Phil's Rambling Rants
[Recent Entries][Archive][Friends][User Info]
Below are the 25 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Phil Parker" journal:[<< Previous 25 entries]
|
01:31 am
[Link] |
InConJunction
3 weeks ago, still riding the high from DucKon, I pulled the trigger on InConJunction. I went all by myself this time. I had a pretty good time, but it was nowhere near what DucKon had been.
( some recollections )
The InConJunction folks did a good job. It is not the con's fault that there were fewer of my friends there than I might have hoped, and it certainly isn't their fault that I was shorter than even my usual on emotional energy to connect with new people most of the time. There was a period in InConJunction's history when the con was actively hostile to filkers, but I certainly didn't have any complaints this year.
Tags: conrep, cons, filk, food, friends
|
|
01:03 am
[Link] |
InConJunction
I had a really badly needed good time at DucKon; makes me realize that I really need to get to more cons, because it's my best chance to actually be with people. So I've just bought my reg and made my hotel reservation for InConJunction.
Hopefully I'll see other folks there. Let me know if you'll be there.
Tags: cons, friends
|
|
09:07 pm
[Link] |
DucKon
I'm going to attempt to remember the weekend in order. This will probably be long, not too coherent, and less interesting than the other 37 conreps that you've already found on your friends page.
( click here if you dare )
Tags: conrep, cons, filk, friends
|
|
07:29 pm
[Link] |
Thank you DucKon
I will try to manage a real con report, but I can't spend hours on it right now, so just in case I never get back to it, I want to thank everyone who helped me have possibly my best convention ever, and without doubt a really good time at a time when I needed it as badly as I ever have.
Thank you, DucKon committee, for pulling together all the wonderful stuff together. Thank you, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) janmagic, jerusha, and everyone else who brought in so many performers and made sure we had such a great place to play. Thank you, all the concert and circle performers who gave me more musical orgasms than I can hope to count. Thank you, all the people who made me laugh so long and hard my chest hurts today, especially Adam (anyone who was there Saturday night should). Thank you, all the lovely ladies who let me snuggle them, especially barbarakitten_t and exapno for accepting possibly too much attention. Thank you, all the people who took the time to talk to me, especially filkart and ithiriel, and congrats to you two! Thank you to everyone who offered hugs, compliments, encouragement, or just had fun while I was around.
I hope that I helped a lot of other people enjoy the weekend too. I refuse to feel guilty for hogging all the fun. I really needed it. But I don't want to feel guilty about not feeling guilty.
Tags: cons, friends
|
|
09:22 pm
[Link] |
Back from FKO
Made it home in one piece. More later, after sleep.
Tags: cons, travel
|
|
07:38 pm
[Link] |
Capricon
I just got home from Capricon a few minutes ago, so here is a quick report.
The con is in a new hotel, which is always a bit scary. The Westin Chicago North Shore is very nice, shiny, new, and upscale. The room rates were a bit steep, but other than that the hotel seemed to be fine. Since I was on the 14th floor, I never even looked into whether the stairs were usable, but I am surprised to report that the elevators were amazingly non-sucky. I really hate elevators, but I only mildly disliked having to ride these. For anyone else, this would translate to "the elevators were totally awesome!" Objectively, they were so fast and efficient that I never had to wait more than half a minute to get on an elevator, and I seldom had a crowded car -- even during the Sunday morning rush.
Between the Capricon Cafe and concerts in the evenings, music took up so much of the con that I only managed to squeeze in looking at the art show, a little looking in the dealer's room, and one panel. The concerts were good both in performance and engineering, especially considering that Sally Childs-Helton had a medical scare on Friday morning (she's fine, but she had to go in for an emergency test and then couldn't travel), so she and min0taur were not there, so both their cafe set and the Wild Mercy concert had to be taken care of. sweetmusic_27, tollers, and harperjen went above and beyond to give us a fine concert Saturday evening and still handle their own solo sets.
Open filk was very light, because there were very few filkers at the con except for the ones who were performing. I'm not sure where everybody was this weekend. We who were there had a good time, but things wound down quite early, especially on Friday night.
It was good to see everyone who was there; thanks for all the hugs and company.
Tags: conrep, cons, filk, friends
|
|
03:33 pm
[Link] |
Winter War
This past weekend was Winter War 36. Winter War is a small gaming convention in Chambana which I have been attending most years since back in the late 70s when it was run by the U of I wargaming club on campus. The U of I club folded up a long time ago, and Don and Sue McKinney have been running the convention for 20 years or so in regular private facilities. Since the demise of the Chancellor, they've been at the Hawthorn Suites in Champaign, so this year was pretty much the usual. There are enough events at the convention that all the function space at the hotel is totally full and there is very little space free for pick-up games and just hanging out, but there seem to be enough attendees to support the events and it works out fairly well.
( the games I played )
I recommend Winter War to anyone who's interested in playing a bunch of board games. Just be proactive and sign up early. Winter War also offers role-playing and miniatures events; I don't mean to disparage those in praising the board games; lots of people seem to be having a great time in those events too.
Tags: conrep, cons, gaming
|
|
11:06 pm
[Link] |
Home from GAFilk
Made it home safely from GAFilk. Had a great time. Love you all. Pants seeking credit counseling if not actually bankrupt. Must sleep now.
Tags: cons, friends, travel
|
|
11:03 am
[Link] |
EFRC calendars at GAFilk (paging quadrivium)
I can bring EFRC calendars to GAFilk but I need to know how many to get by Sunday. If you want one please let me know; they might let me take a couple on consignment but I generally pay for them myself and then sell them on.
quadrivium I believe you said you wanted one. Can you confirm that? Anyone else?
Tags: cons, efrc
|
|
09:55 pm
[Link] |
Chambanacon report
Thirty years ago, an awkward high school kid, I found myself at Chambanacon VIII in the hotel across the street from Memorial Stadium in Champaign. It was a chain hotel then, a Ramada if I remember right. The convention landscape and the filk scene were very different then, but what I found there kept me coming back, and through all the changes, I've been to every Chambanacon since.
( fast forward 30 years )
Tags: conrep, cons, filk, friends
|
|
07:39 pm
[Link] |
Windycon
I have returned from Windycon. Because of my cold, I kept things to a lower key than I might otherwise have, but I had a good time. It was good to spend some time with friends. I hope I didn't give anyone else my cold.
( the longer version )
Tags: conrep, cons, filk, friends, travel
|
|
05:18 pm
[Link] |
Windycon ho!
I think hope harbor some delusions that I'm past the worst of this cold and will be more or less functional tomorrow. I haven't missed a Windycon since I got into fandom, and I don't want to start now.
For those out there who are also attending, a few points:
- As I said, I have a cold. If you want to avoid me, I'll understand. I can use hugs, though.
- If anyone still wants to hang out with me anyway, I'd be just thrilled to make a plan ahead of time for dinner Friday or Saturday.
- If you want an EFRC calendar, please track me down. I will have a limited number with me, so to be sure you get one, say so.
- If you're picking up one of my games, don't let me forget to connect with you.
- If anyone familiar with the location of the hotel would care to give an independent opinion of how to get there from I-57 on Friday afternoon, feel free. The con web site recommends taking Roosevelt Rd. from 294, bypassing I-88 entirely. That looks like a long way on surface streets just looking at the map, so I'd like to know if there's a good reason to go that way.
- I won't have anything in the art show. I haven't found a satisfactory solution to the framing/matting problem.
Tags: cons, friends
|
|
02:34 pm
[Link] |
Paging Badger
Last weekend at OVFF I conversed with a woman who had the badge name "Badger". I'd like to stay in touch, but I didn't think to get any sort of contact info. I saw her real name once, but I'm doing well to remember the badge name. I don't know if she's on LJ. If anyone who was at OVFF knows how to contact her, let me know. Replies are screened.
ETA: Badger has been located.
Tags: cons, friends, questions
|
|
07:52 pm
[Link] |
OVFF part 1
We (that is, birder2 and myself) drove to Ohio on Friday. It was a wet but otherwise uneventful drive, and I only mention it because my car passed a geeky milestone on the way over. ( explanation and photographic evidence cut )
We arrived at the con and, got badges, and went to dinner with robin_june at Aladdin's, where I started a trend that would continue through the weekend by eating way too much because it was so good. We got back about halfway through the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.
I got this picture of the lovely vixyish (with tfabris on the right) while she wasn't looking.
( Friday continues behind this cut )
Tags: conrep, cons, filk, friends, pictures
|
|
09:58 pm
[Link] |
DucKon report
The trip up Friday was uneventful. We left on time (which makes this trip one for the record books) and encountered no traffic or other problems. I-57 was fully open where it had been closed for the tornado. At the rest area at Monee, I asked the attendant if I was heading for trouble, and she advised me that I could expect a significant delay at the intersection of I-355 and I-88 and recommended detouring by way of 75th St to Naper. As I came north, it didn't look like we were heading into trouble, but I decided better safe than sorry and took the recommended detour. The detour was as easy as it could be, but it was surface streets, so it probably added 10 minutes to the trip. I checked in uneventfully, asked to be moved down from the 5th floor, and got moved to the second floor. Room 213, to be exact, which I mention because due to an oddity in building layout this room is ENORMOUS (though slightly irregularly shaped). It was so big that I called the desk to make sure that they hadn't made a mistake and given me a room that was supposed to cost way more than normal, since (a) I didn't want to take a chance that they would try to tack the extra charge onto my bill, and (b) I didn't want to have to worry that the hotel would ask me to move later when they discovered their mistake and I was moved in. They assured me that it was fine, and I unpacked a bit, where I discovered that my neti pot was missing. The saline was there, but not the pot. Grumble.
( Read more... )
Tags: conrep, cons, filk, friends, travel
|
|
10:24 am
[Link] |
DucKon travel
Quick question about getting to DucKon (Naperville), coming from the south via I-57:
Is there any reason that I should NOT take 355 (that is, I-57 to I-80 to I-355 to I-88) rather than the old way (I-294 to I-88)? That is, is I-355 fully functional all the way down to I-80? I'll be coming up Friday after lunch. I know the traffic will suck -- it's Chicago and it's not 3AM. But should I expect it to suck much more one way or the other?
Also, since I have to pay cash tolls, are there any exact change tolls I have to watch out for on that route? Or other gotchas like the toll on that route being way more than it is the other way?
P.S. anyone wanting to join me for dinner or otherwise plan ahead to get together, please say so.
Tags: cons, travel
|
|
07:07 pm
[Link] |
FKO report
( long and boring account of my trip )
Somehow I've managed to mostly avoid mentioning the various conversations I had with people, the conversations that made me feel like a valued member of the FKO family. I left home on Thursday thinking that I probably should have stayed home, but by Friday night I was very glad to have gone. I may have found a lot to bitch about on the trip, but it was very good to me, and I'm very grateful to all of the FKO concom for all their efforts. I really needed a good con.
Tags: conrep, cons, filk, friends, travel
|
|
10:48 pm
[Link] |
Home from FKO
Made it home safely. Extremely tired, though still pretty wired rather than sleepy; I hope I can sleep when I go to bed (very soon).
A very good con at a time when I needed a con very badly -- much worse than I consciously realized. More later if the gaggage in my life leaves me the time.
Tags: cons, travel
|
|
09:44 pm
[Link] |
Capricon report
I'm back from Capricon. Here's my con:
( blow by blow )
Next year's Capricon will be at a new hotel. The old location was comfortable, but as soon as I heard about the move, I started thinking about the things I won't miss about the old place, and there were a lot, so maybe that's a sign that it's time. Really, since they built the water park, I haven't liked the function space layout.
Tags: art, conrep, cons
|
|
09:39 pm
[Link] |
Back from GAFilk
I am back from GAFilk. The con was good; I'll try to write a report tomorrow. I was not feeling terribly well, somewhat in a physical sense, mostly emotionally; if I was unpleasant, unresponsive, or mean to you over the weekend, I apologize. It's supposed to get me a couple of hours on Friday to jump-start my personality, but this time, it pretty much took the whole con.
One disaster: my checkbook is missing. I had it out just before I left town on Thursday (I had to write a check for cash because I unexpectedly discovered my ATM card had expired). When I got to the con, it was not in my briefcase, but I didn't panic because I assumed it was sitting in my car. (We took my mom's car because mine, while drivable post-accident, shouldn't be driven long distances.) But when I got home, it was not where I expected it to be.
Now, I'm panicking.
Tags: cons, life
|
|
06:02 pm
[Link] |
Chambanacon report
I'm home from Chambanacon. The tired is dripping to the floor from my smoking, charred carcass, but I'll try to get a report out here.
( long-winded report in here )
Next year's con is still a lot of question marks, but we do intend to have a Chambanacon, and it will be Thanksgiving weekend, so do plan on saving the weekend. We hope we can have it at the Lincoln again -- everyone I heard offering an opinion thought it was great. The con was fun, but we need to bring a few more people in to make it financially viable.
Tags: art, c-u, conrep, cons, filk, friends
|
|
10:09 pm
[Link] |
Windycon
So, I have returned from Windycon, and I will write a bit about my experience.
( my whiny emo Windycon )
Thanks to those of you who bought EFRC calendars. If I missed getting a calendar to someone who wanted one, I'm sorry. I was not firing on all mental cylinders for a lot of the con. (And if I was rude or just not fun to be with, I apologize for that too.)
Tags: conrep, cons, filk, friends
|
|
11:07 am
[Link] |
Off to Windy
I think I've got everything. One unpleasant discovery: the plastic bottle I meant to carry milk in in my cooler (smaller and more durable than the jug it comes from the store in) somehow got put away on the shelf without being cleaned. Or else someone snuck into my house, opened the bottle, smeared bacterial growth medium in my bottle, and put it back. Either way, yuck. Suitcase packed. One more picture adjusted, printed, and framed. As soon as I post this and brush my teeth, I'm out of here, approximately on time even.
Tags: art, cons
|
|
10:00 pm
[Link] |
Windycon ho!
I have the art I will show ready for the con. Three new pieces, out of the manymany waiting in the queue for me to convert them from image files off the camera into something I'll take money for. Mostly framed like I have always done, but one piece is matted. I bought a pre-cut mat, and I have some foam core lying around from another project I never did. Cutting the foam core to size was much more of a pain than it should have been, and now I have to deal with the fact that my art bag holds 8.5x11 pieces just fine, but this mat is 11x14.
I will have EFRC calendars. I can't imagine I would be able to sell 17 of them without being obnoxious about it, which is not my plan, but if you want one and you're the least bit worried, yell here or ask me early in the con. (I can always get more next weekend or later, so if you want one but you or your agent won't be at Windy, don't panic.)
If anyone wants to join me for dinner Friday, or even Saturday, I'll be delighted, but I'm planning to arrive soon enough to get a parking space, and I'm not moving my car until Sunday. So any dinner plans must be within walking distance of the hotel or involve Somebody Else's Vehicle. Saturday, I'll end up at the pizza party by default; Friday, I have no plan.
Tags: art, cons
|
|
08:36 pm
[Link] |
Chambanacon!
I'm a doofus and didn't reserve a room for Chambanacon before the published deadline, but when I called this morning, they still had rooms and didn't complain about the convention rate. So I have a room -- I could drive home, but I'd really rather not, and I want to support the con with the room nights anyway. I just sealed my reg check in an envelope; now all I have to do is mail it.
So, in case anyone who cares hadn't noticed, we are having a Chambanacon this year. And you could still decide to come.
Who's coming? Who's up for Papa Del's on Friday night?
Tags: cons
|
[<< Previous 25 entries] |
