Sun, Oct 28, 2007
MileHiCon 39
Posted to Travel category
The convention was a lot of fun. I spent two days away from computers, ate some very good food, and saw people I hadn't seen in years (because I only ever saw them at cons).
I bought some books, all by authors who were at the convention, so they are autographed. I got a free book too: A hard-cover copy of Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber (the guest of honor) was given to each attendee... but I didn't get that one autographed because it was too big and clunky to carry around.
Some of the books I bought were from very small presses/POD publishers. There was a meet-and-greet Friday evening with about 30 writers, some of whom were selling their books directly. I bought a few books then, and others in the dealers' room. I will review the small press books here as I read them, to put more mentions of them onto the internet.
Besides the books, I bought a couple of T-shirts by artists I like, and two sessions of chair-massage. My left arm and shoulder feel better than they have in ages. I really need to schedule a session with my regular massage therapist. I need to start doing yoga stretches again, too, to help keep things unlocked. My range of motion sucks, these days.
I spent a lot of time in the anime room, with Mike Odell and Barb Edmunds, one of the people who first got me hooked on anime in the old days. The other person who did most to get me hooked and was a good friend of Barb, was Patricia Munson-Siter. Neither of us has heard from Pat for years: she moved to New Jersey after her husband retired from the Air Force back around the turn of the millennium and dropped out of touch. She seems not to be on-line, when I've googled, which is worrying: she had been active in fandom for years, though generally in print fandom, not on-line. (I just tried googling once more: no sign of a web-site, but she seems to be currently active in the New Jersey DAR.)
Panels I attended included:
"Memories of DonnerCon": DonnerCon is the nickname of the 1997 MileHiCon, when the blizzard happened (more than a foot of snow on the Friday and Saturday) and people were snowed into the con, or snowed away from the con, and by Sunday the hotel was serving strange buffets made of leftovers. Ten years ago already. Wow.
"Greek Mythology and the Constellations" I could probably give this one myself. I was mostly waiting for:
"The Anthropology of Lord of the Rings": but the scheduled speaker did not appear (possibly stuck in California: flights from SanDiego are iffy due to the wildfires) so there was a general discussion led by a few longtime Denver-area fans.
"Role of the Modern Day Vampire" This was excellent. A review of the changing portrayal of the vampire in books and films since 1643, by an author, Tony Ruggiero, who did his masters thesis on Frankenstein and Dracula. A version of the talk was previously given at the Library of Congress. I later bought all three of his books that were available in the dealers' room, just as he happened to be at the booth, so I got them autographed. I'm about halfway through Operation: Immortal Servitude, about vampires and Navy SEALs. (Mr. Ruggiero is an ex-SEAL.)
"Kitty Carrie and the Midnight Hour" this was also wonderful: live improv theater. Carrie Vaughn is the author of a series about a werewolf radio talk-show host beginning with Kitty and the Midnight Hour. She played the role of the talk-show host and took 'calls' about the supernatural from various people. It was very, very well done and funny.
And a panel on "Tech and other Geeky Delights" (what can I say...)
The convention was in the Tech Center Hyatt-Regency: fancier than the places I stay when travelling on business and with the food -- while excellent -- priced accordingly. Though they could do with a few more items on their dinner menu without chile peppers in them. Note to self: ask about lettuce in things -- people don't bother mentioning it on menus.
The bed was amazing: nearly as tall as my waterbed with the double underdresser, but just all mattress. I suspect it was a Tempurpedic or something similar. It was a kingsize, with 6 bed pillows and a couple of big, square occasional pillows, and a sort of long cylindrical pillow.