Sometimes the most enjoyable conventions are the ones that you decide to attend at the last moment.

Over the weekend of JAN 2, 3 and 4, 2004 Slanted Fedora hosted their annual con in the New Jersey Meadowlands at the Sheraton Meadowlands Plaza Hotel.

The guest list which included René Auberjonois on Saturday and Garett Wang on Sunday was made up of actors from a variety of Science Fiction TV and movies: Vaughn Armstrong, Carolyn Seymour, Greg Evigan, Jason Carter, Richard Biggs, Hallie Todd, Spice Williams, Todd Bryant, Casey Biggs, Keir Dullea, John D’Aquino, Julie Benz , Tony Amendola and Chase Masterson.

With all due respect to Dave and Jackie Scott and the hard work they put into making this year’s guest list varied and interesting, my main reason for attending the convention on Saturday was to see my friend Celeste who is also a huge Trek fan.

We had not seen each other in months and this con was a great reason to get together.

After attending many cons over the last 20 years I have lost track of the quantity, I find myself going to them lately to see old friends. Seeing the stars is a nice bonus.

When I arrived at the registration desk Saturday morning I was thrilled to find Chase on the guest list.

She was a last minute addition to the convention.

After a few early morning laps round the modest dealers room, I ran into Chase as she was setting up her table in the autograph room.

When I offered to help her get settled she invited me to sit at the table so we could talk.

I spent an enjoyable weekend sitting with Chase as she talked to everyone who came to her table to say Hello and purchase signed photos and copies of her jazz CD “Thrill of the Chase.”

While signing photos and CDs Chase asked everybody to write a message of support, on a blue and white cloud covered poster board, to Celicy Adams ( Moogie of Deep Space 9).

As you may know Celicy is very ill.

Over the course of the weekend many fans wrote thoughtful message on the two poster boards that Chase will give to Celicy

Seeing a con for the first time from the other side of the table was fun experience and one that I hope to repeat some day.

One part of the experience did bother me.

Some of our fellow convention goers occasionally forget that there are real people behind the costumes and rubber foreheads.

Chase and all of the other stars that we have seen over the years and the ones who we wish to see but probably never will are first and foremost human beings and are as deserving of common courtesy as the next person you meet on a street corner.

Whatever mental process causes a few people to breach those bounds of common sense and civility and ask rude and/or highly personal questions of the various stars, should be left at home in a jar on the shelf, before coming to the event. Sitting next to Chase at her table, I saw up close what those of us who are her fans already knew, she is truly a classy lady.

I did not see any of the guests on stage, except for the last ½ of René’s talk Saturday afternoon.

He spoke about his experience on Broadway in early 2003 in the play “Dance of the Vampires” and about getting ready for his upcoming Broadway Comedy “Sly Fox” which is scheduled to open April 1, 2004.

Saturday afternoon during on lull in the crowd in the autograph room I was able to talk with Keir Dullea.

As have 10 million people before me, the first thing I asked him about was the ending to 2001.

My geek moment of the day.

We agreed that the meaning of the ending was best left to the individual viewer’s imagination

Because I did not have a ticket to the Saturday evening dinner and Theatre show I missed hearing Chase sing at the show.

From everything that I heard Sunday morning she was very entertaining, as were the other stars.

The next time Chase invites me to be her guest at dinner I will cancel my other plans.

Sunday was a bit of a slow day. The crowd was smaller than Saturday and a bit quieter.

I have a feeling those who stayed in the hotel and attended the theatre party were tried from staying awake until 2am.

Garrett was scheduled to sign autographs at 2pm and be on stage at 3pm.

I had some time to sit and talk with Celeste while still being able to help Chase.

During Chase’s time on stage Sunday morning she told us that during this con 2 years ago (Jan 2002) she and some other people had raised several thousand dollars to donate to one of the New York City fire houses that lost several men on Sept 11.

I remember donating to that worthy cause when Chase mentioned it to me during that con.

Chase and the others (I do not know their names) went to a Bronx NY firehouse on Monday of that week and met with the firefighters.

They spent about 2 hours sitting at the dinner table in the firehouse talking with the firemen.

The firemen were very grateful for the donation; part of which they used to purchase a washer/dryer so that they could wash the clothes that they wore at Ground Zero.

Being able to wash their clothes at the fire house helped because it meant the men could wash asbestos and other toxic material off at work instead of in the washers in their respective homes.

After her talk Chase sang three songs for the crowd, two of which are on her jazz CD, Fever and Girl Talk.

After her time on stage we spent some more time in the autograph room.

On Sunday Chase said that the response to her CD has been good and she is considering a second one with a tentative working title of "Chasing the Blues Away."

Chase is one busy lady.

As soon as she would sign a couple of photos and CD’s she had to leave her table to deal with phone calls and talking with Dave and Jackie Scott.

Part of my day was spent reassuring people that she would be right back to sign their photos.

As the con came to a close I volunteered to drive a couple of friends to their respective destinations in Manhattan. A rainy Sunday afternoon in NY is not a good time to try to find a cab.

After a quick stop at Grand Central Station and a stop on the Upper East Side of NYC I drove home while enjoying the jazz CD that Chase gave me as a gift.

Louis J. Corsiglia