Day 5 of WorldCon and by this point I was barely functioning!

We decided that we would use the Luas for the last day and it was only a 10 or so minute walk (with frequent eat stops) to the Smithfield station, and we only had a short trip to the CCD, but boy was it packed.

When we got to the CCD we headed straight up for the Library Bards concert and that was amazing, utterly loved it and it was a real highlight of the Con.

After this we had Games for Science with Steve Jackson and Tom Lehmann which was very good, although I was disturbed part was through it because there had been a small fire in our apartment and we were going to have to move room when we got back, thankfully none of our stuff was damaged.

Then I went to a panel on 2000AD the Irish Connection, which I hoped would touch on things like Murphyville, but it mostly just covered Irish artists and writers for 2000AD which was still pretty good.

Then me and Lindsay met up for Holy Forking Shirtballs – The Good Place Panel, and thanks goodness I had an access sticker, because it was a very popular panel, which doesn’t surprise me as the show is brilliant, but me and Lindsay were able to get in which was great.

The we did a two hour shift on the Glasgow 2024 fan table and had many a fan come and offer pre-support or become a friend of the bid, which was great, I have a lot of confidence that Glasgow will win. And I managed to with great difficulty get into the DeLorean for a photo.

And sadly at this point it was time for the closing ceremony, which was very very emotional, amazing speeches and performances and when James handed over the gavel to CoNZealand it put a lump in your throat.

And this we headed away from the CCD for the last time and it felt very sad to leave our home for the past five days and see our little village being dismantled.

We did want to do the Dead Dog Party, but figured we needed to get back and move room plus we couldn’t really afford the drinks.

So instead we headed to O’Connell Street and had a Supermacs for tea, followed by a trip to Dunnes to grab a few bits for people who wanted us to bring them home, specifically Rock Shandy for Paul, Jane and Rob.

Then we jumped back on the Luas and walked back up to Thomas Street, which was very hard and I had to stop a ton of times, but once we got there we saw that the Spar has disappeared during the day, and realised we forgot a present for George, so we walked down to Tesco and grabbed him a bottle of whiskey, before going back to the hotel and moving room, and then we settled down and read before sleeping.

Return to the North East

The next day we managed to sleep in and miss our taxi, but thankfully we were able to get one very quickly, and we getting through security was a breeze, so we had a Burger King for breakfast and then boarded our flight back to Newcastle, which was sadly very uncomfortable for Lindsay.

But we landed safely and were picked up by Paul and Megan, who literally had to be prised off me and Lindsay when she gave us a hug, so we headed home, to find out that there had been a small fire at the BT exchange which means we are without internet again.

I phoned Sky who have agreed to compensate us for a months worth of broadband, plus helped us cut our bill down and moved us onto Sky Q for free as compensation.

So exhausted I headed up and had a bit of a nap, after which we went to the Beefeater for tea before popping into see Megan’s mum who had just had a knee replacement operation.

So action packed few days!

What I am Modelling

Obviously I have been away and my painting had been a struggle before that, but on Wednesday whilst Lindsay was away at Megan’s parents working because we had no broadband at home, I picked up my paintbrushes to try and get myself back in the zone by painting some scenery, these are big chunky bits that’s don’t require detail.

After any long break from painting I find it difficult to get back in the groove because my hands really do get very bad, so stuff like this is helpful.

Anyway I painted a Wall of Martyrs Defence Line and a Wall of Martyrs Imperial Bunker.

What I am Reading

I have a lot of recommendations of books from WorldCon, but first I want to get through The Beast Arises, and have gotten half way through Shadow of Ullanor by Rob Sanders, which is really good so far.

What I am Playing

I haven’t played much at all this week apart from a play test of Cthulhu Dice 2nd Edition and a couple of games of Timeline Inventions, one of which I won and one of which I lost.

What I am Backing

At the moment I am backing Munchkin Parhfinder 3 – Odd Ventures, but I am having to do it in a way that sees the game shipped to a friend in the US for them to forward it on to me as Steve Jackson Games are stopping supporting international backers, which is sad.

We are taking a good look at backing Fiasco and I will be honest, it’s likely to happen.

What I am Cooking

Nowt since I got back from Dublin.

What I am Spending

Apart from a few presents in Dublin, nowt.

  • Current State of Projects: Rest of Killzone Wall of Martyrs on my desk