Not for fifteen years, actually. Although I did work the computer gaming room that year ('92?) with a couple of guys from Pennsylvania. Ah, back when Wing Commander and Aces of the Pacific were still the shizznit and required high-end machines to play...
And no, I didn't dress up like anything. I used to like DragonCon because it made me feel so very, very UN-geeky by comparison. In the land of the hopelessly dweeby, the moderately socially competent is queen. At least for the weekend.
That's OK.
ReplyDeleteI once knew a woman who was big into MechWarrior (I think it was called). The game was played online in the era of dial-up for all.
She adopted the fighting name of "Bambi," because she loved it when the message of "Bambi is victorious" would pop us
for "pup us", read "pup up."
ReplyDeleteCriminy.
Or "pop up"
ReplyDelete^%$#%@!
And the Alaska-like male:female ratio probably doesn't hurt a gal's ego, either.
ReplyDeleteClassic Onion: Woman At Farscape Convention Has Dangerously Inflated Self-Image.
Just got back from Dragoncon in Atlanta this weekend. First one I'd been to. Very interesting. Some of the costumes were amazing in detail. Most of the celebrities were actually pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteLt. Boomer from the original BSG was a nice guy who's ex-navy and proud of it. Gil Gerard and Erin Gray are both very down to earth and aproachable. Claudia Black apparently knows how to handle a gun, even if it's resin. Lori Petty looks like she'd rather be somewhere else all the time and is not very friendly. The authors that were there all seemed nice. Over all I'd have to say I'd probably go back.
I haven't been to Dragon*Con since 1990 (the same year it was Origins). It was fun though. I still go to a few (much smaller) conventions to see friends.
ReplyDeleteI forget where I first heard it, but I distinctly remember a lady commenting about going to SF conventions to meet men.
"The odds are good, but the goods are odd."
I'm not proud.
ReplyDelete;)
There was no lack of females at this convention. about half the con-goers were in street clothes the other half in costumes. Equal number of men and women as far as I could tell. Less children than anything. Most people seemed pretty normal for the most part. My friend ran into one ubergeek that knew way too much about Star Trek ships and I ran into one woman that I made the "mistake" of calling her Star Trek outfit a "nice costume" upon which she told me it was a "uniform"...Had to bite my tongue on that one.
ReplyDeleteI had a Star Trek: TNG uniform... for Halloween when I was twelve.
ReplyDeleteEBM- I used to play Unreal Tournament as "Rainbow Brite" for the same reason...
ReplyDeleteI was always "Auntie Tank".
ReplyDelete...and before Marko comes in and tells everyone, I used the handle "Love Rhino" in Rainbow Six LAN games for the longest time.
ReplyDeleteI rather enjoyed "Wing Commander" back in the day...never played anything online, though.
ReplyDelete"Love Rhino"?? Hmmmm...ok
Love Rhino? Is there a fun story behind that one?
ReplyDeleteIt'd probably make a good personalized plate.
It's the title of my third favorite Deathtöngue song, after "Skateboarding to Satan" and "Let's Roll Over Lionel Richie With A Tank".
ReplyDeleteI usually get your references immediately but am forced to admit I don't know Deathtongue. I feel like quite the heathen now.
ReplyDeleteA band with a song called "Let's Roll Over Lionel Richie With A Tank" sounds right up my alley a few years ago.
hope you've read "Bimbos of the Death Sun" by Sharyn McCrumb.
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/2p4kde
It captures the whole 'Con' scene wonderfully.
And won an Edgar Award too.
Ben,
ReplyDeleteYou never read "Bloom County" back in the day?
Deathtongue is the metal band from Berke Breathed's old Bloom County strip. If I remember right, it consisted of Bill the Cat on vocals and tongue-strum, Opus the Penguin on tuba, Phil the Groundhog on drums, and... somebody else.
ReplyDeleteU stink but I luv u!
Tam,
ReplyDeleteOkay, apparently not a heathen just incredibly stupid. It just went right over my head for some reason. How embarassing. But you won't hold it against me, right? (I just lost some cool points, didn't I.)
I think I may even still have the old "single" that came with one of the books to "U Stink But I Love You" kicking around somewhere.
Way-O, Way-O, Way-O
Bill the Cat quoted the lyrics of the song in front of the PMRC...
ReplyDelete"Let me graze into your veldt
Let me stomple your albino
Let me nibble on your buds
I'm your... Love Rhino."
It's sad that I actually remember the lyrics...
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30564
ReplyDeleteBTW, that's not meant to be a reflection on any female here who might have actually attended any "sci-fi conventions".
ReplyDeleteWell, Tam, look at it this way, I could probably still sing "U Stink But I Love U" for you in the style of that original recording. That's probably worse. Wake the kids and call the neighbors and we'll see what happens when you open the vault that is my memory.
ReplyDelete" I hate the way you act,
and I hate the way you smell.
I hate the way you look, girl,
cause you just look like hell.
You make me sick.
Way-O Way-O Way-o... "
I remember another that mentions "gargling Lavoris" but can't get the old magnetic memory tape rolling fast enough on that one for total recall.
And here I parsed Love Rhino as "Lover I Know".
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/dragoncon2007/
ReplyDeleteAh Bloom County. Such a font of quotability. My wife and I love to use it on each other.
ReplyDelete"You, yes you, are a sinner. Don't deny it." "Okay."
"If you were a truly virtuous woman you wouldn't tempt the inner demons of sin." Or something to that effect.
Somewhere around here I still have the vinyl Deathtongue record that came in one of the books. Scary.
Never been to DragonCon. Any con with the un-official slogan "It's in the other hotel" is too big for my tastes. The one I've been attending most often since the ones near here have mostly folded is LibertyCon in Chattanooga. It's small enough that you can actually meet people. This past year, I was in the hotel lobby with some folks chit-chatting & trading "No feces, there I was in a game" stories with some folks and the topic somehow rolled around to Iraq.This one guy is doing an excellent job evicerating the anti-war talking points. Out of curiosity I glance at his badge. Turned out to be David Weber.
ReplyDeleteYeah. David Weber, David Drake and John Ringo are semi-regulars at LibertyCon.
ReplyDeleteI was highly annoyed that I missed out on the spades game at a (now defunct con) in Nashville that ended up getting a bunch of people put into one of the Honor Harrington novels just so Weber could kill them. Yeah, he got skunked at spades that badly. :)
Heh. One of the Auctions at LibertyCon this past year was for a cameo in Mike Williamson's next novel. The auction that followed it was for the right to choose whether or not the character survived the cameo... and was won by the wife of the guy who won the cameo.
ReplyDeleteSome of the most fun I had in Atlanta was the two years I could make it to DragonCon. Yeah, a lot of the entertainment of the convention was seeing just how serious some people took things like LARP, cosplay, and all the rest. However, in all honesty, a lot of the convention was just fun. That, and the marketplace areas were way, way too cool.
ReplyDeleteNot only do I still have the acetate that came with Billy and The Boingers - Bootleg, but it's burned on CD and in my car for the morning commute. U Stink But I Luv U and Cuz I'm a Boinger; I love the reactions I get when friends hear what's coming out of my speakers at top volume.
ReplyDelete