On The Funway

Hey! Many thanks to Renovation for having highlights from Opening Ceremonies up on YouTube so quickly. Dr. Demento's DJ tributes to the Guests of Honor and Special Guests were great. The "ooh" from the crowd when a video segment of Charlie Brown started was great, as was the applause that followed.

Color me impressed. Opening Ceremonies are hard. It looks like Renovation is off to a great start.

SFContario is giving me the profound pleasure of being FanGoH at their debut convention in Toronto next weekend. I've been hoping to do some sort of fun hospitality event there, and the "what" finally popped into my head this week. Thanks to the enthusiastic buy-in from a bunch of great folks, we're having an All Worldcons, All the Time Bheer Tasting on Saturday night. Tasting begins at 10 pm.

So far, the hosts include:

Upcoming Worldcons:
-- Renovation
-- Chicon 7

Worldcon Bids:
-- Minneapolis in '73
-- Texas in 2013
-- KC in 2016
-- New Zealand in 2020
-- Minneapolis in 2073

Past Worldcons:
-- Discon I (1963)
-- Discon II (1974)
-- MagiCon (1992)
-- Bucconeer (1998)
-- Nippon 2007

...and the Time Travel Worldcon, of course.*

If you'll be at SFContario, please do stop by. If you won't be there this year, watch the skies and mark your calendar for 2011. You never know; the party just might be the first in a new series, just like the convention is.

I have invitations out to other bids I've been able to track down -- anybody have an address for Zagreb? It looks pretty clear that we'll have additional hosts from additional bids and past Worldcons. I'll name names and add links once I have their final confirmations.

While contributions to the cause are always welcome, we don't need $$$ at this point -- the currently seated Worldcons -- Renovation and Chicon 7 -- are covering that nicely. Folks can also bid on the 35-year-old can of Schlitz autographed by Tucker in 1975 that we'll be auctioning off at the party. It's the winner's option whether or not to open it. :-) Any tasting will be on a volunteer basis only. (In its defense, it was refrigerated for the first 34.5 of those years. OTOH, it's still Schlitz, and it's still 35 years old.)

To be an additional host, I need an okay from a credible source for the specific bid/Worldcon, and a logo or the official name to include on the party poster. 1-2 bottles of bheer from the specific city or country are also welcome (but not required), as are additional collateral and decorations. If a representative will be at SFContario, we'll gladly put them to work with set-up, hosting, and teardown.

We'll be tasting both alcoholic and non-alcoholic bheers. I expect the latter selection to include birch bheer, root bheer, and ginger bheer as well as an NA bheer or two. As for the the range of the alcoholic brews, we'll take pictures.

If you represent and/or have the authority to speak for any Worldcon bids or past Worldcons not listed above, and you want to join in, please respond here or send email to me no later than Sunday evening. *This* Sunday evening. Let's say 9pm U.S. Eastern Standard Time. If you see this message after that and still want to participate, drop me a note. If we haven't printed the party flyers, we'll squeeze you onto the flyer if we can. In any case, we can add you to the list in the SFContario newsletter and at the party itself.

I'm especially hoping L.A. con III and Interaction join in -- I just found party decor from both of these Worldcons in my basement fan room, and I'd love the opportunity to put it to use again! (It's scary: I wasn't even *at* Interaction.)

I extend many, many thanks to Renovation, Chicon 7, and SFContario for helping this particular crazed idea of mine happen. It's far from the first I've had and I trust it won't be the last, either.

See you on the Funway.

* (See pages 81-82; search Time Travel on the page to get there quickly.)

I can't say air travel is all that pleasant, but a free wifi pass on a 4.5 hour flight certainly helps. Now if my battery would only last that long.

Much to my surprise, there's room to open up my 17-inch MacBook Pro in the cattle section of a 757.

Destination: Reno, Nevada for a Renovation committee meeting. It's my first visit to Reno, made possible thanks to NWA waiving the $150 change fee on the ConQuesT flight I didn't take in May due to my pesky gallbladder since removed. Thanks to that and a great fare out of JFK, this flight only cost an additional $29.99 out of pocket. Nice.