» ENCOUNTERS Comic-Con     |     24 July 2004     |     Kit Timing, as they say, is everything. The right place at the right time, the stars and planets line up, the moon is in Hollywood – you get my meaning. One conversation leads to another, which leads to another, and a few phone calls later and you have the green light to do an interview with Dominic Monaghan for an internet fan website. This is not a primer on how to get an interview. Any actual “I get paid to do this” journalist knows that persistence and a simple “thank you” are often the only keys to success – plus a good reporter never reveals her sources. Not that we're l reporters – this ain't Watergate, and we're not Woodward and Bernstein. In fact, we're not entirely sure that reality has set in yet. We interviewed Dominic Monaghan for starDOM. Hmm. No shit. The devil you say! Or as Bianca keeps repeating, “Surreal.” It's surreal because when you're doing small press, you never think that you'll get the brass ring. There are numerous internet sites which are far more well known, which cover a broader spectrum of media and entertainment. So to say that we are all very grateful to all the parties from ABC, Touchstone Television, Inkworks, and the producers of “Lost” for all their courtesies – this is not an exaggeration. We are more than grateful. I think it's safe to say we'd take a bullet for them. As for what we'd do for Dom? Hmm.. Moving right along… First and foremost, we did not want to intrude on any “downtime” Dom would like to enjoy between the “Lost” panel and the autograph session at the Inkworks booth. We knew that he and castmates, Evangeline Lilly and Matthew Fox had come in from Hawaii the night before and were probably running on empty. We knew we wouldn't have the luxury of a lot of time, nor did we want to talk TOO much about “Lost” (see www.lost-tv.com for a conversation with Bryan Burk, Tom Sherman and Damon Lindelof), as it is a little early in the game to be delving for secrets about Dominic's character,”Charlie” or what the Big Noisy Thing is in the bushes. When the time came, after the autograph session and before lunch, we had already become acquainted with the producers of “Lost”, Bryan Burk and Damon Lindelof. They were very well aware of Xander's site, www.lost-tv.com and were genuinely amazed and thrilled about it. After spending some time with them, we found ourselves escorted into the tiny, makeshift Inkworks booth, where lunch had just been delivered for the three “Lost” survivors and their handlers. We apologized to Dom for intruding on his lunch. He assured us it was not a problem. We took our spots, Jamie behind the camera, Bianca taking still pics, and this reporter asking the questions. (Angst and stress over the video quality: the night shot booboo at the beginning. Didn't have the microphone plugged into the right port; Jamie and Kit should have stood closer together so that Dom was facing the camera. Oh my, it's Evangeline Lilly ducking out of camera range. Rats! We want to say hi to her!) He is a very engaging man and easy to talk to. This makes an nterviewer's job both easy and difficult. It's easy bec ause you find yourself in a genuine conversation and difficult because each comment elicits another thought from him, which elicits a thought from the interviewer and well, yes, you could sit there all day and talk. Alas, we only had five minutes before his publicist, reminded us he still had to eat. Five minutes seemed like a long time – in a good way, I mean. In a very good way. We asked about surfing. The lighthouse at Diamond Head was the first spot that he mentioned http://emedia.leeward.hawaii.edu/frary/galleria10.htm . We asked about the mysterious albino snake. (note: albino is a color – or lack therof – not a species.). He said it was an albino garter snake. Here is a link to a species of garter snake, although this may not be the one he has http://www.kingsnake.com/bhb/gopherpine/morealbgart.html . He said its name was “Blink.” Snakes have no eyelids and they don't blink. I can imagine people asking him, “Why do you call it Blink?” And his response would naturally be, “Because they don't.” Funny guy. We talked about music. Miss Bianca is on very firm ground here with Dominic's choice of music, as both her parents were DJ's and her father is still very plugged into the house music scene and is familiar with some of the names he mentioned. And we asked THE ONE QUESTION: What is your middle name? This is the question many fans have been wondering about for four years and our research to date hasn't shown that anyone has ever asked it. We asked it, he answered. Blink. Really? No, really, he said. He told us he was named after both his grandfathers. One last question: favorite color. He said he likes to paint with reds and black. That just flew by us, and again, would have elicited MORE questions: what medium, what subject…do you have time to paint while on location…. But we had to say our thank yous and good byes and let the poor man be. And hope that we can do this again in future. We wrapped it up and left and plunged back into the maelstrom of the Comic Con exhibit hall. We had just interviewed Dominic Monaghan. Surreal. Blink. [ main | fans | encounters ] CURRENT PROJECTS • I Sell The Dead (2008) Official Site Character: Arthur Blake • X-Men Origins: Wolverine (05/01/2009) Character: Barnell Bohusk/Beak • Pet (2009) Character: Seth GALLERY UPDATES        FEATURED MEDIA  Mad TV  Date: 26 April 2008  Credit: Lisa  Size: 160.0 mb  [ download ] HOT TOPICS Favourite Piece From Dom's Collection? 5 Questions for Dom Dear Dom... 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