Timewaster's Guide Archive
General => Everything Else => Topic started by: EUOL on November 03, 2003, 09:02:23 PM
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Okay, I've been persuaded by various entities that I should go to Worldcon next year. It's being held in Boston, and is bound to be a lot of fun.
From what I hear, worldcon can be an amazing experience. It's the biggest geek-fest in the Nation, and includes such infamous activities as 'elevator filking parties.' I need to go to start promoting myself, and you can find all of the professionals who go to World Fantasy at Worldcon--you just have to know where to look.
Anyway, I think it will be an interesting experience. Who's with me?
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When is it being held? Other than next year.
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This will probably be the easiest con for me to afford/get to, so I'm in. Especially if I can finish and do some pollishing on this Knight's Story (working title, will change later). Is there a site we can look at and enjoy about WorldCon??
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Sounds good! And if it's in the boston area, and SE goes, I think he should pick me up! That would be loads of fun. Three geeks in a car. Or something like that.
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Well if saint goes then I do...
so make it 4 in a car
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Worldcon almost always happens over labor-day weekend. Here's the official site:
http://www.noreascon.org/
Here's the thing: Worldcon is not cheap. I thought it was, since most cons are cheaper than World Fantasy. Worldcon, however, is even more expensive. I asked about this, and it was explained to me that worldcon is the grand exception to every rule. Since it's the biggest and the coolest, they charge premium rates.
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I was already counting you Jeffe.
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Jeff didn't realize that because I count as two geeks.
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Well factors will play a great role in my going. Money, I will have to save up doublely so now. (Thanks to my want to go to London to study abroad this summer) And on my school schedule in the fall. It seems SE has no problem with picking me up though. So hooray to him! Geeks assemble!
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not a problem. however, keep in mind that we will probably be using my Mazda, not the van. Not the most fun road trip car. Unless jeffe brings the SUV. THere's probably more room there. But I don't want to volunteer him.
Btw, the NEXT worldcon (2005) is in Scotland. We can all go and impose on Entropy's hospitality!
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Everybody should start saving. I'm trying to give better advanced notice on this one, so that there are fewer excuses not to come.
On a side note, I still find it incredibly ironic that Tage was the only one with me this year. I actually get into the TOR party, go out to eat with my agent, and spend my time hob-nobbing with some of the top editors and writers in the field, and the only one there to enjoy it was a guy who never intends to publish.
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Baahston?
:D
Cool! I think I might be able to join you. ;) Not necessarily for the convention itself, but you know, I'd do lunch or something. If SE and Jeffe came up and Gemm came over it truly would be a TWG East.
If you end up wanting to come out and want to stay with guys in the ward to make it a little more affordable, I can hook you up. It happens all the time, and nobody would mind.
Boston's fairly easy to get around in, especially if it's at Hynes Convention Center or something like that downtown. Brookline, where I live, is right outside the Boston city limits, but it's only 4 or 5 T stops from Hynes. (If you didn't know, the T is the subway/trolley system.) Boston's pretty small--I've walked from work to school and from school to home before instead of taking the T, which was only a couple of miles total.
There's quite a bit to see downtown, too--lots of interesting historical stuff, like the Boston Common, the North End, Paul Revere's house, etc. I'm becoming quite a tour guide. Come on out and I'll show you around!
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Boy stacer, I may just come up to hang out in boston for a few days if I can't afford Worldcon by then. Which itself may just be as cool. I could stand outside the building and just mingle with the other geeks who couldn't get in and/or take someone's badge thingy. Of course, you'd all turn away then.
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Boston, my friends, is a cool town, even if it is full of yankees
I promise you right now that none of you will be allowed to leave without partaking of the clam chowder.
ALso, couches to sleep on rule. It all depends on the proxmity to the con, which I'll plot on mapquest when it becomes something more pressing. Thanks for the offer Stacer. We'll have to have a writers group or just a long game session while there. (but only one, we'll be there for professional reasons).
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So hey, this thing is a Thursday to Monday thing? Or so says my computers calendar. Which may be goofy.
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No, that's correct. It's a long con.
Stacer: Thanks for the offer of the rooms, but to be honest, I prefer staying at hotels. I like being close to the cons, and prefer the convenience of a nice hotel room.
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Terry Pratchett is the guest of honor, I am so there!!!
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You know, I've never actually read any of his stuff. Nor do I think I ever will.
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he's funny, and the stuff he wrote with neil gaimen is really funny.
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Errr, bringing one of my favorite writers into play is grounds for me reading Good Omens finally. And you say stuff in the sense they wrote more than just Good Omens together.
And what if some of us find it hard to pay for the hotel? And I would doubt (if there are only four of us) that we'd want two double beds to share. Of course, we're all a bunch of guys who feel pretty good about our sexuality. Baaba-booey Baaba-booey!
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I don't know that any of us are well enough off to spring for another's hotel accomodations. Consider that part of the price of admittance.
Cots, floors, and chairs work for sleeping. What? You've enver traveled?
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Yes, but only with family. I've never traveled with just friends before.
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No offense but 140 for the con is kinda steep if we also have to pay 140 a night or more for a hotel... that is unless anyone feels like financing it.
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Ahhh!
£504 for a flight to boston. Plus £135 (or so) to get in. No thanks.
Guess i'll see you in glasgow then... Or i'll probably mug gemm while he is in london.
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You are thinking so. But I, I will wear my karate gi. Then we will see who mugs whom.
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On the other hand, i think i flew to japan and back, and hong kong and back, with lufthansa, who are one of the airlines who go from leeds to boston. I might be able to use air miles to cut that cost. But it is far to far forward. I honestly don't know whats happening next year, other than that i am meeting up with a whole bunch of star wars geeks in london in july. If my latest insane scheme doesn't crash and burn, i might (might) go to university next year.
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Of course I can stay in Boston for 19 bucks a night, USCG has a base there near the Old North Church and Faniel Hall (sorry no civillians) obviously I'd rather be social and hang out with the guys, but if it comes down to hotel rooms or that Im going with that.
Saints right too Boston is one of the few Yankee cities I can tolerate (Portland ME and NYC being the others). Its easy to get around, fun and full of history.
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the guy with the gun, probably, rather than the guy dressed in pajamas.
the con is $180, hotel split 4 ways will probably come to $20-30 a night (if we find a cheap place, not one of those places conected to it, we should probably start that research now, just to be sure), which means ~$100-150. Plus meals (eating cheaply means ~$6 a meal, with 3 meals/day for 5 days, that's almost $100 for food, and I know at least one meal I'm gonna want to eat nice. Plus shopping. The minimum you'll get by with is $500, unless you stay at a friend of Stacers', in which case you might do on $350.
However, when travelling, you should Bring more money and less clothes." You can get by on 1 suitcase, but you'll want a way to spend more than $500. I'd plan $650 at least, and bring a CC in case you need more for an emergency.
That DOESN'T include travel. ANd yes, if I'm driving, we will take turns paying for gas. We're talking 4 tanks of gas, I think, which in the Mazda is probably about $80. We'd let Gemm of light, being in NY and therefore much closer, would only have one of those.
We're not talking about something cheap, but we are talking worth it.
On the other hand, if you're very frugal, you can probably trim a lot of that off. You don't have to shop, you can live on crackers and water from a grocery, and save a lot of money.
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Of course I can stay in Boston for 19 bucks a night, USCG has a base there near the Old North Church and Faniel Hall (sorry no civillians) obviously I'd rather be social and hang out with the guys, but if it comes down to hotel rooms or that Im going with that.
I don't think anyone's talking about staying in the same hotel as the con, but finding a nearby cheapie instead, that we'd split. Which I thin EUOL is right about, it's worth it to be half a block from the con rather than having to travel in each day and back each night (sometimes very late). Boston's easy to get about in, but having been there during rush hour, it's still a city, and the commute's a bear.
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Hum.
650.00 USD
United States Dollars = 387.659 GBP
United Kingdom Pounds
1 USD = 0.596399 GBP 1 GBP = 1.67673 USD
Plus the air fare of £438... thats £830, make it £850 to be sure (+ inflation). :o Thats a lot of money. But Terry Pratchet is one of my favourite authors... and my job gives me a good hourly wage... so if i save a quarter of my after-tax earnings, for the months between now and then, i would have £900, which gives me enough to buy some alchol to make the flights bearable.
/me goes away to think about this some.
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By then there may be discounts or package deals too... after all it is in september.
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What i do not get is why they are holding the 2005 con in Glasgow. I mean, its way up north, and Birmingham is the usual place for that sort of thing, seeing as how it is central, near the big population centres and has the National Exibition Centre.
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Yes, I would be all for staying at a cheaper hotel if one is in range (that's what I've done at 3/4 World Fantasies, and it was definitely worth it for 2. The one in Minneapolis felt like too much of a hike through too cold of weather for too little money saved.) However, I won't be offended if others decided to stay with friends or find other accommodations. I'm just saying I'll have a hotel if someone wants to split the price with me.
Maybe some day, if this writing thing ever takes off, I'll be able to afford a hotel room on my own and let anyone who wants crash there. Right now, however, I'm too poor for that.
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Jeffe and I talked about it, and we're pretty committed not just to going, but to sharing a hotel if we can get one where each share is in the $20-30 range
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That should be pretty doable. The con hotels are usually on the more expensive side, and they're listing on the site for $120. That means we can probably find something else in the area for around $90. Split that by four, and you've got a very managable price indeed.
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Id like to find a red roof inn for 45-50 a night personally.
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I don't think you'll find anything within a few blocks at that price, even motel prices go up when they're close to conventions and downtown like that
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Nothing downtown Boston is really ever going to be that price, period (I mean the $50 a night Red Roof). You'd probably be able to find that out in Watertown or something, but then your commute would be a bear. Try Cambridge. It's quite easy to stay over near MIT or Harvard and jump on the #1 bus, which takes you to Hynes in about 10 minutes. If, that is, the convention is at Hynes.
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Harvards a blast too.... hmm I'll check it out...
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I dunno, I'm fine with a $120 room split 4 ways, it's it's split 6 ways, which it might be, that's even better. Convenience is a big factor.
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ok but the best place to grab a burger in Boston is in harvard, and hey I have a friend there too.... I could crash on a couch if I had too! :)
Of course I'll work with you guys on a hotel though
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Watertown, is there a Watertown in MA, or wherever this place is. Because there is a Watertown round abouts here too. In NY.
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Yeah, I was talking about Watertown MA. The commute from Watertown NY would not only be a bear, it'd be a killer--it's more than 3 hours' drive just to get to the NY border!
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Ahhh, well Watertown NY is on the North Western side of NY. Heh, that'd be funny though.
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wait, that makes picking you up FAR out of the way. When we do this commute, you'll have to meet us closer to our path.
I'm not going to Boston for burgers. I'm going for clam chowder.
Wait
I mean, I'm going for a con, which I want to be near.
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Buffalo dude. Its by lake Erie. You know, one of those "Better Lakes" or what not. Ever hear of those?
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Umm Gemm Eric and I took a road trip to Palmyra and then went to see Niagra Falls, Your out of our way,... now if you could meet us in say... Delaware or Pennsylvania that might work, otherwise it adds about 5 hours to our trip.
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heck, you can stay in NY state if you want, just get a heckuva lot closer to 95 so I don't have to drive all the way out there. You're looking at one or two extra tanks of gas to get you where you are. You've got 10 months, you can find a ride toward the coast, I'm sure. Heck, a bus would do it.
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Is St. Marys PA any closer? Thats around Dubois. But if not we'll see. There is time and such.
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I can honestly say I have no idea where either of those towns are. If you can give me directions, and you're within, say, 50 miles of I-95, then it's ok. Though 50 miles is pushing it. That's almost an hour off the way, then an hour back. The closer you get to 95 the better.
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I don't even know where New york is really. It's high up on the right hand side :P
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It's somewhere in the USA, right? That's that place on that big chunk of land somewhere on the other side of the world.
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I may allow that i have knowledge of where the landmass known as North America may be located on your common or garden globe. It's that big, rather unsightly, landmass over to the left of Her Majesties most glorious British Isles. Just head towards Eire and keep going. Good thing really, lessens your chance of being murdered for being British.
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heh, we just hired an Irish guy. He dont' talk much. I wanted to hear his funny accent. I'm going to bring in some protestants if he doesn't start entertaining me.