Archon 32 Opening Ceremonies
Went off well. If I do say so myself, since I was Toastmaster.
Because they always rent me a tux for my gig as Masquerade MC (which I also am this year) I decided to wear it tonight for OCs. Which went over well enough. I don’t know if I was even the slickest-dressed dude on stage; Rich Zellich, who with his wife Michelle are Fan Guests of Honor, wore a tail coat, a top hat, goggles, and a cane with a brass head that unscrews and becomes a little 3 power spyglass. All of which is awesome.
Steampunk, for which I have a considerable affinity, seems to be all the rage this year. Lotsa cool steampunk hall costumes about. Including Rich’s.
Rich and Michelle are former serial Archon chairs. They’ve also been good friends of mine forever.
Artist and Gaming GoH (he’s also two things in one) John Kovalic seems like a pretty good guy. I met him for the first time today. He has a cool, idiosyncratic drawing style, as seen in his Dork Tower comic strip and his illos for the Munchkin
Our Media GoHs are Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Joel Hodgson, Mary Jo Pehl, and J. Elvis Weinstein, whom I hope you recognize as much of Mystery Science Theater 3000, hence gods (well, one goddess) among men. They couldn’t make OCs, sadly, so I didn’t get to meet them. Dang.
Author GoH is St. Louis’s own Laurell K. Hamilton, who was lookin’ good in a black leather skirt.
So anyway to open my turn as Toastmaster I said the following:
“You always know a con is in the air when you go to Ponderosa for dinner, as I did last night, and two gentlemen come in got up in full pirate regalia.”
(Laughter.)
“Then I come to find out they weren’t there for Archon at all. They dress that way every day.”
(Pause.)
(Holding up finger:) “Bankers.”
(Much laughter.)
The first part of that was true. The rest, not so much. When most people do that, it’s called a lie. When I do it, it’s fiction.
So between the time I finished off tonight’s tech rehearsal for the Masquerade, which I had to take a leave of absence from to do OCs, and the commencement of the MST3K show, I briefly hit the Artists’ Reception in the Art Show. I was standing next to writer and game guy Michales Joy, whom I know only by glancing at his nametag, perusing a panel of Dork Tower strips, when past us outbound walks this gorgeous Asian girl, wearing a long, slinky, black silk thing that was, well, only kinda sorta there. As one our heads turned to watch her.
“I … hope she’s older than fourteen,” I said.
“I feel bad about looking,” he said.
A good time, as always. Carp, it’s gotten late and I didn’t sleep well last night. More later.