On the road again: London, day 9WorldCon, day 4

The high point of today was the Hugo Awards ceremony, the SF/F community's annual gathering in celebration of the best of its works of the years.  I've dreamed of winning a Hugo since I was quite young, so I've gone to the Hugos at every WorldCon I've attended.  I find them bittersweet affairs, having never been nominated, much less won, but I wouldn't miss them.

Publisher Toni could not attend, so I was her designated acceptor, should she have won in the Best Editor Long Form category in which she was nominated.  (As deserving as she is of the award, and she very much is, she did not win it; the estimable Ginjer Buchanan won it in the year in which she retired.  Well done, Ginjer!)  Because I was to accept for Toni, I got to attend the pre-awards reception and then sit down front with the nominees.  It was quite a lovely experience; I hope one day to repeat it on my own behalf.

On the walk to the reception, I saw these buildings, which I absolutely adore.

Click an image to see a larger version.

If you zoom in on them, you'll see how burned out they are, skeletons just waiting to play roles in some post-apocalypse or alien-invasion story.  I'm sure I'll use them in something.

At the reception, two celebrities unexpectedly appeared:  Peter Davidson and David Tennant.  As things turned out, both must have come should their shows have won awards (neither did), so no one in the main audience saw them.  All the people at the reception with whom I spoke were, however, a-twitter at their presence.  All the women with whom I spoke agreed that Tennant was far hotter in person than on screen.  I have to agree that he is entirely more beautiful in person than on screen.

If you enlarge this, you can just see him. 

The photo does him no justice; trust me.

After the ceremony ended, I had the opportunity, courtesy of being Toni's designated acceptor, to attend the Hugo Losers party.  Though I have long wanted to go, I declined; it was not my party.  Should I one day be nominated, however, you can bet your ass I'll go.

I spent the rest of the evening socializing with friends and then working.

Tomorrow, the con ends, I return to my favorite hotel, and I see another play.