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A Geek's Eye  Oh, Gods... We just saw, as part of the Dead Dog Party, the movie "the Apple". Filmed in 1980, this Disco-esque musical was set in the distant future of 1994 in which a young couple from the sticks (Moosejaw, Canada) get into the music industry in a very unsubtle parallel to Adam, Eve, and Hell. I can't tell you how hilariously bad this film was; it rocked, it was so funny/bad! And, yes, it even had Deus Ex Machina! God literally drove in at the end in a glowing Cadillac to save the heroes and their unwashed brethren in what I can only describe as "the Hippie Rapture". Well, that ends this year's CONvergence for me and, well, it was FANTASTIC! Our numbers were as follows: 3,966 registered. I'm definitely doing this thing again, next year! Oh, but I should look for a new book cart; this year, two of the wheels broke and the current cart is WAAAYYYY too heavy! Take care, Journal! Yours, Sylvan (Dave) Current mood:  happy.Current music: none. That took a bit longer than expected and I'm more tired than I expected. Over the past weekend if you string together the hours I was working -not including breaks or doing "fun stuff"- I put in nearly a workweek ... over 30 hours of volunteer work, straight-up! And, yeah, it feels good in my heart; in my soul. Granted, I just took my last Vicadin but it was necessary before going down for the Cinema Rex DeadDog movie, "Apple". With my friends volunteering to help, we took down Gaming and the Lit Lounge from 3:30 to 6:30, followed by dinner at T.G.I.Friday's. When I sleep, tonight, it'll be the sleep of the DEAD! Just before dinner, too, I ran into Mr. Frank Conniff again on his way to his plane. We shook hands again, and I got the chance to tell him what a great comic he was. It was my second fanboy moment of the weekend and I'm glad I got the chance. It was a nice bookend moment to all the other events I went through. :) Anyway, time for "Apple"; I'll post again, before turning in. Yours, Sylvan (Dave) Current mood:  exhausted.Current music: none. Ok, lunch was good but now it's time to head to the 22nd floor and start packing up Gaming and the Lit Lounge! Yours, Sylvan (Dave) Current mood:  contemplative.Current music: none. After getting breakfast of a bagel and some Coke, I did a stint of Floor Host combined with badger up on 22 this morning, cleaning up after the fireworks watchers last night (as a general rule, they are less clean than gamers!!!) and finding out that we had a passed-out drunk in Open Gaming that the police had to come remove. Apparently, according to one of the gamers who saw it happen (I was in the shower at the time) when they tried to find his ID in his wallet, they found drugs, instead. In the words of so many convention organizers in the past: "If it's illegal outside the con, it's illegal inside the con!" Anyway, with everything cleaned up and ready-to-go, I was really happy and awed to find that the Madison group who ran the party room and LARP, "Steam Century" had not only cleaned up the Gaming Suite 2206, last night, but they'd re-set it to its original, factory settings! In short, it was absolutely pristine! May I reiterate how absolutely in awe I am of the gamers who come to our little con? :) They ran a GREAT, evening puzzle game in conjunction with their party space downstairs and really used the upstairs space, well! (With the broad windows looking out on the suburbs, below, they opened the curtains and dressed the room to look like the inside of a Steam Punk airship that was haunted by a frontier spirit of some sort that presented visitors with a riddle to solve. People who wanted to play were led up in small groups from the party room, downstairs... VERY cool!) We definitely will welcome them back next year! Anyway, after getting things open and cleaned up, I had a con-goer volunteer to run some things down to lost-n-found while I sat down, badged, and worked on my Post-Con Report. After that, around Noon, my Card Gaming SubHead came up and volunteered to Floor Host for me and gave me some time off so I could head down and catch "SpookySpooky ScaryScary" in Cinema Rex. It was VERY funny, although I missed the end of it, as I got called away by a phone call from the Bridge to sign some Volunteer Cards and head up to 22 to oversee some issues. Overall, this has been an excellent con and I'm missing it already. In just about two hours we start striking the set on the 22nd Floor for another year; it'll be sad to see it go. But seeing as next year's theme is "Bring On The Bad Guys", I've already got plenty of ideas... Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Yours, Sylvan (Dave) Current mood:  accomplished.Current music: none. Sadness mingled with satisfaction; post-con ennui has already started to set in. In the near distance I can already see myself sadly anticipating 2010 and regretting the passing of 2009. I also have come to the strange discovery that -in some way- I derive more pleasure in running events than in participating in them. Oh, sure, I LOVE sitting down and listening to a lecturer like Dr. Kakalios or sitting a panel on the origins of MST3K ... both of those are not only indispensable but just plain AWESOME! But at the same time, I get this strange degree of satisfaction from running my department that I don't anticipate in the run-up to the con no matter how many times I do it. It's deep and comforting ... especially when it all seems to run so incredibly well. I wonder if that's a psychological reason for why I'm such a mess in the weeks -perhaps months- leading up to July? Could it be that my mind starts screwing me up in anticipation of utter failure only so that I'll have this grand "high" come CONvergence? If so, that's pretty fucked up! Also it's something -now that I have an inkling of it- that I can control. But if it's not the case, I can also address things by simply focusing on the fact that I DON'T SCREW UP AND THINGS GO WELL! If this year is any indication, unless the hotel blows up in the final 24 hours, Gaming and the 22nd Floor have gone so swimmingly as to be ridiculously successful! I've never felt so happy and high at this con ... and I'm not talking about the Vicodin! Well, now that I've showered and shaved, it's time to head out seeking breakfast before heading to 22 and cleaning up for the final day... See ya'll there! It's been a GREAT weekend! Yours, Sylvan (Dave) Current mood: accomplished.Current music: none. Wow. Busy, busy day. Aching feet but it's a good ache! The fireworks went off well and our guests from the Steampunk LARP, "Steam Century" have had great success in 2206 with their gaming. Really cool stuff! I even managed to catch some of "Mystery Men" in Cinema Rex this year! I had dinner with foeclan and then was able to see some of the Masquerade until an emergency drew me to the 22nd floor to resolve both a problem with event scheduling as well as a lack of badgers for the entry area. I then worked to sit the station, myself, until we could get a replacement and -then- worked on signing some volunteer cards for a few people.Things went very well although, later, Steam Century accidentally locked themselves out of their room and, so, we had to phone the hotel to get themselves let back in. It was really the lack of emergencies that proved to be the hallmark of this year's convention. We did have a small group of people who tried to get in to see Fireworks without badges on the 22nd Floor and had to be turned away. The story was, "we forgot our badges at home" which, I told them, meant they had to go home and get them or try and work something out with the registration department. The thing was, I really can't imagine anyone "forgetting" a badge at home. The con has had plenty of attempted ghosters this year who don't seem to think there's anything wrong with entering conspace without paying for it. In this case, since we have very expensive equipment (computers being the best example) all of which are on our Insurance policy just past the badging point, we really do have to be sure everyone coming into the space is a member of the con. It's just that simple. We've gotten some nasty looks, especially from one guy who seemed to be pissed that he couldn't just show his driver's license and get past the badging station. His loss, I'm afraid. We were polite to them all, but it's a matter of simple policy. The VAST MAJORITY -over 99%- of our con attendees seem to have no problem carrying badges with them at all times, even when they have fancy costumes. And, y'know what? Even when we have a person who does legitimately forget their badge, they always act a little embarrassed and don't cause a fuss ... they just go and get it with a good natured "I'm sorry"... So, anyway, after all the stuff this evening up on the 22nd floor, I decided to turn in a bit early. I stopped off at ConSuite for some rice and -after that- got some soup (corn chowder) and poured it over the rice. Mmmmm... THAT was PERFECT: the ideal, late-night snack! Now, it's time for bed! G'night, world! Yours, Sylvan (Dave) Current mood: tired.Current music: none. Whew. Ok, things are in one piece and we're doin' well. Gaming is going great guns and I've been working well up on the Suites. I even had time, after set-up was done, to catch "The Science of Watchmen" hosted by Professor James Kakalios, author of The Science of Superheroes. He was, of course, a consultant on the film and really had some excellent insights into how Rorshach's mask works, how the Owlship flew (it had thrusters in the movie, as opposed to the comic book), and the powers of Dr. Manhattan. Afterwards, there was more work on the 22nd Floor for a couple hours and, now, I'm seeking out some lunch. The only problem this year -and I mean ONLY problem- is pain in my back and legs. Really, this is really troublesome. On my way back to my room, I did have some time to check out the lovely Art Show (some very nice work by newcomer amateurs) and even met burnunit and his daughter who was still excited about having been in a costume show.That's so much fun: seeing the sparkle in the eyes of young fans! She was so happy to describe her costume and at the applause she'd gotten! So awesome! :) I may not have kids but I love living the newness of their experiences through their eyes! I've been so happy this year; if only my back and legs weren't like this, it would be the perfect year! Now, I need lunch ... really! Yours, Sylvan (Dave) Current mood: accomplished.Current music: none. ARGH! Woke up late! Quick Entry! Running up to 22nd floor! Be back sometime this afternoon! -Dave Current mood:  rushed.Current music: none. Serving pizza in the Misfits Party Suite was really fun and nice; the kissing booth outside was to benefit a local group trying to raise money for a local cause and we got plenty of hungry fanboys and fangrrls ("fen") coming in for a slice of the pie past the scantily clad ladies and guys. Afterwards, I headed back to my room but met, on the way, an old friend from the FRPGA/UMGS days: Pietro. He merrily joined in as I headed up to the 22nd Floor to check in with my volunteer staff, checked to see that everything was going well, made sure that the Floor Host knew how to shut things down towards Midnight, and -then- headed on my way. En route to my room, Pietro and I talked and it was really great to see him again. He's really happy with his life, now, and turned his life around! He's married, getting his education in order at the University (gettin' A's right now), and working hard at his career. He's really got everything going well for himself personally and professionally. He was so happy and up-beat! It was GREAT to see such happiness in the face of an old friend! Along the way, we met two more old UMGS/FRPGA friends: Damien Sheridan and Ian Hoegfeldt. It was like a mini-reunion of us 40-somethings (or nigh-40-somethings) chatting about the good-ol-days. Although I'd missed Damien's poetry reading in Harmonic Convergence earlier today, it was really nice to see him again. Man, I do miss those days but these random meetings really brighten my days, y'know? Anyway, my back and feet are killing me so I'm going to turn in and get some sleep. I really need to catch some Z's... Take care, Journal ... CONvergence -day two- is over for me, now, and day three is just beginning. Oh, and we may have broken the 4,000 person mark! Yours, Sylvan (Dave) Current mood: happy.Current music: none. So, here I sit -feet and back aching- after having gone for dinner three times: once by myself, once with my friend Ian, and once with my friend Mike Tschimperle who drove out just to visit with me at the hotel. The first time I got some pizza. The second two times, simple drinks were enough. This day has been really good but I've got to admit, my lack of physical shape is really starting to get to me. I'm really "broken", y'know? I did enjoy the MST3K Origins panel (starring Mary Jo Pehl, Frank Conniff, and Joel Hodgson) and even caught part of Ka-Bamm, the comedy Improv play, but -really- my mind has mostly been on my aches. Well, come 10:30 I'll be down in the Misfits Party Room helping out and then, I think, I'll turn in. I really am very, very tired. I've been running pretty fast even though things are going smoothly. I love this job even though the weeks -the months- leading up to it can be stressful. I have to admit, much of the trepidation I unleash upon myself and those around me is pretty much psychological. I not only surround myself with a cadre of competent, intelligent, and talented people but I know this con ... I know it's needs when it comes to Gaming. There has never been a problem or "disaster" I cannot solve in my department. So why the heck do I let it get to me? I'll have to contemplate that little conundrum, later. Right now, I'm going to turn on some music and relax for the next half hour. I'm really enjoying myself! (And, yeah, the plethora of really cute guys around the hotel this year isn't hurtin' matters, any! Yay eye-candy!) :) Yours, Sylvan (Dave) Current mood: tired.Current music: none. |
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