daemonluna

Conversion XXI was this past weekend. I am still recovering from the resulting sleep deprivation. *g*

Highlights include:

- IFWA bedtime stories
- troutkitty won the short story contest! jestyna placed third!
- the Buffy musical performance--and queenzulu's later appearance in her Faith get-up
- Firefly shindig! Firefly fake tattoos! Plastering self and friends with said tattoos... (chaleur23! I grabbed some extra for you!)
- Masquerade, slave auction, the usual suspects.
- Being on panels for both intro to anime for parents, and f&sf in current kids' books (the latter of which was taped by campus radio)
- Hanging out with zoi_no_miko in her pretty, pretty costume (with corset!)
- Improv with the 404's, and the constipated-Shatner-attacking-alien scene.

So it started out a pretty low-key day. I'm once again between temp assignments, so I mercifully, mercifully didn't have to be anywhere at eight am this morning, and got up at 8:30 to drive my girl with the twisted ankle in to work.

Buuuuut, I had an interview with a local company today that does technology training for teachers and librarians, and it looks like I'm going to be developing a course for them on online collection development for graphic novels, or something similar, and probably acting as back-up instructor for a few other courses. !!!!! It's a part-time contract thing, but is very cool in terms of some extra income, and looks kick-ass on a resume. Plus, I think I'll enjoy it.

Must sleep. Still planning on full con report, and oh yeah, finishing Animethon con report too. Heh.

Um. Yeah. About that Con Tales thing. Con Tales is also the name of the publication with the top five short story contest entries. As one of the included entries, Barb got a free copy, signed by all involved. Which I kinda... spilt coffee on. Arrrrgh. It was okay after we blotted it off, and I bought her an additional copy, but still.

The whole coffee incident happened at the anime improv. The Anime Alberta gang (in essence, Anime Alberta IS Mark and Dan, but the rest of us are all part and parcel) regularily do improv like an anime-themed whose Line Is It Anyways. Mark hosts, and Dan, the other Mark, and some of the guys from BAKA (the Edmonton club) are the usual suspects. They're pretty damn good. This year they did Sakura-Con (Seattle), Animethon (Edmonton), Anime Evolution (Vancouver), I think Otafest (Calgary), and ConVersion (Calgary). They need a name, and a website. And six hundred bucks for their own sound equipment, ouch.

They had two improvs at ConVersion, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. The improv-ers are always three or four of the cast, with a healthy dose of willing audience volunteers. The Saturday core improv crew was supposed to be Mark hosting, another volunteer, and Dan. Dan got held up, soo... I tracked down a back-up Dan (aka Karl), and Dan and Mannie made it for the second half. It went relatively smoothly--more about the Sunday improv later.

Then we went costume hunting.

But first, I must explain about the gypsies.

Every year, ConVersion has a slave auction. "Slaves" volunteer to be auctioned off. Those who buy them get an hour of their time for mutually agreed upon services immediately following the auction. The proceeds go to the food bank, and much chaos ensues. the guys always go for less than the women, on average.

Several years back, BJ bought four male slaves because they were a steal at $5 each. Last year, she got together with some friends, and found some costumes. And then the gypsies came to the slave auction.

"How much for this one? I give you five dollar! Show me his teeth!" was their rallying cry. They convinced two hapless audience members to be auctioned off ("No, I want him! How much?"), shamed other participants from bidding ("Is for baby!" "Is for me! Is her first slave!" "Why you bid against the baby?"), oh yeah, and bought Mark as one of their entourage. *g*

This year, the pirates came looking for galley slaves.

We headed out to the thrift stores, and after some confusion surrounding SW and SE quadrants of the city and how to get around the Stampede grounds on roads that should connect and didn't, we ended up at our destination.

The plan was to find BJ a costume. We also ended up outfitting Barb and myself, complete with some plastic pirate swords. Skirts, scarves, and beads and bangles were all acquired.

We had supper at our place, costumed up, and headed back con-wards for the masquerade. There were some very cool entries, including two Klingons, a bar wench with corset-enhanced cleavage you could lose small housepets in (she fetched a pretty penny at auction), and a company of Roman legionnaires.

The legionnaires were part of a military history recreation type group, and they were a non-competing entry. They had spent the afternoon wandering the halls, drilling in Latin. These guys were GOOD. Not only did they move with military precision, but their costumes were wonderful and incredibly authentic--to my inexpert eye, anyhow. The linen, leather, sandals, metal armour, the helmets, the record-keeper with his beeswax tablet. Cooooool.

The other phenomenal entry was the only entry in the Master's category. They were the House of Charn, from The Magician's Nephew in the Narnia books. When Diggory and Polly end up in an old world (Charn) that is about to be ended, with a red, tired sun, and an empty city, they find a hall full of stone thrones. The seated figures start out at one end looking kind and noble and good and as they move further down, they begin to look foolish or shifty until the last, a very beautiful woman who also looks very cruel. This is Jadis. Diggory rings a bell, wakes her, and she, eventually, becomes the White Witch of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

This group cosplayed as the seated figures in the Hall of Charn, based on the classic Narnia illustrations by Pauline Baynes. The only version of the one illo their costumes were based on that Ic ould find online is on the cover BBC radio drama booktape, here.

They were fantastic. They proceeded in one at a time, and were seated on chairs draped to look like stone. I think there were eight or nine of them altogether, and the last one in was Jadis, who strode to the front of the stage, gestured, and brought down thunder and darkness on us. *g* My pictures will hopefully look better on the computer than on the digital camera's little screen, but I know the flash setting was off. Sigh.

Jadis was a gypsy last year. This year she was bidding on slaves for the salt mines of Charn. *g* But I'm going to have to leave the slave auction for tomorrow because now I'm REALLY tired.

In other news, while the librarian I'm filling in for is NOT coming back from maternity leave, my contract only runs until the end of August. And they're lagging about in HR posting the position--they're waiting until the beginning of Sept, I think, because it's cheaper to just find someone to fill in for the meantime. Arrrrrgh. I'm looking at several weeks of being unemployed, I suspect. Very hopefully not more than a week or two.

Watching DVDs of the Stephen King miniseries, Rose Red. Must not slash Joyce Reardon with Annie. Or Pam and Joyce. Or Nick and anybody. Heh. Anybody seen any Rose Red slash?