The theme, as such, of this year’s Penguicon was “Rising from the ashes” which is a very apt way to put things as how much good will, etc. they were burning up for a decade or more. Pretty much all, if not all, of the ‘woke’ on the part of the convention itself is gone – and good riddance! There are some.. curious ideas… by many of the attendees, but that cannot be directly blamed on the convention. And, there is inertia and lead-lag and such things. I will say if a guy wishes to present as a gal, that’s his business. But he really ought to take the look seriously enough to not have (beyond) “Five O’clock Shadow” at 9 AM. There were more folks wearing masks (ala 2020 silliness) than I am used to seeing nowadays, but it was no longer a universal requirement.
The convention felt a bit rushed, and it likely was. Beyond even the usual, typical, take-care-of-things-at-the-last-minute that seems common to most all conventions. The weekend was early for Penguicon as it was the only free weekend (and hotel) that wasn’t Easter weekend so timing might well have been a factor beyond the usual. The programming was a mix, with new and historical tech., stuff about writing and fandom(s), and some health related panels, with a couple about things societal.
I attended a few panels. There was a fellow who had a hobby of old tube based displays, from Tuning Eye (aka Magic Eye), Dekatrons, Nixies, and even the Numitron (the tube version of the LED display, most commonly 7-segment). Also ESR talking about how to use LLM’s (“AI”) in coding. A bit on the history of home computing pre-IBM 5150, and a panel I wanted to go to but it was cancelled on health/healing with aid of Infra-Red. There was another panel I missed due to a schedule conflict.
When there was a lull in panels I cared to attend, I brought out Legend the unicorn. This happened sometime Saturday afternoon and again Sunday morning. Legend was well-received (or just ignored, but that’s non-negative). I realized I need to make a checklist for the unicorn as I missed packing a couple (fortunately non-critical) items.
A couple purchases were made. I now have my first fountain pen that is not a Platinum Plaisir. It came with one cartridge (that I need to find more of, it’s not the same as the Plaisir uses) and a converter for using bottled inks. And after the cataract surgery, while reading glass are helpful, sometimes I need more and thus a good looking magnifying glass. A couple books as well, one an anthology, and the other… well, when someone decides the way they are, the thing to do is to write a letter to Krampus rather than Santa Claus.
During the convention (early or lack of communication), it was said that they did not make the convention room block and thus there was no official room party floor or wing. Unofficially, I was told it might worthwhile to check out the 4th floor… and the 10th floor was a designated quiet floor… that Barfleet (not exactly known for quiet) wound up on. I did not visit the 10th floor. There are some things best to not be around, lest they detonate while you are present. Friday there were two parties on the 4th floor. One had alcohol and some interesting stories – that likely were just stories, but had a signup sheet and ads for a silly “No Kings” protest on Saturday. They were open again Saturday night, sans the signs. The other party was dry on Friday, but said that would change for Saturday and they had a Chicago theme. Malort was asked about (and not by me) and it was possibility. It was there Saturday night. I think a few folks were stunned when I asked about it and then for it – and then disappointed at my non-Malort-face reaction… and truly stunned when I asked for more. Saturday there was another room party, which was dry, so was relativity uncrowded. Some discussion of the convention happened as a previous con chair and current event organizer (or at least panelist) was there. I mentioned I would have been at one of his panels but there was a timing conflict. His reaction was that it was great news to hear they had gotten enough interesting stuff to have such timing conflicts.
Not a whole lot happened Sunday morning, beyond Legend’s outing and packing and loading. This was done in phases such that there was no need to wrangle a luggage cart.
I knew ESR (and Cathy) would be there and that ESR likes spicy things. I did NOT know they would be flying to and from the convention and so baked two pans of Weapons Grade brownies. Where the recipe called for water, I used a Carolina Reaper mash instead[1]. I should probably cut the reaper mash in half or to a third and add the water back in. Not only were the brownies thinner than normal, a piece the size of your thumbnail was probably more than enough spicy for any one morning or afternoon… or day. Since the Raymonds were flying, they weren’t going to try to take them home. The brownies wound up, with a warning, in the con suite. And were then stowed out of sight, after a sampling? I suspect the majority were simply “disposed of” and given the… intensity… I can’t say that was a bad move.
I put it that the convention “felt like a first year convention, with some experience.” It did not possess the full-on energy of the Penguicon of old, but someone finally pulled back on the yoke and is properly flying the plane again. The aura of oppressiveness I felt in 2016 and 2017 is gone. One big thing was the Build-A-Blinkie (Soldering 101, with a blinkenlights result) folks having a setup of construction/soldering stations in the lobby/hallway. This is the Neat Stuff sort of thing that seemed to have been pushed out by the Social Construct or such folks. Even if I did quip that when I built my first “blinkie” it used NE2 neon bulbs. At a Sunday panel (I wasn’t there, but $HOUSEMATE was) with some of the con staff, it was said that they actually did make the hotel room block after all, were in the black, and there would be a Penguicon next year – hopefully a bit later in the Spring. I plan on attending as it looks like things are improving. And I plan to have ACME there again. I did asked about ACME a few times this past weekend. Interesting, given it’s been over a decade since ACME was there.
[1] I did not label the brownies “Reaper Madness.”
The Elegant Ungulate 