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This will be both longer and shorter than it should be. . .it's my first post in ages, but I really ought to be working. Anyhow, have actually gotten a working LJ client up. Tried browser plugins for both Mozilla and Netscape, but they could never connect., and don't show up properly as plugins. Now using Semagic, and it looksl like making life a lot easier.
We got to Toronto the week before the convention, and spent a while seeing a little of the city. I like it a lot! Highlights for us were the Saturday morning farmers market and the Sunday antique/flea market, both in the St. Lawrence market building(s).
The islands out in the harbor are a lot of fun, about a 10-minute ferry ride to a very large park, gardens, fountains, kids' amusement park. Also a couple of residential villages with no automotive traffic. There's a waiting list of 500 or so to buy leases out there, and an annual lottery to get onto that list. Tight controls, but they've kept the properties *out* of rthe hands of the super-rich.
Our time at Worldcon ran from Wednesday through Saturday night--had to get back Sunday so Meridel could start with Monday morning classes. First thing after registration, we found the internet lounge. Three guys had done a bang-up job setting up and networking a couple of dozen workstations, but were stymied trying to get connectivity out of the room. Also pretty exhausted and burnt-out. Wish I could say my expertise saved the day. . .actually it was my longish tenure in fandom. I found Seth Breidbart talking to some fellow up in front of registration, and they came down to take a look. "Some Fellow" turned out to be Michael Pins, a Canadian Telco worker, who got the final kinks worked out. And that lounge was one of the busiest places at the convention.
I only caught the beginning of the Hugo ceremonies--and was grateful.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nwl has described Spider Robinson's opening speech pretty eloquently, and I've got to say, it was something I needed to hear as well. I cut out early to hear a reading by Tanya Huff, someone I'd never even heard of before Torcon. Meridel had a couple of her novels along for the trip, and by the time the convention started, we were both fans of hers. She managed to fill a room despite being programmed against the Hugos, which vastly impressed me.
We also did the CN tower, which was easy, being right around the corner from the convention. Also the brewery tour, described well enough byrwl.
One thing I am going to miss is going to pre- and/or post-hugo parties and activities with Dick and Nicki Lynch. We've been doing this for several years; but they've collected their last Hugo (at least, for Mimosa). Thanks, guys, and congratulations on this one. Geez, am I going to have to try writing something? My LJ productivity doesn't portend much.
Anyway, to work. Hopefully more later.
We got to Toronto the week before the convention, and spent a while seeing a little of the city. I like it a lot! Highlights for us were the Saturday morning farmers market and the Sunday antique/flea market, both in the St. Lawrence market building(s).
The islands out in the harbor are a lot of fun, about a 10-minute ferry ride to a very large park, gardens, fountains, kids' amusement park. Also a couple of residential villages with no automotive traffic. There's a waiting list of 500 or so to buy leases out there, and an annual lottery to get onto that list. Tight controls, but they've kept the properties *out* of rthe hands of the super-rich.
Our time at Worldcon ran from Wednesday through Saturday night--had to get back Sunday so Meridel could start with Monday morning classes. First thing after registration, we found the internet lounge. Three guys had done a bang-up job setting up and networking a couple of dozen workstations, but were stymied trying to get connectivity out of the room. Also pretty exhausted and burnt-out. Wish I could say my expertise saved the day. . .actually it was my longish tenure in fandom. I found Seth Breidbart talking to some fellow up in front of registration, and they came down to take a look. "Some Fellow" turned out to be Michael Pins, a Canadian Telco worker, who got the final kinks worked out. And that lounge was one of the busiest places at the convention.
I only caught the beginning of the Hugo ceremonies--and was grateful.
nwl has described Spider Robinson's opening speech pretty eloquently, and I've got to say, it was something I needed to hear as well. I cut out early to hear a reading by Tanya Huff, someone I'd never even heard of before Torcon. Meridel had a couple of her novels along for the trip, and by the time the convention started, we were both fans of hers. She managed to fill a room despite being programmed against the Hugos, which vastly impressed me.We also did the CN tower, which was easy, being right around the corner from the convention. Also the brewery tour, described well enough by
rwl. One thing I am going to miss is going to pre- and/or post-hugo parties and activities with Dick and Nicki Lynch. We've been doing this for several years; but they've collected their last Hugo (at least, for Mimosa). Thanks, guys, and congratulations on this one. Geez, am I going to have to try writing something? My LJ productivity doesn't portend much.
Anyway, to work. Hopefully more later.