...and life's back to what passes for normal around here.
It was a fun con. I only made it to two panels (Evil for Fun and Profit, and Thermal Depolymerization*), both of which were good. There were several others that sounded interesting (e.g., Space Piracy), but I was too busy hanging around and socializing.
Notable artist who had previously escaped my attention: Sarah Clemens. I contemplated bidding on a print of Ghost Fish, but didn't follow through. The items that really grabbed my attention (illustrations and narrative pertaining to legal cases involving aliens) aren't up in her fantasy gallery.
Notable concerts: Moira Stern, and Broceliande. I remembered Moira's harpistry from a Baycon several years ago, but somehow didn't recall her smart-alecky and slightly naughty stage presence. Later, I bought a copy of her CD (recommended) in the hucksters' room. Broceliande is always good, if you like their style of music.
Notable hall costumes: as always, there were many hall costumes (an abundance of pirates, Jedi, vampires, and so on), with a few really standing out. Some sort of hammer-headed green Japanese robot was rolling a huge ball through a hallway. A Victorian gentleman had some manner of steampunk contraption strapped to his back and attached to a brass device grafted onto his arm; I assume this was a steamborg. A woman making the rounds of the hucksters' room was wearing... well... someone remarked that if Madonna and Sergeant Pepper had a daughter, she might look like that. Aieeee! There were also hobbits in orcs' clothing.
I watched the Regency Dance for a while, from the safety of the doorway. The instructions for the dance they were about to do seemed awfully complicated for what was billed as a simple one... and, sure enough, the groups nearest my vantage point managed to screw it up quite amusingly. I dread to think what might have come to pass had I attempted to participate, with my multiplicity of left feet.
As always, there were parties, ranging from quiet and sedate to rowdy. One new feature was a sort of genteel Victorian Playboy tearoom - Sir Hugh Hefner's Cony Club or some such.
I escaped the hucksters' room without buying any large cutlery this time, but not without books. Turns out I'd fallen behind on the Discworld series, and I couldn't resist How to be a Villain, The Villain's Guide to Better Living, The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases, and a new Neal Stephenson book, Cobweb. Naturally, I also had to buy some costume-making stuff: trim, plumes, and so on. I also picked up a tip that a local store might carry silk/cotton blend fabrics... this appears to be the case, so I'll have to run over to Los Altos sometime soon to fondle the merchandise.
I'm a bit over halfway through How to be a Villain; it sounds like fun, but, alas, on taking the evil aptitude test at the beginning of the book I came up with a zero score, i.e., not even slightly naughty. Foo. I wonder if the local community college offers a course in Remedial Evil.
* Combining Evil for Profit with TDP might yield... Soylent Gasoline!
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