WorldCon

[Mina Martell]

Just wanted to say that WorldCon was amazing, and good-bye to those I didn't have a chance to say good-bye to in Montreal. Unfortunately, I missed the Hugos, GRRM's reading, and most of the panels and parties because of exams (it sucks to read all the reports and see the pictures and think, "But...but...I could have been there! :cry:"), but what little I experienced was so much fun. Also, the BwB are a great group of people. They made me feel welcome even though I knew hardly anyone there, and threw an awesome party. (Special thanks to Pebble and Blue Rose for letting me crash in their room for a couple of nights.) I miss everyone already.

I wish I was a millionaire and could come to Australia next year :(.

[Mich]

Love the Av. But who is the third person in the doorway shwanking?

*schlaughs* some itty bitty girl that could only photograph knees :P

[Tycho]

new av... :thumbsup:

i like. thanks for finding the hostel, it was great. :thumbsup:

in the pics just who the heck left their hugo lying around. i would have loved to see it.

Lany it was great to share the train ride home with you. I think it helped with con withdrawal. Hope you had a good ride out of nyc.

[BlueRose]

*schlaughs* some itty bitty girl that could only photograph knees :P

I actually think it is Regina, and not Pebble.

I cant stay awake anymore so I will have to save my pictures for tomorrow. Luga, your gallery is great!

[Angalin]

What happened to the wooden sword, btw?

[mashiara]

Luga, your gallery is great!

It is! It's nice to get some information about the pictures as well. It's so weird, recognizing faces of people I've never met.

I'm looking forward to MG's and Blue's extended con reports.

[Mich]

Yes it was Regina. Couldn't tell in the small photo. Pics are up. Reporting later...sleepy now :)

[mormont]

Just wanted to say that WorldCon was amazing, and good-bye to those I didn't have a chance to say good-bye to in Montreal. Unfortunately, I missed the Hugos, GRRM's reading, and most of the panels and parties because of exams (it sucks to read all the reports and see the pictures and think, "But...but...I could have been there! :cry: "), but what little I experienced was so much fun. Also, the BwB are a great group of people. They made me feel welcome even though I knew hardly anyone there, and threw an awesome party. (Special thanks to Pebble and Blue Rose for letting me crash in their room for a couple of nights.) I miss everyone already.

I wish I was a millionaire and could come to Australia next year :( .

See, that's one already. 16 more to go. :P

What happened to the wooden sword, btw?

The Xes have it, I believe. We're saving it for future use.

So, I will now begin my con report, despite the lack of pics, which will follow, I promise. It will use the word 'awesome' rather a lot, I'm afraid.

Pre-Con

Peadar and I flew out from Heathrow on Monday 3rd, making us about the first to arrive on-scene, I think. We were, however, very jet-lagged so after a preliminary bit of scouting to stay awake, we did nothing that night. Next day we did a bit of touristy stuff (the science centre and the museum) in the morning and had a nice lunch in the Old Town, and I went out and wandered around Chinatown in the afternoon while Peadar practised his French (he had a panel in French to do).

We had dinner in a great pizza restaurant, then met up with tenalpia, which was when we discovered one of Montreal's few problems: lack of bars near the con centre. Montreal appears to have what is sometimes called a 'cafe culture' - most drinking takes place after meals in restaurants on the terrace, which is all very civilised and therefore no use at all for the BwB. Our brief tour of the Old Town gave us few options, and we retired early after visiting ten's awesome caravan and experiencing a brief thunderstorm, the only bad weather we had, really.

Wednesday, we went down to the con to register and met GRRM and Parris, which was lovely. Peadar and I also registered as volunteers and were told to come back for the Art Show setup, and there (literally) hangs a tale. We hung two artists. The first took about five minutes - four prints, nice stuff, all paperwork done, plan included. The second took two hours, no paperwork, booked a space far too small for the copious crap she had sent, including jewelry and dolls and mini-books, none of it mounted, aargh. The worst bit was that I went back the next day and after we'd left they'd found another box of this crap from the same person. But she made the mistake of including a photo, so I have ordered the hit. :pirate:

Anyway, people were now starting to arrive so this is where it gets confusing trying to remember the sequence of events. We went back to the previous night's restaurant with a crowd including fenryng, Regina, Mandy, ten, Pat, and eventually Kat (who kind of got lost and kept texting us the names of places we couldn't even find on the map :P). We went for a drink at an Irish pub, where the NY train mob texted us to say they'd arrived, so we headed back.

We went to the Reno bid party but it was the only party on and was rather dull. Although I did laugh about the parent I saw telling her kid off for playing with his DS. "Put that away! You're going somewhere!" As if: a) a con party is an event to a ten-year-old boy and b) sitting in the corner playing DS is a huge social faux pas at a con party.

So that was pre-con.

Con Stuff

I can't remember any of this shit.

Oh, all right, but you're not getting it in sequence, I tell you that much. Panels and stuff: we went to Werewolves of Brigadoon, which Peadar moderated and was kind of fun. I also saw a couple of readings, including GRRM's. Went to a panel on Gaiman's work, without the man himself but with Kyle Cassidy moderating and David Anthony Durham on the panel, who I might have accidentally intimidated a bit afterwards by going on about how awesome the Wild Cards books are (he just joined the series and seemed a bit nervous about living up to his predecessors). His wife's from Scotland so we also chatted about that, and I twisted his arm into coming to the BwB party, which meant we had at least one award winning author there! ;)

Um, I also saw the panel on 'Making a Living as a Writer' which George was on and at which he explained why you should never buy the couch (or be named John Miller). I went to the first Gaiman signing, which was an epic in itself (queue for tickets, then queue for signing later the same day: two book limit). I spent amazing amounts in the dealer's room (bought eleven books). I did not go to the Flirting At Conventions panel (I swear this was a real event, it's on the program) but apparently several of our visitors at the BwB party had been. I don't know how much they learned, but certainly they were trying. :P I did go to the Hugos for the first time in three cons. It was OK, but guys: we are geeks. Why can't we manage a single PowerPoint without a cockup?

I went to the 'Knights Who Say F***' panel also, which was really good. And I'm sure I went to another panel or two (I went to at least one every day, faithfully), and I toured the art show twice and chuckled at the author photo gallery.

ETA - how could I forget. Peadar was running a kids' writing workshop on Monday and was nice enough to let me come and help. That was awesome. The kids were really sharp and smart, but there were only two of them (I think most people with kids left on the Sunday). Props to Peadar for the subtle reaction to the Sword of Truth thing. :P

So that was con activities.

Parties

We did the party floor thing Thursday and Friday. I was very drunk on Friday at the British and Irish party, at which I had an awesome time and met Walter Jon Williams and got to chat to George for a bit, if not very coherently. The Tokyo party had excellent booze and decent food. The Angry Robot party, though, had an actual Angry Robot and I remember saying we could not top that and plotting to kidnap him. Kat got on very well with him, as I recall. Met lots of random fans. Invited lots of people to the BwB party. Some showed up. There were some organisational problems: enormous queues for the lifts (which could be got round if you were smart), the fact that there was some initial confusion over whether parties were limited to two floors or not (that's pretty fucking basic stuff, I would have thought, but never mind). Oh, and they were all very hot, because there were too many fans and not enough fans. If you see what I mean.

The BwB party itself was a real success, I heard lots of great feedback later. Hundreds of thanks to everyone for an awesome job on the party, setup and clearup: George was impressed and he had a good time. Especial thanks to Mich, drac, tycho, LP, Lany, Blue, Peadar, Chats, Tyria and Mr T, Luga, Kat, Regina, and fenryng and the guys who did rubbish (it's not garbage!) runs. No thanks could possibly be adequate for the incredible job done by Xray and Mr X though. Many congratulations to my fellow lords and to the knights, who we were actually quite worried about at one stage but who made it back quickly and successfully. If any of the lurkers who got knighted are around, register! Come talk to us. I think I spoke to you all on the night. (Thanks to Kat's buttons they should all have the address.)

Now keep the noise down. It's 11am! I don't want to have to listen to you talking!

BwB stuff

Some of the best fun at cons is just hanging out with the BwB, meeting new people and spending time with old friends. You were all awesome. I had some excellent times just eating dinner or talking or going to parties or walking around doing errands. Particular props to tycho and Blue for telling me about their research, which was really interesting, and to Scot for various chats (in particular the Gaiman queue, where we were talking so much we nearly missed the man himself :P), and many thanks to Pod for being an excellent sport as usual (even if he is a fake Irishman). I had fun with Lany, LooN, Pebble, Mich, drac, LP, Mina, Mr X, Luga, Kat, ten, fenryng, Regina, Xray, Tyria, and actually pretty much everybody, but especially my very tolerant roomie Peadar. I did not get enough time to hang out with some of you and we need to fix that. And I apologise for getting Blue, Lany, LooN and Pebble lost on the way to lunch. :lol:

Summary

Best con ever.

[Xray the Enforcer]

The wooden sword is sitting next to my left foot as I type this.

My con report:

There was toxic mold and oatcakes and bacon on my bed courtesy of Regina/Fenryng, Morm and the Blighty BwB. :grouphug:

Tycho and Mr. X saw a wedding cake catch fire in spectacular fashion -- and watched as someone threw a bucket of water over it, to no effect. Even better, this happened right across the street from a fire station, complete with a bunch of firemen outside enjoying the evening, and they all stood around watching the event unfold. :lol: Daj and I somehow missed the drama. We consoled ourselves with beer.

Wisest words of the con: "Let's skip the party floors and drink in our room. We have half a bottle of Talisker left."

And these memories:

"5 is really SMOF-y and 28 smells like feet."

"If you attempt to ask him when the next book will be done, I will punch you and then kick you out of the party. So why don't you just enjoy that drink and socialize like a real human being?"

"Somebody abandoned an elf."

(on the paltry dealers room and art show) "Apparently there are no artists or book sellers in all of Canada. It's a small country, after all."

_________________________________________

I wish I could have been more fit for the con -- I really took it easy (expended about 10% of the effort I normally do and even skipped a night of socializing) and I was still completely destroyed by the end. :|

At least I got a couple of good books from Nightshade (new Paolo Bacigalupi and a vampire anthology), I had ample opportunity to chat with Parris and George (amazing what one can do when one isn't trapped behind a bar slinging drinks all night), and I got to see almost everyone (except Kama and John -- I didn't get any chance to chat with them, which bums me out to no end). In all, a good con. I'm still a bit knackered.

[Sis Who Swears]

Loving the reports and pictures you guys!! :cheers:

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

I just wanted to add, since my few posts in this thread have been more about my trials and tribulations, that it wonderful meeting everyone and seeing those I'd already met once again.

Mormont was great to talk to as we threaded through the first Neil Gaiman signing line. Lany and I both woke early so could talk her ear off about the prior day's adventures. Fenryng walks really fast (then again I have pretty short legs being a hobbit and all) but is a great companion to have while desperately searching for a grocery store hidden in the wild's of Montreal. It was wonderful to have Kat near at hand so that I could pepper her with obscure Geology questions. Ditto for LJBG regarding Archeology and classical studies questions. Tycho was tremendous on our epic beer run (literally, we had a very few minutes before the convienence store closed so we were running up the Rue de University then down Rue de Catherine). Pebble, what can I say, without you the world would never have obtained video documentation (to come next week I'm told) of one of my laughing fits. Additionally, without you buying me a beer that I wound up slamming I don't think I would have been nearly as inebreated as I became on Saturday night. The X's, your organizational skills and shear sense of fun is boundless. LP, it was great to see you again man, the merry man outfit was classic as was your defeat of the evil others in human Battleship. Dracarys, thank you for staying on your side of the bed, you were great fun to hang out with. Mandy, thank you for setting me straight about my worries. GoN, I already told you that Kate loves the doll. Thank you again to my fellow North Carolinian who, regularly, goes above and beyond the call of duty. Peadar, you have one of the driest and most wonderful senses of humor I've ever encountered. I can't wait to finish your book. LooN, you schwanker, I really enjoyed chatting with you. I'll have to see if I can convince Laura to import you and your sevices when we do the addition to our house in a few years. Pod what can I say, dude, it was all your fault (it was really good to see you again.)

Everybody, I had a blast and come heck or high water I'm going to be in Reno.

P.S. The North American Science Fiction Convention (held whenever Worldcon is outside of North America) will be held in Raleigh from August 5-8 2010. I'd like to invite everyone who can make it to that convention. I can't offer you a place to crash, as 4 hours is a mighty long commute, but I can do my best to offer y'all some Southern Hospitality while you're here and direct you to the best barbeque joints I can find.

Thank you to everybody. I can't wait to do this again.

[mormont]

I have a few photos up on Facebook, but they're friends only because I use FB for work things sometimes. I will put more up and put some up on flickr later. Some of the good ones are on my phone and I left the charger in Montreal. Plus I need to dig out my flickr password...

[Xray the Enforcer]

nice pics, MG. :thumbsup:

[tenalpia]

home... image sorting. Hopefully have some sort of linky for pics soon :)

new av... :thumbsup:

Yay! You made the av - that is so awesome! :D

[Mr. X]

Mr. X,

I had no idea he wasn't ready with the sword.

Photographic evidence. :P

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

In my defense I was pretty drunk by that time.

:blush:

[Gabriele]

Third, I really liked the programing this year. Every panel I went to was killer. Here are a few that I went to:

- Preparing to Write a Series (with GRRM)

Any chance you could share a few tidbits from that one, in case you made notes?

[Gabriele]

To all those Schwank people - Schwank is a somewhat old fashioned German word for 'funny story'.

I think that fits. Definitely lots of fun going on here. :)

[theMountainGoat]

Actually that pic of Ser Scott kneeling was staged afterwards because I was not ready with the camera. However the story is still correct because just 30 seconds before that he did bring in the poutine and knelt to present it before George was ready with the sword, wish I had caught a picture of that but it all happened so fast.

I managed to get some pretty good ones of everyone else including the party noobs that joined in the Quest. I like the one of Ser Mentat, it looks like George is just about to strike his head off :lol:

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

SMG,

Okay, now I know what happened. I came in and, for fun, knelt to offer the first of the hard won fruits of our quest to GRRM. I didn't expect to be dubbed while presenting the Poutine.

By the way, what happened to all the poutine (we got twelve small orders one for each quester)? I don't believe I had any at the party.

I'm also curious to find out why LJBG labled me "infamous" in my post dubbing photo on the stairs of the party suite? My memory right after the dubbing is a tad hazy.