pyat

sassy_fae (aka Jenn) came by bright and early last Thursday morning. It was grey and cloudy, but the weather was warm and traffic was clear. We made good time to the border, pausing in Strathroy, Ontario to empty bladders and stretch.


November 2008!


November 2009!

We reflected on the difference a year had made in the local weather - those pics are of the same house and section of parking lot.

( Much more below! )

The lovely senexmacdonald and redeem147!


eyebeams and his beautiful family.


mbehemoth and commanderteddog, seeking sustenance!


bootler, avain, j_cat, and Carly! Awesome costumes as usual. :)


normanrafferty, our Fearless Leader!


thebitterguy, the hardest working man at the con, and his wife senexmacdonald.


kores_rabbit and her new hubby make faces, while mbehemoth and commanderteddog peoplewatch.


kores_rabbit coyly cools an onion ring!

I was only there today for one panel, on Game Writing, at 11 PM. I got there around 9 and took a few photos. I ran into dhstein and her sister, and had a drink with them in the relative quiet of the hotel bar. Then, on to the panel!

jesshartley, eyebeams, and Jonathan Lavallee were my fellow panellists. No one expected there to be many people in attendance. Yet, the room was well-filled. We had about 40 people there, even at that late hour, and the panel ended before the questions did. Afterward, Jess was mobbed by a little knot of fans, as were Malcolm and Jonathan...

And I got stopped by an actual, living fan of Albedo: Platinum Catalyst who was thrilled to see me, and arranged to meet me tomorrow so I can autograph his book. And then another fellow approached me to ask some follow-up questions, and I heard people raving about how informative we were, afterward in the hallway.

Good stuff!

( Read more... )

[Poll #1279109]

No other options are required!

What follows is my tentative schedule for...

The Great 2008 Midwest Fandom Freakout and Rainbow Express!

Friday, November 21st
7:30 AM EST - Load the Haunted Police Car, depart The Mousehold.
9:30 AM EST- Arrive at U.S. border.
12:30 PM EST - Arrive in Battle Creek, Michigan, to inspect the Slan Shack and get lunch. The Slan Shack visit is just a check in for Youtube, and Battle Creek is a good place for a pit stop. Also - the home of Kellogs! And a shopping cart factory!
1:30 PM EST - Depart Battle Creek, Michigan.
3:00 PM CST - Arrive in Wheeling, Illinois for Midwest Furfest. (4:00 PM EST)
3:00 until 4:00 PM CST - Check in, registration
4:00 PM until 6:00 PM CST - Connecting with disparate freaks and weirdos.
6:00 PM until Bedtime CST - Good times and bad food.

Saturday, November 22nd
Morning - I'm usually up for 5:45 AM, so even 7:30 AM is "sleeping in". I fully intend to stay in bed as long as possible, however. For breakfast, I intend to do research on greasy spoons in the area. Failing that, I'll spring for the hotel buffet and cram myself silly.

Saturday is otherwise indeterminate. I have volunteered to assist with panels, and to run a game of Usagi Yojimbo, but nothing has been scheduled yet. Saturday evening will most certainly involve a group dinner with the Sanguine folks and assorted friends.

Through the day, I intend to record footage of the con for "Pyat's Fortress."

For the evening, I intend to bring some DVDs, and possibly host a mini-room party of themed movies on one or two nights. Titles include: Skullduggery, Knight Chills, and Mazes and Monsters! Yessir, when pyat wants to get his nerd on, he can really put his weight on it...

Sunday, November 23rd
Up whenever. Breakfast. Attend panels or run game as scheduled.

Sunday is the day I intend to take the jaunt up to Lake Geneva, as part of a Gygaxian pilgrimage. Possibly visit Mr. Gygax's grave (if I can find it), and the site of he early Gencons, and other "historic" places I may uncover. This will likely fill much of the afternoon, getting me (and any interested riders) back in time for supper.

Sunday night at a large convention is always a little melancholy. I expect to play a lot of board games on Sunday night.


Possibly with normanrafferty.

Monday, November 24th
7:00 AM - Checked out and out the door, darn you! As early as possible! We're burning daylight, you miserable slugabeds, you cantankerous slowcoaches! Blast your lazy hides!

Five hours after we leave, I'd like to stop in Detroit for lunch or supper or midnight snack (as appropriate) and visit with kianir and tigerwolfvix, before heading back on the highway. If time permits, I would not mind taking a detour through Ypsilanti, Michigan. They have a tower shaped like a wang, and Dallas Eggbert lived there.

MFF is in a new hotel this year. You can listen to a talking dog tell you about it!

On Day Two (Saturday) of Pentacon, normanrafferty and I were roused by the sound of "The Entertainer" as played by vandringar's cel phone. vandringar was in Ohio, but his cel phone travelled with normanrafferty, it seems. We showered and then went on to breakfast in the Desoto Cafe, attached to the hotel, and ventured back to the dealer's hall for another day of battle.

Things in the hall continued quietly. We played more games of The Great Space Race with Jolly Blackburn and sold a smallish number of books. Mr. Zodo ran game events. The relative peace was broken by the sudden arrival of the Stoneburners - halfelf and beautiful missus, hammergrrl.

( Pictures below! )

normanrafferty, halfelf and hammergrrl


"Good news, everybody! I've invented television, apparently!"

This morning I attended Baycon, the most marvellous game sale/convention in all the world! I met thebitterguy, mr_weasel, Brian, Tyler, and a stranger who wants to join my Hackmaster group bright and early for buffet breakfast at the Royal Connaught downtown. thebitterguy invited us to apply the art of Phrenology to his naked pate, and I told him he had the sloping features of a dirigible attendant.

Most disturbing quote of the breakfast, if you've read the latest number of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - thebitterguy: "Griffin! Pass the butter."

The sale itself was grand, as usual. I was #4 in line, out of about 300 people. As such, I managed to snag some particularly juicy deals. Remember, the following prices are in Canadian dollars!

The Red Dwarf RPG (new, hardcover): $10
Classic Traveller Supplements 1-13 bound in one tome (new): $10
As above, JTAS issues 1-12 (new): $10
The Dying Earth Scaum Valley Gazetteer (new) : $6
GURPS Iron Cross (A present for eyebeams! used, mint): $5
Misktonic University Guide (used but near mint): $2.50
Star Trek Narrator's Guide (new, Decipher edition, hardcover, damaged): $1
Pendragon (new - or at least unsold): $10
Dragon Magazine #75, 76, 83, 88 (used, obviously): $2 each

Alas! Still no sign of Space Opera!

During the sale, I bumped into sassy_fae and etherlad. Sassy was attired in a very well done homemade Goldmoon costume, and Ether was busily running a game of Adventure!. I wanted to join in for this, but had to be in home in time for the Mother's Day service at church. It's our first, after all. :-)

Said service went quite well - Erin and baby were the rightful centres of attention, and Elizabeth slept soundly through the entire service. She's a very well-mannered child thus far. She's slept through two game nights already, allowing Mom to sling dice without interruption. Well, okay, so she woke up last Friday around 10:45 PM when the party was trying to dispatch the Mooncalf from Heart of Nightfang Spire, but Erin was able to feed her at the table without any real problem, aside from positioning the blanket.

Elizabeth is also sleeping very well through the night. Erin heads for bed around 9 PM after a final feeding, I remain up till around 10:30 PM. Elizabeth usually wants to eat again around 10, so I feed her from the bottle while watching Teletoon or SPACE. Last night we watched The Day the Earth Stood Still. She was really captivated by the high contrast patterns of black and white.

Over lunch, I caught a bit of an admittedly biased CBC documentary about the Cuba detainees - they sent a film crew to tour the camp. The camp officials very openly admit to having no use for the Geneva Convention. "We stick as close to the spirit of the convention insofar as National Security will allow us," said one. Others simply dismissed it - and this was counterpointed with statements from US military and government officials decrying Iraq's violation of the Geneva Convention for filming US prisoners of war. (Ignoring CNN's broadcasts in the opening days of the war of terrified Iraqi detainees being told to strip naked in the desert - something which they amended later, I admit.)

While I'm sure there aren't any saints being held in Cuba, it really is disturbing to see US officials dismissing them with lines like "They'll be held without trial as long as is neccessary for National Security." Particularly when one considers that prisoners as young as 13 were being held there until recently.

The most depressing interview was with the camp chaplain, who serves to the spiritual needs of the Marines. "Do you feel any responsiblity for the prisoners, to make sure they're being treated fairly?"

"First of all, Jesus isn't here," was the reply. It was not meant as a sad comment on the state of affairs, but rather a matter of fact - 'God ain't here, just me,' sorta thing. "I'm much too busy to get involved in that," he added.

I wonder what denomination he is.

This past weekend I attended two cons in Toronto, and GM’ed twice! Hooray!

On Saturday morning, Thebitterguy and I attended Orion, a medium sized gaming convention. We were able to get in free, as Bitterguy was covering the event for Games Unplugged. I waved a camera around in hopes of also gaining free admittance, wordlessly inferring that I was acting as a photographer for that fine publication. I also loudly proclaimed myself the Godfather of Canadian Furry RPGs, and made unspecified threats in an effort to impress the con organizer with my general importance.

“Don’t you know who I am? You wanna wake up with a mascot head in your bed? Don’t screw with me, Charlie. I wrote Doloreaux!”

They let me in anyway.

Good turn-out for such a relatively small con. I met Shara, whose Livejournal I occasionally leave lame comments on. Thebitterguy interviewed John Zinser, the head honcho of Alderac, while I made them nervous by hanging around and listening to the interview. After a bit, I went and mingled with the hoi polloi. Then I sat and read through some of the Underground supplements I’d picked up.

We left Orion about two o’clock, and rode a streetcar west to the Judith Merrill SF collection at the library on College street. The library was hosting a pulp magazine show/sale, and boy howdy, it was a doozy. If only I hadn’t blown my wad on those Underground supplements! There were literally thousands of original copies of Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, Argosy, Black Mask, Adventure Magazine... you name it. All with those amazingly lurid covers of bold space spacemen in bubble helmets, and streamlined rockets that look more like cars. Hell, if I had my druthers, I’d have a few dozen pulp mag covers framed and hanging around the house.

Unfortunately, my druthers were sent to dry-cleaners in 1997, and I can’t find the claim ticket. *rim-shot*

We spent about 30 minutes at the show, and then stepped out to luncheon at Burger King in Chinatown, because the Mexican cantina was closed, and the Indian place was take-out only. Gotta love the global society.

On the streetcar ride back to my parking lot, we snickered in an odious fashion at a sizable procession of protesters that blocked traffic in the opposite direction. They waved Palestinian flags, peace symbols and communist placards, and shouted anti-War, anti-Israeli, anti-American, anti-Canadian, anti-Tory, and anti-corporate slogans. Pretty much one of those “Boo for everything” events, really.

One group of marchers strode behind a banner declaring themselves to be the ‘Communist Party of Iraq.’ (I guess they have trouble organizing marches in Baghdad.) They were followed by the Communist Party of Canada, the Workers Party of Canada, the Canadian Socialist Workers, and some Palestinian Socialists. This was kind of amusing, as they were heading right into Chinatown. I’m sure all the immigrants and refugees from were thrilled to see ‘em, and pleased as punch to have gangs of arm-chair communists blocking access to the businesses and homes they’ve built in our decadent Capitalist country. I’m sure it made them nostalgic for the Good Old Days under Uncle Mao.

The Palestinian Socialists were followed by some actual Palestinians, anti-poverty activists, anti-war grandmas, and a scattering of college-age anti-globalization protesters fresh from protesting their inability to borrow Dad's Lexus. Taking up the rear were about a dozen horse mounted policemen in riot gear, who made sure the procession didn’t try and stop to conduct a sit-in protest against a parking meter or something. I must say, it was a sight that warmed the cockles of my closeted fascist heart. The crack of a baton against a skull full of fuzzy ideas is one of the sweetest sounds one can hear in the city, I think.

Okay, okay, I’m kidding. I do think, though, the men “who think in slogans” that Orwell wrote about are just as to be feared today as they were in 1930. The odd thing is, the worst slogan chanting world-changers of his day were right-wing, and the left-wing were intellectuals. Now the parading chanters are left-wing, and right-wing folks are often quiet thinkers. Wrong-headed thinkers, certainly, but they seem to give their philosophy more thought than many knee-jerk left-wingers. As for me, I used to describe my politics as Nonpartisan Paternalistic Semisocialism. Whatever that means. In effect, I vote for people who are unlikely to win, provided they aren't racist or want to take away my health care. I largely do this just so they don’t feel bad.

Honestly, in some ridings you’ll get an independent, or someone from a wonky fringe party like Natural Law, who gets single digit votes. They can almost certainly name all their voters. “Let’s see, 8 votes... well, that’s one from me, four from Doris and the kids, one from grandma, one from that weird guy at the office.. so, wow! Someone else voted for me!” I figure voting for them gives them a sense of accomplishment, and in some small way to encourages partisan variety.

I certainly don’t encourage everyone to vote this way - if they did, Canada would be ruled by a alliance of the Catholic Pork Farmer’s Collective and the Church of the Universe. (One of those two is real!)

Ye gods, the man with the world record for passing kidney stones just came into the office. He’s topped about 5000 now. I last met him in the fall, when he was only at 4500. The poor, poor, poor bastard. He’s bent double and badly jaundiced. He wears a permanent morphine pump. I cannot conceive of what his life must be like. He’s lived this way for ten years, and every time I see him, he looks feebler and sicker. What a claim to fame! He probably goes to bed thinking “Why couldn’t I be the guy that ate the bicycle!? Why??”

ON Saturday, I GM’ed a d20 Call of Cthulhu game for the lads. It went surprisingly well. They jumped right in character - and spent much of the game role-playing amongst each other rather, which was a nice change.

On Sunday morning, I went to church. Erin was already up there, as she teaches youth choir before the service. As I left, my sister-in-law showed up at the door with my mother-in-law and semi-official-step-father-in-law. Sis-in-law had told Erin that she would have to store a “few things” at the house during the coming month.

I was modestly surprised to see the moving van.

My basement is now full of boxes. Ah well. I know I bitched about her in a previous entry, but she’s a nice enough girl, and quite intelligent. My biggest beef is the idea of a month-long visit. It wouldn’t matter if the visitor was C.S. Lewis. I’d have the same general objection.

Sunday afternoon was filled with idling and video games - Freedom Force, specifically. Also, I just received copy of the Dr. Who spoof “Curse of the Fatal Death,” starring Rowan Atkinson, Jonathan Pryce, Hugh Grant, Richard E. Grant, Joanna Lumley... etc. Quite amusing. :-)

In the evening, we played D&D in Dundas. The session was a little shorter than I liked, and the group has yet to properly embark on “Forge of Fury” module, but it was fun. They are an annoyingly creative group - and spent a good 40 minutes of game time heatedly discussing the pros and cons of using the front door. They ended up finding a back entrance to the dungeon complex - an 800 foot long submerged tunnel at the bottom of a glacial lake. A tunnel which, incidentally, leads directly to a dragon’s lair. Did I mention that only the mage was able to make the journey through the tunnel, by transforming himself into a mereman? He showed up in this completely lightless underground lake, armed only with a dagger in his teeth, blind and deafened by the roar of an unseen waterfall.

I let him escape. I’m far too kindly...

Council tonight. Yay. Day one of the Houseguest Saga is coming to a close.