NoirCon 2008: Eat to the beat

Two of the people whom it was my pleasure to meet at NoirCon, Christa Faust and Ed Pettit, posted similar remarks about the event's raucous awards banquet.

Here's Faust's account, in part:

"There were uniformed police in black rubber gloves lined up to frisk everyone entering that half of the restaurant (which incidentally was where the only bathrooms were located.) The food was lousy, mostly bland, uninspired Chinese junk that even their hottest hot sauce couldn’t save, but the parade of chubby Cambodian hotties in micro minis and platform heels more than made up for it.

"The high-decibel Cambodian warbling continued all through the meal and the actual award ceremony. Nothing but a thin, folding wall separated us from the festivities. ... Meanwhile Bruen is just hanging his head in the background and dying a long slow death. It was hilarious, excruciating and surreal. I’ve been to way too many boring, endless rubber chicken dinners at conventions in the past, but whatever else you may say about this event, it was anything but boring."

Here's part of Pettit's:

"There was even tight security ... with police searching each and every partygoer before they were allowed to enter their party. The music was so loud that the presenters could barely be heard giving their congratulatory speeches to the honorees, Bruen and McMillan. But when it came time for Bruen to give his thanks, he showed how loud an Irishman can be. The whole event was surreal. And we loved every minute of it. Who wants to be at another boring awards ceremony?"

And here's a clip from a different concert at the same restaurant that gives an accurate impression of what it was like trying to listen to the NoirCon speeches.


Me, I liked the quiet conversation. Since there was no way I'd hear much of what was happening on the NoirCon stage, I surrendered myself to pleasant chat with my convivial tablemates.

© Peter Rozovsky 2008