howeird | The Irony Is (Reply)

I moderated the panel on The Care And feeding of Performers with my tummy grumbling because I had another panel just before it and no chance to eat lunch. And then Match Game SF half an hour after that. So I bailed on the opening ceremonies/meet the guests and drove out to the mall and had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.

As I was eating dessert there was a lot of banging going on and I was about to complain to the waitress until I saw the fireworks through the window behind the bar. I took half the cheesecake to go, and went outside and watched from the sidewalk, kind of through trees but they only hid the low stuff, so I saw enough. went to the car after, mostly to get away from all the smoke, turned on the engine and air conditioning for a bit, but after 5 minutes it was clear that there was no way I was leaving any time soon the way the traffic was. Sacto drivers have no consideration at all, cutting each other off and making a huge mess blocking intersections and making intersections that aren't there. The mall had a minimal amount of traffic minions, and they were stationed ineffectively.

As I was waiting (turned off the engine, rolled down the windows, took out the Kindle) I saw what looked like a designated area for people to shoot off their own fireworks, and it was strategically located near the Arco station.

I was there for an hour. Still a lot of traffic when I left, but mostly sane. On the way back to the hotel there were two other fireworks displays going on not too far away. went up to the party floor 12) but none of the parties on that side of the building were paying any attention to the fireworks, most of them had that window blocked.

So I went downstairs and caught the last 1.5 episodes of MST3K with voiceover done by two of the guys who were on the comedy panel, who do a Dr. Who podcast. The episodes were Dr. Who, Sylvester.

Back to the 12th floor in search of hydration and munchies, but there was not much by then.

And then the power went out.

The whole hotel was blacked out, it was half an hour before emergency lights came on. About another half hour and lights came on again. It was fun, except for three or four people who thought turning on a flashlight was a good idea. I found a party which had a battery-lit lemonade dispenser which was dispensing sangria. Very pretty.

Found another party which had opened its balcony doors, I joined folks out there and we watched two or three fireworks which were still going on at about midnight. Professional grade stuff.

Back to the beginning. Got my butt out of bed and dressed and downstairs for breakfast by 9:30, pancakes & bacon & berries. No panels till 3:15, so I went to the dealer's room and picked out some earrings from Springtime Creations,

dinogrl's emporium. There was a bit of a challenge to get the credit card reader set up, but it worked and I got the confirmation email right away. Walked around the dealer's room but there wasn't anything else I was interested in. Back in the lobby my phone rang, unknown number for I didn't answer. Called th voicemail and it was Discover card, that last transaction triggered a fraud alert. So bogus because I used the physical card. I called back, told the robot the last 3 transactions were real, and it said okay and let me go.

Next, the art show. Total FAIL. More than total. It needed three times the space, and a very different layout. The way it was set up there were three rows of paneling, each starting at the door and dead ending into the far wall. Once you got to the wall you had no way out except the way you came, and that was too narrow for someone to be looking at a picture and for anyone to get past. Lighting was terrible - poorly placed mini spotlights, clipped to the panels at acute angles. I am so glad i did not participate in this show.

Then 3:00 I worked my way to the cleverly hidden Folsom Room for the panel Comedy in SF - aka the David Gerrold Show. He is a long-time Star Trek staffer, he wrote the script for The Trouble with Tribbles. Very articulate and entertaining panelist, also the Guest of Honor. I was sitting next to him, and lots of people were taking pictures of him so i suppose there will be one or three popping up which include my 15 nanseconds of fame. I didn't contribute that much, but did get in some good lines. That was an SRO crowd.

Then off to the other side of the hotel for a panel I was moderating The Care and Feeding of Performers. There was one no-show, but fortunately

figmo had agreed to join the panel when I asked earlier in the week, and the three of us were barely outnumbered by the audience (I counted 10 at the peak). Storyteller Todd Gallowglas was the third, he had lots of amusing anecdotes.

Just enough time to buy a K protein bar and mounds candy, which I scarfed down in the ballroom aka Atrium, where Match game SF was happening at 6. I was one of the panelists. It was a lot of fun, though i only matched the contestants once. Lots of laughs, and lots of audience joy. Wish I was also on the R-rated panel Saturday, but I'll at least be in the audience.

Plans for tomorrow:
Sleep in 'cause it's about 2 am now
My first panel is at 3 pm but there are others I want to see, including

mettemu's Making Molded Pieces.