From: "Erica VD Ginter" <eginter at klgai.com>
To: "'WSFA members'" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Interesting Inventions
Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2002 19:24:54 -0500
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

Stop, guys, you're making me feel old!

OK, you can fess up: any of the younger folks not know what the Equal Rights
Amendment is/was? I'm curious and promise not to be disdainful.

Erica
who saw the Beatles live on Ed Sullivan, watched Classic Trek first season
in first run, but didn't get to a Worldcon till 1986

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Smith [mailto:sgs at aginc.net]
Sent: Monday, April 01, 2002 10:11 AM
To: WSFA members
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Interesting Inventions

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."