VVC report 1

[gwyn]

I have never done a con report before. The most I've ever done is review vids or panels. But work is very boring in the dog days of August (I am SO glad, though, that I missed being here during the first days of the Brit terrorism stuff, hoo-boy, I'll tell you whut) and I have to amuse myself by more than just watching dvds, waiting for copy to come in.



I took the redeye on Wed night, which got me into Chicago just when the Brit shit hit the fan. Some guy was -- literally -- dancing a soft shoe around the baggage claim area while all of us groggy travellers were camped around waiting for our bags. He just seemed to flit from area to area, telling people what was going on. I had to walk from one end of the terminal all the way to the other to find the hotel phone for the shuttle, then walk all the way back to the other end to get to the shuttle bay. This was exhausting at 5 a.m. It took forever for the van, but when I got on, there was a Delta flight attendant who filled me in on things and told me she was going to the hotel to regroup, since they took all of her stuff, and as she pointed out, we don't get to check bags. I felt so bad for all my friends I knew would be in that mess.

When i got to the hotel, I woke morgandawn up so I could stash my bags and go off to get us some bottled water. Even though it was still sort of dark out, it was hot enough that the walk to the store wiped me out. I made a big mistake on choosing a redeye -- I had totally forgotten that my restless leg issues kick in around 11 or 12 at night. So there was no sleepytime for me, even though I'd taken an atavan and was thus so groggy I could hardly move around without falling down. Silly me. With great difficulty I carried back about 20 pounds of water and other drinks -- difficult only because the checker insisted on putting plastic around them, so they kept slipping in my sweaty arms.

When I made it back to the room, I jumped in bed and wouldn't wake up until morgan came back around noon. I knew I needed to get up, but I just couldn't. I finally did and went wandering around, looking for people to talk to for the afternoon. And... I know I did stuff, and I talked to people, but for the life of me I cannot remember what. I know I spent some time with Dorinda, and melina123, but the rest of it is this weird foggy blur. I seem to remember registration, and also seeing killabeez and merryish, and I know was filling a lot of people in on how Sandy was doing and it started making me cry because VVC is getting to be like cancer con for me, but nothing is coming back to me.

In fact, I know I had dinner with people because I felt a lot better, closer to human, after eating finally (30 hours is a long time to go without any real meals). But that's all I can pull up.


I definitely remember stumbling down to breakfast on Friday, but who I saw... brain still too foggy. Neverthless, I was pleased that they offered a few more selections for food this year. Since I've discovered the joy of anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills, I can now actually sleep past 5 a.m. and haven't gone down for my six a.m. swim the past two years. I kind of miss it, but not.

I was heartened to see that shipping discs to myself works well in theory, takes a lot of stuff out of my suitcase and makes it lighter for me to travel. However, don't use air bags with discs -- almost all my jewel cases were damaged or smashed in shipping, and I felt so guilty asking people to pay for discs in wrecked jewel cases. Grrr. It was great to see the squee when people got their hands on the Media Cannibals remasters, though.

The Wayback machine was, as always, a joy. I just love hearing about the vcr days, just because it reminds me where I started, and seeing old vids that I've heard of but have rarely seen is a great treat to me.

Right after that was the Color Explosion show. Wow, what a treat. Fantastic choices for this show all the way around, highlighted by Charmax's gorgeous, sensual Xena vid Boom Boom Bah, and Butterfly's elegantly understated The Thunder Rolls for Brokeback Mountain.

Spies Like Us was exactly what I wanted it to be, a total overview of so many different kinds of spy dramas. What I love most about vid shows like this is having a chance to see things I never have before, and this had a number of vids new to me that I really enjoyed (not new vids, just new to me), such as corngirl_jo's Weapon vid about Sark, and Lithium Doll's 007 and 006 vid This Is War.

Nearly New inevitably provides me with a favorite vid of the whole con, even more than Premieres, for some reason, but this year that didn't happen. I'd seen most of the vids in the show already, it didn't hold the same level of surprise I have had in the past. Still, lots of great vids here -- especially f1renze's Maria Full of Grace vid The Church of What's Happening Now, and Luminosity's More Human Than Human. There were a few I hadn't seen before that didn't work for me -- this was the one Life on Mars vid of the weekend that didn't work for me at all (Club Foot), and the Highlander vid for Battle of Evermore couldn't overcome my loathing of Led Zep when they are really screechy, but otherwise the ones I didn't enjoy as much were more of a "blah" reaction than a "yech." That's always better, if you ask me.

On Friday evening I went up to keiko_kirin, klia, and thevetia's room to hang out, watch the gloriously fey The Persuaders on dvd (the colors! the clothes! the slash!). We ordered dinner in from the Chinese place and after we'd finished, Dorinda opened her fortune cookie and got the weirdest look on her face, then got really freaked out. She had the creepiest fucking fortune I have ever seen, "Society prepares the crime; the criminal commits it." We all got freaked out, and then Keiko opened hers, and there was no fortune in her cookie! So we were all totally wigged out by then. And then I opened mine -- just moments before I had been explaining why I hate House and about how your experience with horrible medical personnel and cruel doctors who treat people like meat changes your perspective on how cute levels of "snark" are. And my fortune said in a rather threatening tone, "You will have a lucrative career in medical research." Just opaque enough to make you wonder if you're going to be the one cutting off the hand, or getting the hand cut off. I'm telling you -- really good food, they deliver, but the fortunes may not be worth the horror factor.

After we calmed down, I went off to change for Club Vivid. I had fun, as usual, but the guys lurking around toward the end of the night, especially the one wearing sunglasses at night indoors (yes, you, Corey Hart), were wigginsing the hell out of me. I loved seeing everyone's outfits, and it was fun to play dressup (as usual, justacat's outfit kicked ass). Now that I work at home, I never get much opportunity to wear anything nice. Also? Glow sticks save lives and are fun. tzikeh had this lovely Breakfast at Tiffany's thing going on with her dress and hair, and dualbunny was a vision of Starbuck loveliness in fatigue pants and the double tanks just like on BSG, with a cigar for an accessory. Quelle adorable. And astolat was the closest thing I've seen to dressed and undressed at the same time. She could have stepped out of a La Femme Nikita ep!

A number of us have decided that YMCA just hasn't been done right yet for Club Vivid. So we started collecting clip ideas for a multimedia version for next year's show. When you're drunk, all things seem possible. All things also seem like really, really great clip ideas. As always, the Joxer dance is not to be missed.

I went home a little early, shortly after the show ended, so that I wouldn't wake up my roomie, but she was still awake so we stayed up watching Man on Fire (someday, I am going to vid that stunning movie, I swear, I love it so) and talking till we couldn't talk any more.

I missed most of the Premieres vids because I literally couldn't see them, so the rest of the con will have to be commented on after I rewatch the discs, hopefully soon. I miss everyone already. I feel like such a big girl's blouse when I get all weepy over leaving, but I do. Goodbyes are very hard for me these days, and not getting much easier.

Comments

[mlyn.livejournal.com]

Sounds like it wasn't too bad of an experience! I can't wait to get more details and watch vids with ya.

[(Anonymous)]

She had the creepiest fucking fortune I have ever seen, which I cannot now remember (help?)

I still have it. It says:

"Society prepares the crime; the criminal commits it."

Bracketed by those smiley faces.

Brrr.

Dorinda

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Oooo, yes. I've amended the post. They made some good food, but it's like... they'll make you pay for it by giving you nightmares.

[melinafandom.livejournal.com]

I went home a little early, shortly after the show ended, so that I wouldn't wake up my roomie, but she was already awake so we stayed up watching Man on Fire (someday, I am going to vid that stunning movie, I swear, I love it so) and talking till we couldn't talk any more.

I will completely support you in your efforts to vid anything with Denzel Washington in it :)

:: adding "Much Ado About Nothing" to list of fandoms that will be impossible to find music for... ::

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

You realize, of course, that that's just another challenge for me to find you another song.

[melinafandom.livejournal.com]

Drats! You have discovered my nefarious plan to avoid listening to random crap on iTunes in the hope of discovering something useful by exploiting my friends' music literacy! Foiled again!

:: sees icon :: OMG, hi, Omar! :)
:: melts a little, checks calendar for days till season 4... ::

[merricatk.livejournal.com]

I can totally sympathize with your feelings about House. I've loved the show since it began, since before it was a big fan show. But this summer has had me re-evaluating through the lense of my own doctor-problems. The problems are ones one isn't supposed to talk about in polite company, but I'm planning on writing about it in some detail (& with appropriate warnings for TMI), about how I feel like my doctor looks at me with as much contempt as I see House looking at his clinic patients. It makes it really hard for me to watch the show, but I love Robert Sean Leonard, & so far that outweighs everything else.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I watched the first three eps, because I worship Hugh Laurie, but it was so, so painful (also the bizarre concept of "medicine" in that show and the legalities of employing someone like that were like, "buh?") for me, and hasn't gotten a lot easier. that said, astolat's House vid was one of my favorites in the show -- it gets at what makes him so intolerably horrible in a really charming way, and does this unique thing where those who love the show will get so much glee in the vid, and those like me, who can't handle it, will still love the vid. Amazing work.

But I just... I've always found it hard to understand why so many people I know who are sensitive and caring think he's attractive. I just don't understand it, except that they've never experienced what it's like to be treated that way when your life is hanging in the balance, or to see someone you love disregarded, so it must not mean the same thing to them. I have a very hard time wrapping my mind around it.

[merricatk.livejournal.com]

I've discovered that some of the best people in fandom, the ones who are the first to rush to help out in times of need, are also the first to go after someone who isn't part of the group, & if annihilation isn't the goal, its possibility is no hindrance. Destroying the Other, either with ridicule, or by violence, is always in season. And in House, stupid is the Other, stupid patients walking in & expecting to be cared for just because they're people with health problems.

Interestingly (at least to me *g*), my mother, who has had very good doctors, has quit watching House for this same reason: she can't stand how mean he is.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

It was so good to see you this weekend, even if (as usual) I didn't get as much time to hang out with you as I wanted.

And oh, man, a good YMCA vid for Club Vivid would be so pleasing! :-)

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I know, I know! Why, why isn't there any time? And to think I won't see you at Escapade to make up for it!!! Noooooo....

[deejay.livejournal.com]

*still-foggy-brain just recalls that I forgot to pick up that remastered DVD from you and waaahs pitifully*

Re:

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

No, no! You did get one -- I gave it to you in the con suite, remember? And you gave me a couple bucks. Oh god, I hope someone didn't take it off the table, or pick yours up to look at it and not give it back. Well, even if so, justacat and I are going to make a couple tweaks and then I'm hoping I can get the Wiseguy vid and put it on, so I'll have an updated version soon enough that I can send you.

Re:

[deejay.livejournal.com]

Awww, maaan, I pushed it back across the table to you, intending to pick up one later, after I had gotten change to pay the other $2 I still owed ya...I could have sworn I saw you pick it up...some other shifty-eyed Con Suite denizen could have pilferated it for their own vile uses!...subsequently whimpers and sprays 'Miso Dum' perfume around the place.

('Tis okay, though; there's no hurry, thanks!) =}