Cascadia Science Fiction Convention

[kingrat]

CascadiaCon

Seriously, what the fuck??

There's almost nothing science fiction related at this convention. There's little fantasy either. Gothic & fetish ball? Celtic music? And this:

Stalking Cat to Attend Cascadia Con

This Cat walks on two legs and stands six feet tall and he is the only Earth Cat that we know of who can speak English. At Cascadia Con Stalking Cat will share with us some of his thoughts behind extreme body modification and walking the path with your spiritual totem.

 

so we have a mostly unemployed person who spends his money on getting body mods? What the fuck does any of this have to do with science fiction?

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Yes- and that he's nominally "Heron and Lakota", but "following a very old Huron Tradition" rings wrong too. Just geographically it's all a muddle- since the Huron are from upstate New York and Ontario (probably areas of New England as well); the only reference to a Heron tribe or band I can find places them as Muskogee, which would be geographically appropriate for the Southeast; and the Lakota are Plains folk which populated the Dakotas and parts of Sasketchewan, Manitoba and Alberta.

Unless they were forcibly moved by the government, the First Nations tended not to migrate and intermarry quite this much. And if this guy is Lakota and Heron, why isn't he observing traditions appropriate to his peoples, rather than an unconnected tribal tradition from a completely different area? What's more, what the hell do extreme body modifications have to do with walking the path of one's totem— and what do either have to do with a sci-fi/fantasy con?

When the Writer Guest of Honour cancels, that's probably an indication that something's amiss. This con, from its amateurishly bad website looks like an attempt to put a facade on a weekend long drunken debauchery and bacchanalia- not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that under "safe, sane and consensual" bounds, but please, can't they just call it what it is?

Sorry about that.

[wingedelf.livejournal.com]

Noticed i'd gotten signed out right after clicking to post.

Re: Sorry about that.

[kingrat]

I'd really just like to go to a science fiction convention that is about science fiction. None of the local conventions fit the bill. I read a ton of science fiction. I see lots of SF movies.

Re: Sorry about that.

[loopback.livejournal.com]

So get on the ConCom of a con and push your agenda. or start your own. Or travel to one of the bajillion other cons that are out there.

It's not like there's a secret cabal of people who decide what happens. get off your ass if you don't like it, but just whining about it is senseless.

Re: Sorry about that.

[kingrat]

Whining about the whining in my journal is just as senseless, but you seem to have no problem with it.

I vote with my dollars. I've attended conventions in the past that met my desires.

As far as getting off my ass, my ass is devoted to other things at the moment.

Re: Sorry about that.

[loopback.livejournal.com]

Funny, it didn't sound like whining to me, it sounded like someone pointing out there was something you could do about this Tragic Problem that was So Compelling you Had To Post About It.

Carry on being your bad self.

Re: Sorry about that.

[kingrat]

Someone pointing out there is something I could do about it would have left it at "Why don't you join a con and improve it or start your own?" But you had to throw in aspersions about my laziness and my lack of proportion ("Tragic Problem" in caps) and whatever the snarky comment about my "bad self" is about. Hence, I read it as whining about my whining, cause you had to throw in a whole bunch more. And whining about my whining is allowed; I don't filter comments on my journal to pro-Phil comments only. But, get snarky with me in my own journal, and I'm gonna point out the snarkiness. At least if I like ya I'm gonna.

[jakerain.livejournal.com]

It is with great regret that we must announce that Fred Saberhagen was just diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. Metastatic prostate cancer is prostate cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body (metastasized).

He has asked us to relay that he is in the process of getting the cancer stabilized. He has also said that he does hope and plan to see us all at some other future con.


That't what's "amiss".

[jakerain.livejournal.com]

er... "that's".

[chiaspod.livejournal.com]

Yikes! I absolutely loved his Berserker series when I was a kid, and thoroughly enjoyed his recasting of the Dracula mythos in my teen years.

[kingrat]

A replacement guest would be in order.

[darkphoenixrisn.livejournal.com]

What, Stalking Cat isn't good enough for you? ;)

[mundivagant.livejournal.com]

It sounds wrong because it is. Our knowledge of Huron tradition comes from a couple lines scrawled in the diaries of missionaries. We successfully wiped out the Huron by what, 1660?

[faerieburst.livejournal.com]

I saw the front and back "run down" flyer for this Con last year when I was helping Tedd out with the Voodmaverick booth. Because I was bored, I took a red pen and started correcting all of the spelling, grammar, punctuation, syntax, and diction errors.

When I was done, both sides looked like I had punctured an artery over the page.

The worst part was the section that was telling about the special panels and sessions for English creative writing teachers and libarians. The spelling mistakes alone were enough to make me weep. If the target audience is comprised of ENGLISH TEACHERS, you would think that a quick run through spell check wouldn't be out of line.

But apparently, far, far too much to ask.

The end.

~Aramada

[malackey.livejournal.com]

Ummmmm....sounds like fun?

[ravenmimura.livejournal.com]

that cat guy is totally crazy tricked out, though. i saw him on Ripley's.

he's certainly got dedication...

[kingrat]

Tattoo or body-mod convention, sure. We just had one over the weekend at the Seattle Center. Science fiction?

[ravenmimura.livejournal.com]

oh i agree.

i really can't get a read on this convention.

i see the general connection for this guy to be at a fantasy/gaming con, as he is very much part of the Anthro crowd, and that's a part (subset) of generalized sci-fi and fantasy stuff.

my initial comment was just an aside more than anything else, though.

[kingrat]

Ah. THe Ethiopean preacher who plies the streets downtown is also dedicated. Frankly, both of them scare me. To me, he gone past dedicated to lost touch with reality.