Con Crud

In spite of all the hand washing and liberal use of hand sanitizer, I managed to come home from the convention with a minor cold. I am not surprised, as it sounded a bit like a tuberculosis ward at the breakfast buffet on our last morning there. atara has managed to avoid the cold so far, but I daresay that if yesterday was the worst it plans to hit me with then I will count myself as lucky.

I don't know if this man was checking in or out, but the automated kiosk was apparently giving him trouble. He spent at least ten minutes at the kiosk while a parade of various hotel staff came by to help him. Just a thought, but when something has not worked after the first five minutes, it may be a cue to step to your right and let a real human tackle the issue.

Anyway, here is another of the hotel staff pitching in to help with whatever was giving him trouble. I have mentioned before that I am a big fan of the surreal, Kubrickesque lighting in the lobby of this hotel, and this picture manages to capture a bit of that.


The bulk of pictures that I took at the con were of the fursuit parade. Fursuit production is starting to reach a point of maturity, which is a mixed bag of blessings in my opinion. On the plus side, the quality of the suits in the parade gets better every year. On the down side, as 700+ suits pass you, there is a growing air of sameness about them. I think part of that is because more people are commissioning them than creating their own. Let's face it, if the choice is between building a baggy suit with an ill-fitting, cut-foam head or ordering a custom-fit suit with 3D eyes and an articulated jaw, who wouldn't spend the extra few bucks for a clean, professional-looking getup? I've been tempted a few times myself...

I am not going to lie - I think I prefer the current state to the droopy, smelly suits of bygone times, but at the same time I do feel like we've lost a bit of the charm. My biggest quibble was the sameness of a lot of the suits, and I am wondering that this is just a transition phase, like when every artist was trying to emulate Michele Light. Anyway, this is just a quibble rather than a complaint. They all had better suits than mine.

( A couple more pictures behind the cut )

Prologue

I have the basics of another short story running through the back of my mind. I am going to toss together a quick prologue so that I don't forget it and see if this leads anywhere.

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To: Owner, Señoras Café Grasa

Re: Gravy

Dear Madam,

Recently I had the opportunity to take advantage of your “Monster Meaty Mondays” self-service buffet. While my experience in your dining establishment was, moreover, a pleasant one, my visit was marred somewhat by the unfortunate placement of the gravy in your service line. I was delighted to finally sample your famous Sous-vide Sauce au "Andouilles de Porc", which is inarguably world-class gravy that we are all proud to find in a local establishment. Unfortunately procuring this selfsame gravy in a satisfactory manner was difficult, given its placement two spots to the left of the mashed potatoes.

Indeed, not only were the mashed potatoes to the right of the gravy, but so were the assortment of hot and cold sliced meats which, I am sorry to say, did not fare well under the harsh countenance of the heat lamps. These desiccated, chewy, inedible, leathery slabs that I shall charitably call meat hereafter were in a state that could only be redeemed by a generous dollop of delicious gravy. Gravy that was, as I have stated above, several places to the left of the meat in a line that moved from the left to the right.

The gravitas of this situation is compounded by the mushy vegetables and stale bread. Can you guess what would have nudged either of these above the minimum threshold of palatability? Whilst one might argue that a patron might load his plate with gravy first, then add other foodstuffs on top as desired, that is not the proper order of food. Gravy goes over food, not under it. Well, except at those very fancy restaurants with enormous plates and tiny portions, where sculpted potatoes au gratin and a woefully small filet mignon sit atop a grossly inadequate smear of gravy reduction. At a buffet such as yours, however, the gravy goes on top.

One hopes that you will consider my words here, and make arrangements to move the gravy to the right of the foods that require gravy. I look forward to seeing this issue rectified before my next visit to your establishment.

Yours sincerely,

Plonq.

PS: The Morue au Chocolat fritter was lovely, and stood up well on its own without gravy. I note with some irony that it was placed to the left of the gravy.

PPS: On further reflection, I do not think that it would actually have been harmed by the addition of gravy either.