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PHILADELPHIA -- Last weekend over 1600 people from far and wide with nothing better to do gathered at the Adam's Mark hotel for a few days of fun, socializing, spending money, and wandering aimlessly in a confused, barely conscious daze. The biggest Anthrocon to date, there were many things to do that I didn't do, and some nice guests of honour, one of whom I was actually familiar with this time.

SpinDizzy's [known] delegates to Anthrocon this year consisted of Boki, Seaweed and myself. Between raiding the convention suite and scouring the dealers' room for shiny new acquisitions, Boki and I occupied ourselves with taking lots of random photos that we'll look at once or twice then pack away never to be seen again, and plenty of wandering looking for people to bug. Going on only a few hours of sleep per morning, we managed to accomplish very much nothing, and eat a lot of snacks.

Josie DeCarlo, wife of the late Dan DeCarlo, and inspiration behind his "Josie and the Pussycats", was present again this year as one of the guests of honour. A very nice lady, she gave me her autograph and seemed to have a good time at the convention. Also guest of honour this year was a Heather something (though I may have gotten that name wrong) who it would seem is some sort of artsy-person, and appears to be quite good at it.

Breaking from widely accepted convention practices, this year the convention suite while consisting mostly of junk food, did not consist entirely of junk food. This year there were little sandwiches, chili, and possibly other things that I vaguely recall hearing about from somewhere, but can't say for sure.

Other items of note this year were Kage's mohawk, one marriage proposal, and only two rabies scares. Overall, a very fun convention for all, with very few incidents involving lost Klingons. Next year, if the charity auction reaches $20,000 Kage and Jim Groat promise to don grass skirts and coconuts and dance the hula. Something to look forward to next time.

July 5th saw the first officially advertised gathering of SpinDizzy residents who happen to live in the San Francisco bay area. Your correspondent is pleased to report that despite eight people turning up to the dinner, there was no loss of limbs, and everyone involved allegedly had quite a fun evening.

The regulars who attended the gathering, which was at the Britannia Arms pub in Cupertino, were Findra, Skyler, Peppermint, Seth, Gilead, Rootdown, and Boki. We were also joined by Francisco, who lives in the same house as SpinDizzy's server.

After a few glasses of beer and some rather good, if dubiously British, food, the rest of the evening consisted of either playing, or laughing at those playing, Dance Dance Revolution, followed by a viewing of Father Ted on television.

All in all, it seemed to be quite a successful event, and another one is currently in the works for next month. Hopefully, we can cajole Rankin, Gratiot, and Whisper to attend this one, too!

Local Gulls are not the first to enjoy tasty fish. According to a story on the CNN Website, an article in the journal Science says that scientists have found that prehistoric Birds have been eating tasty fish for millions of years.

When asked to comment, Boki, local Gull squawked, " "They can not feed like gulls unless there were gulls there to show them how first! This is obvious!"

• Ceralor deeply says, "Me, of course!"
• Suri says, "Flipper! He's grey, and makes cool noises."
• Carlos says, "Ian McKellan"
• Gilead chirps, "I should be played by the otter from Ace Ventura."
• Argon says, "Ray Fearon could play me."
• Hefon rumbles, “Lon Chaney Jr. He played Lennie.”
• Ark says, "The role of Ark will be played by an elaborately constructed muppet made of living flesh and tasty lo mein."
• Ark says, "Seriously though, Jackie Chan."
• Cye would proably be all CG :(
• Cye would get Kikou Innone to do her voice! :) mabye hm..
• Mouser guesses he could get a Muppet to play him...
• Gilead would be voiced by Chuck Norris, and played by the otter from Ace Ventura who lived in the toilet.
• Suri says, "I'm gonna have Flipper play me!"
• Cye says, "I'd get voice by Ikkou Innone n.n"
• Nikon has no idea... would be CG
• Ark says, "Christopher Walken."
• Vassily says, "Richard Basehart!"
• Skolf says, "My character? It'd be CGI with ... hm... I don't know who for the voice."
• Gina_Doberman says, "Maybe Kim Basinger!"
• Vassily says, "I think Mouse should be played by Richard Kiel"
• Maxl hisses, "I still think Morticon should be played by Christopher Walken, Hefon."
• Alicia says, "I was say at first Demi Moore (SP?) But ever since the trouble with Bruce Willis...Her career has gone down the toilet."
• Skolf says, "Christopher Walken should do a one-man show and play everyone."
• Vassily suggested that Maxl be played by Steve Buscemi. Maxl agreed.
• Vassily says, "Gilbert Gottfried then." (for Morticon)
• Skolf says, "Ooo, who thinks the Captain of Enterprise would work for my character?" (Scott Bakula")
• Arkitah pages, “You need to find somebody loud, overly enthusiastic, and very bad at acting to play me. Just go pick somebody up off of Wheel of Fortune.”
• Findra thinks Eddie Izzard. In drag.
• Kaya says, "Gwyneth Paltrow, of course."
• Ba'ar growls, "the Ted Bedderhead from the movie The Country Bears."
• Akeakami comments, "Bobcat Goldthwaite"
• Mouser hisses, "Dennis Franz, Hefon. Sure, he'd have a hard time fitting into his costume, but I like his attitude."
• Boki squalls, "Boki would not be in the movie! Boki would be late!"
• Alicia says, "Ayliyah, or whatever he name is spelled."

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