Arisia
Wed Jan 22 16:58:26 EST 2003
I kept hearing about this thing called "Arisia". Different people from
different groups were all excited about it, or participating in some way.
I eventually learned it was a sci-fi con. I read through the web site.
Some of the events, and panels, looked a little interesting, but I
really didn't get it. I wasn't sure if it was worth going. I ended
up deciding to go just because of the number of cool people I knew that
were so excited about it or volunteering for it.
Plus, there were going to be drums.
I showed up on Friday, the first day, with a couple days worth of
clothes, my drum, and no idea where I was going to be sleeping that night.
Friends of mine were running the con suite. I stopped by there first.
Not surprisingly, a number of my friends were there. I talked to them
for a while, then stashed my stuff, and began wandering.
There was some neat stuff in the art gallery, and some neat stuff for
sale, but I didn't buy anything. There were some interesting panels -
I took lots of notes from the panel on flirting, but the best parts were
hanging out and cuddling with great people, the drumming Friday night,
and the dancing Saturday night.
A friend invited me to crash in their room for the weekend, which
was very cool. At this point I don't know what I'll do about sleeping
arrangements next year. Knowing I have a nice bed to sleep in for the
weekend without having to go home is cool, but not knowing, at Arisia,
is also fun.
The drum circle Friday night was the first time I got to play
my drum in a drum circle. Of course it was wonderful. A bunch of
drummers.. um.. 20 maybe ? Probably less. And a bunch of dancers.
I had been assuming that since I had heard nothing about dancers at
the drum circle, that there weren't going to be any. The foolishness
of this thought was made clear, and my definition of a drum circle has
been corrected. There were a bunch of spectators seated in the same
circle with the drummers, which detracted a bit. I think it would be
better for the drummers to be in an inner circle, and spectators outside.
Eventually many left, and the circle was made smaller. In the beginning,
we all went around saying our names, and banging on our drums, which
was cool. One guy said something like "My name is <name>, and
I'm a drummer", and then banged on his set of drums fairly impressively.
It was humorous. There was much drumming and dancing, and it was good.
It eventually dwindled down to about 4 drummers and 3 dancers. At some
point I heard the guy who had introduced himself humorously say to
his SO something like "But it's only 2am!". The night ended when she
took one of his drums away from him and started packing it. The other
guy, among the last 4, who was playing a djembe, was very impressive.
I wanted to go just sit on the floor in front of him and watch. On my
way out of the room, I paused for one last shiver.
Saturday I wore my tight blue shininess shirt, which provided much
entertainment. I got lots of compliments, with my long sleeve button up
black denim shirt on over it, unbuttoned. People I didn't know yelling
compliments like "nice shirt!", or "ohh, shiny!".
There was a live steel demo by ATACC. I had heard references to live
steel combat before, and been very curious about it, so it was very cool
that I got to see an actual demo of it. These guys came out in almost
full plate armor, with actual swords, shields, and blunt weapons, and
beat the crap out of each other. There was obviously some SCA influence -
one guy had a particularly recognizable great sword form.. then I noticed
him wearing a scadian knight's belt. These people are insane. I say
this solely because of the number of times they hurt each other during
the demo. If that kind of stuff happens that often during an attempt at
a professional performance, this is not a healthy past time. But hey,
the only damage is consensual, so if that's what makes them happy, good
for them. I'm glad I had that opportunity to get my interest in live
steal out of my system.
Saturday night there was "modern dancing". Of course I took the denim
shirt off. I don't know how far away you could see the barbells through
my nipples through my shirt. I didn't know what to expect of the event,
but I'd heard good things about the DJ, Adam Bomb, from a couple of
the right people. It started later than it was supposed to, probably a
little after midnight. The music started out
really slow. I heard
complaints from several people. But I noticed that despite the slow speed
of the music, it was good. And in the past I have noticed many DJs start
a night out too fast, and people have difficulty getting into the music.
Adam had lots of people on the dance floor right away. And, as hoped,
he did bring the speed up to perfect. It was a great night. By the
time the music stopped, at 5am, I was quite sufficiently exercised.
I got to meet Adam at Ceremony Monday (1/20/03) night. He was cool,
and seemed to honestly appreciate what I had to say about his spinning.
Sunday everybody was pretty well beat. I hung out with people a bit,
then wandered home, and got to bed very early, and got about 12 hours
of sleep that night.
So many wonderful and beautiful people. As hoped, I know what to be
excited about for next year.
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