The Martial Arts Expo and Trade Show was in Atlantic City at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino from the 16th to the 18th of January. Among some other features, some famous martial artists are going to be in attendance, including Cary! (Who was very nice and let us know about it on the message board ahead of time.)

Notes:

Saturday, January 17, 2004

These are my notes from when I met Cary in person in January 2004.

We got to "the Trop" (according to the cabbie) and went upstairs to the expo. It was all in one huge room, sectioned off on one side for some seminars and things. Unfortunately, there was so much going on and many interesting tables and demonstrations that I didn't take as many pictures as I should have. Right as we walked in, though, I spotted a woman with a signed photo of Cary... so it was just a matter of finding him in the crowd.

I spotted a poster of "Rising Sun" behind one of the tables near the back, by the seminar rooms and such. I said, "That's gotta be him," so we headed off in that direction. We spotted him in between people in the crowd, smiling and chatting away with somebody at his table. His hair was about medium length, and he had a nice dark tan. (Lucky!) Finally the crowd around Cary thinned out for a moment. I walked up then and said "Hi Cary, it's Annie. How are you doing?" and shook his hand. He looked confused for a split second, but then his face broke out into a big grin, and he gave me a big hug. We talked for a couple minutes, but then he asked if we could come back later to chat more - there were still a lot of people around his table asking for photos and autographs. So, we went down to the casino for awhile to explore around there.

(Have you ever seen such a funny mix - old ladies playing slot machines, and martial artists in all sorts of robes and gear mixed in with them!)

We came back around 3:30 and the crowd was still pretty thick, but a little less. Cary thoughtfully pulled up another chair for me to sit at behind his table, along with him and his manager (I think). I asked him how things were going, what he was up to now, etc etc and he also asked about me. In between people coming up and asking him questions or for autographs! I felt a little bad to take away from Cary's time with some fans, but he seemed to be able to switch gears really well. He was very easy to talk to, and so friendly, that I immediately stopped feeling nervous. His manager was a very sweet lady, too! She, my boyfriend and I talked a bit whenever Cary was taking photos or signing things. We talked a lot about Hawaii actually, and how nice it is - compared to the weather over here. Not that we can ever compare to the nice weather they have on the West Coast, but they probably picked the coldest weekend we've had so far this year to visit!

It was fun to watch the different people coming up to the table. Some were fans for years and some had even met him before at other conventions and stuff. Others looked at his photo from Planet of the Apes and were looking at him, as if trying to find the resemblance. Almost everybody who came up said to him, "You were in Mortal Kombat, right?" Cary remarked that its pretty funny that its still the big movie everybody asks about.

At one point, I was just watching someone talking to Cary when I heard my name. Who the heck would be asking for me? Well it turns out that Eva, another fan of his, had come down to the convention and was actually going to do some filming too! It's always great to meet people in person that you've known online! So, we got to chat a bit as well, and she and Cary talked for a little bit!

Cary said that while it was mostly going to be a tournament on Sunday, he would still be at a table signing autographs. He invited us to come back tomorrow to grab lunch with him. Before we left, I asked if we could get photos with him. He insisted also on signing some photos for both my boyfriend and myself, which was incredibly kind of him!

We hugged again and then parted until Sunday. My boyfriend and I wandered through the casino again, but lost another couple bucks to those evil, evil slot machines! Then we went outside and wandered around the boardwalk for awhile, ate dinner, got some drinks and gambled a little more, and headed out for the night.

Sunday, January 18. 2004

Unfortunately, we didn't time things very well when coming back on Sunday, so we missed having lunch with Cary. I think he had just headed out when we got there - his manager was at the table telling the crowds of people who came over that he'd be back after lunch. So, we grabbed a bite to eat and then came back up. There were a lot of people competing in the tournament that day, and any spaces not full of people watching the stage, had people warming up or practicing with staffs and such.

Again, Cary was pretty talkative and very nice. We chatted for about an hour or two again between people coming up to his table. I was happy to hear that he's interested in getting back into movies again! He'd gone on a break for a little while but wants to get back into it now. So I guess we'll be keeping our eyes open for new projects!

We finally had to take off to get back home, and things were winding down anyways, so we hugged and shook hands and said goodbye, and headed out for home from there.