Personal Log: BayouCon 2012
Squeeze and I drove to Lake Charles (Lousiana) for BayouCon 2012.
For Friday, we arrived about 1500 and toured the old town a bit before checking in. Shortly after meeting old friends (and some new ones) we went downstairs to the meet and greet with JG, and Bob who is a friend of JG.
The meet and greet was a blast. During the discussion about klingon lawyers, Barmaq was singled out by JG as one who was keeping track of their courtroom successes and failures. JG, and his friend Bob, would often go off on a verbal trip bouncing stories and memories off of each other. On numerous occasions JG would ask Ripar to confirm information as if an old peer. There was much bovine excrement and nothing nor no one was safe.
Later, the IKVBS and IKVM personnel gathered for a bit of speech writing. This was serious stuff and progressed in a very good manner. We wound up with enough material that we had to edit it downward. Had mundanes been present, they would have been surprised with the educational and literary skills wrapped up in this group.
Day1
Squeeze had free run of the con. Given that I had had foot surgery, actually two, on May 17, I was still learning to walk and very weak. It was also quite painful to stand or walk more than a few feet. So, I pretty much volunteered to man the klingon recruiting table. I pretty much stayed at the table the entire con barring a few forays into the con (and pain) to see the wares and meet the vendors.
As cons go, this went pretty much as I had hoped given that it is a much smaller con than our neighborhood. Easy in without a long wait in line. Easy access to panels. Easy access to the guests putting on the panels. Easy and casual access to the talent brought in by the con. We are not blocked from talking to somebody because we don't have a the correct color wristband. Multiple times during the weekend JG would come by and yank my chain for the fun of it. It was easy to casually walk up and talk to JG's friend Bob, too. My Best of Batleth product was shown publicly for the first time at the convention. It was worked in amongst the other guest movies. Since Larry Nemacek was doing some panels in that room, I wound up talking to him a few times.
Oh, the local Shire Reeves found the Best of Batleth quite interesting and entertaining.
At 1500, the speech written the night before was presented while all of the klingons were on the stage together with Martok and Gowron. Captain Ripar presented both JG and Bob with Honorary KAG Membership using the speech written the night before. Framed citations were given to them both. We all sang the Anthym together on stage. Afterwards, we sat down and JG and his friend Bob just went to town again. As to be expected, everybody and anybody is fair game and they were tag teaming the audience. They presented one of their klingon rap songs which was wonderful. Finally, the girls of Orion's Envy http://orionsenvy.com/gallery.htm danced for them on the stage.
From where I was sitting, I could not see, but I could hear most of the panels. There were many that were quite interesting. JG, his friend Bob, Larry Nemacek, Ripar and others were in panel on the stage. Yes, Captain Ripar was a panelist showing how to do a klingon forehead.
One of the highlights of my day was also one of my stupidest moves. One of the soldiers at MechCorps http://mechcorps.com/ asked to try the batleth. Due to a mixup, I had the only batleth present so I took on this soldier with double meks. I went eight rounds before my lovely parmachi put an end to it. Keep in mind that I was using batleths as a cane during this weekend. I had a blast fighting him. My foot had a hangover the next morning. Monday, I got totally ragged on at the doctor's office for fighting with stitches in place.
I would do it again in a heart beat.
Late that night there was a klingon meeting. Items discussed were business concepts and casual commentary about the wonderful day. I got to discuss how to brew with another meeting person. One of the highlights was when Larry Nemacek came in and found some cake. Oddly enough, none of the klingons except myself had a knife. So my sgean dubh was used to cut the cake and everybody ate it with their hands.
Wow, all that and it was only Day1.
Now, Day2...
The klingon breakfast was fantastic. JG and his friend Bob discussed various items about working the sets. They also spent a good 20 minutes presenting Shakespeare. That alone was worth the entry price. They also discussed their respective writeups in the program.* It was noted that while Ripar and Gowron have their own action figures, Martok does not. I got picked on a little bit for having the oldest car of anybody at the breakfast.
The headpieces worn by JG and his friend Bob were worn the first time for this event. They were then to be sold off. Ripar scored Gowrons noggin'. Denzil scored Martoks ridges.
These were presented at the breakfast.
Now, really hurting from the prior day's fighting, I really did a butt plant and worked the recruiting table. I made contact with Houston Starfleet klingon. Maybe we shall see her at the Space City Con. There was a possible nibble for IKV K'vette. I got a serious nibble for IKV Black Fire. We may not have filled a shuttle, however, the contacts were solid enough for a start.
More panels took place. I mainly just sat. So I am not really doing Day2 justice.
Very important to the Cold Revenge Quadrant, the Cold Terror Fleet, and KAG as a whole... There were five KAG ships present and represented. Bloodsword and Bayou Serpent got billing in the program. Ripar got a good third of the Sunday newspaper article. K'allen and I were interviewed for the Saturday night TV news.
I would like tp present an Honorable mention to the Sheriff's Department. The local Shire Reeves were kind, professional, understanding of dress and practice weapons.
To be now the contrary, the hotel had problems. The rooms had towels when we all arrived Friday night. Housekeeping did not bring replacements when cleaning the rooms. Front desk did not have any in reserve. There were simply none for most of the weekend because housekeeping was off. The management did not declare any kind of "business emergency" to get towels cleaned and provided. Likewise, there were a variety of maintenance issues that were quite frankly being ignored. This the closest hotel to the con. That is the only reason to return to it.
This was a fabulous convention. Not too large. Not so small as to be hopeless, either.
Strength and Honor,
Commander Salek, Sutai
Ship's Brewer, IKV Melota
*No, I'm not ragging on Bob nor actually intending to slight him. One of the funniest discussions came from reading the rather one sided writeups in the official program. So,for the rest of the weekend, everybody (including Bob himself) would joking refer to Bob as being in a secondary position riding JG's coat tails.
June 29-July 1 2012 marked Bayoucon 4 in Lake Charles,LA. Guest were Robert O'Reilly,J.G. Hertzler,Larry Nemecek,Michael DeMeritt,and JG Paladin.This con was being advertised as the "Klingon Summit" and it certainly lived up to that. The con was hosted by the IKV Black Fire. While it is a small con it was quite large with Klingons. TWENTY KAG members were present representing 5 KAG vessels. The breakdown was the IKV Bayou Serpent with 6 members,the IKV K'Vette with 4 members,the IKV Melota with 2 members,the IKV Black Fire with it's captain,and most notably the IKV Bloodsword who not only drove the longest distance from Oklahoma to southern Louisiana, but also brought the most warriors with 7. The highlight of this con was to be Chancellors Gowron and Martok being awarded honorary KAG memberships. Friday night was the meet and greet party. JG had 2 cups of my bloodwine and said it was better than most he had had,saying most of it is too sweet for his taste. He also enjoyed picking at just about everyone in the room,most notably B'ehrmaq of the IKV Bayou Serpent. Everyone loved it. We then met up in my room to brainstorm the induction speech since I wanted everyone to have some input and because I hate speeches.
Saturday saw everyone finally arriving,the largest assembly of Klingons that I can remember being a part of. We had far more than a "swarm". I did a panel of creating a latex headpiece just before the chancellors Q&A panel. Justin Toney,con director and CO of the IKV Black Fire,arranged for us to take the stage with them in which every Klingon that was there and in uniform took part in. I read the speech,handed them the certificates made by Admiral Qob,and then we were led in song by the chancellors before exiting the stage. Some chose to get out of uniform at this time,others didn't. I changed into my TOS Klingon uniform since I was having adhesive issues in the heat and humidity. K'Allen and myself entered the costume contest with my TOS uniform coming in third,a suprise to me. Since I was unprepared for this, when I was called to the stage for my award I had forgotten the beer in my hand. J.G. says "I'm sorry. There's no alcohol allowed onstage." He then took my beer and had a few drinks! The crowd roared! The Orion slave girl belly dancers,Orion's Envy, went up next and mesmerized the crowd as always with an amazing show. At this point I headed back to the hotel where we drank and chatted with Larry Nemecek and a few other fans in his room til after 4am. Sunday saw the "breakfast with the chancellors" which was one of the funniest parts of the entire con.J.G. teased Bob because his bio in the con program book was far longer than Bob's was. He said that Bob's bio basically said "Robert O'Reilly:personal friend of J.G. Hertzler". I also had the extreme pleasure of being able to purchase the headpiece worn by Gowron at the con and autographed. Denzil aka Bar'Tok of the IKV K'Vette was lucky enough to get Martok's headpiece. We were two VERY happy warriors! Thanks JG Paladin! Most of us were so tired we chose to stay out of uniform at the con but watched most of the panels which included JG Paladin applying a hot foam latex headpiece to one person which was raffled off. JG does truly show quality work and everyone was amazed at how real it looked. Afternoon saw everyone saying their goodbyes to each other and to a great con. It was truly worthy of song! Here are a few photos. Video will be posted at a later date.
members1
members2
Group pic with the Chancellors
tank shot
Captain Ri'Par sutai-bortaS
IKV Bayou Serpent CO
Cold Revenge Quad CO
Cold Terror Fleet XO
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