Steve

I know I still need to finish blogging about Worldcon, but I'm going to procrastinate on that a bit longer.

However, listening to Major Nelson's podcast this week did spark an idea for next year. I won't be going to Worldcon; for 2010 it's in Melbourne, and airfare plus a lengthy hotel stay would explode my budget even should I be able to take all the time I'd need to make a trip to the antipodes and actually enjoy it. So it'll just be the complementary Supporting 2010 membership for me that comes from having attended the 2009 convention.

Worldcon is out, but next spring the Penny Arcade Exposition is going to have an east coast showing in Boston... and, coincidentally, the utterly luxurious yet oddly affordable Porter Airlines begins a thrice-daily YTZ-BOS service this autumn. So maybe I should dust off that passport application and try to free up a week or two for that. I've heard great things about PAX but Seattle's out of reach for me, and my research into Porter during the VIA strike tweaked my interest.

So now's the time to start the hoarding again, I guess.

-- Steve got the expectedly-shocking VISA bill for Montreal yesterday. Remember, lad, it's in the budget... you're okay... just breathe deeply into the paper bag...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/08/19/montreal-plateau-fire.html

I believe I know where that place is; exactly a week ago (in about two hours from this posting) I walked past there when coming back from Parc Lafontaine on my way to place reservations at the Au Pied de Cochon restaurant.

-- Steve has a tale to tell about his adventures at APdC, but that's for later.

... and don't appear to notice each other, which pretty much encapsulates the Worldcon experience. Because that actually happened, on the last day of the convention at around 1pm in the Fourquet Forchette restaurant in the convention hall; each was no more than two tables away from another of this trio, and yet because everything is so bustling and everyone so involved that it's entirely possible that they never did see each other. (And it's entirely possible that I missed other notable attendees too.) It's all too much, too condensed, to fully absorb... and all too easy to miss great experiences while participating in others. And yet, gazing into my little fragment of the holograph that is Worldcon, I can't see ever wanting it to be any less.

Me? I was just finishing my tourtiere (yum!) and had a panel to attend right afterward, and all three were deeply in conversation with those at their respective tables, and so I didn't want to intrude merely to dash away right afterward. (With tourtiere breath, to boot.)

-- Steve's still winding himself up after spending two days sprawled in air conditioned splendour and a week's sleep deprivation, but slowly the story of the convention is firming up in his soggy wetware.

Argh... the huge temperature spike combined destructively with my sleep debt; yesterday was no more productive than Thursday, spent dozing and idling in front of the Cyclopian Braineater (aka "TV") and hoping in vain that the air conditioning would spark some sort of revival. So no further progress on my con photos.

Fortunately others haven't been hit so hard by post-con ennui, so as gap-filler I'll mooch off of their hard work.



Descriptions are provided in the linked page; I will note that the hoop-based acrobatics were part of the opening ceremonies, whereas the costumed people were present mainly in the masquerade (which I missed, as it was scheduled opposite the fireworks display) though as you see a few did venture into the hallways and conference rooms in-character.

-- Steve's going to force himself to go out today, heat be damned, and hope that increased circulation will help throw off this pernicious lassitude.

It's been a very, very slow day. Made some inroads on the massive sleep debt I accrued over the week but there's a long way to go yet. I had intended to do laundry and pick up some groceries but never made it out the door... the sudden weather change into the high-20s to low-30s made me too sluggish and the feet are hurting. But the last of the unpacking's done, at least.

And I finally saw The Watchmen Director's Cut this afternoon, though I get the feeling I should've waited until more brain cells were firing. It was on the long side, too, at a full 3 hours, and frankly my attention wandered at some points... but that might have been the post-con exhaustion and not the fault of the movie. Maybe I'll do a review later.

I started off-loading photos from the camera and have a few resized for web-work (and cleaned up... I didn't take much time setting up shots, so the colour balances and light levels got a bit whacky in more than a few) but just a few; more tomorrow, I think, after I get the rest suitable for public viewing.

Well, I'm zonking out again so that's it.

Oh, wait, one pic to tease:

I have to box up two of those for mailing to family, and four of them go to my coworkers on Monday. The remaining two (one steak spice, with the black lids, and one french-fry seasoning with the red lids) are mine mine mine. (Thanks to james_nicoll for pointing out that Schwartz's Deli was selling those now. I can't think of a better souvenir from Montreal.)

-- Steve loves the city for its cuisine.

As noted earlier, my train was late. Due to their seriously pouring-on of coal, it wasn't quite the forty minutes it looked it would be at one point. Surprisingly, I got the second cab in the queue and was rushed in moderate comfort back to my apartment with next to no wait.

Got greeted at the door by a very inquisitive dog (new to the building, I think) inspecting my luggage while I was fumbling for my keys in the lobby. Felt just like an airport.

Immediately started unpacking, and that was probably my fatal error; instead of the "just unpack stuff that'll wrinkle" abbreviated program I'd intended, I executed a full "unpack the luggage and get it aired" program. The bustling seems to have jarred my cerebral hamsters and now they're running frantically in the little exercise wheels that drive my brain. So despite the fact that my eyeballs are about to fall out of my face and burn holes in the carpet, here I am typing up a storm on LJ.

-- Steve'd go for a late-night stroll if his feet weren't badly hurting. Maybe some time on the balcony in the fresh air will do the trick.

My final leg back to London is late... at least a half hour. This means getting home at 10:00 pm at the earliest.

-- Steve thinks he'll just flop into bed upon arrival.

Just dashing this off in the VIA station, prior to boarding for my Toronto leg.

Exhausted. Had tons of fun, met some great people, the brain-meats are supersaturated with thinking-stuff, have more than a camera-full of photos to go over when I get back, got some great deals while shopping in Montreal's garment shops, and I now have an unearned yet exhalted reputation in the city's gourmand circles... this connects directly to the amazingly expensive and high-quality boil-in-bag dinnr I now have in my luggage for when I return.

--Steve had a blast, and will keep an eye out for future conventions he can reach. And he may have to return to Montreal to see more of the city.

I saw the Hugos last night... they did a good job of keeping the presentations down to under the two hour mark and it went relatively quickly. Man, the trophy base is beautiful; I look forwad to getting a close look at the sample award today.

Dressed as I was in me suit and tie, I was finally ready to hit the party rooms here in the convention and mix that way as opposed to the small-group parties I'd attended bnefore... until, in the lobby, I started to feel my eyeballs itching, and I found myself scrubbing my soft pallate with the back of my toungue to alleviate that itch. Argh. Allergy flare-up. Changed course and headed to my hotel room, gulped down an antihistmine, looked in the mirror and saw my sclera were just red... a if I was wearing costume contact lenses, or maybe had chafed my eyes with bad contact lenses. One tab proved not to be enough... and after doubling up, booze is out of the question.

So my post-Hugo gala was spent taking a hasty shower and then listening to the TV for a couple of hours before flaking out.

-- Steve's sorry to miss the parties, but other than that had quite a pleasant evening.

Just an observation that didn't fit in the previous post; right now there's a traffic jam on the eight-lane boulevard below my hotel window. When I went out for breakfast, I could've crawled across on my hands and knees, and indeed did severely jaywalk in order to take some photos, without any risk. Right now, crossing at an intersection might be worth your life.

-- Steve knew there was a cultural shift in la belle province, but not a twelve-hour timeshift on weekends.

I'm starting to think that it is not possible to blog Worldcon while at it. It is as difficult as if would be to blog a concert while playing third cello at it; Worldcon is a profoundly participatory experience. It's also one better recorded after reflection as it takes time to absorb all that is happening.

(also, there's a paucity of free WiFi at the Palais de Congres which makes real-time correspondance terribly expensive.)

--Steve's been scribbling notes on his Origami throughout, so hopefully there'll be something of a comprehensive wrap-up afterward.

Just a quick note from the Delta's lobby before I stagger up to bed.

Staring up too late last night cost me unduly today. I missed the Proto-walk with the stars, and was so bushed I went well past Schwartz's to the point I had to walk four blocks to a Metro station just to figure out where I was. Retreated to the Palais and had chicken kebab (they ran out of beef) at the Persian place. was so late I missed the panel on IP and Copyright for derivative works, too.

I also skipped the first contact panel, as I needed a break and it was more geared towards teens than grizzled bears.

Great talks today , though. more on those when I'm a bit more together.

-- Steve will tease with this: two Hugo winners, a Nobel laureate, an astronaut, and the Cirque.

Good *yawn* morning.

Here I am in Montreal, bashing this out in my hotel room at the Delta while the coffee maker chuckles away. I'm a bit disappointed with the room, actually; the power cut in and out to the desk lamp and the floor lamp, so all last night my laptop was on battery instead of recharging. Grr. Definitely have to talk to housekeeping about that. Also, this post and some other stuff last night may have cost me ten bucks... in-room Internet isn't free, and is filtered to kill Skype. (Barstids. I had to make an overseas call, which is going to be an impressive line-item on the bill I'll bet.)

I gues the most important part of the room is the comfort, though, and it is comfortable to sleep here.

Stayed out to the wee hours last night after arriving, out with a Pub Crawl checking the microbrews and odd imports. Very pleasant, but I probably should've called it quits sooner. Still, I awoke on my own more than a haf-hour before so maybe not.

Oh, coffee, yum.

-- Steve must now slurp coffee and gather wits, before hitting the shower and then registering downstairs for badges and event guides and stuff.

I'm in the first-class lounge in Toronto Union; nice, but a little dark as far as lighting goes. Looks like the on-train Internet is superflaky again... which is disappointing, but that means that in-station WiFi is free. So I take advantag of this brief (ten minute) interlude before going off to board my Montreal train.

I hope they still have the beef tips for supper.

-- Steve'll post more later, when there's time. (And a stable IP hookup, and more battery juice.)

I'm at the London (ON) train station now, awaiting departure to Toronto and through there Montreal. The die is cast...

-- Steve hopes that flooding on Toronto's lakeshore route (GO, not VIA) doesn't affect the trip...

Alas I couldn't find a coat and hat I liked for anything under twice what I'm willing to pay.

-- Steve may have to try in Montreal on Thursday.

Here's the schedule I've hashed out so far. As it's a rather large graphic export from Outlook that I have manually butchered to omit work stuff and cram onto one "page", I'll put it behind a cut to save it from the gazes of the delicate:
( Read more... )
You'll note the rather large number of conflicts still in there... what can I say, I have trouble making up my mind sometimes. Well, I can always decide on the day...

-- Steve's eagerly awaiting tomorrow's departure. Squee!

Alas, the men's clothing store I wanted to visit is closed for the "holiday". I'll have to try to go back tomorrow afternoon.

I did find a very nice full-length leather coat for $169 at another store, but all the sizes left on the rack were too small.

-- Steve will just have to exercise patience.

Well, it's coming down to the wire for my Worldcon experience; not much left to do, thankfully, but there is some:

Tonight
- Get train tickets for LON-TOR and TOR-MON return... make certain the change went through!
- Laundry
- Set up the newspaper "vacation stop"
- Early night

Monday
- Break in new dress shoes
- Preorder VIA's on-train Internet service for Aug 5th. Remember your pass-code this time, dummy.
- Make sure Skype account is current.
- Pre-pack with non-essentials and clothing that won't get wrinkled.
- Make that pork tenderloin in the fridge for supper, and for portioning for back-to-work lunches. Use up last of the potato flakes, probably with steamed green beans as veg.
- Flake out and finally watch the Watchmen DVD you got last week.

Tuesday
- Do a final laundry to clear everything out.
- Clean up the apartment.
- Clear out fridge.
- Visit local haberdashery (hee, love that word) and finally replace my poor, elderly trench coat. And maybe get a suitable hat to match; nice coat plus baseball cap to keep off the rain^* equals folks thinking you're short a few fries in your Happy Meal. Oh, and a garment bag... my current one just busted its zipper, dammit.
- Polish new dress shoes.
- Finish packing everything but essentials.
- Do that el-cheapo steak in the freezer, with baked potato and frozen peas. Finish off that onion in the crisper before it goes Dark Side, too.
- Back up laptop, change screen shield too.
- Turn in early.

Wednesday
- Light breakfast, then run the dishwasher as early as possible.
- Pack essentials (power cords, toiletries, medicines, etc).
- Leave apartment no later than 10:45.
- Collect final train ticket for TOR-LON leg at station.
- Relax!

-- Steve can't believe it's coming so soon. And yet it seems so far away...

^*No to umbrellas; I've killed so many of them there's probably a restraining order out on me barring their purchase anyway.

I just took my first serious look through this year's Worldcon event program... and I see it'd be incredibly easy to schedule myself to death.

It is physically impossible for me to attend all of the events that interest me, primarily because many of them overlap but also because y'gotta eat and pee sometime. And sleep... I was going to draw a hard line of "no events starting after 8pm", but then I saw that screening of Coraline hosted by Neil Gaiman on Friday night... and that's when I ran out of steam for browsing the program.

Outlook is now showing a serious block of "pings" cautioning me that events are adjacent to one another. My laptop is concerned about my workload...

-- Steve has two fresh five-hour batteries for his ultramobile PC, and thought that extravagant for the convention. Now he's wondering if they'll hold up under the strain.