A break in the concerts I wanted to see! I gave MC Lars two songs. Not a font in my CSS. Time to see what's happening in the Consuite.
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Hermione and mom Naomi Kritzer and daughter, Marscon Constuite 3/7/09 |
As mentioned in the previous segment, Marscon isn't Child Care but is rather kid friendly.
naomikritzer's daughter was having scads of fun dressed up as her favorite Harry Potter character. |
Wally Pleasant and Alisa Dyer Wally Pleasant is backed by wife Alisa Dyer, Marscon 3/7/09 |
Music Guest of Honor Wally Pleasant brought along his wife and a keyboardist (who I didn't get a good picture of). I've never seen him in concert before, though I have all his CDs, and this was a treat. He played several favorites, had a dash of banter with the audience, and in general gave a performance worthy of a 20 year career. I think the Marscon crowd surprised him a little; the room wasn't packed (attendance overall was down, I think, and no one had SRO) but we were quite enthusiastic.
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Cthulhu peep hanging, with creators Font by Kelly, construction by Seven. Outside the Minicon party room, Marscon 3/7/09 |
For whatever reason, Cthulhu Peeps seem to have become as much part of the Minicon Mythos as Blog. The font of the banner was designed by Kelly, and the banner made by
sevenmpls. I pulled them out of the party to honor their efforts. The party itself was pretty good, with divers discussions and games of Zar most of the time.  |
Mike, not in uniform The local representative of the group that visited Marscon last year came to the con on his own. Marscon 3/7/09 |
The 2008 Marscon was notable for, among other things, some Guests that we couldn't talk about directly. Here it is, a year later, and some of the pressure for secrecy is off. Basically, if any of them show up not in uniform, it's okay to take their picture. We hoped to have all of them come home safely and some of them come back to Marscon. Mike was the local representative, who shepherded them last year and was expecting at least one other this year. Alas, he was the only one. Still, he stood tall, outside the Tardis Tea Room, and enjoyed himself thoroughly. I saw him again Sunday morning, and he was still chipper and ready.
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Insane Ian and Chris Mezzolesta In the Dementia Party room, which was a working shoutcast station (or something). Marscon 3/7/09 |
The Dementia Music Party room was big enough for the dinner that we had ordered weeks in advance. When not serving food, it functioned as a general party room and host for much on the Dementia Music Channel. And more streaming/recording took place in the other room. It reminded me, a little, of the days when you could find faneds with portable typers loaded with mimeo stencils. Ah, it's fun living in the future.
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Gifted Gear and Katie Gifted Gear ran a Trivia Contest, with the buzzers handled by his mother. In his hands is the CD I gave him in exchange for a tape from his collection. Dementia Music room, Marscon 3/7/09 |
The line for the dinner was long and didn't move very fast. And became one of the highlights of Marscon. Right behind me in line was Gifted Gear, a 13-year-old with Forry Ackerman enthusiasm, and his mother Katie. We had a grand time. Somewhere in here, I decided to implement My Insidious Plan To Corrupt The Youth Of Today, Ha Ha! and gave him the Ascent Into Madness CD that is this year's Marscon Exchange. (I have some left over, if anyone's still interested.) He's going to make me a tape (not even a CD!) with his choices. I still have the tapes from
thorintatge, ambertatge and laurel made when they were roughly that age. He has a year. Sometimes MIPTCTYOT,HH! takes a long time to reach fruition.The picture above was taken at the Trivia Contest, run by Gifted Gear with technical assistance by his mom. To make a long story short: I came in second to
pixelene so didn't win the CDs not picked or the lukeski chibi, alas. |
Neofen Three first-time congoers are shown the 13th floor parties. Marscon, 3/7/09 |
Much of the rest of the evening went by pleasurably. Daylight Savings Time began that night, and I really wanted to get home fairly early, and failed. I bopped around, had one of Party Rob's Pie Fight (a rather hefty drink with whipped cream), went party hopping with Tim, Kim, Rob and Chris until we wound up in
gamerchick's party where Toyboat was playing. Again, not really the cheese on my pasta, but it was fun watching them for a while.Saw a bit of programming at Krushenko's, attempted a last circuit of parties and encountered some neofen! Three of the girls in the picture above were at their first convention. They were having a blast, even without a Pie Fight. Naturally, I took a picture which will be enshrined in fannish history forever. Or maybe they've fallen into MIPTCTYOT,HH! Time will tell.
Before leaving, I ducked into the relaxation room. Massage tables and such crowded the room, but sometimes simple pleasures are the best.
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Joe Swenson, masseur The relaxation room was open all convention, with tables and conversation. Marscon 3/7/09 (though really the 8th at this point) |
So I finally left Marscon after midnight. Early for a Saturday night, even for me, but the time change was imminent and I wanted to catch some programming on Sunday. Alas, I didn't make that... but that's reserved for the final installment of the conreport.
continued on Marscon 2009: Sunday
