Noircon 2014: The pierogi-fueled piss-up

A foggy night outside the Philadelphia 
Mausoleum  of Contemporary Art, 
site of the second evening  of
Noircon programming. Unless otherwise
indicated, photos by Peter
 Rozovsky, your humble blogkeeper.

I'm drifting slowly into happy post-Noircon slumber on a giant pieróg-shaped cloud of good fellowship and beer.

The fourth edition of the world's greatest little noir convention wrapped up on Sunday with a shopping trip and a final presentation at Port Richmond books, followed by a right good mid-afternoon piss-up at a local bar in the heavily Polish neighborhood.

Noircon's programming has always been eccentric and stimulating. We have heard from strippers, sexologists, sculptors, and, this year, the author/investigator who is positive his father was the Black Dahlia killer.

But, as is usual with the intimate gathering of inquisitive, intelligent crime and noir readers, writers, editors, publishers, agents, and fans, some of my favorite moments happened outside the convention programming, and not all of them at the bar.

So, for instance ...

Fuminori Nakamura

1. I had the great pleasure of hearing Eddie Muller hold forth on his work with the Film Noir Foundation. I know no one else as devoted to, or so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about, any worthwhile subject as Eddie is about film noir, and by God, he channels his passion into action, with his work at the FNF.  OK, the Muller discussion happened at the bar.



Stuart Neville

2. So did the next highlight, actually, at the very same bar, when the sights and sounds of a wedding party of overripe frat boys and superannuated cheerleaders had several of us recalling this incident from Bouchercon 2009 in Indianapolis. But we were no ordinary gang of nostalgic barflies, and by the time we'd got done speculating about what those Indianapolis bridesmaids were doing with that pizza, we'd imagined them into a gang of bloodsuckers migrating slowly south for the winter. I'm thinking of calling the screenplay Vampire Bridesmaids With a Pizza.



Me and Andrew "Pulp
Curry" Nette.

3. I spent some time with the ultra-knowledgeable Andrew Nette, who had come all the way from Melbourne, Australia, to visit Noircon and see the East Coast. Andrew was pleasant company, and he suggested what will likely turn out to be a vital reference for one of my Bouchercon 2014 panels.

4. 

   Suzanne Solomon

   I realized I've been in Philadelphia long enough to have become a bit of a local expert, playing guide throughout the four-plus days to a cast of characters that included friends old, new, and in between.

Your humble blogkeeper, Scott Adlerberg, Duane Swierczynski, Ed "Philly Poe Guy" Pettit, Jeff Wong, and Mike White at Donna's  Bar. Photo courtesy of Andrew Nette.

© Peter Rozovsky 2014