MarsCon Day 2 was as fun as Friday. Actually, more so as there was a full day of panels.
We got a late start, which is not surprising with a five-month old in tow, and I was surprised that we found a parking spot very close to the hotel entrance. Even after arriving at about 11:30.
Arriving late like this meant I missed the morning panels I wanted to hit. Oh, well. Wasnt the first time I missed panels, and wont be the last.
Sue and I headed to the restaurant to fuel the body. Meaning: lunchtime. I was able to show off Anna to a few people, and chat a bit with some friends.
In the lobby area outside the restaurant, the U.S.S Nokomis/World Defense force (the two over lap), were running a Red Cross Blood Drive. They had set a MarsCon goal of 40 volunteers, and came pretty close to hitting the mark by the end of the day with 38 people screened, with 25 becoming donors (there were several deferals, and a couple of more in the same category as me: I was stationed at Torrejon Air Base, Spain, during te 80s, which earns me an indefinite deferral). Of the 25 donors, 19 were first time donors, which is a very good stat to look at.
Although I didnt hit many panels yesterday, spending time socializing much of the afternoon, I did hit Krushenkos for a panel on conspiracies. One of the panelists proved himself worthy of the Moonbat of the Week award, as he insisted in bringing current politics (i.e. Bush Bashing) into the discussion. Frankly, I come to cons to get away from day-to-day politics. Anyrate, the thrust of the discussion was supposed to be a result of the release of the Di Vinci Code, but ended up being greatly different. The Moonbat kept dragging in Bush Bashing, especially when it was brought up that today, conspiracy theories are easy to disprove, as the Internet acts as a conduit for information that can debunk much of the nonsense out there. The RatherGate memos were used as a reference to whch the Moonbat insisted that even though one of them was proven a forgery, it did not disprove that the story was true (hey, Rommis that a black helicopter outside?).
Another interesting conspiracy theory, one I like, is that the current situation in the Middle East was brought on by UFOs. That one I liked. Too bad it wasnt explored further.
Later in the day, down on the main convention level (which is also the access path from the parking lot to the hotel lobby), I ran into a soldier freshly returned from Iraq. I thanked him for his service, and he was kind enough to tell me that things are getting better over there, every day. Its one step at a time, and frequently baby steps, but it is improving. This was good news to me.
For those of you who have never stopped and thanked one of our returning veterans, do it some time. You will get a welcome reaction.
Masquerade timeSue decided to enter Anna into the masquerade competition as a Klingon Nightmare. So, I sat with Kris and Ivan during the show. Heres an area where the concom could use some work. It was very long, not due to the number of entries, but the football style format and lack of organization. They opened it with a belly dancing show, then moved on to some renditions of humor and filk by Luke Ski while they searched (in vain) for the person running the masquerade. Apparently SHE WASNT EVEN ON THE PREMISES. So, instead of having the costume competition start at a reasonable time, like 7:30, it was past 8:30 before we saw the first entry. Then we had a halftime show (which is where the belly dancing show took place) with Luke Ski performing Grease Wars followed by more filking around. It was nearly 11PM when the event let out (and some people were grumbling about this, as they NEEDED to leave to get ready for the evenings revelry). Next year, be organized and ontime (respectful of the hundreds of fans waiting, and the many cosutmers who entered), skip the opening act and go strait to the costumes, then halftime (which has to be flexible for the judges to do their thing), then wrap it up.
The evening party scene was again a blast, with the best parties being a toss-up between the IKV Rakehells Klingon Nightmare and the WDFs Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Much fun was had, albeit it was a late night.
