Back from Arisia

[yendi]

Overall, a damned good con (with the usual issues entailed by the first year in a new location).

Random stuff:

• Remaining panels all went well (not least because I was with some damned fine co-panelists). Monster Movies: 50 Years Ago was at 10AM on Saturday, so was a wee bit sparsely attended, but was still fun (modpixie, were you the knitter in the audience?). Lots of good discussion on various monster movies (Toho included, of course), with some good talk about the social, economic, and political realities that created their success.

• I ended up modding the Memorial to Dave Cockrum (because the mod should be the person with the least to say, and my co-panelists there were way more qualified than I was, seeing as I was the only panelist who didn't personally know Dave). If you missed that panel, you missed a doozie.

• Today's Gastronomic Fantasies panel was a good last-day panel. Low attendance, of course (first Sunday panel, against a ton of bigger events, dealing with literature, no GOH-level panelists, and the shittiest panel room in the hotel), but fun. Topics ranged from Bujold to Brust to YA lit (Turkish "Delight," my ass), to The Restaurant at the End of the Universe to the futuristic sterile/replicated food so common in some SF tropes to McKillip to McKinley. And elsewhere. I was particularly amused when one fellow panelist talked about wanting to recreate the rose quail recipe from Like Water for Chocolate, and I was able to pull out the book I was reading and show her someone's attempt to do just that.

• Also attended and enjoyed a few panels as an audience member. Naturally, my first three or four choices all conflicted with other panels I was on. Stupid Murphy.

• Saw lots of wonderful people at the con.

• Ate tons of food. Con Suite had lox on Saturday morning. Yum. My first-time-ever access to the Green Room meant I also had access to lasagna (limited only by the fact that I hate lasagna). It also meant easier access to hot coffee during the day.

• Gamed a lot. Played Chrononauts, Early American Chrononauts, Fluxx, Zendo, Forumla De, Star Munchkin, and about four thousand games of Tsuro.

• Resisted spending any of my money until today, when I splurged for a few games (Munchkin Bites, E.A. Chrononauts, Treehouse (my first Icehouse pieces!), and Save Dr. Lucky.

• More importantly, I now own a Cthulhu Hat!

• At least twenty strangers complimented me on my hat.

• jasra was a lifesaver near the end of the con, helping net us storage space for our bags after checkout.

• xanadumalion won an art show prize! Yay!

• There's probably a ton of stuff (and people) that I'm forgetting. Suffice to say, I had a blast.

Comments

[yndy.livejournal.com]

serious lust over the cthulhu hat!! :)

[yendi]

It's truly the coolest hat ever.

[kitrona.livejournal.com]

Kill Doctor Lucky is fun!

That's all I have to say. :)

[cissa.livejournal.com]

I am veryjealous of your Chrononauts playing. I love it, and everyone I know says it's "too complicated!"

Wankers.

And so, I sulk.

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Well, come over and play!

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

It was good seeing you again. If you ever feel like visiting DC, we can arrange fo carsh space, hot tubs, and board games galore. We can even introduce you to a bunch of geeks.

[theferrett.livejournal.com]

"If you missed that panel, you missed a doozie."

STUPID PARKING.

Gah. Wanted so much to see that one. Gah.

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

i keep forgetting that you're in boston, now.
we completely need to do dinner or a movie sometime when i'm more up for the drive north.

[yendi]

Definitely!

[magid.livejournal.com]

The food panel was a lot of fun for the audience who made it :-)

(Hi! Based on the hat photo, I believe I was your ride back to Watertown... we never did manage introductions...)

[yendi]

You were, indeed, our ride!

Thanks again! You were a lifesaver!

[modpixie.livejournal.com]

i was in fact the knitter. i would have said something if (a) i didn't have to immediately dash off to see the higgins stuff, (b) if i was a little more conversant with the material (though this was a good starting point for movies i should see), and (c) if tenacious D in front of me had let me have a word in edgewise. :)

[yendi]

Heh. Yeah, there's always at least one guy at every con who seems to think that audience participation is necessary regardless of whether he's got anything to contribute.