Worldcon day 1 (yesterday)

[jack]

It was very surreal staying in college residences again. The bedders even had the exact same uniforms. And then had to struggle with my bags to the SECC. But I successfully left them with the bag check people[1], met the membership transfering guy ("a woman with pink hair" is not unique here, but she was MOST the woman with pink hair) and got a chance to wander round without being late for anythign and meet people.

[1] Are all scottish people nice? Someone tell Jenni :) Or maybe convention people :)

I -- eventually -- transfered to the new acmd, where I met a slightly-published Canadian, co-navigated back, and went to his reading, which was pretty cool.

There was a panel "If you put two slices of bread together with jam in middle and cut it in half, do you have one sandwich or two" which is good -- though you wouldn't want more than one pedantry-as-humour event :) I was lambasted by both sides for saying "one and two sandwiches are both correct".

Went to dinner with Liz and friends -- Liz always has nice friends -- so as to get to the Hilton in time for the gen-u-ine scottish Ceilidh. They were a bit laxer on the telling you what to do than I was used to, but it was very fun.


It's like a whole-week party.

Comments

[atreic.livejournal.com]

That's scottish ceilidh for you, not them being lax. People get taught the dances at school, and, well, can then dance them. I suppose an english ceilidh for them would be like going to a maths exam and getting, instead of "3x4 = ?", "Multiply three by four. Take the number three, and count it four times, so 1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3. Count how many things you now have..."

/me thinks dancing should be taught more at English schools

[satanicsocks.livejournal.com]

Yuk, being taught dancing at school has put me off it tremendously :)

(Mind you most of that was probably the hormonal teenage awkwardness that comes from being forced to engage in close bodily contact with other teenagers..)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Sorry, yes, I guessed that was how it was supposed to be done. But most people were Americans who hadn't either, or who had but taught something else. And there were a few waltzes, which makes you have to shift gears quickly and most people who'd learnt ceilidh other than natively didn't necessarily know.

/me thinks dancing should be taught more at English schools

It'd be nice. But there *was* some dancing when I was at school, but none of us really wanted to do it. (The girls (and boys) thinking "ick boys have cooties" problem amongst others.) I don't know how to get kids to enjoy it...

getting, instead of "3x4 = ?", "Multiply three by four. Take the number three, and count it four times, so 1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3

Of course. I've had exams like that.

[sillytrippy.livejournal.com]

My sister says "two halves". I was fairly impressed.