Barney, hey that ain't fair, mine got cut. I mean, the moyel was nervous and.......
I am very much looking forward to meeting youMadCon
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markabaddon
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Re: MadCon
Diane, I am very glad you will be able to attend. Looks like there is a nice crowd coming (now if we could only get Barber to forego that trip to Australia)
Barney, hey that ain't fair, mine got cut. I mean, the moyel was nervous and....... I am very much looking forward to meeting you
Barney, hey that ain't fair, mine got cut. I mean, the moyel was nervous and.......
I am very much looking forward to meeting youGovernments, if they endure, always tend increasingly toward aristrocratic forms. No gov't in history has been known to evade this pattern. And as the aristocracy develops, gov't tends more and mroe to act exclusively in the interests of the ruling class
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Douglas Harrison
- Posts: 1036
- Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2003 12:26 am
Re: MadCon
I would love to join all you folks at MadCon, which looks to be a blast, but I lack the resources and the opportunity to be there. Please say hi to Harlan and Susan for me, and have the best time.
D.
D.
Re: MadCon
Douglas, Gwyn, Lori, Frank and I will simply have to make due with Living Vicariously.
- I love to find adventure. All I need is a change of clothes, my Nikon, an open mind and a strong cup of coffee.
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diane bartels
- Posts: 1255
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Re: MadCon
You will all be greatly missed. Oh for the powers of a genie. Diane
Re: MadCon
diane bartels wrote:You will all be greatly missed. Oh for the powers of a genie. Diane
I'll settle for a winning lottery ticket.
- I love to find adventure. All I need is a change of clothes, my Nikon, an open mind and a strong cup of coffee.
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Lori Koonce
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Re: MadCon
Barber wrote:diane bartels wrote:You will all be greatly missed. Oh for the powers of a genie. Diane
I'll settle for a winning lottery ticket.
Hell, I've got a better chance of getting Ezra to be my Sugar Daddy!
But absent that, or finding a long dead rich relative, I'll settle for splitting that LARGE lottery jackpot with ya!
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FinderDoug
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Re: MadCon
I can't compete with the Summit, so I'm not posting this over yonder until probably after the weekend. But the i’s are dotted and t’s crossed and so, now, a story with a purpose; it’ll be familiar to some, but indulge me:
THE STORY: In April 1995, coinciding with the release of Dream Corridor #1 and the Special issue, Dark Horse had a little contest with their distributors, my understanding of it thus: the area distributor that pre-ordered the highest number of the books would get in-store appearances by Harlan Ellison. The Northern VA area won, and Harlan came to VA to do three or four signings over two days (I believe it was four, two on each weekend day). I found out about a month ahead of the appearance (thank you, Washington Post), called my partner in crime Bernie (that’s Xanadu to youse old-timers), and we decided this was a good time to finally stand in the man’s autograph line. We'd both been reading his work for years at that point.
This was not so far removed from the first publication of “Xenogenesis”(August 1990) that the essay didn’t still resonate. Bernie expressed a want to do something nice for Harlan, a token, a little sumfin’ to illustrate there were fans in the 95% to whom the essay DIDN’T apply that ‘got it’. And the back cover of the Special had blurbed the classic “where do you get your ideas?” bit; and Bernie was working in his father’s jewelry/clock/engraving business at the time, and they had a wonderful computerized laser engraver. And I had a light-bulb moment and asked Bernie whether the engraver could, hypothetically, be used to etch something onto a can…
We were off, as they say, to the races.
Six silver aluminum cans received a high gloss black finish; and into this finish was engraved the logo, government warning, and UPC code of "the Original Idea" - fine product of the Original Idea Company of Schenectady, NY. (Five of them, anyway; the sixth was a variant, the Original Rotten Idea, "because everybody has to have one once in a while"). These were slipped back into their plastic ring holder, made their way to Virginia, and were presented to Harlan in the signing line on King Street in Alexandria, VA. The table was in front of the Italian restaurant next to the comic store, both of which are still there.
Harlan ADORED them. The exact quote, repeated several times, was “This is fucking great!" Poses were struck, pictures were taken, kindnesses exchanged. We probably held up the line for fifteen minutes. I believe Barney may have been responsible for shipping them back to Ellison Wonderland, or at least offered to take care of that, but the memory is hazy and I defer to Barney to color in that blank. In addition to Harlan, I believe this was the first time I met both Barney and Tim.
(The “Doomsmen In Chains” came after that, but that’s another pop-art Ellison story for another time…)
The sharp-eyed viewer can see Harlan's six-pack in Dreams With Sharp Teeth during the initial trip through Harlan’s office, on the left, on a shelf below some of his Hugo awards, next to the 3D tableau of the Guardian of Forever.
===
And now, THE PURPOSE OF THIS STORY:
Everything is currently on track for delivery, so I feel confident now announcing:
Bernie has gone back into the archives and resurrected the design to craft a one-off second edition version of the Original Idea can, which will be offered at the MadCon auction.
This is a single can, created in the same fashion and by the original artisan (and on the same laser engraver, actually) as Harlan's 1995 gift six-pack. It is identified as a second edition in the labeling, but is also distinguishable because the 1995 set was created from 12 oz. cans, whereas this one is a 16 oz. (the nineties were a less thirsty time, apparently).
It is the only one being offered for public sale - a single proof-of-concept will be generated and placed into our creative archive, so to call this “one-of-a-kind” would be misleading, but it's effectively the only one to be had. This is also the final time we're dusting off the logo and graphics, strictly as a one-off for Madcon 2010 and what Harlan claims is his last fandom rodeo. I will endeavor to provide a picture (of the first edition, at least) so you can see what it looks like. COA included.
And that's our contribution to the MadCon auction. It's a neat homage to Harlan and his creativity, and at the end of the day it's a really nifty bauble for the bookshelf. To the benefit of the charities involved, we'd love to see it go to a good home.
THE STORY: In April 1995, coinciding with the release of Dream Corridor #1 and the Special issue, Dark Horse had a little contest with their distributors, my understanding of it thus: the area distributor that pre-ordered the highest number of the books would get in-store appearances by Harlan Ellison. The Northern VA area won, and Harlan came to VA to do three or four signings over two days (I believe it was four, two on each weekend day). I found out about a month ahead of the appearance (thank you, Washington Post), called my partner in crime Bernie (that’s Xanadu to youse old-timers), and we decided this was a good time to finally stand in the man’s autograph line. We'd both been reading his work for years at that point.
This was not so far removed from the first publication of “Xenogenesis”(August 1990) that the essay didn’t still resonate. Bernie expressed a want to do something nice for Harlan, a token, a little sumfin’ to illustrate there were fans in the 95% to whom the essay DIDN’T apply that ‘got it’. And the back cover of the Special had blurbed the classic “where do you get your ideas?” bit; and Bernie was working in his father’s jewelry/clock/engraving business at the time, and they had a wonderful computerized laser engraver. And I had a light-bulb moment and asked Bernie whether the engraver could, hypothetically, be used to etch something onto a can…
We were off, as they say, to the races.
Six silver aluminum cans received a high gloss black finish; and into this finish was engraved the logo, government warning, and UPC code of "the Original Idea" - fine product of the Original Idea Company of Schenectady, NY. (Five of them, anyway; the sixth was a variant, the Original Rotten Idea, "because everybody has to have one once in a while"). These were slipped back into their plastic ring holder, made their way to Virginia, and were presented to Harlan in the signing line on King Street in Alexandria, VA. The table was in front of the Italian restaurant next to the comic store, both of which are still there.
Harlan ADORED them. The exact quote, repeated several times, was “This is fucking great!" Poses were struck, pictures were taken, kindnesses exchanged. We probably held up the line for fifteen minutes. I believe Barney may have been responsible for shipping them back to Ellison Wonderland, or at least offered to take care of that, but the memory is hazy and I defer to Barney to color in that blank. In addition to Harlan, I believe this was the first time I met both Barney and Tim.
(The “Doomsmen In Chains” came after that, but that’s another pop-art Ellison story for another time…)
The sharp-eyed viewer can see Harlan's six-pack in Dreams With Sharp Teeth during the initial trip through Harlan’s office, on the left, on a shelf below some of his Hugo awards, next to the 3D tableau of the Guardian of Forever.
===
And now, THE PURPOSE OF THIS STORY:
Everything is currently on track for delivery, so I feel confident now announcing:
Bernie has gone back into the archives and resurrected the design to craft a one-off second edition version of the Original Idea can, which will be offered at the MadCon auction.
This is a single can, created in the same fashion and by the original artisan (and on the same laser engraver, actually) as Harlan's 1995 gift six-pack. It is identified as a second edition in the labeling, but is also distinguishable because the 1995 set was created from 12 oz. cans, whereas this one is a 16 oz. (the nineties were a less thirsty time, apparently).
It is the only one being offered for public sale - a single proof-of-concept will be generated and placed into our creative archive, so to call this “one-of-a-kind” would be misleading, but it's effectively the only one to be had. This is also the final time we're dusting off the logo and graphics, strictly as a one-off for Madcon 2010 and what Harlan claims is his last fandom rodeo. I will endeavor to provide a picture (of the first edition, at least) so you can see what it looks like. COA included.
And that's our contribution to the MadCon auction. It's a neat homage to Harlan and his creativity, and at the end of the day it's a really nifty bauble for the bookshelf. To the benefit of the charities involved, we'd love to see it go to a good home.
Re: MadCon
Beautiful. And appropriate. And hysterically funny for the people who are gonna "get it".
Nicely done idea -- take a picture of the executed can before it goes on the block. I'd love to see it.
______________________________________
My own connection to this story.
The diorama is the master wax casting for a product that never materialized. The promotional material featured the image of Spock and Kirk on the street visible within the Guardian, but the wax master didn't have anything but an empty middle. Harlan called and asked if there was anything I could do as a photographer to help him finish the piece up. We got together and did some measurements, and decided how we wanted to proceed. He got me a copy of the City dvd, and I paused the image at the appropriate time in the episode and took a picture of Kirk and Spock facing the street right before Edith Keeler dies.
Using photoshop I added wisps of "fog" drifting down into the picture, and Harlan and I then cut out the image and glued it into place on the model using a cardboard backer to strengthen it. Looked pretty damned good, to be honest. It certainly much more resembled the promotional catalog shot we used as the reference. It's the only one in existance to our knowledge.
Likewise, Cris saw it during a DWST screening and whispered "hey, there's the model. Your work is famous".
Nicely done idea -- take a picture of the executed can before it goes on the block. I'd love to see it.
______________________________________
next to the 3D tableau of the Guardian of Forever.
My own connection to this story.
The diorama is the master wax casting for a product that never materialized. The promotional material featured the image of Spock and Kirk on the street visible within the Guardian, but the wax master didn't have anything but an empty middle. Harlan called and asked if there was anything I could do as a photographer to help him finish the piece up. We got together and did some measurements, and decided how we wanted to proceed. He got me a copy of the City dvd, and I paused the image at the appropriate time in the episode and took a picture of Kirk and Spock facing the street right before Edith Keeler dies.
Using photoshop I added wisps of "fog" drifting down into the picture, and Harlan and I then cut out the image and glued it into place on the model using a cardboard backer to strengthen it. Looked pretty damned good, to be honest. It certainly much more resembled the promotional catalog shot we used as the reference. It's the only one in existance to our knowledge.
Likewise, Cris saw it during a DWST screening and whispered "hey, there's the model. Your work is famous".
- I love to find adventure. All I need is a change of clothes, my Nikon, an open mind and a strong cup of coffee.
Re: MadCon
Lori Koonce wrote:Barber wrote:diane bartels wrote:You will all be greatly missed. Oh for the powers of a genie. Diane
I'll settle for a winning lottery ticket.
Hell, I've got a better chance of getting Ezra to be my Sugar Daddy!
But absent that, or finding a long dead rich relative, I'll settle for splitting that LARGE lottery jackpot with ya!
Ok Ok Lori just give me some time to pay off the kidnappers and buy my Mother some teeth and I'm yours!
“We must not always talk in the marketplace,” Hester Prynne said, “of what happens to us in the forest.”
-Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
-Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
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Lori Koonce
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Re: MadCon
Frank (pointing to my chest and his crotch) I think it works this way.... You've got two things Ezra isn't interested in, while I have two that he is. So, put your grubby little mitts on someone else... Barber is gonna win a big lottery, and I'm sure you can get paid well to be his pool boy or something. 
Ezra: I just knew that as soon as I resigned myself to the fact that you'd never LOVE me, you'd change your mind!!! And by the way, can dentures be refitted? I got a pair from my grandmother I'm willing to give to the cause.
Ezra: I just knew that as soon as I resigned myself to the fact that you'd never LOVE me, you'd change your mind!!! And by the way, can dentures be refitted? I got a pair from my grandmother I'm willing to give to the cause.
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markabaddon
- Posts: 1790
- Joined: Tue Mar 14, 2006 3:24 pm
Re: MadCon
Doug, great story and depending on the price, that mighe be an item I would be interested in bidding on at the Con
Just curious, when do we hear the Doomsman tale?
Just curious, when do we hear the Doomsman tale?
Governments, if they endure, always tend increasingly toward aristrocratic forms. No gov't in history has been known to evade this pattern. And as the aristocracy develops, gov't tends more and mroe to act exclusively in the interests of the ruling class
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FinderDoug
- Posts: 1530
- Joined: Wed May 21, 2003 1:58 pm
- Location: Houston, TX
- Contact:
Re: MadCon
Mark - I'm definitely going to need to dig out the photos for the Doomsmen - Doomsmans? - to accompany the story. Because there's one with a look in Harlan's face that - yeah, I couldn't do it justice in words.
Steve - So we both have object d'art in the coolest private exhibition ever. This cheers me at the end of a grueling Tuesday.
Steve - So we both have object d'art in the coolest private exhibition ever. This cheers me at the end of a grueling Tuesday.
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Douglas Harrison
- Posts: 1036
- Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2003 12:26 am
Re: MadCon
Doug and Steve, thanks much for your anecdotes of nifty creativity. These, plus the tale of Harlan's Typewriter, leave me feeling a wee bit privileged.
Finder, you and Bernie (and your artisan) are gonna make that auction.
D.
Finder, you and Bernie (and your artisan) are gonna make that auction.
D.
Re: MadCon
Hi folks,
At the last minute I have decided that I would like to come to Madcon, however I was looking at some logistical issues before registering. Unfortunately I have a prior event going on Friday night, so I'll likely be driving up Saturday morning (it's only four and a half hours
). I looked on the Madcon website but did not see a detailed schedule - is there one? I'd like to know what I'll be missing and what the best time is to arrive. Also, is there anyone who would like to share a room at the Crowne Plaza to reduce costs?
I would also like to get on the waiting list for the banquet, and hope that another table will be added. How do I do that?
Thanks,
Dima
At the last minute I have decided that I would like to come to Madcon, however I was looking at some logistical issues before registering. Unfortunately I have a prior event going on Friday night, so I'll likely be driving up Saturday morning (it's only four and a half hours
). I looked on the Madcon website but did not see a detailed schedule - is there one? I'd like to know what I'll be missing and what the best time is to arrive. Also, is there anyone who would like to share a room at the Crowne Plaza to reduce costs?I would also like to get on the waiting list for the banquet, and hope that another table will be added. How do I do that?
Thanks,
Dima
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