ALBACON, www.albacon.org , has its hotel for 2010: Best Western Sovereign Hotel – Albany, 1228 Western Ave., Albany, NY 12203; +1-518-489-2981; http://www.sovereignhotels.com/ .
We hope to have on-line registration up and running real soon now. Y’all come. We give good con! Allen Steele is our Literary Guest of Honor.
For the past couple days I’ve been scanning in papers from the Tolkien conferences I ran in 1969 and 1971: The 1st & 2nd Conferences On Middle-earth. I may add a couple more that I have which are contemporary with them. It is very interesting to go thru these papers which were based solely on The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings.
These are the papers which didn’t make the cut for “A Tolkien Compass” edited by Jared Lobdell.
One idea is to publish them under the title: “A Tolkien Lodestone.” They being sort of not quite ready for accurate directions in Middle-earth.
It might be fun to hold another Conference On Middle-earth for fans of Professor Tolkien, the books, music, art, films, etc. A small get together in the “Green Dragon” for a nosh & a natter.
If it weren’t for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn’t get any exercise at all. -Joey Adams, comedian (1911-1999)
To all the service members past, present, and future: Welcome home and thank you for your service to our wonderful country.
Looking forward to a fun weekend. I’m heading off to Rochester, NY, for ASTRONOMICON, their local SF con. All the ones I’ve attended have been fun.
I think, more folk might do well to read this article.
If it’s on the shelves, it’s off the streets byPeter Moskos. [Peter Moskos is an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the author of "Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore's Eastern District."]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/23/AR2009102303457.html
I am bemused by the total lack of any sort of sense of humor when Target is attached for the “Illegal Alien” costume. Maybe not completely in the best of taste, but no where near as bad as some of the so-called costumes I’ve seen shown for sale. — Then again, an illegal alien is just that: ILLEGAL. Go to jail & deport. – Yes, they are seeking to better themselves. However, so are all those folk in line for legal immigration. – Hmm, maybe the US should review its immigration policy. However, being able to speak English is obligatory. How else can someone from Korea communicate with someone from Russia? ETC.
On the 14th I had my interview for my NEXUS card. It seemed to go well. I also got my retinal scan. If all goes well, I should get my NEXUS card next week. I will then be able to cross the US/Canadian Border at a number of locations without having to stop, well, for a minute or two, for customs. — I’ll be crossing the border at least twice next year.
I’m also going to look into getting a “Global” card. It is, apparently, a free upgrade if one has a NEXUS card. It could make flying into the US easier, and I hope to be doing just that twice next year as well.
Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian. -Robert Orben, magician and author (b. 1927)
Of course, Indians/Native [?] Americans didn’t originate in the “Americas” either. They just happened to arrive sooner.
Saturday, 20 June 2009. I awoke to another fine day. It was sunny and comfortable. I decided I would catch breakfast up the road. I did my shoulder exercises, packed the car and headed north. Drive was quite pleasant with light traffic. The scenery was quite nice and the road wound between and through fields.
Just south of Phillipsville I got off of 101 and onto the Avenue of the Giants. I took my time and slowly drove down the road that wound between giant trees. It was most relax will. In Phillipsville I asked about the whereabouts of Hobbiton, USA. It turned out and that I had passed the overgrown sign to Hobbiton, USA next to the sign that proclaimed The Chimney Tree. I returned both the café and Hobbiton, USA were closed. I took a picture of the sign and then started walking up the path. It turned out that there are some tenants living on the grounds and warned me off as I was trespassing. Darn! While I was there, at least 10 cars slow down to give the area a look.
I think the owners are vastly underestimating the attraction of Hobbiton, USA. Granted it would cost a fair bit of change to bring the area back to high standards. However, I would bet and donate some money that if the owners asked for help on The One Ring.Net and The Frodo Franchise blog, they would attract more than enough talent who would be willing to work for free in order to restore Hobbiton, USA to splendor. All they would have to do is put up a plaque afterwards indicating which human, Elf, dwarf, etc., had helped with the restoration. Moreover, they could host an annual picnic on the weekend closest to 1 May, which I believe is the date that Bilbo returned to Bagend, to do a spring cleanup on the grounds for the following tourist season.
I sorrowfully took my leave and slowly headed up the Avenue of the Giants. It is truly a magnificent experience to slowly drive this road. Some of the trees along the road appeared to be about 10 feet in diameter. Further away there must’ve been even bigger trees than those along the road. It was truly an invigorating experience for the soul and mind.
It was a short drive after the Avenue of the Giants ended to Eureka where I stayed for the evening. Once in my room I’ve read for awhile, then went to the adjacent restaurant for dinner, called up a few friends to work on meetings along the road and then read some more until I turned out to light.
I also decided I would spend an additional night here as I was meeting an old friend for a late lunch and rather than try and drive on afterword would put my feet up, make some phone calls and read little bit. I would head out to some parks on Monday morning.
