Worldcon: Saturday
Arrived, and through a concatenation of events wound up deciding to go to the WSFS Business Meeting. After all, it’s been almost 20 years since I last had to use Robert’s Rules of Order….
When I got there, the debate had already started on the amendment to return to two-year lead times for site selection. I’d read Kevin Standlee’s piece in Emerald City and found it suitably persuasive, along with the debate at-con.
In particular, going shorter and bottom-feeding a bit on the facilities that don’t have bookings sounds helpful, and as Standlee points out, with no-zone bids it’s no longer a three-year wait to try again.
The one argument against the proposal that I found most compelling was the concern about NASFiC lead times becoming too short with a one-year lead time. Perhaps something will need to be done about that.
Next, the “Fantasy of Manners” panel. Wonderful, and nothing I can do justice to here. I already liked both Lois McMaster Bujold and Jo Walton, and now I have to go check out Madeleine Robins’s and Ellen Kushner’s books. (It’s only fair; I discovered Lois’s work after a panel she was on at the last Noreascon.) Yet another “it’s over? already? not fair!” panel.
Another bunch of ConCourse/dealers’ room hang-out time, a quick refueling stop, and off to “Tradeoffs between Freedom, Security, and Privacy”. Another great panel which had Teresa Neilsen Hayden, Cory Doctorow, Joseph Lazzaro, Don Sakers, and James D. Macdonald.
All the panelists had interesting things to say (I was once again reminded why I enjoy Macdonald’s presence on a panel so much). Teresa’s reaction when she heard about Gilmore v. Ashcroft and the secret laws (now with extra secrecy sauce on the government’s legal arguments) was simply “I am appalled”. (A reaction I share.)
I then went over to the “Lies I learned at the movies” panel, which was too packed to enter; instead, I headed to the ConCourse, hung around for a while, and managed to completely miss the growing line for the kaffeeklatsch signup until it had become fairly long…which meant I missed my chance to do the Nielsen Hayden kaffeeklatsch (since it filled up almost instantly), and I didn’t even have the excuse/consolation of having attended the panel I wanted to. Sigh.
Off to the LMB mailing list gathering, stayed there for a bit, then off to Jo Walton’s reading from her upcoming Farthing. Alternate history mystery, which means it combines two things I like, from a writer I like, hooray hooray hooray; another book to look forward to impatiently.
From there, to a small private gathering, and thence to dinner. I wound up having Thai food at Chilli Duck, right across from the Hynes, with “that Respectful of Otters chick” (as Fafnir calls her) and her husband; great food in great company. (Sorry, you’ll have to provide your own great company if you go.)
Upon our return from dinner, I watched the Hugo ceremony from the Mended Drum. This year’s base design is the best ever, in my opinion. It was sad to see some friends who were nominees not win, but Frank Wu’s incredible expression of stunned surprise and transcendent joy was something to behold as he literally climbed onto the stage and could say only “I love you all!”
Once the ceremony was complete, I headed up to the Baen party (meeting Don Kingsbury on the way) to meet folks and wait for Lois to arrive for congratulations (even though Paladin of Souls wasn’t a Baen book, she is a Baen author). I got a photo of her with her necklace and Hugo, spent some time hanging out and checking out the rest of the Baen party, then headed home, exhausted.
