Fencon Report Day 1
Day 1
We arrived in Dallas Thursday and spent Thursday and part of Friday with my parents before heading to Fencon on Friday afternoon. We arrived a little after 3pm, got checked in, picked up badges, and I headed to the 4pm panel featuring a conversation between Lillian Stewart Carl and Lois McMaster Bujold, who have been friends since they were 12 years old, having met when both their fathers were professors at Ohio State University, They were witty and entertaining and the hour passed very quickly Chris and I chatted with some friends, and then I moderated my first panel of the con - After the Vorkosiverse: Other Works of Lois McMaster Bujold. The panel description seemed to me to be targeted at introducing the audience to Bujold's non-Miles books and I prepared accordingly. I was a little apprehensive when I discovered the panel was in the main ballroom, but we drew a good size audience (and one that wasn't too large). It very quickly became apparent that 99% of the audience had already read all the non-Miles books, so I tossed my prepared questions out the window and flew by the seat of my pants. The other panelists - msminlr (who, thank god, had brought copies of all the non-Miles books, providing a great visual aid for the panel), Lillian Stewart Carl, and Kathy Sullivan were very good sports as I ignored them for a little over half the panel and did a big audience participation thing. Bujold came into the room about halfway through and sat in the back. Most of the audience didn't know she was there and I didn't let on, but I have to wonder what she thought as I led the room through a debate about which book and which series and which universe was their favorite and why (Spirit Ring, the 3 books in Chalion, and the 4 Sharing Knife books). Interestingly enough, every book and every series and every world had at least one proponent, making for a great discussion.
It was then time for opening ceremonies, although Chris and I snuck out early to go eat dinner. I went to Music Guest of Honor Carla Ulbrich's concert and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I had never heard Carla's stuff before and that woman has an awesomely wicked sense of humor. She also had a great rapport with the audience, so I bought both her live CDs.
I then alternated between chatting with friends and practicing for the filk circle - I'd had no time to practice before the con. Two filk rooms were set up - one for bardic and one for chaos, but everyone was in the chaos room. Friday's crowd was thinner than last year's Fencon, but we had a great time. Filkers included Ghost of a Rose, bedlamhouse, Luke Ski, billroper, faxpaladin, msminlr, Casey Sledge, Rick (didn't catch his last name), and several others whose names I don't know. My apologies to all who I've falied to list - my brain is still sleep deprived. Joe Giacoio also joined us at some point, and can I just say, MY GOD that man can play the guitar. After his first number, the person sitting next to me asked the question that was running through my brain - "where do you keep the third hand that allows you to play like that?"!!!
I performed (and this is not in order) My Irish History, Twitter, My New Song, Number Four Privet Drive, Urban Legend, and I'm Your Boss. This con was the first time I'd heard billroper and filkertom in person, which was a real treat. I also particularly enjoy Ghost of a Rose, faxpaladin, bedlamhouse and ladyat, Casey Sledge, and msminlr, so to have them all at one con (and sometimes all in one room) was nothing short of amazing. The filk broke up about 1:30, and I went back to my room to practice for my reading and then pretty much just crashed.
We arrived in Dallas Thursday and spent Thursday and part of Friday with my parents before heading to Fencon on Friday afternoon. We arrived a little after 3pm, got checked in, picked up badges, and I headed to the 4pm panel featuring a conversation between Lillian Stewart Carl and Lois McMaster Bujold, who have been friends since they were 12 years old, having met when both their fathers were professors at Ohio State University, They were witty and entertaining and the hour passed very quickly Chris and I chatted with some friends, and then I moderated my first panel of the con - After the Vorkosiverse: Other Works of Lois McMaster Bujold. The panel description seemed to me to be targeted at introducing the audience to Bujold's non-Miles books and I prepared accordingly. I was a little apprehensive when I discovered the panel was in the main ballroom, but we drew a good size audience (and one that wasn't too large). It very quickly became apparent that 99% of the audience had already read all the non-Miles books, so I tossed my prepared questions out the window and flew by the seat of my pants. The other panelists - msminlr (who, thank god, had brought copies of all the non-Miles books, providing a great visual aid for the panel), Lillian Stewart Carl, and Kathy Sullivan were very good sports as I ignored them for a little over half the panel and did a big audience participation thing. Bujold came into the room about halfway through and sat in the back. Most of the audience didn't know she was there and I didn't let on, but I have to wonder what she thought as I led the room through a debate about which book and which series and which universe was their favorite and why (Spirit Ring, the 3 books in Chalion, and the 4 Sharing Knife books). Interestingly enough, every book and every series and every world had at least one proponent, making for a great discussion.
It was then time for opening ceremonies, although Chris and I snuck out early to go eat dinner. I went to Music Guest of Honor Carla Ulbrich's concert and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I had never heard Carla's stuff before and that woman has an awesomely wicked sense of humor. She also had a great rapport with the audience, so I bought both her live CDs.
I then alternated between chatting with friends and practicing for the filk circle - I'd had no time to practice before the con. Two filk rooms were set up - one for bardic and one for chaos, but everyone was in the chaos room. Friday's crowd was thinner than last year's Fencon, but we had a great time. Filkers included Ghost of a Rose, bedlamhouse, Luke Ski, billroper, faxpaladin, msminlr, Casey Sledge, Rick (didn't catch his last name), and several others whose names I don't know. My apologies to all who I've falied to list - my brain is still sleep deprived. Joe Giacoio also joined us at some point, and can I just say, MY GOD that man can play the guitar. After his first number, the person sitting next to me asked the question that was running through my brain - "where do you keep the third hand that allows you to play like that?"!!!
I performed (and this is not in order) My Irish History, Twitter, My New Song, Number Four Privet Drive, Urban Legend, and I'm Your Boss. This con was the first time I'd heard billroper and filkertom in person, which was a real treat. I also particularly enjoy Ghost of a Rose, faxpaladin, bedlamhouse and ladyat, Casey Sledge, and msminlr, so to have them all at one con (and sometimes all in one room) was nothing short of amazing. The filk broke up about 1:30, and I went back to my room to practice for my reading and then pretty much just crashed.