The Drink Tank Issue 169

8/14/2019 The Drink Tank Issue 169

1/12


2/12

Cover Photo is from Howeird.There are photos from Kristina Ko-pnisky (or Consonant Enigma) too!

One can not deny the importanceof CostumeCon 26 to BArea fandom.

It would be very dif cult. It was notthe largest convention, not even thelargest CostumeCon, but it was theone that drew the most people fromthe widest slash across the variousBArea fandoms. There were costumingfans, of course, and there were Furries,

which makes sense, and there wereSMoFs (Four former WorldCon chairs

were there) and there were fanzine fans(two of whom, Tom Becker and JeanMartin, put out the most amazingly off-beat and brilliant Newszine a con hasever had!) and there were just plainfolks who like to go to cons to party.

There were folks chatting everywhere,people enjoying themselves, costumes

ashing through every availablespace, performers all around, gangs of Cosplayers, photographers and people

who were just there for the scene. Iprobably fall a little bit into that lastcategory, though I was working thecon. In a few years, well be able to lookback and see the scattered debris, theobvious high watermark on the beach

where the wave rolled back and wereturned to fandom as usual with onlythe memory of the surge holding us to

that moment.My ghodIm aping Hunter S.

Jean Martin Pauses for Photos!

Thompson again!Seriously, this was the time that

many of us had been dreaming of.It was good enough to make almosteveryone feel good and exhausted,but there were just enough problemsto remind us that it was real. If youever nd a con that no one has anycomplaints about, youre talking abouthallucinations that never happened.Im pleased to say that even with thedif culties, I was most pleased withthe way things went down. You canread about my MCing in SF/SF and

you can nd some of my commentaryon various blogs. This is for others.

There are going to be a lot of photos,commentary from Kristina Kopnisky(Who I bow to as my superior in justabout every aspect of Fanzining andothers.

Ill say this and hear heads

explode: this is what BArea fandomshould be. The feeling in that hotel,

THE Hotel, was electric the entiretime. People worked together,fought through things, andenjoyed themselves while mingling

with folks from beyond ournormal sphere. The drama waslow, the excitement high. This is

what we should always be strivingfor. It took Kevin and Andy andtheir horde of staff and supporterssix years to make this happen andit worked, at-out worked. I wasso proud to see it come off likeit did, but whens the next time

something like this could happen? Itlltake something big pushed by someone

who has big ideas and is willing topush, push, push.In other words, not me.

The bigger traveling cons couldbe an idea. Westercon wasnt quite thesame explosive force, partly due to sizeand partly due to the fact that there

wasnt the same feeling of gatheringfrom all corners. The 2002 WorldCon

was marred by troubles leading up,

although it is still well-rememberedby those who had no role behind-the-scenes. It would take a WorldCon witha strong set of personalities coming up

with a great theme that they carriedaround the world with purpose andenthusiasm. The same thing could besaid of a Westercon, though it wouldneed a longer lead time. The key isthe pimping, the pushing, the Im-not-going-to-shut-up-until-the-deed-is-


3/12


4/12

The First order of Business, before I can get to the CostumeCon stuff, is to go over some LoCs Ive recieved!

And now...Steve Green!!! Hi Chris,

Took me a moment to work out what was wrong with that (uncredited)photograph of mine you used to close

The Drink Tank #166, then I noticedthe shelving behind you and realised

youd ipped the image along itshorizontal axis. Was that intentional?Indeed that was what I did and the reason? Well, I wanted to be lookign the other way. it just worked better with where I was going to be

putting it on the page. I also forgot to credit Linda with an image in the same issue (and a few other people as well!)

Glad you enjoyed your tripto the Bell at Tanworth-in-Arden.

The photograph immediately above your comments unfortunately lostits caption, which explained thatit showed the late Ray Bradbury

(pictured far right) with fellow BrumGroup member Rog Peyton and authorKen Bulmer at Ompacon in 1973. Ifound it in Peter Westons archive ateFanzines.All best-- SteveThanks for that. I seldom remember captions. Why? Because Im a terrible, terrible FanEd! I thought that was Rog, but I wasnt sure.

Thanks Steve! Let us roll along with Mr. John Purcell

Ya know, Chris, I really like thatsketch on your front cover. Judgingby the content, it predates 2001. Even

with the sparseness of the terrain andall, there is a nice symmetry to it, andthat monorail looks suitably futuristic.

The 747 overhead is almost a bitanachronistic, but I wont quibble toomuch. It is still a nice drawing. Plus, itsounds like you would have needed itonce I read your intro on page 2. Suchis life, aint it?

As always! And now you are back, working

on your Handicapping the Hugosissue. That will be very cool. I have myfavorites and all, but really dont haveany serious picks to dwell on. It willbe interesting to see what your odds-making skills reveal. Good luck to you,

youngster. All I can say is that Im gladI am not a betting man - especially if Igo by your odds from last years Hugoresults. Better luck this year, I guess.

Well, the smart money ran in several of them (lets not forget that I called Locus and that Tiptree book as the winners!) but of course, odds are merely there to pull in bigger money when youre wrong!

Ooohhhh... plagiarism. I readthis with much interest. As a matterof fact, I will gladly take this proposalto my department head for her perusaland eventual acceptance - after, of

course, I copy/paste it to Blinn Collegeletterhead and af x my name to it. Imean, its only fair GAME FOR KINKYSEX of me to do so. What else could itbe?Id been waiting for Martin to send me somethin and this was great.Theres another article thatll be out soon from him and its a lot of

fun too! I still cant believe you wrote

50,000 words about your TAFF trip.On second thought, I guess I do. Given


5/12

your energy level, anything is possible.Your chapter 4 has a prominent placein the 8th issue of Askance - currentlyunder construction and hopefully willbe posted by mid-May - which has aconvention theme: besides your TAFFreport chapter, there are two othercon reports by me: AggieCon 39 andCor u Silver Virtual Con Report. It wasreally a blast to lurk in the shadows,especially during the banquet. A

whole mess of us - including CurtPhillips, Andy Porter, James Bacon,Peter Sullivan, Jim Caughran, GeriSullivan, Dian Crayn, J. M. Stine, andmyself, plus many more whose names

I forget right now - were heckling thebanqueters. We had so much fun.You missed out on an interestingexperience.50k words was nothing. I just wrote

and wrote and when it became obvious that Id end up around 50k, I just made that the hard stop. Im still waiting for enough

people to write me with thorough corrections that I can make that a supplimental. Wish I could have been at the Virt. Fan Lounge. I was busy with CostumeCon and we didnt have internet either, which was rough.

It was also quite historical.Many of us were wondering aboutthis. None of us could remember thereever being a live video with audiofeed from a con before. Sure, therehave been LiveJournal communities- the previous two Cor us, frinstanceand NipponCon (was that the actual

Japanese WorldCon name?) - but Icant think of any others. Randy Byers

said in his LJ that hes hoping to buildon this experience at next years Cor uin Seattle. (Tentative con name: Cor uZed.)

As youve probably heard, the plan is CorFlu in 2011 to be in San Jose.Im thinking CorFlu: 28 Zines Later.Cant wait for Seattle, though.

At any rate, here I am back toloccing. My productivity in loccinghas been very low this year so farsince my school work has been takingup so much time. But, that was tobe expected. As this semester nally

winds down, I have a bit of time. Now,however, it is time to go grade researchpapers.

None of which, I might add, havecome from any websites. At least nonethat my Wormkiller can detect.

Later, gator, and keep those fanres burning.

All the best, John Purcell And I will wait for th enext LoC from Texas with heavy baited

breath!

And now, Lloyd Penney on issues 165, 166 and 167.

April 30, 2008Dear Chris:Its my second full day since comingback from Las Vegas. A greatconvention, and I think you wouldhave had a fabulous time there. While


6/12

I was gone, I got a lot of locs done, butcan I keep up with you? No way! I havethree Drink Tanks to get through, 165to 167.Ever on-ward, Lloyd! 165Claire and Mark were at Cor u,and while I didnt talk to them much, Inever heard much about your presencein the UK. Maybe theyre still trying to

get over it? Anyway, I got a zine fromeach of them, and Im sure therell beone for you in the mail RSN. I wonder if

you had as much culture shock beingin Britain ad I did being in Vegas. Idoubt Britain has a Fremont StreetExperience.Many folks are being very tight- lipped about my trip. I think theyre trying to build suspense for my

Lichtman Best New Fan: John Coxon Best Fan Website: eFanzines.com #1 Fan Face: Arnie Katz

Good to see John The Rock Coxon on the list of winners! And Dan Steffan has been my fave fan artist for ages now. I was shocked, when I looked at the breakdowns from VFW, that I was the Number 2 Fan Face behind

Arnie. Thats just at out wild! Then Len Bailes announced that

the participants in the Virtual Cor u(in the chatroom), which drew as manyas 38 fans at one time, had all signeda special award certi cate of thanksto Bill and Roxy Mills. Other CorfuHonors: Ted White polled the audienceand determined that the Past Presidentof Fan Writers of America (fwa) for2007 had been Dan Steffan. Finally,everyone acclaimed Randy Byers bid tohold next years Cor u in Seattle. (Thiscomes from Mike Glyers File 770 blog.)Sounds like a great time. Im so wishing that the two had ended

up on different weekends because I had an incredible time at CostumeCon (despite never wearing a costume!) and would have loved to have gotten to CorFlu too! 166More Eastercon reportage.Love the photo on page 5, the steam-powered Dalek, or perhaps its just anenhanced salt shaker. Doctorow in anycage? Well, I can think of one person

who might enjoy that. Thats just the

TAFF Report, which everyone should request now!

A TAFF win and tripreport, and four Hugo noms andcountinghey, man, your dad

would be proud of you. And, therespect of your father is something

you do deserve.The old mans probably laughing harder than anyone at the noms...and the knowledge that Ill be coming in last again!

There were some Britfenat Cor uMark and Claire, BillBurns, the Charnocks, and a fewothers who were registered, but

did not come to the convention forone reason or another. Bill won aFAAn Award for eFanzines.com,and that wont be the last time,either. For the record, the winnersare

Best Fanzine: Prolapse ,edited by Peter Weston

Best Fan Artist: Dan Steffan Best Fan Writer: Arnie Katz Best Letterhack: Robert


7/12

evil in me typingand we know what you might look like with a trimmedhead and face. Oh, youre just socuuuuuuuteI can think of a couple of people who would enjoy Doctorow in a cage! Linda took that Dalek photo and the pther day she reminded me that I forgot to mention her in the art credits. I also forgot to mention everyone else! Ive gotta try and remember that.

*DING* TAFF is done, *DING* TAFF is done What happens inVegas, stays in Vegas, and a lot of mymoney stayed there, too. So, I will ndsomeplace that will sell me some US$,and re it off to you at your address.Thatd be great! TAFF Forever (and you should have played more Craps.Fans always win at Craps!)

167Yeah, I gottalost weight, too,and the mindlessmunching I did atCor u didnt helpthings. I have a jobinterview tomorrow,so I am hoping thatif I get this job, I willhave lots of walkingto do, and will shedsome pounds andinches. How manydyslexics does itchange to take alight bulb?

Oh, I have to remember that one! And, where was Leigh AnnHildebrands contrib here? Forgotagain? You just like the abuse, Mr. G

Actually, it was in the Handicapping the Hugos issue,which was a ne piece, as well!

Its getting late in the afternoon,so I will nish off here. Its not the bestloc, but both Yvonne and I are still inrecovery mode, and are liable to nod off at a moments notice. Take care, andI will work on some SF/SF commentsRSN. See you then.Yours, Lloyd Penney.

Thanks much, Lloyd! Were always glad to hear from ya at any zine Im a part of! Im still recovering from CostumeCon and thats been over

for a week!

Of course, I did the Handicapping the Hugos issue and Mike Scott took issue with my biggest pick!

Got to disagree with you on the BestNovel Hugo. Brasyl (which Ive not

yet read) has only been publishedin the US in an expensive hardcoveredition by Pyr, which is pretty mucha small press (as far as I know), andthats likely to kill its chances. Andregardless of its merits (and I didntlike it as much as you did), The YiddishPolicemens Union did very poorlyindeed in the popular vote in the BSFAawards, which I take to be a likelyforeshadowing of its Hugo performance(and it has had a UK edition, so its notthat). I think its going to be Charlies

year, but wouldnt be surprised to see John Scalzi pull off a unique double of fan writer and novel.

--Mike ScottI like Charlies stuff, but this isnt

his year. The big thing with the Hugos to American voters seems to be exposure and Chabons been all over the place. Brasyl has also had high praise in a lot of locations (and Pyr is the step right below Tor in the US). Scalzi could be the spoiler because he has a big mouthpiece in Whatever, but Chabons got NPR. The BSFA has been a bad predictor for the Best


8/12

Novel Hugo, actually. The last time the winner of the Best Novel Hugo also won the BSFA was Blue Mars.The BSFA went with River of Gods in 2005, though the book which was much more popular in the US,Johnathan Strange -y- Mr. Norrell,

pulled off the win. The Yiddish Policemans Union has also done well in various polls and has huge exposure on this side. I think we are in total agreement on one thing: Bobby J. Sawyer doesnt stand a chance!

My Weekend inWonderlandWords and Pictures byKristina Kopnisky

It started out as so many con weekendsdo. No matter how much planninggoes into it, personal preparation getsrushed at the end. In my case I wentto bed at 1:30 am on Friday expectingto get a maximum of 2 hours of sleep.I recall waking up sometime laterfeeling more rested than I should on120 minutes of shut eye. After warilypeeking around the corner at my clockI saw that it had betrayed me. 5 am.Expletive! I wake my husband and

we gather my luggage and our childup in record time. We hurl ourselvesonto the freeway in hopes of gettingme to PDX in time for my 7 am ight.Fortunately I am not singled out forextra pleasantries with the TSA. Iboard my ight and head south. Theseevents would set the pace for my entireCostume Con 26 experience.

After stopping in at Trader Joesfor room snacks my room mate and Iheaded to the Double Tree. Our room

was ready for check in at 11 am. Score!We nabbed a bellman and got our stuff up to our room. I can not emphasizeenough how important it is to tip your

hotel service people well if they doa good job. This guy was great. We

tipped well. Con registration hadntopened for the day so we headed to opsto check in. Good thing I did. Turnsout the hotel failed to deliver a package

I had sent on Wednesday. A packagecontaining the binder to organize onsite volunteers. An internet packagetracking check and a phone call tothe hotel later and we were back inbusiness. The rest of the afternoon wasdevoted to helping my on site counterpart get set up to recruit members intobeing volunteers.

Friday nights social was a hugesuccess. Kevin sang beautifully. There

was much dancing and many frillyunderwear out ts. A dual betweenBellatrix Lestrange and Agent Smith

was caught on lm. Great fun was hadby all. After a quick drop by the consuite it was off to the room for somemuch needed rest.

Lynn McMasters wire frame hatmaking class was highly informative.As usual these workshops make


9/12

the actual process seem so much lessdaunting than it does if you just read upon it. At the end not only had I learnedenough to cover about 3 months of reading and twiddling but I had alsomade a few new friends. That is thehidden value to spending the day in a half day workshop. It gives a common groundto spring board conversations off of. It isalso tremendously helpful to learn a skillfrom another persons point of view. Thisis something that one can not obtain byreading and messing with a pattern athome.

Most of Saturday afternoon was abit of blur. Dinner was obtained in theover priced and horrendously servicedCoffee Garden. After almost 20 yearsof attending cons at this hotel I amshocked when the food from the CoffeeGarden tastes good and the service isfast. The wait to get into the ScienceFiction/Fantasy Masquerade was funand social. Chris Garcia was a wonderfulMC with the daunting task of keeping theaudience entertained through 48 entries.

My personal favorite was We Lost. ButI have a soft spot for Goblins and theirWargs. The elf head was an excellenttouch. Dont be fooled by what you mayhave heard elsewhere, The Screen wasa great bit of accidental comedy. I hopeto see Return of The Screen at a con inthe near future. Perhaps it would evenmake a great exhibition only masqueradecostume for a future CC. The Killer BrineShrimp was a wonderful piece of D grade

horror lm. A perfect mood setter for the rest of theevening. Lots of laughing and good natured screamingcould be heard in the audience. How could you notlove a killer sea monkey, come on?

Though the actual amount of parties on theparty oor were light compared to most conventions,they were hopping. The con suite was good placeto chill out and have some conversation with newand old friends. The Daleks Manhattan Party andKlingon Bar were both well attended and I hear they

were serving up many tasty beverages. A number of us migrated to the sewing room after the con suiteclosed. Kudos should be given to the person whoplaced the sewing room on the party oor. It was astroke of genius,evil genius that

is. Sewing andpartying went onin the sewing roomuntil we closed it ataround 6 am.

Sunday. Well,my recollection of Sunday morningis a bit muzzy. It isan odd thing to be

having a dinner of eggs and coffee whilethe tech crew forParallel Dimensionsin Design is havingtheir breakfast fromthe same buffet.Needless to say Imissed PDiD but Ihear it was great.

The Distressing


10/12

workshop was again a very informative way to spend half a day. I highlyrecommend Gail Wolfenden-Steib asan instructor. Her presentation style isinformative yet relaxed. She managed apacked room with grace and managedto make no one who asked a questionfeel like a clueless noob though manyof us were.

The Historical Masquerade was that evening. Again the wait was actually fun and social. There were less obvious technical glitchesin this masquerade but the entriesalso numbered in the mid 20s. Myfavorite was the best in show winner- The Empress Eugenie of Francesurrounded by her Maids of Honor,1855. It was spectacular and wellchoreographed. They deserved the win.

The party oor was hoppingagain on Sunday night. The con suitestayed open later and was much moreof a party after the masquerade than

it had been the night before. TheDaleks Mahattan party was again in

full swing. I think the Klingonsmight have been open too butI did not drop in. Once againa number of us congregated inthe sewing room for chill andconversation. I cant recall whenI went to bed but I know the sun

was coming up.Monday was very relaxed

and there was a palatable senseof winding down everywhere inthe hotel. I hear the BPAL swap

went well and I know it wasscheduled for 1 PM on Mondayout of consideration for the scentsensitive members.

True highlights for me were the two workshops Iattended, The Screen, time spent

with old and new friends. Thegroup that gets my vote for bestdressed of the weekend were theretro/Fire y/Steampunk folkfrom southern California. They

were lovely in everything they wore. I know they can be seen

in the photo galleries from the weekend. You should check them out.Costume Con 26 was a very

special mini universe that cametogether under the leadership of KevinRoche. Many of us are grateful to himfor his 8 + years of hard work to puton the best fan run convention thatSilicon Valley has seen in ages. CC26

was a coming together of the tribes inmany ways. Like many beautiful and

rare things it is virtually indescribableto anyone who did not experienceit. We the citizens of that temporarycommunity will be trying to convey alittle bit of that magic via the internetand other virtual means. I doubt wecan communicate even a tenth of theexperience no matter how hard we try.

Kristina edits Consonant Enigma


11/12

Costumers With Cameras words and photos by howeirdCostumeCon 26 had more cameras per square inch than any event Ive been to since Paris Hilton got out of jail. Oh

wait, I wasnt at that, I just saw it on TV. Never mind. Reminds me of a poem I heard at an open mike in my favorite coffeeshop:People Watching people Watching people-watching people Only this time it would have been:Costumers Photographing costumers Photographing costumer-photographing costumers

Just for fun, since there were about a dozen excellent photographers on CC26s staff recording the costumes forposterity, I concentrated on taking pictures of people with cameras, especially people in costume. Here are some of myfavorites.

Photographer vs. Photographer (Kinda like Spy vs. Spy)


12/12

Documents

The Drink Tank Issue 169