Woad Is Me: Face Painters at NADWCon

Happy Solstice

With so many costumers, fun folks and kids coming to this con we thought some face painting might be in order.  I've lined up three good ones and could use a few more.  So if you have some experience and would like to add your talents to the con, please write to me at program@nadwcon.org.

See you there,

Dj

Woad is Me: Face Painting for All Ages 

Would you like to be a dragon like Errol? A dog like Gaspode (well, ok, much nicer-looking than Gaspode)? Why not walk the halls as blue as a Feegle? Or maybe you'd just like a Feegle on your cheek!  Come sit for the magnificent artistry of our talented face painters.  Designs will include Discworld animals; Wizzardly and occult-ish symbols; Celtic and Nordic designs; Discworld Guild symbols and Nac Mac Feegle clan markings, among others.

 Ages 7 - 70

Photo: Faerieworlds by WitsEnd

Black Ribboner Meet Up at NADWCon

Not everyone will be quaffing at the Seamstress Guild parties. For example, Mrs Palm will be there but she's not about to quaff, not in that gown, so I've added in a program note for Discworld folks, myself among them, who avoid z B-word.

Black Ribboner Morning Meet Up 

NADWCon is one big party but not everyone wants to drink copious amounts of alcohol, eat junk food or push themselves to the point of exhaustion.  This meet up is for folks who are trying to stay a sane in the hustle and bustle of a busy con.  It isn’t a 12 Step meeting or Rational Recovery or Spiral Steps although all those folks are welcome. Nor is this a formal meeting of any kind. It is simply a Meet Up of Early Birds who want a quiet, peaceful beginning to the wonderful day ahead and a little support from like-minded folks in order to get through it.  Place and times to be announced on The Boards That Are White.

 Ve vil not be having z little zing zong, oh, no.  Just z coffee.  Lots and lots of coffee. 

See you there, 

Dj

Gone To Faerieworlds

Greetings,

I'm doing my bit at Faerieworlds this weekend as I do every year.  I'll have my smart phone and my laptop with me,  and I'll be keeping up with emails and such.  Folks, if it isn't on fire, it gets a return on Monday. * 

Later,

dj  

 

*  ... I bring artisan cheeses, pears, some herb roasted chicken, olives, hummus, veggies and Apples of an entirely different sort. And that is how a geek foodie goes camping.

Bother ... Did I pack the French press?

 

Art: Fairy Godmother by Brian Froud 

Hair Braiding Workshops at NADWCon

This makes my day...

John Wardale, the gentleman giving our Bearhugger Whisky Talk, is also teaching our hair braiding workshops.  Clearly, he is a man of many skills.

It's BYOB (bring your own brush). Enjoy. 

Renaissance, Fancy and Exotic Hair Braids.
Our instructor will teach attendees how to make ropes, 4-strand "round" braids, classic (3-strand) French and (3-strand) Dutch (or inverted-French or underhand) as well as a Crown braid (technically a horizontal modified (3-strand) French braid) and other advanced ideas like 5 and 7-strand fingering techniques; as well as shapes like hearts, spirals and a pullup-weave. ** Tailored to the desires and abilities of the audience.

Age 7 - 70.
 

Limited to: 20 attendees. Sign up sheet at front desk. First come, first served. *

See you there, 

dj 

* We think this will be very popular so we may try and schedule two of them. 

** I have no idea what any of this means but it sounds wonderful.  

Photo: from Project Wedding

The Jimkin Bearhuggers Whisky Talk At NADWCon

Have I mentioned that I love Discworld fans? 

Thanks to a cunning fan, we are introducing yet another new tradition at NADWCon with the first ever, semiannual Jimkin Bearhuggers Whisky * talk:

The Jimkin Bearhuggers Whisky Talk:

Wherein we consider the definitions for Whisky, Bourbon, and Scotch and, within Scotch, Blended, "Vatted",  Single-Malt and single-barrel types.  We will also discuss the specifics of wood/barrels, aging in general and age statements.  

We will then look at a map of Scotland and cover the styles and flavors by recognized regions and some specific distilleries across Scotland. There are Irish and Japanese (and maybe other) Single Malt Whiskeys which are "like" Scotch, but can't officially be called "Scotch" if they're not produced in Scotland.

If we have time, we can talk about "beer" and the difference between grain and malt and how a Maltster converts one into the other.

Later on, we can test what we’ve learned. Madison's best brew pub is 3 blocks away.

The con budget extends to making bail, so play nice. 

Dj

Photo:  The 21st Floor blog 

* from the Discworld & Pratchett Wiki 

Jimkin Bearhugger dominates the Ankh-Morpork whiskey market. His local state-of-the-art distillery produces enormous quantities of spirits, sometimes aging them for several minutes. For the more demanding palate, Bearhugger's also bottles fine whiskies from distilleries in the mountains. The city distillery is also notable as the site of Fred Colon's one-in-a-million bowshot at the dragon in Guards! Guards!
The phrase "A drop before ye go" (to which Colon observes "I had a drop once, I couldn't stop going") is a nod to the tag line of Roundworld's Bell's Scotch, as is the claim 'Aged 8 minutes' (though Bell's do actually allow 8 years).
The Bearhugger line of beverages includes (in rough order of increasing quality):

• Bearhugger's Old Selected Dragon's Blood
• Old Persnickety
• Bearhugger's Very Fine
• The MacAbre

Bearhugger has since branched out into liqueurs to serve the expanding cocktail market:

• Old Overcoat

• Bearhugger's Whiskey Cream

  
  

The Victorian Internet and The Technology of the Discworld OR Geek Out!

If you are one of my Twitter pals, you know that I love tech.  I follow the latest tech news, not as a someone in the field,* but as a lover of history who happens to be the daughter of a Skunk Works engineer (look it up) and a science teacher. These days I do a great deal of my work online so I love tech now as someone who uses lot of it, both to make a living and in my volunteer work. As far as I'm concerned, women invented networking, we just called it something else, and I love what tech allows us all to do on this score.

My husband is a software engineer who works in robotics. Both his parents worked in the space program and he, too, is big reader and a  history buff. We both spent many happy years in the Salt Mines of Silicon Valley, so it was with great glee that we came up with this one:

The Victorian Internet & The Technology of the Discworld

 +++Out Of Cheese Error ???????+++ Redo from Start

“Imagine an almost instantaneous communication system that would allow people and governments all over the world to send and receive messages about politics, war, illness, and family events. The government has tried and failed to control it, and its revolutionary nature is trumpeted loudly by its backers. The Internet? Nope, the humble telegraph fit this bill way back in the 1800s.“ (from The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage.)

Our panelists will discuss clacks and other technology of the Discworld.

Recommended Reading For Fun and Profit: 

 The Technology of the Discworld - webpage

The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage  

 

Victorian Technology: Invention, Innovation, and the Rise of the Machine by Herbert L. Sussman 

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Victoriana: A Comprehensive Guilde To the Design,Customers, and Inventions of the Victorian Era by Nancy Ruhling & John Crosby Freeman

Victorians and the Machine: A Literary Response to Technology by Herbert L. Sussman

Geeks Rule. 

See you there,

Dj

Art: Leggo Hex  Some of my very favorite things are the Discworld Leggo creations of Captain Smogg on Flickr. 

*  I did spend some very happy years working in the field of technology for people with disabilities.  I was privileged to be involved with the US premier of the first laptop for people with visual disabilities. We sold this device to people who worked in the Navy, the IRS and at the NSA back in the day. One of these is now on display in the Smithsonian. If you rent a Robert Redford movie from the 80's called Sneakers, you'll see it.

Geek note: the character uses it wrong - nobody reads an electric piezo braille display that fast and in the way he's doing it.  I blame the tech advisor, not David Strathairn **

** Just between us, I've always had a thing for David Strathairn. He is partly Scottish, so...you know.***

*** Speaking of sexy Scottish people, Mary McDonnell is in this movie, too, as is James Earl Jones (quite the man, ye ken? but not Scottish, as far as I know). You may remember Ms. McDonnell from Dances with Wolves and Battlestar Glactica. (Oh, dear, my geek is really showing now...)

The Dark Clerks Come To NADWCon

Many of our attendees want to volunteer at the con - it's a great way to make friends and honor Terry - but not everyone wants to be on a panel, run a game or teach a class. Some people have a different kind of skill set. They like to manage things behind the scenes, quietly and with little bloodshed.  If you see someone in a dark coat, a bowler hat or a pinstripe corset then I urge you to exercise both courtesy and caution for you may well be in the presence a Dark Clerk.  The members of this Discworld Guild; calm, capable, stylish, and, quite possibly, armed, do far more than shuffle paper. They bring order out of chaos. 

If you have a Dark Clerk in your soul, you will be happy to hear that Millie Shapiro Baker and Co. are organizing a, first ever, North American branch of the Dark Clerks Guild.  She writes: 

 "Do you like filing, organizing, paperwork, and, of course, working for Lord Vetinari to make the city of Ankh-Morpork run smoothly? Then by all means, grab your stationery, don your pinstripes, and join on up!"

* Dark Clerks Facebook page  

* Dark Clerks Yahoo group

We have need of both Igors and Dark Clerks at NADWCon.  The program readth thusly, 

Igors & Dark Clerks Wanted
Have you already signed up to volunteer as an Igor or a Dark Clerk during the Convention? If you haven't, would you like to? Attend this session to find out details on what's expected of you or how you can help, and maybe also a little info on the perks of being a creative, inventive, and adaptable Igor or a Dark Clerk, one who knows where all the bodies are buried...or will be.* 

* and who has the paperwork to prove it. 

Igors and Dark Clerk Guild Masters: Briefing for Volunteers with Special Skills
We can use Igors and Dark Clerks with special skills or qualifications. If you're one of those and would like to help out (or have already offered your aid), showing up here would be the first step in learning what we might need you to do.

Can you spare an hour or two to 
volunteer at NADWCon?
Write to Margaret Grady, 
Volunteer Director & Vice Chair, 
at volunteer@nadwcon.org. 

I tip my pen to all the Dark Clerks coming to NADWCon.  The Igors and I await you.  Fun fact: Igors make one heck of a cup of coffee.  Just don't ask what's in it. Just....don't.

Dj

Unofficial but interesting Dark Clerks Guild Crest by Lady Twatterby at DeviantArt

Panelists Wanted OR This Way To The Egress ....

Do emails swarm, I wonder, or do they flock? Missy, our Seamstress Guild Party Director, tells me that her's lurk. Mine seem to migrate. Just now they look like a herd of African Wildebeests all trying to cross the same river, in the same place. Once I have beaten back the crocodiles and seen them all safely to shore, I will be working (happily and yet again) on Panels for NADWCon.  (1) 

Below, you'll find a short list of some of the panels we're going to offer.  

DON'T SALUTE! 

This is still a work in progress. As I write this, we've sold 856 memberships out of 1,000. More and more people are coming forward offering to help in this last month before the con.  T'was ever thus.  (2)

Wannabeonapanel? 

Updated 6/13/2011 

My thanks to everyone who came forward when I first posted the request for panelists for some of our panels back in May.  We are now in great shape. 

 I could use a few more costuming panelists for these two panels

Dress to Express:    
Identity is often defined by clothing in the Discworld novels–a strategic rolled-up sock or a  washerwoman's skirt in Monstrous Regiment; a pointy hat in the witch and wizard books; or a badge, a breastplate, and cheap boots in the Watch books. Come join us for this examination of clothing choices and effects in the Discworld and elsewhere. We’ll discuss how to dress for Discworld and related events like Steampunk and fantasy conventions. Whether your character is high style or low comedy, we’ll discuss budget busting fun and cheap-but-looks-fab costuming effects.  We’ll talk about what works and what has gone deeply, badly, horribly wrong in our own attempts to get that perfect look.


Tools of the Trade: The Seamstress Guild’s Guide To Using...Oh, Let’s Just Call Them Props
Get your minds out of the gutter, people; this panel is about costume items we flaunt like fans, hats, jewelry and those little boots that Terry Loves, as well as the essential but unseen, a.k.a. Items of a Delicate Nature. (You, there in the back, stop sniggering.)

Join our guild members as we go beyond the dress and corset and discuss the elements of costuming that often get overlooked from the wig down to the toe ring. This is a panel brimming with information no good Seamstress should be without. Spectators are welcome, but must keep their hands to themselves!

otherwise, we're good to go. 

I've sent the Master List for our program over to Ray Friesan who will add the artwork, essays and the rest of the text.  Then, on to the printer.  

Now if you'll pardon me, I'm off to wrestle with the schedule.

Dj  

(1) Behind me, metaphorically speaking, is a gentleman in black, waiting to rip this list out of my hands so that he can do the Programming Book.  Update 6/12/01: Ray took the program list last night. After he does his art and editor thing, it goes to the printer.

(2) Well meaning people often write to me and say, "You should do *this*!".  Do I ask, "With what army?" I do not. I have the Morpork Mob to call on.  (pssst! That's you). 

... I love you folks best when you say, "I can do this and this and this...how can I help?".

Art: Egress Sign by Marg Grady for NADWCon 2009.  This piece is now in my collection.  

A Perfect Shamble

You don't choose the Craft, it chooses you. - Granny Weatherwax 

When All Is Said and Done this may very well come to be known as the Arts & Gaming NADWCon. 

But I digress ... 

On to Arts & Crafts: 

We liked this idea so much (Thank you, Margie*) that we've scheduled two of these workshops:

Shamble Making Class

Learn how to make your own Shamble -  ages 7 - 70

A shamble is a handmade device used by Witches to detect or amplify magic. A conversant Discworld Witch can assemble a shamble in a matter of seconds using stuff like strings, twigs, leaves, feathers, beads, coloured paper, an egg or even a beetle. The whole thing looks like a "cat's cradle", or some sort of nest made of rubbish.

We will have materials and tokens available to add to your shamble but you are welcome to bring some items of your own to add if you wish.  

Now, I want to be verrra clear about this.  A shamble, as you lot know, usually contains a live object, like an egg or in certain cases, a Feegle.  Now then,  (You! - yes, you there in the back I'm talking to you)  will be finishing your Shamble at home where you can add the live elements yourself, and, let there be no mistake, cats (You, in the back there, are you listening?) cats, as I said, are not any part  of this.  So take it home to finish, and clean up any resultant mess yourself. 

 There. Now you know. Go to.

(Not, you! You'll be staying after. I want a word in your ear ...)

See you there, 

Dj

Related Posts: Cutting Me Own Throat OR Arts & Crafts at NADWCon 

* The ideas was Margie's, and the workshops will be taught by Megan with help from Erin.   Thanks to Missy for hunting down and finding our supplies.