LACon Convention Reports

[Ser Barry]

JT is exempt from my sig.

Thank you for the reports, keep them coming.

[Krafus]

JT, will you kindly tell us which chapter it was? And are there any tidbits that might have been missed/changed from previous reports of it?

EDIT: Pretty pretty please?

[Chaldanya]

I am so very very fucking envious. I hate you all. A lot. With surprising vigour. Srsly. I hate you so much that you need never darken my doorstep again. Cunts.

Other than that, have a great time - try not to get black syphillis.

N

[Ran]

Just got back from the reading. It was the first Jon Snow chapter, I believe, or perhaps the second. We've had reports on it before -- its the one where Jon speaks with Stannis, and it ends with a conversation with Melisandre in which she says, "You know nothing, Jon Snow," after she warned him about this and that.

There were, I think, a couple of small changes, or perhaps new details that haven't been mentioned before (like Melisandre calling the Wall "one of the hinges of the world"). The most interesting stuff however, and IMO, was in the Q&A. JT asked George why the Targaryens waited so long to invade Westeros, and he said that mostly they had just been happy to sit on their rock. It was Aegon who had the ambition ... and there had been temptations to go east, rather than west, with various Free Cities trying to lure him to their side on their interminable wars (JT has copious notes, and he'll do a better job -- my PDA went on the fritz and I couldn't copy anything down, but I did video it on the camera and with any luck the sound quality should be sufficient to transcribe any other interesting details). A grand alliance was involved in some fashion.

Oh ... and George doesn't seem to have known that Darkstar isn't very popular. He thought that a "bad boy" character would go over well, since people seem to love the Hound and even Theon Greyjoy so very much. We will probably have to have a discussion about this at the BwB party.

[Chaldanya]

I'm not sure if we should mention to GRRM that Darkstar's first name is Trev

could be good for a giggle tho'

N

[Jon Targaryen]

So the reading was Jon 1 as Ran said. At least I'm pretty sure it was Jon 1. GRRM didn't read it before because it spoiled the baby switch surprise, I'm assuming. I'll report a summary on the Jon 1 thread. Emphasis on the word "summary." I wrote down about a sentence for each paragraph GRRM read sometimes less.

I was talking with Grogmosh Longspear, Elgereron(sp) the Nightraven and Maltaran before the reading as we were some of the first ones there. We talked about the books and I showed them the questions from the board. Maltaran liked the Davos question and ended up asking it. Coyote's Daughter showed up as well as Fillipa. I met Chataya, Mak and Kalbear.

Then we all went in for the reading once Kevin J. Anderson's crew got out. He commented that he should have brought beer too to get this many people as George outdid him by about 60 or so. George arrived a little late and read Jon 1 after offering us Davos 1 and Tyrion 1. Ran was sitting right next me and raised his hand for Davos 1. I leaned over and said, "Dude, you were the first one to post a summary of that from the hard copy we received."

Question and Answer

I asked why the Targaryens waited so long after the Doom to invade?

GRRM said they were mostly just content on Dragonstone for awhile. Aegon's grandfather and father stayed there. Aegon was the one that chose to invade and conquer Westeros. The Volentenes tried to entice him into a Grand Alliance to conquer Valyria, I think, or all the Valyrian colonies. Conquer the East I'm sure. Aegon was very young when this offer came to him.

There were more questions but I gotta go. I'm with Lugalirra helping to create the flyer for the party. I'll edit later.

EDIT:

Someone asked about he creates novels and he gave his architect and gardener speech. That is covered in detail in the SSM if anyone wants to check it out.

Maltaran asked why Davos smuggled the onions and George said it was for profit. I wasn't sure if this was a joke or not but he said Davos saw a bunch of starving guys who did have some gold and saw an opportunity to make a good profit with some cheap onions.

A person asked if the reader reaction's surprise him. He said some of the reactions to characters surprise him. Sandor is very popular and Theon has some fans too.

Bittersteel was asked about by Chataya. He went over a lot of stuff already covered in the SSM then said that the Golden Company wants or wanted to overthrow the reigning lineage of Targs as they consider them usurpers. Interesting implications for ADWD.

Will the rest of the books have all the characters? Yes, he hopes to have all the characters together in the same book after ADWD. He said he has to kill some off though which garnered laughs.

Anymore art books?

Look for the World of Ice and Fire. And I think it was Linda that was saying we will get to post questions and do some sort of poll as to which get asked of George for the book. That will be done on the board.

Sorry I didn't get to ask more questions but George only called on me once and I won't ask him at parties as he said he doesn't like that so much.

[Werthead]

Good work JT. And I love the fact that George got a better turn-out than KJA

I forgot about the question about how the Targaryens dealt with the Arryns during the War of Conquest. Damnation!

[Ran]

I mentioned it to him when we had breakfast this morning. It will be something for the world book (which as of this morning is, tenatively, to be called THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE)

More on that when we know how much we can share.

[Krafus]

JT: Thank you for continuing to report.

I'm especially happy the Davos question was asked, since I'm the one who originally posted it. Maltaran, if you happen to read this, thanks.

Btw, about how many people did KJA have? (I'm curious about how many more people 60 represent.)

[Jon Targaryen]

KJA had about 6 to 8. GRRM filled the room. I just guessed when I said 60 more.

I helped set up the party suite for awhile. Covering up TVs and moving beds and such. Aegon knows how to run shit and has some background in set-making or something because the place looks fabulous. I'm sure some photos will eventually circulate.

Quincy, Davos, Hooie and I went on an ice run. We thought the 7Eleven ice was too expensive so Bronn told us of a supermarket down the way. We got to the light and it was busted. We stayed there for literally 15 minutes before turning around. We eventually bought the 711 ice then had Race and Zak come down to help us take it up.

Now we're just chilling, setting up the last details in prepration for the private party. I'm in my room to get fliers for our open party to pass out to curious people coming by.

I'll tell all I'm allowed about the quest later. Peace.

[Jaxom 1974]

Well I just got my faxed reciept so SOMEONE better have actually recieved my little offering...would that it was more.

[Benjen]

Thanks for posting that up boys. I think the bit that came out from the Bittersteel question is very interesting. And the Wall as one of the "hinges" of the world? I don't like the doorish implications of that reference.

[Quincy]

Quincy, Davos, Hooie and I went on an ice run. We thought the 7Eleven ice was too expensive so Bronn told us of a supermarket down the way. We got to the light and it was busted. We stayed there for literally 15 minutes before turning around. We eventually bought the 711 ice then had Race and Zak come down to help us take it up.

Holy shit, Jon, who would find this interesting? I was there, and even I don't want to read about it . Just giving you a hard time...

[tenalpia]

Holy shit, Jon, who would find this interesting? I was there, and even I don't want to read about it . Just giving you a hard time...

Believe me when you're stuck on the other side of the Atlantic hating everyone who made it to WorldCon EVERY little bit of information is like water in the desert Keep the reports coming you lucky lucky bastards

[Quincy]

Alright, I'm gonna post what the people really want to hear...

For breakfast, I had freshly made waffle and an apple. Nothing great, but more than satisfactory for the budget hotel I stayed at.

For lunch, I ate at a California bistro. I had a tuna steak sandwich with a mixed green salad and a cup of chowder. I don't usually order tuna steaks, because in my experience it's quite easy to overcook tuna, but this one came out fine. It was served on cibatta bread with remoulade sauce and a few capers. The capers were an unexpected and nice touch. The chowder was fucking amazing. It had thyme, portabella mushrooms, and rock shrimp. I don't like chowders that are too heavy or creamy, and this one managed to be quite hearty without being too heavy. The salad was the only disappointment. The vinagrette was a red wine and balsamic vinegar mixture, but it was WAY too sweet. Overall, a fantastic meal and one of the highlights of the trip so far.

For dinner, I ate at a German restaurant. I ordered goulash with spatzle and red cabbage. I love German food and I hadn't had goulash in years, but the goulash seemed a little bland to me. I thought goulash had a bit of spice to it, but perhaps that's only the Hungarian version. The spatzle and red cabbage were delicious, though, so I think I may return and try another dish.

The BwB party went well, but the only detail I will relate is that George and Parris sent the squires to get hot dogs from Pink's for their knighting quest. George knows his food, people. Pink's is THE late-night food spot in LA. Greasy as all fuck and portions beyond belief.

Now, I'm sitting in my hotel room and watching a documentary about mail-order brides, thinking it's not such a bad idea.

Quincy

[Dharma]

Just been knighted and it was fantastic. The bwb rules. George rules. Im so fucking emo-drunk-happy it is incredible. The Longspear loves you all!

[Jon Targaryen]

Ok let's begin with the party. I took the flyers down to the suite and we decided that we would use them to tell people that we were sorry we had a private party tonight but come back tomorrow to our open party in the same suite. So we had doorguards at the suite door and the backdoor sending people off and passing out flyers.

The party was split up into a suite and two adjoining rooms. Caress of Cersei had the suite bar and Xray the Enforcer and Mr. X had one of the rooms for their Shadow Bar. Bronn will have a wine bar tomorrow/tonight in the other room.

Lany Cassandra was doing Tarot readings for people in the Shadow Room. I saw Elgernon's reading. Very positive. Intelligent and strong.

Ser Ilyn Payne introduced himself to me and we talked of going to cons in faraway places (I'm talking about Japan, he was talking about LACon). Earlier in the night, Zollo told me was sorry when he was first introduced he had to run off and sort of said hi then left. As he was telling me this, I proceeded to run off and do something with the flyers. We talked later about Amerstdam and Japan with Ser Ilyn and quincy.

Mandy introduced me to Sally, one of the newest members of the BWB, who just showed up at our party and got a green wristband. I talked with her about, of all things, R+L=J, the most talked out theory on the boards. She knew me as the "theory guy" for some reason. I enjoyed seeing her deny the theory (Artanaro, you may have a supporter!) insisting Jon had to be Ned's son. We went over a lot of the popular theories and a little bit of the new Jon chapter. She was struggling to come up with a board name. I think we settled on Meera Reed or Tysha.

I'm pleased to say I introduced myself to the great LindaElane. :bow:

I told Ran Levindis might come and he started saying, "Where is he? Where is he?" Ran has been trying to get pictures of people he's banned. Levindis and Dirjj were fast friends, much to my surprise! Oh, and Wade1066 was also there!

I talked to Veira's boyfriend, Ryan, I think, who will probably choose the name Hawat. We discussed another one of my favorite subjects that is probably talked to death on the boards: The Big Lebowski. We had some good laughs. I thought he might try Walter Sobjeck but he decided it didn't fit.

I went inside around midnight to prepare for George to announce the quest. I talked with Mouse a bit before that got going. First off, George had to dub the new lords and ladies. They included Yagathai, Bronn Stone Master of the Cellars, Chataya, Mich, and Rhelle. I may have forgotten someone, if so I'm sorry. DaveAx became a lord I think but I thought he already was one. I don't know.

Then came the prince and princess which I think meant Lodengarl and Caress of Cersei. I have the nagging feeling there was one more though.

Finally, the King - PADRAIG THE DEVILBUNNY!!!!. He is now the King of the BWB. He gave a short speech and we all kneeled to the king. In the words of Ash, "Hail to the King, baby."

I'm really pretty tired but I don't have much to do tomorrow so I'll post the Quest manana. See ya then.

[niamh]

Did you get a sighting of Paddy or is he lost for good?

[The Progressive]

the hell? wade was there?!!! i don't fucking remember that!

the party was a blast, the people are awesome, the orange-tang was too much (thanks skylark) and the hungover isn't fun at all.

for those people who didn't make it ............. yup, we made fun of you.

unfortunately, yours truly was also banned from the knighting and sent beyond the wall ........................ and somewhere not here, women are in tears and yanking their braids.

[Werthead]

Personally, I welcome our new Devil Bunny overlord. :bow:

I mentioned it to him when we had breakfast this morning. It will be something for the world book (which as of this morning is, tenatively, to be called THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE)

More on that when we know how much we can share.

What's the betting that this changes to The World of George R.R. Martin's Ice and Fire? It could be published in a big black tome and universally known as 'The Big Black Book'. Zak's picture of Jon Snow could be on the cover