Octocon 2010: Dublin, 16-17 October

[Danielle Lavigne]

Right, question: anyone know if you can buy a day ticket?

Basically the fates have aligned to give my planned Octocon weekend a heartfelt kick in the bollocks. Work all night tonight and tomorrow night, coupled with friends dropping out, an immense exam to study for on monday, and an essay to write at the last minute amount to me being unable to attend the full thing, thus missing GRRM's speech. However, my other main event, AKA The Golden Blasters results, takes place Sunday evening, which I think I could make it to. Only thing is I'm not sure the student in me will be able to justify the cost a full ticket for a few hours. So yeah, fuck you too, universe.

Day tickets are cool. €25 for students, €30 for everyone else.

Sorry for not getting to you earlier. Couldn't remember my password when I saw it yesterday.

[Paxter]

Every time we hold a BWB raffle I say we won't top this and every time I am proved wrong. Tonight we had an awesome party and raised 804 euros at the raffle. We also raised 115 euros in t-shirt sales making a total donation an unbelievable 919 euros[\b].

Sorry Aussies but with the higher value currency this beats the Aus$1144, although you guys sold more tickets.

Pfft, we couldn't care less about total value after currency conversions. It's all about total number of tickets sold :P.

But yeah, 919 euros is nothing to be sniffed at so good work people :cheers:.

[theMountainGoat]

Hey Kat, we got the pins and we also had another 300 pins from Mormont which we gave out at the party last night. Wish you were here, we are having a great time and this will be a con long remembered.

[Sophelia]

Wish you were here, we are having a great time and this will be a con long remembered.

*wishes I was still there too* :cry:

(Sitting forlornly in Dublin airport)

When's the next BwB meet then?:/

[theMountainGoat]

Just met Hodor, yes Kristian Nairn is here and what a nice guy.

George's second signing at 3.00 has been booted in favour of an extra panel on the show with Kristian. Stay tuned for reports on that.

[Alytha]

If anybody else wants to come to Newgrange tomorrow morning, meeting is at 10:00 in the lobby of the Camdem Court. See you there:)

[Speculator]

10am?

That means missing the dead dog party at lunchtime ...

[theMountainGoat]

Or some of us are going to the Book of Kells, 10 am in the lobby.

No time for details right now, another great busy day. I wish the battery on my phone had not packed up before the end of the last panel. I missed getting any footage of the closing ceremony, the standing ovation George got was incredible.

Loads of people have already left, many of them I did not get the chance to say goodbye to. Others I have and the post-con emo is setting in hard. It feels like we only just got here.

[GameofThronesJoe]

Just wanted to pop on and say how great it was to meet you all. Look forward to the moot, hope to see you there as well and have a great time in Dublin for whoever's hanging around. :)

[Kat]

Hey Kat, we got the pins and we also had another 300 pins from Mormont which we gave out at the party last night.

Bah! Outpinned! How can I ever measure up to that?

Good to hear the con went well. :)

[pat5150]

Every time we hold a BWB raffle I say we won't top this and every time I am proved wrong. Tonight we had an awesome party and raised 804 euros at the raffle. We also raised 115 euros in t-shirt sales making a total donation an unbelievable 919 euros[\b].

Sorry Aussies but with the higher value currency this beats the Aus$1144, although you guys sold more tickets.

We also celebrated Silverstar's 30th birthday in style with a big chocolate cake, candles, a card signed by everyone and a special present of a pair of Westeros coin earrings - one of only 4 pairs of their kind in the world.

I have video of George's Q&A, the raffle and also Pod, Peadar and Game of Thrones Joe put in the stocks and we threw stuff at them.

It was an incredible night and now I go back down to the party for more, goodnight all.

Christ!!! That's awesome!

I may not be there in the flesh, but at least I contribute in my own small way. . . :)

Kudos to everyone involved!!!

Patrick

[theMountainGoat]

Just got back up to my hotel room after the most surreal fucking moment of the con.

So there we are in the hotel bar having an interesting discussion about race in fandom and other such related things. That's George, LugaJetBoyGirl, Dracarys, Lady Narcissa, Slick Mongoose, williamjm, Speculator and myself. Lilsisorcha had just left when 3 guys came over and without asking just joined us. They were con people with badges and one of them had a model of a trebuchet that he put on her table. This model was used in a panel earlier today and I saw the guy running the panel putting this together earlier on in the Octocon Committee room when I dropped by to drop off our money donated to the convention charity.

Anyway a different guy has the model now, don't know the story on that and this guy is rather drunk anyway he proceeds to tell us about how great this trebuchet is and starts a demonstration using a leftover chip [uS translation: fries] which George gives him from the bag we had earlier on. The model is great and works really well. So these guys sit down uninvited and without asking and just take over.

"I love a good trebuchet" he exclaimed, "there is something sexy about the slow overarm swing, like a fast bowler stepping up to bowl." He made a noise like sexual satisfaction and then went on to make a comment about how Allyson Hanningan turns him on with ice and something about Willow on Willow action (another cricket reference apparantely tied to Buffy in this instance). We are all sitting there thinking what the fuck, but that isn't even the weirdest bit.

At the other end of the table, opposite me and Speculator there is an older skinny bloke with a straggly white beard who starts going through our discarded takeaway wrappers and he just starts eating the leftover bits of lettuce out of Lilsisorcha's chicken takeaway, as if this was a perfectly normal thing to do. Then he starts going through the bags of chips, tearing them open to see if there is anything more he can take from in there. Its like he was dumpster diving on our table with us sat there watching him mouths agape that this shit was actually happening!

Every good con needs a weirdo, Denver had "The Tickler", Montreal had Darryl, Melbourne had "The Pickler", was it Boston where "Primordial Man" attended? Anyway now Octocon has this guy to remember it by. I expect a nomination for a suitable name by morning please.

"Oh is that the time" we said and all got up to leave. We said our goodnights in the lobby, George left and then we had a group hug. Straight after Luga said "lets not tell anyone that actually happened" referring to the group hug and we all laughed, but hey its not like I actually promised not to or anything ;)

So many goodbyes and so much emo still to come. Half a day left for me. Goodnight from Octocon.

[lilsisorcha]

Sounds like I left just in time... oh but I missed the :grouphug: -_- .. what about the Lettice Looper? :P

WHAT A FANTASTICAL WEEKEND!! I had such a great time.

Just got home to my own bed. It is spectacularly good to be horizontal. Sleep now :)

[ithanos]

At the other end of the table, opposite me and Speculator there is an older skinny bloke with a straggly white beard who starts going through our discarded takeaway wrappers and he just starts eating the leftover bits of lettuce out of Lilsisorcha's chicken takeaway, as if this was a perfectly normal thing to do. Then he starts going through the bags of chips, tearing them open to see if there is anything more he can take from in there. Its like he was dumpster diving on our table with us sat there watching him mouths agape that this shit was actually happening!

Every good con needs a weirdo, Denver had "The Tickler", Montreal had Darryl, Melbourne had "The Pickler", was it Boston where "Primordial Man" attended? Anyway now Octocon has this guy to remember it by. I expect a nomination for a suitable name by morning please.

"The Feeder" or maybe "Hepatitis-A Man"

As always great reporting lordMountainGoat. And fantastic Q&A report upthread from Lady Narcissa.

[mormont]

Home again. :) Very busy this week (moving house tomorrow, nowhere near packed yet) but I just wanted to pop in and say what an amazingly good time I had. So wonderful to see so many old friends that I hadn't seen for ages and to meet so many wonderful new people too. (Including sorcha, at last, Renya, Vrana, devotee, silverstar, and many more awesome folks.) Special kudos to the people that flew over the Atlantic for this - Mich, drac and his brother, Luga, and the rest.

Special thanks to Peadar for being a wonderful host, Sean for Incredible Hulks and for taking a head wound in the name of duty, Jo for the weaponry chats, Megan for chats about everything else, Parris and George for being so generous with their time and their donations, Pod for being an incredibly good sport as usual (but the BwB panel really lacked your contributions...), and to silverstar, Luga, drac, pebs, ten, Zollo, Isis, Paddy, sorcha, MG, Wolfie, and An00biel for being such terrific company. There are probably about another dozen I've missed but you were all awesome too. Give yourselves a pat on the back. ;)

[Rumarumo]

Day tickets are cool. €25 for students, €30 for everyone else.

Sorry for not getting to you earlier. Couldn't remember my password when I saw it yesterday.

Thanks Danielle, but turns out I wouldn't have been able to make it up anyway! But thanks again for being so patient with all my questions etc, just wasn't meant to be this year. Here's hoping that I get to Octocon next year, and also that I get a chance to attend some event with George and the BwB in the near future too! Glad to hear ye all had such a good time. As for the guy eating your chips....that wasn't me, honest :uhoh:

[Peadar]

Don't know what to say at this stage except it was fantastic seeing all the sods who attended -- far too many to name here! Major kudos have to go to the goat for massive organisational dexterity. But everybody contributed (except Pebble) to a great Con experience. I'm only sorry I missed the sight of the "manky muncher". A man after my own heart! :drool:

[LugaJetboyGirl]

In the end, after all my whinging about post-con blues, I've decided to stay in Dublin and not head off to beautiful Galway. It's just easier and less expensive for me in the end. So I'll be staying at a hostel in Temple Bar.

If anybody else will still be around and wants to do stuff, send me a PM. I plan on such wonderful activities as the Book of Kells, a tour to Newgrange/Tara, etc etc. And some sleeping.

I'll post an abbreviated con report later in the day, once I've got settled in my hostel and returned from the dead dog party et al.

[Anubiel]

I'm sorry I missed the rest of the party on Saturday and the entire con on Sunday :( But I had an awesome time while I was there and it was great to meet you all again and to meet some of you for the very first time :D

[theMountainGoat]

Yeah what happened to you Anoobiel we missed you.

I am back in the UK, waiting at Gatwick for Pebble so I can give her back the stuff I carried back for her, ya know the books and the drugs and that.

Reports, photos and videos will follow later tonight and tomorrow and probably after that too.

Oh yes we have a name for our weirdo from last night courtesy of Luga - he has been officially dubbed "The Chipper". So obvious when pointed out ain't it :lol: