Technology, Books and Other Neat Stuff

A US Worldcon is a bustling place, full of people wandering around and looking as if they know where they're going. At least they would be if they were looking in the densely packed programme book...

We're now two days into the con, and we're finding our feet, and our way around the San Jose convention centre (no, I would not have expected to find room E hidden behind the whole A section...). We've been buying books - and I've completed my errand for the fishlifters - and other stuff in the dealers rooms, we've been sitting in panel audiences, we've been up the Fairmont tower in parties, and we've been heckling autopope...

Sure, there have been clashes with events we've wanted to see, but all in all the scheduling is pretty good. The dealer's room is huge - we've not seen it all yet - and we've still managed to buy loads of books (mainly small press stuff from NESFA, Golden Gryphon and Meisha Merlin).

Highlights so far? Gregory Benford's hilarious interview of Vernor Vinge, Cory Doctorow on distributed computing, and a 1940s radio play of "The Adventures of Luke Skywalker" starring many, many famous actors (so how come there were only 8 people on stage?). Even the last minute appearance by Patrick Stewart wasn't the Star Trek fan fest you would have expected, with him doing a credible one man performance. Much more to come, of course, including a panel today with Woz. Wave those Apples with pride, my friends!

Lots of the usual British fannish suspects here of course, including several members of anonymousclaire. In fact, the only real difference between a US con and British con is there's little or no beer...