Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Film can cake

On Saturday, we attended an Otakon planning meeting in the Baltimore area. We carpooled with The Dormouse, since we were all leaving early together.

The most significant thing that happened in the meeting as far as we were concerned was that The Gryphon stepped down as human resources director. Between management duties at work, wedding planning and other responsibilities, he simply couldn't give it as much attention as required.

We left early enough to get dinner at a local family style restaurant. The food there was mediocre, but it was extremely popular with the locals, meaning that it took a long time to get served. Nonetheless, the vegetables were nice and fresh, which made me happy.

The party was for our friend The Horror Film Buff, who is a member of Philadelphia Area Gaming Enthusiasts (PAGE) and is also highly involved in Philcon, the annual science fiction convention in Philadelphia. He frequently volunteers, as well, with the Philadelphia Film Festival. The Gryphon and The Dormouse have known him, primarily through PAGE, for many years, and I first met him about three years ago when The Gryphon and I started dating.

The Horror Film Buff is a cool guy. He's the sort of person who's very knowledgeable about the fields that interest him, such as genre film, but is also very modest and laid back. This means you'd never know that the long-haired, big-chested guy in the black T-shirt is a veritable fount of knowledge until you start talking to them.

He also has a wicked sense of humor and is also something of a gentle giant, so that he is something of a benign leader to his circle of friends.

The Horror Film Buff

For his party, he'd rented a hall in a Polish/Lithuanian neighborhood of Philadelphia. We had to drive around the block for a little while before finding parking on the street, so I got to see some of the businesses. It was cool to see all the Polish names, though sadly, I can't pronounce them. My Polish grandfather refused to speak Polish, insisting, "I'm American."

On a table near the door, along with birthday presents, was a brilliant cake. It was in the shape of a 35 mm film can, with a reel resting against it. They had even formed chocolate strips of leader film, curled on the sides.

The party had actually been in two stages. The first stage was a marathon viewing of several of The Horror Film Buff's favorite films. We had to miss that because of the Otakon meeting. The second party of the party was a typical party, with food, drink, music and dancing. There were even lights for a little extra atmosphere on the dance floor.

As I'm sure is no surprise, I'm pressed for time this last week before Christmas, so now that I've set the scene for the party, I'll stop for today and pick up the story tomorrow.

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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