Helen's Dave-o-rama

Helen’s DaveCon 2007 Trip Report

III. The Post-Show Festivities

After the show, the pages immediately started shooing everyone out of the theater. We gathered the AFL group at the front of the theater and waited for Tony Mendez, Jay Johnson, and Walter Kim, who were expecting us. We proceeded to tape our most elaborate Tony Mendez Show yet, under the guidance of a guest director named Chris, a Late Show staffer who is studying film at NYU. Chris, Jay, and Walter put us through our paces, making us run up and down stairs, chase Tony with baseball bats, fall down dead out on 53rd St., and so forth. It was an absolute blast, and we did some of our finest acting to date. Look for it on the Late Show website, most likely the week of June 25, 2007 when they return from the dark week.

After the lengthy TMS taping -- which took at least an hour and a half -- we hung out with Mike, Jay, and Walter outside while Tony took David Yoder back in for desk pictures and a quick tour. (Thanks, Tony.) Mike looks great, BTW, like he has lost a lot of weight.

Then, it was off to dinner, at Cascina Ristorante, an Italian restaurant over on 9th Avenue. Tony Mendez stopped in for a while, before heading off to the ballet. The meal was excellent, and reasonably priced by New York standards. A good time was had by all, though I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to talk to everybody; it's tough with such a large group. The party broke up around 9:30, and those who hadn't already left to catch trains/planes/buses home decided to head over to McGee's. I was exhausted by that point, and I hate bars (it's really not any fun for someone who doesn't drink), so I left and got settled into my hotel room, where I was soon out like a carp.

Friday morning I grabbed a little breakfast and went out for a walk up toward Central Park. Somewhere along Broadway, I passed a cafe with outdoor seating, where I saw a guy taking a picture of his breakfast, a huge, gorgeous Belgian waffle covered with strawberries and whipped cream. Another pedestrian walking by made a derisive comment about the guy taking a picture of his food. Geez, lady, what's your problem? Wouldn't you take a picture of that creation?

Around 11:30, I met up with Traci, who took me to a wonderful Belgian chocolate shop called Leonidas. The package insert in the box that I brought home for myself warns that chocolate is best eaten fresh. Well, I don't think there is any danger of it sitting around going stale. The stuff is fan-tastic, and isn't going to last long. Excuse me a moment while I go have another piece. Ah.

After the chocolate expedition (we were in there quite a while making our selections), we met up with Carl at the American Museum of Natural History. We had tickets for the new space show, narrated by Robert Redford. The show, Cosmic Collisions, was excellent. We also enjoyed the recordings directing us to our seats (etc.), which sounded like something straight out of Logan's Run. After the space show, we checked out the dinosaurs and the exhibit of (large) extinct mammals and their relatives, where we walked along the cladogram. We also made a quick run through the Powers of Ten exhibit, where we were pleased to see only eight planets mentioned. (Pluto isn't anything.) After our traditional AMNH snack (planetary cookies), we headed up to Traci's apartment, which I hadn't seen. It's a nice place, with a surprising amount of space by New York standards.

Traci and I took her enormous dog, Titan, for a walk while Carl stayed behind to make some phone calls. (He was still dealing with the wrecked car situation, which involved insurance, police reports, and arranging a rental car.) Later, the three of us met up with Emily, a friend of Traci's, for dinner. The original plan was to go to a new barbecue restaurant Traci had read about, but when we got there it turned out to be a chain restaurant, with tacky merchandise for sale and loud music blaring. After waiting a few minutes for a table, we decided we didn't like the place, and bailed. We went instead to a burger place nearby, called, oddly enough, "Brgr". This turned out to be excellent, and I'm sure we made the right choice.

After our burgers, Traci and I had a hankering for ice cream, and decided to go to a Cold Stone Creamery shop near Times Square (I know, I know, but it was the only one in a reasonable location between where we were and where we were heading). Emily had left by then, and Carl took about three or four minutes agonizing over whether to come with us. Finally, Carl decided to tag along, and we headed for the subway. Well, when the train pulled up, Carl and I suddenly heard a gleeful Traci squeal "Sailors!!" We ended up one car behind the sailors, so Traci made us get off at the next stop and move up one car so she could get a picture with them. If Carl hadn't hemmed and hawed about coming with us, Traci would have missed the sailors completely. The quantum uncertainty worked in our favor. It's all part of the grandeur of the universe.

And so ends another DaveCon. Thanks to Renee and Traci for all their work putting this together, and to Keith for organizing the dinner. And a big shoutout to Jay Johnson, Walter Kim, Mike McIntee, and the ever kind Tony Mendez, for their incredible hospitality. And thank you David Letterman, without whom there would be no DaveCon.

See you all next year, you low riding punks!

Pictures, pictures, pictures!