Shadows in the Sun Picnic August 16, 3008

BE glad Anya wasn't with you guys on your trip.  "BUNNIES BUNNIES IT MUST BE BUNNIES!!"  I am sure not one got that unless they watched Buffy!!

Don't worry - there are many Buffy/Angel fans on the forum. And, in fact, the forum has it's own history with bunnies. Among others, that animated evil bunny comes out as an avatar whenever a certain Iron Bitch makes her presence known, so be afraid, be very afraid that she might make another appearance....

So, how was the picnic?

Hi Victoria Winters hope everyone had a great time at the picnic it sounded really fun and exciting...
   Me too i wish i lived in Californina as well.
                        Love Anne 

Personally, I had a very nice time.  My first visit to that location, and frankly the trip was exhausting!  'Twas a very hot, cloudless day and to get to the estate I had to climb over a quarter mile of very steep hills.  Fortunately, I did bring a walking stick and cold water.

The folks there were in general very nice.  Not having a DS shirt I wore my nametag from the Festival.  We all chatted, introduced ourselves, got into a few tiny debates about how to do DS in the future.  I mentioned to Victoria my own hope that the new movie would be a huge hit and inspire somebody to make a new t.v. series.  Discovered a fair number of Joss Whedon fans in the group who like Dr. Horrible (and well they should!).  Had a chat with Prof.Stokes about the different "good guy vampires" since Barnabas (Louis, Nick, Angel, that lame guy on Moonlight, etc.).

We went on a tour of the estate, hampered by the heat and what looked like a lovely wedding going on in a big chunk of the gardens.  One person had actually watched the 91 series ahead of time and was looking for sites from it.  I'm enough of a historical geek to note that, like the original series, this place just didn't look like it could have been built in 1795.  And my contribution to semi-witticisms was to note "Wasn't this where Daphne almost killed Joe?"

In general the folks were all very nice, and Victoria said how pleased she was to get so many new people to attend!  I'm looking forward to meeting youse guys once more!

I'm enough of a historical geek to note that, like the original series, this place just didn't look like it could have been built in 1795.

It's called suspension of disbelief.    But at any rate, the Collinwood of the '91 series wasn't actually built in 1795 like the one on the original series, In the pilot Barnabas explains that Collinwood was originally built (at some unknown point in time) on the moors near Lime Regis in England and then transferred piece by piece by ship to America and reassembled in Collinsport. I actually love that back history for the house because it potentially opened a whole slew of storyline opportunities with the house dating back much farther than on the original show - especially if one considers when that style of English Tudor architecture first appeared in England. But alas...

Wow...  We had a total of 14 new members attend!  Although it was a very hot day, we all made it all the way down to the front gate and then back up the hill.  Not bad for most of us being old people.  Greystone wanted a permit for every little thing, picnic, photos, breathing, etc.  We did all manage to eat and have a good time anyway.  The rangers were not too tough on us.  The permit situation did not dampen the day.

Zahir, it was great to meet you.  I'm glad you braved the very warm day and managed getting there up the steep hill. 

I personally managed to not get a sunburn.  Thus, it was a good day to just be sore and not sore and sunburned.

I actually love that back history for the house because it potentially opened a whole slew of storyline opportunities with the house dating back much farther than on the original show - especially if one considers when that style of English Tudor architecture first appeared in England. But alas...

I wish I could find someone (on the boards) like you MB who loved the 1991 series too. I know your too busy to really discuss it with me.  It would be nice to converse with someone who shares my love for the show.  I thought that was a beautiful speech Barnabas delivered! I agree that it could have opened up many storylines for the 1991 show.  But like you said Alas...

That explanation of Collinwood's past was marvelous!  Thankee!

Just finished watching There Will Be Blood last night and was pleasantly surprised to see Greystone at the end of the film. I had no idea that all that "I drink your milkshake" business happened in the renovated Greystone bowling alley. Apparently, the filmmakers paid for the restoration.

Too bad we didn't get to see that in the 91 series -- Willie the pin monkey.

Hmmm - I've never seen the bowling alley - I'll definitely have to check TWBB out...

And, yes - can you just imagine Barnabas bowling? Or better yet, Barnabas and Vicki bowling as part of one of their romantic evenings at the Old House? 

Here's a December LA Times article about TWBB filming at Greystone and the renovation of the bowling alley:

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/dec/27/home/hm-blood27

Daniel Plainview, Daniel Day-Lewis's character in the film, does some things in the house that the park rangers and the Collins family probably wouldn't care for.

Daniel Plainview, eh?  I've never seen There Will be Blood, but while at Greystone, I noticed several ornate concrete planters featuring a crest with the initials DP.  Did these appear in the movie, or does DP stand for something else (Doheny Place)?

Zahir, it was delightful to meet you at last. Thank you for joining us!

ProfStokes

They didn't use the exterior of the mansion for the film. They used Thornewood Castle in Lakewood, Washington, so anything you saw on the grounds most likely had no connection to the film.

Thornewood Castle was also the location they used for the miniseries Stephen King's Rose Red.

I had a blast meeting all the nice folks!  And that many of them shared some of my other interests like Dr. Horrible    It was great to wander around and "geek out" about DS.  Heh heh.

It's a good thing we didn't plan to have our Greystone picnic yesterday, or we would have gotten shut out by the Obama fundraiser.   I wonder if he ever saw the 1991 series.

ProfStokes