funny and personable.

Murphy's Law kicked in with a vengeance when three of us found ourselves in the bathroom when Chris and Michael were introduced. Somehow defying the law of physics, Amy managed to make it to her table at the far end of the room before people stood and rushed to the front.

And there they were, in all their glory. Grinning like loons, we all grabbed our cameras and joined the mass, clicking away and searching for the best angles. Gary Jones went up to join them, which was really nice. And then we sat and grinned some more.

Peter Williams popped in but didn't stay long enough except to allow a couple of photos to be snapped. None of us were fast enough, by the time our cameras were turned on, he was off the stage. He did go to the wrong door once he got his breakfast and we got to see him close up.

We could see the back of Michael's head as we sat there and waited. Somehow we thought we'd be nervous and uptight but we were fairly relaxed.

That is, until everyone at their table stood and the guys began roaming the room. Silent squee's and much hand holding ensued as Michael went to speak to fans two tables away. In growing anticipation, he came closer and closer until he sat down at the one empty chair, which somehow Amy had managed to sit beside.

So picture this: Michael, and to his right Amy, then babs, Jo, and devra. Amy sat there looking frozen, it was only after did we find out that Michael had brushed something off his jeans and his fingers touched her leg.

What an amazing gentleman. And yes, folks, we have come to the realization that Daniel Jackson doesn't smile nearly enough and that Michael's eyes are even bluer in person than on TV. He's thinner in person with legs that don't seem to stop. *Excuse the pause to wipe drool off the keyboard*

Michael started the brunch conversation with asking us if liked the leather pants. *Snort* - talk about an ice breaker! Seemed to mention that Chris liked them a bit too much, though. He went on to discuss his and Chris' displeasure with the new opening of SG-1 and the surprising (well surprising for us that is) fact that TPTB had originally wanted to call Season 9 a spin off of Stargate but opted to keep the original name and now, four episodes into the season, they're kicking themselves for not renaming the show.

We discussed Vala breaking his glasses and Michael said he would love a scene where Daniel would go to a cabinet in his office, open it and you would see a display of hundreds of pairs of glasses, all the same type.

He was interested in what we, as fans, thought of the new season and he was bouncing almost as much as Amy while discussing it. Michael did mention TPTB were concerned over the *fluff* over the Ties that Bind with respect to the other more serious episodes that kicked off the season.

Ahh… and of course the beard came up in discussion. Which Michael admitted was TPTB's idea. They had informed him they felt the need to be able to distinguish him from Ben Browder and wanted to know if he could grow his hair a bit longer, with only two weeks to shooting, to be able to tell the two apart. The visual of Michael blowing on his thumb to comedically illustrate an attempt to do the impossible in such a short period of time is beyond descriptive words (but a visual all four of us, and the others at our table, will take to our graves).

TPTB reasoning was that the channel surfer audience would not be able to distinguish the two men walking through a forest based on their builds. We were quick to disagree with Michael and hurriedly assured him that *we* would have no problems telling them apart. He seemed impressed, and he blushes very well, when we mentioned that even from the *back* we would be able to separate Daniel from Mitchell.

What impressed us was his ability to fit right into a table of strangers and work to make *us* feel at ease.

Gary Jones is a sweetheart. Warm and friendly and extremely animated as he talked about his SG promotion (and the fact that he's at the highest level and can't be promoted further) and his lack of offworld adventures. He referred to his excitement about being told he could go offworld and his shock when he realized that his offworld adventure would be on the Prometheus and *not* through the 'gate. The poor guy only wants to do a little 'gate travel.

He royally entertained us with Michael's little secrets of *falling* through the 'gate. About how Michael (who he referred to as Shanks) would stand on a box and *jump* through the 'gate to land on a mattress-covered ramp on the other side, then he would fall with quite macho finesse (and he illustrated with hysterical hand movements and facial expressions) as to how Michael would then fall sprawled onto the ramp. *for those of you who are curious… Jo was taking notes for a whumping fic—something about Daniel, falling, metal ramp set her off*

Previous to Gary Jones' appearance at our table, we had been discussing the questions we were going to ask at the con, which had to do with why Daniel, in Avalon, was ready to hand over the keys to his apartment when we all thought that Daniel lived in a house (the answer to that will be forthcoming, sorta, kinda, during the question and answer period of this con report). Since were all over 40 we figured writing the question down would be the only way to remember it, and Amy pulled out her trusty spiral pad and wrote "key to the apartment" and left the book sitting by the side of her plate and we thought nothing else of it, I mean, it wouldn't be needed for a while and it was left out in the hopes that maybe another question or two could be added.

Well, it caught Gary's attention and he leaned over and grabbed the pad. "Key to the apartment?" he asked curiously and we stuttered to explain, but he would have none of it. He borrowed a pen from Jo and wrote in big letters "NOTE to SELF – Get key back from Gary Jones." Which Amy is still trying to figure out how the hell she's going to explain that to her husband.

Then there was Chris. What a presence! Heavy sigh. Amy is still recovering from that encounter. He shook everyone's hand at the table and settled in the chair next to Amy and grabbed her hand and held on for the whole duration. Asked us if we had seen Friday night's episode, and like Michael, he was also excited about the season and we assured him that the leather was a real hit which for some strange reason, no one seemed surprised about.

Chris began to talk and don't ask me how but he started discussing Atlanta with Amy which led to him on a walk down memory lane and visiting a friend in the city and how each street he encountered there was named PeachTree something. The man goes off on tangents and manages to take the whole conversation with him. There is a warmth surrounding him that just seems to envelope all.

Amy sat in stunned silence when he left, unable to move the hand he had held, I believe it was shock and we weren't sure if paddles would be required to resuscitate her. But she began to breathe again on her own as we each heaved a sigh of relief, since being the wonderful friends that we are, we didn't want to miss a bit of the con if they had had to call in the paramedics.

After brunch the next thing on our agenda was pictures. Considering we all thought this might be the only chance we ever had to do something like this we decided that we wanted our picture taken with both Michael and Chris. According to the schedule, pictures with both of the guys began at 1230 and being the stress A personalities that we all are, we were in line with plenty of time to spare.

As we were waiting and chatting, we were delighted to see Chris walk down the hall. There was a little girl, maybe 9 years old standing in line and she attempted to take his picture and in the process caught his attention and he promptly began to tickle her causing every woman in line (and probably a few of the men) to wish they were the lucky little girl currently being tickled to within an inch of their life. *sigh* We also figured now would be the time to work out the logistics so that each of us would have the chance to be in the middle. We were told to remind the woman coordinating the pictures that although we were a group, we were having four separate pictures taken with four different poses.

As we walked into the room we were delighted to see that the guys were sitting down and that things were going much more smoothly than we had imagined and much more relaxed. The closer we got the actual point of hunky heaven, the more active the butterflies became until lo and behold it was our turn with the guys…everyone take a moment and digest that sentence…our turn with the guys… grinning like adolescent school girls does not begin to cover it.

First one to have the honor of being sandwiched between these two beautiful men was devra and the rest of us filed in behind them. As we all took our places Michael asked about the significance of our Camp Stargate T-Shirts and we briefly explained what it meant and how we had met through the show and the internet. Dev sat down, lumpy in her lap and Michael reached over and lifted Lumpy’s head from dev’s chest and said “you are gonna tell me about this later, right?” To which dev promptly turned nine shades of red and managed to respond, “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

The picture was snapped, someone blinked, it was snapped again, Michael blinked provoking a muttered response from Chris. The photo was taken again and after the photographer made sure everyone’s eyes were open we rotated, devra passed Lumpy to babs and she took her place between them. . That one was accomplished with only one eye blink and we’re not sure who the culprit was however, general consensus is that it was babs. After taking one with everyone’s eyes open we rotated again. Picture three was Jo ‘s turn in the middle, Michael turned around and asked how many of us were there and Amy and devra both almost passed out from the intensity of his blue eyes.

By this time poor Lumpy was in danger of being crushed he was being held so tightly in an attempt to keep from touching the guys (something Amy had been repeatedly warned about). Picture number four was Amy who was still slightly giddy from having been touched by both guys during brunch. This time it was Chris who blinked and he apologized for the involuntary eye flutter, which drew a glare from Michael. However, we are not sure if the glare was directed at Chris for blinking, apologizing, or because Amy was quick to reassure the man that she had no qualms whatsoever about sitting next to them both just a little longer. We managed to get through the photos without embarrassing either ourselves or the guys and we have discovered that both men smell exceptionally well.

As we were leaving, the next group got into position and we all stopped to watch and “awwww” as Michael and especially Chris very sweetly played with an adorable four month old baby. Chris was literally nose to nose with the infant and both men had a look of extreme joy on their faces.

What impressed us about this experience was that although the time was very short, it didn’t feel rushed, it was well organized, the staff was friendly and the photographer was extremely diligent in making sure the pictures were the best they could be. Also Michael and Chris have a knack for making whoever is sitting in the middle feel as if they were the only person in the room.

Now on to the infamous question and answer period. We know that others probably took notes but we're just going to with the ones that captured our fantasies fancy. Besides none of us wanted to take our eyes off of them for a second to write anything down.

Michael and Chris got everyone's attention by starting off with a comment about strip clubs and the differences between male and female audiences at such places. We were delighted to discover that Chris was a male exotic dancer (at least according to Michael) in his younger days. with Chris running around on stage like a chicken with its head cut off as he frantically searched for the CD of a clip they wanted to show us.

He found it and we were treated to a three minute clip of the filming of the Women of Sci Fi calendar. Although we didn't recognize all of the women, two that we did were Lexa Doig and Teryl Rothery. All of them looked fantastic and beautiful and appeared to be having the time of their lives. He did say there was going to be a Men of Sci Fic calendar in the near future and all the women let out a loud squee!

Someone asked Michael if he shaved his chest or if it was naturally hairless. He told us that one time while passed out after drinking, his rugby teammates shaved the initials of the team (or school we can't remember) in his chest hair. He said that as it grew back it was very itchy and it was simply easier to just shave the hair off.

One thing that all caught our attention: fans asking long, rambling questions appear to be both boring for the actors to answer and boring for the audience. Fans who asked multiple questions of both actors slowed down the process and was unfair to those standing in line at the mic. Amy went up to ask a question at the very start of the con and stood there for close to an hour. The sound quality of the microphones was horrible for those asking questions and many of us couldn't hear well.

At one point the mic's weren't working. Michael looked at Chris to see if he was responsible and Jo mentioned to babs and devra, "What did Amy touch this time?" since she was still standing in line, fairly close to the stage. Thankfully the sound came on after a few seconds.

The infamous obnoxious Albert – a child who had attended a con last year and actually "stalked" Chris into the bathroom and videotaped him there, went up to the mic once more. This little brat doesn't need the notoriety of us giving details of his question and comments, but let's just say that Michael handed him with diplomacy and more respect than the child deserved. He mentioned the kid's parents and asked if they were there and they *proudly* admitted that this child was of their loins.

Honestly, they all should have been boo'd and escorted out of the con. Enough said.

Amy introduced and Chris immediately asked if she was from London. Michael was dumbfounded because Amy has a very distinct (and beautiful) deep southern accent. Michael laughed and said, "Southern London".

Answering Amy's question, Chris confirmed that due to the new baby and lack of time, he will not be writing another script this season.

Chris hammed it up and offered his butt for photo ops when Amy told Chris that at the brunch, when people were taking pictures of Michael's butt, we were taking pictures of his. Needless to say the water that was in his mouth, ended up on the floor.

Michael's usual "Black hole" comment elicited laughter, and he asked the audience who were happily shooting away, whether they had wide angles lenses on their cameras. (unfortunately our picture came out blurry).

Amy's question for Michael was: "In Avalon, Daniel offers Mitchell the keys to his 'apartment' when, we remember him having a house with a teeny tiny bed." Michael's comment was "that was a pretty silly bed." And he went on to ramble after Chimera and the explosion, the neighbours must have had a petition to throw him out of the neighbourhood and the new apartment is on the ground level to save him from jumping off of balconies. Which led us to the impression that he has no idea what the hell happened to the house. (ie, the continuity in Stargate scripts sucks)... (they need fanfic writers – see four hands waving wildly as volunteers).

We don't remember how it came up but Michael answered something about "doing an episode of Daniel and Teal'c in prison". Let's just say the plot bunnies started hopping. This might have to do with a question on the subject of a 'love interest' but Michael and Chris were pleased that the direction of the show was taking this season – that is – exploration and action and adventure.

Dana Jeanne asked a great question but we won't steal her thunder and we'll let her put it in her own words when she does her con reports (amy, babs, dev and jo waving wildly to Deej).

We noted the guys were much more animated when talking about stuff they obviously like: Hockey, photography, their families, their jobs. They came across as being very genuine, human, well-spoken, down-to-earth and the guy next door.

The question and answer period ended and then it was time for our autographs. Of course by this time we all had to use the facilities really really bad! So after a quick pit stop, we returned to our seats to wait. Creation had an auction while the first rows went—and for a bit we were entertained by a clip montage of Michael Shanks various TV and film roles. It started with a clip of him in a show called Madison—he looked like he was about twelve (okay we know he was an adult, but he looked young). After drooling over the clips from Stargate—and thank you, thank you for showing him nekkid in the park on a LARGE screen (and why the man sitting behind us was making fun of the women’s oohs and ahhs shows you what he knows)—there was a music vid about Sam (which was only received with mediocre enthusiasm) and another about the women of Stargate.

We spent our time talking to some fellow fans and then it was time for the autographs. Now we had been told that they would sign any original artwork or anything not for resale, so we debated about having our Camp Stargate T-shirts signed—even though we were wearing them. But three of us decided we’d use pictures instead. As we approached, Amy asked one of the volunteers if the guys would sign her shirt. The one volunteer said—hm, I’m not sure if they’ll sign it with you in it. What a quandary!

Dev luckily enough had an extra Camp Stargate shirt in her backpack. So Amy changed her shirt while we were in line. Not only did she do her little quick change in public without showing anything, she also managed to do it in the small section where Michael and Chris were signing (without them noticing)! After she changed, the same volunteer who said he didn’t think they’d sign said—You know, I think they will sign the shirt with you in it. We’re convinced he had a bet going with a fellow volunteer (betcha $10 she can’t change her shirt!). Amy put the shirt she wanted signed on right over Dev’s and then asked the handler if her shirt could be signed. Now we all know perfectly well that Amy wanted the shirt signed in the hopes that the Sharpie Michael used would bleed through the shirt onto her skin and she’d be able to go to the tattoo artist and say—can you please follow those lines?

But alas and alack it was not to be. Michael pulled this shirt away and signed near the front hem. Amy did report that she was trying hard not to giggle because it was ticklish.

Babs nearly swooned when Michael asked her if she and the other girls had fun at the con. And eye contact—the man is terrific at eye contact and God, what blue blue blue eyes and what a gorgeous smile! Polite—a thank you to each person as he handed the item he’d signed back to that person. Clarification—a thank you and a smile and eye contact. Please wait a moment as we clear the drool from the keyboard once more.

Chris was just as polite and smiling, although he did remark when signing Lumpy’s ID tag that he should be first for autographs because Michael never leaves him enough room if they are both signing the same thing.

So, elated from our close encounters we knew it was now time to leave the con with our wonderful memories. We made a quick pit stop, said goodbye to a few fellow OS’ers we’d met and went to our car.

Traffic in late afternoon in downtown Manhattan is just a teensy bit heavier than that at 5 am (um, make that a lot heavier) and country bumpkin babs gawked at the skyscrapers and closed her eyes at the drivers who didn’t seem to care that a car was beside them when they changed lanes. However, devra got us safely through the city and soon we were headed back to Camp Stargate HQ (aka devra’s house). Talk of the con and our wonderful time filled the vehicle and next thing we knew it was time to stop for supper. Our waitress kind of figured out that somehow we were a group with a mission because she asked if we were sorority sisters. We said yes with a lot of giggles.

We put Lumpy to bed once he calmed down from being handled, twice, by Michael. And from this con report, if you thought Amy was bouncing around, you should have seen Lumpy. His head was so swelled up that we had trouble getting him into the backpack. But things are back to normal,

All in all our first con and our meeting Michael and Chris is an experience we will carry with us for a long time. How lucky we were to be able to attend. We're just hoping our faces don't freeze with permanent grins on them!