Date: Mon, 01 Apr 2002 10:10:31 -0500 From: Steve Smith <sgs at aginc.net> To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> Subject: [WSFA] Re: Interesting Inventions Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> Ted White wrote: > > Steve Smith wrote: > > > [...] > > > > To bring a SF note to the discussion, at Iguanacon II in 1978 in > > Phoenix, Harlan Ellison was the GoH. When he found out that Arizona > > hadn't ratified the Equal Rights Amendment, he talked about doing all > > sorts of nasty things to let people in AZ know what assholes they were > > (he used stronger language, of course). One of them was to have as many > > people as possible avoid staying in the hotel and camp in the desert. > > Now, desert camping is no more dangerous than any other form of camping > > -- if you know what you're doing. Fortunately, the locals talked him > > out of it -- not only does it get cold at night, Labor Day is right > > about at the beginning of thunderstorm season ... > > Harlan supposedly boycotted the hotel by living in a RV out front. But in > actual fact he slept in a hotel room most nights. It may get cold at night > in the desert -- particularly at higher altitudes -- but in Phoenix it went > *down* to 95 at night...after daytime highs in the 110-115 area. Yah, I remember that. I also remember hearing a rant by the guy whose room Harlan took over. I think Harlan figured that if he could get by without spending any of *his* money, then he'd save some face. So he spent the entire con mooching. As to the temperature, I remember it being rather pleasant for late August - early September. 100-105 daytime, 70s nighttime. Except for the plaza at the convention center, which would be a good preliminary design for a solar cooker. I suspect that temperatures inside the RV were rather impressive, also. -- Steve Smith sgs at aginc.net Agincourt Computing http://www.aginc.net "Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense."