More on Baycon
Some post-con thoughts.
I find that I really need a room at the con hotel as a quiet place to reduce stress/overstimulation. I have always tried to do that, but it is only since my diagnosis that I have understood why I get overstimulated at times.
There was no artist's ghetto outside dealers & art show as there has been in the past. If they are not going to put that there, then they need more places to sit down in that hallway. Or maybe put fan tables there.
I didn't get the final count of attendees. There are difficulties involving one-day memberships and conversions that cloud the issue.
I was involved in a number of interesting conversations during the convention. Unfortunately some people wanted to talk about religious controversy. But on the other hand, I met a couple of other magicians (including somebody I had not known was an interested in the conjurer's art (Jay Freeman).
In another place we talked about movies that are what I call "interesting failures". Many of these would be movies that had ambitions that were more audacious than the filmmakers were capable of realizing, or films that just don't accomplish what they set out to do, but which are still interesting to watch.
Here's a couple of examples:
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (dir. Ed Wood). This is interesting to watch in the way that the crash of the Hindenberg was interesting. His ambitions were so far about his abilities that you got to admire the budget conscious use of improvised props .
FLASH GORDON (1970s version). Not an improvement over the Buster Crabbe stuff in my opinion. It's production design and costume design were wonderful. The music did not fit. Some of the acting sucked (not Max von Sydow, however).
THE DARK CRYSTAL (dir. Jim Henson & Frank Oz). A movie with an entirely unfamiliar non-terrestrial world and with no human characters at all lacks a certain broad audience appeal. Don't get me wrong, I love the movie. I don't like the New Age-y ending. The idea that the universe is split into good and evil haves which must reunite in order to restore balance is heretical.
LEGEND -- I find a lot to like in LEGEND. Things like set design and decorating. The character makeups were on the whole good. But lots sucked. It was miscast in the two leads.
BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (dir. Francis Ford Coppola). It's such a beautiful film and there is SO much wrong:
1. Casting, casting, casting. They had Gary Oldman (great!) They had Anthony Hopkins (pretty good as Van Helsing). And then there's Keanu Reaves and Winona Rider, neither of whom can do a remotely plausible English accent. Poor Keanu, as usually, plays the highly romantic and emotional Johnathan Harker like a block of wood.
2. The wrap-around story about how Dracula became a vampire was poorly written and has absolutely zip to do with Stoker.
Anyway, you get the idea. What are some of your favorite interesting failures?
I find that I really need a room at the con hotel as a quiet place to reduce stress/overstimulation. I have always tried to do that, but it is only since my diagnosis that I have understood why I get overstimulated at times.
There was no artist's ghetto outside dealers & art show as there has been in the past. If they are not going to put that there, then they need more places to sit down in that hallway. Or maybe put fan tables there.
I didn't get the final count of attendees. There are difficulties involving one-day memberships and conversions that cloud the issue.
I was involved in a number of interesting conversations during the convention. Unfortunately some people wanted to talk about religious controversy. But on the other hand, I met a couple of other magicians (including somebody I had not known was an interested in the conjurer's art (Jay Freeman).
In another place we talked about movies that are what I call "interesting failures". Many of these would be movies that had ambitions that were more audacious than the filmmakers were capable of realizing, or films that just don't accomplish what they set out to do, but which are still interesting to watch.
Here's a couple of examples:
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (dir. Ed Wood). This is interesting to watch in the way that the crash of the Hindenberg was interesting. His ambitions were so far about his abilities that you got to admire the budget conscious use of improvised props .
FLASH GORDON (1970s version). Not an improvement over the Buster Crabbe stuff in my opinion. It's production design and costume design were wonderful. The music did not fit. Some of the acting sucked (not Max von Sydow, however).
THE DARK CRYSTAL (dir. Jim Henson & Frank Oz). A movie with an entirely unfamiliar non-terrestrial world and with no human characters at all lacks a certain broad audience appeal. Don't get me wrong, I love the movie. I don't like the New Age-y ending. The idea that the universe is split into good and evil haves which must reunite in order to restore balance is heretical.
LEGEND -- I find a lot to like in LEGEND. Things like set design and decorating. The character makeups were on the whole good. But lots sucked. It was miscast in the two leads.
BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (dir. Francis Ford Coppola). It's such a beautiful film and there is SO much wrong:
1. Casting, casting, casting. They had Gary Oldman (great!) They had Anthony Hopkins (pretty good as Van Helsing). And then there's Keanu Reaves and Winona Rider, neither of whom can do a remotely plausible English accent. Poor Keanu, as usually, plays the highly romantic and emotional Johnathan Harker like a block of wood.
2. The wrap-around story about how Dracula became a vampire was poorly written and has absolutely zip to do with Stoker.
Anyway, you get the idea. What are some of your favorite interesting failures?