luckykaa

19 years ago I went to my first ever Worldcon. It was in Scotland. It was amazing!

A few days ago I went to my 7th Also on Scotland. This time I decided to get a hotel a little more convenient for the convention.

The Good

The Dark Room! Stage show where we play an interactive videogame. It's an improv thing. Lots of fun.

Met up with my Aussie friend! And my German friend. Only seem to see them at cons. Saw people I hadn't seen since they left to go to the other side of the world.

They seem to generally have a good idea of room size. Occasionally couldn't get in but only a couple of times.

Was really pleased that Moderators were mostly strict on the rule that a question is not a comment and has a question mark at the end.

Volunteered to people wrangle at the Hugos.  It seemed a bit disorganised. Still, I got to wear a nice hi-vis jacket! The feeling of power!!! I appeared to be primarily a traffic cone. But they seemed to appreciate our help. And I directed a lot of people to the right place for the cermony so I feel useful.

The talk on "Are you smarter than a monkey" was great. Apparently very few of us are. We all have misconceptions about scientific facts.

Enjoyed the talk on 80's fantasy. Although someone needs to tell Seanan McGuire that Fiduciary responsibility doesn't work the way she thinks it does. These myths really need to die. Someone else nearby muttered about it so I vented with them a little.

Chris Baker did some really great presentations on his art. For those not in the know, he was the concept designer for a bunch of films including AI. He also illustrated Redwall (wish I'd brought books to be signed), and is a very skilled sculpter.

Really liked the panels of costuming. Costume people are so lovely. One of them was about finding patterns.

Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre was as hilarious as ever. It overlapped with Masquerade. As it happens, Masquerade was running late. What a shock!

Costuming - I tried to resurrect my greyscale 1930's adventure hero costume. Some people liked it. I don't think I really quite got it right though.

Pleased they streamed the Hugo awards. I really wasn't feeling like sitting in a hot auditorium. And I wanted to go to the talk on the mathematics of games. It was a good talk. I now know how to win at certain forms of nim. So I saw the talk and caught up later.

Regarding the Hugos - always nice to learn about sea cucumbers. I think at a previous one I learned about whales or something.

I'm now left with a hankering to do more costuming. And a slight disappointment there's not a lot of opportunity to do so.

Batmobiles in the main hall!

I remembered to sleep.

The Bad

A friend got Covid. That was a bit of a downer.

Mobile phones have changed the feel a lot. Once upon a time people who had nothing to do sat and waited and you could just randomly talk to them. These days people will go to their phones when bored. It means there's a shield of "do not disturb"

As always, video games only get a vague mention. While they did have a couple of video game panels, their knowledge of the scene is about 10 years out of date.

I was hoping to try out the escape room. This was underadvertised. In the end I didn't because the person I wanted to do it with caught Covid.

They had the bid parties in the main hall. Typically at Worldcons there are room parties in the main hotel. This involves a whole bunch of people pitching their cons and bids for future cons as well as fans just wanting to have a party. Can easily flit from room to room, and avoid the overcrowded rooms. The main hall in contrast is a dreary place. The parties were only in a small segment of a massive room which ruins the atmosphere, and only a handful of groups decided to run something. 

Many people I wish I could have seen weren't able to come. I think my fandom tribe is Redemption and I think I met about 3 people I know from those conventions.

The Ugly

I still find this level of fandom feels impenetrable. There are a lot of in-fandom culture things that aren't well explained, but not really a lot of opportunity to actually become part of fandom.

For example, the opening ceremony included the "First Fandom" awards. I've looked it up. I still don't really know what they are. So who are these people and why do we care? Are they part of the WSFS? Do we get to vote on this? Feels like a small subgroup giving out awards to other members of their small subgroup and using Worldcon as a platform.

They sell "memberships" - it was a really complicated system this year - but there isn't really a lot of outreach to get people involved in fandom. So it still feels rather like a ticketed event. Would be a lot better to have a bunch of icebreaker events, some round table discussions, discussion on how to be involved in fandom - I remember a great talk on creating a podcast; but I think that was at nineworlds.

Okay; that last bit was something of a rant.

I really wish that there was a reasonably large annual fan convention in the UK. Sure there's Eastercon but it's not very big. And it's always been rather literary focussed. Despite my rant above, this event was a lot of of fun.

So, caught up with the tech guy at last. Did some volunteering. Not really sure I'm all that useful though. Next time will try to be a little more involved beforehand.

Kev F Sutherland - comic writer for Beano, Doctor Strange and a bunch of others, as well as the Sock Puppet Theatre gave a talk about his comic book masterclass - where he teaches kids and adults about making comics. Lots of really useful stuff there. Also really nice guy. He wanted a pad of paper so I donated my cheapy drawing pad to the cause.

Bought one of his comics. Chatted a bit about Look-In and other retro stuff.

Other stuff was a talk on missions to Jupiter and a Blankety Blank game. Talk on steampunk was unfortunately cancelled because the presenter couldn't make it to con because of Covid.

Chatted to a couple of people. One of them was a very charming man with a biiig bushy beard, and a lot of experience of places I knew about. Another was someone with a lot of knowledge of space missions but seemed to be unable to stop talking to let others get a word in edgeways.

There's a scavenger hunt. Moons of Jupiter (there are a lot of them) are scattered around the convention. Small bits of paper with a picture of a moon, and a code. I found most of them Still missing about 5.

Was hungry so I went to find food somewhere cheaper than the hotel. 10 minutes away was a very nice indoor street market place. I appear to have developed a homing instinct for the hipster district. Actually nothing particularly exotic, but a decent enough selection of food types. I had spicy chicken and chips, then went to another stall and had an ice cream. They had chocolate dipped waffle cones! How could I say no?

Didn't sleep well last night so decided to turn in early and have a bath.

Always had a certain level of mixed feelings about Eastercon. On one hand there are lots of interesting talks and a fair number of friends attend. I like real ale and that's usually available. On the other hand, I don't fit in as well as I might. The cons are very lit-heavy. Not a lot of media fans. And they're a bit old. I tend to be one of the younger attendees.

It all started off reasonably well. Pub quiz on Thursday. Except they did it in the restaurant area, where the acoustics were terrible. Also I was very annoyed that I couldn't remember where the Starship Streaker was from despite my username here coming from the name of the pilot! Anyway, we won, mainly out of endurance.

Had drinks of victory. Went back to hotel room and apparently told flickums  that I'd been drinking with Neil and Eeyore. Not sure what eeyore was doing there and I might have been too drunk to pass the mirror test

Friday - went to various panels and talks and I was generally having a good time. Saturday was the same.

Then my brain rebelled.

I just seemed to have a sudden overdose of shyness and imposter syndrome. I found myself unable to converse. Usually I can manage to find something to say. Make a friend or two.

Someone mentioned that tech needed tech people to deal with sound. I'm a techy person. I like playing with gadgets. I'm actually quite good at it. And I know what a mixer does (although I am constantly reminded at work I am not an audio engineer). I should have volunteered. But something in my head said "No. You don't want to do that". And that was just my brain being stupid. They wanted me to do it. I'd have enjoyed it.

I just ended up feeling a bit lonely. Which meant I ended the weekend feeling a little dejected. Wishing I'd done things that I hadn't done. and getting really upset about fairly minor things, like my forgetting to bring a book to get signed.

Maybe I'm just out of practice. Maybe I need to do more cons. Or find cons that are more me. They're pricey though.

Birmingham NEC is big! Really big. So big that you need to get a bus from the car park to the venue. This allows a lot of space for people to show off board games. And card games. And tabletop roleplaying games.

I'd never been before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. So we arrived and were immediately pounced on by a friend, who was volunteering there. We were directed to the Wild West Exodus stand and I spent some time ogling starter sets.

Walked around a little more. Saw other games. Bought some choose your own adventure books based on Peter Pan and Wizard of Oz. flickums  bought a glowing acrylic sign with a glowing pip-boy display on it.

We went downstairs and Flickums caught up with a friend while dithering over what to buy. I ogled the models on an neighbouring stand.

Played a demo of a rabbit breeding card game. It was fun, but limited.

Played a demo of an 18th century Pirates/swashbuckler/colonists tabletop war game. It was fun, but I was soundly defeated by Flickums.

Played a quick game of Wild West Exodus. The show ended before we did anything.Decided to buy a box anyway because I like the models. It has mechanical dogs!

Collectormania was still happening so we went to have a look at that. It had quietened down a lot because it was the end of the last day and people were leaving. Not that much to see and do there. These events are mostly about buying overpriced collectables and spending too much on autographs. But they did have a BTTF time machine that you could sit in and get a photo taken. Once the guy running it had finished talking to his mate. Actually he paused briefly and then went back. Little miffed about that. I expect a little acknowledgement as a customer.

Had a further look around but feet were killing us at this point so we called it a day. A little odd to see a Mandalorian, a personification of sadness, a Sith Lord and others waiting patiently for a bus.

What to say about Nineworlds?

I had fun. Some friends were there. I chatted to a few new people. Panels were interesting, and I avoided the ones I suspected were going to irritate me. Nineworlds is fun, but they can be a little too intense with the social-politics stuff. I learned various bits about the ethics in The Good Place, squeed about Star Trek, enjoyed the Eurovision panel, and the weird-ass videos from some of the national talent shows, where they pick an entry.

Also, played Toon RPG. That was fun.

Still, not as great a convention as others I've been to.

Not all that happy about the location. Hammersmith is too expensive to park - we're looking at around £100-200 for the weekend. This means I'm limited on what costume stuff I can take, since it has to fit in luggage. And Hammersmith hotels are expensive. So are tickets. Was also a little disappointed that so few people I knew were there. I found a few Normally I like to loiter in the bar and talk to random people, but they don't have a very loiterable bar. Or maybe I'm less sociable these days. Maybe I'm not quite the same type of geek. Not sure

There are some really cool aspects to the convention. The fact that it's run by a group that have little to do with most of the con-runner crowd makes it feel a lot fresher and different. It doesn't have the cliquey feel that some conventions have. And the party was a lot of fun! Looking at the various organiser posts I've seen, there does seem to be a genuine desire to keep improving it.

Do wonder where the money goes though. I've been to smaller cheaper cons that seem to have more space.

I really want a convention that gives me the buzz I had in Redemption in 2005. Or Worldcon that same year (it was a good year for conventions)

It's been a busy day. Flew off to Finland at 17:50, the day after returning from Nineworlds.

Since I had the morning free, I'd arranged to book some more house viewings.

First house we have tentatively named Corner House. Really messy neighbours. On the plus side, quite cheap, with two large bedrooms and a box room that could hold a bed if really needed but is destined to become a study, or a Flickums-cave. It had a really good kitchen though. Not perfect, but cheap enough to compensate for any drawbacks. A lick of paint would really improve things.

Next up was "B&B house". To end of our price range. Looked lovely from the photos. Turned out to be surprisingly small. The owners were really making an effort to sell the place though. Pillows piled up on the bed (like a top quality guest house - hence its name). High end appliances we tastefully arranged on the kitchen surface. The owners were clearly trying to sell a lifestyle. Sadly the only thing really going for it was a conservatory. We were initially worried we'd fall in love with it, but it was so pokey.

Final house was a bit of an outlier. Worth looking at because it was late and cheap. Was a bit worried about how close it was to the motorway. And yes, the noise outside was terrible. It was also very much in need of some TLC. Flickums suggested it looked like the setting for a Stephen King novel. The Estate Agent arrived, and it was the first time he'd seen the place. I don't think he had high hopes  of making a sale. I think it's really one of those "investment properties"

Might go for Corner House. We have time to think about it.

Had enough time for a haircut and to phone my mum and wish her a happy birthday. Had a cup of tea, and then it was fine to fly!

Flickums saw me off at the airport, and now I'm checked into a pokey, but probably adequate Finnish hotel.

Worldcon here I come!

J Michael Tatum is a lovely chap.

We went to Yorkshire Comic Con because flickums wanted to see him. Well, she would probably have gone anyway, but fangirls gonna fangirl. And I like dressing up. I dressed as Indiana Jones. Apparently he has a very sexy voice. She even made me watch an episode of Black Butler to demonstrate.

So having arrived, Flickums joined the autograph queue. I found myself in front of a raffle for lots of Lego. Looked around. Went back and found Flickums and promised to hold her had and stop her giggling like a loon. We got the the queue. He was very nice and chatty and signed Flick's Manga of Black Butler, and did a silly selfie with us. Flick asked him to do his voice. He demanded she command him to use his voice. Flick said "I command you to use the voice". He did. Flick melted. I cleared up the molten Flickums.

( See under cut for selfie. )

The rest of the day was spent looking at stalls, taking photos of cosplayers, and looking at the various things that were happening on stage. It was a bit of a mixed bag. Talent show, Elsa and Anna doing a magic show. Mary Poppins and Bert doing the catchy songs from Mary Poppins. Flick later got a photo with them because she was wearing the perfect T-shirt.

( Photo proof! )

We also met a Sheila the Thief from Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon, who was pleased because so few people got her costume.

Flickums bought lots of things for lots of people. I bought her a "Mr. Pool" Deadpool/Mr. Man mug. She bought me some T-shirts. One of them was Chip And Dale/Indiana Jones mash up.

There was a whole load of drama beforehand, because the venue was being a little overzealous with security and people were told not to bring large bags.Then the information on what size is acceptable was vague confusing and contradictory. After a lot of worry and panic, all they did was wave a wand over everyone and look through bags.

And so we saw friends, watched Doctor Who, drove home. There were a lot of lost sheep on the road. Flickums was very sleepy when we got back. Must have been the sheep.

Getting here was a lot more stress than it should have been... I booked a hire car. I didn't have the right ID. They couldn't hold it for more than an hour (would have taken me about 2 to get the documentation together). So I spent the best part of an hour getting through to Rentalcars, and sorting out another car... They booked another car with the same company. Apparently they had no more cars; not sure what they would ave done if I managed to come up with the right ID at that point... So I finally got a booking with Europcar, got a tram back, spent ages digging out suitable documentation, splashed out on a minicap back to the airport, and it turned out they didn't need to see my identification... I think in the future I'll go with Europcar. I never have problems with them.

So, we set off, arrived and collapsed briefly in the hotel. Really lovely hotel! And we did end up with an executive room :)

I had volunteered to run the music quiz again last minute, but I needed a compere. Fortunately tlanti is awesome at this and after only a little begging, agreed to help me.

Spent the next morning throwing together some music for the quiz. flickums turned out to be invaluable. She knows her movie stuff way better than me. Also really knows her Disney, and cutesy cartoon stuff. Turns out that the panelists didn't though. They were too old or too young to get Sailor Moon, and none of them got the montage song from Team America.

Took part in the Trek at 50 panel. This stayed more or less on topic but since there's the new Discovery series, recent movies, HD re-releases plus 6 series and the original batch of movies we could have kept waffling about that for way more than an hour. Also enjoyed the Boot or Reboot panel and went along to "Ration Roulette" where we are treated to ration packs from around the world! Also went to the Victorian fashion panel. I was the only boy there for most of the time.

Pirate party was fun. Tried to persuade flickums to pirate up because she looks awesome in my black leather coat and purple pirate shirt, but she refused, and looked awesome as by goth pirate wench instead.

So far seem to be having fun. Took a bit of time getting up to convention speed. Redemption seems to be shrinking a bit though. Would really like to see some new faces here.

I took my car in for an MOT on the second. They needed to replace part of the suspension. They then needed to order a sodding bolt!. This bolt still hasn't arrived. The garage is crap. They never bother letting me know things are taking time. So I'm poissed off about that.

So I hired a car. Download festival was on. That added an 45 minutes or so of traffic on the M1. And the M6 was gridlocked. Holly the evil satnav got me around most of the jams, but that involved such a convoluted route that I only really saved about 20 minutes over the jam time (still better to be moving). By the time I got to the convention, I'd missed registration, opening ceremony and dinner. So that kinda sucked (although they were nice at the hotel and sorted out a sandwich and crisps and biscuits for me). Oh yeah, and my shower head came off as soon as I decided to have a shower. I don't like the Norbreck Castle hotel. It's so tatty. And so generally crap. It's like it never left the 1950's (They even have cabaret every evening. It's not very good).

I really didn't have a good time at the con. The guest talks weren't great and the sound quality in the main hall was crap. Didnt feel much of a con vibe. Plus I didn't find most of the guest talks that interesting. The Agent Carter guests were pretty good, and so were the Gotham guests. Robin Lord Taylor was absolutely lovely. The parties were okay, and it was nice chatting to people but my heart wasn't really in it. It was nive to see Ros and Nick and Kirsty and Suzy and Steve and Iain and xenaclone and a bundle of others, plus meeting a couple of new people was nice but I think I'd have been happier lurking in the bar chatting. Except the crappy cabaret was there.

Got a photo with Hayley Atwell. She was nice enough to do a cool pose but I think I screwed up my pose a bit. Oh well.

The autographs were at the same time as the talks. So it was a choice between autos or talks. And even though they called people up in batches, the bartches were wayyyy too long. There was a queue for the room and then 3 queues. Meant getting the autographs for whichever 3 guests were digning took forever. I got fed up waiting so gave up (The two guys I met were very nice though). On the whole I don't think I got my money's worth.

Woke up Monday morning and had no power in bmy room. On the drive home. M6 was clogged again. Holly took me around it again so I only had to deal with minor traffic. But then it turned out the M1 was closed. Apparenty someone on a gantry refusing to come down.

So really not all that happy. It's been expensive, spent too long in traffic, and I feel I've wasted a weekend.

So, that was pretty good fun.

Decided to avoid some of the more echo-chamber-ish tracks that annoyed me last time and just have a good time.

Started with Knightmare Live. Very silly! Missed the start but I don't actually feel I missed a lot. Not sure how the dungeoneer was picked, but he did have a warrior's name.

Went to a Star Trek Trial LARP game. The crew were accused of breaking the prime directive - the interactive bit was a "holodeck simulation. I played an anti-technology priest! Other programme items I went to included a fanfic panel, a talk on gamification of society, and the loitering in the hotel lobby chatting to people because the two panel items I tried to get to were full and fuller than full. So good I went to that one twice. Also some general bitching about general con stuff (mostly differences between 9W and fan cons, and Worldcon bids).

Really liked the crappy trailers bit. Trailers for terrible looking movies like "Sister Sensei" and the live action adaptation of thr "Dark Dungeons" Chick Tract. The guy who out them together even bookended them with Rank Cinema idents!

Captain Proton costume got one cosplay token. Perhaps I would have got more if I made the effort to do the monchrome thing I did at Redemption a couple of years ago. Still, Raygungoth recognised the character, so that was a plus. Low effort Hooded cowl with a sign saying "do not enter the dog park" costume got 2 tokens without even trying.

Nineworlds really neds to learn how much geeks drink. If the bars charge hotel prices, people will bring in their own drink. If there is a programme item about historical cocktails, then it makes sense to go to a largish room.

Best part - spent lots of time with flickums!

Didn;t get my camera out that much, but...

( Took a few photos )