Creature of Mad Enthusiasms

WHO DAILY SHORT LINK to the only part of interest to the nl: < lj user="neadods"> links to < a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/capsgirl44/4785016599/in/set-72157624350549441/">a Fourth Doctor costume from Shore Leave Convention

For everyone else:
The Shore Leave Masq director just just linked to this Flickr page.

I'm going to single out three shots as being of interest to this flist:

Fourth Doctor. That lucite thing in his hands is one of the major awards, but I don't know if it's for costume or presentation. As I wasn't there, all I know from scuttlebutt is that the giant wolf was Best in Show.

For whoever it is who once said people of color don't do conventions or costuming, Guinan and
classic Uhura beg to differ.

Photos by "mdcapsfan"

My brain is not entirely recovered, so this is more of a series of strobe-lit images than a flowing essay.

First: My review for French Pressed is up on Reviewing The Evidence. It contains a pithy statement about a particularly annoying cozy cliche. RtE is then planning on taking a 2-week break.

Second: My apologies to everyone who responded to the previous post with "Let's get together!" I did not have my laptop or time to get online all of yesterday or until I got home today. (Also, at Shore Leave in particular, I'm running around like a crazed weasel. I would love to meet people, but the best way of meeting me is to catch me coming out of a panel and introduce yourself in small words. By this afternoon, I'm faintly surprised I was speaking coherent English. If I even was.)

I did want to meet y'all, and I regret that I wasn't able to. Hopefully, that can be rectified!

Third: It was good to see everyone I know but don't see often enough. It was great to meet new people, especially you, Mr. Drew (if you're reading this) and you, jmswallow (I hope you are reading this). persiflage_1 - this is the J. Swallow who wrote Peacemaker, if you want to drop a link to your "I love this book!!!!" post in the comments.

( A selected quote from each guest, masquerade commentary, and recaps of the Who panels under the cut. )

Finally, just as I seem to be the only knitter who numbers my needles and everybody thinks it's a good idea, I seem to be the only panel moderator who uses this technique and, as I've been complimented on it more than once, I shall describe it for anyone who wants to adopt it:

I like to throw out a discussion topic, have my say, and keep an eye on the audience. As hands go up, I'll point to the person with a nod, and holding up fingers to show where they are in the queue. (My mental buffer won't hold more than 5 anyway.) Then each of them gets their say, and if I or another panelist wants to interject, we do so before the next audience person gets to speak, but then we *do* make sure to go back to right where the queue was broken. (Which I often mark by just pointing to them in order saying "One, two, three, you start.") Take a couple of audience rounds that way (a juicy topic will feed two or three rounds of hand raising) before saying "okay, and now let's move on to..." and repeat the whole thing.

People know if they've been seen or not, they don't have to have their hand up forever, they do get their say, and it tends to keep too many people from just blurting out. The downside is that it really only works when I'm either the only one on the panel or the most talkative panelist (not that tiggerallyn and terri_osborne didn't get their $.02 in!) But the key is that it *works* and works well on contentious panel topics.

Oh - and apparently out there somewhere is a parody of the "He's like fire and ice and rage" speech, and I would love to see/hear it all the way through. All I can remember being told is "fire and ice make tepid water."

This was the most relaxed Shore Leave I've had in years! Mostly because every time I had to fill a niche, I was able to keep successfully fobbing the job off on other people. I can't keep that up and keep getting badged in, but for this year? It was lovely.

I knew there was going to be a good Who presence when I saw the "Vote Saxon" flyers going up among the usual posters and advertisements. The morality in Who panel - bolstered by a last-second essay on "Wartime Morality in Doctor Who" by thanatos_kalos went well. It wasn't like Media*West's panel - the audience wasn't as eager to interact, and since we drew spoiler lines, there were a couple of times when someone speaking suddenly realized they couldn't finish their sentence. And a disconcertingly large group of people got up in the middle and left (it could have been boredom, it could have been that they were getting somewhere in the main room, which had slid off schedule by half an hour) but more people came in and stayed. So we started and ended with a full room, but not all the same folks.

I went to the "Doctor Who, Sarah Jane, Torchwood" panel later, but oy! The interest was there - it was a larger room than mine and standing room only - but the panelist who did most of the speaking was getting shouted corrections from the audience almost every other line, since he couldn't remember episode names, couldn't remember title names, and kept presenting rumor as fact. No, Freema was not fired. No, Christopher Eccleston did not suddenly quit mid-season because he didn't want to be typecast.

I've told the person who runs panels that I want to be the one running more Who panels next year. Thanks to having been on the concom and puppetmaker40, terri_osborne, and tiggerallyn's having rushed to sign up to Morality in Who (That really impressed her, guys, thanks!) I think I'm going to get it.

The other big thing of the day was, of course, the Masquerade. bill_leisner, I'm sorry I missed you - they said you'd dropped by at the signup desk - but the one part of the con that I really worked my ass off alongside everyone else was that flat-out race between end of signup and opening of the doors. Four hours seems like a long time until you have to edit the entry database, print out the paperwork for all the positions, get it to the appropriate people, get the food and repair kits to the green room, get the trophies to the main room and set up, wrangle judges & volunteers, and organize a small army.

My "padawan," as one of the tech dubbed Tom (his name's on the Shore Leave page), did brilliantly against an uphill climb. He lost all his usual photo area people (that's one of the jobs I accepted and then stuck someone else in - whew!), most of his costuming-expert judges had to drop out suddenly for personal reasons before the con and then one of his celebrity judges had to drop out minutes before the show started and the one that went on was drunk off her ass.

Claudia Christian should note that conventions don't touch Terry Farrell with a ten-lightyear-pole and she's going to end up the same damn way if she doesn't straighten up NOW. Dragging the show with random monologues by grabbing the stage got old fast; groping fellow judges and support staff on stage was inexcusable, and starting to swear in front of the children - *about them* as she handed out the awards to them! - is not going to be forgiven. And her handler isn't going to last long at her job either, if she can't keep her charge sober enough to handle her contractual duties.

One of the biggest cheers of the night was when our stage ninjas herded CC offstage after the children's awards and she didn't come back.

But the rest of it? Fabulous. Tom had a mammoth show - 28 entries, close to 40 bodies on stage - and it started exactly on time, clipped along with only Claudia dragging it for a tidy hour, had a high-energy hour with The Chromatics while the judges deliberated, and then awards went out quite fairly I think. There were three costumes that I really loved out of the pack, and they all got two awards each.

The first was a Jack Sparrow so good you'd think Johnny Depp just walked by. He won best in his category and one of the special awards (forget which now).

The second was "A Chorus League" where all the Justice League characters basically re-enacted A Chorus Line as run by Superman and Kara. ("Okay, the routine is punch, punch, block, kick, pow!" WONDER WOMAN "Please God, I need this job. I've got to get this job...") They got Best Presentation and I think one of the awards in their category as well. (Sorry, I'm a little fried. Drove home far too late without rock music to keep me awake - damnit, I had the case but it was empty! - and, fangirl that I am, am typing this up before I get breakfast.)

Best in category and best in show went to a group that always does the most fantastic ideas, but have been missing Best in Show by the smallest fraction of a vote for years. This time it was finally their time to shine, and they shone like a megawatt spotlight.

Titled "Beauty and the Beast," it started with Belle in her yellow gown waltzing to "Tale as Old as Time" with a very nice recreation of the Disney Beast. That alone was enough to get them something in the awards. But as he spun her out in a turn, out came Vincent! Vincent danced with her a bit, to the fury of the Disney Beast, and as the movie and TV beasts got into what can only be described as a catfight, The Beast from the X-Men came out and swept Belle away. (Words do not do justice to what was a beautifully building visual pun.)

I'm driving back up, but I'm not sure how long I'm staying. I'd like to see the Boogie Knight concert at four and wave at boogiebabe_smap and kradical but it's going to depend on how long my brain is capable of functioning and getting me home safely on so little sleep last night. Bill, I'm going to try to make a second shot at seeing you, too.

P.S. Bento
The thermos bento performed as advertised: they don't claim to keep *everything* hot or cold as there is little insulation at the top of the cannister, but six hours after packing the sandwiches and strawberries in the "soup" and "rice" containers were still very cool; the sandwiches in the middle container were cool enough to eat (peanut butter; I didn't mind if it got room temperature) and the cheeses and chocolate at the top were room temp.

It wasn't until I was putting the week's shopping into the pantry - too late to ask anyone staying at the hotel - that I noticed that the tiny little jam jar that comes with room service breakfasts would be *perfect* to put into bentos to hold sauces and things. And since it's glass, it's washable and won't pick up flavors.

I plead the fifth on whether I'm going to do a hall crawl when I get back to the hotel today.

The last Shore Leave 28 meeting was yesterday, and due to the vagueries of seating, my resignation was the last item in a very long session. Just as I'd been expecting the Dr. Who fandom to behave like BatB fandom, I was rather expecting my resignation from SL to replay my resignation from Farpoint. Or to be challenged about "those rumors," which were flying fast and free at the con. (The one that really gobsmacked me was the guy who was handing out awards; by the end of the masq. he was asking me what that rumor was. How could he find out during the show?)

But at Farpoint I napalmed my bridges behind me; at Shore Leave one of the conchairs sent me off with a very nice speech saying I'd be welcomed back when/if ever I felt ready. As for the rumors, apparently about 1/3 the concom had picked them up, but nobody was saying anything until I did.

In the meantime, my choice for successor was accepted with enthusiasm and appreciation. (He, on the other hand, I think is feeling a little wobbly now that it's not just talk. The good thing is that since we all know up front that he's got the job, we've got plenty of time to ease into the switchover and for him to set up any team meetings he feels necessary.)

I'm free of the obligation, the concom is satisfied, and the systems I've been building are in capable, experienced hands. It is of the good.

(And by next year, I'll have my own wireless travelling laptop and will be able to torrent on my own, since I'm betting that the same "the masquerade and the finale are the same time" issue will crop up... if I'm lucky, it will be mine by ChiTARDIS, although pulling together that amount of cash in addition to travelling cash will be difficult. I'll have to hope that I can do well selling books on half.com)

It's all a great deal more real when you've got a trunkful of concrap.

Innovations this year:
- partitioned, labelled green room repair kits
- all green room stuff in a single roll-bag (much easier for handling!)
- all trophy stuff in collapsable crates (much easier to handle, little trash left over)
- protection for computer equipment (almost cooked it last year!)
- different, fresher green room food. (We tend to throw out a lot, so this year rather than buying plates on the way up, I'm going to send someone across to the mall for bagels, brownies, & cheese.)

Backup Plans (Rule #1 - Walk into the convention with Plans A, B, and C already set to go.)
- thumb drive with all con paperwork
- laptop with original "database" (word merge forms)
- spare ink for printer
- printer driver software
- Shuggoth on the Roof (in case of extended halftime/need to distract audience)
- printed menus from Panera & Noodles (for crew dinner)

Should be getting 2 spare CDs of blank database at convention.

I'm a lot calmer about this when there's no more waiting.

So exhausted I'm barely upright. The bottom line: 31 entries (down from last year, but a thoroughly respectable number), database passed with flying colors, tight show that ran ontime, extraordinarily successful halftime act (last year, people were hunting me out to yell at me for the comic's jokes. This year, we had celebrities joining them onstage and guests coming backstage to rave with delight), and a generally happy post-mortem.

Are there things I need to fix/add/do better next year? Yeah.

Did we kick ass this year? YEAH!

The long story below the cuts:

( Listen to your paranoia. It has a point. )

( Welcome to my nightmare )

( Allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster... Strangely enough, it all turns out well. )

Sunday was quiet except for the fact that I'd forgotten to check the schedule and didn't realize that the masq. post-mortem wasn't ON it. Fortunately, there was a room already assigned, it just wasn't printed. I commandeered it early and listened to the Chromie concert while I printed out the workmanship forms.

All's well that ends well, and I'm already starting work for next year. I'm going to do cleanup and prep for the rest of the month, and next year we'll hopefully be even bigger and better.

Wierd day, and I don't know what to do about it. It started with a particularly clear nightmare/stress dream, but with an unsettling difference. Often some part of my mind knows that I'm dreaming; no matter how real it seems, something tells me that "I can rewind and fix this."

Last night, I dreamed that I went to Shore Leave with nothing. No notes, no supplies, no computer - I hadn't even ordered the trophies. (Interesting way to get fired, but not how I'd like to go.) But the part that's really wierding me out was when I was looking at the empty signup table, trying to think of how to fix this and said to myself, "this is your own doing. You got yourself into this mess AND IT IS REAL. You can't go back and fix it."

That's still freaking me out slightly; it's the first time my trusty "don't worry" sense has failed me.

I also think that's a pretty hideous overreaction to having double-booked a Shore Leave committee meeting at my house. (It starts at 1pm, the Bitchin Babe concert starts in Virginia at 7:30. Timing will be tighter than I'd like, but hardly mission impossible, and there are few really suck seats at the Birchmere.)

And on a far more serious note - Passed on on behalf of my friends T, D, K, & B, and their friends and family, and all the others out there.

I had a vision of the Masquerade. It was going to be perfect in every detail, everything working seamlessly, the ultimate vindication of my wish to run one of these things, all my planning, and all the new systems I thought of. Everyone would be happy and on time and know just what to do, moving like a well-trained army.

I was not only foolish enough to think this but to actually say it to Ron ruefully after the fact. He encouraged me to get professional help for my delusions.

The reality? One of my judges showed up at 7 minutes to curtain and 6 minutes before my massive coronary from fear. One of my key volunteers never showed up at all, sent elsewhere in her capacity as concom. (Fortunately, her last-second replacement was fortuitously perfect - so perfect that he's pretty much got the job permanently.) One of my other volunteers decided that the job she was assigned was beneath her and walked off, leaving her area shorthanded. Everybody else was pretty much making it up as they went along. The printer jammed a few times, at least three parents complained strongly that my half-time comic told inappropriate jokes, three people tried to sign up well after entries were shut down (one, I found out later, doing the old "but can't you do it for my child? She's looked forward to this for months and months, think of my little girl.") Many of the trophy books didn't show up at all. I forgot several key things to have at the signup desk. Scheduling snafu-ed and I was a large part of that.

But like a swan, paddling madly underneath the waters, the show itself was:

Perfect.

We started 5 minutes late, which is close enough to count as "on time" by any standards. The database did work, well enough for me to think, "Idiot! I also need this!" and whip up some new lists on the spot. The judges were mostly in strong agreement, so the judging was quick and painless and GOOD. (Oddity of note: First masq. I know where Best in Show was the first award given.) The costumers, even the ones who lost, seemed to feel the next day that no-one had been shafted - and they all liked what the awards looked like, and liked the free books. Tech crew ran as smoothly as possible; I've known masqs where someone or other has had to go elsewhere to calm down for a while and that didn't happen. And while complaints got aired at the post-mortem the next day, so did compliments, and we worked out a consensus on how to handle some of the points of contention. (It turns out that one of the costumers is a professional dbase administrator and will work us up a real database for next year.)

In reality, the only serious complaint is about the comic. To get through a 30-entry extravaganza that is considered as important as the main guests stars with only one major complaint is a miracle!

I have been formally asked to come back next year. I have accepted. As far as I'm concerned, Shore Leave has found their permanent masquerade director.

Ron put it so well, I'm going to leave him the last word: "Everyone knew you could do it except you."

Musings on Awards
The Shore Leave main trophies are in - a little smaller than I'd like, but very lovely. An Enterprise (flying in the right direction; the guy almost put it on upside down!) line drawing in black on a gold circle, mounted on a clear "glass" oval. Gold laurel leaves around the Enterprise, and underneath that, a little gold rectangle with "Shore Leave 26" and the award type engraved on it. I've picked out a paperback book to go with every first place award and a hardback book to go with every major award. (The Best First Costume entirely by a young fan gets Alice Through the Needle's Eye and the Best in Show gets a signed numbered edition of something-or-other from WFC.)

What I'll do next year for spare books, I'm not sure. I wasn't planning on WFC 2004, Worldcon is more parsimonious with the freebie books, and Malice is the wrong genre. We'll see how the book program goes over this year. Maybe I can talk to Inge (in charge of the SL writing track) and some of the SF/F writers I know about kicking in a promo copy or two.

The only trophy missing is a "Most Beautiful." Must check and see if I really ordered that one or not; can't remember. In fact, since the trophy names are glued/taped on, I'm going to talk to the guy next year about giving me two or three blank trophies with a set of engraved plates that I can stick on at the last second as required. Betting I can do that and stay within budget. It would be very cool to be able to pull out tailored trophies! (It would also reduce waste if we could "hold over" unmarked, unawarded trophies from year to year.)

Tomorrow I pick up the young fan awards - those are clear lucite paperweights, 3" by 3" with "Shore Leave 26 - Young Fan" written on them. Because all the kids get an award, I'm not doing the First-Second-Third awards for the Young Fans, just the toybags and paperweights, with an extra trophy and book for kid who made the best costume entirely by themselves. I feel this is fair and encourages the next generation to create. We never know how many kids there will be, so I got a dozen.

Workmanship awards - since we never know how many awards there will be here either, nor what they will be awarded for, I'm going to go to Staples and get a bunch of certificates.

Musings on State of Mind
Shore Leave isn't "over," not by a long shot, but right now I feel remarkably calm and in control. There are still some things I must do - send an email, make a phone call, collect the last items for the repair kit, make a packing list and check it twice, test that printer, finish the fardlin' database (not too much more work there)... but the big things feel like they're under control. The awards are made. The staff is set. The carbonless forms have been ordered. (Please let them arrive on time!) The dbase is gelling, slowly. Part of July 4 and all of July 5 is being dedicated to doing everything except getting the green room food. It is, to my shock, all falling into place with a minimum of fuss and bother. And next year (assuming there is one, she inevitably adds cynically), there will be even less fuss and bother because the system will be set. Heck, I already know who I want for the half time acts.

I not only feel ready for this, I feel optimistic about this.

Short Musings on Movies
Why, oh why, is the theater near work shooting itself in the foot by not having any showings of Spiderman 2 tomorrow?