Missing Gencon

‘Tis a sad thing indeed: “Gencon”:http://www.gencon.com/indyhome.aspx?file=indy is happening right now, and I’m not there. Last night I dreamt that I was walking up eagerly to a convention center, aware that I hadn’t pre-registered, but excited that I could at least get a day pass and walk through the exhibitor’s hall. But as I got up to the doors I remembered that I was in Boston, not Indianapolis, and a feeling of despair overwhelmed me. (I actually will be in Boston this weekend — that wasn’t some weird DNC fragment making its way into my dream.)

It always sucks when your tribe gets together and you’re not there. I will miss the exhibitor’s hall. I will miss a weekend’s worth of gaming. And I will miss my friends. To make up for what will be an understandable lack of Gencon coverage on the blog this year, let me relate a story from a Gencon past:

It’s Gencon several years ago, and I’m ambling along through the exhibitor’s hall with a couple other people — I think it was Jason and Greg. Actually I’m just sort of following them and absent-mindedly looking at what’s on the various tables. So we get up to one particular table and I haven’t even looked up yet, because I can’t believe what I’m seeing: the whole booth is apparently dedicated to Admiral Motti — the Imperial officer that Darth Vader famously Force-strangles on the Death Star in _Star Wars_. “I find your lack of faith disturbing,” etc. It’s a twenty-year-old bit part, so the idea that there’s a whole booth dedicated to the guy seems a bit much, even for Gencon.

I guffaw. “Check this out,” I say to the guys, my voice dripping with disdain. “Admiral Motti has his own _website_!”

That’s when I finally look up, and realize what Jason and Greg have already realized: Admiral Motti is _right there in the booth_. Or, rather, Richard LeParmentier, the actor who played Motti. “Doh!” I say, or something like it. Jason, God bless him, smooths over the situation by asking Richard some questions about the role, and I slink away to the next booth.

I see that Mr. LeParmentier is back this year as a Guest of Honor. He’s accompanied by several figures of greater note, including David Carradine and — now I _really_ wish I was there — Erin Gray. Come on, “you remember”:http://www.scifi.com/buckrogers/! I had such a crush on her back then . . .