April 23, 2007: Penguicon Report

Penguicon was very, very good. All I can say is that sometime I'd like to just attend. I did make it to some of the programming, and it was both entertaining and instructive. This is what one ought to expect from a convention that is about both science and science fiction, and Penguicon delivered.

The rest of the time, I was on panels myself, or in gaming. We introduced a new Munchkin set to a terrified world. No, not Munchkin Cthulhu . . . newer than that. I would tell you its name, but I just found out that there's no PAGE for this set yet. So I will cruelly tease you by telling you it exists, and when the page is up (which may be after GTS, for reason you can no doubt figure out), I'll point you to it.

And, of course, I spent a lot of time with the Chaos Machine. The Machine went very, very well this outing, with two "best yet" and one "first." The "best yet" items were, first, that the Machine's skeleton was fully populated with busy gadgets and whizzing balls earlier than ever . . . by the time I went to bed Friday night, it was already completely chaotic. And, second, there was less "Whoops, somebody left a part on the floor and somebody else stepped on it" than ever. The "first" was . . . the Machine was on the Internet. Malcolm Kudra brought and installed the hardware. Not only were there blinkenlights . . . it was actually possible to log in from anywhere in the world, if you knew where, and turn the motors on and off.

I haven't even mentioned the liquid nitrogen ice cream. Or the really nice AND competent people running the Green Room and taking care of the guests. Or the wedding (yay for friends getting married). Or the too-short time I got to spend with friends both fan and pro. And I dropped more money in the dealer room than I did at Worldcon.

Tonight I sleep in my own bed. Tomorrow afternoon I fly to Las Vegas for the GTS.
-- Steve Jackson