The ladies at GMOH did very detailed reports, so for all the really good dish, you can check out that yahoo group:

http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/GMoverhere/

Or Garett's quote page here at Home Of The Goddess:

https://www.angelfire.com/oh4/homeofthegoddess/garettquotes.html

So instead, just a recap with my own memories of the event. Not as detailed, to be sure, but interesting-->at least, to me *L*

Saturday, October 11, 2008 - Photoshoot & Episode Showing (Cypher)
Saturday morning we came downstairs a little early and there is nothing that says good time like a lobby full of fan girls *L* We finally got to go up to the meeting room, and there we were all given a lovely package that included a huge 'zine and our info about the itinerary and the guest list. Very cool for someone like me who is shit at names :)
Each package was numbered and we were told that was going to be our raffle number (I didn't win) and our order for photos. I was 17.

Every time I wanted to be a goofy fangirl, I just reminded myself of my own coolness-->a trick I use during training. So I didn't get all weird on Garett or anything. In fact, I might have been a bit too comfortable. *L* Told him getting our pictures taken (one at a time and into the back room with you, all very mysterious) was a bit like going into the doctor's office. He goofed around during our photo shoot which suggested to me that he was pretty much at ease.

After everyone had their individual pics taken, Rae asked if we'd like a group photo as a few folks had suggested it. I was willing to pay for it, since even though I was there for the Garetty goodness, the women there were brilliant and I wanted a memento of that as much as anything. So we did this group shot and seriously, it came out like those old school photos-->all that was missing was the little school sign at our feet. I missed a back feel of him by about three feet, but Debbie got to stand behind him and blush like a schoolgirl *L* I love the group hug pic, and I think Garett did too--> I got him to sign it for me Sunday.

After the professional shots were done, we loaded up on coffee and treats and got situated in the main room for video watching. (as an aside, it's a bitch to juggle coffee, notebook, camera and purse-->I'm just sayin'...I sat in the back row next to Barbara, who was brilliant by the way.

We had a couple minutes to take pics, but no vid-->big rule-->and then we sat down to watch on screen some stuff on Rae's computer. First, a funny TS vid (don't remember who made it) set to the Benny Hill theme, kind of gently mocking the gun-dropping, running lots, kicking and punching man of action that is Richard Burgi *L* I'm reminded that I have a type-->if Jim needs glue to hang onto his gun, Fox Mulder needs superglue!

The episode that was chosen for this bit was Cypher, quite possibly one of my favorites, so that turned out brilliant. I took some notes, not so much on theme or anything, but the funny quotes from the chat during the show-->again, check out Garett's quote page. But a few words about Garett. Again, I have to stress that he seemed really at ease. Very relaxed and natural, and didn't seem rehearsed-->none of the "now I'll tell this story which the audience will find hilarious. Then I will follow up with some intelligent comments on the nature of television acting as it relates to the subspace anomalies found on Uranus..." *L* stuff. Just a guy talking with friends-->a theme for the weekend. I think it helps that he knows some of the ladies quite well. He laughed alot-->He seemed to find alot of the Burgi shots hysterical-->and actually did have some interesting things to say about acting-->his and other people's--> and writing, which was fascinating to me as a writer.

I did throw out a comment about the chochke stuff showing up in the loft to show that Blair now had a presence there, and Garett made a funny comment about Jim and Blair shacking up together. yay me for getting it out there. Barbara commented on his comment and I nearly giggled my coffee right out of my nose. She had a real presence about her :)  I also mentioned the blue shirt from the car scene outside Club Doom, only because he hated it. I loved it, and teased that it "brought out his eyes" (a fanfic favorite, let me tell ya) Although I should mention that Mab and I had a conversation about the tastiness of Blair in red a bit before this and now I think he should have been wearing red in that scene *L*

Re: slash. Having been told it was verboten, we were all on best behaviour, but I think Garett totally knows what side his bread is buttered on. He commented on the relationship between Jim and Blair, totally mocked Jim's "concern" for Blair-->lots of "I love him!" and "Be gentle" and all that good stuff. And he was always the one to bring it up, not us. He also talked about the demographic of the show-->who was actually watching. I get that he might not want all the tab a slot b details, but I know he totally gets it!

*just a note here that he told a hysterically funny and awful story after the final banter of the episode that factored in someone he knew and something he had chosen no longer to wear and I can't really say more than that because all the way through he kept saying "I can't believe I'm telling you this!" and ended up asking nicely if we'd leave it out of reports online, cos it was frankly really personal. Again, this guy was totally in his element with us*

I do have to mention that XF and TS filmed right next door to each other, but Garett didn't know much about it, and in fact informed us that he's never seen an episode of the X-Files. After a serious internal debate-->very serious-->I decided I wouldn't hold it against him. *L* But I'll tell ya, if I knew where to send the dvds, he'd own them all. I mean, really, never watched XF? That's tantamount to treason in my universe!

When we were done, we all chatted a bit more and Garett asked about the writers panel. We tried to keep it all respectable of the rules, but Garett himself asked about the stories--were Jim and Blair married yet, and who was the wife. Given all his comments during the show about the writers and writing in general, and also since the writers panel never did really go to that "Mr Prostate--Why He's Your Friend" place, I suspect he would have enjoyed it.

At this point I found out he was smoking again, having quit before but in fact smoked during filming of TS, and suddenly, like he wasn't a cutie before, he's even hotter. My sickness knows no bounds! *LOL

Saturday, October 11, 2008-Dinner with Garett:

For those who need to know all the gory details: Saturday Evening Buffet Menu

Vegetable curry
Beef bourguignon <-- what I had :)
Chicken curry
 All of the above served with baby new potatoes and rice
Goat’s cheese and tomato tart with rocket and parmesan salad<--EW!
Cold meat platter
Selection of fresh salads
Smoked salmon & lemon mayonnaise
Fresh fruit platter
Chef’s dessert (which was different cakes with heavy creme in vanilla and chocolate to pour over them OMG!!)

So we all moved round to sit at tables with an empty chair at each one, so that Garett could come round and join us. He wound up having his actual supper at our table, which was cool. Food and coffee were fantastic-->seriously, I could marry this hotel for the coffee. I sat with Debbie and Wendy, Maggie and Jacqui, who turned out to be stellar dinner companions all. Funny thing, though is the other ladies were all so shy that I think I wound up talking way too much. But I couldn't just sit there and say nothing, right? Right? *L*

Garett worked the room like a pro *L* We even commented on it at one point (see quotes) There are pictures of all the tables here:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v207/starshine24mc/GMOH%202008/

The naughty table aka the fruit juice table was covered in wine bottles! I got to meet Bev, which was totally cool as she is one of the few ladies from TS fandom that I've actually had contact with beyond reading their stuff. So I was totally chuffed to meet her!

"I'm allergic, I break out in handcuffs"--Garett at the naughty table.

I wish I had the conversations verbatim, but I'll do my best. When Garett was at our table, he talked about the goat rodeo that was CSI Miami. He enjoyed the work, but they post productioned him to death and didn't tell him so he looked older than he is--his mom was appalled *L* He talked about a movie that he may get to do--an indie project that he's waiting to hear about! I've got my fingers crossed! He mentioned a friend of his who seems to be "guest star guy" in that he always has one off work whereas Garett doesn't seem to get the same amount of work. He does seem to be fine, though, as thoughts of not working flitted through everyone's mind at the table, I think. He's comfortable, though.

We wound up talking about the iPhone, as he's a customer of mine *L* and I managed to handle it for about ten or fifteen minutes and then I had to end the conversation, explaining as politely as I could that I was on holiday, and couldn't believe I was talking about work! He complained about store service--surprise, didn't want a new contract and also mentioned losing his rollover minutes when he left his family plan a while back. I explained how it worked and advised him to call customer care, not go to a store, and offered my services (for his phone, people! jeesh!)

At this point I will admit to some idle gossip next day about his marital status due to the family plan breakup and the smoking again.

Yeah, we talked about smoking. How it doesn't matter what excuse you have, you smoke because you are addicted. I think he and I would both like to quit, but it sounds like it's a comfort thing for the both of us. The excuses he came up with were breaking off with someone, or ending a relationship....

We talked about coffee--we're both addicted. And TV shows he likes--he's a big fan of silly human tricks, and laffs his ass off at Funniest Home Videos. He was offered an HGTV type show but declined because he says his carpentry is his, and if he had a show on it, it would take something away from it. I get that. He mentioned Boston Public, which I think he had said something about last time, or maybe in an interview. I guess we're even, cos he's never seen XF and I've never seen BP. He likes Bill Shatner in it. He is also a big fan of The Office, both versions, and Arrested Development. He should hang out with my friend Jason!

He did say he liked Canada, although I challenged him on that, since to him I'm sure Canada is Vancouver, and he'd be hard pressed to tell you where Saskatchewan is *L* We didn't really talk Sentinel at all, nor writing. We talked politics briefly--after I told him to quit talking about cell phones *L* He had been talking politics at another table so we dissed Palin a little and talked about Stephen Harper being just as awful.

The great thing was that he was only supposed to be there from 7:30-10:30 and it was after one when he finally left. By then we had rearranged tables, got to give him some gifts, from the naughty table, watched him juggle-->since he did it last time, I guess they wanted to see if he'd do it again.

Ultimately, it was brilliant. Like hanging out on Sunday night in the living room. He's just this incredibly real and nice person, not affected at all, nor snotty or full of himself, even though in that fan-room he totally could have been *L* And we get on very well.

Sunday, October 12, 2008: Autograph signing and Q&A
I didn't want the same old signed stuff, so I didn't get all my pics signed. Instead, I got him to sign a Liverpool postcard for me, and got him to add his name to the guest/participant list they handed out yesterday. He did nicely sign my group photo, though, with a Thanks, Michele on it, which was nice.

Don't let Mitchell know, but I got his coffee for him. I saw that Rae had a pitcher of water out during signing, but nothing else, and since I was getting coffee and all...okay, okay, it was a total kiss ass move, but come on--it's Garett Maggart for heaven's sake! *L*

I was disappointed that the question I sent in didn't get asked, and I didn't think to ask it while there, although we'd already had an iPhone conversation so it was okay. But I think alot of us were waiting for Rae to ask our questions and she didn't, so only a couple of people asked all the questions in person. Still, tons of good information, and Garett's a brilliant storyteller--very animated and funny, but can be dead serious too, depending on the situation. I think he was pleased that there were good and intelligent questions, not just "ooh, how long's your inseam?" *L* Although boxers vs briefs came up and he claims to be a boxerbrief kinda guy--we like those!

Okay, crawling back out of the gutter now...

Again, there are lots of quotes on his page from this day, but I have to tell you the story about the dogs was bloody brilliant and I can't do it justice here. suffice to say, a friend of his asked him to take in a feral german shepherd that she couldn't place (presumably she's SPCA or something) which, being a nice guy and all, he did. He had his own dog, Lola, at the time (she's since passed and now he has Buddy, a staffordshire). Well, this dog, Molly, was unbelievable--one day super sweet and docile, the next day tearing possums apart in his living room and eating bits of them (heads over here, asses over there) and then she'd be all sweet again. She took out the neighbour's guinea pig and ate Jennifer's (his girlfriend at the time) leather coat--new expensive leather coat*L* This schizo behaviour went on for almost 2 yrs with Garett trying to get his friend to take her back and being too nice to push. Then one day he came out of the bedroom to discover she had shit all over the house--he swore it was up the walls, on the furniture, everywhere! Enough was enough. After two years he came to realize he had to get rid of her. So he took her to the SPCA and the guy there was all guilting him out and stuff and he said his friend was crying and he was crying and feeling like shit for doing it, but it had to be done. Then he gets home and not fifteen minutes later the phone rings. It's the SPCA--they scanned the dog, discovered she had a chip in her and located the owners!!

I laughed til I thought I was going to cry!!

He talked about golf alot and the Sentinel quite a bit, and told us of old sports injuries--you can see he's a sports guy by his figure *L* From my notes:
He has broken his leg and separated his clavicle playing football (strong safety/linebacker)
Broken a hand and scapula playing baseball (third base)
Broken a foot at soccer. (right forward)

the only serious one was the leg--he sometimes has to wear a knee brace for sports now.

I loved his Burgi stories, and the fact that he knew as soon as he saw RB that he should be Jim. Also, when they did the read for their first real meeting, the lift onto the wall was unscripted and totally put in by the two of them. RB was so enthusiastic he tore Garett's shirt. At that point the writers knew they had a winner. His RB impressions were hysterical.

He was given a series of this or that questions to get some favorites, which included:
Music: jazz, classical, Foo Fighters
Drink: coffee
Bum cover: boxer briefs
Cartoons: Tom and Jerry
Fast Food: Burger King
Sports Team: NY Giants

Other things of note, he does have some superstitions which he didn't elaborate on (presumably wearing green socks to auditions or something like that) and he lost his nut over using the word "Look" before explaining something as in "Look, I told you this..." As he says of course the person's going to be looking at you, it's a given--where else are they going to look? And you don't have to say Listen, although it makes more sense, because you're talking so the other person is obviously listening. He really got into it!

Again, he stayed late, even drew the raffle prizes, which he probably hates since he has to read numbers and such (for those who didn't know, he's dyslexic, and I imagine it's a bit of a chore for him) and over all was just the perfect guest and gentleman. Yeah, he's a cutie, but really, he was just so kind and sweet, but not over the top--also very real--so the looks really are just a big bonus!

So thank you Rae, Gerri et al for putting on a delightful weekend, thank you to all the ladies who were so friendly and made this Canadian feel right at home, and a huge thank you to Garett for being himself and making every minute an absolute wonder! Oh, and do let me know how that iPhone thing works out for ya! *L*