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Entry tags:
Confluence, Gencon, Worlcon, not a writeup (or even three writeups)
Keeping with long tradition, I'm not going to writeup Confluence, Gencon, nor Worldcon. (The statue of limitations has probably passed on Origins, Contata, and Dexcon)
But I guess I should say something about them. So...
Confluence: We had a concert. It was fantastic; almost everything worked. We got signed by Judi Miller, which I'd have loved to actually see. And Jen Metkiff and Debbie Gates joined us on stage to perform my "Bunny Eared Girls", which was tons of fun. And there were very other excellent concerts, chief among them, the Wild Mercy concert and the FGOH concert. I'm sure there was more to the con somewhere, but somehow I don't remember it that well.
Gencon: We went, it was fun. I played in one RPG (House of Cards), one video game (Soul Calibur; placed 3rd and played some friendly games later), and a lot of Shadowfist (won Ritual again, with MIB again, lost everything else, though I won some games); plus spent a bunch of time in the dealers' room looking at stuff and chatting with folks.
Worldcon: Was fun, was hot. Filked some nights, partied some nights, slept some nights (this happens when one decides to get up 2 days in a row for the WSFS meeting), and danced a -lot- (enough that I couldn't attend several of the concerts I really wanted to, though I made sure to attend the Tricky Pixie concerts as I'd not previously had an opportunity to hear them as a unit in person), as the ballroom/swing/historical dancers were in charge of dance at Worldcon and had proceeded to schedule 25 hours of non-club dance (plus "dance to Tricky Pixie" where we accidentally scared the club dancers off the floor and a single after midnight club dance) across five days of worldcon. WSFS was a mixed success, as the semipro amendment passed by a vast majority, but due to the podcast award added, this included adding wording removing "other media" and adding "periodical" to the fanzine category, which arguably makes most blogs (and anything else not traditionally a fanzine but in the same space, and not a podcast or av podcast) ineligible for a fan-only hugo. Expect a fight about this next year (along with a fight to retain the Graphic Novel Hugo). And we actually managed to attend the Hugos (mostly; we didn't want to fight for busses, so came in with the Short Story presentation). The big disappointment was, of course, that Blackout/All Clear (which I hadn't read, but had heard mediocre things about) took best novel, although Ms Willis seems a sweet lady and accepted it graciously.
On the way back from Worldcon, we had planned a red-eye into NYC. With a layover in SLC of 3 hours to make sure we could get our flight. As usual, getting to flight was fun; we met and spoke briefly with Tim Powers as well as meeting various other fen in passing; fanspotting is an entertaining sport.
Well, we got onto the plane (with fellow Worldconers including a gentleman named Lincoln, our old accquaintance and fellow gamer/A&Eer Theodore Miller, and several others I we weren't introduced to). Everything was going great. We boarded at around 5:30 (eg, T-30, as the plane was scheduled to take off at 6).
* At T+0 minutes, the pilot announced that he had a flat tire.
* At T+30 minutes, the pilot announced that he did -not- have a flat tire, but might have brake problems, so everyone had to get off the plane so the thing could be jacked up and the brakes could be checked.
* We got dinner, and chatted, and read, and the full plane dwindled down to a mere 30 passengers while the mechanics. (After we'd gotten dinner, they handed us four food vouchers. Thanks, guys--but they were good for 24 hours, at least)! Finally, at T+2.5 hours, the plane was ready to take off and we boarded the plane, with the air people assuring us that we had a good chance of making our connecting flight (but making backup reservations for the morning anyway).
* At T+3, we touched down. Score, we saw a plane waiting in the gate where our plane was supposed to be! And it hadn't taken off yet. Naturally, we hurried over to the gate...
* To find that that was tomorrow's plane and our plane had taken off when it was supposed to.
* Sadness; we collected 6 more food vouchers (bringing us up to 10), and after a wait, got a shuttle for the hotel the airline was paying for in Utah. After a mere 6 hours there, (including adventures with washing clothes and trying to use a blowdryer and an iron to dry them; as it happened, just wearing them finished the drying fast enough that I didn't even really notice once we got to the airport), we went back to the airport, used 3 food vouchers on a decent breakfast, and got back on a plane.
* Still, the flight was smooth (and I got a bit more sleep, as 4 hours at the hotel was -so- not enough), and got most of the way to JFK...before the pilot announced that due to earthquakes (earthquakes? You have -got- to be kidding), JFK was shut down and we were diverting to Bartley Field, in Hartford, CT.
* Naturally, we couldn't actually walk around in Hartford (or, you know, make train arrangements to head for the city). Instead, we were trapped aboard the plane, because, get this: So many planes had diverted to this tiny airfield that there weren't any gates available. Finally, after a few more hours on the ground (and a round of drinks/snacks I was awake for; but no, they wouldn't take any of our now 7 food vouchers for better food; those were only for airport food), the plane was cleared to fly to JFK.
* We touched down in JFK, finally, at +24 hours (first plane took off at 6pm; we touched down at JFK...at 6pm. Technically, this was actually +21 hours, as we had lost two hours in time differential, but who's counting?). Yay! But we still had 7 food vouchers burning a hole in our pockets, so before getting our luggage (which fortunately had all arrived intact), we went to Belluhchis [Vino Volo would have been better, but wasn't in this terminal, alas) and got a fillet and some roasted corn and garlic at Delta's expense.
But I guess I should say something about them. So...
Confluence: We had a concert. It was fantastic; almost everything worked. We got signed by Judi Miller, which I'd have loved to actually see. And Jen Metkiff and Debbie Gates joined us on stage to perform my "Bunny Eared Girls", which was tons of fun. And there were very other excellent concerts, chief among them, the Wild Mercy concert and the FGOH concert. I'm sure there was more to the con somewhere, but somehow I don't remember it that well.
Gencon: We went, it was fun. I played in one RPG (House of Cards), one video game (Soul Calibur; placed 3rd and played some friendly games later), and a lot of Shadowfist (won Ritual again, with MIB again, lost everything else, though I won some games); plus spent a bunch of time in the dealers' room looking at stuff and chatting with folks.
Worldcon: Was fun, was hot. Filked some nights, partied some nights, slept some nights (this happens when one decides to get up 2 days in a row for the WSFS meeting), and danced a -lot- (enough that I couldn't attend several of the concerts I really wanted to, though I made sure to attend the Tricky Pixie concerts as I'd not previously had an opportunity to hear them as a unit in person), as the ballroom/swing/historical dancers were in charge of dance at Worldcon and had proceeded to schedule 25 hours of non-club dance (plus "dance to Tricky Pixie" where we accidentally scared the club dancers off the floor and a single after midnight club dance) across five days of worldcon. WSFS was a mixed success, as the semipro amendment passed by a vast majority, but due to the podcast award added, this included adding wording removing "other media" and adding "periodical" to the fanzine category, which arguably makes most blogs (and anything else not traditionally a fanzine but in the same space, and not a podcast or av podcast) ineligible for a fan-only hugo. Expect a fight about this next year (along with a fight to retain the Graphic Novel Hugo). And we actually managed to attend the Hugos (mostly; we didn't want to fight for busses, so came in with the Short Story presentation). The big disappointment was, of course, that Blackout/All Clear (which I hadn't read, but had heard mediocre things about) took best novel, although Ms Willis seems a sweet lady and accepted it graciously.
On the way back from Worldcon, we had planned a red-eye into NYC. With a layover in SLC of 3 hours to make sure we could get our flight. As usual, getting to flight was fun; we met and spoke briefly with Tim Powers as well as meeting various other fen in passing; fanspotting is an entertaining sport.
Well, we got onto the plane (with fellow Worldconers including a gentleman named Lincoln, our old accquaintance and fellow gamer/A&Eer Theodore Miller, and several others I we weren't introduced to). Everything was going great. We boarded at around 5:30 (eg, T-30, as the plane was scheduled to take off at 6).
* At T+0 minutes, the pilot announced that he had a flat tire.
* At T+30 minutes, the pilot announced that he did -not- have a flat tire, but might have brake problems, so everyone had to get off the plane so the thing could be jacked up and the brakes could be checked.
* We got dinner, and chatted, and read, and the full plane dwindled down to a mere 30 passengers while the mechanics. (After we'd gotten dinner, they handed us four food vouchers. Thanks, guys--but they were good for 24 hours, at least)! Finally, at T+2.5 hours, the plane was ready to take off and we boarded the plane, with the air people assuring us that we had a good chance of making our connecting flight (but making backup reservations for the morning anyway).
* At T+3, we touched down. Score, we saw a plane waiting in the gate where our plane was supposed to be! And it hadn't taken off yet. Naturally, we hurried over to the gate...
* To find that that was tomorrow's plane and our plane had taken off when it was supposed to.
* Sadness; we collected 6 more food vouchers (bringing us up to 10), and after a wait, got a shuttle for the hotel the airline was paying for in Utah. After a mere 6 hours there, (including adventures with washing clothes and trying to use a blowdryer and an iron to dry them; as it happened, just wearing them finished the drying fast enough that I didn't even really notice once we got to the airport), we went back to the airport, used 3 food vouchers on a decent breakfast, and got back on a plane.
* Still, the flight was smooth (and I got a bit more sleep, as 4 hours at the hotel was -so- not enough), and got most of the way to JFK...before the pilot announced that due to earthquakes (earthquakes? You have -got- to be kidding), JFK was shut down and we were diverting to Bartley Field, in Hartford, CT.
* Naturally, we couldn't actually walk around in Hartford (or, you know, make train arrangements to head for the city). Instead, we were trapped aboard the plane, because, get this: So many planes had diverted to this tiny airfield that there weren't any gates available. Finally, after a few more hours on the ground (and a round of drinks/snacks I was awake for; but no, they wouldn't take any of our now 7 food vouchers for better food; those were only for airport food), the plane was cleared to fly to JFK.
* We touched down in JFK, finally, at +24 hours (first plane took off at 6pm; we touched down at JFK...at 6pm. Technically, this was actually +21 hours, as we had lost two hours in time differential, but who's counting?). Yay! But we still had 7 food vouchers burning a hole in our pockets, so before getting our luggage (which fortunately had all arrived intact), we went to Belluhchis [Vino Volo would have been better, but wasn't in this terminal, alas) and got a fillet and some roasted corn and garlic at Delta's expense.