Amber Benson Signing - Forbidden Planet, Birmingham 9th June

[stephenbooth_uk]

I went to the signing today, hoping to meet some fellow kitties. When I got there the queue was fairly sizable (about 250 people). I wandered up and down the queue a few times hoping someone from the board would recognise me from the description and graphic I posted a while back but no-one did so I joined the queue. About 30 minutes later the security guy from FP wandered up the queue counting people then announced that Amber would only be seeing a maximum of 300 people as they had only allowed for a 2 hour session and that it was unlikely that anyone after a point about 30 people ahead of me (300 people, working out to an average time of 24 seconds per person actually with Amber) would get to see her. During the next 40 minutes or so a lot of people joined the queue ahead of that point (basically doubling or tripling the number of people), my guess is that they'd had one person from a group waiting in the queue and holding the place for the rest of the group who were off doing other things (presumably swapping in and out of the queue so no-one got stuck with the whole waiting time). About 20 minutes before the signing was due to start I figured that I was probably now 600-700 people from the front of the queue so had no chance of getting in so wandered down the queue again to see if there was anyone I recognised or who would recognise me so we could chat. Not seeing anyone I waited near the front figuring that I'd at least have a chance of seeing Amber arrive and maybe leave (reports I've read of other signings indicated that she tended to arrive 5-10 minutes before the signing was due to start). At about ten to one I think I saw Amber arrive (well I saw what I believe to be the back of Ambers head and a few other people I've seen with Amber in photos from other signings). About half an hour later some people in wheelchairs were pulled out of the queue and taken in (which was fair enough as the signing desk was up a flight of stairs so they wouldn't have been able to get to it) and then a large group wearing stickers bearing the "Wolves Of Fenric" logo arrived and were taken in to see her. A little later the security guy came out again and announced that There was a limit of one item per person to me signed and no photographs could be taken at all. About 40 minutes later (about 20 past two) the queue started to move. I hung around watching people go in then come out. Whilst many people did seem happy to have seen Amber there was a worrying number who left scowling and complaining that "She's not Buffy!" which bothered me.

Another thing that concenred me a little, and this may just me being pedantic, was that well.... I think that if you are going to ask someone to sign a photo common courtesy would dictate that it should be a photo with them in it. I saw a lot of kids with postcards of Sarah standing in the queue, these formed the bulk of the people complaining as they came out.

I left just before 16:00 (it was coming up to the two hour limit).

On the whole most people seemed to enjoy the signing despite the rain.

Even though I didn't get to go in and see her (I'm not sure I would have gone in anyhow due to fears of babbling or fainting if I got to see Amber) I have pre-ordered (some weeks ago) a Buffy S5 part 1 boxed set with the sleeve of the the first video signed by Amber so at least I'll get something signed by her.

Edited to add: Just remembered. Whilst I was there I noticed that they have copies of "Fray" in the window. I didn't go in to get one as the comics section is where the signign was so I wouldn't be able to get up there but I'll be getting on on Monday when I go in for my signed boxed sets.

_stephen

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I may be a fat, ugly and bald total failure but... OK, Fair point.

[This message has been edited by stephenbooth_uk (edited June 09, 2001).]

[SJ]

I haven't been to any signings,that's why I got a couple of copies of the "Lovers Walk" comic signed by Amber from QVC UK.

[MaClayMagic]

My partner, parents and I all went to Birmingham this morning and stood for 4 and a half hours to get in to see Ms Benson. It was worth the hail and the rain that soaked us through, then the sun that dried us out! Where we were, pretty near the front, we were surrounded by Amber fans of all ages. The 12 year olds we were chatting to have their posters from the magazine ready to sign. And no one by us didn't know it wasn't anyone but Amber Benson there. It was kinda disappointing when she didn't turn up at 1pm but was not expected until 2 because she hasn't been too well and the traffic was delaying her (or so we were informed.)But it was worth going in and getting the pictures personally autographed, and to see this wonderful lady close up. I don't know about the people in the queue beyond where we stood, but the ones who came out before us were in tears of happiness because they had seen Tara! One Spike look-alike looked very moved! We didn't hear any comments, except from people going past who reckoned we must have been waiting for Angel!
We were not the least bit disappointed, even poorly, she was still smiley and sunny. She treated everyone in front of us to a personal comment, and was sweet. It was worth getting rained on to see her! Now I know why she's my favourite character!

[stephenbooth_uk]

quote:

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Originally posted by MaClayMagic:
We didn't hear any comments, except from people going past who reckoned we must have been waiting for Angel!

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I had quite a few people ask me who Amber Benson is. Like I said many people seemed very happy to have seen her, the most common thing I heard them say as they left the shop was "Oh my god!" or "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" or something similar. I stood near the entrance for close to two hours so figure I saw and heard most of the people as they came and went.

_stephen

quote:

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Originally posted by MaClayMagic:
My partner, parents and I all went to Birmingham this morning and stood for 4 and a half hours to get in to see Ms Benson.

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It just occured to me, and this may be a long shot. Were you the couple wearing "Willow and Tara" T-Shirts and black, white and yellow jackets standing more or less level with the last window of the shop talking to an older couple just ahead of them? If that was you I was thinking of coming over and saying hi and asking if the phrase Kitten Board" meant anything to you. I was the massively over weight guy in the green felt hat, white T-shirt, black jeans and Black fleece jacket with the red collar leaning against the green cast iron barrier with gold knobs on by the road.

_stephen

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I may be a fat, ugly and bald total failure but... OK, Fair point.

[This message has been edited by xita (edited June 09, 2001).]quote:quote:

[ambers.toy]

Oh no, Amber was poorly, I hope it wasn't anything serious, she's been so busy this last few weeks, she must be exhausted poor baby!

Well, if you're reading this Amber you can always come round to my house, I'll make you a nice cup of tea while you put your feet up and listen to Jeff Buckley on my CD player while I run out and fetch you some Tofu!

Hey I can dream can't I?

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To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage. -- Lao Tzu

[MaClayMagic]

Hi Stephen, you should have come right up and said hi!That was indeed us! Wearing our Missouri Tigers jackets which helped us when the rain pelted down! The older couple were my parents! My mom loves the show and wanted to come ses Ms Benson with us! We remember you, for a while I thought you were Terry Pratchett! Must have been the hat! We had the t-shirts made up especially for today, it was worth it! Ms Benson made a comment! You should have come and joined in the conversation we were having. My parents, me and my girl, a great chap and a man with his children, all in line doing the "and in this episode....! What a day! Glad I'm home now though! I am shattered from standing so long!

[stephenbooth_uk]

quote:

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Originally posted by MaClayMagic:
Hi Stephen, you should have come right up and said hi!That was indeed us! Wearing our Missouri Tigers jackets which helped us when the rain pelted down! The older couple were my parents! My mom loves the show and wanted to come ses Ms Benson with us! We remember you, for a while I thought you were Terry Pratchett! Must have been the hat! We had the t-shirts made up especially for today, it was worth it! Ms Benson made a comment! You should have come and joined in the conversation we were having. My parents, me and my girl, a great chap and a man with his children, all in line doing the "and in this episode....! What a day! Glad I'm home now though! I am shattered from standing so long!

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I would have come up but then I thought about what if I'm wrong. Major embarassment factor. Originally I wasn't even going to go to the signing because I figured I'd just go into babble mode and say something stupid and embarassing or faint which would be really embarassing or blow chunks from excitment/stress which would be both embarassing and messy. Then I figured I'd go along and maybe meet up with a few people from this board and some lists but not go in. Then last night I figured I'd go along and see how I felt at the door and go in or not depending on how confident I felt, I have up days and down days (a side effect of the antihistamines I'm on) more down than up unfortunately. Today started out as a middling down day and became a vewry down day when I realised that I'd expended all that mental energy psyching myself up to go then couldn't get in cos of the logistics of how it was set up. I had originally been told that it was a 4 hour signing, 1 till 5. Whilst that seemed a bit on the long side I have been to signings of similar and greater length so figured they'd handle it somehow. Being in that situation then later hearing people whining that they thought they were going to see someone else (they could have just looked their their left as they were queuing past the windows, there were enough signs and photographs to let them know who was signing) was frustrating.

On being mistaken for Terry Pratchett. Yeah, it happens a lot. Terry himself commented at a signing that I closely resembled him when he was younger. His exact words were "You look exactly like a fatter version of me when I was younger." I think that was the "Fifth Elephant" tour. I remember that I got him to sign a hardback for me and a softback of "Carpe Jugulum" 'to Sarah' which I then sent to Sarah Michelle Gellar. I'd just started to get into Buffy and it appealed to my sense of humour to send Sarah a book dealing with vampires. That book was the first piece of fan mail I ever sent.

As it happens Tony Head, it is reported, is very much into Terry. Terry has several times stated that he really dislikes shows like Buffy &c that deal with High School situations. This makes me wonder how old Rhiannon is and what her favourite shows are? Given Terrys age it would be entirely reasonable for her to be in her late teens/early to mid twenties.

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I may be a fat, ugly and bald total failure but... OK, Fair point.

[This message has been edited by stephenbooth_uk (edited June 09, 2001).]quote:

[tommo]

Okay, I rarely get pissed off, you know that. Not on the board anyway. But the first thing I have to say about today is that no photos were allowed. Which sucks. Not really for me, but for those people who won't get another opportunity to meet her.

Anyhoo...waiting for her was fun, my friend Julia had brought her 8 year old nephew, who ended up getting a huge hug from Amber (she likes the kiddies, sweet).

When it was my turn to get stuff signed, I told her that I'd already met her in Manchester. "Oh yes," she said, "I remember." I know that she doesn't, but it's so like her to be sweet to her fans. So I told her that the kitties had sent me to get more autographs, which she gladly provided. She's so kind, they were trying to minimise autographs to one per person but Amber was happy to sign whatever you put in front of her.

Then, I pulled out the two copies of the original buttshot, which made Amber smile. "That's where it all began." I told her. I pointed out the expression on Nick's face and she laughed, "Yeah, he was like, what the heck are you doing? You're letting them what?" Hee hee...

So she signed the pic message to the kitties and told me to say hello to everyone on the board and give you all her love. I'm kinda hoping that was metaphorical, by the way.

Roll on next weekend.

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"Hey, if people out there are interested in my butt, then who am I to refuse them?" ~ Amber Benson

[This message has been edited by tommo (edited June 09, 2001).]

[xita]

Oh Ruth you rock, that's awesome! That picture rocks! Butt and kittens and Amber together as it should be

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Just another one of Amber's Girls.

Willow:
Where would you go? If you felt lost
and alone? Where would you go?

Tara:
(a beat)
To you.

[Roxton]

Thanks Ruth that's awesome! I just love the way she signed the picture.

[Warduke]

Ruth you are just so awesome and Amber is just simply amazing...love the pic!

[stephenbooth_uk]

quote:

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Originally posted by tommo:
So she signed the pic message to the kitties and told me to say hello to everyone on the board and give you all my love.

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Cool. Love the message. Amber does have a very nice butt. I do love her eyes tho'.

Sorry I missed you at the signing.

_stephen

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I may be a fat, ugly and bald total failure but... OK, Fair point.

[This message has been edited by stephenbooth_uk (edited June 09, 2001).]quote:

[ryankelly]

Originally posted by xita:
Butt and kittens and Amber together as it should be

LMAO Xita!

Ruth-Yay! It seems like you were much more articulate this time, in that you formed actual words and put them into coherent sentences, good for you

Thanks!!

[tommo]

Hey, I was fine. Amber and I had what could be termed a 'little chat'. It's easier when you're doing it for the kitties, which is what I kept telling myself.

By the way, she's done something to her hair. It's got a hell of a lot of pink in it. Looked strange but you know, she's that beautiful I hardly noticed...

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"Hey, if people out there are interested in my butt, then who am I to refuse them?" ~ Amber Benson

[This message has been edited by tommo (edited June 09, 2001).]

[WbBuffyfan00]

WOO HOO...yay Ruth you got the pics...I'm so happy. So, did you give the other copy to Amber or what...more importantly did you warn her about me in Atlanta?

-Amy

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"You want to take a picture of my butt?...ummm...OK...You've got two seconds." -Amber

[ambers.toy]

WooHoo!

That's awesome Ruth, thank you, Amber is soooo sweet, I love that you got to actually chat to her, go you!!

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To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage. -- Lao Tzu

[tyche]

I got in the queue about 11am. Then I endured the bizarre weather conditions (sunny one minute, raining the next) for 4 hours until finally getting into the shop.
One of the guys in front of me gave Amber a drawing he'd done of her as Tara, and she said it was really good.
Anyway, then I got to the head of the queue. Amber was wearing the same coat she wore on 'Live and Kicking', she had red dye in her hair and she had a carnation behind her ear (I think someone had given her flowers.) She stopped to read a note that someone had sent (it was written in red pen, in case it was yours) before I went forward.
I gave her a card on which I'd written all kinds of gushing fangirl stuff about Tara and W/T. And she said "Oh, you are a sweetie!" and hugged me!
Then she signed my photos, and I mentioned the Kitten board. They weren't allowing anyone to take photos at this signing since it was running late, so she said (kind of ruefully I thought) "No buttshots today." Then she asked after all the Kittens and I said that we were doing fine and posting lots of stuff about how wonderful she is. And then I said something which I can't believe I actually said... "[the kitties] have a saying that there's only one thing better than Willowhand and that's Amber Butt." And she laughed! I made her laugh! And then, sadly, my time with her was up, but before I left, I told her that she was gorgeous. She said "You are too" (!!!!!!!!!!!!) Considering that I looked like a total wreck after having almost no sleep, getting up at 6am, spending 4 hours travelling to Birmingham and 4 hours queueing and getting rained on, this was extremely kind of her.

I believe there were some Kitties just behind me in the queue, but I wimped out and was way too shy to pluck up courage to enter a conversation in case they didn't know who I was!

Anyway, I'd do all the travelling stuff again for another 30 seconds with Amber. She has this way of making you feel so special. She rocks.

[tommo]

Tyche, that was me!!!!! Sorry I missed you. I saw that bloke that gave her the sketch; it was good. Bless you for saying what you did.

P.S. I've edited the Freudian slip in my earlier post, by the way. I'm not on an ego trip here kitties...

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"Hey, if people out there are interested in my butt, then who am I to refuse them?" ~ Amber Benson

[xita]

You mentioned Willowhand! YOU rock mary jane! YAY!!!

[WbBuffyfan00]

LOL....Willowhand and Amber Butt that's so awesome!

-Amy

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"You want to take a picture of my butt?...ummm...OK...You've got two seconds." -Amber

[Warduke]

tyche that was so cool, I am so jealous of all you guys getting to meet Amber...and for some of you, that's meeting her over and over again

[Teresa]

It has been so nice reading everyone's encounter with Amber today....puts a smile on my face knowing y'all got to meet her. Too bad about the pictures though....was looking forward to those. Thanks again for sharing.

Teresa

[Shaniezak]

Aside from my growing envy of all of you, I have to say that every time I see this subject line, I want to start singing "Science Fiction Double Feature" from RHPS.

[1D10T]

quote:

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Originally posted by stephenbooth_uk:
Not seeing anyone I waited near the front

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So you where the bloke in the hat. I was there and saw you as I was going in.

Ambers pink hair. When someone in front of me asked her about the pink hair I heard her telling them that she'd gone out with some friends last night (nice to know that she's finding the time and energy to have some fun ).

When I got to she Amber I must admit I did not say anything about buttshots this time as 1) no photos and 2) Presence of Amber = Bright red + tongue tie (although the other option is bright red + babble, which is how I managed to ask at Nottingham).
When I got to Amber I told her I'd brought her some more chocolate and she said the other had been lovely (I'd like to think that she recognised my face but I think more being nice on Ambers part ). She signed my photo and one for my friend who had to work then walk away with tripping over my own feet or something equally stupid .

Amber really is sweet, I felt it was well worth the wait (even in the rain and hail) even for just a couple of minutes (well proberbly seconds but you know how time streches) that is until I realised that until Amber revisits the UK I'm not going to meet her again .
Oh well I can hope its not to long....

-James

[This message has been edited by 1D10T (edited June 09, 2001).]quote:

[Dazey]

stephen, so sorry about your bad experience...I'm sure you'll get the chance to meet Amber again. And I'm not just saying that; she obviously loves meeting her fans, so there will definitely be more opportunities for everyone in the future. And may I just say that place-holding in lines (or queues) is NOT FAIR! And those people who thought that SMG was going to be there are probably the same ones who still don't get that Willow is gay. Morons.

But yay, Mary-Jane got to meet Her Amberness! And got an Amberhug!!! I'm so happy for you sweetie!

Must...go...to DragonCon....

[Kiwiccan]

These reports are fabuloso. Ruth, sigh, you are my hero. Ya know Amber's arms must be awfully chapped from all the hugging she does.

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Paula
--------
Amber FanGirl #1a
May the Amber Force be with you.
Tummy Rubbing Club Member #1
KAKOT Member #2 (Kitties Against Killing of Tara)

[stephenbooth_uk]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kiwiccan:
These reports are fabuloso. Ruth, sigh, you are my hero. Ya know Amber's arms must be awfully chapped from all the hugging she does.

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I'm sure she'd have no shortage of volunteers to apply soothing ointments and unguents if she so desired.

_stephen

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I may be a fat, ugly and bald total failure but... OK, Fair point.quote:

[tommo]

Ah, I'm not a hero. I do it for the kitties ma'am.

Anyway, next weekend is the biggie for me. Joss, James, Charisma, Andy...Chris Golden. And Amber.

I wanna know what the **** she was doing last night to get pink hair though. Must have been some night out...

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"Say hello to the kitten board and give them my love." ~ Amber Benson

[stephenbooth_uk]

quote:

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Originally posted by 1D10T:
So you where the bloke in the hat. I was there and saw you as I was going in.

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I think next time I go to something like that (if Amber ever does a signing int he same city I'm in or can get to ever again) I'm going to make a big placard reading something like "If the term 'Kitten Board" means anything to you then please tell me.".

I have ordered one of the T-shirts from CafePress so that might make it easier to connect. I was a bit shocked by the postage charges, either they're really heavy shirts or shipping charges from the US to UK are way more than from the UK to US, like 3-4 times as much for similar weights.

_stephen

quote:

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Originally posted by tommo:

I wanna know what the **** she was doing last night to get pink hair though. Must have been some night out...

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Could explain why she wasn't feeling well today. :-) Unless it's just a case of our lovely climate getting her down, I know it gets me down and I've lived here all my life. I've been talking to some of my friends in Sacrmento about my wanting to move to California and they've been saying "Don't do it, it's like 100 degrees here right now!". I think that they're missing the point.

Or could be a stange US variation on "Painting the town red".

I do recall Amber posting one time in The Bronze that she has basically no capacity for alcoholic liquor, that's something we have in common.

Anyone heard anything about this thing with the Big Breakfast on Monday like times, format &c? That's gonna be a big day for her isn't it? I mean BB starts like really early (typically have to be on site for 05:00) and doesn't the signing @ FP in London finish up quite late in the evening. I think anyone going to that signing will have to be extra superdooper sweet to Amber. As luck would have it I'm going to be about 20 minutes walk from there, the very next day. Arghh!

I'm so tempted to blow off work that day and go down a day early. But my inner Willow won't let me.

_stephen

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I may be a fat, ugly and bald total failure but... OK, Fair point.

[This message has been edited by xita (edited June 09, 2001).]quote:quote:

[tommo]

quote:

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Originally posted by stephenbooth_uk:
I do recall Amber posting one time in The Bronze that she has basically no capacity for alcoholic liquor

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Woo hoo! Roll on Nocturnal and me hanging around the bar waving a twenty pound note...heh heh...

Well, she did say she'd sing if we got her drunk...

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"Say hello to the kitten board and give them my love." ~ Amber Bensonquote: