WorldCon, in summary, Part I
Aug. 16th, 2009 08:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mousmeOkay, since I am unlikely to be able to post about this in detail ever, here is a summary of WorldCon:
Tuesday:
The Scots arrive.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mangafairy and her fiancé G turn out to be as delightful as I expect, and we have a lovely dinner, wrestle with the sofa bed, and when the sofa bed doesn't cooperate, I install them on the futon in the basement.
Wednesday:
We spent the morning at the Ecomuseum withjoane, shenlo and Jenny, as well as shenlo's parents. Lots of wildlife, a gorgeous sunny day, and general merriment and geeking out.
jonofthewired arrives under his own power, and joins us in time for a dinner of pesto made with basil out of the garden.
Thursday:
joane and shenlo arrive in time for breakfast, and I get teased about the rocket-fuel quality of my coffee (I work with the police, so my coffee can pretty much almost be classified as its own kind of life form).
We head out into the metro, and make it to the Con in plenty of time to sign in, which turns out to be painless in spite of our fears. I get a nifty blue nametag, and since the first panel I want to attend isn't for a little while, which goes for everyone else as well, we wandered in the dealers' room for a while, checking out the books and t-shirts and buttons. On the whole, it's all very shiny, but luckily (or unluckily?) I have no cash on me and thus can't get anything.
I attend a panel called The Werewolves of Brigadoon, which ends up being kind of a disappointment, in spite of the presence of George R. R. Martin. The discussion is more one woman's rant about how Celtic history/mythology is misrepresented in fantasy novels, and the rest is all everyone nodding their heads sagely, until someone concluded "But it's just novels, and if the story is good, who cares?" I am also seated next to a couple from Chicago, who complain the entire time about the topic of the panel. Very annoying.
I miss the Q&A with Neil Gaiman because I am starving and in dire need of food, but if I ever have the choice again I may forgo food in favour of hearing him talk, because future experience tells me that he is awesome no matter what the topic.
I attend a fun panel moderated by Kate Nepveu and with Jo Walton on re-reading. I don't recall the names of the other panelists because they're all last-minute replacements (mostly Jo Walton's houseguests) for panelists who couldn't make it. Good discussion, and I even got a laugh out the audience for my story about trying to re-read Solomon Gursky Was Here.
Second-to-last in the line-up is a fun panel that includes Connie Willis (squee!) on the use of genocide in sci fi. Interesting, but nothing ground-breaking. Turns out Connie Willis is pro-genocide, but in fiction only. ;) I run intofoi_nefaste at the panel, and we catch up for about 30 seconds. Talking with friends for 30 seconds at a time becomes something of a theme for the entire Con.
Last but not least is a fun if nigh-incomprehensible-to-me panel on Doctor Who. Luckilyfoi_nefaste is there to explain some of it to me.
The group reconvenes and we all stagger home in order to get some rest, already enamoured of the Con in general, and having a grand old time generally.
Tuesday:
The Scots arrive.
mangafairy and her fiancé G turn out to be as delightful as I expect, and we have a lovely dinner, wrestle with the sofa bed, and when the sofa bed doesn't cooperate, I install them on the futon in the basement.Wednesday:
We spent the morning at the Ecomuseum with
joane, shenlo and Jenny, as well as shenlo's parents. Lots of wildlife, a gorgeous sunny day, and general merriment and geeking out.jonofthewired arrives under his own power, and joins us in time for a dinner of pesto made with basil out of the garden.Thursday:
joane and shenlo arrive in time for breakfast, and I get teased about the rocket-fuel quality of my coffee (I work with the police, so my coffee can pretty much almost be classified as its own kind of life form).We head out into the metro, and make it to the Con in plenty of time to sign in, which turns out to be painless in spite of our fears. I get a nifty blue nametag, and since the first panel I want to attend isn't for a little while, which goes for everyone else as well, we wandered in the dealers' room for a while, checking out the books and t-shirts and buttons. On the whole, it's all very shiny, but luckily (or unluckily?) I have no cash on me and thus can't get anything.
I attend a panel called The Werewolves of Brigadoon, which ends up being kind of a disappointment, in spite of the presence of George R. R. Martin. The discussion is more one woman's rant about how Celtic history/mythology is misrepresented in fantasy novels, and the rest is all everyone nodding their heads sagely, until someone concluded "But it's just novels, and if the story is good, who cares?" I am also seated next to a couple from Chicago, who complain the entire time about the topic of the panel. Very annoying.
I miss the Q&A with Neil Gaiman because I am starving and in dire need of food, but if I ever have the choice again I may forgo food in favour of hearing him talk, because future experience tells me that he is awesome no matter what the topic.
I attend a fun panel moderated by Kate Nepveu and with Jo Walton on re-reading. I don't recall the names of the other panelists because they're all last-minute replacements (mostly Jo Walton's houseguests) for panelists who couldn't make it. Good discussion, and I even got a laugh out the audience for my story about trying to re-read Solomon Gursky Was Here.
Second-to-last in the line-up is a fun panel that includes Connie Willis (squee!) on the use of genocide in sci fi. Interesting, but nothing ground-breaking. Turns out Connie Willis is pro-genocide, but in fiction only. ;) I run into
foi_nefaste at the panel, and we catch up for about 30 seconds. Talking with friends for 30 seconds at a time becomes something of a theme for the entire Con.Last but not least is a fun if nigh-incomprehensible-to-me panel on Doctor Who. Luckily
foi_nefaste is there to explain some of it to me.The group reconvenes and we all stagger home in order to get some rest, already enamoured of the Con in general, and having a grand old time generally.
