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Darkover: other stuff
The hotel is doing something new and laudable to save energy: by default they change linens and towels every three days, not daily, and they turn off lights and heat in the rooms. If that's not acceptable, there was a card to hang on the door with check-boxes. I checked off the boxes for "don't mess with the lights and thermostat", ignored the rest (I re-use the sheets and towels at home...), and hung it up. The hotel gets points for trying but not for implementation: they changed my towels and I think sheets and also messed with the lights. Oh well.
I knew that ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
osewalrus and beckyfeld were coming
but didn't find them before Shabbat started, so I didn't know what room
they were in. I ran into them for the first time at our concert that
night; Becky was struggling with some sort of illness, alas, so I didn't
see much of her. Their eight-year-old son went to the grandparents'
for Thanksgiving, so osewalrus and I were able to have a
long conversation Saturday afternoon without interruptions every few
minutes. We haven't done that in a long time. So we caught up, talked
a lot about religion, and just generally got to relax together. It
was very nice.
dglenn's group, Homespun Ceilidh Band, played Friday after
us and Saturday night. I enjoy their shows; they're musically
interesting and high-energy, and these guys get stagecraft
in a way that I can only admire from afar. There are three
key aspects to being a good performer -- being a good musician (or
whatever your area is), having good material, and knowing how to
work with an audience. The more you have of some the more you can
slip with the others, but it's best to have all three. On the Mark
had the first two with glimmers of the third here and there; HCB
has all three.
Glenn had a string bass with him. It was a loaner (his was being repaired); his regular is 3/4 sized and this one was 7/8 sized. I thought it looked bigger! I don't know how tall it is, but it towered over him and I think he's over 6'. I am impressed and a little astonished that he fit it into a Honda Accord.
There was other good music too, and I didn't make it to all of it. I also didn't make it to the regency ball; I had planned to go and provide percussion support. (Shlepping the dulcimer and keeping it in tune would have been hard. But I can do good things with other percussion.) Sorry, Glenn!
Saturday night was the traditional Clam Chowder concert. They had a lot of new material, and they "let slip" that they're working on a new album. Yay!
The fundraiser deserves special mention. But first, let me back up. Ten years ago at this con, a fan asked Kathy to sing "Bend Over Greek Sailor" (yes, it's as raunchy as you think it is) and she said "no, I have kids now". The fan reportedly said "would you do it if I raise $100?" and Kathy, thinking this unlikely at a con that doesn't attract wealth, said "sure". The fan proceeded to pass the hat and, in short order, Kathy had to figure out what to do with the $100 (which she didn't want to keep). So she announced she would donate it to the local children's hospital.
Thus began a tradition: Clam Chowder would agree to perform the song if money was raised for that charity, and each year the amount collected rose. Ed (Kathy's husband) can get matching funds through his employer, and there's even been media coverage of this fund-raising event by these wacky SF fans. Last year they collected over $5000, which I think surprised everyone, and John Huff said that if we collected $10,000 next year (that is, this year), he'd sing "Sweet Transvestite" in fishnet stockings. I don't think anyone thought this would happen; he said he was giving a year's notice.
So, we got there this year. There are some traditional fund-raising auctions -- pairs of comfy seats front and center, and chances to sing with Clam Chowder as your backup band. Last year the first pair of chairs went for $200 and the second for under $100; this year they went for $325 and $300. (Robert and I had planned to bid; the first bid matched our joint cap, so we said "oh well". Didn't even get to play.) I think the "Clam karaoke" (as it was called) also drew more than usual, though I haven't paid much attention to that one in the past. (This con is kind enough to give me stage time; I'm not going to compete with people who don't get that for the chance to sing with the Clams, fun as that would be.)
This year they also had two limited-release DVDs, one of last year's concert and one of the concert 20 years ago. I didn't much care about last year's -- sure, I'd probably buy it as a conventional commercial release, but not at inflated prices -- but I was interested in the older one. I was at that concert; the group was rather different then. I would have liked to have a copy. I was going to make a donation to the charity anyway; I got a bonus this year that I haven't finished tithing yet. So I made a $100 opening bid. For a couple minutes it looked like no one was going to seriously respond; however, once people started, even with someone else fueling part of my bidding (he, too, was going to make a donation anyway so offered to help me), I ended up bailing. The winning bid was $500 -- too rich for me for "play money".
So that laid a foundation, but $10,000 is still a lot of money for a con with, what, 400 people? To my amazement they got it, and John came out for the second set in full costume to many camera flashes and much laughter and cheering. People will do silly things sometimes. :-) I wasn't personally motivated by this, but as with other bits of goofiness, sometimes that's not the point.
I do hope everyone is clear that this can't keep escalating. :-)
A few years ago I think I noted that there was a lot more gray hair at Darkover than there had been. (I don't go to a lot of cons so don't know how much of a trend that is, though I've heard the phrase "the graying of fandom" in a few different places so it's not just Darkover.) This year I noticed a jump in a different area: many more canes, wheelchairs, and scooters. Many of these people are probably under 60, so I was a little taken aback. (Is that me in a decade or two? I sure hope not!) In some cases the people were extremely large, which can add wear and tear on joints, but not all of them.
The weather was good on Sunday (how rare!), but I took
xthlcm's suggestion anyway and took the long way home,
via I-68 and not the PA turnpike. He's right; it's a pretty drive.
It was 50 miles longer than the drive out there, so not too bad.
It took me 45 minutes longer to get home than to get there, but I won't
say that it cost me 45 minutes because I have no idea how
bad the interchange in Breezewood was. Some years it's trivial and
one recent year we spent an hour going half a mile.
I must say, however that whoever designed some of the interstate interchanges I passed must have been smoking crack. If I'm already on 79 I shouldn't have to go through weird contortions and an exit to stay on it (at 70). Now that I think about it, I think there's an interchange in Ohio involving 70 that's similarly wacky. Maybe it's an I-70 thing -- the Breezewood mess also involves I-70. (What did they do, mark out sections of existing roads to appropriate and then build the connectors and call it all 70?)
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My family used to joke about road engineers advancing by designing the wackiest interchanges they could come up with.
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My family used to joke about road engineers advancing by designing the wackiest interchanges they could come up with.
I always assumed it involved either dares or alcohol (or maybe both) -- "bet you can't get that past your planning commission!". How else do you explain I-376 eastbound in Squirrel Hill?
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*blush* Thank you. I'm pretty sure this is an example of "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". I know that I feel more confident in all the aspects you listed when playing with HCB than with other groups or alone, and part of that must be simply the security of knowing I'm working with people who work together well, but it feels like a lot more than that.
"[...] and John came out for the second set in full costume to many camera flashes and much laughter and cheering."
I was still wearing my kilt from our concert just before, and I commented that when one of the Clams was in drag and I was in boyclothes, something was wrong with the world. One or the other, okay, but both at once?
I am so very glad I got to hear your Friday concert and half of your Saturday concert (I eish I could've gotten there half an hour earlier on Saturday. Y'all did a right fine job yourselves, a memory to cherish.
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Oh, not at all. I first noticed it over a decade ago at Worldcon, where the effect is *very* striking -- not really surprising, since it tends to be an expensive con, so more attractive to the older crowd. But even younger cons like Arisia are aging gradually.
Far as I can tell, "traditional" fandom is slowly being replaced (or at least, supplemented) by newer forms like cosplay that appeal more to the younger crowd. Science fiction seems to be as strong as it ever was, and fandom has done nothing but grow, but with growth it's become somewhat more diffuse, with more outlets than it used to have. Since older-style cons are no longer the only game in town, they are gradually more and more dominated by the people who focus on them, with the new blood going in many different directions. And there is some generational shift in what the fans are interested in, leading to different social groupings. (With manga/anime being the most conspicuous generational breakpoint.)
Not really surprising, but not a happy thing from my POV. I *like* being in a younger crowd...