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solarbirdA-Kon, a convention in Dallas, Texas, shows conventions how to do commercials for a convention that are, um... actually pretty good. This is the first I've seen that weren't really, well... lame. I am by no means a scholar of convention commercials, but most of the ones I've run across or heard ideas for have failed to impress. I mean, when the best ones are the convention equivalent of SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY, you know it's an art form in its infancy. These are definitely much better than that.
So today was really crazy with the busy, but then it calmed down and things were better. I'd decided to take a shift at the last minute collecting signatures for I-937 at Folklife, but then I took too long in the shower, so by the time I got done with the morning kitchen cleanup (birds plus the other general assorted mess that always happens - plus it's milk delivery day, so I had to throw out the leftovers and clean that up to make room) I was already rushing just to catch a bus that might get me down there somewhere close to on time. And once I finally got down there, it took stupidly long to find the table (I'd assumed it would be in the grounds; it wasn't, it was out by the street) so by the time I was collecting signatures, I was already almost an hour into the shift.
I got a problematic location, too; sidewalk near Memorial Stadium, where people cross from the parking lot, which sounds pretty good but actually kind of isn't as typically they've been waiting for a light to change before crossing, and once they're across they're in a mood to move, and they're doing it as a mass. So that was not so great. I also got my first hostile reaction - I'm pretty sure I would have gotten two except one person's got kind of pre-empted by somebody else, thankfully. I also had my first Very Strange Person interaction, with someone trying to convince me that the whole thing was fraud and he just needed to build his Forever-Running Motor and all these problems would be solved. I only got around 25 signatures in an hour and a half before it was time to break for lunch and meet up with people for taiko drumming...
...and then I was still late for the scheduled performance of the first group we'd wanted to see. But that worked out okay, as while they were on the web schedule, they weren't on the actual print schedule, and the print one was actually more up to date, which is why they should hire![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cow to fix their b0rken web-update processes. I mean honestly, newsprint more recent than .pdfs on the web? What the hell?
Sunday's miles: 2.1
Monday's miles: 6.4
Miles out of Hobbiton: 873.3
Miles out of Rivendell: 413.5
Miles to Lothlórien: 52.9
Anyway, eventually we got Unbelievably Good Fair Food and watched Seattle Kazi Daiko play; they're pretty good, definitely enthusiastic (tho' sometimes underconfident - they're a youth group), and handled being on too small a stage pretty well. Their performance was insanely packed, thanks partly to being in too small a venue - Folklife really needs to learn that taiko has a real following around here that will seek out performances, and having fewer performances doesn't mean fewer people show up at all of them - it means everybody comes to the one you've got.
I should probably drop them a note about that.
Anyway, after that, we wandered around and looked at interesting things - I got a new wallet, yay - and after a pretty good performance and food, I'd lost the constant-lateness edge and could get into the whole fair scene for wandering and playing around. Hates Water Me finally made a run at the International Fountain and bounced off it, which was great, and I saw a cool watch that I didn't buy but might have if we'd had more money to toss around.
I also saw another $100 violin. I don't get that. There was someone selling $100 violins at streetfair, too. ("Regular price $675" my shiny metal ass...) I mean, yeah, fine, student violin or something, but how can they be anything less than utter crap? I mean, it's one thing to learn on a cheaper instrument, it's another thing to try to learn on something that won't hold a tune for more than about three minutes. Is there some source of cheap Chinese violins out there, or what?
Cherry Blossoms (12 April)
Anyway, later, we came home, and Paul made teriyaki BBQ on the outdoor grill, and it was very tasty. So a good day for all forms of food.
So today was really crazy with the busy, but then it calmed down and things were better. I'd decided to take a shift at the last minute collecting signatures for I-937 at Folklife, but then I took too long in the shower, so by the time I got done with the morning kitchen cleanup (birds plus the other general assorted mess that always happens - plus it's milk delivery day, so I had to throw out the leftovers and clean that up to make room) I was already rushing just to catch a bus that might get me down there somewhere close to on time. And once I finally got down there, it took stupidly long to find the table (I'd assumed it would be in the grounds; it wasn't, it was out by the street) so by the time I was collecting signatures, I was already almost an hour into the shift.
I got a problematic location, too; sidewalk near Memorial Stadium, where people cross from the parking lot, which sounds pretty good but actually kind of isn't as typically they've been waiting for a light to change before crossing, and once they're across they're in a mood to move, and they're doing it as a mass. So that was not so great. I also got my first hostile reaction - I'm pretty sure I would have gotten two except one person's got kind of pre-empted by somebody else, thankfully. I also had my first Very Strange Person interaction, with someone trying to convince me that the whole thing was fraud and he just needed to build his Forever-Running Motor and all these problems would be solved. I only got around 25 signatures in an hour and a half before it was time to break for lunch and meet up with people for taiko drumming...
...and then I was still late for the scheduled performance of the first group we'd wanted to see. But that worked out okay, as while they were on the web schedule, they weren't on the actual print schedule, and the print one was actually more up to date, which is why they should hire
cow to fix their b0rken web-update processes. I mean honestly, newsprint more recent than .pdfs on the web? What the hell?Sunday's miles: 2.1
Monday's miles: 6.4
Miles out of Hobbiton: 873.3
Miles out of Rivendell: 413.5
Miles to Lothlórien: 52.9
Anyway, eventually we got Unbelievably Good Fair Food and watched Seattle Kazi Daiko play; they're pretty good, definitely enthusiastic (tho' sometimes underconfident - they're a youth group), and handled being on too small a stage pretty well. Their performance was insanely packed, thanks partly to being in too small a venue - Folklife really needs to learn that taiko has a real following around here that will seek out performances, and having fewer performances doesn't mean fewer people show up at all of them - it means everybody comes to the one you've got.
I should probably drop them a note about that.
Anyway, after that, we wandered around and looked at interesting things - I got a new wallet, yay - and after a pretty good performance and food, I'd lost the constant-lateness edge and could get into the whole fair scene for wandering and playing around. Hates Water Me finally made a run at the International Fountain and bounced off it, which was great, and I saw a cool watch that I didn't buy but might have if we'd had more money to toss around.
I also saw another $100 violin. I don't get that. There was someone selling $100 violins at streetfair, too. ("Regular price $675" my shiny metal ass...) I mean, yeah, fine, student violin or something, but how can they be anything less than utter crap? I mean, it's one thing to learn on a cheaper instrument, it's another thing to try to learn on something that won't hold a tune for more than about three minutes. Is there some source of cheap Chinese violins out there, or what?
Cherry Blossoms (12 April)
Anyway, later, we came home, and Paul made teriyaki BBQ on the outdoor grill, and it was very tasty. So a good day for all forms of food.
