Redemption '07
by Bottom Pineapple
Friday 23rd
We managed to get a reasonably early start from home, dropping off our poor little kitties at the prison they'll have to call home for the weekend on the way. The journey wasn't too bad until we were approaching Birmingham, where we hit a long stretch of congestion that added an extra hour. Arriving later than expected, we just had enough time to book into the hotel and find our room before I was due for stewarding. (We found our room with the aid of a very helpful cleaner, who corrected our foolish idea that the early 500 rooms would be on the first floor between the corridor with the late 400s and the one with the late 500s. Obviously they would actually be on the ground floor, along the one corridor that had had it's sign taken down.) I was then due to for my first session of stewarding. It's amazing how knowledgeable and authoritative you can sound just by having a vague recollection of where the toilets were two years ago.
By the time I'd finished stewarding, Cath had almost finished unloading the car, so I just had a couple of things to bring in, then it was time to eat. Friday's 'budget meal' was a choice of grease lasagne, (not much) spaghetti greasenaise or an actually quite nice vegetable lasagne. Post meal, I managed to get a quick look at the dealer's room before it shut a few minutes later.
From there it was back to the room to get things sorted out, and set up Cath's Tardis for Saturday, until Cath realized that it wouldn't fit through the doorway fully assembled, and it was just left semi-complete.
We went to the Stewards' Meeting, followed by the Opening Ceremony (full of the usual nonsense, and Chris's appalling jokes.) Cath then went off to her first stint of stewarding, and I stayed on for the Pub Quiz, much use that I was for it (I could answer the HHGG questions, mostly!)
Meeting up with Cath again, we headed for the Rise & Fall of B5 Fandom panel. An interesting discussion on the changes in fandom, and the effects of the web on the spread of B5 fandom. After that, it was just drinks and general mooching/chatting until we gave up trying to keep warm (why the bar needed it's air con on full blast at that time of night I don't know) and headed for bed.
Saturday 24th
Up reasonably early, and so had time for a leisurely breakfast (much better quality than the previous evening's meal) before going back to the room to put my pyjamas on and pick up my towel (for Arthur Dent).
We started the day with the 'What Would B7 be like not set in Space?' panel, and came up with a very promising steam-punk storyline, taking in the Indian Raj period through to independence, with guest starring cameo roles for Sherlock Holmes and Ghandi (different episodes though!) It was then time for me to steward for the main door for Room 101, luckily I was able to keep half an ear on what was being said on stage.
Met up with Cath again, and re-located her Tardis to the Rotunda. Cath then went off to get the tickets for the evening meal, meanwhile I Tardis-sat while lots of people made the most of the photo opportunity. Some time later, Cath returned after having had a twenty-minute struggle to get the tickets. We had a bit of a sit down in the rotunda before registering for 09 (Cath getting pictured doing so, which we later discovered made the newsletter.)
Met up with Simon, Helen and Sarah for a bit of Witch Trial - Mad Gertie Heyes (Whoo-whoo!) - together with Anne, before Cath headed off to the Auction. I kept playing until I have to head off to my next stewarding, stopping off in the auction room on the way to find out that Cath succeeded in her bid for Roj Berrlake. From stewarding to gophering in the Zocalo, and trying to extort money with sweeties, while Cath continued putting Mr Kipling out of business. Cath had to leave for her appearance in Man of Iron, and I followed on at a mad dash, with Tardis in tow, then foolishly volunteered to join in as one of the robot extras. (Hooray for the invincible Ga(y)bor!)
Off for dinner, where we were surprised by the turkey and ham pie entry in the curry night line up. Much better food than Friday, but once again the vegetarian option looked best (though for people who like chicken better than I do, the chicken leg curry may have had more appeal than it did for me.) After dinner, we headed for the Rotunda to stitch up Zaphod (or at least lend him a needle and thread.) Meanwhile we discovered that in true, authentic fashion, Berrlake had lost his teleport bracelet, and I was dispatched to look for it while Avon and Travis tried to console Berrlake. Luckily someone (many, many thanks whoever you were) had had the foresight to ask Judith what the small, circular bit of plastic that they'd found was, and it had gone to the lost and found, rather than being teleported off to the local refuse collection point. Berrlake was reunited with his bracelet, and sewn in, to prevent any repeat (mis)adventures.
It was then time for the Fancy dress & Cabaret - an impressive line up of costumes and set pieces this year. There were some excellent versions of Torchwood, impressive dancing, and the unofficial election broadcasts were great (Kosh, you were robbed!) Back to the Rotunda for a drink & chat, until it was time for Wobblevision. I drew Vila this time, but luckily he didn't have a large role to play in the episode chosen (Traitor) as I was too tired to really keep track of what was going on and lost the plot (assuming it had one!) Hopefully Harriet and Steve were able to keep it on track though, and I look forward to finding out what happened when it goes live. After that it was back to the room to collapse.
Sunday 25th
A later breakfast today, but still early enough to make my first stewarding (10 o'clock! Argh!!!) At least it was only for Room 12, so there weren't any mundanes wandering past (unless they'd got really lost). This was for the Let's write B7 slash panel, and my introduction to slash. I don't know how representative 'Whose Monkey is it Anyway' is of the genre, but it was something of an eye-opener (I'd previously thought Man of Iron was bad!) Nevertheless, I thought it was hilarious, and reading the text ( www.eclectic21.co.uk ) makes me laugh again. An important note for potential stewarding volunteers of a nervous disposition, Colin gave us the chance to swap stewarding sessions, so no one had to steward such panels if they thought they'd find them offensive. I was just prepared to go along and find out what it was all about.
Then it was time for the New B7 with James Swallow & co., and whilst I'm still waiting until I've heard the actual programs they release before making my mind up about it, it does seem like they have every intention of producing the best program they can, and maybe more love of the series than some of the series 4 writers had.
Off to the Music Quiz, to see my quiz buttons in operation. I'm glad they proved useful, and I'll try to incorporate a buzzer for next time. Unfortunately I had to sneak out before the end of the quiz as I was acting as spin doctor to the Vorlon empire during the RotU hustings, and had to get there early so as to be sure everything was in place, and I knew what I was doing. Unfortunately, despite doing musical sound checks beforehand, Kosh struggled to be heard over the background noise of the Rotunda. After voting (but clearly not nearly often enough) it was off to the video room for Westlake Films. Some very funny short films, and if you didn't see them there, I'd definitely recommend a visit to their website ( www.westlakefilms.co.uk )
Off to the Closing Ceremony, where I met up with Cath again to round off the Con's ongoing events, including the result of the RotU contest descending into chaos. A swift round of Witch Trial was followed by an even more swift Stewards' Debriefing (you can add your own jokes here), then back to room to dematerialize the Tardis before the Redemption 09 meeting.
A final dinner (this time chilli, which was acceptable if not great) followed by more Witch Trialling with Simon, Helen and Sarah, and we were also joined by Richard, playing on for several hours, with more appearances from Mad Gertie (Whoo-whoo!), having to extend the money supply with whatever paper we could find (if only the bar could be so easily satisfied!) Whilst there, Cath recognized Booce (who'd sat near us in the bar) as the one who'd videoed Man of Iron, and he kindly provided me with a copy for us to cringe over at our leisure later (thanks very much BTW.) When we finally ended the game, we headed back to the room to get a coffee, to take back to the Rotunda, but neither of us had the energy once we'd sat down, and we called it a night.
Monday 26th
Didn't get as early a start today (no surprise really), but up in time to finish stuffing things in suitcases, then off to a last breakfast - we hung around chatting after we'd finished eating. Back to the room to gather everything together, then take it all out to the car. At least we got rid of the chaos modeling stuff this time.
Over to Reception to check out, and exchange email adds with anyone around, then we got talking to Nickey, and eventually, at 2pm, gave up the attempt to stay at the hotel until 09. Much better journey home than to, and even got to the cattery in time to pick up a couple of very disgruntled kitties. Took them home for them to sulk at us for the rest of the day.