NORWESCON - Friday.

.....It was a good day of panels and interesting (as in fun) meetings and gatherings.

.....Dropped off TBT with her panel at 9:00 this morning and took off for a linguistics panel, 'Fictional Linguistics'. It was moderated by a retired Professor of Linguistics from the University of Michigan. It was absolutely fascinating. Lots of talk about the evolution of the spoken word and the interconnectiveness of the languages of today. Lots of talk about the ongoing evolution of language as well. From the major shift in English in the 15th Century, to the ongoing shifts in language being charted in today's world. It is fascinating to see how fast things change.

.....Lots of talk on how to develop your own fictional language. Professor Tolkien of course makes this look easy, but he a.) was a Philology Professor, and b.) spent years developing an entire world in which to house his created languages. Every new thing I learn about the development of language puts me that much more in awe of Professor Tolkien and his creation.

.....Ran off to a panel on the 'Dark Side of Trek'. It was interesting, and another Star Trek panel filled with geeks. Three of the four panelists were members of the fan based Trek experience, 'Phoenix', but there was still some good discussion. It was interesting to me to note that DS9 was cited a lot for its dark storylines.

......Off to another geek-filled panel talking about quantum physics and all the latest physics discoveries. It was rather fascinating, with a lot of talk of the new discussions of 'Dark Matter' and 'Dark Energy' and String Theory. I found it interesting to note how even amongst the scientific community theories go in-and-out of vogue so quickly. Just a few years ago scientists were poking holes all over the place in Einsteins theories and equations, and now they are all starting to think he was more dead on than even he thought. Interesting.

.....Ran off for lunch and picked up Rhys for a couple of hours of upcoming movie previews. Rhys is super excited about the upcoming 'Guardians of G'Houle'. I was a little disappointed in not seeing anything exciting coming up. There were no clips for 'The Hobbit' or 'Harry Potter'. I yawned at the clips for 'Tron' (I was not impressed). 'Ironman' is interesting, but I can wait for the DVD. Nothing on the next 'Sherlock Holmes'. And I became overcome with nausea at the thought of the upcoming 'Smurfs'. :-)

.....Dropped Rhys off back to the room and listened to a concert for a while, James Alexander and 'Tricky Pixey'. The pagan crowd is bigger this year. Not so much 'goth', but lots of teenage pagans. They seemed to be serious in their regard, so I'm hopeful that it is not an off-shoot of the whole 'Twilight' thing, but its interesting to note the social trends at NORWESCON from year to year. Quite a microcosm of the World at Weird.

.....Ran off for a quick dinner before watching TBT win the Single Pattern Contest with her Dragon Bag. I knew she'd win. But I admit to being slightly worried when I saw the Totoro bag, which was awesomely cute. :-) I've got to bring the bag with me to at least one Pelican Council Meeting. I'll be the envy of the crowd. :-)

.....Ran across Bjorn who was lined up for the Fannish Fettish Fashion Show, which seems to be really popular this year. Even more so than Steampunk was last year.

.....I've run across Alys a couple of times now, but haven't had a chance to sit down and talk at all. Will have to hunt her down tomorrow.

.....O.K., it's off to Rocky Horror. Must leave now to get a good seat. Maybe I'll bring the laptop to catch up on Farmville while being in the Evergreen Rooms. Or else split me time between Rocky Horror and the Filk room across the hall. I'm hoping there will be some good music tonight.

.....More fun on the agenda for tomorrow. Join us if you can.

.....Aaron / Arontius.