Balticon (part 7): final wrap-up

Photo by Korak

My Balticon report posts so far:

Balticon 42 - Part 1
Balticon 42 - Part 2
Balticon 42 - Part 3
Balticon 42 - Part 4
Balticon 42 - Part 5
Balticon 42 - Part 6

Allison's Balticon reports: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

I need to wrap up my Balticon report, though I could go on (and on) about all the cool people I met and wonderful things I saw. Clearly, I need to go back someday. Many thanks to the Balticon concom for inviting Urban Tapestry as Music Guests Of Honor. We had a fantastic time!

And here are just a few more personal highlights from the convention....



Photo by Korak


-- Dave Clement's concert. I always love hearing Dave sing any time, any place. His guitar broke a string partway through, but Tom replaced the string as well as lending Dave his own guitar until Dave's was ready. Yay, Tom!

-- Thanks to the generous France, who kindly offered to do a mini grocery run for us and bought fruit, cheese, crackers and other snacks. This ended up saving our bacon several times when got hungry, especially later at night when restaurants were closed.




-- 'Twas great to see so many people in the open filk each night; apparently this was fairly unusual for Balticon. From the Balticon Livejournal: "Sunday evening at 10 PM we had four (4) major activities that were all very well attended: the Sunday Night Film Festival, a book launch party with a concert by a local band with music written for / inspired by the book, George Hrab in concert in the hotel lounge / lobby, and an open filk circle with close to 50 people. On a Sunday night we had four events that had significant attendance."

Sadly, we ended up missing a few songs from a rock opera version of Dune in open filk; I hope we run into them again some other convention.



-- Balticon's con suite (above) was AMAZING. Holy cow....it was certainly the largest con suite I've ever seen.

-- Hearing Danny Birt (below) perform Tom Lehrer's Masochism Tango in open filk.



Photo by Korak

-- Seeing Debbie M. again; Debbie gave me a hand-designed card thanking me for supporting her in her walk for cancer in Relay For Life. One of these days Debbie and I have to sit down and have an actual conversation. We Debbies have to stick together, after all. :-)

-- Finally meeting Kathryn Cramer in person (we had crossed paths several times in Facebook).




-- Attending the Balticon Masquerade. As guests, we got prime seats in the front row, woohoo!



-- Loved the variety and creativity of all the costumes.



-- My favourite entry was the fairy tale theme Sleeping Beauty entry (above), not just because of the costumes but also the well-written and entertaining presentation. It ended up winning top prize in the Masquerade.

I especially got a kick out of the kids' masquerade entries. Some, like Erin (below), were a little shy. :-) Erin ended up being led across the stage by her parents, and she beamed at the audience the whole time as if she was thinking "hey, they're all looking at ME - how COOL!". Cuuuuuute. :-D



-- I was especially impressed by how much Masquerade event time was devoted to the Jack L. Chalker Young Writers' Contest, which is sponsored each year by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. Marty Gear was an excellent Master of Ceremonies throughout:



-- I enjoyed Kallisti Tribal, both the music and the mesmerizing performance. What I loved the most: the joy in these women's faces, and their confidence in their bodies.



Photo by Allison

-- Another open filk highlight: hearing Gary sing a song he had written for Sheryl. It was great to be able to spend time with Sheryl and Gary at the beginning of the convention. Thanks also to Gary for taking us to The Walters Art Museum, where we saw a special map exhibit that included maps by Leonardo da Vinci, J. R. R. Tolkien's map of Minas Tirith, and Thomas Jefferson's map of the proposed contours of the states of the Union.



-- Gary was a WONDERFUL guest liaison, by the way. Thank you, Gary! Below: during the Filk 101 panel on Friday night.



Photo by Korak

-- Thanks also to Crystal (below), for helping us get us and our luggage to the airport on the way home. I've also been very much appreciating Crystal's sewing tips recently, and I asked her for more in the car when we were on the road.



- Another open filk highlight: hearing Maugorn perform his Cthulu reggae song.



But I have to stop now, else this Blathering (and this con report) will end up way too long. Ok, maybe it's already way too long. :-) I blame Balticon. Let me just say that Allison, Jodi and I enjoyed ourselves tremendously at Balticon as Music Guests Of Honor.



Anyway, I strongly encourage you all to check out Balticon when you have a chance. There's something there for everyone; browse through this year's pocket program (still online when I last checked) if you don't believe me. I hope to go back someday as a regular attendee. :-)

And once again....THANK YOU to the Balticon concom and volunteers for making Urban Tapestry feel so welcome!



Jodi, Allison and me, holding roses from Tom & Sue.



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