valoise

Memories of my first convention

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 11:20:35 GMT

Earlier this month I realised that it was exactly 20 years since my first convention: Highlander Worldwide 7 in Leeds. It was also my first international trip. I found a welcoming community of friends there and many, many fond memories.

This also reminded me of the film crew that came to make a documentary of the event, directed by David Abramowitz. Driven by a desire to rewatch that (where I'm one of the fans interviewed) I looked through my dusty old collection of DVDs. It had been bonus material on something. A lot of detective work followed and I figured out that it had been part of the 2007 Highlander Best of the Best box set. A box set that I had long ago given to someone. Thanks to eBay I now finally found it and uploaded it to Youtube. After posting on Facebook (the only place I connect to some of my old HL friends) I got a thanks from David A. for posting it.

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Made for Equinox Exchange 2019

Sun, 26 May 2019 21:42:11 GMT

Title: All Dead
Fandom: Highlander
Music: All Dead, All Dead by Queen
Warnings: physical triggers (flashing lights) and violent deaths

This year I was paired with sweetestdrain who requested a Highlander vid. I'm not sure this exactly fit the brief, but watching Bohemian Rhapsody has left me listening to a lot of Queen lately and this song just cried out for a vid, something that shows that grief and loss are an integral part of friendship between immortals. After reveals went live a friend pointed out to me that Brian May actually wrote this song about his dead cat, but no reqrets, I still think it works as I'd intended. Here's the streaming vid as well as the link to AO3

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Vividcon premieres - Multifandom: Everything Stops for Tea

Mon, 07 Aug 2017 21:55:07 GMT

I should be fleshing out my Equinox Exchange letter, but I'll post my VVC premieres vid instead. I've been mulling over vidding to this song by Professor Elemental for years, noting potential sources, and planning what I'd like to do with it. The hardest part, for me, was the passage about Alfred in the Bat Cave. Stumbling across Batman Unlimited: Mechs vs. Mutants solved that problem. Many, many cups of tea were drunk in planning and executing this vid.

In case anyone is interested, here are the sources used in order of their first appearance. There are probably thousands of other shows and movies that could have appeared in the vid, but I needed to make room for Doctor Who. In fact, I probably could have just used the Doctors and their companions, but I knew I wanted to squeeze in Shaun of the Dead, the ST:TNG, and Highlander, etc.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
My Little Pony
Downton Abbey
Star Trek: The Next Generation
A Hard Day’s Night
Doctor Who (13th Doctor)
The IT Crowd
Sherlock
Batman Unlimited: Mechs vs. Mutants
Withal and I
Black Books
Doctor Who (2nd Doctor)
Doctor Who (10th Doctor)
Shaun of the Dead
Elementary
Highlander (TV series)
Doctor Who (3rd Doctor)
The BFG
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Doctor Who: A Tardis Tea Party
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The Farmer’s Wife
Blackadder
The Sword in the Stone
Fawlty Towers
Father Ted
The Five(ish) Doctor Reboot
Professor Elemental (web page)

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At long last - Highlander WorldWide is holding another convention

Tue, 14 Mar 2017 20:56:26 GMT

HLWW is the reason I started going to cons, I made lifelong friends at these conventions. I was driven to learn to vid because of these conventions. I toured Highlander filming locations in Vancouver with HLWW. And the last con (back in 2009) I did a panel on the history of Highlander vids, I got to interview producer Ken Gord for a HL fanzine, made or selected vids to open each of the actor panels, and basically had the time of my life.

Am I excited? Hell, yeah!

www.highlanderworldwide.com/2017/02/15/the-gathering-annoucement/

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Highlander vids

Sat, 31 Dec 2016 03:30:58 GMT

I've been going through my all my imported entries making sure vids and convention reports are tagged for easy retrieval and found that two of my favorite earlier Highlander vids never got posted to LJ. These are both fairly simple, but I've always been fond of them.

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Awesome book on Highlander

Mon, 13 Jun 2016 22:19:11 GMT

John Mosby, a friend of mine and good friend of Highlander, has written a fantastic book about Highlander: Fearful Symmetry: The Essential Guide to all things 'Highlander'. Movies and television, good things and bad, it's all here.

John is a journalist who has since the 1990s interviewed so many members of the cast and crew: writers, directors, actors, etc. He also worked closely with the Highlander Worldwide, emceeing some of their conventions,so he combines the heart of a longtime fan with the skills of a journalist and writer.

I know my teeny, tiny list of friends on LJ and DW is pretty heavily weighted towards Highlander fans so most you probably already know about the book. But for those few who don't: Please buy my friend's book!

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Second Highlander fanfilm

Thu, 22 Jan 2015 18:19:21 GMT

Here's the trailer for the second Highlander fan film. This was is more diverse in casting. Full disclosure: I'm listed on imdb as a producer on this one since I sent Andrew a little money to help him get this one done.

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New Higlander fanfilm

Thu, 22 Jan 2015 18:14:44 GMT

There are two Highlander fanfilms coming soon, either streaming or digital downloads. I guess if Davis-Panzer are going to drag their feet on moving forward with the franchise, fans will step up and make their own.

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Fear & Delight: a Duncan/Methos love story

Sun, 01 Jun 2014 22:45:41 GMT

I had planned on submitting this as a nonattending premiere vid at Vividcon, but I'll just go ahead and post it now, instead.

Title: Fear and Delight
Music: The Correspondents
Lyrics after the vid.

Summary: Love and swords, always a dangerous combination.

Oh but I know you'll cause me grief
Close friends of mine are in disbelief
As they can see what's underneath
Fluttering lashes red lips and pearly white teeth...
I don't show it but I quiver whenever you come near
and I cannot decipher between the thrill and the fear,
I want to stop but I like it too much to let it stop here,
It's wrong but I want you tonight

It was of my own volition but I fell in deep
by running the distance I'd been advised to keep
I trot to the wolf as a doting sheep
it's wrong but I want you tonight

Fear and Delight,
all the way through the night
with a little derring-do I'll fall in love with you

Fear and Delight,
all the way through the night
with a little derring-do I'll fall in love with you

I'm a little boy who's going to be getting his fingers burnt
but I can see the lesson's got to got to got to be learnt
they say that boys have been destroyed but they weren't
It's wrong but I want you tonight

In any case my friends it's too late
like a moth to light like a beast to bate
and I know the black widow eat it's mate
It's wrong but I want you tonight

Fear and Delight,
all the way through the night
with a little derring-do I'll fall in love with you

Fear and Delight,
all the way through the night
with a little derring-do I'll fall in love with you

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HL vid: You Remind Me of a Car

Sat, 19 Oct 2013 10:25:21 GMT

Just when I think I've made my last Highlander vid, new ideas pop into my head. Last spring I was listening to the new album by Professor Elemental and this song jumped out at me as perfect for an Amanda-chasing-Duncan vid. I know, the singer is a man and the POV is for a woman, but it works for me. Hope it works for you, too.

I'd originally thought I might get this done for Vividcon, but that didn't work. Then I wanted to squeeze this in before Festivids kicked off, but it didn't look like that was going to happen, either. Congress intervened by closing down the government fr 16 days. Since I was one of those furloughed Federal workers, I used some of that time to make this vid. killabeez stepped in with a quick beta and some good HL insights. So, I present to you:

You Remind Me of a Car

download link for 39 mb file

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vidding through the furlough

Tue, 08 Oct 2013 22:45:31 GMT

Since I seem to have some time on my hands, thanks to the US government shutdown, I think I'll finally do the Highlander vid I've been thinking about for awhile. I've been cruising through music sources for the fandoms I think I'll offer for Festivids, but I'd like to get Amanda and Duncan out of the way before sign ups start.

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