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Noreascon
and Party Block Report
by Cindy Coulombe

Hi there all you sci-fi fans. "Sci-fi... sci-fi... sci-fi..." I can say that here. It is frowned upon in some circles. Gives the current WorldCon administration the heebie jeebies. Starting on a more promising note, a good time was had by this Q-babe ..and various other fans. We did enjoy the panels. Most were great and Ray and I split up to catch different ones.

Patrick LeClerc decided to go incogneto

On Saturday we were joined by an ex-qmuser Tim Goyette. Editor Mike Gallant and our Web Goddess/talented artist Becky were there to post her artwork and ooggle at the three stupendous rooms of nice stuff. Also Patrick LeClerc sidled past security a day or two to attend the best bits. I would have to say the highlight was watching the Hugo awards from the next room. A bar had been set up to look like the Mended Drum from Terry Pratchett's Discworld. There was a large screen set up in the bar. We grabbed the comfy chairs with some new-found friends, "Hi George", and watched the awards from the best seats in the building.

Mr. Silverberg did a great job of entertaining us all with stories of Hugos past. Neil Gaiman did a great job of looking like the Hugos impressed him. I was very happy for Lord of the Rings Return of the King for winning for long feature. Ah yes its about the books isn't it?

LOTR Hugo

Well I got a picture of the LOTR Hugo cause Norman Cates goes to the right parties. Anyway, we here at Quantum-Muse have a bit of advice for the WorldCon people.

Loosen up and talk to folks sometimes. I am not the only one who thinks that the World Con admins are a bit stuffy. An Eastern Block writer told a panel of them to stop being so repressive. ‘Worse than the Homeland.' Hi there Nikolay.

Okay big important dudes, where do you really disappear to when you aren't in a panel? I couldn't imagine.

I do understand charging through the nose for posting artwork so you get quality stuff. Three large rooms of quality. But to then charge the artists a convention admission on top of that is beyond harsh. How many starving artists did you see there? Did you think it could be the extra fees? And the guys available for a literary beer, does our hero Robert Silverberg not drink? (Okay that last little dream of mine was a bit much.)

I like the award winning artist Bob Eggleton. He drew a small dragon for our poster one year at Boscon. Anyone who can be the "Dude" from The Big Lebowsky ...so flawlessly without even trying...well I'm impressed. He co-hosted the Retro-Hugos with Mr Peter Weston.

Yes the Retro-Hugos were fun and interesting. Peter interviewed William Tenn, Philip Klass, Jack Speer, and Terry Pratchett. Then on to the awards. I could not decide on which classic superwriter should win. Sorry to say I did not vote on Retro or current Hugos. Too much reading too little time. The music was provided by the Lothars. Really cool music on theremins and dulcimers.

The WorldCon was not like Regional conventions in a few ways. There didn't seem to be much interest in some of the extra stuff. Filking, Gaming, Juggling, and such in the afternoon had poor attendance from what I could see. That is not true at Regional Shindigs. Also the evening party scene was different for the newbies like me. Anyway, anyone paying $100 just for parking for the weekend is gonna make the most of every minute at WorldCon.

Space Opera

Applesauce Brains got to be a common expression. There is so much. I did take a needed breather from the heavy minded panels. The North Cambridge Family Opera Company put on a Space Opera based on Star Wars. Sooo cute and yet sooo cool.

Okay now for the favorite and perhaps most important part of the convention; the Parties.

Wonderful "Filthy Pierre" kept an updated party list going and printed many small handouts daily. Those handy dandy slips helped. Twenty five parties were listed for Friday and 17 for Saturday. We only made it to a few of the parties cause they were too good to leave.

Space Hula Man

Not on the party list was Rhode Island Sci Fi Club. They entertained on both nights with a hula dance program. It included a wonderful rendition of Into the West sung by Annie Lennox, and some traditional hula songs. We like the spacesuit James. You guys looked convinced that RI is the other US island paradise.

The ICON people throw a good party too , very friendly bunch. We hit the South African group, Sime/Gen party, The Evil Genius Salon, some party on the 10th floor, and a few others. The great and late running party to be at was put on by George RR Martin fans. WOW, nice set up guys. Of course in Boston this means that the cops have to show up on Saturday. I didn't think we were that loud, personally. Then again words had started taking a long time to reach the brain cells. Good thing no one is fool enough to schedule anything for early Sunday morning. Thin line and getting thinner.

All in all being there that weekend was worth it. I enjoyed listening to brilliant minds from NASA or great authors; right right there. These are people with imagination and brains. We have admired many of them for years. The others are up and coming geniuses. That puts them in the same catagory as the QM editors. I think that the Sci Fi channel should travel to conventions and catch some of this fun It would be a better reality show than most.

I do not forsee burdening Quantum Muse pages with another World Con report any year soon. We can not afford to go again this century. Many fans are in that boat. Our ship hasn't come in. That reminds me, congrats to Mr. James Macdonald. I was at a literary beer with him right after he sold a book idea to a publisher. Talk about Ecstatic. The dream continues.

Thanks for reading.

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