convergence and the common geek (me)

It feels like it’s been a month since I was at work… but it’s only been three days that felt like a month.

Friday Laura and I did a parade at like 10 in the morning. Then Friday afternoon we spent about 2 hours or so on the greenway looking at art cars and listening to live music, after which we headed immediately over to the con.

After taking a dip in the pool and hot tub, grabbing our badges, and doing a minimum of walking around, we found ourselves in the hotel room relaxing for a few minutes. Suddenly there were loud booming noises… I thought they were somehow coming from inside the building, but Laura and I quickly realized they were fireworks. From our fifth-floor east-facing room, we had an excellent view of some display (in Edina or wherever the Radison South is located) but we also, amazingly, could see about 6 or 7 other fireworks displays. I’m certain that we could see the one for Minneapolis, and another LONG display that was probably the Mall of America’s. We may have even seen the tail end of the one in St. Paul. Some of them we could only see the tops of their highest explosions, but we sat there for a good half-an-hour watching off into the distance. It was quite the experience, and maybe worth the $99/night just for the fireworks alone.

Anyway, we spent the rest of the night exploring con parties and other fun stuff.

If I hadn’t had a sticker on the back of my badge to remind me, I might have forgotten that I was scheduled Saturday afternoon to take sit in on my first ever panels. Their titles were Can Nintendo make a Video Game without Mario in it?, and Sci-fi narratives in Video Games. The first one generated a lively discussion about sequels versus “new” games, and innovation in the industry in general. The second was the panel that I suggested to the event organizers, and unfortunately, it sort of became less a panel and more a free-for-all discussion, straying quite a bit from the topic–but was nonetheless quite enjoyable. I handed out a printout of marty’s top sci-fi video games list on it. I got a lot of feedback, and have some more titles to add to the list.

Saturday night I watched savage aural hotbed play in the main con ballroom… I’ve seen them play dozens of times over the years, and they are never disappointing. This time was no exception, and they seemed especially happy to be playing for the con, which was cool. I should really get around to buying some of their CDs one of these days.

I also won a “Dystopia 2003” party t-shirt by getting sci-fi video bingo before everyone else in the room. (They were giving one away each hour, and I won on my 4th try.) The back of the shirt reads “Freedom is Slavery”.

Sunday we slept in, packed up, and watched Cowboy Beebop the movie before leaving the con. I’d never seen the series at all, so I don’t know how it compares, but the movie was quite good. I also sat through about half a panel on science fiction films made outside the US, and as a result went on ebay when I got home and picked up Shaolin Soccer, The Legend of Zu, and Legend of the Sacred Stone all for about $10 each!

On a nearly unrelated note: I want one of these chess sets for my back yard.

Well, now that it feels like I’ve been writing this entry for a month… I should get back to work.