This one continues directly from Saturday night, so go read Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven't already. Also, as is usually the case I forgot something in the previous posts. Up top is the picture that's on the print and t-shirt I got from GeekCetera.
Mike
F. and his son went home for the night, but the missus and I arranged
to meet up with Mike G. and Rebecca back at the Holiday Inn
Chambodia. I went upstairs and changed back into my Third Doctor
costume because that’s really what I wanted to party in. We also
had to fill up the beer bag, and with this came a complication –
normally I just wear the bag slung across my chest, but that
load-bearing strap would definitely ruin my fancy velvet jacket.
While I pondered this dilemma Mrs. Troublemaker went ahead downstairs
to meet up with Mike G. and our new buddy, Rebecca.
I finally decided to just throw aesthetics to the wind and wear the bag under my jacket. I know this is an important plot point for all of you. Especially considering I already knew once I got drunk enough I would just go back to them room and put my shorts and t-shirt back on.
But
for the time being I made my way back to the lobby to find the party.
Actually, the party was back up on the third floor where a bunch of
people were sitting out in the hall. We’ll come back to that.
Because I wanted to get to the big dance with Doctor Quincy E.
Quartermain spinning. All I knew about Doc Q was that the Mikes knew
him and he’s part of the Earth Station Who group on Facebook.
It turns out he’s a pretty darn good DJ.
I
found Mrs. Troublemaker with Rebecca and Mike G. in the lobby and we
spent about 1.7 nanoseconds convincing Mike to stick around for a
little while. He wasn’t going to drink, but he could hang. Doc Q
was doing his thing in the Main Programming room (the one by our
table) and was playing good stuff when we walked up. I can’t
remember what, but it was solid enough that I immediately felt pretty
good about the situation. This would not be a repeat of Days
of the Dead.
But
then we actually went in the room and saw about nine people
performing Acts of Boogie of varying degrees of intensity. You had
everything from a mild swaying motion to outright arm-swinging
gyrations to a couple trying to swing dance. There was even a robot
off to one side doing his own thing (not, oddly enough, The Robot).
Looking into that room was like looking into a dimly lit recreation
hour at an insane asylum. Like something out of Bronson
or One
Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
We quickly retreated to a sofa back in the lobby.
We
had a good time just hanging out there and talking with random
people. Doc Q even came out from time to time to say hi. The middle
of his set probably would have been crowd-pleasing if there were a
crowd, but it wasn’t my thing. I thoroughly enjoyed the final act,
though. He started live-mixing songs and it was pretty awesome. He
mixed “Never Gonna Give You Up” with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Take On Me” with some other rock song. He mixed a bunch of Doctor Who
samples with other stuff. It was really cool. I would totally buy a
CD of what that man did that night.
It
was around my eighth or so beer that Mike G. discovered the reason
for the lemons in the hotel water. He walked up to me with a cup of
the water and says, “I know you won’t believe me, and I don’t
recommend you try it, but this water tastes like bacon.”
This
was a challenge I could not refuse. After surviving the film crew
from The Douche Channel and the perils of Little Szechuan, what
possible danger could a little bacon water present to one such as I -
the Khal Drogo of the toy blogging community?
So
I strode purposefully to the water jugs, procured a cup, and daintily
lifted the little handle that makes the water come out. Because
there’s really not a tough-looking way to get water out of those
kinds of jugs. I guess I could have ripped the little nozzle out and
poured it directly into my mouth, but then I would’ve gotten my
suit all wet. Not to mention my phone and my camera.
“Holy
shit. This water tastes like bacon.”
What
else was there to say? It did.
Redhead
TARDIS dress girl was nearby and asked if I just said the water
tastes like bacon. I said it did and walked over to elaborate, but
her interest went elsewhere immediately. I think she was afraid I was going to offer her bacon water. I altered
course and headed back to our sofa of operations and let everybody
smell the water, cautioning them not to drink it. I told Mike that
must be why they put the lemon slices in the water – to cover up
the bacon flavor. He reasoned that this must be the water they wash
the bacon in.
I
kept waiting for more con-goers to show up. I figured the room
parties would slow down eventually and people would return to the
lobby, but they never really did. I can only assume there were things going on in those rooms that wouldn't translate to a more public setting. I don't want to assume the TimeGaters were making sex and smoking the drugs, but there had to be a good reason nobody was downstairs. I definitely don't want to think they were all just sleeping. Besides, those folks on the third floor looked like shifty party monkeys.
Tony Stark Head and his long-haired friend showed up with a small entourage of people but that was about it. Once Mr. Stark whipped off his bath towel and started dancing on the stage I thought it might be about time to go back upstairs.
Tony Stark Head and his long-haired friend showed up with a small entourage of people but that was about it. Once Mr. Stark whipped off his bath towel and started dancing on the stage I thought it might be about time to go back upstairs.
I’d
like to give credit to Mr. Stark and his long-haired sidekick (if
you’re reading this, sorry dude – you’re the sidekick. Your
puns were great, but you’re going to have to step up your game to
outshine Mr. Stark) for being fairly entertaining all weekend. They
were those kind of noticeable figures that are always up to something
but never overly annoying. I enjoyed their presence. I am also
jealous that Mr. Stark had a better Third Doctor frilly shirt than
me. It was a pain in the ass finding a frilly shirt that was the
right color and fit me. Well, sort of fit me. The sleeves were about
six inches too short, but that worked out for the best. I cut the
frilly cuffs off and safety-pinned them to the inside of the jacket
sleeves. This kept the cuffs in the right spot all night and left my
arms a little more comfortable than they otherwise would have been.
I
have to say it was a pleasant change waking up two hours before
check-out time rather than twenty minutes after.
We took showers and packed our stuff. Had time to double-check the
room. Actually left a couple of things in there, knowing we could
return after we loaded the car up. It was nice.
Afterwards
we reported to the table once again, then headed to the Con Suite for
one last meal.
The
Mikes had a podcasting panel from 1:00 to 2:00, then we had to get
back to pick up Lil’ Troublemaker. I kind of got the feeling I
could have been on that panel, but I just didn’t feel I had any
business on it. I have done exactly eight podcasts in my life and
don’t have exactly two pieces of insight into the process:
- Buy a good headset
- Don’t read directly from your notes
That’s
it. And I certainly couldn’t have filled up my portion of an hour
saying those things.
Rebecca,
Mrs. Troublemaker and myself sat at the table and watched people mill
about. We got occasional reports from the Dealer Room of further
crazy specials from the guy with the prize wheel and a girl we met
that works at CNN dropped by with a framed print of the Tenth Doctor
on a dictionary page. Mrs. Troublemaker convinced me to not only buy
some of those pages:
Now I wish I'd just gone ahead and bought dictionary pages of all the Doctors. I got Pertwee on the sheet music because that just seemed right, somehow. Mrs. Troublemaker also convinced me I should go and spin crazy prize wheel guy’s wheel for five bucks. I won this:
Pretty
awesome, in my opinion. I plan on reviewing some of these items over
the next few weeks, but my favorite out of them, all needs nothing
more than a big ol’
Yes,
folks – that is an autographed picture of Bob Eucker and it is
easily the coolest thing I got all weekend.
A
bit later a couple of girls came over and told us crazy wheel guy was
now giving away GeekCetera art as well so I went again and got this:
All
in all I had a blast at TimeGate. It was low-key, but interesting. I
didn’t do as much as I should’ve, but I think that’s just how I
am the first time I go to a new con. I’ll definitely be back next
year and will be convincing some of the Hooligans to attend as well.
-Phantom
Tony Stark Head is sort of notorious in certain circles for always being wasted at conventions. I've decided it hasn't been Dragon*Con until I've seen him in the Marriott lobby at stupid-thirty in the morning, in full Tenth Doctor costume except for the pants. He's amusing enough, unless/until he decides to hit on you.
ReplyDeleteHeh. I can't really disparage anybody for getting wasted at conventions, particularly Dragon*Con, though I do manage to keep my pants on. And my days of hitting on anybody are long in the past. Unless it's gay dudes singing karaoke, apparently - http://phantomtroublemaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/dragoncon-2011-part-8-sunday.html
DeleteWe bought a Prize Wheel and used it recently during a local home show. We had soooo many people line up to spin. It was great!
ReplyDeleteHi - Great TimeGate review!
ReplyDeleteI am the guy that sold you the Doctors on the dictionary and music pages. I have all the rest of them too. If you are interested in getting the others, just let me know. - Chris (seckinger2@aol.com)