HALLOWEEN IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
DELIRIOUS MUSINGS ON THE 2003 NOLA CONVENTION
Heraklia Aelius Rome
Halloween is surely a peculiar night anywhere, but to be sitting in New Orleans, by candlelight, listening to the music of ancient Rome and Egypt, looking at a banquet-room full of Celts, Roman matronae, Egyptian scribae, Viking ladies, gentlemen in togas, laurel wreaths and wreaths of roses, Babylonian magistrates and kings, and Indiana Jones - in-joke! - while sipping wine in real life, in America's surreal city of fantasy . . . well, the Avatar Ball of the NOLA2 Convention will never be forgotten by any of us attending.
And in so many ways, we all realized what a peculiarly strong bond we've forged among a group of people around the world who like jokes, drinking, and history (not necessarily in that order!). It turns out friendships forged at AW seem to be of peculiarly durable make.
I was so tired the night of the Banquet and so concerned about the swathes of costume fabric that trailed everywhere I went - a perfect tripping hazard! - that it was only later that I realized why the two Conventions I've worked on have been such fun. Invariably, certain things hold true: the humor, camaraderie, laughter, and discussions you conducted by gram, you can now speak as fast as your wee tongue can trip. The people you liked as faceless messages are now sitting across the table from you, and you like them even more, if possible! The fascination with history we all share made Steven Saylor say many times that it was amazing to speak to an interested and knowledgeable audience - after years of doing book-signings at the Beaumont, Texas Mall!
To see the Egyptian museum exhibit was fantastic - how we laughed that Hapshepsut and Onions practically had to be dragged out, kicking and screaming - how we all felt that sense of sharing the wonders of an ancient exhibit we could, for once, all actually see and touch.
Throughout the three days, people laughed, goofed off, argued about history, inquired and chatted about personalities at AncientWorlds that seem as real as a sister-in-law (even though perhaps you've never really met). We shared stories like members of a small town who've lived together for many years and seen good times and not so good - there were deep roots that we all found, in some surprise. When we put up the decorations for the night of the Ball, people came and labored in their long skirts and fancy wigs, carrying gorgeous palms, laying out yards of gold lame, setting up candles and decorations . . . and also labored to put everything away. There was a sense of "pulling together" that would be remarkable with a bunch of old friends, and is really weird when you realize that, until the night before, you'd never physically 'met' any of these people - these friends. And yet - you knew them well, so that being together was a joy and a delight. Tables of laughter, everywhere.
I looked at Zig, King of Babylon with his beard coming slightly awry, and JoJo and Queen Bellibuttoni at his side, and thought of nearly a year of lunches, meetings, plannings, worries ("where can we find columns, cheap?" or "How are we going to get everyone to the museum?"), and thought of us as the Three Musketeers, all working hard just so this one weekend could happen. What a team - but how worth it! We all found that AncientWorlds afficionados are intelligent, witty, laugh a lot, know a lot, tolerate each other's eccentricities, and talk a mile a minute. More importantly, we found that these virtual friendships are surprisingly strong and tend to flourish like the green bay tree when watered with a little touch of Real Life.
These were the musings that went through my mind that night - and that's why the work, planning, and (sometimes) nagging, was all worth every minute of the looks on the faces of my friends as I raised my glass and stared around the room at those ancient citizens of a virtual planet, with whom I was sharing something that felt so real. Let's do it again soon - er - somewhere else, perhaps!!!
THE IRON MAN CONTEST
OR HOW BEST TO PARTY IN DOWNTOWN VIEUX CARRE
jojo Nebuchadnezzar Babylon
The Avatar Ball at the NOLA II Convention on Halloween night broke up at about 11 PM and everybody went out to stroll up and down Bourbon St. It was packed with masqueraders and our group was not at all conspicuous in our avatar costumes. The Code of Conduct prohibits me from going into detail about some of the sights we witnessed. After all, one of the descriptions of New Orleans is "the city that care forgot!"
Trenches? Perhaps not – I doubt anyone in their right mind could describe New Orleans as being "hostile territory". No, The Big Easy perhaps...party town...the place where, in the French Quarter, jazz is king and the gumbo delicious. It’s all of that and much more. For this correspondent, New Orleans was a perfect setting for Ancient Worlds's Official Unofficial Convention NOLA II, a convention that was bigger than lifesize in so many ways.
lack of sleep and partying to do, there was no way to deal with the logistics of it without consuming mass quantities of alcohol and stimulants together to keep myself moving and on a true mania plateau.
