WorldCon (LACon IV): Friday Night Parties

It’s official. I’m not twenty-two anymore. Staying up all hours wandering around a massive hotel hitting party after party is something that should be done once, not two nights in a row.

I went to the much-anticipated Tor Party. This always has everyone foaming at the mouth, and I’m not really sure why. I’ve been to a lot of parties in my day, and this one rates as average on my party scale. Sure, there were a lot of big names there, but I’ve never been one to be impressed by celebrity. It was packed in one of the fifth floor Hilton presidential suites -- hard to move around, but I seemed to manage. I talked with a bunch of really nice people, including John Hemry who writes as Jack Campbell. His new book The Lost Fleet: Dauntless is one you should check out. Here is the link to the Amazon page. John’s a heck of a nice guy and a retired Navy officer. (Don't forget to buy my book, too. [link])

The best party of the evening was the Interaction appreciation party, celebrating last year’s WorldCon in Scotland. These boys had a single malt tasting going on. Needless to say I parked my ass near the bar for quite a while. Let me just say that good conversation with some nice folks over some quality whiskey kicks the Tor party’s ass any day.

The Scientologists had an ice cream party, some alien world had a suite dedicated to their WorldCon bid -- best decorations by far. Moscow had a vodka tasting, but after the single malts, I refrained.

I ran into Shaun Lyon who runs the site Outpost Gallifrey and two of his buddies. We, of course, talked about Dr. Who, LOST, and Battlestar Gallactica. I’m amazed about how many Dr. Who fans like BSG. The two series couldn’t be more different.

So, will I hit the parties tonight? Let me just say that Red Bull and a positive attitude can do wonders.

Comments

[Jose]

Thanks for the party report. I wish I was there. bah humbug.

[Michael L. Wentz]

If you can, try to get to Japan for 2007's WorldCon. It's such a great country, and they really know how to throw a bash. I don't know if I'll be able to go, but I'll pencil off the dates anyway.