Eastercon 2017 - I Shan't Be Attending

I could not raise the £300 to pay for the hotel in time to go to Eastercon. Places have probably already been booked by now anyway.

I remember some fun times at a Star Trek convention that was held at the Birmingham Metropole in town. It was 1988. Sir Patrick Stewart was just Patrick Stewart back then. Season 1 of Next Gen had just finished and he was home for the first hiatus.

He crashed the convention and brought the entire con to a standstill. I mean literally.

We were halfway through watching an episode of late Season 1, "We'll Always Have Paris" I think it was, a forgettable time travel episode, and someone burst in to the room.

"Patrick Stewart just arrived in this hotel! He's in Conference Room One!"

Boom. Mad dash for the door.

I went to fetch my camera, in my room. I went through the hotel, and it was totally silent. Deserted. Absolutely everybody was in the conference room. Attendees, hotel staff, management.

And Patrick Stewart.

More than anything, I would have loved attending Eastercon, at the same hotel this year. It's been ten years since the Chester Eastercon, and coming up on ten years since I learned a great many things about myself.

I'll watch a few episodes of Next Gen over the weekend, instead.