Thursday, August 06, 2009

WorldCon - Day 1 - The Early Report

Woke up way too early this morning. Way too early was just after 9 -
early 'cause I didn't get to sleep until 3am. I don't sleep well when
I travel. Got downstairs & couldn't get a meal at the Hyatt's
restaurant (breakfast: 6:30-10:30, lunch: 11:30-whenever - doesn't do
me much good at 11. What hotel restaurant stops serving for an
hour?!). The Food Gods must be telling me to get out and explore the
local cuisine scene.

Moseyed down to the convention centre (just 2 minutes down the street -
which is great because my leg is in rough shape after my cat went all
Kzin a couple of days ago). Nice building, lots of places to eat on
the ground floor. Went upstairs to register. Had a nagging feeling I'd
forgotten something.

Ah, the con! Fans of every type from every place you can imagine. Not
too many sporting costumes (yet), but lots of folks wearing T-shirts
from their favourite shows/movies/whatever like they're generals
flying their standards as they march towards a battlefield.

Registration was very quick and easy. Saw George RR Martin checking in
while I was heading to the reg line. I put a pin beside my name on the
voodoo board (not that anyone gives a hoot that I'm here) and decided
to get the lay of the land.

The Dealers' Room and Art Fair are still in chaos - typical opening
day. Some booths are already set up and selling, others figuring out
what goes where, one or two waiting at the mercy of late courier
companies, and the usual no-shows. Even though there isn't much
displayed yet, I've had to fight temptation: saw one joint selling
nice little 1-inch Galactica (new version, of course) models as pins,
a couple of books - including the new installment of the Tesseracts
anthology series, and a Ghostbusters hockey jersey. Must...
maintain... resolve... not... to... impulse... buy... right... away.
That being said, if I see any Big Trouble In Little China merchandise,
my self control will collapse immediately. Chatted for a bit with an
author hawking her books at one of the publishers' stands... I always
feel guilty in situations like this where the author is nice and we
have a good conversation but their book holds no interest for me at
all and I have no intention of buying. I feel so cheap begging-off
with "Let me think about it." Wandered off then to look at other stuff.

Then I remembered what I'd forgotten: a stack of bookmarks from White
Dwarf Books back in Vancouver. I'd promised Jill & Walter I'd put some
out in the brochures area for them (sure it's on the other side of the
country, but it's a well-respected specialty store, and this con
surely demonstrates that geeks will travel to follow their passions).
So, back up the street to the hotel. Snagged the WD bookmarks to put
out, and my copy of "A Game of Thrones" in case I run into Martin
again (sure the huge hardcover is heavy, but it'll be worth it if I
can get an autograph). Back down to the Palais de Congres. WD
bookmarks now in the brochure area. Jill & Walter: I'm as good as my
word!

Grabbed a quick sandwich for lunch.

Now to reread the schedule and figure out what to take part in this
afternoon.

Sent from my iPhone

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