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poltr1This past weekend was Marcon, the "Multiple Alternate Realities CONvention" in Columbus, OH. I used to look forward to going to this SF convention. It's big enough that it has something for everyone. But in the past several years, I've felt bored and indifferent about it.
My first Marcon was (I think) in 1990. Or maybe 1991. I may have missed 1990 because Bubastis gave birth to her kittens that weekend.
There were some great moments over the years:
* Tom Smith singing "A Boy And His Frog", which he wrote soon after Jim Henson died. There was not a dry eye in the house.
* Michael Longcor performing "Rhinotileximania", and Tom Smith leaving the room to write a followup, only to return 15 minutes later with "Mucoidal Peridontia".
* Murray Porrath's response to the "Cheap Lawyer" song -- "See you in court / Tom you scum!"
* Doing an instaband with Kathy Mar and Andi Farsimpaur, performing "Big Yellow Taxi".
* Seeing Rebecca, whom I started dating after the 1996 Marcon. (We got married in 1999, had Maria in 2002, and divorced in 2007.)
* Having dinner with the members of Starward Bound at Schmidt's Sausage Haus in German Village. (I think we waited about 2 hours for a table.)
* Girl-watching the women dressed up for cosplay. (The rules: Look, but don't touch. And don't let your eyeballs or tongue hang out!)
But it soon became The Same Old Thing for me. I got tired of the Klingons hanging out at the Big Bar on 2, acting like drunken frat boys. I saw the same dealers with the same items for sale. And one year, the Bounders excluded Rebecca and I from dinner because there was room for only 12 at the table, and there was 14 of us. And passing by folks I've met in previous years that didn't say hi as they walked past, or remembered me from past years.
I had even volunteered to do a panel or two. But I didn't get notified that I'd be on until I'm in the convention registration line, looking at the program schedule, and seeing that I was scheduled to be on in 20 minutes. A gofer heard me and hustled me off to the green room. They apologized profusely, and comped me for that year and the following year. But I haven't done any panels for them since.
This year, I didn't go because I had my daughter on Saturday, as Mother's Day was today and she usually spends Mother's Day with her mom. So I didn't go anywhere this year.
My first Marcon was (I think) in 1990. Or maybe 1991. I may have missed 1990 because Bubastis gave birth to her kittens that weekend.
There were some great moments over the years:
* Tom Smith singing "A Boy And His Frog", which he wrote soon after Jim Henson died. There was not a dry eye in the house.
* Michael Longcor performing "Rhinotileximania", and Tom Smith leaving the room to write a followup, only to return 15 minutes later with "Mucoidal Peridontia".
* Murray Porrath's response to the "Cheap Lawyer" song -- "See you in court / Tom you scum!"
* Doing an instaband with Kathy Mar and Andi Farsimpaur, performing "Big Yellow Taxi".
* Seeing Rebecca, whom I started dating after the 1996 Marcon. (We got married in 1999, had Maria in 2002, and divorced in 2007.)
* Having dinner with the members of Starward Bound at Schmidt's Sausage Haus in German Village. (I think we waited about 2 hours for a table.)
* Girl-watching the women dressed up for cosplay. (The rules: Look, but don't touch. And don't let your eyeballs or tongue hang out!)
But it soon became The Same Old Thing for me. I got tired of the Klingons hanging out at the Big Bar on 2, acting like drunken frat boys. I saw the same dealers with the same items for sale. And one year, the Bounders excluded Rebecca and I from dinner because there was room for only 12 at the table, and there was 14 of us. And passing by folks I've met in previous years that didn't say hi as they walked past, or remembered me from past years.
I had even volunteered to do a panel or two. But I didn't get notified that I'd be on until I'm in the convention registration line, looking at the program schedule, and seeing that I was scheduled to be on in 20 minutes. A gofer heard me and hustled me off to the green room. They apologized profusely, and comped me for that year and the following year. But I haven't done any panels for them since.
This year, I didn't go because I had my daughter on Saturday, as Mother's Day was today and she usually spends Mother's Day with her mom. So I didn't go anywhere this year.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-12 03:11 am (UTC)As for Marcon, completely understandable on the reasons for not going.