Sunday 5 September 2010

Breaking the Ice - A newbie writes of their first DWCon

--by Brian Skelton

Last Thursday I was a Discworld Convention virgin.

Today I am a happier person.

I’m a shy person, well on the introspective side of the old introvert-extrovert scale. As a toddler, I would hide under the table, whenever my parents had visitors. When I started school, I refused to talk to anyone, teachers or kids, for the first fortnight.

I’m also a tiny bit geeky. I was watched Star Trek whenever it came on the TV. I was taken all the way to Manchester, queuing for hours, to see Star Wars when it first came out (and, yes, Hans did shoot first). I cried when the Blake’s crew were gunned down by the Federation and lusted after Sapphire.

By the age of thirteen, I’d exhausted the local library’s stock of SF and fantasy and was haunting the Bookmen, a second hand book stall in Rochdale’s indoor market. They priced their stock at half the cover price, so my paper-round money bought a lot of old seventies paperbacks. In 1985, when my mate Gerrold Singleton told me about this great new author he’d found and his book, ‘The Colour of Magic’, I’d read enough Leiber, Asprin and McCaffery to understand exactly what it was poking fun at.

So, conventions, are a problem, but also strangely attractive.

I went to my first, a role playing one, when I was sixteen – about the time I started reading Discworld. I was poor back then and could only scrape together enough money for the convention fees and transport. Staying in a hotel room was beyond imagination and I only had a fiver to pay for food throughout the weekend. I think I managed one meal over the three days and what sleep I snatched happened in the gaming hall, in the small hours of the morning. I hadn’t talked to many people outside of the games, but I’d had a weekend of D&D, Car Wars and En Garde, surrounded by fellow enthusiasts. I was exhausted and hungry, but definitely happier for having been there.

A few years later I was doing a post graduate year at Leicester University. I was in a strange town, I had nowhere to live and my girlfriend was a hundred miles away. All the defence mechanisms that shy people build up had been abandoned. I was quite prepared to sit in my room and attend classes and nothing else; I was only there for a year after all, not nearly enough time to make friends.

I managed to overrule my fears, and found myself in a lecture room one evening, waiting for a guy from the ‘Labry’ branch of ‘Fools and Heroes’ live role-playing group to turn up. I don’t know how I managed to trick my brain into allowing me to do this. I attended several committee meetings during the time I was in Leicester, and didn’t say more than ten words in all of them. In costume though, out in the woods, with my character firmly in mind, I could be outgoing and entertaining. I had fun and think I helped others enjoy themselves.

We had conventions too, called Gatherings. Groups from around the country would come together for a weekend of in character fun, feasting, quaffing and adventure. I still didn’t have much money so I went as a cast member, trading a reduced fee for the privilege of helping everyone else have a good time. I didn’t have a tent or sleeping bag, so I was still snatching sleep where I could, wrapped in my cloak by the campfire. The weekends would end with me tired, dirty, wet (I once set fire to my boots whilst trying to dry them), though not hungry, as food was part of the entertainment.

Despite the aches and pains I was a happy person; having spent the weekend surrounded by my people, people with the imagination and passion to make this fantasy become real for a short while.

That was twenty years ago. I’ve got better since then. I usually hide in the kitchen when we have guests now and, if forced to spend time with strangers, will usually find something to say after only an hour or two… I’ve also learned to hide, to an extent, the nerdiness. I don’t automatically tell everyone who my favourite Enterprise captain is (Picard, of course) or brag about the number of times I’ve read Lord of the Rings. I can pass, almost, for a normal person.

Twenty years of work and unemployment, family, children, houses, cooking and all the rest. They were good years, filled with happiness and love, but some of the stuff that made me who I am fell by the wayside. I still read the books and watch the shows, but the role playing and get togethers didn’t happen any more. I have friends, but they’re normal people. They’re into music, cooking, travel, reality TV, Barbie dolls and train spotting. All good things (well, mostly) but relatively normal. I had lost something.

It’s just after New Year and my daughter is chatting on the PC. Someone had mentioned the Discworld convention and she wanted to go. The fear, and attraction, returned and we said we’d think about it. We hesitated almost too long, our badge numbers were in the eight nineties, but we went.

We were unprepared; my daughter left half her costume behind and we forgot to scour the shelves for our Discworld books. A rain drenched bike ride home fixed this and there we were, on Friday morning, heading to Lancre Forge for to pick up our goodie bags. I could feel myself starting to enjoy myself…

We all had a wonderful time. Here we are at the Rat Race (My wife Octarine, Wincerind my son, Cocoa my daughter and me). This is a rare thing, a picture of me smiling and relaxed, in a public place.









It’s over now. I had plenty to eat and place to sleep, but I’m still exhausted, this time from trying to do everything and be everywhere. Once again though, I’m a happier person knowing I’m not alone in my strange and wonderful interests.

For the people who helped me regain this feeling, some thanks:

To all of you fellow attendees, for being the people you are. The kind of people I can enjoy spending four whole days with. I wish I’d spoken with more of you, gone to the parties and joined in more – but you can only push your psyche so much before it breaks. Next time, if I can fool my brain into thinking that you’re all old friends, will be better.

The committee and crew are next. The sheer complexity of keeping nine hundred people entertained for four days staggers me. Many, many, thanks to them all.

The wonderful guilds for getting us all involved. Special thanks to Lady Sta for her constant mantra of ‘Be Lovely’. It got me on stage, as one of Sir Joshua’s groupies, to the great surprise of me and my family.

The mysterious Dark Clerks in general, and Lady Twatterby in particular, for welcoming my daughter into their strange and sinister ranks.

The guests, and others, who entertained and delighted us all

Terry, for writing the brilliant stories and being the person who can inspire his fans to get together and make something as wonderful as this convention.

Octarine and Wincerind for throwing themselves into this so full heartedly. They are lovely, lovely people.

Finally, my daughter, Cocoa, for persuading me to do this, and reminding me where the best people can be found. I won’t forget again.

I’ll see you all next time.

Saturday 4 September 2010

MoreMoreMore - Links to groups, guests and much more

For those of you who wish to keep in touch with fellow fans, find information on the guests, find more Discworld and Pratchett related Artwork I have put together a list of handy links here:
Fangroups

Places you can meet up on line with other fans, some also have real life meets.

The oldest Pratchett fan groups online are the Usenet groups from which the Discworld Conventions arose:

alt.fan.pratchett
alt.books.pratchett

These can also be read via Google Groups here:



On LiveJournal the largest Pratchett community is: 



The main Facebook group is:



The Stamp Forum is a very active community living with Bernard Pearson's Discworld Emporium:



Publisher related sites:



Yahoo Groups:



Convention specific groups




Guest Sites


Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer  - http://www.myspace.com/mrbthegentlemanrhymer


Charities

The Orangutan Foundation - http://www.orangutan.org/
The Tall Ships Youth Trust - http://www.tallships.org/



Links

The L-Space Web, the longest established and most complete resource on the web -  http://www.lspace.org
The home of Jason Anthony's Discworld Monthly - http://www.discworldmonthly.co.uk/



Discworld  and Convention Artists 


Paul Kidby, cover art and so much more -  http://pjsmprints.co.uk

Bernard Pearson, The Cunning Artificer - http://www.discworldemporium.com/

Josh Kirby, the original cover art for Discworld and many fantasy writers - http://www.joshkirbyart.com/

Graham Higgins, artwork for books, graphic novels and several DWCons - http://www.grahamhiggins.co.uk/?page_id=2
                                                                                                           http://www.flickr.com/photos/25287387@N05/

Saoirse Louise Towler - the youngest of the Convention pantheon -   http://www.saoirselouise.co.uk/
                                                                                                  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204478814#!/group.php?gid=22761589468


Trevor Truran's Thud Game  -  http://www.thudgame.com/node



Dealers

Details of the dealers in Sator Square may be found here:

DWCon 2010 - The View From Tech

-by Bodo Bellut

it's 3pm on Wednesday and everything is unpacked and sorted. emails and newsgroups are read, some pictures and Con Reports consumed as well as 12 hours sleep.

My brain's slowly adjusting to reality, random thoughts[1] becoming German again[2] -- so that's it, the Con is finally over and real life is starting again.

It was nice to see so many new faces, meeting with old friends was nice, too, of course.

I was sticking to Tech this time so didn't really see anything outside of the Dysk apart from the Scone & Jam, therefore this report will be somewhat tech centred.


Empty

We took an early flight into Birmingham, arriving at about 07:00 on Thursday morning. Fortunately the distance between airport and hotel is very short as it was raining.

Even though check-in at the hotel officially is 10:00 we had no trouble checking into our room so we dropped our luggage and explored what's going on already.
Interestingly, there was nothing going on at all, the Dysk was empty apart from some chairs, all other rooms were locked.

While walking around I found Xris who arrived on Wednesday already and was an his way to get breakfast. So I joined him and the both of us were soon joined by a relaxed looking Brian. Over the next hour or so most of the Committee appeared and soon setup began.

I stuffed a couple hundred envelopes with Guild Tokens and Rat Race Money until the truck with the stage and tech kit appeared. The big surprise was the six professional riggers who set up the complete stage.
At the end of the day the stage was completed showing the second surprise: The stage was _big_ and it was tiered. There also were moving spots and not one but two fog machines.

So much to do

I don't remember when I went to bed that night, but I rose at 08:00, had a lovely full English breakfast and entered the Dysk at 09:00, this would be a fixed appointment for the next days.

The Dysk was already busy with techs setting up things so I joined in running cables, moving stuff and whatever had to be done.
We played a bit with the lighting desk and before anyone noticed it was already time for Teach Yourself Tech which I missed while running some cables, I believe.
I can't remember seeing so many interested people at Teach Yourself Tech at the past Cons, there were more volunteers than open positions in all events combined.

Afterwards came the setup for the Opening Ceremony; time flew and suddenly people started pouring into the room, the Con was about to start officially.

The very good Opening Ceremony was quickly followed by Terry & Rob's Bedtime Stories and that ended the programme for that day.

For some reason it was 04:00 when I finally went to bed; again, this would be my time for the rest of the Con.


Who needs rehearsal

The time slot from 09:00 to 12:00 was scheduled for the Maskerade Technical Rehearsal, unfortunately only a minority of the attendees used this opportunity to discuss their technical requirements. The cue sheets were promised for 17:00 that day which left us with plenty of time to program the equipment for the entries we already knew about and program some generic settings for all other entries.

Then followed The Man in the Hat and Going Postal in Technicolour the later event being cut short somewhat to make sure we had the full two hours needed for Maskerade setup.

Only some light effects like the rising moon, the lightning storm, the Phoenix Fire and the disco effect had been programmed so the event was run manually for most of the time, it went very well. After the Maskerade I left tech for the day and went to the Hedgehog Party. I again missed Graham's panel on the interesting uses of leather and turned in at 04:00.


Full programme

The Sunday started with the Rocky Horror Discworld(TM) Show rehearsal quickly followed by the Charity Auction. I was in charge of the lights for this event which we all thought would involve lighting the big items on stage and setting up a spot in front of the stage for the regular items.
As it turned out many of the regular items were packed in plastic and were glaring heavily so I ended up permanently adjusting the lights so the cameras would get the best possible pictures.

Then followed the setup for The Coronation of the Low King. This was scheduled with two hours which was plenty of time given the lights should only involve a white spot centre stage and nothing else.
Unfortunately, these requirements were adjusted a couple of times end we ended up with a well lit stage.

I left the Coronation a bit early to get a good seat in the Scone and Jam which turned out to be unnecessary as not only the Gala Dinner but also the Rat Race was running in parallel and people wandered between them.
This ended the day for me.


Science Fiction/Double Feature

Monday brought six hours of Rocky Horror Discworld(TM) Show, four hours rehearsal and two hours show. For some reason the microphones started heaving issues after the first rehearsal run and never again returned completely to their formerly good reliability so the show suffered from some sound drops. Nevertheless the show was brilliant and given the short rehearsal and setup times also a technical masterpiece. It was easily the highlight of the Con.

Then followed the Closing Ceremony and the tear down.

This was also very well organised, in just two hours stage and tech tower as well as all tech equipment in Dysk, Odium and Ankh had been disassembled, stowed into crates and hauled onto a truck.

Speaking of the tear down, this just felt wrong. It is one thing having the Con end but a completely different one to actively be involved in this. After the tear down had started, after the first cables had been
disconnected, the first bolts had been loosened it was obvious the Con had ended for good, there was no way to get this back together and continue just for even the slightest time. The tear down felt like ripping apart the dream the Con was, leaving nothing but wonderful memories (and thousands of photos).


To sum it up

The whole Con was running very smoothly, of course not everything worked as planned but that's to be expected for events like this where there's limited time for planning, setup, and rehearsal.

All of the hotel staff was very accommodating the only problem being the air conditioning which seemed to only have two settings: full or off.

Again it showed that 4 hours sleep a night and living from breakfast and tech snacks alone worked very well. ^_^

The distance between Lancre Forge where Hedgehog Party and Dead Monkey Party happened and the bar was a bit unfortunate as people wandered between both locations.

Being a dry chocoholic at a Discworld Convention is as hard as being a dry alcoholic. ^_^

There's nothing else to say, see you in two year's time -- oh, and Don't dream it, be it.

cu, Bodo

[1] those types of thoughts that just happen when doing unrelated stuff like when brushing your teeth
[2] It was interesting reading a German text while thinking English, usually it's the other way around.

What I did on my holiday - Andrew's musings

--by Andrew Nevill

Friday

The fun, for certain values of fun started before the Convention. I wanted to wear my Mort Maskerade costume from 2 years ago as a hall costume. A friend had lent the short red wig, I used, so I’d asked them at the beginning of August to lend it me again. Unfortunately, they let me down. I called into a proper wig shop on the way to the rail station but they had nothing suitable in stock. So, I went to the fancy dress shop in the Andale and bought a neon orange fancy dress wig that would be acceptable. Any port in a storm as they say.

Arrived about 3pm and even as I walked through the corridors to reception, I was seeing familiar faces and being met with warm greetings. I was sharing again with Vince and the booking was in his name so I’d been worried that the hotel would have no record of me. But they were unfounded as I got checked into my room straight away

Dropped off my bags, went to register and mingled for a spell, saying hello to old friends. It was wonderful. It felt almost like coming home.

Then I attended my first event, An Audience with Stephen Briggs. He was feeling kinda pleased as he had a sword that had been used on The Princess Bride. It wasn’t quite Inigo Montoya’s sword as Terry said later, but Cary Elwes had practiced with it – which made it pretty darn close.

Around 7pm, I met up with Brian (sabremeister) and Roy (gemini) for dinner. We all wanted the chicken and it had run out and so we waited for around 20 minutes for new supplies. By this time it was getting perilously close to the opening ceremony and I found myself unable to just relax and enjoy my food – which although tasty was not I considered, worth waiting 20 minutes and paying over £10 for.

I was maybe precipitous in this judgement and perhaps things did get better over the weekend but I decided at that point I would be eating out.

And then it was the Opening Ceremony. Terry one-upped Stephen entering with Death’s sword, announcing that although Briggs had Inigio Montoya’s sword, he had this one. To a heartfelt cheer, he announced the PCA wasn’t any worse and that the writing was going well, his dictation software so good that he could dictate 20,000 words easily - oh, and it understood Nac Mac Feegle!

I hadn’t bought a costume for the Bedtime Stories, but as part of the Executive room upgrade, the hotel had provided a bathrobe and slippers. These were pressed into service and I went down, clutching Speedbump (a plush hedgehog) to the Bedtime Stories.

Rob entered and was about to read I Shall Midnight when Terry interrupted saying he couldn’t do the Feegle voices so Rob pulled out a folder containing the draft of Snuff and to applause, started reading that instead.

I must admit that I left Bedtime Stories before it finished. As it tends to, it overran and I wanted very much to attend Once More With Feeling. Under the bathrobe were a red shirt, black T-shirt and black jeans. My leather duster and Doc Martens were in my bag. Yes, Spike had places to be, and so I excused myself.

OMWF was great fun. The episode was screened in the Odium with the subtitles and everyone was singing along.

And then I retired to the bar. I tried to buy Brian Nesbit, the Chairman a drink but was told by the bar staff they’d run out of Hobgoblin. On relating this news, Hotel Liaison went and had Words with the bar staff as Arrangements had been made so This Would Not Happen. I stood by, feeling Slightly Evil and Pleased With Myself for having Gotten People Into Trouble.

I then started chatting with Heather (burntcopper)and Taz. The conversation took several interesting turns that resulted in me Getting Myself Into Trouble – but, given the company I was in, that wasn’t necessarily a Bad Thing.

At 3am, I went to bed.


Saturday

I don’t sleep well in hotel beds. The only beds I really sleep well in are my own and the one in my parents’ spare room. So, despite the late night (or is that early morning), it was an involuntary early start at 7am.

I woke feeling Less Than Human and with a Massive Headache. A shower and hearty breakfast helped with the Humanity but nothing was going to help the headache.

Retail therapy happened as I decided to lighten the heavy wallet I was carrying. I adopted a dragon, courtesy of the Cunning Artificer (I’m wondering if I really need to fill in and send in the certificate) and bought a Convention T-shirt plus a mini Anthill inside T-shirt for Speedbump.

Then if it was off to Ian Stewart’s talk on the Deterministic Monkey Theorem. It’s hard to take in maths and science when your head is pounding but I managed to understand a good portion of an entertaining talk. .

Following this was Elves: Nasty or Nice. Jacqueline Simpson regaled us with wonderful stories from folklore all around Europe in which the Elves were by turns Nasty and Nice. Unfortunately, the Queen of the Elves did not like what she was hearing and threatened Jacqueline. However, Dr Simpson rallied magnificently brandishing an iron poker that put Her Majesty to flight.

Deciding to take advantage of one of the Executive upgrade perks, I went up to the executive lounge for a coffee and a snack before going to see a round of Unseen University Challenge.

Following this, it was time for The Man in the Hat, otherwise known as the guest of honour interview. Things became very interesting when Stephen Baxter came onstage and we were treated to a live brainstorming session as the two threw ideas and discussed the Long Earth project as we watched. It was a fascinating insight into how the authorial mind thinks and how books get written.

By now, I was really tired and the headache was still throbbing away. There was nothing for it but to scrounge a Nurofen and go and get some kip. And I must admit that on waking 90 minutes later to go out for dinner, I felt a whole world better.

And so to the Maskerade. It was hosted by Pat Harkin. For some reason, last time around people started quacking at him. As anyone who’s been to a convention knows, if something is done once it’s a tradition and so we carried on the traditional quacking. (I was in the Maskerade last time so don’t know the Origin of this custom. I’d be grateful to anyone who could elucidate). The standard was very high, a sit always is but I felt this year was particularly good. Special mentions from me go to Brian Dale as Lord Vetinari Retiring (winner of the Master class) and ssirienna who won the whole thing with her traditionally built opera singer performing the Departure aria

The Hedgehog Party was as usual brilliant fun. Lots of dancing, unusual sweets to sample and a very nice after-eight flavoured vodka. Oh, and Gideon (gmh) wore Silver Trousers of Doom. We will not talk of them.


Sunday

The first half of the day had, as Sundays should, a religious theme.

It began with the, as ever, extremely spiritual and uplifting Church of Om Service with Brother Mole and Reverend Fanthorpe officiating – and with my friend Bev as Mrs Grubb providing distractions. During the Periwinkle and Butcher had their marriage blessed to much applause.

Then it was, for me an event that I think I may look forward to more than any other - Create Your Own Religion. Once again Brian Nesbit, employed his cat-herding skills and together we founded the world’s next Great Religion (maybe). This time around, we decided to venerate clichés.

Another item I’ve always looked forward to but unlike CYOM, always seemed to miss was How to Buckle a Swash. It was pleased to be able to set that oversight right and found out that I’ve been missing an excellent, entertaining and informative event. Over the course of (just slightly more than) a hour Orjan together with his glamorous assistants (and Heather (burntcopper) [Sorry! Couldn’t resist] demonstrated how Hollywood got swordfighting completely wrong. (For the record glmaourous assistant credit goes to marco_villalta and gmh)

In between these events I managed to grab my trucks and hit the pool with Tal (tinkerbell1980 ) and after Buckle a Swash, several friends and I repaired to the Executive lounge for a nice cup of coffee. Sometimes, just taking time out with friends is the nicest event you can attend.

After some relaxing down time followed by dinner, I put on the Mort costume and went down for the Coronation of the Low King, the precursor to the Gala dinner. I was worried that I was actually a bit overdressed as I didn’t attend the dinner this year but it seemed everyone, dinner attendee or not, was in their finery so I was in good company. As usual, some of the costumes and ballgowns on display were breathtaking and there was a definite Steampunk vibe in the air.

To much cheering Jennifer Delaney (clanwilliam )was crowned Low King. She probably got in through her election pledge to given everyone the answers to the 2012 pre-con pub quiz. Now the hoopla has died down, it can be safely pointed that she a) didn’t promise to give the correct answers, and b) that she always gives the answers in any case – at the end of the quiz. However, she thoroughly deserved to win for Jen is without doubt the lowest person I know.

The Rat race entertainer was excellent with all manner of activities. I took part an even won a game of Nugganite Twister (Abominations instead of coloured spots). I spent the evening drifting back and forth between it and the Scone and Jam .


Monday

First event on the agenda was The Science of Discworld, a wonderfully entertaining talk by Jack Stewart and Ian Cohen on just how the science of Discworld books came about.

I then drifted into the Dealer’s room and had a lovely chat with MEG (djelibeybi_meg ), and relieved her of a Graham Higgins print.

On my way to have lunch, I encountered a crowd of people filing into the Odium for a viewing of Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog. This had been suggested the screening of Once More With Feeling and happily David (medium_jock ) had his DVD with him. If you show it, they will come. And indeed sing along.

Following a pleasant (slightly postponed) lunch by the lake, I the drifted up to see the Seamstresses attempt to set the World Record for number of people fitted under a crinoline skirt. This was highly diverting. I myself was disqualified as my bum was sticking out

Unfortunately, I had to leave before proceedings ended, as I needed to don my costume in which to attend the Rocky Horror Discworld Show. The effect of the costume was all I could have hoped. My dark soul revelled as the mere sight of my ensemble Broke People. I received numerous double takes and several tortured souls, including the indomitable Heather (burntcopper), were heard to exclaim ‘Oh My God!’ (There are photos but such is their potential to Warp Fragile Minds that they are not posted online and are available on request only)

The RHDS itself was wonderful a production on a scale I don’t think has been before at a Convention. No-one who saw Vetinari portrayed, as Frank’n’Furter will ever quite forget it.

Shortly after, it was time for the Closing Ceremony. The Seamstresses Guild won and were quite pleased about this. Brian Nesbit, stated that he believed there were things he could do that would make the Convention even better and so he was going to stay on as Chairman in order to try. Foolish Mortal!

And then it was time to go home. Hugs were exchanged, emotional goodbyes were said.

Another wonderful convention. Perhaps the best yet. Thank you to all my friends who were there to share it with me and helped make it as enjoyable as it was. We’ll do it all again in two years.

Friday 3 September 2010

Fashion Contest!

-artwork by Jyrki Vainio


Every Discworld Convention has its share of spectacular costumes. They range from the simpler productions of Chaos Costuming to stunning bejewelled crinolines, exquisite tailored dresses with exploding bustles, elaborate cloaks, hand tooled watch outfits and leather - all to rival any theatrical production.

This time however there was competition in the guise of not one but two spectacular Indian weddings held in the hotel. Cloth of Gold, embroidered scarlet wedding saris, glittering jewels and every colour under the sun paraded through the hotel foyer.

This caused some confusion on both sides as Holywood met Bollywood. The result was reciprocal invitations to parties and inspiration for Jyrki Vainio (A705) to draw:




The Alternative 2010 Discworld Convention Survival Guide

or How Best To Avoid Random Causes of Death, Despair and Dismemberment

by Marie Kirby

1. Be aware of fast-moving hazards at ground level. These may or may not include dwarves,b small children and mini remote-control Luggages.

2. If something squishy and/or pointy pokes you from behind in a busy corridor or queue; before screaming, consider the possibility that it may be an inflatable kangaroo.

3. Don't boast about your sword within earshot of Terry, no matter which cult fantasy film it was featured in. He WILL go one better. In style. In front of a considerably large crowd of witnesses.

4. The law of sod is in force where elevators are concerned. The one you're standing directly in front of will never be the one that comes.

5. Helping feegles to touch up their body paint attracts very good karma. They might even decide you're too nice to rob.

6. If you ever meet our distinguished compère Pat Harkin, DO say quack. DO run away very fast. He knows how to dispose of bodies.

7. However many iconographs you may have seen prior to attending the convention, be warned that nothing will prepare you for the spectacle that is Davina's half-time Maskerade performance.

8. Be nice to the other guests at the hotel who stare openly at your exuberant PussyCat Club staff costume. By the end of Day Two they'll be wishing they were at the more interesting party.

9. No matter how many different character costumes you see going to the Gala Dinner or Rat Race, you can be sure that in the morning there will be approximately 900 very convincing Reg Shoes.

10. There are four stages of 'being' at the Discworld convention:
i) OMG costumes!
ii) OMG that's Terry in the bar!
iii) OMG it's 4am! and;
iv) OMG I don't want to go home!

Yeth Marthter!

- by Siobhan Greaney



The Athothiation of Thurgeonth, Igorth and Igorinath was one of the guilds for this year's convention. A big thank you must go to the ConCom, the Monks of Cool, my fellow deputy Xris (who did most of the pre-con preparation for guild activities) and to all our wonderful members who helped make our guild extra thpethial.

Below is a day by day account of our main activites:

Friday night at the Guild Meeting we kicked off our weekend-long Scavenger Hunt, letting our own members form teams and suggesting to other guilds that they get a team to compete.

On Saturday, we were honoured to host the programme item: Igor's Bestiary. Nearly all day was spent helping people rip teddy bears to shreds and glueing, taping and stiching them back together in new and interesting ways in Lancre Forge. A huge thank you is due to Hailey for organising this event in the first place and for relinquishing it to us when she realised she had tripple booked herself that afternoon. Barry V was the winner of the 'motht monthtrouth beathty' with his creation:



(Photo by Gideon Hallett)

We also held the first round of the 'Make Your Own Thcrapth' which involved cutting out various dog limbs and attaching them to balloons. Some people chose to take theirs away, others left them to our 'Scrap Pile'.

Sunday morning saw us hosting the 'Igor Games' in Morpork. We had another round of 'Make Your Own Thcrapth' as well as an 'Ubervaldian Thcrabble' board (no 's' or 'w' - extra 't', 'h' and 'v's) for people to play with. The most popular game by far was Human Operation. The "patient" was covered with a sheet of tin foil with spaces cut out to sellotape the organs to them. Xris had rigged up a buzzer that went off if the tin foil was touched with the surgical implement (bbq tongs). Many thanks to those who played the part of patient for more than one turn so that everyone who wanted to play got a chance.

Sunday night at the Rat Races, the Igor's stall was offering 'Retro-Phrenology' - change your personality with the bump of a (weapons-checked) mallet! Thanks are due to not only our own members but to some of the Historians guild who had both made our mallets and performed some retrophenological procedures on the night. Also on offer were wipes and lotions to kill your invisible demons (ritual excorism optional). We also had a volunteer Igor participant in the drag races, thanks are due to him and to the wonderful Igorinas who spent their afternoon making his outfit and doing his make-up.

Monday morning, we wound down with the hand in of the Scavenger Hunt - one interprid team had taken the cheating ideas to heart and managed to get all of the items due to some fudgery, a catalogue and blackmail. A stirling example of Igor Scavaging at its best.

I'm sure there are some things I've forgotten to mention and specific people I've neglected to thank so apologies if so.

Some people went all out with their costumes, scars, lisping and general 'Igor-ness' for at least part of the con. Others helped quietly in the background preparing for or supervising guild activities. I sincerely hope that all guild members had a good time, that all those who took part in our activities enjoyed them, and that however much or little you encountered us - that the guild made the con thpethial for you too!


Thiverth

The Rocky Horror Discworld Show

by Jessica Yates


The Dysk was, inevitably, packed with an audience trembling with anticipation. Many of us had seen the original Rocky Horror Show on stage or film and had certain expectations, some of which would be fulfilled, others completely overturned. Convention members had all received the invitation to take part and we knew that the final cast had prepared their roles in isolation, only meeting for an intensive four days of rehearsal at the Convention itself. The regulars of the Reduced Discworld Company are used to performing Terry’s works as plays, so a musical with dance moves would be a new challenge! However, the professionalism of the cast and backstage team produced a triumphant hour of magic and won Terry’s acclaim.

From the start, when the Vampire Candy Girl crooned Science Fiction/Double Feature in her sweet dumb blonde voice, we knew it would be all right. Then Tim and Jacqui as Carrot/Brad and Angua/Janet – two experienced performers in great City Watch costumes, did their proposal scene. Pat Harkin appeared as Narrator, and you could not expect the audience, in a show which invites heckling, to forgo the occasional quack!

They somehow travelled to a mysterious castle, shown on the screen, and soon Igor/Riff Raff appeared. John Hicks was suitably grotesque and introduced the Time Warp for which a third of the audience were already on their feet for dancing. Next came the big reveal. We knew from the special booklet that Vetinari would play Frank N Furter but the big surprise was Richard Atha-Nicholls coming on with the beard and moustache looking just like the drawings and very like Briggsy himself. Vetinari first wore a cloak, but gradually the well-known costume was revealed, to screams! He then performed Sweet Ubervestite with his backing group, while Carrot and Angua looked suitably bemused.

Next came the unveiling of Rocky. I, and presumably some of the audience, were expecting to see a handsome body-builder. However his name was Rocky so of course he had to be a troll and his song was therefore Club of Damocles. Good costume and worn with panache by Mark Burilin!

About now we had some exposition about how Carrot, Angua and Vetinari had fallen through a dimensional warp, and the wizards were asked to get them back, all recounted by Pat Harkin who produced a duck-quacking device to deal with the hecklers. Death (Tony Perkins) made his appearance to sing Hot Patootie, with BORN TO RUNE on the back of his cloak.

Somehow Ridcully appeared in the castle, somehow he got the missing folk back to their own world. After several more songs adapted from the score and all too soon the show was over with the finale Don’t Dream It. Then there was a rousing Time Warp which had everyone on their feet to Pat’s direction: “It’s just a jump widdershins...” Nobody wanted it to stop, and eventually, after the curtain call, applause and the special thanks to Elizabeth MacMichael, John Hicks’ writer and co-director, we let the cast retire and all went to the bar. We then found that Richard was so pleased with his outfit that he came out into the bar wearing still in costume, and posed for photos alongside Briggsy!

Members of the convention all received a special programme for the show listing all the cast and crew, with the story of how the show came to be, and so I end with the words on the back cover “If you missed it – you missed out.”

Latest interview with Terry - New Book and Living with Alzheimers

Guardian interview:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/01/terry-pratchett-alzheimers-assisted-suicide

Compact Disk and Order of Service, Church of Om

For those of you wanting to print off your own copies of the Order of Service from the Church of Om or the Compact Disc issue 1 and 2 (aka the special editions of the Chronicle Live in hard copy) the files can be downloaded from the files section of the discussion group:


All are in .pdf format.

You will also find new sets of pictures on the page next door at:



Many new articles have gone live today, more articles and pictures are still welcome!


Thursday 2 September 2010

Reports from the Convention Livejournal Community:

by members of Discworld_2010


A couple of these appear here in modified form but are included in the list for completeness:


The Closing Ceremony

by Jessica Yates


This was a series of thank-yous, with relief that everything had gone so well. Terry thanked Ops who managed his timetable saying that it was the best-organised convention he had attended. We had the results of the Guild Competition which Jacqueline and her deputies accepted for the Seamstresses (loud cheers).

Before presenting the certificates for the Maskerade, there were two special awards; the first to Davina for her exhibitionism (you had to be there, or maybe not) and the second to Dr. Pat Harkin for his compèring.

Terry praised the Rocky Horror Discworld Show. He had personally obtained the permission from Richard O’Brien for this one-off. “You are the best bunch of loonies there has ever been,” he declared. It was beautifully done, and he would always buy his ice-cream from Beth Warner in future!

Next came a surprise – a non-signed book (joke) from the whole Convention, which Terry vowed not to read! More good news, the charity auction raised over £18,000! After thanking the Hotel staff, and the Guests, Brian requested all his Committee members to parade on stage for their well-deserved applause, which seemed to go on for ever.

Now the announcement we had been waiting for, about the next U.K. Convention! First, we would not have to wait two years for another Discworld Convention as five had already been arranged for 2011: Australia, the Netherlands, North America, Germany and Ireland. But what of our own Convention in 2012? Yes, provisional arrangements had been made for late August to avoid a certain sporting event taking place a little earlier...and maybe in this very hotel. Brian had decided to reprise the role of Chairman (cheers) and Terry had agreed to be Guest of Honour (loud cheers).

And so gradually and reluctantly we began to return to the Roundworld, though there were compensations in my case and probably for everyone else, the DVD of Going Postal and the launch of I shall wear Midnight to keep us cheerful through September.

The Gala Dinner Speeches


by Jessica Yates

As the guests took their seats on Sunday night, they were intrigued to find what looked like a bread roll on their side plates – but it was inscribed with the word IRONCRUSTS and bore a Discworld Emporium stamp on the base. This unique piece of Dwarf Bread will make a fine paperweight. We also found dwarf beards by our plates, which improved the looks of some of us, but others were beyond hope.

After we had been thoroughly wined and dined it was time for the speeches, but first Brian called us to order. A member of his Committee (Michael Hunter-Jones) had just turned 20, and hotel staff brought out a surprise birthday cake and champers while we sang Happy Birthday!

Bernard proposed a toast to the Committee, very well deserved. Brian then paid tribute to the hotel staff and to the two ladies on the Committee who had originated and carried through the whole concept of the Low King’s Coronation – Mandy and Karen! He then handed over to Lady Margolotta (in whose castle we were dining) so that she could welcome us formally and introduce the Guest of Honour. Lady Margolotta (Jacqueline Simpson) took up the baton and ran with it in a tour de force of role-play and literary allusion – all in an Uberwald accent!

She began by addressing the “Low King, Knights of the Realm, werewolves [howls from the audience], vampires, elves, trolls, Igors, orcs, dwarfs and any other species of sentient life within the walls [audience cry of Bernard!]”. “I have many names” she continued “from my ancestors, and we must not forget them, or they will come back and bite us!” She owned up to her vampire nature but asserted that it was 422 years, 6 months and 5 days since she last tasted BLOOD! “I can say ze vord, I vill say ze word!”

She went on to tell us that in a special way we have all tasted blood. She related how through infinite Lspace she had heard of the great Roundworld poet John, the man who in Areopagitica (a defence of free speech) had written that “A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit”.* She concluded triumphantly that “Ve have all supped on ze life-blood of a master spirit –it it gives me enormous pleasure to introduce the source of our intellectual life – SIR TERENCE PRATCHETT!”(Wild applause)

Terry rose and acknowledged the tribute. He welcomed the newbies in particular and spoke of the craic which hung in the air. “As a vampire myself I enjoy your enjoyment ....” He had loved the Crowning of the Low King and the Maskerade. Thanks again to the Committee....Discworld fandom has evolved, fans bring their children – it matures – You don’t mature! (laughter).

The last third of Snuff (a new Discworld novel) had come to him as he was preparing for the Convention; and a final word to Bernard – “After that ‘bread’ you’re going to get my dentist’s bill!”

*(the text of John Milton’s Areopagitica is available on the Internet)

The Coronation Of The Low King


by Jessica Yates


The votes were in, and of the seven dwarfs running in the election, the winner was Jennifer Delaney. Jennifer had campaigned in dwarf-costume and impressed the audience with her quick wit and good sense at the hustings which had been held during the Maskerade.

She sat on the Scone of Stone, made the ritual answers to the ceremonial questions and was handed a series of traditional symbols by Lady Margolotta von Uberwald. These were: an axe, a ruby, a witch’s broom, a wizard’s staff, a troll’s club, the owl and hippo of Ankh-Morpork, and a cabbage from the Sto Plains. By the end of this she resembled less a pharoah, and more a contestant in Crackerjack.

Crowned with a miner’s helmet and making her first speech as King, s/he commanded a regal presence as s/he thanked her campaign manager, supporters and her rivals, who had fought a clean campaign – the fools!

Well done to those Committee members who had prepared the order of coronation, and the symbolic objects to provide a really professional piece of role-play for our entertainment.

DWCon - catching old friends, making new friends.

by Gemma


*_Friday_*

We arrived at the Birmingham Hilton round about midday, checked in and found our room, which was much nicer than the one we were given last time, and since that visit (the one In Which Gemma Broke Her Ribs Getting Out Of The Bath) the bathroom has aquired a rubber slipmat! Yay!

On heading back out of Registration (where I was given a sticker for my name badge meaning I could whack people with my cane if they got in my way jump queues) we found a Ssirienna, who was walking with a crutch after falling in the shower and badly spraining her leg. Ouch, that looked colourful and the bruising hadn't even started to come out properly! We joined her in the bar and chatted, watching wonderful costumes drifting by on numerous amazing people. Well, in the case of Butcher and Heather it was more *lack* of clothing, but they still both looked wonderful.

As the evening went on, our little table became The Table Of Cool, with Gid stopping by to serenade us, an Eric joining us for a drink and an Adrian, among others. We met a Taz, who turned out to be very sweet and funny, and then Tiggsybabes finally had the chance to join us and stayed for most of the evening until she had to get the kids to bed and rest up herself before the Opening Ceremony. Some Bloke In A Hat Who Writes Books was drifting around talking to various folks and Gid made me sing Summertime.. When I was done I discovered that I'd gathered a highly appreciative audience, and Gid had attracted a telling-off about public performance from the main organiser - oops! But how can you have a Convention without a bit of impromptu caterwauling singing?

I didn't make it to the Opening Ceremony; I had to go to bed early. Bah.



*_Saturday_*

We woke up nice and early and headed downstairs to the dining room, where we enjoyed a lovely fry-up in the company of Jan and Eric, before I headed off for a swim. I was joined by Ciciaye a little while after Dom decided to hop out.

I hadn't banked on just how out of practice and unfit I've become. I swam like a demon for two solid hours and am still paying for it! I still want to start going once a week though, after I've recovered from this whole weekend!

After the swim I found Jan and Eric in the bar, and Eric joked that all three "shower victims" were sat together (at the last Con he fell getting out of the shower on the same evening that I fractured my ribs getting out of the bath - thank heaven they've improved bathroom safety). Dom eventually joined us, and Anna texted to ask if I was downstairs before joining us herself. Tessa and MP also arrived for a little while, along with Adrian and Lisa.

A lady in the Dealer's Room decided that I needed to have a procedure to remove some unwanted money as a matter of emergency, and I swapped the annoying bits of paper in my purse for a cute little Orang-Utan. On seeing him Jan had to have one too, and returned with one that looked extremely shy compared to mine, who has a cheeky grin. I later went up to our room and discovered him humping my bedside lamp...

In the evening there were three events that we wanted to go to, which clashed with each other! So, we decided to do the Hedgehog Party first, then go to Affordable Graham's talk, and then I could do the music thing. As we were making these decisions a Kian bounced into a vacant armchair at our table and declared that he'd like to borrow one of my ukes, please! So this is how I met Kian.

On my way to get the ukes I bumped into Jan in the foyer, who was resplendant in an enormous but beautiful gown ready to take part in the Maskerade. I later discovered that she won!

Mary came down from her room to say hello, catch up and Share Gossip (very interesting Gossip it was too). She barely left her room, as she and Stu were amongst those lucky enough to recieve a free upgrade to an executive room - and so they had a lounge and a free bar. I think that next time we shall make use of the opportunity for a discounted upgrade too!

The Hedgehog Party was in full swing when we got there... as were Gideon's pants. The only way to describe Gideon's pants is... indescribable. Lurid is an understatement and they apparently broke The_Hunter's camera! There was also the Mysterious Case Of The Migrating Beard, which was sometimes a beard, sometimes a merkin and sometimes a wig. Mary and Anna reappeared, both on their umpteenth Pimms and both extremely giggly, which was fun and made me grin.

Dom, Kelly, Cat and I made a break for Graham's talk in a bid to try to unsee Gideon's shiny pants (not happening) and afterwards we went to the music thing. I eventually ended up in the bar with lots of other people, and Gideon's pants followed me! After a while I went back to the music thing - which wasn't anywhere near as much fun when organised as it was in the bar when it just sort of happened, and dragged myself to bed round about 2.30am. The Hedgehog Party was still going strong, but even Anna (who was tiddled and making everyone try a sip of this drink that tasted like After Eights!) had had enough by then.


*_Sunday_*

If you're an AFPer then it's a given that you were hung over. Dom, Lisa and I were sat in the bar after breakfast sipping tap water, when Gid swung in at about 10am. The conversation with the nice young lady on duty went like this:

Her: Good morning sir, may I help you?
Gid: *Grins broadly* Want beer!

How does he do it? How???

Had a text from Anna saying that she was feeling a bit fragile and tried desperately not to laugh. Then I went into the Dealer's Room, where I was divested of yet more annoying bits of paper which were replaced with a Greebo mug and fridge magnets of Nanny, The Librarian and Susan. Good trade!

Everybody was rather subdued today; I spent my whole time in the bar, quietly sipping white wine spritzers, sewing and watching the world go by. I also went back into the Dealer's Room to meet the lovely Gaspodia, who was running a stall and had *the* most adorable interactive Dinosaur! Frank The LJ Bear was officially handed over to Anna for further adventures too. Countertony turned up for T&J, but unfortunately I was in bed long before T&J happened!


*_Monday_*

Lady Kayla swapped me some funny looking round gold things for a pretty little choker, and another lady swapped me some other pieces of useless metal for two lovely, delicate pairs of earrings.

Came home. We're already suffering from SPWS (Shiny People Withdrawal Syndrome) and we're not enjoying the peace!

Desert Island Books

by Ross Younger

(or, "books we think you might care to read whilst marooned on the Nation or waiting for Terry's next work").

Rachel began the discussion by telling us about the "Laundry" series by Charles Stross (The Atrocity Archives, The Jennifer Morgue and The Fuller Memorandum to date) and the "Sharing Knife" series by Lois McMaster Bujold (Beguilement, Legacy and more). She went on to pitch the "Jenny Casey" trilogy by Elizabeth Bear and the "Harry Dresden" series by Jim Butcher.

Mole spoke on two themes, worlds like ours (Guy Gavriel Kay - The Fionavar Tapestry, The Sarantine Mosaic and others) and completely alien worlds (Robert Silverberg - Majipoor series, A Time of Changes, Sailing to Byzantium and more).

Judith cited John Forrest's "The History of Morris Dancing" as a particularly good book to have on a desert island - not only for its in-depth coverage of the subject matter, but also a good example of how to research and write up a topic. She pitched "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinlein and Lois McMaster Bujold's "Vorkosigan" saga before recommending another fascinating reference book, "The Universal History of Numbers" by Georges Ifrah.

Ross concluded the session with three pitches covering past, present and future. He began by returning to Charles Stross, for the present-day (very near future) "Halting State", then journeyed far into the future with Vernor Vinge's "A Fire Upon The Deep". He wrapped up with a brief pitch for the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik (first book entitled "Temeraire" or "His Majesty's Dragon" in different editions).

Boring breakfasts? Not at a Discworld convention.

by Marie Kirby

This year approximately half the attendees were first-time con-goers, myself included. The sheer amount of people milling around the hotel lobby on Day One is enough to send even the most brave of us con virgins running for the dried frog pills. Even with the assistance of the ingenious Voodoo* board, it's difficult to locate the small group of people you met on the first day; especially at breakfast**.

However, the often quoted 'come to the convention and leave with fifty friends for life' has truth to it. I soon discovered the best way to avoid looking incredibly lost and lonely with your breakfast tray is to gravitate towards the table with only one person on it and introduce yourself.

Finding myself in this particular predicament on Saturday morning, I made a bee-line for the back of the room where sat an intriguing lady by the name of Siobhan. You may have seen Siobhan gliding serenely around the lobby carrying an intricately-carved goat staff. The staff has mythical powers. No really, it has. Siobhan has many interesting tales to tell about the sceptics and the simply curious who have questioned it; including one Sir Terry.

As Siobhan tells it, Mr. Pratchett approached her in the lobby on Friday, at first innately curious and then sceptical about said staff. Terry made no secret of the fact that he had no belief in the spiritual, but when invited to, held the staff for just a moment. According to Siobhan, he went quiet then said, "I don't believe in this. But something unexplainable definitely happened there."

Funnily enough, inflatable kangaroo-wielder Sue (Weatherwax) then joined our table and made her own addition to the story: she had held the staff some time before Terry and had a similarly strange experience. Then she told us that she had just been speaking to Rob and Terry had spontaneously confirmed his attendance at the 2011 Australian convention!

Stranger things*** have happened!

* Because the best way to get someone's attention is to stick a pin in them.
** Regularly attended by Bilious, Oh God of hangovers and his zombie contingent.
*** Mostly also at the Discworld convention, but we're not admitting to that.

One AFPer's Memories

by CCA (Lisa Williams)


Friday

Set off for Convention. Saw some guy clipping his nails at the wheel on the journey – yes, that’s right, clipping his nails, no hands on the steering wheel and looking down at his lap. On the motorway. Eeep.

Anyway, go to the Convention and checked in to what looked like the same single room as last time (good). Did the usual rounds of saying hello to friends I hadn’t seen for a year, or in some cases two. (Or, in the case of Supermouse, MP and Tessa, six years). Hugged quite a few of them :-) Went to the Guild room where I caught up with and hugged Hunter, Loriba/Lottie and Ssirienna/Jan. Jan had had a bit of a nasty fall in the shower that morning and was hobbling around painfully on a stick with Lottie as her helper/gopher. Said hi to Winterbay (Assassin’s Guild Leader with Kincaid)

Sessifet and I got together in the bar (good place to get together for most purposes!) to make little bags of ‘Dwarf Bread Ingredients’ (ie cat litter) to give to people along with recipes for Dwarf Bread, complete with ‘Contents not to be eaten’ disclaimers that Supermouse pointed out we might need in case people were confused/drunk and gave them a try. After this my brain started saying "You need tea, you really do…" so I wandered up to my room to wash, change and chill.

Opening Ceremony was fun. Terry seemed in fine spirits, and I think at one point he mentioned that his Alzheimer’s hadn’t progressed an awful lot in the past year or so, for which he got a deserved round of applause. Guild meeting afterwards featured a chap in a ‘Team Angua’ t-shirt he’d had made, and Davina, who I didn’t recognise as she was still a he, complete with menswear and a beard. Both of these came off during the Convention :-)

‘A Time and A Place’ for music was good fun. I sang Tom Lehrer’s ‘I Hold Your Hand In Mine’ with Ssirienna and Runesmith, and also joined in ‘Cool For Cats’ for Squeeze. I make no apology for the stupid mockney accent I affected… *g* Other notable moment included Heather wearing Eric Jarvis’s hat, and Mole’s rendition of his and Adrian Ogden’s filk ‘Mary Sue’, to the tune of ‘A Boy Named Sue’

A couple of people admired my long swishy skirt with loud swirly patterns, which was nice as it was getting its first outing.



Saturday

After the traditional huge Convention breakfast I visited the Dealers’ Room, which was a good opportunity to say hello to and hug Barry R who I hadn’t previously seen as he was busy guarding the Dealer’s Room door most of the time. (I went on to be ‘mugged’ by Dealer’s Room a couple of times during the weekend – chocolate hedgehogs for my parents and Steelcat, a badge with ‘Ask Again, I’m Shy’ and a lovely necklace from the dealer I shall call the wire wrapping lady. (Who I hope didn’t mind me geeking jewellery-making with her a few times!))

After this I went for a swim and saw Gemma from #afp who’d been in there for a good couple of hours or so! The swimming pool was lovely, and overlooked the lake. Even nicer when the sun was shining through the glass roof.

Martinoh arrived that afternoon, just in time for ‘The Man In The Hat’. As usual, Terry’s interview was funny and interesting. They had Steven Baxter up on stage at one point to talk about his and Terry’s forthcoming project ‘The Long Earth’. I won’t say anything about this as I’m not at all sure I remember the details, but it does sound promising. After this I went up to the Executive Lounge with SaintMaryUK who had an Executive Suite, so was allowed to use it. Lovely place, full of little canapés and cakes and free drink :-) Me and Mary had a nice time up there catching up (I haven’t seen any of her gang for a long time).

Maskerade can mainly be summed up by “Yaay, Ssirienna won!” She was dressed as Dame Gigli from ‘Maskerade’ and was singing what was known as ‘The Departure Aria’ (ie, ‘This damn door sticks, It sticks no matter what the hell I do…’) Min Lacey was her partner-in-sketch, holding up placards with the translations as they were sung. Other noteworthy entries include Richard Arkeley as Johsua Lavish, complete with quite a few of the Seamstresses’ Guild to help out; two women playing Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg as young women; and Brian Dale as the Patrician considering retirement. Oh yes, and Davina’s act was probably one of the most memorable *g*

Hedgehog Party! Probably one of my favourite events of the whole Convention, as it means surrounded by afpers and other Discworldians in the mood to party! I brought some of the world’s crappest modeling balloons (and they really were crap, but also very cheap), watched people blowing them up and having balloon fights, then danced like no-one’s watching for as long as the music lasts :-) By something like about 3.30 am, there were a group of about twenty hardcore dancers left (although most of the other probably had the benefit of alcohol, which I didn’t), as the general feeling was ‘Keep going till Shevek’s too knackered to play any more music…” (This did not happen for ages *g*)

Oh yes. Gideon Hallet’s leggings. Silver, tight, and worn with t-shirt that had a chain mail shirt over the top. I believe they were supposed to be micromail (hence the false beard too). I did at one point comment that, with the holding-a-balloon-posing he was doing, it looked bordering on obscene (by the way, this was a compliment) and he grinned and said he’d got the point where he didn’t really give a shit. Which I think kind of sums up the whole Hedgehog Party feeling, really. Like I said, dance like no-one’s watching :-)

I think I got to bed at about four am, and then didn’t get much sleep after that. I’d completely forgotten about the bottle of Bailey’s I’d brought along for visits by the insomnia fairy, and was too tired to go and pour any out anyway.



Sunday

Knackered. Had breakfast, chatted briefly to Dom, Gemma and Barry in the bar, and then went upstairs, had lunch at 11 am and went to bed for the rest of the afternoon. (Some sleep, but mostly lying down quietly). I missed the Swashbuckling, but from Heather’s photographs it looked good.

Got changed into my Gala Dinner clothes and met up with Loriba and Ssirienna downstairs. Both of these were wearing corsets and looked beautiful. Made me wonder about getting one. We were entertained by an artist called Mr B the Gentleman Rhymer, doing genteel versions of rap and hip-hop stuff. I sung along, but not too loudly.

The meal was lovely :-) Spending it with my friends made it even more so. There were speeches afterwards, and Terry seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. After dinner entertainment included ‘Drag Races’, for which Hamish had dressed up in appropriate gear *g* I went along to the Toast and Jam but there weren’t many people left in there, although I did get to see Plum42 reprise her version of Avenue Q’s ‘The Internet Is For Porn’ which I remember she did in 2008 too.

Once Loriba and Ssirienna had gone to bed, I wandered around looking for more chatting-with-afpers opportunities, but there weren’t any available, so I decided on an ‘early’ night at 2 am *g*



Monday

The usual Monday stuff of ‘Oh no, the Con’s nearly finished, buggerit’. The Rocky Horror Discworld Show was excellent, and then at the Closing Ceremony it was announced that Chairman Brian Nisbet would be Chairman again next time. Well, he did a great job this time, so why not? :-)
Did the rounds of hugging good friends who I know I won’t see again for another year or two, although I missed some as they were busy helping out with tech. I didn’t have the energy for the Hedgehog Party, and went home at about nine-ish, completely knackered and on a Convention high :-)

Same time in 2012, then? Excellent :-)

A Song and Dance - Ssrienna's Story Part 5

by Jan Uzzell (Ssrienna)


Monday

All too soon the fateful day dawns – the end of the DW Con 2010!

I spent most of the morning nattering with more friends and trying to take Donal’s advice of trying to rest the leg (the bruises are still fairly flamboyant but the knee is really stiff and sore – sigh) Then off to Rocky Horror Discworld Show...what can I say that hasn’t already been said in other Con reports!

They were BRILLIANT! The cast, the sets, the narrator (Pat again!), the songs – all wonderful. I think my favourite bit is when Carrot (“dwarf”) is doing the Brad bit having just met an unusual Patrician and he says “Can we use your phone?” followed by “Go back to our car” and after each time he turns to Angua (“werewolf”) to mouth in complete confusion “phone” and “car”! Priceless again! Then they did the time warp with the ENTIRE con joining in (I tried from my seat ;)

They retired to Biers where they allowed people to take photos!!




After some more gossiping with old friends and new, it was then time for the closing ceremony. The first part went in a bit of a blur! All I could remember was “Oh God! We’ve got to go up and collect a trophy again” I still can’t believe it and yet I can turn my head and see it in my cabinet behind me!

I believe the Guild of Seamstresses won the Guild competition. As I was part of the Bonk Operatic Society, a non-competing guild so technically we couldn’t lose, I hadn’t kept up with all the guild activities, although I did hear of the “how many people can you stuff under a crinoline?”[1]

Then Brian had the stage and called up all the wonderful people who made up the Committee this year. A lot of thoroughly well deserved cheering and clapping followed all the people who’d given up seeing programme items, sleep, food and (almost) alcohol to make this, in Terry’s words, the BEST CONVENTION EVER!

We did speculate whether there would be another (Terry said there would be!) and who would Chair it … the photo says it all!


Here’s a HUGE thank you to all the committee members for a wonderful time and am looking forward to the next one in 2012. Who knows, I may even make some of the other ones! I’m definitely getting the habit!! How do I end this … Oh I know!

Fat Lady Has Sung!


[1] Apparently 15 – I’ve seen the photos!