Happy Birthday, Dom!  It was great meeting you at last June's Fest in Anaheim.  

Hope you have terrific day and a bright year ahead.

Ben

And finally, the 3 of them arrive back at collinwood, none the worse for their ordeal, cept for Laura being exhausted, probably from watching Shaw tote nora the entire way, and the foyer is filled with smoke....gotta love it!

I haven't been able to follow the show these last couple of months, but I was talking last night with a friend who has, and I just knew this ep -- one of my all-time favorites, too -- had to be around the corner.  I was telling him how I LOVED how the actors so nonchalantly ignored the smoke in the foyer.  I imagine that everybody must have been gagging during the commerical breaks!  And I can just hear all the laughter  erupting on the set after that day's taping.

Imperfections like these strengthen our great endearment for DS.  Where else can you find a show like it??  I'm reminded of a comment made in one of the DS books by KLS (or Lara Parker), in which she recounts that flowers arrived one day on the set with a card that read simply and earnestly, "Dark Shadows, I love you!"  It was signed by Joanne Woodward.  KLS mused that Woodward must have been laughing.  

Ben

On Sunday morning during fest weekend, I met some good friends in the courtyard.  We got doughnuts and coffee from Krispy Kreme, sat down and talked ... I recall looking up at the Twin Towers for a few moments, admiring how beautiful they were

Robin, I remember that Sunday morning with you and the rest of our group.   John in SC took some neat photos of us and dramatic views of the towers.

Until the 2001 Fest, my only encounters with the WTC had been fast and fleeting.  As a lifelong Chicagoan, I never imagined that I could actually stay at a hotel, attend something as carefree as a Fest, AND find an oasis of sorts -- of all places, in Manhattan!

I never imagined that Sunday morning in the courtyard, with the two mighty towers guarding those of us strolling in between, could be such an escape from my daily grind in a smaller city.  Tranquil New York?  No way! 

I also recall, now naively, being impressed with the security procedures in the WTC tower lobbies.  Everyone entering -- employees and visitors alike -- had to show some kind of ID to get through the security turnstyles.  I remember thinking how elaborate, necessary, and effective that had to be.  

Like VAM, I remember quickly establishing a morning routine at the 27th floor fitness center, easily the nicest and largest one in any hotel I have seen.   The river view as I pedaled on my Life Cycle was spectacular.  In the days immediately after the tragedy, I recall seeing footage of debris consisting an entire interior wall behind a glass case housing wall clocks that displayed the times around the world -- nearly intact!  This appears to be the wall at the entrance to the fitness center, which must have "surfed" some 20+ stories down from the 27th floor.

I wish I could remember more of the posts from that thread at this time last year, but I do recall remarking that the kind and supportive outpouring transformed our members from a group of fans into a family.

Ben

Ben -- See MB's topic on bandwidth-saving measures. [shadow=green,left,300]--Mark[/shadow]

Oops ... slap me for overlooking an instructive post by the omnipotent MB!

Ben

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(Hmmm - I wonder if like in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the "real" Vicki and Maggie weren't actually in a field somewhere on the Collinwood estate, having the life drained out of them by those extraterrestrial plants, while their clueless clones took their places? Now THAT might make some sense...)

Now THAT might make them ... the Stepford Governesses.

I, too, found AM's early scenes with DH poignant.  It must have been a challenge for an adult actor to relate to a child actor having intelligently written lines.  I mean, these weren't the usual adult-child exchanges I'm used to seeing on TV, and much effort and talent was needed to pull them off.  AM and DH established a terrific emotional connection between themselves.

I also like the early eps of the 1795 storyline, although I always get hoarse yelling at my TV set for Vicki to stop blabbing to everybody what century she came from and to just put a sock in it.  

Ben

What my friend doesn't say was that the dream was so authentic, he even saw the "Dan Curtis Productions" and "World Vision" logos at the end of episode one. :-/ ?!?

LOL!  I actually thought you were going to say that the dream was so authentic that either Joe accidentally dropped the heart/prop, Willie blanked out on a line (and Mrs. Johnson had to find her way to the alley to feed him his next line), or part of the alley set fell down.  

Ben

When someone opens the FRONT door I've never noticed any echoing sound.

I think I also posted somewhere on here recently about there being nothing but a platform down the end of the upstairs hallway at Collinwood.

I seem to recall reading or hearing that if an actor who went up the stairs at Collinwood had another scene in the same act, he or she would have to climb a ladder back down to the floor level to go to the next set.  

And as for echoing door sound effects, I've always wondered why EVERY SINGLE COFFIN, no matter how new, has a lid that creaks.  

Ben