I'm unlikely to go to Saratoga Springs...

World Fantasy Convention is just not my thing. Been there, done that, didn't enjoy it much at all.

Was that because of stress in the planning, stress on the site, problems with some of the facilities staff, or being awoken at 2:30 in the morning by security to deal with one of our members who was drunk, disorderly, and tried to take a swing at me?

Might have been all of those, but it wasn't.

I'm thinking it was mostly because the convention is so very deliberately non-fan. I'd started to write "anti-fan," but that's not right. There doesn't seem to be direct antagonism involved toward fans...just, perhaps, to things *fannish*. The convention struck me as non-fan, un-fan...in the sense that fans seem to be only accepted if they're of a certain type. I won't try to characterize that type, except to say that I are not it.

So my regrets to my friends in upstate New York, but it's unlikely you'll see me heading to Saratoga Springs come the first weekend in November.

This is not to say that I think WFC is a waste or anything...it's just not my kind of good time, in the same way that anime cons aren't...

I'm unlikely to go to Saratoga Springs...

World Fantasy Convention is just not my thing. Been there, done that, didn't enjoy it much at all.

Was that because of stress in the planning, stress on the site, problems with some of the facilities staff, or being awoken at 2:30 in the morning by security to deal with one of our members who was drunk, disorderly, and tried to take a swing at me?

Might have been all of those, but it wasn't.

I'm thinking it was mostly because the convention is so very deliberately non-fan. I'd started to write "anti-fan," but that's not right. There doesn't seem to be direct antagonism involved toward fans...just, perhaps, to things *fannish*. The convention struck me as non-fan, un-fan...in the sense that fans seem to be only accepted if they're of a certain type. I won't try to characterize that type, except to say that I are not it.

So my regrets to my friends in upstate New York, but it's unlikely you'll see me heading to Saratoga Springs come the first weekend in November.

This is not to say that I think WFC is a waste or anything...it's just not my kind of good time, in the same way that anime cons aren't...

Saving $19,990 on a $20,000 bill

Mike sent me this great link about programmer who used a Chinese cooking wok to substitute for a $20,000 satellite dish.

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but poverty is the mother of jury-rigging.

I love geeks.

Saving $19,990 on a $20,000 bill

Mike sent me this great link about programmer who used a Chinese cooking wok to substitute for a $20,000 satellite dish.

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but poverty is the mother of jury-rigging.

I love geeks.

Quick! Fly to London, Paris, or Madrid!

Well, if you want to see a really spiffy eclipse tomorrow night, one of the best places to do that is Europe, sez the BBC:

Skywatchers eagerly awaiting Saturday's total lunar eclipse say that the spectacle could be the "best in years".
The eclipse begins at 2018 GMT, with the Moon totally immersed in the shadow of the Earth between 2244 and 2358 GMT.

[...]

The eclipse will be visible from the whole of Europe, Africa, South America, and eastern parts of the US and Canada.

Okay, probably I could go to Lagos or Brasilia...but I can get to London faster, and the beer's better.

Alas, by the time the moon rises here, the moon will probably already be at totality.

Quick! Fly to London, Paris, or Madrid!

Well, if you want to see a really spiffy eclipse tomorrow night, one of the best places to do that is Europe, sez the BBC:

Skywatchers eagerly awaiting Saturday's total lunar eclipse say that the spectacle could be the "best in years".
The eclipse begins at 2018 GMT, with the Moon totally immersed in the shadow of the Earth between 2244 and 2358 GMT.

[...]

The eclipse will be visible from the whole of Europe, Africa, South America, and eastern parts of the US and Canada.

Okay, probably I could go to Lagos or Brasilia...but I can get to London faster, and the beer's better.

Alas, by the time the moon rises here, the moon will probably already be at totality.

I do not understand cricket

Cricket has always seemed like either a brown grasshopper (my first instinct) or baseball with broken equipment.

And I confess to not understanding it...or their team names.

So when I saw this cricket headline:

Sobers to open Cricket World Cup

...well, I just wonder who *closes* the Cricket World Cup.

Nevermind. Probably a silly question.

I do not understand cricket

Cricket has always seemed like either a brown grasshopper (my first instinct) or baseball with broken equipment.

And I confess to not understanding it...or their team names.

So when I saw this cricket headline:

Sobers to open Cricket World Cup

...well, I just wonder who *closes* the Cricket World Cup.

Nevermind. Probably a silly question.