Boskone - Sunday 16th Feb
Sunday morning I walked the long way from Victor and Sheila's place to the MBTA station in Central Square. I had intended to walk to Harvard Square, I don't know how I got turned around. Back at 11, dropped bags in Charlie and Feórag's room.
12:00 noon What Should Good Fantasy Do? Ellen Asher, Ellen Kushner, George R. R. Martin, Beth Meacham.
Charlie asked the question from the audience, "what should fantasy not do?". Ellen Kushner said at the end "let's take it to the bar", which doesn't make sense in an American con context; is this a borrowed expression from British fandom?
1:00pm The Artemis Project Moonbase: Is It Still Feasible after Columbia? Ian Randal Strock
Went to programme item on Columbia in the Board Room, (stumbling in to the legendary American con suite in the process of finding it). The small room was predictably crowded, and I think it was probably assigned the Board Room before the Columbia accident made the subject of broader general interest among fans.
1:30pm How Birds Evolved from Dinosaurs Jeff Hecht
Stayed in Board Room for programme item with Jeff Hecht on dinosaur flight - latest Microraptor finds (with feathers on their hind legs as well as forelegs) and stuff on running partridge hatchlings. I defended my view that despite the intriguing running stuff, birds still evolved from small animals jumping out of trees, not running on the ground. Mentioned Julian Vincent's work on hedgehog spines and Steven Vogel's classic experiment throwing mice off the roof of the gym.
Got to the book room for the first time an hour before it closed at 3, and bought Hrolf Kraki's Saga by Poul Anderson, and saw the rest of the art show just before it closed.
3:00pm When Good Writers Go Bad
Fred Lerner and Allen Steele had to do this item as a two-handed panel, as the other participants never made it, due to running for planes ahead of the approaching blizzard. Lerner said a good alternative explanation to the panel title was "When writers go unedited".
And so Boskone ended unannounced, with no closing ceremony (just as there had been no opening ceremony). I went back to the con suite for coffee 30 minutes too late, so I never got anything from the con suite that weekend.
I decided to go to the bar instead (natural destination of Brit fans) where Susan M. introduced me to Nancy Shapiro. We talked a bit about Berkshire, where Nancy lived for a while, then went back to the former con suite to help set up the Dead Dog party.
Went out with Susan M. and Martin to Vinny Testa's and had my first Veal Parmiggiano, then back to the Dead Dog party, picked up my luggage from Charlie and Feórag (thanks guys), and got the spare bed in Gary Feldbaum's room again.
12:00 noon What Should Good Fantasy Do? Ellen Asher, Ellen Kushner, George R. R. Martin, Beth Meacham.
Charlie asked the question from the audience, "what should fantasy not do?". Ellen Kushner said at the end "let's take it to the bar", which doesn't make sense in an American con context; is this a borrowed expression from British fandom?
1:00pm The Artemis Project Moonbase: Is It Still Feasible after Columbia? Ian Randal Strock
Went to programme item on Columbia in the Board Room, (stumbling in to the legendary American con suite in the process of finding it). The small room was predictably crowded, and I think it was probably assigned the Board Room before the Columbia accident made the subject of broader general interest among fans.
1:30pm How Birds Evolved from Dinosaurs Jeff Hecht
Stayed in Board Room for programme item with Jeff Hecht on dinosaur flight - latest Microraptor finds (with feathers on their hind legs as well as forelegs) and stuff on running partridge hatchlings. I defended my view that despite the intriguing running stuff, birds still evolved from small animals jumping out of trees, not running on the ground. Mentioned Julian Vincent's work on hedgehog spines and Steven Vogel's classic experiment throwing mice off the roof of the gym.
Got to the book room for the first time an hour before it closed at 3, and bought Hrolf Kraki's Saga by Poul Anderson, and saw the rest of the art show just before it closed.
3:00pm When Good Writers Go Bad
Fred Lerner and Allen Steele had to do this item as a two-handed panel, as the other participants never made it, due to running for planes ahead of the approaching blizzard. Lerner said a good alternative explanation to the panel title was "When writers go unedited".
And so Boskone ended unannounced, with no closing ceremony (just as there had been no opening ceremony). I went back to the con suite for coffee 30 minutes too late, so I never got anything from the con suite that weekend.
I decided to go to the bar instead (natural destination of Brit fans) where Susan M. introduced me to Nancy Shapiro. We talked a bit about Berkshire, where Nancy lived for a while, then went back to the former con suite to help set up the Dead Dog party.
Went out with Susan M. and Martin to Vinny Testa's and had my first Veal Parmiggiano, then back to the Dead Dog party, picked up my luggage from Charlie and Feórag (thanks guys), and got the spare bed in Gary Feldbaum's room again.