Worldcon, Denver, CO, Aug 6-10 (Day 3)

Friday, Aug 8

Breakfast this morning was in the hotel restaurant. Good, but service was dreadfully slow.

Gail and I took advantage of the free bus service on 16th and popped down to see the State Capitol. Beautiful architecture. I just had to snap a picture of the survey marker indicating I was one mile exactly above sea level. We then walked up to the Cathedral and took a peek inside. If it had been sunnier out the stain glass would have been dazzling.

One mile high!


Inside the Colorado State Capitol


Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Back to the convention. I bounced around several panels throughout the day, not necessarily staying in any one panel for the full hour and 15 minutes. I get antsy with such a long venue and would prefer a panel to end at fifty minutes.

I attended:
Soldiers of the Future
From Starship Troopers to Forever War, Bujolds Dendarii Mercenaries to Scalzi’s Ghost Brigades, SF writers have widely differing visions of tomorrow’s militaries. How might the real things differ? And how should it?

Looking Ahead - What to Read and Watch Before you Nominate for the 2009 Hugos.
(Self explanatory). I stayed long enough to get the novel recommendations, which were the same as 2008: Year in SF Review panel from Day 1.

A World Made of Birds: What would Earth be like if the Dinosaurs had Lived.
Speculation about life on Earth would have developed without the mas extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period.

Lunch was at Little India, a little hole in the wall that was just hopping. The buffet, while not having a huge variety, was some of the best Indian I’ve had in a while. I focused on the Saag Paneer and the Garham Masala (with basmati rice and naan) and treated myself to seconds. Delicious!


Searching the Ruins: Archeology in SF
It’s more than Indiana Jones or The Mummy. Writers discuss archaeologists as characters and archaeology as a plot device in speculative fiction. I left and went to:

Make the People We Want: Genetic Engineering
The benefits, costs, and unanticipated consequences of genetic engineering in human beings. Would there be fashions? At what point do they stop being human?

Ages of a Writers Life: Writing to get Published, Writing for Fans, Writing for Posterity.
As writers mature and gain experience, their work may change, and their motivation may evolve. The panel explores how their focus has changed over the course of their careers. With Connie Willis, Larry Niven, Lois McMaster Bujold, Robert Silverburg and Suford Lewis.

We met up with Gail’s brother, SIL, mother and her two nephews for dinner at the Denver Diner. I neglected to get my picture as rain was imminent and we were in a rush to get back to the Masquerade. However, if you close your eyes and imagine a greasy spoon diner, then you have the Denver Diner. Nothing remarkable.

We attended the Masquerade, which had only 25 entrants so it went quickly especially since they didn’t stop for intermission. The quality of entrants was pretty good, and I believe everyone who entered received some sort of award.

Day 3 - relaxing.

Worldcon: Denver, CO, Aug 6-10 (Day 2)

Thursday, Aug 7

Due to the hour time difference between MN and CO, we were all up early. The convention panels don’t start until 10:00am, so we had a bit of time on our hands. We went in quest of breakfast and found this lovely little restaurant: The Corner Bakery. I had a scrambled egg and bacon croissant with cheddar cheese (a bit of a departure from my usual breakfasts of Kashi cereal).


After breakfast we parted ways: Phyllis headed out to visit her sister while Gail and I hopped on a bus and went to the Denver Botanical Gardens. This was a little bit of an adventure, not being certain of exactly where our stop was, we decided to hop off the bus early and ended up walking around the backside of the gardens which I found out later was Cheesman Park. This led to a delightful discovery of a beautiful wide open park and a view of the mountains in the background.


The Denver Botanical Gardens are worth a trip. Complete with the traditional “jungle dome” the grounds also offer a wide variety of gardens and paths to stroll through. I was delighted and pleased with the layout and variety of plants.






We returned to the convention center in time for lunch, and chose Paramount Studios (right next to Marlow’s). We split a Gyro’s sandwich and I tried a New Belgium Brewing Co Sunshine Wheat. Yummy! We sat outside in the beautiful weather and just enjoyed people watching.

After lunch we ran down to the Tattered Cover bookstore, a Denver “must see” for any bookie and found the Union Station - a still operating train depot. The architecture was original and the insides had not been gutted in favor of “modernization”. It is still an operating train station for Amtrak and a couple of lines that run up to Breckenridge. Outside we can see a brewpub in the distance and just beyond there Coors Field. I must come back for a baseball game!


Above - Tattered Cover Bookstore

Above/Below - Union Station


Back to the Convention for one panel:
Tragic Flaw to Achilles Heel - Every Hero’s Weakness
This discussed how “a hero without a flaw is an unsympathetic bore. It’s the flaws that help us identify with fictional heros. This panel discussed what, how much, and how little it takes to turn a practical paragon into a personal protagonist.”

Dinner was with Gail’s relatives at Ted’s Montana Grill (of Ted Turner fame). I had a delicious pecan crusted trout with a baked sweet potato and coleslaw. Portions were HUGE and I felt remiss that I couldn’t finish mine. The baked sweet potato was FANTASTIC and I simply must do more of these at home.



We were returned to the Convention Center, where we wandered over to the Sheraton (several blocks away) where more of the evening activities were happening. I was curious about watching a panel titled: If I Ran the Zoo, a game about running a Worldcon. As it happened, I ended up participating and had a good deal of fun. This was a little contest between two teams where cards are drawn and points awarded or deducted based on the answer chosen. I was only able to stay an hour and a half, then I needed to return back to our hotel with my companions so I don’t know which “convention” won (my team was Looney-con).

Day 2: Exciting.

Worldcon, Denver, CO, Aug 6-10 (Day 1)

Last week I attended the World Science Fiction Convention in Denver, CO. What a whirlwind of a trip! I hardly know where to start: should I discuss the convention? The restaurants? The site seeing? I think I’ll approach this on a day by-day basis, starting with our arrival on Wednesday.

Wednesday, Aug 6
I and my traveling companions, Gail and Phyllis, arrived bright and early in Denver at 11:00am. A snafu at the hotel prevented us from checking in early, so we were forced to just store our bags and head out to the convention. The Marriot was 4 blocks from the Colorado Convention Center, a bit inconvenient, but there was a slew of shopping and restaurants between the two.

Colorado Convention Center - home of the Big Blue Bear

Lunch was in order, and we found Marlow’s. Gail and I shared halibut tacos and a arugula salad with goat cheese, dates, roasted pears and spicy pecans. Fabulous. Best fish tacos I have ever had.

Marlow's

16th Street Pedestrian Mall

The panels I attended on Wednesday included:

2008: The Year in SF
Recommended reading:
Greg Bear City at the End of Time
Ken McCleod Night Sessions
Charles Stross Saturn’s Children
Alistair Reynolds House of Sun
Carl Schroder (4 book trilogy)
Ursula LeGuin Lavinia
Neal Stephenson Anathaum
Michael Flynn January Dancer
Gene Wolff An Evil Guest
Daniel Gregory Pandemonium
Cory Doctrow Little Brother (jv fic)

Age and Wisdom: The Older Protagonist in SF
Being young isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be! This panel discusses the pros and cons of writing older, more experience characters. Panelists were: Elizabeth Moon, Larry Niven, Lois McMaster Bujold, Margaret Bonham, Robert Silverburg.

Opening Ceremonies (self explanatory) Short. Really short. Not necessarily a bad thing - the Barrayar Summerfair Regency Dance and Reception was immediately after so I think they wanted to clear out the room for it. We remained long enough to see Gails sister-in-law in her regency costume then went on our way.

Gail's SIL, in the Regency Dress

Dinner was at the hotel, where Phyllis and I shared a Club Sandwich while Gail has some spicy tomato soup. I had a Sunset Wheat Beer that was just yummy (especially after a day of traveling).

Day 1, lovely, exciting, excited to be in Denver.

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

I "read" this one as an audio book. I think, because of that, that was the only reason I finished it.

From Goodreads.com:
"The quest begins when irascible but dedicated mineralogy Professor Hardwigg finds a centuries-old parchment inside an even older book. His nephew Henry decodes it, and discovers instructions on how to get to the center of the Earth: “Go down into the crater of Snaefells Yocul,” an extinct Icelandic volcano. As they descend, the explorers also travel backward to the past, through layers of human history and geologic time, encountering prehistoric plants and animals and ultimately coming to understand the origins of humanity itself.

Though brimming with exciting exploits, this journey is also metaphorical—a spiritual and psychological trip to the center of the human soul. While many of Verne’s scientific speculations have been proven, it is this author’s remarkable ability to fashion a rousing tale full of compelling characters, extraordinary adventures, and provocative ideas that ensures he will be read for years to come."

Well, I must say I am truly perplexed about where these "exciting exploits" resided. And if it was a metaphorical story, then Henry, the narrator and main character, is a bigger putz than I thought. I looked up some reviews on Amazon and was quite amazed at how many people thought this was just stupendous.

I felt this story had moderately interesting bits punctuated by a very tedious main character. It contained very vivid and well described visual description regarding the imaginary bowels of the earth in its fantastical variety, complete with antediluvian creatures, but the incessant whining of the main character, a grown man, really put it all at a disadvantage.

I was wholly glad for the rapidity of the books completion.

Needled to Death by Maggie Sefton

This is book 2 in Maggie's Knitting Series.

Kelly is still in Fort Connor, CO, still undecided if she wants to go back to Washington DC and heir to several properties. One property is a 300 acre ranch in Wyoming with cattle, sheep, and alpacas.

Meanwhile, Kelly has agreed to take a group of touring knitters to her friend Vickie's alpaca ranch for a tour. However, when they arrive, Kelly finds her friend dead on the floor of her home, her throat slit. When Kelly is recruited by Vickie's daughter, Debbie, to help with the finances of her mothers estate, they find someone had a motive.

This series is still fluff-fun. The main character Kelly is still learning how to knit, though she whines a lot when introduced to a new technique. There are still way to many characters coming and going from the knitting shop who all seem to have these fabulous part-time jobs which enable them to drop in and knit at a moments notice.

My biggest complaint with this one was Kelly found direct evidence to link the murderer to the victim and instead of taking the information to the police, she grabs a friend and confronts the suspect to make them confess. If I were the police, I would be pissed as hell.

At least she's not running off to confront the killer all alone like another couple mystery series I know of.

I'm enjoying the knitting bits (except I swear that yarn shop goes through an incredible amount of yarn - they are always getting another shipment in!) and all the bits with the alpacas and sheep. Fun enough to keep reading.

Recipe Review for 7/31/08

We made 15 new recipes for the month of July! While not our record of 18 new recipes in one month, this was darn impressive for a July. Usually it's so hot out that I just make and eat a variety of salads and things on the grill. Not so this year. Evening temperatures have been dropping into the high sixty's. Very pleasant!

Mediterranean Chicken Pitas (Ckng Lght July 08, pg 178) 4.5
Its summer. Summer means light things for meal. Summer means minimal kitchen time. This, was the perfect recipe for all three of those. I grilled a package of chicken thighs, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper and let cool. Meanwhile, I took my yogurt and let it strain through a paper towel (I *have* to get some coffee filters) till nice and thick to mimic the Greek yogurt the recipe called for. I didn’t have enough after straining so I added some sour cream. This is tossed with cumin, chili powder, thyme and a tich of pepper. The cooled diced chicken is combined with red pepper, scallions (I subbed green onions from the garden), black olives and chickpeas, then everything is tossed together. This is served in pitas, and I decided to go with sprouts as my green because they transport well and you can mash them inside the pita.

I liked this dish. Unlike other chicken salad recipes, this one didn’t get soggy watery. I think draining the yogurt and sour cream is key. The flavors blended well and it made a lot. I think this would be good without the pitas, served over just a bit of salad greens or on its own.

Cavatappi Nicoise Salad (CL August 08, pg 148) 5.0
This one ended up with some rather significant modifications, but that’s the beauty of recipes. Their just “guidelines” after all! First, I subbed Lake Trout for the tuna. This was marinated in 7-up with a splash of lemon and fresh grated ginger, then grilled (I don’t like the taste of Lake Trout and I am in a continual quest to make it taste better). I forgot to by Cavatappi pasta, but I had medium shells on hand and I think those worked better anyway. I blanched my green beans in my pasta water to save time and water.

I love nicoise salads, and this one was pretty darn good. It was cool to have pasta instead of potatoes. The little shells captured the capers, black olives and the vinaigrette dressing in delicious cups of flavor where if it had been cavatappi pasta, I think all those small tidbits would have sank to the bottom of the bowl. I would make this again, maybe subbing salmon as an option. Mmm, sounds good...

Cedar Planked Salmon w/BBQ Spice Rub (CL Aug 08, pg 88) 5.0
This is part one of grill once - eat twice. A simple BBQ rub is whisked together (sugar, chili powder, cumin, thyme, salt, cinnamon, and paprika) and then rubbed over two or three wild salmon filets (mine were Alaskan caught). I like to add a bit of olive oil on top - it helps the toppings stay put. The filets are then placed on a soaked and pre-heated cedar plank and grilled until done. I wish I could add a “smell” link, the aroma of lightly baking cedar and cooking salmon was delicious! One filet we ate with freshly grilled corn-on-the-cob, the other was set aside for the next dish. 

Grilled Salmon Tacos with Chipolte Sauce (CL Aug 08, pg 88) 5.0
The shredded fish from the previous night ended up in tacos! I don’t think I’ve had fish tacos more than a couple times, and these were outstanding. The toppings are “non-traditional” for us Scandahoovian and Germanic types - pickled onions (leftover from a previous dish), shredded cabbage tossed with scallions and lime juice, avocado (my addition, it needed to be used up) and the chipotle sauce. The chipolte sauce was simply mayo, one chopped chipolte pepper in adobo sauce, chili powder, and some lemon juice. I heated up the salmon on the grill in a little foil packet and lightly toasted some corn tortillas.

Result? Fantastic. And I LOVED how easy prep was! I need to do more of these “grill once, eat twice” dishes.

Tall Ships!

(Photo by Amanda Hansmeyer/News Tribune)

Duluth, MN, has a very rich maritime history, and yesterday through this weekend we had a bit of that history come to us in the way three tall sailing ships. These ships are actually a bit smaller than some tall ships I've toured elsewhere in the states, but they are still impressive. I forgot my camera at home this morning so I uploaded some pictures from the Duluth News Tribune website on the event - their photographers had a better view anyway.

(Photo by Clint Austin/News Tribune)

It was so impressive to have these beautiful sailboats under full sail sitting out on the lake and then all come in in convoy. The Pride of Baltimore and the US Brig Niagara fired their cannons as they came under the lift bridge. The Madeline was a cargo vessel and did not have any cannons. The Kaboom! reverberated through the lakefront as plumes of smoke wafted upwards. As you can see, it was an absolutely splendid afternoon for this event.


(Photo by Clint Austin/News Tribune)

(Photo by Derek Montgomery/News Tribune)

It's my understanding the US Brig Niagara is a educational sailing vessel, and for a fee, you can go on board and learn how to sail. Once you've completed your training, you are then welcome to sail with the ship as long as you like. That would be so neat!

After the crowds thinned out and the ships were docked, the Husband and I wandered down to check them out. There are all sorts of activities going on with this festival as the vessels are here through the weekend. Unfortunately, my schedule won't permit me to get back down, so I'm glad I got to see them last night.

Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton

Knit One, Kill Two is a fluff mystery. Kelly Flynn finds herself back in Fort Connor, CO, for the funeral of her murdered aunt, Helen. There Kelly meets a menagerie of people who quickly become her friends: Mimi, who runs House of Lambspun a knitting store; Steve, carpenter, architect, handyman; Jennifer, real estate agent; Lizzie and Helen, retired teachers and sisters; Lisa, physical therapist; and Burt, retired policeman.

Kelly, tasked with having to clean out her aunts house and prepare it for sale, discovers there’s more to Helen’s murder than meets the eye. Her Aunt’s beloved family heirloom quilt has gone missing. Her aunt took out $20,000.00 in an dubious loan just before her death, but the money is nowhere to be found. Kelly, a corporate accountant is now fully suspicious about the circumstances of Helen’s death. Shortly after befriending a long lost cousin, Martha, Kelly finds out in the morning paper that Martha was murdered as well.

With the help of her new friends, whom she meets with every day at the House of Lambspun, Kelly not only learns how to knit, but solves the mystery of the two deaths.

Did I mention this was a fluff mystery? It is. It’s a fun little story that almost dives into the world of fantasy. Really now - how can all these people work such flexible jobs that allow them to continuously pop into the knitting store? Seriously. I also found that there were too many characters, there was nothing to really distinguish them from each other and their characters were all rather flat. Less would have been more here. Being a knitter, I found the rate that all these “working people” were finishing projects the likes of sweaters simply incredible to the point of disbelief. And let us not forget the introduction of the future love interest, to whom Kelly took an immediate dislike.

Still, I liked the Colorado setting, the knitting theme was cool - I totally understood the whole sensory color overload when Kelly walks into the knitting store for the first time - and at least in this mystery, the heroine doesn’t act like a stupid ninny and confront the villain alone (like another theme mystery I like to read) only to require rescue by said love interest. I’ll read the next couple and see how this series fleshes out.

Recipe Review from 7/21/08

Whoo-ee! Five recipes last week! The Husband and I were on a roll (tehe, no pun intended!).


Curried Lentil, Sweet Potato and Swiss Chard (Ckng Lght BB c/o New York Times) 4.0
We planted Swiss Chard this year and right now it is about the only thing in the garden that is doing well. So I have been on a quest for Swiss Chard recipes and I found this on on the Ckng Lght BB. What I liked even more about this recipe was the only thing I had to buy was the sweet potato.

This was super easy to make. Saute onion, add spices (garam masala, curry powder, a few other things), add veggie broth, sweet potato, lentils and simmer for about 30-45 minutes, or until potato and lentils have softened. Add chopped chard and cook till wilted. This didn't recommend any side dishes, so I made up some basmati rice and served it over that. Very tasty indeed. This also made a lot, so I divied it up into some smaller tubs to have upon my return from Denver.



Cheesy Grilled Eggplant Sandwiches (Every Day with RR, Aug 08) 4.5
Every now and then again I like a different kind of grilled cheese. This one grabbed my attention the moment I saw the picture. Thin layers of Jarlsberg cheese, proscuttio and eggplant and lovingly grilled. Yum! Super easy to make. Thinly slice (and peel if you want, I do) a small eggplant. Lightly spritz some oil on each side of the rounds and season with pepper. Grill till soft. Meanwhile, layer proscuitto and Jarlsberg cheese on some peasant or artisanal bread. Place grilled eggplant on the prepared bread, combine into sandwiches and grill till cheese is soft and bread nicely toasted. Eat! As RR would say, Yum-O!



Trout and Zucchini Kebabs (Every Day with RR, Aug 08) 4.0
The Husband was in charge of making this dish. Trout as a sub for swordfish, zucchini and nectarines. The trout was marinated in some homemade ginger ale (7-up mixed with some freshly grated ginger) before everything was combined on the skewers. He was rather dubious about the grilled nectarines, but after all was grilled and served, we decided they were quite tasty. The whole dish turned out very good and easy enough for a weeknight.



Grilled Chicken Tostadas (Ckng Lgnt, July 08, pg 182) 4.0
It's been a while since I've done anything with chicken, and this sounded different and tasty. I had a slew of modifications going on here, as I missed important "marinate for 30 minutes" bits and it was getting rather late at night. A red onion is thinly sliced and mixed with orange juice, red wine vinegar and salt. This is marinated for 2 hours.

The chicken was supposed to marinate for 30 minutes in a sauce, but I realized that too late so I said screw it. I combined the marinade ingredients - subbing a chipolte chili for a unknown Mexican paste - in a sauce pan and brought to a simmer and set aside. Then I attempted to pound out the chicken breasts, only to make a mess on the counter and said screw-it to pounding out #3. They went on the grill.

Meanwhile, several corn tortillas are lightly sprayed with olive oil and set aside to await their turn on the grill. The Hubby brought in the chicken breasts for me to shred and took the tortillas out to toast. I shredded all three and then combined with the marinade, making it more of a sauce to cover everything. I think this was the way to go. Very flavorful.

These were served with Monterrey jack cheese (sub for queso fresco), avocado, lettuce, and the pickled onions. Duane liked his tortillas softer, like a soft taco where I liked the crispy flat tortilla. I would make these again, with all my modifications.

Mint Margaritas (Ckng Lght, July 08, pg 185) 2.0
When I picked out the Chicken Tostadas, I thought Mexican! Margaritas! And knew there was this Mint version just a page over. I whipped this up. Well...I didn't get it into the freezer in time for dinner so first serving was "on the rocks". Eh. Didn't grab my fancy. Incredibly sweet. So when I had the leftovers the next night I pulled the bag out of the freezer, tossed additional ice into the glasses and added a splash more tequila before serving. Better, but still not good. I couldn't finish mine. Next time I'll stick with my traditional margaritas.

Silly Fun

What Middle Earth Race do you belong to Quiz

Dunedain


You scored 0% Size & Strength, 71% Morality, 47% Aggression, and 71% Intelligence.

Congratulations, you're one of the Dunedain. You scored high on size & strength, high on morality, low on aggression and high on intelligence. The Dunedain are all that remains of the once great line of men from Numenor. Described as tall, with dark hair and grey eyes, the Dunedain are much greater in stature and spirit than common men. Those of high rank are possessed of enhanced wisdom and occasional prophecy, in addition to just being bigger and stronger. Aragorn himself was described as being 6'6" and was one of only three warriors to come out of the Battle of Pelennor Fields completely unscathed. (Incidentally, only one of the three was not Dunedain). He was also able wrest control of the Palantir from Sauron using just the force of his will. Summary: Dunedain = Bad Ass.

FYI, your polar opposite is the Orc. You know, those nasty little critters you've been beating the living hell out of since you were three. Yeah, those.


I inflicted this test on the Husband too. I think he was in a bad mood as he scored as the Balroc!

Knitting Projects #14 (cont), 15, 16, 17

I have posted on the side bar my “On the Needles” box, and it is true that sock #2is "still on the needles", but I’ve managed to finish a couple of other projects in the interm. Project #15 is still my first set of socks. Sock No. 1went well(thanks to Gail and her on-line direction translations), and I cast on its mate a while back. This past weekend I finished the heel flap and heel turn.

Here is what I got sidetracked with:

Project #14 More Scrappy Dishcloths. I needed a quick easy project for my day trip to 4th Street Fantasy Convention back in June and dishcloths are my quick easy projects. I’m still working through my little leftover skeins and came up with these:



I tried a couple new-to-me techniques - using two kinds of yarn and carrying them along and alternating them. Mostly it was a way to use up those partial skeins. I just can't bring myself to throw those bits away. I think the two cloths turned out all right. I have one more I want to make with this pattern to complete the set.

Pattern: Nifty Knit Dishclohs by Leisure Arts, “Simple Diamonds”
Needles: #6
Yarn: leftover Sugar and Cream

Project #17 Awareness Soap Bag
I’ve been thinking a little travel soap bag would be nice for camping or the gym, where I could have my washcloth and soap all in one then have a way to let it dry. I’m thinking a carabine to hook it on to the outside of my bag/camping gear should work dandy. Then it’s also handy when one might need just a quick hand wash.

There is an awareness ribbon on the side, but it doesn’t show up very well in the picture. I will make this bag again, but skip the ribbon pattern and do the tie differently. A super great way to use up those little skeins and it only takes a hour or two to finish.


Pattern: Awareness Soap Bag from knittingcentral.com
Needles: #6
Yarn: 3 varieties of leftover Sugar and Cream.

Project #18 The Nephews Hat

The Nephew had a birthday this month and K2 told me he’s been wearing his pumpkin hat to daycare in 80* weather! Well, if the little guy is going to be wearing hats, I thought I would make him a lighter weight one. At first I wasn’t thrilled with the pattern, but when I was done, it made a neat bold spiral. The Nephew is going to be getting a second hat as well, but I haven’t cast it on yet. I better get knitting! I will have to ask K2 to send me a pic of him in it - he's such a cutie!


Pattern: Regia London Beanie
Yarn: Regia 4ply self striping
Needles: #3 circular and dps