Illustrious 2011 - Con Report
Thursday
I went to catch the 10.30 train to Carlisle. I hadn't intended to take any travel sickness pills, but after about 45 minutes I had to. I changed trains at Carlisle onto a very busy train. When I got to Birmingham I went to the Crowne Plaza and flaked out totally. I spent a fortune on a burger, two glasses of wine and "The Social Network".
Friday
I went round to the Hilton for about 10am and got my con table set up. lafemmechocolat helped me out and kept me company till till the rest of the Satellite 3 team arrived. When the registration desk opened there was a very long queue. In the evening I went to Medical Horror Stories which started with Ebola and Leprosy and went to Necrotising Fasciitis and weird impalations. Some folk had to leave, but I gamely stuck in there. Pog, Al and I enjoyed the ceilidh and in the end we managed to get Pog to bed about 1.30am.
Saturday
I went to the dealer's room to see which dealers might be willing to come and be dealers at Satellite 3. I got some interest, but not much from the book-sellers. Pog went to circus skills. I sold con memberships with the help of fluffcthulhu and his favourite minion feorag. I had lunch with the boys and missed the program item I'd intended to go to. The boys went to build siege engines with alex_holden in Cyberdrome. I just hung out till Dr Who. After that Al and Pog helped me to get ready for my quiz which had been moved to 9pm so it didn't clash with emmzzi's quiz. In the end we had just enough people for three teams, but there was no audience. So there's loads of packets of chocolate digestives left. I put Pog to bed after the quiz and Al and I went to have a couple of pints. We stuck our heads round the disco door, but the music was terrible and no one was in there.
Sunday
I went to the Peter F Hamilton Interview with Ed then I looked after the con table. Pog went to do some more cyberdrome with Alex while Al went to the art auction. I had a few moments of weakness in the dealer's room which cost me about 100 quid. I went to the BSFA lecture which was entitled "Prolegomena to a Steampunk Catullus" which was about the classics and SF. It was very good. We got dressed for the Admiralty Ball. I don't usually dress up, but it seemed easy to put on some camouflage and join in. During the ball the Hugo nominees were announced.
Monday
First thing in the morning I went to "Just a minute". It was hilarious especially when it was James Bacon's turn. He wasn't there, but all of us bought into Nik's insanity and pretended he was. He scored three points. At one point Paul Cornell did an impersonation of Ian Watson doing Just a Minute at Newcon4 which was hilarious. And although he didn't think anyone got it there was a number of us who did. After that I went to Vince Docherty's Interview with Ed then back to my table for more membership selling. I had Sarah's help and company this time which was great as I had to go to the dealer's room to give Lisa Konrad details so she could join at home. Al and Pog and I had to leave about 3pm as Pog has school on Tuesday. Al had packed the car and hadn't left any room for me in it.
I went to catch the 10.30 train to Carlisle. I hadn't intended to take any travel sickness pills, but after about 45 minutes I had to. I changed trains at Carlisle onto a very busy train. When I got to Birmingham I went to the Crowne Plaza and flaked out totally. I spent a fortune on a burger, two glasses of wine and "The Social Network".
Friday
I went round to the Hilton for about 10am and got my con table set up. lafemmechocolat helped me out and kept me company till till the rest of the Satellite 3 team arrived. When the registration desk opened there was a very long queue. In the evening I went to Medical Horror Stories which started with Ebola and Leprosy and went to Necrotising Fasciitis and weird impalations. Some folk had to leave, but I gamely stuck in there. Pog, Al and I enjoyed the ceilidh and in the end we managed to get Pog to bed about 1.30am.
Saturday
I went to the dealer's room to see which dealers might be willing to come and be dealers at Satellite 3. I got some interest, but not much from the book-sellers. Pog went to circus skills. I sold con memberships with the help of fluffcthulhu and his favourite minion feorag. I had lunch with the boys and missed the program item I'd intended to go to. The boys went to build siege engines with alex_holden in Cyberdrome. I just hung out till Dr Who. After that Al and Pog helped me to get ready for my quiz which had been moved to 9pm so it didn't clash with emmzzi's quiz. In the end we had just enough people for three teams, but there was no audience. So there's loads of packets of chocolate digestives left. I put Pog to bed after the quiz and Al and I went to have a couple of pints. We stuck our heads round the disco door, but the music was terrible and no one was in there.
Sunday
I went to the Peter F Hamilton Interview with Ed then I looked after the con table. Pog went to do some more cyberdrome with Alex while Al went to the art auction. I had a few moments of weakness in the dealer's room which cost me about 100 quid. I went to the BSFA lecture which was entitled "Prolegomena to a Steampunk Catullus" which was about the classics and SF. It was very good. We got dressed for the Admiralty Ball. I don't usually dress up, but it seemed easy to put on some camouflage and join in. During the ball the Hugo nominees were announced.
Monday
First thing in the morning I went to "Just a minute". It was hilarious especially when it was James Bacon's turn. He wasn't there, but all of us bought into Nik's insanity and pretended he was. He scored three points. At one point Paul Cornell did an impersonation of Ian Watson doing Just a Minute at Newcon4 which was hilarious. And although he didn't think anyone got it there was a number of us who did. After that I went to Vince Docherty's Interview with Ed then back to my table for more membership selling. I had Sarah's help and company this time which was great as I had to go to the dealer's room to give Lisa Konrad details so she could join at home. Al and Pog and I had to leave about 3pm as Pog has school on Tuesday. Al had packed the car and hadn't left any room for me in it.