Random snippets from worldcon that I hadn't written up

[jack]

1. From glasgow to cambridge I broke my train journey at edinborough and birmingham. I think they only stamped the ticket once, on the first leg. If so, what stops you using it repeatedly for the rest of the journey? I think all such attacks can only be used for repeat journeys (obviously you need some ticket the first time), but is there a reason, other than my honesty, this wouldn't work if you did commute that way a lot?

2. There was much help given to disabled people at the cons. It's just one aspect of a nice atmosphere. I remember Larry Niven writing a not-particularly-inspired book set in the near future when science has become reviled, and fandom exists underground. It was weird -- but I can see people doing exactly that :)

3. I only went to a couple of readings, but one was Susannah Clarke. It was an extensive footnote from near the end of the book that didn't make it in due to time, that we *jsut* got through in half an hour. It described a legend alluded to in the text where a poor charcoal burner got the better of the magician king, but it was very wonderful and very funny.

The question is, why do I always love books with footnotes? Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrel. Discworld. Amulet of Sammarkand. Cryptonomicon. All great, especially the footnotes. Maybe I like the compulsiveness to present all the necessary information[1]. But many are entirely irrelevent. Maybe I like that sort of discoursive digression?

[1] Eg. In Crypto, Shaftoe sees a $foo plane, and there's a footnote to describe why he recognises the model.

Comments

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

why do I always love books with footnotes?

Have you read Lanark?
If not, do.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Not yet. It sounds good, I will look out for it.

[yrieithydd.livejournal.com]

Footnotes are good! Pratchett ones tend to amuse. I think that two of the things I quote most from Pratchett are footnotes.* I especially enjoy the footnotes to footnotes. I tend to footnotes myself which is possibly part of the reason.

*The one about there being no excuse for pineapple on pizza (with which I disagree whilst my father agrees) and the other about a marriage being made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores!

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

LOL. We once tried to build an infinite tower of footnotes. It was silly.

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Read The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

LOL. Maybe later.

[chess]

Does the ticket have a date on? Most do. Most ticket inspectors don't look very closely, but some do. You would, hence, occasionally get caught with a massively out of date ticket, which would be embarrassing enough that most people wouldn't try it. OTOH if desperate you can get quite a way on the trains with a throughly wrong ticket, so long as the only auto ticket barriers you come across are at busy stations where you can get waved through by overworked station attendants.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Return tickets are often valid for months.

where you can get waved through by overworked station attendants.

Having lots of luggage is good. I was glad of the opportunity to use it on my trip, not because I wasn't in the right, but because if the machine swallowed my ticket brandishing the official routing guide at it might not have helped.

[ex-mair-aw801.livejournal.com]

Return tickets are often valid for months.

one month, usually :)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

LOL. Well, technically... :) Sorry, thanks.

[chess]

Then I suspect you could get away with this ruse for the month, assuming you didn't run into a complete jobsworth (who, this being their regular route, would remember you and this ticket).

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

LOL. And of course, you probably would eventually, though they'd probably just shout at you and find it too hard to prove anything. It's probably mainly a question of how embarassed you get in such situations.

[chess]

Due to this kind of thing (and tickets which have been folded, spindled and/or mutliated), auto ticket gates don't swallow your ticket unless it's a single and you've reached the end point of your journey; they just spit it out and refuse to open. Having folded, spindled and/or mutilated your ticket is another good way to have an excuse to go through the ticket attendent gate.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes sense. OK, I feel a bit easier. Though being so foiled would only encourage the ticket attendant to look at it, of course.

[yrieithydd.livejournal.com]

I broke my journey on a supersaver which you're not allowed to do and had it checked on both occasions! Not realising it wasn't allowed meant I was plausible; I also demonstrated my honesty by pointing out that I'd travelled from Nailsea to Bristol but had not bought a ticket as no-one had come to check tickets before we got to Bristol (and they don't sell tickets on Nailsea station at that time of day).