Dragon*Con 2007, Days 1-3

Apologies for the lack of posting the past couple days, but I'm finding it harder this year to post daily updates on Dragon*Con, currently in full swing in downtown Hotlanta, for the following reasons:

• The wireless-net access is spotty on the Hyatt's lower levels, where most of the major programming events are, and nonexistent in the lowest-down function rooms, including the one and only room where filk programming has been allowed to happen. (filkertom swears he will never, but never, consent to being D*C filk czar again after his inaugural year in the position, due to unspecified screwing/screwups inflicted upon him. Does anyone ever take such a job at this con and not come away too pissed-off at the concom to ever do it again?)
    
• The one location where reliable, free wireless-net access can be had, the Peachtree Center food court linked to the Hyatt lobby by elevated covered walkway, has precious few electrical outlets to hook up a laptop; thus one must rely on whatever charge remains in one's laptop battery. After a night's hard use, this can be a dicey proposition.
    
  
• The AT&T DSL line has gone out again at home, and everything that can be done to fix it without actually having to admit a technician into my apartment (which requires my physical presence, which is problematic during business hours for a person working on an hourly-wage basis) has been done at this point. This means I can't simply post when I drag myself home to sleep each night around 4 AM or so (at least not without using the EarthLink account's dial-up access, which is way slower most of the time). (2nd time this month; never had this kind of trouble in the old place, even though it was an older building by at least two decades.)
    
• I've just been having too damned much fun and too damned little time to sit down and post, bottom line. Friday's night's shared concert with Roberta Rogow went surprisingly well, and was followed by a similar joint show by newlyweds Joe "Fingers" Giacoio and Carla "Filk GoH" Ulbrich which threatened to asphyxiate me from constant laughter, between J&C's patter and songs and the audience kibitzing (in which Your Humble Correspondent and the Filk Czar merrily joined in, which may explain Joe's asking us onstage to do the notorious "If You Can't Date 'Em, Join 'Em" number). The Boogie Knights, in fine form (and larger than usual number due to my old pal Bob Greenberger's little girl Kate [alias "Alice, the Cooper's Daughter"] rejoining the performing roster after a prolonged and keenly-felt absence), followed the happy couple and likewise kicked metric tonnes of ass.
   
  And last night, Tom and the present members of The FuMP more than made up for the loss to illness of Worm Quartet's ShoeBoX with a pair of shows nominally headlined by FuMPers pixelene (who turns out to be a yummy-looking redheaded gal; rrowr!) and partiallyclips, which kept me guffawing for three solid hours. That show was followed by the ever-popular Brobdingnagian Bards packing the room and bringing the house down as per usual. And both nights were concluded by open filk, the second with the Knights in attendance, and both graced by pro author/filk legend Robert "Yang the Nauseating" Asprin, his songs, his hair and his guitar, among others. Tonight: more concerts and the Masquerade.
  

How's your holiday weekend going?

(no subject)

As I sit watching Dragon*Con's Masquerade go through its Young Fans division (gotta get those kids to bed early, y'know), I note the even more interesting and varied costume competition going on all four days of the con, in its hallways and streets. So far I have seen the following identifiable costumes (that is, depicting characters I recognize) -- or just ones that looked hella nice -- on folks roaming this year's Dragon*Con:
( How many Slave Girl Leias is that now? I lost count... )