unclechristo | Feb. 8th, 2016

Thanks to the Con committee for running a very smooth and mellow convention, especially as I know some had tough real-life things to contend with at the same time.

Music
I had a 1hour set on Friday night - It went OK, - room was a bit hot and I got a bit foggy so dropped the odd stitch, and I wouldve liked to have been a bit more relaxed, but hey. I tried to mix old, new, mellow and funny etc... I debuted my new silly Trek filk Make It Not So. In filk circles I also debuted my new song Journey's End, and I sang Vegetarian Vampire.

Set - Andromeda Bound, Superheroes Never Die, Lifespell, Make It Not So, Damned, Wicken Chicken flutes, Love Space Station, Out Of The Blue, Ten Years, Alien Salad Abduction, Three Headed Girl - encore The Fish Song

I really enjoyed watching guests from Canada the Stone Dragons, Tom & Sue Jeffers, who played a delightful blend and mellowed me out after my set nicely. I saw a great set by Talis Kimberley and chums on the Saturday, and I caught some of the n'Early Music Consort who sang a major oratoria, in which a song of mine got kind of referred to... :-) It was nice to see a couple of new-to-me younger filkers who were great. Also UK Guest Piers Cawley with Tim Walker did a fun set of unaccompanied songs which got everyone singing along. There was a memorial "Absent Friends Circle", thinking especially of Joe Raftery who left us shortly before the con, and of Keris of course. I thought it was going to be a heavy emotional circle but it was mellow and full of shared memories and it was jolly too, which seemed to me appropriate. Ben Supper let me have a go on his Seaboard which was very cool! Had some nice longer chats with some chums.
I didn't get to help as much on the sound as I thought because of the....

5 Changes Hotel Room Saga
Move 1. Scary. Hotel bath/shower tap jammed tight on full and at full heat! (I wasn't in it). The bath was slowly filling up with really hot water so I ran to reception telling the lass there. Surreally she said, "There's nothing I can do really about it, there's no one else here... I can give you another room." I said that it could flood but she just gave me my new room key calmly and said "I'll write your new room number down" and I was ..."ummm but the water..." Then a porter came by and after much effort and hurting his hand he managed to shut it off. He came out of the bathroom drenched by steam as extractor fan wasn't working and it was Amazonian in thee, saying, "That was a close call wasn't it?". Felt a bit like a Sorcerer's Apprentice moment...
Result - New room... buzzing awake at 2.30am... - bad night's sleep.
Move 2. After breakfast i had a nap with Do Not Disturb sign on the door. So I was surprised to get a knock from housekeeping lass telling me I had to leave this room as it was a family room and was booked to a family. So off to reception. The lad there said, "Many apologies - I'll tell you what I'll do, I'll upgrade you. ...pause... - Sorry I can't do that." - So another room was found.
Move 3. I checked into the room, and noticed it was very warm - heating was on high - I turned it off, and went off to do things. Came back - the heating was still full on. I told housekeeping lass, who burst out laughing saying "Wow, you're really unlucky!" :-) I went to reception who assured me they would fix it so i went to do things and returned to find it still hot. Reception said he tried to fix it but turned it the wrong way, and another person had now just fixed it and it would need to cool down. I asked for reassurance that there would be some heating and they said yes. Went out again and returned to find...heating not working at all. I asked for a room with a working shower and heating... Room number 4 was found.
Move 4. Manager came with me - we tested the shower and the heating - success! He went and as I was unpacking I noticed a loud groaning sound from the windows. Intermittent but load - it was a vibration in the breeze. I realised I wouldnt be able to sleep with it so asked for another room. I was laughing about it by now, and the manager said "You have to laugh round here, or else you cry..."
Move 5. They had no rooms left so they sent me back to room 3 with no heating but they sent a small fan heater. 5 moves - wow! :-)
A great payoff line came when I went for dinner I booked earlier in the day, giving my name and time of my booking. the head waiter asked , "Can I have your room number, sir?" - I replied well when I booked dinner, it was 249 but I've moved twice singe then. The computer had kept up with the moves very efficiently...

It was a bit of a pain but there was a certain joy in being involved in something so funny. Chums kept seeing me carry my stuff through the corridors and it was the subject of many a funny conversation throughout the con. I did fantasise that another great pay-off would've been to be upgraded and shown into the very first room that started it all.

Last year's con I wasn't a happy bunny and almost didn't come this year. This time my brain was in a much better place. It wasn't madly joyous instead or anything. Just mellow. The main thing for me was that it wasn't a BIG THING anymore, which for a while cons had become.

I left early on the Sunday to see my sister who had arrived from Australia and was visiting my brother in Cambridge, had lunch, fixed a computer, then on home to Leicester.