ICon this weekend

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

Yes, in response to several queries, I will be attending ICon this weekend in Long Island. Not that you could tell it from the website, of course, where several requests to include my name in the guest list have been ignored even though I’m slated for programming (including a panel with Jewel Staite on Friday). I will be there Friday and Saturday, but not Sunday, because I’ll be going to the World Horror Convention Sunday to see Harlan.

PAD

17 comments on “ICon this weekend”

  1. Well, Peter, in fairness, once most fans catch a glimpse of the picture of Jewel I-Con’s put on their main page, thoughts of most other guests are going to completely driven out of their heads anyway. 🙂

    (Most straight male fans, anyway. I know, you (and many of us) remember her from Space Cases first … but yikes!)

    Wish we could be there, but for now we’re still on the wrong coast. Next year, perhaps!

    TWL

  2. “Well, Peter, in fairness, once most fans catch a glimpse of the picture of Jewel I-Con’s put on their main page, thoughts of most other guests are going to completely driven out of their heads anyway.”

    Eyes front, mister. That’s my honorary adopted daughter you’re drooling over, so we’ll have none of that here. Go ogle Orli Shoshan or something.

    PAD

  3. Actually…that’s not the best picture of her…

    And, may I just take the time to say a big “Dammit!” to the Con Gods who put everyone I’d like to meet (PAD, KRAD, Jewel, Aeire (maker of the webcomic Queen of Wands)) in one place, 6 or 7 hours away from me, and then leaving me with no funds with which to get there…

  5. Peter, I know exactly how you feel: I was asked to send in my photo and bio for the website, but neither have been posted, which makes one wonder, ‘But why did you ask me for them, then?’

    For any Farscape fans that might be interested, I’ll be acting as moderator/interviewer for Rockne O’Bannon’s panel on Saturday from 4:00 to 5:30. I think Rock wasn’t that excited about doing a 90-minute solo panel and asked if I’d be interested in doing with him, so that should be a lot of fun. But I agree, Jewel Staite is a lot easier on the eyes.

  6. Ah, good. I was hoping that you’d be there even if you weren’t a guest. Some of us Long Island “geeks” consider you something of a fixture there to keep things from getting too boring. Loved your contribution to that “Is Star Trek our Future?” panel some time ago. Ranks right up there with my fond memories of Harlan up on the overhead track mercilessly taunting some Trek fans below in the dealer’s room.

    At least Jason Carter will be there to distract my wife; that way she won’t try to hunt you down and kick you in the shins for the ending of the latest issue of “Hulk” 🙂

  7. Eyes front, mister. That’s my honorary adopted daughter you’re drooling over, so we’ll have none of that here.

    And you let her go out in public dressed like that? 😉

    Actually, it’s not drooling — just an acknowledgement that most males would find said picture of Jewel somewhat … distracting.

    She’s a great actress, and I’m really impressed that she’s managed to make the transition from child model to child actress to “grown-up” actress while apparently staying remarkably grounded and sane. I have a feeling she’d be terrific to talk to at a con, or anywhere.

    The fact that she’s also become a stunningly attractive young woman and that I’d have trouble forming coherent sentences is merely icing on the cake.

    Go ogle Orli Shoshan or something.

    “Ogle”? You make it sound so dirty. I don’t need to bring up last summer’s Olympic Beach Volleyball thread, do I?

    TWL
    who actually has zero idea who Orli Shoshan might be

  8. I have only pure thoughts about Jewel Staite.

    Honestly.

    Have a HI-larious time.

    John M

  9. PAD
    “Eyes front, mister. That’s my honorary adopted daughter you’re drooling over, so we’ll have none of that here. Go ogle Orli Shoshan or something.”

    …Googles Orli Shoshan….

    Okay, I can do that.

    …proceeds to ogle….

    Chris

  10. I went to all three-days of I-CON, and it was amazing! Great people, lots of good panels, and for a change I-CON didn’t attract rain the way a trailer park attracts a tornado. Alas, I didn’t get to see PAD or Jewel (so much for an autograhed WONDERFALLS dvd set), but I did go with my friend Scott. I also found out that Scott is dating an attractive woman who went with him to I-CON, so there’s hope for the rest of us!!!

    Ayway, here’s my review. Enjoy.

    * * *

    Greetings, all! This past weekend was the annual I-CON science fiction, gaming, hot women in costumes, and assorted other stuff conventionm at SUNY Stony Brook. Thanks to vacation days, I was able to go for all three days of the convention for the first time — and they rocked! As for what happened, here’s the breakdown:

    FRIDAY

    I leftt at 4 and suffered lots of traffic (came to a dead stop three times on I-495), but I still got there before the 6:00 opening. To my surprise and delight, there were plenty of people there from the start. I did a quick run through the dealer’s room (good stuff for friends, not much for me), then headed off to run my Kobolds Ate My Baby! adventure “What’s An Olympic?”

    At first it looked like no one would come for KAMB, but I got five players (three women, two men — throughout I-CON there was a very nice percentage of women at virtually every event) and we had a blast. The players roleplayed kobolds well (not a small feat, given how fearless and pathetic kobolds are), I simplified the rules to make things go quicker (and easier for the players), and it was gratifying to see the D&D players at the next tables jump every time my 5 players shouted “ALL HAIL KING TORG!” together. The winner was Melody, whose kobold stole 2 babies, won a gold medal, and managed to get a baby from a peasant by giving the peasant her (Melody’s) chain so she (the peasant) could beat up the kobold currently attached to the peasant’s leg, thereby getting Melody a baby and screwing over another player at the same time! Made me proud, it did.

    I also met up with Scott Friday night. He was playing Puerto Rico (his most frequent pasttime during the convention), and we headed over to Cathy’s in Huntington to sleep. Scott once again proved himself a great PR player and a great copilot.

    SATURDAY

    After seeing Cathy in the morning (thanks for the eggs, Cathy!), Scott and I headed off to I-CON. I first hit the panel on the state of the Gaming industry, and I learned a lot (including why computer roleplayers aren’t that big of a threat and why Wizards of the Coast may suffer by having Hasbro backing them). After getting some Swag in the dealer’s room, it was off to a panel on self-editing. This was somewhat useful but very entertaining: The panelists were both editors and authors, and their stories were most illuminating.

    As 2 I ran my Knights of the Dinner Table live reading, and this had mixed but ultimately positive results. There weren’t too many people there, and after we got about 6 strips read I had to cancel it because the readers outnumbered the audience. (There’s something wrong about 5 people performing for 2 others.) But the rest of us settled down for Munchkin (which is certainly in the spirit of KODT), and everyone had a blast!

    Next came playing Star Munchkin in the common lounge, and a small sum’n to eat from the campus diner. After that I just had to go to the panel that seemed completely out of place at a sci-fi convention: How To Pick Up Chicks.

    This panel was, as one might expect, very full. As one might not expect, there were as many women as men there. The speaker was a gorgeous woman who described her qualifications as being bisexual, bigendered, having dated many women and men, and going to an all-female college. The lecture was not too much new information (dress well, don’t be creepy, shower every day) but it was interesting. Our host explained how men can wind up in, and escape from, the dreaded Friend Zone. She explained how women flirt, and how men should flirt. We were told that the soap you use for your body isn’t the best one for your face, confidence is a man’s biggest asset, and that the techniques are very different depending if you’re looking for a relationship or a one-night stand. Sadly, I didn’t leave with any women — but I did leae entertained.

    Next came a 3-hour gap in my self-made schedule. After some small wandering, I joined Scott, Donna, Donna’s married friends and their two young kids for a real, sit-down meal within walking distance of the college. I had my first seafood bisque in months — yayyyy! — and we chatted on movies, geek hobbies, and assorted stuff. ‘Twas a nice break from pizza. (Never thought I’d write that sentence.)

    Post-dinner, everyone else went to see the Will Smith movie that was, for reasons unknown, was called I, Robot. I went to the panel “The Internet Knows Everything?” and heard some very knowledebale computer folks discussing the dangers of relying too much on information that appears online, as well as the difficulty of storing information on media that may not be accessible as technology advances. (The general conclusion was that the most reliable data storage device is… paper.)

    After the panel I joined Scott, Donna, et al for the last half hour of “I, Robot.” This was the low point of the convention for me. I’ve read the Asimov novel twice, and the book did not need the machine guns, robots blatantly breaking the Three Laws, and extraordinarily excessive use of slo-mo. Will Smith, if you’re reading this, please please please please do not use the name of great works if you’re going to completely ignore what makes them great. (And for fnord’s sake, stay far, far away from I Am Legend.)

    SUNDAY

    Scott and I took Cathy out to breakfast, then she went to work and we went to the last day of the convention.

    The day opened with Save Dr. Lucky, who Scott and I did not save but the other Scott did. Great time, though.

    Next for me was the panel on “Satanism and Sex in Dungeons & Dragons.” This panel divided its time pretty evenly between satanism (conclusion: No longer a big media story) and sex (conclusion: some improvement, but still lots of gratituous t&a and d&a in the books). There was lots of intelligent discussion, and again there were a nice # of women there. Next year I have do decide between running a panel on sex and superheroes, or whip up a d20 adventure using the rules from the Book of Erotic Fantasy. Decisions, decisions…

    Later came the panel “How Not To Write Bad Science Fiction.” Again, some great editors and writers had numerous tales of problems and poor writing. After that was “The appeal of bad boys and bad girls in e-gaming.” This expanded to cover badasses (a word they couldn’t use in the program guide) in movies (from Star Wars to Sin City), comic books, literature, and anything else that came to mind.

    To end the convention, I caught the tail end of the “I-CON Gripe Session.” I thought the convnetion organizers did everything pretty well this year, but it was fascinating to hear both the complaints of my fellow attendeed and the reasoning behind the convention officials’ decisions. (There were several good reasons they couldn’t get any Star Trek guests of honor.)

    I then joined Scott, Donna, and Cricket for some medieval games (they played, I slept) then we had a nice Mexican dinner before returning to what passes for the real world.

    ‘Twas a great vacation indeed. Only appx. 364 days until I-CON 25!

    Jim Lynch

  11. PAD,

    Off topic, but I just posted a comment on one of the Funky Winkerbean threads, and received a notice that first-time posts are held for review. Since that wasn’t my first post, I was wondering if you’ve re-instated some sort of filter for posting. And if so, what the impetus to do that was.

    Thanks.

    Rick

  12. O.K., the message I just posted (and presumably the same will hold for this one, too) went through without any such notice. Does that “hold for review” notice have anything to do with threads now being in the archives?

    RIck

  13. Events like I-CON are much appreciated by all of us out here, especially those aspiring to participate in the genre as a career.

    I’m actually trying to get a writer friend of mine to take her writing seriously. She posts her fiction to the internet, but won’t actually submit it to one of the graphic novel houses. I’ve tried nudging her!

    If you or anyone out there could give her a word of encouragement, I’d apprecate it. Women authors especially are needed in our boys club.

    A Spidey story is here, in case anyone is interested:
    http://www.fanfiction.net/~katheryne

    Take a peek at a page or two. 90 positive reviews so far can’t be wrong.

    Thanks, and keep the stories coming,
    – Joseph

  14. Rick-
    It does. Anything in Archive has to be approved by a moderator. Between that and the spambot which caused alot of things to bottleneck, the comment may have been lost in the shuffle.
    Kath

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