Saturday is this year’s delayed Record Store Day. It’s actually the first of three RSD’s. This is the LP I am looking forward to getting. It’s produced by those 60’s Pop music mavens, Andrew Sandoval and Steve Stanley.
Unfortunately, the record store I patronize for RSD is skipping the first day. Steve Stanley says his favorite record store isn’t participating at all! I can place an order and, assuming the store can snag one of the 2000 pressings, I’ll pick it up on September 26. In the meantime, I’ve ordered the CD edition from Amazon.
Ya know, when I started this web log (14 years ago on Sept. 5), a primary motivation was learning about WordPress and all of the software components that make it work. Eventually the platform became stable, and I guess I got spoiled, because I’m not looking forward to tackling a new technical mess that Bluehost has warned me is coming. I’ll try to motivate myself to make everything right before the automatic updates screw up the site, but if I don’t manage to do that, then www.dograt.com will be gone for a while.
In the previous post I explained how I earned money to attend my first fan convention. I was a late registrant, so my number doesn’t appear in the program book.
My friend Kat Logue was there. She’s seated in this photo. I couldn’t find a photo of another friend who was there, but I know he is reading this, and he’s invited to say something.
I attended the annual Hugo Awards for science fiction writing. The ceremony was held in the Grand Ballroom, and I remember sitting way up in the balcony.
Yep, that’s me, wearing my brand-new glasses! I needed a new pair, and Kat recommended metal frames over the Buddy Holly style plastic frames I had.
The 1971 World Science Fiction Convention, aka Noreascon, was my first fan convention. I wouldn’t have been able to attend if I didn’t have more money than I’d ever had in my life. How did I get the money? I worked, for one night only, as a carny.
A town fair was held at the end of each school year. After the 10th grade I attended the last night of the fair with money earned by filling in for my sister, who had double-booked a babysitting job. Word got around that the carnival operator was hiring helpers to shut down the operation. Fifty bucks for however long it took to get everything done. As I recall, they didn’t have many takers, and I was hired.
What a night that was! They put me to work doing all sorts of things from picking up trash to loading trucks. What I remember best was helping to take some of the rides apart. Taking down the Ferris wheel was difficult and dangerous, but it all turned out OK. No, I wasn’t tempted to run away from home and join the circus!
I forget exactly when we were finished, but I recall the sun was starting to come up as I walked home. Exhausted and absolutely filthy, I was genuinely surprised that the crew — a rough bunch, to be sure — said I had done a good job. I was handed $50 in cash, equivalent to almost $350 today, and that was my spending money for Noreascon. A month after the convention, I started a part-time job washing dishes.
