Dispatches From FinnCon #3

I've received clarification that, in the previous dispatch, what I'd thought was a steam-powered internet connection was actually the sauna. The internet connection is pedal powered. But they have tame trolls to do the pedaling so it is OK.

We had a very splendid sauna last night, followed by the obligatory skinny-dipping in the nearby lake. We had to look out for Jonathan Clements though - Finnish trolls have a bad habit of trying to catch young men who are about to be married and drowning them, and we would not want anything to happen to the poor boy.

The convention starts around 11:00am with another press conference. Joe will miss it - he has to stay in Helsinki for a few hours to get a medal for his part in defeating the French terrorists. Today's proceedings are mainly for academics and authors, which is just as well because most of the Finnish fans are busy training for tonight's ice-hockey tournament.

Dispatches From FinnCon #4

Now that the convention has actually started, the amount of news appears to be increasing.

The con is now underway. I have been on duty at the academic conference, and at the writers' meeting where we had two excellent panels. We have declared Judith Clute's art exhibition open. We dined on reindeer and snails. The ice hockey tournament is now in full swing.

I've spoken briefly to Joe. He seems pretty much unscathed after his unfortunate experiences in France. He says they kept trying to torture him by force-feeding him French food and wine while showing him photographs of McDonalds. Somehow he managed to survive.

Because we are so close to the Arctic Circle it never gets dark here at night. This means that the con can run all through the night hours. This is fine for the Finns, who from an early age have become used to hibernating through the winter and staying awake all summer. Us guests are going to be consuming a lot of caffeine and will be very relieved on Sunday night when we can go to sleep.

Strange Goings On

I got an e-mail from Cheryl today expressing surprise to hear of reports that some claim to be from her appearing on my LJ. (I take it from the comments on the entries that some folks in Finland have spotted them and came looking for Cheryl.) She denies everything. She does, however, have some photos including something about a train and St. Petersburg. Very strange....

Japanese Dinner Cruise

I have signed up for DonburaCon, a dinner cruise on the Sunday night of Nippon 2007. It sounds like fun.

Based on the figures on the web site, it looks like paying USD to an agent (USD68/person) is cheaper than paying yen by credit card (JPY8400 = about USD69 today, plus whatever your credit card charges you). I used my credit card anyway; it's easier.