Carlyle's Convergence Day 2

Well Convergence is now in full swing and we've entered full on nerd-craziness. Day 2 involved being on two great panels - Why did they remake that? - in which 5 of us debated the merits of remakes and discussed our favorites remakes juxtaposed against those that deserve the most vitriol - and The Joy of Bad Movies - which was 6 folks sharing their favorite terrible films while discussing what makes a great bad movie. Each panel ran to its time without any floundering or time checking and the audiences were great and eager to ask questions about their favorite...and least favorite...films.

Meanwhile, a small pack of Spillios showed up to hang out, many attending their first Con. After my first panel I hooked up with several of them and we made our way down to COF2E2 to spend a couple hours sucking down coffee and talking film. There was Hillary, an adorable little ball of energy who comes across as a pleasant mix of the better parts of BOXXY and a well informed, movie loving intellectual. She was doing mental aerobics that were leaving many around her in the dust, struggling to keep up - her speech a steady stream of analysis without breaths that always ending in a question and blinking, inquisitive eyes. Sitting across from her (and having a hard time taking his eyes of her) was Carl, a sharp kid in his own right, but having a tough time getting a word in edgewise amid our group of coffee-fueled rapid fire pundits. He would speak up, usually with something particularly interesting to say only to trail off as someone else in the group went off on a tangent. Fortunately I got some time to chat with him because he was a hell of a cool kid. Also joining us was a young couple and the editor for a small press publishing house who had sat on the Remake panel with me.

The MST3K/Cinematic Titanic folks were in the house for the first time, beginning with a panel on the history of the shows and following up with an autograph session. Following that was a hilarious group of Improv comedians performing a live action Comic Book named KABAM! in which they created the origin stories of new heroes based on random suggestions from the audience. And I rounded out my day with Vilification Tennis - an insult competition in which teamed pairs toss insults back and forth until they bust up the Referee or the audience. The most offensive insult of the evening? "You're a bigger asshole than the one that killed Farrah." That one destroyed the packed house of 1000+ geeks. And it was far from the last insult involving the recently deceased. (We were warned beforehand and sensitive viewers were told to GTFO.)

Following that was the consummate party crawl in which I once again found the best party to be the Romulan Consulate (who continue to set the bar for geeky debauchery) and decided to hit the Joe's Karaoke Shack to punish attendees with my Humpty Dance.

Alright. It's Saturday. Today's the day. Should be much drinking, viewing, debating and finally Fireworks on the roof of the Hotel. Can't wait. So I'm out to enjoy the day!