Interaction 2005:
UK Party Hosts Pete & Eileen Weston
While the UK party was great, the air conditioning failed badly so I went out in the hall for some air. I wandered between the DC party and the Denver party, and, eventually, ran into Brad Ackerman who'd found a TV in a nook of the party floor in the Hilton. He turned it on, and we found Newsnight. As con workers wandered by, we told them that, at some point before 11:30, the con would be on TV. So by the time our segment was finally on, we'd been joined by about 20 other fans, including co-chairs Colin Harris and Vince Docherty.
I really liked the Newsnight segment. It had a great blend of humor (showing the Armadillo as a spaceship with the 2001 music in the background) along with some discussion of the more serious side of SF, particularly focusing on how yesterday's SF becomes tomorrow's reality (privacy issues and the like). I don't know if Simon Willis is an SF fan, but he sure thinks like one!
My throat was very sore by the end of the evening, so I went down to the Hilton lobby and asked for a frozen drink of some kind. The bartender suggested having a hot toddy (whisky, lemon, honey, sugar water, served warm), so I went for that. While the drink helped over the short term, it had no lasting impact. I think Thursday night was the only night I was out after midnight.
© 2005 Photo by Laurie D. T. Mann