randy_byers: (2009-05-10)
randy_byers ([personal profile] randy_byers) wrote2010-06-14 08:23 am
Entry tags:

Tour guide

Yesterday I picked up Doug and Christina around 12:30 and brought them to Fremont. I took them on a long, looping walk around the neighborhood. First stop was the Troll, of course, but we couldn't get a good photo because some people were reciting Shakespeare in front of it. So we continued on to the Lighthouse, which roasts its own coffee. (Doug is a coffee drinker, but Christina isn't.) Then down the hill again past Brouwers (not beer o'clock yet), a quick stop at the Theo Chocolate factory, where Doug picked up one of the excellent chocolate-and-chili-pepper bars, then into the Sunday Market, where we wandered around checking out the booths and listening to a couple of guys play Pink Floyd on accordion and acoustic guitar (it worked) before we grabbed a spicy pork sandwich from the pig-shaped truck. (Ye Ironne Pig, indeed.) Ate our sandwiches sitting in the grass by the canal, gossiping about our friends in the UK, Seattle, and all around the world. Walked down along the canal to Gas Works Park, up Kite Hill for that postcard view of downtown. Then back past the transfer station for a whiff of working Seattle, back into the business district for a visit to the Lenin statue, and then back up the hill to the Troll, where people were taking turns posing against the statue for pictures. I took a picture of D&C, and then it was back to my house, where they sat on Hazel's beautiful bench, which Victor had admired quite feelingly at the end of the party the night before. We drank some restorative water. It was another mostly-sunny day, and we had worked up a thirst on our long walk.

After that was the pubmeet, which was good fun. Linda Deneroff and Judy Johnson were there with flyers advertising Foolscap readings. "Foolscap is a relatively new convention," I told D&C.

Linda raised her eyebrows and said, "This will be the twelfth one."

"No fucking way," I insisted. I thought it was the fifth one, or thereabouts. Uh, maybe in binary? Uh ... uh ...

Well, anyway, it was a good pubmeet, with many of the usual faces and a few unusual ones, including Andy and Andi. (Hooper and Shechter, that is.) We discussed Swedish garage bands, as you do. Also Stieg Larsson's fannish past.

After that a bunch of us made a traditional fannish expedition to a Chinese restaurant -- Fu Shen, up on 91st and Aurora. Really good food, I thought. Suzle had just had a birthday, so it was a birthday dinner for her. There was more talk of Sweden. I blame Ulrika. She and Christina reminisced about an animated show from their childhood called The Magic Roundabout that was originally in French but in England was shown with an English text that was a whole different story and had nothing to do with the original. One way to solve the problem of translation! It was apparently written by Emma Thompson's father.

Then I took our visitors back to their hotel and that was another good day in the books. I'm already feeling bereft that they will soon be leaving town. It's pretty nice having them around!

[identity profile] holyoutlaw.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 05:04 pm (UTC)(link)
That's quite a lot of walking! Whew!

[identity profile] randy-byers.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, that was a workout, especially on the heels of the party. Fortunately they were game for it.

[identity profile] kalimac.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 05:09 pm (UTC)(link)
"First stop was the Troll, of course, but we couldn't get a good photo because some people were reciting Shakespeare in front of it."

It seems to me that that might make a very good picture.

Twelve years is a relatively new convention. *pounds cane on floor*

Fu Shen - I think I've eaten there, on a fannish expedition. At any rate it was a Chinese restaurant somewhere in that stretch of Aurora.

[identity profile] randy-byers.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 05:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, Christina and Doug wanted a picture of *themselves* in front of the troll, but we thought it would be rude to interfere with the recital that way. And you're right, twelve isn't too many, but I honestly had absolutely no idea Foolscap had gotten to double digits already. But that's why they call me Mr. Oblivious.

[identity profile] holyoutlaw.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
With WisCon, Norwescon, and others in their 30s, 12 is pretty young.

[identity profile] randy-byers.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Even Corflu is turning 28 next year.
wrdnrd: (Default)

[personal profile] wrdnrd 2010-06-14 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
My friend Alex was working on promotions for the Portland Zine Symposium earlier this year and did some crowdsourcing on their calling themselves the "longest running zine festival," in part to see if it was accurate. People tossed around a couple of other suggestions, but nothing older than, say a dozen or 15 years. I entered the thread and sort of coughed politely and then pointed to Corflu. Sorry, PZS, but you are only 10!

[identity profile] kalimac.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
"Christina and Doug wanted a picture of *themselves* in front of the troll"

Oh, well. But the Seattle Troll Shakespeare Festival would have made a great photo nonetheless.

"But that's why they call me Mr. Oblivious."

They do?

[identity profile] randy-byers.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh alright, that's why I call myself Mr. Oblivious. ("They" are the voices in my head, of course.)

[identity profile] kalimac.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Whatever they call you, I'm oblivious to it.

[identity profile] fishlifter.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, we will show you some episodes of The Magic Roundabout. After beer, of course.

[identity profile] randy-byers.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
So I take it that everybody has seen it but me!

[identity profile] surliminal.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 10:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Mais bien sur!!

And I am amazed but pleased to discover the Troll is so, er, USED!

[identity profile] randy-byers.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, the Troll almost always has company of some sort. Even in the wee hours, you'll often see youngsters hanging around doing youngster things. Or at least I'd see them back in the days when I was coming home from clubs in the wee hours.

[identity profile] angriest.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
I have no idea how well seen it was in North America. Certainly if you're Australian and was born somewhere between 1960 and 1980 you'd probably be aware of the show. I still love it.

The BBC purchased the show from France, and rather than get a translation done they simply hired Eric Thompson (Emma's dad) to write and narrate all new-scripts for the show. It's hilarious stuff.

[identity profile] randy-byers.livejournal.com 2010-06-14 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay, I'm really feeling left out now. Although actually Ulrika was remembering it as something she saw two episodes of on Swedish TV as a child and never has seen again. Perhaps another clue that it never made it to the US. And yet we got the Smurfs. I can't help but feel Europe was punishing us.

[identity profile] angriest.livejournal.com 2010-06-15 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
The original Smurfs graphic novels are pretty awesome though - NBM is about to start printing new English language editions.

The first Smurfs story, The Purple Smurf, is potentially the first zombie outbreak story ever produced. It apparently pre-dates George Romero.

[identity profile] randy-byers.livejournal.com 2010-06-15 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
I've never seen the graphic novels, and in fact didn't know they existed.

[identity profile] angriest.livejournal.com 2010-06-15 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
The graphic novels are what came first - the cartoons are an adaptation.

[identity profile] the-maenad.livejournal.com 2010-06-15 09:21 pm (UTC)(link)
The Magic Roundabout was awesome in all the right ways. The opening credits showed the roundabout going around, with a bunch of kids on it and one empty horse; "that's for you," said my mother.

Sadly I have no memory of the alleged episode where one character tried to hurry another one along by pointing out that the five o'clock news bulletin would be interrupting them soon, only to be told "They'll just have to wait for us!"

[identity profile] randy-byers.livejournal.com 2010-06-15 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Sweet! Although your userpic is rather rude!