Chameleongirl writes...

Con/Vacation Journal Part 2

July 30:
First up (after breakfast .. SUGAR!!) was Clan Olympics - Trivia Torture!
Abe and I ran around getting stuff organised (I did a lot of dashing from the con rooms to our rooms that weekend, this was repaid to me later -_-), running late as usual. Good thing this is the Con though - nothing ever starts on time :)
I love Trivia Torture, it's great to see just what one team will do to another in the hopes of winning cheap plastic medals ...
One of the first-time Con-goers was this sweet looking young girl by the name of Fusion Demon ... Never EVER trust a cute 14 year old girl. They're evil!
Fusion Demon was the one to come up with the grossest foods combinations used in the torture - OJ peppermint and Vegemite shots, aerosol cheese pickles and hot sauce .. her mind is a dark dark place and I shudder to think what she's going to be capable of when she's all grown up.

Good luck on that world domination thing Fusion Demon! XD

As it was the game went off well, save for one girl who got peppermint essence in her eye and Patcher, who got sick after the event.
One team consisted of a family, and the parents seemed to take great delight in torturing their kids. Then the sisters started on each other ... Aaah, family love, it's just beautiful ^__^

We still hadn't finished coming up with clues for the next CO game (Really Difficult Charades), so we went up to Abes room and brainstormed for an hour or so. It was fun. The first clues were hard to come up with, but once you set the ball rolling we were writing down heaps.
'99 bottles of beer on the wall' and 'Go go Gadget arms' were two of my favourites ^_^

I left Abe in his room so I could go get some lunch (I found Subway!) and catch the start of the Slave Labour Graphics panel. By this point my sugar high had well and truly worn off and I was quite tired, so Kyt leant me a shoulder to lean on. Comfy :)
The panel was interesting, though not as informative about the Gargoyles comics as people had hoped. Understandable though, Gargoyles was a last minute inclusion. Still, the other comics look good, especially the Haunted Mansion one.
I had to leave the panel early to set up for Charades, so if anything was revealed after I left someone will have to let me know.

Charades was fun! One team totally ruled at it - they got 9 out of 10 right. And they were hard ones too.
Afterwards we slipped in a bonus game of Greed, using the flashing rubber dice that I brought for Abe. It was fun to watch (and unlike the other props that we gave away freely, Abe kept the dice for himself. They were shiny ^_^).

There was some confusion that evening about what our plans were for tea. In the end I went with Liz, New Seth, Nezumi, Jade Griffen and Clan Arcadia to the MGM Grand for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Before we met up with JG and Arcadia, we went for a walk around the strip. This is where my body rebelled and decided to grow HUGE blisters on the balls of my feet, right behind my toes.
I barely made it to the MGM Grand, I just wanted to sit down and cry it hurt that much :(
Still, the walk was worth it - the restaurant was really nice (food was kinda Eh though), the drinks were yummy, there was a zebra and a snarling hippopotamus hiding in the canopy, and in the souvenir store I found a chameleon hand puppet!
I bought him right away and named him Pepe. I carried him round for the rest of the Con and Jade Griffen even drew a picture of us both ^__^

Rather than walk back to where we parked the car (the Paris), we rode the monorail. Liz was disappointed we didn't get the Borg one, but I was just glad not to be walking. I've never been on a monorail before, this one was quick and smooth and CLEAN. Public transport that's clean? you don't get that in every city :D
Anyway, we got back to the hotel safely then practically collapsed on the bed for a heap of sleep.

July 31:
I woke up in the morning with incredibly sore feet, so after a shower I borrowed and exacto blade from Liz and took care of my blisters. I spent most of the day walking around bare foot, only putting on my shoes when I got told off by the security guard at the elevators. I took them back off once I was out of sight anyway :)
I spent most of the morning just lazing about the Dealers Hall, talking to people and making bids on items. I ended up buying this huge black cloak from the Ren Faire dealer, Kate. I can't wait to wear it!
The last Clan Olympics event for the con was the Hunters Moon Dash. A kind of scavenger hunt involving things that Abe hid around the hotel as well as stuff they had to scrounge for themselves.
Once again, the bonuses for this year involved getting staff members to stand in the boxes, though this year we made it harder and specified 2 staff members of the opposite sex :D
It was so much fun to see all the teams run around like maniacs, tying to find their items. Not to mention the mess they made! One team was the clear winner - they got all the items, save one, on the list. The one item they missed was the one no-one got: a frisbee the didn't say Nevada, Las Vegas or Palace Station Hotel. It was agreed by all the teams that there wasn't a single frisbee to be found in the area, let alone one that was tourist labelled :)
When the game was over we cleaned up as best we could (my gods, the mess!), made sure that everyone returned the stuff they had borrowed from the hotel, then we went upstairs and tallied the points. Clan Challenged won (again), followed by both the Arcadia teams. We sorted out the medals for them, then made up a few bonus awards for Fusion Demon, Patcher and the Leonards. They deserved them :)

Next it was back down to the Dealers Hall and the bidding war that had erupted over some of 'my' items. I managed to snag the Gargles t-shirt, lost out on Nikki's art work, and send Kyt's 'Branches' and the Demona/Xanatos/Steel Clan toys to auction on Monday.
The Banquet was coming up, so we went upstairs to change. I love any excuse to dress up, so I wore my slinky black skirt and sparkly halter top. Abe wasn't feeling up to it and he gave his seat to Kyt, so we sat on a table with Flanker, Sarah-The-Great, Liz, Shara, New Seth, Sonia, Denis, and I think Karlyl .. I can't remember, sorry!
The food was kinda Eh. I don't eat beef or eggplant, and the chicken was badly cooked. But I still enjoyed myself - it's about the company you keep, not the food you eat.
After the food was cleared away, we had time till the Masquerade/dessert part of the night began. So we hung out upstairs and got to see some of the costumes before wandering back down to the hall and grabbing a table a little closer to the front.
There weren't a great number of costumes this year, but they were all well done. Benny and Erin were absolutely adorable as Goliath and Holly. Fusion Demon rocked in her outfit (remember, she's evil and will rule the world one day, I know it). Shara's Brooklyn costume ruled, Onyx's was funny. I like the wings on Echo's and Revel makes a a great Jackal (I really want to do Hyena one day). Nikki's Sin and Cindy's Banshee were both sexy :)
Unsurprisingly, Shara won Best Costume for Brooklyn ^_^
Abe and I gave out the Clan Olympics awards and I think Abe said he'll be back to do it next year. I hope so, it's so much fun to watch, but I don't think I'll co-host next year - too much stress!
The art awards were given out - Liz scooped the pool with her Zodiac series and a couple of others. Kyt, Nikki and Nezumi won a couple too :)
After everything was over we hung out in the hall just talking crap, would have been nice to have some music or something though.
I got really tired at about 1 so I went upstairs and crashed.

I am very disappointed to have missed the man-love fest that seemed to be going on at Jen's table. Thankfully, Jen had her camera with her and we can all giggle over it ^_^

August 1:
I woke up at 6am, sick to my stomach. Yup, Julie puked. Yay -_-
I lay on the bed for a couple of hours till Liz woke up, then we went downstairs in search of a breakfast that wouldn't make me hurl. Liz, Dreamie and I ended up in the Guadalahara Cafe. I got toast, they got food that was mostly edible :/
The rest of my day was spent napping on a giant inflatable smiley-face ball in the Dealers Room. I hate being sick!
The day wasn't a total waste, as it was the last day everyone else was just hanging out and chatting, so I caught up with people. Jade Griffen drew her picture of me and Pepe, which made me happy.
At the Auction I managed to get my mitts on Kyt's pic and the toys. It cost me $145, but it was so worth it! I ended up giving the Steel Clan toy to JG (it was the Demona and Xanatos that I was really after).
I hung out for the rest of the Auction, just to see what the other items would sell for. The comics and script did well. As did the poker chips.
While I was waiting, I got Greg to sign my con book. No-one told me that Thom had left, so I was kinda disappointed that I missed out on his autograph. Oh well, next year! :)
I said a sad goodbye to Abe, who had to rush back to Arizona that night so he could go to work on Tuesday. Then I took off with Jen, Karine, Kyt, Karlyl, Cindy, Greg W, Andrea, Anthony, Patrick, Seth/IRC Goliath, New Seth, Jade Griffen, Liz, Miranda and Scott (Hah! Say that in one breath ^_^) for the Star Trek Experience at the Hilton.
We had a great meal at Quarks Bar (expensive, but still yummy). Jen, Karine, Cindy, Karlyl, Andrea and Anthony all had Borg Spheres. A large alcoholic drink commonly known as a fish bowl, because that's what it's served in. A big, round fish bowl.
They even put dry ice in it so it smokes!
I would have had a go at one (or one of the 'lesser' alcoholic drinks), but I was still feeling kinda queasy and I didn't want to give my body more reasons to puke.
During the meal we were visited by a Ferengi and a Klingon. Kyt got totally Kling-owned! T'was funny XD
We were all heading off for the rides when Greg had to leave, so we all said our goodbyes and tried to round up our group so we could all enter at once.
We rode the Borg ride first. It was in 3D, very well done and a lot of fun. The poking by the seats was weird and kinda freaky at first. There were shouts of 'Titania! Save us!' when Janeway appeared on screen.
Aaah, multi-fandom geekdom ^_^
It was a god ride, but there could have been more than one Borg stalking round the set, I was honestly expecting a little more from it.

There were too many of us to fit into the next running of the Kilngon ride, so we waited in line for the next go-round. I really pity the few mundanes that got caught on that ride with us ^_^
This one was a ride simulator, not in 3D, but I think it was better. Very stomach churning.
Anthony and I were both by the door of the shuttle, so we started playing with the control panels. The crew member told us off, claiming we could set off the self-destruct. Hehehehe ^__^
The best part of the ride was where parts of the Strip blew up. Huzzah! XD
When the rides were all over most of us when back to the stratosphere and hung out in Jen's room. Some went downstairs in a hunt for food, the rest of us stayed upstairs and discovered JG's little secret - she's actually a *very* naughty girl.
Maybe if your lucky, she'll scan her 'Jade Strippin' pic and show it off :D
The fact that most of us were leaving in the morning sent us packing back to the hotel, where we passed out (again).
I got so much sleep at this years con, but I was still exhausted. Go figure :)

August 2 - August 11
Time to say goodbye! Liz and a few others were staying on, so we hung out in the foyer with them till Jen and co turned up. Saw GregX in time to say goodbye before his shuttle left.
Liz ended up hooking up with the leftovers of Clan's Challenged and Arcadia while I joined the others for the trek home to California.
But first! We had to get 8 suitcases and 6 people in the car. It was kinda like Tetris, but with people. Poor Karlyl ended up buried under baggage. Most of us did actually. Luckily, she was only with us to be dropped off at the airport, so after another sad goodbye we re-arranged the car and took off once more.
The drive was loooong, and a little boring. But we were too tired to care.
Kyt had to go home (she had work in the morning) but Cindy and Patrick stayed the night.

Cindy had stuff to do in the theatre that evening, so she left in the morning. Jen, Patrick and I took off for food, then Jen left for work. I spent a lovely afternoon sleeping on the couch (this was when I made the awful discovery that I snore).
Jen brought her kids home with her - they're a wonderful bunch. I had a great time meeting them and I'm really going to miss them :(
We went out for Thai, I'd never had it before and it was lovely. Patrick left not long after to catch his flight, so then it was just me,Jen and the kids.

The last week has just flown by. Jen got the Con Cooties (I've avoided it .. so far) so we didn't go paint the town red. But we still managed to enjoy ourselves.
I was introduced to Firefly - I'm leaving with the box set tucked safely away in my suitcase.
We made cookies and overdosed on sugar.
I spent waaay to much money on comics, DVDs and toys.
Kyt came back down for the weekend, which was fun.
We went and saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - the most cracked out movie in the history of forever! I loved it :D
I pre-registered for next year, so now I have incentive to come back. I think at some point I offered to be Jen's Con lackey in exchange for a spot on her floor before the con.
I don't intend to spend 4 weeks on holiday next year, but it would be nice to hang out with people for a while in a non-con environment.

All in all, my vacation rocked! I had a great time, the bad parts totally wiped out by all the good stuff that happened.
I'm going to miss everyone. LJ and IM just aren't the same thing.
Photos should be going up when I get home on Saturday.

My hands hurt from typing this all up ^_^