Don’t let that headline fool you – we weren’t really late enough to miss anything. . .I was working hard to finish the report on the Wolf Pack and get it posted for wolf fans, so we did arrive a little late to the Vampire Ball, but just in time to get in line at the bar for a drink which turned out to be the perfect spot for viewing the festivities!

First thing you should know about the Vampire Ball is its. . well, its sort of like a prom or a sorority formal, because everyone’s dressed up (in varying degrees of formality), and as the song goes, the freaks come out at night (see picture below)!  And that’s not just because of the character costume contest. . .there were several teens I think must have snuck their ball attire out of the house and more than several adult fans taking their creative license to new heights (or lows, depending on your opinion).  I wish we could have captured all the interesting people to show you – but there were a few standouts, like the one below. 

I call this one “My boyfriend will do anything for me – including pretending he’s Edward Cullen, coloring his hair and wearing make up.”  Hmmm, I wonder what he’s getting in exhange for THAT!

The second is the event is billed as a meet and greet with the celebrities and is included in the Gold Package tickets (for those planning a future convention trip).  “Meet and greet” is supposed to mean the celebrities are introduced, the audience takes pictures, then everyone puts the cameras away, calmly takes their seats, and the celebrities are escorted around to spend about 2 minutes at each table talking with the audience.  This was our first convention so while we didn’t know what to expect, we did know that this was going to be a highlight of the weekend and we’d be seeing the wolves up close and personal for a couple minutes, which was good enough for us.  However, it quickly turned into a mob scene of fan girls (and women!) grabbing onto the wolves, pulling them into hugs and generally stirring up a frenzy.  I’m sure it didn’t help that Alex and Gil are incredibly outgoing and fan-loving, so they were freely dolling out hugs – including a hug from Alex and a hug (and kiss!) from Gil for my Facebook Twilight Mom buddy, Nancy!

During the frenzy, we found seats with a great couple of ladies (shout out to Maryann from South Jersey and her friend from FL!) who were as disappointed in the scene as we were.  We learned a lot from Maryann, who’s a Creation Entertainment convention veteran (previous Star Trek conventions, first Twilight convention) – particularly that this frenzy was completely out of form for the normally well-organized and managed organization.  The meet and greet definition above was exactly what it should have been, and Maryann took our complaints to the head honcho, who apologized all over the place.  The moral of the story is – follow the rules and no one gets hurt (not that anyone did) – and everyone gets to enjoy close up time with the celebrities!  No worries though. . .this morning’s breakfast event MORE than made up for the ball (stay tuned for that report coming soon!)

But enough about the downside, let’s go back to the beginning – “I was standing in the line at the small cash bar. . .” (to the tune of Human League’s Don’t You Want Me?) – in front of us were the Bella-Edward impersonation couple who had been posing for fan pics all week (at $10 a pop). . .luckily no charge for snapping their picture tonight, so we did!  While in line we quickly discovered we were in the perfect photo spot for anything on the stage so we got some great photos!  While we were waiting, Gil came out and awarded the winner of the centerpiece contest – Cullen family tree below.  There were obviously some very creative people hard at work for this contest!

Next the wolves and Edi came out – Edi didn’t stay to party. . .he was worn out from the morning’s red eye arrival.  Then the Vampire Court was presented – you know, like the Homecoming Court.  The three trivia game winners won money and “makeovers” for the ball and won the ultimate of ultimate prizes (well, other than a trip to the red carpet for New Moon or a date with Rob or Taylor I guess). . .a dance with the wolves!  They presented the winners and we snapped AMAZING close up pics of Kiowa and his partner and Alex and his, plus Alex alone (more on his vampish red eyes in a sec).  Our favorite part was watching Alex dance with his partner – getting all Patrick Swayze-Dirty Dancing out on the floor – so much fun to watch (and wonder what his wife would think)!

So you noticed Alex’s vampire red eyes I bet – while he’s in no pain, the eye situation is a result of his hard training with cage fighting trainers to prepare for Eclipse!  The party continued with dancing and the Hillywood Show gang teaching the dance moves from their Twilight Parody, followed by the costume contest, which I believe was won by a cute little guy as Edward. . .I think it was the same kid we shared pictures of yesterday.  We spent the rest of the night people watching and trying to sneak the “two Edwards” (impersonators) away from their handler so Nancy could get a picture with them.  We succeeded!

Stay tuned for the next report on the celebrity breakfast and the Justin Chon-Edi Gathegi show!

This is Cullenized, reporting from I-95 passing Philly on our drive home!

Afternoon of day 2. . .Hillywood gang is on the stage for a pseudo baseball scene when Alice yells “STOP!” Edward apologizes to Bella for bringing her there and they introduce the only vamp to visit us this weekend – EDI GATHEGI! (sorry for the lack of pictures – unfortunately we didn’t get too many good ones, probably because we were too busy laughing at Edi’s comedic talent!)

We had our photo op with Edi before his session and it was almost awkward not knowing what to say – I think because we hadn’t seen him before this, either in his main session or in the hallway like we had Gil. . .we didn’t know him yet I guess.  Boy were we in for a great time!  Edi takes the stage in his blue baseball cap and immediately shows off his comedic skill – if he weren’t a great actor, he’d surely be a comedian.  He comes out and looks up at the screen with his picture and says “look at that handsome man!”  He followed this with “HELLO NEW JERSEY!” and the audience went wild.  Edi loves NY, he went to school there and his favorite thing to do in NY is eat. “I don’t know how all these restaurants turn a profit but there are so many here, I love it!”

Having survived the wolf pack morning session, the crowd was warmed up with great questions and ready to push the limits.  Edi too was in a snarky mood – partly because he’s just so funny and partly becuase he took a red eye in overnight.  At one point a group from Boston had their question read and some how the crowd banter turned into a Boston vs. NY exchange – at which point “Jasper” from Hillywood says, “don’t worry Edi, I’ll calm them down.” Perfect timing!

For a number of questions he answered as much as I suppose was allowed then summed it up with “final answer,” and on whether his big New Moon scene ends in a fight or a chase, he pleaded the 5th.  He elaborated, noting “its tough to act like your fighting with wolves when there aren’t any there.  They’re holding up these cardboard cutouts of like, cows, and you’re trying to work around it. So when you see the movie, ask yourself ‘is he looking at wolves or cows here? I think he’s looking at cows, I can see it in his eyes!’ and decide for yourself.”  He took this to an Eddie Murphy-esque tangent that was so funny my stomach and cheeks hurt from laughing.  He broke into comedy many times during his session and it was great to see an evil vamp go there. His advice to a 10-yr old fan asking what its like to be a bad vamp (“because I want to be one” – child, where is your mother?) was almost inspirational: “nothing scares you, nothing can hurt you, well other than a wolf, and you’ve got supreme power.  Its awesome!”

Edi’s choice of another character if given the chance was Jacob because “everyone looks good sticking their naked chest out.”  Super power of choice: the ability to step in at conventions as needed when other Twilight stars cancel (he’s got that market cornered for this one).  He admitted the contacts in Twilight were really uncomfortable – very think and obstructed vision immensely, while those in New Moon are more like regular contacts so their easier on the eyes.  Favorite movies, he picked his top five: Pulp Fiction, Last of the Mohicans, New Moon, Kung Fu Hustle (which made him laugh and cry, and has amazing kung fu) and Kung Fu Panda.  And Edi says he’s nothing like his character because “well, first he’s a vampire, he betrays his friends and he tries to kill little girls.  So yeah, I’m nothing like that.”

His fashion sense is more about how he feels and what works for him, and he doesn’t buy into trends.  Harkening back to the movie Boomerang, he said (in that character’s voice), “you’ve got to co-or-din-ate!” His brother always told him “you gotta look good,” so he strives for that.   While answering our questions, he received a tweet that he read out loud “my girls are waiting to see you today!” from a fan who’s friends were in the audience – so cool. Then Edi commented that he never planned to get on Twitter after myspace or Facebook but his family encouraged it so they could keep up with him: ”they told me ‘you’re so busy, so just get on there and post something, like which airport you’re in, so we know you’re ok.’ So I did.” Asked about growing dreadlocks because the fan said they look so good on him, he looked at his alter ego again and said “yeah they sure do, but it takes like 10 years to grow them and they really limit the roles you can play.”  Edi likes to play as many different characters as possible in his work, and talked about how he enjoyed House but losing it was a blessing because it brought him to Twilight. And, he described working with Hugh Laurie of House as “like working with Michael Jordan – you know he’s gonna kick your butt, yet you’re learning so much.  Hugh is fiercely brilliant but he’s extremely humble.”

I was lucky again with my question being asked and when they called my name I stood up and waved the paper in my hand (where I was taking notes).  Edi said “are you taking notes or something?” I replied “yep so I can report back on a website to my fellow fans.” He laughed and said he’d be careful answering the question – which was easy: how was the New Moon make up different from Twilight.  He said he liked it better because it made him look more “vampire-ish” and scarier – “I’d look in the mirror and think ‘I’m scaring someone today!”

A brave Twi-guy had his question read and as he stood when his name was called, Edi encouraged him to “Stand up Mike, be proud!” If he were a veggie vamp, his prey of choice would be cows (left us laughing with the reference back to his earlier cow reference), and the only thing he was disappointed in for New Moon is he didn’t get to sparkle: “I really wanted to sparkle, just for a second, but I guess it cost too much or something.  I never thought I’d say that in my life ‘I want to sparkle!”  He got a little sentimental on us when asked what he’d miss most about not being in the movies after New Moon – “the cast, really.  We called ourselves the “vamp camp” [it sounded like he said that, though I may have that wrong] and I’ve already been invited to go visit them on the set.”  He said maybe he’d just go up and walk through makeup, then go hide in a tree, demonstrating this by hiding behind a little ficus on the stage – hilarious!  But he hopes fans will continue to follow him to other projects, remembering his work in the Twilight Saga.

Last but not least was a question from the audience asking him to do an impression of this character he made up and apparently used to prank people on the Twilight set.  The character is a girl named Kelly and its a total girly voice, so he set up the story first: Peter Facinelli heard Edi do this voice and encouraged to prank someone with it so they chose Jackson.  Its midnight the day Jackson dyed his hair for Jasper, and Edi calls him as Kelly, telling him “she’s” really sorry but Catherine doesn’t like the color so he needs to come in at 3am to have it redone.  Jackson says ok and calls his manager, who proceeds to say “Thank God – that color was not working for you.” Realizing Jackson believed him, Edi calls him back: “Jackson, that was me.” “You what?” “That called you” “Called me when?” and back and forth until Edi spills it that he was Kelly.  Jackson calls his manager back and now she’s backpedaling “oh the color isn’t that bad!” Funny but not nearly as funny as the actual voice – he turns his back, pulls up his hood (see below) and does the little tiny voice which we all fall out laughing over!  Again, another time I wish I could have been recording for you!

As we waited for our autograph, we noticed this tall, pale white, bronze haired guy, I mean, cardboard cut out, standing out in the hallway staring in at us, as if inviting us to come out and play. . .

I had no idea he was a comedian and of course, like the others, so gracious.  During the autograph session I asked him about his encounter with my friend Jenny and the (infamous) vibrating Edward:

Erin: Edi, you met my friend Jenny at the LA convention – she had the vibrating pocket Edward!
Edi: yes, the Asian girl – it was offensive and I’m afraid of what she might come up with next (with a laugh)
Criste: yeah we heard you put on anti-bacterial gel
Edi: it seemed like the logical thing to do (with a laugh)

Of course a vibrating Pocket Edward would be unforgettable!  Once again, another amazing Twilight encounter with totally down to earth Edi Gathegi.  It’ll be sad to see him go after New Moon but he’s surely got a bright horizon.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the Vampire Ball special report and as much as I can cram in before we head home.  Really looking forward to the celebrety breakfast and charity silent auction in the morning!

This is Cullenized signing off – sweet dreams!