MediaWest*Con 17

Memorial Day Weekend, 1997

Report by Anne Collins Smith

 

Thursday, May 22, 1997

Until I moved from Texas to Pennsylvania last year, attending MediaWest*Con always meant flying. This year was different, as I was invited to ride with a carpool from New Jersey. One of the women, Dorothy Hartel, borrowed her Dad's enormous old Chevy, into which the four of us and our luggage fit quite comfortably. I was tickled to learn that some of my carpool mates were associated with that group of music video mavens known as the Bunnies from Hell. Now, in order for me to attend MWC, my husband had to chaperone a field trip to the Smithsonian with our ten-year-old and his class, so while I was enjoying a road trip to MWC with the Bunnies from Hell, my husband was experiencing an eight-hour bus ride with the Fifth Grade from. . . er, St. Monica's.

As we were driving along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I spotted a little car whose license plate read "Blake 7." "Look!" I cried and pointed. "She must be going where we're going," said one of my companions. Our driver sped up to pull alongside so we could wave, but the little car, assuming we wanted to pass, slowed down and fell back! After some tricky maneuvering we finally pulled up beside the car, whose driver must have thought we were mad by this time. One of my compatriots in the back seat plastered the MWC Progress Report against the window so that the logo showed, and we all waved and pointed and grinned like idiots. The driver caught on and waved back.

We pulled into MWC after 11 p.m. I checked in and put my stuff in the room, where one of my roommates, Denetia Arellanes, was already installed with a marvelous spread of photos for sale. I then went off to cruise the halls, inspect the many flyers already posted, and see who was around! I was delighted to see many old friends.

 

Friday, May 23, 1997

The next morning I was tired--imagine that!--and slept in, knowing the con didn't really get underway until noon. Eventually I roused myself, went down and got my badge--I had preregistered for my gofer hours, which saved a lot of time--and headed for the dealers' room. It had just opened, and Orphan Zines was in the midst of the traditional feeding frenzy. Linda and Peg asked if I could help, and I pitched in restocking zines on the table as they were purchased. After a while I got to know where things were, and was able to answer some of the customers' questions or fetch specific zines they wanted. It was quite a privilege, I thought, to see how this operation worked from the inside, and when the feeding frenzy had abated I left to do my own shopping, with new respect for the people who ran the table.

My next task was a pleasant one: picking up contributor's copies! I got my copy of Lines in the Sand 2 and Of Dreams and Schemes 12, a belated copy of Karmic Concurrence 2 which Paulle had run off for me, a copy of Remote Control Goes to War and, to my surprise, a copy of Tish Well's Rat Patrol novel The Norway Raid, which I had beta-read. I now had a tidy stack of zines, and I hadn't spent any money yet!

After I got a wonderful new Bajoran earring (a weakness of mine, I confess), I went with Sue Collins and her cousin-in-law Mary Lee for lunch at the hotel restaurant. The food was yummy and we had a great time catching up. Then I returned to the dealer's room with a mission: to buy fanzines! I hit a wonderful used-zine sale where I filled several gaps in my multimedia collection at very reasonable prices. After the Rat Patrol panel at 5 a bunch of us headed to dinner at the hotel restaurant. Kathy Agel filled me in on a Rat Patrol/Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea novel she's co-writing with Tish Wells. Mary Platt came by, and after dinner she and Jean Coleman and I went to the local Kinko's. I needed to copy flyers and M&M rules for the party the next night, while Mary and Jean needed to order more copies of Lines in the Sand 2, which was selling like hotcakes.

When we returned to the hotel I had excellent intentions, really I did, of making my way to the Garrison's Gorillas room party hosted by Cindy Barwin and Gini Hefty. Somehow, though, I kept getting sidetracked! I stopped by to visit Linda Knights, and we wound up having a lovely long chat. I knew her from fandom and from the Internet, but we'd never met in person before that morning. Then I walked past an open door and spotted Sue Smith, a fellow U.N.C.L.E. fan and Lord Peter Wimsey aficionado, and stopped in for yet another lovely long chat! What with one thing and another I never made it to the Garrison's Gorillas party, which I later heard was a smash, but I still had a great time. Around midnight I remembered something I'd heard about on the Man from U.N.C.L.E. mailing list I belong to, and set off to find it. And am I ever glad I did!

A group of U.N.C.L.E. fans, consisting of Jessica Ross (a.k.a. "Bingo"), Judi Toth, Amanda Thomas, Dorinda Hartmann, Kelly Wilson, James South, Melissa Jerves, and Tara O'Shea, had selected a goofy 2-part third-season episode, "The Five Daughters Affair," sat down with copies of the script and a pro tape of the episode, and carefully drafted, timed, and rehearsed a running commentary. What they created was a Mystery Science Theater 3000 Man from U.N.C.L.E. presentation! Bingo, Judi, Amanda, and Dorinda did the actual commentary with microphones at the front of the room as the episode played. They bounced off of U.N.C.L.E. clichés and MST3K conventions, throwing in pop-culture references from Gilbert & Sullivan to Young Frankenstein, pointing out continuity and production errors with glee. The time and effort they had put into it made for a smoothly delivered and hilarious presentation. It was altogether delightful and greatly enjoyed by a packed roomful of fans By the time it was done and I had had a chance to visit with some of the folks there, it was 2:30 a.m. and even I couldn't stay up forever. So off I went to bed.

 

Saturday, May 24, 1997

Saturday morning I did some room decorating. Denetia had covered our door with attractive photos of characters from Rat Patrol and Garrison's Gorillas, but the inside of the room was still plain. In 1996 I had a calendar of "orientalist" paintings, romantic 19th-century depictions of harem dancers, carpet bazaars, and other fanciful Arabian exotica. I had brought it to the convention along with scissors and masking tape, and now I cut out the individual pictures and stuck them up on the wall. (They were a big hit and I have saved them for next year!)

I knew our third roomie would be coming in soon, so I headed for the elevators to go down to the lobby and see if the airport shuttle had arrived yet. We'd only "met" on the Internet and I was looking forward to meeting her in person. On my way to the elevators, I passed a woman in the hallway who wore traveling clothes and carried a suitcase; on a hunch I turned and asked, "Chari?" "Anne?" she asked. We trotted back to the room and got her stuff stowed. She had brought me a surprise--a T-shirt handpainted with a marvelous portrait of my favorite Rat, Moffitt. I abandoned my normal decorous reserve and squealed with delight.

After a brief tour of the dealer's room, Chari and I crossed the street for lunch at the Ponderosa. As always, it was delicious and plentiful, and the staff especially friendly to MWC attendees. It was great to get a chance to visit away from the hustle and bustle of the convention.

Upon returning to the convention I spent some time shopping on behalf of my friend Brenda and her friend Marge, who sent me lists and money and asked me to buy Kung Fu: The Legend Continues zines. (Ain't fandom amazing? I'd never met Marge, and here she sent me, a total stranger, $200 on trust to buy zines for her!) I had a splendid time hunting for KF:TLC zines--there's such a vicarious thrill in spending large quantities of other people's money! And the KF:TLC editors are such friendly people that I was delighted to have a reason to interact with them.

Next, I called the hubby to see how things were going at home. Not only did he tell me cheerfully how well everyone was, he even read me my email! Then, Chari and I went to the grocery store to get munchies for the Rat Patrol party. Dorothy had given me a set of keys to her dad's car and permission to use it as needed, which was very helpful. We had gotten suggestions and donations from various people, so we had quite a shopping list! Chari helped shop and carry groceries, and also pitched in generously for the expense.

We got back in good time to set up for the party, which was at five o'clock. I must commend the hotel's VCR man, who came promptly to disconnect my VCR from the TV in our room and reconnect it to the TV in the Party Suite, and who came again promptly at the end of our Party Suite slot to repeat the process in reverse.

The party was great fun. We had a good crowd, and since Chari had brought all the episodes we could watch whatever we wanted. Raelyn and Scotty of the G-2 Files showed up, one with an adult daughter in tow--I was delighted to get to meet them--and asked what was going on. "We're going to watch Rat Patrol episodes and make rude remarks," said I. They grabbed chairs, plunked down and said, "Count us in!" As old hands, they helped point out glitches that we hadn't spotted, and we all cheered for the cameraman's shadow! We took requests, and wound up watching "The Decoy Raid" and "The Fatal Reunion Raid," among others. As always, we solicited suggestions for new M&M rules; for example, we added an M&M for every time the binocular "mask" is used to make the image on screen look like what someone sees through the binoculars.

At seven, with the help of the friendly VCR man, we moved the party to our hotel room. Kathy Agel suggested pizza so that no one would have to leave for dinner, an excellent and tasty idea. We settled down to watch more episodes. Poor Kathy wanted to see "the one with the dog," ("Darers Go First Raid"), which was on one of the tapes but wasn't marked. We watched a whole bunch of others on our way to that one, including "Double or Nothing Raid" and "Pipeline to Disaster Raid." We finally did get to "Darers Go First," and were rewarded with an extra closing tag that many of us hadn't seen before, as these were complete copies!

The party had a core of folks who stayed most of the time, and a contingent who drifted in and out. As it got later, I got out a bottle of Belgian white chocolate liqueur and some miniature glass beer steins and passed them out, whereupon an informal chorus of "Du, du liegst mir in Herzen" broke out. Wolf, a fellow who likes to do military costumes, stopped by to show us his costume from the masquerade, an authentic British WWII outfit. His fiancee, Cindy, gave me a recipe for an awesome-sounding concoction to be made with white chocolate liqueur, milk, butterscotch schnapps, and iced hazelnut espresso. Sharane McCurrey and Karen Pauli, longtime fans, stopped in, and Sharane told us fascinating stories about her father's experiences in the military during WWII and after. Eventually the party wound down, we said goodnight to our last few guests, and my two roommates crawled into bed. I was way to excited to go to bed, so I headed out to prowl the halls. I remembered that my dear friend Jo, who didn't come this year, had asked me to stop by and say hi to the "Relativity" folks, who publish multimedia fanzines in the "cousins" universe. So I followed the "Burma Shave"-style signs posted along the hall to their door, and stopped by. They were fun, friendly folks who were glad to hear from Jo and welcoming to me as well. After a final stop at the U.N.C.L.E. party I toddled reluctantly off to bed.

 

Sunday, May 25, 1997

The next morning was an early one, as I joined Dee Beetem, Julie Jay, Sue and Mary Lee at the Days Inn down the street for breakfast. We got back to the convention just in time for the Dietrich panel and an afternoon of shopping and hanging out. James South and Kelly Wilson, some friends from the U.N.C.L.E. list, and I had dinner across the street at a restaurant called Bill Knapp's. I splurged and got the special with a small steak and marinated grilled chicken--yummy. It was an even bigger treat, though, to spend time with my friends. We ate early so I could get back in time to work at the art auction.

I was one of the "runners" at the auction: that is, I carried pieces of artwork through the audience so that people could get a close look at the item that was up for bids. Usually, runners work in pairs and trade off running and filling out the bid sheet. I much prefer running to paperwork, and by sheer luck I was paired with a fan who was just getting over the 'flu and didn't want to run. So she did the bid sheet every time and I got to run every time, and we were both happy. There were four pairs of us, so we were not constantly on our feet. Just before the auction began, the auctioneers introduced the runners and an audience member solemnly pointed to us and said, "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." That was not only a handy sign of the growing resurgence of interest in Star Wars this year, but a description we wore proudly!

What else was popular this year? A lot of Sentinel art went to auction, as did a lot of Xena and X-Files. Native American crafts, such as dreamcatchers and beaded pouches, were very popular. Wild animals were big; I carried several pieces with tigers or wolves. Unusual media are beginning more common, such as Christmas ornaments, slate clocks, stained glass, and painted plates. The highest bid for a single piece was $575 for a beautiful Jesse McClain Highlander painting. A gorgeous set of three Man from U.N.C.L.E. pictures by Suzie Lovett, auctioned separately, went for a total of over thirteen hundred dollars to one very determined and joyful fan. The auctioneers had fun as usual. A partially-clothed Mulder from X-Files earned the new title, "The Tush is Out There." They also got the audience to "yiyiyiyiyiyi" for the Xena pictures.

One very touching thing happened during the art auction. A fan was deliberately called and kept out of the room by an imaginary problem with her registration, and while she was gone, one of the organizers came up and explained that this fan, a longtime helper at MWC, had experienced several disasters just before the convention and then had her car throw a valve on the way to the con, a potentially catastrophic financial problem on top of all the others. A collection was taken up for her; the organizer suggested that we all put in the price of a cup of coffee, but as the runners collected the baskets I saw that some people had put in as much as a twenty-dollar bill. Later on, the fan was called up to the auction platform and presented with over a thousand dollars to help with her repair bill. There was much rejoicing among us all, and more than a few tears of joy.

 

Monday, May 26, 1997

The next morning I said good-bye to people, packed, and got ready to go. I sent Brenda's and Marge's zines out by a mailing & packing service called Postnet that brought their whole set-up to the con, a great timesaver. My carpoolmates kindly waited while I hunted for my sunglasses, and then we were off!

We might have left the convention hotel, but we brought the convention along with us. At our first rest stop at a service plaza, we found two other groups of commuting MWC fans and briefly considered holding a mini-con right then and there! As we drove along the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpikes, I was initiated into a tradition of this carpool: we went through a batch of newly-purchased fanzines, chose the shortest and funniest stories, and took turns reading them aloud! It certainly made the trip go a lot more quickly.

We reached Harrisburg around eleven at night; Owen and Emrys met us there and took me home. Emrys was sleepy, but glad to see his mom, and Owen was eager to hear all about my exciting weekend.

A good number of zines of interest to Rat Patrol fans debuted at this con. Lines in the Sand 2, which is all Rat Patrol, came out, as did Remote Control Goes to War, a multimedia zine with a high percentage of Rat Patrol, and Tish Well's RP novel The Norway Raid. Moreover, Anything Goes 6 had one Rat Patrol story and Of Dreams and Schemes 12 had three. A number of zines that had come out over the past year, like Doctor's Orders Raid and Combined Talents 6 were also available. I was delighted to see a lot of old friends and to meet new ones. My roommates from last year, Linda Sparr and Jill Riley, couldn't make it this time, but they were not forgotten and we hope they'll be back--I know I will!