Outlander Odessey’s Williamsburg Gathering Weekend.

Updates. (Picture taken by Bill Nichols.)

Hello everyone! Hope the period known as Droughtlander isn’t being too hard on you all. We have gone six months, I think we can go another twenty days. Not long now and we will be seeing Jamie Machunkington Fraser again in all his glory. And Caitriona too, and why she hasn’t even acknowledged me is a wonder, since I sang her praises every week. All respect in the world madam, all respect.
Over the past weekend I was priveledged to speak to a gathering of Outlander obsessanachs in the great historic city of Williamsburg. The event was called Outlander Odysseys, and it was hosted by Stephanie Marriot, Amy Cole Nicol, and Jackie Hower. I had an absolute blast, met a lot of you fans of the blog, and came away with a deeper appreciaton of the outlander fan base. You folks are the greatest, and I am happy to be a part of the Outlander Family. Thank you to everyone that came up to me and gave me kudos on the blog, how it makes you laugh, and that you look forward to it. I really do appreciate with much gratitude to you all for making it a success. As I have always said, if it weren’t for all of you I wouldn’t be doing this in the first place. From my beginnings posting snippets in Heughligans and Caitriots, to the endorsements from Diana Gabaldon and Sam himself, it has been a roller coaster ride and I owe it all to you folks who wait with baited breath for my updates.
During the OO weekend, they were raising funds for the YTAS organization, the Youth Theater Arts of Scotland. This is an organization that provides art, drama, musical training to underprivelidged youths all over Scotland. Sam has been influential in raising money for this organization, and over the weekend the OO Group, with the help of all of you who attended , raised close to 8000 dollars. Congratulations! I am happy I was a part of that, since I am also an actor, and see youths in community theater every time I do a show. Some of them go on to find a new passion in life after they have done just one performance, and I know several that have benefitted from youth arts and drama training. One boy I know and worked with has high functioning autism, and now he has an agent who books him routinely as an extra on tv shows being filmed in our area. I know it’s a start, but he wouldn’t have done it had it not been for the local Arts Enter Historic Palace Theater.
A link for the YTAS is here: http://www.ytas.org.uk
Please check them out, and donate if you feel inspired to do so.
Now, on to other things. Over the course of the next week I will be updating my website Kiltlander.com, with new stuff, new pictures, and all things Outlander oriented. I am moving the address of the WordPress site to fully incorporate the name and all the previous blogs will be moved to that site. So if you are a follower of the blog, you will have to refollow the new site. It won’t take much, just an extra button. I am going to move all the previous blogs an updates to this new site, so you won’t be missing anything. All it takes is a push of a button and voila! You’ll get all things kiltlander every week. Also I’ll be posting it on all the relevant sites I am involved in so it shouldn’t take much to find my if you so desire. I will leave the other one up with links to the new area for a few weeks so don’t expect me to just disappear overnight. It will take a few weeks after the show gets back on to put everything in sync and make the transition.
Until then, try to enjoy the last of the hiatus. It’s not long now. We’ve been together up to this point, we can make it in style. On the 4th, I will be live tweeting during the marathon with questions, trivia, and all sorts of fun stuff. Maybe even a few memes if I get the chance. It starts at 1 EST and goes all the way to the end of episode 9 and beyond. Also, ask me any questions during that point and I will try to get them answered in the 140 character limit.my twitter handle is @kiltlanderjp J
So have fun everyone. Here’s a link to the video from my talk on Friday night. I’ve been told you may need headphones to hear everything. Sorry I don’t have a transcript. Thanks to all who asked such wonderful and insightful questions.
Also, Sam Heughan, I have twirled a dirk, and there’s video too. We should have a competition on line one day. Of course, if he even sees this that is. Thanks again everyone!