Back from Lunacon
Mar. 24th, 2003 09:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sdelmonteA few thoughts, before the sheer amount of overdue work swallows me for the week...
- It was a welcome respite from the frelling war (my name for it). While I think attendance may have been down a little due to it, and while it was never far from our thoughts, I also think it impelled us to have a good time and leave it behind for a while in ways we only could at a con. Cons are refuges, where the concerns of our lives, big and small alike, are left behind for a bit. I felt better for a couple of days.
- It was an odd Lunacon. A lot of familiar faces weren't there, probably for many reasons, and I really didn't get to meet anyone the way I did the first couple of cons there, when the Con Suite was always packed. I so miss the CUGC/CUSFS Con Suite era. There seem to be a lot of younger fen coming now, but they don't quite attend the same con as I do, so going to panels is very different experience than when I went with a good number of friends.
We did have a lot of friends there, but we all seem to travel in different orbits. I did panels more than most, some lived in the game room, Batya and Merav came for the filk, and some just hung out. I think this points to the strength of a multi-track con, as there's something for everyone, and to the comfort level our gang has reached at the con. Used to be we hung out to keep the con at bay, I'd say, but now we trust it.
Even odder, however, was how well-run this was. Registration was open by 4 pm, and they had program books! Panels generally came off as scheduled. The Con Suite, while not stocked too creatively, was stocked well. The only glitch was in the masquerade starting an hour late, and since only 13 entered, this didn't matter in the end. A tip of the hat to all who got this running so well, and some encouragement for them to do it again next year.
- Highlights: Hearing three different people with affiliation to DC Comics say out loud that DC is now an r&d lab for Warner Bros. Studio; seeing Dave Weingart, who once again told us that he wasn't there (I have the strangest hallucinations); seeing Liz Reifman win a prize yet again in the masquerade for her stunning "20th Century Fox" kitsune costume; groaning en masse at the horrific "Jedi Mime Trick" pun that went with Shanti Feder's wonderful recreation of an Amidala gown; seeing the Invader Zim X-Mas special in the anime room; being at the Buffycon room party to join in a group sing-along as "Once More with Feeling" was screened; getting to see the Bursteins, Tigerbright and Browngirl; getting to hear Gary McGath sing "Witch of the Westmereland" in German; hearing the East Coast permutation of Lady Mondegreen - Batya, Merav and Elissa - sing Goliath/Jack.
Observations: One of these years, I'm going to wear a SF-inspired hall costume as I am getting a bit bored by all the garb. Panels are better in smaller rooms. There sure are a lot of high school kids at Lunacon these days. The grounds of the Rye Town Hilton are really nice in spring weather.
Last thing: In talking to a student from Stuyvestant High School, I asked if an old teache rof mine who taught at both Stuy and my yeshiva high school was still there. It turns out he's now principal. And rather unpopular with the students. Now learning that was weird.
- It was a welcome respite from the frelling war (my name for it). While I think attendance may have been down a little due to it, and while it was never far from our thoughts, I also think it impelled us to have a good time and leave it behind for a while in ways we only could at a con. Cons are refuges, where the concerns of our lives, big and small alike, are left behind for a bit. I felt better for a couple of days.
- It was an odd Lunacon. A lot of familiar faces weren't there, probably for many reasons, and I really didn't get to meet anyone the way I did the first couple of cons there, when the Con Suite was always packed. I so miss the CUGC/CUSFS Con Suite era. There seem to be a lot of younger fen coming now, but they don't quite attend the same con as I do, so going to panels is very different experience than when I went with a good number of friends.
We did have a lot of friends there, but we all seem to travel in different orbits. I did panels more than most, some lived in the game room, Batya and Merav came for the filk, and some just hung out. I think this points to the strength of a multi-track con, as there's something for everyone, and to the comfort level our gang has reached at the con. Used to be we hung out to keep the con at bay, I'd say, but now we trust it.
Even odder, however, was how well-run this was. Registration was open by 4 pm, and they had program books! Panels generally came off as scheduled. The Con Suite, while not stocked too creatively, was stocked well. The only glitch was in the masquerade starting an hour late, and since only 13 entered, this didn't matter in the end. A tip of the hat to all who got this running so well, and some encouragement for them to do it again next year.
- Highlights: Hearing three different people with affiliation to DC Comics say out loud that DC is now an r&d lab for Warner Bros. Studio; seeing Dave Weingart, who once again told us that he wasn't there (I have the strangest hallucinations); seeing Liz Reifman win a prize yet again in the masquerade for her stunning "20th Century Fox" kitsune costume; groaning en masse at the horrific "Jedi Mime Trick" pun that went with Shanti Feder's wonderful recreation of an Amidala gown; seeing the Invader Zim X-Mas special in the anime room; being at the Buffycon room party to join in a group sing-along as "Once More with Feeling" was screened; getting to see the Bursteins, Tigerbright and Browngirl; getting to hear Gary McGath sing "Witch of the Westmereland" in German; hearing the East Coast permutation of Lady Mondegreen - Batya, Merav and Elissa - sing Goliath/Jack.
Observations: One of these years, I'm going to wear a SF-inspired hall costume as I am getting a bit bored by all the garb. Panels are better in smaller rooms. There sure are a lot of high school kids at Lunacon these days. The grounds of the Rye Town Hilton are really nice in spring weather.
Last thing: In talking to a student from Stuyvestant High School, I asked if an old teache rof mine who taught at both Stuy and my yeshiva high school was still there. It turns out he's now principal. And rather unpopular with the students. Now learning that was weird.
(no subject)
Date: Mar. 24th, 2003 07:13 am (UTC)1. Oooooers ...
2. There went my most recent "neat new song what Toon might like."
Glad y'all had fun.
(no subject)
Date: Mar. 24th, 2003 07:26 am (UTC)Any chance in heck that you might be able to come to NYC for the Gathering? We need filkers! And we haven't seen you in far too long.
Oh, and also BTW, I sang Jordan's "The Wizard" during a Tolkien set. We miss you, too, bud.
Actually, we missed a lot of filk-friends (which is one reaosn I didn't do too much filking). so a big "We missed you" to all the Lunacon regulars not in attendance - Gary and Sheryl, Matt Leger, and Bruce Adelsohn come to mind immediately - and to all the people who we never seen at Lunacon but who we would have loved to added to the fun (a list too long to type but you all know who you are). Were any of you out there at MilleniCon (I think that's the name)?