Well, last night wasn't fun. I had some bad stomach problems last night and didn't get to sleep until about three. Things were not good "down under." I realized I have been drinking fruit juice all weekend with my sandwiches. I usually have real fruit, not juice. I think that was part of the problem.

Needless to say, having gotten up at 8:30, I was pretty exhausted all day. James had stayed up with me and he wasn't doing all that well, either. But he wanted to hit a 10 o'clock panel, so we headed downtown. It was the nicest day for parking and we we were going to the same panel—I'd seen Erin Gray and Gil Gerard last time and at that point was feeling too shaky to be alone, so I went to the panel with him.

This was actually one I had scheduled as a possible, about revisionist history in SF being the "new fantasy." Between the panel and the audience, we actually decided the term "revisionist history" was inaccurate...what the suggestor probably meant was "alternate history." We discussed the various kinds of alternate histories: ones that are "what if" type scenarios (Robert E. Lee takes command of the Union army, etc.), ones that use magic, and ones that have a SF plot (aliens invade during World War II, for example).

I toyed with seeing Elisabeth Rohm's panel and then found out they had changed today's Lone Gunmen panel up 90 minutes and to the Hilton, but didn't feel like rushing there. So instead James and I went to register for next year, walked over to the Marriott to wander about the Walk of Fame for a few minutes and buy the discount memberships to Timegate next Memorial Day weekend, then ended up at the Hilton anyway. We went to the Dealer's Room to see if anything else took our fancy, but nothing did. We did stop at Andy Runton's table on the way out and James bought the "Korgi" graphic novel by Christian Slade (this, like "Owly," is told just in drawings). I had to buy the stuffed Owly (with his pal Wormy on his head); he was just too cute.

We dropped by the Exhibitor's Hall to get an Enterprise poster James had liked, but alas, they were out; should have gotten it yesterday. Then I went with him for about a half hour to attend the wrapup panel of the Apocalypse Rising track (which used to be the Tribe track). He's attended several of the track panels this weekend and enjoyed most of them, except "Music for the Apocalypse," which turned out to be musicians talking about their favorite songs. I left him about 1:30 so I could leisurely make my way through the Marriott and back to the Hyatt. There was a Doctor Who panel at 2:30 and I wanted to make sure to get there early enough.

Monday's a bit of a melancholy day at the convention since people have to check out and many leave early; the lobbies were clotted with people with suitcases and luggage racks and the drive outside full of cars being pulled up. So the Who panel was full but not overcrowded. By this time the panel members were on their fourth day in the Brittrack room and they were all a bit punch drunk, so there was much joking as people ate their lunch up at the front of the room.

We had a nice discussion about the different aspects of the old series and the new series and how people would like to see more references and actors from the old series on the new one, and also the definition of an "official" companion (why Sara Kingdom, for example, and not Bret Vyon, and was Adam a companion or just a failed wannabee?), whether David Tennant would be staying with the role, etc. (they think he is because fifth season has just been announced by the BBC as being delayed since DT wants to do Hamlet).

I nipped off to the bathroom between panels and came back to find James waiting for me. He was going to go to another wrapup panel, but the one he had attended was disappointing and the room was hot. So he came and sat in the Brittrack wrapup panel where people were asked and said what they would like next year (mostly a larger room!). Finally we were both too tired to finish and headed home. We'd planned to go out to eat, but I was utterly exhausted, so we ended up at Wendy's after James' plan to get Chinese food at the Grand Mercado didn't pan out: the restaurant section was gone except for the sushi bar.

The funniest thing happened: I showed the Owly stuffed animal to Schuyler, expecting her to be frightened. Instead she just stared at it, creeping close to the cage bars, fascinated. Maybe it is the big eyes! Her reaction was just too delightful!

Labels: conventions

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 8:15:00 PM

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