dr_phil_physics | Entries tagged with worldcon

While many of my friends are still getting over jetlag and smoke inhalation from Sasquan, the 73rd WorldCon in Spokane WA -- and some of the others are still getting over the Internet wars -- I can understand if there are people in my tiny sphere of contact who aren't so enthusiastic as I am about going to WorldCon two years from now (DW) (LJ).

But in all the hubbub of Helsinki winning the bid for the 75th WorldCon in Helsinki, Finland, 9-13 August 2017, there was the little thing about the name. I mean, consider the banner on the shiny new Worldcon 75 website -- we've got a cute but spare looking black-and-white wordless graphic of Major Ursa, the lady spacebear ***, and just the name "Worldcon 75". No other name, like Sasquan or Chicon 7:

So today I was going through the blog feed I get on Blogger and discovered this entry from Cheryl Morgan:

Very quickly long-time Worldcon attendees noticed something different about it. The name of the convention is Worldcon 75. That’s it. No silly fannish name. No local focus. Just Worldcon. I love it.

Partly that’s because Worldcon has a long history of conventions that have seem themselves as far more important than the fact that they are Worldcons. It is, in a way, an artifact of the resolutely anti-authoritarian stance of WSFS, but it is also a result of jingoism by committees (and not just nationalist jingoism either, city and state pride comes into it too). Helsinki has, in effect, made a statement that it sees being a Worldcon as important, not as an annoying inconvenience. However, they also put out this tweet:

Given that Finland's national SF con is called Finncon and that Finnish can be a difficult language for much of the rest of the world -- no lazy Germanic or Romance roots to fall back on -- I actually like their choice. Also, since it's the 75th WorldCon -- the third Quarter Quell as one wag put it -- I think there's some real simple class there.

Of course, I haven't logged into my Twitter account in years, so depend on Twitter crossposts to get news -- and they haven't put their explanation on either their website or Facebook pages -- so I am providing this info here as a public service. Ole hyvä!

Anyway, I'm already bubbling and you know I can be easily amused. So there you have it. Worldcon 75.

Dr. Phil

*** -- I found the name of the bear on the Worldcon 75 Q&A Facebook Group via the Worldcon 75 Facebook page. Here's another illustration cropped from Sini Neuvonen's Facebook page:

Remembering the armored intelligent fighting polar bears in The Golden Compass, I am not going to argue with a polar bear capable of going EVA in a spacesuit. (bear-faced-grin)

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Crossposted on LiveJournal

Current Music: American Pie / Don Maclane

(Ahem)

I heard the news Friday night, but was waiting until 10am PDT for the official confirmation at Sasquan, the 73rd WorldCon in Spokane WA.

But Helsinki, Finland has WON their bid for the 75th WorldCon -- 9-13 August 2017.

We are both so excited about this. We've been supporting their bid for some time -- they announced their bid on 13 October 2013 (DW) a week before I got out of the hospital -- and we've been ready to go back to Helsinki since we visited there in 2003.

We. Will. Make. This. Happen.

There were four bids for 2017: Tokyo, Montreal, Helsinki and a late bid for Washington DC.

From File 770:

The 2017 Worldcon will be in Helsinki, Finland. According to Kevin Standlee, who participated in the ballot count as a member of the Montreal bid, the unofficial tally went as follows:
Helsinki    1,363
DC            828
Montreal      228
Nippon        120
The total number of votes was 2,624 (which includes write-ins and no preference). The number of ballots expressing a preference was 2,605. Therefore 1,303 votes were needed to attain a first-round majority, which Helsinki achieved.

Helsinki won 52% of the votes on the first ballot. For comparison, Sasquan reported that 5,950 people voted in this year's Hugos - this was 56% of the total memberships at the end of July when Hugo voting closed. A little less that half -- 44% -- the number of people voted for Site Selection versus the Hugos.

Of course, some of this has to do with the fact that you have to buy a voting token to vote for Site Selection, which turns into a Supporting Membership to the winning WorldCon no matter who you voted for. I saw at least one comment online with someone new to the whole WorldCon scene bitterly denouncing the extra fee to keep outsiders out. Well... it's not a fee if you actually GET a discounted Supporting Membership to the WorldCon two years hence -- which does allow you to vote in future Hugo ballots AND support WorldCon. The assumption being that someone interested in WorldCon Site Selection might be interested in Supporting or Attending a future WorldCon.

Personally I think part of the reason for lower voting interest in Site Selection is it doesn't matter for most people. Some attendees will go every year wherever it is and some supporters will hardly ever get to a WorldCon due to finances or location somewhere on this planet. Plenty of people will go if it's convenient. WorldCon is wherever WorldCon ends up, most of the time. Example: We went to Chicon 7 in Chicago in 2012, because Chicago is just a short drive away. Right now I have not flown in a number of years, which ruled out San Antonio, Spokane, London, for example, but I am hoping to drive to the 74th WorldCon in Kansas City next year and MidAmeriCon II 17-21 August 2016 -- because I can. Oh, and FYI, KC hotel "bookings to open sometime in early 2016."

Also on the File 770 page is the best comment ever:

snowcrash on August 22, 2015 at 5:44 pm said:

Congrats to Helsinki! As it’s Worldcon 75, what’s the plan for the Quarter Quell?

Relevant websites:

The Official WorldCon 75 Website

Registration Site for WorldCon 75

Page for Upgrading a Supporting or Voting Membership to Attending!

Party on, Eino!

Dr. Phil

UPDATE: And... we have Attending Memberships paid for.

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Crossposted on LiveJournal

Current Music: She's Always Seventeen / Harry Chapin [Live]

Who, What, Why, Where, How -- the journalist's questions.

I've long been in a battle with newspapers for not putting the damned day of the week next to dates, particularly announcements of events, concerts, etc. Truthfully, our ability to go to such things is very much dependent on weekends and free evenings.

But sometimes they do less than full diligence.

Coming home from K-zoo Wednesday, All Things Considered on the Ann Arbor NPR station repeater ran a piece around 5:50pm on the Hugos.

Now I've kept fairly low key about the squabbles about the 2015 Hugo Awards -- the science fiction honors handed out at WorldCon each year. More than one news outlet has had sloppy reporting and research. I think they get seduced by the word "puppies" in combination with controversy, and either figure it's a joke or doesn't require much heavy duty research effort.

Alas, I have to call out National Public Radio on the carpet a little bit.

To their credit, they presented it as a case of two sides and had clips from Brad Torgersen for the Sad Puppies and Kameron Hurley for the... Un Puppies? *** But it was a pretty short piece.

I'm sure there'll be megabytes killed and slaughtered on many sides for what was and was not said. For example, not bringing up the two puppy camps -- the Sad Puppies and the Rabid Puppies -- is a vast oversimplification and tends to tar people with too broad a brush. Or the record setting number of memberships and Hugo votes.

But here's the worst part:

MAYER: The Hugos will be given out this Saturday at the World Science Fiction Convention, where organizers will also meet to discuss changing the nomination process. Petra Mayer, NPR News.

An innocuous concluding statement, right?

Except for the glaring omission of "Sasquan", "Spokane" and "73rd WorldCon". WorldCons are individual efforts done by a particular hardworking community cohort each year, and as far as NPR's coverage, it might as well be a secret cabal meeting in an undisclosed location. I mean, Wikipedia got the reporting right: "The 2015 Hugos will be presented at the 73rd Worldcon, Sasquan, in Spokane, Washington on August 22, 2015."

Except maybe for missing the word "Saturday." (grin) Way to go, NPR, you got that right.

Dr. Phil

*** Please note that "Puppies" is what the two puppy groups called themselves. I do not use it as a pejorative.

75th WorldCon NOTE: Hugo voting is long over, but if you are AT Sasquan, you can still vote for the 75th WorldCon site selection. Me? I voted for Helsinki, as you could guess from my LJ icon.

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Crossposted on LiveJournal

Current Music: Love Is Just Another Word / Harry Chapin [Live]

Ballots for the Hugo awards of Sasquan, the 73rd WorldCon in Spokane WA, are due tonight at 23:59 PDT. You can come back to your ballot as needed, it won't be finalized until voting is closed.

Voting will close for good at 11:59 PM PDT, *this* Friday, July 31. To vote, you will need your membership number and PIN. To avoid confusion, your membership number is the short number (up to five digits in length), and the PIN is the long number starting with "SQ".

Go to the Hugo Award Voting page to cast your ballot. Your entire ballot is recorded each time you hit “Save” next to any entry. You can change your vote as many times as you wish, with the final "Save" being what will be counted. You will receive e-mail confirmation of your ballot each time you click “Save.”

Please check your ballot one last time before voting closes, even if you've already selected your choices, to confirm that the ballot accurately reflects your preferences.

This may be the first time I voted for the Hugos. I attended the 70th WorldCon, Chicon 7, in Chicago, but I don't remember if I made the deadline for the ballot. And I was so busy with panels, I clean forgot about voting for the 2014 WorldCon site. Eh, newbie problems. Who wants to hear about 'em? (evil-grin)

No. I am not discussing my Hugo ballot with anyone, whether former students, classmates (Grimsley, NU, MTU, ISP, Clarion, WOTF), fair-weather fan, poser, hedgehog, aardvark, kitty, puppy, Chicago Cubs fan, armadillo, crustacean, BEM, Borg, Hugo winner, Hugo loser, Hugh Borg, friend, foe, cute android girls from Andromeda or -- especially -- the idiots in Redmond who thought charging an annual fee to play Solitaire in Windows 10 Was A Good Idea (see Borg and BEM). It's an interaction between me and a computer. (Oh crap, do you think they just updated Redmond's Windows 10 in Spokane? We're DOOMED.)

75th WorldCon Site Selection for 2017

As you imagine from the LJ icon above, I got a Sasquan Supporting (non-attending) membership specifically to vote for Helsinki's bid for the 2017 WorldCon (9-13 August 2017). We've been to Helsinki in 2003, and not only is a fantastic city, but 2017 is the 100th anniversary of Finnish independence AND Finland heavily supports the arts, including Finncon, their national SF con -- which is free and huge. And if you're worried, most Finns speak better English than most Americans. (grin) And yes, you can watch all sorts of American television on Finnish TV. (double-grin)

BUT...

You should know that the site selection vote is run differently than Hugo voting, which can be done online. In addition to a Supporting or Attending Sasquan membership, to vote for the WorldCon Site Selection, you also have to buy a voting token for $40 (which turns into a Supporting membership for the winning 2017 bid city, no matter who you voted for -- which means you can definitely vote in the 2017 Hugos and the 2019 WorldCon Site Selection... grin)

NOTE: Although mail-in ballots are due on 10 August 2015, online Pre-registration ends August 2. Voting tokens will continue to be made available and physical voting ends in Spokane.

To vote in the 2017 Site Selection, you must: 1) be a member of Sasquan (Supporting, Young Adult, Military, or Full Attending), and 2) pay the Advance Supporting Membership (Voting) fee, which provides the individual with a Supporting membership in the winning 2017 bid.

The bids collectively have negotiated an Advance Supporting Membership (Voting) fee of $40 U.S.

Voting fee payments may be made by check or money order in U.S. funds or by purchasing a voting token on the Sasquan web site using a credit card. The deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots, whether by postal mail or email, is 24:00 PDT on Monday, August 10, 2015.

Payments for voting fees may also be paid at Sasquan either by check, U.S. cash, or credit card, and voting will remain open during Sasquan through 6 p.m. PDT on Friday, August 21, 2015.

The online voting fee payment system will send the voter an email receipt and assign a payment voting token number to be included on the site selection ballot. The site selection administrator will verify that each ballot accurately contains a signature, Sasquan membership number, and payment (including voting token, if paid by credit card). The online site selection payment option will not be available after midnight (PDT) August 18.

The 2017 site selection ballot is available online at the bottom of this page as a printable form and as a fill-in version for subsequent printing. However, Site Selection voting is by PAPER ballot only. The WSFS Constitution guarantees the bidding committees the right to audit the voting.

Voting is tallied by preferential (also known as Australian) balloting. Place a number 1 next to your first choice, a number 2 next to your second choice, etc. If you mark an “X” with no other marks, that will count as a “1” for that bid with no other preferences. Please do not use any marks other than these.

Ballots may be sent in advance by postal mail to the address on the site selection ballot, and such ballots must be received by the mail-in deadline of August 10, 2015.

Although there is no electronic or online voting, if you pay your voting fee online, you may send a signed PDF of your ballot by email during the mail-in voting period to ballot2017siteselection@sasquan.org. Every effort will be made to protect the privacy of your vote by immediately folding the paper ballot to cover the voting portion as it comes off the printer, but absolute privacy cannot be guaranteed by Sasquan. However, the rest of the ballot is subject to the usual verifications. Postal mail voters are reminded to fold and tape their ballots as instructed to ensure the privacy of their ballot.

If you use the fill-in form, do NOT use Acrobat’s electronic signature. All ballots must be printed and signed manually.

Elections may be decided by the second or third place choices, so we encourage each voter to place a number next to each entry for which the voter has an actual preference on the ballot.

The winning site for the 2017 WorldCon will be announced at the Saturday WSFS Business meeting at Sasquan.

We've talked about differing ways to get to Helsinki, including trying to find an ocean crossing ship on the way over. Alternatively, I wonder if a bunch of people could get a great air fare by chartering a group out of say, Detroit.

Really, though. Helsinki is a fantastic city. And the Tennispalatsi -- the indoor tennis facility from the Helsinki Olympic Games -- is an incredibly huge and comfortable cineplex. Just right for keeping up with the 2017 summer blockbusters.

And when Americans get home from Helsinki, the next week is the biggest total solar eclipse in a century across a vast swath of the continental United States.

Dr. Phil

Posted on Dreamwidth
Crossposted on LiveJournal

Current Music: I Want To Be Consequence Free / Great Big Sea

One thing you learn on the Internet, is that you wade into the Comments section of any kind of a post at your own peril. In other words, DON'T READ THE COMMENTS.

There are exceptions, of course, particularly if you have hip waders on or if a topic is interesting or you really want to gauge how people feel.

And then there's this.

John Scalzi yesterday posted about his day in a wheelchair:

As most of you probably remember, when I was in Australia I tore a calf muscle and spent several days on crutches and have since been using a cane to get about. The good news is that everything’s healing as it should — at this point I’m keeping the cane around as a precautionary measure — so as far as Adventures in Temporary Disability go, this has been likely a best-case scenario.

That said, I did have one relatively brief moment where I got the smallest of glimpses of what I suspect mobility-impared (sic) people go through on a regular basis. It happened when I was traveling back from Australia to the US, and I, in an overabundance of caution, asked for (and got) wheelchair assistance to get around the two airports I was going to be in: Melbourne and Los Angeles.

Here's where the comments come in:

Even if you don't like John Scalzi, they are worth reading. They're not oh-poor-John or raving atta-boys. They are mainly tales from people who are handicapped in so many other ways, both short term, long term and about people they've known. "Handicapped", like so many other things in life, isn't a One-Size-Fits-All business.

Right now, I am dependent on canes and a walker to get around. I can stand and even take a step or so of a few inches if I have to, but between the nerves in my lower left leg (or lack thereof), the AFO brace and the wrapped wound healing on my heel, I need that much assistance to get around. And since I have been staying off my foot as much as possible these last few months, my endurance is way down and I cannot, nor should I, stand for very long.

Last year at Detcon1 we rented a wheelchair, which turned out to be a good call. WisCon last year and ConFusion this year I just used the walker.

It's Dr. and Mrs. Dr. Phil on Friday outside Program Ops just before my reading. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2014 Al Bogdan (All Rights Reserved)

In my case, I was actually lucky. I first got the compressed nerve in my left leg, which meant I couldn't feel it and had limited control, three years before I got the heel wound. I was using one cane to get around for two years and a handicapped parking hangtag for most of one year before I was hospitalized. It was in the hospital that I was pushed around in a wheelchair for the first time ever in my life. My rehab experience and life getting out were both helped by experience with these previous limitations.

I haven't flown since I first got the compressed nerve, which is now, what, five years ago? Listening to other people's stories however, have suggested to me that should I fly in the future -- (1) there is no way that I am going to ship my walker, (2) I will take canes, (3) avail myself of airport wheelchair use and (4) try to arrange for wheelchair or walker use at my destination.

But I won't stay home forever.

I am passing on this year's WorldCon in Spokane -- and was planning to from the start -- because I am trying to keep off the foot this year, don't want to fly and the expense. There is a good chance I'll go to the 2016 WorldCon because it's in Kansas City, which isn't all that far to drive. In theory. And we are hoping against hope that Helsinki wins their bid for the 2017 WorldCon, Wednesday 9 August to Sunday 13 August, 2017, because we've been to Helsinki, Finland, and really want to have an excuse to go back.

So we're saving our money.

But we're also planning how to navigate.

Maybe we'll do an Atlantic crossing by sea on the way over. Alas, Cunard's scheduling ends with January 2017, so we don't know if the Queen Mary 2 is available. (grin) I suppose we have to fly home in any event, since the next week is the Big One -- the longest Total Solar Eclipse in North American For A Long Time.

Anyway, whether you have mobility issues or not, I'd recommend you check out the comments to the Scalzi piece above.

Dr. Phil

Posted on Dreamwidth
Crossposted on LiveJournal

Current Mood: optimistic

A NASFiC in Detroit?

With apologies to Gordon Lightfoot, if Detroit wins its bid for a NASFiC, it won't be a black day in July 2014. What's a NASFiC you ask? In years when WorldCon is away from North American, there is a North American Science Fiction Convention. My second publication, "The Pulse of the Sea", was written for Northwest Passages -- an anthology for the 2005 NASFiC in Seattle, the year WorldCon was in Scotland.

So in 2014, WorldCon will be in London. And Detroit is stepping up to the plate with a NASFiC bid: Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center • Proposed dates: 17-20 July 2014.

They now have their web page up, with details about the Ren Center (and $1/day Internet at the Marriott!). You should check out the FAQ page, especially if your thought are Detroit? Huh?

If you like the concept, you can join in support, or check out their tables or parties at upcoming cons. I hope to get a keychain while at WindyCon this weekend (DW).

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: excited

Friday 31 August 2012

198. Game Show: Iron Chef Flash Fiction
Noon (Gold East) Grand Suite 3
Christopher J Garcia, Dr. Phil, Janet Freeman. Lawrence M. Schoen (M), Mur Lafferty.

And now we're into in for sure. My first panel at a WorldCon and it's a five-minute flash fiction competition. Me, who tends to write long. (grin) We all had laptops, though one guy's Mac ran out of battery and someone in the audience handed him a Windows machine. I had a brand new $199 from Best Buy Asus Eee PC 1025C, which I should've booted earlier and put to sleep. I was worried it wouldn't finish booting in time, but it finally did and I set Word 2003 for Book Antiqua 16-point. Our esteemed moderator teased that bigger didn't mean better. I told him I had to read it.

Our emcee, Lawrence M. Schoen, editor of Alembical and one of the architects of the Klingon language. (Click on photo for larger.)

My competitors -- from front to back -- Christopher J Garcia, Janet Freeman, Mur Lafferty. (Click on photo for larger.)

The Audience -- left side. (Click on photo for larger.)

Right side -- Mrs. Dr. Phil and Anne of the UCF on the far right. (Click on photo for larger.)

It was all sort of a blur. Mur won the first story. I had determined to write a fairly straight SF story at first, while I gauged the competition. Everyone else was doing funny.

FIRST ROUND SECRET INGREDIENT: Maniacal laughter

There was little to do on the bridge during the long hours of waiting in dock. As usual, the lowliest ensign was Officer of the Deck. And Jake Manson was just the man for the job.

"Six hours before the departure watch, sir," the duty chief reported.

"Noted," Jake said, as the automatic prompt appeared on his screen.

"And two minutes before I go on shore leave."

"That’ll be a short shore leave," Jake noted.

"Yessir. But it will be memorable."

"Then you’re relieved," Jake said.

"Yes SIR!"

The last that Jake heard was maniacal laugher disappearing down the corridor.

I did better on the second, a space station based version of sorts of my kid's story "Hide-Go-Seek" on my website.

SECOND ROUND SECRET INGREDIENT: Invisibility

"Can we play hide-go-seek?"

"No," Jeff said. "You always…"

He was going to say that Awer always cheated, but that wasn’t really true. The little boy from Beta Centauri Prime just was… different.

"No, really, I won’t."

"You will."

"Won’t."

"Okay, we can play. You go hide."

Jeff watched Awer run off. He covered his eyes and began to count. "One… two… three…"

The obvious place to hide was in the airlock.

"… forty-nine … fifty. Here I come, ready or not!"

Jeff started to search. Awer wasn’t in the airlock. He wasn’t in the electronics locker. He wasn’t underneath the plotting desk.

"Sorry," Awer’s disembodied voice said from less than a meter away.

"Darn it, Awer, I can’t see you!"

The alien boy shimmered into the room, hiding between two storage racks. It would’ve been a good hiding place.

"I’m really, really sorry," Awer said.

"It’s okay."

I won the third round. Mrs. Dr. Phil was sure she knew where I'd go with this from the way Lawrence intoned the secret ingredient -- she was right. (grin) And reading it was great fun, with just the right voice.

THIRD ROUND SECRET INGREDIENT: Puppies!

"That little girl is going to be the death of me!" Gelinda The Weird said, staring into her crystal ball. "I’ll have to show her what she’s up against. Before I send in the flying Kitties."

Gelinda gathered some Milkbones from the dish and crushing them, poured the dust into the scene into the crystal ball.

"This will distract that little girl. And her little dog, too.

"Puppies. Lovely, lovely puppies."

Gelinda almost laughed. And then she remembered, now she couldn’t send in the thrice-damned flying kitties. Not with a field filled with puppies, playing and romping and ready to take on an aerial assault of flying kitties…

"Curses, you little girl – and your little dog, too."

Did quite well in the fourth round as well. Wait -- I have a chance to win this?

FOURTH ROUND SECRET INGREDIENT: Curiosity

"There’s no doubt about it."

"Nope."

The murder scene in front of them was probably the worst they’d seen on Mars in the past twenty years.

"Shame that Catherine had been the one to find it."

"Yup."

"Who knew that a nuclear reactor from the twenty-first century could cause so much havoc?"

"Yeah, but Catherine?"

"I think she didn’t want anyone on the team to die a lingering death. It would’ve taken too long for the med team to make it in."

"Yup. Clear cut case."

"Agreed. Curiosity killed Cat."

Each of us had won a round, so Lawrence polled the audience yet again to try to evaluate the whole oeuvre. Pretty much a tie between Hugo-nominee Mur Lafferty and myself. But on the runoff between the two of us, I came in second. Sigh.

Still -- I came in SECOND! Yay!

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: amused

Thursday 30 August 2012

65. The Hunger Games in the Classroom
4:30pm (Bronze West) Comiskey

After my meat-up with Al Bogdan (DW), I stopped in on this panel on using The Hunger Games in the classroom. I've been thinking about adding this book to my Science Literacy reading list, with the instructions to look for the use of high technology and its consequences in the story. At least one of the panelists was from a Canadian university and from what I heard, there was a lot of discussion about what would and what wouldn't fly in a Canadian university classroom. This one panelist kept saying -- even after I made a comment about my assignment and how it (a) was about science and wasn't about literature and (b) students are urged NOT to read books they've already read -- that it was bad to pander to students' baser reading interests. Not really of help for my decision.

Afterward I ducked out and checked out the Con Suite one level down to get something to drink. Was impressed that it was an open air space, rather than stuffing people into a fixed size room, and that they had an array of salad bar items. Don't know how they were for meals or other treats, but it struck me as different from some of the cons I'd been to. As I mentioned earlier (DW), as a panelist I took advantage of the Green Room for lunch, and it was well done for me.

Then it was on to:

80. Jim C. Hines Reading
5:30pm (Silver West) DuSable

Getting to DuSable was tricky, as there weren't escalators to this level and not all the elevators served this floor. This West Hyatt building struck me as being older and more convoluted and we had a helluva time getting off that floor afterwards.

When I got there I got one of the last seats and then people started to line up or sit against the walls. Jim was busy munching on some sort of a candy bar -- apologized for having his sugar level out of whack and that it would be at least entertaining for a few minutes as he'd sit back and freewheel for a bit. (grin) Of course I've been to a number of "normal" readings of Jim's, so I'm not sure I could judge that there was much difference. It's just as well that Jim didn't read from Libriomancer at his August Schuler's event (DW), but just talked about it, so I could enjoy his most excellent Chapter One reading at WorldCon. (grin)

Jim being a little loopy to start. (Click on photo for larger.)

Chapter 1 of Libriomancer with great voices... (Click on photo for larger.)

... to a packed room. (Click on photo for larger.)

I just finished reading Libriomancer this afternoon, and I'll post a review Real Soon Now, but I'll say right here that it's an excellent book.

As we left to get ready for the Wendy Wake at WorldCon, the next reading featured donuts. (grin) What I'd forgotten from the schedule sheet, was that it was Nancy Fulda. Darn, I've read her blog for a long time now. Oh well, that's WorldCon -- you can't do everything and meet everyone.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: amused

Thursday 30 August 2012
On the Bronze level walkway connecting the East and West sides.

Mrs. Dr. Phil decided that she wanted to wander and that we'd meet up at the Jim Hines reading. I went up one level and went to cross over to the West side of the Hyatt -- and saw my 2004 Clarion and 2008 WOTF good friend Al Bogdan, who'd been out with his Canon and 70-200mm f2.8. As often happens at cons when we meet this way, we had to duel it out. I had a slight advantage since I could go wide at 24mm (36mm equivalent focal length in DX).

Al Bogdan "and his little friend". (Click on photo for larger.)

I knew that Al had come in on the train the day before and that he was carrying Tiny Thor -- one of three little figures, the other two, Tiny Hulk and Arrogant Tiny Tony Stark, were back in Michigan. So naturally, I asked to pose with Tiny Thor. Of course, since Al had the big lens, he had to stand on the other side of the walkway and I called out the interference from other attendees walking between us. (grin)

Dr. Phil with Tiny Thor. (Click on photo for larger.)

Inset showing Tiny Thor. (Click on photo for larger.)

I told Al about that night's dinner at the Wendy Wake at WorldCon and that Ron of Japan had gluten free soy sauce just for us, and strongly encouraged him to join our party if he was free. It was funny -- as Al was showing me a new app on his phone for finding gluten free restaurants, another passing attendee had to stop and find out about it. The world is increasingly recognizing gluten free as a real and public category.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: amused

Thursday 30 August 2012

48. Opening Ceremonies
3pm (Gold East) Grand Ballroom

After arriving in Chicago and checking into the Hyatt Regency and running through Registration (DW), we had about twenty minutes before the Opening Ceremonies. There were other things going on with all of WorldCon's multiple tracks, but Toastmaster John Scalzi was going to be the master of ceremonies, which promised to be entertaining.

Part of the band Toyboat. (Click on photo for larger.)

John came out and had a good time vamping with the band. Who knew that he had dreams of being a talk show host and having a band back his moves up? (grin) At one point he pointed at the band's drummer and told him he saw what he'd done -- they'd played Def Leppard and the drummer was drumming one-handed.

Your Chicon 7 Toastmaster John Scalzi. (Click on photo for larger.)

The best line of his introduction was, though, when peering up at the bright stage lights and complaining that they were preventing his seeing the audience, and declared in a hoarse shout "there are four lights!" He was tickled to be performing in front of an audience where many, many people cheered the reference. Later, when Guest of Honor Mike Resnick was in the hot seat next to the desk, he said that the Hyatt had hosted the two previous Chicon WorldCons -- and that they had those same bright lights blinding the view of the audience from the stage, and said "but there ARE four lights." (grin)

The talk show set. (Click on photo for larger.)

Mike Resnick couldn't stay -- he had to run off to a panel, that's WorldCon for you -- but there were plenty of other people to introduce and interview. The Artist GoH was ill, so her sister came and told excellent stories. And then they did a presentation of this year's Hugo Award design, something that usually doesn't happen until the Hugo Ceremony on Sunday night.

The Chicon 7 Hugo base revealed. (Click on photo for larger.)

John contemplating how the Hugo would look in his study. (This is as close as he got to taking one home.) (Click on photo for larger.)

WorldCon 70 / Chicon 7 Chair Dave McCarty wore a Chicago Blackhawks captain's jersey with his name and the number 7. He told the origin story of the Flying Monkees -- his main minions -- including the classic 60s but accidental misspelling on his part of flying monkeys. (grin) The whole program ran longer than the hour allotted, but you know, it was a pretty damned good opening ceremonies.

Dr. Phil

Photo Note: Most of the session pictures I shot at WorldCon were taken with the Nikon D1H in B&W mode, ISO 1600, which gives the contrasty and "grainy" appearance of the old Kodak 2475 Recording Film at ISO 1600. The lens is a 24-120mm f3.5-5.6 VR AF-S Nikkor.

Current Mood: contemplative

Scheduling versus Reality

First WorldCon. No way was I going to miss it in Chicago. When hotel reservations opened up, I booked us from Wednesday 29 August to Monday 3 September. But realities of our schedules, plus the expense, led me to cut a day off of each end. That would mean that we'd miss the Hugo ceremonies, but it gave us a recovery day on Labor Day.

We headed out before 11am EDT Thursday morning. Our goal was to get checked in, off-loaded, re-rig in the room, hit Registration and make it to the 3pm Opening Ceremonies. Mrs. Dr. Phil had thought about her options, including getting day registration for just part of the time -- we even bought a ticket from the pool of 75 tickets that ChiCon 7 had bought to Friday afternoon's Cubs game with the San Francisco Giants. But then I got my schedule and that would mean she'd miss two of my events. So in the end we gave up the ticket and Mrs. Dr. Phil bought a membership. Actually, someone was there having accidentally bought two early memberships, so she ended up buying their extra membership, and the difference in price was about what we'd pay for the Cubs ticket. Deal.

Our badges, the conference book and the "pocket" schedule. (Click on photo for larger.)

WorldCon has some differences from the other SF cons I've been to. For one thing, it's bigger, some 5000 in attendance. Now I've been to American Physical Society March Meetings that are that large and larger -- and an American Chemical Society national meeting that was nearly four times larger. The point is, it takes a big space for all those people. My bad leg got a workout. Second, most sessions were scheduled for an hour and a half -- 70 minutes plus 20 minutes for questions and changeover. Opens things up a little bit more than hour-longs. But it also means that ultimately you go to fewer sessions. All told I went to, or was part of or saw a piece of, thirteen sessions Thursday to Sunday. Plus two outstanding dinners.

Butterflies

When you're raising Monarch butterflies, you can't just leave them for a weekend. But as we're winding down the season here, we had one adult emerge on Wednesday and one that we had to bring with us to Chicago and release on Friday. Also had one caterpillar. This late in the season, they grow fast and big.

Friday morning in the hotel room. (Click on photo for larger.)

Sunday morning in the hotel room -- same caterpillar! He's about twice as big. (Click on photo for larger.)

The Green Room

Some cons have a Green Room where panelists can meet beforehand or you can go to meet other panelists and get something to drink or a bite to eat. Usually it's a suite somewhere in the hotel, but depending on the elevator overload, you have to be careful about scheduling yourself.

ChiCon 7 had to combine the Green Room with the canteen for their staffers, due to some space issues. But it was located on the 2nd floor with easy escalator access to the meeting areas. And though crowded, they did a really great job. Decent mix of sliced cold cuts. And like the Con Suite, they had salad fixings.

I got a sandwich and a couple of Cokes on Friday and Saturday before I "went to work". Got to meet SF writer and blogger K. Tempest Bradford, who I've read for years, on Friday. And sat near where my Sunday panelist Jonathan Vos Post was holding court on all three days.

Sunday Mrs. Dr. Phil came down with me, so we could grab lunch before the Sunday panel and then leave and still make the 2pm checkout time. I hadn't, however, thought about Sunday brunch. Ohmygosh, they had cheese. Real cheese. Serious cheese. Like blue cheeses, huntsman, Irish Derbyshire cheese with port. Sliced thin bagels, cream cheese and thin slices of lox. Yum. Up to now the best Con Suite we've ever seen was at WisCon. But this Green Room brunch beat that. (grin)

Home

It was 92°F when we arrived and 88°F when we left. Slipped out of Chicago without any trouble. Stopped in South Haven MI and hoped to have dinner at The Thirsty Perch, but alas they were running 45-60 minutes for a table. So we went across the street to the Vineyard Italian restaurant and had the spinach lasagna. And while there, decided to have them make us a spinach and sausage and mushroom stuffed pizza for today. All good. (double-meal-grin)

We'll detail more about each day and throw up more pictures in the next few days.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: accomplished

WorldCon Report Pending

One more partial day at WorldCon for us and then back home. We'll write up about WorldCon and the Wendy Wake at WorldCon later. But since the latter featured what was probably the largest physical space meat-up in UCF history -- 9 members in attendance -- I thought I'd drop a line about our second dinner on Saturday 1 September 2012.

I tried. I tried to explain that there isn't just ONE kind of Chicago pizza. That it's something of a religious war. That deep dish and stuffed pizza are not the same thing. And that Gino's/Gino's East was likely to be mobbed on a Saturday night on Labor Day weekend. At not too long a distance from the Hyatt, I of course lobbied for Giordano's, as opposed to Edwardo's. And was -- sigh -- overruled or overlooked. Gino's East at 162 East Superior it was. They don't take reservations for less than sixteen or something like that.

There were eight of us, no nine (later), who headed off from the hotel -- five UCFers and three spouses of UCFers. Most walked, but with my leg I took a cab, along with the Incomparable Anne, who didn't want to walk in her shoes and long dress. Naturally we in the cab got there first, only to find a HUGE line that went around the corner and into the alley. Sigh. Forty-five minutes was the estimated wait time for a table.

Still, it turned out there were some chairs outside so I could actually sit down rather than stand, and also there was a second, shorter line for large groups. And eight qualified. So in around 25 minutes we got sent up to the third floor.

5 UCFers and 3 spice at Gino's East. (Click on photo for larger.)

Including Dr. Phil -- along with the Incomparable Anne. (Click on photo for larger.)

Ooh, look! A late addition. (Click on photo for larger.)

And the pizza was pretty good. (grin)

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: cheerful

WorldCon in Chicago

My revised list of WorldCon panels:

Fri Aug 31 Noon-1:30:pm Game Show: Iron Chef Flash Fiction
Grand Suite 3 The aim of the game is to write a short story in less than 5 minutes. The moderator will give the panelists a subject to write about, and after 5 minutes our writers will each read their masterpieces and let the audience decide the winner before they head into the next round into the next challenge. Three rounds are planned but a fourth will be added if time permits.
Christopher J Garcia, Dr. Phil, Janet Freeman. Lawrence M. Schoen (M), Mur Lafferty

Fri Aug 31 4:30-6:00:pm Scale and Space: Seeing Neil Armstrong's Footprints
Columbus EF What can we see from space? Popular TV shows suggest we can infinitely enlarge any image without any loss, but the real world is both much more complicated and much more interesting. We know Neil Armstrong's footprints are still on the Moon - but can we see them? And from how far away? And what else can we see? The Internet is full of fascinating images. (This is an updated version of a Science presentation I made at ConFusion 2011 -- I wonder if the audience will be larger with this weekend's news of the death of Neil Armstrong?)

Sat Sep 1 3:00-3:30:pm Reading: Dr. Phil
Dusable
I'll be reading from the opening of my second unpublished military SF novel, Out of Ashes Rises The Phoenix and Ensign Marie Rossetti's Really Bad Day in Port Outboard Engine aboard the starship USFS Llewellyn.

Sun Sep 2 12:00-1:30:pm The Role of SF for Teachng Critical Thinking
Comiskey A discussion of science fiction's role in the academic world, and how using science fiction in the classroom promotes literacy and encourages students to think critically.
Chris Mirell, Dr. Phil, Erica Neely, Jonathan Vos Post, Val Ontell

And then there's the Wake For Wendy At WorldCon (WFWAWC):

Thursday 30 August 2012 -- 7pm

For years my sister Wendy tried to get us down to Atlanta over Labor Day for DragonCon. But she was going to come up to Chicago for WorldCon in 2012. Sigh.

This is the Official Notice that we will have the Wake For Wendy At WorldCon (WFWAWC). The dinner is at Ron of Japan -- Wendy was very fond of Teppanyaki. Indeed, we went to Ron of Japan in 1979 when she visited me at Northwestern after the Great Blizzard of '79.

Website with menus and pricing -- there are vegetarian options and I was asked about whether they do gluten free soy sauce or tamari -- they emailed and said they just ordered some gluten free soy sauce:
Ron of Japan
230 East Ontario Street, Chicago IL
Google Maps
Thursday 30 August 2012
7pm to 9pm ?

You don't have to attend WorldCon to be a part of WFWAWC -- several members of the UCF in fact already are likely to wake but not con. We're up to 15 friends and family so far. Teppanyaki is not cheap but it is one helluva show. If you want to be added to the reservation and come celebrate my sister Wendy K. Braxton, you can leave a comment here or email me at:
drphil at dr-phil-physics dot com

Afterwards... I still haven't taken a picture yet, but I HAVE received a Viking Boat via Amazon.com. There might be some sort of ceremony involving some of Wendy's ashes, the Viking boat and a fuel load of Jack Daniels... and the Chicago River is between the restaurant and the Hyatt.

I'll enjoy seeing you there and supporting me in remembering my sister.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: content

Thursday 30 August 2012 -- 7pm

For years my sister Wendy tried to get us down to Atlanta over Labor Day for DragonCon. But she was going to come up to Chicago for WorldCon in 2012. Sigh.

This is the Official Notice that we will have the Wake For Wendy At WorldCon (WFWAWC). The dinner is at Ron of Japan -- Wendy was very fond of Teppanyaki. Indeed, we went to Ron of Japan in 1979 when she visited me at Northwestern after the Great Blizzard of '79.

Website with menus and pricing -- there are vegetarian options:
Ron of Japan
230 East Ontario Street, Chicago IL
Google Maps
Thursday 30 August 2012
7pm to 9pm ?

You don't have to attend WorldCon to be a part of WFWAWC -- several members of the UCF in fact already are likely to wake but not con. We're up to 15 friends and family so far. Teppanyaki is not cheap but it is one helluva show. If you want to be added to the reservation and come celebrate my sister Wendy K. Braxton, you can leave a comment here or email me at:
drphil at dr-phil-physics dot com

Afterwards... I still haven't taken a picture yet, but I HAVE received a Viking Boat via Amazon.com. There might be some sort of ceremony involving some of Wendy's ashes, the Viking boat and a fuel load of Jack Daniels... and the Chicago River is between the restaurant and the Hyatt.

I'll enjoy seeing you there and supporting me in remembering my sister.

Dr. Phil

UPDATE 8/20/2012 Mon: I was asked about whether they do gluten free soy sauce or tamari, so I emailed them. At 10:14 this morning, they said no, they used regular soy sauce. At 10:30 they emailed and said they just ordered some gluten free soy sauce. Now that's service! -- Dr. Phil

Current Mood: melancholy

The Magic of Books

Michigan writer Jim C. Hines

jimhines launched his first DAW hardcover book, Libriomancer, this week. Since first seeing him at ConFusion years ago, I've attended quite a number of Jim's book launch/tour/events (DW) across the width of Michigan. So making a run up to Schuler's Books on Alpine in Grand Rapids at 7pm tonight was pretty much a no-brainer. Especially when you have a book about a Yooper librarian!

The basic idea is of a class of wizards who are libriomancers -- people who can reach into a book and pull out an object from the book. Of course it can't be bigger than the book in width and some books are locked by the Guild -- no One Ring To Rule Them All -- but swords and other things are fair game. And it sounds like our hero not only loves books, but loves being able to do magic with books. Who wouldn't?

A Bite To Eat and Then On With The Show

I drove up from WMU in Kalamazoo to Schuler's in a steady rain -- the temps were running in the mid- to upper 60s! -- in plenty of time to buy some books and then hit the Chapbook Cafe to get "my usual":

English Roast Beef with Aged Cheddar and Fresh Horseradish Cream, and Caesar salad. Plus the inevitable Coke. (Click on photo for larger.)

Saw Jim arrive while I was eating, later gave him a hard time because he's been busy the last couple of days updating the Amazon sales figures and watching the book fly off the shelves. Needless to say, it hasn't been a productive writing week for him. (grin)

Waiting for the clock to strike seven. (Click on photo for larger.)

Oops -- false start. The rep from Schuler's had to come in and properly introduce Jim. And remind every one that Schuler's is celebrating their 30th anniversary. Yay, Schuler's! (Click on photo for larger.)

About my new book... You don't just listen to Jim, you get to watch, too. (Click on photo for larger.)

In the Q&A part, of course Jim's recent postings about the poses of women (and men) in urban fantasy covers. Here we are demonstrating the bare midriff reveal, including Jim's insulin pump. (grin) (Click on photo for larger.)

Some of the crowd of about two dozen at Schuler's. Say, isn't that SF/F writer Mary Robinette Kowal in my row? (Click on photo for larger.)

Dave Klecha (center), who will be handling Programming for ConFusion in January and indeed that is Mary Robinette Kowal, who was in the area doing audio recordings. Both Jim and Mary Robinette are up for Hugos at WorldCon in Chicago in a couple of weeks. (Click on photo for larger.)

And on to the task of signing books... (Click on photo for larger.)

Congratulations, Jim! Great launch week and now we have a copy to read.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: amused

WorldCon in Chicago

I just got my revised list of WorldCon panels and they've added one panel:

Fri Aug 31 Noon-1:30:pm Game Show: Iron Chef Flash Fiction
Grand Suite 3 The aim of the game is to write a short story in less than 5 minutes. The moderator will give the panelists a subject to write about, and after 5 minutes our writers will each read their masterpieces and let the audience decide the winner before they head into the next round into the next challenge. Three rounds are planned but a fourth will be added if time permits.
Christopher J Garcia, Dr. Phil, Janet Freeman. Lawrence M. Schoen (M), Mur Lafferty

Though I have a tendency to write long, I have also produced shorter works in shorter time scales, including the WOTF workshop 24 hour challenge story. Five minutes? Piece of cake. (gurk!) Looks like I'm up against 2012 John W. Campbell nominee Mur Lafferty, amongst others. (eek!) Oh, and our moderator Dr. Lawrence M. Schoen is the publisher of Alembical, which is devoted to the longer work of novellas. How long again is a five-minute novella? (grin)

Already on the books:

Fri Aug 31 4:30-6:00:pm Scale and Space: Seeing Neil Armstrong's Footprints
Columbus EF What can we see from space? Popular TV shows suggest we can infinitely enlarge any image without any loss, but the real world is both much more complicated and much more interesting. We know Neil Armstrong's footprints are still on the Moon - but can we see them? And from how far away? And what else can we see? The Internet is full of fascinating images. (This is an updated version of a Science presentation I made at ConFusion 2011)

Sat Sep 1 3:00-3:30:pm Reading: Dr. Phil
Dusable
(I suppose I'll have to figure out what something suitably short I can read here... grin.)

Sun Sep 2 12:00-1:30:pm The Role of SF for Teachng Critical Thinking
Comiskey A discussion of science fiction's role in the academic world, and how using science fiction in the classroom promotes literacy and encourages students to think critically.
Chris Mirell, Dr. Phil, Erica Neely, Jonathan Vos Post, Val Ontell

Science, Applied Science Fiction and literature. And now Iron Chef: Short Story!

(You know, I really wanted to be on this Iron Chef panel, but figured with all the talent showing up at WorldCon, what chance would I have?)

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: excited

WorldCon in Chicago

Since all the cool kids seem to be doing it, I just got my WorldCon panels the other day.

Fri Aug 31 4:30-6:00:pm Scale and Space: Seeing Neil Armstrong's Footprints
Columbus EF What can we see from space? Popular TV shows suggest we can infinitely enlarge any image without any loss, but the real world is both much more complicated and much more interesting. We know Neil Armstrong's footprints are still on the Moon - but can we see them? And from how far away? And what else can we see? The Internet is full of fascinating images. (This is an updated version of a Science presentation I made at ConFusion 2011)

Sat Sep 1 3:00-3:30:pm Reading: Dr. Phil
Dusable
(I suppose I'll have to figure out what something suitably short I can read here... grin.)

Sun Sep 2 12:00-1:30:pm The Role of SF for Teachng Critical Thinking
Comiskey A discussion of science fiction's role in the academic world, and how using science fiction in the classroom promotes literacy and encourages students to think critically.
Chris Mirell, Dr. Phil, Erica Neely, Jonathan Vos Post, Val Ontell

You might notice that only one of the three involves compatriots -- but that's not because I don't play well with others! It's just the nature of the panels/readings. (grin) Science, Applied Science Fiction and literature. The trifecta FTW.

Oh, and my ChiCon 7 hat came today. Stylin'.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: pleased

WorldCon Adds An NPR SF Geek To It's Guestlist

Funny, we were listening to Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me when I saw this press release on Facebook. Yeah, we're multi-tasking multi-media moguls around here. (grin)

Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention ("Worldcon"), is delighted to announce Peter Sagal, the host of National Public Radio's irreverent weekly news quiz "Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me," as a Special Guest. Sagal, who has often identified himself on the radio as a science fiction fan, will impart an additional dose of Chicago into Chicon 7 with his knowledge, humor, and skills.

Peter Sagal attended Noreascon 3 (the 1989 Worldcon), where he got to meet some of his literary heroes, including Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl. In January 1998, he made his debut on "Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me" as a panelist before becoming host of the show in May of that year. Sagal published his first book, The Book of Vice: Naughty Things and How to Do Them in 2007. He also recorded the narration for a self-guided walking tour of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History.

Speaking of Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me

They mentioned that you are supposed to be able to order off-menu items at McDonald's, including the Land-Sea-Air Burger -- which has a beef patty, fish patty and piece of chicken on one bun. Oddly, Mrs. Dr. Phil and I would try that once... Anyone want to try ordering this and let me know?

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: pleased

I Knew This Day Was Coming

But when I got to ConFusion this year, as I entered the hotel from the parking elevator, two women looked at me and one said, "You look like George Martin." It's true. I've seen pictures of George R.R. Martin, best-selling author of Game of Thrones and more -- Time magazine named GRRM to their "2011 Time 100" list of the "most influential people in the world" -- and he looks very much like Dr. Phil, especially in hats.

I always figured that if I made it to a WorldCon, I'd probably have to wear a "I Am Not George RR Martin" hat or button. Well, getting confirmation of the resemblance seals the deal. After all, I intend to be at WorldCon 70 / ChiCon 7. And GRRM will be there, too. Maybe I'll order I AM NOT GEORGE RR MARTIN stickers for the name badges, so I won't be alone. (grin)

Separated at Birth?

Dr. Phil vs. George R.R. Martin

Born September 1948 1958
Graduate of Northwestern University
Writes Epic Fantasy Military SF
Large, Beard, Glasses
Wears Black, Hats, Suspenders
Taught Attended Clarion West
And attending WorldCon 70/Chicon 7

Even In The 80s

I hope George will see the humor in this. We really need to be on a panel together. (double-trouble-grin)

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: amused

The Hyatt Regency Chicago on the Riverwalk

Today ChiCon 7, aka WorldCon 70, set up the link to the Hyatt Regency reservations system. They've got a $145/night rate for single and double rooms, plus the usual additions for taxes.

The convention runs Thursday 30 August 30 to Monday 3 September 2012 -- that Monday is Labor Day, in case you're keeping score.

I've got my membership and my hotel reservation. You?

Further Plotting

For years my sister Wendy tried to get us down to Atlanta over Labor Day for DragonCon. But she was going to come up to Chicago for WorldCon in 2012. Sigh.

Just serving notice that we will have some sort of Wake For Wendy At WorldCon (WFWAWC). I haven't taken a picture yet, but I HAVE received a Viking Boat via Amazon.com. There might be some sort of ceremony involving some of Wendy's ashes, the Viking boat and a fuel load of Jack Daniels.... possibly on Thursday night 30 August 2012... I am planning on setting up a dinner at Ron of Japan, which is just a few blocks north of the hotel and the river.

You don't have to attend WorldCon to be a part of WFWAWC -- several members of the UCF in fact already are likely to wake but not con.

Dr. Phil

Current Mood: busy

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Dr. Phil's Dreamwidth Journal

Those Who Lie In Wait, Dream Deep

Entries tagged with worldcon

Just Worldcon 75

WE'RE GOING TO HELSINKI IN 2017!

A Semi NPR Fail

Hugoes There?

No, Really -- The Comments

Motor City Madness

Dr. Phil's WorldCon Day 2 Part I

Dr. Phil's WorldCon Day 1 Part III

Dr. Phil's WorldCon Day 1 Part II

Dr. Phil's WorldCon Day 1 Part I

To Chicago And Back

The UCF Meeting in Chicago

The WorldCon Reminder Post

Wake For Wendy At WorldCon (WFWAWC)

Jim C Hines Launches A New Book

I've Got More Panels

I've Got Panels

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me The Name Of This Guest

The George RR Martin Problem

WorldCon Hotel Reservations Now Open