No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on September 24, 2012

This past weekend Caroline, Peter and I traveled to Addison, Texas, which is right next to Dallas and participated in FenCon. We all had a blast and a half. To my professional buddies, I can highly recommend this convention to you if they ask you to participate especially if you have family that travels with you.

This was the 9th FenCon and they do it right. It reminded me of ChattaCons, Liberty Cons, and Khubla Khans of my youth. The convention is very family friendly and goes out of its way to make sure that the kids have as much fun as the adults. The art show was lovely and I hope to show in it maybe next year. The video room had something for everyone. The Con Suite had food and beverage for all the entire weekend.

The programming was diverse and there was something for pretty much everyone. If you filk, this is your convention. If you like good music, this is your convention. They had pretty much constant concerts of various groups crossing all the genres. I heard a number of groups I hadn’t before and was not disappointed. I discovered the music of John Anealio, which is a wonderful find. I got to hear friends play and have fun.

I talked about Muppets, Costuming, Sherlock Holmes, and Ray Bradbury among other topics. I participated with Peter in the opening act of their cabaret/costume call with the two of the Doctor puppets. I went to panels which is interesting to do again.

And where was Caroline during all this? In FenKids, where she had a blast and a half the entire convention. It is like a convention within the convention just for kids. She made a rocket pack, had a snowball fight, created a time capsule, and met an Astronaut among many other activities she participated in. She loved the drawing class and the writer’s workshop they did for the kids. She made new friends and declared that she wanted to come back to this convention again. Big tip of my hat to Sarah Brigdon and her staff for creating such a fun and creative programming track for the kids.

It was a good weekend and I enjoyed all the people that I met while there. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun. My thanks to the con committee and to all the volunteers who helped make this convention so wonderful. Special thanks to Rhonda for being so on the ball about everything. Tim Morgan for all the little things he did for us during the weekend. And I know I am forgetting the names of a slew of people who were so nice to us so I apologize. My friends will tell you that I am lousy at remembering names but I don’t forget faces.

If you live in the area, I say go to this convention. You will have fun.

And you really haven’t lived until you have seen Hollywood (FenCon) Squares with a Dalek in the middle square.

I am so very grateful for all the fun at FenCon.

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Posted By Kathleen David on September 20, 2012

This weekend will be spent at FenCon. I am looking forward to it. It is always interesting to go to a new convention. You know some things are going to be the same and other things are distinctive to that convention.

Caroline is looking forward to the children’s programming. I have panels that I am on. Peter is the toastmaster for the whole thing. So I am taking some stuff for the panels and Peter needs various things on a drive so they can move it to their computers and play it.

Packing is done for the necessaries and clothing. Now we are down to electronics and entertainment on the plane.

I am grateful for things that help me get ready for conventions.

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Posted By Kathleen David on September 19, 2012

But we didn’t get the brunt of it. That would be the north shore of Long Island and west of NYC from the looks of it. However we did get some serious wind and rain here. I have branches all over the lawn and returned two trash cans to my neighbors.

Today is about laundry and gathering what we need for FenCon this weekend. The cat sitter is ready to spend time with the cats and the cats have no idea what is going on except that the suitcases are out right now. I also need to gather a few things for my panels this weekend including, if I can find it, my Vincent cloak. I also need to find a Fez for Peter. Caroline has her wellness appointment today so part of my day will be at the Doctor’s office.

Faceoff was an interesting challenge. So far I am not in disagreement with who has been let go. I could sort out pretty quickly who has the short-term chops and who needs more time to get things “right”. In the world of specialty make-up, being able to think on your feet and roll with the punches shows the good from the great. Yes, you might have to sculpt that fast to get something done in time for the next days shoot. Small budget productions don’t have tons of time for set up. And haunted houses are a day in and day out grind. It is nice when you have the time, but don’t expect it. That being said, there are a time factors that you can’t get around, drying time for various things is one of then.

Hot Set I am not so sure about. I have built and dressed a lot of sets in my time. It is an interesting concept but I don’t know if the general audience would get it. I understand the lingo without the explanations that they give so that everyone else is up to speed. I can appreciate how much work went into each set. It could be a very interesting show especially to people who are doing web based episodes of things giving them ideas and short cuts that might lead them to not doing everything in front of a green screen. I will keep watching but I am not really expecting this to go beyond the first season.

Scratch the fez, someone has one so I don’t have to figure out how to transport it. Now I am onto a hat and some suspenders for Peter, which I think I have.

I am grateful that someone had a fez for Peter.

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Posted By Kathleen David on September 18, 2012

There are events that one goes to that give you a creative surge. Dragon*Con this year was a big one for me. I spent four days with people who gave me ideas, input, solutions, and encouragement. It was wonderful. But eventually we have to go back to reality and things like empty fridges and full cat boxes. And that surge can fade into the background as one deals with the noise of the now. But occasionally I take that feeling out and examine that feeling I got and what came with it to inspire myself to get creating.

I am very proud at how well “A Lord of Time” went over. I thought it was a good idea when Peter and I came up with it. I didn’t expect it to take on a life of its own. I tip my hat to my fellow performers without whom I would have never been able to care it off. Now having done that, I have to start figuring out how to top it next year. And that’s a lot to top. So building will have to start soon or I am never going to get it done in a timely fashion.

We have New York Comic Con coming up in about three weeks. I plan to take some puppets with me to that. Vincent will be there and probably Barnabas and maybe Quentin. And maybe Mystique if I can get her done by then. I am also toying with a jacket I might get done by then but I would have to find all my pattern pieces for my x-men first class jacket which might not be an easy thing to do. Organization post show can be a bit of a problem. I know where I have most of it but not all of it.

And I have those dolls I have been talking about. Sorry Jeri and Nan, I feel like a real heel and I promise if I don’t get to them this week, I will next week.

The other nice thing that happened was that I have groups on facebook that are still thinking about things to do at Dragon*Con next year. We are working out still everyone’s skill set and it is amazing the skill set that we have among us. It was interesting listening to the convention goers and what they wanted to see in the future at the convention. They gave me ideas for things I could do. Mechanics seemed to be a big part of it. How do you build puppets? How do you make the foam puppets? (I recommend the Grey Seal “The Foam Book” which has all the basics.)

I went to the fabric store yesterday to get the fabric for Caroline’s costume. Most fabric I think I have gotten for a costume ever. She has designed a dress she wants to wear and I can make it using a pattern (rather two patterns I am going to Franken-pattern together). The hardest part is going to be the bustle for it. There will be pictures when it is all done. I have to line the skirt, which is going to be a real pain.

I have the Halloween decorating pretty much in hand. I am going to have to do some planning and some digging this year to make sure nothing falls down.

I am grateful for all the people who gave me good ideas.

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Posted By Kathleen David on September 17, 2012

The fun thing about the year is that you can have so many new beginnings depending on how you look at the year. For me, my New Year really begins on my birthday but according to the Gregorian Calendar, I am off a couple of months from the “real” New Year. And then there are things like Chinese New Year and the Jewish New Year. So today we celebrate a New Year in the Jewish calendar and the beginning of the Year 5773.

This weekend we went up to Connecticut to celebrate Peter’s parents 60th wedding anniversary. My sister-in-law Beth arranged everything and she managed to get all the kids, grandkids, and significant others into the same room with each other. The last time that happened I think was Ariel’s Bat Mitzvah. Since then there have been combinations of groups but not the whole mishbucha at the same time. I think my in-laws had a good weekend. Caroline had a blast playing with her cousins. It all worked out. Peter was so happy to have all his girls in one place at one time.

I didn’t watch any football games this weekend and my picks were very wrong so I figure I am at the bottom of the standings. I can watch football again in two weeks. College football is a total mystery. Baseball is winding up. I am happy that my beloved Orioles aren’t out of it yet. Mets are looking at next year already. Makes for some fun baseball but it doesn’t mean squat this year. Braves are still in the hunt for at least the Wild Card. Hockey had yet another lockout. I think the owners are going to kill the golden goose with this one. Fans are really upset this time around and if other sports can get them interested in their sport, hockey is really going to end up with a bloody nose.

Caroline is home from school today. I am thinking of taking her to the library and to the fabric shop to get moving on her Halloween costume. I also need to do a small restock of the larder with perishables and the cats need food and litter. So today is going to be a run around day with laundry tossed in for good measure.

I am grateful for fun family gatherings.

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