On the road again: Worldcon, Montreal, day 2

Flashes from a Worldcon day:

Sacrificed some con time for an extravagant seven hours of sleep. Oh, silly sleeping man!

Worked way too many hours, including two conference calls.

A panel on Open Science went surprisingly well, all things considered. Over fifty folks attended and seemed interested and even animated on the topic.

One of the audience members was Geoff Ryman, a writer whose work I have long liked and admired. In a moment of fanboy geek behavior, I caught him as he was leaving and told him how much I enjoyed his work. As it turned out, he had been talking to Jim Minz, a Baen editor, that morning about, among other things, my work. Geoff and I engaged in a short but interesting conversation that I feel lucky to have had.

My second panel, which addressed the topic of who should pay for science, went rather less well, with only about twenty people there. It did not help, of course, that we were opposite the opening ceremonies. I tried to be both informative and entertaining, but I suspect my periodic annoyance was more than clear to many, if not most of the attendees. I did the best I could.

Dinner was at Au Pied de Cochon, where we become foie-drunk on foie gras poppers (not their name, but basically what they were), poutine with foie gras, and pig's foot stuffed with foie gras. The last was enormous, and we finished less than a third of it. (I took photos with my phone but don't have email from it while in Canada, so I'll try to remember to post those photos later.) I don't need to eat the last dish again, but I"m glad I tried it.

At the restaurant, we ran into Alan and Jude again. They were having dinner with Jim Minz.

Later, going to con parties, we ran into...Jim Minz (with Alan and not). Jim is everywhere.

In closing, I must share two non-con items. The first is a news story that caught my attention with this blurb:

Elderly Woman
Busted Again
Caught With Salmon in Pants
It's 61st Arrest for 86-Year-Old

Really, how can you not click on a story with that third line? (For those who want it, here it is.)

The second is this Zombieland R-rated trailer, which Kyle brought to my attention. The mere prospect of going to that movie brightens my world. Wait for the cock-blocking line to appreciate its full genius. Wow. I am so there.