Norwescon 2

Friday, April 13, 2001
Two years ago: Cool Toys
Three years ago: Glassdog

Friday the thirteenth! but nothing unlucky happened today, that I noticed. I woke up before Jack and H---- and left them sleeping, while I went down to breakfast. I ate at the hotel buffet, but I was unimpressed! The Doubletree Inn at Portland did a much better job.

Jack had signed up for a fair amount of stage managment hours for his volunteer work, including the movie previews. I caught up with him and H---- there. This is one of the popular features of Norwescon; Daryl Allison collects movie previews of features that will be coming out in the next year, especially those of a science fictional nature, and presents them along with a goodly dose of Hollywood rumors.

The next program item in that room (one of the larger halls) was a presentation by Dragon Dronet. He's a propmaker and stunt performer, who got his start as a fan in the Northwest but now lives in Southern California. He comes back every year and talks about stuff (stuff that can't be revealed publicly) and displays props and such. He's quite a personality! Very outgoing and fun. I can see why folks are still very fond of him after all these years.

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Jack asked me to go home and get my air mattress and pump, since there would be more folks in the suite and someone might need it to sleep on. So I drove home. I couldn't resist getting a quick email fix while there! I wish more conventions had the internet connectivity that Orycon has, but I guess the resources and volunteers just aren't available everywhere.

When I got back, I couldn't find a parking space! I'd been worried about this, since parking is always a problem at Norwescon. So I parked at the park and ride lot a half mile away, but I knew I'd have to go back and move it again. That lot is a church parking lot and isn't available as a park and ride on the weekends. So I went back later and moved on to one of the residential streets nearby.

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On a cruise through the dealers room, I treated myself to the new Kage Baker book, The Graveyard Game. I hadn't known it was out already! So I dove into it tonight, relaxing in the room that was added onto the hotel suite tonight. The World Horror Convention folks were having a big party in the suite, but I didn't get involved. It certainly sounded like they were having a good time, though!